#my first animatic and its this entire thing

[cconfusedkat]

Ok i had my audhd scrolling of the day i need to now finish up my animatic

[signanothername]

Saw your animatic of NIGHTMARE HAS FALLEN, peak comedy right there

also, your art of Killer squshing Nightmare's cheeks was awesome, but also prompted my brain to question "How would Killer interact with Passive?"

On one hand, small child, like Chara, but wow this is really cute and innocent, why the fuck is it considered evil? On the other hand, if he knew it was Nightmare...actually, idk, Killer is pretty smart, so I'm not entirely sure how it would play out

Hahaha thank you!!

Ooooh i love this question

Ok so I feel like it depends on what circumstances they meet, but let’s go with “Killer never saw Passive before and it’s the very first time they meet”

I don’t think the fact Passive being a child would deter Killer at all, cause Passive differs greatly in temperament and character from Chara, I feel like Passive might actually reminds him of Frisk actually (and that on its own opens a whole pack of problems)

But the thing is, just as you said, Killer’s smart, I believe he’ll figure out it’s Nightmare pretty quickly, considering how observant Killer is and how Nightmare’s appearance gives it away

I mean, a child that is basically a copy paste of Dream only has the opposite colors, has a golden crown of his own with a crescent on it?? And is glued to his lil book? Yeah that’s definitely Nightmare, hell his lil belt has “NM” on it, like Killer would have to be an absolute idiot to not figure it out, with one look Killer would immediately know it’s Nightmare, it wouldn’t take any time at all

Now to talk about how they’d interact

Let’s imagine they’re in Dreamtale before it got destroyed

Important thing to think about first and foremost, is whether Dream would be present with Nightmare when they meet or not

For the sake of this ask we’re going to assume Dream has gone to visit the village, so it’s only Nightmare sitting with the tree by himself

I feel like it’s important to keep in mind that this isn’t a one way interaction, it’s not just Killer’s reaction to Nightmare, it’s also Nightmare’s reaction to Killer

Nightmare already has a bad experience with strangers, and Killer isn’t the most friendly looking, so i feel like their interaction is gonna go a bit poorly actually, cause Nightmare would assume this stranger is either A-here to hurt him, or B- here for the golden apples he’s guarding, both not good things

Killer on the other hand would honestly just be curious about Nightmare at first, cause it’s not every day you get to see the king of negativity and darkness, one of the most powerful beings, as a mere helpless and defenseless child, it’d definitely make Killer wonder how the hell was this tiny little creature entrusted to guard something that keeps emotional balance in the Multiverse (not that it truly matters to him, not when he can’t feel anything himself right?)

So Nightmare would be extremely wary and even a bit frightened of Killer while Killer would just stare through Nightmare for a few minutes, but here comes the interesting question…

At what timeline does their meeting occur?? Is it in which Killer is still under Nightmare’s command, or is it after Killer was saved by Color, cause depending on it i feel like Killer’s reaction can differ

If Killer was still under Nightmare, is he in a trigger happy mood or is he feeling chill enough to just not feel like killing anyone, would Killer take this as an opportunity to hurt Nightmare back, or would he not attack him at all? I feel like the latter’s more plausible, cause Killer is usually chill actually until triggered, pushed, or commanded to, plus if it’s Nightmare then he’s not very interested to attack him…. physically at least (tormenting the child mentally seems a bit fun, but he’d file that in his brain for later)

I can see Killer actually taking interest in the apples, I mean they’re literally the twins’ souls… in the future at least, and Nightmare would definitely be wary but REALLY surprised to know Killer isn’t just interested in the golden apples, but his own black apples too, cause no one ever liked his black apples, everyone thought they were evil so why would this stranger not think the same?

I feel like Nightmare while still extremely wary wouldn’t be able to stop the child wonder in his heart and warm feeling blossoming in his little chest at the idea someone actually being ok with the black apples, i can see him take one of his black apples to killer to offer him, i mean no one ever wants to be near his black apples so maybe he finally met a monster who would accept him and his apples?

And Killer is interested yes, but not for the reasons little Nightmare’s thinking about

So you’d better believe Killer would accept the offer, he actually gets to take a closer look at what’s supposed to be Nightmare’s soul in the future? Oh how fun tormenting future Nightmare and Dream would be when he understands how they work

I feel like the apple’s aura wouldn’t have much effect on him except for maybe his soul wavering a bit as it responds to the negativity it’s always been subjected to, a familiar conditioning if you will, and Nightmare would get curious enough to ask about why Killer seems unaffected, only for Killer to tell Nightmare that he can’t really feel anything, and Nightmare just not comprehending that fact, he’d insist that everyone has feelings, and that the balance of those positive and negative emotions is what the tree is for, Killer can’t just not feel anything, that everyone is affected by the apples’ aura, only for Killer to tell Nightmare that he’s a “special case” and would take a lot more than just aura to make him feel anything (cough like tentacles of pure agonizing negativity and the power of 999 black apples taking ahold of the very culmination of his being cough, i can imagine Killer smiling a creepy knowing smile as he looks at Nightmare, little Night doesn’t know what that look means, but he doesn’t like it, he feels like he’s missing so much context)

I can see Killer simply asking question after question about the apples to understand how they work, especially the black apples, and little Nightmare answering only some of them, because a child or not, Nightmare’s smart, he’s not to give info that could give this stranger an opportunity to do as he pleases to the apples, Killer absolutely notices Nightmare’s wariness and his very careful attitude, and Killer thinks Nightmare’s smart for it

Then again that’s the child that’s going to grow to become a tyrant so it’s to be expected that he’d be clever (it’s interesting to see how Nightmare used to be at least)

Killer would definitely try to find a way out after he’s gotten the info he needs (or as much as little Nightmare was willing to provide) and he holds no illusion that threatening little Nightmare would get him to talk, cause if he knows Nightmare well enough it’ll only do the opposite and little Nightmare will not provide anything more, and so it’s time to go cause he holds no deluded attachment to this place or little Nightmare

And I can see Nightmare actually asking Killer what his name is, after all they’ve been talking but they haven’t introduced themselves, that Nightmare has never seen him around here before, and I can see this to be the moment Killer takes the opportunity to be a bit of a bitch and say some bullshit about he’s actually from a different time and how his name indicates his job only to introduce himself as “Killer” and to immediately go “and you’re Nightmare, the king of negativity, tyrant lord of darkness and nightmares” (Killer’s ironically a lot like Corrupted Nightmare in finding joy in the mental anguish of people more so than physical anguish)

Nightmare doesn’t know what “Killer” is talking about, but it sends a shiver down his spine and he’s going to lie if he said he wasn’t terrified not only of the thought of a murderer from a different time knowing who he is, but of the implication of Killer’s comment about his possible future :)

[rawliverandgoronspice]

▴ THRALLS OF POWER ▾

Episode 1: Time (Teaser Scene)

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It is with some modicum of pride (and mild terror!!!!) that I present you this very first extract of my The Legend of Zelda animatic project called Thralls of Power, a project I have started about a year ago and I've been working on ever since (except when my computer explodes and then I can't make progress and I'm totally normal about that btw)

The story is set during the Child Timeline (aka: Majora's Mask & Twilight Princess), starting from Ocarina of Time and progressing from there.

Thralls of Power tells the story of a failed coup, of a desperate uprising, of figures of legend reckoning with their own agency in a world haunted by the remnants of the Goddesses who forged it.

While it is first and foremost a sincere homage to this series I adore and accompanied me my entire life, I must warn that this is probably aimed at a slightly more mature audience than the original games, and veers into more complicated moral grayness and realistic portrayals of war and politics than the series generally tends to do, making it closer to dark fantasy than the original games.

The first episode is about 75% complete, and I will be forced to admit defeat and only attempt to promise its release for the first quarter of 2025. The second one is fully storyboarded but quite ambitious, so I'm not even going to hazard a guess!

The full thing is outlined, but I'm not promising I'll actually do the whole story because it's quite ambitious and would probably take me a full decade, and I don't know if I have it in me. But you'll get a good couple of episodes at the very least!

