#kind of like the fast fashion issue but with stuff

[coconutcows]

Lookie here. I have a rubber spider from the dollar store I got when I was a little kid. I decided it was a girl and she was squishy and weird like a stress ball. She would stretch a bit because she’s rubber. I named her Stringy. I would hold her by a leg and swing her around. Some of them broke a bit, I taped them back on with Electrical tape. She’s torn a bit between her abdomen and head so now I know she’s full of teeny tiny beads or something. I got her 15-20 years ago and she’s Still kicking around here somewhere.

Truly, a rubber dollar store rat Can live indefinitely with the right care

pleeeaaaaaaaseeeee stop buying disposable holiday decorations once then tossing them i am begging you. with proper care a dollar store rubber rat can live indefinitely

[accio-victuuri]

August CPNs round-up ❤️💛💚

it’s bobo’s birth month! let’s start with this chaotic behind the scenes video 🫶🏼

• the letters yb was flashed in xzs vlog

• two people spotted in xz’s mountain drawing

• a hongkong politician posts about xz and wyb being good celebrities that will help promote HK

• 8/5 yibo’s day clowning part one part two - this year was too loud! the bday photo alone is enough to szd. 😂😂😂😂 part 2.5 part 3

• yibo and xz related hot search for bobo’s bday

THEIR VCRs for Han Hong’s foundation, a charity organization they both are a part of. We love them generous Kings!

• in the xinxiangyin live, we see an activity that they filled with things xz likes and will have something to talk about. you will notice a couple are the same as yibo’s. hotpot ( which i must admit is more general ), photography, fitness, tennis and films.

you can say that these are not unique interests, but when you put them together and another person has the same one seem sus. this is something i always say, even if you don’t believe that they are in a romantic relationship — these clues show that they have maintained that connection. no matter how many people cry about the “copying” agenda, we can’t deny that the coincidences are too much. this is why they get along, they can adapt each other’s interest. they have the same values. they are out here ticking all the boxes for a fruitful relationship <3

• the similarity 👀👀👀 right is xz in ELLE’s feature video for XZ.

• QUATRE BLUE 💙💙💙

oooohhhh i love jewelry. tho i’m kinda on the fence about this cause boucheron is a brand that xz is promoting and it makes sense that it will be used for a magazine. he is endorsing this line of rings but has never used this blue which just happened to be something wyb before. i understand why people are going 👀 because the photos were released days after Bobo’s bday.

• XZ’s Elle September issue feature clowning

• 8/10 yibo-official bts video clue

• yibo’s montbell shirt

• bobo shows some bxg bias @ pechoin live

• in the LINSY product launch conference, they were talking about a sofa and it had a special feature thing where you can put stuff in it & wyb mentions you can put chips. lol. that was so fast. he is not someone who likes chips, but we know one who does! i’d like to think that it’s a subconscious answer. he just thought of an important person in his life. 🫶🏼

• matching high school students hair 😂😂😂

• ANTA 🤝 LI NING

• their airport fashion looking so identical 👀 we could argue all day about how this is not unique and just about anyone can do this combo.. but does anyone else do this? no. it’s always these two. it’s harder to tell them apart when they are like this, which we guess is helping them when they visit each other on set.

the two of them doing couple wear!

• bottled joy x tsingtao collab 🍻

• xz’s heurueh boyfriend t shirt

• mengniu fan benefit featuring the boys

• handprints next to each other in the Qixi Wall

• this gif is gold!!!! pleaseeee!!!!! 😂😂😂😂 and it even went on hot search!

• analysis and details of wyb’s new song = somebody else’s arms

• wyb’s post YH concert weibo update 🟡🟡🟡

• i talked briefly about the cpf support during the concert and i have nothing more to add. i’m sure i can make another post that “shows” how wyb appreciated the cpfs indirectly during the concert but i won’t. there is no need for proofs of any kind — we know the truth. 😌😌😌 tho i will never be pro violence or insulting and being very mean to people in person just to prove a point. there’s a whole nasty situation that happened post concert which i have no energy for and i do not condone btw.

• their weibo 15th bday post 🌙

• the final episodes of exploring the unknown is on oct 5-6 because tencent has released the watching schedule. yes, wyb probably had a lot more input in this project but he was probably not alone in deciding when this would premiere and how the episodes are gonna line up. but i’m still happy with this coincidence. ✌🏼

what we wanna know tho is what will be the episode on 10/5 cause if it’s him in the desert i will — 🤯! cause his photo there was the one he used for his bday, which is eerily similar to GG’s from last year. so yeah. we will see!

-END.

<<< previous posts

See you all next month!!!!! 💛💛💛

[citylawns]

what are those websites you recommended? sorry if you already answered this but i cant find it - also! do you know the name of the docs you posted? i love the stitch detailing on them

The Docs are the Church/Monkey Boots! There will be loads secondhand, don't pay full price for them. Take it from someone who worked for that company for 4 years lol. They're my fave style of docs I wish I had taken a lifetime supply when I was there.

eBay is the best secondhand website! I use it for so many things it's really worth it once you figure out how the filtering and search system works. I love it because you get high quality for cheap and it feels like a treasure hunt :')

the next one I use is depop - it's great for curated secondhand and vintage. I look for shops that sell styles I like rather than using the search function, when you 'like' items the algorithm shows you more of that kind of clothing and there's a 'suggested for you' page that works really well. it's more expensive sometimes but it's worth it imo because you're paying for people to curate selections for you which is the labour you would do by hunting yourself, just depends on whether you enjoy that or not!

another great one is vestiare collective. some people have issues with it because they have apparently purchased fakes even though the platform has an authentication system but I'm not the kind of person who buys high resale value designer so I'm never worried about that lol. you can set up saved searches for wishlist items like 'Ann Demeulemeester Boots (filtered by size, country it ships from, colour, etc)' and then every time there's new items added you can scroll through. It works best for me when I'm looking to buy from a specific designer and get inspired rather than searching for a specific item. Here are the brands I love searching for on there:

one I would use if I lived in the USA is the real real! this is the goat. insane clothes for dirt fucking cheap but only if you live in the US because shipping and customs to the UK is prohibitively expensive, like over £100 so it's not worth it for me to buy an £18 designer dress. although I've been considering it recently for an item I'm really in love with.

the other ones I browse through but haven't purchased from yet are vinted and thred up. the search function on vinted was a little annoying for me to use but its good once you figure out how to filter out all the SHEIN and H&M and fast fashion. it's another one that's good to search by brand/designer but people can be really lazy on there and size and list things incorrectly, rip labels off fast fashion items and market them as "x style or x inspired" to put them in the mix of results when you search for a specific designer.

my personal tip is when you're out shopping and see something you like, make a note of the brand/designer. do this on depop too when browsing through shops that sell styles you like, then take that designer/brand and search for it on the other platforms. for example I found one of my favourite brands Costume National that way, so I always search for them on ebay, vestiare, etc

btw if you want a link to any of the items you see here just let me know bc I'm not gonna purchase any of the stuff I have shown

[jiraisupportgroup]

Hii I'm new to jirai kei n recently I joined a group where there's a lot o jirai / landmine ppl! I was asking some questions abt how to go for the fashion part of the subculture and one of my main questions was "is there any thrift store I can go to? Can I customize some clothing to make it look jirai?" And what I got as an answer was "No. Jirai ppl only use branded clothing, you can buy it second hand but you cannot customize in any way".

Tbh I'm not in a good place economically rn and I don't have a job either, so I'm not sure what I should do. Importing clothing costs 6 times more cause of where I live.

Is it really a rule that jirai / landmine can only wear branded clothes? (Liz liza, honey wardrobe, dear my love, etc)

I know I fit in the jirai lifestyle but I wanted to fit in the fashion too T--T

Thank you for your time♡♡ asking anon cause it's for me and a frien ^^"

I would once again like to preface this (as I preface all things) with the fact that I could entirely be talking out of my ass - this is just my opinion - and I am not a spokesperson for Jirai Kei or other mentioned subcultures / fashion styles as a whole.

I wholeheartedly disagree with that but also I will caveat that with the fact that I spent most of my teenage years in menhera / goth / emo / grunge spaces and those are very DIY-heavy subcultures. I'm also super relaxed about how people choose to label themselves (to the point where I barely claim to be in any subculture because I just don't want to bother with labels so I'm probably not the best person to ask haha~)

To me personally, this feels like an argument that someone coming from Lolita would make? I kind of see a link here in the sense that the two main reasons I think people say these things about Lolita are because it is really hard to make Lolita clothing and buying lolita knock-offs is generally bad for a whole slew of reasons. Similar arguments for both subcultures I think.

