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#it's a story that is DESIGNED for the language and reading style of comics!!!!!!!!!!!

lilybug-02 · 6 months

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Happy 2 Year Anniversary to The Chara Timeline ✨

I FINALLY made drawing references for you guys, yippie!✨

It’s wild how long I’ve been working on this comic without reference sheets. I’m never that consistent with my art style, so I figured it was a waste of time 🫥💀😔 this is my first full comic okay…

Thoughts and Feelings About the Comic Below ❤️💖💕💞

Wow. It’s been 2 years??? I thought I would be done with this comic in 2 months! I don’t know whether to feel worried or accomplished!!

(With months between each update, I understand why it’s been 2 years. I’m a slow writer and artist and well- many things have come up in my life that had to come first, like my sisters wedding! 💞 and college 😅)

I want to thank my family and friends (WHO DO NOT READ THIS COMIC- THANK GOD) 💕 AND I want to THANK YOU! The readers! 💐💐

You guys are relentless! I’m as impatient as traffic and yet you guys wait for weeks or months at a time for like 4 pages?! You guys don’t even complain!!! I truly want to thank you all for that ❤️ it helps me so much. Being busy and getting burnt out are common and it helps me feel relaxed that i'm not on a timer. Literally tho- you guys keep this comic chugging I swear. Tysm 💐

Unorganized rambling about the comic ahead :) ⭐️🔥

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My feelings with this comic are actually so complicated. On one hand I hate looking at my older art because GOD IT LOOKS SO OFF I want to stab it, and then on the other hand I am so so proud of myself for even continuing it this far. Ngl the weird route has been one of my favorite parts of this comic. It took me FOREVER to figure out an ending, but damn do I still get chills >:) hehe.

I’m still miffed that I named this project “Deltarune: The Chara Timeline” I could have gone for something so much COOLER. Doesn’t help I use like 7 different titles for it either. We got Deltarune the Chara timeline, Deltarune chara timeline, THE Chara timeline, chara timeline, Ct??? Man,,, I’m crazy. I take after my family so hard. We have 3 names for each of our dogs 💀.

Comic/Animation Tip i have learned. It is VERY GOOD to make the character relatively simple in design. Shape language is also super important, ((but I never really got around to doing that before I was half way through the comic, woops.)) These things can make ur process go by so much faster. This whole comic has been a HUGE learning curve. LIKE OH MY GOD. I had to learn how to draw backgrounds, write dialogue, plan a story, learn how to draw fast and draw noses (which god damn I really still can’t). And I had to learn how the heck to squeeze art into a tiny page and make it not look grainy. It's intense!

Anyways.... this has been such an awesome opportunity! Thanks Toby Fox!

I totally ran out of “art time” for my iPad and wanted to finish this today. So it’s a bit rushed. I’ll add weapons and possibly the other characters later :)

Oh shi- I forgot to add this grainy image of the next few pages lmao

#chara is literally built like a rectangle. idk why ive never noticed that #a thick greenbean #and Asriel is kinda half and half when it comes to standing on his toes or regular foot. He has a more top heavy approach to his balance #bread #undertale #deltarune chara timeline #my art #chara #asriel #character sheets #character references #art #deltarune #happy 2 year anniversary!!!!#college chara #college asriel #darkworld

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jesncin · 4 months

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A Failure of Asian Lois Lane: Pt 2: My Adventures with Superman, an honest discussion

If I had to pinpoint the fundamental problem with My Adventures with Superman's depiction of Asian Lois Lane it's in their attempt to subvert the classic two person love triangle: Lois loves Superman but is indifferent to Clark Kent. In MAWS, Lois insta-crushes on Clark Kent and hates Superman. In the show's attempt to make sense of this dynamic, Lois' Asian identity becomes at odds with a story meant to touch on xenophobia and immigrant themes.

Let's have an honest discussion about a show that made fandom cheer as an Asian character removed the one thing that made her most visibly Asian.

Disclaimer: While I am of East Asian descent, I am not Korean. I'll be discussing general Asian diasporic experiences but the specifics of Korean culture are outside of my knowledge (as usual I can't and don't speak for every Asian person ever, I am 1 opinion). Secondly, I'll be pulling from my personal experiences every now and then particularly pertaining to being a butch Asian person watching this show. It'll be a mix of formal analysis and personal anecdotes. Thirdly, this isn't an exhaustive analysis of MAWS Lois' character. We'll be sticking to what I consider is relevant to themes of Asian identity and immigration. Lastly once more, I do not believe the MAWS crew had malicious intent in any (of what I consider) poor writing decisions. We're here to analyze and challenge these writing decisions.

Please read Pt 1 of Asian Lois analysis that covers the comics, as it provides the groundwork for the ideas expanded on in this essay.

We need to talk about Lois' design. In the follow up to MAWS' release, people have been speculating on Lois' ethnicity. CBR writes that the show has "some fans believing that she's at least part Asian" and other articles have the show crew confirm Lois Korean heritage via her hanbok outfit in episode 4. The existence of these articles, my own anecdotal experience of streaming MAWS with Asian friends, and comments I receive from people asserting Lois' Asian identity was never explored in the show ("you'd only know she was Asian if you searched up articles about it"), tells me we have a case of an ambiguously designed Asian woman. Tangentially many people had no idea Livewire, the white haired and blue eyed woman, was meant to be South Asian.

There's a lot to be said about art styles that don't properly stylize ethnic features, but for the purposes of our analysis that means the writing has to deliver the heavy lifting where the design fails. This is the opposite case of American Alien: a comic that relied on the art to portray Asian Lois.

Let's start at episode 3. In it, Lois finally manages to conduct a private interview with the elusive Superman. When she asks where Superman comes from, how his powers work, etc- Superman comes up empty. In this version, Superman can't talk to his Kryptonian father (Jor-El)'s hologram because of a language barrier, so he knows very little about his alien heritage. He leaves Lois, assuring her he's here to help the people of Metropolis. When Clark Kent congratulates her for interviewing Superman, Lois rebuffs him. "Oh, he's [Superman's] a liar." smirking as she says it. This is the start of the Lois Hates Superman For Being a Liar arc.

I'd like you to consider the optics of an Asian American woman interviewing an alien immigrant who honestly told her he doesn't know where he comes from and is still figuring out who he is, only for her to think he's lying. Because she didn't get the answers she wanted. I can't help but think about my own experiences, where I was asked "but where do you really come from?" or "okay but what's your real name?" I think of my Asian American peers who would honestly say they're from Texas or Atlanta and get a vindictive "you're lying" as a response. People want to hear you're from China. They want their biases confirmed. I think about how I honestly can't tell you where my elders hailed from, because of cultural genocide and language barriers. This scene makes me uncomfortable, but let's press on.

Episode 4 is where Lois is most visibly Korean. In this episode the trio of Lois, Clark, and Jimmy are tasked with interviewing rich techbro Prof. Ivo of Amazo tech at an investor event. It's a prom episode. Lois wears a "hanbok inspired gala outfit" designed by Dou Hong and Jane Bak in a deliberate move to showcase Lois' Korean heritage. Bak comments "I remember feeling strongly about wanting to inject some aspect of her Korean heritage without disrupting her characteristic as a spunky and resourceful intern/reporter." while the wording poorly implies that Korean heritage is at odds with Lois' spunky personality- I do want to challenge a couple of the decisions that went into this design.

I want to acknowledge as an Asian butch that there are many ways to sport traditional garments and it's okay to mix and match to figure out what reclaiming culture (and your comfort) mean to you. However we're talking about the opportunity to showcase culture in an episode of a fictional animated show. I also encourage cultural gender expression that thinks outside of western white people's idea of gender (in both fiction and real life).

Whenever artists try to do a non-conforming spin on a cultural outfit, I always have to ask: "what standard of masculinity are we basing this on?" It's clear that MAWS is pushing for a "tomboy" Lois, and this gala outfit is an extension of that. But what's the standards of masculinity in a Korean lens? Men wear hanbok too, so why can't Lois imitate how Korean men wear hanbok, by traditionally accompanying her look with baji (baggy and loose pants)? This design notably has tight pants that hug the form, instead. I know the hanbok look has been modernized in and out of Korea in many ways, but in a show where you have the opportunity to showcase cultural non-conformity, I feel more thought should be put into the outfit outside of a potentially western lens- or the idea that cultural heritage of any sort "disrupts" a character's personality.

