#the sfx is also amazing

[valence-e]

Mostima’s s3 is actually such a dope animation.

[papsiguesss]

Peter Cushing as inspector Quennell in The Blood Beast Terror

[intoxicatinginsanity]

Y’all

I just saw Doug freaking Jones at my local Ralph’s at 10pm and I legit had to stop myself from squealing in line. Idk if he realized I recognized him, cause my ass legit kept glancing back at him every chance I could. Cause, ya know, I legitimately could not believe I was in the same space as him! Like I was walking in to grab a can of wet food for my cat cause we ran out and I was on my way home from doing delivery runs. I walked in with my little basket and saw this man with his cart and I was like that guy looks like Doug Jones. Nah there’s no way. Did a double take, oh fuck wait. No way. That’s fucking Doug Jones!!! My partner was up a few aisles from me, because I went to the pet section first when we came in and I legit stopped what I was doing and fast walked to my partner. And I was like “Did you see this guy?”, and he was like “No what are you taking about”. And I’m like there’s a guy here that I’m pretty sure is Doug Jones. And he was like “What no, why would he be here? You’re probably wrong”. He legit not fucking two minutes after saying that walks by us and I point at him discreetly and go “That’s him! You can’t tell me it’s not”. And my partner looks, squints and just stares and then goes “Okay yeah that’s fucking Doug Jones”. And we proceed to fucking try not to be super obviously star struck in line the whole time haha. But yeah. Probably one of the coolest nights I’ve had in awhile. Wish I could have said hi but I was not about to bother this man who clearly just wanted to get groceries and go the fuck home. It totally made my whole week. He’s so freaking tall, like I knew he was tall, but goddamn he’s tall.

[qapleulia]

tagged by @tittyblade hii

five songs I’ve been listening to constantly:

tagging anyone that wants to do it. go crazy

[jelloapocalypse]

Hi! I guess it’s ask time? Just wanted to say I think you’re one of the funniest people on YouTube; I have a playlist called ‘Emergency Funny’ and like half of it is just your videos.

I’m wondering, when you’re cold-reading a line, like in those streams of voice acting a video game while playing it, what are the small details, if any, that you look to to figure out how to read the line? I’m continually amazed how you manage to have near perfect delivery while never having read the line before. Sorry if this is worded confusingly I legit don’t know how to phrase it

This was sent months ago, but it's actually a very good question and talking about this might help people who like to voice games on stream get better at doing that.

For context, this is about our "fully-voiced" game playthroughs where we cold read an entire video game out loud.

One small thing I try to do that helps is pressing the "advance dialogue button" when the person speaking is about 65-70% of the way through their line. That way, if the next line is from the same character the actor has a chance to read it smoothly as though the lines were not separated at all.

If it turns out to be a different actor's line, this gives the new actor more time to skim the words as well as extra time for them to realize they're about to be speaking so they don't get caught off guard.

Doing this is actually kind of hard because every actor we work with reads at a different pace and the person actually playing the game has to keep that in mind. Oz, Vixen, Arim, and I can sight read most lines almost instantly. I've seen Oz and Vixen in particular read entire text boxes that were only onscreen for a couple frames. But, obviously, not everyone is that fast, so everyone gets different "advance the dialogue" speeds.

Ideally, if a game is well-written and the characters you're playing have a strong voice, you'll slowly fade into the character as you read them. You begin to feel the things they're saying rather than just reading words on a page. Once you hit that flow state, it becomes easier to process what they might logically say next. If you notice one of us make 2-3 errors in the span of just a few lines, it means we're probably not in that flow state.

Some games are also much easier to scan than others, usually because of their character poses.

A game like In Stars and Time has such incredible character portraits that you can usually tell the tone of the accompanying line within a few frames of a portrait change.

Loop (above) is an extremely suspicious and weird character, but voicing them was so much fun because I could always rely on the portraits and the font changes in the text to give me direction on how to play them accurately, even though I didn't actually know what their deal was until about halfway through our playthrough.

Coffee Talk also has very strong portraits that react in real time to the lines of dialogue. The framing can push characters smaller or larger in focus depending on how upset or meek they are, so it's very easy to react on sight and adjust accordingly.

Every time a game developer takes the time to painstakingly add portraits that match every single line, every time they add SFX to accentuate certain words, every time a font wiggles to tell you someone is speaking in a sing-songy way, that's all direction that the game's creators are giving you.

Another thing that helps is just media literacy. I think everyone on the channel is pretty good at that because, speaking frankly, I don't like hanging out with people who have bad media literacy, lmao.

The more media you consume, the easier it becomes to know how a story is going to go. Even a really well-written mystery usually has only 3-5 real options for an ending, and while you're reading games aloud it's a good practice to consider all of them equally so your reads make sense no matter what. You'll notice it's pretty rare something takes us entirely by surprise in a read-through.

Also, of note, it's much easier to notice specific foreshadowing and word choice in dialogue when you're reading it aloud as opposed to silently skimming.

A solid example is our fully-voiced playthrough of Trails From Zero, which actually happened on SurpriseRoundRPG a few years back and not my own Twitch or YouTube.

Minor spoilers, but the character above, Ernest, has some antagonistic interactions with your main party over the course of this game. He wants Ellie, the white-haired party member, to quit the police force (that's your group) and go back to working with him in the Mayor's office.

