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floofiestboy · 4 years

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Haruhara Live Q/A Session via Text

Translations of past question corners:

- Question Corners #1-10

- Question Corners #11-20

- Question Corners #21-30

- Question Corners #31-40

- Question Corners #41-50

A couple days back, Haruhara asked people subscribed to his channel to send him questions via email. These are the answers.

Haruhara’s comments:

In this article, instead of a live Q/A session, I answer all the questions I got via email in text form.

Just like in an actual live session, I’ve answered the questions without carefully double-checking my notes and past chapters, so please take this as entertainment. Treat it as non-canon. Anything I haven’t explicitly talked about in canon shouldn’t be treated as such.

Senyuu has technically ended, and so now that’s it’s been over ten years, I’m even answering questions that made me think before, “If I answer this, it’ll affect how they read the main story...”!

Treat it separately from canon! These are just backstories, settings!

source: ch.nicovideo.jp/haruhara-ch/blomaga/ar1939122

Q. I love the BGM on the chapters on NicoNico, so I was wondering who composed them?

A. I don’t know either. Similarly, I don’t know who designed the logos either. But they are nice songs, aren’t they?

Q. Has Alba’s father been journeying since he was young? Did he live apart from Alba?

A. While he’s always been journeying, he came back regularly. If I compared it to a modern-day job, he’d be like a long-distance truck driver or a fisherman.

Q. Does Rchi still have her Mark of a Demon Lord? Do Rchimedes and the Second have the same mark?

A. She still has it, but since I keep on forgetting to draw it, I’ve decided it only shows up when she prays for it to appear. Rchimedes and the Second do not have it.

Q. What sort of job does Justice do in the Demon World?

A. Her job is to be cheerful. Since she’s strong, she has no problems living the way she does. Since the Demon World is still kinda a lawless land, being strong is enough to keep on living on.

Q. Are there only three Four Great Demons?

A. Yes, I just wanted to do a joke where there were a fewer (or greater) number of actual members than a title would make you think.

Q. Is the hole in the world still there?

A. To be honest, when I said that a hole had opened up in the world, what I actually wanted to say was “Something strange happened to the world.” I hadn’t thought about what the hole would be or anything. I bet a giant gate or something opened up for a moment, and monsters and stuff came over here from there. In that case, the hole would’ve closed already.

Q. Please tell me how demons age!

A. It really depends on the demon. Since demons are a race created by Rchimedes going like “Eh, whatevs”, their characteristics aren’t really consistent between each other. I think that demons have long lives because somewhere deep inside Rchimedes, he hated the idea of death and losing loved ones. Though he did play around and had demons fight each other and stuff. While on the surface level, it may have seemed like he fell into despair and raised havoc, I think he really did grieve about losing loved ones deep down.

Q. I’d like to hear more about the Loli 12 Organization and Loli Master the 5th (Master Go Rori).

A. To be honest, I just wanted to say gorori (T/N: onomatopoeia meaning ‘to lie down’). I’m sorry!

Q. Can we no longer see the BL route?!?!!?!

A. Huh?! What do you mean?! - was my first thought, but ah, I remember now. You’re talking about when I drew Ros getting jealous of Alba sleeping with Grandpa during season 2. Since you’re asking if you can no longer see it, I’m guessing you mean that you can’t? I myself have forgotten where I drew it and don’t have the file anymore.

There was a time in the past when I was super into AUs - I drew anything that hit my mind. But then I realized that readers tend to take anything the creator draws super seriously, so I stopped really doing it.

Though lately when I still really want to draw something AU, I always make sure to put a disclaimer stating “This is unrelated to canon!” before it.

(T/N: Please tell me someone has the drawing mentioned here saved somewhere I need this I beg of you.)

Q. In Senyuu Season 2, Rchi keeping information about Creasion from Alba was treated as a joke and kinda just skipped over, but now that I think about it, unless Rchi had told Alba about it, Alba would’ve basically never found out about Creasion. (Since it was pure coincidence that he ended up in the Demon World and found out about it.)

I was wondering if Rchi really intended never to tell Alba about it even though they were working at saving Ros.

If there are any such reasons, I would like to hear about how Rchi was actually planning to tell him once some more time passed, or about how she had some other reason and was really planning never to tell, etc.

A. Ros being the Demon Lord’s son isn’t directly related to saving Ros (via finding a way to free the Demon Lord.) Even if Alba found out the reason why Ros couldn’t defeat the Demon Lord, there wouldn’t have been anything he could’ve done about it. So since knowing the truth would just give Alba more to worry about, I think that Rchi decided it would be better to just stay on their journey and keep looking for information. I don’t think she had any particularly strong desire that would make her really want to tell him.

Q. In F5 Ep. 11, I loved how Alba believed in Ros so easily, and how Ros declared with a smile, “The only person I punch for no reason is you, Hero-san!” How much deeper has their bond become since their early days?

A. How much deeper... how much deeper, I wonder? I feel like bonds aren’t the kind of thing you can measure in words. But I guess, compared to their early days, Ros trusts Alba enough to still be violent towards him even though he’s begun to realize that hey, “It isn’t really good to be violent.”

Q. How do you decide on the characters’ hair and eye colours? What do you use as reference when you draw their clothing and accessories?

A. Honestly, it’s always just whatever comes to me. Aside from the first few characters, I draw new characters vaguely at the storyboard stage, then draw them in properly at the manuscripting stage. For eye colours, in Senyuu I’ve decided that “people who can’t use magic don’t have red eyes.” That’s just something I’m trying to stick to, it doesn’t mean that “Everyone with red eyes in the Senyuu universe can use magic.” Cecily can’t use magic, after all.And there’s random citizens with red eyes out there too. I feel like people’s eyes turn red when they obtain magic because Rchimedes’ feelings towards Cecily were the trigger for magic’s discovery, even in Elf and Alf’s world. Cecily is an important character even though she hasn’t done anything.

Q. Elf and Ros haven’t really gotten the chance to really talk to each other thanks to their respective situations, but now that they work at the same place, I was wondering how close you think they are to each other. If you could expand on how their thoughts and impressions towards each other since their first meeting have changed, I would be really happy.

A. Elf used to think of Ros as someone to be pitied, but nowadays he’s realized that being pitiable isn’t something a bystander should decide, so he doesn’t think that any longer. The two of them aren’t particularly close, but they do chat normally. They’re like classmates who get along pretty well at school but never hang out on the weekends.

Q. If you have any thoughts on scrapped characters like Soldier Rosicks, the Season 2 Alba with the large sword on his back, cat-eared Rchi, etc., I’d love to hear them.

A. It’s less that I “scrapped” those characters and more that I just drew their appearances while I was drawing out all sorts of ideas, so they don’t have any particular backstories or settings associated with them. I’m the type to decide on things like settings as I move the characters around on a storyboard, so when I draw simple illustrations, they’re just empty shells.

Q. I’d like to know more about what happened with the first and third year Hero Academy students after Season 3. Also, how much do Sochi and her classmates know about “Lake’s little brother”?

A. I haven’t really thought about it, so if you’d like me to think about it I’d like to have at least two days for it, but I can’t take two days to think about this question, so the answer is “I haven’t really thought about it.” I’m sorry. Sometimes I can just think up answers on the spot, but I’d feel sorry to push entire lives onto characters based on ideas I thought up on the spot. So I’d like to think about what happens to characters “after” properly. Though I’ll decide things on the spot when it comes to random mob characters and aspects I don’t care about.

Q. The reason why Alba and Salt, who both obtained enough mana to affect the world around them, were able to leave prison was because they became capable of controlling their mana, not because their knowledge reached the level of say, Ros or Elf - would that be the correct interpretation? Additionally, what level of knowledge have Alba and Salt reached by F5, considering that they were getting 0% on even simple multiplication tests before?

A. Alba was released because he became capable of a certain level of control. His level of knowledge has not reached the levels of Elf and Ros. He hasn’t caught up to them, so unlike Elf and Ros, who’d use their knowledge and little tricks to turn 100 bits of mana into 200, Alba uses the bare minimum amount of knowledge to use 500 bits of mana as only 300.

I’ve forgotten most of what I intended for Salt back them, so I apologize if I’ve given a different answer before which contradicts the one I’m about to give. Salt obtained great power, but he had no talent in keeping it within his body, so the mana was gradually released from him. I think he became so incapable of using magic that he was no longer an exceptional case, so he was eventually released.

Q. I have a question about the differences between Main Quest and the original canon. There are scenes in Main Quest that weren’t in the original canon, such as Rchi and Alba’s discussion in Part 2 Volume 4 Chapter 41, “Alba Expresses His Gratitude”, and Chapter 50, “Alba Is Stupefied”, where Mortmorte the 2nd offers to be sacrificed. I was wondering what your thoughts were when you added these extra scenes in.

A. While it isn’t as though I thought carefully about every new addition, when I drew Main Quest, my thoughts were along the lines of “Let’s go a little deeper into things.” I think that’s what I was thinking when I put in new lines. Also, typically I had a set number of pages I needed to draw for, so I think I moved around lines and expanded scenes as needed to fit the pages.

