#more 300 fashion ads

[fashionbooksmilano]

self service 1994-2022, The Ads

IDEA, London 2022, 344 pages, Softcover, 23x30cm. , Edition of 1000 copies

euro 100,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

More than 300 fashion ads from 28 years of Self Service magazine in this one book. Instantaneously the definitive reference to contemporary fashion advertising. Raf Simons, APC, Prada, Balenciaga, more Raf Simons! It is stunning. See how the ads have changed from the nineties to today. See the loops and cycles as the first ads in the book become reference for the latter. There's Darwin's Theory of Evolution and there is Self Sevice, The Ads

09/12/23

[ancientfabricspreservation]

Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com - New scientific research has revealed a piece of tartan found in a peat bog in Glen Affric around forty years ago can be dated to circa 1500-1600 AD, making it the oldest known surviving specimen of true tartan in Scotland.

The Scottish Tartans Authority commissioned Dye Analysis and Radiocarbon testing on the woolen textile to prove its age.

Scotland's Oldest Tartan On Display For The First Time!

Glen Affric tartan - Scotland's oldest-known true tartan discovered by The Scottish Tartans Authority to go on display for the first time at V&A Dundee's Tartan exhibition.

Credit: Alan Richardson Pix-AR

The first investigation was dye analysis carried out by analytical scientists from National Museums Scotland. Using high-resolution digital microscopy, four colors were visually identified for dye analysis: green, brown, and possibly red and yellow.

The dye analysis confirmed the use of indigo/woad in the green but was inconclusive for the other colors, probably due to the dyestuff degradation state. However, no artificial or semi-synthetic dyestuffs were involved in making the tartan, which pointed to a date of pre-1750s.

Further clarification on the age of the tartan involved radiocarbon testing at the SUERC Radiocarbon Laboratory in East Kilbride. The process involved washing out all the peat staining, which would have otherwise contaminated the carbon content of the textile.

The Radiocarbon testing results identified a broad date range between 1500 and 1655 AD, with the period between 1500 and 1600 AD the most probable. This makes it the oldest-known piece of true tartan found in Scotland – the Falkirk ‘tartan,’ dating from the early third century AD, is actually a simpler check pattern woven using undyed yarns.

The Glen Affric tartan, which measures around 55cm by 43cm, is now on display for the first time at V&A Dundee’s Tartan exhibition.

by TaboolaSponsored Links

The piece will be the oldest exhibit among more than 300 objects. The exhibition examines tartan’s universal and enduring appeal through iconic and everyday examples of fashion, architecture, graphic and product design, photography, furniture, glass and ceramics, film, performance, and art.

“The testing process has taken nearly six months, but the effort was well worth it, and we are thrilled with the results!

In Scotland, surviving examples of old textiles are rare as the soil is not conducive to their survival. As the piece was buried in peat, meaning it had no exposure to air and was therefore preserved.

The tartan has several colors with multiple stripes of different sizes, and so it corresponds to what people would think of as a true tartan.

“Although we can theorize about the Glen Affric tartan, it’s important that we don’t construct history around it. Although Clan Chisholm controlled that area, we cannot attribute the tartan to them as we don’t know who owned it.

“The potential presence of red, a color that Gaels considered a status symbol, is interesting because of the more rustic nature of the cloth. This piece is not something you would associate with a king or someone of high status; it is more likely to be an outdoor working garment," Peter MacDonald, Head of Research and Collections at The Scottish Tartans Authorit said.

Scotland's Oldest Tartan On Display For The First Time!

New scientific research has revealed a piece of tartan found in a peat bog in Glen Affric, Scotland around forty years ago can be dated to circa 1500-1600 AD, making it the oldest known surviving specimen of true tartan in Scotland. Credit: Credit: Alan Richardson Pix-AR

“The Glen Affric tartan is clearly a piece of national and historical significance. It is likely to date to the reign of James V, Mary Queen of Scots, or James VI/I. “There is no other known surviving piece of tartan from this period of this age. It's a remarkable discovery and deserves national attention and preservation. “It also deserves to be seen and we’re delighted that it is to be included in the Tartan exhibition at V&A Dundee,” John McLeish, Chair of The Scottish Tartans Authority, said.

“We knew The Scottish Tartans Authority had a tremendous archive of material and we initially approached them to ask if they knew of any examples of 'proto-tartans' that could be loaned to the exhibition.

I'm delighted the exhibition has encouraged further exploration into this plaid portion and very thankful for The Scottish Tartans Authority's backing and support in uncovering such a historic find.

To be able to exhibit the Glen Affric tartan is immensely important in understanding the textile traditions from which modern tartan derives, and I'm sure visitors will appreciate seeing this on public display for the very first time," James Wylie, curator at V&A Dundee said.

Tartan at V&A Dundee opens on Saturday, 1 April, until 14 January 2024.

Written by Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com Staff Writer

Source: Facebook

Source: AncientPages.com

[ily-sunghoon]

The Omen of Sterling | CHAPTER II

Pairing : vampire!enha x fem!oc (sunoo moments appear a lot in this chapter)

Genre of this chapter : vampire, fluff if you squint

POV : Author’s

Words count : 3.9k

WARNINGS : food, blood, slight manipulation, sunoo dad is handsome and funny (lmk if i miss anything)

Note : the masterlist almost hitting 300 notes... im very grateful, thank you for liking my works guys <3 it feels like a dream :( feel free to ask if you have confusion about the world building! and feel free to correct any grammatical mistake, im also still learning english!

MASTERLIST

TAGLIST : @nshmrarki @capri-cuntz @millieinyourarea @strxwbloody (let me know if you want to be added)

CHAPTER II: ‘PERSONALITY’ TEST

“Can I come with you?” Sarco asked Jestel who’s ready to go to Idris with Jusarlie, Saine, and of course, Iolana.

“No, you have to teach today.” Jestel knows Sarco’s schedule.

“But they have to teach too?!” Sarco pointed at Jusarlie and Saine with his chin.

“They have substitutes. You don’t.” Jestel shortly ended it.

“Ricardo can—”

“Ricardo is still one of your students, Sarco.”

“Ugh! You’re annoying.” Sarco unexpectedly sulks.

“Isn’t our bet about Jusarlie? Why is Sarco becoming grumpier than him?” Saine chuckled.

“He’s very nosy.” Jestel shook his head. “Let’s go.”

They headed to Cairneye’s Mansion. Jestel had contacted Idris beforehand, saying that they would show up with a surprise guest. Cairneye’s Mansion is beautiful. It has a wide yard, beautifully decorated with flowers, bushes, fountain, and some statues. They head straight to Idris’s workshop that usually opens every day for people who need guidance. He made an exception today, because he’s feeling like he’s going to be exhausted after Jestel’s visit.

Stepping into the workshop, Iolana can’t help but observe her surroundings. The workshop gives her a cozy feeling. Warm lights, a tall armchair, some books that were left open on the desk, potions, herbs’ scent, incense that is burning in some spots, ritual candles. It’s just very homey. Judging by his workshop, Iolana has a feeling that Idris is a warm person.

“Papa, where are you?” Saine calls to his father.

Iolana continues to observe her surroundings again. She found a table full of framed pictures. Her eyes are staring at a picture of Saine and a guy, they’re smiling so sweetly with their eyes too. Saine is holding some flowers, Iolana assumed they’re canterbury bells based on how they look.

“I always have a panic attack whenever I heard you looking for me, Saine.” Saine’s father suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Can you stop scaring us, Uncle?” Jusarlie scoffed.

“Keep hating your own son and see where it’ll take you! Ugh!” Saine scoffed as well. Idris is such a cute silly man.

“It’s fun.” The said man smiles, his eyes are smiling too, looks like Saine got it from him. “Oh, hi! A girl. Human even. A sweet scented one.”

“Hi.” Iolana said shyly. Idris is incredibly handsome. His fashion taste is no match too. An elegant white top with black trousers, and even the touch of a man’s corset on his waist, or more like a wide belt? Iolana doesn’t know. Is it the outfit or his face? Iolana doesn’t know that either. Cairneye are so blessed, that’s the only thing that she knows. Best physical appearance combined with predicting future skill? Iolana immediately feels the need to have whatever they have. What a strong gene.

“Do a full test on her.” Jestel orders the older man around.

“Your name, Child?” Idris asked Iolana softly.

“Iolana Sterling.” Iolana is still shy.

“Holy Amadeus!” Idris is definitely surprised. “Welcome back!”

