#also both irish icons

[henrrietta]

Hozier lyrics that remind me of Ronan’s second secret

[nightnightsleeptight]

Twins - my silly thoughts on the colour coding!

So, I've been seeing lots about colour coding in Twins - blue, red and yellow for the twins and other lead respectively. I've been seeing a few theories today here about shows I am watching or have seen that are fascinating and I have so much respect for all the thought that goes into such posts! You guys are awesome!

I've had my own less impressive and highly silly thoughts on those colours too though!

The team colours are yellow and blue right?

I am so sorry but all I can think of are the old Dublin buses which are a beautiful yellow and blue! My family both sides of the Irish sea prefer the red buses of London but I think those pale in comparison to the glorious yellow and blue of a Dublin bus!

Although, I have beef with Transport For Ireland (TFI) for switching the blue out for green in newer buses. Ew. I fear the next visit to Dublin there'll be no more pretty blue and yellow buses.

ALSO ALSO ALSO!

A funny little coincidence I remembered before posting is that Ryan (First's actor) is half Irish!

Look - a beautiful Dublin bus on Samuel Beckett bridge! Such a pretty bridge - I adore it! I dream of taking a night walk here with a loved one, whether that's my mum, other family, friends or a future lover!

[damienkarras73]

Sinners, or, How Ryan Coogler Tricked a Bunch of Horror Nerds Into Seeing a Musical

Sinners is horror—damn good horror, at that—and as a horror nerd I know it'll likely top my end-of-year lists for both the genre and movies as a whole, but it is also a proper MUSICAL. Perhaps it doesn't meet all of the formalistic criteria for a traditional movie musical like West Side Story, where the characters' singing and dancing occupy this liminal space between diagetic and non-diagetic and are meant to portray their subjective perspectives and feelings rather than something objective and factual, but 1. Sinners occasionally does do that, namely in the amazing and already iconic "I Lied to You" sequence, and 2. it's more or less the same kind of mostly-diagetic musical as O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and just try arguing that isn't a musical.

(related, Sinners and O Brother would make for a banger double feature; there are pretty substantial tonal and genre differences between the two, of course, but they share a time, place, and a ton of musical overlap)

I'm already seeing some "It's not actually a musical" chatter in various comments sections online, and it strikes me as the similar defensiveness from mainline critics who love a well-made horror movie (The Silence of the Lambs, Get Out) but are hesitant to call it horror because of the low attitude toward the genre and its artistic potential that has plagued a lot of discourse. The irony here is I think this particular defensiveness is coming from horror nerds themselves. There's a kind of person who dismisses musicals because people suddenly breaking out into song and dance ruins the immersion and/or is too silly for their tastes, and yeah, taste is taste, but I'm hoping the largely diagetic format of the sung and played music in Sinners gets a few people to rethink their genre prejudices.

Anyway, the "Rocky Road to Dublin" scene set my Irish(-Canadian) heart ablaze and is a hell of a villain song.

[teatime-tangents-and-toys]

Interesting Monster High design things that are never explicitly stated:

* Unlicensed vampires are all some type of pink-skinned for some reason, including related species like the manananggal

* Clawdeen, and by extension, other werewolves, never wear silver metals, because that weakens them. The Wolfs only wear gold jewelry and accents.

* Lagoona's sporty theme aligns with the use of mesh fabrics to make a pun about fishnets

* Wydowna Spider's hairline is a widow's peak and one of her hands is in Spider-Man's web-slinging shape

* Twyla's eyes glow in the dark on most editions--common knowledge, but Mattel has never told buyers about it on her boxes!

* Twyla is a boogeyman and her costume designs all feature antique architectural details and imagery of things that might be in a scary bedroom at night, like wallpaper patterns, doorknobs, bugs, and beds, while her outfits often resemble pajamas

* The two G1 pop star characters are a witch and a black cat, and a witch and cat were also a Create-A-Monster duo

* The Grant sisters' monster twist on genies is to make them plated like desert scorpions

* Elissabat's face is deliberately highly similar to Draculaura's, but their sculpts have been determined to be different--this when MH has used shared sculpts for more distant-looking and disparate pairs of characters!

* The Blob and Ice Girls are a Create-A-Monster duo because freezing was the one weakness of the Blob monster

* Deuce and Cleo as a couple invoke the synergy of snakes and Egyptian culture, the famous Cleopatra being Greek, and Cleopatra being stated in legend to have died by snakebite--similar reasons a mummy and Gorgon were paired in the Create-A-Monster sets

* Operetta is from New Orleans because it's a uniquely French area of the USA, tying her into the original setting of the Phantom of the Opera

* Viperine Gorgon has distinct visual hallmarks of both human and serpent albinism, and her use of sunglasses could correspond with sensitive eyes from the condition, though she's never stated to have the condition in any material.

* Great Scarrier Reef's transformations: Electric-powered Frankie became an electric eel, Draculaura became a vampire squid, and tigerlike Toralei became a lionfish. I've heard Clawdeen was based on a wolffish, but can't be sure that was actually clear. Gil turning into a ray may be a pun with manta and manster? No idea if Lagoona was based on a specific fish or not. Nor why she even had to transform in her native territory for any reason beyond making a new doll.

* Bonita Femur's color palette is based on the rosy maple moth, which is as implausibly candy-colored as Bonita. Luna Mothews is absolutely not actually a luna moth, but could be loosely based on the cecropia moth, the largest in North America and found in regions that could include New Jersey where she and the Mothman are from. Her yellow exoskeleton also loosely resembles the hornet moth, but may not intentionally be based on it.

* Mouscedes King, Luna Mothews, and Elle Eedee are a primary yellow/red/blue trio but also a past/present/future trio based on an old fairy tale, a current cryptid legend, and a speculative idea of future tech

* Headmistress Bloodgood's first name was eventually revealed to be Nora, an iconically Irish name that may have been chosen to liken Bloodgood to the Irish folklore of the dullahan, another "headless rider" monster.

* River Styxx is a young-adolescent Grim Reaper ghost who is partially translucent, revealing bones in her limbs and having a more opaque face that looks like thin skin over a bony structure. This creates a fun possible worldbuilding idea that reapers start as ghosts with skin and it fades as they develop, becoming full skeletons in classic Death style when mature.

* Peri and Pearl are conjoined Hydra sisters, obviously reflecting a rare human scenario of conjoined twins through the Hydra monster concept, but also possibly being influenced by the animal phenomenon of snakes being born with two heads in an even Y-shaped structure.

* Elle has a separate sculpted panel on her hip where her factory stamp is placed, canonizing the real-world manufacturing artifact as a real/literal/diegetic feature on the manufactured robot character.

* Corazón Marikit's red fringe blends the two halves of her outfit, but also stands in for the gorier imagery of dangling intestines and entrails when the manananggal monster's body splits at the waist. She does have a spine coming out of her upper torso as the peg that clicks her pieces together, but the dolls aren't brutally gory, so her costume alludes to the folklore's more extreme imagery in a graceful way.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Police Procedural

Police Procedural - a subgenre of detective fiction that focuses on police work and investigations.

This form of crime fiction is popular across a variety of mediums, including mystery novels, TV series, and films.

In police procedurals, the lead characters seek to solve a crime—most commonly a murder mystery.

Stories in this subgenre typically follow law enforcement officers or private investigators as they track down criminal suspects.

Depending on the detective story, the plot may revolve around crimes of passion or serial killers.

How to Write a Police Procedural

Research police protocols. To learn about proper police procedures, interview police officers and, if possible, go on a ride-along with your local police department. To avoid becoming overwhelmed with research, define the length of time you want to devote to this phase. Setting a timeline of a few weeks or months can help relieve the pressure of needing to know everything before you start writing.

Develop your main character. Determine whether your protagonist is a seasoned homicide detective or an amateur detective. Depending on the scope of your story, your main character may work with a local police force or a government agency like the FBI. Establishing a backstory will also help you determine their worldview and how they approach their work.

Choose a familiar setting. Police procedurals are deeply influenced by their specific settings. Choose a setting that you’re familiar with—whether rural, urban, or suburban—and use your knowledge of this place to infuse the world of your story with authenticity.

