#so you could say I have some theories about this particular artistic choice

[inkmoose]

So you know how in Jungian dream analysis, dreaming of a tidal wave symbolizes repressed emotions?

Interesting dream, Sora. You’re not uhhhhhh repressing any emotions specifically regarding Riku, are you?

Are you?????????????????????????

#kingdom hearts #kh #soriku #soriku endgame actually #kh sora #kh riku #I only know this jungian trivia because I had recurring tidal wave dreams for years #and later discovered I’m not straight #so you could say I have some theories about this particular artistic choice

[andy-wm]

I have thoughts about the Tiktok JK deleted

<<I realise its a few days ago now and you might be wondering 'what tiktok?' but I've been writing in snatches when I have a few minutes so it took a while. Anyway, here it is...>>

A few posts I've read have suggested JK did the silly>sexy Tiktok challenge backwards. That he did sexy>silly instead. That he was being random and funny.

I disagree.

What he did was unexpected, a little left of centre, and for the people who can read subtext, not random at all but very very clever.

I'll tell you why, (It may not be what you think) but first I need to vent about two things:

1. Give the man some credit. He knows what he's doing.

There are some who love JK but who see him as a naive innocent. He is not. He isn't a child or a himbo.

Saying he did the challenge just because it's trending, and he reversed the order of the content for a bit of a joke, is insulting to him as an artist. It would suggest he has no forethought or understanding of himself or his (global) audience, and his decisions are made on impulse with no idea of the consequences.

He's very intelligent and has plenty of experience with digital media and creating content. Besides being involved in producing complex visual narratives as part of BTS for the last ten years, he has directed and produced seven highly polished and professional GFC videos. And don't forget the MVs for Life Goes On. For the October issue of Vogue Korea he took on the role of Creative Director. That's a pretty big deal. So we can assume he knows what he's doing.

If he produces content in a particular way, it's because it enables him to communicate what he wants to communicate.

2. You may not understand the message. That doesn't mean there's nothing to understand.

A heads up to people who can't work it out... your inability to grasp meaning doesn't equate to 'no meaning exists'. Suggesting that people who recognise what he's doing are reaching or delusional is an insult to both the audience who can read this situation, and to Jungkook, who is sharing his message.

Consider a system of writing you can't decode. Lack of comprehension doesnt mean the writing is meaningless, it means you don't understand the language.

Even if you believe you understand what's being said, please recognise that context may play a role too, that it could reveal a richer and deeper message. Don't just assume the easiest (laziest) interpretation is correct.

(You may have guessed, someone suggested I was 'behaving like the cult' when I pointed out that JK's tiktok was more than being funny ... and now I'm mad 🤣)

Vent over. Now back to he topic at hand...

💜💛

What was he was really doing? And why is it not at all random?

Let's take a step back to recall what army has been saying about this...

Almost every interpretation i read suggests he reversed the order (silly>sexy becomes sexy>silly). The reason given is that his tiktok only makes sense if the order is reversed, and this idea is backed up by the caption saying "I go the other way".

But the 'reversed order' theory is based on a hereronormative perspective of what's sexy (and a stereotypical perspective of silly.)

So consider the content of his tiktok from a queer point of view...

For a man in a relationship with another man, the idea that he's with all those women is silly.

It's silly to believe he's got a girlfriend - or several. It's silly to think the womens' names in the song are relevant to him.

He posted this tiktok at a time when he's releasing music that fits the western pop norm of boy + girl, and when rumours of him dating several women at once are rife. The timing is not a coincidence and nor is the choice of background song for this.

All these assumptions and rumours are pretty silly, JK is telling us.

Now let's talk about the second part, the sexy part. Yes it may look silly on the surface, but we have seen him and Jimin make dorky faces at one another when they're flirting. It seems to be the visual equivalent of calling Jimin 'Jiminssssi'.

It's just another way they create distance and avoid 'getting caught'.

Maybe sexy for Jungkook actually is lying on the couch in your sweatpants making corny faces at your boyfriend.

Remember that he puts out 'stereotypical sexy' on command as part of his job so maybe that doesn't feel very sexy to him. Maybe that's work.

In my view (I know this is subject to interpretation) they've been together for years now. This is not the first flush of love. When you've been with a partner for a while, sex is (hopefully) more fun and less serious. Maybe it's about having the confidence to be wholly unselfconscious.

(My partner makes a Pepé Le Pew face at me when he's goofing. No, i don't know why either... 🤣🤷)

But wait, what about that caption?

What about 난반대로 간다?

My beautiful Korean friend (who sadly has zero interest or care about jikook) confirmed the literal translation:

"I go the other way"

"I take the opposite direction".

It's not "it goes the other way" or "this goes the opposite direction". He's referring specifically to HIMSELF.

Jungkook goes the other way.

But it's more than that according to my friend.

It's a bold statement:

"I don't follow the mainstream."

It reminds me of his tattoo ...

RATHER BE DEAD THAN COOL

He doesn't do things just because everyone else is doing them.

"I don't follow the mainstream."

OK. HOLD UP.

This is where it gets interesting.

Then why would he do something as mainstream as a trending tiktok challenge? Especially something as vapid as this challenge?

And why would he tell us DURING that Tiktok challenge that he DOESN'T follow the mainstream?

And then delete it.

Creating content takes time.

And we know he's a busy man.

He's about to release an album. He's doing live performances. He's prerecording for music shows. He's overseas right now... for the fourth time in a month! Does he have time for this??

And he DELETED it...

Did he just WASTE all that time?

No, he did not.

He deliberately chose to do this.

He did it knowing ARMY studies every action, every video, and every media release.

He did it knowing ARMY would already have copied the video before he took it off his profile.

He said on Stationhead that he knows ARMY has it, and is sharing and posting it. He's FINE with that.

So he took the time to create and upload that video. He wants it out there.

He just doesn't want it on HIS page. That's an important part of the story.

So lets go back to the caption.

"I take the opposite direction"

"I go the other way"

"I don't follow the mainstream."

*Said boldly* remember. It's a loud statement, captioning an otherwise pointless very mainstream trending challenge.

So if he's not referring to tiktok itself, or to uploading challenges, what could he be referring to?

...

...

There's only one thing left: Himself.

I take the opposite direction

I go the other way

I don't follow the mainstream

Essentially... I swing the other way.

There's no way a queer man would make that statement and not fully recognise the message he's sending.

As for deleting the video, I'd say he knew it was too risky to leave on his profile, being a celebrity in Korea. He's managing his brand. Deleting it also gives him plausible deniability. He can say he made an error. As I said, he's very intelligent. He knows ARMY will see it and share it. He knows that those of us with a queer eye will hear the message loud and clear.

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 And we do hear it. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

#jeon jungguk #jikook #kookmin #국민 #jungkook

[umbrvx]

i like ur art. its great and interesting!! i really like your artstyle and i really like the way u draw hsy, yjh, and kdj. you captured them so well in terms of vibes/character. also i was wondering do u have any advice to improve on drawing anatomy/poses/faces?

wahh thank you so much...!! i feel like im still trying to figure them out in a lot of ways but i do really like ironing out my visual interpretations of them so im really happy to hear if people like what im coming up with

also anon you super activated the part of my brain that cant help but yap about art theory... i spent some time writing as many tips as i could think of. unfortunately i dont think i have the time currently to do a fully illustrated guide, but ill still try to include some visual examples:

[incoming wall of text lol]

ANATOMY:

to preface i think that like 100% of the time you should reference a real life photo for anatomy rather than other artwork or drawn references. the best way to learn the body is by… well, actually looking at the body! but also artwork is informed by a person's own artistic ability/stylization choices/sense of idealism, so while looking at art can help give you an idea on how to break down forms, i think you would be best served observing real life references. i labor on this point because i do think that having over relied on drawn reference material and avoiding photographic references on the basis of not being interested on realism hindered me as a largely self-taught artist as a kid, so i want to encourage live or photographic reference since anatomy is one of the foundations from which everything else is built on. that being the case, all of my doodles i'm doing for this are going to be for the sake of example rather than to strictly say how you should or should not be drawing something

-> when you are doing a study of a photo, just try copying it as best as you can. pay close attention to the natural lines and shapes of the body -- the S-curve shape of the leg, the triangular shape of the forearm, the trapezoid shape of hips/thighs when they sit, and so on. note where the body folds or squishes or pulls; how mass will shift to accommodate a certain position. if a form is hard to visualize, focus on the negative space and carve that out, rather than strictly drawing the positive space.

don't expect to get it perfect the first time. in fact, iterate on it multiple times to build understanding. try doing it to a timer of 15, then 10, then 5 minutes. doing this will force you to have to prioritize the most important shapes. you can help reinforce this by using a thicker brush or a brush with no pen pressure (no joke ms paint works great for this) to force you to be loose and not become preoccupied with details.

-> pinterest is a great resource for finding and compiling photo reference material

-> organic shapes are curved, so embracing/emphasizing that (particularly for the extremities) can help make your drawings look more natural or fluid

POSES: -> it all begins & ends with contrapposto… you've probably heard of the line of action, which is related. if you're offsetting the shoulders & hips, it: makes poses more natural, more dynamic, and helps the pose sort of "draw itself" -- the legs will follow the direction of the hips, and you can use the arms to reinforce the angles

-> context is key. don't ask: what pose should i draw? instead ask: what do i want this character to convey? what does happiness, anger, sadness, and so forth look on this particular character? how do they express that? consider these drawings: these are both ostensibly the same pose, but look at how changing just the shape of the spine recontextualizes it.

for more on pose design i recommend watching Tracer & Pose Design 101 - The Animation of Overwatch by New Frame Plus (i promise this is a genuinely super informative video).

to expand on this, in general, all of the components of a piece (background, composition, pose, etc.) are best considered in conjunction rather than separately. it is difficult to choose a pose and then choose a background because they are missing the context that would make a piece cohesive. when you are planning a drawing, try to begin with your general concept/idea/prompt and then do several thumbnails -- small and quick doodles that should take no longer than 5 minutes each -- developing it: you may find that the pose and bg will naturally fall into place.

-> silhouette: the degree to which you need to push this varies by style but generally speaking the pose needs to be readable; i.e. instantly recognizable. try to keep important elements of the gesture outside of the silhouette. for example, if the character is pointing, keep that arm out of the interior of the body. the same pose can be more or less readable or dynamic depending on where the character is pointed in relation to the viewer

-> exaggeration!! goes along with the previous point. push the pose as much as you can (and what makes sense for your style) to communicate your pose as clearly and as intensely as possible.

FACES: -> i highly recommend the app Handy Art Reference Tool by Belief Engine for all things related to drawing hands/heads/feet. its on both android and ios. it isn't free -- it costs around $3 -- but that is seriously such a small price to pay for the amount of utility you get out of it: the hands models are fully poseable (there's also pose presets), you can rotate the head models however you want, and there is 3-point customizable lighting. it is really helpful for getting those super tricky and hyperspecific head angles that you just can't find a real life reference for. that being said given that there's only a few different head model variants, bear in mind how differences in features can affect what exactly a face will look like in those angles.

