#sort of. i mean it's not obvious but still

[captain-kit-adventuress]

No, mutual aid and general strikes are not the only shot left at staving those things off, but I don't have the bandwidth right now to spell out why.

We need an entire roster of solutions, of which mutual aid and general strikes can be a valuable part, because this is a multi-faceted problem, and honestly, if you're going to talk about leftist solutions to avoid violence, this is stuff you should know and already be involved with, or should at least be curious about researching in greater detail.

We are definitely not at the point yet where we need to be having the conversation about "it's this or violence!" I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and assume no one here is advocating for accelerationism, because the Glorious Revolution is also not going to solve our problems, at least, not as currently portrayed.

Please know different ways of advocating for yourselves than just relying on neighbours and and strangers, and withholding labour. There is no point in going zero to sixty and missing out on all of the potential solutions in between.

One major, crucial step I haven't been seeing is calls for volunteers to help in building robust networks of support (even for mutual aid and/or striking), many of which already exist, and which a lot of leftists new to this sort of activism don't seem interested in doing. Ignoring that (beyond donating money, I mean) only sets up whatever mutual aid and general strike activity you have planned to fail. Mutual aid isn't going to get very far if there's no supply reserve (food, toilet paper, clean water, etc.) or solid network for distribution. And general strikes may actually be more dangerous now because it's looking like it will be very easy to get fired and you won't be able to rely on things like the NLRB and the EEOC and the DOL in general to back you up, which is when that mutual aid you haven't planned for becomes even more important so people aren't starving and homeless in the meantime.

A lot of the "solutions" I've seen proposed rely on normal channels to support them, but if you're going to go outside of the system, you have to first figure out how to do that without tanking the movement. Do you have a plan for if you can't use USPS, or UPS, or FedEx, or anyone else, for example, if normal package distribution channels fail (like if you need to send food or supplies to people who don't live close by)? And that's just one facet of providing larger-scale mutual aid. Do you have major networks in various cities to help support getting aid to the people who need it in rural areas, of which there are still an overwhelming amount in the US? Do you know how best to use a small amount of resources to make a big impact even if it's just in your local area, other than just having a plan in your head that's never been tested in the real world? Have you tried it when things are still accessible now or are you going to rely on making it up as you go along when push comes to shove, which puts a lot of the most vulnerable people you'll need to help in danger?

You don't start planning for this stuff when things are already bad, you get it in place as much as possible before then. I'm willing to bet that if anyone who wants to get involved mutual aid (like food banks as one existing example) or the labour movement would look beyond a simple internet search or their social media bubble, which trends toward echo chambers even under ideal conditions, they'll find that these resources already exist, or are at least being planned for, and they're perfectly happy for people to help but may need it in ways that don't seem obvious. That way, when push comes to shove, mutual aid and labour are already a well-oiled machine which can scale up--and the time for planning that is now, not the moment it's desperately needed--rather than getting off the ground in the first place.

Look for the helpers. Don't despair and assume that there's nothing between "things are bad and need to change" and "we're on the point of violence because things went bad so quickly." There need to be lots of points of entry to slowing this down, first.

votes don't influence policy, and now there's no way for anyone but 1% of the wealthiest to leverage buying power.

the only power anyone has left is withholding labor.

to do this we will absolutely require alternative sources of water and food.

if, as is so much more likely, everything falls apart, we will still need water and food.

Mutual Aid + General Strike are literally our only shot to stave off mass mayhem and aimless violence.

[project-sekai-facts]

Is there like a lore summary for WD? How does this set connect?

the new wday set seems completely disconnected from the past ones, especially given that they already used shiho and saki as part of the knights collection. these cards lean a lot harder on high fantasy designs and concepts than the knights sets did, which had a more grounded theme (with the exception of wday2 which had dragons and sorcerers. and a gun). i have these two posts explaining some of the worldbuilding in the knights cards. i'm also gonna tag all these posts as #white day au

a few other notes not in any of those posts:

tsukasa's costume is called chivalrous chevalier. chevalier is the french word for knight. based on his card art having him bowing before (presumably) the throne, he's probably very high ranking.

akito's costume is noble paladin. a paladin or palatine is used to refer to a high-ranking heroic knight or a palace official. or the dnd class but that's probably not what's going on here. stems from the 12 paladins in charlemagne's court in medieval romance. definitely some sort of leader

mizuki's costume is called optatio eques. eques if it wasn't obvious is to do with horses, and is latin for horseman or knight (also the latin name for the knight chesspiece). so she's a horseback knight. i mean the others should be as well but they felt the need to specify it here.

len's 2* is called noble squire. squires were lower ranking and were servants to the actual knights, taking care of their armour/gear/horses and accompanying them in battle. sometimes would become an actual knight in future. fun fact, boys usually got the squire role at age 14, which is len's age. also len is probably tsukasa's squire considering he's wxs len here.

we don't know what shiho's class is.

