#with storyboarding it’s becoming a problem

[wormtime123]

another one done 🐺 calling neverafter nation population of 3

[nenoname]

hunting down a specific image but finding miscellaneous storyboards/some cut panels from the stan comic story instead

[cs-cabin-and-crew]

Why did no one tell me the moment I figured out how to make animatics, that my brain would be overrun with half done storyboards?

[shower-racoon]

is it even possible for a show to be the perfect length? make it too short, it leaves the audience wanting. make it too long, the audience finds it boring and repetitive. but the difference between the two depends entirely on the show at hand, 2.15 seasons isn't nearly enough for The Owl House but it's more than the veggietales reboots deserve (and less than they got, but that's a rant for another post). or maybe the problem is that the line is drawn in the middle of an episode, so leaving that episode out makes it too short but leaving that episode in makes it too long?

[dilfosaur]

well i haven't spilled my guts on tumblr since i was in college but it's the platform that's felt The Most Mine thru the years, so

let's talk!

i've had a huge chip on my shoulder that i wanted off before the year ends. very bad professional experience to follow

so firstly to get ahead of the speculating, i'm not naming names or anything. some of you will puzzle out who i'm talking about, but please don't bother anyone especially not on my behalf. i've worked hard to distance myself from them the past few months. shit happens, especially when you're a dumb bitch (that's me!)

but also this person was someone i considered a close friend and it makes me uneasy to possibly direct backlash at them. "then why post about it" bc i did intermittent work for them for over a year. this is just about that. so hear me out

basically it started off fine. i initially did some commission work for good pay, then was invited to become more involved with their team. unfortunately as i became more involved with their operation it became more disorganized over time. projects started then forgotten, constantly shifting schedules, lapsing communication between roles, confusing financials, and often inconsistent if not late payments. during mid 2023 i was doing colorist work, sometimes on a one day turnaround (all while also preparing drawfee's summer merch launch). the payroll wasn't set up correctly so i wasn't paid for that work for over a year (more on that later), tho to be fair that was largely my own fault at first as i just didnt realize the payments didn't go thru lol

i always consider myself decently capable of separating friendship and coworker-ship; i run a company with 4 wonderful friends, going strong for almost 5 years. that didn't really work out in this case. by early this year our friendship was on the rocks; work issues fed into personal issues and vice versa. so as the rest of this shit plays out, we had just had our first "big fight" which i felt very bad about and added to all the upcoming tension

a huge point of friction was the fact that i really wanted to work with them to make a music video for one of their songs. i've always wanted a chance to make a music video, was confident in a concept i came up with, and even did some concept art for the idea. everyone insisted they loved the concept and that we should do it, but we kept pushing it back for various reasons. it ended up becoming a huge sticking point for my frustrations, which i tried to express productively. TLDR, we eventually got around to discussing it seriously around april.

i planned to ask for $4000 with negotiable add-on for the whole project, which was my Friend Discount price. i was offered a contract for $1000 flat rate, as they insisted that was the only budget they had for it.

don't ask me why i signed it lol. i didn't even counter offer

there was some girlmath to it: i wanted an extra 1k for a student scholarship i provide every spring and well, there it was. but if i had to guess, i saw it as something i just couldn't back down from any more. i caused these folks- my friends- a lot of problems bc i dug my heels in so deep to chase this project, so fuck it we ball

i had about 4 months to solo a 3 minute music video. they wanted it done in august so they could release it before summer ended, bc "it was a summer song". to be fair i was asked if i needed them to pay for anything extra like assistants (which i would have to find and manage) but i was so immediately overwhelmed that i didn't wanna slow down to wait on that process lol. there was very minimal communication other than brief progress check-ins every few weeks. i did everything for that project myself: the original concept, character designs, storyboards, layouts, backgrounds. i even did the editing/compositing for the final cut of the MV. the only favor i did myself was limiting the amount of it that was actually animated to simple loops and motions. hardly my best work but it was work still done

i did it all in between my full time job. i ended up having to take nearly a month away from most of my drawfee duties (with the support of the others) to make the august deadline. i only ever asked for a 3 day extension (notice given about a week in advance, around the same time i was given the final song file lol). i finished the music video at 6am on the final deadline and recorded drawfee the next day on 2 hours of sleep

but it was done, coolies. the team was very happy with the final product. honestly, without getting into it, those were a very emotionally taxing 4 months. on the professional side, i regretted agreeing to the project and especially for the dogshit rate they offered. i felt like a hypocrite- as someone who always wanted to advocate for younger artists demanding their worth in a world that's getting increasingly hostile toward creatives, i failed myself

so when i met with the manager to discuss the release plan, i told them to do whatever worked best for them as i only had one request: i wanted my credit removed from the project

tbh... like... lmao this dramatic bitch right!! but really, i decided that bad practices only breed worse business. friends or not, it was unprofessional of me to accept such a low paying job so i just didn't want my name used in association. everything felt so muddled to me and i was just really tired at this point

the manager was very understanding and then offered that i could be paid more. they said that their team "was surprised" i accepted their low rate and they would be happy to up the amount. this confused me as the initial budget seemed pretty set and at no point between april and august was i offered a better rate. i knew these guys weren't made of money. so, i declined. i didn't want to put anyone out of their means over work that was already done and agreed upon. but more importantly, i was over the whole thing and didn't want to prolong the project with a contract renegotiation. i just insisted my name be removed

they decided to use a pseudonym (which i was fine with) so they could create a story about a character who made the MV (this sounds really convoluted but i don't know how better to put it without getting specific, sorry). that way if people asked about the credit, they could speak comfortably about it without signaling that something went wrong behind the scenes. ok, kind of a silly narrative imo but whatevs. and maybe this is where i finally went truly wrong but. yolo i guess

i gave the name "D. Smithee", D as in dilfosaur and Smithee as in Alan Smithee. look it up for fun film trivia ig! was it passive aggressive of me to reference that in this context? yeah, honestly. but i thought it was kinda funny and really not that deep. if it was a problem, i have other real, non-cheeky pseudonyms i regularly use. the manager accepted it and all i had to do was wait for them to post the video and i could leave the whole experience behind me

a week later i received a message from the manager that my pseudonym had been denied by the rest of the team bc one of them got the reference. fair enough lol. however, they decided that rather than ask for a different name, the were going to make one up for me that they liked and would "fit the [story]", without asking me

and that! is when i finally snapped!