Now that we've discussed the design of the outfit, let's look into the narrative role it plays in episode 4. While we can celebrate cultural representation in media, I consider it important to ask "what is this media's relationship with the cultures it represents?" and the answer for Lois' hanbok in this episode is: nothing! It's an aesthetic acknowledgement of culture. "Hanbok" or "Korea" are not terms explicitly mentioned in the show. When Prof Ivo offers beautiful women as compensation for Clark to keep quiet about his company's corruption, Ivo looks over to Lois- who spills food on her clothes, and remarks that she's unclassy. She's not judged for wearing othering cultural clothes- which would have tied nicely into Clark choosing to be silent on issues of Ivo displacing a neighborhood, making Clark realize his complacency actively hurts marginalized people. Despite wearing cultural outfits being a political statement in America, nobody reacts to it. It's clear what the actual goal of this scene is: Clark looks cool for defending his "tomboy" crush.

In a scene blatantly made for fanservice, Lois offers to sew up Clark's ripped tuxedo by undressing her hanbok so she can reach her little sewing kit. Lois never wears her hanbok again afterwards. This scene haunts me. It's a scene that tells you that fanservice is more important than cultural representation. It's a scene meant to set up that Clark gives his tuxedo to Lois later on for warmth. Lois removing her hanbok is meant for not one, but two fanservice scenes.

Lois talks to Clark at the stairwell. She opens up about her estranged relationship with her father, how her mom has passed away, and how she's been an intern at the Daily Planet for a year with no sign of being hired. This makes the narrative decision for Lois to lose her hanbok far more tragic. Lois being a diasporic child with so few familial ties to her culture would mean garments like her hanbok would hold a lot of sentimental value! It's hard enough finding a cultural outfit that fits with your butchess (many of my cultural outfits are hand made to fit my form and gender expression), and yet Lois unceremoniously loses her hanbok. You would think in Lois opening up about being distant from her parents that Clark would be able to culturally relate with the distance he has with his Kryptonian parents. But the narrative opportunity to link their immigrant experiences is not taken, because the show simply doesn't recognize the parallel between the two.

Instead MAWS pushes for the Lois Thinks Superman is A Liar thing again. A far less narratively substantial and fundamentally flawed arc. This episode starts with Lois calling Superman a liar and has Lois ranting about him "dodging her questions" (remember, he was honest with her about not knowing his heritage) thereby rendering her interview unpublishable. She resorts to conspiracy tabloids giddily provided by Jimmy for information. She rather cruelly says "nobody normal believes in aliens". We are uncomfortably seeing the build up of Lois being allegorically xenophobic towards alien immigrants- a Lois on a quest to out an alien before he's ready. This is their justification for flipping the love triangle. Lois loves cuteboy Clark from work, and hates Superman for not confirming her biases that would help her publish an interview that would promote her at work. What a love story.

To wrap this episode up: Prof Ivo ends up challenging Superman to a fight so he can flex his Parasite suit to investors, only for it to backfire, destroy his reputation, and greatly damage the Amazo building (remember this it'll come back later). The episode ends with Lois discovering Superman is Clark Kent. Anecdotally, I was so frustrated with the treatment of Lois' hanbok in this episode, that I went online to search if anyone else felt similarly. All I was met with was fandom thirsting over the stairwell scene where Clark and Lois were undressing. Consider the optics of an Asian character who removed the most visible signifier of her heritage (the outfit far more culturally specific where her character design was racially ambiguous) and how people cheered because that meant they could see her in her undergarments. They can happily thirst over the body they desired now that the othering cultural garment was out of the way. It's just clothes after all. Diversity clothes. This show continues to be very uncomfortable, and a little too real.

In episode 5 Lois is passive aggressive to Clark and Superman, trying to get Clark to admit he's Superman and vice versa. She eventually confronts Clark by jumping off the roof of the Daily Planet, causing Clark to fly down and save her. She proclaims she doesn't want to be friends with him anymore for "lying" to her. This episode caused a huge ruckus online as people were divisive over Lois' actions. Some defended Lois, saying that "women should be messy" and "it's not Lois Lane if she doesn't do something crazy for journalism!". Ignoring that opinion's very flandarized view of Lois' character for a second, let's thoroughly discuss how this relates to themes of immigration and Asian identity.

By this episode, Lois had known Clark for 5 days. In that time she's entitled and angry to the point of friend-breaking-up with him because he wouldn't disclose his marginalized identity to her within less than a week. "A secret is another type of lie!" Lois says, regardless of her lying on sight to both Jimmy and Clark upon meeting them at work, and continued to lie in episode 3 (after promising not to in ep 1) about her intentions to interview Superman. Only Lois gets to lie in this relationship. The hypocrisy of her character is never recognized. Clark calls out Lois for having previously admitted to him that she wanted to dox Superman and "publish all his secrets. MY secrets!". Keep in mind that when Clark brings up Superman feeling uncomfortable about his secrets being published by Lois in episode 3, Lois' response was "yeah, but HE doesn't know that's my plan!". She explicitly admits that she would publish private information about Superman without his permission. But when she's confronted by Clark in episode 5 about that, her response is "I would never do that to you, I didn't know it was you until after the gala. How could you think that?" It's only through conflict of interest that Lois spares Superman of being doxed. He's supposed to magically know this. Extremely cool of Asian American Lois to be entitled to an alien immigrant's identity within four business days.

Episode 6 wraps up the Lois Hates Superman For Being A Liar arc, so let's quickly summarize what happens. Lois and Clark set aside their fight to find Jimmy in an abandoned scientific facility (he's being cared for by Mallah and the Brain). Jimmy admits (very smugly) to having known Clark was Superman all along because he kept breaking stuff. As the trio are chased by killer robots, they emotionally confront Clark for not trusting them with his alien secret- despite neither Lois or Jimmy creating a safe environment for Clark to come out to either of them (Jimmy outed Superman as an alien on his video channel). The moral of the story is Clark should have trusted his friends anyway, because lying is bad. Not once does the narrative hold Jimmy or Lois accountable.

We have Black Jimmy Olsen and Asian American Lois Lane being entitled to their white passing friend Clark Kent's marginalized alien identity. A joke is made at Jimmy's expense that he doesn't understand bigotry, and Lois clearly doesn't understand why an immigrant wouldn't be forthcoming about his identity to his hostile friends at work. This is how that arc ends.

I'd like to quickly compare this Lois Hates Superman For Being A Liar arc to my favorite scene in Superman Smashes the Klan. In this story, Superman debuts as a strongman superhero instead of an alien, suppressing his more othering powers to pass as human. He jumps instead of flying. Roberta, the Chinese American girl targeted by the Klan, calls Superman out for not using his full abilities to save people who could've gotten hurt. Yet, as she's calling him out, Roberta understands Superman's fear of not wanting to be othered. She sees the way her father dresses up to pass as an accomplished scientist, how he tells her mom to speak in English, how her brother makes racist jokes at their family's expense to fit in. She's not mad at Superman, she's mad at the world that would be scared of Superman if he flew.

"I wish it were okay for you to fly!" Roberta yells. This is a beautifully empathetic scene that shows a marginalized person frustrated at a systemic problem, instead of blaming the marginalized for being marginalized. It's the empathy and perspective we're missing from MAWS.

Episode 7 is a metatextual episode where MAWS addresses how their Lois isn't like the other Loises you've seen before. Lois and Jimmy are brought on to a team of alternate dimension Loises to find interdimensional troublemaker Mxy. In seeing the other more accomplished Loises in the multiverses, Lois ends up feeling inadequate about her self worth...in connection to being Superman's girlfriend, of course. Because Superman only loves Lois Lane after she wins a couple of Pulitzers, right?

I'm open to a version of Lois Lane that isn't as accomplished as she's historically known to be. I can like a Lois that's young and idealistic, like in Girl Taking Over. It's hard not to compare this episode to 2022's Everything Everywhere All At Once, another multiverse story about an Asian American woman who is the "greatest failure" version of all the parallel iterations of herself. But while that movie talks in depth about themes of generational trauma, expectations, and self potential within Asian immigrant families, MAWS uses the multiverse to say that while their Lois is less accomplished, she's still a good girlfriend to Superman! Why should I bother giving grace to a different take on Lois only to get such a superficial story out of it. This is metatextual-ly frustrating.

Why is it, the minute we get an adaptation of an Asian Lois in something as prominent as an animated show, we get "the worst Lois in the multiverse"? Lois is historically depicted as excelling in her field. She's an award winning journalist, jaded and mean from having to work her way to the top. She owns her sexuality, she's the experienced city girl. Instead of taking the opportunity to inform Lois' jadedness and excellence with her Asian American identity like in Girl Taking Over, instead we have an Asian Lois that's simply incompetent at her job. Why are we now adapting historically accomplished women into adorkable quirky screw ups? She went from being sexually confident to being insecure over sending a text to Clark. Is it more relateable to see an Asian woman that way? Is it too intimidating to see a butch Asian woman who excels at her job? Who's romantically confident? This is what MAWS would rather do than humanize her excellence or her failures.

