#it also helps the viewers understand that they really are more similar than different in a lot of ways

[goldsnek]

So, I saw the question about tips for aspiring comic artists and it actually reminded me that I am curious about the topic as well😅

I like to write stories and I like to draw so it seemed logically for me to try my hand at comics as well but I'm struggling extremely with the layout.

It's seems very daunting when you sit in front of the empty page and you have to consider how to arrange the panels.

I'm the kind of artist that sometimes does big changes to almost finished works, so the idea of having to make a final decision before I even start with the actual drawing process, is kind of terrifying for me.

Long story short, how do you put your drawings into panels?

Do you really have to make a final panel layout at the beginning, the way I've been attempting to, or are there other possibilities I simply haven't thought of?

Last but not least, I want you to know that I absolutely love your comic, both because of your spectacular art and the amazing story! ❤️

Hello! Okay this is going to be long but I'll try my best to explain and be concise (and truly sorry for the english!) So, the first rule you need to have in mind is that you don't imagine the scene PER PAGE but PER SEQUENCE. What I mean is, you don't have to imagine a comic (like ''what I'm putting in this page'') but you have to imagine it as a video in your head, like you're directing a movie ( movies and comics are a lot more similar than we think as a media) For example, try to imagine someone waking up and going to open their window, that's a full sequence. it can be done in various ways, depending on what your character is doing and what's the ''mood'' of the scene. Remember always that your character emotions sets the mood for the entire scene. A thing that helps me a lot is ( like I said XD) watching movies, I focus on the mini sequences, a kiss scene, a fight, I pause the movie and rewatch that scenes various times, trying to understand the mood of the scene and how is shot. A sequence can even take 3 or 4 pages or even 10, it depends from whats happening, even more if it's a fight! But like I said the number of pages comes later. another importart thing to remember is that your characters needs ''a place to live'' If you make a story and never show a single panel with a background, the story is gonna lack something 100%; and I know... backgrounds are hard (I hate them) but you need at least 1 panel where you show the places your characters are living in. That is called establishing shot and it needs to be used when your character are moving to other locations. (or if you're talking about other characters in your comic and they are somewhere else) I'll show u some establishing shots now:

Took 3 different comics (narratively and stylistic speaking) Bone, Batman and TinTin to show you that even if the setting of the panels is extremely different, they still all have an establishing shot. Now, of course you don't have to put this in EVERY page, but like I said at least at the start of your comic, or when the characters are moving somewhere else, it's very important to show that. Also remember that the biggest panel you need to have in your sequence is the one where the most important action is happening. For example, if two people are fighting and someone gets slapped, that's the most impactful scene, so that's the scene that will need the biggest panel on your sequence, because it's the most important. Another rule is to make the camera breathe. Let me explain this properly, you, as a comic artist, are like a movie director with a camera. You need to turn the camera in various ways, up and down left and right, but always remember this : Never make a page of faces only. example, here are character A and B having a conversation, a page like this is extremely wrong, because the camera is basically attached to the character face and the viewer/reader is going to feel like they're suffocating in the room with the story characters :

You as an artist have the power to zoom the camera in and out, showing extremely tiny details or making a big panel that shows how Idk... beautiful or eerie or mysterious the background is. The biggest advice I can give you is to read a lot of comics, try to find series you love and study them, see how they make the panels, how the sequence are shown etc. The last rule (there are a lot more so if you have more specific questions just ask) I can give you and this is about your question in specific is that: Yes. Unfortunately you have to make the structure first and that has to be your final decision, if you make a 10 pages comic for example and you decide you don't like some stuff anymore and decide to change all the pages, you're just gonna end up in a endless cycle of always fixing and fixing and never be satisfied. Remeber this: The sketches and layout of the pages are the MOST important thing in a comic. The coloring, lineart, etc... it's just decoration. So hang on and start making layouts, and focus only on those for a period of time and then when you're 100% satisfied with the structure, you go and start adding the ''decorations'' Hope this helps! I'm not very good at explaining , especially in another language, but I tried my best XD

[patpran-bbs]

it just occurred to me that The Bet for pran is equivalent to the “honeymoon” on the beach for pat, in the sense that they both played along with the idea to ease the other into properly digesting and getting accustomed with change.

[ambrosiagoldfish]

HI! Can I request Vox, husk or anyone else with a s/o who has an addiction problem?

Yes I know my Grammar and punctuation is out of line 🙏🏽

Hazbin Hotel x Addict!Reader

(Vox, Husk, and Angel Dust)

Viewer Discretion is Advised!

Warning: Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Gn!Reader, Reader being defensive, happy-ish endings.

Request Box: Open

Word count: 1170

A/n: Hi! Thank you for the request! This is my first time writing both Vox and Husk so I had to do some research (and by research, I mean reading 2+ hours of how other write them) to get an idea of their main characterization.

I really enjoyed writing this as I personally have my own experiences with addicts and how it’s affected me as a person. So this was also a little bit of a vent post if anything. I also added Angel cause I think it fits the theme but also he’s one of my comfort characters and writing for him made me happy.

Hope you enjoy <3

Proofread like once so sorry for any mistakes!



Vox

He’s used to being friends/knowing addicts. I mean one of his closest allies (And TOTES not previous hook-up buddy) Valentino, is also an addict who also employs many as well. So he’s not a stranger to it.

So mostly he’s indifferent to it, almsot desensitized to it. He doesn’t really see a danger to it, I mean we’re in hell and you can’t exactly OD and die

But of course, death isn’t the only thing that can happen when you're an addict. The breakdown of you as a person often happens, as well as you being reckless with money. And this is where Vox starts to have a problem.

If you’re in a relationship with Vox, then clearly you mean a lot to him, he may not be the most expressive about it but he does. So to see the partner that he has opened up to and grown attached to deteriorate slowly in front of him is something he refuses to accept.

So one day he cancels a meeting with his staff and calls you to his office so you two will be alone. When you get there he gives you a cup of coffee and you catch up a bit. How was your day? Have you ate yet? Those kinds of things.

Until finally he decides to just break open the floodgates with one simple statement.

“Darling… I think you should get clean”

You were caught off guard at first

“It’s fine, What’s the problem? we’re in hell”

He then comes out with his honest opinion

“*Sigh* I know it’s hell and you can’t die… but surely you can see how it would make me a bit… worried for you.”