When Arim played this game solo he didn't really think much of this guy. However, when he played the game for us and we read it out loud, having lines like the one pictured above spoken aloud makes it kind of impossible not to notice that this man is a freak. Mo, his VA, ended up playing him as a manosphere incel weirdo because that's the vibe he was putting out, and, lo and behold, that's pretty much exactly the character he turned out to be.

There's a running theme on our channel where commenters are often surprised to see the game "play into our bits" and how we "accidentally predict things".

What's really happening is the reverse.

It's very, very rare that we decide to make up a bit from absolutely nothing. It's not a hard and fast rule, but I find we only make jokes and play up aspects of characters based on things that are already there. Hence that one time in Miles is a Robot when I said something awful and sexual as Ray Shields, Oz groaned, and I said "Hey man, I'll give him a different joke when the game gives me somethin' else to work with!" I didn't choose to make Ray awful and sexual all the time. That's just how he is, so that's the well we pulled bits from.

Because we only extrapolate from existing content and our "silly" versions of the characters onscreen are just exaggerated versions of what's really there, whenever the game gives us more info about them, the new stuff tends to be very in-line with the bits we've already been doing. It's not us being psychic. It's us being consistent!

It also helps that almost all the regulars on my channel have done professional voice work and have been doing some version of this for literally 10+ years. Practice makes perfect!

[celerydays]

Pairing: Sebastian x Ominis x f!Hufflepuff!MC

Warnings: A suggestive/censored panel of spicy dreams, voyeurism

(This IS going to be heading towards explicit smut after this, so just know that this is overall 🔞 NSFW / MDNI 🔞)

Synopsis: It's their seventh year and Clementine, aka "Em", has been running herself ragged and hardly taking the time to rest. She finally decides to take a brief nap in the Undercroft where no one could possibly find or bother her. Aside from two Slytherins, that is...

Length: 9 pages

master comic post | all related/tagged posts | my art | support me on ko-fi

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3 – coming soon]

