#Best Design African Clothes

[reasonsforhope]

"South Carolina is preparing to put up its first individual statue for an African American on its Statehouse lawn, honoring a man who put on Confederate clothes in order to steal a slaveholder’s ship and sail his family and a dozen others to freedom during the Civil War.

But Robert Smalls isn’t just being honored for his audacious escape. He spent a decade in the US House, helped rewrite South Carolina’s constitution to allow Black men equality after the Civil War and then put up a valiant but doomed fight when racists returned to power and eliminated nearly all of the gains Smalls fought for.

State Rep. Jermaine Johnson can’t wait to bring his children to the Statehouse to finally see someone who is Black like them being honored.

“The man has done so many great things, it’s just a travesty he has not been honored until now. Heck, it’s also a travesty there isn’t some big Hollywood movie out there about his life,” said Johnson, a Democrat from a district just a few miles from the Statehouse.

The idea for a statue to Smalls has been percolating for years. But there was always quiet opposition preventing a bill from getting a hearing. That changed in 2024 as the proposal made it unanimously through the state House and Senate on the back of Republican Rep. Brandon Cox of Goose Creek.

“South Carolina is a great state. We’ve got a lot of history, good and bad. This is our good history,” Cox said.

What will the Robert Smalls memorial look like?

The bill created a special committee that has until January 15 to come up with a design, a location on the Statehouse lawn and the money to pay for whatever memorial they choose.

But supporters face a challenging question: What best honors Smalls?

If it’s just one statue, is it best to honor the steel-nerved ship pilot who waited for all the white crew to leave, then mimicked hand signals and whistle toots to get through Confederate checkpoints, while hoping Confederate soldiers didn’t notice a Black man under the hat in the pale moonlight in May 1862?

Or would a more fitting tribute to Smalls be to recognize the statesman who served in the South Carolina House and Senate and the US House after the Civil War? Smalls bought his master’s house in Beaufort in part with money made for turning the Confederate ship over to Union forces, then allowed the man’s penniless wife to live there when she was widowed.

Or is the elder Smalls who fought for education for all and to keep the gains African Americans made during the Civil War the man most worth publicly memorializing? Smalls would see a new constitution in 1895 wipe out African Americans’ right to vote. He was fired from his federal customs collector job in 1913 when then President Woodrow Wilson purged a large number of Black men out of government jobs.

Or would it be best to combine them all in some way? That’s how Republican Rep. Chip Campsen, an occasional ship pilot himself, sees honoring one of his favorite South Carolinians.

“The best way to sum up Robert Smalls’ life is it was a fight for freedom as a slave, as a pilot and as a statesman,” Campsen said."

-via AP, Octtober 23, 2024

[shiny-jr]

I know you probably don't want to talk about this anymore, but I'm still really curious. Genshin Natlan characters have been revealed, and I want to know your opinion

Taking a long sigh. The fact that you seem hesitant to ask this means you probably have an idea of what my response would be like. Just so I don't have to end up making multiple posts about this topic, I'm gonna try to include everything here. If I forget something and someone asks later, I might be willing to address it.

So, heads up. This is a long rant. Shiny rants. Disclaimer, I am Mexican-American, so I believe I have some say on some of the cultures involved in this fiasco. Some of them, not all. That being said, I'll try to handle the others with as much respect as possible, but forgive me if I make a mistake somewhere.

I stopped playing genshin when Sumeru was announced. Despite me not having any affiliation with the cultures represented by Sumeru, I remember being livid as some of y'all might recall. So, let's start off with:

THE AMALGAMATION OF CULTURES. This meaning how very weird it is that somehow the european/east asian cultures get their own distinct nation dedicated to one sole peoples while brown/black cultures get meshed into one unrecognizable figure. Mondstadt is based off Germany, Liyue is based off China, Inazuma is based off Japan, Fontaine is based off France. On the other hand, Sumeru is a mix of south asia, the middle east, and north africa while Natlan takes that a step further by involving Incan, Mayan, Maori, Yoruban, and Hopi cultures (of what we know so far).

Why are all these other nations so carefully crafted and picked, but it feels as if for Natlan and Sumeru, the developers put up a map and grabbed some darts, then decided to use whatever culture wherever a handful of darts landed on the board? In the way they're handling it, it feels like these cultures are nothing but an accessory to them. An excuse to make these "exotic" looking characters, but not even make them properly due to the horrible designs and lack of melanin (these are two topics I will come back to).

It feels like they got lazy, and/or they clearly don't care enough to do in depth research properly as they might've done with past nations. The best example I've seen of this is Yunjin and Ororon. Yunjin is a beautiful example of a character done right and respectfully, as she is meant to be a Chinese opera singer. They even went so far as to hire an actual Chinese opera singer for a song she performs in-game. However, Ororon takes the name of "Olorun" which is a Yoruban deity, but when you look at this character's design, there is nothing that would even hint towards the fact that he's meant to be African.

This brings me to the second part, CULTURE AS COSTUMES. As mentioned previously, nothing about this Ororon character portrays the fact that he's meant to be African. NOTHING. If you do not know what he looks like, the character named after a Yoruban god is quite literally just a pale anime boy in edgy clothing and has some type of dog/cat/animal ears. I am not joking. That is what he looks like. If you don't believe me, look it up.

Do you know what the saddest part about all this is? It's the fact that I guarantee you, sometime in the future when Ororon appears in-game, gets his own quest, then his own banner, all that jazz, the chances of images of him appearing when you look up Olorun are high. In fact, when Sumeru was announced, I vividly remember doing research on the characters there were announced, such as Al-Haitham. When you looked up the name Al-Haitham then, google showed an Islamic astronomer. However, if you look up the name now, you immediately get builds and character guides and art of genshin's Al-Haitham, which is horrible when you really think about it. Because the same thing happened to Dehya (a Berber warrior queen), and it's about to happen to Kachina (Hopi spirits), Kinich (Mayan Sun God), Mualani (a princess of Hawaii), etc.

When you look at these characters, Natlan and Sumeru included, most of their designs don't even look as if they're portraying a culture. For now, I'll focus on Natlan.

Kinich is supposed to be Mayan, however, nothing about his design is giving Latino or indigenous Mayan. As a Mexican, I should be able to look at him and say, 'hey, he looks kinda like me or my cousins! Oh, I recognize those patterns, or that type of footwear/shirt/pants/headwear.' SOMETHING to that degree, but if you had shown me him and I didn't know, I would have never guessed.

Another infuriating design is Murata, the pyro archon. Tell me why does she look like a futuristic biker girl instead of a Maori/Polynesian warrior? The level of disrespect, ESPECIALLY because according to what I've gathered, her name is based off an actual entity/deity.

Time to point out the obvious, and I'm gonna say it but WHY ARE THEY WHITE? Yes, I know the argument about how not everyone from latino/arab cultures is brown, I know. But not everyone is white either, so please, get over it. If the entirety of Fontaine can be white because they're French, by that same logic, wouldn't it makes sense to make the entirety of Natlan brown/black because they're indigenous/african?

It lies well within hoyo's abilities to include colored characters. They have millions of dollars and they say they want a global audience, they just don't do it because there is major colorism there. Saying "but they're a Chinese company!" is no excuse either, because then that would be automatically classifying them as ignorant of anything outside of China when they clearly are not if they utilize strong elements of hip-hop and jazz (both with origins in African American communities) in their other games, want to pick these cultures like accessories on a shelf, and make brown/black npc enemies with locs and other poc features. I won't immediately jump to blaming the designers either, because it's probably that they have tried presenting ideas that do actually cater to the wider audience and poc people, but they were most likely turned down by higher-ups.

Anyways, I've been typing this for a while now and my mind is blanking. I'm sure I had more to say but I currently cannot remember it. I'm glad people are FINALLY speaking out against this, it's about time and actually late because the outrage around this should've happened back in Sumeru but better late than never.

If you don't agree with me or my takes on this, don't even bother trying to look for a response because I'm not gonna argue about this. That's about it for now though.

[c6scaramouche]

If anyone is interested in seeing someone else's message to HYV customer service in order to use or inspire your own, here is mine:

I used parts of Anilyan's template and personalized it to me!

Upon further advice, it would be best to make messages more succinct and to the point!

Dear Genshin Impact Team,

Regarding the skin color discussion started by the reveal of Natlan characters:

We fans understand that the world of Teyvat is fictional, and that the Nations and characters are informed by different real cultures that end up being mixed to create a fictional setting. But it’s also undeniable that some Nations in the world of Genshin are primarily inspired by some cultures more than others, and that character traits tend to reflect the main countries the Nation they inhabit is based on. Nothing in this world is truly without reference and disconnected from some culture, even if it is conglomerated into a fictional setting. 

We see and appreciate all the hard work that has gone into creating and bringing to life such a robust and beautiful game. Thus, it’s a shame that all that effort is being drowned by the obvious racism and colorism reflected in the Sumeru and Natlan designs. It would make sense to have characters with significantly darker skin tones in Natlan and Sumeru, and many fans hoped for that with the new upcoming region.

It is blatant disrespect to ignore the African, SWANA, Rroma, and Indigenous cultures by stealing many aspects of these cultures, such as landscapes, names, music, clothing and fashion styles, without properly representing the skin color and ethnicities of these peoples. 

Please, significantly darken their skin tones. And please properly correct and respect the words and names of these cultures’ deities.

I have played Genshin Impact every single day since I started in version 1.1, and spent roughly thousands of dollars on characters I love and cherish, all in support of your game which brings many people happiness. Unfortunately, me and countless others are no longer willing to monetarily support and play Genshin Impact and other Hoyoverse games because of the clear lack of respect for proper representation of skin color diversity. 

Hoyoverse has proven capable of changing and adjusting their values over time - we still believe you can recognize your mistake and fix it. You are a company that heavily supports fan and fan works, and who constantly invests in things that have a positive impact in society, which is why many people like to support you, and why this is so disappointing to see.

I know myself and many others are eager to see positive changes, because the Natlan characters designs have so much potential. 

Do not let this taint your legacy. Tech otakus were supposed to change the world, remember? And perpetuating colorism is not how you should do it.

I would be immensely grateful if my feedback were forwarded to the appropriate departments- I appreciate all of the customer service workers' hard and dedicated work. 

Thank you for your time and consideration,

[abyss-ice]

Food fantasy diversity issue

Gotta put the word. I'm mad.

Food fantasy isn't the worst game about diversity and skin color... I know but.

It isn't the game with the best rep AT ALL.

You know, I love this game, I love the lore. But this doesn't mean I should be boot licking everything. I have the right to criticize and ask for improvement.