Girly kei / dark girly clothing can be really hard to make or DIY. I think it is certainly very possible to do, but it might take some trial and error. Mostly because being a bit over the top is kind of the aesthetic; there are a lot of ruffles and bows and lace and ribbons and buttons and cute little accessories and cut-outs and the neckline is typically very specific with decorated collars. At its base, it is just a blouse, but it's got a LOT of aspects that go into it, and if it's "too basic" then you're not really hitting that girly kei style. The skirts too (I personally think the skirts would be a little easier to DIY but I also have experience sewing with lace / grommets & making corset ribbon designs which is mostly what stands out from them to me?) You also run into a lot of the actual hardware being specific with hearts being a really common theme for belt loops or buttons, and decorated suspenders.

I think it would be difficult to DIY girly kei or dark girly pieces but it's certainly doable. One issue is that depending on where you're getting the materials for that DIY, it might be about the same cost (or more) as just buying a blouse (although this depends on shipping cost).

The other aspect of it is the argument against fast fashion which is a little more nuanced in Jirai Kei but I see where they're coming from? I mean, to be frank, ryousangata is literally "massed produced" fashion (& to be fair the aesthetics that are labeled as “ryousangata” have varied a lot over the years - it’s not just frilly blouses & stuff that’s just kind of what it happens to be right now). It's pretty much just fast fashion. MA*RS, Liz Lisa, & DearMyLove from what I can tell are mostly produced in Japan, although they do source materials from China, like most companies do (not automatically or necessarily a bad thing imo - but I will spare you that side rant bc it’s kind of not related). I couldn't find a lot of information about their production practices? So I'm unsure about worker environments for them? Generally, the big-name brands are going to be more ethically sourced & produced than random AliExpress sellers but by how much is kind of questionable (or at least I could not find a lot of information about the production processes so I'm not sure by how much - if anyone has additional information on this I would love love love to hear).

Now am I saying "Go buy a bunch of fast fashion off of AliExpress because it's cheaper and no one cares"? No. (It's also honestly not much cheaper.) But the reality is that it generally is fast fashion, so it's a weird balancing game. I think one of the main reasons people say "only buy Liz Lisa / MA*RS / DearMyLove" is because they want to avoid fast fashion as much as possible while participating in a fashion with a LOT of fast fashion sellers, and since it can be difficult to find production information they go for the big names because they're easier to trust in that aspect. (I also have fallen into this trap & have sworn my life to DearMyLove because they're the only big-name brand that is even slightly 6-foot-tall-bitch friendly T-T)

All of that being said, if you want to attach some bows and lace to a frilly blouse and call it girly kei I am absolutely not going to stop you (or honestly even judge you, but again that's just me). The shipping costs are part of the reason why I say the clothes are secondary to the jirai kei subculture especially as a foreigner because once you consider that the clothing is significantly more expensive and difficult to obtain in foreign circles it becomes directly contradictory to some of the reasons why those same clothes are so popular in the Japanese subculture: I don't think the cultural context of the fashion translates over to foreign markets (economically or socially, but I'll spare you that entire rant lol).

ALSO! Jirai Kei Subcul is awesome and has a much more obtainable aesthetic for foreign markets. It leans more into punk and you can use a lot of different pieces for it that are more easily obtainable, so I highly recommend looking into it. It might be a good medium for being able to feel fully like you belong, but not breaking the bank for an outfit.

[caroletheperfumeaddict]

Maya Henry interview with The Internet Is Dead, 14 October 2024.

MAYA HENRY INTERVIEW WITH ‘THE INTERNET IS DEAD’ (My notes taken while watching, not a full transcription)

Maya had a sheltered upbringing - travelled a lot, so homeschooled

London was a massive shock

Was not a fan of 1D - went to the meet and greet reluctantly because her friend had tickets. Then became a fan because the guys were so great. 

Did not have a conversation with Liam at the meet and greet. 

Was not a stan of the boys as solo artists

Was at a D&G fashion show and Liam was a performer - that’s how they met again. 

He was nice and normal at home and she’d forget he was famous. 

Got together in August 2019. 

Got engaged in November 2019.

He got abusive before lockdown. 

When sober he’d be kind and nice but over time he used being drunk as an excuse TO abuse her and not take accountability. Doesn’t care and isn’t remorseful. He talked about getting help to stop being abusive but he never did it. 

He is so famous that he can do things and they don’t get out. 

His power dynamic is his celebrity status and his team are invested in that. 

She doesn’t think the age gap was an issue. 

Did not know how manipulative people with addiction issues can be. 

Also Liam is media trained. 

[Keeps saying he’s in his 30s, 30-something.] 

They all had a squeaky-clean image in the band. 

(Presenters say the fandom was very against the management of 1D and would say ’the management is trying to push this narrative’ “Which is crazy, like what?”)

“I always see this online and I see it to this day even with them as like solo…”

Liam has control over his management, not the other way round. 

Dismisses the idea that her dad paid Liam to be seen with her or that their relationship was fake or that his management was trying to sabotage him. He can fire his management if he wants. 

Has not talked to her dad since she was 18. 

Management controls what the artist wants controlled, such as stuff coming out about them. 

(Presenters dismiss Larry, etc. Call it teenage. Crazy. Say that they did it as teens and bought into the conspiracies. Crazy. Insane to look back on. Crazy that it’s still a thing. Crazy that it’s still a point of discourse. [NB: they are all 23]) 

Ridicules ideas about Modest Management’s handlers controlling their lives and Liam’s manager being in the background controlling everything. “No, he just worked for him and he’s with us. There’s not much more to explain about that.”

(Presenters say people used to have outlandish ideas about management because they just didn’t understand it especially with One Direction coming up so fast. People were so young and didn’t really have a grasp on how the music industry really works or how celebrity really worked. Ties back to the idea of parasocial relationships. )

Hadn’t heard of parasocial relationships until a few weeks ago. 

(Presenters say she has nothing to gain from making these claims.)

Making false accusations is detrimental and illegal. 

People with less money can’t speak up on these issues. 

‘They’ can prey on women like that. 

(Presenters ask about her saying Liam can prey on 1D fans. Why do fans go to such lengths to defend him?) 

Has seen messages to fans on his phone - it’s not a fake account. 

Liam would message her, post breakup, talking about not doing well and death. 

He called her mum to say he wouldn’t be around much longer when she announced her book. 

She said she would help him get to rehab. He is somebody’s child after all. 

Recent events. Can’t speak legally. It’s gotten worse. 

His behaviour is a manipulation tactic to keep her on his good side. 

(Presenters agree 100%.)

You only see 1% of someone’s life on SM - you don’t know what’s going on. 

“I just want to help.”

“I have to help him because if something does happen to him I won’t be able to live with myself.”

[At 27.35-ish. “Even one of his friends was calling me and my mom saying it’s not a good time for him, I don’t think you should put the book out.” 

Says his friend did this on purpose - ie: not out of real concern. 

(Presenters say [Liam's] silence means he’s guilty. )

If if she was him, she would address the kind of claims she has made. 

(Presenters say he’s cancelled his album in order to make THAT the headline rather than her allegations.) 

Whenever he’s in a scandal he plays a sob story to manipulate his fans, it’s sick – just take accountability. 

(Presenters say he went to Louis’ show in order to change the headlines on the day her book was published.) 

Agrees. The friend said Li wasn’t well and then there he is, flying 11 hours to Argentina to go to a concert. Liam is not supporting Louis here, he’s trying to get himself out of shit. 

People didn’t want her to mention Liam in interviews or podcasts for legal reasons. Thinks his team have managed to suppress what interviews she did manage to do. HAS been trying to say it was him but couldn’t do it until the TikTok. 

Understands that media are afraid of getting sued but is willing for her lawyers to send over proofs for the allegations she’s making. But media are too scared. 

(Presenters say society tries to protect men, esp men who are loved)

(Presenters mention the Zayn wall incident)

Didn’t realise the reaction would be so huge. 

(Presenters ask about the book.)

Some of the things that fictionalise the book are name changes, cities, skewed timelines, Oliver saying he’s not ready for a kid. 

