#so we swapped cultural outfits. which was very cute.

[ghostzzy]

i’m playing a heavily modded game of stardew rn (ridgeside village in addition to expanded + lots of qol mods) and my husband is a magic cult elf named jio. we just got married recently and, while usually he says very sweet and clumsy romantic things, some days he simply refuses to talk to me or kiss me. he starts in the kitchen and walks right out the door by 6:10am even if i stand in his way spamming the interact button. i don’t know if this is a bug (probably) or a feature (maybe he is sneaking out on a magic cult mission and doesn’t want to talk, though if he were intentionally ignoring me i figure i’d at least get a ‘…’ text box) but i’ve decided it’s an important part of his character and our relationship. some mornings he is simply nonverbal and needs to go commune with nature in order to soothe and regulate himself, in an autistic elven way. and you know what? good for him. i imagine i hand him a cup of coffee on the way out the door. (he doesn’t know much about mundane human cultural practices, but i imagine he loves having a coffee in the morning when i introduce him to it.)

[airasora]

Disney princess casual outfits from best to worst IMO

@lovestrucklyuniverse asked me what my favorite and least favorite Disney casual outfits were since I made a tier list on which fancy dresses! So once again I've made both a tier template, which you can try yourself HERE, and also did an actual list from favorite to least.

Moana

You guys may remember that I'm one of the people who were PISSED when Disney Dreamlight Valley changed the color scheme for the Moana 10 level friendship dress... and I am STILL MAD. I LOVE HER COLOR SCHEME. Honestly I love her ending outfit too, I forgot to add it to my Disney princess gowns tier (oops) but overall I've always had an affinity for Polynesian-Hawaiian fashion. I love all the details without it being overwhelming, and that necklace is gorgeous too.

Anna

I know that TECHNICALLY Anna's real "casual outfit" is actually just her fancy gown, but with sleeves and a cape - or at least it's very similar, so for me that meant I might as well do this dress instead. Could I have gone into Frozen 2? Sure, but I didn't want to do that because then I would have to consider ALL Anne and Elsa's outfits and that'd take forever. If I were gonna do that, I'd rather do a list of ONLY Frozen outfits or something xD Anyway, I think this dress is HELLA cute! A real nice spring dress, with some cute nature details at the bottom along with a "corset" and long sleeves. I like that while it's overall green, there are some pink accents and it has multiple shades of green so it doesn't feel too simple.

Rapunzel

I already mentioned this in the gown version of this tier list, but I am overall a fan of all of Rapunzel's outfits. I would have LOVED to see her green concept art dress though, holy crap. I hope there's a cosplayer out there who has made that dress cause I want to see it irl SO BAD xD Anyway, the dress we got is cute! Different shades of pink and purple, SMALL puff sleeves and loads of small details along with lace. I'm a lace girl, love lace, will never say no to lace. Probably.

Mulan

Now see THIS is a much better outfit for Mulan! Which is interesting cause it has a similar color scheme to her fancy hanfu, dark blue, dark red, grayish white and a pinkish red as well. So... why does this look WAY better to me??? I don't know. It just does. Perhaps I'll try to do a color swap of these two and see if I can make myself like Mulan's fancy hanfu more that way xD

Ariel

This dress is so stinking cute and the bigass bow in Ariel's hair is hilariously oversized, but in the best way xD I like that it's blue, but three different shades so it - like I've mentioned earlier with Anna's dress - isn't just one solid color. It is just a tiiiiiny bit too simple for my liking though, which is why it isn't higher on my list.

Belle

Not gonna lie, I heavily prefer Belle's peasant dress to her fancy, gold gown. It's simply color-wise, but the color switch around enough for it to not feel like one solid block of color. White shirt with poofy sleeves and a collar, blue dress with thick straps and a white petticoat along with a white apron. No cute little details or anything like that, but it doesn't feel that boring despite only being two colors. Also, her hairstyle is super cute.

Kida

I actually like like Kida's outfit just fine. It's nothing fantastic though and I think it's a little bit safe. Atlantians are, from what I know, a fictional group of people and culture, right? Why not experiment a bit more? Make her wear something that stands out! Instead it's just something I can imagine seeing a random white girl wear at the beach. It's not bad, but it's one of my many issues with the visuals of the Atlantis movie.

Jasmine

I like Jasmine's outfit fine. But it's all the same shade of blue and has NO details whatsoever. Yes, the "belt" of her pants is a lighter shade, but not by much. If it had a bit more decoration on it, I would like it a lot more. And I don't like those earrings. They've confused me since I was a child. How high up are her earlobes supposed to be exactly??? I don't know about you guys, but my earlobes are parallel to just below my cheek bones. On Jasmine, based on the earrings, it looks like her earlobes are parallel to the lower part of her eye which is just VERY high up, isn't it??? Either way, a fairly simply outfit that I think only really works cause Jasmine's own beauty carries it all.