-> i still recommend doing studies of real people. as with anything else, learning generalized proportions is important, even if you are going to later on bend or break this depending on style

-> as for my own approach... it kind of depends on the style i'm doing at that particular time. for my paintings (what id consider my main style) i approach a character with a few real-world features in mind and then apply them to the best of my ability. it usually will take a few iterations to land on an interpretation i really like as i try out different things. a lot of the face also gets developed during rendering rather than through my initial sketch too, as i adjust for lighting and correct proportions on the fly

(look how much this image changes between sketch and render lol)

if i were to recommend anything, i think it would be to nail down your most distinct features first -- the ones that will make your character's face recognizable, and could apply regardless of art style. in my case with kim dokja, i knew when i first started drawing him that i wanted to give him a longer face and down-turned eyes. when i decided to do the disco elysium inspired set, in which i was breaking out of my comfort zone by letting go of any idealizations focusing on conveying characterization/making them feel "real", i landed on some more specific traits (defined lower lids/perpetually tired eyes/eyebags(?) the crease there idk how to describe it) which i continue to try to evoke even if im drawing something much more cartoony

(pictured are my first kdj -> disco elysium style -> my post de-style kdj)

as a side note, this very same process changed yjh much more dramatically

(^ that first guy is mad someone else)

those handful of key features will be the thing that you can then take into a simpler style and simplify or exaggerate to whatever degree suits you. you can also play with shape theory (square = sturdy/solid, circle = natural/smooth/welcoming, triangle = energetic/dangerous). shape theory doesn't necessarily need to be so rigid -- you can combine shapes as you please to convey whatever vibe you're going for -- so please think of it as a tool that may help rather than a rigid law you must abide by.

-> expressions: exaggerate them. thats kind of it!! make it big!!! you wanna be able to really feel those emotions. the principles of squash & stretch help here: think of how the muscles move when you, say, open the eyes or mouth really big. as one side of the face stretches open, the other side squashes to accommodate it

even without changing the position of the jaw here, moving the nose and scrunching the eyes will sell the expression

you can also play with squash/stretch to break proportions to sell a feeling more

since expressions are just, well, poses for the face, everything else for poses applies here (and facial expressions & pose should also be considered in tandem). while the term contrapposto itself just refers to the offset of the shoulders & hips, the similar principle of asymmetry also carries here as that will help make the expression a bit more dynamic.

and i think... that's it!! all i can think of at least. i hope it helps anon!!!

#umbrvx.ask #sorry the reply took a minute i have been writing this post since i got the ask im so serious #i tried to determine what advice i could give that would be the most immediately actionable #also sorry its a huge wall of text im a little crazy about learning and discussing art theory . oops (the yapper)

[thefandomenchantress]

Teruko’s Mystery Brother: Who I Think It Is

Warning: This is a bit self-indulgent; I think it’s interesting, though.

So, if you’re anything like me and haven’t rewatched Chapter 1 for a while, you might be wondering what the hell I’m talking about. Since when does Teruko have a brother?

Well, it was originally revealed in the laundry room scene in episode 4 of chapter 1:

And I have an idea of who this mystery brother could be…Though I’ll admit it’s definitely more of a crack theory than something that I actually think could be true.

Alright, if you’ve read basically any post of mine, you know who I’m gonna say, because I’m constantly biased towards him:

Ace.

HEAR ME OUT HEAR ME OUT. I PROMISE I HAVE SOME SORTA OKAY EVIDENCE.

Alright, first up for sorta-okay-evidence, we’ve got the most obvious similarity between these two.

They’ve both survived a serious attempt on their life.

If Teruko has a brother, it wouldn’t be surprising if they both shared the curse of having terrible luck, but the universe balances it out with them being unable to die.

But Teruko’s life, what with her constantly being on the run all alone because of her luck, is much different than Ace’s life, if his nine siblings are anything to go by. But Teruko hasn’t been forced to practice a talent she despises her whole life and gained an eating disorder because of it, so it…kinda evens out? What I’m trying to say is perhaps they could both have the ‘bad luck but you can’t die’ curse, it’s just that their bad luck is expressed in different ways. If Teruko’s bad luck and it’s consequences were obvious the the family who adopted her brother, it could explain why they chose him over her. He seemed like he’d cause less trouble.

But this is all speculative, of course. Teruko never states that her brother also had bad luck; she just says he was effected by hers. So me saying her and Ace’s luck is sort of similar doesn’t do all that much to prove my case, though I do think it’s an interesting comparison. So second piece of what I’m calling evidence time:

Ace is the only other character to be confirmed to have grey hair.

So, in case you haven’t read all the ask games hosted by the DRDTdev, here’s a tidbit about Ace you might not know:

His hair actually started turning grey from stress, making him the only character besides Teruko with gray hair. According to a quick google search, genetics is the number one factor in hair greying early. So them both of them having grey hair in their early life could be a sign they’re related…Or simply a coincidence. Teruko’s hair started greying at the tips, but we don’t know where Ace’s hair originally started to grey. Now, onto my third piece of evidence:

Teruko’s prosopagnosia, and a particular CG of Ace.

You may be wondering how in the world Teruko’s prosopagnosia relates to this. Well, you can thank @/weightedblankett for giving me the idea to draw a connection between the two (not going to tag them because this theory is pretty unrelated to the one they talked about).

So, the detail they noticed is a strange difference between these three CGs of people fighting in chapter 2.

Now, what difference am I talking about? Well, Ace and Nico’s CG is different because Ace’s and Nico’s faces are shadowed and partially hidden, which isn’t a artistic choice carried over into the other argument CGs.

Which could be related to Teruko’s face blindness. But how does this relate to my theory? Well, what I’m trying to say is that you’d think Teruko would recognize her brother if he were in the Killing Game, disproving it could be anyone in the cast, let alone Ace. Yet this CG may hint at her not really recognizing his face, which would avoid that issue entirely. It seems like an odd detail.

Of course, she also hasn’t seen her brother since she was 5 and he’s likely to look different now compared to when he was a kid, so recognizing him would most likely be pretty difficult anyway, if she were to meet him. Onto my next piece of evidence: People probably won’t ship them.

OKAY OKAY THIS MAY SEEM LIKE A WEIRD ONE. But if you made two characters secretly siblings, you’d probably want to ensure that people wouldn’t accidentally ship them, right? Because that’d be pretty awkward once it’s revealed.

But the DRDTdev has confirmed Ace is canonically gay, which means that it’s rather unlikely for anyone to ship him romantically with a female character, including Teruko (Though as far as I saw Teruko x Ace wasn’t all too popular even before we learned this).

And that’s it. That’s all my evidence.

Now, all this so-called ‘evidence’ is fine and dandy…But one thing I can’t really argue against is this: These two look nothing alike. Ace’s skin is far paler than Teruko’s, their eyes are different colors and so is their hair, (other than the grey thing). They both may share a sorta similar body type, Teruko’s weight is 120 and Ace’s 118, but I think we can mostly chalk up them being rather light to Ace’s secret and Teruko not having a reliable source of food while on the run. All and all, you’d think they’d look way more similar if they were siblings. Which is probably the main reason this theory doesn’t even convince me, and I’m the one writing it, haha.

Maybe I just like it when side characters who seem unimportant get important roles, but I just think it would be kinda funny if Ace was secretly her brother. I hope this was, if not convincing, at least an entertaining read.

#danganronpa despair time #drdt #drdt spoilers #ace markey #theory #cw ed #(mentioned) #teruko tawaki #this is so self-indulgent beware #crack theory

[warriorcatsamino]

"The only way to keep Tigerkit on a good path is to keep a close eye on him," Goosefeather muttered to himself. "I don't talk to Starclan, so why does Goosefeather think I want to be a medicine cat…?" Tigerkit started pawing at the herbs in front of him, "I want to fight." "I can't believe you're trying to force him into this," Thistleclaw growled at the older cat. "You're trying to take my apprentice from me. May I ask why?" He whipped his tail in agitation. The the gall of this bag of bones made him furious. 

If you are at all familiar with any of the WA Tumblr posts, then you have probably heard of this amino’s creative clans. But for those who don’t, I will give a brief explanation. WA has a series of creative clans that can only be joined VIA audition. These clans focus on a particular skill, concept or idea in Warriors and use skills such as drawing, writing, cooking or crafts based on a prompt assigned by the leadership team. Members are required each week, every other week or month to create these assignment posts. The piece depicted above, made by Kii_CatArt on Twitter, was for a clan called Alterclan. Alterclan, according to their official wiki on WA, is a clan that “is all about asking the question "What if?" We take scenarios and major choices from the books, and create art, stories, or theories about what would happen if they had chosen the other option, or if we had gotten a different outcome. The butterfly effect is what we enjoy exploring, as one simple twist in the Warriors series can cause countless situations to come to light.”. For the month of November, one of the two prompts members could select was, “What if Goosefeather took Tigerkit in to help him onto a better path rather than treating him like a bad omen?” This was the prompt the piece above is exploring. The original artist decided to interpret the prompt as Goosefeather making Tigerkit become a medicine cat so he could keep a closer eye on him and prevent him from going into battle.

I should probably give some context for the events in the books that lead up to this idea. ⚠️Spoilers for the main series and Goosefeather’s Curse ahead⚠️ In Goosefeather’s novella, it is quickly established that Goosefeather sees dead cats and has the curse of receiving prophecies he has no control over. One prophecy he receives which is mentioned both in Pinestar’s Choice and Bluestar’s Prophecy is about Tigerkit, the only kit of Pinestar (the former leader of Thunderclan who leaves to become a kittypet) and Leopardfoot. In the vision, he sees Tigerkit’s horrible future. In Bluestar’s Prophecy Goosefeather yowls as Tigerkit approaches him, saying that the tom should have died with his littermates. Similarly in Pinestar’s Choice, Pinestar has a dream where a Starclan cat tells him to kill his own son. When Pinestar wakes up, Goosefeather encourages him to listen to Starclan, hinting to the fact he knew about the dream and Starclan’s wishes. Pinestar, of course, doesn’t end up killing Tigerkit and he grows up to be the murderous and manipulative leader of Shadowclan, killing many cats and traumatizing many more before his death at the paws of Scourge. Even after his death, he haunts of the dreams of his living sons and Dark Forest trainees and is finally brought to rest in OOTS at the Great Battle with the DF. Firestar kills him once and for all, ending his horrible reign over the forest. 

I think the idea of Tigerkit becoming a medicine cat has tons of potential! It would completely shift the storyline and things would definitely have to be moved around. For one, assuming that Tigerkit would become Goosefeather’s apprentice, it’s very likely that Featherwhisker would have never become a medicine cat. Featherwhisker was Goosefeather’s apprentice and Sunstar’s littermate. Or, Goosefeather would have had two apprentices at once with Featherwhisker & Tigerkit both being mentored by him. However, I think the most likely scenario would be similar to modern day Thunderclan. I’m of course talking about the Leaf-Jay-Alder dynamic. For those not caught up with the books, Leafpool (a former medicine cat of TC) had her son Jayfeather as an apprentice. Later in AVOS, when Leafpool was still alive, Jayfeather took on his cousin Alderheart as his apprentice. The dynamic between Goose, Feather and Tiger could play out similarly with Goosefeather mentoring Featherwhisker and Featherwhisker mentoring Tigerkit when Goosefeather was still alive. There is however an issue with this idea. Featherwhisker’s apprentice, whom he gains in Spottedleaf’s Heart, was Spottedpaw aka Spottedleaf. If Featherwhisker already has an apprentice, then Spottedleaf would have most likely remained a warrior and possibly become Thistleclaw’s mate. Unless of course, Featherwhisker take on two apprentices or die prior to Spottedleaf’s apprenticeship. In that case, Tigerkit (would his medicine cat name still be Tigerclaw or something else?) would mentor Spottedleaf, meaning Thunderclan would have two medicine cats at the time of Rusty entering the clans. Likewise, Spottedleaf would have most likely not died as she would have her mentor there to protect her. Unless of course Tigerclaw died prior to Into the Wild. In that case, Thunderclan would still be left without a medicine cat and Yellowfang would be accepted it. Without Tigerclaw as a villain, the first series would lack a lot of the tension it had and Bluestar would have to select a different cat for deputy after Lionheart’s death. Actually, now that I think of it, Lionheart most likely would never be deputy as Redtail would still be alive. Now this plot could also be warped differently, for instance if Tigerclaw became an evil medicine cat and used herbs to kill Bluestar. Most likely he would have succeeded and put one of his lackeys (Longtail, Darkstripe or Dustpelt most likely) in the leadership position where he could manipulate them to do his bidding. The point I’m trying to make is a medicine cat Tigerclaw AU has a cacophony of different paths it could take. 

