Whenever I’ve got art block, I always go back to expression studies and experimenting with brushes to try to break through. This time around I sketched best boy Luka 💙 Someday I’ll be able to draw his hair consistently, but today is not that day 😅 (List of brushes/downloads and closeups available on my Patreon, in case anyone is interested!) ( ꈍᴗꈍ)
IATSE and their new contracts happened, and this is a VERY GOOD THING. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has, under threat of an industry-wide strike by film and TV crew supported by the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild, and the Screen Writers Guild, finally agreed to negotiate better working conditions, longer turn around times to allow crew to rest between shifts, and better pay for material being put on streaming services.
What this tells us is that Marvel was using backbreaking conditions to get their shit made, and these delays are because they've been forced to actually ensure safe and fair working conditions and adequate compensation for the people working on their projects.
Watch all the Disney adults whine and moan about a slight delay on their precious MCU over something as frivolous as "human rights."
That's the great thing about powerful labor unions:
While it'd be nice for MCU fans to universally prioritize human rights over seeing sequels to their favorite films as soon as humanly possible, the strength of the labor union ultimately means that it doesn't fucking matter what the fans, the studios, or the rest of the world wants.
Anybody who wants to fucking whine about these movies getting delayed by a few months MAXIMUM can go fuck themselves. Working conditions on these movies — and every other big-budget movie and TV show, frankly — have been appalling for years, and this is a TINY step toward redressing those conditions.
can’t wait for the post-reveal era where marinette realizes she manhandled adrien around in a trash can in a fit of rage
gabriel deciding not to akumatized adrien when he realized it was his son in a vulnerable state
uMBReLLA–
KAGAMI GETS ALL HER ROMANCE INFO FROM SHOUJO MANGA IM IN TEARS
chloe on a balcony trying to signal ladybug: and here’s the light i made specifically to summon her but she never comes 🥲
marinette on a balcony summoning chat noir: pspspsps
okay but the way gabriel made a rare but genuine effort to be a good parent only for adrien to just be like “nah” and dip will never not be funny
breaking my silence for one of the most episodes ever
This chapter opens like Squid Game, with Shigaraki playing tag while critically reflecting on his past … and Star just trying to kill him. MHA gives so much attention to hands that it’s interesting to see a clash of powerful quirks that require touch to activate. It also explains why AFO is giddy over Star’s quirk — if he gets it then anytime he touches someone to give or take a quirk, he could potentially activate a rule. And, if Star’s quirk could “bank” touches the way Ragdoll’s Search quirk can recall the last 100 people, AFO has even stronger remote rule, not just explosions.
There’s absolutely no subtlety here — as soon as Star confirms she’s engaging with Shigaraki/AFO, she’s smashing and going for the death blow. “I’ll make sure your remains make it back to your loved ones” is one of the darkest threats in the series, and it’s coming from *checks notes* the USA’s #1 hero. And damn is it disturbing to see the striped speech bubbles saying Shigaraki’s heart will stop. It’s like the cultural weight of the United States is wishing for his death (sort of like how criminal lawsuits in the US are styled as “US v. [name of individual]” or “People v. [name of individual]”).
In the midst of her effort to kill, Star loses her mask and smugly monologues about how All Might was the symbol of peace and inspired her to be 4 times as peace-y as him. I mean, it’s hard to beat 8 tufts — even Present Mic doesn’t use that much hair gel. And, as much as I like the Two Heroes reference, I’m also digging that Horikoshi wants to draw a lot of young All Might in these chapters. I hope this means we’ll soon see All Might reckoning with the violent parts of his legacy. (It’s an unpopular opinion, but he is the fulcrum or tipping point of the story. It IS all about All Might and what he represents, even if that was never his intention.)
But tufts and monster thighs do not a peacemaker, um, make. The contrast between “symbol of peace” and “no escape” reminded me of Shiggy’s USJ speech, where he lambasts All Might as a state sponsored tool for violence that only encourages more violence. At USJ, however, the facts were very different — it was Shigaraki who was the interloper, invading UA’s home turf and immediately threatening death to All Might and the kids. At USJ, the heroes were justified in doing what they needed to contain the villain threat (not kill; just contain). All Might took this into his Kamino fight with AFO, controlling his emotions and power enough to stop AFO without murdering him. After all, the last time he went for the kill he didn’t succeed AND he nearly killed himself in the process. All Might wasn’t going to survive taking the same approach a second time.
In Ch.330, Star is the invader and the first one to attack. She talks about Shigaraki as “a guy who came all this way to meet me” but she’s the one who came a long way to HIS country. Even if she’s trying to be All Might, she’s reminiscent of early Bakugo threatening to blow up Kurogiri or Earlyroki casually saying he could let villains freeze to death (but he won’t because that’s not heroic). That is, she acts like a student who hasn’t truly learned the important lessons yet.
Star’s other mistake also comes from USJ — she’s over reliant on her quirk, and it caused her to fall into AFO’s trap. AFO knew Star had to say his name for her quirk to activate, and he knew “Shigaraki” isn’t the right name for this new, transcendent being. He let her think she had the upper hand, touching Shigaraki while he was regenerating. Star may yet survive the explosion by creating another rule before her quirk is stolen, or if she’s caught mid-air by Endeavor, but her stunned “It didn’t work?!” left her very, very vulnerable to AFO!Shigaraki’s touch. Look how unhinged she looks in the final panel!!!
Of course, AFO didn’t just trap Star; he trapped Shiggy too. It turns out that Shigaraki at 100% isn’t just “fully powered” by AFO. At 100% they MERGE into a new being with a complete AFO quirk and liberated Decay. Now add in New Order and OFA??? Yep, this is the start of AFO controlling the singularity; the moment of no return when society changes forever. Those of you who are tech geeks may also recognize “the singularity” as the moment when computers, robots, and/or AI run society; when their intelligence exceeds all human intellect and understanding, effectively rendering humans extinct.
Shigaraki resists the only way he knows how — through hatred and anger, remembering his home as the root of his distress. Remembering how heroes destroy their families to save strangers.
Unfortunately, hatred gives AFO the upper hand. Fortunately, Shigaraki’s not at 100%, so there’s a chance for someone (or several someones) to reach him and help him heal. Maybe teach him the meaning of peace, so he has a bright future, and not just AFO’s “glorious” one.
#such a cutie for @daily-cats
Cat enjoying the smell of a blossomed tree
(via)
who’s baby and why is it deku dressed up as kacchan 🥺
