Downtown Khazan: Ice Cold Utopia

[Sharpandpointies]

Thanks Sharp, you're good people.

Back at you. ^_^ I really do hope the road gets a little less bumpy for you, and soon. And that the revelations - whatever they may be - are cause for smiles, not distress.

Not really. Worst I got was dad asking "you're still wearing masks?" but that was it. Just makes me feel self conscious around here, or did. Got other things to make me feel more self conscious now so eh.

That's...something? Both things. The second part, I mean yeah, you have bigger things to think about right now.

Well usually people get all wrapped up in how good hope is and to keep it I guess. But hope isn't the only reason to do good.

Absolutely. If hope were the only reason to do good...jeez, humanity wouldn't have even lasted this long, I feel.

Oh I've still got some happiness - I currently have my baby niece over, and that baby makes me smile so much. She is precious.
Wishing for your happiness too!

There's a good reason to keep doing good, then. ^_^ Stay safe out there.

[Sharpandpointies]

Alright, it's a hot night and I've eaten at a weird time.

I'm going to do some sketches, if you want free [albeit scrappy] art, drop a visual description and a short outline of general character vibes and I /might/ draw it. Visual references welcome.

If you do drop a description, keep it short. Not sure how many I'm going to do, I'll be up for like another four hours and need to cook and eat in that time.

Unsurprisingly, I'm going to stick with stuff we both know, but give you some work: Corim firing up the Ripper Storm and mangling some hapless fool.

...was going to suggest Tasha clapping in the background, but it's way out of character and I figure two people and action are more than enough. ^_^ Anyways, I never got enough pictures of Corim - fun character - so here we are.

I'd throw on asking for one of Avelyn and Solomon together, but that would require dragging Beadle and Subby in here and getting descriptions from them; also, one is enough. ^_^ Leave room for other people to request.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

[Jcogginsa]

Alright, it's a hot night and I've eaten at a weird time.

I'm going to do some sketches, if you want free [albeit scrappy] art, drop a visual description and a short outline of general character vibes and I /might/ draw it. Visual references welcome.

If you do drop a description, keep it short. Not sure how many I'm going to do, I'll be up for like another four hours and need to cook and eat in that time.

Well I have an idea for a Sailor Moon and Wonder Woman scene, but sense you already did something with Usagi, I'll go with something else.

Wonder Woman flexes an arm show off her muscles, with a confident friend on her face.

Reference Image. For pose and physique, not facial expression

[Nik Hasta]

Unsurprisingly, I'm going to stick with stuff we both know, but give you some work: Corim firing up the Ripper Storm and mangling some hapless fool.

...was going to suggest Tasha clapping in the background, but it's way out of character and I figure two people and action are more than enough. ^_^ Anyways, I never got enough pictures of Corim - fun character - so here we are.

I'd throw on asking for one of Avelyn and Solomon together, but that would require dragging Beadle and Subby in here and getting descriptions from them; also, one is enough. ^_^ Leave room for other people to request.

I might do one of these, obviously I'm at work now but maybe in the evening.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Been a minute, finally had some time to draw over the weekend.

Bruce's Red Oni:





Nik's Geetha:

Nice work on my character Red Oni, Gen,

[Nik Hasta]

So, off the back of looking through a significant chunk of Tenjou Tenge for my Masataka vs Yor thread, I was prompted to reread Air Gear over the last few days.

I do find Oh!Great's writing style kind of interesting. Like few other authors, I think he really captures the sort of transitional and hazy world of being a teenager. There's the concept of the summer anime vibe and Air Gear has a lot of it in spades. There's a lot of juvenile humour and Oh!Great is definitely a horny guy but it's not (always) distracting.

He also tends to write relationships that are pretty complicated and often quite antagonistic in nature. The character of Hako and how she's motivated by jealousy to the point where she's willing to walk into a horribly toxic situation just because she gets some form of validation from it, is actually pretty real. He also isn't afraid of making his characters lose as part of a larger journey. Like; the hero team in Air Gear, Kogarasumara, actually spend a surprising amount of the manga getting their asses kicked, being undone by their own hubris and, when they do win, it tends to be through a combination of sheer guts, luck and gimmicks rather than being stronger than their opponents.

