#technically 3 since i posted the thumbnail as well

[roetrolls]

I did in fact go back and do a quick edit of Adalyn's hair ✨ I felt weird editing the old post though (made it feel like I viewed it as a mistake instead of just part of the design process?) so I'm reposting instead lol

Face to Face.... TWO!!!

[thebaddexample]

FILM THEORY: DEATH RETURNS TO INANIMATE INSANITY!! BUT IT'S NOT TACO OR LIGHTBULB!!

Warning, spoilers and possibly cringey or bad writing, but it's 1am for me so eh

(First off, shout-out to my mom for coming up with this idea for me to make a theory on- You're the best :3)

(Second, thumbnail by me :])

(Thirdly, I might rewrite this during the day at some point because I'm really tired, but had to get this out before I slept bcs I'd forget to otherwise)

(Fourthly, I know that this isn't a completely original idea, and people have done it already, but I wanted an excuse to make a theory and there's evidence, so I thought "why not?" It'll make people upset with me if I'm right, and I get to pretend to be Film Theory for a bit. It's a win-win!)

(You are legally required to read this post as MatPat's voice /silly /j)

————————

With the horrifying tweet that Brian made last Saturday, there's a lot of people (including you, probably) worried about who will die in the finale, the harsh battle between whether we say "bye" to a bright light, or "so long" to our sour cream schemer. My answer? Neither!! Object show community, inanimate fandom... whatever we call ourselves! I'm about to present to you why our beloved (and somewhat recently hated) host is going to be the death of the season.

————————

First of all, the trailer (and @inanimateinsanityfan 's recent tumblr post "invitation") has somewhat implied that the focus of the movie, the A-Plot at least, will be around Cobs attempting to get to MePhone4 somehow, whether it be luring him up to Meeple Headquarters or trying to get down to him. We've seen from previous episodes that Cobs wants him dead, but it's hard to tell if he's changed his motive, since we haven't seen him since Episode 13 "Mine Your Own Business". However, he has been consistently sending his newer MePhones to eliminate MePhone4, as 5C clearly states in Episode 6. The newer models have features like tracking (much like MePad) and knife hands (NOT like MePad), which MePhone4 doesn't have, which should in theory have made him easier to kill.

Speaking of the abilities, the MeLife function is only ever used by MePhone4, or at least we only ever get to see him do it. Why? Well, I have an idea but that's a theory for another time. The point is; MePhone4 seems to be the only Meeple product with the ability to bring people to life, and has all of the contestants on there as far as we know. This means that, unless there's a creative solution to perma-kill one of the contestants, MePhone4 needs to die first for any perma-death to occur in the first place.

And hell, removing the regeneration ability as a whole would be a great way to cap off the season, to establish that there's no more retrying and that everything is now set in stone. And even if we do get that damn FOURTH season (bonus points to whoever gets the reference), it'll at least spice things up with having, say, MePad as a host instead, leaving the spot open for someone else to claim and have an interesting story arc of their own.

This shot already pulls up a parallel between MePhone4 and MePhone3GS, and though 3GS isn't really confirmed dead, they're definitely not gonna be alive any time soon. The parallels could imply that MePhone4 is destined to a fate similar to 3GS; no longer in service, probably broken, and maybe even killed of by Cobs himself.

In addition to this, all of the other MePhones we've seen have all died; MePhone4 technically died with 4S and 5 in the Season 1 finale "Journey Through Memory Lane", 5S and 5C were introduced and immediately killed in Season 2 Episode 6 "Let 'Er RIP", and MePhones 6 and 6+ were also immediately killed upon introduction in Season 2 Episode 8 "Theft and Battery". The MePhones all have something in common, and that is unavoidable and quick death, much like real iphones honestly.

Does this mean that MePhone4 will have to die as a result of MePhone's faulty creation? No, but there is a pre-established pattern with each of the MePhones that goes as a cycle, perpetuating Cobs' cruel style of doing things; he creates something, claims it's his favorite for a year, then makes something a little better and throws the pre-established bond away to die, and rinse and repeat.

But hey! That's just a theory!

An Object Theory!!

Uh- what's the opposite of "greetings and salutations"-?

"Goodbye and see-you-laters!!"

[airenyah]

Your essay on Joong's underrated acting skills deepened my Joong appreciation so much, that I watched Mafia the Series, I'm watching Ploy's Yearbook (even though there is a serious lack of Joong so far), and I'm planning on watching The Warp Effect too. I haven't watched het shows in over ten years, so this is a big deal! 😂 I really liked him with Dunk in their shows, but MTS gave me another facet of him, because he's so timid in it, unlike in SIMM and HA, where he's (seemingly) very cool and in control. So thank you for making me a full time Joong (and Dunk) girl 💜

i saw this message first thing in the morning when i woke up yesterday and it instantly put me in a good mood!!! <3

YESSSSSS I'M SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT

mafia the series might actually be my absolute fave thai het-show, it's just SO funny!!!! and the entire cast is so great, like, not just joong but the entire cast plays off each other SO well. and don't even get me started on gina virahya and her portrayal of anna kondra!!!!

you know, when i went into mafia the series i saw the poster and was like "ughh i really am gonna have to sit through this standard (overly) dramatic mafia show just for joong, huh. the things i do for my boy..." and then. AND THEN. you can imagine my surprise. i was crying tears of laughter throughout the show and i was actually laughing so hard that my mom made a comment about how she could hear my laugh in my room

beam is my loser boy and joong portrays him in such an adorably awkward way, i love it <333

and yes there IS a serious lack of joong in ploy's yearbook so far :((((

it was quite funny tho bc in the one scene where joong does show up i immediately recognized him by the back of his head, like!! i saw this:

and instantly went "OH there's my boy!!!!!" 😂😂😂

and i can't wait to see him with film bc film did extremely well with gun in not me and i feel like film and joong will also work together really well

you know, i'm always happy to turn people into full time joong (and dunk) girls!!!!!!

i've adored them ever since simm which i watched live from ep2 onwards. fun fact, actually: when i started simm i actually had no idea who they were (even though technically i'd seen dunk in bad buddy already, except i wasn't paying attention to the random high school bandmates and so i didn't actually recognize dunk and only realized later on ahahah)

aaaanyway, i had no idea who they were, right? and so in 2022 my mom and i spent two nights in prague during easter and in the evening we were in our hotel room and we were kinda looking for something to watch. and i was like "hey look, gmmtv has a new bl out and it looks kinda cute and fluffy judging by the thumbnails?? and like something that doesn't require too much brain power?? plus, there's also only two eps out so far, so we'll be caught up right away" and so we watched the first two episodes and then the two of us ended up watching every new ep together every week hahaha

i actually didn't really talk about it on tumblr back then and when you go back on my blog you'll see that there are hardly any simm post. but really, with every new simm episode that aired i liked joongdunk more and more. and especially once the characters started dating i was actually so in awe about just how comfortable joong and dunk were with each other and how they absolutely weren't afraid to touch? like, their physical affection was just so casual, like it was the most natural thing in the world to them in an "i'm-not-even-thinking-about-it-bc-it's-so-normal" kind of way and that was just soooo refreshing to watch?? i was (and still am) truly amazed

and when just a couple of months later, at the end of 2022 gmmtv announced joongdunk were gonna get another show together i got SO excited!! and also when it was revealed that simm was included in our skyy 2!!!!

and then hidden agenda started airing and then i was tagged in that tag game and then i went to watch joong's entire filmography and then i ended up falling into a joongdunk rabbit hole and here we are...

anyway, i have multiple agendas and one of them is turning people into joong fans and dunk fans and joongdunk fans sllksdfd

and my other agenda is getting people to watch mafia the series, bc it's truly a gem of a show!!!!

(speaking of agendas: the only thing that's missing in your message is you telling me that you approve of my fight for a sexy joongdunk vampire bl, like... that would have made the message and the influence of my joong/dunk/joongdunk blogging complete 😂😂😂)

[leafpool-loves-ashfur]

I posted 45 times in 2022

35 posts created (78%)

10 posts reblogged (22%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@firealder2005

@alollinglaughingcat

@burning-thistles-bt

@meadowfoxglen

@vadvivon

I tagged 44 of my posts in 2022

Only 2% of my posts had no tags

#warrior cats - 24 posts

#burning thistles - 24 posts

#burning thistles au - 22 posts

#warriors - 16 posts

#warriors au - 14 posts

#warriors generations - 12 posts

#warrior cats au - 12 posts

#fireheart - 9 posts

#lgbtq+ character - 9 posts

#lgbtq+ - 8 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#honestly fire is always so supportive of his sibs. oh ur dating a kittypet? cool. oh you left for shadowclan? cool. oh u want to commit murd

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

bi power couple

Firestar and Sandstorm are both bisexual in Burning Thistles! and in canon probably lol

their relationship in BT is slightly different - not filled with as much initial hatred since Firekit was clanborn, but that doesn’t mean there’s not any tension between them in the early days, considering Auntie Frostfur liked to fill Sandpaw’s ears with whispers of Firepaw’s parentage

they’re very much in that “oh my StarClan you guys are basically already mates just ask each other out!!” phase in BT currently lol

also i think it’s funny that Sandstorm is friends with Creekflower (mostly bcus she’s friends with Fireheart and Cherryfur) even tho she thinks Creek is a traitor/stupid for getting with a kittypet (also think it’s funny if Sand had a brief crush on Creek too lmao)

16 notes - Posted June 3, 2022

#4

did anyone ask for Evil Frostfur? No? Well take it bcus I’m obsessed with her.

Yes this is from @firealder2005​ and I’s Burning Thistles AU once more (I’m also obsessed with it). well, technically this event doesn’t exactly happen as seen in the video (it’s more exaggerated here, also the collar is more symbolic than a real object Frostfur got her paws on)

Thumbnail under cut

18 notes - Posted June 9, 2022

#3

gay gay homosexual gay

gosh ngl Feathercloud from @firealder2005 and I’s fic Burning Thistles is by far my favorite character to not only write but to just... his personality, his story, his hardships, his family, his lovelife... I love it all sm i swear, and he’s not even a main character even vsjfsdkfjs but my love for him makes him one <3

Featherkit is one of Runningwind and Dappletail’s canonical kits- the deaf tom-kit who ‘wandered away’, but in BT he is Runningwind and Redtail’s son with Dappletail being his surrogate mother, born alongside his sister Crickekit :)

the amount of angst and fluff i can shove into this boy is incomprehensible

20 notes - Posted May 17, 2022

#2

thems

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MQvzd65jKY&ab_channel=LollingCatto

24 notes - Posted February 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

 why did i do this to myself

yep its a Burning Thistles Friendship Map as of Chapter 101! ...well, and a few spoilers, technically, but shhhhh. they’re minor anyway lol. i made sure not to do the big spoilery ones ;)

betcha cant identify every character here lol (i feel any avid BT fan could name 31/32 of them, bcus that 32nd one is a curveball whose only been important in like... 1/101 chapters. and prob only mentioned in.... 5/101?)

anyway here’s all the names, have fun putting them to faces: Fireheart, Sandstorm, Cherryfur, Creekflower, Oliver, Airleap, Morningflower, Onewhisker, Copperleaf, Dawncloud, Grasswhisker, Silverstream, Lightningfur, Mousefur, Runningwind, Darkstripe, Longtail, Dustpelt, Ravenpaw, Barley, Runningbrook, Ashheart, Cinderfur, Tallpoppy, Mistyfoot, Graystripe, Gremlin, Brackenfur, Feathercloud, Cricketheart, Scraps.

so there are also a lot more characters in this “friend group” but i tried to only hit the major ones. but just to have the full scope here, I’m gonna list every main-main character’s friend group. this means NOT including kin, so no sibs/parents/niblings

