#but it's no problem of course because i love historical fashion

[titaniumions]

so you know that one pulp cover trend

[nickeverdeen]

hi! can i request romantic matchups for arcane and tlou2? i’m lesbian so only women please :)

my pronouns are she/her. i have long black hair, dark brown eyes and warm olive skin, average height. i’m on the curvier side but still look quite lean, probably because i did dancing in the past. i don’t have any muscles tho lmaooo but at least my posture is good and i’m flexible. i have very feminine style but i prefer dark colours and more intense then cute looks. lovee jewellery

i’m an introvert and very protective about my personal space. i was told i look intimidating and give off cold first impression which i can see but honestly i just need time to warm up to people. was also told i have a black cat personality.

from how i see it i’m confident and have good leadership qualities but prefer work alone most of the time. bold and flirty especially when i like someone. i’m usually chill but at times can get annoyed easily, i’m also opinionated and stubborn. call people out on their bs very quickly, can be quiet straightforward, sometimes even bossy lol. my mbti is intj

for my interests, i’m really into social sciences, history and astronomy! love studying languages, arts, books and cinema, i’m a big horror fan. and listening to music of course, mostly rnb, punk, indie and hip hop

for my partners i prefer strong personalities so they can keep up and tone me down at times lmao. really appreciate initiative and protective traits in people, i like to be the one approached

thank you!!

Your Arcane match is…

Caitlyn Kiramman

Caitlyn would absolutely adore your dark, intense, yet feminine style

She’d appreciate your fashion sense, and you two would often share little accessories or jewelry pieces

She’d love buying you gifts, perhaps a vintage ring or an elegant necklace she found at some obscure shop

Caitlyn is sharp and well-educated, making her the perfect match for someone with a passion for social sciences, history, and astronomy

Your conversations would be deep and thought-provoking, often lasting late into the night as you explore each other’s minds

Caitlyn understands your need for personal space and would never pressure you to open up before you’re ready

She would admire your independence and give you the freedom you need, knowing that you’d come to her when you felt comfortable

With her background in law enforcement, Caitlyn is naturally protective

She would always be looking out for you, whether it’s making sure you’re safe on the streets of Piltover or emotionally supporting you when you’re feeling overwhelmed

Caitlyn is a take-charge kind of woman

She’d love surprising you with well-thought-out dates, like a private stargazing session or a visit to a historical site in Piltover, appealing to your love for astronomy and history

Caitlyn would never be put off by your cold or intimidating first impression

She’s seen plenty of people try to keep her at arm’s length, but she knows how to slowly break down those walls with kindness and understanding

Caitlyn would be thoroughly entertained by your bold and flirty nature. She might blush at your forwardness but would secretly enjoy every moment of it, finding your confidence refreshing

Your straightforwardness and Caitlyn’s strong sense of justice could lead to some intense debates

But these would only strengthen your relationship, as both of you would respect each other’s opinions and resolve any conflicts maturely

Despite her composed exterior, Caitlyn has a secret love for horror films

You’d have regular horror movie nights, where you’d get to cuddle up close, sharing reactions to every twist and scare

You both value your personal space, so you’d have no problem spending time together without the need to fill the silence

Whether you’re reading in the same room or simply sitting quietly, the presence of the other would be enough

Caitlyn’s strong and steady personality would be the perfect counterbalance to your sometimes stubborn and opinionated nature

She’d be the calm to your storm, helping you see different perspectives when you’re too set in your ways

Caitlyn would match your enthusiasm for learning new things, especially languages

You two might even take up a new language together, exchanging notes and practicing with each other

You both have strong leadership qualities, which would create an interesting dynamic

You’d challenge each other in different areas, always pushing one another to grow and improve

While you might be protective of your space initially, Caitlyn would gradually become the person you feel most comfortable being physically close to

She’d always make sure you felt safe and respected in her arms

You’d share your music tastes with each other, with Caitlyn introducing you to classical or jazz, and you showing her the best of RnB, punk, indie, and hip hop

These exchanges would often lead to impromptu dance sessions or relaxed listening evenings

Your The Last of Us Part II match is…

Abby Anderson

Abby’s strong, muscular build would contrast with your curvier, lean frame, making her a protective force in your life

She’d love pulling you close, her strength a comforting reminder that you’re safe with her

Abby is tough, resilient, and assertive—traits that would match your strong personality perfectly

She wouldn’t shy away from your confidence and would enjoy the challenge of keeping up with you

Even though you don’t have muscles, Abby would encourage you to work out with her, finding ways to make it fun and tailored to your interests, maybe incorporating dance moves or flexibility exercises into your routine

Despite her tough exterior, Abby has a soft side when it comes to those she cares about

She’d be subtly flirty with you, enjoying the way you tease her back, especially as she sees through your “black cat” personality

Abby’s protective nature would be a cornerstone of your relationship

Whether you’re out on a dangerous mission or just navigating life in a post-apocalyptic world, Abby would always be by your side, ready to defend you

Abby would be highly respectful of your need for personal space

She’d never push you to open up too quickly, understanding the importance of letting you come to her in your own time

Abby would show her affection through acts of service, like ensuring you have everything you need for a comfortable life or finding little things that remind her of you during her trips outside the compound

Abby’s seen enough horror in real life that fictional scares wouldn’t faze her

She’d indulge your love of horror movies, holding you close when the tension rises on screen, even though she’s barely flinching

Abby would love exploring with you, whether it’s finding old, abandoned places that speak to your love of history or discovering new areas that fuel your passion for astronomy

While Abby might not be as into music as you, she’d enjoy the playlists you make for her

She’d develop a fondness for the punk and indie tracks you love, especially when they remind her of you

Abby wouldn’t back down from your opinionated discussions, often matching your stubbornness with her own

These exchanges would be intense but ultimately strengthen your bond as you navigate conflicts together

Abby’s not the type to force conversation, so you’d have no problem sitting in silence together, enjoying each other’s company without the need for constant chatter

Abby would admire your leadership qualities, often turning to you for advice or relying on your decision-making skills when situations get tough

She respects your confidence and your ability to take charge

Despite her rough exterior, Abby would be incredibly gentle with you in private, showing you a softer side that few others get to see

She’d love running her hands through your long black hair, finding comfort in these small, intimate moments

Living in close quarters wouldn’t be easy for an introvert, but Abby would be attuned to your needs

She’d create a shared space that felt like a sanctuary, allowing you to recharge while still feeling connected to her

[cringeborg]

August Suit (+tie overlay) and Hat

I couldn't find any famous historical person to name this ensemble after. No name felt right. So, I decided to name it after a non-famous historical person, from my family! Problem: it seems that all of my male ancestors born before 1920 were named Mats, Johan or Jakob. There are tons of interesting women's names in my family tree, though. There was one woman named Augustia, thus the name August!

Enough about names. This is a casual 1850s-inspired suit and matching top hat for your sensible (pattern-loving?) gentlemen. Comes in many sensible colors!

The August Suit

The suit is an edit of a labcoat from Get To Work. BGC, of course. Its swatches were inspired by fashion from the 1830s-60s. It has soft shoulders and a slightly nipped waist, and could work from the 1840s up until the late 1850s. The tie is white in all swatches, but I've made a neat little color overlay for it.

BGC

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August Tie Overlay

Honestly, I don't like this tie. It's not straight-up historically inaccurate, but it's damn close. However, this was a low-effort project, and completely changing the look of the tie to, say, a cravat or bow tie, or maybe a stock, that would be way too much effort. The regular tie will have to do.

BGC

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August Top Hat

Before naming this set August, the top hat was appropriately titled "The Tallest Top Hat" because it certainly is tall! As was fashionable in this era, of course. Tall, thin top hats were very trendy. The hat itself comes in black, brown and beige, and the band comes in a variety of colors. I didn't consciously try to make it match the suit, but it ended up doing that anyway.

BGC

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[naranjapetrificada]

I have really, really loved seeing everyone talking about their favorite fics they've written but I wasn't expecting to be tagged tbh because I've posted so few. Thanks so much @scribophile for tagging me so I can play too!

I only have 3 one-shots and a stagnating WIP to my name but I do have favorites, so.

Cornerstone means a lot to me because it was the first time I'd felt moved to write fiction (fan or original) in over a decade. I have years (and two post-secondary degrees worth) of baggage around writing in the way that only 90s "gifted kids" who were actually just neurodivergent can, and being able to write fiction again after so much time and angst has been such a joy.

