#my photoshop skills are terrible bye

[bastilleintheworld]

Glory video tomorrow

[komtrkru]

when we can’t sleep we fix season 6 it is our way

[dandelionflower]

(Some salt fic september)

Francois DuPont was an artistic school. With talented students varying from designers, to journalists, to DJs, to comic artists and writers. The art room of the school was always the busiest, the loudest, and the favorite room of the school.

So it would make sense for the school to have a yearly showcase. It was called a talent show once upon a time, but eventually the staff and students agreed that ‘talent show’ didn’t suit the talents the students were bringing to the table. Thus, the Francois DuPont showcase was born.

Students worked for months on their piece for the showcase. More than fifty percent of the works in the art room were pieces for the showcase.

It wasn’t mandatory by any means, but most students with a talent in the arts would participate. But with almost all the students participating and some having more than one piece to showcase, the show usually lasted a few days.

Lila, of course, didn’t know any of that so when asked if she was participating in the showcase in a few months, she grinned and said “Of course!”

Alya lit up. “Great! It’s going to be my first showcase too, and I want someone who knows what I’m going through. C’mon, we have to sign up.” And she dragged her into the halls.

Sign up? But it’s in three months. Lila shrugged and allowed herself to be pulled to the sign up sheets.

Alya immediately wrote her name underneath the ‘verbal’ column, putting a ‘journalism’ next to it.

Lila surveyed the options. The easiest thing to fake would probably be photography, so she marked her name under ‘media’ and wrote a ‘photography’ next to it.

“Ooh, photography? What do you take pictures of? Because I know Mari’s been looking for a partner to take pictures of her designs with her.”

Lila bit back a grimace. “Thanks, but I prefer to take pictures of...” Art? Buildings? “Nature. I find that taking pictures of people is narcissistic as a society.”

“Aren’t you a model?” A judgmental voice came from behind her.

“I- well-“ She stuttered.

“It’s completely different, Felix! Lila doesn’t think her photo shoots are art worthy, she’s just doing it as a job.” Alya snapped, throwing an arm out to almost shield Lila from the chill radiating from Felix’s entire person.

“Very well.” Felix stepped around the two and signed his name in perfect cursive beneath Lila’s name and walked away without another word.

“That guy gives me the creeps.” Alix remarked as she scratched her name under the ‘performance’ column, then the ‘piece of art that cannot be moved’ section.

“And he’s doing photography too! Don’t worry Lila, there’s no way he’s better than you.” Alya grabbed her arm reassuringly and began walking with her back to class.

“Yeah, right...” Lila held in a wince as she found her way back to her seat.

Surely photography can’t be that hard.

—

It was that hard.

Lila had waited one week before the showcase to start taking pictures on her phone. She walked to the park and snapped a few pictures, called it a day, and went home.

They were terrible. Blurry, ugly, terrible.

The next thing she tried was looking up stock images and photoshopping the watermark off.

She was awful at photoshop.

Finally, she resorted to her escape plan.

“Sorry, Alya. But I completely forgot that I’m volunteering at the elementary school all day on the day of the showcase, and I can’t just cancel on them. I’m so sorry.”

“Girl, it’s no problem! Marinette told me that the showcase is going to go on for four days. We’ll just reschedule your slot. It’s no problem at all.”

“Great.” She muttered through gritted teeth. “See you then.”

...crap.

She had only one plan now.

And it was risky.

—

Lila walked into class on Monday, prepared for her showcase.

She explained to Alya that when she explained what was going on to the leader of her organization, they gave her a rain check.

“I’m just so thankful.” She brushed away a tear. “I really wanted to make sure I could see everyone’s talents.”

“That’s so sweet!” Rose cooed. “I can’t wait to see your pictures either!”

“I just hope they correctly portray the beauty of my subject...” Lila pressed a hand to her chest in modesty.

“Students, I need all of the media students to come to the art classroom with your flash drives and cameras.” Miss Bustier put her phone down and smiled. “And anyone who paired with a media student for their talent please also join the students in the art room.”

Lila stood and gave everyone a hug. “Wish me luck!”

She noticed Sabrina stand as well and accept a half hearted hug from Chloe and a nod of support from Max. Juleka stood too and hugged Rose tight.

“Bye Alya! Wish me luck.” Marinette appeared from seemingly nowhere and hugged Alya tight. “And don’t be worried about your presentation. We’ll find some time to rehearse before tomorrow.”

