Messages

1

break Room / Re: Cafe Mizar! (Character Date/ Meet Up Page)

« on: April 01, 2016, 04:13:00 PM »

Awesome! Now we have more than enough characters!

Do you mind if we can collaborate, Raven? We had a person leave the group this round, which leaves Austin with no one to talk to :sad:

Pick a character, and get back to me as soon as you can! Thanks :)

Now there are only 10 spots remaining for employees. Apply while spots are available!

Not at all. Aurora would mix well with Austin, I think.

2

Manga Drawing Workshop / Re: Manga Writers check this - post your characters here and let others to draw it

« on: March 29, 2016, 12:30:54 PM »

Here are a few protagonists that I would really like to see be brought to life. Hope someone finds these intriguing.

Aurora

Origin: After World
Name: Aurora B. Orealis
Race/Gender: Female Kitsune
Age: Physical age is mid-twenties. Real age is unknown, but assumed to be ancient.
Attire: Hmm. I'm going for a medieval/early renaissance wandering bard look. Surprise me!
Appearance: Predominately butternut & blonde hair with streaks of white at the tail and ear tips. Her eyes are an interesting color wheel of different shades of blue, seemingly changing at will or unconsciously by emotion.
Quirks:
-  A regular night owl, preferring to stay out late and sleep most of the day. Definitely not a morning person, she may seem sluggish, groggy, and even grouchy if woken early. These feelings ease up as the day progresses, completely vanishing around the afternoon.
- She has uncanny hearing, being able to make out conversations, high-pitched sounds and muttered comments across great distances, if she concentrates.
- Aurora is a notorious alcoholic. As a coping mechanism, she has turned her addiction to one of all things sweet (including her coffee). Usually when stressed, bored, or craving, she'll focus her attention on consuming anything with sugar. Funny enough, this placebo has worked so well, that her body reacts to the sugar rush as it would the alcohol.

Masato

Name: Masato Kayuza
Race/Gender: Japanese Male
Age: 19
Default Attire: Rumpled, white button shirt, and olive green tie. Coffee brown sports coat and trousers. Has an armband on his right limb with the Argo Expeditionary Force logo. A red greek lambda symbol (the Spartan A) inside a thin red circle, all on a background of white cloth.
Appearance: He's a young man of short stature (5 ' 4), with a wiry frame that is almost scrawny. He has a head of of shiny sable hair, with long alabaster streaks. He sports a set of thick, round pince nez glasses that cover two bright, startling grey eyes.
Quirks:
- Naturally hyper active, caffeine is an old rival of Masato's, and an ever present danger. Even ingesting a small amount of the substance could have dire results for the young meta-physicist - including everything around him.
- A man with a fast mind, he has a tendency to outrun his verbal filter, sometimes saying out loud what he thought in his head.
- Will never be seen doing nothing. It is not in Kayuza's personality to just sit down, and relax. He always finds something, anything, to do with his time.

Rolf

Name:Rolf Luebeck
Race/Gender:German Male
Description: He is 25 years old, he's of average height (5'7) with an runners build (athletic, but not bulky) and a healthy tan. He has mousy, light brown hair that refuses to be anything but messy, over two deep hazel-colored eyes. He has a small jagged scar that crosses his right eye, gained in a close call in North Africa.
Default Attire: Solid, grey military tunic and trousers. Grey high-peaked cap or coal-scuttle helmet(optional). Wears a pair of knee high black or brown leather. On an armband on his right limb with the Argo Expeditionary Force logo. A red greek lambda symbol (the Spartan A) inside a thin red circle, all on a background of white cloth.
Quirks:
-Always wears a white cotton patch that he's kept since his hospitalization and return to duty, even though he doesn't really need it.
-His hair is so unruly that he always wears it gelled and combed back, or keeps it under his officers hat.

3

General Manga writer discussions / Re: Are you supposed to describe anime characters as they look in anime?

« on: March 29, 2016, 11:28:56 AM »

Unless your an artist as well as a writer, I would say yes. Descriptions are the only way readers can fully imagine a written character, so anything that you leave out will never be known by the reader. Of course, like you said, fully describing some of the strange and crazy character models in anime can be straight up frustrating.

