#my original thought for the theme was goth girl summer

[threedotmark]

Got another Ms Fortune commission from the awesome Riddel_Rx

[spectralscathath]

May you explain the thought process behind all of Scorpion Faunus RWBY AU designs if you please?

Absolutely, buckle in. I'm a bit of a chatterbox, so I hope you don't mind long responses.

Let's start with Miss Scorpion Faunus herself. Now, Ruby has two versions of her design, one with her hood and one without, so I'm gonna pop them both beside each other just to contrast them.

Starting with Ruby's Vale/Beacon outfit, originally I hadn't changed it all that much from her original look, but then looking at it beside her other designs it looked a bit dull, so I revamped her to have a white top under the corset-vest and what my friend dubbed 'Miku Sleeves'. I'm honestly a lot happier with how it turned out.

Breaking it down, my main focus was to try and bring in some extra red into Ruby's look. I've always felt that without her cloak, her first look was really plain, with all the red on her dress being dark and her tights being black meaning she didn't have much of her colour. I made her tights redder and changed her corset design to be more similar to her later look, with a long stripe of central red, and some brighter accents all around.

Her white sleeves and the collar decoration are tied off with darker red, and I mostly kept them because they looked both cute and kinda fairytale-ish, but the main thing I wanted to do with this design was bring in the star theme that I want Ruby to have. The scorpio constellation decorated the sides of her corset, the two buttons on her white vest are star shapes, and her cloak has a small clasp that has another star on it. I axed the crosses she had in her show look, no hate to Qrow but I just never liked them on Ruby, and overall I think she looks cute.

I really like her Mistral look here. First major change is that her top is now a light grey instead of white. This will start a trend. Second major change is obvious, while in Vale Ruby is devoted to hiding her tail under her skirt, in Mistral she starts to wear it out a little more. Thirdly, I liked the idea from her show concept of battle damage, with the ragged cloak and the nicks on her red tights.

The main idea with Ruby's Mistral outfit here is that it carries elements of the people who were lost or impacted in the Fall of Beacon. The black neckpiece is taken from a cute piece of concept art and also references Penny, similar to the slits on her skirt. The trim at the top of her boots slightly references Nora's shoe style, and the puffier sleeves with a black cuff is a clear reference to Yang's own Beacon outfit. She also has changed her emblem to sit on her cloak, which is how Summer wears it in Antares as well.

Her hair's a bit messier, a little longer, and finally we can properly see that she has Tyrian's nose, which is one of my fav dumb details because it helps me slightly avoid same face syndrome (my enemy). There's a few extra belts, because belts on kickass goth boots Do Not Count as unnecessary, they're part of the style, and her gloves are way thicker and a bit more practical. I was able to bring in a darker red into this outfit, which ends up helping break up the black and red in a nice way without being too out of her colour scheme.

And yes: she has two star clasps on her neckpiece and the scorpio constellation on her skirt. Little star girl, falling fast.

The Atlas outfit is where we start getting the signs of story progression beyond just Ruby's outfit. Her tail is thicker due to a moult she undergoes in Mistral, her face is scarred from SpoilerSpoilerSpoiler, and her hair is beginning to turn silver-white due to overusing her silver eyes. It also has a little braid in it (can't be a scorpion faunus without braids), and has gotten to its most fluffi and messy it'll be here.

The big goals with this outfit were two-fold: make it look warm, and reference Tyrian (though in-universe it's subconscious on Ruby's part). The skirt has been officially switched out for a set of overalls, the belts on her waist are an exact replica of Tyrian's in Ruby's palette (she starts wrapping her tail around her waist as a fake belt, similar to him), and I snagged the undershirt and cuffs from her Mistral outfit and made it a darker grey again from her Mistral outfit. Her cloak has also become even more tattered, I wasn't a fan of her getting a new cloak in Atlas.

The other main things in this outfit that are different is the addition of the metal caps on her boots, which helps keep the silver travelling through Ruby's outfit as she becomes more in-tune with her SEW heritage. The scorpio constellation is again on her cuffs, she has some dark red gloves to stay warm, and while she has three stars on her overalls, between the belts, the star pattern is mainly on her shawl.

Speaking of the shawl, it's fur lined to bring in a little bit of white, and once again, a reference to Tyrian's overcoat. It is also where her emblem is now located, on the back, as at this point Ruby's having some struggles with the concept of 'identity', poor thing.

I'm a little biased but I still think her Vacuo look is my personal favourite out of these four. The hood is gone entirely, replaced by what I happen to think is an Adorable Poncho, and there is also the matter of the eyepatch. Due to SpoilerSpoilerSpoiler. But it has her emblem on it, very very faintly.

The rest of the Vacuo outfit is almost a reference to her Vale outfit more than anything else. We've nixed the darker red for a simpler colour palette, and her hair is messily cut short again, and a lot more silver. She still has a slight reference to Tyrian in the collar style of her undershirt, which is the darkest grey that she gets. She has cute lil lace edges on the sleeves tho.

The tights have also officially switched from red to grey, and while we haven't returned to the skirt, instead going for shorts-overalls, she does have a little overskirt patterned with scars that keeps her tail warm during the cold desert nights. The elbow cover adds a little funky assymmetry, very important in a rwby design, and the keen-eyed will notice the big departure in this from the other designs, the lack of bullets on her belt. It'll all make sense in context.

Finally, we've moved the scorpio constellation to her boots, nixed the goth belt on said boots, and kept the metal toecap from her Atlas outfit. Honestly there's not as much to say about this outfit, it's a bit simpler than the others, and there's less red in order to balance out Poncho Era, but I just think it's real cute, she's real precious.

Onto Weiss!!

Weiss was, no joke, a goddamn headache and a half. I find it really hard to understand her exact 'style' of fashion. But here she is and I'm happy with her anyway. The first main things that one might notice is that she has a much larger scar then the thin one from the show. That would be because A. Scars are Cool, and B. her scar is from blunt force trauma over her orbital socket, and the cut is from the skin splitting right over the bone. Which is supposedly what happened in the show but whatever. Bigger Cooler Scar.

The other main things are thricefold: she has the beauty mark from her original concept, she has freckles all over if you look close, a really pointy nose to look down on people with, and she has the Snow White 'lips red as blood'. If anyone would wear lipstick into battle its Weiss.

Her Vale outfit honestly isn't that different from her show look because it was overall solid if very bright. Mostly I just added extra details to make her look richer, such as all the little metal diamonds on her dress and sleeves, and decorating her boots and dress, and adjusted the colouring a bit so it wasn't all Bright White (see also: the black heels on her boots and the black sash, just to break up the colours). I did change up some of her accessories, like making her apple necklace have a red jewel, adding a cute choker, black diamond earrings, and red nail polish.

The other main thing was her hair. I decided to borrow the idea from the amazing AZRE au that Weiss started with her ponytail being straight instead of assymetrical, to show how she's still under Jacques's control, and I'll be entirely honest I kinda stole her headpiece from Amity's grown-up look in Owl House because it looked real cute and princessy. Her emblem is also located on the back of her bolero, and you don't see it in any of these designs, but its canon now that the underside of her boots, like the sole part, is red.

I based her Mistral Look mostly off her Snowpea look, except instead of making it a whole dress I decided to make it a jacket she wore over a dress. The dress is probably more like her Mistral outfit, you can see a bit of it peeking out, and I just adore the idea of Weiss wearing sweetheart bodices when she is flat as a board (I say this lovingly, and with respect). It's not visible here, but her dress is actually trimmed with sapphires that match her earrings, and the same with the gloves that you also can't see much of here but are very cute opera gloves. I try to keep Layers in mind when it comes to outfit design, usually.

The other big thing from Snowpea is that I gave her the thigh high boots, just to really look a bit different from the other outfits she has. She has a red scarf because I liked the idea in the show but not the execution, and I moved the idea of the white trim pattern of the scarf onto the black sash, just to help with breaking up the designs. Her jacket is designed to look vaguely business and vaguely military, since her Mistral arc has her very torn between her identities as Jacques's Heiress and being a Huntress like Winter.

I didn't mention it prior, but one thing I wanted to do for all the designs for the girls was to have some repeating elements throughout to tie all the designs together. Ruby has her stars, the belt, and the general boot design, Weiss has her jewellery, the triple diamond pattern seen on her skirt here, and transparent fabric, which is something that becomes more prominent across her designs as she grows into her own.

Also, we finally have the assymetrical ponytail, and the cute hairpiece from the show. She also has a slight change in her hairstyle from the show with the lil sidebangs, because if her hair was down I wanted it to reference the 'hime cut' a bit. And her emblems are on her shoulders here, just to add a lil extra spice to the jacket.

I truly do love Pixie Cut Weiss, I think it's still super feminine and cute and also she should have been the one to cut her hair, not Blake. I'll die on this hill. Anyway, Atlas look. I wanted to go full Magic Knight here, adding in pieces of armour (the shoulderpiece has her emblem), the transparent overskirt, the whole shebang.

Some of the major changes here is that Weiss's tights are darker, as in thicker material, and she has a similar thicker undershirt below her dress and jacket. Again, same with Ruby, I wanted to make a look that actually appeared warm, and I didn't want to go the route of the show where they made her look cluttered and also freezing and also just Not Good. I decided to keep the red gem accents, but instead of having them on a hairpiece they're meant to be on her bodice (again, thinking in layers), and her boots.

The other thing I really wanted with this was to have her both reference Winter, with the white jacket tucked into the black gloves, and be the most 'militaristic' of her outfits, what with the actual belt, and the epaulette. In Atlas, Weiss is almost a go-between with her team and the Atlas Military, after all her training with FANCI, the Ace Ops, and Winter, and has a lot of trust in them.

The scar on her neck is gonna make sense in the story. If anyone can figure out how it references Snow White, I'll give you an internet cookie.

We have reached Vacuo, and Weiss's Military Look is gone and her Rich Princess Look is toned down in favoour of what my friend dubbed 'punk ballerina'. Which is very fitting because this is the part of the story where Weiss takes the final step in a long journey towards anti-capitalism. In order to take out some of the princessy vibes, Weiss no longer has high boots, she instead has ankle boots that vaguely look like laceless converse, she has short fingerless gloves instead of something more operatic, and we've gotten rid of the jackets for a see-through top over a shoulderless look.

I think her dress here is pretty cute. I decided to do a sort of corset style that reminds me of the old-school disney princesses, and she still ahs a few metal diamonds scattered around, it's her thing. The observant may notice that all Weiss's buttons are diamond-shaped throughout her outfits, which was harder to detail then I first thought!

The skirt is meant to be more of a sundress style rather then something full of petticoats, and the red mesh under the dress was my way of trying to keep the pattern of 'red focused around Weiss's neck'. It also helps a bit with the more punkish look, which is aided by the pixie cut, which has grown out slightly. The white stockings are also just there as something of a sun/sand protection, and also because I wanted to really bring the colour back hard for Vacuo.

To Blake!

