#some interesting and silly meta about my own drawings

[cienie-isengardu]

If anyone wonders about my lack of star wars activity in favor of Mortal Kombat, here is the explanation:

Current Mortal Kombat franchise took an unfair approach to my favorite characters, in some cases giving them a serious damage to intelligence just to push the storyline from point A to point B. And yet no matter how frustrating or annoying MK is right now, the story still engages me on a personal level. I want to draw silly ideas, I want to write ambitious metas, I created a whole AU series just to have what I didn’t get from official sources. And mind you, MK1 Behind the Scenes AU is still an ongoing project after almost a whole year.

With Star Wars the difference is… Disney’s star wars is just meh.

It is not that all new content is bad to the point I lost interest in interacting with the franchise. It's rather its mediocrity that simply doesn’t make me feel anything intensive about it enough to bother in the first place. I lowkey hate The Clone Wars for how it changed Star Wars and fandom’s perception of certain characters and events, but it also pushed me to talk in great length about various matters, like the chip in brain nonsense, or Mandalorian culture, or how Legends sources presented the relationship of Anakin & clone troopers. Currently though? I have little to no exceptions and yet even then there is barely anything out there to break my indifference. Disney is mass producing star wars content - we have so many TV series in a relatively short time, there are various comics series, but none of those make me excited the way Legends did. Hell, those don’t even make me curious about star wars which is pretty fucked up on its own. 

And that is the point. I’m so high on the Mortal Kombat phase not because the writing is so amazing or my fav characters are treated with respect, but because it makes me emotionally invested in a way Star Wars hasn't for years.

[desultory-novice]

As fun as The Angst(tm) is, I really hope the Dead People Gang aren't just, like. Trapped in Turbohell Kirbohell forever. For some reason, my thoughts instantly went to Void Termina - Since Void Termina is implied to be reincarnated as a good guy after their defeat as Void, I thought it would be interesting if they got a glimpse of everyone hanging out in the afterlife between the "blowing up" part and coming back as not-as-evil. Plus, now I've got a really funny mental image of that coming up in casual conversation Kirby/Meta/Dedede/some other protagonist and Kirby finding out and deciding "sounds like more potential friends! time to go to hell" to try and (somehow) save them

My own brain was putting a Charlie & the Chocolate Factory style spin on it. They CAN all come back, just...

Sectonia: ...once the Dream Stalk goes to seed

Max: ...once his brain is finished defragging (...or see Seto Kaiba in the manga version of Yugioh)

Magolor: ...when someone succeeds in breaking the crown

Marx: ..."User 'Marx' can rejoin the game in 87,600 hours"

Links to the rest of the mini-series:

Part 1″A Beautiful Sunset” Part 2 “The Sun Never Sets” Part 3 “Screams of Joy”  Part 4 “Visitors” Part 5 “A Perfect Circle”

Relevant: “Conditional” [You Are Here]

--

That said, your bit at the end about "Let's go to hell and rescue everyone!" is partially why I followed this story to its current, silly (?) conclusion! I know it's sounded / looked / been depressing, especially for poor, poor, poor Magolor, but I meant what I said in the tags about drawing this helping me get over some of my own True Arena-induced trauma......

(continued below)

<PS: To the Anon who asked about the Void beach pic? Your answer is here too! Sorry to make you go through all this to find it!!>

...Ahem!

I -liked- the idea of Mags and Marx having come back from their Soul experiences and have used it as fuel, but it honestly bugged me that they seemed to survive when Sectonia and Marx were still MiA...from the same thing? (I get that Max's brain is DELETED but what about his body? I always imagined that even though Star Dream blew up, the "pilot's seat" so to speak was preserved. But...

Basically, even if I could come up with reasons why the other two "didn't" survive, I could never come up with a reason why Magolor and Marx DID outside of "popular characters." ...Not to be too hypocritical, as I'm a dedicated fan of said "popular characters")

But there being a version of Magolor Soul who doesn't "get better" weirdly makes me feel quite a bit better about the other Soul victims. Because... maybe we could be building up to something with them? Maybe there IS a chance for them to come back now, or be saved, like you said. If they're all kinda in the same way...??

(Heck, I probably would have added Galacta as a visitor to the superhell-theme park if I had ANY experience with drawing them.)

Speaking of "the same way" the reason I'd always assumed Marx followed the pre-remake Mago path because they were both in Star Allies, but if there's a version of Magolor who isn't saved, I've started to think that True Arena Marx Soul (:cough: the only form of Marx Soul :cough:) wasn't saved either. Which is both very sad but also, gives me the same sense of hope/unity as the above!

I had a legit "...aww, darn...!" moment last night as I was finishing this up when I realized Fecty's soul was safely under Efly's care and they wouldn't be able to join the theme park enjoyers... Of course, the very idea of an Attraction to delight and amaze would probably trigger Fecty's trauma, putting them in a worse state than Magolor.

Void's also not available to go to the park, sadly.

Speaking of...!

Here you go, anon!

[virginmiri99]

Insider anon calling in, here with the show and trusting Tommycrit & Co with it

To start off very general I had a great time, it was very genuinely entertaining and there wasn't a moment where attention or energy was lost. On the technical side it was well paced with a followable structure and characters you did get invested in as silly they were. The audience energy was good and well commanded, and though there were some issues with people staff did get involved. I feel like the way I'm going to describe it won't do it justice obviously because live shows are live for a reason and my memory is awful, but here's the skeleton of it all

(There were two acts, the first act ends after the explanation of the events during the doxxing and the second act starts off with them dealing with it. I'll split the asks to keep the doxxing story in one piece.)

The First act! (- doxxing story)

Slimecicle introduced the show over a video montage, with the joke that he was being held at gunpoint to praise Tommy in absurd ways, it was a great build up to Tommy's show 'character', which entered on stage soon after (surprisingly he was the only one who seemed different in person, or at least seemed smaller than I thought). His character in this is the grandeous, egotistical money-focused persona he tends to draw on hyped to the max (an insane amount of stage presence and full use of his body and exaggerated expressions, I feel like no matter where you sat nothing was lost in translation). The entire show is initially presented as a step-guide on how to be rich and successful and sexy like him - aka. you have to be him, and the steps are consequently a life story (the actual meta reason and purpose of the show does get stated out loud later on). There's alot of crude humour throughout the show and I'd say most of it landed for me personally. There was never a joke in general didn't receive a good response which is great for such a heavily packed live show where there's usually one or two that miss the mark, but seeing certain parents faces in response to the joke poking at Christians was funny in its own right.

As you can imagine, the life story starts off in the, that's right, the womb, where he was planning his potential and success, only for Jack, playing his dad, to come in and tell an unsurprising, embarrassing birth story. Jack's 'dad' character is also the same old man persona he uses alot, the one haunted by war crimes in 'Nam and ever disappointed in his son, so, nothing like Iain at all (maybe the comment about Tubbo being Tommy's boyfriend came from a real place). The running bit in the show being his refusal to hug Tommy (Tommy's actual dad being on the sidelines of the stage the entire time and having helped write the script added to the experience in retrospect). The dad character sort of plays the 'realist' and the downbeat character, with alot of dry humour and directly addressing the audience while also being just as exaggerated as Tom's - got most of the parents laughs.

Then we get the wonderful introduction of Binda, as played by Freddie Badlinu, who is the character of a literal stuffed dog Iain bought when Tommy was a baby and back when they were genuinely pretty poor (also alot of humour about wealth and class which landed great with a British audience, it'd be interesting to see with an American one). Binda as a character is very childlike, and is bullied by the other characters for it, often being sent off stage (much to the audience's sympathy and 'aww's). Pretty much a metaphor for childhood and innocence in the show, being the angel on Tom's shoulder and a great contrast to the two other characters. There was an introduction song (Freddie does have a brilliant singing voice!) and a dance sequence as is theatre requirement (it stretched a few beats too long but nothing too painful).

This continues with a few more stories (these stories are presented as 'oh woe look at these hardships it took to get where I am!' before cutting to an entirely minimal and embarrassing childhood story), how he had to be his own bully because he was a lonely child (Jack, also playing Tommy's mum throughout this with a simply longer wig), how he fought off a monster aka. Betty (A massive two-person puppet of a hound was used before the actual photo of Tommy and Betty as a puppy was shown, it was a genuinely an amazing puppet prop) etc. I'm not doing this part much justice in description because there was a fair amount and it played 'build-up'.

From this it leads onto the introduction of minecraft in his life, and the story of the hammock collar-bone breaking incident, as preformed by puppets in a prerecorded video! (Tommy suits puppetry concerningly well.) He goes on to explain the switch from Twitch streaming to YouTube after being inspired by YouTubers such as Captain Sparkles and DanTDM (big applause, though Technoblade got the biggest) and then the downfall after being told he had to study for GCSEs (there's alot of humour of Tommy being rude to his parents and it going poorly, being either physically threatened or threatened in the 'British mum' way, which the mum I was sat next to found very funny in particular).

And then we get Covid! This part landed very well humour beat wise and the photo shown of the moment Tom and Sarah found out GCSE's were cancelled was borderline renaissance (elation vs. horror-shock.)