Outline a crime plot. Police procedurals are often plot-driven. Devise a complex and surprising crime to center your story around.

Define the tone. Although many police procedurals take a realistic and gritty approach with their tone, you can decide for yourself whether your story is best suited for comedic elements, dramatic elements, or a combination of both.

Write your first draft. Once you’ve laid out a plan for your police procedural, dive into your first draft. Avoid putting pressure on yourself to make it perfect and instead focus on simply finishing a rough draft.

Step away from your first draft. Once you’ve completed your first draft, take some time away from the work—ideally a few weeks—so you can return to it with fresh eyes.

Revise your draft. Try different approaches to self-editing to find one that works for you. For example, try printing out your script or novel or reading the work aloud. Once you have a shareable draft, consider sending it to a reader with knowledge of police procedures for feedback.

Examples of Police Procedurals

To learn more about police procedurals, explore some of these examples in TV and fiction.

Dublin Murder Squad (2007–2020) by Tana French: This book series follows various Irish detectives as they investigate harrowing murders.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–2015): Over the course of 15 seasons, this iconic TV show followed a task force in Las Vegas dedicated to solving a wide variety of crimes. The series was so popular it prompted several spinoff shows including CSI: Miami and CSI: NY.

87th Precinct (1956–2005) by Evan Hunter: Influenced by the classic TV show Dragnet, Evan Hunter (who often wrote under the pen name Ed McBain) published this long-running book series that followed a group of detectives in New York City. The books were later adapted into a TV series.

Law & Order (1990–2010): Inspired by real-life crimes, each episode in this police procedural TV series follows both the police investigation and legal trial of a different case.

Bosch (2014–2021): Based on Michael Connelly’s bestsellers, this cop show follows a detective who works for the Hollywood Division of the LAPD.

Source ⚜ More: Notes ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs ⚜ Detective Story

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Anime Awakenings Round 2 Side A Poll 9

Propaganda:

Haruhi -

"When I was a young kid she was sooooo gender to me and honestly she still is. Seeing someone who turned looks in both masc and femme clothing and be so comfortable being perceived as whatever gender made me hella envious. She'll be your handsome girl and your cute guy at the same time and little me wanted that more than anything. Also seeing her pull guys and gals of all types and her just being so nonchalant about not caring about gender whether it's hers, others, or who's attracted to really spoke to me. Now I'm a femboy trans guy and it's probably because of Haruhi and maybe her bisexual genderqueer dad, they're my icons."

"G E N D E R. I wish I could give as few fucks about my gender as Haruhi does about hers. Like, she does identify as a girl, but she genuinely does not care if people see her as a boy or a girl or something in-between, she just wants to be judged on her strength of character. And I was always so obsessed with that aspect of Haruhi's character literally from the first time I watched the anime five years before I started consciously questioning my gender."

"Seeing them disguised as a boy for most of the series (without being upset by it or seeing it as a joke even) made me understand I was transmasc better."

"Despite mostly using she/her, Haruhi's non-caring attitude about her gender helped me in my journey of learning my own nonbinary identity! She acknowledges she's afab but that means next to nothing to her! She doesn't care if people use he/him for her, she doesn't care if she's thought to be a boy by many others, she doesn't care whether she even presents as more feminine or masculine. Even if she's not canonically nonbinary, I consider her important to my journey in discovering I'm nonbinary."

"She gave me a deep desire to be a girl like her, because I've always wanted to be a tomboy when I transition, so she was a very early instance of that gender envy. Add in all the romantic situations she's in with girls as a host, really fed the lesbian in me."

"The fact I actually started the anime because I thought it was yaoi and I found the mc cute (because that's the kind of guys I was into at the time) and when I realized Haruhi was actually a biological girl the attraction stayed even when they were wearing girl clothes and I kinda had a bisexual huh. moment. Also not only did I want them I wanted to BE them, they looked good femme and masc and watching them be so chill about their gender was genuinely… enlightening? Idk all I know is I put less pressure in trying to be a "girl" after I finished the anime. Also just look at their big soft brown eyes, it had 12 y.o. me in a chokehold. Also, that anime was genuinely good when it came to fashion like there's some clothes trends there that no one wears today anymore for good reasons but the characters all somehow make it work still."

Mello -

"BPD canon homosexual twink with the most feminine body type ever and i am currently taller than he is despite me being transmasc-ish and Irish and him being allegedly cisgender and Balkan (where the average height is 6'). i saw this man and knew that i needed his gender Immediately."

[blytharchives]

Movie of the week: An Ideal Wife.

AN IDEAL WIFE explores the life of Constance Lloyd, an Irish writer and feminist activist who played an important role in the Victorian dress reform movement, a campaign that challenged restrictive fashion in favor of more practical, comfortable clothing for women. A passionate advocate for women's rights, she was also the wife of the renowned author Oscar Wilde. Emilia Clarke takes on the role of Constance while Tom Blyth is rumored to portray Arthur Lee Humphreys, a British publisher in his early thirties known for his work with Hatchards, one of London's most iconic bookstores. Humphreys is often described as reserved and quietly charismatic; an idealist with a practical mind and a romantic nature tempered by restraint. He is remembered for his contributions to the literary and publishing world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Constance developed a close and emotionally significant relationship with him during the early 1890s. At the time, her marriage was strained due to Oscar's increasing absences and his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas leading her to find companionship in Humphreys, a younger man who had recently risen from junior assistant to partner at the famed bookshop. Their bond deepened in 1894 when Constance was compiling a collection of Wilde's epigrams, with Arthur Lee Humphreys overseeing its publication. Though brief, their connection was intense and left a lasting impact on both. Inspired by real-life events, AN IDEAL WIFE is described as a tale of love, desire, and personal awakening.

Directed and written by Sophie Hyde, the movie is produced by Chris Curling, Olivier Delbosc and Matthew Gledhill.

An Ideal Wife is represented by Embankment Films and was chosen as one of six feature-length projects to receive production funding from Screen Australia.

On October 31st, 2022, it was officially announced that Emilia Clarke would take on the role of Constance Lloyd.

TOM BLYTH was first linked to the film a year later on November 1, 2023. While his role is still unconfirmed and his name is not listed in the cast, Embankment Films added his photo next to Emilia Clarke's on their official website in June 2024.

Following an extended hiatus, An Ideal Wife officially reentered pre-production on November 24, 2024, with director Sophie Hyde later confirming in an interview with Deadline that filming is set to begin by mid-2025.

Neither Emilia Clarke nor Tom Blyth have publicly commented on the movie or their respective roles as of yet.

The film is expected to be part of the next year's Cannes Film Festival line-up, pending any changes to the schedule.

The production is preparing to film in both London and South Australia.

If officially confirmed, An Ideal Wife will mark Tom's third on-screen project to enter production this year.

[woompfy]

The Bunch in traditional clothing (au? Maybe?)

(from cultures I think they‘d fit into? I just wanted to draw ehm in traditional clothes cuz I‘m a fan of multicultered stuff! (+Kong and other characters)

Marlon and Leon

With old Germanic attire, since they seem pretty much german so I think this ones kinda obvious. I also gave ehm some fisher tribe vibes since Grünwald is next to a river, I think.

Raban and Deniz

For Raban I was obligated to do Celtic wear because obviously he‘s a redhead and I bet there is some Irish blood in him. And without a doubt, Deniz is of course in some rich turkish attire^^

Vanessa and Jojo

Both of them based on the northern cultures. Vanessa has the iconic slavic attire, originally wanted to give her those patterned dresses but tbh it‘s too much detail and she looks hot in men wear. Jojo is in finnish folk clothing cuz I do feel like he‘s pretty resistant to cold ( I mean he spent some time in the forest at night) so I think finnish culture might fit him well.

Kong and Markus

First off Markus, I kinda thought maybe japanese culture might fit but from the glimpses of his mother made me kinda think he might be of taiwanese ethnicity? So I just went with that one and I think it looks neat! Now for Kong I would‘ve naturally done Chinese attire, but thinking back on his looks and nature he definitely fits better in a Mongolian worrior attire.