Observant people might notice that Blake has melanin here. I would be disqualified from Certain Redesign Contests for such a deviation from canon. What a shame.

But anyway, most of the Beacon looks really were solid outfits, as seen by how they're the ones that get press in everything rwby does outside of rwby 90% of the time. I honestly didn't have to change much. Mainly just doing a few small tweaks here and there. I changed her shorts to lose the excess zippers and added one of those like useless button straps that don't actually do anything but look cute, and here we see that I made all of Blake's buttons look like lil moons. Just for flair.

I gave her a purple belt and changed the tone of the purple in general, since I prefer Blake with bluer purples/indigos to Yang's more lilac purple when it shows up. She has the purple soles, but not heels, one thing I wanted to do with all these designs was make sure that the shoes could all look similar but different, give them all something specific to them.

The other big thing I did was I took her glove away and replaced it with two shorter gloves, one of which has her emblem rather than it being on her leggings, and the other of which has fishnets on it, because Blake Shops At Hot Topic and Listens to Evanescence you cannot tell me otherwise. The little white straps on her top were just, again, a bit of visual flair, and a way to keep some white travelling through her design without making her upper arms empty with nothing to look at.

Also you can't see it at this angle but she has a crescent moon nose piercing throughout all of her looks, even in Beacon, and she has black nail polish. I like to think she, Weiss, and Yang all did manicure sessions together in Beacon.

Her Mistral look is already a departure from canon, though I kept the thigh high boots and the idea for the cutouts on her top, even if I made her crop top white. You can't see it here that well because Blake is also wearing a sleeveless croptop jacket over a sleeveless croptop. It's fashion.

I gave her the glove from her show Beacon design here instead, for the assymmetry, and she has a bandanna tied around her right bicep with a moon pattern to kind of mirror the metal band on the glove. The big thing I wanted was to put her in a low ponytail, because that meant I could keep her bow motif while still showing off her ears. When she wants to cover them she has a beanie, because beanies are cute.

The zip for her zipper is, again, a crsecent moon, and she has a moon phases pattern along the tops of her boots. I gave her kneepads because Mistral Blake is ready to scrap and it matched with the metal band on the glove, and popped her emblem on her hoodie in a similar way to her vol2 outfit. Also similar to her vol2 outfit, I added those adidas tracksuit lines but in purple on her trousers. I liked this one a lot. It had the stuff I liked from the show Mistral one but without completely drowning her in not her colours.

This one gave me trouble, I went through so many sketches before I decided on this, but I think I'm happy with it overall. As a lil sneaky on this I made her jacket clasps the Bi Double Moon, which can also be seen on the metal tops of her boots. I had a sort of idea for stripes for her pattern here, just to look cohesive and also distinctive. She has the white to black gradient on her trousers, which are meant to be thicker and warmer. I wanted to always make sure she had white on her upper legs, just for the follow-through.

The bow for her ponytail is also white here in Atlas, and it's not on this look but she has a new beanie with white trim and one of those fluffy pom-pom thingies. The belt has her moon phases design that I introduced in the Mistral design, and her jacket was just me playing around until I had something I liked that kept her colour and had just the slightest hint of a suit jacket or waistcoat or something, in the shape and the white cuffs, mostly.

Her emblem is on a neckerchief that she can pull up over her nose to stay warm, and she's gotten two silver piercings in her right ear as a homage to her mom's gold piercings. Also, the notch in her left ear? She gets it from a fight, but she also comes out winning, and if anyone can guess why 'A V-shaped Notch' and where I got the reference from, another internet cookie and also my apologies, possibly.

I love Blake's Vacuo design, I shouldn't be biased but I am and I love it. I wanted her to have pirate boots, where I moved her bows to because she's dropped the ponytail, but my biggest wish for this look was 'that goth bitch at a rock concert who's about to scrap'. Everyone is punk in Vacuo, apparently.

She's wearing torn fishnets in the desert because she's hardcore like that, I gave her assymetrical gloves, one of which has like, a studded band purely for the 'about to dropkick someone in the moshpit' look, and a single-shoulder croptop that has her moon phases pattern. The more I look at her top the more I realise I may have been thinking of Amethyst from Steven Universe but Amethyst's designs all rocked so that's not a bad thing.

She still has the double bi moon on her pirate boots, right at the end of the bits that flop over (I don't know terminology), and finally she has her emblem on her legs, on her high-waisted shorts that are based off a pair I had as a teenager but in black.

And the jacket. Yes. Okay, I know: holographic fabric in the desert? Well the desert can be cold at night so she'll be warm then and also: she can blind her enemies with it. I just really like the shape and style of it, and I think it really distincts from her other looks. It was also really fun to draw, and I'm allowed to keep one darling alive as a present to myself.

Onto the fourth and final teammate, Yang!

Well first of all, her new Vale look is pretty much just 60% of vol2 outfit with a few minor tweaks. i turned the black miniskirt under the cream miniskirt into a pair of short-shorts because she deserves it, I took her emblem off the sparkly purple sash so she could keep it on her stockings.

The top is a mix of her original outfit in her new colour scheme of black, white, cream, and yellow, but I changed up her sleeves to be white for the poofy-fairytale-goldilocks appearance. I also turned all her buttons into rectangular clasps, and made the croptop under her jacket purple, to really bring the colour through the outfit. She and Blake are really close in Beacon, so having more purple in Yang's outfit, the bows on her boots, and the matching black scarfs was a fun way to show that for her.

One may also not that Yang's now got a bit of an updo going on. I wanted to incorporate just a few more Chinese influences into her design, though I will admit it is heavily stylised, and not very obvious in her Vale look. I also gave her a tan, just to really help bring out the colour palette a bit. And she has lilac nail polish because goddamnit she's allowed to be girly AND tough I hate the erasure of Yang's femininity just because this fndm can't wrap their lil heads around a wlw relationship that's not butch/femme when Yang isn't even butch in the show.

Anger aside. Part of what I wanted with this look was to make it seem, well, a little impractical. More fashion and form over function. Her boots have four belts each that need to be individually done up, her sash reaches her knees, that sort of thing. She can still fight in it, obviously, but she's in the fight for the thrill of things, because she's cool and knows it, and isn't really choosing to think deeper.

Her Mistral Look is meant to be very, very different from her Beacon look. She's axed the miniskirt and belt boots completely, she's wiped almost all traces of purple from her design, and she's got no bows. Yang in Mistral is almost running from everything in Vale, and especially anything that reminds her of Blake. She's trying to be a lot more practical here, her boots zip on, her qipao-influenced dress is short, cut high over the thighs, and out of the way of any kicks she might do, the sash wraps around the top of her boot and that's all, her hair's up in a ponytail.

The short jacket is pretty much the half of her vol2 look that didn't make it into her Vale look, and her yellow crop top under the qipao has her emblem, deliberately obscured and covered up a bit for symbolism. She has a black liner for her prosthetic here, and takes it on and off when she wants to. She didn't just put it on and never remove it, like in the show, here it's a bit more of an adjustment for her. Not as much to say about this outfit, it's simple but effective.

Yang's in a much better headspace from about Atlas onwards. She's more willing to combine fashion and function, she's finally started incorporating cute patterns into her style, and she has the cute hair bun covers that are purple and sparkly and adorable! She really starts coming into her own in Atlas, and I wanted to show that by having her settle into her motifs of fire and bears, as shown by the fire design on her jacket and the bear patterns. She has a trio of ursa skulls on a patch on her super fluffy jacket, and a set of bear pawprints on the edge of her qipao.

The boots have belts, though they're mostly decorative and the boots are actually zip on, and her emblem is still a bit hidden on her thigh. She's incorporating a lot more gold metal onto her shoes, following through from her Mistral look, and has a little golden band she can use to tie off the sleeve of her jacket when she's not wearing her prosthetic. Under the jacket, I like to think the sleeves are short before it cuts off just above the end of her right arm, and transitions into a full black glove on her left arm. She's switched the liner out for a bright yellow one, and she's just happier here. Someone has to be the sunshine in this team.

Similar to Blake, and Ruby, and possibly Weiss once I can look at her designs again, Yang's Vacuo outfit is my favourite of the four. She's got her hair up in cute buns for the bear ear ref, she's got cute ribbons that aren't bows because she and Blake have sorted stuff after Beacon but they're not codependent, and she's still got the purple sparkly fabric as her socks.

The main thing for Vacuo was to try and bring back some of the biker babe aesthetic, which I mostly did with the denim shorts that have that specific white fray thingy. She's got gold caps on the knuckles of her glove too, just for some extra fun. The emblem on her boots matches the metal inset of a fire pattern, and I brought back the bear idea with a paw on her sleeve. Maybe she has the ursa skulls patch on the other arm, I'm not sure yet, I'll need to decide if I want symmetry or not.

I simplified her arm from her show look, by trimming the amount of yellow into a few clear plates to cover the main workings. I never was sure how she managed to spray it perfectly enough on the finger grooves to not get paint everywhere.

Her necklace has turned into a clasp at her throat now, jsut to prevent it swinging around in combat, and the qipao is now at its longest, but still cut high over the sides so it's not impeding her movement. The pattern at the bottom is a fire pattern I found that also looked vaguely watery, which I think made it perfect, since she's kind of mixing the two into her mindset at this point, she's doing the kung fu panda thing, she's seeking inner peace. And she's looking great while she does it, she has a better colour scheme here.

And that's all of them!! All I have to say. I think. Thank you so much for this question, Nonnie, it was fun. I hope the quality of the images is at least half-decent, my tumblr fucks them all so I'll never be sure

[fitzrove]

Thank you for the video! A very astute analysis of the show’s change over the years, and how marketing played into it. As someone who has been seeing TdV on and off for fifteen years now (but mostly Hungarian-Viennese-Russian branch), it really did strike me when I saw it again after a long pandemic break a few days just how “predatory gay” trope the Herbert scene is. I guess the world was a bit different back when I was in my teens, and we were just happy to get *any* overt representation there, but that bit didn’t age well, and there sure seems to be little point to Herbert in the show at all.

That said, I always saw this as a complex story about hedonism and human nature without a protagonist, or, rather, letting the audience pick the protagonist, which is not always a bad thing. My main qualm with the show going against the theme of freedom is how passive Sarah is during the escape. For a girl who is more of less defined by agency, who manipulates so skillfully, she sure does not have much agency during the ballroom sequence. Her wants are so clear throughout (*translation dependent), but are completely absent in that moment.

Anyway, please do more videos. I am *very* curious to hear your thoughts on SE.

At the risk of going into a ramble...

When I was a youngish teenager, a group leader at a summer camp I went to sang Totale Finsternis and mentioned it was from a musical, which piqued my interest. I watched some clips from Youtube and they didn't really hold my interest at first, not at all... not before I came across what was probably this video. And then this one. And then this. I didn't speak any German at that point but I was so intrigued (as someone who loved musicals, was obsessed with fanfic and absolutely devastated at the lack of canon lgbtq rep in the types of historical/goth mainstream media I liked - it was 2016). So it's literally Wenn Liebe that originally got me into the show, even though my views on it have done a complete 180 after I grew up and started to look at what was actually going on ajfkkslf. I still think that some of the portrayals are a bit less... well, cruel - Máté Kamarás' Herbert is very earnest for the most part, which makes the portrayal feel more genuine, like the character is more than a parody, even just a little bit.

