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thechumbucketlist · 4 years

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tagged by @bemybabymp3! thank you so much!

Are you staying home from work/school?

Yes, I am! We started quarantining on March 16. We’re working from home, though.

If you’re staying home who is with you?

My whole family.

Who would be your ideal quarantine mate?

Honestly, I’m okay with this. It does get annoying from time to time but having the whole family around gives a sense of safety.

Are you a homebody?

Yes, although I do enjoy going out from time to time. But I’m getting a little stir-crazy, to be honest.

An event you were looking forward to that got cancelled?

I was supposed to see Green Day last March but they cancelled two weeks before the concert! It was a VERY good call on their part but man, I’ve been looking forward to that since November last year! It got moved to March 2021.

I was also supposed to go on a trip to Baguio with my high school friends. I’ve never been to Baguio and I haven’t seen these guys in YEARS so I thought it would be a good opportunity to hit two birds with one stone but alas. We ended up video chatting on Messenger instead hahahah!

What movies have you watched recently?

Princess Mononoke and The Cat Returns. I’m kinda slacking, but I wanted to concentrate on drawing!

What shows are you watching?

I recently caught up with the Shingeki no Kyojin anime and I have an anime list a mile long and I have NO IDEA which one I want to watch. I also finished Beastars! I’m giving Fugou Keiji: Balance Unlimited a try, but the first episode seemed rather lackluster to me. I’ll be sticking around, though.

I’m trying to catch up with Atypical, though. And I’d like to finally start watching 2gether the series. I just don’t know why I don’t have the motivation for them.

What music are you listening to?

All my spotify playlists lol. It’s got a little bit of everything, but I’m trying to look for more jrock and jpop to listen to. I also fell back in love with some jrock bands I used to listen to in high school like Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Aqua Timez, and DOES.

My spotify Daily Mix 6 playlist went hard a couple of days ago and I’m trying to put the songs in there into their own permanent playlist because it was just THAT GOOD. It’s got stuff from T. Rex, Benjamin Booker, The Killers, Shakey Graves, Ha Ha Tonka, and Anderson East. Good shit.

What are you reading?

Multiple fics, Ookiku Furikabutte, I’m gonna try to catch up with BNHA and Birdmen because I lost all motivation to do anything I liked when I started working, so let’s try again this time, I guess? I also have a shitload of books that I bought but never read and I really wanna start on Dekada ‘70 because I think it’s very timely for the state of my country right now.

What are you doing for self-care?

Trying to fall back in love with my old passions like drawing and playing the guitar, but not forcing myself to be immediately amazing at it. I can play a bit of Sweet Creature now (the verses and the chorus), but the bridge is very challenging for me because it’s pretty fast? It’s fun trying to figure it out, though!

Your turn, @bloodredruby, @gingerwerk, @maawi1253, @jadegreenstars, @quentin-speaks, and @thoughtfulmangochutney!

#hey it's been a while since i did one of these!!!!!!#hello!!!!!!!!#hey it's mav

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kaimiiru-creations · 5 years

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Birdcage Chapter 1

Ch1: Far Sky

Ch2: WIP

Premise: An au where Umino doesn’t detect Senichi while the bird club is brainwashing Kinoko

Time taken: ... 5 days lol, but that was mostly figuring out the plot and also writing a rough draft of the second chapter, too.

Warnings: None... but there will be some eventually.

Characters: A lot, but with a focus on Eishi.

Key code:

Hey. = thoughts

“Hey.”= tweets

“Hey.”= Eishi’s tweets

“{Hey.}” =Bellwether tweets

Closing his eyes, Inspector Senichi could hear the thunder of wings echoing from the rooftop above where he was hiding. His breaths were soft, his heartbeat slow. He was adept at hiding and finding out secrets. That’s why he was an inspector.

Dress shoes tapped down the staircase, and Senichi opened his eyes to find Kinoko walking past him. She was swaying a bit, and rubbing the side of her head in an exhausted manner.

