#she has a different body type from immy!!

[pinayelf-archive]

idk if I've mentioned it but amihan is chubby

her art is less consistent bc her weight gain is symbolizes that she's happier and healthier vs when she was at the Circle and during the blight

I do explore my own body image issues w her but it tends to be in other media she's in and not in DA, but in all her being chubby means she's in a happier place

[fridays--child]

|| The Basics ||

Name: Imogene Lydia Grady-Mizrahi

Nickname(s): The above is a mouthful. Call her Gene. Do not call her Immy.

Age: 24/25

Species: Human

|| Personal ||

Alignment: Somewhere between chaotic neutral and chaotic good.

Religious Belief: Irish Catholic father, Jewish mother. Decembers were ... confusing.

Sins: Lust / Greed / Gluttony / Sloth / Pride / Envy / Wrath

Virtues: Chastity / Charity / Diligence / Humility / Kindness / Patience / Justice

Primary Goals In Life: Most of the time, it’s basic survival and to get ahead. More privately, it’s to find some kind of purpose and meaning, and to be important to someone.

Languages Known: English, fading conversational French and Italian from school.

Secrets: Before the bombs dropped, her family kept her mental health issues (cyclothymia) hidden from polite society. After, it’s the huge burn that runs down the left side of her neck and chest, courtesy of when the bombs dropped. She has a tonne of nervous habits, which she counters with some less than healthy coping mechanisms. She’s a slight kleptomaniac, and nearly painfully introverted when she’s not putting on whatever persona is needed at the time.

Quirks: She has a Receive Pronunciation English accent and a pretty raspy voice, which she can soften to a Transatlantic neutral accent if needed. 

Savvies: She’s surprisingly knowledgeable with tinkering and growing crops due to her time as a land girl during the war. She’d actually make an excellent Minutemen ally if the thought didn’t bore her to tears.

|| Physical ||

Build: Slender / Scrawny / Bony / Fit / Athletic / Herculean / Babyfat / Pudgy / Obese / Other (she’s soft and pretty curvy, but also has the kind of body that gains or drops weight alarmingly, depending on her well-being).

Height: 5′3

Weight: 62kg

Scars/Birthmarks: She has a few slight burn marks to her left cheek, but her neck and left side of her chest is mottled with burned scar tissue to just under her breast.

Abilities/Powers: She’s a hell of a good shot at a distance due to her family’s interest in hunting growing up. Her and Mac fight about it, a lot. She’s also extremely perceptive and is able to mirror people quite easily, which is why she caught the attention of Deacon and the Railroad.

Restrictions: Pretty sloppy when it comes to melee combat. She gets by on pure bloodlust and size alone (she’s relatively small and quick by wasteland standards), but has no real self-awareness. This has gotten both herself, and her companions, hurt more than a few times. She also has a very addictive personality, and can easily fall into vices if she indulges too frequently.

|| Favorites ||

Favorite Food: Power Noodles, vegetable soup, Sugar Bombs

Favorite Drink: Whiskey, coffee, Nuka-Cherry

Favorite Color:  Dark forest green

Favorite Music Genre: Blues, jazz.

Favorite Book Genre: Smut. Don’t tell.

Favorite Movie Genre: Westerns, romance.

Favorite Season: Autumn

Favorite Butt Type: Doesn’t really have a preference, whatever the person she’s most attracted to is.

Favorite Swear Word: motherfucker, shit

Favorite Scent: mint, camphor, menthol, smoke, wood, rain on skin.

Favorite Quote: Oh man, I have so many saved, but they’re context-specific to different relationships.

|| Fun Stuff ||

“Boss” Theme Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xI1Blcn_UU (tbh this whole album is great ‘angry woman in the wasteland’ music.

Loud Burper Or Soft Burper: Soft

Sings In The Shower: Yes / No

Likes Bad Puns: Yes!

