#picture heavy

[kuekyuuq]

Supercorp - Rehashing the Fallout once more

Today's menu: Kara Danvers' Double-Standards.

I am rewatching Supergirl, and it occurred to me why I am with Lena on the "you lied to me" point. (Not the brain-wash the planet or taking a year to get over herself and realize her own - horrible - mistakes parts, though.) Not because of the lie itself or its content, but its context with Kara's very own history!

Let's take a walk...

In the pilot Kara gets mad at Alex for her having kept her double-life as a DEO agent secret from her.

Kara is utterly disappointed and distraught at the secrets her parents kept from her (Medusa, Myriad), some of which affected her directly (Krypton's impending destruction).

Kara finds out that James is Guardian before he told her and she was pretty upset, explains it's because they are humans throwing themselves into danger.

When J'onn explains to Kara how bonded Martians share their minds, Kara expresses how she thinks the “no secrets, no lies” sounds “beautiful”.

Kara ends their relationship with Mon-El over him lying about his true identity (and him being the Prince of a cruel society), ignoring him when he said he tried several times to tell her. When Mon-El let himself into Kara's apartment to apologize, he BEGS for forgiveness

but Kara says she deserved better than being lied to… Yes, she secretly forgave him at this point but still breaks up with him (Rhea told her to do so) and cries over it.

Music Meister teaches Kara (and Barry): “Love is about letting yourself be saved, it's not just about saving other people.”

Trust.

Lillian tells Kara, she doesn't need to spill SG's identity, because when Lena FINDS OUT, it'll be so much worse.

(And Lillian was SO on point!)

When Kara and Clark spar and have a heart-to-heart, Kara wonders if she can have it all, Clark assures her about the most important people make keeping the secret worth it and how letting (only) those important people in IS enough. Later, asked the same questions, Cat tells Kara that women have the guts to be vulnerable, lists her accomplishments.

Kara does not take Lena possessing some of Lex's Kryptonite nor the whole Sam/Reign-secret kept from her well. Gets even angrier when Lena creates her own Kryptonite (in her quest to fight/cure Reign …and cancer and other human ailments).

Or Mon-El hesitating to tell and keeping from Kara about his time-travelling, marriage and his actual mission…

That is up until mid-s03 and not even counting the many times how the show also taught us through Alex', J'onns and Lena's lenses that lying and pretending to be someone one is not to those important/close to oneself, is harmful to their (romantic and platonic) relationships and themselves.

Do I need to go on?

...Kara is clearly fully aware at that point that secrets (even her own) do not bode well in any type of relationships she would like to have and keep.

And, yes, I am fully aware of the "point of no return" argument, in all its validity, that at some point the lies had stacked up so much, that the hurt was inevitable, the fear of rejection more and more founded, of Kara wanting to be "just Kara" with Lena… Every season, every in-show year that passed and Kara kept her secret(s), it became impossibly harder to come clean. But, re-watching the show, it just seems so… irresponsible? And the more often Kara makes a point herself being lied to is a bad thing, even …hypocritical.

I am not saying any of the people who lied to or kept things from Kara were in the right or wrong - a totally different discussion that would require individual assessment. But, Kara, making the same point over and over again? Several times about the very topic of hidden/fake identities and double-lives… But then proceeding to keep her proclaimed best friend in the dark about herself, still?

Yeah, that bugs me. A lot.

IMO, after the whole Mon-El returned thing Kara would or should have had an epiphany about telling Lena the truth about herself… but then Reign beat her into a coma and all kinds of hell broke loose.

But… Yeah. Not even for Supercorp reasons. But internal logic.

From a story-writing perspective; you have your (main) character face a (similar but slightly different) situation a couple times before they learn their lesson. You plant the seeds (in this case: identity reveal) and then have it play out, based on what the character had learned(!) this far. And you have them deal with the worst-case-scenario backlash, if you need any for drama's sake, but it should make some level of sense… Instead they had Kara learn nothing, had her lie to Lena for another two years, and turned Lena into a spiraling madwoman. And Kara… well, now in Mon-El's shoes, could not quite understand how Lena (in Kara's former shoes, but with much more tainted personal experiences) was deeply, intimately hurt, devastated, and struggling.

Kara saw this coming - but tbh, when Lillian spoke so (unintentionally) truthful, Kara should have focused on the implied "if someone ELSE but you tells her", and when talking to Kal, realized that he didn't keep his secret FROM his most important people (Lois, James…) to protect them. Taken Cat's advice to have the guts to be vulnerable to reap Lena's long-term trust instead of settling for "for now this works, right?".

Not to mention that the whole show over and over stressed, that Kara could "have it all" without revealing herself to the world (the 100th episode even making a point that telling the world WILL put her loved ones at risk) or deciding on one half of herself, but then the show ended, and… yeah… I guess, some sort of witness protection for everyone?

No more casual strolls for "just Kara" through the park…

I adore the show, but… continuity?

It's just a bit painful to re-watch the show and watch Kara fault and shame others over and over again, only to go ahead and do the thing herself... Aware, yet oblivious. And NOBODY calls her out on it. (The one time Alex asked her and Kara was all like "I had to take the dog to the vet" is too little too late.)

Thankfully the fandom is so amazingly creative <3

#Kue out.