Let's start with the first issue. Skin color. The game of course has more east Asian and European food so it's natural that white skinned characters are the majority. However I noticed that more than half the design of the supposedly more tan or melanined characters are pale or ashey asf. I swear I know they are darker than the white white, but damn I'm as tan as them but I'm actually not tan and I'm white skinned. Artists, please stop being scared to color your character's skin with actual COLOR. Also almost all of them are white haired for some reason. I won't lie about the design some white haired were peak ( Ganache, Reuben, Tomahawk) but a lot of them only have white hair to make their skin appear darker. Also btw the excuse "yeah but you know that not all people of this country are dark skinned" is invalid. Ganache and Reuben are respectively French and United-Statizen. Both these countries are mainly white. So heh.

Ganache and Reuben

Second issue, the orientalism. When I see the dark skinned characters and especially the Middle East food souls, they are often portrayed wearing revealing clothes. If you do some research, it's very weird with their culture. "Yeah but the white characters also wear revealing clothes" Que Neni. If you compare the ratio, obviously dark skinned or just the tan ones are a lot more "fetishized". Always revealing their belly and for what ? Nothing because their outfits are based on fantasm and stereotyped views (belly dancer) about what the middle east looks like not the real traditional clothes which is a shame for a game about food diversity. Food eaten in Muslim countries for Ramadan wearing these ....

Knafeh and Shawarma the worst of them all

And third issue. A lot of them just don't have ethnic physical features. I can understand that this clashes with the artist's art style but I swear it's not that difficult to draw curly and kinky hair. You know it's not that hard to download brush on CSP. Brushes that help you to draw afro hair style.

This food IS FROM ZAMBIA but man looks like a Middle East/American native. Not African from Zambia.

And this is the end of my rant.

"the game company is Asian that's why they don't add a lot of diversity." First research, second, Dislyte, Pokemon both are Asian companies with rad black and poc design. Excuse refused. Don't try to justify culture erasure even if it's not done with a malicious intent. ( And Hoyoverse is NOT a role model. Being better than hoyo at skin diversity isn't a feat. It's the bare minimum)

And yes maybe I'm just a hater "You should just go play another game if you are just gonna hate", man. The bar is so low that I can't even wish for improvement for a game that was my first Gacha Game and a part of my teenage years ?? If you thought like everything I wrote between the quotation marks, I urge you to broaden your horizon and learn about these often misrepresented cultures.

Bye

[justforbooks]

Iris Apfel was finally recognised as a great, original fashion stylist in her 80s, when the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum in New York had a sudden gap in its 2005 exhibition schedule. Many curators knew Apfel, who has died aged 102, as a collector stashing away clothes, especially costume jewellery, both couture-high and street-market-low, so the institute asked to borrow some of her thousands of pieces.

When Apfel wore them herself, dozens at a time in ensembles collaged fresh daily, they had zingy pzazz, so she was invited to set up the displays. There was no publicity budget, and her name was modestly known only in the interior decor trade, yet the show, Rara Avis: Selections from the Iris Apfel Collection, became a huge success after visitors promoted it online. It toured other American museums, changing exhibits en route because Apfel wanted her stuff back so she could wear it.

Apfel’s grandfather had been a master tailor in Russia; her father, Samuel Barrel, supplied mirrors to smart decorators; her chic mother, Sadye (nee Asofsky), had a fashion shop. They lived out in rural Astoria, in the Queens borough of New York, where Iris was born.

As a child, her treat was a weekly subway trip to Manhattan to explore its shops, her favourites the junk emporia of Greenwich Village. She was short, plain and, until her teen years, plump, but she had style; and the owner of a Brooklyn department store picked her out of a crowd to tell her so. During the Depression all her family could sew, drape, glue, paint and otherwise create the look of a room, or a person, on a budget of cents – the best of educations.

She studied art history at New York University, then qualified to teach and did so briefly in Wisconsin before fleeing back to New York to work on Women’s Wear Daily. Furniture and fabrics were in short supply during and after the second world war, and Iris began to earn by sourcing antiques and textiles; if she could not find it, she could make or fake it cheaply.

In 1948 she married Carl Apfel, and they became a decorating team: he had the head for business and she the eye. Unable to find cloth appropriate to a period decor, Iris adapted a design from an old piece and had it woven in a friend’s family mill; she and Carl then set up Old World Weavers in 1952, commissioning traditional makers around the globe.

Photographs and home-movie footage from the next four decades showed Apfel, adorned with elan, haggling for one-off items in souks, flea markets and bric-a-brac shops. She is the most decorative sight in each shot, her ensembles put together with complex cadenzas atop an underlying, tailored, structure– they are like jazz – not a statement, but a conversation.

Apfel was the last of those 20th-century fashion exotics who presented themselves as installations. Although she wore a priest’s warm tunic to the White House (President Richard Nixon underheated the place), plus armfuls of cheap African bracelets and thigh-high boots, she was not an exhibitionist like the Marchesa Casati, and, with her vaudevillian comic timing, was far funnier than the imperious Vogue editor Diana Vreeland.

Also, she never ever bought full-price: her many rails and under-the-bed suitcases of couture were sale-price samples, chosen for their cut, fabric, skilled craftwork and colour dazzle (“Colour can raise the dead”). She might wear them over thrift shop pyjamas, or under a Peking Opera costume, with hawsers of necklaces atop. Money could not buy personal style, she said, prettiness withered, beauty could corrode the soul. All that really mattered was “attitude, attitude, attitude”.

Old World Weavers discreetly refurbished the White House under nine presidents, as well as grand hotels and private houses, before the Apfels sold the company in 1992. They retired to a quiet life in their apartment on Park Avenue, New York, its decor an extension of Apfel’s outfits (bad garment choices were cut up for cushions), and in a Palm Beach holiday home where the Christmas decoration collection stayed up all year round, along with cuddly toys and museum-class folk art. Clothes shopping, and the improvisation of an outfit, became Apfel’s daily ritual, as cooking might be to a gourmet.

But after the Met show, and a book, Rare Bird of Fashion (2007), Apfel was back in as much full-time employment as she could manage in her 80s and 90s (she had a hip replacement because she fell after stepping on an Oscar de la Renta gown). She was cover girl of Dazed and Confused, among many other publications, window display artist at Bergdorf Goodman, designer and design consultant – superb on eye-glasses; she wore large, owl-like, frames to stylise her aged face into a witty, unchanging, cartoon.

She took seriously her responsibilities to fashion students on her course at the University of Texas, teaching them about imagination, craft and tangible pleasures in a world of images.

Her career lasted – nothing was ever too late: in 2018, Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon, a book of memoir and sound style advice; in 2019, a contract with the model agency IMG; and last year, a beauty campaign for makeup with Ciaté London. The documentarian Albert Maysles trailed her for Iris (2014), filming this “geriatric starlet” – her term – as she dealt drolly with new high-fashion friends, or laughed at an “Iris” Halloween costume (glasses, a ton of bangles).

She watched as a storage loft of her antique treasures was listed in lots for sale, and as white-gloved assistants from museums that had begged a bequest boxed up her garments; she still had, and wore, the shoes from her wedding. All things, she said, were only on loan in this world, even to collectors. The point was to enjoy them to the full before bidding them good-bye.

Carl died in 2015.

🔔 Iris Barrel Apfel, decorator and fashion stylist, born 29 August 1921; died 1 March 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[cenorii]

Hello, I just read your theories about Wesker and Chris in RE9, very interesting! I'd love to see more interactions between them and exploring how obsessed they are with eachother.

I wanted to ask if you have any wishes regarding the probably soon coming RE5 Remake? I'd love if they put more homoerotic tension between them, I am just fascinated by their relationship XD from subordinate who trusted his captain and looked up to him and captain who called him his best man and saying that he's proud of him to archnemesis

Hello, thank you for the question and for taking the time for my theories!

I expect the re5 remake to have reimagined locations, normal lvl design. I like the levels in re5, but often they are not very convenient or aesthetic, I'm sure that in the remake it will be fixed and make a good map of the area, as they did in re4r, where they fixed all the shortcomings of the locations. And...

From my personal wishes for the remake of re5 I would emphasize Wesker's emotions. The thing is that in re5 he has a very large set of various funny emotions, which are very cool. But in re4r he doesn't look like an emotional person, his face doesn't look like something that can compete with the original. I'd really like to see Wesker's new face adapted to emote. I don't like the idea of a complete reimagining of the character where he loses all the silly and fun things that make him himself.

I'd also like to see the volcano battle completely changed, or removed altogether. I never liked it, even though that battle is a lot of fun. But the undressed Wesker is too much, that scene made me question more than laugh. For example, why did he take his clothes off? Did he do it during the fall? It's a silly moment.

I also wish they had conveyed the atmosphere of the grueling African heat, showed that the enemy is not the only thing that threatens the lives of the heroes. I also miss the puzzles in this part, maybe adding more puzzles would be cool. After all the remakes, the developers have gained enough experience to make a decent reimagining of this game. Taking all the good things that were in re5 and multiplying it, as well as getting rid of the controversial moments and faulty decisions.

I know the game has issues with racism, there have been a lot of scandals with that. I'm sure they'll get rid of that too by fixing the controversial stuff. For example, in re4r they took away Luis' lewd joke, deepening his character and making his personality much more interesting.

I appreciate the modes in re5, Mercenaries is my love. I would love to see the updated characters in this mode. Speaking of which, I'd like to see the ability to fight in close quarters added to the game like in re6, getting rid of the annoying qte. That way we'd get Chris, who does a lot of damage up close, and Wesker, who is able to quickly shorten his distance and move around the entire location in a few seconds. Oh yeah, I already want to play as them.

About the relationship… I really wish they paid attention to the relationship between Chrisker, because they have a whole 10 years of history, betrayals and thwarted plans behind them. In re5 their relationship doesn't get the attention it deserves, so I hope for a remake. We as players have to believe in Wesker's hatred if it's present. Or is it now a deep interest in Chris as the perfect person? Lots of options. I'm not sure if the developers will make their relationship more homoerotic, since RE has almost no focus on romantic relationships…

Thanks for reading all the way to the end! Honestly, no matter how the re5 remake comes out, I'll love it any way I can, as it's my all time favorite RE game. We'll definitely get something high level, as Capcom will never make the mistake of re3r again.

[qualcosadelgenere]

A "DESERT LION" NAMES ANALYSIS + name meanings related hcs PT.1

And PT.2 here:

DISCLAIMER: if any of the information reported here is wrong or even just partially incorrect/imprecise, feel free to let me know; as my main sources for this analysis were Wikipedia and baby names sites (lol).

