#but also if you can only see it as a costume an aesthetic a -core

[chainsawgirlfriend]

Emo culture, scene culture, goth culture, alt culture, whatever - all being boiled down to the accessories you can wear, the shops you go to, the merch you can buy. Gross!! Yucky. Posercore.

[meteor752]

What I would have done

If you have been keeping up with my posts for the last week, you may have noticed that I fucking despise the new Descendants movie

There’s a lot of reasons behind this. One, nostalgia, I love the original ones (Harry Hook is one of my all time favorite characters lol I think he’s fun). Two, I expected more of the franchise, because it’s fucking Disney, and while I know Kenny Ortega wasn’t the director this time, there would at least be people who worked on the original movies involved in the process, so I thought they at least knew what they were doing. Three, nothing in the movie makes any fucking sense, and I’m not usually a person who gets hung up on nitpicks, like if you entertain me then do whatever you want, but my god it’s impossible to ignore.

But most of all, the story they were trying to tell just isn’t interesting.

Like, if I would tell someone what the best part of Descendants is, it’s not the songs, or the cast, or the costumes, or even really the characters. Don’t get me wrong I love all of those parts, and I doubt the movies would be even close to as good as they are if you removed one of these things. But the best and most interesting part to me, and to a lot of people in the fandom as well, is the concept of The Isle Of The Lost.

The concept of taking all of these classic Disney Villains with wildly different aesthetics, motives, ideologies, and overall moralities and placing them all on an island and make them build up a society, that shit’s fascinating, but the core movies do next to nothing with it cause they spend all their time on Auradon. The second one focuses the most on it, and guess what, that one’s the best one!

(I know the books exist, I read them, but they just weren’t that good, like it felt like I was reading bad fan fiction)

So what would I do for Descendants four?

Well, I’d set in on the fucking Isle.

Actually, I think this would genuinely work better as a series. Not that long of a series tho, maybe like eight episodes, each episode like 40 minutes long.

Each episode would focus on a different VK, set a few years before the first movie, and have a short composed story about their general life.

I don’t know which VKs exactly, but I think Harriet Hook could be interesting, her episode being like four or five years before the first movie so we can see preteen C3, I think that would be cute, also a young CJ.

Possibly the Gaston twins, though Lefou Deux could work too. Whichever it would be, the other would feature.

Jade, Jay’s cousin, could be a lot of fun, maybe have like a rivalry between the two.

Freddie and Celia, I think it’s insane that they never mention Freddie in D3, but like I wanna know what their relationship is like.

And of course, Red! Queen of Hearts is a villain, she should be on the Isle. And if any of you dare tell me that she’s from wonderland and they couldn’t like, capture her or whatever, they got fucking Hades on the Isle, they resurrected some guys to place them there, Queen of Hearts is not a problem.

(Also like, Morgie could be there, but this time as a real VK)

But yeah, lot of options lol.

Every episode would show just the grim reality of what these kids would have to live through their whole lives, the complicated relationships they would have with their parents, and really emphasize that fact. D1 was the only one that really focused on how the Isle kids were kids who were all victims of insane abuse their whole lives. I mean, in D3 they all like happily run to meet them once the barrier is down, which is crazy.

Also, the show would be rated PG-13. Like, I’m not asking for graphic scenes of abuse, but I do want it to be kinda gritty and grim, with some more psychological and mental abuse taking place. Also, we’re told multiple times about gang wars, but we aren’t really shown any. Maybe one episode could focus on that, like idk Clay Clayton (insane name btw) and his gang.

But most importantly, we’d have all the Disney villains in cool new leather outfits, which is what I think everyone wants tbh. I have gotten that one part of ‘Life Is Sweeter’ where the villain comes up more than any part of the movie, like people like the villains more than anything. And yeah I know they wouldn’t be young and hot anymore, but like we can have some extreme Milf and Dilf looks, it will even out.

Descendants is one of, if not the most popular franchise Disney Channel has made, it deserves a better continuation than Rise of Red.

Also, if the show is popular then we could have a season two/sister series, about the kids of Auradon, that could be interesting too, and also have some dark shit in it, idk. The way that Queen Leah spoke to Audrey in D3 had some dark undertones, so I think her episode could be interesting. Could also feature the political implications of The Isle, potential protests and propaganda, idk.

Also, Chloe can get an episode, so boom we got them both!

So what I’m trying to say here is this:

Disney hire me

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》 - What we know so far about this massive project

By now many of you have heard about Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》, Luo Yunxi's upcoming and third project with the studio behind Till the End of the Moon. Here's my read on the announcement earlier.

1. Good news - It's going to be largely the same creative team behind TTEOTM. 

You have Wang Yirong as Lead Producer & Artistic Director, Huang Wei as Costume Designer, Wang Haiqi as Action Director, Tsang Mingfai as Makeup Director, Huatian for World Concept (also known for Ashes of Love and the Untamed). Basically, we'll see the return of the brilliant minds behind the Dunhuang-inspired costumes and hour-long epic fight sequences.

It's a good sign they're holding most of the team together. A lot of great directors, like Christopher Nolan, Tim Burton, David Cronenberg, work with the same creative talent over and over again. There's certainly an argument that you produce better work when you collaborate with people you trust and know well.

2. Up and coming Director Chen Zhoufei will make up some of the deficiencies of TTEOTM in the cinematography and lighting departments.

Chen Zhoufei started out as a cinematographer in films with the likes of Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. More recently he directed The Forbidden Flower (2023) and Double Tap (2021), which, if nothing else, is beautifully and stylistically shot.

It's interesting they've moved away from the old school Hong Kong directors they used in Immortality and TTEOTM. Directors from the TVB system are known to be more experienced, scrappy, and reliable when it comes to working within budget (which is why they're favored for big xianxia productions), but they've also been criticized for falling behind on technical execution and artistry.

It is as the industry article I shared predicted - Otters Studio is a relatively inexperienced player, but they can quickly close their gaps by bringing new blood to the team.

3. They're bringing a new Art Director, Zheng Chen from Lost You Forever.

This isn't all that surprising given that Luan Hexin, TTEOTM's Art Director, is with Huanyu, Bai Lu's management company. (In fact there was a bit of real life drama when Yu Zheng, Bai Lu's boss, publicly called out TTEOTM's producer for not refuting false rumors that Bai Lu was only cast because the production wanted Luan Hexin, arguably Huanyu's biggest asset, as part of her "dowry".) Now it's sad to see award-winning Luan go, but he is best for authentic period sets and IMO not the most suited for xianxias.

Instead, they've tapped Zheng Chen, who most recently worked on Lost You Forever, which I have yet to watch. With that said, some of the sets look great to me, with bold use of colors, and I can already see this pairing well with Chen Zhoufei's aesthetics.

4. This time they're not working with screenwriter He Fang, instead going with Lin Conghe (unofficial)

He Fang is the lead screenwriter behind TTEOTM and Immortality (everyone who's read Immortality's screenplay will know it's all but a guaranteed hit) and in my opinion one of Otter's greatest assets. She's brilliant at staying loyal to the spiritual core of source novels, while weaving convoluted plot points through a more robust background story and logic.

It's a slight disappointment that she won't be back, but it's also not entirely surprising. TTEOTM and Immortality are both big, female-oriented fantasy romance IPs. Meanwhile Shui Long Yin's IP is quite dated, lesser known, and incomplete, so I'd expect that the drama will only be loosely based on the original. While we don't know much about Lin Conghe, he did recently work on the Blood of Youth sequel, where he was the lead screenwriter alongside author Zhou Munan, so he might actually be a better choice for this genre (xuanhuan wuxia).

5. The way HunanTV & Mango announced the drama is unusually high profile, indicating that this is one of the platform's biggest projects.

It's rare to have one of China's biggest hosts announce a new drama that hasn't even started shooting or released any details yet live on prime time TV. (Usually a drama's official announcement comes out on the day of its booting ceremony, if not during its production or at its wrap ceremony.) It's even rarer for a costume drama to announce a TV platform at this stage. These days it's quite difficult for costume fantasies to get a coveted TV airing slot given genre restrictions and additional censorship requirements. Typically you do not find out officially whether it will air on TV until literally right before it airs.

Before the official announcement, rumors have already been circulating that there's a bidding war behind the scenes for this project, with Mango and its parent HunanTV outbidding Youku in the end. Mango/HunanTV is already the market leader in variety shows, but is behind the other three platforms in scripted content. Apparently, they've recently received an injection of funding to shore up their drama department and now investing in tentpole projects that can help them gain share. Clearly they saw what TTEOTM did for Youku.

6. There's another interesting player in the mix: China Mobile and its subsidiary Migu. 

It appears that China Mobile (one of the most valuable companies in China and a state-owned enterprise) has invested in the drama, which will be made available on its online video platforms. Apparently, the last time China Mobile invested in a drama, they sent text messages to every user to publicize it when it aired. Now not sure if this will happen (it's not patriotic drama after all), but they've already been promoting the drama through their gazillion affiliate social media accounts. Either way, it should be a good thing for the drama's distribution to have such an influential backer given Mango's lower daily active user.

7. They're making it super clear that Luo Yunxi is going to be the dominant male lead in this drama

In the first Weibo post, they only announced the title, Luo Yunxi, and the airing platforms. In the second Weibo post, where they announced the rest of the creative team, they still did not announce the other actors! Of course, this is likely because Luo Yunxi's company (which is really just him) bought the source novel's IP and is credited as a co-producer. (They don’t have any production capabilities at all, so Otter will likely be quarterbacking this.)

This suggests, like many who have read the novel already know, that Luo Yunxi will have by far the biggest part. The other roles, including the female lead role, will likely be smaller and revolve around the main character.

