#also the lenght seems to fit

[katyahina]

The 'haired' helmets are strange..

It IS odd how we get to wear the characters' hairstyles, as it is just really unlikely they're scalps! I suppose the explanation is the same as why we are able to completely change upon looking into a mirror at Roundtable's Hold; as long as the Tarnished is guided by Greater Will, they'll have its aid and be transformed into whatever they see fit to keep carrying on! So I think the implication here is that we do, physically, grow the hair of the demigods (or champions) upon trying to tap on their power! I think if GW abandons a Tarnished, or if they abandon it, they lose this 'ability', which our playable character never does, so..

I am not sure whether it is Maliketh's own long mane or also a decoration! I'd like to think the former, in which case, same logic as with hair of Malenia, Godfrey and Radahn applies! Vargram's "hair" definitely is a decoration, and specifically for the purpose of imitating shadowbeasts:

Ensha's armour goes even further and not only gives us a hairdo, but makes us a skeleton:

We even get his power of slight regeneration, similar to Erdtree's normal powers:

All implications considered, I really doubt that this is just how armour looks, especially considering no change in size. We are not 'wearing' the skull, we ARE the skull now fhhsfd And this time the NPC data inside simply exists because Ensha does use NPC code and mechanics. So, we turn into a corpse! Again, should not matter much since as long as we're carried by GW we don't need to eat or sleep or... anything, really. (I'll also die on the hill of the theory that Ensha was one of the deceased Marika's offspring whose Mausoleum crashed and what was left from him crawled out but that's another story fdhfhds)

Here are other instances of hair simply decorating a helm:

Niall is that one guy we fight in Castle Sol, so similarity in this case ALSO checks out! Also cute idea: what if decoration for the helmets of Godrick's Knights IS his own hair? ;-;

That could also be speculated about Redmane Knights, but I feel like it'd be more appropriate for Godrick's. Radahn would be stingy about his amazing lion mane whereas Godrick can not only take body parts but also give them XDDDD yeah yeah terrible whatever

The black hair on Night Cavalry's helmet can be removed, also confirming that in this case it is a decoration. This hair does have interesting flowing animation though! Maybe it IS the hair of Night Cavalry themselves, still having their shadowy energy, but cut and attached again to their own helmets (kind of like Ciaran from DS1 decorated her helmet with her own braid!)

Another case of hair not being actual hair but part of the mask; the way hair is placed, it'd had to grow from like, eyebrows level and face itself or something fdhfdsdfh Maybe this style with braids and grey hair was intended to refer at Godfrey's? Alternatively, what IF their faces are actually furry/animalistic despite otherwise human build, so the hair doubles as fur? We don't see them behind the mask, after all? A food for a thought lol

^ More of 100% 'mask' types of these

The water dancer in blue gave the sword to Malenia's teacher, the blind guy that once sealed the God of Rot himself, and these warriors in blue appear to be following the same philosophy of "ever running water preventing stagnation, so, rot itself" as him! Although this head piece imitates just a follower and not the man himself (as far as we are aware....), perhaps the sentiment is strong enough to give us the hairdo too x) Again, funny enough, it seems to resemble the Lady of the Lake fairy herself!

I suspected the case of 'sharing hair' with Cleanrot Knights too, but upon closer look I can tell it is supposed to be some fabric/rags, rather than hair or hairlike accessory! Probably more efficient to imitate the look with rags rather than something hairlike tbh, considering the lenght of the thing! So I think the design is more meant to represent Malenia's own unhappy fate, with short tuft being the "hair" and the longer tails being the "wings" :

_______________

In conclusion, it is kind of easy to deduce which hair become our actual hair for the time being because of golden grace 'reshaping' us and which hair is just decor! But it is really interesting stuff to think about all the way!

[voidcat]

so... amphoreus, huh. i think as 3.2 is out, we all know and are aware it is, without a doubt, a simulation right?

(aka my mini rambling post regarding the world thus far, less of a theory and more of a "pointing out the obvious" in my terms because im still seeing posts in denial or not reading a single text in the main quest then making "theories" and im a salty person who's annoyed by this ahahaha)

with 3.2 being out and we have been shed more light with anaxagoras' help, i want to talk about the world a little, and appreciate mhy for the foreshadowings they've done. credit where its due, for all the bs they do, they always nail foreshadows right and do it well. not spoiler free !!! im lazy to add visuals (esp regarding anaxagoras quotes) so i'll quote to the best of my ability (idek where to begin lol) kind of a long thread, mostly to keep my thoughts somewhere,,, ty if you read to the end <3

So even for non hi3 or genshin players, amphoreus was a suspicious world on its own. the corrupted areas looking to be like erased data or a virus of sorts. how garmentmakers nymphs always resembled "bugs" and made emoticon faces to react. i said before that i thought the world was stuck in a cycle- a samsara cycle like tevyat (genshin) perhaps. with the broken moon, "the sea of flowers at the end of the journey" (the twins' ultimate destination in genshin) which was revealed to be the nether realm aka the afterlife and how the dead are never fully dead and we have these memory fragments often left behind at crucial locations.

cerces had called herself "calypso" before and said she came up with it on a whim. but this quest showed, calypso was one of the seven sages and her past form for a better lack of a word. like how gnaus was once nikador/strife. "titans of today are heirs of yesterday who claimed the coreflames and passed the trials" it's as simple as that, really.

(also here is what one of the nymphs in dawnbreak say when you catch it) (the nymphs seem to be more aware of the reality of amphoreus than the citizens and heirs)

amphoreus is a simulation- that resets its data. that's why while cerces has remained her appearance (despite her contradicting lines saying they decipted her as a tree in the demigod council, easiest and best way to illustrate her when they didn't know what she looked like) some of the previous heirs did not- or to our knowledge so far. how the new titans' data is "constructed" entirely depends on the "memories" collected in the previous era. and from there, their new forms are based on. kephale hinted to be not dead nor alive, in the state of dying and thus stuck in a dynamic, i think fits well with phainon's contradicting entity too. only surviver of his town, his "true form" on the other side wreaking havoc. he is the trickiest heir most likely last to obtain divinity for this reason. because it's flame reaver that is the lord ravager lygus told madam herta.

amphoreus is a simulation made to keep lord ravager in. the why isn't clear but there must be some history between his past and cyrene/elysia to have gone through these lenghts. with a simulated world that "resets" itself and starts over, FR is more or less aware of his entrapment at this point and that'ss why he has begun to go after the coreflames: the hard drivers of the world, if we take amphoreus not just as a simulation but as a simple computer of sorts.

that's where erudition and remembrance plays factor, intentionally or not in a collabration with each other, as brought to reality and guarded by lygus, an antikytheran.

and what is an antikytheran? a hand powered orrery (solar system model) that could be used to predict asronomical positions/athletic cycles of olympic games and such. it can be considered as the oldest known example of an analogue computer. (all these, simply from a basic wikipedia search). in the game we are told there used to be many "antikytherans" and lygus is one of the last of the species, but in a simulated world, how much of it holds true, who is to say this isnt fabricated history? anaxagoras also points out the history before the titans is unclear and implied/told to be in utter chaos. just because it wasn't recorded properly does not mean this was th fact.