Nasser Mustafa <English Wiki> (Nasir Mustafa/Nasir Mustafà <alternative dub names>):

Nasser Mustafa

The Arabic name Nasser (and his alternative spelling Nasir), means  "granter of victory".

Mustafa is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and it means 'chosen', 'selected', 'appointed', 'preferred'. It's used both as a name and a surname.

Headcanons:

From the moment Nasser was born, his parents, family, and tribal clan had great expectations of him. As the only male son of the chief, his name perfectly reflects the high expectations his father and everyone else has for him.

As a result, Nasser's parents' frequent verbal criticism, whenever their unrealistic expectations didn't quite meet reality, began to take a major toll on his psychological well-being from an early age. He began to link his self-worth to his efficiency and capabilities so much that soon negative self-talk, anxiety, and burnout became recurring struggles for him.

Whether it's in school, sports, personal relationships, or generally just life, failing is his worst fear.

He has a complicated relationship with Messer, but other than that he (tries and) gets along with everyone (probably due to his desperate need to be liked and fulfill the expectations his family has, or perhaps because he feels extremely lonely and vulnerable).

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Far Farouk <English Wiki> (Faraz Farooq <alternative dub names>):

Faraz Farouk

Faraz is a Persian gender neutral name that means “elevation”, and figuratively “one whose condition in life is improving”.

Farouk is an alternative spelling of the Arabic surname Farooq, which literally means "the one who distinguishes between right and wrong."

Headcanons:

He's quite equilibrated in his way of living life.

His parents are kind and generous, as sharing what they have is their biggest joy-bringer. They're proud and supportive of their son's talent in making date cakes and encourage him to explore this culinary passion he possesses.

His father is a doctor and his mother a lawyer and both couldn't care less if their son chooses to pursue a high-status career like their own. They love him and his little sister so much that whatever brings a smile to their children's faces brings a smile to their own.

He was raised to be very objective, not easily swayable by illogical thinking and common opinions.

He's friendly with anyone, but he specifically enjoys hanging out with Musa, Djamel, Messer, and Seiyd.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Bjorn Kyle <English Wiki> (a super random name choice imo) (Bilal Kalil/Bilial Kalil <alternative dub names>):

Bilal Kalil

Bilal is both a name and a surname of Arabic/African origin. It's meaning varies from site to site, but the main are "full moon", "moist", "water" and "refreshment". Bilal is also linked to the name of a companion of the prophet Muhammad who became the first person to call Muslims to prayer.

Kalil is a less common variant of the Arabic name/surname Khalil, which means "friend", "companion".

Headcanons:

Bilal is not the friendliest and most approachable guy per se, but once you gain his trust and friendship, you can be sure to have a loyal friend.

His parents are affluent and successful Qatari and they have high expectations for their older son (he has younger twin siblings, a sister, and a brother).

He received the best care while growing up, attended prestigious schools, ate high-quality food, and wore refined clothes. Everything was designed to be perfect, except for one crucial element absent from his flawless lifestyle: his parents' support and unconditional love.

Bjorn always feels like a burden and believes he never lives up to his parents' expectations. Their cold and distant parenting left Bjorn feeling insecure and introverted, and he craves love more than he'd care to admit. The few friends he had growing up were carefully chosen by his family to align with their ambitious and success-driven social circle. They were sons of doctors, politicians, lawyers, etc., and didn't share any of Bjorn's interests or hobbies.

To add fuel to the fire, Bjorn realized early on that he didn't quite have an eye for the opposite sex like his so-called friends had, but needless to say, his environment was far from safe and supportive.

He knows very well what his family's stance on homosexuality is and he's already given up the prospect of living a happy domestic life with someone he actually loves a long time ago. He's terrified of what kind of consequences his eventual coming out would bring and prefers to behave under what he thinks is cowardice, rather than die at his parents' hands.

If he were to choose who he's closer to he'd probably pick Nasser and Zack.

He sympathizes deeply with the first, due to how similar their parents are in terms of how fake they are in loving and caring for them.

He thinks of him and Zack as like the moon and the sun. Zack is the sun in Bjorn's eyes because he's a whirlwind of pure warm energy, easy to be around, and genuine, as opposed to the kids he was forced to befriend. Whenever the darkness threatens to eat Bjorn alive, Zack becomes a beacon of light capable of leading the way out with his uninhibited optimism.

When he's with the Moroccan, the Qatari-born has finally the fleeting sensation of being free and safe.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Djamel Djammadu <English Wiki> (Jamila Wali/Jamel Jamald <alternative dub names>):

Djamel Jammal

Djamel is the North African variant of the Arabic given name Jamil, which means "beauty", "radiant" and "handsome".

(Jamila is the feminine form of the masculine Arabic given name Jamil, and Jamel is very likely another variation or transliteration of the latter.)

Wali is a name based on Arabic short form of Wali Allah "friend of God", "protector". However, this surname is more common in Kashmiri Pundits than in Muslims.

(The surname Djammadu doesn't even exist on the internet, and Jamald, again, is possibly just another variation of the name Jamil. The only other surname I could find something about is Jammal; from the Arabic personal name Jammāl meaning "camel driver").

Headcanons:

Djamel, the youngest of five siblings, has been spoiled rotten by his family and neighbors. His cuteness has definitely played a part, but he is also a very social kid, as he enjoys interacting with people.

Adults around him are always surprised when he engages in conversations about their country's economy and tourist industry, with extreme ease. He dislikes it so much when people automatically assume that just because he's young, he doesn't have the ability to talk confidently about certain matters.

Camels are his favorite animals, and because of this preference, he and Zack quickly became friends. Djamel is greatly interested and fascinated by his teammate's knowledge of such creatures, even though they don't get to speak about it often as Zack usually cuts the whole conversation short, as if embarrassed to be overheard talking about such things. Weird.

The teammates he's closer to are Zack, Far, Rajab, and Majidi.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Musa Sirer <English Wiki> (Musa Sylla/Musa Saila <alternative dub names>):

Musa Sylla

Musa is a male name of Semitic origin, it's associated with the biblical Hebrew name Moses. In Arabic it takes the meaning of "saved from drowning".

Sylla is a surname prevalently found in Guinea, from the name of the Sylla clan of the Soninke people, it can be interpreted as meaning 'horse people'.

Headcanons:

He can't swim for shit, lol. His parents tried when he was a toddler, but he just couldn't bring himself to stay calm when surrounded by water up to his ears.

On the other hand, he loves horses and knows a scary amount of facts about them. Just make the mistake of asking him about it, it's basically a hyperfixation.

When he was little and went to visit his grandparents every few months, his grandad would happily let him ride one of the most beautiful Arabian horses on their farm, as his grandparents used to own a stable for equestrian purposes. Musa never forgot his equine best friend once he passed away and that's how his love for these animals began growing. He'd love to have a stable of his own someday.

He considers Khalfan his best friend on the team. Another good friend of his is Yusuf, along with Far, and Seiyd.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Yusuf M'hadi <English Wiki> (Yusuf Massoud/Yusuf Mahadei <alternative dub names>):

Yusuf Massoud

Yusuf is a male name meaning "God increases". It's the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew name Yosef and the English name Joseph.

Massoud is an Arabic/Persian given name and surname meaning "happy", "fortunate", "lucky" and "prosperous".

Headcanons:

Yusuf is a happy-go-lucky person known to have disarming luck in everything he does.

He gets homesick very easily and can get quite anxious when change is involved.

His parents rooted in him a deep connection with Qatari cultural traditions, and sometimes that can lead to high expectations he holds for those around him (especially con-nationals) that don't get met.

Such misunderstandings bring some issues as he relates to others, especially with free-spirited and more Western-oriented teammates. More than once he feels the pull to "correct" the behavior of some of them when they act in a way that by his standards (often religious driven) is wrong and borders on being immoral.

But then again, he knows better than to do that (on one occasion he said the wrong thing to the right person, at the wrong moment, and by the end of the whirlwind of carefully crafted insults and harsh accusations of hypocrisy his comment triggered, Yusuf ended up crying his eyes out in his room out of embarrassment).

He's really close to Khalfan, Seiyd, and Far. He also enjoys the company of Nasser and Musa. He doesn't enjoy the infamous teammate's company anymore, but they used to be on good terms.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Sulai Sulaiman <English Wiki> (Sulayk Sulaiman/Sly Salomon/Sly Sulayman <alternative dub names>):

Sulayk Sulaiman

Sulayk is an Arabic given name that means "traveller" and "walker".

(Sulai and Sly are not even actual names according to what little information I could find about them. Other smilar Arabic names I've found are Sulay and Suli, but apparently they're both female given names.)

Sulaiman is one of the many English transliteration of the Arabic name/surname Suleiman. It means "peaceful" and "man of peace" and corresponds to the Jewish name, Shlomoh, and the English one, Solomon.

Headcanons:

He's the sweetest guy you'll ever meet, always generous and considerate. He's non-confrontational, often trying to mediate or defuse fights when they break out.

He dreams of traveling around the world and plans to go on an exchange program abroad during his last year in preparatory school (Qatari public school service from age 13 to 15) and who knows; if he really likes the place maybe even for uni.

The sea has always fascinated him since he was a toddler, and whenever he can, he likes to spend his days at Khor Al Adaid (Inland Sea), a renowned tourist attraction located in the southeast of Qatar, where the sand dunes meet the sea.

I also have a hc about his ethnicity that I developed a few years ago when I first started to get into Desert Lion.

In my setting, he is originally Palestinian, born in Nazareth, and his family is of Arab-Christian descent. However, that never stopped him from befriending Adel, whose family is devoted to Islam. Even though their families follow different beliefs, they bonded quickly.

Zack is hilarious, but annoying when he bypasses boundaries for the sake of a joke. Nasser is super nice but also too stressed out and Bjorn is a good friend, yet sometimes he turns cold and ignores you for no apparent reason. That kinda hurts, but oh well!

Sulai gets along well pretty much with everybody on the team.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Seiyd Armand <English Wiki> (Sayid Armand/Seid Armand <alternative dub names>):

Sayid Armand

Sayid is an alternative spelling of the name Sa'id, which means "blessed", "good luck", "joy" or "happy" and "patient".

Armand (Armand is a French name/surname, the closest Arabic (Persian) name/surname is Arman, meaning “wish” and “hope.”).

Headcanons:

He is a patient person and usually maintains a good mood that is hard to spoil, tending to see the bright side of things, and having a very positive attitude toward life.

The relationship with his family, namely with his French-born father, is strained due to how contrasting their outlooks on life are. That is, much to his dismay because Seiyd's family is well-known around their hometown for their chronic pessimism.