If you write non-fiction, you can’t leave anything out [??] and obviously there are things that are worse that she did leave out. 

So it IS fiction, inspired by true events. 

It’s not about 20 other people in one book. 

She liked the After movie, so when the sequel came out, she and Liam went to see it after lockdown. Did not know it was based on a fanfic. She was writing children’s books and taking a degree in creative writing, so Liam suggested she write a book about them. “I thought that was crazy, I never thought of that.”

Started writing but separately was journalling what she was going through, during Covid, so decided to use her experiences to finish this story to help other women, like a real-life version of a fanfic, as those always have happy endings. 

When they were together she never knew how to finish it. When they split up, decided to work on it as a project. 

Took a long time because she self-published but it’s useful because when it was happening to her she felt alone but it happens to a lot of women and she wants a girl to read it and know what’s happening to her is not her fault. Not to find comfort in it, but feel less alone. 

(Presenters ask if it helped her process everything). 

Yes, definitely. Went to therapy but isn’t much of a therapy-type person. Felt weird talking to someone about it. But almost rewriting what was going on and putting so much emotion into it, in first person, brought back up a lot of emotions she was suppressing. So it was therapeutic. People need to share their stories to help others.

(Presenters say they assume all the events in the book are true. Maya nods.)

Specifically addresses the axe incident - why would she make that up, her mind isn’t twisted enough, why would she say that if it wasn’t true? 

Would sue if someone wrote something like that about her. 

(Presenters say people used to literally write fanfictions like the book Maya wrote and it has desensitised young girls to abuse. )

People say “It’s so unbelievable she must be making this up.”

“People are like ‘is this true’ and I’m like ‘yeah’.”

“Looking back now I’m like ‘oh my gosh’.”

“I never cared or worried about myself.” Only cared and worried about Liam. “Let me pick up his mess. Let me clean up his mess. Let me worry about him and do everything for him.” 

Never had time to sit back and think. Later, she was exhausted and phoned her mum, her kindness had been taken advantage of.

(Presenters tell her she should be proud of herself.)

When the relationship is so toxic and they don’t leave you alone, you can’t move on from it. When he went to rehab for three months, she had no contact with him and was able to process things on her own. She was grateful for that. 

(Presenters come back to After the fanfic and say the film version plays down the abuse)

She looked at the fic on Wattpad after seeing the movie. 

Harry was the bad guy and Liam was the nice guy. (Makes a switching gesture with her hands). It’s like they switched characters. 

(Presenters chat about the fandom and how they think their idols will never see what they write. People were mean to the girlfriends, Eleanor, etc.)

When you’re so famous so young, you think you can get anyone you want and do whatever you want and it gets worse and worse and you end up like Liam saying ‘our fans are going to believe us…’. His head got so big and he feels so inferior [invincible?] that he can do whatever he wants. And that’s what’s so dangerous. 

(Presenters - he went on the Logan Paul podcast…)

Mentions the ‘that tweet didn’t age very well’ [about Gigi getting a respectful man in Zayn] ‘when you do what you do’. [IE: Liam is a hypocrite]. 

(Presenters ask if the stuff about Zayn and Gigi is hard for her to see)

Didn’t really see that on her TikTok before and her Twitter is a fake account that she just uses to look at things, same with IG. Only began seeing Liam when people posted about Niall’s concert. 

(They all spend some time ridiculing Liam’s dancing etc.)

“I have a good sense of humour about things.”

(Presenters ask about fiction and true story and whether Liam can sue)

That’s why she said ‘inspired by true events’. The story itself is almost like a fanfic. Didn’t want the book to be a boring memoir.

(Presenters ask if she can get in trouble)

Comes from a heavy legal background. Is cautious. Had lawyers in the US and UK read the book and showed them proof when they had questions. You can’t sue for libel or defamatory [word unintelligible] because it’s all true. In the UK they have privacy laws “because there’s no freedom of speech” and the lawyers said that the way Oliver is portrayed, for instance in the abortion chapter, Liam could [sue] because [it breaches] his right to privacy.  

“But I’m willing to take that risk.” 

“I’m not going to let you stop me using my voice.” 

“You don’t care to lead a private life.” 

“If you’re gonna Snapchat strangers then…”

(Presenters talk about other girls claiming Liam messaged them.)

A lot of girls have messaged her privately about terrible nasty things - not towards her [words unintelligible] but saying they were fans and then THIS happened and the whole power dynamic is fucked up. When you know someone’s your fan and you’re gonna prey on them.

Dismisses the idea that a fan being of age is relevant - still predatory behaviour. 

(Presenters say it’s literally grooming.)

(Presenters speculate on how much of this is innate to a person’s character and how much is to do with fame.)

If Liam’s willing to do some of the things he’s doing, whether he’s famous or not … maybe a person has that kind of mentality. 

(Presenters raise the abortion chapter again.)

Wanted to do it surgically in hospital because it’s scary. “‘No, do it at home, I don’t want people to find out’...Then I do it at home and then he leaves.”

Added that in the book because women have told her online that they’ve had the same experience. So many men act like that. They like to downplay everything. They don’t understand being a woman. If they went through it they’d be a mess. 

(Bit of chat about how crap men are.)

Men have never had their rights limited since the beginning of time. 

Men have never had to feel any sort of restriction. 

(Presenters say men fear having their power taken away.)

(Presenters ask about law school)

Is applying to law school - lot of the family are lawyers, always wanted to do it. Been through such horrible situations with her ex - other women don’t have help and financial means to leave. Wants to help women for free, start a foundation to help women legally. 

(Presenters give her a lot of praise.)

Wants to help women for free. 

(Presenters say they respect her and she’s very mature and kind)

Reads out scripted request for another guest on the podcast. 

(Presenters thank her for being a guest)

Thanks presenters for having her on and for being willing to talk about the fandom because it’s an important part of what is going on. 

(Presenters say it explains why people are still defending him and there is obvious misogyny and people don’t believe women.)

ENDS

[ac3-76]

Kai Smith Headcannons

warnings: none😊

General

Idc what anyone says he can cook

like him and Nya were on their own for most of their childhood and bc Kai is the oldest he insisted on cooking

also because he grew up poor he gets really creative in the kitchen

his body temperature is constantly at 102° Fahrenheit

he does well in colder climates and doesn't struggle with feeling cold or freezing, but in hotter climates he gets heat exhaustion fast

He pretty much refuses on taking rest days

like he has to work out every single day or else he gets really insecure

He has the largest social media following out of all the ninjas(if you don't include Lloyd's graffiti account that no one knows he runs)

his body insecurity stems from growing up skinny and underweight

He LOVES Supernatural and sees a lot of himself in Dean Winchester

He has 3 tiktok accounts, one for fashion, one for thirst traps, and one where he just talks, rants, or does vlogs

he also has a YouTube channel that does really well, it's mostly vlogs, pranking the ninjas, doing challenges, trying things

his YouTube channel is kind of a mix of Jake Webbers channel, Kalogeras sisters, and the Sturniolo Triplets

He only has 1 Instagram and he mostly posts pictures of him and the other ninjas hanging out and having fun

He has a public and a private Twitter

the only thing he posts on his public account is i❤️my partner type stuff and dates for things

He definitely did a tweet about how exited he was for A Good Girls Guide To Murder TV show to be released

His private account has tweets for literally everything he does and thinks

"ate a fire cookie🔥🔥"

"just took a narly nap"

"you guys"(with absolutely no rhyme or reason, everyone was responding to that one really confused)

"just watched Teen Wolf, Chris Argent is such a dilf"

The crazy thing is his private account has over 4 million followers, he accepts literally everyone that requests to follow it

He's extremely good at math, put any math problem in front of him and he can solve it in his head in 15 seconds

He's also very financially literate, he's got all of his money related things in order and is a millionaire by season 10 bc he got into investing and stocks

No one knows abt him being a millionaire tho bc he doesn't buy things that look expensive and he doesn't flex his money

He totally buys expensive things tho

it's mostly high end clothing

he has a huge shoe collection that costs at least $2,813

He's an absolute fiend for cosmic brownies

He's a huge car guy

His favorite car brand is Koenigsegg and he owns a black Jesko Attack

He also owns 2 motorcycles

Dating

He's hispanic and fluent in Spanish

If his S/O doesn't speak spanish he'll tell them things in Spanish and won't tell them what if means

He does this all the time

It's bc Spanish is his first language and it's easier for him to say things in his mother tounge

(Yk in Modern Family when Gloria says that no one knows how smart she is in spanish, yea Kai totally feels that)

(he's also a chronic Modern family watcher and he relates to Gloria and Hailey so hard)

If his s/o speaks Spanish he prefers talking to them in Spanish

(he also loves if they speak it bc its also Nya's first language which means they can talk to Nya better)

He absolutely adores physical touch and cuddling

Hugs from behind.