He paused

“I mean even last week you spent all the allowance I gave you on it and you would have starved if I didn’t buy you food, surely you can see why it’s a fucking problem!”

Eventually after talking and depending on how it goes you either agree to go clean or it ends with an argument and he’ll just try again later.

If you agree, he’ll make sure he’s with you ever step of your sobriety. Considering he’s one of the top rising Overlords and owns VoxTech he’s got money so He’ll higher the best people to help you go clean(Do therapist exist in hell?)

“Thank you dear, you have no idea how much this means to me”

Husk

Similar to Vox in a lot of ways but also really different. He himself is an addict with alcohol so he clearly understands the struggles of it.

He has lots of walls up but for someone who “lost the ability to love” he sure does care a lot for you. I don’t think he would try a get you to go clean, at least not right away (or even at the beginning of the relationship) simply cause he thinks he doesn’t have a right to judge. So in all honesty he might just let you be.

That is until he realizes that you do it to forget things and ignore your problems/past. He knew first hand that drowning your sorrows away with your choice of addictive vice did nothing but harm you.

Then when you two are alone at his bar he’ll talk to you about it in a similar way he did with Angel. Perhaps a bit more softer than he did with Angel but even then “softer” is a bit of an overstatement.

“Look, I know you got a lot of shit that you don’t want to think about… but doing this *sigh* it’s not going to work, at least not in the long term.”

“That’s rich coming from you.”

He laughs. I mean, you were right. He was single handedly the worst person to be judging you. But surely you can understand his point of view, right?

Either way though, he leaves it alone again. Occasionally bringing it up when you’re both alone. He expresses the same sentiment about it each time hoping that eventually, hopefully…you’ll come to see from his perspective.

When you do finally see that he’s worried for you and understand why, you agree to go clean. Which, for once in a long while, made his supposedly cold dead heart melt.

“Glad you finally came to your senses… Seriously, I’m glad…”

Angel

He is THE addict of the show, so obviously he knows what you are going through and THEN some. Now,. Here’s the thing, how he handles it depends HEAVILY on when exactly you got with him/when you started having you addiction problem.

If you started dating him when you already were an addict he most definitely wouldn’t question anything about it. Hell, chances are you both might have taken part in it together. And it’s only when he starts making progress in the hotel (post EP4) is when he starts realizing how bad of an influence you both were on each other.

If you started sometime AFTER you both started dating then this boy would honestly feel terrible about it, ESPECIALLY after EP4 when he actually started being sober more often. He’d feel like he was a bad influence on you and that it was his fault you turned to your addiction.

Either way though, he will eventually realize that he doesn’t want you to be/continue to be on the same path he was. He’d talk to Charlie about arranging you to stay in the hotel, either in your own room or you guys could share one (he would honestly prefer the latter) and then after the preparations are made he would finally ask you too

Angel wasn’t expecting it to be easy, he gets what it’s like to suddenly be asked to go clean. And he knows how addicts act when they don’t get there vices, how he acts. So he mentally prepared himself for the worst first before asking you to come over and talk.

“Uh… Y/n can I talk to you about somethin’?”

You nod your head

“I’ve been thinking and… I think you should crash here at the hotel with me… and’ go clean.”

You only laugh “Angie I’m glad this hotel thing is workin’ for ya but that’s not really my style. No- I mean, I’m fine!”

Angel knows he put you on the spot, so he lightens off a bit but continues pressing on. He explains how he feels and how he doesn’t want anything bad to happen to you, to end up where he is. The poor boy starts crying honestly with how much he’s worried. He rarely opens up to people so this was a big step for him.

Seeing how much he cared and worried about you really put into perspective how important this was to him. So you agreed after some thinking.

“*sniff* thank you Baby, I’ll be there with you every step of the way… I love ya’ you know.”

[sweetlittletangerine]

Why Queenie Exists or something

Hey there! So I don’t really know how to put together this theory in a cohesive way and I made this for fun, so keep that in mind if I jump around a bit.

But I’ve had this theory for a long time now, and the fact Kinger is one of the two characters getting major focus in the next ep has just hyped me up even more. (Guess who my favorite is you’ll never guess it.)

So… as a not-so-normal Kinger fan, there’s a certain someone else who’s been rattling around in my brain for a while too.

Yes. She.

My theory is about why she even exists in the first place from a narrative standpoint. I have many other theories but this one feels like one of my most concrete ones (imo ofc), So I thought I’d share it before ep 3 comes out, even if it won’t come out for a while. I mean, it’s very possible this is the ep we learn about her since I don’t think she’s gonna be very relevant for any other character’s stories outside of Kinger.

ANYWHO time to get to the theory itself.

So let’s start off with one question. (Well it’s two, but same deal.) Why does Kinger get a look-a-like? Why not the others? Hell, Gangle exists and she has the whole ‘comedy tragedy mask’ thing going on.

Well it’s simple, he’s been there the longest. I personally don’t believe he’s the first player to join the game, but he’s been there the longest out of our main cast (Of humans). So naturally, that brings up another question… how did he last so long?

This is where Queenie comes into play. She’s important in understanding why Kinger hasn’t abstracted yet, which would tell us, the viewers, how a person can prolong their abstraction.

So for starters, I 100% believe without a doubt the reason these two look so similar is because they entered the circus at the same time. This means they started off with the same level of “girl where tf am I” When they arrived.

Second, when you compare and contrast their appearances, you realize that their differences… don’t actually affect how their bodies function. (Assuming the bottom half of Queenie is like Kinger.) So, they also came into the game with the same body when it comes to how they work. They had to adjust to the same new features in the same environment.

So when you combine these two factors, they were basically given the same tools to work with to survive (for as long as they can).

But the most important part of this… is their personalities. I love the theory that the chess pieces they became are tied to their personalities, with people connecting how Kinger’s personality relates to the role of the king in chess. (For those that don’t know, the king is the weakest piece and the queen is the strongest.) People have used this as a base to figure out who Queenie could’ve been. But if this is true then that wouldn’t be all. When you think about the role and power of each piece, you realize they’re opposites. So the bottom line here is that they’re very different people.

This impacts how they process and adapt to their new environment. And this is why Queenie abstracted and Kinger hasn’t. Some people truly are more adaptable than others in the circus. Queenie couldn’t handle the place as well as Kinger, making her lose her mind and abstract first.