same as the case of lygus. in his dialogue to madam herta, there is an emphasis on predictions, similar to the real thing. he says he ws gazed upon by nous too but herta has showed us already that nous is not exactly the gazing or responsive type. before he is an aeon, he is a computer. so who is to say lygus is not an extension of it, or maybe an earlier model, a prototype perhaps made by zandar one kuwabara himself- or based on one of his earlier inventions? just like that, it's most likely lygus/nous' influence that the first "seeds" of "nousporists" was planted (again, credit where its due, nous' name and the philosophy of nousporism in amphoreus tie wonderfully and show us clear influence/interventions of nous. just like how nihility is named ix not for the number but after the major arcana card ix). everything in amphoreus is a repetitive cycle that is rewritten by the previous data that has been saved/collected.

as a world that is overlooked by three paths, i think destruction came last, with the arrival of lord ravager. now im not certain if the world was already existing before that with the intention to keep him, or if he was inserted after, but the last scenes with herta imply he was the latest component and lastly added- one of the true outsiders. his fragment image being able to move as herta walks is another display of his self awareness of his predicament.

and now onto why i emphasized on mhy's foreshadowing (if you've read this far lmao) if you've done the seal event, you see TB has a "prophetic dream" that shows phainon. some things that stand out regarding him is that: he refers to his seal army as his "legion" which instantly reminds me of "anti matter legion" or simply known as the "legion", lead by nanook and his lord ravagers. in the event, phainon (or pie-non as he introduces himself in the dream), he does say "i was always the invader. there was never any side switching." for the remainder of the event after the dream, we don't see much of him. it gives us more information regarding cipher and aglaea in fact.

which further leads me to believe his purpose is for the following story. because one thing mhy loves is to hide their best drops and foreshadows in fun, silly looking events (ie: summer events that always foreshadow upcoming regions in genshin) people will skim over or will put to auto (or webevents, as the latest moon sisters loredrop in genshin proved once more.) please do note this is the same company who foreshadowed/gave us a lot of crucial intel on the harbingers and even the story of ru and the thunderbird as early as games earliest existing artifacts (the og electro set to be specific for ru/thunderbird.) the timing of the event being right after 3.2 and giving you a warning to play it if you havent finished the latest quest are all intentional.

offhandedly it is also said during the quest, hycilens is dead. (not surprising since she is most likely an expy of dr mei) but with anaxagoras' death as well, before we could learn more regarding him and the odd void within his chest, i think we are meant to see the upcoming cycle. all of the heirs being foreshadowed to die isn't very surprising, since we have examples such as tingyun, fugue, misha, gallagher and whatnot... but considering they are all part of a simulation, as long as their coreflames/souls remain protected, they will live on for a better lack of a word.

and we do have calypso suggesting alchemy in the previous cycle, and supposedly in the new era when supposedly "alchemy hadn't existed to align/sync with the story of dragon of styxia", castorice's existence alone is the first step perhaps that the repetitive cycle is being broken.-- castorice and pollixia breaking the natural order of the world by directly inserting her into the new cycle is the first step on the path of disturbance, or destruction.

and while i got into the whole foreshadow thing, i do want to add, black swan's existence in penacony from the start seemed iffy to me. so when we put what we know about misha/mikhail, black swan and all she told us so far, the memetic virus event that stuck out like a sorethumb when we all were expecting amphoreus, i am certain, these were all setting stones for amphoreus for us players. (the black tide being corrupted data/a virus, the nymphs being bugs/antivirus installment that record data and watch over until we collect them all back while coreflames are the drives where all data is restored for the world to be reset with a "new age of titans".

so much rambling for so little conclusion ahahah sorry, i didn't have much time to ponder regarding phainon being "cursed by mnestia" but considering the golden threads that always listen and the nymphs belonging to her, her role isnt just the "titan of love and romance" nor "created by cerces for company, only for the creation to fall in love with the creator". -> especially after with thanatos and the twins, reaching the conclusion that with the cycle of life and death and the passion to live and enjoy as long as you breathe, thus the humans learned to love; bringing this hand to hand with thanatos playing a role in mnestia's nymphs, their roles mightve been more mixed than what we have been shown so far.

after all, all we learn in amphoreus is just memories of people of the past- manipulated data if you will. oh and the vortex of genesis is most likely the heart of amphoreus and the whole world itself. as it is where the coreflames are "returned" (restored) and why when entering the world, herta finds herself there with fragmanted forms of the outsiders (lord ravager/fr, trailblazer and dan heng) while lygus is fully intact and in its form as it has shown us.

if anyone (especially hi3 players) have anything they want to add or have noticed themselves, pls feel free to add! i mainly wanted a post to gather my thoughts and will most likely edit this in the foreseeable future when i remember the rest of my thoughts ^^) but yeah, elysia/cyrene is most likely a emanator (remembrance) too but if she's not playing dumb as mem and that gaze of fuli black swan noticed in 3.2 wasn't the moment we were gazed upon by fuli, then it'll really be a paimon situation for sure... rip oh and whenever we "purify" the corrupted areas, the symbol we interact with seem to resemble kephale's symbol... edit 2: i'm thinking maybe as black swan has said regarding the garden of recollection and memokeepers, there is a third party playing too that we are unaware of yet who is causing this chaos/corruption- possibly even the black tide itself. similar to how march 7th's ice shoing up when she is unable to remember, the remnants of black tide is data removal- and in case of amphoreus, we know data = memories. perhaps the third party is like HoC was for elysian realm and Cyrene is now trying to guide us as Mem. and for all that concerns Phainon/FR/Kevin, the world to be built only to reset over and over is perhaps the true trial of not just Kephale but for Phainon/Kevin to reach a certain form or state of mind Cyrene/Elysia hopes for him to reach as humanity's survivor and protector. edit: i think this qrt thread by twitter user lenteels sums up all of amphoreus as a world down to its basics pretty much too (and gave me a good laugh so i'll link here)

(also idk how many of you follow leaks or not but just today we've got leaks that say flame reaver is the true protagonist of the story-- they didn't elaborate further as to not spoil anything else, and "because it's long". buuuuuut yeah let's see what we will be getting out of FR vs Elysia / Phainon vs Cyrene and was the driving force behind her actions^-^)

[juustozzi]

@thepinksky18 hello, and thank you sm!! <3 I hope it's okay to reply like this, I got kinda carried away with reference images..! I can try to share some things that help me with my art, hopefully they'll be of some help for you too!

when I do group pics like this, the thing I focus on the most is how everything looks and feels together! details and stuff can wait for later, first is to figure out that the overall picture works, and the characters are in balance with each other!

I'll use the Tenma horse pic you replied to as an example, will be continued under read more!

here's the sketches for the art! the very first sketch is very simple and blocky (I usually use a thick brush) to just settle everything in place and see how it all works out. the second sketch is more detailed and sometimes deviates from the first sketch a lot, if something seems to work better some other way.

depending on the complexity of the finished art, I do just these two sketches or add one more even detailed one, but the last sketch before lineart is the one I tweak the most! usually I draw characters on different layers so it's easy to select them separately and resize, fix proportions or positions, etc. to make the big picture look good to you!

here's the lineart (which could also be the 3rd sketch) compared to the previous layer. now I'm adding more details, but I still keep fixing the overall image - you can see how the lineart doesn't quite match the sketch in places: hikaru is shorter, the position of aoi's feet and tenma's hind legs are different, etc. some people like to do a very detailed sketch and practically trace their lineart over it, and if that's what feels good for you, go for it! I'm the kind to just throw lines over vague sketch and call it a day, especially with more simple drawings like this :,)

there's good tutorials and studies on bodies and proportions online already so I'm not going to even try to speak about those, but I got a few tips! I tend to do them in my mind nowadays, but I tried to draw them out for easier visualization!