But it's still an uncomfortable scene and it's uncomfortable that the fandom reaction to it is so overwhelmingly positive even now 😅 Canon divergent fanfic is one thing (I definitely know the feeling of being so starved for lgbtq rep that you just rewrite the story to be able to have a ship), but a lot of people's takes even for the canon show amount to "he secretly likes it", which... 😭 My take still is that a lot of people ship it just to get Alfred out of the way of Krolock x Sarah. And that's annoying ahfkdk, where are the Alfred x Krolock x Sarah fics (Krolock isn't my favourite character but like, that has more canonical basis than alfbert lol)

I agree that Sarah just completely loses her agency for post-bite Tanzsaal, which is a somewhat odd choice! And I think a hedonism reading of the story is really interesting and checks out - in my video I mostly skipped over Chagal and Magda because it's a Can of Worms, but they definitely reinforce the idea that it's the central theme.

Thank you so much for the compliments and the ask!!! :D

Ajfkfk I must admit that I don't get what SE means in this context 😁😁 feel free to educate me in the notes!

[silverloreley]

Would you be interested in a story that involves the Auradon kids and their lives at Auradon prep? I might you as there will be disturbing themes like drugs, cyber bullying, attempted suicide etc...

Here's a draft:

Life at Auradon

Chapter one draft

Anxelin waited anxiously for the bell to go off, so that she can leave this godforsaken class called Grammar.

“Who on earth named this class Grammar?” the Goth girl thought.

Anxelin carefully took out her phone from her khaki pants pocket, and turned on the phone to check the time, under the desk of course.

The time reads: 10:55 A.M.

Anxelin groaned softly. “Just 5 minutes left to leave this class. Why can’t it be now?”

The school year just started and the Goth princess already hates it. She wished she had the power to disappear from this class and appear either in her dorm room or at the Enchanted Lake where she can be more at peace.

Anxellin took a look at her work that was laid on the desk in front of her; an essay of how this year’s summer went for everyone. In addition, the teacher said that the essay should be grammatically correct.

Bollocks.

To say Anxelin’s summer was bad would be an understatement. Over this past summer, Anxelin had to go back to summer school because she failed her physics exam in late May. Anxelin tried her best to explain herself to her parents that she studied and didn’t waste any time whatsoever. Also she never wanted to go summer school anyway but Rapunzel and Eugene insisted that she must go or else repeat her previous grade, to which Anxelin didn’t want but went anyways. She honestly had no idea how she failed and she studied hard for two weeks with her friends just to get a D on her exam result. Just perfect.

Anxelin quietly slid her phone back into her pants pocket before any nosy kid sees her with it because God forbid if someone saw Anxelin using her phone in class, they would report her and she would be sent to the Headmaster Godmother’s office. And Anxelin couldn’t bother to hear a long lecture about how you’re not supposed to use your phone during class, blah, blah, blah.

Geez, she only took out the phone because she wanted to check the time, as she forgot about her watch this morning due to rush. Give her a break.

Am I interested in what? Writing it? If I'll ever manage, I have in the works a full rewriting of the whole franchise which would respect the original movies that were crammed into Descendants in a rather incomprehensible way, their characters and how they’d realistically raise kids, but I have to finish a ton of other things first so I don’t know.

In reading it? Perhaps if I happened to be in the right headspace when I open one, but I'm very uncomfortable with themes like drugs and suicide when related to teens because of some events in my own teenage years, so I really don't like to relive such things or worse even in fiction, not to mention I usually find that a story on fairytale characters doesn’t really work well with such themes, not for me at least. Fairytales are already full of other issues and there’s more than enough material to work with.

Aside from that, which is my personal opinion, I encourage you to write whatever you want! You shouldn’t let your drive to write depend on the first arrived, you do you.

If you want my opinion on this bit you sent me, though, let me know. Mind you, I’m not soft when it comes to give writing advice and/or corrections (meaning I don’t sugarcoat it, which can come off as harsh), so if you don’t want criticism... well, not don’t ask me. Your pick.

[amphtaminedreams]

A/W 2020 Fashion Month: Before Vogue Went Blank

Hi to anyone reading,

I’m sorry this post is so late! I really have no excuse apart from all my mental energy being taken up by shooting and editing my Euphoria lookbook up until now and me being too much of a lazy, nap-loving twat to face the mammoth task of a fashion month review; honestly, by the time it’s done, it’s like a dissertation-level amount of characters, so let’s say the final push to get this out is in sympathy with all my 3rd year friends I started uni with finishing their ACTUAL dissertations.

Things have got scary since I originally started saving the photos for this post, and the world has been turned upside down. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the likes of which have not been seen since the Spanish Flu, Italian Vogue’s April cover was blank. As I’m writing this, 26,000+ people have died of coronavirus in Italy, the worst affected country behind the U.S in terms of sheer numbers ( though quick update: as I post this, I’m pretty sure our incompetent prick of a PM has made sure we’re up there too). Proportionally, the actual death rate is even higher, along with a handful of other European countries. There have been some complaints made about the cover and it’s supposed “lack of imagination”; all I know is that in a country whose death toll accounts for 10% of worldwide coronavirus deaths, something of a visual silence feels appropriate. 

That being said, for me, writing is one of the only things giving me a sense of purpose right now. Yeah, surprise surprise, working in a grocery store isn’t all that fulfilling. Who would’ve thought it? So what better time to reflect on a time when all the rich people of the world were going about their lives as usual and sitting front row at fashion week rather than crying on Instagram live to their millions of followers about how trapped they feel in their 10 bedroom mansions.

I’ve got to say, this year’s A/W offerings were a lot better than I expected, mostly due to the fact that I’m not generally a big fan of winter fashion; it’s hard to be disappointed given my preconceptions! There’s only so many knits and coats and jeans you can see before it begins to get a bit tiring, and I expected that to be reflected in the presentations. Fortunately, even the brands which are known for their bohemian, Coachella-esque collections generally managed to translate that into something recognisable and consistent on the runway whilst actually being weather appropriate. Of course, there were a few disappointments-I’m sure if I say one of them begins with D, you can guess which brand I’m talking about-but that was more than made up for by the standouts. Gucci in particular was my 2013 Tumblr wet dream and the Moschino show was what I can only describe as a live continuation of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, though I’ll stop with my praise there and wait til I get to actually reviewing before I go overboard with kissing Alessandro Michele’s ass. And on that note, in chronological order, I’ll get one with the reviews! First up, Acne:

Continuing on a winning streak when it comes to catering to my personal preferences (if someone tries to tell me designers don’t care about my personal preferences I’m going to whack out that “just found out the world doesn’t revolve around me, shocked and upset” Marina Diamandis tweet), Acne once again channels futuristic hippy commune living in a dystopian wasteland. I know, those are very specific personal preferences

I love the shredded hems and the burnt velvet, the rawness of it all, and the baroque/your-nan’s-wallpaper patterns are actually a surprisingly nice touch. I imagine if Giselle from Enchanted had to make her dresses out of a thrifty goth’s curtains rather than an upper-middle-class New Yorker’s, they’d look something like this collection. You’ve even got the odd bit of classic fresh Scandi tailoring in there with the oversized coats and blazers which holds it back from being a bit TOO flea market. Plus, the renaissance painting detailing on the black leather-look coat is a stunning detail as well; I’m so glad it seems this trend is here to stay, why wouldn’t I want random nude bodies all over my clothes? 

As for the styling, I can’t get enough of the tousled hair. As an eternally tired person who can't be arsed to pick up a brush most of the time, I feel represented. Along with the outfits, it says “I’m an art student/transient painter in the 70s living in a city loft who smokes a lot of weed and does acid on the regular” and that is a life worth manifesting.

Alberta Ferretti was dreamy, and a perfect example of how to translate the bohemian aesthetic of their S/S show to A/W. Somehow despite the furs, ruffles (pussy-bows under tailored jackets and knits/generally heavier pieces always looks really chic imo), tulle, metallic tapestry style prints and chunky jewellery, it all still looks very effortless, like a natural continuation of what we saw last summer; the typically masculine structure of the oversized suits with the ornate patterns and the accessories lends to the careful navigation along the line where maximalism and minimalism meet, the looks as practical as they are decorative. Picture it: you work some high-flying, powerful job in the city, commute on a motor cycle and roll up in one of these suit sets. This collection is for the edgy businesswoman who is completely comfortable telling all the twattish males she works with where to stick it and I want to be her. 

The evening gowns are, of course, stunning too. In this analogy where I am a powerful businesswoman and not a pushover who works at a grocery store right now and only beefs with rude customers, I would be wearing one of them to the boujie work Christmas party. The ruffled dresses remind me of something Valentino would put out with the colour palette and the ruffles, and whilst we’re on the topic of colour palettes, this one is beautiful. The lilac and hot pink is SO right.

Though predictable, Alessandra Rich is just as much of a treat as usual, the first brand you’d go to if you were styling a throwback it-girl, Chanel Oberlin in Scream Queens if it took place 30 years earlier. Reminiscent of an amalgamation of vintage Chanel and Versace, there are so many cute details I love here, from the white tights with the black heels and the double breasted blazers to the gold chainlink belts and the pearls. The tartan suits with the shoulder padding are very Heathers, the prints the best of your mum’s 80s wardrobe, and nobody else out there is doing bows as well as this; these are the outfits that prissy bitch wears in the cartoons of my childhood that turn out to actually be quite good fashion inspo 15 years later, Trixie Tang from Fairly Odd Parents I’m looking at you. 

This girl was the blueprint. 

I think someone like Lilly Collins or Daphne Groeneveld would be an ideal fit for any of these looks, or Lana Del Rey if she wanted to stop serving us middle-aged suburban soccer mom and took us back to those H&M ad campaign days. Lana stans please don’t come for me for saying that, I am one of you; I say this because I love her. It’s all altruistic. 

Whilst I admittedly didn’t love it as much as last summer’s, I really enjoyed the Alexander McQueen collection too, plus I had a better idea of what to expect this time round; no, we’re not gonna get a repeat of the Plato’s Atlantis show but we do always get some beautiful pieces. Again, like with Alberta Ferretti, this seems like a natural continuation of what we saw in the summer, just with adjustments made for the colder, darker, and altogether moodier months. A/W being the gothier older sister of S/S, it seems right that a lot of the looks turn their back on the ethereal, almost fairy-like feel of what we saw before and embrace the vampier side, reds and blacks (the ultimate Bratz Rock Angels colour combination), plenty of dramatic structures and formidable suit sets. It’s punk but it’s classy, and even with the lighter pieces, we’ve got the grunge inspired harnesses on top to contrast with the elegance and effectively, toughen the whole look up, something Gucci does well too. 

