#i'm gonna make an animated series of this when i get skilled at drawing

[lupucs]

Do you have any recommendations for character modeling in blender?

Ooh boy I never know how to respond to questions like that, but I'm gonna try my best and list some stuff which helped me personally, so hopefully this will be helpful to you guys too.

A lot of what im gonna say is probably gonna sound really generic but generally speaking just watching one tutorial series and calling it a day isn't gonna cut it.

Something that helped me a whole lot was having a clear goal in mind (like I remember the first thing I wanted to do was translate my OCs in 3D). Picking something I was invested in is what pushed me to do my own research (and now its Deltarune fan animations lol). Knowing how to maintain motivation and going in with the right mindset is the most important thing imo.

I use Blender for my 3D work, which is free and open source. I personally prefer it over paid software like Maya or 3dsMax, especially for modeling and sculpting (I remember I had to use Max and Maya for a while but overall it was a pretty agonizing experience to be honest, so I switched back to Blender, which just feels a whole lot easier to use for me personally lol, but really at the end of the day just pick the software you want. This is just my personal preference). If you have a potato laptop like me, I definitely advise you to use Blender tho as it is very lightweight compared to other 3D programs, plus it can do the same things and then some. Not to mention there are way more free resources on Blender stuff so it's easier to get access to the info you need. Anyways Blender-simping over, moving on!

Tutorials are always a great idea, but you're also gonna have to learn how to do problem-solving. 3D can be a really technical and rigid medium, so being patient and knowing how to do independent learning is very important. Take a look at box-modeling, sculpting, texturing and procedural shading. Unfortunately that's gonna involve a lot of annoying situations and moments of immeasurable pain, but once you're more familiar with how things work, it's super fun and rewarding!

Don't forget to have fun and experiment! It's easy to get lost and overwhelmed by the technical aspects of 3D but it's important to just let go and make silly things. Also talking to other 3d artists with similar interests helps a ton, especially more experienced ones but I am aware not everyone has access to that (plus not everyone might want that, esp when you're an introvert like me haha!)

If you gotta sell your soul to a corporation then focusing on one particular subset is gonna be useful for animation jobs, as this is what most studios want. Some artists might like specializing into just one area, and that's totally fine but for me who prefers to be a generalist, it just kinda ruins my joy for 3D to restrict myself to just one part of it. Plus if you enjoy doing what you do, you tend to learn a lot faster anyway.

This might be a bit of an uncommon take, but one of the most stifling pieces of advice I have received from industry 3D artists is to only focus on one thing (as in, only skill up your UV-unwrapping, or only do rigging, only do hard-surface modeling, only do organic environment modeling and so on). NUH-UH! Just do what you want fam. Make the spoingle-boingles pet cats. Focus on the things you like. Make barney the dinosaur destroy the whole set. Model, rig and animate them if you want. Really, just have fun. Obviously you gotta do some self-checks and see where you need to improve, and where your strengths and weaknesses are, and focusing on those areas can be very helpful. Just make sure you're having a good time doing it, and don't be too harsh on yourself. Definitely take a break if you're overwhelmed.

You don't have to be able to draw to be good at character modeling but making turnaround sketches helps me a whole lot whenever I make 3D characters. Knowing how to draw will also benefit your sense of design and shapes, as you can use your drawing skills for texturing and adding your own flair to your models.

Another thing I would do is look at other people's 3D models and study the topology and the way they model things. This also helps a lot with motivation. Obviously you don't wanna copy, just study the way other people model things and see what other talented artists come up with! There are a bunch of free Blender rigs you can download and study on your own, not to mention useful videos and streams on YouTube. The Rain and Snow rigs are pretty awesome. Some of this stuff is behind a paywall but I recommend checking out the free resources of the "Settlers" project for highly cartoony modeling and rigging (this playlist is very useful, I didn't watch all of it but some parts have been pretty inspirational to me). Also just following 3D artists you like and looking at their art for inspiration will help you stay motivated.

Hope this is useful!

#lupucs chats #anon #ask #text #character modeling #i hope this was useful because im always kinda at a loss with questions like these

[dogmomwrites]

Magic Inspiration tag

This tag came from @dontjudgemeimawriter, so thank you for including me in this game!

I'm gonna pass it along with soft tags to @aether-wasteland-s, @smzeszikorova, @iced-ginger-tea, @breath-of-eternity, and @ashen-crest, as well as leaving it an open tag!

Rules—share the inspiration/s for the magic system in your WIP

This one got a little long cuz I ramble so adding in a cut, but here's the inspiration for the magic system in my fantasy series.

Uhhh…anatomy, I guess? More succinctly, the musculature. In my Castle series, Tobias, who is secure in his position of number one strongest spellcaster on the island, describes how he uses magic. He’s a bit surly, so he doesn’t go into detail, but he gives the basics. After a spat of silence, he said in a flat tone, “I was born with magic. It comes naturally to me, like raising an arm. I control the magic as I control the muscles and they do what they’re told.” There are a few differences between magic and muscles—chief among them that magic can be stolen and taken into another host (although I suppose if you try hard enough, the same can be done with muscles). Magic can also be stored, if the container has the necessary restraints to prevent the magic from simply seeping out again, and it can also be discarded, though if the original owner of the magic is in close enough proximity, the magic will do its best to return. Magic does resist theft, and in most cases, the new host doesn’t survive the procedure.

Those born with magic find that learning how to use it is, in fact, just like learning how to use their muscles. Just as anyone learning a new skill, it takes practice to strengthen their magical muscle. The energy needed for magic comes from their body, same as the energy needed to complete a physical task; however, big muscles or a strong heart make no difference to magical energy. As said, Tobias is the strongest in magic, but he’s not the strongest physically. Without magic, he’d get his ass handed to him by most anyone with any training.

When a spellcaster uses a lot of magic or a single massive burst, they become physically tired, as they do expend their own physical energy performing these feats. Resting restores both physical and magical energy, but if they don’t have that luxury, they can rejuvenate themselves by drawing energy from any other life form—humanoid, plant, or animal. This drains the other life form, leaving them feeling tired even if they just rested, and if too much energy is taken, it can kill the person, plant, or animal. It’s very, very, very rare for a spellcaster to kill themselves by expending too much magical energy, as they generally tend to pass out before that scenario can come to pass.

#magic inspiration tag #tag game #writer games #open tag #open to everyone #original fiction #original character #my writing #yavs writing #castle in the ice #castle in the ice series

[osirisisv]

Hey, I'm following your footsteps and you really inspired me to draw...The bad thing, I have no fucking idea how to do it. So here I am, asking (begging) for your valuable advice, you could also tell me or recommend the application with which you make your drawings?🥺🖤

Uffff I'm not the best to ask for advice because i don't know what I'm doing either hahahaha

But there are some things that really help me:

PRACTICE!!