8. Shui Long Yin is already generating a lot of hype.

To date its Weibo announcement racked up >1M likes (more than double that of TTEOTM). There's already a very active Douban group debating all the rumors, most importantly whether Luo Yunxi will use a wig or his real hair (a highly divisive topic). The new drama has even been reported by China Daily, China's state media facing the international community, which is again exceedingly rare. China Daily doesn't usually report on entertainment news, and most hit shows don't get mentioned even after airing.

There's always a big risk with productions with this much anticipation so early in the process, from fan wars and disruptive stalking on set to accusations propagated by competitors that can invite more state scrutiny. Fingers crossed that the team knows what they're doing and can weather all the storms that will undoubtedly come its way.

9. Finally, I remain cautiously excited.

Production quality will likely be great, with such a strong creative team and financial backers with deep wallets. My main worry is that it'll be beautiful, but boring. For this genre (xuanhuan wuxia or basically wuxia with high fantasy elements), it's really important that the story moves fast and the underdog hero keeps outsmarting or outfighting everyone else in a way that gives viewers a sense of exhilaration. It'd be all too easy for the story to get bogged down by a large cast of unmemorable characters and a meandering plot. Otters Studio is usually great at delivering fast-paced high drama (just based on TTEOTM and the screenplay of Immortality), but they're working with a different screenwriter this time and it's not easy to be a consistent hit maker. Let's hope they stick to their intuition and continue to present stories and characters that excite viewers.

[sparrow-ceiling]

OK SO CAN WE TALK ABOUT CHARLIE'S WEAPONS AND HER FINAL BATTLE DESIGN

ik i already made a whole post abt everyone's final battle designs (if you want to see it check under my hazbinposting tag, its literally just me gushing), BUT I wanted to make a new one for Charlie because UGH

OK. So her costume stays fairly the same throughout the battle, the cute little dress with the heart on the front, which is so real of her. I mentioned this in the other post also but I thought it was really cute how Charlie usually wears pants, and Vaggie usually wears a skirt, but it switches for the battle. Idk if that has any like. Metaphorical meaning but i think it's cute.

For the weapons, we start out the battle and we see Charlie with her shield. Which yes is a very Charlie thing to have: she's a very protective character, all she wants to do is keep her people safe.

But if you LOOK AT THE shield. GOD, look at the shield. First of all, it's so pretty. Everything in this show is so aesthetically pleasing guys. BUT. There are literally FOUR visual motifs on this shield, plus colors (which are mostly just the normal color palette, but also relate to her and her father). SHIELD MOTIFS. It has (1), the wings. She's angelic & she's powerful (since Angels are kind of a symbol of power and heirarchy.) She has angelic blood from her dad, it doesn't seem like she has actual wings, but she definitely does hav the power that is associated with those wings. The wings also might be a nod to Vaggie's wings.

The shield also (2), looks like an apple. It has the little leaf in the back, and the core in the middle. Lucifer DEFINITELY also has a lot of apple imagery, so that's something she gets from her dad, to, another nod to where her power comes from. We also have (3), the snake. This might be a bit of a stretch but I'm pretty sure that part around the core of the apple that goes down into a point is a snake, which is also associated with Lucifer. Most of the motifs on the shield are a nod to her dad, to her power and where she gets it from. Also beyond physical power, she gets emotional power from her dad. She looks up to him, idolizes him, and she gets confidence from her connection with him.

The fourth and probably-not-final thing that the sheild has is its shape. This was honestly the fist thing I noticed about the shield, and you can really see it well in the above image: the shield is in the shape of a heart. As a Stranger Things fan, of course I am partial to heart shields. Just like Mike, Charlie is the heart of her party. She's the strength, she's where the love and the joy and the connection comes from. Sir Pentious, for example, only gets heart motifs in his design once he gets his heaven redesign, but Charlie has heart motifs in her design from the minute she steps on the battlefield. Look at her dress. That heart, that love, is a part of her. Love is so intrinsic to her personality and to her character that she can defy hell which honestly. She's so real for that (Also can we talk about how she looks at Vaggie in these pictures. I would die for her.)

So Charlie's heart/wings/apple/snake shield is not only a show of power because of her connection with Lucifer (with snake and apple) and her angelic blood (with the wings), but it's also an expression of her personality (with the heart and the fact that it is a shield in the first place). Her character development kind of comes to a peak here: she's learned to be confident in herself while still being that kind, loving, wonderful, dreamy Charlie, and the shield emphasizes that so well.

BUT WAIT. This isn't just a Charlie's-shield-appreciation-post (although it could be.) She literally gets THREE outfits in one episode (standard, the one with the shield, and the post-magical-girl-transformation one)

After Pentious dies and she tranforms, her appearance and her weapon change. Her physical changes are her horns, the inverted, glowing eyes, the tail (with the little heart on it!!), and her hair coming untied (so magical girl of her, but also look at the shape language! She becomes angrier more violent, and instead of that typical, soft, round bubble ponytail, her let-down hair is full of angles, especially in the picture below). We've seen her demon form a couple of times previously in the series I believe, and it happens when she experiences severe emotion and/or wants to show her power, both of which are happening right now (Honestly I love how it shows how much she loves Pentious. She's so sweet and I love her. He means so much to her.) HOWEVER, her physical appareance isn't the only thing that changes after her magical girl transformation. She also has (surprise, surprise), a new weapon!!!!

The trident doesn't have as many strong motifs in it as the shield did, but it's still fuckin. Crazy. So first and second of all we have the apple and the snake, which repeat from the shield, and still represent Charlie's power that she gets from her dad. The third thing about the trident is color scheme: The shield was red, gold, and white, will the trident introduces another color to the mix: black. I dunno what to say about this, but it's interesting to note. Something something her emotions get darker? There's probably a way to read into it but idk. lmk if anyone has thoughts on it.

Although there is the addition of the heart on Charlie's tail, this stage of her design also loses the heart on her weapon. Similar to the addition of black, this probably represents the darker turn in her design and emotion, and the darker turn in the battle. She's not completely out for love (haha see what I did there) anymore, she's also out for revenge (as an extension of love, but what she's really feeling and fighting from right now is anger, as opposed to the joy/hope/love from the start of the battle).

Anyway, the fifth and final thing about the trident is that it's no longer a defense weapon, like the shield was, it's now an attack weapon (also a very similar on to Vaggie's, which could be another nod to her). We also notice this in her demeanor! As opposed to the repeated sorries from before her tranformation, Charlie is now unapologetically violent. She charges right into the battle with Adam. She's no longer just trying to defend to protect (shield) her people, now she's going with the whole best-defense-is-a-good-offense ideology. She's on the offense in order to protect her people.

That's why I enjoy Charlie's character design and weapons in this episode so much. There are so many layers to it and UGH. THANK YOU for listening to me ramble, and lmk if you have any more thoughts on this because I would LOVE to hear them! As you can see I am totally normal about this show.

[icedjuiceboxes]

OKAY. So i've never been the biggest fan of emily's design under the context of the story and journey she goes through. Don't get me wrong, her design is AMAZING and I couldnt design her any better. But the fact she wears the same set of clothes she left dunwall in is DUMB. I HATE IT.

First off the climate. With basic knowledge of fabrics and what suits what climates, her dunwall clothes is not built for hot weather and I just know that girl is already overheating at 7am.

Going off fabrics, its so obvious that her clothes are gonna make her stick out like a sore thumb amongst the commoners of Karnanca.

All emily does to keep low is to cover her face. which helps, but her clothes still gives her away and I hate how there's no little reaction from npc about her beside being like "hi there stranger!" ITS SO UNBELIEVABLE. And emily is stated in her wanted posters she's in karcana and we're literally told that strangers arent welcomed by the grand guard.

And this is me just calling out for equality, but it sucks we don't get a cool "masked felon" moment with emily. In DH1, wanted posters are updated depending on how you completed the mission. We never get that with Emily. We get no reaction from the citizens as Emily is tearing through the city.

SO. MY PROPOSAL.

Introducing Emily Kaldwin, AKA The Black Sparrow, the fearsome pirate that appeared from the mist and the shadows.

Emily using the abandoned luggage left on the dreadful wale to cobble together an new outfit to stay anonymous . ( also in the corroded man she diys together a costume so-)

I thought the pirate aesthetic was perfect because Karnaca is a coastal town, emily uses a telescope, and it creates the perfect cover story for emily to suddenly appear in Karnaca under the guise of a new pirate to terrorise the city in a new time of crisis.

Citizens dubbing her the black sparrow, captain of the dreadful wale (One of many out of her fleet she says) (Meagan is ready to murder emily).

Her sudden appearance being believable because hey, we see pirates all the time, and shit is hitting the fan, yeah it makes sense we're seeing crime rise and new pirates arrive on shore.

Citizens reacting to her because of the mysterious and intrigue, and the worry of wondering what she's after. The Duke updating emily's poster to say the black sparrow (The citizens don't buy it. there's no way that's the empress) The newspaper updating on the black sparrow's deeds, reflecting players's choices and chaos level. (LIKE, if you rescue hypatia everyone would be pleased to know the good doctor is safe.) This ties back into Emily's reputation being ruined with the crown killer accusations, and even saving it or worsening it under the guise of Black sparrow.

Jindosh deducing Emily as the empress based off her mannerisms and intellect, RATHER THAN JUST HER CLOTHES. (you telling me that only the smartest planet on earth could tell that's the empress because of her clothes? fuck you.) I think it's more compelling if jindosh saw beyond the clothes (or the parts that emily kept from her imperial clothes to notice its of higher quality mixed with commoners clothes.) Jindosh taunting emily she can hide and alter her appearance but she can never change her core, and it will always betray her (and thus tying in jindosh's non-lethal that hey. to change someone completely you gotta fry their brains.)

I REST MY CASE YOUR HONOUR. PIRATE EMILY.

