#which works better for my style as a reference then the fully rendered stuff

[ghostedtea]

a wip. lets see how long this one'll take me lol

[kozachenko]

[Click for better quality]

Ok yay I'm back from my vacation yipeeeeeee. I started this drawing of Keiki before I left and I was half considering just giving up on it.... until I did a short study of facial planes and then got motivated to work on this again! I'm glad I didn't give up on it though, as I'm actually really happy with this one!

Artist's Notes;

So as I mentioned in my last post about Touhou 17, I wanted to finish this by the game's five year anniversary but with how progress was going I didn't want to rush this so I decided to take a long break from it. Mainly because of the face. For a while now I was kind of feeling like I was stagnating with my drawings, not really in the clothing but in the bodies. There was something about the way I was rendering them that I just wasn't happy with, and after talking with someone else about this issue, I realized that the reason I felt this way was because the faces were too flat and didn't match the rest of the drawing and that I needed to find a way to make the rendering of the face feel consistent with everything else. So after doing a short study of the plains of the face (I used this 3D head model from art station as a reference for my short study, please go give this person some love as they are a lifesaver) I went back into this drawing and applied what I learned here. It was only after that that I finally became motivated to finish the piece, and while it started off as just a simple character sketch like Saki and Yachie's were, the moment I added in Keiki's little fire dragon I knew I had gotten in too deep and now here we are with a full on background. OK it's not super crazy or anything, but it gets the job done and it's better than there just being an empty void behind her. It's rare moments like this when I use brushes other than the Clip Studio Default Charcoal Brush and use the Clip Studio Default Paint Brushes as well (god bless the oil paint and dry gouache clip studio brushes, they were amazing). I don't know why but painting fire has always been really fun for me, there's something oddly satisfying about it y'know? I do think that another reason for this problem was because I was drawing faces like I would in my more sketchy style that didn't mesh well with my lineless style, so I'm glad I've started remedying that.

After adding in the fire dragon I had an idea to kinda make it feel like splash art in the way the composition works... probably because I have been playing Reverse 1999 again and it has taken over my brain. I do feel like Keiki's tools get a little lost in the composition, and I didn't fully render the metal parts of them mainly because I didn't feel like they needed it, but that's just something for me to improve on later down the line.

If you guys are wondering where I went for my vacation, I went to New York and got to go to the MET and the Museum of Natural History. In both places I found Kofun period stuff and I was so happy to see it you have no idea. I remember one of the Haniwa I saw had some neat face paint under the eyes that I tried to replicate with the makeup under Keiki's eyes in my drawing, though I think I'll gave to figure out how to draw makeup on characters because this reads more like blush to me than anything. While drawing this I also looked up some references of Kofun period jewelry and really liked the stuff I found, which also meant that now she has proper Kofun earrings instead of earrings shaped like Kofun tombs. I put some of the things I referenced with a closeup of Keiki's face as well down below. I made her outfit more reminiscent of the outfit I gave her at the beginning of the year with the buttons and all, though I do want to try and draw her in some more period accurate clothing like the Haniwa I took a picture of at the Museum of Natural History. I wish I could find a way to make her handercheif look better though as I wish I made it a little bit bigger, though I think I'm saying this because I've looked at this drawing for too long lmao. Once again something to work on for when I next draw her. Also want to get better at rendering hair, as some details (like the little strands in front of her ears) kinda got unreadable due to the similarities in colour lol.

Now you may have also noticed the little cracks I added onto Keiki's face, and that's because I have fallen in love with the idea of Keiki's body being made from ceramic and that she crafted her body herself. While they aren't very visible I also tried to add some doll joints to her body, which is an idea I played around with in the past but never went to far with. I also want to get better at rendering cracks in ceramic, porcelain, etc, as I'm not sure how those read in the drawing. I also have a headcanon where the cracks in Keiki's face show up because of heightened emotions, and while Keiki is aware of this and does her best to make sure her face doesn't break off.... she will still end up with at least a few cracks during any given day, and she can often forget to repair her own body quite frequently so Mayumi has to remind her quite a lot. Mayumi even taught herself some basic sculpting techniques to help repair parts of her body that are so badly damaged to the point where Keiki can't repair them herself, i.e. if both her arms broke off, Mayumi would put them back together for her so Keiki can at least have something to repair herself with rather than nothing. I also like to imagine that if Keiki created her own body, if you took a look at Keiki from the beginning of her life she would look completely different compared to now.

BTW If you guys are wondering what a very very angry Keiki looks like....ok in order for this to make sense have any of you read volume 11 of Land of The Lustrous? Am I bringing back some memories for those of you that have? Ok good, glad we all got that mental image brewing in our minds, I'll probably draw a version of Keiki that is somewhat inspired by that one day as it's an idea I've had for a little while now. And to those who haven't gotten to that volume yet and are confused.... don't worry about it, just keep reading :)

[eerna]

can you explain your art techniques a little bit further? I just saw your post about arcane helping you drop line art and stuff, and I wanted to understand better (as someone trying to get into digital art)

Sureee, ty for asking! :)

For the first 7 years of my digital art journey I imitated the comicbook-style art tutorials and techniques artists I liked used. This means that I would start out with a sketch, draw the lineart on another layer on top of the sketch, hide the sketch, use solid blocks of color on separate layers for the coloring, and add lighting effects on top of it all. I was never really happy with how it turned out, and I often felt like I shouldn't have gone past the colored sketch phase because the full render would lose so much life. I used pretty much the same brushes I use now, aside from some textured ones, but not to their full potential because they were painting brushes being used for flat shading. Here's a few examples of fully rendered stuff from 2020-2021:

Then, I realized I do NOT have to do things I don't wanna do, and I can totally remove any steps from the process that I wish! I experimented for a while until I settled on a new thing that worked for me. And so my current process is: draw a sketch, color it all on one layer (base colors), add light effects if needed, add another layer on top of everything, and paint until satisfied with the level of rendering. Then I add optional effects, such as fires or patterns. This means I leave the sketch layer visible, so I have to clean it and base colors with erasers as I work, but it enables me to preserve the sketchy energy. The "all rendering on one layer" approach frees my hand and I don't feel pressure to render everything separately and perfectly, which in turn, ironically, makes my art look more detailed because the eye compensates for unfinished bits. In addition, the line between a colored sketch and a fully rendered piece is much thinner, which means I don't have to commit to completing anything, and that is a big deal for an insecure person prone to artblocks. If I lose interest halfway through the lineart-and-blocks-of-color process, I am left with an unusable piece. If I do it halfway through the painting process, I get a charming, messy piece a la my recent Chappell Roan art (I left the armor unfinished, and yet it doesn't clash with the rest of the art). Here's a recreation I did to show what a big difference the different approach makes:

So why didn't I stop doing lineart sooner? I did try, but my attempts tried to replicate what I did when painting traditionally, instead of adjusting to my digital abilities, so it usually looked whack. I remember showing my friends the Rito Village piece back in 2019, which was painted based on a screenshot from the game, and one of them telling me "Don't go back to lineart!" I was like "YEAH I am NOT going back to lineart!!! I will keep painting!!!" Only to realize that painting landscapes with already stylized references and painting portraits were completely different. Here's a painting portrait from one of those trial and error attempts. Later I realized the mistake was working on TOP of the sketch, as I would have done for traditional work, instead of both below AND on top of it - after all, my intention was to preserve the life of the sketch, which was impossible when I couldn't even see it. I also didn't understand color values (or honestly, any color aspects) very well, resulting in some low-contrast, unappealing blobs.

So yeah, my advice to any beginner digital artist is: experiment and figure out what works for you. Think about what makes you happy when creating, and build your process around it. Also, keep researching art theory and applying it to your work. Good luck to you and all other digital artists~

[vampstel]

Out of your favorite designs you’ve redrawn or has drawn who do you enjoyed working on the most?

As a character designer myself, I can’t help but love all my ocs equally, and learning from you actually helps me expand upon my stories. You’ve helped me so much writing a story for Victoria (She’s a princess vampire who is generations after Dracula (Temporary name because some details are being worked on) in my universe I don’t think this made sense but hopefully it does?) and I actually took some inspiration from your video in order to fully develop her.

I also love it when you diversity your work. It makes me really happy seeing all sorts of characters with real life details? If that made any sense. I like learning from you and I wanna try to understand more about details. Mainly because I suck at drawing details and idk how you do most of your stuff by hand. (I usually try to find brushes on IbisPaint on Pinterest for my work)

What kind of advice do you have for any upcoming artists who’s struggling with character designing?

Do you start with the character and then work on the story or is it the other way around?

This is going to be a VERY long response so it’s all gonna be under the cut…

I don’t really have a favorite design honestly... It’s hard to pick favorites when your characters have different aesthetics to them. It feels unfair to me to compare them because of that LOL so I try my best to avoid that.

That being said though, I can definitely say I had so much fun redesigning Elliot and making her her own person rather than a character who’s meant to represent me. She doesn’t have a full body render yet but… I think she’s neat :3

She’s just got all the things I love in one design and since she’s so personal to me, I guess you could technically say she’s my current favorite design out of all my OCs so far. Minus Rei, of course…

But yeah I can definitely relate to loving all your characters equally!! Victoria sounds cool and I’m glad my content helps you out ^_^

As for the last few questions… Details are really hard to draw especially if your art style is more on the cartoony side. There’s nothing wrong with using brushes or patterns online to help out the process but if you want to practice without them, it’s good to try out how to simplify details!!

Not everything has to be crazy complicated. So long as you get the general idea or silhouette of something in your art, it translates pretty well in the end results. Lots of artists simplify things to make it easier for the eye and it’s a hard skill to master but as you get used to it, you’ll become way better at it. Try and be fluid with your line work. That’ll help a ton!!

For advice on character design: I’d say the most important part to designing a character is making them feel alive by having meaning to their physical appearance and attire. A lot of beginner artists tend to forget that which results in a boring or un-relatable character.

We all have some sort of history with our appearances and it’s good to try and figure that out with your OCs. I usually do that during the design process but it’s fine if you do it after or before it. Before it is more ideal in a professional setting though!!

Go insane with designs. Mix and match aesthetics if you want and use LOTS of references and inspiration. That’s the second most important part. It’s why I have tons of pins saved on Pinterest and tons of reels saved on Instagram. But remember to always ask yourself questions like:

Would this character dress like this? What do they think about their clothes? Do they dress traditional, medieval, or modern?

Would they like this sort of thing? What sorts of fabrics and textures do they prefer to feel on their skin? Are they comfortable with revealing attire or do they prefer something more formal?

What sort of history does their clothes have? Was it a gift from someone, did they buy it from a thrift store or did they make it themself?

Do their accessories have sentimentality or are they completely irrelevant and something they use just for aesthetics?

Is there a way to incorporate things from their backstory or their current story to their appearance? Like scars/marks on their body? Maybe even accessories from a loved one or no?

Can you explain why they have specific physical features? Why are they skinny? Or muscular? Do they work out and eat healthy or do they barely take care of themselves?

It’s a lot to consider but when you can answer these questions, your character becomes much more lively and unique.

I personally tend to start the design of the character first but as I go through the drawing process, that’s when I flesh things out like their story and such. I don’t recommend this process to beginners since it’s SUPER messy but do what makes you feel comfortable! Hope this was helpful and thank you once again for the sweet compliments <33

[storytellering]

if it's okay, would you mind sharing your art process? your style is SO gorgeous dude. keep it up spardacest nation!!!

Thank you so much anon, and of course! I kinda posted about it on twitter a while ago, but for anyone not also on there, here's a paraphrasing of what I said there! (under a cut bc it's gonna get a bit long)

(speedpaint video from procreate mostly bc like I also said in that post, it's one of the few pieces I've done entirely on procreate and thus entirely recorded kdfjhdk I usually don't do the sketching + painting parts on there but every now and then I get lazy and want to get it all done quick in one program lol! It's not as good as it would look if I were using krita to render (which is what I normally use) but it gets the idea across decently of what it is that I do)

The short version of my process is: sketch, clean up sketch for lineart, then flat colors, then paint over the flats (i make the flats my shadows and paint on the light), then a multiply layer for skin details (like lips, eyebags, etc), then an overlay layer for skin transparency details (red over the ears/nose/fingertips etc), then i do hair over the lineart, then a multiply layer with the contact shadows in a light beige/grey/neutral tone on top of everything else, and then i unify layers, paint over the details, and color correct the HELL out of it The longer version is: SO, first of all, I will say, my entire process for a finished/fully redered piece is pretty scattered and uses a lot of different apps, because after many years of trying out different drawing apps I found that I just worked better when I could incorporate the parts I liked best from each individual one rather than having to adapt to another app entirely! In total, what I use is: autodesk sketchbook and procreate for the first half I do on my ipad, then krita and photoshop on my computer when I'm actually rendering (but any photo editing app instead of ps will do, I'm just used to photoshop bc that's what I learned as my first drawing app WAAAY back in the day lol), and then meitu on my phone for color filters (also any phone editing app with filters in it will do), AND also optional just for references: blender and daz3d on computer + magicposer on my phone The actual step by step of what I do: First of all, if I want to do a detailed, well rendered piece I will start by getting my references ready. That means either just grabbing a screenshot from the game if it's like, a simple portrait, or a photo reference, taking a picture of myself in the right pose/lighting, and if it's something more complex I will recreate the scene in Daz3D to simulate a realistic lighting, OR even just blender (i have the game models for the dmc characters downloaded, so I can just pop them in, pose them and change the lighting to get a realistic idea of what shadows their faces will cast in that specific angle/lighting.) Note: references are pretty essential to me, and there's nothing to be ashamed about for using them! Personally I don't struggle a lot with the drawing/sketching part of art, but my tiny little pea brain cannot fathom how to make an object 3D in my mind, and how to visualize shadows realistically... thus the reliance on 3D programs to do that for me, and then all I have to do is draw what I'm seeing lol. My art improved significantly ever since I started making 3D refs so I could get /exactly/ what I needed - there's still a lot of leeway you need to learn though, because as realistic as the lighting will be in a rendering program, you'll never really get a fully natural looking image, as far as stuff like the body stretching/squishing/pulling when it's in movement, facial expressions, folds in clothing/fabric, etc... so really it's more a guide than something meant to be followed 1:1.

Then, once I'm confident I know exactly what I'm gonna draw/have the idea in my head, I start sketching it in sketchbook. Not really getting very in depth, just blocking out rough shapes - I like sketchbook and to be on my ipad for that because it feels very reminiscent of traditional sketching on paper to me, which while I'm not super confident on my traditional art abilities, I do get the most natural/fluid/non-stiff figures out that way. Then when I think I have the general idea ready, I export the sketch layer as a png and import it into procreate - which is where I kinda start picking at the sketch and polishing it like i'm carving it out haha. Lots of liquify tool, flipping the canvas to check if it's even, blending out some of the lineart to help out with the rendering later, and then polishing up what was once the sketch into serviceable lineart. I usually reimport it back into sketchbook at this stage - while I like procreate for drawing I don't love the brushes I can use for lineart there, and so I usually only draw the "base" naked figure in there - when I'm in sketchbook I use a hard pencil to refine the details, then on a separate layer add all the things "on top" like hair, clothing, etc - usually I can get it pretty easily in one go, and once I'm satisfied I erase the naked body under the clothes and unify the lineart layers. Then I will just do the flats with a hard brush, turning the lineart layer into an overlay layer and coloring things in with the shadow colors. At this point, I export the file as a psd and import it on my computer - I give it a once over in photoshop first to see if there needs to be any adjusting (like whether any layer that has an effect needs to have a different effect, if all the colors look right since the ipad screen isn't the most faithful, if i wanna change the background color, etc), and once I think it's ready enough, I open it up in krita, where I do the actual bulk of the painting/rendering (as to why specifically krita: it's because I've gotten very comfortable with the brush/painting brush dynamics there and cannot seem to get as good results anywhere else, it's just the goldilocks spot of a brush for me haha.) If anyone's curious, here's the brushes I usually use for painting:

The one in the middle is my go to painting brush, left one for tinier/more refined details, right one for blending out soft shadows (though I learned the hard way to not overuse it, or it will look like I went ham with an airbrush tool lol). (I don't change any of the settings on these brushes, so if you wanna try out the exact ones I use! Just fresh off how they come out the app haha) I paint on the lights on top of the shadows, and just focus on that for the time being - once I'm done with the basic painting, I'll make a separate multiply layer for details like lip color, eye waterlines, makeup if there is any, eyebags, etc, and then adjust the opacity until it feels right - then I'll make an overlay layer with skin translucency details (like, when you hold your hands in front of a light and see the tips of your fingers become bright orange - many parts of your body are always a bit translucent to the blood underneath, specifically parts where the skin is thin like noses, cheeks, joints, knuckles, etc, and I found it makes the character look a lot more alive to add that subtle coloring in) - then usually I do hair on a separate layer on top of the lineart (because that way I can add small flyaways, more details, etc, and just use the lineart as a guide) After that, I'll usually make a multiply layer on top of everything where I'll add contact shadows in a neutral color (usually pretty pale, it'll be darker anyway since it's multiply), and once I feel like I've rendered everything out properly, I save the psd and re-open it on photoshop.