I am drawing since I'm like 5 years, and i never stoped.

If you want to get better at drawing you must practice all you can! Because the more you draw an style or character, the more you gonna understand the proportions and anatomy.

You can take tutorials to drawing lines or shapes, and practice with that!

I tell you! YOU MUST PRACTICE A LOT!! Because you don't gonna learn in a day or two, you need perseverance and patience, Don't force yourself and have fun! This is why we are doing this! :)

redrawing my favorite characters, like tracing the lines.

Tracing is not a bad thing if you want to grow your drawing skills, it's really helpful! It help you to learn about anatomy and lines.

now the problem is that drawing is NOT yours, you copy the drawing. So you don't have to claim as yours, even if you add more details to the character. If you want to share them, you MUST ask the artist for permission to post the drawing and tagging them.

Using references

People think that using references is cheating or is as bad as tracing, but it's not! It's a really good tool when you struggle with something like hands or the body! You can use drawings or photos or even 3d models if you need it, I'm normally use Pinterest for poses or anatomy references and search on blogs for pictures of a specific character.

Experimenting with styles

There are a lot of amazing artist that their style is very characteristic and unique! You can take you favorite artist style and play with it. My veeery old art was in the style of Masashi Kishimoto (mangaka of naruto), i loved the anime and wanted to draw like him so I copy his style >:3.

After that my style changed more into echiro oda (mangaka of one piece) style, and started to make my own style based on Masashi and echiro styles and the cicle starts with other serie or artist. It was super helpful to anatomy and stylization of my art!

I hope this can help you!

#osiris ask

[kiwikarpart]

Mew Berry Revamp/Redesign

I got the urge to try redesigning Mew Berry from Tokyo Mew Mew because...well I don't have a strong reason to. I just got a bunch of ideas for it and chipped away at putting them into a redesign. This is also labeled as a revamp because I didn't worry about sticking to established lore or design rules for this series, only wanted to play dress up and put my own spin on this character.

Before we get into my redesign, I want to briefly talk about her original design and weapon.

This is a drawing of her original design. While there are parts I like, there are also parts that bother me. Why is she wearing a choker and a thigh ring? Why is white such a big part of her outfit when she's (likely) based off a red berry? Why is it so frumpy?(ok I know why, but that doesn't mean I have to like it). These aren't necesarily flaws, but they are things I want to change in my version.

Then there's her weapon.

Like her outfit, there are parts that I like, but I decided to change it because of the parts I don't like.

Finally her(uncolored) design for TMM Return.

I think it succeeds at changing the design without losing its recognizability. Unfortunately for me, most of the things I didn't like are still here. Not that I blame the designer, there's a good chance they couldn't make big changes to her official design because it needed to resemble the original to some degree. But my redesign doesn't need to do that, I can do whatever I want with it! On that note...

Design Revamp

Might as well rip the bandaid off with my biggest change: she's themed after carrots now. Sacrilage, I know. But I wanted her new color to be orange, and between the Cloudberry and the Carrot, I was more inspired by the latter choice. If it still feels weird that she's not fruit themed anymore, remember that 3 of the 5 members from the original story aren't fruit themed either, so it's not super jarring.

I also gave her another theme, something I'd want to do with all the Mew Mews if I get far enough. Best way for me to explain this is by describing the transformation sequences. Mint moves like a ballet dancer, Lettuce does moves, Pudding maybe emulates an acrobat, then the others have nothing. I think it'd be better to make each character resemble a performance art of some kind(and by that I mean something you do on stage, gonna be pretty loose with the term). For no particular reason, I wanted Berry's magical girl outfit to resemble a magician, so I tried doing that with a coat and bow combo. Added some ribbons because of her attack name, then gave her some pigtails to add more symmetry, gave her some color, and:

This post isn't over yet though. Because I also want to do a...

Character Revamp

Small warning: I haven't read the original manga in years and never watched the anime. I was only able to re-read the 1st volume of A La Mode. I will definitely miss out on some details in my revamp, so try to keep that in mind.

As for the revamp, I'm not actually going to change too much. Instead I want to do more with parts of Berry's character that aren't explored well.

I doubt the fish out of water trope hasn't been done to death at this point, but it makes so much sense for Berry. She's an average girl that ends up going to a school full of rich kids, then joins an established group of magical girls with no experience as one. If there was ever a situation to feel out of place it would be this one. Berry would doubt herself a lot at the start of A La Mode because of this, especially since she wasn't intended to become a magical girl. However, that doesn't mean she's too inexperienced to be a good magical girl. After all, Berry wasn't guaranteed a spot at her school. She had to work hard and study for it, but she had the perserverance and skill to do it. Once she realizes this, she'll gain more confidence in herself and be a more effective team member.

The second thing I'd want to expand on is her relationship with Tatsuku. I've got enough opinions on this to make a separate post about it, so I'll spare you guys from the rave/rant for now. But the main thing I'd want to change is Berry's feelings about starting a relationship. There are small hints that Tatsuku and Berry have romantic feelings for each other in the 1st volume, and Berry's response to these feelings is to push them away. I think the main reason for this is because she had a hard time processing romantic feelings for someone's that's always been her friend. I also think it could be more interesting if Berry was afraid of jumping into a relationship. Her peers at school assume she's dating him because they're close, and Tatsuku jokes about them getting married at the start of A La Mode, but there's something about that Berry doesn't like. In her mind being Tatsuku's girlfriend means fancy dates and huge romantic gestures and she's not ready for that. She loves him, but hates the thought of being lovey-dovey with him right away. But she can't articulate these feelings, so she avoids confronting them instead.

Extra Tidbits

There are a few more things to talk about, but they don't need their own section so I'm cramming them into this one.

-Berry only gets fused with rabbit DNA. The cat DNA was barely part of her orginal design anyway so I cut it

-Berry doesn't become the new leader while Ichigo is gone because it makes no sense. She's barely been a magical girl and has no experience working with the other members. Mint is the team leader instead

-The Mew Mews don't work at a cafe anymore. I prefer Cheralla's idea of them being in a band

-Berry role in the team is a supportive one. She's a backup vocalist in the band and uses her magic to buff attacks and mobility

-Berry's debue in the band isn't handled well, which is what gives their fans the impression that she doesn't add much to the group. This adds to Berry's insecurities about being out of place

-Berry's new weapon doubles as a microphone and a magician's wand. The designs are slightly different so people don't make connect the dots

Okay, NOW the post is over. The next character in this maybe series will be Mint and I can't promise when she'll get a post.

You made it all the way down here? I appreciate that! Have some bonus sketches as a reward!