Neck kisses.

he loves his hair being played with

if his S/O wants their hair braided, he can do it

French, Dutch, typical 3 strand, box, godess, cornrows, triangle box, twist, micro braids, fulani, Havana

whatever you want and whatever ur hairtype, he can do it

He can also do any hairstyle on any hair type like it's the easiest thing ever

He def does a soft launch at first

once your relationship is public, he post you all. the. time.

he just loves showing off his lover

However, he makes sure that while ur relationship is known, it's private

he's not gonna post any fights or issues that you 2 have, he works those out in private

he let's you steal any of his clothes(as long as you give them back)

He's the right amount of jealous and possesive

if someone else if flirting with you he'll just walk up and put his arm around ur shoulders or waist

he pretty much never introduces himself when someone else if flirting with you, he let's you do that

He's very secure in his relationship, he wouldn't cheat on you and he knows you wouldn't cheat on him

BUT, as mentioned above he struggles a lot with body insecurity so you'll have to reasure him that you love his body

He's been cutting meat for people his whole life(first Nya then Lloyd) so if you don't wanna cut your meat he'll totally cut it for you

He's so they fell first, he fell harder coded

also unexpected love trope, but it's unexpected for you two, everyone else knew the second you guys met that you were gonna be together

Nya and Lloyd had a bet on how long it would take for you two to get together(Nya won)

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Wait, is it true the writers said Marinette and Gabriel are meant to represent individual creative spirit versus corporate greed?

Taken from the writer's commentary on the final two episodes

In the next scene, we can see Marinette taking the miraculous that have been standardised and industrialised by Gabriel and putting them back in shape. The writers specify that this is a parabole about craftsmanship vs industrial production. The miraculous will now be adapted to every person, but we can’t see what they look like just yet! In this new world, the powers are all shared, among people who they trust and know will work for the common good. They joke that the "Avengers" shot at the end with all the heroes is something they’d been dreaming of.

There's also that bit from her confrontation with Gabriel where he randomly acts like he's The God of Fashion (taken from S5E20):

Gabriel: I don't think you understand, child, so let me put things differently. Life is like fashion. You think you have a choice, but all you have is the illusion of choice. And I decide what choices are given to you. Marinette: You're wrong! (Shows Gabriel her sketchbook.) Fashion is about listening to people, it's about understanding who they are, what excites them and creating the clothes that will help them express their inner world. Help them connect with others and make their dreams come true. Gabriel:(Laughs and takes her sketchbook, then browses its pages.) No, that's not fashion. That's making dresses for your dolls. Fashion is a product, a marketing strategy, an industry that relies on uninterrupted trend renewal that forces you to either throw away everything you have and buy more or, worse, to be out of fashion. Thanks to the clothes I create, the celebrities who wear them, the advertisements I design and the Alliance rings that broadcast them, I create an idyllic vision. A perfection that everyone aspires to achieve, while keeping it just out of their grasp. You finally understand the difference, don't you? You listen to people's desires and create what they want. Somehow, people make you. Whereas I create people's desires. They buy what I decide to buy. They think what I want them to think. I'm the one who makes people. You think you love Adrien, but you're just under the spell of this world I've created. A world where Adrien is the star, shining high above. A world where you're just part of the crowd below looking up at him. (Shuts the sketchbook.) That is why nothing can ever happen between you two.

So, yeah, this is apparently supposed to be them talking about some kind of central theme of individual creators vs mass production? The problem is that it basically comes out of nowhere. If the writers really wanted to have this be some sort of message, then they needed to establish this a lot sooner because Marinette has had no issues with his fashion company nor has anyone else.

An example of a way to do this would be to have Marinette win the hat competition in season one, Adrien models it in season two, and then give us a series of episodes where Marinette gets to learn about the production process for her hat. She gets to see it mass produced and then gets to learn how fast fashion works and, by the end, she's no longer a fan of the fashion industry even though she still loves fashion. It would be a much better environmental message then the nonsense we've been given, too.

But the show didn't give us anything like that. We've never seen a single Gabriel brand product save for the stuff Adrien wears and the alliance rings, which are phones more than fashion accessories, so it makes sense that they'd have a uniform look. Even if phones were made to order, you wouldn't see much variety in the base product save for color. The customization on a phone is the background and the alliance lets you customize your "background" (aka your Adrien, Lila, or Kagami) as we saw in Jubilation when Socqueline was showing off her alliance.

Side note: I realized that Jubilation takes place before I started writing mini episode reviews, so I wanted to make a quick note of how creepy it is that you can customize your alliance avatar given who the avatars are. Gabriel and Tomoe seriously took their 14-year-olds and told people of all ages to treat them like dolls, which is extra creepy given how many fans Adrien has. That has some messed up in-universe implications that make me shudder. What were the writers thinking?

[notquitedeadpod]

Do you have any specific appearances in mind for Alfie, Casper and Neige? I'm so curious, even if it's just a vague idea or direction.

Hmm, yes and no. Really, the only canon way they look are their descriptions in the show. But there are some things to do with the way they look which I've given a lot of thought to which I'll kind of. Waffle about. These are not really canon things, though, and fall instead into a category of dubious canon, where bc I'm the author I can't really fully escape the implication that everything I say about these little guys has more authorial power, but also this is stuff that's not necessarily consistent or anything that would come up within the show itself.

In the beginning I wasn't really thinking much about how Cas looked beyond the fact he has a lot of very dark, curly and wavy hair, which he should probably take better care of but just doesn't have the emotional bandwidth. I don't think he'd ever cut it off, though, it's important to him. Besides his hair and the angularness of his features, he changes in my head when I picture him in my head. Pretty consistently he has kind of medium toned skin, which you get the impression would be a lot darker if he was able to be in the sun more. When he does go out in it now, he tans fast and gets an extraordinary amount of freckles. He has brown eyes and very angular features, a long nose, a sharp brow. He's tall, ish, but not massively so. He has kind of a medium build, he clearly takes care of his body, but it's all for function, not for looks. He dresses in a way that's not exactly untidy, but I think he sort of just. Puts clothes on his body rather than carefully dressing himself in outfits, if you know what I mean?

By contrast, Neige is small, below average height, and his features are sort of soft and androgynous. His hair is pale gold and very well looked after. He likes to keep it cropped in a similar style to that you see on greek statues, but he has been known to let it grow longer if that's fashionable. There's an almost cherubic softeness to him, in my head. His hair and his skin, all shades of gold, but his eyes are a very striking blue, so when his kill drive is activated and they turn red, it's very noticeable. It totally shifts the colour tone of his face from angellic/ethereal to earthen and fiery. Neige also ✨gets dressed✨ like he is going for a look pretty much whenever he's choosing clothes. Is he fashionable in the sense that he's on trend? Fuck no. But there's something bold and stylish about him, having just decided to put on whatever he thinks makes him look hottest. I think he's accutely aware of his prettiness and sees it as a potential power. He uses his clothes to accentuate that where he can. Basically, for Neige, his body is first and foremost a tool, and you ought to keep your tools in the best condition possible so they can be functionally optimised.

Because I think of the show from Alfie's perspective, his appearance is the least developed. I think he has a lot of issues with his looks, but he's not hateful of himself. He's like. An average amount of good looking. He puts time and effort into how he styles himself when he has the energy to, but there hasn't been a lot of time for that since the events of the show started, poor lamb. He has mousy brown hair which he thinks is boring, a lot of freckles.

I hope that was at least fun if not necessarily informative!!!

--- Eira xxx

[horselessheadperson]

LITANY AGAINST FAST FASHION: A SHORT GUIDE

2 disclaimers:

I'm not an expert, these are just my ideas. The more you can add on or correct the better, please reblog

The first responsibility in fixing these issues (there are many, it's not a single problem with a single solution) lies with the people making the big money off of this. If you feel like you already have a system for making clothing and textiles work for *you* and you don't feel up to changing anything, that's absolutely fine and you should feel good about yourself for finding something that works.