i was so tired of giving them concessions at this point and having a credit made up for me without any input from me felt genuinely violating and unethical. i started to Panic bc of how stressed i was, and asked for my overdue payments (aka the $500 still owed on the MV, and the colorist rate from a year prior that was never paid even tho i reported it in january) to be scheduled ASAP as i was leaving the work discord immediately

i finally told them off for exploiting me throughout the months while i kept trying to just be nice and finish my contact cleanly. in return i was told that it was unfair to say that as i agreed to everything- i accepted their cheap rate and denied further payment so that was all settled, and it was ok to change my credit without my consent bc i "said they could do whatever with the release". i called bullshit, ended the convo as kindly as i could, and cried lol. they agreed to ditch the pseudonym and just give no credit. that night was the last i heard from anyone on that team

and the real kicker?

august came and went. then september, october... and they never released the music video

and i don't know why, because i was never contacted about it. i've been removed from the picture entirely i guess. 4 months and boatloads of stress. just. up in smoke. i don't know what i expected honestly

it's hard to not take everything that happened personally and as done in bad faith. i really do, honestly. i've had plenty of shitty deals in my almost 10 year art career, but it hits different from people you saw as friends. but to the point of "why not keep it private", i have never felt so disrespected as a professional as i did this past year. i can toy with money and credits and other formalities all i want, but my work- my ideas, my labor, my effort- is still so important to me. i felt like the biggest idiot for doing so much work, pouring so much of myself into a piece for someone's use, for what has amounted to nothing

but more importantly i hated myself for undervaluing my work, even if initially i thought this person was a trusted friend. money is not really an issue for me- drawfee is my main job and i am fine and comfortable. it's so important to pay artists appropriately but i often undersell my own work bc i value the collaboration and passion between creatives more than the reward. i think a lot of artists tend to feel the same, and it often makes us easy to take advantage of. it's so difficult to find the balance between passion and making a fair living, and i think there's some shame within ourselves when artists choose to prioritize that passion

i wanted to finally get all this off my chest bc i was ashamed of every choice i made. things like this happen all the time i'm sure and hiding these mistakes only make it easier for it to happen to other people

tldr always value your work and protect your passion from people who just see it as a product. and don't give cheeky pseudonyms i guess lol

(and again pls don't bother anyone involved about this. a lot of chaos has left my life as i moved past all this, and this is me closing a door without opening new ones hopefully lol)

this shit was truly

so ass.

but i'm moving past it now

but on a nicer note. outside of all of this nonsense, i made lots of good memories this year. i'm truly so grateful to the many wonderful people in my life who keep me going even when i fuck up big time!

and thank you to all of you strangers who, despite everything, give me the time of day. especially if you read this whole thing. you're a real one :')

happy new year!

[artist-issues]

Idk if you still think about Wish (2023) but I feel like a huge problem with it, specifically Asha's character, was that she just fit the "adorkable" stereotype instead of being her own character.

It made sense with Rapunzel - she's never been outside before, so of course she will be a socially awkward clutz. The same goes for Anna, but this character archetype started going downhill for Disney in Moana. It might seem like it fits since she's never been off of Motunui before but it's not like she's never talked to anyone.

The "adorkable" trend became its worst with Asha. What do you mean she's socially awkward and clumsy but still has the trust of the ENTIRE KINGDOM and wants to be the King's apprentice??? How???

I feel like if they made her personality a little more like Cinderella's and Tiana's she might have been more likable and believable - being a stern, gentle, and hardworking woman who takes no crap but is still kind and caring deep down. This could contrast her with the naïve, cheerful, and bubbly Starboy (I always mourn the storyboard drawings of them together) and even make a comparison between her and King Magnifico, maybe even becoming a central conflict with how Magnifico's ambition for power turns him evil because of his lack of morals, and without Starboy Asha would've gone down the same path if it weren't for him reminding her about what really matters - being purely good and not letting anything stray you away from being a good person.

Sorry for the ramble but I just have SO many thoughts about how Wish could've turned out 😭

I don’t find Moana “adorkable.” If “adorkable” means “socially awkward” or “spazzy with her emotions,” (like Rapunzel going “I KNOW! -playing it cool- I mean…I know.” Or Anna going “It’s TRUE LOVE”) then that’s…kind of just “being young.” And I’m sure, with Rapunzel and Anna, being lonely for a long time contributed to that My-Emotions-Splash-Everywhere-Every-Time-I-Get-the-Chance thing their personalities have.

But Moana doesn’t have that. If you mean she cracks jokes, like rambling to Pua about not eating pork, or singing at Maui, those aren’t “adorkable” traits. They’re just a teenage girl’s sense of humor. Teenage girls mock their friends’ little phrases all the time. Teenage girls shriek at the top of their lungs when they’re excited. Teenage girls ramble when they’re nervous. That’s just one shade of normal teenage girl behavior. If you’re tired of seeing it, maybe you’re tired of teenagers.

And she has her own personality besides all that. Moana is intensely stubborn in a way that can be insensitive or bullheaded. She is prideful—she thinks she’s special because the Ocean choosing her validated those feelings. She also has what Asha does not—believable motivation for most of her decisions.

I mean, what do you want instead? Is it time to admit the “adorkable” thing started with Ariel and Mulan? Did you want a mature-adult-type teenager, who have “maturity,” or “patience” as character traits, like Belle or Cinderella? Or were you hoping for a Jasmine type—immaturity in the form of sharp tongue and temper? “They tried doing the whole “no jokes, this is a serious adventurer” thing with Raya, and it sucked.

What I’m saying is, giving a girl a rambling mouth—especially when she’s on a solo-adventure for a significant portion of her movie—isn’t a cardinal sin. Neither is giving her moments of dorky clumsiness (especially in Moana’s case, it’s humanizing when she runs into something or gets something wrong, because she’s otherwise phsyically pretty capable.)

As far as Asha goes, I definitely still think about Wish, and I actually agree with what I think is your main sentiment—she doesn’t have any personality so they just slap “sometimes clumsy sometimes unflatteringly goofy” onto what’s an empty husk.

The thing is, her main motivation isn’t relatable. It’s not very human. She spends three seconds in the presence of the leader of her whole known world, worldview, and culture, and instantly knows exactly what’s wrong with that worldview, world, and culture. No confusion, no hesitation, perfect right answer instantly. She wants her grandfather to have his wish—but he was fine without it, and nobody ever clearly defines what a wish even is in this movie in a way that’s relatable, so we can’t relate.

