#Rouge Fashion Book

[lovelybeautifulsleep]

Nadine Ijewere: Luna Wu, Pan Haowen and Manami Kinoshita for Rouge Fashion Book, September 2019 (Copyright © Nadine Ijewere, 2019)

[wandixx]

Seriously chaotic fashion misadventures

I realized I posted a teaser and never really followed up on it, so here is some more of that

“Hey, Dami?”

Boy hadn’t looked up from the kittens he was bottle feeding but let out a hum indicating he listened.

“I'm thinking about trying out a more girlish style. Do you think it would suit me?”

Well, Damian had no idea but if Dani wished to give it a chance, then, well, the only proper reaction was to offer his aid.

*-*-*

“Father, I require access to your rouge gallery.”

Bruce almost choked on his breakfast when his youngest made this announcement.

Rouge gallery, as his children playfully called it, was vast collection of lipsticks, which he collected to uphold his Brucie persona. Famous playboy with head constantly in the clouds couldn’t not show up with discreet signs of scandal from time to time. And it couldn’t always be the same shade. Or scent when he choose more subtle approach and used one of his more feminine perfumes.

In all honesty, he enjoyed this.

But that’s not the point, point was that Damian wanted to use it and Bruce needed to know what disaster would fall upon him if he agreed.

“Mind telling me why, chum?”

Dick, who visited Manor for a weekend, barely stifled his laughter while Tim stared at his empty coffee mug like it personally betrayed him. Cass just wore her usual knowing and mischievous smile.

Damian shifted in his chair, hands clenching on butter knife. He was nervous and suddenly Bruce dreaded the answer he was about to hear.

“I don’t see how me sharing this information would change anything. It won’t be used to cause harm to anyone but it’s necessary in the extracurricular project I just started.”

“Dami, what project?” Dick asked, voice oozing with genuine curiosity and excitement. He was almost bouncing.

“I don’t want to disclose it.”

“Is this a hero or civilian type of deal?”

Damian didn’t look any of them in the eyes, both hands clenching on his seat as he kept shifting. Bruce narrowed his eyes. Was his youngest… flustered?

“Civilian”

“Alright, great” Dick swung back with single clap, almost tripping his chair over “I think B won’t have anything against you using his rouge gallery, will he?” Man knew his oldest son well enough to recognize his ‘don’t you dare to disagree’ tone. He was confused but there wasn’t any harm so he nodded with affirmative hum.

“Thank you, Father”

Boy practically inhaled rest of his food and rushed outside. Despite all his training and all his efforts, they clearly saw his excitement. Tim pinched himself and returned to staring at his mug.

“Cass, have you seen what I’ve seen or am I overreacting?” Dick asked, barely restraining his enthusiasm. Girl nodded eagerly, shoving more crumbs into her mouth. Young man cheered, throwing his hands up.

“What have I missed?” Tim mumbled, frowning a little.

“BABY BAT HAS A CRUSH!”

Cass nodded again with wide smile.

Oh.

Oh no.

Who were they? What did he know about them? Was Protocol 3r0s started? Did someone run a background check already? What could they do if they somehow hurt Damian? Was this person a risk to their identities? Oh gods, oh no.

He probably will have to do The Talk™.

He always dreaded having The Talk, with any of his kids. He felt The Talk with Damian would be even worse. Understandably so.

“Also sleep in at least three da-”

“Fuck off, dick.”

“Was this insult or-”

His children remained obvious to how much work it meant, cheering and sassing each other like they often did.

*-*-*

Damian did not know how it was possible but he lowered his guard enough to get caught.

"What are you doing?" Brown choked out after they stared at each other for a long moment.

"It does not concern you–"

"You're rummaging through my wardrobe, not many things concern me more and also, that's frickin creepy don't do it to anyone outside of the family"

She did have a point however he was not convinced it would be the correct approach if he shared his plan. Father's wards (even unofficial like Brown) tended to make assumptions and overreact based on these conjectures. Dani wasn't easy to scare off but he didn't want to check if his family would manage. They often did things thought to be impossible.

He tried to get away but the blonde stood fiercely in a door, leaving the window as the only way out. He wasn't this desperate. Yet.

Girl looked more and more angry at his silence. He had to give her some answers.

Now that he actually considered it, she could be a useful asset. She was far better versed in women's fashion and if he phrased it correctly, he wouldn't even need to bribe her. Question was, how should he phrase it?

"I have an acquaintance- I have a friend," he corrected himself "from the animal shelter I volunteer at. She mentioned wanting to try out more 'girlish style' and asked for my opinion. I wanted to see if you had any clothes that would fit her. She is smaller than me so I thought that whatever I take, it wouldn't be missed." 

Brown grinned with an unsettling gleam in her eyes. He suddenly regretted opening his mouth if not coming to this room in the first place. 

"Say no more, I have a plan Demon Child"

[marie-plath]

[juooxu]

Looking for moots! 🥩

   🪦 ︵︵ ELIJAH。⭑ 17 ﾐ

      They｡ ˖†† He﹏ ◠◠

I will mainly talk about:

My OC (from fandoms and not)

Books, reviews - rate - any thoughts about it

My interests ! Vkei - anime - videogames - goth culture and more

Writing some stories or one-shot (still from fandoms and not)

Please read my CARRD

Oc and stories

- DANTE (coming soon) ! My story

- DANTE oc !