Having said that, here's the main problem as I see it:

DUE TO FAST FASHION, WE'VE ALREADY PRODUCED ENOUGH TEXTILE/GARMENTS TO LAST US FOR GENERATIONS

The term "fast fashion" really comes from the rapid circulation of collections high street brands go through. H&M famously advertises they have "something new every time you visit", you can always find new pyjamas at Primark, Pull & Bear prints new shitty tshirts every day. Obviously, not all of those clothes actually sell well and then continue to get worn until they are absolutely beyond repair. Most of those garments end up in landfills. Even the stuff that sells usually doesn't survive past a couple uses and gets thrown out.

=> What can I do in the face of this?

Cherish every bit of textile you have. Even dishcloths. Remember even though sewing machines exist every label, hem, and embroidery is hand-crafted onto your bit of fabric. Was it under $50? Then it's likely someone suffered to bring this to you. This is obviously not your fault and this is not meant to inspire personal guilt, but it might inform the way you handle fabrics. Wash something instead of throwing it out whenever you can and follow the instructions on the label. Choose the right kind of fabric for your needs so you don't have to continuously get new stuff.

Learn how to repair and/or alter stuff. This is a big one HOWEVER I feel like this advice is often thrown around without mentioning that a lot of clothing these days isn't made to be repaired. Some socks are so thin and flimsy they won't take to darning and some shoes aren't meant to be cobbled. Most hems don't have enough spare fabric to lengthen a pair of trousers these days. Once you learn about these techniques though you'll be able to more or less tell which is which before buying. I feel confident in my repairing abilities now so I only buy clothing that's sturdy enough to take a few repairs. Again, if that's above price range, don't feel bad.

BUY SECONDHAND. This is the single best piece of advice anyone can give to avoid the fast fashion trap. Always look for a secondhand option - charity shops, bespoke vintage stores, refurbished design, heck, even ebay. Buy something that has already been through circulation and don't add to the demand for new products. The way quality has declined over the last ten years, this also means you'll likely get much higher quality.

Learn to make your own stuff. This is basically a last resort as it's costly and takes a lot of effort and resources. If you're at all interested in fashion though, it's very much worth it to at least look into one or two fabric arts to pick up on the side. You'll have full control over the materials, cut, size, and finish of the garments you make yourself. If nothing else doing this will help you appreciate how much a piece of fabric or a garment is really worth in terms of labour and expertise.

Wear a piece of clothing until you can't repair it any longer. Then, turn it into rags or use it as scrap material for small projects if you do any crafts. After that, donate or re-sell what you can. No, not everything that's donated gets sold, but it's still the most responsible way to get rid of textile products you don't need anymore.

Buying more expensive garments isn't always better. I've had €500 shoes that went bust after two wears and I've had cheap tshirts that lasted for years. When you need a longer lasting item, say, a coat or a pair of boots - do some research, check second hand options, and stay critical. Don't buy based on brand. A good example is Doc Martens, whose boots have famously more or less gone to shit the past 5 or so years.

Remember, fashion is both a verb and a noun. Enjoy!

[alexissara]

Alexis Sara's Top 10 Most Anticipated Games Of 2024

We're about to enter 2024 and with that we have all the lists, lists I am not immune to making because I slowly build them up all year. Last year I played a fuck load of games and so this year I wanted to talk about 10 games I think look really fucking cool that are coming out in the next year or two. Some of these games are likely to release in 2025 instead but it'll be fun to see if they remain on the list next year then. I mostly just wanted to spotlight some art that looks cool to me outside of the context of a Sapphic Games Guide or a Review and maybe get others on the hype train with me. This list is not in order and just 10 games I think look like they could have an impact on me, I may not even buy every game on this list but there the 10 that look like I am most likely to check out.

Gales Of Nayeli

So this is one of two games on the list I've already purchased. I backed the kickstarter of the game a while back and I thought "it looks alright and when I asked if there was gonna be any sapphic content the creator told me in depth what content he had already made so sure I'll back it. What was more if a thank you for being so kind and responsive so fast has turned into my most hype game of the year. Blindcoco and me have become friends over time so I am biased but I was actually sold on the game before me and him became buddy buddy when I played the demo and saw the amazing work that went into it. Then the extremally positive response from him and the community towards my desire to focus in on women and sapphic women only added to my excitement for the game.

The game genuinely seems to be raising the bar for SRPGs and really feels like it is a step above Fire Emblem and not an emulation of Fire Emblem. I loved the demo and the concepts in the game so much it inspired me to start working on my own SRPG studios game knowing what is possible at the high end of investment in the system can really be something special and really cool. I love that there is a focus on trying to cast voice actors who match ethnicity to the diverse cast, I love that there is a wide range of diversity in the revealed cast, I love the amount of queer women I am aware of in the game, I love the animations and sprite work, I love the gameplay, I am really really excited about this game and I think this game has a high shot at being one of my favorite games.

Fields Of Mistria 

I make fun of farming sims a little on my lists and stuff but only because I actually love farming sims especially in concept. This game probably has my favorite art style of the whole lot of games today. It's lovely 90s anime style sprite work is just AHHHHHHHHHH so good. I do in fact want to kiss the women in this game very badly and I would enjoy playing the game for the sake of dating them alone.

Rune Factory: Dragon

Let's bang out the second farming sim while we're at it. We don't know a bunch about this game but it really just has to do two things for me to be into it. One, let you be gay like the newest RF and Story of Season games already let you do and Two, keep up the art direction and bam, I'm in. My biggest problem with the last Rune Factory game was that the art style made every woman look like a 12 year old and not in the like chibi story of seasons way like they just looked like they were kids. This however, has a much better set of art direction and it makes me think there might actually be women I'd want to gay marry.

Mahou Senshi Cosplay Club

I really love Behold's previous game Chroma Squad but when I got this demo I had no idea they were the Chroma Squad people. The mix of dress up and RPG gameplay is a dream come true kind of game and the outfit customization is leagues beyond a game like Fashion Dreamer despite likely being made on a much smaller budget. The PSX style graphics actually work here with them evoking nostalgic graphics while also not actually being restrained by a Playstation One's issues. I just really loved the process of making the outfit and character in this game and honestly that alone is a potential game seller. The gameplay element was solid and I really want to play more of this.

Beastieball 

BeastieBall seems to be a really fun take on the Monster Taming genre. Having the monster friends play a sport and naturally be inclined to play the sport makes for a very cute and wholesome premise to which you become more a coach than an owner to these little cuties. It's a pretty simple concept in the demo but it's promising and cute and I do like that the monsters you collect build relationships with each other, I think that is something really special and neat and something I'd like to see more monster tamers do.

Love In A Bottle

 There is a lot of nice looking visual novels coming out but Love In A Bottle is dating sim that is really capturing my eye. You play as a demon girl, bam okay I am sold. You date other monster girls okay I'm sold. And it's got more then the basic one outfit you expect from a standard visual novel dating sim type deal for characters that is yet another sold factor. It seems really cute, seems fun and I hope I can smooch all the women at once.

Fantasy Life I

While I said we were done with farming sims, I didn't say we were done with sims as we have Level-5's Life Sim, Fantasy Life. I won't be buying the game if I can't be gay in it but I really loved the first Fantasy Life on the 3DS and I think if it can keep up the charm and fun of the original game and add a homosexual seasoning on top it'll be a perfect cute and fun time. I love the wide array of jobs and how these all build into each other, it's a very one of a kind experience and really fun.

Princess Peach Showtime 

This is the true triple A game of the list and the only one that has captivated me in all the shows of all the consoles and developers I've seen of late. Peach is barbie now and I am here for it, let her have a million jobs and have a game based around her doing these different roles and being an icon in each of them, sounds good, I'm in, it's a really cute and fun concept. It looks really fun and the art style looks great.

Our Life Now and Forever 

There is no other games like the Our Life games and getting to be sapphic in this one means I finally get to go ahead and experience the series I have been curious about for a while now. This game will let you be polyamarous which is the only game on this list I can say for sure will allow you to do that and that alone is something that would keep me engaged. However, getting to grow up with characters, change your pronouns, your name, anything about yourself as you do and having the characters change with you is amazing. I love the concept of this game and the wild reactivity the games demo has always provided just to a simple thing like me choosing to be trans in the childhood phase is amazing, it is truly such a considered and thoughtful game with such masterful crafting that the act one demo alone is probably worth money. So I did back this one on kickstarter as well so this is my other pick up.