“Did you have a nice chat with the seraphim?” Senichi asked politely, nearly making Kinoko trip as she faced him, her eyes slightly wider.

Kinoko quickly composed herself. She leaned on the opposing wall, crossing her arms, looked down.

“There’s no way we can catch the seraphim. They won’t bargain with us at all if we don’t let them go where they want freely. Not even Eden’s usual method will work.” Kinoko looked up, frowning a bit, as if dazed, “I came here to meet them becau-”

“No, no, don’t try to defend yourself. Go back to headquarters. You can report to Kyo-san there.” Senichi interrupted her. Briefly, Kinoko frowned more deeply but turned to briskly walk down the steps. Senichi’s eyes wandered thoughtfully, before a small smirk grew on his face.

There was something off about what Kinoko said after her meeting with the seraphim, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. He pulled out his phone.

“Security? I want you to keep an eye on Karasuma Eishi’s whereabouts. I believe the seraphim may have done something to Kinoko-san.”

-----------

A familiar crawling sensation burned within Eishi’s back, and his eyes shot open. Lying within the warm covers of his bed, he slowly sat up, took control of his breathing, and scratched idly at his back. He closed his eyes. He remembered white, remembered Takayama’s outstretched hand towards him, remembered reaching for him, but not much else. It was like a dream, after all.

He got up, turned off his clock’s alarm before it went off on its own, and went into the bathroom. He got ready for school, and the tingling in his wing mark gradually calmed on its own. Letting his wings out would relieve the sensation, but he wasn’t keen on doing so when his mother could walk in.

Back in his room, he examined his school uniform in his hands.

This is… the last day I’ll go to school, probably. He thought as he changed his clothes, I can’t continue to live like this. The seraphim around the world are increasing and it’s only a matter of time before Eden closes in on our lives… Even what we’re going to do tonight is just buying us more time.

He fixed his tie in a well-practiced movement, but his mother’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.

“Ei-shiiii!” Her voice was worried, a bit strained.

Another lecture about how sneaking out at night is bad? Eishi wondered as he walked down the stairs.

He stopped on the steps. Other than his mother, three people were at the door: the Eden agent from before, Senichi, and two police officers by his sides.

And Eishi was plunged into a deep, deep, dread.

They must have found out about Umino! He thought, frozen on the spot. His mind quickly switched gears into overdrive, and he kept his face carefully fixed into a neutral look as he forced his feet to go forward, Wait, wait, let’s not jump to any conclusions without more proof-

“Karasuma Eishi,” Inspector Senichi called, “Would you mind coming with us to answer some questions?”

Eishi turned to the kitchen and walked inside, ignoring him. There was breakfast- some eggs, bacon, and toast- on the counter, and the TV drawled with the morning news. A normal morning, if it weren’t for Eden literally knocking on his door.

“I’m so sorry about him,” His mother apologized to Senichi, and then called again, “Eishi, they’ve found out that you’ve been sneaking out late at night, past curfew! I told you sneaking out with your friends would have consequences!”

Eishi stuck a piece of bacon in his mouth. He wasn’t hungry, but he needed something. He wasn’t sure when he’d eat next. Concentrating, he tweeted out, ”Everyone needs to get up now. Eden’s trying to take me somewhere. What’s everyone’s status?”

”I’m fine! There’s no one here trying to take me anywhere... Are you alright?!” Rei was the first to respond, immense worry dripping from his tweet.

”Nothing’s going on here! Need some help?” Umino chirped.

”Kamoda and I are good here.” Irene replied.

”Ei-chan! I’m coming over to help!” Kamoda declared.

”No. Stay where you are. Their snipers are probably watching the skies…Worst case scenario, they might have found out what we did last night,” Eishi took the buttered toast from the table, but was too deep in thought to bite it.

”Catching the leader is a good way to lure out the leader’s followers.” Irene advised grimly.

”Exactly…” Eishi paused, “Irene… should I go peacefully?”

”Did they get the police involved?”

”Yeah. They must have successfully bargained with the government.”