Are you tired of an ambiguously designed Asian American woman reporter being xenophobic to Superman in MAWS? Well too bad because episode 8 introduces us to Vicki Vale, voiced by Andromeda Dunker (an Asian actress), with explicit notes in leaked concept art to design this character as "Indian American or Asian American" (as if those are mutually exclusive...) inspired off of real Asian reporter Connie Chung. Vicki wants to write a hit piece on Superman and interviews Prof Ivo's assistant, Alex, for a negative biased opinion on Superman (to Lois and Jimmy's dismay).

This episode is where it's abundantly clear the writers don't know how to talk about xenophobia. They'll make nods to xenophobic rhetoric, but they don't know what the rhetoric means. In response to Alex's derisive opinion on Superman destroying Amazo tower thereby bankrupting the company and putting "thousands out of work", Vicki responds "Superman wiped out good American jobs". This is a misplaced nod to Replacement Theory: the fear white people have over people of color, but particularly immigrants, coming to "their" country to "steal" jobs they're entitled to, ultimately becoming demographically replaced by non-white cultures and people. This rhetoric is also commonly applied to Jewish people.

The problem is, that's not what Superman did in the show. Amazo tech was going to go bankrupt because of Prof Ivo's poor business decisions. Prof Ivo made the mistake of antagonizing Superman and ruining his own image. Superman damaging the building came from his fight with Prof Ivo, not a deliberate attempt to get hired (if anything don't the building repair people have new jobs now?). No one's job is tangibly being taken by Superman. None of this is called out by Lois or Jimmy, who know the full story and were even the ones to attack Alex for helping Prof Ivo (let's be real the writers forgot this happened). In fact, Lois and Jimmy don't react to Vicki's Replacement Theory remark at all! It's like they don't even recognize she said something with racist implications!

Jimmy and Lois meet up with Superman who learns the people of Metropolis are becoming scared of him (from causing some recent property damage in an attempt to hunt a criminal down) and writing mean comments on social media. A user writes "he should go back to where he came from." This is a transparently xenophobic comment. It doesn't work in the context of the show because of a huge plot hole: Superman never publicly came out as an alien to Metropolis. No verified newspaper has explicitly made this fact known. The only source that mentions this is Jimmy's conspiracy channel, which the citizens of Metropolis are apparently treating as fact- therefore (if we're to believe this is how people knew) this means Jimmy absolutely outed Superman as an alien without Clark's consent.

So how does Asian American Lois respond to seeing her alien boyfriend go through xenophobia? She says "Take a break from being Superman and just try being normal." To be fair, the narrative does portray Lois saying the word "normal" as charged (only here at least, not in episode 4), and when she tells Superman to "take a break" it's because he had been overworking himself after suddenly unlocking the ability to hear when someone's in trouble. But was this really the response Asian American Lois thought to say? To her boyfriend going through such explicit xenophobia? At this point it's abundantly clear that racism doesn't exist in the world of MAWS. Being "normal" is to be human. And to be marginalized- or as the show likes to call it "different" is only reserved for white passing alien man Clark (along with gorilla and robot that was once a white man). Any hope of an immigrant parallel between Asian American Lois and Superman should be fully discarded at this point.

After the events of the previous episode where Superman is kidnapped by Task Force X, in episode 9 Lois regrets being allegorically xenophobic to Clark. At least I think that's what's happening. I often describe MAWS as a show that's extremely squeamish with getting political- and I believe the vagueness of Lois' Dark Night of the Soul moment reflects that. "I said awful things to Clark. I doubted him when he needed us most. I was wrong and now he's gone..." Lois says as she cries to Jimmy. Is this dialogue implying she shouldn't have told a sleep deprived Superman to take a break? What did she doubt about him? This dialogue is purposefully vague about Lois being xenophobic. They've universalized Clark's immigrant identity to such a point that they can't keep their argument consistent. Was Lois in the wrong for telling her overworked superhero boyfriend to take a break? Or was she being xenophobic for telling him to lay low for a while? Or is she regretful for hating Superman for Being A Liar? How is that possible when the narrative sided with her and Jimmy in episode 6? It's woefully non-committal. Regardless, the intent of this scene is to pay off in the climax of the episode.

In the end Superman has a showdown with Prof Ivo Parasite, who has grown into a large godzilla-esque kaiju creature. In typical MAWS fashion, the show is more interested in a surface level nod to Asian media instead of engaging with the specific themes of nature and post-war trauma kaijus and godzilla serve in Japanese culture. I digress. Using Jimmy's massive social media platform, Lois delivers a hope speech that instantly heals Metropolis of its xenophobia towards Superman.

Lois says to the people of Metropolis.: "People have told you to fear Superman because he's different from us. But we humans are capable of causing hurt and pain too. [...] Because we want to punish those who don't look or act like us." I mean this in the most polite way possible, but who on Earth thought this line was a good idea for Asian American Lois Lane to deliver when talking about white passing man Superman?? Why did the writers feel the need to specify Superman not looking like us. I simply don't understand how nobody considered the terrible optics of this.

After Superman defeats Parasite, episode 10 is about Clark, Lois, and Jimmy celebrating Thanksgiving at the Kents' house. At the Daily Planet, the trio of interns are promoted to finally being reporters. It only took Clark and Jimmy a few weeks while it took Lois a whole year! Now feels like a good time to remind you that Lois as a character was historically frustrated at sexism in the industry and despised how men were treated better than her (including Clark Kent). Well in MAWS episode 4, Lois has no idea why she isn't getting picked up to be a reporter. According to the narrative, and Perry White's dialogue ("you're terrible interns, so the only thing to do was to make you reporters")- she simply didn't break enough rules yet! Thank goodness she had the help of two men to show her how it's done! This is a pretty clear case of character regression. Keep in mind that in American Alien, at the very least that Asian Lois still underwent sexism, and I gave it the grace that the story could eventually expand to talking about both sexism and racism if it were to continue. But in MAWS? I don't think even sexism exists, let alone racism. Somehow Thanksgiving does, though.

Half the final episode is spent on Thanksgiving shenanigans where everyone's trying to be polite but they dislike Lois' stoic dad (Sam Lane)- who Clark recognizes as the Asian American xenophobic man who tortured him in Task Force X's government bunkers. A parallel is pulled between Sam and Jor-El, two fathers with different ideals when it comes to protecting their kids. There's a huge missed opportunity to have Lois and Sam speak in Korean with each other, to create a parallel in the language barrier between Clark and Jor-El. Maybe Lois isn't as fluent in Korean as Sam is depending on how culturally connected she is. Oh, but the existence of non-English human languages would imply some sort of minority, who would be marginalized, and we can't have anyone outside of aliens and a gorilla be marginalized in MAWS. Non-English languages in America are political, after all. Oh, but they also got a Filipino actor to voice Sam. Generously Lois could be Filipino-Korean but if we're being truly honest it's clear the MAWS crew think Asians are interchangeable.

Let's talk about Sam. In terms of optics, it's already not great that the main villains who represent the face of America's secret government xenophobia are Amanda Waller and Sam Lane- a Black woman and an Asian man. What's doubly notable is that of the antagonistic villains, Sam and Vicki are the most xenophobic. When Sam tortures Superman, he shouts "When is the invasion? How many of your kind will come through this time?" without a hint of irony. Reminder that historically, Asian immigrants were (and still are) considered invaders in America. They are the perpetual foreigner. MAWS loves making nods to Superman being an immigrant allegory, and yet they can't fathom the human beings that allegory is inspired by.

It's not impossible to portray people of color or even Asian American characters specifically being xenophobic. In Superman Smashes the Klan, Dr. Lee is initially antagonistic towards Superman but we understand why. We see him trying desperately to assimilate into whiteness, to the point he rejects assistance from his Black neighbors who help put out a fire in their backyard (that the Klan started as a threat). We understand why he's a character who would turn on fellow people of color, or fellow immigrants, in order to fit in. For MAWS, if we had a flashback scene where Sam was serving in the military and fought against Asian soldiers, showcasing his loyalty to America over his own people- that would narratively explain why an Asian American character would be xenophobic. Writing bigotry from within marginalized communities requires specificity. Otherwise, you've just got a diverse villain. In the end, Lois defends her immigrant alien boyfriend from her xenophobic Asian American dad.

Whenever I bring up how MAWS fails its characters of color but especially Asian Lois, I'm met with people telling me that "hopefully they'll make Lois more Asian in S2" or "they'll just retcon the bad writing in S1" and I hope this thorough analysis on the treatment of Lois' Asian American identity can help enlighten why I personally think that's impossible. The entire concept is flawed from the very beginning. The story MAWS wants to tell is at odds with Lois' Asian identity. In trying to justify an Asian Lois that loves Clark but hates Superman, they never considered what it means to hate Superman. To hate the alien immigrant. The alien other. What it means for an Asian American character to do all that. MAWS is a show that wants to have its cake and eat it too, they want a diverse world without racism or sexism but still want to reap the clout of lightly portraying Superman as "different".