#tokyo mew mew #berry shirayuki #mew berry #magical girl #redesign #rewrite #fanart

[cartoonsaint]

Mr. Gordon Freeman for the ask game? 👉👈

ooo! i'll answer for both Gordons, but my thoughts about the original are relatively shallow whoops

Canon Gordon Freeman

FAV CANON TRAIT: i see his work w teleportation as a metaphor for his drive :) he WILL go from point A to point B, however it can possibly be done. doesn’t always take into account ”common sense” limitations, which is sort of awesome for science but not for personal health (thank god for the suit). sometimes clever puzzle solving is the answer, but sometimes the most efficient way is to go straight through the goddamn wall.

LEAST FAV CANON TRAIT: omg, that he’s in an apocalyptic first-person shooter w zombies? SO not my thing, but somehow i ended up here anyways. mostly i think he deserves a hot shower and cozy pajamas and not to be covered w blood.

FANON PET PEEVE: i’m baffled by characterizations of him that don’t take into account the facts that he is capable of great violence as well as dorky playfulness (the snark idle animation! vent races!). also i have blocked SO many people for being weird about shipping?? like HL2’s freemance thing kinda squicked me out too but damn dudes, come on

Gordos Feetman

FAV CANON TRAIT: he's SO concerned about how he appears to other people while simultaneously being the LEAST SELF-AWARE CHARACTER IN THE SERIES, my GOSH. man has no IDEA how to talk to people: comes striding into Black Mesa like he's the one in charge (“move! move, i’m running late”), rude about the kind and friendly Dr. Coolatta, overly familiar w every scientist (even when Bubby flat out tells him to shut the fuck!), when questioned by benrey goes "i'm perfectly okay! i am perfectly healthy, and smart," like that's anything close to what a normal person would say, ever. then the first chance he gets to actually sit down with the Science Team over coffee he goes straight to, "you guys got families? ...what was your childhood like?" hello? 24 hours later he asks "what're your guys' hopes and dreams?" HELLO?? buddy the unspoken social rules... my god. he does not know them

plus his "nobody likes me. nobody likes me! i've dealt with that my whole life." like... aw dude. thank goodness the Science Team is full of weirdos too. they can jive with his off-beat social skills and seem to get that at his heart, Gordon Freeman is just a pretty nice semi-loser who wants to goof off and help take care of the people important to him ;-; ...and who will also commit murder at the slightest suggestion from others that it's fine

LEAST FAV CANON TRAIT: i wish he'd been more consistent about joshua! wayne has mentioned retconning the framed picture as just gordon being a nervous fuckin weirdo, but :( on my first watch-through i was like "hm. something about the way gordon tries to shepherd the Science Team with a weirdly optimistic, know-better attitude despite the fact that they all totally ignore him feels familiar..." and then he was like "i have a little kid!" and i went "OH NO WONDER," bc at the time i was also a 27yo spending a lot of time w a small child who preferred not to listen to my somewhat hysterical requests to not Do the Thing.

so like i'm fond of joshua's existence. and i get that trying to fit him into hl2vrai would be difficult but... plz wayne don't kill him. not again D8

FANON PET PEEVE: sometimes artists draw him like he’s 45, which is odd to me, but to be fair his model does make him look terrible for a 27yo. otherwise i wish there was more exploration of how much of a fuckin WEIRDO he is, bc despite being relatively normal compared to the Science Team he’s NOT normal compared to like anyone else. and i‘d love to see more of gordon struggling and benrey having to learn to help, rather than things only going one way. and more of him goofing off, even in awful situations! like i’m fascinated by him messing with the ribs of a dead dude on the ground next to benrey like “ooo i’m gonna touch em haha... u ever been to chili’s” buddy u r NOT normal <3

OK! thank you for asking about the gordons, it is fun to stir up my feelings about these characters and try to synthesize them this way :) anyone interested in my favetrait/leastfavetrait/fanonpetpeeve for other characters can send me an ask if they like. thanks :D <3!

#saint talks #ask saint #gordos feetman #i’ve been thinking for months about an AU that deals w the pet peeve thing and forces benrey n gordon to help each other #post-canon; enemies to lovers; there was only one bed; dumb fucks clumsily learning how to help each other etc #but it’s even odds it’ll get written when instead i could just keep daydreaming about it u know #long post #eh maybe! #hlvrai

[extorchic]

TOP 5 SK8 Episodes

So I got tagged by @akira-cr to make this list, it took some time but I think I've sorted out my mind, thank you for considering me 😊. Now here comes the list, sorry if it's supposd to be objective, but I'm gonna let my heart out over here (It's gonna be a long post and I'm not gonna cut it ):

NUMBER 5 - Episode 6 - Steamy Mystery Skating?! (A.K.A. The beach episode 🏊‍♂️)

Well this is supposed to be "breather" episode, and it's basically the one that sold the series to me. I like how fun and chill this episode is, although it does (further) foreshadow Reki's insecurity issues. The music is of course SUBLIME! "Seize the Moment" is probably my favorite insert song of all time! (it's been present in Reki's beefs as well, but here it really reflects the fun nature of his character and the show overall). And of coruse, FANSERVICE, not so much in how the boys were in swimsuits (though I gotta admit Reki does look good in them), but on the RENGA interactions!

That hug gave me life! How Langa was worried 24/7 about Reki being injured, at the end when they skated together to escape from the Bantu! I gotta admit that I have some mixed feelings about the implications of Reki being attracted to the faceless girl (I mean, Bi rep is very important too), but I guess my shipping side was just as jelaous as Langa was supposed to be (according to the fans LOL).

NUMBER 4 - Episode 11 - King vs. Nobody (A.K.A. Reki rising! ✨🌺🌞⚙️)

Reki is, without a doubt, my favorite character. He doesn't need to win, he doesn't need to be super flashy while skating, he just needs to be himself. He's been through a lot, many people (including me) have felt tremendously related to him, and seeing him in this episode is just satisfying. With his issues behind, with a promise to skate with Langa after he wins and no longer fearful, Reki rematches against Adam; and the way he does is fantastic! Taking advantage of his creativity, observative skills and mechanical knowledge on skateboarding, he faces up against the main boss and manages to not only endure his violent ways (which were gruelling to see, TBH), but also SOUNDLY HUMILIATE HIM in front of the whole S Community!

Yes, Adam, the "God of S", in the ground covered in mud by a boy almost everyone dissmissed! It was really sunshine through rainfall! I must also add how much I liked to see his renewed relationship with Langa, how much they treasure their company after patching up. I want to elaborate on this in its own post but I personally see that their interactions from this point on are more, I don't know, tender, caring, still playful but not in an entirely comedic way. The way they see each other is also deeper, anyway, it's just what I see.

