fellow-traveller

[fellow-traveller]

I have a wishful thought that Hol and J. Geil are the same person. Something like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Something like Doppio and Diavolo.

It's not too far off considering that Emperor and Hanged Man tarot cards are considered polar opposite of each other. Similarly, Hol's traits are all the opposite of J.Geil's, from attitude towards women to appearances, as well as their Stands' powers - Emperor doesn't require light (i.e. for Hol to see) to move the bullets with no limits to speed and distance, while Hanged Man requires light reflected to move around and limited to mirror surfaces.

That thought is long. I'm not in the right environment to elaborate it fully, but you get my point. It's not logical, of course, but it's interesting for Hol to have an alter ego that he couldn't control (again, a play in the Tarot cards). It also kinda explains in a silly way why Hol was no longer the serious, murderous man he was from his first appearance after J. Geil died.

On the cool part, if Hol and J. Geil are one and the same, then Hanged Man would have been a part of Hol's original Stand. Like his actual Stand could have been a humanoid, probably something with a power on speed and weaponry, but the personality separation gave one with a knife and another with a gun.

On the angst part, imagine Hol trying to make amends with Polnareff for Sherry, since it wasn't really Hol who murdered her but his alter ego J.Geil, but kinda technically was still him. Oh, the extra drama.

Anyway, please ignore this. It's not a JoJo meta or anything. Just a random thought on a quiet night.

#please ignore #personal #musings #hol horse #jjba #not sure if i should rewrite this into a better essay #we'll see we'll see

[fellow-traveller]

Trying to find what else I haven't shared here...

And I think I haven't posted this one?

For Pocky Day last year (Nov 11).

#hol horse #jean pierre polnareff #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #my fanart #holpol #polhol #gunbladeship #i love a straight-to-the-point polpol with an awkward hol #it's a shippy trope i like to replay in my head once in a while

[fellow-traveller]

So I just bought the latest JoJo magazine. Haven't read it thoroughly yet but there's a lot of stuff on Part 3-6 which is kinda cool. But I'm kinda reminded from the book that Polnareff was born in 1964. Should he be alive in 2024, he'd be 60 years old.

But it makes me wonder how old Hol Horse actually is.

He never had an official birth year, like the main characters in SDC, so we can only assume by his background, which, unfortunately, we don't have that either.

(whatever past this point is just what I got from a few hours of reading, so apologies dear curators of history and translators of CDDH if they are not accurate...)

While I haven't finished the Crazy Heartbreakers novel yet, I'm just gonna use that as the basis for Hol Horse's background, canon or not. So we go with the fan translation that Hol Horse originated from an "Eastern European country that had ceased to exist in 1999". Meaning, he was most likely born in Czechslovakia, Yugoslavia or East Germany of the Eastern Bloc, between 1950-1970.

What's interesting about these three no-longer-existed nations is that they were famous for Osterns i.e. Eastern European Western cowboy films. Osterns that were exact replicas of Spaghetti Westerns most likely started with Yugoslavia's Winnetou (1963), and Czechslovakia's Lemonade Joe (1964). Additionally, two famous non-Soviet cowboy films that were allowed screening in the Eastern Bloc were Magnificient Seven (1960) and Gold (1969). I'm omitting East Germany cowboy films at this point since most of them tell the Western stories from the Red Indian's perspective.

So it's safe to say that Hol Horse, who stole time to watch a cowboy film in the cinema that inspired his cowboy persona, must have been a child between 1960 and 1969. Assuming that movies at that time had no age ratings, and that age 4 is the average minimum for one to be allowed to enter a cinema, Hol Horse could have been born anytime between 1956 and 1965.

Taking the samples of the famous Osterns and Westerns listed that tell a tale of a skilled gunslinger in a typical spaghetti cowboy setting who became an unexpected hero and saved the fair maiden by the end of the film, only one truly stood out: Lemonade Joe.

Lemonade Joe is a satirical cowboy film that tells the story of a lone cowboy and skilled gunslinger named Lemonade Joe, who loves a non-alcoholic soda called Kolaloka (sounds almost like Locacaca, doesn't it?). Using his gunfighting skills, he convinced a town to embrace the soda and stop consuming alcohol, while also courting the daughter of a missionary.