They'll make the most surface level nods to Lois' Korean heritage- but remove all of the cultural context from them. They can't be bothered to acknowledge the inherit political identity being a person of color means in America, they're too busy doing that with Clark. I'm told "MAWS didn't have the time to go over Lois' Asian identity, it's a 10-episode series that focuses on Clark's alienation", and to that I say the potential of an immigrant love story and time frame was there, they simply chose to go another direction.

When I bring up things like Superman Smashes the Klan, Girl Taking Over, and Everything Everywhere All At Once, it's not to say MAWS should have used those stories as reference when crafting their allegory. All of those specific media were released while MAWS was deep in production already. Girl Taking Over was released the same year MAWS premiered. What I am saying is that we, as the audience, should have higher standards. Because better media portraying Asian American characters already exist. Better media portraying Asian characters relating to Superman mythos already exists. What we're doing when we celebrate the breadcrumbs of representation that is MAWS, is allowing mediocrity to exist uncritically.

Shows like Wednesday are known in the discourse for their portrayal of Black characters as being functionally white, yet that kind of scrutiny doesn't seem known for MAWS. The diverse reimagining of Lois and Jimmy is so poorly handled in MAWS that it would honestly make more sense if Jimmy and Lois were white here. The joke made at Jimmy's expense that he doesn't understand bigotry would be actually funny if it was calling out his white privilege. If, for whatever reason, the writers are compelled to write a xenophobic Lois that unlearns her bigotry and falls for Superman, I'd rather she be white for that kind of story. I wouldn't personally root for that kind of couple, but at least it'd make sense. It's a common joke among DCAU fans of color that we like to headcanon Lex Luthor as Black, or Lois Lane and Terry Mcginnis as Asian. It's a cruel irony that the one time we finally have a canonized Asian Lois in an animated show, she honestly feels and acts whiter than actual white Lois ever was.

I mentioned in Pt 1 of my essay that Asian Lois and Superman has the potential to be a definitive love story. One that considers both their backgrounds as immigrants, othered in different ways by American society. The story of a jaded but accomplished Asian city girl who finds hope to be herself again in an alien immigrant superhero. One where she gets the courage to wear traditional clothes again, to practice languages she once suppressed. The story of Superman, an alien immigrant, finding hope in someone with a painfully similar experience.

As of writing, we have yet to see this dynamic in any canon DC media. A second season of MAWS will not give us that story.

#ramblings #media criticism #jesncin talks maws #lois lane #warning LONG LONG POST #this is a 30 minute read for reference. read it in chunks if u like but this is a big lad fellas #as always please be kind!#jesncin dc meta

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witchygirlgray333 · 10 months

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Some journal prompts I like (writing and creative) :

I’m going to do a separate list for some chronic illness journal ideas bc I’ve found it’s so helpful!

Write out the lyrics to your favourite song and/or do a drawing / painting / collage of your interpretation of the song

Books you want to read

Films you want to watch

Diary entry about your day

Bujo style - plan out your week or month

Pressed flowers

Scripting (manifestation)

Vision board (manifestation)

Notes on a topic you’re learning about (for example I like to watch lots of nature or history documentaries and sometimes I make notes on them in my journal or if it’s witchy stuff I write it in my grimoire)

Letter to past you / future you / someone in your life (remember they don’t have to read it, this has helped me so much in certain situations so I can get out whatever I want to say without upsetting people) / someone you love who has passed on / the god or deity you worship if you worship one / to your future children / future partner

Wishlist

Ideas for things (like stories you want to write, photo shoots, fashion, films, art etc)

Poetry (either that you’ve written or that someone else has written that you like)

Get to know me page so if you want to look back on your journal in the future you can see what you were like then

Films you’ve watched / books you’ve read / favourite songs from the past month

Positive affirmations

Shadow work

Sticker / photo dump

Recipes

Go sit in nature and draw or write about what you see or feel when you’re there

Draw out your alter ego

Stick in scraps from throughout your day (such as receipts, labels from things, stickers, pictures etc)

Book reviews

To do lists

Design your dream room

Your childhood (draw or write about childhood memories, hobbies, things you used to collect, stick in childhood photos, the toys you used to play with etc)

Travel bucket list

Life bucket list

Family tree

Write a list of things that make you happy

Stream of consciousness

Write about your dreams and what you think they might mean

Brain dump (I sometimes do this before I go to sleep if somethings going on)

Doodle page

Stick in notes your loved ones have written to you

List of favourite quotes

Self care ideas

List of songs / playlist

Goals in life / 5 year plan

Plan a day out or a holiday

Plan content you want to make for social media

Tattoos you want to get

Things that make you happy

Outfit ideas

Hobbies you currently have

Hobbies you want to try

List of things you collect

Yoga / exercise routine

Seasonal bucket lists

Things you want to learn or research

Mood tracker

Stick in any colouring pages you’ve done

Daily skincare routine

List of Studio Ghibli films and tick off the ones you’ve watched

List of your favourite things

List of things to do when you’re bored

If you normally write about your day, draw pictures of all the things you did instead of writing (a bit like in a comic book)

Advice people have given you that has been really helpful

Ideal morning / night routine

Notes from therapy / hospital appointments

Page of all your cinema tickets

List of people that inspire you

Angel numbers

Crystals and their meanings

Your favourite artists

Worry tree

Favourite memories

Write your dream wardrobe

Reasons to stay alive

Stick in photos and write a bit about them

Names you like

Favourite words

Write about an event (a description of what happened, how it left you feeling, who was there and what they said and did, what you wish had happened instead, the reasons why you find it hard to let go, steps you could take to start to move on)

Notes on a language you’re learning

Collage about a film you’ve recently watched

Glow up check list

Write about a tarot reading you did

What does heaven and hell mean to you

Flip through a magazine and do a collage of pictures from it

#journalling #journal #book of shadows #creativity #alt #art #art journal #bookofshadowsprompts #journal prompts #writing #doodles #journal ideas

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lumidotexe · 1 year

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The masterpost for Even Rainfall Has Shadows, a Lego Monkie Kid Fan comic. STORY SUMMARY: Sent on a mission by her brother to hunt down the infamous Monkey King, tigress demon Hu Ru Daxian bands together with the Six-Eared Macaque and a celestial crane named An Hè in hopes of bringing him down once and for all.

This story is recommended for ages 15+. It will contain some language, death, violence (no gore), depictions of slavery, mild suggestiveness, and abuse. I will put trigger warnings before the pages. It is an oc x canon story as well so dont read it if thats not ur cup of tea 👍

Even Rainfall has Shadows

CHAPTER 1 - When the Mountain Threatens CHAPTER 2 - To Trap a Soul CHAPTER 3 - From the City CHAPTER 4 - Hopelessness CHAPTER 5 - Plays CHAPTER 6 - An Act CHAPTER 7 - To Facade CHAPTER 8 - The Guilt that Feeds CHAPTER 9 - Her Doubts CHAPTER 10 - The Butterflies CHAPTER 11 - In the Flood (panneling)

Extras

Official Discord Server (reccomended for ages 15+) ERHS Merch Store! Q&A for the ERHS cast Author FAQ Meet the Artist Open Commissions Kofi (for early acess WIPS/pages!) Patreon (for early acess WIPS/pages!) 4K/HD Page Download Drive (still updating) Wallpaper Stills (still updating) An He's Song

Animations

Not Thinking Straight | MacaRu LMK Animation Macaque and Ru flirting Animation ERHS Fanmade Animation Animating Ru into LMK Scene MacaRu Ship Edit

Other Art

Anime-Mac Style Comic If ERHS met Kung Fu Panda MacaRu cuddling eachother as plushies Consent Minicomic Streetwear Ru Design Mac feeling Ru kiss his clones Consent is Hot Minicomic Ru in a Macaque sweater MacaRu at the Beach Mac n Ru Post-training Flirting 101 Mac x Ru Fanfic If Ru was Mac's stunt trainer Road to El Dorado AU Sinbad AU

Playlists

Ru Daxian Playlist An He Playlist Macaque x Ru playlist MacaRu Alt Playlist (by @runningwithscizzorz) If ERHS had a movie soundtrack An He Villain AU Playlist

References

Hu Ru Daxian An Hé

#lego monkie kid #lmk #monkie kid #six eared macaque #hu ru daxian #ru daxian #lego monkie kid fanart #macaque #lmk art #lmk fanart #lmk macaque #lmk oc #lmk oc art #macaque fanart #monkie kid sona #macaru #shadow dumpling #evenrainfallhasshadows #ERHS

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jacarandaaaas · 6 days

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so now that the “new adventures of encanto vol.1” comic is out I want to talk about it!!

