#and their styling has historically been better than this even if i still didn't like it before

[apoptoses]

Armand, Haussmann, and Paris:

The thing about Paris that's not really discussed in the VC books themselves is the Haussmann project.

In 1853 Napoleon III commissioned Haussman to completely renovate Paris. The plan was to tear down all of the old structures and rebuild the city; reorganizing the streets and reshaping them to accommodate more green spaces, and replacing smaller buildings with taller apartment blocks in more uniform style.

The Paris Armand knew when he arrived as the coven master and which he came to know as the theater leader would have looked something like this:

Dark, winding streets leading off wide boulevards and short, leaning buildings.

The Haussman project would see all of these places systematically torn down, occupants removed to other areas of the city while new buildings were put in their place. In some areas workers were destroying and rebuilding things 24 hours a day.

At this time Armand would have been living at the theater on the boulevard du Temple, Paris's street of theaters:

This dagguerotype shows the boulevard in 1838. This painting, in 1862, looks much the same:

But by 1863 all but one theater on the street had been destroyed, and that was only because that theater was on the opposite side of the street shown in the painting. How and why it wasn't pulled down, I don't know- no information on it seems to exist, just like no explanation for the very small handful of other old structures that were left untouched.

That theater, the Théâtre Déjazet, still exists today. But it was established in 1770 by Comte de Artois, so while it could have been Anne's inspiration for Armand's theater it's not the 'rickety wooden rat trap' that seats 300 that Lestat describes in TVL.

Anyways, knowing all of this, I think it makes even more sense why Armand so quickly grabbed onto Louis and was ready to run away with him at any cost.

Armand, who'd been kidnapped from the monks, who'd had his palazzo torn out from under him, who'd established something of an existence under Les Innocents and was then ripped out of that world when the cemetery was destroyed. Who was watching the city he'd finally come to know get systematically torn apart. Everything that was familiar to him was being taken again.

So why not let Louis burn the theater? He arrived in Paris in 1870, just as Haussman was dismissed. But the work of destroying and rebuilding Paris was set to carry on. Chances were the Theatre de Vampires would be next, and if that were the case there's no way the crypts beneath the place would remain safe and undiscovered.

And if he'd stayed where would they go during the renovation? What would they do? What would the point be in continuing trying to run a coven he was bored of and a life he didn't care for in a new location?

Armand was going to have to begin again somewhere- better that be with Louis, out in the world, than roaming a now unfamiliar Paris. And even though he didn't burn the theater himself, allowing/instigating Louis to do it still gave him more control than letting a stranger come in at some unpredictable moment to demolish things all over again.

(And what of Lestat, what does he feel about these changes? He never could have shown Louis the Paris he knew and loved, which existed when Louis was still mortal- that Paris was largely gone)

Chances were Anne might not have known most of this at the time she wrote interview or even TVL. But I think it still makes a lot of sense and brings up a point about Armand and immortality that I don't see brought up much- that not only do vampires lose every mortal they've ever known, but with time they also see the destruction of every place they've ever known or loved.

(ps: I'm not an expert on this topic or anything, so if anyone does know why some buildings were unchanged or has any interesting historical info to add by all means please, reblog and add it on!)

[meanbossart]

Ask Compilation: Advice, influences and Misc.

Apologies for taking so long on some of these, admittedly I'm much more likely to entirely forget about asks that are about me and my interests 💃 Thank you for all the questions regardless! And thank you specially to everyone who just drops nice messages into my inbox out of kindness.

I'm brazillian and a native portuguese speaker!

I'll probably return to twitter eventually, but a) I hate that place and b) It didn't make much sense to me to turn it into a BG3 account out of the blue. I am considering making an Instagram or a new twitter just to have more places where people can follow in case they don't care for tumblr, but it's just been a very busy year so far and so that's kind of low on the list of priorities. If I ever do that I'll be sure to announce it here. Have a nice day yourself!

Sorry to hear that! I've gotten a few messages before about this issue, and the problem is that since I am myself not from the US, my options are also limited :( a lot of patreon alternatives don't work for me because they either don't go through paypal, take insane currency conversion fees, or just straight up block me from signing up.

Speak for yourself, I just assume everyone I speak to online has committed some sort of atrocious crime until proven otherwise. Except for me - of course. I have never done anything bad in my life.

I still have a lot to learn! But I will basically use whatever works for me at the moment, as well as make a sincere effort to learn about musculature and anatomy so I can understand those components and how they move, instead of only knowing what they look like when still - that's how you get better at drawing from memory. Volume mostly comes from coloring and understanding light, which is it's own beast but can very much be learned from similar reference materials and observing it IRL!

My favorite places to get reference are medical diagrams, weird pictures I take of myself, 3D software (often Virt-a-mate) and questionably phrased image google searches.

My favorite artists are Jason Shawn Alexander and Sean Murphy, but I'm not sure how much of it reflects in my art nowadays! I generally seek to pick up techniques from artists rather than to emulate style.

Honestly I love that you guys generally do the thing he would hate the most: take him very non-seriously LOL

I've been in a real Chelsea Wolfe and Amyl And The Sniffers kick lately! But usually you'll also find me listening to stuff like Boy Harsher, Swans, FWF, JK Flesh Lingua Ignota, Nick Cave, David Bowie, and so on. Music for the weird gays, basically.

I went insane and wrote a 23-chapter-long-and-still-ongoing fic in like four months. But also - I'm not that good, I'm just shamelessly pretentious LOL

Hm. That's a good question, but I'm not really sure. Sincerely not trying to be a edgier-than-thou here (in fact, this has made me a little self conscious at one time or another) but a lot of art that I don't mean to be horror-y in nature at all has been associated with the genre. So perhaps I don't know what I'm doing either, LOL.

I think just leaning on making things look slightly "wrong" or "ugly" on purpose is the way, but I also find that if you just seek to depict people as they are instead of idealized versions of themselves, you will arrive at that either way.

Thank you for reading! Honestly, I'm guilty of having not read much at all since I was in my late teens, and the style I'm employing for ANE is very different from the things I would call "influential" for me, or even that I used to enjoy reading at all before. I read a lot of Chuck Palahniuk as a youth (and, no slight to people who do like him still, but nowadays I'm not sure why I ever did. His stories don't speak to me at all anymore) as well a lot of weird experimental lit that I didn't even care to remember the name of. My last book stint from one or two years ago was composed solely of historical and medical literature, and last year I got really into Cormac Mcarthy thanks to the internet.

So, all in all, I'm absolutely all over the place LOL if you put a gun to my head and told me to list my favorite books, I'd say The Indifferent Stars Above and Blood Meridian.

(Consider the reading portion of the question to have been answered above) I really really liked Beau is Afraid and think it's a really great "horror" movie. Sue me.

[rangercorpstherapy]

There is a post about ableism in the sorcerer/siege of Macindaw books. I'm not going to reply directly to the poster because I don't necessarily think they're wrong, but there's a bigger problem I want to touch on without derailing their post.

The post by @bronze-oakleaf Sorry, but John Flannagan isn't an ableist for describing disabled people as disfigured, Will is. John, although in his usual hit-and-miss style, goes out of his way to show us that the people Will and others are afraid of are not monsters. It's been a while since I read these books, but I can remember there being a few backstories and instances in which it's made clear that Malcolm’s people are just very normal people who have fun, interests and hobbies and love each other deeply.

Will's apprehension of disabled people is very clearly presented as a character flaw. John is a children's author and cannot go into depth about how monstrosity isn't physical but something that manifests in the soul a la Victor Hugo's Hunchback of the Notre Dame. Still, I don't think any child (at least I didn't) finished reading Sorcerer and Siege thinking that disabled people were any less deserving of respect and love than others and Will kinda had a point there in the beginning.

I think the only example of bigotry where there is a high chance of it reflecting John's real-life views is the way he characterises Romani and Sinti in that horrible short story. Without going into depth the key difference here is that not a single person in the story thinks that Alyss and Will are doing or thinking anything wrong. Nuance, even if it wasn't much, visible in Sorcerer and Siege is missing.

Now I have that out of the way, this post is actually about character flaws. I'm not trying to be smug by pulling the historical accuracy card, but honestly, Will's views of disabled people are one of the few ways John established the world of Ranger's Apprentice as a Medieval society. I don't know how to say this without sounding kind of like an asshole, but if you want to critique Ranger's Apprentice flaws you also have to apply the same critique to the characters within Ranger's Apprentice. Separating art from the artists in this case doesn't really work because the art exists within the context the artist created. I don't think we have to be overly critical of characters because otherwise we're bad people and not woke, but viewing your favourite characters as flawed makes them inherently more interesting. I think viewing Will as an enforcer of feudal oppression (cop), extremely privileged (has an education and can bear arms) and classist with a very obvious disdain for those who are below him (this man should be nicer to farmers who can't read) is way more interesting than a perfect boy who fell victim his author's bigoted world view. Will, and all Rangers tbh, think they're better than other people. Rangers are smart they aren't like the uneducated masses who think wizards are real and the devil will claim your soul if you sleep lying down. But are they really?

Will is confronted with the fact he is like everyone else. He's also afraid of the “dreadful caricatures of normal people”, but why? The treatment of disabled people in Medieval society was very complex, and without getting into the nitty gritty, most of the cultural feelings towards them weren't because they were 'just ugly' but relied heavily on superstition. Will might be educated, but he still grew up in a society where disabled people were viewed as cursed, their ailment a deserving divine punishment. Him not being confronted with his hypocrisy in these books is the true moral failing of John to be honest.

Now to my final statement: pleasepleaselpleasepleaseplae let the Ranger's Apprentice characters be bad people. Because they ARE. I guess this post was a very elaborate way of saying Will isn't an UWU soft boy but a grown man with hairy balls. So are Halt, Gilan, Horace, Crowley (I didn't forget the time you enslaved a man king) and Duncan (Truly truly sick a twisted individual for sitting back and doing nothing as his daughter was sold into slavery because 'We need everyone here'. That wasn't a convenient plot point so Halt could save the day but misogyny). This doesn't mean Will isn't/can't be trans (because he is) or Cralt isn't canon (it is) for the sake of historical accuracy. I just want to say that these characters are all very privileged and classist individuals with many flaws thanks to the society they were raised in, which makes them more interesting. Remember be gay AND do crime.

[utilitycaster]

Wow your Orym tags really are an eye-opener. You are totally right and now I understand the bitterness about this character a little better. I've seen a lot of "...but C3 is supposed to be this and that" takes and I guess a lot of people think they are owed a certain storyline?

Yeah. People feeling as though they're owed a certain storyline is not new nor exclusive to Critical Role; it's been pretty common in fandom for years (see this excellent post that I still think about). But the particular blame being placed on Orym is a fun new twist on this theme.

I'm sure there's people who hate Orym for other reasons; shipping wank is another very common form of entitlement to a particular storyline. I must admit when it comes to Twitter I think some people just yell random lies out into the void to hear their own voice because there is no underlying logic to any of it. But I do think a large number of people who have been blaming Orym for everything for what is now the majority of the campaign are doing so because he has consistetly refused to entertain the idea that Ludinus makes any valid points from the start, and the narrative has pretty much only rewarded him for that.

A lot of people really thought that Campaign 3 "all bets are off" didn't mean like, messing with the narrative structure (they hate when that happens by the way. they acted like Downfall and the Solstice Split and the fact that this has been a very plot-driven campaign rather than one about character backstory are all fucking violations of the Geneva convention the way they carried on, and I say this as a person who can complain) but rather that Critical Role, a D&D-based fantasy, would shed those pesky two previous campaigns of canon (unless of course earlier canon helps them make a point. I truly cannot believe someone made like 5 alts and harassed me and all my mutuals for an entire evening over hypocrisy for...liking one ship more than another when these idiots exist) in order to become some kind of deeply pathetic "French Revolution Except Instead Of Kings It's Gods" historical re-enactment.

