#also I know that these outfits likely (definitely) not historically accurate

[sapphicschedule]

I forgot to post my favourite (and lesbian) girls from the book which I am reading: “Dracula a little to the left”, (“Powers of Darkness” by a-e and Bram Stoker kinda).

And I mean, who could possibly forget the classic and beloved characters of Wilma Murray and Lucy Western. God bless queens.

Timelapse and mild book analysis below the cut.

So when I was reading the original Dracula, there were several things that to me just seemed to come out of nowhere with little to no explanation, and I didn’t really like that. But in this book, things are built up quite a lot more, and events are often framed as being almost predetermined by fate and the such.

I think that the main example of this that I’ve noticed so far, (I’m about halfway through PoD) , is how Lucy is framed by the narrative:

When the respectable and totally not racially charged Romanian people are visited by Lucy and Wilma in PoD, they treat Lucy like she’s this chosen queen for them and even Lucy herself is shown to have noticed some sort of otherworldly connection with this group who are tied to the count. She is meant to become a vampire in this book, and they make sure that you know it. They make it very very clear on multiple occasions. It’s just fate.

But Dracula really isn’t about fate. To me, even though I wasn’t a big fan of it at first, the out-of-the-blue-ness of Lucy’s being turned by the count was what made her death and subsequent undeath and double subsequent re-death so incredibly impactful.

It could have been anyone who Dracula chose to feed on but it ended up being this wonderful person who was a bright light in so many peoples lives. And ultimately, this ended up being his downfall, as the people who loved Lucy were justifiably determined to bring justice to her murderer. And all of this happened by chance! It leaves so much room for what ifs and the spontaneity of it all is honestly what kept me in the edge of my seat for the whole book.

It also kind of resonates with me as a woman. How many wonderful and innocent women are murdered every day simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like Lucy was. The tragicness of events which certainly aren’t random, but aren’t specifically targeted either is such a human experience, which ties in beautifully with the themes and messages of “Dracula”.

But if Lucy was destined to become a vampire? If she never did have any hope of living? Well that just erases like half of the stakes. If destiny is a plot point in your book, then fucking anything goes. We practically already know the ending. That’s not to say that the concept of destiny can’t be written well, but I imagine that it can be particularly tricky to get right in the horror genre.

But hey, I am only halfway through the book. It definitely still has time to be saved in this particular aspect, and in my opinion, there aren’t too many other problems other than all of the racism. And boy is there a lot of it. But also a lot of topless women, so that’s a W I guess.

[jaehaeryshater]

England’s Pearl and Their Beloved Queen

Mary I and Katherine of Aragon by @francy-sketches

Guys. I have not been so excited for a commission in my life. I know it’s not ASOIAF so definitely not as anticipated among my friends, but it’s just so well done. I adore Katherine and Mary and this turned out so beautifully. I cannot sing Francy’s praises high enough; after the initial reference pictures I sent her, I did not need to correct anything at all, she completely got the vision.

As anyone who has ever encountered me before will have known, I am incredibly particular about commissions and therefore very involved. I usually like to give pieces I pay for extra thought and historical authenticity. For this piece, I went and looked for available quotes and contemporary accounts of Katherine’s fashion choices. I wanted to make sure from the base of the dress (the farthingale underneath) to the jewelry were all as accurate as was reasonably possible. I did even learn a thing or two, despite my initial intention of just checking to make sure everything I had previously believed was true. For example, I learned that Katherine sometimes wore a flemish hood, which I wouldn’t have thought that would align with her fashion sense; I was proven wrong. I have seen practically all the artworks available to the public that have been confirmed to be Katherine, so I had already guessed black was her favorite color to wear. But I did learn that her other favorites were purple and red. I decided to keep it simple with the black. It’s elegant and regal, black was an expensive color but still is not obnoxiously ostentatious. The jewels around her neckline as taken directly from portraits of her. The pearls seem a mainstay for her, but I did learn that her dresses had many other colored jewels tied into them. I just thought black looked the best. Her dresses were fur-lined, although I would definitely say we took some liberties on what the fur looked. The fur she wore was pretty much exclusively ermine. The sleeves also have true gold, which Spanish royalty traditionally loved (for hundreds of years, by this point, at least). Katherine’s Spanish outfits, of which she had many, definitely collected dust in favor of more traditional English outfits. There’s no indication that she was forced into this, as she did sometimes dress in the Spanish style when it struck her fancy, but it was important for her to present herself as English with English loyalties and priorities in mind. That being said, something as innocuous as gold embroidery, which was not completely foreign to the English court, was definitely something she could implement from back home without seeming like a foreigner. I have pomegranate embroidery on her sleeves, which is more of symbolism rather than something accurate. There’s no proof she ever wore pomegranate embroidery on her sleeve, but her official symbol was of a pomegranate, so I figure that was something important to her.

Katherine’s necklace is obviously a direct copy of the necklace she wears in several of the contemporary artworks depicting. This is pure speculation, but I personally believe that this necklace could have come from old English jewels that had been melted down and repurposed for her. Generally, people weren’t as sentimental in the same way we are today, nor worried about these aspects of preservation, so jewels were melted down and used for other purposes all the time. She also usually wore many strings of pearls, but it just would have looked like too much and would take away from the piece overall, so we decided just to do the necklace. Her gabled hood is also directly taken from her contemporary portraits, the gold and black with the red jewels was what she usually wore. She has a girdle belt with a long string of pearls. Sometimes she would wear a cross at the end or some black jewels that matched her necklace. What’s depicted in this is actually a pomander that turns into a rudimentary clock when it is opened. Katherine is recorded as having one of these; I thought that was very cool. I also asked for her to have some rings. She did have a wedding ring, but I found no description of it, so the artist just did basic gold. She’s wearing two which I think is pretty funny considering she was married twice, of course she wouldn’t have worn two wedding rings, but imagine if she did have the audacity to. Katherine had so much jewelry, more than any of Henry VIII’s wives. She had the royal collection available to her, pieces from Spain, and gifts from Henry specifically made for her. She usually decked herself out as expensively as possible.

Unfortunately, there is basically no information on how Mary dressed as a child. We know her mother dressed her and was having the clothes ordered herself, but beyond that, there’s really nothing available that I could find. I felt that Mary would be dressed similarly to her mother, but I wanted to give her a purple dress because purple fabric was generally the most expensive thing you could buy. I wanted to illustrate how loved and well taken care of she was. She has matching rings with her mother, but no girdle belt or necklace because I’m envisioning her as being 6-9 in this, so I wanted to give her something she could play in. She’s wearing a French hood. Katherine ordered her one in 1520, when she was four. My references on how hers should look is from portraits of her aunts Mary and Juana. I felt that Katherine would probably want to buy a style she was familiar with. Mary’s embroidery is of the Tudor rose. It turned out so beautifully. Similarly to Katherine, there’s no evidence that she actually wore that embroidery, but I wanted some symbolism in there.

My intention with this piece was to show the closeness between Katherine and Mary. Katherine loved Mary with all her heart and showed no outward indication of disappointment that Mary was a girl. She spent more time with Mary than any other highborn individual in this time period that I know of. I wanted to show that Katherine is someone that Mary deeply and completely trusted, even when court could be over the top and crowded, frightening for a child. I feel as if people other themselves from people in the past. People often feel as if people 500 years ago did not care as deeply about their children or weren’t attached to them. I believe this is true in some instances, but generally we are more like the people of the past than we like the believe. As far as any research I’ve done has shown, Katherine loved Mary as much as any mother of our time loves her children.

I believe Francy did a beautiful job, so all compliments go to her, I hope everyone checks out her page to see her amazing work. The caliber of this is unlike the commissions I’ve done in the past. I cannot thank her enough.

I hope this ended up being relatively historically accurate, I’m sure someone will let me know if it’s not haha.

[junipernight]

I redesigned Yangchen's outfit!

... I actually designed a lot of outfits for her, because I am Extremely Normal about these books, and also I like costume design and learning about historical clothing.