firstly this comic surprised me! I was a little nervous on how they were gonna portray the characters! but as soon as I read the first page I was knew I had nothing to worry about! the characters are SO FUN in this! they’re very in character and a little exaggerated and silly and I love it so much!

secondly this art style!? it’s so cute and I love distinct each character is! the shape language is really good and I love the environments! they all look so cute and pocket sized and it just fits them so well!! also teen triplet designs AHHHH

and finally whilst reading these stories I was just thinking of how well it fits encanto! to me encanto has always seemed like a story that would fit slice of life style media compared to big plot! just looking at the style combined with the stories I couldn’t help but think imagine animated shorts in this style!! I feel if there ever was going to be an encanto series (a girl can dream) that it should be slice of life but also discuss deeper topics like the movie! I feel the comic did a really good job at showing that! So basically this made me want an encanto series more than ever before and that is a VERY high compliment

#encanto #encanto disney #disneys encanto #mirabel madrigal #mirabel encanto #isabela madrigal #disney’s encanto #bruno madrigal #luisa madrigal #camilo madrigal #encanto books #encanto comic #new adventures of encanto #I had to ramble about this I love it so much #cant wait for the alma book next month ahhhh #this renewed my motivation #I’m also still not done talking about it lmao #I’m just gonna be insufferable and this is the warning

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daresplaining · 2 months

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Mattea Murdock, the Daredevil Drummer of Philly

In celebration of the forthcoming new Spider-Punk: Arms Race series (not to mention Hobie stealing scenes in "Across the Spider-Verse" last year), I wanted to finally write up my long-overdue overview post on Mattea Murdock! If you haven't read her introductory run yet, check it out here.

Mattea truly stands on her own in the wide canon of alternate universe DDs. She is a female Daredevil, she is Latina, and she somehow managed to escape Marvel's NYC gravity and base herself in Philadelphia, where she defends its citizens from violence and exploitation. Hobie and his self-styled Spider-Band encounter her in Spider-Punk (2022) #3, when they make a detour to fix the busted Spider-Van. They are all immediately-- and correctly-- impressed.

Mattea: "Yo, Kam!" Hobie: "Wait, you know each other?!" Kamala: "Duh! You think I wouldn't know the Daredevil Drummer of Philly?" Hobie: "You're a drummer too?" Mattea: "Best in town." Hobie: "Oh man, my friend Gwen is a pretty dope drummer too. I think y'all would definitely get along." Mattea: "Hope they're ready to get outplayed by a pretty, blind girl." Spider-Punk vol. 1 #3 by Cody Ziglar, Justin Mason, Jim Charalampidis, and Travis Lanham

I talked a little about her killer character/costume design when she was first introduced (I was a fool; of course she's blind), and my love for her look has only grown. It's badass, distinctive, and it slots her beautifully into Hobie's punk rock world while still evoking that trademark Daredevil image (red, sticks, pointy bits...). Her irises are red, which is a visual choice I enjoy in more heightened, fantastical DD stories/art styles, and I think it works for Mattea. Heck, I could even imagine them being colored contact lenses she's chosen to wear for the aesthetic. Also, one detail that wasn't in the previews is the fun little laughing devil face on the back of her jacket (I'm not punk rock enough to get the reference if it is one, but it reminds me of Darkdevil):

Of course, always a big priority for me is Daredevil's power-set, and Mattea provides a quick primer on her unique perspective, mostly focused on hearing and the radar sense:

Mattea: "What? You think just 'cause I'm a blind girl, I can't see? Echolocation, my abuelas used to call it. But it's more intimate. Instinctual. Can hear a kick drum from ten blocks away. Can see it too. If I think hard enough, I can even see what the garage it's being played in looks like." Hobie: "Yo, are you doing it right now?" Riri: "She's definitely doing it right now."

This is not my favorite description of Daredevil's powers, nor-- to be honest-- a particularly informative one. She can gather spatial information through walls...from ten blocks away? I also never love an overuse of visual language in any explanation of these powers, especially as it's implied that Mattea, like Matt, is completely blind. Surprisingly, no direct mention is made here of the hypersenses as a whole, beyond the reference to hearing a kick drum from ten blocks away. Even her hearing doesn't receive that much attention in the story overall, which feels like a missed opportunity for such a musical character. Her blindness, too, is pretty much irrelevant to the story, and never comes up again. But I do LOVE that she uses the term "echolocation", though is still very clearly the radar sense, in all its vague, undefined, semi-magic glory.

And visually? This is great. I'm always a fan of the cross-hatching visual, especially against a black background, and artist Justin Mason doesn't go too overboard on the detail, which is another preference of mine. And thematically, I love the ways in which Mattea's drummer identity is tied into her superheroics-- not just for laying a beatdown on bad guys, but also for channelling and enhancing her echolocation/radar sense. One of my favorite scenes in the comic is when she plays a drum solo on a roof edge to scope out the Kingpin's lair. I'm willing, in that moment, to ignore any gripes about radar sense irregularities out of respect for the coolness and thematic heft of the concept. I mean, this rocks:

Mattea: "Come on, show me the good stuff."

At the end of the day, though, this is not a Daredevil comic and Mattea is not the main character. Plus, it's only five issues long, and introduces a bunch of other new characters as well. There was only ever going to be room for the creative team to offer a cursory introduction, hopefully generating enough interest to prompt these characters to appear again in other comics. In that, I think they fully succeeded with Mattea; we get a cursory sense of her powers (or at least, enough to show that they're the normal DD set), her personality (delightfully cocky, playful, tough, fearless), a few hints of her backstory, and some truly kickass fight scenes. There's a bit of suspension of disbelief required to believe she can use drumsticks as a stand-in for billy clubs (unless her drumsticks are made of something really hefty-- and hey, maybe they are), but this is Spider-Punk. Hobie killed Norman Osborn with a guitar--twice. It's not about realism, it's about style.

Mattea: "Been waiting for this for a long time, Fisk. Real long time." Fisk: "I'm going to break you, li'l girl--AWGGH!" Mattea: "Big, strong man who sends out his band of wackos to push over people too weak to fight back." Fisk: "Wouldn't get too cocky, girlie...you're not the only one who's fast! I'm gonna hurt ya. A lot. Then I'm gonna kill ya. And I'm gonna love every second of it. You know, this is the same look you had when I had your old band clapped a few years back. I like it. Brings out your eyes--GAAAH!" Mattea: "There's something you need to understand about me, papi. I'm not the kinda girl who goes down without a fight."

I can't wait to see more of Mattea and learn more about her, her world, her friends, and her enemies. In particular, she seems to have a history (possibly romantic?) with this world's Kamala Khan, and I would love to see more of that relationship. While Mattea Murdock clearly has a lot in common with Matt Murdock, she also seems happy to be a team player, unlike Matt, and I really enjoy that. Though I guess it's not that surprising a distinction. After all, every drummer needs a band.

#Spider-Punk vol. 1 #Daredevil #Mattea Murdock #Spider-Punk #Hobie Brown #Spider-Band #Commentary #ID in alt text

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quindriepress · 11 months

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This week's spotlight is on Beth Fuller and her comic Witching Hour. Beth is an illustrator and concept artist from Dublin, Ireland. She’s considering putting down the stylus pen and heading off into the wilderness to live as a hermit, but likes hot showers and horror films just enough to keep her in civilisation. For now, anyway. (@bethfuller | website | instagram | twitter)

"Witching Hour is about a young girl sent on a mysterious journey by her father. Two pale trees with intertwined branches form a strange gate at the edge of 12-year-old Esio’s town, and beyond it lies an old, ruined land. Over their pints, as dusk falls, the villagers say it’s where lost things - and people - eventually end up. She’s got sandwiches, an apple, plasters, a bottle of Tipperary Kidz water and a Horrible Histories book in her rucksack and she’s heading off into the unknown, with only a talisman to guide her. There’s no telling who she might meet along the way."

Read the spotlight below the cut!

"That’s the initial rundown, anyway. Speaking more subjectively, I wanted to create a setting where two totally different characters - as different from each other as you can get - are forced to work together and end up changing each other’s lives. I really do think you can get on and find common ground with almost anyone, in the right circumstances."

Witching Hour took several years to incubate. "I’d been working on a comic slowly and haltingly since I was 18. There are pages kept deep, deep in my computer with old, badly drawn versions of Esio in a radically different setting, but it never really made sense as a story. I don’t think I made it past page three! Still, the fantasy atmosphere and character of Esio stuck with me over the years. Plus I really like to mix the dull, routine and mundane aspects of everyday life with things that are otherworldly and strange."

"Eventually we had a visual narrative module as part of my degree, and while recalling my old comic pages (I was mulling over it in the shower, which is where I think many of us do our most important thinking) an idea came to me that would form the basis of Witching Hour. Adding this to the embers of my previous project gave me more than enough fuel to sit down and start drawing.

