#def got the biggest change appearance wise

[minevn]

CONCEPTS ARE FINISHED YIPPEE!! I’m so much happier with these designs than the originals. That being said, goodnight honk schuumemememe

I'm gonna write down what is written for multiple reasons(one, my hand writing sucks, two some of the pictures are blurry, three for translations :3

Minato's: Dog energy. Ocean theme w/ every outfit. his ring is aqua marine. He has two scars. Still buff and intimidating at glance. Friendly puppy dog. Dog tag on his bracelet.

Haruto's: Less intense. More laid back and funny w/ you, more serious at work, even if he's around you. He has a reputation to uphold. Slicked back work hair, hard to style, comes undone easily. Doesn't work out a lot, does enough to maintain an average body weight. More subtle with yandere tendencies at least with you. still doesn't like people(this has been changed just a little bit). He has reading glasses. Hair more red. Wears browns and beiges more, green accent colors though.

Jun's: Nah to her long fuller hair idea. Skinty, doesn't eat a lot, focused on beauty standards. Hides moles with makeup. less open eyes, more doe eyed. Makeup, try the red, it might not look good with Jun's pink color scheme.

Hoshi's: Fingertips are burnt off from work place mistakes. Scars are burn scars from workplace accidents.

Habiki's: More messy. Ghost sleeve, barbed wire, spindley heart, stars sleeve, music, cat leg. Star spine, violin holes, sleeves continue on back of arm(I didn't feel like drawing it). Pretty lashes ooooo. Wears makeup. Goth vampire aesthetic.

Kage's: TW FOR KAGES: SELF HARM! Strangulation marks. Seems fine yet unapproachable in public, just a pathetic wet cat after interacting with people. Skull hairclip, ghost hairclip(These are used with pretty much every outfit). Pink Camellia("Longing for you") hairclip, bleeding heart(Unconditional love) hair clip(These hairclips are used on the date outfit).

Kei's: Biggest change!! (jaw drop reaction image), BIG difference from high school. High school Kei. Spoiler hehe. Dark academia aesthetic.

Yani's: I like Yani's hair. Designs will be added to Yani's clothes digitally. I already liked Yani's design before, so here's a gift! "Take me wherever you want MC🩷"

Aki's: MY BABY!! Snake coming out of skull's eye tattoo.

[whaleofatjme1920]

HEY B GIMMIE THAT SWEET SWEET RIVAL MATCHUP U ALREADY KNO

You already know who this is but ill still give u a hot rundown: My names Ally, im 20 years old 5’7’’ and a Leo/year of the dragon/INFP. She/They pronouns and im Pansexual but i dont think that matters much in this situation >:P. Appearance wise i have shoulder length curly red hair and green/grey eyes, suuuuper pale skin and freckles. Im def an ambivert, very protective of people who mean alot to me and kind of sharp tempered, especially when people start talking about shit they dont know anything about. Im also a pretty big perfectionist and people pleaser and will beat the FUCK outta myself if i feel like i let people down or made people upset when i could have helped it. But thats all about me, heres those wacky questions!

- Stated before, but im an August Leo! I would say my aura would probably be a pinkish/ purple color? For dislikes i def dont like bitter foods, being too hot, rumors, people talking behind my back, ppl who act like they know what theyre talking about, ppl cutting me off when i lose my train of thought, conservatives, not caring about climate change/the planet in general, tight or restrictive clothes, not having enough time in the day, capitalism, ect. Honestly the most off the wall thing for me that would make me throw hands on sight would probably be someone saying some shit about my close friends behind their back to me.

- Once when I was 14 me and about 10 other people squeezed into a mini van at about 3am and drove around the town, not a single one of us had a license or were over the age of 16, and we were all ridiculously drunk and high the entire time (except the driver. we were underage, not stupid). After driving halfway across the island we got pulled over by cop on the interstate, and he walked up to the car, looked at the driver, then into the passenger seat and saw literally 10 KIDS OBVIOUSLY DRINKING and the car absolutely reeked of bud, then looked back at the driver and simply told him “Your tail light is out. Get home safe” and drove away. Ive never seen god faster than that moment LMAO

- I could never willingly fight a raccoon, youre sick for suggesting that >:/ They are precious boys and ive saved too many from drowning in my pool for me to lay a finger on one. And as for dealbreakers? My biggest one in a relationship is cheating, but thats pretty basic LMAO. I would also say one that’s definitely second in rank would be expecting someone to stay the same through out the relationship and getting upset when the person changes. We are human beings and developing and growing, if you dont support me in that nothing is going to work. I explained a bunch of things i dislike in people above, but ill also add in here people who hurt animals in any way/ litter for no reason. If one of my friends throws a piece of trash out of my car im slammin on the brakes and youre getting out and picking it up. And god forBID you touch an animal around me il doing whatever you did to it to yourself no hesitation.

- I would hate being stuck in a room with anyone, i have decently bad claustrophobia and if we were in there for more than a day i would start bugging out LOL But probably the worst type of person would be someone who just doesn’t shut up and trys to act like they know everything. Those are like, the most insufferable people to me. ESPECIALLY if theyre wrong and refuse to admit it. Whenever i think of being locked in a room, somehow i always imagine like a dark navy blue room with one small window and completely empty floors and walls, everything made out of carpet. Dont ask me why, i have absolutely no clue.

my feed back is ily bitch gimmie a good one i wanna fight a bitch

Your enemy is… Eyeless Jack!

In general:

I told you this yesterday but I wasn’t expecting you to send this in and must've spent like 5 straight minutes wheezing reading this. My gut reaction was Jeff, but based on what you wrote about the room, I’m going to say your enemy is actually Eyeless Jack!

Things he doesn’t like about you and how he pisses you off:

EJ doesn’t like that you’re a Leo. I’m not elaborating on that. He’s such a cold, clinical, heartless bastard that everything you are just goes against whatever tf he actually believes and acts as. I feel like you being a perfectionist would just brush against his perfectionist tendencies and habits. He’d say everything you’re doing is wrong. Just a dick. EJ may or may not exploit your weaknesses but that’s just because he thinks it’s fun and doesn’t like you.

EJ is a god of knowing what he’s talking about and it leads to this cocky, know it all attitude. It’s gonna brush you the wrong way. He knows that and takes joy in it. He will always attempt to one up you in knowledge and grin when he sees you falter. On the other end, if you catch him off guard he’s gonna be SO MAD. He will purposely turn up the heat in your presence just to make you upset. He will breathe down your neck and get in your personal space just to make you more uncomfortable. EJ isn’t anywhere NEAR a conservative or a climate change denier but he will take those positions just to make you mad and laugh over your attempts at arguing with him. Like Jeff, he’s a huge devil’s advocate and will start shit just because he can. I don’t actually think he’d talk about your friends negatively in front of you though, but he would definitely say stuff about you to your face.

EJ thinks it’s stupid you drank underage and will poke that memory. He will use insults about alcohol and the brain despite drinking a ton himself. If you call him out on it, he will fold. Literally throw everything he says about you back at him and he will get puffy and fast. EJ can’t always handle change that well so like, he’s a stubborn guy. Despite how logical he can be and how smart he is, socially he is so uncouth!! EJ doesn’t litter so you don’t have to worry about that but he’s definitely gonna do things that push your buttons, mostly say things that put you off. He’s not claustrophobic. He will put you in situations like that just because he can. The dark navy blue of his mask is going to haunt you. EJ will act like a god in your presence and snarl when you dare question his abilities. CALL HIM OUT. HUMBLE HIM PLEASE.

