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meimi-haneoka · 10 months

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Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 76: Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

Ooooh CCS fans, welcome back to our monthly appointment!! Which, apparently, will go on a little longer than previously expected because (I'm sure you've heard of it in the last month, but in case you didn't) CLAMP/Kodansha did what I thought they wouldn't dare doing: they extended the Clear Card serialization a little bit more, announcing the last volume will be the 16th one, instead of the 15th one as previously stated! Volume 16 will be released on April 1st 2024, while they also delayed the release of volume 15 to November 13th (this made me suspicious, is it to accomodate more chapters in it? Or what else happened there, to delay it?) I have no idea how many more chapters we'll get at this point (or if the 16th volume was born because it will accomodate some after-story extra chapters), but I have to say that after the initial shock, I've took the news quite well and I just can't deny that the story really seemed to need a bit more room to develop the conclusion properly, so I'd daresay the announcement ultimately made me sigh in relief. And this chapter definitely proved to me that things are steadily proceeding, but taking care in depicting carefully and without haste an heroic moment that will turn out to be more complex than what probably Sakura & co. expected. I'm gonna need a bit more patience to see how all of this ends, but I prefer for the end to not be rushed and not have regrets in the future! Also, this looks like it might tie in with the beginning of season 2 of the anime? We'll see!

Well, after this preamble to update everyone on the situation of the serialization, we'll proceed under the cut to talk about the actual chapter, which unfortunately this month is stained by several translation mistakes, omissions and inaccuracies. They really deceived me, doing a good job on the past 2 chapters...*sigh* I'm still quite mad because of course WHO gets affected the most, among those translation mistakes? I feel like coming at this point I don't even have to state it. *another sigh* Before diving into my ramblings, let's give a look to the gif of this month! I chose this one because I feel like I need to lighten the mood a little bit, since between the end of this one and -I'm sure- the next chapter, I'm afraid there won't be anything to laugh about.

Under the cut!

The Color Page

Anyone following this blog since some time, or who knows me well, probably doesn't need to be told that I completely loved the color page of this month! 🥰After 11 chapters, Akiho comes back to grace the opening page of a chapter of Clear Card. It's very simple, but in its simplicity I could feel all of Akiho's essence, while appreciating the usual symbolism of some elements of the color page. First and foremost, Akiho is smiling, and that wasn't a given for a color page appearing at the end of this story. We've seen Sakura making plenty of wistful faces lately, so it feels like we can't really take for granted to see our characters smiling. But her beautiful smile in combination with the nice shade of green Mokona-sensei chose for her elegant dress (which is totally in tune with what Akiho would wear) is really giving a kind of hopeful vibe to the whole color page. And I feel that for this chapter, we really needed that. Green is kind of an unusual color to associate Akiho with, but there's more to it. Together with the shade of yellow that sensei used to create a gradient on the skirt, this green is a clear callback to the color scheme of the lilies that Akiho is holding and wearing among her curls. And as we all know, lilies in this arc are primarily a symbol of the character who literally bears their name: Akiho's mother, Lilie (German for "lily"). As soon as I saw the presence of lilies in this color page with her, I went all "awwww" because I couldn't help but think "this is a sign her mother is watching over her and is always with her, right?" And inevitably, seeing Akiho gently holding those flowers made me wish even more that she could know something, anything about her mother. I also noticed that Mokona-sensei slightly changed the shading of Akiho's hair again, removing the yellowish undertone that was present in the most recent color pages that Akiho appeared in, making me sigh because I'll have to modify my color palette for my fanarts once again 😩it still looks lighter than her mother's, at least, and it's still very much ash blonde. The editorial text in JP on the color page is what Sakura told her at the end of chapter 73: "Let's get them back. The one you didn't want to lose".

Collapsing Time

Aaaaand this chapter for me started with a "I KNEW IT!" equipped with a loud laughter, because ever since chapter 75 ended I've really been wondering "will the group at home be able to follow their journey inside the fake moon, or will the connection be conveniently cut off?" OF COURSE IT'S THE LATTER, what else could've been? 😆 Tomoyo rationally wonders if the signal simply doesn't reach in the space inside the fake moon, but Eriol from the other end of the videocall tells everyone that these are rather some more specific, particular circumstances: he was able to see what was inside the fake moon for a split second before the connection was cut off, and what he saw is an environment where time isn't simply stopped, is actually collapsing. I want to start my long list of complaints about the translation in English of this chapter, with this mild inaccuracy: the ENG makes Eriol consistently sound unsure of what he's affirming above, using verbs like I suppose, while the JP text doesn't leave any trace of doubt - Eriol isn't supposing, he knows that time is breaking down in that environment.

Back to Sakura and Syaoran, our little heroes start to feel the effects of this powerful magic that is permeating the interior of the fake moon, with Syaoran noticing that the clock parts fluctuating aren't really deformed like they're seeing, but only appear so due to the strong pressure of the magic spell inside that environment. And here we have to stop once again, because this is another straight up mistake of the ENG translation:

ENG: "There's nothing wrong with the watch itself. The spell's placed too much pressure on it. It only looks broken"

JP: "It's not like the components of the clocks are really deformed...They only look like that because the pressure of the magic spell is too strong"

As you can see, skipping the translation of the word 部品 (components) made them completely misunderstand Syaoran's line and make it about the pocket watch in their hands, instead of the fluctuating clock parts! And it's like they wanted to give an explanation to why the pocket watch looks broken (hello??? The pocket watch gradually broke when Kaito was still active in the un-rewritten world!!), despite the adjective used in JP is deformed, not broken. But let's go on.

Sakura starts to feel that pressure on her head, in fact she points out that her head is hurting to a worried Syaoran (JP, lit.: "My head is..."). He answers that it's only normal, because the spell is so powerful that it's affecting them physically, and he can feel those effects too (he's only better at dissimulating it, apparently). (I'm just worried if it's clear in the ENG translation, by how they're phrasing things, that the spell Syaoran is referring to is the one that's active on the whole place, not the one he used to trace the owner of the pocket watch). Syaoran continues saying that it's happening the same to the interior of the "fake moon", basically everything is so warped and deformed (due to the strong pressure) that if the pocket watch didn't show them the way, they would've lost both their sense of orientation and even the "target" they were tracking with that compass. So while the readers might have thought that if Sakura and Syaoran got there successfully it was only thanks to the compass, CLAMP went out of their way to specify that it wasn't exactly like that: it seems like the pocket watch actively guided them through the magic beam that originated from the compass, preventing them from getting lost. I guess without the watch's intervention, the compass might have still shot that beam in search for Kaito, but it might have gotten all of them lost, because the magic spell at work inside that environment is so strong that it warps everything, beam included. Again, I wonder if this concept above is clear enough from how they phrased it in the ENG translation.

And if that wasn't enough, Sakura's sweet smiling face says that Akiho guided them there. Evidently she thinks that the pocket watch is not only permeated by that mysterious moon magic that they still don't know who it belongs to, but also by Akiho's strong will to look for and to find the person she never wanted to lose. Akiho is always with them, spirit tightly connected to that pocket watch, and I couldn't help but being so moved by how considerate and sweet Sakura is. Akiho is evidently at the center of her thoughts even now, after all, she departed for this mission precisely for her sake.

Syaoran says that the beam is pointing at this dragon that is sleeping in front of them, but then actually starts doubting it and says "wait, is this really a dragon...?". The mere fact that he had a second thought about it might already be a sign that there might be more than meets the eyes, behind this creature that we're seeing now. Sakura just needs to look at it for a moment to remember immediately: she met this dragon before, in a dream. Of course, she can remember about this only thanks to the "film strips of memories" that the Record Card supplied her with some chapters ago, since it's all stuff that comes from the "un-rewritten world". Then, Sakura takes charge of the pocket watch and thanks Syaoran for his help with the compass: it's clear that she wants to talk to the dragon, now. Clutching the pocket watch tightly and looking at the sleeping creature in an intense way, she gets closer to it.

The dragon finally opens its eyes and wakes up.

