#maybe not something super special or groundbreaking

[coldgoldlazarus]

I just want them to give Hunters a huge overhaul remake that can do more with the core premise, honestly.

[weebsinstash]

Sigh but like ok, ATSV spoilers but, that scene where Miguel is chokeslammimg and saying all that awful mean shit, which is kinda justified because from his perspective what Miles wants to do could, as far as he knows, destroy an entire universe. Well I'm such a sucker for "ok you burned me and betrayed me and now that you want my help or forgiveness, you don't get it" as a trope, so

imagine Reader being in a similar situation and of course Miguel is even starting to kind of catch feelings. You get introduced to him and the society and everything is hunky dory for a few months but, the Bad Thing Happening now has to happen to you, and, you feel hurt, you feel betrayed, you feel like all semblance of choice has been ripped away from you. Wait, you mean this super cool but massive responsibility that took you from a zero to hero... was never supposed to happen to you? You're a mistake? Like imagine you're actually doing an amazing job at being a hero and then running away from the Society, an above average gifted spider, maybe even potentially a mutant, but Miguel pins you down and says those things to you to try and get you to stop and it. Breaks you. Suddenly nothing you have ever done has ever even mattered. Wait, so they preach this horrible thing about to happen to you, that you're forcing you to not stop, THAT'S preordained, but you becoming a hero, you trying to make something of yourself, THAT'S a huge fuck up, a mistake, not supposed to happen? You don't BELONG there?

Miguel eventually comes to your cell and tries to speak to you, but you're just quietly crying and refuse to look at him. You won't talk to Peter or Gwen or anyone else, and they can't even get you to eat until you're practically vomiting from hunger and even then, it's just small, untrusting bites. They try to apologize and cheer you up but you reject any and all forms of communication and especially touch, if any of them tries to hug you, you shove them back, suddenly furious like you're about to throw punches.

You break down sobbing when you're told The Bad Thing happened, and you're asking, can you go home now? You look right at Miguel, look right in his eyes, "so you guys are going to leave me alone now, right? I get to go home and never see any of you ever again?"

That's... not quite what they wanted? You're a talented hero, just a little green! Just because you're kind of, an anomaly, doesn't mean they hate you! This wasn't personal! They realize a little too late that this didn't "forge you in the fires of adversity" or some poetic shit like that, it RUINED YOU. You hate them, you hate yourself, you hate ever donning this costume and risking your life for others only to be told it was all a mistake. You did this because you thought you were making a choice, but how is this any different than being some kind of slave, expected to burn yourself out and suffer for others?

But unlucky for you, there's some canon events Miguel will need your help with in the future, and if that means he has to atone by sticking to you like glue and forcing you to accept his mentorship as he basically drags you around forcing you to be Spiderman, then that's just what he's going to have to do. And if you turn out to be some kind of special mutant or other such creature that isn't affected by canon or shifting dimensions like they are, then, clearly there's no consequence if he wants to scoop you up for himself, right? And that will just be another reason he can have the Spider Society hunt you down with him if you ever escape his clutches

But also imagine you were destined to do something like lowkey amazing like cure cancer or develop groundbreaking tech or become one of the greatest spiders who ever lived and they check back in on you and you've like. Sold a vial of your blood to Osborne or something and you get royalties from whatever drugs he uses it for and you're just. Living a millionaire lifestyle refusing to care about anyone ever again and dont even own your spider costume anymore. Just the punishment and pain and manipulation of them realizing that they should've done things differently and they might have doomed your world in a different way altogether but also feeling guilt because they changed who you were, they don't have that person that was their friend anymore, you look at them with either hatred or indifference and just want to be left alone, and Miguel decides, ok, fixing you all up nice and better is going to become a little passion project of his

[mrs-theirin]

quilllllll! hi, hello, i simply had to let you know that i've been slowly but surely re-re-rereading the road, the hidden truth, and you, and first of all, gorgeous, beautiful, touching, magnificent, imagine a rainstorm of chefs kisses raining down uponst you <3 but i got curious and had to ask...are there any cut scenes/fun facts/behind the scenes special features you might want to share with the class? 🥺 hehehe i just know /i/ always end up having a bunch of stuff like that once a project's done, and i'd LOVE to hear any juicy tidbits you've got!!! :P (either way, had to remind you how gorgeous this - AND ALL YOUR OTHER WRITING - is!)

we are somehow on the same wavelength as i was rereading it myself when i got this ask.....i'm onto you queenie......

all jokes aside THANK YOU i am always blown away when you compliment my writing, truthfully, it means the absolute world to me and i'm glad you enjoy what i put out. from the bottom of my heart, your support is greatly, greatly appreciated

that being said. well. as far as fun facts go. one fun fact is that this was barely my idea. that's well known at this point i think but you can thank @merrybandofmurderers for originally giving me the idea of a fake dating, roadtrip au. second fun fact is that i winged the HELL out of this fic. 19 years old staying up (apparently, since i checked the outline???) till 5 in the morning trying to get it done. winged the hell out of it. i had a broad idea, but i built the chapters based off of da2 quest names. so like. i had almost nothing planned. i took a da2 quest title i liked and built a modern au plot around it. great idea i think. poor execution LMFAO

no cut scenes or anything due to the rushed and unorganized nature of the original draft. there are things that i cut from the original in my rewrite, but that's because i felt like they weren't serving a real purpose. i also was super excited to change it so it was modern au but with elves and kirkwall and all that stuff. does it make sense orzammar is in new york? no. do i care? also no

i have been intending to write a follow up ever since the ORIGINAL story, but it just hasn't felt right yet. i know i want to do it. and i really hope i will do it. but for now it will stay in my drafts, lovingly titled "trthtay superbowl follow up". between that and the eden/varric wedding at skyhold fic, we could place a bet on which one gets finished first! (psst, it's probably the wedding fic. i've written more for that. unrelated but maybe expect that? soon? ish? don't hold me to that)

anyway, i'd say the biggest thing is that trthtay was my "i can do better" fic, truthfully. i was STUNNED when it got on a screenrant article (before it was even finished too?), i mean, i still have my section printed out in my dresser. it was exciting. but to see so many eyes on something i didn't think was of the quality i'd like it to be was stressful. i wanted to be great. i wanted the thing that so many people saw from me to be groundbreaking. and i really didn't feel like it hit that mark. i don't even think the rewrite hits that mark! there are things that i've written that i feel are better than both. but, there's a bright side to everything, and that's that even what i would consider one of my worse fics was loved. it was loved. it was enjoyed. not only by the author of that article (david caballero, there's nowhere i can message you on that site, but if you ever see this, thank you so so much) but by everyone who decided to click the link and give it a try. by YOU, one of my biggest inspirations and someone whose writing i aspire to match someday. i cannot thank you enough (you, personally, queenie, and you, plural, anyone who's read my writing) for giving me a chance and pushing me to be better

so. anyway. i'm sure you didn't expect your question to get an emotional response, but i think any conversation about trthtay comes back to that. to hope. to gratitude. it truthfully blows my mind that you love it the way you do. thank you thank you thank you. i'm glad i have you in my corner :)

[thefirstknife]

Season of the Deep cutscene reveals

I don't even know how to begin this but oh my god. The cutscene. The origins of the Witness. I am absolutely on the floor right now. I will post the link as soon as we have it but until then, I'll try to do it justice with screenshots. This is absolutely groundbreaking for the whole setting. I'll put it under just in case (also it's long). Seriously don't click until you watch the cutscene:

First things first, the prediction was correct! The first victims are the Witness' people!

This matches with the first message from Ahsa, about the first victims being "nomads and wanderers." They appear to have discovered the Traveler:

It's interesting how it's shown here. As if rising from the ground. Probably artistic visual to show that it gardens and transforms the earth around it, but maybe it might also be showing that this was the first spot it showed up to garden. As if it emerged here first. The rest of the cutscene seems to support that, given that the Pyramid ships did not exist before this so there was nothing to chase it. So it was either gardening before this without being chased or it never gardened before and this was the first place it touched as it spawned into the universe.

This matches the stuff about how they ended up getting to live in a big city in an oasis. The Traveler did for them it did for us, helping them get into a golden age. But as the messages from Ahsa said, they wanted something more from it, which isn't what the Traveler wanted to give them.

I love love LOVE how ominously it shows them building what would later become the Pyramid ships.

Man. Chills. And then their discovery of the Veil! Interesting information; they didn't make it or have it inately, they found it by studying the Traveler. This lends credence to Ahsa's messages where she talks about "two halves of a whole long divided" as being about the Traveler and the Veil.

They went out to find and take the Veil, which they did. The Black Fleet already fully developed. It's interesting how the Veil is show up there without the Tree of Silver Wings/roots section.

Super cool stuff about how they got to perceive the Light as negative:

They already knew much about the Light. How it could bend the laws of the universe and create life. But they came to realise that it could bring ruin... just as easily. The cosmic events it set in motion could wipe out entire civilisations in a heartbeat... without reason. And so they saw the Light not as a source of prosperity... but of unfettered chaos.

This fits with how the Unveiling describes the Gardener deciding to pursue complexity and the Winnower being entirely put off by the mere idea that things could grow to be complex, uncontrollable and chaotic:

Your new rule will only make great false cysts of horror full of things that should not exist that cannot withstand existence that will suffer and scream as their rich blisters fill with effluent and rot around them, and when they pop they will blight the whole garden. Whatever exists because it must exist and because it permits no other way of existence has the absolute claim to existence. That is the only law.

This side of the Darkness philosophy despises chaos. It despises the idea that everything can develop as it wants, that there's no order, no goal, no rules, nothing special to strive for, just free will and your own choices. It seems that the Witness' people came to this conclusion too as they delved into studying the Darkness and started regarding the Light as too chaotic and without rules to follow. Without rules, there is no way to control anything and things can go in directions you can't predict which deeply troubled them. That means that anything could happen, including entire civilisations being destroyed for "no reason." Talk about an existential crisis.

The object in the top left corner showed up as they mentioned the Veil which seems to imply that this is their symbol for it and it's really really good because that's the symbol we know from Rhulk's Pyramid:

Here it is looming over Lubrae; is the Veil responsible for the power the Witness used over Rhulk and for Rhulk which led to Rhulk rising as a disciple and destroying Lubrae?