He agrees on the raccoon thing ngl. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but EJ has such a soft spot for animals - mostly birds - but he can’t fault you for the raccoon thing. He's also not too fond of litter so he has to agree with you on that one too.

Closing Thoughts/Other Things:

Knowing you for as long as I have, I was so, so ready to actually put you with Jeff. However, the more I read into this the more my intuition screeched that you would actually throw hands with EJ and I find that HILARIOUS. Just the arguments between you and this tall, muscular demon man is just - “what? What? WHAT” It’s beautiful. I’m serious, Merida vs. a literal demon. That’s all. Ily. <3

[cheshiresartblog]

Demon/Angel Thing

Alright. Due to popular demand I’ll start with this one.  Also, straight up, I literally do refer to it as “the demon/angel thing” cause I don’t come up with titles until the end.  Also I started this entire thing when I was 14 years old. I’m 24. So this is my longest running world I guess. I have a lot of worlds I’ve made over the years. I will admit my dirty little secret here, but what jump started this for me was watching Black Butler for the first time as a kid. Got me interested in the whole demons and angels thing. That’s where the similarities end, though. 

Also, I will not be going really deep into the plot simply because Spoilers since I def wanna make something out of this. 

Stuff below the cut cause it’s  l o n g 

The World

Basically, there are three interconnected realms; Earth, the Heavens and Hell. Also, the Heavens and Hell are not related to the afterlife. That’s a whole other can of worms here that ya’ll already got a bit of a taste of with my BNHA Reapers Au a while back. But yeah. They’re three interconnected realms. The Heavens was made by the God of Order and Hell the Goddess of Chaos. Earth was made by the missing Goddess of Life. Angels are being of Order and Demons are beings of Chaos and Humans fall in between the two. Also I’ve been at a loss for names for the Deities here but I do have two for sure. The Goddess of Life was named Gaia and the Goddess of Chaos was named Lilith. 

Basically Heaven and Hell had always been at odd with each other and Earth was a common battle ground. The earliest I can go with the timeline that’s relevant would be what I call the Princes Era. 

Prince Era (World Statuses) 

Earth: Humanity is young, they are mostly just coming out of their hunter-gatherer stage of things. The planet is mainly used as a battle ground for the warring Angels and Demons, inspiring myths of old to come. Magic is wild and free in this time on the planet. When Lucifer fell it disrupted the ley lines of the planet resulting in a steady decline of the magical on earth for years to come.

Hell: Hell is in chaos itself. While dealing with the war with the Angels they are dealing with heavy infighting between the demon variations and Lilith being unable to completely control her creations. After much thought Lilith decided to choose seven(eight) demons with blood from the seven ruling families to become the first seven Princes of Hell and unite Hell into one unified force to defend themselves properly from the greater threat that are the Angels. 

The first seven(eight) Princes are the following: 

Baphomet of the Superbia family, the Prince of Pride and the next chosen King of Hell whenever Lilith decides to step down. 

Beelzebub of the Grykësi family, the Prince of Gluttony. 

Leviathan (Identical twins Via and Anthel) of the Invidia family, the twin Princes of Envy who both share the identity of Leviathan in the public.

Asmodeus of the Libidine family, the Prince of Lust.

Mammon of the Avaritia family, the Prince of Greed. 

Sathanas of the Ira family, the Prince of Wrath. 

Belphegor of the Tristitia family, the Prince of Sloth.

Notes 1: Prince is just a title here. Sathanas and Beelzebub are women Notes 2: The Princes were all granted the ability to use Hell Fire by Lilith personally after she assessed deemed them all worthy in one way or another. 

Heavens: A world ruled by the God of Order through the chosen King. At the time it’s extremely militaristic. Working under the King and God of Order are the four Archangels; Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel and Raphael. Though, under the surface there’s a rebellion brewing. (I will be honest, I always focused a bit more on the Hell as a world when thinking about this Era.) 

Notes: What sets the Archangels apart here from regular angels besides rank is that they were blessed with the ability to harness the power of Holy Fire, which is something more explained story wise. Just know it would kill the average angel if they tried to use it.

Modern Era

The Modern Era is marked by the a huge event. The destruction of Hell. In their ever going war, 100 years before present time, an attack by the Angels lead to Hell being rendered unstable, which resulted almost half of the population being killed and the other half escaping to Earth. Some kind of peace treaty was made and it allowed the Demons to stay on Earth but with conditions. Also, with this event the Angels too more charge on Earth than they were before and humanity was now pulled fully into the know about Angels and Demons existing. 

This also established something very important to the story itself. The Zones. Most high population areas were split into Human Zones and Demons Zones, with a few cities gaining a third Zone due to the humans refusing to move and/or being sypathetic to the demons. This is the Neutral Zone. Aka, a home for society’s misfits. The main setting of the story is one of these three zoned cities. Right now it’s called Half-Light City but that name is subject to change most likely lol. 

The Zones 

The Human Zone is fairly well maintained for the most part. It has it’s occasional bad section, but those are closer to the Neutral Zone’s border fence. All and all it is the most upkept part of the city and is home to Humans, Angels and Half-Angels. It is heavily guarded and you need an ID to get in from the Neutral Zone, along with the requirement of being human. Demons and Half Demons are not allowed unless summoned. The Human Zone is protected by the Hunters, a group that is somewhat a cross between the police and the military. This section of the city is run by a chosen Council which answers to the Angelic Council of the Heavens. The occupants seem rather ignorant to the going ons of the other parts of the city and seem to go on with life without a second thought. Most of them at least.

The Demons Zone has a surprisingly decent upkeep, but then again they usually have to do it themselves because the money given to them by the city is not that much. The zone is mostly populated with full Demons, with the occasional Half-Demon or Demon with a Human partner scattered about. The fence between them and the Neutral Zone is actually quite open and in a state of disrepair, though Demon Zone residents and Neutral Zone residents alike guard it, it is usually quite easier to pass between these two Zones than it is for either of them to pass into the Neutral Zone. The Demon Zone was formerly run by a Demon Council made of Noble family survivors or descendants but was recently overthrown by a shady organization that needs a new name so bad. I’m so embarrassed of the old name I will not mention it but I will say I abused Google Translate as a teen so bad.

The Neutral Zone is basically the slums with a few nicer parts of town. It's a dreary and gray place at first glance honestly, but underneath that is a sense of unity between its people. Humans, Demons, Half-Breeds of both sorts and Fallen mix fairly well. The Neutral Zone is home to swindlers, mercenaries and all sorts of illegal activity giving it and it’s residents a negative reputation in the Human Zone. The Zone is co-lead by the two leaders of the two biggest Mercenary groups in the zone; the Triad and the Freelancers.

