#i wore a nice dress.

[itissadbutitsmy-artblog]

i cannot believe these two are dating

[strangersteddierthings]

Steve, Gareth and Chrissy are cousins AU (sad edition) [prologue] [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Final Part]

Steve climbs into the back of Nancy's car with Dustin, trying his best to play off his mood as having slept poorly in the Wheeler's basement, instead of the guilt and sorrow churning inside him. He had been hoping to be able to make excuses to go home for a bit today, away from the group, so he could go to Chrissy's funeral.

Doesn't seem like that will be happening. Not unless he tells them the truth. They're going to the Creel house and Steve can't let them ago without him. Can't let them walk into potential danger if he's not there.

Because Chrissy's already dead. He can't change that. But he can try his damnedest to make sure there's no one else. So, it's more important to him to be there with the living, than at a funeral. Chrissy would agree.

Chrissy would understand.

Right?

Gareth sits through Chrissy's funeral and notes that Steve's not there. No one from the Harrington household is. He doesn't know what to feel about that. All his sorrow has been spent on Chrissy, so all he feels for Steve is anger. What the fuck is more important to Steve right now than being here? For his family. For Chrissy. For him.

He sits next to Jason even though his mom left a spot next to her available for him. He's not suddenly Jason's best friend, but he was told they plan to continue their search immediately after the funeral, and if he sat next to his mom, she wouldn't let him go.

This is how he finds himself at Reefer Ricks, long past the mandated curfew with just Jason, Andy, and Patrick. The others having slowly dropped off the search the closer to night it got.

"Hey," Gareth calls out to Jason before entering the house, "I'm going to go check if Eddie's van is hidden where he usually parks it when he comes out here."

Jason pauses on his way through the door. He looks over his shoulder and gives a nod, "yeah, smart thinking. There should be a flashlight in the back of the car."

Gareth nods back and heads back to the car. It doesn't take long to find the flashlight and soon he's walking down the road. It's not a long walk, about fifteen minutes away is a cluster of trees that Eddie parks at when he comes to get more goods from Rick. Gareth (and their other friends) spent plenty of afternoons waiting in the van for Eddie to return from his 'job', as it were. It does keep the van out of sight of any road, though.

The van is there, and Gareth doesn't like what he sees. The driver side door is open, so he approaches slowly. "Eddie? You in there, Eddie?" he gets no response. He shines the flashlight through the back door's window, smooshing his face against the glass to look in. Once he's sure it's empty of anything, he approaches the open door and examines the front.

The keys are still in the ignition. Door left open and keys still in the ignition paints a story Gareth isn't sure he wants to read. That makes worry curl inside his body. He can't think of a single thing that would make Eddie abandon the van this quickly, too... scared? Worried? to bother to even close the drive door. He climbs in to try and start it but it won't. With the door left open for over 72 hours, the battery is dead.

He pockets the keys and locks up the van. If worse comes to worst, he can return the keys to Wayne.

He's almost back to the house when he hears shouting. He starts running, following the noise, and quickly finds Jason and Patrick on the shore, pulling their shoes off. His gaze flicks out to the lake and catches the sight of what can only be Eddie trying to get the motor of a motorboat started.

Well. Shit.

He doesn't think much more beyond that. He's just acting. He steps on the heels of his shoes to get out of them as quickly as possible and dives into the water. He's only seconds behind Patrick and Jason into the water, slowing to keep pace with them at first.

Gareth grew up in the Harrington swimming pool just like Steve had. Chrissy had. He's never been so glad for that as he is now, as he quits trying to pace himself and takes off, leaving Jason and Patrick behind.

Eddie's swinging the oar around wildly, as if they would stop any of them. He falters in his swinging when his eyes land on Gareth and he breathes out his name, "Gareth?"

One final stroke and Gareth can reach out of the water and grab the side of the boat. He doesn't haul himself aboard, but does haul himself high enough to look up at Eddie. "The police say you did it. Did you?"

Hurt flashes across Eddie's face but he answers, "No."

Gareth nods once, a decision made. Before he can respond though, Jason's caught up and Eddie is turning in the boat to wave the oar uselessly at him.

Clinging to the side of the boat gives Gareth a clear view of Patrick, who has stopped swimming. Jason and Eddie shout at each other as Gareth watches Patrick being to rise out of the water. "What the fucking shit!?"

