seeing red

In Western cartoons, characters turn red with anger, occasionally venting steam through their ears or maybe even imagining how best to kill or maim the object of anger.

The Japanese, creative people, have developed a most wondrous concept in animation: the battle aura. It is a visual device that helps to denote either a fighter's skill level or emotional intensity, and is illustrated as a nimbus or shape either enveloping or hovering over the character.

It is usually just an amorphous cloud radiating from the warrior, but can be in the form of a flame, angel wings or an animal shape. Battle auras have varying colors and opacities.
Sometimes a particularly formidable opponent can be introduced as a dragon or large creature, which upon approach will dissolve to reveal the fighter generating so much chi.

Lately I have been simmering with barely-tempered anger, unmitigated with the passing of time. I can feel it like a storm brewing around my head, and I imagine that if i generated my own battle aura, my hair would spread out in all directions, not a pretty smooth pelt, but an ominous, living mass in the shape of a giant black dove. It would be twisted and angry and writhing, as if constantly battling itself, perpetually trying to break free.

Or maybe I'd have living hair, like Marvel's Medusa (remember her?). She was my second favorite superhero, after Wonder Woman. Yeah, I think red suits the angry hair bit.

And on that red note, i present my favorite shoes.



Alanis' ~Forgiven~
TFATDOC ~Pasko Na, Sinta Ko~