For Natasha…

I mean, duh, traditional Russian attire (or slavik clothes like Vanessa), but I didn‘t have enough time to draw her so if anyone wants to- go ahead

Willi

Probably Italian attire, and for Hadschi, for some reason, I like the idea for Spanish attire

[artfulacrostic]

had my second high definition viewing of atsv in the theater today and here are my favorite details that i missed due to being overwhelmed on my first viewing:

LONG AF POST:

-gwen is literally wearing a rainbow shaped trans pride pin on her jacket with her prom outfit. she's soooo so canon trans <3

-captain stacy HAS A TRANS FLAG PATCH ON HIS POLICE UNIFORM JACKET?????? when i'm telling u my eyes popped out of my head 😳 SHES SO CANON TRANS!!!

-poster outside miles's guidance counselor's office reads: "visions sciences: telling you your story".

-parallel of miles's and gwen's dad kicking things out of general exasperation towards the beginning and end of the movie respectively

-when miles as spidey is talking to his dad and giving him advice (for himself) there's a reference to miles possibly reading vonnegut? (maybe in class??) "if this isn't nice what is" is a collection of kurt vonnegut's commencement speeches. (literally subtitled "advice to the young". the writers were extremely clever for this reference. if not reading it in class, miles has been searching up life advice on his own)

-i barely caught this but i'm PRETTY sure that in miles' room near his door there's a MICHELLE OBAMA presidential race sticker??? was president obama in the earth-1610 dimension michelle obama?? iconic if so

-fedex on earth-1610 is REDEX

-gayatri seems like they took elements of both gwen (police dad) and mj (young model) for her background as i believe i caught her visible on a "zomato" ad billboard (which appears to be the earth-50101 version of ubereats)

-i spent all of hobie's scenes trying to pick up the details of his many pins; but the only one that i could really make out with the quick shot changes besides the union jack pin was the one right above it, which is a three-leaf clover. i wondered if maybe it had some kind of significance to maybe irish independence or smth but i couldn't find anything online that backed that up so not sure what it means. if u know pls drop it in the replies.

-hobie's boots are definitely NOT ladder laced. i KNOW there is concept art and poster art of him with ladder laces but in the actual movie they are 100% crossed. also unlike the poster art, both boots have blue laces, not one blue, one yellow/orange. i wanted to be all on board the ladder lace code train but i'm pretty sure they just made his laces blue so that they could contrast against the red boots and be spidey colors. they probably abandoned the ladder lace part of the visual when someone realized what blue ladder laces meant in lace code. "HAS hobie killed a cop," you ask? given his comic backstory i'd say the odds are HIGH. but i would bet they didn't want people to think that since he's gone through canon event asm-90 ("a police captain close to spider-man is killed by falling rubble during a battle with a nemesis") that there's any possibility THAT was the cop he killed and he's proud of it (since it's supposed to be all abt character development from the ✨trauma✨ of the event)

-during the whole "intervention" scene, while all the other spider-people are facing directly in towards miles and miguel from wherever they are standing in the circle, hobie is the only one whose back is turned. he watches most of the scene over his shoulder. also, during a couple shots facing miles before the entire society of spiders show up, hobie is separated in the shot from all the other main spiders (Peter B, Gwen, Jess, etc) BY MILES. he is visible over one shoulder and everybody else is visible over the other. these two details are great signals of hobie having already MORALLY turned his back on miguel's authoritarianism, as well as giving a nice inverted "devil/angel on the shoulders" nod.

-peter b asks miguel to take a picture of him and mayday since it's her first chase; miguel brushes him off but mayday understands and uses her webshooter to click the camera button on peter b's phone and take a selfie without him noticing 😂😂😂 shes everything to me

-when miguel is pinning miles to the train, after gwen and peter b have caught up, there is a very fast moment when miles calls for help ("PETER!!") and peter doesn't reply to him, but calls out to miguel to calm down (smth like that) instead 🥲 peter for the love of god step up your mentor game and look out for this kid i can't handle it anymore

-when gwen takes the watch hobie made her out of the box, the screen is briefly visible and reads "project botleg". bootleg -> bot -> "botleg"; I SEE YOU HOBIE. people think he's so cool (and he is!!) but he's also just as much of a dork as all the other spiders. what a goofball

-in miles-42's room, a speed bag/speed ball/maize ball is attached to his wall near the door. there are other substantial differences to their rooms, but i think this is clearly a reference to uncle aaron-42's large presence in miles-42's life, given the association from both movies of aaron with the punching bag and miles getting guidance from him/looking to him for support.

-in addition to all the miles-1610 vs miles-42 prowler vs spidey reflection imagery in the end credits, guess who else has several moments of flashing from spider-man colors (red and black at least) to prowler colors (purple and green)?? miguel, that's who. miguel and miles-42/uncle aaron-42 team-up in beyond the spiderverse? or just an extra parallel for the antagonists sharing goals/possibly methods?

OKAY ANYWAY if ppl want i can try and dig up images of some of these but i figured that would make this post long af so that's all for now folks!! go see across the spider verse again and marvel at how much more fine detail you find like me 🕸🕸🕸

[thepastisalreadywritten]

12 June 2024

Wreck hunters have found the ship on which the famous polar explorer Ernest Shackleton made his final voyage.

The vessel, called "Quest," has been located on the seafloor off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Shackleton suffered a fatal heart attack on board on 5 January 1922 while trying to reach the Antarctic.

And although Quest continued in service until it sank in 1962, the earlier link with the explorer gives it great historic significance.

The British-Irish adventurer is celebrated for his exploits in Antarctica at a time when very few people had visited the frozen wilderness.

"His final voyage kind of ended that Heroic Age of Exploration, of polar exploration, certainly in the south," said renowned shipwreck hunter David Mearns, who directed the successful search operation.

"Afterwards, it was what you would call the scientific age. In the pantheon of polar ships, Quest is definitely an icon," he told BBC News.

The remains of the ship, a 38m-long schooner-rigged steamship, were discovered at the bottom of the Labrador Sea on Sunday by a team led by The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS).

Sonar equipment found it in 390m (1,280ft) of water. The wreck is sitting almost upright on a seafloor that has been scoured at some point in the past by the passing of icebergs.

The main mast is broken and hanging over the port side, but otherwise, the ship appears to be broadly intact.

Quest was being used by Norwegian sealers in its last days. Its sinking was caused by thick sea-ice, which pierced the hull and sent it to the deep.

The irony, of course, is this was the exact same damage inflicted on Shackleton's Endurance - the ship he used on his ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917.

Fortunately, the crews of both Endurance, in 1915, and Quest, in 1962, survived.

Indeed, many of the men who escaped the Endurance sinking signed up for Shackleton's last polar mission in 1921-1922, using Quest.

His original plan had been to explore the Arctic, north of Alaska, but when the Canadian government withdrew financial support, the expedition headed south in Quest to the Antarctic.

The new goal was to map Antarctic islands, collect specimens and look for places to install infrastructure, such as weather stations.

Shackleton never made it, however, struck down by heart failure in the Port of Grytviken on the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia, the last stop before reaching the White Continent. He was just 47 years old.

After his death, Quest was involved in other important expeditions, including the 1930-31 British Arctic Air Route Expedition led by British explorer Gino Watkins, who himself tragically died aged 25 while exploring Greenland.

Quest was also employed in Arctic rescues and served in the Royal Canadian Navy during WWII, before being turned over to the sealers.

The RCGS team members carried out extensive research to find Quest's last resting place.

Information was gathered from ship's logs, navigation records, photographs, and documents from the inquiry into her loss.

The calculated sinking location in the Labrador Sea was pretty much spot on, although the exact co-ordinates are being held back for the time being.

A second visit to the wreck, possibly later this year, will do a more complete investigation.

"Right now, we don't intend to touch the wreck. It actually lies in an already protected area for wildlife, so nobody should be touching it," associate search director Antoine Normandin said.