Fireheart’s: Runningwind (BFF), Darkstripe (ex-BFF/brother-figure, still wants to be friends w/), Sandstorm (crush), Cherryfur (friend through his sis Creekflower), Graystripe (apprentice), Cinderpelt (apprentice), Brackenfur (apprentice), Oliver (through Creekflower), Mistyfoot (apprenticehood friends), Stonefur (apphood friends, not as strong as Misty’s), Cinderfur (apphood friends), Onewhisker (apphood friends)

Creekflower’s: Cherryfur (BFF), Sandstorm (frenemies through Cherryfur/Fireheart, who are both friends w/ her), Brindleface (queen friends), Runningwind (through Fireheart), Longtail (mutual hatred; through Cherryfur) Mousefur (through Sandstorm), Oliver (mates), Oliver’s kittypet friends (through Oliver)

Lightningfur’s: Silverstream (BFF), Mousefur (ex-BFF, no longer friends), Rippleclaw (supporter), Sedgecreek (Sedge has a crush on her; she hates Sedge), Beetlenose (supporter), Mallowtail (supporter), Grasswhisker (thinks Grass is annoying but also Grass is her step-mom technically), Vixenleap (supporter/through Grasswhisker), Shadepelt (supporter), Greenflower (supporter), Mistyfoot (through Silverstream) .... (really Lightningfur has no friends at this point since Silverstream’s death)

Airleap’s: Morningflower (platonically raised kits together; his first WC friend), Onewhisker (friend; One probably thinks of Airleap as his closest friend), Ashfoot (friend), Deadfoot (friend), Runningbrook (friend), Whitetail (friend), Ravenpaw (mentorly towards him), Barley (through Ravenpaw), Sandstorm (from the mission/through Fireheart; he doesn’t think they’re friends but Sand feels defensive over him bcus of what happened), Tallpoppy (same reason as Sandstorm), Cinderfur (same reason as Sand and Tall but less so)

Copperleaf’s: Dawncloud (QPR mate/BFF), Cinderfur (BFF), Ashheart (friend), Tallpoppy (friend/Dawn’s BFF), Whitethroat (through Tallpoppy), Wetfoot (through Tallpoppy), Badgerfang (son-in-law/mutual respect), Flintfang (mutual respect), Fernshade (mutual respect)

Darkstripe’s: Fireheart (ex-BFF/brother-figure, still wants to be friends w/), Runningwind (ex-friends/kinda still friends but distant), Cherryfur (mutual hatred), Longtail (apprentice), Dustpelt (apprentice), Tigerclaw (idol), Onewhisker (apphood friends that grew apart)

Feathercloud’s: Graystripe (kithood friends that grew apart), Ravenpaw (ex-mate/crush), Brackenfur (BFF/crush), Gremlin (from mission), Scraps (from mission), Barley (through Ravenpaw), other WC cats (through Ravenpaw)

Spottedleaf’s: Yellowfang (most trusted), Mudfur (sympathetic to her), Bluestar (admirance; now weakening), Brindleface (rekindling friendship), Frostfur (formerly; crush), Tigerclaw (only slightly; formerly), Whitestorm (kinda awkward friends now)

Frostfur’s: Willowpelt (formerly), Spottedleaf (formerly), Redtail (formerly), Whitestorm (formerly/strained politeness on Whitestorm’s end), Tigerclaw (reluctantly/formerly), Speckletail (BFF; starting to strain)

also everyone hates Grasswhisker and its... kinda sad. like, hello, she’s a victim... yeah she’s been really mean, but truly it’s been out of fear and desperation for Thistlestar to love her and only her just like she loveslovesloves him (why can’t he just love her? why isnt she good enough? her mind cries). like Airleap was the only one who was like “Hey wait a minute-” (and now everyone hates her bcus she was mean to Airleap... by blaming him for murder)

42 notes - Posted June 22, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[jessamine-rose]

Reasons Why I am a Dirty Rag for Leona Kingscholar and Why You Should Consider Being One Too!!

Author’s note: This paper was written in honor of Rat vs. Raven: EBG Battle of the Trash Heap between @twstpasta​ and @raven-at-the-writing-desk​!! Since Raven got Leona as her new bias, I’m allowed to send in Leona content to encourage rot for him lol shut up Jessamine you’re just using this battle as an excuse to rot for Leona in public If I’m going to be completely honest, a large reason for my bias is due to the fact that I can personally relate to him but given that not all people can do the same, I tried to make this list as objective as possible >:3

Ohhh but a few words of acknowledgement before we start!!

Congrats to Mac and Raven for your first casualty in the EBG _:(´ཀ`」 ∠):_ I will remember this. I will find a way to make you two rot and suffer just as much as I have, probably through more art. I hope you have fun with your new biases and may the bigger hedonist lose!! =w=

Shoutout to @panacea-wishes​ for helping me list some of the points below!! I hope you and Trey are doing well, and I’m sure that [redacted] will welcome you back with open arms later on uwu I also want to thank @mobagehelllocal​ for her character study on Leona in this post, because it really helped me relate understand him more. Lastly, I’m tagging fellow Leona simp @rapunculusflvwer to see this because why not?? Now lessgo!! >:0

♡ 1.6k words under the cut ♡

♡ Leona is attractive - okie I know that not everyone can agree with this point due to different preferences and that is valid *looks at Raven* But let me just dkfnfwffwnlkfb HE CAN PULL OFF DIFFERENT OUTFITS SO WELL AND IMAGINE IF HE WAS EVER FORCED TO WEAR A SUIT PROPERLY?? MR. KINGSCHOLAR YOUR HAND IN MARRIAGE PLEASE (/▽＼*)｡o○♡

♡ Leona’s eyes - this is a separate bullet point because I know that Raven likes his eyes and YESSSS!! I’m an “eyes are the window to the soul” romantic and Leona’s gaze is dsdskfdfndsd. I apologize for not being able to articulate my feelings for this, because words simply escape me. If I can identify one thing that makes his eyes attractive, it would be their expressiveness. When Leona is smug and condescending, you can see it in his gaze. Same goes for when he is being a grumpy cat. But his Dorm Uniform Groovy and Fairy Gala SSR?? Ohohoho the life and intensity in his gaze is just *chef’s kiss* The green irises and the scar are also aesthetic like it’s so unfair?? I know that Twst uses anime logic but who even has eyes that pretty?? And you have to be f*cking lucky and attractive to be able to pull off a facial scar like that ٩(× ×)۶

♡ Leona’s voice - funny story the main reason why I got sucked into Twst hell in the first place was because of a recommended video of the dorm trailers compiled into one. Technically, it was Leona’s physical appearance that started it all because I wouldn’t have clicked the video if he hadn’t been smirking on the thumbnail. But as soon as he spoke?? Dfrnkjfekjejk that sealed the deal for me. HIS VOICE IS HOT OKIE?? I know a few other people whose voice kinks have been triggered thanks to Leona and that is all╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

♡ Leona has natural charisma - as shown in the Fairy Gala event!! I’d rather not expound on this lest I melt into a puddle but in summary, Leona has his own special brand which makes him unique from other models. And you need to give him credit for his competence in posing and runway-walking because that sh*t is difficult =_=

♡ Cheka - listen, the Savanaclaw arc was not perfect but I momentarily forgot about my dissatisfaction as soon as Leona’s nephew showed up. HE’S SO CUTE!! I just…....really love his interaction with Leona-ojitan. I think the writers did a good job with their relationship, because you can see how much they care about each other despite their circumstances. It’s just that Leona is not the type to show his concern for others and I would also be pissed if I had to see the oblivious source of my suffering on a daily basis Cheka’s presence introduces us to a softer, more tolerant side of Leona and I wish we could see more of that. But until then, Pixiv exists and the comics are just as sweet :’0

♡ Leona’s pride and bluntness - okie this is one of his negative traits for a valid reason. But as someone who believes that the Seven Deadly Sins are not inherently bad if practiced in moderation* I’m going to acknowledge the benefits of these characteristics. Leona isn’t afraid of acknowledging his status or saying what’s on his mind. And while that may come off as rude or condescending, I find it rather refreshing?? He’s not going to baby you or sugarcoat the situation. He’s not going to deny himself of what he wants. And because of that, he’s not going to make you feel bad for putting yourself first :’> Additionally, he knows how to assert his superiority. We mainly see this with Savanclaw and Magical Shift, considering how much they fear or respect him. Leona exudes power and confidence which only adds to his sexiness

* Thanks, Obey Me!!

♡ Leona is good at chess - I think that says a lot about a person. Chess is a very strategic game, because you need to concentrate and plan your opponent’s moves. With this in mind, we get to know more about his way of thinking. Leona knows how to plan and make choices. We see this in the Savanaclaw arc when he comes up with the near-perfect plan to sabotage the other dorms. I love that Botanical Garden scene in Leona’s Dorm Uniform SSR, because the fact that Leona plays chess to pass the time when he’s not asleep is just......a lot of information to take in O.o

♡ Leona is a cat - this may be biased because I am a cat person but KITTY (=①ω①=) I’m glad that the game actively shows Leona’s feline side, from the tail-stepping to the characters who find his ears cute. Along with his laziness and his physical strength, it shows us that Leona is not a beastman solely for aesthetic purposes. His species is an integral and active part of his identity, especially since it’s the reason why Rook harasses him in the first place. And because Leona is a lion/ cat, we can incorporate that into headcanons such as cute cuddles and ear scratches!! Let me pet the cat!! I don’t care if I get scratched!!ヾ(=`ω´=)ノ”

♡ Leona respects women - *before I start, I just want to give this disclaimer:: Men shouldn’t be applauded for doing the bare minimum. They should be educated and expected to respect women because it’s basic ethics* But after saying this, why was the fandom so quick to latch onto this information about Leona?? Is it because Twst had explicitly made this clear for only him and Ruggie?? Well, for me, Leona’s respect for women just adds to the reasons why he is my comfort character. He’s intimidated by the women of the Afterglow Savannah and he’s never going to give you sh*t for your gender. Leona acts high and mighty and calls us an herbivore, but he’ll never discriminate a woman on the basis of sex and gender identity. As a female reader, I just feel safe and comfortable around him TvT

♡ Leona’s broom technique - you know how his broom technique DOESN’T involve properly sitting on his broom and holding on for dear life?? We all know how balance works--remember those action movies where there’s a really tiny bridge with no railings and you need to reach the end without falling to your doom?? YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO STAND!! LIE DOWN, HOLD ON TO THAT SH*T WITH YOUR LIMBS, AND CAREFULLY CROSS THE BRIDGE THAT WAY SO YOU DON’T FALL!! Yeahhh that’s the closest analogy I can make between real-life hazards and flying class. Basically, Leona stands on his broom as though there is zero chance of him falling off and that just shows how much f*cking confidence he has in his technique. I find that impressive X_x

♡ Leona is perceptive - this is connected to my earlier bullet point about Leona and chess. The reason why I’m mentioning it again is because I’d recently binge-watched all of the personal stories of the entire Twst cast* and Jamil’s School Uniform R?? HOLY SH*T LEONA KNEW!! As someone who is emotionally invested in Jamil for similar reasons, I was just sitting there and quietly analyzing the similarities between my top two faves. It’s possible that Leona noticed only because he and Jamil both suffer from second-place syndrome. But either way, it just shows us that Leona’s lazy looks can be deceiving :0

*A message to Miss Raven:: I understand now why your faves are Jade and Rook. Those f*ckers moved up my Twstsorter by two and three numbers. They wrecked my bias list ;-;

♡ Leona is gifted in brains, brawn, and beauty magic - this is so unfair. Why the hell is that lion good at everything?? I mean, we’ve all seen how scary and near-unstoppable he is when he gets serious!! It doesn’t matter that Leona is still “inferior” to Malleus in Magift, because he’s still powerful and that is why his laziness--as frustrating as it is for Leona to not use his full effort and potential--balances out his character stats 〣( ºΔº )〣