YouTube goes great (as we know), dsmp mention (not as big a portion of the show as one might expect, barely mentioned after this) and the shows leads onto the first time Tommy goes to Brighton, again in a prerecorded puppet video and song! Puppets of Tom, Iain (?), Wilbur, Niki, Fundy, Philza, and Kristin were the main ones used, and all of them bar from Fundy and Iain sung a part in the song! Tommy's singing voice sounds incredibly young I will say, not as in unpracticed or unskilled at all, just generally young like some of his older singing clips - for some reason I thought it'd changed more.

There's also a part talking about lawyers and the wacky things such as having to copyright his own face, which lead to another song as by Freddie Badlinu in a Better Call Saul inspired outfit (my favourite of the songs Freddie sang, very familiar to another production but I can't put a finger on which one).

Up until this point the story arc of the show has been on a solid positive incline which no really conflict, and the tone has only been humourous if not absurd. At this point Tommy alludes to things going to shit and to the point of wanting to quit, and the title card behind Tommy begins to decay in a block by block fashion. This is the start of Tommy's character dropping the act and instead acting desperate and upset, as he begs vaguely for what is happening to stop (leading onto the doxxing part of the show...)

[PART 1]

Maybe I'm just on my period but this first part to the show is legit making me tear up rn this sounds so well put together and a great experience I'm genuinely impressed just reading your TLDR of it. It sounds like it blends together seamlessly and I'm just honestly proud with what they managed to create. Awesome.

[fallowtail]

I hope so much you’re not offended by the questions I’m about to ask but I’ve never been friends with a furry before and literally don’t understand what it means! Do furries think they’re partly the animals they identify with, like a furry thinks they’re part human and part fox or bear or whatever? Is it that furries are sexually attracted to animals or just attracted to people dressed as animals? I’d be so grateful for any actual information you can give me! I love Hetty too, by the way

[disclaimer: this is all just for me personally] Ooo honestly I'm not the best person to ask this question because while I am in the furry fandom and draw them and have a fursona ect, I don't really identify with being a furry outside of it just being a way of enjoying fictional animal characters and being in a fandom like any other, where as for a lot of people it's a core aspect of their identity and who they are, and is a lot more serious and soul searching. It really depends on the person you're asking and I don't really have any strong feelings about it, so my answer is going to be...very lackluster and not true for everyone, just my own personal identification with the term/concept haha. For me personally it just means I simply enjoy humanized/anthropomorphic animal characters (though I myself tend to lean more into being interested in humanoids with animal aspects vs animals that are humanized, and while I draw a lot of them because I am not a very good humanoid artist, the standard "furry" character you think of when you think of them isn't really my main interest). I think really the best way to think of it is just to think of it like any other fandom, like Whovians or Trekkies etc, just that the fandom itself tends to be mostly centered around original creations and a concept of something vs a specific set media! I like to depict myself as my fursona (an opossum, because I see myself in them and because they're my favorite animal) online just because it's...fun to depict yourself as a silly little animal and indulge in that nonhuman cartoon character creativity, but for some people it's a lot deeper than that, though since it's not that deep for me I don't really want to speak on it and accidentally misrepresent anyone. It really unfortunately does depend on who you're talking to and you're gonna get a different answer, LOL, it's actually kind of a meta thing that nobody within the fandom itself can actually agree outside of "person who enjoys anthro animals", but even then that is self applied, and enjoying those things doesn't make you a furry. Augh, man, I am so bad at articulating things, I'm so sorry this is mostly a non answer anon </3 tl;dr for me it just means I enjoy drawing/looking at/reading about sentient cartoon animals because I think they're fun and for me it's just a fun fandom thing like any other!

[battle-of-alberta]

meta thoughts i am having today, i think it's interesting how i will meticulously study scenes in calgary to make sure you know it's calgary, but when it comes to drawing my own city its like "city hall be upon ye" over and over and I'm trying to figure out why that is and why i am so reticent about injecting more edmonton-ness despite spending the majority of my time here and unwittingly contributing to the 'edmonton is a nebulous vague idea with a loose identity' or 'edmonton is a sketchy, depressing place' that i wanted to combat.

i think part of it is i feel self conscious about putting everything i do with my pals into my comics for some reason, which is silly. part of it is also because a lot of things i do "from life" are every day chores that are either very generic or somewhat particular to the area i live which i don't want to overdraw from. another part of it is because i work for an organization that focuses on edmonton history i'm conscious about leaning on it too much, because while it is super interesting i also feel weird about it?? and i also fall into this spiral of wanting to portray times and places i didn't live in "correctly" and end up doing nothing at all.

apart from the psychological hurdles i'm starting to identify in my own mind... as much as i draw ed as the snarky and sarcastic wet blanket most of the time and particularly to channel my political frustrations... i do really love edmonton and i think there are a lot of amazing beautiful things here, as well as silly things... but I take a lot of things harder as well because it strikes closest to home for me when bad things happen or i see chronic problems, and i usually use ed to express that. as a result calvin doesn't carry as much of the "baggage" and he's easier to write and for other people to relate to as a result. It's a lot harder to portray my own city by virtue of being my own city but also because we have our own chronic self image problems that are thankfully changing, it's just how to portray them to other people that is difficult for me.

anyway, tldr, i've just been looking at my art and feeling unsatisfied, so i need to go outside more and start looking at things with fresh eyes again i think! or, at least, use the zillions of reference photos i take every day for Something. It's my absolute favourite time of year and I want to be out in it.

[queen-tashie]

So, WHY is your main story the main one?

- @ftmerriweather

Thank you for your question and I'm understanding this two different ways, so two different answers you shall have!

First understanding: The Quiet Forest is the main WIP/story I've focused on writing, and so it's my main focus and lately the one I talk about the most.

I started writing The Quiet Forest when I was 19. I used to affectionately refer to it as my third novel, because it was my third idea for a novel. Three's also my lucky number (and there's a silly story behind that which I can get into another time) so on top of having a more flushed out idea for the story, superstitiously it felt right as well. Not to mention, Runnicka is an OLD OC. Originally I created her when I was 9 years old and started learning to draw (I believe I still have the original drawing of her design, oh boy is she different now lol). So, she's been with me most of my life, and by the time I started writing, I'd been thinking of her on and off for ten years.

Despite my ADHD, I decided to stick with one story while my mind tugged at me to start new WIPs. I'm glad I did because The Quiet Forest taught me so much about good and bad storytelling, good and bad character building (including some unhinged names that perhaps I'll share one day haha), and good and bad editing.

I wrote The Quiet Forest over the course of the next 11 years, finished it last year in February and queried it over the last year with no takers. Rather than let it sit on my harddrive unread in its final draft by anyone but me, I thought it better to share this decade long passion project with anyone who would be interested to see my first novel-length piece.

Even just in the last year and a bit I've grown leaps and bounds as a writer (I wrote two first drafts last year and read some life-changing writing craft books), so I'm seeing the reasons why agents might not have picked it up. Not that it's bad, just that there's not much of a market for this kind of story right now and for the foreseeable future. This I'm at peace with because my goal for The Quiet Forest was simply to finish it and finish querying. I've done that. That I'm releasing it on my own in this unofficial way this November is a bonus, as this wasn't my original intention.

Now, for more of the actual story reasons this is my main story right now and less of the author/meta stuff: It's a story I wrote for me, so it's got my favourite story features--new fantasy races among established ones, not too heavy on the magic stuff the entire way through, a mysterious cult with a dangerous deity, a feisty main character who can't stop making decisions and actions (sometimes to her detriment), she also has ADHD (though it's not explicitly called this in the story, the symptoms are obvious) so I've got some personal representation there for myself haha, some spicy romance scenes, a strong platonic friendship that develops over time, and lots of mention of food.

Second understanding: The main plot and themes in my WIPs - why they are the main ones

In The Quiet Forest, I just thought it would be a neat idea for one person to take on an ancient, evil, fucked up cult after the one person who knows the most about said cult can't even guide her through the process. There is also a subtle theme in this story that I don't want to give away just yet ;)

In Copper Frames, I wanted to talk about grief somehow (through a vampire epidemic because why not), and right now I'm in the process of figuring out what kind of grief I want to talk about. The original plan was to talk about the grief of a lost loved one, but as I've been working on it, that is an element I think but not THE main type of grief I wanted to talk about. So I'm flushing the theme out, figuring out how I want to tell this story of grief, and throwing in the vampires and werewolves overtop because I think they're neat!

[shadow-lag]

Promised add-on bc I have too much on her lol

(Commission from my friend JC, @//socorro-x. Featuring my other silly, Sunsprite.)

Alright some random notes I've have jotted down in my discord, a rapid fire. (These contain a lot of mk headcanons too bc I've really leaned into them being gsa partners and later great friends)

-Metaknight flying Nismo around bc she doesn't have wings of her own. Metaknight definitely has some scrap papers filled with early engineering drawings of "wings" for nismo. He had kept hold of them, stashed in a long forgotten folder of some dusty drawer after the war. After his battle with Galactaknight, he's probably left later wondering why he doesn't have horns, or why she never had wings. He quickly chalked it up to it being an aging thing (assuming gala is older), but deep down he believes it's the unnatural tampering from Nightmare, and loaths it.

-Nismo is *barely* taller than MetaKnight without boots (he is deeply wounded by this fact /hj) [also I had this headcanon written down that meta knight is below average height for a puffball due to his growth being tampered with and stunted during his time with nightmare. which I'm not sure about anymore but is kinda interesting!]