Darkness is described as:

And then The Woman :) with the text as she appears and gets sliced:

And in the Darkness they found the means to carve away the chaos of existence. To calcify it into a final shape. Eternal... and perfected.

Much to think about what the statue means now. I'll have to rewatch this and everything about it a few more times. But after this detour, it's revealed that the Witness' people returned the Veil to the Traveler and tried making a connection, just like at the end of Lightfall, in order to "reshape reality itself." Big potential implications for the portal:

But the Traveler said no and left. And then it happened.

Having witnessed the truth in the Darkness, they used its binding power to merge themselves... into the salvation they craved. Thus began the Witness's pursuit... its campaign to impose meaning on a meaningless universe.

The reason the Witness has a smoke filled with faces above its head is beacuse that's all of the Witness' people merged together into one being, eternally in pursuit of the Traveler (Gardener), to "reshape reality itself" and to "impose meaning on a meaningless universe."

There are a few very grim scenes of the merging which shows a lot of of dismembered bodies in the shape of a triangle just piling up and then something akin to their essences being pulled into one to create the Witness. Incredible stuff.

Wildest shit I've ever seen. Seems also like we're on a good track with the general theme the game is setting up here. The Darkness is a power of the mind and consciousness and was used to create this being. They learned so much about the Darkness by studying the Veil and the Veil is inextricably linked with the mind and consciousness as well. Its link with the Traveler could, apparently "reshape reality" which, again, interesting implications for the portal now and possibly strengthening my theory that in order to enter the portal and survive, we must get in by transferring our consciousness or perhaps merging our consciousness with something.

Still much to learn about! And we might, given that Sloane has told us that Ahsa and her bond became too weak for Ahsa to also tell us how to get through the portal, but that she will be ready to say more next time.

This season might actually end with telling us how to go through, which I did not expect at all since we have two more seasons to go after that. But then again, this will be just in time for us to be ready for the August The Final Shape showcase; perhaps knowing how to get through and what's on the other side are the basic necessities to understand the showcase at all. Which might mean that getting through and knowing what's on the other side aren't even close to being the biggest mysteries of what's going to happen in TFS.

Absolutely insane. I will be rewatching this cutscene on repeat until the end of my days. I will never be a normal person again after this. So much stuff to think about and try to put into place now with this hindsight. I'll definitely be looking over some stuff again now that we have this information.

[spiderlegeyelashes]

i'm being whiny about my friendship feelingsb

i wish the friend that im the closest to currently would recognise that im pretty, im glad they dont make fun of my appearance anymore but its weird to know someone can genuinely respect me and still find me mediocre at best. i've talked with them so many times about my feelings and my thing with feeling undesirable and the guy has never hyped me up once, never said "dude but you ARE hot", never even called me pretty, and i cannot imagine them ever using the word beautiful to refer to anything about me. and i know this isn't just what they're like, because they find their other friends hot and beautiful, and pause conversations with them just to say that they look handsome on the daily. feels weird man, this guy has never ever complimented my appearance, and like i remember when i had a talk with them about how it hurt my feelings when they made fun of how i look, of my teeth and complexion, how it made me feel like she thinks im ugly, the only positive thing she could bring herself to say about my looks is just repeating how cool and fashionable i am. which they used to say a loooottt idk and also DUH. that's obvious that's nothing groundbreaking I KNOW i dress well ANYWAY NOT THE POINT.. it's just so weird to me. i'm not used to this! usually the people i was closest to saw me as beautiful, though i am far from conventionally attractive. the people that were closest to me, that loved me, that i opened up to considered me genuinely beautiful (BECAUSE I AM!!!! I AM i'm just specific... but i really am gorgeous even if i have crooked teeth and a funny chin and deep smile lines and a moustache and sideburns and a slight stubble...), and i think that's right, because once you love someone you start to see the beautiful things about them more and more, and come on there are so many things about me that are beautiful! my hair, the strength and thickness and color of it, my eyes, their shape and color, my abundant eyelashes, my deep purple green eyebags, my strong bushy and characteristic eyebrows, my beautiful lips, the bump on my nose, the way my hair wraps around my arms like vines, my moles, my figure, the shape of my legs, the way i carry myself, GOD COME ON there are so many things about me that really are so beautiful! and i don't know how to feel about someone i care about and who cares for me not being able to see a single one of them. that even under pressure they can't seem to be able to think of a single thing they like about me. i don't know. and the fact that the only thing they could say is "what nooo i dont think ur ugly i think u dress so well!!! ur so fashionable bro!!!! and me making fun of ur teeth was supposed to be affectionate, like a funny little thing about you that means you're special to me yknow??? u know i think ur super fashionable!" and likee i get it i get that comparing me to naked mole rats or other rodents they make fun of as ugly is meant to be affectionate because haha get it i have ugly teeth, i get it whatever, i'm sure they didn't mean to be mean, and i can't fault them for it, but god something feels so wrong to me about it. around them i just feel like some silly guy, and not a fully respectable person. and we've talked about it a lot as well and they say outright that they respect me sooo much and they loove me and it's cute and i believe them but something is itching at me here. i feel like a silly character when i'm around them. but i also know that they are sincere when they say that they love and respect me. they just don't see me the way i'm used to and maybe i just need to get used to that. i don't know, i feel like i'm insane and i think i'm misunderstanding something about our friendship.

[sabrinatvband]

A Comprehensive List of Essential Comic Making Resources

It's very easy to get surface-level information about the art of making comics. But if you want the real shit, some curation will help. Some of these are neat informative images. Others are books that you'll have to find yourself. There will be some links to videos. Let's get into it.

[Link to a WordPress version of this post so you can share with your friends who don't use Tumblr]

ESSENTIAL BOOKS

There are enough books by professional, highly regarded comic artists and writers out there that you never need to buy a "How To" book by someone without industry experience; something to keep in mind.

Making Comics by Scott McCloud Scott McCloud is maybe a little too afraid of making definitive statements, but otherwise this is an incredible macro-level overview on the subject of making comics. Understanding Comics is also essential; Reinventing Comics is more of a time capsule. Perspective for Comic Book Artists by David Chelsea A comic artist who doesn't know perspective is like a guitarist who can't do alternate picking. This book, which is itself a comic, is a very effective resource on the subject of perspective. I made a short video about a cool trick from this book that they don't teach in art class:

This book has a sequel, Extreme Perspective for Artists, which is good at being what it is, but the advice is a lot less widely applicable. Framed Perspective Vol. 1 and 2 by Marcos Mateu-Mestre Going to be honest, these books are mostly redundant if you've already read the [imo] superior David Chelsea book, but they aren't bad books in isolation and if you get the perspective sickness like I did you'll probably want to read them anyways.

Figure Drawing for All It's Worth by Andrew Loomis Andrew Loomis wrote a bunch of highly regarded illustration books, but this one is my favorite. It has a lot of great practical advice related to drawing figures in perspective together, which begin with the iconic "John and Mary Problems". Here's another essential Loomis diagram:

Drawing Scenery: Landscapes and Seascapes by Jack Hamm I really need to re-read this one, and take it seriously this time, because my rocks look like shit. The other Jack Hamm books [Cartooning the Head & Figure, Drawing the Head & Figure] are also good. Writing for Comics by Alan Moore This is a very brief book, and it's maybe not super revelatory, but none of the advice within is bad. Writing for Comics & Graphic Novels by Peter David Nothing groundbreaking here either, but also not a book that will teach you wrong lessons. PROTIP Remember that any books about writing craft will be applicable to writing comics in many ways; books about writing comics specifically might have a few specialized tidbits, but 90% of writing advice transfers across mediums. Chuck Palahniuk wrote a series of essays on writing that I really enjoy that are floating around in a PDF somewhere; I'm not sure if that PDF turned into Consider This. Eclipse Tips from Top Cartoonists by Various This book is long out-of-print and rare, but you can see a flip-through of the book here. There's a lot of great stuff in it, but the most essential part is probably Scott McCloud's bit. [PROTIP: Using an upscaler on a screenshot of a book can make small text a lot more legible; the image below was upscaled.]

Will Eisner Books by Will Eisner I'm going to be honest, I once read Comics and Sequential Art and found a lot of the information within to be very pointless musings about things [e.g. "What if I drew some panels over a skeuomorphic drawing of a comicbook?"]. But Eisner's books are held in high regard by a lot of people, and obviously he was a talented cartoonist. Maybe I read his worst book on the subject. How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by John Buscema Read this historically significant book, absorb the four or five nuggets contained within, and take everything else with a grain of salt.

Morpho Art Books by Michel Lauricella I find these art reference books a lot more useful than equivalent resources. A lot of comic artists could definitely benefit from reading Fat and Skin Folds; it's not always about muscles! How to Draw: The Best of Basic Training by Various Wizard Magazine used to have a feature called Basic Training where various comic artists would give tips on how to draw. A lot of these tutorials were perhaps too short to be good, and some of the gross ones reek of an assumption that women won't be reading them [see: Sultry Women by Adam Hughes], but there were some real gems in there. Artists such as Joe Kubert, George Perez, Kevin Maguire, Scott McCloud, Steve Lieber, Mike Mignola, and Brian Bolland contributed. The image below is from a piece on drawing realistic women by Terry Moore.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel by Nat Gertlet and Steve Lieber I've never personally read this book, but Eisner-winning Steve Lieber is a highly respected cartoonist and Gertler had been Eisner-nominated before writing this book. I imagine it's a solid resource. How Comics Work by Dave Gibbons and Tim Pilcher Another book I haven't personally read, but obviously Dave Gibbons is a master of the medium. Frank Santoro wrote a mixed review about this book for The Comics Journal. Words for Pictures by Brian Michael Bendis I remember flipping through this for a while in a Barnes & Noble and thinking it was entertaining. The Art of Comic Book Writing by Mark Kneece Kneece doesn't have a very substantial bibliography as a comics writer, but this book is highly regarded by many people. The DC Comics Guide to . . . by Various DC made a whole series of books related to various facets of comics craft. I haven't read most of these myself, but they're all well-regarded and were written by top talents such as Dennis O'Neil and Klaus Janson. The only one I have read is The DC Comics Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics; solid book, implies good things about the other books in the series, but this specific volume is only really worthwhile if you use Photoshop. The Art of Comic Book Inking Third Edition by Gary Martin et al I've never read the third edition, but I have seen the first edition and that was a good book in itself, with the subsequent editions being more highly regarded. The third edition features contributions from a murderers' row of comics professionals: Terry Dodson, Adam Warren, Brian Bolland, Kevin Nowlan, Mike Royer, and many others.