“Thank you…” The shier she gets, the more she hides behind Jusarlie. Jusarlie found it adorable, he feels warm because Iolana is already comfortable enough to seek for his protection.

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got.” Idris nods and prepare his bowl.

“Papa, let’s use the pool.” Saine told his father. More like a warning, to be frank.

“Oh.” Idris immediately knew what his son meant. “Excuse me for asking this, but are you perhaps the last Sterling alive right now, Iolana?”

Iolana nods, “That’s correct.”

“Well, the pool it is!” Idris listened to his son and brought some bottles of potion with him. His feeling was right, he will be exhausted today.

They walked together to the pool, Idris took off his shoes and socks, then sat by the pool.

“Sit next to me, Iolana.” Idris told her with a smile on his face. How could she say no?

She took off her own shoes and socks. Saine, Jestel, and Jusarlie immediately looked away. 1700s is so funny. When she sits next to Idris, they’re looking at the pool again. Flustered.

“Have you… take off your socks?” Saine is confused. Under the dim light, Iolana looks like she’s still wearing her socks.

“She’s just almost as pale as Sarco and you, Saine.” Idris chuckled.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Saine is flustered again.

“Now, Iolana. Shall we begin?” Idris looks at Iolana again.

Iolana nods calmly, showing that she’s ready.

Idris begins the ritual. He poured two bottles of his potions into the pool. He touched the pool and stirred the water to the right. “Could you tell us what you see?”

“A dining table?” Iolana is confused.

“Can you tell us what’s on that table?”

“Five empty plates and one apple in the middle of the table.” Iolana explained.

“Five? Wow! Do you see any marks on the empty plates?” Idris asked again.

“Yes. Lion, snowflake, cat, sun, and a broken crown?” Iolana is so confused.

Oh, the four of them hit the mind links together.

Idris stirs the water to his right again. “Now, what do you see?”

“The apple cut in half. It’s flying over the plates, it looks confused.”

Idris laughs. It is indeed funny. He stirs the water again, “How about now?”

“It’s changing every second, I don’t know.” Iolana frowned.

“Do you want to explain it to us?”

“One second, it’s on the snowflake plate and the cat. Next second, the snowflake and the sun.”

“Ah! Does the apple have one frequent destination?”

“I don’t think so, the apple is really confused.”

Idris laughs again. “You’re adorable.” He stirs the water again.

Iolana doesn’t have to be told this time. “I see five love letters.”

“Okay, I can understand now. How about now?” Idris stirs the water to the right again.

“I see Saine crying.” Iolana still looks confused.

“Do you know why?” Idris is kind of surprised.

“I lied, it’s actually Jestel.” Iolana giggled. She’s in a goofy mood.

The four of them are dumbfounded. The last time Idris successfully lied to was when they were having pioneers’ dinner, and the very person who lied to him was Tearle Sterling. Yes, Iolana’s father himself.

“Why am I crying?” The said person is as confused.

“I’m not sure, you look very… devastated?” Iolana is concerned.

“That’s odd!” Idris stirs the water again.

“There’s a throne.” Iolana answered.

“Who sits on it?” Idris asked.

Iolana remains silent.

“Iolana? It’s okay, you can say it.” Jestel said softly.

Can’t you read her mind? Jusarlie asked Idris through mind links.

I swear on Roberto Cairneye, I can’t read this little girl at all, Idris answered.

“It’s Jestel.” Iolana finally answered. “…or me.”

They’re definitely surprised by that.

“And that’s also my omen of Sterling.” Idris giggled. “What a coincidence, right?”

“It’s just a possibility, right? I would never do that to Jestel.” Iolana is worried about her own future.

“Yes! Don’t worry, Iolana.” Idris’ smile is so reassuring. He stirs the water again. “Do you see something?”

“Few things. Sword, crown, herbs, map, books, potions.”

Saine’s jaw dropped at that one. Idris just nods, not wanting Iolana to feel uncomfortable.

“Before I explain your results, let me talk with Jestel first. Are you okay with that, Iolana?” Idris asked her.

Iolana nods at the question, “Can I wear my shoes back?”

“Of course, Iolana.” Idris chuckled, he dried his feet with a spell and put his shoes back. “Let’s go, Jestel.”

Iolana gets her feet out of the water, Jusarlie and Saine immediately look away again.

“Hey, Saine. Could you do the spell that your father just casted for himself?” Iolana asked at Saine.

“Is it okay for you—you know…” If Saine is a human, he’s blushing pink right now.

“Yeah, of course!”

“Excuse me, Iolana.” Saine said before looking towards Iolana. He swings his hand above Iolana’s bare feet while casting the spell.

“Wow, you should teach me that!” Iolana is amazed. “Thank you, Saine.”

“N-no problem.” Saine looks away again.

“Just to let you know, it’s okay to look at me. I grew up being okay with my feet on display at home.”

“It’s just… we feel like a pervert…” Saine admitted.

“I wonder what’s the limit of dressing here in Krashoviel.” Iolana laughed. “I’m done. You are safe to look.”

Jusarlie and Saine hesitantly look toward Iolana again. They feel relieved when her feet are fully covered with her long skirt and shoes again.

“The girls are usually covering their feet, that’s why we act that way earlier.” Jusarlie explained.

“I want to be controversial and show my ankle to the streets.” Iolana giggled.

“No, no, no!” Jusarlie and Saine panicked. “Arms are okay, but ankle? Wow, that’s pornographic.”

“That’s confusing.” Iolana nods. “What about chest area? How far can the neckline go?”

“Chest area is okay, as long as the breasts are not like… full on display? Ankles, however, is a big no.” Saine explained. “I feel like invading your privacy earlier when casting that spell.”

Iolana laughed. Krashoviel is so funny for her, when it’s just her who doesn’t even leave her house before going to Krashoviel. She’s lucky she’s easy-going and pretty.

“Drink this, don’t you feel tired?” Saine hands her a glass of questionable drink.

“Not really.” Iolana accepts the glass. “Oh, what is this?”

She smelled the drink, and it smelled like strawberry! She drinks it without hesitation until the last drop. “I like it! What is this? Strawberry juice?”

Curiosity kills the cat!

“Our bloods.” Saine grins.

“Oh?” Iolana is concerned. “What would that do? Whose blood?”

“Three of us. It can give you strength! And you can summon us anytime you want when you need it. You can also talk to us through telepathy.” Saine explained excitedly.

“Summon you? How?” Iolana is interested in this.

“Just say our name and say you need us. For example, Jusarlie I need you.” Jusarlie explained further.

“Oh! I get it.” Iolana nods. “But why? Isn’t that… personal? Don’t you think I need to gain your trusts first?”

“You already did.”

It feels too fast for Iolana, but she accepts it as it is. She’s grateful that they care about her a lot, but are they?

—

“Jestel, that was the most entertaining reading that I ever did. I thanked you for that.” Idris is giggling non-stop.

“Elaborate, please.” Jestel is frustrated.

“You will fight your best friends.” Idris started off so strong. “You, Saine, Jusarlie, Sarco, and Hiael.”

“Why?” Jestel asked, still oblivious.

“You’re going to fall in love with Iolana. All of you.” Idris stated. “Some of you already did, I checked my son and he’s already blooming for her.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Jestel shook his head.

“Love never makes any sense, Jestel.” One thing about Idris is that he hits hard with his words, accidentally or not. “Especially the throne for her vamp host. You’re going to fight really dirty for that. I can see it.”

“Nonsense.” Jestel scoffed.

“I won’t help you if you cry someday.” Idris threatened him. Scares him for sure, where will Jestel run to for advice if not Idris?

“What should I do about this?” Jestel is stressed out.

“Accept it.” Idris calmly told him.

“What can I do to make her choose me?”

“That remains a mystery.” Idris doesn’t know either. “I’m more surprised you’re not bringing up anything about the throne. You already fell for her, don’t you?”

“No. I just trust her.” Jestel explained himself.

“You gave her your blood, along with Saine and Jusarlie.” Idris points that out.

“She’s a human, Idris. I just want to protect her.”

“Sure, sure. Protect her. When we all know it’s special and intimate.” Idris mocked him.

“It’s not that intimate.”

“Imagine she chose Sarco as her vamp host.” Idris immediately puts a scenario.

“Fine, it is intimate.”

“Best of luck, Jestel.” Idris taps his shoulder a few times. “It’s going to be anything but easy.”

“She’s not capable of wiping out the whole Sinflame, right? She’s lovely, she would never do that.” Jestel asked Idris for reassurance.

“Not yet. However, if I was you… I would never get on her wrong side. She’s a complicated girl.”