"But we do hope to go back and photograph it with a remotely operated vehicle, to really understand its state."

Alexandra Shackleton is the explorer's granddaughter and was patron to the RCGS survey.

"I was thrilled, really excited to hear the news; I have relief and happiness and a huge admiration for the members of the team," she told BBC News.

"For me, this represents the last discovery in the Shackleton story. It completes the circle."

The explorer continues to spark interest more than a century after his death.

Hundreds of people visit his grave on South Georgia every year to pay their respects to the man known by his crews simply as "The Boss."

"Shackleton will live forever as one of the greatest explorers of all time, not just because of what he achieved in exploration but for the way he did it, and the way he looked after his men," said David Mearns.

"His story is timeless and will be told again and again; and I'm just one of many disciples who'll keep telling it for as long as I can."

—

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton CVO OBE FRGS FRSGS (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic.

He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

[gawrkin]

out of curiosity, which mythic/pagan origins of the Arthurian cast (and other Welsh or Galfiridian characters) do you take seriously?

Out of the myriad speculations, I think the one I would stick my leg out for is "Guinevere = Findabair". Similarly, "Excalibur = Caladbolg".

In my mind, during the era of Irish migrations into Britain, both Guinevere and Excalibur were "loaned" from Irish Myth (Ulster Cycle), and intermingled with the indigenous Arthur folk stories that existed Pre-Geoffrey of Monmouth that ultimately became too iconic and got spun off into their own unique portrayals, Irish origins forgotten.

Other than that, I also lean a little bit towards "Morgan = Mari-Morgen" theory as parallel to the idea that character Sebile arose from the cultural memories of the Greek Oracles.

[inposterumcumgaudio]

Clothes Make the Character - Part 2

You know how I said Arthur's Proper Suit was designed to remind you of the iconic dark brown black and white rowing jacket in The Prisoner? So the architecture on the island that Number Six is imprisoned on is styled predominantly to look like an Italian resort town. The reason why Number Six is given a rowing jacket is because the rest of the uniform (mockneck, straw boater hat, khaki pants, and deck shoes) is built around this idea of the people held captive here living out their days as if on perpetual holiday.

Aside from its appropriateness to vacationing in Italian villas, the rowing jacket was originally seen on prep school and university campuses. Rowing crew members wore such jackets in the colors of their school or rowing club, particularly with regard to the piping (or braiding). So it also has collegiate context.

We're using James to show off the outfit because Roger is doing something like this every time you see him.

Their outfit is a re-textured Wellie Suit with turtleneck (you can tell by the single pocket on the left side; the Proper Suit has two). The buttons and braiding on the sleeves have notably been recolored a metallic gold (for real, there's actual shine on them), although in first person view, Roger's braiding lacks this and is simply colored yellow. They both accessorize with a blue-brimmed white naval beret.

When you get to They Came From Below, that's when you get to see the real difference between Roger and James. James apparently comes from very humble beginnings affording him little in the way of aspiration. Roger, on the other hand, is educated, fluent in multiple languages (several of them dead), and went to "the best schools". This tells us that Roger came from money. Boat-owning money. The kind of money that turns the word "summer" into a verb. The kind of money that summers in Italy.

Had it not been for the war, I rather expect Roger would have completed his schooling and set out to the see the world. And the way to do that at this point in time was largely still by sea, not air. And he'd want to do it in proper appointments. Roger wants for adventure, but not danger. He's a Howard Carter, not a Rudyard Kipling. Here for a good time, not a hard time (unless...?)

The naval theme might also just be an easy gag. These guys are "in the Navy" if you know what I mean. The ol' Irish Navy. It'd be a bit of a lowbrow joke, but even Roger canonically isn't too good for that.

But if this outfit speaks more to Roger's character on the whole, then why does James also wear it? Are they one of those strangely codependent couples who have decided to inexplicably start dressing like twins?

Well, you might think that... if you forgot that this relationship is actually a weirdly codependent threesome.

I've given you the evolution of Dr. Faraday to illustrate something about her for you: from the alpha on, Dr. Faraday was meant to have a sense of style. She's wearing the white sunglasses in that first image, even though she was indoors. Very Anna Wintour. They probably nixed that idea because it makes her look like she's in the Rapture Family and because regular glasses are more suggestive of her scientific genius character.

She does look a bit dowdy in her main game appearance since she's just wearing the labcoat variation of the Wellette dress, but she is also being held prisoner out in the Garden District or working in the remains of her exploded lab here, depending on if you're Arthur or Sally.

I think the version of her we see in They Came From Below is the one that she'd consider her stock outfit. It's thematically similar to Sally's (high contrast with the white being quite bright and clean), although this might just be to make her visually consistent with the polished aesthetics of her facility. They re-textured the blocky glasses red for her which is a Statement. Love that for her, honestly. But most notably for our purposes, she's got a tidy row of shiny gold buttons down her labcoat.

Do you know why it takes her so damn long to saunter out from behind the portal machine when you tap on the glass? Narratively, it's because she's arguably the most valuable person in Wellington Wells and even if she's a prisoner in her own laboratory, you're still on her time and at her mercy. But practically, it's because she uses the same walk animation as the models in the design center.

Now I don't think she actually spends a lot of time thinking about the way she looks, but she does care about it. She wears her Happy Face mask even though no one's gonna see her but Roger, James, and Constable Hickinbotham. Roger and James still wear their masks, even though the only people who will see them will attack them on sight for it. She understands the importance of presentation and even weaponizes it (spitefully making the Jubilator look like a teapot because she felt designing it was beneath her).

So I posit that Roger's and James' outfits are actually a uniform she had commissioned for them. Perhaps Roger made some suggestions that gave it the nautical (dare I say Ralph Lauren) bent, but it still features Dr. Faraday's use of gold buttons and her appreciation for stripes (dare I even say Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male stripes). And as for James, he is not going to argue with his boss about uniforms or his boyfriend about aesthetics.

As an aside, now's probably a good time to compare her approach to fashion - as a scientist and as a woman - to Sally's. Like, Sally understands that presentation is important too, but she seems to take no pleasure in it for its own sake. It's a thing she does to keep men interested. Faraday, conversely, has no interest at all in men and yet maintains her appearance. I find that very relatable personally! She's doing it because that is the way she wants to to be seen, in a way similar to Constable Peters and his mustache.

Nick's a little funny in that he actually starts out in a variation of his stock outfit and the first quest in his DLC is ultimately to find a clean set of clothes. While functionally, the blue suit is not much different from the maroon, it is a little symbolic that he wakes up in an outfit we don't know him for (and indeed he doesn't know himself since it's covered in blood) and wants to get into his more familiar and recognizable color scheme.

This is also the one exception to the first-person-until-the-end rule. Here, we need to see that Nick is covered in blood and so his opening cutscene is shot in third-person.

This initial blue version of his outfit as well as his stock maroon outfit... are actually just the Proper Suit re-textured again. They attached frills to the cuffs on the jacket, colored over the trim on the wrists, and pinned a jabot on the neck to hide the tie underneath. Give it a bolder color and some striped pants and you've got a completely different outfit.

Such is the power of accessorizing! Let this be a lesson. If you're building a wardrobe on a budget, get modular base pieces you can mix and match and then use accessories to change their context.

While we're here, know that the maid outfit arms are also just black proper suit sleeves with frills attached backwards. Goddamn, were they crafty with their materials.

Anyway, Nick's actual stock outfit.

This interpretation of the Proper Suit, Nick's Fab Threads, is meant to remind us of Austin Powers' velvet suit. It's almost exactly that outfit, save for the striped pants which give Nick a bit of borrowed Rolling Stones flair (which they were not subtle about alluding to). The Stones tended towards a leaner, more Wellish silhouette than Austin Powers does (recall that Powers is actually from 1967 so his style is heading into the 70's). While Mick Jagger always gets the credit for his fashion sense, I think the striped pants are actually more Keith Richards. An apt design choice, all things considered. No shit, though, I literally, just yesterday, saw a video of Iron Butterfly performing "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" and there was a guy wearing Nick's exact outfit in it. That would be 1968 so Nick's ahead of his time. Or rather Davy Hackney is.