all of them have different colored gem brooches on their collars, possibly related to some sort of class/rank system. aktio has a red gem, mizuki has an emerald green one, and shiho has a yellow-green one like her image color. tsukasa does not have a visible one (presumably under his cape) and len doesn't have one (not a knight).

notably all have a rose as part of their uniform, and also on the flags in akito and mizuki's cards. this will be relevant later. tsukasa's is red with gold accents, akito's is gold, mizuki's is blue, shiho's is the same color as her gem with gold leaves, and len's is also gold but less detailed (again, not a knight). mizuki's is the only one that doesn't appear to be metal. this might also relate to the class/rank system.

toya's costume is called shadow knight. he's a knight. done easy.

rui's costume is called mad sorcerer. again. sorcerer. simple.

kaito's is called wandering gunner. because sure. gun. don't think about it too hard guns are old. not the one in the card mind you. wandering also gives a bit of insight to the role he might play.

miku and saki's cards don't have costumes or names that indicate what they are.

miku is aligned with the imperial soldiers but seems to be a thief. she's got a dagger and is chilling in a trashed building, looking at a market. she possibly or very likely stole her apple from said market.

saki has a spear, so we know she's some sort of warrior/knight. she also is with the imperial soldiers, based on costume design (she has no visible emblem). that said her costume has a lot more brown than any of the others, most notably her shoes and jacket don't match with toya/kaito/miku. no leather either. imo this could possibly point to 1. her being a lower ranking member 2. her having recently joined, or defected and keeping parts from her old outfit, like rui or 3. she styled it how she wanted

as mentioned in one of the linked posts, rui defected. his outfit is based on the knight of white outfits and has their emblem on it still. he also has a red gem on his collar, so he was probably at the same rank as akito (or part of his team, however you interpret those brooches). all the imperial soldiers have red gems somewhere as an accessory, but the design and placement is very specific.

toya has a rose brooch and this is why i told you to remember that. it's completely gold like akito's (the design is slightly different as has no leaves but theyre modeled differently so i'll let it slide), suggesting there was a connection there and maybe toya defected like rui did.

toya also has a dragon and is the only imperial soldier seen with one. this could point to him being the founder and/or leader since their emblem is a dragon.

again suggesting past connection between akito and toya, the dragon is referred to as toya's aibou by the artist's. akito got replaced.

while not confirmed, it's possible that the other members of mmj are part of minori & airi's faction. the windows in minori's card have a three leafed clover as part of the design.

minori and airi are probably part of different ranks given the differences in costume design.

kanade's costume is called fleeting light knight attire and mafuyu's is called abyss knight attire. now this is interesting bc this implies a light side/dark side thing, but as mentioned in one of the linked posts, they are very clearly a part of the same faction, sharing some costume design elements, as well as a four-point star emblem, red gem on their collar, and red gem accessories. this is where things get interesting.

hear me out. so kanade's costume has a similar color palette to the original knights of white set and has the heart design from tsukasa/mizuki's costumes. mafuyu's costume is a darkened version of that color palette (think back to rui's costume being a darkened knights of white one) and also incorporates some leather-looking items, like her cape.

given the set being called "what awaits after the battle" my assumption is that this set, or at least kanade and mafuyu's cards, are set before the wday 1&2 sets, at the start of the war. ik a lot of people assume it's afterwards but the phrasing works for beforehand if put in the context of thinking about the future after the newly started war. and also for the following reasons.

kanade and mafuyu are very clearly part of the same faction. however, kanade's costume bears resemblance to the knights of white ones, while mafuyu's bears resemblance to imperial soldiers.

mafuyu's costume follows the same rules as rui's, being a darkened version of kanade's. given design elements in rui's costume, it's very obvious the intent of him being a defector to the imperial knights side from the knights of white side. the same logic can apply to mafuyu in that case.

we can assume that over time, the light side changed their emblem from a four-pointed to eight-pointed star and adopted the rose thing. aside from that they kept virtually the same color scheme and patterns, and the jewel brooches, on their knight uniforms.

we can also assume that over time, the dark side developed further and adopted their own dress code, keeping the black leather from mafuyu's costume, and her red jewel accessories (see: toya/saki/kaito's earrings and miku's pin).

i don't know what this says for where minori, airi, and ichika fall on the timeline. also rip niigo or something

speaking of ichika, i already mentioned in the linked posts that she's from an entirely unique faction. her costume design doesn't match anyone elses, and she has a unique emblem design that looks like a heart combined with a tear drop. her costume name is illuminated courtyard knight attire which tells us nothing and they fucked the schedule this year and had to do a new theme so who knows if we're even gonna get more knights cards next year.

uh yeah that's all. emu and meiko's costume from the newest wday set have a heart emblem that's kinda similar to the knights of white one but it's different enough that i'd call it a coincidence. the theme doesn't really fit into the knights AU. oh yeah also in the new set the leoni characters have matching star emblems and the wxs characters have matching heart emblems. once again not part of knights au sorry. neither is the power of regret set sorry. i mean you can do what you want tho.

