日本語の冒険

[madmanfantastic]

I’m falling for marketing schemes, y’all!

[mcuedits]

We’ve very sorry for our marriage.

Lapis - @kellykirstein Pearl - A Smile and a Song Cosplay (Instagram and FB only) Amethyst - @dekuflowerr Peridot - @for-the-love-of-clod Steven - @thechosenboi Sapphire and Ruby - @seelofapprovalcosplays Connie - @thethingsaboutdisney Photography by @keighleyk on Instagram

[madmanfantastic]

This is so great!

[aiviwave]

“It’s Over, Isn’t It?” from Mr. Greg Music and lyrics: Rebecca Sugar Arrangement and piano performance: Aivi & Surasshu Vocal performance: Deedee Magno Hall Strings performance: Jeff Ball

[rebeccasugar]

[faketan]

[madmanfantastic]

I see @laurenzuke​ is branching into other media

[80smbs-deactivated20170607]

When your friend aggressively cares about you

[discount-supervillain]

I sort of went with a upper thigh gem placement, but I think it works well enough

also, fun fact, apparently the official gemstone of texas is blue topaz

[madmanfantastic]

Blue Topaz is the only fanmade gem I ever need.

[togifs]

[gojiberrydraws]

An Alliance Is Formed

(so about that jaspertale)

[madmanfantastic]

yesssss

[treasure-mimic]

Can I talk for a moment about visual storytelling, cause, I feel like it’s something that a lot of adaptations forget about in lieu of trying to replicate their source material.

It’s a problem you see most often in anime derived from manga or light novels, but it’s also present in movies based on YA novels, and you gotta know what I’m talking about, start on black, opening narration, fade in as the main character explains the world and environment. This works in a book since the reader can’t see anything, they need the specifics of the world explained, but it feels like the movies are just like “well it worked for the book, it’ll work for us right?

I’d say it’s worse in anime, where characters will go on long internal soliloquies trying to explain their thought processes and complex emotions, which again, works for the manga, in a manga movement is very expensive, every single motion requires it’s own panel, which takes up the artist’s time, printed space, and a moment in the narrative, so it’s important to only show what absolutely needs to be shown. But animation is different, it’s all movement and the details are what sells it more than the dialogue.

The reason I wanted to make this post is because of one scene in One Punch Man that perfectly exemplifies how to translate a written thought process into visual storytelling. After getting punched to the moon (err, spoilers), Saitama has this thought process

and it’d be easy to translate that entirely literally in the anime, Saitama crouches, has an internal monologue as he tries to figure out how much force he needs to put into his jump, and then he launches. Instead though, the scene is done completely silently, to sell the fact that he’s in space, but the thought process isn’t removed, it’s just show visually.

He throws a bit of moon rock to gauge the moon’s gravity, then launches, it’s a much more thoughtful approach to the scene and the audience’s ability to interpret visual information.

I just, really wish more adaptations realized the inherent strength of the visual medium instead of relying entirely on the source material’s structure and reliance on its own medium.

[madmanfantastic]

This post just sold me on One Punch Man, which I was entirely uninterested in before.

[calamityjamie]

“Triggered”

I started writing a tweet, but it turns out that 140 characters is a poor method to discuss complex issues. Who knew? This isn’t intended as a lecture (and I hope it doesn’t come across as one.) It’s more of an anecdote; part of my quest for authenticity and wholehearted living.

Though it’s already fading from twitch chat in favor of newer, danker memes, I’ve noticed “triggered” popping up in streams, chats, and comment threads for a while now. As far as I understand, at worst it is a snarky pushback at the concept of hyper-sensitivity as a cultural currency. But often it’s internet shorthand for “this sucks” or “I’m frustrated.” It’s an especially potent meme because if someone says “hey, not cool, dude” they can just parrot it again and poof! A perpetual meme-tion machine. Babyrage ensues.

I’ve mentioned this a few times on social media, but in early 2015 I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. I haven’t really discussed the root of it, and I’m not/may never be ready to do so, but I hope that you’ll believe me when I say it flat-out sucks. PTSD for any reason is shitty, and miserable, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

What I’ve learned is that the fight-or-flight control center of my brain froze the trauma in carbonite, and as a result it can’t get to my long-term memory. Any time something (a silhouette, a song, or seemingly nothing at all) reminds my fight-or-flight center of that frozen-in-time memory, I’m warped back to the emotional state I was in during the trauma, despite being entirely safe (and knowing it.) This is called being triggered. (Or, a more official definition: the Department of Veterans Affairs says “You may see, hear, or smell something that causes you to relive the event. This is called a trigger.”)  

I absolutely believe that “triggered” is overused in the zeitgeist. I can see how it feels non-malicious or inconsequential; as harmless as calling someone salty or a sellout. I suppose I just also want people to understand that even if the intent is to poke fun at one group, there’s another group of people with a really shitty brain thing who are getting caught in the crossfire. PTSD isn’t specific to any group: it doesn’t discriminate based on the subreddits you subscribe to.