The patterned suits with the clunky boots in particular are very cool and I need a gun metal grey heart detailing harness, but undoubtedly the MOMENT of this collection is Adut Akech in what appears to be a silver chainmail dress. She looks like an Amazonian goddess, and whilst I could never dream of pulling something like that off myself, I could happily admire her in it for hours.

There wasn’t much to get excited about at Altuzarra. The collection was very elegant for sure and the feathered belts are cute but it was all quite pedestrian and nothing new-the only detail I really like is the cut out on the second dress from the left, 3rd row down.

As for Anna Sui:

I’m not altogether sure why I wanted to review it. A lot of the outfits as a whole are a bit messy, and not in that avant-garde, expensive-looking Margiela kind of way, just in a “how many fabrics can we possibly get on this model” kind of way. Plus, the styling seems weirdly outdated-a lot of the jewellery looks like the kind of thing you’d see if you searched “gothic choker” on Ebay and ordered the results from low to high, and the makeup and hair in particular is very 2012 Tumblr fashion blogger. Backcombed hair and red lipstick? We’ve got a Zoella thumbnail on our hands.

When the collection did go down the bohemian route though (and when that route wasn’t a failed attempt at what Etro does a lot better), there were a few nice pieces and prints. I mean you really can’t go wrong with a teal fur trimmed coat.

Ashish, on the other hand, took their aesthetic from a similar era and did it a lot more creatively and kookily; this collection looks a lot more deserving of being on a runway. The prints are so loud and costume-y that at times the garments risk looking like something you’d wear at a decades themed dress up party, but they’re saved by understated and much more commercial silhouettes, plus some gorgeous hair and make up. On the whole, very groovy, unintentional disco queen, despite the few risks that didn’t quite pay off.

Next is a brand I always look forward to. In the words of Myrtle Snow:

BALENCIAGA!

Seriously though, if any brand knows how to blend costume and high fashion, it’s them. They take over-the-top, almost absurd silhouettes and turn them into theatre. This year we’re taking it in the direction of Phantom of the Opera, I guess? Dracula? The Woman in Black? An off-broadway production of Harry Potter where Snape is the protagonist? Whatever the direction of the collection is, I live for the dramatics of it all. Demna Gvasalia got these models walkin’ down the runway like they’re members of the Volutri, which is a reference you should all understand given the renaissance Twilight is having online atm.

Straight off the bat, I adore the staging, and all the models are exquisite-the theme of the show was climate change, and I always love when there’s a story behind the presentation of the clothes. I can’t imagine how amazing this must have been to witness in person, though I’m guessing equal parts mystical and intimidating. There are so many things I love here: billowing coats, cinched in waists, the pattens that are sprinkled sparingly in amongst the black, and the bloody shoulder pads that almost run PARALLEL to the model’s necks. This is really a collection that Myrtle Snow would be proud of and brb whilst I get rid of my padlock necklaces in favour of putting whatever meagre amount I can get for them on Depop towards a Balenciaga padlock belt (as if, lol, I don’t even think selling my soul would cover it).

And then there’s Balmain, which isn’t always the fashion critic’s favourite, but which I do tend to like. 

I mean there are some really good takeaways here-though the 80s inspired suit, as wearable as they are, can get a little repetitive, they are staples which here seem to pave the way for Olivier Rousteing to try something new for the brand. The moulded breast plates (reminiscent of the Tom Ford one Zendaya wore though I’m not sure which came first!), for example, along with the Matador-style capes and the flowing silk dresses are the most glamorous incarnation of Lara Croft one can possibly imagine, probably just as equally suited for a Roman goddess as they are for an Assassins Creed style action heroine. And yes, I am aware of the fact that Tomb Raider and Assassins Creed are two separate games, okay!  I just don’t know enough about the visuals of either to firmly plant this collection in the camp of either one, so I’m going down the crossover route with it!

Not to say there weren’t any bad choices-I omitted a good portion of the looks that were shown; there were definitely pieces that I found to be a little tacky, particularly a recurring chain print which has got to be one of my least favourite patterns out there. Overall, though, it’s gonna be the richly coloured art-deco prints, the wet-look boots and the gem-encrusted scorpion brooch which stick with me, so I’ll let it slide. 

Bottega Veneta was very meh; even of the looks I picked out, there are a lot I’m now looking back at and wishing I hadn’t included. Some of the men’s pieces are nice, sure, and I feel like one of those vaguely sick, victorian ghost looking male celebrities everyone obsesses over (Timothée Chalamet and Dane DeHaan I’m looking at you) would make those suits on the second row look fine af, but it’s mostly the womenswear that I’m here for and on this occasion it wasn’t great. A couple of the coats are nice and that’s about it. Like I really had to act as if the tassels weren’t there on a lot of the clothes and go from there because I really don’t like them in this context and if I was to veto looks purely on one of the garments having tassels, there’d be nothing to show or reference when giving my opinion on the show. They were EVERYWHERE. In a summer collection, done right, they can be a nice detail but here they just feel unnecessary and if I’m being honest, are quite ugly. 

Thank god for Brock taking the sour Bottega Veneta tassel taste out of my mouth. Never a let down. Literally, everything they put out sends me into a daze of imagining I’m in some romantic drama wearing one of the pieces, in a man’s idea of “no makeup”, running round in a field looking forlorn and windswept because my ghostly lover has-

Okay, you get the picture. I’ve never read Wuthering Heights, but it goes something like that, right? If not, lets just say envisioning myself in any of these catapults me straight into some period drama where I’m born into wealth and sit by my mansion window looking sad all the time and writing poetry and lusting over some stuffy upper-class man I can’t have and who is probably played by Colin Firth because I’m pretty sure that’s what happens in most of them (about to enrage my future English lit undergraduate sister with that line).

Nobody does modest, muted sexy to such a masterful degree. I mean, when Maison Marigela did face veils I was just mildly afraid, but here they’re subtle enough that they’re quite beautiful and almost other-worldly, acting as some kind of boundary between this world and the past that Brock aims to recapture through its designs-the red lip popping out from underneath is a perfect touch too. I don’t like it AS much as the summer collection but I would say that’s solely on the basis of the more autumn/winter appropriate colour scheme and the heavier fits, which is just a personal preference. I mean, I’m usually not a fan of empire waistlines at all and Brock even manages to make that work.

Burberry this season was a real mixed bag, mostly due to the styling. There are some really gorgeous, London back alley vintage shop looking pieces, especially the 70s style coats, reminiscent of outerwear a slimy record exec would've worn back in the day repurposed by someone like Alexa Chung or Zoe Kravitz or whichever effortlessly cool woman it is we all want to be-also the private boy’s school rugby gear looking shit is classic Burberry and I’m a fan of that, even though it’s not the most inventive or exciting. I just don’t get why there had to be SO much ill-fitting plaid over ill-fitting plaid. Again, like with Bottega Veneta, I thought the menswear was a lot stronger; whilst I wasn’t really wowed by anything, it seemed a lot less forced, whereas a few of the womenswear looks gave me the vibe of a design team desperately grasping onto some ill-conceived ideas of street style and relevancy. 

The design team at Carolina Herrera for example, know their niche. They never try to be something they’re not, always sublimely preppy and pretty and predictable-when it comes to target market, the bag is reliably secured. Laid- back princess dresses never get old for those constantly “summering” in one expensive coastal town or another, for the rich American moms attending charity galas and the Spencer Hastings and Blair Waldorfs of the world; women with glossy hair and fresh faces who act as if they woke up looking like that polished but are actually anal as hell and take 2 hours to get ready and would NEVER, I repeat NEVER, shit in a public toilet. 

Yes, I managed to worm toilet habits into a review of a Carolina Herrera collection. I’m sorry. Enough with the pearl clutching. 

Next is Celine:

I mean, when there are THIS many looks, it’s hard not to find something you like, and though VERY predictable and verging on lazy when you’re putting out the same shit every collection, Celine’s aesthetic is so similar to my own ideal style, it’s hard to be mad at it. That being said, a lot of the pieces, as per usual, came across as cheap YSL knock offs; the overall outfits are cute, but the more you look at the details-it particularly pained me to include a metal bow belt and an ill-fitting velvet skater skirt but I liked the rest of the outfits-the worse it gets. Please, PLEASE someone drive it home to Hedi Slimane, I’m begging you: QUALITY NOT QUANTITY. I get what he’s going for, 70s hipster Jane Birkin is a vision I can very much get behind, but not when it seems to be so rushed.

With the men’s looks, you can get away with it a lot more; when so much of menswear is so plain and unchanging, the slightest hint of Mick Jagger is enough to make a outfit edgy. But even then, I still feel like we’re seeing a load of variations of the same outfit. There are always some pieces that catch my eye, this time round the capes and the velvet blazers, and I would wear most of these things, sure, however I don’t think the combinations SHOULD necessarily look like something I’d personally put together; a runway collection is supposed to be aspirational and cutting edge, not pedestrian (entirely intentional self-drag, lol). Also, side note, the lack of diversity really bothered me. 111 looks and not one of these models has a body type that is naturally achievable for most people. It’s 2020 for fuck’s sake. I’m tired.

SO, let’s liven things up a bit with the Central Saint Martins collection, a breath of fresh air in terms of diversity (though a few more plus-size models would be nice):

As a former University of London student, I hate to heap praise upon them. If you’ve studied in London as well, you’ll know CSM students are ANNOYING. I mean, I’m sure they’re lovely as individuals but you can’t fully understand the meaning of the word pretentious until you’ve seen a group of them at a Uniqlo Tate Late. That being said, they are very good at what they do and I’m so glad that Vogue Runway includes them; this is what Off-White thinks it is, and really it makes sense that a bunch of current fashion students are able to come together to present one of the most experimental and forward-thinking shows of this season. 

And let’s talk about the RANGE. From catsuits worthy of comic book heroes to  dresses Twiggy would’ve worn in a 1960s editorial, every subgenre of fashion has been fully delved into here. Whilst we’ve got the adrogyny of the suits and suspenders combo and kitschy gender-bending co-ords David Bowie would be proud of, at the other end of the scale we’ve also got models walking down the runway dressed like wood nymphs or some other kind of siren-like creatures. There’s looks that wouldn’t be out of place in a Gucci or Come Des Garcons collection but at that same time would be equally at home in a Berlin techno club. 

Honestly, credit where credit’s due-it was a really interesting show and I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Chanel was quite literally the polar opposite of the CSM show. 

Very blah. 

It’s crazy because before you properly get INTO fashion, Chanel is like the epitome of style. And then you do, and you see the runway shows get lazier and lazier (with some exceptions) every year, and you realise that same prestige that had you aware of Chanel at the age of 7 or 8 is literally all that’s keeping the brand going at this point. I’m not saying the collection is flat out ugly, a lot of it’s cute, but you’re CHANEL for fuck’s sake. Yeah, I like the crucifixes but SCALLOPED HEMS!? No. I do NOT recall travelling back in time to witness Primark’s Spring 2013 collection on the runway and I am NOT having it.