-OMG. NISMO. HER HORNS ARE MADE OF A SIMILAR CRYSTAL AS THE STAR ROD. BOTH CREATED BY MAGIC AND DO NOT EXIST NATURALLY. Since I'm thinking some failed experiment being the cause for her crystal horns (dont naturally occur for puffballs) Okay so maybe a bit op but like ?? Ayo?? Maybe Magolor and figure this out through his studying of the ancient times and long talks about adventures with Kirby.

-What's you're favorite color? *answers with a hex code of their very specific favorite color(s)*

-She loves glowberries and idc that those are minecraft

-She adores the waddle dees. Mostly bc of how cute they are in current times but also vastly respects their loyalty and dedication. As well as greatly appreciates their help and hard work in the GSA times.

-MK has gone on record to say that Nismos color reminds him of the orange ocean. Even when they are apart, flying the Halbert over the ocean brings back fond memories.

-Nismo loves all of the meta-knights like family and most certainly does not have any favorites (it's Sailor)

-Nismos horns grow continuously so she has to shave them down or use even stronger material to cut them. She can use this extra material to make things, she usually carves arrow heads out of it. This means those arrows are extremely powerful (and usually quite sharp) This crystal material isn't natural and she wasn't meant to grow horns. (Perhaps some ancient magic? Or void matter?)

-I think during her time in the GSA she would make spear heads for her favorite waddle dees (they were servants(?) in the GSA. Skilled with spears for backup, but they did mostly cooking and cleaning and such at the camps)

-Once she moved to dreamland, she would make a new bow from the fabled yggy woods, he had kindly offered her a fallen branch. She quickly befriended the greatly talked about bandana waddle dee (he's the talk of the town, spoken about highly amongst his fellow dees for his bravery and how he's such great representation for the dees as a whole) she thought highly of the waddle dees working in the GSA. After hearing all the adventures this one had been on, she had to check him out for herself. They become quick friends and she made him a spear in whole. Using some leftover wood from yggy and a crystal spear head.

-Even after the GSA disbanded, she kept her star symbol on her pauldron. Even though the war only really ended with kirby summoning the star rod, she wore it pridefully. They may have "lost" the war, but they put up the good fight. It was in honor of the fallen she would tell you.

-Crystal horns glow. Ever so slightly

-Nismo loved baking before joining the GSA, and therefore usually cooked for whoever she was stationed with. Due to being spoiled on this and only really learning war ration ass meals (mandatory training) is why metaknights cooking sucks lol

Alright!! That's all of them (I think-) mostly in order from my most recent notes to the older ones. I'm sure there's other scattered elsewhere. I have so much to say about her lol

Some more doodles lol

And! A whole clay figure of her!! Which unfortunately got knocked off my desk not once, but twice- and is no longer with us lmao

I think that's all!! Good luck everyone:D

@kirbyoctournament

Introducing...NISMO*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Prior GSA member, she is an archer powerhouse. Using arrowheads made from her unusual and ever-growing crystal horns, she can scope out hundreds of enemies from Nightmare Enterprises. Frequently sent to work with one of the GSA's top solider, Sir Metaknight. 🦇⚔️🫐

Though despite the sad appearance her masks downturned shape may portray, she is heeps more cheery then the blue knight. Often going as far to tease him, but always brightening his mood (even through his denial)

After the GSA decided to disband, she continued wearing her star badge. Through this, she managed to navigate her way through off-handed conversations and small mentions straight back to MK, and to the beautiful Dreamland. Where she meets the King's hoard of waddle dees. The GSA had plenty of trained waddle dees working to maintain and protect large bases, all in which she held high respects, but none were quite like the largely spoken about and highly regarded Bandana Dee. Whom she made very quick friends with, even going as far to use scrap Iggy Woods wood and her crystals to make him a custom spear. (A cherished gift)

Avid pop flower enjoyer<3

[riisinaakka-draws]

Under the cut there are some thoughts on the process and ideas behind the drawing JOURNEY INTO THE DARK if you are interested :)

I thought it would be too big of a burden to mention all of this within the art post. This is also for my own archiving purposes (so I won’t forget what was involved! :D) and it’s always nice to see how things start and develop...

Long post ahead! (contains spoilers for the show)

COMMENTARY:

I continued this work bit by bit over a period of several months (I started this just when s4 started airing) and only finished it recently. A few hours then and then (whenever I felt like it or had time for this), but I can’t really say how much time it took all together. Occasionally there were weeks/months that I just forgot about it and was more focused on other things...

Most of the thoughts here are fleeting ideas during the process (how a thing X lead to thing Y) and some personal fun and not something I actually spend too much time on dwelling or planning (or researching lol). I have probably forgotten some already and some happened by accident and some I am just incabable of putting into understandable words.

None of these are any actual instructions (or limits) of “this is how it’s to be seen”. Art doesn’t have to be or even shouldn’t be explained in some cases, but I just wanted to document the process and open up the symbolism since there were a lot of (random) things involved.

It’s also fun to look back on things and how they evolved and what their connection to other things were.

You are free to have your own interpretations of course and I hope this additional post doesn’t ruin any of those :)

The initial idea and motifs:

Flint decends the steps from light to darkness and Miranda is standing behind him as an accomplice/orderer. Stepping stones get bloodier by every step and gold coins are glimmering on the path (Urca de Lima’s gold). Sword is drawn out for war and slaughter. Black water as in the opening credits + general darkness to represent the abyss. Reflection shows James when he was happy (him returning to Hamiltons) and how much he has changed compared to that (McGraw vs Flint). Sort of stage / antique/ greek tragedy(?) setting with marble columns, red curtains (like a myth, a monology or a story or something).

A white feather shining in the dark to show there’s always hope and another way out. I already explained this in another post, but here it is again:

Short answer: Silver (although some of you may not like it) Long answer: the feather is for “hope and an alternative for war” (the dove of peace..haha). Also remember the trap Flint laid in season 1? The feather and the logbook in his drawer -> leads to Silver’s capture later.

The feather is also a reference to the swan of Tuonela (in Finnish mythology the river of Tuonela separates the world of the living and the dead (compare Styx in Greek mythology I guess). Flint decents to the world of death (also represented here by the pale and dead-looking organic shapes of the opening sequence’s sculpture… thing).

Anyway, the feather is mainly about Silver: both how they end up meeting in the beginning (the trap, and then some new hope along the way and eventually some light in Flint’s miserable life) and what (who) also ends up being “the end of Captain Flint” (a tiny nod to the swan guarding the border between the living and the dead).

Visually I wanted something to shine in the darkness to remind there’s always hope and another way out. At one point it had an additional thin string leading to Thomas’ hand. You know, a connection to the memory (and to the reason of Flint’s revenge and war path and so on) but the idea didn’t work so well and felt too distracting so I left it (the string) out. And then the finale happened (!!!) and the reflection became also the future.. :D

a way out of the darkness… :)

There was also a post going around a long time ago about the empty space (the absence of Thomas) next to James and Miranda in some scenes, so I incorporated that in here, too. Unfortunately I cannot remember who did the post, so I cannot link it right now :| It was something about how some of the New World scenes were framed in a way that it looked like there was something missing (aka the third person of the trio).

Here’s the early drafts again so you don’t have to scroll back:

I didn’t like the first composition that much and continued it into another direction with similar elements and the main ideas.

The stepping stones changed to wooden planks: angrier zigzag lines (rage) and also the idea of “walk the plank” (except that you don’t know when and where the nightmare ends...)

I ditched the gold coin idea. The overal setting became more spacious and gloomier to emphasize the vastness of abyss and the smallness of people. The stage / arch became the staircase seen in Flint’s dreams.

The whole thing is sailing on a similar sculptural thing seen in the opening sequence which for some reason made me think about the floating theatre in the Moomins (when the Moomin valley is flooded in one dangerous midsummer. LMAO):

(*coughs* lots of water, a stage and some drama after a disaster...so..)

(At one point I was also thinking about Howl’s moving castle and how that too is a monstrous looking vessel travelling between worlds (well, opening doors) but how the moving castle itself is also composed of various other things... and how in the drawing Flint would be stepping out of the ride for a moment to do some dark deeds in one of these ‘worlds’ etc.)

Black Sails opening sequence - is there a term for that cool monstrosity?

Some other inspiration and references:

Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s “Lemminkäisen äiti” (Lemminkäinen’s Mother, 1897).

(notice the swan, the black water, blood-covered stones, ‘the mother’ and the red-bearded ‘son’ waiting/asking for a spark for new life after the mother has combed his broken parts out of the river and assembled them back into the shape of a man)

I must admit that I didn’t bother to think any deeper parallels with Lemminkäinen and Flint (or the Mother and Miranda) beside this (more about it later though) and mainly had my thoughts just on this painting and its visuals because it is so well known (and liked) in Finland.

Moving on.