Books

- still empty

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

something i noticed

A while back, I wrote this analysis reviewing how unfair the magic education system is in Twisted Wonderland. I would recommend reading that before this post, as it provides tons of context for what I’m about to talk about and add onto the discussion.

In 2-6 of the Tapis Rouge event, Vil has stylists from Luxe, a high end fashion brand, dress up Azul, Jamil, and Ace to be a part of his red carpet entourage. Once the boys come out in their new threads and makeup, Jamil and Azul, two individuals who are meticulous about details, provide some telling commentary.

According to those two, the team of stylists that helped them were mages. Azul further remarks that they were quite skilled mages and that having this kind of talent indicates a “first class brand store”. Their hair and makeup is also suggested to be done via magic, though this service is not normally performed for customers. Previously, we knew that skincare can be infused with magic (Vil does so with his own) and that magic can be used to style one’s hair (Jamil tells us in his Birthday Boy vignettes that he does his intricate hair with magic and used to take far longer with it when he lacked the precision). Idia states in book 6 that Jamil had no formal magic training before NRC, so that means Jamil was self-taught in his hair-handling magic.

… Okay but 😭 WHAT DOES THIS IMPLY ABOUT MAGIC AND CLASS??? Is it just a coincidence that the teams of stylists who staff a high class store are ALL mages? Surely not, given how uncommon mages are in the general population. The store (or maybe the brand itself?) must be going out of its way to hire them because I guess being dressed with magic is a more “luxurious” experience than the normal way. We can also guess from Azul and Jamil’s accounts that the degree of magic these staffers use requires significant skill and precision, which either means they need formal instruction or lots of practice on their own. Neither option is afforded to people with naturally low or no magic reserves at all 💀 meaning jobs like this are gated to mages only.

Now, this doesn’t inherently mean the rich and famous people who frequent these stores are also all mages (Kalim’s dad and Vil’s dad are two non-mages who are extremely wealthy and influential); the majority of them must still be regular people since humans seem to be the majority, and 90% of humans are non-mages. It also doesn’t guarantee that the Luxe stylists are paid more than a non-Luxe stylist (although I do think this is possible for a prestige brand, especially if we factor in commissions on sales).

What’s sticking out to me here is that there exists an association between magic and luxury. The reverse also appears to have some truth based on what little other lore we have; Ruggie states that there are not a lot of mages from his hometown, which could imply a history of non-mages being driven into poorer communities. It all fits together a little too well to seem coincidental… but obviously, Ruggie’s hometown is just one place and could be an outlier rather than the exemplar. We know that most non-mages must live an average lifestyle, not the extremes that Ruggie has experienced. Still, the claim that magic is typically associated with the upper class holds and it continues to be perpetuated in the lore.

Anyway, Fellow and Rollo were right—

[wintercorrybriea]

Rouge Fashion Book, Issue 16 ‘home’ With 摄影师 Photographer Karl Felix

[yuurei20]

Dialogue Comparison: Tapis Rouge (pt3)

Original Ace: Shorter jackets like this are super stylish. It makes my legs look longer, right?

EN Ace: Short jackets like this are super stylish, right? Does this make me look taller or what?

(Characters referring to each other or themselves having long legs has been consistently removed from EN, including from Ace, Vil, and twice from people talking about Leona.)

Original Designer: It was designed to be both fashionable and dressy.

EN Designer: Our aim was to create a look that was fashionable, yet fun.

Original Ace: And Vil-senpai is talking to this amazing person so casually. EN Ace: And Vil's talking to him like they're friends that go way back.

(The nuance is identical, but the word “friend” can be sensitive at NRC and is interesting to catalogue.)

Original Vil: Knowing him, even if he can't wear it himself, taking a picture of us wearing these and sending it to him may satisfy him.

EN Vil: Knowing him, I'm sure he'll be almost as pleased just to get a picture of you wearing them.

Originally Vil says that he thinks that Rook would be satisfied by a photo of all of them in their new outfits, but on EN he does not include himself amongst the group that Rook would be pleased to receive a photo of.

“Felicity Cosmetics” has appeared in the game three times since Book 2, always with a different spelling on EN (Felicity / Félicité / Felicite) while consistent on JP.

While one of EN’s three spellings was accurate to the original game, for Tapis Rouge they chose to go with both of their two other spellings, instead: “Félicité” in dialogue and “Felicte” in titles.

Original Ace: Wow, sounds like Azul-senpai never wastes anything.

EN Ace: Wow. You must never waste a single sorcent.

(The return of the EN-exclusive currency "sorcents," first introduced in Port Fest. More here.)