In photoshop, I'll mess around with the layers a little bit more (changing hue/saturation, opacity, etc), fuck around with the background to make it look pleasing, and once I'm happy with it, I'll unify the layers and start color correcting - usually by duplicating the unified layer and messing with the curve/hsl of the image and then changing the opacity of that edited layer until it's as strong or muted as I want it to be - then I also edit the RGB curves individually and adjust the opacity of that also (because I just really like how it ends up looking if I give a bit of a red/warm tint to the shadows lol), and at that point often I will reimport the finished image into procreate for some finalizing touches! Like, blending out shadows that came out too harshly, painting over anything that came out not the way I wanted it, redefining the lineart if it got messy during painting, and adding any extra small detail that might have gotten lost like catchlights, hair shines, hair flyaways, tears, etc. I also do one last round of flipping the canvas and liquify if needed! At this point, I export the finished image both to my computer and my phone - on my phone I open it up on the photo editing app, and add a bunch of different color filters - I don't hesitate from going completely balls to the walls here, and just kinda applying as many filters as will make an image look pleasing to my eye. Once I think it looks good, I'll export the edited image to my computer - and then open both the version without filters and the one with them on photoshop, and use the filtered version as an opacity layer, and adjust it until it doesn't look as crazy anymore lol. One last step I recently started incorporating was also changing the image to grayscale after I'm done, and doing one last round of curves in greyscale to make sure the values look right, and nothing is getting too lost because the values are too similar (because i know i get a bit swept up in getting repulsed by harsh contrasting lighting and can end up washing out all of rendering if I don't check myself kjdfgk) AND that's it! Yes it's a pretty long and chaotic process, but it's coming from years of trial and error and realizing I can just let myself fo whatever makes me happier with the results, and I don't have to stay constrained to one program if I don't like every tool it has to offer/don't have to accept the final image fresh off the painting app as the "finished" image with no adjustments allowed after, lol. I don't find it takes a lot more time than if I didn't do it this way, but YMMV. Hope this was helpful and sorry for taking so long to explain! I just wanted to give a thorough explanation dfhdkhkx

[lancerfay]

Taking some time to appreciate my progress

looking at stuff from when I first started to draw 2 years ago, vs. now and thinking hell yeah you go girl. Using the drawings I've done of my WoL for reference.

The sheer difference in how I feel about my art is huge, I don't even fully appreciate it enough when I get in a bad mood and start putting myself down.

(above) From today, a sketch that took maybe 10 minutes

(above) The absolute first thing I ever did with a drawing program, from April 2021

even seeing stuff now vs. stuff from the start of this year. Lots of things are comparatively effortless. Going from this, which was a several days' attempts just to get posing right and even then I hide a lot of things I struggled with.

To this, which I did over the course of an hour and change, and without references on the pose

I sometimes forget, because my style and posting is so sketch-heavy and I don't really have fun with rendering (something I should work on so I feel better about it and therefore maybe have more fun, for sure), that I'm actually not bad at drawing anymore, and I've progressed a crazy amount for only doing this for 2 years or so.

When I started, I was in a community of very skilled artists that were really really not okay with confidence or self-congratulation for some reason. It was more than acceptable to praise each other, but you had to express disdain and loathing for your art in order for that to happen. As if any satisfaction or confidence gained was inherently narcissistic.

So since that kind of lingers in my perception of my art, I'm taking the time right now to appreciate my own work in a way that I would if it was someone else's. Especially to remind myself of how not very long I've been doing this

[bozo-boy]

a retrospective of my art of 2022

i love that you can tell what i’m hyperfixating on judging by the art. more detailed explanations below the cut!

january

i started off 2022 with a redraw of a piece from april of 2021. for christmas of last year, i got an ipad and apple pencil, so this was largely me exploring procreate and the feel of a new way of drawing. there’s a lot about this one that i still like, particular chat noirs cute lil face, but there’s so much i would do differently now that i’m more comfortable with the medium.

february

i was still finding my footing with this one. i was really into fnaf, and naturally, monty. the shine on the ass was using one of the in-app stamp brushes, which was quite fun to play with. honestly, going back, i would just add more depth and complexity to this one. i stand by the bones of this one.

march

this one was done so i could have a fancy new pfp. to be completely honest, i’m not a fan of this one. it’s a redraw of a screenshot from the show itself, and even at the time i was unsatisfied with how this turned out. in retrospect, i would’ve started the sketch small and then scaled it up so it would look a bit more,, normal. i find my art comes out much better when i start small.

april

this drawing is for a worldbuilding project i like to work on when i’m not obsessed with anything else at the time. in this world, there’s a city with a whole festival for phoenixes, and a legend involving a raven falling in love with the sun, but i won’t get into that right now. if i’m remembering correctly, one of my references for this one was a swallow. i still like the way the sun shines through the feathers and the more painterly style. i still stand by this one 100%.

may

oh boy may. this was when my apple pencil broke, and lined up with me getting into sonic, after watching the movie. one of my friends sent me a picrew, birthing this little nameless character. i’m still quite happy with this one, i think i got the style really good while still making it a little bit my own. my short lived sonic hyperfixation is still visible in the way i draw eyes while sketching, which i think it pretty neat. i wonder if, had my apple pencil not broken, i would’ve gotten more into the franchise.

june

AHHHHHH. sorry, this is from when i got back into a set of my ocs, affectionately dubbed “the sin boyz”. they’re all based on the seven deadly sins, and this is asmodeus, embodiment of lust. he’s definitely the most fun to draw because of him being quite high energy, and i’d love to come back to these characters once again. i don’t have much to say about the drawing itself, other than still liking how cartoony it is.

july

i’m not entirely sure what sparked this, but i got really back into the arcana, a game which i’ve been into for years now. this little fella is my character for the game, named zephyr! this piece is actually based on a sketch from i think a few months earlier. i still like this one, with his cute little face. i adore how his eyes turned out, and i’d love to try returning to that style, even just to experiment.

august

this is actually a reference photo for zephyr, but i wanted to fully render it to try to demonstrate some of the fabric textures. i still adore just about everything about this, aside from how his face turned out. i’ve always struggled a little with placing eyebrows too close to the hairline, dating back to my art from when i was like,, 12, where the eyebrows would actually float above the head. aside from that, i still love this.

september

when i made this, i was actually rereading lucio’s route (i’m obsessed with it in a train-wreck way) and found the imagery of the player investigating his abandoned room super compelling. the background from this is actually from the game itself, which is something i had never done before. i even slightly edited the background the reflect some of his magical light! this one is much less colourful and saturated than my other stuff, and i have mixed feelings about it. still though, i’m proud of it, and i think this style of lighting is reflected in what i make today, even if the colours are out of my comfort zone.

october

this is probably one of my favourite pieces of ghost fanart i’ve made. the lighting is a little unpolished in relation to the smoke, but i couldn’t care less cause i just think it looks so freaking cool. i was directly inspired by mummy dust, both in the vision in my head when he growls “duuuuustl, but also in the green stage lighting when it’s performed on stage. i love how swirly the smoke looks, and even now, i’m obsessed with drawing characters lit from below. it’s one of my favourite things i’ve ever made.

november

so uh,, i was a very passionate voter in the american music awards, and the news of ghosts win was so wonderful. i, like many others, was and still am obsessed with the outfit tobias forge wore, and found it super inspiring. i was really worried about this one, cause i basically never draw real people and really wanted it to actually look like him while still being my art style, and i think i did pretty good. this was also new for me because it has two light sources! this presented a really fun challenge and i’m still so proud of this, aside from the lighting on the glass part of the award itself. also, three.

december

i got a new apple pencil for christmas! i immediately had to make something with it and the wonderful pressure sensitivity. i was mostly just playing around with this one, and doing back i’d change a few things, even if it’s only from a few days ago. nonetheless, i had a lot of fun here and really like the colours.

summary

oh boy i sure did draw this year! i think i’ve improved a lot, specifically in shading and rendering. i went outside of my comfort zone a lot with lighting, like things with multiple light sources and coloured light. next year, i wanna go outside of my comfort zone in different ways, particularly with things like backgrounds and character interactions. if you’ve read this far, i hope you enjoyed my self-analysis, and i hope 2023 brings you joy!

[alaraxia]

Process Breakdown: Starfall

Since I got some positive responses to my question on process stuff I’m gonna do a behind the scenes breakdown for my most recent piece to help people see the process I use and how I problem solve. I didn’t plan to do this initially so I won’t have a ton of process shots but I did save a handful. There’s a few scattered hyperlinks to other pieces I reference too. Just a warning this is mostly train of thought so it’s super verbose.  

So base sketches were mostly focused around me defining the shape of the girl since she was the focal point and building the environment around her. Going in the things I knew I wanted were a girl precariously balanced on top of a massive capybara catching a falling star, while surrounded by smaller sleeping capybaras on rocks. I layered out a general forest scene surrounding it but didn’t really commit to much in the sketches. Messed with the angles of the large capybara a few times to make it feel less flat and more 3D in the space, used a lot of reference photos of capybaras and sorta simplified them to what I thought was cute/ what stood out to me as their defining features.

Skipping ahead a solid amount is midway through the initial lineart, with some areas just colored in to define them as separate. Initially this piece was supposed to be in a similar style as my “Stratosphere Dreaming” art, with a single uniform line thickness, bright colors, and no gradient shading at all, but I realized pretty soon after I finished the lineart and started coloring that I had done what I tend to do a lot and made it too complex to pull off successfully in that style so I had to pivot to using gradient shading and other non-cell style techniques (though you can see a lot of those methods still in the coloring of the girl). This caused an even bigger challenge as I was drawing on a large canvas with high DPI in Procreate which resulted in me having a cumulative 50 layers to work with at any given time (hell).

Now once I made that rendering style pivot is when the really hard part began, and why on top of my persistent arm injuries this took me about two months to finally finish.

1.) I had an extremely difficult time trying to figure out the color pallet for the piece. I had an idea of the values and general colors I wanted (you can see some pallets and random base color tests in the image above) but I just couldn’t get them to look right and I became extremely more aggravated as I kept trying new and different things. My biggest mental block was feeling like I was stuck trying to make the initial pallet idea work, but eventually I was able to bump it to a slightly adjacent pallet and it worked far better. Essentially a lot of angry experimenting and testing.

2.) I made the piece too complex for its own good when it came to the foliage and scene. After finding success with a very specific way to render foliage in one of my favorite pieces I started to use it as my standard, but that standard started to show cracks when I had foliage heavy scenes like in my Hollow Knight piece from last year. The rendering style became insanely too time consuming, and incredibly distracting when used in abundance, taking away from the focal point. I knew this but I still attempted to use the same style to render the foreground foliage MULTIPLE times in increasing states of frustration until I stepped back, evaluated it wasn’t working, and tested out a very similar style with the same effect but that I could throw together twice as fast without the aggressive distraction and minuscule details that were irrelevant in the scheme of the art. This frustration in the rendering not working was only exacerbated by the color pallet indecision making a lot of the attempts just look bad both color and style wise.

Due to the limited layers I had to finish rendering out the girl very early and merge her together to free up layer space, and couldn’t keep my lineart layers as separate as I would have liked to allow for quick line color swaps. She ended up being a key point in defining the rest of the color pallet of the piece. The dress shape was indeed inspired by the Lirika Matoshi strawberry dress, but with my own twist.  

Once I got a more solid color pallet down the rest started to come a lot easier and I was able to begin filling stuff in and doing general color adjustments to make the backgrounds darker and give it more depth. I don’t have any more process shots beyond the initial color pallet exploration unfortunately, but the last hurdle I hit was at the very end once I was doing final touch ups. I found that with the only light source/ lighter color being the falling star that it washed out a lot of the rest of the pieces and made the details I spend so much time on feel unnoticed. I found though that adding the bright orange stardust specks into the trees, the girls hair, and falling from the star itself gave the last bit of color I think it needed without completely destroying the atmosphere. Originally (you may see it in some of the process shots) there were going to be jars with stars already in them illuminating the bottom of the piece, but after multiple trial and error iterations it just didn’t work out and ended up taking the focal point away from the girl and the star too much so I scrapped it.

Finally once I got everything done I made a copy of the entire art file to save as a backup, then with one of the copies merged all the layers together. Once all merged I made a copy of the fully merged layer, and went and adjusted the entire layer copy using a Gaussian Blur, reduced the opacity of the blurred layer to a super low percent, and put it on top of the original merged layer. This gave it that ethereal sort of feel that is difficult to notice unless you zoom in but really helps soften the piece and make it more dreamlike overall. Then I merged that blur layer down, and turned on about a 3% noise layer on it all to give it a bit of texture.

But that’s enough rambling from me, hope this helps give a bit of background to my process and decision making and it wasn’t just a wall of random musings. 

My last piece of advice is if you’re looking to do art professionally, do commissions, or make a lot of pieces in a short period of time I would highly advise against directly copying techniques I use. Because while I’m always working to improve I do only do this as a hobby rn so I have the luxury of being able to invest a lot of time, energy, and details into higher complexity pieces that would take way too long in a professional environment. I can put a lot of time into making a single piece exactly as I want it since I’m not reliant on art as my sole income. As I improve I can make things faster, but it’s still an overall slow process and I just end up moving my quality standards up with any level of improvement anyway. Use stuff I do as inspiration but I cannot stress enough to learn as many shortcuts as possible (I’m still struggling with this myself).

If y’all have any questions about bits feel free to dm, if I do something like this again I’ll try to get better screenshots during the process n try to be less verbose.

[siriusbunbryist]

In defence of Abed x Annie.

Thanks to the magic of Netflix, I’ve rewatched Community at age 24, and still found Abed and Annie to have hit the heartstrings as much as I did when I was in high school watching the show for the first time.

But watching the series in its entirety just reinforces my thought that Abed and Annie had so much potential that was wasted, and it’s a shame that the writers planted all these seeds to only decide that perhaps this direction was not worth it / too risky / unfavoured by the audience. But I mean, Alison Brie herself (and I’m assuming Danny Pudi as well) endorsed them! Find here and here.

This was a pairing that with all the crumbs scattered throughout the show (I think we are all aware of these crumbs I speak of), could’ve easily played the “oh we’ve been secretly dating this whole time” trope during the last episode and it would’ve still made sense.

Naturally I did some scoping, and of course unsurprisingly the J.eff x Annie pairing takes the cake, while not a lot of love for Abed x Annie. So here are common points of contentions I see surrounding Abed and Annie, and my rationale on them.

Before I start, a note - I fully respect the J.eff x Annie ship and I don’t intend on starting a ship w.ar/debate. I understand where their support comes from! I just needed to vent because no one else in my social circle watches this show. No hate please.

1. Abed doesn’t see Annie romantically

I think on the contrary it’s been set up rather long ago that Abed at the very least is attracted to Annie.

Exhibit A: “What are you making” in Beginner Pottery

Exhibit B: “Flat B.utt and the one Abed wants to nail” in The Art of Discourse

This video basically explains it! The summary: Annie is Pierce’s favourite, Pierce constantly insults Britta, therefore Britta is flat b.utt.

Exhibit C: Not even trying to hide it in Accounting for Lawyers

But, a romantic interest has to be further built upon finding someone attractive right? There has to be intrigue to their character, such as

Exhibit D: “I can only connect to people through... movies” in English as a Second Language

It is pretty obvious here that Annie is a rare someone who has successfully broken the impartial screen that Abed filters everything through. Jeff saw it too which is why he said Annie was the ark of the covenant before Abed fell for her disney face. I can only imagine Abed to be quite struck with Annie’s infiltration.

A romantic interest should also share common interests, such as

Exhibit E: “Which makes Annie is my third favourite show” in Paranormal Parentage

I’ve said before that for Abed, a guy who lives life and communicates through comparing it with television and movies, it’s not unthinkable for him to be attracted to someone who genuinely watches his favourite shows and commits to roles during cosplay. And who, besides Troy, would fit this profile? Annie. 

And finally, the biggest indicator of it all, we also see how Abed views the Jeff and Annie pairing in everyone’s favourite episode Remedial Chaos Theory. Keeping in mind that the timelines are rendered by Abed, out of all the timelines, J.eff and Annie only kis.sed when Abed left the room for pizza. As well, as conjured in Abed’s head, Evil Jeff and Evil Annie only existed as a couple in the Darkest Timeline. To me at least, it’s arguable that this alludes to Abed’s omniscient “director” standpoint that he may be the obstacle in the Jeff and Annie relationship - pointing towards him perhaps harbouring feelings for Annie.

2. Annie doesn’t see Abed romantically The general consensus on this point is that Annie is only attracted to Abed when he’s playing a character. I rather think that being attracted to someone, and being attracted to someone during role play, aren’t mutually exclusive. Let’s take a look at the different characters that Abed played.

Don Draper: serious, sophisticated, and smooth.

Han Solo: immature, flirty and a smarta.ss.

Batman: mysterious, complex, and brave.

Three different personas, yet Annie responded to all of them. Since the common denominator to all three is that they are played by Abed, I would like to offer a counterpoint that perhaps the attraction to Abed has always been there, it’s just emphasized when Abed plays a character. Who knows, role playing might even be Annie’s ki.nk. After all, during For a Few Paintballs More, it is shown that Annie is disappointed when Abed dropped the Han Solo persona after the battle ended.

Annie also loves big romantic gestures. Who’s better than doing that than Abed? Since the beginning, Abed has already been doing big romantic gestures of varying degrees for Annie. With this, it’s not ridiculous for Annie to see Abed as a romantic potential.

Exhibit F: Staying in a room for 26 hours in Social Psychology

Annie: You sat in a room for twenty-six straight hours. Didn’t that bother you?  Abed: Yeah I was livid.  Annie: Then why didn’t you leave?  Abed: Because you asked me to stay and you said we were friends.

Exhibit G: Rescuing her from “captivity” and inviting her to move in in Remedial Chaos Theory and Studies in Modern Movement (even Troy was surprised at Abed’s invitation)

Exhibit H: Tearing down the Dreamatorium in Studies in Modern Movement

Annie: What about the Dreamatorium? Abed: Oh it's staying. The Dreamatorium is more important than any of us. But you're more important than our bedroom so we put the bunk bed in the blanket fort.