Hell, we can already see something about Kinger’s personality that could’ve helped him out. I think the fandom (including myself) overestimated how much of a scaredy cat he is. The more I think about it, the more I realize that he’s not afraid of the adventures. He’s afraid of the circus itself, which is probably tied to his trauma.

(I’m aware it’s only been two episodes, but the only time we’ve seen him panic during an adventure is when an abstracted Kaufmo entered the Gloink Queen’s nest, suddenly making the adventure way more dangerous.)

You could argue he’s so chill on them because of experience, learning that at the end of the day if someone gets hurt or lost, Caine can snap his fingers and bring them back to normal. There’s pain, but no serious harm.

However, maybe he learned this a lot sooner than we think, back when he was adapting to his digital life. He internalized the fact that he’s not going anywhere sooner/better than Queenie, and was able to ‘go with the flow’ better than her. Who knows, maybe Queenie avoided going on adventures, (wink wink nudge nudge to a character Kinger is oddly fond of in the group), which gave her more time to think about her situation and mental state. The adventures are a surprisingly effective distraction from all of that.

If the story itself is supposed to focus on why the characters are the way they are, then it’s going to focus on the characters as individuals. And considering the fact Kinger and Zooble’s characters are heavily tied to their identities, that’s probably going to be one of the main themes of ep 3. So it makes sense that the reason Kinger lasted longer is tied to who he is and how he copes with the world around him (both now and back then.) This would, by extension, explore the fact that Queenie was her own person too, and now that that person is gone. The abstracted characters were all people, people who lost themselves as they went mad, leading to their inevitable abstractions.

So uh, I guess that’s all for now. Posting things online scares me so idk if I’ll post more things like this, but I might. If you read through this whole thing, then thanks!

Back into the pit I go

[watchmorecinema]

I was re-watching the Folding Ideas video about Nostalgia Critic's The Wall, and it got me thinking about something. I'm perfectly ok with people hating my favorite movies, so long as they at least understand them. The Wall is a dark and depressing movie and maybe you just don't want to deal with that. But if you think the main theme is "high school sucks" then you didn't really try to engage with it at all.

A lot of this I think is due to advertising. The Exorcist isn't the scariest film ever made, it's a family drama. It's very compelling but if you're looking for a lot of scares then you'll walk away thinking it's boring. Rambo isn't really an action film since it's more about the character of Rambo and how he has been dehumanized by the very machine that sent him to kill in Vietnam (the sequels dropped all of that). A lot of people went into Fight Club expecting it to be a straightforward fighting movie but actually it's a twisty thriller about the horrors of capitalism.

But outside of that I think it happens when the movie is abstract in some way. The Wall is very abstract, but it's easy to understand what it all means. An animated scene about inhuman monsters destroying London isn't The Wall trying to be a Kaiju movie for a minute, it's a metaphor for the horror and destruction of the blitz.

David Lynch and Tarkovsky get hit pretty hard by this too; people don't understand what the plot literally means so they get hung up on that instead of coming up with their own interpretation. What Stalker means to me is completely different to what it means to someone else. Any Twin Peaks theory is valid so long as its yours. Good art is a mirror that lets you engage with it and reflect about your own thoughts and feelings. If you unironically think that Whiplash or Wolf of Wall Street was about supporting hustle culture then that says more about you than about the film.

If you don't regularly engage with art in this way, well you should! Watch movies you wouldn't normally consider and see how it makes you feel. Even bad movies can help you feel a certain sort of way and that's valid. Maybe you find something that means something to you in a way that was never envisioned by the creator. Videodrome has a lot to say about parasocial relationships with online content creators, but it came out more than a decade before the Internet came into being. Starship Troopers was panned on release but now it's understood to be a pretty clear satire of right wing militarism. Every time I rewatch Akira I get something different from it, especially if I'm in a different stage of my life.

There's a lot out there to explore. And sometimes that means you walk away from a film where you might think it was well made but that it did nothing for you. It's happened to me too; I can understand that The Wolf Man did a lot for werewolves in fiction (literally creating most of the lore you recognize), but it's also mostly about a guy being really creepy towards women with pretty bad special effects. I can appreciate its influence, but I just don't think it's a good movie.

I'm sure most people reading this will have similar thoughts about Stalker. It's very slow, philosophical, a bit nihilistic and while the plot is pretty easy to understand it leaves so much open ended that you need to decide for yourself what it all means. It's a lot of work to watch. I love it for that reason; very few movies actually give the viewer homework to mull about and chew on and this one gives so much to consider. But it's perfectly reasonable for someone to decide that it's hard to relate to the movie about Russians being depressed about abstract concepts for nearly 3 hours.

[lauriejamesgrace]

okay so watching season three of heartstopper and seeing peoples reactions to it on like tiktok and shit have really got me thinking about my own experiences and habits of invalidating my own experiences

like the general responses ive been seeing are focussing on either 1. the emphasis of the importance of platonic relationships (which i really appreciate and value but thats not what im on about here), 2. charlies struggles with his mental health, and 3. nicks struggles with charlies mental health and all that jazz

and my first instinct when i see people talking about nicks struggles with it all is like?? shut the fuck up?????? its not about him??????? but the more i think about it the more im like wait no he is in a shit position!? it is hard as FUCK when someone you love is going through stuff like that and you just don't know what you can do to help?! and obviously this is all fictional lmao like the support of the viewers makes no difference to the actual characters but im still like he does deserve the recognition and support for what hes going through, because all he wants to do is try his best and help however he can, but theres not always anything you CAN do and that feeling of helplessness is almost unmatched

and then me having that whole thought process and realisation has made me reevaluate my attitude toward the whole 'dating someone struggling with mental illness' thing and THEn i was like well its not fair that i was diminishing those struggles to begin with!1!! and thEN i was like why did i have that mindset at all??? because im someone who has always made an active effort to have empathy and understanding for every viewpoint of anything i can possibly do so

but yeah then i just had to accept that it was because ive always been too hard on myself, because it definitely started with my first girlfriend who i wont go into detail but she was,, not well and i was dealing with things and putting the responsibility on myself, as her girlfriend, to keep her okay and alive even, at FAr too young an age to have any kind of responsibility for that. and i guess i just wish that id had been exposed to this attitude earlier? because seeing the amount of understanding from strangers on the internet for someone going through similar things to myself would have been endlessly helpful for my own mental health

i dont really know where i was going with this and thank you if youve bothered to read all my mindless rambling that would usually be in one of my many journals i just cba to write when typing is so much quicker and easier when my mind is moving this quickly, but yeah i guess my point with all this is just like

take care of yourself <3 like i know its an overused sentiment but like, being there for others that 'have it worse than you' doesnt mean that you dont also deserve a support system

i definitely have more to say on this but need to get my head straight before i can word anything more lmao but yeah be kind spread love employ empathy love u lots xoxoxo

[caintooth]

Okay this is a little weird but I have a DID question.