♡ Leona’s love language - I love how we as a fandom have collectively agreed that Leona’s way of showing affection is through cuddles and physical touch. Listen, Leona is a lazy cat and the mere notion of sl**ping with him?? Fufufu imagine being his body pillow and getting spooned by those warm, toned arms... *holds head in hands* HE’S NOT GOING TO SHOW HIS LOVE FOR YOU THROUGH WORDS BUT HIS ACTIONS ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT (─‿‿─)♡

♡

...Okay, I think that’s all. This took me four f*cking pages on Google Docs and a few hours of brainrot, but I’m finally doooone!! I apologize if this essay had become nothing more than a simp post at some point or if there are any inaccuracies, but slnkdsjdbdakdw I just really love Leona!! There’s so much about him that has attracted me to his character beyond his hotness, and I hope that I was able to convince Raven just a little bit through this messy appreciation post!! Thanks a lot to Mac, Raven, Lily, Ai, and all of the other Twst writers out there for continuously encouraging my rot through your Leona content because it means the world to me!! After your EBG, I hope you can reunite with your faves and continue to receive lots of love and bulli from them. Happy Extreme Bias Game!! -Jessamine <3

[asdllkshfad]

For the anon who asked if I had a tutorial on how I make gifs! I made one that covers just about everything about my gif-making process 💖 

A summary of things included in this tutorial:

How to rip videos from nearly everywhere

How to make a basic gif using videos

How to slow down a gif

How to color gifs

Stuff you need:

Windows 10 (for the built-in screen-recording program*) / Xbox Game Bar

Photoshop CS6 or higher

VLC Media Player

PC/laptop

*I like to use the Xbox game bar because it's straightforward and doesn't require any technical shit to make it work. It's plug and play! But if you don't have this, here are some alternatives:

OBS Studio - used for streaming and screen recording, free and open source! lots of tutorials on Youtube for beginners

VLC Media Player - all purpose media player and Youtube video-ripper, also free and open source

You’re gonna have to look elsewhere for OBS and VLC tutorials but they're not terribly hard to get used to. It's just gonna take a little extra work to make gifs that way.

I. Get a video of the thing you want to gif

High quality vids make high quality gifs so I like to source them directly from HD/Bluray digital copies as much as possible. This is how I do it 90% of the time:

1. Open the source video in my media player (I use VLC) 2. Open the Xbox Game Bar 3. Record a short clip from the source vid

I prefer to do this because it's easier to work on a short clip with a small file size in Photoshop. 

If I can't download the videos, I rely on screen-recording from wherever it's available (Youtube, Streamable, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). Any video that can play in a browser is fair game.

How to use the Xbox Game Bar to record your screen

you don't need a microsoft or xbox account to use it

can record videos from media players and almost any video that plays in a web browser (not sure if this works with Netflix on a browser though)

How to use VLC Media Player to rip videos directly from Youtube

doesn't always work but it allows you to find the exact address of a Youtube vid and save it on your PC like you would with pictures

most videos aren't high quality when ripped like this but when I got nothing else to rip from, I can't be choosy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

II. Make a standard gif file

1. Open PS. Drag/drop your video in PS. The 'Timeline' window should appear on your workspace. If it doesn’t, go to Window > check 'Timeline' near the bottom of the menu

2. Make a new file with the usual tumblr dimensions (Width: 540px for 1 column posts/ 268-268px for 2/ 177-178-177px for 3, Height: up to you)

3. Drag and drop the vid in the new file then close the video file.

4. On your new file in the Timeline window, click on 'Create Video Timeline'

5. In the Layers window, right-click on the video layer and select 'Convert to Smart Object'

6. Resize the video.

7. You can move the start/end bars on the Timeline so it only includes the part of the clip you want to gif. Skip this step for now if you plan to change the speed of your gif.

8. Save your new file. You don't have to keep the PSD and source video in the same folder but I recommend you do.

III. Adjust the speed

1. Double click exactly on the thumbnail graphic of the video layer--not the layer name or the gray area around it! It should open a new window with 'Layer 1.psb' as the filename.

2. Right-click on this video's Timeline. It should show a small tab that allows you to change the speed of your gif. 60-70% gives it a noticeable slow-mo effect.

3. Since we slowed the clip down, we have to lengthen it. Drag the arrow at end of it all the way to the right until the you can't extend it further.

4. Press ctrl + s to save the changes in 'Layer 1.psb' and then close that window for now.

5. Go back to your main file (LALO 01.psd in my example) and adjust the length of the clip on this Timeline like you did on 'Layer 1.psb'.

6. Readjust the start/end bars on the Timeline so they line up with the part you want to gif.

III. Make it pretty

There is one effect that makes a gif instantly prettier and that is Smart Sharpen. Look for 'Filter' on the top menus. Click on the video layer, click on Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen. 

If the scene you clipped is well-lit and if you are not doing anything fancy, this might be all you need to do. But if not, you can find every tool for color adjustment in the Layers window:

These are the ones I use often:

For adjusting brightness/contrast: Levels and Selective Color

For color correction: Color Balance, Selective Color, Photo Filter and Vibrance

For cleaning up artifacts and reducing noise in nighttime/dark scenes: I use Selective Color and turn up the black anywhere from +5 to +15

IV. Save the gif

I usually do a bunch of tweaks here and there before I save the final gif. I go back to adjust the speed, to recolor or change the length of the gif, whatever I feel needs retouching.

1. Press Alt + Shift + Ctrl + S all at the same time or click File > Export > Save For Web.

2. I use these settings:

3. Check that the file size doesn't exceed 10mb

4. Click ‘Save’. And we’re done!

[ot3]

your last post made me think about how I loooove how you use color in your art, it's so vibrant and full of life and movement and expression! I was wondering if you had any advice on how to do color studies? perhaps doing drawings with limited palettes? or anything similar?

First things first, thank you, I really do appreciate comments like these! this post now also has a follow up for finish limited palette pieces

I'm obviously very fond of limited palette art and color studies/color thumbnailing are great ways to get that done. When people think limited palette there's often the association of unrealistic and fantastical color palettes, but learning to limit your color use absolutely applies to semirealism and just builds stronger color theory in general. I was planning to talk about limited palettes in more realistic color use in this post, but this already ended up way too long. If that's something people want to hear about I can talk about it later.

Color theory basics crash-course! I'm sure almost anyone who has colored anything is familiar with this, so I'll be SUPER brief, but I want everyone to be on the same page for this. Color has three qualities you need to take into account: Hue, saturation, and brightness. Hue is what we think of as the 'color'. Saturation is the vibrancy of this color; how bold or dull it is. Brightness is how light or dark the color is. Here's this all labeled on a color picker I stole from google.

As a rule of thumb, things that look good in color should look good in grayscale. Having a strong range of values (brightness) makes for a strong image. Keep this in mind when you're picking colors – knowing what areas need to be light and what areas need to be dark before you start coloring will make your life easier. I'm going to teach you when and how to break this rule later, but for now let's just talk about picking a palette. I've found five to seven different colors to be a really nice sweet spot for working with limited palettes.

There are three main types of color palettes ill work with and ill provide examples each of them. I expect you to all politely refrain commenting on the amount of homestuck fanart that's here.

Monochromatic, where the piece is all within one color family with slight variations in hue, and larger variations in brightness and saturation

Accent, which is essentially the same as a monochromatic type with the addition of a strong, contrasting secondary color in one or two variants. Normally the accent color is lighter and serves as a highlight. This is not any kind of a hard rule, but is instead just what I like.

Split. There are two (or more) main colors at play, each with a couple of different shades.

Cool. Now lets see how we'd go about making one of these palettes.

 I'm grabbing an inconsequential sketch i've already got and we're gonna slap some color on it. Let's start monochromatic – I've gone and just tossed six pretty random shades of green on it, picking what goes where based on what I want to be light and what I want to be darker. 

Keep in mind, by monochromatic, I don't mean just picking one color and making it lighter or darker! Adjust your hue within the same color family – some of these are very blue, definitely more blue than green, and some are much warmer and yellower. Play around. In this stage I like to have every color on a distinct layer, so I can just recolor the entire layer at once as I tweak the palette.

 On the right, I have each color lined up in order of lightest to darkest just so I can get a sense of what I'm working with. Lets go ahead and call this one thumbnail. Now I'm gonna group the layers, duplicate them, and flatten the copy. I'll shrink it down and shove it off to the side so I can compare it to the other ones I make later.

Okay, I did a few more almost completely arbitrary monochromatic palettes. Here they are compared with their grayscale counterparts. 

All of them have the same number of colors, and lights stay lights, darks stay dark, midtones stay mid consistent between all of them, but the range of values is different between them all. The difference in light or dark between each tone is different and it gives a different mood that you can see even in black and white. None of them is more 'correct' than any other, and it's all about establishing the tone and atmosphere you want. Experimentation is key.

Now lets try making this a complimentary palette. With a strong accent color, your accent should be placed at areas of importance. People are naturally drawn to contrast and when using an accent color in a piece it'll make that area stick out, so make sure you're placing your colors with intent. For this I went back to that first set of greens I had because it was my favorite. Since this palette is over all very dark, I am going to make my accent the lightest color, because that'll stand out more. In a lighter palette, try making your accent the darkest color. Once again I must stress these are not hard rules – there are very few hard rules in art at all – but these are very useful tips for getting emphasis in the right place. This is just an example piece so I'm not being huuugely thoughtful with how I'm placing the color. 

Here's the same image but with the lightest green just swapped out for a far more vibrant accent of yellow. Looks pretty terrible. I don't want all of the papers and blinds to seem so prominent. So let's scrap this and try a different approach. We're gonna instead add our accent as a sixth color to our palette.

By adding another color, I've added another level of detail. Figuring out how to manage detail isn't just dependent on how many colors you have, but this is already going to be ridiculously long so I'll spare you that spiel. This is another one of those things I'll talk about more later if people want to hear my #thots. Using the new yellow accent, I emphasized the eyes, the mug, and added some interior detailing to the objects on the table. I also decided to place yellow in some of the windows of the outside buildings, to add a bit more interest in that area, and to justify giving yellow back lighting to our little goblin lad here, which makes him stand out nicely.

A split palette makes things a whole lot more complicated. Now that you're gonna be working with two different base colors you don't just only have to worry about which one is lighter or darker, you have to worry about how the hues look next to each other. Lets work with an orange on top of our original green here. I picked two of the greens and replaced the darker one with a darker orange, and the lighter one with a lighter orange. Now our palette is six colors split 50/50 between orange+yellow, and green. 

But now something interesting is happening. Let's take a look. If you're particularly keen eyed, you might have noticed that there's a third set of colors here, using a greyish brown in place of the oranges. What's up with that?

Well, what's up with that is, they are orange. The palette on the far right is what happens if, instead of choosing my own oranges, I simply hue-shifted the bluegreens until they were technically orange in hue. 

The oranges I chose just based on how they looked without actually checking the value and saturation of actually changed the value hierarchy of the whole piece. The table, instead of being in between the objects stacked upon it in terms of brightness, is lighter than either. This isnt bad at all – there's absolutely nothing wrong here. It's just important to be aware of things like this! This is why I said a split palette is the most complicated of the three I'm talking about here – in many occasions, the hue hierarchy can top the value hierarchy. Keep that in mind for slightly later.

I think split palettes work really well for comics, and I like to make my comics with split palettes. Whereas with a single illustration, you can just putz around with your color thumbnails until you get something good, for a comic you're locked into your palette once you've done the first page. Unless you're some sort of insanely meticulous person, in which case I envy you, you probably don't have every single page of your comic blocked out with respective values and can't apply your palette to the whole thing at once to test it. This means you'll need a palette that's pretty versatile. Having a split palette where one of the hue sets is lighter than the other overall allows you to decide whether you're going to create an overall light panel with dark accents, or vice versa. I'm gonna compare two palettes I'm using for comics to make this point. 

Here's a sampling of the comic pages in full color, at 0% saturation, and adjusted for grayscale respectively. You'll notice a slight difference between the desaturated colors and the grayscale colors – grayscale seems to hold truer to the full color version, doesn't it?