A more detailed description of the Heavens and Hell 

Heavens 

The Heavens are a set of floating islands that float around each other similar to a solar system might. The middle Island is The Capital City, and the roads are literally paved with gold and as well as some buildings being made of gold as well. It’s where the wealthy and powerful often live and is the center of their government. It is the largest single island whereas each other section of the Heavens is more of a string of islands.

The closer a set of islands are to the Capital the more privileged and wealthy the citizens are, and the higher the rank. There are a total of six rings of islands around the Capital. The outermost two hold the most farmland, forests, orchards, etc. Those two rings are the most populated and are where the lesser angels live.

Most Lesser Angels will never see Earth unless they join the military or join missionary work.

There are two islands floating above the Capital. One is the prison and trial area of soon to be Fallen Angels, and the other larger one is for military training. They never move from their fixed positions above the Capital.

While there are trains and such, most Angels get around via walking or flying, though flying is more common.

Angels higher up either dress like royalty or business men/women. Depends on the family. Lower class Angels dress in things like tunics and kinda, you know, greek-type of shit unless their employer gives them a more modern uniform. 

Angels use portals that appear like a glowing mass of light to get around Earth.   Hell

Hell is a Realm that exists solely in an underground location. It is said that the surface is way too hot to even walk upon, let alone live. There are Seven Circles of Hell and each Circle is responsible for a different area of their government, with Pride being the most powerful of them all.

The First Circle is the closest to the Surface and the most resistant to the heat found there. That would be the Wrath Circle. Physically they are the most capable of the variations of Demons and their Noble Family is the one in charge of the Military.

The Second Circle is Lust. Lust demons are the ones in charge of the Magical Regulations in Hell. That being said, they have the most Mages born to them, and some of the most powerful Magic users. They also are in charge of any and all Seers born in Hell.

The Third Circle is Greed. Greed demons are the ones in charge of the economics of Hell.They honestly have the most boring job, but it brings in the most money. They simply don’t mind because hey, the like to hoard riches anyways. They are said to have the biggest hand in the slave trade in Hell though.

The Fourth Circle is Envy. Envy demons are the ones in charge of the Judicial branch of Hell, handling criminals, legal matters, and prisoners. The latest raining families of Envy Demon Nobles have been well known for being cold and unbiased.

The Fifth Circle is Sloth. Sloth demons are the ones in charge of the Health care in Hell to put it simply. Someone has to be in charge of it. It also helps that Sloth demons have the largest amount of natural Healers born in their variation.

The Sixth Circle is Gluttony. Gluttony demons are surprisingly the second in charge after the Pride demons. The Noble Family of the Gluttony Circle has a deep history with the Pride royal family. Other than being the second in command the Gluttony demons are the ones in charge of Education and History keeping.

The Seventh and most powerful Circle is Pride. The Pride demons are the ones that run things, they are in charge of all the other Noble Families, and contain the Royal Family and the current ruling King or Queen of Hell. They have the final say in everything, but normally let most of the Noble Families run their domain as they see fit to.

Demons have technology based around magic, so magic teleporters, communication orbs, shit like that, is pretty common place.

The Slave trade is common and highly accepted by older demons though the newer generations are beginning to be against it. The slave trade in Hell often consists of captured humans, half demons, Fallen and rarely half angels and extremely rarely angels.

They have a potion that can make a Demon appear like a human for 24 hours meant for spies but a lot of teenagers use it to sneak to earth to party.  

Jewelry is huge in their culture. Like, seriously, so much jewelry.

A lot of Circles are mixed with the type of demons that live there but they usually have a slightly higher population of the type of demon the ring is named after.

I will probably make a separate post going more into detail about the species of angels and demons themselves. Demons, btw, consists of 7 different races of demons separated by sin type. They all have different traits. 

Magic Stuff I guess

Angel Magics (From common to rarest)- Healing, Aura Sight, Defensive and Protective, Weaponry Enchantment, Runic, Elemental, Precognition, Holy Fire (this one is literally the rarest thing for an angel to have).

Demon Magics (From common to rarest)- Illusions, Elemental, Contract Magic, Enchantment, Energy Draining/Aura Draining, Binding Magics, Witchery (Jinxes, charms, etc), Healing Magic, Possession, Shadow Magics, Shapeshifting (Rare for non Gluttony Demons only), Hellfire (Super Rare, actually marks the next Heir of a Ring of Hell to have it.), Precognition.

Human Magics (All human Magics are considered rare)- Witchery (Gained naturally or through demonic contract), Healing, Aura Sight, Runic, Elemental, Precognition.

Everyone can brew things such as potions.

Demons have more magic energy than Humans or Angels tbh and mages are way more common with them, though Healers are more common with Angels, and less common with demons.

Technology is advanced and exists and is built to work alongside magic.

Weaponry such as swords are still used though with Angels and Demons.

--

Alright folks. This is basically a world info dump. I will do a species info dump like I said once I got some decent pictures or I’ll do it in relevant chunks. 

[catboyithaqua]

Ramuda and Doppo :0

OH MY BOYS LETS GO

Under a cut bc long

Ramuda Amemura

First impression

Baby boy baby. Very cute and sweet i love characters with ramudas aesthetic i tend to want to protect them, especially since its an aesthetic that i fall into myself and lo v e so kseidjsnfn YEAH this man is baby!!!

Impression now

Ohhh my god i love this man i love the way he is characterised he is so incredibly interesting as a character and tbh so realistic and honestly i adore him!!! I alarmingly see a lot of myself in him tbh, were incredibly similar and that isnt necessarily a good thing!! But still i love this man

Favorite moment

Oh man where tf do i BEGIN there are so many ngl, but mostly all of the moments where we see ramuda's humanity. There is still a sweetness left under the darkness, there is still a man who wants to cling onto everything he has - his emotion, his internal battles, his morality vs his desperate need to survive - oh fucking man so much.

Idea for a story

CAN WE FUCKING. HAVE RAMUDA TALK HIS SHIT OUT PLEASE can we just have others actively helping ramuda cAN THIS MAN PLEASE BE SHOWN THAT ITS NOT TOO LATE FOR HIM,,, PLEASE,, i just want ramuda to finally talk out everything and have people on his side. Please.

Unpopular opinion

This probs isnt unpopular by any means, but idk what else to put here so take this:

I dont really see it often discussed that yknow ramuda is an abuse victim. Like, its very clear that chuokhu uses and abuses him, and his life is constantly being hung over his head. No wonder the dude is doing anything he can in order to survive, he has no choice in that regard. Before i get told this in the notes yes i know this doesnt excuse the things hes done!!! But tbh i really think that like the trauma that ramuda is living with kinda needs to be addressed.

