Fizzy Fuzzy Fluffy

MTV Germany ads: ‘Sex is no accident. Always use a condom’

anceyleestar:

tyleroakley:

I realized all the girls are blonde, and now I imagine that these are all of just one poor girl, and she knows that at some point in the year, she will have sex by accident, and might just start staying at home all the time, but then she falls on a cucumber or whatever and decides “eh, fuck it” and goes on with her life after that point because cucumbers are cold.

(Source: wezzo)

Hey, Sailor Moon Fandom! Let’s talk about Anime!Mamoru and his powers for a second?

adventuresofcomicbookgirl:

redundantthinking:

idesofnovember:

redundantthinking:

Because while making that my intense love posts before, it actually got me thinking.

Mamoru is pretty damn powerful. Yes, even in the anime.

Wait, wait. Put your pitchforks down, I’m going to explain myself. First off, let’s disregard the Senshi for few moments. Honestly, it isn’t far to compare Mamoru’s powers to any of them because you have to remember, the continuity for the Golden Crystal is different between the manga and anime. You also have to remember that Mamoru isn’t a Senshi.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk powers (WITH BULLETS because I’m fancy)

Manga Mamoru had shown the ability to (correct me if I’m wrong, by the way. Doing this by memory):

• Heal himself
• Transfer power (between Usagi and Chibi Usa)
• Use a blast attack called “Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber”
• Combine attacks with Usagi and Chibi Moon
• Receive visions (in both dreams and when touching someone)
• Mentally hold conversions (at least with himself)
• Wield the Golden Crystal in a similar manner to Usagi
• Transform (shut up, being able to change you clothes in the flash of a light totally counts)
• Fights with a sword (as Endymion. Which isn’t an easy task; trust me)

But, I assume most people well into the fandom know this. It’s particular taken as fact that Mamoru has powers and can hold his own quite fine the manga. It’s the anime people assume is the weaker form…and I kind of disagree. I mean, look at this

Anime Mamoru can:

• Have visions
• At least as a King, send visions to himself from the FUTURE
• Use Roses as a weapon—people are going to side eye this but look at it like this: Mamoru’s flowers are always ALWAYS enough to harm or at least throw back his enemies. He distracted a full on attack from Beryl when she attacked Serenity; BERYL AIMS TO KILL. Clearly, there is more to that then just ‘being really sharp’.
• Teleport? (either that or he’s got some running and jumping skills otherwise someone explain 1:19)
• Transfer power (between Usagi and Chibi Usa)
• Transform
• His cape has been shown to deflect certain things
• His cane can exceeds (though I don’t know if this his powers at work or some how get got a cane that exceeds a distance and can hold at least a teenage girl)
• The big one: Subconsciously make a second him (a.k.a Moonlight Knight) who acts independently on his own and does not weaken him what-so-ever. 
• Fights with a sword (as Endymion. Cane as Tuxedo Mask)

Guys, I’m sorry. For the life of me, I can not describe any of that as powerless. Especially the last one; the man mentally cloned himself with realizing it. THAT’S PRETTY DAMN POWERFUL. Is Mamoru watered down in the anime; yes. The removal of the Golden Crystal lessened his powers sufficiently, at least in terms of Usagi’s powers, but Mamoru is not weak. In the slightest.

So…thoughts on this, guys?

Agreed.

I feel like, compared to his girlfriend, his daughter, and their badass guardians, he isn’t as strong.  Obviously.

But because of that people think he’s weak (maybe because maybe they are used to the trope (even subconsciously) that a man must be stronger than a woman?)

Instead of thinking, “Hey, Usagi might be the most powerful being in the universe or at least one of, the others being her own senshi, so in comparison no one is going to be powerful when compared with their power-ups and their attacks and what they can do.”?

Taken on his own, and what he does on his own without guide animals or guardians or senshi?  I also think the man is badass in the anime and the manga. 

And when he does create Moonlight Knight it is actually in direct opposition of the Silver Crystal (which granted Usagi’s wish for everyone to be normal) so there ya go. (It’s like fuck you Silver Crystal I do what I want. Well, when what I want is to bifurcate into a separate entity to protect my true love.  REPRESENT.)