[zooophagous]

PLEASE say more about your cultural understanding of tattoos if/when you feel up to it; your perspective on it is really interesting!

I can only really speak from my own perspective on it as a fairly recent initiate into tattooing, but the way tattoos have been viewed in the past (even the very recent past) had changed very quickly with new technology.

Finer lines become possible, and greater variety of colors, so the necessity of sticking to thick lines and heavy black with few color options is no longer the case. Improved technology means more styles become possible to tattoo in, and as such instead of the restrictions of the media informing the tattoo, tattoos are now available in a wide variety of art styles and the art world and overall cultural zeitgeist now heavily influence tattoos instead of tattoos by necessity having their own set style guides and language.

This means more mass appeal, you can do almost whatever you want art wise now and many tattooers are fine artists in their own right. So now we have more and more women and young professionals into it and not just bikers, gang members or sailors as the stereotypes used to hold.

So now tattoos are trendy for everyone, as the nation slowly but surely sheds its puritanical leanings. But now that tattooing is no longer an underground art form and is largely regulated and legalized, a new underground form of it lives on.

Thanks to online buy-anything sorts of sites like Amazon, Temu and Wish, it's easier than ever for the garage, apartment or party to host impromptu tattoos. And because it is often very difficult to get someone to agree to teach you how to tattoo, almost all of these people are self taught and receive instructions via youtube.

So why then, if you can get anything you want as a tattoo, would people still go for these dubiously sanitary pieces by untrained artists?

Part of it is related to why tattoos may have existed in the first place- they denote your culture, your people, who you belong to. For a lot of the apartment tattoo getters, they're allowing their friends or family members to practice on them as a sign of love and trust.

Part of it is cost. Cheap things always have a market, even if they're not good.

But part of it I think is nihilism. That is, a sense that you have no future, nothing to live for and therefore nothing to lose. Many young people cannot envision themselves in old age and many of them tell you they'll likely die young. So why not, then, get the bad tattoo? The tattoo is temporary because life is temporary. We lead such short desperate lives that refusing a tattoo because of some imagined professional setting you might be in seems as asinine as thinking one day you might be a billionaire. It's just as unattainable.

Throw in a little postmodernism, a little dadaism and you have the perfect storm for the rise of ignorant style tattoos. They're not good, but that's largely the point. They don't have to be. In fact the ugliness is largely the point of this art form. Much like how Duchamp's Fountain was never meant to be a beautiful piece of sculpture but rather a biting satire, ignorant style tattoos become the response to the former underground artform of tattooing going mainstream and suddenly costing thousands and thousands of dollars, and people showing off wealth with perfectly technically done sleeves.

It's for obvious reasons a very divisive style of tattooing, and now even legitimate shops are turning out things that look "bad on purpose" but are technically well applied when examined closely. Personally I think most of them are ugly as shit but what the Hell do I know I'm just some bitch.

[honourablejester]

Honestly, this (the crafting, modifying and inventing rules) is one of the most exciting parts of BitD so far for me. The rituals were what first sparked for me, because the idea that I can just invent spooky magic rituals for my character is delightful, but the gadgets and alchemicals are also delightful. Both Whisper and Leech were the playbooks that first called to me, and this kind of thing is very much part of why.

Vague gadget ideas I’ve been dabbling with:

The obvious, goggles that let you see into the ghost field. No self-respecting Leech is going to leave that the preserve of Whispers and their spooky masks! There is nothing magic has wrought that science cannot equal! Potential details: will highlight ghosts in red if they’re feral?

On a similar theme of goggles, goggles that give you something like Dishonored’s Dark Vision power, the ability to see the presence of living people through walls (it works by sensing Plasm, obviously), basically giving you a sort of life-focused x-ray vision.

A palm-mounted device like a shock buzzer that acts as something of an inversion of the Lurk’s ‘Ghostly Veil’ ability: it temporarily forcefully shunts someone else into the ghost field, rendering them insubstantial, for those moments when you need someone to let go of you right now or you desperately need to not be fighting them. Might have unfortunate effects on the victim, which will undoubtedly invoke long-term consequences.

Higher level, but if we’re thinking weapons and we’re already in the realm of lightning, gaslamp fantasy, demon-slash-lifeforce powered weaponry … I mean, is it too much to ask for a death ray? Some sort of hideous little thing that forcefully rends someone’s ghost from their still-living body, or drains them of Plasm (and stores it as power, because then we could have a self-powering hand-held murder machine). How does that interact with the spirit bells of the crematorium? (This one’s obviously going to be a long clock and several interim stages to develop).

… I promise I’m not looking at the Leech playbook purely to play a monstrous Victorian-esque mad scientist? Honest, yer honour. But. Well. A life of crime probably would be necessary to fund and advance my research? And in my defence, the first thing the book itself suggests trying to invent is a flamethrower, so I don’t think a death ray is all that out of left field?

