#christy-ine

[ohmy-zabrak]

Hello!

I saw your post on the rory mccann tags, and I hope you dont lose heart to keep creating and keeping up with him as an actor! I admit myself that I dont use tumblr massively, more so just pop in to check in on some of my fav tags (rory!) I totally understand your rant though, I find it can be a bit of an intimidating place and I dont think its wrong to want to see him in bigger roles, to celebrate his potential.

Anyhow, just wanted to say hello and hope you're okay! Feel free to message for chat any time :)

Hi!

This message was such a sweet thing to login to 🥺. (I was expecting smth less than wholesome in my ask box...so this was a pleasant surprise!)

I'm the same way with the fanbase. When I watched Got years ago, I realized how big the fan base was for Rory, saw some of the stuff and just kinda...kept my distance because it was intimidating 😅. Now it's just occasional checking but even so I've seen my fair share of rabid fans(granted most of it was aimed at other people! But still)

I definitely am going to try to not let it cloud how I see him 💕 (followed you back on my main :) )

[veryobsessedchild]

🦋Christi-i-i-i-ine🦋

I’m kinda proud of this one. I came up with the whole outfit by myself:) Her face is a wee bit silly but like, it’s Christine so just go with it.

[anti-bright-places]

The only character I will ever accept this message from

May The 4th Be With You.

[barbielore]

In 1996, Barbie joined the WNBA, with her friends Christie, Teresa and Kira.

These were articulated dolls who could "really shoot & pass" by means of a button on her back that would make her throw the ball. The box also contained info about current (at the time of release) WNBA players.

Well, I say "players", but every box I've seen just has Rebecca Lobo, so I am not sure if there were others. Perhaps every girl who had these dolls just learned about Rebecca Lobo's taste in movies. However, if it was just Rebecca Lobo - she's a good pick! She was one of the original WNBA players, and the youngest member of the gold medal winning women's Olympic team.

The WNBA was not the only place Barbie played basketball - there was also a series of tie-in Barbies for various NBA teams.

These were released across 1998 and 1999 and there were multiple tie-ins for each team. I know very little about NBA teams, but I can't help but notice that on the secondary market some of these dolls are going for multiple hundreds of dollars, while others are significantly cheaper.

One of these listings above was 33 times the price of the other, per doll.

[always-outlander]

Outlander 7x02 Thoughts & Easter Eggs

Spoilers below the cut for “The Happiest Place on Earth”

Wow, what an episode! There’s so much to unpack here but I will start by saying that I deeply enjoyed this one. A lot of direct from the book dialogue, some plot that was reworked and-in my opinion-for the better. Brilliant acting by many but especially Sam and Cait. It had a lot squeezed into it but let’s get into it.

Alan Christie

To start, we finally had the resolution for Malva and learned that Alan not only assaulted and abused her for her entire life, but was also the one who killed her. This was such a sensitive storyline and to have those flash backs with Malva made me emotional. Jessica Reynolds is a wonderful actress and her Malva was perfect. This scene was the first one I could feel the pain point of having to end season 6 prematurely. The gap between Malva’s death, followed by the hiatus, to now reach the culmination here almost made the impact of Malva’s death take a back seat to the beginning of these new storylines. You can feel that 7x01 and 02 were meant to be a part of that ending, but what can you do 🤷🏻‍♀️ that’s me being nit picky.

But back to Alan. This was almost exactly what happened in the books and I was happy that Young Ian made such a brief appearance. That spacing between episodes likely made people forget that he had a little romance happening with Malva, but his honor once again rang true with his actions here.

Major continuity error with Claire’s wig though– only when she is burying Alan does her hair grow 3 inches, then magically is cut again for the remainder of the episode.

Mrs Bug

Book readers know the upcoming storyline with Mrs. Bug, and we set the foundations this episode when Wendigo and his men come to the Big House in search of gem stones. There they uncover Arch Bug’s hidden gold (which is very significant later on). I loved seeing this preview of what is to come.

Mandy’s Birth

Amanda Fraser is born and we get a very quick moment of happiness for this little family, when the hammer drops that she has a serious heart condition that Claire cannot fix. This is the impetuous behind the MacKenzie’s and the Frasers separating for what I assume will be majority of the season. The scene with them all at the stone circle was very touching and I felt like Cait and Sam’s acting shined brightly here. The best part for me was the quote from Jamie taken directly from the books where he tells Claire

“For your sake, I will continue–though for mine alone…I would not.”

I also deeply enjoyed the Disney tie ins from the book, the humorous moment where Jamie tries to understand how a giant rodent is meant to be fun for children, and his wishes to Jemmy to give a mouse named Michael his regards. All direct from the books, and delivered perfectly.