Bonus: Confirmed by Alison Brie

3. The show was about Jeff and Annie

Dan Harmon said that Community’s approach is that anything and any pairing is possible. We see this is as the series started with the classic “player vs smart snarky girl” trope with setting up Jeff and Britta as the main pairing. We also see Troy and Annie as the potential B couple in the show. The writers also threw Pierce and Shirley, Annie and Britta, Dean and Jeff, and even Chang and Britta in for a laugh.

And then the show subverted this all by introducing Jeff and Annie, and made Troy and Britta a couple, showing us that Community is a show that intends on breaking these classic sitcom stereotypes by experimenting with different pairings. Abed and Annie was no exception to this, as the writers often pair them up in different shenanigans and hint at possible grounds to explore*.

A few examples: Han and Leia in For a Few Paintballs More, Hector the Well Endowed and the Elf Maiden in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, spy partners in Modern Espionage.

No doubt that the show dabbled in and out of Jeff and Annie throughout the series. However, to say that Jeff and Annie was the primary pairing in the series would mean overlooking Jeff and Britta. Especially when Jeff and Britta have the whole love-hate dynamic, three(?) marriage close-calls, and emotional snippets such as helping Jeff reunite with his father in Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations.

Anyway, not to discredit Jeff and Annie, but knowing that the show explores the possibility of different pairings**, why write off Abed and Annie?

* Not to mention that the cop pairing in The Science of Illusion was originally written with Abed and Annie in mind! ** We also see a stray Abed and Britta during Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps.

4. Annie is in love with Jeff To keep this short and shipper-goggle free, Annie has said on numerous occasions that she’s in love with the idea of Jeff, not Jeff himself. Specifically this scene in Virtual Systems Analysis:

Abed as Annie: "…We love Jeff…" Annie: "No we don’t, we’re just in love with the idea of being loved. And if we can teach a guy like Jeff to do it, we’ll never be unloved, so we keep running the same scenario over and over hoping for a different result."

And this scene in Conventions of Space and Time:

Annie: All right, I may have been play-acting that we were married, and then the staff thought you were cheating, and I had to save face. Jeff: Do I have to worry about this? Annie: No, I was just daydreaming. I mean, I've married you at least a half a dozen times. And Troy. And Zac Efron.

Not to mention that their conversation in the finale says it all.

Jeff: I don't wanna be fine. I wanna be 25 and heading out into the world. I wanna fall asleep on a beach and be able to walk the next day, or stay up all night on accident. I wanna wear a white t-shirt without looking like I forgot to get dressed.* I want to be terrified of AIDS, I want to have an opinion about those, boring a.ss Marvel movies. And I want those opinions to be of any concern to the people making them. Annie: Well I want to live in the same home for more than a year, order wine without feeling nervous, have a resume full of crazy mistakes instead of crazy lies. I want stories and wisdom, perspective. I wanna have so much behind me I'm not a sl.ave to what's in front of me, especially those flavourless unremarkable Marvel movies.

*Shipper-goggle on: Part of me thinks this is a reference to Abed, whose iconic style almost exclusively comprises T-shirts. What Jeff is saying is that he wishes he is 25 again with his future open before him, someone who compatible with Annie, but here he acknowledges that he isn’t, and lets her go in the end.

5. Abed and Annie wouldn’t work as a couple Another point I see is that Abed and Annie are strictly platonic and are more like brother and sister. On the basis that they have made out a couple times and are attracted to each other, I would disagree with the sibling statement.  

Troy, in contrast to Abed, I think actually resembles a more sibling-like relationship with Annie. Although Troy and Annie have the strong friendship of Abed and Annie, when disregarding the high school crush stage of season 1, their storylines never dwelled further down an attraction path, nor was there any specific episode that was dedicated to a deep dive of vulnerabilities and confrontation between them. As a comparison, Troy and Britta had opportunities to explore these setups (Troy admitted to lying about his b.utt stuff story and Troy helped Britta face Blade) - an indication that Troy and Britta were heading into non-platonic territory. Jeff and Britta too, had several opportunities to confront their feelings (up till the very last season), a clear indication of a non-platonic relationship.

For Abed and Annie, what I think pulls their friendship towards actual love interest potential is best pinpointed to Virtual Systems Analysis. Annie’s participation in the Dreamatorium prompted her to not only fully submerge into the way Abed thinks and comprehends his surroundings, but she also got to understand and address Abed’s stubbornness and flaws in a vulnerable way, confronting some of her own flaws as well.

Abed as Shirley: Your hospital school, young lady, is a simulation being run through a filter of other people's needs. Abed's been filtered out because nobody needs him. Annie: I need him!

And to point out this little tidbit in VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing,

Annie: That's why Abed is like a brother to me. You guys are so alike. Abed: I can't accept that based on one time machine story.

This whole episode, instead of establishing Abed is like Annie’s brother, I would argue is rather doing the opposite. Abed and Annie’s hyper antics in the episode were basically matched by Anthony and Rachel’s blatant indifference and confusion. For lots of Abed and Annie supporters, this episode was a major setback. But I think it instead highlights how in-sync they are with each other, which is a good thing.

Another point, despite Annie trying to prove otherwise, Abed and Anthony had different vibes, and each shared different dynamics with Annie. And as Anthony pointed out in the end, who were Abed and Annie trying to replace in the apartment? Troy. The person who they are trying to fill is Troy - their roommate, their brother, their best friend. Troy was the brother role that neither Abed and Annie can fill for each other.

In Basic Sandwich, we get this exchange:

Abed: The point is, this show, Annie, it isn't just their show. This is our show, and it's not over. And the sooner we find that treasure, the faster the Jeff-Britta pilot falls apart. Annie: Got it. Thank you, Abed. Abed: You're welcome. I have a girlfriend. Annie: What? Abed: You were about to start a kiss lean. Annie: I was not.

Not only did Abed saw right through Annie’s anxiety and comforted her in his own uniquely Abed way, but he also felt the need to remind her of his girlfriend. The fact that he broke the fourth wall here is likely the writers’ way to be meta, but simply acknowledging the tension and bond there says a lot in between the lines. If tension does not exist, there would be no need for this line.

Besides, instead of thinking that they’re strictly platonic (which of course is also okay), they would rather work great as a couple. In terms of opposites attract, Annie grounds Abed with just the right amount, while Abed clearly encourages Annie to be her true self and be immature. Such as this scene in Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism,

Annie: I’m following him.  Troy: You moving in here was supposed to tone us down!

Annie also doesn’t just tolerate Abed’s idiosyncrasies, she actually likes them and fully participates as multiple paintball games and cosplays would tell us. Special shoutout to the missing lovers footage in Wedding Videography, which through Britta, actually shows us that Annie is the only one who would go along with Abed’s projects - while Britta found the project extremely weird and unhealthy, Annie thought it was fun and commits well to her role.

And while others may tiptoe around Abed, Annie isn’t afraid to call Abed out when he’s out of line and makes a point to teach him about empathy in Virtual Systems Analysis. Remember that Britta tried teaching him this but it didn’t work as well.

I am Abed Nadir... And I don't know a lot of things everyone else knows. I wander the universe with my friend, Troy, doing whatever I want. Sometimes accidentally hurting innocent unremarkables. This week, however, Troy went to lunch and I adapted. I now have the ability to enter the minds of others using an elusive new technique known as "empathy".

As well as in the entire episode of Cooperative Polygraphy.

They also know each other best. Abed knew her cushion preferences, was the one who spelled out her true pas.sion for forensics, and after living together, Annie knew how to navigate Abed’s peculiarities and to soothe him whenever he had a nervous breakdown. 

Annie also knows him so well that she can predict his reaction.

They are also each other’s exception. Annie was always the one who manages to pull Abed out of a trance and back to reality, usually with touch.

Abed is also very forgiving with her. An example is when Annie seemingly lost all common sense because she broke Abed’s special edition dvd in Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism.

Annie: Well, Batman, on behalf of all of us that aren't perfect, can I just say I'm sorry I broke your DVD? Abed: Apology accepted. But I wouldn't mention it to Abed. That guy's pretty ruthless. And that's coming from Batman.

And in Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas, Annie was the only claymation doll that didn’t have a weird form (except Troy as toy soldier of course). Annie was a ballerina because Abed sees her as a creature of grace. Abed was also the first one who got her “brighter tomorrow” diorama and responded with enthusiasm.

They are also in the same stage in life. As Dan Harmon explains the choice of Abed and Annie being the ones who leave the group, with Troy gone, Abed and Annie symbolize the many possibilities of the future - a possibility that makes them viable. I like to think Annie transfers to the LA FBI office after her internship and they reunite.

And as the Spice Girls said, “if you wanna be my love.r, you gotta get with my friends”. In Paleyfest, Dan Harmon says this about whoever Troy and Abed ends up dating, “I mean a woman that comes into either of their lives is either going to drive them apart or she's going to have to be really accepting of a very special relationship”.

Britta tolerated their friendship but to a point of asking Annie to distract Abed for alone time with Troy, Troy dumped the librarian as she called Abed weird, Robin disappeared, Rachel we never got to see much of, but was pretty quiet and separated from the group. From this, logically speaking, Annie would actually be the perfect match for Abed, as we all know they’re the ultimate trio within the study group and a transition from friends to more will be natural. 

Oh, and, Abed is wrong. They’re not Chandler and Phoebe with little storylines together, they’re Chandler and Monica. 

Anyway, that’s it for my super long rant/analysis. Community the series is done and over, so there isn’t a need for any ship war. All I want to say is, if #andamovie happens, hopefully, the writers will actually take a leap.

[stry-someone-to-remember-you]

Plan(ed) to Have Something Ready, By The Ball Drop &/or Tomorrow!!! If Everything Works out...

Hey Everyone, 

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!!!

Wow, this is the second message without any art added or anything... LOL... Seems odd really to do this without having something up by now... By the way, yes the current avatar pic is related to the comic as you’ll come see soon. It’s and early sketch so some kinks aren’t worked out in the current image. But it was the one I was ready to have when I made this blog so there was at least something...

So as you probably can see by this title, I do plan on having something posted... I just don’t know to what extent. Due to some family drama, and continually piling on work I wasn’t able to get my Christmas Pic out to you guys, which was just a static scene with a few of the characters to get us started here. But... well family got in the way, continually decorating till Christmas day... a lot of things going on, bickering (though we all love each other) it’s just... you know life. I fully expected this as well, which is why I promised something before New Years, but didn’t specify as to what.

I postponed that idea to be released today or tomorrow, after seeing how I was completely unable to get to the work by Christmas Eve. But, by the looks of the progress I made on it and my families continually need of me till we get some things done in this house (that always has something to be done in it... LOL, at least things are coming fairly together).  So lets just say, I may not have anything out by tomorrow. But with hopes I want to have something out. So We’ll see. I could release early the character sketches. But I want to keep this blog clean as possible, so I feel releasing the character profiles, cards and blogs together prior to the Prologue, would fit better and keep this page having a cleaner look to it at the start.

 Maybe even by midnight tomorrow PST I could have something... But that again depends. I need to clean stuff for the internet/cable guy and I’m seriously allergic to dust... So the next few days I may be in an almost sickly comatose state regardless of the precautions I take. If dust gets kicked into the air at all and isn’t properly vacuumed up, than I’m often sick for days... I feel like all I’ve been doing the whole month is cleaning or working story wise on this comic... Mostly cleaning if you ask me, but at least after Saturday things should be more relaxed and I can have a better work schedule planned out. So yeah, that’s my life...

But DIDNT’ WAN TO LEAVE YOU HANGING with this Negative Nancy Talk ;D ;P ;D lol....

I want to tell you what I have so far:

I have the Christmas Image at least with the basic building blocks to complete it. Like I’ve drawn where I want things, but not detailed anything... So that’s why it may be a day or so... Technically its a Happy Holidays and New Years piece, but with the Christmas Tree in it I have the habit of calling it such...

I may have plans to detail it a bit more then I plan on having the comic, but that also depends on things. I may just leave it in the same style and not fully decked out to make it easier to finish...

~Several Characters for the beginning have their final forms created. These are major characters that will be scene in the prologue. I’m just having to figure out out little things with background characters in some instances.

~The prologue is almost completely written out. I had a change of heart a week ago on some things and had to change it around, which is why the written format for the prologue isn’t complete as it initially was. I just felt some things didn’t fit, so I added and took away some things so it flows better and also works both fanfiction wise for the story, but easily mixes for the Ask AU... I also have at least the beginning portion of the Intro script written, the parts unaffected by the changes. However, parts of the intro will be written out, depending on the questions you ask the characters in this prologue so these portions I’m leaving open on purpose. It’s the plot driven portions I’m mentioning that I’ve changed slightly. ;) I have fun plans for the prologue. Remember this story has a clear direction I’m taking it with plot. But the Ask portion will be a part of it, I have such a fun way of Ask’s being tied into the plot driven story, and it will change depending on the context, person and setting which makes this really fun to plan out. 

                   -With that said, here’s an early heads up, that for Ask Questions, I will allow any sort of asks, but if it has potential to spoil a part of the story, then I won’t answer it. Alongside this, I’ll allow Anon magic to a small degree. I won’t include Asks that like spoil something for a character, or tell the character where someone is, give away what someone else is doing to another character, etc... Unless it may fit the context, but generally I won’t use these types of asks. I will allow Anons to appear occasionally rather then just be unseen voices, as I have fun ways of incorporating Anons into the story that also works with different points in the plot. I will accept things like... say a dog or cat to appear for ex. amount of asks. I already know who they’ll be and have been planning out their designs, but I may draw the line at other animals (e.g. horses, fish, racoons, squirrels, lizards, etc.) Although, I do really love rabbits, I chose to make it concise to just two animals that if asked could appear. It’s not because I can’t draw them but I don’t want things getting out of hand. Types of anon magic I’m not going to use if put in the Ask portion, are things like giving people certain powers or items that may completely effect the tone or plot of the story, accept maybe if I did a non-canon AU to this au for fun one day. I will go more in depth in the general rules later. In no way is this to discourage anyone from asking such things. I may set reminders at times if I get to much of something. But, in general I’ll do what I can to make this a fun Ask blog all the same.

~The Larger Summary, I promised like a trailer would be in the comic form I have rendered the Script for, and have two slides so far drawn out, just not completed. (for the time I didn’t have around the Holidays compared to normally I actually surprised myself with this)

~The story itself is really coming together, I already have a starting and stopping point (which I had prior to this blog) as it will have several Acts and Arcs, some which have greatly changed and take on new depth since the point I started this blog. The themes and story in general are drawn out pretty well.�� I don’t have all the chapters I’d want fully written. As I have my plan, but I also want to get the prologue in first, just to see if there’s anything I should change with my concept. It’s just a precaution, something I’ve learned well when taking on something new. So I don’t have things that are written in stone and hard to change if the form I’m hoping to take doesn’t work out and needs to be retooled or something. But these are minor and shouldn’t change the overall scope and plot I’m taking this story on either.

~I’ve created several of the character bios, many in fact are already written in true Henry Stickmin fashion. But as I took inspiration to make this into a AU as well, I will possibly make both the bio cards and show a static shot of the characters alongside it or something... It’s an idea, but I want this to also be the easier comic. But, considering that I’ll always have a static shot I use as reference for any character I make, this is what makes this more realistic to occur as well. ~I’ve nearly drawn out all the characters for the intro portion. And already know how I’ll handle Anon’s in the story. In the Prologue itself, I’ll actually have you Anon’s being referenced as audience members in a conference of sorts. Think of it like those conferences when a new Apple or Microsoft product is first advertised as something new to the news conference, those big rotunda’s where someone's being interviewed and presenting the hot new item. Think of the opening to the prologue being something like this scenario. So the questions directed at the character in there, who... *cough* I will introduce later after I fully render both their character profile and have their character bio(s) fully done. Which considering how fun and easy it’s been to do this so far shouldn’t be to long now... Although to keep from getting questions to soon on them, I may hold off on posting the Characters and Bio’s till I have that Intro/Trailer completed... I’m still considering which to do first actually. But top on my list out of all of these is having my cover art for the top completed. That’s something I admit though I have the layout I have hardly started on and should focus on first.

~I’m also taking close looks at how to properly make the rules for this group. When I posts either the Character Bios, Holiday Pic, OR the Trailer Comic... Maye even just the cover art... Then I will try to have out an official Rules list. The one I have on the group posts is just general stuff... But I’m reconsidering some rules I already wrote... Basically keep things family friendly, be kind an courteous, nothing vulgar or disturbing. 

I may change this from a PG-13 comic to maybe PG-15. I’ve realized recently, there are some points that some characters do swear... sometimes more then once. I’m not someone who talks with vulgarity myself, but I sure can write characters with it.... Let’s just say I’m going to see if in those scenes I might just bleep out words and see if the dialogue still comes through. But, I dunno... LUCKILY, we don’t have to worry about many of those scenes till way further into this comic. So lucky for either of us, this isn’t a major concern at the moment. And on the plus side it’s not the crudest words I could have chosen so... it may still work as a PG-13 work... I’ll make this decision soon as possible. 