It unfortunately will not feature voice acting, because coordinating voice actors would make this solo project very complicated and also I'm not a native english speaker and every voice actor I know that would be interested would speak English with a French accent if at all and also I do not trust that I can't find a decent Ganondorf and SO MUCH would hinge on a good Ganondorf performance that I think it would be unreasonable to even risk it

[hydemercats]

awkward looking animatic i kind of speedran

ill put the cws in the tags but ill also put them here just in case ^_^

//blood, corpse, also possible mild flash warning, i left one flame blank at is way more jarring than i intended anyway i made this in like 5 hours it is not the best quality b nice to me/lh

my script under cut, as well as AWESOME FACTS FIRE EMOJI

(the script is like, annoyingly tall)

Run from their pity - matthias finds the house of usher after WITNISSING the house of usher and he's like. um! what the fuck! (im not entirely sure how he finds the gw books, but he does) from responsibility - something something. he figures out portals and loses his humanity or whatever Run from the country - he goes and looks 4 adam and run from the city - adam finds him can run from the law - matthias climbs into jekylls laboratory through the window I can run from myself - oops! hydes already drinking arsenic I can run from my life - carmilla is fucking bleeding out! I can run into debt - hi dracula. he's just talking. matthias is exploring the library I can run from it all - jim shoots a man! I can run 'til I'm gone - jim tells matthias about how he shot a man! I can run for the office and run for my cause - matthias finds winston and is like 'hey man lets get the fuck out' I can run using every last ounce of energy - matthias crisis cuz he still feels some crushing guilt I cannot, I cannot -matthias is like. oh yeah that guilt is probably how im the sole survivor of the usher thing! tee hee! /j I cannot run from my family - transition 2 the end of house of usher when matthias finishes reading the tale and oh shit madeline is here They're hiding inside of me - madeline starts fucking killing roderick but also not really? its. its complicated corpses on ice - they die Come in if you like but just don't tell my family - even FURTHER flashback, roderick and matthias r talking a few nights before, roderick tells matthias about how he's probably going to die and why They'd never forgive me - matthias doesnt fucking believe him but he's trying to be nice about it because he's also pretty sure roderick is gonna kick it soon they'd say that I'm crazy - self explanatory

the book matthias reads at the start is the first book fall of the house of usher was published in, in 1840 i believe?

hyde has a green shadow behind him because of the line 'run from myself' and.. yknow,

matthias has a glass of blood 4 carmilla, he hadn't expected her to be literally dying when he got there

jim, when he's killing a man, has a dagger in his shoulder and is holding that pistol wrong. realistically he would probably be losing his arm here - or at least, being more seriously injured than he already is. or dead. i reread ti recently, he SHOULD be dead by now.

matthias is wearing a top hat when he meets winston, since they are slightly thematic in 1984

fun fact: im very proud of that hair animation

after that transition is where it gets really late at night when im drawing this and i start to go. LET ME GO TO BED PLEASE. so the quality rapidly decreases

if for some reason u read all of this, heres some roderick and matthias art i did for goretober a few nights ago ^_^

the roderick design is not at all accurate to my hc i just used it for simplicities sake. this mostly on one layer, including the lineart, btw :3

[tubbytarchia]

ok i Lied i need to talk about the part at the end with everyone eating the canaries. starting with scott. the first thing i noticed is that it looks like? rather than take a bite like everyone else hes reached in with his hands and taken a small bit to his mouth. which you could say is him being less barbaric, more tender. but hes still eating the canary. and you could argue its more painful to dig around with his fingers than it is to go for the kill in a bite... hes also covering his mouth like hes not even doing it in the first place. and in my opinion he looks the least bothered. looking off to the side like he has more important things to be doing SHUT UP. hes also the cleanest about it. no blood on his clothes. nothing to stain him

martyn.......... martyn. also covering his mouth, but not in a hiding way, hes wiping the blood off. ADMITTEDLY this is like 100% biased insane solidwood enjoyer but. in wiping the blood away it could be like hes trying his best to make it not as unpleasant as it could be for the canary. im not sure if this is just me but it looks like he bit the head off? which would be awful for. both of them. he looks like hes going to be sick and thats the correct response. his expression hurts me a little

BUT U KNOW WHOS EXPRESSION HURTS ME MORE. OHHHH MY GODDDD JOELLLLL :(( the canary not even being in Frame is killing me. inappropriate time but love the way you draw joel as always. if scotts the least bothered then joel is by far the most bothered. my interpretation is it looks like he did something impulsive. then realised there would be terrible terrible consequences........ joel was going to sacrifice himself for jimmy smallishbeans. WHATEVERRRRRRRRR

i dont know enough about saus or fwhip to make like. entire things about them. but i have observations. some more serious than others

sausage holding the canary closest to his mouth

sausage taking a bite out of the canarys chest/the heart

fwhips canary being the most dishevelled

both fwhip and scott being visibly PULLING SOMETHING..... would hurt the canary more (if it was alive)

martyn holding the canary like a burger

sausage looking directly at the camera (you could argue joels also maybe doing that but joel seems more. canary happens to be where camera is. saus doing it on purpose)

the canary not having a face in any of them

OK IM DONE NOW tldr i really like the new animatic. thank u for feeding us tubby tubbytarchia

I have no idea what to add because YAYYYY PEOPLE ARE INTERPRETING MY ART AND INFERRING MEANING FROM IT YIPPPEEEE um yeah pretty spot on though haha. I still have a lot of trouble drawing people and expressions so I'm so so happy people like what I've drawn but are also able to pick up on what I was trying to convey through them... uh anyway sorry for the pain </3 everyone needs to suffer like I do. I'm so happy you liked the animatic though!!!!

[ender-cloud]

Epic the Musical Vengeance Saga just dropped so heres my thoughts on it!!

Overall thoughts: A lot shorter than I thought it was going to be BUT, THAT MAY BE BECAUSE OF THE ITHICA SAGA HAVING SO MANY LONG SONGS

Wait nevermind, it’s the next day and I just realized how long the Vengeance saga is I think I was just tired and it just seemed like it was fast

Also very Nerve racking, and I literally sat there eyes wide and mouth agape almost the entire time oh my god it was so fucking cool, the animation??? Like huh???

Now onto the songs before I start getting into specifics!

Song 31: Not Sorry for Loving you

I am not a Calypso fan, normally I don’t like her in any adaptation or original version, but, with that said, this is the first song that really made me re think that. (Still hate her though, but I tried to put in two perspectives)

The way that Jorge made it so you can really see how tragic Calypso is and really feel for her, is it definitely not ok that she kept Odysseus trapped against his will: yes, but really being alone for so long it makes sense.

Wangui really out did herself, the way you can tell the voice change from Love in paradise which is more upbeat and energetic, to this sad, distant voice in Not sorry for loving you, showing just how much she doesn’t want to let Odysseus go but knows its for the best, no matter how much it hurts her to

I feel like Calypso admitted that she did something wrong but yet still saying shea not sorry for loving Odysseus makes the song more in character and more realistic for her

On the other side; her words are trying to make Odysseus stay. She thinks if she can make Odysseus feel bad for her by telling her all this he will stay with her, but Odysseus is tired of this, it probably isn’t the first time where Calypso tried to convince him not to leave with her words. Despite being tired of the island, he still has his wits and knows better to fall for it

Saying “I’m not sorry for loving you” is completely getting rid of the “apologies” she said before. All of the things that she said was done out of her “love” so saying she’s not sorry for loving ody is saying to ignore everything she said before “I’m sorry for making YOU feel bad but I’m not sorry for doing it”

I can talk line by line when it cuts to the animatic but its getting late so I’ll just skip to the one that really stuck out to me which was Ody’s “I love you! but not in the way that you want me to…”

At first, it threw me old guard, odysseus, the biggest simp ever, in love with another woman! Impossible! But than the second part really made me think about how close they might have grown in the last 7 years

Even if it wasnt how Calypso wanted it to go and how Ody didn’t always have the best times on that island; Calypso still took care of him and they were each other’s only company for years, they would grow close as friends and it all makes sense put into that perspective

And Calypso hating that she fell in love with ody also makes sense in this perspective, if she didn’t love him the two had the opportunity to become great friends, truly all calypso wanted was company, and she knows that if she had stopped herself she would have had that company in a friend. Maybe the two could’ve gotten along better than they could’ve ever imagined just as friends, and maybe, this departure would be more sad on Odysseus side and less rageful on Calypso’s side.

Also Gigis animatic for it was just ahshajbshshs god, it was so good

Anyway, with all of that said this song can also be seen as emotional manipulation:D depends on how you look at it because it can be seen as Calypso playing the victim to make Odysseus feel bad and stay with her, It was most likely the intention but I tried to give both perspectives on the situation

Song 32: Dangerous

HERMES HAHAHAH OH I LOVE HEREMS SO MUCH!! FAVORITE CHARACTER RIGHT THERE!!

Something I really enjoyed about dangerous is what it brought back from past songs, the wind bag, the 600 men lines coming back but this time without the crew to back it up, instead theres just silence

And then of course Hermes is there too so thats by itself is bringing back Wouldn’t you like.

Troy’s voice is just so intresting to me and scratches my brain in all of the right places

To be honest hearing Troy sing the plan of the part made me let out a sigh of relief because all I could’ve heard until then was the Carl wheezer version and I’ve now been cleansed by Troys amazing voice

The whole Hermes dancing part while Odysseus fought off monsters was definitely a lighter thing to laugh at after Not sorry for loving you, ALSO THE TWERKING??? I CANT JUST NOT TALK ABOUT THAT, so now, the question everyones all been wondering, is Hermes giving the Winions twerking lessons? Because I mean the man flys and got the wind bag so must be relatively close with Aeolus (they match each others energy) and there for the Wininons in relation also they were his backup singers so!!? Twerking lessons

Anyways back to the song; odysseus part is so good, I don’t know what else to say about except for that but I truly do like it I swear!!