NUMBER 3 - A DRAW: Episode 8 - The Fated Tournament! and Episode 9 - We Were Special Back Then (A.K.A. The month in which I was in an emotional crisis because of anime sk8t3r b0is 🍎🐍😭🛹❄🍵🌸 )

This is the point in which I got into the show, and the fandom (Yeah, haven't been around for too long). At this point the show wasn't the same, and I realized it when I caught up. Though there were some cool skating scenes in these episodes, the events that caught my attention were outside the road (Yeah, this was no longer just a skateboard anime, it's a whole lot more). Though I had been mainly focusing on Reki and Langa, I really liked having more backstory related to Joe, Cherry, Adam and Tadashi. Seeing how Adam went through a terrible childhood, convoluted teeange years to culminate in an adult with too much power for his own good and a twisted sense of "love", along with some extremely serious psychological issues was very interesting.

I acknowldge him as a complex villain, but that DOES NOT justify what he did to Cherry. This only proves that just because we know his backstory, we don't have to sympathize with him (Adam's just such a terrible person). On the RENGA side, we see Reki avoiding Langa after their rift, and how this affected both. We have Langa's sadness increase scene after scene, as well as his passion for skating dwindling as progressively. Reki on the other hand, just falls deeper and deeper in his depression, but also being unable to stop thinking about Langa, and he ends up going to S to see the latter's match against Joe. It's hard to see whether there's envy, jelaousness, frustration, admiration, pining or fear of being left behind in his mind. It must have been hard for a 17 y/o.

Reki also defends Langa from people speaking behind his back and shouting his name during the race boosts Langa's performance tremendously. This culminates on Reki realizing that the thing he actually wanted was to skate alongside Langa, not on the side, not as support, but together, he just couldn't. There's also the scene which may or may not confirm that Langa's feelings for Reki are more than just friendship! (Felt represented, for reals).

NUMBER 2 - Episode 7 - We Don't Balance Out (A.K.A. This was supposed to be a fun show!😭⛈️💔️)

I wrote a lot about the episodes in the previous spot, but this is the one that flipped the tables, the game-changer, and the one that hit closer home. It is a sad episode, no races there, it's just here for us to see how the circumstances affect the characters. It was hard to see how Reki, who at this point had been nothing but supportive and proud of Langa, starts to see him flying farther from him. Is it jealousness? Dissatisfaction? Is it fear of loneliness? Adbandoment issues? Is it feeling inferior? Frustration? Not being able to improve? Admiration? Care?

And on top of that a broken promise. I just can't imagine how hard is it for a 17 y/o to deal with all of those conflicting issues in his head, as well as the toxic competitive environment on the "S Community". This just came to show that he wasn't just the excitable, goofy sidekick character, he goes deeper than that, and makes him relatable. We also see a deconstruction of the cool, aloof prodigious character in Langa, as he just can't comprehend what's going on with Reki, and he's hurt by it, but still needs to figure out his own ambitions and desries. This leads to the emotional conclusion of the episode (which in turn left me in the aforementioned 4-week-long emotional crisis, thank you)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Episode 12 - Our Infinity! - The race was cool, the Renga hug gave me life and everyone had a happy ending

Episode 5 - Passionate Dancing Night! - Despite the beef between Langa and Adam being cool, we start to see Reki worrying about Langa and opening up to him, further deepening their bond.

Episode 2 - Awesome for the First Time! - There's just something special about sharing something you're passionate about with someone else. Watching Reki teaching Langa the basics of skateboarding was heartwarming

NUMBER 1 - Episode 10 - DAP Not Needing Words

After 4 weeks waiting, the anticipation for this episode was gargantuan. Reki's depression was hitting its lowest point, bordering in self-harm, and hurting others as well. Langa continues to look for Reki after seeing him briefly at the hospital while visiting Shadow and we get to see this loving scene where he watches videos of Reki learining how to skate. After confronting Tadashi and realizing that he loves skating because it's fun, he returns home to find out that Langa had been waiting for him but left shortly before he arrived.

This leads to a heartful reunion, where words can't express their feelings, so they resort to do their thing, to skate, and that's where the feelings flow. This is when Langa tells Reki how he admires him tremendously and Reki understands that Langa'll be there by his side, and leaves his fears behind. With a mutual desire to skate together infinetely and a new dap, they rekindle their bond. People watched this show for different reasons, and though I like the skateboarding aspect because it looks cool, my interest leans more on the relationship aspect, and Reki and Langa's is so deep and intimate, and I liked seeing it grow from zero through different hardships (in other words, in all of the years I've been in a fandom, I had never shipped any other pair like these two, I needed to say that).

So I guess it's time to tag some people:

@pico-sour, @sleebycryptid, @elizabethslee, @itsamole, @kaorucherry, @blueflame97, @trieizieme, @tardiskitten, @lady-pendragon-9

So, if you've read until this point, thank you very much (I know it's not supposed to, but this post is yet again a very long "I love Renga" one, but it's what my heart wanted me to write 😅). I'd love to see people other than the ones I tagged showing their lists 😃

#sk8 the infinity #sk8 #sk8 reki #reki kyan #sk8 langa #langa hasegawa #sk8 renga #renga #lanreki #rekilan #top 5 #sk_8

[doorbloggr]

Friday 28/5/21: Media Recommendations #4

Its Friday again, so that means I gotta nerd out about things I've had on my mind lately and recommend other people go enjoy them too.

Today's topics of interest will be:

Manga/Anime: Fullmetal Alchemist

Videogame: Monster Hunter Rise

Music: Kiss from a Rose; Seal

In past weeks, I have picked my recommendations based on shows/music etc that are not as mainstream as I think should be, hence I am recommending them with the intention of increasing the audience. But this week, I am sure these three pieces of media are very widely known already. And its not wrong to like popular things, they got popular for a reason. So this week I'm gonna gush about why I like these popular things.

Fullmetal Alchemist (Fullmetal Alchemist)

In the vaguely European-esque country of Amestris, those gifted by natural or acquired powers can reshape the world around them using the power of Alchemy. In this world, magic users, called Alchemists, are publicly known and acknowledged. The government even employs many State Alchemists, who receive funding for their specific alchemic research, in exchange for their cooperation during military conflicts.

Fullmetal Alchemist has one of the most well put together and interesting fantasy settings in all of fiction (in my opinion). It is both medieval fantasy but also late 1800s europe, and this helps create a world where magic has very strict metaphysical and political rules.

The story within this world focuses on the brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric, who become the youngest known State Alchemists as part of their quest to restore Edward's limbs and Alphonse's entire body which were lost to a tragic alchemic experiment gone wrong. Ed has classic napoleon complex, and detests anyone looking down on him, but he often has more than enough bite to back up his bark. Al is much more calm and collected, but despite his soul inhabiting an imposing suit of armour, he is the younger brother and often emotionally immature. The two have an interesting dynamic, where the older brother is small and snappy, but still feels responsible and protective over his towering, intimidating younger brother who speaks with a very child-like voice, but could easily knock you out.