I had a friend in high school who claimed to have DID. I met several alleged alters and she really would change a lot between personalities, even seeming stronger, having a higher body temp, and having different handwriting as certain alters. She also definitely had a real, terrible childhood that I could see causing her to split off an alter for protection. At the time I was about 80% convinced.

It's been years and we're still good friends, but she hasn't mentioned any alters since high school, and she has also not mentioned being able to integrate some or all of her alters, even tho we talk about mental health often. I haven't seen her be (or at least I haven't noticed her being) any of the alters I would recognize from high school. But I also used to spend almost every day with her and now I go weeks or months without hanging out with her so my sample size is smaller.

Starting a few months after I stopped seeing her every day I started to become more skeptical of her claim to have DID, because it felt a bit too much like a movie to me at the time. Sometimes I could request time with a specific alter and they would show up, but sometimes they wouldn't. It didn't seem like she was someone else without willing it, very often if ever. She had like 3 main alters when she told me about it - a protector, a little kid, and one more I can't remember and didn't see often - and she allegedly acquired a cat alter sometime after that.

I'm split about it now. I believed her for the most part at the time, because she really did seem different, but I also knew that was the kind of thing high schoolers sometimes lie about so I was always mildly suspicious. Now looking back I feel bad doubting her because if she was telling the truth, it would probably really hurt her to know I doubted her. But also that is the kind of thing high schoolers sometimes lie about! I had other friends lie about similar shit. And I haven't seen any evidence in so long and it hasn't come up in just as long.

I've always wanted to ask her about it but I don't want to embarrass her or harm our friendship which is still strong despite this question lol. I know you're not a doctor and it can be dangerous to speculate, but I just wondered what your perspective as someone with DID is?

This is such a strange thing to anonymously ask a stranger.

Are you hoping I’ll tell you she was faking? Are you hoping I’ll validate your assumptions about her inner life? What you have described is incredibly textbook for DID.

To help you understand, let me explain that Dissociative Identity Disorder presents in two ways, typically: overtly, or covertly.

An “overt” presentation is as you were describing her high school presentation— the disorder is easier to see as an outside viewer, because an “overt” presenter has (comparatively) more visible switches between alters, with (comparatively) more noticeable differences between their abilities, voices, interests, personalities, mannerisms, etc.

And so, a “covert” presentation is the opposite of this, where the disorder is not very obvious to an outside viewer at all. Switches may seem seamless, or they may seem to not switch at all. Alters do not have as many outwardly visible differences, may have similar or same voices and mannerisms, may not speak openly about their differing opinions or likes/dislikes.

DID is a disorders which forms, as you acknowledge, to protect the haver from trauma. And because the disorder is trying to protect you, it can shift between “overt” to “covert” presentation as needed.

A system may present more overtly, for example, if some alters are better emotionally or physically equipped for a task than others, if some alters are more likely to be treated in the way the system most needs at the time, if some alters have stronger interests and knowledge about a certain subject, etc. And many systems, myself included, find themselves presenting more overtly simply when they are safe and comfortable with the people around them!

In contrast, then, a system may present more covertly when it is not safe to have visible differences, and/or to help disguise the system as one person. Alters may mimic each other to help keep their differences from putting them in danger, and this can happen so discreetly that the system themself may not even be aware of switching when it happens. This being said, systems can also present covertly just because super visible differences are not needed to keep them safe / if being outwardly visibly different from one another doesn’t serve as much of a purpose as being inwardly different.

Systems can also move between these modes for other reasons besides safety and comfort, but as far as I know, those are the main two reasons. And I want to clarify that this move isn’t, most of the time, a conscious choice. The disorder kinda decides for you.

So, if your friend who once presented very overtly around you and spoke of their DID often, is now showing a much more covert presentation and not sharing details of their disorder with you… I have two guesses.

One, your friend may simply be in a different phase of their life, where they don’t feel the need to share many details of their DID with you. People can decide to be more private about things they were once open about, and there’s nothing wrong or suspicious about that.

Two… Your friend is presenting covertly around you for comfort and safety reasons. Maybe they no longer consider you a person they can openly be themselves around.

You might want to reflect on why either of these reasons might be the case. I am not going to tell you your friend is faking. Everything you described is very typical of DID and, again, I think it is very strange you would come into my ask box seeking my opinion on this, as if you assume I, and very good friends of mine, have not presented in similar ways throughout different points in our lives.

Have you considered, I don’t know— just asking about how her headmates have been doing lately? This is indeed a very weird way to handle your feelings about this.

[throwawayasoiafaccount]

My main gripe with hotd is mostly just me being petty. It bothers me that we do t get any real interactions with aegon and rhaenyra despite them technically being the heads of the power struggle for the throne. I appreciated them trying to have do something different by focusing on the relationship between rhaenyra and alicent but it really comes off weird when you have a confrontation at the end of season 2 when rhaenyra is like again you defend him I have to take his head to alicent when she and aegon never speak to one another 😭 to me it just comes off weird like even if we had gotten something small in season one it when they were younger but nah

hey anon!

your gripe is similar to the ones i have. one of them is that the focus of the show being solely on the house of the dragon and no one else makes westeros feel small. however, i wouldn’t have that big of an issue with this if this ‘small feeling’ didn’t bleed into the core storylines. even though the show’s focus is on house targaryen, there are still so many underdeveloped characters, relationships, plots, and places, along with several downright illogical developments. aegon and rhaenyra’s underdeveloped relationship is a symptom of this issue: hotd almost outright refuses to add depth to their narrative. everything feels simple, shallow, and small, with many events occurring merely because they have to. the show also expects the audience to accept things as they are, with no concern for the nonexistent buildup, which is why hotd is often said to feel rushed.

this may seem a bit contradictory, but while there is some ‘show, don’t tell,’ there’s a lot more of ‘the audience must infer everything’ from very little. aegon and rhaenyra’s relationship kind of exemplifies this; we know they have issues, but we’ve never seen them have even one meaningful conversation. ‘show, don’t tell’ only works if characters actually interact!

additionally, characters are often defined solely by their trauma or specific events, rather than having these elements serve as background characterization that adds depth and helps viewers understand their motivations and goals. basically, these characters are not allowed to grow, so they often feel flat or boring. it’s as if they’re all stuck in the past.