Bree meets William

The moment we’ve (I’ve) been waiting for, WILLIAM has graced our screens. Though it was short, I squealed when I saw him and Lord John together, especially him in his red coat. You can certainly see the resemblance and while we have yet to see his acting chops on full display, Charles appears to be a perfect casting. He has the cocky confidence of a young Jamie Fraser down pat, I’m curious to see what other nuisances he brings to the role.

Lord John and Jamie

This scene was touching and so well done, Sam and David have always had such great scenes together and really made this relationship between these two men such a beautifully complicated thing. John has long been trying to convince Jamie to do the right thing and fight for the British, but you can see his true intentions here more than ever. If Jamie fights for the British, he can protect him. When Jamie chooses to fight opposite John and William, he knows he cannot.

In a last act of love and friendship, John returns the gem to Jamie from his escape at Ardsmiur. Something we know meant so much to John. His love for Jamie will always win out in the end, and I loved that the scene had room to breathe at the end. John crying alone in his room, and Jamie’s pause outside the door and his watery eyes was perfectly done.

Claire’s Breakdown

In the last scene of episode 1, Claire and Jamie have a discussion about Tom Christie and his confession. In the show, they chose to end that scene with Claire going to sleep while Jamie takes revenge on Richard Brown (and what a badass scene that was). In the books, the moment ends with Claire and Jamie trying to be intimate again, and Claire having a breakdown.

The show has now taken that scene and moved it into episode 2, which actually felt a lot better to me having watched it this way. I was sad that this moment was removed from episode 1 but beyond happy to see it here because it was another wonderful showcase of Sam and Cait’s acting and Claire and Jamie’s love. In the books, Claire cries because she is sad for Tom, for Malva, for Frank. Jamie tells Claire to weep for them because you “canna keep a ghost at bay. He tells her to let them in and grieve for them so she can heal.

In the show, Claire cries for the loss of her family –Fergus and Marsali, the MacKenzies, and Jamie mentions Faith, Murtagh, his mother and brother. They have both lost so many, and he encourages her to cry for them. To me this was so much more poignant and relevant to the events of the episode. I really loved this change.

The Throwing of the Gem

Another iconic scene the we finally got to see brought to life was when Jamie gives Claire the gem stone and tells her that she can go with Bree, or go back if he should die. The acting in this was so perfect and in the books, Claire throws the stone far into the woods to prove to Jamie once again that she is never leaving him. I enjoyed his little jab that she should probably go and recover it.

Wendigo Donner

The return of Wendigo Donner finally closed the loop on the big house fire, and I’m so excited to see how the beginning of episode 3 starts. The highlight of this scene for me was the callback to season 3, when Claire is pretending to be abducted so that Jamie can get what he needs from Lord John Grey. In this scene (and in the books) Jamie is lying to Donner about not having gemstones in the house, but then changes his tune once Claire’s life is in danger. He leans into the ‘disgruntled husband upset with his wife’ tune and tells Donner that Claire hid all the stones while he was away, so she is the only one who knows there location (thus making it impossible to kill her). The humor in Claire’s eyes made me laugh in an otherwise tense scene.

We get much of the same dialogue and story beats as the books here but the one subtle change happens when Jamie finds out that the man in their house is in fact Donner and not some random group of men looking for money. As soon as he hears his name, he lunges for Donner to seek revenge on what he had done to Claire.

In the books, Claire slips out of Donners arms and lunges after him, with Jamie holding her back at the waist. They try to plot an escape but one thing leads to another and Jamie actually kills Donner with a knife before the ether explodes. In the books, it is because Young Ian lit a match to help illuminate the dark room everyone was sitting in. Big change, subtle change, but one I’m interested in seeing them explain next episode.

All in all I loved this one, I’m enjoying the changes made and the pacing of this felt better than the first episode. Would love to hear your thoughts!

[tiarascrowns]

BELLE ÉPOQUE DIAMOND BARRETTE

PROPERTY FROM THE ROTHSCHILD FAMILY

BELLE ÉPOQUE DIAMOND BARRETTE, HENRI VEVER Designed as a butterfly, marquise, old and rose-cut diamonds, platinum, 3 ¼ ins., circa 1910, signed Vever, Paris, no. 2767

Christie's

[mote-historie]

1890 Rene Lalique, Art Nouveau Enamel Horn Tiara. 

Reddish brown and cream-colored enamel, horn, 18k gold (French marks), circa 1890, 6 ½ ins., signed Lalique. Christie’s

[waterlight]

Venus signs as supermodels

Aries

Paulina Porizkova (19°): signed the most lucrative partnership in 1988, a $6 million deal with Estee Lauder for seven years, the first Central European woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue

Vera Lehndorff (22°): known professionally as Veruschka, she is considered the "first German supermodel.