👀 oh?

~~~~~

A/N: The rest of the parts going forward will be uploaded as image previews with links to the full pages on twitter / poipiku~

Updates will be SLOWWW since I'm also learning how to storyboard, map out dialogue, SFX, panels, and backgrounds as I go. Making a comic for the first time feels like it's literally causing my brain to have to rewire and function differently rn lol 🫠

I'm hoping/aiming to complete Part 2 in maybe...2 weeks-ish, now that I have a slightly better idea of how long this takes me 🫡💗

//Taglist//

@akashia94 / @blueseachelle @bunnybabyfanpage @bxrabbito / @cathyket @cinnamon-bun47 / @daughterofthemoon92 @doigettokeepyou @dragonoficeandwind @dreamqueenkala @drwhogeek91 / @eleanorstaghart / @fangirl-criminalminds-garvez @finalgirllx / @grandeoatmilklatte / @hotcinnam0nspicy / @infinitivesky @irishgal2022 / @jeniffler @justadreamer20 @just-another-fanfiction-writer / @lyl1pad @loving-him-was-red13 / @mediocrefruitlover @motelwitches @my-amazing-nerdyness / @nightelfanabell / @phinik / @sandrys-stuff-blog @sarcasticpluviophile @slinket @somekindof-losersclub @slytherin-paramour / @thecheesenmain / @weirdraccoon

[xxautumnivyxx]

A team of absolute legends. Wrapping up Pax West 2024 and I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing group of folks to get to stand beside. Huge thanks to Larian Studios for allowing me the honor of being Karlach again and also to my Camp Crew for being so phenomenal. I cannot thank any of you enough for all of the things you’ve done and continue to do. Such a great found family of folks.

Emperor suit fx - @/keltonfx

Emperor - @/illusion_alchemy

Astarion - @/JusticeVanCho

Lae’zel - @/yuukingram

Shadowheart - @/manzirae

Amazing makeup and sfx by @/thewhitney_b

And to my Moon Ellis who puts up with me pulling my own hair out trying to put on 4 hours of costume and helping while also baby sitting me when I’m trying to put on my big girl pants and keep my head above water. I love you.

[dogcircle-scans]

I'm really curious to know if you have officially dropped the manga. If so (and even if not obvs), I'd just like to thank you for so many amazing years of awesome translations. This manga may not be very popular in the west but I'm glad you kept bringing it for so many of us

Hey, sorry for just now seeing this even though this question was sent back in late November.

No, we haven't officially dropped the manga, and Idk if any group has picked up the series while I was gone. Emphasis on the "I" because our absence was not a consenting choice made by anyone else in this group. So if anyone harbors any kind of resentment, then do not direct it towards anyone but me. If we ever decide to officially drop the series, I'll make an official announcement on this blog. To be honest, I wasn't really gonna make much hubbub about a comeback and just post a chapter as if no time had passed. But, because I got this question and you were very nice about it. I'll give some insight.

- 🦙

The only reason I'm an active part of this fandom (any fandom now really) despite it being against my lurker nature and excessive anxiety issues is because I was encouraged to do so by a friend. If you know me from Discord, then you probably know that aside from running this blog, I'm leader of the scan group and owner of its server, I'm even an admin for the Natsume fan server which is its own separate thing.

I don't know if that sounds already sounds overwhelming, but just to scare you, I also proofread the scripts so the dialogue sounds natural and act as quality checker for each chapter. This means cleaning/redrawing sections of pages if the CLDR forgot or didn't meet the standard of quality I'm looking for. Similar with typesetting, I'll rearrange the text if I feel it could be done better. I'm also the main SFX person. When it comes to the scan server, outside of running and maintaining it, I also act as mod to make sure people aren't posting anything inappropriate or inoffensive + setting up bots and permissions.

When I was in High School and even during my early years of college, I could manage it cause I had the support and energy for it. Plus, my love for Natsume was scary intense. So when life got hard, I found that working on scans acted as a lifeline.

Then I had a messy fallout with the friend who prompted all of this, and things shifted. It didn't help that things in my personal life got really bad and more or less stayed that way for 2/3 years. And because of the association, and the guilt of falling behind, working on Natsume was no longer a stress-relieving activity. It became the source of my stress. I ran away because I was scared and overwhelmed. It wasn't healthy and it only made things worse, honestly.

But, I've been really hard on myself over this past year, and I finally reached the point of wanting to come back, but the guilt from being a deadbeat was still eating me alive. Then I got really sick at the start of this month, and I'm no lie, I'm still sick... but that gave me a lot of time to think and reevaluate all kinds of things. Because honestly? I miss working on scans and the collaborative aspect that I fell in love with because of Natsume.

And literally just this past Saturday/Sunday night, I sent a message to the group, apologizing for what I did and provided a similar explanation of why I did what I did. I trying it as just an explanation and not an excuse - I hope I was able to do that here too.

I told my group to give me several days before I actually start working on scans again, though, because it'll allow me to catch up with everything and figure out what needs to be done next, and it'll also give me more time to recover.

Thank you once again for being kind and understanding! I really appreciate it 🥹💚

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

The stars of fantasy drama Good Omens have teased an "even closer" relationship between angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) when the show returns for season 2.

The original run, which released back in 2019, saw the unlikely duo join forces in order to prevent armageddon, with this follow-up tackling a smaller-scale story, according to creator Neil Gaiman.

Sheen and Tennant, who created the lockdown sitcom Staged between their work on Good Omens, spoke to SFX Magazine about how the relationship between their characters has evolved.

"What’s different in season 2 is, because of what happened at the end of season 1, they no longer have head offices that they have to report to," began Tennant.

"They are in a very different position. Whereas before they were trying to get away with things, now they are kind of free agents."

Sheen continued: "Although sort of fugitives as well. They are sort of in-between. But this amazing life they have created over a millennia, they are now able to enjoy in a slightly different way.

"They are not having to put on a front for their respective teams. There is a different kind of freedom.

