#iron shell tracksuits

[ironshell90]

[realitv]

TAGGED  BY :  no one i stole it from lex @idolbound​ TAGGING :  redistribute the memes of the wealth

—    BASICS.

▸     IS    YOUR    MUSE    TALL    /    SHORT    /    AVERAGE ? media, unglamoured, stands at six feet (6″) tall; or about one hundred and eighty three centimetres (183 cm). in comparison to the average person, they are quite tall; but not overly so, and tend to use their height to their advantage. intimidation is one of their many, many talents; and being able to tower over an enemy (or warp reality so it looks like they’re towering over an enemy) is key to that. 

▸      ARE    THEY    OKAY    WITH    THEIR    HEIGHT ? absolutely. in fact, media is never seen without a pair of heels or platforms to increase that height! anything that helps them to intimidate and keep the attention and spotlight on themselves is incredibly important to them! and it... also helps to feed their ego but it really to be like that.  

▸      WHAT’S    THEIR    HAIR    LIKE ? fried. media’s natural hair colour is an unassuming, mousy brown. dishwater brown. weak coffee water brown. with the advent of chemical hair dyes in the 1860s, media began to bleach their hair to a platinum blonde shell. they’ve been chemically dying their hair for almost 200 years; and even with growth, it’s not healthy. it’s brittle and thin, it’s dull and spruced up by three cans of high shine hairspray that keep their signature newscaster style in place even in category F6 tornado winds. it’s also heat damaged, in addition to being chemically damaged; they use extremely hot curling irons in order to get their synthetic fibre hair to maintain its shape. 

▸     DO    THEY    SPEND    A    LOT    OF    TIME    ON    THEIR    HAIR     /    GROOMING ? oh, yes. media sleeps in curlers, media uses styling tools and products to keep themselves looking picture perfect. grooming is the same. media regularly gets full bodied waxes (though they no longer have to tweeze their eyebrows since that hair stopped growing in 1963), and spends an enormous amount of time on skin care, body care, and make up. nothing is ever out of place; they are always camera ready and perfectly put together. no smudges, no stray hairs, nothing. the audience is always watching, so they have to look their best. 

▸      DOES   YOUR   MUSE   CARE   ABOUT   THEIR   APPEARANCE   /   WHAT    OTHERS    THINK ? yes. not only is media extremely vain, but as i said, their cameras are always rolling and they have to be ready to go live at a moment’s notice. that requires a great deal of care and thought regarding their appearance. are they capable of relaxing that? oh, absolutely. we’ve all seen their pj’s. oversized white t-shirt and hot pink booty shorts. but they still care what others think about them, and are incredibly sensitive about comments regarding their appearance and their synthetic body. anything perceived as an insult will be met with aggression and even threats of violence or harm.

—    PREFERENCES.

▸     INDOORS    OR    OUTDOORS ?  indoors.  ▸     RAIN    OR    SUNSHINE ?  sunshine.  ▸     FOREST    OR    BEACH ?  beach ▸     PRECIOUS    METALS    OR    GEMS ?   precious metals. ▸     FLOWERS    OR    PERFUMES ?  perfumes ▸     PERSONALITY    OR    APPEARANCE ?  appearance ▸     BEING    ALONE    OR    BEING    IN    A    CROWD ? crowds. ▸     ORDER    OR    ANARCHY ?  ...anarchy.  ▸     PAINFUL    TRUTHS    OR    WHITE    LIES ?  white lies.  ▸     SCIENCE    OR    MAGIC ?  science ▸     PEACE    OR    CONFLICT ?  conflict. ▸     NIGHT    OR    DAY ?  day. ▸     DUSK    OR    DAWN ?  dusk ▸     WARMTH    OR    COLD ?  warmth ▸     MANY   ACQUAINTANCES    OR    A    FEW    CLOSE    FRIENDS ?  neither.  ▸     READING    OR    PLAYING    A    GAME ?  playing a game(TM)

—    QUESTIONNAIRE.

▸      WHAT    ARE    SOME    OF    YOUR    MUSE’S    BAD    HABITS ? talking over others, hubris, overconfidence, being a manipulative piece of shit, eating their goddamn children. 

▸      HAS    YOUR    MUSE    LOST    ANYONE    CLOSE    TO    THEM ?      HOW    HAS    IT    AFFECTED    THEM ? no. they have eaten their children, but they consider it unmaking a creation, and do not consider it a loss. their children become part of them, and part of that network. 

▸      WHAT    ARE    SOME    FOND    MEMORIES    YOUR    MUSE    HAS ?   anything that has to do with The Law Himself ( @gloryshound​ ) is considered a fond memory. and there are many, many memories with him. most notably their time spent in salem together, in 1692.

▸     IS    IT    EASY    FOR    YOUR    MUSE    TO    KILL ? yes. media doesn’t even think about it; they just act. 

▸      WHAT’S    IT    LIKE    WHEN    YOUR    MUSE    BREAKS    DOWN ? a... lot. media experiences emotions like a third party viewer, so for something other than anger to ground them is.. a lot for them to handle. they’re not capable of processing emotions like we do. the sure fire way to tell when media is having a break down is their appearance. are they unkempt? is their mascara running? are they wearing big shades and a juicy couture tracksuit from 2002? congrats! media is in the middle of a breakdown! it’s just messy. their emotions are high and they tend to lash out, and they isolate themselves from others; and considering their overwhelming fear of being alone, it only adds to their stress. lashing out means more hysteria, more fear, more never ending broadcasts and terror. it means death, it means humanity must listen to them again. 

▸      IS    YOUR    MUSE    CAPABLE    OF    TRUSTING    SOMEONE    WITH    THEIR    LIFE ? just one. just The Law Himself. it took over one thousand years to get to that point but that’s (REDACTED) baby. 

▸      WHAT’S    YOUR    MUSE    LIKE    WHEN    THEY’RE    IN    LOVE ? media is already in (REDACTED) with their husband. it’s very... human. it’s very private and kept for themselves, not the masses. it’s media with their hair clipped back in a knot wearing slouchy sweaters and jeans. it’s media curled up on the porch during hazy mornings with a cup of coffee and their feet in his lap. it’s going grocery shopping and arguing over organic vs non organic, vegan vs non vegan. it’s stealing the cookie dough out of his ice cream and laughing. always laughing. it’s enjoying the silence - their own, but not his. it’s building a foundation with the one entity on this earth that could ever understand them completely. 

[circushawk]

CLINTON FRANCIS BARTON. AKA HAWKEYE ( not HAWKGUY , definitely not IRON FIST )

BACKSTORY

( canon divergent / a mix of matt fraction’s hawkeye comics + mcu )

abuse and injury tw.

CHILDHOOD.

            CLINTON FRANCIS BARTON , born to harold and edith barton, was raised in waverly, iowa. along with his older brother, barney, the two boys worked in their father’s butcher’s shop. however, harold was an abusive man who often drink more than he could take and beat his young boys whenever he felt like it. one particularly violent case left clint partially deaf at six years old when harold slammed him against the refrigerator. barney taught clint to fight, to improve his aim with his slingshot, and the two created their own codes through signs. clint also learned sign language and lip reading to further understand those around him, mostly relying on the latter as he wanted to hide his disability when he was a child. but most importantly, the two boys vowed to each other that they would outlast their father. 

and they did. howard’s alcoholism took his own life in a car accident, but the boys also lost their mother. orphaned, clint and barney were sent to numerous foster homes, but they were really never home. the two boy ran away and encountered a traveling circus who took them in as roustabouts.  two of the circus performers, swordsman and trickshot took a liking to clint and barney, treated them like sons and trained the boys in skills that could be useful in their future as members of the circus.  

swordsman trained clint in art of throwing knives and the two grew close, although they discovered that his true talents was with the bow and arrow while also being trained by trick shot. clint was happy in the circus, until he discovered that his mentor, swordsman, had been stealing money from the circus. compelled to do the right thing, clint wanted to turn in his mentor to authorities. but before he could, he was severely beaten by his mentor, a man he saw as a father figure, and left him for dead until he was discovered by trick shot and barney. swordsman’s betrayal and escape created tensions within the circus, deteriorating his relationship with both trick shot and his own brother. it didn’t take long until barney had enough of the circus and left, enlisting in the army.

 abandoned by his brother, clint focused on his archery training and later on, became the carnival attraction known as HAWKEYE, the name a tribute to his native iowa. 

SHIELD

HAWKEYE, “the world’s greatest marksman” as the carnival’s patrons would call him caught the attention of SHIELD.  nick fury personally asked clint to join SHIELD, to help save the world from threats with his incredible marksmanship. but there was one condition that he asked from fury, a simple enough task for a man with such power: to help him find his brother. 

fury immediately tracked down barney, who was a fbi at the time. the two brothers began to reconcile and stitched up old wounds so they could move forward. before climbing up the ranks in SHIELD, clint worked under the supervision of phil coulson and melinda may, and was often paired up with bobbi morse. the two dated on and off, before they eloped on a whim --- which didn’t particularly end well. their marriage lasted only a couple of years but two remained amicable and there for each other. 

when clint rose as a level seven agent, clint was tasked to assassinate a global security threat known as the black widow. fighting off the KGB all across europe, he was able to finally track down the mysterious assassin. but unable to pull the trigger to kill someone who clint saw good in during his espionage and reconnaissance, he made a different call. he knew natalia was capable of good, if only someone would give her the chance. clint barton asked her to join SHIELD under his supervision, and natalia became natasha. the supervision quickly became a partnership and with every mission, their friendship developed. 

with a near perfect success rate in his missions, clint asked fury of another favor. barney wanted to start a family and retire but clint feared that his status as high-level shield operative and barney’s own work in the fbi would endanger barney’s life. with fury’s help, barney was given a farm off-the-grid, his information erased from SHIELD and other records that would link him to clint, so he could live peacefully with his girlfriend, laura and start their family. clint would often visit barney and laura, sometimes with natasha --- one of the few people he trusted enough to tell about his family. 

MCU-CANON CHANGES 

AVENGERS 

no serious change.  

DURING WINTER SOLDIER 

recuperating after the battle of new york, clint decided to stay in new york than go to washington d.c. like steve and natasha. ( also i just need to make up some reason why clint wasn’t involved there despite being a higher-level shield agent than both natasha and steve. ) 

during this time, clint met kate bishop who he began to train to take up the hawkeye mantle whenever he’d decide to retire. 

clint forced the boss of a russian mafia to let him an apartment building to prevent his neighbors from being evicted when their rent was tripled. clint got in an argument with the “tracksuit draculas” and lucky who was the mafia’s dog at the time decided to protect clint when the criminals began to attack him. in the fight, lucky was hit by a car and clint rushed him to the hospital. lucky survived but lost an eye, and clint decided to be his new owner. 

while in new york, clint and kate began to aid against crime in clint’s neighborhood, getting in the way of various mob bosses’ plans. the tracksuit draculas also wanted the apartment building back from clint. the mob bosses hired a mercenary named kazimierz kazimierczak to kill clint. kazi killed grills, one of clint’s friends and neighbor, and in their fight, kazi the clown stabbed clint’s ears with his own arrows, worsening clint’s hearing loss. 

however, clint and kate were able to stop kazi and the mob bosses in the end before clint had to leave to aid the other avengers in taking down hydra bases. clint left lucky with kate during this time. 