[putschki1969]

A Fine Line: Truth vs. Speculation

Due to popular demand, I will be taking a closer look at the infamous “FictionJunction & Kalafina Behind the Scenes” essay which is posted in three separate parts on a Livedoor Blog

UPDATE 24/10/10: As of October 8, the blog seems to have been deleted. Further proof of the author's questionable intentions if you ask me. But hey, nothing is ever truly gone on the internet so I will be using internet archives for my analysis.

UPDATE 24/10/17: Yuki Kajiura has addressed the blog in her most recent FC radio broadcast. She has read through it and wants us to know that all the “facts” are pure fabrications, especially the conspiracy theories regarding Sony wanting to control her and trying to slowly get rid of her involvement in Kalafina.

A few days ago, I provided some context and background info on the author so be sure to check out THAT POST before you read this one. While working my way through the individual sections, I will try my best to highlight the speculative parts for you so you know what you are dealing with.

Disclaimer: I will do this to the best of my knowledge and ability but please remember to remain critical at all times. You should always take these things with a grain of salt. While I would usually not hesitate to call myself somewhat of an expert on all things Kalafina, the same is not true when it comes to Yuki Kajiura. So even if my opinions and thoughts are well-founded, this should definitely not serve as a be-all and end-all source for you.

Parameters: I will highlight anything as "speculation" that doesn't qualify as cold, hard fact. This will entail straight-up lies, half-truths, conclusions with no causal links and full-on delusions of course but also more subtle things like exaggerations, embellishments, headcanons or projections of personal feelings.

Use of Auto Translate: Since my main goal is to reveal the speculative parts of the essay for casual fans, I want to save some time by simply putting the website through the automatic Chrome translation tool. It's not ideal and won't always make perfect sense (especially regarding the use of pronouns) but for now, it's the most convenient option. If there are any outlandish translations, I'll try my best to clarify them. For the purpose of this analysis, the translation should be fine though. I also blurred out all the photo descriptions in the screenshots because they were distracting, I've not removed any of the relevant text parts. ╭────────────.★..─╮ LET'S GO〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→ ╰─..★.────────────╯

Intro & Addendum ① The truth behind Kajiura Yuki’s departure from the agency ② The truth behind Kalafina’s split and hiatus ③ The activities of the members and Kajiura after Kalafina’s hiatus ④ The circumstances that led to Kalafina’s reunion and the truth behind Kajiura’s anger ⑤ Rights related to Kalafina

~Intro~ & Addendum

For clarification, the phrase "former member of the group" is a clunky translation of the part where the author refers to themselves as an “industry insider”, someone who has “formerly been affiliated” with Yuki Kajiura and Kalafina. Obviously, I believe this to be a total fabrication of the author who is aiming for attention and clout. I've already discussed this quite thoroughly in MY POST HERE so I won't go into detail again. Suffice it to say, I believe this person is an imposter pretending to have exclusive insider knowledge. As for the claim that these blog posts are "only focusing on facts", well, I beg to differ. While facts surely make up the basic framework of the essay, it is also filled with lots of unsubstantiated statements. Additionally, I am not buying into the whole "no intention of criticising anyone" thing because quite frankly, there's a lot of criticising and accusing going on here regarding Space Craft and Sony. Plus, this entire essay reflects super badly on Wakana. It's nothing obvious of course but there are subtle patterns that run like a red thread through the whole text (I'll highlight them once we get to the sections in question).

The addendum is basically a reiteration of the intro, serving to protect the author against any possible accusations of deception/fraud. However, they are doing a very bad job at trying to convince us of their credibility. What do you mean by "merely facts that you have seen and heard and that don't necessarily align with the facts of someone else"???!! Maybe this person struggles with the definition of the word "fact" but what makes a fact is solid evidence and not some random hearsay. It's also in the nature of facts to be true for everyone and not just for individual people. Oh well, what can you expect?

① The truth behind Kajiura Yuki’s departure from the agency

I have no issue with the names mentioned here. Those people have all indeed been part of Space Craft at one point or are still associated with the agency. You can find their names in Kalafina's credit booklets so that's undisputed. However, I do take issue with the strong focus on interpersonal relationships and soap opera drama. None of this has ever been officially confirmed (it's only ever been reported in tabloid papers). It's true that management positions at Space Craft have changed very frequently. You can see in the credit booklets that positions were switched up on a regular basis (with special titles changing just as often) which indicates that Space Craft has undergone a lot of restructuring throughout the years. Changes on management level are of course a very common practice in many companies. It's natural that some people will benefit from this and others will feel slighted. Obviously, these changes are not always triggered by professional reasons, there's a high possibility of private reasons being involved as well. However, there is no way of knowing whether Onishi was "obsessed" with anyone or if certain people were "being favoured" while others were "abused" and "demoted", these are merely speculations. At any rate, the fact that Inokuma has left the agency as well would suggest that the supposed special treatment wasn't so special after all. Mori may or may not have had his personal sensibilities offended which prompted his departure from Space Craft but the exact reasons behind it all have not been disclosed. "Often had disagreements over the direction due to Inokuma not understanding the process": Creative differences have been cited a few times as one of the reasons for YK's departure but that's the extent of our knowledge. We are not aware of any details as to who she's had those differences with or what exactly they couldn't agree on. There's also no way for us to judge Inokuma's skills as director/manager (or really anyone's for that matter). Not sure if Yuki has ever "negotiated her rights with a lawyer", I've personally not heard/read about that. Then we have Yuki's current status. Her partnership/association with Highway Star would suggest that she is not actually a "freelancer" in the strict sense of the word. In credit booklets, the agency is always listed as "artist management" alongside Yuki's own company FictionJunctionMusic so her status is a bit ambivalent if you ask me. But to be fair, that's neither here nor there, not really relevant for this analysis anyway. Claiming that YK is now able to "pursue her musical career more freely" seems a bit weird to me since Yuki has gone on record several times saying that she's never had more creative freedom than when she was working on Kalafina's music. There's no doubt that she is now doing a lot more soundtracks and live shows again but that's obviously because she has more free time to focus on that instead of new releases for Kalafina. Also, the main difference between then and now is that the huge success of Demon Slayer has afforded her the financial means to considerably expand her live activities. She's clearly enjoying the emphasis on concerts and events but we've no idea how happy she is about providing all those songs/scores to different shows/artists compared to how she felt when she was working on music for Kalafina...I'd argue it's not as fulfilling or fun. After all, she has been writing songs for all sorts of stuff during the Kalafina days and long before that too so nothing has changed about that.