Screencaps from season 2 (source here):

I chose the latter stairs for the reflection (although modified) only because they were in London and there is an arch above them (to mirror the window in the drawing)

Some steps futher when the needed elements are more clear:

At some point I tried things with a lot more light and coldness (below, left pic) to channel some of the the dream sequence in s3 but in the end I chose the darker atmosphere, faces in shadows and I also wanted to preserve the red colour somehow (right pic):

The reflection sketch (at some point), although most of it cannot be seen in the finished work and thus didn’t need too much details. Young lieutenant James McGraw returning to London from his voyage:

Also, (and I am so sorry about this, but it was “fitting” and I decided to keep it..) in the reflection (when flipped and put in its position) the plank (their unfortunate blood-covered war-path and future) accidentally hides Miranda’s face and decapitates her so to speak and she won’t be there anymore ;_;

Thomas, on the other hand, is in the reflection to meet James -  both in the past and again in the future - but not in ‘the present’ where Miranda is.

Miranda in Flint’s visions (s3 ep3):

When I first met you, you were so Unformed.

And then I spoke and bade you cast aside your shame, and Captain Flint was born into the world. The part of you that always existed yet never were you willing to allow into the light of day.

I was mistress to you when you needed love. I was wife to you when you needed understanding. But first and before all I was mother. I have known you like no other. So I love you like no other. I will guide you through it, but at its end is where you must leave me. At its end is where you will find the peace that eludes you, and at its end lies the answer you refuse to see.

And then in s3ep5: You can't see it yet, can you? You are not alone.

The end part of it is seen in the fandom as a reference to Silver (and his partnership) and how Flint’s mind is telling himself to see it too. And I agree on that. I don’t think James had any hopes for Thomas being alive (especially in s3). As I mentioned earlier I originally did the reflection to show him (Thomas) only as a memory. Then the finale happened and the reflection got its double meaning :)

And here again Miranda as the mother (there has been better discussions about this topic and speech in the fandom so I won’t go more into that now). In the inspiration painting that I showed earlier the mother had assembled his son back together (for rebirth / reanimation) <--- Miranda being part of the creation (birth) of ‘Captain Flint’.

Aaaaand here’s the feather again and Silver’s words (and sort of motto):

“Take it from me, there's always a way.” (season 1)

“Nothing is inevitable here. I'm showing you a way in which we can survive this.″ (season 3)

Some further fixed details and adjustments. In the end the wall almost disappeared and to me it made this feel a bit like “floating alone without a shelter on your back or a place to return once you leave its premise”... I fixed the perspective of the planks (took me surprisingly long to notice what was wrong) and got the bloody red back on the planks (and not leaking too much on the water).

I wanted the water to be quiet, pitch black and endless and the reflection to seem like a dream. I probably should’ve done everything a bit more detailed or sharper, but in the end it didn’t feel so necessary (and it would have been way too much work, haha).

The final drawing:

The planning and initial idea was done after seeing s3 and just when s4 was beginning so there weren’t any thoughts linked to s4 while making this (other than the surprise connection with Thomas). Most of this I did paint after s4 though, but only to finish what I had already started.  

One more thing. I also made “the doors of the warship” -drawing after planning the JOURNEY INTO THE DARK (although I posted the doors pic first, since it was finished earlier).

It has a similar lighting and the theme of James and Miranda facing together ‘the civilization’ although this time they are stepping towards the light again (in hopes of closure and the promise of new life... which doesn’t go well as we already know ;_;).

James and Miranda about to leave the warship and meet Lord Peter Ashe in Charles Town:

So, here we sort of have a beginning and an end for their journey in the dark (together)  - believing that there are just the two of them left from the original trio.

Aaaaaand, that’s about it. Sorry about some repetition and messiness.

As I said in the beginning of this post, you are free to have your own interpretations (and I hope this post didn’t ruin any of them). These were just the things and thoughts that went into this work (or were stumbled upon along the way...), but you don’t have to take them to your heart.

Thank you so much for checking out this post and I hope it was worthy of your time! ( ˘ ³˘)♥  

[razmerry]

Saving the biggest for last! Maine was never my favorite RvB character, but I can always appreciate him as the first real villain of the series. Plus, as a dragon kid, I do love drawing a big funny lizard. 

Here’s some information about this silent scaly spectre:

- To get the obvious out of the way first, he’s the least humanoid out of any of the characters thusfar. I personally really like the Gorn, and I think they’re an underappreciated species. Post-TOS Trek doesn’t seem to appreciate their characterization as an intelligent species! I wanted to play with that for Maine’s character; he seems to fulfill the stereotype about Gorn as animalistic and beastly, but really he’s just quiet and very strong. He’s got that methodical cleverness that Meta really displays in the show. 

- One of my other favorite things about making Maine a Gorn is the wonderful justification for his canon growling communication. It’s much simpler than in RvB; after the fall of Freelancer, his universal translator broke, and he didn’t have the resources or motivation to get a new one. So he’s really just speaking in his own language. The reason Wash can understand him is because when they were friends in the Project, they each learned some of the other’s native language outside of translator specifics. (their friendship really means so much to me,,)

- Meta is on the opposite spectrum of Borg experiment failures like Wash, because Meta was fully plunged into a Borg hivemind state. Except it was a little successful, and along with the rampancy of the assistant AI programs, Meta went completely off the rails and is now seeking to assimilate any other lifeforms he comes across. Of course, since he’s not really part of a Hive, this usually ends up pretty bloody, and he’s also after the missing AIs like in canon. 

- One small note about Maine’s uniform is that it had to be custom made by PFL, since he’s much bigger than anyone else in the Project, and also has knees that face a different direction. I based his uniform off traditional Gorn clothing, with the leather materials of the other PFL uniforms. 

- Something I wanted to explore with Maine/Meta’s character was the tragedy of it all, especially in relation to him being a Gorn. The Federation seems to have a lot of stereotypes about the Gorn, and Meta ends up being twisted into a lot of them by the abuse at the hands of the Project. Because of the damage to his brain by the Borg tech and the AIs, he can’t control his salivation, and his universal translator was destroyed, meaning he can’t communicate. Maine as a person is quiet and smart, a good teammate and a hard worker. As the Meta, he’s a growling creature blindly seeking out destruction, and that’s how he dies.

 What the hell! Why is Project Freelancer so angsty! I miss my silly little Reds and Blues. 

But speaking of which, Maine is the last of the Freelancers! I know I haven’t technically done all of them - but this is also my own AU and I can do what I want. CT and Wyoming are both very boring to me, and I didn’t have interesting for Florida. The Director and the Counselor both look the same as they do in canon, so there’s not much point to drawing them. 

Next week I’m starting on the Chorus arc! Felix is up first >:)

[lesbianmarrow]

Hello, longtime (but shy) follower here. Just wondering, in good faith, if you would mind explaining your Cardassian culture post a little more? Because I 100% see what you’re getting at, but the show does demonstrate that not all individual Cardassians are fascists; it was their government, the politicians, the generals, the Obsidian Order, etc. I’m not about to be an apologist for those aspects. Howeverm most Cardassian fanon I see, personally, involves how Cardassian society rebuilds after being nearly wiped out in the Dominion War, into something that is (usually) markedly no longer fascist, drawing inspiration from the tidbits of lore we get about Cardassia pre-fascism. I’m definitely wary of people who woobify Cardassians like Dukat, Damar, Garak, etc, and I’ve blocked more than a few people like that. But I think there’s got to be a difference between romanticising fascism as represented by the Cardassian state, and taking interest in what is essentially a post-apocalyptic alien society reconstructing itself following a war as an interesting worldbuilding exercise. Or taking interest in the speculative biology of a lizard-like anthropomorphic species in general. While it is definitely possible to explore these things while also romanticising fascism, I would posit that such is not *inherently* the case. It might warrant a quick background check on the op depending, but I personally wouldn’t right away suspect someone who likes or creates post-war Cardassian fanon of romanticising fascists. Unless you think Cardassians as an entire species/concept are too rotten and should be thrown out? In that case, would you apply the same logic to people who create fanon for other horrible Trek societies like the Romulans and the Ferengi? I apologise that this got a little long, but I hope you will be able to answer. If it helps to characterise my opinions, I am Jewish and white. Thank you for your consideration!

hi! so first off, my post was not meant to be like a serious criticism of fan culture or whatever, but rather just an expression of my personal frustration with some of the ppl i've encountered on this site. i'm not trying to say that everyone who explores cardassian culture in their fics and posts is a bad person. but i have encountered enough fans on this site who fixate on cardassia, who are also prone to racism and antisemitism, that it just immediately makes me skeptical. it seems that it's very easy for some fans who create meta on cardassian culture to then start to romanticize fascism and fascist characters like dukat. so i just choose to not engage with these people. but that's just my personal preference.

you're right that not all the cardassians have fascist beliefs, and by the end of the show cardassia as a society seems to be moving in a more equitable direction. so i can see how fans might be interested in exploring that. but what bothers me is that fans are so ready to humanize the cardassian oppressors, but often take little interest in the people they oppressed. i don't see nearly as much fandom exploration of bajor, either what it was like before colonization or how it continued to rebuild after the show's end. and it just bothers me how there seems to be a fandom attitude of finding ways for cardassia to redeem itself while not really paying attention to the people they oppressed. i know it's a silly sci-fi metaphor but as someone whose ancestry is from a country that was devastated by imperialism and colonization, it stings a little to see how fandom imagination is so enraptured by cardassia but hardly at all interested in bajor. it kind of signals to me where people's priorities are - which characters they are able to identify with, and which characters they see as not worth their attention.

again, i'm not gonna tell you that you should stop engaging with meta on cardassia or whatever. i'm sure you can use your own judgment. but that's just how i feel about it.