I do think fiction is the answer here, alongside building on things suggested or built from other abilities/items in Blades itself. What Dishonored power to you want to replicate? What crackpot silver age of comics device do you want to cobble together and power by demon blood in your semi-flooded underground lair (that you must perforce share with the rest of your crew, do try not to blow us all up or summon some sort of horrific demon on top of us, darling)? Do you want to rip off Stephen Strange and make an arcane amulet that allows you to rewind time a few seconds? How would you feel about a death ray?

This is a steampunk fantasy setting where electricity exists and is literally powered by demon blood, where ghosts can be captured in bottles and sold on the black market, and the light from the shattered sun has been replaced by fish bioengineered with life energy until they glow bright enough to grow plants. Go nuts. Play with life, death, lightning, magic, machinery, biology! Frankenstein your way to a hideous future funded and inspired by your life of crime!

(Or, you know. Be a little bit more practical and focus on simpler things like glass cutters and breaching charges and sonic grenades that can confuse and delay the deathseeker crows. Or a contact vapor that instantly erases the last, say, 30 seconds or so of someone’s memory. Or a watered-down version of Drift Oil that instead of making you float for an hour simply makes you lighter and more agile, as if you were operating in moon gravity. It takes all kinds, you know).

But yes, I do understand the difficulty. When I was homebrewing a class for Heart: The City Beneath, a similar fiction-focused ttrpg, I found myself trying to nail down the concrete limits of various abilities as if they were for a more mechanical system, before realising that Heart does not work like that. You can just say ‘if you succeed your roll, this ability turns you invisible until you’re out of the current situation’. It’s a genuine shift of mindset. You have to pull back out of stats and bonuses and durations and ranges, and just go ‘this lets you do [cool thing], tell me what that looks like in this situation’.

Have to say, one of the biggest hurdles in introducing one of my usual gaming groups to a system like Blades in the Dark is the idea that items don't have defined stats and are instead props to twist the fiction in interesting ways. It often feels like I'm using therapy speak on a very literally minded engineer.

Player: Alright, I've spent some downtime crafting, what can I make? Me: What would you like to make : ) ? Player: Like, is there a list? Me: Nope : ) , you're limited by your imagination and what we agree would be best for the story. Player: Well are there suggested guidelines for what an appropriate item would be? What Bonuses It can give me? Me: Items don't really give bonuses : ) , now how about you tell me what emotions finishing this project stirs in your character? Player: What was even the point of this? Also stop saying ": )" I don't know how you're doing that with your mouth.

Honestly it's a fascinating study in what assumptions ttrpgs make about the people playing them: Namely that a prospective BitD player has some personal skill or desire to act as a storyteller, and doesn't put much emphasis on the nitty-gritty of the rules.

[solavellan--hell]

I understand your angle on the isolated inquisitor but I keep wondering: Thats only applicable if you don’t engage with any companions, no? I mean, even if we assume them as locked in the romantic solavellan, Inquisitor has to engage with at the very least Dorian in main quests and Dorian immediately displays warmth and understanding

So, I’m curious (gen): what do you think of Inquisitor’s loneliness being kind of a “bad ending” path as contrasted to being close to their friends? Sort of how Solas’ loneliness is juxtaposed to him staying close to his companions (both in DAI and in his own rebellion), the path he failed to choose? I’m also curious on your thoughts regarding how this juxtaposition mirrors his foiling of Rook whose bad ending is only applicable if they try to do everything alone

Thoughts thoughts! Have a nice day!

Thank you for the lovely question!! It was really fun to consider this perspective and I always love Pondering the Inquisitor’s character and narrative existence!

First, yes, the Inquisitor does engage with their companions (in different levels depending on the individual playthrough). However, to me it often felt like, even in their close relationships, they were still often treated as the Inquisitor rather than them as simply a person who happens to be the Inquisitor (which is to be expected, their position is not a thing to be considered lightly, but it still probably feels isolating as hell). There are some instances where people go out of their way to “remind the Inquisitor that they are just a person” such as Sera’s pranks, Varric’s game of Wicked Grace, and probably multiple scenes from romances I have not done yet. But the isolating part in my opinion is having to be reminded that you are a person in the first place. The issue is not necessarily not interacting with people or getting close to them, more so those close to you not entirely knowing how to separate you from the Herald of Andraste. To the point where you probably struggle to do that yourself.

(Obvious exception here being Cole but point still stands)

Anyway, back to your question.

While I was thinking about it, I realized that I really like the idea of the parallels of two people (the Inquisitor and Solas) who had their identity as people overtaken by this duty-oriented persona of themselves, but still being divided by one’s ability to lean on their close ones, and the other’s lack thereof caused by his belief that he must walk the path of duty alone. It is a good metaphor for healthy attachment vs anxious avoidance if you ask me. And, in the Solavellan case, it feels fitting for Lavellan to be the first person he gets to lean on in this comparison. From her, he gets to finally learn the value of healthy dependence for the first time. To be loved is to be changed after all.

