#10 image limit ruined my post

[woodsie]

Shadow Yosuke’s Symbolism

I recently got a friend to play Persona 4 and we were talking about the symbolism of each of the character’s shadow selves, when we came to the realisation that neither of us really knew what Yosuke’s was meant to represent.

Chie’s represented her relationship with Yukiko. Yukiko’s her desire for freedom but lack of action in taking it. Yosuke has… a ninja frog…?

So I’ve done some digging.

Official Statements

The first thing I did was look at the official concept art sheet for shadow Yosuke. This primarily detailed that as the first of the shadows, they wanted it to be very obvious that their shadow’s and persona’s were the same thing.

This is done quite well and tells players subtly that they are the same without being obvious.

Jiraiya does look a lot like shadow Yosuke. The main body’s colour is inverted from black (evil) to white (good), the frogs eyes are added to Jiraiya’s head and the frog’s mouth becomes a chest piece, with the frog’s skin pattern carried over to the cuffs of Jiraiya’s clothes.

Jiraiya is easily the most similar persona to shadow. Important for early game. This idea is also helped by Tomoe looking very similar to shadow Chie, and allows the idea of persona’s and shadow’s being the same to be cemented into the players minds before they meet shadow Yukiko who is visually very different to Konohana-Sakuya.

Jiraiya In Folklore

My next step was to look for any symbolism between Yosuke and the story of Jiraiya himself. Granted, as a white woman™️ my knowledge of Japanese folklore is limited but I will summarise my findings and compare them to Yosuke’s story directly.

[Sorry for the weird formatting, I’m working around the 10 image post limit]

Both stories open with a character from an influential background and moving to a new area.

Jiraiya’s stance as a robber could be in reference to the fact that Junes is taking business away from local businesses and their families.

Saki could be taking the place of the woman in the house. Regardless of if she actually likes him, she is kind to him when others are not. This is something Yosuke admires greatly but it still doesn’t prevent Junes from ruining the Konishi’s business.

His shadow self is then a reference to the old man/magic frog. It recognises him from who he is, and although the shadow is hostile its intention is to teach Yosuke about the parts of himself he is trying to hide so he can reconcile with those feelings. This is what allows him to gain his persona, or in other words “teaching him magic”

Gaining his persona is what helps set Yosuke’s resolve and desire to avenge Saki and the others who have suffered due to the killer. He shows a distinct intelligence and is often the one to piece together vital information. Without him insisting they investigate Saki’s murder, the Investigation Team might not have ever existed. In that sense you could consider him a hero.

A good portion of his social link is devoted to him coming to terms with his situation, both around the murders and his place within Inaba. He frequently talks about feelings of loneliness and a desire to be valued, and he finds comfort in having his persona and being able to do something about what’s going on, it gives him some control over his life which he lost by coming to Inaba in the first place. Overtime though he does come to love Inaba as a whole and recognises that it’s the people around you that really make a place special. He’s not alone anymore and he’s far happier for it.

Other Potential Inspirations

In my attempts at seeing what others online think about potential symbolism for Yosuke’s shadow, I found that most people also did not understand what his shadow was meant to represent. However, I did come across a few older threads of people sharing possible ideas.

One of which was of a Chinese story about a frog in a well. The story related to narrow mindedness and limited perspective as the frog is unaware of life beyond the well and is amazed by it when told what it has to offer. This could be a potential reference to his dismissal of country life and him growing to love the town.

[thekidsarentalright]

‼️ dear fob fan reading this ‼️

all of the results are below the cut, as otherwise this would be wayyy too long (warning ahead of reading: this is long but worth the read i promise)! Thank you again to everybody who participated in this, this year the census received double(!!) the amount of responses as it did previously!! i hope you all enjoy the results and find them as interesting as i do, lets get into it:

A couple small disclaimers before the results: due to some technical difficulties i had to make this whole post on mobile, and because of that had to deal with tumblr mobiles image limit! that's why some questions are paired with others even if there isn't a theme between them. Along with this, tumblr naturally ruined the quality of the images a bit, clicking on them helps if you wanna see more detail! hopefully these things don't disrupt the viewing experience too much! enjoy <3

Questions #1 + #2: Eras

Question #1: Here it was asked what era you became a fan, and the era with the largest response was Save Rock and Roll, with just over a quarter of you all having become a fan in 2013/2014. The most notable thing to point out here is that over half of you become fans after the hiatus! With a good amount becoming fans (8.5%) in just the last couple years!

Question #2: This question was also about the era's of fob, but asking what your favorite era is personally. Coincidentally (or perhaps not 👀), Save Rock and Roll came out on top in this question too as a majority of peoples favorite era of fob (thus far).

Questions #3 + #4: Favorite + Best Album(s)

Question #3: Here you were asked to pick which album is personally your favorite, with Folie a Deux being over a quarter of respondents favorite album. This was not too shocking, as Folie came out on top the past two years as well. The love for that album is incredibly strong and unwavering!

Question #4: In this question, the distinction was made in asking which of fobs albums is objectively their best. Part of me knew to expect the answers would be the same as the last one, part of me wondered if maybe things would be shake up- they were not! The only thing that changed was slightly less people believing Folie is their best album, rather than it being their personal favorite (39.7% vs 39%)

Questions #5 + #6: Least Favorite and Worst Album(s)

Question #5: Here you were asked the flip of question 3, that being which album is personally your least favorite. Here, the answers were not too shocking (but hurtful) to me as abap stan #1 with over a quarter of you all voting abap as your least favorite fob album. Notably, but perhaps not surprisingly, here is that all the albums people voted as their favorites had a Very minuscule amount of people saying they were fobs worst.

Question #6: Just as the last question, this one was a flip of question 4, and as questions 3 and 4, the top answers for these two were the same. However, the order partly flipped, with take this to your grave being considered their worst album, and abap and mania trailing close behind. Interestingly, despite a large majority of people considering folie their best album, it was not the album with the least votes here- Infinity on high is.

Questions #7 + #8: Eps and Music Videos

Question #7: Number 7 asked you all to pick which Ep of fobs was your favorite, with My Heart (etc etc) pulling ahead to be your #1 favorite. Interestingly here, this was the first year i included project rocket... And only 2 people picked it. Perhaps it will be the last time i include that option...

Question #8: Unrelated to the previous but they're together anyway lol, this question was a new one asking you all what music video is your favorite! Sixteen candles won by a relatively large margin, though several music videos got shown a lot of love. Essentially, despite there being a clear majority favorite, almost each of their music videos got at least one vote, which is pretty cool to me!

Questions #9 + #10: Your babygirls both fob and otherwise

Question #9: Though it goes without saying that we all love and support each member of fob very very much, we all have our special babygirl, and that was shown here. It appears that a majority of census takers are Patrick girlies (gnc), though each member got a large chunk of votes!

Question #10: Every year this question goes the same, with my chemical romance coming out on top as your guys' favorite fob related/adjacent artist. It feels this year the love for them was even stronger, which is interesting to me! Their resurgence can be felt even in other fandoms, like in this case, which is prettyyyy cool!

Questions #11, 12, + #13: First, Favorite, and Best songs

Question #11: This question made a comeback this year asking which fob song was the first you ever heard. I want to acknowledge that i included an option for can't/won't remember, as i understand that can be a difficult thing to remember sometimes! That answer, rightfully, came out as the second most answered option. However, i wanted to show the actual top songs, so just put those! Something else to note is the shocking wide variety of first songs for people! Very cool.

Question #12: Here you were asked for your personal favorite overall song, with probably no one being surprised that disloyal order came out on top, dominating any other song, as per usual! The love for Folie truly is so song, with 3 of the top 5 songs being songs from Folie.

Question #13: And here you were asked objectively what your favorite song is andddd... disloyal order won this one as well, perhaps rightfully so. Interestingly here, (coffee's for closers) dipped from the list where it was 5th in peoples favorites, being replaced by the ever so popular dance, dance! What a catch makes an appearance here too, maintaining a majority of the top 5 songs being ones from Folie.

Questions #14 +#15: Under and Overrated songs

Question #14: One of my favorites to ask every year so far, this one asks which song you believe to be fobs most underrated. Surprisingly to me, Snitches came out as the most underrated. It was interesting to see which songs were chosen for this one, as I feel a lot more mania/posth songs were considered underrated, despite less often being considered favorites!