But, me and the rest of the SM team would LOVE to hear what YOU think on this matter! Do you like the idea of a Tigerclaw medicine cat AU? How do you think it would play out in the books? Do you think Tigerclaw would remain evil or turn good? How would the cats around him (Goose, Feather, Spotted, Thistle, Blue, Pine, Golden, Bramble, Hawk, Sasha, etc) be affected by this choice? How would the succession of medicine cats work out? How would the plot be affected? Would he keep his warrior name? Leave all your thoughts, opinions and feedback in the comments below. 

If you liked the art style depicted here, I’d highly recommend checking on the original post on Amino and leaving a like. Directly supporting the original artist not only makes them happy but benefits this account greatly. It motivates more creators to allow use to post their work. This gives this account more content to post for you guys! Do you want to see more Warriors based content? Join the Warriors Amino where we have a fun and active community which posts daily about the battle cats you know and love. 

Original Post linked here.

Original Artist linked here.

~ 🍵🥔

#warrior cat #warrior #warrior cats #warriors #warriors amino #warriorcats #cat art #cat eyes #cats #cat #canon #canon characters #digital art #digital painting #digital #digital drawing #digitalart #digital aritst #digital illustration #artwork #art #artists on tumblr #original art #art style #illustration #cute #cute art #animal art #animals #animal painting

[slaughterofangels]

For school i had to write three different art analyses. I then turned it into an essay. If you care to know about what inspires me and my art then this is for you!

For my analyses i chose "An UnPierced World" by Lizz Hamilton, "Droommeisje" by Manon Uphoff, and "Self" by Marc Quinn. I've attachted pictures of the works and the excerpt i mention.

Throughout the writing process of my gathering assignment's I've for sure made a big turn from where I started. Reading back my first analysis now, I cannot believe i managed to write so little about a piece I love so much. There is so much to say about the whole concept of giving a new skin to the dead, one could be trying to make it live again. Or perhaps wrap it up to bring it to piece as we should with a human body. Maybe we're try to highlight the beauty of death. There’ endless possibilities of the meaning and goal behind An Unpierced World and I feel my first writing did not do it justice. The concept of working with animal remains in art to me is a very hard practice, as I don’t want to disrespect the animal in way, shape or form. Hamilton is in my opinion an artist who holds these same values and treats the remains with respect. I feel this way because her work is also closely related to Catholicism and religion in general, this overlaps with her use of animal remains. An Unpierced World feels like a religious work to me. It’s a celebration for the animal’s life, but a funeral at the same time. It’s very powerful and almost glows to me, this double sided agony and beauty is like the artist’s religion.

 

I may not be religious but I find my personal work to have strong connotations with religion. My personal theory is that the feelings or message I want to portray are so powerful that I can only describe them as religious. I also have a huge fascination with angels, all their different shapes and sizes interest me. Especially the more unknown biblically accurate variations as these are often terrifying and almost indescribable. Not because we can’t imagine what they look like, but because I find it hard to imagine it existing in front of me as a living breathing thing. This feeling of a fleeting dream thing brings me to my second analysis.

 

I had not known about Droommeisje by Manon Uphoff before I first saw it in Stedelijk Museum a couple of weeks back. I chose it for my assignment because of a couple of things: the connection with insect pins holding up the painting, as I’m very into taxidermy. And the title, Droommeisje. As mentioned prior I’m very interested in the concept of dream things. One of my favourite book series’, the Raven Cycle and the Dreamer Trilogy include a character that can take objects out of his dreams. One chapter in particular, he tries to dream the essence of a dream. It results in something that cannot be looked at directly. It’s everything and nothing at once. It’s fascinated me every since reading it. I often find my dreams as inspiration for my art work, they have this certain atmosphere that is so indescribable to anyone else that I can only share it through visual art. My dreams feel so real sometimes, that I cannot separate them from reality. When I wake up I’m in-between dreaming and reality. That is a feeling I wish to capture in some of my work.

 

Lastly, we come to Self by Marc Quinn. In contrast of the others, this work doesn’t necessarily invoke strong feelings in me. I’m more intrigued by the material choice, and the continuation of the art work. The remaking every five years fascinated me. I’m very prone to obsessions. With music, art, books, colours, people, everything. I love to remake my old work and idea’s over and over again. Partly this is part of my autism, we are known to enjoy same-ness and routine, but Quinn also seemed to feel the explicit need to remake his work. On his website he says it’s to do with the passing of time. I find this interesting because that indicates change, in his face sure, but also in his self view and experiences. I really wonder how he changed as a person between the making of his works. Like I said before  I tend to rework the same idea’s in my art. It’s often about mental health. I’ve found that I’m stuck in this cycle of getting better where I simply have to meet the limits of what I can’t and cannot do. I constantly have the find these lines, it is a recurrent process that I can’t escape. I’ve gotten a little obsessed with this art wise, but it’s such a big theme in my life that I can't quite let it go. I’d like to share an excerpt of Richard Hugo’s “Essay of poetic theory: The Triggering Town"

My obsessions mark my work forever. What makes me obsessed is a good question, I have not figured that out yet. Perhaps another time.

 

Sources:

Hamilton, L.  Retrieved 17-12-2023 from https://lizzhamilton.com/home.html

#art #artist #fineart #sculpture #painting #taxidermy #vulture culture

[looosey]

Lucy's Main Quest #3: "Hey, shouldn't you be trying harder?"

So... You might've guessed by my last Main Quest post, but final grades came out for my sophomore spring and I didn't do that well. And... I was like disappointed but not surprised, because although I am delusional, I can also work myself up to reality. I.e. although I saw I got like a 30% on that 046 final, I was expecting at least a B, but then again, I can't recall or name most of the topics covered in the last third of the class, so it makes sense I got a C.

Well, there's someone else who isn't happy about these grades that is not me. It's my mom. Yeah, @budumtssss we're going a step further from, it's all the dance you've been doing, to... how can you take TWO classes and not get Bs (and a whole bunch of repetitive nagging getting real close to direct criticism). And so I got upset, and was like let me figure this out, you're not helping. And then she was upset--she says she should have the right to nagging as a mother without me being upset. In general, the nagging seems like more for her, and her need to feel important as a mother, and for her longterm financial stability than it is for me. But still:

"Shouldn't you try harder to get good grades now that you've been goofing off for three years?"

Damn. It hurt. But it also objectively does bring up an interesting idea that I need to figure out: do I need to try harder in school, and why?

Part I: No

To preface, I will shine some light to my journey leading up to now. "Work hard as a means to open more doors in life" is the no-brainer philosophy I lived by throughout high school. Once I arrived at MIT, I tried hard in classes and got the grades, but had a really depressing first semester, and a slightly less depressing second semester. It was exhausting, living such a "default" lifestyle: by "default" thinking about school, watching the clock as I ate, looking at unanswerable pset questions and thus having to pset with people I could not carry a normal conversation with, and otherwise be surrounded by strangers all the time. It was unsustainable, and made me hate my life and the school.

So, after some thinking this summer, I decided I would care less about grades. I took hip-hop dance theory and screenwriting. I worked on freestyle dance in my free time, really investing time and effort in it, and pursued this small funny Italian dream. I became better friends with y'all. I participated in clubs like KCA, mince, and MissB. I applied to rap class. In my application to CMS.S60 Rap Theory and Practice, I wrote:

"At the moment, the artist/creative is someone I respect more than the stellar student. So even at MIT, I write my own short-films, draw, choreograph dance, and think about satisfying videos I want to film in the future. All in all, I really appreciate that art shares a vision/interpretation of the world, giving it value."

This is my truth.

Yes, there is a parallel universe where I could be giving my all into understanding algorithms, and I am confident I could get an A in that class. I think my mom in particular was struck by this when I said this to her but I think she must've stopped listening here. The second half of this story is: I did not choose that universe. I study hard with curiosity and interest, but not to the extra levels I know is needed to secure a high grade in any class.

Yet maybe because of this choice, now I am living life to a fullness that I am proud of. This was the first year of my 15 years of schooling, where I was not an A student, and I've experienced soo soo many more parts of MIT, Boston, and delayed young adult life because of this: like grocery shopping and cooking to survive, working jobs, being bad at something, getting good at something unproductive, being pursued and rejected, on dates in general, finding my likes and dislikes in people again. Yes, I am figuring out what it is I want to pour my efforts into.

If Richard Feynman was my role model figure in high school, I draw inspiration from artists like Tyler the Creator now. Which is interesting: both geniuses, irreverent, cocky, and pushed their fields forward. This summer will be a research opportunity for me to figure out how closely I want to mimic the path of either the academic or the artist. In general, this lifestyle is necessary for my happiness and my continued journey in finding who I am in college.

Part II: Yes

"You keep it all bottled up that's why your life dry while mine wet / I study hard at school to keep my sisters and my mom fed." - Amari, suffolk county water (Nomadic Seoul EP)

Um... so exaggeration or not? My family as it stands right now, is doing okay financially. However, as some of y'all can guess, there are some ticking time bombs, or random variables, that make the system unstable. So, for now, let's just say there is some weight on my shoulders to make a decent salary after MIT, to share support wherever the pieces lie in a couple years. I think that might be a major part of my mom's worry as well, which is lowkey fair, because I used it in my rap lyrics so I should walk the talk.

The assumptions here are that a good GPA and a promising student at MIT will get hired by a tech company and keeps all those doors of opportunities open for me in the future. This route is tried-and-true. Whether you do it for the family or for yourself. The soul-searching can be done in a more BALANCED fashion--besides, you can move anywhere once you are at the top of the ladder.

Besides, my goal being Netfllix is as basic as any other company in recruitment: like they want a spiky developer, someone who's good at developing, not a creative mediocre programmer. They'll filter me by GPA if I don't have anything to show for myself. Ain't that crazy?

So studying harder. Yes. There are some sacrifices yes, like sleep, improvement in dance and rap, social life, but in return is capability and delayed opportunity.

Part III: Maybe

Anyways to wrap up this post: I will figure this out this summer. I just know I like my life a little fast-paced. I need to move forward with more of a plan/vision and the confidence to execute it either way.

Before my mom even brought it up I thought to myself this is probably now where I get better grades anyway. But I don't care about keeping all doors open: I live fully and intentionally such that I know which doors I want to close and not worry about. If I choose to spend my time pursuing something hard, I just hope I thought about why I'm doing it and why I chose it in particular. I agree bottomline that I need to work on my systematicness/thoroughness/work ethic in doing even what I like.

This is just what's on my mind right now. So thanks for reading it through if you did. Toodloo.

#mit #toodloo #tyler the creator #richard feynman #no role modelz #college #gpa

[breitzbachbea]

Ohh how about a director's commentary on Sophie's character :o

OHHHHHH THAT'S A GOOD ONE LET'S TALK ABOUT THE BEST GIRL

Send me a ⭐ for a director’s commentary on a story/section of a story/line I wrote

I think I made most of my Hetalia OCs, if not all, back in 2013 when I first got into the show. I've had a certain fondness for England (& FrUK) back then and was a big fan of the that one fanon version of Scotland, by an artist called repoko, I believe? That still meant, back then, there were three open opportunities for OCs from the British Isles, so I made a Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Which I will use in my writing until the day I die, thank you very much, the canon versions change nothing. I was here first, motherfucker.

Either way - I haven't written anything set in the Hetaverse with them in years and I would approach them differently nowadays as well. In regards to how they're portrayed in LFLS: The two Irelands would have a much more fraught relationship with each other and Northern Ireland would be far more disillusioned with the world. I like one excellent interpretation by @oumaheroes on the uk bros and I'd broadly say that my OCs would work the same way in the Hetaverse. I also wouldn't use the same name in the Hetaverse as I do in LFLS; again, I named them when I was far younger knew far less about the world and the history of Ireland. I like the name Liam for Ireland and Ava for Northern Ireland. Although Orla would also be a nice option.