If we were to think of it as a “good vs. bad” ending, it could be that the Inquisitor does end up being too much like Solas and lets their duty as Inquisitor keep them from truly connecting with others. We obviously don’t have any major gameplay outcomes for this like we do with Rook, but it is interesting to consider how differently things may have turned out if the Inquisitor ultimately failed to let anyone in. You could even say it is the difference between going after Solas to kill him or trying to redeem him. In the first case, your relationship with him is overshadowed by your duty to protect Thedas. In the other, you have bonded with him enough to presume to know his true heart, enough to know he genuinely does not want to take the path he believes he has to.

I hope this made sense and it answered the question, thanks again for giving me a prompt to ramble!

[nexelart]

can't really do art because i'm busy with other stuff, so have my durge as that one picture from silence of the lambs

[choking-porcelain]

OH OH OKAY SO

(Please note that I don’t play the games as haven’t played any since I was in elementary. This is almost entirely based on design) 

A few possibilities for your consideration. First of all, psychic. It’s definitely one of the most obvious ones, but um. I just hate Hypno. So what else? So consider: Musharna

It’s curled up, sleeping pose I think brings to mind the sense of relaxation and blissfulness I’d associate with you. It’s a thick fog of something familiar that you can’t quite place (ignoring lore here tbh), it’s a sweet inviting plushie, it’s a ritual incense burner for tea ceremonies.

Okay. I’m quite proud of this one, but what else? Well. There are definitely other choices, but personally I’d rather only present highlights instead of getting into all of them... Other considerations though include: Flittle, Gardevoir/Kirlia, Oricorio, Espurr, and Chimecho

There’s other types to consider as well though. Fairy is another one I’ve seen mentioned. Doesn’t play as well into the hypno aspect but it definitely works with the aesthetic of ribbons and frills. Of course, I think I have to start with: Sylveon

I think we all know about it at this point tbh but. It’s a classic for a reason. Also, god… you controlling those ribbons… certainly. Um. In theme.

Next up, Ribombee (shiny right):

WHAT A CUTIE!!!!!! She’s such a doll! I mean. Okay ribbon motif again here. But also. Imagine her sitting on a little shelf… and it’s barely a leap to extrapolate the bug type to little ball joints on those limbs… Oh and the 20 cm height. I mean I have a size fetish, but you’ve posted about having a little doll sat in your hands before right? I mean come on she’s just such an adorable little doll!

But, you also take a lot of care to represent a variety of expressions, don’t you? I think that’s the beauty of dolls and the like. Now, Nintendo still hasn’t released their latex entrapment Pokémon yet, I know, what are they even doing over there, but we do have: Magearna

It’s a clockwork maid- it’s literally just- it’s got a sort of wide eyed bimbo look as well honestly. It’s a robotic doll, it’s a bunny girl, it’s a (karakuri) puppet. There’s still a lot of factors pulling towards aesthetic cohesion here, but I think it definitely helps serve as an invitation to a diverse range. On this note, I’d also like to point to Baltoy, Pawniard, and Golett as possible picks just generally? Iron Valiant also works great here as a fairy if you want to push further out.

I’m also throwing in extras of Floette, Whimsicott, and of course, Mimikyu. Tumblr is really starting to annoy me now though tbh so.

Ghost type!? It’s not exactly a primary aesthetic, I’m not actually sure if you’ve brought up ghosts before, though knowing the amount of writing you have out there, it’s probably mentioned somewhere?… Ghost type is my favourite type though and there are some good picks but… um. Tumblr, once again, wears at me… so. I think I’ve sorta talked about the same reasons for these with previous picks so I’m not getting into these... here they are though! That’s Shuppet, Sinistea, Jellicent, and Blacephalon.

Yeah! Um. I hate tumblr now so. Tada though!!!

The new Pokemon announcements have me yearning. I remember so vividly playing Pokemon Red on my original Gameboy, spending most of the time hunting for a better light to shine on the screen (I am also acutely aware at the mention of my age making certain darlings a little weak~)

I've often wondered what kind of gym I would run. But I was a very different person back then.

Say, what sort of gym would I run, sweet darlings? What type would I main, what Pokemon would feature? What would my puzzle or challenge be? I think I might know that answer (and Sabrina should watch out lest she become a cute little dolly for me), but I would love to hear from you all

[0507-worms]

shidou's last few timeline conversations feel a little too ominous for him to Not Know that something was coming; which just makes me wonder what made him let his guard down

[itspileofgoodthings]

had a very nice realization about peace, especially spiritual peace, the other day. (Been brewing for a while.) and it’s just: peace is for the non-peaceful.