ESSENTIAL BLOG POSTS AND SUCH

Jesse Hamm's Writings on Alex Toth I can't tell you how many times I read Jesse Hamm's LiveJournal posts about Alex Toth [and a handful of other artists] during class in highschool. Unfortunately a lot of the images are now broken, and so you'll need to pull out the Wayback Machine to make sense of some of these. Don Simpson on King Kong Don Simpson, across his various blogs, has made a lot of neat process posts, but these two posts about his King Kong comic are probably his most essential. Rough Riders: Kong Art from Concept to Finish First Kingdom: Kong Thumbnails from 1990 Shit I Wish Scott McCloud Told Me This old Tumblr has been ravaged by time; the formatting has been ruined after years without updates and inactivity, and much of the advice was written by people without credibility [cough]. But there were some real nuggets here. Jim Shooter on Comics Craft There's a website that compiles Jim Shooter's opinions on various facets of comic craft. Shooter was mostly known for being an editor, but he did write and layout some highly regarded comics in his time. Probably worth watching these videos as a companion piece of sorts, especially if you're not familiar with Shooter's ethos. Kelly Turnbull Tutorials The most useful tutorial is Let's Draw Abs, but you might find some use in the other ones. Matt Fraction on Daredevil: Born Again The triangle stuff here sounds made up, but apparently it was intentional. The Schweizer Guide to Spotting Tangents You're going to want to avoid tangents, which can make pictures look visually confusing. Jim Rugg's Octobriana 1976 Process Zine This PDF costs $5, but it's worth it to see over 300 pages of sketches, breakdowns, insights, etc.

THE BEST CARTOONIST KAYFABE EPISODES

I do realize that Cartoonist Kayfabe was a divisive Youtube channel; if you'd like to hear more of my thoughts you can read an article I wrote about the channel on my blog here. In short, I think Cartoonist Kayfabe was one of the greatest educational resources on comics craft. Here are the videos from the channel I found the most educational:

Thumbnails, Layouts, and Roughs Dark Knight Returns Original Artwork Watching the Watchmen The Charlton Comicbook Guide for the Artist / Writer / Letterer Frank Miller's Conversation With Will Eisner Templates for Faster Comic Making The Killing Joke Brian Bolland Layouts How to Draw Comics the Bill Griffith Way How to Ink Comic Books Absolute Batman: Year One Famous Artists Course: Composition Full Make More Comics Playlist

OTHER NEAT YOUTUBE THINGS

Helioscope PDX Helioscope PDX is a large studio in Portland shared by many cartoonists, and they have some neat videos. Terry Moore's Youtube Channel The guy who wrote and illustrated Strangers in Paradise has a Youtube channel where he posts neat, often wholesome videos. Strange Brain Parts Not actually a channel about making comics, but as far as analysis goes Strange Brain Parts is the best comics channel on Youtube. Neat!

COMICS WITH PEAK CRAFT

This list is obviously far from being exhaustive, but I think all of these comics are at least a 9/10 on a craft level, if not also a dramatic level.

OMAC by Jack Kirby A lot of Jack Kirby's 70s books with Mike Royer and D. Bruce Berry on inks are really impressive visually, but what makes me recommend OMAC so often is that it's only eight issues long. There's an incredible panel in issue 2 where OMAC is standing outside of a door and listening to a conversation, and it has an amazing foreground-background element. One of my all-time favorite panels.

By the 70s, almost every panel Kirby illustrated was a masterpiece. So many incredible compositions designed to guide the eye in a circular motion; check out this late-period composition from Captain Victory, which not only guides the eye in a circle but also has a lot of depth.

The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller The 16-panel grid this book uses is masterful; really absorbs the reader into the world and creates a special, often intimate atmosphere. Weapon X by Barry Windsor Smith The compositions, atmosphere, pacing, etc in Weapon X are perfect.

Born Again by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli At least as good as Batman: Year One on a craft level, but also a more entertaining story.

Sim Hell and Fatal but Not Serious by Adam Warren These comics are very effective at creating a sense of space, and also the lettering in these books is incredible. I wrote an entire article extolling the formalism of these books.

Wonder Woman: Earth One by Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette If you want to see what modern 3D-model assisted fastidious comics craft looks like, check out this book!

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Do I need to say anything?

ODDS AND ENDS

Wally Wood's 22 Panels That Always Work Wally Wood made a reference sheet detailing 22 visually interesting panels to help him work through dialogue scenes and meet deadlines, and it wasn't long before every working comic artist had a copy of it taped to a corner of their drafting table. Here's the original, as well as a visually cleaner remake by Michael Avon Oeming.

Jim Steranko's The Laws of Action Solid advice on how to liven up figure drawings.

Alan Moore on Word Counts Moore recounting a guideline from editor Mort Weisinger: What he said was: if you’ve got six panels on a page, then the maximum number of words you should have in each panel is 35. No more. That’s the maximum. 35 words per panel. Also, if a balloon has more than 20 or 25 words in it, it’s going to look too big. 25 words is the absolute maximum for ballon size. Right, once you’ve taken on those two simple rules, laying out comics pages — it gives you somewhere to start — you sort of know ‘OK, so six panels, 35 words to a panel, that means about 210 words per page maximum… [so] if you’ve got two panels you’d have 105 each. If you’ve got nine panels, it’s about 23 – 24 words — that’ll be about the right balance of words and pictures. On the subject of drawing stuff digitally; -Krita is a highly regarded piece of open source software. I personally use Medibang Paint Pro, but I wish I didn't, because Krita has a lot of useful features. I'm unfortunately too used to the way Medibang feels. Clip Studio Paint is a popular paid piece of software that's still quite affordable. -I own a Cintiq and Intuos [drawing tablet with screen, drawing tablet without screen]. Granted I've only used my Cintiq a handful of times because my computer doesn't have enough video outputs, but I actually find that I enjoy the Intuos a lot more; a computer monitor is generally going to be a more pleasurable screen to look at than a Cintiq screen, you don't need to worry about your hand covering or touching things accidentally, and for most people it will be more ergonomic. It also doesn't take up as much space and it's a lot more portable with a laptop. Oh, and it's way cheaper. Remember that art tablets use drivers; it's my understanding that a computer can't have, say, Huion and Wacom drivers installed at the same time. So, if you're planning on getting a screenless drawing tablet and upgrading to one with a built-in screen [not something I recommend for the reasons I've established], consider the driver situation, because you'll probably want to be able to use both at different times, and also probably won't want to regularly uninstall and reinstall drivers. Carapace There's a free piece of software called Carapace that can be used to create perspective grids from photographs. A download link can be found in the description of this video.

Using Blender A lot of modern comic artists use 3D software to position complex items for tracing purposes [e.g. spaceships, cars, etc]. Blender can also be used to build locations you'll revisit a lot , and the grease pencil tool can be used to place skeletons within a space to stage complicated scenes while maintaining perspective. As you can see below, checkerboard textures can be applied to objects to try and make it easier to make sense of perspective

A thing I was working on for a one-page dungeon Blue-Line Pencils You should buy some non-photo blue pencils if you don't already have them. They're designed to be visually unobtrusive, which makes them great for drawing perspective grids and skeletons, and the color is designed to be easily filtered out of scans. They can also be erased.

EPILOGUE

I've been reading about making comics for over a decade, and I think this post more-or-less contains everything worthwhile I've seen on the subject. Remember that the most important thing is actually sitting down and practicing your craft. I do have one big thought relating to comic craft philosophy; a lot of people really love heavily premeditated comics by guys like Dave Gibbons, Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli, etc, but they also want to make as few iterations as possible and / or draw directly onto the board. I'm a firm believer that the only way someone can really create a book like The Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen is by creating a lot of concept art, illustrating detailed layouts, making a lot of notes, etc. You have to adopt the same seemingly impossible working methods that these artists used in order to get a similar end result, or at least I think so. If you can't get anything finished while using such working methods, that's a workflow issue, and there's nothing wrong with that. Jack Kirby did everything improv and he was one of the greatest comic artists ever. But I do think studying and emulating the ways people made great comics, while taking into account advancements in tech, is very important.

[guiltypleasurefandomface]

Here's a guilty confession/unpopular opinion I'd like to share.

I don't think Metropolis is a good film, plot wise.

I got into the idea of watching it when it was just mentioned and brushed over in Media Studies, so when I could, I rented it from this independent dvd/video renting company (the one After the one that went up in price every time I rented something) and, you know, cinematography wise yeah great. And when you consider the technology they worked with at the time (and god knows what toxic make up all the actors has to wear...), like, I appreciate it that way. But the plot... It waned. Maybe all the super sci fi nerds in my media studies hyped it up too much and it wasn't that I was really disappointed about the film but for me it didnt meet the hype... I don't know.

Anyway then the world lost it's collective shit over the found footage and the blended DVD release. So now a member of Cinema Paradiso, I rented it again this special new edition with the found footage and storyboarding blended in with the full movie. I think it made it over 4 hours long and as someone who grew up having to watch the epics over Easter, like... I came prepared. And I am the kind of chronically ill person who will watch a film in two or three halves if I have to.

And same again. Cinematography, great. All the world behind it, wonderful! And the blending of the storyboard was very up my street in a "I dream of having the patience for that job" kind of way. It was groundbreaking for its time. But it didn't really make the story better, plot wise.

I'm just a shallow movie watcher I suppose.

[cozymochi]

If you were to choose what tallest miyuki and sporks colors and personality’s would be, what would they be and why?

Ahh i actually love questions like this, cuz not only do i get to talk about this stuff, you’ll also learn how utterly pretentious I am 😔💕 And admittedly boring.