Another reason for the sudden change, came as I realized as the story goes, and even in early chapters there will be scenes where blood is shown and physical mortal danger and peril is experienced by the characters. I do have heavy theming sometimes, later on it may seem constantly about. As this story is heavily Drama/Mystery and some suspense based. As the story progresses it will become less Drama/Mystery and more based around the drama/suspense itself. This will obviously be some more intense scenes that showing less blood would allow me to make PG-13, however I also don’t want to undercut the certain tones using representations of a mortal wound would bring. I also want to look at things like these future scenes realistically. Which is why I’m mostly considering changing this story to a PG-15 or at least more certain I am. I just don’t want people shocked that I’m doing this. I don’t feel this story will be R, there was a time where I heavily considered it. But for once I decided no, I didn’t want that. I just didn’t want to open the door for scenes I didn’t intend to have in this story. There will be heavy themes that my have TW for some people. But I didn’t want some TW’s  that having a R rated story could potentially have. I mean certain themes people are free to write fanfictions for, and depending on the content can make art for. But again this will be family friendly group... As You can see I’m considering more then a little here when it comes to the official rules. These details will be followed up on the official rules post.

~~~~~~

Now I apologize for the length.

The structure of this and the previous Authors Notes will probably fall under their own category for length. I’ll work to make sure posts in the future won’t be so long and hard to read. It is early morning for me when I woke to write this, and I found once much of the day passed that I still wanted to include the stuff I did into this update.

I have more to tell you, but I think this post has spurned the energy in me out. Anything that I missed in this post, I’ll try to remember to update in the next post (hopefully after I get some art on here). What I can’t do at the moment is promise dates right now till I’m more certain of schedule to work on this or can promise that my general allergies won’t cause me to delay this at all. But I can confirm that I should have several things coming out this next month, including the comic Prologue I hope. Depending on the traction the comic and fanfic gets, I may try to work on it quickly, or take my time with it. I may do a mix of both as my perfectionist self won’t let me just shoot something out without giving it my all first. I’m shushing that side slightly so this comic will be easier on me then the more detailed one I have planned. All the same, I’m planning to work on this one more at the moment till I can get an idea of my work flow. Sometimes the easiest route of work is better for planning, rather then diving head first into the deep end right away. You don’t learn to swim by jumping head first into the ocean. Piece of advice that it took years for me to learn myself ;). Anyways, I figured since I did promise something hopefully by today or tomorrow, I’d give you a formal update... Also... Well I can’t promise that updates won’t be like this in the future. I’ll try to keep them concise. But as people who know me, well have learned when it comes to personally talking I tend to write or talk out epistle. So... When I give updates, I may have lengthy ones... I’ll try my best to keep this side of me out of updates, if I can help it. Anyways Happy New Years Everyone!!! I hope everyone's Christmas and Holidays were extra special, despite the state of the world!!! 

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE AND DAY!!! Sincerely, <3 (Mod) Sweet Heart Blaze

[coolspacequips]

How do you draw natural hair???? I can't find a solid reference that isn't just "draw individual strands" or "make blocks and nothing else"

omg thats a tricky question, tbh, anon!!! and also tbh this answer got longer than i expected... i dont rly have the Art Language to rly teach anything v well so uhh i just threw a bunch of stuff in here

ive never made a tutorial, and i dont rly have the time to do one atm, but HERE is a pretty decent one i see floating around from time to time, and HERE is one that loosely goes over some dos/donts of drawing black features, and mentions hair as well. theres a particular one i think is rly good that i cant find, unfortunately, but oh well

the first guide i linked gives a pretty neat rundown of a few things to keep in mind, namely:

texture types

hairline!!

lighting

colors/undertones

just like w straight hair, the first thing to consider is the hairline and HOW the hair falls, which may seem intimidating bc of the natural beautiful voluminousness of black hair, but rly isnt as hard as it seems. 

i think ppl are often intimidated by learning to draw curly hair out of this feeling that they have to render each strand/curl and flyaway, but when ur doing art youre trying to CONVEY something, not render a picture perfect image. you can translate the curl, volume, and texture of hair without fully rendering it, the same way that u can translate the swish and fall of straight hair without having to draw every single strand, but ya, you cant rly draw ‘blocks’ with no nuance or defining features and hope to communicate the same thing

it might be useful to kind of envision it as drawing layers. like, the way that you wear layers of lace and crinoline to give size and volume to a skirt. this applies for rly picturing most styles, but w curly hair in particular its a good way to imagine how/why the volume builds the way it does

this is just a scribble to illustrate my point lol, but u wanna get the shape and stuff down!! when its shorter, it sticks up into those cute, curly afros and bobs, and when its long it gets heavy and the curls tend to droop down more. btw, shrinkage refers 2 the way that ur hair shrinks up from the curls themselves, so keep that in mind when it comes to the hair length that youre drawing, also! if the girl i drew had wet hair, itd probs go to the middle/bottom of her shoulder blades, despite being shoulder length when curled

ur best tool is reference! look at pictures of black hair in different styles. its like, the most versatile hair in the world, u can curl it and shape it and braid it, hell, afro textured hair can be sculpted into just about anything, broaden ur scope of what you think black hair can be!!! and dont just draw sleek 4c ringlet curls and call it a day!! also, get more comfortable drawing the shape of a bald head, dont hide behind hair. itll help you draw all hair and features better, but especially will help w faded styles, braids, and of course shaved heads

reference doesnt have to just be pictures, tho, bc it can be hard to know where to start. look at how other BLACK artists draw black hair, and take note!! focus on what they thought needed to be included to get the point across, what silhouette the hairstyles have, where they draw curls, where they draw parts in the hair, how they highlight and what shapes they make. give braids and locs a try-- its not as hard as it might seem, but it takes practice to get it right!!

if u have a more realistic style, its def worth getting further into the nitty gritty of just how all of those curls come together, im just talking more about the shape and how it translates in a p basic way, especially since i have a more cartoony style afiowejaioej im also still learning!! 

im sure u have all seen asieybarbie’s stuff floating around on tumblr thru the years, and she is one of my Big Inspirations when it comes to drawing varied black hair AND skintones (which she has a tutorial about lol), and HERE is a little sketchpage she posted once that has a small variety of both. some are more rendered, while some are big blocks of color broken up by highlights and loose curls on the edges to define the shape of the hair, and note w the locs how u can see her scalp between the parts in her hair

if u have a simple or comic style u can still convey black hair, either as a block of shape w defining features, or by drawing out the texture of the curls and strands, like this

(first two are old, finished comics lol, and hey look 2 black wlw!!!!! tiger tiger is something ive been working my way thru, but is recent, ongoing, and cute and funny and inspiring lmao. notably tho none of these are black artists :c ive been out of the web comics game for a minute and tiger tiger is the first one ive read in a while lmao)

***its girlswithslingshots.com, made a typo!! 

also when i think mainstream comics, the first character w natural hair that comes to mind is my wife gwendolyn from saga who i couldnt not mention

on the left her curls are more rendered, its cover art, notice how the light hits the curls and the way that they curls end, which is simplified to the right image a lot of the time in the main body of the comic!

and idk ive said too much already, but hopefully that helps!! im just kind of rambling at this point lol, but research and reference and practice are rly the best thing, and looking at other art of respectfully portrayed black characters

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Deadpool 2 review

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS! READ PAST THE BREAK WITH CAUTION!

It’s about time I reviewed this.

I put off reviewing this movie because of some barely-worth-mentioning drama, and it has been on the backburner for months. But after finally watching the Super Duper Cut, it’s time to break my silence and talk about this year’s biggest breath of fresh air and its funniest comedy.

Deadpool 2 is the Aliens of superhero movies. It takes the groundwork laid out by an already fantastic first film and just amps up everything: the humor, the action, the character interactions, all of it is just fine tuned and perfected. Where the first film was an impressive work for a first-time director, blending a romantic arc and an origin story together while delivering all the fun and laughs you’d expect from a character like Deadpool, this movie features a lot more impressive action, which is fitting since it’s given to us by the man behind John Wick and Atomic Blonde, while still delivering all sorts of gut-busting laughs and wonderful character interactions.

So what sort of mess has Wade gotten into this time? Well, after a life-changing event, Wade is down in the dumps and trying to figure out what to do with himself. In his attempts at straightforward X-Men style heroism he ends up being sent to jail alongside the superpowered kid he was trying to save, Russel. Russel soon ends up as the target of the time-travelling cyborg badass known as Cable, and after getting the shit kicked out of him Wade realizes his true calling: saving this kid from Cable. Armed with guns, katanas, a bigger budget, and his all-new X-Force team, can Wade hope to stop Cable from axing Russel?

The beauty of this film is, ultimately, how it manages to subvert expectations. A lot of movies lately have made being subversive into a big selling point; sometimes it works out really well and the movie is all the better for it - see Infinity War, a film that features the heroes failing miserably and ending on a shot of the villain contentedly relaxing after committing galactic genocide, the opposite of what you’d expect from a superhero blockbuster. Sometimes, it works poorly - see The Last Jedi, which features things going the opposite of how you’d expect due to bad writing and characters acting like idiots and trusting the shadiest people possible, the sort of idiocy we thought Star Wars had moved on from after the first two prequels. And then you have films like this, where everything is subverted for hilarity. And nothing in the world is funnier than how it subverts your expectations for Deadpool’s X-Force. Filled with unique and quirky characters like Shatterstar (who remains an alien from Mojoworld, meaning that Mojo is in fact canon in the X-Men cinematic universe. Put him in a movie, Fox) and big names like Bill Skarsgard as Zeitgeist and Terry Crews as Bedlam, not to mention the hilarious everyman without powers that is Peter, the film builds up and hypes their big skydiving scene, blasting “Thunderstruck” as they leap from the plane onto a convoy to save Russel from Cable…

...And then each and every one of them dies brutally, painfully, and horribly. And HILARIOUSLY, that’s the most important thing. I don’t think there is a funnier bit of black comedy in any other film, let alone a superhero film. Even funnier is that the invisible character, who has not spoken a word and who one could easily assume did not actually exist, has an amusing reveal right upon his death, which is the most hilariously wasteful use of an actor I have ever seen. The entire scene is just brilliant in its subversion of our expectations for a badass new hero team, helped for once by the advertising, which built things up so one would expect this team to stick around.

Of course, we have one survivor - Domino, played by Zazie Beetz, a mutant with luck-based powers. She’s one of the numerous highlights of this film, and she plays the character with the laid-back, rolls-with-the-punches attitude a character like Domino deserves. Frankly, I like her a bit more than her comic version. And speaking of new characters, let’s talk about the best new element of the film, Deadpool’s beleaguered badass bro-for-life, Cable. Played by Josh Brolin - complete with the requisite references to The Goonies and Infinity War from Deadpool - he is the ultimate straight man, his gritty, grim badassery contrasting to Deadpool’s zany, wacky bullshit. Of course, that’s not to say Cable gets no good laughs; there’s something to be said for a man who can growl “Dubstep is for pussies” with a straight face. I’m fully of the mind Cable is the best addition to the movie, and I’m praying we get even more of him and Wade interacting in potential sequels.

Then we have our special guest of the hour, the character we’ve all wanted in the X-Men universe, the one, the only, the unstoppable motherfucker to end all motherfuckers… IT’S THE JUGGERNAUT, BITCH. And lord is he incredible, especially compared to the dipshit from The Last Stand. Sadly he does not utter “I’m the Juggernaut, bitch!” at all in the film, but he does rip Wade in half, confirm he’s Xavier’s half-brother, and threaten to turn Colossus into a cock ring, so it all evens out in the end. In this film, he actually FEELS unstoppable, and though he’s only onscreen in the third act, he definitely uses that screentime effectively, delivering the epic, ultimate smackdown between him and Colossus in what Deadpool helpfully informs us is the movie’s big CGI fight scene.

And speaking of Colossus, he’s even better here than in the first film. His interactions with Wade are hilarious and priceless, which is aided by Wade’s blatant crush on him - Wade at one point gropes his ass, and there is a romantic musical scene that calls back to a similar scene in the first film. He also gets a bit of character growth here, which is great and unexpected. Sadly I can’t say the same for Negasonic Teenage Warhead; she’s relegated to a bit part here, which is a damn shame since she was one of the highlights of the first film. On the plus side, not only is she revealed to be gay, but her girlfriend Yukio is absolutely adorable and charming… though, sadly, she also gets very little to do in the film aside from a cute running gag with her and Wade cheerily exchanging greetings.

Stuff like that is honestly the biggest problem with the film, and even then, the biggest problem is what amounts to a nitpick. Yes, it does suck that some of the characters are underutilized, but it’s hard to be too angry when the rest of the film is so gutbustingly hilarious and action-packed. One thing that did disappoint me a fair bit is Vanessa getting killed in the movie’s opening. Now, unlike many others, I’m not going to whine about “stuffing her in the fridge,” because I think that concept is so absolutely stupid and is used for literally every time a woman gets killed in a story, even if it makes sense for the story and progresses the plot meaningfully and in a well-done way. I don’t think this was awful or tacky, and regardless of anything else, the post-credit scene renders her death a moot point; still, I’m upset that she didn’t get to do anything in this movie aside from be a stand in for Lady Death. I would love if Vanessa got her comic book powers and fought alongside Wade, making them the ultimate power couple. It’s just mild disappointment, though much like with X-Force, it is a pretty subversive move to kill the love interest so abruptly and so quickly, especially when there was every indication Deadpool would get a happy ending… and then even more subversion comes at the end when Deadpool saves her (among many other hilarious moments) via the magic of time travel.

Aside from that, there’s not much else to complain about. The only other minor complaint is that the turn towards more serious elements isn’t always perfect, and some of the stuff with Russell could have been done better, but really, it’s just too hard to get worked up over the flaws. This is a fantastic, funny movie, and one of the best sequels I’ve ever seen. It’s bigger, funnier, flashier, and introduces so many more exciting elements into an already great series. This is how you make a superhero sequel, this is how you make an action-comedy, this is how you make one of the best movies ever. If you like Deadpool, if you like superheroes, if you like action-comedies, movies with great choreography, or love seeing a good subversive film, this is a movie you shouldn’t miss.

As for what version to watch, the Super Duper Cut or the theatrical cut… I have to say that the Super Duper Cut fleshes the story out a lot better and gives some much needed context, as well as adds in some new jokes that were cut from the original, as well as delivering callbacks a lot better and staying more cohesive… but I will say the theatrical cut had some much better jokes that were replaced with some less impressive takes in the Super Duper Cut. Still, the Super Duper Cut is the one I’d recommend watching, just because the story feels more fleshed out, and also because it features Deadpool trying to kill baby Hitler.

Also, I just want to say this: “Ashes” is a better Bond theme than the piece of shit theme song to Spectre.

[hellopromusic]

つばきファクトリー「デートの日は二度くらいシャワーして出かけたい」

作詞：つんく　作曲：つんく　編曲：江上浩太郎 

SMFH, fricking Tsunku… You are making me seem like I have no variety and I just cover your songs!!!!!!!!! It kinda pisses me off. Egami Kotaro arranged the song. I personally remember him the most fondly from his work on Berryz Koubou’s 1 roku 3 zen man sou diet song. It was the same combination of him and Tsunku. His wiki entry says his styles are R&B and Hip-hop, which explains the trap hi-hats sprinkled deliciously throughout the song. I think he did a great job on the song.

I guess at times, even if I try really hard, I still can not seperate the music from the idols… @ around 1:30 of the video Kishimon looks into my soul. She rendered me bare of every defense I could have had mustered against her… I am bewitched!gushing>

Anyways idol music, when not “Pure” Idol music borrows from other music, but does not fully become that music, so its psudo that type. Psudo rock, Psudo R&B, Psudo Indian. In this case, it uses a Psudo Counterpoint. Tsunku has taken us all the way back to Baroque Era music just for the music nerds… Here is a video explaining counterpoint, and an example of a piece of counterpoint the Fugue of Bach’s Tocatta and Fugue in D minor. There is a song that sounds just like this (at least it does to me), but its VideoGame Music.

Song format

Intro 1 Solo Verse 1 Counterpoint Verse 1 Prechorus 1 Chorus 1 intro 2 Solo verse 2 (solo) Counterpoint verse 2 Prechorus 2 chorus 2 intro 3 bridge Chorus 1 intro 4

Lyrics

Once again Tsunku writes these wonderfully realistic portrayals of young girls and their insecurities. This whole song about body odor destroying her love interest’s desire for her. Its so perfect, such an innocent, naive thought a young lady surely has… not knowing of course that men couldn’t care in the least. I swear we men function on like 25% of our brain… I think men smell in broad ranges… Smells good, smells normal, smells like something is off, smells better than me, and it stinks… 97% of things are in the smells better than me and up range.

Anyways the protagonist said that if she is going on a date with the guy, she wants to shower about 2 times before she leaves, which is ridiculous and so relatable at the same time. I think this is the charm of Tsunku’s lyrics, you are laughing because its lame, but you relate because you think the same way about something. Once again we have an insecure protagonist who is like, “you say I’m beautiful, but what about me is beautiful?” in fact, “I know that I have no confidence, I’m basic, I’m not fashionable.” (I want to imagine that the question he asked that made her say “ you think so” is “I like you, we should go on a date.”) In fact “if I was to go on a date with you, I would need to shower about twice before I left the house.” She said that if she would be embarrassed if she met him after school, likely because of her body odor. She is so hyper aware of her smell that she notices how her hair smells after going into a convenience store. Which by the way in Japan serves food and stuff, like fried chicken and warms up refrigerated food like yakisobapan or bentous, but she would likely only be in there for a few minutes, so its just describing how ridiculous she is.