[modelsof-color]

Xie Chaoyu by Felicity Ingram for Rouge Fashion Book October 2023

[brief-artist]

Meet the Shadouge kiddos

Dahlia and Delphine ; Identical twin girls. Dahlia was born deaf and because of this is very well versed in sign language. She was in speech therapy as a young child and can speak just as well as her twin sister. Shadow is a bit more protective of her , which annoys her. When she's annoyed with either of her parents she removes her cochlear implant and sticks it on the fridge in the kitchen and usually disappears in their home to be left alone. She takes more of an interest in fashion and pursues that as a career. She takes after Rouge's need to snatch anything shiny and often found shopping with her gal pals. She drags her sister alone even if she doesn't want to be there. And usually snatches her father's wallet to foot the bill for their girl days. Delphine is the opposite of her twin. Even if they are identical they couldn't be more different from one another. While she cares about what she wears she is a little more less dramatic about the trends than her sister. She follows in her mother's footsteps and becomes an intelligent solo agent. Much to Shadow's dismay but he can't tell his daughters what to do. But has a sixth sense when either are in danger or in need of him. She much prefers the quiet days with a good book she can spend with her father. Both girls enjoy their days out with their mother. Any time they can spend with her and they can get Shadow to say yes to footing the bill is a win for them. The often drag their younger sibling along despite him not liking spa days or shopping in general.

Orion ; The quiet son. He doesn't really find much enjoyment in conversation similar to Shadow. Unless he really needs to , sometimes they could go weeks without hearing a peep from him. Seeing his older sister is deaf he's versed in sign language and opts into using that to communicate. Or he just texts. He has a severe sensitivity to light , due to this he styles his quills the way he does to keep his eyes covered. He can see just fine despite his sisters fussing over him. Despite his quiet nature he's quite the artist and a little on the nerdier side. Something he ropes Shadow back into. It's something they both bond over. Even though he's close with his dad he's even closer to his mother. Taking interest in her hobbies and need for collecting shiny things. He's got a rather quick hand and has gotten in trouble more than a few times for pick pocketing.

[nothing-but-flowers88]

Star Wars Timeline for the semi-modern au

Staring with The Acolyte and ending with The Rise of Skywalker

Plus a few notes at the end

The Acolyte: 1840

(132 year time skip)

The phantom menace: 1940

Attack of the clones: 1950

The Clone Wars: 1950-1953

Revenge of the Sith: 1953

The Bad Batch: 1953-1967?(time skip final episode)

JEDI Fallen Order: 1958

SOLO: 1959-1962

Kenobi Series: 1963

JEDI Survivor: 1963

Rebels: 1967-1972

Andor S1: 1967-1972

Rouge One: 1972

A New Hope: 1972

The Empire Strikes Back: 1975

Return of the Jedi: 1976

The Mandalorian S1-2: 1981

The Book of Boba Fett: 1981-1983

The Mandalorian S3: 1983

Ahsoka: 1983

(Time Skip)

The Force Awakens: 2006

The Last Jedi: 2006

The Rise of Skywalker: 2007

Some Notes

•I chose 1972 as the main year since that’s when the watergate scandal happened and it fits with Star Wars evil government theme

•I love The Mandalorian show being the introduction to the 80s

•Rebels starting in the 60s works cause Thrawn would wear those 60s blazers and turtlenecks and governor Pryce already has that mod fashion bob

•I’m obsessed with early 2000s sequel era. Like Mall goth Kylo Ren and jerk preppy Hux being rivals at First Order university to impress headmaster Snoke is perfect

•Also 50s Bad Batch, leather jacket ‘greaser’ Hunter! Sleek black turtleneck Crosshair!

•The Acolyte being set in 1840 it could have a pretty cool old west theme to it

•Ezra Bridger was stranded in 1972 and came back in 1983, wondering why no one likes his hippie look

[deke-rivers-1957]

Scott’s Search For Love

It's night time and my friend Tom comes into my lab.

“Hey Scott. How's it goin?”

“I've been better.”

“Listen you gotta crash soon buddy. You’ve been up too long.”

“I know, I just didn't want to be alone tonight.”

“I know how you feel. C’mon and let’s talk about it.”

I decide it’s best not to argue so I follow Tom to the front room.

“Well I’m ready to hear ya out.”

“It's hard to start because I can't quite define it. Maybe it's just some kind of restlessness, a feeling of needing something more…or maybe it's just a problem that I have with women.”

“Oh I get it. You’re still sore about your marriage with Dianne falling apart.”

“Yeah. I keep thinking how much of a fool she made out of me, but I still think of the beginning, when it was fresh and young. I still can smell that little perfume she used to wear.”

“So why’s that making you hole up in the lab now?”

“I don’t know. I'm not sure if it's Dianne or the restlessness, or just the realization that I've been a fool. I want to do something more than what I'm doing. I don’t know, I just feel like something's missing in my life.”

Tom immediately stands up off the couch.

“What you need is to be thrown out of your comfort zone. Dancing girls as far as the eye can see. The Moulin Rouge.”

“Okay, okay. I guess I could use some fun. Let's go.”

“Great! I’ll get the car. Don’t worry about changing.”

I can’t even argue with him as Tom drives me to a place open all night and looks like an old fashioned saloon.

“This is the place?”