ALSO

Even in the manga, I feel like Mamoru’s powers tend more toward internal, psychological powers (except for swordfighting)- powers that tend to be associated more with feminine aspects.  Healing, visions, receptive powers, power transference, etc. while the girls got the BLAST YOU IN YOUR FACE power. Which I think Naoko was doing on purpose to at least partially  subvert gender roles.

And then in the anime they had him throw flowers. So. Again.

But the thing is, people tend to think of those powers as weaker because they are associated with the feminine.  But they aren’t, necessarily.

SO YES.  BASICALLY I TOOK A BUNCH OF WORDS TO SAY:

“THIS”

Yes! Mamoru holding the traditional feminine powers was awesome! 

I like that Mamoru’s powers are more internal and I feel like it make sense from mythical points as well. Like I’ve theorized before, Mamoru is under the direct protection of the Sun. Who is the God of the sun after Helios? Apollo.

What are Apollo’s powers?

• Healing
• Light and Sun
• Prophecy
• Plague
• Music and Poetry

Some of those relate back to a certain someone, don’t they? Yet, even if that were the case, I feel like having Mamoru have powers that are lean more mental than physical is better for his Rule as King. You have to have a calm and a storm, right? Usagi’s powers, while pure their own right, brings and distracts from war; therefore storm. Mamoru? I feel like he is the calm; the half of the monarchy that brings the deals to the table and tries to make alliances…if that makes sense? One half is the power and the other is the control in a sense?

Alla this. Especially the stuff about Mamoru having traditionally feminine powers and that’s awesome and the reason people call him weak is they expect the man to always be stronger etc.

(And I definitely think he’s supposed to be protected by the sun! His priest is Helios, he has a little sun charm on his costume in the manga and he’s a Leo which is a the sun sign) 

I never really got why people don’t think he has superpowers in the anime? As said, those roses… do things roses should not be able to do. Aside from shattering giant columns of stone (and embedding itself into a demon lady’s chest so the chest starts CRACKING), didn’t he like, raise a barrier of energy from them once? Yeah, you can’t exactly purchase roses that can do that. Also he can stand on the wing of an airplane while it’s flying yeah.

by request, here’s that character-appearance thingy as a text post

bigbigtruck:

derxder asked: Hi, EK. I’ve been a fan of your work for awhile now and I was wondering if you could maybe pass along some tips? I realized, recently, that I have a horrible case of same-face (when all my characters…well, have the same face. The only identifying factors about them are their hair/clothes etc) when drawing. Do you have any tips or resources that might help me break out of this habit and make my characters look unique from one another?

The main way I distinguish faces and bodies from one another is to think about the shape of the features, their placement in relation to each other, and the basic structure of the face and body. For other factors, it’s more about the life that character lives.

Recently I needed a few characters to pop into the background of a scene for about 10 pages. They all needed to have lives outside that scene, and they all needed to look distinct from one another. So the process was something like:

- okay, what do I need here, two waitresses, a line cook, and three high school dudes

- let’s start with the line cook, who is he

- hmmm let’s say late 40s early 50s, black dude, about 5’11”, solid build that was once fit but is sort of going to flab [very basic appearance]

- okay what are his facial features going to be like, let’s see, hmm, square jaw, overall squarish face with prominent cheekbones, let’s make him bald, prominent caliper lines but other wrinkles less pronounced. Soft, round eyes that would look sort of puppy-doggish but he’s grumpy a lot, thin eyebrows, short-ish neck. [distinguishing facial features - you have literally infinite possible combos here. Droopy eyes? Wide set? Narrow? Long nose? Short? Turned up? Down? Lips full? Thin? GO WILD.]

- so how do all these features relate to each other, hmm, let’s make the eyes a little wide-set, not set too deep in the sockets, nose sort of high, chin doesn’t stick out a lot, so it’s about in line with the base of the nose, mouth a little narrow, which leaves room for definition of jaw muscles (hey that works with the grumpy thing) [placing facial features in relation to each other]

Now here’s the really fun part: who is this guy and why does he live in the space that he is in. How has he come to occupy this scene.