Seiyd spends most of his time arguing with his overly dramatic father over daily events and how much his apparent bad luck influenced them.

If there's one thing Seiyd is not neutral about is how much he dislikes fatalistic individuals. However, it's not like he can just get rid of his own family, especially because despite all that negativity they seem to possess, he loves them to the moon and back.

Seiyd and Talal are really close friends. He also has a strong bond with Far, Bjorn, and Musa.

[hollywoods-angel]

diana <3

diana ross is an american singer and actress, the former lead singer of the supremes- one of the best selling girl groups in the world. she has 6 no.1 songs, a succesful career in films, the presidential medal of freedom and the kennedy center honors.

growing up diana wanted to be a fashion designer and took courses in millinery, clothing design, pattern making and tailoring. on evenings and weekends she took courses in modeling and cosmetology. she was heavily involved in school and clubs such as the swim team.

at 15 she joined a group called the primettes, and they auditioned to be signed to motown, but were told they had to graduate high school first. the group continued to come to the studio and did what they could to help other artists. in 1960 diana was hired to be detroit's first african-american bus girl, and she began working in a hairdressing salon. she graduated from high school in 1962.

when the group was signed they were re-named and called the supremes. the supremes are stil the best charting girl group ever, with 12 no.1 hits. their song "where did our love go" was transmitted to astronauts during the 1965 Gemini 5 mission. diana made her last appearance with the group in 1970.

she had a succesful career as a solo artist and was the first african american woman to co-host the academy awards. in terms of acting diana was nominated for the saturn award and golden globe award. she's been in tv spanning from 1964 to more recently in 2018. in total she's had 18 no.1 hits- 12 from the supremes and 6 from her solo work. she's continued to inspire big artists, and the supremes were added to the rockn roll hall of fame in 1988.

[mouldyrubbish]

white t-shirts are strictly a no to me because all of my favourite ones have fallen victim to horrible horrible laundry crimes. My first favourite white t-shirt was one passed down from my mother, with this incredible print from this african music festival my mum went to in france. It's literally the most precious shirt I own but I had left it behind at my boyfriend at the time's house and he wanted to be sweet and washed it for me. Except men literally know nothing about laundry of course so he had thrown it in with a bunch of smelly old towels, and red and dark clothes mixed in, and it came out stained pink and sooooo threadbare it literally was falling apart. I am still to this day so fucking heartbroken about that. Because I wasn't even that into him, despite the gesture it was unforgivable.. and maybe I need to face my autism and just wear that t-shirt despite it and let it get so destroyed and worn that I will have used it to it's dying breath, instead of trying to preserve it.

this is the design btw. I can't get a more high def picture of this poster anywhere.

more recently my other most precious white t-shirt that is also one of the only graphic tees I still wear, my I Saw John Maus Live t-shirt, got a hole in it from my best friends cats claws when I was snuggling him. This one is more forgivable, and the hole is not so big that it's too noticeable, and certainly doesn't affect the structural integrity of it in any way. But it is still a hole, it's still a weakness now put into the fabric of that shirt. And that shirt also fell victim to staining, which I had been so anal about cleaning that in carefully scrubbing it away I had also lightened that area of the print.

The Hysteric Glamour shirt is fine. It's wearable, the print is intact just fine, but still it's lost... it's lustre... It's been stripped of a quality that made it soooo enjoyable for me to wear which was it's smoothness. A nice, smooth, thick, high quality, fitted cotton t-shirt. But now, it's pilled...!

My other two favourite white t-shirts are Caley Feeney t-shirts, but I PURPOSEFULLY and TACTFULLY purchased flawed editions of her t-shirts to avoid this suffering. One had a hole in it the other one was unevenly printed, so I get around my autism by having hardy and imperfect garments which already show some wear or flaws which allow any further ones to be forgiven, even ignorable.

[droughtofapathy]

The DroughtofApathy Theatre Awards Nominations:

Best Ensemble Stereophonic Jaja's African Hair Braiding Merrily We Roll Along Illinoise

Best New Song "Evanesce," Days of Wine and Roses (Adam Guettel) "Masquerade," Stereophonic (Will Butler) "East of Eden," Stereophonic (Will Butler)

Bad Accent Eddie Redmayne's Muppet Voice Whatever the fuck Jeremy Jordan was doing Colton Ryan's Muppet Voice from last season, I'm still not over it

Diva Performance of the Year Jennifer Simard, Once Upon a One More Time Jessica Lange, Mother Play Emily Skinner, Suffs

Most Incredible Scene Transition The I Need That home cleanup transition Opening up Jaja's African Hair Braiding shop Mary Jane's apartment set lifting up to reveal the hospital set Doubt revolving set Appropriate house falling into shambles with a tree and everything De-renovating the Broadway Theatre after Here Lies Love flopped

Most Beautiful Woman On Stage Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret Kelli O'Hara, Days of Wine and Roses (bonus points for The Hours) Jessica Lange, Mother Play Anika Noni Rose, Uncle Vanya

Moment So Horrifyingly Bad I Physically Recoiled Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee singing "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" BEFORE the party Everything Gayle Rankin did on that stage "My name is Ponyboy//I'm the youngest of the three," lyric from The Outsiders The Hell's Kitchen book being allowed on Broadway at all

Most Hated Sound Designer Gareth Owen, The Who's Tommy Jon Weston, The Wiz Gareth Owen, Hell's Kitchen (hey, a doubly-bad showing) Brian Ronan, The Great Gatsby, but specifically those gunshots

Floppiest Flop Show How to Dance in Ohio Lempicka Here Lies Love Grey House Once Upon a One More Time

Weirdest Marketing/Publicity/Social/Design Decision How to Dance in Ohio only emphasizing "AUTISM REP" over everything that might have drawn in any kind of crowd at all.

The Lempicka social media team just straight-up lying with their pull-quotes and then doubling down and getting snide.

Broadway producer Greg Nobile's twitter discourse.

The Cabaret social media brand refusing to acknowledge Bebe Neuwirth exists and is the only thing holding that show together.

Who did the Days of Wine and Roses cast album design and like...why?

Can You Spell Miscast? Eddie Redmayne, Cabaret Gayle Rankin, Cabaret Eden Espinosa, Lempicka Basically all of The Wiz Doubly so for The Great Gatsby

Star-in-the-Making Sarah Pidgeon, Stereophonic The Grey House kids Hannah Cruz, Suffs Amber Iman, Lempicka Anna Zavelson, Encores! The Light in the Piazza (not Broadway, but I said what I said)

Criminally Underutilized Older Character Actress Jayne Houdyshell, Uncle Vanya Emily Skinner, Suffs Andrea Burns, The Notebook Beth Leavel, Lempicka Mia Katigbak, Uncle Vanya Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret

Worst Audience Behavior The couple who stayed on their phones the whole time at The Wiz.

The guy who started screaming and fighting at the top of act two at Hell's Kitchen.

The drunk women at Melissa Etheridge who were singing and flailing the whole show.

Shrieking girls at Bad Gatsby whenever the leading man did anything.

Family in front of me at Heart of Rock and Roll.

Guy behind me at Cabaret crunching wine chips through all of act two.

Iconic Merch Item Rosie the Elephant, Water for Elephants: she's so soft and well-made and perfect and I love her and need her. Great American Bitch clothing, Suffs Mother Hat, Mother Play Tissue box, The Notebook

Moment that Had Me in Tears When *spoiler* off-stage, Jaja is taken in by ICE and her daughter can't find her and may face deportation herself.

Merrily We Roll Along overture.

Mary Jane breakdown over the music therapist.

All of Maryann Plunkett's masterful performance in The Notebook.

Me going home to sob over how they butchered Cabaret.

Kimberly Akimbo final performance, it might've opened last season, but fight me

Reading an article on the opening of the Bad Gatsby where a car hit a pedestrian right next to where all the celebrities were getting their photos taken and no one noticed. (tears of laughter-pedestrian was not hurt badly)

Single Best Costume Emily Skinner's Dorothy Louden coat Jennifer Simard, titties up and out as the Stepmother Sara Gettlefinger's fun jumpsuit and headscarf combo Anika Noni Rose entrance blue gown with the plunging neckline and deep v back Bebe Neuwirth's little pink nightie and phenomenal shawl Kate Baldwin's off-the-shoulder outfits in the regional production of A Little Night Music

Best Playbill Design Stereophonic - 10/10 no notes Suffs - Like the art style Illinoise - I really like the colors and art style Here Lies Love - I like the colors

Worst Playbill Design Cabaret - you should be ashamed of yourself. Not even the title Doubt - I know there was a last-minute replacement, but c'mon Lempicka - whoever did this should be taken out back and shot Spamalot - it's just the same damn design as the original, but brighter and worse

Tony Snub Laurie Metcalf, Grey House Jennifer Simard, Once Upon a One More Time Chip Zien, Harmony Days of Wine and Roses, Best Musical Grey House, Best Scenic Design of a Play

Cars on Broadway The Bad Gatsby cars that actually drive The Lempicka silver car that isn't green and doesn't drive The Illinoise concept car made out of props and actor's bodies The Back to the Future car that files and spins and shit

[whatwewrotepodcast]

OC asks: Character design tag

Thanks @illarian-rambling for the tag!

Currently writing an Ellis chapter and I don't have heaps of time so we'll do Ellis for this one.

FACE & FEATURES

glance: At first glance, what stands out most about your OC's appearance? What's their distinguishing feature?

First thing that stands out about Ellis is his clothes - and that is entirely on purpose. He deliberately dresses extravagantly, in bright colours and bold patterns, so that when people try and remember what they look like, they remember the clothes, not the face.

face: Describe your OC's face. What's their smile like? Are their orbs cerulean? What would someone notice first when looking at them?

Ellis has a wide, charming, cheeky grin, hazel eyes and brown skin with warm undertones. His grin is definitely the first thing you'd notice, though possibly you may also notice that he is HAWT depending on your orientation.

stature: What's your OC's body type? How tall are they? Do they wear clothing to accentuate their look or do they try to mask it?

Ellis is 5'9, and he has a reasonably athletic build, lean rather than bulky, but fit and muscular. Ellis always dresses to accentuate his good looks, which often means sleeveless, low cut or cropped shirts.

motion: How does your OC move? How does their clothing help or hinder their range of motion? Are they flexible, coordinated, clumsy?

