Things that actually made me happy in gaming this week, 6/17-6...er, 26-ish

[indigozeal]

It seems like I've posted a lot of negativity on here as of late. I can't renege on my opinions, but perhaps I should balance them out with reminders of the stuff in the hobby that made me smile recently.

- Supergreatfriend finished his LP of Shadows of the Damned, an underappreciated action title by Suda 51 (with music by Akira Yamaoka) that fuses grindhouse hellscapes with Día de los Muertos imagery and offers among the typical Suda frathouse bluster some unexpectedly tender characterization for its protagonist and a soupçon of sideways wit. "Sin...Sinchester!" "...It's pronounced 'Sinster.'" "How do you know!?" "My cousin's from Sinchester!"
- This is indescribably beautiful. It deserves to be in a museum.
- It's relatively rare to see anime characters effectively rendered in another art style. The double profile of Dyne & Ghaleon here, besides being really technically proficient and an excellent artistic contrast of the two characters, reminds me of good Don Bluth, and I wish I could see entire cutscenes in this vein.
- You've probably seen this, but: FF3 dialogue box magnets, with raised etched lettering. I'd buy them in a heartbeat if I could recall any examples of FF3/6 dialogue I actually liked.
- I'm not on the Tiger & Bunny fan train, primarily because no grown adult deserves to be called "Bunny," but I think this fanartist did an excellent job of translating its lead characters to another franchise's aesthetic.
- For FF4 fans: beyond awesome.
- It makes sense that there would've been Mystic Ark binsen produced, but huh. Who knew.
- Sherbet-colored fantasy. Also, while we're at it: YESSSSSS.
- CHERYL??
.

Comments

[steelstrings.livejournal.com]

Uhm. Hi, again. So, I kind of occasionally lurk here for your Lunar posts and am normally too shy to speak up about anything, but-- I read the bit about Dyne and Ghaleon, couldn't recall seeing anything matching that description and immediately got all excited to see an amazing new Lunar fanart, and then I hovered over the link and realized that it was a link.

to my own.

artwork. *casually dives under a table*

...
besides being really technically proficient and an excellent artistic contrast of the two characters
Oh god, you can't be serious what are you talking about

I don't even know what to say except-- thank you. This has got to be one of the most thoughtful comments I've gotten, especially for such a smallish thing. Is it really so different a style? Regrettably, whatever I did was mostly accidental, and I was actually kind of frustrated with that sketch, but seeing this, your perception of it, is amazing and terrifying and makes me feel a hell of a lot better about it. :D Just wanted to say that this brightened my day like you wouldn't believe.

Hi again!

[indigozeal.livejournal.com]

Now, see, for this week, I was going to post about how why had no one told me there was Tagak fanart (http://s246.photobucket.com/albums/gg98/BladeSheef/?action=view&current=tagak.png) on the internet and how everyone was now fired.

I really like the humanity of Ghaleon & Dyne's expressions - there's an earthy, natural detail there that's absent from the usual streamlined anime style, and yet there's still a contrast between the smoother lines used for Ghaleon and the "messier," less tamed ones used for Dyne. The...I feel stupid returning to the word "humanity," but the humanity behind how these two characters interact comes across in the sketch really well. You hardly ever see fanart of Ghaleon and/or Dyne (not to mention Vheen Hikuusen supporting characters), and coming across something like this with such thought behind it really makes me happy, and I'm glad you posted it!

(Speaking of posting: Please feel free to comment whenever you like. I totally don't get those people who're touchy about folks leaving comments on their blogs.)

Re: Hi again!

[steelstrings.livejournal.com]

Eep! Weeell, it wasn’t a very good fanart of Tagak. (Er, since you found that piece, I take it you found the full-size sketch as well?)

Oh, I…can see that. Yeah. See, to me, it looked like they were making goo goo eyes at each other. xD; Even now there’s still something about Ghaleon’s expression that’s too soft. I get that that’s kind of what Dyne does, but even then, it’s a little off-putting to me. I can’t remember if I based it off the two panels where he’s watching Dyne and then smiles before turning to face Lemia, but I probably did. At the risk of sounding really weird, it feels almost like something you’re not quite meant to see. Or maybe I am just too used to anime-style.

Also, re: commenting, thank you, and I will try to keep that in mind.

[indigozeal.livejournal.com]

Weeell, it wasn’t a very good fanart of Tagak.

No! The Tagak piece is good! You got his facial structure and cragginess down, and he's interacting with Ghaleon in a typical fashion and everything!

See, to me, it looked like they were making goo goo eyes at each other. xD; Even now there’s still something about Ghaleon’s expression that’s too soft.

To me, Ghaleon's expression seems like playfulness touched with a challenging sarcasm that matches Dyne's own, but in a way specific to Ghal's character. It to me communicates a degree of intimacy (not necessarily goo goo eyes) between the characters and is good at evoking a relationship between them beyond the frame.

Okay, last thing, haha

[steelstrings.livejournal.com]

Oh, nono, I cannot let that go. xD; Would've replied earlier, but wanted to finish this (http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg98/BladeSheef/blade2/tagakagain-1.png) up first (warning:kind of huge). THERE. Now there is a slightly better fanart of Tagak on the internet. Or just. Another fanart period.


_{Also, yes, I definitely like your version better. Thanks again for such insightful comments. c:}

Re:

[indigozeal.livejournal.com]

That is awesome. You are awesome. And thank you for your perceptive artwork.