Sakura is such a sweet and well mannered girl, so I couldn't help smiling when she said this: (JP, lit.) "Please allow me to address you with "you" (anata), since I don't know your name". Yes, because Sakura's usual speech pattern includes calling people by their name, rather than using a direct "anata". Even with Syaoran, some pages ago, she didn't use a direct "you", but simply repeated his name instead. Her usual way to talk to people always sounds very soft, well mannered and warm to me, while probably using "anata" even with her closest people feels too "blunt" to her. Or, maybe, "impersonal". In this case, she really doesn't have any other choice, though. Alas, this was something that was hardly translatable in a literal way in the ENG version, and I think the way they chose works pretty well anyway.

And so, Sakura continues. (JP, but ENG is equally fine as well:) "I can feel 'something' coming from you, which is the same that I can feel coming from this watch as well. I guess Syaoran-kun would call it 'magical power'. Do you know the owner of this watch? Or.....is this watch YOURS?" How cute, this really shows clearly that Sakura's relationship with magic is not made of technicalities and such, and she still feels a newbie about it, so she is capable of feeling distinctly the magical aura coming off the dragon and the pocket watch, but she isn't still used to use technical terms like "magical power", "aura" and such. Syaoran is the expert for those things, and she seems to admire and respect him a lot for that! 😆

Sakura asks something to Syaoran to get a certain confirmation. I have the impression that she could feel it herself, but wanted the confirmation from her expert husband boyfriend. She asks him if the magical power that is permeating the environment of the fake moon is the same moon power that comes from the pocket watch. Syaoran confirms they're different (again, an inaccuracy of the ENG translation, which makes Syaoran say "something is different". There's no "something" in the JP, he was just plainly stating that the two sources of power are different).

I want to point out how cool Syaoran looks in his pose of this scene, his hand gripping the handle of his sword the whole time, ready to unleash it at the minimum sight of danger on Sakura. I really love it because Sakura doesn't really know the intentions of the dragon yet, so what she's doing is pretty risky in itself, but Syaoran didn't stop her, he trusted her and let free to do what she wanted to do. He's just, you know, going to stay in the background with his hand on his sword, ready for any scenario, just in case. 😂 Protective boyfriend (but not suffocating one) strikes again! This is what I mean when I say they came a long way ever since chapter 1.

I Know Your Eyes

Sakura can feel that even the magic coming from the "cage" (she uses a term in JP that sounds more like fence than the harsher cage, though) is different from the one the pocket watch is giving off, and this is all she needs to have the confirmation she was looking for: just putting 2 and 2 together from the difference in powers, she concludes that the dragon is there against its will, and someone else locked it up in there. Sakura asks the dragon if she's right, but it simply......stares at her, in silence.

Sakura watches those eyes....and they're all she needs to see. Because she realizes she knows those eyes.

And here, unfortunately, I have to prepare you for another translation mistake, an actual omission that irritated me quite a lot because I consider this a very important scene for a certain character's depiction and development. And you probably don't even need to ask who he is, because he's been bastardized this whole time by the ENG translation.

ENG: "I know you. I know your eyes...And not just because I've seen them in a dream. With your eyes, you watched over Akiho-chan. Somehow, that memory's still inside of me"

JP: "I know...your eyes. And not because I've seen them in a dream. Those eyes used to look at Akiho-chan with great care/affection. (That feeling) remained inside of me"

*draws a deep breath* Okay. I'll go with my grievances with the translation first and then I'll talk about my own reaction to this scene.

When Sakura is talking about the way Kaito used to look at Akiho (because it's clear as hell we're talking about him here, even if she doesn't remember who he is, yet), the JP text includes a very important adverb, 大切に (taisetsu ni, lit. "carefully, giving importance, cherishing something). And Sakura doubles down on it by preceding it with another adverb, とても (totemo, "very"). It is absolutely, unmistakably clear that Kaito used to look at Akiho with lots of affectionate feelings. That 大切に indicates how much he cherished her...how much she was important to him...and he never said it aloud, probably not even realizing it himself, but his eyes spoke for him. And Sakura saw it all.

The ENG translation completely omitted and skipped the translation of the adverb とても大切に, indicating only that Kaito "watched over" Akiho. Completely stripping the action of looking at her of any emotional involvement. To me, that is intolerable. Why?

Because this is the first time that a character, any character, clearly spells out how Kaito considers Akiho. And of course they gave the honor of pointing out the elephant in the room (gosh, this really looks like that situation) to the protagonist, our Sakura. I mean, we came to this point in the story precisely because nobody was able to say for sure what the hell Kaito thought of Akiho. Not even the person concerned himself! I've seen countless of theories along the years, and a worringly big amount thought that Kaito only wanted to use Akiho for his own selfish goal. I kept seeing speculations of that kind even after all he did in chapter 70. And that was particularly strong in the western side of the fandom, because of how the translation portrayed Kaito all these years. Now that we finally get a spoken, spelled out confirmation that he considered Akiho so important, he cherished her so much, and those sweet feelings seeped through his eyes and couldn't escape Sakura's attentive stare, what do they do? They remove any sign of it. They make Sakura say that he only "watched over her" like a regular watch dog, without touching any of the emotional involvement that was indicated in the JP original text. I remind you that 大切(な) is also the core adjective of the famous 一番大切なひと, "the most important person". If this will be connected to an eventual statement later on, this omission is even worse.

Of course, I cannot be anything else than dismayed at this perpetrated character assassination that this translation is operating on Kaito. Leaving aside all my bias for my two favorite characters, this omission penalizes Sakura's characterization too. The fact the she could recognize Kaito (without knowing it's Kaito) through the Dragon's eyes is a testament to how extraordinarily empathetic she is, and how her empathy is literally saving this story. Her empathy made her understand that Kaito couldn't be a bad person, deep down, because of how he looked at Akiho and how Akiho was so happy with him, leading her to make the decision of not confronting them openly, back in the un-rewritten world. Her empathy is what guided her here and what now is telling her "yes, this IS Akiho's most important person. And that person cherished her too". And how she was able to recognize that? Not because Kaito used to just "watch over" Akiho, what made that gaze special were the feelings that Sakura could see inside of it. All of this story is held up by the feelings between its characters. I think it's a huge mistake to not give the right importance to them, to ALL OF THEM.

I think I complained enough about this translation, so let's get talking about happier things. Because of course, in its original form, this scene became my favorite one from the entire chapter and moved me to tears. I was amazed by how Sakura was capable of recognizing Kaito's soul, his essence, only looking at the dragon's eyes. And you know, although being similar (they are some kind of tsurime too), they're not exactly the same as Kaito's, so it seems clear to me that Sakura recognized them basing on sensations and feelings alone. Eyes are, after all, a window to somebody's soul. And even though we could never really get into Kaito's head, or only partially did towards the end of the "un-rewritten world", I really have to say that his eyes spoke volumes of what he was feeling for the entirety of the manga. And for that, we can only praise Mokona-sensei's wonderful skills. I always loved Kaito's eyes, how they could be mischievous, happy, surprised, sweet, sad, tragic. The fact that I could be sure that he loved Akiho in any capacity till now, was also thanks to how he looked at her. So I was really glad to see the element "eyes" being used in this scene to make Sakura recognize him. And there's more to it. I delved into the use of the word 瞳 (hitomi, lit. "pupils") with the furigana "me" next to it (which is the pronounciation of another kanji used to indicate eyes, 目), and I found out/re-confirmed that 瞳 indeed literally means "pupils", but in manga, songs, novels and such it is a trope used to indicate the eyes when there's an emotional nuance attached to it. It is used to make things sound more "romantic" or drip with emotion. "Your eyes...looked at her with so much affection"... ...You can now understand even better why I am so peeved at the omission of the ENG translation for this part. All the other languages did their job and included the nuance correctly. CLAMP were trying to be very straightforward with their composition of Sakura's line, everything was indicating that this was a very important and emotional moment. Akiho, all alone in Sakura's memories of the double date, is at the center of the entire page, as if to indicate that she was at the center of Kaito's eyes too (because that's what Sakura is talking about in the bubbles). But we can see a "spotlight" beside her, an empty one: that was certainly where Kaito used to be when Sakura met them at the botanical garden.