"They have always been the only two beings who could understand each other’s position. Now they are pushed even closer together."

Tennant added: "[Crowley] only has one friend. He can only have one friend. That is the great liberation, and also the great prison, that they find themselves in. They have no one else.

"They have come to rely on each other more than they ever did. And more than they care to admit."

[comicaurora]

Hi! I finally got the chance to read Aurora a bit ago. It's a wonderful story--all I was expecting and better! I was particularly amazed and delighted by the artwork and visual mechanics used to tell the story, so I wrote a post to yell about how cool it is and break some of it down. (No criticism, just praise.) I'm mostly a hobbyist, so I'm hoping I've done it justice.

That said: zero pressure to read it or respond to this ask. Normally I wouldn't send it since I tagged, but I know Tumblr's notifs are a mess and things get lost very easily. I've been in both the "one (1) word of praise will feed me for a year" and the "oh gods don't talk about my writing/art because anything that seems Off will break my brain" modes before, and I absolutely don't want to push or make you uncomfortable!

If you are comfortable, however, I wanted to ask about your use of what I'm assuming are Screen and blending modes in sound effect words. (I'm only guessing that's the technique, though, so I could be totally wrong about how it's done! I'm mostly experienced in image manipulation in Photoshop.) Making them semi-transparent over the actions is genius :) What inspired you to do that, and are there specific techniques you use to make it work?

Same questions go for using specific colors to distinguish different characters' words and actions. I really noticed it in the cave sequence with Falst and Dainix, since their colors are so vivid in the dark (ex. Falst's little swats and Dainix's swooping kick at 1.20.9). It lends excellent clarity to busy scenes.

Thanks! Have a lovely day, enjoy your break, and happy holidays <3

You're correct about the technique! "Screen" is the blend mode I use most often for sound effects. I stumbled on it mostly through trial and error - I love how sound effects add depth to a comic panel, but it's very easy for them to obscure the art in a way I find counterproductive, so "Screen" lets me put the sound effect directly over the origin of the sound while still letting it be visible through the word. Early chapters didn't have it as much-

Most of the sound effects in early chapters are just solid colors with reduced opacity if I'm feeling fancy. But I started figuring it out around chapter 8 and 9, because Falst is kind of a sound-effect-heavy guy, especially in his fight scenes.

In order to make sure they don't impede the visibility of the action, I'll often soft-erase the top or bottom half of the SFX to reduce its opacity while still leaving it readable.

I'll usually double that up with an outline on the SFX so it's still readable. This is an especially important consideration if the SFX goes over an area of the background that's very bright or glowing.

Color-coding the speed lines and SFX to the character or force causing them isn't a hard and fast rule, but I like using it (in part because it's a habit from the OSP illustrations, where every character has a single pop of color in their lineart) mostly because it sort of codes every sound to make it clear where it's emanating from, or the general feeling of the sound. Since I normally do character-colors for SFX, something like this stands out more jarringly-

Which it's supposed to, but a big lightning strike doesn't register as anything too worrying because it's just Tess up to her usual shenanigans.

It's also very useful for magic effects, because each form of magic has its own associated palette.

And when I had a very complicated fight scene in a dark environment, I used the texture pattern I'd already made for the monster to color its SFX, so when I Screened them onto the panels they didn't obscure too much while still communicating "this is something else."

Changing the weight, lined-vs-not-lined, and opacity of the SFX words also helps to communicate that not every sound has the same feeling. A strong motion is solid and aggressive, but a crackling, unstable sound is more ephemeral and staticky.

It's definitely been a process of learning as I go - looking back at the earlier chapters I can actually see when I first tried various tricks I now use regularly, like doubling and distorting an SFX to produce the effect of a camera-shaking impact. I haven't really seen any other comics that do it like I do, probably because most other comics follow a more traditional production pipeline where text bubbles and sound effects get locked into the composition early, before the inking stage, because traditional physical comics don't have digital-art layers to play with. Adding sound effects to a page is almost the last thing I do before exporting them, and that only works because digital art and layers allow for a ton of flexibility.

[toseeclearly]

Season one is complete, long live season one.

Parkdale Haunt was a learning experience. We made that show with only the vaguest idea of how creating an audiodrama worked. We just kind of did what we knew and hoped it would work out. And it did! We had such an amazing run. But that means you go into your next show with this quiet nervousness around it, will this be ok? Will people like it? Will they listen? You set a standard and then you have to live up to it again. I would be lying if I said that I never found that daunting as we ramped up into production.

But we're an independent show. We don't have to answer to anyone other than ourselves, so that means that we have to make the show that we want to make. In the end, every part of this is a labour of love, so we have to love what we're creating. And it's tiring, it is tiring during the depths of recording, it is tiring when the sound design is being put in and requiring Ian to spend hours upon hours carefully placing SFX, it is tiring when I'm sitting there, cutting hours and hours and hours of raw audio into something resembling proper dialogue. But it's so much fun. I am incredibly lucky to get to make another show with people I love and care so much about. What a joy! What a blessing. Creating art is terrifying but it's also wonderful. It's also terrible sometimes but it's mostly wonderful, and what luck to have found an audience for it. We can't make this stuff without our amazing cast, our phenomenal composer (hi Phil!), support from our friends and families, and the listeners who post and send us such wonderful comments and art and fan letters and everything else. I want to highlight the incredible and irreplaceable Andy Kelly's art one more time, he brought the show to life in a new way. And of course, to Emily and Ian, my creative partners but most of all my friends, none of this exists without the three of us. Forever thankful to be able to create and grow alongside you both. I know that I post about this stuff a lot, but I think it is important. Remember those who you create alongside. Speak their names. Thank them for their work. Everything we do is so short and fragile. Celebrate the good because someday you will only be able to look back. Create the things that you will later treasure. Hold close the relationships that make you better for having them. We are all but trees in fall, brilliant and delicate, colours that fade with the winter winds. Thank you for listening. We'll see you soon.