[peppy-pilot]

//OKAY, SO AS PROMISED, here is my long-ass headcanon regarding Peppy's hilaaariously complicated feelings with James, and why I'm a lowkey Jimpeppy shipper despite my Peppy being headcanoned as completely het.... but biromantic. TOOT TOOT, ALL ABOARD THE GARBAGE TRAIN, LET'S GO.

Yes, I do headcanon as Peppy being in mad love with James. Just... without the sexual elements in that love. It's all completely romantic.

I guess I can say it's complicated not only because most people think romantic friendships don't/can't exist, or that they are actually gay relationships in denial, but that's not how I see it. And it's definitely not how Peppy would see it. If he's presented an opportunity for a sexual experience with a male--even if it's James--he'd decline it. He'd be extremely uncomfortable. Part of it is, admittedly, due to being raised in a rather homophobic background, and part of it is being from a generation that didn't understand any type of sexual orientation or gender identity behind cis straights. But upon coming to Corneria, he was exposed to all sorts of people across the gender and sexual spectrum, and thankfully, he was able to overcome his initial bigotry while he was still fairly young. Classic scenario and all that. Hell, I'll admit, I headcanon Lucy as bi, and Peppy would be supportive of a sapphic relationship between his daughter and another woman. That's not the issue. Even if it's with James, or some other guy he'd fall for, the moment they go naked and start exploring each other's bodies, Peppy's anxiety would become too overwhelming. Painful, even. Like nothing is right, no matter what. He'd ultimately feel guilty, and maybe keep making it work. But in the end, it won't make him happy, it won't fulfill him. It'd be like forcing a gay man into straight sex over and over again. THAT kind of unhappiness.

But does that mean he won't be happy with just a romantic relationship? Absolutely not, especially with James. In fact, James is more than just a friend. More than just a brother. More than alover, even. Peppy worships James, even wanting to be just like him. A brave hero who managed to make the best he could out of living in miserable Papetoon. An ace pilot who defied all expectations within the dog-dominant Cornerian Flight Academy. Peppy had Jimmy on a pedestal when they first met, but as they became friends, then wingmates, and even when both obtained their own wives and sired their own children with them... Peppy can't think more than wanting to spend the rest of his life with his Jimmy. Wanting to see the kids grow up, hang out together with Pigma or the girls, go on more adventures, having each other's backs, getting old together... Just. Wanting to be a part of James' life, and him as a part of his. Consummating that desire with sex would, though, feel.... wrong for Peppy. Like he's ruining what special thing they have to an act he feels he otherwise uniquely shares with Vivian. But if they did more non-sexual acts of intimacy like holding hands, hugging, maybe even kissing... then maybe. Maybe. He can't imagine it, though. As far as Peppy knows, James leaves that all to Vixy, and with Peppy to Vivian. And he couldn't have it any other way. That's just how it is, and Peppy would feel wrong if he wished it was any different. What mattered is that James was happy.

"What about when both became widowed, Immy? Do you think they could be together as a couple then?" Well, that is taking into the account of the timeline. I headcanon Vivian dying AFTER the mission to Venom, which became the final straw to Peppy's ability to hold it together after James' death and Pigma's betrayal. If the two would be together, then Vivian would have died before the fateful mission, and you know, I'm cool with RPing/writing with that scenario--after all, Nintendo never really defined WHEN Vivian died, only that she did before the events of Command (for all we know, she could have been alive throughout the Lylat Wars). But if I am to RP Jimpeppy, I'd go with the timeline wherein Vivian died perhaps not long after Vixy did, leaving James and Peppy both as single fathers. Maybe they'd explore the possible of actually hooking up. But in the end, Peppy couldn't bring to himself actually banging James--it'd feel uncomfortable and overwhelming. But he'd be absolutely okay with nonsexual fluff.