Elsa

Eh... this dress should be right up my alley. I love cyan and teal shades, it has long sleeves, there's purple there, there's some cute details without them being overwhelming. On paper, I should love or at least like this dress and I just... don't. I really can't explain why, it just doesn't do anything for me. My only guess would be that it's tight. It looks limiting. Which is kinda the idea given what Elsa is going through at this point in the movie, so I like it for her, but personally it just doesn't work for me.

Merida

Again. Dark teal/cyan, but with Merida's dress I can easily explain why I dislike it: IT'S SO FUCKING BORING. It's one solid color all the way through and then it has those small frilly thingies on her wrists and upper body and I despise frills. Hate them. Reminds me of whipped cream and I hate whipped cream too xD And the frills being fucking beige doesn't help xD

Aurora

Boring peasant gown is boring, but I love that corset! But there's too much... beige, gray and just... I like color, okay? Or at least just not "neutral" colors like this. I might honestly have liked it more if it had dark, warm, earthy color instead. I am anti-beige xD Also never been a fan of this type of collar. It's giving school uniform and it makes me feel two types of ways and neither are what I should be feeling looking at a Disney movie xD

Tiana

This shade of yellow is one of the ONLY shades of yellow I actually like, otherwise I am just not a fan of yellow, usually. I do think it suits Tiana very well, but outside of that it's just very plain. I like the silhouette, sorta, but that's about it.

Pocahontas

Again, not a fan of neutral beige'ish colors. And what pisses me off is that if you google Native American fashion, there are SO MANY gorgeous examples. Once again, I get that animators might not want to put a bunch of details on an outfit of the main character, but goddammit, why does it have to be THIS boring??? Thankfully the necklace is there, but the dress on its own is just really boring.

Cinderella

Do I even have to explain this one? Disney has made plenty of cute "housemaid" outfits (Nanny from 101 Dalmatians, Mrs. Jenkins from Pocahontas 2) and this is just not one of them. But considering that one of the reasons Cinderella is wearing such a plain outfit is to make her ballgown that much more amazing, and that I find that to be one of the most boring Disney ballgowns, this outfit doesn't work for me.

Snow White

I mean, come on. It's supposed to be ugly and they succeeded. Can't really hate it for doing its job xD

Check out my tier list for Disney princess gowns here!

[autisticempathydaemon]

What song are you fixated on at the moment? - A Nonsense Christmas by Sabrina Carpenter, it fits the season, its playful, and I love all the innuendos in it

What is your Enneagram type? - 4/4w3

Do you love gargantuan Youtube video essays? - I prefer mid-size ones like an hour or less and usually about true crime, natural disasters, climbing/diving expeditions gone wrong, etc.

Tell me about your childhood imaginary friend. - I never had an imaginary friend but I was big on playing pretend especially around like the Warrior Cats books or pretending to have powers.

What is your go-to way to fall asleep? - Noise cancelling headphones, sleeping mask, ASMR, but I play game playthroughs on my TV.

If you had to change your name, what would it be, and why? - I've changed my name before and the two names I go by currently are tied to characters that really resonate with me and that I feel a connection to.

What is your favorite of Redacted’s audios, and why? - David's Hoodie Audio, it was the first one I ever heard and I latched onto the character and the audio kind of aggressively. That audio has gotten me through a lot this year.

What Redacted boy holds no appeal to you, and why? - Ollie! I love him, don't get me wrong, but for me something about him is kind of boring and I don't find myself going back to his audios at all.

Tell me about that one book/movie/tv show you know all the words to. - The Twilight movies as cringe as that is. They came out during a really shitty time in my life and they became a comfort, I've seen all of them more times than I can count.

Which Redacted boy are you platonically attracted to? - Honestly, Damien. I relate to his story in a lot of ways and just generally as a character plus he's so ride or die I feel like he'd be a great friend and wouldn't be hard to relate to.

Do you have a go-to thing you ramble about when you’re tired, and if so, what is it? - Usually random TikTok drama that I've come across and/or random political things going on currently.

Tell me your go-to gas station and drink combo. - 7/11 Slurpees (Coke and Cherry mix) and Munchos (best potato chips ever)

Tell me about your favorite playlist at the moment. - I have an everything type playlist with all the music I like and it's the one I've been cycling through the most. It's fun to hear how all my odd tastes come together in one playlist.