4

General Manga writer discussions / Re: Brainstorming, Development, and Progression

« on: March 29, 2016, 11:26:03 AM »

As an aspiring author, I am a better researcher than I am a writer. I'll be dedicated to brainstorming, night and day, resulting in this ungodly descriptive and realistic universe of lore. But be completely ineffective in actually writing it all down into something people actually want to read 

5

break Room / Re: MR on Youtube!

« on: March 29, 2016, 11:15:41 AM »

This is a standing call for videos to add to the MR youtube page. It's not the busiest place, but we're aiming to change that.

We are looking primarily for tutorials, amvs, speed paints, and reviews. Though other manga/anime or MR themed videos are welcome. 

All videos must be created by you personally. Don't go around submitting other people's work. If you have a video to submit, please contact Coryn by pm.

You should consider putting up podcasts on the channel as well.

6

break Room / Re: Live Action Full Metal Alchemist?

« on: March 29, 2016, 11:14:42 AM »

http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/03/29-1/live-action-fullmetal-alchemist-film-works-its-magic-in-2017

Rumours of a FMA live action adaptation? Apparently scheduled to begin filming summer 2016 in Italy.

Brace yourselves! Bad CGI is coming 

As having never really liked live-actions, this reply has glaring bias. That said, I hope it succeeds better than its predecessors (I'm looking at you, Attack On Titan!) and that the don't butcher too much of the story.

7

Develop Your Story / Re: After World (Critque, Assistance, and Help Wanted)

« on: March 29, 2016, 12:39:42 AM »

Reader Service Announcement:
Due to circumstances with my college class and day job, I've been unable to make good on the update dates above. Additionally, I have decided to approach the writing of the chapters differently. From now on, I will try to make them more novel-like.

I feel that the formating for screenwriting is taking more time than the actual story writing. Thats wasted time I could be using to finished the promised chapters.

So, I hope you all stick with me and After World as we change out approach.

8

break Room / Re: Cafe Mizar! (Character Date/ Meet Up Page)

« on: March 29, 2016, 12:12:23 AM »

A bit late, but as promised. Two staffers, ready to serve.

Masato

Story: After World
Name: Masato Kayuza
Position Applied: Cashier OR Waiter
Gender: Japanese Male
Origin Dimension: Earth, Mid-20th Century; Osaka, Japan
Age: 19
Appearance: He's a young man of short stature (5 ' 4), with a wiry frame that is almost scrawny. He has a head of of shiny sable hair, with long alabaster streaks. On his square-head, round-ish face, he sports a set of thick pince nez glasses that cover two bright, startling grey eyes.
Personality: Masato is enthusiastic, hyper, idealistic and lively, being a infamous chatter box when it comes to subjects he finds interesting as well as being unable to sit still; always having to do something. Which contrasts to his shy silence in areas he doesn't consider himself a professional in, giving him a fish out of water look in most social situations.
Quirks:
- Naturally hyper active, caffeine is an old rival of Masato's, and an ever present danger. Even ingesting a small amount of the substance could have dire results for the young meta-physicist - including everything around him.
- A man with a fast mind, he has a tendency to outrun his verbal filter, sometimes saying out loud what he thought in his head.
- Will never be seen doing nothing. It is not in Kayuza's personality to just sit down, and relax. He always finds something, anything, to do with his time.

Aurora

Origin: After World
Name: Aurora B. Orealis
Position Applied: Entertainer OR Waitress
Race/Gender: Female Kitsune
Origin: Æsir, Mid-20th Century; Friolia, Europa
Age: Physical age is mid-twenties. Real age is unknown, but assumed to be ancient.
Appearance: She has predominately butternut & blonde hair with streaks of white at the tail and ear tips. Her eyes are an interesting color wheel of different shades of blue, seemingly changing at will or unconsciously by emotion.
Personality: Intelligent, Quick-witted, and Fun loving. But also Mischievous, Childish, and Jealous.
Quirks:
-  A regular night owl, preferring to stay out late and sleep most of the day. Definitely not a morning person, she may seem sluggish, groggy, and even grouchy if woken early. These feelings ease up as the day progresses, completely vanishing around the afternoon.
- She has uncanny hearing, being able to make out conversations, high-pitched sounds and muttered comments across great distances, if she concentrates.
- Aurora is a notorious alcoholic. As a coping mechanism, she has turned her addiction to one of all things sweet (including her coffee). Usually when stressed, bored, or craving, she'll focus her attention on consuming anything with sugar. Funny enough, this placebo has worked so well, that her body reacts to the sugar rush as it would the alcohol.