It’s not at all surprising that a lot of the time newer brands Charlotte Knowles (above) tend to be more interesting than those more established-and yes that was a Chanel indirect if the transition wasn’t obvious.

With no room to rest on laurels or reputation, everything has to be bolder and smarter and more distinctive and most importantly, has to appeal to its target market with the fervour of an L.A sign spinner. I only found out about Charlotte Knowles because of a Vogue article citing her as Bella Hadid’s new favourite brand to wear, and once I saw the collection, it was clear why; daringly modern, slick, and edgy is both her street style (say what you want about her as a model but her outfit game is unbeaten) and Knowles’ USP to a T. If Dion Lee, Off-White, GCDS and Acne had an orgy, this would be the result, and that is a GOOD compliment.

Next, Chloe:

Not a huge amount to say, to be honest. Low-key, wearable, and cute. Like Emma Roberts’ Nancy Drew if she did an autumn exchange program at the Sorbonne and studied art history, libraries and coffee shops on the weekdays and galleries and protests at the weekend. On reflection, that definitely makes this collection sound more exciting than it is but there are some effortlessly beautiful pieces here. The 4th row in particular is full of stand outs-the vest with the watercolour faces on with the shirt underneath is perfection, and the burgundy suit with the saffron ruffled collar peeking out from underneath is adorable and not at all reminiscent of the Ronald McDonald inspired nightmare that any combination of red and yellow tones should theoretically be.

As for Christian Siriano, I see why people hate it, I really do. I understand that it seems kinda unfair to have it show the same week as Brock and Rodarte and Oscar de La Renta. We’re talking 2 very different kinds of quality here. BUT, at pure face value, his clothes are FUN, plus Coco Rocha will always have a special place in my heart as someone who lived on The Face and America’s Next Top Model and every show that could possibly give me an unhealthy body image ever.

Like are you telling me you wouldn’t wear these dresses to a party!? Live a little. They just need tailoring...which ideally would be done BEFORE the model’s walking down the runway in it but...you know...can’t have it all.

Christopher Kane is a show I always look forward to.

I would say his designs are the only thing that make geometry look fun but I’m going to expose myself and admit that would be a lie because I actually found geometry really fun. Trigonometry was my shit, lol.

He is a designer who perfectly demonstrates that juggling interseasonal consistency and taking risks can be done. There’s always something DIFFERENT about his collections, fresh and subtly experimental. There are occasionally a few misses, sure, but I’d rather that than for a brand to keep playing safe, plus he never goes too far in the opposite direction either; no going weird for the sake of weird. I don’t like it AS much as the summer collection but it’s mostly because of the more muted, autumn/winter appropriate colour palette.

Comme Des Garçons? Too weird?

Never.

Honestly when it comes to a CDG collection, I have to really shift my perspective to appreciate it. I’m not looking at fashion presentation, I’m looking at a moving piece of experimental art. I know, it’s a stretch. But you know you’ll never be bored by one of their shows. Not gonna lie, this specific collection crossed the line into plain ugly a couple of times for me. We had padding so extravagant it looked like several models were walking round with Ikea pillows stuck to their chest and headdresses reminiscent of the kids’ game Headbandz. In amongst that though, we did get some gorgeous veils like the ones seen above and the shoes and socks combo is actually quite wearable.

I’d say Dilara Findikoglu is the cut-off point after which things get a little too avant-garde for my personal taste, and it hovers over that cut-off point flawlessly; despite the other-worldly elements of her collections, they remain somewhat grounded by nods towards conventional fashion that allow the beauty, be it inner or outer, of the wearer to shine through. Comme Des Garcons garments undeniably have character but they tend to swallow up any trace of the individual underneath, whereas the character of Dilara Findikoglu garments seamlessly merges with the wearer and in turn elevates both to something transcendent and ethereal. If the Pussycat Dolls got transported into a rugged, post-apocalyptic future, they’d scrape together these outfits to perform in, I know it; the energy of the collection, with the body jewellery and the frayed cut outs and the chalk white faces, is very warrior princess, just as raw and intimidating as it is hot as fuck, and I want that energy in my life. Along with a Dilara belt, of course. I would wear her name like a badge of honour anytime she wants. Dilara, pls pls let me be part of your tribe. PLEASE.

Anyway, this is where I thought I’d cut things off, so as to end on a positive note. You know what that means: Dior is coming up. I feel bad knowing my first post was defending Maria Grazia and yet here I am now, looking at the bar down on the floor, but I mean, you never know; maybe girl is doing this on purpose and one day she’s gonna come out with a Gucci level quality show like a phoenix from the ashes.

If you got this far, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING even if you’re just here for the pics. Part 2 will be covering some of my most anticipated shows from Elie Saab, Fendi and Etro to Gucci and Moschino, Miu Miu and Marc Jacobs, and everything in between. Yes, the shitty ones too.

I’m plowing through all the material as quick as I can so I hope to get the next post up really soon, and yes-you can count on the overwhelming sense of needing to be productive pushing me into fulfilling that statement. 

Thanks again and I hope you’re well!

Lauren x

[freakflagbyiana]

Why “David Bowie is god”

As my site turns one year old today, which is also David Bowie’s birthday, I thought I’d try to begin to explain the importance David Bowie has in my personal life and the effect he had, continues to have, on my career.

Childhood influence

My parents had fairly different musical tastes but the one major thing that overlapped was they were both David Bowie fans. My mom was also a Jim Henson fan so I grew up watching Labyrinth with her. I remember it was out of print for a long time and I was the only kid in the neighborhood with a copy that had been taped off of HBO. As a kid I remember being in love with Jareth’s hair itself, asking Mom if I could make my hair do that one day. She replied “Sweetie, that’s a wig, not his real hair” and it was the dream-shattering equivalent of learning that there was no Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy all rolled up into one. As a goth teenager I really got into his freaky Ziggy era, finding the idea of being an alien heavily relatable. And when I discovered BowieNet when I was 17, to my surprise my parents agreed to pay my annual subscription... It was $70. I think most parents would be like “Your message board fanclub costs how much? HAH! No.” I won’t go into grave detail of my BowieNet life here, because I could write an entire book, but I’ll summarize it. It began in 1996, and behind the pay wall was lots of exclusive bonus content, access to concert presales and bnet-only events, exclusive chatroom Q&As, and a very active message board. This was before Twitter, before Instagram, before Myspace, definitely before Facebook. David Bowie basically created social media as the everyday form we recognize today. He didn’t post all the time but I would still consider him very active on the message board, for a busy top tier celebrity. His username was “sailor” although there were always whispers about his other secret accounts that he used for trolling. So he basically invented trolling, too. The community itself was close, there were always local meetups and many members would travel internationally to see their closest bnet friends, eventually including myself. I joined this community when I was still in high school and 17 years later I am still close to the friends I made back then. These people are my family, and they vary from all nations, all walks of life, all classes, all ages... The first time I met any of them was at my first ever Bowie concert and that itself was a bnet members-only show to launch the Reality tour, which was eventually known as his last tour. This pivotal moment in my life occurred on August 19th 2003 at the The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie NY. It was a small general admission venue, arguably a dive compared to the arenas he would play on the rest of the Reality tour. I was 18 years old and was in the process of moving to Chicago for art school. It was surreal to be seeing my first Bowie concert in a GA venue, and yet I knew 80% of the audience. David Bowie himself knew 100% of the audience, and you can hear him speaking to specific people in the bootlegs. I knew more people in the audience than I knew in my high school of 60 kids. A bunch of us were waiting at the venue early enough to catch him coming out to say hello while they were doing soundcheck. I didn’t get anything signed because all the members he knew by name were up in the very front of the group, as it should be. But I could still observe him from afar. He was dressed simply in a crisp white tshirt and white jeans, so the bright summer sunshine gave him a literally radiant, angelic glow. I’ll never forget his slinky catlike walk, and I’ve since never witnessed a creature with more grace.

Lessons I learned from Him

Freakflag began when my last salon closed, suddenly, due to #Austinproblems. As a fantasy color specialist, what I do is so specialized that not many places are going to do it well. The most stable environment for it, on short notice, is a mini salon.  As a hairstylist, this makes sense.  As an artist, this was (still is) terrifying.  I have literally painted myself into a corner where I am my own microcosm, a terrarium of rare creatures emerging covered in sunset locks and lavender hairdust...  None of this would have been possible without David Bowie. I very sincerely celebrate him as a god of my profession. For I am a witch and my profession is transformation magic. In many ways it is the magic of one’s true form, their true Identity. For example, I have many transgender clients who visit me in the early stages of their personal transformation. Sometimes they know what they want but a lot of times they don’t. I accept this task with great reverence for the importance of what I’m being asked to do. If they are not completely comfortable with the hair I’ve given them, it’s more than “a bad haircut will grow out if you don’t like it” - it can shape their confidence and that shapes the way people treat them. David Bowie is the Patron Saint of No Labels & Don’t Tell Me What To Do. The Patron Saint of the Gender Fluid & the Non-Binary. His iconic Ziggy Stardust mullet is the perfect example as to why I don’t attribute gender to my haircuts. Tell me, is a Ziggy mullet a men’s haircut or a women’s haircut? The answer is Yes. He taught me you can walk around with no eyebrows, a pale skeletal alien, and still feel your oats. It doesn’t matter if people “get it” because you “get it.” And you are the only person that really needs to “get it.” This is the lesson of aesthetic integrity. He taught me the importance of artistic integrity. At times he was a starving artist that created beautiful, profound things that no one quite understood or appreciated. But eventually he had a period of being a sellout that pandered to the crowd; it made him so sick of China Girl that he didn’t play it live for years after. I think it’s the period after this, from the 90s onward, where he found his true creative power. He knew he could achieve either end of the spectrum and balanced on that line thereafter. Blackstar being his best achievement in this regard. He taught me you can find your truest love later in life. Many goths say they aspire to a love like Morticia & Gomez, but I aspire to a love like Iman & David. Theirs is a real life love story that endured, and it didn’t happen overnight, she made him work for it! This is the big one... He saved me from flirting with suicide. I could write a lot about this too but I won’t right now. Here are the broadest strokes: As a sensitive, emotionally neglected, eccentric teenager I listened to a lot of angry music; Punk, Goth, Industrial, etc. The summer of age 16 was a tough one, I had been kicked out of one parent’s house and the other one completely left me to my own devices... So when I began flirting with self harm, the only person that noticed and snapped me out of it was a close school friend whom I will always consider a brother. This was about the time I discovered Bowie’s glamorous Ziggy era and it was the first thing that showed me “Truth, Goodness & Beauty” in my darkest hour. He showed me that being a great artist took time to cultivate your skills and not only would suicide mean I was achieving nothing, but self harm was a weakness that would eventually fester and I had to nip it in the bud. Bowie’s brother suffered from schizophrenia and eventually committed suicide so many of his works touch on the theme of your own worst enemy coming from within. A lot of goth music discusses it too, warning against rather than encouraging, but no one can make something relatable quite like Bowie. (For the record, a lot of that angry music is still my favorite! It has its place in the world) A lot of rock stars drank and drugged their way into an early grave but David Bowie was the one that survived and still managed to stay artistically and culturally relevant in the end. This is the main reason I celebrate him as a role model and a god amongst men. If he survived the 70s, made a clear decision to sober up, and could maintain sobriety throughout the 80s, he could achieve anything.