Hackney also wears a variation of this ensemble, swapping the striped pants for marigold ones, brightening the hue of the jacket up to fuchsia, and forgoing the white piping. Compared to Sally, who he dresses in his strangest confabulations, Davy apparently dresses Nick in a played up, showier version of his own style. It shows a bit of how he sees their different value in marketing. He gives both of them his haute couture designs, but Sally gets the designs he never intends to sell, while Nick gets designs that will eventually be edited and refined to become part of his ready-to-wear lines. Considering what a merchandising machine Nick is, this follows perfectly.

The jabot, though, I think takes the ensemble in a Biba/Vivienne Westwood direction. Westwood didn't really come into the scene properly until the late 70's and this fashion trend doesn't even pick up until the 80's, but the reason I think this bears mention is there is one other person in Wellington Wells who wears this outfit.

Cap'n Strawbeard, the New Romantic.

Strawbeard's version of the outfit is very pared down, no piping, a drab brown to match his tricorn hat, the jabot necessary not only to tell you this guy is a pirate, but also (again) to hide that there's a tie on the model underneath it.

Although we're never really given a reason to compare these guys in game, I do think it's kind of interesting that Nick is courting the beginnings of what would become New Romantic fashion. Vivienne Westwood's 1981 Pirate collection is when the subculture starts approaching the mainstream, so having an inexplicable pirate character in the game who happens to wear the same outfit as the rock star is sort of like a nod to how music and fashion move in tandem. The color schemes of both Strawbeard and Nick's outfits are already starting to rebel from pop art brights and minimalism and shifting into the ornamentation and richer jewel/earth tones that Biba began popularizing in the late 60's.

One other thing about this that I think is worth noting is that Cap'n Strawbeard seems to have the only outfit in Wellington Wells with universal conformity. He was apparently able to wear it in the Garden District with no problems and he can wear it in the Village as well. He was supposed to have a quest for Arthur in which, if given enough scotch, he would admit to stealing from Wellies and giving his spoils to Wastrels so part of this may be that he has enough social capital out there to get a pass. But it's also fun to consider that Cap'n Strawbeard might be the only person who's struck the balance between polished enough for the Village and scrubby enough for the Garden District.

Last but certainly not least, Victoria.

I mentioned once before that I think if she had the ability to shop them, she'd be a big fan of Hermès. Their long heritage and foundations as a saddlery are a perfect match to the equestrian aspects of her design.

I also think she'd like Burberry too. Her color scheme is very similar to their signature checker print (just in different proportions) and her concept art even had a subtle checked pattern on her coat. Though not as old as Hermés, Burberry also has the benefit of being English and having practical origins in making water resistant outdoor attire, which speaks to her desire to appear of the people.

And just because I like the detail, her boots have Louboutin's trademark red soles, despite his only having been born that year (and despite that you will certainly never see the bottom of her shoes).

I also talked about Victoria's aesthetic in relation to her interior decorating, but a lot of the same principles apply to her fashion sense.

To reiterate, Victoria's design speaks to both her admiration of her father and her extreme desire to maximize her English heritage and minimize her Indian one. Because she wants to appear a proper English lady, she has sublimated her father's militarism for more feminine equestrian affectations (there are no horses in Wellington Wells), to the end of commanding her offices and subordinates with the same authority that he does the Victory Memorial Camp.

Her outfit is unique to her, with few direct comparisons to other characters. Obviously there's some commonality with General Byng; at its most basic, both outfits consist of a jacket, waistcoat, a shirt with a tie, and pants. Since Victoria's playing to a different audience than he is and utilizing more soft power, she's re-contextualized the ensemble for her uses.

Byng's outfit is very front heavy. Waistcoat with a row of gold buttons, piped lapels, the scarf about his shoulders, even a single Albert pocket watch chain. All this layering on the front of what is otherwise a dark, closed off column telegraphs his being guarded there. It follows from his background as a military man; his life is about confrontation and he expects to be approached from the front so all his armor is there.

Victoria's outfit is also front heavy, but it's also much more open. Her waistcoat is abbreviated, covering only the vital organs and leaving the soft white spots of her stomach and décolletage exposed and her jacket is practically bursting open. Part of this is that she's one of the few women in town eating well enough to have any kind of rack worth speaking of, but it's also to convey that she is open and approachable in the way that a diplomat, not a general, should be. But her (gabardine perhaps?) jacket is long in the back, to protect herself from whatever might be sneaking up her. She certainly has no intention of turning around to see.

The pants are a bit of a bold choice for a Wellette. Aside from Sally, Victoria is the only woman in the town who wears pants. In the context of a world that still views pants as improper for women, Victoria choosing them is a signal, that though she loves and enjoys the rigid rules of society, her position is situated above it and she may disregard those rules if she so chooses.

One other thing that I think is interesting about Victoria's outfit re: Sally is that they could have given Victoria the jockey helmet instead. The choice of the bowler hat though, I think, is a lot like giving Dr. Faraday nerd glasses. The bowler hat is the hint that Victoria is, ultimately, a bureaucrat. Her primary occupation is overseeing office work, not diplomacy. So despite how thematically consistent the helmet would have been, Victoria doesn't actually have need of head protection the way Sally does since she's not venturing out from polite society.

There are two pieces missing between Victoria's stock outfit and her DLC one: the Happy Face mask and her gloves.

So Ollie actually removed her mask when he tied her up at her house. It would be a bit of a logistical question to be taping and untaping her mask. Also taking your mask off is a metaphor for dropping pretense, which is what Ollie was trying to accomplish there. So they just use her unmasked model in this scene, though this model still retains her gloves.

We know then that she left the house without her mask, but by the time you get to We All Fall Down, you may have forgotten that. Especially since Victoria's menu image shows her wearing it. the mask is part of how she sees herself and we're never given any reason to wonder about whether she gets a new one or not.

But her hands are presented to the player uncovered almost immediately.

They even put a ring on it to draw your attention. Hello, dear player, I know you were expecting bright red gloves, but instead I've given you a ring to look at. How special! What a treat!

Note how we can't see her nails at this point. Dohoho. We get to see those when she throws up for the first time. I don't have a picture of that on hand (oi oi oi) so here's one with her realizing shit's fucked instead.

The practical reason for the lack of gloves is that they are actually using a re-textured version of Sally's Garden District hands: cleaned up, given a deeper skin tone, and a slick of red polish. And you know, it's fun because red is her signature color, but like Sally, she paints her nails even if she's going to be wearing gloves. It's that presentation matters. Also kinda like that sign in the design center that says no one will know if you have makeup on under your mask, but you'll know. Also also Sailor Moon shit.

But aside from just another clever and economical use of existing assets, this is also a signal to the player that Victoria's finding out about herself.

Victoria was a particular proponent for the Happy Face mask because it enforced smiling, sure, but it also served a purpose for her personally. Recall from Prudence's diary:

I suppose she mustn't. She's not really English, is she? I wonder if she's really the daughter of a maharajah. She mustn't let anyone remember her skin is dark and her hair is dark and her eyes...

Victoria probably thought the Happy Face mask was a capital idea because it she could literally replace her othered brown face with a white one to match every one else's. The gloves serve this same purpose, to hide that her skin was brown from the people she is trying to lead.

Forgoing both of these accessories is the first step towards finally approaching the parts of herself that she'd turned her back on and disavowed all these years, the parts that are associated with her mother and India.

And when we get to the very end, her third person model has also shed her gloves. She's come to terms. And haven't we all by then?

[theunwantedgamerawebtoonhuman]

Just saw your wolfwalkers x wild kratts au, got anymore ideas for it?

I do actually!

In the movie it takes place in a little Irish town where the British have invaded and built massive stone walls around it and are tearing down the forests that used to surround it. The guy in charge is a religious man called The Lord Protector who believes the God from the Bible wants him to destroy everything wild so they can claim it as there own for Gods glory.