Sort of unrelated, but I also picture Peppy having similar feelings with Pigma growing up--wanting to have a friend more than just a friend in a nonsexual manner. The thing is, their relationship was often tested even growing up--Pigma feels as though Peppy pities him more than values him as a true friend sometimes, and Peppy wonders if he's pushing himself onto Pigma where he's not welcome. And you know what, perhaps there is some truth to that. Which is why, upon meeting James, Peppy inadvertively drifted from Pigma, replacing him as that friend whom he wants to give all his love and devotion to... not to mention the fact that Peppy finally had a hero to look up to, instead of forcing himself to be the hero Pigma didn't need. As much as Peppy's love for Pigma was genuine, it was doomed from the start. Peppy's anguish from Pigma's betrayal was not only due to the fact that the one friend he had become so close to ever since they were kids did the unspeakable, but especially because he felt that it was a sign that he--Peppy himself--failed as Pigma's friend.

One of the reasons why Peppy is so fond of Fox and he frequently comments about how he sees James in Fox? In a way, Fox is also his son... as though he was the romantic/marriage partner to James. But he doesn't--and won't--force himself to replace James in Fox's life. Because he knows full well he can't replace James in his. But that knowledge alone won't help relieve him from the pain that Peppy feels he failed as a friend and lover. And he'll carry that guilt to this very day. All he can pray is that, upon Andross' defeat, and aiding Fox into accomplishing this, is that the resolution it'd bring would finally bring peace not only to James' death, but to Peppy's anguish over what happened on that fateful day. By the Saurian mission, it... sooooorta resolved, he'd move on some by then. He was nowhere as happy as he was when James and Pigma flew together with him, but he's come to accept that by now and has resigned himself to aid in Fox, Falco, and Slippy's futures. Which is why he was more than willing to sacrifice himself during the Aparoid Wars--it's not just to save his friends and complete the mission. It's to say goodbye to that present life... and see James and Vivian again.

...Then Assault asspulls him out, and, you know, fine. Peppy perhaps realized... no, his life is not over, he still has more to live for. So he used his final resolve to get an escape pad working despite the likelihood it won't, and somehow, it did. Against all odds. Peppy is a fighter. And after all.... perhaps he though Jimmy won't take kindly onto Peppy just giving up that quickly.

So yeah. TL;DR: Peppy absolutely loves James, seeing him as someone to dump all his love and devotion to past the boundaries of what typically defines friendship, but without any sexual element to it because he doesn't feel it's right. Whether or not James reciprocates that love and devotion is entirely up to the person RPing James and if they are a Jimpeppy shipper. But I'm cool with Peppy's love being unreciprocated.

[storiesbyaya]

Story of A Hero- 23

{First}{Previous}{Mobile}{Next} Jazz was sitting on Will and the twins’ table monday at Lunch. She held a mysterious cardboard box on her lap and, for a moment, Will was confused…

Until he saw the familiar green lightning bolt logo. Instead of confused, he became excited, and nearly bounded over to the box. Jazz grinned at him, but continued to hold it close even as he approached. “So… Weird thing, but my sister came outta her room this morning. She gave me this. Made me promise not to let anyone but you touch what’s in it. And then, she ate breakfast with me and walked me to the bus. I don’t know what this thing is, and I don’t care. But I know you did something, and because of it, I got to see my sister, and hear her laugh and stuff. So whatever this is? You take good care of it.” She spoke with a serious tone, yet also seemed happy. Will was happy for her.

He nodded. “I know you said you don’t care to know, but… that box likely has my parents’ research,” he explained. “Oh,” Jazz said, understanding blooming on her face. She gave him a cheerful smile. “Explains why it’s so important… And why she’d only trust you with it.” Even though she didn’t know Will, as far as Jazz was aware. He held the box with the same care she had. “She trusted you with it, too. I think that’s a good thing?” “I think so too.” Their conversation ended when Percy and Lily arrived. She rejoined her table, and they ate together. It was hard to concentrate through the rest of the day, with the anticipation and fear all welling up at once. What could it contain?