[ravenstargames]

✦ Lost in Limbo Devlog #11 | 05.08.24

AHA! Nope, we didn't forget about April's devlog. In fact, we have been busier than ever—doing early preparations for our Kickstarter, working on the demo, sorting out legal stuff...

Speaking of which...

This month we have been really busy making our studio official by the law! Now, to pay taxes and cry! YAY!

We are very very excited about it—and also terrified! We are still sorting out the studio's bank account, as burocracy isn't the fastest thing in this world, sadly. This is the first thing I wanted to talk about in this devlog, because it's such fantastic news for us! :')

Now, let's jump on the process we've made this past month, shall we? ✨

This past month, Raquel worked very hard on our second Key Art. This was originally made for Steam, but I modified the format a bit so it could also be used in other places! I honestly love this one—we have our first Key Art to represent the darker aspects of the game, and then this one to show off the characters' dynamics! Not everything's going to be horror and mystery in the game!✨💜

Also, we have been working on designing the merch for the Kickstarter, but we can't show anything yet. All we can say is that everything is looking gorgeous and we are so excited to share it eventually!

Thanks to Airyn, we've made great progress with the backgrounds! In fact, there's only one left to finish. The one you see above needs a few final touches (that will be made by yours truly!), and then I'll animate it a bit to get it ready for the build! The rest of the backgrounds are finished, animated, and integrated in the build :3

The survey icon is missing, but it'll be there!

Well, this should tell you everything you need to know when it comes to programming! The whole demo is programmed. Functional. Nothing crashes. Stuff works and I'm over cloud nine. I have been working on the final touches (revisiting scenes, checking sprites, music / sfx volume...) and the beta testing phase will begin soon. Soon as in tomorrow.

We've mainly used this month to review the auditions we received for our casting call, contacting the selected VAs, etc. Every VA has accepted their role, received the document with the lines we'll need for the demo, and we'll work hard to announce the cast publicly as soon as possible! We want to at least do a promotional short video showcasing every LI and their VA!

Sadly, making the studio official has (and will) take more time than we anticipated, and as we want to release the demo on Steam, the review process will most likely slow us down. There's the option of doing an itchio release and then a Steam one, but I'm not sure if that'll hurt the project. We are still keeping the demo release date a secret, until things settle down!

Also, I couldn't finish this devlog without talking about the Magic & Mystery Otome cross-promotion! ✨ We were invited by the amazing folks at Best Laid Plans Studios to participate in this event that showcases 12 amazing visual novels like Alaris, Obscura, Dual Chroma and more! I know I have been pretty annoying with this (can you blame me, though?!) so I won't keep rambling about it—just check everyone out, please!

I think that's all! Well, that's not all, but we gotta keep a bit of mystery surrounding the demo! We have been busy bees this month, with the making of the studio, the polishing of the demo, contacting and coordinating the VAs...

We are so excited for the demo release. I'm personally excited and terrified, but blame it on the OCD. I keep jumping from catastrophic scenario to catastrophic scenario. I'll have no control over what happens when the demo goes live, but I have control on what I can do before that happens—and that's working as hard as I've been doing this whole time.

And that's it! Please take care, enjoy the week, and stay hydrated. The Raventar team, NOW AN OFFICIAL STUDIO, wishes you all the best and sends a huge hug your way! 💜

[gollancz]

Happy North American publication day to HIGH VAULTAGE, by @victoriocity! And many thanks to @terribleminds for the boost. (not least to my ego since I get a shout-out)

It's available through all good bookstores, AND you can get signed copies here!

OTHER NICE THINGS PEOPLE HAVE SAID:

'Hilarious' - Matt Young, co-creator of Hello from the Magic Tavern

'A joyous, delightful romp...filled to the brim with clever jokes - perfect for anyone looking for a Pratchett fix' - Caitlin Schneiderhan, screenwriter, Stranger Things

'More please' - SFX

‘High Vaultage is exactly what I've come to expect from the Sugdens - inventive, imaginative, and hilarious’ – Lauren Shippen, creator of The Bright Sessions

‘There are some very big concepts in this novel, ambitious settings, and amazing new discoveries. The satire is even more smart, the wit even more sharp’ – @skyfullofpods

'Absolutely overflowing with imagination and creativity . . . I also loved how witty and clever the writing and dialogue was and I found myself genuinely laughing' - @foreverlostinliterature

'High Vaultage is endlessly entertaining - a classic mystery adventure with 10,000 volts of mad science put right through it. It's not just the type of story I wish I could read every day, it's the type of story I wish I could write. Reading it would make me furious with envy if it didn't keep me so busy grinning from ear to ear' - Gabriel Urbina, creator of Wolf 359

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Raven Crowley Platinum Jacket Doodles + Interview

It's that time of year again! Cat and bird double birthday, wahoo :v

First comes the vignettes (this time featuring Silver~), then at the end I’ll go over the details of Miss Raven’s Platinum Jacket design. I’ll also go into some of my thoughts when picking the paintings. And once again, I was too lazy to do digital artwork for this—

Let’s be off to the Land of Dawning’s National Museum of Art now!!

Happy Birthday 100th Anniversary!

Raven: Waaah~ This is amazing! So many works of art, each piece entrenched in rich history and lore… There’s much to spark inspiration here. It’s a writer’s dream come true!

Raven: Let’s see the next one is… Oof!

*Dull thud sfx*

Raven: ?!

???: Zzzz… ?!

Raven: Wh-Who erected this brick wall in the middle of the museum?!

???: Hm? You’re…

Raven: Eh, i-it’s Silver-senpai?

