Welcome to my Tumblr! I spent 5 years as a ghost and now spend most of my time writing for Persona 5. Called Turandot on AO3! https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostOzian/pseuds/Turandot
Look, it’s me, LostOzian who is doing most of her writing/Discording as Turandot, and I’d also like to become more active on Tumblr rather than just lurking because I think having a place where I can talk to people and share things I like could actually be really fun. And there’s no better place to do it than your friendly neighborhood Hellsite!
So... Hi! I exist! If you remember me, say hi! If you’ve never seen me before... also say hi! ^_^
I'm extremely out of practice with self-promotion of any kind, almost as much as I am out of practice with writing original fiction, but... here I am, practicing both. ^_^
Darkly comedic vampire short story about a death row inmate sharing her last meal with her executioner.
I hope you like it! And thanks so much to @sserkets for encouraging me <3
So I was going to work on my backlog of WIP sketches and I ended up procrastinating by instead going to read my fanfic backlog.
Needless to say I ended up spending my whole Sunday binge-reading chapters from @lostozian 's full-novel epic Shattered, Scattered.
AND OH MY GOD
OH MY FUCKING GOD.
*Danny DeVito voice* "I get it now."
I didn't even finish reading the whole thing (I mainly focused on the chapters that prominently featured Maruki, since I'm so obsessed with him) anD MY BRAIN CHEMISTRY HAS BEEN CHANGED FOREVER.
I CRIED LIKE THREE TIMES THIS SHIT IS SO GOOD AAAAAAAA
So anyway, these are my favorite scenes. (from Chapters 47 and 49, respectively) I HAD to draw them because. Goddamnit. Fuck. How couldn't I???!
HELLO TIME FOR ME TO REBLOG AND SCREAM MY HEAD OFF!!!!!!!!! MY GOD!!!!!!!!
Pre-emptively putting a Read More because I am about to get heckin VERBOSE up in this bitch.
Let's first and foremost say, WELCOME, MARUKI ENJOYER!!! :D Maruki is just SUCH a guy, he's so interesting and fascinating, it's like eighteen layers of depth that the challenges of the original game were missing, or was basically only present in Shadow Futaba and kind of Shadow Sae. It's easy to attack people who are obviously bad, but what about the people who mean well? The people who have been hurt first? The people who have a point? The people who make it hard to see what the right answer is? I was just so obsessed with making a story where Maruki's ideology could be viewed from many, MANY additional angles. I get very frustrated when his villainy is just boiled down to "he's a manipulator." If that's true, then Maruki just becomes Shido 2. There's so much that makes Maruki a unique and compelling character in his own right.
I love your portrayal of the Rusted Spike scene so much. The crowd shot of the Thieves is so intense, and it's so CINEMATIC how we see the group first, then zoom in on the heart, THAT BLEEDING HEART, and then zoom in on Maruki's face - it brings so much kinetic energy to the scene, and follows the focus so well. I'm re-reading these finale chapters recently for other reasons, but I love the way that adaptation and fanart fills in the gaps with things I didn't describe. I KNOW I didn't bother to describe Maruki dropping his staff, but the way you added it is so beautiful. It's not just Maruki quitting the fight, it's Maruki losing his defenses as he stares at the bleeding heart. The heartbeat and blood effects around Maruki as he breaks down are SO FUCKING GOOD TOO, I had wanted that moment to feel like an intense SNAP and it feels SO GOOD to see it visually!!!!
Additional details I love include: the curly bits on Shadow Maruki's angelic armor near the elbows (details like that still show love in Akira's cognition: Maruki has betrayed him and he still can't help but give Shadow Maruki beautiful, righteous, gleaming armor...) I also really love the way you make the heart stand out from the void of his chest, I had the leeway of prose to rub past details, but you really make this bio-accurate heart hanging in a void feel like it's not "just" a cheat to get away with how biologically impossible it is. It feels like, naturally, Shadow Maruki's heart fills his chest with love, and the only reason it's a void instead is because of his long-ignored wound. And I also want to give special props to Morgana and Akechi's faces in the closer-up panel, Morgana's freaked-out eyes are EXACTLY as I thought, and I love that Akechi has a more neutral/determined face, but you can see his sword-hand shaking... >:3 He's nowhere near as in-control as he wants to be, but... well, he knows what a spike like that feels like, doesn't he? >:3
(You mentioned that you jumped around to find the Maruki-focused chapters, but if you wanna message about stuff you like most about Maruki, I think I can recommend a few other segments that will delight on those grounds <3)
ONTO THE OTHER COMIC!!! After seeing how you handle action, let's see how you handle dialogue! Spoiler, you do it SO WELL!!!!