Question #15: On the flip side, this question asked what fob song is most overrated. Every year, the answers here are very consistent: centuries is their most overrated song. Abap is the album with the most overrated songs. In that way, one could consider abap the antihesis of Folie lmao

Questions #16: Seeing fob live

Question #16: Interestingly to me, last year the results were flipped with more people having seen them live than not. However this year, with some newer fans that previously, more people have not seen them than have. hopefully this changes soon!

Questions #17 + #18: This or That

Question #17: Here, I took the top 2 answers for what your favorite fob song was and put them up against each other. The entire time the census was open, this was so so insanely close. A majority of the time, hum hallelujah was beating disloyal order. However, at the last minute, the two songs tied. So i guess we have to wait till next year to see the true favoritez

Question #18: And with this one, these two were the top two answers last year for the most overrated fob song. Centuries was absolutely decimated by My songs, truly solidifying this fandoms apparent distaste for centuries.

Questions #19 + #20: Album Covers and Lyrics

Question #19: A census first, this question asked which album cover is your guys' favorite cover. I was super interested to see how the results of this one came out, as i had my own perception of what i thought is their best cover, but really didn't know what everyone else thought. and infinity on high came out on top! (with me agreeing with that heavily)

Question #20: Last but certainly not least, question 20 asked you all to pick which fob song has the best lyrics. We experienced a tie here, with an interesting variety of songs here. Hum hallelujah, like it has in past years, came out as number 1! Interestingly, despite Folie being the fan favorite and alleged best album, only one Folie song is present here, with a majority of them being from Infinity on high!

And with that, the 2023 fall out boy census has come to a close. Once again, thank you all for participating in this and indulging me and my love for data and statistics lmao! i really do hope this is as enjoyable for everyone else as it is for me. i look forward to year 4 next year, as by then we'll have an entirely new album to add to the mix! mwah <3

I want to add lastly that if you have any further questions, data you wanna see, or general comments about this please feel free to come into my inbox and chat with me!! :D

[applepies-and-starlight]

...so I completely forgot that (2) (more) people were interested in Siltcurrent. (Akuma!Ishmael)

Anyway I'm gonna be posting the text under cut because. It's A Lot. And there's a 10 image limit so I can't just screenshot my ramblings

Some Context for LCB moots/readers who have not seen MLB: Akumas are butterflies made by the show's villain (Hawkmoth) who target people experiencing negative emotions, usually said emotions influence how their villain self acts and what their powers are

Extra context for anyone confused: basically a while back I made an AU where Ishmael is the Ladybug (Scarlet Ardor) and Don is the Black Cat (Chatvalier). The aim of the game is bringing glory to yuriville here Also note that they're both in university in a modern AU where we aren't in the shitfest called the City for obvious reasons

Mid edit apple: now should probably be a good time to mention the entire context of the scenario here is that Ishy tries to confess to Don, gets rejected (as Ishmael) and accepted (as Ardor) at the same time. So in attempt to logic away her hurt she tries to figure out why Don likes Ardor better (Ishmael knows Don is Chatvalier (accidental); Don does not know Ishy is Ardor) but in doing so she attracts an Akuma and turns into Siltcurrent thanks faust

Mid edit apple 2: i'd like to clarify that 90% of these writings were written at 3am while i was delirious on sleep deprivation with all of my impulse controls dead on the floor

(Writings will be indented; ramblings will be in bullet points)

So! Siltcurrent! Ishmael Akuma!!

Akumatized late at night (roughly 11pm maybe) but it isn't noticable for the first few days

Illusion subset of powers; Siltcurrent conjures up a form of Ardor to try to keep up some form of normalcy

Omori vibes; as in, everything seems normal but there is something Wrong

Physiology:

Half-blind; Siltcurrent can only identify colors and vague shapes

Exception is Chatvalier/Don, she knows Exactly what to look for and it's Very Hard to trick her

Because Dream Devouring Siltcurrent reference, flouresents!

Bandages. Everywhere. Especially in the heart area

The bandage covering her chest is trying to hide a wound that looks like a lance ran through it

Constantly crying, like deadass her tears are flooding the place

Basically she looks like that fucked up Blind Obsession mer KoishiJSM drew

Oh, yeah, have I mentioned this fucker can break into your dreams?

It gently held her hands, adoration and malice waging war in its one visible eye, both combining into a new emotion that could only be possibly described as obsession.

"I love you," it said, gently kissing above her eye "I love hate love hate love hate..."

Its near-fanatical murmurs eventually petered out into a low whine, resting its head in the crook of her neck.

"You ruin me. Ruin me so much... I hate it I hate it, love you hate you love it love it please keep going please please please..."

(^^ this is a dream sequence; coincides with the last point i made)

(Siltcurrent keeps visiting don's dreams because her horrible compulsion keeps making her do it, otherwise she'd go even more insane for not acting on said compulsions)

Akuma has killed her impulse control so her intrusive thoughts are running rampant

She has at least enough self control to not go... Too Far, at least

(This lack of impulse control from "Ishmael" and "Ardor" is one of the things that tip off Don that something's wrong because honestly she's pretty smart despite what others say)

Very Avoidant of Don (as "Ishmael")

Like. Yk how ayano's like in yansim? Yeah basically

Mild yandere(?) mode now that i think of it

Like. She sees that Don's given someone else more attention than usual too and immediately tracks them down before pestering them about her (mainly like. Asking why she's been around them more, if they learned anything about her during their interactions, etc etc; comes off as overbearing and creepy)

It causes people to steer clear of don because nobody wants to deal with "ishmael"

This one needs screenshots i can't do it justice otherwise

Queequeg's..... Somewhere.

I don't know what exactly happens I just know the end result is that Ahab did A Thing and now our sailor has Trauma. Yk, usual limbus shit

Whatever the fuck happened broke Queequeg and her apart

Idk what it is exactly (could be death or other circumstance, probably the latter because.. cool leg) but whatever it is caused her to not quite. Open Up™ as a defense response

"I've been burned once, I don't want to be burned again"

"Don't go... don't go..."

Torrents of water began to fall from the sky, as if a god had punctured a hole in the clouds. Flooding the place and dragging her under.

"Please don't go..."

The thing pressed its body against her, eye searching for any reaction she had

"Empty... so empty... why do I keep breaking?"

"Why am I always hurt?"

"Is there something wrong with me?"

Don woke up again, managing to stifle a shout before she ended up waking the entire household.

(She swore she heard a choked sob off in the distance)

(^^ This one's a little rougher, but also another dream sequence)

(Side note: this one and the previous one were in italics because i used italics to distinguish my writing from my rambling in those entries and i'm too lazy to deitalicize them)

Ardor tentatively stepped towards Chatvalier, smile too stiff to be sincere; too wide to be human, her blue eyes desperately searching for something as she lifted a hand, only to awkwardly let it flop beside her.

(Her eyes were supposed to be green; a near-golden shade of olive that reminded Chatvalier of the first leaves heralding fall.)

"Hey, Chatvalier." Ardor spoke, her voice barely above a whisper yet still carrying through the space between them. "I..."

"Release Lady Ardor at once."

"Ardor's" smile faltered, her hands trembling with some deep-seated emotion.

"Chat, please." Its voice cracked as it took more steps towards the cat, "It's me, It's really-"

"Silence, wretch." Chatvalier spat, lowering her stance and pointing her staff at it. "Thou shall not decieve me; release her at once."

Its smile vanished completely, a tear sliding down its cheek.

Then, with a booming roar, a mighty wave crashed down on the fake.

(^^ beginning of what I like to call "Act 2", basically Don figures out Ishy's gotten Akumatized and something's Wrong with Ardor but instead draws the conclusion that Ishy kidnapped Ardor she mentioned she loved Ardor)

(Don't ask how I know my middle english I don't remember either (and if its janked anywhere please tell me))

Fun fact i originally used cur instead

But then i remembered the word wretch existed and went "yeah that's more in line with an absolutely pissed off Don"

"What do you want from me?!" The Akuma wailed, its head whipping around as it tried to find the flash of gold it so dearly adored, "Why are you doing this to me?!"

It screamed as it felt something stab into its tail, twisting around and throwing Chatvalier off of it, trying to shake off the pain from its mutilates tail

"Have I not told you, cur?" She shouted back, flourescent blood staining her boots as righteous fury burned in her eyes.

"Thou hath harmed mine lady, and it is mine duty to deliver retribution onto thee!"