It would be like if you took Mulan’s desire to save her father from physical injury, mixed with a desire to prove herself—and then you replaced that with “Mulan desires to speak with the tongues of dragons.” Mmmkay that sounds neat but what the heck does it mean and why should I care, or remember it when I leave this theater?

Everyone who defends this movie likes to say, “Asha’s selfless, she just cares too much about everyone else’s wishes, she wants them all to be happy!” But you know what, that’s not relatable. Because it’s flawless.

Belle is selfless. Belle gives up all her dreams and goes into her worst nightmare—living with a selfish, conceited monster—to fave her father.

But did you catch that? She has dreams. She doesn’t know exactly what she wants, but she wants to have a big, important life. That;s not necessarily selfless, and it’s part of her personality. Guess what else? Her worst nightmare is living with a selfish, conceited monster. So she actually has something to develop.—being able to be kind and loving, anyway, and give conceited monsters a chance.

Asha has nothing like that. From the first moment conflict is introduced, she knows what the right thing to do is. She has no self-focused desires, allegedly. She’s just a told virtue with no showing, no real person inside.

I mean jeez, even Aurora, whose whole character is supposed to BE a “Symbol of Virtue, Personified” still lays her head down and cries when she can’t have the man she loves. Even Cinderella gets annoyed with Lucifer.

And what’s the deal with that recently? Where’d all the annoyance go? Why is it Moana doesn’t get into any serious, believable arguments with anyone on her crew in Moana 2? Loto starts chopping up the BOAT THEIR LIVES DEPEND ON and Moana’s just like, “heyyy budddyyy could you maybe nooot?” All passive-aggressive and smiley, she’s not even a little irritated. Neither is Loto. And no matter how grumpy the old man is, nobody is ever fed up with him. What’s the deal with that?

Why is it Asha is never fed up with or loses her temper at Valentino? Nobody hurts each other’s feelings in these movies anymore. (Sabino yelling at Asha doesn’t count because it came out of nowhere and again, the THING he’s yelling about isn’t believable, it’s nonsensical.) Why doesn’t she talk back or argue with Sabino at the table like Mulan does? Why is she fine to argue with Magnifico, though, the villain? What happened to all that self-righteousness? Oh, we can’t use it. Not when it’s a character that is a good guy. Because our good guys can never do anything slightly unlikable to fellow good guys.

What’s the deal with that in these movies nowadays? The relationships have no flaws or teeth. What’s with that? Am I the only one noticing that?

Anyway

[mr-damian-s-power]

It’s so baffling to me the way they changed Luz’s intro in the pilot to the utter bs in the actual show. I’ve seen it criticized before and there’s always some stan going like ‘it’s kid show it’s not that serious’…but the show wants to be serious. It wants to be a realistic and grounded take on a fantasy cartoon and prides itself on that. So obviously to do that they decide to change ‘weird and out-there, but pretty harmless’ to ‘teenager with vet mom misuses multiple living snakes and brings explosives into a school when she grew up in an age of mass shooting fears and not even a water gun could be on campus’.

Yeah, I've had some run-ins with salty stans who try and brush my criticisms off with 'it's just a kids show', but still praise it for being 'more than a kids show'. Gotta love double standards! Don't listen to them, I say! They're likely just upset you dared to say mean things about their precious show and just label you a hater.

-

To put it lightly, Luz has a terrible introduction for a character we the audience are supposed to feel sorry for. Her 'quirky antics' are genuinely dangerous! She brings Snakes into school, which escape and bite people. That's not even mentioning the fireworks in an enclosed environment! Then, she's just so blasé about it! Then we're just supposed to go 'haha, oh Luz, that lovable little rascal. She's so silly.' THEN, we're supposed to see her being sent to a camp for the summer as some terrible thing. Very tame punishment, I think! Luz, mate, you're lucky nobody got the police involved!

You're correct! I haven't seen it in a while, but I'm certain Luz was way more tolerable and sympathetic in the storyboarded pilot. She's shown as just being a bit eccentric, rather than an uncaring willingly oblivious arse. And, I think we actually see her being ridiculed and laughed at for the crime of being a bit weird, rather than people being rightfully annoyed that she decided to mess with things for attention.

The sad thing is that I wouldn't mind Luz being a bit of a self-important, delusional little shit at the beginning if this was part of some kind of character arc. While in the Demon Realm, she properly begins to realise that this 'fantasy world' is not like the ones in her stories, but a real breathing world with real people and real problems. You know, like how it SEEMED the show was going for at first before becoming a wish fulfillment power fantasy. She has to learn to stop living life through her stories and that her main character syndrome is only detrimental to herself and those around her.

As she goes along in the story, she begins to learn boundaries and that not everyone appreciates her intrusive behaviour. At the beginning, she thinks Camila is unfair and holding her back, but she soon comes to see that her Mum just wanted what was best for her. She comes to see that she was quite ungrateful and selfish. When Luz and friends come back to Earth, she practically dives into Camila's arms and profusely apologises for being a bad daughter.

-

Thoughts?

[captain-clandestiny]

made it another year.

a bit of a personal comic, but just some feelings i wanted to get out.

I've... been kind of lost lately. I'm far from abandoning the development of Bluesleeves and the other stories i've been managing on the side, yet i just cant find it within me to create actual art lately. Something im proud of, not just a doodle or scribble or joke. And as i celebrate another year of life, it gets heavy. The guilt of inaction weighs more on my head and my heart with every day that goes by. But... I cant change.

Thats not to say i havent tried. God, ive tried more times than i can count. Ive tried more things than i can remember. Nothing works.

Or... nothing has worked.

And im starting to realize thats the key. Not some trainer on my ass, or another bummy improvement app. But hope. Hope, when kindled right, feeds to so many other things. Resilience, in the hope that things will improve. Discipline, in the hope that it'll all pay off. Sociability, in the hope to make some friends. Kindness, in the hope it can help.

But hope can lead you down darker paths too. Hope, burning bright, is ambition. But ambition, overwhelming, can turn to desire. And i let my hope get ahead of me. Looking at everyone else in this insane online world, my hope was changed. I began with a hope to create a story. Which turned into an ambition to amass an audience to love it as much as i did. And, as expected, kept evolving into a monster of jealousy, inferiority, and doubt.

Why can't I reach heights like them? Is mine not good enough? They have it all- why can't I just do what they did? Why won't it work?? How do I get them to listen? Something I'm doing wrong? Maybe I'm the problem? What if this is where it ends? Did I peak here? Did I do something wrong? Does this really matter???