[bitchatcloudtower]

Do you think something being adult like fate could work like maybe the trix spin off. They could have them partying hard and outfits showing off but also being more mean to other people and stuff. Probably alot of swearing too

I definitely could see a successful live action happening but not with the direction Winx is going currently (and has been for a good while.) I think there are a lot of things that need to be taken into consideration and they're things that very few people (much less Brian Young) can handle well.

Issue One: Style

Seasons 1 through 3 handle the balance between style and substance fairly well, everything is clearly stylised but it's very character and emotion driven. Winx is a show that has to be heavily stylised, but it can't rely on that over substance. Season 4 onwards lean too heavily on style and aesthetics (as awful as the aesthetics are) and the stories and characters flounder for purpose. I'd say The Idol is a show that is heavily stylised (there are beautiful shots and cool aesthetics but when it comes to the content and the Meat of the show, it's bad.)

Winx has to look good, yes, it's why so many people were initially drawn to it to begin with. But without substance, as the later seasons are, there's very little keeping an audience there. There's only so long we can look at pretty sequences and shots before we get bored. I'd compare it to Euphoria, especially in Season 2, the aesthetics are still good, but the emotional weight isn't there.

It's also a hard aesthetic to balance. Fate looks awful not necessarily because it's ugly in itself (the location is beautiful and some of the outfits do work), but because it looks wrong for a Winx adaptation. The colours are wrong. The clothes are wrong. The world is wrong. Fate is more Harry Potter than it is Winx Club. But leaning too heavily into fairy and ethereal aesthetics also wouldn't be right; it's not meant to look like LOTR. And replicating the costumes 1:1 would simply look ridiculous on human beings (see: the released images of Netflix's ATLA adaptation and how flat Aang and Katara's costumes look on actual humans.) The set and costume styling has to be deeply embedded in actual fashion, but also be timeless enough that it doesn't look dated within a year or so, but also convey the fantastical and sci-fi roots of the show.

I don't think a Winx show needs to have revealing clothes, necessarily. Or even a Trix show. You can dress teens/young adults in an age appropriate manner without putting them in revealing clothes. I know 2021's Gossip Girl was widely hated, but I do think the styling for it was very well done and they manage to dress the characters in ways that are character appropriate that look (somewhat) age appropriate without putting them in lingerie (Zoya comes to mind: she wears sneakers where Luna wears heeled boots, she wears oversized cardigans where Monet wears stiff blazers, she has earthier tones where Audrey wears preppier colours)

Issue Two: Substance

I think Winx, at its core and best, is character driven, and that's why we as fans chose to stay and are still talking about it now. Bloom can't even achieve her base transformation without undergoing significant development in her belief in her own ability. When her magic is taken from her, it's not an external force that brings it back, it's her reconnecting with herself and her past that does. Even when she lost her powers, it was because of emotion (the fight with Diaspro, her returning to Gardenia in shame after, her fear of what the Trix would do to her parents.)

Charmix requires the Winx to overcome a fear/personal challenge that was introduced much earlier (Layla's fear of abandonment, Musa's distrust of Riven, Flora's shyness), and Enchantix requires the girls to come to peace with death. There's a lot of emotional substance to these power upgrades and without that emotional substance, you get a magical world that has no interaction with the characters (an issue we see in Fate, where the characters simply exist within the magical world rather than actually interacting with it.) The characters of Winx Club are driven by their world and drive their world forward. They are this way because they live in this world, and their world is the way it is because they live in it.

Issue Three: Huge Cast

An issue with writing Winx, including fan written versions, is that there are too many characters to flesh out in a meaningful way. A lot of fans complain that there's too large of an emphasis on Bloom in the original show, but it's necessary, otherwise the show would be too massive and sprawling. Especially given the amount of lore that needs to be crammed in.

It's part of the issue with Fate (well at least irt writing) where there's too huge of a cast and how nothing has real emotional weight. I want to care that Beatrix is dead, but she's one of 15 main characters and there isn't time to actually come to care about any of them. When she dies, I (and some others) saw it and kind of just, shrugged it off. There isn't room to care about anyone because they're trying to juggle Bloom's lore, Terra's insecurities (and gayness as of s2), Aisha's emotional issues, Stella's mommy issues, Sky's daddy issues, Riven/Dane/Beatrix's unhealthy relationship, Silva and Farrah's involvement with the Burned Ones, Musa's hatred of her powers. I'm not even touching on the love triangles or Sam, Grey, Flora, or anyone else introduced in s2 of Fate. There's too much going on to actually care about any of them. That's why there's this disparity between what we actually see on screen and the amount we're supposed to care.

I think a Trix driven story, as you suggested, would fix that. There's only three characters to focus on. But I have issue with that mostly on the grounds of "a villain driven story is a hard sell." A Trix spin off, maybe, but not an entire series.

Issue Four: Young Adult

The issue with Fate isn't necessarily the "adult content" (sex parties drugs etc,.) but more the way it's handled. Riven(?) tossing a knife around in the trailer was unnecessary and the shot of that was included solely to make him seem edgy. The references to all the sex being had in the show don't really have a purpose, we know something is going on with Riven, Beatrix, and Dane. We know something is going on with Sam and Musa. We know something is going on with Stella and Sky. The references to sex is unnecessary. The vaping was obnoxious, yes, but that was believable for the version of Riven we see in Fate, he would vape in your face, he would be annoying about it. I think Terra making weed brownies was believable given that we know her character is insecure and a pathological people pleaser, and it's a nice manifestation of those traits without making her outright pathetic.

Another issue is that "young adult" always manifests in characters being snarky to each other and Fate does it in a way that makes the characters appear hostile to each other, and to the audience. It's hard to tell where Musa's snark ends and her actual hatred of the others begin. Is she overwhelmed by her powers? Is she being funny? Does she genuinely hate Terra and want her dead? It doesn't make the show edgy or "dark" or mature, it just creates a hostile environment where none of the girls seem to like each other. This and the aforementioned forced inclusion of sex/drugs/whatever feels like the equivalent of them flashing a massive sign on screen saying "this isn't REGULAR Winx, this is ADULT Winx."

[cityandking]

🧱 😱 ✨ 🐺 for dai, minah and anticlea!

thanks dear!! // prompts I'd like to receive

[ 🧱 ] how would you describe your muses’ morality? what are their core values?

DAI — "nothing is more important than the responsibility my faith confers upon me to help others in need." originally his altruism was structured by the tenets of his faith, but he's come to understand that his altruism is his own and faith is just one way to guide it. with or without pelor, with or without tempus, he wants to help people and do good. he was lawful good when the campaign started, but he's shifted to neutral good over time.

MINAH — minah's morals are a little hard to pin down, tbh. she has a deep-seated lack of trust in any authority or organization, so her morality prioritizes the individual over rule of law. her sense of right and wrong is largely based on her moment-to-moment gut instincts in a situation, but tends to be driven primarily by her desire for personal safety and security (financially, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc.) and secondarily by an impulse towards compassion (she'd really really rather not break any fingers). she meant it when she told cian that there's always unfixible things, and she's not particularly interested in fixing them—she tries to keep out of the big-picture politics and ethics, and she's likewise not planning to cut down on the thieving any time soon—but that doesn't mean she can't tip a busker or talk to a half-blind orphan lordling or offer to save a templar's lover from tranquility (as an interrogation tactic, but hey! still an offer). it's the little touches when you desperately need them that matter most. minah is true neutral.

CLEA — clea lives by the old girl scout law of leaving a place better than you found it. she's lived a long time and values heart and courage and kindness and growth. at the root of everything, she's just a gardener. clea is neutral good.

[ 😱 ] does your muse have any specific fears? where did those fears come from?

DAI — he's afraid of deep water. his first death was pretty traumatic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I rolled a couple times during the kaiju arc against panicking while they were underwater but he kept it together (shout out to that high WIS mod). besides that, he's afraid of failing the people he's supposed to be taking care of, which was always there but really kicked in when Izzy died. a lot of things changed for him when Izzy died.

MINAH — she's got a couple, yeah. she's a lil claustrophobic—she can deal with tight spaces, but she needs to be able to access an exit, otherwise she gets panicked about being trapped. a few escapes have gone badly over the years—crammed in some tiny hidey-hole hoping no one notices her, or not quick enough and ending up arrested—and she's afraid of ending up back in a cell

CLEA — her son's memory haunts her—she dreams about him sometimes, when she's not dreamwalking—but mostly she's just grateful to see him. it's the only way he lives on. she's definitely afraid of foresyhte going to the abyss (and then losing him just like everyone else), which is why he won't be going! problem solved.

[ ✨ ] what aesthetics or symbols do you reference when writing your muse? are these backed up by canon, if your muse comes from a canon? is there any specific relevance to these choices?

DAI — shields, the sun, wings, light. wounds/sickness come up pretty often, which makes sense because he's a healer (but *cocks gun*). lava, recently :)

MINAH — I associate her with the tragicomedy masks, and also songbirds. molten gold, a bit. silks (the aerial kind, mostly, but also costumes). the theater, of course. and nomadism—living on the road, horses and caravans, that sort of thing.

CLEA — old trees, shrikes, white winter foxes, snow. furs and beads and silver jewelry. weeping willows and labyrinths and tea and bright embroidery. the way sunlight feels through the trees on a cool day in early spring, a touch of warmth after a long winter.

[ 🐺 ] does your muse like solitude? do they prefer it to being around others? how easily does your muse get lonely?

DAI — definitely (desperately) needs his alone time. he's a true introvert; no matter how much he likes hanging out he simply Has to find some quiet time to rest and recharge. the trip through the storm where they were all crammed together in the tiny hut was one of the worst experiences of his life and he's literally in the abyss right now. he doesn't get lonely easily, in part because he's always had pelor with him—the loneliest he's ever felt, I think, is when his faith was in tatters and he didn't know where to turn.