[boycaca]

I think its somewhat telling that the gnosis was placed inside the shouki no kami rather than scara containing it in his chest the same way that venti did with his gnosis. I get that its probably more so because scara needed a much grander body for his god form and the electro gnosis just so happened to be at the centre of it… but i cant help but think of it as the games way of telling us that he truly is not fit to contain the gnosis, even in peak form when all his powers are unleashed, he still needs to build a whole new body as the gnosis’ vessel, that the so called “heart” he thought was rightfully his would not actually make him satisfied or fulfilled, as it seems to be the embodiment of all of scara’s obsessions

[ahalliance]

qantoine’s coping mechanism to feeling left behind being both self-isolating and becoming possesive of those he cares for is so juicy as a concept . like yeah you go you funky creachure, manifest those complicated and sometimes contradictory emotions

[cometblaster2070]

in rennala's bossfight it's a bit difficult to make out but the juveline scholars are actually singing throughout her first phase and I find the lyrics of their song to be incredibly interesting:

"Sleep tight, bound tight, by mothers amber, sleep tight, find life in mother’s umbra."

rennala refers to the juveline scholars as "sweetings" and I'm assuming that the 'mother' they're referring to in this song is rennala which is a curious detail when you notice how they mention the word umbra.

for those not aware, umbra is latin for 'shadow' and is said to be the darkest part of a shadow; the part where the light source is completely blocked and more specifically i'd like to bring up how in the song they're referencing finding life in mother's umbra; in mother's shadow.

rennala is referred to as the queen of the full moon and her incantation refers to how she "encounters" this enchanting moon.

similarly her daughter ranni is said to have encountered the dark moon.

This moon was encountered by a young Ranni, led by the hand of her mother, Rennala. What she beheld was cold, dark and veiled in occult mystery.

there isn't really a point to any of this but I still found it really interesting how ranni is associated with the dark moon and was led to the dark moon by her mother rennala, especially when you account for the detail of the juveline scholars mentioning mother's umbra or in this case mentioning rennala's shadow in a sense.

i just wonder if it's an interesting bit of storytelling that ranni discovered the dark moon, the shadow of her mother rennala's full moon, with her mother's help and it helped her escape the confines of her destiny and carve out her own path and take her life into her own hands.

finding life in mother's umbra indeed i suppose.

[skrunksthatwunk]

hitting this article with a rolled up newspaper. bad. stop it

sigh. exhaustive argument that none of these shows grouped together have the same art style below, complete with images and whatever

oh also im not the type to comment on articles so idk the etiquette but don't like. go over there and say "ur list sucks >:P" that's just gonna bring more traffic to it. i linked it so people could ratio me if need be not so that you guys could dunk on this random listicle writer. it's pointless and kind of cruel. just so we're clear on that

edit: the quote above uses "time period" instead of "era". i quote it as saying "era" a lot. i'm not fixing that

note: here i'm assuming "art style" refers to, generally: character designs (facial and body proportions, how things like hair is dealt with, etc), lighting, color (palette, saturation, value), line weight, etc [and mostly excluding things like shot composition, direction, etc because while those probably count my personal experience with these shows is mostly limited, and because most people focus on the previous things i've listed in their discussions of art styles. the analysis within the article is incredibly shallow, and if they think samurai champloo's art style is "rehashed and reused", i don't think they're like. super deep in the art analysis sauce. anyway]

code geass vs death note. what are you saying. what are you talking about

code geass' approach to color is more vibrant, and dn's is more washed out. dn takes a more realistic approach to faces and bodies, both in proportion and in shape (namely how curved their features are (as opposed to cg's far more exaggerated sharp faces, large eyes, and lanky bodies. note how lelouch's lips barely jut out in profile, for instance)). i shouldn't have to explain this they're not even close

that's the most extreme example, but samurai champloo and cowboy bebop aren't That similar either

it's hard for me to speak on bebop for the most part because i've never seen it (vs my ~8 eps of samurai champloo knowledge), but from what i have seen, bebop often has a sort of delicate intricacy to a lot of its linework (especially its backgrounds) that champloo tends to sacrifice in favor of bolder lines and higher contrast. it was hard to find great examples, but the silhouettes champloo's characters cut are often sort of.. choppy and wild, and usually lanky and stretched-out, while bebop's are more realistic (focus on the shoulders in the last image set, for instance). there's overlap, sure, but there are clear and intentional differences in the designs, to say nothing of champloo's higher saturation and the natural differences between hand-drawn and digitally-drawn animation

(and if "art style" is referring to the direction rather than just character design, lighting, color, etc, it's because these two have the same director, which hardly creates an "era". that's like comparing two miyazaki films from the 90s and saying "this is what 90s anime movies looked like", it's nonsense. also, i feel like lumping these two together because they look a little similar is unfair because they're pretty unique from their contemporaries in their own right. they may resemble each other a bit, but how much do they resemble other late 90s early 00s sci-fi/historical anime? does samurai champloo look like outlaw star to you? or trigun? or evangelion? does cowboy bebop look like ninja scroll? or samurai 7? or sword of the stranger? etc etc etc?? if we're claiming that cowboy bebop and samurai champloo share an "era", then what of their contemporaries, and what about differences across bebop and champloo's very different genres? more on this point later)

even fruits basket and ouran, the ones i initially felt were most similar, have clear distinctions