In the second verse she is saying that she likes the silence when they are together or on the phone because she ca hear his heartbeat… but likely she is just too nervous to talk and is rationalizing it. She said she would love to be on this date all day, buuuuut her hair and makeup and stuff is in disarray. So now she wants to go back home. He literally says out of his mouth, “The way things naturally are, are good” but she still believes that she needs to “do something” to be worthy of his love. But in actuality, she does not love herself so she can not understand how someone else can love her. Its these sort of nuances about complex topics and situations that Tsunku puts in these short songs that is masterful.

The love interest is freaking running his fingers through the protagonist’s hair and she is still worrying that her body odor might botch the whole operation. I think this song really is attributable to the girls who sabotage themselves.

Composition

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS! I love this progression too much and its so common in baroque music for sections to have a happy spiral of fifths.

Anyhow, So only (sadly) the verses have the counterpoint-esque melody, the pre-chorus has a call and response thing going on. But both ultimately are call and response, the verses have a different rhythmic response and the pre-chorus has a similar rhythmic response. Like in verse 2 the first verse sets the melodic them that the second verse builds on. I will refer to them as voice A (establishing melody) and voice B (the answer to melody A). So in the verses, voice A goes up as it descends, and voice B goes down as it descend. This gives this wonderful motion to the melodies, its contrasts make them seem like they are arguing back and forth, or crossing each others paths.

This time our song is in the key of E flat major (e- f g a- b- c d e-) and my comments about the bass and melody use the scale degrees from this scale.

Melody, so delightful, even apart from the verses. verse 1 - 3, 4, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 5 (flat)

verse 2 - 3, 4, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 6 (Voice A) verse 2 - 3 to 4, 2 to 3, 1 to 2, 7, 6 (voice B)

pre-chorus - 6, 5, 4, 2, 4 3 (voice A) pre-chorus - 4, 3 (voice B)

chorus - 3, 2, 2, 3, 5(flat), 3, 2, 2, 3, 5(flat), 6

Bass line is particularly important here, as its the luscious circle of fifths and harmonizes with the melody is a significant way. verse 1 - 6, 2, 5, 1, 4, 2, 3, 3 verse 2 - 6, 2, 5, 1, 4, 2, 3, 6 pre-chorus - 2, 5, 1, 6, 7(flat), 3 chorus - 6, 2, 5, 1 to 3, 6, 2, 5, 1 to 7

They are using a bit of trap cymbols in the song (linked for the hi-hats). The song has a trap feel to it. Its trap-baroque-edm-idol musics. The guitar is quickly picking all of the chord notes, its such and interesting effect. There is this cool synth sound in there that sounds like an alien singing opera or something in the background of the intros, verses, and bridge, which is so wtf.

Honestly its a simple song, but it just ticks a lot of the boxes for stuffs I like. So in exchage for ticking a couple boxes, I spend a couple days obsessively listening to the song.

~Jigen

[shelbysusannahsmith]

Cinematic Flow and Video Games

September 24rd, 2019.

In Left 4 Dead, a group of four survivors are left stranded after an infection wipes out the population. The group bands together to try and find safety. Each game has five levels and each level is further divided into sections. T the short-term goal for the player is to get to the “safe-room” at the end of each section – the main goal is for the survivors to reach “true” safety, normally in the form of some kind of transport (a car, a boat, a train). The beginning of the next level will normally begin with this transport having failed them at some point (helicopter crash, tank out of gas, end of the road).

Left 4 Dead is unique in the way that it begins as fully open to the player. Players can immediately play any level of their choosing and aren’t confined to a specific linear story. This is because each level is designed to play like an individual “film” and terminology used within the game references as such.

I find this approach quite interesting, as it doesn’t feel inherently obvious at times. Films have no “gameplay”, they rely on plot, but Left 4 Dead isn’t a cinematic game to begin with. It is gameplay-heavy and plot lacking – therefore, the actual game itself lacks a cinematic feeling. The levels often have only an intro and an outro that last no more than thirty seconds, no cutscenes and dialogue is only shared during rest segments of gameplay.  The only elements of cinema used in the game are the film posters seen in the loading screens for the levels, the opening and the outro and the levels and the credits at the end of the levels – but this is enough.

I feel as though with modern games it sometimes feels like a competition to make things feel as real and as cinematic as possible. People want quality like that of films in terms of storytelling and narrative, but with the immersion of gameplay, and I feel as though Left 4 Dead is a nice step backwards. It borrows the surrounding theatric concepts of cinema without introducing it into the gameplay to make it feel like a film, but not play like a movie. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make a game cinematic, but I feel as though there are too many games that make plot a priority over gameplay. If gameplay isn’t core to the experience, then why make a game?

Conversely, however, if given the opportunity to expand on the Left 4 Dead game formula, I would potentially introduce more storytelling – it has potential. During the opening of the game, a small “trailer” for plays – featuring a supercut of rendered cutscenes from scenarios throughout the game. These show more theatrical moments of tension, banter and carnage between the player characters and the infected. These scenarios don’t happen in game but help add an aspect of storytelling into the players imaginations.

From this, and from passing character dialogues in the game, we know that each character has the potential to be more than a sock puppet for the players’ carnage. Although in game, all characters have the same stats and abilities, they are all fully fleshed out individuals – it’s merely a shame we can’t see more connected moments between them. However, would a fast-paced shooter benefit from the induction of cutscenes or scripted encounters?

During the development of Bioshock: Infinite, the character of Elizabeth underwent a lot of changes as a result of testing. Elizabeth is a companion character to the protagonist, serving for the most part as an escort quest. Her character is well known for her emotional depth and response to the player’s condition and needs. Elizabeth was designed to be a prominent addition to the game in terms of story and gameplay without being intrusive to the player’s experience – however, this wasn’t always the case.

Elizabeth’s character went through a considerable number of renditions - but what’s particularly interesting about the development of Elizabeth is how much of this is public. Bioshock: Infinite had a long development period and was delayed– and during its delay, Elizabeth went through a lot of changes. Most of these edits were aesthetical – changing her dress, her hairstyle, her proportions, her disfigurements – but some of these later changes were in relation to her character’s role. For example, in early trailers of Infinite, we can see that Elizabeth still bares part of her pinkie finger which is removed in the final game for plot-based reasons. I feel as though this suggests the game developers were being very careful about her character’s role and perception in the game straight up until the final release. In a GDC talk discussing the evolution of Elizabeth’s character, it would seem that Elizabeth’s character edits were often leaps and bounds, not small steps.

Originally, Elizabeth character was styled on a traditional Gibson Girl silhouette and was originally designed to be mute. In order for Elizabeth to be able to have as much screen-time with the character and in order to help direct the player, Elizabeth would have to force small cut scene events where she would forcibly grab or take the players attention and physically direct them or alert them of something in the environment. Shawn Robertson, lead animator for Irrational Games, commented;

“…the amount of information that you need to get across to the player, even all the stuff that as an animator I don’t even have to deal with – ‘look over there’, ‘let’s go this way’, ‘I think the thing is up here on the balcony’ – and I think about how she couldn’t talk, she couldn’t say these things, or even allow for some of the story to take place while you’re exploring the area. ‘Hey, I’m opening these crates now’, ‘I’m searching for some more salt’ – but she’s telling me a little history of the Hall of Heroes – the experience gets richer, ‘cause she has that knowledge that she can push on you, and I think if she were mute, you would miss a lot of that stuff. I’m not saying it can’t be done, I’m just saying it would be a different story. You would be more focused on the visuals of what she was doing, ‘cause she would need to be on screen to have any meaningful impact, where a Liz that can talk doesn’t have to be on screen. The player has much more freedom to look around at their own speed, but still be aware of her presence and understand what she’s doing. That early test where she grabs the player and forcibly points to some giant mechanical doll that we had at the time, I realised that, as a gamer, I don’t want Liz grabbing me every five seconds to grab the controller out of my hand and force me to look in a direction – that should be player choice.”

Later, this was changed over to a more fluid style of character – Elizabeth keeps the pace of the game moving without distracting or pulling the player out of the action for scripted moments. By stopping fast-paced gameplay, you begin to kill the flow of the scene, especially when a player is finding rhythm in the task at hand - and this would be the dilemma of adding cutscenes or scripted events to a fast-paced action game such as Left 4 Dead – the game plays less like a drama and more like an action film that hits the ground running and never stops. 

Through the flow of the gameplay (build up > climax > rest > repeat), the player is constantly under pressure from the core gameplay mechanics to keep on moving, keep on fighting and keep on finding resources to survive. In a game like Infinite, however, this is easier to accomplish, as this is a game that had extended periods of rest designed to act as a sink for narrative. It works in this context – where the traditional gameplay mechanics aren’t always actually a constant.

But, perhaps if Left 4 Dead were to release a sequel, a more cinematic approach could be throughout the gameplay - with a similar solution to Bioshock: Infinite? By allowing the player characters to have more scripted moments of banter in rest moments of the gameplay cycle - or even potentially during climax moments, where appropriate. Maybe even adding shorter cutscenes in safe zones such as the safe rooms at the end of levels. In my opinion, this would definitely help allow the literal idea of “cinema” as an aesthetic to translate through into the core gameplay more than it already does - more than just through small miscellaneous ideas such as movie posters and credits.

Ultimately, however, a game should never have to sacrifice its gameplay over cinematics - they are core to what a game is. Gameplay, in my opinion, should always be prioritized in an interactive experience - because if gameplay is a secondary characteristic - why make a game at all? You may be better off just making a film, an animation or writing a book. But it’s always nice to have elements of cinematic flow in games, and I admire Left 4 Dead for not sacrificing the core experience in replacement for plot. The gameplay is one of the biggest reasons as to why I keep returning to it, and I look forward to hopefully seeing another sequel in the future.

[thunderbirdcarebear]

The Measure of a Man

So I recently had some weird ideas, they’ve probably been done somewhere along the line, I dunno, but this is my take on it. Do they all really need those extra personal gadgets or are they just for show? I’m hoping to add to this, but for now this is a scene setter as it were.

The measure of a man is what he does with power

     - Plato

Jeff Tracy was proud of his children. He was their father, of course he was. But when he’d told them of his ambition to create a rescue organisation, he had worried that they wouldn’t want to join him. They had their own lives after all. When each of them had independently agreed to take part, he couldn’t help but be relieved. Not only because it meant the plans could go ahead exactly as he’d hoped, but because it also meant that their unique abilities could be put to good use without them being put at risk.

 From a young age, with each of them save for Alan, it was clear that there was something special about his boys. At first it was small things. Scott could jump much higher than the other children of his age. John was able to figure out anything technological he was put in front of. Virgil would have his brothers on his shoulders while they played, even his bigger brothers. Gordon didn’t really need any swimming lessons as, from the first time he’d ever entered a pool, he was able to swim unaided and confidently.

As they grew, though, Jeff became aware that it was something more.

When Scott reached fifteen, he realised it was more than just an ability to jump when he returned home from work to find his eldest on the roof of their farm house.

“Uh, Scott?” Jeff said, approaching and looking up at him, his hand shielding his eyes from the sun. “What are you doing up there? Did… did you jump?”

Scott was sat by the chimney stack, his face a little pale but he was smiling. “Hey, Dad,” he said, standing up.

“Scott, please be careful!” Jeff called out.

“Relax, Dad,” Scott reassured him, then stepped off the roof.

“Scott!” Jeff yelled out, terrified, and ran forward, not knowing what he could do to help but was going to try anyway. Until he realised that his son hadn’t landed. He looked around, unable to see him anywhere.

“Up here, Dad,” Scott said.

Jeff tilted his head back, looking in the direction he’d heard the voice coming from. “Scott?” His eyes widened when he realised his son was floating in front of him as though he was lying on his front watching TV, his ankles crossed behind him and his arms folded under his chin. The biggest difference, obviously, was that he was hovering at Jeff’s eye height.

Scott was grinning at him as he unfolded his arms and twisted in the air to look as though he was sat cross legged, and waved a hand.

“Are you alright?”

Scott nodded, lowering his feet to the ground and standing in front of him. “Yeah. I dunno what happened. I just, well, kinda ended up sat on the roof. I was a bit freaked out at first until I realised I could control it.” He grinned again, letting his feet rise off the floor.

Jeff put his hand on his shoulder. “Just… Scott, you’re my son and I’ll always be proud of you, just be careful, alright?”

Scott raised an eyebrow. “Dad, I’ve seen way too many movies where bad stuff happens to the character who’s different or has powers or whatever. I know to be careful. I’m not gonna go flying to school.”

John had always had a knack for working out his electronic toys. Anything he was given he could work out how to use it. And not in the experimental way other children did. He seemed to just know.

One day when he was three years old, Jeff left his tablet computer on the coffee table when he went to answer the door. When he returned, he found his son playing a game. Which was unusual, not because of the game, but because he’d left the device locked and needing a fingerprint to unlock. Although, that game hadn’t been on the device to start with.

It was again in his mid-teen years that Jeff fully realised the extent of John’s abilities when he was trying to work on a report in his office and the screen kept flicking to a search engine to look for astronomical sites. He wasn’t working on anything for NASA at the time, he’d been writing a report on aerospace for his company. He knew, however, that John had shown an interest in the stars so went to find him.

“Something wrong, Dad?” John asked, looking up at him. He had books in front of him. Astronomy books.

“You doing research, Son?” Jeff asked, leaning against the doorframe.

He nodded. “Yeah, I was at the observatory the other day. I was looking up in the old books Grandpa gave us.”

“Were you, uh, searching the internet as well?” he asked, trying to sound casual as he walked into the room.

John froze. “Um, no, I wasn’t. Scott’s using the homework computer.”

Jeff sat down on the bed next to him, smiling softly. “It’s alright, John. Were you researching?”

“How did you know?” John asked quietly.

“Because you interrupted my work.”

“Oh boy, Dad, I’m sorry!”

Jeff shook his head. “It’s alright. Come with me.”

John stood and nervously followed his father to his office.

“Relax, John, you’re not in trouble. I just want to try something.”

John went into the room, stepping aside as Jeff shut the door. “Alright, John. I think we both know you have a gift of sorts when it comes to computers. Just as Scott does with his, uh, jumping.”

John smiled shyly, knowing exactly what he was referring to. “I can tell you that your computer seriously needs defragging at the very least but also a massive upgrade.”

“And how do you know that? Have you been on my computer?”

“No, Sir,” John said, shaking his head. He went over and put his hand on the computer. Instantly the display flickered as he closed his eyes. A moment or so later, he opened them again. “Defragged, your files have been cleaned and I optimised it all. You might want to consider changing your password as well. Mom’s birthdate is a bit obvious.”

Jeff had thought with Virgil he was fully prepared for whatever he could do. He’d resigned himself to the fact that, for whatever reason, his sons seemed to all have these unusual abilities. Virgil had been demonstrating from very early on that, despite his smaller stature, he was very strong.

He’d never really appreciated just how strong his son was. He’d seen him with Scott on his shoulders while he carried Gordon around bridal-style which made both of the transportees laugh. He’d seen him lift his bed to retrieve a toy that had slipped behind it. And Jeff had even reached the point where he stopped trying to open jars now, instead handing them straight to Virgil.

But it was the day Virgil came home from school and went out to the garage that had Jeff perplexed. They’d been working on a project out there for Virgil’s mechanics class. The teen had already learned how to strip the engine in the family car and put it back together – in better working order, if Jeff was completely honest – and now he was looking for a bigger challenge. Living on Tracy Farm had presented them with the opportunity and so together they were trying to restore the rusty old tractor that had sat neglected on the land since before Jeff was born. Advancements in machinery had rendered it obsolete but the two of them had enjoyed working on it together.

Jeff went out to the garage to call Virgil inside for dinner but couldn’t see him anywhere. “Virgil?” he called out.

“One sec,” came the reply.

Jeff’s eyes widened as he realised that the tractor was tilted up on one side. He stepped back as it came back to rest on its wheels properly and Virgil approached, wiping his hands on a rag. “Sorry, I wanted to check something out underneath.”

Jeff blinked. “Virgil… that tractors weighs at least a couple of tons.”

Virgil looked at it then back at his father. “It does?”

Jeff nodded. “I thought I’d be prepared with you. Your brother’s abilities were a little less defined when they were younger, but you’ve been strong almost from the start. But… Wow, Virgil, I guess I didn’t anticipate just how strong you are.”

Virgil bit his lip, dropping the rag he’d held.

Jeff retrieved it for him and handed it back. “It’s alright, Virgil. Know that I’ll always support you. Just… perhaps don’t come out here and lift the tractor if no one else knows you’re out here.”

A smile spread across the teen’s face. “Deal.”

Gordon was younger than the others when Jeff realised it wasn’t just a natural swimming ability his son had. One day, the summer after Gordon’s twelfth birthday, Scott had come running back to the farmhouse (though Jeff suspected he may have flown to save time) in a panic, soaking wet and yelling something about Gordon and the lake.

“Scott, slow down,” Jeff said, trying to get his eldest to calm so he could understand what he was saying.

“I’m sorry, Dad, I tried to tell him not to, I said we’re not allowed near the pond, but you know what Gordon’s like with water and I couldn’t stop him. He jumped in to go swimming and he hasn’t resurfaced and I tried to get him out but the lake is too deep and I couldn’t find him.”

Jeff was on his feet even as Scott spoke, heading for the door with his son following him, still trying to explain.

“It’ll be alright, Scott,” Jeff said, worriedly. The lake wasn’t far away so Jeff started to run towards it while Scott jumped back into the air, speeding off in the lead.