Favorite relationship

I am a huge multishipper and have found a way to ship ramuda w just about most people (that are adults and not in chuokhu lol) so this is pretty tough

Id say either fling poly or jkrm and these are my reasons lets go:

Fling poly: HAVE YOU S E E N THEM do i really need to say more here all three of them have such good chemistry together, theyre all clearly on the same wavelength and have such a wonderful dynamic,,, they found out about the clones and shit and they STILL chose to protect ramuda and to fight for him and with him and to stay by his side aND BLACK JOURNEY TOO I-- IM GONNA START SOBBING,,,

Jakuramu: this one is not based on canon too much i am sorry this is mostly hc but i am a huge sucker for enemies to lovers ok also, i feel like out of TDD these two would be the ones to reconcile. After all, jakurai is a rather empathetic man and he probably would def understand the situation that ramuda was in. After all this dude was an ex assassin, if ramuda was to tell him everything, im sure that he would be able to relate to yknow the time he took others' lives, people with families and friends that he killed because he was ordered to and most likely had no other choice. Of course, jakurai is well within his right to not forgive ramuda for what happened to yotsutsuji, but i feel like he would and would help him get out of the situation hes in,,, and also im soft for the TDD era ok like how jakurai WANTED TO KNOW THE REAL RAMUDA AND LIKE,,, even when ramuda snapped at him he was GLAD HE WANTSD TO KNOW HIM FUCK MAN,,, i just really like these two ok

Favorite headcanon

I have quite a lot of hcs! Here are a few and like some explanation as to why:

- hes trans - i personally believe this bc personally itd make sense. Ramuda has a very feminine appearance and build, those that are like typically common in asian countries. As well as that, he has his own autonomy unlike the other clones. It wouldnt surprise me if chuokhu orignally wanted to make a girl to keep the other divisions in check, but when he decided personally that he didnt want to be such a way, they said sure, more room for us to treat you as we want to. Hes got money, getting T wouldnt be that difficult for him either, so thats why his voice is. That way fiaudjsnfnd anyway i think it makes sense!! Idk--

- he has bpd - projection probably but the biggest inspiration for this headcanon is how he is emotionally. His swings are violent - he feels and expresses such a diverse range of emotions and its so easy for him to change his emotional disposition - whilst also mostly feeling totally empty. Relationship wise also, given how he was genuinely really close to jakurai and then completely splitting on him, h a t i n g him. Yeah that sounds like bpd to me chief i know i have it!!! Theres more ik there is but i cant pull up examples rn

- hes neurodivergent - again mostly projection honestly and like there isnt much of a canon basis in his behaviour, just little things, but i like to personally hc that aside from eating candy to stay alive duh, that he chooses lollipops bc they serve as a sort of stim?? Also ik that fashion is his job but hes also so so clearly passionate about it that its a special interest for him, and thats partially why he took it up as a job in the first place, so he could do something related to his special interest lol. Idk i know there isnt any basis for this but just let me have autistic ramuda iaiesjdnsnfn

Doppo Kanonzaka

First impression

Now THATS what i call a tired mf!!! This dude has yves saint laurent eyebags also he really reminds me of aggretsuko somehow??? Im really not sure what it is

Impression now

Yeah i was def right with the aggretsuko comparison siaishsnshfb BUT I LOVEEE HIM i love him very much and i think this man really needs a break and is also very relateable i love

Favorite moment

As much as i love fp i absolutely adore the badass koments that doppo has including when he absolutely fucking obliterated fling posse sksjxnxncn also!! All of his little moments with hifumi i genuinely enjoy their dynamic its so cute

Idea for a story

Honestly i wanna see him slowly recover from the teauma that he has experienced because this king absolutely deserves it, and also from a practical point of view itd make this mf s t r o n g e r i also just.... long to see doppo happy honestly he deserves to smile!!

Unpopular opinion

I dont really have an unpopular opinion but saving like leaving this blank: as much as i absolutely adore jakurai and hifumi and their music (jakurai is my fave out of every hypmic character and i WILL drive this home), to me doppo just has the best music. Like, i love tigridia and BLACK OR WHITE so fucking much its absolutely unreal and all of doppos verses in every song are juust so fucking good. As much as i listen to you are, therefore i am on repeat every day of my life doppos music is just the best ✨

Favorite relationship

Again i am a huge multishipping bitch and i habe a few ships with doppo but in ahll honesty my fave is very clear - i absolutely adore his dynamic with matenrou as a whole and especially hifumi - his relationship with hifumi is clearly so special and it really shows how strong their friendship is, and in a ship sense i find it to be realy cute bc theres such a clear need for each other and that even if they clearly come at odds sometimes, at the end of the days theyre still clearly so close and i just,,, god doppo reallt deserves someone like hifumi in his life and im so glad that he has it!!!!

Favorite headcanon

Honestly i dont really think i have too many for doppo but given his general demeanor and his attitude, i personally hc him as demi. Yeah i know that sexualities dont have like typical personalities and such but i feel like given his anxieties around new people and how he clearly only really sticks to those that hes very close with, it makes more sense for him to be demi than any other sexuality to be quite honest - and this is also just pushing my hifudo agenda aiqiauansnssn but yknow!!!!

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

so I've been thinking about making/writing a big ol/ P5 AU (aka a fix-it fic because P5 infuriates me) and I was wondering; what are some changes you say would have to be made in order to improve P5?

Can do my dude, under the cut for length. 8U

So ngl I’m personally trying to do one myself too, I can give you a few ideas. I should tell you, I personally am just......trashing a lot of what happened in P5, and just using it’s setting to explore other ideas. I’m 1) choosing topics that weren’t in the original that I think would fit well, and 2) expanding on some things they talked about, and revolving my plot and characters in a way that the story can work with those two things (rather than......trying to force a square into a circle, I’m just going to shave off the sides to make it a circle and make it work). Doesn’t mean my fix it AU fic is what should’ve happened tho, just.....it’s made in a way that I want to work with things so I have to change a lot. Which makes it very AU than fix it but elkasfjls;jfad yeah 

But I’m not one to judge on how much you wanna change, just that if you wanna change a lot, this is coming from someone who is changing....A LOT! XD

First thing I think you should always consider is tackling the Metaverse’s ground rules, REALLY establish them (that’s what I’m doing, I’m not changing/taking away a whole lot but I’m clarifying what can and can’t happen and tbh just adding to it). These rule are up to you, but make them clear, and establish them. P5 really suffers from pretending to establish rules but then........breaking said rules without a care or explanation. Like this is probably it’s BIGGEST problem P5 has because it’s story HINGES on these rules for it’s plot to work. Here’s three examples of things that were broken constantly or just....aren’t explained well:

Boss Wakaba not changing nor disappearing once Futaba realizes her mom was good (thus no need for the boss). Even tho we saw, in real time, Madarame’s cognition changing over a gd door. So explain how cognition worksAccidentally pulling people in, we dunno what causes some to be pulled in instead of other’s (other than plot convenience).If a Persona can be touched/ridden on/ridden in.....utilize that, or make it so that they CAN’T utilize that. A lot of P5′s puzzles/road blocks could be bypassed with just “hey lemme try something-oh cool that works.” (Yusuke/Makoto, and probably Futaba wouldn’t have joined the team if they just did that, Haru is needed for a bio scan, but hey they could at least TRY ramming their Personas into the door 8U)Heart changing, explain how it really changes a person, why is Futaba considered having her heart stolen despite IT NOT BEING GD STOLEN, or how (like that 5 hour vid suggested) why Yuuki and Sae kinda act like they had a change of heart and how come one still has their palace despite that possible change of heart.... (if you go that route, you can maybe explain the difference in behavior of those two vs actual people having their desires ripped away). 