FMA is not a very complicated story, but it has depth. Its rich world, with a variety of interesting and endearing characters, make for a very engaging time. It is a story of growth, trust, bonds, and rebuilding what was once lost, while maintaining what you are still working on.

There are 3 ways to experience this story. I have gone back and read the original Manga, and if you prefer Manga as your story form, it is a very fun read. There are two anime adaptations, one that was in production and finished before the manga was complete, and another that came a few years later. The former has a different ending to the latter, and I can only recommend the latter, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, seeing as I never watched the original series. But I have heard on good authority that both are worth the watch, so it is up to you. I can't really decide on a definitive favourite anime, but Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is easily always top 3.

Videogame: Monster Hunter Rise

Sometimes, the rich lore and story are what makes or breaks consumable media, but sometimes, all you need is pure stupid fun. Monster Hunter is a series built on a simple premise that does not need much fluffing to be enjoyed. You are a hunter: a very skilled and powerful warrior who weilds, often oversized, powerful weapons of many types, and it is your duty to go out and hunt monsters: powerful creatures who can co-exist with the world but on a case by case basis, put the people and wildlife around them in harm's way.

Monster Hunter Rise is the newest game in the series, and is on the Nintendo Switch. Many players I've talked to have said that this is the easiest game to get into, but that does not make MHR an simple, boring game, and top-level play is definitely a grind. The draw of Monster Hunter is that every "level" is a boss battle, and that battle takes place over a huge map. In this game, the hunter is tasked with finding the monster, and then using their own gear, plus the help of nature around them, to incapacitate the target monster.

This game has fourteen weapons to choose from, and using each is like playing a completely different action game. They can be grouped as Heavy, Light, and Technical Weapons, but the truth is, all weapons are unique, and depending on which specific model of a weapon you use, they can be even more unique within that weapon. Monster Hunter games are RPGs, but rather than gaining EXP, and stat changes indicating growth, Hunters use bits of the monsters they've hunted to make themselves stronger.

Both new weapons and armour require monster parts, and you're never guaranteed to get all the parts you need from one hunt. So the game encourages you fight the same monsters multiple times, learning patterns, honing your skills. When you have made your ideal weapons and armour, you have gotten significantly better at hunting those monsters. Monster Hunter Rise introduces Wire Bugs, a resource with a variety of uses ranged from spiderman-ing up and across mountains, to lending themselves as super moves for your weapons. Breath of the Wild held a place in my heart for ages because of how good it feels to traverse, but honestly, Monster Hunter Rise's wall-running and grapple-hooking blow BotW out of the water. Its just fun to move! If you enjoy action games and boss fights, Monster Hunter Rise is 100% a game you should check out.

Music: Kiss From a Rose; Seal

In my very deep Spotify library, there's a lot of music I will just sometimes skip. Not because I don't like it, but because I need to be in the right mood. But there's also a select handful of songs where I will never skip because I will always be in the mood to shout those lyrics, no matter when or where. Seal's Kiss from a Rose is one of those songs.

The song was originally part of the soundtrack for Batman Forever, but it is not a song explicitly about that movie. I didn't even know this myself until a while after I was obsessed with this song. Kiss from a Rose is an emotional, almost melancholy song with a very hard to place meaning. Seal has said it could've been about a difficult relationship, but I feel it is up to the listener how they interpret it.

The instrumentals are subtle yet powerful, soothing yet exhilarating. It is just a very engaging song and the lyrics are just hard to not sing along to. If you've heard it, you know. If you haven't, take a listen and meet your favourite song this week.

#blog #blog post #media recommendations #anime recommendations #manga recommendation #videogame recommendations #music recommendation #music #anime #manga #videogame #fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #monster hunter rise #monster hunter #kiss from a rose #seal

[nvzblgrrl]

Part 1 Heyo man, I'm absolutely ecstatic that you have this whole One Piece Big Fic project in the works. I'm honestly p paranoid about interacting with words, but your works have been something I've continuously enjoyed going back to and rereading over all these years. And while you've grown and your earlier stuff feels cringe, there's a charm that Witt and Witticism and all of your earlier works have that is longlasting. And I, and apparently others, can't help but love.

Part 2 I've probably reread your fics a good thousand times by now. Like seriously I've got a good bunch of the fics you posted on AO3 saved as PDFs for my own personal reading when I feel the urge. Namely Luck of The Draw, Ultimate Symbiote, and a portion of your Chain Adventures. I've been here quietly reading for a long time and I'm gonna make sure to properly give feedback this time. Good luck in your absolutely bonkers endeavor!

Yeah, absolute mood on the ‘cringe’ part. I think the only excuse I can make for the really early stuff is that -

(this is gonna get loooong and reference child abuse + the 2000′s-2010′s meme culture, so pre-emptive apologies)

1. I had a really messed up upbringing. Not as bad as some people’s situations but still on the deeper end of bad by the ‘White American’ standard and still (albeit barely) within the bounds of Funny Sitcom Abuse Antics (at least for mid-2000′s and older stuff) most of the time. Most of it was neglect and social isolation - I pretty much left the property to go to school, church, and to visit relatives because of court-mandated visitation, the last of which probably kept me from going insane, and that was it aside from events where my dad needed an accessory to compliment his public mask - but there were some other shit mixed in that relied on the Trunchbull Rule (it has to sound too weird to be real so nobody believes it/takes it seriously) to happen.

So besides like, the PTSD from that (which has a habit of bleeding into all of my works, which you’ve probably noticed by now, lmao), I had like, zero experience on healthy relationships, social skills (well outside of a few variations on ‘messed up friendships’ and what I picked up from books, movies, and TV), and basic life skills outside of stuff like ‘boil water and follow the box directions’).

2. I got into the internet really late compared to my generation and everyone after. This was mostly because we had literally no semi-reliable internet access until I was about 11-13 and that was either the school internet or the dial-up at home (which of course was time-limited with the time shared with my brother and done on the family computer with observation in effect). Most of that was spent on like flash games or webcomics, many of which I have tried to reread only to find them gouging my soul because god what the hell was happening in 2007 - wait. Yeah.

It got better by the time we hit high school because by then we had our own computers (not scanners though, I had to pass art and passwords over to a friend of mine to get them on the internet for a couple years before we got one at home), a better internet connection, and high levels of parental disengagement as we proved to be disappointments despite our previous ‘potential’ (my dad was hoping for me to become a life-long cash cow for him, IDK what was going on with my brother and his mom), which meant I could spend more time on the internet... which at the time, meant DeviantArt and FF.net (tumblr came way, waaay at the end of my time in high school).

Yes, that’s where I started out. That should explain a good 90% of why the early stuff was Like That.