Q. I have a question about Teufel. In Season 1, Teufel only shows up in the extra chapters, but did you already intend to use him as the “Soul Manipulator” during the fight with Rchimedes in Season 2? Or was this something you decided as you got through Season 2.

A. That was something I planned from the start! If you’d like to know why Teufel appeared early, please read Filled It With My Feelings! There’s even a PDF version!

(T/N: *shills Haruhara* Filled It With My Feelings (Digital): hiaruron.booth.pm/items/2329424 Filled It With My Feelings (Physical, only available to order until midnight JST Sept. 3rd): tckc-ch.net)

Q. “The world isn’t at peace or anything! He isn’t! Meta Ros isn’t smiling!” So anyways, Meta Ros hasn’t appeared since the last episode of Senyuu+, but is he happy? Is he having fun with Meta Alba?

A. Honestly, I haven’t really thought too deeply about it since he’s just a joke character. But since he’s just a joke character, I’m sure he’s off doing his own thing somewhere, free and unrestrained by anything.

Q. Since Lym is a demon and Lake is from a thousand years ago, they don’t have last names, but does Salt have one? He is from modern times. If he does, what is it?

A. He does. I’ve also thought up names for Rchimedes the Second and his wife, but the thing is with manga is that you shouldn’t include everything you think up. It’s more interesting to the readers if you just include the information they need to know. Like how if you introduce yourself to someone in real life, you don’t tell them your whole life backstory, like- “My name is Tanaka Tarou! My father is Tanaka Katsuo. My mother is Tanaka Hanako, my grandma is-” You just tell them what they need to know, right? That makes things go more smoothly. Yeah.

So anyways, about his last name, I did think of one. Yeah. But I don’t remember where I wrote it down, and I can’t remember the name at all right now. I mean hey, even in real life, sometimes you forget people’s names when you just call them by a nickname all the time. It’s like that, etc., blah blah.

Q. Why was Ros the only one to be released from the seal even though he was sealed together with Rchiemdes? Who broke the seal?

A. Wasn’t it Elf who released the seal in order to give Alba some stimulus? Though Alba and Ros’ first meeting itself was a coincidence. Elf wanted to release Ros, or rather, the Demon Lord into Alba’s time in order to give Alba some stimulus, and to achieve that goal he teamed up with Dezember... wait, was this something I scrapped? Did I never write about it? I remember everything until Season 4 pretty well, since I drew a lot until there, but when I reached Season 4 I started feeling that sense of relief like “It’s all over~” and remember absolutely nothing...! I’d need to completely re-read Senyuu to know for sure... every, please re-read it for me! If there was something like that in canon, then I’ll go with that. If there wasn’t, then I must’ve scrapped it, or else I just had to cut back some parts that I wanted to draw.

...Now I’m starting to feel like I scrapped it after all... because I thought that having Elf doing everything wasn’t a good plot device... I don’t know...

Anyways, for now the answer to the question is “Wow, it’s really quite strange... I wonder who did it~”

Q. Foyfoy said that Ros was “a soldier from a country who doesn’t know war.” What kind of environment did Foyfoy grow up in?

A. While Foyfoy’s hometown is peaceful, Foyfoy spent time as a mercenary in wartorn countries in order to make money. It’s never been shown in canon, so it’s basically just a little backstory that was thought up at some point in the past.

Q. There’s other countries in SQ, but if there’s other countries in canon would Alba be seen as a threat?

A. There are other countries. But the King of the country that collected all those heroes is so powerful, Alba being a wonder of nature isn’t as important. If we say that Alba’s country is Japan, the neighbouring countries are on the scale of the Fukue Neighbourhood in Kurashiki City of Fukushima Prefecture.

(T/N: You can see the exact scale on Google Maps by searching “岡山県倉敷市福江”, but essentially, incredibly tiny in comparison.)

Q. Is the King’s right-hand man Maine (Minister) still working at the castle?

A. He should be. He is.

Q. Crea awakened to his magic through contact with the Mana Maker, but can he no longer use it?

A. Crea doesn’t know how to use magic so he can’t. There’s no longer a Mana Maker in his body as well. There may be some mana left behind in his body, but he has no idea how to draw it out, so he can’t use it. At the start of Season 3, he tries to make a flower bloom with magic, but fails, after all.

Q. Hasegawara and Grandpa returned to their youths - did they continue living like that?

A. Since they did technically achieve their goal, they should’ve gone back to their original lives.

Q. In The Hero of the Port City, Guilty Justice says that she came because she sensed Creasion’s mana. What was she planning to do?

A. She probably came to fight him because she sensed some rare mana. Considering canon, it’s strange for Justice to appear in a place like that, isn’t it?

Q. How is Alf and Cecily’s relationship at the moment...?

A. They don’t have one.

Q. Back in his Originia era, Crea was an orphan, so how did did he survive?

A. Back then, orphans weren’t uncommon. The villagers helped raise him - he lived a happy life.

Q. The princess from ‘Tis Time for “Torture”, Princess and Hime-chan have the same birthday and a similar hairstyle - are they related in any way?

A. The reason why their birthdays are the same is that when I went to write about the princess’ birthday, I thought, “Hm, did I decide on her birthday? Oh right, March 3rd.” and accidentally remembered it as Hime-chan’s birthday. The princess’ hairstyle is entirely Hira Kei-san’s design, I had no hand in it, but I don’t think it’s that similar to Hime-chan’s?

Q. It seems like demons have long lifespans, so does the Demon World have problems with overpopulation?

A. In order to birth a new demon, you need to have a fair amount of mana and a good amount of skill in manipulating it. Alternately, you need to meet someone who you’re really in perfect sync with. Because of that, their population doesn’t increase that much.

Q. I really really love the “three burrs” hairstyle - will Ros never wear his hair that way again?

A. That hairstyle was something done by the first hairstylist he went to after he was unsealed, so unless he goes to that exact hairstylist again, he won’t have that hairstyle.

Q. What is Dezember and Justice’s newlywed life like? Is Dezember the househusband after all?

A. Though Justice was getting things going with the wedding, Dezember ran away so their newlywed life hasn’t begun. Their dynamic is kinda like the one in Urusei Yatsura.

Q. Rchi is now over 12. How does Rudolf feel about this?

A. I thought that Rudolf was good with anyone below 13? Was it only until 10? But even if she grows past Rudolf’s age ceiling, he won’t really stop being kind to her. He would stop spoiling her so much though, in how he used to do whatever she asked with no strings asked. He would instead start saying that it’s important to try things out yourself too. That’s the only thing that would change.

Q. F5 is a regular manga, so are there any plans to release a physical volume for it?

A. Not in the slightest.

Q. Cecily and Lake were living alone together before reuniting with Ros, so how did their neighbours react to a young teenager Lake having a younger brother in his 20s?

A. Their neighbours don’t think of Ros as the younger brother - they more just think of him as Cecily’s son who came back home from afar. I think updating the family registry wouldn’t have been hard with the connections they have in the government.

Q. I would like you to tell me how Januar got into ninja and tomato farming.

A. He got into ninja because they’re cool, and he got into tomato farming because tomatoes are yummy.

Q. Elf and Alf were time travelling in Season 4 - I would like it if you made a detailed timeline of what they and other characters did. (For example, Alf erased Elf’s memories during X time, at this time Rchimedes and Creasion were doing Y, etc.)

A. When I was writing Season 4, I did make a timeline, but I’m not sure where it went... what Elf and Alf did is all written in the article before this one, “My Memos”. I don’t think things have changed much from the timeline there for Elf and Alf, so please figure things out from there!

(T/N: I’ll consider translating that article at some point... it’s a lot of text... and it’s all disjointed...

Though I guess this Q/A is also a lot of text, I’m already at 3.5k words.)

Q. In the extra chapter in Season 2, “Right Before Episode 60″, Foyfoy asks if Marl wants to come to the castle with him, but do the two of them actually live in the castle itself? Or do they live near the castle?

A. Marl does live in the castle because she thinks it’s cool to live in a castle.

Q. Why are Elf and Alf not returning to their original time (ignoring the new future timeline after their changes) and are instead working at Alba’s research center?

A. Because they look up to Alba and want to help him out.

Q. Do you have any thoughts on how Alba watches over all kinds of worlds out there?

A. I do think, “That seems rather dangerous, doesn’t it?” But I also think, “Well, it’s Alba-san, he’ll be fine.”

Q. Personally, I feel like Senyuu. has a lot of whiplash between comedic scenes and serious scenes. Is there any particular scene you drew while specifically considering this whiplash?

A. Senyuu, is a work I drew as an amateur out of sheer willpower alone, so it isn’t that it has a lot of whiplash between comedic and serious scenes - it’s just that I didn’t understand a thing. “Woo hoo! This seems fun!” was the only thing on my mind. As a bystander, you may wonder, “How can he zoom right into that corner at that speed?” while watching me cruise along in my vehicle, but in reality, you just didn’t know that I was unaware of the fact that zooming into that corner at that speed could result in death. If I wrote Senyuu. the way I am now, I think it would end up being a much tidier manga, much easier to read as well, but I doubt it’d have that same speed and power to it.