—

“Your father is so majestic.” Iolana admitted. Truly smitten by Saine’s father.

“You think I’m ugly?” Saine acts like he has been hurt.

“I never said that.” Iolana is still giggling over Idris.

“Don’t feed his ego, Iolana.” Jusarlie scoffed.           

“Get over it, Jusarlie. She thinks I’m handsome.” Saine is being cocky right now.

“Your father reminds me of a pine tree.” Iolana sudden words silenced them.

Jusarlie and Saine is so confused. There’s no way she just said that like it’s a normal thing to do.

“I can’t believe we lose you to Sarco’s species.” Saine faked a sigh.

“Species is insane.” Jusarlie laughs. “Why a pine tree?”

“Tall, look good, calming, I don’t know? He reminds me of it.”

“Bloody hell, she really is a Sarco’s species.” Jusarlie couldn’t believe it.

“Why Sarco?” Iolana is curious.

“He’s odd. Just like you. I don’t mean it in a bad way, it’s creative. Sometimes we just… don’t understand.” Saine explained. “He did that a lot, saying I look like the lamp near south’s stairs and so on.”

“You should show me the lamp later.” Iolana is invested now.

“Hey, small question, but if you don’t want to answer it’s fine. What happened to your hair? Did you get punished?” Jusarlie suddenly hits Iolana with a personal and nosy question.

Iolana expects this with her a little bit over the shoulder-length hair. It is unusual for a girl to have hair that short, at least in their era.

“Well, it was an accident. It got cut by my brother when we were practicing sword, so my mom cut it all to this length.” Iolana explained. “I’m waiting for it to be long again. It’s troublesome, I can’t tie it properly, yet it’s annoying enough to be left undone like this.”

Jusarlie and Saine nod in unison.

Idris and Jestel went back to the pool area. Jestel looks stressed, while Idris looks happy. What a weird combination.

“Iolana, do you mind if I ask you to lend us your power?” Idris asked.

“Huh? I have power?” Iolana is confused again.

“Bigger than you think.” Idris giggled. “We are also testing it out.”

“Sure, if it’s for a good reason…” Iolana is totally unsure.

“We are going to search for Jestel’s long lost brother, Holstein.” Idris explained briefly.

“But I don’t know what he looks like?” Iolana is still questioning him.

“You will, if you succeed.” Idris smiles warmly. “Would you do it?”

Iolana nods after a few seconds of hesitation. She sits between Idris and Jestel, making half of a circle.

“Saine, Jusarlie, let’s go.” Idris points at the empty seats.

“You need us as well?” Jusarlie questioned but obeyed.

“You were just doing nothing, so why not?” Idris is an entertaining man for sure.

They held each other’s hands. For the first time ever, Jestel could understand what the romance books were talking about. The electricity and the butterflies, he feels them now.

“I seek upon Holstein Sinflame whereabouts,” as Idris said those words, there is a big cloud forming over Cairneye’s mansion. Thunder begins to growl, lightning begins to show.

They close their eyes, focusing on the name Holstein Sinflame.

They begin to see a vision. A palace, but not Krashiovel’s palace.

“Whose vision is this?” Jestel asked.

“Iolana.” Idris answered.

“Have you found the girl?” Holstein asked them.

“She killed herself along with her father, Your Highness.”

“Did you see her face? Is it really her?” Holstein asked again.

“No, but there is no way she could run away. We’ve blocked all the access.”

“Tearle is the smartest vampire that I’ve ever met. She could be in Krashoviel now with my stupid brother.” The Prince of Slevado is furious.

“That would be the same as suicide, her blood smells so fucking sweet.” Holstein chuckled. “Where is she?”

“Holstein, you must come back to Krashoviel and fetch that girl.”

“Unnecessary, I think she’s gone.”

The vision turns black again, the clouds are nowhere to be found, the thunder is no longer roaring.

“Wow, he’s a traitor.” Saine couldn’t believe what he just saw.

Idris was the only one laughing, he couldn’t contain it. “It’s so funny, you’re swapping brothers.”

Iolana holds back her giggle, she doesn’t want to be rude.

“Thank you, Iolana.” Idris has stopped laughing. “We wouldn’t make it without you, we’ve tried for hundred years to get a vision of Holstein.”

“I didn’t do that much, I��m glad I could help.” Iolana is still oblivious about her real power, buried deep down under that human form.

“Here’s your test result, make sure you read it alone without them lurking.” Idris intentionally whispered loudly.

“I will lurk.” Saine smiles.

“Have some class.” Idris faked a sigh.

“We’ll head out, Idris. Thank you for your service.” Jestel stood up, the others followed.

“Bye, Papa.” Saine waves at his father.

“Don’t come back.”

“You see? He’s not as handsome as you think, Iolana.” Saine used that as a way to show her his father’s teasing habit.

“Forgivable if he has that elf type of face.” Iolana giggled.

“Aw, you flustered me.” Idris chuckled at Iolana. She has a sense of humor too!

“Let’s go.” Jestel is not having it. Well, at least now he knows that he truly fell for her.

—

Saine is being told to look after Iolana while the others held emergency meeting for the third time today, of course he enjoys this! They’re currently putting Iolana’s clothes into the wardrobe.

“I think you have good eyes for apparels. I want your wardrobe.” Saine adores Iolana’s taste in fashion. “Ah, the trousers! Where did you get these?”

“Come on, Saine. Those are just my casual and practice clothes. I got it from my human maids.” Iolana chuckled. “I love my pretty dresses, but I barely get to wear it.”

“You will wear it more often now, there are so many events that we usually have to attend.” Saine informed her. “Ah, you don’t have any ball gowns! Do you want to go to Charson? You’ll need some gowns for royal ball and Jestel’s birthday.”

“Is it far?” Iolana asked.

“Not really, but we need to cover your scent.” Saine chuckled. “I’ll put some spell on you. It could last for two hours, at least.”

—

“Don’t play with me, Jestel. What do you mean Holstein is a traitor?” Sarco shook his head.

“That’s what we saw.” Jusarllie admitted.

“They must’ve brainwashed our Holstein,” Odelia, the queen on the throne, scoffed. Clearly annoyed.

“Hiael betrayed his nation by his own will, it is not an impossibility if Holstein ever do the same.” Idris shrugged his shoulder. “However, this Sterling girl…”

“What Sterling girl?” Raphael, the queen’s brother, is shocked.

“She came with this letter.” Jestel gave them the letter that Tearle wrote.

“She’s back? Here? In Krashoviel?” Sullivan, the queen’s father, is puzzled.

“She could end your bloodline.” Idris said without any burden.

“I’d rather be dead than to fight back, it’s no use.” Sullivan chuckled. “Oh, Sterling.”

“Are Sterling that dangerous?” Wilhelmina, Jestel’s niece, is too young to watch how frightening Sterling can be back then in the war field.

“I’m really scared of them, take that information as you wish.” Sullivan said to his great-granddaughter.

“Oh!” Wilhelmina is surprised. “Is she beautiful?”

“Very.” Jestel answered. “I would do anything for her.”

“In front of your queen aunt is just insane, Jestel.” Idris laughed at his son.

“I don’t blame him.” Jusarlie stands with him.

“They fell for her charm,” Sarco scoffed. “I would ne—”

“Careful, now.” Idris warned Sarco. “You will fall for her too. I saw it.”

“Who else?” Odelia asked her son.

“Saine and Hiael. The five of them will fight to be her vamp host.” Idris informed them.

“This is ridiculous, let’s just kill that girl.” Raphael is furious. “She will tear us apart.”

“If Sinflame is no longer worthy of the throne, then just let it be.” Odelia is calmer than the others.

“What on earth are you saying, Odelia?” Raphael is getting more furious. What an old grumpy man.

“Grandma Odelia is not wrong.” Wilhelmina is against his father.

“Father, look at this—” Raphael seeks Sullivan’s support.

“I’m not going to say anything.” Sullivan is busy cleaning each of his gemstones.

“That girl won’t do it by herself, right? Who are the potential traitors?” Raphael asked Idris.

“Have you ever done a friendly practice with Tearle?” Idris questioned him back.

“No, why?”

“Then you are not in the place to say that.” Sullivan makes it clear. “One Sullivan equals five Sinflame. Train her as hard as you can, give her the best facility, and don’t you dare to let other nations have her.”

“Yes, Grandpa.” Jestel nods.

“When will you sit on the throne, Jestel?” Odelia asked, she’s tired of the kingdom’s bullshits.