AGE OF ULTRON

the farm was barney's and laura was barney’s wife. 

barney’s baby would still be named nathaniel pietro, a tribute to his brother’s best friend and someone who saved clint’s life. wanda would also be introduced to the barton family.

CIVIL WAR

clint didn’t retire. probably just took a much needed indefinite leave so he could spend time with his brother and the new baby.  clint was obviously against the accords and just ignored thunderbolt ross’ calls, thinking that none of the avengers would sign it anyway nor would they tell the government the farm’s location. but when steve asked his help which meant things were turning into shit, he was very quick to act to save wanda from the house arrest in the compound and picked up scott lang along the way.  

FINGER FINGER SNAP SNAP KISS KISS

during the snap, clint lost his brother and barney’s entire family.

 it sent clint in really deep depression where he just refused to communicate. he took his hearing aids out and just stopped talking to people. the once loudmouth clint barton lost all his self-confidence and became a silent shell of the man he was.  i think only natasha could have gotten him out of this stage and brought him to the avengers compound.

A FEW HEADCANONS

takes out his hearing aids whenever tony starts talking about himself

he usually just wears pajamas, drinking coffee out of the pot, getting drunk on the couch, and not showering for let’s-not-guess-how-long. likes to sleep and sometimes only talks to natasha and his dog. really just wants to hide away and tune the world out … boi is rly going thru it.

but when he does feel energized, he probably spends most of it in children’s hospitals and taking care of kids because of how much he misses his nieces and nephews. 

when conflict arises, he still does his duties. he may be a human that would never scratch thanos in a team of supersoldiers, gods, and mutants but he still has the conviction, the sense of justice and right and wrong, that makes him worth of being an avenger. plus, its hard not to do the right thing when you’re around captain america. clint barton is really just this guy that no matter how shitty his life is, how much of a hot mess he is, he will always help people no matter what whenever they need him.

[armoured-iron-geek]

End of Infinity War Theory FanFic

Based on the theory that this scene was indeed a vision of the future:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxkdS4TfGBo

“You could have saved us. Why didn’t you do more?”

That was the question he had been trying to answer since Ultron. He had tried to prepare for the inevitable by inventing, building, then improving. He wasn’t the only genius in the world, but he seemed to be the only futurist of them that cared to face the unknown, no matter how terribly his hands would tremble. He had been recruiting and negotiating with people, to bring them together as a united front, to face the horrors that the galaxy had to offer. 

And then the Accords and Siberia happened. By his own mistakes and the grievances of others, Tony Stark was very much alone.

Again.

At first, he had tried to hate those who had “deceived and betrayed” him, to allow the anger to burn and fuel his determination. In the end, his efforts to do so were fruitless. It’s extremely hard to steer hate towards others when the majority of it is already dedicated to hating oneself. Tony knew what he had done wrong and his part in the splitting up of the Avengers. He wasn’t stupid, he was well aware of the vigilante group his rogue teammates had formed elsewhere in the world. The fact that they were breaking numerous international laws wasn’t what annoyed Tony in the end.

What annoyed him was that a huge part of him wanted to be with them.

But alas, he never did pick up that bloody cellphone until Rogers had texted him with a very simple question: Do you need us?

And Tony had answered: Always.

One particularly devastating series of cluster fucks later, the Avengers, Guardians and whoever else was brave enough had succeeded in taking Thanos down. He wasn’t dead, but thanks to the combined efforts of Strange and Loki, the Space Stone had backfired on the Mad Titan, sending him to the every edge of the galaxy, weakened and sans Infinity Gauntlet. The threat was over....for now at least.

But...at what cost?

The Gauntlet was in a stasis, hovering in it’s own power, the light of which produced an illusion of a pedestal, making it the centre of a pure nightmare. It was like a sun which possessed rings of devastation, the bodies of fallen heroes laid and poised in the round. The further away the Gauntlet’s light, the bigger the blanket of darkness that draped the martyrs became. They were nothing more than fallen metaphors, a shell of the determination that once fired in their no longer beating hearts.

The majority had been taken out in the final blast that had lead Thanos to his temporary doom. The Soul Stone, however, could still detect one last, flickering life form in the furthest ring of devastation, slightly buried in a crater created quite early in the final battle. The Stone glimmered in interest; who was the last remaining if all the others were already absorbed and locked within her power? She wanted to pitch the question to her fellow Stones, but she could feel their annoyance at being abandoned and no longer being used. 

No, this inquiry was something she would have to partake in alone.

It wasn’t long before the subject of her interest came to, the being struggling to pull himself out from under the debris. She could feel his confusion and physical pain, his metal-clad body slowly making it’s way to feeble freedom. Ah, of course it would just have to be the human that seems to jest in the face of death over and over again. The one known to the galaxy as Anthony Edward Stark, AKA Iron Man.

Over with said individual, with a thick rub of his eyes after collapsing his broken helmet back, Tony could finally see again, his vision adjusting to the new visual circumstances. What he saw was the exact scene that had fuelled his night terrors for many years, with a few additions.

They were dead. They were all dead, Tony realised with awakening horror. He immediately felt tight in his chest, his breathing quickened to a dangerous pace and the armour he had once used as a defence mechanism became extremely claustrophobic. He staggered to his feet, fumbling forward a few steps while simultaneously pressing a pattern into the arc reactor with his fingers. The suit transformed back into the hoodie and tracksuit pants ensemble which Tony took as a cue to collapse back onto his knees.

Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.

He huddled into himself.

They’re dead. They’re dead. They’re dead.

Clasping his fingers together didn’t stop the trembling.

Why did you let this happen?

The guilt came pouring out with his tears.

You could have saved us. Why didn’t you do more?

“I tried,” he wept, unable to look up, “I tried so hard, but in the end...”

I’m the man who killed the Avengers.

“Now that’s quite enough, Man of Iron.”

What the hell? Gasping, Tony shot out of his reverie, glistening brown eyes desperately scanning for the sound of that voice, so stern, yet calm. Several moments later, his emotionally fried mind managed to decipher that the voice had not been out in the open, but within himself.

“Who are you?” he whimpered.

“I am the entity that Know’s and See’s....not all....but most,”the voice said, seeming to take time with it’s words, calculating,”And what I See in you, I certainly do not appreciate. I’ve Seen broken and damaged Souls before, but never have I seen one so badly shattered by it’s own possessor. Enough is enough.”

And the Gauntlet lit up brighter than ever before, finally catching Tony’s attention, bathing him in a dense orange light. He was momentarily blinded, preventing him from realising that the Gauntlet was making it’s way over to him. 

He panicked, lurching into his unsteady legs as the Gauntlet came closer to his proximity. Tony staggered backwards, crying out, screaming, “No! Stay away from me! Stay back, please!”

The Gauntlet, unsurprisingly, ignored him, simply continuing on it’s floating journey.

“Please don’t! I can’t touch! I can’t have....,” Tony continued back away, “Please...” Suddenly, Tony could go no further, his back roughly slamming into rock behind him. He cowered into the rough surface, face turning away from the Gauntlet’s glow, “What do you want from me? What could I possibly have that you want?”

“There is a price for everything, but we will get to that,” the Voice responded softly, noticeably feminine,”We have our uses and I wish to offer them to you. They will not mind my brashness. They care not as long as they are not stuck in stasis. Any user is a good user.”

“No! I-I couldn’t possibly-”

“But look around, is this not the vision which has plagued you for so long?”

“.....Yes,” admitted Tony. He braced himself and turned back to look directly at the Gauntlet. All Stones had dimmed with the exception of the Soul Stone. It-She must be the speaker.

“A mere few minutes ago, you were wallowing in your self-guilt over your inability. We can provide you exactly that.” encouraged the Soul Stone, giving a flickering glimmer that Tony took to mean reassurance,“We hold no bias, Man of Iron. The fluidity of our powers bends to no one’s agenda, we merely adapt as we are needed. It seems you are in most need of us at this moment.”

Tony couldn’t stop himself from nodding in agreement. Even then, he retorted, “That’s true, but it doesn’t mean I should. I’m confused though...It was made clear to me that a mortal cannot wield such power-”

“Such a statement is crafted by fools,”snarked the Soul Stone,”And you are foolish to believe it even after witnessing Stephen Strange wielding my Brother of Time without a problem. You cannot physically touch us as a celestial or god can, but if you have enough will and courage, we have no objection to listening.”

Tony considered the Stones words for a moment, staring down at his shoes, taking in the dust and grime. 

“All you need is a vessel to contain us. Your armour would do well.”

“I just...I don’t think I could do it...That I should do it. Go back in time and start all of this again?”

“You doubt our abilities?”

“No, I doubt mine. I screw up nearly everything I touch. Even if I have the gift of foresight, who’s to say I won’t just make everything even worse?”

“You are needlessly doubting yourself again...”

“I have the track record to back me up.”

“Anthony Stark, are you not a mechanic? A tinkerer?” the Soul Stone was beginning to sound rather frustrated now, “You throw yourself into building your armour and technology with no abandon, why could you not build a timeline with the same efficiency and grace?

“With my tech, I know what I’m doing. The variables of...constructing a new timeline....”

“Is no different of a risk, simply on a far larger scale.”

“The biggest scale of all. Literal lives are at stake. If I were to mess up, people would die.”

“And this is better?”

Tony would swear until the day he died thatif the Stone had a physical body, that question would have been accompanied by a gesture to the devastation surrounding him. Taking in a shuddering breath, he shot a glance towards the nearest body, Steve Rogers staring out into the abyss of the galaxy, the shield Tony had returned to him shattered in multiple pieces. A few feet away, Clint and Natasha were draped over each other, having wrestled to cover each other in the wake of the final blast.

In his mind’s eye, Tony could remember the final moments of the kid he had grown so fond of, Peter Parker’s rasping breaths finally receding as he died in Tony’s arms. So young.

So many of them....

“No, this isn’t better....”

“Well then?” the Stone pressed.

“I guess...there’s nothing else to do....but try...” Tony finally conceded with a frown. He momentarily paused, following a random train of thought, “But you mentioned a price...”

“Indeed I did.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a simple trade,” reassured the Soul Stone,”Resetting the timeline of everything that has been is no small feat even for us. Personally, I stand to lose the power of the souls that have fallen due to this conflict. I can handle the loss, but I will want compensation. The trade is simple, Anthony Stark:the chance to rescue those souls.....in exchange for your own.”

Tony knew it would be something along those lines, but the thought still left him momentarily frozen in place, “You want my soul? But you said it was shattered, why would you want it?”

“It’s shattered, but the pieces have yet to disappear from your being,”the Stone clarified,”Your soul is amendable, just like the timeline through our influence. Should you succeed in your mission, I will piece you back together, than make you my own. Bring you into me. I assure you, there is no greater form of rest or peace”

“Rest...”