“Just a mortal with the potential of a superman” David Bowie, Quicksand

How I celebrate Him

For the last four years, I’ve been a DJ at Elysium’s New Year’s Eve party, a Labyrinth-themed Goblin King’s ball. And for the last three, I’ve co-hosted as Jareth himself... which means I’ve achieved my childhood dream of wanting to be Jareth with that fabulous hair and bedazzled tailcoat! This prepares me perfectly for celebrating his life a week later. There are a few “Bowie Weekend” events here in town. Drinks Lounge always has a Bowie Birthday Bash and Elysium usually has an 80’s night tribute or some other event in his honor. Then on the day itself I will take the time to clean my Bowie Shrine and think about all the times he helped me get out of a bad place in my life. Here you can see Instagram highlights of my Bowie Shrine. A few months ago, I got to work on a truly special project that is still super secret. But I can say that it involved recreating a famous David Bowie image and it was a great honor to be asked to do the makeup and hairstyling for this. It took all day, longer than expected, and we got about 300 shots... This weekend we got together again to edit them and in the end only 3 shots were picked. I can only imagine the process for the original shoot! I thought I was just invited along to edit because I was a Bowie nerd that wanted to be there and was ridiculously stoked on this project. But I was grateful to witness us work together as group on this tribute in its entirety, the three of us are perfectionists and we all had high standards but we also had methods of editing our standards for the sake of being practical. Unlike the shoot itself, this time a lot of discussion was had on the different elements that composed the original image and all three of us paid great attention to those details in the recreation. None of us expect to profit from it, this was hours of work that we each volunteered out of love of the art form, and reverence for David Bowie himself. The role I played in this image is a minor one compared to the other two people involved, but I am so terribly proud of us. I think He would be, too. Since I can’t post that image, I will instead leave you with my Aladdin Sane selfie tribute from this weekend:

★

[surveysonfleek]

432.

5000 Question Survey Pt. 15

1401. Do you like your movies and books to be more lighthearted or serious? depends on my mood. but usually light hearted. 1402. What's more important, first impressions or lasting impact? first impressions. i kinda lose interest if the first impression sucks. 1403. Order these areas of psychological health from what you need the least improvement in to what you need the most improvement in: physical, emotional, social, intellectual, environmental, spiritual spiritual, environmental, social, intellectual, emotional and physical. 1404. Do you react appropriately to things and control your feelings? i’d say so. 1405. Do you have stable relationships? yes.

1406. Do you need to be in a relationship to feel good about yourself? not at all. but it’s been so long that idk what i’d be like alone. 1407. Which is the most clear and concise, your thoughts, your speech or your writing? Which is the least clear and concise? most clear: thoughts. least: writing coz i never write. 1408. Are you always trying to learn new things? not all the time. 1409. Do you feel at peace? not yet. 1410. Do you have strong morals and ethics that you believe in and adhere to? yeah. 1411. Are you over or under weight? over. 1412. Do you think of the needs of all humanity or just the needs of yourself and those you know? tbh me and those i know. after i fix myself, i can start focusing on the needs of others. 1413. Do you recycle? yes. 1414. Are you active in your community? not at all. 1415. Are you sensitive to the needs of others? not really? 1416. Do you dress up to go to the mall? haha omg no. it used to be a huge thing back in high school, but i couldn’t care less these days. 1417. Have you ever been on anti depressants? nope. 1418. Name a part of your body. Give that part of your body a name. heart. heart lol. 1419. Is fourteen your lucky number? nope. 1420. What could make you lose respect for someone? having them do something unforgivable. 1421. Is ignorance really bliss? i don’t think so. it could lead to a rude awakening. 1422. What can be described as 'even better than the real thing'? not sure. 1423. Are you jealous that dog can lick their own genitals? If you could do that would you ever leave the house? no and yes. 1424. What's in your wallet right now? driver’s license, debit card, credit card, membership cards, receipts and coins. 1425. Do you write letters that you never send? nope. 1426. Do you ever get the feeling people are laughing at you? sometimes. 1427. Who's the one person you'd like to drop a house on? haha idk. 1428. Have you ever been swept off your feet? i guess. 1429. Tell me why you don't like Mondays: because i have work. 1430. In the Harry potter series the books seem to be getting darker and more serious with each new release. Do you like this change or do you prefer the story to be light? i thing the change suits the development of the story. i’d lose interest if the entire series was light hearted. 1431. How often do you update your diary? weekly. 1432. What do you mostly write about in your diary? my schedule. 1433. How many quizzes and/or surveys do you have in your diary as entries? oh, i didn’t know the question was regarding like a blog lol. 1433. How many forwards does your diary contain? - 1434. What is your writing style like? - 1435. How honest are you in your diary? - 1436. Why do you write in your diary? - 1437. Do you have a comet cursor on your diary description? - 1438. Do you ever chat online? only on fb messenger to people i know personally. 1439. Have you ever met someone from online? How'd that go? no. at most i’ve met mutual friends online but they still lived locally. 1440. What's your favorite horror: Movie? umm, i don’t have one. Book? goosebumps haha. 1441. Have you ever caught a mistake in a movie? yes, plenty of times. as a kid moviemistakes.com was my jam haha. 1442. Have you ever seen that munchkin who supposedly hangs himself in the Wizard of Oz? If yes, how/when should someone look for it? only in a buzzfeed post. 1443. If you had to give yourself a letter grade (A, A-, B, B-, C, C-, D, D-, F) for things how would you grade yourself on: Happiness: B- Being a decent human being: B Being serene (calm, peaceful): B- Kindness: B- Anger management: A- Creative thinking: C Modesty: A- Being an original: A- Knowing yourself: A- Being true to yourself: B Getting along with others: C Liking yourself: D Admitting your flaws: B Self improvement: D- 1444. Are you kinky? haha no. 1445. How would you feel if twice a week you could wake up next to the person you love? pretty good! 1446. Out of all the people you know who is most likely to be one of the great minds of our time? hmmm. not sure. 1447. Have you ever been to: Church? yes. Temple? yes. A bar? yes. A house party? yes. A rave? yes. A goth club? no. A punk show? no. A hip hop club? yes. What sounds like the most fun out of that list? a bar. 1448. So far, have you changed around any of the questions on this survey? haha no. what’s the point? 1449. Are you crying on the inside? no. 1450. Are you afraid of the future? kinda. 1451. What will you dress up as this year for Halloween (if you celebrate it)? nothing. 1452. Do you think of some people as not worthy of being your friend? yep. lol. 1453. If you won $1,000 every week until you die, would you still go to school? Would you still get a job? i’m done with school. and yeah i’d still work. 1454. What's the most difficult job you can think of? anything outdoors and strenuous on the body. i couldn’t imagine working outside in the heat during summer. 1455. If you could decorate your room with any theme you wanted what would you pick? i’d leave it the way it is. pretty simple. 1456. Of the following bands which would you be most likely to check out? roxy music (70's glam) the magnetic fields (current indie rock) kraftwerk (experimental electronic rock) <--- this one i guess. 1457. You and your boy/girlfriend have been together 6 months or longer.... One day s/he wants to go to a strip club with his/her friends to hang out. It's guys/girls night out and you aren't invited. Would you be upset by this? tbh if he told me in advance and was completely honest about it i don’t think i’d get upset. but to be fair, my boyfriend has never been to a strip club so idk what i’d feel. 1458. Can a person avoid dying if he or she does not believe in death? um i don’t think so. 1459. If someone sings songs that they don't write and they don't play any instruments or mix the songs or have any creative input at all..Are they a musician? i used to think about this a lot and yeah i guess they’re still a musician. 1460. What do the following stand for: html? something link lol idk. faq? frequently asked questions. fao? no idea. imho? in my humble opinion. hiv? something virus? aids? idk. r&b? rhythm and blues. 1461. What does the world owe you? happiness. then again, i’m in control of that. 1462. Do you read plays and books or just get the cliff notes? when i was in school i did both. 1463. What do you want to get out of life? happiness pretty much. and a family. 1464. Do you know what is really important to you? yes. 1465. What trend has been getting on your nerves lately? idk. 1466. Do you forgive yourself when you make a mistake? yeah, i just consider it as a lesson. 1467. What tiny little very small thing has made you hugely happy? days off work. 1468. Can you read body language well? i think so. 1469. Do you look people in the eye when you talk? yes. 1470. Do you notice if they aren't looking you in the eye? yes. 1471. Are you alert to opportunities? sometimes. 1472. Puppet Yoda or digital Yoda? neither. 1473. Do you look like the person you want to be? no. 1474. Do you behave like the person you want to be? yeah i guess. 1475. Some children were asked 'how would you make your marriage work?' One child, Ricky, age ten, said: 'Tell your wife she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck.' Is this good advice? no lol. i’d rather my partner be honest with me. 1476. Do you visualize your goals and dreams? yes. 1477. 4x + 3 = 15  What is the value of x? literally haven’t done algebra in years. is it 3? 1478. Do you keep yourself organized? yes. 1479. Does anyone really win an argument? haha only in their minds. 1480. Have you ever had champagne? yes. 1481. Do you strive for perfection? no. i just thrive to be successful. 1482. Name one thing you understand. myself. 1483. Whatever it is are you afraid of it? yes. 1484. Do you dislike being told what to do? yesssss. 1485. If you had a cat would you have it declawed? i’d never get a cat. 1486. Do you prefer lobster, clams, or crab meat? tbh i like them all. 1487. What do you think about guys who don't wear underwear? omg i don’t know any guys who don’t lmao. 1488. What do you think about girls who don't wear bras? it’s fine. 1489. Do you ask for what you want? sometimes. 1490. What are you against? bigots. 1491. How many notes does your diary have? - 1492. Ace of Base or Enya? neither. 1493. What makes you feel awkward? socially awkward situations. 1494. Have you ever been to teenopendiary.com, and if yes, how does it compare to opendiary.com? lol this must be soooooo old. 1495. If you were going to switch to another diary website, which one would you go to? - 1496. Do you believe that certain books should be removed from high school libraries? depends on the contents. 1497. How do you feel about gay and lesbian marriages? i’m all for it. 1498. Can you rearrange the letters in your name to form any other words(check here if you aren't sure http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/)? haha no. 1499. What is the sexiest moment in a movie? idk. 1500. Do you have a favorite stand up comedian? i don’t have a fave.