What I found most interesting is that another name for this film is "The Horse Opera."

Now, I don't know if Araki or Kadono (the writer of CDDH) ever found inspiration from this film. This is purely on the assumption that our beloved Hol is just a goofy yet capable cowboy that suits the satire genre so well.

So! Assuming that this was probably one of the many films that inspired our Hol to be the cowboy he was meant to be (and also inspired his Stand), since Lemonade Joe was screened in 1964, we can then assume that Hol most likely was born in 1960. Which makes him the same age as Avdol. And also makes him at the ripe age of 39 during the CDDH's run.

He's definitely old. But still the best cowboy in JoJo ♥

#jjba #meta i guess #hol horse #musings #i wished there's more to hol horse so i don't have to get myself a lesson on soviet cowboy films with names i couldn't pronounce

[fellow-traveller]

Once upon a time, some 15 years ago, I used to draw furries. I probably lacked that skill now.

Anyway, this was for Cat Day (Feb 22). Not sure if kemomimi (left) or furry/beastman (right) suits them better.

>^._.^<

#hol horse #jean pierre polnareff #holpol #polhol #gunbladeship #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #my fanart #furry #kemomimi #beastman #should draw this more it was fun #I actually wanted to draw them as dragons since it's the year of the dragon #but idk how to dragon #hol cat and jean pierre purrnareff lmao

[fellow-traveller]

I missed this trio ;-;

#hol horse #josuke higashikata #ryoko kakyoin #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #crazy diamond's demonic heartbreak #cddh #my fanart #i like this style...might do more of this #there should be more adventures of with this three in it #fighting vampires in the cult of kars in south america #maybe learn hamon as well idk

[fellow-traveller]

I think I should give an update on this gacha game...

I definitely got Hol Horse. And he's my highest-level character, followed by Polnareff (S) and Mariah (S). Most of the characters are only up to Part 4. The game only added Part 5 characters recently so I'm hoping more from it (like Wheelchaired PolPol maybe). I have almost every character except Bug-Eaten, Pesci and Giorno.

The game is alright. If you're not used to gacha games, it might bore you after a while because of how repetitive it is. Since I try to be a perfectionist in every game I play, I tend to only stop playing gacha games after I get everything.

I love this Rubber Soul art tho. Best one in the game thus far.

But I'm more perplexed by Midler? I think one of the SEA countries questioned her skimpy outfit so they changed it into this. But it's less orientalism and I think that's kinda unique in its own right. Reminds me of X-Men's Mystique.

Anyway, there's a new official JoJo mobile game coming out in 2025 which is said to be available globally, so that one's probably much better than Stand Legends.

It's been a week since I played the Stand Legends (most possibly bootlegged) gacha mobile game. In case you're not aware, there's a region-locked JoJo game launched last week. It's a basic gacha game where you collect characters, upgrade them and climb the level through platform fights.

Right now I'm at level 38, and the top of my roster is obviously Hol Horse. I'm maxing him out as best as I could. I just rolled a Polnareff too so I'm maxing him out soon.

So, my opinion on the game?

It's an okay gacha game. It's almost like the Bleach gacha game, but Bleach required quite a handful of real money since almost everyone in every server are whales. It's not as hard as those zombie games on mobile, and it doesn't quite require a multiplayer/co-op mission for one to enjoy it. If one can enjoy gacha games (they tend to be repetitive).

So far, Stand Legends doesn't force you to pay real money to actually play it. Unless I want S-Tier characters like Jotaro, Kars, young Joseph and N'doul, or if I want to level up faster, then I have to fork up $15 to $50, at least. But I don't. I'm just in the game for Hol Horse. (I think I only spent $1 so far for Kosaku...he was on sale, apparently)

And I have to admit Hol Horse's animated sprite is really cool. Especially when he shoots Emperor like hooooo boy...the poses he made <3

So yeah. The closest JoJo mobile game I ever played. So far so good.

#jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #stand legends #gacha game #musings #personal #I wished the game had Steely Dan and the D'Arby brothers...they are the only significant Part 3 minor villains absent from the roster #the game had Nukesaku fgs...