"I have plenty of ideas for what I want to get up to next. I’ll work on a tarot set, keep working on freelance concept art and illustrations, design some tattoos, maybe try my hand at another comic at some stage. As always, feel free to get in touch and let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see from me!"

Beth draws inspiration from many sources: "The landscapes of south-west Ireland. Horror films, foreign language films, fantasy films, anything animated. The writing of Michelle Paver, Neil Gaiman and Ursula LeGuin.

"For me, though, it’s primarily the work of other illustrators that has inspired me the most, and it’s often only through seeing and evaluating lots of different brilliant styles that you can start to discern your own tastes. As a child, the obligatory Ghibli film catalogue. Then the work of Chris Riddell, Max Prentis and Ian McQue were enough inspiration to foster an interest in art school. I went, studied Illustration at DJCAD, and discovered Jake Wyatt, Celia Lowenthal, Juliette Brocal, Linnea Sterte, Jack T. Cole, Evan Cagle, Alphonse Mucha and (of course) Moebius. Seeing their work is like taking the creative spark and making it into a deodorant flamethrower."

Beth's work often centres around fantastical worlds and sweeping landscapes. "I think somehow you always come back to what you know. Sometimes you don’t even notice you have a fascination with something until you start to create and it keeps returning.

"My family and I spent a lot of time around Irish coastlines growing up, especially during the warmer months. Kerry, in the south-west, has mountains that turn brown in winter, then when summer comes are carpeted with a haze of purple heather, not unlike the hills of Scotland. There are crumbling ringforts and monastic ruins on isolated hilltops. I could be in the most beautiful place in the world but still miss the coconut scent of Kerry gorse. The fantasy aspect is fun to play with, and it adds a nice sense of mystery, but fundamentally I think the landscapes I draw are an attempt to capture, and return to, the shores I kicked about on as a kid."

For aspiring comic creators, Beth has this advice: "This is a common one, but I think it’s still worth saying: if you have a story, get it down. You don’t need to consider yourself a comic artist to make a comic. You also don’t need to wait around for the right time, or enough expertise - nobody is going to give you a nametag with ‘comic artist’ on it. If you can draw, and you need to say something, just start drawing boxes and see where it goes. Also, ‘Necropolis’ by Jake Wyatt is really good."

You can pick up Witching Hour, alongside the other three comics in our 2023 collection, right here on Kickstarter!

#witching hour #2023 collection #beth fuller #bethfuller

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whirligig-girl · 9 months

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Followup to this painting: [Oh You Poor Thing]

The Prodigy kids are so interesting to learn to draw. They have quite complicated color pallettes and designs that don't trivially translate to a 2D cartoon, and figuring out where to simply things without them being unrecognizable was an interesting challenge. I went for something close to the Lower Decks style this time (i.e., my usual Guzcomic style) to complete the crossover. If I ever made more Prodigy-focused comics I think I would first spend a lot of time coming up with a better simplification of their designs and color palletes. If there's one thing that the Prodigy kids absolutely have going for them, it's strong shape language in their silhouettes.

I really hope Prodigy gets picked up. I've been rewatching it and it's just so much fun.

Image ID: Digital art webcomic in a Star Trek Lower Decks like art style.

Panel 1: The alien kids from Star Trek Prodigy are wandering together in a crowd. Dal and Gwyn are calling out Murf's name. Gwyn has turned her liquid metal sword into a bullhorn. Zero says "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Rok-Tahk says "Where are you..." Jankom, frustrated, says "Come on guys, it's no use. He's gone forever."

Panel 2: Eaurp Guz, a green slimegirl in a yellow starfleet engineering uniform, is running through the crowd with something wrapped up against her chest, holding it like a baby.

Guz: "Hello? Have you seen a--" Stranger 1: "No." Guz: "Have you seen a group of Mellan--" Stranger 2: "No thanks." Guz: "GRR! You'd think another Mellanoid Slime would stand out in the crowd." Guz: "Hello? Have you seen--" Stranger 3: "BEGONE FOUL THING!" Guz: "Ugh."

Panel 3: Guz continues. "Oh! you kids! Have you seen a Mellanoid Slime? Kinda like me. Gooey, sparkly, probably humanoid and bluish?

The Prodigy kids are gathered in a group and look at Guz, a little clueless. "Like Murf?" Dal says. "Who?" Guz says. The viewer can see Murf, the bluish-purple Mellanoid Slime Worm, being cradled by Guz, but the kids can't see him.

Panel 4 & 5: Close-up of the wrapped up Murf, who turns around, a little teary-eyed, and makes a chirp sound.

Panel 6: Murf leaps out of the wrapped blanket towards the kids, smiling, splashing some blue slime onto Guz's face, and she closes her eyes and braces for the goo to hit her. The kids look ecstatic. "MURF!" they all shout at once. Rok-Tahk goes on and says "I missed you." Jankom says, "Hah. Jankom never doubted a thing."

End Image ID.

extra:

Guz: so. you're. this slime worm's communal family.

Jankom: what of it, ya bag of snot?

Guz: do. do you even know how to raise a slime worm?

Dal: Yes! Well. Maybe. I mean he's basically indestructible, how hard could it be?

Rok-Tahk: Yeah! He once survived eating a live photon grenade.

Guz: What.

Dal: Yeah you know it was probably all the time he spent enslaved in the chimerium mines; hardened him up to it.

Guz: WHAT?

Gwyn: It's a long story.

Guz: wait. hey aren't you those wanted fugitives?

Jankom: Desperately, desperately wanted!

Zero: I can't read her thoughts but I do not think that's the kind of wanted she means.

Dal: Gotta blast!

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learnfromwebtoons · 3 months

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Lesson 11 - Clothes Make The Characters

Today’s Lesson: Clothes Make The Characters

Today’s Teacher: Swolemates by LummyPix

Hi, I'm back! And by back I mean I had an idea for a lesson and have returned to impart it to the masses before disappearing back into my cave.

I've been reading Swolemates by LummyPix and generally enjoying it- the jokes are generally pretty funny and the story, a college comedy about a gamer jock and the influencer next door, is genuinely unique for the platform. And of the three main gripes I have with it, two of them are minor nitpicks (the character names are all a few letters off from names an actual person might have, the desaturated color palette makes everyone's skin look slightly gray), but one is, I think, more broadly applicable to other comics as well.

Clothing.

Making a comic is hard because in addition to being a writer and a draftsperson, you have to also be a prop designer, actor, set designer, colorist, cameraman, and costumer all in one. That last role in particular is missing from Swolemates, where all of the characters are first year college students that wear plain T-shirts, tank tops, and sweatpants all the time.

I've been reading a lot of Derek "Menswear Guy' Guy's tweets lately, like many people, and one of the ideas he brings up a lot is that clothing is a language. Your outfit communicates things about you to the people who see you: information about your status, occupation, and personality. A comic that doesn't pay attention to the clothing the characters wear is missing out on an opportunity to tell the reader additional information about their characters, which I feel like is happening here.

The reader is told that Dani is a Popular Girl and Shaye is Alt/Nerdy, and while their hair and makeup reflects those characteristics, their clothing does not. Most of the time, every single character is wearing a plain, solid-color T-shirt. Nobody ever wears a pattern or a shirt with a graphic or text on it.

You don't! You look like a video game avatar someone stopped customizing after they finished the hair and face! Which is worse!

The makeover arc the above screenshot comes from is not used for the traditional makeover arc reason of showing the reader the protag in many cute outfits, but to allow Alex and Shaye to bond more and show how Alex is so fit and buff regular pants don't fit her. Which is a missed opportunity to find Alex clothes she looks good in that fit her personal style and aesthetic, and that would distinguish her from the rest of the cast.

The desaturated color palette doesn't help either.

After this sequence, Alex and Dani both go right back to wearing plain solid-color t-shirts, and occasionally tank tops. The makeover and Dani's interest in fashion are both fleeting and temporary.

A simple change that would increase the realism of everyone's outfits and add personality would be to put graphics on the shirts. Shaye could wear anime merch, Alex could wear video game shirts, Dani could wear college merch. If there's one thing I know about college student fashion, it's that everyone ends up wearing shirts they got for free from their school at random events, and nerdy kids wear shirts about the things they like (as a comics major at art school, I found myself in multiple classes where every single student was wearing a shirt from a comic/movie/game they like.)

A more involved change would be to assign everyone a general color palette they tend to wear and make sure they wear things with patterns, prints, and accessories, at least occasionally. Shaye could wear skinny jeans, Docs, band wristbands. Alex could wear streetwear that is both comfortable for her and reflects her video game interests.