Of course, the result of these episodes all end in a crash, which temporarily puts her in a comma. Upon waking, she'll have no recollection of anything that that happened during the rush (Its like The Hangover; less shots, more lolipops)

9

General Manga writer discussions / Re: Handwriting help?

« on: March 28, 2016, 10:17:26 PM »

So this is a bit random for MR, but I've been wanting to start journaling / letter art / writing my stories on paper more... but I really can't stand my handwriting. I've always had trouble with it and it's always been bad, but the thing is that I practice constantly but it never seems to improve. It's something I'm quite self-conscious about since I've been made fun of for it a lot (even by my own family. ) and I'd really like to improve it, but I'm just not sure how. I've done lots of tip searching and tried everything I can think of, and I constantly practice but clearly I'm doing something wrong, since I've improved very little since I've started.

Does anybody have any tips or practices I can try? Thanks!

A Couple Suggestions

Choose your weapon carefully: You have a lot of choices here, from NO.2 Pencils to Fountain Pens. Regardless of what you choose Writing by hand shouldn’t be like a game of Mercy with your writing equipment, so look for one that’s comfortable to hold, and where the ink (or lead) flows smoothly without your having to push too hard on the paper.

Also, try pens with different sized nibs or balls to find a line thickness that pleases you, and experiment with different colors. But take care, it doesn’t matter how beautiful your script, it will still look horrendous if rendered in a bilious green ink.

Finally, if you’re a leftie, you can buy specially designed left-hand pens.

Get a grip: Your grip should be light yet supportive, and there should be no undue tension in your hand position. Don't squeeze. Your pen is not a toothpaste tube, and the ink will flow of its own accord.

It doesn’t really matter which fingers you use to hold the pen, as long as it feels comfortable and balanced. But it’s best for the top (the non-business end) to rest on or just in front of the base knuckle of your index finger, rather than in the gully formed between index finger and thumb.

Put your back into it: You need to sit up straight yet relaxed, with your non-writing fingers gently curled under your hand, and your hand position resting lightly on the table. Clear some space, because you need room to move your arm when writing properly. You can’t produce elegant, free-flowing script if you’re hunched up over the only corner of your desk not littered with empty coffee cups, half-eaten sandwiches, and rogue power cables.

The arm guides all: Finally, once you have a comfortable writing position, don’t screw it up by altering your alignment. When it becomes awkward to move your hand position down the page to write the next line, try moving the paper up instead of your hand down. Unleashing a typewriter bing is optional 

In other words, your shoulder and forearm move as you write, but your wrist and fingers don’t. This helps you write in a more fluid, efficient style. It takes practice, and feels weird at first, but these muscle groups don’t get tired as quickly as your wrist and fingers.

Swap your air guitar for an air pen: To practice using your shoulder muscles to write, hold your arm in front of you, elbow bent, and write big letters in the air. Concentrate on moving from the shoulder and holding your forearm, wrist, and fingers steady. Muscles from your shoulder, arm, chest, and back should be working. These are the muscle groups you want to use when writing with pen and paper.

Once you are comfortable doing this, which mostly means coming to terms with how ridiculous you look, try making smaller and smaller air letters.

Bust out some shapes: Once you’re confident with the muscle groups needed to write in thin air, it’s time to fire it up to 11 and break out the pen and paper. This article suggests you start out writing large X’s, /’s, O’s, swirls, and loops. Really concentrate on moving from the shoulder, holding your wrist steady, and using your fingers just as a guide. Focus on producing nice, smooth shapes, and use lined paper to help with consistent size and spacing.


Probably best not to hold your pen with this hand position.
As you get better, make your shapes smaller and smaller. Begin introducing letters again, start out big and bold, and gradually get smaller. When you’re ready to go crazy, bust out some words, sentences, and even whole paragraphs.

Practice whenever you can: Take every opportunity to write longhand instead of on a keyboard. If you’re a writer, or need to write a report or proposal, consider doing your first draft using pen and paper. You can polish and edit as you type it up.