[fellow-traveller]

1 DAY 1 HOL (HORSE) - DECEMBER: FINAL SET!

Last of the 1 Day 1 Hol! 365 doodles of Hol Horse, the most drawings I ever did for a challenge!

Theme was Christmas and the usual colours that came with it. Also a solidarity if you looked hard enough.

Thank you for sticking around and being very patient with me on these doodles :D ♥ Keep loving the cowboy!

#hol horse #jean pierre polnareff #mohammed avdol #boingo #dio brando #devo #rubber soul #steely dan #iggy #joseph joestar #jotaro kujo #noriaki kakyoin #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #jjba fanart #my fanart #holpol #1 day 1 hol #finished this late too actually but again better late than never #on to the next challenge!

[fellow-traveller]

1 DAY 1 HOL (HORSE) - NOVEMBER EDITION ♥

More Smol Horses :D There's no particular theme this month, but it's the first time that I added Devo, Midler and Mariah. Also, CDDH Hol should interact more with Part 4 characters...he should be in Part 4 ;-;

December next. It has a theme!

#hol horse #jean pierre polnareff #boingo #jotaro kujo #midler #mariah #devo #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #jjba fanart #my fanart #holpol #jotahol #1 day 1 hol

[fellow-traveller]

1 DAY 1 HOL (HORSE) - INKTOBER 2023 EDITION ♥

Finally came around to post this. It's 4 months late, but better late than never!

I decided to use the Inktober prompts for this. I had never joined the Inktober challenge before so this was a first! I know Inktober was more about drawing on paper with a pen, but I felt like the prompts were too interesting not to try for this challenge.

More to come!

Also, the prompts, for reference:

#hol horse #jean pierre polnareff #boingo #ryoko kakyoin #giorno giovanna #dio brando #n'doul #vittorio cataldi #petshop #diavolo #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #jjba fanart #my fanart #1 day 1 hol #holpol #the last doodle was from a gacha game that i have no access to ;-; #hol has the best poses in games

[fellow-traveller]

This is gonna be long, so if you don't have the time to read it, it's cool, I'll summarise it like this:

I think I'm back. Kinda. Expect some blasts of Hol Horse fanart that I missed sharing here since November 2023 (if you followed my Twitter/X, you might have seen them)

Okay, I know excuses can be bad but here's mine to kinda justify my absence.

I admit that I had been feeling depressed with what's happening in P@lest1ne for the past 6 months, because I had never seen it happening in real time, in videos and interviews. 20+ years ago, anything about them came in the form of stories from actual P@lest1nians whom I had the privilege to meet during my volunteer work in school, and newspaper articles from local publishers. Our local broadcasters still chant FTRTTS whenever they talk about them. But the real-time atrocities and the aftermath really got me hard. I'm not one to shy away from real-life gore - true crime is my go-to documentary whenever I'm relaxing - but what's happening there - the injustice, the brutality, the depravity - can be too much for me to bear.

I'm not saying I'm used to it by now...I still hear my heart break with every dead and hungry child I see on my screen, but at the same time, I feel a bit more hopeful. Mainly because I believe in the P@lest1nians' faith and resilience, and I believe in mine.

Apart from world events, on a personal level, my company moved to a new building in December, about an extra 30 minutes drive away from my home, so I was almost on a blackout from online stuff back then. Didn't even touch the 1 Day 1 Hol Horse challenge (but thankfully they are done now...will share them later). The move-out was done around the end of January 2024, and then I got busy again with work in February. Work had been very hectic because everything had been disorganised since the move. Even now, we don't really have internet in the new building and had to use our phone data for that.

Wanted to get back last month, but delayed it until today because my cat was sick with cancer. My cat, little Vee, whom I had for 12 years, just passed 2 days ago, 1 day before my birthday ;-;

Anyway, all that said, I think I'm ready to be back now on tumblr. I know I missed a lot of drawings that I kinda promised myself to finish (like the Halloween Hol), and also posting the 1 Day 1 Hol Horse doodles. I missed other people's Hol Horse and HolPol fanart as well. I also have a few thoughts I wanted to share of our favourite JoJo cowboy too...