My favorite of the one-shots though is probably Ways of Wanting, which was literally just inspired by Ed's beautiful, beautiful neck and written in a flurry of thoughts and feelings about the sublimation of queer desire. What I love about it is that if Cornerstone was the roots a seemingly-dead tree defiantly bursting through concrete, then Ways is like the first green shoots of new growth to sprout from the tree's branches. It was fun to write but more than anything else it felt necessary, because I needed to see myself stretching beyond my limits and doing something new.

(I also really love the Birth of Venus image that popped into my head at the last second, and if that had been the only thing to come from having written the whole thing it would still feel worth it.)

Last of course is my historical-ish fantasy-ish WIP, From the Firmament, which I am going to finish, because there's nothing I hate more than breaking promises I've made to myself. Getting the chance to write something this self-indulgent has been so rewarding, especially because of how much it's reminded me that writing can be fun.

Now obviously, drafting chapter 3 has taken significantly more time than anticipated. Part of the problem is that Izzy, in typical fashion, elbowed his way into having a POV section that has been as unpleasant to write as the man himself is to be around (although I have to admit that some of the discomfort is creative growing pains).

But beyond Izzy, there are things about the storytelling process itself at this point that are dredging up a lot of my writing baggage in a way that writing the first two chapters didn't. For a few reasons Ed's POV always takes me the longest, and he's got the lion's share of this chapter's narration. And I definitely spent too long deciding which historical blurb should start the chapter, which kept me floundering for too long trying to build the chapter's basic skeleton. I'm also having to work through poet-brain perfectionism with some of the prose.

But I'm determined to finally learn these and other craft lessons I've been putting off for decades though, just as I'm determined to see this story through to the end.

(also I got laid off in June and sometimes feel guilty if I'm not spending every waking moment on job sites, which is a mistake but it makes writing fic harder than it needs to be. I'm working on it.)

I feel like this game has been going around long enough that almost everyone I would tag has already been tagged, but last time I checked I didn't see a post from @veeagainsttheday nor @tresdem? Both are incredibly skilled (and maybe more importantly, dedicated) writers who have made me cry repeatedly in the best ways possible, so even if they don't want to make their own posts you should still go read their gentlebeard work immediately.

[thevioletjones]

Listen, the DNC fucking nailed that convention so hard, I'm positive we're gonna win.

The party platform they laid out is immaculate. The stark contrast in messaging from that of the party of loveless, bigoted, weirdo, grifter, ghouls couldn't be more plain.

Somehow, in just 4 days, the Dems have officially become the party of family values, in addition to being the party of equality and inclusivity. It's actually surreal to those of us old enough to have slogged our way through many contentious election cycles and decades of hypocrytical myopic bullshit foisted upon us by old-fashioned post-Reagan conservatives.

The selection of Tim Walz as VP turned out to be masterful. Next to him, JD Vance looks even more pathetic and stupid than he already did. The men on the republican ticket are fundamentally incapable of acting like the informed, caring adults on the historic democratic ticket.

I'm disappointed in the youth on social media as usual. As an elder millennial progressive, I have always been further left than the tickets I've voted for and the administrations I've supported. Even my favorite politicians have done things I don't like or agree with. But that's the way it is. It's something we as voters and citizens do not have full control over and never will.

I believe in a free Palestine and I in no way condone the US involvement in supplying Israel with weapons in an unjust war. I also am not a fan of the barely disguised antisemitism that's permeating that cause, and I'm smart enough to know that the entirety of the conflict is much more complex than the last year's news cycle. You can seek out documentaries by credible news sources (like the excellent Vice News program previously aired on HBO and other cable channels) that detail bothe the history of Israel, the history of Palestinian struggles, and the history of the US relationship with Israel, and what that territory means to the different religious factions that want it for themselves (and how sects of Christianity have been indoctrinated into the cause of gaining it for themselves).

The thing is that this election isn't about that relationship or that conflict. It's not about anyone else's country. It's about ours.

I'm American, but I grew up in Venezuela. They just had a big election there that resulted in a steal from a dictator-like unpopular president. But unlike ee did with Trump the first time he lost, they can't actually get his ass out of the presidential palace. Chavez and Maduro have ruined that country with the same anti-democratic tactics that Trump would love to employ and pushed millions of citizens to emigrate from the country.

None of that is about the US either.

My point being, every country on this planet has it's own problems that for better or for worse, we have to largely leave in the hands of the citizens of those nations to resolve.

This is your opportunity to continue the slow correction of the path we've been on in America since Clinton and Obama. It's a slow march towards progress that keeps getting stymied and dragged back, then pushed a little bit forward again. These moderate liberals are the only vote we have that will ever possibly lead to a truly progressive hero and champion. You know, most likely someone in one of our generations.

Millenials and Gen Z have a lot in common, but as the older of the two, I'm telling you, only time and experience will prove to you that you can't have everything in one candidate or even an entire party, and wasting your ability to actually make a difference for noble ideals that won't make an actual difference to those lives you think you're trying to save is illogical.

Israel will not stop bombing Gaza because you sat out of a US election, or because you protested the DNC, or protest voted 3rd party.

Until the system is overhauled, there is no point in 3rd party voting. Of course we should have more than 2 options. We don't.

Anyway....... I am joyful this week.

I still can't believe Grandpa Joe actually got pushed out of the nomination. They are taking this swift shift to Kamala Harris and running Sha'Carri Richardson fast with it.

Get on board.

It's nice not to feel doomed all the time. I don't even care if it's partially an illusion. I know the alternative is a living nightmare that needs to end.

[navree]

Hey I think you made a post a while back that I just saw talking about an Augustus show and I would love to hear how you would breakdown his life season by season if you want to share of course!

lol I could probably do an episode by episode breakdown if you wanted, I just finished a vacation that contained multiple flights sans-WiFi, and staring out the window listening to music always engenders my creativity.

Season One: I'd actually start the story with Caesar's return to Rome after defeating Pompey with Cleopatra and Caesarion in tow, so when Octavian is around sixteen-seventeen years old. This season would cover things like Caesar's campaign in Hispania and Octavian's very storied journey there (shipwreck? treks through enemy territory? hell yeah), the situation surrounding Lucius Vipsanius and Octavian's role in saving his life, Octavian's increasing importance to Caesar, a burgeoning friendly familiarity between Octavian and Cleopatra, for foreshadowing purposes, that time Octavian made himself sick trying to organize smth for Caesar and nearly died and Caesar got super worried about it, and of course, the increasingly tense political situation in Rome. Caesar's assassination happens is the end point of the third to last episode (in a fashion, in my head the episode cuts off just before it starts, and the actual murder cold opens the second to last episode), with the final two episodes of the season dealing with the aftermath as the conspirators realize they do not have their shit together and, to everyone's shock and surprise, Caesar's will leaves almost everything to an eighteen year old Octavian, as well as the posthumous adoption. The through arcs here would be a lot of foreshadowing of things like the Ides of March, the future Cleopatra/Antony affair, the future change in dynamics between various factions (there'd be a lot of scenes between Caesar and some of the conspirators, and I've got vagueries about moments of positive interaction between Octavian and people like Antony and Brutus, along with that familiarity I mentioned before between him and Cleopatra). There'd also be a big focus on the emotional connection in the relationship between Caesar and Octavian, in order to really understand why everything shakes out the way that it does: it all comes back to the horror and grief engendered by Caesar's assassination in a boy who did see him as a father, who lost him without even getting a chance to say goodbye. Also, at some point this season, since I don't remember when it was actually supposed to happen historically, we'd get that bit where Octavian and his friends go to see a soothsayer or smth and the guy prostrates himself and starts ranting about Octavian and greatness and Apollo and the sun, cuz that's cool for a first season and again, foreshadowing.