Alek Wek (10° R): began her modeling career in the mid-1990's, she became one of the most successful black model in the industry. She has been hailed for her influence on the perception of beauty in the fashion industry. 

Taurus

Linda Evangelista (27°): been featured on over 700 magazine covers, Evangelista is primarily known for being the longtime "muse" of photographer Steven Meisel, as well as for the phrase: "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day." Described as the "chameleon" of the fashion industry, she was part of the "Trinity". Known by her nickname "The Linda".

Naomi Sims (25° R): was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of Ladies' Home Journal, which occurred in November 1968, and is widely credited as being the first African-American supermodel.

Other supermodels: Carmen Dell'Orefice (16°), Jessica Stam (25°)

Gemini

Naomi Campbell (29°, V House): sleek, tall, chic, one of the reigning queens of jet-set supermodels, the first black female model to make the covers of both the British and French Vogue. She was part of the Trinity which also included Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista.

Giselle Bündchen (19°, VI House): since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. Vogue credited her with ending the heroin chic era of modelling in 1999. In 2007, Claudia Schiffer called Bündchen the only remaining supermodel. She has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers.

Other supermodels: Joan Smalls (14°), Kimora Lee Simmons (24°), Heidi Klum (24°), Laetitia Casta (17°, IX House)

Cancer

Iman (7°): muse of the designers Gianni Versace, Thierry Mugler, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and Yves Saint Laurent (who described her as "the dream woman").

Lisa Fonssagrives (4°): is widely credited with having been the first supermodel. She was reported as "the highest paid, highest praised, high fashion model in the business".

Other supermodels: Jourdan Dunn (16°, II House), Devon Aoki (25°)

Leo

Donyale Luna (1°): the world’s first black supermodel; when she was 20 years old, Time magazine named 1966 as “The Luna Year,” describing the model as “a new heavenly body who, because of her striking singularity, promises to remain on high for many a season.”

Karlie Kloss (25°, II House): Models.com has said that Kloss "represents the gold standard of modeling—a girl with the look, the poise, and the drive to take things to the next level", and she ranks on their "New Supers" and "Money Girl" lists. By 2019, she had appeared on 40 international Vogue covers.

Other supermodels: Anja Rubik (6°, VIII House), Stephanie Seymour (9°, XII House), Coco Rocha (3°)

Virgo

Ines de la Fressange (19°, IV House): the first model who had an exclusive contract with a fashion house, Chanel. After her decision to accept the deal with the French government to be a model for the national symbol of Marianne, she had an argument with her mentor at Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld who considered her his muse. She terminated the relationship with the fashion house and has gone on to design for Gaultier.

Bella Hadid (6°, XII House): she began her modeling career in 2014 and walked in major fashion show for designers such as Chanel, Dior, and Marc Jacobs.

Libra

Lauren Hutton (8°, III House): signed a modeling contract with Revlon in 1973, which at the time was the biggest contract in the history of the modeling industry

Claudia Schiffer (17°, XI House):  became the face of Guess, which gave her mainstream recognition. “In order to become a supermodel one must be on all the covers all over the world at the same time so that people can recognize the girls,” she once said. Appearing on more than 1,000 covers over the span of her career, Schiffer is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the model with the most magazine covers.

Beverly Peele (9° R): rose to fame in the late 1980s and 1990s, as a supermodel, appearing mostly in Mademoiselle and Elle magazine. She appeared on over 250 fashion magazine covers including Vogue and Harpers Bazar.

Scorpio

Twiggy (5°, IV House): with her expressive doe eyes, she was crowned “The Face of 1966,” voted British Woman of the Year, and found immediate fame all over the world.

Anna Bayle (13°): became one of highest paid models in the late 70's. She has been described as being one of the first Asian supermodels (she's filipino). Bayle became known for her unique runway walk, which The New York Times described "as if she were crushing a cigarette butt with each step down the runway".

Other supermodels: Carla Bruni (19°, V House), Kristen McMenamy (23°), Milla Jovovich (12°, V House), Beverly Johnson (19°), Jean Shrimpton (10°, XII House)

Sagittarius

Kendall Jenner (0°, VIII House): her status as a supermodel is controversial. Jenner made her debut at No. 16 on Forbes magazine's 2015 list of top-earning models, with an estimated annual income of US$4 million. In 2017, Jenner was named the world's highest-paid model by Forbes, ousting model Gisele Bündchen, who had been leading the list for more than 14 years since 2002.

Capricorn

Tyra Banks (27°, VII House): the first black model to appear on the cover of a "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit issue and the first black woman to be featured on the cover of the "Victoria's Secret" catalog.