② The truth behind Kalafina’s split and hiatus

For some reason, the author seems to be convinced that the higher ups at Sony were on an evil mission to "gradually get rid of Yuki Kajiura's involvement" so according to this essay, every change that happened throughout the years was just one step further into that direction. This is completely baseless and honestly makes no sense. There's zero evidence that either Sony or Space Craft ever wanted to remove YK from the project "Kalafina" before that whole falling-out thing happened. Quite the contrary actually, Yuki was always in charge of the music production and the higher-ups would never have given her so much free rein if Yuki's unconditional involvement wasn't exactly what they wanted. Did they involve more staff members when Kalafina became more popular and mainstream? Of course. It takes a lot of people and talent to handle activities on a larger scale. And since Yuki was busy working on new music almost all the time, there was no way she could have possibly handled all those things by herself. Apart from that, it was clearly necessary to bring in people with new ideas who knew how to adjust Kalafina's activities and marketing to better match their growing popularity and entry into mainstream territory. Many fans have bemoaned the fact that Kalafina had become too mainstream and idol-like in their later years but the truth is, if it hadn't been for these changes, Kalafina might never have gotten this far in terms of reach and success. The rather lackluster reactions to Kalafina's 10th Anniversary Live production are proof enough that a majority of fans actually preferred the more elaborate stage productions with dramatic elements, choreography and fan-service from the previous years. This is where people like "Minami Sasuga" come in, she is the one responsible for many of Kalafina's more engaging and epic live performances. For Yuki, the focus was always on singing so she never thought much of elaborate live productions but she obviously knew it was the price to pay for success. To conclude, no one was brought in to replace or drive away YK, they were merely invited to fill gaps that were in dire need of filling. The suggestion that a few "TV appearances and a collaboration with Shinji Tanimura" were failed attempts by Sony/Space Craft to "distance Kalafina from Yuki Kajiura" is once again utterly baseless. We have no evidence of that. How do those things even correlate to each other? Doing one thing doesn't exclude the other. If anything, these were attempts to broaden Kalafina's reach among different audiences. That part about "Sony intervening with Yuki's work/activities" also seems quite fishy. I have no details on this but what reasons would Sony have for those sort of restrictions all of a sudden if they had been fine with the situation all those years before? Not to mention that Sony (SACRA MUSIC to be more specific) is currently collaborating with Yuki again and there seem to be no issues about her performing all the old Victor stuff. All the things about Kalafina's cancelled activities in 2018 ("world tour, singles, albums, etc") are pure speculations taken from tabloid articles. Nothing has ever been confirmed. Might be true, might be a fabrication, we'll probably never know for sure. While it's certainly true that Keiko had been suffering from a "chronic illness" at that time (that sometimes made it impossible for her to do her job), the phrasing here makes it seem as if she was purposefully denied breaks and forced to perform when she was physically incapable. The truth is more nuanced. We do know that she got to take breaks if she needed them and whenever we actually saw her performing, there was never a point where she wasn't able to deliver solid vocals. It's easy to demonise the agency by saying they had poor Keiko slave away while suffering but based on what we know of Keiko's character, it was always her decision to keep working, she's the type to push through because she's not willing to let anyone down.

③ The activities of the members and Kajiura after Kalafina's hiatus

Keiko

Not for one second do I doubt "Keiko's strong respect" for Yuki Kajiura but I don't like the way this is framed. Somehow the girls are implicitly judged based on their level of respect for YK. And while Keiko is put on a pedestal here with her hero worship and unconditional loyalty, Wakana is the clear loser of this evaluation according to the author (see the section below). Also, why feel the need to include Keiko's little anecdote about her "low-voice complex"? Does anyone really believe that all the love and respect between Yuki and Keiko is based on something trivial like this? Yes, Keiko likes to tell the story about her low voice and she was obviously happy to get some positive feedback but this is in no way, shape or form the foundation of their relationship. We actually don't know anything about Keiko's motivation for that "trademark registration". She's never talked about it. She may have had plans as described above but to state it as fact is quite bold. YK has mentioned in interviews that she felt a little sad about the girls not getting to explore their own interests for a whole decade but I don't recall her saying that she was ever trying to "actively distance herself from them". Any perceived distance was caused by the rift between Space Craft, Yuki and Mori. Keiko, just like the other two members, did not "focus on Kalafina songs in the beginning" because she had nothing else to sing, it was more of a matter of wanting to please the fans who were obviously coming in with certain expectations. All three of them realised very quickly though that it was best to mostly/completely stay away from Kalafina covers for a number of reasons. I'd argue though that people "harshly criticising their covers" is very low on their list of reasons to avoid them.