The Escape

Okay, Sakura found what she was looking for. Or, rather, WHO she was looking for. And it doesn't matter if it's a huge, dark dragon trapped inside a cage. I found this almost hilarious, how she doesn't question even for a second that Akiho's most important person is actually a dragon! But I could quickly realize that it's all because in this manga, external appearances don't matter. What matters is who you are. These are all souls, loving other souls. Everything in between holds no meaning. And so if there's one thing that Sakura knows with all her heart, is that this dragon cannot stay here. So she tells him (yeah, I can finally say "him") to come along with them. But it's in that moment that a danger arises: the clock particles start attacking Sakura and Syaoran at great speed, so much that Syaoran has to turn around very quickly to realize it (I loved the effect in his eyes to indicate the speed). With a swift move, Syaoran summons his famous "Raitei Shourai" and his powerful thunderbolt repels and destroys the clockwork that was about to attack them.

We go back for a moment to Yukito's home, where everyone is staring intently at the tablet to see if Sakura and Syaoran give any sign. A worried Touya (and Yukito, too) turns his attention to Akiho, though, who is the quintessence of tension right now. Hard stare to the screen, she looks as if she's ready to fight anyone at any moment. And here, unfortunately, another translation mistake drops.

ENG: "We need to be sure we're ready to go...In case Sakura-chan calls for us" JP: "I have to be fully prepared...for when Sakura-san will call me"

First thing first, you probably caught it yourself, Akiho calls Sakura "Sakura-chan" in the ENG version, and that's a mistake. She hasn't suddenly changed speech tone in the JP, she hasn't dropped keigo, she still calls her "Sakura-san", as usual. And despite here there isn't a subject (again, a typical thing Ohkawa-sensei does in her scripts), it's pretty understandable that she's talking about herself and not the whole group, because of the imperative tense she's using. Moreover, Sakura told the rest of the group that MAYBE she would've called them if she ended up needing any help, but for Akiho she was SURE she was going to call her, so Akiho really does have to be ready to be called at any moment. Akiho in JP uses a particular word to indicate the concept of "be fully prepared, all set, take all possible measures": 準備万全 (junbi banzen) and when I looked for its complete meaning on the internet, to understand the context better, I found out that this is also the name of a skill in the game of the "Uma Musume" series. That made me laugh because coincidentally, Akiho's voice actress Minori Suzuki is famous for voicing one of the characters of Uma Musume, "Agnes Digital" and I know for a fact that CLAMP are fans of Uma Musume. Was Ohkawa-sensei trying to make a fun reference or an Easter egg, here? 😉 Anyways, Akiho's determined face here is really beautiful, I'd daresay there isn't only determination in those eyes, but also a tiny touch of...irritation? I've probably said it before, on other social media, that I hope Akiho will be the one giving an earful to Kaito, and yell all her feelings in his face while angrily crying 🤪if this is building up to that, I cannot be happier than this!

Everyone proudly looks at our little warrior getting ready, and unfortunately due to the misunderstanding above, Yukito's line is mistaken too, in the ENG version: they make him say "I'm glad we have eachother" while in JP he simply commented "You're so confident/reliable!", which is totally coherent with the face she was making before. The adjective he uses, 頼もしい (tanomoshii) indicates someone who's dependable, reliable, confident or even "sure-footed".

Needless to say, I was very happy to: 1) See an interaction with Akiho coming from Yukito, this is the first time and with this comment he acted like another お兄ちゃん to her (the more, the better); 2) See him defining her "confident and reliable", I've seen a JP fan I follow on Twitter making an interesting interpretation of his line, coming from a character that was always worried over not knowing what to do to help the people he loves, and seeing another magic-less character standing tall and facing this ordeal courageously might have prompted him to understand Akiho's position more than we could imagine; 3) Acknowledge that it really seems as if CLAMP are trying to establish new and more connections between the old cast and Akiho, probably because these connections will stay even after the end.

Back to the situation inside the fake moon, Syaoran yells to Sakura that he's sure he won't be able to break that cage only with his spells, so he urges her to find a way to free and get that dragon out of there while he fends off all the incoming attacks. Sakura immediately complies, and this back and forth between them was already awarded the title of "husband and wife interaction" from the JP fandom. 😂 Sakura remembers what Momo told her about the remaining Cards that are waiting for her call...and sadly I have to point out another translation mistake: while the JP was always vague about the number of Cards awaiting for her to call them, the ENG this time around traced back its steps and made Momo say that "There is one more Card that was left behind", despite in chapter 73 correctly translating Momo's words as a general "There are other Cards that haven't disappeared". So, not only they haven't even checked what they translated just 3 chapters ago and are unable to keep coherence with it, but they didn't even consider that the Card we're about to see isn't even the last one that is waiting to make an appearance ever since the Clockland Play happened. Therefore, it's NOT true that there's just one left.

But the inaccuracies aren't over, because in the next line, Sakura looks at Kaito's pocket watch, and this is the association that she makes with it:

ENG: "This is my mother's watch...and that card looked just like it. I don't remember creating it...but..." JP: "My mother's watch....I created a Card that looked like it, and I never found out when that happened"

Always thanks to Record, Sakura got also back the memories of Nadeshiko's pendant watch, how she got it, and that she found herself with a Card that looked like it but didn't know when she created it (hint: it was because Kaito rewound time, but the Card survived).

It's the moment for Sakura to call the Card: TIME!! And finally, this Card that many awaited in trepidation gets activated for the first time. In a very poignant moment, no less! Sakura, full of gratitude, thinks about her mother and how they made this Card "together", and she finally realizes that Nadeshiko's pendant watch found its way to her through great-grandpa Masaki precisely for this. To be used in this moment. And so she does. She orders to the Card to "activate" the time of the cage, so that she can "open" it, and Nadeshiko's watch goes to position itself precisely over what I think is "the lock" of the cage. I think this might suggest why the watch was changed into a key in the anime: it would make even more sense that it's a key the one that will open the lock. The lock, together with the cage, successfully dissolves, freeing Kaito/the Dragon. The Dragon seemingly "stretches" himself (poor thing, having to stay all crouched for god knows how long!!), destroying all the remaining clockwork in the process. Sakura gets her Card back and doesn't waste time, urging everyone to get out of there. Syaoran notices the opening they had "sliced" into the fake moon earlier, and says to go through that to get outside. I think the opening is appearing here in front of them so immediately because the spell that was warping and making that space so tortuous and convoluted is now broken. Sakura and Syaoran fly towards the opening, successfully getting out of it, but once outside Sakura notices something and looks back in dismay: the Dragon is not moving. She asks frantically why. But Syaoran yells to Sakura to pay attention: she turns around, in time to see a big group of arrows pointing at them, in full attack.

Aaaaand this is where the chapter ends, once again with a big cliffhanger!! Where is this attack coming from???

I'll give you a hint......

Remember a nice afternoon tea, interrupted by a clan of ass*oles allied with an Association of criminals, back in chapter 33? Yeah, Kaito sure remembers well. Lord knows how many of these attacks he had to repel over the months that passed from when he was excommunicated from the Association, officially starting "the war" between him and those bastards. Kaito back then easily fended off the attack by stopping time, again at the expense of his life, but I wonder what will happen now. It's clear it's something that's coming from them. However, I'm still not sure they're concretely sending the attack right now. It might be a "trap" they've left in place in case anybody tried to free Kaito, so maybe Sakura won't confront them directly. I still don't believe this is where it's going. But we'll see what will happen and what direction CLAMP decided to give to this.

My biggest concern is also the Dragon. It became apparent, in this chapter, that the creature is Kaito himself, in some capacity. I say "in some capacity" because we don't know if he was transformed, if this is the form the Seal of D forced on him, or if it's the effect of taking all that magic from the artifact that he got from Akiho. I am pretty sure this isn't his true form or anything like that, he was a human being to begin with.

We don't even know if he's conscious of what's happening right now, what he remembers from "before", from the un-rewritten world. If he remembers about Akiho at all. Unfortunately, he didn't give any signs of even understanding what Sakura was telling him. I have to say it pains me to see Kaito like that, and this is a possibility that I had been preparing myself for since long time, so that surely "cushioned" the blow.

However....

There is a theory going around, about why the Dragon won't move at the end of the chapter. I've seen it both from JP fans and from my mutuals too. And I have to say....it's pretty in-character. It's very convincing. The Dragon/Kaito doesn't move because he doesn't want to. Because he thinks he doesn't deserve to go out there and be saved. And it's to be noted that what Syaoran says is indeed 動かない (doesn't move), not 動けない (can't move). If we have to take those words literally, then we should exclude that there's anything "external" preventing him from moving. The reason is somewhere else.