Short disclaimer: These fantasy clothes aren't culturally or historically accurate, just historically and culturally influenced. I don't have any expertise in East or Central Asian culture or clothing, I've just been clicking around on the internet a lot the last two weeks learning things because that's my idea of fun lol. If you wanted to talk to people who actually know things you should check out @atlaculture or like @ziseviolet, both of whom's blogs I referenced while drawing.

I only designed two alternates for the outer robes. The first is based loosely off the robes Buddhist monks wear (loosely, because drawing draped fabric is hard ^^') especially the Tibetan zhen robe. This garment is just a long wide rectangle of cloth which can be draped across the body in lots of ways (versatility ftw!).

The other garment I drew is a Chuba, a traditional garment from Tibet and the Himalayas. It's a robe, but it highkey reminds me of kilts and hoodies, in that it a) can be worn over one or both shoulders or just as a skirt and b) it makes a giant pocket over the stomach. The long sleeves can be folded up or tied back btw.

I spent the most time on the middle layer, because I was thinking it has to be something she could comfortably fight in while also being suitable for diplomatic meetings, meditating, espionage, and possibly sleeping.

And like. You can fight and hike and whatnot in loose skirts, but it's annoying how twisted up they can get while sleeping. ALSO, YC does a lot of flying and leaping, so my girl needs pants. My faves are definitely the Xiaolin monk pants and the yellow wrap pants Aang wears. I tried dhoti (Indian wrap pants) because that kind of looks like what the giant statue of Yangchen meditating might be wearing, but I think it looks odd paired with a highwaisted shirt instead of a long tunic. Maybe I'll do some more drawings with her in a tunic and dhoti or a monk's dhonka and shemdap later, idk.

As any good historical fashion nerd knows, foundational garments are everything (◡‿◡✿).

But also, there's a scene where Yangchen and Kavik pretend to be lovers, and are "discovered" by a maid sleeping in the same room, with Yangchen in a state of partial undress (gasp!)

I am living for this fake drama; I need to know how scandalized the maid was lmao.

When the maid walks in, Yangchen immediately wraps herself in a bedsheet before ushering the maid back out the door. Maybe all she did was take off her outer robe... but why would she need to wrap herself in a sheet if she was wearing a long-sleeved high-necked gown? I got the sense from both the book and cursory research about buddhist monks that walking around without your outer robes was socially acceptable, at least in casual settings. I think it more likely she was in her underclothes, which historically (in the west anyway) would also double as sleeping clothes.

"The Aang" is censored because this is Tumblr-dot-com. Its mostly a joke, but also, I know other countries are less uptight about bººbies, so like, maybe it's a valid option ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The ~Water Tribe~ look is based off Sokka's swimwear and not Katara's, mostly because chest binding seems antithetical to airbending.

All the other undergarment designs are based on hanfu neiyi, because that's what I could find reference photos and romanized names for.

I'm tired of typing now. Lemme know if you have questions about something, or want me to post a larger version of a specific outfit. I am open to feedback and tentatively open to requests.

[applesaucesims]

Niall McGregor Lookbook

Partially ending my hiatus with some more lookbooks, starting with Niall! Niall usually dresses in cool tones, matching his eyes, with reddish browns as a secondary colour, matching his hair. Other than the fact that those colours suit him, they also reflect his personality. If you compare it to his younger self, he started dressing in cooler tones as he grew older and became even more closed off than he already was, resulting in him getting a bit colder personality-wise as well. The warm tones come back in during scenes that have him act "warmer" as well, which is his sleep and summer wear. I'm not going to change the outfits anymore, but it was during summer that he and Emma got together. As a side note, I know the first party outfit is definitely the least historically accurate here, but it was an old outfit I made for him, and I sort of got attached. I like to think of it as a special designer tuxedo jacket.

CC links + example posts under the cut.

Everything not linked is base game.

Used in all: defaults / styled hair (felix) / messy hair / lashes / body blush / eyebrows (elle) / teeth (#6 or #7) / body hair / ring

Everyman: top / bottom / shoes

Daily Struggle: top / bottom / shoes (get together)

Supportive Husband: top / bottom / shoes (get together)

No More Secrets: top / bottom / shoes (get famous)

Date Night: suit / hat

Happy Groom: suit / hat / flower (mws) / shoes (vintage glamour)

Host with the Most: top / bottom / hat / shoes (get together)

Party Pains: suit / hat / shoes (get together)

Wedding Night: shirt [link gone - reupload] / undershirt [deleted - reupload] / bottom / shoes (vintage glamour)

Bed Time: pyjamas / slippers

Sweet Mornings: robe / slippers

Underwear: top [deleted - reupload] / bottom

Swimming in Joy: bottom

On a Run: top / bottom / shoes (get together)

Shopping Trip: top / bottom / hat / shoes

Working Actor: top / bottom / shoes

Drunk in Love: outfit / hat [deleted - reupload] / shoes

Winter Days: outfit / hat / shoes

Frosty Nights: outfit / hat / shoes

Cold Gentleman: top / bottom / hat / shoes

Winterfest Preparations: top / bottom

Family Flowerfest: robe / hat / shoes (get together)

Room Renovations: top / bottom / shoes (get together) / dirt overlay

Disney Prince: top / bottom / shoes (spooky stuff) / cape*

Dreamy Soldier: costume

Hopeless Roman: costume (spooky stuff) / eyeliner / lipstick / blush [deleted - reupload]

*tsr warning

[devnmon]

dating sadie adler, kisser of women hcs ♡

obviously i had to do this for my bbg sadie. she deserves MORE appreciation and if nobody will write for her I WILL!!!! i gladly will. i love her, so enjoy these! luv u all!

[also just pretend this is historically accurate bye!]

Sadie is a very intelligent woman... she knows how to hunt, how to use a gun, who knows what else is in that brain of hers. She must have so many hidden talents and skills, and you intend to find out what.

Though her addition to the group was somewhat abrupt, you and Abigail do your best to make her feel welcome. You aren't sure if Sadie feels the comfort that you hope your words provide to her at first. Once the group moves to Clemens Point, you find she's coming out of her shell little by little. You see it in her pristine new outfit when she returns from a run with Arthur, and the way she holds herself is much different than before.

This new version of Sadie Adler was fiery, confident and stickin' it to the man– you quickly found out not to get on her bad side. Though you think you'd let her do anything to you if it were the right situation.

The minute Sadie realizes what she's feeling for you is more than platonic... it takes her back a step. She never thought she'd find someone other than Jake to want in that way– but here you are. You're always at her side, perfect to her, and she will protect you like her life depends on it. When she silently swallows her feelings and pretends she doesn't care, you notice.

You all but have to drag her out of camp in the middle of the night to get a minute alone with her; otherwise there's prying eyes and others whose attention you really didn't wish to grab.

Once the two of you are alone you'll go off on how she's been avoiding you at every turn, rambling on and on like you'd done something wrong. "What happened to you?" you'd ask. She sighs and goes "You happened to me."

"I've been a fool. Do you hate me? What have I done?" statements flow from her when she notices you're silent, staring while she stutters over confessing her feelings. It's at that point you shut her up by kissing her and you can almost hear the sparks flying from the two of you. There's a big ass smile on her face afterwards and she kisses you in between her smiles. Sadie Adler is a smitten fool for you.

She's observant, patient and good with her hands. That is: she teaches you how to shoot a rifle, since you're more comfortable to ask her. She gladly shows you, and when you think you've got it, her arms surround you from behind to adjust your aim– and you're blushing. After she takes her hands away, you're flustered by the loss and silently begging for her to put them back.

Will match outfits with you nonchalantly as a statement to your relationship with her. Like say you're wearing an outfit with blue or white, she'll wear a blue scarf and her white shirt to match you. She'll even give you a piece of her jewelry to wear in that instance, or get you a piece of your own to match hers. Sadie's sentimental & cute like that!!!

Sadie will also leave you notes secretly, to which you fawn over every time. She also definitely gushes over the ones you leave her, when you compare her to the sweet flowers you pick for her. [Arthur noticed how hard she was blushing one time and got curious, she's had to read your notes in private ever since!]