Season Two: This season would cover a period of roughly a year and a half, from Octavian's return to Rome until the formation of the Second Triumvirate. You'd see the aftermath of Caesar's assassination, the way that the elites were on board with it but the actual common people were incredibly against (sorry to all the communist children online who think it's based to quote the same thing that John Wilkes Booth shouted after shooting Lincoln in the head for ending slavery). You'd also see the different factions forming within the pro-Caesar camp, as a large part of this season would be that first conflict between Antony and Octavian and them bitching at each other twenty-four seven. There'd be a lot of stuff with Octavian's relationship with Cicero (along with all that delicious dramatic irony from Cicero's writings where he talks about how Octavian won't be a problem and also totally loves him and it's all hunky-dory Cicero's gonna live forever), and the vibe would honestly be almost horror movie-esque. Because partway through the season comes things like the Siege of Mutina, and Octavian's first big moves for power that the Senate was not expecting, and the realization that 'oh shit, maybe Caesar's close relative who loved him isn't as okay with him being tremendously murdered as we all thought' (and also that bit about Octavian learning of the 'raised, praised, erased' quip and saying he has no intention of being erased). Two things would get major focus that I feel often don't: Juba and Atia. On the Juba front, I've talked about this before but Octavian did essentially take parental custody of Juba and raise him following the Ides of March, so the emotions behind that and what that meant for both of these people would definitely be something to explore. On the Atia front, I feel like I harp on this too much but it bears repeating, Atia died. Little over a year after Caesar did! Octavian was clearly dealing with the feelings involved in someone who was, for all intents and purposes, a father to him (since his stepdad certainly never filled that role), and then his own mother, who he seems to have had a complicated relationship with (she was clearly caring towards him to the point of being smothering but she also did not raise him for a good chunk of his formative years, sending him off to live with his grandmother while and she and her husband and Octavia played happy family), dies unexpectedly too, when Octavian is in a far more emotionally fraught position than he was during the Ides. Given that we don't know how Atia died, just that it was sudden, you can play around with the cause, make Octavian think that it was some kind of poison due to his own fears for his safety, see how that affects him and his decisionmaking. The season ends with the meetings that set the formation of the Second Triumvirate between Octavian, Lepidus, and Antony, with the Senate gobsmacked and Brutus and Cassius put on their heels by the alliance.

Season Three: To me, this is where you cover everything in the rest of the Liberator's War, and all the gore that entails. For example, the first chunk of the season is going to focus a LOT on the proscriptions. Don't pare down the violence of it, or the fact that it is a really Not Great thing to make kill lists of people you dislike so that you can also steal their wealth to fund your vengeance war. I'd hew closer to Suetonius when it comes to Octavian's personal feelings on it, that he was reluctant to start off with but once the plan gained momentum was equally as involved in persecuting their enemies as Antony and Lepidus were. But a special focus is gonna be given to one proscription: Cicero's. I'd go with the view that Octavian wasn't immediately on board, and that he did try to tell Antony that he wasn't gonna let him murder a retiree for his vendetta, but when it does happen, it is Octavian's decision. He's not browbeat or pressured into it, and while he does frame it as a gift to Antony, it's not necessarily a concession, given that Cicero was vocally anti Caesar and Octavian has not been shy about his hatred for the anti Caesar people. It'll be kept vague how bad/how remorseful he feels about it, whether it does affect him or not, though he'll at least find Fulvia's whole "stabbing the tongue" thing distasteful. The season also covers the battles of Philippi, the suicides of Brutus and Cassius, and Octavian's attempt to desecrate Brutus's body. Crucially, this is also the season we meet one Livia Drusilla. It's just a cameo, but given that her father was a noble patrician who fought on Brutus and Cassius's side and also committed suicide along with them, it allows us to introduce her and set her up, since literally every other important person in Octavian's life (Caesar, Agrippa, Octavia, Maeceanas, his mother) has already been introduced. And speaking of important people to Octavian, a major thread throughout the season is that a lot of Octavian's people are noticing that he's behaving differently than how they're used to. That something has changed, hardened, been embittered within him, that there's been a shift between the boy who asked for Lucius Vipsanius to be spared and the guy who is now demanding that Brutus's head be cut off from his corpse so he can nail it to a post in the Forum. It's part of a broader trend that'll get explored more in season 4, how death and grief can change a person (there's a reason my hypothetical Batman show I also have in my head starts with Jason Todd as Robin) and part of the overall series arc.

Season Four: Speaking of this season, this one is kinda gonna be more of a darkest hour story for Octavian. This season is one where a lot of focus is going to be put on Lucius Antonius's rebellion and Fulvia's War, and especially the siege of Perusia and what Octavian did after he ended it. We're going to see an Octavian who has theoretically done what he's supposed to, avenged Caesar and knowing that those mainly responsible for his death are dead, but he doesn't feel any better. He's not suddenly at peace, he's not healed, and as he's dealing with yet another threat to his personal safety, he kinda snaps a bit. It's very clearly over the top, burning a city to the ground and murdering three hundred surrendered prisoners of war as a specific religious sacrifice to your dead dad, and it is reacted to as such by most other characters. Lucius and Fulvia are freaked, Octavia and Philippus are freaked, Antony is freaked, even Agrippa is a bit wide eyed about it (but the fact that he's still with him through it, and might even have a scene defending it, feeds into Agrippa's overall arc of 'devoted to Octavian heart and soul' that's obviously gonna be there, because duh). We'd also see the betrayal of Rufus and how that affects him, and how merciless he is in the face of it, since again, darkest hour. This season will also tangentially cover the beginning of the affair between Antony and Cleopatra, since that does relate to Fulvia's War, but this ain't about them so it's peripheral. Antony's main input here comes in two things: the end of the season, where he and Octavian come to an accord with the Treaty of Brundisium and that peace, and the wedding of Antony to Octavian, and in the introduction of Herod. He's not a major character, but given Herod and Augustus were friends and reigned at similar times, Herod's journey to Rome in the aftermath of his father and brother's deaths will be when he and Octavian meet for the first time. I'd hint at the friendship by having Octavian give genuine condolences for the deaths of Herod's family members, though he's still leery of Antony's decision to unilaterally proclaim Herod as "King of the Jews". Also, more Livia cameos, including when she and her husband and Tiberius were allowed to come to Rome after Brundisium (cuz her family also fought in the Perusine War too, the Claudians were BAD at picking sides) and she and Octavian meet for the first time.

Season Five: One major thing that happens in this season, one of the most important things, is the birth of Julia. If Octavian has been on somewhat of a downward trend, emotionally, since season 1 and the assassination of Caesar, than this is where it starts going back up. Even though he's been raising Juba since season 2, he's still utterly gobsmacked that this baby is his baby, and that he can genuinely feel that amount of love for another person. Given that there was a Roman tradition of "give the newborn to the dad and ask if he wants to kill it or not" where the dad could kill the newborn for literally any reason at all, I find that Octavian immediately going "nah we're letting my baby girl live" when a daughter was functionally useless as an heir in Rome's misogynistic society worth exploring. And the exploration ties into another somewhat neglected trait of Octavian's, which is that he was deeply involved as a parent, incredibly personally involved in the raising of his daughter and his stepsons and his grandchildren. We've had it hinted at with him raising Juba, but having Julia is where it becomes a core part of his personality. And the emotions that come with having his daughter in his life, being receptive to having someone new to care about that wasn't grandfathered in from the Gaius Octavius Thurinus days, is what also allows him to be more emotionally receptive in marriage. The marriages to Claudia and Scribonia would be footnotes in prior seasons, and something he's not at all invested in beyond Scribonia's pregnancy and what that could mean for him, and that'll be a stark contrast to his relationship with Livia. I'll link to what I said here about Augustus and Livia, but that's the characterization I'd keep, that it's not love at first sight and they were both looking for material gains in the match, but there was an attraction and an affection that did become love. Politically, this season would also have the issues surrounding Sextus Pompey and his eventual defeat, including Agrippa building Octavian a lake, because that's just awesome, as well as Octavian ousting Lepidus from the Triumvirate and him and Antony reapportioning the Roman world between them, all while things heat up in the periphery between Antony and Cleopatra.

Season Six: The main arc this season is the disintegration of the Triumvirate, and the breakdown of the relationship between Antony and Octavian. We'd see a lot of the propaganda war between them, probably personally see the Donations of Alexandria, and see Octavian react to things like Antony's blatant disrespect of Octavia. It'd be two-fold for him, he clearly wanted the marriage to bait Antony into being an asshole towards his saintly sister and have the people turn against him, but he loves his sister, she's one of his closest relationships, and he despises Antony for mistreating her even if it serves him politically. It would become increasingly obvious that war is coming, practically inevitable, and then you have the moment where Octavian steals Antony's will. I'd have it be the ending of an episode where we get a lot of scenes of Antony and Cleopatra being mushy-gushy, to show that however good they are right now, it's not gonna last, some guy is breaking into deeply sacred religious buildings in order to fuck up your shit. The season would end with Octavian using the will to turn the Senate and people against Antony, and formally declare war on Cleopatra, as well as setting sail for the coasts of Greece for that final showdown.