Also don’t look for my DeviantArt because I deleted the whole thing years ago, for cringe reasons - namely, a really, really stupid minor war over something I can’t even remember but it ran a lot like those old ‘Potterheads Get Your Wands’ posts, though the fact that 80% of my output towards the end were extremely banal and/or fucking insane One Piece (and occasionally Soul Eater) Demotivator Posters didn’t help.

Pictured: proof of my crimes against humanity (with some minor repeats - every single one of those demovitators are something I did and that’s not even all of them) despite my attempts to destroy the evidence, because the internet (and pinterest) never forget and often reposts without permission.

[Image description: a series of drawn images of a man. the first panel is of him looking at a computer with the subtitle ‘recognition’, the second is a close-up of him with sweat and a look of surprise on his face along with two exclamation points subtitled ‘realization’, the third and final image is an extreme close up of his intensely stressed expression subtitled ‘fear’.]

[Image description, but funny: me accidentally coming across one of those reposts a couple years ago.]

I personally can’t forget because I know my style at the time (it had a few variations, but all of them have been seared into my soul) and how inane/insane some of them read. My favorite was one that ended up turning into a word vomit about how cool Gol D. Roger was that ran so far that it didn’t fit inside the format anymore and ended up running off of the page repeatedly.

...and yes, I did make one edit that was ‘Dead or Alive? is that a trick question?’ for Brook. That one’s still circulating too.

3. While that covers a certain amount of the problems with the early work, Witt and Witticism stands out as a pinnacle because I was both using a reaction heavy style (I was pretty much doing a live-blog of my One Piece anime rewatch in fanfic form, using Witt as a mouth piece - a similar style was used with Ultimate Symbiote but fortified with a few original stories and actual non-canon stuff happening!) and going through the tail end an extreme manic period brought on by escaping (read: getting kicked out of because they were no longer socially or legally obligated to care for me anymore) my abusive childhood home + having money (from my dead mom’s social security).

Seriously, that year was bonkers. I got to go to Disneyworld, got a new cat, published an insane fic, and blew through so much money on some dumb fucking shit when my dad wasn’t stealing it because I didn’t realize he had access to my then-bank account.

Also I’m pretty sure that you can detect when my sanity/depression started reasserting itself in the last few chapters of Witt because he starts experiencing consequences, though I’m not saying you should reread it to try to locate that moment because I’m having to re-read it repeatedly for reference purposes and I don’t think anyone should have to suffer this unless they’re into that (which admittedly, might be the result of that ‘charm’ you mentioned, because I can’t otherwise account for how that fic got over a quarter of a million hits otherwise).

Not to say that all of my early stuff was bad (some of it was actually shockingly good once I found it again, even though it was flawed) but the most easily accessible stuff is... not great!

And thanks for the well-wishes. I’m gonna need that luck if I want to get through it. I look forward to the feedback!

#asks #the big fat one piece fic project #Anonymous

[spinedog]

How did you start writing? I've never been a writer and the thought of writing something literally never came to my mind until well after i started reading fics, so i'm curious to know how writers i like got their start. Specially in your case bc you also draw. How is your relationship with writing different than the one you have with drawing?

Ooooh, excellent question! Unfortunately, my answer is probably less than helpful, because I’ve been making up (usually incredibly bad) stories for longer than I’ve actually been able to write them down. My brain churns out action and chase sequences while I’m out running, softer emotional scenes when I’m listening to music and cleaning my house, and dumb dialogue ideas while I’m in the shower. And, really, I’ve always been that way, right from when I was a toddler playing with plastic animals. 

But, I’m gonna morph your question slightly and hopefully give you a little more of a useful answer: it’s been more recently that I’ve started really started to put together long, coherent plots with some complexity to them. Where I got my best practice doing that was actually while RPing with close friends. It allows you to collaborate and come up with story ideas with someone else, and bounce around ideas. On top of that, it motivates you to actually write, because your partner is waiting on you. If you have the right partner(s), it really gives you a lot of ability to grow as a writer too, because you catch other perspectives and you can get pretty good at balancing complex characters. I’ve taken creative writing courses, but I’m solidly ‘meh’ on how effective they are. Learned a LOT about pushing boundaries (especially from some modern poetry stuff that I did) and weaving together plot from the classes, but learned far more about character interactions and dialogue from RPing with buddies.

As far as writing vs drawing... I’ve been drawing for a long-ass time too, but I sort of see them as two ways to express an idea. I write if I want to communicate a series of events to form the idea or feeling, and I draw if I want to communicate a single moment to form the idea or feeling (or if I want a visual representation of that idea/feeling). I try to keep both skills sharp, because I genuinely love doing both and I enjoy having both skill sets. I’ve actually had a very, very long interest in graphic novels, and would love to write and illustrate one one day, but it’s a lot of work. I may adapt some scenes from FR&H into comic form at some point, actually, but I need to focus on the story itself first. 

Hopefully that was helpful, or at least interesting!! Thank you for the question! <3

#spinedog speaks

[ohoshi]

okay so tbh i have only revealed my kpop love to select people in my life IRL...buuuut im working on being more open about it bc these boys give me so much laughter and joy and it's good to be excited about things!! yesterday my mom discovered kpop and i came running into her room to be like omg let me show you MY FAV GROUP NCT. she didnt seem to vibe with the songs i showed her but honestly i get that cuz sometimes for me, i listen to an NCT song and im like ehhh but then i keep listening and im like wait this song is actually so good (this has happened with kick it, limitless, maw, work it...to name a few)

omg also yes i am familiar with tsundere and anime terminology!! i do watch anime - not as much as i used to, but i still enjoy a good anime :)) some of my favs are hunterxhunter, toradora, fmab, my hero academia, anohana...wow how many am i gonna name, anyway if you dont watch a lot of anime pls feel free to disregard this paragraph and we can continue talking about kpop lmao

HAHA i love that yes taeil go pursue your dreams (winwin) i support you 💕wait i also love that rj just says stuff straightforwardly!! like i think on some show (was it weekly idol?) he literally said, yea the company wants me to have an innocent image (but i'm not)...and i think one time a saseang fan called jeno during a vlive and rj literally took the phone immediately and was like can you stop calling...go renjun! but yea i feel like during their awsaz ep doyoung was kinda scared cuz hes kinda soft lmao (not a bad thing) but i loved the chaos in their eps!!