“Just wait till you get inside. Va va voom. In about 5 minutes a swinging little number’s gonna be coming your way. Fiery New York girl who doesn’t mince words. And boy does she like to take charge.”

“How are you so sure? I never exactly had women throwing themselves at me.”

Tom sits down at a table and I sit down on the other side.

“Now don’t get sore with me but I already called ahead of time and booked you with the crown jewel of these ladies.”

“You really wanted me to come here and be with this girl?”

“I always try to give you the best old buddy.”

All I can do is sigh since Tom does mean well. Even before I married Dianne he would try to get me dates with women he met.

“Well I guess I'll take a chance on her then. Maybe if I take your suggestion for once I might get at least a nice conversation.”

“There you go. At least you’re doing something.”

Some guys come up to our table and look right at me.

“Hey Tom who’s this dough boy?”

“That better not of been a crack about my weight.”

One of the guys gets in my face.

“And what if it was.”

I stand up and try to stare them down. Lack of sleep’s really affecting my judgement.

“You better knock it off.”

Things get ugly. Just as I'm about to get punched in the face I hear a commanding woman’s voice.

"Hey! There ain’t gonna be any fighting in this joint."

The guy steps back. Everyone turns to see who’s talking. Tom whispers to me.

"That’s Carmen."

She comes up to the group of guys.

"You oughta mind your own business when it comes to newcomers. If you don’t like it you can leave."

They scurry away.

"We’re sorry ma’am."

She turns to look at us and my heart skips a beat. I think I'm preparing myself to possibly have my heart broken.

"Hey Tom is this your friend Scott? You are new aren’t you."

"Yeah, I've never been here before."

"Well I’ll show you to my room. Follow me."

"Okay."

I get up and follow her. My heart's beating so fast I can barely breathe.

“This is it.”

I take a look into the room as she goes in

"This is uh…not quite what I imagined."

"What? Were you expecting this to look like a seedy motel room?"

"Well…yeah. I mean it's late and it's…you know."

"Listen. Just because I get paid for favors doesn’t mean I don’t have standards."

I feel slightly embarrassed about my faux pas.

"Oh no, no, of course not. I didn’t mean to imply that. I wasn't expecting your room to be this elegant as I didn't think you ladies lived here."

"Good now get on the bed."

"Okay."

I do as she says since I'm in enough trouble. As soon as I lay down on the bed I feel the fatigue hit me.

"Hey Scott."

"Yeah?"

She sits down in a chair and starts smoking a cigarette.

"You want a smoke?"

A part of me kind of wants to say yes. But only a small part so I push it down.

"No thank you. I don’t smoke. Or drink."

"Boy are you different."

I wince inside. This isn't looking good at all. I'm so out of my comfort zone I don't even know what she's going to do to me.

"This probably sounds like a dumb question, but…what're we doing in here?"

"Tom paid me to be with you for an hour. You can do anything you want with me."

There's something about paying a woman to do "favors" that doesn't sit well with me. I know Tom wants to help but I'm just not that type of guy.

"I'm not sure I want anything. I really just wanted to come here and have some fun and get out of a rut I'm in. Tom was telling me getting away from my comfort zone would do me some good. He wanted me to meet you because he said you'd be good for me."

"And he’s right. When patrons feel stuck in their sex life they come to me because I help them figure out what they want."

"Oh. What exactly do you think I'd want then?"

Carmen looks at me long enough to make me feel a panic attack coming on.

"First off why do you look like a drowned rat who hasn’t had so much as straw to sleep in and a piece of cheese to eat? I'm amazed Tom would bring you here when everyone can see the bags under your eyes. What do you have insomnia or something?"

At first I feel hurt because I took it as an insult. Then I start to understand that Carmen's saying this out of concern. I'm a little touched by that.

"Uh, I haven't been sleeping very well lately. I've been in a pretty deep depression. I don’t think being called a dough boy helped things."

"I heard that. It hurt you that much?"

Maybe it's because I'm just exhausted but I feel myself opening up to her and tell her things I haven't told any woman.

"Well I’ve already got low self-esteem about my weight as it is. And it seems like my money is more popular than I am being Duster Heyward's son who just sits in a lab all day. Outside of that I’m just…. fat. And unattractive."

"And says who?"

"Everyone. No one’s found me attractive. Not even the girls I’ve dated. Oh sure they never outright said I was fat and unattractive but they weren't exactly affectionate with me either. I’ve only been in one serious relationship to the point of marriage, but she just wanted my money. She didn't seem to care about me when I worked one too many nights in the lab or when I felt discouraged about a project. Even when I would take a break and try to give her all of my affection I just. Never got the same amount of that affection back. We ended up getting a divorce and she quickly went onto someone more fit. And not as ugly."

I can't help but feel myself spiral. I cover my face because of how overwhelmed I am.

"Hey. Let me speak for myself before you lump me in with everyone."

I take a deep breath and look at Carmen.

"Okay, sorry. Go ahead."

"Good. Undo your shirt."

At first I just look at her since I’m nervous about this but I do as she says. I just don't think this will end well.

“Okay. I’m ready.”

Carmen gets out of her chair and puts out her cigarette. The way she's looking at me makes me think I'm going to be in for a horrible time.