Season Seven: It's all about the leadup to Actium babeyyyyy! I know it's not historically accurate but I'd have Octavian make landfall from Rome to Greece in Apollonia, which we haven't seen since season 1, to kind of show the whole "it was never gonna be any other way" vibe. The main tension of this season is, as mentioned, the buildup to Actium. The various battle skirmishes, penning in Antony's forces, the long sieging, the way that Antony's forces suffer, the constant desertions to Octavian, the various foreign factions involved including Herod (which Octavian is almost disappointed by) all of it. And there's a sense throughout all these episodes that everyone knows that this is kinda It. Whatever happens at this inevitable battle is going to set the stage for who controls the Roman world, that this is the final countdown, it's all been leading to this. I'd actually put in a few parallels between Antony and Cleopatra and Agrippa and Octavian, world leaders and the Roman generals devoted to them and all that (I don't think I'd go concretely romantic since this is meant to be history, but I'd toe the line as close as I could with Agrippa and Octavian, very touchy feely in private and openly expressive with each other in a way they are with no one else, the night before Actium's gonna have quite a long hug). And then there's Actium, our big setpiece battle, and that would take up an episode itself, and we know how that ends: Cleopatra and Antony fled, their forces were defeated, and Octavian won. The season ends with Antony and Cleopatra retreating back to Alexandria, while Octavian goes to deal with some mutinous soldiers before settling down for the winter, during which those soldiers reaffirm their loyalty and we get a sort of "oh yeah this is It" moment of victory. And given that this season is primarily a waiting game, this is where there'd be most of our flashbacks. There were always gonna be some, but most of them can fit here given the need for it, things like the death of his biological father, him speaking at his grandmother's funeral and getting noticed by Caesar, other times he's been dangerously ill as a kid, meeting Agrippa for the first time, to fill in space.

Season Eight: Final season! I didn't mean for the eight symbolism to show up, what with the eighth month named after him and "octo" meaning eight, but it shook out that way. This just covers the remainder, primarily land campaign, of the Last War of the Republic. Various leaders make obeisance to Octavian as he marches towards Alexandria, including Herod who makes a whole ordeal out of it to prove his loyalty (that might get an episode to itself, given the Herod and Octavian connection), all while Antony and Cleopatra try to stave off the inevitable. There'll even be a moment where they send Antony's son Antyllus as an envoy, and given that Antyllus was partially raised by Octavia, he and Octavian like each other, know each other, are friendly, but Antyllus maintains he's gonna stand by his father and Octavian is blunt in telling him what that could mean, given that he's an adult and his father's heir (foreshadowing). Eventually, we arrive at Alexandria, and we all know what happens. There's battles, Octavian wins, Cleopatra locks herself in her mausoleum and puts out a false rumor she's dead, Antony stabs himself and is brought to Cleopatra to die, Octavian conquers the city, Cleopatra and her children get taken into captivity. Cleopatra and Octavian have that moment that Plutarch wrote about where he visits her in her chambers, where they can reminisce on Caesar and their lives and all of it. Octavian's forces find Caesarion and bring him back to Alexandria, where he and Antyllus are both murdered (we're keeping the 'two Caesars is one too many' line I love it), while Octavian also crucifies Antyllus's executioner for stealing from his body, and then Cleopatra kills herself with an asp, after which Octavian allows the two lovers to be buried together. We have the "I came to see a king, not a row of corpses" line too, cuz I love that, and we might see an interaction between him and Cleopatra's remaining children, where he's formal but somewhat kind, and we will see him return back to Rome and his family (reunions with Maecenas, with Livia, with his sister, with his daughter, with his stepsons and nephews and nieces, all of it) utterly victorious and at the height of his power at this moment. However, the last two episodes are a time skip. In the second to last episode, it's 23 BC, he's now been renamed Augustus, he's basically god emperor of the world, but he's still thinking ahead. And at the end of the episode, he starts vomiting blood and collapses; it's that super dangerous illness he had that almost killed him, and since people think it was a liver problem, I get to use puking up blood. The finale is split between the real world, where people are frantically trying to heal him and he gives his papers to one guy while giving his signet ring to Agrippa in case he does die, and the dream world. In the dream world, an Augustus on the brink of death visits a lot of old haunts and old ghosts: his biological father, Atia, Brutus, Cicero, Rufus, Antony, Cleopatra, his grandmother, and Caesar. The Caesar reunion is gonna be very emotional for him, but also what convinces him he can't die yet; Caesar may be dead but he's not, and he's got so much more to do. He eventually wakes up, has reunions with his daughter and sister and wife, recuperates at Maecenas's house (because that was a real thing, when Augustus got sick he liked to go to Maecenas's house until he felt better that's a real thing he did, mr homebody who wants sleepovers with his friend until he feels well, I love him), has a moment with Agrippa. The last scene is probably gonna be him on some high ground overlooking Rome, probably making a comment that's a precursor to the "I found a city of clay and left a city of marble" that he said at the end of his life, and end show.

Emotionally, there's gonna be a lot of how Octavian felt about various things, what drove him to do certain acts, how people around him reacted to him and his decisions, and the development and evolution of relationships like with with family members, with friends, with allies, with enemies even. It would be as much a character study about the man as it would be a biographical dramatic narrative. And, well, I'd say that's the outline but this behemoth isn't even an outline. But that's how the Augustus show would go if I were given free reign and an unlimited budget and allowed to do whatever I wanted for as long as I wanted!

[spacerangersam]

Hello! Could you give me your personal thoughts/criticisms of each of the Button House ghosts' (from BBC Ghosts) costumes/outfits in detail please? Thanks!!

I feel like I should say, I don’t have a problem with most of the ghosts’ costumes. 

Julian’s is fine, I like the garters and the the fact that he’s wearing a striped pale blue shirt and a patterned tie rather than a plain white shirt and a plain red tie. I don’t like what happened to his hair over the course of the series, but I mean, the outfit itself is good.

Pat’s is great - I like his concept/piolet design just a little bit more just because of the green shorts and the rope thing he has around him which is an interesting little accessory - but otherwise, no notes, it’s a scoutmaster uniform, and the aviators are nice. Captain is also fine, I mean, they couldn’t really have mucked up his costume if they’d tried since he’s in a ww2 captains uniform, but point still stands. Robin is fine, it’s fur, it works, Mary’s is also quite nice, I like that’s it’s bright and colourful, and Humphrey's outfit is great, it really stands out against the other costumes because of how bright and bulky it is, and I'm glad they committed to the ruffle.

I legitimately love Annie’s outfit, the cap with the frills, the big fancy collar with the little details - it’s fairly simple but it looks great - Sophie knocks it out of the park with every outfit she wears, they’re all so beautiful, and Isabelle/Francis/Thomas’ outfits are all amazing (I have a soft spot for regency fashion tbh, and for Isabelle’s dress in particularly as a lover of green). The only thing I wish was that Thomas had kept the riding boots (I’m pretty sure he’s wearing them to the party) and the coat he wore to the party. But I also understand why both came off, I just thought they looked nice.

Really, my problem is just with Fanny and Kitty’s outfits.

I don’t know why, but Kitty’s outfit looks a bit cheap to me? I can’t explain it, maybe it’s the material used or something, but it does, and I really don’t like the dark colour scheme. A lot of the dresses I’ve seen from that era have a bit of a lighter colour scheme (though obviously not all of them do), and I really think a lighter colour scheme would really make her pop.  I mean, the other dresses she wears in flashbacks, while still a bit cheap looking, are so much prettier and do suit her so much better. The pink one, the blue one - she looks so lovely in them, and it’s a shame she didn’t get to have one of those as her death outfit. 

And Fanny’s outfit… God, I have a soft spot for Edwardian fashion too, and Fanny’s outfit is just so bad. Ignoring the fact that she dies at night so should be in her pyjamas, she has the wrong silhouette, her hair isn’t quite right either, not exactly the Gibson do it should be, I hate the colour, and putting aside historical accuracy, I just hate the dress, I think it’s fucking ugly  asdfgh. When I think of the Edwardian era, I think of those beautifully intricate white blouses and long white dresses, and I wish they’d put Fanny in one of those. She would have looked so much nicer, and not as if she (or one of her servants more like) accidentally put in a black sock with her washing and fucked up the colour.  

Like, I know they call her The Grey Lady, but I wish they’d let her wear white. They could’ve called her the lady in white, or the white lady, it would’ve been fine. If they wanted her to looked stuffy and old-fashioned, there were other ways to do it than giving her an ugly outfit that does not look like it should be worn by a Lady of the house. They could have given her a more Victorian-style dress or something, one that’s a bit outdated and shows how she’s still stuck in her ways. Just anything but that dress. Hell, they could’ve kept some of the grey by giving her a white blouse and a long grey skirt, that would’ve worked fine.

I wish I could like, show some examples but my internet is playing up and any time i try to click on a website it just reloads the page so...