Unlike other games on this list I am fairly confident this is a 2025 game and not a 2024 game but I want to talk about it now because people on the Patreon will be getting to play updated versions of the game over the course of the year akin to early access. I think the game is for sure worth a look.

Izrand Allure

After playing the previous game in the series I am totally sold on wanting to experience Izrand Allure. Luxaren Allure was a really special experience I had this year finally checking out the game after I think years of putting it off and beating it I really want to play this follow up. This game seems far more in depth and far more artistically masterful then Luxaren as well so I really want to see everything this game has to offer. I love a good job system and this game boasts one. I really want to see this lesbian RPG and I hope I get a chance to play it very soon but obviously Unity the dev should take her time to make it. Regardless, I am just gushing every time I see the game and I think this has potential to be a massive game of the year type hit for me.

If you enjoyed this post, I got a lot more end of the year lists coming up when it's actually next year so I can tell people what I enjoyed in December. You can also support me in making cool queer art by checking out my Patreon and Ko-fi.

[augustrambles]

choose your adventure . gn! reader

[south park dating sim]

this occurs in HIGH SCHOOL. i do not write for 4th graders.

❝ LOVE IS WAR ❞ . . . loading

insert name here: ____________

you have chosen the name "new kid", is that correct?

yes | no

you have chosen the name "new kid" you can change this in settings in any point of the game

WARNING . . this game is written by a author who's fucked up in the head, and can't focus! please proceed with caution

[they/them pronouns will be used for the reader]

south park is a land of cold, your parents moved here a few weeks ago, and now you have to go to a new school. the whole situation was quite blurry, you've always had memory issues so remembering stuff has always been a hard task for you. due to this, you don't remember exactly why your parents moved here, or your past school. you remember some of your friends of course, but nobody really liked you at your past school, so in the end you are bound to forget everyone at some point.

waking up is such a pain, you thought to yourself as your phone rang, signaling how it was the first day of school for you. you felt nervous, a new year's party must've been happening in your stomach, because you could not calm down no matter what. of course, you didn't show this in your face. it was neutral, as it normally was, emotions weren't your strong suit.

well, PHYSICAL emotions anyway, obviously you felt emotions, you aren't some kind of mysterious main character. at least, not in someone else's point of view. you stood up as your vision blurred and you fell, clearly meaning you had woken up a bit too fast. so now your head was spinning. ow, you complained in your thoughts.

you got back up, and went to your wardrobe. you could really care less for your sense of fashion so you put on the first thing you saw and left. you now opened the door and started to walk downstairs, cracking your neck as you saw your father, taking care of your little brother. "good morning [name]!" he said to you.

"hey dad, hey charlie" you waved to your brother and dad, starting to make your breakfast. "mom's at work, i guess?" you asked, he let out a muffled yes as he started to feed your brother once again. you sat down at the table, starting to eat as your dad complained because your brother threw up on him and laughed. you let out a small chuckle, and began eating again.

"cmon kiddo, this is the third time!" he rolled his eyes, exhausted as charlie just laughed at him. he went to go and clean his clothes and left charlie with you. charlie then out of nowhere, hugged you. "huh?" you were confused, and then charlie started to eat your food, you just sat there, watching your brother eat your food. "oh"

your dad entered the room, laughing at the site. "seems like the little guy wanted your food instead." he said, resting his arms on top of the chair you were sitting on. "im glad he's eating at least" he said, your brother now finishing your food, and then going to your dad, yelling "up! up!"

so, you just sat there, looking at the plate who was now clean. resisting the urge to throw your brother.

"hey buddy, your school bus is coming soon, right?" your father asked. you looked at your phone, "yeah, im gonna go now" you stood up from your chair, getting your bag which was on the couch and placing it on your back. "bye kiddo! have a good day!" he said as your brother yelled "bye bye" to you.

you unlocked the door, going outside and closing it, you stepped on the cold snow, your boots being there so you wouldnt feel it, the bus stop was a few inches from your house.

walking to it, you realized there was a blonde boy there who seemed to be your age, you COULD use this as an opportunity to make a friend. what should you do?

[A] say hello, and try to be his friend

[B] go to the next bus stop

[C] go to the bus stop and say nothing

in this game, you have gems.

you obtain gems by getting friends, and you use them to make special choices!

every friend you make, you get gems. depending on who it is, you can get 2, 3, 4 or 5 gems. it all depends on their role in the show, main character, second main character, side character or background character.

currently you have 0 gems! congrats

to vote for the option you want, you have to write me through an ask, can be anonymous or not! just simply say "A", "B", or "C"

the more votes, the better! so make sure to vote!

i'd also love to hear ideas and suggestions so i can feature them here in this story! so dont be afraid to tell me those either!

bye now, until the next episode of this story!

- august

[hollowsart]

I had to make the Morbius variant of Acedia into its own post, but here's some funny concepts n stuff I came up with while working on her with a friend.

Warning for topics with slight discussion and mentions of blood and vampirism.. cuz this is about a vampire lol

enjoy my thought process minus my friend's input that helped with a little back-and-forth to come up with this stuff:

------------

tfw you're just trying to get some fruit, but this weird ominous looking older man doesn't hesitate when he sees you holding the last perfect honey crisp apple in the whole store.

goth as a subculture apparently didn't exist until the 80s in the UK with the introduction of a specific genre of music. the subculture itself is just heavily music based. it's not fashion based, although most who listen to the music will end up wearing clothes that reflect the music or the styles of those who made the music.

But that's not to say Old Man Morbius couldn't dress very dated and have a more victorian style of dress. gives him that "gothic" look

he stands out from the rest of society at the time in the 50s and he doesn't do much outside of getting necessities and then going back to his penthouse.

there were rumors that he was a vampire, mostly from the younger crowds and some older folks who loved to gossip. Acedia didn't believe it, thought it was rude to spread such things about people without any real proof…. but it didn't stop her from feeling nervous.

boi howdy was she wrong to think he wasn't a vampire.

He followed her from the store and dragged her into an alley and attacked…. taking the dang apple she bought as he fled.

Acedia hating the taste of blood, but the vampire-ness is CRAVING IT.

I think we need a better explanation for "LIVING vampire" as currently, vampirism technically means you're kinda dead tbh. you're dead and you're reanimated differently than a zombie.

I did have a concept where vampires can still eat and drink other things besides JUST blood.

They can eat raw meats and possibly blood sausages, too. they lean a bit further into being carnivorous, but they're not cannibals (not to say there isn't at least one or two vampires who may or may not have gone cannibalistic due to some kind of trauma, but y'know--)

Vampires can go out during the day, but they require coverage from the sun. umbrellas, extra long gloves, big ole hats with massive brims. pants, long sleeves, long dress, etc.

most tend to be nocturnal, but will go diurnal if necessary or for any number of reasons they may have for being awake during the daytime. (like keeping up appearances and trying not to seem so out of place to the regular humans they live around)

AS IF I DIDN'T ALREADY HAVE A SUPER SENSITIVE NOSE AS IS

Morbius!Acedia is a silly fun "non villain" addition to this whole sinistersona concept.

she has no desire to cause harm and, much like Earth-4622's Morbius, she is more of a street-level hero. She uses this for good, not evil. and has her own issues to deal with outside of that world's "Spider-Man"

Acedia: (airhead extraordinaire)

you're not special, Morbius.

me, who knows I'm hungry and should get something to eat yet is still sitting there taking +1 damage every 3 minutes that I'm NOT getting up to get food: …….maybe.. I already AM a living vampire? ..just without the desire to drink blood?

me meeting Morbius and he's like "I haven't had blood in 3 days, I am going to kill someone--"

me: ? only 3 days? the last time I had blood was uhh… 4? 5? days ago?

Morbius: Morbius, now feeling terrified, knowing I'm a variant of him: ….How are you still speaking to me?

me: I have other means of food that tastes better than blood. smells better, too.

I get hungry fast, but I still sit there and tolerate the pain. sometimes I'll drink something to kill the hunger pains. that helps me pass the time.

[litcityblues]

'Honor Among Enemies' --A Review

I’m back on the Honor Harrington train for 2024 with Honor Among Enemies and this time, Honor is being recalled back to active duty with the Royal Manticoran Navy– only this time, there’s a little bit of a hitch. 

