#REMEDIOS

[wgm-beautiful-world]

Santuário de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios , Lamego, Douro, PORTUGAL

[reap-the-game]

Passed away in beauty’s doom The good in me, the child within A cruelest heart made me forget The world as I wish it to be

[infomedicos]

Hace mil años alguien hizo una afirmación que hoy sigue vigente:

"La imaginación es la mitad de la enfermedad; la tranquilidad es la mitad del remedio y la paciencia es el comienzo de la cura”. Ibn Sina, persa, latinizado como Avicena. Médico, filósofo, astrónomo y científico.

[deadl21]

@deadl21

[newmayhem]

Wardrobe & Styling: Risika PT1

As always, I’ll keep using original names if I’m talking specifically about the original iteration and in quotations and stuff, but I’ll be referring to everyone by their new names in all other situations.

Welp, I guess I'm officially back! In a nutshell, work got really busy and I got distracted by a few other hyperfixations (and I also got a bit self conscious now that I realize this blog actually kind of has an audience). I was going to do a big post explaining what I’ve been up to, but I it was taking too long and I didn’t feel like it, so I guess I’m going to just jump right back in!

I recently started watching a lot of youtube videos about fashion and costuming in movies and tv shows, so I thought it might be cool to do a short series about how I’d dress these characters for my version of the story. Starting, of course, with our girl Risika!

Canon outfits

We don’t get a lot of detailed clothing/outfit descriptions in general, but here’s what we have for her:

Chapter 1 (Now) - Black jeans and a black t-shirt

She doesn’t always wear black, but that was the color of her mood that day.

She also says in this chapter that she wears a silver ring set with a garnet stone

Chapter 15 (1704) - Mens clothes and tangled, unkempt hair

Wearing long skirts was getting too cumbersome for her

Chapter 18 (Now) - Black tank top → cropped body hugging gold tank top with black jeans

Generally keeps her hair its natural old gold color until the end when she adds black stripes to it.

Going off of just this, it seems like Risika is pretty utilitarian when it comes to clothing choices. Very simple, no frills (literally), mostly/exclusively black (contrary to her own narration)…up until when she’s dressing for her fight with Aubrey.

I take this to symbolize Risika’s character journey from being depressed, antisocial, and wanting to hide away from the vampire world (or at least pass through it unnoticed) to embracing her predatory nature and being comfortable with being seen and making her mark as a part of vampire society.

My Version

I want to stay along these same lines as the canon, but add some more nuance and details.

Generally, Roksana favors earth tones and natural materials (to show how attached she is to nature and humanity). She doesn't like things clinging to her too much but she also doesn't like things that are so baggy or flowy that they get in the way (to show her yearning for freedom).

She hates button-ups (too stiff and formal); she likes dresses and skirts in theory, but doesn't often reach for them on a regular day.

For the most part, she likes to keep things simple for her main apparel pieces—solid colors, basic shapes. Shoes and accessories is where she likes to have more ornamentation.

She tends to keep her accessorizing to a minimum because she likes to be able to move unencumbered. She hates carrying bags or wearing hats but she has a pretty extensive shoe repertoire. Her shoes are practical but well-crafted and even ornate.

When it comes to jewelry, gold is her preferred metal. She's not super into precious stones or pearls. She likes wooden or clay beads and semi-precious stones like jasper, jade, or lapis lazuli.

These days, she doesn't wear much makeup, but during time periods where heavy makeup was a thing, she'd wear it in order to blend in.

She typically styles her hair in whatever is fashionable at the time, but prefers to wear it down in its naturally curly/wavy state.

She's more interested in how things feel as opposed to how they look, so comfort, mobility, breathability, and texture are very important to her. She doesn't like feeling trapped.

I really want her wardrobe to speak to her innate longing for freedom and her resilience as well as her connection to the past. I also thought it might be interesting to hint at a secret craving for luxury (a contrast to the idealized image she has of her saintly brother in order to make her feel even more guilty and self hating after she becomes a vampire) and a desire for comfort (or rather, to stay in her comfort zone) but at the same time always being prepared to flee.

1701

I'm still researching the specifics of what was worn at this time/place (it's been surprisingly really difficult to find info about late 17th/early 18th century fashion in Mexico) so I'll probably do a more detailed followup post later on, but Roksana would basically be wearing whatever other people of her social class were wearing in terms of silhouette, fabrics, etc. I don't she would have much flexibility when it comes to self expression at this time (clothing was expensive to make so she probably wouldn't be very trendy or experimental as a working class woman). I think she would favor solid colors over prints and she'd wear almost exclusively earth tones except for a blue rebozo (a long woven shawl of Mexican origin; image below) that was her mother's (blue to represent a touch of the supernatural). No jewelry, either, except for her rosary (although, I'm not sure if this actually counts as jewelry) that was passed down through her father's family.