(^^ I can't fucking figure out how I want the last line to go)

(The tail stabbing is a minor nowhere is north reference lmao; one of my drafts for siltcurrent's appearance is that she has twisted legs for a tail ala Mili's bathtub mermaid art)

Chatvalier watched in both horror and morbid fascination as the akuma writhed on the ground, screaming in frustrated agony as it clawed against its bandages, the fight all but forgotten.

"I DON'T HAVE ARDOR! I CAN'T GIVE HER BACK TO YOU!" It screamed at Chatvalier, tears overflowing as its voice went hoarse, "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO?! WHAT DO I DO?! TELL ME!"

Before she could even formulate a response, or even a short quip, it dug its claws into itself, a guttural roar ripping out of its throat before a sickening thump landed on the rooftop.

A still beating heart rested at Chatvalier's feet.

(^^ something possessed me to write this and it just. Ended up becoming an important thing in my outline)

(Discord between me and @/scriptum-pandemonium (tell me if i you want these off tbe post pls))

Speaking of here's more stuff (spoilered because body horror (vague) which i added because. C'mon, this is a limbus au, i should be able to ramp up the violence to blood and (some) gore levels)

Hell yeah up the gore and horror

HOLY FUCKING SHIT THE HEART

:>

■■■

Delulu this akuma just has multiple hearts, octopus time

Honestly my original idea is that like, through magic bullshit she's still perfectly ok (still in pain because. Literally ripping your heart out. But. Y'know.)

If I may build on the banger lines you put down, maybe when it's over donqui pulls Ishmael in for a long hug just so she can hear the beating of Ishmael's heart in her own chest

:0

(Shoutout to Blue and the gang at Halcandra btw this was largely inspired by Magiajam)

Shaky, labored pants filled the silence between them. The villain's hair - Ishmael's hair, shadowed its face.

Only its eye was visible; the eye looking at her with so much manic hate, sadness, obsession...

Love.

The heart continued to faintly beat.

"Take it." She gasped, a bloodied claw gingerly covering the gaping, bleeding hole in her chest, "just take it and leave."

Chatvalier couldn't. How could she, anyhow? Anyone who saw such a grosteque sight would be paralyzed in shock, too.

A small sniffle snapped her out of her spiral, looking up to find the akuma desperately trying to wipe its tears away.

"Please..." it hiccuped, desperately trying to steady its breathing.

Then, a whisper.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry-"

It started wailing again, babbling a thousand apologies at once as it began to crawl back to the waves.

"I'msorryIcan'tbeherI'msorryIdon'tknowwhyyouloveherI'msorryIcan'terasetheuglymeandbebeautifulforyouI'msorryyouhavetoseemeuglyI'msorryI'mnotperfectforyou-"

Somewhere through the storm of sorrow, Chatvalier found that her feet had tried to bring her to the villain; to Ishmael.

But when she raised a hand to try and stop her, she was already gone.

All that was left was a patch of flourescent, bloodied water, and a single glass shard.

(^^ arguably one of my favorites; I am in so much pain!)

[...] sorry for being not ardor, for being ugly, for not being perfect [...]

It's been a few days since her confession. Ishmael has gotten over the rejection. Definitely. Yeah. It wasn't like... it wasn't like it was the end of the world or anything. She and Don were still friends. (Right?) (Right...) (....hopefully.) No, the self reflection notes weren't about Don. She was just... curious about herself. Yeah, that's it. Nothing to do with how she told her that she reserved her heart for Ardor. (She didn't even question it; she knew Don was Chatvalier, her annoying, endearing, ever loyal partner, who'd gladly throw herself into harm's way if it meant she'd be safe.) Nope. This was only because she saw a curious ad on the internet. A few days ago. (What did she do differently as Ardor?) She checked her notes again; a list of traits she'd describe herself as, another one for the her with the mask. (She impulsively checked her phone for the time.) (A small part of her scolded her for getting distracted so quickly.) What made her and Ardor different? What did she lack outside of the mask. She was just curious; absolutely nothing to do with the proverbial daggers in her heart. Nothing to do with impressing the girl who stole her heart. It's fine. She's fine. She isn't hung over it. It doesn't hurt. Does not hurt at all. Not in the slightest. In fact, she's over the rejection. She's perfectly fine! Just great. Peachy, even. Everything will go back to what it was tomorrow. She shouldn't be fretting over this, the weekends should be enjoyed right? So yes, she's fine. Nothing to worry about. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't... ... "Good evening, Siltcurrent."

(^^ this one's big, I just kinda gave up on editing this to fit tumblr format here)

(Anyway this is me trying to portray OCD and may or may not be me somewhat venting/projecting)

[...] Ishmael desperately trying to logic it together because she's fine it's not even a total rejection, Don Quixote just loved her hero self and not her ordinary self

[...] donqui is a bit self conscious because here she is, rejecting one of her best friends because of a what must seem like a celebrity crush that could never happen

[....] personally I like to think after the Realization™ (figuring out chalier was donqui) Ish started seeing her in a different light [...]

■■■

[...] theres something sad in Ishmael being the only one that realizes the truth, because Ishmael's been the one to see the entirety of Donqui as both a civ and chatvalier, yet Donqui can't because she thinks of ish as two separate people

Part of her is confused as to why Donqui sees it as that (she and Ardor are technically the same person right? They can't be *that* different)

The rest is just. Hurt. And is trying to grasp on straws to logic it away

■■■

Donqui loves ARDOR, which means she could've loved you but she didn't. Because you didn't win her over. Because YOU did something as Ardor so that Ishmael could never compete

Because it is "what does he have that I don't, what can he promise you that I won't" but to yourself

"Ishmael" is borderline manic 90% of the time (like, has the vibes that 1 wrong move will suddenly make her start laughing like a madman before she decks you)

She sometimes gets mental breakdowms over not being able to complete her goal (obtain the miraculous; [Acherontia] assures her that that isn't important right now

Doesn't really help much it just stops her immediate crying and makes her internalize the guilt more

This + her core motivation + everyone now looking at her weirdly compounds into siltcurrent just. Fucking flooding the entire place with her tears (this is when act 2 starts)

Ishmael hovered awkwardly at the edge of the door, practically hiding behind it with the way she positioned herself. "...uh, hey-" She barely started talking before Don was crashed into her, wrapping her arms around Ishmael's waist as she buried her head into her chest. (She could hear the gentle heartbeat under Ishmael's clothes; soft, but steady.) (Strong.) She felt Ishmael flinch at the sudden gesture, but she couldn't find herself to care. "I- woah, now." Ishmael stammered, awkwardly patting Don's head in a subtle attempt to pry her off, "Was... was I really that bad? I know Akumas don't last longer than a day, but..." She trailed off, her ears finally picking up on shallow, stifled gasps as she felt something wet on her shirt. She instinctively wrapped an arm around her, rubbing gentle circles on her back as Don tried to hold back her tears. "Hey, it's okay... I'm okay now." She mumbled, still somewhat awkward from the chain of events, "whatever happened to me is over now, yeah? I'm better now." (She didn't know that Don knew who she was, unaware that a blinded mermaid had begged her to know why it wasn't loved without a mask.) (She didn't know that Chatvalier stood on the roof of a building, holding a bloody, heartless body. Desperately trying to ignore the gaping wound in favor of pretending her Lady was simply asleep.) (If she convinced herself that the blood wasn't real, then perhaps...)

(^^ epilouge scene, basically)

(There are Consequences to gouging out your heart)

Me, at 3am, high on sleep deprivation: i know this is a kid's show, but you know? We've never seen an akumatized villain that was terribly injured detransform before the Cure kicked in

Lady Sonata ex machina I can't have yuri if one of them is dead

The peacock can literally make life from a will and a way ans G is more than competent enough to make ladybug and cat senti-copies to emergency stand in incase one gets incapacitated (also i want a pun on Ardor (Ardoll... heh))

[reiding-writing]

the media limit has mildly ruined my day 😔 tell me why now that i’m not on a laptop i can only add 10 images per post—

bc i use images as dividers for my master lists, it means i either have to leave it looking messy or change how my masterlists look 😭

chances are it’s going to be the second one bc i refuse to have a messy blog

[wolame-o-ccx]

would genuinely love to see your process for sketching out your comics!! ive wanted to make my own but i have never really figured out the process and end up overwhelmed- and you're one of the folks who makes stuff in a style that I kinda draw close to, and u do ur comics with pencil and paper- so if you wouldn't mind in the future, it'd be really cool to see how you actually get everything planned :)

This ask is so cute :( probably genuinely the biggest compliment I've ever received! Well, no waiting in the future! I'll tell you now what happens behind the scenes! :)

SO FIRSTLY, I'd like to clarify I am in no way a professional or even close to one, I never even looked up how to do comics, I just kinda do them and use what I've read from DC comics and Pinterest tips.