Definitely gets veryyy touchy and affectionate when she's had a few drinks. She's slurring out "Heyyy pretty girlll I know where you can find a nice place to stay for the night..." in your ear and you have to excuse yourselves in *attempt* to get her to sleep.

Sadie is definitely the type to say "i owe you a hundred kisses" if you had a bet with her about something. Usually it was silly, harmless contests that either of you could compete against each other in playfully.

Sadie also introduced you to pranks, which she loves to pull on the other guys. One time the two of you messed with Arthur, sending him silly letters from someone named "Hugh Janus". The two of you tried to hold in your laughs when he got frustrated and yelled out "WHO THE HELL IS HUGH JANUS??" in camp unprompted.

Sadie is a huge cuddler at night, intertwining her whole body with yours to keep warm, especially when it gets chilly at night. There's not a smidge of space to have for yourself, it's shared with her always. Other examples of this are her linking her pinkie finger with yours when you're standing around the group. She loves physical touch so much that she'll do anything to have her skin on yours no matter what; if it's riding on the back of the same horse, or pouring her a drink, she's making some sort of contact. It's her way to say "I'm here & I love you". She's such a sweetheart to you.

NSFW

Yeah Sadie is a top this Sadie is a top that... may I suggest... she's a switch. On rare occasions, Sadie Loves being on her knees for you. She's a real freak like that. She'll beg and beg and beg until you cave and give her what she wants: you.

“Please, stop teasin’ me, just give me what I want. You know I’ll return the favor, sweet girl.” Her raspy voice, her gentle commands, her pretty thighs spread for you..

But when she's in control? Oh it's absoluuutely over for you. She'll praise you constantly cause she knows it's what you want to hear. “Doin’ so good for me, pretty girl. C’mon, let me hear you, use your words. I know you can.. Such a good girl.”

Her soft little whimpers & pleas as she climbs higher & higher. she’s so desperate for release & your touch, she’s basically sobbing for it. her eyes never leave you once she hears the same needy whine come from your side of the room, wanting to watch you come undone from the sight of her spread out for you.

You can't tell me she doesn't get off on you pulling her hair when it's in a messy braid. You love to run your fingers through it and grip, but it's too hot out for that. Plus she thinks it's easier for her braid to be pulled, and fucking loves it.

Her skilled hands could make you a whimpering mess, easily. She knows her way around, and boy if she isn't good at what she does.

"There you go, you got it, takin me so well..." in that accent of hers.. You'll fold every time. “Oh, look at you, pretty girl. Fallin’ apart for me so easily. D'ya know how whipped you got me?" Yeah, she's a lady who knows how to drive you crazy.

Then again... she's a goddamn tease. Especially if you've been bratty? Oh it's over for you. She feels your body up and down, making you work for any other sensual touches by begging. It's music to her ears. She lovesss to make you work for it.

She'll take her time for however long edging you with her fingers, then her tongue, and once you've had about two orgasms from just that, she sticks her strap inside you and gets another.

For aftercare, she'll ask you if you're feeling alright and lay with you after she cleans you up. Usually the both of you fall asleep afterwards, or take a bath or a shower before you do. Her brown eyes shine in the light while she tucks a strand of hair behind your ear and kisses your cheeks while you lie together.

[distant--shadow]

The witch and the widow chapters 1-4 author’s notes

Ok, so first off I feel I gotta preface this by saying I am absolutely not a history buff. Kinda the opposite of one really. I was one of less than 10% of the kids in my year of 300 or so that didn’t take history at GCSEs, mostly caus a subject taught and based around names and dates etc is the definition of something not suited for my type of brain, also I hugely lost interest in it caus we moved past the fun trebuchet eras and all that real fast and it became of slog of me falling asleep in lessons caus I had a teacher whose method was putting on movies and shutting the blinds (I’d always fall asleep and he was later jailed for being a p*edophile, so that’s a thing.) Anyway, all that to say I’m not good at this shit, but as ive gotten older I have taken a bigger interest in queer history in particular, and that often if not always links into other areas such as fashion, women’s rights, religion,the arts, class, and race etc. (I’m still not good at names and dates though!)

They are outfitted and arsenalled - the stones of the wall - in a manner to rival any army; tapestries of red and gold perhaps once brandished on battlefield as banners promenading around death now retired and indoor-still-air-still as taxidermy giving colour between all of the shades of metal, burnished and polished and in some cases rusting, some still purposefully left blood-stained, swords and pikes and maces arranged in wallpaper patterns as though flowers or fans, sword-sheath beams spreading from chest-plate armour suns.

Let’s start with something easy and recent. The Baron’s armoury was inspired by a few castles I’ve visited, these rooms are always so bizarre to me. I don’t know if this is at all of the time/how they were decorated or a more recent thing, but either way it’s pretty wild but I do love the visual and metaphor of it. In this one castle I found out from talking about the carpentry to an attendant that the decorative ceiling work around the chandelier above the dining room table actually hid a trapdoor - and there was other hidden doorways for passages and to secret rooms in this castle, that’s not that unusual - but this particular trapdoor was to allow for the chandeliers to be switched out. Why? Caus they had them in multiple colours of glass, and the lady of the castle liked the chandelier to co-ordinate with her dress if they were having guests round. Aint that such a flex? Definitely some food for future thought.

Aight. Clothing. So anyone that chats fic/au to me or is in my server has probably heard me yell to go watch Kaz Rowe’s videos many times. As I’ve said this fic aint meant to be historically accurate but it does kinda straddle histories, one of which being our own; so women wearing trousers and the like at this time would still be a crime, and draw a lot of attention . Imogen in men’s clothing genuinely isn’t meant to be much of a gender thing but a thing of practicality, and she has mostly lived in the countryside or in the outskirts, so she does not get into the trouble she would should she go into the towns and cities (another reason to keep away past the potential noise, but this Imogen will happily don a dress or skirts if she needs to, she’s just usually working – and maybe it’s a bonus that dressing as a man acts as a sort of flagging for any women who might be interested lol.)

I guess here I should mention how I think this version of Imogen's powers and how they’ve manifested (along with everyone else being unaware of them) will have somewhat changed her disposition and personality, it is a lot more aligned with later campaign Imogen who has more confidence and empowerment, she hasn’t been ostracised for her abilities or particularly bombarded by them, think more like when she has her circlet on, she chooses to listen in (mostly), although of course she has still heard many terrible things (and her life has still been pretty brutal but that’s to be written still).

(it’ll be really fun in this regard getting to explore and explain this version of Laudna, but early days for giving much away on that yet!)

Her skirts are full and structured and plumed by many layers of petticoats that hide the movement of her feet across the wildflower lawn, causing her to appear to be drifting like the bees do from petal to petal, pollen dusting her pleats though ghostly her skin in contrast to the fine fabrics that she dresses for the part, black in mourning, still, bodice tight and sleeve leg of mutton, an ornate decorative layer of black lace laying over each yard of textured textile like spider webs on porcelain patterns, her husband's tableware collecting dust in the kitchen cupboard.

real impractical for how tending towards practical the Lady dares to be, hands on, too busy for errant hairs in piano key ivory and ebony windswept and loose from the high bun she pins in place with a cameo broach, a memento mori engraved in silver and inlayed with ruby eyes and tied with red ribbons. Her skin also proudly displays the age and perhaps trauma that her hair does, lines from laughter and furrowed brows and the feet of the crows that cry from the top of the chimney pots

A little note as to say that Laudna’s appearance is heavily influenced by Victorian mourning wear, with some of the clothes cuts altered to be a little bit more regency and earlier in places. (her  attire is a little outdated, further suggesting her distancing from society and fashion)

A couple of days ago Imogen happened upon a bird with an injured wing, crying helplessly and rolling in circles, feathers taking flight away from the bird that could not, settling around it as it panicked itself bald-

The bird could not live without the use of its wing, and it didn’t, whether that was by Prosciutto or a fox, only its feathers were left in a pile.

Imogen had gathered them into an empty burlap sack; taken them to one of the maids downstairs to clean, repurpose them for filling pillows.