One more funfact before the rest goes under the cut: Soph's very weird hairstyle (a bob with bangs but a chinlong streak of hair in the middle, which she pins behind her hair) comes from my inability to draw 😆 I had the little art booklet that came with a special edition of Vol. 5 and I absolutely adored the way France's hair was drawn in it. However, I wasn't good at drawing it. So once I had drawn Soph and realized I had drawn a drastically different hairstyle than I wanted ... I didn't backpedal like "Oh, I can't draw it yet, but no, it is supposed to look like this!". I simply went "Guess that's her hair now" and ran with it. Luckily, in "Irish Problems" I had the chance to give it an in-story explanation.

Here's by the way the kind of hairstyle I was aiming for:

Sadly, I can't provide well what I achieved instead since I have no fotos of Soph in left profile saved, but let's say I aimed for the sky and shot myself in the foot.

Now, about Sophie O'Connel in Like Father Like Son:

Her character was introduced into Irish Problems more like an afterthought than a central pillar of the story. In my Hetaverse writing, the two Irelands didn't get along very well, but I knew I had to change this if I was to write them as siblings. (Or maybe Republicanism had gotten the best of me by then, who knows. I'm just kidding.) Paddy was the person through which recent Irish history with the Troubles was viewed, at least in theory. Sophie did retain some ties to Northern Ireland, with her brother having bought/rented her sheep and the land in Northern Ireland and she was always spoiled by the Scottish, Gavin and his father William in particular. Aside from this though, Sophie is very little informed by the history of Northern Ireland.

Part of the reason may also be that I made the non-sensical choice back then to split Nothern Ireland and Ulster into two different characters. Hannah, Gavin's girlfriend, is that Ulster OC and originally from Belfast. If I did intend to do more parallels between history and LFLS, I could use these two to represent two different strains of people with different histories and realities in Northern Ireland, though ... Not that it matters much, since Like Father Like Son tries to stay faithful to the characterisation of Hetalia and I love to be inspired by history, but there are no allegories to be made.

Thusly, Sophie is primarily a very lonely teenager, who's trying to juggle her normal life with the burden of her patchwork family's way of life. A lot of the characters in Irish Problems and the first half of Italian Affairs lack, if not character, at least narrative purpose. So Soph's primary function is to explore the nature of grief and loneliness. Slowly, as I manage to establish the world around her in her POV chapters, it also becomes a story about growing up. I always joke that Soph's subplot is the YA portion of the book, but it's the truth. While she is of course not singular in her theme of grief or family, Sophie is outside of the political framework of LFLS for most of it. The focus is on herself, the comparedly smaller stakes of teenagehood and young adult life. This also means she gets to experience and express her emotions in a different manner that's probably more akin to how the reader does. I think that is part why Soph's chapters tend to resonate so well with some people; her despair does not need to be extrapolated. She doesn't have a fight or flight instinct kick in that postpones it. She wallows in her powerlessness, because it has no dire consequences for her.

Aside from all of that, it is a lot of fun to write Sophie and see where the story will take her. While I don't think her journey of finding her place in the world will necessarily facilitate positive character growth with her surroundings, it'll be interesting nonetheless. She's much like her brother, loud, boisterous and equipped with a good sense of humour and a mischievious streak. Plus, she knows what she's invested in and is willing to work for it - You don't know how hyped I am to write more Soph farmwork. To let her be an even more pragmatic person than her brother suits her, I think. The same Irish fighting spirit, but not as worn out as the lads around her are.

#also I love canon wales canon wales is very cute but my Tristan was a rugby playing beefcake not some twink #also I am a bit sad all the island lads are ... lads :( Not even one woman among them #which is why I also always adored Soph way back when I still roleplayed hetalia with a friend and wrote stories set in the hetaverse #she was a gal amongst rowdy guys and she definitely tried to fit in with her brothers and be one of the boys #I hope you liked this! #Writing it did make me realize that Soph really doesn't get to be her own person a lot despite having a ton of personality #It'll be fun to figure out her differences with her brother especially once I do more research #beareplies #kitaychan #storie nostre #soph

[redhedwitch]

Micki’s Tips to Shading

While there's no way I can cover color theory + light/shadow in a reasonable message, or even in a comprehendible way (I'm not a great teacher), I do wanna take a minute to clarify that when I say "practice color theory" that this is what I mean.

Understanding how light and shadow affect color is probably the most difficult part of art, but it's very much worth the hours of study.  I'm gonna try to explain MY process anyway because it's something I see a lot of people both complementing and saying they wish they could do, and I'm here to say you CAN do it, it just takes a little rewiring of the ole meat-slab and some dedication. Lets start with talking about the lighting, it's warm and BRIGHT (saturated), so starting there... Color IS light. Without light, there is no color, so when your light source is warm, everything hit by that light will have a warm tone. Using Rhys's shirt as an example, he's wearing a white shirt. To the eye, it appears white, but here it's a warm creamy white, a yellow tone. You can see this especially well on the skin tones, you all know Tim's skin tone, it's not at all gold; but here it is because the lighting allows it, and had I made him his "canon" skin tone, it'd have looked very strange because even though it's in the yellow block  it's leaning towards a cooler (closer to green on the wheel) yellow, which contrasts with the cool (purple) shadows (contrasting color schemes, which is a whole other thread I'm not willing to do right now).

I technically also have blue highlights and mid-tones in this particular image, which makes it more of a triadic scheme but again, that's for another time.

In my art, shadows are usually "cool" colors, as a result of many factors, but speaking of strictly artistic aesthetic, complementary colors just work. So, since my light source is warm and bright here, I chose dull desaturated purples for the shadows because not only would that  be a realistic thing to happen; it's pleasing to the eye. "Nothing is as it seems" I guess is the takeaway when it comes to color, your brain is very easy to trick and it's very good at figuring things out and auto-filling information even though you may not “understand” right off the bat why Tim is literally orange on the color wheel, but he looks tan/as he always does in the context of the rest of the image. 

Fluids are a great example as well. In the whole image, it looks like "normal" fluids, one would assume it's meant to be whitish or clear because we know fluids to be so. But in the painting, it's very much neither clear nor is it white. Anyway, I hope that makes even a little bit of sense and that it gives some understanding of how I think about my color choices. Unfortunately, this all just comes with a lot of reading and a lot of practice. X) I highly recommend setting aside some study time, if you can! Because there’s just SO MUCH to light and shadow to learn, like bounce lighting, rim lighting, and how dark things absorb much more light than lighter things (note: How Tim’s hair is purple, even though your brain knows it’s brown).

#red talks

[grass-and-citrus]

@Disney, why do you do this to us

Here's a post where I ask the question: "Who at Disney thought this was a good idea and signed off on it?" Sorry, this might get a bit long lol!

Today, I received a book I ordered called "The Art and Making of Artemis Fowl", as one can tell from the title, it's one of those sorts of books that documents the production of a particular film. I was already going to make a post about little tidbits in this book that (unintentionally) reveals a bit about the messy production of the Artemis Fowl movie. 

However, I became sidetracked by a particular page in the book that left me a bit baffled, and I decided that it warranted its own post. The two images here of both taken from page 154 of the book, where hair and makeup designer Carol Hemming writes about the work she did on the movie. This section does happen to touch on some of the, eh, cosmetic changes made to the characters, and some of the comments come across as odd to me at the very least, to problematic at worst, depending on how you interpret it. There’s a lot to unpack here, I feel!

In the first section, we’re already off to bad start in the first sentence with the use of “exotic” to describe the diverse cast of the movie. Carol goes on to explain that the reason they gave Butler white hair and blue eyes was because of the remains of “Cheddar Man”, a fossil of an ancient man found in England. However, a lot of the details given are incorrect when I looked into this myself. For one, Cheddar Man was not a 100,000 year old fossil, but instead more like 10,000 years old, so off by a magnitude of 10 times there! Secondly, from what I read, the scientists believe that Cheddar Man likely had dark skin, dark curly hair, and green eyes, though they can’t be certain, of course, with how old the sample is. So, using that as justification to give Butler white-blond hair and unnaturally saturated, bright blue eyes is certainly an interesting Choice™ they made. 

Frankly, I have always thought that if they wanted to make Butler black that they should have full embraced Nonso’s natural features, including his black hair and brown eyes. Altering his appearance in the way they did perpetuates that trope of giving POC characters more euro-centric features to “stand out” more. I mean, think of all the fictional media out there with dark skinned characters that have blond/silver hair or where asian characters are often given random streaks of bright hair dye. Of course, those design decisions aren’t necessarily offensive on their own, but one has to make sure they’re being mindful of their reasoning behind things, ya know? At the very least, they could have be more subtle, they changed Tamara Smart’s (Juliet’s actress) hair to be blond and it didn’t come off as unnatural, although if it were me I would have left her hair as its natural color too!

This second part is what really got under my skin, though. Carol says that in her research that she saw there was a wide variety of depictions of fairy folk in terms of skin tone and eye color, but that she tried to “show similarities between Artemis and Holly” and that they “share a subtle similarity of look that hints at a shared beauty and intelligence.” Um, let me know if I’m reading too far into this, but this makes it sounds like they felt the need to make Holly white, and appear very similarly to Artemis, so that they would relate to each other more? Did she have to look white to be seen as beautiful and intelligent? They already wrote in that odd addition to the story of them bonding over shared father related trauma, did they also need to look like to get along?

It seems she’s trying to say they wanted to show how the fairy people are very much like humans and have many similar traits and behaviors, but why does that have to involve making the fairies appear like Europeans? I don’t know, this whole part is very weird to me, especially with how this was a change from the novel and how Carol Hemming acknowledges that Celtic depictions of fairies can have a large range of diversity. But somehow, Artemis and Holly both being white is diverse according to her statement? Maybe it’s just so poorly worded that it sounds bad?

What do yall think of this? Maybe I’m over thinking a bit over here, but something just seems off with the reasoning given for their design decisions! There might be someone more informed than I am on these sort of issues that could share their thoughts!

Transcription of the images below the cut for those who need/want it:

First image: “Apart from the many curious and exotic characters in the film, there are human who become entangled with the inhabitants of the fairy realm. Nonso Anozie, playing Butler, was keen to have a different look from what he felt was his usual screen persona. The inspiration for Butler’s highly individual look came from new scientific research, published early in 2018, based on the one-hundred-thousand-year-old fossil remains of a man who once lived in the West Country of Britain. Known as Cheddar Man, the fossil possesses DNA suggesting that- contrary to earlier theories- the first modern Britons were dark skinned with curly hair and blue eyes. Fired by this revelation, Nonso was given blue contact lenses and white, tightly curled hair. ‘We shaved Nonso’s head,’ says Carol, ‘and, rather than a wig, his hair was laid on piece by piece- an operation that required three or four makeup artists working as a team.’    

Second image: “As for Artemis, Carol rook her cue from the fact that, as the story unfolds, a kinship develops between him and Holly Short. ‘During my early research,’ she says, ‘I explored many depictions of Celtic fairies and reference the popular imagery of blue- and green-eyed fairies with skins tones of alabaster through to dark. I tried to show similarities between Artemis and Holly and again, some diversity.’ As a result, the two protagonists, later compatriots, share a subtle similarity of look that hints at a shared beauty and intelligence. There is, it’s clear to see, much more to fantasy film makeup than just thousands of elf ears!”   