[sanstropfremir]

Hello, A rover, A gambler, A libertine. I just wanted to say that I really love your blog and all the info you give on stage designing and outfit styling, and basically any other info you have to share about what work goes into making a performance/video look the way it looks. It's really informative and I always love food for brain so mwahhh thank youu.

That being said, I'm very new to the k-pop scene and even newer to being a SHINee fan, but I am already pretty deep down the hole and I absolutely adoreee them and your insight on them (specially Taemin) has made me appreciate them as artists sooooo much moree.

So if you don't mind could you share some thoughts about the Hard era styling? I would love to hear your thoughts on it!! I hope you're doing good <3

not the full government name slfjlskjdf you can just call me d! thank you for sticking around and reading 😊

as for the hard styling, i'm a fan! a lot of people have compared hard and dcm for various reasons (mostly negative ones bc they both are proving to be controversial shinee tracks) but i'm going use the comparison to talk about the styling bc i think the intentions were really similar, but hard was more effective. a thread that's been present in shinee's post military cbs is 'shinee twist on a modern industry trend', which is not a wrong way to go about anchoring cbs, especially since it does work as far as attracting new fans goes, but it does have a built in flaw where if the contemporaneous trends themselves don't have a strong thematic basis then............obviously trying to do any kind of twist on them takes a lot more conceptual work. this is the problem that dcm had; dcm was very much a 'look we can do what the kids do!' but what the kids were doing in late 2020/early 2021 was very formless and right before the crash of the 'fourth gen hardcore bg' trend, so it was a lot of disconnected but persistant loose threads from the entire fourth gen era that had culminated into a mush. so in the shinee's stylists' attempt to make some kind of sense of it they kinda also created a mush. but a different kind of mush. my hypothesis is that the stylists and creative team didn't want to commit seriously to a specific concept bc that wasn't on trend at the time, and so that's why dcm had several different promising ideas but then botched them all on the landing bc the creative team got cold feet about going against the grain for the first cb back in three years. personally i don't agree with their strategy bc there are a lot of flaws with dcm and the whole reality/fake reality concept ended up being racist when they could have very easily not done that, but the strategy DID work and it seems that the creative team were right about fans not being as interested in concept based cbs bc atlantis got paid dust. anyways.

how does this compare to hard? well, hard has the same ideological footing: shinee twist on a current trend. and the current trend this time is an actual concept! so already hard has an easier base to stand on because there IS something there thematically to work with. all the threads are very clearly anchored in the 'y2k' but the shinee twist is that it's more based in late 90s/early 00s hiphop, which is both sonically relevant and different from the hyperpop esque candy crush that a lot of the y2k stylings have become. the oversized shapes and loud logos are all prominent in early hiphop styling (and thus popular culture on a 5ish year delay), and elements like neon colours, layering unconventional garments together and repurposing military looks are all hallmarks of subculture fashion from the 00s, namely skater/emo/punk. the styling feels coherant and put together bc it's drawing from historical evidence (feels fucking WEIRD saying that about the 90s oof) and trends that did actually exist and were worn by real people. but of course with the typical kpop level of exaggeration, obvs.

[imjustabeanie]

hi there! this is for the matchup trade. i'd like to request a twisted wonderland matchup. please do not match me with the first years. my info is as follows: pronouns: she/her/they/them personality indicators: intj 5w4 ; melancholic-choleric signs: pisces sun / taurus rising / taurus moon hogwarts house: ravenclaw alignment: neutral good alignment

personality: studious, business-minded, tech-savvy, a little bit of a perfectionist, tends to overwork, stubbornly independent, calm and composed, intimidating at first glance (according to colleagues), reserved and extremely introverted, protective to loved ones, obedient and respectful to authorities but will not hesitate to call them out if necessary, blunt, idealistic, highly organised, loves to play video games or read and write books on spare time, passionate, tends to sing alone only when in the mood, drawn to mysterious, historical, gothic, and horror subjects

hobbies + likes: researching abandoned and haunted places, writing, reading, exams, stationery, business-related topics (esp finance), coffee shops, bookstores and libraries, electronic shops, technology, video games, dark royalty / dark academia aesthetic, classical literature, classical music, detective/crime/mystery/horror stories (esp. from 19th century), cats, history, listening and belting out to musicals when alone, greek mythology

dislikes: bugs, studying repetitive subjects without gaining new knowledge, failure to meet own expectations, unnecessary change

fashion choices: gothic, elegant, classic, vintage, and formal fashion styles

partner preference: someone gentle yet authoritative, smart/highly intelligent and has a lot of knowledge generally or on a certain subject

that's all, thank you!

Hi! As you know I've been having problems with tumblr for some reasons 🫠

About my matchup, here is my description link. Just....not leona or ruggie lol...

Here is your matchup! Enjoy!

I hesitated a lot between Vil and Jamil before finally settling on….Vil! Riddle was also considered lol. I didn’t choose Jamil because he’s too sly and secretive (hypocrite of me I know). He has very high standards and his character definitely isn’t for the weak. But you two would make a good match.

How you met: Okay, you two had a group project together. Since you’re both perfectionist and ambitious, you’d butt head a lot. He’d make snide remarks about your appearance and of course you’d retort. But in the end, you both make very good work together. In the start, you’d just be study buddies. But then he’d start giving you skin care and general appearance advices. Slowly you’d get to know each other’s and despite the difference in interests, you’re both eager to learn new skills. He’d keep up with you when talking about technology and business and would ask questions! Perhaps you could even propose some props for the movie club. He’s definitely knowledgeable on books and would gladly discuss them with you. This would take time as you’re an introvert and you don’t have much in common. But in the end, if you see him for who he is and treat him nicely, you can definitely tell that he’s softer on you than the rest. He’s gonna be annoyingly strict but it’s his way of showing that he cares. Your frequent appearance in his daily life (and perhaps rooks teasing) will prompt him to suddenly ask you out on a friendly movie date. Spoiler alert, he’s gonna criticize the whole movie.

In a relationship: Both of you will learn a lot from each other. You’ll learn a lot of insides about the entertainment industry. He’ll also push you to always look your best so I hope you’re not too sensitive. Because he’s as if not more blunt then you. The truth is his way of caring. He loves that you’re organized, ambitious, studious and a perfectionist. Because it means you always strive to do better just like him. He enjoys hearing you sing and will personally coach you if you want. I think that with you, he’d also learn to loosen up and enjoy a good game. Your hunger for knowledge is nice and he’d often give you books he thinks you’d enjoy. If you were to ramble about history he’d be here to listen. I can just imagine him doing a mask or make up and you passionately talking. He’ll definitely have a soft smile on his face at this moment. For your aesthetic, he’d make the effort to find fitting outfits for both of you. Vil is the to go to guy concerning fashion. He can easily switch or fuse them. I can imagine both of you trying out different combinaisons (and rook taking sneaky pictures). Vil isn’t much for horror or mystery but will make the effort for you. Everyone enjoys a good true crime, but excessive gore isn’t his thing. He’s more in refined crimes if we can say that. Good luck convincing him to get a cat, he’d fear for his looks lol. Him caring about you and loving you is shown in his effort to share your hobbies. He’d also take you on expensive dates and show you his world. It will take him time to open up with you, but you can expect a loving and long relationship if you get past the struggles. Getting with him will direct the paparazzi and his fans on you. He’ll try to hide you at first (it can spark arguments depending on your character), but it will get discovered eventually. His fans will make very good comments. The pressure can be too much with someone like him, even when he defends you and insults your bullies. If you get past this and can handle it will be a very loving relationship. The power couple lol. He’ll even take you to some of his shootings and always expect your critics and compliments on his roles. To him, you’re his muse even if it takes him time to admit it.

[sleepymarmot]

Bright Young Things (2003) / Vile Bodies (1930)

Yes, yes, of course I watched this for young gay Michael Sheen.

For real, the main entertainment factor of this film is embodying the Leo pointing meme every time a familiar face shows up on screen. At some point a certain someone appeared in an incidental role for a few seconds in a close-up next to Tennant and I completely fucking lost it. The UK can’t possibly have so few actors!

I’ve never even heard of the book this was based on, or was aware this was an adaptation before being informed in the opening titles, but it’s very noticeable. The script frantically jumps from plot point to plot point just like in any other feature film that tries to cram a novel in less than two hours of runtime. A bigger problem is that it’s not very clear to the viewer whether they should even try to make out a plot out of this string of scenes, or it’s a narrative that operates on vibes only. (I had to quickly leaf through previous scenes because I’d put a name to a wrong face, all while wondering if correcting myself was even worth it.) The film has a boisterous beginning, then slows down for a long time, then is given a shot of energy when James McAvoy’s character does a certain big thing halfway through (I cheered. Then I went “Oh man :/”). The plot does get a bit more coherent after that.