-x-x-x

The box contained an external harddrive, as well as a note, written in green glitter pen. William decided to start with that first.

“Fun fact,” it read “A friend of mine has ‘Anaesthesia Awareness’. Waking up during the herein described procedures caused damage to his Adex. (Read up on subject KX-023) This break is what allowed us to break free.

I believe in you, William.  Let the mistakes of our past become the tools to build a better future.

Tessa Nickols (xxx-xxx-xxxx. Let me know if you need any more help. Give my number to Kat too. I miss that brat.)

PS- For privacy reasons, many names and faces have been redacted. Hope you understand.

PPS- Hard drive password is your sister’s middle name.”

Diana. The password was Diana. William wondered if that was done by Tessa or by his parents, but he only wondered briefly.

The amount of stuff here was… Intimidating. He didn’t even know where to start. He had to take a deep breath and center himself to even try to tackle this. Maybe… weed out the unnecessary stuff? Grant applications. Letters to investors. A bunch of other money related things. That was irrelevant to his studies. It went into a special folder. Just in case. Facility descriptions… As the document began with nothing but maps of the facility, William was going to ignore it, until he noticed that there were several pages. The building only had four floors, if he remembered correctly. There should only be four pages, if it was nothing but maps.

“As this is a foreign field of research, much of our equipment has required upgrades, and some custom equipment has been needed to advance our research.”

The section below the maps continued on, describing what kind of upgrades and changes had been made to existing equipment. It was all incredibly fascinating to William, but one very specific section caught his attention.

It described, in great detail, a special instrument created to measure and observe resonance.

“Tests have revealed that Adex exude a special energy. It has been named “resonance” due to the way it reacts within human subjects. With this, resonance can be observed and measured. This advance has increased the success rate of forced symbiosis to 98.7% Forcing symbiosis with two subjects who’s resonances do not match almost always results in MEIR-Type entities, and/or loss of one or both subjects. Forcing symbiosis with a subject that exudes no resonance at all results in failure 100% of the time.”

“So resonance has… types. And this thing they made shows them in different colors,” he said to himself, and scribbled this fact into a notebook. To his surprise, Imshael hopped onto his desk. “Hello,” they greeted, before curling into a ball near the keyboard. “I want to help.” “You… want to… help?” William repeated, confused. The words themselves were not confusing, but rather the ‘who’ they were spoken by. Even after the first time he’d heard Imshael during training, they’d still stayed so quiet Will almost forgot they COULD speak. “Well, yes. Bayesh and I feel I may have answers to questions you might have. I am, after all, an Adex. You’d assume I would know a few things about myself.” “I think assuming that would be kind of silly. Humans have to learn about their bodies, I’m sure you guys do, too. But...unlike us, there is no school for adex.” “True,” they said, swishing their tail to and fro, “But you learn things with age. Like the fact that resonance’s color matches the color of the adex itself. The color of the thing within you. It also tends to dictate what kind of abilities we will grant. I’ve come to notice white adex mean white light, for instance.” William scribbled that down, and gave her a few small pets as thanks.

Then, he continued to read.

None of it was nearly as interesting as the resonance testing equipment, and most of it made him grumble in disgust. The schematics for Meir containment cells. The dampeners that kept the ‘subjects’ from using their powers. All kinds of resonance sapping weaponry.

“Oh. Hey, maybe that could be useful for… I don’t know, fighting bad guys?” Harley suggested. For a moment, William considered keeping the documents and then sending them to Angel. She’d know what to do with them, and how to make them into weapons that could be used to fight metahumans and meirs without the need for HeroNet. But William turned to Tessa’s letter once more, and sighed. “We promised we’d never let anyone else see this research, Harley. I’m not going to betray Tess’ trust…” William reminded her. Harley looked down, and would probably frown if her muzzle would allow. “Oh. My apologies. Shall I leave?” Imshael asked. William looked down to them, then back to the screen, and then to Harley. “Immy’s technically not another person… They’re an Adex.” While true, William gave a sigh. Technicalities didn’t sit well with him. But he had Tessa’s number, so he decided to ask her.