Here’s a silly little easter egg for my p(r)oof reader. Last time he visited we was enjoying a cinnamon roll from the local bakery by the city river (as you do) and a cyclist hit a seagull. It was real distressing, the seagull was distressed too. A handfull of middle aged women stood around it not wanting or knowing how to intervene as its wing was twisted at a crazy angle and it flapped about in a pile of its own feathers, there’s still bird flu about so it is wise to not touch wild birds, and as bleak as it is I was saying to freshy that a wild bird who’s wings broken like that is gonna die, and probably slowly and painfully. Some man came along and lifted up the bird to take the bird off the path and laid it to rest behind an old bridge building, I think he must have mercy killed it too as the bird was already dead when we walked past 10 or so minutes later after finishing our cinnamon roll and giving a cautious glance. So there’s a nice happy memory thrown in there for him.

what appears to be driftwood breaches the surface, then another point, then another

the water belches

Ceviche scares, whinnying as he rears onto his back legs, the Lady leaning forward and clinging to his harness. Imogen stands in her stirrups, leaning across the gap over to the black stallion, grasping his reins and cooing

“All good, boy, all good-”

What had appeared to be driftwood lands on the surface with a slap, looking like the carcass of an old boat left to rot in the muddy bed of a dock, timber ribcaged and leathered skin cladding.

A femur surfaces, followed by a jaw.

Second easter egg for the p(r)oof is a quick one (I’m such a considerate writer, I know.) On a train ride to a loch we went to for a day out there is a stop that is on another lake/body of water, and right by the train tracks (which are at water height) there are 4 or 5 old ships stuck in the mud, most of them just the frames/structures of the old boats, mostly wood and some bits of metal, but they’re pretty big boats! It really looks like whale carcasses. I’ve always wanted to get of there and check it out, and we were gonna stop by on the way back but my health being what it is was giving me some grief that day so we missed 2 trains and then soon the daylight, so hopefully next time buddy.

There’s alotta meat and gore talk and Imogen being a vegetarian without the label for such is just another way of me playing round with all of her complex feelings about what the Lady might be doing, her feelings towards Angharad butchering and nourishing the women with these communal stews and all of that. I’ve been vegetarian myself for 20 years now, and it was all triggered by an existential crisis in my mid teens (still a huge fan of leather and blood though) – Imogen greatly cares about animals, struggles with the thought of anything being slaughtered, she is in some ways more empathetic than most because she knows those she does on so much more of a personal level, really feels how someone is reacting to a situation they are in, but also because of this she knows humans are often corrupt and vile and she is spared such thoughts from animals, only knows their instincts and the love and comfort and service they bring – and yet she will obsess over the Lady’s (potential) tooling on that saddlework leather that’s really fucking brutal if she thinks about it one way and beautiful if she thinks about it another hmmm what if everything’s not black and white.

Oh, and the stew is a homage to @picturesofthegoneworlds’ pre-campaign fic Intertwined which I am lucky enough to co-parent and her writing is hugely influential on mine.

There’s a few things being bread crumb trailed here that I can’t explain in the author notes yet, but I’m looking forward to when I can. One small detail I will give away is just a silly thing about the chapter headings. They are something of significance from within the chapter, given in its ‘proper’ name – maybe someone gets access to some books to do research at some point?

anyways, thanks @astoriacolumnstaircase for enabling me. will do another post like this for future chapters if folks find it interesting.

[the-100-days-of-junkan]

Day 0

Okay so I know the way I framed it makes it seem like I discovered this last second, but uhhh nah I found this months ago during I the making of the Music Video. So let’s tell a little story before I start getting weird with it.

So like. I couldn’t tell you what sent me down this path, but I was looking through a flashdrive with very old files on it, like, two or three whole laptops old. Actually probably only two. Anyway, on this old flashdrive I found a page of sketches from 2020. How do I know it was from 2020? It had villagers from my first island in Animal Crossing New Horizons on it. There was also a really rough looking sketch of what I can only assume was Mukuro and Sayaka. And in the bottom right corner, was this image. What might be the oldest piece of Junkan art I have, period. 

Okay that’s not technically accurate. I mentioned it offhandedly before but the first ever Junkan piece I drew was basically a joke. Because at the time the idea of Junkan being a healthy relationship was just a joke between me and my friends.

Four panels, and the joke is basically “Junko scraps her entire tragedy plan because Mikan’s hot and she wants to bang her.” I could easily find it, and I won’t act like I didn’t consider doing so to put it at the very bottom of this post purely for historical/archival purposes. But I kinda just get irrationally angry looking at it so I think I’m fine just, leaving it behind. And god knows it ain’t getting its own post.

So even if it’s not the true first junkan I ever drew, it’s the first one I drew where I gave a shit. That I can say for sure.

I wish I remembered drawing it though. 

Yeah i just, have no recollection of this. I don’t know why I drew it, what it is, anything. I have theories of course. My strongest one is that I read the first two chapters of Smile, and in my blacked out state of mine I drew this to get something out of my system? But that might not line up with the timeline. But I’ve no way of confirming what caused this to come into existence.

I have another theory unrelated to why it exists but for a certain aspect. I noticed as I was putting this together that Junko's got a Rabbit Clip in her hair (despite also having a bear clip but hey I wasn't exactly memorizing the designs by this point). That either means 2 things. I fucked up and didn't realize Junko doesn't wear the same outfit as disguised mukuro. Oooor, because I was so paranoid, and I'm pretty sure I sent this to at least a few friends at the time if not a slightly more public area (by my standards), I might have drawn it like that so worst case scenario I could write it off as Mukuro in Junko's outfit.

It kinda scared me at first when I looked at this? Like, this just exists and because of the time between now and when I allegedly drew this, there’s just this disconnect. Like, I don’t feel like I made this. I was so different back in 2020, I had less baggage, but also I kinda just felt isolated from a lot of people. I had like, 2 people I talked too pretty consistently, I had acquaintances but it wasn’t till later after my ex that I started actually talking to people more. 

Normally when I look at old art, it’s just that, looking at old art. But that’s because I can remember those pieces usually, this is something so old and obscure it couldn’t even become a memory, it’s uncanny. 

Now that I’ve had it sitting in my files that sense of unease is a lot less prominent. Now I can just look at it as old art like normal. 

I don’t really know what the point of this was? I guess I just wanted to provide one more treat, even if we jumped way down the scale of quality from Day 100. But hey it kind of being like, a relic makes up for it probably? I dunno. So this is the proper end of the project! It’s been nice! Even if I’ll see ya back for Junkan Week, and then way later The Month of Junkan, it definitely won’t feel the exact same. I’m gonna miss these daily posts, but I guess that’s why I’m gonna just have to make even more Junkan to keep it up! Though I don’t know if I’ll ramble as much as I did across these posts. Glad ya’ll liked em though! I always felt worried about being overboard with my commentary but it seems like that was just a bit more baseless paranoia on my part~

Look forward to the coming months! Because I sure am! 

As always, Reblogs, Comments, and Little Notes in the Tags are appreciated!~ They always make my day!~

[pruneunfair]

You wanna know what this reminds me of?

The part about Aria's past fashion taste and Rashta's current

This reminds me of those toxic stereotypes that women who dress herself "differently" are automatically dumb superficial idiots which I believe was effective on Rashta's part, I'm damn sure some idiots call her a stupid slutty bitch cuz she doesn't dress as sophisticated as our queen Navier ugh-

Yeah the whole thing about the weird bad fashion taste is the same as "Being hyperfeminine and like pink" makes you sluts and illiterate fools, which I hate, bcuz I'm a girly pink girl too!! How is liking pink makes me an idiot? Sure I understand that societal norm that it isn't a "mature color" for mature people but COME ON colors don't have age or gender, everyone is allowed to enjoy them regardless

Also the most offensive ironic thing to me is that this is set in a HISTORICAL FANTASY SETTING, like have you seen actual illustrations and images of what people wear back in the historical periods (European art from centuries ago)????