We're at the point where like, nothing has validated them and everything they've claimed the gods have done, Ludinus or the Weave Mind have done like, tenfold. As mentioned, the people who were like "oh my god STOP SAYING HUBRIS anyway obviously Bells Hells would NEVER see the gods as relatable" just watched Laudna and Imogen be like "wow, they're flawed and conflicted and a fucked up family just like us." I shit you not, I saw someone criticize FCG's relationship with the Changebringer because "he had to work for it" as if that's not like...how literally all relationships work if you're not an utter black hole of entitled self-absorption. The Kreviris Imperium wants to straight up colonize all of Exandria but they turn a blind eye. There's someone out there talking about putting Rashinna's head on a pike for being willing to endanger the poor Ruidusborn children that...Liliana (probably to some extent coerced by Ludinus to be fair) could have left alone to live out their lives on Exandria. People genuinely channel some anti-abortion "but What About The Disabled Children? Shouldn't Pregnant People Be Forced To Carry And Parent Them" style arguments at Alma's "hey, we have people delay birth for like half an hour so their children don't have The Psychic Migraine Disorder That Made Imogen Possibly Suicidal". The arguments have devolved into "well, canon isn't real" and "but the status quo" as if there aren't ALIENS FROM SPACE SPEAKING AT THE DRAGON VATICAN. How STUPID do you have to be to think that wouldn't change the entire world. Or, to get back to this ask, how desperate are you to maintain the illusion that you are going to get a wish-fulfillment campaign that never once existed? So yeah. They blame Orym because otherwise they have to blame literally the entire cast, and themselves.

[ak319]

Unveil

(Gp actress x fem reader)

(Scene# 01)

(your name is Fairoz in the story)

Aman Dagon, the enigmatic, handsome and alluring actress that everyone drooled on. Who wouldn't? Her tall height, black soft, silky hair that one desired to touch, including her co-stars but her cold and mysterious personality intimidated them not to. She was famous for her villain roles especially the ones in which she was in a historical drama playing a distraught, arcane yet passionate lover oh, and how can we forget her iconic mafia lady role. It was her debut role that caused the wave of enchantment among women and men. People also know about her softer side for the heroines as she always acted gentlewomanly around them. This caused her female fans to fall in love with her more. She was always surrounded by paparazzi and everyone wanted to know more about her personal life. Her family owned many different businesses which she also took care of when she was not busy doing movies or dramas.

People were more than shocked when they found out that she was engaged. It all started when a fan made a TikTok about a ring on her finger that seemed different from her usual style and that she began to wear on more than one occasion. The internet went wild and even though her PR team was ecstatic to see that, they were tired of seeing and trying to control baseless and atrocious articles. It was after a month that the team was finally instructed by Aman to confirm that she was engaged. Aman didn't have any socials, which had made her fans more agitated as they had little source material to do research from. People were already jealous at her wife and few were genuinely happy for her. Even her co-stars were shocked as Aman's behavior didn't give the slightest hint about her engagement.

The real truth was that this marriage was hell, to begin with.

(2 months ago)

"Aman ma'am -- what? I mean didn't we already decided the amount to be 5 million? How come you are changing this now?" The director, Usama looked at Aman stunned.

"Mhmm , so you are saying you can't do it? Is that it?" Her deep voice , although calm , still sent chills down Usama's back. Not to forget her father was quite influential in entertainment industry.

"I am - sorry but yes , the contract had been signed prior , you remember right?."

"Do you know I can buy this company of yours and actually don't want your money . I didn't have any interest in doing this movie too but .....I did not do it for money or any of your shit." Yes , this is how she talked when she was annoyed . Her die hard fans would refuse to believe that she can be this egoistic but she was , and she was good at hiding it as well.

"But you do know if I sue you for forging a fake contract and paying me less , you will loose everything ....not to mentions my fans , they will make sure you can't do shit after this. So , all of this can be avoided if you hand me over , oops , haha. I meant , give me the hand of that girl you brought on set one day to me in marriage."

Mr. Usama nearly fainted right there. The girl she just talked about was her niece who was still in college. He couldn't believe his ears. Marriage of Fairoz to a woman like her, this is ...a nightmare.

"Earth to my favorite director" Aman snapped her slender fingers in front of his face, startling him. " I know it's hard to digest. That's why I will give you some time to decide and discuss this with your family and by that I mean ......a date for our engagement pronto.."

"She is my niece and what you are asking for is---I am sorry but --not possible."

"Not possible? Mhm. it has been forever since I have heard that word. Or you can say I am not used to hearing it ." She paused to let out a sarcastic chuckle. " Let me give you even a better one, I hate when people say it to me." Making the man gulp with her slow steps cornering him, she continued "I don't get what is impossible about a marriage? Isn't that the best thing you can get in your whole life? Me as your niece's wife. Pft. Never knew you to be so ungrateful."

Usama pondered over her words . Maybe she is right. What if she is a bit arrogant , that is a pitfall of being in the industry. 90 percent of people Usama had worked with are like her. If only focusing on the pros momentarily , the proffer doesn't sound terrible. Especially in the long term. Fairoz , if this goes well , may live a fruitful life. Just like her parents wanted and if Aman is proposing herself that must mean that she likes his niece.

Heaving a breath in , the words "I'll have a talk with my family . Sure." flowed from his lips which made the taller woman smirk.

"I am looking forward to a cordial response." Usama very well knew that she definitely won't take anything other than a cordial answer anyways.

Little did Aman know that the girl she was probing after would change her life in ways she hadn't had the slightest inkling about.

Unveil part 2

[dresshistorynerd]

Favorite Historical Architectural Styles

Since I've done my favorite historical fashions, I thought it would be fun to do historical architectural styles too. I want to write more about architecture too, but I've started thinking should I do a separate blog for architecture and architectural history or should I just do it all here? I think it would be better in a way that I wouldn't have to worry if anything I want to write is too far from the actual topic of the blog, but then again, there is a lot of overlap, especially when it comes to Arts and Crafts movement (which I'm currently writing my thesis about and which I definitely will talk a lot about), and also I would have to manage yet another blog.

Anyway, I'll again do this from oldest to newest. I will limit myself to western styles (except when we get to Modernism all styles are very international), even though there's a lot of non-western styles I enjoy, but it's what I know most about.

Perpendicular Gothic

I love Gothic architecture in general and the several first entries will be my favorite sub-styles of it. I love the the way Gothic Cathedrals try and so often succeed to feel like forests. I love how the structural elements are used to create the aesthetic. I love the organic visual elements. I love that it's such a unique style in Western architecture. And I love the amazing craftsmanship that went into it.

I'm particularly a fan of English Gothic because of it's insanely beautiful and complex ribbed vaults. From English Gothic my favorite though is the Perpendicular style, which was basically the English late Gothic. It's characteristics can be seen in the second pic. It has the stretched arch and the very flowing and organic traceries. I do include here the rest of English Gothic too, since even though the Perpendicular style is my favorite of them, all if it is still one of my Gothic favorites.

German Late Gothic

As it's becoming clear I love Late Gothic architecture in general the most, and in the geographical axis I also love German Gothic. Early and High Gothic were mainly divided into French and English styles and the French style dominated in the continent, just being altered a little to the local building traditions outside of France, but during late Gothic it diverged much more strongly into different styles.

German Gothic also has beautiful complex faulting (though less insane than English) and it also has that same pursuit of massive height French Gothic has. Those combined with that Late Gothic's more streamlined flowing and organic aesthetic, some of the German Late Gothic cathedrals really sell that feeling of standing in a forest.

Finnish "Gothic"

I have a soft spot for the Finnish Medieval stone churches, which are not nearly as sophisticated or detailed as the other European counterparts, but still made with beautiful craftsmanship and they have some cool own features. It's very far from the European Gothic traditions, as you can see, but that's still the influence, hence Gothic in scare quotes. I love the simple outward appearance with the exposed thick stone walls, the details of the gable that worked as the calling card for the building master and the very steep roof. Like everywhere at the time, the roof in these has wooden structure, which is frankly super cool. It was not a simple engineering problem to make a roof that steep and massive at the time, but the structure works so well there's 600 year old roofs with the original logs still working perfectly well. I also really love the original medieval murals in them, which were painted over during the Reformation (you can't have color in a Lutheran church damn it), but thankfully some of them have been restored from under the paint.

Finnish "Renaissance" Log Churches

Renaissance also didn't land in Finland similarly as it did rest of the Europe. When Renaissance was going on in Europe, they still were building those "Gothic" churches here. These log churches were based on Scandinavian version of the Renaissance church, but they didn't really look like Renaissance churches, and were kinda it's own thing continuing a lot of the aesthetics from those Gothic churches. This is a highly specific style, but I just think they are so cool and pretty? Like they really made a CUPOLA out of log.

Arts and Crafts Movement

Arts and Crafts Movement didn't have exactly a style, rather a design philosophy that was more important than specific style. There's of course a lot of stylistic similarities in the works of the different members of the Movement, because they had overlapping sources of inspiration and were influenced by each other, so we can think of it as a style. I could, have and will talk about them for hours, but briefly now: It was a moment in latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century and their goals were reviving craftsmanship skills and professions, socialism, opposing industrialism and abolishing the hierarchy between fine arts and applied arts. They were very much influenced by Medievalism and Gothic art and architecture, though unlike Gothic Revivalist, they took more from the guiding principles than the aesthetics. They basically started Modernism and lay ground to all the Modernist architecture's main principles, like form follows function.

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau was directly influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement and was the first mainstream Modernist style. I especially love the more toned down Finnish Art Nouveau, or Jugend as it's called here, but I do love the style more broadly too. I'm not that into those almost Baroque style versions of it though, with barely any straight lines. I love the round doors, the stylized floral patterns and the use of light.

Organic architecture

This has to be my favorite modernist/post-modernist (?) style. It's direct successor of Arts and Crafts movement and it's also more of a design principle than a unified style. There is some stylistic similarities, but it is stylistically very diverse philosophy. It was most prominent during the 20th century, but it always stayed in the sidelines, though there are still architects who might be considered practicing organic architecture. Organic architecture is all about living in harmony with nature, taking inspiration from it, designing the building to fit the building spot and the surroundings, extra care taken in to preserve the nature already there, and using local natural materials when possible. My favorite architects are Raili and Reima Pietilä, who were most prominent organic architects in Finland. (I almost moved into apartment designed by them, but it was in pretty bad condition, so it wouldn't have unfortunately been worth the price.)

Brutalism

I know it's not for everyone and it's not easy to make it work but when it works, it really does. It was born in 1950s during the reconstruction era. Brutalism is not just concrete though. The point is to show the raw materials and the structural elements. Technically a lot of Gothic and Arts and Crafts architecture is then brutalist. Timber frame architecture? Also brutalist. I'm only half joking, of course the style itself is also very bare and, well, brutal, but I love it for the same reasons. I really love bare textures of materials and exposing the materials of the structural elements. And I do actually really like the texture of concrete. Though I will say concrete is destroying our world and we should use it as little as possible. But we should also protect old buildings and keep using them rather than built new ones, so I feel fine admiring the old brutalist buildings. The best brutalist buildings combine materials very intentionally and make works of art with the light.

Bonus - Favorite contemporary architecture: Traditional methods

As we're living in the post-modern times, there's not really unified and specifiable styles or architectural ideologies anymore. They all kinda flow into each other and architects don't organize themselves into clear groups based on style and design philosophy. So it's hard to put into words the style I like in contemporary architecture. There's been growing interest in studying traditional structures and methods, learn from their sustainability and incorporate them into contemporary architecture. They are techniques that have been developed through trial and error on the span of centuries, so we really don't have to reinvent the wheel here. Traditional methods of a given area have also been developed for that area and it's climate, from the materials available there, so they also push us to use local materials. Typically these traditional structures are very simple, often made from solid material, which makes them easier to built without construction error (a huge problem in modern structures), and easier to fix and maintain, when inevitably there is issues. Also they are beautiful, definitely more so that steel and glass. I love solid brick structures, log structures, timber frames, natural stone, rammed earth and all of them, especially when these beautiful materials are left bare.