If it's really Kaito being unsure/not willing to go with them because he doesn't think he deserves to, then that would also mean his memories are intact. Add agony over agony. If his consciousness is intact, I wonder what he thought when he saw Sakura and Syaoran? Was he surprised? I really think this could be the perfect spot where Akiho could finally spring into action. Because THAT is something only SHE can do anything about. If that's really the reason why he's not moving, then he needs to hear the full story. And he needs to hear it from the person his plan affected the most, the one he saved, yes, but also the one he's hurt the most with his blind "excess of love". But before that, Sakura needs to understand where the problem lies. I really hope she'll have the chance to talk to the Dragon again, and with her exceptional empathy, understand that Akiho needs to talk to him.

Next chapter, the 77th one, is going to be published on August 30th on CLAMP's Youtube channel, less than a month away! And by this release date, I can infer it'll go on sale with Nakayoshi on September 1st. At this point it doesn't even feel so "special" to announce it, but the next issue of Nakayoshi will see Sakura once again on the cover, and once again featured in the furoku! At the time of writing this post, no leaks have appeared regarding how/what the furoku will be.

Well! Sorry again for an endless post full of complaints about the translation, but this time around they really messed up. I thought something changed in the translation process in the past 2 chapters and they paid more attention/checked multiple times before giving the OK, but apparently this time that was not the case. As usual, I'll await any question/topic you want to discuss about in my ask box! See you at the end of this month for chapter 77!!

#cardcaptor sakura #card captor sakura #clear card arc #ccsakura #ccs spoilers #translation differences #sakura card captor #sakura kinomoto #syaoran li #yuna d. kaito #akiho shinomoto #chapter 76

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poniesart · 4 months

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hiii!! your artstyle is SO COOL to me- as in sometimes i'll just stare at some of your pieces because theyre all so great. i was wondering if you were comfortable sharing your process when it comes to art?? i'd love to see how you do things!

Hi!! I'm sorry this took so long to answer, I hope you still find it useful. It means a ton to me that you enjoy my art so much! <3 It's easy to feel discouraged by the Invisible Hand of Internet Engagement, so I really appreciate your ask.

General thoughts (NOT rules, just things I consider or do a lot):

Things that appear one solid color irl can be broken down into multiple colors through artistic interpretation. I see a lot of beginner artists paint trees as solid green, when there's a lot of yellows, blues, and browns in there! A FANTASTIC example of this is jadenvargen, whose color use is masterful and I can only aspire to emulate one day.

Base colors are not saturated; saturation is reserved for pops of color and details

Shadows are purples, blues, and greens

Reference is your best friend!!!

So the nitty gritty for those who want to see: with digital art there's two main avenues I take. The first one is lineart, and the second is painterly. All IDs are in alt text.

My process for lineart pieces:

I always start off with a sketch; for this example I'm using one of my pieces from @/mylittlefusions (that isn't actually posted yet but will be later today) - a Grogar and Trixie MLP G4 fusion. I like to fiddle with brush selections until I get the effect I want, and then go slow on the lineart to make sure it's how I want it, so this can be time consuming!

I've been trying for distinct shapes; I hate when my art gets muddled, I feel like the end piece is less impactful when I don't put in the right amount of contrast and distinctive silhouettes. Just something I've been thinking about and trying to improve.

Then I add base colors, going for slightly desaturated colors. I like to use saturated/bright tones to contrast or draw attention to something. I put the base-base colors down in one layer and then add details as a mask layer:

Then comes shading!! I'm a big fan of a multiply layer set to cool tones like blue, so I usually start there. If I think it needs to be different I can change it later. In this instance, I filled the whole canvas in the shading color as a mask over the base colors, and then erased where needed. Now that the shading is done, I often go back and color the lineart :)

Last but not least is my favorite part, painting on top! The extent to which I do this depends on what I think is needed, but I usually at least paint on top of the multiply shading to add some nuance, i.e. the greener bits on the background limbs. Here I added bright magic outlines to pop from the more desaturated character.

My more painterly style is a different story though! I use the same thoughts about color and shading, but I usually forgo multiply layers entirely and just do colors by eye. I still do a sketch, usually. Here is an example using my Lae'zel / Shadowheart piece.

The sketch is a disaster zone lol - but I painted below it using base tones, again desaturated. Once I feel I don't need the sketch anymore, I keep painting, making a new layer when I feel like being cautious about a change I'm making.

After I feel that I've got base colors down, it's time to get more contrast in using darker and/or more saturated colors! Then, like with my lineart process, I paint more details on top of everything else - reflections, jewelry, body hair, etc. I try to communicate shadow and distance with purples and blues, but I'm still working on it.

Another example real quick, where i did my typical lineart process base work and then painted on top of the shadow layer and the entire piece as a whole:

Thanks for reading if you stuck around, and thank you for the ask, friend! ^^

#artistic process #anon #replies

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scarlet--wiccan · 8 months

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Is there any reason in particular that people dislike Wanda's pink magic? I actually preferred it. The MCU does this weird thing where they darken their heroes powers cause they want to look more mature and serious and minimalist. The comics are the opposite, which is why I love their aesthetics so much. It's actually why I'm kind of upset with how they designed MCU Clea as a Clea fan. They darkened the purple when the original was so colorful and bright and they didn't need to. They did that with Wanda, too, on top of whitewashing her. Is there a reason some people prefer the red, though?

(I know that in the comics her powers can be red as well, I just don't know why people straight up dislike the pink)

Is that.... really something that people are seriously upset about? Because that's really stupid.

Wanda's never had a truly consistent set of visual effects for her powers. That's partly because the way comics are drawn and colored has changed a lot since the 60s, and I think it took a long time for artists to start giving characters really specific colors or energy signatures. Even still, the visual language around psychic mutants, for example, is constantly evolving.

In Wanda's case, the nature of her powers and they way that writers use them has also shifted many times over. The imagery of her "hex bolts" and "hex spheres" was developed in tandem with writers using those specific words to describe how she uses her mutant power, but the visual representations for her other magical abilities are still really inconsistent-- and that includes color. If you look at the 80s, her powers were often green or yellow.

For me, personally, I prefer when artists assign really specific colors and visual styles to each character and their powers. It doesn't need to be the same across all comics, but I like when it's consistent within a specific book. For Wanda, because it is her name, and that name is supposed be an important ancestral legacy, I do think her color should be red. There's nothing wrong with pink, though, and it never bothers me.

If I were illustrating a Scarlet Witch book, I would choose to represent each of Wanda's individual powers-- chaos magic, regular witchcraft, and her hex power-- with a different visual signature, so I'd probably use slightly different shades or red and pink. That's a lot of work, though, so I understand why people don't usually do that.

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inlocusmads · 2 months

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do the uncommon asks!! Trystan + Nora, please: 10, 13, 23, & 29 (along with F for the creator ones!!)

thank you 🌺

10. What lie do they most frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them?

Answered here!

13. What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color?

Trystan: What colour do you think I look best in?

Nora: I feel like you're good at -- adapting colours. Do you-

Trystan: Yes, yes, I get what you mean. So hypothetically I could wear a traffic cone.

Nora: At the risk of looking cartoonish.

Trystan: But a fan-favourite nonetheless.

Nora: Someone abolish his mobile phone service, please.

Trystan: You look very good in green, though.

Nora: I wear like four colours that worked for me as a kid. Never changed anything ever again.

Trystan: She looks very good in this kind of -- deep shade of purple though.

Nora: More I think about it, you could pull off the orangething in the traffic cone.

Trystan: Now it's just insulting at this point.

Nora: Seriously?

Trystan: *exaggeratedly* You have tarnished my love for oranges entirely. I will never look at the fruit the same way ever again.

Nora: *giving him the most deadpanned look of deep-sated disapproval*

23. How does envy manifest itself in them (they take what they want, they become resentful, etc)?

Nora: You can't "take" what you "want" that's not how it works, but-

Trystan: You don't deserve to be wronged either and you're allowed to want to deserve compensation.

Nora: Shit, how are you good at this?