Ellis moves with swagger. He has that sort of loose limbed grace you see with dancers. He is graceful, athletic and extremely aware of where his body is and what it's doing at all times. He loves a swishy skirt to show off his swagger, but only if he doesn't expect to fight. No matter how flashy the outfit, Ellis is always ready to run or fight.

stillness: How does your OC act while still? Are they fidgety? Do they have any common gestures or tics? Does their clothing affect how they hold themselves while at rest?

Ellis is restless. Ellis in stillness is a dangerous sign. It usually means he's either losing his shit or has already lost it. He thinks best in motion, pacing, moving around. He taps his fingers against his lips when he's thoughtful or teasing.

canvas: Does your OC have any scars, piercings, tattoos, or other markings? Do they display or cover them up at all?

He's got his ear pierced and has, ahem, some piercings in the downstairs region. He has a large black ink tattoo over the side of his ribcage, a tribal design from an old African culture, though he doesn't know which one (scifi setting so Earth cultures are long in the past). He has a fair few scars, though none big enough to comment on.

CUT & CLOTHES

night: What does your OC wear to sleep? Do they have a favorite pair of PJs, or are they more the birthday suit type?

Ellis sleeps in his boxers or nothing at all. Less to remove, after all.

day: What does your OC wear on a normal day? Why do they default to those clothes? Do they wear similar things, or do they change it up?

As mentioned before, Ellis always dresses to the nines when he's out in public. Bold colours, bright, flashy designs, lots of metallic embroidery, skirts and wide pants or tight pants and shirts with huge collars, depends on the day. When he's home alone in his ship, he leans more towards comfy jeans and hoodies. When he's out, Ellis' priority is to make sure what people remember is not his face, but his clothing, so it's harder for people to identify him later. If the thing you remember about the guy who stole from you is that he was wearing a hot pink skirt, you may be less likely to remember what he actually looked like.

formal: What's your OC's formal look? Do they like dressing up? Do they have different looks for different occasions?

As above, Ellis loooooves to dress up. His formal looks may be a fraction more sedated than his thieving looks, but not much. Possibly more makeup for formal occasions.

informal: What's your OC's lazy-day look? How do they like to dress when they're winding down?

Ellis has a few pairs of comfortable jeans and tshirts he wears when he's just alone in his ship, and that's what he's mostly in when he's not in public.

outerwear: What's your OC's outerwear situation? Jacket, sweater, cloak? What sort of weather do they deal with most and how do they protect themselves?

Ellis is usually in ships or stations, so often doesn't have to deal with weather, but when he does, he's the sort of guy who won't change up his outfit just because he's cold. But when he does, he would have a chic as hell double breasted coat, probably with braiding because why not.

footwear: What does your OC wear on their feet?

Depends on the outfit, darling. Boots, sneakers, whatever works best.

road: What does your OC wear while traveling? Do they have high-quality equipment, or are they making do? What does their gear look like?

Ellis, as a pirate, is always travelling. He likes nice things so when he can afford it he'd make sure he had the best, but he can't always.

armor: What kind of armor does your OC wear? Is it well kept? Bonus: where does it come from? Is there a story behind it?

N/A

arms: Does your OC have any weapons? What weapons do they carry, and how do they wear them when they're not fighting?

Ellis has a couple of blasters that he carries for emergencies, but his main weapon is his ship, the Polaris itself. It has a wide array of dangerous weaponry, from flares to missiles, to a rail gun.

roots: Is your OC's look inspired by any specific style of clothing or fashion trend? What are the roots and/or inspiration for their look?

Ellis' look is definitely inspired by Lando Calrissian, and basically is as camp as you can imagine.

texture: Does your OC favor any specific kinds of cloth or textures? Is there anything they can't wear or don't like? What sort of fabrics do they prefer?

Not really, Ellis will wear whatever's good looking. He'll tolerate a lot of discomfort to look good.

wardrobe: How big is your character's wardrobe? Do they wear things threadbare, or can they afford new clothes often? Are they any good at mending and repairing their own clothing?

It's UUUUGE. Ellis has SO many clothes. He hasn't been able to afford any new ones in a while but it doesn't really matter because he has so many already. He could not mend so much as a holey sock.

ACCESSORIES & ACCENTS

bling: What jewelry does your OC wear? Does it have any meaning?

He usually has an earring in, but that will change depending on what he's wearing - the priority is matching. He has a silver barbel in each of his uhm downstairs piercings. Otherwise he doesn't really wear jewellery permanently, he'll just put on whatever's appropriate for the outfit he's wearing.

hair: How does your OC wear their hair? Does it have some kind of meaning?

Currently he has an undercut with short locs, (similar to how Killmonger had his hair in Black Panther), but he changes it semi regularly depending on how he's feeling.

makeup: Does your OC wear makeup? How often? What kind? Why do they wear makeup, and do they like it?

Oh hell yes he absolutely does. Ellis uses makeup the same way he uses his clothes - as a mask, a distraction, a way to draw attention away from his actual face. He will usually do eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara, sometimes lipstick, depending on the vibe. He usually matches the colour to his outfit, but it's always dramatic.

favorite: Does your OC have a favorite article of clothing or accessory? What is it? What's the meaning behind it? Do they wear it all the time or do they wear it sparingly to keep it safe?

He doesn't really. Ellis doesn't have a lot of things . . his life has been a series of brief engagements but he's never really settled down or had any close people in his life, so he hasn't really formed attachments to any particular items.

change: Has your OC ever drastically changed their appearance? Significant haircuts, big tattoos, complete wardrobe swap, etc? Why? How do they feel about the change?

Certainly about 6 or 7 years ago, when Ellis struck out on his own and became a pirate, he first picked up the persona of campness, the flamboyant dress and appearance. Before that he dressed much more sedately, "normally" one might say. Ellis sees the persona he has created for himself as a mask, a protection. He doesn't resent it, he appreciates it - the freedom it gives him. He's yet to truly figure out who he is without this.

alternate: What would your OC's alternate universe look be? If they're a fantasy character, what's their modern look? If they're sci-fi, what's their fantasy look? What AU would you want to see your OC in, and how would they dress themself? Bonus: Prompt an AU!

Oh interesting. Fantasy AU Ellis . . I mean, probably would still be a pirate to be honest. But on a sailing ship instead of a space ship. I think he'd probably still dress a bit flamboyantly, but probably not quite as much - I doubt his gender presentation would go down so well in a traditional fantasy setting.

Tagging @willtheweaver @agirlandherquill @leahnardo-da-veggie

[iamborsh]

ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ʙᴜᴛᴛᴇʀꜰʟɪᴇs William Afton/OC

Tags: au, modelling, fashion industry, coquette!original character, violence, age gap.

ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛʏ ʀᴇǫᴜɪʀᴇs sᴀᴄʀɪꜰɪᴄᴇ

Jennifer Christie is a 21-year-old girl. Beautiful, narcissistic. She grew up in a family of quite wealthy businessmen who gave their beloved daughter anything she wanted. Jenny grew up in luxury: dresses, bags, jewelry - for her these are just little things. Three years ago, she suddenly got wish to become a model, which her parents, of course, obediently fulfilled. Now Mrs. Christie is a popular model. Many agencies of that time would have liked to sign a contract with her, but the most of them were sent to hell by generous Jenny.

April 14, 1996, New York.

"That's not it! And this too!" with these words, the girl was sorting through her closet, which was literally bursting with lots of clothes from different designers. She had a contract signing with one of the agencies today. Of course, it didn't work out without persuasion, but Jenny decided to feel sorry for her manager and agreed.

This meeting means nothing to her, but you always have to look presentable.

Suddenly, the girl went to her tape recorder, covered with pink rhinestones. It was the first time Jenny had worked tirelessly, but the result was worth it. It would be a shame for a girl to have an ordinary gray tape recorder! She's not some kind of beggar.

Taking a CD of a song by a fairly popular band at that time, the room was filled with beautiful female voices.

Oh, say you'll be there ~ ♪

Jenny headed for the closet, but now moving to the beat of the vibing music.

I'm giving you everything ~ ♪

Jenny took three different dresses and threw them on the bed, they looked the best. And even though Jennifer still has a bunch of dresses, she still chose these ones.

All that joy can bring ~ ♪

Jenny danced around the room, darting past the mirror every now and then. It reflected the unearthly beauty of an African-American girl. Beautiful skin, gorgeous and lush curls, brown eyes, a few freckles, plump lips smeared with expensive glitter, which she probably bought abroad. She was wearing a white silk robe made to order, it fit her perfectly, and the image was complemented by yellow fluffy slippers.

This I swear, ow ~ ♪

The last line of the verse of the song sounded and the home phone rang.

"Oh, who is it now?" she went to the pink home phone. Her daddy bought it for her in Paris. It looked cute, elegant, a kind of curiosity that surprised everyone who came to visit Jennifer.

Picking up the phone, the girl held it to her ear.

"Excuse me, Miss Christie, they want to order an adver-" the man didn't finish his sentence.

"I'm not interested in it! How many times have I told you that I don't take ads? Or should I pay you a doctor to check your hearing?" the girl answered rudely. After all, who's he to be polite to him?

It was Jenny's manager, a man of 37 years of French descent, who helped her sign contracts. Well, although Miss Christie always decides for herself, and Mr. Martin is only needed for show.

The girl was just about to hang up when she suddenly remembered.

"Oh, yeah, you're picking me up today! I hope you don't have any problems with your memory and you haven't forgotten about my contract with Mr. Afton's modeling agency!" her voice sounded arrogant.

"Of course, of course, madam, is there something else?" Martin asked meekly in his French accent.

With a grunt, she put the phone back down. While they were talking, the song had already ended. Yeah, her mood to listen to music was gone now.

Her gaze fell on the bed, there were 3 dresses that Jennifer had selected.

Green with a circle, pale pink with lace bell sleeves and yellow with a black strap.

The girl threw away two dresses, namely a green and a yellow one. Yes, she was definitely in the mood to wear pink today.

Pink louboutins, a lace dress, a bow in her hair and an elegant handbag were perfectly combined. Soft-pink lipstick accentuated the beauty of her lips, and blush on her beautiful cheeks.

The girl twirled next to the mirror.

"Not bad, it could have been better. I'll have to buy more clothes, otherwise these are already… Too old and not fashionable." the girl said petulantly.

Her gaze fell on the clock on a white bedside table next to a huge mirror. The time was 2 p.m., 15 minutes.

"Already?" she exclaimed with a gasp, of course, Jenny, you like to sleep until lunch, and then preen up for three hours. "Has this idiot arrived yet?" the girl asked herself with a note of disgust.

Looking out the window of her house, she saw Martin's black car approaching. He must have remembered, apparently, his senility hadn't begun yet.

The girl left her room, went down to the 1st floor and went out onto the porch.