[aelfgyvaa]

Period Drama Costuming - a (ranty) review

I love period dramas. I watch them like my life depends on it, and as a result, I have Thoughts. Period dramas are arguably where costuming becomes most important - here, costume isn't solely a storytelling device, it's a reflection of the specific place and time in which the narrative is taking place. Sometimes it's done well. Sometimes it really - really - isn't.

It's reductive to try and make any sweeping, general rules about how costumes in period dramas should be done. Every show has its own tone and style, and this is important to consider. However, some productions can take this in... interesting directions. We can really only judge each attempt at historical costuming on an individual basis, which - spoiler alert - is exactly what I'm about to do. Below the cut, I've had a look at some bad costumes, some good costumes, and some that don't really seem to fit in either category.

DISCLAIMER!! - This is simply an opportunity for me to rant about something I have a lot of (subjective) Feelings™ about, and is in no way supposed to comment on the overall quality of any of the pieces discussed. I'm also NOT claiming to be an expert on this topic. There are lots of people on here who undoubtedly know more about this than me, and if you're one of them, I'd really love to hear your thoughts!!

The Bad

Reign (The CW, 2013-17)

I've just gotta get this one out of the way. I made it through an almost-entire season of Reign before the atrocity that is its costuming got the better of me. If you'd shown me photos from this show without telling me it's about Mary Queen of Scots, I couldn't have guessed what period this might be set in. Reign's costume designer has stated "I wanted gowns that kept some kind of Elizabethan element, whether it was a nipped waist and extreme silhouette, or if it had a bit of a medieval feel" and uh. Yeah. By and large, that didn't happen. From what I can tell, a somewhat historical silhouette does begin to appear in the show's final season, but at what cost?

Perhaps Reign wouldn't have been as bad if the dresses were at least nice to look at. Instead, they're generally reminiscent of prom dresses - the fabric looks cheap, and the details look so tacky that I can't even endorse the costuming for this show from an aesthetic standpoint. Sorry to any Reign fans out there, but this is almost certainly going to be my most scathing review of the lot.

────────────

The Musketeers (BBC, 2014-16)

I love The Musketeers. I really do. But what the costume department was thinking - especially when it came to the women's costumes - I really have no idea. I mean, a Peter Pan collar?? On the Queen of France??? IN THE 1620S???? Truly something. Constance always looks like she only half-finished getting dressed that morning (why is her hair down. she's married.), and Anne sports some of the most outlandishly ridiculous collars I've ever seen. I don't even want to get into what Marie de' Medici is wearing. It's belts - as a necklace apparently! She also appears to be hiding some kind of gourd under her hair, but alas.

Yes, the men wear pleather. Yes, it does upset me.

The Musketeers' costumes perhaps wouldn't sting so badly if they didn't dress numerous background extras in significantly more accurate clothing. I've spent too much time watching this show and sighing in despair because Noblewoman Number 3 has a more accurate 1620s dress than the literal Queen.

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The Spanish Princess (Starz, 2019-20)

I haven't properly sat down to watch The Spanish Princess through to its conclusion yet, but I do intend to - when she's not fawning over Richard III, Philippa Gregory adaptations can still be good fun, despite having about as much historical authenticity as the Fiji mermaid.

Nevertheless, no one in this show seems aware of what time period they're in, with dress styles spanning from early 14th-century surcoats to some fairly Elizabethan-looking silhouettes. The fabric choices are all over the place, and similarly - although not quite as egregiously - to Reign, often don't even manage to look good. Even from a modern standpoint, this show is colour- and pattern-clash galore. There is also practically no layering whatsoever, with the dresses going on as single pieces without a panel in sight. Admittedly probably easier from a production standpoint, but still.

Don't even get me started on the headdresses. Weird, pudding-cap-esque padded crowns and tiny scraps of fabric like the ones seen on Mary Tudor (an attempt at a French hood? I shudder) are fairly constant, although I have spotted a few passable attempts at a Gable hood.

They do get points for giving Arthur Tudor a fuck ass bob. Thanks.

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The Buccaneers (Apple TV+, 2023-)

When I first started The Buccaneers and saw what its costuming had to offer, I audibly sighed. If you're a fan of visible back-lacing, cheap quality fabrics, and poorly fitting bodices, this is the show for you. The 1870s look is not a difficult one to emulate, and yet The Buccaneers fails rather miserably with its main characters, half of whom appear to be walking around in their underwear, with untied hair and single-layer dresses. Poor Nan only seems to own about two outfits that aren't visibly too big for her.

But by far the greatest crime committed by The Buccaneers' costume department comes in the decision to have multiple instances in which characters appear to be wearing corsets as tops. Yeah. I had a rough time with that one too. Mabel seems a particular victim of this - in both of the images above she looks as if she's been rushed out of the house before she got the chance to even button up her dress. A State of Affairs indeed.

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The Good

Becoming Elizabeth (Starz, 2022)

Although I was slightly underwhelmed with the execution of Becoming Elizabeth's story, this was absolutely overshadowed by its costuming, which is probably one of the most historically accurate depictions of Tudor clothing I've ever seen. With the same costume designer as Shardlake (which is also very well done - a big day for fans of Anthony Boyle's codpiece), it's remarkably clear how much research went into the pieces worn on this show, with some directly recreated from portraits, and others visibly inspired by surviving clothing from the period.

I won't pretend that Becoming Elizabeth's costuming is without flaws - I'm not a fan of Elizabeth's hunting/riding clothes, and she wears her hair down far too often (Catherine Parr appeared at times to have access to a Dyson Airwrap). However, the positives definitely outweigh any gripes I have. We have dressing scenes in which we see the separate layers and panels that comprised Tudor dresses, and the French hoods actually have hoods, as opposed to simply being the semi-circular headbands we see far too often. The royal women wear ermine fur on their sleeves, and I was also a fan of the jewellery.

The care that went into the costumes for Becoming Elizabeth is so clear - I truly wish I'd enjoyed the plot more, if just so that I could spend more time staring at those dresses.

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Emma. (Autumn de Wilde, 2020)

I adore Emma, and its costuming is honestly perhaps the biggest part of that love. The waistlines! The hairstyles! The bonnets! Emma's costumes are proof that you don't have to sacrifice historical accuracy for the sake of stylization - it's by far the most zany and colourful of any direct Austen adaptation, and yet its visuals remain strikingly faithful to the Regency period.

Like Becoming Elizabeth, many of the pieces worn in Emma bear a striking resemblance to surviving pieces and fashion plates from the era. The only problem I've noticed in this was the alarmingly strange detachable ruff-thing Emma is shown wearing in one scene, but frankly, it still manages to fit the tone of the piece.

I'm usually not a huge fan of the Regency fashion depicted on television - I find it rather dull - but the costumes in this movie are gorgeously distracting in every scene. Turns out historical accuracy actually can make things better - who knew!

Is this enough to make me forgive Alexandra Byrne for the costumes in Mary Queen of Scots (2018)?

No.

(I do not forgive ANYONE who worked on Mary Queen of Scots for making Mary Queen of Scots.)

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Firebrand (Karim Aïnouz, 2023)

Firebrand hasn't even been released outside of Cannes yet, and already I am so, so down with everything it's giving. This movie could end up being the dullest two hours of my life, but I'll still sing its praises for one very simple reason - CHIN. STRAPS.

THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS!! The French hoods FINALLY have chin straps!!!! It's only been in virtually every well-known painting of them ever, no big deal.

Although we only have one trailer and a few promo photos to go off of, the costumes in Firebrand look fantastic, with enough layers, fur, embroidery, and hoop skirts to keep me happy for perhaps the rest of my life. We'll see how the movie itself turns out, but it already has a lot going for it in my eyes.

Also shoutout to Henry VIII's absolutely manky leg ulcers in the trailer. That's what I like to see.

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The Outliers

Right. Here is where the hypocrite accusations are about to come flying. But frankly, I said it myself at the start that every period piece deserves to be judged on an individual basis, and the tone and intention of each piece is important in how its costumes are perceived.

That being said, if you think any of the 'bad' costumes deserve to be in this section - maybe they should've tried not being ugly, idk.

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Bridgerton (Netflix, 2020-)

Bridgerton's excuse for its inaccuracy comes not from its lack of effort, but rather from its deliberate rejection of the historical narrative in any form whatsoever. We have two Real People™ in Queen Charlotte and King George III, but even their spin-off opens with a disclaimer that their story will be utterly fictional. Bridgerton does not present an issue like some of the other pieces on this list because it is actively opposed to being historically accurate to a degree that few other period pieces have arguably ever achieved.

Literally nothing about Bridgerton is consistent with history, so it does not disappoint when its costumes aren't either. The clothing does take visible inspiration from the Regency silhouette, but even then it is not consistent, with Queen Charlotte's costumes still firmly Georgian-esque (and honestly, marvellous wigs aside, they're not... bad?). Bridgerton is a historical fantasy before it's a historical drama, and as such it's easy to just sit back and enjoy the costumes for what they are - even when what they are is garish.

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The Great (Hulu, 2020-23)

The Great is first and foremost a dark comedy, not a historical piece. Yes, Catherine the Great and Peter III were real people, and yes, much like in the show, Catherine did overthrow her husband in real life, too. But the similarities end here, as none of the characters in The Great have any intention of resembling their real-life counterparts.

Set roughly in the 1740s, the costumes in The Great are clearly far from reality, but they still resemble the silhouettes we know and recognise as 18th Century. The show is a satirical means of poking fun at the opulent aristocracy, and as such every costume conveys a distinct appearance of luxury. Every single item of clothing worn by the nobility looks absurdly expensive, and the exaggerated ridiculousness of many of the looks we see onscreen are an intentional way of conveying how utterly disconnected the people at court are from reality. From Peter's leopard skin jacket to ladies wearing powdered wigs as hats, The Great's costuming is purposefully elevated from its historical source material, and that is precisely what makes it so good.

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The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018)

Sandy Powell's work on The Favourite is perhaps one of my all-time favourite pieces of costuming. Similarly to The Great, The Favourite utilises clearly recognisable aspects of 18th-century fashion - with ermine fur trim, half-length sleeves, and periwigs - but stylised so that everything conforms to a solidly black and white colour palate.

The Favourite's costumes are gorgeous and evocative of their time period - with well-portrayed mantuas, riding habits, fontanges etc. - all while conforming to Lanthimos' characteristically off-beat style. The shared colour palate really puts the three leads on equal footing in a visual sense, which is key in exploring the relationships that Abigail and Sarah are able to manipulate Queen Anne into developing. Had the colours and fabrics been historically accurate, I believe the movie would have risked making Anne too visibly above the rest of her court, but the striking congruence among the cast successfully solidifies their ability to exploit one another, regardless of status.

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I don't know if there are any conclusions to be drawn from this, I just love talking. If you've made it this far - thank you for reading! I hope you found at least some of this interesting.

I'm always open and eager to discuss this topic, so please do let me know your thoughts - What are your favourite period drama costumes? What piece of costuming made you go OH JESUS WHAT IS THAT???

Anyway, thank you for going down this little rabbit hole with me - my asks are always open! <3

[kamenstranger]

Castlevania Nocturne Season 2 Review

You know, it's funny. At the end of my Nocturne Season 1 review I mentioned that I felt the series was in good hands, that the trepidation of starting from scratch with a new creative team on a whole new entry had been calmed. And yet, going into season 2 it almost felt like I had to be won back over again. Why was that?

For me, the trouble started in mid September when the first trailer dropped and I realized I had not thought about Nocturne since the original review. We had an entire Castlevania DS collection come out and I never even thought "Oh yeah, there should be another Castlevania season on Netflix soon." That's probably not a great sign, is it? It's not even that I forgot about the show entirely, I still remember it. But it completely skipped my mind upon seeing the Dominus collection. The association simply wasn't there.