The ending caught me by surprise: I didn’t realize it was that late in the thirties. The radio announcement was a real “Guess he’ll die” moment, and it was immediately followed by a scene where the main character and his love interest seemed to poetically die on the same day… And then both of these were swiftly undone. The final scene was so conspicuously set during an air raid in a room filled with burning candles that I kept expecting the final frame to be a bomb hitting the building, or someone knocking over one of the candles — either way, with the pair being set ablaze just like the rediscovered manuscript. But no, it was just… a happy/bittersweet melodramatic ending? Instead of a neat destructive one? But I had already given up on the emotionally involved melodramatic mode of viewing because I’d written off the characters as unlikeable empty shells whom you study like a bug instead of rooting for! The girl didn’t even seem to like the boy and the boy sold her, what kind of emotion was their reunion supposed to evoke? And what happened to Agatha and Miles during/after the war? According to the summary on Wikipedia, the original novel’s ending is entirely different in content and tone, and much more in tune with the detached cynicism of the story up to the war, which makes me wonder even more about the adaptation’s intent.

It was nice to look at all these pretty people in fashionable clothes, and get a glimpse of a foreign historical setting. “Watching a random mildly obscure production because you’ve heard about it online and/or some star was in it” is a familiar, semi-forgotten experience, and that felt pleasantly nostalgic.

---

Of course, I couldn’t resist immediately reading the original book to compare, encouraged by a review saying that it’s actually not that long. I found a public domain version somewhere and read the bare original text without commentary, even though I’m sure it’s a terrible way to consume century-old satire.

I was surprised to discover that the book is from 1930 — and still ends with a great war (fictional, I assume). No wonder the adaptation moved the setting a decade forward!

My impression that the characters and their stories were supposed evoke curiosity and contempt rather than compassion was confirmed. I now find the shoehorned sappy ending even stranger. The film version turned out to be very faithful otherwise: the unimportant events and characters are condensed well, and the weird pacing and disjointedness that I perceived as a trait of sloppy adaptation were actually true to the source material.

The last chapters of the book feel different not because of the sudden bleakness, but because the scope is rapidly narrowed to the few main characters, and most of the secondary subplots are dropped. The book, unlike the adaptation, puts a definite end to Agatha’s story (and her life), and there’s an entire subplot about a fictional film that didn’t make it to the real film, but what about the Prime Minister and his unsuccessful courtship of a Japanese noblewoman, or Miles’ brother and his rejected proposal? I thought these were going somewhere.

What a shame that the misunderstanding about “shooting” didn’t make it to the adaptation — it’s one of the few passages in the novel I found genuinely funny. Speaking of dialogue, I thought the “parties” monologue in the film was very unnatural and theatrical, and sure, in the novel it’s not said aloud but belongs to the narrator.

The minor character who hosted the fateful party was in the novel actually, uhh, a major character from the writer’s previous novel who made money via human trafficking?? That would have been very confusing for the movie’s audience, so I think it was pretty clever to throw all that out and make her Miles’ mother instead. Too bad a more serious take on Miles warranted a new surname: “Miles Malpractice” is a great name.

Miles’ role was expanded a lot for the film, which I think we all agree was a good choice. Most of his lines in the movie, including the tearful goodbye, aren’t in the book at all! So that’s another thing that was made more dramatic for the film. You win some (Miles), you lose some (the ending). The moral of the story is… Stephen Fry is better at writing a gay character than a straight romance? No wonder; the question is why he even bothered with the latter.

[rosaliesimp]

The Cullens: Secret Santa

did i mean to post this over 72 hours ago? yes. but am i going to wait a whole year to post it? no.

Secret Santa

Bella

Bella is always very careful not to ask Edward who has her. Knowing him, he’d tell her in a heartbeat. If she manages to decode who has her name, she’ll shield them to keep the gift a secret. She hates when Edward spoils it, but after joining the coven officially, he’s found it difficult to keep secrets.

Edward rigged it the first year, and gave Bella her truck back as the gift. She drives around at a comfortable 30 miles-per-hour in her beat up truck, though it took a lot of testing on old junk cars before she could get her strength under control. Usually, though, she receives comfy clothes.

Edward

Edward’s name is pulled by Bella every year. It’s not a secret, but at least the gift is! At least… she thinks so. Edward usually claims he never guessed, but somewhere between buying the gift and wrapping it, he’s accidentally spoiled himself by listening in on someone accidentally thinking about it. After the first year, when he purposefully spoiled it, and saw the look on Bella’s face, he vowed to never do it again.

Nobody ever knows what he’s going to get, but somehow, he always likes it. Mostly because it’s from Bella.

Alice

Whoever gets Alice ends up turning to the pack for help. The first year, she tried to spy, and was very unhappy to see that she couldn’t see. The gift is usually kept with them until the very last second. Alice has a lot of fun seeing what it is the moment it leaves their hands.

They like buying her old, intricate things. She considers herself to be a woman of high fashion, hence, the several old aristocratic dresses in her closet. Jasper got her one that she loves so much, she doesn’t even let anyone touch it. However, one year, someone bought her a boutique. It was difficult to be so ambiguous, but she didn’t guess. She runs it on the side, now that there aren’t any more Cullen-controversies.

Jasper

Jasper is bound to get some sort of historical item. He usually deduces who has his name, and enjoys worming his way in to the shopping trips. He usually lurks around, just taking in what his Secret Santa is feeling. He will laugh if they’re having trouble, but usually drops a couple hints if it’s Bella, since she hasn’t known him as long.

Most often, they buy him a historical book, and watch him go through, marking all the inaccurate pieces of information with a red sharpie. One year, he was given a large diary of empty pages, and was allowed to forge a historical artifact for the sake of easing his anger. It now resides in a very large museum.

Emmett

Emmett is a little difficult for people to buy for, but in the end, he likes whatever he’s given. He tries his best to take it seriously, since it’s supposed to be a secret and all, but after watching Jasper guess every year who has his name, he’s made it almost a competition to guess who has Jasper's name before Jasper can get to it. He never guesses who has his name, though.

Most of the time, people buy him experiences. He’s gone to several, several, several trampoline parks. He’s also broken several, several, several trampolines. Part of the gift is allowing him to be a little bit reckless.

Rosalie

Rosalie secretly enjoys Secret Santa. Of course, she’s less than elated when she pulls Edward’s name, but still ends up buying him something he’ll like. She also is very good at determining who has her name, as they’ll make an effort to speak to her a little more. It’s obvious, but she never points it out. Sometimes, Alice will tell her that her Secret Santa is having problems, and Rose, being who she is, will stare them down a bit, watching them (hypothetically) sweat

She either receives a whole car (often something disassembled as a fixer-upper), or some nice perfume. People are never really sure what to buy her, but she appreciates what she’s given.

Esme

Esme never guesses who has her. She tries her best not to even think about it, because she takes it very seriously. She spends a lot of time on the gift, and most often, it’s something handmade, along with something the recipient will definitely enjoy. Of course, everyone enjoys Esme’s scarves, but they can’t really get cold, so it’s best to give something with utility as well

She usually is given homemade items in return. One year, Alice made everyone matching sweaters for Esme and the rest to wear together. On Rosalie’s request, Edward’s was made of an itchy fabric, just to humor her for a change.

Carlisle

Carlisle is always slightly disappointed when he doesn’t pull Esme’s name, but he always buys her a gift anyway, so it’s fine in his book. He takes it very seriously as well, but he often finds himself talking to others about what he should give.

Often, he receives something silly, like a ‘#1 Dad’ mug, or a ‘Kiss the Cook’ apron. Occasionally, he’ll get a bushel of apples to give to his patients as a joke. But, once in a blue moon, he’ll get something incredibly precious to him, and, while he will keep the item at home, he’ll bring something that reminds him of it to work.

[nyc-on-tv]

The Man (and People) Who Tried to Sell the World: Mad Men

In 2018, I started grad school and I started Mad Men. This wasn’t my first time watching, or to be clear, it wasn’t my first time trying to watch it. I tried for five years prior to that. But like many people who don’t venture into older media, I found it hard to get into because it was a period drama (which is funny because most people think of corsets and top hats and old British people talking as period dramas, but its really anything that takes place in another time). Mad Men was in a time I would never live in and felt outdated. But I think that initial mentality was my youthful outlook making me think I could never understand the appeal of the past (despite the fact that I love music from the 80’s and other generations that I was not a part of). It’s just a show about the 60s. But like the show’s deuteragonist Peggy, I had to try something different, and it really helped me. I chose to watch it as a character study for everyone involved. I found myself making mental checklists of how I wanted each character to grow if I was gonna keep watching and with that perspective the show kept getting better.