The fact that Athena didn’t even seem to cross Odys mind at the end was shocking to me, yes they had their falling out but Athena was the first person he called out to in Love in Paradise

The fact that he thinks he was ignored and pushes aside by her is heart renching, i do hope they have a reconnection in the Ithca saga (Because Athena is not dead, I refuse it Jorge, your video was a Lie, she is not dead, Apollo healed her, she is ok!)

Song 33: Charybdis

I dont have much to say about this one Annalyzing wise so instead I will say that It’s very Catchy and will be stuck in my head for all time.

I love Jorges voice in it chat its so good, It always is but like the Vocals on this one in particular I cant explain it

Also the animation is really cool.

God I dont know why, I knew Get in the water was coming but I really was happy for Odysseus to make it home, I think it’s how he sounded so desperate and so close and I just wanted to give him a hug, the past two somgs kept my mind off of what was to come and it really came to stab me in the back

Song 34: Get in the water

All I can think of is my friend going “Oh no he’s hot!” To poseidon when he arose from the water to start off the song, it was a little bit of light before the storm that was to come

I’ve been meaning to say this for a few of the songs now but Get in the water has such a different feeling and tone than any other song in the musical, normally Jorge brings melodies back but hearing a completely different sound that hadn’t been in the musical earlier almost breaks this invisible rule in place and its nerve racking

It dosent start with the normal boss music but instead its own original thing because this isn’t just a boss, this is the Boss that is the biggest turning point in Odysseus, this time we truly see Odysseus become the monster, a monster that scares not only mortals, but gods and other monsters as well, he will never let anyone defy him again

Poseidon’s threats to raise the tide were so nerve racking, god Steven Rodriguez’s voice is so calm yet so filled with rage at the same time, so steady but so ready to break the dam down, and the way it escalates to where the anger is more ahown but its not quite screaming, not just yet has Posedion reached the peak of his Anger

Odysseus still trying to reason with Poseidon, one of the last times this reasoning part of him will show as he tries to convince Posedion to give up after the 10 years this has been going on for

The reasoning turns into a faint version of ruthlessnesses melody, the melody playing in the background, not only to lead into Poseidons lines from it, but also knowing just how Ruthless both Poseidon and Odysseus are soon to become

Poseidon powering up WAS SO SICK MAN! LIKE OH MY GOD!!! It was absolutely amazing, my mouth dropped when I saw it and it reminded me of circe and her monster yet this isn’t a monster but an extension of poseidon (Who can count as a monster depending on who you ask)

This is where we can see Poseidon reach the peak of his anger where his power is the strongest and his boss move is set in place, the animation, again, absolutely fantastic. The ocean breaking is so satisfying, and yet the entire time I was terrified of it

JORGE STOP BRINGING BACK OPEN ARMS OH MY GOD I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE, I couldn’t tell if they were pulling Odysseus to his death or empowering him, because Polites just put his hand on Odys shoulder, an encouraging powerful gesture. While his mother is dragging him down and down into the sea and Eurylochus is on his arm

It’s the same thing from love in paradise, the memories make him want to die but then he remembers that; they would want him to live on and fight, to not let them die for nothing, and to make it out alive so he could make sure they were all remembered, every 601 of them (or 602 if you count the baby)

But it could have also been that they knew what Odysseus was going to become and wanted him to just rest and let himself go once and for all, Polites looking at him, knowing that Odysseus cant do that, knowing Odysseus would never just leave his wife like that.

Instead of using this new found encouragement and power in his body to reason with Poseidon he becomes a monster to him instead, the monster thats always been within him but just hidden because of him leading with his heart

Song 35: Six Hundred strike

I forgot who the animator was because it’s the next day but it looked so much like a video game and was so impressive, all of the animatics in this one were just absolutely terrifying, with Odysseus red eyes being like him powering up is so interesting to see

Now remember what I said earlier during Dangerous about the crew not backing Odysseus up because they were gone; this song brings them back after Odysseus saw their spirits, like he had remembered and now the voices may not actually be there but in Ody’s head as a form of motivation for the fight

It’s been a while since we’ve heard Odysseus so angry (Because he’s to busy gentle parenting and reasoning with every monster he finds) but now seeing it against poseidon was such a shift and Ody shifted with it.

Just awesome animation and the instrumental in the back is so cool and high stake. “Almost all of whom were slaughtered by your hand!” Sososo good because when it wasn’t Poseidon it his son and the last part of the crew died under Odysseus’s choice but instead of focusing on this he focused on how he only caused 42 deaths (Elpenor i love you but your death was your fault) and how Poseidon caused more that 500 instead.

In that Light it made what Odysseus would do next more reasonable for him, more justified in his mind

The animation turn where all you could see was the red glowing eyes of Odysseus staring at you before he picks up the trident and starts torturing Poseidon.

Old Odysseus after he defeated Poseidon would once again try and reason with him to stop the storm, but this is a new odysseus, a different beast so to say, he no longer cares about the nice way out, Ruthlessness will become far from Merciful if it means he can finally see his family again.

“You didn’t stop when I begged you! Told me to close up my heart!” I am very much obsessed with the lines in this saga they are so good and just so powerful as well in the moments, its an action jammed pack saga because it has to be the entire journey back but it’s done so well.

Hearing an actual god Call odysseus a Monster is different from anything else that might’ve been scared of him before because Gods are all powerful, they don’t have time to fear mortals, But Odysseus is different, more power in just a mortal than they have ever seen before, Odysseus doesn’t have any godly power except for his wit and brute strength to win his battles and thats absolutely terrifying to see how powerful he is with just being a mortal man

“How will you sleep at night?” “Next to my wife.”

GOD, I dont know what to say about this line except for it is absolutely amazing and delivered so well and is just all in all very resinate of what Odysseus’s goal has been since he started this journey

This saga was all in all very cool! It’s not up in my top 3 but its very very close

[ach-sss-no]

I feel weird giving out unprompted permission statements because I'm making a big assumption that anyone's going to want to use my work. That said I also know people do like to build on other people's art and can't always work up the nerve to ask, so: Anyone is free to use this design if they want to for any reason- I don't own this character anyway. (Although I am hopeful that you do not, you know, monetize it, because i cant do that and if you do that its not fair ;_; ) Feel free to remix, improve, use as basic inspiration, etc. I would appreciate a tag/mention if you use it so I can see what you did!

This design has evolved a little since I first started drawing it, and I will see people reblogging the original design notes and think 'oh no! those are out of date and I don't have new/accurate ones!'

Reblogging the old one is still an honor- and the first take on a design just sometimes has a different appeal because it's less refined and more chaotic (especially with a character that should be chaotic), so I suspect some people will just prefer the older drawings & they'll still get shared, which is great! But I felt as if the project was a little bit incomplete without an update, since I think I've reached the point where if you see that old post & then come to my blog and look at my current content, there's a noticeable difference.

Also I kind of like making design notes.

If anyone's wondering why things changed, the answer's really simple- 90% of it is just the result of him settling into having more consistent anatomy and facial structure so that I can keep him looking accurate across different angles and poses. If you look at the old drawings you may notice that Gollum has an inconsistently shaped squishy head. That's fine for a concept post but doesn't work as well for maintaining him across different comic panels or in an animatic, at least not the way I work.

In the same vein, while my art is still & will always be heavily stylized, I started giving him more structured semi-sorta-realistic anatomy so that he wouldn't look entirely out of place next to less bizarre-looking characters such as Aragorn. (I feel that's also helpful in nudging Gollum into the uncanny valley where he ought to be, rather than leaving him so abstractified that there's a risk you won't see anything wrong with him having noodle arms.) He also acquired the new-style 'garbage bag' outfit because I found a reference in LOTR to his arms and legs being bare/exposed (it's in one of my favorite passages, the 'an eagle would think Gollum was dead if it came by right now' passage in The Two Towers):

Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, not moving, shrouded in their thin grey cloaks. For a moment he might have paused to consider Gollum, a tiny figure sprawling on the ground: there perhaps lay the famished skeleton of some child of Men, its ragged garment still clinging to it, its long arms and legs almost bone-white and bone-thin: no flesh worth a peck.

[kateweathermachine2]

My thoughts on the Wisdom Saga

Legendary

TELEMACHUS MY BOY!!!

Honestly most of the stuff I have to say about him deals with the next two songs instead of this one…

Okay, but the more I listen to Antonius the more his voice is just ✨✨✨? Like Calypso’s voice being gorgeous was on SIGHT (on… hear? Heard? Audio?), but Antonius keeps getting better the more I listen to him. Don’t get me wrong he’s a bad dude, but his voice acting? Beautiful

I love the setup in this song, you don’t even notice because it’s so catchy

ARGUS CRUSHED MY HEART IN THE ANIMATIC (like I knew he would) poor dog boi… if Jorge doesn’t have Odysseus say hello to him in a song I will be heartbroken.

Little Wolf

This song… the appearance of Athena in this song brought my prospective ranking of it from likely low to battling it out with Love in Paradise for top spot (I’m STILL not sure which one I like more).