“Yes, Anthony, rest.”

Several minutes later, Tony was once more in his armour, but this time, there were six new power sources. The Stones had willingly detached themselves from the Gauntlet, the Power and Space Stones now on either shoulder, the Mind and Reality Stones on his hips, the Time Stone on his stomach and the Soul Stone taking the spot of honour, replacing the arc reactor in the centre of his chest.

“You’ve made a wise choice, Man of Iron. By providing the galaxy with peace, you will in turn, finally find your own.”

Tony merely nodded, steeling himself for what was ahead, eyes shut tight. Never again would he have to see all of his friends dead, for that is what they were, no matter what had come between them. The man Tony had been before Afghanistan would have scoffed at the thought of giving up his own life for those he cared about. That Tony was an idiot. The Tony he was now wasn’t much better, but at least he knew this one could improve. It was time to prove himself.

“Let us proceed.”

With a blinding light that stunted all of his senses, a great power reverberated around Tony’s body, spinning outwards, then pulling in, engulfing the mortal completely. The last thing Tony knew was a feeling of great relief before blacking out entirely.

It was his sense of smell that came back to Tony first, the scent of grease and metal immediately calming him down from the adrenaline rush. Over a matter of minutes, he could eventually feel the cold steel under his arms and recognise that he seemed to be bent over on some type of table.As he opened his eyes, his spatial awareness kicked in just in time for his hearing to finally register an extremely familiar voice calling to him.

“Sir?”

Tony groaned and started to wearily stretch his body out.

“Sir, I don’t understand what just occurred. You just appeared out of nowhere with the flash of a bright light, but my scanners failed to detect any energy signatures from said light.”

“Of course not, JARVIS, Infinity Stones don’t-....wait....J-JARVIS?”

“Sir? I don’t understand the confusion. Who else would it be?”

Tony, completely startled, began to take in his surroundings. He was sitting at a desk in a rather large workshop/garage. Expensive equipment was set up in the messy way that only made sense to Tony, a set of stairs lead to the rest of the mansion above, gorgeous sports cars were lined up against a wall of windows overlooking a wonderful view of the ocean.

It was Malibu. It was familiar. It was home.

“Holy shit,” Tony couldn’t help the huge grin that spread across his face in the revelation. There was one question that needed to be asked though, “J, this is going to sound odd, but can you give me the time and date?”

“It’s 9am,1st of May, 2008,” promptly replied JARVIS, “Miss Potts notified me to remind you that you have the flight to Afghanistan to partake in this afternoon.”

“To present the Jericho missile, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

Tony gave a harsh laugh, “Yeah, buddy, not gonna happen. No fucking way. Here’s what we’re going to do instead-”

“But, Sir-”

“Get in contact with SHIELD and alert them to Uncle Obie’s hit order on my life. Hack his computer and phone, grab all the evidence you can. Then, alert the media to a press conference, Stark Industries will not be making weapons from here on out.”

“Sir,are you high again? Did Miss Everheart slip something in your drink that I can’t detect?”

“No buddy. Let’s just say....the future isn’t going to save itself. Are you with me?”

“With you, Sir? Always. Even if you’re not making any sense.”

“Love you too, J.”

[mrauthor3ds]

Likely concepts of the Gen-8 Pokémon

-= Gigantamax Butterfree =- - Some believe that it’s inspired by the kaiju Mothra, but this may be a stretch.

-= Gigantamax Pikachu =- - Many will say that this is a callback to Pikachu’s old chubby design. Well...Pikachu’s modern design hasn’t really made it slimmer, so much as its neck is defined (in the front, at least). But this Pikachu is definitely a chubby boy/gal.

-= Gigantamax Meowth =- - This goes to town with the old “Longcat“ meme. That’s obvious enough. - Its head charm, though, changes from a general Koban into an Ōban, which in Tokugawa currency is worth ten Koban. It even bears a kanji "大", which can mean “large“.

-= Gigantamax Gengar =- - The main feature is that it’s rising out of the shadows, its mouth VERY wide open with rings lining the inside. This may likely be a reference to a Hellmouth, an entrance to Hell usually depicted as a giant monster’s gaping mouth. Hellmouths were often featured in art done as early as the Anglo-Saxon era.

-= Gigantamax Kingler =- - Its limbs' new appearance make it look even more like a red king crab. The “beard“ of mouth foam gives it an even “kinglier“ look.

-= Gigantamax Lapras =- - Its shell is bigger and lined with grooves. This could be inspired by a phonograph cylinder, the earliest commercially-available sound recording medium. Sounds were recorded into these cylinders in similar grooves.

-= Gigantamax Snorlax =- - It looks almost exactly like a simple hill. The parts on its belly not covered in grass could be mistaken for a plain dirt path.

-= Gigantamax Garbodor =- - Toxin formations resembling old toys appear in its body. This gives it quite a genuine garbage dump look.

-= Galarian Meowth & Perrserker =- - (purr + berserker) - Short-tailed cats - possibly the Manx cat, which was first found in the Isle of Man. - The cartoonish stereotype of Viking warriors, with horned helmets. - Norse berserkers were claimed to be impervious to swords, which may be why these are Steel-type.

-= Galarian Ponyta & Galarian Rapidash =- - Unicorns. Closer to modern interpretations of unicorns, especially from franchises like My Little Pony.

-= Galarian Farfetch’d & Sirfetch’d =- - (sir + Farfetch’d) - Mainly the Lancelot leek, which is generally bigger and thicker than the usual leek. This may also take the “Lancelot“ part a bit further by making this into a knight of sorts.

-= Galarian Weezing =- - Mainly inspired by the Industrial Revolution, which was also prevalent in the United Kingdom. This is prominently featured in the tall smokestacks (though these spew purified air instead of smoke). - The appearance also takes after a classic image of British gentlemen - top hats, bushy eyebrows, trim goatees, and handlebar mustaches.

-= Galarian Mr. Mime & Mr. Rime =- - (Mr. Mime + rime (a type of frost)) - Tap dancing - possibly Broadway tap, which has roots in English theater. It could be Ice-type simply to make its feet hard enough to produce the tapping sounds, or it could be a reference to its ability to form invisible solid barriers. - Mr. Rime is associated with comedians - most closely Charlie Chaplin, who was considered one of the greatest icons of the history of film. It bears the classic Chaplin image with a bowler hat, mustache, and cane.

-= Galarian Corsola & Cursola =- - (curse + Corsola) - Bleached coral - essentially what remains of coral that is rendered dead. One of the usual causes is pollution from factories.

-= Galarian Zigzagoon, Galarian Linoone, & Obstagoon =- - (obstacle + goon/Zigzagoon) - Glam rock or punk rock styles, which have been popular in the UK. Their white/black appearance with waggling tongues may be a nod to KISS, but that is an American band with some UK rock inspirations. - Also inspired by the coloration of European badgers, which is easiest to see on Linoone and Obstagoon.

-= Galarian Darumaka & Galarian Darmanitan =- - Possibly abominable snowmen, AKA yetis, which are actually associated with Himalayan countries like India. Then again, there was a time when Britain owned Asian countries like India. - Actually, Galarian Darmanitan’s head-snowball and snow-beard give it the appearance of a turban-wearing Indian sage. - Galarian Darmanitan’s Zen Mode ironically reshapes it into an angry beast, with its head-snowball resembling the head of a snowman (with a flare in place of the carrot nose).

-= Galarian Yamask & Runerigus =- - (rune + Cofagrigus) - Inspired by Nordic runestones, which have also been found across the United Kingdom and other western European countries. - Quite a lot of these runestones were bordered by some sort of serpent, which serves as the design for Runerigus.

-= Galarian Stunfisk =- - Based on a mantrap, a spring-locked device that clamps one with jagged metal teeth. In England, ever since 1827, these are only legal inside houses at nighttime. - Most interestingly, this Stunfisk’s mouth is red and white - much like a Poké Ball. I haven’t run into one yet myself, but this could make it an “item mimic“ Pokémon, much like Voltorb and Foongus.

-= Grookey, Thwackey, & Rillaboom =- - (groove + monkey) - (thwack + monkey) - (gorilla + boom) - All three stages are associated with drumming. Grookey has a single stick, Thwackey wields two sticks, and Rillaboom adds a stump drum. This may be related to how primates often use things like sticks as tools. - Grookey is much like small monkeys, like squirrel monkeys and marmosets. - Thwackey’s body shape takes more after chimpanzees or short-tailed primates. - Rillaboom is clearly a gorilla, with a bush and vines acting as a wild hairstyle often associated with rock band drummers.

-= Scorbunny, Raboot, & Cinderace =- - (scorch/score + bunny) - (rabbit + boot) - (cinder + ace) - These are all rabbits, of course. - Scorbunny’s facial mark is akin to the nose bandage associated with the rambunctious child archetype. - Raboot’s body is covered in a fur much like a tracksuit, and its head mark resembles a headband. It even uses the fluff on its belly like jacket pockets for its hands. Its habit of juggling things on its feet is similar to playing with a foot bag (AKA a hacky-sack). - Cinderace is a straight-up association football player (AKA football or soccer to everybody). It even has a unique Hidden Ability (Libero) and two signature moves (Pyro Ball and Court Change) related to football/soccer.

-= Sobble, Drizzile, & Inteleon =- - (sob + dribble) - (drizzle + reptile) - (intelligence + chameleon) - Chameleons. Ones associated with water, using the power of water to appear invisible. - While Sobble is a crybaby, Drizzile is comparatively cold-mooded. Drizzile’s habit of fending off others (by laying traps) and the way its fin hangs over its face may be based on the emo archetype, or even of a troublemaking delinquent. - Inteleon is inspired by spies - namely ones depicted in action movies. This could be based on how a “chameleon“ person is adaptable to many guises. Its slender build is also similar to a basilisk, a lizard that can run on water. The membrane on its back, used for gliding, it similar to the flying lizard. - Inteleon is said to have a nictitating membrane - common among reptiles - to discern enemies’ weak points. It also fires water shots from its fingertips at Mach 3 - a typical speed for bullets fired by rifles. So it could possibly take inspiration from snipers as well.

-= Skwovet & Greedent =- - (squirrel + covet) - (greed + rodent) - They are based on squirrels - most likely the eastern grey squirrel and the red squirrel. They’re also based on the hoarding instinct of squirrels, though to a gluttonous degree.

-= Rookidee, Corvisquire, & Corviknight =- - (rookie + chickadee) - (corvid + squire) - (corvid + knight) - Rookidee is based on a Eurasian blue tit. Tits like this are known as chickadees in North America. - Corvisquire and Corviknight are based on ravens and eastern jackdaws, as well as squires and knights.

-= Blipbug, Dottler, & Orbeetle =- - (blip (radar) + bug) - (dot + Doppler radar) - (orb + beetle + orbital) - The line is mainly based on ladybugs, or lady beetles. They all also have themes of radar or related sensory mechanisms, which is connected to their psychic powers. - Dottler is called the Radome Pokémon. A radome is a shell used to cover and protect a radar device, much like how Dottler is protected by its dome-like shell. - Orbeetle may be associated with sensory devices in space, like satellites. It could also be related to flying saucers - this is especially prominent in its Gigantamax form, which even has a tractor beam shining down from its back.