“As soon as possible, I’m still preparing myself.” Jestel feels a heavy weight on his shoulders. He can’t control his feelings toward Iolana, that is what bothers him the most right now.

—

“Mr. Cairneye! Oh, my vamp, close the shop!” The receptionist panicked when he saw Saine smiling at him.

The workers immediately temporarily close the shop, the other guests who are waiting outside are getting used to it now. Must be one of the pioneers making some sudden appearance.

“How can we help you, Your Highness?” The shop workers are ready to serve him.

“I’d like some ball gowns for this cute little girl.” Saine pushed Iolana slightly.

“Of course, we’ll measure her.” Two of the workers quickly measured Iolana, while the others asked Saine about the gown’s details.

“What’s your favorite color, Iolana?” Saine questioned her. “You can name five.”

“White and pink. As for the others, I’ll leave it to you. I trust you.” Iolana is never failed to make Saine feels so… flustered.

“White, pink, blue, red, and purple.” Saine told the worker.

“Which shade, Your Highness?”

“Actually… make it six. White, violet, navy, sky blue, maroon, and pink. Maybe a bold pink like this one? Iolana, do you like it?” Saine asked her again.

“Loves it.” Iolana stares adoringly at the color that Saine just showed her. It’s almost fuchsia, just a little less bold.

“Pardon me, Your Highness. She looks unfamiliar to me, is she a new citizen? I’ve never seen her before.” Jeremy asked Saine, trying to be as polite as possible.

“Yes, she is. She’s Iolana Sterling, Jeremy.”

“S-Sterling, Your Highness?”

“She has a perfect body proportion.” One of the measurement workers said to the other.

“Thank you.” Iolana whispered to them.

“We apologize, we didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay. I love your compliment. You’re being genuine.” Iolana smiles. “I’m done, Saine.”

She walked to Saine as he smiled at her proudly.

“Payment should be here by tomorrow morning. Thank you for your service, Jeremy.” Saine informed the owner of that grand boutique.

“Always happy to be at your service, Your Highness and Lady Sterling. Thank you for trusting us.” The workers and Jeremy bow a little to show their respect and devotion towards the pioneers.

They walked out of Charson and went home instantly. After they got back to Iolana’s room, Saine seemed confused.

“Are you not going to ask anything about them referring me as… you know?”

“Jusarlie told me about the royal family’s tree. I was a little surprised, I’m so sorry I interacted with you so casually.” Iolana admitted, feeling a little guilty.

“No, no! Keep being casual, we’re equal.” Saine quickly reassured her. “No one dares to challenge a Sterling, not even the oldest Sinflame alive. You’re still a part of the pioneers.”

Pioneers.

It sounds incredibly weird for Iolana, but deep down in her heart… it feels just right.

TO BE CONTINUED...

; YOUR CUTE REBLOGS AND COMMENTS MAKE ME FEEL REALLY GRATEFUL <3 ; FEEL FREE TO HIT MY ASK IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION ABOUT THE WORLD BUILDING OR CHARACTER!

© ily-sunghoon, 2024 DO NOT COPY, STEAL, PLAGIARIZE, OR REPOST ON OTHER PLATFORM DO NOT TRANSLATE WITHOUT PERMISSION

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

1981 Cadillac Evolution I

Fashion Victim: The 1981-83 Pierre Cardin Evolution I

French-Italian designer Pierre Cardin found worldwide fame with his exuberant approach to women’s fashion, but the skills didn’t necessarily cross over to the automotive world. 

The creator of mod chic and the bubble dress, Pierre Cardin (1922-2020) first made his name as a ladies’ fashion designer—one who then aggressively extended his brand marketing into consumer goods of all kinds, from perfume to sunglasses and eventually, automobiles. For American Motors he designed the 1972 Cardin Javelin with its memorable neon-striped upholstery, and in 1978 he whipped up a line of specially trimmed Cadillacs. But easily the wildest of his automotive enterprises was a customized Cadillac Eldorado called the Evolution I.

Cadillac Cardin Convertible

As we can see above, the most remarkable feature of Cardin’s restyled Eldorado is its  radically extended nose, which was facilitated in part with fenders and bumpers borrowed from the Oldsmobile Toronado, the Eldo’s GM E-body sibling. It’s an odd look, especially given the front-drive E-Body’s relatively short dash-to-axle distance.

The rear end styling was rearranged in a similarly arbitrary manner, with the Eldorado’s classic vertical taillights replaced with a slim horizontal lamp assembly that spanned the width of the body. Cardin’s sales literature boasted of “30 coats of hand-rubbed lacquer” and other fineries.

1981 Cadillac Evolution I

Luxury upgrades to the interior included elaborate two-tone leather upholstery, front and rear consoles, and a Quasar video player with a Sony TV in the rear seat. Pierre Cardin Automotive originally planned to produce 300 examples of the Evoluution I, with a gold plate on the instrument panel to testify to the serial number. But reportedly, only around 100 vehicles were delivered in the 1981-83 model run, including one Hess & Eisehnart convertible conversion. One likely reason for the limited popularity, we theorize, was the price: a hefty $58,000, more than three times the cost of a standard Cadillac Eldorado. As far as we know, this would be the fashion maven’s final foray into the automobile business.

Evolution I ad

[making-you-in-spore]

i haven't played spore but ive been wanting to but is it worth the money?

if you like making funky guys, absolutely. i've spent about 300 or so hours in spore and plan on adding much more. it has infinite replayability as long as you have infinite creativity in any fashion.

[champmorado]

300 FOLLOWERS DTIYS!!!!

we finally reached 300 followers, fuck yea!!!! thank you so much to everyone here, i appreciate all of you <3333

in honor of this milestone, i'll be hosting a dtiys challenge!! deadline will be on JULY 31, 3:00pm philippine standard time!! it will be extended if ppl ask for it

guidelines:

you can draw the time twins with any design (canon/lego designs, my human hc designs, your human hc designs, etc)

you can change their outfits, as long as krux is wearing historical fashion and acronix is wearing more modern fashion (ex: dark ages krux & renaissance acronix, 1920s krux & 90s acronix, etc)

no adding or removing characters!! keep it only the time twins

you can change the pose, angle, and anything else as long as it follows the other guidelines

tag your post as #morado300dtiys , and tag me too

here are the prizes, winners will be randomly picked ^_^

1st place - shaded and colored drawing of a ninjago character or oc

2nd place - colored drawing of a ninjago character or oc

3rd place - grayscale colored drawing of a ninjago character or oc

and the artist of my favorite drawing that didnt get picked will get a doodle :D (art style/quality and note count wont be a factor in me choosing my favorite)

feel free to send an ask or dm if you have any questions :]

[achillessulks]

Books recs on Alexander? And also any books to avoid? I've read the Robin Lane Fox biography but that's it.

ooooh I love this question. A lot depends on what kind of stuff you want to read about (military history? sexuality? politics? greater context of the era? history of Macedon in general? biography of Alexander specifically? focus on Hephaestion? Olympias? etc.), but here are some general nonfiction recommendations from my shelves*:

Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C. (Peter Green). If I had to recommend one single book it would be this one; Green’s writing is factual, engaging, entertaining, and well-contextualised. The book is delightfully bitchy at times, and appropriately sober at others. Only real downside is that Green doesn’t much care for Hephaestion, but he doesn’t let that opinion get too intrusive when discussing Alexander’s relationship to him.

Alexander the Great (Robin Lane Fox). You already read this one but it’s a classic so I’m sticking it on the list again anyway.

The Search for Alexander (Ibid.). Similar to his other book, but with the cool benefit of his having re-traced Alexander’s footsteps as closely as possible.

Brill’s Companion to Ancient Macedon: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 BC - 300 AD (ed. Lane Fox).

The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander (ed. Romm, Strassler). This is by far my favourite edition of Arrian’s writing on Alexander, primarily because of the contextualising information.

The History of Alexander (Quintus Curtius Rufus). There are various English-language translations available; I prefer the Loeb editions.

The Life of Alexander (Plutarch). Again, I like the Loeb translations, but most English-language translations of Plutarch are acceptable.

Alexander the Great (Paul Cartledge).

Alexander the Great (Ulrich Wilcken).

Alexander the Great (Richard Stoneman).

Alexander the Great (Philip Freeman).

Alexander and the East: The Tragedy of Triumph (A.B. Bosworth). Pretty much everything by Bosworth is good in my opinion.

Responses to Oliver Stone’s Alexander (ed. Cartledge, Greenland). Very much a mixed bag, but a lot of really cool historical information about specifics aspects of Alexander’s time that might not be covered in straightforward biographies, e.g. typical fashion of the time period.