When Athena first appeared in the livestream I (mentally) SCREAMED- MY FAV IS BACK SHE’S BACK AND I LOVE HER (very platonically)

I love the little interlude with her and Telemachus- speaking of which-

I’ve seen some people mention how Telemachus seems much younger than 20/21. Something about the portrayal of Telemachus as this naïve inexperienced child? I’m not sure. But I have my own thoughts to share on this, because as someone who’s close to that young adult age, I think it’s actually pretty accurate for Telemachus’s character. He’s lived in the palace all his life, he’s longing to adventure in the world beyond, but he doesn’t know how to fight… I mean, I don’t specifically relate to Telemachus but I can see aspects of this in my own life. I’ve taken my first baby steps into the big adult world, and it’s intimidating and scary, and I don’t know how anything works, but I’m trying anyways. Point being, I don’t understand how people think that Telemachus has to be younger just because he doesn’t have certain life experiences or knowledge yet. I think it’s a very good portrayal of a young adult being unsure of his coming into the world but excited for it anyways.

Anyways back to ATHENA MY GIRL

I love that we get an in-musical explanation of Quick Thought!! I think it’s really important for a musical to be self-contained with its important lore/information and Jorge does such a great job with that.

Athena’s entire speech about the suitors and bullies and inspiring Telemachus and reframing his “Little Wolf” title CHUCKED THIS SONG SO HIGH IN MY BOOK I need to find a character of mine to associate this part to

The little “ooohhhh, maybe I pushed him a bit to hard” is hilarious

Interesting thing we’re doing with transitions into the next songs with this saga. I do agree with some of the people who said it sounds kind of off in this song; I think it might’ve flowed better if it introduced the next one, but honestly, I’m entirely willing to ignore that because this song is *so* good

We’ll be Fine

I have one glaring complaint about this song…. WHY ISNT IT LONGER?!?! I NEED MORE OF THIS

I can honestly see this becoming a comfort song for me, it holds such great messages to remember

“Cause I got in a fight, and I didn’t die!” The bar is on the FLOOR with Telemachus

The voice actors are rocking their respective high notes! Jorge pushed them and they owned it!!

Speaking of those good encouraging messages- I absolutely adore Telemachus’s chorus. Every time I listen to it, my brain auto-fills the lyrics ahead, and I hear, “maybe it’s all gonna be okay,” but then Telemachus actually sings the verse and it’s “maybe it’s all gonna turn out great!” And that’s just… such a good thing to think about. Yeah, it’s gonna be okay in the end, but what if it was better than okay? What if it turned out to be absolutely amazing?? That’s… such a positive way to view things and I need it more in my life. Of course it could get toxic but for me, it’s a great reminder of how good things can become

Love in Paradise

I read a post that mentioned how the happiest song in the Thunder Saga is called Suffering, and the saddest song in the Wisdom Saga is called Love in Paradise, and I hate how accurate that is T^T

THE TIME DIVE MONTAGE WAS SO GOOOD- such a fun mini mash-up of the rest of the songs! I wish I had more to say about it because I want to keep gushing over it but I’m just gonna end up repeating myself saying it’s so good

The little replay of the “Captain?” “I have to see her” ;-;

WANGUI’S VOCALS— I CAN’T— THEY’RE SO GORGEOUS *unintelligible squealing*

“She’s my wife”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Anyways-“

Her voice is so pretty help I don’t approve of her actions but her VOICE HER VOICE

Can I also just say the animatic/visuals for this section were also gorgeous, such a great compliment to the audio

The way it goes from all sweet and bouncy to “oh ****” and right back to sweet was so good

“Last I checked goddesses can’t die!!” *cue the Wisdom Saga stream crash of 2024*

The cliff scene… oh my goodness it’s so *good* it’s all so *good* Jorge how are you so good at writing

He pays such close attention to characters and motifs and lines too- you can hear how Calypso triggers Odysseus’s flashback.

NOT TO MENTION- when Odysseus yells his line “All I hear are SCREAMS”, it’s in response to Calypso’s line “I’ll stay inside your heart”- which is Odysseus’s mom’s lyric from the underworld!! I literally just noticed the connection between the line and his reaction and I haven’t seen anyone else mention it before so-

And Athena’s little “he needs my help”- aaaaaa we all feel the pain

God Games

Oh *boy howdy* this one is a doozy

The intro is great, I adore Zeus’s voice- this cast is just FULL of talented voice actors man

“… Hera!…. Or me” …. A-wha-huh? I’m sorry didn’t you used to be “and”???

I was intrigued what Apollo’s grievance would be based on the whole “who’s cows” debacle- the sirens kinda threw me off guard xD

His voice is ✨✨✨ though, I love listening to him

JORGE’S DAD HEPHAESTUS!!!!! Aghhh his voice was so good for the part! And I loved the commentary on trust too

Aphrodite’s and Ares’s parts are still amazing even after all this time- I LOVE the details of Ares’s musical motif! He has the same melody as Athena, but played on this raw-sounding violin/cello? And he *also* has quick thought- but it still all feels different from Athena’s too! Because they’re both gods of war but with different domains and attributes AAAA so good!

And Athena’s lyrics in response- I love the re-do and the little extra quirks in it, like the extra growl on “ARES!!!” And the little riff(?) on “his son’s my FRIIIIEND”

Hera’s part was amazing. 100/10. Her voice was a lot… smoother than I was expecting honestly. It took a bit of getting used to but now I love it. And I am HERE for the dance battle

“Never once has he cheated on his wife”

“Release him.”

10/10 ✨✨✨

I was… really excited for an Athena/Zeus debate in this song when listening to all the snippets. I couldn’t wait to see how Athena would try and persuade Zeus, what arguments he would use specifically, how it would all go down… instead I got uh-

“I played your game and won! Release him.”

Oh so, no Zeus round? Ohh this is why it got changed to “or” isn’t it-

“You DARE to defy me?”

Huh-

“To make me feel shame?”

What’s happeni-

“No one beats me, NO ONE WINS MY GAME!!”

Oh boy howdy-

“THUNDER BRING HER THROUGH THE WRINGER, SHOW HER I’M THE JUDGEMENT CALL, THE ONE WHO MAKES HER KINGDOM FAAAAALL—“

I’M SORRY THIS WENT FROM 10 TO 100 SO FAST WHAT IS HAPPENING?!—

Athena in the flashback scene- holding baby Telemachus- the music- my HEART

And the end instrumental is so triumphant aaaaaa

“Let him gooooo! Please-“ JORGE WHEN I GET YOU JORGE—

Uh, so

My thoughts on God Games right after it came out were

Mixed

At first I was so absolutely frazzled from the livestream I could barely put thoughts together outside of incoherent screaming

But then I read a few tumblr posts about how some others were disappointed in how God Games ended and Zeus’s character- and I found myself agreeing :/

I do have a propensity for latching onto different opinions because I think they’re the “expected” one for me to have- and I totally think a bit of that was going on here- so I took some time off of tumblr/limiting my scrolling (which needed to be stopped anyways-) to really sort out how I felt on this

And I think I feel a bit stilted by God Games from its ending. The ending was… underwhelming? Which sounds INSANE considering the end of the stream but it’s underwhelming less because of actual shock factor and more because of what specifically happens versus my expectations.

Zeus just kind of… blasts Athena in the face??? Without provocation?? Athena DID win his game, she passed the terms he set out, she did all of that… and he shocks her anyways. It just. Doesn’t really sit right with me.

But I love Epic, and want to enjoy every song I come across, and I REALLY didn’t want this view of the ending of God Games to taint the rest of the song or the rest of the musical. So in my next big post, I’m going to do a mini “rewrite”/reworking of God Games that I’ve been toying around with in my mind for a little while now!!

I’ll explain more about why and what and the details in that post but for now, just know that it’s been a helpful exercise in enjoying God Games as it is too, and I’ll get to posting that the next time school isn’t absolutely crushing me with long homework assignments

Anyways, those are my kinda-in-depth thoughts about the Wisdom Saga!! I’ve been so excited to write this out and I’m happy to be posting it finally

[spiribia]

re: that animatic, the synopsis for my early teen OCs was roughly as follows

- world where most children are sent from a very young age to an institution to be trained to be soldiers (I did zero meaningful worldbuilding work in this space). The academy fosters a highly competitive environment where many of the children injure or eliminate one another in wars of dominance, cohering into pack structures through alliances. This is allowed to happen because it 'weeds out the weak ones.'

- protagonist, atriel, was infamous for her ruthlessness. She co-headed a pack with her boyfriend. During one raid, she murdered the nigh-pacifist brother of a nigh-pacifist peer named Helen.

- Helen retaliated by ambushing Atriel and stabbing out her eye

- In an unrelated incident of violence enacted in revenge for one of atriel's numerous prior actions, atriel's entire pack was wiped out. The only survivor, she laid low and went into hiding. which she found incredibly debasing, but became too much of a coward by her understanding to do anything about

- for a few years, the only person atriel was in contact with was lex, another packless 'loner' by choice (considered formidable and left alone by the others)

- atriel is contacted by helen. Helen extends an invite to join her party on a mission after the academy-wide urban legend of a circle in the woods where 6 individuals could invoke otherworldly power into their bodies. This is rumored to be incredibly risky, dubiously true, and involves running away from the academy, which would brand them as defectors.