So in the next few hours, I'll be doing just that. I apologise for the massive spam that's about to come beforehand. Just note that if you cannot wait for the fanart blast, you're welcomed to dig for them on my Twitter/X.

On current notes, I'm in the middle of doing The Emperor Month Challenge. Basically, Hol Horse with the other Part 3 characters. I missed 2 days now, but I'll be catching up. This will be on until the end of this month.

For now, I won't be doing requests/art trades because I wanna start drawing for my JoJo OCs. I have been neglecting them for months.

Hopefully the depression will simmer down. The world is a mess, and I'm trying to soldier on.

Oh, and to my Muslim followers, Happy Eid-ul-Fitr. ♥

#personal #update #i miss you guys #the love for the entire equine must go on

[fellow-traveller]

Sorry for the seemingly long absence. Or I felt it was long. Just a little update, I guess.

(this is heavily on the genocide so under the cut)

I'm not exactly doing okay mentally. Since reading about the recent genocide in G@za, I've been rather mentally and emotionally drained. I don't know how many Z10nism sympathisers I had to correct for their blatant uneducated view of what's happening. It's like, their brains are just turned off from very basic common sense and their eyes are blinded even if proofs are everywhere.

I'm a history-phile and P@lest1ne has been a thing that I understood and known since I was still in high school. The atrocities of Z10nists had been going on since then, and even years before. It's not something new. And contrary to popular belief, it's not a religious war. It's really just a genocide. An ethnic cleansing, if you will. Similar to what happened in Bosnia in 1995. Armenia in 1915. East and SE Asia in the 1940s. And of course, who wouldn't forget the Holocaust of WWII?

And to see it escalating on top of what has already been done every day to these people is just...infuriating and frustrating.

It's even more so when you see uneducated people who just don't want to learn trying to proudly justify obvious apartheid. Arrogance is the god in their soulless heart now, I suppose.

At this point, I'm trying to keep my faith up just like they do. They're strong people, these P@lest1nians. I know for real the children who succumbed, God willing, are in a better place now where they can play peacefully and eat whatever their little heart wishes.

I have no doubt humanity will win. We just need to weed out the stupid and teach the truth. There are just too many lies to be content with.

I know I might not bring much change by just stating my support for all P@lest1nians, but it's the least I can do.

...

Right.

That said, I know this shouldn't justify my silence here and most of my social media. I just don't feel like talking much. I'm still trying to have my presence around through the 1 Day 1 Hol challenge. That too had been delayed sometimes, but I'm doing my best.

Also, sorry I can't draw the Halloween Hol on time. I'm still working on it.

On a positive note, I'm gonna cosplay Josuke Higashikata for a company event this month. The theme is "Movie Characters" but nah, I'm doing JoJo.

#i'm doing better i promise #personal #musings #also if you unfollow me after reading this post i understand thanks for stopping by

[fellow-traveller]

If I were to create a specific alternative JoJo universe, I’ll have Dio Brando, Hol Horse and Yoshikage Kira be college roommates.  

Dio would be that loud, annoying and flamboyant blorbo in campus who had an unknown grudge on Jonathan. Hol is the floater who just attends all the classes without really studying but still scored in his exams. And Kira, the quiet, creepy student that was rumoured to join an occult but he really was just a normal student trying to live a normal life. 

Basically three men in one house kinda story. I don’t know how to expand this au beyond this, except that Hol is dating Polnareff, the well-rounded student who just couldn’t wrap his head around on how Hol always got ahead of him in exams. 

#this au is based on the fact that dio is no1 hol is no2 and kira is no3 #i call them the podium boys #jojo au #jjba #hol horse #dio brando #yoshikage kira #feel free to expand this if you want

[fellow-traveller]

Why did I just imagine Hol Horse playing the role of Fujiko Mine to the Crusaders

He shows up randomly and allies himself with them when there's trouble and then disappears at the end of the episode

but not without stealing something first

I often see Hol Horse as Jigen, tho. Because gun. But in the context you mentioned, it makes sense that Hol is Fujiko to the Crusaders. I wished that were the case in SDC. Hol's there for the convenience of the plot, then he'll walk (or run) away. Hol would be cooler like that than he already is, fitting for his lone ranger persona.