“Thanks girl. Look after Lila for me? She’s just as new as I am.”

Marinette’s eyes darkened for just a second, but she quickly broke into a grin. “No problem. And don’t be worried, Lila. I’m sure your photos are just unimaginable.”

“Thanks Marinette. That’s just so sweet of you.” They linked arms and waltzed out of the room.

The moment they were out of eye shot of any of their classmates, they stepped aside.

“You don’t even have pictures, do you?” Marinette growled.

“What do you mean Marinette? Of course I have pictures.” She smirked. Or at least, I will in just a minute.

—

The art room was bustling and chaotic. Perfect for a camera or flash drive to go missing.

Marinette was bombarded by a group of kids from Felix’s class.

“Ready to see the product of our hard work?” A girl with two dark buns on the top of her head asked.

“I hope so.” She gave them a bashful smile.

Lila stopped paying attention. She had a goal in mind.

Her eyes landed on an expensive looking camera sitting on a desk at the side of the room. A sitting duck.

With a side glance for witnesses, Lila walked right by the camera and slipped the memory card right out and into her awaiting palm.

With her goal met, she sat primly in her chair, waiting for them to be called to the stage.

“Alright, photographers, models, actors, directors!” The art teacher stood. “Let’s go!”

Lila skipped up to him, a look of concern on her face. “Sir?”

“Yes Lila?”

“My camera broke on my way here and all I have left of it is my memory card; is there still a way for me to present my photos?”

“Of course there is. Don’t you worry a bit.”

“Perfect!” She grinned.

Once backstage, each student needed to give the teacher their SD cards or cameras and wait to be called onstage to describe their works to the audience.

Lila spared a quick glance towards the onlookers. Talent scouts of every kind were sitting in plush, reserved seats, notebooks and pens at the ready.

She was the first one up, the first one they would see and, unless she used all of her charisma and improvising skill, the first one they would forget.

“...and now, Lila Rossi with her photography!”

Lila strutted out to the greetings of applause.

“Hello, and let me just say I am so honored to be here today, especially considering that a year ago I wasn’t expected to be able to walk to school every day. Photography was really the only thing that got me through the day.”

A murmur of pity rippled through the crowd.

“Pictures like this one.” She pressed the clicker and a picture appeared on the screen behind her.

A picture of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, mid-twirl in a beautiful hand-made dress.

Lila heard Alya gasp.

“I wanted to show simultaneously the mundanity of walking and the undeniable splendor of it. My dear friend Marinette had some designs she was willing to model for me to help achieve my goal. Marinette, come on out!” She held a hand out, daring Marinette to come out from where she was waiting to go next along with her other friends.

Felix stood behind her with a look of horror and disgust on his face; and a particularly fancy camera hanging around his neck. A very familiar camera.

“No? Okay then.” She turned back to the crowd. “She’ll be out with a different group; Mari doesn’t want me to have to share the spotlight, isn’t she sweet?”

The crowd applauded and Lila continued making up technical terms and thought processes for each photo, all of which were of Marinette in different designs.

“Thank you.” She bowed deep before walking off the stage.

Now to hold her breath and hope that Marinette, Felix and all their friends were too chicken to call her out onstage.

—

“Now, with their short film; ‘solving love,’ please welcome Bridgette Cheng, Claude Lambert, Mercury Bernard, Allegra Harthorn, Felix Culpa, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Hey everybody!” A boy with brown hair and a blue striped shirt grabbed the mic and shouted. “How are we doing today?”

A scattered amount of applause.

“Nice! I’m Claude, and this is Bridgette.”

The girl with the buns waved.

“We were the main idea folks for this video; but the idea only came after the filming.”

Bridgette grabbed the mic. “We asked out friends if we could film them, and then a few weeks ago, we reviewed the film and noticed something... interesting.”

“Allegra here,” a girl with a long blonde braid waved, “did the music and Mercury,” a boy with dark glasses and a green beret, “did the narration. You’ll be seeing more of them soon. My cousin Mari,” Marinette waved, “and Felix are the main subjects of the film. You would have seen more of them, but for some reason Felix’s memory card went missing.”

Lila swallowed, this wasn’t great. The seeds of dissent were planted and now she had to risk either spinning another fake story or hoping that it all went well.

It’s not like they had any proof though; she should be fine.