The view was beautiful. There was a wonderful garden near Jenny's house, where white roses grew, a variety of which was personally brought by Jennifer's mother from Holland.

"Mello, Madame Christie." Martin bowed to the girl as she walked impressively to the car.

Glancing at her manager, she extended her hand to him, turning away and wrinkling her nose. This is just an element of etiquette, nothing more. Martin kissed the girl's hand, on the fingers of which was a mother-of-pearl with a gleam of white and pink, a neat manicure. The girl pulled her hand away and got into the car.

"You look great today!" the manager tried to make a compliment.

"I know." Jenny replied indifferently, turning her gaze away from the window.

It was quite bright outside, the birds were singing, the flowers were blooming. Jenny currently lived in a country house located near New York, and the road to the agency building took a little longer than if Jenny lived in an apartment.

The model turned towards Martin. He was not a particularly tall man with black hair, gray streaks flashed here and there, he wore round glasses, and also some kind of suit. He looked very ridiculous, as Jennifer herself thought.

"We arrived, madam." Martin said and got out of the car, walked around her and, like a true gentleman, opened the door for the girl and helped her get up.

The following picture appeared before them: a 4-storey light purple building with large windows.

"Not bad." having assessed the building, the girl concluded. "Even better than many similar buildings."

She'll probably never be happy with anything.

"Martin, follow me!" the girl commanded.

Martin really looked funny next to Mrs. Christie. Jennifer's elegant, feminine and graceful gait made passers-by turn around, while Martin walked unsteadily, trying to keep up with his "madame".

Martin was still able to overtake the girl and held the door for her. She didn't even say "thank you." For what?

The building inside also looked beautiful. Models and designers walked around the floor, carried plastic mannequins as makeup artists ran around. Jenny chuckled, looking at this, what a funny sight.

"Miss Christie?" a girl in a shirt and black trousers, standing behind the reception desk, addressed Jennifer and Martin.

The girl looked at the receptionist. Simple one, what to say.

"Well, yeah, me." the model replied with a haughty look.

"You must be at Mr. Afton's, come on, I'll take you there." with these words, the girl came out from behind the counter and headed for the 2nd floor. Jennifer followed her.

The receptionist looked somehow at home. Wrinkled shirt, oversize trousers, sloppy bun.

Picking up the rabble on the ad, Jenny thought with disgust. "If you work in a modeling agency, then at least look presentable."

"We're here, Mr. Afton is already waiting for you." the girl ran back.

The door was brown, and there was a sign saying "W. Afton."

"Martin, you're waiting for me downstairs." not waiting for an answer, Jenny entered without knocking on the door.

A fairly clean and well-maintained office appeared to her eyes. It contained a pair of mannequins, different from those that were carried around the 1st floor, a desk, a fluffy rug, like Jennifer's in the room, two sofas and a tea table in front of the desk. Everything was done in black and purple style.

"Hello, Mrs. Christie." a man's voice suddenly addressed her.

The girl turned around and was a little surprised. A rather pleasant-looking man of about 35 years old was sitting at the table. Long black hair, braided in a small ponytail, with a purple sheen in the light, silver eyes that Jennifer had never seen before. The man was wearing a purple shirt with a pin with the man's name on it: "William." Blue jeans with a yellow fringe at the bottom. He was wearing an expensive watch with a yellow strap at that time. As well as patent black shoes matching William's hair color.

If it had been worn on any other, then the girl would have said that he looked like a clown, but not in this case. Everything was so combined with each other that no image of any other fashion designer could compare with this. He was simply charming, it was the first time that Jenny fell in love with another person's clothes.

"Yeah, hello." no matter how surprised she was, confidence shouldn't be lost in any case.

"Come in, sit down, would you like some tea?" Mr. Afton kindly suggested, he also seems to be british, oh, how fascinating his voice sounds, just a delight to her ears.

"No, thanks." the girl looked around. The office was, of course, beautiful, but quite ordinary, except for one detail. Mannequins. They looked like real people. They werent just white, but all sorts of different colors. Both dark and beige, even with the effect of vitiligo disease. It's like they're made of real skin.

"So you like them?" the fashion designer suddenly asked.

The girl shuddered:

"Yes, yes… They're very, very beautiful." the girl answered uncertainly, this is the first time it's happening with her.

"I make them myself. Handmade, you can touch them." William said genially with a smile on his face.

The girl got up and walked over to one of the mannequins. She touched it lightly with the pads of her fingers. For real, like a real… Skin.

"I make them out of… Animal's skin. By coloring it in the desired color." why did he stumble on the word "animal's"? Oh, well, okay, it happens.

"It's impressive." she was still running her fingers over the mannequin. "What kind of animals do you use?"

Mr. Afton paused and then grinned hysterically.

"I make them from… Pig's one". his answer sounded as strange and uncertain as possible. As if Jenny had asked something she didn't need to. It's like she's asking too many questions. "Okay, let's move on to the contract." the man changed the topic.

The girl sat down on the sofa while William handed her a contract with a modeling agency. After reading it carefully, the girl picked up a pen and left her neat signature in a beautiful handwriting, and then handed the document back into the hands of the man.

He smiled.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you, I'll see you tomorrow." William said, returning to his desk.

The girl went out the door of the office. Well, tomorrow is her first day working for Mr. William's agency.

***

The dressing room was teeming with stylists, make-up artists and other staff. It was noisy. And Jennifer didn't really like noise, but she sat quiet as she didn't want to spoil her own reputation.

Instead, she sprawled impressively on an armchair while one of the makeup artists weightlessly applied powder to the already delicate skin of the model.

"Miss Christie, do you need anything?" the receptionist, whom Jenny and Martin saw yesterday, turned to the girl behind the chair.

"Yes, coffee." it was normal for her not to say "please", does she even knows about this word existence?

"Mrs. Christie, we're done." spoke the young makeup artist.

She, in turn, began to look at herself in the mirror….Yeah, could have been better. She'd do better one at home.

"It's terrible, but what can we do, you'll learn someday." Jenny criticized, taking her coffee from the receptionist's hands. Probably the makeup artist was hurt by her words.

The girl turned towards the rest of the room. Several of the same girls were sitting and waiting for them to be made up. Makeup artists swirled around them, applying powder, blush, foundation and other cosmetics.

The walls were painted a pleasant white color, wooden tables with lots of cosmetics on them, as well as upholstered chairs, on one of which Jennifer was sitting.

Suddenly, the main fashion designer, namely Afton, entered the room. He looked around the room and when he bumped into Jenny, he smiled.

Without taking his eyes off her, he said:

"The models can meanwhile prepare for the trial show, and I'll have to ask Mrs. Christie to come with me." Mr. Afton announced, nodding his head as if to indicate that she needed to follow him.

When Jennifer entered the office, she saw the same mannequins with different dresses, but one of them caught her eye. It was a beautiful puffy black and white dress… It was covered with artificial black butterflies, complementing the look. On the mannequin's head was a headband with the same medium-sized butterfly. The shoes were high-heeled.

"This is the dress that you'll wear for your first show at our agency." William purred contentedly, looking at his creation. "What do you think?"

The girl came closer. In addition to butterflies, the dress was decorated with thousands of small rhinestones.

"It's wonderful!" the model exclaimed. "you're really a true artist."

William grinned contentedly. He was flattered by Jennifer's attitude, although he's well aware of her character. He knows more about her than she would have guessed.

"How do you like it here?" William asked, sitting down at his desk and lighting a cigarette. "Do you like everything?"

"Well… Its much better here than in other agencies, except that…" Jenny walked over to the mirror in the study. "Though make-up artists should learn more." she tried to say it as politely as possible, but for some reason she wanted to impress William. This was the first time she acted that way, usually Jenny torn up contracts with other agencies with ease, without fear that it would change her life. But then something beckoned to stay here longer.

William looked at the model. He chuckled and said:

"I think I'll agree." he also needed to make a good impression on Jennifer, at least in some ways they are similar. "Is that all?"

No. Noise, annoying staff, disgusting coffee, according to the model's opinion and this is only part of it.

"Yes, everything else is fine." making innocent eyes, the girl said. "Can I go now? I need to get ready."

Letting the smoke out of his mouth, William nodded and the girl headed for the door.

Returning to the studio, she saw defiling girls walking along the catwalk, where the show will soon be held. They did well, of course, but not like Jenny. Its not surprising that she was made the main star at this show.

"Madame Christie!" the main director ran up to the girl. "You're just in time, you're going to be on stage now, go to backstage."

"First, explain they should do." the girl said irritably. "And what about me? Improvisation?"

"Oh, yeah, of course. So, look." the director, whose name is most likely George, began to actively gesticulate with his hands. "You go out in the middle of the stage, scroll through, and then all the model girls come out and together you do the crown pose. Is that clear?"

What an idiotic plan, but there's nothing to do.

The girl went on stage and began to act according to the director's plan with a model gait. All the girl's jaws dropped. Of course, anyone could envy such a figure, gait and grace.

The girl stopped and made a turn at the edge of the podium. Then she turned around and walked towards the other models who had already went out. A wave of the hands and the girls depicted a large crown. It was a pretty spectacular end to the show. Although, its rather strange that Jenny, as the main model of the show, was given very little time.

"Belissimo! Belissimo!" the director standing by the stage clapped. "Girls, you're great, everyone did their best, and you… Mrs. Jenny, especially beautiful." this man also had an accent, but it was Italian. Although, it was already obvious by his mustache that he's not exactly an American.

For the sake of decency, Jenny smiled and went to the dressing room.

***

Pretty boring and terribly long day. Preparing for the show was a tedious task, which didn't bring any pleasure.

After coming home and changing her clothes, Jennifer flopped down on the soft bed. She had a feeling that something bad was going to happen, but what? Nonsense. What could possibly happen in an ordinary modeling agency? Especially when there is such a handsome and kind chief fashion designer.

The girl was lying in her soft lace robe, which clung so pleasantly to her skin. Her bed was large, soft and comfortable. Silk pillows and blankets, there are even bedside curtains to shut out the whole world.

Suddenly, Jennifer's hand came across something fluffy and soft. Picking it up, the girl saw her old bunny Oliver from childhood, which her grandmother gave her. It was a white hare with a red tie. There were patches and scuffs in some places. It was strange that Jenny didn't throw it away, because it was surely worn and battered.

Memories from childhood flashed through her head.

***

October 27, 1985.

A little girl with thick afro-curls quietly entered the room and locked it. She looked to be 11 years old.

She walked lightly to the bed and climbed on it. There were various toys, dolls and much more on the bed, which all the girls dreamed of in childhood. But she picked up a white rabbit. Oliver. Her best friend.