[animehouse-moe]

The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2 Episode 15: Needs Must When The Devil Drives I.

Perhaps a slower episode than usual in the front half, this one dives head first into our two caregiver pairings of Elias-Chise, and Alcyone-Philomela. It's really great to see how they approach each and how they interact with one another, so I have a lot to talk about.

Let's start off with Elias! I love his character progression in this episode once more. Just the subtle things like how he says to "reach out to him if anything happens". While he does justify it by the fact that humans are frail to him, the sentiment of Elias attempting to care about another person is absolutely there.

Even better is Simeon's comment about music. Elias shows interest in it, and then extrapolates it to relate it to Chise, and not in just a simple manner. It has him pondering the question "what does Chise like? What was she like before me?". It's an outstanding development for two reasons.

Firstly, it shows Elias' ability to look inwards in retrospect and apply the ideas that other people supply him with to other friends or people close to him. Secondly, during that introspection, it's not just "I wonder what kind of music Chise likes", rather, he uses the initial idea to further expand on Chise as a person, rather than something that comes to mind as an association. It's really really great stuff that shows how Elias is growing and developing as a person.

Similarly, but also somehow different, we get Alcyone in this really great sequence.

I really like the direction through this sequence because it accentuates Alcyone's purpose. Other people do exist, such as Philomela's parents, but all that Alcyone sees is Philomela herself. Is it because of her purpose as an artificial fairy, or is it the beginnings of something greater, similar to Elias? Personally I feel like it's the latter, which I'll explain in just a bit.

First though, this scene of Alcyone looking at Philomela. It's just really pretty, and the depth of field is a nice touch to help viewers understand that Alcyone is only looking at Philomela.

Anyways, why do I think that Alcyone is more like Elias than unlike? Well, it's Elias himself in their conversation. He himself states that he can't stop answering Alcyone's questions, and I think the reasoning is obvious as we begin a two part parallel. Elias sees a version of himself in Alcyone. I think it's a great idea to explore that comparison, especially because the two are currently isolated from the outside world.

And then there's the whole Philomela and Chise piece, which was great. Here though, they explicitly state (or I guess show?) that Chise sees herself in Philomela despite their differences, and that a lot of it is about finding a way to save her past self by helping Philomela. It's very interesting, and ties directly into Chise's struggle with selfishness in a way that might not directly present as that.

And then there's the whole Rian-Isaac breakdown which is really great. We could see glimpses of the tension here and there with Rian interacting with Philomela finally, but the breaking point was really well done. The idea of "two sides of the same coin" comes to mind with the pair, so I'm really excited to see what goes on now that Philomela has been properly added to the mix.

Though I should add, Rian's disposition towards Philomela is very interesting. It's childish, I would say. He's frustrated that the friend he once had is essentially no more, so he takes it out on the version of them that stands in front of him.

The latter half of this episode just brings a lot in terms of breakdowns as it prepares to build things up alongside the mystery of the book swirling around the college.

While the first half might be a touch dry, the second half is incredibly full and rich, sporting great sunset-dyed visuals and surprisingly solid character animation in some sequences.

The book might be the focus of this arc right now, but I'm nearly exclusively focused on the characters because they're just so damn well written.

[edalynn]

You know, looking back on it, it actually doesn’t really make sense that Willow helped cut Hunter’s hair in ttt? It would’ve made more sense for it to be Amity (we see Emira help her with cutting and coloring, so it’s not a stretch she’d know how to do a small haircut) or Luz or Camila (we see later in the episode that Luz once cut her hair with a sword, which is implied to be what led to her current haircut, which means she and her mom likely know a bit about post disaster haircut fixing). But instead it’s Willow, who… I dunno, maybe she does something sorta similar with plants? But then I feel like pruning plants would be much different than cutting hair. This isn’t like a huge gripe, it’s just a little thing that I didn’t even realize until months later, but given those screenshots you shared from that storyboarder, I feel like it fits into a pattern h/l shippers follow of forcing Willow into roles that don’t fit or would be better suited to other characters for the sake of their ship.

Noooo it's definitely h/l shippers on crew forcing Willow into a role that doesn't fit her/would be better suited for someone else. I actually genuinely thought it was Camila who would've cut his hair after we first saw his new cut in a preview, like you said considering she most likely did Luz's hair. Albeit, yes, we later find out Luz did it with a sword, but again, she probably cleaned it up to the best of her abilities as a busy mother afterwards lmao. That would make the most sense to me, and would be a nice tick on the Hunter Noceda train for that half of the fandom. The Amity cutting his hair theory, I will admit, I didn't think about until I saw others on Tumblr suggesting it. And I actually loved that theory, too, and assumed that would make sense because of Emira regularly dying and cutting her hair for her. It would make sense for her to bond with someone else (especially someone Luz cares a lot about as well) the same way she did with her sister, because she's learning from example, y'know? It's not like she would've learned it from Alador or Odalia lmao. Plus, I feel like that would be a nice, idk how to say but, follow up (?) to their fight at Eclipse Lake where Amity is telling him to let himself find people that care about him. Being someone he's hurt in the past for Belos, it would be far more poignant for her to come in, mid panic attack, understand what's going through his head, and help him. Showing both Hunter and the viewers that there are people that care about him and that he's not alone. Also, would be a very good way to show the stark contrast between Hunter thinking that he's unforgiveable for who he is/what he's done for someone that, like I said before, he hurt as the Golden Guard to offer him kindness (forgiveness, but unsaid) & understanding. Either way you slice it, it should've been imo one of those two that cut his hair, hands down. Willow should've never been involved in that scene. It makes it seem disjointed & out of place (and fanfic-y) considering the lack of interaction they have the rest of the entire episode and third season in general aside from forced ship-y moments.