It goes on and on. A monster, really. And when your passion project becomes an objective- a chore, is it really still from the heart?

...

this birthday has made me realize that i've gone down a wrong path. I got distracted, turned around, and now lost. but coming to that question- if any of it really matters, its never me that answers. rather. its my creations. why would they be here if it was all indifferent? why go through the labor that is constructing a story if it never meant anything? the sleepless nights of storyboards, countless sketch pages with a thousand portraits of one character? obligation does not drive that kind of devotion.

so for the first time in a while i looked inside my head for the answer. ignored the demon, the likes and ratios, and focused on this mysterious force instead. and there it was.

all of this was for hope.

my hope.

that my dreams would become real. my visions realized. and most of all, that somehow, it could help someone. anyone. even just one. because all i'd ever wanted was someone to help me. and if i could keep just one more person from growing up like me, that would be worth it all.

the purpose of Bluesleeves was not to attract fame, attention, or money, but to help. To convey a message (more like several, actually), to help people learn, and to make them wonder. entertainment is a powerful way to communicate knowledge, after all.

and while i can spend my birthday with this burden, wallowing in guilt over all the time i wasted and my simple misdirection, that wouldn't accomplish much. What matters is that i found my hope again. inevitably, i'll lose track again, and ill be lost once more. but what matters is that i dont stay there. that i keep moving. keep falling, but lifting my chin after every stumble.

this sounds sappy and awful, and honestly im losing my train of thought now, but i just needed to express this. for me. from me, to you. this is what ive been dealing with, and im sorry i havent been so active lately. it may be a while, but i promise you, im going to make it happen. i just need a stable mind before i keep up a stable posting schedule, haha.

some of this may help other people struggling similarly, or just be complete gibberish, i dont know!! because im sure not going back to read allat!! thank you, YOU, for reading this far. or if you skipped ahead down here, um, hi i guess.

thank you, every single one of you for your love and support. At the end of the day, no matter how hard, it still seems so impossible knowing that i've reached some of you with my stories. so out of this world that i could make you laugh, cry, smile... that i could make you feel. and that very impossibility means more than you could ever know 🫶

[sunflowhamato]

ROTTMNT Curiosities Part.5

The ideas of making and ending the series through IDW comic would be easy to do

If the series is picked up, the tone of Rise would remain the same

Some chapters discarded were the following, (I took the information from

where it will be more complete, in case you want to read it)

Wedding Smashers: Ghostbear marries his fiancé Ghostpepper, a Chupacabra yokai. Raph and Mikey crash their wedding dressed as their aliases Shadybug and Dr. Rude.

Dog Dale Afternoon: April finds out that Baba Yaga cursed Dale to be a werewolf, but he doesn't know what's happening to him, Donnie shows up to “help him,” and be his doctor.

Shred Dead Redemption: Screenwriter Sheldon Vella shared the first board of his showing the brothers chasing the cupcake van called Fire and Icing in Turtle Tank. Unfortunately, a piece of cardboard (Donnie's cloaking device) blocking the front windshield causes the Tank to crash gracelessly into a Lou Jitsu poster.

Warren Stone 2: Warren Stone is cut in half again, but this time the lower half of him becomes a different Warren sporting a beard and shaved head. Warren Stone II ends up becoming a competent and dangerous enemy for the turtles. Realizing that Warren is upset, Warren II has taken his title of "The Turtles' Greatest Enemy", April helps Warren regain his charm.

Gourd Almighty: A comedic episode about Donnie trying to grow the world's largest pumpkin for a contest.

T-Hex: It was going to be about Mikey wanting a robotic toy with a "boopable snoot." After getting the toy he turns out to be not as innocent as he seems.

Lost Goat: Draxum leaves after having a fight with the family (Turtles and Splinter). As he does so, he is abducted by the foot. While trying to rescue Draxum, the family has no choice but to resolve their issues regarding him.

Goyles just wants to have fun: Huggin and Muggin are confused when they find Draxum working in a school cafeteria. Draxum asks Leo and Donnie to help improve his image so as not to lose the respect he once had for the Goyles.

Rampaging Raph: Raph comes to Draxum for help after getting trapped in his enormous mystical form. He is ashamed of not having mastered his mystical powers like his brothers. Draxum ends up splitting Raph and his mystical power, which then becomes a problem when the Red Hulk turns red and begins crushing the city, getting stronger with each hit. To save the city, Raph has to confess and ask his brothers for help.

The Island of Dr. Noe: Hunter/dentist Dr. Noe kidnaps Raph and Leo and takes them to his home island. The doctor wants Raph's tooth in his tooth collection.

Toddler Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mikey becomes the oldest when his siblings turn into little turtles after being attacked by an immortal mutant jellyfish bank robber. 163.There is a small chance that Such TMNT and Rise exist at the same time. 164.Production ties were a little over a year from premise. About 8 weeks from premise to draft record, about 12 for a storyboard, 8 for final animation, with design happening all the time. 6 months for full animation, music, etc. 165. You always interacted a lot with the design team when writing 166.Here is the board with the episodes of the series (in season 2), although some are jokes 167.Although Netflix supported Rise for the movie, it is not Ron or Russ's decision whether the series will continue or not, but they want it to continue supporting 168. The best way to support Rise is to keep watching, posting and spreading the word for the show

[eclipse-song]

As someone who works in the animation industry...I have complicated feelings when I see people comment on queer TV episodes made by big media entities saying "well nothing they made was ever going to be sincere or mean it because they're [big media entity]. This is why we should support indie artists instead."

Yes, to a certain degree, it is true that these big corporations love to take the credit for being "brave" and talking about human rights. And of course indie artists need to be supported. But the problem I have with these statements is thag it seems to dismiss all of the actual individual people involved in the process of making these shows. There are very few animators who are able to make a living in indie. It's only recently that this has started to become a more viable source of income, and even then it isn't a reliable one. Most animators need to work for these corporations to survive and afford to live. We have rent to pay, mortgages, families, pets. Disney or whoever isn't this shadow entity that came up with the plot of a show. It's the show runners and the artists who happened to have their show picked up by Disney. It's the writers who sat in the writing room, probably either being trans or knowing someone in their life who is trans. It's the storyboard artists and designers who all got together and decided to include these things. It's the director who approved it and decided this was something worth fighting for. And the animators who lovingly brought it all to life. There is a crew of a hundred people that came together and wanted to make something with love. And maybe one or 2 people who ultimately made the call to not release it. So it isn't just a matter of "well whatever, don't be too upset because it's not like they'd ever mean anything by it." I DO feel upset because there were many queer people who I will have the privilege to work with in my life time who have had their work completely canceled and told that No, the world isn't ready for you yet. Go back in the closet. These shows are made by human beings, and I think that shouldn't be forgotten.