[Will] Hi Tessa, this is William Kray. We received the hard drive safely, but my father’s Adex wants to help. You said not to let anyone else see what’s on this drive.

[Peony] Oh! A wild Will! Right down to business, I see. Call me Peony, kay? Wow. She answered pretty fast. But Jazz did say that she never left her room, so she likely always had her phone.

[Peony] Would Kat trust this Adex? Knowing who your parents are, I would say there’s no one more trustworthy. But ultimately, I kept this stuff safe FOR your sister.

[Will] Right. Thank you, Peony.

Kat… She wouldn’t be angry if William let Imshael see the data. But she WOULD be angry if it was used to hurt anyone. So, ultimately, Wiliam chose to put a pin in it and continue to read.

He moved on to the folder that contained actual test results.

“KY subjects?” William read out loud. There were twenty entries, but no indication what the KY stood for. William had to examine them, and after a few, he noticed the pattern.

“These are… Older than me. The subjects were all adults… This must be the initial testing for forced symbiosis… Look, this person is deceased,” he pointed out. The other four sets of eyes looked to where he was pointing.

“Of course. Adults can’t fuse with us. The necessary changes can not be done to an already fully formed body. That it took them twenty people to notice,” Imshael grumbled. “Well… I guess… The good news is that they only resorted to using children because nothing else would work… Granted they could have just… Not continued their research on forced fusion.” “Not every question needs to be answered,” Harley agreed. “Like… I don’t actually want to know how many bugs I can fit in my mouth?” While Imshael and Harley continued to list off examples of things they did not need to know the answer to, William skimmed through the rest of the KY files, but they were ultimately more of the same.

He moved on to the KX subjects. Those he knew. “Kx-01 subject. 12 year old female. Volunteer, informed consent (See risk waiver) blah blah…” William read out loud, frowning. “This girl became their first Meir… But they ‘learned a great deal about Meirs, how to contain them, and how to destroy them’ thanks to her… I… Don’t…” William had to step away for a moment. Destroy. They meant kill. Murder. End a life, maybe even two. He couldn’t bear to read about the tests they did on the meir. He closed the file and moved on. More Meirs. More deaths. Some children saved at the cost of their Adex being destroyed. Few successes, until... “This one’s different. KX-14,” Will eventually said, his brow relaxing from the ever deepening frown he’d had previously. “Different how?” Imshael asked. “Successful symbiosis with ANB72… Result, the ability to mimic the abilities of other Adex. KX14’s ability has allowed us to predict the type of abilities an adex will have-”...Basically, this says she’s the reason we know Adex colors correspond to what kind of power they’ll give. She also… ‘claims to see a faint colorful glow’ coming from the Adex.’... She could… See resonance?” Though Harley was wagging her tail enthusiastically,  Imshael showed no sign of interest. Their tail just… swished lazily. “Immy, there’s people who can see Resonance! Isn’t that cool?” he asked, putting his hands near them, but they didn’t move. “I suppose?” they said. William frowned. “You knew already.” “Yes. Sorry. I see you’re excited. I do not mean to detract from your excitement.” Imshael’s apathy aside, William continued, noticing that there was a small note at the end of kx-14’s file. They weren’t the only person to see Resonance, but it took until subject 19 to realize that this phenomena was a real thing and not a stress induced hallucination or something of the sort. From there, there was a lot more successes. 22, however, was an outlier.

Succesful at first, the stress and isolation turned them into a Meir. “Dr. Evergarden decided to use the Meir to test out the powers of successful subjects, beginning project Nightmeir.” It linked to the project, but this William refused to click. He continued.

Kx-023. William picked up Peony’s note and looked again. She’s mentioned this subject, told him to look.