[fy-wonwoo]

[230809] Your friendly neighborhood GAM3 BO1 is here

WONWOO and SEVENTEEN show what makes gaming truly fun

As he progressed through Sue’s Cooking Game on a May 6 stream, Weverse Live viewers saw an awkward, almost embarrassed smile take over WONWOO’s face. “How did you know I like washing dishes?�� It was an unexpected response from the SEVENTEEN member to the game over message (“Just wash the dishes”) after he failed the goal of clicking around the screen to cook ramyeon within the time limit. WONWOO isn’t terribly familiar with such simple games—he’s much more versed in games like League of Legends and PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS that demand a combination of skilled reflexes and strategy, as his fans know. And his line about the dishes drew an affectionate laugh from them. “If you don’t know [the game], you can look at my face,” he joked (but there’s no joking about how seriously handsome he is). And his sincerity was evident when he brushed off a loss with a simple, “That’s unfortunate,” only to give it another go—all spoken in the same calm voice, and with his same signature upright posture, that he maintains as he talks through the games. And that’s how WONWOO’s GAM3 BO1 series got its start.

WONWOO’s always been a gamer. “When I was a trainee, gaming was my only hobby,” he said. Three years ago, he could be seen streaming his PUBG gameplay on the Chinese site Huya Live. When he played Crazy Arcade in the “GSVT E-Triathlon Championship 2022” episode of the group’s original series GOING SEVENTEEN last year, “you could tell he’s a real pro based on the username he chose and the way he plays,” according to Yi Yunju, leader of the PLEDIS New Media Part. WONWOO’s gaming caught the attention of not only fans but the wider public as well. When he played Stray, a game set in a dystopian future where the player takes control of a cat, he was quick to understand the overall structure of the game, immediately distinguishing those quests he felt were required to progress versus those that weren’t very important and skipping over the latter. He also made sure to show off to viewers how cute the feline protagonist could be.

The first episode of GAM3 BO1 was born out of WONWOO’s longstanding interest in and opinions on gaming. “WONWOO spoke up about wanting to start doing Lives about gaming,” lead professional Yeom Ji Been, with the HYBE Artist Content 4 Studio, said, “so we ended up putting together a team to get all the equipment ready and help film the videos.” The name of the series derives from the SEVENTEEN song “GAM3 BO1”—a hip hop unit song that features WONWOO—and was only decided in the middle of the first episode. In the two months since and up to July 28, seven episodes have been broadcast live, averaging a whopping 3.3 hours each. Yeom said it was also WONWOO who came up with the ultimate format for the show, starting with the second episode where he opened with a simple Flash game similar to Sue’s Cooking Game and warmed up with the League of Legends map Howling Abyss for ARAM play (“all random, all mid,” one of League’s gameplay modes) before moving onto the main game of the episode. “Fans were really into seeing Flash games like the Sue series,” Yeom added. Flash games were popular in the early 2000s and mainly provided through web portals, where it was easy for kids to come across and play them. These games stir up old memories for CARAT and also encourage communication between them and WONWOO as they give him tips in the chat. Viewers looking for a more complex gaming experience get to enjoy WONWOO warming up as he plays League’s Howling Abyss, followed by the main game of each broadcast, which lasts longer than the other segments. Between the games’ engaging visuals and stories, and the process involved in completing different quests, the streams become totally immersive for those watching, with no previous knowledge of the games necessary. It’s like a gift basket of goodies whether you’re into gaming or not. When WONWOO plays live, hashtags about him start trending on Twitter. He’s even brought other members of SEVENTEEN on to play with him. In all aspects, he’s just like any pro streamer.

Keep reading!

[beautifulpersonpeach]

BPP!! How many people raised their objections at boba hair Jimin?! I wonder what’s happening to their words now that the Vogue covers have dropped 🤭 Ah Jimin-ah. Why do you do this to us every single time?!

Oh mon Dieu.

Now if he can just give us back tattoos some of us can retire in peace.

***

Hi Anon,

You sent me this ask several days ago and now more stunning Jimin footage has dropped:

(Not a soul alive who is doing it like him)

*

I kinda don’t want him to reveal his back tattoos… for reasons. But it’s likely he does in FACE promotions or MVs. We’ll see.

And for the Anon who was very impressed by the website designed like a new make-up line from Jimin that’s getting a lot of attention for his new album, a website that BTSChartData (BCD) and a Namjoon-biased ARMY made to promote Jimin’s FACE; for that Anon, welcome to seeing the care and thought ARMYs put into the tannies’ work during comeback.

You’re right that people are usually more able to look at something favourably if they already like the subject. And you’re also right that’s why the same group of people complaining that BTS’s promotional videos and material is sterile, basic, vapid, etc, are somehow able to put on their thinking caps to analyze and recognize the subliminal messaging present in Jimin’s material for FACE. One could say it’s only coincidence they happen to actually like Jimin rather than the group as a whole or the other members who have released music so far. But it also begs the question when a similar approach was used for the design and content of the promotional material for Namjoon’s album (indigo denim with sunlight and shadow patterns and angles); for Hoseok’s album (with specific colour motifs of green and red/pink); and before that, BTS’s Proof album. I mean, it’s the same team working on all the projects (with the exception of Hobi’s where the chief designer role was absent) and there’s a marked difference in BTS’s promotional material as a whole compared to what you’d see for many other k-pop groups in the last few years I.e. BTS’s media presentation is nearly all subliminal and often minimalistic as opposed to dramatic and sensational as is typical for k-pop promotional imagery. As I said in my On The Street review, BTS’s approach to media messaging is one where nothing is spoon-fed to the viewer, and instead there’s the expectation to do your own homework, intimately know the artist, and apply that knowledge of the artist towards their videos and media material. We saw it with BTS’s previous concept/video material, and most recently with On The Street and now Set Me Free Pt 2.

I suggest you not let it bug you Anon. The willingness to interpret material for Jimin’s work is less about hypocrisy and more about the very natural human sentiment of bias. If you’re already biased towards something, you’re more willing to make the effort of approaching that art favourably. It also helps that just as with all the previous members so far, Jimin’s concept is legitimately beautiful and thought-provoking.