“Eishi, come here when you’re done! Don’t leave the police men waiting!” Eishi’s mother called again.

”Well, kiss your normal life goodbye.” Irene sighed.

”... I’m going to go with them. They should all focus on me if I do… and in the meantime you all can escape.” Eishi decided.

”Ei-chan! I’m worried…!” Kamoda called.

”I’ll be fine. It’s just to buy time.” Eishi bit into the toast, his mouth dry. But he wasn’t shaking. His eyes were clear as he walked back to the front door. He barely registered his frowning mother, and had a bit of trouble really focusing on Senichi’s expression as he listened to his friend’s tweets.

”Hey! Let’s all meet up somewhere?” Umino suggested.

”The usual place on the sky tower!” Rei declared. There was a chorus of agreements.

”Be careful.” Eishi told them, taking another bite of his toast.

“Karasuma-kun?” Kenichi asked, smiling at him knowingly.

”Worry more about yourself, Karasuma.” Irene warned.

“You’re Senichi-san, right?” Eishi asked.

“Correct. Come, we’ll talk more in the car.”

As Eishi reluctantly followed Senichi outside, he ignored the two police men falling into line besides him and looked at the sky. The sunrise was too beautiful, painting the clouds in a pink and red array. It never had looked so far away before. Eishi brought his gaze back to the ground, a dull ache blossoming in his chest and tingling in his sleeping wing mass. Senichi opened the door of a black car for him.

“I’m not being locked up in a police car, a gun to my head?” Eishi asked with a dry smile.

“There’s no need for that, is there?” Senichi asked, smiling back as his eyes glinted in a too-amused way. Eishi could read that hidden warning but didn’t give the inspector the satisfaction of a reaction. He simply ducked his head inside the car. Senichi closed the door behind him, and walked around to sit in the driver’s seat. The policemen outside were talking to Eishi’s mother, or going back to their own police cars.

“Does Eden not have enough funds to pay drivers to transport inspectors?” Eishi asked, putting his foot on the armrest between the two front seats and tapping his toast leisurely to get crumbs over the backseat. It served Eden right for basically kidnapping him. He didn’t bother with his seatbelt.

Senichi didn’t seem to mind, only chuckled and adjusted his rearview mirror to meet Eishi’s glare. “I wanted to talk to you personally. About what your group did, and what will happen from now on.” The car started moving.

“What did we do?”

“You and your group did something to re-program Kinoko-san’s mind.” Senichi said, “Which means there is a Linker in your group. Which one of you is it?”

Eishi frowned deeply as familiar surroundings passed by the car.

”They know what we did last night. They that one of us is a Linker.” He tweeted out.

”Damn.” Irene hissed. Umino made a worried sound.

”What can we do to help?” Rei asked.

”You can help me by not falling into their trap and staying away… I’ll keep you updated. Right now I’m in a car with that inspector, Hai.”

”Okay.” Rei replied solemnly.

”Oh, that nasty guy! I hope I get to beat his face in!” Irene hissed.

“Did you honestly think you can stay free like this?” Kenichi asked, “Brainwashing the minds of humans, refusing to own up to your own actions…”

“Yes. We never meant any harm,” Eishi replied, his tone flat, “It was you who made the first shot by threatening our freedom.”

“I see. What I said back then was merely a warning, but now, your retaliation has... startled Eden.”

Startled? I’m terrified by what you’ve had to make us do to protect ourselves. Eishi thought bitterly.

“And so we’ve had to bring you in more forcefully than we would have liked,” Senichi continued, “So we can separate you from your group. Even if you don’t tell us, we’ll find out who the Linker is eventually.”

”They’re planning on isolating me from the rest of you, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t using me to bait you out. They don’t know who the Linker is.” Eishi tweeted out, shoving the rest of the bread into his mouth and chewing.

“Don’t worry. We’ll put you in a much better environment, even if it may seem like we’re clipping your wings.”

Eishi sighed, disliking the metaphor greatly. “To ‘manage’ the birdmen in China and Europe, right?”