The makeover sequence also serves to communicate to the reader that the creator is not personally interested in fashion or clothes and will not be considering them in this comic, which is a real shame because, like I said, clothing is an opportunity to show readers more about what kind of people these characters are, and is an important part of character design. The clothes people wear are often not even about what's currently fashionable (especially these days, with current trends cycling faster than a washing machine), but out of a desire to signal that you belong to a particular group. Like how finance bros all wear those fleece vests, and fans of musicians wear shirts from their concerts.

It's easy to feel intimidated by the amount of history and possibilities fashion opens up in regards to character design, so creators who aren't personally interested in fashion might try to avoid thinking about it because it's easier that way. But if you take the time to do a bit of research and think a bit about what your characters would actually wear, it will pay off.

Also, as a practical consideration, iconic clothes a character wears could become merchandise for your comic later on!

Exercise: Now it's your turn to give your characters a wardrobe overhaul! Draw your characters in their underwear as a base, copy paste that base several times, and draw a few outfits over it. Try to come up with at least 3 daily wear outfits, what the character wears to sleep, a formal look and a first date look. Think about what your characters value in clothing-- comfort, showing off, expressing their personality, belonging to a subculture? Where do your characters get their clothes- do they go shopping with friends, do their parents pick them out, are they wearing a school or work uniform whenever we see them and if so how do they customize that uniform, if they do customize it? Also consider color schemes and recurring motifs.

Webtoon Recs: I want to recommend Cursed Princess Club again because it's not a comic about fashion in any way, but it uses the characters' clothing to communicate information extremely effectively. Everyone's outfits communicate where they're from and what their position is. Everyone from the Pastel Kingdom wears pastels, everyone from the Plaid Kingdom wears plaid, everyone from the Geometric Kingdom wears shapes. Calpernia's crown has a net attached to it to allude to her spider-themed curse. The major characters are also clearly color coded, making it easy to keep track of them in a busy scene. Gwen is green (and her love interest Frederick is a darker green plaid), Lorena is lavender, Maria is powder blue, Jamie is pink. The way they dress reflects their personalities as well, and when special events like balls happen their outfits for those events also help communicate the characters' personalities.

It's not necessary to focus entirely on fashion and clothes to create outfits for your characters that help tell your story better! Also Cursed Princess Club is just extremely good all around.

A comic that is about fashion and using clothes to express yourself (but also about teen drama and gender/sexuality) that I enjoy is Acception. The main character is a fashion/sewing youtuber who befriends a goth girl in his class, but not everyone around him is as interested in fashion as he is. The goth girl's brother, for example, dresses much more casually and simply than she does, and the character designs for everyone slowly change over the course of the comic as people get different haircuts or teenage growth spurts, or decide to try something new with their style as they get older. I especially like how Iris's outfits frequently incorporate butterfly shapes as something she likes to wear.

It's cute and funny, and puts a lot of thought into its details despite having a simpler art style than many webtoons.

Clothes are an important part of character design, and too many people neglect to think as much about them as they should.

#learn from webtoons #webtoons #webtoon recommendations #I wrote most of this on my phone at work lol

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wishyougoodnight · 7 months

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is want talk about Wish You Goodnight’s design convention as style way design , draw , way would adapt regular characters into universe is very important , both to story & visual !

——

all monochrome

WYGN is fully monochrome because world is monochrome . but it will never be 100% grey never use pure black , it alway tinted purple - blue . all color not completely gone

All character base palette is use only these colors

—

2. only eyes have color , is soul color eye color not always “what real color would be” , it just soul color

soul can be any color , and majority is named after color and what thing would be that color .

name can be in language other than english , most just in english as comic is english .

reason why these in khmer is cuz they already have khmer name in original and we cambodian (if make oc , is highly recommend make name in own language !)

—

3. Shape extremely important , very clear shape , body type , recognizable

and majority of character should be able drawn with just lineart , not leaving it to color stage to make most of character

important / thin details (like sun’s antlers) is usually done with lineart layer

—

4. it require have butterfly shape / pattern somewhere

every single WYGN character is have butterfly on them , and butterfly shape / pattern can be included in clever ways ,

like instead of butterfly drawn on them , some may have fur that look like butterfly , or wing that make butterfly .

that because butterflies represent death and soul passing on into new body in universe , it always present .

—

5. only feral creatures , including animal fusion , mythical . but no humans / human hybrids .

——

and that should be it !

WYGN have lot of design rules , but it really important to us and really unify all character and world , and make immediately recognizable that they apart of this comic / world

it also make very easy for us to draw , and make clear to read even if drawn messy .

#wish you goodnight #wygn #art #oc #character design #lore

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heysawbones · 1 year

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Was talking to Amy about style studies (she recently did an excellent Yoshitaka Amano of Alti), and got to thinking of the style study of all time, the style study you do when you want, need, to be reminded of your own mortality: Sergio Toppi.

I’ve posted about Toppi before, though it’s been a while. Long story short, he was a master of Italian comics - someone who accomplished that rare feat of a comic that both reads well across individual moments, and looks good as a whole page.

An absolute monster, as you can see. A crazy-ass. Galaxy brain. But this isn’t what makes a style study difficult; after all, you probably aren’t trying to emulate his layouts. On the highest level, his shape language makes sense: low abstraction but angular. There’s a jauntiness underlying the whole thing. What absolutely baffles me is the markmaking. What is the logic? Sometimes, the markmaking follows the form. Sometimes, it turns into flowing lines, and he loves to make big tile fields of tight parallel lines at 90% angles to each other. When does he decide? Did he even decide? Was it a product of needing to fill space without color, and being deathly bored of only following form? Innate graphic design sensibility? Areas that other inkers would’ve painted black, he fills with endless patterns. How do you study this without producing master copies, line for line?

What was he thinking? Trying to emulate this whooped my ass harder than any style I’ve ever put hand to. What a fellow.

#blah blah blah #galaxy brain Sergio Toppi #he’s a favorite of a lot of my favorites and I love spotting his influence in their work

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aealzx · 11 months

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Omigosh ! Shame on me, I've only just noticed that you've done a written version of your comic. Or, at least, extra scenes and the sequel after Donnie becomes himself again.

I've read the first two parts with Raph looking after the recovering Donnie. How can I express my appreciation and admiration for your work? Your drawing style is amazing but your writing style is so descriptive and emotional. I can feel the brotherly love between the turtles, Splinter's love for his children.

You're doing an incredible job, I just had to tell you that.

I hope we get to see more of Disaster Twins after Better Genes.

Oh by the way, what's the reason for the title? Really curious about that.

And that's all I wanted to tell you. I also hope you are doing well !

Take care of yourself 💕✨

Ahhhhhhh no shame no shame XDDD That first post isn’t even like a week old, it’s no big deal at all. You’re totally fine.

Awwwww I’m so glad you enjoy it XDD Honestly comments are enough for me. My receiving love language is totally words of affirmation, so really, just comments pointing out one thing you liked is enough to give me a hit of happy chemicals for a whole hour or more XDD So euguuuuhhh ;V; Thank youuuuuuu omg, I’ve never really had my writing being complimented so much and have always felt like it was rather…scattered and subpar compared to “the good stuff” that makes people notice. So having it pointed out just TVT thank youuuuu. I’m glad the emotions bleed out well enough.

Thank you againnnn

Leo and Donnie being twins is one of my favorite fan headcanons I’ve adopted and looove to play with. But I also just love the dynamics between the entire family, so I end up bouncing around and none of the dous grab my attention permanently. That being said, I do have another Leo and Donnie section planned, as well as Raph and Mikey, Donnie and Mikey, and Carol in there too. XDD

As for the title XDD huuuu that’s a bit hard to explain. Mostly Better Genes is because the concept of double mutated Donnie was ripped from three TMNT 2003 episodes titled “Adventures in Turtle Sitting”, and “Good Genes” part 1 and 2. So I wanted people to know that I was referencing to those episodes, but didn’t want to have my stuff come up when searching those episodes. So I switched Good for Better XDD

But, I also went with Better Genes because it’s a more buried part of the story bit. The rottmnt boys were planned mutants, so it makes sense that they would be designed to have various ehhhhh plus points or whatever you call them. Enhanced strength, speed, etc. One of those that made sense to me was Draxum not wanting people to mess with his design, so I had the thought that Draxum made it so the boys’ genetics couldn’t be tampered with because their own genes would fight off anything that wasn’t part of the original design.

These two sections kind of touch on that idea:

The reason Donnie was able to create a cure on his own within the vague time limit is because he wasn’t creating something brand new from scratch. His own immune system was trying to fight off the mutagen, it just was being overwhelmed. So he just isolated his own antibodies, and made more of them. And after that his own immune system was able to beat the mutagen, so he’s the one with the better genes X’D

Hope that made sense |D

Thanks again for the note 8DDDD I’m doing great, just eternally tired like everyone else. X’DD

Take care too~ Get yourself a treat if you want.

