This is true of the manga, but I love how the anime accentuates the absolute physical trust the apprentices have with Qifrey. Specifically with Agott, the way she is so ready when Qifrey says “hang on tight, I need my hands free” to cling to him a mile into the sky, and then in the latest episode, how, as soon as she impacts Qifrey while flying to him, she makes no move to save herself, she just curls into him and trusts that he will keep them from falling.
And I think it works as a signal to the audience, to subtly go “hey, I know we don’t trust Qifrey right now, he’s being shady, but we can always trust him to protect the physical wellbeing of his kids. Remember that.” Idk man maybe I’m getting too attached to a teeny detail but aaaaaaghhhh that’s her dad.
#anyways i think it's particularly notable that fiercely independent always-has-something-to-prove Agott is like this with him#and that none of the apprentices really hide how they're feeling around him even when that feeling is negative#Agott and Richeh make it known when they're unhappy with Qifrey#and they (two abused kids) just flat out wouldn't do this if he wasn't a safe person to be unhappy at
no one talks about how draining it is when your mood is constantly switching between "its okay, i don't care. l'll be okay" and "I don't know how much more I can take"
Was talking with @3michko3 (more like yapping) combining my teen years interest with one of my current interests. So have a list of whose godly heritage (greek pantheon only) would the DMC cast (and our OCs) have in the PJO verse.
Dante, Vergil and Nero Sparda
→ Nero included here for obvious reasons BUT in his case his godly heritage will be Legacy exculsively.
Hades (God of the Death and Underwold) → Godly Parent. I mean this one makes pretty much a lot of sense when taking into account how powerful Sparda is and the high ranking role he has in the OG DMC verse.
Niké (Godess of Victory) → Legacy. Don't ask me why but the goddess appeared in my mind when thinking about the twins. And I was like, maybe they are Niké legacies from Eva's side, but like 4 or 5 gens ago, so not much of the goddess is in them but a higher chance at victory/seeing ways to win.
Lady
Ares (God of War) → Godly Parent. I was torn abt him bc Athena my other option for her. But I went w Ares becaude he also has many strategy aspects he shares/overlaps with Athena's but, while lady is smart, I don't see her as someone who would be focused on gathering intelligence for intelligence. So, after thinking about it, Lady is the Ares kid through and through with how battle focused and trained she is, plus the many strategies she always has.
Trish
Aphrodite (Godess of Beauty and Love) → Godly Parent. I think this one is pretty self explanatory. But with how striking and gorgeous and charming she is??? It just makes sense to me. Plus, Aphrodite is also associated with war and has some epithets related to that, and that also fits Trish so well.
NICO
Hephaestus (God of Fire, Artisans and many others) → Legacy (grandmother's side). Again don't ask me why, it makes sense TO ME. I thought about her, and that was the 1st deity to come to mind. With her I went for legacy, because while her skillset in game is less battle focused (afaik) AND she is just a normal human. AND @3michko3 pointed out that it was her grandmother who made Dante guns so it just works perfectly for this.
(OCs will be under read more)
CASTOR (he/she, my DMC OC)
Apollo (God of Music, Prophecy and Healing) → Legacy AND Blessing. For Castor I was conflicted because while I was clear on Apollo, I wasn't sure if making him [Apollo] her godly parent and another's god legacy like with the Sparda twins; or keep it faithful to her OG backstory and the demon blood being generations ago. I went with the latter, BUT instead of several gens ago, now it's like 3 generations ago AND, sensing the power of the Star Twins, Apollo blessed them while still in the womb before Castor absorbed Pollux and his powers+blessing as well (which Apollo did NOT account for and that lowkey put a wrench in whatever plans he might've had). → this is bc i NEEDED to keep the Castor being the child of prophecy but still it not being as expected
AJAX (he/him, @3michko3 's OC)
→ notice here, because the Scylla (she/they) mentioned is michko's other DMC OC, and she is the demon Focalor but uses Scylla to hide and distance herself from their true identity. Knowing their lore, I went with the greek monster to make it easier to fit her.
Circe (Witch Goddess) → Godly Parent. I almost went with Hermes for Ajax, but with the whole contract with Scylla and everything, Circe made more sense in the end. Specially with Circe's connection with Scylla in mythology. And since Circe, while considered a godess, was a nymph, this means Ajax's godly heritage makes him half nymph as well as a demigod.