"My parents have left again…" the girl began. "But they promised to play with me…"

Little Jenny always told her best friend everything. She trusted it like no one else.

"But I'm sure they'll come soon, right?" the girl assured herself with a note of sad hope. "Isn't that right, Oliver?… My parents love me, don't they?" tears flowed from her eyes, the little girl's face turned red and she hugged the toy to herself. "They love me! They need me, I'm their daughter!"

***

The girl didn't even notice how teary her eyes were. Did her parents need her? Or were they just buying her off? Yes, she has a luxurious life, but Jenny has never known what true parental love is.

While all the children were playing football with their parents and going on picnics, Jenny was sitting at home at that time and sadly drawing a portrait of her family. She wanted to make sure that her parents loved and cared for her. But instead, they're always at meetings, conferences or whatever.

And only Oliver listened to the girl's tears all these years.

"Okay, I'm crying because of a bullshit." with these words, the girl wiped her tears and put the toy back in its place.

After a while, the girl fell asleep.

***

Days, weeks, and then a month passed. Day turned to night, nothing changed. The day of the show was approaching. Jenny was 100% ready.

And here it is, the long-awaited x-day. Jenny had heard that the entire elite of the modeling business would gather for the show. Someone even said that some of them came only because of Jenny.

And the model itself was already wearing that black and white puffy dress. A headband and black heels complemented the look. It suited the model's face, as if it had been made for her specially. A light make-up to match the color of the dress sparkled on her face.

William walked around the dressing room and checked how the work was going. Of course, it is important for his agency not to screw up and meet the expectations of critics.

The models came out one after another. Cameras clicked and the audience applauded enthusiastically. The journalists were doing some kind of report and were trying to interview William, who was also standing in the hall and watching everything that was happening.

George was running around and saying something to the models who hadn't come out yet. Most likely, he was giving them some advice.

And Jenny was still sitting in the same chair and watching the painting. It's been a month since Jenny got a job at Mr. Afton's modeling agency. And every day she felt more and more uncomfortable around William. If before the silver eyes radiated calmness and kindness, now there is nothing but some kind of intimidation. His character hadn't changed, but his eyes spoke more.

A man's voice pulled out of his thoughts, which most likely belonged to William:

"You ready?" he put his hand on her shoulder, as if feeling her skin, or was it just her imagination? "Now it's your turn, you remember what you have to do?"

Jennifer nodded and headed towards the podium. George was standing very close to them, writing something down in his notebook.

"Madame Christie!" he turned to the girl. "Good luck."

Jenny nodded and went on stage. Hundreds or even thousands of cameras suddenly blinded her, some people clapped. Despite this, the girl didn't even blinked an eye and confidently walked to the middle of the podium. Jennifer's eyes darted. Maybe her parents came after all? The crowd of people was the same and almost merged, but the girl would have recognized her parents out of a thousand. They aren't there, however, it was no longer surprising.

The girl turned around and walked over to the other models who had already run up. They all looked different: orange, blue, light blue, pink dresses perfectly matched the black accessories on the them. Each of them looked beautiful in their own way. But tonight, the star of the night is Jennifer. But she also has every chance to go out today.

A couple of movements and the girls depicted a crown, which, as it turned out, was the symbol of the agency.

Enthusiastic applause, blinding the cameras again. The show was a success.

***

"Mrs. Jennifer, Mrs. Jennifer!" as soon as the girl went backstage, George addressed her. "You have met all our expectations! It was excellent." he spoke enthusiastically, even stammering a little.

"Thank you…" Jenny replied dejectedly, she wanted to rest.

"Mrs. Jennifer, can I talk to you for a second?" Mr. Afton appeared from behind.

Jenny and William moved away from the dressing room.

"Your performance was really amazing, I'm glad that you're working with us." for the first time, a compliment made Jenny blush, although the silver eyes were still frightening, but William's speeches were so pleasant… "How about dinner together?" that's… Is he asking her out on a date?

Jenny had always thought that William was married, as it was rather strange that such a handsome and promising man hadnt yet been taken away.

The girl had no plans for the evening, so:

"Yes, sure." the girl replied with a smile.

"Then you can go home, because I still need to talk to other fashion designers." it's a common thing after screenings at some agency. This was in the girl's favor as she would be able to dress the way she wanted. After all, the dress that William himself sewed was beautiful and elegant, but still belonged to the agency and was a little uncomfortable. "I'll pick you up at 8."

The girl returned to the dressing room to change clothes, and then go home with Martin. Her heart was beating in anticipation. Jenny liked William's attention. Now his eyes radiated not madness, but kindness.

"Martin, follow me!" Jenny called the man over and headed to the car. Martin and Jenny got into it and quickly drove to the girl's house.

And at the same time, a fashion designer was watching the whole picture, smoking next to the agency building. He knew that Jenny was an arrogant and spoiled girl who was easily manipulated, so he bravely took advantage of this without remorse, because beauty requires sacrifices, which William would do without doubt.

***

Jenny got out of the car and slammed the door. The white country house was illuminated by the streetlights and garlands that Jenny had hung on the house to make it look more cozy.

Martin's car drove off and Jenny headed home. Going into her room, the girl again chose what to wear. This is not just an interview, this is a date with Mr. Afton himself. Something about him attracted the girl so much, although she herself didnt realize that she was being controlled like a doll.

"Well, well…" Jenny was looking through the wardrobe, trying to find something that would suit her today. The choice fell on a white and airy dress. It was light, weightless. Jenny also wore lace stockings and small white heels.

It is worth admitting that everything goes for Jenny, even if she'd wear in a cellophane bag, she'll look breathtaking.

It was close to 8 p.m, the time when William would pick up Jennifer.

When the girl was putting on makeup, she heard the sounds of a car approaching. It was William, he stopped near the girl's house and waited for her.

Taking everything she needed, the model ran out of the house.

"Hello, Mr. Afton." the girl curtsied gracefully.

William looked at the girl and smiled.

"You look beautiful." Afton said with a wink. The compliment made her ears and cheeks burn. The girl gets hundreds compliments a day, but none of them caused such strong emotions.

Afton opened the car door and invited the girl. Jenny nodded "thanks" and got into the first seat. Afton walked around the car and got into the driver's seat.

The most amazing thing is that Afton, it turns out, lived very close to Jenny's house. A couple of minutes and they were there.

It was a 2-storey and quite large house. There were children's swings and toys in the yard. After all, he has children. The walls of the house were painted a shade of purple. Guess it's his favourite color.

Afton gently took the girl's arm and they went into the house.

The house looked even better inside. Beautiful, snow-white wallpaper, white wooden floor. The walls were hung with various beautiful sketches as there were also children's drawings.

Afton invited the girl into the kitchen. It was made in a rather fashionable style of that time called Baroque. No wonder, because Mr. Afton is still a fashion designer, after all. Everything was clean and tidy, all the appliances were in their places.

Jennifer sat down at the table and watched Mr. Afton's actions.

"What do you want for dinner tonight? This evening I'm your chef." William asked jokingly and with a touch of coquetry. The girl was embarrassed again.

"Since you are the chef today, I trust you." she put her elbow on the back of the chair.

"Whatever you say, Madame Christie." turning around, his smile changed to an annoyed face. He didn't like his own cheap show, which he himself put on. "Would you like some champagne?"

Jennifer doesn't drink, but since such an occasion…

"Yes, sure!"

Afton went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of expensive champagne. It finally came in handy.

"I'll pour it." he wouldn't let the girl pour it herself, because he only needs to add a pinch of magic powder to carry out his plan. Opening the lid of the bottle and taking out a glass, he began to slowly fill the glass. After making sure Jennifer wasn't looking, he took a small bag out of his pocket and just wanted to pour it…

"You have children?" the girl suddenly asked, startling William. He turned to her and took a deep breath.

"Oh, yes, i do… Michael, Elizabeth and Evan." Afton exhaled, looking at the portrait that Jenny had apparently noticed.

"And where is your wife?"

You know, sweetie, you're asking too many unnecessary questions that won't help you in any way.

"She left me with 3 kids." William was able to lie by looking into the eyes. Surely he wouldn't say that his wife had died a long time ago? It'll scare our little Jennifer away.

Jennifer began to feel sorry for William in her mind. How can you get away from such a smart, handsome and successful man? Even left him with three kids. She didn't know yet who she considered "kind."

While the girl was thinking, William managed to add the contents of the little bag to her glass. The powder quickly dissolved into the liquid.

The man turned to the girl and gave her the glass. Then he poured himself a drink. Slowly sipping the contents of his glass, he watched the girl. She drank it all quickly.

"It's too strong for champagne." the girl was getting sick.

"When you drink it for the first time, it happens, especially in one gulp." the man assured the girl.

The girl was dizzy and she was slowly losing consciousness. A minute later, she fell asleep.

William grinned at his new victim with his silver eyes.

***

Pain shooting through her whole body. The pain that made her want to scream, but something prevented from doing so. All the muscles were stiff and the girl couldn't move a single limb. Her vision slowly returned. The bright light of the lamp began to fill her eyes, making Jenny squint.

It was cold and only now Jennifer realized that she wasn't only tied up, but also almost naked.

"Are you awake yet?" a familiar voice, of course, it's William.

What the hell is going on here? Where is she? Why is she tied up? Little Jenny tried to say something, but only a mumble came out of her mouth, her mouth was taped.

"Are you trying to say something?" William spoke ironically. "Don't bother yourself, you can't, no one will hear you."

Jenny still didn't understand what was going on, but William, as if reading her mind, answered her question himself.

"You must be thinking what's going on, right? Let me explain."

William walked over to the table and took a syringe, pulling some substance into it.

"You remember the mannequins from my office, so that's it. You will become one of them!" Afton said enthusiastically. "You've always dreamed of beauty and fame, right? Then you must know the phrase: beauty requires sacrifice. I make these sacrifices, making people even more beautiful!"

Has Afton gone crazy? What he's talking about?

The girl remembered those mannequins… For real, are they all made of human skin? The girl had a gagging urge. She started kicking and trying to get out. No, she's too young to die. No, no, no!

William looked at this sight and grinned contentedly. He knew that Jenny couldn't get out, she was doomed.

"Don't worry, I'll make you into something more than just a worthless model." William spoke in a whisper, as if calming the girl. "You can't even imagine how wonderful it is to be a beautiful mannequin that everyone admires." he was a psycho who went mad, but he liked it.

He was sure he was doing people a favour by pulling their skin over a mannequin. He thought they were ungrateful if they kicked and tried to run away.