Raven: I apologize for bumping into you. I hadn’t realized you were also around to glimpse this part of the exhibit.

Silver: It’s fine. I apologize as well for obscuring your path. I should have been more vigilant of my surroundings. Instead, I dozed off while standing up.

Raven: What is it that you were looking at before you lost yourself? I was meaning to get a glimpse of it.

Raven, smiling: It’s the famous hornbill from Sunset Savanna!

Silver: You’re familiar with him?

Raven: Of course I am. I’ve looked up to him for a long time. He’s an exemplary avian!

Raven: He served as an advisor, chamberlain, and even chaperone to the royal family, including the King of Beasts himself. There were several attempts to usurp the throne, and it is said that the hornbill remained dedicated to the King of Beasts through each of those fierce struggles. Quite the resume on him.

Silver: Yes, he is very influential and accomplished. Malleus-sama has an entourage of nobles in the capital city who serve a similar role as the hornbill.

Raven: Insider knowledge on the ins and outs of court life… I envy you. I’d love to be a fly on the wall and absorb all that intrigue.

Silver: Actually, I’ve never actually been in that that environment myself.

Raven: You haven’t? That’s a surprise. I’d imagine you would have to be physically by your liege to protect him.

Silver: I’ve spoken at length with my father about this, but he is stubborn. He says the capital city is no place for me.

Silver: “It will take your light, chew it well, and swallow it up.” He never explained more than that.

Raven: Hehe, it sounds like your father really cares about you.

Silver: He does. I just wish he would let me do more for Malleus-sama and for him.

Raven, more serious: I understand your frustration. When you feel like you’re ready for more, but the world denies you of it… It leaves a tight feeling in your chest.

Silver: Like shortness of breath when you’re in an intense workout?

Raven: Er, sure. Let’s go with that.

Raven: There’s also a kernel of truth to what your father said. The world of bureaucracy and politics isn’t for everyone, even if one is only present as an observer.

Raven: Lies, flattery, personal gain, manipulation, deals, backstabbing and double crossing. Such things are commonplace when policy and governance are involved—at least, that’s what I gather from my writing research.

Raven: It can be so oppressive and isolating. One has to steel their wills for these things. It must have been difficult to do, even for the hornbill.

Raven: I think your father wanted to protect your eyes from clouding over from the darkness of that world. He probably still does.

Silver: !!

Raven: Wanting to protect the people you hold dear is a natural instinct, just as wanting to grow up fast and fill in that role as the protector is.

Raven: One day, you’ll be ready to leave the nest and be a part of that world. And when you are, your father will see you off with a smile and tears in his eyes.

Silver: … Yes, one day.

Silver, closing his eyes: …

Silver, opening them: Raven, I’m sure your guardian, the headmaster, feels the same way about you.

Raven, to herself: (Is this Silver-senpai’s way of returning the advice…?)

Raven, to herself: (Thinking about it though, Uncle is more of the type to chuck someone out of the pan and into the fire than to keep them from the stove altogether. Ah, but Silver-senpai is staring at me with such hopeful, expectant eyes. I-It’s fine to play a little into it, surely?)

Raven: A-Ahahaha… Yup, that sounds like Uncle alright…

Raven, to herself: (LIKE HELL IT IS!!)

Silver: You refer to him as “Uncle”, so is the headmaster related to your parents?

Raven: Oh, no. We are not related by blood. “Uncle” is a term of endearment. It would be more accurate to say that he is my guardian, not father or uncle. Still, I recognize him as a father all the same.

Silver: I see. I apologize for my misunderstanding. So you are also adopted…

Silver, smiling: It sounds like we’re kindred spirits.

Raven: Eh, are we…?

Raven, to herself: (WE’RE NOTHING ALIKE THOUGH?!)

Silver: Yes. I also know you are a kind and hardworking person, just like the headmaster.

Raven: (How is it that the longer he talks, the more strays from the truth?!)

Silver: So I think… one day, you’ll be just as revered as the hornbill advisor you look up to, or the advisors in Briar Valley’s court. I believe in you, so please believe in yourself.

Raven: O-Of course I will.

Raven: (How can I say I don’t believe you when you’re looking at me like a baby deer?!)

Raven: I’ve never seen creatures like this before. They’re depicted with the Lord of the Underworld, so I assume they must be his servants.

Silver. They are his retainers.

Raven: Oh, that makes sense. You put two and two together so fast. I guess it must be that retainers recognize other retainers.

Raven: I had trouble coming to that conclusion. When I think of a retainer, a very different image comes to mind.

Raven: Someone tall, muscular, and intimidating! With a mean glare! One look at them kicks your body into fight or flight mode! … Something like that.

Raven: In other words… JUST LIKE SEBEK-SAN!

Silver: …? Is Sebek like that? I know he can look scary, but really he’s a good person.

Silver: But in any case, he is also good at what he does.

Silver: There are other kinds of security personnel too. Ones that serve more covert roles.

Raven, eyes sparkling: Like spies and assassins?! They specialize in sneaking around and collecting information or getting kills in quietly.

Silver: Those are some. You’re surprisingly knowledgeable on this matter.

Raven: I-It’s something I’m interested in. Intelligence and the element of surprise, if wielded correctly, can be their own weapon.

Raven: Hmm… Unfortunately, these two do not strike me as spies or assassins either. They look more like children’s mascots—but I know that looks can be deceiving.

Silver: You’d be right. They say the Lord of the Underworld’s retainers had the ability to change their forms at will. They used that power to make quick work of those who posed threats to his rule.

Raven: Change their forms at will! Such a thing would be highly regulated these days.

Raven: For fair reason, I suppose. It would be easy for anyone to deceive and to commit fraud if they could borrow others’ faces on a whim.

Silver: Do you really think people do that, just going around pretending to be someone else and spreading lies?

Silver: The Lord of the Underworld’s retainers only ever used that power to enact justice and to right wrongs.

Raven, to herself: (S-So pure!!)

Raven: Wh-Who knows? That magic has also been used to do a lot of good.

Raven: Merpeople are able to vacation, work, and study on land thanks to the transformation potions the government distributes. It’s a wonderful system.

Raven: And Jack-san has a unique magic that lets him transform into a wolf. He used it to stop a scuffle at shortly before the interdorm tournament.

Raven: So I think it depends a lot on individual intention.