i liked awsaz!! for me, some eps were definitely funnier than others lol but i really like the concept and it's something only nct can do! the jaehyun/jisung ep was prob my second favorite even tho i cringed a lot but in the best way possible. i would LOVE to see them continue doing awsaz with wayv members!! like the ep with winwin/jisung (and henderey/haechan hosts) was so great!! also lmao jisung is just awkward with everybody, they could literally make a whole awsaz show with just jisung 😂 (also a side note: i love how he is still the maknae even after sungchan/shotaro joined haha he will always be our NCT baby 🥺)

as for what i didnt like...dont hate me but some of the missions were a little...slow for me? like in some eps when they just take the selfies and decorate it in the book i kinda skimmed those parts 😅 i think it would be cool if they had more missions that require them to actually do things with each other (i guess kinda like icebreakers lmao even tho i personally hate icebreakers) - like in the winwin/js episode, they involved the hosts and had them do some drawing thing that was funny. but actually i guess it also depends who the hosts are, i feel like some host combinations are funnier (whether bc of their chemistry with the participants or each other) so maybe that can't really be controlled

oooh wait one of my close friends is also a taurus!! love that haha (i dont rly take horoscopes super seriously (even tho i do think im kinda a virgo) but theyre interesting to look at)

i have some svt songs in my kpop playlist (i love hug (it’s so calming) and also my my)!! i think i kinda looked into them back in like 2016 but i wasnt rly a kpop fan back then, i will check them out now cuz i love me a talented and chaotic kpop group :))

p.s. for my ss gift hehe do you have any specific things you'd want me to gif? otherwise i will do something based on our conversations (which i think makes it mildly obvious who i'm gonna gif)!! also pls forgive me my giffing skills could be better but i try my best and they are 100% certified made with love 💖

ohh i understand that! my irl friends judge me for loving kpop so much (not all of them) but, frankly, i couldn’t care less because there’s nothing wrong with loving kpop so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ my mom, however, puts up with me and my kpop obsession very well tbh she does pay attention when i show her their stages and songs and even some funny content~ and so far she loves jaehyun, minghao(svt) and jisoo(bp) the most (all 3 for their visuals lmaoo) dhagfdshgad as far as the music goes, she reeeeeally loves from home 🥺 (tho i really love those overproduced hype songs, so for me it’s not hard to vibe with them right from the start lmao and esp kick it and maw those were love at first sight! here’s a funny story related to kick it: as you already know i’m a dancer and bc i immediately fell in love w kick it i learned the whole choreo for that song, usually i only know chorus or the dance points, and my mother watched me and she said i was really good i could fit well in 127 ghdafgds ahhh what an ego boost thanks mom everyone should have you as their mom tbh)

no way!!! you love anime!! aaa i’m excited now!!! when i was younger i watched a lot of anime and i mean a LOT; i’ve seen everything you listed here! lmao not my proudest moment... i also really love hxh!!!! i also remember loving code geass, tengen toppa gurren lagann, neon genesis evangelion and even the gundam series (i’m a simple person i see mecha and i fall in love immediately lmao even my fav cartoon of all time is the one i watched when i was like 5-7?? it was a korean manhwa, hamos the green chariot, which is also about the big robots djahsd)  + all the shoujos lmao (nana best shoujo ever) i also really loved kuroko no basuke and fairy tail????? and all the popular ones (ie naruto, bleach, pokemon etc)

ohh i know that moment when he called the sasaeng out for bothering jeno hgafdagjdgah ICONIC we stan a legend 🤧✊

yeah i agree that some episodes were funnier than the others and some missions were just boring  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but it’s okay i guess majority of the ep is still interesing!! omg same!! i love jisung he is so precious and it would be amazing if he just stayed the maknae of nct until the end! (highly unlikely i guess but a girl can dream) they could definitely make a spin off awsaz - jisung and nct and it would be so funny lmaoooo and winwin is an awkward cutie as well so!! 🥰🥰 

>they involved the hosts and had them do some drawing thing that was funny; my thoughts exactly!!!! it would be so great if they keep involving hosts lmao it would be funnier and more interesting; and yeah some hosts combinations were definitely better than the others (lowkey disappointed that jaemin didn’t get the chance to be the host lmao wonder how would that look) i think that one of the reasons dy/rj and js/jh eps were so good is bc markhyuck and cl/jw were amazing hosts lmao

ahh me neither!!! i’m not too serious about horoscope, i used to read about astrology for the fun of it lmao and yeah taurus and virgo is a great combination so !!!!

AHHH I’M SO GLAD YOU LOVE HUG it’s one of my favorite songs 🥺 do it santa you won’t regret!! their music is soooo good!!!!! and the performances are next level 

p.s. you can gif whatever you want!! and i’m sure it’ll be great! <3 don’t be to pressured, even if you can’t make it it’s completely okay, i understand, you don’t have to! these conversations we’ve been having are the best gift already! i really cherish them! 🤗💚

p.p.s AHH I LOVE MFAL TOO (shocking) and ikr??? THEY GREW UP SO MUCH 😭 but esp jisung???? he reeeally changed omg!!! and chenle!!! now they look all grown up i’m 🤧 emotional

#ss20

[welcometohellfilm]

(please bear with me) Okay, so, I'm a 15 year old freshman in highschool, and I've wanting to create some sort of series, whether it be a comic, or something else for a few years. I haven't too serious about it, but after one my of my friends showed me your video, for some reason, i was especially inspired. Now, I already have one character... but that's all i got. How did you come up with the things in your film? And did you ever experience "writer's block"? and if so, how did you deal with it?

No worries dude!  So okay, I’m gonna’ be honest, when I read this, I was hit with such a weird mix of, like, “god this is literally impossible to answer”, and “man I remember feeling that way when I was 15″.  So I guess the best thing I could do is elaborate.

I 100% absolutely know the feeling of “I want to create some sort of series.” Cause that’s the thing right? You don’t always know what you want it to be about, or what format you want (comic, animation, etc), you just know that you want to be known as an artist who is creating an on-going series.  But maybe you have some vague ideas about scenes that you want to happen.  Maybe you have an idea of the kind of relationships you want to portray.  Maybe you have some lines of dialogue or a couple jokes.  In this case, you even have a character!  Which is great!  Now you’re really eager to get started!

I had a bunch of vague ideas like that.  I had characters I wanted to use for a story, but didn’t know what their story was.  Sometimes I’d try and start a comic; I’d start to try and tell their story… but I would get a few pages in and give up, because I realized that I didn’t actually know where it was going, and so the characters would get kind of goofy and I’d try and pass it off as a lazy meta joke.  There’d be some Ambiguous Shadowy Figures™ running the Evil Science Laboratory™ that my Main Character Bishounen Boy With Wings For Some Reason™ had escaped from.  I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, I was just really excited to draw a pretty anime boy with angel wings.  