But! Personally, I find that making comics is fun and that's what I strive on. I won't lie when I say my comics are pretty bland, the surroundings are empty and lame but I think the character's expressions and body language make up for it, and especially the script. So altogether in this post, I'll be breaking down how my comics are made!

↓↓↓ if you're interested, open up the full post!

1 - Scripting

In both dialogue and character detail/placing!

I use a notes app for when I get ideas!

* I usually don't do specific dialogue, only stating the idea and then coming up with dialogue in my head, but there are some exceptions where I do write down pre-thought-out dialogues you can see in the examples I put below!

With the idea / dialogue in tow, we can go to character detail / placing. I don't know the actual word for it but basically how the character acts in a specific scene / dialogue!

Character expression is especially important when it comes to any type of art, be it comics or animation as it can tell a story with little to no dialogue!

* panels taken from 1 and 2 for context

From here you can clearly tell their expressions well! Be sure to exaggerate!

2 - Limit planning

With Tumblr's 10 images limit, as well as Instagram if you post there, it's important to note that limit and know when to end the comic with a good panel where it doesn't feel like it's supposed to continue UNLESS you're making two parts!

I can't tell you how many times I've ruined my sketchbook papers trying to get a perfect script but I've been doing it long enough that my brain has adapted to the limit and every comic I've done since adapting had been a perfect ≤10.

But even if you decide to go with two (or maybe even more) parts, you should make sure it ends well still! Like a book! Those spaces between paragraphs and chapters and such!

Take these for examples too!

* panels taken from 1 and 2 for context

So treat it like a book! I guess ?

3 - Panel placement

This isn't a necessity, but my personal way of drawing each panel is having it scattered around randomly around my sketchbook. I don't use strips or anything like that as it restricts me because using strips on paper is a whole lot harder than on digital. Because I have such a wide area to draw, I'm less restricted from drawing any excess things I want to add in case my dialogue doesn't fit the panel or so!

4 - Draw

Now to put it all together and make the comic! I usually already have my vision in mind so I can just go draw it without a light sketch layer, but I do recommend it!

What that is is essentially a sketch but drawn like.. your pencil is hovered above the page? Like you don't press down on it or something like that. Basically a guideline! So do that if you need it, and when you're satisfied with how it looks, you can draw it! And make sure it's clear!

After that, it's just picture and post! (Make sure you crop it right tho!)

4.5 - BONUS / TIPS

When I started posting Belos drawings, I never expected it to get any attention or even end up as a whole AU 😭 I just drew him in a babygirl hoodie and people ate that shit up so now it's an AU 💀 and because of that you need to prepare personalized tags!

Tags like pitmdau or sharing caleb au ! Very very useful for navigation

More important than tags, make sure you have a Masterpost!

I'm aware mine are unfinished and very messy and I'm trying to work on that right now but it's very difficult but people really need it so when making Masterposts, YOU HAVE KEEP UP WITH IT. I slacked of for ONE POST and now it's a mess.

Also another important note you can only put 100 links in one post so you have to make more Masterposts to navigate through the comics 😭

5 - Have fun!

When getting into comic making, I think really the most important thing to keep in mind is your enjoyment in making said comics. Sometimes some things can burn you out very quickly so when you're getting into things like this, especially when you're not getting paid, you gotta make sure you have fun doing it. It doesn't matter if it doesn't get a lot of traction or not, it only matters that you are enjoying making and posting them!

I've experienced MULTIPLE burn outs from making too many comics for my TOH AUs that at some point I just completely died and lacked motivation. But what drives me into making them are other people's enjoyment! Their enjoyment gives me enjoyment which gives me motivation to make more. Someday I'll know the AUs I've created will inevitably be over, at some point, but right now I'm just having fun with the small community I've built!

So make comics, and have fun!

I hope this was helpful in any way. I just want to clarify that, again, this is my way of making comics, and you don't have to follow anything I put into the post. I'm mostly hoping this was easy to understand as well. I'm more of a visual learner so making up the words to make this was kinda hard so I'm sorry if some parts didn't make sense. If anything, feel free to hit me with another ask or a PM! I know me not posting seems like I'm inactive but I promise I check Tumblr frequently 😭

Happy posting!!! :3

[paperanddice]

Chort devils enforce bargains that mortals try to escape, and destroy reputations of zealous foes. They make bargains themselves as well, offering power and rewards to the desperate, but other devils who have been foiled in their pacts will approach a chort to ensure that those who try to escape the consequences of their deal are dealt with. Often, a chort will do so simply by teleporting into the bargainer's home and make public proclamations of their bargain, reading the full deal and focusing on embarrassing details. Rivals ruined, love ensnared, political power gained, costs paid. Even if they escaped their payment, their reputation and image will be destroyed, as everyone knows what they've done.

Alternatively, those resistant to being manipulated into a pact may find their reputation shredded by a chort's investigations. Damaging stories from their past come to light, real or false, rivals find sudden fortune to rise up, or most damning, crimes are pinned on them. A favorite of chort is to steal a paladin's weapon and use it to murder an innocent or pious person, leaving the weapon to be found. Even if the paladin is not officially accused, the act sours the paladin's reputation, taints a virtuous weapon, and creates discord among the chort's foes.

Inspired by the Tome of Beasts 1. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I’m working on, consider backing me there!

Pathfinder 2e

Chort Devil Creature 12 Medium, Devil, Fiend, Unholy Perception +23; greater darkvision Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal; telepathy 100 feet Skills Athletics +25, Deception +23, Diplomacy +23, Intimidation +25, Religion +22, Society +22, Stealth +23, Legal Lore +24 Str +7, Dex +5, Con +8, Int +4, Wis +5, Cha +5 Items +1 striking ranseur AC 31; Fort +26, Ref +21, Will +21; +1 status to all saves vs. magic HP 255; Immunities fire; Resistances physical 15 (except silver), poison 15; Weaknesses holy 15 Speed 25 feet Melee flaming ranseur +25 (disarm, magical, reach 10 feet, unholy), Damage 2d10+15 piercing plus 1d6 fire Melee claw +24 (agile, magical, unholy), Damage 3d6+10 slashing Divine Innate Spells DC 31, attack +23 ; 6th dispel magic, dominate, teleport; 5th divine immolation, translocate; 4th blazing bolt (at will), translocate (at will); 3rd haste; 2nd blur (at will); Divine Rituals DC 31; diabolic pact Devilish Weapons A weapon used by a chort devil gains the effects of a flaming rune while the chort holds it.

13th Age

Chort Devil Double-Strength 8th level wrecker [devil] Initiative: +11 Flaming Polearm +13 vs. AC (2 attacks, can target nearby enemies) – 35 damage plus 10 fire damage. R: Scorching Rays +13 vs. PD (4 attacks, nearby targets) – 15 fire damage. Natural Even Hit: The target also takes 10 ongoing fire damage. C: Burning Pillar +13 vs. PD (1d3 nearby enemies in a group) – 50 fire damage. Limited Use: 1/battle, when the escalation die is 2+. Blurred Outline: 1/round, as an interrupt action when the chort devil is targeted by a melee or ranged attack, it can cause the attack to have a 20% chance of missing. Teleport: As a move action when the escalation die is even, the chort devil can teleport to a nearby or far away spot that it can see. Resist Fire 13+. AC 23 PD 22 MD 18 HP 242

[authortobenamedlater]

Thanks to this post from @infinityactual I went down a similar Google rabbit hole to my Chyler/Anna Popplewell post a few weeks back. Enjoy this little tour of my not-smutty marriage AU for which I still don’t have a name, courtesy of Lasky model Jonathan Aube:

I’m going to say this is about what he looked like when he and Chyler met again.

(The rest under a cut so I don’t spam the vast, vast majority of the fandom who care nothing about this deranged rarepair AU.)

Maybe this is a spat that led to the near-divorce? Or after when they’re trying to patch things up?

Allllllmost not-regulation haircut. Chyler hated it.