Hikaru

We don't know what exactly caused the changes in Hikaru's voice and whether or not she "wanted to take a break to recover". This theory is unlikely though since there haven't really been any real "improvements" to her condition. She simply adapted to the state of her voice and sometimes it works for songs, other times it doesn't. The author refers to stipulations in the Space Craft contract that keep clients "from signing with another agency for a year after departure". This theory has been floating around forever and I've always found it to be quite plausible but once again, the author is stating it as fact here which I find problematic.

Wakana

This entire section somehow seems to imply that Wakana never cared about Kalafina or Yuki Kajiura and if you know anything about me, then you will not be surprised that I'm taking full offense at such claims. Portraying Wakana as the only one "who wanted nothing to do with Kalafina in favour of pursuing a solo career" is just wild. As far as we know, Wakana never had such a strong desire to be a solo artist (she actually often voiced her insecurities about performing alone) but still, this author makes it sound as if she was more invested in that dream than even Hikaru and willing to just abandon the Kalafina project. Completely untrue. For a while back in the early days, Kalafina was in a very fragile state with no concrete plans for the future. Members were not intended to be regular and everything happened on a tentative basis so of course, this would make everyone involved feel a little uncertain. No promises had been made to them, they had nothing to rely on so they would naturally have needed to look at other work options but obviously, none of them committed to anything else since they ended up becoming regular members of Kalafina. Again with this idea of Wakana "pining for her long-held dream of a solo career and being forced to sing YK's music" . Where does this person get their info? Hikaru has always been the only one among the three of them with the confidence and desire to stand alone on stage. Wakana is a lot more similar to Keiko in that regard, meaning that she prefers the comfort of having someone else on stage with her. That's not to say that she didn't have dreams of exploring her own music one day (and she has obviously been having fun throughout her solo career) but she certainly never minded being guided by Yuki and her fellow group members. Just like the other girls, she holds YK in high regard and treasures the music she has written for them. Wakana "chose stability over performing with Keiko, Hikaru and YK". The way this is phrased irks me so much because it is so clearly making Wakana out to be the bad guy in the situation. The person just named all the reasons why it was beneficial for Wakana to stay and in contrast, they also described the fate that would have awaited her if she had left as well. So yeah, Wakana chose relative stability over certain instability (as seen with Hikaru's circumstances). Not being able to perform with Keiko, Hikaru and YK was unfortunately one of the prices that had to be paid due to strict rules but to suggest she pretty much dropped them all like a hot potato for the sake of a bit of comfort is simply slanderous. And now the author is trying to convince us that there has never actually been any ban for Wakana, that "it has always been largely at her own discretion", that she is simply choosing to not collaborate with anyone for shits and giggles. Why would you say that? Just because we've examples of other Space Craft clients being able to work together with YK? That's completely irrelevant and has zero significance for Wakana's situation. Do we know what's in her contract? No. Do we know if it's the same contract as Yuuka Nanri's or Kaori's or anyone else's for that matter? No. So why make those conclusions?! We don't know anything about that. I find it rude to even suggest that Wakana and YK would willingly avoid working with each other again because even if this author might not believe it, there's certainly a huge amount of mutual respect between them.

④ The circumstances that led to Kalafina's reunion and the truth behind Kajiura's anger

Hm, is it "Space Craft's pride" alone that's stopping a proper reconciliation? Or Yuki's pride? Or Mori's pride? Or everyone's pride? I always hesitate to point the finger at just one involved party with disputes like this. It usually takes more than one party for a falling-out on such a large scale. I think there is a lot of hurt pride involved in this debacle. Yuki's official statement on the reunion live is a prime example of hurt pride. Of course she has every right to feel slighted but this was not a professional reaction. Say what you will about Space Craft treating the girls horribly but they are not always the sole perpetrator. I mean, yeah, the agency was their usual petty self by purposefully excluding YK and making the girls sign confidentiality agreements which surely caused them to feel uncomfortable but who was it that lashed out irrationally in public, essentially threw the Kalafina members under the bus and stirred up hatred against them? All I'm saying is that it is not as black-and-white as this person would have you believe. Everything else in this section is just pure speculation about future Kalafina projects. It's too early for that and I really see no point in coming up with all these prophecies of doom. It's funny though that according to the author, "Sony would suddenly not be interested in Kalafina without Yuki's involvement when they previously were so adamant about getting rid of her..." There's really no proof that Sony had no faith in Yuki's work prior to her success with Aimer and LiSA.

⑤ Rights related to Kalafina

I have no real qualms with the following sections. This part seems pretty well-researched and checks-out. While I'm not 100% familiar with all the legal aspects, this is information that can be looked up online. What I've found during my own research on music rights in Japan more or less aligns with what is stated here. So feel free to go through this without worrying too much about speculations.