I mentioned earlier how for me the main thing is that everything's balanced, right? that also inclues characters and their proportions. I think that in group pics it's more important the characters work out together, not so much if their insividual proportions are perfect. especially if there's notable differences between them - height, bulk, lenght of limbs, and so on! a few pixels here and there don't matter in the overall image, but for example with Shinsuke who is Tiny, it's important for me to really make him smaller than others.

my most used tool is a scale chart! it helps to visualize the proportions for the characters, even when they're piled up like in the example doodle, or otherwise not in a neat row on the horizon line. (again, separate layers help you tweak them individually if needed! there's no need to get them right on the first try, especially when drawing digitally when there's layers.)

if your drawing eye hasn't gotten used to proportions, the chart can also be used to make a neat little ruler to check your sketch! the rulers over the sketch are all same size, just moved around; tsurugi and shinsuke fit in pretty well, and while Tenma's torso is a little long (even when taking into accound he's a little bent from waist, which makes him even taller when straightened out), it's not by much and it wouldn't bother my eye.

and while I myself sometimes tend to be a slave for the references and get gray hair over minor details, or of some part of the anatomy is off and I can't fix it the way I want, the overall feeling and style mean a lot more! I think it's important to put some thought into the proportions especially if you feel like wanting to make progress with your art, but if it's getting too stressful or draining the joy of drawing out of you, then screw it and just have fun! (I say this as someone who has learned not from studying anatomy and stuff, but instead just. has drawn a shitton and had fun while at it. I think getting comfortable with just creating is the bigges step you can take!)

...oops, sorry if this got too long or off the rails! and yeah hopefully you (and anyone else reading all this) got something out of it!

[lightleckrereins]

i have noticed some small differences with the Pink Alt Costume but can you go over them more in depth if possible?

Pink is a weird costume in that it has slowly changed over time instead of having easily separated versions like most of the six costumes. It has a lot to do with costume makers changing but there are really only two cases where you can say this two costumes have the same style: Shekinah and Zara, and now Erin and Laura. So under the cut my very long description of the changes in all of them.

I should mention that all the pink skirts and peplums have mirrored the Aragon costume skirt for that cast to some degree, in part because they generally share makers. I have the feeling this is intentional at least to some degree, but have no real way to confirm it.

Without going into changes that come from how the costumes fit the things that change are: collar shape, neckpiece shape and style, bodice style, belt shape, peplum shape and opening, and skirt shape.

The early costumes (Shekinah and Zara) had a square collar, a neckpiece with a soft curve in a single piece from the shoulder to the waist, a cutout panel covering the entire front and back, a straight belt with a small point at the front, a short peplum that lays almost flat over the skirt with the same lenght all around and has no gap at the front and a skirt with a wider gap and edges looking parallel to each other.

After reopening the first costume was Roxanne's and it keeps roughly the same bodice, belt, peplum and skirt but they switched the neckpiece to a sharper angle and made it in two pieces connecting at the edge of the collar, the collar also became curved towards the top. Natalie's costume went back to the original collar shape but kept the curved collar and had a rised peplum instead of flat over the skirt, it also added a second line of studs on the top of the peplum.

Leah had the biggest change up to that point. She had the curved top of the bodice and the neckpiece introduced for Roxanne, this time with studs over the seam. But then added a black square vinyl panel between the cutouts and the sequins on the bodice, made the belt thicker at the center front and gave it pointed shape. The peplum went back to being flatter but it became longer at the front creating a point and was longer all around (cutouts are placed differently too which makes it look even longer) it also lost the top line of studs. The skirt is narrower and flatter too.

Tamara went back to no black panels on the bodice and a straight collar. She kept the newer neckpiece with studs over the collar seam and the pointed belt. Her skirt was closer to the original shape, but her peplum got for the first time a wider opening than the skirt. The peplum also got very sharp point at the front and the top line of studs returned.

On a first look Erin has the same style as Leah with a wider skirt, but it is actually closer in construction to the Aragon costumes (specifically the US details that are slowly being standarized globally) than to older pink costumes. She has a straight collar, the newer neckpiece with studs on the collar seam and black panels on the top. But the top cutout panels became very narrow at the bottom, in turn making the side panels point towards the center instead of being vertical and the sequin panels wider at the bottom. Before the cutout panels had been very straight only narrowing towards the bottom following the shape of the torso. The belt kept the recent point but now is all the same width. Peplum and skirt are wider and have the same width for the gap, peplum is also raised and longer.

Photo angle for Erin doesn't allow for the best confirmation, but it seems like Laura has the same details with a shorter skirt and peplum (which could be just a matter of height).

[elficially-done-with-life]

I Need You Close

Pairing: Lindir x Reader

Summary: Reader was a warrior who already fought battles before finally finding peace in Rivendell where she met Lindir. She has a nightmare about a battle and Lindir comforts her.

Warnings: Talk about past trauma (very brief), There is comfort s*x so it's 18+, it is, however, not the most explicit scene.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

When you woke up, you felt Lindir's soft hands on your arms, gently shaking you awake. "Meleth nin, are you awake? I think you had a nightmare."

Your breath was going way faster than usual, and it took a moment for you to realize what Lindir had said.

You had no idea what your dream had been about, but you were almost certain it had been about one of the wars you had fought in. The scar across your face was itching again, as it always did when you dreamed of those times.

Times that were long over, but that still casted a shadow over you in some nights.

Lindir's voice sounded a little unsure, and you knew that he was insecure of how to comfort you since he hadn't been through the same things.

You actually still couldn't believe that he had fallen in love with you. You believed you were too broken for someone like him. For someone as loving and soft as him, who seemed to be way to pure for someone as broken and damaged as you.

His hands found their way to your cheeks, and his thumbs gently stroked away the tears that you hadn't even realized had fallen down your face. "What do you need?" He looked worried.

You wrapped your arms around his middle, seeking security. He was the only person you liked to be around after nightmares. Before you two had moved in together you had sometimes seeked him out at night, just to talk. "I need you," you whispered softly. You just felt the need to feel your husband close.

He nodded gently, his face still looking very worried.

Lindir's touch ignited a wave of pleasure that coursed through your body. His gentle hands moved with tenderness as if he was afraid a wrong move could hurt you, caressing down your sides, sending shivers down your spine.

"Are you sure?" he whispered in his quiet voice, his eyes searching yours for reassurance.

You nodded, trying to express your longing for him in the way you looked at him. "I'm sure, Meleth nin." you replied, your voice laced with need.

He softly placed his lips on yours.

Now, that Lindir had realized how much you needed his touch at the moment his hands wandered further down and softly stroked under your night garments.

His hands glided over your skin and made you tremble with anticipation.

Needing more of him, you pressed your abdomen against his, feeling the heat radiating between you. Your legs instinctively parted, inviting him closer, and he eagerly obliged, his body fitting perfectly between them.

You could feel his hard lenght pressing against you and let out a soft moan.

With each kiss, each touch, Lindir slipped more of your clothes of. His hands stroked over your naked skin. You loved the feeling of his warm fingers on you. They made you forget all of the negative emotions your nightmare had reminded you of.

Time seemed to stand still as your bodies moved together in a rhythm, before Lindir slowly started to also remove his own clothes and pressed his naked body softly to yours. He nuzzled his face into your neck as he pressed the tip of his lenght against your opening. Then he asked softly, "Can I?"

You nodded slowly as he softly slid inside you.

You loved the familiar feeling of having him inside you. It made you feel like the most loved person in all of middle earth.

Lindir started a slow pace, never full pulling out of you, while he held you close and placed soft kisses over every part of your body that he could reach.