[onelinemanytimes]

That's an interesting view, and not one I wholly disagree with! (Mean to imply that Fresh is just a mindless parasite though, doin' my bboy so dirty.. (very lighthearted and joking))

I know from my own thoughts, I've considered the nutcracker's body (the big part that actually looks like a nutcracker) to actually be more like a shell- definitely some kind of machine or contraption rather than a creature, with hinges and gears and all sorts of bits and bobs holding it together. It's about as much of a creature as a hermit crab's shell is- Important, but replaceable, and not living any longer

Meanwhile, the eye inside is what is actually controlling it- I think while a large part of not moving while the eye is exposed is due to the very confusing visual it could cause (if they only see movement, imagine how strange it is to see while moving!), another part could potentially be that the eye creature can't REACH the legs when it's pushing the head up and out of the way- the arms are in reach, sure, but those parts of the machine are too far. All the actions taken are decided by the eye, "wearing" the machine for protection

That's part of why I feel like this isn't very relatable to fresh directly, perhaps, but it CERTAINLY is relatable in a meta-perceptive way. For one heehoo visual similarities of course (one eye'd creature inside a humanoid thing), but alongside that, Fresh is only ever seen in the way the parasite itself acts- because of course, it is the one in full control of the body, and strives to take actions that will keep itself safe. There's also an implication of weakness without the body- limited movement, limited defenses, etc of the same.

This does reveal an interesting phenomena however, in that people rarely think too much about the person that is the current host of fresh. It IS thought of, to be sure, you can find comics and ask blogs exploring that concept, BUT in just general art of fresh? People who are drawing him just to put him somewhere, or have him smiling at the audience? There is very rarely a thought given to the nature of that host, the one that Fresh is smiling with. It may as well be just a powerless, mechanical body with no free will of its own, for all of the impact it has...

This is likely much more than you bargained for with this post but ohoho. I truly do find it intriguing. They say very little about each other in reality (The nutcracker being far more violent you could argue, set amongst a dangerous cast in a role of home defender with a confirmed kill count as high as the times you've died to it while fresh is a generally speaking silly individual who happens to be hiding some very dark and dire secrets while trying to survive for purely his sake alone) but in design what they say can reveal a lot more to dig your hands into- the nature of perception, perhaps!

Guys guys guys guys

[desultory-novice]

I just gotta ask... Does Dreamland have a licensed therapist? Because it sounds like a majority of the characters need one!

Dream Land is a really LOVELY place. The food is fresh and healthy for you. Even the fast food and the sweets, somehow! Lots of nature. Life is leisurely paced. The only jobs are the ones you want to work. There's plenty of activities for those who need some socializing and plenty of alone time for those who need their space.

There may not be a licensed therapist, but as long as you're open to your heart and the caring words of your friends, you can find your way out of the bad places on your own, in your own good time!

...In Dess's AUs, on the other hand...

Everything is bad. For everyone. I'm sorry. I feel very bad about it. :cough: ...That is, speaking frankly, as a creator, I trust that since everyone else does such a good job writing Kirby-verse fluff, no one will mind too bad if I have this little corner of the fandom where everyone can be sad and sometimes life does beat you down.

Now...

It probably doesn't come off this way, but sometimes the reason I hop back and forth to several different AUs is that in a few cases, characters DO get better! Marx and Magolor in the Branch AU? They're actually very happy right now running a theme park together for lost Souls! (Well, happier once Marx gets his body back.)

White-Haired Noir in the AU AU verse? He's...well, he's never going to be the same after the loss he suffered, but he is on the mend.

Adeleine, post-Apologies, is doing okay.

My personal Dark Meta Knight is a huge, incurable mess of issues but he gets to duel with his counterpart on occasion and loves it.

Some of my versions of the characters have REALLY awful, messed up traumatic backstories and yet they came out shockingly alright, re: Daroach. (And Elfilin too. Rats stay winning!)

I do enjoy fluffy things, a lot, but I don't write a whole lot of "pure fluff." Which arguably means, if you're not seeing me draw or write anything for someone, they're probably having a GREAT time! Take Taranza. Taranza is often characterized as the forever sad, "I miss my wife, Tails" character but I think he really is doing okay!

...Not great as could be. He lost his friend (and crush) of...some long period of time but he's healing. Dedede's probably got a whole routine set up for getting over possession trauma at this point!!

For my two favorite trauma puppy standbys, Marx and Magolor, I mostly write about them having lingering trauma side-effects because... it's just my favorite sub-genre to write in, I guess? Most of what I write are physical impossibilities anyway: curses, magic-induced ailments, body-snatching, etc. But I think they can be interesting metaphors for what I or others might feel in RL, so I like to write about them as a way to come to terms with those feelings.

-

[Warning: Things Get Personal Past This Point]

-

I almost went more indepth about this in an earlier ask this evening, but my favorite character from my last major fandom was a purely good character who, in the backstory, had his personality shifted 180 degrees by an evil god, driven to cuckoo levels of crazy, and possibly (at least, it was a fairly popular HC) trapped inside his own mind for a large chunk of time as he was made to commit atrocities that shattered every vow he ever made and everything he believed in.

(Mad Emperor Vector, my beloved... :sob: )

An anime backstory if I'd ever heard one! But one of the reasons he rose from character I loved to MY blorbo was because I was just understanding my autism at the time, and part of how I understood it for myself and how it affected me was through this character's traumas. You might think it was silly but it was shockingly useful!

Around when I started suffering from long-term insomnia is when I started to get really, really obsessed with the "Marx is a sleep-deprived Noddy" theory. When (not to get depressing but...) many of my dreams and aspirations started to fall apart, I became really attached to Magolor + the false promises of the Master Crown...

Noir's creation coincides fairly closely with my feeling massively overburdened with life's pressures and trying to support my loved ones, keeping a chipper exterior attitude despite home troubles while feeling like I couldn't tell ANYONE how much it hurt inside...

That's not to say that I only make these sweet characters have bad days because I'M having a bad day or that I'm "using" them like emotion sponges in place of just seeing a therapist.

It's more that, having experienced some of these things myself, I feel like I have a closer understanding of them. And I want to understand more. Or I want to explore avenues I didn't personally take.

...Or I want to celebrate my own life, shambles and all, by seeing how much worse it could be if only E~vil~ Magic had been involved...!!

-

TLDR, the actual Kirby characters probably don't need a therapist at all. Dess's versions are more likely to need one, but I'll probably write about the ones that haven't gone yet because that path is where I personally find the best and most meaningful stories...!

[demonslayedher]

Love Breathing Not Fully Bloomed: A Kanroji Mitsuri Meta

Some thoughts that have been brewing since we got a deeper look at the birth of the Breath of Love in the Rengoku Gaiden, boiling down to that Mitsuri had not yet reached her full potential.

SPOILERS AHEAD~!

While we don't have any reliable timeline for this series, we know that Mitsuri has been practicing swordsmanship for only about two years, likely less. The "two years ago" stated in her flashback to her failed engagement was back when she was 17, so let's be generous and say that was 2.5 years ago. But, we must also keep in mind that she's been a Pillar for at least several months by the time Swordsmith Village arc takes place. The Pillar meeting Tanjiro met her at was possibly her first of the twice-a-year meetings, but I wouldn't put it anywhere beyond her second. After the failed marriage discussion she would have spent some unknown period of time dying her hair and starving herself, before deciding to join the Demon Slayers. She accomplished her Flame Breathing training under Rengoku in six months, roughly half the time most Breath users train under their cultivators. Tokito is noted for becoming a Pillar in two months after taking up the sword, but Mitsuri probably stumbled her way into Pillarhood within months of passing the Final Selection; making the Kamaboko squad's quick ascension up the ranks look like nothing as she blows away the usual five years it takes someone to become a Pillar (or if they are especially skilled, more like two years, as stated by Gotouge in Taisho Secrets). While the way of swordsmanship and battle became Mitsuri’s everyday way of life, thereby leading to huge improvements, that's a really short time to develop actual battlefield experience. Among the Pillars, she is the least seasoned or naturally inclined for battle, it really is by accident of her bizarre strength that she’s gotten so far. That's hardly surprising, given her background and motives. For context, her interests are very domestic what with all the pet-keeping (four cats, a rabbit, and a whole hive of bees, by my count) and sweets and recipes, and her stated hometown would have been in the heart of developing city culture, with shopping and restaurants and movie theaters. There would have been no exposure to swords and the culture that goes with them, making her justifiably embarrassed of how monstrously her strength makes her stick out. Her inability to fit into a normal family life makes her feel worthless, even if she does have a base of love and support. (*Put a pin in these things, I'll be drawing a comparison to another character later.*) However it was that she was introduced to the Corp, it must have taken a huge leap of hope and/or desperation to leave the otherwise comfortable lifestyle for a life of battle. While Rengoku's home is not terribly far from hers, it still would have been a total break from the life she knew before, so she must had been betting everything on both her ultimate wishes; living in accordance with who she is, and finding a husband. Let's refer to these respectively as Wish A and Wish B. Note that "becoming a strong swordsman" and "elimating demons" are not among these goals; they are merely means to her goals. Now if we try to to follow her path as a swordsman chronologically, six months since taking up the sword under Rengoku, she's passed the Final Selection. On a mission with Rengoku, who now treats her as a peer, she's nonetheless filled with shame that she hasn't really picked up much skill and just waves her sword around with brute strength. 