I’ve said before I’m not really one to analyze concept photos, posters, music videos and such. The music is primarily what I’m here for though sometimes an understanding of the associated media can amplify the effect. For many people analyzing the content is all part of the fun, and frankly the work Jimin has put into his album necessitates it.

Make sure you’re staying in shape and hydrated for his pre-release on March 17th.

[alovelyburn]

I’m quite happy to see no one tried to kill me over that post about comparing Japanese and American uses of the Griffith character type. Not that I thought it was offensive, but I’m always a little wary of generalizations and assumptions based on personal experience and anecdotes rather than more objective/generalized data.

But I can’t help it. I think about how cultural differences influence the creation and perception of media a lot....

it’s just an interesting topic. And I am, myself, a child of multiple cultures as my mother is a japanese immigrant, my father was southern-born African-American and I was raised in a working class PoC-majority neighborhood but went to school at upper middle class white-majority schools for most of my childhood.

So I have this child-of-an-immigrant thing going on that I’m sure some of you understand very well  - this thing where you’re raised half in one culture and half in another. It’s a little more complicated/involved than that, but I’m not trying to bang on about myself so I guess I’m saying, I’m hyper aware of these rifts between the different cultures that I grew up a part of, not just the Japanese vs. American thing, but class divides and American racial divides...

Culture is one of those invisible things that colors everything you see and how you interpret it and even if you’re aware of that, it’s not always easy to pick apart your culturally-embedded viewpoints from objective reality. This includes a lot of moral issues and perspectives on social issues, but also like just basic... understandings of reality and self-definition.

So, going back to media, in fairness it’s not all culture - I do think fans in general can be prone to perceiving things they want to happen as happening even when they aren’t... especially when they’ve invested a lot of their online identity and their enjoyment of a series on that thing happening or being true. And of course people are infamously reluctant to change their beliefs when confronted with facts and logic that disprove their opinions. But I think these cultural schisms do tend to make it worse since the work is much more likely to be trying to say something that isn’t even on a given reader’s radar since that’s not something they’ve been media-trained to see or expect.

This is also involved in, for example, how so many manga or anime stories feel like they’re losing track of their pacing to western viewers/readers (google kishotenketsu sometime if you don’t know), as well as things like why the endings of stories sometimes feel anticlimactic or unsatisfying to a western viewer or reader. Both because Japanese stories have different ... themes/types of themes/lean on different tropes than say American stories, and because the same (or similar) types of characters or relationships play different roles in Japanese fiction than they do in American fiction, e.g. the Griffith thing.

One of the things I do a lot when I’m trying to understand where these schisms come from and how they play out is I’ll take a character and engage in the thought experiment implicit in the previous post - I ask myself, well, if I were watching an american fantasy movie or whatever and this character showed up or this situation arose, what would I expect to happen? And if the character did what they did in this manga, what would I expect the result of that to be? And that is very interesting and revealing - I recommend trying it sometime if you haven’t.

Anyway I personally try to interpret media more through the lens of the culture from which it arises - to the degree I can, like obviously there are cultures I know nothing about and can’t manage that with.

It’s also one of the reasons I think so much about authorial intent - there’s a lot of reasons really especially in ongoing work, but one of them is because I feel the need to try and take my preferences and, well, myself out of the equation as much as possible as a bit of a check against my own biases and assumptions.

[chattegeorgiana]

I admit I didn't really like SasuKarin back then but I decided to give it a chance after reading On Sasuke Uchiha and his bonds with Itachi Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Karin Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno and your posts concerning them. I still don't ship them but my opinion has changed of it a lot and I actually think those two had a better chance at becoming a pair. But I think what raised my respect for it even more was their fan children. I have a soft spot for fan children so it's not really a surprise, but they are all so cute and beautiful! My personal favorites are Akari Uzumaki and the U-Twins! Speaking of the U-Twins, you and Pumiih did an awesome job on them! They look so cool and mysterious just like their parents and I love what they are meant to represent! They're hairstyles also remind me of Madara so that's funny to me lol. I also really like the idea of Sasuke growing his hair out into a ponytail to honor Itachi. The side shavings on his hair makes him even cooler in my opinion. I also noticed something. I don't know know how to properly explain it but I'll try. We see more male Uchiha clan members than female (despite there being some such as Naomi, Izumi, and Mikoto) and we see more female Uzumaki clan members than male (despite there being some such as Ashina, Nagato, and Naruto). It's almost as if those certain genders hold the more importance. So I think it's interesting that it's reversed with the U-Twins. Sorry if I didn't explain it well (couldn't really find the right words) but all in all, I'm excited to see what you'll do with them in the future, make sure you don't rush, take your time and rest, and again, awesome job! 💜❤️

Anon, I don't know who you are, but first of all THANK YOU for your kind and introspective message.

I want to say this is one of the messages that definitely won my heart because you SAW what I meant to do. You explained everything PERFECTLY! That's exactly what I wanted to do. A "gender roles swap" to show that change that is meant to bring in more ways than one.

Because while I do express these changes through my preferred ships, I never really forgot about the CORE elements of what made the Naruto story so beloved, and one of that is the clans & the shinobi system.

Their design have a thought about element from the very strand of hair to their overall design... I don't know if you know me for a long time or not, but one of the things I'm obsessed about is symbolism. So when I create something, there's a symbolic meaning behind almost everything!

When studying Literature, symbolism has been one of my favorite parts. I just love how one can transmit certain themes, ideas, beliefs etc in a symbolic way.

I feel as if this manages to stay with the reader/viewer better. It somehow enters your soul.

Being part of the Shinachiku Kosen team & doing Kaika myself, I can tell you that both Akari & the U twins have a great deal of symbolism behind them & were created with much love.

I know people don't taste SK that good, especially given how the great metas of the past about them has been lost. I only touched in that analysis you mentioned like a small, surface-level way.

If you would've been here in the past when Skania or Homusubi wrote their metas (both great known names in the SK fandom), you would've at least been able to understand where the SK fandom comes from. Or came. There aren't many left anyway.

You don't have to ship them, ofc.

I didn't particularily do it either in the beginning, but then when I saw the symbolism that was building up, Sasuke awakening such power to protect Karin and their similar backgrounds, I couldn't help but fall for the possibility of it. Plus, the comedic act of it. It was something different about them. But alas...