When last we left her, Harrington had been forced into exile on Grayson. Her longtime nemesis, Lord Pavel Young had killed the man she loved Paul Tankersly and in turn, Harrington had killed him. In exile on Grayson, she had set to work building out her Steading and confronting extremists on Grayson that want to overturn what they consider to be a dangerously modern new order which gives women things like ‘the ability to have an education’ and ‘the right to speak in public.’ Having see that challenge off, she’s still on Grayson when Manticore comes calling again.

Things are not going that great in their ongoing war against the People’s Republic of Haven. After a coup throws the Peeps into chaos for awhile, they’ve now recovered their footing a bit and the war is getting rougher for both sides. While the Peeps and Manticore are going at it, however, a new problem is bedeviling Manticore: pirate attacks on their commercial shipping have increased, especially in the lawless Silesian Confederacy and if something isn’t done about it soon, the commercial houses will be forced to stop shipping and the economic consequences of that could be disastrous for Manticore.

They can’t pull any of their big ships off the front line of the war, so who do they turn too? Why the one Captain they can rely on to do more with less because she has a proven track record of doing just that: Honor Harrington.

Harrington and company (her armsmen are with her, her faithful steward Mac, Cardones, Gibson, Harkness– familiar faces that have served with her before in the previous books all show up) get to work souping up the Q-Ships (fast picket ships, not heavy hitters typically) with enough armament to stand up to potential pirates and then they head out on convoy duty and the adventure begins.

I’m kind of torn on this book: it feels like a step backward from the previous two books, which saw Harrington go through some trauma (losing Paul) and then retreat in exile to Grayson where she confronts more challenges (because that’s what these books are about) but more importantly, heals herself a little bit. I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again: the sheer numbers of losses that Harrington goes through in terms of people under her command that she loses would have an affect on anyone and I really liked that Weber took the time to have her actually sit with that and come to terms with it a little bit.

This feels like a reset back to the formula of the early early books. Yes, in the arc of the series, you probably need this to be a bridge novel to get Honor back into the Manticoran fold (and I think that’s exactly what this is about) but it feels like a retread in many ways. She’s facing overwhelming odds and doesn’t have the biggest, fastest,  heaviest armed ships– but she’s got ingenuity and good old fashioned know how to confront the problems and get the job done, but pays a cost for it. It’s more or less Basilisk Station stuck in a blender and throw in some pirates for good measure and it’s kind of disappointing.

Her antagonist from Basilisk Station shows up: Klaus Hauptmann, shipping magnate is the one who pushes Manticore to do something about it and even suggests sending Harrington, because he figures it’s a win-win: either Harrington gets the job done and protects his shipping or she dies trying and a woman he dislikes is taken off the board. Standard issue villain stuff for the series, but for some reason he decides to actually go out there himself! With his daughter!

I don't want to make it seem like it's all bad with this book, to the contrary there are a few interesting developments worth touching on:

First, this we get to meet the Andermanis for the first time and they are a wild blend of German/Chinese culture and I like them. They're a player in galactic affairs, but they're not as big of heavy hitters as Manticore or Haven, but they've got some game and they're very interested in the Silesian Confederacy and have a vested interested in making sure it's not a complete mess, so are friendly to Honor and company as they pass through on convoy duty. (i feel like we're going to see more of them in future books.)

Second, we've got the Wanderman Plot. War being what it is, Honor's crew has it's fair share of ne'er do wells and trouble makers along with really new, green recruits and one of them, Wanderman, runs afoul of the biggest and baddest asshole of the crew, Stielman and after he gets his shit kicked in, everyone knows who did it, but Wanderman won't admit it. He gets taken under the wing of the Marine Contingent, learns to defend himself and eventually, gets his own back against Stielman. It's a nice B-Plot and I hope we see more of Wanderman in the future-- I'm betting we will, since Weber seems to bring folks back now and again in this series- usually when you're least expecting them to show up.

Finally, we get some Treecat Action and Nimitz, Honor's Treecat gets a mate with the Engineer's Treecat, Samantha. That means that they're going to have go on maternity to leave until she's delivered her babies and we explore Honor's slightly souped-up bond with Nimitz that isn't quite full telepathy, but does allow her to sense the emotions of other humans and she actually shares that with the Engineer, but... because this is Honor Harrington and she can't have nice things and happy endings- at least not complete ones, the Engineer ends up dying and she feels the breaking of the bond with his Treecat, Samantha, who does survive, but it traumatized and depressed by the experience.

Overall, I'd say by itself, there are better books in this series. When you put in terms of the arc of the entire series, this feels like a bridge novel (we'll have to see if that proves correct when I get to the next one in the series) but I'm also left with the notion that it was kind of a necessary novel as well, despite feeling like something of a retread. For sure, Honor is back from exile. She's also thinking about promotion- if not to Commodore, then to Admiral and while she acknowledges she will miss just commanding a starship, she also doesn't seem to hate the idea of getting to develop the big picture strategy of the war either. Some interesting things in this book, but largely, just okay for me, so My Grade: ** out of ****

[burningchandelier]

How to be Punk; A History

My very talented and wonderful nibling has a birthday coming up and is, perhaps, doing a bit of soulsearching. With that, they wrote to ask me "how to be punk" and I wrote this back. It is longer than they probably bargained for, but anything less would have been a disservice. Please enjoy.

The most important thing about Punk is that it is a frame of mind. A person can be the most teeshirt-and-jeans-wearing, "normal"-looking person on the planet, but if they are devoted to justice for the underdog, anticapitalism, antiracism, feminism, queer rights, and genuinely making the world a better place through action and resistance, then that person is punk as hell.

Punk is about resisting authority, first and foremost. It is about taking labels that are used to hurt us and reclaiming them, turning them into our armor. It is about making your own impact in the world in the way that suits you best, and yes, of course, to a degree it is about fashion and music.

The best way to know where you are going is to know where you have been. You have to understand the history, at least a little, in order to know why things are the way they are.

With that in mind, here is a summary of the past fifty years of Punk. I hope I do okay.

The very word "Punk" itself used to be a slur used against effeminate men perceived to be gay. Back in the early 1970s, a bunch of dudes in England got called punks for wearing tight clothes with lots of safety pins. They turned around and said "Yeah, I am a punk. What are you going to do about it?"

This caught on incredibly fast.

Originally, the punk scene-- that of the early 70s, was a response to the commercialization of Rock and Roll, which had become pretty hack and overproduced, and to Disco, which was just taking off and was not appealing to everyone (I'll get into that another day).

Early punk (Sometimes called "Proto-punk" by people who want to sound like they know a lot, but it's pretentious) is a lot more accessible than people expect it to be!

Check out Iggy Pop and the Stooges, The Velvet Underground, and the New York Dolls for a taste of this era.

But WHAT ABOUT THE SEX PISTOLS!?

Okay. So here's the thing. The sex pistols are garbage. Yes, you have got to listen to Anarchy in the UK and God Save the Queen in order to know anything about anything when it comes to punk, but they were essentially an advertisement for a clothing shop, so they were automatically shills.

The important thing is that they created the Punk Aesthetic that we still know and love. Johnny Rotten was and still is a right-wing piece of shit. Sid Vicious was a garbage human. They wore clothes and made one good album, but I'm willing to admit that they did matter.

So then what happened?

Well, let me introduce you to Joey, Johnny, Dee dee, and Tommy.

The Ramones are where Punk took off and it took off like a bat outta hell.

You still see Ramones logos everywhere and that's for a good reason. It's because they rock. In this era, you also got Black Flag, The Misfits, The Dead Kennedys, The Damned, the list goes on and on (and it's awesome).

The 80s were a tumultuous time, politically and Punk got harder, more intense, more guitar-driven, and the bands had figured out that all you needed to make some incredible music was 4 chords and a message.

Sometimes, that message was awesome. Sometimes that message was total bullshit. Sometimes that message wasn't really a message as much as it was "I want to wreck stuff" but that's still kind of a message, isn't it?

It is worth noting that during this time, Punk was fighting for it's identity and a lot of that fighting included issues of race and gender-- some bands were total fascists and some bands were all about making fun of them. So you have to kind of understand that in order to get what was going on.

This is part of why fashion is SO important in the punk scene. Everything, everything, everything, down to the color of your shoelaces used to mean something specific. A bandana in your pocket could mean how you liked to have sex (and if you were Queer). Your boots could signal if you were a Nazi. Sometimes it wasn't a big deal, but sometimes it was important.

Wait. Nazi Punks?