(side rant, one thing that still bugs me is that Sae has an alarm meter, but like.....She’s like a P4 shadow, she KNOWS you’re their, she even MEETS YOU at times! So like??????? Why have the meter?! She’s screwing you over all the damn time!!!! And she can only do that if she’s aware you’re there and know where you are! ANd she does! JUst????? I dunno make sense of that, maybe just explain there’s no meter?)

The next big issue is character consistency (first world building consistency, now Character consistency, tbh plot consistency is pretty bad too.....consistency is not in P5′s dictionary tbh). Everyone’s acting OOC everywhere, Anne’s biggest asset is somehow a flaw in her own CoOp (aka can read people and is very attuned to not saying the wrong thing), Ryuji isn’t a perv in HIS CoOp nor the first dungeon and is pretty level headed but after that???? nope, Futaba constantly talks about how it’s the TEAM that helped her and still help her but in her CoOp she only talks about how the MC is who helped her and can only do things cause of him and leave the house cause of him (despite the fact after she said that Yusuke went to her house the next day and got in in the main story >.>). Make the characters consistent, give them more flaws too tbh but as long as everything is the same and is foreshadowed well.

So those are the two biggest flaws in P5 that you might want to focus on fixing, how you do it is up to you! I’d also keep in mind to make sure that if the team needs to change cognition, make sure it’s for a good reason. Madarame’s door is a good reason, until you realize the stupid place has open windows and they can easily get to said open windows. Or Sae’s dungeon, her blockade is REALLY FREAKING STUPID cause it’s a public place and should already be open and JFSDKLJFLK;JASFD  JUST ANYTHING ELSE! Have the team work smarter not harder, if they are doing the opposite it can be....frustrating. 

Now the next stuff is up to you. Personally the first thing I do next is cut the team down to size (once Mako/Futaba/Haru were announced I started sweating and really felt like they should’ve kept it to 5ish). Too many characters to juggle on the team, who you choose is up to you if you want to do that. Think Yuki, Hifumi, or Sae should’ve been a thief? YOU DO THAT! Personally my fix-it one I’m doing MC/Anne/Ryu/Mona/Haru, but that’s because the story is based around their strengths and weaknesses (Yusuke and Futaba are important side characters/Coops tho, Makoto is a secret), there’s not need for a “smart person” because they all just work as a team, there’s no need for Yusuke’s art skills, and hacking isn’t going to appear in my fic (you can still do it, but my god the way P5 does it is horrible and OP and just.....why bother doing anything if Futaba can just wave her hacking wand? so unless you have a way to nerf it then go for it....but you’ll probs have to explain her “hacking cognition” bs cause.....why? just....why?). I tend to stick with the OG4 because they are solid and can fill a useful role that’s seen in other Phantom thief works (and can fit into P5, again I don’t think Yusuke’s artist eye is....useful), I chose Haru for reasons I won’t go into (but her personality is going to be different, this isn’t the reason, but I did need a personality change). 

But like I said, it can be anyone you want! Don’t like Anne or Ryuji or Mona (well you might need Mona, but you can re-write him!), then kick them! Or keep everyone doesn’t matter to me akldfjs;lajf XD 

If you want to keep all the characters.......I dunno. I don’t know where to start with Futaba, you can probably go a few different ways, but if you want to be more realistic, she’d probs still have issues for a few months (you don’t just get better after like a week XP) but that could make it hard for her to do anything for the team. Yusuke you’d have to make more relevant, you can make him the more level headed one (and you can remove Makoto via doing that). Makoto.....give her humility? I dunno, I wrote something on how to fix her arc (you can use it cause I’m not) but flksdafafafan I’d just boot her too personally XP (I guess character wise I’d actually make her smart, not point out obvious stuff in an attempt to appear smart, and ACTUALLY BE AN ACTION GIRL cause she ain’t shit when it comes to that either) I’d add more faults to Anne and Haru (love my girls, but first thing I did was add more issue to them), Ryuji make him consistent first then figure out what you want (I’d say keep him and Mona fighting the same, but make it more organic, with a good make up at the end). I’d also have Haru show up.

I’d also personally change Anne’s CoOp. I remember researching on Hafus well before P5 came out, and iirc I remember one hafu model lamenting on how everyone thinks they are pretty this and that and then talking bad behind their back, and then also how Hafus are kind of a commodity in Japan (aka they model and people think they are pretty, but then they also trash them for being “other”, think of it kinda like how everyone loves black culture in America but will trash black people for being black). Just the hypocrisy of “oh this is so awesome!!! BUT ALSO YOU SUCK!” kinda thing. It’s been awhile (I found it like a year or so before P5′s release), but it always stuck with me. And it made sense why Anne was a model but.....the way she’s....shamed for treating her PART TIME JOB/HOBBY as JUST THAT..... And then shaming her for her own natural beauty....it just reminded me of the interviews I read and it felt icky. I have an idea, it’s in the similar vein as modeling, but I think changing the writing so that it just treats her like a person instead of a hafu is one way to do it (after I finish writing it you can use it if you want/if you like it, it’s roughly similar to what we have but just tweaking it, I’m gonna use an aspect of that in my own fic but it won’t play beat by beat like it does in P5). 

I’m not sure about Kasumi, I personally started planning before Kasumi was announced. Do whatever with her tbh kflsjdf;asj

As for Goro.....listen I don’t like who we got, it felt like Atlus gave us like.......a few different characterizations they could’ve taken Goro and shoved them all into him despite these characterizations conflicting and not melding at all. They just contradict. He’s someone I think SHOULD be in the story (if not him, then give someone else the role of the “shadow archetype” but there needs to be one because that’s a staple for Persona, tho I mean if you want to reinvent the wheel and not have one then I say go for it! It’d def something new/different). But if you have Goro, you NEED to smooth him out. I’ll give you a few ideas.

Want him to be a puppet? Make sure it makes sense (by which I mean, due to his powers as we have it now, and how much he hated Shido prior to said powers, it doesn’t make sense for him to be Shido’s puppet when he can easily monitor Shido with said powers, and it doesn’t make sense for him to not monitor him nor be Shido’s puppet. It makes sense for him to pretend to be Shido’s puppet, and then turn around and be the REAL puppet master). A good way to make him a puppet is for him not to be related to Shido (or he and Shido are unknowing to that fact if you want), and Goro is just moved by this politician he sees one day and just stans the shit outta him, despite not knowing he’s a puppet to Shido (if this is the case, I don’t think think Shido planning on killing Goro would make sense, but proving he only thinks of Goro as a tool would def shake Goro’s world, since in this case he is unshakingly DEVOTED to Shido, hence why he’d never go into Shido’s mind). Sympathetic, and similar to Sho, has the best chance of being helped. 

Want him to basically be an extreme lawful person/Light Yagami? His way or the highway (also couples well with him being the real mastermind with Shido being the puppet). Well intention, but the ways he is doing it is horrible? Sympathetic? Not Sympathetic, your choice!

(closest rewrite you can get to keep it like the original P5 without the BS puppet thing) Guy that wants to just get revenge on Shido and Society, and is the real mastermind (much to everyone’s shock, due to thinking the red herring Shido was the real mastermind), who has Shido under his thumb. Sympathetic, but he’s willing to hurt whoever for his revenge. Might not be able to be helped, unless you count jail time. 