What’s your guilty pleasure media, and why? - Currently? Boyfriend ASMR I suppose. It's really hard to explain to other people what this thing is without sounding at least a little odd - (I had to explain it to a new therapist and could not figure out how to do it without sounding a little insane.)

And whatever else you think tells me about who you are! - My favorite color is pink, my favorite sweet food is chocolate, I use emoticons a lot :3c and I love my friends above all, they've gotten me through a lot and I really value community.

The Enthusiast is an interesting, difficult to match type because I could pair you so compatibly with so many people. Ultimately, it was vibes and the color pink that led me to pair you with Gavin.

Enthusiasts are characterized as creative, outgoing, and unique, the kind of person you don’t forget. I love the idea of pairing Gavin with someone like that because that’s kind of how he is too; he’s best with someone that has the same star power, the same je ne sais quoi to stand out next to him. Not just that but I love that y’all are very interpersonal people with friends being so important to you both; that’ll be perfect considering how the DAMN group are not just his friends but his family.

Y’all would honestly be such an it couple around Dahlia maybe with some cute matching outfits, some pink statement pieces that you and Gavin swap because he’d be a fashionista and a thief that way. When you’re not found at the 7/11 with your respective Big Gulps and Slurpees, you’re chilling at home, giving Gavin a pop culture education because if he hasn’t seen Jumanji, we can’t be sure he’s seen Twilight, and you’d have to fix that.

Song:

Yes, I'm young for a teacher, I'll teach you what you don't know/ (I could teach you the things that you wanna know)/ But I can't give it up all at once, you would overdose/ Don't you bring any bull in the room tonight/ It's a whole new rodeo/ It could be you and me/ But you know that I'll steal the show, oh (yeah)

One, it makes sense for me to give you a Sabrina Carpenter song in return, so that’s fun. Two, I love this song in particular because I could storyboard a whole movie scene set to it of you and Gavin in a Dahlia club, dancing, outdoing one another, just killing it with the romantic and sexual tension of the song like it’s a duet. I have a vision, okay?

Runner-Ups:

Asher was a really close runner-up for you because community and pack are so important to him too as Shaw Beta, so you would have been a good mate for him. Vincent is a runner-up not just because it’s fun to pair Twilight lovers with vampires but because he also finds so much cheesy comfort in those movies; he loves them.

note: whoever this is for and you know who you are let’s pretend this is the first and only time I posted this ask hahaahhaahaaaa I’m sorry bless you

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[delta-queerdrant]

big doctor energy (Heroes & Demons, s1 e12)

Yeah, our first holodeck episode + our first Doctor episode! This one is pretty silly but it's a capital-R Romp and I'm here for it.

Once again this is an episode that begins with resource management! One of the things that has been cracking me up during this rewatch is what a hands-on and, perhaps, micromanager Janeway is. She really does love science and is always going on away missions, peeking over people's shoulders, and in this case, beaming aboard samples of "intense photonic activity" to see if they can be used in the ship's power converters. No one seems to mind, but there are presumably some off-screen science officers who are grumpy because they never get to do the fun labwork.

Janeway hair watch - the "bun of steel" has been swapped out for a side-swept French twist kinda thing. It's definitely an improvement, though the twisty parts are slightly fussy and overcomplicated. Damn this woman would look good with an undercut! Anyhoo.

If I were sending the Doctor on a fantastical adventure, would I choose Beowulf? Perhaps not - Hollywood depictions of the "Dark Ages" do little for me - but it's an okay time. I appreciate the inclusion of Freya; shieldmaidens are authentic to early Scandinavian culture if not to Beowulf itself. And I have always enjoyed Unferth as a side villain - he is the ultimate undermining coworker and I love that he has existed in literature for at least the last millennium. We all have our inner Unferth and I think that's fine.

Shame they're not all speaking in alliterative verse, or that the forest looks like no forest that ever appeared in Denmark, or that the Doctor is eating what appears to be a giant turkey(????) leg despite it being pre-Columbian Exchange times, but none of that is the point.

Watching the Doctor laconically roleplay his way through this adventure is, of course, a fun and silly time. He is such a fish out of water and his blunt, uncomplicated responses are all accidental zingers. By the end he has really come into his own and his moment of heroism feels earned, facing down Unferth with the absolute banger line, "The only reason you won't die is that I've taken an oath to do no harm." I wrote big doctor energy in my notes and I think we can all agree with this assessment.

I should probably be mad about Freya getting fridged, but, like, she feels surprisingly three-dimensional for a fictional character? And at the same time, she is an in-universe fictional character and it doesn't matter? It's complicated, since both she and the Doctor are holograms. From where I'm standing, she genuinely had her own character arc and her death felt meaningful on its own terms. I will have things to say later in the series about the Doctor's sexuality, but I don't think I'll say them here.