I'm very glad the author puts emphasis on the fact that the girls are not the kind of people to be disloyal. Kudos to them!

We actually don't know yet what the "front band members" will do. Maybe they'll refuse to appear at the live out of loyalty to Yuki? Or maybe they will decide to support this reunion because the girls also mean a lot to them? None of them are bound by any rules, confidentiality agreements or stipulations so they can basically do whatever they want.

Regarding "Space Craft treating Kalafina too roughly", other people might feel differently but I still have faith in the girls. As far as I am concerned, they knew what they were getting into when they signed a deal with Space Craft. I mean, surely no one was holding a weapon to their head when they decided to do this so they must have collectively agreed that it was a good idea (at least in the beginning phase). I am not denying that this is currently a shit-show and that things are being handled in a very poor manner. It's the typical M.O. for Space Craft and they do deserve some of the backlash for that but let's be real here, so far, the roughest treatment has definitely not come from the agency. It has come from the fans themselves who've been hurling insults and accusations at the girls almost non-stop so maybe the fandom should first and foremost look inward instead of blaming Space Craft for everything.

»»———-THE END———-««

All right, that's it. A cookie for everyone who managed to read through all of this. Sorry for all the typos. I wanted to get this out last night but I should have done a little proof-reading first. Will edit the post whenever I have a little free-time.

[multiscales]

It's honestly looking like Friede is the type that either sucks at communicating properly or doesn't explain things and takes action before anything. People point out him not bringing up how he was ambushed by Spinel but he may simply be the type to not really air out all business that happens.

He's the leader of the RVTs so as the head man maybe he does his best to keep everyone less stressed and at ease and shoulders a lot of responsibility or baggage for that reason. He's a positive person on the outside but at the same time someone who seems to be a bit more mysterious on the inside potentially? He isn't dumb or oblivious. Just an adult with a ship and crew to care for. Maybe he doesn't want to add to their stress levels. We already know he somewhat takes on a surrogate parent dynamic along with Murdock.

I feel like that dynamic extends to the Pokemon aboard the ship being "children" too for the RVTs. They did say "there are children aboard" and I don't believe that was just referring to Liko (and Dot?) either. It definitely gives a different layer to him outside of his coolness.

Maybe his inner turmoil will be him blaming himself for not communicating more clearly with his crew about how Spinel's Pokemon ambushed him and not being more proactive in informing others because he felt the need to shoulder this himself. It's a very relatable story cue for a strong young man who is meant to be a positive force to him team suffering because he decided to go at it alone and not rely on them like he should. I'm not sure if that would have lead to Liko not getting hypnotized and kidnapped last episode but it's an interesting story beat.

[dollieroulette]

Roxen & Turb Mix n' Match Photos (PART 1)

AS PROMISED here are alllllll (Edit: Uh, some.) of the pics of my Mystery Doll 1 (Now named Essie. Like the nailpolish brand I guess? I don't know I like it.)

Ok that's all ty byebyebyeby- kidding. I'm kidding. More under the cut-- WAY MORE under the cut.

We'll start with the head--

Feels nice and solid. I got her as clean as I was physically capable of with the tools I had-- I think maybe her lips were previously a -touch- over sanded, but I don't think it's anything I can't fix with a good faceup.

"Rose," I hear you asking, "Where are her ears?" I don't know, man. She didn't come with ears. From my understanding Roxen & Turb had magnetic elf ears that could be switched out with magnetic human ears. I've been looking for them to purchase forever without any luck-- I'll probably have to sculpt her some new ones.

Tops and bottoms, insides and outsides. The inside of her head is a bit grubby, probably coulda' cleaned it a bit better but sometimes you get tired.

GOOD. Ok!! Let's take a look at her torso top and bottom!

We're not censoring this Doll Nudity(tm) 'cause, again, these images are for comparison and cataloguing purposes. If you are unsettled by doll nudity you can scroll real fast for a second and the doll nudity will vanish. I still am not entirely sure what's up with these two parts. Is that a boy top with a girl bottom? Is this an old sculpt girl with a smaller chest size? I suspect -maybe- because I've seen other folks who own this sculpt but also I'm not positive, it's hard to find images of the older/oldest Little Gem sculpts.

Alright! Let's look at the insides of each torso piece.

Notice the little notches? The top of the legs have a spot that I think is meant to kind of click in place there for better posing. It..almost works.

So the top piece here is glued in place, which, I've been told is typical. Little piece of strange resin inside there that I think is just an artifact of casting.

The neck hole looks a little rough-- I think it's slightly damaged, probably from the previous owner. I could smooth that out easy enough.

scalloped like potatoes. These little ridges actually work pretty well for posing. Notice that this doll's seams have been well sanded. Very slight discoloration here and there, especially around said sanded seam.

ALRIGHT torso 1 & 2 are catalogued! Lets move to the arms, legs, and feet, shall we?

Take note of the lil' L and R etched inside of the socket there.

Here they are, the notches.

And more notches! These ones also only work sort of ok.

Here's how the lil' cap joint works on the lower leg parts.

And- oh! Oh woah. Did you guys know we're only allowed 30 images in one post? I, just now, have made this discovery. See part TWO for further images on Essie's arms and legs. :)

[rcrisdraws]

could you please share how you draw eyes? i will forever envy how you draw faces and capture emotion <3

First of all thank you so much for enjoying my art!! As for the eyes, hmm...