William slowly walked up to the girl and slapped her in the face to calm her down.

"And you….You're all ungrateful scums who don't understand that I'm doing this for your own sake." William grabbed the girl's hand and inserted a syringe under her skin. The girl tried to pull away, but unsuccessfully, it hurted her even more. But soon it became more difficult to make movements, her eyelids were closing, her breathing slowed down. William injected her with poison to make her agony easier. Although he could have skinned her for profit, he felt sorry for her.

William returned to the table and picked up a small surgical knife. He looked at the girl's lifeless body again. She will make a wonderful mannequin, she'll thank him again.

***

A knock on the door.

"Come in." William said without looking up from his papers.

Men in police uniforms entered the office.

"Hello, Mr. Afton, we have come to you about the case of Jennifer Christie's disappearance, do you know anything?" one of the men asked.

"Jennifer went home after the fashion show, that's it, I never saw her again." pretending that he didn't know anything, William answered the question.

"Did you see anyone suspicious around her?"

William pretended to think. Martin, for sure, he'll be able to divert suspicion from William.

"She left with her manager and as far as I know, she treated him pretty badly, so…." William gave a little hint to the police. Oh, poor Martin, he gave so much nerve to Jenny, and now he's going to jail probably.

"Great, we have a suspect, thank you, Mr. Afton." the men turned around and left.

"Have a nice day." William said goodbye with a smile.

His gaze turned towards the new mannequin with dark skin, dressed in the same black dress with butterflies.

"Guess what, they're looking for you." he turned to the mannequin standing next to William's desk.

Jenny dreamed of being a star. She became one thanks to her parents, who will never see her again, but not all stars are destined to shine forever, right? Jennifer became one of such stars.

[begzii-blog]

Clothes desgin commission

Main Notice

-The copyright of the picture belongs to me.

-Secondary processing and AI, theft are prohibited.

-If the work is used commercially, Please contact(vop59s@gmail.com) me separately.

-All works can be used as a portfolio.

-Works that are judged to be difficult to work on, controversial, or prohibited from commission may be rejected.

-You can upload commissioned works externally or apply for reference materials for other commissions. However, in this case, please leave >begzii< as the source.

Type Detailed Description

-38USD for 1 person / 45USD for 2 people (+13USD for 1 additional person)

-Okamase Commission designs costumes according to the historical accuracy of a certain traditional culture or era (ex. Vatican era, Qing Dynasty, Mongolian style, etc.).

There may be difficulties in obtaining materials depending on some specific eras or cultural spheres. However, I will try my best to design Omakase in accordance with historical facts.

Asian cultural sphere (ex. East Asia, Eurasia, Central Asia, etc.) costume design is the main focus.

Of course, other genres (ex. SF, romance, etc.) and other cultural spheres (European, African, etc.) are also welcome!

The first confirmation and revision is free, but an additional fee of 8USD will be charged for the second or subsequent revisions.

The work period is up to 38 days from the moment of payment. (Considering the period of one confirmation and revision in the middle, the first draft will be shown at least 7 days and at most 10 days after the application date.

Work Process

Application and reservation > Payment confirmation > 1st draft work (minimum 7 days ~ maximum 10 days) > 1st revision and confirmation > Delivery of final work

Application form

*Please send your commission application by email (vop59s@gmail.com) in the correct format!

-Applicant's name

-Applicant's character appearance and settings

-Desired costume design concept, keywords

(It would be good if you have image references for reference. The more detailed and specific the content is, the easier it will be to understand what the applicant wants.)

-Other and additional inquiries

[lboogie1906]

Folorunso Alakija (July 15, 1951) is a Nigerian businesswoman who is involved in various industries such as fashion, oil, and printing. She is known for being one of the richest Black women in the world.

She was born in Ikorodu, Lagos State. She was from a sizable family due to her father, Chief L.A. Ogbara, having been married eight times and fathering 52 children. Alakija was his second surviving child and her mother, a fabric merchant, was his first wife. At the age of seven, she and her younger sister Doyin were sent to study abroad at Dinorben School for Girls in Northern Wales. The pair of sisters attended the school for four years before they returned to Nigeria at the request of their parents, who did not want the girls’ African values, traditions, and culture to be lost. She continued her studies at Muslim High School in Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria. She ventured abroad again, this time to Pitman’s Central College in London to pursue an education in secretarial studies.

She began working in Lagos as an executive secretary and worked at FinBank for several years. She studied fashion design in the UK for one year. She established Supreme Stitches, her fashion house, in a three-bedroom apartment in Surulere, Lagos. She was one of the best designers in the country and became recognized for endorsing Nigerian culture through her works and clothing.

She expanded her business interests and applied for the allocation of an oil prospecting license in May 1993. Her company, Famfa Limited, was granted the license to explore for oil on a 617,000-acre block, known as OPL 216. She entered into a joint venture agreement with Star Deep Water Petroleum, a subsidiary of Texaco, and appointed the company as a technical advisor for the exploration of the license. Some 40 percent of her 100 percent stake was transferred to Star Deep.

She married Modupe Alakija (1976), a lawyer and the couple raised four boys together. She is known for her philanthropic work through the Rose of Sharon Foundation. She was appointed as the vice chairman of the Nigerian National Heritage Council and Endowment for the Arts. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[ghanatrails]

Unleash the Vibrancy of Accra: The Ultimate Guide to the Accra Experience with Best Ghana Tours.

Are you ready to experience the vibrant city of Accra like never before? Look no further than Best Ghana Tours! Our Accra Experience tour package is designed to take you on a journey through the heart of Ghana's capital city, showcasing its rich history, diverse culture, and infectious energy.

History and Landmarks

Accra is a city steeped in history, from the ancient Ga kingdom to the British colonial era. Our expert guides will take you on a tour of the city's iconic landmarks, including the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, the Cape Coast Castle, and the National Museum of Ghana. Learn about the country's struggle for independence and the role Accra played in shaping Ghana's future.

Markets and Shopping

Accra's markets are a shopper's paradise, offering everything from traditional African clothing to unique souvenirs. Our Accra Experience tour takes you to the bustling Makola and Kaneshie markets, where you can haggle for prices and try your hand at bargaining like a local.

Food and Drink

Ghanaian cuisine is a fusion of African, European, and Asian flavors, and Accra is the perfect place to try it. Our tour includes a visit to a local restaurant, where you can sample traditional dishes like jollof rice, fufu, and banku. Don't forget to try some fresh coconut water or palm wine!

Nightlife

Accra comes alive at night, with a range of bars, clubs, and live music venues to choose from. Our Accra Experience tour includes a night out in the city, where you can dance the night away to Afrobeat rhythms or enjoy a cold beer at a rooftop bar.

Culture and Tradition

Accra is a city rich in culture and tradition, and our tour takes you to the heart of it. Visit the Ga Mashie cultural center, where you can learn about the history and customs of the Ga people. You'll also have the opportunity to attend a traditional dance performance or try your hand at drumming like a local.

The Accra Experience with Best Ghana Tours is the ultimate guide to Ghana's vibrant capital city. From history and landmarks to markets and nightlife, our tour package has something for everyone. So why wait? Book your Accra Experience tour today and unleash the vibrancy of Accra!

[theewitchwitch]

Spiders have woven their way through the tapestry of human history, embodying intricate webs of symbolism across diverse cultures and literary works since the beginning of time. From the delicate balance between creation and destruction to the mysterious dance of fate, spiders evoke both awe and fear. Observed as celestial weavers shaping destinies or feared as omens of impending darkness, these creatures have long fascinated humanity. What exactly is the message behind the spider?

The mythology of the spider goes back to ancient Greek and Egyptian stories of the spider being the weaver of the world. West African, Indigenous and even Norse mythology supports idea that the spider was a creative goddess who used strength and her interconnectedness in life to transform. It has been said that the spider created the alphabet and taught us "spelling." Seems pretty magical. Let's discuss one of the myths really quick.

So, there was a mortal named Arachne. Her dad was a man in the Asia Minor (near Turkey) with all the best dyes, especially purple which was a hard color to come by and meant strictly for the gods. As she grew in her craft, Arachne created linens and intricately woven tapestries. She wasn't just an ordinary weaver. It was as if her hands danced within the loom and created stories that impacted the fates of those who wore her clothing.

As Arachne grew in her craft, the townspeople started to compare her to Athena, the daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom and weaving. Now a quick little something about Athena. She was NOT a girl's girl. She was wholeheartedly supporting the patriarchy at the time and led a battle of the Titans, giving her father strategy to win. Zeus, Athena's dad, wasn't just the most powerful god at the time. He BIG DADDY. We were all his sons, if you know what I mean. To be fair, Zeus wasn't the only god running around being forceful with his love-taking and often disguising themselves as revered animals to be more accepted by the woman they were in pursuit of.

Athena finds out about Arachne's bold confidence in claiming she was a much better weaver over Athena. While Athena could have approached this mortal, in her war gear with Medusa's head full of snakes embroidered onto her cloak, eternally petrifying her.

Instead, Athena disguised herself as an old woman to pay Arachne a visit. She pleaded with Arachne to consider what she had been saying. How dare she say she was better than the daughter of Zeus! Arachne didn't care one bit. In fact, she Donald Trump doubled down on it. This angered Athena so much she dropped her disguise immediately and challenged Arachne to a tapestry weaving contest. Arachne sealed her own fate, offering to accept any punishment Athena deemed appropriate should she lose the contest.

Athena began weaving a tapestry with the corners filled with stories of how the gods felt about mortals' over-confidence and lack of respect to the gods. She then included the few times her mother, Hera, petrified humans in the past.

Arachne made an entire tapestry dedicated to outing the gods' sexually deviant behavior and lack of morality despite demanding worship from the mortals. Not only did Arachne embarrass the gods but also did it in a beautiful and impeccable design. Athena even acknowledged the beauty and flawlessness of Arachne's work while simultaneously being outraged that she would make that public knowledge with no remorse in sight.

In a fit of rage, Athena destroyed Arachne's tapestry and loom. Now he is where the story goes two ways. Some say that Athena tormented Arachne until Arachne hung herself with her threads. Other accounts show that Athena did physically hurt Arachne with the intentions of killing her only to have pity. She acquired a potion from Hekate that turned Arachne into a spider, being forced to weave for all of eternity.

What do we learn as humans on a spiritual level? Where can we weave parts of ourselves into humanity? How do we weave ourselves into the things we create and what is the lasting image we leave?

MESSAGE FROM THE SPIDER:

Haste makes waste.

See things from another perspective.

Weaving Intuitive Thoughts Can Heal- W.I.T.C.H.