Q. I had a question about Rchimedes the First’s character design. Did you give him black and white hair because you personally thought it was really cool? And then you thought it was too cool for him so you made his clothes super lame as a compromise?

A. It was all just from powering through drawing him. I did think “Wow, his clothes are lame!” but I immediately ignored it and continued drawing.

Q. Somewhere along the line, cellphones have spread among the masses - does Ros have one? And really, who’s making them?

A. From the very start, I planned for Senyuu. to be unconstrained by the chains of fantasy and include technology. Even in the start of Season 1, there’s a picture of Ros holding a DS at one point. Since it’s a manga, I completely intend to ignore real-life technological development timelines.

Q. Ros has pretty lax shifts - six day weekends and only needing to come in from the afternoon. Does he really only go to work once a week?

A. He doesn’t even go to work once a week. He does no work but wanders over to the research center to loiter around when he feels like it.

Q. In Senyuu+, Alba seems pretty tired sometimes. Is working at the research center actually pretty bad? As in, does it require a lot of overtime?

A. It isn’t bad, Alba is just going ahead and doing the work he wants to do, then going ahead and getting all tired because of it. From the perspective of the government running it, even just having the world’s hero Alba owning a research center they manage is good enough. It would be fine even if Alba never showed up at the research center at all and never did even one iota of work. Alba is just doing his best for everyone’s sake. Lately, he rests properly.

Q. Boss seems to have accessories and clothes other than his hoodie. Does he buy all of them himself?

A. Yes, he does. I talk about this in the doujinshi Filled It With My Feelings as well!

(T/N: If you enjoyed reading any of this tidbits, please consider supporting Haruhara by purchasing the original article on his channel: ch.nicovideo.jp/haruhara-ch/blomaga/ar1939122)

#senyuu #senyu #senyuu spoilers #haruhara robinson #haruhara robinson channel #senyuu content #my translations

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felinisfeloney · 4 years

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So knowing this will annoy people I’d like to say that the Xuanwu cave wangxian cave scenes are horrible. I’m not talking about the no homo my bromo censorship. I’m not even talking about cannon divergences of any sort. I’m talking about the camera and shot composition because it is atrocious and you know how I know they could do better? Because the animated version does all of this and it has a more dynamic camera! Again, not talking about the fight scene just the wangxian scenes and shot compositions.

Remember you can love this show with every bone in your body I have no problem with that. It’s just I am consistently like ‘who approved this editing?’

So first let's talk about the ‘get the congealed blood out scene’:

A thing you don’t probably realize unless you learn film language is that the distance the camera is away from the characters conveys the tone and mood of a film immensely. It’s among the first things you learn in a storyboarding class along with lighting. I would like to clarify that I am a week away from finishing a degree in animation with a minor in dramatic writing (which is long winded way of saying I paid too much to have a film degree that even less appreciated). Now when the camera is at a distance and flat along with the lighting this means we are in a comedic scene which we technically get with the awkward gag of Wei Ying stripping. The thing is doing something like a strip tease joke with goofy music with this setup creates an awkward visual whiplash that’s uncomfortable when the camera before was telling you how serious the situation is before and suddenly this childish music is playing and Lan Wangji is giving a ‘what kind of gay nonsense is this? Hewwo?’ face and spits out blood. And here’s the thing, it doesn’t work to do a gag like this and then immediately go into a serious scene because a complete switch to comedic framework is something your brain has to adjust to but this tone shift is too quick. It immediately goes back into a serious tone which makes the entire gag not only an element that will jar the audience out of the moment but also detracts from the weight of the upcoming conversation because now you have to get back into that framework again.

Then we have the absurd number cuts during their dialogue that are both unnecessary and distracting and will weaken audience retention after a time. It’s the reason you don’t remember anything in a micheal bay film. If the camera is too loud the audience struggles to recall anything because you will always need time to process a shot if there is no time you won’t actually store the information long term in most cases. Almost the entire time they are in front of that fire the camera is constantly making cuts and its absurd. It only stops once they bring up Gusu and then they do the bare minimum to trick you into thinking the scene was good. If you end strong the audience is prime to forget it was ever awkward or badly cut. (This is even worked on me because until I wrote this I struggled to remember anything from the middle just the awkward gag and the fire.) They slow the cuts and play with the fire for visuals. Which is funny because up to that point the lightning is flat and boring. (I don’t consider a lit fire slightly illuminating a face playing with the lighting). It’s basically flat lit till the moment.

I understand budgets are often limited and doing good lightening is expensive but frankly of everything I've seen in The Untamed the lighting is overall underwhelmingly flat. And for a cave it i stupidly well lit. Playing with shadows won’t kill you.

So what do I mean that the animated one does this better? Well, first off the animated version doesn’t try to force a gag. It’s tone is consistent. It uses the scenery to both save on animation and to convey mood and tone. The camera is also not afraid to be intimate using a lot of shot-reverse-shot which while also saving money on animation by having dialogue off screen means the facial expressions and emotions drawn out carry farther. It also shows the emotional distance on display. An important part of Wangxian chemistry is the fact that they both very close and love each other but they are also idiots who bottle emotions so much it took 20 years and death for them to hook up. We see enough to know physically they are close but the camera keeps them distant show the emotion and how guarded they are. Another thing I didn’t bring up before but the gag in Untamed is really just padding run time since the animated version skips this and makes it Lan Wangji’s ribbon. Something that while we haven’t yet told exactly what it means from an audience standpoint context throughout has told how important it is and we see Lan Wangji pain and the look on Wei Wuxian’s face. It conveys the same information but skips the need for explicitly stating the intent and spoon-feeding the audience character actions. When we get the fire going we then get more lightning and visual storytelling. The shadows lightening their faces and the darkness of the cave becomes more intense and dramatic as they talk about the Xuanwu of slaughter. The focus on Lan Wangji’s hands at the mention of Gusu. The roaring fire, water dripping down like tears, and Lan Wangji tear rolling down his chin as the camera pans up. The two visually separated by fire. Shadows turning from each other. A distant shot conveying loneliness. It Is so much visual emotion and wonderful shot composition where nothing is wasted or overdone. I actually rewatched the entire thing with my roommates and this ended up being one of the scenes we rewatched because we wanted to focus on the camera and storyboarding because we’re nerds.

the actual wangxian scene:

Okay... so, this entire scene has one fatal flaw that hurts it completely and that is stopping a show in its track to have a clip show of old scenes is never a good idea. Clip shows really exist to pad run times which doesn’t surprise me in this show because the script is often repetitive. When you do a clip show not with that intent you want to keep it short for the audience so they don’t do what I did first time and get so bored you get up to get a snack and come back and find the clip show is still playing. Everything leading up is very well done but the actual wangxian song is being played over something that flows like an amature AMV. Also, you don’t usually hear full songs on TV because 3-5 minutes of screen time is a lot and asking for that retention for a song no matter how important is asking a lot and a gamble that unless you know what you’re doing won’t pan well. This is more personal but I also think taking a hauntingly beautiful moment of Lan Wangji singing a song that is technically incomplete without Wei Wuxian and making it a professional recording misses the raw emotion conveyed in such a performance especially when the diegetic conflicts with the existence of the clip show when we cut back to our boys in the cave.

Anyway I have injured my hands again from typing to much and thanks for coming to my ted talk

#fel speaks #the untamed #meta #I can't wait for the salt #wangxian #mdzs

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jackdawyt · 5 years

Link

In a recent blog post on BioWare's website, Casey Hudson posted a summer update sharing some of the things the studio has been up to!

Mentioning Anthem, and it's latest Cataclysm event, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, with a DLC set to launch this Fall.

However, the piece of cake here is the "other stuff going on" at BioWare, Casey says as followed:

"We have several other big projects in the works. I wish I could tell you more about them, but they’re mostly super-secret right now. I can say however that one of our projects has a large and growing team in Edmonton working through pre-production, and based on the progress I’m seeing, I can confirm that indeed the Dread Wolf rises."

Before we delve straight into the Dragon Age 4 hot takes, let's talk about those "several other big projects in the works", surely one of them has to be Mass Effect 4 right? Based on the news in April, we know the series is "warming back up" and Casey Hudson is super excited to share more on possible Mass Effect games.

So Mass Effect must be among other games at BioWare that are currently in the works, same as Dragon Age 4, other than those two franchises, potentially BioWare could be working on something Star Wars related considering their history with creating truly amazing games with the Old Republic franchise.

Or, even further than that, perhaps they could be working on a follow up to Jade Empire, as we've heard rumours in the past that the studio would LOVE to crack into the franchise again.

Anyhow, as we understand at the moment, BioWare are currently working on several projects, and the largest of these right now is Dragon Age 4 as it's accordingly working through its pre-production stages, seemingly looking good as Casey indicates.