[anniehowsback]

Still Star Crossed Is a Multiracial Live Action Bodice-Ripper Romance Novel (and bless it, it doesn’t pretend otherwise!)

For your summer easy-viewing pleasure, I submit

Yep, that’s right. The sequel to Romeo & Juliet!

Historical accuracy: maybe a 1/5? Pfft, completely unimportant.

Wardrobe: 5/5 completely bonkers every old-timey style is welcome here as long as it’s faaabuloouuuse!!!

Sets: a mixture of bird’s eye cheap CGI (that annoyed me in the first episode, but I must admit I’ve grown fond of it as a signature move) and perhaps locations? IDK if they recreated in studio that many mis-matched old timey different rooms. To me it feels like the producers were like “we flew all the way to Italy, we’re filming everything” rather than “have moar money! build moar sets!!”.

Characters: 3/5 mixed bag? More on this later.

Plot: 5/5 trashy romance tropes. Unapologetically.

So first off my favourite characters so far are the B-plot (C-plot?) supporting will-they-fall-in-love couple Olivia & Paris.

Olivia is basically Jane Bennet (or Bianca from Taming of the Shrew, if you wanna keep Shakesperian): she’s the most beautiful, the most sweet, and she just wants to be a dutiful wife.

What’s refreshing about this character is that sweetness doesn’t equal spineless. She’s very clear about what she wants and her ambitions, and she doesn’t let her sister Rosalind drag her into the shit-storm Rosalind is making for herself. She’s also a romantic, and when she expresses a desire to marry and be carried away from her impoverished life, she sees herself cherished by a loving husband, not bound into a pragmatic economic alliance.

Plus, she’s nursing Paris back to health, after he sort of survived Romeo’s half-assed stabbing. And he looks at her like this.

I’m a sucker for these storylines.

My other fave is the (again) supporting royal, the princess.

Unlike her brother the prince, who we see flip-flopping all the damn time between two complete opposite resolutions, she’s steadfast and yet layered. She’s allowed to have shades of grey rather than deal in absolutes, possibly because we’e not meant to admire her when she finally takes a stand, like the Prince? She can see the good and the bad in a given situation, and I respect that.

To round off the supporting characters, we have Lady Capulet, who got an interesting touch in the second episode, obsessing over the utter stupidity and nonsensical suicide of her daughter (”IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE” she yells all over the household, nailing one of the central themes of the original play), otherwise she’s the evil step-mother with the black wardrobe to prove it.

I thought Benvolio could be gay in the first episode, considering his introduction is him breaking his engagement to a girl he “doesn’t love”, but nope, he’s just a Petruchio dressed like a goth vampire, moping around brothels.

Lord Montague, on the other hand, is a widower?? Never re-married?? IDK there’s no lady Montague, his entire household seems to be men, and last episode he showed up in old-timey leopard print

You’ve got no right to side-eye your uncle’s fashion chioces, Benvolio. You’re dressed like the Dread Pirate Roberts.

As for our protagonist, Rosalind... meh. She’s Kate to Benvolio’s Petruchio, and I never liked either of the original characters either. She’s cardboard-cutout “spunky, indipendedent, willful” and makes some spectacularly bad choices, while still feeling morally superior to everybody else. This is why I love her sister Olivia in particular, because she gets to call her out on her bullshit.

In a sense she’s the perfect match for the Prince, who is also cardboard-cutout “torn between duty and desire” in the sense that he’s either ALL DUTY ALL THE TIME or ALL DESIRE FUCK DUTY with no inbetween, makes bad choices, and feels superior to everybody else. Because he *understands the pain* of being dutiful, you see. He’s the only one who has ever had to make that choice in the history of mankind!!1!!

Whatever.

As long as Olivia and Paris get to fall in love (and overcome all odds to be together!) I’m on board.

Bonus!

If you watch this show you’ll get Anthony Steward Head (lord Capulet) delivering masterful quips like thus:

Master Mason: *stands on a parapet* You won’t pay the workers? I don’t care how powerful you are, I won’t take the fall for this!!

Lord Capulet: *turns around, walks back a couple of steps* You’re wrong.

Master Mason: ???

Me: hoe don’t do it

Lord Capulet: *dramatically turns around and pushes the Mason off the parapet*

Me: omg

Lord Capulet: *checks that the Mason is indeed dead three stories below* You WILL take the fall!

Me: you dramatic bi*ch

[ohaileigh]

Things I Did In 2016

Took a nap on my living room floor on January 1st and woke up to a walk off

Ate a $100 donut covered in gold

Created a realistic timeline and game plan to finally move to LA

Had an embarrassing screaming/crying fight in front Soho House

Starred in my first video ad for MNSTR

Started working at the desk at MNSTR to help out and for free classes!

Published my first piece of serious personal writing about coming to terms with your relationship and your career not defining who you are as a person with a media brand I really respect, Mask Magazine

Got an X-Files tattoo

Raised money for AIDS awareness by cycling, organizing a party, and DJing…aka all I ever do

Got really good at riding a hoverboard

Threw a Kanye West theme party with a Möet sponsorship

Immersed myself in work and workouts to deal/not deal with missing someone a lot as a distraction from the physical distance and blatant growing emotional distance

Learned how to wrestle at NYWC and interviewed trainers and wrestlers for [redacted media company] to put on their new channel [redacted] and never heard back from them regarding the footage…

Became a hair model for Bumble & Bumble

Parted ways with the job I took after leaving the job that started my career

Went to dinner with my BFF/cycle boss who asked me “have you ever thought about becoming an instructor?”

Decided not to move to LA due to new career opportunity

Went to Wrestlemania

Interviewed BABYMETAL on a Twitch livestream

Went to Montreal with a bunch of my friends, most of whom work for Red Bull, all of whom are certifiably insane

Started boxing and got addicted

DJ’d at the Ace Hotel in NY and LA

Slept with someone I had been interested in the moment I met them 4 years ago and instantly realized how not interested I had become

Got an emoji tattoo because my BFF/boss literally made me do it

Manifested a Prince impersonator the night Prince died when I dropped Little Red Corvette at Elvis Guesthouse

Had to say goodbye to my roommate, Arnold, who I grew really close to, because he moved back home to LA before moving to Berlin. RIP original cast of Donk Mansion.

Began teaching at MNSTR Cycle and kicked off my first class with tons of friends, and kept a Slipknot video in there successfully

Cocktail waitressed for the first time in my life. Got fired a month later for not giving a shit. Big surprise.

Went to a pool party at one of my favorite judges from RuPaul’s Drag Race NJ house with M & D, squished in their 2-seater car 2 hours away to hang out with a bunch of beefcake gay guys who were in shock and awe at our “alt-ness”

Dyed my hair pink while drunk with my roommates

Met David Duchovny and somehow forgot how to say anything witty or clever which is all I have in this life

Went to EDC in Vegas after driving alone and losing my mind somewhere in the desert on the way. Would not recommend.

DJ’d the NYC Health Department float in the NYC Pride Parade

Got to teach a weekend of classes dressed up as Harley Quinn for a Suicide Squad themed ride with my BFF/boss

DJ’d the Sailor Moon Day Party for the 2nd year in a row

Started Soft Leather NYC with the help of Johnny, which is still going on strong!

Spent most of my summer with one of my best friends Lina, who moved out of NYC, and think I’ve successfully convinced her to return

Received a dick pic shot in Pokemon Go

Got to see both my best friends Diane and Erin in NYC even for a short amount of time

The revival of our *cough*ORIGINAL*cough* Emo Night in the LES, big shout out to Brik for holding us down at Leftfield

Experienced yet another disappointment from a budding relationship and came to the realization that I truly do have no desire to be with anyone right now

DJ’d Soft Leather in LA to one of the most fun crowds I have ever seen

Helped open MNSTR’s second location at the legendary Limelight building

Met Biblegirl at my BFF’s birthday brunch, discovered my fucking spirit animal

Got to teach my first ever METAL MONDAY ride on my 26th birthday

Went back to platinum blonde. where I belong

Threw a joint birthday party with Lina featuring the best party flyer I’ve ever made and our amazing friends (big thank you to Marie for the Snap filter and Rob and Logan for DJing—numetal DJ set was definitely one of the best parts of this year!)

Celebrated the release of Jess’ literally perfect album After Hours on a party bus that drove around Brooklyn (go buy it, Jubilee #1!!)

Learned the entire choreography to Fade by Kanye West but really, by Teyana Taylor, with my BFF Sarah

Got to teach a class based on high school/Hot Topic called Mall Goth, and my Warped Tour ’04 (emo and pop punk) ride became my highest rated class so far—go emo kids go!

Taught a class in a PVC leotard and covered in fake blood based on the opening scene of Blade

Dressed up as Lady Gaga from the 2009 VMA performance of Paparazzi—basically the least clothing I have ever worn in public, and honestly felt great about it/myself, which for any female in her 20’s is basically finding nirvana

Went to the Boiler Room Weekender with all of my favorite people in Pennsylvania, USA, one of my least favorite states!

Met good dogs

Auditioned for a role in an Adidas commercial—didn’t get it, but felt good to be called in and try it out

Taught other babes how to DJ at Intersessions in NYC while several of my amazing, hardworking girlfriends organized the programming and events in other cities, and met a lot of great women

Put a hammer in Dewine’s bedroom wall

Was contacted by Nike to be shot for their spring video lookbook campaign—also never heard back, but incredibly grateful that someone scouted me without my knowledge and that they came in to see me and the studio

Filmed a video with Vice about the actual workout of cycling and how it relates to me DJing

Finished 4 weeks of a sparring class at my boxing club-full contact, and by week 3 all the girls stopped showing up so I had to fight the boys. Me? Fighting boys? Imagine.

Took my BFF Sarah to her first wrestling show ever. It’s a fucking spectacle and is honestly so great to see someone experience this for the first time.

Decided to stop sleeping with people I am already friends with and tried dating strangers, already sick of it

Decided after a tumultuous year of career changes and accruing debt tacked on to the outstanding cost of my early career (intern life and supporting another person on my credit line) that I could build up my savings account again while still tackling the immense burden that I had previously let hang over my head and discourage me.

Booked trips to see my best friends in Texas and LA after not taking time off work since the opening of our new studio

Realized I’ve been creating graphic assets for brands, as well as myself, for the past year and a half and I have no portfolio assembled. I’m making a portfolio. Hire me to do graphic design because I actually really fucking like it.

Wrote this list while procrastinating some graphic design work. Oops.

[kpopdancings]

Why K-Pop Star Chung Ha Washes Her Face Three Times Every Night

New Post has been published on http://www.whatsupkpop.com/why-k-pop-star-chung-ha-washes-her-face-three-times-every-night/

Why K-Pop Star Chung Ha Washes Her Face Three Times Every Night

Why K-Pop Star Chung Ha Washes Her Face Three Times Every Night

Raise your hand if you’re ready for Chung Ha to have a goth concept. The 22-year-old Korean pop singer has covered the bases for cute and colorful looks since debuting with disbanded girl group I.O.I in 2016. Now that she’s been a soloist for a good year and a half, imagine her swiping on black lipstick before taking the stage.