#Artemis Fowl #Artemis Fowl Movie #@ carol turn on your location I just want to talk #the actors and actresses deserved better :( #my next post will probably be some of the other stuff I found in this book #hopefully more light hearted than this post

[calboniferous]

In Theory

Work 1 in The Pen and the Sword aka. my jedi and academics AU

A stressed post-graduate anthropology researcher from Coruscant University enters the Jedi Archives for the first time and is promptly taken under the wing of one Master Archivist Jocasta Nu.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32355310

—

Master Jocasta Nu felt the visitor before she saw them. Stress and a frenetic energy radiated through the force tangled with the unique threads of emotion and colour that made up their signature.

Closing the book in front of her with a soft thud, mindful of its frayed edges, she appraised the blue nautolan hurrying towards her. Their worn brown coat was unbuttoned and struggling to stay onto their shoulders, saved by the strap of the bag hanging off one side which the nautolan had one arm wrapped around. Apparently, the bag’s tie had lost the battle against the tide of flimsy and datapads making the simple bag bulge obscenely.

Ah.

A scholar.

Like the many before them, they had come to Master Nu’s beloved archives in hope of finding salvation in its hallowed stacks. With her guidance, they always did and more often than not, they would return again. And again.

However, this scholar was not one that Master Nu had seen before and as they glanced wide-eyed at the towering shelves, shying away from passing Jedi, she surmised that the Jedi archives were unfamiliar to them also.

They reached her desk out of breath.

“I need books on Kante martial arts and history. Do you have books on Kante? If it has historical martial arts then that would be incredible but I’m setting the bar low. Really, the bar is non-existent. Should I even be setting a bar I don’t know- do you know what the Kante are? Were? They’re extinct”

“Young one, breathe.” Master Nu said, lifting her hand to interrupt the rush of words. Her brow softened in sympathy, “How about you start from the beginning and tell me what your thesis is and then we’ll go about finding resources.”

She signalled to one of the Padawans stacking holopads nearby for them to take over monitoring the main desk and led Tema to one of the many sunlit alcoves tucked between the buttresses.

Settling on a cushion across the low table from the sleep deprived nautolan, Master Nu pulled out her well-worn datapad, ready to formulate a list of texts to recommend for this student’s project. She had gathered quite the collection of such lists over the years and took great pride in curating them. Often, she would continue to add to them in her spare time so that when the person they had been made for returned, it was waiting and ready. And, if Master Nu happened to enjoy the thrill of a hunt for obscure references through her own archives every now and again, that was her own business.

Stylus in hand, she was ready to begin.

“You mentioned martial arts?”

“Right. Yes. I’m studying the fighting style of the Kante people which they used to reclaim their lands 7000 years ago after it was conquered in the Chandrillan Divide. The politics of the reclamation itself have been documented to death but there’s kriff all discussing how they actually fought,”

Master Nu hummed sympathetically, listening as a classic university post-graduate research tragedy poured out in all its glory. The purple shadows smeared under Tema’s dark eyes suggested that more than one night had been lost to this.

It was a credit to her Jedi training and skill as an archivist that Master Nu could write notes, elegant script flitting smoothly across the datapad without misspelling a single title or name, while offering comforting hums and interjecting words of encouragement where Tema faltered.

“So now I need to piece it together myself in order to build a theory on how the Kante people approached battlefield strategy,” Tema finished, fidgeting with their bag strap.

Setting her stylus down, Master Nu surveyed the drafted list with a critical eye. It was a daunting selection. She weighed the situation in her mind and carefully turned the datapad off, placing it down with a muted click of metal on the polished stone table.

“That’s quite the task you’ve got” Master Nu said, “more than an Honours project scope covers.”

She loathed to discourage any scholar but there were limits to the workload that could be shouldered and she had a strict honesty policy. With all her Jedi compassion and experience ad Head Archivist, Master Nu knew how to recognise when a student needed guidance in whittling down their research focus to a reasonable magnitude.

“I know,” Tema sighed, shoulders sagging, “I know but my project topic has already been approved by my supervisor.”

“Dear, your project as it stands is enough to satisfy a PhD and beyond. I can tell you are passionate about it but it’d be a tragedy for you to fail because you tried to complete years’ worth of work in the 10 months you have.”

The blue nautolan wilted a little, head tails curling.

“I don’t see what choice I have. I can’t form a thesis on the merits of Kante strategy without knowing how it worked at the individual level,” they said, resignation colouring their force signature grey with worry.

Master Nu paused, and after a moment spoke.

“Have you considered centring your project on the martial arts itself? At the individual level, as you say. Leaving the rest aside to focus on that should technically be within your project topic.”

Tema blinked, “That’s…that would work. Yes.”

Master Nu watched as they turned the idea over, considering how to approach it.

“Yes. That would make it more of a research-and-reconstruction project. A literature review with practical application.”

They gave a wry smile, “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.”

Some of the frazzled emotion of their presence eased and a few threads of humour sparked in its wake.

“I could have saved myself from being sick from worry in the University ‘freshers yesterday.”

They flushed a little darker at that admission and Master Nu suppressed what would have been a rather unprofessional snort of amusement as she clicked the datapad back on. Ah, younglings. They never changed.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, dear. That amount of stress isn’t conducive to clarity of mind, I’d wager,” Master Nu soothed, deleting a few items from the list with a satisfied air, “You’re hardly the first person’s I’ve known to have an adverse reaction to academic stress. Now, I do believe this list is ready.”

Rising with more grace than her age suggested she was capable of, she smoothed the creases in her cream and straw-gold robes and led the way into the maze of columns and shelves. Tema followed a step behind in a manner that to any observers bore remarkable resemblance to a duckling following its mother – if ducklings were six-and-a-half feet tall, that is.

“Somehow I find it hard to imagine a Jedi getting sick from assignments,” they mused absentmindedly, tipping their head to catch some of the book titles they passed, “all this information – it’d be hard to fail.”

Master Nu chuckled at that, passing through an archway into a side corridor.

“I’m afraid it can happen to anyone. One of my agemates routinely emptied his stomach at the prospect of examinations – that one, in fact,” she said, gesturing to one of the bronze busts lining the hall. The metallic features gave the human man depicted a severe expression. In Master Nu’s opinion, it was rather true to life even if the beard was far to neatly sculpted.

“The poor man. Perfection was as much his vice as his virtue.”

She smiled fondly, crows’ feet crinkling with nostalgia at sharing this particular story – at sharing the humanity of someone so proud and distant both in life and artistic rendition.

Tema faltered and the markings on their head tails blanched light blue.

“Oh, uh, my condolences.”

“Hmm?” Master Nu turned to them, “Oh no, he’s not dead. He’s retired.”

“Oh,”

They blinked, nonplussed.

“This way, dear”

The pair continued on their winding path. Master Nu, frequently gesturing to some architectural feature or other with her datapad, began to explain how the Jedi Archival system worked, pausing every now and then to pull a tome from the shelves.

“It is what many have described as ‘archaic’,” she said, stepping deftly onto the fourth rung of a sliding ladder attached to one of the shelves to reach her next target, “but no one—and I mean no one—has said it is an ineffective system.

“At least not in my earshot,” she said with a laugh, pulling the volume from its place and passing it down to Tema. The rumours the initiates (and fully-grown Knights) liked to spread about Master Nu’s draconian defence of the archives may not be entirely accurate but were taken by most as a warning to avoid slandering the archive in her presence. She knew Tholme liked to stir the pot and recount tales of her lightsabre prowess to the initiates, no matter that the stories were thirty years out-of-date.

“That being said, it can take some getting used to. The Padawans and Knight Archivists are always around and willing to retrieve sources for our visitors.”

Master Nu dismounted from the ladder, blew dust from her sleeve, and turned a critical eye on to the stack of books and datapads in Tema’s arms that had been steadily growing in size. The scholar looked strong enough to take a couple more, taking into account that their bulging bag would not fit anything more inside.

“That’s the last one from this aisle.”

She clicked her tongue and marked a check on her list next to the sources they were borrowing. They were all copies, of course, or volumes easily enough to source a replacement that their loss wouldn’t be abhorrent. Nonetheless, clean records made maintaining the collection less stressful on her soul.

On that note, Master Nu was pleased to feel that Tema was no longer pouring stress into the force like an anxious firehose. And—

She stilled, tilting her head as a familiar presence tickled the edges of her senses.

“Master Nu?” Tema asked, noticing her change in manner.

“Nothing to worry about,”

She once again took the lead. Down the aisle, then one aisle to the left and as they rounded the corner Master Nu smiled at the sight before her.

A little blue and beige figure was hunched over a book resting on the floor, absentmindedly gnawing on her Padawan silka beads and completely oblivious to the world around her.

“Padawan Secura! Why am I not surprised?” Master Nu called lightly and the twi’lek girl jerked, breaking from her literature-induced reverie to scramble to her feet.

“I’m not skipping sabre class again. I swear!”

Had it been any other Padawan of Aayla’s age group, Master Nu would think that emphatic declaration of innocence meant the Padawan in question was skipping class. Skywalker came to mind as a repeat offender of that variety.

Only question was that Junior Padawan sabre classes were always on Taungsday afternoons—this afternoon—and had been since before Master Nu was a crecheling. She hummed, unconvinced.

“Knight Kenobi is doing catch-up lessons this week and he said my forms were good enough to skip.”

That explained it. It seemed only yesterday that he’d been roaming the archives as a padawan himself, tearing through histories of the planets he’d visited at Qui-Gon’s side with single-minded focus. Shame that his lineage had picked him up before her own could. He would have made a fantastic archivist despite his record of being convinced to scale the bookshelves whenever Vos got temple fever.

Well, at least Aayla’s fencing education was in good hands.

Master Nu beamed at Aayla, “Then good work padawan and, as you are free, would you like to join us in gathering sources for Scholar Induri here?”

Aayla brightened, “Absolutely!”

And then, remembering her diplomacy training, bowed to Tema, setting her Padawan beads swinging. “Nice you meet you, Scholar.”

She scooped up the book she had been reading and as she put it back in its slot, Master Nu glimpsed the title.

“Reading Bastilla Shan again are we Padawan?”

The padawan blushed, fiddled with her tunic and handily dodged the teasing with a question of her own, “What are we looking for, Master?”

“See for yourself, young one,” Master Nu passed over the datapad, pointing to the highlighted entries.

Aayla squinted at the handwriting for a second before passing the pad back and running away down the aisle, one hand skimming the shelf labels. Padawans were lovely to have around and, watching Aayla slide 4 meters down a ladder and return to them with a grin plastered across her face, Master Nu wondered if she should take another student. Or, better yet, invite her former Padawans around for tea to see if more Grandpadawans would be joining the lineage soon.

“Thank you, dear,” she gave Aayla a pat on the head, “I’ll leave you to your reading. Just don’t forget to remind your Master that he needs to renew the materials he borrowed last month.”

Then, she turned to Tema who hadn’t made so much as a peep the past five minutes, seemingly satisfied to observe the interaction.

“Let’s get these checked out so you can get to reading them.”

Back to the main desk, the archivist and scholar wandered, and a minute later there was a new name entered into the borrowing database.

“Again, thank you for everything, Master Nu” Tema said, gathering the stack back into their arms. They were a little overwhelmed but they were smiling.

“Dear, it’s no trouble. One last thing, are you planning on enlisting someone practised in martial forms in your project? Or were you aiming for a more theoretical illustration of your findings?”

Tema cast their eyes to one side and shifted their weight.

“Ideally, yes, but I have no idea where to find someone like that so…theoretical?”

They trailed off.

“Good. I’m free to ask around here, then,” Master Nu said, tugging Tema’s bag strap so it was in less immediate danger of falling of their shoulder.

“If you need any help at all, don’t hesitate to send me a message or drop by. My archive is always open,”

At that, she tucked a slip of flimsy with her com code underneath the top datapad in the stack and gave Tema a parting pat on the cheek. With hope in their step, the scholar passed back out the archive doors, into the sunlight of the hall beyond.