Although this is great news, and I've seen plenty of mainstream outlets coming out of the woodwork and actually declaring that Dragon Age 4 seems like it's going to be alright then. The hitch for the fans is, I guess we all thought the game was coming sooner, I mean, I've extensively reported on plenty of news pieces that indicated the game was in deep development stages, and pre-production seemed complete.

We had Fernando Melo leave the company just last month, his role within the studio was quintessential to the pre-production stages, he spoke on leaving at the perfect time that would best for him and the development of Dragon Age 4. Maybe, they're nearing the end of pre-production?

I'm curious how much of the game has actually been developed. You see, pre-production is the planning phase of the project where developers focus on concept development along with the writing of initial design documents. Game design documents have to be precise and descriptive, outlining the work ahead.

Key processes during the pre-production stages include:

Concept Art

Storyboarding

Level Design

Mechanic Design

Internal Marketing

Interestingly, BioWare is hiring many new job hires that relate to pre-production stages like concept artist, animation manager, game designer and many other design-focused jobs. So it certainly seems like these core stages are currently crafting away at BioWare, with project prototyping and working on the basic mechanics.

We found out back in April that Dragon Age 4 will use Anthem's codebase, which will ease elements of the development process because the foundation has already been created. At the point, we assumed the game had been in deep development, however, what if prototyping, coding and many of the essential pre-production stages were just beginning at that point.

Project Joplin was scrapped in 2017, with a lot of the production reworked into Project Morrison, has the studio been in pre-production for two years?

As we know, the Frostbite engine has been a nightmare for BioWare in the past, so if have spent two years on just crafting the essentials of Dragon Age 4, mastering the Frostbite engine and laying the groundwork, then I have no bother waiting until this game is perfect.

As we know, both Anthem and Andromeda needed way more time in its vital early stages. So, here's hoping Dragon Age 4 will have that. The only thing we need is for EA to not press BioWare into a ridiculous deadline, so the developers can create this game at their own pace. Otherwise, Dragon Age 4 could come at as a rushed potato, so EA don't rush them!

Of course, if Dragon Age 4 is still in the pre-production stages, then that means the release window is going to be further than we thought. Judging by previous Casey Hudson statements, it was assumed Dragon Age 4 would have a 2021 - 2022 release window.

Based on the current development now, I'd say 2023 - 2024, on top of that, BioWare generally start to market their games two years before release, so we could be seeing Dragon Age 4 at the bare minimum in 2021/2022?

Even though it's a long wait, I do see this as a good thing, more time spent on Dragon Age 4, the better the game will be, period.

Wrapping up, with the potential release window in mind - do you think they revealed the game teaser too early? A 2018 teaser trailer for a game coming out in hypothetically 2024, that's a six-year wait from the first trailer, not to mention ten years since the previous Dragon Age game.

No wonder the studio plans on releasing books, comics and other tie-in's, we're going to be waiting a while guys, but hey, I'll always be here covering BioWare content as my main focus. I may try other games, just because we are waiting for ages until the next glimpse of Dragon Age 4, but I'll always be creating BioWare content. Needn't fear about that.

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nadziejastar · 4 years

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In the best way you can describe it, how do you KH3 could have been better? (maybe more in terms of story-telling that seems to be KH3's weakest point).

The biggest problem was that all the characters felt like emotionally hollowed out husks of their former selves. KH2 was a lot slower paced, and took the time to devote to its characters. KH3 took NO time to actually slow down. If it did, there would have been another 3 hours of cutscenes, easily. In a series that’s very character and relationship driven, the lack of character and relationship development had a very detrimental effect. None of the characters had much of an inner journey. It felt like there was outside pressure to cut down on the amount of story and only focus on the absolute bare minimum to move things forward.

The theme of KH3 was “Face My Fears”. Each character needed a moment in the spotlight to face their fear and resolve their inner conflict. This problem wouldn’t exist if KH3 actually focused on what it was supposed to: the power of waking. Diving into someone’s heart and getting really intimate with them and healing their pain. Each character should have gotten to use the power of waking and been playable.

Riku

“You’re afraid of the dark! You’re so scared of the darkness inside yourself, you don’t even know what to do!”

The Replica saw what was in his heart as if he could read it like a book. This fear of the darkness inside him—his terror. The Replica was a copy of Riku, body and mind, and he knew everything. But the Replica didn’t know what it was to feel fear. He didn’t need to. He had no self of his own—so he just had to become Riku.

Riku was swallowed up by the Demon Tide and knocked out in the beginning. That should have been the opportunity for Mickey to dive into his heart to wake him up. I’m pretty sure that there was originally supposed to be a boss fight against Riku’s shadow with Mickey playable. When the boss is defeated, it clears up the stained glass station of awakening, freeing Riku’s heart. Riku’s inner development gets focused on. He faces his fears, reintegrates his shadow, wakes up, his gazing eye Keyblade is broken–meaning he’s free from Xehanort following him everywhere now. He’s conquered his inner darkness. Much longer segment of character development focusing on his emotions and bond with Mickey.

Mickey & Aqua

Shadow Aqua: Do you have any idea how lonely it is here? How frightening it is to have no one.

As a Disney character Mickey didn’t get a shadow self. His character arc concludes dealing with Aqua’s shadow. Her fear was being trapped in the darkness alone. Before this battle, the Demon Tide swallowed Mickey up, knocking him unconscious. I think Riku was supposed to dive into his heart and the Dark Aqua boss was part of Mickey’s nightmare. Mickey’s fear was that what happened to Aqua was all his fault. So, Riku is playable in this section. Then Sora dives in the water and enters the real Aqua’s heart. Then in the parallel dimensions, Sora and Riku defeat Shadow Aqua together. Riku and Sora use the combined attack that they used in KH3D.

Carl Jung, on the symbolism of water. Water is the commonest symbol for the unconscious. The lake in the valley is the unconscious, which lies, as it were, underneath consciousness, so that it is often referred to as the “subconscious,” usually with the pejorative connotation of an inferior consciousness.

The part where Sora dives in the water to save Aqua was completely glossed over. They showed him picking up Eraqus’s Keyblade that washed up on shore. And it was meant to be a clue. It was like Kairi’s letter bottle. It washed up on shore in the dark realm. Sora realizes that the realms are connected by the water. Aqua fell in the water and lost her Keyblade. So he jumps in after her.

Of course it’s not gonna be that easy to just dive in there and pull her out, though. If that were the case, why didn’t Riku or Mickey just do it? Their connection wasn’t strong enough to locate her in the deep abyss. Sora wasn’t close to her either, but he had Ven’s heart inside of him.

So, when Sora dives into the water, that should be important. It could have been the time when he awakens all the subconscious memories sleeping in his heart. The ones that were talked about in Re:coded and KH3D. Roxas, Xion, Namine, Ventus. Then, with the unconscious memories brought to the surface, all the characters can be revived who SHOULDN’T return physically.

Xion

“How many days has it been since you got here?” he asked Kairi, squinting his eyes as he watched the sunset. Their training had only just begun.

“Why do you keep asking, Lea? You’ve said that every day.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“And you keep apologizing, too.”

“It’s just…I feel like there’s something I need to remember.”

“Master Merlin said time doesn’t really exist here. Still, maybe it’s a good idea to keep track of the days. Today would be the seventh. But you got here before me, so—”

THIS is when Xion’s story should be resolved. In the novel, Lea and Kairi’s training was a reference to 358/2 Days. They started counting on Day 7. Lea spends all his time with Kairi feeling like he forgot something important and sees Xion’s face in the sunset. Then they watch the sunset together at the end. There should have been some payoff to that.

I'll never forget today's sunset. Even if Roxas and Axel do, I won't forget.

On the 255th day of their training, it’s almost time for them to finish. Show Lea and Kairi remembering Xion when they watch the sunset. Show Kairi remembering the promise she made to never forget on Day 352 “Sunset”. Xion was shoehorned into the Keyblade Graveyard, and had no meaningful dialogue. It’s more natural and emotional if they remembered her while watching the sunset. Plus it gives them both time to actually talk about their feelings. This gives more depth to the Axel/Xion and Kairi/Lea relationship.

Ansem & Twilight Town Kids

Hayner: We can’t be together forever… so we’d better make the time we do have something to remember.

The other character who would be remembered after Sora’s dive is Roxas. There should have been MUCH more closure given to Hayner, Pence, and Olette’s relationship with Roxas from KH2′s prologue. This whole scene wasn’t dedicated to Roxas or his relationships. It was just used as an excuse to insert Subject X into the plot. Get rid of Subject X and only focus on Ansem the Wise’s remorse and Roxas’s bond with his friends.

Once the kids fully remember Roxas, they should have gone to the Data Twilight Town to look for him. There they would find Ansem the Wise. All he wants is to atone to Roxas. Then they can have meaningful dialogue about Roxas. Ansem was the one who prevented them going to the beach. Ansem heard Roxas say their names in his desperation during the Struggle. This scene should have been used to give closure to Hayner’s group, Roxas’s pain during his summer vacation, and also Ansem the Wise.