-= Nickit & Thievul =- - (knick + kit) - (thief/thieving + vulpine) - Based on red foxes, but also on thieves. - Nickit’s face is covered in black and white markings, almost resembling an ornate Japanese fox mask. Its tail is brush-like, specifically to sweep away its own footprints. - Thievul’s eyes are lined with black fur flaring out to the sides like a domino mask, its leg fur resembles boots, and its whiskers look like a small fancy mustache. This could give it an appearance akin to Zorro, a famous vigilante and phantom thief in Spanish California (created by American pulp fiction writer Johnston McCulley). As a bonus, “zorro“ is Spanish for “fox“. - ...Of course, Nickit and Thievul could also have roots in Reynard the Fox, a popular trickster figure in medieval European folktales.

-= Gossifleur & Eldegoss =- - (Gossypium + fleur (FR: flower)) - (elder + Gossypium) - Both are based on the Gossypium flower of cotton plants. Eldegoss in particular looks much like a little old lady in a flower “shawl“. - Their presence in Galar may be for the industrial aspect - as the cotton industry was quite big in Britain around the era of World War I. However, this industry did decline hard, starting when Japan introduced its 24-hour cotton production method.

-= Wooloo & Dubwool =- - (wool) - (double + wool) - Wooloo is...simply a white-fleeced sheep. - Dubwool, however, seems to take after the Jacob sheep, which tends to have patchy white and black wool, and sometimes four horns.

-= Chewtle & Drednaw =- - (chew + turtle) - (dreadnought + gnaw) - Based on alligator snapping turtles. Their craggy appearance may be the reason that Drednaw was made Rock-type. - Drednaw becomes bipedal in its Gigantamax form. Many believe that it’s a nod to the kaiju Gamera.

-= Yamper & Boltund =- - (yapper + amp) - (bolt + hund/hound) - Yamper is based on the Welsh corgi, a breed popular for its cute-looking build. - Boltund may be based on a greyhound - possibly the stockier Italian greyhound. Whatever the case, it’s most certainly some kind of hound, AKA hunting dog - its Dex entries back this up by identifying it as the enemy of Thievul. Hounds have often been used in the UK region to hunt foxes.

-= Rolycoly, Carkol, & Coalossal =- - (roly-poly + coal) - (car + coal/charcoal) - (coal + colossal) - All three of these are based on coal, a high-carbon mineral that can be used as fuel for heat. - Rolycoly’s build has a single wheel and a lit-up red eye, resembling a small moped. - Carkol’s build is much like a mine cart, with a pile of generated coal heating up in its back. - Coalossal is more like a golem (an automaton made of clay or stone) with a giant pile of coal in its back. Gigantamax Coalossal reshapes its body with a constant glow within, more resembling a coal furnace.

-= Applin, Flapple, & Appletun =- - (apple + in) - (flap + apple) - (apple + turnover/ton) - Applin is essentially a worm in an apple - though in this case, it means “worm“ as “wyrm“, a draconic serpent. - Flapple is very visibly a worm, but with apple pieces serving as wings, it’s more closely a wyvern (a draconic creature with two wings and no forelegs). - Appletun is more of a drake (a wingless dragon), with a back resembling an apple pie. - Interestingly, the Gigantamax forms of Flapple and Appletun both look like a giant Applin coming out of a nectar-spewing apple. The apple itself could also be interpreted as a caramel or candied apple.

-= Silicobra & Sandaconda =- - (silicon + cobra) - (sand + anaconda) - They are based on snakes - desert-dwelling snakes, most likely. - Silicobra is, of course, a small cobra, and Sandaconda is clearly an anaconda, the largest python in the world. - Sandaconda’s prominent nostrils, however, may bear some closeness to the Eastern hog-nosed snake, which also puffs itself up to “hiss“. This could relate to Sandaconda’s ability to fill its body with sand. - The diamond-like markings on Sandaconda’s body may be akin to snakes like the Eastern diamondback rattlesnake. - In Gigantamax form, Sandaconda stands on its tail. Its coiled body and swirling sand sac give it the appearance of a dust devil (a tornado that picks up a lot of dust and sand).

-= Cramorant =- - (cram + cormorant) - A cormorant, duh. It’s likely based on the great cormorant, which is common among the British Isles. - Its Gulp Missile Ability tends to get Pokémon like Arrokuda or Pikachu stuck in its mouth. This could be based on the practice of cormorant fishing - a special snare is tied around the base of the cormorant’s throat, so fairly big fish will instead get caught in its throat.

-= Arrokuda & Barraskewda =- - (arrow + barracuda) - (barracuda + skew) - These are...of course, barracudas - a slender fish that aggressively charges at anything that could be perceived as either prey or a threat. Their jaws are extremely strong, though Arrokuda and Barraskewda are more into ramming and spearing into their foes. - Arrokuda’s body looks a lot like a throwing dart - the kind used on dartboards. - Barraskewda more resembles a torpedo, especially with its spinning propeller-like tail fins.

-= Toxel & Toxtricity =- - (toxic + electric) - (toxic + electricity) - Possibly based on salamanders - maybe the Italian crested newt, which has adapted to live in polluted ponds. - Toxtricity’s spiky electric mane and pickup-like bumps on its underbelly are likely based on electric guitars, which are commonly used in rock music. - Actually, the Amped-Up form and Low-Key forms have different formations with their horns and pickups. Amped-Up has six pickups, making it more like the bolder electric guitar. Low-Key, meanwhile, has four, like the fittingly subdued bass guitar. - In Gigantamax, its tail spikes out into an antenna-like shape. It can also generate a guitar-like weapon out of pure electricity.

-= Sizzlipede & Centiskorch =- - (sizzling + millipede/centipede) - (centipede + scorch) - Based on centipedes. Of course. - Interestingly, Centiskorch’s tail has fire telsons similar to the “eyebrows“ and “whiskers“ on its face. It’s quite common for centipedes to have a tail end that looks similar to its head. - For most attacks in its Gigantamax form, Centiskorch repositions its body into a vertical squiggle, much like the fluorescent tubes in many heaters.

-= Clobbopus & Grapploct =- - (clobber + octopus) - (grapple + octopus + locked) - These are octopi, with themes of clubbing and jiujitsu. - Clobbopus is difficult to find a matching specific octopus, but it does sort of resemble the short-tentacled dumbo octopus. - No specific octopus has been nailed down for Grapploct, either. However, it seems to wrap one tentacle around its “waist“ like a champion’s belt. - The jiujitsu concept is actually apt for Grapploct, as its signature move Octolock not only keeps the target in the field, but it constantly reduces its defenses. Brazilian jiujitsu in particular focuses greatly on forcing even tougher opponents into submission.

-= Sinistea & Polteageist =- - (sinister + tea) - (poltergeist + tea) - Based on the concept of ghosts like poltergeists possessing objects in households, like tableware - teacups and teapots in this case. - Their true bodies are made of black tea, a kind of tea that keeps for years and years. Black tea is also particularly strong in flavor. - Interestingly, most Sinistea and Polteageist inhabit forgeries of antique teacups/teapots (ones in the genuine articles are very rare). This could be a nod to the fact that many forgeries of classical teaware exist to this day.

-= Hatenna, Hattrem, & Hatterene =- - (hat + antenna) - (hatter + tremble) - (hatter + serene) - These Psychic-type Pokémon don’t react well to loudness or strong emotion. It’s very likely that they’re themed after seclusive witches. - Hatenna’s protrustion resembles a party hat or a nightcap. - Hattrem’s “hat“ looks even more like a witch’s hat. Hatterene’s, moreso. - Gigantamax Hatterene seems to show its true body within its “hair“.

-= Impidimp, Morgrem, & Grimmsnarl =- - (impudent + imp) - (morbid + gremlin) - (grim/Brothers Grimm + snarl) - Imps, gremlins, goblins, ogres, trolls - these take after quite a lot of demonic creatures especially prominent in Europeon folklore.

-= Milcery & Alcremie =- - (milk + sorcery) - (alchemy + créme/creamy) - Milcery takes after a small ball of milk or cream. Its head frays into a splash effect. - Alcremie is based on cream - notably whipped cream. This is fitting, as you must spin to make Milcery evolve into Alcremie. - There are several flavors that Alcremie can take on, depending on how and when you do the evolving spin - Vanilla, Ruby, Matcha, Mint, Lemon, Salted, Ruby Swirl, Caramel Swirl, and Rainbow Swirl. - The Ruby Cream variety may be based on ruby chocolate, which has a sweet and tart taste (just as Ruby Cream Alcremie’s entry describes it as sweet and tart). - While matcha (a ground powder from green tea leaves) is traditionally used for tea, there’s been a rise of other uses for it, especially in sweets. - There are also seven different Sweets that are needed to evolve Milcery. This Sweet will become the Alcremie’s head decorations. There are Strawberry Sweets (red), Berry Sweets (blue), Love Sweets (pink), Star Sweets (yellow), Clover Sweets (green), Flower Sweets (orange), and Ribbon Sweets (purple). While these aren’t recorded into the Pokédex with flavors, this can still technically yield 63 different kinds of Alcremie. - Gigantamax Alcremie resembles a tall layer cake. All seven Sweets appear on its body.

-= Falinks =- - (phalanx + links) - These are essentially a small group of Ancient Greek soldiers, which have shield-like arms and spear-like horns - shields and spears are often key elements in a hoplite phalanx formation. The shields would be held out to brace against any attacks while the spears are held overhead.

-= Pincurchin =- - (pincushion + urchin) - It’s a sea urchin. - Apparently, its spines contain a lot of electricity, even when detached. This could be a nod to how some sea urchins have venom in their spines.

-= Snom & Frosmoth =- - (snow + nom) - (frost + moth) - Snom looks like a jewel caterpillar, whose body is covered in similar translucent bumps. - Frosmoth looks a lot like many white moths - notably the white slant-line moth and the Venezuelan poodle moth.

-= Stonjourner =- - (stone + sojourner) - Clearly based on one of the structures of Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument near Wiltshire, England. This ring of structures is surrounded with mystery even to this day.

-= Eiscue =- - (ice cube) - Eiscue is a penguin - possibly akin to the Adélie penguin, given its solid-colored head.

-= Indeedee =- - (indeed) - This was tricky, but they seem to be themed after servants of large households - male Indeedee based on butlers and valets, and female Indeedee based on maids and nannies. The female Indeedee’s white body markings even resemble a maid’s apron.

-= Morpeko =- - (morumato (guinea pig) + harapeko (JP: hungry)) - A Pikachu-related Pokémon based on a guinea pig, which can tend to be moody when they’re hungry.