My au version is Zach is the son of the Lord Protector and obviously an inventor who deeply envies Aviva cause the OG town people ADORE Koki and Aviva. They actually built them their own little repair shop and blacksmithing shop but both were later taken from them by British soldiers under Zach's orders.

Koki's very buff. (But that's my all around head cannon lol) Especially cause of her black smithing. She has some minor scars all up her arms from her work but she proudly shows them off. She's one of the best black smiths out there and everyone knows it. People were so mad about Zach shutting down her and Aviva's shops they almost rioted but they both calmed everyone down and told them it wasn't worth anyone getting hurt over but Koki's secretly very salty about it and spits on the ground any time she hears Zach's name or thinks about him. She also dabbles in architecture and has some decent medical knowledge from her mother who was a doctor before she died. Once she lost her job she started helping the farmers with their sheep and selling medicinal herbs for super cheap. Zach once tried to claim she was a witch but people got so angry he had to publicly apologize less they stormed the castle.

Jimmy's weird. He's nice and all, laid back but always willing to help, quite jumpy but he's SUPER into his job. He seems to know where things are before they've even been discovered. Martin once caught him drawing up a map for an area they'd never been too and when they went there a few days later it was completely accurate. Jimmy claimed he'd been there a few days before but Martin has his suspicions. He sometimes jokes the forest tells him things but the WK crew gets the feeling it might not be a joke. Before the walls were built Jimmy would sometimes go off into the woods for the night or even a few days here and there but he always came back, and usually with a sweet treat! Once Aviva saw him sleeping in the middle of the woods and shook him awake and swears on her life when he opened his eyes she could see the sky in them before they turned back to their normal blueish green. K̶o̶k̶i̶ k̶n̶o̶w̶s̶. But no one bugs him too much about it because he really is just a chill guy and him being a little funky pays off since he somehow ALWAYS knows where to find whatever herb or mushroom or other plant they may want. There's been a few times he's basically begged them never to enter a certain area of the woods and they follow his rules religiously and without question. He REALLY doesn't like Zach. He always just uses the reasons everyone else has for not liking the guy but there's something in his eyes. In his blank stare at the guy. Like he's waiting for his dues to catch up with him. Like he knows they will.

Aviva. Our icon. She's always creating little toys and trinkets. She's an AMAZING wood carver. She taught herself everything she knows. She and Koki love to bounce ideas off each other and work together to build things. She actually tried to be Zach's friend when he first showed up but he was too bitter and jealous. She doesn't believe in anything. No ghosts no spirits no fae no Selkies nada. Science can explain everything and she can't be convinced otherwise. Till she sees it for herself 🤫. She hates what the British are doing but doesn't want anyone to get hurt. She's the older sister of the group while Koki's the mom because while Aviva has more common sense than the boys she disregards it easily in the name of curiosity and who's gonna stop me?

Martin creates the first ever child leash for Chris

[thatndginger]

I've had this in the works for a while, but I finally finished it! A comic sans presentation for Into the Storm! I know I've talked about ItS a lot, but it's always fun to rehash it ^.^

Shapeshifter taglist: @sunset-a-story @touloser-lautrec @ceph-the-ghost-writer

Full transcript below the cut.

Image ID: A powerpoint presentation comprised of ten slides. Each slide has a white background and black text.

[SLIDE ONE]

Image ID: two cartoon-style rainclouds hang over the outline of a city drawn with closely-set lines.

thatndginger presents: a comic sans intro of

Into the Storm a Shapeshifter story

[SLIDE TWO]

The Characters aka the idiots

Kerr McKay he/him

Image ID: a pale man with short, curly brown hair and brown eyes stands in front of a black-and-white lined mugshot background. He has an open-mouthed grin and an expression like he's about to say something. Barely visible in his hands is a large card that reads 'police department'.

21 years old

rottweiler shapeshifter

excessively Irish

captain of the “thinking is for squares” club

says it’s not his problem, makes it his problem anyway

Jay de Lange she/her

Image ID: a pale woman with chin-length, straight blonde hair and grey eyes stands in front of a black-and-white lined mugshot background. She has an angry frown on her face and is turned partly away from the viewer. Barely visible in her hands is a large card that reads 'police department'.

23 years old

werewolf

short and angry

the ‘responsible one’

the moral compass of the group (not always a good thing)

can’t help but make it her problem

Warrick Salehrad he/him

Image ID: a brown-skinned man with long, wavy black hair and brown eyes stands in front of a black-and-white lined mugshot background. He has a smirk and defiant expression on his face. Barely visible in his hands is a large card that reads 'police department'.

21 years old

puma shifter

fashion icon disaster

the chaotic trans rep we all deserve

firm believer that “laws are more like suggestions”

if he ignores the problem, it’ll go away

[SLIDE THREE]

Kerr, Jay, and Warrick have known each other since they were teenagers and at this point consider each other family

imagine the most unhinged sibling relationships and you’re probably close to whatever they’ve got going on

Kerr was born and raised in Ireland until ~*events*~ brought him to the US of A. don’t bother asking what brought him across the pond unless you want a series of increasingly ridiculous stories, each of which contradicts the others

Warrick and Jay are born and raised Moressites

Warrick is a first-generation Iranian-American

for all of you clamoring for queer rep: Kerr is gay, Jay is a lesbian, and in addition to being trans Warrick is also aromantic. the queers. they flock together

i’m not even going to try to start listing all the lgbtq+ side characters. there’s too many

Jay and Kerr are mechanics specializing in motorcycles, but they can both manage basic repairs for cars in a pinch

Warrick is a Tortured Artist who’s preferred medium is spraypaint and specializes in painting murals where he’s not supposed to (also dicks on cop cars/property)

literally none of these idiots make good choices

Image ID: a picture of Kerr, Warrick, and Jay posing together as if having their picture taken. Warrick is in the center with his arms around Kerr on the left and Jay on the right. All three of their faces are pressed close together as they smile at the viewer and hold up peace signs with both hands. Warrick's hands are partially overlapping Kerr and Jay's heads.

[SLIDE FOUR]

The Characters Part 2 aka the extras

Image ID: a handful of simple, cartoon-style illustrations appear in the background. A hanging sign that reads 'Alibi'. A shelf full of liquor bottles. A stack of books. A first aid kit. A dog wearing a floppy hat. A cargo ship. A motorcycle. A planner notebook.

Mags

owner of the Alibi bar

too old for your shit

she’s not scared of you, and her shotgun can prove it

Carlisle Morrish

founder of ‘the Pack’

a charming bastard

thickest Scottish accent you’ve ever heard

Reese Tucker

Carlisle’s right hand

the reluctant voice of reason

part of the “if I don’t see it then it won’t piss me off” committee

Lex Causey

Carlisle’s left hand

unofficial medic for the Pack

she WILL fix your wounds. resistance is futile.

Jaime Sheridan

Mags’s nephew/cousin and part-time bartender

nerdy and mysterious

immune to shenanigans

Gabriel Beckham

Portia’s older brother

would really, REALLY like it if people stopped causing problems

a great listener

Portia Beckham

Jay’s roommate

cops are her mortal enemies

knows she’s better than you but won’t rub it in

[SLIDE FIVE]

The Setting

The World At Large

low magic urban fantasy setting

supernatural creatures like werewolves, vampires, and witches exist out in the open - with all the benefits and consequences that come with being known

the human-to-supernatural ratio globally is about 20 to 1, but obviously there are places that have higher or lower ratios than the global average

Most countries have entire subbranches of government related to magical governance and regulation. it’s a messy business, regulating a force of nature

seriously, can you imagine all the laws in place to deal with inheritance when a vampire can easily live for centuries? or FDA regulations for magic-enhanced substances?? SO many new things to worry about

magic is far less powerful than modern technology. why bother spending all that time and energy doing something with magic when you can just use a match to light a candle, or use actual antibiotics oh my god don’t fight me on that one

magic is still extremely useful though, just limited

most magic is used defensively or to augment: nothing beats a good warding spell to protect the home and a lot of medical advancements have been made with the help of magic

magical novelty is also super big. Coffee shops where you can get a glamour spell with your mocha, street performers who dazzle with melodies woven with emotional magic, that kind of thing

[SLIDE SIX]

The Setting Part 2

look, I made a whole fictional city and drew a map for it and I’m really proud of it, so it gets its own slide

Moressau, Washington, USA

has multiple professional sports teams

Their NBA team is absolute ass, but the NHL is very good

there are supernatural-only leagues too. Were-only soccer is wild

has thriving biomedical and magic research sectors - if you want to discover new medicine techniques or magical theory Moressau is the place to be

in neighborhoods with predominantly supernatural residents, the streetlights have red bulbs to preserve night vision. gives a whole new meaning to ‘redlight district’ doesn’t it?

around 15% of the population are supernaturals of some kind

booming tourism industry thanks to all the magic and supernaturals. everyone wants to say they visited ‘the most magical place in america’ and rubbed elbows with a vampire lord (there are a lot of vampire lords of questionable authenticity)

seriously, there are SO many fake vampire royalty

Image ID: A simplistic map showing the outlines of a city in shades of grey and blue. It is labelled "Moressau. Population: 750,000. Area: 69.17sq. mi."