Virgil was pacing along the shore when they arrived there, tears in his eyes. His clothes were also wet which suggested he’d attempted to retrieve him too.

“Scott, look after Virgil. Both of you sit down,” Jeff instructed, removing his tie and shoes and wading into the water.

Suddenly bubbles in front of him preceded Gordon’s head breaking the surface, the young boy grinning madly.

Jeff gasped in shock, almost inhaling a mouthful of water as he’d been about to submerge. “Gordon!”

Gordon looked around, taking in Jeff’s surprised and worried face and his brothers’ fearful ones. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“A very good question,” Jeff asked, taking hold of him carefully and guiding him out of the water. “What were you doing?”

Gordon faltered under his father’s gaze. “I… I just wanted to go for a swim, it’s so hot out here!”

Jeff sighed. “Gordon, you know you’re not allowed to play near the lake.”

“But, Dad, I wasn’t in any danger,” he said, trying to reason.

“We thought you’d drowned,” Virgil said quietly. “You were under there for ages.”

Gordon looked over at him and found he was unable to meet his eyes, so lowered his head. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“How do you know you wouldn’t be in any danger?” Jeff asked, trying to remain calm. He wasn’t angry at Gordon, but he had been frightened.

“Because, well, I knew,” he murmured, shuffling his feet slightly then muttered something under his breath.

“What was that, Gordon?” Jeff asked.

“You won’t believe me,” he replied.

Jeff raised an eyebrow. “Hmm. Scott can fly, John can access my computer from the other side of the field without an interface and Virgil can lift the tractor. Try me.”

Gordon looked back up at him. “I can breathe underwater,” he said. “I’ve known for ages. I kinda found out by accident when I was in the bath and was going under the water to wash my face and sneezed as I did. Instead of getting a lungful of water, I just, well, sneezed. But under the surface. I was a bit freaked out at first until I tried again but with, you know, just breathing.”

Scott had his arm round Virgil and was trying to get him to calm down, but on hearing this he looked over at him. “You actually deliberately tried to breathe under water?”

“Scott, you jumped off the roof,” Jeff reminded him.

“Point taken,” Scott said quietly, looking back over at Gordon.

“Am I grounded?” Gordon asked sullenly.

Jeff shook his head. “No, but I think we should all go back now. We all need to dry off and I think I need to get us all something sugary to drink, you know, just in case.”

“In case of what?” Gordon queried.

“It’s part of the treatment of shock,” Virgil muttered. “For the same reason he told us to sit down.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Jeff took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “Come on, let’s go back inside. We don’t want John and Alan to worry as well.”

Jeff had kept a careful eye on Alan, wondering if his youngest son would ever develop any unique abilities like his older brothers had, but nothing seemed to be emerging in him, except perhaps that the dusty farmland never seemed to affect him. He was happy and playful and, for the most part, not bothered by his apparent lack of gifts.

Naturally, there were days when Alan got angry or upset and lashed out at his brothers, jealous of them. But once he’d calmed again and they’d settled their differences, he was quite happy to sit on Scott’s shoulders and fly around the farm, for John to install new games on their computer while he sat in the kitchen, for Virgil to roll the heavy hay bales into a big fort for them to play in.

Gordon wasn’t really able to do a lot with his abilities that Alan could benefit from in any way but this didn’t bother either of them much. Alan liked to throw things into the lake for Gordon to retrieve on the days when their father took them down to the shore for picnics.

When the time came for Jeff to start setting up International Rescue, he knew he’d need to think about security and so turned to his a trusted friend of his, Kyrano, inviting the man to the farm to discuss his plans as he knew the meeting would remain private.

He’d asked Scott to join them as, being the eldest, he was already aware of the plans that were being put into motion. John was occupying the others, mostly by channel surfing without a remote, which they found amusing.

While Jeff and Kyrano discussed their plans, Scott was in the kitchen making them all drinks, including hot chocolate for his brothers. Putting them all on a tray, he carried them into the den where they were messing around.

“Virgil, put the furniture down,” Scott said, barely batting an eyelid at the fact that Alan and Gordon were laughing while Virgil lifted them on the sofa. “And John, would you just decide on a channel, already?”

John blinked at him a few times, the station changing with each movement before it finally settled on an old Star Wars movie.

“Oh hey, look Gordo, Star Wars!” Alan said excitedly, fidgeting.

Virgil frowned at him as he lowered the sofa back down. “Al, sit still! I almost dropped you guys!”

“Yeah, right, you barely lost your balance,” Gordon replied.

“Whatever, guys, just pack it in,” Scott said, putting the tray down on the table. “Dad’s got a visitor here. You know the rules.”

“Oh, sorry, Scott, I didn’t realise he’d arrived already,” Virgil said.

“That’s because you were too busy bench pressing the sofa,” Scott replied. “The car is outside. Now behave. I need to go see Dad.”

“Alright, Scott,” Virgil said, moving round the sofa to sit on it.

Scott smiled as he left them and headed through to the kitchen. He picked up the coffees he’d made for his father and Kyrano then made his way to the office.

He knocked on the door before he went in, smiling at the two men. “I have your coffees here,” he said, taking them over.

“Ah, Scott, perfect timing,” Jeff said. “Kyrano, this is Scott, my eldest. Scott, this is Kyrano. He’s agreed to help me with security for the project.”

Scott took the offered hand, shaking it. “Nice to meet you, sir,” he said to him.

Kyrano bowed his head slightly and released Scott’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Mr Scott.”

Jeff chuckled. “Take a seat, Scott, we were just about to talk about the arrangements.”

Scott moved to sit in the unoccupied chair but stopped when he felt something brush against his arm. He frowned, looking around.

“Scott? Are you alright?” Jeff asked.

“Yeah,” he said, sitting down. “Sorry, I thought I felt something.”

Jeff looked at him. “You sure?”

Scott nodded, picking up his mug and taking a sip. He was about to put it down when he felt a tap on his shoulder. The sensation was so sudden it made him jump and he hovered a few inches off his chair as he tried not to drop his mug.

“Scott!” Jeff said, his tone not cross, but concerned.

He glanced around, seeming to realise something was amiss by his father’s expression then became aware of the fact that he wasn’t actually sat on his chair. Redness flooded his cheeks as he carefully lowered himself back down. “I’m sorry,” he muttered to his father, getting up to leave the room, but he found he couldn’t open the door.

Kyrano sighed. “Tanusha, that’s quite enough,” he said.

“Tanusha?” Jeff asked.

“My daughter,” Kyrano responded. “Come on, leave Mr Scott alone.”

“Sorry, Father,” a young female voice said.

Jeff and Scott both looked around, confused.

“I couldn’t help myself. Father, they’re like me!” Scott stared as the air rippled and a slight-figured girl appeared stood next to Kyrano. Her long, dark hair framed her small face and reached down past her shoulders.

Jeff stood, exchanging a glance with Scott who walked back over hesitantly. “What do you mean, ‘they’re’ like you?” Scott asked.

“Well, you were hovering above your chair just now, that’s not exactly something everyone can do. Nor is lifting a sofa with two other people sat on it, or changing the channel on the television without touching the remote.”

Scott stared at her. “How…?”

“Well, I think you may have noticed I can become invisible, but I can also walk through walls,” Tanusha said.

“Tanusha,” Kyrano said, a little warning tone in his voice. “I asked you to wait in the car.”

“I know, but I could see them through the window and I wanted to see.”

Kyrano sighed slightly then looked over at Jeff. “Please forgive me, Mr Tracy. I believe if we are to work together, we should not have secrets from one another.”

Slowly, a smile formed on Jeff’s face. “I’ve always trusted you, Kyrano,” he said earnestly. “And you’re right. And apparently you understand more than I realised.”

Kyrano nodded. “Indeed. Tanusha was born with the ability to move without making a sound but as she grew, she has also developed the ability to become invisible and to walk through walls. I’ve had such difficulty trying to get her to keep her room tidy.”

Tanusha grinned mischievously. “What can you guys do then?”

Jeff glanced at Scott. “Would you like to demonstrate, Son?”

Scott looked over at him, still feeling uneasy, but if his father trusted these people, then so would he. He turned his gaze back to the young girl and smiled. “I can fly,” he said gently, raising himself off the floor.

Tanusha’s eyes widened, her expression excited. “That’s so cool!” She looked round at the other adults. “What about the others?”

“All in good time, Tanusha,” Jeff replied kindly. “If they’re happy to show you, we’ll let them, but only if they want to.” He looked over at Kyrano. “Four of my boys have these, uh, abilities.”

“Not all five? How unusual.”

“You know why they’re like this?”

Kyrano shook his head. “I don’t know why, no. There are stories of old amongst my people of children born with talents and usually if a family has a gifted child, all their children have gifts. But these are stories, passed down the generations. Naturally I believe some of it, because I have proof in my daughter, but as for why?” He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Jeff nodded. “Seeing as all four of the older boys have gifts, I was surprised that Alan doesn’t. I mean, it doesn’t bother me. He’s my son and I love him no matter what, but, yeah. I was surprised. Although, I guess it’s not really a gift as such but he’s never affected by a dust storm.”

Kyrano rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps it will develop. How does this manifest?”

“Well, he was out playing when the wind suddenly picked up once after a long dry spell. The dust was whipped up so quickly he didn’t really have time to get inside, but he wasn’t even coughing.”

“Interesting,” Kyrano said. “Well, who knows? Perhaps his talent hasn’t been able to fully develop yet. Everything needs the right circumstances.”

Jeff chuckled. “Uh huh,” he said, thinking of the others.

“Anyway, we digress. Please, if you’re willing, I should like to hear more of your idea. We have much to discuss.”

“Ugh, boring,” Tanusha said.

“How about I take you to meet my brothers properly?” Scott suggested, glancing at the adults for approval.

“A good idea if you’re willing,” Kyrano agreed, while Jeff smiled, nodding at him.

Scott held out his hand to her and she took it, following him out.

 Tanusha looked around as she let Scott guide her back to the den. The farmhouse was so different to her own home. It was cluttered and disorganised but not untidy. There were things on every counter top, mostly toys and text books, and shoes lined one wall near the stairs.

Scott looked down at her. “Okay, so I guess you’ve already seen them, I assume I don’t need to warn you they might be a bit loud?”

She shrugged. “I had noticed,” she said. “Your brothers are pretty cool. I don’t have any brothers or sisters.”

Scott smiled. “Must be peaceful at your house.”

“More like quiet,” she said. “I think it’d be nice to have people to talk to.”

“It can be,” Scott replied. “But at the same time, it’s also nice to have time to myself.”

Tanusha smiled. “I guess.”

Scott stopped outside the door to the den. “Okay, here we go.” He pushed open the door and led her in.

Inside, John had given up trying to occupy them and was now reading one of his astronomy books, Gordon and Alan were both jumping on the sofa, re-enacting the lightsabre battles while Virgil had retreated to the table in the corner to do some sketching.

Scott sighed, shaking his head. “And, this, in a nutshell, is my family, Tanusha,” he said.

I’m gonna tag a few people here because they’ve seen this already and I’ve been bouncing ideas around with their help, especially the title. So thank you to @writerdarkflamespyre @meme12345bunny @lenle-g @nibenhu-pokemon-master and @greentigergirl

[metawitches]

Well, the Fall Finale of Manifest certainly lived up to its name, Dead Reckoning. There were real and metaphorical deaths, though it wasn’t a Walking Dead or Game of Thrones style bloodbath. I’d like to thank the Angel of the Waters for that. There were a few minutes where that looked entirely possible, but then Grace calmed down. 😘

We learned a lot in this episode, especially about Fiona Clarke. She thinks quick in crisis. She doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty. If she wants to, she can provide safe houses, and probably many other resources, for the passengers. She probably isn’t as outraged about the way her research is being used as she should be, if Saanvi’s reaction to Autumn’s injuries is anything to go by.

And she’s very, very willing to take sole responsibility for 10 fugitives who have been declared dead or missing, are severely injured, have no other friends or relatives to miss them, and who have developed psychic abilities from experiments based on her work.

Did she ask Saanvi to meet them at the safe house to provide medical care for the passengers? No. Did she tell Ben she’d text him the location of the safe house? No. Did she grab a big stack of the paperwork that was still in the lab? Yes.

I believe that Fiona has been playing the other passengers from the beginning. Either she was working with the Singularity Project or she was working for another government faction (DARPA), but took advantage of Ben and Vance’s raid on the secret experimental site to screw the government agencies over and kidnap the test subjects. She intends to continue her work on her own terms, completely off the radar. Or, she just helped DARPA steal the experiments from the CIA, because DARPA offered her better terms.

How do I know all of this?

Look at the photo below. This photo is from when the voltage on Marko was turned up to 80%, on the mysterious Major’s order, and EVERY PASSENGER, ALL OVER THE CITY, FELT IT— BUT FIONA WASN’T AFFECTED AT ALL.

I don’t know if she’s behind the time jump. It’s still not clear how or if that’s connected to the telepathy or if they’re two separate events. But she had something done to everyone on that plane, in order to activate their latent telepathic abilities, and she had herself shielded from it.

I’m going to call it now: Danny is The Major. More on that, and on Fiona, later.

There’s an odd little twist in the opening flashback, which is meant to introduce us to the passenger of the week, Autumn Cox, a con artist who was detained at the airport because of outstanding warrants, but who never made it before a judge. Instead, she became one of the missing 11 passengers.

During the initial post-landing interrogations, Autumn tells Vance about the turbulence. We see the scene on the plane (flashback within a flashback) from a new angle, since Autumn’s seat was at the back of the plane. Saanvi’s laptop falls and breaks. Bethany lurches through the aisle. The emergency path lights that line the aisle in the floor are on, and the cabin lights go out for a few seconds, so that the path lights are the only thing that can be seen. When the lights come back on, Bethany is no longer in the aisle.

(If you look closely, she’s actually missing while the lights are out. There’s also a passenger on the floor who’s gone, but he’s next to the seats he’s meant to sit in, so I’ll concede he could have pulled himself into one.)

As part of the airport interrogation, Saanvi says, “It makes no sense.”

And it doesn’t. If Bethany couldn’t make it back to her own seat when the lights were on, she certainly couldn’t do it when the lights were off. Saanvi is theoretically responding to something else, but the writer/director will use this technique at least one more time this episode, so I think we’re meant to notice.

The turbulence has always been at the top of the list for when the time travel or whatever occurred. Now we have evidence that something happened at that point. The turbulence was meant to get everyone in their seats, so they could be rendered unconscious and removed. Then they were returned to the plane in an unconscious state, and woken at the right moment. Bethany probably got close enough to her seat to assume she’d already made it into the seat when she woke up there.

Mick wants to call her boyfriend fiance fiance-stealing best friend’s husband. Ben refuses to let anyone test his son, who has leukemia (good call).

Vance asks Autumn for the name of her person, so they can be officially authorized to pick her up when she’s released tomorrow. Autumn says that she’s between people, so there’s no one to pick her up. What’s that? No one will notice if she disappears? Well, we just happen to have several arrest warrants in your name. You can be carried out now by these nice, fully armed men.

With the flashback over, we return to the Ben and Vance Buddy Cop movie we’ve been working on. Vance wants to do the op by the book and wait to move in until he knows for sure they’ve got everything right. It sounds like his way could take weeks.

Ben wants to go now, as soon as Vance gives him an address, unarmed, by himself, like he’s a superhero. He’s going to end up dead or added as a test subject. Michaela sensibly decides to go do more research on her work computer, to see what information she has access to.

The passengers are being held in a warehouse that was built for storage before the Civil War. There is some security on the perimeter. Vance flashes a photo of Laurence Belson, the face of the Singularity Project. It’s the man we’ve seen supervising the scientists doing the experiments on the passengers. But all the NSA has on Belson is an office address and an email. They need more info on him.

Maybe Ben can get a job there.

Vance gives Mick her own NSA/Vance burner phone before she leaves for the station. He sends Ben home to be with his family and tells him to stay near his burner, But Vance refuses to go in until he’s ready. “It is my job to make sure this mission is successful. I assure you I will go in the second I can do it cleanly without tipping them off that we’re coming, again, and without loss of life.”

Seems reasonable, unless you just watched your kid almost die from those experiments. There’s no good solution here.

Meanwhile, in Grace’s universe, Ben’s real problem is that he hasn’t spent any time with his old friends, so she decides to throw him a surprise barbeque. She involves both kids in the planning, because what could be better than making Ben the bad guy with his children, over plans he didn’t even know or care about?

Let’s note here that Grace doesn’t consult or invite Ben’s sister, who lives with them, or his dad. Michaela could have told her that it’s not a good time. Grace didn’t have to make this party a surprise. She could have actually spoken to her husband about what he actually wants for his life.

But that’s not what Grace or this party are about. This is another of Grace’s attempts to impose some fantasy version of normalcy on Ben. She knows he won’t live up to it, because she’s seen the way he’s frantically busy with other things. And when he fails, she’ll have one more thing to blame him for.

Ben comes into the kitchen. Grace notices the burner, so Ben concocts a story about dropping his old one. His phone rings with a call from his office, but he refuses the call. He knows they’re calling to fire him for “borrowing” Ronnie’s UDS ID card to search through real estate records last episode.

They decide that Ben should take the kids to play laser tag, to get him out of the house before the party. Ben and Cal go out to shoot hoops while they wait for it to be time to go. Autumn stumbles down the road and into the Stone’s driveway. She’s in rough shape, and has round burn marks on either side of her forehead.

Ben catches her and brings her into the garage. She tells him that she had a calling that included his full name. Autumn describes where she was and how she was transported, but, conveniently, it’s only information he already has about the farm and the red door. She escaped out of the transport van when the passengers were moved.

Ben calls Mick to let her know about Autumn. Autumn panics because he’s calling a cop. Mick tells Ben to take Autumn to the boiler room, so they don’t get caught at his house.

The scene changes to Cal and Olive playing a game on the couch. Cal says, “Bad stuff is about to happen.” He’s referring to the game, but sometimes Cal makes the right prediction without even realizing he’s doing it.

Ben comes in to tell them he needs to go out for a while. They make him promise he’ll be home by 4:30. He looks conflicted for a moment before he leaves, and tells them he loves them both. Olive is dismissive when she says she feels the same. Cal is matter of fact.