-= Cufant + Copperajah =- - (cute/Cu (periodic symbol for Copper) + elephant) - (copper + maharaja) - Based on Indian elephants, with copper hides. Copper has been mined in India for over 2000 years. - With copper-mining in mind, Cufant and Copperajah seem to have excavating implements on their trunks. While Cufant has a small spoon-like scoop, Copperajah’s trunk has teeth much like on a shovel truck. - When copper rusts, it takes on a turquoise color. This is the best answer on Copperajah’s color. - Gigantamax Copperajah strangely looks like a big bipedal slab...? If anyone can tell me what this could be based on, please tell me.

-= Dracozolt, Arctozolt, Dracovish, & Arctovish =- - (draco- + jolt) - (arctic + jolt) - (draco- + fish) - (arctic + fish) - The fossil Pokémon of this generation are...a little unorthodox. For one thing, they’re mismatched chimerae - the heads and bodies never match up. But there’s actually a story behind that. The first dinosaur bones to be officially classified were in the UK. Unfortunately, these bones were initially put together wrong - on the wrong species, and even in the wrong places. - ...Worse, some purposefully mix-and-matched bones to claim that they discovered some fantastical new species. This may explain a few things about Cara Liss, the person "resurrecting” these hodgepodges... - As for what dinosaurs each part was... - The “Draco“ part is likely the rear end of some stegosaurus-like specie. - The “Arcto“ part might be an Acrophoca, a prehistoric ancestor to seals. - The “Zolt“ part may be the head of some prehistoric bird or velociraptor. - The “Vish“ part is most certainly the Dunkleosteus, a jagged-mouthed fish.

-= Duraludon =- - (duralumin + -don (suffix used for dinosaurs)) - While likely not based on any real creature, its body is likely based on duralumin, an aluminum-copper alloy that’s both lightweight and strong. - Of course, the main site comments that it has a rivalry with Tyranitar, which may draw a parallel between the kaiju Godzilla and the robotic counterpart, Mechagodzilla. - Its Gigantamax form greatly resembles a skyscraper - most possibly the Shard, the tallest building in the UK.

-= Dreepy, Drakloak, & Dragapult =- - (dragon + creepy) - (drake + cloak) - (dragon + catapult) - Based on the boomerang salamander, an extinct amphibian with a notable crescent-shaped skull. - Drakloak and Dragapult notably have their heads resembling the B-2 Spirit, AKA the Stealth Bomber. Drakloak has a Dreepy on its back, supposedly acting as a pilot. Dragapult has two Dreepy which act as “missiles“ from Dragapult’s head cannons.

-= Zacian & Zamazenta =- - (the cyan) - (the magenta) - Wolves. ‘Nuff said. - ...Well, okay, there’s more. Zacian and Zamazenta, at base, look like old battle-worn wolves, but they have the power to draw in metal particles to form their armor and weapons (their Crowned Sword and Crowned Shield forms). - With its sword, Zacian is believed to be able to cut through anything. Zamazenta’s shield-like mane is believed to repel any attack. This could literally make them an unstoppable force and an immovable object - the extremes of offense and defense. - It’s possible that Zacian and Zamazenta are based on Geri and Freki, the two wolves that accompany Odin, the god who leads the Aesir.

-= Eternatus =- - (aeternatus (LAT: immortalized)) OR (eternal + Thanatus) - A bizarre Pokémon with a mostly-skeletal appearance. It’s Dragon-type, and it’s said to leech off the unique energy of Galar (probably Dynamax power), so I believe it could be based on Nidhoggr, the dragon that gnaws on the roots of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. - Its boss-only Eternamax form turns it into a big spiral with only a large hand-like appendage. It could be a nod to how Nidhoggr coils itself around Yggdrasil’s roots, or even how the serpent Jormungandr coils itself around Earth/Midgard, or even just the serpent of Ouroboros (a symbol of the infinite).

[rodrigohyde]

Hip-Hop Has Shaped Our Style More Than We Know

How Hip-Hop Influences Fashion

American hip-hop culture has influenced the way people around the world express themselves and identify with each other for decades. From all corners of the globe, fans are financially swayed by their rap icons, so much so, hip-hop itself is now serving as a major source of inspiration for the most elite fashion houses.

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At the 2018 MET Gala (dubbed the Oscars of the fashion world) hosts included not only the event’s annual chair, Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, but also Rihanna. Noteworthy invitees included rappers 2 Chainz, Migos, Wiz Khalifa, Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, Jaden Smith and A$AP Ferg, who garnered a wealth of social media attention and photo coverage usually filled by fashion’s most elite.

RELATED: Hip-Hop Style

Continuing to buck traditional fashion protocol, Cardi B sat front row alongside Wintour during Alexander Wang’s Autumn/Winter 2018 runway show at the former Condé Nast offices above New York’s Times Square. This seat, next to the most powerful figure in fashion, is typically reserved for A-list friends of the designers, powerful editors, industry exes — even royalty. The placement of the one of the hottest, most talked about female rappers today is a strong example of how high fashion has largely been influenced by hip-hop, which, in December 2017, surpassed rock to become the most popular music genre in the U.S.

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Rappers have long used designer fashion as a symbol of status, both in person as well as in their lyrics, and those stories have a direct influence on high-end fashion. It is evident even from hip-hop’s very beginning.

The ‘80s

Kangol bucket hats, chunky street-tuff gold chains, and name-plated necklaces with “Tonya” and “Lisa” written in cursive were all the rage. New York style with Adidas shell-toe trainers with wide white laces and black tracksuits were created by Run-D.M.C, LL Cool J, Funk Master Flash, The Fat Boys, and Big Daddy Kane, who were trendsetters in making authentic fashion statements.

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LL Cool J wore his then signature Kangol hat when few Americans knew anything about the European hat maker, but its association with hip-hop quickly invigorated the brand.

When Run-DMC sang about “My Adidas,” it at once pioneered the use of rap as a fashion advertisement and paved the way for the first endorsement deal between rap and clothing designers. In the mid ‘80s, the Adidas Superstar was an old basketball shoe, originally handed to players in 1969. The way Run-DMC wore their Superstars was different: The combination of sneakers without laces (similar to in prison, where they were removed to prevent inmates hanging themselves), black Lee jeans, leather goose-down jackets, Cazal glasses, and gold rope chains had long been the look of New York hustlers. But as earlier popular artists such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were pushed by their labels into wearing flamboyant, shiny, post-disco gear, Run-DMC would successfully take the street look mainstream.

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The ‘90s

The rise of female rappers such as Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, and Salt-N-Pepa all ushered in black pride wearing Afrocentric fabrics, headwraps, large gold earrings, and asymmetric haircuts, which all symbolized a movement that gave rise to social conscious hip-hop.

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The genre had became a powerful mix of influences — especially for clothing — allowing for the interaction of two theories of fashion diffusion. The upper class of fashion leadership proposes that new styles are adopted or started by groups in higher social classes, and they are later adopted in the lower social classes. This theory explains the early emergence of hip-hop fashion in the ‘80s and ‘90s, when consumers adopted aspirational labels not typically marketed to them, black poor teens, and young adults.

In contrast, however, hip-hop artists wore styles from Polo, Timberland, and Tommy Hilfiger, drawn to their all-American, elite, country club appeal. Yet, in 1994, Timberland’s chief operating officer issued a public statement reassuring customers that the brand wasn’t abandoning it’s so-called core base for the urban market.

RELATED: How to Wear Men's Boots

In 1991, designer Isaac Mizrahi incorporated hip-hop accessories such as African-inspired medallions into his New York Fashion Week runway show, while Anne Klein launched a clothing line especially based on rap music. Grand Puba name-dropped Hilfiger in his hit 1992 track “360° (What Goes Around)” and wore the designer’s clothes on various album covers. In 1994, Snoop Dogg donned a shirt emblazoned with the Tommy name on “Saturday Night Live,” gifted to him just hours before. The new yet immense popularity of the brand in the hip-hop community provided Hilfiger fueled growth and widespread brand resurgence since its founding 10 years prior.

In 1996, Tupac walked down the Versace runway during a fashion show in Milan. This might be one of the most spectacular visuals of just how intertwined hip-hop and high fashion were becoming.

The transformation of the hip-hop “look” to both a mass fashion and high fashion trend pushed hip-hop pioneer fashion labels such as Rocawear, Phat Farm, Karl Kani, and FUBU into iconic status.

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The ‘00s

The Courvoisier-guzzling, supermodel-dating, bling-bling decade of the 2000s became the next huge fashion influence derived from hip-hop culture. This evolution of the style suggested extreme wealth when hip-hop’s biggest stars began wearing more extravagant attire, while Snoop, Tupac, and Biggie were dressing like old-school mobsters in fedoras, bowler hats, large double-breasted suits, and expensive alligator shoes.

Coming off the bright and colorful ‘90s, the advancement of technology and travel brought a wide variety of influences to fashion, and it seemed like every rapper with a little bit of money and power attached his or her name to a clothing label. For every successful Sean Jean and Rocawear from the ‘90s, there was a failed Akoo, Nostic, Benjamin Bixby, and Outcast clothing from the aughts.

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Outside of full-blown fashion brands, some more obscure trends did make their way into the fashion mainstream. Sweatbands influenced by St. Louis rapper Nelly, which had a bizarre crossover appeal, became a sports accessory that young men — white and black — started wearing on completely non-athletic occasions.

One of the most universally known fashion trends of the aughts was the tall white tee. Mostly because an oversized white tee like a beeper signified drug dealer, tall tees were banned in bars and clubs, condemned in the media, and used by the police to profile assailants. Yet, when looking back at the era, the oversize tee of any color was status quo for high schoolers around the country.

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No hip-hop artist in recent memory has influenced high fashion more than Kanye West. When West released his first album “The College Dropout” in 2004, his prepped out style and popped collars was perfectly timed with the rise and dominance to then absurdly expensive teen retailer with uniquely Waspy appeal, Abercrombie & Fitch. It was a brand of prep Americana in every mall kids would save their money for just to have one of the brand’s ironic logo’d graphic tees.

The ‘10s to Today

Kanye's preppy, collegiate style stood out to begin with, but it was at the start of the 2010s that he came into his own with the creation of his profoundly popular collection Yeezy 1. Best known for his incredibly popular sneaker designs, West began designing footwear for Nike almost a decade ago. The Air Yeezy 1 and 2 collections gained instant popularity, setting new records for how much they demanded in resale prices. According to Business of Fashion, the collaboration had "the biggest impact on sneaker culture in the last decade."

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In 2015, West teamed up Adidas, Nike’s biggest competitor, on a line of apparel and footwear simply known as Yeezy, a project that has since reportedly transformed into a $10 million partnership. The Yeezy Boost 350s and 750s presented during the Yeezy Season 1 show sold out globally within 12 minutes and exceeded the resale records set by his collaborations with Nike, with some pairs selling for more than $6,000 on eBay.

West, who refers to himself as the first “hip-hop designer,” has also designed collaborations with Louis Vuitton, Balmain, Giuseppe Zanotti, and A.P.C., but it was his record-shattering collaboration with Adidas as the first deal of its kind with a non-athlete, set an industry precedent that paved the way for other similar hip-hop and sportswear collabos, including Rihanna’s cultlike brand FENTY, designed for Puma.