“Anyway, here’s ‘Solving Love.’”

They all stepped to the side and the video began with a smooth piano.

“Love.” The screen showed couples going up to Andre’s and sharing ice cream. “The answer to everything. To ourselves, to the meaning of life, to the questions we cannot ask.”

“But how? How do we get from complete strangers, to people so close they are the same person?” The video changed to a showing of Marinette and Felix shaking hands, both with sardonic smirks. “People rarely get to see the entire process of when people fall in love; there are always pieces missing, hidden moments only for the people in question to recall. Love is left for the investigator to discover for themselves, when the time is right.”

“But maybe,” it showed Marinette talking animatedly, as Felix yawns beside her, “maybe one day, we’ll be lucky enough to see most of the picture.” Felix’s eyes droop and his head falls to rest atop Marinette’s, in the beginnings of a nap. Marinette flushes red.

The rest of the video shows the stages of Marinette and Felix’s relationship, from sarcastic rivals, to peers, to friends, to partners. The narrator described different relationships and how love is a constant through all of them.

The video showed Marinette dancing, twirling in a brilliant dress as Felix kneels and snaps pictures. “Ah, but is this all of it?” They lean down for a swift kiss. The image pauses there. “The full picture? Or is it only a snapshot,” the screen lights up white, “a minor clue, to solving love?”

The auditorium was quiet for what seemed like minutes. Then, the room burst into uproarious applause; a standing ovation.

Lila growled as she turned to sulk and maybe get her makeup so she could fake an injury and get some pity points to heal her bruised ego.

She ran face first into the grey suit of Mr. Damocles.

“Oh, hello sir.” She beamed. “Is there a problem?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Yes Miss Rossi, there is. Did you take those pictures of Miss Dupain-Cheng? Because that video tells a different story.”

“Yes sir, I swear it.”

“You swear it, huh? Well you best come with me to the office. Miss Dupain-Cheng and her friends will join us when they’re done.”

“What?”

“Miss Rossi, you are accused of stealing Mr Culpa and Miss Dupain-Cheng’s creative work. We will be calling your mother to discuss this.”

Back on stage the crowd of students and talent agents alike had taken to shouting questions to the group of students.

[starbudspresents]

DGM 227 - Panthaleia’s Translation Notes

Hello friends, long time no see! I know things have been very quiet on the Starbuds front these last few months, but we are definitely still here and in the game! I hope you've all been enjoying everyone else's translations of Gray Log, since I’ve been flaking on that so super hard. (Sorry. In my defence, I’ve been very busy and also had pneumonia.) >__>

On with the show!

You can read the chapter HERE on Mangadex, courtesy @krorys.

1.) HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THAT COVER

SO BEAUTIFUL, RIGHT

2.) Kanda being all annoyed that Johnny didn't summon him when he needed help is just so. Overwhelming. He's come so far! Can you imagine vol. 02 Kanda, Mr. "if you fuck up have fun dying I guess", being mad because someone didn't ask him for help? His character arc has been so damn satisfying. 

3.) Tiedoll's greeting in Japanese was "Yaa," which I had to struggle not to translate as "yo" or "sup." Cool as a cucumber, that guy.

4.) Allen suspecting Johnny and Kanda of still being loyal to the Order stung so much. This from the guy who's been willing to trust the literal enemy in the past. Seeing him reduced to suspecting Johnny, who is so obviously genuinely devoted to him (to the point of dropping his entire life to follow him), is so upsetting. :((

5.) That "culprit invocating this prison carriage" line is going to haunt me, oh my god. I know it doesn't sound like something anyone would ever say in English, I know, but it was honestly the best I could do. The original Japanese was this: 目の前にこの檻馬車を発動してる張本人がいるんです Me no mae ni kono oribasha wo hatsudoushiteru chouhonnin ga irun desu

Oribasha is an invented compound of "prison/gaol" and "carriage," chouhonnin means "perpetrator/ringleader/originator," and of course hatsudou is the word used throughout the series for the invocation of Innocence. I could not find a way to translate that less literally and still keep all the meaning, so I had to lean more literal than readable this time. Sigh.

6.) Yes, I realize that "kick his ass and bust out" is rather Red-like of Allen, despite the Mana-like tone of much of the rest of his lines in this chapter, but uh.

ぶっとばして逃げるに決ってるでしょ Buttobashite nigeru ni kimatteru desho

I didn't take all that many liberties with this one, tbh. It’s a very shounen line.