Jared finds Mick researching the Red Hook warehouse, and questions what she’s not telling him now. She continues to not tell him, but he wants to know if she’s in danger. He’s serious, Mick. He can’t handle it if she’s in danger and he’s not there to protect her. But she’s serious that she can’t handle it if the Flight 828 Angel of Death comes after him.

These two will make me cry every week.

Fiona and Saanvi meet Ben and Autumn at the boiler room. Fiona is being uber apologetic to Autumn about the experiments, but her eyes are a bit cold and flat.

Ben: “Are those burn marks part of your research protocol?”

Fiona: “Electrotherapy. To activate mirror neurons in the premotor cortex.”

Ben: “Meaning?”

Saanvi: “Meaning that they need to get at something inside their heads, but instead of picking the lock, they are using dynamite to blast the door down. You had no idea what you were doing. Your research is wildly unethical.”

Ben: “Oh My God.”

Fiona: “It was theoretical. A way to increase human connection. I never intended for it to be used this way.”

Saanvi: “Then you shouldn’t have handed over your research. Neuroscience is an arms race. The government doesn’t care about who gets hurt, as long as they get results.”

Ben suggests that it’s time to bring Vance up to speed on this new development. Saanvi doesn’t want to let him know about the boiler room or give him a chance to put Autumn back in jail, after the way he locked up Bethany.

Saanvi is looking out for the sisterhood, while Ben worries about Cal and Fiona worries about her research.

Autumn interrupts the argument to say that she’ll do whatever it takes to stop the experiments on the patients. They can call Vance.

In Red Hook, the 10 remaining patients are prepped for another round of experiments.

Vance looks over Autumn, and tries to understand why his colleagues would experiment on the passengers. He understands interrogation, but not experimentation.

Vance decides that something doesn’t add up, and he’s not moving forward until he knows what it is. Ben decides to come clean. He begins to explain the callings to Vance, while Saanvi shakes her head at him, signaling that she wants him to stop.

Ben and Saanvi have a moment of connection when their eyes meet and they have a silent conversation. Then Ben does what he wants and ignores Saanvi, but it was a moment. They haven’t been given any time together in a while.

Vance asks Autumn, “How much does Laurence Belson know about this telepathy or whatever it is?”

For reasons of her own, Autumn might be skewing the truth in her answers. So take everything she says in this episode with a grain of salt. I don’t think it’s all lies, but it’s definitely not all true.

Autumn: “The first few days, they just questioned us about the plane. And then, some of us got this vision. We just knew we had to go to the plane. But they wouldn’t let us. The next day they told us the plane had exploded. And then everything changed. They started these experiments. They called them treatments. Twice a day. And everyday, they go more intense.”

Ben starts yelling at Vance that they have to go stop the experiments, now, to protect Cal. He explains to Vance that Cal feels Marko’s pain every time time they torture him. Vance needs time to wrap his head around the whole thing.

Ben: “There is nothing I won’t do to protect my son. We have to go, now.”

Cal is playing alone in his room, and senses that the experiments are about to begin again.

In Red Hook, all 10 test subjects are in the lab and hooked up to electrodes. Belson checks in with a camera to make sure the remote viewers are ready. They tell him the Major is watching. Belson says that they’re ready to progress to Phase 2 of the Mirror Factor Test Protocol.

The scientist explains that they had weak responses in a few others from stimulating subject 3: Marko. So they’re going to stimulate only subject three this time and increase the baseline up to 40%. Marko spasms, and so do subjects four and seven. Belson tells the technician to turn off the charge. He tells the Major that these are the most significant results yet.

The voice from the remote viewer is disappointed that only two of the nine subjects responded. He asks that they repeat the experiment, but double the charge. The scientist tries to explain that they usually let the subjects recover for 6 hours between charges, but the Major and Belson overrule him.

The technician dials the voltage up to 80% and turns it on. This time, every passenger in the room feels it. So does Cal, at home in his bedroom. So does Michaela, at the station. So do Ben, Saanvi and Autumn, in the boiler room. Fiona Clarke does not feel the charge. She tries to help Autumn through it, and asks if that’s what she felt in the lab. Then she helps Autumn onto her cot.

As soon as it’s over, Ben calls home and asks Olive to check on Cal. Olive says that she’s ok too, because Ben didn’t even ask about her. No one ever does.

She knocks on Cal’s door and he says he’s fine. Ben asks her to look at Cal, so she opens the door. Cal is laying on his stomach, facing away from her, coloring. He tells her to get lost. The camera shifts and we can see that his nose is bleeding. A drop of blood falls on the drawing. Cal is drawing the Red Hook warehouse.

Vance decides that he has enough proof, and will assemble a tactical team. He wants Ben and Fiona to stay behind because they’re civilians, but obviously that doesn’t fly. He instructs them to meet him at the rendezvous point in 90 minutes and to communicate only through their burner phones. He doesn’t want the Singularity Project tipped off this time.

It’s almost party time, and Ben isn’t home, and isn’t answering Grace’s calls.

Jared questions Michaela about her electrical headache. She gets the call to raid the warehouse as they’re talking. Jared also notices that she’s using one of Vance’s burner phones. He’s very caveman protector this week, and isn’t letting her out of his sight. Guess the jumper and the Angel of Death sign spooked him a bit. He insists on coming with her to rescue the passengers.

Grace’s party is in full swing and looks like it’s a big success, when a couple of goons from JP Williamson show up to tell Ben he’s fired and collect his employee ID and whatnot. Since Grace thinks he’s at work, the news that he’s been unemployed since 8PM the night before is SHOCKING to her. The goons say that it’s imperative that they talk to Ben or his attorney.

Vance and Ben raid the warehouse, but find that it’s empty. Everyone argues about what went wrong, until Cal shows up to save the day. He left a note at home for Grace, and took a bus to get there, finding it on his own even though no one knows where they are. Cal shows Ben his drawing, and points to the drop of blood the landed between two trees. In that spot, the tac team finds an old coal shoot in a wall, hidden behind other junk. The lab is hidden in the forgotten old coal basement.

Vance doesn’t even know what his life is anymore, what with using headaches and crayon drawings for his clues.

Ben wants to take Cal home, but Cal insists that Ben has to help with the rescue, because he’s the only one who’ll be able to do some crucial part of it. And Cal won’t leave Ben, so Mick stays in the car with Cal, while Ben goes into the basement with the tac team.

Olive finds the note Cal left, which says, “Sorry I had to leave Dad needed me”. Grace and Olive are shocked and horrified, once again.

The coal cellar consists of a forgotten network of tunnels that aren’t on any map.

When Belson hears the NSA coming, he yells, “Get the files! Everything you can carry! Erasure protocol!” He tells the scientist and the technician to neutralize the subjects, because they can’t leave any evidence behind. They turn the electricity on every patient, with a high charge. All of the passengers are in pain. Belson shoots at the control panel before he runs away.

There’s a gun battle going on through the tunnels and the lab. Jared is shocked when he chases someone through the lab, and sees what’s happening. Fiona makes it to the control board and tries to turn it off, but as she touches it, the board explodes into flames and throws her several feet.

I don’t think she sabotaged it, but it’s possible she pressed a button that caused the explosion. A tac team member helps her up, then she helps Ben detach the passengers from the electrode and get them off the beds.

Vance stops Belson and the scientist.

Belson: “You’re way out of your depth, Director.”

Vance: “Who’re you working for? Who has the funding to get all this up and running and keep it all under wraps?”

Belson: “You clearly have no idea who you’re interfering with.”

Belson starts to reach for a gun, but Jared comes out of nowhere and punches him.

Jared: “Neither do you.”

Fiona grabs a large pile of papers. The fire moves dangerously close to oxygen canisters. The number of soldiers seem to be multiplying every few minutes.

As Ben unhooks one of the last few passengers, a woman with curly black hair, he holds the sides of her face, then freezes for a moment, staring into space. Did he just make a psychic connection with her, like Cal and Marko’s connection? Cal stopped for a moment to process after Marko ruffled his hair, too.

Ben, Fiona, and some soldiers lead the 10 passengers out. Ben sees a vision of path lights, like in the aisle of a plane, that guides them along the correct route. They reach the surface and load the passengers into an unmarked delivery van. A soldier asks Ben if he’s getting in, but he can’t. Fiona says that she’s found a remote property that she’ll take the 10 passengers to. Ben tells her to be careful. She says that she’ll keep them safe.

Vance and Jared get lost in the tunnels as they’re leading Belson, the scientist and other personnel out. They are still in the cellar when the oxygen tanks explode and cause a partial cave in.

Michaela and Cal are okay. Cal looks like the continued electrical charges were hard on him. Ben prepares to takes Cal home, while Michaela goes to check on Jared. Before she gets to the entrance to the tunnel, it explodes. Mick and Ben are both thrown to the ground. Cal might be unconscious for a second. As Ben comes to his senses again, he sees a vision of a peacock, then it vanishes.

Ben insists that they leave right then, because the area is unstable, with all of the tunnels underneath, and Cal sitting in a heavy car. Michaela screams at him that Jared is still down there and she’s not leaving without him. She wants Ben to get Cal out, while she saves Jared. Ben drives away with Cal.

Michaela searches through the rubble in the cellar for Jared. Belson is there and unconscious. She finds Jared, who is also unconscious, and yells for help. There were several tac team guys still on the surface, milling around uselessly, so they probably come down and help her get him out.

Ben pulls into the driveway and Grace runs outside to grab Cal away from him and tell both of them more things that they can’t do. She shoves Ben away from Cal as she drags Cal inside the house.

Michaela stands watch over Jared in the hospital. Captain Riojas joins her, and wonders how they got mixed up in an anti-terrorist op. She tells him they got a tip. He says that Director Vance is dead, even though Mick says that she saw Vance being loaded into the back of an ambulance. Riojas says Vance didn’t make it. But, he tells her, she shouldn’t give up hope on Jared. He needs her.

Michaela goes into Jared’s room to sit with him. She prays to whoever is in charge of the callings and begs them to save him.

Okay, it’s time for us all to face the music, meaning Grace’s psychological breakdown, disguised as a tirade against her husband.

Ben: “I know this all sounds crazy.”

Grace: “No, not crazy. Horrifying. There were assault weapons? And explosions? What were you thinking?”

Ben: “I didn’t bring him, Grace, I was shocked when he showed up.”

Grace: “Then why didn’t you bring him home, immediately. He could have been killed, Ben.”

This exchange tells us that Ben told her everything, off camera. Whatever misconceptions she still has, are there because she refuses to believe him, ask questions, corroborate his story with Saanvi, Mick or others, or even talk to Cal himself.

She’s already rewritten the events of the day in her mind. She thinks Ben and Cal’s participation in their own lives is somehow optional, that they can somehow just walk away from these events and it will all go away. She only heard the parts of the story that she wanted to hear, the parts she can use to make Cal an innocent victim and Ben a reckless parent who endangered his son.

Ben: “You don’t understand. You weren’t on the plane. But you have to trust me. Everything I am doing is to protect Cal. After all we went through, with his cancer, I can’t…”

Grace: “You can’t what? You can’t lose him? 760. That’s how many days I watched cancer consume my little boy. 8 months. That’s how long it took me to file the death certificate after the plane disappeared. 1,430. Know what that was? The cost of my son’s gravestone. So please don’t ever tell me that I don’t understand, because you don’t know what it’s like to have your child die.”

No, but he knows what it’s like to lose 5 1/2 years, to have been kidnapped and experimented on, to know that you almost died, and to have no idea what really happened. He knows what it’s like to know that those things also happened to your child, but there is a cover up that’s willing to kill people to make sure no one ever knows about it, and that the organization who orchestrated the whole thing is still kidnapping passengers and experimenting on them. And he also went through the 760 days of watching his son consumed by cancer. Cal is their son, not her son.

Ben: “You’re right. I’m sorry. But don’t you want me to do whatever it takes to keep our son safe?”

Grace: “Is that what you call what happened this afternoon? Keeping him safe?”

Does she think Ben’s taken up assisting the NSA with their black ops as a hobby and Cal wants to tag along? Grace has been through a lot. And Cal shouldn’t be where there are weapons and explosions. But denying the existence of the people who want to hurt him isn’t going to help him.

Olive comes out to the side of the house. She hears her parents arguing, and stops to eavesdrop.

Grace: “I thought I could just forget the last 5 years of my life. That we could just start over, right where we left off. Because you were the same, even if I wasn’t. But you’re not the same. I don’t know you. I don’t think this is right anymore.”

Ben steps away from her and tears up.

Ben: “You’re right. I can’t give you what you need right now. What you deserve. I’ll go. But I need to take Cal with me.”

Grace: “How could you even suggest that?

Ben: “I’m the only one who can keep him safe right now.”

Grace: “I mourned my son for 5 years. I will never, never let anyone take him away from me. Not ever again. You should go.”

Ben walks away.

Olive has already walked away, once she realized that, as usual, no one was fighting over her. Only Cal. I’m sure Ben would fight for Olive, if he thought she’d want to go with him, but she’s given him the cold shoulder most of the time he’s been home. He’s not going to force himself on her now.

Michaela’s prayers are answered, and Jared wakes up. She tells him she’ll go get Lourdes, but he stops her. He holds her hand and says, “No. Please. Stay with me.” She stays.

The montage is brief tonight. Julien Baker’s “Turn Out the Lights” plays over the scene of Ben saying goodbye to the kids and leaving home. He hugs Olive, then she runs upstairs. Ben and Cal do this man to man thing, where they look each other in the eye, silently communicate, then nod their heads at each other in understanding. Ben caresses the side of Cal’s head with his hand. You can see how deep and unique their bond is. As Ben prepares to walk out the front door, Cal slides Art the Dragon under his arm, to help keep him safe.

Grace stands in the kitchen, looking all teary eyed and tragic, and watches the rest of her family be torn apart because of her.

Ben takes one last look at Grace, who doesn’t react, then he leaves.

Josh Dallas and Jack Messina earned their keep again in this scene. They had entire meaningful conversations using only subtle facial expressions and a few gestures. Their chemistry is amazing. It’s hard to believe Jack Messina is only 10 years old. He channels some very mature emotions as Cal.

Michaela finds Ben alone in the boiler room. He’s had a heck of a day. He tells her that he had nowhere else to go. She suggests that they find a place together.

Michaela says that it’s too bad about Vance. Ben says that he read online that Vance’s friends called him “Bobby”. They agree that “Bobby” doesn’t suit Vance at all.

Ben asks about Jared, to make sure he’s okay. Michaela is worried that something could still happen to him, because he knows about the callings. She notes that Vance knew about the callings, and he died. Ben says that Vance died in a large explosion, not because of the callings.

It’s like these guys refuse to understand how death works. There is no “Cause of Death: The Callings” that’s going to be obvious and leave a tag on the bodies. They will die of something that could have been prevented, and whatever causes the callings will also have orchestrated the death. That applies to every passenger and person close to a passenger who’s died or come close, so far, including Kelly’s. It would also apply to a shadowy government organization killing off the passengers one by one. I don’t know what’s causing the deaths and near fatal accidents, but there’s too many for them to be accidental.

Michaela explains to Ben that she prayed to the callings to save Jared, and he was saved. Ben doesn’t believe that anything supernatural intervened. He thinks that people either get better or they don’t, and Jared just got better. Michaela reminds him that he’d pray for his family members, too, in the same situation.

Saanvi brings Autumn back to the boiler room, then leaves for work. Autumn thanks Ben and Michaela for saving her life. They tell her she’s one of them. She seems really moved. Michaela and Ben leave to get Autumn something to eat.

Autumn sits down and pulls a phone out of her shoe. (OMG, remember when I referred to Get Smart’s shoe phones a couple of episodes ago?) She texts, “Now what?”

Flashback to Autumn and Belson sitting in a van. He hands her the encrypted burner, then tells her to get them to trust her. She can give out vague, non incriminating information. He shows her a picture of Ben and tells her to find out why he’s investigating the SIngularity Project, what he knows, and who he’s working with. She puts the phone in her sock and shoe, messes up her hair, and limps down the street to Ben’s house, where he and Cal are playing basketball.

Autumn didn’t tip Belson off about the raid on the Red Hook warehouse, and he’s dead or seriously injured, so she’s not working for him any more. So, who did she text? Fiona? The Major? Powell? An unknown player who found the phone Belson receives her texts on? To be continued…

  This slideshow requires JavaScript.

  I’m going to assume that Lourdes was visiting relatives in Florida and spent the day flying back to NY. Otherwise, there’s no excuse for bringing in Captain Riojas, but not paying Victoria Cartagena, the actress who plays Lourdes, to do a couple of scenes. Unless she’s become so busy that she was unavailable the week of filming? IMDB lists her as being in two different films that are currently in production. She’s recurring, so she doesn’t have to keep her schedule open for Manifest.

Autumn could have used her burner phone to warn Belson about the raid, but she didn’t. Vance mentions tipping Belson off, right in front of her, so she has no excuse for not doing it. Did Fiona flip her when they had a moment alone in the boiler room? Is that who Autumn texted at the end of the episode?

Fiona spent extra time with Autumn after the 80% charge. She could have promised to help her escape from Belson then, and to actually pay her instead of just threatening her. Fiona’s rich, after all.

The coal cellar is a very interesting venue. Now that everyone knows about the boiler room, our team is going to need a new hideout. Ben was the only one who could find his way through the tunnels. The way they were described makes me think of smugglers’ tunnels.

The warehouse is supposed to be on the water, built in the mid 1800s, with all of those maze-like tunnels underneath that confuse anyone who doesn’t belong there. Sounds like an excellent place for the passengers to get to know better. Only one part of it collapsed and only one other part was the lab. Maybe the angels would help Ben find a cosy new hideout down there somewhere, along with a better entrance. They can go all Les Mis and find a network of old sewer tunnels to use to get around unnoticed.

Olive could feel through the twin bond that Cal was alive for 5 years. Why can’t she tell that terrible things are happening to him now? You’d think she’d have some sense when the voltage is turned up to 80% and his brain is scrambled. Or when it’s so mixed up that he’s speaking another language.

If Danny isn’t the Major, is his assignment to monitor Olive and the twin bond, to find out how she perceives it as Cal’s telepathy grows?

“Bobby” is a clue. Vance had an “in case I don’t die a natural death” code planted in his obituary, like all good spies. They need to find someone or something connected to Vance with the name “Bobby”. Maybe something left from his early childhood, when he was called Bobby, like an old photo album, that could have information hidden inside.