I love this bit of characterization because that is so, so easy a trap to fall into with martial arts. Even if you understand things in theory and do your best on proper form when taking things slowly, all of that very easily goes out the window when you're using them in the heat of the moment. The less experience you have, the far more likely one is to do this. Falling back on just throwing a punch as hard as you can instead of throwing a good punch makes Mitsuri so, so, so relatable. She is a normal girl with abnormal strength, not a battle genius. Like us normal people, and even like Tanjiro, she can only improve her battle sense with experience. This puts her in a very different situation than the other Pillars, who she meets either when they are very experienced, or when they are outright geniuses. This gives her a different sense of shame, which we'll come back to. While feeling ashamed that she can't live up to Rengoku's teaching, her fighting suffers with this lack of self-confidence (which, again, makes her very relatable because this is applicable to just about all of us normal people), and she only realizes the Breath technique when applying it through her own unique emotion-driven fighting style. While she goes on to name this Breath after Wish B (given that this is a romantic version of "Love"), it's powered more by a philanthropic love, realized only when she is protecting other people. This becomes a newly discovered third wish, as well as a source of confidence.

In the side story novels, Mitsuri later on suffers another blow to her confidence which compromises her fighting and makes her fall back into wanting to hide herself, for she is ashamed of how her motives compare to Shinobu's. Besides Shinobu's encouragement and giving Mitsuri a venue in which to openly express her love and appreciation for other people, another child whom Mitsuri has rescued looks up to her and says a few things to restore her confidence. Getting that feedback and being able to express herself openly (Wish A) is the cycle that powers Mitsuri's confidence and keeps her ultimate weakness, shame, at bay. This, combined with words of encouragement from Ubuyashiki and Rengoku, is what really empowers her to embrace her unusual constitution and develop the Breath of Love. While it's said that this is an offshoot of the Flame Breathing she's formally trained in, it's more of a stretch than the relationship between something like Snake Breathing stemming from Water Breathing, and more like she's hit at the basis of Breathing itself to create a technique suited to her, like Inosuke did with his entirely self-taught Beast Breathing. (*Put a pin in this self-created Breath style thing, we're going to come back to this too.*) So, Mitsuri went on to become the Love Pillar. With the rate at which Pillars cycle in and out (based on how many the Upper Moons claim to have killed), I have to wonder how fast the Lower Moons getting cycled in and out too.  Even though these are her peers and we never see any other Pillars looking down on her, she sees herself in a lower position than the rest of them. Case in point, one thing I love that the anime did is that when Tokito chips the rock at Tanjiro and tells him off, Mitsuri is silently fangirling, and then when Tokito orders the Kakushi to draw back/leave, Mitsuri silently and automatically obeys and shrinks back. That wasn’t directed at you, silly!

Though her Breath requires confidence, she still has a ways to go. When we see her again later, she's in a position of being a protector to everyone around her; the swordsmiths and her juniors, and she's treated with the awe and respect and acceptance of a Pillar; in this kind of setting she is fully in accord with Wish A (reinforced by her less formal third wish) and, thanks to Shinobu's encouragement, not ashamed of Wish B, thereby eliminating a big part of her shame-based weakness. She's added all this power and just as importantly, experience to her preexisting raw strength and flexibility.

The experience is key here; she's gained a lot of battle sense since her first mission. She's not as taken off guard by demon abilities, and with her risen confidence, she's also gained more flexible thinking and can make quick adjustments in battle as needed. 

Not entirely, though. At her core, she still relies on that brute strength.

Ultimately, though toward the end she thinks she might be overpowered after all, it's that boost of confidence and cycle of philanthropic love from her juniors and desire to protect them than she recovers and makes use of her mark. (I'm glad no one's told her that this means she's doomed to a short marriage, should she ever even get one.)

Following this historic feat; acting in a way that is natural to her and to her Breath to unlock a mark she didn't even know existed, she still feels a little shamed among the other Pillars for being so shamefully inarticulate about battle technique; despite this being what she's dedicated her life to. Again, it was never her natural desire to be a fighter, so it’s unsurprising that this part doesn’t come as naturally to her as it does to all those geniuses in the room.

Moving on to the battle with Nakime, this is mostly played for laughs because Mitsuri's lack of battle sense compared to other characters is put on full display. She's emotional from the get-go and easily overwhelmed and this affects her concentration drastically, leading to stupid mistakes and ultimately having to fall back on her brute strength to break through pieces of the fortress instead of survive and fight through observation. Getting called out on this is meant to help her, and she absolutely does her best to summon back her battle sense, but it's all downhill for Mitsuri and her Love Breathing technique from here.

As the battle with Muzan starts, that third wish is thrown back in her face as so many of her juniors die protecting her. Since he's powered by philanthropic love and confidence, she cannot recover any battle sense, and quickly falters so much that she must be removed from the battle rather than weigh everyone down. The difference between her and the other Pillars here is stark; her inexperience and lack of natural fighting inclination is, again, painfully obvious and relatable to a lot of readers. She has natural strength, but not natural talent. When she does return to battle, she only has that core strength to rely on again--no room for peace of mind, only brute emotional strength resulting in a panel that made me throw my fist in the air and cheer out loud because damn, that is hardcore, girl.

But, in the end, Mitsuri succumbs to her injuries, and only right before death does she get closer to Wish B. Even with Iguro's promise, it's too late.

This is super frustrating for a number of reasons, but if we're focused solely on the actualization of Love Breathing, it's because Iguro could have said something much, much, much sooner if he wasn't so ashamed of his own blood tainting her in this lifetime (not that she would have cared). Words from other people have such a huge influence on Mitsuri that if she had actualized Wish B, for which her Breath is named, she could have made humongous gains in confidence before being romantically loved, and having someone to openly shower in love. Imagine what she could have unlocked, if that shame she still carried for being too monstrous to be married could have been eliminated. But that's not all. What if the timeline had been different? What if she had not two, but five years’ experience? Or even more than that? What if, for a long duration of her experience as a swordsman, she was also experiencing a happy marriage? I invite you to consider the implications of a Mrs. Iguro Mitsuri who has the comfort and confidence of being herself with a husband, in addition to being in a leadership role in the Corp? A Mrs. Iguro who, with a little honesty from her husband who feels bothered that she’s embarrassed, stands up to Maeda-san and says that as a married woman she needs a more modest uniform?* A Mrs. Iguro who gained a level-headed battle sense that can only be refined through experience, not based in brute strength alone? She'd be such a happy badass. *(Not looking for a modern-era Western culture based debate on this; this is defined based on Mitsuri's desire for a proper Taisho Era marriage.) Now, remember those pins I put in place? Consider someone else who realized a natural Breath technique all on their own, who attained a mark without any intention to, who felt like a monster due to super human abilities that made them shamefully unable to fit into the ideal family life, despite only wanting a peaceful, happy wedded life? Someone who valued bonds with other people, a kind person who lived to protect others? Now, I'm not saying that Love Breathing is as powerful as the Breath of the Sun, or that Mitsuri is as innately powerful as Yoriichi (their natural skills were of different types entirely). But, as all Breath techniques stem from the same natural Sun Breathing source, Love Breathing might have found its way back a little closer to that source, in some way or another. Which is all to say, never look down on Love Breathing or on Mitsuri just because she didn't play as big of a role as the others in the final showdown. After all, that Breath was not yet all it could have been, and as a swordsman, she was not yet in full bloom.

[funakounasoul]

Miko Month: The Meta History

I gave a quick history on Miko's childhood a few days ago. But what about her "meta" childhood? How did she even come to be? This is a thing I talk about every Miko Month, but it's always fun to revisit. Even on Tumblr, I’ve mentioned the history before, but I think it’s been AGES since compared to Twitter’s “every Miko Month” lol

So sit back, get comfy. We're going back to...Halloween 06? WAIT-- YOU?!

PREHISTORY

Halloween 2006...From 5th grade all through high school, I was a member of almost every single iteration of Band (marching, wind ensemble, jazz, pep, etc). Marching season was almost over and we get to wear costumes for the Halloween parades we do for nearby schools.

I was The Goth-Vampire-Knight-Thing, of course (for those who haven’t seen my Twitter, basically it’s this outfit I put together for my junior and senior years of HS, and that was, actually, how I described myself to anyone who asked). My best friend at the time, though, was showing off the prototype version of the cosplay we were both going to have for a con in '07 - the Azumanga Daioh school uniforms. Here are the finished ones (featuring me and my friend!)

Anyway, by the time we finished the third grade school parade route, we were high on sugar or something and were really goofing around. My friend, to both of us, didn't QUITE look like Yomi and, I dunno, we started goofing around and somewhere along the way "Koyomiko" was uttered. By the time we got back to our school, it was "after school" time and I was just waiting for my mom to come pick me up. We were STILL goofing around, and jokingly tossing around "Koyomiko" this, "Koyomiko" that. 

 And some gears started turning as I went home that evening...