Cindy Crawford (28°, VII House): known for her trademark mole just above her lip. Her girl-next-door aesthetic was so in demand, she fronted nearly every campaign imaginable, from Calvin Klein to Pepsi.

Other supermodels: Amber Valletta (26° R), Irina Shayk (12°), Shalom Harlow (28°)

Aquarius

Barbara Goalen (23°, XI House): is considered the first British supermodel. With her striking features and wasp-waisted frame, she epitomised post-war glamour and modelled for both Dior and Balenciaga.

Kate Moss (7° R): rose to fame in the eary 90's as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. She is known for her waifish figure and role in side zero faschion. She has inspired cultural depiction including a 18 carat gold statue of her, sculpted in 2008 for a British Museum exhibition. She was part of the 'Big 6' together with Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, and Claudia Schiffer.

Other supermodels: Christy Turlington (27°, II House), Tatjana Patitz (18°), Yasmeen Ghauri (23°), Helena Christensen (17°, IV House), FeiFei Sun (21°)

Pisces

Liu Wen (14°): in 2012, The New York Times dubbed her "China’s first bona fide supermodel". She is the first Chinese model to walk the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, the first East Asian spokesmodel for Estée Lauder cosmetics, and the first Asian model to ever make Forbes magazine's annual highest-paid models list, the first to be featured on the front cover of Vogue, the first person of Chinese descent to appear three times on Vogue.

[wlw-webcomic-bracket]

WEBCOMIC DIRECTORY

Half the reason I created this tournament is so I could find new webcomics to read, and I know a bunch of you are following it for the same reason.

So: Here is a directory of every webcomic that was submitted!

Please note that this list is Very Long, so (1) I have not read most of these webcomics and can't vouch for their content, and (2) I have not tested any of these links, but I can fix any errors if you point them out.

Comics are listed in alphabetical order, with the featured couple(s) or poly ship(s) in parentheses. Broken into two parts because Tumblr only allows 100 links per post and there are 140 comics.

180° Angel (Sam and Lilith)

2 Slices (Ruka and Rio)

A Week in Warrigilla (Hazel and Willie)

A&H Club (Adrian and Hildegard)

Alice and the Nightmare (Edith and Quinn)

Alien Heart (Ivy and Rosa)

Always Human (Sunati and Austen)

Balderdash (Georgie and Afia)

Band vs Band (Honey Hart and Turpentine)

Blindsprings (Ember and Irelia)

Boyfriends (Jock, Prep, Nerd, and Goth)

Bugtopia (Arachne and Scarlet)

Burn Away (Abella and Edie)

Charity Case (Sylvia and Jerry)

Circuits and Veins (Ai and Aki)

Console Her (Claudia and Ava)

Cucumber Quest (Almond and Peridot; Piano and Ametrine)

Cursed Princess Club (Nell and Jolie)

Dame Daffodil (Charo and Alesea)

Daughter of the Lilies (Lyra and Margot)

Dead Winter (Lizzie and Alice)

Dicebox (Griffin and Molly)

Dirt Creek Runs Red with Blood (Ines and Sarepia)

Dom&Mor (Dominique and Morgan)

Dresden Codak (Kimiko and Elith)

Drop-Out (Lola and Sugar)

Dumbing of Age (Becky and Dina; Jennifer/Billie and Ruth)

El Goonish Shive (Ellen and Nanase; Catalina and Rhoda; Diane and Lucy)

Eldritch Darling (Ina and CJ)

Encore! (Quinn and Hana)

Ennui Go (Izzy, Darcy, and Tanya)

Errant (Sarin and Jules)

Facing the Sun (Aarya and Liza)

Finding Wonderland (Alex and Lucky)

Flowers For the Arsonist (Lucia and Paige)

Four Leaf (Carla and Lina)

Gals (Croix, Sam, Lux, and Charlotte)

Ghoul Crush (Sison and Laguna)

Girly (Otra and Winter)

Glitterlaced (Goldie and Luck)

Go Get a Roomie (Roomie and Lillian)

Guide to the Land of Monsters (Arnatuk and Tove)

Gunnerkrigg Court (Kat and Paz; Zimmy and Gamma)

Hard Lacquer (Claire and Robin; Claire and Petra)

Heartstopper (Darcy and Tara)

Heir's Game (Sevilia and Ilianna)

Her Tale of Shim Chong (Shim Chong and Madam Jang)

High Class Homos (Sapphia and Odette; Sapphia and Marla)

Homestuck (Rose and Kanaya; Calliope and Roxy; Vriska and Meenah; Vriska and Terezi)

How to Be a Werewolf (Marin and Marisa)

I Love Amy (Amy and Bibi)

I Want to Be a Cute Anime Girl (Cheryl and Delilah)