And looking back it's kinda easy to see why it skipped my brain pan. I still maintain Nocturne was a solid season with a lot of bold ideas, but frankly so much of it is "Maybe they'll get to explore this more next season" with Richter being the only one with an actual character arc. The lack of a strong villain also hurt the show. That last part was so bad that I forgot the villain's goddamn name. I forgot that the main antagonist of Nocturne was the second most popular name and historical figure used in vampire fiction. I called her "That lion-faced countess" when conversing about it to my girlfriend. And why not? Sure, they say her name constantly in whispers throughout that first season, trying to build her up as this great menacing force of nature. But we never see Bathory until very late in the show and she… has no personality. Her character in Nocturne in busting down a door and being strong. That's it.

She didn't have a fun presence like Doltra with her snarky innuendos and style, or the slithering unnatural calm of Olrox and his incredible homoeroticism, and she certainly wasn't tragic like Dracula. Hell, she wasn't even Carmilla. Bathory works in the moment and as a cliffhanger for the next season as something to be contented with-- but it also doesn't lay a foundation for a personality. A lot of season 2 was going to have to make good not only having a satisfactory vendetta story with Maria, but also making Bathory into an actual character we enjoy seeing on screen since, let's face it, Emmanuel wasn't gonna stick around and Drolta was dead. Well, until the second trailer hit, which did look considerably better. Still, the fact Nocturne was missing an October release for the media dumping ground that is January did not provide me with optimism.

Compounding this is during the year long gap from Season 1 we've had a number of other animated shows that have been shockingly good. I don't even mean major game chargers, but simply well made art that were above mediocrity and pleasant surprises. X-men '97 is the obvious example, which I have thought more about than Nocturne despite how big of a Castlevania fan I am. But maybe it's not fair to make a comparison to something that has the advantage of using stories with decades of hindsight. All the same, '97 did more with its cast, had better balance of interpersonal character stories with a broader narrative, and had more biting commentary with fictional stand-ins for marginalization than Nocturne did drawing from very real examples of French imperialism and slavery. That's just a tad embarrassing. (Although maybe not as embarrassing as Disney's animation being a fraction of what Powerhouse 51 was pulling off, so take that for what it's worth.)

Just to be clear, I'm completely for taking the appropriate amount of time to write and animate something of quality. I find most of the turn around in the modern landscape incredibly egregious, and having other things to watch in-between shows is an objectively good thing. Regardless, as time wore on, season 2 was going to have to contend with making good on a follow up in a crowded streaming landscape. But, I digress. I'm ignoring the main meat in this castle wall, so let's get to it. Spoilers ahead.

I'm going to be approaching this a little bit differently from the previous Nocturne review. Instead of going an episode by episode basis, I'm going to focus on the different story threads until they intersect, similar to how I did with the last seasons of the first Castlevania series.

That said, we pick up where last season left off, everyone is surprised when the Eclipse comes to an end. Despite the intention of an endless night, it seems Bathory's ability to make it last is not as strong as was believed. However, that doesn't make her weak. Alucard informs the four that the Egyptians believed the soul resided in two places; the blood, which Elizabeth has already consumed, and the heart contained within the Mummy. Having been to Egypt, the tomb was empty. Sekhmet's mummified remains have been moved and Alucard has been tracking it across the globe for three years, with the presumed location being Paris, hence the convergence there.

This is where the story starts to split off, with Alucard, Richter and Annette heading to Paris, while Maria and Mizrak stay behind. Maria is no condition to fight after losing her mother and she blames Richter for running away like he always does.

Suffice to say, we're not getting that family bond between her, Richter, and Annette-- they actually do something more clever. As such, I'll be taking a look at Maria's story first. One thing to get out of the way is the deal with her mother, Tera. She isn't a warped vampiric thrall. She retains her will and is almost killed by Bathory because of this. The loss of Drolta certainly exacerbating matters-- Tera clearly not even a fraction of Drolta's power. And Tera is… just sorta forgotten by Bathory after being sent on a suicide mission in broad daylight. She survives and goes off on her on from there.

Eventually, Maria heads back home to gather supplies, Mizrak in tow. Here, she encounters her mother, which has all the trepidation you might expect. But they also avoid anything hokey, or cliche. In fact, throughout all of Tera and Maria's scenes there's a tendency to be put at ease. Tera shows no signs of malevolence, to the point it's easy to forget or even fall into believing that she might not be vampiric at all. Very little is presented to indicate such, aside from the obvious visual cues and the fact Tera is always cast is shadow, while Maria is in the faintest of light. No sly smirks, no dramatic music, no entendre. And yet, from the audience perspective, we've seen Tera kill to feed early on in the first episode, she can give into Vampiric tendencies. Being privy to something Maria isn't aware of, you can't help but question what exactly it is Tera is after. Is it as simple as spending time with her daughter? Will she maintain her will?

Hell, Tera isn't even all the violent when Mizrak notices her and attacks. She's going out of her way to not be monstrous. It's that which ultimately makes Maria part with Mizrak and go with her mother.

By nightfall, the two return to where Maria first learned to summon her animal buddies, although they are currently twisted and all together different when she's angered. Tera begins encouraging Maria to summon the darker creatures that are conjured, to harness their rage and control it. Even this doesn't feel wrong, despite how much it should.

Her practice however is interrupted by Juste, who was requested by Richter to also look after Maria, and, yeah, a Belmont crossing paths with a vampire goes about as well as you'd expect. Tera's skirmish with Juste is the closest hint Maria sees to her mother losing control and going berserk. All the same, Tera refuses to harm him. Neither get a chance to reflect on this before an additional interruption occurs; the stirring sounds of a night creature platoon in the distance. The revolutionary national guard sent to fend off the vampiric threat has been slaughtered and transformed. This becomes the tipping point for the already mentally unstable Maria, whose anger reaches a fever pitch. She flies off to kill Emmanuel. As dawn is breaking, Juste is the only one capable of stopping her now. But that's easier said than done. Maria is on a completely different level now and is going completely mad with that power, finally summoning the dragon Seiryuu.

They're a lot bigger than the ROB version.

I'm not gonna lie, this confrontation with her father is incredibly cathartic. Maria berating him for the monster that he is, a man willing to sell out both a former lover and the child has with them, a betrayer of his own beliefs. Juste pleads with Maria to stop, that she doesn't have to go through with it…

Welp.

That motherfucker burns. And it is glorious. But it's not lost on me- or the show, that this is kinda fucked up. Even if the bastard deserved it, it didn't need to be by her hand. Maria just committed patricide by burning a man alive.

But there is a problem, two problems, actually. One is that a strange indecipherable shadow figure emerges from the cathedral walls and whisks Emmanuel's extra crispy body away. The other more immediate problem is that the Dragon doesn't want to go back, nor is is listening to an exhausted and clearly traumatized Maria. It's rather pissed off at the very notion and instead chooses to turn against its master. Conveniently, Juste's powers return, just as Richter's did when he needed them most, shielding her from the flame. A follow up with an ice spike to the mouth is enough to force the dragon back to whatever plain it emerged from.

Much later, Tera approaches the former location of the Abbot's body and smirks. Don't think too much about it, Tera has but one more appearance and a small cameo in the finale. In a wise decision, Nocturne seems to have taken a page from fellow streaming series Arcane and focus on an arc for the here and now, with smaller incremental hooks to build next season rather than big cliffhangers. All that matters for now is after a very tense scene, Tera removes herself from Maria's life, realizing her presence is only making things worse-- Maria even tempted to become a vampire to live with her mother forever. Tera needs to find her place as much as Maria does, and it's simply not something they can do together. It's a gut wrenching scene.

Tera exiting the picture means we can switch focus to Juste and Maria's dynamic, a very fascinating direction given Juste's track record with raising kids. Now he's paired with a girl who's extremely troubled and sick of oldmen pretending to know what they're doing. That's a great concept. One that, if I'm being perfectly honest, I do wish got more time in the spotlight. But what's presented is still pretty good.

After the incident, Maria's powers are in someway tainted and her animals stuck in their darker form, some even more twisted and almost cosmic in their horror, and all are out of control. This season never delves into what or where Maria's Animals originate, but Juste expresses concern over that very notion. Fact is they're something very different from any magic they're familiar with. Although answering that question is not as pertinent as Juste trying to make good on his past failures by helping Maria overcome her grief and anger. The story knows what's important and focuses on that, which I applaud… Even if Juste's advice amounts to little more than "Think happy thoughts."

Before I tackle the other big story half, I do want to mention the smaller ones interspersed throughout, such as the Night Creatures. The Night Creatures are downplayed considerably compared to the previous season. We still get Edouard's lovely arias and we even get another night creature who retains their memories; a captain of the revolutionary army, who is turned into a Frozen Shade.

There's still tinges of the themes present regarding free will and the parallels with the hypocrisy of France's political climate. But other than leading a rather isolated revolt against the more obedient creatures near the end of the series, they don't do much.

The most noteworthy occurrence that's tangentially related is with Drolta. Bathory realizes that she could be revived by the forge and retain her sense of self, and it works. Drolta comes back, albeit mutated, stronger and capable of walking in broad daylight. And you know what? Drolta was one of the best parts of Season 1 and this was as good excuse as any. Speaking of, we get multiple flashbacks of Drolta before she was turned vampiric- something which ultimately was her own choice after killing and drinking the blood of a vampire that slaughtered her entire temple. We witness the centuries following as she searched for the perfect vessel to reincarnate Sekhet before landing upon Bathory.

Outside that, we still have Olrox up to his usual routine of slinking around. He's likewise downplayed, having a handful of scenes with Mizrak and a few other characters. Brief, but frequent and impactful. Curiously, he encounters the shadowy being that took the Abbot's body, and Olrox recognizes it. Calling him a tempter of many names, Mephistopheles, Old Man Coyote. Which-- I have several questions about using the name of the Crow Deity as being synonymous with a devil, but we don't have time to unpack that. There's also a line that reveals Olrox and Alucard are familiar with each other, and Olrox has even gotten Alucard out of a bind more than one. They don't elaborate on that, just something to possibly explore later.

This brings me to the main narrative through-line with Alucard, Richter and Annette. How would these character play off each other without retreading familiar territory? Richter and Alucard's dynamic is thankfully quite a bit different than with Trevor. Whereas with Trevor it always felt like two immature shits taking the piss out of one another, this Alucard is much more mellow, wiser, and worldly. This offers a fun contrast to Richter being a well to do kid with a chip on his shoulder. That's further emphasized by Richter's willingness to follow his moral compass over practicality, albeit with the added baggage of still being arrogant, much to Alucard's understandable chagrin. Annette defends Richter from the admittedly warranted beration, perhaps even a bit too much. But it does serve as an extension of the two's growing relationship, which is pretty adorable this season.

On the more down to earth side, the two continue bonding over their shared trauma of losing their mothers, their struggle to live up to their family legacy, the very obvious chemistry between them etc. The season gives the two a lot of scenes together discussing their experiences and getting flustered to really drive home that connection.

And that brings to me Annette herself. Along with Maria, my biggest interest was what they were going to do with Annette's story and I'm happy to say that they expanded upon it considerably. I've always found the wider cultural implications of Castlevania's world fascinating. From a game perspective is has very little impact on the admittedly bereft narrative. It's simply to add an exotic flare to the bestiary containing a deluge of global folklore so we're not stuck with the stereotypical European monsters of yore. Which, hey not for nothing, I also love. But the animated series? Now that's a spot to dive into more than just designs. I was disappointed that last season they barely scratched the surface with Annette's cultural roots. That's rectified quickly here.

From the first episode Annette is seeing ghostly visages. First, sporadically and only vaguely humanoid in shape. Over the course of the season and their journey to Paris, they become more numerous and better defined, even overwhelming. By the time they do reach Paris, just in time for Louis the whatever (XVI) to be beheaded, Annette sees his spirit rise from the body and taken in by a three faced demon not dissimilar to Dante's depiction of Lucifer.

It's never clear if this is just a manifestation of Annette's fears and uncertainty regarding the spirit world, but I think we can presume this to be "Old Man Coyote" given his province in appearing around death throughout the season.

Eventually the trio make it to the Louvre, the spirits helping Guide Annette to the precise location of the mummy. Unfortunately, it doesn't help much because the trio are set upon by two night creatures and Drolta, who is far more of a challenge than previous encounters.