- atriel refuses to join at first, especially considering the person who is hosting this business probably hates her guts, but lex, who was also invited, sways atriel on board with the proposal of individual power and the assertion that atriel's relevance and standing in the academy is already forfeit from her years of hiding herself away, anyway. The only way she can redeem herself in the eyes of the academy, she thinks, is to return a hero with legendary power.

- the teens steal a bus and go out on a long road trip. Helen and Atriel get along civilly, though initially Atriel finds the whole business of being under Helen's leadership incredibly humiliating (she considers Helen and her motley pack too soft. Lex agrees, but considers them a means to an end), which Helen registers and derives amusement from

- Atriel begins to realize how much of the world actually exists outside of the academy. one sunset, the kids see immense fish swimming across the sky over their bus

- the kids invoke the divine and each inherit a part of its body into their bodies. Atriel becomes the thing's claws, and gains access to powerful telekinetic slashes. Lex becomes the thing's brain, and gains a kind of future and past and interdimensional vision, though the brain-wielder always ends up dying in the myth's histories, because the human body cannot handle it. Helen becomes the thing's heart. She can't discern any abilities from this, to her disappointment.

- Lex's strength rapidly wanes from being the brain, and she passes away. In her last days, she muses that she has gone soft. The kids hold a makeshift funeral for her.

- because the ritual was not closed off properly, a threatening surfeit of magic accumulates to point of eruption. Helen realizes her power as the heart is to cycle magic through her body. Therefore, she can absorb this surfeit, but will probably die. She bids the rest of the crew to escape in the bus as far as they can go. Atriel is surprised to find that she is incredibly distressed at the prospect of Helen dying, and the other kids have to hold her back from stopping it.

- the de facto leader of what remains as the bus drives away, Atriel decides she won't be going home at all, and she and the remaining kids continue down the road into the unknown

[rileyclaw]

Hii! First off i just want to I'm such a big fan of your art and animatics! Your art is just so expressive and unique its addicting to look at 💞💞

I was wondering if you could go over how your process or tutorial in making an animatic? Whenever I try to start to make one, I get jumbled up and end up ditching it lol

I'm sorry if you get this question a lot 😭

So sorry it took me so long to answer this- I was in a Busy time (diseaseridden with covid and being punched by finals) when I got the ask and wanted to answer it with some stuff Im using for my next TOH animatic!!

I'll say one thing first: I get jumbled up and ditch so many animatics. For every one animatic I release, there are three to five more I have that have NEVER seen the light of day (yet). And that's okay!! It's fun just to make them for me, and I hope it is for you too!! Animatics are scary because if you're working on it alone, it can be really hard to be your own cheerleader to keep up the mojo to keep going. So that makes it really special when there is that project that makes it to the finish line- cuz you can look at it and go "holy crap I made this. holy crap i MADE that look how SICK that is dude!! all that work and look at the turnout!!"

The following stuffh is just my personal process and is by no means representative of a professional animation pipeline, but this works for me as a Lonely Artist! It all begins with the idea - whether it's a song, or just a story you wanna tell. In the case of the one I'm gonna demo here with , I wanted to animate Hunter's first day as Del's apprentice!

The first thing I did was write a script. Not fancy or AO3-quality, but enough that I understand the pacing and the visuals of each shot. I usually just put this in a doc or put it in a script format, if I feel fancy.

Then, I take that script and find music that I think would fit for it- and remix it (if needed) to fit the pacing/mood/etc! This is what this new animatic looked like before I began ANY artwork- this is a me thing because I'm super inspired by audio as opposed to visuals first. But you might be different- this is just how I like working personally!

Then begins the research! I find references for characters, background layouts, and create a style guide for the animatic that tells me how thick lines will be for characters, backgrounds, if there'll be tons of value or no. I make a turnaround for each character so I can refer to them because Im gonna be drawing them over and over a LOT and want to be consistent! Luckily TOH has no shortage of references, so I based my work off them.

THEN, I can begin drawing. I'm a little,,, (a lot) ADHD and may not always do this process, but if you're new to animatics or daunted by the task at hand, make beat boards of the entire project.

This is just a page of rough thumbnails that get your visual idea down - look how rough and quick these are!! I try not to spend over a minute on each beat board if I dont have to, unless it's a particularly complex shot.

When it gets to the stage where you're ready to begin the actual scenes, I personally tend to do backgrounds first because I like to set characters into backgrounds - and for every animatic, I have the Awkward Blue Sketch Stage which is basically my beat boards timed out as an animatic.

I used Storyboard Pro for this (Toonboom, not free ): icky), but the process can be replicated across most art platforms in whichever way you feel most comfy with! This is so I can time the drawings before I devote time cleaning them up-- which can make for some Pretty Funny looking little guys but theyre important!! trust!!

Once a big sequence of shots is cleaned up (I usually do 40-60 second chunks at a time), I export the .mov and send it to my editing program (which in this case is still Premiere Pro) - and then repeat this process again and again until.. it's done??

Here's like a TL;DR list of basically everything I said summed up:

• Make a loose script or bulletin of the idea! Do your research!

• Depending on what kind of animatic you're making, time it to music!

• Make a beat board of very loose gestures for your shots, and time them - then move on to refinement & cleanup!

• Combine all shots, refine music cues and timings, add any last needed VFX, and export!

There's no secret recipe or anything, it's just learning a pipeline that best suits you, whether it is for something professional or something you want to make for fun because you just love to make!!

[frodo-a-gogo]

I found one of your comics, scrolled a bit down and enjoyed what I found immensely, and then I realized /you're/ the creator of Tubshitter DuBois, The Animatic. Words cannot describe how much and how many times that animatic has made me lose my entire Kentucky fried fuck ever since I first laid eyes upon it, and then showed it to my socium. Endless replayability value. A masterpiece. Just, thank you. (Also, your art style is cool and feels like eating from a wild raspberry bush in the sunrise, misty and fresh and tangly thorns. Delicious.)

its so funny to me what does and doesnt get reach re: art stuff. That tubshitter animatic is literally the thing i get recognized for the most (i was tabling at an inperson art market in canada last week- im from the us- and someone literally was like "@owo@ its you its the tubshitter guy") I'm very happy to b captain tubshitter btw, im proud of it and glad ppl liked it<3. also your comment on my art style is one of the nicest thing ive ever heard youve got a hell of a way with words, whistleafblower!

[h0n3yk1tt3n]

One of the more frustrating parts about dywh (of which there are many) is that it doesn't even take itself seriously. People talk about it as if it's this Infamous Moment™️ where Chloe becomes the devil incarnate and violates our ✨️pwecious wittle Jer-Bear✨️ but the simple fact of the matter is that the Joes can't stop making jokes long enough to give the scene any actual venom.

Like yes, it's an uncomfortable scene, but most of it comes from the fact that Chloe is dressed as a sexy baby of all things and the song makes sure to constantly remind you of that. When you look at it divorced from the costume though, she barely even does anything. The squip is the entire reason Jeremy can't leave, so pinning that on Chloe is flimsy at best, and the worst she does per the script is kiss him. (Before anyone says it, the script says the squip made him drink. Animatics lied to you.) Still bad, yes, but far tamer than some fans act like it is.

Most of the scene beyond the lyrics and the kiss is just Chloe and Jeremy talking. Or Jeremy talking to a comedically malfunctioning squip. Or Chloe comedically pissing Jake off with fake sex noises. Do you see the problem? This scene can't decide if it's comedic or serious and is walking a sloppy middle road.

I can derive themes from the choices that were made ("sexy baby" showing the horror that comes from teen girls sexualizing themselves for peer approval/attention and symbolizing Chloe's entitlement and immaturity; the metaphorical and literal loss of control via the squip freezing Jeremy in place and telling him what to do throughout the show = overall loss of autonomy) and give Watsonian reasons for the weirder ones (creepily excessive baby innuendos because Chloe is drunk) but with how little they were capitalized on, I don't think the Joes did it on purpose. Or if they did, they were clumsy about it.

When the scene isn't joking about Chloe being a drunk sexy baby trying to get laid, it actually spends a lot of its time developing Chloe as a character by touching on her jealously of Brooke and having these blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments where we can see her insecurities and the conditioning that contributes to her actions. Why did she hear "You're the hottest girl in school" and automatically equate that to "Jeremy wants to kiss me?" How many boys saw nothing more than a pretty face and not an actual person? Has anyone actually bothered to unpack her bitterly asking if everyone likes Brooke "because she's nice," before sobbing about how "I can be nice, I can be so goddamn nice?" Has anyone ever given her the space to be a person and not The Hottest Girl In School?

Let me guess: it doesn't count because she was drunk.