- Okay, let’s figure out what he likes, hmm, let’s say… metalworking. Sure, what the hell. Metalworking and… uh, boats. Okay. So. Dude used to be a welder, union man, loved his job, but got laid off at the start of the downturn as manufacturing moved overseas. Married? Nah, divorced. Keeps in touch with his daughter. Just one kid. She’s 13. He feels stuck in this town, is working as a line cook just to make ends meet. Doesn’t like it much but it’ll do for now. What’s he do when he’s not at work? Hmm, hmm, okay, maybe he works on something in his garage OH! HEY! How about a boat. He works on his own boat. Nothing too fancy. Motorized, small boat. It’s his baby. Loves taking it out on the water.

Okay, he goes out boating a lot, that means he’s gonna have some wind chapping on his cheeks and forehead, let’s work that in. Also means he’s gonna have strong arms, shoulders, and back, so let’s keep the bulk and muscle definition there. Getting into his 50s, no beer gut (let’s just say he doesn’t drink beer), but he’s got kind of a spare tire. Doesn’t go running or play sports, he’s got kind of a bum knee. [A character’s life and habits will affect their appearance]

Okay, dude’s feeling frustrated in life but has an outlet, still he’s not thrilled to be working in Waffle House that night, so that’s going to affect how he moves in the room, what expression he wears, how (if) he interacts with the other characters. Is he lost in thought, or desperate for conversation? Does he like his coworkers, or resent them? How does he move as he cooks? Heavily? Efficiently? With flourishes, or like a robot? When TJ and Amal appear, how does he react to them? Interested, aggravated, or just doesn’t care? [All of these factors are going to affect his posture, gestures, and motion in the scene.]

Ahhh sorry I got a little carried away there, but this stuff is SO MUCH FUN to do. Maybe it’s a waste of time, but I can honestly say it’s never made a character *worse* than they would be without it.

So tl;dr: I guess just think about the structure of your character’s body and face, how they’re built, what activities they do, how they move and why, how they dress, etc. etc. Hope this GIANT PILE OF WORDS helped at least a little bit :U

Costumes: the Wearable Dialog

dresdencodak:

I mentioned before some of my favorite character designs in the world of comics and have been meaning to tackle this subject again.  I came to realize, however, that “character design” is itself a fairly massive subject, and that it would be best to break the topic down into separate installments.  Today, true believers, we’re going to talk about outfits and costumes, which are often a pivotal part of a character’s design.

3 Essential Questions

Clothing can convey quite a bit of conscious and unconscious information to the reader, but it should never be doing 100% of the legwork.  Body language, shape and overall behavior all come into play when building a character, and the trick is to figure out what clothing can do that these other elements can’t.  To get started, it’s important to ask some basic questions about your character before jumping into costume design.

1) Costume Hierarchy

How often does this character appear?  Is it a main character or a side one? Primary characters have more complex needs than side characters, which is to say that the more information you have about your character, the more that can be conveyed in their appearance.  Additionally, the more frequent the character appears, the more versatile the design needs to be.

2) Environmental Relationship

If it’s a side character that only ever appears in one setting, for example, you need only design the outfit to fit in that environment.  If they are a main character, though, chances are you’ll need the outfit to mesh with more than one setting.  

3) The Naked Test

Is your character recognizable without any clothes on?  Body types, especially those of the main cast, should be distinctive even without the help of any outfits.  The naked form is the foundation of all character design.  Before you start dressing your body, make sure it’s a body worth dressing.

Once you’ve sufficiently answered these questions, it’s time to jump into the actual design phase!

Shape

Every character, no matter how complex, should be designed around an overal unique visual shape.  This theme should not repeat in any other character.  This shape should be readable enough that if you were to shrink all your characters into a super-simplified cartoony state, they should still be distinguishable.  Character designs follow a hierarchy: you grab the reader’s attention with the most essential information and then invite them to investigate the details.  If important elements of your design are only evident in the details, then it needs to be reworked.  If your character is not completely distinguishable in silhouette, it needs to be reworked.  Detail should always radiate from the core theme.

Kim and Vonnie stay distinct in a few ways.  