Once again thank you for your kind and introspective message! I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. And trust me, as a writer-wanna be, it lit my soul on fire to see someone properly getting the "underneath beneath the underneath" I was trying to show there. Gives me a lot of mood to keep pushing through this, even if I'm so late with how I planned for the project to go & all that. But hey, adulting will somehow do that with your plans lol. This year has been quite busy on a personal level for me. But now things start to look up, so I should be able to soon get back to it & bring about all this vision I had in my mind to life. So thank you once again for your message and your interest in Kaika! All the best,

Chatte.

[pjsks]

A Place Further Than the Universe (Eps. 1-4) Blog Post

This is a really cute coming-of-age anime. I really appreciate the character designs and characterization. I feel like in a lot of anime, high school age characters are depicted unrealistically. I especially like how simplistic the character design is, as I feel that viewers can take more time to get to know the girls as characters and not be distracted by a flashy appearance. It also helps cement the idea that these are four normal high school-aged girls going on a journey.

Kimari is so relatable to me because I felt the same way as her when I was her age. I felt like I was wasting away and not doing enough with my life when in theory, I had a lot of extracurriculars and great grades. Most people go through development at that age to find out who they really are and where their passions lie. Our parents dictate how we lived all throughout our lives up until that point. Unlike Kimari, however, I didn’t try as hard to rectify it and go on my own journey of self-discovery until I got to college.

I also really relate to Hinata. Even though she’s still in high school, I feel that we share a similar mindset in regards to adventuring before it’s too late. My parents always tell me that college is the time to discover who you truly are, and that experience is more invaluable than the physical lessons you learn in your classes. I personally used to stress out about not taking on enough to prepare for my future, but I realize that this is my individual journey and I don’t need to compare myself to others. I can’t have these same experiences after I graduate college.

Shirase is a little bit less relatable to me because I don’t often have such large, strong passions, but I understand her motivations. I’ve seen people work hard to accomplish their dreams, and I admire her tenacity despite what everyone says about her. She’s a really amazing example of not letting what anyone says get in the way of your dream.

I’m not famous so I can’t fully relate to Yuzuki either, but her story makes me really think about how celebrities must feel. Everyone always talks about how nice it would be to be famous, but after thinking about it, I can really see how fame can get lonely. She has such a pure desire to make genuine friends that it’s hard not to root for her.

All four of the main girls have different reasons for wanting to go to Antarctica, but that doesn’t make any of their reasons less important. At the root of all of their motivations, there is dissatisfaction and they believe that this journey will help alleviate that feeling. I think it’s really amazing to see four different types of people go through their own journeys to self-discovery, and I look forward to watching more.

[okayto]

Mini-Review: The Heike Story

A young orphan named Biwa is taken in by the powerful Taira Clan—also known as the Heike—after their leader witnesses her extraordinary psychic abilities. Unfortunately, what she predicts is a future of bloodshed, violence, and civil war. Inspired by the 12th-century epic tale Heike Monogatari.

Something different from the normal genres I watch, this is an adaptation of a nearly millennia-old epic. I think that’s pretty clear going in, and I have at least heard of The Tale of the Heike, though my knowledge stopped at “Heian period story involving military,” which isn’t wrong, but clearly barely scratches the surface.

The main character is Biwa, named after the stringed instrument she plays. With her father, they wander the country, performing to earn their living. But Biwa also has a secret: one of her heterochromatic eyes sometimes sees the future. When her life intersects with that of a Heike nobleman who takes her in, she gets a front-row seat to the approaching civil war he hopes to avert.

Knowing some history or context undoubtedly helps. For example, Biwa is a biwa (similar to a lute) player, and often narrates the story over her instrument. Looking some things up online after I watched, I read that the story was traditionally told, and passed down (even to the Japanese monks who first wrote it down a couple hundred years after the war), by traveling biwa players. So Biwa-the-character’s presence, more than just an observer and narrator, ties in to its history in Japan.

That said, you don’t have to know Japanese history for this! Like many historical stories, that probably helps, but things like power struggles, politics, and war are easily understood (and reliably entertaining in fictional form) regardless.

Court and political intrigue, battle, ghosts--it feels like an epic. And while it gets serious, those parts hit so much harder because of the first episodes, which both get us established, and show us that the main nobles we’ll see--Shigemori, the kind-hearted noble who takes Biwa in, and his four children--are really likable.

That makes it hit harder when Biwa sees what’s coming, but can’t stop it. This helplessness in the face of future tragedy really makes it feel like a classical story. There are bad decisions, there is hubris, and there are so, so many people who pay for it.

One criticism I have is that it’s really hard to tell the passage of time, unless the characters state it outright. Biwa herself hardly changes throughout (and at least one character remarks on this), and adults don’t change much, so it’s really only through characters we meet as children that we understand that several years pass during this series. I really think they could’ve done a better job of conveying the passing of time.

Also a bit confusing were the many similar names, which isn’t helped by the occasional character designs that were also similar (Emperor Go-Shirakawa and Taira no Kiyomori, head of the Taira/Heike clan, were both bald old men who I frequently mixed up). All the names, except for Biwa, come from the original Heike Monogatari, so can’t be helped, but when yet another finely-dressed noble shows up on screen, it was hard to visually differentiate some, and the names were often similar (Shigemori, Kiyomori, Koremori, Munemori, Sukemori, Atsumori)

There’s a melancholy tone as the Heike continue or are drawn towards conflict, and all Biwa can do is watch, bearing witness to a civil war that she eventually shares as a musical tale. The melancholy tone is aided by the biwa music, strings echoing without accompaniment.

Framing of the camera and similar decisions also added to the story. Just like how the characters, in such polite high society would allude to things and talk around a point rather than bluntly stating something outright, the camera often focuses on a character’s back, or hands, or lower part of their face, letting the viewer making the connection with what’s happening, or what the character is feeling, without showing it outright.

Verdict

English dub? Yes

Visuals: Very nice! The art style, with its flat colors, minimal shading, and not overly-stylized character designs, might bring to mind woodblock prints.

Worth watching? Yes, although it’s not something I binged due to its more serious, and heavy, nature. I usually watch lighter or more humorous shows, so it was a change to go into something that tells you up front “hey, this is the story of a war and a clan’s downfall.”

Where to watch (USA, as of February 2023): Funimation, Crunchyroll

Click my “reviews” tag below or search “mini review” on my blog to find more!