Anyway, while this isn't how it is, but when you mentioned Fujiko...well...

Thank you for putting the images below in my head over the weekend, Anon :'D

#i'd say he steals the crusaders hearts ;D ♥ #if not their money #hol horse #holpol #jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #lupin the third crossover i guess... #jean pierre polnareff #jotaro kujo #my fanart #tw: suggestive

[fellow-traveller]

There's a minor debate in the JoJo fandom about Part 3 having fillers. I'm just...;;-;;

Consider this a mini attempt to help the new gen of JoJo fans understand something about JoJo. Might be kinda long, so...under the cut :)

JoJo is probably one of the anime that has no fillers. JoJo manga's runtime from Part 1 to 6 is from 1987 to 2003 pretty much gets faithful adapted into the 2013 anime. They have minor changes and additions to it from the manga, but not enough to be calling them fillers. Even the OVA, it still holds the storyline without straying away from the source material.

But somehow, a few fans, minor up to the age of 25, misunderstood what a filler in anime is. They sort of assumed that filler means boring plots or side stories that are not important to the main plot.

I'm sorry but, no.

Fillers are story arcs/major events in an official anime that do not exist in its original source material i.e. the manga or novel. Filler was used (and still is) to "fill up" the time between the production of the manga and the anime that is supposed to refer from said manga. As not to have the anime catch up with the manga, fillers are made.

Best examples of anime notorious for fillers are Naruto and One Piece. They had story arcs, 2-3 episodes (or more) long, and definitely doesn't add much to the actual story in the manga. Newest addition would most likely be MHA, but that's more of padding (adding extra elements/scenes to existing story) than an actual filler.

I get wanting to label an episode in JoJo as uninteresting, but filler is not the correct word to use. If it's boring to you, then it's just that - boring.

Plus, I'm not sure how other JoJo fans perceived JoJo's story arcs and how they were constructed in terms of art and pace. If one notices, Araki has the habit of showing a dramatic scene or a battle in slow motion. Unlike other battle shounen anime/manga, every movement, every punch, every kick, is fast paced. But JoJo is drawn in such a way to show the actions in slowed time.

As such, it's best to keep that in mind when one feels like the battles are drawn or the story prolonged. The pace is normal, but Araki drew them to depict slow motion.

I'm obviously biased with Part 3 since it's my favourite part, but if you want it to be less boring for you, maybe instead of concentrating on the story pace and the "villain of the week" framework, try looking it in a different angle.

Like, why tarot cards? Why the association to colours for their Stands? Why the certain designs of the characters/Stands? Why the small changes from manga to anime? Or manga to OVA to anime? Tbh, there are so many things one can dig just by the cards alone, which can make your experience with Part 3 more enjoyable.

#honestly i want to see more meta of everyone's favourite part 3 characters' tarot cards #i get if part 1 was boring but part 3 tho #hol horse is there how can it be boring #/lh #musings #personal #jjba #honestly fans not knowing what a filler means is just...baffling to little old me

[fellow-traveller]

I love how all the great holpol fanart I encountered are all so filled with floof and silliness and wholesome stuff.

And I'm here just...smutty holpol.

#nah but hellbread did it better #my smuts are either unfinished or too common #i take too much time to draw smut...too many prying eyes irl #musings #personal #not important

[fellow-traveller]

As promised, previous poll said classic horror as the theme for Hol's Halloween, so...choose away.

#hol horse #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #open poll #art request poll #idk what else constitutes as classic horror #trying my best not to put in Eldritch monsters because that level of horror is not for everyone

[fellow-traveller]

Just a simple holpol thought.

Hol Horse using Oingo's Khnum to practise confessing his love for Polnareff with poem recitals or serenades. But when the time came and before Hol can put his practices to the test, Polnareff already read his intentions and kinda spoiled the moment for them both.

Bonus if Boingo knew what would happened through Thoth but chose not to tell Hol. Just because.

#hol horse #jean pierre polnareff #holpol #jjba #musings #ps i'm stressing out atm bc my boss suddenly asked for my report on a sunday