Then they lead him back to the real world. In an earlier scene, Ienzo set up sharing between the two computer networks. When Ansem the Wise returned in Radiant Garden, it looked like he came out of the Datascape transporter, which I don’t think was a coincidence. It was probably originally storyboarded that way and they just left it like that. Then he meets his apprentices and they can reconcile.

Ventus

Roxas: It’s scary to think I could lose you guys.

Axel: Scary? Scary’s a feeling, man.

Roxas: Yeah, I know I can’t feel, but… It’s still a scary thought.

Sora still seemed to have no clue how to use the power of waking at this point. Aqua should have used it on Ventus in the restored Land of Departure. Then as she’s delving into his heart, that is the opportunity where you confront all of Ven’s trauma, both as a human and as a Nobody. You resolve both Ven and Roxas’s inner pain at the same time.

What was Ven/Roxas so afraid of? Losing his friends. And if you accept that Ventus was Roxas, it happened to him several times. Ven’s heart first collapsed and he forgot everything. Then he met Terra and Aqua. Then Eraqus told him he shouldn’t exist and he wound up going to sleep. Then when he woke up as Roxas, he made friends with Xion and Axel. He forgot them and woke up in the data Twilight Town. Then he’s told by Namine that he was never supposed to exist and he has to disappear for Sora to come back.

Aqua should have had the Vanitas boss fight inside of Ven’s heart. He’s Ven’s shadow. Then in real world, the real Vanitas shows up and Ven would save Aqua from him while she’s asleep.

Axel: Simply amazing, Roxas.

Roxas: Axel.

Axel: You really do remember me this time? I'm SO FLATTERED. But you're too late!!

I think the Respite scenes were some of the only good character moments. Aqua and Ven watching the stars and Sora and Kairi sharing a paopu were both good. But there was absolutely no good reason for Saix to show up on the clock tower when hes supposed to be fully Norted at that point. Instead, Lea should have gone there with Ventus so they could resolve his relationship with Roxas, which ended on a pretty poor note with Axel trying to kill him.

It’s funny to me in KH3 that Lea was expecting Ventus to remember him and continue the relationship they had as Roxas and Axel. He just assumed that Roxas was Ventus, and that Ventus would have all of Roxas’s memories (which I always assumed, too). It really shows that he never saw them as different. His friendship with Ven felt the same to him as his friendship with Roxas. They were interchangeable to him. And that’s how it should have been.

If Ven and Lea went to the clock tower, they could talk about their feelings, their best friends Terra and Isa, and finally get to know each other. Show Lea apologize to Ventus for trying to eliminate him in KH2 and have them make amends. Roxas returns in the Keyblade Graveyard, but he felt like an empty husk shoehorned in for fanservice. His relationship with Axel got no closure. They didn’t talk about anything. Just BOOM! They’re instant best friends again.

The Promise with Terra

A promise Riku made with Terra during his boyhood days regarding the succession of the Keyblade. Terra had promised that if Riku were able to reach the place where he was, he would teach him how to protect the world and those he cared about.

Why is Riku talking with his Replica in this scene? Give him closure to the promise he made with Terra. Show him remembering his childhood. Develop his feelings about Terra.

Eraqus: Terra, you mustn��t be afraid of losing. Fear leads to obsession with power, and obsession beckons the darkness.

Ventus was supposed to face Vanitas in the Keyblade Graveyard. Aqua was meant to face Terranort. Aqua defeats him with the help of the Lingering Will. “I will set this right”. Then Ven should have used the power of waking on Terra after Aqua defeated him in the physical world.

Then after diving inside his heart, Ven would be playable and have a boss fight against Terra’s inner shadow. Something interesting during Terra’s boss fight: he said “You no power over me.” Why is he so obsessed with power? Because his greatest fear was losing. He’s afraid of disappointing others. And he sought power as his way of coping. He needed to deal with all those feelings before he woke up. KH3 spent no time actually developing the characters’ feelings. They all come back or get redeemed so easily.

I thought that I didn’t need you with me anymore. That’s why I sacrificed myself to that man. If you didn’t need me, then I no longer held meaning.

Day 150 is called “Fear”. This is the day Saix started to become nasty with Xion. Isa’s fear was that Lea wouldn’t need him anymore and he was taking it out on Xion. I hate how Roxas and Xion took ALL the spotlight for this fight, even in ReMind. They felt like Gary Stu and Mary Sue.

Once Kairi and Lea defeated Saix in real life, Lea should have dove into his heart. Then you should have gotten to play as Lea as he defeats Isa’s inner shadow and then this whole conversation about how he lost his purpose should have taken place. Lea would helped him confront his fear of abandonment, then he’d wake up. NO time was devoted to Saix’s feelings. He was just instantly redeemed.

Have Kairi be playable when she saves Sora when he’s fragmented. She’s the one who collects his pieces and prevents him from fading away in the Final World. Give her a boss fight, too. We shouldn’t have had to wait for Re:Mind to play as her.

Kairi: You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I’m ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?

Sora: Yeah, of course!

Kairi: That’s good. Sora, don’t ever change.

Then later, Kairi’s heart is the only one Sora doesn’t save from the Lich. So he has to dive into her heart, even though he doesn’t really know how to use the power of waking. Then he has to confront her shadow, Namine. Have Sora finally thank her. Have Kairi face her fears so she can fully merge with Namine once and for all. Then Kairi rescues Sora and they go back to the real world.

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steve0discusses · 5 years

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Yugioh S3 Ep 11 pt 2: Seto Discovers Vulture Capitalism

Where were we on this arc that ended up being hella longer than I thought it would be? Oh yeah, Last we left the crew, Tristan’s body, now possessed by Nezbitt, was just racing away with Mokuba. This kid gets abducted so often, it’s never occurred to me that anyone in this show would think this is weird. So, when Noah showed up to intervene with actual common sense it was a good bit of whiplash for me.

It’s like the same whiplash I got back when Noah attempted to forfeit a rigged game (for the first time in this entire series). Like I get that Noah is the villain, but how is the evil kid way better at this common sense thing than...a lot of people who’ve been on this show? Not that Noah’s always smart, of course, he still doesn’t seem totally with it on a lot of things (like interior design, which we will get to in a sec) but wow. Noah actually called out this entire show with “Really? Mokuba? Again?”

And so you know what that means? We get to see Noah’s sweet pad in this VR world where Noah could have created anything. Literally anything. To start, he made himself a fireplace with a tiny tiny stack of wood (pretty sure Noah might not know how fires work) and...some sort of...curse on the mantle.

Maybe the mantle couldn’t read the typeface that Noah wanted to use on the mantle?

The rest of the room is just this. Just this.

You know what this no-walls aesthetic SUPER reminds me of?

Pocket Camp. Like this just looks like a Pocket Camp set up to me. In fact...I’m pretty sure I can make almost this exact room in Pocket Camp.

Noah’s just inviting Mokuba over with the bare minimum of ugly ass furniture he needs to have a person over at his campsite he pretends is a house while he waits patiently for the real version of Animal Crossing to come to Switch.

Leichter has an accent that is very old-fashioned Americana and doesn’t wholly make sense in the context of him living in urban Japan, like there’s a whole story there I’d be curious about. But most likely, they were probably trying to cover up the fact that they were using the same 5 voice actors by having him pull out the Clark Gable impression.

And then Seto did not use a Blue Eyes as his deck Master. Instead he used....this guy.

This is a lot of guy to take in. I...I don’t like it.

During this duel we get a Seto Kaiba flashback--and it’s an honest flashback this time, no clones are going to show up and reenact this performance, this is just a straight up flashback.

We’re transported back to Gozoboro’s long buffet table. He really, really loves this thing. It’s like the only place he and his kids ever seem to hang out. Surprised Mokuba and Seto don’t need glasses after squinting so hard to see their own Father for so many years. Also surprised Mokuba and Seto even know what their Dad looks like up close.

Anyways, he sits down at the table and shouts really loudly so it can reach the other side of the room.

Also, just gonna bring this up, we’ve only seen one other guy obsessed with long tables--let me do some digging to a S1 cap, one sec:

Maybe this is just what evil Dads who wear Salmon do? They get hella long tables to seat their 0 friends and just sit at one of the ends and monologue until something important happens. I mean y’all know how much I love this storyboarder but boy they have a thing for villains and long tables.

Anyways, back to Season 3.

(bro’s telling me he does not know about Thoroughly Modern Millie and like can you believe neither Hulu or Netflix has that musical? I mean that musical is problematic as hell, as is all Broadway but maybe I want to watch some 1920′s dancing.)

Anyways, cue Gozaboro shuffling in a comedically large pile of money on a very small pushcart. About 1,099,520,000.00 Yen’s worth. But the show will simplify it for the Americans.