I'm the Villainess but the Heroine's Trying to Capture Me (Nelly and Nancy)

In My Heart (Wantanabe Yuki and Sasaki Mari)

Isadora (Isaline and Theodora)

It's Okay to Like Girls (Sophie and Olivia)

Kidd Commander (Phineas and Agatha)

Kill Six Billion Demons (Allison and Ciocie Cioelle)

Kiss It Goodbye (Aruka and Yukimi)

Lady of the Shard (Radiant Goddess and Acolyte; Radiant Goddess and Old God)

Lesbiampires (Daphne and Veronika)

Lore Olympus (Athena and Hestia)

Mage & Demon Queen (Malori and Velverosa)

Matchmaker (Kimmy and Marlowe)

Missing Monday (Foyle and Monday)

Monsters and Girls (Lili and Sera)

Motherlover (Imogen and Alex)

Moving In (Jackie and Riley)

Muted (Camille, Nyra, and Dendro)

My Dragon Girlfriend (Dani and Christie; Callie and Olive)

My Sweet Archenemy (Mad Spade and Miss Sunshine)

My Wish Is to Fall In Love Until You Die (Shiina and Mimi; Seiran and Ari)

Namesake (Selva and Alice)

Nano List (Chacha and Zavi)

Never Satisfied (Neith and Isra)

Nevermore (Lenore and Annabel Lee)

Night Owls and Summer Skies (Emma and Vivian)

Not So Shoujo Love Story (Rei and Hanna)

Octopus Pie (Jane and Marigold)

Offbeat (Beau and Julie)

On a Sunbeam (Mia and Grace; Alma and Char)

On Borrowed Time (Rune and Dielle)

Osora (Celia and Catalina)

Remaining links in part two!

[nanowrimo]

Don’t Let Your NaNoWriMo Engine Idle

Now that November is over, you may be taking some time to rest, recover, pursue things other than writing—or possibly continue to work on your story! Today, author and baker Amy Wallen shares some ins-pie-ration for moving forward with your novel:

Coming off the adrenaline rush of NaNoWriMo, so many feelings rush through us—relief, pride, and exhaustion are just a few of them. 

Relief because, woohoo, you survived! Those last few days as you rounded the bend when your family wanted a pie, and you had to be nice to your in-laws, you just about gave in, but instead you bought a pie at the store, kept your mouth shut, and got your writing done. Or, like me, maybe you wrote extra before and after to make up for taking that day or two of rest (shhh, don’t tell) over the holiday. But, whew, you typed the 50,000 words by the end.  

Pride! You should be dancing the Snoopy dance because you did it, you met your goal; or even if you didn’t quite meet the goal, you kept at it and reached the finish line—first draft of a novel, or a hell of a start. 

Exhaustion because even though you let the laundry pile up, ate more prepared than fresh foods, and your exercise regimen may have slacked off, you still had to go about your regular day (some of us had to keep earning a living). 

You are on the other side and it feels so good. Reaching a goal does that—makes us feel exhilarated and gives us the incentive to keep trying for more, to reach another goal, and another. 

NaNoWriMo is just the beginning. “Beginning?!” you ask. “You want me to do that same big push forever?” 

Why not? Agatha Christie did. Okay, maybe we aren’t all Guinness Book of World Record writers, but we are all writers, every single writer has one thing in common with all other writers—we write. Every day.

Maybe there’s that adjustment made for getting around the holiday bend, but November was the perfect warm up for getting that daily habit revved up and set into place. 

December has a few holidays in it too, and more pies to be baked. But your writing still needs to be nurtured. Don’t you hear it calling to you? That draft is ready to be revised and rewritten, submitted, and then out in the world! NaNoWriMo provided the jumping off, so don’t let your novel freefall with no one to catch it. Let the laundry pile up a little longer (clearly everyone survived wearing their sweater an extra day or two), buy your pies from your pie baker friend, and give your novel that gift of attention it deserves. Keep the momentum going, because it’s a whole lot harder to get a cold engine started again than to stay warmed up because January is just around the corner. 

January, the month of resolutions. No one ever made a resolution to do more laundry, but plenty of resolutions have been broken to finish that novel. If you stay with it, by spring you could have the first of two novels written for the year, like Agatha. Or, at the very least, another draft. 

Set a goal, then another. When you’re exhausted, stop and make a pie. Then pick up your pen again and keep writing. How else are we ever going to get to read your book?

Amy Wallen is most recently the author of How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies: Sweet & Savory Secrets of Surviving the Writing Life. Bestselling author of a novel, and a memoir, she teaches writing workshops in California, France, and anywhere she’s invited, usually with pie. She was associate director of the New York State Summer Writers Institute for 7 years and founded DimeStories—three-minute stories told by the author and featured on NPR. https://www.amywallen.com/

Illustrations by Emil Wilson.