MIYUKI FIRST! If I’m being 100% honest… IDK if I’d go with blue for Miyuki- this coming from someone who does like blue Miyuki from fanon. But, at the same time it feels kind of… out of place? In general, no matter the eye color, Irkens tend to fall under a very analogous color scheme ranging from hot pinks, reds and purples, blah blah color wheel (there are some exceptions, i.e Skrang the Engineer). And the blue- while cool (no pun intended) seems out of place for a figurehead meant to represent everybody (not touching on hc’s where this may be explained away in self-contained worldbuilding). I don’t want to break that visual harmony… idk.

So, I just went with a more basic dark purple (stemming from a lot of uniforms for specialized jobs). It’s not groundbreaking or anything, but given her purpose, I don’t think it needs to be. It’s pretty regal by itself.

NOW SPORK? I never liked the green Spork fanon. It all just kinda blends into each other and doesn’t look good to me. Backpedaling real quick, a part of me feels blue/green for the previous Tallest were chosen solely on the basis that red/purple are also just distinct solid colors, so the conclusion was just “oh every tallest must be their own color” or something. But Red/Purple also don’t break the general color scheme for Irk? …Ehh… we already got blue/green and it’s those two dumb tall aliens from Abducted, and they’re meant to be parallels 😩

Anyway, I don’t think Spork would be all that special. He’s only around for a second then instantly killed. So I just went with the more generic pinks/red-violets you’d see on most disposable-to-the-plot Irkens and NPCs.

As for stuff I included on both, I think them having distinct patterns is cool. Having alternating hues isn’t unheard of already in a lot of Irken uniforms (and certainly specialized jobs), so that’s fun. It’d give them some sense of individuality since I took away “you get one color and u get a different one that’s super unique and different yet clashes 😩”

As for their personalities? I dunno. I’m hoping the art by itself conveys some kind of vibe for each of them? But if I had to word something, I feel like they’d probably both lounge around, eat food, and act like assholes cuz they’re the Tallest. Spork isn’t around long enough for me to make up any characterization, and tbh, i don’t think he needs any. His purpose is to die. Miyuki isn’t around much either given she only has two lines to work from and also instantly dies, but she has some history and seems mostly competent- maybe comparative to Red on his better days. And probably also deceptive given the materials for universal conquest was commissioned by her from the people she likely intended to conquer (Spork, Red and Purple just following up what she was getting started). But, again- this is based solely on two lines and me being extremely generalized, so if they sound one-dimensional rn im sorry 😔

MaybE GET BACK TO ME ON THAT LOL This post is running long rip 😩😩😭

Ko-fi

[star-lemonade]

Iced Americano

Ateez Wooyoung x Reader

Genre: fluff

Cw: being tapped in an elevator

Rating: G

Word count: 2.2 k

The coffee shop on the ground floor of the building you worked in was a fixture in your daily routine. Every morning you would enter through the glass door and get in line. There were a few tables, but at this time in the morning no one was sitting down. Everyone wanted a coffee to go. The line for the counter seemed to get longer every day. You should not wish for any one to get laid off, but you wanted the guy fired. The barisa was a young man but that did not he was agaile in any way. He was slow and made a lot of mistakes. He did not want to be there, it was written all over his face. Every day you wished that he would quit. It was mean, but he would do better somewhere else. Yes, he should do something that he actually enjoyed.

Today was the day where everything was different. It was your usual time, but there was barely a queue. You got in line after two men in suits and soon it was your turn. It became clear why there was no queue. The old barista had left and there he was, the cutest guy you had ever seen. He had a smile that everyone wanted to be the recipient of. It was so charming the phrase “to be wrapped around someone’s finger” suddenly made sense. There was a moment in which you just wanted to be in any shape that would please the cute guy with the two toned hair.

“Good Morning! What can I get you?”

He beamed at you and his voice was so cheerful, you automatically smiled back. The little beauty mark under his eye added to his already beautiful face.

“Ehm… one iced americano.”

...and your number, please. You did not say that out loud of course, but you definitely thought about it, when you were at your desk. He must get that a lot.

Mornings got way more relaxed and exciting. You found yourself looking forward to seeing the cute barista. He did not wear a name tag so you did not know what his name was and you were too awkward to ask him. These days you could be found at the coffee shop in the afternoon too. You would get something that was not coffee and sit down at a table. For ten minutes or so you would get your mind off work and watch the barista work. You marveled at little drawings he made on the cappuccinos and the ease with which he handled his work. He had fun, genuine fun, doing his work. It was not something you saw often. For most people their work was soul crushing and they would not do it, if it was not for the money they needed to pay their bills. The barista however loved it to make coffee and other drinks for the customers.

It was Thursday evening and no one was in the office any more. Well, almost no one. It was just you and the three people, who had a meeting in one of the conference rooms. You had finished what you had to do, but at what cost? The summer sun was setting outside. It was late already. You shut down the computer and stretched. It had been a long day and going home was your only objective now. How nice it would be to fall into bed and sleep! Tomorrow was your day off and you intended to sleep in. Before leaving you went to the restroom. I look as tired as I feel. You pouted at your reflection. It did not help.

When you returned to your desk to get your bag, the room was filled with the smell of coffee. The meeting must still be going for a while, when they drink coffee at this hour. Although there was Mike in there and he could drink coffee whenever.

The elevator was already on your floor and the door opened immediately. You pressed the button for the ground floor. Finally, work was over.

“Wait!”

A shout echoed in the empty hallway. You pressed the button to keep the doors open and a moment later he entered. The barista from down stairs. He was still wearing his uniform.

“Thanks!”

He flashed you a smile and the doors closed. You stood in one corner of the elevator and he stood in the other. The only sound in the small room was the noise of the machine descending. You were alone with him for the first time, maybe you should say something? The number over the door counted down 15,14,13. He had his hair up in a half ponytail that exposed the blond layer in the back of his head. Even though he looked more tired than you had ever seen him, he was still beautiful. You had a hard time trying not to stare.

The lights flickered and with a crunch the elevator jerked to a hold. You grabbed the railing, but the sudden movement of the elevator sent you to the floor anyways.

The normal white light had been replaced by the dim red wash of the small emergency light.

“Are you okay?”

The barista was still on his feet and offered you his hand. In the dim light it was hard to make out his face.

“Yes, I’m okay.”

You took his hand and he helped you up. The elevator was not moving anymore. The faint surring of the fan and your breathing were the only sounds in the room. Your eyes started to adjust to the new situation and you saw the red bell button next to the door.

“Looks like the elevator is stuck. Let’s try calling someone.”

You stepped closer to the panel with the buttons and pressed the button with the bell on it. An almost inaudible electric buzz came from behind the button.

“Hello?”

A tinny voice came from the loudspeaker. It reminded you of old radio recordings, highly compressed and cut off at high and low frequencies.

“Hello. The elevator stopped and we are inside.”

You did not know where the microphone was so you just talked loud to the room.

“How many people?”

“Two.”

You glanced at your plus one who looked over your shoulder. He stood close to you and you felt his presence.

“Okay. First of all don’t panic. We will get you out but it will take 30 minutes for someone to arrive. I can’t open the doors alone. Okay?”

You looked over your shoulder. The barista was looking at the speaker then his glance flickered to meet your eyes.

“We will be okay.”

He answered with confidence.

“Good. if you don’t hear the fan moving press the fan button. See you soon.”

With that the disembodied voice vanished. You were alone.

“Looks like we’re going to be here a while.”

He sat down leaning against the wall opposite the door. You did not know what to do now. This was just perfect. You wanted nothing more than to go home, but here you were stuck in this metal box. Standing alone felt not appropriate so you put your back against the wall next to the panel and slid down.

“I’m Wooyoung by the way.”

He smiled even though today it was not as bright as usual. Now that you looked at him, you noticed that he looked more tired. It was late for him too. You introduced yourself.

“I know your name. You come to the cafe everyday.”

“Right.”

Oh my god, he knows my name. If you were not so tired and irritated by this situation you would be happy about that. You finally knew your crush’s name and knew that he remembers yours.

“Do you work here?”

“Yes, I do.”

You had an ordinary office job, so you did not know what else you should say about it. He had started the conversation, and you really wanted to continue it.

“What were you doing up there?”

You tried to make the question not accusatory. Whether it worked or not was unclear, but Wooyoung smiled.

“Someone called and asked for a delivery. We don’t really do that, but since it’s the same building, I said yes.”

“And now you're stuck here.”

You knew that they did not deliver because you had tried to place an order when you had just started to work there. What bad luck Wooyoung had had. He had been kind enough to make an exception but now he was trapped on the elevator for an unknown time.

“It’s not so bad. Since I have good company”

He looked up at the ceiling. This almost shy behavior contrasted with his playful tone. You smiled to yourself.

“What do you do when you don��t work at the coffee shop?”

“Not much. Playing games and learning Italian.”

There was a small pause before ‘Italian’ and his shoulders tensed.

“Italian?”

Not a lot of people here learned the language, so naturally you wondered why he was learning it. Apparently this was the question he had dredded. Wooyoung loosely wrapped his arms around his legs.

“Is there a special reason?”

You paid attention to your tone when asking this question. It felt like you were on a minefield trying to avoid what would upset him.

“I want to go to Italy and learn more about coffee there.”

He looked at his hands. The bracelets on his wrist looked pretty on him. His shoulders slumped slightly.

“Wow, that’s so cool!!”

Wooyoung‘s head shot up, eyes wide open in the dim light.

“Really? You don’t think that’s dumb?”

You could almost see his eyes sparkle. Damn, he is so cute.

“I have seen you make a cappuccino for a friend. It was super cool.”

Your friend and you had smiled at the cute pattern in the milk foam. It was more something you expected from a bit more expensive coffee shops.

“Thank you.”

Wooyoung beamed at you. Now that you thought about it, his reaction made sense. Most people do not see the value in doing such a menial task as making coffee. Who would want to work at a coffee shop, if they were not the menager? However there were people who enjoyed these things. They often ended up in jobs that paid more, but were less enjoyable.

“What do you do in your free time?”