Here, Tom is trying to charm Chyler out of her rant about his latest stunt. It’s not working. It never works. He should know better by now.

He tries to deflect with compliments.

“Honey, you are GORGEOUS.”

“Don’t start that!”

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m mad at you, don’t ruin it!”

This, too, never works. Bless him, he keeps trying.

She really IS the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, though!

Was Lasky a wild child in his younger days?????

(This is a still from the movie Just Can’t Get Enough)

No really I think we need to talk about this, Captain.

There are some SERIOUS crackfic possibilities here.

I don’t know how a guy from Mars 500 years in the future became a Patriots fan, but who am I to argue.

Further Googling reveals Aube is from New Hampshire. Represent!

Tom just looking at his wife who he loves so much while an unnamed buddy gives him crap about it.

A little wistful “what might have been.” The boy is Cadmon and the girl is named for Chyler’s mother.

This WAS an informative rabbit hole for expressions and mannerisms, since Lasky is Mr. One Mood All The Time in game. It was also hilarious. There were more pics I wanted to use but I hit the 10 image limit.

[thepirateandhisson]

I posted 33 times in 2022

6 posts created (18%)

27 posts reblogged (82%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@thepirateandhisson

@naiariddle

@thaddams

@cocohook38

@cosette141

I tagged 31 of my posts in 2022

Only 6% of my posts had no tags

#killian jones - 25 posts

#henry mills - 25 posts

#the pirate and his son - 24 posts

#captain cobra - 24 posts

#captain swan - 11 posts

#captain cobra swan - 10 posts

#ouat - 9 posts

#emma swan - 8 posts

#once upon a time - 7 posts

#cs ff - 6 posts

Longest Tag: 99 characters

#like he’s such a staple to emma’s character that i can’t have one without the other 98% of the time

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Can I only pick one? I’d like to know about Speak Now and Fake Dating Thanksgiving please!!!

Yay! Speak Now is one I started just the other day because I was listening to Taylor Swift and got attacked by a plot bunny. Think forced/arranged marriage plus blood contract plus (seemingly) unrequited love! Snippet:

She stands there, before her mirrors, and avoids the image of her mother reflected back at her. Quiet words are exchanged before the door closes, just herself and her mother remaining.

“Sweetheart, you don’t have to go,” Snow says softly, her movements swift as she comes to her side. “Killian will understand.”

A ragged breath enters her lungs and Emma shakes her head, gaze connecting with her mother’s nose in the mirror, close enough to her eyes that she hopes her mother doesn’t suspect. Snow’s tilting head tells her she fails.

“No, I need to go. He’s still my friend and I promised I’d be there for him.”

“There is always –”

“Mother, please,” Emma begs. Her voice cracks on the plea as her eyes tear up and she feels as if she’s twelve and not two years past twenty. She can’t entertain the thoughts her mother tries to remind her of. Despite her parents encouragements otherwise, there is a list of reasons why she can’t. She’s remembered them as well as she has that invitation.

Fake Dating Thanksgiving is a 12 Days of Promptmas fic that inspiration fled on that was inspired by both the fake dating prompt I was given as well as a fake dating prompt I put on discord 93423 months ago. The general idea is that Mary Margaret thinks Emma and Killian are dating and tells everyone. But when Emma sets Mary Margaret straight, the other woman forgets to tell everyone else, leading to chaos when Emma brings Killian with her and Henry to her parents house for Thanksgiving. Emma was going to correct everyone right away but then her ex walked through the door. Snippet:

“You did good,” Killian says. He looks at her from the side, wide grin and an eyebrow high, and Emma rolls her eyes.

“I’ll make sure we have a tag on the bottom that says, Discovered by Killian Jones.”

“As long as you give credit.”

“Don’t you have food you’re supposed to be picking up?” she asks. She pulls the keys to her bug out of her coat pocket and holds them up to him. Snatching them quick, Killian tugs a beanie back over his head and she briefly mourns the loss of seeing his adorably pointed ears.

“Aye, thanks, love.” He shoots her a quick grin again before leaving her apartment, softly closing and locking the door behind him. She breathes out deeply, shakes her arms that she swears are still tingling from carrying the tree and not from his heat at her side, and sets out organizing their ornaments.

8 notes - Posted March 18, 2022

#4

Tagged by: @winterbythesea

rules: post the names of all the files in your wip folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you and i’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it! and then tag as many people as you have wips.

Listen… I’m a hot mess and chaotic so I’m sorry. All of these are Captain Swan & Captain Cobra focused or just CS. They’re being listed in alphabetical order because yeah.

Actors AU

Hocus Pocus AU

Hooked on Her

Just Circumstance

Let’s Ruin the Friendship

Mamma Mia AU (on AO3)

Santa Jones

Secret Santa AU

Speak Now

Time Limit

Tower of Terror AU

Uber Driver Secret Santa Gift (on AO3)

Behind the Mask

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News

Enchanted forest Christmas AU

Enchanted forest pregnancy

Fake Dating Thanksgiving

HGTV AU (1)

Mistletoe AU

Wordle of the Day

WWE CS AU

The Snuggly Duckling

Sorry if you’ve been tagged already but here is about half as many tags as i have WIPs! Tagging: @motherkatereloyshipper @kmomof4 @jrob64 @stahlop @caught-in-the-filter @cosette141 @zaharadessert @elizabeethan @thejollyswan @killianslefthook @apiratewhopines

8 notes - Posted March 16, 2022

#3

The script page from when Hook stops Henry from running away back to New York in 3x19, A Curious Thing. From Adam’s Twitter.

19 notes - Posted March 8, 2022

#2

Ooh, ef pregnancy?

Ah, this was another one of my 12 Days of Promptmas fics that inspiration fled from. The prompt was Emma telling Killian she's pregnant so I decided to have fun with it! A quick summary is that, sometime before s7 once portals became a regular thing, people from other kingdoms/realms would come to Storybrooke, recognize Killian, and put bounties on his head for his past misdeeds. Under Snow & Charming's encouragement, Emma and Killian travel the kingdoms and realms to smooth over his image and show he's a hero. It's too bad that Emma can't stomach the food they're given. Because that's all that is. SNIPPET:

“It was bound to happen, Emma,” Killian reasoned with her from their kitchen table. Her mother sat beside him biting her nails as her father stood behind her, hands on Snow’s shoulders. Henry watched them all with a deeply vested interest. “I’ve been alive for centuries and I wasn’t a good man before you.”

“But they can’t just put a bounty on your head in Storybrooke!” she exclaimed in exasperation.

“They’re not going to get me, love. I told you, I’m –”

A resounding No! cut off his sentence and he looked at Henry in alarm.

“You can’t keep saying that when you’ve died like eight times.”

“I beg your pardon.” The offense is clear on his face as he speaks. “It was only… four… times.”

“Henry’s right, babe,” Emma agreed with a sigh. She paused in her pacing and crossed her arms, staring at her husband. “You’ve died enough. I’m not chancing it again.”

A silence formed over the table and Snow glanced around before speaking. “Maybe this would be a good time for you both to visit the Enchanted Forest again?”

Killian narrowed his eyes at her, fingers playing with the tip of his hook. “So my head could be delivered to you on a platter? I’d have expected that statement from Dave, not you.”

David rolled his eyes, patted his wife’s shoulders, and sat at the table beside her. “Snow’s right. This would be a perfect time for the tour of you to do a diplomatic tour of the neighboring kingdoms.”

“Everyone in Misthaven was brought back to Storybrooke after Charming and I cast the Dark Curse,” Snow adds. “They all know of the hero Killian’s become, what he’s sacrificed for all of them – for Emma – and as they resettle back in the Enchanted Forest, they’ll be spreading the word. But this would be a good time for the two of you to meet with the other rulers. As Princess Emma of Misthaven and her Prince Consort Killian Jones.”

She eyed her husband, both of them weary.

“Can I come?” Henry piped up.

27 notes - Posted March 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

We as a society do not talk enough about the fact that Killian was helping Henry pick out a tie.

Like, did Henry ask him to come to the loft? Did Killian come to the loft on his own to help Henry since his mothers were missing? Was this a preplanned thing or a happy coincidence?

I wish we got to see the little moment(s) that led to this point. Did Henry ask for Killian’s opinion on which tie he should use or did Killian tell him that he could help? What were they doing the in the loft before this moment?

Also, why were they in the loft and not at Emma & Killian’s house?