7.) Ohhhh nooooo, Krory. ;A; Chaozii won't mind fighting Allen at all, considering his opinion of our bleeding heart hero, but Krory obviously minds very much and I'm really worried that Allen won't manage to give them the slip and he'll have to fight against his friends in the Order directly. That would be excruciating, soooo Hoshino's probably drawing it as we speak.

8.) Kanda and Allen snarking at each other while trying to murder each other (but not murder Johnny) in a magic carriage driven by fairy godmother Tiedoll is pretty much everything I've ever wanted in my life. The end, bye.

9.) Allen saying hurtful things in order to push them away for their own safety is so painful but also so so lovely. He's too good for his own good, honestly. And then realizing what he’d done but miserably sticking to his guns. I could weep.

10.) Can I just point that Kanda has like half a dozen speech bubbles in a row that are just [GRITTED TEETH] followed by an insult and then a threat of violence. That pretty much sums up my boy's way with the world, doesn't it.

11.) Honestly, thank god Johnny's here. They'd never get anywhere without him to mediate between their high-strung, dysfunctional asses.

12.) The whole page with Tiedoll gently and teasingly encouraging Kanda to talk to someone like a human being is just beautiful. He's just like "hey I know you're super bad at this but it's a skill you're about to need a lot soooo do your best my son! I believe in u!" Best fairy godmother.

13.) Oh my god, the """"""salt."""""" I hadn't slept the night before and was literally so out of it when I got to this page that I didn't realize it wasn't actually salt until way later and it was awful. I actually thought at first that Johnny and Allen had misheard Tiedoll's shoikomu (to shoulder something, take it on, see something through) as shiokomu (shio = salt), and had a whole punny wordplay there regarding "betraying the salt," but blessed @togaochi gently steered me back to reality. After that we just made terrible salt jokes and now I need someone to photoshop Tiedoll's face onto Salt Bae because of reasons.

ETA: The splendiferous @krorys comes through again:

14.) I love how Kanda asks what the fuck Apocryphos is and then... answers his own question, lmao? He actually might know more than Allen at this point, I think?? At least until Allen recovers all his memories. So I have to wonder if Kanda only asked his questions to ease his way into telling Allen that Tim had ~returned to dust~ because he knew Allen would be really sad and wasn’t looking forward to it. 

15.) Relatedly, if Allen ends up crying on someone's shoulder in the next chapter I will Die.

16.) That last line of narration on the last page:

相棒の変わり果てた姿。。。 Aibou no kawarihateta sugata...

Togaochi saved my ass again here, because I initially translated this as if it were something homophonous with it but with one different kanji:

相棒の代わり果てた姿。。。 Aibou no kawari hateta sugata...

Which would have meant "The form of that which met its end in its partner's place." 

Kawarihateta as a compound verb, however, means "to have changed form completely," as in "to have become unrecognizable." Which actually is not as firm about Tim being permadead as I thought it was at first. There's still some hope! Some!!

—

In summary, this chapter was a gift from on high and I loved working on it. I love working on this series more and more every time a new one comes out, honestly. I'm so grateful to the rest of Starbuds for making this possible. I love you guys, and I'm looking forward to our future endeavours so much. ♥ @panthaleia out~

[trustcop]

Look at those basic Photoshop skills. Very impressive.  Anyway! I just to wish everyone a Happy New Year and to do something a little special for this blog. When I started this 2.5 months ago, I wasn’t sure where this was all going to go. I had a select handful of friends who followed me from other fandoms who wanted to interact, but for the most part? I was treading waters of an unknown fandom. Were they exclusive? Were they mean? Was I doomed to be on the outside looking in?  The answer was “no” to all of that. Even when I disappeared after a week of making this blog and didn’t come back for about a month (icb I’ve only been active on this damn blog for 1.5 I am terrible), people welcomed me back with open arms! It was amazing and I don’t know where I would be without all the love and support I have here. I want to thank everyone for making this blog everything it has become and then some.  For New Year’s, I am doing something a little bit special (ish). I am going to pick 9 memorable things that happened on this blog and 9 people to spread my love to, equaling out to 18! But before I do that, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for being the kind off place I want to be apart of. May we continue to strive towards greatness. I love all of you so much!