MINAH — minah likes a little private time to take the mask(s) off, but she gets antsy if she's on her own for too long. even if she's not entertaining, she likes to be in a group—she's an extrovert

CLEA — she gets lonely really easily, actually. back home she was part of a big community, and then when she left she was constantly meeting new people, going new places, traveling with her party. being in selto is nice—she likes the city and she's got friends and plenty to keep her busy—but she never lived alone before. she has a tendency to talk to the plants (and the neighbors) when she's undersocialized. she really does wish forsyhte would visit more often.

[shingekicornwrites]

Character Design ask game, for Hinata.

Stillness, bling, alternate

stillness: How does your OC act while still? Are they fidgety? Do they have any common gestures or tics? Does their clothing affect how they hold themselves while at rest?

Okay SO Hinata is relatively good at holding still, unlike her brother. Izuku, both because he's a workaholic who can't rest and because he's the platonic ideal of ADHD's gogogo mode, is physically incapable of being still for more than five minutes and will find something to occupy himself, like hovering above a chair for core strength straining.

Hinata does not do this. Hinata is capable of sitting still, staring off into the distance, and retreating inward to the mindscape so thoroughly that you'd think she was checked out from reality. She isn't, what she's doing is probably constructing a war crime or two since she's an engineer. And a tabletop gamer. The ten minutes she was told to wait have been spent creating SAW traps for her players in her mind.

If made to wait for an extended amount of time, she tends to find something to do with her hands. Crochet is an easy one and can fit neatly in her bag wherever she's going. If she's gotta waste her time sitting around doing nothing the least that can come out of it is working on a new hat.

As for her clothes...well, the only thing that ever really restricts her from relaxing are school uniforms, because skirts don't allow her to spread her legs and recline the way she prefers. Like she wears bike shorts under them but getting glared at by grandmas on public transit isn't how she wants to spend her daily train ride. Her normal wardrobe of men's cargo shorts and t-shirts/tanks don't give her these problems.

bling: What jewelry does your OC wear? Does it have any meaning?

Hinata isn't one for jewelry on the daily. It's a matter of practicality, for her. She's an engineer who makes things. She's also a rampant tomboy who doesn't care for prettying herself up for daily life--but also because, when she does find jewelry, she tends to favor big statement piece costume jewelry that goes with a Look.

Hinata's a tomboy, and she's also a huge fan of the alt music scene and its aesthetics. The necklace made of safety pins and heavy chain isn't exactly something you wear without a good outfit to go with it. The best stuff is made by hand and is very in your face about it.

All that aside though--she also does have an immense fondness for hair ornaments and combs. She only really wears them for formal occasions or SCA meetups. Her best ones were inherited from her mom and grandmother so she saves them for special occasions.

alternate: What would your OC's alternate universe look be? If they're a fantasy character, what's their modern look? If they're sci-fi, what's their fantasy look? What AU would you want to see your OC in, and how would they dress themself? Bonus: Prompt an AU!

Luckily there is already an au born from my brain like Athena while bored at work

If Hinata was a Pokemon trainer she'd be a Ghost type gym leader. Natch. Her starter was a Shuppet that started following her around after her parents died and it spiraled from there.

Gym Leader Hinata would definitely be a Look. Lean into the horror rocker aesthetic. Blacks and blues and purples layered on top of each other in ripped up glory, safety pins holding parts of her clothes together. Half of her stuff is still from the men's section but those knee high boots are all women's, and she put the studs on herself.

Her battle vest 100% has patches of her team on it, sewn on with dental floss to make sure they never come off.

[crownamedblue]

Hey, let’s talk about aesthetics

(Written for a school newspaper)

To the readers of the Chariot,

In case you haven’t gone outside recently, surprise, it’s cold. I know, shocker. This- I’d hope- would inspire a change in aesthetics for some. For the purposes of this article, aesthetics are to be defined by a certain look, mood, or vibe. This means it applies to clothes, accessories, and anything else that can be decorated, modified, or chosen specifically. This also means that any and all adults most likely stopped reading the second they saw the word “vibe.” For those that stuck around, I’m not sorry, this isn’t for you, and very little of this will make sense. That being said, let’s talk about some killer fall/winter aesthetics. 

First on the list, inspired by my recent love of sweaters, is Academia as a whole. Academia, as a descriptor, is defined by being related to college or further scholarship. Academia, as an aesthetic, is defined by little london boy being sent to private school, among many other things. We’ll begin with the fit, see here at least two layers, usually a sweater over a button down. Color tones are usually browns in combination with darker shades. Jewelry, specifically in shades of gray, is always appreciated, and books of some kind are necessary. The aesthetic is versaille, ranging from scruffy rebel still forced to wear the uniform, to loner art kid with fingertips stained with charcoal/graphite, to preppy charismatic leader who may or may not be the villain of the story.

Next off is Halloween! It’s Halloween season and I refuse to admit anything otherwise. My friend you need black, you need orange, you need purple. Mon amie you’re gonna need some fake blood and an absurd amount of makeup. No I don’t care that it’s September, it’s Halloween season. Wear those fake teeth! Those black cat thigh highs are necessary! That witch hat headband does not violate the dress code! (it very well actually might, and I hereby deny any and all responsibility that comes from the making of this statement) It is spooky season and I will not shut up about it, we diehard fans of Halloween are the only thing that stops Christmas from encroaching even further. You cower behind our DIY costumes, as we collectively confront the horde of snowmen. We and our “needless obsession for spirit Halloween” make up the STALWART SHIELD PROTECTING YOU NON-BELIEVERS FROM THE JOLLY RED MAN AND HIS HORDE OF ELVES. WE WILL NOT STAND DOWN, WE WILL NOT SHUT UP, WE WILL DEFEND THE HALLOWEEN SPIRIT, BOTH THE AESTHETIC, THE SPECTER, AND THE POP-UP STORE! Ahem…

I got really excited about the first two, as they are my favorites. Not nearly as much detail will be given for the rest, but y’all have instagram and TikTok, It’s not as if they’re hard to find. Starting off with Goblin-core, meaning greens and browns and ratty clothing. Congratulations, your compulsion to grab random things that you personally think are cool can now be spun as “dedication to the aesthetic.” There’s grunge, needing a band tshirt, a flannel, and jeans. Next up is goth, all black, all the silver, all the time. May I introduce to you corvid-core: goblin core in random items, but all black and well put together in clothing. Also on the list is cryptid-core, because mothman is cool and everyone needs to appreciate that. Everyone also needs to appreciate simple eye imagery and all sorts of other cryptids. Just for the men, it’s “straight?” where the fit is fire, you’re wearing jewelry/nail polish, and you look too good for people to fully believe that you’re hetero. For those looking to achieve this look, ask your girlfriend for advice on what to wear. For those who are rather decidedly not straight, try queer-core, where anything and everything works, so long as it looks amazing and is a little bit weird. Under this aesthetic falls different colored makeup, mashups of other styles, and subtly/not so subtly incorporating the colors of whatever your current identity is. You’re valid and I love your earrings. 

Fair warning, looking up these different aesthetics can and will push your algorithm into wanting to give you more ideas. This article is mostly just meant to start your journey into all that, there’s so much more to find outside of this specific instance. If we’re looking for more ideas still, here’s just the names of some more aesthics: cabincore, adventurecore, cottagecore, skatewear, Victorian, glitchcore, fallwear, pink goth, white goth, ska, androgynous, steampunk, cyberpunk, biker, pastel core, carnivalcore, casinocore, fairycore, femfatalle, feral, emo, indie, punk, and electroswing. There are still so many more I’ve yet to mention. What this means is that you have no excuse to just wear a sweatshirt and basketball shorts. Please, I’m begging you, no more basketball shorts, enough is enough, you’re giving high school boys a bad name. They’ve already ruined their image, you don’t need to add to that. Regardless of what you wear or what aesthetic you ascribe to, be confident in yourself. You deserve it. Last but not least, don’t forget that WE ARE THE ONLY THING PROTECTING YOU FROM THOSE BELLS JING-A-LINGING, AND WE WILL DIE BEFORE THAT COOKIE EATER SHOWS HIS SORRY FACE BEFORE OCTOBER. 

-Sincerely, Blue

[kellybynitewhatevs]

I'll talk a bit more about my boot fetish and some sorts of nuances about it, because from over 15 years of observation (as in, watching and looking at all kinds of boot fetish content over the years), I've seen that it's different in the lot of us. With maybe some core things that are at the base of our little turn-on, lol. Ditto gloves. I'll probably repeat things, sorry, lol. (Not sorry, this is 24/7 fetish/oddball stuff.)

I am nonbinary and I have more of an aesthetic attraction to people than a conventionally sexual one, if that makes any sense. I call myself "a bit B, a bit T, a bit Q, a bit A", because I don't think I particularly fall into any box.

I think, as a kid, it started with my early grade school fascination with high heels and shoe soles. A lot of my teachers often wore clacky, clompy black shoes, as this was the late '90s. And I think I got it in my head once I saw a full-on BOOT on a woman's leg, a shoe made of a sturdy material and often associated with toughness/confidence, going up a woman's leg. Very high. I think I was scarred for life, lol.

And it just kinda blossomed outward from there, and again, this was the late '90s/early '00s. That particular kind of chunky tall boot was *in*. And I always loved it around bare legs, never with pants over them or tucked in. The feeling of it, fwopping around your bare legs as you moved or walked, I *wanted* to experience that one day. The pair of cowboy boots I wore as part of a Halloween costume circa 1999/2000 wasn't enough!