Content, Master Nu smiled and watched them go.

“Now,” she mused to herself, opening the roster of temple-bound jedi and beginning to peruse the list, “who to ask…”

Her thoughts turned to the bronze bust of a man whose devotion to esoteric research was only outmatched by his skill with a blade.

His legacy…

Her eyes caught on a name. Yes, that would do very nicely indeed.

In the interest of vetting the source she intended to recommend, Master Nu made a mental note to attend next week’s exhibition tournament.

#jedi #jedi culture #fic #my writing #jedi and academics #the pen and the sword #jocasta nu #repost #star wars

[thekillingmoonmoon]

Okay, so: here I am again for some song recommendations! Before I begin, I must say my suggestions are based on my own impressions, so it would totally make sense if they sound fitting to me only, heh.

For Gojo I’ll say:

-“Jealous” by Eyedress (there was just something about the upbeat instrumental clashing with those rather insecure lyrics ..)

- On the sad side: "Privilege” (slowed, preferably), "Heartless" (again, the contrast between the trap-ish vibe and the lyrics ..) or “the knowing” (slowed) by The Weeknd.

Toji:

- speaking of sad stuff: “After Hours” also by The Weeknd / “Alone Again”, same artist (the first one, especially the lyrics - not the "I broke your heart" part, but like the yearning ..).

- On the .. sexier side (because he OWNS literally ¾ of my hot songs): "What You Need" (rigorously slowed and by .. well, The Weeknd). Just .. *melts into a puddle*.

I chose The Weeknd because I think his songs - those roller-coasters of hurt and vulnerability, toxic behaviours, unhealthy coping mechanisms, pining and sex, darkness and omnipotence -could fit quite well, even if loosely (thinking of "Kiss Land" which is eerie, surreal - or "I was Never There" and its intense, sad vibes).

Now, for Choso it seems like I can't make a fitting choice .. But I liked your perspective and recommendations a lot, so thank you! :)

Regarding Gojo’s character - ehh . Is my opinion going to be controversial? Perhaps. But I like him. Like genuinely. This not to say he’s exempt from critique to me (I actually do criticize him a lot and love the slander too, lol)! But .. eh, today I’m just feeling a bit down about it because of the opinions I keep coming across in fandom spaces. I have met very few people who are willing to have polite and specific discussions about him .. Even if the discourse surrounding him is indeed very complex! But of course to each their own opinion (!!), I'm not bashing anyone in particular especially regarding this matter.

Ugh! This said, I have taken enough space for today - save yourself from my Gojo ramblings, XD! I’ll be back for the next ask game, or for feedback about your (amazing) work - or, if I’ll ever be courageous enough, to chat about those damn Toji AUs / scenarios that have been rotting in my head for weeks. UwU

So .. Yeah, this is it! Sorry if this was lengthy ://. Have a nice day :))) <3

hello hello my lovely Sam <3

Let's address this first, I want to hear your Gojo opinions, all of your opinions <3 I love hearing all the theories about characters, and I'm not gonna judge/disagree with your opinions, because they're yours <3 Discussions of characters are always welcome, as long as everyone stays chill (and since these asks are just like a chat over tea, they'll always be chill)

So you can come tell me all your Gojo theories, please! just because I have a love-hate relationship doesn't mean I won't listen. In fact, I really want to hear other opinions so that I don't present a flat one-sided version of him in my fics <3

ALSO tell me about these Toji AUs XD I haven't had many Toji thoughts lately (i know, right) so I'd love to hear your thoughts <3

Okay okay, so I should probably start listening to The Weeknd >_< I like, know one song :( sorry, I live under a rock. I'll throw some on the next time I'm writing something spicy ;)

So I have a playlist just for Toji, and a playlist just for writing smut, and the overlap between them is LARGE. he just radiates that kinda energy you know? animal magnetism, I tell you >_<

also, I hope you've been having better experiences in the fandom since you sent this <3 just know that you're always welcome here, even if you want to ramble about Gojo's gorgeous eyes or large hands for ages <3 this is a safe and happy space (I hope)

Lots of love and kisses, and if you celebrate Xmas, I hope you have a lovely time <3

🐰🌙

#killingmoon games #🐰🌙: sweet sam

[addictedtostorytelling]

Alright I'm onto season 5 of TTW! 😍 all the way but I gotta know: is there a tone shift I should be looking out for? I'm a bit annoyed at myself for worrying because I'm not a big believer in Men of Singular Genius™ and while Sorkin's style is obviously a huge part of the show, so are the actors/directors/producers/writers room etc. At the same time, I'll be heartbroken if it sucks now lol. So I guess my question really is, how do you feel about auteur theory?

hi, @clintbeifong!

while i would say that the storytelling is maybe not quite as tight in the later seasons as it was in the beginning just on a general level, i don't think the show completely sucks after sorkin's departure by any means. 

at the top of its game during s1-s4, tww was one of the best-written shows in tv history, consistently putting out powerhouse episode after powerhouse episode.

from s5 on, it’s maybe not quite so regularly breathtaking, but nevertheless it’s still really, really good prestige drama, dropped down from an “a+” to an “a-” overall but still with some occasional moments of sheer excellence, which crop up often enough that i can’t recommend skipping out on anything.

imo, there are still some really quality storylines and standout singular episodes (a few of which i would even count as favorites)—it’s just that there are also some more meh ones and a couple of absolute clunkers* thrown in for the first time, as well. 

* without spoiling anything overly specific, there's one particular main character's storyline from the final season that is almost universally loathed by the fandom and felt to be ooc.

some beats they hit, some they miss, but generally there is more to praise than to criticize, and particularly as s7 ends on a strong note.

to make a very superficial comparison to another show we both enjoy, i much prefer the later seasons of tww to the later seasons of csi and feel like whatever change in quality there is is far less precipitous with the former than the latter.

for me, with tww, the post-s5 change isn’t so much about quality as about what types of stories the show chooses to tell, and, honestly, i think that change has less to do (overall) with sorkin's departure than it does with the fact that the show was aging, both in terms of production and premise.

just by nature of there having been some cast turnover out-of-universe and it being the start of a new election cycle, with bartlet on his way out, in-universe, we start to see more and more "outside of the white house" episodes and storylines as the show goes on, in addition to the core group of characters splintering off from each other to take part in different pursuits and be used in different ways and combinations than what we'd been accustomed to before.

that's not to say that the senior staffers are always necessarily apart from each other or that the core relationships are neglected.

it's just that the structure of the administration does turn over on multiple levels and "next steps" become an inevitable narrative focus. some old timers leave, some new folks step in. people’s roles evolve. it’s less about the “day to the day problems faced by a presidential administration” and more about that administration preparing for an inevitable transfer of power.

so to me it's definitely different but not by any means wholly bad. there’s still a lot there to enjoy.

ymmv, of course.

as for auteur theory just in general, when it comes to television especially, i don't believe in it.

most showrunners who fall into the category of what could be called "auteurs" tend to really be somewhat glorified "idea men," who come up with great original notions for shows and maybe devise an influential set of rules of engagement re: storytelling choices to start out with, leaving a strong initial imprint on their projects; however, just by the collaborative nature of the beast that is making a television series, there are ultimately too many other creators and artists involved in the making of any single television show—and especially any single television show that runs beyond one or two seasons—for just one guy to be god almighty, even if originally the whole thing was more or less "his baby."

whether it be sorkin or zuiker or shonda rhimes or whomever else, the pattern i see over and over again is that the so-called auteur comes up with a great initial premise; puts their stamp on the first few seasons (where they often serve as lead writers and frequent directors in addition to filling the showrunner role), doing a lot of the heavy lifting in shaping the characters and creating what will be the hallmarks of the show/franchise; but then somewhere along the way they inevitably shift into producer mode and move on to new projects (oftentimes expanding their own “cinematic universes” with spinoffs and other tie-in series), leaving the original property largely under the creative direction of others, despite sometimes still retaining a nominal ep credit.

but, honestly, even before they "move onto the next thing" in any kind of official capacity, the shows these creators make have already inevitably become collaborations—frankly, from the very beginning—as much the product of the collective decisions of the staff writers and episode directors and set managers and crew and cast and editors and network execs as the person who first pitched the script to the network to begin with.

tv storytelling is fundamentally a group endeavor, and even showrunners with particularly unique aesthetics and distinctive voices aren’t solely responsible for the expression of their interior visions in the end.

certainly such is the case with aaron sorkin.

for as much as the walk-and-talks and spitfire dialogue and hopeful idealism of s1-s4 of tww are all his innovations and essential to what makes tww recognizably tww, the fact is that from the pilot, other people started to get their fingerprints on that production, to the point where there is a lot that is quintessentially tww that isn’t attributable to him.

for example, janel moloney's acting choices laid the groundwork for donna to become a main character long before sorkin realized the potential for the character to be more than just a bit part. donna’s recognizable donnaness came from an actor’s vision, more so than anything in the script or direction.

the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, you know?

anyway.

all of the above is to say that i think you’ll still find s5-s7 of tww both recognizable and enjoyable, as long as you can hang with some of the shifted narrative priorities inherent to the story world at that point.

i’d be interested to know your thoughts once you get into it.

happy watching, if you decide to finish the series!

#answered #clintbeifong #asks: tww #let's talk shop

[annetteblog]

I got a very long ask and wrote even longer reply, and now Tumblr for some reason doesn't want to publish it through asks. So I'm making a separate post, because what else can I do? 😀 I hope Anon wouldn't mind

Hi!

Thank you for such a long ask! I really enjoy replying those, although it may take some time to actually write whatever I have on my mind 🙂 However, I feel like for every question that you posed, it's possible to write its own big reply or even an essay, so this piece of mine probably won’t give them justice (but I’ll try my best.)

As usual, one big IMO.

1) Ethics, “gueer coding” and discussions

I believe I’ve already partly touched this subject here. Shortly, I think that everything the boys did (and still do) had its own purpose. They decided to put these "undertones" (or whatever one may call them) in their art. They made some statements with a very small room for interpretation. And it didn't happen once or twice. More like, it's been a consistent behaviour throughout years.

I don't buy this excuse some fans write - "oh, he just didn't know about this/didn't understand how it looked like/didn't..." So apparently, JK wasn't able to figure out shit about Troye, didn't give a damn about his GCF, didn't think how his tattoo looked like; JM didn't realize to what conclusions could lead his quite bold words about 4am or waking up and seeing JK; both of them didn't have second thoughts about the Black Swan dance; Bang PD is just a CEO who pays zero attention to BTS in general and KM actions in particular (which sometimes actually backlash, e.g. that stop gay fanservice thing after the Seoul concerts), because he clearly just doesn't care AT ALL; whatever PR service they have in BH is just asleep all the time... Etc etc etc, you got the idea

Well, if one wants to perceive JM, JK and BigHit as a group of complete morons with no brains, this "oh, they just didn't know" explanation may work. But if all of them were idiots, how would BTS become the biggest group on a planet? They are smart enough, deal with this.

And YET. KM still do what they do. It's their choice, so apparently they have their motives. You wrote it yourself too - "Jikook and BH put out all that stuff for a reason."

Keeping this in mind, I truly think it's fair to discuss queer undertones or KM's bond. It's meant to be discussed and speculated. They made it public, and they continue to make it public (and quite obvious, to be honest). Why? Well, I guess they want us to speculate.

From here comes the second point

2) Art and its interpretations

In general, I believe that any good art should allow various interpretations. That's what a good piece of art is supposed to do - provoke a thought. As well as it's quite customary to analyze and (sometimes) overanalyze art. Thousands of universities worldwide have programs which are focused on fine art, literature, theater, music, film, etc.