Which I might as well take the opportunity at this point to discuss how goddamn amazing the animation is, because this is a standout moment. I'm legit surprised how well the quality has been maintained. There are still some classic animation tricks here and there-- like panning across still images rather than animating an entire crowd for 5 seconds of screen time. But even stuff like that is far and few compared to some other shows. Part of that is no doubt the shorter episode to budget ratio not requiring it, but the other is simply being very clever about what's shown without it feeling as painfully obvious as other productions. All this is to say that it looks good to begin with and when the show goes hog out for its fight scenes, it's going hard. Even now, Castlevania is still delivering on both fluid animation and impeccable storyboarding.

Take Richter binding this night creature and icing the floor, only to lightning skid across to meet the monster's spine with his foot. That is awesome. It takes what otherwise could've been a standard fight and makes me point out all the little fun and clever things they do. Such as a three headed lizard monster which gets its middle head stuck in a plank of wood and the other heads start biting the wood off. (Although I will note, the wood comes back later, so that's either an error or that head is very unlucky) I laughed either way. This entire sequence is wonderful and it comes at only the halfway point.

In the end, Drolta makes off with the Mummy, Alucard gives chase but ultimately fails. At wits end, they have little choice but to do all they can for the inevitable turn. Alucard heads to the National Convention to meet with freaking Robespierre to prepare for the coming assault from Bathory's forces, while Richter and Annette take care of any vampire stragglers before the sunsets. All the while the ghosts haunting Annette refuse to leave. But, that gives her an idea; what if there's a third Soul, what if Sekhmet herself is in that spirit world?

Indeed if you know about Egyptian mythology, this is called the Duat. So as the Revolutionary army prepares for the coming battle, Alucard and Richter stand watch over Annette as she enters a trance and begins her spirit journey.

Without going too overboard with the details, as we spend quite a bit of time here (almost an episode and a half) it delivers more of what I wanted without bogging down the story with heaps of lore. She has a heartwarming reunion with her mother and she meets with Ogun directly, who gifts her a shield and sends her off to Sekhmet's Realm.

Interspersed with this journey are cutaways to little character moments between Richter and Alucard, the latter encouraging Richter not to wait around on telling Annette his feelings. We also get a rather telling and sweet moment when the topic of Alucard's lineage comes up and if he would change it. But as Alucard puts it, you can't remove one name without removing others. And for as long as he's been around, aren't the Belmonts just as much of a family? Of course, Richter falls asleep before hearing this. Cliche but cute.

Meanwhile Annette's trip is a treacherous one beset by powerful monsters. But she manages to make it to Sekhmet all the same, the goddess in tears over the desecration and abuse she has suffered.

A nice visual detail being the scales of Maat out of balance.

However, Annette's presence is unwelcome, if not by Sekhmet specially, then the very realm itself, as Ammit attacks Annette. Seeing Annette put up a good fight, Sekhmet takes advantage of Annette's soulless body, possessing her as a vessel, while Annette continues an endless battle in the spirit world.

The transformation is taxing on Annette's body, the longer Sekhmet stays and uses her powers, the more likely Annette's body will just burn away. But it's the best shot they have against Bathory, who, having consumed the heart, is even more grotesque and powerful. Another eclipse is called fourth, signaling the final battle.

Sooooo, let's talk about Bathory, shall we?

We're at the penultimate episode and the reality is that she's simply a boring villain. Sure, the narrative goes to great lengths to make her a powerful threat, but even now she's little more than a boss, an obstacle. On one hand it's sort of hard to complain when so many other angles of the season work; Maria, Tera, Juste; Annette's spirit Journey and the relationship with Richter, even the handful of Olrox and Mizrak interactions, and, of course, Drolta and the backstory with the goddess Sekhmet. Make a note of the last bit.

That being said. This powered up Bathory is a great excuse to give one of the best fight sequences in the entire series. With Sekhmet able to weaken the other two souls, Bathory is finally vulnerable. Not that she's a push over by any means. It still takes the arrival of Juste and Maria (Who has a cute moment reuniting with Richter) to actually do some damage. But boy do they go for it. I could spend multiple paragraphs simply describing the shit that goes down in a matter of seconds. Bathory's left arm being chomped on by Maria's Dragon, Richter lassoing her other arm and ripping her out, only to freeze his own arm and clothesline Bathory's neck.

What's impressive about all this isn't just the fight itself, but how impeccable the pacing is. This easily could've devolved into a mess of noise and indecipherable editing. In fact, that pacing is a benefit of the entire season. Every episode we're hopping across multiple different stories, but it never feels exhausting or frivolous. It's the same in this final battle with just enough quick character moments sprinkled throughout to break up the action.

Speaking of, we have multiple other battles going on at the same time, Mizrak dealing with various vampires, Alucard and Drolta fighting. Even Olrox decides to get in on the fight against Bathory's forces and helps Alucard out with Drolta. And don't forget, Annette's soul is still in battle elsewhere. We're bouncing all over. Amongst all the hard fighting, Mizrak is gravely injured, distracting Olrox enough to let Drolta escape. Once again, Old Man Coyote is lingering near by.

Bathory meanwhile is at the end of her rope. She's putting up a fight still, but her arm is gone, and she's having to face the reality that the real Sekhmet is in front of her. She is not a reincarnation, just someone in possession of something that was never hers to begin with. Sekhmet offers a chance to make things right and forgo the two other souls. But Drolta has other plans, taking off with with the badly weakened Bathory.

But the lioness clearly isn't what she was, and maybe never was. Pondering for a moment, Drolta makes a decision she felt she should've made centuries ago-- simply become Sekhmet instead, as she drains Bathory and mutates into an abomination that no doubt has even more teeth in every orifice.

I have to just laugh at this development. It's like they realized Drolta was the far more interesting personality and instead of trying to make Bathory work they just built more upon Drolta at the last minute with a good enough excuse. Like, Drolta isn't deep, don't misunderstand. At best she's sort of a dark reflection of Richter, Annette, and Maria. Someone that had survivors guilt and took a dark path. Though that's kind of a stretch. Regardless she was clearly more fun and a fan favorite, so pulling this off is sort of amazing.

If you can believe it, get another goddamn amazing fight scene with plenty of moments that pop off.

Although Drolta's new found power doesn't last long, Sekhmet forcibly adsorbs the two souls, almost killing Annette in the process. But it works, just leaving an incredibly pissed off and still very powerful Drolta to contend with.

And Richter, oh they make up for Richter being over shadowed by Alucard last season. I thought he was going to go Hokuto no Ken on Drolta at one point with how many punches he was tossing out. Hell, he even manages to break through an attack that sends Alucard flying. They're very much giving Richter his due here, even if, of all people, Olrox comes to assist. No Grand Cross or Hydro Storm, but they do something interesting. Richter gets tossed Alucard's sword and kinda creates the Dark Moon greatsword from Elden, splitting both Drolta and part of a building in two.

Fuckin' A. And they don't ruin it with with a forced one-liner or subversion of such! Amazing. All the happens afterwards is Richter turns to Olrox saying he'll kill him, just not today.

In the aftermath, Olrox saves Misrak by turning him; Richter and Annette confess to eachother, departing to Saint-Domingue along with Edouard. Juste comes out of retirement, Alucard decides he's tired of traveling and will stay in France for the time, and Maria is a little all too keen on the continuing beheadings-- as she's watched by Tera, the shadowy hand of Old Man Coyote on her shoulder.

And That's Castlevania Nocture Season 2. It's freaking good.

It's a legitimately well written story that does just about everything I wanted with these versions of the characters, with even a few surprises thrown in. Is it better than season 1… That's a hard call. I think Nocturne Season 1 was more ambitious in some ways, with stuff like how Edouard and night creatures were handled, Richter's PSTD, and actually giving Annette a character. Very intriguing and different stuff. On the other hand, I think season 2 is better paced and does more for most of those characters. Not ending on a huge cliffhanger is also a boon in me eyes. The creative team simply seems a lot more comfortable having both season 1 under their belt and established characters to work with.

If I did have a notable criticism of this season, Bathory having spies follow Alucard to find out that Sekhmet's mummy was located in the "place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences and arts" is probably the goofiest plot detail. I understand the Louvre wasn't firmly established as a museum yet, but that still seems like the place you should check first.

Also the music kinda just washed over me. I've always tried to give the series some leeway when it comes to music, even if I do find it very annoying you only get one game track per season, if that. But man, even as far as atmospheric stuff goes, I couldn't recount much. A very "yeah the music there that fits the mood at any given time." And that's rather backhanded, isn't it? I feel bad saying it, but I just don't remember much. We get Divine Bloodlines again, but it's the same version as last season so hearing it is a little less special, if albeit used appropriately in the finale battles.

Other than that I don't have a lot of criticisms with season 2.

As for the next season? Well, I'm certainly intrigued by the implications left hanging for this one. But I'm not sure if I'll bother reviewing it when it comes. I've thus far kept up with reviewing all the Castlevania seasons, but this is also the first time a season has dropped where I haven't had Netflix. This very well might just be a one off simply because I don't think Netflix is worth it year round and it's troublesome just for one show.

Other than that obvious caveat, absolutely check out Season 2 of Nocturne. Next time I'll be getting back to Tokusatsu with a review of Ninja Sentai Kakuranger.

B. Sky

Ko-fi

[dr3smile]

This is gonna be a very long post and I'm sorry for it.

The reason why so many people are comfortable talking like this about Daniel is because of Zac, Andrea, Jenson, and all the 'big names' that openly and harshly criticized Daniel.

The moment Zac started trash talking Daniel in front of the media he opened the door to the nasty and jealous assholes to follow in his steps.

You don't hear anybody from Alfa Romeo taking about Bottas the way Zac talked about Daniel, I don't remember anybody from Alpine trash talking Fernando every time he DNFed, and he did a lot, or when he refused to do PR or him not being able to win even though he's a 2 time world champion.

Nobody is criticizing Nico because no one at Haas said a word about his performance.

It all started with Zac and Andrea, after that the boundaries that exist between criticizing a driver for not being good and publicly harassing and insulting a human being that you don't know we're broken.

I'm a huge DR3 fan and I can admit that Daniel didn't perform as expected while he was at McLaren but to put the blame solely on him is ridiculous for the simple fact that if he was the problem McLaren now would've been fighting for 4th in the championship not for p17. They've been having problems since Jenson and Fernando, then they had one ray of hope when Carlos got his first podium with them and thought that they are now back at being the historical team they once were completely ignoring that they need to rebuild the whole team from scratch, and instead they laid all of theirs and their fans unrealistic expectations on Daniel, who just drove for Renault and put them higher in that season's championship.

Daniel become then the face of the team, promises were made by Zac and Andrea but instead of backing him up and giving him a car that fitted his style to give him a chance to show his abilities they fucked him up.

One thing that Daniel is and will always be known for is his late breaking yet his car at McLaren not only was not adequate but it penalised him every time he broke later making him go slower. So people started saying 'oh Daniel Ricciardo is exposed because he can't adapt to a new car' but how can someone change their entire composition, mentality and a decade of knowledge on how to drive fast cars that are able to win 7 Grand Prix and multiple podiums? Isn't it the job of a team to follow the style of their drivers? Yes drivers have to adapt but to demand a full 180 from someone because you're not arsed to changes is delusional.

So in conclusion is not that people have more faith in Nico and believe that he's somehow better than Daniel is that so far no one from Haas have yet giving them a reason or the permission to criticise him.

I hope this makes sense and apologize for any mistakes but English isn't my first language.

OMG Thankyou for this. This explains everything so well. You put everything into words I couldn’t come up with.

The whole braking thing at Mclaren is still an issue to this day so it’s clear they didn’t take any feedback Daniel gave them into action. They just blamed it all on him. Who are they going to blame this season? They’re not going to blame the golden child and they can’t blame a rookie. It has to fall on management.

[unholyverse]

waterparks // alternative press spring 2023

(full article text under the cut:)

TO THE MOON

With their new album INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, WATERPARKS are diving deeper than ever before. The result is an exorcism of deep trauma and the sweet afterglow of catharsis.

