31.12.2023

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I WASHED MY HANDS OF US,
AT THE CLUB

literally washed my hands of graphic designing in mid-December- like- the WORST graphic block ever...

THAT TOO AMID A GRAPHIC WAR?!

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YOU MADE A MESS OF ME

Graphic Type: Poster [ 2:3 ]

Title: Donum de Mari

Subtitle: Forged in the Fire of Salire

Genre: Fantasy

Weapon Fusion: Trident + Spear

Magic Binder: The Diamond Of Adamas

Style: Object-Based + Typography

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CATASTROPHIC BLUES

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MOVIN' ON WAS ALWAYS
EASY FOR ME TO DO

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IT HITS DIFFERENT, 'CAUSE IT'S YOU

(me & my mythological references never stop-)

» Scylla : A water nymph cursed to become a sea monster.
[ see "neverland: quest 02" chapter for more info ]

» Poseidon : The Greek Sea God, who controlled the sea and oceans with his gold trident.

» Glaucus : A herald of Poseidon who was formerly in love with Scylla.

» Adamas : In Greek mythology, Cronos had trapped the spirit of Adamas into a diamond- which can make one, unconquerable and invincible.

» Donum de Mari : Latin for "A Gift of the Sea".

» Salire : The city of fire where the weapon was made
[ an excerpt from Xero's storyline ]

» Silver Trident : When silver is examined for purity, it is tested 7 times in fire.
"The fire seven times tried this"
— William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

» Inspired by the covers of "Cruel Prince" by Holly Black and "From the Mouths of Sirens" by Abigail Hair.

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CURSED THE SPACE THAT I NEEDED

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I TRACE THE EVIDENCE

✦ After freeing Scylla from her curse using the Magical Pearl and restoring her beauty, in return she gifts me Poseidon's Trident for she hopes I can use it for the greater good and restore peace to Neverland.

✦ When the sea was plagued by monstrous sea creatures, Poseidon feared that if any of the monsters caught hold of his trident, then the chaos would only intensify so he handed it over to his herald, Glaucus for safe-keeping. However, when some of the sea creatures started coming after Glaucus, he had to flee. So he handed it over to Scylla, one of the most powerful sea monsters, 'cause she was the only one he could trust.

✦ When the trident is handed to me, it's covered in moss and alga and even rust is accumulated in a few places. So at Salire, I gently request the ever so short-tempered blacksmiths to help me in refining the Trident and merging it with a spear at its tail, so I can use both ends when I have to face the monsters and curses at the heart of Neverland. However, they informed me that they'd have to replace a few layers of the metal because of the rust, so I chose Silver as it can stand the test of fire.

✦ The only thing left was a gem that could help me connect my powers of wind and water to the weapon. So I send my familiars (doves as mentioned in Quest 01) to search for magical gems in and around Salire. The doves were extremely sensitive to magic so it took them only a few days to bring me one of the most unique and powerful gems that have ever existed- The Diamond of Adamas, which they found hidden in a cave on the outskirts of Salire.

✦ Once, the Blacksmiths were able to forge my desired weapon, I knew I had to choose a name for it, so I chose: Donum de Mari- as it was indeed "A Gift of the Sea".

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MAKE IT MAKE SOME SENSE

✦ I chose the theme of blue and silver as they are the best-suited colours to communicate feelings of calmness and tranquillity (my chosen character trait).

✦ I added mermaid silhouettes on the border to further convey the message of the title. The swirls represent water and wind, my chosen elemental powers as I've used them both in the making of this design.

✦ I also represented my familiars, doves through their silhouettes 'cause without them, I wouldn't have been able to find the Diamond of Adamas.

✦ My subtitle in the first quest was "As calm as the sea in the face of adversity", which is why I chose Silver as the main material of my weapon, 'cause it can stand the test of fire (my adversity). It was inspired by Shakespeare's quote from MOV.

✦ I edited the text to look metallic and added sparks in the design to convey the fantasy theme.

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I CAN STILL MELT YOUR WORLD

✦ Total time taken: 14 hours (4 hours in making a weapon base I didn't even put in the graphic...)
Here's the actual weapon I drew to start with ↓

✦ I have 5 different copies of the same poster in different styles (apart from the main ones) like Blend, Manip and what not 😭❓ [ this clownery continued for the 1st 2 weeks ]

✦ My original idea was to draw a weapon (as I've never merged metal objects together and I knew I had to merge a few different designs to make it look unique...?) and add flames or magical lights around it + the text + bevel it and be done with it- but NO- that's when I hit the dead end 'cause I was unable to edit the flames part properly so I just put it in the trash and started all over again 💀

✦ If I narrate all the incidents of my epic clownery in this quest, this chapter will go on forever so let's skip to the good part when I regained my lost senses and decided on this kind of design-

✦ It was the 31st of December 2023, in the morning when this design idea dawned on me (literally the deadline day) and even though I had already made a design (I'm not even going to show it 'cause it's so embarrassing-) I decided to try this idea at least. If I wouldn't be able to finish then I'll just submit the design I had already made.

✦ Canva, literally saved me with the border and mermaid silhouette (I already had the swirls in my gallery), so I went forward with my idea. And managed to complete the design before dinner. (only because I was allowed to take a break in the evening cuz of New Year's Eve + my father bought me this phone stand that I could use and it reduced the pressure on my eyes and hands considerably)

✦ Honestly speaking, I was about to quit the war because I wasn't in the mood to submit a design I was not satisfied with but on Saturday, our Botany sir said something which made me change my mind: No matter what happens, never quit, otherwise it becomes a habit. Obviously, it was related to studies but it goes the same for all sorts of stuff we want to achieve. Which is why I finally submitted a design I made in a day, despite clowning for 2 weeks 🤡

✦  And, I also went Carolus Linnaeus on the Title because I wanted a fancy unique name for my weapon ✨

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ARGUMENTATIVE, ANTITHETICAL DREAM GIRL

so, i'm still in the red zone and i'm hoping not to get eliminated- fingers crossed 🤞✨

by the time this chapter comes out, the results will be declared so, dear future self, pls add the results in this note: p.s. the judging period was extended...

p.s. i was eliminated, but it was for the best <3

that's all for now!