The Doctor makes peace with the glowing squiggle (sorry, photonic life form) and the captured crew are restored, including Harry Kim in his very cute LARP outfit. I am always here for Harry being the absolute dorkiest of dorks; in this episode he looks like he is cosplaying Bilbo Baggins.

As mentioned in an earlier review, I am an ex-ELCA Lutheran (Lutheranism and I are still pals, we just weren't right for one another) so I was tickled by the Doctor briefly taking on the soubriquet of Schweitzer. I am not culturally Lutheran, but Albert Schweitzer is definitely a big Lutheran hero and gets Lutherans going (other things that get Lutherans going - potlucks, Prairie Home Companion, "A Mighty Fortress is our God").

After watching this episode I went down a Schweitzer rabbit hole and was reminded that, in addition to his humanitarian work, he also wrote one of the important "historical Jesus" books, in which the facts of Jesus's life were reevaluated. It was so interesting reading about his (shockingly recent) rediscovery that early Christianity was basically an apocalypse cult. Schweitzer was down with this, because he thought it was punk rock or something. I find this approach to religion - religion as something that can be analyzed, that is both culturally contingent and, at its nucleus, contains a critique of powerful political and social forces - such a compelling antidote to gray goo evangelism, in which no belief is ever examined. This is not to excuse Lutheranism for its complicity in many shitty things, or to privilege belief over various forms of nonbelief, but the fact is that many of us have a Christian worldview lodged in our brains whether we like it or not, and it helps to spend some time thinking about what Christianity actually is, deciding what we'd like to hold onto and what's better discarded.

Sorry! This isn't a theology blog! I, ah, definitely can't promise I won't do it again.

Hardly gripping television, but a pretty good entry point to a beloved character's journey. 3.5/5 improbably sized turkey(!?!?) legs.

[yurimother]

LGBTQ Visual Novel Review - OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos

If you are at all interested in Yuri or visual novels, you will have undoubtedly heard of OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos. The Yuri rom-com was one of Steam’s top 20 February releases, and it hit the trending page on the platform. These accomplishments are incredible, and it is lovely to see both a visual novel and a Yuri game get so much love and recognition. However, whenever a title succeeds and manages to make an impact outside of the Yuri community, it always brings up a few questions. Mainly, does it deserve to be one of the few Yuri titles to obtain “mainstream success” and is it a positive ambassador for the genre, one which can further Yuri’s popularity and pull new consumers into it? These concerns boil down to one question, is it good? Usually, this inquiry is pretty quickly answered, with most elements of a product either being positive or negative. However, OshiRabu delivers more of a challenge. There are some fantastic parts to this game which I applaud and gush over, yet there are also several problems, both major and minor. The dichotomy between OshiRabu’s highs and lows is possibly the strongest I have ever seen in a Yuri title.

OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos is the debut game of SukeraSomero, the new sister brand of the excellent Yuri studio, SukeraSparo. The plot follows Akuru Hayahoshi, an otaku with an obsession with her “husbandos” from gacha games and seriously bad luck. One day she bumps into a cute and bubbly student, Ren Furutachi. After Ren shows off her uncanny good luck to Akuru, a miscommunication sees Ren believing that Akuru confesses to her. For Ren, it is love at first sight, and she persistently negotiates her way into living with the older woman.

The rest of the game flits between comedic moments as Akuru and Ren live together. Examples include the girls shopping for a new bed, since Ren insists on sleeping next to Akuru, and Akuru creating boys’ love doujinshi with her friend Shino. There is, of course, a climax, which will not be spoiled in this review, and three possible endings, depending on two-player choices. An optional 18+ DLC expands on one of the endings and offers several explicit scenes.

There are some enjoyable aspects of this plot. For one, it is light and pleasant, never letting itself settle too much or grow stale. The situations are not hilarious but enjoyable and well suited to the with the characters’ personalities, and establishing several recurring themes and jokes, such as Shino teasing Ren and Ren accusing Akuru of cheating. There is an excessive amount of adorable fluff, which matches well with the overall tone of the game. These delightful moments cater to a variety of interests and fixations, so every reader is likely to find something they like. My personal favorite was a brief imagination sequence where Ren and Akuru have a child together, cute Yuri stories about women raising a kid are one of my weaknesses, and the reason Voltage’s Lovestruck has stolen hundreds of dollars from me.