You moaned softly as one of his hands held your hips in place and his other found one of your breasts and started gently massaging it.

You slipped your own hands into his hair to bring his head closer to you. You then pressed a light kiss on his lip and let out a breathless, "Thank you."

As you both slowly neared your climax, he whispered back, "Whatever you need to feel better, Meleth nin."

[immediatebreakfast]

The relationship between Dracula the novel, and its telling of ableism around the characters is a rather complex issue that stems from both the narrative itself, and the framing of said ableism when applied to a character.

The book has gone on lenght to describe, and establish the power dynamic, the tension, and the interactions between Seward and Renfield in way that is clearly uncomfortable.

The illusions of Seward clinging to Renfield's status as a patient to defend a treatment that clearly puts the old man in the category of test subject. Renfield's performative words and actions towards Seward (that he knows will work) are painted as unsettling not only thanks to the internal ableism of the novel, but also to put Seward in a spot of morality in his profession at the cost of Renfield's treatment as a human being.

Remember that regarding Renfield's motives for his actions, Seward is at best drawing the wrong conclusions from them, and at worst turning into an unrealiable narrator to fit the version of Renfield that he has in his head. This gets worse when you add Seward's problems with sleeping, and depression.

The difference is that Renfield, despite his plans and his manipulations, at the end of the day is a mentality ill old man who is vulnerable. Even if Seward's unethical treatment si something that Renfield has known from the beginning, and sadly knows the exact consequences of it. He is human, and there is a point where we can't take it anymore.

"Happy thought! We shall to-night play sane wits against mad ones. He escaped before without our help; to-night he shall escape with it."

Narrative wise, it seems that Seward has dropped the pretense of convincing himself about how Renfield is a patient that he must treat, and instead Renfield is a test subject that he needs to observe.

Even if Jack said before how he wouldn't cross the line of feeding into Renfield's dellusions to study him, it was more to convince himself to not do it. That was also a time when Renfield was actively performing, and keeping afloat the power dynamic between to get a few pieces of freedom. So maybe Seward felt more comfortable in keeping that "line" when he perceived Renfield as a more (ugh) illogical madman that at least knew his "place" in their dynamic.

If Renfield now "sees" him as an equal, as a mere person entrusted with his care, then Seward has to admit to himself that his diagnosis, and theory about Renfield is wrong. That he observed, but did not process anything.

But now that Renfield has been "acting out" of the established dynamic, along with Seward's own depression taking a hold on his biases within the system of doctor-patient? If the constant use of restraining jackets, and a padded room says something, it's something that is not pretty.

[kendrixtermina]

These fake pretentious posts about how that one person „would have liked Amys story better if she chose to quit travelling“ make me so mad.

For all that they throw around sanctimonious like „agency“ they really, really don’t get it.

The great thing about Amy’s story, and the reason I love it, is that it’s one big fuck you to this toxic-ass idea that „growing up“ is synonymous with abandoning your passions & becoming boring & conventional.

Which is something that sends ppl to therapy in droves regardless of gender because they quit everything that that brought them joy & focussed only on productiveness or obligation but which women get especially hit with.

At the start, she is under the illusion that her two choices are to keep her adventurous lifestyle that fits her free-spirited nature, OR to marry Rory and settle down in a conventional way, which is exactly why she is reluctant to commit & gets cold feet before the wedding.

But that supposed choice is shown to be illusory:

In the end, she can marry Rory & commit to him AND have an exciting life of adventure. Adulthood doesn’t HAVE to mean giving up your passions.

Are you seriously telling me that everyone should eventually give up a life where they see wild new things every day?

I wouldn’t. Some might decide after a while that they’d like more stability or get fed up with awful sights; – it depends on their personally obviously, but is it strange that some wouldn’t quit?

Certainly IRL many ppl have a formative wild phase in their youth & then call it quits, but there’s many that seek thrills & novelties all their lives.

Amy got a choice: Her choice was to stay indefinitely & try to balance both conventional adulthood & her love of adventure. It’s the one she makes in ‚The Big Bang‘ and one she re-examines but ultimately reaffirms after reexamining it in ‚The Power of Three‘.

Of course things still end, because everything ends (especially in a live action show where the actors have limited contract lenghts) but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a choice – it’s just that, if you chose to stick it out to the bitter end, that logically means that eventually circumstance is gonna hit. (As it did for Rose, Donna and Clara, who also preferred to stay indefinitely)

‚The Angels Take Manhattan‘ was really about giving her a chance to show her devotion to Rory. At the start of series 7 in ‚Asylum of the Daleks‘ we learn that she has become very aware of how much Rory is sacrificing for the relationship & how much he’s compromised for her sake when she hasn’t always been her best self to him, & that she wants to pay him back or make it up to him – but there of course she makes the very common relationship mistake of assuming what the other person wants without actually talking to them, & it ends in the temporary divorce thing, which is not at all what he would want.

But over the course of their entanglement with the Angels, he communicates very clearly that the one thing he doesn’t want is to be stranded somewhere without her, so when that happens, she goes with him so he won’t be alone, repaying his devotion.

It finishes up the whole ‚life cycle motif‘ we had going on with her, from meeting her as a little girl, seeing her grow up & get married, have a kid, try various careers, get to the point where she needs reading glasses etc. to the point that she seems more mature than the Doctor towards the end, so it makes sense to end this with us following her till she dies of old age -

That said, I object to this characterization of her as a mere victim. All things considered she had as good a life as anyone: She lived to her 80s, had a long & happy marriage, adopted a kid, finally found a job that she liked enough to stick with, & became a famous writer. Yeah, it sucks that Rory was separated from Brian, there’s some irreversible bittersweetness there, especially in what happened to River, but all in all this isn’t a sad story at all. By her own words, she & Rory were happy in the end;

It’s just sad for the Doctor cause he can’t see them anymore, & he has this whole difficulty with accepting endings. (all kinda leading up to when he gets lectured about this by Ashildr & when he meets River again he realized how much his avoidance hurt her feelings – though he gets a chance to fix it.)

Amy could accept it (at least when the alternative was leaving Rory stranded), indeed in the farewell letter they come off almost parental, like they’re more worried about him than anything else.

You gotta have some reading comprehension & separate what he believes about himself from what the narrative actually shows us.

Since the Time War he’s had this huge guilt complex, and Davros’ breaking speech in Journey’s End about how he makes everyone worse really hit him hard, especially since he’s forced to mindwipe Donna right after -

But it’s worth noting that it’s very different from what the companions themselves are shown to believe, just the previous episode Rose was talking about how he had a positive influence & most & Donna says she’d rather die than have that impact erased.

He was gonna go at it alone after losing Donna, but that went very badly, & then he’s slightly out of it from the regeneration & hitting it off with Amy & his resolve crumbles.

Quite the opposite from how that poster characterizes it, he tries to extricate himself multiple times & it’s the Ponds who aren’t having it, & say, „Nah dude, you’re our friend, you’re part of the family“ & actually that’s beautiful. Even after she gets married he’s still her friend, & even after she comes to see him more realistically & less through a lens of admiration in the God complex, he’s still her friend.

[balkanradfem]

So, some of you might remember, how I found an abandoned 'banished settlement' where people used to live 20 years ago, and they left plenty of cultivated and edible plants behind, including one huge rose plant. It was spread more than 10 meters in both directions, made thousands of roses, I used to decorate my entire place with them, dry them, they didn't have a scent so I didn't make food from them. However, the city has decided to build some ugly buildings in that place, so they flattened half of the area to the ground, made it into nothing but empty dirt. Needless to say I was devastated when I went foraging and found most of my plants, including the rose, gone.