They literally dressed like they were walking human peacocks and walking overgrown flower pots, the actual fashion would make both Aria and Rashta's fashion taste from any timeline PALE in comparison, yeah I totally get that for certain scenarios like school, party and work, you should dress appropriately but in Aria's case, she was a child, I think that's perfectly NORMAL how a child should dress for the period

Also every piece of clothing always started a controversy, I'm sure the modern bra was considered as scandalous when it first came out

So this attitude where just because a Woman wears some extra frills and some extra bows, she's automatically a freak of society is terribly laughable, bcuz I remember that back in the day, Nobility literally competed to see who is better at making and wearing the most ostentatious and outrageous outfits, not to mention, in this day and age, we still have ppl who definitely dress out of the ordinary but eventually everyone is completely fine with them cuz they're having fun with themselves and aren't bothering everyone with it so what's the big deal?

Y'know I've thought of a similar scenario for my Muse OC, where she's put in a situation where she's made fun of for what she wears cuz she likes it that way and I thought "She's already restricted with so many things, now even wearing what she wants is forbidden too?" So yeah I just let her be confident about it, cuz society has worse things to care more about than a Crown Princess wearing a different style compared to others

Plus isn't wearing different things the reason why huge trends started in the first place? Again it's what I said earlier, every piece of clothing all started as scandalous

Oh I'm so glad we have this fashion talk, cuz I'm super into Historical Fantasy Manhwha fashion, I have a lot to say about it but I'll leave it here for now

Nobles in manhwa making fun of a character for wearing excessive dresses is another way on how you know the author did little research.

Most manhwa historical dresses are not accurate at all (They are almost always fantasy stories though so they can get away with it more than a historical documentary perse) and honestly the only way I could see this trope working is if it's meant to be self aware how the nobles will bully poor girls for dressing with extra frills while wearing excessive clothes themselves.

Most historical manhwa fashion and architecture is inspired by a mix of the rococo era and the Victorian era, if you know rococo, you would know how excessive those skirts were. They were known for being huge and covered with all sorts of accessories, big wigs were also popular in that time along with a lot of jewelry.

Like.. look at all these. European nobles are quite known for their love of everything at once.

Honestly if you put Ariande in an actual room with women from the italian Renaissance, she wouldn't last a second

[fairmerthefarmer]

Narnia is my go to world when I wanna just practise character design.

The silver chair is also great cause it doesn’t have a movie really so the design can be my own (except for the bbc version, but I didn’t really watch those growing up. Just read/listened to the books a million times and watched the Disney/Walden movies.)

Anyway this is mostly Jill, love her so much.

There’s more down here

I saw an aesthetic board one time and ran with it, and it’s also just practise on drawing hair with a tighter curl pattern, idk if it quite counts as Afro hair though. Also I like her being a redhead.

Puddleglum I’m still working on, clothes are hard!! I love fantasy character design in general but I find it difficult to imagine what clothing the characters would wear, it makes me feel like I wanna take a whole ass historical/fantasy clothing course or something.

Also I can’t make up my mind on how I wanna do his hair. I’m definitely taking influence from the illustrations in the book. Anyway love frogman and he must be tall and lanky and I’m just going from there.

I am happy with how the clothes look especially given my insecurities about clothing design for characters, I feel like she looks like a little hobbit! (I imagine her and eustace and puddleglum bundling up quite a bit for most of their travels.)

I also did an alt version of her hair cause I prefer the curls myself, but I don’t know what black hairstyles would have mostly been in London at the time? I feel like relaxed/1940s wavy style hair (whatever it’s called) would be more accurate but idk. I think both work for her character, I think they express different aspects of it.

The school outfit was very rushed, I mostly know if I were to develop it more I’d want it to look frumpy and awkward especially cause it would (in theory) contrast to the narnian outfits. I still have the travel outfits full though cause generally the journey in SC is kind of gloomy in vibes. Harfaang (harfang? Idk) is LOOSELY Nordic inspired except i really didn’t do that much research. Also those sketches are the earliest ones and they’re from long ago so I may revisit sometime and change things.

My headcanon/thing that I do with most narnian as in Cair Paravel clothing is that it’s embroidered with things like flowers, trees, leaves, natural things. As well as royal and foresty ish colours. So I tried to at least make harfaang clothes different from that, and some geometric detail in the dress. Also the dress was green in the book illustrations so therefore it’s green.

[knightcore-rant]

my controversial opinion on knightcore fashion

or: how to dress like a knight on a daily basis without any armor so, you're a knight just like me. you're chivalrous and noble. you want some adventures, medieval literature and a sword. maybe you even want to date a prince or a princess! that's cool and then, you're searching for "knightcore fashion" to incorporate your aesthetic into your daily life and... there's nothing that fits quite right.

img src: Rachel Maksy on youtube pinterest outfits are cool, but they are too much medieval-ish? historically accurate? LARP-ish? not suitable for school and office? that's bugs me a lot and then there's amazing @/donttesstme on tiktok, that does "workspace fantasy fits" series. that's more like it, but she hasn't done a knight part yet

well, here's my take on "how to dress like a modern knight without an armor, a sword and without expensive accessories"

important note: this advices may look a little weird and confusing at first. that's okay, and I'm going to explain why: I'm doing character design for years, and I really like fashion. armorless and swordless knights are impossibly hard to design, because their key features are... armor and sword. that's what makes them recognizable. without these components an outfit may look confusing and dull alas, swords are expensive, and armor may look a little weird on you while studying. that's why I'm going to tell you how to include some secondary knighcore motifs into your outfit. it may be subtle, but the intention makes it all 1. gather some inspiration: firstly, think about yourself, your current personal style and identity. this is important, because all knights are different maybe you're a kind, noble person with a strong moral code, who prefers light clothes and golden color? then maybe paladin archetype is going to be the best for you maybe you're a pessimistic gamer goth person, and you want to keep that. then think about your favorite gothic brutal knights from dark fantasy games maybe you just like bright colors? search for some art of medieval joust armor, it's actually colorful maybe your favorite knight is Link, maybe you're the Geralt of Rivia type of person. everyone is different, so gather some unique inspiration pictures.

2. learn the basics any fashion mf knows, that there's several components of an outfit: 1. color pallete 2. silhouette 3. pattern 4. materials 5. styling (the way you put and combine items) and that's where you gonna need your inspiration pictures. analyze them, think of what's important. ask yourself questions: do I like the dark pallete? is this knitted material reminds me of something like a chain mail? does these tall boots look adventurous to me? maybe I want a bulky scarf? write it down and keep that in mind. congrats! this is your personal definition of what is knightcore fashion.

3. op's definition of knightcore fashion personally, I think that "casual knightcore" is more like an adventurecore subtype. for me, clothes like that supposed to be utilitarian and sporty, because knights tend to explore, fight with monsters and go on great adventures. I would go for hiking vibes and comfortable pieces I also would prefer to have some brown, beige and grey neutrals paired with muted green, red of dark blue. grey, metallic and silver are probably the main color for my dream casual knightcore wardrobe I wouldn't mind to add some whimsical fantasy elements, but in a subtle way. like bulky metallic jewelry with nature motifs, accessories like chunky combat boots and belts. maybe a cool DIY-ed unicorn embroidery on a jacket or pair of dagger earrings. jewelry supposed to be like a sentimental token from a lady or an artifact from a long journey also, ribbons, lace and fishnets are somehow knightcore to me?? like, recently I crocheted a oversized brown shrug for myself, and it screams chain mail in conclusion: generally, I would recommend search for some muted and natural colors, metallic jewelry, comfortable clothes for hiking, tall boots, tunik-shaped oversized shirts and huge scarfs. this is my vision of "modern knight" clothes, your vision may be different maybe I'm taking this far too serious anyway, hope that helps

[presidenthades]

Since you did a modern/au fashion on Velargirls, I wanted to ask you if you could do the historical (like actual timeline) version of it, you said you collect pics of clothes, both historical and modern that you can imagine them wearing. I know Jace often wears Sunfyre’s palette, Joff wears mostly red and black Targ colors and Luce is in Velaryon colors. But perhaps their signature styles or some pics of what you imagine them wearing would be nice like you did it with the modern!au version! If you'd rather not do this one, that's completely alr! I just wanted some pictures of their clothing to imagine the dresses they would wear when I read the books.