They feel very scrappy. Like, they are just dumb headstrong kids trying their best against almost impossible odds and it feels like it. In the final battle, Ikki is specifically noted as fighting in an ugly desperate and kind of pathetic way but it's also noted that "If he had done anything less than that he would have died,"

It's not a perfect manga but it's really got something specific and interesting. I think what I like about Air Gear is what a lot of people cite about Bleach as its strong points - mood, style and design, a big cast of characters full of wild and weird concepts. Bleach has never really worked for me as a whole, after a certain point it felt it lost it's overall vision.

Whereas Air Gear feels... very specific. And I guess I react well to that. Also the art, specifically the composition and the way that Oh!Great plays with perspective and viewpoint is amazing.

I don't know if I have a specific point but wanted to put some thoughts down.

[Sharpandpointies]

I might do one of these, obviously I'm at work now but maybe in the evening.

Awesome. ^_^

Going to check out Air Gear, I figure.

[Nik Hasta]

Awesome. ^_^

Going to check out Air Gear, I figure.

I don't know if you'll vibe with it.

Like I say, it's pretty specific and very horny from time to time but I feel like it's really quite a different sort of story. Not like... wildly different, but the twists and the way it uses characters are quite interesting.

[Sharpandpointies]

Dandadan.

Airbags. ^_^

That is all.

[Sharpandpointies]

I don't know if you'll vibe with it.

Like I say, it's pretty specific and very horny from time to time but I feel like it's really quite a different sort of story. Not like... wildly different, but the twists and the way it uses characters are quite interesting.

The horny part will likely be annoying, yes. Depending on how that is presented, might be what kills it for me.

[Nik Hasta]

The horny part will likely be annoying, yes. Depending on how that is presented, might be what kills it for me.

There are definitely some whole characters where I'm like "really?"

Fortunately they, as the most egregious examples of pointless fanservice, are only minor parts of the actual story.

[Sharpandpointies]

There are definitely some whole characters where I'm like "really?"

Fortunately they, as the most egregious examples of pointless fanservice, are only minor parts of the actual story.

Gone through three chapters, art is good, concept is interesting, curious to see where it goes. Bad points: one mildly annoying scene; however, people got (effectively) fridged off-screen to show how bad the bad guys are.

I'm on the fence. ^_^

[Nik Hasta]

Gone through three chapters, art is good, concept is interesting, curious to see where it goes. Bad points: one mildly annoying scene; however, people got (effectively) fridged off-screen to show how bad the bad guys are.

I'm on the fence. ^_^

Art starts off good but I want to stress that it gets an awful lot better; a lot wilder conceptually and much cleaner with more interesting line work.

I was considering giving you like a "if you're not in by XX chapter then you won't get on board," but I'm a little unsure of how I'd decide that. It is more of a vibes piece I think and the interesting stuff takes a little while to really make itself known.

Thinking back to when I first read it as a teenager, I think chapter 33 is about the point where I was like "There's some stuff going on here," By that point, you've had a couple of small mini-arcs, more for the purposes of worldbuilding than character development, and a little larger medium arc for the first real conflict of the series. By that point, you kind of get what the deal is a bit more and things are getting ready to gear up for the first larger story of the series.

But yeah, as I say, I don't know if it's gonna vibe with you enough to keep you in for like 330 chapters haha.

[Vakanai]

Back at you. ^_^ I really do hope the road gets a little less bumpy for you, and soon. And that the revelations - whatever they may be - are cause for smiles, not distress.

Thanks. And, eh...most of the revelations are more on the "I understand body horror so much better now..." side of things - but I also find those boner pill and nugenix ads more funny now in a sort of ironic way. That's something I guess.
Oh, and it's given more motivation to exercise and try and get healthy in an odd way. Also something.

Absolutely. If hope were the only reason to do good...jeez, humanity wouldn't have even lasted this long, I feel.

I kind of wish their were more characters in fiction who've lost hope but fight on anyways - but usually it's all just "I'll never lose hope" stuff.

There's a good reason to keep doing good, then. ^_^ Stay safe out there.

You too Sharp.^_^