However, the rose wasn't just a plant you can run over and destroy; in the spring I found new shoots, it's starting up again from the roots, and it's not going to get exterminated so easily. I do believe they're intending to destroy it completely, so I'm going to try and rescue it by taking some cuttings and propagating it.

Here's what it used to be vs what it is now.

:(

I took a few of the most sturdy stems I could find, I had to get plant cutters in order to do it, they will not break easily. Here's me propagating them at home:

All of the leaves and growth is stripped down, because a plant without roots cannot support foliage. For roses, I think stems of 12-15cm in lenght are reccomended for propagation, that way they have enough stem to try and grow roots from, and not too much to support. I stabbed them in a pot of soil, and then covered with this big glass thing, because cuttings will usually only grow in high humidity, they need to be supplied with water from air, because they don't have roots yet. I had to cut them down a bit more to fit them in, but I think that will be okay. I watered them excessively, and sprayed the cover with water too, so it would create super humid conditions.

I left this on the kitchen window, so it doesn't have to deal with a lot of sun or heat, it's best for cuttings to be put in mild conditions so they can focus on development of roots. If they start growing new foliage, that's the sign that the propagation is successful!

Here they are 10 days later:

To me it looks like all of them are already growing new foliage, but, it's suspicious, I don't think they would have managed to grow new roots so soon, in my mind it should take a ~while~. Maybe they're just using the plant power they had stored in the stem, and haven't figured out they've been turned into cuttings yet. The only way to really check would be to pluck them out and check for roots, but I won't do it yet, I'll leave them in here for at least 2 more weeks before trying to transplant them somewhere else. But for now it looks hopeful! I might have roses on my balcony!

Here's the first post I ever made about this rose, if you wanna see more pictures of how it looked.

(edit: I later looked into how long do rose cuttings take, and it said 2 months, but it also said that in late spring, you're supposed to only take young, flexible, and not-woody cuttings, and they'll grow faster. So I have messed up a little, sturdy cuttings are to be taken in the fall and winter and they're the most difficult ones to root. It also said you need 25cm and to bury them 70% in the ground. But it seems that it's still going well so do not follow the rules! I did have one that was young and flexible and that one is showing the strongest signs of growth.)

[chrysanthemumgames]

Love your game. Really fits the "hades: family man, dog lover, certainly better than the other two"

I played tge game again after I accidentally deleted all my saves and is Hades unfamiliar with having male lovers? He seemed idk shyer?quieter? Like compared to canon gender consort he just mostly kept MC at arms lenght?

None of the aspects of how Hades behaves around the PC are variable based on PC's gender. I also haven't yet made any significant edits on any of the scenes that would be relevant, so perhaps you've just made some different choices personality-wise?

He's certainly been with people of many genders, though the term 'lover' might be a bit much for those situations. He wouldn't say he's ever had someone that qualifies as that.

[stiaral]

Starbomb and music theory 🦌🎵

CW : Strong Language

After 3 albums of greatness, it seemed like the magic of Starbomb would be a long gone memory, but miraculously in a tweet on the 27th of February 2023 our prayers had been answered ; the kings shall return.

And returned they have, with their new album Starbomb Boom: Rise of Lyrics. At the time I'm writing this post, their music video for Kiss the Elden Ring has recently been released and hopefully we'll still see new content for that 4th album.

If my username on most platforms is Starceptor it's because of Starbomb and Egoraptor (Arin Hanson), who's a member of the band alongside Danny Sexbang (Dan Avidan) and Ninja Brian (Brian Wecht) - listening to their songs on loop for years has significantly helped me become more casual with English (swears included), they introduced me to a whole new side of online and gaming nerd culture while also making me more interested in music-making in general by ensuring a place in my heart as one of my favorite bands of all time. By talking about them, I am somewhat also going back to the roots of my own motivations for making music, so I find it fitting that I refer to them in the context of my personal journey with composing.

I'm usually not a big fan of the kind of humor that Starbomb embraces but, they use it in such an over the top and self-parodic manner in their songs that it loops back to being funny again. As a celebration of their new album I wanted to go back to this awesome band in order to analyze what constitutes their musical identity.

Unfortunately, they already beat me to it :

This is usually the part where I sing the chorus out. But we haven't established what this song is all about. Then I chime in real quick for a just a second as the character delivers a line that reminds us of the joke. And I'll respond with harmonies, isn't that dope ?

This is when the song concept should heighten for effect. If you think we use that formula a lot, you are correct.

Danny said everything there, Starbomb does rely a lot on very similar patterns from one song to another. They are a self-described (in the about section of their website) synthpop/hip-hop band, and these pop influences can definitely be found all throughout this "formula" they "use a lot". Since the late 1970s, synthpop focused mainly on minor key songs, and if we take a look at the first Starbomb album :

I choose you to die / C-Minor

It's dangerous to go alone / A-Minor

Mega-Marital problems / D-Minor

Rap Battle : Ryu vs Ken / F#-Minor

Book of Nook / A#-Minor

Regretroid (my personal favorite) / Bb-Minor

Kirby's adventure in Reamland / G-Minor

The Simple Plot of Final Fantasy VII / A-Minor

8 songs in minor key, but the repetitions do not end here. Without going into much detail, most of the progressions within the first album are very common, almost cliché in pop music and well, there are some other redundant patterns...

To poetically quote this review of the first album ;

"[...] the phrase “What up b*tch?” is used so many times on this album, you begin to wonder whether Jessie Pinkman had a hand in its creation."

Point is, the instrumental at first never was the focus of Starbomb songs, the lyrics and their punchline were. But once you fall for the charm of these dumb jokes that get overextended to the full lenght of a song, you begin to love these same synthetizers you hear almost every time or even appreciate in what ways the instrumental might differ from the usual (shoutout to the chilled out groove of It's dangerous to go alone). The band is very aware of this, in fact, while all of their songs in the 3rd album sound quite unique, the one that ressembles the most the formula of their earlier songs is precisely the parody of their own repetitions : This song sucks. And from the first to their fourth album you see their progression wihen it comes to making the back-up music for their songs thematically coherent (starting at first with songs like Luigi's Ballad that alternate to a different tempo whether Luigi or Mario are singing, to reallly taking full effect with the second album onwards. For example how can't I mention one of their most recent songs Nintendo's Greatest Announcement done entirely in whispered rapping as said "Announcement" supposedly is a secret leak).

Arin is hitting that yoinky spoinkly like a champ.

If it weren't for Starbomb, well first of all I wouldn't have named myself Starceptor and therefore later on Stiaral, but I probably wouldn't have been introduced either to an awesome passion project on the internet that would have influenced me to work on my own stuff using also back-up synths and some chiptune soundfonts I'd end up playing around with on MuseScore.... Oh and fun thing the base for my fursona's hairstyle actually is Starbomb Link's cut.

Best Link design ever /hj - love what they did especially with the eye lashes.

[pack-the-pack]

Hi! I came across omegaverse in about 2018 and since then I've been thinking; how do I know what my dynamic is?

I mean self-identity, since I'm polykin and most of my identities are canine so I find the omegaverse very close to me and I'd even say familiar, very natural. Something I'm missing in my life, but it's not complete and I feel bad about it. I actually feel similar (very) to therianthropy, but I still don't know my identity.

I mean to me in paticular is not that deep, yah know? It's either something you know you ressonate with or you don't.