But there's this unusual situational sort of kink thing, where I get the stiffest boner when I see, say... A pretty hot person - again be it a ciswoman, trans woman, trans man, enby, maybe even a rare cisman who I think can get it - wearing high boots and it's usually for an activity that does NOT call for them whatsoever. Or outfit, for that matter. I think this is what differentiates rubber boots from regular knee-high fashion boots for me. When I see someone in fashion boots during a cooler time of the year, I get it. It's still hot AF, but it makes a little sense in context.

If someone's wearing high rubber boots and it's not really raining, or they aren't doing some kind of dirty work that would really require them, it's like whoooooa I'm in a traaaaance. Like, gardening for example. You're not really mucking around in mud in this scenario, just a few flowerbeds and plants and such, and you have those high things on fwopping about the back of your legs. It's hotness-central to me! Like, to me there's a big difference between little rubber clogs for that kind of gardening work, and then wearing like tall Hunter wellies for that even if you don't *really* need them. And that the little clogs'll do just fine.

Even hotter when the boots just contrast against an outfit that doesn't suggest the confidence and power of high boots. Again, gardening, perfect example. Flowery dress and cute floppy hat, and then these stompy, sturdy but fwoppy boots. Oooooonph awoooooga awooooooga.

Now, the boots... Having small details. Buckles, logos, and such. Yes, even those indeed. I don't know why, but the extra stuff and wordage just makes it even HOTTER for me. Maybe as a kid, when I saw text and words where I thought they wouldn't normally be, it was a weird turn-on in a way. Or words on random things, like caution tape or the random bar that cleared away the remaining duckpins at a bowling alley... Something about it, now on a sturdy slab of rubber around a woman's leg. Even sexier if a price tag is left on the shaft (and not just the soles, but that's also sexy to me), hanging clatting paper tag or barcode sticker, but that's uncommon in boot fetishism. I guess that one's just a me thing, eh? I've only ever seen things like that in the odd OOTD video where the wearer got the boots new. And the unaware part, or it not being intended to be sexy, really gets me going.

And because it's not much of a thing, I draw it to quench my thirst lol.

Oh yeah, those last two. This gets into other fetishes intertwined with boots, like giantess stuff. So, I'm not particularly into the more... Erm, violent aspects of that fetish? The idea of people being terrorized and crushed, etc. But a hottie in boots, towering way over me? Yes please, so long as no one gets hurt! And the idea of getting up the boot, as it fwops around their leg? Yes please yes please. That's kinda the point of the drawings with the little lizard-looking guy hanging onto the boot and the tag. The gardener elf lady is just walking around in her new boots, while a small creature hangs on. I never really got far with that little scenario/story, but I might one day. That kinda giant/ess stuff is more my speed.

The above two are interesting. Left ginger is supposed to be a grocery store employee, based on a dream I had being in a local supermarket watching a woman employee in shorts and a T-shirt fwopping around the produce section in high waders. And I just kinda went from there, whatever was making me hard. I suppose some jobs in a store require wellies, as I've actually seen people working in supermarkets wearing them. Mostly for butcher and produce-related stuff, maybe they were vendors coming from farms and factories. But for something that doesn't involve lots of meat or mucking around in muddy fields, just wearing them on the floor just to sort stuff? An unlikely scenario in real life, but in a dream or fantasy... Yeah, sure! Same as washing dishes with not only kitchen gloves on, but also rubber boots.

Again, the whole "situations that don't really call for them" thing. Like these mid-90s photoshoots of Pamela Anderson and Stella Tennant:

Honestly, that's what I love about the rain boot trend of the mid '00s-early '20s, it normalized them being just regular footwear because hey, boots on an attractive person are cool! However, it seems like rain boots have kinda... Fallen out of fashion? I feel like in stores, you used to easily be able to get NEW tall Hunter-like rubber boots. I once owned a pair of high gardening boots sold by Target, that were always there since like 2009... and now they longer sell them. I wish they still did, I'd get a new pair in a heartbeat! Let's keep it normalized, a rubber boot is every bit as normal as having a regular shoe on!

Back on track... So, models wearing them in situations that just seem mundane and not too dirty/wet... Or a celeb at a festival that isn't the mud-and-garbage deluge of Glasto:

Makes it all the more sexy AF to me.

Though I suppose it not being considered normal was what made it so kinky to me in the first place, maybe not. I genuinely just love the rubber feeling and sounds when you wear them, yeah I've really leaned hard into rubber boots for this post. What about fashion boots?

I'm into the leather and fake-leather/PU ones, not so much suede boots or fur boots or Ugg boots or anything like that.

With the aforementioned chunky boots, I get sexiness. With a dress boot, more elegance. If that's on someone I don't usually see wearing boots, and it's like oooooooh. Metal zipper pulls and buckles and other such stuff, chef's kiss. Goth boots, I think that's fetish written all over them, mixed with the dark/spooky aspects. Of course I love those as well.

The whole price tag thing, especially if it's like an elegant boot that the tag contrasts with? Yeah! Again, you don't see that much in the fetish circles.

But, at the end, the person's gotta be someone I'm attracted to in some way. Otherwise I don't have the 2 + 2.

[sapphoandvanzetti]

steampunk ABSOLUTELY began as a DIY thing. In like 2006 my friends and I were buying up broken pocketwatches on ebay for a few bucks a pound, trolling thriftstores and hardware stores for stuff to work with and making stuff on our own, teaching ourselves new skills in order to do it. politically, steampunk was a really mixed bag; there absolutely were people in it who were 100 percent british empire fetishists. Interestingly to me, those were the people who constantly insisted that steampunk wasn't and couldn't be political; they insisted it was a purely aesthetic movement and that their embrace of imperialist or orientalist aesthetics had no political implications whatsoever. I did not like those people, and I did not hang out with them (at least, not without getting into arguments with them about it) But as @moniquill pointed out, that 19th century was not just one thing, and there are as many rich sources of inspiration to be found in RESISTANCE to the empire, robber barons, and royalty as there are in tea n crumpets pip pip airship shit. Most of my later engagement in steampunk was through the anarchist community. Yes, there was a thriving anarchist scene within steampunk. This should surprise no one, given that steampunk began as a DIY art subculture, but it should also surprise no one because there was a thriving anarchist movement during the era that inspired steampunk! by the time spirit halloween was selling ready made steampunk costumes, you had to dig a little deeper to find the interesting political stuff, but it was always there, in the works @moniquill linked to, among others. punk was also co-opted to sell merchandise, but that doesn't mean punk was never punk. as far as steampunk being why solarpunk is an aesthetic and not an ideology, I don't think I follow at all. there's an aesthetic out there, and a genre of art and fiction, and that's great, because art and fiction inspires real action. my steampunk "ideology" was basically "studying and reimagining the past can be a useful and fun way to study and reimagine the present and the future." steampunk wasn't my ONLY or even my core ideology. solarpunk doesn't have to be anyone's either, but it absolutely can be, if they want, and I don't see how the presence of aesthetic solarpunk work could take a way from that. if solarpunk isn't living up to what you want it to be, DO something about it! organize a solarpunk-inspired direct action of some kind, whether that's community gardening, food distro, or protest against fossil fuels. you gotta DIY if you want it to happen.

i never understood what made steampunk punk. romanticizing georgian era england and industrial revolutions are some of the least punk things ever. youre putting gears on a top hat

[biglisbonnews]