Trystan: I used to write poetry, Nora. You think this stems out of bereavement speeches? Come on. I thought we were partners.

Nora: That and -- I dunno, I guess I have a more healthier view of envy than I used to. I'm not vicariously consumed with the need for revenge. Not often.

Trystan: I feel I have too. I do have everything I'd ever want, you know? I'm happier.

Nora: Moral of the story - just get a PI job. Actually don't.

29. Do they usually live up to their own ideals?

Trystan: Do you think I live up to my ideals?

Nora: *blinks* What are your ideals?

Trystan: Good question. They change on the daily.

Nora: Goals aren't ideals.

Trystan: They are if you put them on a hamster wheel and run it until the end of time. Recently I try to -- better erm, forgive myself if that makes sense, at the risk of sounding selfish?

Nora: You aren't selfish.

Trystan: Trying to move on and - take responsibility while also knowing you cannot really conjure up a trick or anything.

Nora: It's depressing. He lost at Tetris and just, moved on.

Trystan: An endless stack of mismatched bricks. Those are ideals. You pick whatever that fits and move on.

Nora: Do you think I do?

Trystan: Aren't you doing that everyday by merely having the strength to keep going?

F) What do you feel when you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)?

When I look at Nora, I just think of desperation - this attempt to keep going on and on, because she has no other choice, which stems most of her strengths and weaknesses. As for Trystan, I tend to associate him with hope - both the healthy and unhealthy versions which affects every facet of his life depending on the nature of what he aspires for.

Of course there's a lot of things, but a more fun answer would be - Nora's just "why am I here" and Trystan's "Here? Really? Seriously? You guys could not have picked a better 'here', are you actually--"

___

Thank you so much for the ask Juudy!! <33

uncommon oc asks

#uncommon qs #choicesmc #askboxed #trystan x nora

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nectaric · 2 months

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GET TO KNOW THE MUN.

what made you pick up the muse you have? i'll pick a few: zeus was because i was obsessed with greek mythology thanks to percy jackson and other books i had read, but specifically with hades. when i stumbled across a group rp waaay back in the day that seemed cool, i wanted to join but hades wasn't available so i went "i guess i'll give zeus a shot" and the rest was history. i added athena bc i watched age of ultron for the first time, saw lizzie olsen and went "THAT'S ATHENA!!" i added demeter bc there were no active dem's at the time and i missed her :(

is there anything you don't like to write? there is very little i won't write, i think, under the right circumstances. i find super mundane stuff boring after a little while, but that doesn't mean i don't like it period. i guess i don't like writing things where my muses feel like punching bags *coughszeuscoughs* but i mean otherwise, i'm game for most things!

is there anything you really enjoy writing? FAMILY DYNAMICS are like. my number one. i love dads getting to bond with their kids. i love sibling shenanigans. i love family taking care of each other, i love family arguing, i love family opening up about their pasts and painful experiences. i. love. family dynamics so much, FOUND or otherwise! i'm also a fan of intense angst situations, too.

how do you come up with your headcanons? pure vibes, man. once i really get a feel for a character as i write them, the headcanons kinda just write themselves. some of my more in depth ones come from a lot of thought and speculation, usually done by talking to myself in my room lol, but i really just... imagine them up. sometimes it comes from talking with others, but that's slightly rarer.

do you write in silence or listen to music? usually without music, unless i actually have a space to myself and can throw on some instrumental stuff. but yeah, its usually just with the ambient sounds and chatter of my house.

do you plan your replies or wing them? sometimes i plan them when i first read them because i have a good idea, but for the most part, i wing it when i get to them.

do you enjoy shipping? for the most part, yeah. i can sometimes find shipping a little... repetitive. so i really do need a strong connection between muses and some exciting stuff to throw in to keep it interesting. i much prefer platonic / familial ships, but i do love a good romantic one, too!

what's your alias / name? renee! which is just my middle name but its a vibe, i like it better than my real name.

zodiac sign? aquarius babyyyyy!

birthday? it was back in feb

favorite color? i am such a sucker for green rn, in all shades, but i also really like baby blue n yellow.

favorite song? i think rn its superstar by lilyisthatyou

last movie you watched? MOVIE? i think it was barbie actually

last show you watched? sword art online kdjfhnd

last song you listened to? life itself by glass animals

favorite food? oh my GODDDDD okay listen up. my favourite food ever is a very specific taco from a tiny hole in the wall shop in san jose iturbide, mexico. its a chorizo taco con cebollas and some salsa verde and i DREAM OF THOSE TACOS. i ate those like four times a week for four months. they're incredible.

favorite season? i'm an autumn girlie at my heart, but canada rarely lets me have a NICE autumn :((

do you have a tumblr best friend? @aetheryic is my literal bestie of like 11 years or something and was the one who ran the group rp where i discovered my love of zeus so :///

tagging: all of you!

#ooc.#fun !#now to real writing skjfnd

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lacrimosathedark · 2 months

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Jade Nguyen fans, I have a question

Why is she called "Cheshire"?

I recently learned her mask is actually a relatively new development (in comparison to her existence in comics) so it's not because her mask in canon or part of her initial design.

I know she had a home in the UK, did she live in Cheshire??? Or any of the other places called "Cheshire"?

Besides the mask, she doesn't have anything else alluding to the Cheshire Cat that I'm aware of.

Even just on color palette, Jade's is green and gold, sometimes with bits of red. The Cheshire Cat is usually shades of violet and purple, sometimes an almost neon teal.

The Cheshire Cat also isn't a violent character. In the book he just kinda appears to be a funky lil guy, and in most adaptations he's something of a cryptic guide. The closest association he has with death is the Queen wanting to cut off his head, the conundrum being he is already just a head.

I could see a connection if Jade's poisons were more frequently hallucinogenic, considering how illusory the Cat is, but they seem to mostly be either to cause suffering or to kill quickly. I don't even know if she uses hallucinogens. I wouldn't put it past her, but it's not like her primary thing.

Jade doesn't seem like a particularly smiley person either. She actually seems pretty scowly or straight faced. I could imagine she's called Cheshire because she kills with a smile on her face, but I haven't seen enough of that to be sure that's the case. But I don't really want to just assume that of her, y'know?

Has it ever been said where her name came from?

#Jade Nguyen #Cheshire #DC Comics #Not anti-Cheshire for once #her name's always confused me #because I love Alice shit and she's very Not That #Why Cheshire?

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xxchthonicreaturexx · 1 year

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Do you have any general headcannons for the Outsider boys?

Yeah sure :) I'll try to list it to make it more organized. I'm only doing the main 7

The boys' favorite colors:

Darry - he doesn't really have one. If asked he'll probably just say black. He's not picky with colors.

Sodapop - A nice even blue tone. He also likes orange.

Ponyboy - Gold. I'm kidding. He likes dark colors like navy blue, forest green, and especially dark purple.

Johnny: Green actually. He doesn't mind other colors but he vibes with a chill green.

Two-bit - Orange and red :) Actually tried to paint the handle of his switch red though and pretend it was blood. Instead just made a mess.

Dallas - Black and another red fan. Actually doesn't mind brown. He prefers dark shades of red instead of vibrant red.

Steve - This is the type of motherfucker to say pink. Can you guess why? (Hint hint - meow) Yeah no, it's actually indigo. Another navy blue fan.

The boys' heights:

Darry - 6'4" (tallest)

Sodapop - 6' even

Ponyboy - 5'9" but will grow a few more inches

Johnny - 5'6" he might grow but not much more (shortest so far)

Two-bit - 5'10" (second shortest once Pony's done growing)

Dallas - 6'2"

Steve - 5' 11" almost there but not quite.

Random shit I imagine with these losers:

In modern times they definitely would've gotten Two to wear a maid outfit and cat ears to put on the internet.

Sodapop is damn good at whistling. Considering he had a horse he had to learn how to get it's attention. He'll be whistling out a tune constantly and can hit some pretty good notes.

Johnny actually is pretty witty and has damn good comebacks but usually only whispers them to whoever's nearest. (And who he's most comfortable with)

Steve once had a fake wedding with a car. The boys even set up a chocolate cake with those little wedding toppers. They still have the polaroids laying around somewhere in the Curtis house.