And why is it okay to write about Avengers or Madonna or whatever weird art you're able to find in the closest Contemporary museum (like a banana taped to a wall), but not okay to interpret BTS' songs and/or performances? Again, I strongly believe that art is meant to be discussed. Especially as cool as theirs 🙂

Actually, some popular fandom theories turned out to be true here. Since Spring Day release on Feb 2017, fans speculated about its connection to the Sewol ferry tragedy based on the song's lyrics, MV and choreo. We got this confirmation like when, December 2020? But before it was also just an interpretation.

Coming back to KM. Combining these with the idea that JM/JK/BH clearly know what they're doing and how it may look like, I don't see a problem in having various interpretation of their art. Including queer ones.

3) Escapism

Isn't all art targeted to escaping in a sense? We want to take a break from reality and/or mundane life or just gain some new experience. In this sense what's the radical difference between staring at pictures or sculptures in a museum, watching a movie, reading a book or scrolling through Tumblr reading BTS/KM centric posts? All of these are means to escape and entertain ourselves.

As for this "if they are a queer couple, is it okay to derive pleasure and 'what a beautiful love story' feelings from two members of systematically oppressed minority?" - and you would prefer doing what - ignoring them? pretending that they don't exist? 🙃 In case if they are a queer couple, I guess showing support and benevolence is even more important. Exactly because, as you mentioned, they are a part of the oppressed minority. And the hatred is/would be definitely in place.

4) Fanfiction

Oh my, what a controversial theme these days.

Firstly, some forget it was not invented in the 21st century. Even slash fanfiction (cough Star cough Trek). As for incorporating real people, it's been a part of literature for like what.. always? There are millions of different writings about emperors, nobles, military figures, lives of saints, etc. And it's not like personal opinion of people in question bothered those, who write or wrote about them. I clearly remember a scene in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, where Alexander I [Russian emperor 1801-25] after losing a battle against Napoleon, hits a birch tree with his sword while crying hard and just being kinda hysterical. Would real Alexander be satisfied with such image if he read the book? Idk 😄

About having "the right to comment on such [different from your own] experience". I suppose, if authors wrote only about what they had experienced, our literature would be 95% poorer than it is. How can one write books in historic settings if they didn't live there? How do books about future and space travel exist, if we live in 2021? Is it needed to be a part of mafia to write about mafia? What about other cultures? Should an American author write only about American people and American lifestyle or it's fine to have characters from other countries?

Writing is not about experiencing something and then making a fanfic or a book, it's more about research and compassion. If you have reliable info on your theme and are able to look at the world using different lenses, why not?

I don't perceive fanfiction as a worldwide evil. Sure, there are creepy examples as well as authors, who write fetishizing weird shit. But it doesn't mean that all fanfiction=bad and all slash fanfiction=objectification of male homosexuality. Fanfiction is just one form of fiction, it can be good or bad based on how it's written. But the label itself doesn't define anything, as well as reading it should not be a reason to accusations.

5) Jikook, shipping and politics

I'm among those, who perceive pretty much everything as a part of politics. We all exist within some political conventions and have certain political laws over our heads. And yes, it includes art. Even if an artist says something like "oh, I decided to stay away from politics, my work is beyond it". The decision to stay away from politics is also political, because apparently there was something within the political structure what made this artist say that and forced them to make this distinction between them and some institutional conventions.

And that makes me believe that shipping/supporting KM is also political. But I don't think it's necessarily bad? Basically, you decided to support potentially queer people from a country, which doesn't really approve LGBTQ+. It puts you in the opposition towards a particular government. You made a choice. You could google some SK stuff, read all that you mentioned in the beginning of your ask, and say something like "oh, that's not okay there? well, fair enough, I guess their government knows better"🤠 and forget that this KM thing even exists. But apparently you didn't

Imo, is it politics? Yes

Is it bad that it's politics? Well, no? 🙃

|

P.S. I hope I was clear enough with my ideas. Thank you again for the thought provoking ask, and I hope I'll hear from you again 🙂

And honestly, I don't think that you're problematic in any way :)

#annetteasks #jikook #kookmin #long post #jeon jungkook #park jimin #jimin #jungkook

[ghostietoasty]

Why Sherlock Holmes FGO is Sus: Theories and More

Before I begin, I’d like to give thanks to my wonderful friend for all the points, art, and info searching that have been made to produce this piece, I can’t appreciate you enough for the effort you put in. 🥺🙏💕

Alright now on to it!

INTRODUCTION: Humble Beginnings (Identification of the Abnormal)

If you’ve played the app Fate/Grand Order for a while you’d know about the Heroic Spirit we first encounter in a hole within Camelot’s dessert whilst going to the Atlas Institute. Smart, handsome looking, and sharp enough to discern our True Name, this man of mystery has been seen as an oddball by many long time players of the game. There are many aspects about him that raise doubt about his credibility, is he truly what he wants us to think he is? That servant is Sherlock Holmes (Ruler) and there are many theories about him having some secrets, about him either being a Foreigner class, Beast class, or something else entirely. We are attempting to catalogue all this information in one place for maximum clarity.

SECTION 1: Other Character’s Reaction (First Impression is the Best Impression) *WARNING LOSTBELT 1 AND 2 SPOILERS AHEAD*

From the first encounter in Camelot right until the end of Lostbelt 2, there are many instances of characters reacting to his presence in….interesting ways.

Bedivere, when first coming in contact with Holmes in Camelot says that "I suppose I've never really been good with people like him. He reminds me of Merlin."

It could refer to the mysterious manner in which both Holmes and Merlin conduct themselves, but better to keep in mind that Merlin is a Grand Caster, and that he manifests as a servant due to specific circumstances (he is not dead).

In Camelot, Mash assumes that Holmes must be Caster class and that the original novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle must have been biographies penned by Dr. Watson under a pen name. Holmes corrects her, saying that: "My true identity, my essence, is slightly different from what you may think. And sad, but that is not the purpose of our gathering here today."

This dilemma is also present in the Sherlock Holmes Trial Quest (which mostly tackles the debate of whether he's a fictional character or someone who actually existed). Holmes has a line where he says:

"Ah, yes. I mentioned I was a Caster. Forgive me, I lied."

This is however immediately followed up by:

"A jest. My apologies. I couldn't help myself." 

This sort of backpedalling raises a doubt as to whether he was really Caster class before, so the nature of his former class is still a mystery. He later mentions that his Ruler class is the World telling him that not all illusions and dreams need to be laid bare.

When meeting with Salieri in Lostbelt 1, Holmes introduces himself as such:"I'm Sherlock Holmes, Chaldea's administrative advisor. I became a servant through unusual means, just like you."

Salieri was only summonable as a servant  because of his reputation caused by the fact that he killed Mozart. He is under the effect of Innocent Monster. It can also be said that Salieri is a lostbelt servant and is significantly more sane than he would have been in a normal summoning, that was the unusual summoning that Holmes was refering to. Does this mean Holmes is not from Proper Human History? 

Sigurd (who's under the control of Surtur), while attacking us in Lostbelt 2 says this: "So, a human and two Heroic Spirits. No, wait. Neither of you are pure Heroic Spirits, are you? You've both got something else mixed in. Hehe, hybrids then. Interesting" 

This is in reference to Holmes and Mash, who are alongside the master at this moment. Mash is a demiservant (human+servant) hence the "Hybrid" comment makes sense, but Holmes? What is the "something else" mixed in with Holmes?

Later in LB2, Holmes requests the assistance of Scáthach-Skadi in beating Surtur. Skadi says that normally she would never pay mind to what a mere Heroic Spirit had to say but: "...but in your particular case…I sense wisdom in those beautiful eyes. You remind me of Baldr, god of light." Quite a bit later, she also has this to say:"Perhaps those piercing eyes of yours in fact surpass Odin's? Mystic Eyes, perchance? ….No, that's not it. They merely reflect your wisdom born of human history's cumulative accomplishments."

She says that's not it, but the fact that it was the first thing she thought of shouldn't be ignored. 

Baldr is the god of light. Holmes' attacks consist of beams of light, and his cane lights up when he's using it in battle.

In Norse legends, Odin is said to have sacrificed one eye to the spring of Mimir in order to get ancient wisdom, the ability to perceive everything in the world. 

SECTION 1.5: More Reactions (From JP Only)

Since it is JP only and there is no official translation for NA yet, this information cannot be 100% confirmed in any way. (Most of this is from Reddit translation done by fans). But as these are also important, it's best to put this information separate section.

Moriarty's interlude involves him finding a micro-singularity in London. At some point the transmission between Chaldea and the master gets cut and Moriarty reveals he created this scenario, made the singularity and everything to get one on one time with the master. He tells us not to trust Holmes. When the time comes, we as master should choose Moriarty over Holmes. 

It has to be kept in mind that Moriarty is not a good guy, he is a character created entirely to oppose Holmes so it is natural that he doesn't trust him. For all we know, it is just emotional manipulation. 

Moriarty's very nature is tied to being the antithesis of Holmes. Holmes might theoretically go against us for the sake of humanity while also trying to keep us safe (the master is in a way, a Watson replacement to him after all) while Moriarty would gladly let humanity burn for the sake of us but also for the sake of being completely opposite to Holmes and keeping his identity as such.

However he does raise valid points, how was Holmes able to rayshift? This part was never explained, and he also mentions that his hypothesis has a fatal contradiction in the fact that Holmes risked his life to save ours. What can be inferred from this is that Holmes is a good man and is on our side, but there is something very weird about him that should not be ignored.

In Lostselt 5 it is mentioned at one point that Zeus called Holmes dangerous, he mustn't look at Zeus or the other gods and that his eyes are enemies of the world.

It has to be mentioned that this is some heavy emphasis on Holmes' eyes (Skadi mentioned Holmes' eyes twice, and she was a god as well). Is it because of the nature of Holmes that he is the one that reveals all truth? Is that in some way detrimental to gods, magic and the world in general?

Recently, from Holmes' skill upgrade interlude there was a section about Holmes saying that he is always an ally of justice and that while he may be on our side, he is still capable of evil but it doesn't change the fact that he is our ally. Even then it seems he has some secrets that can't be understood by himself.

By now with the presence of Dr. Jekyll and Helena and their recounts on what happened, it is confirmed that Holmes was actually "alive"(?)

Some of the adventures penned by Dr. Watson were actually censored versions of the original happenings, which were magical in nature.

Holmes was traumatised(?) by Helena's death back when they were both alive. He swears he would never let that happen again. (remember what happened in lostbelt 2…)

It seems that Holmes himself is not fully sure of what is secret about him. Since he utterly dislikes talking about something without being 100% sure about it (this tendency of his has gotten us in trouble before) plus his general secretive nature, it can be said that this is why he wouldn't talk about that.

SECTION 2: Weird Things That Holmes Does (And Other Questions)

Heroic Spirits are anything but normal, but there are few servants who break the norm even further, and Holmes is one of them.

Holmes is able to Rayshift (presumably) from London, to Camelot, and then to Shinjuku. There are very few servants who are able to manifest themselves. 

Musashi also appears here and there, but it's not a deliberate choice on her part. She is not able to predetermine her next destination. 

Arthur travels from a parallel world to this world, but this is due to "chasing after a certain powerful antagonist, evil omen" - so he tells.

Beast class has the skill of Independent Manifestation which would allow the servant to manifest anywhere they'd want. Merlin, Tamamo Vitch and Shiki possess it. However, it has to be noted that Holmes' rayshifts have a significant toll on his saint graph, as he is unable to fight or defend himself by the time we meet him in Camelot. While normal Independent Manifestation shouldn't lead to the depletion of the user's saint graph. Holmes' class is unknown at the time of his rayshifting. 

At the time of summoning, Heroic Spirits usually reveal their class and True Name (there also are exceptions to the rule). At the time of his summoning, Holmes doesn't reveal his Class: "Are introductions necessary? I am a detective. If you were expecting a hero, my apologies...But if you wanted a detective or an investigator, you drew the right card."