The show takes place in 60’s Manhattan at what I imagine was the height of advertising (I haven’t investigated the truth in that perspective). Companies were booming, creativity was on the rise, and the future was Coming with a capital C for everyone but Don Draper.

Don Draper, as an aside, was the real man of myth and legend in the show, we saw him coming to grips with his identity, making himself his biggest advertising challenge to sell himself the world. And what I mean by that is every move this man makes is calculated so he can achieve what he deems the life a white man like him should want. But, later on, in the back of his mind we can see he struggles with a multi-layered imposter syndrome that no one can really help him with (which as a new grad student, imposter syndrome was a wildly familiar feeling). Because of his status and problems (often caused by himself), every decision he makes changes the course of the show, granted he is the protagonist but truly getting to see how his actions affect everyone else makes watching everyone else a bit more interesting. In my mind, it actually makes watching the show for Peggy Olson the better watch than for Don Draper. Peggy starts as his first assistant in the show and becomes an astronaut of

advertising due, in part, to how Don molds her and guides her, but later as a character independent of him.

The show really takes advantage of its 1960’s setting to show off 60’s fashion, food, and New York culture. Unfortunately, the show also emphasizes civil rights issues of the time and (rampant, as my girlfriend likes to say) misogyny are also highlighted in 1960’s U.S. culture. I say unfortunately because these aren’t moments in our history, we like to revisit because of how much wrongdoing occurred to women and/or people of color. But really, I think, revisiting such moments emphasizes why changes in society are important even if it takes long to get there. This show takes place during the assassinations and rallies of important historical figures and it’s interesting to see how the characters react to (or ignore) such events. It’s also important to imagine how we would react if certain figures we looked up to came and went in our lifetimes.

Overall, this show is a character study I enjoy revisiting... because I see it as an era where people truly started questioning changing things for the better and how advertising can be a reflection of it.

(Speaking of changes, this post was proofread and partially editted by my partner. Her grammar and diction help to articulate my initial thoughts behind this post.)

[more-than-a-princess]

@quickdeaths asked: [ cherry ] what is one thing you love about yourself? + [ canary ] do you have pets? if yes, how many and what? + [ olive ] what gives you the most inspiration for your muse(s)? + [ mauve ] give one random headcanon about your muse / one of your muses.

Colourful Interview (Munday meme) - Accepting!

[ cherry ] what is one thing you love about yourself?

These questions are never my favorite because it's awkward to brag about anything in my family unless it is professional/career success, but in contrast to a lot of my extended family, I'm very determined to succeed that way but on my own terms. A lot of my family rests on their laurels, so to speak, and feels they don't really have to work hard to be well-off and successful. But I've worked my way from the ground up at my job and while I'm not satisfied with where I'm at right now (and can do much better), I can still say I did it myself.

This is in contrast to extended family members being terribly puzzled why I simply can't 'summer in Tuscany' this year, or spend all of fall exploring wineries throughout France. No, I have a full-time job with health insurance, a 401k, and limited days off but I've earned them with my own hard work. And I'm proud of that (and used zero parental connections to get hired in the first place).

And in a slightly vain love: my fashion sense is on point and my friends know that if they want my opinion, I will not sugarcoat it for them. It's not easy to dress a plus-sized body with decent fabrics, cuts meant for my size, and not have it look like a fast fashion disaster or something a retiree might wear.

[ olive ] what gives you the most inspiration for your muse(s)?

Probably the best answer is what doesn't give me inspiration for my muses? Ha. And it's mostly things like fantasy literature/TV/movies (Game of Thrones would be the obvious example, but other things similar to that), video games, and most anime/manga interpretations of royalty. While they're fun to read, they don't really help cultivate the vibe I've always wanted to write for Sonia and her family, which has always been rooted in historical fiction, biographies, documentaries, contemporary fiction of royalty and upper classes in general, and news/current events. Not that there's anything wrong with the fantasy royal route: it's just not my thing.

But otherwise here's a few things:

Books: From classics written by Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Edith Wharton to more contemporary offerings from Dominick Dunne, Julian Fellowes, Tom Wolfe, and Kevin Kwan...I read. A lot. And beyond romance novels of all sorts, rich and/or royal problems are my particular literary interest. Ironically, the reading list that the character Corinna provides Kitty Pong Mrs. Bernard Tai in China Rich Girlfriend as part of her 'Appeal to old Hong Kong money crash course' is a good start. (Mild spoiler for book series that's been out for years, but still)

TV/Movies: Split between historical dramas (of comedic and less-comedic varieties), documentaries, and contemporary dramas most of the time. Considering how both quiet luxury and mocking the super rich are both trending right now (ahead of the likely recession), it's hard not to watch things like The Menu, The White Lotus, and Succession for some inspiration. Otherwise, everything from Downton Abbey, Bridgerton, The Gilded Age, and The Great to The Royals, Gossip Girl, Elite, and The Crown is up for fair game. I watch some Asian dramas too, but often more contemporary than historical for inspo. And plenty of royal documentaries (and I'll probably be watching King Charles III's coronation live, too).

Publications: Tatler (and I've mentioned it IC, too!), Town and Country, and Vanity Fair especially. But I look over gossip magazines as well for scandal inspiration.

Royal websites and social media: Yup. These too, for a variety of royals. Great for checking out social diaries, charity ideas, etc. For the fan questions Sonia and her family are asked? I follow royal confession and shitpost accounts for inspo. I had no idea there were so many people who diligently tracked when and where pieces of various crown jewel collections are worn, but they exist.

Real life: And finally, some of my ideas/plots/headcanons come from people and situations I know and/or experience personally.

[ mauve ] give one random headcanon about your muse / one of your muses.

Going to piggyback off the last question for this, but one of my headcanons for Sonia's younger cousin Sam (Prince Samuel of Novoselic. His father, Prince Arthur, is the King's younger brother. And a duke in his own right, alongside being a giant headache for a lot of people, Sam included) is that he learned how to fly a plane before he learned how to drive a car. This was an acceptable hobby growing up for him, as it would allow him to serve in the national air force for mandatory service required of all Novosonian royal men. But mostly, he wanted to learn because he could blissfully block out all of the family stress and squabbles thousands of kilometers in the air.

In the clouds, no one cares about the royal line of succession, net worth, who's who in the peerage, who went to which school and knows which person, who runs which charity, etc.

It's just him (and an instructor, and a bodyguard), the controls, and the sky.

This headcanon and the reasoning for it are based off of someone I know very well, and while they don't know I included this in one of my OCs for Sonia's family (hell, they don't even know I RP), I'm happy to honor them in this way.

Maybe after I eventually write the whole "Royal Residences" headcanon post I should work on a Sonia's family tree headcanon post

[ canary ] do you have pets? if yes, how many and what?

Ah yes, time to pay the pet tax!

Yes, I have one cat of my own. This is Molly, aka. Princess Molly, the true ruler of the house and my life.

She is a formerly feral buff tabby tuxedo girl, thus the notched ear. A rescue organization saved her from a cat colony when she was six months old, holding her own against a bunch of adult cats. I knew she was the cat for me at adoption day when she tucked herself into my arms and hissed at kittens and human children alike.

I like kittens, but I've got no interest in having human children of my own, so we really are kindred spirits.

Molly enjoys: sunny spots, windows, seafood feast, chicken feast (but only if the chunks are mushed up by me or my husband with a fork before presenting it to her. She doesn't like the pureed version: only the chunks but further pureed by hand), quiet, solitude, sitting on my belly while I read, watching the electric kettle come to a boil, my leather shoes and handbags (the higher the quality, the better to rub her face on), heated blankets, watching British dramas, grooming herself and her parents, sleep, ordering her mother and father around.

Molly dislikes: noise, anyone besides her mother and father entering the house, when her mother and/or father leave the house (they may not be coming back!), closing the bathroom door so she can't supervise shower and/or toilet time, stompy feet, salmon, turkey, coughing, sneezing, other cats, dogs, children of all sorts, people, cleaning her perch mats, when her catnip toys lose their flavor, and Amazon Alexa.

[twinklecupcake]

Tell us about Chenguang and Bell! What are their hobbies? Best school subjects? favorite game to either play with friends or rope their adult figures into?

Hobbies

Chenguang had something of a reputation at her daycare, because she was the kid who wanted to do everything. And that stays with her through most of her childhood. She’s a very active kid, though, so gradually she starts to shift towards more physical activities, but she’s undecided which one she wants to go for.