Silver: I remember that. I appreciate his help with that.

Silver: Raven, you can shapeshift into an animal too, can't you?

Raven: Well, yes. I was originally a real raven, after all. Right now I am a "human" girl though.

Silver: Do you ever have times when you return to your original form?

Raven: I don't do it often. I've found it's not as suitable for my current environment at school.

Raven, sighing: Sadly, it happens involuntarily when I'm experiencing periods of high stress. It becomes bothersome at times.

Silver: That sounds difficult.

Raven: You wouldn’t believe!! S-Some of the students are quite crude and make a game of provoking me and seeing who can make me turn the fastest.

Raven: And then when I turn around and scold them for their poor attitudes, they mock me and tell me to ‘fly away and go cry to uncle’!

Raven, angry: What nerve!! I swear to the Seven, I can’t have a moment’s rest around here!

Raven, under her breath: I may just peck at them one of these days to punish them for their behavior…!

Silver: That’s not nice of them.

Silver: If you ever shift and you need help, come to me. I can speak with the students who were rude to you. You can also rest at Diasomnia until you feel better. I’ll do whatever I can to keep you safe.

Raven, panicked: You’ll do WHAT?!

Silver: …? Keep you safe, you mean?

Raven: D-Do you even realize what you’re saying, Silver-senpai?! (H-He’s sounding like a knight directly lifted from a fairy tale!!)

Silver: Don’t worry. I know many wild birds on campus. I can ask them for advice on how to best care for a raven.

Raven: S-Stop talking! Just please STOP TALKING!!

Silver: There is another bird here.

Raven: This one is the parrot belonging to the Sorcerer of the Sands. It's a scarlet macaw, a bird that is skilled in the art of imitating human speech. A highly intelligent being worthy of being the familiar to one of the Great Seven!

Silver: I didn’t know there were so many kinds of birds. Each of them so different than the last.

Raven: The variety among birds is also seen in humans, beastmen, merpeople, and fae. I was very surprised by the revelation when I first came to Night Raven College.

Raven: Truly, this is a place that brings together people from all walks of life. I don’t regret coming here. There’s something new and interesting to see every day.

Raven: … For better or for worse.

Silver: What do you mean?

Raven: When a flock grows, aggression happens. It’s true of both birds and of us.

Raven: There doesn’t seem to be a day that passes where a fight doesn’t break out or someone has to step in to diffuse rising tensions.

Raven: One bird—one person—is manageable. 800? Not so much.

Silver, thoughtfully: I wonder what it would take to help everyone get along better. What do birds do to repair relations after a fight?

Raven: They don’t.

Silver: … They don’t?

Raven: They keep fighting until one gives up and leaves the other alone. Then the victor claims whatever it was they were fighting for—food, nests, territory, a mate.

Raven: But obviously, that doesn’t work for us. The school would never sponsor battles outside of what is necessary for classes.

Silver: That’s…

Silver: … a great idea!

Raven: It is?!?!

Silver: There’s no better way to bond than through training and trading blows. Sebek and I have formed a strong friendship thanks to our own experiences.

Raven: Er, I’m glad that worked for you and Sebek-san but don’t know if that’s such a good idea for everyone to follow…!!

Silver: We can talk to Vargas-sensei about implementing a new P.E. event with a focus on combat. Maybe it could be tournament style with lots of activities. Sprinting, biking, swimming, jousting—

Raven: JOUSTING? In this day and age?!

Silver: Or make it a big game like Beans Day. Would it work better as a new course? That way, it’s longer. Even a club. A Fight Club.

Raven, looking tired: (I forgot how big of a musclehead Silver-senpai is!!)

Raven: How did you even come to this conclusion based on birds fighting for limited resources in the wild…

Raven: Your mind works in mysterious ways.

[Interlude]

Silver: Please consider my proposal. I think it would be a golden opportunity to unite everyone.

Raven: Sure, I’ll pass along the idea to the headmaster… (No way, not happening!!)

[…]

Raven: In any case, I’m off to see the rest of the exhibit. I’ll see you later.

Silver: Yes, see you then. Take care.

*Walking sfx*

Raven: Let’s see what else the museum has to offer 🎵

Raven: …!

Raven: This is…

Raven: Oh, how interesting. This painting is stylized to resemble a stained glass window.

Raven: According to a placard, this is meant to depict the moment when a beggar woman revealed herself to be the almighty Enchantress. Seeing that there was no love in a selfish prince’s heart, she cursed him to become a beast most frightening.

Raven: An enchantress and a curse, hmm?

Raven: …

Raven, turning away from the painting and leaning against it: … Hah.

Raven: I hope he eventually made peace and found his happily ever after.

***BONUS***

More about her Platinum Jacket design + author’s notes on writing the vignettes!

Here is a more detailed look at Raven’s design and full body pose for the initial Platinum Jacket artwork! Her top and shoes are basically the same as any other student's Platinum Jacket; the devil is in the details!

Starting with her hat, it's inspired by a combination of elements from Minnie Mouse. The general shape is borrowed from an old design of Minnie, which features a daisy sticking out of it. Including a flower might have looked out of place here, so I substituted tails with pearl-like beading. The big bow is inspired by a modern design. You'll also notice that Miss Raven's skirt sort of flares out like Minnie's. I figured if there was any design to pull inspiration from Minnie, it should be the one celebrating Disney's centennial.

ashdbudbpfqb I'll be honest, I hate the design of the neckties they went with so I changed Raven's to a cravat. Her sash is a style unique to her and it closely resembles the look of the sashes from the Birthday Boy series of cards. It's secured at her waist by another big bow.

Instead of pants, Miss Raven has some greyish stockings. She tends to prefer skirts and dresses to pants since she's used to her legs being "bare" in her old life as a bird. I think the most unique part of this look is her skirt. In addition to having the shape resemble Minnie's, the skirt is also supposed to resemble a cake with frosting "drapes". The dots along the skirt are meant to look like sugar pearls. You know, because you'd usually have cake for a celebration!

Now let's talk about the Disney images I picked for the card + vignettes www