Darry doesn't have a ton of time to clean due to watching his brothers, cooking, and working, so all the guys split up chores whether they live their or not to help out.

Dallas usually doesn't show up on weekends because that's when they split the chores. Dirty bastard.

Ponyboy is clumsy as hell because he hasn't grown into himself yet. When he's older he'll be much more smooth but as a young teen he's kinda a mess.

Pony's definitely chipped a tooth from track. First time he had a meet and there was a crowd. He was a bit nervous and accidentally ran into a hurdle because he was looking at all the people.

Let's just say he's much better with crowds now when running. Darry was not happy about the dentist visit.

Considering that they're greasers I feel like the amount of times they're in the hospital they pay more bills there than their own houses .

#headcanons #the outsiders #johnny cade #dallas winston #two bit mathews #steve randle #curtis brothers #sodapop curtis #ponyboy curtis #darry curtis #request

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axvwriter · 1 year

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Here's two characters I've made to be just Twisted Wonderland fan characters. Lance is basically a background character of whom I made just to supply MC with clothes. Paulie is a troublemaker who is a bit unaware of how powerful his magic is. Based him off Peter Pan, though perhaps too much... but he's another excuse character, instead of giving clothes, he causes silly odd things to happen.

Such as, gifting MC a cursed swimsuit that transforms them into a mermaid. Since he thinks it's an easy curse to figure out and break, he doesn't even give a hint on how to deal with it.

I don't mind if anyone else wants to use these scenario-excuse characters, but please tag me. I would like to see what's done with them.

Image Text and some extra details about them under the cut/keep reading.

Lance Potsnuis, twist of a loom if there was to be one in Beauty and the Beast. (I figure I should give him a last name, but I just kinda threw one together. So I'm willing to change it if anyone has any better ideas.)

Dorm: Pomefiore

Grade: Sophomore

Age: 17

Height: 167 cm (6'5")

Dominant Hand: both/ambidextrous

Club: Film Research Club (Has no interest in acting himself, he just likes making the costumes.)

Hobbies: Weaving (He likes trying to make different types of fabrics that could then potentially be used to make clothes.)

Pet Peeves: indecisiveness

Talent: speed sewing

Unique Magic: Quick, Fix It!

His unique magic lets him make fast edits to clothes, including changing the colors. How much blot that occurs is based on how many changes and the level of difficulty of making such changes. Thus he prefers to use it for small, quick changes and if the color of the shade isn't right.

Always been a "workaholic". He quite enjoys working with clothes and making them, so it seems like it barely ever takes a break. His magestone seems to always have quite a bit of blot.

Lance has deuteranomaly red-green color blindness (which makes green look more red). Has ended up being quite good friends with his roommate as he relies on him to help fix any mistakes he makes in regards to his color blindness.

Part of a family of fashion designers.

Embarrassed by his own short and stocky body, but has resigned to the idea of being unable to change that.

Always willing to help out with outfits, as long as one knows what they want. He may have to postpone depending on the stat of blot on his magestone. Uses his unique magic more often then he should and more often then he means to.

A bit careless with his wealth, often giving away outfits that he's made.

For any MCs that like wearing dresses and skirts, they may find themselves drowning in clothes gifted from Lance. Being in an all boys school has made it so it's a bit rare for him to work on dresses and the like. Always making pants gets boring, so he'll gladly accept any excuse to make anything he doesn't usually get to do. Lance has no need to keep these clothes for himself, so he usually gives his models the clothes he's made. It's already made to their size anyway.

He's a bit more lax about appearances compared to most of Pomefiore. That doesn't mean he will slouch though. He just won't recoil in disgust if someone accidentally drinks the hand-washing water. Lance could potentially be a friend of Epel's, but I don't think they'd be very close. Lance refuses to help Epel hide from Rook as he doesn't want to get on his housewarden and vice housewarden's bad side. Though if Epel needs a breather, he's welcome to join him for a run to the store.

Now for Paulie

Paulie is the twist version of Peter Pan. Paulie may just be a nickname, who knows his real name? (I don't have enough examples for me to really think of good fae names and I wanted to call him Paulie.)

School: RSA

Grade: Freshman

Age: ???

Height: 174 cm (5'8")

Dominant Hand: left (This is simply so I can make a reference to the Princess Bride.)

Club: Fencing (Regarding that reference, he fences with his right hand. Plus I figure this is close to sword fighting which is what Peter Pan does with Captain Hook.)

Hobbies: Pranking

Pet Peeves: stifling maturity

Unique Magic: Never Growing Up!

His unique magic turns a person into a child. During this period, said affected person's memory is reverted back to that time. Age and how long it lasts depends on how much magic he uses when casting. After his unique magic wears off, person will regain their memory along with retaining memory of their time of being turned into a kid. Age that they revert to ranges from five to ten years old. Time of how long it lasts ranges from half a day to three days.

This idiot nearly overblots every time he casts his unique magic and takes an entire day for his magestone to recover. I figure such a spell would be quite powerful and assuming students aren't allowed or can't just grab a new magestone, he ends up skipping any classes he has left for the day. Doesn't matter if it's a class that doesn't require him using magic, it's time to goof about.

One of RSA's very few troublemakers.

Known to not take things seriously and to be very childish.

Due to being a fae, he doesn't realize his pranks can be hard to dispel.

Best friend is a craft fairy named Thimblina. (Yes this is basically Tinker Bell.)

I figure he grew up on a seashore where he gets to interact with several merpeople. I also think it would be a bit funny if he was a bit of a foil to Malleus when it comes to invitations. People tend to generally forget or are too fearful to invite Malleus to things. It doesn't help that Malleus doesn't seem too great with time. For Paulie, he's not very observant of time either, but people purposefully don't invite him to things. Since he's known to cause trouble, RSA could find it better to make sure Paulie doesn't know when things are happening. You would think he might suspect something when most students are walking around in robes, but he's not paying attention. The campus is unusually empty? Everyone must be in classes.

He tends to direct most of his pranks onto NRC as he views the students there to be hostile and needing to lighten up. He's unaware of when he goes to far with some pranks. He probably respects Malleus, but will totally cast his unique magic on Malleus if he thinks the prince is being a stick in the mud and needs to escape all the pressures of being royalty. This does mean he has to walk back to RSA though.

Oh, he tends to cast his unique magic on those he feels have forgotten what it's like to be a kid and on those that he thinks could use a break from all this adult responsibility. Has probably also tried to form a group of freshmen to follow him about, even has the idea to call them the Lost Boys, but I don't think he caught anyone's interest in that.

I didn't list all of the things that are listed on the games student records like favourite foods as I don't feel it's necessary to give them that much detail. At least, not right now as I don't know if I'll grow a bond to them or not. So far to me, they're characters I can only use for this game.

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adobe-outdesign · 1 month

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can you review my favorite neopet, the kau? (sorry if you already did, you know how it is with the tumblr search function)

As you may be able to tell by their ever-so-creative name, the Kau is based on a cow, though the horns are more bull-like. (Neopets does not practice sexual dimorphism, and even gender-specific colors like Royalgirl still have horns. This is fine, as it makes them more of a fantasy creature.)

The Kau almost strays too close into "just a cow" territory, but the decision to give them stripes instead of spots adds a bit of flavor. The horns also face backwards, which isn't unheard of in certain types of bulls (see: gaur bulls) but is unusual for standard domesticated breeds

Beyond that, the body is nicely blocked out in terms of color, with darker stripes, hair, tail tip, and hooves complimenting the base color. The muzzle and ears are usually a tint of the base color, but that said I do like it when they make them a light shade of pink like on the red Kau above.

The Kau benefited quite a bit from customization, losing the overly detailed eyelashes and generally just getting much better drawn and better shaded art. I also like the pose change, which enables you to see the body much better.

It is also worth noting that Kau have a weird little quick wherein a small number of colours sport a bell around their necks. There's no rhyme or reason to what colours get the bell—all of them are post-customization except for faerie (shown above), yet not all post-customization colours get the bell. For the record, I rather like it—it adds a little something to the design, and customization always enables it to be removed if desired.