The primary difference in shape between the above two characters is one of curves versus triangles.  Vonnie is very angular, and her clothing’s angles mimic the scaffolding of an art deco building to emphasize her height and posture.  Kim’s outfit makes her look shorter, but jaunty.  There are a lot of soft curves going on there to make her seem younger and more innocent.

Action

What does your character do?  In what way would their clothing reasonably convey how they spend their time?  This is an easy question if it’s a uniformed occupation, but it certainly doesn’t stop there.  A more bookish or socially inept character is often prone to mismatched clothing, while a person of a very high social status is often wearing clothing that is physically less practical than those of the working class.

How does your character move?  What are their default postures and body language?  A good outfit should accentuate the body movements that you deem most important.  If a character stoops and hunches a lot, their clothes can augment that behavior.  For example, Kim is frequently hunched over, so I tend to dress her with a hood that’s shaped to go with poor posture, as well as a repeating “arch” shape to suggest this basic form.

Communication

How much does the character wish to communicate with their clothing?  Not everyone wears their personality on their sleeve, nor is everyone especially fashion-conscious.  Nothing’s worse than having a cast where everyone is immaculately dressed and overdesigned.  A more outgoing character might be more aware of their appearance, while a more introverted one may be less concerned.  To add another layer, a character may dress a certain way to disguise something they don’t want to show to others, just as someone might act overconfidently to hide their insecurities.  You can tell your audience a lot about your character through what that character chooses to display to others.

Repetition

Core shapes and patterns should repeat on the outfit.  The entire design should exhibit some bilateral cohesion, which is to say if you were to cut the character in half horizontally or vertically, each part should look like it belongs to the other.  

As mentioned, Kim has a lot of solid colors and arch shapes which are broken up by fabric and metal seams, with very few sharp edges.  

Vonnie, on the other hand, is structured almost like a building, with vertical lines and triangles that take the shape of supporting beams on the surface of her outfit.  Her triangles and broad horizontal planes repeat throughout her outfit, including her glasses.

This extends to multiple costumes worn by the same character.  Even if a particular character changes clothes, the core shapes should still be evident.  Scott Pilgrim is a good example of this.  Most of the cast change clothes frequently, but in each scene it’s generally easy to recognize the characters by the “type” of clothing they choose.  The details change, but the essential shapes do not.

Color and Contrast

Different colors can imply different moods.  ”Winter” colors like cooler blues and purples can suggest an introspective or reserved personality, while warmer colors like yellow or red can imply a more energetic attitude.  If your character only ever interacts in one type of setting, you only have to worry about how those colors will fit in one environmental color palette.  If, however, your character needs to mesh well with more than one environment (as is usually the case with protagonists), you have to make sure your character’s colors will fit with multiple settings.

Also, don’t be fooled by superhero comics: it’s generally bad form to have two dominant colors in a single costume.  My personal rule of thumb is to have no more than one prime color in an outfit design, followed by a secondary and then supporting colors.  

In the case of Kim’s outfit in Dark Science, the primary color is black, with the secondary being off-white.  These are then supported by the muted blue and silver accents that appear in both her prosthetics and clothing.  Color and value contrast is very important, especially for a main character, which is why Kim’s basic palette can be reduced to black and white without losing any essential information.  

Vonnie’s outfit is more colorful, but less contrasted as a whole.  Green dominates and is blocked in by a secondary, warmer black.  Green is the complementary color of red, and so her clothes naturally bring attention to her hair and reddish skin tone, inherently highlighting more sexual elements than Kim (whose black outfit essentially matches her hair).  White is also present, but it’s only a supporting color here.

Simplicity

Above all else, keep it simple.  Comic characters are not pin-ups or other illustrations; you have to draw them over and over again, from various angles.  If you pile on too much detail, you’ll wear yourself out slogging through all the bits every time you have to draw them.  

If you follow all these rules, good costume design should create this basic pattern when presented to a reader:

1. Read:  Silhouettes and essential shapes should be instantly recognizable
2. Inform:  The costume should then tell the reader essential things about the character
3. Compel:  The costume should then invite the reader to learn more about the character
4. Move:  The costume should never impede the flow of action within the comic

If you stick to these basic guidelines, you’ll never fail.  Next up on character design: bodies and faces!