I don't particularly consider the way that I draw eyes themselves very complex: two lines and a dark circle. Coloring is usually where it takes better shape, but most times I keep that simple enough as well because eyes end up a relatively small portion of the drawing itself.

Here's some examples!

And it works for the most part for animals as well!!

The eye on its own can be expressive, but more often it requires at least the eyebrows to communicate emotion, but the whole complexion comes together when you add the mouth too, bc the mouth can accentuate the eye+eyebrows or be in contrast with it to create more subtle emotions.

Let's try a few examples and go from simple to complex!

Most important though is studying the world around you and trying to break it up in as simple terms as you can.

I hope these help or at least partially explain my thought-process! (I hope the hand-writing is legible enough as well)

[inioranackatori]

Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale, Part 2

I have little reason not to, so here we go. I’m going to poke and/or rant at every single eye catch tech spec in GaoGaiGar. The vanilla King of Braves only; I’m not touching Final with its funky formatting.

Speaking of funky, let’s talk about Guy Shishioh.

Guy Shishioh. The son of benevolent mad scientist Leo Shishioh. Astronaut and only person on board a super-classified shuttle at the ripe age of eighteen. Which means Guy is a chip of the old block and is a certified, certifiable genius.

We’ll skip over the obvious and hop straight to the bottom of the list: GS Ride Class Classified. This makes sense: Guy is an experimental cyborg. His very existence is classified, so of course his power source is classified.

Height: 201 cm. Just over six and a half feet tall. That’s a foot taller than the average, and around half a foot shorter than Soldato-J.

Weight: 125 kg. 275.6 lbs. A perfectly normal, respectable weight given his height and musculature.

Nothing really outstanding here, either. The Machineheart is a nice punk rock name band, though I’m fairly certain it’s a reference.

What does stand out to me is the power supply. Hi-Density Tubeler Battery. Tubeler, in this case, being a misspelling of tubular. The tubes are here:

Yup. Guy’s hair is a bunch of batteries. Which has got to make his hair care regiment… shocking.

Equip response time of two seconds. Note, here, Equip does not mean “put on all the armor”. It means putting on the helmet, activating the scanner thing built into it, and turning on the hair batteries. The batteries give him a 30% boost to power - the listed Power Up stat - and he can gain an additional 15% up when activating emergency powers. All the stat boosts are in the amazing hair.

The actual time to put on the whole armor set is unlisted. But we’ll get more into the full armor later. For now, let’s hit the last point.

Speed: 61.5 km/h. That’s about 38 miles per hour using the imperial system. That’s as fast as a greyhound dog. Or if you prefer -

Guy is as fast as a cheetah.

Wait… Something must be wrong. The absurd giant robot show doesn’t have absurd stats for its protagonist?

Nope! There it is!

“But Iniora,” I can hear you asking. “How is a knife absurd?” Two words.

Variable. Sharpness.

The sharpness is tied to Guy’s will power. The greater Guy’s will, the sharper the Will Knife becomes.

That means Guy can cut down a door with the strength of his will alone.

[hal-assan]

Muse List

featured on hal-assan

Yvair Viriselan, of Clan Lavellan

Dalish rogue, skilled particularly in archery and tracking. While known to be sarcastic and rather flirtatious, Yvair genuinely is bighearted deep down and prone to self-sacrificial tendencies. Despite being overall a 'proud' Dalish, his beliefs could be considered more agnostic than faithful. While not blindly trusting of humans, Yvair is more willing than some Dalish to allow every human to make their own impression instead of outright assuming ill intent. Canon world state features him as Inquisitor, but a companion verse can be requested.

Sebastian Vael, Prince of Starkhaven

Devote Andrastian who despite his strong faith may be considered openminded, or critical of how the Chantry functions at times. He wants to be able to help those in need of it, and can struggle against making rash decisions. Defaults to friendship path, request if intended rivaled.

Elgaris Viriselan, of Clan Lavellan

Born initially to Clan Viriselan, after her magical capabilities unlocked Elgaris moved to Clan Lavellan alongside her older brother to take on the responsibility of learning to one day become a Keeper. Unlike her brother, Elgaris genuinely believes in the Evanuris. She is lighthearted and optimistic to the point some people may consider her to be naive. Defaults to First of Clan Lavellan, willing to play as Second to another Lavellan.

featured on splinteredglass

Tamlen, of Clan Sabrae

Raised a proud Dalish, Tamlen is wary of every human until given a good reason not to be. Doomed by his curious nature, the warrior ended up Blighted and conscripted to take on the Blight despite his protests. While he fought against the idea up until his Joining, Tamlen proves to be a great addition to the Warden's ranks. Canon worldstate has him stubbornly become the Hero of Ferelden due to delivering the killing blow to the Archdemon-- if his life is spared in the act, he is out of the loop as to how.

Fejin Mahariel, of Clan Sabrae

Fejin is morally grey-- someone who isn't concerned if they need to spill blood to get their job done. However as long as it is in their abilities, they will do their best to aid those less fortunate than them. Unfortunately for anyone who is better off, especially if they prove a terrible person, Fejin is not above thievery or other criminal activities. Usually an alternative to Tamlen, but happy to write it where both had survived.