[lab-trash]

So, as a theatre kid who loves Kaz, I've been tempted to make Kaz a theatre kid. Such as I've made him gender non conforming before. Not that I regret that, I just think there is a clear, better option for all that.

I've mentioned it on here before, but let's be honest. The perfect candidate for those traits.

It's Marcus.

I have More Than Survive stuck in my head, from Be More Chill, and I just... all I'm imagining is EF Marcus singing 'Christi-i-ine Canigula! CHRISTI-I-INE CANIGULASSAAA' in the kitchen, ignoring the 5 roommates he has, while Kaz and Bree are just like 'so is that some girl he met or is this another dumb theatre thing.

[biitchcakes]

H E A D C A N O N .

She's a BOOKWORM ! Reading is an activity that's not only stimulating and relaxing at the same time, but can also be an avenue for KNOWLEDGE ⸺ and Jessica's always down to learn.

P A T H O S.

Her first nemesis is Morgan Le Fay, though Jess already knows about the woman from legends when she first encounters her. I feel as though she grew up reading FANTASY books, as most children do, and would dream about going on such fantastic adventures, about being rescued from her locked up tower like the princesses always are. . .

L O G O S.

Once she is awoken from stasis, Hydra manipulates her into believing that they are an organisation that fights for the rights of the little guy, taking down the evils of big corporations and others that wish to do harm. But, learning the truth about her captors and watching the terrorism they wrought upon others certainly brings the ETHICS they taught her into question once she escapes. Due to her extensive research to not only learn new, but also unlearn Hydra's lessons, Jess becomes quite knowledge when it comes to PHILOSOPHY. Kant's empirical self vs transcendental self, the concept of Dasein and specifically Heidegger's exploration of it, and a load of Sartre's teachings are some examples I can think of that would stand out to Jessica the most as she not only enters society after escaping, but as she explores herself for the first time as well. She also reads a good few basic biology and biochemistry books, mostly as an attempt to learn how humans actually work since she never learned ⸺ but also to find out how she differs from the rest of them. Her innate thirst for SCIENCE is always there, and early on it easily manifests through her choice to read these sorts of books. ( Yes her best friend is literally The Space Hero™️ and yes she may love Star Trek more than almost anything. . . No she has not read nonfiction books about space. "I've learned all I need to know about it through Carol and by going there myself. And that's more than enough, thanks." )

E T H O S.

It doesn't take long for her to get into mystery and DETECTIVE novels, quickly striking up a love for the genre. Agatha Christie novels in particular are her favourite, really enjoying any good whodunit? story. Reading these sorts of books is one of the things that initially puts the idea of becoming a Private Investigator into her mind. These days, her favourite remains detective novels ⸺ go figure. But other favourites include SCIENCE FICTION and ROMANCE novels. She doesn't mind the normal romances, but she'd prefer to have one with a vampire or something of the like in it. And, while she may not like being in space, nor care to read about the real life ins and outs, she does enjoy it as a background for her escapism. Also, I don't know where else to add this in but ⸺ you give her an instruction guide ? If she's interested in whatever the subject matter is, she'll read the damn thing cover to cover. Unless it's a MASSIVE manual, like the giant gd one for autoCAD ( i do not picture her using CAD btw it's just the first thing that came to mind hgjksdg ). She wouldn't read something like that page by page, c'mon now.

[bearsinpotatosacks]