Disclaimer: GOT/HOTD is a pseudo medieval setting, so not everything about the fashion I choose is 100% accurate to the Western European medieval era.

I took a lot of cues from the official GOT costumes book, where the designer talks about how she was inspired by clothing from places like Japan. I also like Bernadette Banner’s video explaining how in GOT (or the earlier seasons at least), costuming tried to be historically accurate according to the rules of its own universe, not ours.

HOTD has different costume designers than GOT. I have a very amateur interest in historical fashion, but it seems to me that GOT was a bit more exploratory with its fashion (like Cersei’s kimono dresses) while HOTD generally tries to stick closer to more Western European medieval styles (with exceptions, like Aemond’s Hugo Boss coat). So I have a headcanon that in the 170 years between HOTD and GOT, more and more Essosi fashions come to Westeros, which leads to the changes that we see between the two shows.

In my series, these fashion trends are sped up quicker than in canon. One of Jace’s goals is to be a cultural icon at court, so her fashion choices (which are heavily influenced by Rhaena, who spent her childhood in Pentos) spread among the other highborn ladies.

Jace’s wedding gown is based off Margaery’s purple wedding gown, with some differences, e.g. gold color scheme.

Jace’s wraparound dress that she wears to the feast announcing the pregnancy is based on Cersei’s early season dresses.

Other outfits that give me Jace vibes:

Luce is tricky because most days at Dragonstone and Driftmark, she’s stomping around in really plain dresses that she can get messy. But at public events and in KL, she has to dress according to her station. Maybe some of her gowns are secretly pants underneath.

(Dany’s Qarth dress is by far my favorite reference photo for Luce’s outfits when I get art of her.)

Joff, to nobody’s surprise, is the most Targ-coded in regards to her wardrobe. I tend to reference Rhaenyra’s outfits for Joff’s. Joff is definitely hoping to inherit Rhaenyra’s clothes one day.

[lifewillalwaysbe-lavieenrose]

GUYS!! I saw Les Mis! In Munich!!!

Let's recap!

The Cast:

Daniel Gutmann as Javert. He was incredible. Definitely my personal highlight. Everytime he sang his voice just ROARED. And he was menacing holy shit. Aggggggh I'm normal about him

Barbara Obermeier as Eponine. When I first heard her sing in Act 1, I knew she was gonna kill it in Act 2. And she did.

Merlin Farcel aka Enjolras. His voice was so perfect I LOVED all the high notes, BUT:

The beard. Sorry, but in my world Enjolras doesn't have a beard. Plus, it makes him look like Peter Maffay

Madame Thenardier was PERFECT (I don't remember who played her that night😭) She was so funny and the audience really loved her.

The Music:

At first, I felt a bit underwhelmed by the orchestra. To be fair, I listened to the 10th anniversary recording SO much, that I really got used to that grand orchestra sound.

There was an electric guitar and at one point an electric bass when Javert sang, which I really loved.

During Master of the House/ Beggars at the Feast you could really see the orchestra bopping their heads and having fun and that made me very happy

I really loved the brass section, they really stood out (That French Hurn during On My Own????!)

The Costumes:

I don't know why, but the Les Amis were wearing these caps all the time. I have never seen a production with them in it. Is this a historically accurate thing?? I didn't really like them, they looked very plastic/shiny and fell out of place

I cannot find a picture but in the beginning of Act 1 Valjean wore a pink vest and then a purple coat which both looked very cheap and which I both didn't like (maybe it was because of the light? The colors felt very unnatural)

Eponine's outfit. At first I thought it didn't look shabby enough. But it looks so badass I'll let it pass

Why don't you let Enjolras wear his red vest??

What is Marius wearing? Goofy boy

Big Mad Hatter vibes from Thenardier. I loved his and the Patron Minettes outifits, they looked very edgy

This is perfect. Perfect. I only wished he had undone his hair for Javert's Suicide (he did, but only for the last 10 seconds)

The Stage:

The stage had a turning middle and stairs that could be moved around, similar like in Hamilton.

They did a cool transition with young Cosette walking up the stairs and old Cosette walking down

Also, they had some cool staging with buildings moving around for Stars. But I feel like there was almost a bit too much happening in the background for this song.

I don't know why they didn't have the Barricades turn and show Enjolras hang upside down. It's such a cool/tragic moment!

During the Barricade scenes, the stage sometimes felt a bit empty. I mean, there were always like 15 people standing around. Maybe the Barricades were to small/not high enough

Empty chairs at empty tables. Where were the empty chairs and empty tables??

In Everyday/A Heart Full of Love Reprise single leaves started falling down on the stage (Like Valjean entering the Fall/Winter of his life) I loved that.

Also, the parallel of Marius learning to walk again using a cane, and Valjean loosing his ability to walk using a cane. I never noticed this before!

There are SO many cool things about the staging I could talk about here. But I want to mention some other topics as well:

The "Spirit" of the Show:

There wasn't a single French flag to be seen. Some red ones, but no French flags.

In the trailer, the director said he wanted to create a more universal setting, speaking to everyone in the audience

I think that's a great sentiment but like. Everyone has French names. There were titles above the stage telling us the year and locations (Places in France) of the events. The title of the show is French.

So I think adding the flags (aka a bit more French nationalism?) would have seemed a lot more convincing for the cause of the students and the whole spirit of the show

But maybe this also has to do with the show being in German? I don't know and I'd really like to discuss it. Maybe someone here made a similar experience seeing it in another language

And last, but MOST importantly:

What about Valvert and Enjoltaire?

In the Confrontation, Javert and Valjean got really close to each other. And I mean fighting each other and then stopping just to sing directly into each other's faces.

Instead of running infront of the court in Who Am I, Valjean just goes to Javert and rips his shirt open? Okay, go off I guess

In Drink with Me, we have a platonic forehead touch between Enjolras and Grantaire. Sadly, that's all I noticed between them 😔

Also, the fact that Grantaire is supposed to be ugly/shabby/a drinker/a sceptic got totally lost, which really takes away from his character.

Conclusion:

All the actors were good, some of them were FANTASTIC. I'd watch it again just for the guy playing Javert, if I could. God, he was SO GOOD

The music was all it should be, maybe a bit too reserved (but again, this might be because I am so used to the 10th anniversary concert)

I really loved some costumes and I also really disliked some

The staging was great, some choices confused me (flags, barricades etc.)

Would I watch it again?

Absolutely!

To be clear, some of the things here might sound more negative than I actually mean. It's just that I have watched SO many different productions online, that I fixated on all the great performances and how I think they should be done. Of course everyone has different opinions here.

Okay thanks for reading if you made it here. Have a great day!

[doctor-badadvice]

You know, I often make fun of Bishop, as one does. I call him a man of strong fashion opinions, a nerd and a wretched little gremlin. It’s all part of the process and it’s necessary when you end up liking an idiot of his caliber.

I’ve talked about his personality before. Yes, it’s very black and white (and red) under many aspects. I made a whole post about how that affects his outfits throughout the show.

Though when it comes to relationships, it isn't all so straightforward. Bishop has obviously invested all his charisma points in intimidation. This definitely helps him work as a villain, but his short temper and ingrained need to feel in control of the situation often get in the way of his objective.

Having to deal with people isn’t easy for him. Almost impossible, even. He can spit some raw lines but it also took some real effort to stop himself from strangling the president, which may not be the best course of action, you know?

The only situations in which we see him succeed to some extent are whatever concerns his organization since there is standardization. Times change and so do people. Keeping up with new costumes over the decades is time consuming but military practices? Those rarely change.

Bishop is obviously a good leader. His men execute his orders without questioning and with the highest professionalism, despite the occasional threat of being subjected to unspeakable experiments in case of failure. He also historically enjoyed the respect of at least one president, where again he just has to act like a good agent to get what he wants. Yes, the fake invasion counts in this regard since it proved to the president just what a good investment EPF was.

He even keeps Baxter in line for the most part since they have a very clear deal they both surprisingly stick to (though Baxter has a major hand in this since he knows what’s the amount of snark he can afford on the workplace).