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West is also, according to GQ, directly responsible for the prospering partnership between rappers and high fashion: “Five years ago, no rapper (or rap fan, for that matter) considered buying Givenchy or Alexander Wang ... West's penchant for luxury brands and avant-garde designers paved the way for guys like A$AP Rocky." A$AP was most recently named the face of Dior Homme, and sat front row at Gucci’s Cruise show in Blenheim Palace.

Dior

With hip-hops’ already immense impact on fashion in the past decades, future holds much promise for this marriage. To be involved with the hip-hop culture is to participate in the defining mood of the spirit of the time. Luckily, fashion and hip-hop aren’t inactive ideas. They’re constantly evolving in ways bold and barely perceptible — but always aiming to be in line with that ineffable quality of being cool.

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Best Rappers of All Time Kanye West Style on a Budget Drake: Looks for Less from AskMen Style https://www.askmen.com/style/fashion_trends/how-hip-hop-influences-fashion.html

[area50dununiverse]

johnI and edward get caught fooling around in the toilets at school and get in big trouble John and Edward get in that first ever real fight but soon realise that when the school calls their parents the next day things will all be over and they spend what could be their last night together and love making ensues which starts off hot with Edward letting john do things he's only ever dreamed Edward would actually let him do to him but ends up squishy and soft and nostalgic with tears? Please!

Hello! I didn’t know who you wanted the fight between, so I made it so J&E argue… Hope that’s okay! I’ve been really stuck recently so I hope this isn’t too terrible!!! I also gave it a happy ending because.. y’know? 

Below as always. 

John pushed Edward into the cubicle, his lips pressed against Edward’s. He had been thinking about kissing Edward all day during his lessons. Now it was almost the end of the day and he couldn’t resist it.

“John” Edward gasped, his hands pushing against John’s chest gently. John took the opportunity to kiss Edward’s neck, making him giggle softly. “Not at school-”

“No one will know” John answered simply, connecting his lips to Edward’s again. Edward kissed him back, pushing against him and humming into his mouth.

John smiled against him. He knew Edward would give in.

John fumbled with Edward’s trousers, trying to get them undone in the tight space. “No John!” Edward whispered, his cheeks flushed and lips wet. John smirked and stuffed his hand down the front of his pants, watching his eyes fall closed, head falling against the cubicle wall.

“No one will-” John screamed as he suddenly fell backwards, gripping on to Edward and pulling him down with him. It took him a few seconds to realise that the door he was leaning on had been opened and as he hit the floor, he caught sight of the head teacher before Edward landed on him, trousers still open and John’s hand still inside.

Mr Williams looked at them both, his face shocked and mouth open. Edward scrambled up on his feet and desperately started to fix his trousers. “What is this?” The teacher asked, his voice tense. John looked between him and Edward, his brain completely forgetting how to talk. “My office!” Mr Williams snapped before walking out of the bathroom.

John looked up at Edward his mind reeling. Edward stared down at him, his face stormy and eyes fiery. “I told you!” Edward suddenly burst, startling John. “I fucking told you John!” John stared up at him dumbly, trying to figure it all out. “But no!” Edward shouted, reaching out and grabbing him “you just had to push it!” John was dragged up by Edward and pushed against the wall.

“You were so stupid!”

“It wasn’t just me Edward!” John shouted back. Edward was suddenly shoving John, his hands pressing him further into the wall behind him.

“You’re so stupid!” He cried before storming out, leaving John to dumbly follow. He didn’t know what to think or what was going to happen to them. Edward was a few paces ahead of him and as John watched him walk, he could feel himself start to panic. Edward was right, he was so stupid to even look at Edward in public, let alone the things he was doing to him.

They got to the office and was let in by Mr Williams, who still looked shell shocked. “I really don’t know where to start” he mumbled, his eyes flicking between them. “I’m going to be fair. You need to go home and talk to your parents” John looked at Edward, who kept his eyes forward, looking somewhere behind Mr Williams. “I’m going to give you that chance before I call them first thing tomorrow.”

John felt sick. What was he even going to say to his parents? What was Mr Williams going to say? It was a mess and John was responsible.

“I’m going to let your parents give you the talk” Mr Williams went on to say “but I will still need to see you tomorrow about your behaviour in school.” Edward nodded and so did John. “Now go home boys.”

Edward was the first to leave, huffing past John and leaving the room quickly without a word. John followed, hurrying after him.

He’d really messed up. Edward was mad, their parents will go mad and John knew people will find out eventually. But most of all, he was worried because Edward was so angry at him.

Edward walked home ahead of him after John gave up calling his name and trying to walk beside him. He was close to tears, John could see it; so he left him alone and settled for walking behind him in silence.

No one was home when they got in so John followed Edward up to their room in silence to get changed. They had never fallen out before, not really. Of course, as they were together all the time they bickered about stupid stuff, but John has never seen Edward this mad and he didn’t know what to do. “Talk to me” he finally said as he watched Edward change into a pair of black tracksuit bottoms. There was more silence and John was starting to think that Edward wasn’t going to answer.

“Do you know why I’m upset?” Edward asked, turning to fix John with a look “John, this is over, everything we have is over because now they’re going to know and do you think they’re going to let us be alone for two seconds?”

John fixed his eyes on the mole just above Edward’s nipple, not being able to stand looking at his sad eyes any longer. He was right, John wasn’t thinking that far ahead and the weight of what was happening sunk into John. “We’ll find a way, we always do” he mumbled, grasping onto any tiny bit of hope he had.

Edward flopped down on his own bed and laid in silence. John looked at him and desperately wanted to be close to him, he needed to just be with Edward. “Can I lay with you?” John asked for the first time in their lives. They had always jumped in and out of each other’s beds without a thought, but this felt different, like John had to ask.

Edward turned his head to look at him before nodding and John quickly joined him, positioning them both so he was spooning Edward. He rested his cheek on the top of Edward’s hair and gave him a squeeze. “This is different though John” Edward said to John’s earlier comment, stamping on his shred of hope.

“What are we going to say to them?”

John asked, his mind picturing their parents and how they will react to the news.

“Let’s not say anything,” Edward said “we can make an excuse and go and talk to Mr Williams and stop him from calling them, maybe they don’t have to know?” John frowned, his mind clinging onto a new bit of hope.

“Yeah, like we can say that I was helping you-”

“Because the zip of my trousers broke and you’re the only one I can ask to help” Edward turned around in John’s arms to face him. He was smiling now and John grinned back, the shred of hope getting bigger. “Yeah! And even if he does call mum, we can still say that, she’s bound to believe us!” John excitedly said before kissing Edward’s lips. “I love you” he whispered, pulling Edward impossibly closer.

“I love you so much” Edward answered before kissing him again.

John actually felt good about their plan, he figured it was fail proof and stopped worrying about it all. That was until Edward slipped into his bed late that night. They always waited until they were sure everyone was asleep before either one moved to the other’s bed to avoid getting caught, which John supposed was ironic considering the situation.

“It’s never going to work” Edward whispered as he rested his head on John’s chest. “We’ve fucked up. Big time.”

“What?” John whispered back, “of course it’s going to work.” Edward was a lot more grounded than John, he looked at things differently, not letting wishful thinking cloud his judgment and John wished that just once Edward would let hope take over.

“They’re going to make one of us move rooms” Edward whispered after a few minutes of silence. John’s heart sank. He couldn’t imagine being apart from Edward all night, he wouldn’t be able to sleep. “We need to make tonight count” Edward suddenly said, sitting up and shifting about. It took John a second to realise that Edward was slipping off his boxer shorts before he was pulling John’s off too.

John smiled despite himself, running a hand up Edward’s thigh. “John, i want you to-” Edward let out a shaky breath and John imagined his flushed cheeks. He couldn’t see him in the darkness but he knew exactly how he looked. “Use your mouth?” He finished weakly, his voice nervous. John froze, his heart skipping a beat.

They had only ever kissed and touched each other before. John had  once brought up the subject of blowjobs but Edward didn’t seem so keen so he dropped it. He sat up and turned on the lamp, seeing Edward’s pink face, unsure and embarrassed. John flew forwards, connecting their lips in a wet kiss, his body reacting to the idea.

John knelt up, guiding Edward backwards so he was laying against the pillows with John between his thighs, their chests flush as John kissed him. “You know how long I’ve wanted to do this to you?” He mumbled as he dotted kisses all over Edward’s chest, moving down to his stomach. Edward made a strangled noise, his hips pushing up against John as he kissed down the trail of light brown hair just below his bellybutton.

“Oh god” Edward whispered as John took him into his hand, his mouth hovering just above him. John had no idea how to even do it, but he figured he would pick up, it’s not like Edward had anything to compare it to. He gently licked the tip, experimentally before opening his mouth and taking him in.

Edward’s whole body twitched and he was making the best little sounds, desperately trying to silence himself by pressing his hand over his mouth. John soon got into a rhythm, only gagging a couple of times before he knew when to stop, his hand working the bit John couldn’t fit in his mouth. John had only just really got into it when Edward’s hands starting pulling at his hair and he was telling John to stop. He pulled off with an audible pop, amazed at just how dirty that sounded. “I’m gonna come if you carry on” Edward breathed.

“That’s kinda the point?” John whispered back, his voice hoarse, sending a thrill through his body. Edward was a mess. John guessed he must have been pulling on his own hair by the way it was sticking up in all directions. His lips were pink and red from where he was chewing them and John could see teeth marks on his forearm from trying to silence himself.

John had never been so turned on in his life.

“No, I want-” Edward was still catching his breath. His eyes were closed and his cheeks and chest were pink. John wanted to kiss him again, but instead, he waited for Edward to finish . “Do you want to-” Edward opened his eyes and met John’s stare “have sex?” He finally said and John thought he was going to pass out.

“Are you ready?” John whispered, the excitement building in his chest. John had been waiting for this for months, waiting for Edward to be ready, not wanting to push him. Edward nodded and John wanted to explode with excitement.

They decided that Edward should top and used spit to hurriedly prepare John. He was too impatient, just wanting Edward to hurry up, but Edward insisted that they do it properly so it won’t hurt.

John was a sweaty mess, writhing around on the bed, knees up and head thrown back, begging Edward to just do it.

It did hurt, John wasn’t quite prepared for how much it actually hurt at first but once Edward was fully inside and John relaxed, he found the ache strangely pleasant.

Edward was braced above him, mouth slack and eyes blown. He was moving slowly, small little thrusts that were gentle.

John didn’t ever want to leave this moment because everything was so perfect, so right and he couldn’t wrap his mind around just how much he loved Edward.

“I love you” John whispered, reaching up to brush the hair from his face. Edward smiled but John could see the sadness behind it.

“I’m going to miss you” Edward said, his voice cracking slightly. “I’m going to miss being with you.”