Now, here are the palettes themselves, and some grids showing the relationship between every pair of colors. When you don't know exactly what you're going to be using any given palette for, the relationship between any two colors becomes more important than ever. The bottom palette is split three ways, red yellow and blue each with a light and a dark, and then a completely neutral dark gray color. I'm using it for a long ongoing ace attorney comic I'm drawing. The top one has 4 shades of blue that go from darker and cooler to lighter and warmer, then 3 shades of orange that get yellower as they get lighter. Underneath is just the values – you'll notice that the top palette has a larger value range, with its lightest color being lighter than that of the bottom palette, and it's mid tones spaced further apart. 

What you'll also notice about the bottom palette is that instead of the reds being lighter than the blues and darker than the yellows, the value alternates dark red dark yellow light red light yellow. Take a look at the color grids. You'll notice that for the most part, every color in the palette on the right looks good with every other color. That's not nearly as true for the palette on the left. The light blue has a weird vibration where it meets either of the reds, and a few of the pairings just aren't particularly pleasant. Honestly, from any objective ideas of color theory, this palette kind of sucks shit. Lets make some adjustments to it.

I've changed the dark yellow and light red hues so now the light red is slightly darker than the dark yellow. That's the palette that's on top now. Looks better, doesn't it? But so now the question becomes why am I using a palette that looks awkward, disharmonious, and visually strained when I know exactly how to fix it? The simple answer is because I wanted a color palette that's awkward. I wanted that visual strain. I have trouble working on comics and general, especially anything as long as this one, and I wanted a color palette that already meant things would come out looking a little bit wonky, so I wouldn't be as concerned with nitpicking all the details and making everything pretty. I think the sort of visual upset also fits the tone I'm keeping with a lot of the comic.

Remember earlier when I said I'd talk about breaking the rule of stuff looking good in gray scale and in color? That's now. Take a look at this image. 

Which of the three colors is darker: the red, blue, or yellow? The stupid truth of it is that there's not really a proper way to tell. All three are technically the same 'brightness' but our brain tells us that the blue is the darkest, and the yellow is the lightest. Why do our brains do this? Let’s make em gray now.

On the bottom you can see what the colors look like when they are set to 0% saturation; as you'd expect it's a homogeneous gray blob. So then what the fuck is going on with the grayscale one? The grayscale one is closer to the way our brains interpret the colors, but we know this to be an improper rendering of their respective values. Which is the correct version, then – the grayscale or the desaturation? Luckily, we're using a computer, so we can have photoshop tell us the exact balance of hue, saturation, and brightness of any given pixel. Let's take a look now.

Wait, huh? We can plainly see that all three of the colors are at 49% brightness. But neither the desaturated value or any of the 3 grayscale values have a brightness of 49%. So what does a brightness of 49% look like?

Okay. Sure. Why not.

All of what I've just shown you regarding grayscale is to emphasize the point that your best judgment for which colors look good is a far better measuring stick for a good color palette than any technicalities. Even if the value is the same, the hue can differ enough that you can still get a beautiful finished drawing. Color and our perception of it is so, so vastly technically complex. You can not allow yourself to be bogged down by this. Simply practice, and color will become intuitive to you over time. I have a lot more I could say on the subject of picking and using your colors, but this is already insanely long. Feel free to ask any follow up questions, I hope this was of literally any use!

[partnersatfazbear]

More sketches! I actually have a lot to talk about with these lol First off, for anyone wondering about my back problems--those did finally clear up. I even fixed my sleep schedule, which only took a month. However, now my nightmares are coming back and that could mess up my sleep again... Sigh. I can’t win.

The first page is a series of completed, shaded illustrations I’m planning (based on the first 6 games and for each of the Fazbear Frights stories). I thumbnailed some ideas first. These could change, but I’m happy with most of them. I started on FNAF 1 already (see the second page where I added my current WIP of it). The only thing I love more than line art is composing a picture! I was suprised to hear that most artists (well, from what I’ve seen on YT) actually hate the line art phase. The coloring phase is actually the most boring for me. The tiny doodles are of Mike and Charlie. I really want to ship them, but I think because of my main ship I won’t. Although it would be an interesting thing to see them go through all this chick flick nonsense only to realize it never really mattered, but they could either turn out to be good friends or enemies... and I’m really intrigued by the concept. If I ever get back to my Sammy AU, maybe I’ll even have something for him to say about it =:V

The second page! I’ve gotten to a point where I can sort of draw Springtrap from memory, so that makes me happy. SMH I don’t know why he looks so annoyed in the large drawing... The other is a cute uh, is it still technically Willry at this point? Hentrap? SpringHen? lol SpringHen sounds hillarious. I may use that. Whatever, the drawing is sad, there’s no time for jokes!

The little square on page 2 are random doodles from own novel series, which at some point you’ll hear more about, but... This is the last story in the timeline, a science fiction universe where 80% of the cast are anthros. I may actually add a rabbit character now. Arzma is a bird girl, the heroine. Mark is an astronaut who has a connection to what I’m calling the furry-planet because I can’t remember the complicated names I gave everything. He’s the unofficial kid to a character from a previous drama story. He also makes a brief appearance in WispHer, my paranormal story... WHICH. (omg I’m rambling) Well, as a side story or maybe even one of the new focuses of WispHer, I’ve added my William OC. He’s the easter bunny suit you’ll see more of in upcoming pages and I’m proud of his design. I don’t know 100% what I’m doing with him yet. I’ve got like 4 pages of game ideas, but it may just end up being a super choicy VN, since I’m best at making those over any other kind of game.

For reference, my novel series spans about 12 or 13 books including spin offs, last time I checked... I really would like to get back to writing them...

As always, would love to hear any opinions / questions from you guys =:3 Feel free to send asks!

I may post some more sketches later, if I have time to doodle before my wife wakes up. lol

No sketches, but I did make some pixel art Henry and William [based on my designs]. DO NOT use these, as I may be using them for a personal project. Share, but only if you link back to this blog post:

PS

My brand new tablet has a defect pen / stylus (doesn’t hold the nibs anymore) and so I’ve ordered an expensive replacement. It should be here Monday, but expect a LOT of sketchbook drawings until I can get this situation fixed. Worried my next one will break just as easily... so I may have to find another pen altogether.

[rayegunn]

Music for 2020

Been a while since i posted about music here, but was having a look at my last.fm (I mean, i know it’s kinda dead, but the plugins are still going, collecting what I’m listening to, so i check it now and then) and though there are fewer listens overall probably because i no longer scrobble from some sources like my phone/tablet, some new favorites have definitely emerged. So here’s what I was listening to the most  in 2020, a couple surprised me because it didn’t really feel like i had listened to them a lot, but... i guess  they came up on shuffle a lot, go figure. I know it’s not technically the end of the year yet, but this is unlikely to change a lot in the next few weeks.

1: top one for the year is a newish one for me, Lord of the Lost. They are a German band that have been around for a while, but I found them when they released their album Thornstar, I remember because I saw the video for the song Loreley when it was released because the costumes/makeup in the thumbnail looked wild. That came out in 2018, so a couple years now. Anyway, I love them. They’re usually classified as Gothic Metal but really it’s like.... ALL THE GENRES. They have influences from Metal, New Wave, Industrial, EDM, Classical, and more, and somehow make it all work. and Chris Harms has a great voice, I love how theatrical they are with the makeup and stuff, and they just seem like really nice guys from what I have seen of their social media. Here’s Loreley, the song that got me hooked on them:

2: Is Swedish metal band Avatar. Love these guys. Been listening to them for a while now and they are definitely up there as one of my favorites. They are also a highly theatrical metal band, I seem to like those, but they stick to their theme a lot more closely than Lord of the Lost. They have a gimmick and stick with it, though they do update the costumes in order to fit the theme of  each album, which are often concept albums, or at the very least they speak to a theme. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I really like Bloody Angel.

3: is Danish black metal act Myrkur. A somewhat recent find for me, and one that is a bit divisive because the black metal people don’t think she’s trve kult enough, or whatever, because she has a pop background, and the sound is more polished, but I love her. Good music is good music, I don’t care how closely it fits a genre or whatever. Love the ambience and just overall sound, both spooky and harsh and beautiful at the same time.

4: is Swedish band Ghost. Yeah, these guys blew up recently huh? They’re cool tho, despite the band drama that spoiled the mystery of the identity of Papa. Well, sort of band. Technically it’s just Tobias Forge and a couple other guys, but they hire musicians to play on stage, made easy by the fact that they all wear masks, so they can swap em out at will, but some of them decided they wanted more money/credit and they sued Tobias and his identity was revealed, it was a mess... anyway, they’re cool. I chose Rats for the song, because it is probably a bit more reflective of 2020 than they anticipated.

5: was a bit of a surprise to me because i didn’t feel like i had listened to them a lot this past year, but it’s one I have been listening to for oh, decades at this point, Finnish cellists Apocalyptica. Their  shtick is simple, they play metal/rock... but on cellos. They started out playing Metallica covers, but soon started writing their own music. On their more recent albums they have tended to have guest vocalists perform over their compositions. But personally, I always liked the instrumental songs, so i was personally really happy to see their new album Cell-0 was 100% instrumental. I hope it did well for them, because I really liked it, so I am including something from it.

6: The newest find on the list for me, I found him this year, Amigo the Devil (he’s American, since that seems to have become a thing in my list) This one is a lot more subtle and subdued than the rest, his genre is an obscure one called Murderfolk, basically he’s a blues/folk singer who sings a lot about rather dark subject matter. But sometimes hopeful, too, as with my pick Cocaine and Abel. Led me down a whole murderfolk rabbit hole, lot of cool stuff there, but he’s the only one who cracked the top 10. Can only add 5 videos, so linky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzjtLm0G49E

7. Is an old fave, American metal gods Metallica. I mean what’s to say? it’s fuckin’ Metallica, man. Kind of a basic choice, but hey. Been listening to them since high school. Didn’t feel like i had listened to thema  lot recently but guessing S&M 2 bumped them up! But just gonna link to  one of my old faves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM8bTdBs-cw

8. Is another American band I’ve been listening to for a while, Mastodon. I think these guys have such a unique sound, with the 3 different styles of vocals over the sludgey instruments, and they have some really great lyrics going on as well.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6WGNd8QR-U

9. Is Ukrainian band Jinjer! somewhat recent find, been aware of them for a a couple years now, i guess. Great songwriting, cool djenty sound,  and oh man, does Tatiana have some pipes on her! You may have seen this video, Pisces, because video gets shown around a LOT on react videos, and kinda went viral, because it gets a big reaction if you are not prepared for it. If you haven’t seen it, brace yourself.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQNtGoM3FVU

10. I was a bit worried and a bit shocked that he almost missed the top 10 cus he is definitely one of my very favorites, i hugely respect him and think he’s a great talent... Canadian metal god Devin Townsend! I think part of the problem is that he recently went from The Devin Townsend Project to just Devin Townsend, and then you throw in side projects or even older projects like Casualties of Cool and Strapping Young Lad, so while i do listen to him a lot, it’s under different names, so he came up a bit low in the charts. But I love him, he’s on of my all time favorites, and sadly doesn’t get as much attention as he deserves. Massive talent, huge fun personality. He’s great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n7uvokARQ4

[let-me-make-you-proud]

Tangled: The Series Q&A with Kait.

This is a recapitulation from today’s (September 14, 2019) Questions and Answers session with Kait on the Tangled Discord Server.

Q: Which Disney princesses outside of Tangled the series can you see Varian being friends with? Nonfranchise ones included.

A: I think Belle is the first one who comes to mind!! She’s super studious and goes against the grain…not to mention her father is an inventor who’s a little off-base! 🙂 I think he’d be super comfortable experimenting with Belle and her dad and reading awesome stories! (Maybe even sharing the Tales of Flynn Rider with her! …Assuming she hasn’t read it! Haha. ) He could also eat ham sandwiches with Anna. Sorry. Second thought. Lol!!