Memorable Moments

1. The Great Ted Wheeler Debacle: Let us never forget that someone didn’t find Jim Hopper AS attractive as Zodiac Killer Ted Wheeler.  2. The Great “She Touched The Mike” meme: This meme really put me on the map, my dudes. It has about 900 notes and it popped up on my goddamn PERSONAL blog. It was a mess. But it gained me a lot of followers. Sorry I never made anything as great as that again.  3. The Great Crack Threads: All crack threads are great, but we’ve had some doozies here on this blog. Special shout out to @storytellerwheeler​, @353iheard​, @jcnehcpper​, and @thessitrukona​ for being major instigators.  4. The Great Jopper Christmas Kiss: Nothing is better than a mistletoe kiss to someone you have been pining over for years. Special shout out to @shcstough​! 5. The ‘Ultimate Squad’ Shenanigans: I love my squad to death, but this isn’t about us right now (we pretty much are the Crack Thread Squad). Nah, I’m talking about the amazing, quality memes coming from @trustbitchin​, @dusthn​, @zombcy​, @patientboy​, and @partylead​. Y’all are some of the funniest, nicest people here and I enjoy reading about your shenanigans. Bless.  6. The Great Hopper and Hopper Bullshit: Aka anytime @notlikepapa​ and I decide to comment on each others headcanons. Lucy, you know I love you to the ends of the earth, but your headcanons kill me. Stop it, Satan.  7. The Great Positivity Wave: Honestly, this is one of the nicest fandoms I have been apart of! Shout out to @wheelerwinemom​ for arranging Secret Santa (I loved doing that!) and @hawkinspositivity​ for their amazing blog! Keep all these good vibes coming!! 8. The Great OC Acceptance: Almost every fandom I have been in has this terrible stigma concerning OCs which always sucked because people who don’t feel wanted end up deleting their blog despite how well thought out they are or how magical the writing is. I have witnessed a HUGE amount of people interacting and coming to love OCs here. Truly, it makes my heart so happy! Special shout out to some of my babies: @childzerozeronine​, @soulstcne​, @traitorjock​,  @falselysecured​, @offorgottenmemories​, omg there are so many of you I love.  9. The Great Dad Squad: Huge props to all the Jim’s in this world. You know, loving people, kicking ass, that kind of thing. To my dads @coffeeacontemplation​, @doitfcrthevines​, @nosycop​, @blackholehopper​, @hawkinsdad​, and @burlydcd​. I adore every single one of you and will always be your biggest fan. 

People Love (Note: I am picking people I don’t always show appreciation for but who definitely are people I ADORE)

1. @hawkinstoothless: BABE. I freakin’ adore our thread and you are so very sweet! I hope your New Year is just a blast.  2. @destroysworlds: You are a hoot in your OOC posts and your writing is so so beautiful! May your new year just be a ball! 3. @intovoid: I don’t know what else to say except that you’re blog is awesome and I stalk you from a distance oK BYE AND HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR 4. @essmusings: You are just so nice and I always see you just doing ya thing. Mad respect. Hopefully your new year is magical and know you are the best! 5. @hawkinsdoc: I have a secret boner for this blog. I want to just say that I love reading your threads and that I hope you have a blessed new year! 6. @guiltdad: First of all? Amazing blog. Second of all? You are a peach. May your new year be everything you dreamed of and more.  7. @eggosxdemogorgons: AAAHHH!! I loved talking with you and I cannot wait for shenanigans. Your whole blog is a work of art and you deserve all the finest things in the world. Have a super amazing New Year! 8. @dartmouthed: Oh, boo, how I have watched you from a distance and waved my little flag because you are simply an astounding blog. May all your hopes and dreams come true.  9. @pleadedguilty: Though we only talked briefly (so far) I just want to say that I am really excited for the things we will come up with and I am so so excited to write with you! Have a splendid New Year!!

18 Honorable Mentions (those who aren’t listed above but are super important even if that means I am stalking them/cheering for them):

@pastichemuses (duh!), @thickcrskiin, @jcnehcppcr, @turnedbitch, @xenawarricrprincess, @hawkinsfreak, @bluecroquet, @teenhrror, @uneaser, @notimminent, @itsxxxbullshit, @cateaten, @snckeshed, @heartwandered, @frcgfce, @wasliedto, @itisagift, and @mcmjokes. 

[bastilleintheworld]

Bastille Christmas Decorations -Starter pack