Gareth doesn't know if Jason turns to look, he's too busy staring, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"Don't look," Eddie says and the boat jostles as Eddie moves suddenly, dropping to his knees in the boat and throwing his hands up to block Gareth's view.

"What the fuck-" Gareth cuts himself off when he hears the snapping of bones. Jason is yelling and Gareth panics, pushes back from the boat, which makes Eddie lean more to block his eyesight, causing Eddie to fall out of the boat. On instinct, Gareth dives for him, the month and month spent in Steve's pool, hearing about pool safety kicking in.

Eddie doesn't really need rescuing, but he doesn't fight Gareth during the rescue. Patrick is no longer in the air when they breach the surface, and Jason is swimming back the way they came. Eddie flops himself back into the boat, then helps Gareth in as well.

They don't speak again until they've reached the other shore, in which case they just sit in the boat, soaked through, panting at each other as the adrenaline fades.

"What the fuck was that!?" Gareth doesn't shriek. He doesn't.

Eddie suddenly looks very severe and grim when he says, "that's what killed Chrissy."

[no-light-left-on]

Jessamine's design has always intrigued me. the stark, full black suit and tall collar are pretty obvious status symbols. black was for the longest time an incredibly expensive colour of fabric due to how difficult it was to achieve proper rich blackness during the dyeing process and the collar, while most likely just a trend in Dunwall fashion inspired by the 1890s high collars can be read as lace, especially in some concept art, which is hard to care for and needs to be starched to hell and back to keep nice and stiff for a collar like that

but what I find a lot more curious about this is that the clothes appear very much inspired by Spanish renaissance fashion

which, honestly, would make sense with the real world inspiration. 19th century was obsessed with the past, with the romanticized medieval and renaissance times, and it was quite common to see fashion inspired by times long past (I mean, just look at Worth. the man invented haute couture and there is so much influence of medieval and Elisabethan fashion in his designs). it was also a thing for rich families to just kinda... invest in recreations of historical pieces of clothing and LARP in them.

Jessamine's clothes, in particular, reminded me of Spanish court dresses. especially of the portraits of Anne of Austria and Elisabeth of Valois

obsessed with those slit sleeves. too bad Jessamine didn't go the extra mile to have the sleeves hang long and heavy around her arms but they were more form fitting

there is also something to be said about the tall white (possibly starched lace) collar and the style of clasps used on her clothes

the mini cape thing she has on top is more similar to the style of capes worn by men in renaissance, but yeah, of course she reminded me of a Spanish princess when this is one of the most given example portraits for this style

I wonder if this was an intentional choice on the designer's side or if they were just inspired by the revivalism present in 19th century fashion. what really makes me consider that though is that one of her earlier designs has those sleeves much, Much more pronounced and obvious

oh the things that could have been...

still, it makes me wonder: if this was intentional, what does this tell us about Jessamine, and the history of the Isles themselves?

[whiteshipnightjar]

Joanna Newsom in 2023

+ a non visual but descriptive bonus

[victorluvsalice]

Valicer Polyship Week 2024, Day Three: Reverse Tropes – Convinced Not Actually Dating (Modern AU)

It's Day Three of Valicer Polyship Week 2024, as presented by @polyshipweek, and we're up to an interesting prompt: "Reverse Tropes!" Basically taking a trope and switching it around into its opposite -- the classic "Only One Bed" becomes "Too Many Beds," for example. Now, I wasn't originally going to do this prompt for this day -- I was more interested in "Queerplatonic Partners," as I felt I could write something interesting about Smiler and Alice's dynamic within the OT3 for that one --

And then I ended up writing "someone is a jerk to one of OT3 for some reason, and gets theirs by the end of the story" fics for Alice (Valicer In The Dark version) and Smiler (Soulmates AU version) for Days One and Two of this particular week, and decided that I needed to do a third story on that theme from Victor's POV to round out the trilogy. And when I looked at the linked examples of "reverse tropes" provided by Polyship Week in their write-up on the prompt, I came across this list which included the reverse-trope "Instead of fake dating, everyone is convinced that you aren’t actually dating." Pair that with various tumblr posts I've seen decrying people being "gatekeepers" when it comes to queer identities, and I quickly came up with a story where poor Victor gets harassed at his first Pride by a jerk who's convinced he's a "cis het faker" and can't believe he's dating Alice and Smiler. :( Sorry Victor -- I had a theme to keep to! And fortunately, as per that theme, he gets his at the end... Enjoy!