You looked up, just now noticing that you had been lost in your thoughts. Wooyoung rested his chin on his hand and made you feel like you had his undivided attention.

“I play video games and I paint.”

These days you arguably spend too much time playing games. After coming home from work you had not enough energy to do anything productive. You just watched something or played games.

“You paint? That’s so cool!! Can you show me something?”

Wooyoung was thrilled. He leaned forward, eyes sparkling, hoping to see something you had painted. You wanted to say no, but his puppy eyes made it hard. You caved and pulled out your phone.

“I’m not very good, so don’t expect anything groundbreaking.”

You showed him some of the recent pieces you had done. Most of them were landscapes with some still lifes thrown in. Humans were simply too hard to draw and you did not have the patience to learn it.

“Woah. I like that one!”

Your face felt hot from his compliment and your heart skipped a beat, when you noticed how close he was. It was totally innocent of course. He had just moved closer to look at your phone, but the effect was still the same. Your heart hammered in your chest. Wooyoung looked up and you could see the little beauty mark under his eye. It was very pretty. He noticed how close you were and gave you some space.

“Wooyoung-”

BANG-BANG!

“Are you okay in there?”

A voice followed the banging on the elevator doors. The old building manager and a technician opened the door from the outside. They helped you climb up to the next floor. The air in the hallway was much better and the lights almost blinded you. Sitting in the artificial twilight of the emergency light had made your eyes sensitive.

You thanked them and together you and Wooyoung took the stairs. It was unlikely that the other elevator would get stuck too, but you just wanted to move your legs.

“They were pretty fast.” Wooyoung’s voice echoed in the empty staircase. “It wasn’t even 30 mintues.”

You nodded. That had been your chance to ask him out. Now that you were in the outside world again, you could not bring yourself to ask him.

“Can I ask you something?”

Your steps had synchronised as you walked down between floors 7 and 6.

“Sure.”

He stopped and looked at the floor. He bit his lip before saying: “Would you like to play some video games some time?”

You stared at him as heat was creeping up your face.

“I would love to.”

You smiled at him and he beamed right back at you.

[rivetwrites]

Emo hat for the fluff alphabet? (shuichi)

//i do love me some shuichi!!

-------------------------------------------------------------

Shuichi Saihara Fluff Alphabet

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Shuichi is a very shy and not a very sociable person, so he’d prefer to stay inside and read mystery novels with you. He’d also like to watch crime shows!! Though sometimes he ruins it by saying who the culprit is by the clues given already. 

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

He loves that you’re more on the calm side with him. He gets a little overwhelmed and stressed when people are energetic or careless around him, so he’s grateful to have someone as leveled as you. 

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Shuichi isn’t the absolute best at comforting people, but he knows how it’s like to have a panic attack. He’d give you a nice cup of tea, rubbing your back awkwardly as he lets you cry into his uniform. 

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

He’d love to get married and have a child, but more in the way future rather than the near future. First, he would want you to move in with him and settle down. He works a lot, so he wants to be financially stable before getting married and having a kid.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

He’s very passive in the relationship, letting everything go very slow and steady at a comfortable pace. He doesn’t want you to think that he’s only with you just for the sake of having someone, he’s in for the long run with you.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Shuichi hates arguments with a passion, but sometimes he gets extremely overstressed and would snap at you. He immediately apologizes the second it leaves his lips, his anxiety rising as he hugs you tightly. If you made him upset, he would love to be alone to read or to distract himself with work. He’s very easy to forgive if you apologize, though.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

He’s beyond grateful. He loves having you at his side to be there with him, to make sure he’s getting enough food and sleep, since he can sometimes forget. He makes sure to do the same thing for you, no matter how much you protest, he can be stubborn if he needs to be.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

Shuichi has a bit of secrets, nothing too groundbreaking, but he’d prefer to keep it to himself near the beginning of the relationship. But soon, he’d let you in on his fears and insecurities. He’s super insecure about himself and he’s afraid to lose you like almost lost his friends in the past. If you have secrets you don’t want to tell, he’ll understand and won’t bother you until you’re ready to tell him yourself.

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Your relationship with him helped him gain a bit more confidence in himself. Him wearing his hat less and less with you and soon, not wearing it at all, was a huge step for him. He’s always nervous and insecure about himself, but you being there with him is a big help.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

Jealousy isn’t something he feels often, but more insecurity. If he ever sees someone flirting with you, he feels like you’ll leave him. Like he’s not good enough for you. He’d be more distant, so you’ll have to confront him and make sure he knows that you’re not going anywhere anytime soon.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Shuichi is super shy about any kind of physical affection, so you would be the one to initiate the kiss first. Pulling him down by the collar of his uniform, you’d press a gentle kiss to his lips. He nearly passed out from the blood rushing to his cheeks as he stutters out something to say. Just silence him with another kiss before he says something embarrassing.

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

Poor boy would be too nervous to confess, though his feelings are painfully obvious. The constant looking away, playing with his fingers or the rim of his hat is an easy giveaway. Confessing your feelings to him will result in a sigh of relief, thankful that he doesn’t have to almost embarrass himself in an awkward confession himself.

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Yeah! He thinks about it a lot whenever he’s alone with you. Looking over at you as you read your favourite book and thinks, “Wow, what if they had a ring?” But he immediately shakes away the thought. He’d be the one to propose when you two are alone together. His palms are sweaty and his knees are wobbly as he gets down on one knee for you. Your wedding would be modest and small, not really wanting a huge crowd. He thinks you look absolutely stunning on your special days.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

He’d mostly call you by your name, or a nickname. But “hun,” “dear,” “sweetheart,” would be regulars as well. He’d mostly call you your name in public, but would shyly call you anything else when you’re alone, which is a lot of the time.

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

Shuichi is already shy about affection, but he’d muster up courage to tell you how much he loves you and how much you mean to him. Just press a small hiss to his shoulder or neck and he’d be putty in your hands in seconds.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

He dislikes public affection a lot, but he doesn’t mind holding your hand when you’re sitting next to him. Kisses and full on cuddling would be reserved for being alone. He never ever brags about you, talk about you, maybe, but gloating isn’t really his thing. He never wants to seem like he’s only with you just because he wants to brag to his friends, he loves you too much for that.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

Shuichi is a very patient person, so talking with him about your weird interests, or your dreams to him, would be very easy. He’d love to contribute into the conversation as well, so he’d look up whatever you’re into to learn more about it so he can have something to say as well.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

He’s not entirely romantic, but he tries to be. Big dates or crowded dates are not his thing, he’d prefer to stay home and relax with you, or go out where you two can be alone. He’s not that bad at cooking, so he’d make your favourite snacks or dinner for you whenever you two stay home for a date.

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

Yes!! Your goals are his goals! Though, if they’re risky or life threatening, he’ll try to talk you into a more tame goal that won’t get you in trouble. But he’s your supporter all the way through!

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

He’s not into thrills at all. He always needs a routine, or he feels like he could mess up the best thing that’s happened to him, this relationship. Though, whenever you have an idea that he might enjoy, he would give it a shot. Even if it didn’t go well, he would never regret doing it with you.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

He’s very empathetic and an amazing listener. He’s not the very best at advice, but he gives it his best. He’s pretty good at reading your emotions, hell, he knows whenever Kokichi is lying now, so he’s great at it. Whenever you feel off, he’ll shoot a few compliments your way, just to make you feel a bit better.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

Your relationship is very important to him. You ground him into the world, and to lose that is heart breaking to him. He would do anything in his power to make you stay with him, but he would never force you to do so. Your happiness is the most important.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

The time when Shuichi is the most affectionate is when you’re in bed together. He’s always very shy about sleeping next to you, but it soon dissolves when he’s half asleep. He’d pull you into his chest, pressing a soft kiss to your lips before falling asleep.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

He’s not a very touchy person, and even less in public, so all affection is at home. His favourite thing is when you rest your head on his shoulder and hold his hand as you read a book. You always look so cute when you’re so focused, and he has the perfect angle to see you.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

He’d bury himself in work, almost losing sleep over it as he can’t truly sleep well without you by his side. Once you return home, he’d be hugging you tightly as he tells you how much he’s missed you and how much he wants to hold you.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

He’s not much of an extravagant person, so he’d give as much as you do, maybe slightly more. He feels like you deserve the world for making him so happy.

[gaylonelydyke]

if it’s not too late, 12 for episodes and ships, and 17!

its never too late! thankyou for the ask 🥰 oo damn this is gonna be a hefty one, just to prepare you this is gonna be long 😅😅😅

spoiler alert for my friends who are finishing up season 2 rn, be careful if you look at my top five episodes, pay attention the the episode numbers, i will put [ ] in bold at the beginning and end of spoilers!

12. Top 5 ships

5. faith x myself because have you seen faith? shes such a babe! spare consensual kiss maam?

4. willow x oz, i dont know if this is an unpopular or not but i feel like if the 90s had been more accepting of term then willow wouldve been bisexual, but like even now tv shows will rarely let characters say that word :( but anyway i love them! theyre both quirky and kinda awkward but its such a sweet relationship and you really see how they go from awkward crushes to an actual deep relationship, oz is one of my favourite characters too what a dude!