“Now hold still.”

I close my eyes so I don't see what she does when I feel her hand on my stomach. I wasn't expecting that since it's quite gentle. Her touch sends slight tingles through my body.

"Jeez are you constipated or stressed? Your stomach feels hard as a rock."

I have to laugh a little at that because it's true.

"I guess I’m both. I do tend to tense up when I feel stressed."

I try my best to relax as she rubs my stomach. It surprisingly isn't as hard as I thought it'd be since this is starting to feel nice.

"See you ain’t as bad as you think you are."

I open my eyes after not realizing I closed them.

"Yeah? You don’t think I look too fat?"

“Nah. Your stomach’s soft but it doesn’t droop over your belt.”

I let out a sigh of relief.

"So what’s your request?"

"Okay. I need a nap and well.. can I…lay my head on your lap? I’d like…. My head rubbed."

"Yeah. It ain’t a big deal."

"Oh okay."

I sit up and move a little closer to Carmen so that I can lay my head on her lap. I wasn't expecting her to say yes that quickly. I guess she's used to having weird requests like this.

"How long do you wanna nap?"

"I’ll say 30 minutes should be fine."

"Alright I’ll set a timer."

I watch her set a timer and feel her rubbing my head. It's the type of head rub that makes me realize just how stressed I really was. But now it's all just... floating away.

Time Skip

"Ok time's up.

I hear the timer go off and slowly open my eyes. That nap definitely helped me feel better. I almost don't even want to get off her lap because of how nice this was.

"Mmmm…"

"How was that?"

I decide it's best to sit up and look at her as I stretch.

"A lot better than a regular pillow. I’m not even kidding."

"I can tell. All you need is some cheese and you'd be a happy rat."

Maybe it's the way she says it but I can't help but chuckle. It never comes off as her putting me down but as a way to help me not feel so bad about myself. There's something about her that makes just want to take a chance in asking this.

"There is another thing I would like to do."

"Oh yeah?"

"Okay… I’d like to uh… go on a date. When you’re not you know doing all this."

"Alright I’m free from noon to 4."

"Oh. You really mean that?"

"I don't say anything unless I mean it. But just so you know I don't do any off the clock favors."

I can't help but blush from that. It does feel nice that even though she works like this, she still has standards where there's no pressure to "perform" with her.

"Oh, okay, okay. You won’t need to worry about that. I just don’t… really do that right away."

"Ok."

I'm still amazed that I really just asked a woman I just met out on a proper date. This is new and different for me that I'm a little worried about being too desperate.

"So, does that mean you’ll go out with me?"

"Sure where do you plan on going?"

“Well uh. You like Italian food?”

“Honey I am Italian. That would be perfect.”

This is turning out better than I thought. Carmen might actually be interested in talking with me outside of just her job.

"Great. What time do you want me to pick you up?"

"12:15 on Thursday."

"Okay 12:15. You know, I wasn’t expecting you to say yes to this."

"I wasn't expecting to have a patron wanting more than my typical favors so we're even."

She looks up at the clock.

"You should probably fix yourself up since it's close to an hour."

"Oh. Yeah."

I get off the bed and button my shirt up again. Maybe she has a special type of mirror but when I start to fix up my hair I could swear I actually look better.

"Thank you for letting me nap. I can’t wait to see you again on Thursday."

"I’m glad you had a good time."

"It was better than I was expecting. I guess I’ll be going now. I’ll see you Thursday. Have a good rest of your night."

"You too."

I wave as I leave her room. Tom must have had a good time too because he comes up to me with a smile on his face.

"What did I tell you Scott. You look great. Carmen fixed you right up."

"Yeah. You were right. She did fix me right up. I do feel pretty good actually. We’re going on a date Thursday."

We start going outside to the car.

"A date? Now that’s something to write home about."

"I know. I never thought she would agree to it in a million years. Plus it’s a real date. We’re going out for Italian."

“Excellent choice. You learn a lot about a woman just by where they agree to go on a date. Italian can mean anything and doesn't always require a checkbook.”

I realize he's right. Carmen could've suggested a more expensive place but she didn't. She's actually very easygoing and didn't make me feel like I needed to do anything to impress her.

"That's true. I didn't want to make it too fancy but I still want to take her somewhere nice."

"Well you're spoiled for choice with Italian places."

Tom gets in the car.

"Now let’s go home and get some sleep. 1 am just ain’t like it used to be."

"Yeah. A good nap on that nice cushion of hers really did me good but I'm still a little tired."

"Cushion? You don't mean her-"

I start to blush as I buckle my seatbelt. Of course Tom would think that since I did make it sound a little dirty.

"No, no I would never do that. Trust me. I meant her lap."

Tom laughs as he starts driving me home. I feel like I should explain what happened.

"I really opened to her about myself. She told me to unbutton my shirt because I said I wasn’t attractive and that everyone felt I was fat. I never had my stomach rubbed like that before."

"Not even with Dianne?"

"Oh. No. Dianne never really touched my stomach. Not like how Carmen touched it. You know. She probably did it because I was her patron."