Anyway, here I am, how many years later, digging for more.

96 notes - Posted November 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[edwardtulane01]

My group and I presented on AI generated images, which I found to be quite disturbing. I thought I had gotten pretty good at telling what images were A.I generated, but I took a quiz to try to decipher which images of people’s faces were real and which weren’t. I got around 30% right. I thoughtthat by focusing on small details I’d be able to tell, but all of them had imperfections, blurriness in suspicious places. It makes me fearful. 

I’ve had friends express to me their hesitance to post photos of themselves online now because of the way A.I has been used to create explicit content out of innocent photos. There are no laws surrounding these deepfakes and with how susceptible people are to these fake images, lives can be ruined. 

What good is AI generated imagery? I recently saw a movie called Late Night with the Devil, which had some controversy surrounding its use of AI generated images. These images were only used as transitions, taking up maybe 10 seconds. Some people argue that this allows independent filmmakers to achieve more with a smaller budget. Others argue that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and normalizes the use of AI, taking jobs from artists. Others argue that AI can be used by artists as a tool in their work, so this movie’s use of it is not an issue. As a non-artist, I don’t find AI art aesthetically appealing. The specific image in the film under fire looks like a ripoff of Steven Rhodes’s work. I understand that independent film has a limited budget, but I feel something else could have been done.

[fixinglitg]

BOAT PARTY: IT CAN BE GOOD? PART 2

Alright! Back for part 2! I'm gonna be completely honest, this is going to be longer than I imagined. I thought there was a twenty image limit, not ten so I might have to cut out some story parts for the more interesting stuff. Or the things that I think make this better than people allow.

Anyways, let's continue! Part 1 will be linked along with anymore following parts posted once they are!

Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4 | part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

So continuing on from last time, this is mostly going to consist of the part after the paddle boarding race. Mostly because it takes up most of the image space, but I'll add some parts after as well.

Once we absolutely smash the competition, we end up getting to shore a lot quicker than I think they imagined, and we crash on the beach, falling on top of Aj. Honestly, I thought we were in front and she was behind, so it'd make more sense for it to be the other way around, but I'll let that slide for now.

Of course, we do the reasonable thing and get off her with an apology. I was really tempted to roll though because that just sounds funny in itself. Also, hugs seemed like a much better idea, might as well start slowly but surely starting the more intimate phases whilst also not going too far.

Also, I don't know how I've only just realised Aj is proper tall. Definitely taller than Gabe.

This part is, again, funny for me since it's such shade towards Lily since she doesn't listen to Gabe. It's unnecessary, but funny.

And here comes the implied romance. Of course, you could've gathered that from last time around, but this is the game forcefully pushing on the possible idea of it. Which isn't everyone's forte, but since I already know what happens and want this, I don't really mind too much.

The description could've been a little longer. Remembering the feeling of sand on someone else's body is definitely not for me. I legit hate sandy skin, specifically feeling it on someone else.

Now this? This I love.

I don't know what it is about a simple "hey" exchange that makes my stomach turn about 900 times, but it does something for me.

It's just so simplistic.

And the possible tone you give each voice really does set the scene as a whole.

I imagine Aj's to be sorta low, with a bit of nervous confidence if that makes sense. Like she's unsure as to how flirty/seductive she can be.

And then Gabe's is like a whispered reply, and the lip bite? Oh she's definitely feeling something, that's for sure.

But then like most good things, the moment is ruined by the rest of the former islanders returning. Why they left and came back in the first place, I don't know.

Then this whole scene happens.

Though it's nice that they had Lily being respectful, I honestly have no idea what Iona is talking about (none at all, yep, uh-huh).

But in all seriousness, the only touchy-feely part was the hug, so I think that THAT specific phrase should've been changed depending on how much touchy-feely shit you actually did. What would I change it with?

"That was pretty intimate for an afternoon activity"

"Intimate" is at least a lot more vague, and could have multiple meanings. Like being touchy-feely, but also just having some sort of tension between them that seems intimate. At least that's how I see it.

It ends with Seb screaming because he's seen a jellyfish, which at least is one way of ending the awkward tension in the air.

The episode ends with us standing outside, and Aj bumps into us.

Yeah, great cliffhanger. But it's a good thing that's where it ends, because I've used up my 10 image limit. Anyways, onto part three!

[ccthewriter]

CC's New Watch Ranking 2022: #6 - Pather Panchali

1955, dir. Satyajit Ray Every year on Letterboxd, I make a list of the 100 best films I’ve seen for the first time. It’s a fun way to compare movies separated in time, genre, and country of origin, and helps me keep track of what I’m watching! This is a series of posts about my Top 10.

Many of my highest-ranked films this year have been visual masterpieces. They use some motif or technique that makes them look like nothing else. Pather Panchali does not have that same innovative visual style - though by no means does it look bad! Its style is simple, its filmic quality reminiscent of many films that have come before and after. What makes this a masterwork is its pacing. The slow flow of life depicted in Pather Panchali draws you into a fascinating life, one that gripped me throughout its runtime. There’s a placid quality to most of the actors. They have such little control over the events of their life - all they can do is sit back, watch, and wait. The audience waits with them, transfixed by what the river of life will bring to us next. 

Pather Panchali is the story of a family living in rural Bengal. They live in extreme poverty, and struggle to make ends meet. The film initially focuses on the elder sister, Durga, playing and exploring their half-ruined home before the birth of her new brother, Apu. He takes over the narrative from that point out - this filmic cycle is known as the ‘Apu Trilogy.’ He grows up, plays with Durga, buys sweets, goes to a play, explores, takes fascination with their elderly relative Indir, and walks out to see a train. Tragedy weaves through these innocent distractions. Indir and Durga die; the monsoons wreak havoc on their home, forcing them to ultimately leave the countryside and make their way to the big city. Apu watches it all with childish passivity.

Researching this film introduced me to the concept of rasa, an Indian aesthetic philosophy that describes the indescribable emotion a work of art can produce. Satyajit Ray used this concept to develop every element of Pather Panchali’s production. This is an Intro to Film 101 basic-ass take, but I was blown away by learning about this, and connecting that philosophy into what the film does. The key to developing rasa is depicting several elements in careful balance. Depending on who you ask, they are romance, comedy, rage, compassion, terror, heroism, wonder, and disgust. It is that last element that I am really fascinated by. 

The disgust in Pather Panchali comes by watching the ignorance and cruelty that life dishes out to this poor family. It comes through the extremely wizened face of Indir, played by Chunibala Devi, who seems both pathetically feeble and unfairly entitled by her advanced age. As I said above, so many of the great films I’ve seen this year have been defined by their pleasing aesthetics, that it is surprising that this one has revealed that disgusting images can also lead to greatness. It has made me appreciate so many disgusting elements in the other films I’ve loved this year. The flies and massacred fish in Memoria, Hobb’s hyperwrinkled face in Labyrinth. My number one film of the year is defined by its disgusting elements - more on that in a future post. 

I am grateful that Pather Panchali’s carefully thought out rasa is such a well-known element of the film - it’s a great window into this concept that I, in my limited education, have never encountered. An oft-repeated notion, but film really is an amazing tool to establish understanding and introduce people to new ideas.  I’m going to be seeking out more of Ray’s films in the coming year, and I will be looking out for the elements that give me that indescribable feeling I’m chasing. It is a high aspiration for an artist to be able to produce that emotion that transcends simple description.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading! If you made it this far why don't you give me a follow on Letterboxd, where I post reviews and keep obsessive track of all the movies I watch. Feel free to drop a line if you checked this movie out and want to share your thoughts!

[obsessive-dumpling]

I've been wanting to write something in honor of chapter 362 but I couldn't seem to bring myself to write a mini fic. So instead I decided to write an angsty poem from Izuku to Katsuki. Enjoy. Or don't, I don't care.

P.S.A: The 10 image limit ruined this post.

------------------------------------------

Can you wait?

Can you please just wait...

Wait for me to get there.

Wait for me to be at your side.

Wait for me to change this outcome!

Goddamnit why didn't you wait?!

Why didn't you ever wait for me?!

Why did you always march ahead on your own?

Why did you always act like you were alone?

When I was always there!

Always trailing behind you.

Your back my horizon.

God I wanted to see your eyes then,

But no.

You didn't face me back then unless it was to tease.

And then when things changed,

You only faced me to scream.

When things got worse,

You faced me to cry.