Scylla (nymph turned sea monster innthis verse) → Contract. Okay, knowing who Ajax's godly parent is, and knowing Circe (in some versions) is the one who transformed Scylla into the monster she is, it could complicate the contract origin story because Scylla would probaly be way more reticent BUT it would also be a way to get back at Circe in the "even your own kids choose me over you" kinda way so yeah. She is still a monster (and minor god, depending on the version. Hence why she still has her human form, bc i say so).
Compiled some basic information I know about drawing fat characters for beginners since I've been seeing more talk about absence of really basic traits in a lot of art lately.
Morpho Fat and Skin Folds on Archive.org (for free!)
Meiji period fashion was some of the best in the world, speaking purely from an aesthetic standpoint you can really see the collision of European and Japanese standards of beauty and how their broad agreement even in particulars (the similarity between Japanese and Gibson girl bouffants, the obi vs the corset, the obi knot vs the bustle, the mutual covetousness for exotic textiles, the feverish swapping of both art styles and subjects) combined and produced some of the most interesting cultural exchange we have this level of documentation for. Europeans were wearing kimono or adapting them into tea gowns, japanese were pairing lacy Edwardian blouses with skirt hakama and little button up boots. haori jackets with bowler hats and European style lapels. if steampunk was any good as an aesthetic it would steal wholesale from the copious records we have in both graphic arts and photography of how people were dressing in this milieu.
«The botany professor,» from Kkokei Shimbun, October 20, 1908.
she's wearing a kimono blouse or haori, edwardian skirt or hakama, gibson girl bouffant, a lacy high-collar blouse with cravat and brooch, and a pocket watch with chain
1910-1930 (Taishō era, right after Meiji, which I should have included in my OP) men's haori with western lapels
I have a love for both kimonos and bustle dresses, so I love seeing how the two fashions influenced each other over this period. And thanks to Pinterest, I have pictures!
Victorian tea gown that clearly started as a kimono. It still has the long furisode sleeves, but now they’re gathered at the shoulder and turned around so that the long open side is facing the front instead of the back. Similarly the back is taken in with curved seams to fit the torso and pleated below that for the skirt.
Woodblock of a woman in a a bustle dress made with colorful patterned fabrics and examples of how a woman could style her hair with it.
More prints to showcase hairstyles, two women wearing western wear and two women wearing kimonos.
This next one’s modern, but it involves hoopskirts so I’ll add it in because it makes me so happy. There’s been different styles of wedding fashion that take kimonos and give them a more modern look. Often this involves taking a kimono and then cutting and resewing it into a new dress. Very pretty, but it can’t ever be worn like a traditional kimono again. But now there’s another trend where the bride wears a hoopskirt with a white skirt, then you take the kimono and drape it on. The back of the kimono covers the front of the dress, the long sleeves fall across the sides or the back, and you still wear an obi with it. The result is pretty and the kimono itself doesn’t have to be altered at all.
And because you mentioned steampunk, I have to add in these two:
Personally I’m a big fan of Taisho Meisen kimono, which are what happen when the Japanese textile industry abruptly gets access to aniline dyes, new spinning and weaving technology, and the concept of Art Deco:
The blessing in disguise for Emiya Kiritsugu's tragedy at the end of 4th grail war however, is the moment where he witnessed the truth of his method, his dream is broken in a brutal way, his ideal crumbled perfectly, is where it allows him to escape from that hell and reemerges as broken man, but can finally be healed.
The 4th Grail War Fuyuki tragedy shows that it was never his fault that Shirley become like that, that the village burned and massacred because he chose not to kill Shirley, it was never his fault. The lesson he learned that "mercy causes catastrophe" was false. Tragedy can happen no matter how much you prepare for it or wish you could've done something else. It's just human limitation and what he is needed was never to amend or take responsibility, but to heal from pain and trauma.
At the end, he lost his wife, he can't meet with his daughter ever again, he lost his perfect combat ability. But he gained something else, something he never allowed himself before.
Ordinary peace, laughter in a kitchen, a child who smiles because of him, not despite him. He went from half broken, to broken completely, and from there he can finally heals.
Kiritsugu’s salvation will be not that his dream was right, but is that the world took the burden from his hands before it consumes him even further.
That is why his story ends not with sound of a gunshot or a Grail miracle, but with a rest and quiet smile.
you'd think that "inhuman thing that isn't a person but speaks like a person and talking to it will slowly drive you mad" would only be found in folktales and fables and so on. but no. chatgpt