The writing is also fantastic. The descriptive prose makes me laugh at the poor quality English translations we had a decade ago, and sometimes still unfortunately get. SukeraSomero deserves a great deal of praise for the simultaneous English, Japanese, and Chinese release. It is amazing that everyone got to experience this game together all over the world, without having to wait years for a possible license and translation. English translator Meru is one of the best in the business, and her work shines here. Her adaptation is amazing and fits the games’ modern setting and feel. I personally do not care for the amount of internet culture language included, such as Ren calling Akuru a “thot,” simply because such terminology tends to become dated quickly. However, I will defend the creative choices as accurate to Oguri Aya’s original story.

There is one more major compliment I have to give this game, and it is a big one. OshiRabu is extremely queer. While most Yuri titles exist as lesbian or lesbian adjacent content with little construction of LGBTQ identity, for example naming, displaying meaningful sexual and romantic relationships, or showing any aspect of queer culture, OshiRabu does all of these. I was floored when, early on in the story, Ren confesses to Akuru that she is a “lesbian.” The word lesbian is actually used directly in the visual novel, an unfortunate rarity for the Yuri genre. I even swapped the game into the original Japanese to confirm, and there again was the coming-out moment; the word “lesbian,” in all its glory, was planted right on the screen. This fantastic scene was not a one-off occurrence either.

Throughout OshiRabu, Ren continuously mentioned her homosexuality, which is usually juxtaposed by Akuru pondering her own sexuality, which she defines as an attraction to 2D men and nothing else. Although, her identity obviously changes because you know the women must end up together by the end. Some other excellent scenes feature queer representation. For example, at one point in the game, Akuru goes to a gay bookstore where another woman approaches her. When trying to explain that she is not interested, Akuru almost exclaims, “I’m normal,” a sentiment which she quickly realizes is hurtful and prejudice with some spectacular self-reflected narration. Moments like these offer nuanced and thoughtful presentations of LGBT culture and are the definite highlight of the game.

Sadly, not every aspect of the visual novel is as fantastic as these. In fact, many parts of it range from unfortunate to downright atrocious. First, the characters, while not awful or unlikeable, have some harmful qualities to them. Akuru is distant and introverted, which often leads to her being cold or even rude to Ren, which is never confronted or resolved. On her part, Ren is sadly the stereotypical aggressive lesbian, and frequently invades Akuru’s personal space, a topic which is again never reconciled. It is fine to have a character make problematic choices, but when their actions do not have consequences and conflicts have no resolution, it is a significant issue. The only character I unequivocally enjoyed was Shino, as she spends the whole game humorously teasing the two.

Speaking of conflicts, the final dramatic twist comes about as a result of Ren running away and refusing to communicate with Akuru. It turns out, minor spoilers, that she was testing her, which is a pathetic and ridiculous action which in real life can and should have serious repercussions or even end the partnership. Additionally, the topic of Akuru’s shared affection for Ren and her virtual husbandos, which is an immense source of stress for Ren, is not addressed in the base game, only the DLC. The extra content has its own set of problems too.

It is not uncommon for visual novels to include adult content in a separate patch so they can sell the base game on Steam. However, such adult patches are usually free, and OshiRabu’s is not, instead it sells for $4.99. This price is on top of the $24.99 base game, which means you are shelling out 30 dollars for the complete experience. An experience which, mind you. only clocks in at about 3 hours, hardly what I would call a value. It is an additional shame because the adult content is really well done. All the 18+ scenes, except for maybe the brief first one, showcase a tender loving relationship and skillfully written erotic content, although one or two metaphors did not land very well. However, not every player will want the 18+ content, and OshiRabu essentially forces them to play through it if they are going to see all the base game’s conflicts resolved.

There is also an unfortunate amount of service. While most of OshiRabu’s service is just sweet and cute moments between the characters, there is plenty of exploitative artwork designed to cater to specific players of a more perverted persuasion. Ren is usually the subject of such content, with shots featuring her panties and one extremely revealing cosplay outfit consisting of little more than two strips of cloth. Obviously, some players will enjoy these aspects of the game, but they did not work well for me, especially when I compared such clumsy service with the robust adult content.

However, this exploitative artwork, along with the rest of the game’s art, is phenomenally well crafted. Artist and character designer DSmile creates detailed and colorful illustrations that match the light comedic tone of the game. The adorable and vibrant artwork, drawn in a light watercolor style, makes my heart sing! There are also plenty of CG pieces, over 20, including the DLC, which adds six more. Given the games short length, this means you will see a new CG every ten minutes or so. The UI is also incredibly clean, easy to navigate, and blends well with the aesthetics of the art. My only complaint visually is that the sprites are entirely static. Except for different facial expressions and a few outfit changes, they are always the exact same, standing like flat mannequins against a backdrop. There is no animation or even alternative poses for them.