“Subject awoke during procedure. Panic caused a small scuffle until he could be sedated again. No lives lost, but Adex suffered damage. See Incident reports.” And dated later, a note had been added stating :”Subject releases small amounts of Resonance even with Dampeners. Without dampeners, subject can not control his ability and destroys anything he touches. (Re: Request- Wall repair in B2-B wing,)” And a little later still, “Subject experiences blackening of veins in hands (What??) Sent to medical examination immediately, but no medical reasons have been found. He is perfectly healthy. Maybe this is caused by the Adex damage? Continue monitoring.”

William looked back to the floor plan, on an inkling that this wall that needed repairs might be one that resulted in the collapse.

Unfortunately, he realized that he was not an architect and couldn’t really figure it out, so he returned to his reading.

There were few deviations. Meirs, successes… He could tell that it was around there that they’d managed to get the Resonance measuring machine working. Hell, even the number of consenting subjects rose the closer he got to his sister’s number.

There wasn’t much to learn, but he did notice a naming pattern for the Adex, and understood they were named by their color. From there, he compiled a list of Adex colors and their abilities… But there was one strange code he didn’t understand. Some adex codes started with an “A”, but they were few. 14, 24,72…

Wait.

72? 72 was…

Kat!

[thetravelprinter]

Swims, dives, horses, climbs, bites and uncomfortable bikes

After a few days of hustle and bustle in Havana, we made our way to the highly recommended town of Viñales to discover a bit of life in the Cuban countryside. Initially we tried to take a Viazul bus but it was fully booked days in advance (there is only 1 per day) so we opted for a street negotiated ‘colectivo’ (shared, carpooling type, unofficial taxi) where we met two guys from Cataluña. Turns out our first attempt at Cuban bargaining didn’t go too well as their seats cost distinctively less than ours (we did get much better at this as time went on though!).

It is no surprise that Viñales comes highly recommended; a quaint little country town with an array of colourfully painted casas surrounded by green hills and mountains where cycling, horse trekking and swimming in waterfalls in the jungle are the top attractions. It did, however, feel like a town that had suddenly realized that it could cash in big time from tourist dollars. Every single house, literally every one, had the ‘casa particular’ sign out front saying rooms available and there was a constant stream of people offering excursions and activities to the throngs of tourists that had clearly also been told that Viñales was the place to be!

We opted for staying in Villa Pitín y Juana, but it seems like their Lonely Planet mention has gone to their heads slightly as it is more like a hostel or mini hotel now. We booked our horse trekking with our two new Spanish friends in their casa (as we knew they’d only settle for the lowest price!) but this did not go down well with our host. Even though we booked to have breakfast and dinner in our casa, we were definitely made to feel more than a little pressured to arrange all our activities there too.

Cabbbaalllllllllooooo (caballo = horse in Spanish) is a word everyone who has been to Viñales will recognise as we found out this is obviously the Cuban horse whisperers call for making any horse in their country move in the desired direction. I can’t think of the English equivalent but I’m pretty sure its not hoooooooorrrrssse, although this is indeed a term of endearment used between my Irish friends and I in greetings and for direction changes on a night out! The horse trekking through a muddy forest path to some beautiful view points was a great day, and made even more fun for Immy and our Spanish amigos since my horse (Caramelo) was clearly built only to hold a child of no more than 10 and also because he was the campest horse I’ve ever encountered; twinkle toe side stepping any little puddle or body of water with elegance and trotting (or should I say strutting) in a manner that most Divas or Dragqueens would happily show off in a Pride parade! Both Immy and the Spanish lads, had equally original, imaginatively named horses in ‘Mojito’, ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Coco Loco’ although theirs were decidedly more ‘horse like’ in their actions in comparison to Princess Caramelo!