We could've had an incredibly raw scene where The Mean Bitch Character (though drunk) opens up about all the pressure to play into that persona because nobody will give her the time of day otherwise. Nobody will try to get to know the real her. Nobody will let her show how goddamn nice she can be. She wants Jake back because who is the hottest girl in school if she's not with the hottest boy in school? She sees through Brooke's "wounded puppy routine" and is warning Jeremy about how she's just as fake as her. (You could technically interpret this as Chloe lying to sway him away from Brooke, but goddammit give Brooke some actual fucking flaws for once.) We could’ve seen PROOF that Chloe is more than Hot Girl #1. We could've seen an ACTUAL character.

Or, say we wanna keep the scene comedic, because this show has always been comedic first in my head. Make Chloe so shitfaced that she couldn't actually assault Jeremy if she tried. Keep the squip keeping him from leaving, but don't pretend that Chloe is any kind of actual threat. Make this whole thing just, weird and inconvenient. I have to get back to Brooke, no go throw up over there, can I just leave?? No I don't wanna drink. Why are you speaking in japanese?? What the fuck??? Chloe there like six pillows right there, you don't have to lay on me. Make Jake come along and pound on the door, THEN have Chloe make fake sex noises because it would be sooo funny if Jake thought that she and Jeremy were banging.

OR if y'all REALLY wanna demonize a teenage girl THAT FUCKING BADLY, we cut the jokes. We cut the song and we Actually Commit. Just have it be a short talking scene, but we see what direction it's going in through the blocking and body language. We cut the squip jabbering in Japanese. We cut Jake and Brooke. We fade to black and just jump to the (seemingly) empty bathroom where Jeremy runs in. We don't drag out the gratuity of sexual assault by showing it, but by showing how Jeremy acts after it. Show he's more on edge, more jumpy, show he was actually AFFECTED by what happened. Maybe TALK ABOUT IT, just a TINY FUCKING BIT. Make him BITTER toward the squip for MAKING him go through that. This isn't a show About sexual assault and recovery but FUCK at least give the scene a little more respect.

But dywh didn't commit to any of these and just gave us this weird scene that's interesting for Chloe's character but kinda bad but not bad enough to tone down the absurdity or actually be addressed later.

Fucking Rick and Morty had a more effective sexual assault scene. It was a small portion of one episode, sure, but there was FOLLOW-THROUGH. You SEE how the characters act differently afterward. The scene makes you uncomfortable in the RIGHT WAY. It Stopped Joking long enough to Punch You In The Gut. RICK AND MORTY, the drunk dimension-hopping grandpa show!!!

AND I maintain that dywh was meant to emphasize the SQUIP disobeying Jeremy's wishes more than Chloe, besides being an excuse to break the couples up. She couldn't fucking tell what Jeremy wanted (he didnt leave, she didnt know he couldnt; she misinterpreted him calling her hot, which is on her despite being drunk; he drank halfway through saying hes not a drinker, because some unseen force made him; CHLOE CANT CONSENT EITHER BECAUSE SHES DRUNK, AND THE SQUIP KNOWS THIS) until the last second when she GAVE UP, at which point she only cared if Jake THOUGHT she and Jeremy banged on his parents' bed and not if they actually DID.

The squip put him here fully knowing what Chloe wanted, fully knowing that Jeremy didn't want it. It doesn't care about the best interest of its host; just results. Who cares if Jeremy suffers a little if it gets us on the right path? Who cares what he wants? All that matters is what I want. Or, let's say the squip knew that Chloe wouldn't actually get in Jeremy's pants; it still made Jeremy live through the horror of not having the CHOICE to stay or go. To powerlessly WATCH it happen. The squip controlled his body at least once before this, and later forces him to fight Michael. Physically hijacking control his body is almost as LITERAL OF A METAPHOR AS IT GETS for this kind of thing.

That.

That is the villain of this fucking show.

Not a drunk and insecure teenage girl.

And dywh failed at showing you that.

[caffstrink]

Have you ever thought about what kindof musical themes would be associated with your OCs? Like, what their theme tune or leitmotif might be played on, that kind of thing?

First off im so sorry for not replying earlier ive kept this in my drafts for like a year

Rubs my hand evily like a little hungry fly YEEEESSS YESSSS YESSSSSSSSSS

Honestly tho i dont rly have much (if any) musical knowledge to be able to use precise or specific terms for musical theory stuff or the right name for certain instruments, so overall i can only try describe the ~vibe~ for what each character/setting would be, also since i was given the opportunity to talk about the topic ill just go ham and talk way more than what was asked bc honestly what are the chances of being asked about this in the future? Hashtag yolo 2012

This is gonna get long so i apologize in advance to those who dont care. ill try to clump characters together by emojis, first emoji for setting/universe and second for character

👼💖For cupid/arisu i imagine music box notes, happy pop and "sparkly" over-the-top cheery music like magical girl anime openings, one of the main musical inspirations for her and a song i like to listen to when i draw her is pururin and dokuro-chan's op

👼💚Levia-tan/himari would also have the music box motif but in lower notes, a song much more subtle than cupid's but slowly building up energy over time until it's ready to snap.

🍄🐐 Juandice would be folk music, but often getting off-key as to give an unsettling tone. A song i think that enclapsulates his vibe perfectly is AJJ's A Song Dedicated To The Memory Of Stormy The Rabbit (ive been meaning to do a juan animatic to this song for a while now but i never get around to it)

🍄⛪ father rot id like it to be very unsettling off-key strings. Maybe a little bit of carnival sounding music but very very faintly. Kinda giving you a vibe the guy isnt good news but at the same time there's something unnatural about him it just makes you curious

🪐🛸 ak-47 happy cheery chiptune music, voice synthesizers (aka vocaloids etc) and breakcore, something like Anamanaguchi, METAROOM, pinocchio-p's older music (hello there earthling, nina, loney ufo)

🪐🍀 clovers is a tough one, i can imagine it being a song structured in three parts where the first is the normal theme, something more old school sounding like DS soundfont. Think pokemon BW's soundtrack. The second part is a more raw, loud, incomprehensible type of music like Shinsei Kamattechan, specifically Ikareta NEET. Third part would be a much quieter, sadder version of the first part melody. Think of how Snowy during genocide route in Undertale.

😈🗡 Alma would be metal instruments, specifically guitar riffs

😈🍥 carol would be trash metal/grunge, bass

😈🏥 cirrus would be either drums or piano. I like Unreasonable Behavior from offgame and Alone In Town from silent hill as examples

😈🦇 fontini would be music box and intense sounding music. At the price of oblivion from homestuck is a good example

😈🦟 dominic would be spanish guitar.

😈⚡paloma indie rock/acid rock guitar

😈⚔ rouxinol.. im not sure. Something very intense and intimidating sounding, but i dont know instruments that much. For now i can just say in my mind it sounds like something out of carpenter bruts music

😈💎 lyre would be a specific genre of pop that idk the name. Venus by lady gaga, heavun by hemlock springs, glorious by muse.

👿🐦 corbin would be among "instruments that arent instruments" like industrial noise music. Music that sounds like it was composed entirely out of regular warehouse tools. Dentist drills included

This isnt all of my ocs but if theyre not included then its bc i dont have much in mind musically for them

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About The Owl House Pilot

Huh. Never thought I’d get to do this again, but oh well.

Salutations, random people on the internet! I’m an Ordinary Schmuck! I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

And, above all else, I LOVE talking about The Owl House. I have an entire masterpost dedicated to talking about every single episode of the show and I’m halfway through a six-part review discussing everything that I love about it (Part Four's coming when it’s done. Let’s say…late June. Early July at the latest). I figured that after I’d finished that whole deal, I wouldn’t have anything left to talk about when it came to this series. Then, out of nowhere, the show’s original pilot leaked online…Sort of. It’s just an animatic with the show’s original voice cast voicing MOST of the lines, but it’s very much the pilot episode. It’s just not a finished product and I won’t share a link because I don’t think it’s exactly…legal. BUT I will at least share my thoughts about it because, well…Look at my blog. The Owl House has become the BIG THING that I obsess over for a reason and I love that I got to see what’s basically an alternate version of the show that I love. What do I mean?

Well, a pilot is MUCH different from a first episode. Where the first episode is meant to sell the show to the audience, a pilot is meant to sell it to a STUDIO. It can happen at any point of the story or act as the show’s first episode. Just as long as it shows off the characters, concepts, and tone, a studio can look at it, greenlight it, and allow the show to continue, BUT with some extra notes. Sometimes, those notes can change the rest of the series where others can keep the pilot good enough to stay canon. Some best examples off the top of my head are the pilots for Regular Show and Rick and Morty. You can tell that not much changed from the pilots of those shows and what was initially pitched, but there are clear changes in tone, animation, and even personality. Skips sounds a little more illiterate and Benson being more informed of the consequences of something as simple as rock, paper, scissors in the Regular Show pilot and Rick is noticeably more reckless and unprepared for situations in the Rick and Morty pilot. Nothing is set in stone with a pilot episode, even the ones that are canon. For the case of The Owl House, it’s pilot is no exception. A lot of it is just the same as “A Lying Witch and A Warden” at least in terms of plot and themes, but there are so many changes that show off what the series COULD HAVE been instead of what it was. How different? Well, let’s go through it all.