Chung Ha doesn’t hate the idea when I suggest it during a recent phone interview. “Maybe for Halloween,” she tells me as she sits backstage before a performance in Seoul. “One day, I would love to try it.” She even brings up trying out a midnight blue lipstick because she loves dark lip colors, so I swear I’m not the only one who is putting this concept into the universe for Chung Ha.

At the moment, Chung Ha is focusing on the concept for her newest mini-album Blooming Blue, though. True to the season, the music video for its title song “Love U” radiates summer vibes, including but not limited to, Chung Ha’s beachy blonde-streaked brown hair and popsicle-stained lips. “[The concept] might remind you of a pool party,” Chung Ha says. I dare you to watch the music video and not want to slip on your bathing suit.

Experimenting With Beauty Trends

Some of this summer’s most popular beauty trends also dominate Blooming Blue’s concept. I have to admit that I screamed internally when I scrolled past a photo Chung Ha posted on Instagram to tease the album of her face speckled with pearls in the formation of freckles. It’s exactly the kind of experimental look that gets me excited about covering K-pop for Allure.

For another promo shot, half of Chung Ha’s hair was tied up into two mini buns, her cheeks were swept with a lemon-yellow blush, and her lids were covered in a shimmery wash of bubblegum pink. Bold eye shadow, in particular, has been incorporated into makeup as she makes the rounds on South Korea’s popular music shows to promote “Love U.” Like many K-pop stars, Chung Ha consistently has the same makeup for every performance. For this comeback, colorful underliner is the focal point of her makeup. “I put on different colored eye shadows on my [lower lids],” she says of her everyday look. Today, she notes that it’s purple, but she’s also done baby blue and fuchsia.

My favorite part of the whole look is the tiny star-shaped rhinestones placed right below Chung Ha’s tear ducts. While promoting her last title song “Rollercoaster,” Chung Ha points out that she had circular ones on the middle of her lower lids. For her goth concept, she can do tiny half moons on the outer corners of her eyes — just saying.

Because Chung Ha seems so on top of beauty trends, I ask her if there are any happening in Korea that haven’t made their way to the U.S. yet. “I’m not sure because we can share everything on YouTube,” she says. True. That’s how she recently found out about cryotherapy. “I haven’t tried it before, but I really want to,” she says. Maybe we should get cryofacials while we’re in Los Angeles for KCON LA? (I’m only half-kidding.)

The Impact of “Rollercoaster”on Chung Ha’s Look Throughout our interview, Chung Ha repeatedly refers back to “Rollercoaster.” Its bright concept truly helped solidify and define Chung Ha’s aesthetic in the K-pop world. Not only was has it been her favorite concept so far, but it’s also one that she says fits her personal style best. The glow-in-the-dark makeup was fun, but Chung Ha still isn’t over the amount of glitter involved. I thought I loved glitter, but Chung Ha lives for it. She brings it up so many times I start to wonder if it runs through her veins.

With copious amounts of sparkle on her eyes, outfits, and nails for the music video, the concept made Chung Ha feel more comfortable than, say, the cutesy, ice cream-themed concept I.O.I had for its final album. (She names this as the hardest concept for her to pull off.) While in the makeup chair for “Rollercoaster,” “I gave a lot of suggestions, like, let’s do glitter here, let’s do glitter there,” she says. “I love glitter so much.”

Turns out, giving input on her hair and makeup concepts is commonplace for Chung Ha. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t like input from others either. “I also love listening to other people’s advice, so I could try new stuff like the freckles,” she adds.

Chung Ha does have thoughts on her next concept, though. Surprisingly, the look she has is mind is completely opposite to her favorite look. “For my next concept, I’d like to go very matte with more of a nude tone,” she says. “And my hair not colorful, just black or maybe brown — really minimal.”

Chung Ha’s Go-To Skin-Care Routine Despite being experimental with her hair and makeup in her professional life, Chung Ha rarely tries out new looks when she’s not working. “Because I wear makeup all the time when I’m on schedule and on stage, I give my skin time to rest and breathe,” she explains. “I actually don’t put on makeup that much in my free time.”

Instead, Chung Ha concentrates on giving her skin some TLC with soothing sheet masks. “They’re comfortable and easy to dispose of,” she explains. Wash-off masks, on the other hand, aren’t her favorite because rinsing them off can be harsh on skin, and she’s all about gentle formulas.

Cleansing is also a key part of Chung Ha’s skin-care routine. “Even if you put so many good products on, there’s no use if your skin isn’t washed thoroughly,” she explains. If she’s wearing makeup, Chung Ha starts off with an eye makeup remover before embarking on a three-step process. An oil cleanser kicks things off by gently sweeping away any leftover makeup. (My favorite is the Banila Co Clean It Zero Original Cleansing Balm, in case you’re looking for a recommendation.) Then, she reaches for a foaming cleanser like the Neogen Real Cica Micellar Cleansing Foam.

Lastly, Chung Ha like to do what she calls “bubbling it out” with face wash that, well, bubbles. (She didn’t mention her go-to, but try the Belif Pore Cleaner Bubble Foam.) “That’s about it,” she finishes off the list, as if it isn’t an extensive cleansing regimen. I tell her some people just use a face wipe and call it a day, so I respect her washing her face three times. “Really?” she replies. “I thought I was really simple because I wear so much makeup.”

She thinks the rest of her routine was simple, too. Spoiler alert: It’s not. After cleansing comes her toner set. The first one is a cleansing toner. (Allure editors love the Acwell Licorice pH Balancing Cleansing Toner.) The second is a hydrating toner. Then, she smooths on an essence, a moisturizer, and a sleeping pack — in that order.

If you lost count of how many steps that is, Chung Ha’s skin-care routine adds up to nine steps. Occasionally, a tenth is incorporated. “If I would do another one, I would do eye cream,” she adds. “But I don’t usually do my eye cream. I forget.” Same. I’m glad K-pop stars forget to put on eye cream, too.

[rockrevoltmagazine]

INTERVIEW: Battle Beast

Not only did we get the chance to see an amazing show AND talk to Sabaton, but we also had the chance to sit down to talk with Battle Beast guitarist Joona Björkroth for a bit and get his thoughts on the tour, the recording process and future plans. Battle Beast is another killer band that many may not know about, but totally should, and we hope to change that for our readers! 

Bringer of Pain is a great album. Really like the energy and the guitar work. Nice mix of melodic and aggressive tracks. “God of War” is a great song, and “Bastard Son of Odin” is one of my favorites, reminiscent of an old Viking drinking song.

Yeah. (laughing)

  Seems like you guys have had some pretty significant lineup changes over the years. Who does most of the writing at this point? Is it a collaborative effort, or is there one person driving it?

As for now, everybody is basically writing, but then for this album it turned out that Janne (Björkroth, Keyboards), my brother, wrote seven songs, and I wrote four which are on the album, and then Juuso (Soinio, guitarist) wrote one, and Eero (Sipila, Bass) wrote one, but we had more songs than these 13. We had like 19-20 songs, and I had very many, eight I think, and we voted on which songs, as a group, would make it onto the album, and then we produced to the end. So we had a lot of demos, and everybody would write (and we want to keep it that way) and if someone writes something really good, we would take it. So no dictators, nothing like that.

You guys are based in Helsinki, which of course is home to a lot of really great bands like Amorphis, Amoral, and even goth bands like Him. You’ve been in a couple bands before Battle Beast. What’s the music scene like there? Is it really competitive? Hard to break out and get noticed?

Well, in my case, no… I’ve been moderately successful in every band I’ve been in, but of course non as big as Battle Beast. I think the Helsinki music scene is very cool. There’s a few bars you can go to, and you WILL meet people from bands that are Helsinki based. It’s a big family, in my opinion. I have no beefs with anyone. Of course people talk shit about everyone, that’s the usual thing, but not in the metal scene. People talk, and people meet, but when you meet someone from one of the other bands, it’s just cool.

Sounds pretty chill. Awesome. This is your first U.S. tour, and it’s almost over. How’s it been? You guys having a good time?

Oh yes! This is by far the best tour I’ve ever been on. Every city, the crowds are absolutely insane. Very, very great energy. Everything is great. All the guys and girls are great. It’s almost too easy. It felt more like a holiday.

Oh yeah?

(laughing) Yeah, for me, compared to the European tour we did, it was very, very easy, and very easy-going and relaxed.

Finland has a really rich culture, with lots of lore and mythology to draw upon, which really shows in your music. Where do you guys draw a lot of your inspiration?

As for Battle Beast, I just start by writing the songs and then when I add the text, I have an idea of something, which might be mythology based, but not necessarily. I want to write kick ass songs, and if I get that inspiration from a guy on a motorcycle and he’s the Bastard Son of Odin, or I get the inspiration from a comic, or my own experiences, it doesn’t matter. I try to come up with a good lyric, that fits the song. We’re not this theme band. There are many “theme bands” that have very strong themes. We make songs, and we want to try to make at least ten good songs per album.

You guys added Noora (Louhimo, vocals) three albums ago, and she has an amazing voice. It’s not uncommon for a new lead singer to want to take the band in a different direction, so how has it been working with her? Has she had a lot of creative input, as far as lyrics?

Oh yes. We collaborated for three songs. On Bringer of Pain, I just wrote the riffs… like I wrote this kick ass heavy metal fast song, and she wrote the melody and the lyrics. So that’s one example of our collaboration, and then many things happened in the studio too. She’s like, “Can we try this? Can we try that?” and it’s easy when you have a great singer like that who can also write music that you could not write with an average singer. I can actually do very hard shit for the vocalist, and she pulls it off. That’s the first time for me. All other bands I’ve been in, the singer would struggle, and then it doesn’t sound too good… if it’s clean singing, of course. Growling is completely different.

  Yeah it definitely doesn’t seem like there are any egos in the band, it’s a pretty collaborative environment. That’s great. Any plans for after this tour?

I would like to mention, this tour has been an enormous success for us. Far bigger success than we ever would have thought. Of course it’s part that Sabaton’s crowd likes us, it’s similar music, heavy metal. But it’s been so successful that we’re planning another tour for next year!

Well, you heard it here first, folks! Another Battle Beast tour next year! You mentioned you had a lot more songs than you could put on this album… are you guys already working on the next one?

Oh yes, all the time, and many of the songs that didn’t make it on to this one, I’m going to try to finish and see if they make it onto the next one. They go into the pool of 20 songs, and we try to pick the best ones, but never say never. I don’t know. That album’s writing starts in the summer, and should be finished in about a year, so we’ve got a year of work ahead of us, and shitloads of shows so we’ll see how it’s going to go.

Awesome! It’s been great talking to you, thanks for your time.

Interview by Chris Williams, RockRevolt Contributor

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INTERVIEW: Battle Beast was originally published on RockRevolt Mag