And we fought,

And I screamed some of what I had been holding inside,

And it was then that I thought,

Maybe...just maybe... I could stand next to you.

The next time you faced me,

I realized staying near you was the worst thing I could do...

I wrote you so when I left.

I became a complete mess.

And without my knowledge,

Without my permission,

All of a sudden it was you decending to raise me out of my perdition.

And you faced me then.

In a way I didn't know you could.

You faced my hurt.

You faced my fears.

You faced my secrets.

You faced me.

Your back no longer my horizon.

It was just your eyes then,

That brought me back to life...

.

.

.

How do I bring you back to life...

[carlatsukinamistolemyhamsandwich]

Diabolik Lovers 2021 Survey Results

First of all a massive thank you to everyone who participated (and apologies for being so late with this post)! This year we got over 150 responses, which is more than any other year I’ve run this survey and I’m really happy to see that the fandom is still going strong after 10 years. 

I’ve changed the way I’ve formatted the results this year (partly as I think Tumblr have changed their image limit and also to make everything look at least semi-professional. If you cannot view the results on Tumblr (i.e. if the images won’t load or Tumblr has ruined the quality) then you can access them here. 

Commentary from me:

After winning this year and in 2018, Laito is now the only character to have won the popularity part of this survey twice (does this make him the most popular character overall in the Tumblr DL fandom?). In terms of other surprises, Yui did very well this year, while Subaru went from 1st to 10th place which I was definitely not expecting.

Carla is still easily the most popular Tsukinami brother (sorry Shin) while Kou and Kino once again came last out of the boys. Kino’s place doesn’t surprise me too much as he is the character people tend to know the least about but I’m still not sure why Kou is a lot less popular in these surveys than he is in the official polls. 

Dark Fate once again proved to be the fan favourite of the games, although More Blood did a lot better here than in previous years. I do find it interesting that a fairly large number of people said that, if we get another game, then they’d like it to be like VC or LP, considering that those games seem to be the least popular of the franchise.

In terms of drama CDs, the solo CDs always tend to be more popular than CDs with multiple characters (with the exception of the bonus CDs) and the Daylight series is no exception to that. As I haven’t listened to any myself (I preordered Shin’s over a year ago OTL), I’m not sure whether this is because they’re the latest release and are therefore fresh in people’s minds or whether they really do hold their own against fan favorites like the Bloody Bouquet, Para-Selene and Zero.

Even though the Daylight CDs did very well in the drama CD section, it doesn’t surprise me too much that Young Blood was easily the favourite release of 2021. People have always been fans of anything that provides nuggets of lore (even if it does conflict with information we already have) as well as content with information on the characters’ childhoods. I personally am still a little bitter that I have yet to get any mini-Shin content, but it’s been good to see fans enjoying Young Blood regardless.

It was really interesting to see everyone’s comments on why they like their favorite characters/games/DL as a whole. I’m sorry I couldn’t include all of the answers I got but you guys really exceeded my expectations with how many of you gave lovely detailed responses. I may make a separate post with every comment I got for the survey later on (and I’ll come back to this post and add a link if I do) but right now I’m going to take a break from looking at spreadsheets ^^;;

Thank you again for participating. I hope you’ve found the results as interesting as I have (and enjoyed the new format). Here’s to another year of fangirling over DL!

For comparison: 2018 results, 2019 results, 2020 results

[uwmspeccoll]

Fashion Friday:  Adopt a Pompeiian Dog

For my fashion inspiration this week, I turned to ancient Pompeii, an urban land that succumbed to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, located on the western coast of Italy, southeast of Naples. The ruins of the city laid buried under ash and earth until 1748 when murals and bodies posed as action figures frozen in time were revealed. While much has been excavatied, today, there are still over 50 acres of land yet to be explored, with growing access to the public as the archeology dig expands.

The allure of Pompeii lies in the catastrophic and immediate deaths of so many who failed to escape, becoming concrete mummies in situ.  Recent discoveries in a nearby villa have shown scholars that life in Pompeii was not to be envied, with slavery paramount and social welfare nonexistent.

In spite of the tough Pompeii society, the urban streets were very multi-cultural where theatre was performed in Greek. Street vendors and food stalls provided Roman urbanites with stews of sheep, snail, and fish. Graffiti was found everywhere. Inside one food stall is the mural of a chained dog, with graffiti scrawled on the mural’s painted frame, blaspheming a snack bar owner.

Carnal proclivities were not uncommon in ancient Pompeii. For instance, an excavated fresco of the Spartan queen Leda hints at the everyday homage to the eroticism of mythology. In this story, Leda is seduced and raped by Zeus in swan-form bearing heirs whose power continued the deity tradition of wickedness.

Fortunately, today's leaders of the Great Pompeii Project are using $137 million of EU funds to reach a vast audience, including Instagram and Twitter followers. Prior to this joint effort, the ruins of Pompeii suffered from environmental overexposure, looting, and Italian red-tape while being nestled in a region of organized crime. In fact, packs of stray Pompeiian dogs are now available for adoption as the archeological site leads modern conservationism efforts by abating tourism blight and corruption traps.

My first fashion plate is titled "Dog Paws Dress," highlighting the round velvet foot-pads of our furry friends. The remaining designs are similarly inspired; can you spot these single inspirations?

Here is a listing of sources from the UWM Special Collections and the New York Times, which I have augmented with digital color and outline to emphasize particular details of my inspiration: 

1, 3, 4, 8). Photographs of ancient Pompeii frescoes and two Roman bodies, published by The New York Times, written by Elisabetta Povoledo, 2018 - 2020. Images 3 an 4 inspired my own designs for the Swan Wrap Dress and the Curly Rooster Dress.

2, 8). My interpretation and contemporary design of the Dog Paws Dress inspired by David Hawcock's pop-up book, The Pompeii Pop-Up, published by Universe Publishing in 2007.

5) Costume illustration of Roman warriors with animal predator as hooded cloak, in Geschichte des Kostums, published by E. Weyhe in 1923.

6) Woodcut prints by the illustrator Kurt Craemer as published in The Last Days of Pompeii by the Limited Editions Club in 1956.

7) Works Projects Administration illustration of Roman warriors as published in the Costumes of the World, 100 Hand Colored Plates from Ancient Egypt to the Gay Nineties in 1940.

9) Jewelry of the Roman civilization with several animal motifs in Alexander Speltz's plate collection, The Coloured Ornament of All Historical Styles, Part I: Antiquity, published by Baumgärtner in 1915.

10) Ornamentation of Roman aesthetic as seen in Giulio Ferrari's Volume 1: Gli Stili Nella Forma e nel Colore, Rassegna dell' arte antica e Moderna di Tutti i Paesi, published by C. Crudo & Co. in 1925.

View my other posts on historical fashion research in Special Collections.

View more Fashion posts.

—Christine Westrich, MFA Graduate Student in Intermedia Arts

[dreaded-jabot]

uhm uhm roleswap narumitsu or a no-dl6 au?

Hi anon. Hope you’re well!

IM SO SORRY FOR TAKING UHHHH ALMOST 10 MONTHS TO ANSWER BUT I HOPE THE SHEER AMOUNT OF CONTENT MAKES UP FOR IT SO BUCKLE YOUR BELTS AND SEATBELTS THIS IS GONNA BE LONG

Phoenix was in and out of the foster care system. At age 6 he finally found a ‘forever home’ (that makes him sound like a dog lmao), and by the time he was 9 he’d gotten very attached to this lovely new family, and the adoption papers had just been finalized. His new mom was a defense attorney and his dad a courtroom sketch artist. Instead of Gregory going against Manfred, his mom did. She made Manfred get a penalty, and then to add insult to injury that one courtroom sketch artist in the stands made a joke about it at Manfred’s expense that the whole courtroom laughed at. So Manfred swore revenge, and once he saw the sketch artist and the defense attorney were married with a son he came up with a plan.

The elevator scene played out almost exactly like it did in canon, except that Yanni Yogi got found guilty and went to prison. But here’s the catch. In the elevator, Phoenix saw Yanni Yogi pass out. Phoenix and his mother were still awake. And then some stuff happens I don’t know what but it happens. There is a plot hole here somewhere. Phoenix’s mother died and Phoenix was left with that trauma TM.

Phoenix’s foster dad had run home immediately after dropping Phoenix off in the courtroom lobby with his mom for some semi-important reason idk why (maybe to make dinner maybe he need to get important documents proving that manfred has falsified evidence who knows).