But real quick, I’m not going to do the “Like/Dislike” format I’ve done for previous reviews. Instead, I’m going to look through this pilot, note the changes it has, and share my thoughts on them. There’s also going to be a few spoilers to what happens in this pilot, so if you haven’t checked it out then I suggest giving it a watch wherever you can find it. It really is interesting to get a peak into what’s basically an alternate version of my favorite show.

With that said, let’s get into it.

Some Things Stayed the Same: Like I said, it’s basically an altered version of “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” The plot is that Eda uses Luz to get King back his “crown of power,” with some bits and pieces carrying over. Certain jokes that must have been too funny to get rid of, specific lines of dialogue that hit just the right notes, and some aspects of the characters’ personalities being just the same, proving that they're already perfect the way they are. It’s the changes, however, that makes for something more interesting. For one…

There’s More of an Emphasis on Comedy: As much as I love The Owl House, I’ll always admit that humor isn't its strong suit. It CAN be funny, really funny. But the jokes don’t land as well as something as Gravity Falls or Amphibia. I can say that a part of that could be because Dana Terrace wanted a more serious show, and we definitely get a sense of how serious it could be later in the series. Here, in the pilot, it definitely seems like there was more of an attempt to make the show comedic. King’s crown isn’t in a warden’s cell held within a magical barrier that only a human can get through. It’s in a Principal’s high school, locked in a human locker that Eda and King treat as something devious. Amity’s friends aren’t preppy mean girls who seem like they could cause conflict to Luz and her friends. They’re characters used for jokes who are amazed by Luz standing up to Lilith. There’s less of an edge and more of a lean towards cutesy fun, waiting until the very end to reveal something heavy. To me, it makes the pilot feel MORE like a Gravity Falls clone than the final product. Because while Gravity Falls has its serious moments, it makes it clear that it was a comedy first, both in the pilot and final product. Any moment of heart or drama was overshadowed by one hilarious joke after the other. Now, “A Lying Witch and A Warden” had a lot of jokes too, but there were also these moments that hinted at something more. You have the oppressive looking prison, the grand beam of light hiding human collectibles, a crazy chase from a threatening looking warden. And yes, the reveal that Warden Wrath was trying to go out with Eda was hilarious, but a warden who tortures a prisoner for speaking her truth gives a hint of how dark this world can be. Meanwhile, a principal sending a student to demon detention feels more like a joke, exaggerating how strict some principals can be.

And keep in mind, I’m not complaining about the pilot leaning more towards comedy. I actually laughed a lot more with it than I did with “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” I’m just trying to explain how the tone is definitely going for something different than the full series. It might have that darker twist in the end, but even that is nothing more than a surprise. I'll get into why later, but while it has darker implications, it doesn't detract from the fun times to be had. Not by much. From what I can gather from the pilot, it’s definitely going for a series with goofy, fun adventures with a bit of heart to it. It’s just missing that personal touch that’s in The Owl House. One good example of how?

There’s Not Even a MENTION of Camila: Before you say anything, this has nothing to do with me being Camila’s number one fan, to the point where I almost made a side-blog dedicated to her (I really should get on that, though…)

I bring up this change because Camila grounds the story in “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” She draws Luz close to reality and is the first thing that comes to Luz’s mind when in real danger, saying, “If I die, my mom will kill me!” More than that, though, Camila is the one real connection Luz has to the human realm. She has no friends nor adventures, but Luz always has Camila, with even the first episode hinting that. So when Luz starts getting herself into trouble or choosing to lie and stay in the Boiling Isles, it lets the audience get ready for the inevitable drama that could unfold when Luz finally tells Camila everything. By removing Camila, though, the anticipation of Luz telling her mom goes away with her. At least, it tells ME that there’s less of a worry about Luz basically running away from home. Either this version of the show is holding off from that for a future episode or that Luz and Camila’s relationship isn’t close enough where it matters. This is speculation, of course, but I still stand by that a sense of something personal with Luz is lost for the sake of having fun and epic fantasy adventures with entertaining characters. It’s still good and entertaining, and the pilot does offer something else that’s personal, but it’s not the same as The Owl House we all fell in love with. Though, it’s notable that our main cast stayed the same.

Luz, Eda, and King: Overall, I’d say that these three, personality wise, didn’t change much. King’s probably the least altered, being the exact same character he was in Season One aside from MAYBE having a design change (It’s hard to tell through storyboards). As for Luz and Eda, they’re more or less the same. There’s a BIG change with Eda (That I’ll get to later), but her devil-may-care attitude is very much the same, as well as her snark and soft nature towards Luz and King. It’s her magic that gets the real boost, being able to do more like teleport across the Isles and turn into a…softer version of the Owl Beast at will. It’s pretty cool to see the power that this alternate Owl Lady has. And then there’s Luz, who’s still the lovable weirdo we all know. Though, this version seems a lot more dim and I’m not really a fan. How does she mistakenly give a book report in geometry class? How did it take seeing Amity’s witch ears to realize that she belonged in the demon realm? Luz had her dumb moments in the show too, but not to this extent. There was still a sense of maturity and cognitive understanding that made Luz feel like someone that seemed weird but intelligent enough to think herself out of a situation. This Luz seems more weird and focused on using brute force on a problem. In a way, it makes Pilot!Luz more of an…emotionally driven Star Butterfly. A fun and capable character, but not the same kind I had made several posts and reviews talking about how much I love/personally connected to her. But, comparatively, I guess it IS the most minor change that could be done to this character. Now let’s move onto BIGGER changes.

The Boiling Isles: The look and feel of the Isles remains the same, but the fact that it’s more connected to the Human Realm is intriguing. From what I can tell, the Demon Realm treats traveling to the Human Realm like it’s going to a new country. You visit, make some memories, and, for some, send your children over to be a foreign exchange student of sorts. Except that racism seems to be encouraged in this regard as the demons and witches don’t see humans worth breathing the same air as them. And some think it’s more than okay to hunt down and kill if one human trespasses into their realm. And the reason for THAT is implied to be Belos’ doing. Er, I mean–*Checks the leaked pitch bible*--Emperor Pupa? Uh…I’ll just stick with Belos. 

And that’s extra fascinating to me because Belos being a witch hunter was a major twist that spoke VOLUMES of the kind of people he represents. To find out that this version is more anti-human makes me curious of what kind of angle the show would have taken. Would Belos have been your bare-bones fantasy villain or would the writers find a different way to tackle his symbolism? And is the reason why the Demon Realm is more open up to the Human Realm because he hopes witches and demons can report about their enemies for a possible invasion? There’s no way to know for sure because that version of the story will never come to be, but it’s interesting to think of all the things we COULD have gotten. The same goes for other characters.

Amity: To think, Amity was considered important enough to be included in the original pitch pilot alongside our main trio. It makes sense. Dana Terrace has gone on record in saying that Luz and Amity’s relationship was something she wanted from the get go, so it’s smart to establish it as quickly as possible. Though the route they take is definitely different. Instead of being enemies to lovers, Lumity, in the original pitch, went for the friends to lovers trope…kind of.

Luz, in this version, is someone so desperate for positive attention and respect that she latches onto the first person in school that was nice to her. Except that Amity was looking for some quiet and just so happened to look like she was supporting Luz when telling everyone to leave her alone. It was an act of kindness, but not one done in generosity. It still meant the world to Luz, though, making her go ALL IN with friendship. Only to be a little too forward and creeped Amity out to the point where she was polite enough to say “Thank you,” but you could see the desperation in her eyes to be anywhere but next to Luz. Yet Luz doesn’t see that. She’s still too focused that someone was actually nice to her that she blindly follows Amity into a new world just to return a weird looking passport. Because Amity’s Luz’s friend now and friends do nice things to each other. Only for Amity to accidentally reveal that she couldn’t care less for Luz and shatter her hopes and dreams in one fell swoop.

In a weird way, I’d say Luz and Amity are off on a better first impression here than in the original series. There’s no attempted dissections or witch’s duels. Just…Amity trying to be polite in Luz’s presence only to act like your typical mean girl when she THINKS Luz isn’t around. Tossing away the drawing is harsh for sure, but here’s the interesting thing: Amity didn’t know she was talking to Luz at that moment. She didn’t even get rid of the drawing until someone drew (haha) attention to it. If anything, it’s worth noting that Amity still kept the drawing on her. Almost like, despite being weirded out by Luz, Amity felt as though the drawing WAS cute and only got rid of it when she thought someone would question her for having it. Can’t have that Little Miss Perfect status shatter over something some human gave her.