Write out old-skool to-do lists rather than using a computer program. Start maintaining a journal. If you’re stuck in a boring meeting, presentation, or lecture, practice your handwriting strokes instead of doodling whirlwinds and boxes.

10

General Manga writer discussions / Re: Signs of a "Best Girl"

« on: March 28, 2016, 09:48:58 PM »

I totally agree with the characters and your reasons for liking them, I just wanted to make note (mostly about Lovely Complex) that the ending was pretty much guaranteed those two getting together.

I literally can't read Nisekoi because of this and that makes me sad since I like the art and comedy.

Yep, pretty much 

Wow. You really wanted that OTP huh?

Usually I think that the 'best girl' at the very least, can't be one of those anime tropes that's a little too far in one direction. Best girl is usually the one who has a very balanced portfolio of tropes, with no one trope outweighing any of the others.

that being said, there are shows where you could say 'best girl' is actually just 'least worst girl given the situation'. Not so much a case of that girl shining above all others, but just a 'if you had to choose' situation.

Thats an interesting point of view. While you're after balance, are there any tropes that you have even a little bias towards.

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General Manga writer discussions / Re: Signs of a "Best Girl"

« on: March 28, 2016, 04:07:45 PM »

@RMR: But everybody loves Megumi. Also I thought Lovely Complex was all about her and the guy getting together (admittedly it's been a while since I watched the anime).


On the subject of what makes a "best girl" though I'm pretty inept. In Metal Panic I thought Tessa was a shoe in. Wrong. Nisekoi I dropped since Onodera seemed to be losing to blatant favoritism of Chitoge. Even Bleach seems to be leaning towards Inoue instead of Rukia. Clearly my preferences mean nothing, except for Naruto where everyone rejoiced when Hinata came out on top.

@LittRL: Well, that just means most people have my exceptional taste in Soma girls :p As for Love Com, they only started to get together towards the middle-late of the show, since both the guy and girl MC were going after someone else in the beginning.

What I meant to get across that all characters mentioned had immediate disadvantages when it came to getting to their goals. More so than most. For Megumi, it was lack of confidence and grace under pressure. I don't think any other character in the show was given the short end of the stick more than her. For Risa, it was her height and peculiar personality. As for Phyrra, she's so good at fighting, that no one wants to hang around her.

Anyway, I back your choices in FMP & Nisekoi. Tessa & Onodera weren't given justice.

12

Welcome Center / Re: New Writer - Sludge

« on: March 28, 2016, 03:01:55 PM »

Happy to meet you Mike, and glad to see you on the site. I'm looking forward to seeing what your story ideas are about. If you are interested in collaborating, I've always have spare time and a ready pen to help out. Feel free to PM me anytime.

Enjoy your first day at MR 

13

General Manga writer discussions / Re: How much research do you do when writing your stories?

« on: March 28, 2016, 02:57:21 PM »

I always apply the same drive I have for story research as I do for writing an interesting plot: full steam ahead! In projects that I deem worthy to focus on, I have nothing holding me back from applying 100% effort in all the time I have. Usually, I throw myself into researching and fact checking the facts that hold my story background together.

Is that a lot of work? Yep. Does it sometimes get in the way of actually writing the work? Sometimes. But for me, its all worth it. Because I know that my readers will never be left scratching their heads to unknowable questions, lest I want them too 

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General Manga writer discussions / Re: Signs of a "Best Girl"

« on: March 28, 2016, 02:47:55 PM »

I am a sucker for underdogs.

By that, I mean female MC's or supporting character who might not be first pick at the start of the story, or even the middle. But given time, they finish grandly. Some examples I'd like to draw from are Megumi Tadakoro from Shokugeki no Soma, Risa Koisumi from Lovely Complex, and RWBY's Pyrrha Nikos. An analogy I like to use for these character types are diamonds-in-the-rough.





Its hard not to ramble when writing about what I find "best" about these characters. Maybe its how they succeed in overcoming their faults in their character, crafting a better version of themselves by the end of the season, or episode. Or maybe, its the action of accepting their imperfections and by doing this, resolve to be more than they already are.

Thats my "best girl", anyway 

15

MR Pub / Re: You raff you ruse. (warning: may contain ecchi)

« on: March 28, 2016, 02:17:58 PM »