I chose Silver to be the "interviewer" this year. (It may or may not be because of my recent fondness for the guy/j) Their dynamic is ironic because usually Miss Raven is the "good" person (9 times out of 10 she is dealing with someone way "worse" than her)... but in the presence of the shining beacon that is Silver, she suddenly seems like the snarky and sarcastic one by comparison. They're such a strange mix of grounded and yet also sort of spaced out. I feel like they're totally missing what the other person is saying every other exchange.

At first, I had no idea what to really include for Raven's initial card art frames. I was just going to leave them empty so you could project whatever you wanted onto them, but ultimately I slapped Diablo and the Evil Queen's bird onto there (because I found funny images) and called it a day. Diablo looks like he's about to steal some cupcakes, and the Evil Queen's raven/crow looks hilariously terrified of an apple.

For the vignettes, I chose two bird characters (Iago and Zazu) because I felt Raven could have some insight on them. Pain and Panic were also included because I felt like they needed more attention 🤣 Besides, I can't make ALL of the paintings Just Birds... I tried to stick with movies featuring the Great Seven, but decided to be unconventional for the Groovy artwork. The painting you see there is, in fact, from the opening to Beauty and the Beast. I thought it was very fitting for Miss Raven to see it, given her own background. Like the light trio, she has a unique expression as opposed to the rest of the cast (who look devious in their Groovies). Her look is more resigned and a little bit sad. Sketching her Groovy made me really appreciate just how much work must have gone into each of the official Platinum Jackey Groovies... Those angles and perspectives are so complicated!!

Anyways~ Another year, another Miss Raven birthday done and over with...! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!

[blacclotusss]

Don't Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape

Starting off strong, I want to discuss the argument between Louis and Armand. This, in my opinion, is where everything fell apart. It's just them going back and forth hitting each other in the jugular and it made me want to rip my hair out just hearing it. I, personally, have always hated when things like that get thrown up in arguments so that's my own personal bias. Just hearing Louis throw back the CSA in Armand's face and Armand throwing Paul's suicide, Grace leaving him, and his history with Lestat back up brought me to tears almost. It really sucks that these two felt that they had to resort to these things, but that's the tragedy of it all.

But, for some reason, I think Armand was more hurt that Louis called him dull and boring. My belief is that it hit harder because being boring and dull to Louis means he goes out to look for more exciting things and people, leaving Armand home all night. He doesn't want to lose Louis and the first ounce of real love that he's experienced, so he was taken aback by that. Louis walking out into the sun wasn't much of a surprise to me, but I think him doing it at that moment was. I would have expected a suicide attempt back in Paris, or even in Dubai, but not in San Francisco. I do understand now that the story has unfolded. 

I think Louis has just had enough of it all, talking about it with Daniel who kind of brushed it off in his intoxicated state and his argument with Armand only fuels that. He wants to be with Claudia, she's the one that he says is calling him, and if dying is how he's going to get to meet her again, then so be it. Now, the whole situation with Armand leaving Louis on that bed to suffer while he begs for relief definitely rubbed me the wrong way. Louis no longer has Claudia to nurse him back to health, as she did when he was dropped, so he has no choice but to rely on Armand and that sucks. Armand is in here torturing Daniel while he leaves Louis to holler and yell for him, that's so messed up. Even going as far as to contact Lestat and relay messages from him to Louis, and omitting some things. The psychological abuse at play here is crazy to think about.

I also want to talk about the power balance that has been discussed as well. Yes, Louis is able to express himself a bit more and in a different way in his relationship with Armand. They have an understanding of each other and what the other needs and their roles and positions switch based on what one needs at that moment. The whole Arun/Maitre thing is really working in Armand's favor more, in my personal opinion. He knows just how to push enough to get Louis to fall in line with that. You can see that towards the end when Armand calls Louis maitre after all he said. He's all of a sudden asking Louis to lead after everything that has happened, after Louis had to beg, and Louis will happily oblige in order to keep the peace between them. I wonder in what other instances has this happened before. We see Louis trying to keep Armand from falling off of the deep end while he, himself, is the one sitting in the coffin burned and charred begging for blood. So curious as to how this will all unfold in the coming episodes, I know Dubai will be a madhouse just as much as Paris. 

Aside from the analysis of relationships and arguments, this episode was amazing. The styling choices in both the filming and wardrobe were superb. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this was Jacob and Assad's first episode they shot. It had to be funny to go from this to all the sweet lovey dovey stuff in the earlier episodes. I want to hear them talk about this more. Also, the SFX makeup was amazing! Much love to everyone involved with that! And it was nice to finally see Luke! He played that part so well. This and episode two are my absolute favorites so far. I wonder what's to come next in Dubai... 

[malues]

what is the process of production ? :0 what do you do first, second, last, blabla, that.. I'm curious to know how such an amazing show was made

welllllllllllllll i write it first and then (starting with 1C) look it over with pipe bombs VA faeb to make adjustments. i trust his input a lot especially with scenes with PB

once thats done i create little storyboards of the script and use that to send to the VAs, i figured that having a visual idea of whats happening will help them act their lines better.

when the lines are done i get to AUDIO EDIT!! this is my favorite part cause i think its when the episode relaly starts to come to life. i edit the lines and add sfx n' other things in fl studio. this image is all of 1C!

now i get to set up scenes for those who want one! i like to do the backgrounds before sending over a scene to someone to animate. i give them an animatic of what theyre supposed to animate but theyll always have the chance to do their own thing

once its all animated the last step is to put it all together in premiere pro. this ones fun too cause i get to adjust colors aaaand add music aaaaand extra sfx aaaaan things and then i UPLOAD THE EPISODE AND ITS ALL DONE DON EDONE

oh i also make subtitles with aegisub b4 uploading. neat little program thanks for coming to my tend talk