3. giles x jenny, mlmxwlw solidarity in this bisexual couple! there is no an ounce of straight between them and i love it, i love their dynamic, i love that giles *respects women* (im staring daggers at xander rn), also the original girlboss x malewife couple askdjaksjhd

2. drusilla x spike, these two!!!!!! once again a bisexual couple with zero straight between them, the vibes are off the charts. sexy vampires, goth x punk love, i just love them man, and their relationship is so interesting to delve into. like theyre vampires, theyre soulless and yet they have a capacity for love, they care deeply for eachother, theyre so tender towards eachother in season 2 in the way they take turns to care for one another, also drusilla picking spike up with one hand made me gay and thats on that

1. willow x tara!!!!! lesbians man lesbians! they have a beautiful relationship, until a certain point wink wink, they feel like a perfect match, willows become more outgoing due to buffy and xander snd having a proper group of friends, so its cool to see her as the more outgoing independant one in the relationship, and tara is such a honey 🥺 the biggest sweetheart in the world what a babe!!!! also like how groundbreaking was their relationship? as a queer couple, they had p much the dame amount of screentime as a aueer relationship today! and willow says the word lesbian so many times and is always making gay jokes which is something shows today are too scared to do, its honestly refreshing which is weird for a show in the 90/00s

12. Top 5 episodes

this is so hard because its such a damn good show so i had to rlly be picky about this but here we go

5. 6x22 ‘grave’- i watched buffy for the first time last year at work coz i worked with one other person just packing shit, and THIS was the episode that made us cry infront of eachother. the scene with willow and xander at the end is one of my all time favourite scenes and like legit we were watching and we starting going like ha.. this is so sad Q_Q and we looked at eachother and we were both crying akdjdjsjdhs its SO GOOD, like this is a friendship ive been so invested in and [seeing xander be able to pull her back from that dark place was so heart wrenching and amazing god its so good]

4. 3x12 ‘helpless’ - im finishing up s2 in my rewatch rn so i havent rewatched this one to double check but i remember loving it man. buffys father daughter relationship with giles is my favourite of the whole show they make my heart ache, so i love that this is an episode that really shows you how dedicated giles is to her, [its the breaking point where he finally disregards the fact that hes a watcher and acts as her father once and for all, its a turning point for their relationship where he is finally embracing the fact that shes like a daughter to him and i just love to see it Q_Q get you a dad who will leave his lifes calling for you]

3. 4x22 ‘restless’ - season 4 is interesting coz it has really good episodes and them some gd awful ones 😂😂 but this one just blew me away, i love a good character study episode and this is THE SHIT! its so weird and creepy but in the most perfect way, its not on the nose its so subtle, it feels like an uncanny valley version of buffy almost, i like that they finished the season first and then took this episode to do something out of the box and different i feel like it lets them fully explore this idea without the pressure of needing plot included. [also the cheese man is iconic. dont however like xander being all nasty with willow and tara but whats new there man]

2. 1x12 ‘The Prophecy Girl’ - for my first watch of buffy i wasnt that into the first season, like i enjoyed it but i didnt think it was anything super special? but this episode changed EVERYTHING for me. up until now buffy had been fun, witty, charming, but not anything new atleast for me, maybe in the 90s it was but right now its your average teen supernatural show. but this episode!!!! the emotion! buffy facing her death, her speech about how shes just 16 and shes scared and she doesnt want to die, that is what i wanna see!! its heartbreaking and it made me cry, and then it gives us the wonderful moment of giles trying to take her place and buffy realising that she has to be the one to do it, man its so good! basically anything with buffy and giles being a duo is gonna make it an automatic yes from me and this is indeed the case for this episode, i just love that the show remembers that shes a child! shes not brave all the time, shes not strong all the time, shes just doing her best and sometimes its overwhelming, 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 i bow to this episode

1. 2x17 ‘passion’ - i know i just sang praises about prophecy girl but THIS EPISODE IS THE SHIT, the best episode full stop. i wont accept any argument. angel is probably my favourite big bad, its so funny to see plain bread, mopey brooding angel become this charismatic, funny, poetic, blood thirsty angelus, hes everything i want in a villain and in this episode he delivers! rip jenny tho love her. i think the tension built around angel is so good, because of his drawings and notes left around, every scene youre worrying like is he here now? are they safe or what? its so tense! and also it is me and im a slag for buffy x giles father daughter moments and this episode fucking delivers! giles discovering jennys dead body is probably one of the best scenes on the show, the dramatic irony is heAVY, we know jenny is dead, we know that these flowers arent from her, but giles is so so happy, and i want to see him happy but you just know somehing horrific is about to happen and damn does it. its a masterpiece! i love jenny and giles so much it is so sad, but also the fact that it gave us that scene makes me almmmoost ok with it? i also love the moment where giles breaks down in buffys arms, hes been there for her and now shes returning the favour and hes accepting it i just 😭😭😭 also on a different note, angels narration of this episode is amazing! it gives us great insight to who he is as “evil angel” and like even though hes awful i was also kind of rooting for him coz hes just such a great villain

sorry this is so long lmao, last question!

17. Which characer do you wish had less of a focus on them in the show?

i dont wanna get yelled at butttttt i dont like the amount of focus on dawn. i think it makes sense for the her first season considering the story arc but that season really does double down its focus onto dawn and buffy and it barely leaves room for anyone else to have a storyline, it keeps the episodes super depressing too its like a constant level of just sadness the whole time because we’re so stuck in THEIR arc, theres no room to balance it out and have a breather, some people might like that its more serious but i really really didnt like, i love episodes like prophecy girl where it is campy and brings the more emotional notes in when the time comes, but dawns whole arc is just constantly depressing the whole time i just hate it, and also just shes not a character i felt i could connect to because of how suddenly shes introduced, so its weird to have her SO focused on in the first half of that season coz we dont know her yet so i feel like the emotional moments dont land the way that they should? basically they shouldve eased us into dawn or introduced her differently and maybe i would like her enough to want the focus on her but i really just dont

adksjakjshd apologies for the essay this is, thanks for the ask!

[laceyeb]

Because I’m determined to be excited about this season of DWTS (and I genuinely am!), I’m going to try to post much more about this season than I did last season and start sharing my opinions now! Starting with the cast thus far of course, with my excitement ranking out of 10 because I do what I want.

Jojo Siwa and Jenna - 1000/10

As soon as I heard about Jojo being with a female pro, I started manifesting Jenna with all my heart and I am sooooo excited!!!! I’m not saying that ANY female pro on this show is even remotely homophobic in any way shape or form because I do NOT believe any of them are. HOWEVER... If I had to pick one female pro who I feel like would be most “onboard,” it would be Jenna. (Or Sharna, but I’d prefer Jojo with Jenna just because Jenna is younger.) If this sentiment/how I expressed it comes off problematic, please let me know because that is absolutely not what I intended and I hope you understand what I’m trying to say. Anyways... I don’t know if I’m anxious, excited, terrified, curious, overjoyed, etc. etc. etc. Perhaps all at once. I can’t wait to see how this goes and how it is received. I’ve already had a small rant about the target demographic of this show, but I’m choosing to be optimistic. I would definitely prefer that they don’t spend the ENTIRE season talking about the ground-breakingness. First episode, yes. Very important, very groundbreaking, etc. Then I’d like this to just be normalized. I don’t want them to be treated any different than any other couple. I just want them to be like everyone else. I don’t expect them to change the entire world, but this is still very very important and I am very very excited. And anxious. (Also not my anxiety acting up when I sent my mom the rumored list so far and her response was “I’m disgusted.” She’s apparently “disgusted” by the fact that there are people on the cast she’s never heard of. As if we haven’t been doing this for 30 seasons now.)

Sunisa Lee and Sasha - 8/10

I did not pay any attention to gymnastics during the Olympics (aside from the general news I stumbled upon on the internets) because all my waking hours were focused on soccer, but she’ll obviously be great. I would not say that Sasha is my favorite pro, but they’ll likely be a great match. I need to find some interviews of her or something to get a sense of her personality. I’m excited though because I’m sure they’ll be fun to watch.

Kenya Moore and Brandon - 2.5/10

I’ve never heard of her, so I have no opinion. I do have a soft spot for Brandon though. Is she like well known? Popular? Likable? Dancingly inclined?

Amanda Kloots and Alan - 6.5/10

You know I love Alan with my whole heart, so that automatically gives them some points. I recognize her name and that’s about all I’ve got for her. In the little bit I see (I’m just using the Kristyn Burtt article for this), she seems very excited to be there. Dream come true and all that. I will always give anyone a chance if they come in with such a good attitude.

Olivia Jade and Val - 5/10

Right in the middle 5/10 for this because I just don’t know what to expect. Like are they going to edit her packages sympathetically or actually sympathetic AND convincing? Do I feel any excitement for her to be in the spotlight like this? Not really. But she might surprise me. Val can really do no wrong, though, at the risk of starting an uprising, I’ve kinda lost interest in him as a pro as of late. No real reason. Just feel like there’s other pros I care more about/am more invested in.

Matt James and Lindsay - 5.5/10

I’m very excited to have Lindsay back, so let’s start there! It feels like it’s been about 27 years since we’ve seen her, despite the fact that she posts about 4 hours of IG stories a day and I happily watch every second. I don’t know a whole lot about Matt aside from the fact that he’s a Bachelor guy. I don’t think I’m exactly thrilled about what little I’ve seen and I don’t know what he’s like personality-wise. But at least Lindsay is back and seems happy so far.

Iman Shumpert and Daniella - 2/10

I’ve never heard of this guy and could not care less about basketball, so I don’t even have a reason to get excited. I’ve got nothing against Daniella at all, we just don’t know her that well yet. Is he well-known/likable/have a likelihood of dancing skills?

Jimmie Allen and Emma - 9/10

I don’t know a great deal about him personality-wise either, but I’m already excited! I love Emma, I love a country singer on DWTS, I love getting to see someone on the show who I already know. Very excited all around! Can he dance? Who knows! But I look forward to finding out! He’s got a few great songs that I absolutely adore and I need to make a playlist! I think they are going to make a good pair and I’m glad he’s with a pro I really like (aka not Cheryl I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️).

Brian and Sharna - 11/10

Sharna. Sharna’s man. Sharna in love. Sharna happy. What else could I possibly ask for?! I wondered if they would partner them together or not. In a non-pandemic world, maybe not. What with married pros living apart from each other for the season, they would have to too if they weren’t partnered together. Not that they deserve any special treatment. But if they don’t HAVE to be apart, why have them be apart you know? It’s going to be really entertaining to watch Sharna post about her “partner” for the next two weeks when we all know it’s him. Believe it or not, I have not followed their relationship really super close and they also don’t post an excessive amount together (which I have no problem with because people are entitled to their privacy and what not), so I’m excited to get to see so much more of them together! If Sharna’s happy, I’m happy. Can he dance do we think?!