Anything else is a disaster. Romance would be a tragedy from the very first moment. Friendship? We know how that went. Becoming a good person?

Yes, about that.

Bishop’s presidential outfit is extremely accurate. He’s not the man he once was. He has changed his methods and he sees aliens as people he can negotiate with and manipulate when fit. His work has fundamentally changed, as in he at least tries to create something which not only Earth will benefit from.

But he also has a whole room dedicated to spying on everyone through satellites and he personally leads the rescue mission at the Moonbase. The agent never really left, he just comes out whenever Earth is directly threatened.

Do I think that Bishop is still evil in FF then? Not quite.

Having done my fair share of writing for this nerd, I'd say it's somewhere in the middle. Specifically it's a mix of an opportunistic person seeing the chance for a different approach and most importantly, accepting that's actually possible, and a character who was born in part as a critique to real life events that were happening at the time of the show.

At the time of FF, the bigger picture kind of guy has started down a path of good but he still only relatively cares about other people. The public is obviously up there on the list since he has a public image to curate now. Aliens are more or less people. Turtles and random rich teenagers can pick fights with evil (very stupid) shapeshifting aliens if they can make themselves useful. Baxter deserves a second chance despite the little dissection prank he tried to pull.

Still, I can't say it's all Bishop's fault because when you think about it, his two most formative life experiences were both very traumatic events. The alien abducting him right after he got wounded on the battlefield set him off on a path of paranoia and blind revenge. The lab experiment that almost killed both him and Baxter and a symbolic act of kindness diverted him on a more open-minded path, even if the paranoia is still very much there.

Add that Bishop spent like 65% of his life under the military and it's no wonder even when he's genuinely making an effort, he still comes off as manipulative.

Head of State specifically deserves a whole analysis of its own that I might just do at some point because it's a fun episode. But in brief, I think Bishop, in his heavily skewed perception, genuinely considers Baxter as an old friend. He feels remorse for leaving him to die and he actually wants to make up for it.

But again, agent and president are still the same person, even if they may be one clone away from each other. Bishop both resents Baxter for chasing him and the dissection thing (you bet that brought a lot of trauma back. I wouldn't be surprised if people were left wondering what could have possibly prompted the president to take a short period of rest for the first time since ever), and cherishes that the scientist is still alive.

He's just not the best at showing it. But what can you do. Even the most peaceful person will be a bit messed up after living for so long. Bishop has been through really traumatic stuff and definitely wasn't encouraged to be anything but an efficient sadistic bastard for a good while. Even when relearning how to behave around people, he couldn't exactly explain what he has been through so at best, Bishop had to sit on his own and design new procedures like “smile, bring a gift, write a nice speech about friendship and respect”, or “introduce a problem and make it so the one in front of you will suggest the solution you want while thinking they came up with it to ensure they will care”. Or even, “traumatized people need reassurance and physical comfort. I guess I'll have to pet the talking brain and offer him a job”.

If anything, 2105 might be a bit too early. Bishop is still consolidating the PGA, there's no way to get him to work on himself some more.

Perhaps, in a better timeline, FF would have received a second season with a real seasonal arc all about redemption. There's a certain other set of clones who could have benefited from it as well.

[audreydoeskaren]

Hi! I have a question about... sleeves.

I am looking at designing what is essentially, in-universe, a stage costume but still want it to be at least a tiny bit historically accurate.

It would be a late Jiaqing era (~1810s) inspired aoqun, with a mamianqun (specifically a fengweiqun) and possssssibly a cloud collar to form an ensemble that's intended to portray a fenghuang (thus the skirt lol) and probably somewhat fancy on account of the celestial nature.

I know that sleeves in China have historically often been either long or Extremely Long especially for noblewomen but I was wondering about how that extends (ha) to the Jiaqing era of the Qing Dynasty.

I see, for example, Ming-style clothing that has these very long, drapey sleeves such as these: https://ziseviolet.tumblr.com/post/702949049252364289/ (though I know the Ming would have ended like 200 years before the 1810s but I also know you've mentioned that a lot of Ming fashion continued into the Qing for a while) I like the way they look on account of being very flowy which seems fitting for a bird-themed outfit where the person wearing it would be essentially portraying the fenghuang onstage, so long flowing gauzy shapes seem very fitting, but I'm not sure how much flexibility there is for late Qing sleeve styles or how much creative license goes into those types of XYZ dynasty-inspired outfits.

Relatedly I'm curious how common sheer, soft-draped fabric like that would have been in the early 1800s. I know it was very popular in certain eras, and of course in western fashion at the time Regency clothing used a lot of soft loose shapes, so I'd be interested to know if that kind of thing was particularly common in the 1810s in China or not.

I think sleeves started getting much shorter and more tight fitting in the 18th century, but wide sleeves saw something of a revival by the turn of the 19th. In the Jiaqing era, sleeves could be described as wide but not necessarily long, and usually had folded cuffs that reduced the length. I haven't read about actual garments from that period so I can't tell you concretely, but that appears to be the case from artworks.

The blogger 盥薇 did a recreation of Jiaqing era dress based on export paintings, in her interpretation the sleeves are also still a little too long to be entirely practical but definitely not as long and drape-y as that in earlier centuries. This outfit might work as a reference for your costume, since it also features a cloud collar? (on a side note, the comment section of this video gives me psychic damage, please don't look)

About sheer, soft fabrics, yes they were indeed very popular around this time, and had been since the late Ming. Sheer clothes were usually meant for lounging around the house in warm weather and not worn outside, and sometimes you see women represented as forgoing underwear altogether. I'm not sure whether that's an artistic embellishment, but it does feel feasible given the domestic setting.

I explained in this post that the cliche of 'late Ming fashion continuing into the Qing' only actually applies to the 1650s. So the Jiaqing era, being in the early 19th century, has nothing to do with the Ming.

[realcatalina]

Catherine of Aragon's family-Maria of Aragon's depictions

This time I am going to do something bit different. I'm not going to show you just individual depictions and their sources. But also give the comentary abou their accuracy(or likely accuracy).

It is about damn time we learnt a bit about what does consist of portuguese fashion, and what doesn't.

Because I suspect among Maria's depictions there is a black sheep(a misidentified portrait). So this post is kind of me trying to assess if my suspicion is right...

Maria tends to be imo the most overlooked of the siblings. She and her husband got along, she wasn't the only son, nor ever became the heir...

But I'd not trust the sources which say she wasn't good looking.(Perhaps not as good looking as some of her siblings)

Not many of her depictions survive, they just as records often fell victim to the earthquakes. But there are two depictions which likely originate from her lifetime, or at least close to her lifetime.

1)Stained-glass window in the High Chapel of the Church of Saint Mary of Victory (Batalha Monastery, Leiria, Portugal), attributed to Francisco Henriques, c. 1510-1513:

The little red dot in down left imo is out of place imo(window was smatched at some point), and imo belongs elsewhere.

Otherwise I have nothing to say against the dress itself, it looks very Iberian and the similiarities to some of the religious artwork of the day is pretty damn awesome:

Even colour-scheme is same. (Although obviously different neckline and chemise, but that could be down to personal choice or different season.)

The wide decorative trim made gold and pearls can also be found coassionally in Portuguese art, I found it plenty of time in later source

Genealogia dos Reis de Portugal(c.1530-1534)-which has outfits which are partially fiction partially true...

But i have bit of an issue with the headwear. It looks like french hood(at least from front)...kind of.

And I don't think it would be likely for Maria to wear French hood. Yes, it could have been introduced to Iberia by Margaret of Austria or Joanna...but would it linger after they either left or were locked up?

The artist was active in Portugal but native flemish(hence from part of Habsburg Netherlands), and I wonder if perhaps he got bit creative...

...But if you know a bit about french hoods...this is not historically accurate french hood of the time. It might look that way on first glance...but on 2nd? No. It more resembles french hoods after 1530s, than 1510s-where it definitely should have golden frill.

And I did my best to look through surviving portuguese art for depictions french hoods. And I found like 2 in total...which I only suspect might be french hood, because they are oddly depicted.