John wiped away a tear that was rolling down Edward’s cheek and pulled him down so he was laying on top of him. Edward stopped moving his hips but didn’t pull out so John wrapped his legs around him, just enjoying the closeness. Edward’s face was buried in the crook of John’s neck and John could feel his tears running across his shoulder and down his neck. “Things aren’t ever going to be the same” Edward croaked, completely destroying any hope John had been holding on to.

John didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to make it better so instead, he pulled Edward up and just kissed him. Edward deepened the kiss straight away, opening his lips and licking into John’s mouth, his hips picking up movement again.

John hummed into his mouth, both his hands cupping Edward’s cheeks, his thumbs wiping away any stray tears.

Edward’s thrusts got sloppier, out of rhythm and harder, his hand snaking down John’s body to stroke him in time with his hips. John closed his eyes, and held onto Edward, feeling his climax building.

The room was silent, apart from the panting and tiny whimpers and Edward buried his face in John’s shoulder again, biting down on the skin there and making John moan.

Edward was the first to come, closely followed by John. It was amazing, sweet and sad all mixed into one. John let himself go, letting the tears roll down his cheeks as Edward stroked him through his release, pressing kisses all over John’s face, kissing away the tears.

Edward pulled out and John instantly missed it, missed the closeness, missed being connected, literally and figuratively. He flopped down on top of John, both of them sticky but neither of them caring.

“Remember when we first kissed?” Edward asked, his breath on John’s chest giving him goosebumps “like, properly kissed?”

John smiled and nodded. Of course he did, how could he forget? “Four years ago, we were thirteen and you kissed me first” John said “just a peck on the lips, we were too young to really know about proper kissing.” John laughed and so did Edward.

“We were in the garden” Edward added “and you had hurt yourself, doing something stupid” he leaned up to give John a smile before laying back down “what did you do again?”

“I tried to jump the fence and fell face first over it” John said, laughing at the memory.

“Yeah, that’s it!” Edward laughed “stupid.”

“And you came running over, all worried and scared and checked me for any injuries. Then you just kissed me.” John felt the sadness again, tight in his chest.

“You told me that you wanted to kiss me forever.” Edward said, looking back up at John. John looked down at him and smiled, adding “I still do want to kiss you forever Edward.”

John wanted to take away Edward’s sadness and make it all better, he felt helpless and hopeless. “I’m so sorry” he cried “I’ve ruined everything.” Edward crawled up and pulled John against his chest, letting him cry.

“You didn’t. I didn’t mean to blame you, it wasn’t your fault.” Edward hushed. “It’s not going to be forever, things will go back to normal.”

“I’m sorry our first time was so-”

“Perfect.” Edward finished for him “it’s perfect.”

John didn’t want Edward to go back to his bed but he knew why he had to. After hours of lying together, kissing and touching each other, Edward had to leave. John watched him fall asleep from across the room and closed his eyes, not wanting tomorrow to ever arrive.

When John woke up the next morning, Edward’s bed was empty. He could hear noises from downstairs and the smell of toast came filtering through. Not that he was hungry, he felt too sick.

He made his way downstairs after getting dressed into his uniform and joined Edward at the kitchen table while their mum made breakfast.

John avoided looking at Edward. He was too sad and didn’t want their mum picking up on anything.

“Mum” Edward said, as he handed John some buttered toast “something happened at school yesterday.” John’s heart stopped beating. What was he doing?

“I caught my zip in the fabric of my pants” Edward started, making John tense. He was doing it, going with the excuse. “And I couldn’t get it done up and people had noticed and could see my pants” their mother sat down opposite them and John tried his hardest not to look guilty.

“So in the end, I asked John to uncatch it for me, because obviously I trust him so we went into the toilet where no one could see. Anyway, John finally did it but Mr Williams caught us in there and told us off.”

John stared down at his toast, not daring to look up. He wasn’t a good liar and he always thought Edward wasn’t either, but that was apparently wrong.

“Tell you off?” She asked as she bit into her own toast. John saw Edward nod from the corner of eye.

“He said what we were doing was wrong because we’re brothers.” John chanced a look up and saw it dawn on their mother’s face. “What did he think we were doing?” Edward asked, his face one of pure innocence. John looked at him and almost laughed because for fucksake he was good.

“All I wanted was some help and now we’re in trouble” Edward said, his voice distressed and his eyes big.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said “how dare he.”

John could see that she was angry now. “He’s going to call you to tell you about how wrong it is mum but I don’t understand.” Edward added, his fingers lightly touching John’s knee under the table.

“I’ll sort it” she said, her eyes narrowed. “I ought to give him a piece of my mind.”

“Thanks mum.” Edward smiled sweetly and bit into his toast without another word. John felt like he was hyperventilating and quickly excused himself with an excuse of getting his books ready before leaving quickly and going back upstairs.

Edward followed with a grin, kissing John as soon as their door was shut.  "I was up all night planning that" Edward giggled nervously “didn’t think it would work!”

“You’re too much” John smiled, excitement bubbling in his stomach. “I think I’m gonna pass out” he added, sitting on his bed. Edward sat next to him and pulled him into a hug.

“I love you.” He whispered “just, please no more being naughty in public.”

John laughed and nodded. “No more public adventures.” Edward pecked his lips once more before getting up and grabbing his bag.

“Let’s go, we don’t want to miss it when Mr Williams gets shouted at by mum.”

John laughed and followed him out. He felt like the world had been lifted of his shoulders. His fingers brushed Edward’s as they walked out the front door and Edward turned to smile at him. John smiled back, his brain trying not think about what they were going to get up to later that night. After all, that’s what got them into this mess in the first place.

[anneedmonds]

Is This Love Affair Over?

I am sandwiched between two lone male diners. Not in the biblical sense, obviously, they wouldn’t be dining if they were sandwiching me (if that is even a term) and I’m not sure I’d refer to them as “lone” males if we were midway through performing some kind of debaucherous act.

No, I merely mean that I am sitting (also alone) at a table in a restaurant and the tables either side of me are occupied by lone male diners. I could have said it like that to start off with, but that would have deprived you of the lasting mental image of me being “sandwiched”.

Anyway, I write with important news, because I think I may be at the end of my love affair with burrata. You know burrata, the incredibly rich and creamy italian cheese – it looks like a ball of mozzarella di buffala, but it’s milkier and more surprising. If I was to accurately describe it, I’d call it a cheese sack filled with cream, but that has to be the least appealing description of any foodstuff ever, so I’ll leave it to finecooking.com who say:

“burrata is a supple pouch of tender mozzarella stuffed with stracciatella, a luscious blend of fresh cream and soft mozzarella shreds”.

Supple pouch. Supple. Pouch. I’m not sure which is worse: cheese sack, or supple pouch.

Getting back to the matter in hand; my love affair with burrata. We’ve been all over the world together – Paris, L.A., New York, London, Tokyo – and I’ve been faithful, dear reader, choosing burrata over almost anything else when given the choice.  But things are fizzling out. It’s not actually the burrata’s fault, because I still love it, the big supple pouch of a bastard, the plump white orb of goodness; it’s what chef’s are doing to it that is turning me off. What they’re serving it with.

It seems to have become de rigueur to serve it a) completely by itself or b) with something that simply doesn’t do it any favours at all. Gives it no help. And you might say “oh, but burrata doesn’t need any help, it’s perfection the way it is!”

But try eating a whole, large burrata with nothing else on the plate. Which is how I’ve been served it a few times. It’s just too decadent, too rich. My body can’t cope with it. It’s so gloriously creamy, with its mozzarella shell and liquidy insides, but it’s (whispers) too much of a good thing.

In my very humble opinion (I say humble, but I must have eaten over eighty thousand burratas, so in a way I’m probably a world expert) the best way to eat a burrata is with something ever so slightly sharp, or tangy, beside it. My preference would be that there was something involving tomatoes, but equally it could be some peppers that have been charred, skinned, marinated in something slightly acidic. A quality balsamic, perhaps.

I don’t know, I’m just giving you my thoughts.

Of course the ultimate delight, if bodies didn’t have arteries that had to be kept relatively unclogged, would be a huge bowl of penne with an incredibly spicy tomato sauce and then a massive great big sac magique of burrata plonked on the top. Quivering. Ready to explode all over the spicy sauce and extinguish the fire. See? Balance!

Instead, I get given: a burrata on a plate, a sea of cream, some sprigs of what looks like thyme sprinkled on top. Which also makes no sense – why thyme? Or, in one overly-wholesome place, a burrata served next to an avocado purée, which was just nonsense, a triangular plate-shaped mess of expensive baby food.

And now I sit here, amongst my lone male diners, staring at another burrata creation: burrata with pine nuts (meh) and chargrilled broccoli. Broccoli!

The broccoli is offering nothing in the way of flavour, nothing strong enough to contrast with the milkiness of the cheese. It’s just faintly like guff, broccoli, and I love it but at the same time it’s not worthy of a place at the table with King Burrata.

And this meal was going so well, too. The ceviche starter was excellent. I even gave it my undivided attention, because my iPhone battery has died and I didn’t want to accidentally make eye contact with other humans. Not the ones here, at any rate. I’m not cool enough for the people here – the men all have fisherman’s beards and are wearing jeggings and there’s a girl wearing what seems to be a non-ironic tiger outfit, complete with tail. When I walked in wearing my tracksuit I saw the sea of eyes upon me; I’d have been less conspicuous had I weaved my way through the restaurant on a Penny Farthing blowing on a hunting bugle.

Now the dessert is here; deconstructed fig tatin. I thought that a tarte tatin was pretty deconstructed to start with – pastry, fruit, caramel – but here we are with it brought down to even humbler components. Wait: two of said components are missing. This is just figs and ice cream. Where’s the bloody pastry? Where’s the tatin? It costs 8.5, which means eight and a half pounds, to those of you who are used to the normal pricing system, which tends to work quite well so why mess with it, which I think is extortionate for three figs and a scoop of vanilla.

But this is not a restaurant review, I merely popped in to talk about burrata. Pressing issues, people, pressing issues. The man beside me has just leant in and asked me a dubious, conversation-opening question about wine – wine! – which means possible social contact and a potential awkward situation: time for me to run like the wind! I’ll not be the filling in your lone diner sandwich, matey!

Questions to answer: do you like burrata? If so, am I right about the accompaniments or amiright? Opinions below.

“Supple pouch.”

NB: the burrata in the image is actually a Claridges one, which was – incidentally – delicious, but appearance-wise scored low. Whatever the hell it was served upon looked like a bed of maggots. The cheese was, as expected, delightful, but where was the tanginess? Something contrasty? Nowhere to be seen, that’s where!