The voice acting is similarly high quality. Voice actors Nekomura Yuki, Kitaooji Yuki, and Waou Kirika all give fantastic performances in Japanese, and the quality of the recordings is consistently amazing. Even the adult scenes are voiced and showcase the range of talent present. The music is not nearly as good, but it does not intrude either. There are enough tracks to prevent the music from getting too dull, although the central theme and one of the tracks, “Let’s Go Out!” push this boundary a little far. Unfortunately, none of them are too memorable either, and I can guarantee that I will never be touching the BGM tab of the extras menu.

OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos is a highly polished and visually impressive experience. The visual novel contains incredible artwork and is well constructed, showing the promise and talent of SukeraSparo. The stellar, although unfortunately necessary, adult DLC, and inclusion of LGBT themes are superb aspects that could have made playing this game a blast. However, a poorly constructed story, weak characters, and a high price tag compared to the amount of content offered severely detract from the game’s success. If you do not mind excessive service or are interested in lots of cute Yuri moments, pick this one up when it goes on sale.

Ratings: Story – 5 (6 with DLC) Characters – 4 Art – 9 Voice – 10 Music – 5 LGBTQ – 10 Sexual Content – 5 (9 with DLC) Final – 5

The visual novel is available on Steam and MangaGamer

[eorzeasntm]

ENTM Tumblr Cycle 11

Round Six: Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, and Legends from Around the World

Whew, that title is a mouthful, but we wanted to ensure that everyone had a chance to pick a story that had meaning to them.  We had a tale from Japan, legends from England and Nicaragua, and a whole passel of Grimm’s tales to bring us full circle.    The judges and the community all agreed that this week’s best fairy tale cosplay was:

Ni’ko Shae for Puss in Boots

The decision to go with a vertical shot showed off those long kitty legs to perfection, and the choice of an action shot in a dungeon (since this round was free style) let the story fully come to life.  Congratulations!

Our guest judge this week was Momoko, the co-host of ENTM Instagram Cycle 2.  Thanks Momoko!  We did a full on judge swap so you can also check out my critiques for IG Cycle 2, Round Two on our Discord channel!

For the Tumblr models, your critiques for this week are below if you keep on reading.

Judge Momoko

Kota:  I love your glam for this!! It really feels like a Hollywood take on what Little Red Riding hood would wear. It’s also very very easy to tell which fairy tale you’re showcasing, so big props to you!! The apples in the opposite corner to you help to add a couple more pops of red to the overall pic and help balance it.

Yomu: I hadn’t heard of this legend before, so first off, I wanna say thank you for teaching me something!! I thought your use of the Nanamo minion was so incredibly cute and creative!! I think the lighting was just a hair harsh on her, though, and we sort of lost all of the cute pink colors on her, but I also thought how you framed the upper half of the pic with bamboo was both a clever way to stay true to the legend and keep it from having too much empty space!!(It might take me a bit to send them all out today, ‘cause I’m at work, but I promise they’ll be sent today

Haila:  This was such a fun entry!! I’d never heard of La Mocuana and had to read about it, but I loooooove monster girls and creepy folklore in general, so I’m so happy you went with it!! After reading about it, I think you fit the story to a T!! I love the expression and how it’s half-hidden, and the colors/filter really tell that you’re by yourself in a dark cave. I will say that your hair blended in a little too well with the background, but other than that, yours was so creative and fun!!

Peaceful:  How creative!! I never would of thought of doing King Arthur, but you really nailed it!! It’s extremely easy to tell which legend you’re replicating. Your picture’s colors are a little dull and faded, which halfway lends to it, but it also makes it a little muddy. However, I think you adding that soft back lighting over your shoulders easily draws the viewer’s attention back to you, which was really clever!!

Adam:  I think your choice in legend was really interesting!! There’s all sorts of aquatic-based stories, and I feel like Sinbad would be a little more difficult to convey, so props to you for choosing something challenging!! I wish I could’ve seen a more dynamic pose/more of the boat you’re standing on, but the soft muted colors in the background are such a nice combination with the yellow pop of your glam!!

Bria:  Beauty and the Beast is my favorite story!! I really liked your glams and how the colors complimented each other. However, it is a little difficult to tell exactly which fairy tale you’re emulating without the title, and it’s hard to see who the specific model in the picture is. But I also thought that your garden courtyard background was a cute way to imply that you’re at a fairy tale castle!!