This episode of Yugioh was made around 2002, and this just followed the .com bubble bursting in California. (and before that happened, it was preceded by a recession in Japan that affected the .com bubble quite a bit) For those here who were not born yet and do not remember this happening, this was like, pretty horrifying. I grew up in the Bay where 90% of everyone still works in tech, so I remember that after the bubble burst there were kids in our school who’s parents used to have great salaries and a steady income, who suddenly had to pick up shifts at Starbucks to get back on their feet.

So, it’s interesting that we have this kid’s show basically showing us point blank what Vulture Capitalism is and how it works. You’d think this business stuff would normally go over kid’s heads, but at the time, I think a lot of kids wanted to know what happened to their families but maybe didn’t understand it?

So Kaiba is gonna get into investing all of a sudden, which is kind of weird, mostly because it involved no playing cards. Also because this happened:

Yeah, what? He’s apparently not even adopted yet, which means Seto could still turn around and tell the News that he beat Gozaboro in a match but, I guess that old threat has aged out.

It’s inferred that Seto’s been living here like for several years now. You’d think this guy would list some dependents just for the tax cuts, but nah, Gozaboro just shoved these two into the gigantic 5000 sq ft closet under the stairs of his huge mansion and forgot about them for a couple years.

So, armed with money that is printed on single Yen bills and being pushed around Kaiba in a little tiny cart, Seto has to formulate a plan. Problem is, his business skills include a.) beating up other orphans b.) doing math pretty good and c.) playing cards.

When Seto is like “I don’t care what the company sells, just get me a company to buy” that’s like a straight reference to the .com bubble, but minus the complicated stock market stuff.

For the kid’s in the room that don’t know a thing about this era, tech companies were being created en masse, and because the internet was new and exciting, all of their worth was in their stock rather than in their products--if they even had a product. Mostly they just had big overreaching ideas they were pretty sure would make them all millionaires. But the product didn’t really matter since no one ever reads any numbers when all they plan to do is turn around and immediately sell anyway. They just assumed that if they put on the pressure, they would drive up the value, and would sell before anyone figured out it was all worthless.

This actually worked for so many years, up until people at the top all started demanding real money from the people at the bottom, much like how Seto needed 100 million dollars ASAP from an unsuspecting...whatever company this was. Vulture Capitalism at it’s finest, expecting exponential and unrealistic growth from any company, and if, the growth isn’t met, just selling the whole damn thing after driving every employee to the hospital for overwork.

Now, normally Vulture Capitalism is only if an investor buys a struggling company intending to sell directly afterwards, but since Seto made them struggle like immediately after purchasing, I think we can still call this that.

(And we still do this to this day, PS, we’ve learned nothing from the .com crash.)

This really bad child’s outfit is my favorite Mokuba outfit. I mean...it’s so bad. No wonder Mokuba was picked on so often as a child, wow. He’s like a late-80′s news anchor.

Also, I have NO idea how Seto got any money back so quickly. That doesn’t...totally make sense. But, this is a kid’s show and we have to simplify this whole thing into a sensible package. I mean there’s way more to the whole .com problem but...this show wasn’t literally doing a .com...just a really heavy reference to it.

And much like how people valued stock more than what companies actually were, Seto’s value was a lot of the same. His worth to his Father wasn’t that of a son, it was entirely held up in potential dollar signs. To Gozaboro, Seto's nothing more than a small company he’ll extort straight into...a more emotional type of bankruptcy. Framed alongside the .com crash, this is sort of like, ah, I see what you’re doing, Yugioh. The way Seto was screwing this company was the same way he was already screwed. It’s basically all he knows, and it is a lot of heavy handed foreshadowing.

Anyway, Seto destroyed a company with 10 mill, which is nothing compared to the amount of money vulture capitalists toss around nowadays.

The Big 5 may have honestly done a better job raising Kaiba than Gozoburo since this guy acted as an advisor rather than a boss, but it’s a very, very low bar these boys have set and so far, very few adults have met it. All you have to do is just try and not kill them and you’re already better than all of Kaiba’s father figures.

With the exception of Roland, of course. Youknow, other than Grandpa, Roland is like the only good Dad on this show. Never thought Roland would look like such a shining star. Man, Roland better not screw everyone over or I will be so disappointed in him.

Anyways, the Yugi crew found a fully fueled truck from Soviet Era Russia buried in one of those warehouses.

They censor so much stuff that gives away that Yugioh is from another country, and they kept in the 3-wheeler pickup? As if any North American child would have any idea what they’re looking at right now? Maybe they just assumed we’d think it was sci-fi?

Also, then this happened?

...OK then.

Not sure how Satellite Laser works outside the context of VR. But, at least here in the VR Zone, we can send a Satellite Laser into space because...Space exists here? In VR?

This world is weirdly very small but also very big at the same time. It’s like Katamari.

Anyway, that’s all for this episode, next episode we find out if Kaiba will hack a laser for the second time in this series. Also we find out if Joey can jump a sonic-the-hedgehog broken highway with a 3-wheeled European-as-hell Pickup Truck.

Also...close enough?

Pocket camp really needs more yellow sleeveless puff jackets.

And here’s a link to read the recaps in Chrono order from Ep1 S1

#yugioh #photo recap #recap #S3 Ep11 #Seto Kaiba #Gozoboro kaiba #wait I have been spelling his name wrong this entire time?#damn it #mokuba #yugi muto #a lot of stock trading #so much stock trading for a kid's show dang #You kids like STOCKS?#I like how Yugioh's hot take on capitalism is now every millennials hot take on capitalism #Noah #Tristan's possessed body

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lissaremade · 6 years

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i’m always down for feedback on my commission prices, just please don’t use that as an excuse to bitch and moan at me for overcharging and that i should be charging the bare minimum for my work because that’s just an asshole move no matter who you’re talking to

keep in mind i’ve been drawing for the majority of my life. i may constantly rag on my own work, but i attend a college specifically training me to enter the industry as a comic book or storyboard artist and i’ve been working on improving my skill for nearly two decades now.

art is a luxury! don’t just take it for granted!

#hey who gives a digit?

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tiny-smallest · 7 years

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life’s lessons

Rating: G Characters: Henry, Bendy, mention of Joey and various others Warnings: character death (offscreen) Description: The death of a loved one is always a hard thing to cope with. The sudden death of a loved one you would unquestionably outlive and have to spend eternity without once they’re gone is even harder. Unfortunately, it looks like Bendy's going to have to find a way, anyway.

But first he has to learn to accept it happened at all.

Also on AO3!

Because the Hell’s Studio death drabbles weren’t sad enough without adding my own take on the idea of the toons (Ben specifically) being rudely confronted with human mortality.

Hell’s Studio AU was made by @doodledrawsthings buckle up and enjoy my attempt at writing Emotions.

Funerals were supposed to be for old people.

Well, dead old people, but old people nonetheless. People who’d lived seventy, eighty, ninety, a hundred years. Maybe more. And that notion was juuuust fine with Bendy. The studio that brought him to life both in the 2D world and the real world was full of healthy, young adults. Death was a concept he’d only seriously considered after the dog incident, and it wasn’t anything he wanted to imagine his humans experiencing. The fact that there would be, bare minimum, forty years between almost everyone he’d come to know and never seeing them again eased the tightness he’d felt after realizing how definite death was for humans. Forty years was a long time. Plenty of time to forget, and maybe, just maybe, enough time to eventually learn how to say goodbye.

For a while, though, it would be out of sight and out of mind. He was a busy toon, after all. There were deadlines to meet, pranks to pull, slacking workers to yell at, younger staff members to critique and bolster and celebrate the success of. Not to mention the children who would sometimes come to visit! Life was busy enough without thinking of death, and there were going to be at least forty years.

So then why didn’t that car stop?

Why couldn’t the doctors save him?

Why was there a funeral going on downstairs for a man in his mid-thirties, who he’d just said goodnight to the night before?

It’d been a Tuesday. They played piano. He’d sucked. Par for the course. Joey had laughed and said he was getting better; he was just mad that he wasn’t immediately great at it, that’s all, and hey, no need to make that face Bendy, you’ll get better. We’ll have another lesson on Thursday, yeah?

Okay Joey, fine, whatever. Don’t see why you keep insistin’ on this but whatever. If I gotta learn how to play this thing then someday I’ll play circles around you, just you wait; I hope you’re prepared!

I bet you will, Ben. But it’s getting late and I gotta skedaddle.

Yeah, I gotta get to bed, too. Okay, goodnight.

Goodnight.

Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight; it was supposed to be goodnight, not goodbye.

He hadn’t learned how to do that yet.

Had he said anything other than goodnight? Said anything besides the normal at all? He couldn’t remember; that two minute conversation blurred together, words fading and slurring. He’d stayed up working on storyboards instead of sleeping like he was supposed to; that he remembered with crystal clarity, right down to that stupid pose that wouldn’t stop coming out as rigid as rigorm- a board.

Somehow there was guilt over that. Going to bed wouldn’t have made a difference, so why did he feel so bad about it?

Why hadn’t he said anything other than goodnight?

That was Tuesday. Wednesday, Henry was waiting for him outside his room when he left it. He didn’t remember much of that day, either.