The Conquests of Alexander the Great (Waldemar Heckel). Most writing by Heckel is good, and recommended.

Dividing the Spoils: The War for Alexander the Great’s Empire (Robin Waterfield). Focused more on the aftermath of Alexander’s death, but interesting nonetheless.

The Nature of Alexander (Mary Renault). Some (myself included) would call it outdated, but Renault’s classic biography is just a really enjoyable read regardless. The appendices she adds to her Alexander novel trilogy, especially the first book (Fire from Heaven), are also lovely.

*By this I mean these are all books I own and have read multiple times.

To avoid: Anything by Richard A. Gabriel; anything by E.A. Wallis Budge; anything sensationalising Alexander’s death (e.g. claiming that he was poisoned and this new book explains all about how and who was to blame); most books or articles published before 1975; anything basing itself on the premise that Alexander was an unpopular or generally incompetent ruler (you can pick out these books easily by eschewing anything with a title like “Alexander the Great... FAILURE” or similar — a real work by John Grainger); Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death by Anthony Everitt... a book so knowledgeable about Alexander that it uses a bas-relief of Scipio Africanus on the cover instead of one of its purported subject. Yes, that is a real thing that this book does.

Anyway, I hope that helps! I only provided books in English (excluding the Latin/Greek original texts obviously) because you asked in English, but I can also recommend some books in French and German. If any of these books aren’t available in your region, just send me an ask (off anon, please) and I’ll be more than happy to provide you with a PDF or EPUB copy on request.

[pure-ablution]

I saw your sweater post and just had to share my frustrations about this cardigan! It's the Weekender Cardigan by Orseund Iris, and it has that typical Orseund Iris price tag. I love the fit, the finish, and materials, but Nearly 300 pounds is crazy.

I know the Aritzia dupe, but for the still-not-cheap price it's still too much for viscose and polyester. I don't know, I would just want some fashion guidance about how to proceed with this impasse.

This is a gorgeous cardigan, and very obviously drawing upon the favoured look of the 1940s ‘sweater girl’ with her very, very deep and tight ribbing at the bottom of her sweater! In this case, it’s going to be easiest for you to use (and alter, if necessary) a vintage cardigan pattern—I found this one, available alongside a host of others in a downloadable PDF book for $5, but you could probably easily find another if you looked. If you use the one I’ve linked, then all you really need to do is get rid of the cable detailing, knit up the body in a fine stockinette stitch, then extend the ribbing at the base and sleeves, and add your buttons to the cuffs if you like. It might take a couple of goes to get it right, and it’ll not look exactly the same because the Orseund Iris original is machine-, not hand-knitted, but with the right technique and materials, it will look very close, and probably more flattering.

As for materials: anything other than a very fine viscose/tencel is going to look different from the original, and lack that light ‘t-shirt’ sort of quality, but I think that a fine silk/cotton blend would look really lovely, or with a little merino added for warmth. You can get so many amazing yarn blends these days, and of course, if you’re really struggling, then you could buy the raw material and card and spin it from scratch, as I sometimes do when I can’t find what I want—but for something as simple as this, I don’t think you’d need it. The fastenings are just press-studs with coloured caps, which you can find anywhere and are pretty easy to apply as long as you have a little base setter and hammer kit. You could also just use buttons, which might give a more ‘homemade’ look, but would be very cute and an opportunity for customisation.

I hope this is helpful!! Good luck with your cardigan, let me know if there’s anything else I can help with—and, of course, keep me posted on the results! 💕

(PS — I just realised that I assumed you wanted knitting advice, since you mentioned my sweater post, but I might be completely mistaken here 😂 if you wanted help with finding a RTW dupe, please just let me know!)

[sioster]

Armageddon's toll long overdue infodump post nr 2

This post's topic is mice classification. In a functioning society, you need to be able to group your citizens in groups for simple reasons such as keeping track of the number of everyone or to provide the specific things each type of mice may need.

NOTE: the specific fur names I am using in this post, (ex. devil fur, lavender fur, fertile orchid fur) are taken from the Transformice wiki, which includes their graphics. 

Sections:

History lesson on in game fur related slang.

Classification of traits (+ examples).

Why is it needed?

Oddities: clothing furs, costumes and copyright.

History Lesson on in game fur related slang.

In Transformice, players tend to separate the items equiped in the 'fur' section, into 'colours' and 'furs'.

So, 'colours' and 'true furs' (I will be using the name 'true fur' here to help differentiate the similiar things). Why did the separation happen? As the nickname suggests, 'colours' are furs with only a singular colour used. They lack the detail of 'true furs', but go for a much cheaper price.

'Colours' range from 🍓50-150 & 🧀1.000-3.000, with an exception of 2 recently added furs that I personally see as 'colours' aswell, as they only have a little bit of gradient on top of the base colour, and they go for 🍓350 & 🧀 4.500.

Contrary to that, 'true furs' range from 🍓300-550🧀5.000-10.000, with the exception of furs only purchasable by Cheese, which more serve the purpouse of a fun collectible or flex, rather than fashion like the previously mentioned ones. Cheese only furs go for; 5.000, 10.000, 15.000, 5.000, 7.500, 10.000, 15.000 [🧀].

Naturally, the prices have gone up with time, hence the overlap in the 🍓 price of the cheaper, old 'true furs' and the new (personally seen as such) 'colours'.

Classification of traits.

Based on the already existing categories, I divided mice furs into 2 main groups.

'Original' & 'Complex' furs.

'Original' furs are 'colours' along with a small portion of 'true furs' that look the most passable as normal mice/rats, along with a few that over the years got ingrained into my thoughts as some sort of calm classic.

'Complex' furs are furs which have characteristics of things not found in mice. This includes traits of other animals, concepts, food, plants etc. Generally, the opposite of what comes to mind when thinking of mice

There are items that, when coloured appropriately, look as if the fur has completely different markings than the original in some areas. Mostly, those are face paint items, but there is also a recently added tattoo item section, which allows to change the back leg markings. There are also two ear items which change the ear structure.

To make sure that even furs with changed markings are identifiable, I separated them into ‘natural’ and ‘unnatural’.

Another variable is if a mouse has wings or not. This category has been created due to how some furs have wings already in them and the wing items that can be equipped separately. To tell apart wings, ‘feathered’, ‘bug’ and ‘bat’ are used to specify the types of wings.

Examples of classification:

A)

Complex-unnatural-wingless furred mouse.

Explanation:

Complex: this is the deer fur, and deer aren't mice. Thus, this fur doesn't meet the requirements of an original fur.

Unnatural: the recoloured rocker makeup item changes the usual markings of the head. Similarly, the recoloured sun tattoo changes the usual appearance. (In this context, the blue bits aren't normal tattoos.)

Wingless: the deer fur doesn't have wings of it's own, and the outfit doesn't feature any wing items.

B)

Original-natural-feather winged furred mouse.

Explanation:

Original: this is one of the simpler furs which do remind of normal mice.

Natural: lack of face paint or tattoo items.

Feather winged: a wing item is equipped, and the wings are feathered.

Why is it needed?

As previously mentioned in the opening section, a big part of the reason as to why such a system has been put in place, is to keep track of citizens, and have an unchanging scheme of categorising traits.

Complex furs often feature different biological traits, for example shark furred mice have fins and may fall sick to an illness which only affects fish, or blue angel furred mice have feathers mixed in with their fur and might catch feather rot. Keeping track of where what type of furred mice are is vital to making sure there is enough medicine for specific furreds in each settlement.

While common mice can only glide with their wings, it can still be crucial in some jobs. Foraging or scouting  in high places such as tree branches, poses a much larger risk to mice without the ability to safely glide down in the case of a fall. If possible, tasks of those types are given to willing wing furred, to lower the chances of injury.

In similar fashion, other traits sometimes influence job distribution as well. For example,  furred connected with fire like hellflame or devil furred are more commonly seen working in forges than aquatic furred such as sea foam furred.

The crime rate among mice is low, as they're more often than not, peaceful and honest creatures. But in the rare instances of law breaking, identification is important to determine the appearance (the difference between natural and unnatural furred can be big) and what they're physically capable of (for example aquatic furred can live in bodies of water and camo furred are naturally better at hiding.) 

Oddities: clothing furs, costumes and copyright.