Tom shakes his head.

"Nah those stomach rubs were real, pal."

"How do you know that?"

"There are many women that work there. My personal favorite’s Lady Marmalade. She told me a lot about how they operate. These women can tell what a newbie likes just by who they book."

"What? Seriously?"

"Oh yeah. Carmen’s bread and butter are men who can’t get it up. Psychology is a big part of the process. You over think things involving romance. That’s another thing they pick up on. Her bluntness eliminates that problem since she'd never do anything she didn't feel comfortable doing."

I admit that Tom's experience with these women is very useful.

"Yeah, she definitely is blunt. That I could tell. But that’ll mean she’ll tell me about my chances of a second date by the time we get the check right?"

"Definitely."

I start to feel a tad more confident about the date now that I talk through this.

"Well, if you’re right, at least I’ll know where I stand by the end of the date."

“You will.”

Once we get home we try to walk inside without waking up my Pa.

"Night, Tom."

"Night buddy."

As soon I get inside my room something just feels off. Or at least off compared to the dark hole I've been in.

“Is this hope? I think I feel good.”

I sit down on my bed then look at my reflection in the mirror. I notice that I no longer look as nervous, scared, or stressed out. I think back at the recent memory of lying on Carmen’s lap and her rubbing my stomach and then my head. It was the right decision to go.

“Now if only this date can be as good.”

I change into my pajamas then lay my head down on the pillows. I've been so restless for so long but now I'm actually looking forward to something in the near future. I can finally sleep peacefully now.

Tagging: @atleastpleasetelephone, @xanatenshi, @eapep, @jhoneybees, @hooked-on-elvis,

@vintagepresley, @i-r-i-n-a-a, @peaceloveelvis, @urbeatlemaniac, @samcro-redwood-originals,

@iloveelvis2, @kittyyaponia, @thetaoofzoe, @tupelomiss, @lustnhim,

@lucy114505, @sissylittlefeather, @rktismylife-blog, @wildhorseinkansas, @pomtherine,

@freudianslumber, @smokeymountainboy, @thelonelyheart, @be-my-ally, @whositmcwhatsit.

[radioactive-metal]

absolutely bananas headcanon about why Aurora Legion and Illuminae files are in the same universe

ok… so like, I’m almost sure of this, because of that one plague that’s mentioned in both books, lystergia or something. So, you may ask, “But Mr. Metal what about [fold/aliens/spaceships]” and I say shut your mouth please I’m getting there:

The Fold: they just…. Stopped using it. They decided it was too dangerous after the rahaam because of rouge spores or some shit and also annoying that realistically your most veteran combat crews are like 25 years old generally (looking at you aurora legion) so they started using wormholes instead. Much cleaner, no weird ancient aliens leaving their old glassware around, no psychosis, just good old fashioned giving space time a good wedgie. This is why the Alexander has a big bugger off wormhole in its belly, and has low ranking crew that have like, spouses and kids.

why no aliens? Because Kerenza is like, 10000 people tops and most of them are dead, and it’s in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. You can’t take much family along, so I would bet against beretreskans (even fin talks about needed connections) and I just don’t think the syldrathi would work on a shitty little backwater for a human company. It’s just… not in their nature.

governments: is it that big of a stretch to assume terragov did a big rebrand after it turns out their intelligence wing is full of fun guys? (I know very funny you can shoot me later) also the other governments aren’t mentioned because like… why would they be? Nobody knew what was going on until after the events of the book, so why would they be mentioned?

the ships: I forgot what I wanted to say here but something something still have marines something something.

AI, AKA AIDAN you cannot kill people: is it that much of a stretch to assume that AIs can go from little crazy pocket pad sized giga brain intelligences to city sized “I can calculate all of space time to rip holes in it” Uberbrain in like 150-200 years?

more to come maybe but I need sleep to regain energy to scream at more maybe tommorow.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello! I recently saw this post (https://www.tumblr.com/special-mooon/782098191450619904/someone-noticed-this-about-riddle?source=share) where someone pointed out that in Riddle's dream in Book 7, many of his sprite's gestures are done with his left hand rather than his right. The user in the post theorised that perhaps he was originally left-handed but conditioned to use his right (Or maybe he's ambidexterous? But wouldn't his character profile say that then?)

Just wondered what your thoughts on this were

I guess I have an extensive list of Mrs. Rosehearts abuse allegation posts now... 🙂‍↕️

[ Why doesn’t Riddle resent his mom? / Why Riddle expresses gratitude for his mom / Physical abuse? (pt I) / Physical abuse? (pt II) / Nutrition and Height / Calorie Counting? ]

Ooh, this post! I saw it circulating in the JP fandom but hadn't realized it had gone viral (the original tweet currently sits at 1.1 million views) and also gained exposure in the English-speaking side of the Twst fandom. I didn't think to really comment on it at the time, but I can definitely share my thoughts now.

So firstly, I definitely commend OP for noticing this detail. It's such a small thing that could have very easily gone under the radar. Their take is also definitely really creative; I don't think I would have made that connection myself.