Favorite Colours:

Pastel: The pastel has been a fan-favorite ever since it came out, and for good reason. The pink base color is lovely and is accented with a bit of blue in the eye and on the bell (this being one of the few lucky colours to sport one). The big thing that elevates this design for me though is the choice to change the stripes to cow-like spots, which isn't normal for pastel but makes the design extra cute. The spotted cow does the same thing in classic black-and-white, but I find the position of the spots on the face with that colour to be much more awkward.)

Burlap: I'm of the strong opinion that burlap pets should always be at least slightly uncanny and unnerving and should stick to dull monotones, which are the main selling points for the colour to me and are what keeps it from overlapping with plushie too much. In that respect, the burlap Kau is a bad burlap pet, but a great colour for the Kau overall, if that makes sense. The extra fluff around the neck, head and legs reminds me of a highland cow, and the textures on this one are really spot-on, down the corduroy nose and blue stripes.

Plushie: Speaking of plushie, while I think the burlap is surperior overall, I do like the plushie quite a bit as well—mostly the UC/styled version, which is absolutely adorable and has a great shape to it. I also like the subtle tan shades (though I wish there was less of a green tint to it) and the way the pink patch kind of matches the nose and ears. The converted version tries, but the big issue with it (aside from, well, Being Converted) is that it's missing the pink patch. If there wasn't room on the chest, just move it to the side or something!

#neopets #neotag #kau #neopet reviews

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deafeningwizardsquare · 2 years

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I FINALLY MADE IT SO

Ahem

Ranking every character's design 'cause why not

Let's start from the bottom, shall we?

Note: if you really want me to comment some character that I didn't list, just send me an ask. There are simply too many.

Side note 2: took every information given about history and cultural facades as not canon. These are only resembles that I've found. Thank you.

Side note number 3: the only bad categories are the the last 2.

Peeves according to the canon shares some similarlies to a medivial jester; the acute shoes-tips, the hat, an occasional bustier and the color gradient are a common element together with geometrical figures or occasional adding (like the stars on his shirt). Instead of colors like orange or sky blue you can always catch some works with gradients of red that shades to black or textures that reminds of dirt and dust. And the hat usually does not have this elvesish shape, but is more similar to to original jester's headgear with two or more spikes: some artists decided to let him dress as an elisabethian courtesan (ring nut included) and I have witnessed some examples of more recents attires with 1800's jackets and scarf. So not anymore a court entertainment worker but someone who works in deep contact with people. A street acrobat or a wizard (im the muggle meaning).

Here they tryed to give him more the operestic figure of a jester (if you look at the tonnage you could catch a resemble with Verdi's Rigoletto or Quasimldus from the Hunchback of Notre Dame) and thus allowing the face to be more expressive: big mouth (like the one of a monkey or a frog), non-existent neck, thicker limbs so he could interact more with the environment all around and allowing the animation to move fluidly.

It's not a bad design at all. It just gives me pyjamas vibes.

Though- you know what instead IS an aesthetic crime?

Yes. Exactly. Jacob.

Resumable in 4 words: Indiana Jones gone wrong.

We'll talk later about Rakepick's well done execution and how she has a very ponderate style. No worries.

Jacob's facial features are fine: I'm a fan of the eyebags (in the 1400's he would've been considered a great beauty with some gender bendering and stuff), the jaw is totally took from Peregrine, I personally have a bald brother (finally something that I could relate with MC! YES!) and well, the only experience that I had with bald-guys-designs in medias where actually both superheroes, bullies and random dudes. So I'm not again it. If you think it twice, he dosen't have to tell you something with his hairs!

This kind of representation, aka when you imagine a character, hair/no hairs are important only under some circumstances and you aren't obliged to explain why you OC decided to style them that way.

It's Harry Potter, not...Tangled.

In HPHM the understanding of organic graphics usually comes hand to hand to with a character. To put this simple, you don't care if Jacob looks as if he's joining the Navy, you care about him begin your brother.

The red-shirt is what could save this whole man: it helps to keep the focus on Jacob (also cute fun fact that we'll later re-use for Patty, but he's literally dressed as an archeologist! Especially in southern regions where sun hits hard, some years ago shirts were popular because not only they were air-conveient, but if dryed in colours like red or green they didn't attract the sun rays!), iself works and boy, together woth the belts almost made a miracle.

The whole point of Jacob's begin plane is because he has already a certain characterisation that consist in begin MC's disappeared bastard brother.

He can rely in what he ideally represents, not in what he is thus shows. As a person he isn't that important; the whole plot goes around him doing disasters. The nature of this kind of disasters is not in JC plans.

I want to break an arrow and say that MC is customisable so it would've been hard to find a decent standard design for everyone aka Peregrine's case.

Cedric is strange, because it does not resemble him at all; we can safely say that la, it's the 80's, I see it, it's accurate & the goofy sweatshirt is a good evidence.

In the only film where he appears he always wears something comfortable, like large jackets or shirts, with very neutral colours (TOTALLY THE YELLOW FRO HPHM🥸).

The stripes may be a reference to his first outfit in the Globet of fire (where forb the records it was just ONE) and here...I don't like it. It's an easy solution for a character that deserved a more suited natural & smart attire. Maybe more practica? It would've been a nice occasion to use a jacket, even a scarf.

Here he's far from having the charm that oh-so-got in the nerves of Diego's. True, he's a freshman and he's guilty to have been introduced by a general hype that made him look much cooler that what he's really.

Also I want the messy hair back & I'm torn between saying thay the eyebrows may need to be set a little more distant than this or stay quiet. The facial features are quite weird with Cedric, as if they made him older. Idk

The dementors unfortunately resented of the animation assessment; they have this plastic shape that does not fit at all with the general sense of scratching and dissolution/ fading that they've supposed to have. Especially the wrist line does not have a particular amount of animations thus leading the character to be static, as if they were wandering around with towels.

This is an issue thay I've found in almost every big tessie panels, or with parts of clothes that where an unique block; they still managed to do a great work out of it so bravo JC! ❣

Dmentors also have a peculiar reaction to light; is it possible to see some violet or whitish grey when they interact with fogs or the Patronum spell, which gives to them some points in percentage.

FPK was in an higher position, because the freaking face paint still gives me life.

In "stereotyped" you will find some characters that are used archetypes but this doesn't mean that they are bad! From there you can say that starts the good designs part!

Btw some people deserved this category (like the prefects) but ended up above for reasons that we'll explain.

Emily is by far the most historical accurate character of all in every aestetical aspect: sporty outfit, the high ponytail (80's diva), the popular skirt with leggings under it, the neckerchief made from wool, the visible make up, a feminine touch with class.

She's perfect, yet-..I'm honestly tired to see pink associated with antagonising in Harry Potter.

The whole pink=bad in movies is literally a 1990/2000's product.

In acient times (ROME AND GREECE MY BELOVEDS) it meant union, rebirth, hope for the future, life, love.

Funnily enough assuming that pink is the color of the mean girls could be an heritage from the Romantic painters that usually colored Helen of Troy's clothing with that. Lol.

Penny ended up begin the more traditional; you may find examples of buns with a particularly like that, though the two twins braids were a curious addition, since it could be both a reminder to more domestic hair-styles or to the hippie influence, especially considering the back where she has a bunch of unwrapped hairs & that she has more than one flowers combined in other occasions.

While braids where a distinctive trait of women style of Northen Europe's tribes (take example the entire zone of Scandinavia, they were primary used by not-married girls. But it wasn't like this everywhere, so who knows!) the three-braid combination was used a lot by the Romans, with Penny ending up using a model from the northern natives American. An example of imported aestetical born both from the person background but also from the beginnings of the globalisation.

The casual outfit is fine. Definatly Penny-like & with some retro influences.

I totally adore the headcanon of a friend of mine that sees Diego with Indigenous descending.

But, this aside...

I've always considered his look a derivate of his personality (Zorro but with a magic wand and 0 decency) and incredibly...It lacks of the total passion and well, uhm, the fire that he should definatly have to be considered a fallimentar Casanova?

You gave him a boring jeans jacket, with a scarf that cover EVERYTHING & a bunch of shoes of camel's skin.

The hairs are gorgeous though-

For Ben I've always felt as if he was the reboot of Neville. Not a bad sensation, I really like the casual outfit; he has a simple design but very effective.

Andre's biggest merit is wearing his scarf, too beautiful to even exist.

It think that he wears at least some make up? It would be a great addition, fits the person & most importantly gives another reason to stan representation in HPHM?