STORY: Alessandro DeCaro • PHOTOS: Jawn Rocha • Styling: Josh Madden

Between international flights, jet lag and no days off in between, it is a miracle that Awsten Knight isn’t face down in a pile of pillows. For the past two weeks, Knight and his band Waterparks have been head down in a run of massive shows throughout the U.K. supporting British rockers You Me At Six as well as a series of intimate appearances at record stores with some of the band’s most die-hard fans. It was a landmark run for a group who have hit the road relentlessly the past year-and-a-half, with sold-out North American and European headlining tours, a top slot at the 2022 Sad Summer Festival and even a “bucket list” opening slot for My Chemical Romance. Their latest milestone? They played to 10,000 people — their largest show in the U.K. region — at London’s historic Alexandra Palace. Exhaustion should be Knight's baseline, but instead, he's as chipper as ever when he hops on Zoom back home in Los Angeles. There's only one problem. The bandleader has been on vocal rest for days leading up to this very interview.

“Dude, my voice feels so shot,” Knight confesses from his living room couch. “We did 12 performances back to back, then combined with really short cut-up sleep on the flight, 1 just feel, ugh.” Sleep deprivation aside, Knight is almost at a loss for words (not from the vocal rest) but because the experimental pop trio he formed 12 years ago have unlocked another level of fandom where new listeners are still flocking by the droves. “It turns out there are a lot of people [in this world].” Knight quips, referring to his newfound fans. But in reality, global domination doesn’t really seem too far off.

Knight barely has time to slow down. The band are set to release their fifth studio album, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (out April 14 via Fueled By Ramen). But the self-professed workaholic has never known any other way. “It's a really hard mentality to shake,” Knight reveals. “When we were a local band, we didn't have any family connections in the music industry, and no one cared, so you had to take on every role. Even though we are not local anymore and get to play arenas with our favorite bands, if I'm not actively doing stuff to push the music, then I don’t know if anyone else will."

In some ways, Knight fears downtime or stillness because that's when he feels like his brain will start to turn on him. He admittedly functions better when he's working on something creative, whether that’s writing a new song or simply designing streetwear for his clothing brand hii-def. “It's not necessarily the most healthy thing in the long run, but people have worse coping mechanisms,” he laughs nervously.

But Waterparks remain his main focus. The trio, which initially formed in 2011, began to truly put the pieces together the following year when Knight enlisted his now-best friends, guitarist Geoff Wigington and drummer Otto Wood, to round out the lineup. “Otto loved classic rock and bands like La Dispute and Touché Amoré, whereas Geoff was all about EDM," Knight recalls. “We all had different tastes, but at the core of it, it's guitar and drums.” Their individual musical backgrounds helped craft the genre-less sound they have now cultivated.

"THE BIGGEST REASON I didn’t want that pop-punk label is that I know exactly what we are capable of." - AWSTEN KNIGHT

It wasn't until 2016 when Waterparks finally released their debut album, Double Dare — an intentional choice. “I always felt like if no one was looking at us, why put out a large body of work? I wanted to do cool shit as opposed to oversaturating and waiting until enough people [actually] wanted to hear it.” There is a common adage that you have your entire life to write your first record and six months to write your second, to which Knight agrees, and from there, the band began making records like clockwork.

With those albums came carefully curated eras — a moment in time with a clear aesthetic, theme and overall mission statement. While always writing music from a subversive and experimental perspective, it was when the band released both FANDOM (2019) and Greatest Hits (2021) that they began to stray from the confinement of genre and inaccurate labels. Knight himself spoke out vehemently about being boxed in by the term “pop punk. “I learned [during that time that] you can’t control everybody, and you can only frame the narrative so much,” Knight explains. “Obviously, we grew up loving and still loving blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41 and Good Charlotte, so it’s in our DNA to a degree, but I just don't want that label because it’s so synonymous with the past and what cynical dickheads or mega naysayers say is just for preteens and kids. However, the biggest reason I didn’t want that label is that I know [exactly] what we are capable of and what our output is.”

Take, for example, the breakbeat madness of the FANDOM single “Turbulent” or the distorted experimentation of “Numb” from Greatest Hits. Nothing is off the table for Waterparks. The group join a cohort of other trailblazing acts like Bring Me the Horizon and Paramore, who both successfully pivoted away from the late Warped Tour circuit in favor of mainstream appeal without losing any substance. “There's a song for everybody, and I once tweeted that anyone who doesn't like Waterparks just doesn't like Waterparks yet,” Knight says confidently.

If you have yet to be on board with the band's music, you've at the very least been entertained by — or seen — Knight's fiery social media presence.

It's undeniable that Waterparks’ meteoric rise has stemmed from the bandleader’s unofficial side hustle as a social media celebrity. And at times, his online presence can feel truly monolithic in scale, something Knight has attempted to analyze over the years in many songs, including the aptly titled “You'd Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out To Get You)" When asked if his status as an extremely online figure has influenced the band’s latest album, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, Knight isn't entirely sure but reveals that he has had to set boundaries nonetheless, as someone who's regularly met with constant praise and vicious internet trolls. “I try not to let it influence things too much [lately], and with therapy, I've learned that you can only control yourself. However, that doesn’t mean I'm not still vulnerable in the music that I write.”

He tackles the subject on INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY with closer "A NIGHT OUT ON EARTH" and parts of the song “RITUAL,” where he recalls when he felt things were “caving in" around him due to the pressures of constant attention. “There are people who listen to Waterparks who aren't on Twitter. and then there are those who view the band in this bubble where it's just them and the people who reply to the tweets,” Knight resigns.

But beyond the topic of social media, Knight gets admittedly “introspective” on the record. When asked to discuss the overall lyrical themes and concepts behind INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, he takes a deep breath and delivers a warning: Things might get a little turbulent.

“There is a love story throughout the record that is expressive to and for other people, but the album itself has to do with overcoming, unlearning and growing past religious guilt,” Knight explains. “It's something that I've struggled with for a long time.” On “FUNERAL GREY," he delivers the punchy line “baptized in my spit,” which is a playful twist on a weighted subject. The theme of religious guilt doesn’t just apply to the overall lyrics of the record but also extends to the album's striking cover art, which at first glance appears to be an image of a blue frog over a red backdrop; in actuality, it possesses a much more poignant meaning.

“Frogs have always been one of my favorite animals,” Knight reflects. “However, when I learned that frogs were seen as dirty and unclean in a biblical context, it was interesting to me that something that I saw as so good, natural and beautiful could also be seen as a bad thing through a biblical lens.” In other words, the concept of shame plagued the charismatic bandleader for as long as he can remember, and INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY was the moment for Knight to finally face his trauma head-on and “come to terms with himself” once and for all. That explains why a majority of the new songs possess “hypersexualized” energy — a conscious rebellion against a conservative past. “Growing up in church, you're taught that everything is so wrong and bad. I always felt like shit, so [this album] is the breakaway from that specifically.”

By overcoming his religious guilt, Knight was able to tap into an evolved sense of self-worth that he’s since applied to his very own love life, which he details on the album's stripped-down ballad “CLOSER.” “My concept of love has changed throughout the years, and that song is about [looking at the past] and realizing that when I was younger, it was maybe more of an obsession. Now I'm taking it apart and learning more about love and the way I present the current version of myself to other people.” Inversely, there is the alt-radio-ready anthem “BRAINWASHED,” where Knight admits that he still wrestles with the idea of true love, constantly making sure that he’s not just wrapped up in the “honeymoon phase.” Knight jokes that this track and “FUCK ABOUT IT” which features a guest vocal spot from blackbear, are “polar opposites,” as the latter couldn't be further from the “hyperfixation” he details in “BRAINWASHED.," once again proving that he feels the most comfortable when inserting juxtaposition wherever he can.

"I've learned that you can ONLY CONTROL YOURSELF. However, that doesn’t mean I'm not still vulnerable in the music that I write." - AWSTEN KNIGHT

Beyond the emotional clarity that Knight gained during the creation of INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, it's the album's sonic risks and exploration that he is the most fired up about. Though Knight wanted the band to return to their more guitar-driven and organic roots for certain parts of the LP, much of the record ventures into eclectic territory, with hyperpop, trap, synthwave and even subtle elements of hard rock and nu metal. “RITUAL, ‘A NIGHT OUT ON EARTH, ‘REAL SUPER DARK’ and ‘ST*RFUCKER' are the craziest instrumentals we have done ever,” Knight exclaims. “I love the idea of taking something like a guitar or my voice and making it sound entirely like something else” “A NIGHT OUT ON EARTH,” however, is what Knight describes as “the biggest production flex,” and it most definitely shows. “There's fucking elephant sounds in there and weird Batman villain-sounding horns — it's evil and heavy, and not to mention, the outro is just game over,” he says.

Beyond production, Knight pushes his voice and stretches the idea of what constitutes a strong hook on INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. With “END OF THE WATER (FEEL),” Knight is at his most “bombastic,” in a “cartoon-like” state, weaving falsetto melodies that are meant to shock. “I always make a mental note when I hear a song that makes me go…" He pauses, imitating an explosion. “For me, that's when I hear some high-ass vocals that I'm not expecting.” Even on the first day of demoing “END OF THE WATER (FEEL)” in his home studio, Knight was already so confident in the song that he called longtime producer and collaborator Zakk Cervini and “essentially” forced him to come over to his house right then to help finish it. “I also want the record to show that I had a mustache [during this time], too,” Knight laughs.

With collaboration on the brain, Knight is the first to admit that for many years, he was precious about his art and was hesitant to work with others. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, Knight changed his mind, which was evident on Waterparks’ previous album, Greatest Hits. This time around, Knight, who's an outspoken fan of the U.K. boy band One Direction, finally got a chance to live out one of his dreams by working with esteemed songwriter Julian Bunetta, who co-wrote beloved One Direction classics like “Olivia,” “Infinity” and “Best Song Ever,” among others. “I flew to [Julian's] place in Nashville, and we ended up making five songs together, two of them being ‘FUNERAL GREY" and ‘BRAINWASHED,” Knight recalls. And while he still plans to keep the majority of his music close to his chest long term, he won't rule anything out. Knight would undoubtedly jump at the chance to work with everyone from Post Malone and Damon Albarn to Donald Glover and Toby Keith.

"I'd rather make the coolest f*cking thing, RATHER THAN HOLD BACK and make something that wasn't that good." -AWSTEN KNIGHT

Now, with the band's new LP incoming, there raises the question: Does Knight feel a sense of relief after both exorcising his deepest traumas and inviting listeners on his journey to self- discovery? "I still feel pressure with it," Knight concedes. “It would be a lot easier if only strangers heard this, but everyone in my whole fucking life is going to hear this album, so that's what makes it strange." But he's never let any awkwardness or controversy hinder the artistic output. "I wasn't not in trouble when I put out a song like [2018's] 'TANTRUM' where I listed a bunch of dudes I wanted to kill, calling out by name," Knight acknowledges. Though his lyrical choices have sometimes resulted in strong reactions, even within his close circle of friends, Knight can't help but accept that he is meant to be unapologetic. "At the end of the day, I'd rather make the coolest fucking thing, rather than hold back and make something that wasn't that good."

Pressures of lyrical vulnerability and transparency aside, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY is Knight's attempt to "normalize” the catharsis he finds within songwriting, which ties into the album title itself. "Intellectual property is the mental space you give to something in your head. The 'property' may be the thing that you are struggling with. By materializing it and giving it its own world, it's actually a great way to express it and then, eventually, expel it,” he explains. "I want this album to go to the fucking moon." ALT

[sapphire-weapon]

I just wanted to say that as a person in their early 20s who only just got into resident evil after re8, it was so fun finding your blog and scrolling through all the little blurbs you’ve got. fandom elders always have the best resources and lore and make spaces a million times better, so thank u for mentioning all the little game details and fandom notes that would’ve been forgotten or missed otherwise to newcomers!!

on another note, i wanted to ask if you had any amusing/chaotic tidbits relating to the re fandom in its earlier days, whether it be speculations of scenes or character directions or interactions that people were so sure were going to happen in later re games that absolutely did not happen, fics that were really influential, insane fanwar stories, memes that used to be rlly prolific and now don’t really come up, etc. it’s something i love to discover about fandoms because it rlly is a “you had to be there,” type of information that people don’t document the way they would with canon developments that you can easily find on wikipages

Anon... I'm gonna fucking cry. 😭 This is exactly what I wanted this blog to become once I realized I was falling back into RE hell. Anything that I can do to make this canon more accessible to new people, I want to do it. I think I've said this before, but I literally cannot imagine what it must be like getting into this series this late in the game, because RE is terrifyingly huge and abstract and very old by video game standards.