In the case of EOR Servants whose names haven't been found, they reveal their class.

Who summoned Holmes? The only thing we know regarding his presence was that it was first clearly there when he tampered with information in London.

Holmes' illustrator is Yamanaka Kotetsu, who was also the illustrator of the beasts Tiamat and Goetia

The artists who design and illustrate the characters tend to do it in groups of servants who are related to each other in some way (Pako with Arjuna and Karna Chacha and Nobunaga; Miwa Shiro with Brynhildr and Sigurd). It is strange that Kotetsu designed only Holmes, Tiamat and Goetia.

(NEW ADDITION) It should also be noted that as an illustrator Kotetsu has had previous works in a Lovecraftian Guidebook and is also the artist to the Alien God Preistess, somewhat showing how their work leans more to the outerworldly.

SECTION 3: The Design

It is a very commonly noticed fact that Holmes' coat in his third ascension has a very similar shape to that of the Foreigner card artwork.

The pattern work on the coattails of the foreigner art and the inside (blue) part of Holmes' coattails have a very similar, if not exactly same pattern running down the entire length of it. The sphere summoned in Holmes' Noble Phantasm also has the same pattern on its sides and front.

There is a "fog" around Holmes in his third ascension, which is reminescent of the smoke in the card art. (Also can be the London smog).

The glowing section of the abdomen of the being reminds one of the metallic corset that Holmes wears. 

There are 4 notches of smoke on either side of the being (total 8), under their cape. If we stretch our interpretation, then it could mean Holmes' arms and the metal arms that he has is also equal to 8.

In that tangent, the shape of the coat is also similar to that of Saver class Buddha, the fantasy trees from Lostbelt 3 and 4, and the Shadows made by the 6th imaginary element.

The Endless Knot / Shrivatsa symbol on his shoulders is one of the many references of his connection to Tibet (faking his death after the Final Problem). It is an important symbol in both Jainism and Buddhism.

Some of its interpretations include:

The eternal continuum of mind.

The union of wisdom and method.

Since the knot has no beginning or end it also symbolizes the wisdom of the Buddha

the endless cycle of suffering or birth, death and rebirth within Tibetan Buddhism.

The cane that Holmes wields has a pattern on its handle in the shape of a Prayer Wheel. 

However, we are not able to find the meaning behind the script on the cane. Both of us attempted to translate it but failed. If anyone can translate the meaning it would be greatly appreciated.

The holographic books in the base of the unidentified sphere have a pattern on their front that greatly resembles a lotus. 

In Holmes' third ascension, there are a number of magical circuits on his coat.

The circuits are almost only on his left side, with very few circuits on his right side. It's not like it was woven into it, were that the case the circuits would have been all over his coat in a more even distribution. It's almost like an impact radius.

The circuits are very similar to the ones visible on the title screen of the lostbelts, as well as the patterns seen on the fantasy trees.

CONCLUSION SECTION: Something's Up (It's Big Brain Time)

It's clear that something is very strange about Holmes, from his interactions to his design, it's clear that there is too much effort into throwing these hints that it's not just a red herring.

Is he a Foreigner? Beast? Counter Guardian? Some other unknown extra class? It cannot be said at the moment. Holmes' role as a revealer itself is dangerous to mystery and magic, so it can be anything.

 It is also not necessarily true that just because Holmes has all these abnormalities, that he will betray us, or is on the side of evil. When has there been a clear cut side of good or evil anyway? It can be argued that we are the villains in some way, as we bring about the end of these timelines to safeguard our own proper human history. 

Holmes has always been on the side of humanity and will continue to be, the question is what the reveal will be, why and how. That, only time and future chapters can answer, all we can do is speculate.

#fate #fate grand order #fgo #Sherlock Holmes #lostbelt spoilers #foreigner theories #fuccyoutumblrfuccyoutumblrfuccy #hope yall enjoyed!! feel free to give yalls thoughts!! #and again thank you soso much fremd🥺🥺🥺🙏🙏

[opbackgrounds]

Hi there Sarc' ;) I am sorry if the question has already been asked but I thought it could be interesting to have your opinion about this. While I love most of the female characters in OP and think that most of them are well developed and can be truly good role models for girls I still feel that Oda sometimes has a sexist view on female characters (the jokes about the naked bath scenes for example or Kororo being considered ugly make me really uncomfortable). What do you think about it?

Ah, I wondered when I would get this question. 

When people talk about sexism in One Piece they typically are referring to two different things: How women are drawn, and how they’re treated within the narrative. While there’s some overlap here, there’s enough distinction that I want to address them as two separate points in two separate posts, because I guess I had Opinions, and by god there should be a limit to how much text one tumblr post can be expected to hold. Consider this an introduction.

Buckle up, kiddos. This is gonna be a long one. 

Nami Face Syndrome Isn’t the Problem...

An important thing to remember with Oda’s art and storytelling style is that almost everything is hyper exaggerated for effect. You don’t go into One Piece looking for realism. You don’t go into One Piece expecting the characters to act like normal people. Everything--from the art to the humor to the battles--is stretched and pulled to its absolute limit in hopes of garnering a particular reaction. When a character is sad they cry big bubbly tears with dribbles of snot coming from their nose. When they laugh their mouths take up half their face. 

And when a girl is hot, her tiddies are two great big watermelons stuck to the center of her chest.

What is often dubbed “Nami Face Syndrome” within the fandom is somewhat misleading. After all, why was Wanda, who is a literal dog that walks on two legs, decried as yet another Nami clone at her introduction? I would postulate it’s less to do with her face and more to do with the fact that from the neck down they are virtually identical, something that’s made more obvious because Wanda is literally wearing Nami’s clothes

What makes this frustrating for a lot of people, myself included, is that it’s not that Oda is incapable of drawing more diverse body types, but that he often chooses not to. Take for example the Kuja tribe

or the Charlotte family daughters (thanks to Arthur at Library of Ohara for the resource). It’s pretty clear Oda has the chops to make his women as weird as the men, and he often does! For important characters, even. And yes, as the Kokoro example given above sometimes the gonkness is brought attention to, but for others like Lola and Chiffon it’s...not. 

(more on mermaids later)

But Sarcasticles, one might protest, even Oda’s “ugly” characters have ginormous boobs! Where is my itty bitty titty committee representation >:(

To which I can only shrug. For Oda, boobs on a woman are like abs on men. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense, they’re gonna have ‘em

Seriously, Oda. What the fuck.

...So What Is?

I have a theory that’s impossible to prove, and that the problem isn’t so much Oda’s character design so much as the ratio of his male to female characters in general. It’s not that every female character is a Nami clone, but Oda has a template he uses for attractive female characters ages 16-25, the same way he uses Robin as a template for attractive women ages 26-35, which is how you get cases of mistaken identity like Viola for Robin or scenes during Reverie where one could be forgiven for thinking Nami’s supposed to be an identical triplet

 Oda does this for his men, too. It’s not as obvious because 1) Even men with similar facial features can have a wider variety body types due to Oda having a sliding scale of buffness he’s willing to attach to a pretty face and 2) There are more men. 

There are a lot more men.

In groups where the male to female ratio is more or less equal (Baroque Works, Big Mom’s kids) you get a wide variety of designs. But there’s only one female Supernova. There’s one female Warlord. CP9 only has one female agent. Only one of the Revolutionary Commanders is a woman. There are very few female background characters in crowd shots, especially among marines. Big Mom might be the only female Emperor, but she’s not young, In fact, when drawing her at age 28, Oda defaults to a much more generic “pretty girl” face before giving her much more striking, memorable features in her 40s

If you look at Oda’s male characters, the ones that are supposed to be hot are often given the same square jawline and the thin-bladed nose that at one point in time was reserved for Robin. Both Coby and Sabo had very distinctive noses before their glowups, while Ace must have had a laser treatment done on his eyebrows sometime between Alabasta and Marineford. 

But the biggest difference on the men has got to be muscle mass. The overgrown noodles of early One Piece are lost to the annals of time. Shanks alone must have gained 30 pounds of pure muscle from the time Luffy got his first bounty to his appearance at Marineford. 

Now, I will acknowledge that there is a difference between the increasing sexualization of female characters and the male power fantasy of giving Zoro bara tiddies post-timeskip. While I do think there are certain male characters specifically designed to be the Hot Dude, what I’m trying to emphasize here is that Oda works with templates for both men and women, and both of those templates have been exaggerated over time. Bigger boobs for women, more muscles for men. And when you’re only slotting for one girl in any given group, and that one girl has to be The Hot One then you’re going to have a lot of ladies that end up looking the same. 

My love for Otohime on this blog is well known, and I want to use her as an example of what Oda can do when he works beyond this template, because it’s really freaking good  

Otohime is neither conventionally attractive nor gonk. She’s dressed in very conservative, traditional clothing and has a narrow waist and small chest. 

There are no sharp edges on Otohime. Not her eyebrows, not her jaw, and most of the time not even her hands, emphasizing her gentle nature. You don’t see it as well in this panel, but Otohime’s head is often drawn wider than her shoulders, emphasizing her frailty. Oda gives her a longer neck to compensate, and the overall effect is a very soft, willowy figure. 

Her headpiece looks like a sunburst. The audience never sees her fins, so Oda gives her a scale patterned kimono-dress-thingy (my knowledge of Japanese clothing is, uh, not good) as a visual reminder that she’s not human. The sash that circles around her head harkens back to Japanese mythology as a symbol of divinity, similar to a halo in Western culture. And fun fact: Otohime is named after a god, just like Neptune, while her goals and ideals are pure enough to be heaven-sent. 

I’m not an artist, but this is a really damn good character design. A lot of Oda’s older female characters are. Dandan, Tsuru, O-Tsuru, Shakky, Kureha, Big Mom, and Nyon are all instantly recognizable and have strong designs, even if a few of them fall into the hourglass figure that Oda often defaults to. It’s just...there aren’t that many of them.

So the question becomes why aren’t there more women, and I think the answer is because, ultimately, One Piece is a series geared at boys. While I wish there were a few more important ladies, I can understand why there aren’t. 

Note, that doesn’t mean I think it’s right or that Oda is obligated to include more women. It’s just one of the facts of the shonen manga industry at this point in time. 

A more important question, I think, is why does every younger woman have to be attractive? And why do the attractive ladies have to wear outfits that are blatant fanservice? This is something I don’t have an answer for. Oda has said on more than one occasion that he writes One Piece with his twelve year old self in mind. It could be that it’s a calculated move to appeal to his audience, in which case it’s certainly worked because said Hot Ladies are constantly used in marketing and merchandising. It’s the Hot Ladies that top the popularity charts (although, to be fair, who’s there for competition?). In the most recent chapter a new Hot Lady was introduced, and the fandom went batshit crazy for her.

Even the fans who are very vocal about how Oda sucks at drawing women. It’s interesting how that works out sometimes.

Or maybe I’m giving Oda too much credit, and he’s just horny. Not having direct access to Oda’s mind, I don’t have an answer. If I had to guess I’d say it’s a little of Column A, a little of Column B, because that’s usually how life is. 

But in a vacuum big tiddies are just a design choice. An exaggerated aesthetic, in a series full of exaggerated aesthetics. It’s when that design choice is paired with in-story comments, actions, and decisions where things really start to get heated. But that’s a whole other ball of wax, and there should be a limit to how much one tumblr post can be expected to hold. I promise I’ll get to the meat of your question next time.

Thank you so much for your patience. I really do think it’s important to start here before diving into everything else, if only because it helps keep my thoughts organized. I hope you’ve found this helpful, and if not, I hope to do better next time. 

#long post #dear lord what a long post #Character Design #one piece #I don't know why tumblr fucked up with the formatting of my answer #but I apologize in advance #sexism #sarc talks