After the elevator scene, Manfred had got shot but still needed to kill Phoenix’s dad, so he enlisted the help of an assassin.

Yes, that assassin. Shelley de Killer.

The dead body of Phoenix’s dad was found in their house. But there was no calling card with a shell on it found.

Manfred took Phoenix in and Phoenix, whose parent’s murders were never solved, made it his life’s goal to get to the bottom of every case. Once he found decisive evidence, he was satisfied. Phoenix became extremely vengeful and angry.

By becoming a prosecutor, Phoenix believed he could solve his parent’s murders and lock their murderers away. Manfred took advantage of this, sometimes feeding him fake decisive evidence during his ‘Bratnix’ years (‘Bratnix’ is his Bratworth equivalent era).

Once Edgeworth comes into the picture in 1-2, Phoenix is (internally) like “What the FUCK are you doing here?”

By case 1-3, (maybe a bit externally) “What the FUCK are you doing?”

By case 1-4, (externally and trying to keep it internally) “WHAT THE FUCK??!??”

“Do you seriously think you can just waltz in here with your cute little bow tie and ruin everything I’ve worked for? Listen to me, Miles Edgeworth. Stay out of my way.” (unnecessary feelings)

At some point in the first game he started keeping a board filled with sticky notes and pictures and newspaper articles on and of Edgeworth. He gets extremely embarrassed when people at the prosecutors office tease him about it. The board is in a corner of his office, hidden under a curtain/sheet thing.

When Phoenix does the “Prosecutor Phoenix Wright Chooses Death” thing he goes on a cross-country road trip in his fancy sports car, and once he reaches New York he charters a flight to take him and his car to Europe, and continues road tripping there.

He praises Edgeworth inside his head and to some other people as the man that taught him to question everything to find the answer, and not take cases at face value. After this trip and throughout the rest of the games he becomes a much more agreeable and happy person.

He can be seen waltzing into the Edgeworth and Co. law offices frequently

And now for some messy outfit designs:

I saw that waistcoat design on Pinterest and was immediately like that’s it that’s the one

And now sadly I have hit the 10 image limit SO expect another post with everything else

Everything for this au will be under the tag ‘aa roleswap au’

[paganimagevault]

The Tailteann Games revival. Tumblr only lets me add 10 photos, but there's about 70 more I rounded up on my blog, link below. Photo credit: (Part of the Independent Newspapers Ireland/NLI collection.). (Photo by Independent News And Media/Getty Images).

"The Tailteann Games would probably have lain forgotten in the annals of history were it not for the ‘Gaelic Revival’ of the late nineteenth century. During this time, Irish nationalists dug deep into the past to remind the country of its rich history. They wanted Irish people to feel proud of their culture and language; restaging the Tailteann Games was seen as a means to that end. It may have seemed like a distant dream in the 1890s, but just one month after the British left Dublin Castle in 1922, the new Irish government decided to revive the Tailteann Games. This grand gesture would announce the birth of the Irish nation to the world and showcase the best of Irish culture and sport. The date was set for August 1922.

Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, J. J. Walsh, took the job of organising the event. Walsh, who had been jailed during the War of Independence, was instrumental to the success of Aonach Tailteann, as it was called. The new government allocated £10,000 for the games. Walsh gave this money to the G.A.A. to renovate Croke Park and in return, they made the stadium available for the duration of the games. Walsh also had big plans to involve Irish emigrants. Irish communities across the world held trials to choose contestants who would travel to the games.

Enthusiasm was high and plans were in progress when Civil War broke out. Aonach Tailteann was postponed. When the war ended a year later, the country was in ruins and some in government felt the money would be best spent elsewhere. Walsh, arguing that the games were more important than ever, got his way and the date was fixed for August 1924.

Anti-Treaty supporters, who had opposed the government during the Civil War, called for a boycott but their pleas fell on deaf ears. The event was a roaring success, larger than even the Olympics, held in Paris that same year. Thirty thousand people watched the opening ceremony at Croke Park as Irish wolfhounds and actors in Celtic dress paraded the arena. That night, a fireworks display lit up the skies over Dublin. An ambitious programme of events had been arranged, with six and a half thousand competitors and a thousand medals. Teams of athletes – who were either Irish or of Irish heritage – came from England, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Canada and America.

Events were staged all over Dublin. Gaelic games were played at Croke Park, swimming took place at the Phoenix Park, rowing at Islandbridge, boxing at Portobello, billiards at the Catholic Club on O’Connell Street, chess at Trinity College and yachting at Dun Laoghaire. In fact, the range of events was staggering, with tug of war, tennis, cycling, archery, horseracing, shooting and golf all getting their moment to shine. There was even a marathon from Navan to Croke Park. And participants weren’t limited to sporting events – contests also took place for piped bands, poetry, Irish dancing, storytelling, singing and art.

To ensure the games were well attended, Walsh had invited a host of athletes to stop off in Ireland on their way home from the Paris Olympics. The most famous of these was Harold Osborn, an American athlete who won two golds in Paris. His appearance at the Tailteann Games drew huge crowds and lots of press interest.

Motorbike racing was one of the great successes of the Games, drawing forty thousand spectators to the Phoenix Park. Many more gathered to witness a mock battle staged by the newly formed Free State Air Corps. One hundred thousand people watched as ground troops defended a wooden castle while in the air, pilots dropped fake bombs that exploded into plumes of smoke. The Irish Times described the Games as “an enormous success, full of brilliant performances which have given a tremendous impetus to Ireland and to Irish sport” and hailed J. J. Walsh as “an optimist among pessimists.”

It was expected that this would be the first of many, and that Aonach Tailteann would be held every four years. The 1928 games were similarly successful. Amsterdam hosted the 1928 Olympics so once again, athletes were invited to visit Ireland. Pat O’Callaghan, a medical student from Cork who became a national hero when he won Olympic gold for his hammer throw, was welcomed enthusiastically. To the crowd’s delight, he threw even further at the Tailteann Games than he had in Amsterdam.

The most famous visitor to the 1928 Games wasn’t a competitor, though a sportsman, nonetheless. World heavy weight boxing champion Gene Tunney, whose parents hailed from Mayo, received a great welcome when crowds turned out for his arrival at Dun Laoghaire. Tunney was only recently retired, having won his last fight just a month previously.

Waterpolo was a highlight of the 1928 Games, thanks to Ireland beating England. And once again, teams of Irish athletes came from all over the world – in fact, the number of competitors was almost as high as it had been in 1924. More female athletes took part in the Games than in the Olympics that year. All in all, the second Aonach Tailteann was a huge success.

Things had changed dramatically by the time the Games were due to be staged in 1932. Fianna Fáil won the election that year, ushering in a complete changing of the guard when they formed a new government. With memories of the Civil War still fresh, how likely was the new government to endorse an event that had been the brainchild of their political enemies?

The Games of 1932 were plagued by a series of unlucky events. Firstly, J. J. Walsh stepped down as director of the Tailteann Committee. Disillusioned with politics, Walsh had resigned from government in 1927. Now, he decided it was time to focus his efforts elsewhere. His experience was sorely missed.

The second problem was timing. The Eucharistic Congress, which took place just days before the Games kicked off, drew one million people to mass at the Phoenix Park. In contrast, the thirty thousand people who turned up to the opening of the Games seemed like a poor show. Finally, the 1932 Olympics took place in Los Angeles, depriving the Tailteann Committee of another chance to attract international stars. As a result, the 1932 Aonach Tailteann was nowhere near as successful as its predecessors. Sadly, Aonach Tailteann fizzled out after that poor performance, despite Walsh’s efforts to save it. At the time, the National Athletic and Cycling Association was involved in a bitter dispute about its representation of athletes in Northern Ireland. It refused to recognise the international body’s ruling that it had no jurisdiction there. As a result, Irish athletes were banned from competing, making the fate of the 1936 Games uncertain.

On top of that, a damaging trade war with Britain meant that government finances were in a poor state. Walsh continued to lobby for the games, however, so Taoiseach Eamon de Valera appointed a committee of civil servants to report on its feasibility.

In 1938, it recommended that the event be discontinued. The Tailteann Games came to a disappointing end, but almost a century has passed since then. Perhaps the time is right to revive this historic festival once more. When we are finally able to come together again, what could be better than an epic celebration of Irish sport and culture?"

-taken from IrishPost