After a day trip to the stunning beach of Cayo Jutias (bring your mosquito repellent though), we left Viñales and made our way back South in another sweaty colectivo packed with turistas to ‘Playa Larga’. Most people had decided to bypass this quiet, fishing village by the coast, which was a big win for us as there were notably less white sunburnt faces around. Our casa particular this time was a much more positive experience with our lovely host, Libby, in Casa Gran Cañon. She made us feel part of the family and provided us with a monstrously huge Cuban breakfast every morning (breakfasts in Cuba are enormous, as you can see in the photo). We spent a day scuba diving but it was a little disappointing as it felt a little like a ‘get in, get out, give me money’ exercise.

Before heading back to Havana to catch our flight to Mexico we spent a few days in both Cienfuegos and Trinidad. Our casa particular in Cienfuegos was a beautiful, colonial house run by two extremely charming and accommodating Doctors who had opened up the top floor of their house to tourists to supplement their income. Throughout our trip, we met Cubans in a similar position - taxi drivers and waiters who worked for the Government as teachers and civil servants for 20+ years but who had packed it in to work in tourism… and you can see why, with the average monthly wage of 30CUC (around €25) being equivalent to what they can earn by letting out a room for one night.

Both Cienfuegos and Trinidad consisted of lots of walks and hikes (in sweltering heat)… up hills and Church towers to look out points and along coastal roads, and some really great music. Music is simply everywhere in Cuba and its almost always exceedingly good. During dinner bands, after dinner salsa and even including a mini rave in a cave in Trinidad, which we thought would be a total tourist trap but in fact there was a great mix of locals, other latinos and pasty Europeans all dancing and jiving together. We had heard the Teatro deserved a visit so we eagerly bought tickets for the only show that was on while we were there. A Flamenco group performance in Cuba has got to be entertaining, right? Well it was, but mostly because it was a kids show with 13-14 being the average age of the ‘performers’ and the entire audience made up of proud parents except for the eejit tourists at the back (of which we were thankfully not the only ones).

On our way to Trinidad we stopped off at El Nicho, a beautiful set of waterfalls and rock pools in the Cuban forest, this time sharing the taxi cost with two Italian guys we picked up at the bus stop! Unlike many other Spanish speaking countries I have visited, in Cuba things run on time. We thought our Italian friends were going to live up to their stereotype when 20 minutes after the meeting time in the morning, there was still no show from them but bleary-eyed and sleep deprived, they made it just in time. Turns out they had only got to bed at 6am after using that Italian charm to end up on some beach, miles out of town, with some lucky young ladies the night before… I guess some stereotypes (positive ones in this case) ring true!

Trinidad itself is a pretty place with cobblestone streets, beautiful church plazas and open squares but don’t expect to be away from the crowd here as it is definitely on most tourist itineraries. It seemed like each of our casa particular experiences was becoming more family oriented than the last and in this one, Casa Jorge, we had breakfast at their kitchen table while Amanda, Imogen’s newest and biggest fan, insisted Immy make her a plait in her hair in the same way her own was done. Amanda’s cuteness went further into overdrive when Immy asked her how old she was and she proudly replied “dos” while holding up her hand to show 5 fingers, in case we were visual learners.

Trinidad’s music also didn’t disappoint, or so we thought, when we stumbled upon a big open air Spanish hip hop DJ set packed with people in the main square. As we pushed our way through the crowd for a better dancing position we were both happily gloating how cool this was because there were literally no other tourists there; until, as we neared the front, we realized we were a good 15-20 years older than everyone else and this was clearly a big quinceñera (15th birthday party) or something similar. Sheepishly, we danced our way out of there as quick we as got in, with many staring teenage eyes on us wondering ‘what are these two creepy old tourists doing here’. 

Our faux-pas’s did not end there though… we also made the wonderful decision to rent bikes (at 11am when the sun is approaching its hottest and all the good bikes have already been rented) and go on a 36km cycle to La Boca. The breeze helped with the heat as we pedalled away and we did manage to stumble upon a stunning little private beach on the way to the main strip where we spent most of the day but nothing could help with what felt like a giant steel rod poking through the saddle for all 36 of those kilometres in the 35 degree heat. An experience? Yes. Could I walk or sit down for the following 24 hours? No. No, I could not.