“That spares that explanation. I’m sure that leading a large group is where a Bellwether like you can flourish.”

Eishi didn’t reply. He did have plans to go to the out-of-control birdmen, but doing it on Eden’s terms left a terrible taste in his mouth…

“What does Eden want with a Linker?” He asked.

“A Linker is the ability that Eden wants the most. They would help us to further understand Seraphim directly.” Senichi replied.

“And by understanding, you can be less afraid of us?” Eishi asked. The silence ticked on, and it soon grew obvious he wasn’t going to get an answer, “I am not telling Eden who the Linker is.”

“Would you rather have Eden take all of your group away from their daily lives?”

“Don’t act like Eden doesn’t already want to kidnap all of us the first chance that you people get.” Eishi scoffed, “We just want to be left alone.”

“I see.”

They parked in front of a tall building downtown.

”I’m at... Some sort of EDEN secret base, most likely.” He tweeted as Senichi turned off the car.

”A tall building between a bakery and a bookstore?” Irene asked.

”Yeah, seems like the place.”

”That’s their headquarters alright.”

”I can’t take this lying down anymore!” Kamoda suddenly burst out, ”Isn’t there anything we can do?!”

”I said, stay where you are and don’t come after me. Don’t try to save me, worry about yourselves.” Eishi replied, ”I’ll find some way out on my own.”

There was silence for a moment. Kenichi opened the car door.

“Are you ready to go?” Kenichi asked.

”No! I won’t have you take all of this on yourself again!” Rei was next to say.

”Yeah! Come up with something! Or else we’re going in now!” Umino cried out.

”With my ability, I’ll slice through that building like it’s butter!” Even Irene had been sucked into the determination of the rest.

Listening to their hopeful tones filled Eishi with equal parts warmth and trepidation. They… really cared for him, didn’t they? Eishi would have given everything to fly away with them, but he had to keep his face blank, his breaths normal. He had to...

“Karasuma-kun, are you ready to go?” Kenichi watched Eishi expectantly, patiently.

”I’m asking you to stay back. Do you want me to use my bellwether ability?” Eishi’s tweet became dangerously close to activating his ability, ”If you want to stay free, please fly away as soon as you can. Takayama’s somewhere in Germany… I’ll escape and find all of you eventually.” He paused, looking away from Senichi to hide his face under his bangs, his voice sincere now, ”I’m sorry I can’t protect you further than this… Irene, what do they do with captured seraphim?”

”I imagine they’ll give you a checkup, and then put some tracking device on you before locking you up somewhere.” Irene replied quietly.

”Okay… I’ll keep you guys updated as long as you’re in range. Please do the same on your end.” Eishi replied.

“Are you talking to the rest of the seraphim?” Senichi asked, “Asking them to save you, perhaps?”

Eishi looked up at him and smirked, blinking the red in his irises away. “That would be convenient for you, wouldn’t it?” He paused to take in Senichi’s own surprised smile, but his smile soon dropped as he found no satisfaction in it. He got out of the car. “Lead the way.”

#birdmen #kaiwrites #kaidraws

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kitsoa · 6 years

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Lyric Comic Q&A

So it turns out when you work on a project for half a year, you get a lot of Thoughts and want to express them whether people are actually curious or not. Without further ado, your un-requested Birdmen Lyric Comic Q&A

(Warning: I’m long winded)

*Why a Lyric Comic?

Dude, lyric comics are cool. I’ve always been fascinated by the beautiful, multifaceted artistic experience they provide, because of my love for music and art. Furthermore, I am often plagued by cinematic trapped in my head, spurred by the movement and lyrics of my favorite songs. Since I have no means or experience in the animation category (which would free these phantoms from my head) the lyric comic was a godsend of a medium for this inspired idea of mine. Kiki-kit of the Gravity Falls fandom and Tides-miraculous’ lyric comic in the Miraculous Ladybug are my main inspirations, I’ve adored their sense of motion and emotional savviness. It’s quite the powerful medium.