She’s that kid on the playground who starts screaming and running as soon as her feet touch the ground, and 9 times out of 10 she’s going to see something cool and then take off to investigate it. Her ‘explorer’ games have led her off school grounds multiple times…

Which nicely segues into her school subjects…

And of course, when she’s old enough to reach the knobs on the stove without a stool, she learns to cook. It’s a great way for her to relax.

Bell on the other hand is more delicate and quiet. She’s the kid who likes tea ceremony, paper dolls, and sketching. She’s very good at sitting quietly with those tasks, to the point where a lot of the time adults forget she’s even in the room.

As she grows older she starts to get a taste for historical dramas; initially interested in the fashions and the royals, she sloooowly starts to get invested in the political intrigue, chiming in with her own ideas of what the emperor ought to do and why this alliance would be better in the long term.

School

…Chenguang’s best subjects are, without question, Sports and Natural Science. She’s one of her class’s best runners, and she loves learning about animals, bugs, plants, etc.

Chenguang loves learning in general though, it’s hard to find a subject she doesn’t just latch onto and devour.

You might think this means she has trouble sitting still, but surprisingly not.

Bell, as it turns out, loves science as well. When Syntax had to sit for her, she’d often watch him work, and since she didn’t bother him and let him finish quickly (and because okay, darn it, the little bug is growing on him), he would usually be like “Okay, now that that’s finished… Do you want to learn how volcanoes work?”

And that’s how Huntsman found them going all ‘mad scientist’ over a tinfoil volcano with baking soda and red dye, Syntax asking “Okay, now how did this happen?” “The baking soda and the vinegar react when combined, because…!”

(And if you don’t think Syntax isn’t a little bit smug about how Bell prefers what he can teach her, you’re wrong.)

Bell also gets super into history, and as she grows older, forms an interest in fashion design.

Favorite Games/Activity

Chenguang can and will rope you into her pretend games about exploring a new land or traveling to fight a legendary monster. No, that’s no ice cream truck, that’s an ice cream monster, we gotta catch it!

She also will rope adults into hide-and-seek… by not telling them she’s playing, simply hiding somewhere and waiting to be found. It’s caused numerous moments of panic.

Bell will drag people into tea parties.

Huntsman is frustrated by this the first time he’s made to do it but perks up considerably when the kid lowers her teacup, adjusts her paper crown, and declares in her best Princess Voice “I have a problem with the Centipede Kingdom and need your advice.”

When she gets older and discovers her interest in fashion, she makes everyone stand still so she can measure them and figure out some new clothes. This is gently indulged until it turns out that no, she actually made something really good, then it’s like “....holy shit.”

[onewomancitadel]

Sorry this is going to be somewhat of an inflammatory post (really saying something) but I really don't think that Jaune/Pyrrha or Ruby/Penny or any other marked loss in the story is literally Ozlem in the sense it's a romance. If they were actually textual endgame true love forever romances, that is the way I think Ozlem is, then it would be really sad and not Ozlem actually redeemed which is the whole point.

I don't think this is a story where you lose your true love and just have to move on, and I think true love exists in the story. It's idealistic, fairytales are real (and all the struggles related therein), relationships are not based on the vagaries of real life, it's a heightened story. I think what they want to do is explore pain and loss but it's done so in a still yet heightened way (like, no one in real life is going to age several decades waiting for his friends to come back) and in a way that leaves room for redemption.

If the answer were just Jaune moves on, say, from his initial romance, then that effectively implies it's what Salem should have done (just move on) which sets up the wrong resolution where I'm otherwise expecting Salem and Ozma to meet and reconcile again. This is high-stakes romance, the injustice is that Ozma's been tasked to fight her.

I historically fucking hated encountering posts from people like 'oh Jaune can just move on, he can be with [insert arbitrary female character here]' under the guise of mature commentary; I unironically prefer Jaune/Pyrrha being actual textual endgame romance suffering-forever type business if they had done that because it would've been more idealistic and interesting. If that makes people uncomfortable so be it, but I really hate the idea that romantic love in storytelling is just kind of a cursory experience and not important. It's the exact same ideology that justifies weaksauce romances in action films with female characters as narrative boon. It can't be arbitrary because it's storytelling.

There has to be some reason to build these ideas up in a particular fashion, and when it comes to Ozlem in particular, there's nothing really powerful about Jaune/Cinder as redeemed Ozlem if he already had an Ozlem romance, because then you're basically making Cinder the goldfish replacement. I wouldn't be happy about that as a Knightfall shipper or if I were a Jaune/Pyrrha shipper.

And I mean, for the people who want to do the song and dance that platonic connections matter too - yes, I agree - which is exactly what still manages to make the connections with Pyrrha and Penny (and the rest of them) powerful whilst leaving room for romantic redemption. The problem is that 'different' is interpreted to mean 'better', and just because romantic love realises different things in a story doesn't mean it's 'superior'; it is superior for what it's good at. If we're speaking textually, basically everything I have said here does support that.

I guess this really circles back around to a type of narrative cynicism (and a cynicism about romantic love) which proliferates online, and of course fanon which dominates the conversation. I know I could still be proven wrong, and I don't have a problem with that, but I do bemoan the opportunity for something more interesting to be explored. The idea that Ozlem can't just be solved by Salem going to a self-help course is far more interesting to me, but then we're starting to talk about what the point of storytelling is.

[silurisanguine]

Victorian working women wore corsets whilst doing all their chores and daily activities, but they were designed for full range of movement, often replacing boning in areas with heavy cording that acted the same in terms of holding things in, but gave full movement. (I would kill to have one of those made). These supported their backs in ways we could appreciate today! There were even pregnancy corsets that helped a woman prevent a lot of back problems. My custom made corsets were heavenly. They fitted me like a glove, supported my large chest thanks to gore paneling and I could wear them all day without feeling any discomfort, unlike many bras i wear now. They were fully steel boned, with a majority of spring, plus solid at the back with a spoon busk at the front which was curved to give a more natural silhouette than those plank straight front types you see on fashion corsets. (though you can carefully bend those straight busks to be more flattering and natural. I've done that on a few OTP corsets I own).

Now i wear good quality OTP or Off the peg corsets (mostly underbust) and they can be comfortable if you know how to measure yourself to one and find a shape that works with your anatomy. If you have a short torso, long line corsets wont work and visa versa. Many cheaper fashion corsets use a 'modern' conical silhouette which gives a gentle waist cinch, but tends to press on the rib cage. An hourglass corset that cups the ribs and seems to have a more severe waist cinch can actually be far more comfortable, though it depends on your anatomy. An athletic torso with little bodyfat might find the modern conical shape more comfortable than a larger person who'd prefer the hourglass shape. See Timeless Trends Corsets for the variations available and a great example of a good OTP corset company. Avoid any corset company that sells corsets by standard clothing sizes - 10/12/14. Those are bad and will not do anything for you. You need corsets that are sold by waist measurements and you go for a size 2 to 4 inches smaller than your natural waist size. (eg if you have a 28" waist go for a 24 or 26" corset.) Avoid plastic boning, unless it specifically states it is synthetic whalebone that is used in historical replica corsetry. That is very different to the plastic in cheap corsets that will warp out of shape and cause pain to the wearer after a while. It will also have little to no support.

The corset above was a mass produced fashion corset that had too many flat steels that I swapped for springs and it instantly became more comfortable to wear, also giving a better waist reduction cinch. You can even get specialist dancers corsets with built in stretchy side panels for full range of leg movement! Badly made mass produced modern corsets cause a lot of the problems with people's perceptions, but the other issue is all the negative press about corsets from media. From 'documentaries' that try to prove historical corsets harmed people, using ill fitting corsets on models that of course are going to cause pain and citing studies that have been proven false. (See Lucy Corsetry for a deep dive into negative press on corsets.) Shows such as Brigerton have women from the damn regency period in full length late victorian shaped modern corsets! (regency wore very different type of long line 'corset' or half stays, that looked more like long line modern day bras.) And those corsets are not made for the actresses like they used to be for high end films. So again of course the actresses are going to complain about being uncomfortable in them.

I love my corsets and find them to be incredibly comfortable to wear because their cut works with my body shape, are the correct size for me and made with good quality construction. I can wear one all day and find i have far less back pain at the end of the day than if i didn't have one on. I swear by them at conventions when I'm on my feet nearly all day in costume.

"corsets are a barbaric painful tool of the patriarchy" says the era with sitting down pants and waist trainers and push up bras and brazilian butt lifts and preventative botox and full coverage foundation and no makeup makeup and full body waxing and and and and