[stupid-pig-came-home]

To the people who CONSTANTLY keep saying that Stolitz is bad, Stolitz is fan service, Stolitz is for the yaoi fangirls, Stolitz is this, Stolitz is that....

You do realize that the team has to write the scriptS plural FIRST, have the voice actors record their lines NEXT, and THEN the storyboard artists and the rough/clean up-animators and special effects artists get to do their part of the project with all the information and the material that they have, right, RIGHT?

And besides, Vivienne, Brandon, and Adam have to come to a SOLID AGREEMENT before anything actually gets recorded, or drawn, or animated.

So Stolitz is NOT happening because of creepy fangirls wanting to see two cute guys be together. Its just that FINALLY a fandom got a potential gay relationship becoming an actual loving couple within their series, and the "antis" and "haters" and "critics" are pissed off that their relationship is not being handled in a pure and squeaky clean manner,

or maybe it's because both are canonically male characters... (Blitz talks about his penis regularly, and Stolas was forced to get a woman pregnant and have a child. So yeah both are cis-male characters.) ...and that makes them icky gays, who fuck up their situations on the regular, and THE PEOPLE WHO HATE IT JUST CAN'T HAVE THAT, NO NO NO, the gays have to be perfect little cliches and stereotypes with little or no conflict or trauma, or serious problems in their lives because that makes GAY PEOPLE A LITTLE TOO REAL FOR THEM, A LITTLE TOO HUMAN FOR THEM IF YOU WILL.

So, yeah screw the "antis", "critics", and "haters" and all silly names that these people were labeled, I'm pro-stolitz coming together and working their shit out and becoming a loving couple and blending their family. 💕🖕🖕🖕🖕🦉🦎

[randomyuu]

A JJK GoYuu fancomic... of a fanfic (read right to left)

You know… despite me getting into JJK fandom this year, I’ve never drawn any JJK characters. (cue me drawing 9 whole-ass comic pages-)

This wonderful fic is titled (you'll whisper, serpent tongue) what you fear you have become by @voxofthevoid​. This comic covers chapter 1 scenes.

Beware of the tags, as the fanfic is NSFW. Oh, and also, manga spoilers! Major character and arc spoilers! I’ve read until chapter 4 and no NSFW so far, but still, beware!

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43446157/chapters/109219954

I hope you enjoy reading this comic and the fanfic if you decide to!

Update: Chapter 6 scene fanart

More of my random thoughts and an early drawing of GoYuu below:

Have I told you I’m not used to drawing manga as well? Manga panels are pain. PAIN, I tell you. I shouldn’t have done this, but I did. I did, because every time I read the synopsis of this fic I keep picturing manga-like scenes. You should blame me for reading those AllYuu doujinshis.

It was… interesting experience. I was struggling a bit with the balloon consistency, like, do I use white boxes or just italic words for thoughts? Or maybe a balloon with a cloud-like border?

And there’s GoYuu (YuuGo? Idk honestly, don’t care lol) themselves. As I said, I literally have never drawn JJK-related content before. So when I started thinking about the panelling, I realised that I don’t really know how to draw Gojo, even more a thousand-year-old Yuuji. A whole day is spent researching Gojo, Yuuji and Sukuna’s appearances lol. Sukuna’s markings are a problem since I can’t find a full view of his markings. I know I can just finally watch the anime (yes I haven’t watched the anime, only some short clips; yes I know the animation is good, and I really want to watch it but my brain doesn’t want to) or re-read the manga, but I don’t want to ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

After going through Google images, Twitter and Reddit, I whipped up a front drawing of GoYuu as my reference:

Gojo’s is easier because he hasn’t changed from the official (I blatantly eyeballing the character sheet I found haha), but Yuuji is different. Yuuji’s hair is longer; if I recall, there’s no exact description of his clothes. I assume he’s topless due to this description: Messy pink hair, long enough to cover the creature’s nape but not to hide the segmented dark markings running down his back, shifts in the wind.

And halfway through storyboarding, I realised that I have no experience using screen tones. Whatsoever. So off I go searching for a screentone bundle I can freely download and slowly figure my way out after fully lining the page.

And we haven’t even touched perspective, background, achromatic colouring, non-human characters—man, I really bite more than I can chew lmaooo

Ah, the things you would do to satiate that drawing mood ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Also, I hope I’ll have time to draw more fanarts of JJK GoYuu fanfics because they live rent-free in my brain and I need them to get out. Maybe other pairings as well? I like quite a lot of pairings that involve Yuuji. He’s precious, and I love having it shown to me over and over through fanfics.

[imagitory]

All right...for those of you who don't know my thoughts about Wish, yes, I wasn't happy with the finished result, but no, I'm not a hater. I'm mostly just disappointed that this project that had so many good ideas came out so half-baked, and THIS is a perfect example of what I mean.

No, it's not because "Star Boy" appears in it -- at least, not by itself. I do actually like Star's "himbo" personality in this, even if I also completely understand liking the idea of a mute version of the character. (The downside is that the mute Star from the finished film honestly doesn't have much personality outside of just being cute, in contrast to other mute magical Disney characters like Tinker Bell.)

No, the lost potential here is two-fold --

Firstly, I once again felt more emotion watching this storyboarded sequence than I did at any point in the finished film. I smiled hearing the fun banter between Star and Asha, insinuating that they're becoming closer despite their contrasting personalities; I felt some suspense in how Star and Asha were going to get away from evil!Queen Amaya; I even laughed pretty hard at the cat-and-yarn gag! I didn't laugh once while watching the finished movie.

Secondly -- and this point is actually the one I want to focus on more -- is the commentary given about why this scene was cut. I truly think another unspoken reason behind the decision was that this sequence was clearly inspired by the transforming chase scene in Nimona, which Disney of course infamously dropped when they closed Blue Sky Studios and later got picked up by Netflix, only to receive glowing reviews from just about everyone...but one of the core reasons that Head of Story Mark Kennedy cites for why they changed this scene (aside from wanting Star to be mute and not a shapeshifter like other Disney characters, which I'm a bit confused about because yeah, Disney's done cute, mute non-human characters before too -- what about Dopey, Pascal, Maximus, Dumbo, Bambi, Magic Carpet, Sven, and again Tinker Bell?) is that they wanted Asha to be the hero and be able to "solve all her problems" without Star's help.