It’s also a good medium for me personally. I am a ‘looper’ with my music, allowing me to listen to something over and over without tiring. This is useful in the drafting stages! I loved the challenge (though I definitely didn’t anticipate it’d take this long).

*Why this song?

“Out of Mind” was one of those songs that spoke to me, in an overly cathartic, heart-yearning-- almost funnily sardonic ways. Birdmen being on the brain, I started to easily see how much the singers voice reflected that bombastic frustration our Eishi is so known for. The Pre-Chorus “Are you kidding me?” speaks to me the most, reminding me of his cry of frustration during his first blackout, screaming against his fate as he fell from the sky (this exact image did not make the final cut in the end, but I certainly vied for it until other themes overtook it-- let’s face it, there are many screaming Eishi’s to choose from).

This period of time between Takayama’s disappearance and the inevitable reunion is super intriguing to me. Eishi’s in the role of the heartbroken singer, hopelessly betrayed and unable to get over the good thing they had.

*Breakdown the story:

The progression goes like this:

Eishi’s loneliness consumes the first verse, Takayama’s empty seat, Eishi standing alone… all the while peppered with Takayama’s broken promise, which culminates with Eishi’s defiant Death Tweet. The Refrain then serves as these hallmark moments that define them. This is what they had. Every rescue, every proclamation or venomous defying of fate-- it’s what made them. And you’d have to be out of your mind to think that these moments could be forgotten.

Verse 2 is all about that shift in Eishi to follow him. Wistful memories drive Eishi as he chooses to leave and depart from everything he knows, just to get him back. Meanwhile, that opinion of Takayama is still weighed down by that grating irritation (like hell he’s in touch reality, how could he do this?) culminating to his call for him in the Himalayas. The Refrain fires again with the same point as the last but this time I tried to go for a more fervent angle, some of the scenes actually focus on Takayama’s feelings for Eishi and ultimately the pull they have towards each other.

The Bridge is where things get desperate. The moments in the manga where Eishi is in physical pain because of the Whiteout shake me so much. It reminds me of a straight up panic attack. I let this crescendo with the music, making the black void swallow the chaos in a quick snap. Building to the final chorus.

The whiteout is special because Eishi both yearns after this figment emotionally (his friendship with Takayama) and intellectually (what the hell is it and what does it mean?). It represents his unique position in the realm of the story being able to see it, but it ultimately captures the almost divine force behind the relationship of Eishi and Takayama. The outro then brings us back to Eishi failed call at the Himalaya’s, the whiteout ripping him up and forcing Takayama to save him. All the while calling back to that first interaction between them. A mysterious moment that obviously held more weight than any world shaking rescue. And I cap it off with a warmer depiction of their reunion.

*Are you shipping in this comic?

Despite the romantic song, my affections for the pairing, and any other subtext I’ve provided, I went in with the project with a platonic angle. Like I’m not lying. I’m on the ace spectrum or whatever so I kind of interpret every strong bond in the same realm. So that means, if you think it’s a romantic interpretation-- then you’re right. If you think it’s not, you’re also right. Love comes in many forms. Have fun kids.

*What was your process?

Storyboarding

Listen over and over and figure out where to phrase the panels. I then divided the lyrics up accordingly in a draft and reviewed the pacing over and over again. Does it flow? How many words would comfortably fit with each panel?

Determined the thematic arc. At this point I already had a few anchoring moments so I wrote a description of the panel in the draft. I went with the formula of Verses= move the ideas, Refrain= emotional accents, and the Bridge is like… the climax with an epilogue of an outro. This was tricky step. I debated a lot of ideas and some lyrics didn’t feel like a good fit until I really sat on it for a while.

Fill in the draft. This is where I sketch the general shape of panels. This is also where I look at the gestalt of the thing and make sure the composition is easy on the eyes. I tried to make it dynamic and zig-zaggy so as not to be boring. This is the step where one gets really excited about the project. Cause it’s no longer trapped in your head.

Sketching

Gathered references. Surfed the web, made some myself.