In earlier years, some furs that were added had clothes on them. Due to how a large number of them look like already existing furs but with a slight hue change or slightly different placement of spots and addition of clothes, and the fact that cataloguing them while including the clothes makes no sense in context of mice themselves, I've decided to ‘merge’ some furs together and keep special looking ones separate. 

Merged and not merged furs:

School girl -> grey colour

Innuit -> grey colour

Chef -> dark grey colour

King -> tom cat

Dragon kigurumi -> grey colour

Grim Reaper -> not merged

Panther Lily -> black and white cat

Maid -> elegant 

There's also the case of three peculiar furs- the Irish, Elisah and Von Drekkmaus furs.

All three of these are furs based off of NPCs. The Irish fur is identical to how Cassidy looks, with the exception of the fur having a different coloured hairstyle, while the others are directly named after their characters.

NPC Cassidy also has a shirt and is a little taller (here he looks squished)

While Cassidy has a unique ginger pattern, the Elisah fur is a normal creme colour with clothes and details. The Von Drekkmaus fur is identical to Archain Von Drekkmauss’ apperance, which in turn makes it look very close to how mouse vampires appear.

Vampire mice, as far as we know, when turned, are all the same bat winged furred type, with slight variations of tone. The exception being Voldemouse, Archain's half vampire son, who appears to be wingless default furred, with an unnatural trait of elongated fluffy ears.

So, in conclusion: Elisah fur is a creme colour, Irish fur is a unique complex fur and Von Drekkmaus fur is a vampire fur. Vampires are not mice, but if to categorise their fur it would fall into the complex category.

Costumes are one time use consumables that after use, change the apperance of the currently worn fur up to ~30 minutes. They often feature things that for a normal fur would be gamebreaking, such as going out of boundaries that allows clothing items to function. For example, the t-rex costume makes the mouse's head bigger and a different shape and the penguin costume removes the tail, making the tail items levitate.

Due to how many of costumes are different animals- not different animal furs, but just different species wholly, I decided to keep their original purpose as costumes. The Elisah fur and black and white cat fur are the only furs that also have a costume counterpart.

Copyrighted things are a weird thing in the case of Transformice. Somehow, there's tons of items heavily referencing popular franchises, but no legal actions were ever taken. As for me, when using furs that are based off of existing characters, I will refer to them by their other names listed on the wiki, or if there are none, I will make my own. I do not deny the connections, but it wouldn't make sense in my opinion to refer to such mice using the names of the referenced characters.

[themanifestingbrat]

Favorite things I've manifested using the law.

Dating my sp There was a third party and "challenging" circumstances but I truly did not gaf. I persisted by saying that's my boo anytime I saw or thought of him, ofc seeing him all the time helped.

Desired apartment When I was moving with my mom, I fell in love with the first apartment we toured. I told her that's the one and despite her doubts and concerns, I didn't care. There was no way in hell I was going to live anywhere else. The application and move in process was extremely easy.

Desired jobs Pretty much every job I worked at, I manifested. Whether it was me simply imagining myself working there, "hearing" the call back that I was hired, or also "hearing" a family member saying they were proud of me.

$200 I felt like I had "blocks" in regards to money so I chose a small amount to manifest. Just claimed it and thought about what I was going to do with it. Came in less than three days. Randomly saw the amount around $300 added to my bank account from the government I think??

Desired friend Despite both of us being in two different cliques and having only a few classes together, I thought she looked so cool and just wanted to be friends with her lmao. I think I initiated conversations with her at first but then before I knew it, she was coming over to my house and we would hang out after school a lot. We are still close to this day.

Free drinks/food This is easy since I already had people always buying me free shit. So whenever I wanted to eat but didn’t want to pay, someone somehow always came through!

People's response/reactions These are usually instant because I'd immediately assume what they would say before they even get a chance to. I would simply imagine their response in a way that felt real and go from there.

Braces This one took me so long to manifest because I would not let it goooo! I wanted to fix my teeth so fucking badd. But after finally giving up and not caring about it anymore, randomly my parents just said they’ll pay for my braces.

Beauty I was hella insecure even though I always been told that I was beautiful. I didn't want to be beautiful tho, I wanted to be hot, cool, and sexy. I wanted to be desired and pull people left and right. I started to just tell myself that I was hot regardless of my insecurites. Now, while I didn't manifest any major appearance changes, just my mindset and confidence (maybe a lil makeup too) helped. I now can pull anyone and have people constantly staring at me, calling me hot, gorgeous, stunning, etc.

Desired School I was in my senior year and happened to tour a prestigous fashion school. Even though it was hella expensive and not everyone could get it in, I wanted to go to school there just for status lmao. I persisted and got accepted! Now, if only I could've manifested my parents to not force me to go to college...

Desired Sister I used to bitch and complain about how my sister is irresponsible, inconsiderate, and rude all the gotdamn time. But I learned EIYPO and I stopped. Whenever she pissed me off, I didn't react the way I usually would, I would leave it alone and maybe affirmed in my favor at times. Then her whole demeanor changed, she more kind, caring, and dependable and we don't fight anymore. She still be getting on my nerves sometimes tho.

My old friend to reach out This one was a doozy. So I was bored at 2am and watched a Youtube video about the 369 method. I decided to try it and chose a friend I haven't spoken to in a year because of a bad falling out. I kinda missed her so I used her for the method and went to bed right after. I get up a few hours later for work and I check my ig and she dm'ed me exactly what I wrote! I thought I was in a twilight zone, I couldn't believe I manifested it so fast!

My “perfect” partner I wrote a long ass list of things I wanted in a partner. But here's the thing, I admired my sister's relationship with her bf because they were so in love. So when I finaly met and started dating my bf, he checked off almost everything on my list AND the qualities of my sister's bf, the good... and the bad, which is why he's my ex now lmfao.

My dream car Way before it was time for me to get a car of my own, I always wanted a Jeep wrangler. Anytime I would see it on the road, I would claim it as my car, I would tell people it's my dream car, and I had it on my vision board. I even went to a dealership to test drive one, it was so fun! I also visualized myself driving it. When it was time to find one, I did get scared I wasn't going to find one I liked at a good price but I persisted and now I have one!

[alpaca-clouds]

We kinda look at history wrong

(And school is to blame.)

Building a bit on the historical apocalypse post I wrote. I think, we really make a big mistake in the way we look at history. And that big mistake is looking at the history in defined epoches. Like: 500-1500 in Europe was the middle ages. Ancient Rome lasted from 600BC till 500AD. And Ancient Egypt lasted from 4000 BC till around 300 BC. Stuff like that.

Why do I think this is a mistake? Well, basically because it groups things into "one thing" that are not "one thing".

Do you remember when Assassin's Creed Origin came out? All the Egyptologists would keep telling the people that in fact the pyramids have been build longer ago from the main character's perspective, then the fictional story in the game lay before our current perspective. The Egypt of the game very much is not the Egypt those pyramids were build in. Because literal thousands of years of time had passed in between. The culture developed and changed in between. Ancient Egypt is not one monolith, but like... I honestly do not have the words for it.

Certainly. Technology had not shifted as massively, as it did in those last 100 years from our perspective. But it had shifted a lot. It is to assume that language, too, has shifted a ton in between, even though it is hard for us to know how much. Because we have obviously no audio recordings. We know that the writing system changed a lot. But until someone invents a time machine...

This is as bad with the "middle ages". For several reasons. For one: Those were 1000 years. A lot of stuff happened and changed during those 1000 years. But also: When people say "middle ages" they tend to mean "Europe in the 1000 years between 500 and 1500 AD". At least that is what they think they mean. But what they tend to actually talk about it "England, France and Germany in that time", mostly because a lot of the mainstream research focuses on those areas, but also because we just happen to have more written records from those areas surviving till this day.

But I guarantee you: While technology wise the peasant in 11th century England might not have lived so very different from the peasant in 11th century Wallachia... Culturally they had a very different experience. And that is something that gets lost a lot.

And it really gets us in a ton of problems, when we speak about history. Especially when it comes to certain nerds, that are awfully obsessed with masculinity and whiteness, discussing those eras. Because they tend to often pick and choose something that fits their narrative and that happened somewhere in the 15th century and then just project it out onto the entire medieval period, ignoring any and all sources that actually show things were different at other places and times during the period.

One of my favorite less political things that are brought up again and again is the misconception of "medieval people did not bathe". Which is just plain wrong. Medieval Europe had in fact a very elaborate bathing culture with bath houses, that kept the water heated - at times still using technologies that had survived from Roman times. But... when the plague came again and again, people realized that those, who frequented the bath houses were more likely to catch the plague. And because they did not understand bacteria and such, they assumed that it had something to do with the bathing. So bit by bit in the late medieval period bath houses fell out of fashion and people instead washed at home - often with a cloth. Which did not make them unclean. Just not bathed.