(If he tried really hard, Bendy could remember a lot of half-hearted laughing and ‘very funny Henry’ and ‘okay you know I love a good prank but really it’s time to stop.’ He remembered mournful howling and soft sobs. He remembered a tight embrace and the feeling that the entire world was coming down around him, and all he could do was stand there, that the hug wasn’t anchoring him at all. He remembered, after he managed to slip away from his mourning friends, and, failing to find the yellow ink, finding the white ink and drinking, drinking, drinking because maybe, the more he drank, the longer the effects would last; that’s how it worked, right?

The colored ink was quickly locked up after that.)

Thursday he sat at the piano all day.

Friday he didn’t bother leaving his drawer.

Today was Saturday.

Sitting in his office without Joey in it was weird. Sure, the idea that Joey lived in his office was a joke, not reality, but there was no denying the fact that if you wanted to find the man, he was probably in his office. And he made the room, not in the way a piece of furniture does, but as an inherent part of the room, like its spirit. The place just felt warmer with him in it, more full, more alive. It was very weird to be in here while Joey wasn’t, especially with Bendy in his chair like he was, but if he stayed up here, kept the door closed, and stared long enough, maybe Joey would come walking through it. Any minute now. With coffee. For both of them, Bendy noted, adding a second mug to Joey’s hands in his daydream. He hoped Joey put extra cream in his.

The door creaked and Bendy almost screamed, scrambling frantically in Joey’s chair and falling out of it as gracelessly as he possibly could have as the door squeaked open, light from the hallway flooding the room. Grabbing the edge of the desk, he hauled himself somewhat upright, any sputtering thought of seeing Joey’s stupid mustache and accompanying smile stomped flat by the sight of Henry’s much stockier frame. He was wearing a tired expression that had no right, absolutely none, to be on his face.

And no coffee.

Clearing his throat, Bendy pulled himself back upright, sitting in the chair and folding his hands on the desk, giving Henry his best smile. “Howdy, Henry! What brings you around here?”

Henry looked like he was trying really hard not to grimace and was being, if Bendy was feeling generous, only half successful.

Then he sighed, the grimace melting off his face, an uneasy smile taking its place. “... I’ve got a brand new sketchbook that needs filling, and you’re one page away from finishing your current one. Wanna draw?”

“Wait, now?” Of all the stuff he was expecting out of Henry’s mouth, that was not it.

He shrugged. “Why not?”

Why not indeed? Bendy frowned in contemplation for a moment before nodding. Henry passed him his sketchbook and sat on the couch against the wall to the right of the desk, opening his book. Bendy reached into Joey’s desk, finding his pencils without even needing to really look for them, flipping open his own book.

For a while there was soft skritching and occasional mutters of disapproval or grunts of satisfaction. From Henry, at least. Bendy reached for the eraser more than he ever had in his life, scrubbing at the paper with fervor, growls of frustration growing louder each time.

After twenty minutes Henry jumped at the TWAP of Bendy slamming the sketchbook to the desk.

“Why won’t you come out right!? Why isn’t this working!?” He threw the eraser to the desk. It bounced and fell right off. “Why is this going wrong!? Why is everything going wrong!?” He was melting now, breath coming in soft hitching gulps as he vented his anger on the desk, pounding his fists on its surface. “Why’s this happening, why is everythin’ so wrong, why couldn’t- why-”

His throat had gotten too tight for words.

“Sometimes I think that’s why we make cartoons.”

Bendy’s head snapped over to look at him. “What?”

“Life is messy, Ben.” Henry squinted at his drawing and added another line. “It’s crazy, it’s chaotic, and sometimes, it doesn’t make sense. Sometimes it’s- ” He sucked in a breath and set the pencil down. “Painful. Sometimes it’s over far- far too soon. Humans have been making stories since the time we came into being, and it’s always been to explain stuff to themselves. Work through it. Find a way to express what they’re feeling. You’re no cave painting or some wise elder dramatically telling a tall tale over a campfire, but you’re the same concept. Man’s attempt to explain and express everything around us and inside us. To share that with the world.”

Bendy’s ink had long since been running, but still, he remained silent. Henry set his sketchbook aside and stood up, slowly making his way over to his friend.

“This isn’t gonna be easy. It- it never is. We all have our coping mechanisms, and yours isn’t any less right then anyone downstairs sobbing their eyes out. Now that being said... it’s not good for you to shut yourself away, okay?” Bendy opened his mouth and was silenced by Henry’s lifting a placating hand. “I don’t mean that it’s bad of you. I mean it’s bad for you. The more you bottle this up, the worse the flood will be when the cork pops. We don’t want that for you, Ben.”

Henry averted his eyes for a moment to wipe them. “... We love you. There’s nothing any of us can do for each other to take the pain away, but we can share it, you know? We can bear it together. And we don’t want to watch you struggling with it all alone.” His eyes flicked back to Bendy’s, holding his gaze as ink dripped down the toon’s face. “I promised Joey if anything ever happened to him, I’d look after you three. It’s not just for his sake that I intend to follow through on that promise.”

“I c-can’t- I can’t-” Bendy half choked, half gulped.

“You can. I promise. You can.” For the second time that week, Henry leaned over and hugged him. “It won’t feel like you’re drowning forever, I promise.”

Suddenly feeling very afraid, Bendy latched onto him.

“But you’re allowed to feel like you’re drowning. You’re allowed. You’re allowed to- to fall apart, to cry, and you should, you should let it happen. Don’t hide from us. Don’t hide from reality. Please Ben.” His grip tightened and Bendy whimpered. “Your friends need you. I need you. We need you to face this, not destroy yourself over it. Please.”

The last of his resistance crumbled away.

He buried his face in Henry’s shoulder, goopy shoulders shaking as he sobbed harder then he even thought he could. His friend held onto him as he clung like Henry was a lifeline, waiting out the storm for as long as it would last. With each sob it felt like something inside his chest loosened just a tiny bit, let him breathe just a small bit easier, and when at last he’d been wrung dry and he hung limply in Henry’s embrace, he didn’t feel anywhere near as numb as he’d expected to feel.

Henry gave his back a pat and moved back to hold him at arm’s length to look at him properly, his voice low. “You wanna just sit awhile?”

Bendy’s eyes looked over at the door. Still partially open, yellow light leaked into the dark room, blue with evening, he could hear sounds from downstairs. It sounded like...

Laughter?

“Why’re they laughin’?” Jeez, he sounded more tired than he wanted to, despite the flare of anger he felt.

Henry glanced over at the door as if he could see right through it and downstairs. “... Well, I imagine they’re probably swapping Joey stories.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Joey stories?”

“Yeah. Funerals are... there’s no one formula for ‘em but sometimes, after all the crying, people like to talk about the happier times. Remembering the person who died and all the crazy shit they might’ve done together.”

“Like summonin’ a demon?”

He smiled. “Yeah. Like summoning a demon.”

Something weird and unidentifiable was starting to bubble up, and there was no stopping it, so he may as well take after Henry’s example and just go with it. “And forcing piano lessons?”

“Yea- wait, what?” He blinked in surprise as Bendy leaped up and away from him, dashing over to the desk and snatching up his sketchbook. “What are you-”

But Bendy was already gone, throwing open the door and sliding down the banister, because the stairs would just slow him down. He could hear Henry’s heavy footsteps behind him, struggling to try to keep up, but Henry was never a fast runner and the little devil quickly left him in his dust.

The room they’d chosen for the ceremony was big, which made sense. The studio had a lot of people who’d want to attend, as well as the few bits of Joey’s family that were left. The podium was in an easy place to spot; up on the little stage, in the front and center of it. People were giving him some funny looks as he ran by them, and he was fairly sure he heard Boris’s voice calling him, but he ignored all of it, climbing up onto the stage and pulling over a nearby chair someone had left on the stage to reach the podium.

“Hello? Howdy? This thing work-” The microphone gave a hideous screech. “Eugh. Well, I guess it is, kinda.” He set the sketchbook down on the podium. “Howdy everyone! So- so Henry tells me that now is the time that we- we all talk about Joey, right? Well-” He held up the sketchbook. A man and a toon, sitting at a piano together. “Let me tell you- lemme tell you about this garbage he decided was necessary—so like, one day after work is over, and I’m kinda steamed because some mook decided to not do his end of the work and all the backgrounds are gonna be late, Joey decides to pull me aside and give me a piano lesson. A piano lesson, can you imagine!? Like that would make any difference about the backgrounds being late! But he sat me down at the bench with him and started plinkin’ away on that silly thing and y’know it was kinda pretty, so to shut him up I decided to try it, and I was terrible! Godawful! You never heard a worse sound in your life! And he laughed so I decided, hey old man, I’m gonna do it again and I’m gonna be better, and I tried again and- still awful. But he showed me how the technique actually works and I got a little better. Still terrible at it. And I remember we were laughing by the end, and he never let that go, like, ever; anytime I complained about him dragging me off for piano lessons, he reminded me we were always laughing by the end. An’- an’ I promised him, every time, that someday I’d play circles around him and guess what, Joey!”