--

“So – first Pride, I’m guessing?”

“What – oh, yes,” Victor said, smiling awkwardly but genuinely at his surprise conversation partner as they – they looked like a man, but Victor was not about to make that assumption at Pride – sidled up to him. “A-am I that obvious?”

“I can spot people like you a mile away,” the person replied, looking him up and down. “Ben – he/him, if you care.”

“Oh, thank you – Victor, he/him as well,” Victor introduced himself, offering a hand. “N-nice to meet you.”

“Yeah,” Ben said, giving him a rather perfunctory shake. Then again, Victor supposed a handshake was probably a bit formal for this setting… “What are you doing here?”

“Just t-taking in the sights – my partner insisted we come,” Victor explained, glancing around hoping to spot Smiler or Alice and wave them over. I know I told them I’d be fine on my own for a bit, but they’re both so much better at talking to people than I am… “I grew up in a rather, ah, r-repressed little village, so I never got to experience this before now. It’s been…” He paused, swallowing as someone walked by in a leather harness and not much else. “Enlightening.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Ben said, folding his arms. “Partner, huh?”

“Yes – I have two, actually, but Alice is as new to Pride as I am – oh, there they are!” Victor pointed at Smiler – resplendent in their non-binary stripes tee, favorite pair of worn black jeans, and bright yellow sneakers – and Alice – proudly decked out in a purple dress with white and black triangles along the skirt hem – standing by what looked like one of the merch tables. Smiler was holding something in their hand, showing something to an intrigued-looking Alice. “Those two, right there. They’re really into celebrating who you are.”

Ben looked over at them, then back at Victor with a raised eyebrow. “You came here with them?”

“Yes – my girlfriend and my themfriend,” Victor said, a warm glow suffusing his body as he watched Smiler gesture at the thing in their hand while Alice rocked thoughtfully on her heels. “They’re – they’re the best. I’m quite lucky to have them in my life.”

“...yeah, I’m calling bullshit on that.”

Victor blinked at the sudden harshness in Ben’s tone. “I – what?”

“I said, I’m calling bullshit on that,” Ben snapped, moving a little closer to Victor. “Fuck me – you really think you can just gesture at anyone in this place and say that they’re your partners? Especially those two?”

“I – uh – n-no?” Victor stammered, automatically reaching for a tie that wasn’t there. “I – t-those are my p-partners.”

“Sure. Sure.” Ben looked him up and down again, appraising him and finding him wanting. “Two people like that are gonna want to hang out with you.”

...Oh. Oh wow. Victor had thought he was used to comments like that, but – he hadn’t expected to hear any of them at Pride. Nor for them to sting like that. “T-t-they do,” he insisted, aware that his nervous stutter was not helping matters. “I – I a-admit, I’m not sure why m-myself, but–”

“Save it,” Ben snapped, inserting himself into Victor’s personal space – and suddenly Victor was hyper-aware that, though Ben was shorter than him, he was definitely more muscular. He backed away on instinct, eyes flicking around for the nearest tall object to climb. “I told you – I can spot some cis het faker a mile away. You asshole – you think you can come here, enjoy the party, and claim to be one of us, then go back to being ‘normal’ tomorrow? Huh?”

“N-no! No, of course not – I-I-I’m bi!” Victor babbled, flapping a hand at his blue, pink, and purple sunset sweater while holding the other up placatingly.

“Sure, yeah, you’re ‘bi,’” Ben growled, complete with scare quotes, and somehow that hurt even worse than being told he couldn’t possibly be dating Alice and Smiler. “Just long enough to get a few drinks, anyway. Then you’ll go home to your simpering little girlfriend and tell her all about us ‘queers’ and have a good laugh.” He poked Victor hard in the chest, making him stumble slightly. “Well, I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen. So how about you get your stuff and–”

“Excuse me.”

Ben turned around – and immediately doubled over as Alice’s fist introduced itself to his gut. “How about you get your stuff and clear out?” she snarled, in a tone of voice that Victor somehow knew she had used with Bumby. “Before I decide to show you just how good I am at knife tricks?”