Luma: Your choice for your story was way too cute!! I never would’ve thought of doing Jack and the Beanstalk, but I’m so glad that you did!! I think that your choice of environment was super cute, creative, and resourceful!! My biggest thing was that I couldn’t see your face, and your glam colors blended a little too well with your background, but I also liked how unbalanced your picture was; it really helped showcase how giant that beanstalk was!!

Ni’ko- Yours was my most favorite picture!! Your glam was so cute (going for that monotone look to match your hair and tail was a really clever way to make yourself look like a cute tabby), and the boots!! THE BOOTS!! The way that you zoomed out the camera to help elongate your legs was such a clever way to bring focus to the main part of your legend in an almost cartoony way, which I’m a big fan of. I think that your weapon choice and overall color palette is extremely well-done, too!!

Judge Ona

Haila: I learned about this folktale when I took Spanish in High School. Our teacher was pretty twisted, but that’s why everyone loved Senora. I was super excited when Kat told the judges that you did this tale, and genuinely LOVE how you captured it! She hides her face and wanders the forests driven mad by betrayal. If you aren’t the vision of mad, I don’t know what is!

I love the color palette here. Sticking with blues, and only a hint of pinks, you create an eerie vibe. With the filter appearing almost translucent over you, it creates an illusion that you are actually the translucent one.  The glamour choice is phenomenal. In the story it says she is dressed in silks, and this is extraordinarily flowy.

My only real critique is that I cannot see your entire body, and although the filter gives a spooky feel, I wish you could have found a cave entrance or a body of water or something to add to the background. Regardless of this, this shot totally encapsulates La Mocuana, and I am so glad you picked something from Nicaraguan culture.

Ni’ko: If you keep changing Ni’ko’s color I will never know who I am looking at.

However, Ni’ko, I love the choice here! I love how you did a non-human fairytale, where your race could be used to your advantage. I love how you are being showy with your pose, as Puss and Boots most definitely was. Sword up, foot pointed forward toward the front of the image and back hand outstretched as if you’re saying “is that all?”. I also LOVE that your glam looks like the humanoid version of the character we all know; it was an excellent choice to do a big jumpsuit instead of flashy armor.

The lighting is well placed, bringing the viewers eye to your face and the rapier, and the decision to battle such a big enemy was an excellent choice so as its size does not compete with you, because much of it lies just off screen from you.

My only real critique here, is that I wish you maybe had a smirk on your face instead of the blank expression here. A smirk would have conveyed that you are about to kick this monster’s behind, and you are a feline, not a knight. I still love this image and genuinely believe it is one of your strongest yet.

Peaceful: I love your choice of story. Sword in the stone, King Arthur before he was king! It’s a well-known tale, and it’s a strong story to try and cosplay. Unfortunately, you took a big chance and it didn’t quite pan out how maybe you envisioned. However, this image has many strong characteristics, and I would like to go over those for you.

First, your use of this emote or action, shows movement in your character. Bracing yourself to pull the impossible sword from solid stone. You have determination on your face and are focused on the sword. The choice of location lends to the story and is the perfect choice. I would try to avoid the large amount of deadspace in the upper right corner. I know you wanted to get Merlin in the shot, but I think you could have done without him, and closed further in on yourself.

Try next time to place a light on your face instead of the rock in the front, make sure to avoid dead space in the image, change the angle of the image so that its not an upskirt shot which often makes the physics of the clothes act funny, and be mindful of the background (that weird little purple light is very out of place. I think you have some very strong elements, and some weaker ones that you can work on for next week! Remember, you can ask Kat for advice and feedback before submitting.

Yomu: Yomu finds a tiny human in a tree and immediately believes that he may have had too much to drink.

The facial expression had me in tears. You are genuinely freaked out by what you have just found. Your emote here shows excellent action and I can feel the same startling feeling that this woodcutter is feeling! I am pretty sure anyone would feel immediate concern and confusion if they were in this situation.

I love the glamour here, as the story is Japanese in origin, the use of a Japanese style robe helps to place the story’s origin. I am a little concerned about the physics of the robe, however, as it falls slightly unnaturally. The spotlight on your minion is perfect, as the story talks of a shining girl 3 inches tall. Also, excellent choice of filter with particle. I do wish, however, there was a bit more blur to the minion, as this close of a shot lends to distortion and pixelization.

Overall this is a strong image and you do a wonderful job telling the story of the woodcutter. I would loved to have seen more of this story. Try to take into account depth of field, and physics next week. Thank you for also thinking outside of the box and giving us a story from Japan!

Judge Wulf

Bria, you and your costar’s outfits are very well color coordinated! Your location choice is also very appropriate, I feel, since that area of Idylshire gives off a very regal and proper feel. I am a bit concerned that you hair blocks your face! You’re the star of this photo, so make sure you’re the one we see the most of! Always remember: when working with a costar, make sure that they are there to support you and make you look good! That being said, I adore the chemistry between the two of you. Can’t wait to see next week’s shot!