Behind a Cold Visage - A Multi Ship Fic

Iceman's jumper has a hole, he goes to Carole to fix it. She notices something else more than a hole.

~~~

For a prompt list, this was "A fixing B's sweater/jacket"

Words: 1338

Texas winters, at least in Corpus Christi, were rather mild. She had the fashion sense of a pop art picture and a grandma is what her mother said, which meant a lot of cardigans, that were never appropriate for the weather. 

This fact had always annoyed Carole, she’d taken up knitting when she was fourteen to get her mind off the worst breakup of her life, at least as she’d thought then. Now, years after, she’d probably knitted an entire wardrobe of clothes if you included everything she’d made for Bradley, plus all the various jumpers, scarves, hats and mittens over the years for Goose, Mav, her family and herself. 

And this year the wardrobe would be added to. There were two more people in their weird, not allowed family. Slider and Iceman. 

Their home was their sanctuary, away from the pressures of the navy, some of which were more on some than others, and the prying eyes of the neighbours, they could be themselves. Safe to cuddle in their bed now too small for four people and creaking from the weight but homely enough that they didn’t care. 

Not that everyone stayed at the same time. Maverick had bought a bachelor pad nearer to Corpus Christi, they were in the suburbs of Portland, about a ten minute drive away on a good day. With the security of the emergency second bedroom, they were safe-ish from the harsh laws of the navy and Texas state.

Carole was half considering just moving to California. With sodomy laws repealed there, this would at least be allowed at home. It was closer to work for Tom and Ron, both still instructors at Top Gun while Maverick was flying with Merlin back out in the middle of the ocean and Goose was getting his teaching qualification to become a physics teacher. Every single naval aviator she’d ever met had tried to explain how the codes for their missions worked, but every time it just seemed too damn complicated. Well, she tried to explain all the ins and outs of running a library and they seemed similarly confused, maybe some things were meant to be unknown.

She broke through her thoughts with a sip of sweet tea. As went tradition, she’d left it to brew outside but it didn’t quite hit the same as it would in the summer. Not that she missed that, the heat had really gotten to her this year. 

Maverick threw the frisbee to Bradley. Slider lifted him up so he could catch it. Goose placed his hands on his hips as he shared a look with Mav. They feigned disgust but smiles were hard to hide.

“Hey, that's cheating!” Goose exclaimed.

“T’isn’t.” Bradley said, still being held securely in Ron’s hands.

“T’is.” Mav said. 

“T’isn’t.” Ron teased. “He’s short, I’m helping.”

“I’m short, and you don’t see Goose lifting me up to catch the frisbee.”

“I’m littler,” Bradley said.

Mav gave him his familiar cocky smirk.

“Oh yeah?” Goose said, his moustache twitching. “Well, it’s still cheating, how about you stop being so little and grow some more? Come on now Bradley, you’re almost five, you should be six feet tall by now!”

That broke everyone’s grumpy masks. Bradley giggled, which made Goose break into a grin and begin to trot over to him. Maverick joined as Ron lowered Bradley slightly. 

Maverick, always the fastest even though he had the shortest legs out of all of the guys, got there first and tickled Bradley’s feet. Goose joined him, making him giggle until he squirmed.

“Daddy, stop!” He yelled.

Goose took him from Slider and lay kisses into his chubby cheeks as he squished him into a hug.

“Sorry, it’s what cheaters get!”

“I didn’t cheat, Daddy-”

The scene carried on. Goose pampered his son in embarrassing amounts of kisses while Mav and Ron watched, hiding their hands gracing each others so the neighbours wouldn’t talk.

What broke her focus was the gentle sound of feet coming out of the kitchen. She knew those considerate steps anywhere. Wanting to command attention but not offend, wanting to please every crowd. Iceman.

As well as pleasing her by not stomping, she loved Ron but he wasn’t very light footed, he was very easy on the eye. She’d told him that she thought so but hadn’t made a move yet. He was newly in a relationship with three men while trying to keep it all a secret, the last thing he needed was a new woman to throw things into question.

“Hey, Tom,” she said, keeping her eyes on the frisbee game as it restarted. “Whatcha got there?”

He seemed surprised when she knew he was there without seeing him. What he didn’t know was that having a toddler had made her hyper aware about where people were at all times, whether she liked it or not. She had to pat the seat next to her to get him to sit down. It was unusual how such a cool and confident man could turn into this insecure when away from the pressures of the navy. 

“A sweater.”

“You’re not wearing it?” She said.

Feeling the breeze stroke her skin, she wrapped her blanket around her a little tighter. 

“There’s a hole in it.”

His words were so carefully chosen. She realised that if they weren’t on good terms, he could do some damage. Carole could also, if they weren’t on good terms, but for different reasons, she didn’t have much of a filter. Words just came out as she said them. Obviously, this meant that while she could make someone’s day with a blase compliment, she could also ruin it by saying something mean a little too loud than she should, because her volume was never appropriate whether she knew it or not.

He stretched out the sweater. It had golden dreidels knitted onto a blue background. Threads were coming loose all over it to give a vague blue halo in the afternoon sun. This was old and well worn, yet perhaps it was what she’d seen of Tom so far that made her feel like he wasn’t the type to wear corny novelty jumpers at all.

“Can I?” She reached for it. 