When I hear “triggered” from my favorite streamers and gaming buddies, it feels like I’m shrinking. It takes me out of enjoying our hobby, and my gears start turning on my Thursday-evening therapy session that is either looming or has just passed. It trivializes the concept, which steadily perpetuates the powerless feelings that my original trauma created: you’re being too sensitive. Your feelings don’t matter. Be quiet. It’s all in your head.

I don’t expect every space to be safe, or for others to bend over backwards to help me out. But please believe me when I say it’s much more enjoyable to spend time, money, and mental bandwidth on the hobbies I love versus defragmenting the trauma in my brain. I play games to connect with friends, to decompress, to counteract the stresses of daily life. So the echoes of “triggered!” are simply a jarring reminder that the world is a shitty place.

Ultimately people using the meme and myself/people like me are on the same team. I mostly hear it said without malice: a casually chuckled “triggered!” in an awkward moment or frustrated “triggered” groan after their teammate blows it for the seventeenth time. It’s not about me; I know that. It’s a joke, a fleeting meme.

It’s just that these particular “shots fired” are an AOE with friendly fire enabled.

Thanks for reading, internets.  <3

[madmanfantastic]

The first time I became aware of the concept of triggering was the 2011 “The Muppets” movie, in the scene where Jack Black and Animal are at some kind of anger management retreat and Jack Black goes berserk about “trigger words”. Of course, it wasn’t about PTSD triggers, but right from the start, it struck me as being weirdly flippant and dismissive of a real thing, even though I didn’t even understand the concept that much. It stuck with me and always bothered me.

I’ve since learned more about psychological trauma, PTSD, and triggering, and it just hits me on a gut feeling level that anyone who jokes about “triggering” is acting kinda trashy, dismissing the reality of it and implying that people who experience it are just being overly sensitive. So the next time somebody I know does that, I hope I’ll remember to share this great post.

[discount-supervillain]

I figured Kamina’s might be more fitting.

[madmanfantastic]

Oh man, THIS is SO GOOD

[freyawillia-blog]

There are occasionally people in my life who take issue with how much time and energy I spend on my costuming hobby.

I don’t care who I piss off. It could be my family, a significant other, or even in this case a close friend. “Wake up” to what? Your assessment of *worthwhile* life goals? Your Hierarchy of Real Important Shit? You are never entitled to someone else’s free time. You are not in the right to criticize how they spend their time. What is worthless dress up to this individual means -a lot- to me, and there is clearly no point explaining that, or justifying why I make the choice to sit in my studio, spend tons of money on supplies, and be remorseless in my schedule priorities.

I have plenty of close artist-friends who criticize the fact that I don’t make money off of what I do. It’s just a never ending pit of supply costs that they can’t see me digging myself out of. They don’t get it. Even some who share this specific hobby. So if it’s not what you’re doing to make money - it must not be that important. You can reschedule it. You can do that later.

No. Absolutely fucking not. I will resign from that relationship, and you can move on.

[madmanfantastic]

Man, if a “close friend” talked to me like that, things would get dicey right quick.

[madmanfantastic]

Saving this “Tracer pose” conversation thread from Reddit for posterior posterity.

This guy threw a tantrum about “Anita” instead of actually having a discussion with me, but out of principle (probably misguided, but I’ve got the time) I felt the need to go on record against his nonsense.

[doctorlawn]

An open letter to Blizzard Entertainment:

It has come to my attention that due to an apparent “controversy”, you have removed a pose from your most recent project Overwatch in which the character Tracer, looks over her shoulder and displays her ample rear.

I instead, propose an alternative.

Just don’t. Anyone who complains about it is complaining about nothing. If it makes you that uncomfortable that a woman might want to display a part of their anatomy, consider graduating middle school.

Thank you, and have a good day.

[spigotry-deactivated20221117]

She doesn’t want to display anything she is a fictional characters she has no wants or desires she’s literally just a bunch of code. Also another alternative. Fix the jumpsuit so it doesn’t dig into her ass that’s not how spandex works you know.

[madmanfantastic]

That was my thinking; fix the dumb crack-tights and the pose issue is almost a nonstarter. (Though she’s still arching to back that thing up, so that could be adjusted too)

Imagine the atomic bomb of gamerbro nerdrage if they actually changed Tracer’s model like that though.

I’d buy another copy if they did.

[madmanfantastic]

I’m rolling my eyes so hard at the Overwatch community.

I was actually planning on holding out for a sale after the game had been out for a while, but I prepurchased the Origins Edition today just to spite these morons whining about censorship and SJWs and “If this is all it takes to get something changed then you have no INTEGRITY!”

The Overwatch team has made it clear for a long time that this has been something they’re keeping in mind while developing the game. You think they’ve been strong-armed into pandering to feminists? PUH-LEAZE. Guess who is the much more rabidly vocal majority. Oh, right, it’s you idiots that get buttmad about one less instance of the over-emphasized rumps that are all over this game! You honestly think they were shaking in their boots and felt forced to change something in their game because of ONE user posting ONE thread on the beta forums?

Talk about being disingenuous. It’s Gamergate all over again. Hey, guys, I’m glad you canceled your preorder. The less of your kind in this community, the better.

That I’m posting this on Tumblr has not been lost on me.

[madmanfantastic]

rapid tablet sketch

* delicacies

[matt-burnett]

This episode is gonna rule.