#littlewildfeathersworld ask #about better genes #ask response #little side notes #I love this fandom!!!

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musingsfromthelibrary · 10 months

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Just watched Nimona on netflix... oh boy...

(for image source, see link below)

For context it's based off a webcomic / graphic novel by queer author ND Stevenson (go read it, it's beautiful!) and the netflix film did not disappoint! The plotline has been adapted a fair amount to make it more suited to a film, but in my opinion they stay pretty true to most of the characters (and the changes they did make - again they were made to suit a family audience for a film.)

The animation style is amazing, my favourite details are Nimona's lil pointy fangs and magic sparkles, and the costume design, with a blend of medieval-inspired fantasy and futuristic technology.

100/10 would highly recommend both watching and reading the novel :))

In the interview linked below, ND Stevenson talks about how Nimona started as a little web comic, then grew into the graphic novel, then eventually into this film, over the course of 11 years. He addresses the character changes, mostly around Ambrosius's character, and taking him from a shallow and ridiculous character to the kind of person a viewer could empathise with.

He also talks about the queer / trans themes that are woven through the story and Nimona's character, and how Stevenson himself explored gender nonconformity and not fitting into society's boxes.

"I think that this movie is going to start conversations and give people a language to be able to talk about that in a way that I think is going to change lives. It's already changed my life."

source:

why are you still reading?? go and watch it!!

#musingsfromthelibrary #nimona #lgbtq #netflix #animation #queer

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rbp-art · 4 months

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“BOY PARTS is the incendiary debut novel from Eliza Clark, a pitch-black comedy both shocking and hilarious, fearlessly exploring the taboo regions of sexuality and gender roles in the twenty-first century.”

After reading this book, I was struck with the idea of designing a piece of cover art that captured the essence of the story. A scene that stuck out to me involved Irina, the protagonist, photographing a young man while he wore a rabbit mask to conceal his identity, and taking advantage of him with flimsy excuses for consent (‘he didn't say no, he didn't push me off of him,’ etc.). A consistent theme throughout the novel is Irina refusing to let herself be victimized, insisting on remaining in control regardless of the dire situations she finds herself in, and not caring who she hurts in her journey to power and fame.

The imagery of her victim being a rabbit - a symbol of a weak prey animal, always hiding in burrows and running from predators, unable to defend itself with teeth or claws - just amplifies Irina as a hunter, someone with a predatory nature, and I wanted to utilize that in my design.

My first concept was the rabbit in a vulnerable pose, smaller and rounder and soft-looking, while Irina takes up the foreground and looms over him with sharp edges and triangular shapes. I knew right away that I wanted to use a red and blue palette, both for the colour theory associated with them, and as a play on the ‘blue is for boys, pink is for girls’ idea that's so commonly touted as The Way Things Should Be. The male victim being coloured in baby blue, cowering beneath a sharp, red, female abuser, tells a visual story that's apparent to the viewer and captures the dynamic of their relationship throughout the novel.

The second idea I had was a close up of the rabbit masks’ eye reflecting Irina as she photographs her subject. The fact she cannot see under the mask, can't see his face, and doesn't see his tears, is a large part of her justifying her assault in the story. She sees what she wants to and cares only about herself and the footage she's capturing. I think the victim's face being obscured while Irina is the focal point of the shot is very poignant and highlights her self-centered nature and the dismissal of everyone else around her, so this is the concept I chose to develop.

I wanted to experiment with a more metaphorical depiction of a predator, so I tested out two designs. One shows Irina as she actually appears, and one shows the photographer transformed into a snarling wolf, leering over her prey and wielding her camera - her sword and shield.

I also decided to give some more movement to the rabbit, letting him raise his hand to defend himself from the flash - or possibly to pose for the camera? With his face obscured, there’s no way for the viewer to fully interpret his body language and understand his emotions. All we see is Irina’s point of view and the story she chooses to tell.

Upon painting both versions, I have a preference for the first image, where the photographer is presented as human. The dull, dead look in her eyes is a stark contrast to the bright, reflective ones of the rabbit, and I personally think the shading looks smoother and more appealing to the eye. I’m also happy with the effect of the text and how it creates 3 distinct bands of red against a mostly blue background, drawing the viewer’s eye to the centre of the piece.

Here I’ve created a mockup to see how this design would look as an actual book cover. I usually create simple illustrations or comics just for fun, so working on a piece with the goal of communicating an idea, appealing to a potential audience, and making a product was a fun challenge. I put more thought into the composition and colour, went outside of my usual box (flat colouring, cartoony style), and made something I’m proud of. Overall I’m very pleased with how this turned out. It’s very similar to what I visualized and I especially think the colour choices really help to get across the theme of vulnerability and power dynamics.

If I was to do this project again, I’d spend more time practicing digital painting, study fur patterns for the rabbit head, and research other artists for inspiration before jumping into it, so the end result would be more polished. I’d also like to explore the unused concept of the rabbit and photographer both being in frame, possibly leaning into the cartoon caricature style to create a stylised piece.

#portfolio #boy parts #eliza clark

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the-visual-journey-blogg · 7 months

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Exploring Lotte Reiniger's 'Cinderella' Through the Eyes of a Silhouette Animator and Feminine Depth

(5 minutes reading)

By Sofi Ojeda

Lotte Reiniger, a trailblazing German animator renowned for her pioneering work in paper silhouette animation, has had a profound impact on the animation industry. Inspired by ancient Asian performances, Reiniger's legacy extends beyond her creation of the first full-length animated feature film, "The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)".

Today, we explore one of her lesser-known yet highly significant earlier works, "Aschenputtel" (Cinderella), crafted in 1922. This journey allows us to appreciate Reiniger's artistic brilliance and invites us to delve into the deeper layers of meaning within this classic fairy tale.

Understanding the Narrative

An intriguing element that I loved of this 12-minute short film lies in its opening sequence, where we witness Reiniger's hands meticulously crafting the paper main character Cinderella. Notably, Reiniger imbues the scissors with a character of their own, introducing them as a threat to Cinderella. This powerful and symbolic commencement aligns seamlessly with the film's overarching narrative: "Cinderella" is a young woman who manages to defy formidable challenges and secures an invitation to a royal ball, ultimately winning the affection of a prince, or as she eloquently phrases it:

(Indeed, she also created these stunning English-written cards.)

Silhouette Animation Technique

Reiniger employed a frame-by-frame photography technique using multiple layers of cut-out paper. By adjusting opacity and composition, she crafted an illusion of depth in a multiplane camera—a technique later adopted by Walt Disney. Adding depth to the character designs through exaggeration, shape language and acting. Even the inanimate objects in the film are imbued with a distinct German expressionism style—distorted yet still legible. Remarkable for its time and the work of a single individual.

(German expressionism movie: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920))

Feminine Insights

Reiniger's "Cinderella" isn't just a retelling of the classic fairy tale—it's an exploration of femininity, vanity, and competition among women. The film uses humor, such as the comically exaggerated eye movements of characters, to ridicule vanity. It reflects a historical perspective where differences in femininity were exploited for competition. Today, we recognize that there's no one way to be feminine, and no one is better or worse for their choices.

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In the tale, her stepsister goes to extraordinary lengths, even resorting to cutting a part of her own feet to squeeze into Cinderella's shoe. This vividly illustrates how, in the past, cinema and television often portrayed the extraordinary measures women were willing to take to gain acceptance and validation from figures like princes or men in general. While we may find her stepsister's actions unconventional, it offers a poignant glimpse into the immense hurdles women confronted in their quest to meet societal expectations, as they strived to fit into predefined molds and be valued accordingly.

A Lasting Legacy

Reiniger produced two unique adaptations of this story. The first (this one), is a silent version that closely follows the German Grimm rendition, replacing the fairy godmother with a magical tree. And the second was her 1954 version, which reintroduced the fairy godmother, along with components like a pumpkin coach and mouse footmen, despite the story's origin in Perrault's version.

Reiniger's "Cinderella" has left a lasting impact. It's intriguing to note that subsequent adaptations, including Disney's iconic version, have closely followed the story's original narrative. Cinderella's tale is one of the most remade stories in cinematic history, with over 100 adaptations on the big and small screens.

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If you're curious to experience this classic work, here I attatched "Cinderella" short film (posted on YouTube), where its timeless charm continues to captivate audiences, just as it did nearly a century ago.

Bibliography

The Art of Lotte Reiniger, 1970 | From the Vaults (on youtube)

Movie: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Blogs:

https://moviessilently.com/2018/03/18/cinderella-1922-a-silent-film-review/

https://www.skwigly.co.uk/100-greatest-animated-shorts-cinderella-lotte-reiniger/

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/528134/index.html

#2d animation #animation #writing #art #movies #1920sanimation #lotte reiniger #cinderella #movie critique #movie critic #short film #animation history #animationblog #Youtube

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