Personally I’m all for changing the god too but that’s just me. 8U

I know I didn’t touch on the bad guys, personally I’m keeping some the same, adding more to some other’s (tho changing their sin), and then just creating like some original bad guys to replace the one’s I’m not using (aka like.........Madarame is going to be a Mementos boss in my fic, I’m replacing him with someone else, and if you looked at my Haru link earlier Okumura is obvie going to be 2nd dungeon instead). You can do whatever with them imo, depends on how much you wanna change. All I can say is just make them deeper/more well rounded characters/no shallow Saturday Cartoon villains (aka give them nuance 8U). And don’t just....have a throw away line about this or that, incorporate it more into the dungeons (imo I’d take a page or two out of P4′s book, have their internal dialogue blasting a lot, maybe even have a memory play that we see). 

And that’s as much as I can word vomit atm (I’m very tired ;w;), I feel like I might’ve missed something but.....I’m not gonna worry about it. Sorry it’s in very big strokes, but you have a lot of wiggle room imo. I don’t think there’s a “perfect” way of fixing P5, so as long as you have a vision you want to execute I think you’re good. Like I said, my fix it fic is just retooling a lot of P5 in a way I can make certain ideas work, it’s not supposed to be “this is how P5 is supposed to be” but a “this is how I think a tighter version of P5 could’ve gone down.” 

[whateverisbeautiful]

Richonne in Retrospect

#12: The Return (3x15)

“This Sorrowful Life” is another great episode so it was fun to re-watch and recap. It’s quite eventful overall but I really love it for the scenes with Michonne and Merle. It was so good and so well acted. 👏🏽👏🏽

This episode right here let you know that Michonne is not just a warrior with her weapon but a warrior with her words as well. 

Cuz Homegirl wisely used her ability to understand and elegantly read people to set herself free. 🙌🏾 Like Michonne said “Don’t want to be no, no, no one else. I’d rather rescue myself.” 😂

But before that point, we start with Rick letting Hershel and Daryl know he’s decided to give up Michonne and they have to do it today. He’s convinced himself it’s the only way. 

Now y’all, I cannot tell a lie. I was salty as all get out that Rick was going through with this. 😒 

Watching this back it’s crazy that this is Rick talking about turning in his future wife. Like Rick, homie, pal, Michonne’s about to make life even more worth living for you and you over here nearly taking her life away. 🤔 Lol but hindsight is 20/20.

Daryl was actually a real one in this episode as he tells Rick, “This ain’t us man”. And I was like “Exactly Daryl, it ain’t. So talk some sense into your boy.” 😂 

When Rick goes to Merle he says he doesn’t like it but it has to be done and he enlists Merle’s help. Merle lets Rick know just how sadistic the Governor is and what horrible things he’ll most likely do to Michonne. 

He asks Rick “You’ll let that happen for a shot?” Even Merle felt like doing this was inhumane and “cold as ice”. 🙉

I thought for sure hearing all the awful things the Governor might have in store for Michonne would change Rick’s mind but he didn’t want to let Merle punk him out so he stuck to his “tough guy” guns. And y’all I’m not salty anymore, I’ve let it go lol but these hands were about to change their M for Merle rating to R for Rick if Rick didn’t get with the program and realize turning Michonne in would be the wrong thing to do. 

Like if even Merle thinks it’s a bit much then you know it shouldn’t be done. 😂

Later, Rick watches Michonne slay some walkers before she and Glenn and Daryl roll up to the prison. 

And you know he knows good and well he shouldn’t give her up while he watches her lol. 

And that’s confirmed even more when Glenn tells him some idea about tires and then Rick says that’s a good idea and Daryl mentions how it was Michonne’s idea. I appreciate Daryl being her advocate here. 

And you can tell this stirs Rick a bit. I’m like, “Rick, Michonne told you that you need her. Did you think she was playing? 🙃These are the kind of good ideas you can continue to get if you keep her around.” Like her wise words when she tells him, “We don’t have to win. We just have to make them getting at us more trouble than it’s worth.” 👏🏽

When she says this, Rick stares at her and he clearly feels guilty about having a full on scheme to turn her in. Thank goodness everything worked out in the end tho.

Also Merle’s more insightful than he lets on cuz when he watches them all from a window inside he says, “Ain’t no way” cuz he knows Rick will eventually change his mind about essentially savagely sentencing Michonne to a cruel long death. 

And sure enough we get a scene where Rick is collecting the wires and he is really grappling with this decision and then he sees Ghost Lori.

I’m telling you Ghost Lori might be a Richonner lol. Like maybe she really is appearing all these times in order to serve as a message to Rick about Michonne. 

I think she’s trying to tell Rick, “Boy if you don’t go after your soul mate like I went after mine with Shane” 😂 (too soon? lol) 

And then Rick unravels the wire and throws it and I’m glad he came to the right realization that he can’t give her up. 🏽

And then we get these greatly acted scenes between Rooker and Gurira because Merle didn’t get the memo on Rick’s change of heart so he’d already gone through with Rick’s initial orders.  

It’s interesting, as I re-watched this, Merle tells Michonne about the deal and then I believe he says something along the lines of, “I agree with you though. He would have blinked.” That stuck out to me this time around cuz it makes me wonder, if they were talking about Rick, did Michonne express thinking Rick would have changed his mind about giving her up? 

She always did have a really solid understanding of the man Rick was so it makes sense if she knew Rick would change his mind. Also that’s very kind of her to give him the benefit of the doubt and know he wouldn’t have truly gone through with it.

I really love how cool calm and collected Michonne is in her interaction with Merle. Like I adore the moment when Merle uses her katana to kill a walker and he tells her he figured she would have run but then she just smiles and says “Wanted my sword back before I get away”. Yes to that confidence tho! 👏🏽👸🏾

Back at the prison, Rick tells Daryl with conviction that the deal is off. Daryl says he’s, “Not saying that was the wrong call but this is definitely the right one” and I think this is the wisest Daryl’s ever been lol. 

But they can’t find Merle and Michonne and so Rick says he’s going after them. It could have been easy to just feel like well it’s too late but once again those words in 3x07 apply; he can’t let her leave.

And so he’s adamant that he go and right this wrong.  Even when Daryl reminds him he can’t track, Rick quickly says, “Then the both of us” because he wants to be part of helping bring Michonne back. Homeboy is eager lol. 

But Daryl says he’ll go alone and reminds Rick that since the deal is off they now have a fight to prepare for. Dang, this really is the wisest Daryl’s ever been. 🤭

There’s so much good dialogue between Michonne and Merle. Like her line of “That’s a whole lot of maybe’s” and his “You gotta play the hand your dealt. I only got one.” 

Michonne literally gives us all a master class in how to ever so cleverly escape simply through words. And it’s interesting cuz since Michonne’s introduction she hadn’t been much of a talker up until this point but here she revealed that she def can talk her way out of things.

Her telling Merle a bad man is light as a feather or how things are different for his brother and Daryl has a new family. She intelligently read Merle in this car and I was here for it. 👌🏽

But what’s interesting is how Michonne and Merle have some similarities also. She tells him that he chooses to stay on the outside but low key that’s what Homegirl did too for awhile. 