Up to a point, I understand what Kennedy means -- the theme of the film is supposed to be that we all have the power inside of us to make a difference, and that's great. But by making it so that Asha doesn't need any help from Star, it takes something away from their relationship. No human is an island, and relationships, both in stories and real life, are often built on that fact. Just look at Ariel and Eric in the original Little Mermaid -- Ariel saves Eric from drowning and from Ursula zapping him with Triton's trident, and then Eric saves Ariel from Ursula by skewering her with the broken figurehead of a ship. Even in non-romantic examples, we have Judy and Nick having to help each other solve the case in Zootopia; Buzz and Woody helping each other get back to Andy in Toy Story; the Parr family and Frozone all fighting together against Syndrome's robot with their unique powers in The Incredibles; Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver working together to save themselves and everyone else at the end of Treasure Planet; even Anna helping Elsa learn how to control her magical abilities through an act of authentic, courageous, selfless love that only she can do in Frozen. These characters needing help and deep emotional connections with others is what creates a bond between them, helps the characters grow and change into stronger people, and makes us as an audience enjoy watching the two characters together. We become invested in both the two individual characters and the relationship forged between them. Because they all have their unique strengths and weaknesses, they supplement and complete each other. Even perfect paragon Superman in most DC properties isn't an island -- when he's in the Justice League, there are plenty of times where he needs help from Batman or other team members to save the day. Even Superman is a stronger character when he has people around him who can balance out his flaws.

If Asha never needs help, that runs the risk of the challenges she's facing seeming far less consequential, because no human can handle absolutely everything, all by themselves. Yes, perhaps in the finished film, Asha asks her friends to help her liberate the wishes (a task which ultimately fails, leaving Asha to confront Magnifico alone again and realize exactly what everyone has to do to defeat him on her own anyway)...but just in regards to Star and Asha's relationship -- which even the filmmakers have said is something like a "soulmate" relationship, though not in a romantic sense in the finished product -- these two can't have a meaningful connection if one of them is completely self-sufficient. This is also why quite a few Disney fans didn't like that the Little Mermaid remake changed Ursula's defeat to have it be Ariel who killed her, rather than Eric, because it hurt the "equal" dynamic between the main couple where they both helped and supported each other.

In short, "girl power" shouldn't have to mean never needing to rely on anyone else...and honestly, looking at this scene concept, we don't see Asha relying on Star too much! She's the brains of the outfit -- she's making plans; she's providing Star some much needed common sense; she's using Star's light as a distraction so they can get away...she even escapes Amaya at one point by sliding right under her horse! Asha in this storyboard is a bad-ass!

What we see in this sequence is these two characters having to help each other in order to succeed. And that would've been a great foundation on which to build more dramatic stakes and a relationship with actual pathos, whether romantic or not.

[thefrenchbat]

OK this is going to be a little long but I need it out of my head so I can function and who knows maybe someone will appreciate the analysis !

Big spoilers for the last two episodes of arcane. You've been warned~

The final of arcane was very beautiful animation wise and does close around two (maybe three) of the storyline started before. But, and that's my problem it completely throw out of the window any and everything about zaun and piltover... in the worst way possible for me.

And that's what we're gonna talk about here.

And now that I know the episode was supposed to be 1h30 instead of 50minutes it makes a lot more sense. Riot, give me at least the storyboard, or the scripts, or the unused voicelines, anything really. Thank you.

So. To put it simply. The entire final is from the point of view of piltover only and yes, that's a problem.

"But Herk, it's a greater evil ! We don't have to discuss about the zaun/piltover situation it's about unification !"

Let's deconstruct that statement shall we ?

First "the greater evil" :

Up until episode 6, Viktor got a thriving and peaceful community going on in a place that was a wasteland before. None of the people here are drones yet (yes they are eerily peaceful, yes it was the beginning of the 'evolution' but at that point they werent yet drones), as proven by vander situation itself :

We clearly see Viktor searching for his personality in the terrible work Singed did on him. And finding him while talking with Sky that this is using is very finite resources but it is worth it.

When warwick says "don't touch my daughter" it's not Viktor talking. It's vander.

He is disagreeing with Singed on using his method and we don't know at that point if people would have died with him if his death hadn't been brutal... which leads me to :

Then Jayce comes around and kills him, starting the chain of events that leads to the final. (Because "you can make me see the glorious evolution is not worth it" becomes "if I murder him it will stop everything." Instead of, i dont know, talking to him and saying "look in my mind". Dumbass.)

We have no clue what could have been (haha) if Jayce had talk to Viktor then. Maybe he could have severed his link with the commune in a gentle way, maybe not. But we don't get to see that. Because jayce jump-start the actual Glorious Evolution.

Now for the "it's about unification" part :

Pilltover has been keeping Zaun under dictatorship for months, wagonning people to prison without as much as a trial (but hey, they didn't use the _worst_ cells yet. Because 10 people in a room with no bed is very human. Fuck you).

Used the "grey" which is basically mustard gas in zaun's street as a way to "keep people safe". Do I really have to say thay it is bullshit or ? (Especially as we see victims of the grey beat up and left IN IT after the enforcers passage !)

And have the confirmation that pilltover is very aware of the gas problem in zaun (even over their enforcers having gas mask instead of. I don't know. Making sure the air is breathable without risk in zaun.)

And all of this for ? Ha yes, allegedly capturing one person. Again, not taking any responsibility in why this person exists in the first place (exploitation for decades > violent repression > murdering her parents > corrupt police making their money with gangs and not caring about it because what consequences? haha we are up they are down).

While using a foreign military to do so.

( "but Cait is grieving!" I don't care. It doesn't justify her putting thousands of people through fascism.)

And we see sevika and zaun trying to defend itself but with limited resources as always and an internal situation extremely messy because of the gangs that are left (chembarons who wouldn't have existed without the corrupted pilltover police doing their bread on it and the council not caring, as ever, just as a reminder).

Now for some details :

In the first two acts we hear "our people"/"our city" to talk solely of piltovians.

Caitlyn and her great "i keep telling myself you're different, but you have the same blood in your veins".

Great to remind us that she does still think people of zaun are not the same breed as her and are filthy to the core by their fucking blood itself no less.

Considering her mother was on the council when the last revolt from zaun happened and so she was part of the people that took the decision to kill all the protesters.. including vi parents. Her statement becomes very ironic on top of being atrocious.