Fresh Pressed: Sunday's Finest at Manero's This is Fresh Pressed, in which photographer Matt Weinberger takes us inside some of the rawest moments happening in NYC and beyond. Fresh Pressed is all about encountering the juicy ideas, aesthetics and people shaping culture through the lens of the city's many creative scenes.Sunday's Finest @ Manero's (2/26/23)Manero's on Mulberry is the hottest new downtown hang. The venue has hosted magazine launch parties, fashion events, poetry readings, rave parties, hyperpop DJ sets, chess nights, jazz concerts and more, all attended by some of NYC's hottest talent. The rising popularity of this unsuspecting spot, which was formerly just another (very delicious) Italian restaurant in Little Italy, has come from the robust programming featuring a lineup of parties hosted by a wealth of NYC's emerging creative vanguard, curated by the venue's popular nightlife directors, Travis Bass and Georgia McCann. The reoccurring Sunday party, thrown by Ry Spataro, called "Sunday's Finest," brings in a slightly different crowd than the typical night at Manero's, geared towards merging the typical downtown Manero's scene with the often exclusively gay parties that Ry frequents. For this "Sunday's Finest," the party's resident DJ Chris King played alongside the very popular and beloved Griffin Maxwell Brooks and up-and-comer Adam Ziff, debuting the beautifully named duo of "Ziff and Griff", as Adam referred to it on a recent Instagram post. It's places like Manero's that make NYC so special. Great programming, a good community and pizza, pizza, pizza. Oh, and did I mention they serve pizza? Model/Actriz LP Release Show @ The Hole (2/25/23)Brooklyn-based band Model/Actriz, comprised of Ruben Radlauer, Aaron Shapiro, Cole Haden and Jack Wetmore, played an LP release show at the Hole, an art gallery in Tribeca, celebrating their new album, Dogsbody. The show raged on for a sweaty near-hour of fun to the great delight of their many fans who came out to see them rock the night away. The guys in the band not only play music well but also seem to have a good sense of humor. Cole, the lead singer of the group, opened the show while wearing his Halloween costume from last year (Rhonda Byrne's famed self-help book The Secret). The band, who cites influences including Björk and Fugazi, put on a show that felt like a high-energy mystical head-banging journey into the rock and roll dreamscape of a sleep-deprived neighborhood buddy. In other words: They know how to put on a good show. Their US tour starts in early March; they’ll be playing a show in New York on 4/20 at Racket. Jack plans on building a lamp that he saw in a dream to display at the show.Tony or Tony's Headline Debut @ Elsewhere (2/11/23)Tony or Tony gave an absolutely electric performance at their debut headlining concert at Elsewhere, where they performed a number of unreleased songs. The band consists of Tony 1.2, Tony Z and Quick Tony. Tony 1.2 and Tony Z grew up together in Arkansas. They escaped a cult together when they were 18 and moved to NYC and started a band. They describe their music as a “combination of late style thumper rave and glissando core.” Some main influences on the band include Tiny Leg, DJ Klub Foot, The Five Discs, Chris & Cosey, Neubauten and Beethoven. Tony or Tony is making music you can dance to. Their next song, "New Toy," is coming out at the end of March. LaQuan Smith NYFW After Party @ Silver Linings (2/13/23)LaQuan Smith walks into the club. Young Paris is dancing around with a big smile on his face. A dapper-looking man introduces himself to you as “Food God." One table over is Teyana Taylor looking sharp as a tack, chilling with her crew. Diplo walks into the club with Eric Andre and Emily Ratajkowski. Eric and Emily start making out in the VIP section. You try a few times to get a good photo of them kissing but kissing is awkward so the photos look awkward, too. Also, taking photos of people kissing is an awkward thing to do. Whoops. Ice Spice walks into the club and gets established at a table next to Laquan Smith’s booth. Ice Spice gets on the table and does an impromptu performance. She slays. You peer to your left and dancing in the crowd is none other than Lil Nas X. He is super friendly and dressed like a fuzzy rainbow. This all might sound like a weird dream born out of picking celebrities' names out of a hat — but this wasn’t a dream. This was my night at the LaQuan Smith NYFW FW23 after party.Dion Lee NYFW After Party @ Boom Boom Room (2/10/23)Fashion is culture and, at the Dion Lee NYFW FW23 after party at Boom Boom Room, culture turned up. The party celebrated Dion’s newest collection, one undoubtedly worthy of praise, following an epic runway show earlier in the day. There was a surprise guest performance by Azealia Bank,s who hopped up onto the bar and sang to the room filled with an absolutely stoked crowd. Everyone had their phones out to record the performance and capture a glimpse of Azealia as she rocked the room. The fashion world was treated to a very special night and Dion Lee re-confirmed his spot as a fashionista cool-guy favorite — a shining light within the New York fashion scene.Acne Studios Loves Larry Stanton After Party @ The Hotel Chelsea (2/9/23)Sometimes fashion is bigger than what you wear. Acne Studios, in partnership with Visual AIDS, hosted an exclusive exhibition of work by Larry Stanton, followed by an after party to celebrate his memory and accomplishments. The event was a respectable ode to Larry Stanton, who died of AIDS in 1984. Despite the somber circumstances on which the event was predicated, the atmosphere of the event was cheery and optimistic, serving as a celebration of fashion, art and the community we have amongst one another. With slick fits and knits, stripes and a dash of elegant sleaze, the Acne Studios crowd pulled up looking undoubtedly stylish while carrying a creative, street-inspired edge. Cocktails and champagne were flowing and chatter echoed throughout the venue as fashion industry creatives and models intermingled within the multi-room event space at The Hotel Chelsea. R.I.P. Larry Stanton — may his memory be a blessing. Viktor & Rolf FLOWERBOMB Party @ Jeans (2/9/23)Fashionistas, iconic style, couture galore, and flowers, flowers, flowers. Viktor & Rolf’s FLOWERBOMB party celebrated Emily Ratajkowski as the face of the fragrance. EmRata showed up in style — wearing a chic outfit with her hair done up in a manner that Aphrodite herself might have been jealous of. Everyone pulled up dressed to impress, with outfits that had all the Ts crossed — attention to detail was not spared. Partygoers were treated to DJ sets by Mona Matsuoka and Bambii while dancing between the two floors of the event, with the occasional stop at one of V&R’s fragrance discovery stations. Bright, flashing, flower-filled video installations brought the whole party together to create an overall immersive FLOWERBOMB experience.The Lifionized: A "Grace" Release Party (2/4/23)NYC got treated to the often taken-for-granted luxury that is typically only seen in the suburban and rural parts of America: A classic rock and roll house show. The crowd was treated to performances by both The Life and Stella Rose and The Dead Language. Both bands ripped legendary original tracks worthy of becoming part of NYC lore. Curtis Everett Pawley of The Life hit the audience deep in the nostalgia gut, granting us a taste of throwback bliss while also carving a musical path into the future of what the genre of rock can be. Stella Rose’s vocals and stage presence are equally worthy of praise and her guitarist, Ben Arauz, is easily one of the best shredders in the scene, creating a genuinely heart-pounding experience. Related | Stella Rose Reveals Her 'Angel' SideAF94's Valentine's Dance (2/2/23)It’s not even Valentine’s day yet but with AF94, Halsey’s beauty brand, everyone is already celebrating love. This dance was straight out of a 1980s romantic comedy. Delicious small bites were passed around in excess and a table of treats, constantly refilled, gave all attendees something to feel sweet about. The evening had an absolutely wonderful guest list filled with beauty industry sweethearts and online style influencer heartthrobs. Balloons filled the ceiling and the open bar sported a generous menu of delicious concoctions. The analog photo booth was a big hit, sporting color photos printed via chemical processing, spitting out images of all the partygoers eager enough to brave the long line. The beauty crowd came through. A truly glamorous night. MegSuperstarPrincess' "F List" Party @ Studio 151 (1/31/23)Beloved downtown indie-sleaze grunge girl and major trendsetter MegSuperstarPrincess is the queen of the F List. She threw a release party for her new Film, titled F List, at Studio 151, a fun upstairs East Village venue known for its sushi nights and for having been the haunt for Rachel Rabbit White's iconic birthday party this past year. At Meg's F List party, the whole F list "celebrity" crew came through. The party was comprised of a solid crowd of people you may have heard of if you're into niche downtown club scene DJs, grifters, writers, fashionistas or the post-Dimes Square debutantes of tomorrow. https://www.papermag.com/fresh-pressed-sundays-finest-maneros-2659362969.html

[honeysuckle-venom]

What is the difference of feminine lesbians and femme lesbians? Your tags on that reblog about lesbians on TV made me wonder what you mean.

Hi Anon,

Thank you so much for such a fantastic question! The answer to this is very, very complicated and to a certain extent individual, and I certainly do not claim to speak for all femme lesbians. But there are some things I can say about this.

Most lesbians do not explicitly identify as either butch or femme, but just as lesbians. But some find their homes and identities in those terms and the butch/femme community. Femme and butch are two sides of the same coin, and just as butch does not simply mean "wears jeans," femme does not simply mean "wears dresses." In fact, gnc, nonbinary, and/or transmasc femmes are common. Femme is a specific identity, not just an aesthetic.

For most femmes, in large part the identity is about repurposing and reclaiming aspects of femininity in a specifically queer way, a way that is designed to signal to and attract other sapphics (often, but not necessarily exclusively, butches). Most femmes are very intentional about which aspects of traditional femininity they embrace and which they reject. For example, I keep my hair long and usually wear vintage inspired dresses when I go out, but I almost never wear makeup and I don't shave my legs. For me and others like me, being femme is in large part about examining femininity and performing it intentionally and in a queer way, by only performing certain aspects of it and/or by performing it in an exaggerated manner.

But while aesthetics and external performance of femininity are certainly tied into being femme, it is also more than that. Femme is a complex identity that for many people is their way of defining their gender, connection to history, and/or role in relationships. Many femmes prefer to date butches, but even those who don't usually see themselves as mirrors to butches, as the other half to that community. Butch and femme are also historically based identities with ties to working class lesbian bar culture in the 1950s. I'm not going to get into that as much, but most people who identify with those terms see themselves as part of a continuing history and subculture (if you're curious about this, there are many books out there. One I see recommended a lot, though I haven't yet read it, is Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers by Lillian Faderman. Another classic which I have read is Stone Butch Blues, which takes place primarily in the 1970s. Major trigger warning for police brutality and several rape scenes in it though).

A lesbian who is fairly feminine but does not see themself in relationship to that history, to that subculture, and/or to butches is, in my opinion, probably not a femme. A lesbian who wears dresses because that's what's expected of her but who has not examined her gender and identity and chosen to embrace specific aspects of femininity in a queer way is, in my opinion, probably not a femme. And ultimately, a lesbian who does not identify as a femme is not a femme. At its core, femme is a complex and nuanced identity, not an aesthetic.

A final note: The original post I left tags on that made you ask this question was talking about femme lesbians and lesbian characters' costumes on TV. I would argue that perhaps lesbians on TV don't necessarily need to identify out loud as femmes to be femmes (it's hard enough getting tv shows to say the word 'lesbian' or goodness forbid 'bi'), but the reason I don't see most of them as femmes is because most femmes specifically incorporate elements of gender-nonconformity and/or gender exaggeration into their presentation and/or mannerisms. Most lesbians on TV are just wearing traditionally feminine, fashionable outfits identical to the straight girls around them; that does not read as femme at all to those who know how to read those cues. Also, I wrote this specifically about femme lesbians because that's what the original post was about, what your question was about, and how I identify, but most if not all of this is true for femme bi women as well.

[abeautifulblog]

Okay I love the Witcher show BUT…omg what is going on with the costuming. S2 downgraded somehow from S1, I can’t even forgive the contacts because Twilight had better contacts more than a decade ago. And the wigs?? They did Geralt dirty with that grey dish rag they put on his head. Compared to say the lace front wigs on the LOTR Elves, like Thranduil, also from YEARS AGO, all of the wigs are horrid. Ciri’s looks like her scalp is half falling off of her head skksks it’s way too big.

Yeah, the costuming took a nosedive in S2. 😬 I swear to god, nothing looks like it was made for this show, more like they were digging around in Netflix's costume closet and pulling shit out and going, shrug, "meh, good enough."