Max I can give you is like general consensous on what each dynamics more or less is like. However, people get really defensive and don't particularly like when you say "Omegas are X" or "Alphas are Y", which to a degree it's understandable, because as I always say, Omegaverse is kind of a phantom premise. AKA it's amourphous and doesn't have a stablished set of rules one is obliged to follow.

But I also understand that this does end up making a bit more difficult for Miscecanis people and others who may identify with the whole concept to pin down exactly what dynamics they are.

So If you WANT to get a little bit of a general idea of each one, I advise you to talk to people that already identify as one of the three main dynamics, see if they sound like they're in the same wave lenght as you. Regarding behaviour, ideas, mannerisms, tendecies and instictive actions, etc.

And if that seems a bit too challanging, or you're still a bit undure, which I completely undertand it may be the case, I'll offer you the little generical knowledge I can give without causing much of a ruckous:

> Miscecanis pride flag and description.

> Alpha pride flag and description. (This one has the links to the other 3 flags at the bottom of the post).

These are the more recent ones, but I do have some older posts that talk about what it means to be each of the three dyncamics, at least on a generic perspective. They're a bit outdated, but if the shoe fits...

(Posts from March and April of 2018 below)

> What makes an Alpha.

> What makes a Beta.

> What makes an Omega.

[missimbalance]

🌻 (note that i am having whiskey and will not remember this by the time i get home from work tomorrow. feel free to fuck me up)

Starting from the fun part of what's roaming through my mind, we'll see where we end.

Have you heard the theory that Nazca lines were patterns for ritual dances? I've only heard it this year from a multiinstrumentist named Pierre Hamon, and honestly, when he mentioned the idea and played a piece of music for two clay flutes (playing both at once) I could see it happening.

My second favorite fact from him was that we have pretty good idea of the music they could play because of the instruments found in graves. It also seemed like the flutes found in graves were broken on purpose, very likely as a part of funeral rites.

All of which in a way connects to what his Colombian friend told to Hamon when he first wanted to learn "authentic music": you cut a shoot of something empty inside the lenght of your forearm. Then you make holes where your fingers naturally fit. Then you go into the forest and spend enough time alone with nature and your new flute to come back with a tune. If then your neighbors like your melody enough to pick it up,you've made authentic local music. Of course, since no two flutes are identical, every time it will sound slightly difference. But the point was never to make it perfect.

[which I suspect was also how shepherds everywhere composed their melodies]

...and from here I can't make a good segue to the Aztec death whistle

[countryofthedead]

Zatoichi

"Oriental blade originally made for cosplay. It is ,however, a actual japanese sword made from reinforced metal, alloy and brass steel. Dorian's gift as a thanks for helping him. Makes you feel like a cracked bunny samurai or a yakuza yokai killer with fairly crude sense of humor. By the way, did we mention that this sword is custom-made from scratch?" - Weapon description

Zatoichi or it's full name Zatoichi the Great Katana is a curiousity sword, that is given to Ziemowit by Dorian as a reward for help. It is a fully special custom japanese sword made by Dorian himself during his lessons in survival.

Design

Zatoichi is a homemade katana made from refined scrap metal. It has a slightly curved blade, wooden handle with cloth wrapped around it and a oval shield between the handle and the blade. Sword itself is really long, almost to the lenght of a whole arm.

Most of customization options are cosmetic with some slight upgrades to the statistics. There is, however, several options for the blade and few for the handle that give major boosts to the weapon.

Handle, blade, shield and decors have some color customization. Zatoichi has also various designs of it's parts depending on upgrades installed or decors applied

Zatoichi is unique, but a normal katana (just called Katana) can be found in some places.

2. Performance

Zatoichi is one-of-a-kind weapon. It is a sword that focuses on targeting groups of enemies rather than one, since it has one of the best swing speed, longest range and special attack hitting several enemies at once. It's main problem is basic damage, slow switching speed, alternative attack recharges really slowly and it has nearly no important or stat-changing upgrades. It's weight is relatively light. While Dorian has a sheath for his Zatoichi, playable character has it tucked neither on his back or on his left leg if equipped.

3. Behind the scenes

Zatoichi was a mythical swordsman, that was blind. Whole sword itself also might be reference to Half Zatoichi, a weapon in Team Fortress 2. It's name comes from demoman and soldier (two classes that use this weapon) being half-blind (demoman has no eye while soldier has his helmet impair his view. Ziemowit that gets this sword has vision impairment which makes him wear glasses).

Desciption references manga Yojimbo (samurai rabbit) and Shadow Warrior series (Lo Wang fits the yokai killer with crude humor).

Some blades have engravings on them:

-"Pin-Up Decor" has custom (and selectable) engravings resembling several characters:

"Femmeboy au Vintage" has a character resembling a adult Bambi holding a axe between his legs. "Vintage" is a term used for 50's to 70's items, which tend to be valuable or seen as interesting.

"The Witch Dancer" resembles Claire from cartoon short called "The Summoning" and she wields kunai and sits on a broom. Name of the option is a play on "the witch doctor".

"50 Shade of Blue" look like Krystal and Fox from Star Fox series, albeit Fox is genderbent and Krystal has diffrent hairstyle. One has a knife, while the other wields a tonfa. Name is a play on infamous "50 Shades of Grey".

"A Date To Kill For" has a character nearly the same as Rhok'zan from game Sucker For Love: A Date To Die For. Main diffrence is a cowgirl attire and she seems to wield two sawed off shotguns. Name references the game and it refers to a common use of "..to kill for" as a compliment or a sign of rarity.

"Wet Nightmare" has resemblance to a scp-1471/mal0 from SCP Foundation project. She has two claymores on her back. Name parodies the term "wet dream".

"Kawaii Kaiju-Chan!" is a parody of Godzilla. Unlike Godzilla, this character has hair resembling the hairstyle of Hatsune Miku and wears a underwear with JSDF markings on the back. Kaiju is a type of a monster, while kawaii is name of a aesthetic and type of japanese mass media. There are also japanese marking on the shield, which read "私はマンコが大好きです" which can be roughly translated to "I love pussy".

There are writings on some handle options:

"Haiku" reads "人生は無意味だ, 射精は誰にでもある,君の本当の生きがいは、このくだらない文章を読むことだ!" which translate to "Life is meaningless, ejaculation is for anyone, your reason to live is to read this crappy text!". Haiku is a type of poem in japanese writing and art.

"Grass is Greener" has "ヒロヒトの芝刈り機" which translates to "Hirohito's Lawn Mower". "Grass is greener" is a phrase when talking about something being better somewhere else. This deco is themed on the nature as well. Hirohito was a emperor of imperial japan during world war 2.

"Sakura Sashimono" text reads "ありがとう日本とてもクール" which translates to "thank you japan very cool" referencing to a meme "Thank you Kanye, very cool". Sakura is a type of flower, while sashimono is a type of a banner from feudal times of japan.

"Pop Is Not Dead" reads "無知な世界では狂った人間が勝つだろう" which can be translated to "in a world of ignorant, a mad man will prevail". Name of the option is a reference to "punk is not dead". Pop is one of more popular types of music in asia, especially korea and japan.

"Kabazaiku" handle is named after sakura wood craftsmanship.

"Nanpa Nomination" finish comes from "nanpa", a type of flirt in japan. Name also plays on "Bafta Nomination".

"Burusera Blowback" upgrade comes from "burusera", a fetish for underwear and "blowback", a type of operation in firearm replicas (notably in airsoft). Name comes from the weapon upgrade giving knockback to any enemy it hits along with bigger damage when aiming for limbs.