Because she was raised without her mother and apart from her mother's family, aside from the rebozo, her clothing wouldn't really have many indigenous or African elements to it.

NOW

While she's not into metallics and synthetics, I do picture her style as kind of reminiscent of Y2K era R&B singers, especially in terms of silhouette (small, fitted tops, big pants, chunky shoes), but there are also some goth elements like corset tops, square or high necklines, the occasional puff or bell sleeve. She loves crop tops! For bottoms, she liked wide leg pants, utility/cargo pants, and joggers.

STYLE NARRATIVE

Closer to the beginning of the story, Roksana's outfits are very subdued. It's like she's constantly trying to camouflage. She's also wearing more historical looking clothes to show that she's kind of trapped in the past.

Towards the end, she starts to incorporate some bolder, more eye-catching elements, especially metallics, which also feel more futuristic, like she's finally ready to move forward and she's ready to be seen.

She also starts to dress a little more like Andros, who I picture as having very bold style.

Also, because in my version her hair is dark and curly/wavy, the tiger stripes in her hair aren't going to work out so well, so I was thinking of giving her tattoos, like tiger stripes along one arm, her shoulder and down her back (I have no reference photos for this because everything I could find on pinterest and google images looks stupid). This would not only symbolize her embracing being a predator, but it also shows that she's becoming a little more like Andros (who has tons of tattoos).

This post is already getting too long, so stay tuned for Part 2 where I go into specific outfits!

[leregirenga]

"Hay buenos remedios para la melancolía: el canto, la devoción, beber vino, hacer música, hacer poesía, vagar sin rumbo". Hermann Hesse Todo aquello que te guste te beneficia y son remedios infalibles para curar muchos males emocionales que nos aquejan. Así que si tienes algún ataque de nostalgia, ansiedad, melancolía o tristeza, realiza tus hobbies favoritos. Leregi Renga

[theactualleia]

The surreal art of Remedios Varo

1. Premonition (1953)

2. Visit to the Plastic Surgeon (1960)

3. Sympathy (1955)

[odalum-cit]

[kleiner-ghost]

Remi: You are now one day closer to eating your next plate of nachos.

Jacob: That's the most hopeful thing I've ever heard.

Dev: But what if I die tomorrow and never eat any nachos?

Leila: Then tomorrow is nacho lucky day.

[eekaos]

Supercombo, 2023.

[backerhannah]

Segunda feira é meu aniversário.

E como a maioria aqui, luto contra a depressão, alguns diagnósticos e pensamentos suicidas constantemente a muito tempo. Além de muitos remédios, estou fazendo um tratamento Cognitivo Comportamental. Não sei se vão ler esse texto, mas os que lêem e se sentirem tocados por ele.

Aos desconhecidos que quiserem me presentear de alguma forma.

Eu só peço que me enviem um pix para a ajuda nos remédios, e alguns itens que preciso para minha terapia, e esses itens são realmente importantes pra mim. Um pix no valor que você puder, quiser. Estou falando sério, desde centavos até reais se quiserem. Enfim, agradeço se leu até aqui. Só peço que deixem lá um recadinho para que eu possa agradecer 🙏

Este é meu pix : lizzielovatobr@hotmail.com

[panchicha]

[reap-the-game]

"Remedios? I feel strange." "You look beautiful, Brielle."

[fulerage-love]

[deadl21]

@deadl21

[newmayhem]

Persephone parallels

As always, I’ll keep using original names if I’m talking specifically about the original iteration and in quotations and stuff, but I’ll be referring to everyone by their new names in all other situations.

I know this probably wasn't intentional (because I feel like if it was, ahar would've noted it somewhere), but has anyone else noticed the parallels between Risika's story and the myth of Persephone?

They were both innocent young women forcibly separated from their powerful mothers, lured into the underworld with a flower, made to stay there against their will because of the red things they ingested, and then eventually became one of the underworld's most powerful/feared beings.

I think it might be interesting to lean into this parallel in my fic. It could be a way to explore how Roksana kind of has one foot in the vampire world and one foot in the human world (or rather, she's stuck in the vampire world and can't fully let go of the human world), or how she's been cut off from the protection and power of her mother and her lineage.

Food for thought. Might circle back to this later.