[SLIDE SEVEN]

OK, But What Is It?

Image ID: a handful of simple, cartoon-style illustrations appear in the background. A knife and pair of brass knuckles. A sign that reads "House Rules: 1. No Cops 2. No Fights NO EXCEPTIONS". A line of tape that reads "CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS".

Kerr, Jay, and Warrick are part of ‘the Pack’, a group of mostly-unregistered shifters and weres just trying to make a living in the big city

how? smuggling and money laundering, mostly

they do try to stick to some kind of moral code, namely: they don’t do weapons, drugs, or people

most of the money the Pack brings in goes back into the community, meaning most regular folk who live in their territory have a vested interest in keeping police off their backs

when they’re not busy running a minor crime ring Kerr, Jay, and Warrick do what any other friend group in their early 20's do: hang out at bars, get themselves in trouble, and pull each other out of said trouble

of course, these three aren’t just any friend group - they’re a trio of shifters living on the wrong side of the law. their kind of trouble is a bit more dangerous

one of the trio’s favorite places to avoid trouble is a bar called Alibi - a bar catering to the criminal element of Moressau. it’s considered neutral ground for any gang with enough brains to realize that if Mags, the owner of Alibi, goes down then she’s taking everyone with her

no one crosses Mags

[SLIDE EIGHT]

recently Mags has acquired a new bartender - a guy named Jaime from the east coast who claims to be some kind of cousin or nephew

all Kerr cares about is that Jaime is hot and funny and charmingly mysterious

there’s not much time for romance, though

someone is targeting the Pack’s operations and attacking their people. someone that’s got Carlisle, unofficial leader of the Pack, spooked. too bad he won’t tell anyone why

which means it’s Kerr, Jay, and Warrick’s jobs to figure out what’s going on and put a stop to it

if only it were really that easy

questions keep piling up, and it won’t be long before bodies are too if the savagery of the attacks are anything to go onquestions like: what does a mysterious brand on the attackers mean? why is Jaime so interested in the attacks? what does Carlisle know that he isn’t telling anyone? why does Kerr have such a bad feeling about it all?

and what will the trio do once they’ve dug to the bottom and found the answers they seek?

Content Warnings

Lots of swearing

graphic descriptions of gore

graphic descriptions of violence

mild sexual situations

Prevalent Themes

found family

fighting for what you think is right

going against societal expectations

ACAB

Extra Goodies

messy relationships

imperfect queer characters

disability representation

mental disorder representation

[SLIDE NINE]

Quotes!

Kerr cackles. Warrick gasps, but he’s grinning when he does it. Jay eyes them. “I’ve tried shaking them, but they keep coming back.” “Like mold,” Warrick says with a nod. “Or an STD,” Kerr offers. Jay laughs then, a true laugh that stretches her mouth flashes her teeth - the canines sharper, longer, wolfier than a mundane’s. Then, like it’s realized what it’s doing, her mouth snaps shut into a frown.

Memes!

Image ID: in the meme format of "Domino Effect" meme. The smallest domino is labelled "kiss a bartender". The tallest domino is labelled "irrevocably change yourself and the city you call home."

In-World Media!

Image ID: the front cover of a small zine named "The Idiot's Guide to Moressau". Most of the cover is taken up by a ground-level photo of wet asphalt reflecting out-of-focus city lights.

Art!

Image ID: an illustration of Kerr, Jay, and Warrick exploring an abandoned supermarket. Kerr stands behind Jay with his hands on her shoulders, holding a cigarette in his mouth. He has his eyes closed and a small smile on his face. Jay looks up at Warrick disapprovingly, holding her hand palm-up towards him as if asking him to give her something. Warrick leans back against a shelf, a box in one hand. He has a mischievous smirk on his face and is looking sideways at Kerr.

You can find it all right here on this blog!

[SLIDE TEN]

Rave Reviews!

I have to toot my own horn sometimes, don’t I? and what better way than through the words of my delightful friends and mutuals?

"#OH BOY THEY'RE DISASTERS I LOVE THEM"

"#as always shapeshifter is [heart-eyes emoji]"

"#If you haven't given this story a read yet: what are you doing just standing there! go read it! #it's good stuff!"

"#wait this is so good!! #i want to read more"

"I really do love the sea themes for all the teams, haha. and HOLY SHIT K, THIS IS SO DETAILED IT'S INCREDIBLE. It's very cool to see where the story is happening. I'd risk all the magical and practical dangers for 300+ overcast days and summers no hotter than 70ish F."

"#YESSS MORE Into The Storm IS SUCH A GIFT #Go read it. Clicky the link. #it's so good! #This story deserves a bigger following so I can be the president of the inevitably large Warrick fan club that will eventually exist"

"#EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOURE DOING AND LOOK AT THIS #such incredible work! #other people's work"

"#K!!!! #This was SO MUCH FUN to read #I loved being a passenger in Kerr's head #and all his smart-ass thoughts #I love Warrick's nicknames for him #and the constant threat of Jay kicking both their asses"

[beerecordings]

I like to put old streams of Jack's on while I play games or do busy work, and collabs are my favorite. sometimes the shortened youtube videos are simply not sufficient so I organized the collabs on his twitch channel :) they are divided into sections and then the sections are chronological. I haven't watched all of these through recently so there may be some inaccuracies here and there or I may miss one or two. and of course these are mostly very old now, but I still enjoy them, so I figure this could be convenient for someone.

they are categorized into games with Evelien, games with Mark, Bob, and Wade, games with the Irish Lads, the Among Us streams (names listed), and other collabs. Have fun!

Games with Evelien

Bloodborne

Fall Guys Tournament with Evelien and friends

Ghost of Tsushima

Minecraft #1

Minecraft #2

Minecraft #3

Minecraft #4

It Takes Two #1

It Takes Two #2

It Takes Two #3

It Takes Two #4

Fall Guys with Evelien

Fall Guys with Evelien, Sykkuno, and Rae

Games with Bob, Mark, and Wade (sometimes they do the Three Peens Podcast before they start gaming)

Chatting, PUBG, and (iconic) Heave Ho

GTFO #1

GTFO #2

GTFO #3 and Snakeybus

Resident Evil Resistance and GTFO #4

Folklore Hunter and Totally Reliable

(See the Among Us section for a couple of those collabs)

Phasmophobia #1

Sign of Silence

Fall Guys with Bob and Wade

Call of Duty with Ethan, Bob, and Wade and Part 2 (stream cut off)

Phasmophobia #2 with Mark, Bob, and Wade

Games with Irish Lads

Mario Kart

Don't Starve and Scribbl.io

Uno Part 1 and Part 2 (stream cut off briefly)

Minecraft

Clue and the Game of Life

Crusader Kings

Grounded

Raft #1

Raft #2

Raft #3

Raft #4

Back4Blood

Mario Party

Among Us compiled in the Year of Our Lord 2025 (I tried to list some of the people I see in each stream but it will not be 100% accurate and I don't know everybody. some of these people I do not watch, for the record, but now if you don't like someone you can avoid that and watch the ones you do like!)