Oh yeah, honey. There were a lot of Nazi punks in the scene, especially back in the 80s and 90s. That's the whole reason for the song "Nazi Punks Fuck Off."

We had to fight really hard, and continue to fight hard, to keep them out. They have no business in our spaces and in our music.

This sounds bad. I'm not sure if I want to be punk.

That's fair, but here's the thing. Being punk is so so so incredibly worth it (remember that part at the beginning about being anti-authority?) The community and the music and the beliefs are why we do it.

To be fair, if you've made it this far, you're probably in too deep already. Good for you! Keep going!

Okay, so then what happened after the 80s? Well, I know you can count, so you know what's coming next.

Punk took a backseat in the 90s. Grunge happened and Punk became kind of passe. The diehards were out there, slugging it out as always, but things had calmed down. In the West, politics weren't as dire, things seemed kind of hopeful. Punk was still important, but it wasn't what people needed.

That said, there was a rise in more pop-punk sounds that are, let's face it, fucking delightful. This is where we get Greenday, as well as a slew of bands that came into their own a little later on.

This was also the time of Riot Grrrl music, which I will happily tell you all about another time, but for now, we can say that it was the incredibly necessary, fantastic response to the "boys only" sign that alternative music, especially punk, had been hanging for years.

It is also worth noting that Punk, just like most art, is full of hypocrites who don't see their own blind spots. This doesn't make people bad, it just makes them people.

Punk has a long, crappy tradition of ignoring the contributions of women/people perceived as women and people of color even though it would not exist without those individuals.

It is getting much better, but god damn, it has taken a long time.

So then the 2000s happened and shit. went. nuts.

It doesn't really matter if you call it punk, pop-punk, emo, mall-goth, or anything else, but the alternative music scene of the 2000s went off like a bomb and there was no stopping it.

Like the 80s, the political landscape of the West was toxic to self expression, especially for young people who were suffering under the Bush Administration, the culture war against gay marriage, and the real-life wars that America had taken to the Middle East. Punk came back with a vengeance because the kids were not alright.

This punk, though? This punk was a different kind of fun.

This punk was the kind of punk where you were a lot less likely to get beat up and a lot more likely to get a sunburn at Warped Tour.

Making Punk accessible to more people with a broader appeal meant. for some, a watered down message, but for many others it meant being exposed to those messages at all. In my opinion, a net positive.

Did the DIY ethos of anticapitalism that bands like Thursday and My Chemical Romance, and even Fall Out Boy touted in their early days survive being brought to MTV? You have to be the judge of that. I am probably too biased to say, myself.

Into the future we go!

I believe that you need about 15-20 years to reflect on history with a proper degree of distance. It is too hard to pick out trends and important events when you're examining something that happened five to ten years ago, so I won't get into the 2010s or '20s yet.

Just remember that Punk has staying power and adaptability.

So. What makes a person punk? That's up to you.

[ghostiwrites]

Mayhaps I can get a matchup? (Love your writing and stuff btw!)

I'm a 19yo 5'2 transman, I study psychology and tattoo artistry, and my clothing/aesthetic is vampire goth/alternative with a touch of femboy. I have black and white hair (dyed) and blue/brown eyes (Heterochromia). Thicc thighs (semi muscle, mostly fat), am a bit of a push over/easily manipulated but am stubborn as an ass if I really don't want to do something. I'm a home person and I hate going out unless it's important, I'm super clingy (it's not even funny 😭), and have daddy issues and all the problems that correspond with it. I have chronic pneumonia, arthritis, and POTS. I enjoy cooking and cleaning and get super irritated if it isn't done right, though I am understanding and will teach the person how to do it properly. I have issues with empathy, in the way where I feel way too much, have some autism and ADHD are sprinkled in the Aro pie and that's basically me.

IMMEDIATELY WHEN I READ THIS MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS MICHAEL LOLLL!! Off topic I also dress vampire goth tehe!

Anyways though, so super sorry for taking foreeeever to answer this, writing block and personal life stuff was hitting me hard and just making it difficult to write anything <\3

But! As I already stated, your slasher boyfriend would be

Michael Myers <3!

So already, your familiarity with psychology and your hyper-empathy would be different to him, you’re much too kind to him for his liking. You treat him like a person- like an actual person, not like how the doctors and nurses at Smith’s Grove did, it was fake and if he was being honest, he felt more like they were talking to him as if he was a child or some sort of dog but you, you treat him like a person. He gets used to it eventually though after a while.

He’d be intrigued by your fashion as he’s not used to the idea of men/masc people dressing feminine, it’s just something he’s never really come across in his life but he absolutely would not judge you and I can imagine him bringing home accessories and such from victims that he thinks you’d enjoy <3.

Definitely someone who appreciates you being a home body, it’s nice for him to make his way into the house and find you cooking or cleaning or doing just about whatever, it doesn’t particularly matter to him but he does enjoy seeing you (also it means that you’re less likely to interact with other people! A bonus for him!)

I personally headcanon Michael as Aromantic (totally not projecting I definitely don’t do this with all my favorite characters haha lol) so the relationship wouldn’t be fueled by romance and you guys aren’t exactly dating but you are committed and care very much for each other. The relationship transcends the idea of romance and the bond you both have built is stronger than anything. You’re his and he’s yours, together both in this life and the one after it.

He’d find your clingy nature off putting at first (just because he isn’t used to it) but amusing, like I can imagine him coming home after a long night and you just run up to greet him with a hug, leading him over to the couch to have some nice cuddles after not seeing the man all day. Michael isn’t used to receiving affection like that or just used to anyone being happy when he’s there but it’s for sure something he’s grown to look forward to whenever he sees you.

He’d take care of you whenever you’re sick or in pain or just generally not feeling your best, in his own Michael way of course. Silently carrying you when you’re too tired or in too much pain to take yourself to bed, tossing an ice pack or a heating pad at you whenever your joints flare up. And since he’s constantly standing around you, holding you up whenever you get dizzy from moving too fast, he wouldn’t want you to fall over and hit your head.

He’d also be intrigued by your hair! Of course he’s seen people with dyed hair but nothing fun like black and white split dyed, he’d wonder if you just ran out of dye halfway through. Will occasionally sit in the bathroom with you if you dye it yourself and just watch you touch it up.

Now I don’t wanna say too much but Michael is the slasher for daddy issues. Just a nice tall muscular man to care for you and hold you with such gentleness that would surprise even him, surprising himself that he’s capable of being so soft with someone else (MEEEOW).

Overall! Michael would be very good to you and treat you the way you deserve <3!

Ahhh! I hope you enjoyed this and are happy with your matchup! Tehe!

-Love, America’s Cannibalistic Sweetheart ☆

[zydrateacademy]

Current Activities in Warframe #10

Despite being something of a veteran, I find myself overwhelmed. One of my new goals is to acquire a non-shit weapon for my Drifter. By story default you just get this shitty slow, single shot pistol. It does the job but it's weak and slow. But in order to get what I want I actually need to go back and deal with reputation on Cetus. As well as with Little Duck, whatever her subfaction is called. Little Duck isn't too bad, because you can just kind of spam Profit Taker and you'll get a few of those required orbs for ranking up. Just continues to be time gated. Cetus rep is significantly more annoying, as you need to hunt Eidolons which I never really do. I need to find groups dedicated to it, I think. Beyond that, I'm pretty much locked into MR23 for a while without heavy time investment in some relic breaking to grab some of those primes that are slipping through my fingers because I keep lacking a single piece or two from a set. I probably have a whole mastery point sitting and waiting in my foundry because of all the pieces I'm missing.

Then there's steel path, which I'm not really built to survive unless I'm on Wisp. Very few of my 'good' mods are maxed out so I'm not running with the best shields, health, or even Adaptation. I can run the dailies and survive well enough, to a point. On Wisp, if I stay in the air. Titania also does well until her energy runs out then she dies instantly. My weapons tend to do just fine on SP, it's really a surviveability issue.

I'm just kind of running into a wall again. As I said in a previous post, Warframe progress is more of a slow, sideways venture. Still, I like getting loot and fashion and both things are in short supply at my current stage. There's things I want but they're far too annoying to get. I don't understand how people got Kullervo so fast, all the Duviri I've done and he's only shown up once as an objective.

Either way I might soon be pacing myself better. Log in for a couple hours, try to do some bullshit rep stuff, then go cooldown with another game.