I do NOT have the original sketch of Miko anymore, but she was literally drawn on November 1st (hence her canonical birthday!). And I went to school that next day telling my friend how I made a kid for Tomo and Yomi. She humored me, at least (she wasn't really a yuri fan lol)

A few days later, I would try to draw her digitally. I still used Pixia at the time...as well as tiny Wacom tablet. TINY TINY. Graphire 4 I think? Anyway, THIS is the pic I showed to the world:

DEVELOPING MIKO 

As I said, I decided that she was a child of Tomo and Yomi. Because I love Tomo and Yomi. And they have a kid somehow (science!) Her original full name was, legit, Koyomiko Takino-Mizuhara. I couldn't decide what the dorks would decide to use as a surname lol

This became my Thing for FOUR YEARS! Sure, I did regular canon Toyomi yuri and other fan art and stuff, but the Takino-Mizuharas were basically my main shtick. I coined the term "Azu-Kid." Miko's content was akin to Yotsuba's. Except lesbian moms. And Osaka as an "auntie."

I met Leigh through this silliness. She even brought out her own OCs from a different thing to have as friends for Miko. She was the sarcastic, smarmy, *half*-French (in this iteration) Sachiko Nakamura. Also, her older brother (and INITIAL love interest for Teen Miko)...Hayato

(ahem, yeah, it's really funny, considering what happened over time) COUGH. Anyway. Eventually, I wanted Miko to take the spotlight instead of her moms (which are the bulk of the original content - Toyomi parenting). It started out just as a new generation of Azu, but, over time, I wanted something different. I didn't want to do just comedy. I wanted some drama. So I tweaked it a bit and "Reminiscence & Reflections" became the new draft. At first, the old Azu gang were still part of it, but in the background. And then...they disappeared.

Oh, you bet I was ready to start a webcomic, you betcha! It took a bit, especially moving in with Leigh, trying to get through college (and failing), and less time to art. But eventually, I thought I had it all ready. And I posted this:

I started drawing up the pages on paper and then...then...Why wasn't I happy? Why is it so BORING?! I even thought about sprinkling some supernatural-y stuff in, but it wasn't working. I would slowly stop drawing Miko for a bit. SM and Pony art prevailed. Here's an example of what I DID draw during this “drought period”:

Enter me also unsure of what I wanted to do in the real world. I was in a brief stint at a call center. I was still in the initial lecture phase when I just had...this epiphany. I started scribbling down notes, thoughts, doodled some uniforms and weapons. Oh my god. This was it.

Well, almost. It would take a few more tweaks during the year of 2013, but basically, Raison came to be! And by July 2014, the rest was history~ 

[potteresque-ire]

Hiya! I've only just started watching Chinese dramas and the drama behind the drama is already blowing my Western mind. Thanks for your meta btw! I was thinking about what you said about Chinese government not explicitly banning anything, rather people had BETTER catch on to what they mean 😨 Is it possible that delaying OOL is their way of warning future productions to think twice before involving Xiao Zhan, because they want to undermine his popularity? As he is 'too entertaining' 💀

Hiya Anon!! The decision to air a c-drama lies in both the government and the platforms. Once the drama gets the distribution permit from the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), it's up to the platforms to schedule the airing date.

The distribution permit for OOL was issued in May 2020, and so the government cleared it for airing a while ago. And so, it is the platforms that are holding the airing date back.

Multiple considerations go into the decision of when to air any drama. Here are some financial considerations I can think of: are there fierce competitors in the same period? It's usual for multiple c-dramas to begin airing on similar dates. The week between 2019/06/23 and 2019/06/30, for example, 9 series began airing—including The Untamed on 2019/06/27. And on that very same date, another prominent, very well-made drama also began its airing—The Longest Day in Chang'An 長安十二時辰). 

And then, has a popular drama of a similar genre been aired right before? If so, it may be wise to push back the airing date a little. Is it exam period or is it summer, with students being on vacation and having more free time to watch TV, chase after their favourite idols and buy merchandises? That’s the golden season for idol dramas! Are the production studios, platforms under pressure to produce a solid profit report to their investors? Better move a series with very bankable stars then ...

Afterwards, there are, of course, political considerations. For those who may be worried about c-ent’s current upheaval, I’d like to emphasise this: the government swooping in and say, or hint, that this and that popular thing displeases its Socialist sensibilities isn’t new. Dangai isn’t the first genre to be soft-banned, for example; before that, there was the ... Imperial Harem infighting genre 宮鬥劇 (sorry for the silly translation, I don’t know what’s the proper name for it!), which was extremely popular at the time of the ban with recent hits such as The Legend of Zhen Huan 後宮甄嬛傳 and Story of Yanxi Palace 延禧攻略. There was the time travel genre 穿越劇 (For example, Scarlet Heart 步步驚心). The state criticism against “sissy” 娘炮 idols also made its former round in 2018. 

And so, while there may not have been precedences where the government targets c-ent’s obsession with “traffic” 流量—a relatively new term that describes the heavy flow of social media posts, of buzz and cash surrounding a beloved something or someone, c-ent has a long history of, and ample experiences with, dealing with their government’s displeasure at something that its audience loves, that is financially lucrative for the industry and most importantly, along that line, something the industry wishes to keep. 

The last point may be worth emphasising: the production studios, the platforms (streaming, social media etc), the marketing companies, the yxh, the companies who employ celebrities as their spokespeople etc etc, all of them desperately want to keep stars like Gg and Dd around. This is especially true with c-ent being in its “bitter cold winter” financially since 2018, with the tightening censorship that means hit dramas, and "top traffic” 頂流 stars, are increasingly more difficult to make or come by. “Top traffic” stars, in particular, are very attractive to the industry because their fans are (far) more willing to spend money, generate the needed buzz on social media to bring in more “passer-by” audience and in turn, more revenue, and more investment, and more endorsements and sponsorships (see: the number of Dd commercials in SDOC4). 

Therefore, as fans and audience, I think it’s safe to assume this: at least on the front of wishing to protect Gg and Dd’s star status, to protect potentially popular dramas and genres such as OOL, these financial interests stand with us. Does this “saving” go against what is safe for these companies? One can say so. It would be safer for the platforms, for example, to air ... um, say, The Best Speeches by President Xi in place of dramas like OOL. The act would likely please the government very much; signal, perhaps, that the platforms have caught on its ultimate dream, with Xi being the One Idol of China. But this decision would also go against the very nature of these companies as for-profit entities, these Capitalist Existence that are traded in stock markets and are driven to make as much money and as quickly as they can.

What, then, is the easiest way to protect traffic stars like Gg and Dd, like Yang Zi 楊紫, the lead actress of OOL who is also very popular and who, reportedly, also has her own rather ... rambunctious corner of fandom? What’s the easiest way to “save” a potentially popular drama like OOL? Saying what is *the* easiest way may be difficult, but I believe I can name one easy way: to simply keep these popular people, these (potentially) popular things out of attention for a while, especially with October 1st (Communist China’s birthday) drawing near and in 2021, the year of the Chinese Communist Party’s Centennial. 

After all, regulations from the Chinese government tend to come in bursts—axes falling left, right and centre for a while and in quick succession, followed by an extended period of silence (and neglect). The wait, therefore, doesn’t have to be long at all. As short as after a few month’s time, certain parts of c-ent may return to what it was like before and these c-ent companies, having had so much experience in working around situations like this, would know when that time comes, when the coast is clear.

Meanwhile, as fans, we wait. Being in i-fandom means our words and actions have relatively little effect, but if we were in China, our best action would, too, likely be similar to the platforms that delay the airing of OOL, except we cross out the the word “popular” and replace it with “beloved”: we keep our beloved people, our beloved things out of attention. We refrain from going around and complaining, no matter how much we wish to watch the show. We refrain from starting fights. We stay out of hot searches. The Chinese government is bureaucratic and corruption is rampant, which means often times, the higher-ups in charge of dropping the axes have little knowledge about who or what their axes are supposed to fall on, and little care if they get it wrong. In such circumstances, the key to survival is to not stick one’s head out; to make sure we don’t offer our neck, and more importantly, our favourite stars’ neck, for the axes to fall on.

It may be difficult sometimes. We’ll hear hisses, from antis, from doubters, from those who simply aren’t familiar with the situation, that will tempt us to put ourselves and our favourite stars out in the open where the axes are raining. Patience and independent thinking are important in times like this, qualities that allows us to stop, excuse ourselves from the virtual crowd and think ~ wait, is what is being said true? 

The government’s attack on “traffic”, for example, together with the soft-ban on Dangai, have led to soft hisses that Gg and Dd are the targets. 

I invite everyone to step back and think a little—are they?

Here’s one small, but important point that may be lost in translation (and lost, too, even in some Chinese discussions where netizens have scrolled through their feeds too quickly): in the state opinion pieces, the term used against “traffic” stars has consistently been “唯流量”, with 流量 = traffic, and 唯 = only. The presence of the character 唯 is crucial: 唯流量 are not simply “traffic”, or popular stars; they are stars with only traffic, with nothing but traffic. No acting skills, no singing or dancing skills, no other demonstrated capabilities beyond getting their fans to vote and comment and buy things for them.

Are Gg and Dd 唯流量?