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©2020 " Is This Love Affair Over? published first on https://medium.com/@SkinAlley

[amerimemedia]

I am the King Of Rock, Hip Hop, and now Comics. DMC one half of the legendary rap group Run-DMC is coming out swinging. He no longer goes by the moniker Devastating Mic Controller even though he still has those skills. He as a new secret identity now its Darryl Makes Comics.   A few weeks ago at keystone Comic-Con, we had the chance to sit and talk to the legend himself about his love for comics and his new publishing house Darryl Makes Comics. The flagship comic of that house is his own personal comic DMC I was able to grab a copy but only issue 2, issues 1 and 3 were sold out everywhere. He talked about some of the people he brought on board I will get to that later, also where some of his inspiration came from as a child. I started off loving DC COMICS but was a fan of what Stan Lee was doing over at Marvel. Because he was basing all his heroes out of New York so I identified myself more with Peter Parker, Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four all of those guys because they were from the same neighborhood as me.  My ADIDAS!  The first thing I noticed when I was lucky enough to find Vol 2 was the brand was still intact and going strong. This new type of superhero don't wear capes or tights his hero attire is DMC signature black hat, shades and the most important part Adidas tracksuit and shell tops. Also DMC across his chest and brass knuckles he wants you to know who put those hands on you.  THE STORY It opens up as most superhero comics do with the world fawning over the heroes but in this case, they praising the wrong heroes because across town the real hero to the people is actually putting in the work. You see cameras and flashing lights over the model heroes the big three. Spelle former supermodel turned hero whit mystical powers. Iron Eagle decorated veteran with tactical skills. Then its the leader Helios OP superhero jerk with a dark secret and power he doesn't fully understand. They're like if the other big three was all about the money because they are corporately back and probably owned by Billionaire Stanley Staxworth to protect justice and the American way. But across town, a couple is getting robbed until a masked man drops in and saves the day. After he dispatches the bad guys he notices Helios zipping across the sky and follows him to an apartment building that he sets on fire DMC rushes in to save a kid from disaster.  The next morning DMC finds out its a new drug on the street that gives people powers and somehow the heroes are involved. While investigating he goes into a club that is a hot spot the drugs are sold out of. He runs into the group of thugs from earlier and gets a taste of powerful the drug makes people. The gang gets revenge by giving DMC the same beating he a previously given them. Helios also shows up and set the club on fire which gives DMC a chance to escape. Which ensues is the mission of who is creating this powerful and dangerous drug and how are the heroes involved. To do this DMC gets a sidekick and goes out to save NYC. ASSEMBLE THE TEAM First off this is not a 24-page comic this a beautiful graphic novel. The team over at DMC brought in an amazing group of artists and writers to make this come together. Who can tell some of the art styles if you're a fan of the people like  Humberto Ramos who is an artist for marvel he worked on the Runaways, The Amazing and Spectacular Spiderman Amy Chu who write for the DC Poison Ivy series

http://www.amerimewire.com/2019/09/rapper-turned-superhero-dmc.html

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Bimadona focuses primarily on aiding jewelers who nevertheless make limited-edition collections with classic, handmade tactics.From the next job interview, Bimadona outlines the basic variances amongst handmade and mass-produced jewelry, as well as benefits of and drawbacks to both of those handmade and machine-made procedures. RB: Handmade jewellery is crafted by hands, as an alternative to mechanically designed with devices. Handmade jewelers use old metal-smith skills, very simple tools, as well as a wide assortment of procedures to develop their ideal varieties and shapes. In handmade jewelry you could often notice just about every item's uniqueness, its dissimilarity from comparable pieces. You may also ordinarily feeling the cultural individuality, meaning, and also heritage powering lots of these patterns, even when these data isn't supplied combined with the jewellery. Handmade jewellery strategies need significant focus, time, talent, creative imagination, and determination. This is generally evidently recognizable in the completed piece, creating fantastic handmade jewellery jump out from mass-manufactured, uniform objects. You'll find that legitimate handmade jewelry is often not identical to other items of the very same structure. It really is normally least difficult to examine jewellery which includes considerable decoration -- many features. Take a look at every single particular person ingredient; you can typically plainly see how they are connected and built. Mass-produced or machine-made jewelry usually seems to be additional rigid and uniform. Some handmade, traditional-style jewelry appears considerably less best than machine-made jewellery, even though high-quality handmade jewelry should really nevertheless be produced to past, which should be apparent during the specifics. Perhaps surprisingly, I've located that machine-made jewelry often breaks more quickly than well-made handmade jewellery. A great deal from the mass-produced jewellery sold these days as "handmade" may indeed be handmade, as an example in malls, but that doesn't essentially suggest it can be on the optimum high-quality. Mass-production facilities normally call for artisans to meet efficiency quotas that result in badly built jewelry, created with more cost-effective components -- whether or not it is technically built by hand. I recommend trying to find handmade jewelry that is not mass-produced -- not available in big quantities. Superior quality handmade jewellery usually has an artisan's identify and popularity proudly hooked up towards the concluded products. Fortuitously, top quality and uniqueness are generally evident to the cautious observer. Handmade jewelry delivers the pleasure of distinctive, generally uncommon layouts, which have been not-identical, typically created by a real artist -- with fantastic appreciate and keenness. Jewelry can be an art type. I truly believe this power of experience arrives across inside the layout procedure, and in the finished jewelry alone. Mass-produced products merely have less soul. I feel that handmade jewelry also much better reflects the wearer's private touch and elegance, expressing individuality and interest. To dress in mass-produced jewelry, of a typical style, to my thoughts lends the wearer the looks of remaining to some degree mass-produced. Mass-produced jewelry can in truth be more affordable to get, for the reason that it can be absolutely more affordable to produce, but it just isn't automatically cheaper to get. Irrespective, mass-produced jewelry commonly delivers with it no specific this means or record -- no story, no life. After you wear lovely handmade jewellery, this is a enjoyment to be able to explain to admirers the particular story or background behind everything you are donning, or information about the artist, which is usually doable with handmade jewellery purchased from personal artisans or their representative galleries. Earlier mentioned all, it can be simply just a joy to have on jewelry that someone has personally and lovingly made by hand. Wayan Sarjana is one of my favored jewellery artisans in Bali. He contains a amazing persona, along with his top quality handmade jewelry. His patterns are attractive, his prices are economical, and his creativity is infinite. Regionally, Mariella, Priyo Salim, Agung Pribadi, Janice Ripley, and Zayd really are a couple of other personal favorites. The good news is, they've got all agreed to take part over the Novica Web-site, together with many of our other very best artisans here, so I've the honour to help and symbolize them now. Every single of their biographies, and collections, are included in the Novica Handmade Jewelry section, in which you will discover detailed explanations regarding why I like and recommend these jewelers so very, as well as other preferred jewelers and artisans. My track record is in art and layout. It's constantly fascinated me to operate with my arms -- to permit my soul, my intellect, and my body url alongside one another during the means of creating anything new and exciting. I love possessing private conversations along with the components I function with -- to engage in with these supplies inside my imaginary space, and to see the evolution and transformation of various factors into a new sort of existence. It is interesting. Many new juicy couture rings tips and silent conversations start flowing in the building of any sort of artwork, like jewellery. I started generating jewellery in 1988, whilst researching with the Indonesia Artwork Institute. Then, I often visited a friend's jewelry studio nearby, which is the place I started to master this art form. A number of many years later, when one of our large Indonesian magazines held jewellery design and style competitions, I entered, and 2 times was a finalist in their competitions, in 1990 and 1991. I take pleasure in creating equally contemporary and common kinds. I take pleasure in doing work with lots of supplies, like sterling silver, gold, copper, wood, leather-based, bone, amber, and especially pure gemstones and pearls. I would like I had more time and energy to make handmade jewellery now! I am so occupied with Novica. Fortunately my Novica function revolves about what I love most. I commit my times assembly with our region's most fun grasp artisans and jewelers. Also, due to my particular expertise with art, such as handmade jewellery, I can often offer beneficial business enterprise solutions to your artisans with whom I work, which delivers me good particular fulfillment. I do also keep on to produce a number of jewellery models of my own, and that i continue on gathering components, especially gemstones and pearls, for a few new jewellery collections I've in your mind. Jewelry is this kind of a passionate element of life. I delight in each moment of my work, no matter if operating to be a designer myself, or supporting many others that are focused to this beautiful and inventive technique for existence.

[marienela]

LONDON FASHION WEEK / — This season Richard Malone considers the twin themes of community and common purpose.

For Fall 2018 the designer imagined his cast of characters gathered around a pub table; today we take a journey through the market stalls of the working class towns of his youth. Some references are literal – hand-woven aprons and headscarves, artisanal jewellery – some are societal. It looks at markets and their role within the social fabric of communities; as honest and authentic spaces in which resourcefulness thrives. As, in other words, a level playing field.

Zadie Smith’s vivid chronicling of markets and public spaces in North London’s Willesden in White Teeth and later in NW, offer further inspiration. Malone comments: “The way she describes the place that she comes from strikes such a chord with me. I understand the beauty she sees in those places – that sense of vitality.” Malone’s personal experience of the magic of marketplaces began in his hometown of Wexford, via the extraordinary and eccentric Unyoke Market – where handcrafted bric-a-brac sits alongside stolen power tools. The designer talks fondly of aunts who ran stalls selling miniature crochet dresses made for folk dolls, fashioned from sea shells.

Intrinsic to this young label is an ongoing study of, frustration with, and amusement at the idea of vulgarity. Years of exploring what people find banal within a design context has brought Malone to his signature talent: taking the unremarkable, and rendering it exquisite. As such, the collection is peppered with willfully unrefined details. Turbo-sized shoulder-bags with floor-length tassles are hand-woven entirely from recycled plastic. Trousers and aprons in recycled viscose are realized in ‘Milk Tray’ purple. Repeat checks of every shape and size are reminiscent of scraps of fabric found on factory floors. Malone comments: “I cannot stand the idea of ‘good taste.’ The idea that there is only either good or bad – one or the other. It’s so arrogant, and so short-sighted, to overlook what might lie in between.”

Sustainability is a given for the brand. Fabrics are sourced from the community of female weavers in Southern India who have worked with Malone since his graduate collection. Functionality is stitched into every piece. Evening gowns are machine-washable. Riding coats inspired by 14th Century menswear have side-closures for ease. Blocks are cut in circles – almost no seams are straight – to ensure the smoothest lines around the body. S

Silk trousers have tracksuit-inspired seams to ensure they sit against the skin in the most comfortable way possible.

A charmingly skewed take on glamour underpins the show. Listen closely to today’s soundtrack and you will hear a would-be leading lady, captured at Wexford Market, tell the story of her beauty being compared to Elizabeth Taylor… underscored by Rihanna’s Bitch Better Have My Money.

Malone muses that a common misconception of modern working class communities sees the role of women as subservient – an assumption that couldn’t be further from his experience; One where iron-fisted women make every call, and young men are at once fiercely protective, and deeply terrified, of their mothers. And so, from Elizabeth Taylor, to his eighty-five year old grandmother Nellie Malone – who joins us for the show this morning – Malone dedicates this collection to every heroine who knows how to hustle.

Photos courtesy of Richard Malone

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Spring Studios, 180 The Strand, London UK. 16th February 2018. Richard Malone opens London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 with his catwalk show. ©Chris Yates

Richard Malone Fall 2018: Community and Common Purpose @starworksgroup LONDON FASHION WEEK / --- This season Richard Malone considers the twin themes of community and common purpose.