And let's not forget how she forced her into an enforcer costume while saying "I understand your pain"... yeah you don't. Your mom died in a result of the decade of action and inaction of her own council, you're an adult and still have your father. Both vi and jinx parents died trying to get under the heel of their oppressors and when they were children no less. Fuck you.

Jayce and "we build the core of the hexgate in the fissures it's fine" and ekko telling him that they didn't think about zaun water and air supply that go through the fissure and would have been destroyed if the hexgate had a problem.

Because, as always, they don't actually care about the people in zaun.

And bonus point, he doesn't apologize for making the tree and everything else sick. It's just "we didn't thought about that". AGAIN, no ownership of what pilltover is doing to anybody else.

Now that the set is ready let's go back to episodes 8 and 9, through the zaun/pilltover lense.

Jinx is in prison. She does apologize to Cait for her mom.

Cait doesn't even apologize to Vi.

Cait doesn't stop officially the dictatorship or apologize to zaun's people for what she did and left be done to them.

Cait doesn't even take responsibility in giving grace publicly to jinx, no, she let's the responsibility of getting jinx out to vi.

Leaving jinx to be a fugitive still if she actually gets out.

That is NOT owning to one "bad actions". That is being a coward and a hypocrite. And making someone else responsible for whatever happens next (yes she gives vi the choice and leaves her jinx' vendetta in the past gnagnagna, it's still completely self centered and hypocritical).

Jayce, which just murdered a number of people and provoked vander and Isha's deaths, tells people that Viktor is a menace.

For all vi knows he isn't. She saw him help vander and people nobody cared about. There is no reason for her to help here. And there is no reason for zaun people either.

We do not see the inside of zaun, at all.

We get a few people leaving and a few enrolling in the enforcers because... yeah who cares that person beat the shit out of me for month we should fight side by side and die together as one. No. Just no.

For all we know, and is being said to us, Viktor and Noxus want the hexgate. They do not need to do anything to zaun for that. They can literally (and apparently that's what they do) just roll past zaun and go directly to pilltover. The only zaunites we see dead are the ones who fight for pilltover.

Jayce talks solely of pilltover and its "undercity" there is no recognition of zaun or what has been happening for decades.

At least in that scene we see sevika and Scar leave in a :

"Ho yeah ? Noxus that you used against us for all this time is now a menace to you? Tough luck."

"But Herk ! Jayce puts down the barbebwire doors around zaun !!!!"

And that makes it OK? It makes everything before it OK? "I let you out of the camp I made around you so you can fight for me". NO. Just no. Even less considering none of the people who actually took the decision to get the dictatorship running and those gates up owns up to having done it; again.

Side note : it clearly takes a few days between the beginning of ep8 and the actual attack of noxus.

Explain to me why jayce didn't shut down the hexgate at that point, keep using hexteck' weapons and a literal arcane hammer while preaching how bad it is ??!!! That man is stupid but apparently everybody around him is too.

(And Don't tell me "but the hexgate was getting people out" just. Don't. The ships could have just fly away on their own with the hexgate shut down. Come on).

Ekko and jinx have the beginning of a conversation (i love this scene tho) and then we are back with pilltover only.

Fast-forward to the fight and HO WAIT people of zaun arrive "to help" because its a greater evil ! It makes everything fine right ?

No.

And here the details of why for me :

We do not get any closure of the zaunites storylines : Sevika and Scar don't even have a single line together or with jinx and ekko.

Ekko and Scar have been making the tree and their sanctuary one the only safe place of zaun for more than 6 years.

Ekko has been missing for months and we don't even get to see him reunite with the firefights ?? Not even one second ?

Sevika was there for Jinx then Isha during the whole of act 1 and 2 of season 2. But we don't even see them talk or sevika being made aware that Isha is dead.

Yes. Jinx' balloons got elements in honor of Isha and her depression is about that part of her that died with Isha. Sure. And it's very well done _for HER character_.

But what about sevika ? She got a very good arc that kept getting better during the season 2 and suddenly she is a background character that doesn't even deserve to have any feelings?

And it's the same for the firelights. They are here during the fight, we can even spot a few other minor characters of zaun.

But they are props.

They have no feelings or emotions (except angry yelling of fight). You are not here to empathize with them because they don't even exist as characters in that moment.

If you like them already you'll be scared for them (I yelled when I thought sevika would die, not gonna lie) but nothing more.

Jayce and Viktor... very pretty, gay being unable to say I love you and all that BUT ALSO "I'm sure there is still a bit of you in there" / "why do you persist after everything I've done"

I... You KILLED HIM you absolute dumbass of a man. You murdered him and made him lose his humanity THAT HE STILL HAD and then you call to it !?? And then Viktor blames himself

.. I can't even. I know it's because he wants jayce to say he loves him but haaaaaaaaa !!!!

Jayve has always been an idiot but that takes the cake. Most toxic ex ever, Viktor must really love him because for fuck sake xD

Ekko saves the world.

Because jayce is so bad at this and being a self-fulfilling prophecy guy that he condemned the world (like in apparently all realities where that version of the story happens).

Do we see anybody acknowledge it in the aftermath ? Do we see any recognition of a zaunite saving the situation?

Nope.

"The battle of pilltover will long be remember".

Pilltover. Just Pilltover.

Ekko's action or any zaunite's deaths during that war that Pilltover fabricated all through its own action and decisions ?

Erased. Forgotten. Not important in the Grand History. It was only Pilltover all along.

"But Herk. You're unfair, we see the little paper scene at the end ! And sevika becomes a councilor !"

Yeah. We do, and it's still shown in the show that the situation is not actually resolved : just look at the new counsilors' expressions when sevika sits down.

They still think she is beneath them and shouldn't be there... BECAUSE nobody in pilltover acknowledge anything done to zaun. Still.

And I'm glad she is a councilor don't get me wrong. I'm happy we at least get one element for zaun by the end.

But its too little and still with not even a line of dialogue.

Also, why not Ekko or Scar too ?? Sevika was a leader of a certain group in zaun, but Ekko/Scar represent a lot of people too.

So zaun is still not fully there. (And ya know, not too many zaunites come on, one for the show but not too much).

And worse. Nothing is even acknowledged to the public. Listen to the two episodes and notice how nobody say "zaun" in them, it's only undercity/topside and pilltover.

The conflict is totally erased from the narration except for that one dirty look the councilor gives Sevika.