I do believe that Mrs. Rosehearts is a stern an uncompromising woman, so she would take whatever measures she deems "necessary" to correct something she views as "wrong". She's also unbending and unwilling to negotiate or accommodate for deviations of her own vision. That being said, I do not think she "corrected" Riddle's handedness or forced him to change his dominant hand.

Taking a look at the two designs, I think they're meant to literally "mirror" each other, and that is reflected in the hand poses as well. The two outfits have many visually similar elements, such as the ruffled collar and the colors, but they are opposite of each other as well. Dorm Uniform Riddle has his collar done properly, but dream!Riddle has it open. Dorm Uniform Riddle lacks accessories, but dream!Riddle went wild with them. Dorm Uniform Riddle has gloves, dream!Riddle is bare-handed. Dorm Uniform Riddle's main color is white, but dream!Riddle's main color is black. Even their headwear is tilted to the opposite sides.

This could be intentional imagery or symbolism of Riddle going down a completely different path, were he to take the other extreme in his life (complete freedom, being allowed to have a childhood, etc.). This means even his small habits--like the hand gestures--might be affected. Twst often utilizes a character's fashion and posing to imply things about their character, and I think that's also being utilized here to parallel the opposite lives of Riddle Rosehearts.

If we take a look at Riddle's official profile, his dominant hand is stated to be the "right" hand, not "left" or "ambidextrous" (which we know is possible because Crewel's official profile states he is ambidextrous).

The profiles should state what is objectively true information, right...? So if Riddle could also write with his right hand, he should technically be "ambidextrous" here.

Let's look at Epel as an example. His favorite food is listed as "grilled meats" (sometimes called barbeque in the English text, but called yakiniku in the Japanese text). However, "macarons" are also listed.

Twst seems to imply that grilled meat/yakiniku IS Epel's favorite food, but he is told by Vil to claim macarons are his favorite, as they are a food better fitting the noble image of Pomefiore's Fairest Queen.

In both Tapis Rouge and Glorious Masquerade, it is mentioned that Epel thinks macarons taste good, but they are not very filling.

In both of these instances, Vil and Epel assert that Epel likes macarons to keep up the farce, especially when Ace and Azul begin to question the accuracy of the statement.

In his Birthday Boy vignettes, Epel enthusiastically talks about barbeque but is much more reserved (like he is in his fake "dainty" persona Vil pushes him to adopt) and tepid when discussing macarons and why he likes them. In Ace's Ceremonial Robes vignettes, Epel claims macarons are his favorite food, but stutters as he says it. He may not be used to the macaron lie yet, as it seems he recently got sorted into Pomefiore. Epel demonstrates a disinterest in macarons when he has a chance to have many of them too.

In Epel's case, he keeps the facade of macarons being his favorite food. The truth is that grilled meats/barbeque/yakiniku is his favorite food. In his profile, both the truth (ie the meat) AND the false or "forced truth" (ie the macarons) are listed.

Following this logic... In a hypothetical situation in which Mrs. Rosehearts did "correct" her son's handwriting, Riddle would also have the truth (ie his left) AND the false or "forced truth" (ie his right) listed in his profile. Riddle doesn't, so I'm only left assuming he has always been right-handed.

With all of that being said 💦 I have to say that I'm a little... put off by some of the comments in the post linked in the ask. It's all fine and well to headcanon Mrs. Rosehearts "correcting" her son's handwriting, but I was startled by the assumed violence employed to achieve it??? Like... so many people mentioned very extreme ways of "fixing" left handedness, including but not limited to: hitting with a ruler, holding or restraining the hand, and even breaking an arm. And the worst part of it all is that many of the comments seemed to whole heartedly believe these are real tactics Mrs. Rosehearts would use and called for her death as retribution??? My first thought when it comes to "correcting" left handedness certainly isn't those violent methods, it's just... practice and maybe some stern talking-to? Which I believe is how Mrs. Rosehearts would have done it, if at all. All she has to do is tell Riddle to do it and he’d probably comply given how obedient he is to her.

It was extremely uncomfortable to see so many concluding that Mrs. Rosehearts had to have used a terribly cruel and inhumane method to get what she wanted. This always seems to happen whenever Mrs. Rosehearts is mentioned... An angry, vitriolic mob that assumes the absolute worst (even if she is not even mentioned in the scene) is roused, eager to jump on everything she says/does and accept the least generous interpretation of her as fact. It’s almost as though we believe experiencing emotional abuse alone is not as “valid” unless you experience physical abuse on top of that. That line of thinking worries me because that alienates and isolates those who don’t fit into one extreme and it denies victims of emotional abuse from being truly seen.

I'm not a fan of Mrs. Rosehearts myself and it's completely true that she has forever traumatized her son with her parenting methods, but I feel it's shortsighted to jump to such conclusions + assume these extremes are truth and unnecessary to express this level of hatred for what is ultimately a fictional woman. And, as I have expressed numerous times before, I worry that demonizing Mrs. Rosehearts to this extent obfuscates the full spectrum of abuse and promotes rigid, black and white/wrong and right thinking.