It was always interesting to me that Merle says “Your buddy is turning you over.” Like “your buddy” is such an interesting way to say it. Again, I really do think Merle’s more insightful than he let on.

He tells her she’s as much on the outside as he is and it’s such a testament to how far Michonne’s come cuz now, not only is she in the inner circle, she’s Rick’s immediate family. ☺️ 

It’s such a smart tactic when she brings up how Merle only became a killer when the Governor came along. Like she gives him real evidence that he is not the monster he’s convinced himself he is.

And then she tells him, “We can just go back”. This line feels significant cuz it’s not only saying they can literally turn the car around and go back but also it has a figurative connotation of how they can go back from this loner closed-off state they both have developed. 

They can return to who they were before the world changed them, both the apocalyptic world and for Merle even the real world that changed him. 

And we’ll see that Michonne does in fact go back literally and figuratively when she gets brought back to who she truly is with the help of Carl and Rick.

I love that she’s offering Merle these words of wisdom and is so calm. Like, for all she knows, she is literally driving to her death and yet she’s sound enough to be able to handle this situation calmly and effectively. 

One of the biggest takeaways I had as I re-watched these pre-canon episodes is that Michonne has some great interactions with all these different characters and I hope we get to see more of that this season.

And sure enough Michonne’s approach works and Merle lets her go. This episode could have been called “Handling Things Like a Boss 101” cuz that’s exactly what Michonne did lol. It’s seriously a testament to Michonne that she was able to make Merle change his mind in such a diplomatic way.

Also I may be hearing it wrong but I believe Merle says, “You go back with him.” It’s like he knew that Rick and Michonne had some sort of significant connection.

And then Michonne looks at Merle one last time and lets him drive off. And Michael Rooker really did a great job in his final episode and just with the character of Merle as a whole. Like he was such a gripping presence and a fascinating and layered antihero who could still catch these hands for that racism tho 👍🏽.

At the prison, Rick gathers their tiny little group (it’s crazy that TF was that small at one point) and he confesses about the Governor’s Michonne-deal and how he was gonna (low key almost did) do that.

It’s interesting that we get this cut of Carl who looks down sort of disappointed when he hears this. He looks like he’s thinking, “Dad, did I not tell you she’s one of us?” lol.

Y’all, it’s interesting that just the idea of losing Michonne sparks a whole life epiphany for Rick cuz he goes into this whole speech of realizing it can’t be a Ricktatorship and how the group as a whole is the greater good. Like Michonne is what it took for him to come to that realization that it’s about everyone sticking together and having a voice. Here for it.

And I feel like it’s after this moment that we see Rick no longer consider Michonne an “other”. Like from here on out she fully is one of them. She always was, but now he knows it for certain.

And then in that watch tower Rick aims his gun and spots her returning and I was like boy if you don’t stop pointing guns at your wife lol. But it’s interesting that they give us this moment of Rick seeing his future wife return. 

It sort of parallels the earlier moment of him watching her slay those walkers. Like he just keeps getting confirmation of what a special woman this is. 

And when Rick sees Michonne returning he looks like he feels three things; relief, happiness, and awe that this woman is surely and truly a boss for making it back on her own. 👸🏾

Like Homegirl is just striding on back like she’s just returning from a walk in the park or something. 👌🏽😋

And I have respect for her returning cuz low key I might have been salty and been like “Welp, let me get two more walkers on some chains and go somewhere else where I’m appreciated.” 😂 

But I’m glad she wasn’t petty about it and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Rick and Michonne are so interconnected so she really does understand where he’s coming from and is sympathetic towards him and his decision, as we see in the next episode.

Also she came back cuz those magnets can’t be denied so there’s that. Here for it. 💯😋

[catherinehathart-blog]

20 Artists Who Failed Miserably Before They Succeeded Big

As Winston Churchill once wisely said, “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”

Anyone who has achieved anything great or has changed the world in some way has made a choice to embrace failure as a stepping - stone to accomplish his or her goals. Successful artists understand that every failure brings them one step closer to achieving their goals. Here is a list of 21 performing and visual artists who failed miserably before they succeeded big.

Charles Schultz

Before he created the beloved series, Peanuts (featuring Snoopy and Charlie Brown), cartoon artist, Charles Schultz was rejected by his high school yearbook. Rather than wallowing in self-pity, Schultz used that failure as motivation to create the comic series he became famous for. Today, the revenue from Peanuts has generated over $1 billion a year. Schultz’s high school actually went on to put a statue of Snoopy in the main office.

Walt Disney

The man who gave us Mickey Mouse and Disney World started his career as the artist nobody wanted to hire. His first animation company went bankrupt. A news editor fired him because he believed he lacked imagination. After this setback, Walt Disney decided to form Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy. Disney Brothers Studio later became called the Walt Disney Company. In 1928, five years after creating the Walt Disney Company, Disney created Mickey Mouse. The rest is history.

Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey made his standup debut at a comedy club called Yuk Yuk’s, which he completely bombed. After 11 years of trying to become an actor Carrey finally got his break in 1990 when he was cast on the show, In Living Color. In 1994, he got his biggest break yet to star in Ace Ventura. It was that role that helped to catapult him into stardom.

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is one of the best-selling artists of all time. She has 6 Grammy awards under her belt and 13 MTV Video Music Awards. Before accomplishing all of that, Lady Gaga was dropped by Def Jam records after only 3 months of signing on with them. Def Jam Records believed that her over the top style of dress and music would not appeal to the masses. Lady Gaga stuck to her guns and it clearly worked in her favor.

Fred Astaire

Born in 1899, in Omaha, Nebraska, Fred Astaire is another famous failure. Astaire was supposedly rejected during a Hollywood screen test. He was told that he “Can’t act. Slighty bald. Dances a little.” He kept working at his dancing and acting and was finally able to create a successful career from it.

Beyoncé

You know you’re big when you are known as the queen. But even Queen Bey experienced her fair share of initial failures before she hit it big. Before she was Queen Bey, 12-year-old Beyoncé was a member of the group Girls Tyme. The group appeared on a 1993 episode of the talent show, Star Search, and lost. A group called Skeleton Crew beat out girls Tyme and clearly Beyoncé never forgot the loss. You can actually see a snippet of that loss in her music video for “Flawless.”

In a 2013 interview, Beyoncé called the loss “a really defining moment in my life as a child.” She went on to say, “At that time, you don’t realize that you could work super hard and give everything you have—and lose.” She added: “You’re never too good to lose; you’re never too big to lose.” She didn’t allow that setback to define her and today Beyoncé has 22 Grammys to her name and is worth $355 million.

Shawn Carter aka Jay-Z

It would be a disservice to talk about Queen Bey, without also mentioning the Jigga Man himself. Although Jay-Z is considered to be one of the most successful rappers of all time, his early life was characterized by an unstable family life and a string of failures that led to him dealing drugs. Because no record label wanted to sign him, Jay-Z started selling CDs out of the trunk of his car. After every major label had turned him down, he decided to found his own label called Roc-A-Fella Records.

Charlie Chaplin

Born into poverty in 1889, Charlie Chaplin’s father abandoned the family, leaving his mother to care for the family alone. Throughout his childhood, Chaplin was forced to go to a workhouse, an institution in the UK where the indigent worked in exchange for room and board. During this time, Chaplin participated in stage plays. Eventually, Chaplin made his way to Hollywood, California where he was continuously turned away and snubbed, only later to become the greatest silent-film actor to have ever lived.