We had heard mixed reports about Cuba but we genuinely loved the place. Not because of the usual traveller checklists like the beaches and the food but because of its uniqueness. Even things like wifi work in their own Cuban way; there is wifi and internet access but only in public places with a prepaid card (or in the lobby of 5 star hotels). Its almost like Cuba is saying “right, you can have wifi but we’ve seen what people get up to on the internet and the problems it has caused so yes, you can have wifi, but you’ll use it in public where everyone can see”. It is just so different to anywhere else I have been in so many ways but it is a special place like no other. If you manage to learn a bit of Spanish before you go, the experience will certainly be greatly enriched as most Cubans speak little or no English but they are the nicest, warmest, friendliest of people who are just dying to chat to you and wax lyrical about their own country, customs and culture. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend going but maybe avoid renting rickety old bikes at midday.

[pinayelf-archive]

Imryll reference post

Decided to compile a newer version of this, because I had an older one from a little over a year ago (maybe more) and a lot has changed, or like there’s been a bunch of little tweaks on Imryll’s appearance as well me FINALLY having a consistent design lmao. This is more for me but I’ll never miss the opportunity to post about my Immy lol.

Under the cut cause it’s long and image-heavy cause I’m obsessed with Immy lmao and I really thought out little things

Face

Imryll has a round face, full lips, monolidded wide-set eyes and dimples. Her eyes are black, so there’s no pupil, instead it’s a ring of white. I have a headcanon that elves from Seheron have this eye color. Her eyebrows are bushy especially towards the front.

The closest face ref would be how I make her in-game and also this sims screencap:

 Here are some actresses/models that give me a very Imryll vibe with their facial features but ofc they don’t have the same skin color/hair/etc

Lana Condor has really soft and round features Imryll has, she has her face shape. 

Rhian Ramos has Imryll’s expressions, I made a photoset actually of her expressions for Imryll ref too lol

This model, who I don’t know the name of sadly ;-; has Imryll’s skin color and eyes so I tend to just use this picture for almost all her aesthetic boards jicdszji

Hair

Imryll has princess hair and it pains me to draw All That but I think at this point it’s illegal to change it lmao

She has raven-colored waves/curls depending on humidity lol

Vanessa Hudgens is her hair inspo

Imryll’s hair is fluffy too and has lots of volume like this (rip my hand when I draw her)

And at one point during DAI it gets to this length which again R I P to my fucking hands LOL but it’s now her brand

Body Type

Imryll is tiny and soft. She just barely makes it to 5′0 ft. She’s chubby and has a round body shape (is it apple? I dunno every source I find on google has different definitions bleh). She has large heavy breasts, a squishy tummy and big burn scar on the right.

This is the closest ref for the body shape (but more tummy and bigger boobs)

Some more ref:

She has stretch marks too like these:

As well as on her tummy, thighs and butt.

She also has arm bumps (?) I don’t know what these are called but I have em so I gave them to her too because it helps.

And freckles!!!! Imryll is covered in freckles! Like in one of the game screencaps but also all over her body like shoulders, neck, etc. 

And that’s it?

A lot of Imryll’s features are to help me make peace of my own, especially my body and stretch marks and stomach etc. But it’s also to celebrate darker features on Asian women, because Asia has such a eurocentric (due to a lot of factors mainly colonialism esp in the Philippines but this requires a separate post of its own) beauty standard :| that women who DO look like that often feel pressure to lighten their skin, straighten their hair, wear contacts etc. I just want to celebrate Asian women who don’t fit the lithe, light-skinned standard, a standard that is pretty damn stupid tbh.

Also lol I just really resent the ideas that elves are skinny and pale white because man what is the fun of fantasy if we’re limiting ourselves to that.

Okay lemme get off my soapbox but yeah, if you reached this far bless you, I just like rambling about Immy.