And don't tell me I'm exaggerating because I saw, in less than a week since the final, enough take on how pilltover was absolutely not responsible for anything/zaunites were the sole responsible for their hardships and any act of resistance from them was terrorism (thanks usa), that I know a lot of people sadly took that ending in the most stupidest way possible.

Also, a detail but... Nobody is there to put a paper for Viktor.

He will stay the "Villain" of the story, forever. Because people only got Jayce telling them he was bad and never knowing the actual truth of what happened.

And that's quite disheartening too.

Jayce the piltie was a hero. Viktor the zaunite was a villain. That's it. Who cares Jayce literally provoked Viktor transformation, twice. Who cares the fight happened because of pilltover and their hexteck...

Hell, even then we see Ekko being utterly alone. Thanks for saving the world from a piltovian manufactured war and losing all in the process my guy, nobody said ever in the show.

And Singed, who is a piltovian, gets everything his way while being the absolute worst. Which ya know, forces my respect but also i hate this guy.

Because in case you hadn't realised, even shimmer was made by someone from pilltover ready to sacrifice anyone and first zaunite lives for his goal.

And the final nail in the coffin ? The last sentence of the show.

"But but it's so romantic!!! Its vi saying she's choosing to stay with Cait !!"

Really ? You think saying you're the filth under someone perfect manicure, that no matter how much they wash they can't get out... is romantic ? Damn. I knew about dirty talk but that takes it to another level (this is a joke btw).

But no matter if romantic or not, Cait never apologized to her, zaun or anybody else. She didn't own up to anything she did the entire show.

(And do remember that the whole base of the show happens because of jayce lab having dangerous materials in the middle of town; and because a kiramman was there, the council needed someone guilty from zaun).

What it is on the other hand, is still a comparison between zaun and pilltover.

They are on top, clean, except for the filth that stays under them and they can't get rid of.

And that pisses me off a lot.

Because with those 40 extra minutes we could have had the characterisation of the zaunites.

Sevika learning about Isha.

Ekko reuniting with the firelights.

Zaun actually being shown in danger and why they would help pilltover (where again jayce brings no reason to. Its just his word against everything pilltover put them through).

We could have had just a beginning of acknowledgement from pilltover OR a call out about it not happening by the people of zaun !!!

Ekko calling out Caitlyn (and Vi too honestly) would have been amazing! And a call back to season 1 where she went on about how he should not continue the cycle of violence, the audacity of a bitch I swear.

It could have fixed the problem I have with the ending. And that's really a miss for me...

Even if I did like the episodes in themselves ! They were gorgeous (mind!herald be looking fiiiiine) and the noxus and arcane storylines got finished (arguably the sisters one too). But please gimme what's missing about zaun.

Well. Now that I got it out of my system... I'm gonna go live in ep7 ! XD where my fav characters are all alive and grown up !!! *happy*

Have a good day !!!

Ps : I made a few arcane fancomics centering on the 6years gap between act 1 and act 2 of season 1.

Focusing on claggor, deckard, ekko and the firelights~

Please don't hesitate to take a look if that sounds like something that could interest you ^^

https://www.tumblr.com/lapaduza/767502852257087488/here-comes-a-new-volume-of-my-arcane-au-where?source=share

[chaifootsteps]

I watched the Angel Dust is bad abuse rep video

one thing the creator mentioned is Angel being a gay stereotype - hypersexual, no sense of boundaries/won't take no for an answer, hits on every male character, does drugs, is in the porn industry. he mentioned explicitly why it was harmful - that gay men being predatory and feminine is a long standing stereotype

you can of course use stereotypical traits for a character but you kind of need to build on them, otherwise it's just doing the stereotype. and even then it can be a fine line to trend if the character leans more into the stereotype than the subversion because it reinforces what's already a prejudicial view of a group.

take the show Glee. while it became an increasingly bad hot mess in later seasons I'd give it credit for its characters at least being more interesting beyond their stereotypes in the early seasons. but even Glee had a habit on falling back on stereotypical one liners for some of its cast, especially those who weren't creator's pets like Rachel was (mostly looking at Kurt and Mercedes here, no hate to their actors because they're great)

it especially doesn't help when the show never really calls Angel out for his constant sexual harassment of Husk. it focuses more on Husk calling him fake and his flirtiness being a facade than it bothers pointing out Angel is perpetuating some of the same behaviors Val does against him on other people just because he's 'famous'. that would have been a smart way to subvert the predatory gay stereotype - show it's a coping mechanism and super not OK while warning how victims can become perpretrators if they don't check themselves

and I'd argue the show hasn't exactly been successful at making a sympathetic character out of a gay stereotype if the fans are now happy to throw him under the bus to prop up his abuser instead

anyway, the video poster explicitly said they were giving Viv the benefit of the doubt that she just doesn't know the stereotype is very old and very harmful, but um. she definitely does know, because she responded to it:

https://bsky.app/profile/vivziepop.bsky.social/post/3k676ub5wmw2s

it's the usual bad faith framing that people just don't like gay characters being openly sexual or feminine and that's the only problem, capped off with a snide 'Sorry you don’t go outside hunny, some of us do.💅'

and like when you start attracting a fanbase that loves to throw the R-slur around, complains that criticizing Stolas for choking his butler is 'woke' and attacks victims of SA for saying they hate the fact you let Raph storyboard Poison and make it feel like their pain was a fetish (including open calls to bully them offline) I don't think your show is the progressive beacon for representation you think it is

The way this fandom talks and thinks is increasingly industiuingishable from what you'd find on 4chan, and that's horrifying.

[sepublic]

This might be an unpopular opinion but while I do consider S2 a pretty big improvement over the first season, and just a new bold step for The Owl House —S2 really helps it stand out from other kids shows in general— I also love S1 for its own thing??? It was a simpler, happier time; When Luz, Eda, and King were still figuring each other out. When it was relaxing slice of life and quieter adventures. There was just something peaceful about it, the stakes weren’t as high so the characters could breathe and have fun.

The antics were silly and we learned at a nice pace, the protagonists were just living their life and the main conflict hadn’t become so front and center yet, Luz hadn’t begun her spiral into depression and Eda didn’t have to worry about adjusting to a loss of magic; It was the original status quo, when everyone could believe it was just about being family and learning magic, there was no impending deadline or end of the world. Luz coming out to Camila might not have been so tumultuous, and it was the biggest problem in her life. I miss that, it helps that S1 aired during a simpler time of my life as well! S1 has its own tone from S2 and contains a lot of softer yet vital character development that’s overlooked, and the pilot episode storyboards just hammer in this fact for me.