[wintercorrybriea]

Rouge Fashion Book, Issue 16 ‘home’ With 摄影师 Photographer Karl Felix

[queengiuliettafirstlady]

Ikemen Sengoku OC Juliet

Ikemen Sengoku Original Character

Name : Juliet

Pairing : Kennyo 

Background : She was born and raised in a scottish family of antique dealers in Corsica, moved to Scotland, but one day during a raging storm her whole house got caught in the tornado and swirled back in time ending up in Siberia whereas she got lost in the wind and fell in Japan.

She and Mai fell on the same place and are thus taken both as lucky charms from Nobunaga but whereas Mai manage to earn the trust of the other retainers, Juliet resemblance to Kicho and Westerner habit did nothing but make her stand out amidst everyone arising the suspicion to be a spy of his.

In this mess she still managed to befriend someone and grow fond of a certain fallen monk that treated her, despite his gruff exterior, with kindness.

Personality : She is bubbly, warm, friendly, a girl who thrives in making other people laugh, desiring nothing more than to make them at ease with her.

She flaunts confidence, even when she feels anything but, doing her best to support and compliment people's talents’, despite not seeing her own, deep down she deals with a lot of insecurities about her worth and beauty but never shows them to anyone.

She is extremely wary of getting close with people, for this she prefers to play the role of the entertainer, to listen rather than to talk revealing but few things about herself.

Kind at heart she does her best to help everyone around, but could get extremely upset if someone will turn down not so politely her help, resigned as she is to being friendless she didn’t get her hopes up for anyone but find comfort in talking with some of the retainers that befriended her.

She loves to read and culture herself in subjects she has an interest in, like history and fashion history along with legends and folklore, she is also open to discover new cultures and religions as much as she could.

She hates mockery of any kind, having been the object of such, and thus will stand up for anyone who is teased, she is honest and loyal and once gained her trust, hardship on its own, it's hard to get on her bad side, she prefers to ignore all together the kind of people she hates.

Hates : Ignorance, Bigotry, Arrogance, Snobbishness, Injustice, Hypocrisy, Shallowness

Likes : Kindness, Animals, especially cats, Books, Arts

Ethnicity : Scottish from french ancestry

Race : Caucasian 

Languages : English, French, Japanese (imbues in her through the time travel wrap)

Hobby : Reading, especially romance novels, Writing, Cooking, Playing with animals

Favourite food : Sweets, Strawberries, Raspberries, Chocolate

Note : She dislike eating in public and if she had to do so she will eat the lesser she could, eat to her heart’s content only when alone or in company of people she has trust in

Favorite drink: Fruity teas or water

Friends : Ranmaru Mitsunari Masamune Yoshimoto Shingen Kicho

Not Friends : Keiji Motonari

Love Language : Touches and quality time.

Appearance :  She has a fair complexion, wavy black hair of medium height, with left side tuft on her forehead, and some ringlets that fall on her shoulders. 

Her eyes are tourmaline green, a little upward nose and rosy lips.

She is of short stature, busty with an hourglass figure, she likes to valorise with her dresses back in her homeland, now she is in Japan she is frustrated at the clothes she had to wear.

Style : She didn’t use hairclips of any sort leaving her hair loose around her shoulder, except for one, a gift from Kennyo, that she wore on special occasions where she gives out of her way to do her makeup and paint her lips rouge.

Clothes : Her kimono of choice is usually in bold, darker colours, like greens or reds, and decorated with flowery themes of similar shades, worn with a pair of chandelier golden earrings.

Western habits : She refuses to straighten her wavy hair, as some maids suggested, and brings her boucles with pride, all the while wearing her old undergarments, and some new ones exactly like the ones Mai sewed for her, under her kimono.

Undergarments such as drawers, regency corset and chemise, along knee long white socks tied with a ribbon and dark ballerinas.

She prefers to sit on a chair but if forced to sit on cushions she will cross her legs rather than curl them underneath her.

She sometimes cooks for herself recreating familiar flavours the best she could with the ingredients available.

Company : She bonds with Masamune over cooking, he is the only one brave enough to eat what she has cooked for him along with Mitsunari, receiving compliments for it.

She loves helping out Mitsunari, reordering the books or even talking with Ranmaru.

Even though she is wary of the city at first she likes from time to time to go strolling during errands eager to meet Yoshimoto and learn more about arts.

The person though she can’t help but desire to meet each time she wander into town is Kennyo, his gruff exterior and sometimes harsh words can’t conceal his kind heart from her prying eyes and before they knew they grew quite fond of spending time together, be it strolling through the forest or leisurely chatting over a piping hot tea and a warm meal.

Relationship chart

Tagging some mutuals that may be interested in seeing it hope not to bother 🙈👉👈

@kissmetwicekissmedeadly @aquagirl1978 @william-rex

@writingwhimsey

@fang-and-feather

@moonstruckmelancholic @lichtluv

@rjthirsty @ike-garden2024

@jollibeeshappiness @starzyquee              

@maeko-kun @oda-princess @rkmaru @ikeprinces-stuff

[modelsof-color]

Luna Wu , Pan Haowen & Manami Kinoshita by Nadine Ijewere for Rouge Fashion Book - September 2019