Q: So Kait, as a storyboard artist on the show what kind of little details, quirks or creative touches did you or any other artists put into Varian scenes you or others storyboarded?

A: Ha!! Any acting scene with Varian I had…I pretty much based off of Anna Lencioni (my best friend/ another board artist on the show.) Anna makes these very specific expressions and she gestures to herself a lot and closes her eyes and creases her brows and says things like “A-huh! Actually…” or “Um!!” Before making a point and it’s always reminded me of him.

She kept a “flynnolium” prop from Halloween with green goo in a vial in her cubicle at work so long it grew mold. She said she was studying it. She found scrap metal in her boot one day. She has a basement lab for her experiments and crafts. She befriended two raccoons at her last apartment. She is the most accident-prone person with freckles I’ve ever met…she’s pretty much him.

Jeremy Jordan’s reads give you so much to work with…and I love that character so much I feel a natural sort of understanding of how he might say something or do something…but Anna would always do these specifically Anna things that I had to use for Varian.

Q: Do you have any specific advice for aspiring storyboard artists or people who aspire to work in animation?

A: Gestural drawings help you learn to draw fast…which is a very important part of storyboarding. I would say storyboarding‘ s biggest requirements are clarity and speed. Lots of productions have different requirements in terms of what they look for from story artists. Tangled‘s leadership cared a lot about drawing skill, animation, layout, etc. because it more strongly informed the animation studio to have those things. The show I’m working on now (Monsters at Work) is a 3D show…so for our production, the emphasis is more on story and speed. We pitch ideas more than we pitch drawings…so clarity is important and acting is too, but we’re far less precious about tying down drawings and animating since we shift into the 3D production pipeline after story. The boards are still very important…but the more technical aspects are a *little* less so. The focus is just more on story and character and what the board artists can bring to their scenes.

So I’d say just practice drawing…maybe try and give someone a prompt or ask a friend for one. Choose a theme! Maybe vampires? What’s the worst thing that could happen to a vampire? What’s the best thing? What’s the funniest thing? What if they were also an alien? Or fused with a werewolf? Or chained to one? What would happen? Giving yourself a starting point for an idea will inspire you to explore all the possibilities for humor, drama, etc. in that idea. If you’re struggling to give yourself a prompt, try looking online…or maybe choosing a song you like or a passage from a book for inspiration.

There’s also this really fun thing you can do to study cinematography and shot composition called a “three tone” exercise. Basically…put on your favorite (live action) film, grab a sketchbook, grab a black and grey marker, and use the white of the page for your third tone. What you wanna do is (as you’re watching or while pausing) sketch a small thumbnail using only three grey tones of what you see on the screen. Draw the shot- where the characters are, try and duplicate the lighting…it teaches you a lot! 🙂 (Phew!)

Q: Do you have any fun non-spoiler head canons about Varian?

A: I think his favorite dessert is apple pie and I think he bakes recreationally very often! He’s probably a good cook. (Though he may have one or two minor accidents……a burnt thing here and there. Minor oil splatters….haha!!)

Q: What’ve been your favorite episodes, both to storyboard and in general? Of course, no specifics if it’s S3

A: Haha! Well…What The Hair and Queen for A Day have special places in my heart because they were such big moments for my favorite character…(Varian, haha.) But I’d say the episodes I had the most fun boarding are all in season 3!!! Which is exciting! I have to start compiling some work to post! 🙂 I think the episode I had the most fun with is one you guys will really enjoy.

Q: Will we get some interesting surprises (In Season 3)?

A: Without any spoilers- absolutely!! The show is always full of those.

Q: So We’ve heard many fans express why they love Varian as a charcter before, I’d love to know what drew you and Anna to Varian as well and why you guys personally found him to be a great character.

A: When Shane Prigmore originally pitched the character to me, he was much younger. He was like 11 or so, I think? Maybe 12? He’s still pretty young…but what Shane said was that he wanted him to go from this wide-eyed kid to this dark, angry person whose bangs fell over those wide, bright eyes…just full of rage. That idea was super interesting to me…it just hit on something in character development that I felt like I’d never exactly seen before? He was so young and it was such an interesting idea to me to make a child the villain and to give that child a strong reason to be angry? It felt like it was taking this child very seriously, which I appreciate. It felt very real and very dark.

The thing that threw me through a loop but also evolved my fascination with the character was Jeremy Jordan’s casting. I listened to a lot of the auditions they had for various actors and I had seen a ton of Shane’s concept art of the character…a lot of them were VERY different than what we have now. One version Ricky Roxburgh (writer) contributed to had Varian cast as an adult in the story. But when I heard Jeremy I felt like I totally understood who Varian really was.

He was a well-intentioned disaster with unchecked emotions. That. Is me! Haha!! I see myself in his imperfections, his emotionality in spite of his creative and often intellectual thinking. He wants to ascend to these levels he may not be ready to ascend to…he feels this need to prove himself and seek validation. I don’t know, I guess I relate to that! And I’m just a sucker for good guys gone bad. The other half of this, of course, is that he’s very charming and cute and super reminds me of my best friend, Anna Lencioni.

Q: Which character do you most like seeing interacting with Varian?

A: It’s a little spoilery for me to reveal that……..but I think you guys are gonna know when it happens! Haha!

I can’t wait to post THOSE boards

That’s actually right out of the episode I think I liked boarding the most, haha.

Q: If there was one prop (furniture, object, the like) from the Tangled series that could be made real and you could keep, what would it be..?

A: I think it’d have to be those little alchemy orbs that Varian throws? They just suddenly clean the whole castle hallway somehow and like…could use me some of that. He also has the one that removes stains from tablecloths, so. I’m sloppy. That’d be a big help. Haha!

Also his staff is pretty cool 😉, I boarded/created that staff…David Lee (prop designer) did its final design…haha

Q: I have a question about a scene in season 1. When Varian got back the first part of the scroll he mentioned that it took him a while to translate it. Has he really been able to read it or has it been a bluff?

A: Varian can indeed translate what’s on the scroll. 😉

Q: Do you have any networking advice for those trying to get into the animation industry?

A: Post your work!! Make it easily accessible, tag it well, just show what you’ve got online! Upload boards, animatics, drawings, etc. Creating an online presence can really help put your name out there. Apply for internships, jobs. I know it’s hard to network because a lot of industry professionals don’t have time to answer specific questions or give portfolio reviews…so it’s sort of important to take some initiative on that and be self-motivated.

For me, I studied the portfolios of Disney feature story artists, CalArts students, etc. and tried to structure the presentation of my work based on that. Also, it helped me get a sense of what pieces of work would best showcase where I was trying to go and what I was trying to do. I’d ask yourself those questions as you develop a portfolio and artistic voice online! 🙂

My first feature job after a trainee program in New York at Blue Sky happened because Doug Sweetland (Pixar animator, feature director, awesome dude) found my work online and liked it. He just reached out based on that!

Shane Prigmore actually reached out to me for Tangled similarly.

Q: Besides Varian, do you have a favorite character that you’ve boarded?

A: I always love Eugene. He’s the second character I think I’m most like. His acting was really fun to play with and I felt like I could push his expressions a lot because he’s so funny. I loved boarding Lance too (I boarded a lot of Lance in S3!!) but MAN was he hard to draw, haha! His face shape is just really hard to draw at certain angles.

Q: With Varian cosplay that is going on, what Disney character would you like to see Varian dress up as next?

A: Jack Skellington! Halloween is afoot. Jack is another well-intentioned disaster. Guess I have a type!

Q: What’s Varian’s opinion on raccoons, are they his favourite animal?

A: I imagine it’s because Ruddiger is always finding interesting things in the trash and giving them to Varian to use in his experiments. Also, they’re fat and cute.

Q: There’s a bit of an argument going on over how many freckles Varian has. Can you confirm how many he has?

A: Ha!!! Yes…one second… 14!!

Q: How big do you think Corona is? Like Vatican City small or Arendelle big?

A: You know, with the wall and all, it actually feels a little on the smaller side to me? I’m sure there’s a little bit of discrepancy between the movie’s version of Corona and our version…but based on where we went within Corona on the show, I’d say it feels on the smaller side.

Q: Are there any non-spoiler Varian scenes or moments that didn’t make the cut that you can share?

A: MAN. Yes. There is one scene that changed after I rolled off the episode and I’m very sad about it. I’ll post it after the episode airs! There was also a line of Varian’s that I boarded to a specific read from Jeremy Jordan and that read was not chosen in editorial later so…I’ll post that one too, haha!

Q: What is your favourite song from the first two seasons so far?

A: All my favorite songs are in season threeeeee…hahahaha!! I think Let Me Make You Proud or the Buddy Song are my favorites. Buddy Song still gets stuck in my head now and then.

Q: What do you think Varian would order at a drive-thru? Specifically at chipotle 😂

A: Chipotle isn’t a drive thru!! Hahaha He’d get the kid’s quesadilla from chipotle. I think Varian is a fries/chips kind of person…something to snack on while he works! He probably also likes milkshakes.

Q: (Continuation from the question above) Chocolate or vanilla?

A: He’d revolutionize by combining them both. FOR SCIENCE!

Q: What is, in your opinion, the most challenging part of varian’s design to draw?

A: His goggles, hahaha. Or just his…hair in general.

Well it’s funny too because when you board these guys, you get used to doing a shorthand for them and then when you go to draw them FOR REAL you realize how complicated that actually is and how wrong your shorthand actually was? Hahahaha

Q: is Varian ticklish at all?

A: I feel like Varian, Eugene, and Lance are all equally ticklish. To the point of absurdity. Cass would fight it as long as she could…but when it finally got to her, she’d laugh uncontrollably. Rapunzel, she’s the TICKLER.

Q: What do you think Varian opinion and belief on magic is now that he’s seen it with his own eyes?

A: I imagine that he certainly believes in it now and no longer underestimates its powers…but I imagine he’s ultimately more comfortable staying in his own lane and working with worldly properties!

Q: If Varian would have been able to meet Demanitus…how would their conversation had looked like?

A: I feel like Varian would have had a TON of questions about his legendary device and whether or not he truly traveled dimensions.

Q: Did Varian have any other friends in old Corona before he met rapunzel?

A: Probably not many…he’s a bit of a hermit. I think Ruddiger is his best friend……. It’s sad but I also think that’s kind of why it hurt so bad when Rapunzel wasn’t able to help him. Also why he was SO excited to have Rapunzel, Cass, and Eugene come visit.

I think the village looked at Varian as a little unstable or worrisome. I’m sure everyone knew he was very nice…but they were likely very unnerved by his inventions.

Q: Do you think Varian ever tried to synthesise gold or the elixir of life like a real alchemist?

A: I’ve wondered that myself!! I think his alchemy has proven to be more about other people…helping others, making people proud. Maybe if someone he cared about was in need.

Q: If you were to meet Varian in real life, what would you say to him?

A: What elixir did you make to get THAT kind of volume? His hair’s so POOFY! Honestly, I’d probably just give him a hug.

Q: How much does Varian know or remember about his mom?

A: I’d say about as much as the photo of her on the wall.

Q: Is there spoiler about his hair streak? Or is it just by design?

A: It’s totally by design. I think it’s safe to assume it’s probably the result of some lab accident!

Q: In what ways is Jeremy Jordan like Varian?

A: I don’t know Jeremy Jordan personally, haha! But I think a lot of these inflections he adds to Varian sort of off the cuff probably come very naturally to him. I know he often wants to do his own pass at the musical arrangement Alan Menken writes…like he’ll want to do something a little different, in his own way, and it will change the song completely!! In an awesome way. That’s a little Varian-esque. In the “Let Me Make You Proud” reprise…Alan Menken had sung that “they are going to pay…they…will…pay” all in a low, downward tone. Jeremy wanted to scream it and make it powerful and angry and loud when he said “PAY” and you could just hear the spite in his voice for the “they will pay.” Genius!