The path lights are a clue as well. Autumn remembered them right after being released, and Ben remembered them when he was put back into an experimental situation. The experimenters kept them in the dark and used path lights to guide them, or did maze experiments and used path lights in the maze, or something.

And the peacock is probably also a clue or a calling, or else Cal was telepathically signaling that he wants to go to the zoo. I think the peacock will be a clue that helps them figure out where Fiona took the other passengers. They’re at a farm or estate upstate that has peacocks. Or has a peacock as its symbol, like their home network, NBC. They’ll need to follow the peacock, anyway.

Grace may think that she’s going to keep the kids away from Ben, but we’ve already established that she treats Olive like another adult in the house who’s able to come and go as she pleases. And Cal has shown that he’s fast and slippery with both parents, able to get away from them and go wherever, whenever. She’ll have a hard time stopping them from slipping out now, when it’s already established that they can climb out of windows and lie about it, and when it’s well established that Olive can act as a third parent to Cal.

Why are Jared and Saanvi so perfect?

I am loving the spy vs spy and MKUltra aspects of the story, as well as the human drama, so much. Totally here for government conspiracy theories that blend with the supernatural and the characters home lives. But they need to either tone Grace down or use her less. She seems to be an almost universally hated character at this point, and Danny hasn’t even moved back in on her and the kids yet.

What’s Wrong with Grace?

I think the question we’re all asking now is, “What’s Grace’s medication situation?” Her grip on reality has been tenuous since the plane went missing, and now she flat out refuses to accept it. She’s living in a world she’s constructed around herself, and even looking at her twins everyday, who appear to now be 5 years apart in age, doesn’t break through to her.

If you read through Grace’s arguments, they are consistently centered on herself. She’s worried about Cal’s safety so that she doesn’t have to suffer through losing him again, not for his own sake. She’s not concerned about Olive at all. She shows no concern for her husband, the father of her children, the man she spent 15 years with, who at least deserves to be treated like a friend, if only for her children’s sake.

She has built a fragile mental construction that allows her to be right and Ben to be wrong, all the time. If she allows reality in, her house of cards collapses. Given how submissive Ben is to her neediness, it seems as though him propping her up emotionally was always a component of their relationship, until Cal got sick.

She knows to the day how many days Ben paid more attention to Cal than her, and just how long she had to spend putting Cal’s needs before her own. Then, when they disappeared, she had no one to prop up her fragile ego, so she found Danny, who lied to her to make her feel good. Turns out lies are even better than honesty for building a shell of delusion around yourself.

When Ben and Cal came back, they ruined the supposedly perfect life Grace had rebuilt, with no sick child or distracted husband involved. She couldn’t resent Cal, who she’d idealized into her lost angel, so Ben gets all the blame. With Saanvi’s cure for Cal, Grace sees a new chance at a perfect life. She just has to keep Cal and get rid of Ben.

If she really was focussed on Cal and his needs, she would be wanting more information from Ben, trying to understand what happened to the plane and passengers and what it means for Cal, a child who hasn’t grown in 5 years. She should be pounding down the doors of the investigators, scientists and doctors, looking for answers.

She should be acting more like Ben, Saanvi and Jared. Or even Vance, who has no personal connection to the passengers. All of them are acting like normal people who want to understand this situation and protect themselves and their loved ones from whatever ongoing dangers might arise from it.

Instead, Grace actively refuses to be informed about what happened. She acts as though the entire disappearance was Ben’s fault, and at times she acts like it didn’t happen at all. She pretends that Cal died and Ben abandoned her, then they both separately came back. She’s becoming scarily possessive of Cal.

It’s obviously dangerous for Grace to have full custody of Cal, since she doesn’t know what’s going on with him and doesn’t listen. She made the wrong decision about Cal’s treatment at the hospital because of her delusional thinking. She’s going to continue to make bad decisions for Cal. She’s not going to understand the symptoms she sees. She’s not going to respect his callings. And she’s going to let the wrong people get close to him, because she’s easily taken in by con artist techniques.

I hate that I have to say this, but right now, Ben isn’t equipped to keep Cal safe any more than Grace is. He’s hardly ever home. He takes off to do dangerous spy work at a moment’s notice, and both parents have depended on Olive to pick up the parenting slack for them. The only way I could see Ben having enough backup at home to take proper care of a very sick 10 year old who needs frequent, regular chemo treatments and has other odd health issues, would be for Mick and Ben to move in with Grandpa Steve.

Grace is obviously going to call in Danny to replace Ben as the other backup, which is wrong on so many levels, but it’s been clear for weeks that she was building toward that. She’s got the house, the business, the established relationship, and the established record as a single parent. She’s framed every situation with Ben as him being irresponsible or crazy.

She’s been building a case for custody of the kids, and Ben hasn’t done anything to help his case. Of course, he didn’t know he was going to need to make a case for himself. When Grace tried to throw him out, he should have slept on the couch or moved into a different bedroom, but refused to leave the house. His name is on the deed, too. She doesn’t automatically get it or the kids, and this isn’t the time to be a martyr.

Grace has been making her list of all the things that Ben has done wrong, probably since before they went away to Jamaica, and all of the things she’s done right. She’ll present that list to the judge, along with everyone who’ll testify on her behalf, in the custody suit, where she’ll go for full physical custody, with supervised visitation for Ben. She’s a viper, and she’s turned Olive against Ben, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out that Danny has been coaching her.

If Ben gets some kind of job, and keeps it, moves in with his father and Mick or back into the house, and tries to look stable, he can call on his pre Flight 828 record of stability. He just needs a good lawyer.

What worries me the most is that Grace will let Danny and others have access to the twins. Someone will be from the Singularity Project, and will harm, or even kidnap, Cal or both kids. I think that the time will come when Ben and Cal both have to either leave their regular lives behind and go underground or learn to keep their 828 activities very secret.

I think that Olive may turn out to be the key to keeping Cal safe. She sees and hears much more than people ever realize she does, and she’s a smart kid. If she figures out that Danny’s been using her, and realizes just how obsessed her mother is with Cal, she could turn back to Ben. She could also notice everything that’s going on with Cal, now that Ben can’t run interference for him.

Once Olive has a chance to figure things out for herself, instead of accepting what Grace and Danny tell her, she’ll be on the side of the passengers. She’ll want to help protect Cal. And if they keep increasing the strength of those charges, she may start to feel them herself.

    The Implications of the Experiment

The experiments in Red Hook were specifically inducing pain, not any other form of telepathy. Just like torture does. They were testing to see how efficiently they could spread pain and control a population. If you can hook one subject up to electrodes, and send the rest out into the field to do whatever you want, then control them through the one subject, without any equipment or technology, just by subjecting the one to stimulus, that’s very effective.

This is ultimate control, with no need for anklets, cattle prods, or shock collars, and no way to remove the torture device and escape.  As long as someone has Marko, they have control of the other ten missing passengers, Saanvi, Cal, Ben and Michaela, at a minimum. Fiona currently has Marko. She’s in control and we don’t know where she is.

We don’t know how far the signal travels. And we don’t know Fiona’s true intentions. But we know she grabbed the passengers and the files, and ran. We know that Saanvi disagreed with her methods, strongly, and Fiona’s defense was that it was theoretical. Previously, she said that she’d experimented on rats. Which was it?

I find Vance disingenuous when he can’t understand why a government agency would do unethical experiments on humans, but I will blame the writers and not the character. If his statement were true, he’d have lived a mighty sheltered life.

Torture methods are developed through experimentation. Unethical human experimentation has been done in this country since forever, particularly on minorities and particularly by government agencies. The CIA has a history of calling torture experimentation. MKUltra and many other unethical experimental government programs are widely known in the general population. If spies and security agents don’t know about at least the most famous cases, then I have to wonder how they ended up working in law enforcement, with so little interest in True Crime.

Is Danny the Major?

We know almost nothing about Danny’s life, other than that he met Grace at a bereavement support group meeting and he has expensive, high action sporting equipment in his storage unit. He took Grace scuba diving and is training Olive to go rock climbing in a spot that’s a harsh environment, but does have some easy pitches. He’s able to drop what he’s doing, day or night, for whatever Olive needs, whether it’s someone to get her out of a shoplifting bust or someone to pay attention to her.

He’s refused to stop seeing Olive, on the basis that he doesn’t have his own children, so he can’t give her up. Which is hella creepy when you think about it. He forgot to have his own kid, so he’ll just take Ben’s, because he’s given her a spin and likes her. And now Grace is being possessive with Cal, because she missed him while she thought he was dead, and she wants to punish Ben. Wonder where she got the idea that you own your kids, and can just treat them like objects, from?

Danny is probably a military psychiatrist or psychologist in charge of an entire MKUltra style program. He knows every manipulation, brainwashing and interrogation technique there is, and he’s used half of them on Grace, but he didn’t really need to. He encouraged her to hate Ben and to blame him for everything that went wrong. He encouraged her to keep Cal’s memory fresh, and to feel possessive of her children.

Grace seems to have been selfish and needy before the flight disappeared, but she’s obsessively so now. Before, her narcissism was on the level of a tendency. Now, it’s full-blown and destructive. As in, she’ll destroy anyone who gets between her and what she wants. Danny coached her to that place. He wanted her to be ready to toss aside her husband in favor of him.

He’s deeply embedded in Grace’s family because the project knew the Stones would be important, especially Cal, and they knew they’d need to have Cal’s mother on their side to experiment on him. It’s already established within the family that Olive is safe doing things alone with Danny, and that it’s okay to keep secrets in any configuration of the family members. It’s also established that in the minds of Grace, Olive and Danny, Cal and Ben are mentally unstable since they came home, and nothing Cal or Ben say can be trusted to be reliable.

Thus, you have the perfect set up for Danny to “get close” to Cal, when he’s actually doing experiments on him. Or on him and Olive. Twin studies are a huge thing. Olive is the control group, and as such she’s also very important.

Grace is so desperate to be lied to and told that everything is FINE and NORMAL and that she’s PERFECT and BEAUTIFUL, that Danny doesn’t even have to do any convincing to make her sell out her family. All he has to do is whisper a few sweet nothings and tell her he’ll take care of everything. She’ll think he’s the perfect man, while he’s torturing her children, and threatening that he’ll hurt them if they say anything. Or he’ll make Cal and Olive forget the experiments, using whatever mindwipe technology they used on the passengers to make them forget what happened during the 5 1/2 missing years.

What nefarious purpose is the Acadia trip really code for?

*I love Daniel Sunjata. I have a fantasy that Danny is sincere and harmless in his familial love for Olive and Grace. I want him to realize what’s happening with Cal and decide to help Ben in any way he can. Then Ben and Danny are the buddy cops who save the day. But there is no point to Danny as a character if they do that. He’d be Ben 2.0. So he’s in the mix to do something else, not to be the guy who will fight to the ends of the earth for those kids.

Fiona and the Collective Consciousness

My current theory is that whatever experiment was done to the passengers while they were missing, it was based on Fiona’s work and done with her knowledge and consent. The experiment hasn’t only created the various forms of mind to mind communication that we’ve seen, such as the pain transference that starts when Marko is hit with electricity. It’s created a collective consciousness among the passengers, which is taking on more and more of a life of its own, and making more connections between them.

The collective consciousness may be able to function as a separate entity, which torched the plane, has a limited view into the future and the past, and can follow tendrils of consciousness from members of the collective to connect with others, in order to gain more information. The collective consciousness creates the callings and gives Cal his intuitions.

That would fit with the way mirror neurons have a domino effect in people, with each person’s actions and emotions stimulating the next person’s empathy and reactions. If there’s a collective consciousness that can jump through mirrored neurons, it can find out what’s happening in a large group of people, look through each mind for behavior patterns, and extrapolate potential scenarios. Then it can create the callings in the most receptive minds. Some particularly receptive minds are responding to the collective consciousness, even though they weren’t on the plane, like Jared, Olive and Vance. The white light outside of the plane may have been a manifestation of the collective consciousness that was being created by the minds of the passengers.

When we met Fiona, she was excited about the prospect of the collective consciousness, but I don’t think this is what she expected. She did have a purpose in mind for her research though, to counter an eventual attack by out of control artificial intelligence. (People with telepathy wouldn’t need to tip their hands to the computers by using technology to communicate.) So she may be more benign toward the passengers, or she may want to develop them into a private army.

But Fiona left herself out of the experiment, or it rejected her, so she has no direct idea of what’s happening. Explanations by informants and readings from machines aren’t going to cover the fullness of what’s happening to the group. They are creating a synergy that she won’t be able to keep up with, and neither will government agencies. However, the government can keep kidnapping arresting passengers and experimenting on them. It’s easy to drum up terrorism charges on someone who went missing for 5 1/2 years with no explanation.

Fiona was quick to jump into that van and appoint herself the rescuer of the prisoners. She picked the exact right moment to tell Ben that she was taking them away, when he was too distracted to question her decision to take the passengers and run someplace unknown. And the tactical team had no problem following her orders, which suggests to me that she’s more of a government insider than she wants us to believe.

I think Fiona will try to take Cal next, and might try to lure the others to her secret lab to convince them she’s on the up and up before she finds a way to directly experiment on them.

Or maybe the passengers will catch a break and she’ll be a good person, who’ll only do benign experiments to help them explore their new powers. I’m sure that’s what it says on the spa brochures.

Vance and Diversity

We also say goodbye to NSA Director Robert “Bobby” Vance in this episode, at least for now. When the building collapsed, he was standing next to Jared, but we didn’t see him lying unconscious in the rubble. We saw Jared and Belson, and weren’t told whether Belson survived.

I can’t help but notice that taking Vance out of the equation will put Powell, the plant, in charge of the NSA’s Flight 828 case. Vance also knows things about the case that no other agent knows. It���s in the best interest of the various security agencies and UDS to keep him alive, for now, to interrogate him.

Whether he’ gone for good or for a few episodes, he’ll be missed. Vance was the everyman, with no personal stake in the game, who could look at events with an unbiased eye. And he had NSA access and training. He was an amazing asset to the team and a decent man.

He was the only regular black character, who went from evil, to good, to sidekick, to dead(ish). This show isn’t having a great track record with diversity. They frequently hire diverse actors, but the characters die or leave the show again just as quickly. Vance appears to be replaced with Powell and/or Belson, and Fiona has taken Saanvi’s screentime in the last two episodes. We’ve only seen Daniel Sunjata sparingly. JR Ramirez is the one person of color to survive the curse and to make it through the first half of the season with his screentime and plotline intact.

Manifest does at least have female characters, but the positions of power are generally filled by men and many of the women are emotionally compromised in ways that the men are not. The three lead women, Michaela, Grace and Olive, rely on their emotions to make decisions to an unhealthy extent. These three women have unspoken agreements with the men in their lives that they’ll prop up the women’s emotions and save them when their emotional recklessness backfires.

All three have been acknowledged to currently skate the edge of mental illness, and to have been worse in the past. None of the men are or have been mentally ill. None succumbed to deep depression because of Flight 828, the way Grace, Karen and Olive did. Ben and Michaela’s dad, Steve, appears to have come out of the 5 1/2 years as simply older and wiser.  Five years which also included the loss of his wife, the mother of his children. He’s rarely seen, but he’s a rock when he is. Jared spent some time drinking in bars, made detective, and moved on with his life.

Lourdes, of all people, is the most well-rounded and functional woman, but we rarely see her. Saanvi spends so much time on exposition that she hardly gets to have her own storylines, and none of them are about her. The character, herself, notes that she doesn’t have a personal life. Fiona is likely a cloaked villain, which always gives a character complexity, but we don’t know much about her for sure yet. She’s basically Tasteful Scientist Barbie™. And she had to leave the normal power structure to gain any success.  Evie’s mom, Bev, pops up occasionally, as does Michaela and Ben’s mom, Karen. Both do little more than be mothers or be ill. Dr. Williams does nothing but be Cal’s doctor.

Moment of silence for the interesting characters who came into the Manifest world in the first half of the season, and were quickly disposed of: Kelly Taylor, Christine the very odd housekeeper, Radd Campbell, Adio Campbell, Thomas, Bethany Collins, Bethany’s lost cousin, Saanvi’s supervisor Dr Cardoso, Cindy Im as an unnamed DARPA scientist (If there’s one government agency I want to see, it’s DARPA), Isaiah the Believer (remember when they were a thing?), and Saanvi Baahl, who is still there but has lost her screentime. And Robert Vance, who seemed like he was going to make it, but couldn’t beat the curse. Only Grace and Jared have that kind of Plot Armor.

[MINOR SPOILER] Next episode, when Ben discovers Danny in his home, with his children, playing house with his wife, he should pull him right out into the garage and tell him EVERYTHING about the callings and every other unusual thing about the flight. Doesn’t matter if Danny thinks he’s crazy. Let the Flight 828 Curse do its work. Ben’s garage could turn into The Ring for Grace’s new boyfriends.

Manifest returns from its winter break on January 7, 2019.

  While we’re waiting for the next episode, be sure to visit Manifest828.com for all things Manifest, from copies of the episode scripts to the latest news, now including forums!

Images courtesy of NBC.

Manifest Season 1 Episode 9: Dead Reckoning Recap Well, the Fall Finale of Manifest certainly lived up to its name, Dead Reckoning. There were real and metaphorical deaths, though it wasn't a Walking Dead or Game of Thrones style bloodbath.