ouran's got a distinct abundance of pastels in its color palette, tending towards pinks, blues, yellows, oranges, etc. its use of black and brown is very limited. fb's palette is a bit more relaxed, and while its colors are often pale, i wouldn't call them pastel (they also skew more towards natural, earthy tones). fb's characters have noticably.. flatter skulls? in some shots, and their heads are so squat that they can seem consumed by their eyes. anyway this is a trait ouran does not quite share, for a number of small reasons, like how their cheeks bow out, greater emphasis on noses and mouths, and its use of highly variable line weight (vs fb's very stable line weight). hair is more voluminous and multilayered in ouran, and features like lips and noses (esp noses) are fuller, more three dimensional (in general, ouran's approach to shading hair and faces makes the characters feel rounder). the sharp edges and bell-sleeves of ouran's uniform blazers are actually far more reminiscent of the designs in code geass than fruits basket, imo. (actually.. i'm not sure how to express this but a lot of the poses in ouran resemble code geass poses, in their locked-joint arms-stretched kinda way). ouran forgoes hair-shine, while fruit's basket adds them in either jagged points (see most of the images i included) or a sort of triangle wrapping around the head (not pictured here, just trust me)

(note: i'm assuming they are referring to the 2001 anime adaptation of fruits basket rather than the 2019 one, because not only does the 2019 adaptation resemble ohshc even less, but because they are closer in time period, and the grouping is supposedly based on era).

my point is none of these shows look rehashed from one another. there's sometimes overlap, but each has a unique aesthetic based in many small choices made in their design.

now let's look at their use of "eras" a little more. this is the timeline of air dates for the first episodes of the six shows mentioned (for their original japanese runs, obviously):

cowboy bebop, april 1998

fruits basket, july 2001

samurai champloo, may 2004

ouran high school host club, april 2006

code geass, october 2006

death note, october 2006

code geass and death note being paired by era is, at least, accurate. same month, same year. it's about as close as one can get. however, the other two groups are far more removed from each other. fruits basket and ouran have five years between them, and bebop and champloo have six. this wouldn't be such an issue if there weren't other anime within this list that came between them. if bebop and champloo are in the same era, why is fruits basket grouped differently? ouran came out in 2006 just like code geass and death note, so why is it grouped with something that came out five years prior instead of them?

i think it's fair to say that eras are not purely chronological, that there's overlap between them. one doesn't begin as soon as (and not a moment before) its singular predecessor ends. but era feels like an incomplete distinction here. this list alone shows quite a lot of variety for what someone can mean when they say something "looks like 2000s anime". most anime fans have a picture in their head of that, and, to be so honest, i don't think samurai champloo is it. using only time as a distinction rather than movement, genre, etc is simply not enough. the fact that 5/6 of these shows occur within 2001-2006, and yet they're set apart into three different eras, and each pair (in ways i'm sure the author of this piece would admit) does not resemble the other, is proof enough that 2001-2006 did not have one repetitive art style, at least not in a way these anime exemplify. that's to say nothing of whether or not the anime within the era-pairs look the same, which we've established i don't. but since they don't actually tell us what their eras are, we can only speculate. personally, i speculate that they didn't think about it too hard at all, or even look up the release dates, going off vibes instead, if that.

when this person is talking about "eras", i think "eras within certain styles or genres" is more accurate, but even with these in mind, matching shows up like this makes a lot less sense than i think they realize. death note and code geass are sometimes lumped together because they're both mind-gamey thrillers with megalomaniacal protagonists with a single unique power that they use to try and fix/control the world, not because of their art styles. trying to say they look the same just because they share plot elements and came out around the same time is just... really weird. fruits basket and ouran both fall into early 2000s shojo, which is part of why the comparison fits more. target demographics and what magazines cater to those demographics (and thus the aesthetics of those magazines, which you have to fit into enough to get your manga published, and which also just influence what you want, what readers want, etc through exposure) (<- oversimplifying) are an actual valid point of comparison, at least more so than "idk 2006 lol". even if the result is more like "romcom for girls, 2006"

it doesn't help that many of the choices they made for unique art styles don't feel particularly "unique" to me.

choices like mononoke and land of the lustrous i get. and i'm not saying any of the examples i've just pulled or in the article are bad art styles, or that they don't bring anything unique to the table. i'm sure many of them are beautiful, and help elevate the tones of the stories, and all that jazz, whatever. but if the name of the game is "unique", then i don't think these cut it from what i can see. it doesn't help that most of the analysis comes down to "it looks really really cool" or "you don't normally see this art style with this genre/tone" (which is not the same thing as being broadly unique, imo)

it could be that we have different impressions of what "art style" means. it could lie somewhere in the bits of art style that i cut out, like shot composition and direction, etc. and some of it is probably a difference in what constitutes uniqueness, both between our differing experiences with media and personal taste/philosophy. but i don't think i'm wrong here when i say that the assertion that samurai champloo is era-typical in a way that beyond the boundary (2013) isn't is just fucking wrong.