Merrill Alerion, of Clan Sabrae

Despite turning to blood magic in an attempt to fix the eluvian that cost her the lives of her closest friends (be they dead or simply taken from the Clan), Merrill is nice to nearly everyone unless given a very good reason not to be. She seeks knowledge of her people's past and many may consider her naive or stupid, views she doesn't always try to correct. In some cases she'll lean into that belief and use it as an opportunity to troll or otherwise mess with those around her.

featured on asala-shokrakar

Archex, Tal-Vashoth

When it became clear that Archex was going to face re-education due to not quite conforming to what the Qun wanted of him, he took off despite having no idea of what to do with himself after gaining his freedom. In due time, the Qunari happens across a merchant under attack by bandits and steps in to save his life. The human befriends him, even taking him in as family and helps Archex eventually adjust to life as a Ferelden. Verse set for Inquisition, but happy to work out something for any other timeframe.

[wandering-night19]

Lonestar Proud Thoughts and Feelings

Okay, so to start this off the two most important things to know are 1. I took my sister with me who has never seen an episode 2. I have crippling anxiety. I’m not being sarcastic or funny it can be truly debilitating at times. In fact it has me replaying everything that happened in a loop and not in a good way. But I left Saturday afternoon happy and having had an amazing time, so I keep reminding myself of that.

So this is going to be very long winded and I will put it beneath the cut along with every picture I took that day.

We were assigned to table 5 and at first it seemed like it was just going to be the two of us at the table, but we were later joined by four of the volunteers. I had no idea it was going to be so small and intimate, so I was immediately terrified because it would be impossible to be lost in a crowd of people. 

They gave us the lineup for the day saying we’d start with autographs, then photos, then lunch, and after would be the Q&A. I swear to god it felt like an out of body experience when they came out. All day I couldn’t quite believe it was real. 

Because we were at table 5 which was basically the volunteer table we went last for everything. Which was fine with me, I promise! I very literally could not let go of my sister the entire time. If I didn’t have a death grip on her sweater she was holding my hand. When we were called up for autographs there was no one at Rafa’s table and a line at Ronen’s, so we started with Rafa. 

I was absolutely frozen. I couldn’t even say hi and I barely made eye contact. I just stared at the table. My sister did all the talking, which resulted in one of our favorite quotes from the day where she asked Rafa if he spoke Spanish. (I die a little every time I remember it.) Because there was a slight awkward silence while he read the poem my sister apologized for both her hand writing and any spelling errors as she doesn’t speak Spanish and was merely copying it down. He said there were no mistakes and commented on how beautiful it is before asking if it was for him. My sister explained I wanted it signed, he hesitated and said it was way too pretty to ruin with his autograph and then signed it anyway. We then had him sign a blank piece of cardstock because my plan is to turn it into a sticker for my hydroflask. He smiled and thanked us for coming and I feel like I smiled and nodded back, but who knows because my soul had left my body.

Both my sister and I were near death and automatically headed back to our table before she remembered we still needed Ronen’s signature and we had to turn around and get in the line for him. When my sister handed him the poem he asked if it was Italian and she said no it was Spanish. He asked if he was supposed to sign anywhere specific and she said no anywhere was fine. She explained it was my favorite poem and how I thought it fit TK’s and Carlos’ relationship. So then he yelled for Rafa to translate it. (I may have jumped when he yelled and he apologized.) Rafa said he would tell him about it later. He signed it and then my sister explained the sticker thing and he signed the other paper. Finally, we went back to the table. Me still not having said a single word. My hands were shaking so bad it was ridiculous.

There was then a small break while they set up for pictures. And then some very tense moments were we were told it would be a group photo with our whole group and not individual pictures. But the miscommunication was resolved and everyone was happy.

Again, my sister and I were last in line for pictures. I was terrified I was going to have to do it alone because no one else got pictures with two people. But then the husbands that were sitting at the table with us went together. This is the one regret my sister has. She really wishes she had made me do the photo on my own. I will be forever grateful that she didn’t because I would have blacked out. 

I am not a hugger. I barely hug my own family. I also have this fear that famous people aren’t able to consent to hugging and feel obligated to hug fans whether they want to or not, which makes me want to not hug even more. There was a moment where Rafa started for a hug, but with my death grip on my sister it would have been a group hug, so he stopped. He read my t-shirt and it seemed like he opened his mouth to ask a question, but then my sister was pushing her way in and getting us into position for the picture.

Ronen accidentally pulled my hair because I don’t think he realized how long it was and he was super quick to apologize. The photographer took about a million photos. Like I was beginning to wonder when it was going to end. But then it was over and they were super sweet and thanked us (which still blows my mind) and we headed back to our table.

And while on the way back my sister whispered in my ear, “when would be a good time to tell you my hand accidentally brushed Rafael’s butt? Just let me know when.” I died. I think I was more embarrassed than she was.

Next was lunch and the Q&A. Everyone’s been over the Q&A, so I’ll just put up the pictures I took during it (and one snapchat.)

Then it was time for the meet and greet. Two of the volunteers sitting at our table left before the Q&A and did not go to the meet and greet. We ended up being a group of I believe four. We were definitely the smallest, quietest, most anxious group. I felt a little bad because they kept trying to get us to ask questions and there were lots of long silences. But I thought they were so kind and gentle with all of us. There was an older woman in the group that asked a lot of questions, so at least it wasn’t completely silent. But they made me cringe, but both Ronen and Rafa were so kind and answered them.