Christine Chiu and Pasha - 1/10

Uninterested. No idea who she is and like with Daniella, I just don’t know Pasha enough to get that excited. Again: Is she likable/popular/dance-inclined? Beats me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Mel C. And Gleb - 4/10

I like Gleb more than most do, but I’m not obsessed by any means. (I mean, he’s not Sharna.) Nothing against any Spice Girls, but I’m fairly neutral on the whole. She will likely be pretty good and probably fairly popular. I look forward to seeing how she does, but I’m pretty much take it or leave it with them. It’s entirely possible she could be the dark horse I fall in love with by like week 3 and then decide she’s my favorite of the season.

Melora Hardin and Artem - 10/10

I’m VERY excited. I’ve already posted about her a bit, but oh boy I’m excited! I’ve seen exactly ZERO episodes of The Office, but I know her and LOVE her from The Bold Type aka one of my most important Gay Awakenings™️. (There were several...) I love me some Artem and he will be a great match with her as well. She’s definitely going to be one of the older pros this season (though I think she’s in her 50s which is decidedly not OLD old), but I know she has Broadway experience. I would love a week 1 foxtrot to put her solidly in a 3 way tie for third place with 4 7s and then coming in week 2 with like a samba that she absolutely nails (8,7,7,8) to prove she really can do it all. (It’s possible I’ve been watching this show for too damn long.)

Mike Mizanin - 1.5/10

I will not call him “The Miz.” I do not know this man and I do not care. Put him with Cheryl and send them home week 1. Ok wait. I’ll be nice. I definitely know NOTHING about him, but maybe he’s a fun and pleasant person. We’ll see. And if he is, I might entertain the possibility of calling him “The Miz.” (Whenever they have anyone from like WWE, UFC, boxing, or anything like that, I just do not care because I don’t know anything about them. But Paige VanZant was my actual Gay Awakening™️, so I try to keep an open mind.)

[pro-fangirls-unsocial-life]

Can I be a funky folk and ask a question??? 😋What is your favorite movie or tv show, aside from Star Wars?

You absolutely can!!❤❤

That is a tough one though. I’m a film major but like... a bad one I guess cause none of my favorites are any of the classics that we have to watch lmao. I chose my favorites based on how much fun I have watching them!

But also, because of that, it is hard to pick just one so I’m going to give you three random ones from my top ten list (excluding Star Wars of course cause those are definitely there lmao)

Movies:

1. Yojimbo (1961) This is probably the one that would be the most acceptable for my film professors. It was made by Akira Kurosawa, who some of you might know as a Japanese director who made quite a few famous samurai films. For all of my fellow Star Wars fans (and maybe other film people lmao), the episode in the Clone Wars and The Mandalorian where the small farming villages are taught how to protect themselves from bandits/pirates is based on his movie Seven Samurai (which is what The Magnificent Seven was also based on). And, the season two episode of The Mandalorian, The Jedi, was heavily influenced by Yojimbo, specifically this scene:

I highly recommend the movie to anyone because it is honestly very entertaining and for my fellow film nerds, the blocking and camera work is stunning (although Kurosawa is a fantastic director and his blocking of scenes is always fantastic)

Another little fun fact, the actor who plays the main character in Yojimbo (as well as many of Kurosawa’s films) was who George Lucas originally wanted to cast as ObiWan Kenobi. His name is Toshiro Mifune.

Another bit of trivia that probably none of you are interested in is that Kurosawa always tries to have an element in every single shot of his movies. The elements always have something to do with the shot, or story as a whole and add another interesting layer to the movie. Like in the shots above, the main element is wind, signifying the turmoil and unrest that is taking place (I won’t spoil the movie for you though❤ the plot is not at all similar to the episode of the Mandalorian so there is no need to worry). In another one of his movies, Rashomon (1950), the element throughout a majority of the movie is rain (water) and it does not change until the mystery of the murder that took place is solved, and the skies become clear. (I also highly recommend that movie as well)

2. Pacific Rim (2013) Ok, this one is just a fun time. There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about it (although the special effects are stunning), I just enjoy it. And, unlike other monster movies, you see the monsters right off the bat. They don’t hide them and the story is honestly really interesting. I just really love this movie. Its fun, the characters are well written and endearing (plus the side characters the gay scientists have a side plot that actually furthers the story, the story is interesting and the concept of drifting is beautifully unique and done very well, the score is phenomenal, and as I said before, the effects are beautiful. They did a very good blend of practical and CG effects and it really pays off in the end product.  Guillermo del Toro really put his heart into this (like he does with all of his projects I am so excited to see his Pinocchio movie) and it really shows. This movie is so good and I will defend it to the end of my days. Also for any of you that are interesting I am currently working on a Pacific Rim Clone Wars AU so... do with that information what you will

Side note, I really wish the sequel was good cause John Boyega is a good actor and deserves to be in a franchise that will use him and his talents properly.  Guillermo del Toro did not direct that one and.... it shows.

3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) I cannot shower this movie with enough praise. If you haven’t seen it, you need to. It is one of the most gorgeous, beautiful to look at, piece of art in every single frame thing that has ever been put to film and I will fight people on that (fuck you professor carter). The story is fantastic. The whole movie is a visual masterpiece and you can tell that a lot of hard work and love went into making it that way. Both the score and soundtrack are amazing. It is, in my opinion, the best superhero movie ever made. I could go on for hours about what a masterpiece this movie is. Please go watch it if you haven’t seen it.

TV:

1. Criminal Minds (2005-2020) I know, I know. Everyone loves this show. I know I’m basic. But again, I judge based on my enjoyment of things lol. I just like shows like this. I watch a lot of them NCIS, Castle, Bones, Law and Order. I just find them super entertaining (even if the writing can be bad at times *cough* final season of criminal minds where they tried to do a JJ and Spencer romance *cough*)

2. Face Off (2011-2018) I know there is a Nicolas Cage movie of the same name but this show is fucking awesome. It’s a reality competition show where make up artists are given a new prompt/concept/challenge that they have to do prosthetic make up for. It is so cool to see all of the designs and the process behind them being made. The first season starts off with a bunch of drama like most reality TV, but after that, the competitors are all mostly very kind with one another and it is a very friendly environment. Still a bit stressful because of the time limits but still a fun watch!! 

3. What’s New, Scooby-Doo? (2002-2006) If there is any show that was my childhood (besides clone wars), it is this show. I love this show with my whole heart and Scooby-Doo is very dear to me. Its just a fun kids show. Simple as that. But I absolutely adore it. 

Thank you so much for this!! I really love talking about movies and TV. And if you ask me a simple question, you will most likely get a mini essay as an answer lol.

I’d love to talk about any movie or TV show that you guys ask about though!!! If you ever want to send something in, please do so!!

[seeminglyseph]

little bit of a redraw/redesign thing. I wanna shade it but also I spent multiple hours zoned out drawing her hair. I like feel super cringe showing the original but like it’s clear I used no reference, was more interested in silhouette than pose dynamics (I’m even being generous and cropping it, my ability to know what’s important to a picture is non existent) and also learned exactly how bad it looks to shade with grey. I did not use a reference and did not have the time or discipline to do the details I’m managing now...

I have this group of OCs I keep meaning to write... something about. I’ve been playing around with designs for a while (and not been very great at it, honestly looking at the old designs. They’re either really really bland or my concept of design and anatomy... can we just say I’m improving? That was meant to be lipstick but it was a bad choice and I definitely see it. I’ve also experimented with makeup in drawings. I don’t know how to mix it with the cel shading. I tend to make solid blocks of eye shadow, but it doesn’t work good for the really blush heavy looks. I’m trying to give her that like e girl style heavy blush and highlighter. My idea is that she’s like an anime and games youtuber/streamer? Her name is Tamara and she has two love interests and originally it was a werewolves are a found family story but idk if I have anything remotely werewolfy for them to do. also I don’t wanna draw wolves. I was gonna say ‘I just want werewolf dynamics without having to draw wolves’ but that’s just abo fic. which I am not above, I do love some mate bonding and like packs. it’s about a bunch of queer kids coming together and like doing stuff. when I was designing them I was super into Wet Moon by Sophie Campbell? So I was like thinking of just some just like intense character based journeys. Really original, “hello I would like to write queer found family personal drama?” groundbreaking. I wanna though...

Tamara’s kind of a sheltered baby of her family, she’s trans and her parents got a little hover-parent over it. She started her transition in her childhood so she was on puberty blockers and the whole thing, she was kind of a shut in because she’s shy and a nerd and didn’t get out much until she went to art school and the story starts. So she’s a shy lover of anime and cute things and she wants to be a manga artist and art school is going to be very hard because like why write a story about a thoroughly uneventful time? like I said I have no idea where the werewolf shit would fit in. I gotta admit this started focused entirely on the other main character Jon who has been through many incarnations but when they started being werewolves was like an uwu omega special werewolf mage.. so like there’s a confused disconnect between what was clearly self indulgent spank bait and what was supposed to be a lot of character drama.

which I suppose isn’t to say intense character drama can’t be spank bait but I think probably not with abo dynamics lol. though it would be interesting to play it straight and see if I’m a good enough writer to pull it off (I’m not) I do hears that there’s a market for it in the world of self publishing lol I just wanna write like batshit insane drama like a soap opera. I think part of me still misses the high of being into Teen Wolf, I just want extreme relationship drama and love triangles and found family and one night stands and shit combined with like monster of the week supernatural garbage. “Hi we’re a bunch of queer college age werewolves we solve ghost crimes” I want that. if teen wolf could get away with some prosthetics and eye effects, I can too. please don’t still be reading this I put it under the cut because I knew I was going to end up talking too much. I have to either say nothing about a drawing or explain my whole thought process, there is no in between.

Cutesy e-girl weeb goes to art school and maybe does supernatural adventures but definitely ends up the focal point in a love teetertotter between her best friend since childhood who went to college one year earlier and got like suuuuper attractive and it’s a little weird but she honestly couldn’t love anyone more, and the hot nonbinary fellow art student with like... depths. I know it doesn’t sound like it should be much of a fight but like just because a relationship is new it doesn’t make it less good. and theoretically the hot nonbinary artist is very hot so don’t give up on him yet. Though childhood friend is also theoretically hot. Everyone is theoretically hot because I wanna make them hot.