In S1 you see a clear progression in Geralt's armor: kind of shitty in Blaviken, REALLY SHITTY in Posada (after ten years of being a social pariah), and then considerably better later in the season after Jaskier's rehabbed his reputation and he can afford to kit himself out properly. One understated-but-seriously-neat detail-that-I-loved was that the cut of his armor doesn't change at all -- this man clearly knows what he likes, and so even when he upgrades, he replaces it with "this, but not falling apart.”

And then there's season 2. 😐

Likewise with Jaskier, his style is largely consistent throughout season 1 -- he favors high-waisted, slightly baggy pants, and cropped, closely-fitted jackets over lacy linen undershirts. His outfit du jour will be plainer or fancier depending on how flush he is, but they all look like they belong in the same era, chosen by a man with a consistent sense of style.

And then there's season 2. 😐

***

But even putting aside the objective quality (or lack thereof) of the wigs/contacts/clothes, what I find unforgivable is how little thought went into dressing the characters in a way that made sense for who they are as individuals, and what their current circumstances are. So many of their costume choices in S2 fail on both an aesthetic and a storytelling level.

Like Yen's garishly purple cloak -- which not only looks like some cheap renfaire shit (aesthetic fail) but is also WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE for someone trying to evade the authorities (storytelling fail). Like, okay, even if that's what she was wearing when she escaped, then ffs, show her stealing something less obtrusive off a clothesline, or bullying a beggar into trading with her! She is a blinding pop of purple in a sea of neutrals, and what are we supposed to make of that? Is she too stupid to realize how conspicuous she is? Or is literally everyone else in the world color-blind? Because the show sure-as-fuck ignored any ramifications of their undercover heroes running around with the equivalent of a target painted on them. This is a brain-breaking amount of suspension-of-disbelief they’re asking of us.

(Ditto to Ciri prancing around the forest with her gown and flowing hair -- this is not conducive to being on the run. Who is doing her braids? Her brows? The visuals are completely at odds with the exigencies of the plot.)

And I know a lot of people liked Yen’s off-the-shoulders dress in episode 3, but to me it looked like an ill-fitting prom dress and it was so bizarrely at odds with the tone of that episode. Yennefer has lost her magic, a loss that cuts to the absolute core of her self-identity -- she has more important shit to worry about than slouching around being ~sexy.~

Moreover, it was implied that the reason sorceresses always look so flawless is because they're cheating by using magic, and Yen doesn't have her magic anymore. It wouldn’t have been so jarring, re: tone, if I could believe that she’d hand-waved it into existence so that she could fake being okay, but she can’t. So either have her appearance reflect her magic-less state, or else show her desperately trying to make herself up by hand, to keep people from realizing that she’s powerless. Either one of those options could have been a character-making choice -- but ignoring how she came to look like that, under those circumstances, is lazy and immersion-breaking.

(Also that dress just did not fit her. She’s having to keep her elbows pinned to her sides just to hold it up, and that, in turn, constrained Anya’s acting and made everything Yennefer did in that episode feel extremely passive.)

***

The costumers also seriously missed a trick by not giving the elves a visually distinctive fashion tradition. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Francesca’s outfit, it’s very pretty, but she and Filavandrel are spearheading a resurgence of elven pride and culture, and I would expect their clothing choices to reflect that. Clothing is political; hair is political. I would expect them to be embracing an elven aesthetic (resurrecting an extinct one, if necessary) that is an intentional contrast to what the humans around them are wearing. 

They were kind of maybe doing that with the braids? Fans were headcanoning that Dara’s glow-up was the result of him finally having people to do his braids for him, something he hadn’t had since his parents were killed. And I love that idea, but I’m not sure it was a deliberate piece of world-building/characterization, or if they just chose that hairstyle for him because the actor is Black. (Because Fringilla also has braids, and those would appear to be completely unrelated to any elven penchant for braids. I should add here that I loved Fringilla’s white dress. She should just get, y’know. More dresses.)

***

The one costume choice I did like in S2 was Vilgefortz’s outfit. I couldn’t find any pictures of it (and we have the very cheapest netflix tier, so my screencaps ain’t worth shit 😓), but he wears a three-quarter length, mustard-colored silk coat over robes, in a style that is noticeably distinct from anyone else in the show. And I have no idea what Vilgefortz’s backstory is supposed to be, but visually, it was incredibly striking as someone who is both foreign and owning it.

He’s not trying to assimilate. He’s not decking himself out in the fine doublets and fancy menswear of the northern kingdoms. He’s not trying to make himself acceptable/respected by taking on their trappings of wealth and power -- he’s wearing his own signifiers, and expecting you to recognize their worth.

And that is a choice that potentially says so much -- about the relative cultural cachet between Vilgefortz’s homeland and the northern kingdoms, about his own patriotism, about his own confidence.

***

...That said, Vilgefortz and Fringilla and Francesca don’t change outfits all season, a season that (I think?) is supposed to take place over a span of months, or at least weeks.

So. That’s a fuckin’ oversight, and it’s part of what contributed to this season feeling so completely unmoored in terms of timeline.

***

And I could keep going, but those were the worst offenders.

And I’m not even taking joy in their fuckups the way so many content-mills do, because this genuinely makes me frustrated and angry and despairing. That people who give so few fucks can have a job in industry, when people who know more, and care more, are somehow just not positioned to break into it.

idk. This entire season was an exercise in laziness and contempt for the viewers, and I’m too drunk to censor that into something more fandom-friendly.

[descendantsramblings]

Style Headcanons

So basically, I’m a big hater to the way the costume team worked on them. The whole “All Isle kids wear Leather” and “Auradon Kids always look like they’re on their first kid and on the way to the country club” thing drives me crazy. It sorta feels like they made costumes before giving them personalities (The leather on Carlos  and Evie feels like it clashes with their personalities. Lonnie’s dresses in the first movie doesn’t fit the personality we see, even though she didn’t have much of a personality until movie two. Audrey dressed like a thirty-four year old mother who just picked up her kid before going to the country club. Ben’s only good outfit was his swim trunks.) So here are some personal headcanons and pictures of what I imagine for them. (I started making them at 1am last night lol)

Villain Kids 

Evie

As someone raised to want to be a princess, she wants to dress like how she imagines a princess would.

She loves pastels and is no stranger to pairing pastel blue with a neutral red or bright white. 

The only pants she really wears are either athletic shorts or those little flowy elastic shorts, otherwise she’s all skirts.

She’s sorta a prep but not in the same way a character like Audrey would be. 

Evie has respect for most aesthetics, even though she doesn’t fully fit just one. However, she hates crocs and those little pastel shorts that white boys wear, she will announce it often.

Wouldn’t be caught dead in neon colors. 

owns a blue fur coat (it’s fake fur, obviously)

Carlos

Baby boy is a total softie

You know that one gay little sweater in movie one, that’s where they went right, more of that.

He’s into the soft boy aesthetic and only strays from it for formal wear

loves layering sweaters over button ups

Cuffed jeans, always because ya know, bisexual 

Owns a floral button up from Jay, normally he hates patterned button ups but it’s his favorite shirt. 

Loves striped sweaters, he owns about 6 variations of them in different colors (all include red, white, or black of course)

Jay 

In theory, Jay doesn’t really have one aesthetic, he’s willing to try on just about anything

Most of his clothing was bought by Evie or Carlos, especially his formal wear

The only clothes that Jay will buy for himself is athletic wear

He doesn’t really see the point of buy clothing that he can’t go straight to practice in. 

Still has the beanie,  but he owns one in just about every color to match it to his outfit.

Listen, we know Jay’s main color is yellow/gold, but why did we always see him with more red/blue in the movie? What type of snow white aesthetic were they trying to give him?

Jay owns a button up that he write on, he refuses to wear it actually buttoned though

Mal

She loves the grunge/alternative aesthetic, she thinks it makes her look more like she belongs to the Isle

She wouldn’t wear skirts until after she and Evie became friends, Evie bought her her first skirt (a purple plaid one) and she fell in love with it

Mal has a whole jewelry box of just chains, both necklaces and ones that attach to clothing 

Owns a pair of Demonia Swing-815 boots (black patent) and a pair of Demonia Camel-203 boots (holographic purple) 

100% owns one of those studded hot topic belts. 

Has a headband with little horns that symbolize her mother’s horns 

Instead of the leather half gloves from the movie, she has those little fishnet gloves and covers her hands in rings.

Uma

Her style is similar to Mal’s because if Mal is going to do something, Uma will do it better.

Uma only wore outfits that were super Fem and had skirts until Mal started doing it

Then it was Uma always wearing pants, because of her love for plaid skirts she owns a whole collection of plaid pants

the only jeans she owns are black or dark wash. 

Her first ever large purchase was a pair of Doc Marten 1460 Zip Tartan Lace up boots (they’re green, black, and blue plaid) 

She and Harry bought matching Doc Marten Jadon platforms (his are more shiny though)

Isn’t as into chains as Mal, more into chockers. 

Harry 

When the E-boy aesthetic came out, Harry was all over it 

Harry definitely has one of those chains with a little lock on it. 

I’d like to imagine he has baby gauges

the before mentioned platform doc martens, he definitely treats them like his baby

Even though Harry dresses like an e-boy,  he always has his pirate hat on

Definitely wears cloth masks as a fashion piece he actually would wear his in the pandemic though, unlike some people who wore them before but not for safety 

Harry is actually really good at graphic liner, he owns a gold, red, and white eyeliner to add color to the outfit if it’s mainly black

gold>silver 

Bought plaid pants because Uma did, he want’s to match with his captain

Gil 

As we know (maybe you don’t) it’s in the canon that Gil’s mother taught him to sew and he enjoys it. 

So Gil doesn't dress in one aesthetic or even close to being in one, he wants to try out everything, both making and wearing them.