And all of that is without going into the entire idea of history somehow being linear... Which I think I will save for another time.

What I want to say, though, is... A lot happens within 1000 years. And while there are certain reasons that history is grouped into those epoches for study, teaching it just straight like that kinda does the whole topic no justice. Folks need to understand that those epoches are just convenient ways to group history together - but that within those epoches a lot happened and changed.

[modeus-the-misanthrope]

Kinda wanna make an expanded version of my Elden Ring boss idea. Original place the idea is at this link.

The idea I have for this bossfight and it's mechanics are heavily inspired by the Fume Knight Raime fight in DS2. The bossfight arena is in an area of Leyndell that you previously couldn't access. The boss shares design elements of the four armed puppet enemies and Crucible Knights. The Crucible training dummy was originally just that. A training dummy fashioned to help keep the Crucible knights who worked under Godfrey in peak condition. Now it sits in an abandoned and ruined training arena, alone.

The player will find two helmets in Leyndell that previously weren't in game. These are specifically worn by the Crucible knights to help the Crucible training dummy know which fighting style they wanted to train against. Fast and rapid unarmed strikes. Or slow but hard hitting staff swings. The animations for both intentionally resemble Hoarah Loux and Godfrey respectively. Entering the arena without either helmet equipped will cause the Crucible training dummy to periodically switch between the two styles. At 30% health the Crucible training dummy will retreat to it's self repair station, with a large chasm seperating it from the rest of the arena. If the Crucible training dummy drinks its repair fluid, it will gain an aura around it that damages the player slowly. This is due to the Crucible Training Dummy and the repair fluid having degraded over time.

If the repair fluid has been sabatoged by the player outside of the bossfight, then instead the Crucible training dummy will stand there perplexed for several moments. Allowing the player to either do a ranged/magic/charged heavy attack that will have a 300% damage multiplier added to it. Or the player can allowe the Crucible Training Dummy to finish animation and learn a gesture that matches it. This gesture closely resembles the one the player does when trying to heal without any crimson flasks and can be cancled at any point with a dodge, block, or attack. But being hit while the animation is active will make the player take 50% more damage.

Defeating the Crucible Training Dummy will give the player a new Crystal tear for their Physick Flask, specifically it's effect will mimic the damaging aura that the repair fluid would have given the boss for 20 seconds. In the area's where the boss fight arena was acting as a barrier to enter, ther will be an armory for the Crucible knights. A Collosal weapon category Hammer (crucible knight themed) and a light set of Crucible Knight armor will be in a chest.

[timkonshipper]

random ash 101

ash won a league pretty early on in his journey, kinda sucks its not that big of a deal tho. so what if it was? just the beginning of a random au where being the orange island champion comes with more responsibilites and recognition. if anyone feels inspire to continue, please do!

He won. 

Dragonite had put up a great fight, but in the end, his buddy had triumphed. 

Drake had looked shocked at first. But the look soon turned into one of pride and amazement. He recalled dragonite and approached Ash. 

“Congratulations Ash! If you follow me, you’ll find that we have a lot to discuss.”

Waving to his friends, he said “Go on guys, I’ll catch up with you later.”

He waited until Pikachu had hopped onto his shoulder before beginning to follow the supreme leader of the orange archipelago. 

Drake led him into his office where he took his seat behind the desk and gestured for Ash to sit on the one in front of it. 

The atmosphere felt so serious that Ash was filled with an overwhelming need to break it. “So what’s up, this seems very ominous if you know what I mean. He.” Pikachu added in an agreeable “pika”.

Drake chuckled before saying “Oh don’t worry. I’ve been told that I can be a little dramatic at times. Again, congratulations on your win. You could probably tell I was shocked earlier.”

“Yeah, I could see that, but how come? Tracey told me a bunch of trainers beat the challenge every year.”

“Yes, but you see Ash, we are considered the oldest league in existence. It's been around for almost 300 years. That's why this league might have seemed a bit different from the other leagues that you know. As an effort to integrate it with the other leagues, we joined the international league union a few years back. So, we increased the difficulty level by quite a lot as well.”

Taking a sip of water from the bottle on his desk, he continued “This is why no one has been able to complete the league recently. That is, except you. The rest of the crew and I agreed that whoever was the first to defeat all of us would become the next archipelago champion. So ash, do you accept the position?”

Ash was shocked speechless. Him a champion? Wow. Pikachu was in a similar daze. He had just won his best friend a championship. Remembering that Drake had asked him a question, he shook himself out of his stupor and answered with a wide grin on his face “What and all does being the champion entail exactly?”

“You keep surprising me Ash. It's nice to know that you want to know what exactly you would be responsible for instead of just agreeing right off the bat.  Answering your question, I suppose you would help in the day to day running of the archipelago and representing us internationally. I will still handle the other trainers as the supreme gym leader, but if they manage to defeat me, then you must battle them to defend your champion title. It also would be a big help if you assisted me with the paperwork. Arceus knows why there’s so much for a place so small. Like all the other champions, you’d always receive a monthly salary”

“It sounds like a big responsibility, but I’d be down for all of that. I accept the position Drake!”

“Great, now if you and Pikachu could follow me to the victory hall, I’ll record you as the new champion.”

“You hear that buddy? We’re champions now!” Ash told his starter enthusiastically. Pikachu replied in a similar fashion with a happy “Pikaa pikachu”

“Oh and before I forget, here’s an official league phone for you. It has all the basic necessities and works as any other phone does. There’s also a messaging app in there with a group chat for all the champions. I’ll alert them soon about you. When you get back to the pokemon centre, just introduce yourself in the chat, alright?”

“Woah. The other champions are all in the chat? And I’m gonna join as well? So cool!” Ash practically had stars in his eyes.”

‘Ah, the joy of being young’ thought Drake. 

**

Only after the shock had worn off did the exhaustion set in. By the time they had made it back to the pokemon centre, all he could do was faceplant onto his bed and sleep. Pikachu was the same case. 

The sunlight seeping in through the window woke him up. Groggily, he glanced at the clock on the wall only to startle awake when he realised it was already 1. His stomach rumbled soon after. He quickly put on some actual clothes and scooped Pikachu up. 

Making his way down to the lobby, he quickly spotted Misty and Tracey by the window. He made his way over to them. Tracey spotted him before Misty did, waving him over with a “Ash, good to see you're awake. When you came in last night you muttered what I can’t even guess it was before flopping over and sleeping like a log. I thought it was better if I didn’t wake you.”

Ash sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and replied “Heh yeah. I suppose we were way more tired than we realised.”

Misty fondly shook her head. A curious expression appeared on her face. “Hey Ash, what did Drake talk with you about?”

“Oh man. It was so awesome. Guess what? I’m the new orange island champion now! Apparently they made the challenge harder in recent years so they could integrate the league with the international circuit. I’m the first person who beat Drake after the change was made, so there you have it.”

“Huh, who would’ve thought? Brock’d love to hear this. However it was Pikachu who did all the work of course, didn’t you!” Misty exclaimed. She grabbed pikachu from Ash and smothered him with praise and cuddles.

Both Ash and Tracey sweatdropped, the latter shook it off before saying “That's awesome Ash. It's kinda cool to think that you’re a champion now. And of my home region to boot.”

“Thanks Tracey! It was a big shock at first but now I’m just so psyched. Oh before I forget, Drake said to send a message to the champions chat last night. Obviously I slept before I could do that.”

“The champions? As in all the other champions. Wow that's so cool! What do you think they’re like?”

“I suppose there’s only one way to find out,” replied Ash. 

Misty stopped pampering Pikachu before sounding out a quick “Just don’t say something stupid.”

Ash ignored her before clicking onto the chatroom with Tracey looking over his shoulder. 217 notifications huh. Looks like he’d have a lot of scrolling to do. 

Champions showdown.

LostInTheWoods: Yay we’re getting a new champion! And one so close to my age. It's been boring with only you seniors to talk to. 

Tweety: Calm down pipsqueak, don’t bombard him when he gets here. 

LostInTheWoods: SpEakIng of, when’s he gonna get here?

SugarYay: Sweetie, did you not listen to anything Drake said right after he announced the new champ?

LostInTheWoods: Hehe, maybe?