[inmyarmswrappedin]

Regrading your last anon. I have heard so many times now that the Ava/Mailin storyline overshadowed Fatou's and I'm so tired of that argument. Obviously the most important things have already been addressed (Fatou herself being Black and therefore racism being super relevant to her season) by fandom but I also feel like since they were in the position of not knowing if the show would be renewed they tried to still give at least all the cash queens storylines that give their characters more depth and I really appreciate that. Especially considering how important that storyline is. And as you said, no one complained about Kieutou scenes in Nora's season and possibly also wouldn't have minded more Ismail or Yara (or even Mailin on her own if for example she would have dealt with maybe her own sexuality or something like that and would have come to Fatou for advice). Like, people say it isn't racism or specially biases against a Black dark-skinned fat woman but I just don't really buy it. (Sorry if this is too harsh)

Hi anon 🎶 Lmao no worries, I’m really not the type to clutch my pearls when people call certain reactions to Ava what they are, i.e. racism, colorism and fatphobia.

I mentioned this in another post, but two of the things that people complained about the most in s4 were that Kiki turned into the world’s best white friend overnight, and that Sam and Amira didn’t bond over both of them being woc (with Sam being black). The Ava/Mailin storyline and the Ava/Fatou storyline are both sooo obviously the team’s attempt to address both bits of feedback in the two seasons that Funk gave them (because like you said, we still don’t know whether the show’s going to continue yet). Like I understand a lot of people who watched this season didn’t watch s1-s4 (or even s5), and so they dgaf what people complained about then, but that’s no reason for the team not to try and give their old gen viewers what they requested and hoped for. 

I think the Ava/Mailin storyline is honestly groundbreaking, or at least I haven’t seen anything like it on a show with both white and black characters on their main cast before. I am so grateful for the team to put it in there, and though I wish it would’ve been connected a bit more to Fatou, it’s still so good and such a great tool for education as it is. Like genuinely I would love for this season to be shown and discussed in schools. Even I at my advanced age of 200 years old feel like I learned and like I’m a better listener to my friends now (not just black friends and friends of color, but also friends with disabilities, and a long etc). It genuinely baffles my mind that people think it had no place in this season. 

And yes, people would’ve absolutely loved to get more Ismail, Yara or ace Mailin instead of this storyline, and I would hope that people reflect on why that is.

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Madoka, Wonder Egg Priority, and the Future of Late-Night Magical Girl Shows

  Beware! This article contains spoilers for the beginning of Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

  It is January 21st, 2011. In the shadows of a witch’s labyrinth, two girls named Madoka and Mami form a close bond. Mami is a magical girl, powerful but lonely. Madoka decides, then and there, to fight by Mami’s side. But then, in the middle of combat, the witch Charlotte transforms into a giant worm and bites off Mami’s head. Madoka’s eyes widen in shock. A broken china cup seeps tea on the ground. Smash cut to the wails of goth rock trio Kalafina as black clouds roil and a single flickering shape strides toward oblivion. Three episodes in, Puella Magi Madoka Magica threw down the gauntlet. Over ten years later, the mark it left is still there.

  Puella Magi Madoka Magica was special. But why? Not because it was the “first dark magical girl series.” Sailor Moon, the modern magical girl standard-bearer, became popular not just because of its charming characters but because the show could do things like briefly kill everyone during the series finale. Even magical girl series aimed at younger audiences, like Ojamajo Doremi, tackled subjects like the death of a pet or the aftermath of a divorce. Not to mention the infamous 46th episode of Magical Girl Minky Momo from 1983, when the titular heroine was hit by a truck! Truly, everything has been done before.

  The secret to Madoka Magica’s success is that it is not really a magical girl show. It is a suspense thriller cunningly disguised as a magical girl show. It has as much in common with Kamen Rider Ryuuki as it has with Sailor Moon, and was written by Gen Urobuchi, a former eroge game writer who ran in the same circles as Kinoko Nasu and Hoshizora Meteo. Madoka Magica is not interested in the slow process of endearment by which magical girl series ease you into the daily routines of their characters — the weekly monsters, transformation stock footage, holidays, and very special episodes. It presents as such only as long as it takes to put you off guard, and then (clad in the gorgeous raiment of art team Gekidan Inu Curry) it goes for your throat. 

    So it was that Madoka Magica became the standard-bearer of a new kind of late-night anime. Rather than “cute girls doing cute things,” let’s call this genre “cruel things happening to cute girls.” Take something charming and unassuming, like a magical girl story or a high school slice-of-life show. Populate it with fun, marketable characters. Then set those characters screaming when the real story pops out like a jack-in-the-box. The frisson between cute and scary hopefully generates enough charge to catch the attention of audiences, but  — most importantly  — audiences don’t have to reach that far to engage with it. That is because these shows are built off those same conventions that anime fans are familiar with. Those conventions just happen to be evil this time.

  As often happens in the entertainment industry, the success of Madoka spawned many copies. These projects did not have Gen Urobuchi, and they were often not lucky enough to have an art team as singular as Gekidan Inu Curry. All things considered, they tried their best. YUKI YUNA IS A HERO brought a different former eroge game writer, Takahiro, on board. Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka made its team of magical girls a proper military unit. More recently, GRANBELM added giant robots to the stew. I’d say Granbelm is my favorite of these, if only because the giant robots were pretty cool! I’d love to see them in a Super Robot Wars game one day.

    Some of the more interesting entries in the “cruel things happening to cute girls” genre didn’t have any magical girls in them at all. Selector Infected Wixoss was a card battle show about teens fighting for wishes; writer Mari Okada smartly changed focus from the cruel system tearing the characters apart to the way that individual selfishness keeps cruel systems running perpetually. SCHOOL-LIVE! featured a group of schoolgirls continuing their slice of life activities within a world devastated by a zombie apocalypse; the anime production was bolstered by a murderer’s row of writers from Nitroplus, Urobuchi’s former stomping ground. Episode 3 — a flashback to teacher Megumi on the day of the outbreak — is a genuine triumph, precisely because it is so earnest. Rather than pushing hard to shock or disgust the viewer, it allows the characters to breathe in the moments leading to disaster and lets the horror come naturally.

  Traditional magical girl shows, in the meantime, have been doing just fine. We’ve seen several good seasons of Precure and two fantastic ones, the all-rounder Go! Princess Precure and uneven but groundbreaking Hugtto! Precure. Sailor Moon’s Crystal remake seasons and movies have steadily improved after a rocky start. The first few seasons of magical idol series Aikatsu are charming and introduce a fun legacy quirk that ties together characters from different seasons. Even Ojamajo Doremi has seen a follow-up film that puts the spotlight on the generation who grew up watching it.

    Madoka’s successors, on the other hand, are in a trickier place. Some of them have been successful, others have been good, but none have recaptured that lightning in a bottle that made Madoka a hit. Even a recent Madoka Magica series based on a phone game, written by Gekidan Inu Curry themselves, came and went without much buzz.

  In the years since Madoka aired, there have been plenty of folks who have expressed their reservations about the “cruel things happening to cute girls” genre. After all, magical girl series can be revolutionary or transgressive without being cruel. Hugtto! Precure introduced the series’ first male Precure (equally comfortable wearing dresses as skating outfits) and featured a romantic partnership between two of its female leads. Go! Princess Precure’s best fight scenes are as spectacular as anything in this year’s Jujutsu Kaisen, yet remain perfectly accessible for its target audience of young girls. Madoka's progeny may have been targeted at older — and often, male — audiences, but outside of some blood and gore just a few of these series were more genuinely mature than the children’s series they riffed upon.

  Image via HiDive

  I do still see a future for late-night magical girl shows. In 2016, a weird magical girl series called Flip Flappers aired. Directed by animation wunderkind Kiyotaka Oshiyama, it featured two girls in love traveling through many strange and colorful environments in search of macguffins. Hidden inside a candy coating of marketable elements was everything from the Freudian fairy tale theories of Bruno Bettelheim, to architectural oddities such as thomassons, to occult figures like Jakob von Uexkull. Flip Flappers harnessed some of Madoka Magica’s sense of danger, putting its cast into intense and scary situations from the very first episode. But it was not a show about girls being tortured by an evil system; it was a show about girls exploring surreal dreamscapes. A new genre had been created: “cute girls doing weird things.”

  Here are the cornerstones for the “cute girls doing weird things” genre: you need girls of course, maybe even magical girls, but the rules behind their magic are nebulous. Rather than take children’s genres and corrupt them, you build out atmospheric settings, drop in the characters, and see what happens next. You give the cast room to express themselves within the bounds of the story, rather than leading them down an assembly line to their doom. The malevolence of Madoka is not off-limits, but more useful still than malevolence is uncertainty. The goal is to unsettle the viewer rather than disgust them.

  Image via Funimation

  Five years after Flip Flappers, a new show walks these same steps: Wonder Egg Priority, an original series from CloverWorks. Of course, Wonder Egg Priority is aiming at something totally different than Flip Flappers. Its spooky environments are incidental. Its main aim is, through riffing on the work of Kyoto Animation and famed director Naoko Yamada, depicting in full and uncompromising detail the difficult emotional lives of teenage girls living in the modern-day. Those lives just happen to be filtered through an anime lens of trauma manifesting as horrific creatures that have to be destroyed, and girls that need to be saved. Yet to me, Wonder Egg Priority captures the dreamlike atmosphere that Flip Flappers achieved in its best moments — the means by which characters exploring unfamiliar spaces reveal themselves in new and different forms. Despite being made of familiar parts, in execution, I think it is something new.

Somewhere between Flip Flappers and Wonder Egg Priority lies the future of late-night magical girl shows. They should not ever replace the ones made for kids; those do perfectly fine on their own, thank you very much. But in their embrace of uncertainty, I recognize a ghost of what I once felt when I first saw Charlotte’s gaping maw. The sensation that the ground had disappeared, and that — like magic — anything was possible.

  What's your favorite recent magical girl show? Are you excited for the newest season of Precure? Does Wonder Egg Priority terrify you on a weekly basis like it terrifies me? Let us know in the comments!

      Adam W is a Features Writer at Crunchyroll. When he isn't reciting lines from Revolutionary Girl Utena, he sporadically contributes with a loose coalition of friends to a blog called Isn't it Electrifying? You can find him on Twitter at @wendeego

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By: Adam Wescott