"Lolicraft" blade's name is a pun on "lolicon" and "craft". Name comes from blade being shorter and smaller, sacrificing reach for speed and lighter weight. Description also pokes fun at the anime fandom's various specific infamous groups, whose names end with "-con".

"V-Bandera" deco's name is a play on "virtual band" and "bandera" (flag). This depicts characters resembling Gorillaz and small crude drawing of a stick figure. While all "V-Bandera" characters resemble the Gorillaz members, the fifth figure doesn't resemble any character from the band's history (it seems to be Ziemowit's doodle of himself).

"Akihabada Armageddon" blade is named after Akihabara district in Tokyo. Name itself comes from the blade being post-apocalyptic styled with teethed edge and inner core hollowed out with small spikes on the dull side of the blade.

"Wotakei Warrior" upgrade is a nod to a type of fans related to japanese idols. Name also is a play on "weekend warrior". Upgrade itself is a elecrified blade with glowstick attached to it on the dull side of the sword, which glows in various colors.

"Defcongelion" blade's name comes from "evangelion" (most likely due to blade's look as a nod to Neon Genesis Evangelion) and DEFCON, a system of alert used in US Army during the war. Blade looks hi-tech with some inspirations taken from various more modern renditions of swords. This upgrade also has some similiarities with lightsaber from Star Wars series.

"One Slash Fan" is a parody of "One Punch Man". Name comes from being aviable to kill instantly, but it it really expensive to make and it's big weight. Name also comes from war fans, a type of a weapon and tool used in feudal japan.

Some blade options resemble diffrent japanese meele weapons, noably wakizashi and gunto.

As a joke, at few fandom or game conventions, similiar swords can be found as props hidden with fedoras. They look like toys and cannot be picked up. Actual sword has a small chance to be found there, however.

Dorian carries familiar weapon, albeit it is smaller and has much longer blade. Handle seems to be made from the birch and some parts are painted in green, emerald-like paint. Main parts are full-black with a pattern resembling damascus steel.

It is one of few meele weapons having a area effect special attack, along with a haliberd, medieval axe, swords and sabres.

It has curiousity rating, even if a normal katana was found. It might come from katana being commonly associated with pop-culture appearances and being typically owned by stereotypical fans of japanese games, manga or anime.

[maryse127]

Sooo according to the size table from the ballet clothes brand and some quick measurements my hips and chest are small and very small, my waist is medium and my lenght is large. Like, no wonder last time I ordered a leotard I had to send it back cause my boobs were almost exposed because it was large for my lenght but way too loose around my chest. I am right on the divide between medium and large for lenght and I have one medium sized leotard that is very tight in length but does fit so I took a risk and ordered a medium sized one that was on sale and wasn't available in a bigger size. Honestly if it was it looks like one that would cause the same loose around the chest issue. It is pink and pretty tho so I really hope it fits!! I got the matching skirt in size L because they only had that size. So hopefully that fits too but taking in the waistband of a skirt seems a lot more doable than extending the straps of a leotard

I also found the ballet skirt that matches my favorite leotard and it was also greatly discounted. Like literally from the same clothing line. Exact colour and detailing.

Should I be wasting so much on new ballet stuff when I have more than enough functional ballet clothes? Probably. But pretty!

[lightleckrereins]

Six Poland costume thoughts

I got an ask on this right after the first Poland photos were posted but tumblr decided to eat it so here it goes. This is just me ranting about missing oportunities, a real costume breakdown will happen soon.

Many thoughts. Most of them arent great.

First of all. Credit where credit is due. The very base concept is really good actually. But after that to me everything went downhill.

Short version is. Fits are all over the place, design has way too many elements that copy the original costume design for it to feel original, and some elements are just not coherent.

Long version under the cut.

Conceptually the polish design is good. Stylized coats that are impractical as coats but look nice and fancy are not uncommon for pop stars. If you have those as a base element and change the cut, lenght and accesories it is a really smart way to dress a group in a cohesive way while still highlighting their personalities. It is the sort of thing you might see in a collab grammy performance. It is very smart for six. Problem is the execution.

If you saw the original polish designs those were all brown coats with very high couture looking skirts and pants in the queen's colors. Those seemed very impractical and looked more like a runway collection than stage costumes. Also if you saw them described as high fashion detectives, that's on me. I didn't hate them but don't think they were right either. The final costumes are reworked designs from those sketches.

Again the short coats concept is really good and I am kind of angry they didnt lean into that. Because many of the changes feel like they are trying to mirror the Gabriella Slade design. Aragon has big shoulders and an open skirt, boleyn has a big skirt in a shape no one else has and a B choker, Seymour has a less structured costume with a lot of soft, flowy fabric, howard has an open skirt, long sleeves and a choker, parr has a crop top pants and an open in the front element at the waist. Which production am I talking about? The replica production or poland? Sure polish costumes are not direct copies but there are way too many easy surface level comparisons to be made. Polish boots also look like something heavily inspired by the cleves boots. And it is the same with the set, reminds a lot of the original one. Its sad. Because all that tells me is that someone in the polish team didn't have enough confidence in making a new production that stands on its own. So they went with copying as many elements as possible without replicating, and basically saying to the audience "look we are the real thing".

Then you get the colors. While only the school license is available to read and the proffesional one definitely has different rules and conditions the dont copy the original design rule is probably there. But I think colors are excluded from it. They are too iconic to ban them. Would be like banning the use of hand held mics. But productions are likely encouraged to do their own colors and discouraged from only the original colors. The original design is black with the colors as secondary. A similar mix or using the original colors as highlights could work as a nod to the iconic design while still being original. Some things are inherent to shows even if they originated in a specific design. Think the phantom of the opera half mask, or the anastasia ballet blue dress. Those have a clear design origin, but are just way too iconic to not be part of the show. Poland using the original colors is not inherently bad, but when paired with a little too many elements that seem to come from the original design it starts feeling intentionally copied.

Thing is. Looking objectively a lot of things in the original design either come from the libretto or are easy interpretations of it. (Executed to perfection but not that deep). Problem is that there are many more easy interpretations that can be done.

Aragon is gold because of royalty and has a wider silhouette to give her a bigger presence. Fitting the longest reigning queen and the only to come from a royal background. But she could also be purple as that color was in some contexts reserved to royalty (hungary recently did gold and purple and if branding isnt purple then there is no problem with that), or red because that was the color of catholicism which is a big part of her story. She could have a very tailored and stilized silhouette to show she doesnt need anything flashy to show she is the queen, or pants instead of a skirt to show maturity and experience.

Boleyn is green because of the green sleeves line. She is also bold and fun and loud which shows in her costume. But there are a million shades of green. It is common to read her as younger and pastels and neon colors currently have simmilar associations, boleyn could be mint or aqua or neon green; she could also be wearing yellow (to a funeral). Also doesnt need to be a fitted top and big skirt, she could have shorts or a leotard or a tube skirt or a split skirt or loose pants, she could also have a crop top, or layers or a jacket on top. So many ways to interpret her personality. The B necklace comes from paintings of her so it is an obvious iconic detail, but there are many ways to interpret it aside from a choker. Name and initial necklaces come into fashion often so there are plenty of easily recognisable options.

Seymour is white because of the association to purity being the one to give birth to a male heir. Costume is less structured because she is characterized as softer or again pure. But she could also be in purple as she sees herself as the only one he truly loved so the true queen. Or in light blue or green (or any other light colors) to show her as the nice, approachable one. And while the soft fabric works she could have a structured costume without big elements to show her as more demure than the rest.