He looked up at the ceiling and shook his fist at it. Some were still gawking at him, but others looked at each other with quiet, knowing eyes.

“Ya don’t get out of that promise just ‘cause you’re dead! I’m gonna be a better piano player than you ever were an’... an’ play for my friends and laugh whenever- whenever I try and it comes out bad, because I know that someday I’ll be the best! So- so...” His fist lowered.

“Thank you, Joey. For somehow usually knowing exactly what I needed, an’ trying hard to figure it out when ya didn’t. Thanks for- the laughs and the lessons an’... everythin’.” His face colored at all the eyes on him. He cleared his throat again with a mumble of ‘that’s all, folks’ and moved to get down from the chair, but as he grabbed his sketchbook, he spotted a large, stocky frame in the doorway of the room.

Henry’s eyes were red, but he was smiling, and so were the two toons on either side of him, leaning against the wall. Their eyes met, and the corner of Bendy’s mouth quirked up a bit.

Yeah. Thanks, Joey.

And all’a you guys, too.

He got down from the podium and ran to his friends’ arms.

There was an attempt. Some of this came really easily and other pieces fought me the entire damn way so hopefully it ended up cohesive and halfway decent.

I almost titled this “Thanks, Joey” and I hope it’s even halfway clear that I figured Joey dragged him into piano to help him loosen up whenever he got too stressed because laughter is the best medicine and sometimes the stressed toon seems to forget that.

#doodledrawsthings #hell's studio au #bendy and the ink machine #batim bendy #batim henry #batim joey drew #even now i'm tempted to change the title to 'thanks joey'#but since that was directly said in the story i thought that might be too cheesy and stupid #my writing

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rileejacksonvisuals · 7 years

Text

That’s a Wrap! On the Road with FELICITY

I don’t even know where to start and I mean that in the best way. A little over a year ago (June 2016) I was introduced to my final project for school. A final project that I had to build up from scratch over the course of a year. Paperwork (so. much. paperwork.), sleep deprivation, and staring at editing programs for 8-10 hours at a time was basically what my life consisted of this past year. Add in my internship, dealing with the worst of my depression, and working part-time and you got it.

From the very beginning I was passionate about this project. I was nervous and anxious, but mostly excited. Out of all the styles of videos we could do, I chose to do a Music Promotional. During the very first lecture on this project, FELICITY came straight to mind. Earlier that week I remember seeing them on Facebook and we interacted in some way so I checked them out and liked their band page. The same night of the lecture, I went home and contacted them via their band page. Within an hour if not less, they got back to me and were all on board. The following week I went over to the band house and gave them the very, very, rough outline of the project. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect either so I winged it as best I could. The guys were super nice and presented a totally “go with the flow, tell us what you need from us and what we need to do” kind of vibe (which honestly, I could not have gotten more lucky on that front).

After I met with them, the first thing I had to do was submit a proposal. The proposal consisted of the kind of video and its duration, the client, the locations, the idea of what the video would convey, and how the video would be distributed. I had to make that proposal and a back-up proposal because, well, shit happens. Both of these proposals had to be approved by my program’s Board of Directors.

Proposal 1

Fast forward to August and I’m shooting my very first show. FELICITY was playing at The Social; a popular hole-in-the-wall venue in downtown Orlando. For the most part, everything went smoothly. Luckily my sister Holly was visiting me so she was able to be there for me for support in case I freaked out. It was my first show so I just went with the flow and tried my best. It was such a comfortable, happy feeling and a major adrenaline rush! After that night, everything was pretty steady and consistent when it came to working with them. I shot every show they played thereafter and I have never felt happier while doing anything else.

Jump to January of 2017. This was the month where I had to write out an Audio Video Script which again, had to be approved by the Board. Audio Visual scripts are a little different than screenplays. They require scene and shot numbers, dialogue, color coding (for objects, actions, props, locations, etc), and the music/voiceovers that will be used in the video and at what time in the video they would be present. Basically, this was the outline of my video.

Lined Script

This month had the first actual “shooting day”. It was the interview portion of the video. I had to create lighting diagrams, storyboards (minimum of 30 with a minimum amount of certain shot types), and interview questions. Besides getting establishing shots, this was the only time I really had to plan word for word, visual for visual because it was something I had control over. I had no control of the shows, their lighting, their venue, etcetera. That is probably what I’ve learned that I love most. Although it can be a major pain during post-production, you’re forced to go with what you have and make best of what is presented to you while shooting a concert. Every show is different so it’s always exciting and a challenge which I really enjoy!

The next few months were pretty smooth. I kept shooting their shows and stock piling footage. June is when I was probably the most stressed I’ve ever been while creating this project. First off, this was the first of two classes I had that was strictly about my project (in other words, I learned everything I needed to and it was time to focus on the project only). This month was nothing but paperwork. When I say paperwork I mean more than 100 sheets of paper, easy. I had to do location scoutings/maps, location permits and releases, talent releases, crew member deals, liability contracts (for myself and the school), safety plans, copyright documents for any audio and footage that was being used, casting calls, call sheets, scene breakdowns, shot breakdowns, budgeting sheets, and shooting schedules. I know you probably got lost about halfway into that sentence. Yeah, it was incredibly difficult and stressful simply because of the amount of time I had to do it (3 weeks) and how many people I had to get in contact with. Oh and not to mention, if you didn’t have all necessary contracts, you had to retake the classes the following month. I’m pretty sure I cried about three times during that month out of frustration, worry, and sleep deprivation.

Shot Breakdown Sheet

During July things kept rolling, but the paperwork portion was finished! This was the production month of the project. So it consisted of more shooting and submitting 3-4 minute videos, aka dailies, of footage each week that was going to be used in the final edit. I was pretty nervous about this month mainly because this was the month right before the guy’s began their tour so I didn’t have any recent footage to submit. From what I submitted, my teacher for that month didn’t think I had enough content to move on. I passed that class by the skin of my teeth.

Now, August- my favorite month by far! This month was all about the post-production stage. After getting home from work, I spent an average of 8 hours a day in front of my computer editing in Adobe Premiere. Those 8 hours quickly rolled into the early mornings till about 3am. My sleep schedule was terrible and barely even there, really. For this Post-Production class, I had to submit an edit each week. The first week an assembly edit was due. An assembly edit is the roughest kind of edit one can do. No music, no fancy editing or transitions. You literally place the clips in the order you think you want them in and you’re done. It looks awful. I got a 100 on it. The second week the rough edit was due. This edit is where you added in the music, trimmed the clips to your liking, and added the transitions in. The third edit was the final edit. All color grading and correction needed to be done and the title/introduction of the video needed to be added. Any effects you wanted to add were required as well. Finally, the fine cut was due aka, mother of all edits. Up to this point, everything visually should have been fixed and polished. This edit was where you focused on the audio levels between all dialogue and music. You focused on the audio effects and overall balance of the mix which needed to average around -6dB. I got a 100 on the last edit, too!

Fine Cut Edit

I received my grade and tears came to my eyes. This project has been my baby for the past year and the fact that it’s all finished is very bittersweet. With that being said, I still had to show the guys. A year of shooting and I never showed any of the guys of FELICITY any part of any edits. I wanted it to be a surprised and to be the best it could be! So I went over to the band house during rehearsal and we all watched it together. It was such a great moment. I was smiling the whole time with butterflies in my stomach, slightly nervous because I didn’t know what they would say. Thankfully, they loved it and wanted to watch it over again!

I’ve already had my sappy moment with the guys, but I will never be able to repay them or thank them enough. They did this to me as a favor. I had nothing to give them except a finished product. I was a stranger to them and they let me in with open arms. Without a doubt, they are five of the sweetest, respectful, funniest, easy-going, most talented guys I’ve ever met. I’ve gained a friendship with each of them and will forever cherish this project and them for helping me get started on the path of my career. This past year has been one of the best. I’ve made some great memories, experienced so much, met and worked with awesome people, learned a lot about myself as a videographer and photographer, and have become confident in my work. I’m doing exactly what I’ve wanted to do, exactly what I’m passionate about and it all started with them.

With that being said, they’ve decided they still want me around! I’m going to continue working with them for the rest of this tour and beyond (...or at least until they get tired of me). I am still working at my internship and plan to stay in Orlando once I graduate on September 29th. And if things keep going how they are, I’ll have a big announcement to make soon!

Again, this is such a bittersweet time in my life and I’ve loved every minute of it. Thank you to my mom and sisters for the continuous support and for watching every edit of this project even when the slightest of changes were made. Thank you to my friends who have understood my passion for what I do and have stuck around even when I can’t see them as often as I’d like to. And thank you to Andrew, Damien, Mike, Tyler, and Cory for trusting me to portray your music and brand to your fans and for just being you. I am grateful for you all.

-R

#rileejacksonvisuals #pop punk #felicity #we are felicity #orlando fl #orlando videographer #videography #music photography videography #editing #project #local music #local band #music promotional #music promo #concert videographer #concert videography

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