She asked about bringing back the bartender and having him be a guest at the wedding to cause some drama between TK and Carlos. Ronen said he didn’t think there would be much drama as TK wasn’t interested in the bartender at all. And Rafa stated that TK and Carlos were it for each other there would never be anyone that came in between them.

She then said the he could be the bartender at the wedding and that could be funny. Ronen said it could potentially be funny.

She then asked if Lou would be at the wedding. Rafa looked very confused for a minute and Ronen asked if she meant the lizard. She said she did. And they both said Lou had been set free and Rafa said he was probably busy making his own family and wouldn’t have time for the wedding. Ronen made the comment that he didn’t see any pets in TK and Carlos’ future.

There was one other question asked by the guy that asked the question during the Q&A about how to handle being so anxious for the characters. And I really, really wish I could remember it because Rafa answered it and was really sweet. The guy was sitting right next to Rafa and they had their own little conversation. And I know he was just as nervous and anxious as I was because his voice and hands were shaking whenever he spoke. But I also felt so proud that he did speak and ask his questions because I couldn’t. I was absolutely paralyzed. And i knew how hard it must have been for him.

Anyway, then it was time for pictures. Ronen was very much in charge of the whole meet and greet thing. He explained how it worked when we all got in the room and then he took charge during pictures and told us what wall had been designated as the selfie wall. Then as he and Rafa were walking towards it he said “and we’ll start right here” and touched my shoulder. I definitely blacked out.

So my sister and I got up. She had my phone and was going to take the selfie herself, but Rafa told her to give the phone to Ronen because he’s a professional selfie taker and my sister made a joke about her long arms, but that she didn’t have much selfie experience. He took a few pictures and then we were done.

When it was finally time to leave we had parked on the convention center side of the hotel when we had first arrived and had to make our way back over there. My sister was trying to tell me I had done a really good job and I had made it through the whole day without a panic attack and I could breathe now. AND I TRUSTED HER AND THEN WE RAN INTO RONEN IN THE PARKING LOT!

I for sure thought he was going to think we were crazy stalkers. But again he was just super nice and thanked us for coming and then saw our California plates and asked if we were from here. My sister said that she lived in Lakewood (it’s about 45 mins from Burbank), but that I had flown in. He told us to have a good day and then we got in our cars. There was the awkward follow through the parking lot with me screaming in the car at my sister that he was going to think we were following him, but thankfully we turned different directions when leaving the parking lot.

I just want to end by saying that even though right now I’m beating myself up because I wasn’t able to say a single word and I barely made any eye contact, not once did they ever make me feel bad for it. They didn’t try to force anything or say anything rude. They were just so patient and kind. So even though I have convinced myself that they probably think I’m an idiot and the most awkward turtle to have ever turtled, they were very, very nice about it. And I’m so glad I stepped outside of my comfort zone and decided to buy tickets and go. Maybe next time, if they do this again, I won’t be so awkward. 

[hypergnomesimblr]

Surprise!!!

"You said we were goin' to Rattlesnake Juice."

I know, but this was the only way to get you out!

"Grrr..."

🎵Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to Leo! Happy Birthday to you!🎵

"Ugh..."

C'mon, Leo! Make a wish!

"D-do I really have to?"

Yes!

"Tch...fine..."

Well, what did you wish for?!

"To break your f!ckin' neck for lyin' to me!"

Yeah! That's a good wi--wait what now?!

[one-time-i-dreamt]

not a dream

Successfully gaslighted Ragnar into believing he is slowly being eaten by me by pretending to make biting and chewing noises from time to time when I am giving him a big ole smooch so now he pouts and whines and then shamelessly demands a treat like, "You think you can get away with a free bite of ze delicious bebe? Think again, silly hooman, give me my stinky sticky stick right now so I can replenish what you've eaten, greedy woman!"

[gearbroth]

Spychecking?

[roseunspindle]

Books by “B” Authors I own and Need to Read (Part 3)

[homkamiro]

Sillay heavymed commission!! They cookin!!!!!!

[inioranackatori]

Point of order. Why is one of those covers an Akira variant?

Why are there so many absolute Batman covers part 2

[kate-komics]

Skill Issue: a Wolverine fan comic

TW: blood

Length: 6 pages

Main inspirations: final monologue of Wolverine #50 by Benjamin Percy. And my dad (a real life Logan)

I wanted to try my hand at a Logan monologue. Hope you all liked it 💙💛

Seeing that hunky old man in that yellow suit reminded me how important this character is to me. Been re-reading old comics and re-watching beloved movies. Wolverine has always been one of my most major comic influences. I've loved him since I was 8. Whenever people ask what my dream character to draw for he’s always one of ‘em. I could drone on but we’d be here all day.

Thanks for reading!

[mollysunder]

What do you mean Silco kept a framed photo of him, Vander, and Felicia locked in his safe!?!??!!!

In Silco's old diary, which he also keeps in the safe btw, he even praises her for raising kids in their crazy world!!!!

Silco really said there's nothing braver than being a mother, which is why he adopted Jinx, because he's not afraid of anything.