He does stick to a monochrome color scheme though, mainly shades of brown with white or black thrown in. Sometimes he adds a little red or yellow though to “honor” Gaston

Most of his clothing is more comfortable than anything

Only owns three pairs of jeans, the rest are different types of pants (he loves corduroys) 

Owns a pants chain that harry bought him but he only really wears it when Harry and Uma are wearing one so he won’t feel left out on it. 

Dizzy 

Baby girl has seen the Isle steal the childhood innocence from people, she dresses in kidcore as a way to keep hers

Her outfits always has at least 4 different colors in it.

No stranger to neon colors, she has a pair of overalls that are neon rainbow and covered in gummy candy and she only wears them with a neon green tee, Evie and Carlos hate this outfits, Jay loves it because of the disappointment it brings to the two fashion fans 

Dizzy’s outfits in the movie were colorful obviously but they should have been just more over the top

She loves patterns and has no fear of pattern mixing

definitely owns some funky earrings, clay rings, and  statement necklaces

puts beads on her shoe laces, especially on her converse (they were white ones, she drew all over them) 

Auradon Kids 

Ben

Okay so Ben’s animated and movie outfits were bad, you can’t convince me of anything else

Why was Ben not dressed in the soft boy aesthetic? You’re trying to tell me that Belle’s son wouldn’t be a soft boy?

He has a jean jacket with his father’s beast symbol painted on the back

Absolutely loves graphic crewnecks, often layers them over collared shirts

He and Carlos go shopping together often in their free time

Lover of funky crew socks,  ones with paintings, patterns, logos, whatever. But his socks always match

After he and Mal started Dating, he bought a white jean jacket and let her paint it, he wears it all the time even though it didn’t match his original clothing, he bought more clothes in her color scheme to match it

He owns like 6 pairs of high top converse (light blue, yellow, white, navy, black, and Purple after getting the jacket back from Mal)

Chad

Listen, out of everyone he was the closest to how I imagined he should be, that being said, he had a little soft boy thing going on in some movies that I don’t think fit his personality

Polos and button ups are basically all he owns, but he does have some of those pastel simply southern esc graphic tees (Southern people probably know what I’m on about, all the guys who act like Chad at my school have like 5 of them each)

Owns 6 pairs of those horrid little southern boy pastel shorts in different shades of blue (plus 1 white pair)

Will not wear jeans, ever, the only pants he owns are khakis

All over the shirts that have logos embroidered into the shirt over the chest. 

Definitely gets asked if he’s on the way to golf/ the country club, the joke is that he is, he has to meet his father there after school

prep.jpg

Audrey 

Listen, I’m not an Audrey stan, but they did her so dirty in the first movie

She should have been the stereotypical mean girl outfit wise, I mean, mini skirts, all pastels

Owns a pink teddy coat, and a white one, she actually cares about if they get dirty though, takes good care of them

definitely has a collection of tennis skirts, pairs them with sweaters/crewnecks or blouses that have a slight puff to the sleeve

The type of girl to wear rufflely rompers on her birthday every year, pink, white, or baby blue obviously

loves those tiny shoulder bags

preppy and looks good in it. 

cropped polos and tube tops

Jane

This account is a Jane should have been cottage core/ fairy core fan page, her outfits were almost there, just not there, she’s literally a fairy but can’t use magic nor did they let her dress like one, I hate it here

Baby girl loves gingham and floral patterns, some of her dresses are a little more to her mother’s taste than hers (her mother bought them) but as long as it’s a pattern she likes she will wear it. 

Cardigans are her best friend, she owns one in multiple shades of pink and blue, plus a white one (all of her clothing fits a pastel pink/blue/white color scheme)

Babydoll dresses her a her favorite style of them (the one I put in the top right corner is what I imagine her birthday dress as) 

People try to mockingly ask if she’s on her way to a tea party/picnic (like they do with Chad and the country club) if the answer isn’t actually yes one of her friends still say yes, no one can be rude to her about it 

She owns a corset (Evie bought it for her, it made her nervous at first but she loves it) 

Owns kitten heels and flats mainly also two pairs of mary janes (in white and blue) 

has one of those little pearl purses that aren’t really useful but they’re cute 

Lonnie

Last but not least, our funky little lesbian (she is, Jay is just her emotional support queer man) Lonnie, she sticks to the teal, blue, and pink color scheme they gave her in movie one

She mainly wears sweats (or athletic clothing) otherwise it’s graphic tees tucked in (many of them are from the men’s section) 

Only wears sneakers, she has places to be but also collects them (also owns 1 pair of pink crocs, Evie tried to burn them)

Carlos and Ben talked her into wearing a collar shirt under a graphic tee once (they bought her a sleeveless button up which she hated at first) and now she does it anytime she wants to look like she put effort into her outfit. 

Wears a lot of necklaces and rings (she loves to layer necklaces, she thinks it makes her sweats look less boring) 

Uses a mini backpack instead of a purse, easier to carry more things.

Has two pairs of custom painted air forces. 

Hates wearing bracelets but always has to have a hair tie on her wrist so they don’t feel empty .

[a-mellowtea]

Let’s talk about character design.

Specifically, let’s discuss how an incongruous element of design, with the intention of it being incongruous, can lead to a problematic display of narrative decision-making.

As an anecdote, I’m a theatre undergrad with a focus on production, and costuming fascinates me. And, just as every element of costume design -- from fabric, to color, to era -- is a choice, character design is a choice, and one more often than not informed by the text in question. It falls on quite a few people to ensure these aspects work in tandem, and it is difficult and good work. However, if the text is -- for lack of a less melodramatic term -- spoilt at its core, then the design likely will be as well. In that vein, I find myself put off by both aspects of this particular choice -- the actual design itself, and the intention behind it.

If you hadn’t already guessed by who’s making this post and my as-recently typical subject matter, we’re going to be focusing on James Ironwood’s Volume 8 prosthetic.

I ought to preface this by mentioning that the conclusions I come to here are my own opinion, and those of an able-bodied woman. I cannot speak for the dehumanizing experiences disabled people (or persons with disabilities, if preferred) endure. I am mostly examining the design itself, but the intention and implication behind that are not things that can go unstated.

So, let’s begin with the design and that aforementioned incongruity; both with the character and the established look of technology in the show’s world. On its own, in a vacuum, it is a good one; I called it creative and unique when it was first, albeit accidentally, released to the public, and I stand by that. I’d expect no less from Alexander Juarez by now. However, that uniqueness is a double-edged sword in this instance, as this design is very distinct. To this point, replacement prosthetics in RWBY were uniformly shades of greys and blues (until and unless painted, see: Yang), noticeably complete and, even when purposefully visible, fit the designs of the characters themselves. Examples of this are Yang, Mercury, Maria, and even James’ own pre-Volume 8 prosthetics.

Oh. Yes, a moment on that. It’s worth mentioning that James does already have prosthetics, replacing or supporting the entire right side of his body, for which it is noted that the arm is a modified AK200 model.

The Volume 8 addition, meanwhile, is remarkably incomplete, with exposed wiring that can be cleanly seen through. Its core colors are also black and grey, which clashes directly with the blues and whites of the rest of the character design, as the only other instance of those colors on him is his hair. It’s heavy and eye-catching, throwing off the balance of the design.

Moreover? It's visible, and this is where incongruity of character comes in. James' prosthetics have always been hidden, bar extenuating circumstances (see, Battle of Beacon), and that is implied through both design and narrative to be a character choice based on how he himself views those prosthetics. The one he is given in Volume 8, however, is fully displayed, yet there is nothing to indicate that this particular character aversion has changed.

What did change, then? With a pre-established source of reference for James’ prosthetics being the AK200, why was this design choice made? His new arm is meant to be noticed. It's meant to contrast with the rest of the design, be visible, and visibly incomplete. Why?

Remember: character design is a choice that is typically informed by the text.

I don't like making big claims about CRWBY's intentions with things, because I’m not involved in the industry or production, and it’s generally rude to assume beyond that. With this, though, I don't have to, because they said it themselves.

Kerry Shawcross: "And then of course Ironwood now losing another part of his humanity. [pause] Get it?" Paula Decanini: [chuckles]

If you wish to check the context, this is taken from the Volume 7 DVD director’s commentary on Chapter 11, “Gravity”, and is a comment on the moment James loses his arm. It would be uncomfortable enough on its own, but discomfort isn’t very well the point of noting this as much as it is the answer to that question.

The design choices of the prosthetic were made as a visible reminder of a loss of humanity and his new status as a villain in that light. It is, certainly no pun intended, a narrative shorthand, meant to carry implication and impossible to ignore when he is on screen.

Perhaps a little more distressing is the fact that it worked. Still visible in a thread on the r/RWBY subReddit and several threads on Twitter, when it was revealed, people immediately associated the prosthetic and extension of James’ disability to a loss of humanity, despite the character actively having prosthetics for the entirety of his tenure in the show and it only previously being raised in regards to his Tin Woodsman allusion.

You may ask, so what? Why is this problematic? James is a villain in Volume 8, what should it matter that his design echoes that?

All I have to say is that that’s unfortunate. It’s unfortunate that we aren’t at a point yet where this kind of shorthand isn’t something immediately frowned upon in media, and especially in how characters are designed. James could have been a villain without the creative team pointedly using his disability as a neon “Now A Bad Guy” sign. They could have designed it in a way that fell in line with the character and the aesthetic designs of the world, and still had the loss be acknowledged as a stressful circumstance that informed how he was behaving in a way that wasn’t a silent visual.

Disability being used as such a signifier for some sort of absence of humanity is not a good thing in media in general, whether RWBY or otherwise. I’m still hopeful we’ll get to a point where that isn’t the case -- RWBY itself did quite well with Yang, all things considered -- but its as-yet unquestioned acceptance when characters are anti-heroic/villainous or, god forbid, “deserve” it, both in the design process of media and the minds of audiences, is disheartening, to put it mildly.