As for the second part of your ask... Man, I have so many stories. I won't tell all of them, because if I try to, it'll be weeks before I can post this LMAO so let me just break this up into sections and I'll tell whatever the first stories that pop into my head are.

FAN THEORIES

So, historically, RE fandom was never big on fan theories. Fan theories and meta were something that Silent Hill people did, not so much RE people.

BUT there is one that refuses to die, and I have seen people scream about it as recently as Revelations 2.

People are convinced that Steve Burnside is going to come back. This drum has been getting banged ever since the original Code Veronica released in 2000, and even though it has literally never been hinted at at any point in the 23 years since then that Capcom even remembers that that was a possible thing that was set up, the fandom is still waiting for it to happen.

And it's all because Wesker stole his body and fucked off with it and was a complete asshole about it when he did it. That's it, that's the whole reason.

But then that also ties into the fact that there are still people who are convinced that Wesker didn't actually die in RE5 and that he's gonna come back any day now, guys, really -- and that's just a whole level of death denial I've never seen before. Dude got hit with two rocket launchers in the middle of an active volcano. YOU LITERALLY DO NOT GET MORE DEAD THAN THAT.

INFLUENTIAL FICS

Surprisingly, none. RE didn't have an "I Know What's Beneath the Snow Fields" or a "Walk This World." There were influential authors, though. I won't name them because I have no idea where they are now or if they're still around, but. I will say that there was one very influential fic writer in Cleon fandom who utilized literally so many headcanons in her fics that her characters were utterly unrecognizable. Some of the headcanons blatantly contradicted canon, even. But her writing style and her prose were so, so, so fucking good that it didn't matter. For a while, Cleon fandom almost became like a cult around her fics -- and, as someone who only dabbled in Cleon because my friends shipped it, but I had no personal stake in the ship myself -- it was really, really weird to watch this go down.

INSANE FAN WAR STORIES

I was going to go off on a huge thing about the Aeon vs Cleon wars, but seeing as how they're still fucking happening for some god forsaken dumbass reason, I decided not to.

So, we'll forget that. And while this isn't a war story, exactly, I do need to give a special shoutout to the Wesker wives of old.

If you are at all familiar with the stories of old school Final Fantasy VII fandom of girls who convinced themselves that they married Sephiroth on the astral plane -- guess what. RE fandom had those girls, too, and we called them Wesker wives.

There was one really prominent one on LiveJournal back in the day who used to get art commissioned of her and Wesker together, and she would post pictures of herself "in uniform" for him, and like. Would legitimately write as though she was actually married to the fictional character Albert Wesker. She'd answer questions from people and shit.

And she was really, really pretty, so everyone was just kind of stunned by this, because this girl very clearly took care of herself and worked out and knew how to do her hair and makeup -- she always looked really good -- and it was just like... how did someone like you fall so far off the reality wagon?

And then it slowly started to come out that she maybe had some nazi ideology behind her and kept referring to Wesker has her Aryan king or someshit, and that was about the point where my Jewish ass backed away from that whole trainwreck and stopped paying attention to it, so I don't actually know how this story ends.

MEMES

So, uh. If you've been on the fandom side of the internet long enough, you'll at least have heard of the "it's over 9000" meme, even if you're not into Dragon Ball or ever seen an episode of it in your life.

Well, the same guy who started that meme also left his mark on RE fandom, too. The whole "Jill sandwich" thing was always a meme in its own right, but "Hope this is not Chris's blood" was added onto it thanks to this video. So, "Hope this is not Chris's blood" was a big, big meme in the late aughts that I really don't see around anymore. It was used as a sort of... shitpost response to a shitpost, if that makes sense? Like, your friend sends you some obviously stupid bullcrap or a dumb meme and you just respond back "hope this is not chris's blood."

This cap from Code Veronica was a huge meme for a long time, too, and I DO NOT FUCKING KNOW WHY

And then.

There was this masterpiece. Do not watch this with other people in the room unless your willingness to let others bear witness to your own cringe is very high. It's also NSFW. And, actually, this video might be the single oldest meme in RE fandom history. The YT link I provided here is not the original source of it. It was some stupid fan edit that was making its rounds on Kazaa, and I'm not joking. I want to say this edit is no younger than OG RE2 (so 1998).

And I would negligent in my duties as a fandom historian if I did not introduce you to the glory that is Resident Evil 4 Days of Our Lives. I STILL QUOTE THIS SHIT, TO THIS DAY.

Like, this is me on plurk referencing this stupid fucking shit as I'm liveplurking my very first playthrough of RE4R:

There was a part of me that was honestly kind of upset when the two cops at the beginning of RE4make didn't actually say to Leon, "I hear no one listens to you. Is that true, Captain Cubscout?" because that is unironically the single greatest line of dialogue that was ever written to be said by any character to Leon Kennedy, and it was written by some fuckin college kids back in the mid aughts.

And that's all I can think of for right now.

Thank u for indulging my old person desire to ramble on about "BACK IN MY DAY........." I appreciate u.

ETA: ok like i know i said i was only gonna mention shit that i could think of at the time that i responded to the ask but there is one more meme that i would be remiss to not mention

[serious-ancient-slavery]

This the cover of the first part of my slave-trilogy, a historic fantasy, transmitting the past to the present. You can get it for your e-reader on Amazon for just $7,99. The preface, containing my ideas about the apparent attractiveness of old style slavery in film and fiction, and about the conception of my novel, you can read there for free. From now on, I will regularly publish the next few paragraphs from the text of that preface here each time. If you don't want to wait for that, you can go to Amazon for the rest of it straight away, as for the book itself.

PREFACE TO THE HORNY AND EXCITED READER

EPISODE 1

Slavery.

It is one of the great taboos in (at least western) present society: slavery, the dreaming of slavery.

Although slavery, human bondage, the fact that some people are the propriety of others, since ancient times for centuries had been inherent to nearly all cultures, and especially the higher developed ones, it nowadays is regarded as the absolute opposite of the fundamental values of modernity, based on the 18th-century Enlightenment: that all men are created free and equal.

To nearly nothing therefore the rest of the world during the last years has reacted with so much abhorrence than when the IS-Caliphate in the Middle-East reintroduced slavery officially, as being in accordance with the Koran. Well, indeed, it will be difficult to find arguments that the Koran is explicitly against slavery, as it is the product of a 7th-century society of which it was an obvious part. As is the same with the Bible or all other holy scriptures of the distant past.

They might have criticized its excrescences sometimes, but neither Judaism, nor Christianity or Islam has opposed slavery from the beginning in a strict, principal, uncompromising way. On the contrary, in the past religious authorities several times have legitimized it for incorrigible heretics and nonbelievers. Hence since the later Middle-Ages Christian captives ended up on Ottoman galleys, unless they converted, and Islamic captives ended up on Spanish galleys, unless they did the same.

In the France of Louis XIV the galleys were partly filled up with condemned protestants, who therefore even by a legal process were turned into slaves for the rest of their lives. Later on, especially in the Americas racial arguments were used to legitimate human bondage and make it hereditary, and those racial arguments partially referred to certain passages in the Old Testament, like those about the progeny of one of the three sons of Noah, the doomed Cham.

Anyhow: while most western people now are looking back with shame to this aspect of the world of their ancestors, for ages slavery has been worldwide a completely normal and accepted part of life. And not all slaves in that case were in the lucky position of being a house-teacher of some rich patrician, as several enslaved Greeks were during the Roman Empire, to put it mildly.

Ten thousands of slaves worked the latifundia of the old Romans as they later worked the plantations of the Antebellum South in the United States. They rowed the galleys - although seldom already those of the Romans, contrary to what the famous film and novel Ben Hur tries to tell us - as they toiled day after day in the copper-mines and stone-quarries of quite a lot of great Empires of the past.

Most people at the time didn't know better than that this just was, as things were. As normal as were, for example, public executions or corporal punishments, which nowadays are regarded as detestable practices of a barbarian past too. Although they not only were revived temporarily by IS, but are also still practiced without interruption in countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia.

To be continued......

[protect-daniel-james]

kinda nsfw niche funky idea including Unai Emery and the Aston Villa stadium, and yes, I will elaborate. Read more at your own risk if you know me. (all is a work of fiction etc.)

(I blame @longeyelashedtragedy for this, for - and I quote - saying "he seems like the type who’d fuck his stadium at midnight")

Anyway. Unai is... special. Different. Probably neurodivergent, if we like throwing these terms around. He's a bit of a mess, but also in desperate need to have things under control, to micromanage everything. His long talks and motivational speeches are legendary - and it's no secret that not all his players bought into his style of speaking and describing and demanding stuff, especially considering how he looks and how intense and passionate he can get when speaking about his one true love, football. I mean, imagine how kids behaved towards the one nerdy guy who would make a 20-minute-long presentation about his very niche topic of interest at school and struggled a little bit with getting some points across although it was obvious he was passionate. What a weirdo! I doubt some of the big egotistical star players have a lot of time for someone like that.

So maybe at times, Unai struggles to feel a connection with the players. Or maybe he does, but as always, he wants more. He desperately tried to build the connection with Villa fans, which so far has been a great success - they love him. Maybe he wants even more, he wants to understand the DNA of the club etc., all the usual stuff, but Unai means it, in his own weird way.

He is el enfermo de futbol, "sick for football", he's been laughed at (in a joke-y way) that he fucks football. maybe he doesn't quite do that, but he "experiences everything very intensely", and even his feelings about football are not all that... normal? with his obsession with details, planning, and micromanagement, he loves all of that - the smell of grass, getting out the cones before training, the material of the seat in the dugout, his beloved clipboard with papers with tens of different scenarios that he wrote by hand presumably during long night work sessions.... And these things are like the physical representation of football. Don't forget he started at 3rd division of the Spanish league, doing everything himself, and kinda retained that approach and mentality until today. He is the custodian, he is the "protector", he is the one responsible for the club. Sometimes it didn't work out. Now everything seems to be working out.

Enter the stadium, the place of magic. "This is really a home, not only a Stadium."

utvaddiction? For him, definitely. He's addicted to work, to progress, and to football. And the stadium represents all of that - the possible future, the dreams, the historicity of the club. Don't forget Unai co-owns a historic club Real Unión in Basque country, where his grandad used to play! He knows what history means in football. He spoke about this in an interview with Michael Calvin about how you can smell the football in England at the stadium with the crowd, and I don't think he was exaggerating. He wants to smell it, he wants to touch it, he wants to feel it. Not the round ball used for playing but the abstract football, but that's only possibly through its physical representations.

Basically, he wants to fuck the idea of football.

Where better than at a stadium, at midnight, probably after a winning match, when the memory of the crowd and the smell of football is still present?

Lets say the cameras don't work at night. Or he - of course - knows which spots around the stadium are hidden from cameras. It's basically jerking off in an empty stadium - but in a very frantic manner, with all the reasons described above, it's not just about rubbing a quick one out lol, it's intense and deep and maybe he gets to rub himself against a seat. Or, if there are really no cameras, he would probably want to get on the pitch actually. While being very respectful and fearful, almost afraid to lay his hands on the sacred grass but - I mean he's religious. He fears and loves at the same time, right? Does the same there as well. A football pitch is a sacred place and he worships it in the best way possible, knowing that this is the most intense and for him a lasting way to build and have a connection with the club that nobody else can understand.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk, you can unfollow now.