Q: What was the most shocking moment/revelation of the series to you (minus anything season 3)?

A: It’s hard to say because I knew most of what was going to happen long, long ago. I think one of the things that made me go “oh dang!” was something Tom Canfield boarded. It’s that part in Destinies Collide where Lance slices the entire statue down the middle with a sword. What a BAMF!

Q: What were your thoughts on the early concept of Varian having an apple orchard and being a farm kid instead of a young alchemist?

A: He still kinda has those things! Quirin is a farmer as well as the village leader and there are apples on their little farm estate! 🙂 I think that makes Varian very unassuming as a mad little scientist. I’m sure that’s how (Ruddiger and Varian) met! Remember, he used his purple tacky goo stuff to catch raccoons so they wouldn’t eat the crops! And Ruddiger’s favorite snack is apples. 😉

Q: What is his official height and weight?

A: Smol.

Q: How did you guys come up with Varian’s name? And was there any other name suggestions for him before the name ‘Varian’ was chosen?

A: I’m not sure who came up with that name, actually! I’m sure it has something to do with the meaning of the word “variant” which means something that varies, changes in form.

Q: What’s his last name?

A: His last name!! I have NO idea and it bothers me!!! A Disney magazine referred to Varian, Ruddiger, and Quirin as “The Ruddiger Family” and I still haven’t stopped laughing about that.

Q: What sad Disney movie moments would make him cry?

A: Oof. Lion King.

Q: What musicals do think Varian would enjoy?

A: Little Shop of Horrors! I think he’d see himself in Seymour! Or Wicked…you know, that villain arc.

Q: How did Arianna and Fred meet?

A: I actually don’t know off the top of my head!

Q: Would Varian enjoy rollercoasters?

A: I think he’d enjoy how they’re MADE and then scream his head off while riding one, throw up his cotton candy and corndog, and go play carnival games instead. Then get mad that they’re rigged.

Q: So what comes next for you now that the series is almost over? Any big plans?

A: Well the series wrapped for production a while ago! I’ve been on another show for almost a year now! 🙂 I’m working on the new Disney+ show Monsters at Work as a director! It’s an awesome, awesome show…totally next-level…I’m shocked that I’m getting to be apart of something like this. It’s a direct sequel to the movie that serves as an office comedy (a la The Office, Parks and Rec) and has so many characters that fit immediately into the Monsters Inc world. Monsters Inc is my favorite Pixar movie…so I literally come to work and leave work on the same high! It’s an awesome, awesome show with a great crew! 🙂 It’s also just really exciting to be apart of the first original animated property for D+!

Q: How would you compare working as a director to working as a storyboard artist?

A: It’s hard work, just as hard, but in a different way! For me personally, I’m a little easily fatigued by drawing? I get a little creatively frustrated because my thoughts move quicker than my hand. Or because I don’t always feel like I can execute in a drawing what I’m thinking in the way that I want? Part of that is just being an artist…and it’s not ALL the time that I feel that way…but I think I have a certain stamina for drawing that I found challenging to increase.

Directing is just different! It has a lot more to do with managing a team, communication, coordinating, listening, speaking up, problem-solving, being very aware of story as it applies to ALL parts of a production. I don’t draw as often anymore. You have to consider a lot more…more people, more constraints, more difficulties, more opinions, more solutions…it’s just MORE. And you also still have to draw! 🙂 It’s very busy work, but it’s AMAZING and I love it. I feel like I’m contributing to animated storytelling a lot more in this role, actually. I love working with people, I love workshopping, and I love helping! I’m also just spoiled to be working with some great people right now. It’s a blast.

Q: Are any Tangled: The Series crew joining you on that show?

A: Yes!! Tom Caufield and Wendy Sullivan were on it for a minute, but they’ve both moved on to Dreamworks recently! James Suhr (board artist), Isabelle Gedigk (season 3 board artist), Naomi Hicks and Casey Coffey (revisionists), David Lee (props), Ricky Roxburgh (writer), and I are all working together again! It’s awesome.

Q: Does Varian, deep down, blame himself for the amber?

A: I believe he does.

Q: How do you deal with artist’s block?

A: I try to think about the intention behind what I’m doing. Why is the scene I’m working on very important to the story? If it feels unimportant or boring, how can I make it interesting? What can I do on my end to make it more inspiring or fun without going too far off the rails and still serving the scene’s purpose?

If it’s not work-related, I try and start with some fan art or something familiar for me to draw. I have a lot of scribbly Varians in the margins of a lot of my sketch documents. I use him as a warm-up a lot. It helps build my confidence to draw something familiar/ that I think I can draw pretty well.

Q: What’s the hardest scene you’ve ever had to board?

A: Oh God. ANYTHING with action. I’m not an action gal. Lots of stuff in S3. I was board partners with Wendy Sullivan and ended up getting a lot of action to board even though she’s WAY better at it than me!! It was an interesting challenge…but it was very, very challenging. Ben (Co-EP) was a great mentor to me in the scene I did for the mid season. He was very patient with me, despite my shortcomings as an action board artist, haha. I enjoy boarding for comedy much more.

Kait: Anyways, I should probably head off now! Thank you guys so much for all the questions!!!! You’re awesome! I hope you’re all super excited for S3! It’s a great one.

[stanninghigedan]

[English Translation] 115万キロのフィルム / Hyakujuugoman Kiro no Firumu/ 115 Million Kilometer Film

This isn’t technically my first translation but I’m putting this here first because I think this is one of their best songs. It’s such a sweet and honest song that some people are using this as a wedding song.  Ahhh, this song makes me feel that falling in love is such a beautiful thing.  💖

I hope you enjoy this song as much as I, as well as other fans, enjoy this too. :)

*Translation and video of the song under the break. Also, I don’t claim that this is very accurate as I’m not yet that fluent in Japanese. If you do see some errors/mistakes, please do tell me so that I can correct it. <3

115万キロのフィルム

Hyakujuugoman kiro no firumu

1,150,000 Kilometers of Film / 115 Million Kilometer Film*

  これから歌う曲の内容は僕の頭の中のこと

Kore kara utau kyoku no naiyou wa boku no atama no naka no koto

I will be singing about something that’s been inside my head until now

主演はもちろん君で

Shuen wa mochiron kimi de

Of course, you’re the lead star

僕は��演で監督でカメラマン

Boku wa jouen de kantoku de kameraman

I’ll be the co-star, director, and cameraman

目の奥にあるフィルムで作る映画の話さ Ah

Me no oku ni aru firumu de tsukuru eiga no hanashisa ah

The movie’s story will be made with the film in my eyes

くだらないなと笑ったんなら掴みはそれで万事OK！

Kudaranai na to warattan nara tsukami wa sore de banji OK!

If you find it silly and it made you laugh, grab it and everything will be fine

呆れていないでちょっと待って

Akireteinai de chotto matte

If you’re not pleased, just wait a bit

きっと気に入ってもらえると思うな

Kitto ki ni itte moraeru to omou na

I think you’ll be pleased

ここまでのダイジェストを少しだけ見せるよ

Koko made no daijesuto wo sukoshi dake miseru yo

With this little digest that I’ll be showing you

初めて喧嘩した夜の涙

Hajimete kenkashita yoru no namida

There were tears on the night of our first fight

個人的に胸が痛むけれど

Kojinteki ni mune ga itamu keredo

Even though my heart was hurt

そのまま見続けよう

Sono mama mitsudzukeyou

We gazed at each other,

ごめんねと言って仲直りして手を握って…

Gomen ne to itte nakanaorishite te wo nigitte...

I apologized, we made up and held hands

ほら、ここで君が笑うシーンが見どころなんだからさ Ah

Hora, koko de kimi ga warau shiin ga midokoro nandakara sa ah

Hey look, here is the scene where you laugh, it’s the highlight

写真にも映せやしないとても些細なその仕草に

Shashin ni mo utsuseyashinai totemo sasaina sono shigusa ni

Pictures won’t be able to show these very trivial gestures

どんな暗いストーリーも覆す瞬間が溢れてる

Donna kurai stoorii mo kutsugaesu shunkan ga afureteru

It can also immediately overturn any dark story that comes

どれかひとつを切り取って

Doreka hitotsu wo kiritotte

Which one of these will we choose

サムネイルにしようとりあえず今の所は

Samuneiru ni shiyou toriaezu ima no tokoro wa

As the thumbnail? For now, let’s use this place.

きっと10年後くらいにはキャストが増えたりもするんだろう

Kitto juunen go kurai ni wa kyasuto ga fuetarimosurundarou

The cast will definitely grow bigger after (around) 10 years

今でも余裕なんてないのにこんな安月給じゃもうキャパオーバー！

Ima demo yoyuu nante nai no ni konna yasugekyuu ja mou kyapaoobaa!

Even now, I can no longer afford it; with this low salary it’s already excessive!

きっと情けないところも山ほど見せるだろう

Kitto nasakenai tokoro mo yama hodo miserudarou

We’ll surely see (have) many more sad places (times)

苗字がひとつになった日も

Myouji ga hitotsu ni natta hi mo

Even on the day that our surnames become one

何ひとつ代わり映えのない日も

Nani hitotsu kawaribae no nai hi mo

Or even on the ordinary days

愛しい日々尊い日々

Itoshii hibi toutoi hibi

They’re lovely and precious days

逃さないように忘れないように焼き付けていくよ

Nogasanai you ni wasurenai you ni yakitsukete iku yo

I hope we don’t forget and let it all go, I’ll burn them in my mind

今、目を細めて恥じらいあって永遠を願った僕たちを

Ima, me wo hosomete hajirai atte towa wo negatta bokutachi wo

Now, as I shyly close my eyes, I pray for our eternity

すれ違いや憂鬱な展開が引き裂こうとしたその時には

Surechigai ya yuuutsu na tenkai ga hikisakou to shita sono toki ni wa

There will be times when we’re at a crossroad or when sadness grows that might try to separate us

僕がうるさいくらいの声量でこの歌何度も歌うよ

Boku ga urusai kurai no seiryou de kono uta nandomo utau yo

No matter how many times, I will sing this song with a loud voice

だからどうかそばにいて

Dakara douka soba ni ite

That’s why, I hope you’ll stay beside me

エンドロールなんてもん作りたくもないから

Endorooru nante mon tsukuritakumonai kara

Because I don’t want to make an end roll

クランクアップがいつなのか僕らには決められない

Kurankuappu ga itsu na no ka bokura ni wa kimerarenai

When will the end (of the shoot)** be? It’s not for to us to decide

だから風に吹かれていこう

Dakara kaze ni fukarete ikou

That’s why let’s just go with the wind***

フィルムは用意したよ

Firumu wa youishita yo

The film has already been prepared

一生分の長さを　ざっと115万キロ

Isshoubun no nagasa wo zatto hyakujuugoman kiro

It’s a lifetime’s length of roughly 1,150,000 kilometers****

ほら、ここで君が笑うシーンが見どころなんだからさ Ah

Hora, koko de kimi ga warau shiin ga midokoro nandakara sa ah

Hey look, here is the scene where you laugh, it’s the highlight

写真にも映せやしないとても些細なその仕草に

Shashin ni mo utsuseyashinai totemo sasaina sono shigusa ni

Pictures won’t be able to show these very trivial gestures

どんな暗いストーリーも覆す瞬間が溢れてる

Donna kurai stoorii mo kutsugaesu shunkan ga afureteru

It can also immediately overturn any dark story that comes

どれかひとつを切り取って

Doreka hitotsu wo kiritotte

Which one of these will we choose

サムネイルにしよう

Samuneiru ni shiyou

For the thumbnail

さあ、これから生まれる名場面を探しにいこうよ

Saa, kore kara umareru meibamen wo sagashi ni ikou yo

Come on, from now on, let’s go look for and make some famous scenes

酸いも甘いも寄り添って

Sui mo amai mo**** yorisotte

Even on the bad and good times, I’ll stay close to you

一緒に味わおうフィルムがなくなるまで

Issho ni ajiwaou firumu ga nakunaru made

Let’s enjoy everything together until all the film’s used up

撮影を続けようこの命ある限り

Satsuei wo tsudzukeyou kono inochi arukagiri

We’ll continue shooting until the end of our lifetime.