Among Us with Wade, Bob, and more

With Ethan, Felix, Corpse, Dave, Chris Melberger, Julien, and Charlie

With Wade, Bob, Mark, Ethan, and more

With Rae, Toast, Sykkuno, Felix, Ryan, Pokki, Scarra, and Charlie

With Cory Kenshin, Charlie, and more

With Courage JD, LazarBeam, Rae, and more

With Felix, Daithi, Charlie, Corpse, Dave, Cinnamon Toast Ken, and more

With Toast, Lily, Charlie, Corpse, Ken, Felix, Sykkuno, and Rae

With Sykkuno, Charlie, Scarra, Poki, Leslie, Felix, Toast, Lily, and Corpse

With PJ, Felix, Jaiden, Daithi, Corpse, Dave, and more

With Toast, Rae, Charlie, Dream (look it was four years ago), Daithi, Sykkuno, Corpse, Toast, and more

The streams with Congresswoman AOC Part 1 l Part 2

With Rae, BookeAB, Charlie, TommyInnit, Karl, Tubbo, Lazar, Vikkstar, and Courage

(proximity chat introduced around this time)

With Jaiden, Corpse, Felix, Dave, Joel, and more

With Corpse, Toast, QuarterJade, Sykkuno, Tina, Rae, John Masayoshi, Leslie, and Brooke

With Rae, BaboAbe, Natsumii/Wendy, Tina, Ludwig, Leslie, Corpse, Toast, and Sykkuno

With Tina, Corpse, Rae, Sykkuno, Leslie, Toast, and more

With Toast, Rae, Sykkuno, Corpse, Ludwig, Brooke, and more

With Brooke, Karl, Wendy, Rae, Tina, Sykkuno, Toast, Ash, and Corpse

With Toast, Brooke, 5up, Jaiden, Sykkuno, Corpse, Lily, Bretman, and Karl

With Rae, Toast, Corpse, Lily, Wendy, Sykkuno, and Janet

With Toast, Sykkuno, Corpse, Dream, Wendy, Tina, Lily, Bretman, and Jaiden

With Leslie, Toast, Poki, Courage, Bretman, Corpse, Sykkuno, Jade, and Rae

With Wendy, Rae, Leslie, hJune, Abe, Toast, Katamina/Miyoung, Tina, and Sydeon

Other Collabs

Sea of Thieves with Alice/bitofalice/pixlpit

Call of Duty with Ethan and Chris Melberger

Fall Guys with Charlie/Moist

Fall Guys with Ethan, Julien Solomita, and Chris

Party Animals with PJ, Corpse, Felix, Dave, and Joel

Apex with JackFrags

Minecraft Championship with Ethan and a big group

Also there are both of the huge Rust servers by Abe... I'm not putting all those links together but if you ever need to burn some serious time they're on there. Jack practicing Korean... Corpse gambling for hours... that moment when Ludwig asked Jack if he thought he would be a good fit to run a hotel he was making and Jack literally had a degree in hotel management... classic

[aloevhello]

Is LYLA’s Design Based On Xina?

If you read Miguel’s 90’s comics, the answer is an obvious yes. However, a lot is left unknown about what aspects of Miguel’s comics will be adapted, causing SV LYLA’s origins to be up to speculation. However, I think LYLA’s design in the SV films provides evidence that she is based on Xina, Miguel’s ex-girlfriend and childhood best friend.

Starting off are LYLA’s heart-shaped sunglasses, while a quirky detail, could also hint at Miguel’s lingering feelings for Xina, as hearts usually have a romantic connotation to them. Sunglasses also play a prominent role in Miguel’s comics, where he would frequently wear them to both protect his eyes from light and conceal his Spider identity, since their redness indicates his powers. In a way, Miguel’s sunglasses symbolize him shielding his true self (the combination of his Spider and personal identities) from the world, considering how the eyes are often referred as windows to the soul. However, when it comes to LYLA’s sunglasses, the opposite effect is created because with them being heart-shaped, they serve as a projection of Miguel’s inner desires to be with Xina again. There’s also how the ATSV art book states that Miguel is the one who programmed Lyla, which could indicate that on a subconscious level, Miguel knows he can’t escape his romantic feelings for Xina or the presence she had on his life.

In the 90’s comics, LYLA was programmed by Xina and her design is based on Marilyn Monroe (shown left), Xina’s favorite 20th century actress who she believes she resembles as they’re both “gorgeous and brainy.” While a lot of this original design is lost, likely due to how out of place a Marilyn Monroe look-alike would be without that context (the SV films aren’t Clone High), Marilyn’s influence remains. This is indicated by LYLA’s fur coat, since furs were used as a fashion staple for many Old Hollywood icons like Marilyn Monroe. Though with LYLA’s coat being oversized, making her toe the line between goofy and glamorous, it extenuates her playfulness and eccentricity, a staple of Xina’s personality. Plus, the brainy aspect remains intact as LYLA is described to have the intelligence of a super computer who’s advanced enough to create her own personality and Marilyn herself used her own intellect to curate her public image and become an enigma in pop culture. In that respect, if SV LYLA were to be based on Xina then her absence in these films and mainstream knowledge on Spider-Man 2099 makes Xina an enigma as well.

LYLA’s design change for the SV films will likely be the design used for her future iterations as seen in her design for sm2099’s 2019 comics (shown left), which were released a year after ITSV. Granted, there is speculation that SV LYLA’s design could based on Dana D’Angelo because of how Lyla has a similar hairstyle to her and how Dana is Miguel’s love interest for the 2019 comics. While Xina and Dana are important women in Miguel’s life, especially in the 90’s comics, Xina is more likely to be the main inspiration based on what SV LYLA is programmed for. The ATSV art book states that LYLA acts as Miguel’s “only friend in the world” and is meant to keep Miguel in check when he oversteps his boundaries. Even though Dana was Miguel’s fiancée, she never seemed to really connect or keep him in check the same way Xina did. After all, Xina was Miguel’s only friend growing up, along with consistently challenging Miguel to do the right thing even when he believed it wasn’t possible. There’s also how SV LYLA is designed after her VA, Greta Lee, who is of East Asian descent like Xina, whereas Dana is white. While Xina and Greta’s specific ethnicities differ, the former is Chinese and the latter is Korean, it’s mostly a moot point as Miguel is Mexican-Irish, but his VA is Óscar Issac who is Guatemalan-Cuban. Plus, with the character designs for ATSV emphasizing their racial and ethnic backgrounds, poignantly so for Miguel, there’s a chance that LYLA intentionally looks East Asian to allude to both Greta and Xina’s ancestry. While LYLA was programmed by Xina in the 90’s comics, the ATSV art book reveals that Miguel programmed her in this iteration. This change is particularly interesting because if LYLA is based on Xina then LYLA is shaped by Miguel’s perception of his past flame, essentially making Xina his muse. There’s also how this changes LYLA’s role as the connector between Xina and Miguel, even when they’re separated. While Xina creating LYLA serves as her way of looking after Miguel and shows how much she wants to be in his life, Miguel creating LYLA serves as his way of preserving his memory of Xina and demonstrates how much he wants her in his life. Admittedly, there isn’t much in text evidence from the films that confirms this theory and SV LYLA doesn’t even resemble Xina’s look from the comics, other than them both being East Asian. However, LYLA’s original Marilyn Monroe design does not resemble Xina either, but she still represents Xina’s presence. In the end, this theory relies on the premise that Miguel is projecting his lingering feelings towards Xina onto LYLA and it’s reflected in her design, along with how LYLA reminds Miguel of the various roles Xina played in his life. Whether it’d be an equal. A mystery. A regret. A lover. A friend. It all becomes more tragic if Miguel’s story in the SV films acts as a continuation of his 90’s comics. At the end of this run, Xina who is overwhelmed by guilt and grief over Dana’s death, leaves Nueva York and Miguel, potentially for good. Thusly, it leads to Miguel’s current position in the SV films where he believes that she will never come back and that LYLA is the only form of connection he has left with Xina.