Made time to sketch, I did a lot of them at my summer job, made sure to draw about 2 or 3 a day. I had the time then because it was before I took on my day job. I was very surprised to find that I rarely went back to edit a picture or dispose of a draft. I went through with the mantra that I was going to finish the picture no matter what.

Stayed disciplined with said time. I would not let myself take a break from drawing because half the success came from the fact that I was on a roll.

When I finished them I then went through the process of scanning them (my scanner broke between the first 20 panels so RIP)

Coloring Stage

...Good lord. This is where I probably went the most wrong. Make sure you have a good process in place before starting out this stage. I was not one to digital art much as of late so my familiarity with my program was lackluster (and it also is literally the worst program in the world), and my laptop couldn’t handle more than 10 panels. So hurray for a very desperate fix. I did everything from my brothers computer, in his room. Sometimes at terrible hours because that's the only time I’m home.

Color planning. I rushed this process but I pulled up the textures and color pallets and reference images from internet searches and stock piled them. While planning I approximated the overall ‘tone’ of each pane; (is it a dark shade, a light shade, blue, or red in hue…) and then I adjusted that so the colors didn’t repeat or blend unless the panels where connected in the same scene. There was a lot of problem solving in the actual coloring so some of this was not as smooth and I paid for it later.

Sketch Editing. I was able to go back in, move around things and edit certain aspects of the sketch without compromising the entire work. This was a life saver.

Actually coloring. Because I color sketches it’s actually a painstaking process where I can’t use a wand or a fill. I’m not familiar with certain masking and coloring methods that would have sped the process up and I wanted to be consistent. This would take 3 to 5 hours a panel which I would do in small bursts.

Type-setting

Deciding font. I was hunting around for a good font for ages until I just decided… to use my own handwriting. This meant that I had to makes sure my tablet pressure specs were up to date and I had to practice my style. It’s not perfect but its cool.

Apply font to panel. There were moments when I literally said ‘screw it’ and left my handwriting a little more sloppy than standard.

Consultation. I worked with my graphic designer friend on improving the placement of text and the color choices. This was an interesting step she is a saint.

Finalize

Every single panel is extremely large. I had to resize each one. Before this I had many tests in the drafts to see how certain sizes would load or format.

*Will you make another?

Probably. Like, there is nothing more satisfying than getting something stuck in your head out of it. I have a lot of tunes I am fond of but barely any qualify for lyric comics (need to have a good pace, easy to latch on musical phrases, thematic content that works etc.) The fandom is important too. Now that I think about it I have storyboards for an old DCMK ‘lyric comic’ idea to Imogen Heap’s “A-ha” (it was like some hidden dark side!au shit I still come back to it). I can’t let my interest wan or it straight up dies. Birdmen is a really unique series for me because its held on for a remarkable amount of time and strongly at that.

Fun Facts:

I colored a total 77 panels, 11 of which were scraped versions of the core 66 because perfectionist tendencies.

It took me 3 months to sketch all the panels out, sometimes drawing 3 a day. I would often cradle my sleeping kitten while I drew.

Panel 54-- the final chorus, whiteout splash page-- took three days to draw. At first it was two pages taped together, then it was three. I had my friend mend the images together into a massive pic for me to color, then break it apart for blog distribution. The full version is used in her video edit of the lyric comic.

I didn’t use pressure sensitivity on my tablet until I got to the last chunk. RIP

It usually took me over a day to do one picture.

I do not have a computer in my room that utilizes the art program I need. I literally did every panel after #10 in my brothers room. Sometimes hella late at night too. Props to my generous brother, he tells me he likes the company.

I took a few notable breaks. All of Inktober was used on the art challenge. The weeks leading up to Birdmen Week. And at least half of the Christmas season was spent on coloring hiatus.

I like adding a ring around the pupils of the seraph eyes. This is not canon, but an error that I really liked. You can see it as a sort of glow.

I am having my friend edit the panels into a video for your convenience. I have no idea how long it will take but I’m tired.

#lyric comic project

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