I can really FEEL the way you use text size to support Futaba's argument. You use it to highlight her power lines and keep the flow fast for other supporting points. I love all the stars you put behind Futaba when she's talking about the Cosmic Picture, all culminating in "NOTHING matters!" It's such a cool way to take a prose-heavy scene and make the dialogue an exciting companion to the art. And it contrasts so nicely with the panel right below it, where Futaba has framed everything she loves in adorable little bubbles, Sojiro is so big in her picture, she loves him so much, I am going to cry about the Sakura family!!!! WAAAAAH!!!! The funny version of the text big/text little I saw is how you shrank "and fight a government or a god or whatever" XD Because Futaba TRULY devalues those parts of this argument. Doesn't matter what they're fighting in this big picture, it's just WHATEVER.
The next part I'd zero in on is the flow of Futaba's facial expressions. Like people talk about "going on a face journey," and you executed it SO nicely <3 I love how she starts off SO pissed, and it naturally drains out of her as she works through her points, and the joy that brings her to remember Sojiro and friendship and fun memories, and how all of that fun connects to AKIRA too, and the earnest plea she shares for Akira to remember, to join her... GOD, she's so good <3 You're so good at drawing her.
And I love Akira's face as well! He has less focus than Futaba (the chatterbox ;P) but the little check-ins with his grumpy face are excellent reminders of how through-the-wood-chipper his heart has been. Futaba is objectively right, but it's taking so long to sink in, and he keeps finding every way he can to disengage from what she's saying. But by the end of it, he can't help but hear her, and it still hurts him so much to hear. The way the rest of the scene plays out, Akira continues to be a butt, and it takes like 7 more emotional conversations before he finally gets the message, but the look I see in his eyes for the final panel is regret. Like he knows Futaba is right, and the pain that hurts the most is that he can't give her what she's asking for. It reframes his otherwise very self-centered pain into the part of the Wild Card I like the most: all the bonds they have with others. Akira is so uncomfortable with being on the receiving end of this kind of encouragement that he just shuts down, and it hurts so much. ;_; But we know that Futaba is too strong now to give up on him!!!!!!
Thank you again for this, thank you for your patience as I thought on this and went back to it over and over and over. You're a wonderful artist who picked up on so many details and added flourishes of your own that elevated the text beyond my imagination. Thanks for reading, and I hope you are having a FANTASTIC day!!!!
Hey! I remember when "Cybervale" was updating on Ao3, and I'm so excited to read "Larkspur!" I was curious if there was a way to obtain it off of Amazon? I don't want Amazon to benefit from your amazing work. If Amazon is the only vendor, I promise I'll still support and read it enthusiastically <3
Yes! Echo of the Larkspur will be posted on other websites like B&N, Kobo, itcho.io and others on October 22nd!
“Some years ago, I was stuck on a crosstown bus in New York City during rush hour. Traffic was barely moving. The bus was filled with cold, tired people who were deeply irritated—with one another; with the rainy, sleety weather; with the world itself. Two men barked at each other about a shove that might or might not have been intentional. A pregnant woman got on, and nobody offered her a seat. Rage was in the air; no mercy would be found here.
But as the bus approached Seventh Avenue, the driver got on the intercom. “Folks,” he said, “I know you’ve had a rough day and you’re frustrated. I can’t do anything about the weather or traffic, but here’s what I can do. As each one of you gets off the bus, I will reach out my hand to you. As you walk by, drop your troubles into the palm of my hand, okay? Don’t take your problems home to your families tonight—just leave ‘em with me. My route goes right by the Hudson River, and when I drive by there later, I’ll open the window and throw your troubles in the water. Sound good?”
It was as if a spell had lifted. Everyone burst out laughing. Faces gleamed with surprised delight. People who’d been pretending for the past hour not to notice each other’s existence were suddenly grinning at each other like, is this guy serious?