I jumped right in to making comics like this maybe… 4 or 5 times?  And every time went roughly the same.  Looking back now, I couldn’t tell you the characters’ names, or what half of them looked like.  I wasn’t even being facetious about the winged anime boy; that was a literal, actual comic I tried to draw in 6th grade, and I had completely forgotten about it until just now as I’m typing this.  You’re probably going to have a lot of ideas like that.  You might see characters come and go who never really get a story.  That’s going to be part of your journey as a storyteller.  Maybe your series won’t fizzle out after a few pages of bullshit like mine did (in fact I can already tell you’re more cautious than I ever was, because you’re aware of your situation and asking for advice… that’s another reason I’m so compelled to answer this ask; when I was your age the internet was different; social networking platforms weren’t a thing and I didn’t have a way to contact artists I looked up to and ask for advice, so the least I can do is try and fill that role now.  This is a whole ‘nother topic, but TO GET BACK TO IT) I’m here to tell you that, IF IT DOES, don’t sweat it.  You will get better at writing, you will get better at creating characters, and, god-willing, you will surely have better ideas than Pretty Anime Boy With Wings™.

Now, to move on to the part that’s (hopefully) actually helpful.

You used two phrases that I find interesting.  I already mentioned the first one, “some sort of series”, but the other one I’m zoning in on is “How did you come up with the things in your film?”  I want you to know that I’m by no means trying to talk down to you here, because this is actually a very straightforward way of asking something you might not have all of the right vocabulary for yet, but I take it what you’re asking is “how do you tell a story?”.  If the first few paragraphs I wrote correspond with “man I remember feeling that way when I was 15”, then these next ones are gonna’ be the “god this is literally impossible to answer” part, and I’m just gonna’ go ahead and apologize for that right up front, man!  Haha.

See, because that’s SUCH a huge question… that’s the part that I still struggle with.  That’s the part I said you’ll get better and better at over time—and you will—but I think it’s something you’ll always be learning to get better at.  I went to visit my family for the holidays and I borrowed a book to read on the plane: Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee.  I only got a couple chapters in before I remembered that I get motion-sick like a motherfucker and had to stop, but even in a few chapters I learned some new things.  You will constantly be learning and growing and bettering your skills, so don’t forget that!

There are lots of ways to tell stories, because there’s lots of different kinds of stories to tell.  Some methods work better than others.  I would suggest finding some things you like and making note of how they function… really dig in to them.  Maybe when you were a kid you took a clicky pen apart to see how it worked and then put it back together.  Try doing the same with the media you consume.  Not to turn into a cynic or anything, just out of curiosity to learn what makes it tick.  Think of it as STUDYING the comics and shows and movies you like.  

Since you’re asking me, I’ll use Welcome to Hell as an example to try and give you some things to think about.  I consider W2H to be character-driven; the character’s actions are what moves the story forward, the characters aren’t being forced to act because of the story.  There’s nothing wrong with either method, of course, it just depends on what you’d like to do.  Maybe since you already have a character, you can find a way for them to drive the story.  What do they want?  How will they get it?  What’s stopping them?  Is their conflict internal or external?  I think Sock has two wants: he wants to kill stuff, and he wants to be Jonathan’s friend.  What’s stopping him is that his two wants conflict with each other (an internal conflict), and also that his boss is the devil and there may be repercussions if he slips up (an external conflict).  Characters don’t have to have an internal and external conflict, and they don’t have to have two wants—in fact that’s actually a little convoluted—but I’m just using it as an example.  

Another useful thing to think about when telling a story is the structure.  From Wikipedia: “Narrative structure is about STORY and PLOT: the content of a story and the form used to tell the story. STORY refers to the dramatic action as it might be described in chronological order. PLOT refers to how the story is told. STORY is about trying to determine the key conflicts, main characters, setting and events. PLOT is about how, and at what stages, the key conflicts are set up and resolved”  

There are also different categories of narrative structure.  W2H is basically a linear narrative, for example.  It does technically start at the end and then explain how we got there, but the majority of the story is told in chronological order.  The reason it starts at the end is because I wanted to establish Sock and Jonathan’s relationship and the tone of the story right off the bat.  I thought it might be too confusing to start the story with Sock murdering his parents and then have it turn into a buddy-comedy half way through.  So I started it on a scene where they already know each other and have an established dynamic.  I also think starting it there creates a bit of intrigue:  “why is this kid phasing through a fridge?  What the fuck is happening?  What is his job?  What the FUCK is his job???  SHHH!!—The unreliable narrator is about to explain it!”.  

There are literally TONSSSSS of aspects to think about when writing a story, and it’d be impossible for me to go through all of them, but hopefully this will be helpful for you to get started.  If I were you, in addition to studying the stories you like, I would do some research and reading online.  You can always google terms like “storytelling 101”, “narrative structure”, “writing characters”, etc.  One of my favorite resources to read through was always (and still is) TVTROPES.  It’s like a wiki for the tips and tricks of telling stories… I used to spend HOURS just getting lost in that site, clicking on different articles and finally learning that there were TERMS for the kind of things I constantly think about.  Very invaluable resource.

And now, for the last part of your question, unfortunately, “writer’s block” is something that will never go away, haha.  There are ways to get through it, for sure.  Sometimes I’ll read TVtropes a bit if I’m really hellbent on figuring something out.  Other times I’ll just take a break to draw a little bit because I think my thoughts form more coherently and naturally when I’m drawing.  You might find different things that work for you!

IN CONCLUSION:  If you want to create some sort of series and tell some kind of story, just work towards getting good at it.  If you try to start a couple comics and they don’t pan out, it’s no big deal, because even making something unsuccessful is an act of learning how to get better at it.  You said you haven’t been too serious about it until recently, and that’s fine too, because being serious about it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go out and create a successful series right this moment, it can mean just striving for that goal and bettering your craft.  You have plenty of time to grow into an amazing artist and make all kinds of kick-ass stories, so always hang on to your drive to keep creating things!  

Oh!  And just a fun fact:  I think I first started having the vague ideas that would develop into W2H when I was, what, 17-18?  ish?  I tried making it into a comic when I was maybe 21… and I made the film when I was, I don’t know, 24?  I’m 28 right now.  So that’s something to keep in mind: good shit takes time!  You’ll probably have a lot of ideas come and go, but if something sticks with you for 10 years, there’s a good chance it’s worth bringing to fruition.  There’s definitely no rush to develop something you really care about.  

BONUS:

Here is a previous ask i’ve answered about storytelling tips!And here is another one!

You can also search my blog for “art advice”, “story”, “writing”, “character”, “animation”, etc., + “ask” to see if I might’ve answered anything else that would be helpful.  I don’t have specific tags, but I do try to tag everything.  You can also try “resources” or “important film stuff” to see things I’ve reblogged that aren’t my own advice.  

Hope you found some of this helpful!  Best of luck!

#this is the post I was angry about losing last night #I spent 3 and a half hours typing this shit #I hope to GOD it helps #slfklajjd #ask #personal #story #storytelling #advice #art advice #lazilydeepcoffee