“Alice,” Smiler said in warning – though judging by the expression on their face, they weren’t really all that concerned with stopping her. “No getting us kicked out.” Their eyes narrowed as they regarded the gasping Ben. “But yeah – I’d recommend you fucking skedaddle.”

It was a testament to how angry Smiler sounded that they could use the word “skedaddle” and yet Ben still left, holding his middle and shooting them all confused, slightly terrified looks. “Fucking gatekeepers,” Smiler grumbled, then wrapped a tight arm around Victor. “Hey – you okay?”

“I – I-I’ve been better,” Victor murmured, dropping his hands. “I d-didn’t expect...I t-thought...isn’t t-this whole thing about acceptance?”

“It’s supposed to be, but some idiots think they’ve got reverse gaydar and gotta ruin it for the ‘interlopers,’” Smiler said, rolling their eyes before giving him a squeeze. “Probably would have assumed I was a cis guy too…I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“And I’m sorry we didn’t show up earlier,” Alice said, coming around to give Victor a hug from the other side. “Smiler was rather invested in showing me some of the flag pins they had on display over there – we didn’t realize what was going on until the bastard started getting loud.”

“It’s fine – I’m sorry you had to do that at all,” Victor mumbled, putting his arms around both of them and pulling them against him. “I didn’t...I just…”

“It’s not your fault,” Smiler said firmly, patting his back. “You didn’t anything except exist.”

“Some people are just arseholes – believe me, I would know,” Alice agreed, before stretching up on tiptoe and tugging him to the side slightly so she could kiss his cheek. “But I imagine he won’t be bothering us again now that he knows how prone I am to violence.”

Victor laughed despite himself. “Hopefully...if you don’t get in trouble for slugging someone,” he added, grimacing.

“I think we’ve got plenty of eyewitnesses saying he pretty much started it,” Smiler assured him, looking around at the other attendees before shooting him a grin. “Would picking up a ‘Bi Pride’ pin make you feel better?”

“...I think it would, yes.”

[jewishcissiekj]

wanted to put every outfit Sabé wore in visual media on her slide but the amount of variations her Darth Vader comic outfits have depending on the artist and colorist is insane so for her I'll just do the main ones

[yoohyeon]

Guys… what does a girl that hate dresses and skirts should wear at a wedding….. ? I need help jcndjdn

[biitchcakes]

Jess Fashion │ 002. / ∞

( personals DNI . )

[lucifer-kane]

main reason i wanna make clothes even on a small casual scale for myself is there's soooooo many cute things i see. alas. i am fat.

[raspberry-gloaming]

All I know about the new descendants movie is osmosis from tumblr and combining that with the media I think of when someone says Alice in Wonderland is making for tbh the movie in my brain is probs very different than what I've heard the new one is like.

And that media is the Royal Ballet's Alice in Wonderland. Its a lovely comic ballet, and my favourite dances are The Mad Hatter's Tea Party (tap! in a ballet! also in this clip played by Steven McRae, who i want to know more about and watch more of his stuff as i have heard good things about from other dancers I know), and the Tart Adage, which is frickin hilarious. (also the way that the King of Hearts just droops around in the background and its like yup. thats Red's dad apparently.)

So uh everyone should watch these clips simply because they're amazing and I love them.

[alwaysbethewest]

.

[machinatings]

Went to the cinema to see the new dr who. By the end ​I had blue eye liner streaming down my cheeks and the lights go up n everyone around me was completely dry faced. Mortifying.

[cyancherub]

did i tell u guys i was taken to the hotel last weekend ....................in a very deluxe suite .....and taken out to a nice dinner

[werebutch]

at my school around like 2019 there was a masc shortage and I was 15/16. This girl was obsessed with me so bad our friend group split in two and she kept up weird shenanigans until we graduated . This other girl broke up with her boyfriend for me . While I genuinely looked like this

ACTUALLY SO FUNNY. HELP. Such an awkward selfie but it’s the only one I could find. BWAHAHAHHA

[kyouka-supremacy]

Today was a good day :)

[cryptcombat]

Today was a decent day overall. I think. got myself a new laptop and woke up from a nice dream! 👍