Translator’s notes:

*This is the correct conversion/translation of 115万キロのフィルム. However, it is stylized as 115 Million Kilometer Film on Spotify so I’m also including this.

**The literal translation of crank up is end of shooting. So I just simply put end here.

***Let’s just go with the wind - I interpret this as “let’s just go with the flow”. 

****1,150,000 km of film is said to last about 80 years, an average person’s lifespan.

*****Sui mo amai mo – literally means “even (if it’s) sour or sweet”. Thus I decided to reword it as “bad and good times”. But the sour and sweet lyric also works since the next line contains the word “ajiwaou”, which literally translates to “let’s taste/savor”.

P.S. This post is an edited/corrected version of the one originally posted on my Twitter page: https://twitter.com/stanninghigedan/status/1211243664766312448?s=20

P.P.S. Please ask for my permission first if you plan to use this translation for anything. :)

[smallestbrown]

comic, how it’s made

talking about how i made the claude x byleth “aiding consequences” comic adaptation below the cut!

not sure how helpful it will be, but sharing WIPs is always fun.

step 1. read a very good fic and get inspired. (i also contacted the author for permission to adapt it, just to be on the safe side. plus, who doesn’t love hearing that their work inspired people?)

step 2. random sketchbook sketches to get in the mood before you realize how in over your head you are. (it’s fine! you’ll get there!!) you can kind of see how these became page 1.

step 3. thumbnails! i keep mine fairly small so i’m not intimidated by accurate posing/proportions/whatever. the goal here is to: (a) establish pacing for the scene and dialogue, and (b) maintain spatial consistency, e.g. keeping characters in the same position relative to each other and trying to abide by the 180 degree rule.

(it’s ok to break that one once in a while, and honestly i didn’t 100% follow it with this one. the idea is to at least establish where your characters are in regards to each other so that readers aren’t confused.

(as you can see i only planned a smooch for p4, i did the rest of it on the fly, aha)

i also try not to make any “+” signs with the way my panels line up; i’ll generally keep them staggered so that it’s clear where your eye should go next. this is more of a japanese>american comic convention that i really like.

at this point i also overlay the script, again for pacing, but also so that i can guess-timate the room i need to grant speech bubbles. tip: it’s always different than you think, especially when you’re lettering by hand, like me, like a fool. (jk)

step 4. sketchinggg. here are pages 2 and 3 for reference; even though p2  changed a lot from the thumbnails, i felt more confident about it, whereas p3 took some time. p2 is probably closer to what i like my sketches to look like. p3 got too tight and i ended up just moving to lineart bc i was getting frustrated with it.

i don’t work in order too much at this point, especially since i knew this comic would be pretty short; if a shot is easier to draw, i draw it, and then work around that point until the page works as a whole. there’s a whole lot of moving, cutting, pasting, chopping and screwing at this point. if a shot isn’t working where i’d planned, if i want to include an angle i think will have more impact/help for variety, here’s where that change (should) happen.

step 5. lineart + flats, babey. like i said i’d gotten a little frustrated with the sketch, so i thought i’d just jump right in to lineart and keep it loose. i put my brush on mid-density (like 75%) and went off. lettering and text bubbles also happen here at some point---preferably first, so that there’s no awkward resizing or redrawing needed.

step 6. colors! figured i’d keep it very simple for this one. i also have a horrible aversion to using absolute black, which my old comic prof told me i need to work on. for this project i think it works well enough in greys, since it’s this soft little story, but i definitely want to work with stronger contrasts in the future.

step 7. technically step 6 is passable, but about 2 hours before i said i’d post the comic, my brain went “TEXTURES,” so i pulled up a watercolor texture from google, stretched it a bit, set it to overlay, and fixed the opacity so it wouldn’t wash out claude’s skin tone. it gives the flats a bit more dimension and also works well w/ the more sketchy lineart i was working with, and the sort of dreamy, soft atmosphere of the piece.

and that’s final product!! hope this was interesting to some of you :) if you have other questions about my drawing/comics/etc process, hmu! love to help!

[comicteaparty]

January 4th-January 10th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from January 4th, 2020 to January 10th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What goals do you have going forward with this new year for your story?

carcarchu

well i basically have the same goal every year which is to cover more ground, i made the mistake of making my first comic be a super long 3 part epic so it feels like it's going to take me years to make it even part way through when i try to make my chapters longer however it generally leads me to feeling burned out so i still have a way to go when it comes to finding the right length per chapter that i can put out consistently

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

In Phantomarine (http://www.phantomarine.com/), this year I finally reach the chapter where all my main characters meet and start interacting - it's where the story truly kicks off. I've spent almost 2 years in setup/exposition mode, and I finally get to exit it properly. I'm so. SO. Excited. And I really want to take my time and do it properly. It's about to get very fun for me, and I hope it will show in the work!

Cronaj

My goals mainly consist of reaching page 100. I'm over 1/4th of the way there, and I believe I can get there before 2021. I also want to reach the introduction of one of the main characters, but I don't think that'll happen this year. This character doesn't appear until the end of Ch. 5, which is somewhere around page 170-180. Am I waiting too long to introduce this character? Absolutely.

eli [a winged tale]

I am almost halfway through Arc 1 and almost at 10% of the story Looking forward to chugging away at it and hope to reach the First Plot Point by the end of the year

kayotics

I guess one of my goals is to reformat chapter 1 for printing (I drew it at the wrong size), and then update chapters 1 & 2 for colors. I’d like to compile the first four chapters into a book, but I’d like all the chapters to be visually similar in color at least.

Tuyetnhi

Gonna try to finish two chapters this year and clean up ch.1 and 2 for printing its gonna be a lot of work but I know it can be managed~

snuffysam

In terms of where the main story will go - Book 3 just started, and Chapter 1 should be finished mid-March. Chapter 2 will be finished early-mid July, maybe even late June? Chapter 3 will be finished sometime in September. And then it's Chapter 4... which won't be finished until like June 2021 lol. But anyway, by the end of the year we'll be introduced to all the important characters of this arc (though we won't have had much time with some of them). Including a character who's so important, I'd almost call them the deuteragonist of the entire comic if not for the fact that they're only showing up 700 pages in, lol.(edited)

Past the actual story aspects - the comic will be celebrating its fourth birthday at the end of February! And, given that the first page of the comic was started on a leap day, it's technically the first birthday the comic has actually had. The upcoming short stories for the year are some of my favorites so far, so that's exciting. I'm also interested to see how the shipping contest & fan-art contest turn out. We'll also be reaching page 750 at some point this year, which is a pretty big milestone.

Deo101

I have a goal for my second comic to get it off of hiatus, and for my main one I would really like to make improvements in the areas I've received critiques! Mostly, I just want to keep making them for another year <3 I don't really have any goals other than to keep on going with it

(also, a preemptive congrats on four years!)(edited)

AntiBunny

Well, having fully reuploaded my archives, I'm letting them update gradually to hopefully attract a new audience over on comic fury. When it catches back up I intend to finish up Chapter 10, and with it book 2. Then I'll finally launch book 3, Coast to Coast, which will allow me to tell more different stories by changing locations.

Kelsey (Kurio)

Hey Vinnie! How goes it?

AntiBunny

Still chugging along.

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

The big goal for Wayfinders off course is first of all to launch! In start February (we will find a date today iiih!!) Then at the end of 2020, if everything goes accordingly we should have produced 7 chapters enough for a book Ah! This is all so exciting

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Pretty much my goal is to just keep swimming. I hope to complete more chapters this year. I should be able to finish chapter one of my comic, Eryl, unless I have to take a long hiatus (which, honestly, is looking very likely). Ashes is less time intensive than Eryl and the chapters half as long (only 16 pages each; Eryl chapters are usually 30-35 pages), so I’m going to try and finish at least two, if not three chapters before 2021. But honesty, just getting what I can done and continuing to push forward is my biggest goal.

Mei

I only started My Husband is a Cultist last year in April (https://tapas.io/series/MyHusbandisaCultist) and my goal is to reach that first year anniversary and to keep the train rolling for this comic! I initially wanted to have the rest of this arc completed in 2020, but I've decided to be realistic as I will be making a grad film at the same time (yay), so I just plan to do as much as I can, and to at least have Chapter 4 completed before March, and maybe Chapter 5 after that! I have a lot of story I want to tell and it's hard to stay focussed on it, but I'm doing my best, doing a little at a time!

Phin (Heirs of the Veil)

My goals are mainly to become a little quicker and finish the second book in time for the Heirs of the Veils (http://heirsoftheveil.fervorcraft.de/) fourth anniversary next October. Story-wise we want to have all the bits and pieces in place to slowly approach the actual meaty parts of the comic and prepare well enough to finish it in the coming 3 years.

FeatherNotes

Our goal is to have our book fully edited, with help from editors and friends, so we can be more confident in it's true rendition. Im not one to stick to making pages perfect, but there are definitely parts that could use some attention! Other than that, book 4 is on it's way and it's always a main goal to get to print for upcoming cons!

varethane

My goal this year is to get to the end of the first arc of Wychwood! After a year of working on it, I'm roughly halfway there. I'd also like to lern 2 colour better.

Capitania do Azar

This year I hope to get a new book out!! That would be great and also you know, just keep going. If all goes well I can get a chapter out until the end of the year and that'd be cool (but also perhaps a bit too hopeful, since my chapters have started to...get bigger with time..)

SAWHAND

This year my goal is to start posting the comic! And, if it works out, I'd love to get the whole thing thumbnailed out by the end of the year. Fingers crossed!!

DanitheCarutor

My goal is to finish chapter 5 in less than a year. Up until now it's taken a year to finish a chapter thanks to work, chores and the occasional procrastination spell. But in December I quit my depressing job that was a two hour drive away, so I'm hoping to be more productive, even if I get part time work somewhere in town.

twothirty

along with finishing chapter 6 and 7, im also hoping to have all of book 2's script written and edited~

renieplayerone

My goal is id love to get the first chapter or two of kate blast printed

[migleefulmoments]

Let’s talk about this video because the ccfandom is loosing their freaking minds over it. They are acting like children and it has me feeling some kind of way. 

We have a video and several photos or screenshots-the video is always going to be a more accurate reflection on what is happening- the ccers know this, which is why they are focusing on the photos. It’s much easier to take a screen cap or a photo, spin it all out of context and build a backstory that works for crisscolfer. Videos are more telling of the truth- you have to lie about things that are plain to see- you have to scream “the sky is yellow” when everyone can see it is blue.  This “focus on the photo, ignore the video” is a strategy the cc fandom uses a lot. If they can't use the photo then they make a gif- drastically slow down the video. It ends up changing the context and drama of the moment. I have talked about it a lot-I made a post (x)- but this is something they did with the interview Darren did with George Stroumboulopoulos where George asked about when he came out as straight.  The video shows a much different story than the one they have fabricated to go with the photos. 

Let’s be real...Abby -and nobody else- claimed that Mia tried to grab Darren’s hand and he “ignored her” because that is one of Mean Abby’s favorite tropes. When the video came out, it was clear that they weren’t walking close enough for her to even reach out. But Abby can’t let it go so she went in on how someone Photoshopped the pic to make them appear poised to hold hands.  

based on this pic. So that means The Daily Mail, a HUGE UK tabloid, is doing Mia’s bidding. OKKAAAYY...Mia should run the world cuz she’s good. I mean, I can see how Abby thought this might be a real photo since you know, since Darren is in it TWICE. No Photoshop here folks, nope, don’t know what you are seeing. It’s not even a well-done Photoshop-I mean besides Darren being in twice, the line between full-body Darren and Mia is wavy and obvious. Nobody was trying to “trick” the cc fandom into believing it was a real photo. The pic is just compacted to get everyone in plus the up-close of Darren for their header/thumbnail. The Daily Mail’s knows them as a married couple- they have no reason to worry whether they were about to hold hands or Darren was ignoring her or whatever other BS the ccers can read into the photos. 