Am I reaching as a Lumity shipper? Oh, most certainly yes. But we all know the inevitable conclusion between these two. We know where they’re headed. Dana has been pretty adamant about wanting it from the start and this pilot sets the groundwork well. Knowing where these two will end up, it’s easy to make connections and hypothesize what means what. Plus, look at the face of shock and amazement on Amity’s face when she sees Luz standing up to Lilith. That looks like a girl who’s…feeling things for this human weirdo. They’re not off to a ROARING start, but I can see how things could improve between Luz and Amity. And who knows, maybe this version of these two might end up dating sooner with how quickly they seem interested in each other. Again, am I reaching? Most definitely, but I went without any new Lumity content for over a year so LET ME REACH!

The point I’m trying to make is that this version of Amity definitely seems a lot more chill and polite at the start, even though it’s likely she still has issues of even being FRIENDS with a human. But not everyone starts off polite.

Lilith: Crazy to think that Lilith started out as…basically a one-off villain like Warden Wrath. At least, that’s what I gathered from the pilot. The pitch bible hints that there COULD be more to her, but at the same time she gets sent to a fire dimension and loses a hand. That’s one-off villain energy if I’ve ever seen it. But if she is meant to be something more, I would love to see what differences could come of her being the headmaster of Hexside instead of Bump and how she could either develop into someone better through Luz’s influence as a student or regress into someone worse as she makes Luz’s school life a living hell. Whatever could come from her, it was kind of fun seeing Lilith act as more of a threat with her…out of nowhere ability to turn into a bat monster. It’s a pretty cool design and I love that it was brought out due to Eda’s constant pestering, proving that Lilith is still the same insecure nut that I love. And it is pretty great that this pilot confirmed that Lilith really did dye her hair to look more serious. You CAN’T tell me that’s not why the Lilith we know ditched the curly red hair.

But that’s about it when it comes to changes towards characters and locations. Let’s talk about the potential differences in the ongoing story.

Luz Stays Trapped Instead of Choosing to Stay: I mean, technically she chose to stay by breaking that key for no reason, but that’s more of a consequence of not thinking things through. She didn’t NEED to break the key, Luz could have just as easily pulled it out. Instead, she kicked the dang thing, leaving herself trapped in this new world. And it’s here that I would like to once again point out how this makes Pilot!Luz different and what’s lost by not including Camila. The Luz WE know would have been more careful. She always felt like someone who fought smarter, not harder, even in that first episode. Luz didn’t fight Wrath head on, she rallied a prison riot that distracted him long enough for her to hit a firework ball into his mouth. She’s intelligent and resourceful, where this one…kind of is? It was smart to send Lilith to the fire dimension, but again, not a great plan to break the key. Plus, without Camila, this doesn’t feel like as big of a deal as it could have been. Camila was the first person in Luz’s mind as she destroyed the portal door in the Season One finale. In the pilot, with no Camila, it feels like a non-sacrifice or even that big of a deal. She’s stuck, sure, but Luz doesn’t really seem to care that much. She feels happy being with Eda and King and doesn’t seem to be in that big of a rush to get home. Plus, it’s not exactly complicated to get back. There was a whole line of portal doors in the beginning that Luz could potentially sneak through and there’s not yet an established cannon that makes it seem like getting a new key would be difficult or even complicated. Once more, it gives the impression that this version of The Owl House would be focused less on personal stakes and more like giving Luz that fantasy adventure she’s always been craving for. It would make for a fun show, but not the SAME show. However, it is worth noting that there could be some potential drama. Especially for one twist that was a JOLT to my system.

EDA WORKS FOR THE EMPEROR?!: WHAT?!

I’ll admit, I feel like the reason why this is so shocking is because of the Eda I know and the Emperor I learned to fear. I mean, Eda, the woman who would sooner eat her own fist before even CONSIDERING helping Belos, even before the witch hunter business, was originally meant to HELP him. Of all the changes that the series could have made, this was by far the biggest. Everything that I thought to be constant turned out to be a lie and I was NOT prepared for it!

But again, the reason why I got that big of a reaction is because it goes against everything I knew about Eda. If this was my first introduction to her, it’d be less of a shocking twist and more of a…hook. Like how Invincible’s first episode (Don’t watch if you’re a baby) ends with a character you THOUGHT you could trust doing this intensely dark thing. The rest of the season is leading you to figure out WHY this was done and how the other characters would react, making you want to see more as the show inevitably leads up to this big conclusion that changes everything you once knew. The same applies here, with the reveal making me wonder why Eda would do this, how long she’s been doing it, how it will affect her relationship with Luz, and whether or not it’d be an easy fix. And much like the ending of Invincible’s first episode (Seriously, NOT meant for babies), this hook makes me interested in wanting to see what comes next. Except I never will know because that came from a version of The Owl House that will never exist.

The pilot is interesting because it shows me what The Owl House COULD have been. I wouldn’t say that it’s better than what we got or even that it’s a better first impression than “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” It’s definitely FUNNIER, I’ll give it that, but it doesn’t make the original pitch better, it makes it different. Everything looks the same and sounds the same, but the overall feel of this pilot makes it something that would have had a different story, tone, and ideas on how to develop these characters. Would I have liked it? Absolutely. It seems like a fun time. But that doesn’t mean I like the show we got any less. This was more like…getting a peek into an alternate universe where a show I already love would have been vastly different. And after over a year without any new Owl House content aside from stuff that fans have made, this was a very pleasant surprise that leaves me excited for the NEW fan content that springs from all this.

But that’s enough talking about a show that could have been made. Time to get back to a series that came into existence and I still love so much. See you all then as you all milk this gift that the internet has given you.

[liquid-sunshines]

stuff i thought about while writing

while writing for the sparkling series i actually had no idea what mqf's personality would be. most fics i read hes usually pretty mild mannered, quite neutral abt everything and really just wants to do his job. i was going to go for that too but somehow i wrote him to become a gremlin who is oftentimes too tired to do gremlin things but when he does have the energy, it will be everyone's problem 🤣

qi qingqi was also a mystery to me. i only planned on making her hot tempered, decisive, and kind of a tsundere but she ended up having a shizun complex instead 😭😭 idk man i guess we can never run from shizun complexes in pidw

lqg i think i also struggled with. whenever i wrote him i just kept in mind that hes just a huge simp with big muscles that sqq likes to cling to lmfao. he tends to overwork his egg brain in the dragonjiu verse but it does do him some good hehe

now im stuck on yqy. i have not done him justice, i know lol, i just made him a generic punching bag whos a pathetic lump of a man for sqq and just gives him moon eyes instead of actually saying anything useful. im trying to figure out whether i should go down the classic yandere yqy route or just continue making him a pathetic lump of a man who lives and breathes for sqq's acknowledgement. when i listened to 'twit' by hwasa i feel like the lyrics really fit sqq's feelings towards yqy, i could even imagine an entire animatic in my head about them to this song XD

i wish i wrote more about sqq's hoarding moments though. that was one of the main reasons i started writing the dragonjiu verse, yet there was only one or two actually depicted moments of it. it was supposed to be an entire like weekly ritual with his fluffy disciples and lqg would have to earn his spot in the ritual lol. and i just realized that sqq never gave his gift to lqg and mqf yet oops 🫣😔

now i kind of have an idea where dragonjiu meets zhuzhi lang and its a whole thing but snake demons really respect dragons and seeing sqq in his dragon form is like a swiftie seeing taylor swift live at her concert for the first time, i imagine

[hulloitsdani]

Lots of good art ask prompts, but what about 5 and 16? 👀

Sure! Let’s start with 16. I feel like the most obvious and immediate answer would be hands. Love me a good hand. Baby artist Dani celebrated in the streets when I started being to draw them with any form of consistency. I now actively draw gloves for fun.

But you guys haven’t seen any of that work. What can be found on this blog is the sharp improvement in how to draw fanart. Straight up. I’m being so serious. In my years of making art, I never really drew fanart before. Not with any form of consistency. But it’s a genuine skill to be able to effectively create things based on someone else’s creative vision. Especially a vision runs counter to your own! I think it’s a genuine shame that I hadn’t tried this before, as my skill has grown sharply thanks to its influence. Learning from other artists is super important, and I had failed to consider the extent of what that could mean.

I think one of the proudest art moments I’ve had in recent memory was based on this. Some of my first FE fanart was created because I did not like aspects of our Askr trio’s designs and felt compelled to tweak them to my taste. And there is value in that. It is both not above critique and drove me to express something in a creative manner that I otherwise would not have. But cut to a year later, I am referencing the feh art book and noticed that Sharena’s hair was pinned up differently than I had thought it was. I remember saying out loud, “wait that’s so dumb,” before spending the next 30 minutes trying to understand it and bring it into my visual library. I don’t know when exactly that change had occurred— I did it without realizing for those 30 minutes. But I am proud of the mindset change. The act of disagreeing with something and being able to learn from it no longer contradicted. It flowed easily between each other.

As for 5… okay well I was poking around some older files to see if I had anything fun to show off and I found an entire unfinished animatic. I completely forgot it existed????? And if my quick research is correct, then the audio is from The Two Princes podcast.

Woah I draw these guys different now don't I? This has to be some of my first forays into drawing these guys. And I really like Kiran's lil pop up! Good job past me.

Hope that answered those questions to your satisfaction! Feel free to ask more if you'd like.