Sylvester Stallone

After moving to New York City in the 1970’s to pursue an acting career, Sylvester Stallone seemed to experience nothing but rejection and failure. People would tell him that he couldn’t act, that he talked funny, and even that he walked strangely.

Stallone was rejected at least 1,500 times by everyone that he met in the film industry. He would sit for hours on end in offices just to wait to the see the person who would ultimately reject him again. Stallone ended up homeless. He lived and slept in the bus station for three weeks while trying to save money for an apartment.

After writing the script for Rocky, he was offered more than $300,000 if he agreed not to star in the film. He refused time and again. Rocky Balboa is now the pride and joy of Philadelphia and even has a famous statue that is a major tourist attraction. You know you’ve hit it big when a major U.S. city wants to build a commemorative statue of a fictional character you created and starred as!

Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley has sold over 1 billion records worldwide; however, his rise to the top was rife with failures. When Elvis was 18-years old, he recorded a demo with Sun Records, but nothing came of it. A year later, in 1954, he recorded another demo, which also floundered. That same year, Presley auditioned for the Songfellows quartet, but was rejected. When his father asked him what had happened, Presley stated, “They told me I couldn’t sing.”

Through a friend, Elvis eventually met Eddie Bond who helped him to find a gig as a vocalist in a professional band. They arranged some recordings, but nothing came of it until months later when Presley performed Arthur Crudup’s blues number, “That’s All Right.” That performance got the attention of a professional DJ, which jumpstarted the career of the “King Of Rock And Roll.”

George Lucas

George Lucas is the creative genius behind the Star Wars franchise and the Raiders Of The Lost Ark. But his feature film directorial debut in 1971, THX 1138, lost more money than it cost to make. Undeterred, Lucas’ next film, American Graffiti, was a huge success. Even still, his newly gained clout wasn’t enough to persuade two different studios of the viability of his next project, Star Wars. Eventually, 20th Century Fox approved the script. When it was released, Star Wars went on to become the highest grossing film of all time.

Jerry Seinfeld

After graduating from Queens College in 1976, Jerry Seinfeld tried his hand at standup during an open-mic night in New York City where he froze on stage and forgot his jokes. He was then booed off the stage but he didn’t let that stop him.

Over the next three years Seinfeld honed his standup skills. This eventually led to an appearance on an HBO Special for Rodney Dangerfield, and afterwards, to a role on the sitcom, Benson. In 1988, Seinfeld created the semi-fictional series about his life with co-creator Larry David called Seinfeld. By 2002, TV Guide ranked it as the greatest show of all time.

Harrison Ford

When Harrison Ford headed to Los Angeles to establish a career in voice-overs, he failed to secure any jobs, but he stayed in the area. After two years of working odd jobs and small-time gigs, Ford landed his first role as a bellhop in the 1964 movie, Dead Heat on a Merry-Go Round. However, studio executives were rough on Ford, telling him that “he would never make it in this business.”

But Harrison Ford refused to give up. 9 years later in 1973, Ford landed his breakthrough role in George Lucas’s film, American Graffiti. Because of that role, and his relationship with Lucas, Harrison Ford was able to build a highly successful acting career. George Lucas later cast Ford in Star Wars and the Indiana Jones series.

Kerry Washington

Before being catapulted to stardom with her lead role on hit drama, Scandal, Kerry Washington was fired from a pilot she filmed after it was picked up. In an interview, Kerry mentioned that, “Before Scandal, the only other two pilots I’d ever done were shows that got picked up, but I got fired,” Washington said at the Hollywood Reporter‘s Emmy Roundtable, “They recast my character on both shows.” That would certainly be a tough pill to swallow once, let alone twice. But Washington proved that tenacity and perseverance can help you to overcome any failure.

Madonna

After dropping out of the University Michigan School of Music in order to pursue a career as an artist, Madonna started working at Dunkin’ Donuts in Times Square. That job was hilariously short-lived because she was fired on her first day after squirting jelly on a customer.

With only $35 in her pocket when arriving in New York City, Madonna searched for other work. She took random jobs, primarily as a backup dancer for modern dance troupes. One night, when she was returning home after a rehearsal, she was even robbed by two men at knifepoint. Needless to say this discouraged Madonna, but it did not deter her.

She landed small singing parts and performed with bands such as the Breakfast Club. Eventually she caught the eye of Sire Records founder, Seymour Stein. In 1982, at the age of 24-years old, she debuted her single, “Everybody,” followed by, “Burning Up,” both which became huge club hits. Since then Madonna has become one of the world’s wealthiest music artists with a net worth of $800 million.

Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is, without a doubt, one of the most successful American filmmakers in history. Nonetheless, he was rejected from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema Arts, not once, but twice. He finally went on to graduate from Cal State University in Long Beach. Spielberg eventually received an honorary degree from the film school that rejected him and is now worth $2.7 billion.

The Beatles

The Beatles were rejected by numerous record labels including Decca Records, which said, “guitar groups are on the way out” and “the Beatles have no future in show business.” Five months after that rejection, The Beatles signed with George Martin from Parlophone and released their first in a string of hits later that year entitled, “Love Me Do.” Since then, The Beatles have sold more singles in the UK than anyone else, and have moved more units in the US (more than 177 million) than any other group.

Jon Hamm

Following his move to Los Angeles, Jon Hamm couldn’t land a single gig. He was so unsuccessful in finding acting work that his talent agency fired him. Hamm began working as a waiter and had contemplated giving up entirely on the acting business, considering himself to be a major failure at the time.

During the time he had been considering quitting acting for a more stable career, Jon found work on Mel Gibson’s movie, We Were Soldiers. It was after getting this role that he decided to stick it out in show business.

Good thing he did because he eventually landed the role of a lifetime with 2007’s Mad Men, turning him, not only into a famous actor, but a cultural icon. When he was cast as Don Draper, Hamm stated that he was at “the bottom of everyone’s list.” Hamm’s story shows that keeping hope alive can lead to amazing results.

Katy Perry

In 1999, at the age of 15, Katy Perry dropped out of high school after completing her GED in order to pursue a music career full time. She signed with Red Hill Records and debuted a gospel album called, Katy Hudson in 2001. After the album only sold 200 copies, Red Hill Records closed its doors just a few months later.

When she was 20-years old, Perry signed with another label called Java to work on a solo record, but her record was shelved. Afterwards, Perry signed with Columbia Records, and recorded new music over the next two years. But before the record was completed, she was dropped from that label as well.

Katy Perry’s big break finally came in 2007 when she signed with Capitol Records. In 2008, she released the would-be-hit song, “I Kissed a Girl.” What seemed like an overnight success at the time actually took nine years to accomplish.

Vincent Van Gogh

For most of his life, Vincent Van Gogh believed himself to be a failure. Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime. Despite that, he kept painting and finished over 800 pieces. Now everyone wants to buy them and his most expensive painting is valued at $142.7 million.

Luckily for the artists of today, you probably wouldn’t need to die before becoming recognized for your work.