Here’s Gg:

(For those who may not know: A Dream Like A Dream 如夢之夢 is not just a Chinese language play. A Chinese adjective that has been used to describe it is 殿堂級 ~ “palace hall grade”, ie, it’s a royalty. Trivia: the version in China ends with a cappella with Patient #5 singing about himself, which means Patient #5 can ruin the finale of the 8 hour show if he fails to sing well, and beautifully.)

And here’s Dd: 

I think I can rest my case. My fellow turtles, what do you think? 

Such rumours—that so and so, this and that are the alleged targets—are currently running rampant on Chinese social media, with almost every noteworthy celebrity and media projects etc being named by a few who dislike them. However—or rather, ironically, one may say?—because everyone and everything under the sun has been named, the net effect is not that different from if nothing has been named at all. 

If a similar rumour, if more of such rumours creep onto the shores of i-fandom, therefore, please do not be afraid and remember—these speculations, these noises will most likely fade into obscurity unless the populous Gg+Dd fandom amplify it with their voices, even if theses voices are words of defence.

Silence can be a defence. Silence can be the best defence.

For the time being, with the greater sociopolitical environment being what it is, with “Capital” being reportedly targeted by the state (previously discussed here), platforms and TV stations that are part of Capital may be extra careful and temporarily keep all traffic stars out of their productions, out of sight.

But I remind myself this ~ this isn’t about Gg and Dd. This probably isn’t about 99.9% of the stars who may be temporarily kept out of these productions in the coming weeks, some of whom may have starred in Dangai. As a corollary, I find it important to remind myself that too, to think twice before wondering aloud who may be the targets, to make sure I do not, even accidentally, put any non Gg Dd star and their fans under the axes—not because my words can influence the Chinese government, but rather, because of a simple, almost cliché reason: Do not do unto others what you do not want others do unto you.   

After all, one step outside fandom, people cannot tell one idol from another, cannot tell one drama from another, cannot tell cpfs from solos ...

As fans of c-ent, we’re in this together. ❤️💛💚

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

The second and third obstacles! And Mei’s first big showing, because of course. 

[No. 25 - In Their Own Quirky Ways]

Ochako, Tsuyu, and Mina are all standing still, staring at the next obstacle as Present Mic announces it. He calls the first barrier ‘a piece of cake,’ the notes that for the second, you fall and you’re out, so you have to crawl across if you want to make it. The obstacle, oh, nothing big, just the fucking Grand Canyon with the bottom encased in the goddamn void:

Despite all reasonable reservations about crossing, Tsuyu takes the leap (metaphorically) and starts creeping along one of the ropes, calling it a giant tightrope. She giggles to herself, saying this is her chance to make a splash. (God, a girl after my heart, I love her sense of humor between this and the USJ.)

Next we are introduced to our resident spark - I mean support course student, Hatsume Mei (abet we don’t get her name yet here, but she’s emphasized enough that it’s obvious she’s gonna be important soon.) He’s cackling a bit maniacally, talking about how it’s time for her support items to get the spotlight, calling out to the national support companies to look at her wire arrow and hover soles - the items she just so happens to be wearing, along with a few other gadgets.

Ochako realizes Mei is in the support course, while Mina is shocked that she’s allowed to have her gear. Mei points out to them that the hero course students get practical battle training, right? So in the interest of fairness, as long as they developed the gear themselves, using equipment’s just fine! In fact, for the support course students, it’s the greatest opportunity to show off their inventiveness and craftmanship to the industry! 

Mei cackles some more as she shoots off her hookshot - I mean wire arrow, the end impacting and catching on one of the pillars with a klang. Mei leaps off of the side of the canyon, again calling out to all the corporations to check out her ‘adorable babies’ while clicking on a button on her devise that starts reeling her in, as well as activates the hover function of her boots. Ochako and Mina are fired up, Ochako rushing to chase after while Mina continues to complain about it being unfair. 

Shinsou, meanwhile, is being a little bit creepy, just watching on with a slight leer as he just says ‘cool.’ Wonder what he’s doing here… hmm…

Up in the announcers’ booth, Mic states how they have all types trying to make it big in the sports festival. Aizawa, meanwhile, is just annoyed ay why ‘those idiots’ (re: the students probably) stopped moving. We then shift over to Shouto just reaching the other end of the canyon, with Mic announcing as such to the crowds.

Of course, it’s not so easy as that. Even as SHouto starts building up more ice to start pushing ahead, Katsuki is blasting in from above. Katsuki calls out, refusing to stay behind any longer, while Shouto just thinks that with how fired up Katsuki is now, he must be a slow starter. Which, man, I don’t even know if that’s just an observation about the quirk or if that was intended as a savage shot, but either way, I’m cackling.

We see Tenya somewhere behind Katsuki, watching the explosions as he pushes on. He says it’s very likely his brother is also watching, so he musn’t show an unsightly performance… 

he says as he does a T-pose to skid across the ropes with his quirk. Mic calls it unsightly, which like, dude, rude. Also, how did he know what Tenya even said there? I guess it’s just a little thing for the sake of humor, like the ‘drawn differently’ jokes for All Might. 

The crowds watching on are impressed with the performance of Shouto, talkin about how he just can’t be stopped. How quirk is awesome, but it’s not just that - he’s also incredibly athletic and perceptive. Someone else agrees, then points out how he’s the son of the flame hero, Endeavor. The first person(?) says that makes sense, the kid’s got the blood of the number two hero out there, after All Might. The pros are gonna be scrambling to get him as their sidekick.

Can I just say this is a very interesting panel here. Like there’s no reason we immediately know about to have it divided in two like this, but any amount of retrospect with what we learn later this arc makes it obvious: this is representing the internal divide Shouto places on his two sides, separating his fire from his ice. I also like how the mention of Endeavor here also happens to be on the fire side, further drawing attention to it and, subsequently, the scar there.

The scar that, incidentally, can be considered Endeavor’s fault.

I’m sure there’s a whole lot more Shouto and Todoroki family meta that can be shoved in here when analysing this panel, but we have things to do, events to see, arcs to get through! 

Present Mic announces how the leads keep breaking ahead, while the rest of the pack is bunched up. Since the racers don’t know how many will get to move on, all they can do is aim for first place! And the leader has just reached the final barrier - that is to say… the minefield.

...wait a second, ‘a deadly Afghan carpet’? Uhm, is that a translation thing, or… what a strange reference to make here. While it’s hard to make out the locations of mines from this page (at least to me), Present Mic confirms in his announcements that a quick glance should be enough to reveal it to the students, so they need to keep both eyes open and watch their steps. By the way, the mines don’t pack a deadly punch, but they’re loud and flashy enough that the kids might need a change of underwear when it’s over. Aizawa adds on that it depends on the individual, of course.

Meanwhile, back on the ropes, we see Izuku crawling along almost like a chameleon, the armor plating strapped to his back with some of the loose wire. In the background we see Shouji gliding from one of the pillars with his arms out wide, and another student  Naruto running across the wire like a champ.

You go, Naruto runner guy. 

Back with the landmines, we see Shouto realize that the positioning of the landmines puts whoever is in the lead at a disadvantage, since none of the mines have gone off yet, ergo meaning the highest chance of setting one off and losing time to the distraction. It’s all a big show, which I mean, you’re only just realizing this? Meanwhile, in the background, we see another student get blown into the air from one of the mines, and yet another (I think Ojiro???) struggling to follow. 

Katsuki, of course, decides to show up then, finally blowing past Shouto while stating how ‘this crap’ can’t slow him down. Which I mean, makes sense when his whole thing is explosions, these landmines really can’t be all that impressive to him. Katsuki declares that Shouto’s declaration of war was to the wrong person.

Present Mic gleefully announces the new leader, telling the mass media to get excited, since they love this kind of turn-around. (Definitely not a subtle dig at them, no sir.) He then announces how the rest are catching up while Katsuki seems determined to fight Shouto right where they are - Tenya has blasted himself forward with one of the mines, looking very silly, while Ibara is using her vines to test the ground around her (I think?) to allow safe passage. 

Gotta go fast (do do do do do do do…)

While Present Mic wonders if the two grappling for first can hold onto their lead, we see Izuku standing at the start of the field, watching the other students rush ahead. Tokoyami is again launching himself into the air with his quirk, Kirishima is just carefully picking his way through, and I can’t tell enough about the other students to see if they’re 1a or not, so… 

Izuku worries about how wide the field is, while we get to see just how many people are ahead of him on the field. However, Izuku seems to have a plan, looking around him. As the others rush onwards, and as Shouto and Katsuki fight with each other, we see Izuku hard at work doing something he says is taking a page from Kacchan’s book. He thinks about how he can still catch up as he throws himself forward onto a bunch of unearthed landmines, the plate under him and between him and the inevitable explosion. 

Nice. 

Izuku is sent flying over everyone’s heads from the force of it, much to everyone’s shock. Shouto and Katsuki both look back to see what caused it, while Mic wonders what could have caused such a blast, and whether it was accidental or intentional. As Toshinori throws his arms up in the air (panic or excitement?), we get one last look at Izuku, wearing a very determined expression as Present Mic announces his riding the wave in hot pursuit.

And with that, chapter 25 is done! What a point to leave off at. Next time, we finish the race, get to see placements, and (I think) we get the announcement for the second event. See y’all then!