look i know that bit that i screenshotted that started all this was a filler paragraph. i know it was the mandatory setup for the listicle you scroll to immediately, the parts you're supposed to ignore. i usually ignore articles like this completely because they're kinda bullshit. but i think this hunt for what looks the most unique is a flawed and confused one, at least to some extent. especially when all of the justifications are like "it supports the vibe well", which is something that all art styles are supposed to do, no matter how "unique" they are or are not, and i think that when people discuss things like art styles and anime and what looks generic and what looks unique, lumping things together too much often removes the nuances that really do influence people. i'm an artist. it's gonna sound dumb, but the way things look matters to me, even if it's stuff like how shirtsleeves or noses are drawn. to ignore all these little differences that make each piece unique is to blend so many singular, unique things into this easy-to-categorize mush that just... does a disservice to the choices every artist makes, i think. even if it is a pretty mild disservice. again, i cannot stress enough that this article is not important, and that this post responding to it is also not important.

look, what i'm trying to say is stop and smell the roses. notice the differences in the art you consume and think about it. looking for something that's so different it jerks your brain around is cool and good and fine and normal, but to disregard things as "basically the same as xyz" is reductive and icky and i don't like it. if you want something unique idk go watch kaiba (2006) have fun it's really good. i'm going to bed

nvm miscellaneous gripes section + i go to bed at like 5am lol i LIED:

the only thing said about beyond the boundary's art style is "it's hard not to fall in love with the art style", and the rest of the comments are other elements. that's too vague! i'm docking points!!

a lot of this seems based in the color palette now that i'm rereading it. not that my analysis doesn't also involve that, and not that that's invalid, but it makes me think there uh. might not have been Too too much thought beyond that. (example: "Though the dark and cool colors provide a sense of dullness, these colors cater to the tone of the story, which is dark and representative of its heavy content." like. that's not. unique. that's not unique to solo leveling y'know to have a dark story be awash in dark and cool colors that's pretty normal actually. maybe how they do it is unique, but we'll never know bc i haven't seen solo leveling and the author didn't care to elaborate :/ oh well)

this one's petty but i actually think ohshc's art style is pretty unique. maybe it's just because i've seen it several times and certain details like how the bottom-lip-to-chin shadow is done have caught my attention but like. pouting crossing my arms huffing >:( i think it's unique wth...

demon slayer's an alright choice i agree. idk i barely watched it a few years ago and it still wrenched my art style in a new direction. i dunno anything that looks quite like it. i'm not mad about all these choices per se it's just hard to whittle something like uniqueness down to a top ten list, i guess. and to say samurai champloo's generic while violet evergarden is the 5th most unique anime you've ever seen is like. weird. you're setting yourself up for people to go ehhhh... idk...... if you're not picking stuff that's like. Clearly Out There (i.e. mononoke)

"It’s no surprise that Demon Slayer is an anime with some of the best art styles." i might be fighting something that was written by ai now that i think about it...

oh god this was totally written by ai. or it went very unedited. man i spent like 2 hours on this (<- LOSER LOSER). they can't decide what the plural of anime is

they insist that chainsaw man's art style is weird enough to maybe put people off, and the only reason i can think that is is bc it's cg. but don't do the same for land of the lustrous, which is also and much more obviously cg. idk

they phoned it in but didn't even include that ping pong anime smhing my head. y'know the one everyone includes. which means whoever wrote this actually did stick to personal choices over crowd-pleasers, or chatgpt goofed or whatever. idc. guys they didn't even put flcl (<- but they put gurren lagann? as a gurren lagann fan im confused) oh my godd

ik i said this before but im saying it again: a lot of their pros and cons come down to whether or not an art style is typical for that kind of story, so like whether something gritty in tone has a more realistic art style or whether it has something visually cutesy instead. art style is more than just those things, but even that analysis is like. pretty much as bare-bones as what i just said. yucky

oh also part of my issue with this (didn't phrase it right sorry) is like. "unique" is a broad term. a really broad term. it can mean anything. there is no top 10 anime with unique art styles article that would escape that problem, and my analysis here does not escape that problem. i find the term a little unproductive (same with the concept of "originality"), so just know that i guess

[realbigpodcastslut]

@beingorkissingskrillex, I saw ur tags and just. I wanna talk. At first, I was like, no, Sammy isn't that miserable. And then I thought about how he literally tried to commit suicide and bro you might be onto something here.

Sure, Sammy did recover from his depression but we'll never know how kfam ends. He's literally trapped in the moment of hearing his fiance asking him to come into the void. He's sobbing being dragged away from him. And that's pretty fucking miserable.

Also he's the protagonist of King Falls AM which is, uh, yeah

[thankchaosforspellcheck]

I love a lot of things about rottmnt, but one of my favorites is the (based on various fics & aus I've seen) generally agreed on fact that if these guys were raised even slightly differently (or were just in the right circumstances for it) they would 100% become full comic book supervillains, no brainwashing or blackmailing required.

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

”neon genesis evangelion is confusing” is actually a statistical error. most people have basic media literacy and understand what the show literally fucking spells out to you. no media literacy georg, who cannot understand basic storytelling tools, is an outlier adm should not have been counted.