It was just as soft as it looked as he handed it over. There was a familiar smell. Looking at Tom, she could imagine him tugging at the collar for a photo at Hanukkah. That’s what the smell reminded her of, a childhood home that you could return to but one that would never be the same. 

“Want me to fix it?”

“Can you?”

She turned it over. There was a small but obvious hole in the arm. It wasn’t wear and tear, this was from worrying the same spot over and over again. She looked up at Tom and smiled, there was a storm behind those grey eyes.

“I think so, just got to match the colour so it doesn’t look weird,” she went to get up.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

“Might as well start now, I think I have this blue in my knitting basket,” she lent in a little closer. “It was meant to be a surprise but I was making you a scarf for Hanukkah.”

“Guess you don’t need to now.” He said, looking at his hands. 

“No, I will.”

“Why?”

His head darted up. The immovable Iceman was a deer in headlights. She liked her ability to do that because if there was one thing she'd learnt about loving Navy men was that no matter how much they talked the talk, if you got them on their knees and pulled their head back by their hair then they were putty in your hand. 

“You’re cute that’s why.”

She lent over and kissed his forehead, leaving his face bright red as she moved inside to fix the jumper. Behind her, Ron wolfwhistled. The usual snarky "shut it" that she'd expect from Tom didn't come. When she turned back, he was still beetroot red.

I'm a bit of a sucker for Carole/Iceman, not in a major way but in a small way like this. They all love each other. Also it was illegal to be gay in texas until 2003. Thanks for reading!

[simmer-rhi]

Celeste is keen to build some bridges with the Badman household, particularly after that last interaction with Christie on Spooky Day. She called over to the Badman household to invite the toddlers over for a play date soon (luckily Christie is nowhere to be seen and Celeste speaks to Mortimer. Christie's kinda scary).

Back home, Celeste is still clearing up after her messy husband, and now her messy baby too.

The Benedict family hire a nanny, mainly since we are struggling to max out those skills or milestones as both parents are out of the house all day. The nanny takes good care of Alexander, to be fair.

The house on the other hand... This is what Celeste and Anjelo are returning home to 😬

He really is the worst nanny ever (we've had run ins before).

[barbielore]

I have made a couple of posts in the past that refer to Barbies who are depicted as having disabilities, including the original 3 Becky dolls, the first doll in the Barbie line to be depicted using a wheelchair.

To go a little deeper on Becky, though, she was released specifically between 1997 and 1999. Her first appearance as "Share a Smile Becky" was not the only doll in the "Share a Smile" line - this line also came with Barbie and Christie, though they did not use wheelchairs.

Becky was the standout of the line, both in terms of marketing and sales - Share a Smile Becky sold a reported 6000 dolls in two weeks. I don't know exactly how this stacks up in raw numbers to other Barbie line dolls but it's quite impressive.

Becky's next appearance was as "I'm the School Photographer" Becky, where she is apparently an award winner for photographing the basketball team. She is depicted on the box with the Colour Streak Barbie line from the year prior, an articulated doll line with mascara-esque wands to put coloured streaks in their hair.

I'm not particularly sure why they marketed School Photographer Becky in relation to the Colour Streak line, as opposed to as part of a school or even athletics related line. Or for that matter, if you're going to market a Becky in this line, why not give her a Colour Streak doll? We could have had Raucous Red or Mellow Yellow Becky.

Her third and final appearance was as Paralympic Champion Becky, released in 1999 as a prelude to the Sydney Olympic Games. The equivalent Barbie in the line was Swimming Champion Barbie, who could "swim" backstroke or freestyle in water.

Teresa and Christie were also released as Swimming Champions this same year, as well as a variety of other Olympic tie-ins such as fans and, for some reason, a pin collector.

I think my biggest quibble with Paralympic Champion Becky personally is that the other athlete dolls (the Swimming Champions) have a name that refers to their event, rather than the games as a whole. Perhaps Becky should have been marketed as Racer Becky or something.

Of course, the doll was designed to educate children on the Paralympic Games, but I feel they could have done a little better in that regard.

Interestingly - some articles about Becky cite there being a fourth Becky doll, one who used sign language. As far as I can tell this is a misattribution of Sign Language Barbie.

Personally I find this one fascinating because, in addition to coming with instructions for some signs including the alphabet, she has a custom arm, with the hand molded in the shape of the sign for "I Love You".

Becky's other main appearance that I find notable is in the Barbie book "Three Cheers for Becky", in which Becky coaches the cheerleading squad.

A lot of Becky's appearances around this time carry a hint of condescension. It appears as though Mattel was genuinely trying, but fell into some tropes of Becky as an inspirational figure with few personality traits outside of being Barbie's Friend Who Uses A Wheelchair. Some of these things could be relatively easily sidestepped by Mattel - I don't object to Becky as a Paralympian in the lead-up to an Olympic year, but why not give Becky the opportunity to have regular fashion dolls too?

Oh, and let her actually fit in the Dreamhouse. That would have been good too.

[decodandy]

ART DECO ONYX, JADE, DIAMOND AND SAPPHIRE MATCH HOLDER

Onyx, carved and cabochon jade, rose and circular-cut diamonds, calibré-cut sapphires, 3 5/8 x 3 5/8 x 3 ¼ ins, circa 1925

Sold at Christies 2019 price realised USD 6,250