...And I am wondering if it could be separate headwear...something which resembles French hood at this angle.

So I am not ruling out french hood as impossible, but I am wondering if perhaps Portuguese had something similiar to french hood which was not very popular and got depicted just few times.

2)Maria's statue is from 1517-the year she died. It is located Mosteiro dos Jerónimos(Jeróminos Monastery) where the members of house Aviz are burried, including Maria herself (without effigy):

Idk if it is posthumous or not. But if posthumous, then the artist Nicolau Chanterene would likely be send to create it as commemoration of her life, and since employed by royalty, it's likely he'd have best sources about Queen...perhaps including access to her dresses etc.

The kneeling statue lost its hands(probably in earthquake), but it's still fine example of obviously iberian fashion:

The cofia de tranzado, the fabulous sleeves...with bit of them upturned. All colours were picked by me...and it's obvious why I made the chain in gold, but why the wide trim in gold?

-because in closeup it has this kind of pattern, and I can't imagine it being anything other but golden with such pattern.

I could be wrong interepreting the statue, but the statue itself screams historical accuracy.

This painting has similiar golden trim imo-Nursing Madonna by Defendente Ferrari, in Uffizi Gallery:

(Although here sat directly at edge.)

Directly from Portugal is Retábulo de Santa Catarina(Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon) from allegedly 1540s(imo that's not correct date), where figure of St. Catherine has dress which look very close to Maria's:

(I covered the cutt off neck. I don't want to breech any guidelines.)

But those dangling things and metalic headwear-those are the fantasy parts of the costume, and obviously it's much shorter than Maria's dress. But very similiar to fashion of the statue.

3)Portrait of Maria of Aragon, Belem Collection, created around 1720:

Despite being copy, this one is actually very close to the statue in many aspects. The jewelry placement, the height of waistline-it's same. The headwear is once again cofia de tranzado(perhaps bit more elaborate...)with different style of hat(which I can't place...could be alteration) and the rest of outfit is same as what we see in Spain in 1500s and 1510s.

So except hat on top it looks historically accurate. Although cofia de tranzado being this heavily embroidered is probably add-on.

Within same collection there is also portrait of King Manuel, done at same time:

He also has golden gown decorated at edges with pearls and tbh it's quite similiar to yet another portrait of Maria:

4) Maria de Aragão e Castela, Rainha de Portugal

You can find it on wikipedia, which says the source is book called Infantas de Espanha, Rainhas em Portugal. It's author seem as historian, not art historian. And I am not putting blame upon him, for this mess. Overall the amount of weird things is so big, that I shall dedicate separate post to it.

But long story short.

It's heavily altered, possibly photoshopped and never seem very Iberian to me. And after all research I did...I am even more convinced it's not Iberian fashion.

So either the fact somebody altered heck out of it has hid Maria's outfit so well, it no longer looks Iberian...Or it isn't Maria.

I know some of you like this portrait...but we have to be objective here...the misidentification happened in past a lot, and even today happen as well.

And the similiarities to Manuel's outfit in that portrait above could make people think the woman is his wife...Even if she isn't.)

We're going to take deep dive into the issue and then make conclusions. In meanwhile don't use it as inspiration for costume of Maria of Aragon. Seriously don't.

5)Fons Vitae by Colijn de Coter, 1518-posthumous depiction:

Is located in Museu da Misericórdia do Porto, Portugal. At lower part of painting is depicted King Manuel's family.

But I have to point out, that the artist never went to Iberia...So there are two opions here. Either the comission and creation occured with sketches of royal being sent to royals, or without.

If without, then these would not need to be accurate at all, and would be just generic figures...

Here the Portuguese princesses are depicted 100% in Netherlandish outfits from head to toe:

But is Maria too? Tbh idk. The headwear to me look lok more like belonging to 15th century and it's quite odd how she has two strands of hair styled beneat her ear, and then going above her forehead...plus traluscent part over it.

(Back of the dress also have similiar shape from back as that of St. Catherine.)

But then...there are big similiarities between the stain glass headwear and this(if we take the crown away):

And if it indeed is same headwear...then from behind it's obviously not french hood...it just resembles its later form...in certain angles.

I'd not trust this depiction...100%...but I'd not throw it away as entirely inaccurate either. I just think the artist made it bit too much elaborate, because to him it seemed as those 15th century headwears...which were very elaborate.

I'd use the stain glass as the guide here. But I can't really tell exactly how the traluscent aprt adn hair are supposed to sit...and how layers work...But maybe some of you would like to give it a try.

If any of you know what this headwear is and how it is supposed to look like, write it in the comments, I'd love to know.

By the way...this might be same headwear:

With different back.

So that is all from me today, it was bit different than what I normally do. But I thought it necessary. I hope you've enjoyed it and see you next time.

[marsdeathdefiances]

What clothes would alcibiades wear in the vampire au?

Gonna apologize in advance cause this is going to be a multi-part thing because I have so many ideas on vampire!alcibiades’ wardrobe as well as vampire-hunter!socrates’ wardrobe. (And because tumblr only allows a certain numbers of pics per post but y’know)

But to preface everything I haven’t settled on like a specific time period that this takes place in so if I ever decide on one then I’ll tweak it to that time period to make it somewhat historically accurate, but for now it’s just…it can be whenever you want it to be.

However I’m keeping it a little bit true to Alcibiades as in he has a knack for the finer things, is a bit flamboyant and out there, and also maybe kind of playing a bit fast and loose with gender in regards to clothing. But leaning a bit more into that last part because hey he’s a vampire what’s anyone going to do to him? Nothing. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks or says he’s been alive for way too long to give a shit about what some random mortal might say or think about him.

Anyways, getting into it. He definitely falls into like the stereotypical vampire look. Like it’s one of those ‘you aren’t beating the stereotypes but the stereotypes are beating you’ situations. However, he’d definitely have more color in his wardrobe than most folks tend to associate with vampires. He’d like deep rich colors like a royal purple, a deep navy blue, etc. just think more deep earth tones. He’d also very much like the colors black, white, grey, dark red, silver, and gold and would incorporate those into his wardrobe as well.

He would spare absolutely no expense when it comes to his clothing. He’s very particular about his presentation (I know that kind of contradicts what I said earlier but stick with me) and likes to show off his wealth and appear very sophisticated and extravagant. He’d get his clothes custom tailored, and dry cleaned. And he’d only buy the finest and most expensive fabrics out there.

His style is essentially: sophisticatedly simple, if that makes sense.

First of all, he absolutely loves all things ruffles.

He also prefers looser fitting things most of the time. He thinks it makes him look…elegant. He alternates between high collars and low cut collars, it really depends on his mood. These types of tops are usually his go-to day to day look, he knows it makes him stand out but he doesn’t really care.

Secondly, he’d like both sheer fabrics and clothing with some fine details on it, like this:

He usually reserved these tops for parties and for going out with any of his lovers. Though sometimes if the mood strikes him he’ll wear one just because he can. Again- who can stop him? Nobody. That’s who.

As far as bottoms go, he alternates between skirts and pants:

Again, usually looser fitting for his day-to-day look but for parties and outings with his lovers he may opt for something a bit more snug or a bit fancier. (His skirts can also be a bit fancier but I wasn’t really finding anything that really fit)

As far as shoes go, he has a pretty wide variety of shoes. But his two go-to types of shoes for day to day life are these:

Combat boots or somewhat nicer dress shoes. He’s also very meticulous about his shoes and always custom orders them and cleans them religiously. Almost all of his shoes are black as they go with everything effortlessly and look good with everything.

He has a huge wardrobe but he’s never shy to ‘repeat’ outfits or reuse things several times. He’s a proud outfit repeater cause something’s are just timeless and will never not look good and cause heads to turn. He dresses for himself for the most part, but he does like getting a (good) reaction from people. Alcibiades is one of those where you can learn a lot about him just based off of what he wears, he knows clothes can make a lasting impression so he takes his wardrobe very seriously.

Again, sorry for the ramble and the fact that there’s going to be more posts about this but this is such a niche hyper fixation of mine. I love crafting silly little wardrobes.