[imasallstars]

PRODUCE EPISODE UPDATE

A new PRODUCE EPISODE has been added. One Song, Stage for Two is the next chapter for SHHis. Added at the same time is their PANOR@MA WING song Fashionable

In celebration, various missions will now be available, rewarding various items as well as a ★2 Nichika Nanakusa. The missions are as follows:

MISSIONS

Clear SHHis Chapter 2 on EASY/NORMAL/HARD

Clear 1/3/5/7/10/15/20/30/40/50 PRODUCE RUNS

Make a C/B/A/S/SS Rank Fes Idol for SHHis

Make a SHHis Fes Unit with more than 2000/2500/3000 stat in VOCAL/DANCE VISUAL

Clear 10/20/30 LESSONS in PRODUCE MODE (SP Lesson does not count)

Use 10/20/30/50/70/100/120/150/200/250/300/350/400 STAMINA

Use 10/20/30/50 LIVE BOOSTS

Play Fashionable (Auto/Skip okay)

Clear Fashionable (normal play only)

Achieve a FULL COMBO on Fashionable(normal play only)

Clear Fashionable with a SCORE RANK of C/B/A/S (normal play only)

Train a SUPPORT CARD until LEVEL 20/30

Achieve MASTER TRAINING with a Support Card 1 TIME

AWAKEN a Produce card 1/3 times

LIMIT BREAK a PRODUCE IDOL 1 time

LEVEL UP a PRODUCE IDOL’s SKILL 1/3 times

LIMIT BREAK the ★2 NICHIKA until ★3/★5

The missions are available until May 20th 20:59 JST!

[fraudulent-cheese]

So i watched the first half of ROTI! i don't have many thoughts honestly?

I don't care for Staci, i'll be honest. Her gimmick is repetitive and im glad she got booted first if this was the only thing the writters were gonna do with her. It would be funny if there was a grain of truth to her claims tho.

Dakota's pretty fun and i like the added focus on the interns this season, because let's be honest outside of one "haha the interns keep dying" joke in both TDI and TDWT there isn't much i belive? So yeah

also samkota's cute, idk what to say? God i wish the writters explored Dakota's character before the whole mutation thing.

Honestly all the ROTI girls are great, wish they got more than arcs about which boy they wanted to kiss because MAN ANNE MARIA AND JO ARE GREAT, Jo especially, she's currently my fav of the season. I wish they did more with both of them man!!! I don't like the jabs made about her appearence but i find them fine from Anne Maria specifically? Like yeah she would do that! I wish the girls were fighting for longer!

Dawn's one of the better characters but i wish her conflict with Scott lasted longer than one episode. Same with her friendship with B! What is it with Total Drama and throwing away interesting rivalries the episode they start at?!

B's fine i'll be real. I like how they don't actually make him speak! Other contestants do make jabs about it but like, they're teenagers, and one of them is from Scott and he's kinda shitty so it works lol

SPEAKING OF! Scott's pretty fun! He's not the best antagonist ever but he's fun to watch and that's enough for me rn. He's pathetic and shitty it's great

Team man is also fun, i like Brick especially. Don't like the frequency of the pissing himself jokes tho. Like, i get it! he's a military boy who likes fashion and pisses himself! Do something else!

I don't care for Cameron i'll be real. Neither for Zoey, i wish her flaws were explored more because dang she's judgy in episode 5!

I guess i'll talk about Mike here too? I think he's ok, but man i wish his alters were treated more like people. I don't mean the other contestants, i mean by the show. Svetlana's great for the small amount she's on screen for, and I like Chester and Vito more than i thought i would! Please show explore them a little more! (and, well, to state the obvious, don't call it mpd why did it call it mpd it wasn't even the actual term for it when the show was being written)

My least favorite part is the love triangle tho. It's suffering from a critical case of "Warrior's miscommunication": a miscommunication plotline that could be solved in a single conversation, but the characters involved don't tell anyone because we need to stretch this book to 300 pages! or in this case, the plotline to last the whole season!

I get Mike not wanting to tell Zoey because his whole thing is not wanting to tell people, and Vito not telling Anne Maria because he's fucking dumb and considering his relationship with Anne Maria wasn't in a position where he needed to disclose it, but LIKE!!! COME ON MAN!!! this could be solved so easily and they just,,, didn't. Also why can't Vito still date Anne Maria at the end he's his own person!

i'll be real i think i like the idea that Anne Maria and Vito are still friends they just make-out too, mostly because that's all they really do in the show (and also i like Jomaria more)

OK ENOUGH ABOUT THE SYSTEM MORE ABOUT THE LAST CONTESTANT

I don't care for Lightning oops. He's funny sometimes. The "Jo is a guy" jokes get old quick tho.

THAT'S IT ON CONTESTANT THOUGHTS SO FAR!

The challenges are fine? I think a couple are pretty good (the treasure hunt for instance) but a couple are less good? (the Obstacle Course is eh, i don't really care about the mine one) but honestly i wish they just executed a couple better. Like the Embarrasing questions, climbing the mountain, hell even the relay-race could've honestly been wayyy better than they actually were! At least they're camp related!

But yeah so far ROTI's pretty good, 6/10 with 8/10 characters.

[romanticfatale]

hi! i don’t usually send asks but i have to say that i LOVE your fashion/style so much. i’m also a goth transman with long hair so it’s really nice to feel represented with your posts! also if you’re ok with sharing,where do you get your clothes from mostly? or do you make them? i find it really hard to find gothic/alt clothing that’s more masculine so anything helps!

Thanks!

A combination of things. Thrift stores, eBay, Poshmark, Macy’s, a few pieces from taobao Lolita shops, and I tailor some my clothes to fit better.

I try to buy non-US shoe sizes since my shoe size is more common overseas for men or unisex unless I look at boy’s shoes. Women��s shoes in the US are sadly inferior quality much of the time.

My style heavily leans towards aristocratic and corporate goth. With that in mind:

Tommy Hillfiger, Ted Baker, Bar III, Nick Graham, Robert Graham, and Paul Jones have some of my favorite trousers, dress shirts, and waistcoats. They’re not brands you look to for alt or goth, but my black lace trousers, floral dress shirts, print vests and sports coats, and many other favorite pieces come from them. Styling right is part of the effort. They have fun pieces if you wade through 30 pages of bland-and-average menswear.

Buy winter clothes in the summer. Buy summer clothes in the winter. I’ve bought $300+ stuff marked down to $30~$50 because they’re “out of season” or low on stock.

Ross and thrift for some interesting but cheap items. I sadly passed up a studded long sleeve fish net shirt last week.

International Lolita shops like LolitaWardrobe and My-Lolita-Dress for blouses, coats, hats. Lolita, Aristocrat, and Ouji are luxury fashion so they are more expensive. I dislike Lolita trousers, honestly just buy actual men’s trousers from known menswear stores.

alice auaa, Madaraningen, Milkboy, and Lad Musician are some nice brands with unique items. They’re also expensive however, but even getting ideas from them is helpful to recreate. Lad Musicusn inspired me into more masculine florals.

eBay and local thrift for unique vintage jewelry. Vintage coats and accessories go a long way to style a contemporary outfit.

60s and 70s had more frills on men’s clothes. Women’s 70s~80s tops and coats have shoulder padding and were made to look more masculine.

Prints, patterns, and textures are great. Straight bright red on black can be jarring if not look costumey so corduroy, houndstooth, or herringbone can tone it down while still looking either alt or professional (or both).

Multi purpose wardrobe pieces. A herringbone red vest can be alt or job interview depending on how it’s accessorized.

Be specific. Don’t just look for “goth rings” look for “anatomical heart ring with dagger” or “spider with eyeball body” or whatever your idea will be. Someone somewhere Will have it, give or take price. This also helps you look more unique. Everyone and their goth mothers have the same dagger earrings by now because every Etsy and eBay jeweler uses the same charms from the same retailers.

If you Don’t want to spend a lot of money, learning tools of trade for cheap helps. Use sandpaper to distress clothes, learn embroidery, braid scrap cloth. Bed sheets and curtains are a good source of cheap swaths of fabric. I used scraps from tailored leather trousers to make a braided hat band. My other trouser trimmings I made into masks. Cut holes into a shirt in a spider web pattern. Cut off the sleeves of a shirt and reattach them with a zipper. Creative endeavors add a unique touch.

I’ve had the luxury of a brief stint at a couple well paid jobs, ten ish years to build up my wardrobe, and another 3 ish years to get explicitly masc pieces so don’t feel like you have to rush right now. Focus on adding to your current wardrobe. If you ever think “this would look better if I had red shoes” save for the red shoes. It adds up over the years.