[kriegsgeist]

My guide to understanding my alternative English orthography style

As suggested by the title, this post exists to explain why I do what I do, to teach what these various symbols and practices mean, and how/why I'm using them.

General Stuff

I'm not attempting to create a phonemic spelling alternative to standard English orthography. Some of my changes are purely cosmetic and I've kept many things the same as in standard English. For example, I've kept the "ou" in words like "thou" even though I think "au" would be better, as they do in German. This is because I think a total spelling conversion to a more phonemic style would take too much getting used to for the average reader, and I'm already asking for quite a lot as is. Some people might like it, but I'd like to make at least some attempt to meet people where they are, so I'd prefer not to make things even harder than they already are. Maybe someday I'll explore some more changes in that direction, but not yet.

I am not attempting a version of Anglish (A project that seeks to imagine what English might have looked like had the Norman Conquest not happened), though I am interested in Anglish, so I still use words of Latin and Greek origin, but much of what I do does take influence from much of the work done by Anglishers.

I would also like to clarify that this is very much simply a hobby of mine and I have no illusions of this being more important than it is. It's just for fun.

Old Letters

Æ/æ (Ash)

Ash is a letter used in Old English to represent the "a" sound found in words like "cat" (In General American English). It is also used in some older spellings of words of Latin or Greek origin. In the past I would use it liberally by simply replacing any instance of "a" whenever it made the "cat" sound, but now I generally only use it for words that derive from Old English words that used to use it or for words of Latin/Greek origin which used to be spelled with it.

Œ/œ (Ethel)

Ethel is a letter generally used in some words of French, Latin, or Greek origin. Though it is still used in French, it is only rarely used in Contemporary English. I cannot find any readily available histories about Ethel, but it does not appear to have been used too far back in the history of English. In my research, I've found that Ethel has been used in English with all sorts of words with many different kinds of pronunciations, so it would take a bit too long for me to go into detail about that, but generally when it appears in a word it is still recognizable, such as in "phœnix" (phoenix) or "œsophagus" (esophagus).

Ð/ð (Eth) and Þ/þ (Thorn)

Eth and Thorn are two letters used in Old English to represent a "th" sound. Historically, in Old English, they were used interchangeably with each other before Thorn eventually won out in popularity. There is a misconception that Thorn and Eth represent particular kinds of "th" sounds, but it appears that Thorn is generally preferred for initial instances of "th" while Eth is generally used elsewhere. There is also a misconception that in Modern Icelandic, Eth and Thorn supposedly take on unique sounds, but that isn't true for Icelandic either, but as I am not too well-versed on Icelandic, I will not go too much into detail there.

Ƿ/ƿ (Wynn)

Wynn is a letter used in Old English to represent a "w" sound. As some might know, the letter "w" didn't exist in the Latin alphabet until centuries after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, so before the introduction of "w" in English, Wynn was used. Obviously, Wynn looks a lot like a "p" in many typesets, so most people don't like it for that reason, but a few don't mind it.

Ȝ/ȝ (Yogh)

Yogh was used in Middle English to represent a few sounds, such as "g," "gh," and "y". It evolved from the Insular G (Ᵹ/ᵹ) which was used in the scripts used in Ireland and England. The letter survived a bit longer in Scots than English. I don't use it very often because in most typescripts it resembles the number 3, so whenever I do, I typically restrict its use to replacing the "gh" found in words like "enough" and "night," so for me it's purely a cosmetic spelling change rather than a change that represents a particular sound.

Shakespearian Stuff

Thou and Thee

The difference between thou and thee is basically the same as he and him. It's always "I see thee" and never "I see thou." Likewise, it is always "Thou seest me" and never "Thee seest me."

Verbs paired with thou always take either the -st or -est endings. For example, for present tense "Thou makest a sword" and for past tense "Thou didst make a sword." Another example, for present tense "Thou hast a sword" and for past tense "Thou hadst a sword."

For the verb "to be", the conjugation for thou is "thou art" for present tense and "thou wert" for past tense.

The -eth ending

The -eth ending is for third person verbs. For example, "He runneth."

Thy and Thine

Thy and thine are used like "your" and "yours". If a word begins with a vowel then you can use thine, such as in "thine eyes." If it doesn't, then you can use thy, such as in "thy sword." If it's a situation where you'd use "yours", such as in "It is yours" then you would say "It is thine."

Runes

I use the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc runic alphabet rather than the Younger Futhark or the Elder Futhark because I think it makes more sense to use an alphabet that was designed with English in mind rather than Old Norse. I generally restrict the use of runes to proper nouns, such as names and titles. If you want to learn more about how to use runes for Modern English, I recommend this guide here. This isn't an authoritative guide by any means, so you can always feel free to make changes. Please keep in mind that runes are not a 1:1 replacement of the Latin alphabet, so please don't make the mistake of assuming that you can just replace each letter of the alphabet with a corresponding rune, because it doesn't always work that way. You can get away with this for many letters but not all. For example, there is a specific rune for the "ing" sound, so you would use that rather than using three runes to represent all three of those letters.

Roman Numerals

I use Roman Numerals whenever I have to use a number. There are many guides to Roman Numerals available on the internet already so I won't link any particular one.

Other Changes

Replacing C with K

I will generally do this whenever C is making the same type of sound as K. If a word has CK in it, I use two Ks. This is because most modern Germanic languages prefer K over C and my guess is that English probably would have followed the same trend had the Norman Conquest not happened, and also because I think K looks cooler than C.

Replacing S with Z

I do this whenever S is making the same type of sound as Z. Unlike English, Dutch and German do a bit more in their languages to make a distinction between these two sounds. Obviously the Z in German is used differently than in English and Dutch, but, still, German recognizes the differences between these two types of sounds and makes an effort to deal with that in their orthography. Another big reason for using Z is, of course, because I think Z looks cool and I think it deserves to be used more.

Writing "Of" as "Ov"

I do this because "of" has a "V" sound, not an "F" sound, and, most importantly, because it looks cooler.

Grave accent

The grave accent is rarely used in English, but occasionally used to indicate that a usually silent vowel is meant to be pronounced. For example, in the word "looked" you usually would not pronounce the "e", but if it is spelled with the grave accent, as in "lookèd", this indicates that the "e" is meant to be pronounced.

[platoniccereal]

decided to do the thingy and check whatever theories i believe/like according to this iceberg. honestly, da fandom should make an ask game out of it. there are some thoughts on it under the cut. i was reminded of it bc of this video, give it a shot, it's v interesting and well-made.

ok i checked everything in the first tier, but honesty, i'd like to give andrastians some crisis of faith and make their god a spirit and their prophet an elf or a dwarf. and most definitely she must be a mage. that would fit so nicely morally. don't like maker being a demon though, it would be too far stretched and gotcha, and the maker didn't seem malevolent.

i didn't check dwarf andraste because i don't remember the explanation behind it, but honestly, it's still curious.

i prefer skyhold being the place where solas created the veil over the solasan temple because i believe it would evaluate skyhold's significance beyond being just a fortress for a main character with some shady shit here and there.

i didn't check sandal being connected to a titan for pretty much the same reason i didn't cross stuff like sandal, or solas, or dumat being the maker, or andraste being connected to flemeth, or her straight up being mythal. connections here and there are interesting, but i don't enjoy over-connected plot points. they're fun for fucking around, but it's always better to have multiple complex scenarios and characters than to load this weight on a great few. leliana as the descendant of andraste, shartan anyhow connected to solas are also in this category. there were history and historical figures, i don't feel like it always needs to be associated with whatever figures thedas has now.

i crossed qunari being a result of the experiment, though i'm not sure about the implications because it may go even deeper into the selection stuff. ew. i'm even more not sure about that the qun might really be something to restrain their nature, it's just an unsettling theory with even worse implications. it would turn whatever the player was saying to the iron bull on its head, because suddenly qunari would be beasts that need to be controlled. as to their origin? i think it's still interesting that kossith were very different from modern qunari, and they could have been created by someone out of someone different and may have gone through the process of alteration due to the dragon-related stuff.

my understanding of the older lore is pretty common. evanuris are the actual old gods or at least have some type of a bond, the remaining two are the twins, so there would be a double blight. evanuris are captured and hidden in the sealed black city. since they'd hunted down titans, the latter created the blight and darkspawn, yada yada yada. i'm also not opposed to the idea that the taint ascended from the void. so it was something discovered by andruil. or she rather discovered titan's blood + the taint, i.e. red lyrium, since the taint doesn't cause the same symptoms as the red lyrium.

i like the idea of halla being sentient descendants of elves turned into them long time ago. it's even more sick if they're still not quite animals. it's not my canon, but that's cool. beings with consciousness suffering from their silence? yeah, definitely cool.

sera=andruil is also a pretty common one. i have a headcanon that solas is a creator of tarot cards as well, it seems to be quite in his style, and the boy loves drawing, too. considering that, sera's card would be an intentional thing.

[helene2troie]

Get to know you- Sims style

Thanks for tagging me @niamh-sims and @12raben! I used to play TS1, but have been playing TS2 pretty much since it came out!

What’s your favorite Sims death?

So I've been playing for year and years, but I still haven't seen some of the deaths (like the murphy bed one?). I'm going to go with the satellite-falling-on-Sims death, just because the first time it happened, I was totally unprepared for it, I didn't know it was so risky to have Sims sky-gazing! XD

Alpha CC or Maxis Match?

Alpha CC all the way.

Do you cheat your sims weight?

Nope.

Do you move objects?

Yes, both for building and moving Sims past annoying obstacles.

Favorite Mod?

Recently really loving the trait-related mods, and my community lots couldn't function without the visitor controller.

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

It was the complete TS1 set with all the expansions.

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing?

Live like aLIVE. But never really stopped to think about it until now.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

Probably Madeline Morleigh from my old victorian hood. Love love her cheekbones, I still use that Sim as a base sometimes when making other Sims.

Have you made a simself?

Nope.

Which is your favorite EA hair color?/ Favorite EA hair?

I don't use any Maxis hairs except the bald and the cropped hairstyles

Favorite life stage?

I don't have much of a preference, I'm just not a fan of the infant stage, I frequently age them up to toddlers with some cheats.

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

Depends on the mood. I sometimes have this grand idea and spend hours decorating, only to arrive at something completely different than what I wanted to execute. But mostly gameplay. Recently I'm also posing and decorating for picture-taking, that's fun too.

Are you a CC creator?

I've tried, only to discover how hard it is! I want to get a little better at it, because I have a lot of ideas, but I'm not skilled enough to execute them yet!

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

Not really. But everyone is super nice, and I love following other simblrs doing BACCs/medieval/historical NHs!

Do you have any sims merch?

No.

Do you have a YouTube for sims?

No.

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing?

As soon as I discovered what CC was all about, I started spending a lot of time hunting down cool stuff. I used to have a fantasy-ish NH, and I even uploaded a few stories on the Exchange a while back (ages ago!)- it was actually pretty formative, because it taught me (very basic) picture editing. After a long break from the Sims, I came back to it and created mostly Victorian-ish NHs, like with my first simblr @janyasims2. Then I got bitten by the medieval CC bug, and I got excited about this new medieval/zombie apocalypse challenge, which I started posting over at @ts2mortalswar. Sadly I lost this save because of computer issues. Now back to medieval-ish content, over at @ts2cambremon, but mostly using the Sims as a way to worldbuild and weave in stories with gameplay. The Sims is such a versatile game, I have taken long breaks from it before, but I keep coming back to it!

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

@sunmoon-starfactory, for all their amazing sets!

How long have you had Simblr?

It was during the covid shutdown! So... April 2020?

How do you edit your pictures?

I try to edit as little as possible because honestly it's not something I enjoy, so I usually just crop pictures, and that's pretty much it. If I'm feeling fancy, I'll add some light gaussian blur and make the colors a little warmer. I usually rely on in-game lighting, especially with colored lights, makes all the difference.

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite?

Open for Business! (also the 'fame/hollywood' one for TS1 was amazing, I really wish we could have had something similar for TS2!)

Tagging @esotheria-sims and @equinoxts2 !