The causal outfit is also fine. Not in my likings but I love the necklace & the shirt jacket. Seems that he's a violet fanatic and it surely looks fantastic on him. A detail is that he's dressed for a party/ a disco night, with the use of dark colours and straight trousers & lucid shoes.

Belive me when I say that the prefects are an example of a minimum of good storytelling with the minimum visual effort- expect begin the ultimate incarnation of "Hogwarts Houses but if they where people"

Angelica is a strong girl, very sportive & stubborn, and they decided to give the generic short/curly ponytail thay screams "soccer mum" everywhere. Plus, this is not a very pointed out topic about her, but having the eyebrows so thick and high let the player literally felling judged or uncomfortable. That's geniality right there. Her second outfit with the ribbon is also a nice adding: shows that she's over with a chapter of her life and that she's starting again from 0.

Have you ever wondered why Felix & Chester have such cheekbones?

Well, I don't have the canon answers, maybe is genetic, but I can say that cheekbones are considered part of the perfect face. Even in ancient times they were symbols of perfection and harmony. The fact that Felix is perfectly symmetrical even with the hair while Chester has a tuft should say something; in Felix's case is possible that they found inspiration in some illustrations of victorian's novels (your stereotyped aristocratic gentlemen) when this cult of the cheekbones was established. Funny how he has the eyebags that where considered back in the Middle Ages even a sign of beauty/ nobility both in France and England.

Chester is more modern, but could resemble something that his father would've wear if his was was accountant worker: the eyelashes always suggested him begin overstressed or overworked which could be unironically true; in confront of his old colleagues he also wears a formal uniform.. Poor man.

Of Jane I just like seeing a face like mine finally begin there. It's a beautiful sensation, mixed with that retro 60's touch that fits her oh so well.. That's it. That's the post.

Rowan is an easy win for me, they have one of the most iconic glasses of all & for the hair they even followed an Indian 70's trend so not too bad!

A fun fact is that whatever you'll choose to buy for them at Diagon Halley os historically accurate & not total bedding as the game make it sound. It's bad because you see it with 2022 eyes!!

Merula is unique.

Even the Scottish frame of the jacket that she wears in the casual outfit is in context since in the 80's there was a re-discovery of traditional clothing & texture. I do like the fact that she's wearing contact lenses (it was confirmed somewhere) & the double colourisation of the hair-dying may be a family thing but it's indeed a nice finding; even her dark make up has a place in this design that was handled well.

It was claver making them messy, so they wouldn't been too much difficult to animate; the purple damaged shirt is a also a favourite of mine, with the bracelets begin a reminder of Merula's punk/ dark style.

Plus the booties of her school uniform that perfectly match with Ismelda are pretty cool!

So, a thing that I have to confess: I love that Chiara Lobosca is white and has blue eyes even though she could have some Italian blood.

If we consider that Italy was invaded from the 375 to the 1945 and that there were significant immigration masses, considering also the variety of the geography inside the the country, Chiara is the living example of a character with an aestetic not forced or dependent from some aknologed common ideas.

And I' writing this because I've actually had a similar situation so good job JC, give us the Italians if you can!

Fun fact, but Chiara in one of the most popular names there and it means "clear". It came from the Latin adjective "clara/ clarum" that means "famous, innocent, pure.

Lobosca is somehow bound with the forests/woods.

She has some Orion's vibes with the large sweaters sleeves (looking like a fairy) & the necklace (which for some reasons is the same?) and the hairbstrands reminds me of the furry of a wolf, somehow.

Jae stands mostly because they decided to give him that sub-urban attire that fits incredibly well; even the yellow sweater itself gave you the impression of someone who's doing shenanigans in a outskirt. Just kidding.

A thing that I do appreciate about his clothes is that they used the typical "cool kid" attire (aka a large top with a vivid color & trousers with geometrical fantasies) that has succed even in his family's native country!

He's not a lost member of the BTS ante litteram but could surely present himself as it.

Props for the messy hairs.

Talbott makes me crack every time because I think that whoever decided his line design is a genius.

First of all, he's functional in every way possible: introduced in a TLSQ about animagus, looks exactly like an eagle.

The note similar to the beak of an ragle, the straight-back hair, the red big eyes, even the colour scheme ecc...

A thing that I do like is that they've included elements of Native Americans culture in the dating-outfits (presence of feathers, using of pearls, light color material mixed with others more bold, abundance of ornaments for neck and hands and stuff; also the connection with the eagle ecc ecc)...

Wish they did the same with is every day outfit that I don't hate-the scheme colour still is gorgeous- but does not fits him at all. Looks like a fugitive from an orphanage.

Another fun fact is that I'm starting to think that his nose is probably a reference to another great poet.

Having eagle nose, talking about men that became eagles and stuff...

Talbott openly quotes a sonnet of Shakespeare in the official-dating quest so I want to dream. 👀

Talking about Orion requires some time. Take sit.

Let's debunk the myth that he's an hippie...But not because this isn't true!

Orion has multiple influences in his general aesthetic that yes, may be a consequence of his personality and the years that went by, but our beloved captain (not MC) is a very particular son of the flowers.

First of all, understanding where Orion is from is...Complicate.

Orion is a Latin name (and so is Merula, Felix ecc...) but it's also a transliteration from Ancient Greek Ορίων & appears in a similar form in English.

Overall Amari means "bitter" in Italian (becoming an infinite passive of the verb "amare/ to love" meaning "to be loved in Latin) so I'll just assume that his origins may be from South italy; more specifically Sicily where the surname Amari is indeed popular, could explain a possible migration & has the vantage of begin extremely close to North Africa, where probably and quarter of his blood comes.

This is an important aspect to overcome because explains the particular material that is used for his long jacket ( could be jute) and probably his carefree attitude, which may be am heritage from what was happening in this region back in the 60's, where hippies tried to bring back life in villages forgotten by everyone, rioted a lot against the scholar system and stuff.

I genuaky like him because he brought with him so many elements (including the freaking beard) that are just stunning.

For Ismelda the talk could be the same of Merula, I appreciate more the emo/geeky persona that she shows: the metal elements are a must and her casual outfit is my favourite XD.

Tulip deserves an Oscar for the best hairs design, hers are amazing.

Plus, she has a solid school's outfit that shows every single aspect of her (from the joyful side with the Zonko's pocket to the more serious Ravenclaw's one) with the Celestial Ball's dress begin the best of all.

The ellenistic vibes, the romantic ribbons on her shoulders, the skirt and the colours scheme are amazing.

On the top of the top we have, with surprise of no one, the one and only legend Skye Parkin as know as Jam City's biggest graphic achievement.

Emily was perfect? Skye is superior.

She's an atomic combination of elements that are traditional (the braid disposed in a Celtic way) mixed with stuff from her times like the jacket and the shoes.

The hair dying is her strength point. Looks like a childish contrast with what she wears?

That's the entire point! Skye is childish, but she's also very easy going and friendly (in her own way)!

I like that she has short hair, because in the 80's I was common among women at the Olympics or whatever sport competition.

On the other end, she has tons of logos sewed all together: I like this because shows that she suffer from attachment to something that it's bigger than her (the school, her family's team); she's proud of it because at first her identity as a person is deeply connected to all those logos.

Aside that, she's not completely a tomboy: juat look a the way that she wrapped her shirt, the trousers size & the model of the shoes.

Erika would be a nice example of tomboy-ish style with a light personal touch.

Ethan resembles her in all of the problematics listed here: the sense of belongings towards his roots (with the traditional element begin the moustache), the childish aestetic and stuff.

Overall they did a great job with him because you can tell that he's Skye's father (Peregrineeft the chat). The face is also well sculpted and rich of details, I love his hair-style!

Patty of our heart has clear inspirations from Carter's campaign photos (with the coat and large sleeves maybe connected to the beduins) and an hair-style that resembles perfectly the 1950's cinema divas.

That's it. That's the post. Have a nice day 🥰

#hogwarts mystery #hphm #orion amari #skye parkin #murphy mcnully #talbott winger #chester davies #erika rath #felix rosier #ismelda murk #merula snyde #ben copper #rowan khanna #ethan parkin #hogwarts mystery jacob #barnaby lee #penny haywood

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