Regardless of how the ccers rationalize that the video isn’t exactly what it looks like, no matter how they slow down the video or insist on ignoring the video and focusing on the photos and screen caps to prove that Mia was angry or Darren was angry or Darren wasn’t dressed up enough to house hunt, or Mia was nice to the friend but Darren wasn’t, or whatever the fuck they are trying to tell themselves, NONE of it matters. Their relationship is what it is. Period. What we know about it -or don’t know about -it has nothing to do with their truth. The ccers trying to prove to each other that it is a fraud is nothing but childish buffoonery. Even if their clues were intelligent and well vetted- newsflash they are a mess- it still wouldn’t mean anything because nobody ever knows what goes on behind closed doors -especially a stranger’s closed doors. It isn’t anyone’s business. It certainly isn’t our “right” to prove they are living a lie. We dont’ get to have an opinion on their relationship. The world is large and of the billions of people on Earth, we are each privy to the personal lives of a handful of people. We only have the right to know about our own life, those of our underage children and our partner. 

Nobody has the “right” or the responsibly to prove a stranger is living a lie and to publicly out them. Unless they are doing something illegal -in which you call the police-it just isn't anyone’s damn business. Add in the small fact that they are getting all of their receipts and “proof” by analyzing the social media posts of people they don’t know, it really is unhinged, unhealthy, and fucked up.  

Darren and Mia might be in a throuple with Ben or have a power exchange relationship or they might be asexual. They might be secretly Amish or Soviet spies...none of it is our business. Every couple protects the secrets of their relationship from the outside world and especially strangers. Abby and the gang of merry thieves are trying to to prove something that is unprovable in the best of circumstances- the “truth” underlying a romantic relationship. Even in the best of circumstances- like you actually KNOW the person involved- you won’t get the “truth”, but trying to digest all of this solely via social media is pitiful and frankly, they are either immature or insane. 

This is the conversation that brought me here today:

ajw720 answered:

I think D was just in general mocking the entire process. The situation is so contrived, they are supposed to be “acting” casual like they don’t know they are being filmed when they 100% know they are being filmed.  There is nothing casual about it. I would say D’s facial expression in the still photos tells us exactly how he feels as well as his hat asking to go to a galaxy far, far away. I would bet he would jet out of this universe immediately to get away from his PBB if he could.

It absolutely does need to stop and now. The ridiculousness factor goes up every day and d continues to be the one suffering.

Once again, Abby made up an entire backstory to the 20-second video and then set out to criticize how Darren acted based entirely on her made up story 

“they are supposed to be “acting” casual like they don’t know they are being filmed when they 100% know they are being filmed” 

Of course they know they are being filmed! It isn't rocket science Abby-they can see the man with the camera right there. They are acting “casual” because they are saying good-bye to a friend. What do you want- a tap dance? A formal farewell with a curtesy “we bid you adieu”? A song? “No it aint’ no lie, Baby bye, bye, bye”?

“I would say D’s facial expression in the still photos tells us exactly how he feels as well as his hat asking to go to a galaxy far, far away” 

Here she uses the still photo to prove her point because the video shows the context of Darren’s facial expression and he isn’t upset or sad, he is just standing and listening. This is how Abby deceives her fandom in one-easy step. 

Back to the comment I made yesterday but the idea that Darren is wearing Star Wars merch because he wants to make it known that the engagement post was not real makes my teeth hurt. According to Abby, ccDarren is MARRIED to a woman he detests but his biggest worry is that the ccers know that he didn’t actually write the engagement post and that he actually likes Star Wars, NOT Star Trek? I mean, he’s married, why would he care about the authenticity of an engagement pic? He clearly was engaged. Why would he care about a post made 18 months ago? All this proves is how obsessed Abby still is with the engagement but they are married. Let it go Abs...also BTW, a man can like Star Wars and Star Trek. 

leka-1998

Since none of what’s happening there is natural in any way, I’d say if you only see her back it should be easier to flirt with her. The bad things start once she turns around.

If D were actually jealous of anyone there, it’d be of the jogger simply because he can just keep going and leave her behind.

This comment cracked me up because it is another case of the ccers making shit up and then getting upset about what they made up. Who said Darren was jealous of anybody? Oh right, you guys did.  The Jogger said “hi”, they said “hi” back and Darren’s dance had nothing to do with “making fun” of the runner ...or if it did, he’s a dick. 

klainecentric

Just watched the video of it and just before the pretend run D did, a jogger ran past them, I think the mocking was for the jogger running past them as they both glanced at the jogger seconds before then the mocking started. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Yes, that makes perfect sense. Darren mocked a jogger for jogging and saying ‘hi’ cuz he’s an asshole, isn’t he? 

ajw720

@klainecentric yes he was technically mocking the jogger, but i think his reaction was based on the situation at large knowing he was being filmed.

I always love when when Abby has to come in a fix the situation because “Darren is a dick” is never the last sentence of her fanfiction.  Sadly, she can’t think outside the box enough to get to “He wasn’t making fun of the jogger” because everything is black-and-white to her and she doesn’t “believe” in coincidences. 

ajw720

What i get from this video, is once again, she is way more engaged in speaking with the “friend” than D and he is yet again mocking something and I would guess it has more to do with the process that being funny for his PBB.

Remember they are 100% aware of the photogs.

What she “gets” from this video is complete bafoonery: Mia was “way more engaged” with the  “friend”, Darren was mocking “something” but not the jogger so he must be mocking “the process”. So Darren did a goofy monkey dance to mock the “process”? Um....ok...is he 3 years old? What grown up does a stupid dance in front of a paparazzi to mock the process of anything? If he is so committed to staying deep in the closet and forsaking his one true love  that he married a women he detests and the only way he is “fighting back” is to do a 2-second long monkey dance in front of a paparazzi, then he is a putz. 

[palidoozy-art]

hey gang, so this is actually homework I was going to hold off posting until I had more interesting stuff to pair with it, but I realized people might find it useful on its own!

So I’m in a Digital Matte painting class, as part of my sponsored retraining into concept artist. Our week 1 assignment was to create some composition thumbnails, and then the instructor would provide feedback on them. I’m trying to push myself in this class, so I did revisions based on his feedback.

What I realized other people might find useful is seeing what feedback he gave and how I responded to it. It’s intimidating to get critique on your own work, so sometimes it’s nice to just see other people getting critique and learn from them.

Anyway his/my notes below the cut! warning: long.

So the top image is what I turned in. His notes about the compositions in my first pass:

1 -- The composition is overall imbalanced. There’s important/cool looking stuff on the left hand side that goes off the page, and the rather unimportant foreground takes up a lot of space. There could be more interesting lighting.

2 -- He liked this one, and he liked the foreground root element. But the contrast between it and the trees in the background behind it (on the right hand side) is too intense. Contrast between values is a great way to draw a viewer’s eye, and sadly in this comp it worked against me by bringing his eyes directly to the edge of the page and leading them off. He recommended having some of that dark color lead into the tree itself, via vines/veins.

3 -- He liked the winding pathway to the building. Compositionally he thought it was pretty good. He got a little confused by the contrast between sci-fi/old timey architecture (though that gazebo is an actual building in the Salem Commons -- I failed to ‘sell’ the contrast between old/new architecture). He commented the trees in the background are all the same height (and admittedly they were all copy-pasted. whoops).

4 -- He liked this one as well, but he noted that the values of the building at its darkest and the foreground were identical. Values technically get lighter the further something recedes, because of general ambience of the sky coming in. He recommended I introduce some fog. He also said the foreground was a bit too busy, and to move some of those elements to the midground.

5 -- This one was probably the worst of the bunch (though he didn’t say that!). The composition feels like it should lead you somewhere... but doesn’t. It just goes to empty space. Furthermore, the pathway to the focal point of the piece just kind of goes straight there, and that’s it. There’s no real reason to even look at the edges of the piece. All attention is to the middle and that’s it.

6 -- He liked this one the best (to my chagrin because I hate cityscapes... but I gotta practice). His only feedback was to reduce the foreground.

After getting this feedback, I spent a bit of time retooling these images. He got back to me with a bit more feedback, but I guess I’ll note my stuff with why I made the changes I did.

1 -- I changed this one pretty drastically. I reduced the foreground, and while trying to make the composition better I actually decided to flip the skeleton hand entirely and introduce a new light source via ‘huge glowing orb of doom.’ That way there’s both a new light source, and a sort of cool spot for the eye to lead to. He didn’t have any comments about this one.

2 -- I reduced the contrast of the foreground root by the tree, and added veins going up the tree proper. I also did a minor alteration to the branches (he commented they looked too samey). He liked this one and felt it was improved.

3 -- I tried to add more sci-fi elements to the foreground/midground, to better integrate that old structure with the sci fi stuff in the background. I made a sort of pathway of light leading up to it to try to keep things interesting. I also varied the trees. He made no comments about this one.

4 -- I added ambient fog and retooled the foreground, while adding some other elements (a building, fences) in the fore-mid ground. He still felt the foreground was too busy. Honestly, I could probably improve this by removing the two foreground spikes on the left.

5 -- This was the success story of the bunch -- he liked this one way more, enough he didn’t really have any critique about it. I added a sort of ‘hero mountain’ in the background, parted the mountains and changed the composition to lead the eye longer, and added a boat for scale. TECHNICALLY the first didn’t take place on water but you know what don’t judge, I thought it looked cooler.

6 -- I barely touched this one, except moving the foreground elements out of the way a bit. He still liked this one a lot, but cautioned me to add a bit more breathing room to the midground and warned me against making it too cluttered.

Anyway, sorry for the length -- if my other assignments bring some cool art insights I might post them with his feedback as well. Since matte painting comprises mostly of photobashing the WIP stuff might not be as interesting.

[monster-trail-dev]

Progress report 4! Featuring a crop from the first page. More under the cut.

Two weeks ago we had our big midterm critique (I presented my progress on Oct 18). I got a lot done that week - in part because of the pressure of a deadline, and in part because of my other classes suddenly getting lighter for a week. I was in the studio for 2-3 hours at least each night, which if what I hope to do for the rest of the semester.

Anyway, for my critique I emailed the MT script to everyone for them to read, and I presented a storyboard of the whole comic as well as layout thumbnails for all 48 pages. I even got a stick and ran through the storyboard frame by frame like the pros do it (I think). Pretty nerve-wracking, but I’m thankful I care so much about these characters and I could really get into it.

Above: All my work on the wall for the critique. (Left to right) The 48 thumbnail sketches (scanned from my sketchbook), a test illustration from act 3, my test page from early on, and some layouts with text blown up to print size.

Below: Closeup of the storyboard I used to run through the story. Some of those images will be pasted into the pages themselves and traced to become part of the final art.

Main feedback from the critique: I’m on pace and need to continue working at this speed. The story only needs a few tweaks - I’m trying to edit the dialogue in several scenes to bring out the theme of the kids discovering what they’re capable of and remembering who they are. The lore of the Tajar unexpectedly created a thematic connection that I’m trying to emphasize a bit more; you forgot what the Tajar looks like, and next time you remember - just as the campers sometimes forget who they are, before they remember at the right moment.

As for the image at the top of this post - as of today I’ve finished drawing page one! That’s a crop of it. It’s slow going (I have more pages in progress and want to have 5 done by Mon/Tues) but it should get faster as I go since I can copy and paste background materials as I create them. Also, the opening scene involves a car, which took time and heavy reference to get right.

I feel like I’ve been shot out of a cannon - getting the script right and then doing layout and text formatting was so much technical work I had to get through before I could just start drawing. But now it’s time to draw, and that’s exciting!

10/28/18