Cleves is red because of her holbein portrait and because red (plus black and yellow) is heavily featured in german heraldic shields. But she could be any bright, bold color or gold to follow the gold chains line.

Howard is pink as that is considered the most feminine color. And is characterised as young and flirty so she has a revealing, less grand costume. I do agree that pink is a smart choice (and the original costume is very much inspired in a specific era for arianna grande), but there are many shades of pink. Lighter shades are currently favored over bright magenta to show youth so that could work, but also lilac or any pastels. As for the costume, she could have a fitted skirt or shorts, or a less structured top. She is young, she is fun, there are many ways to show that without a corset and open skirt.

Parr gets blue (I think) to show she is mature and levelheaded. Pants are practical and associated with serious responsible people. Blue in any shade not just royal blue works great for the queen characterized as the quiet, observant one; but also grey and silver or darker shades of green. Pants are probably the best choice but a fitted skirt or looser pants can work great too.

Basically most elements in the replica production costumes are easily explained and it shouldn't be shocking to see some appear in other productions. They are not by far the only easy design or color associations that can be made for the queens. And that's what annoys me about the polish design, it has way too many things that quickly remind of the replica design to feel original. It lacks its own voice.

The way costumes fit should be mentioned too. Boleyn and Cleves are great fits and very flattering, just lack some structure. Aragon and Howard have fit problems (around the shoulders for Aragon and the chest for Howard) and also lack structure. Parr feels unfinished. Seymour feels unfinished and is ill fitting on both of them. Its just all over the place.

Fabrics too. There is no cohesion between the queens aside from they all have a lot of texture. Things don't need to be identical but an element in common all accross the board makes different designs look lile a set. And don't get me started on the sequin skirts/trains. The more I look at photos, the more unfinished and unlined sequin fabric I see and the more I want to fight someone. Most of the sequin elements look like an afterthought and make well crafted costumes look cheap tbh.

But before anyone says I am only being negative there are some cool things in the Polish production I truly like. I've said it multiple times already but the short coats customized to everyone concept is really cool and I love it. Hairstyles are simple but great and I love the way they are customized to each actress. Rhinestone headbands as crowns is an amazing idea and a really smart way to tie them all together. The cloaks they wear at one point are a little shocking but it is a bold new take I really appreciate. The black and white corsets with ruffs for HoH are really cool and the way they make the queens look anonymous adds a great layer to the scene (even if the corset style is off by a few centuries).

As for specifics.

Boleyn and Cleves are the highlights for me. Boleyn in a half leather jacket over a dress is a stunning look, the dress fabric has a slight texture that balances out the metallic leather perfectly and the addition of low key bracelets finishes the look in a really nice way. I just dont like the choker, it feels a little too big and out of place with the rest. Both hairstyles are original feel like Boleyn in the show. Honestly it gives me older fashion influencer which is a great parallel to the way Boleyn is written in the show and some element of the real life queen's life too. My only complaint is that there is nothing connecting this design with the rest.

While I don't like the fabrics in this one; Cleves in a sleeveless coat and crazy pants feels bold and fresh and works great for the foreign queen who ended living a life of luxury. But the true highlight of the entire show is the oversized puffer coat she wears (I think) for get down. It is an iconic hip hop look and fits perfectly with the song while solving the issue of not having time for a quick change bwtween HoH and GD.

Aragon and Howard are my middle ground. Conceptually good but not on execution. Aragon in a tailored coat is great, but the color makes them look washed out and the skirt feels dissconnected from the rest. Both hairstyles are great though. It feels like TV characters having perfect hair under any circumstances and passing it off as natural, that energy feels right for Aragon.

The base dress with armsleeves for Howard is fun and youthful but the ruffled shoulderpieces and peplum feel out of place (if something was trendy when I was in middle school its definitely not howard in 2023) and the skirt feels like something added last minute. Also in a show that threw in all the textured fabrics this dress desperately needs more texture.

Seymour and Parr are the ones I dont like. Seymour in a stylized cowl neck is good, but the fabric reads really bad in stage lights and makes them look washed out. The all draped fabric look doesnt mesh with the rest of the costumes either. It feels like someone said "nice coat now add something drapey to make her look soft". And honestly shame on any costume studio that gives the plus size actress the worst fitted costume.

I don't like Parr. The top being a minimalistic coat is really cool and the hairstyle might be my favorite. But everything else looks unfinished, pieces feel flat and dissconnected. The whole costume feels underwhelming compared to the rest. And fabrics don't match with each other and stagelights make them look flat.

I know non-replica costumes in musicals can be underwhelming and dissapointing; but they can also be beautiful and interesting. Saddly the polish costumes fall in the first category which sucks actually. I want to see new original takes, six doesn't need to be a specific time period or style it just needs to give pop star. The possibilities are endless.

[ultraericthered]

This was far from an anime that lingered in my mind after I got done with it, but I can still recall a lot of how that ending stretch went down, and how maybe I was too generous to it than most would be (hey, it was at least something memorable and largely fitting with the story as established, which is FAR more than I could say about that miserable clusterfuck of a finale from Charlotte!). 

Aside from how the last episode was two episodes worth of content compacted into one, which threw off the show’s pacing right in the final inning, my biggest problem with this ending was Yota and the way he acted about Hina. If he’d wanted for Hina to be allowed to visit everyone she’d befriended and even finish that movie for closure’s sake, and maybe ask for visitation rights when it became clear that Hina really did want to see these people she loved, that’d be alright with me...but no, he wanted to straight up abduct her away from the facility where she was being understood and cared for under these “it’s for her sake!” rationales that were really far more about him and how he didn’t want to accept losing Hina like that, and he treated her so horribly during their interactions, being unable to grasp how large the gap in the dynamics of mind, power, and resources between himself and her were now. And Maeda’s narrative clearly presenting it in a “he’s not doing it right, but he means well!” sort of light really seemed to underplay just how awful he was coming off here. (Between this guy and Hodaka Morishima, I think stories about girls named Hina getting involved with angry and entitled young men who’d go to disturbing lenghts to keep them around with them ought to stop being told!) The one big disagreement I have with this piece is the idea that there was anything even remotely romantic or sexual about Yota’s feelings for Hina; this wasn’t a Yuzuru Otonashi “I love you like a little sister, but also maybe more than that” sort of deal, it was explicitly platonic and familial, and his romantic feelings were much more apparent with Izunami. So I’d like to hope that, for all his other faults, Yota wouldn’t take advantage of Hina in the future.

That aside, fuck Yota Narukami. Worst Jun Maeda male lead by far.

The Day I Became a God and the mistreatment of disabled people

Content Warning: Ableism, child abuse, grooming, medical abuse

Spoilers for The Day I Became a God

Disability representation has always been something of an uphill battle, and the worlds of anime and manga are no exception. While manga is more willing to take risks when exploring marginalized communities, with titles such as My Brain is Different letting neurodiverse people speak for themselves and That’s My Atypical Girl centering an autistic love interest (albeit with debatable results), anime has been mostly lacking on that front. Many viewers have to resort to headcanons drawn from implications, such as Hirasawa Yui from K-ON!, Shiina Mashiro from The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, and Yano Mitsuki of Yuri is My Job!. 

The Day I Became a God, while not featuring representation of a specific, real-world disability, features a lot of insidious ableism in its last few episodes. This final arc of the show perpetuates a lot of harmful ideas around how those who are disabled should be treated, and the agency that they often do not have, serving as a painfully apt example of the clichés and stereotypes narratives about disability often fall into.

Read it at Anime Feminist!