Oh, he was serious.
At the next stop—just as promised—the driver reached out his hand, palm up, and waited. One by one, all the exiting commuters placed their hand just above his and mimed the gesture of dropping something into his palm. Some people laughed as they did this, some teared up—but everyone did it. The driver repeated the same lovely ritual at the next stop, too. And the next. All the way to the river.
We live in a hard world, my friends. Sometimes it’s extra difficult to be a human being. Sometimes you have a bad day. Sometimes you have a bad day that lasts for several years. You struggle and fail. You lose jobs, money, friends, faith, and love. You witness horrible events unfolding in the news, and you become fearful and withdrawn. There are times when everything seems cloaked in darkness. You long for the light but don’t know where to find it.
But what if you are the light? What if you’re the very agent of illumination that a dark situation begs for?
That’s what this bus driver taught me—that anyone can be the light, at any moment. This guy wasn’t some big power player. He wasn’t a spiritual leader. He wasn’t some media-savvy “influencer.” He was a bus driver—one of society’s most invisible workers. But he possessed real power, and he used it beautifully for our benefit.
When life feels especially grim, or when I feel particularly powerless in the face of the world’s troubles, I think of this man and ask myself, What can I do, right now, to be the light? Of course, I can’t personally end all wars, or solve global warming, or transform vexing people into entirely different creatures. I definitely can’t control traffic. But I do have some influence on everyone I brush up against, even if we never speak or learn each other’s name. How we behave matters because within human society everything is contagious—sadness and anger, yes, but also patience and generosity. Which means we all have more influence than we realize.
No matter who you are, or where you are, or how mundane or tough your situation may seem, I believe you can illuminate your world. In fact, I believe this is the only way the world will ever be illuminated—one bright act of grace at a time, all the way to the river.“
This post legitimately knocked me out of a doomscroll. Had to put down my phone and everything and stare at a wall.
I really do regret my inaction the most. Every time. All of my future problems are always caused by things I failed to do in the present. And every time, I get so mad at past Me for not even trying because I’m so afraid to fail.
Like. Damn. Didn’t expect pixel art of some planets to hit me so hard.
Belated reaction to say *deep breath* SCREEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!!!
Thank you so much for drawing this!!! I love your poses and details, Ryuji and Ann up close and splayed wide, the lightning and clouds swamping the backgorund, and Sumire so small and so bright in the center, her coattails going CRAZY, and there's a certain someone's brown coat in the top of the screen, and I love that Haru's hat is separated from her head, and and and and--
God, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Sumire's Leap of Faith is a scene I love picturing visually, and I'm so happy you drew this!!! Thanks again and I'm so glad you enjoyed!!!!
“Does this fanfic writer have adequate enrichment to engage in writing behaviours?”
Fanfiction writers (Scriptor fictus) are intelligent animals who need plenty of enrichment as well as encouragement! If they’re stuck in poor conditions (e.g. have studies, work, have to actually write to have something written) then they require the proper enrichment to engage in more healthy behaviours, like writing. Remember, due to poor breeding and socialisation, over half of all fanfic writers suffer from low self confidence and executive dysfunction so take care of them!
Give your fanfic writers proper care. Fanfiction writers are a life long commitment.
"You're stealing the wine?" Barnaby snapped.
"This is good stuff! So long as we opened it, we should take it!" Kotetsu reasoned.
"It's too fragile, and cumbersome!"
"Cumbersome? You're stealing the sheets!"
Steal My Heart by @lostozian
It's a very fun fic, be sure to check it out and leave kudos!
This is a gift commission🎁courtesy of our super kind secret friend!!🕵️♀️💖 thanks as always!! 🙏🙏
Adoring and so appreciative to this secret commissioner friend!!! Steal My Heart is such a fun story that's still near and dear to my heart XD Happy Sunday!!!
one of my very favorite obscure story tropes is when there’s an episode/plotline/tabletop campaign session where the conceit is ‘each member of the gang gets trapped in a specially tailored dream/nightmare/illusory mindscape and has to break out’
my favorite addition to this trope is when the gang has to pass through everyone’s specially tailored nightmare scape and it’s just one gut punching trauma after the next that their friends help them through