Luma, I admire the lighting in this shot. I am a major fan of bright colors, and you’ve really made the greens, browns, and yellows all come together in this forest scene to make it look both awesome and welcoming all at once. Going with a vertical shot was also a very good choice, I believe, because it makes the “beanstalk” look much more large and imposing, and by contrast you come across much smaller! My main note is this: Since you’re kneeling down and facing away from the camera, you do kind of look a little cloaked in darkness upon first glance. This is a simple fix, though! Just make sure to light up your character a bit more! Once again, I’m really impressed by your concept this week!

Ni’ko, the story of Puss in Boots is one of those that I read over and over again as a kid, and I think you’ve captured a very nice look using the equipment and colors in game! The monster looming over you is also an amazing touch, as it makes you look small, and even more true to the tale! I’m very impressed with your shot this week, but if I had to nitpick, I’d say that it’s only a little off that you aren’t looking at the boss’s face, instead looking through them. Like I said, that’s only a small note though! Very good job this week!

 Peaceful, I instantly knew this was the story of King Arthur! Using iconic imagery to give out key details of what you’re cosplaying in a very important part of any cosplay picture, and I’m glad you’re doing that here! The picture is...very dark though. It may be just my computer monitor, but I find it pretty difficult to see your face or other details about the picture. Could this be an issue with the filter? I’ll tell you where all the darkness does work, though: in the forest behind you. The darkness gives the forest a very spooky vibe, and I’m honestly a little unnerved! For the next week, make sure your character is well lit and visible. Good luck! 

Judge Terrini

Adam: I feel underwhelmed by this shot. You're glamour does nicely call to an Arabic pirate, and there's the boat and water and distant shore but it doesn't really draw on the charm of the Legend of Sinbad. He was one of the early Swashbuckling archetypes and you seem very mellow in this pose. A more dynamic pose and angle would have been nice to see here, something swinging your sword or at least looking away from the camera would have been better to capture the sense of something more. This is a myth, a legend, so you want to capture people's imaginations like the story you're drawing from. Also watch your background composition when you go for something scenic like this. The weather condition colors everything to be rather samey and the sea and sky are both similarly rippled and plain so they come across as uninteresting to the eye. Play with angles and don't be afraid to drop things from your concept for the sake of better composition. Play with it.

Bria: This shot is very playful, and I do like the use of colors (love them blues and purples) as well as the fountain backdrop, but as a depiction of Beauty and the Beast it comes across as a reskin mashup of the Disney movie. It might have been nice if you had your guy wearing an ifrit mask or lion mask or something to up the beast factor, or perhaps went for a different scene from the story. When a competition is fierce, you've gotta push creativity to the limit and really be memorable. 

Haila: I'm not familiar with the fairy tale you're spinning here, but still, I'm entranced. The effects and colors you've chosen with this pose tug at my heart, like you're despairing inside a storm of magic, struggling and pushing onwards. This must certainly have been a moving fable, and your depiction here makes me want to know more. 

Kota: I love the colors captured in this shot, and your glamour is so cute! It's really spot on! Taking the picture by the Apple Trees in North Shroud was great to bring that touch of red into your background as well. The angle of the ground is a bit off-putting and it might be nice to have something more to the image on the ground to enhance the theme with more of a "path". There are some fences in that area too that you might have made use of to that effect. Overall, still a lovely shot.

Judge Nadede

Kota Tumet: This is a pretty good image from you this week. I knew right off the bat that you were Red Riding Hood without looking at the caption, so glamour and your setting did it’s job. I like the lighting that you have and very nice use of depth of field that you have going on there. Your composition I felt was nicely put together as well. I do find myself kinda wishing you were able to incorporate the wolf somewhere within your image as it seems like the only thing missing to make this feel truly complete. So far though, to me, this is your strongest image so far. Keep up the good work.

Yomu Kazul:  I have to admit, yours was one of two stories I actually had to look up and read. After reading “Tale of the Bamboo Cutter,” I felt that you did a good job portraying the scene of the little girl popping out from the bamboo. The composition is nicely done and having the “little girl” looking at you helped at least guide my eye up to you and then back to her with you looking right at her. I thought it was a nice touch using Nanamo minion for the little girl instead of a lala as, if I remember reading right, the little girl was just a few inches or so tall when she pops out of the bamboo. So I applaud attention to detail there. My qualm however is when zooming out to get an overall view of the image, your foreground is a bit on the bright side and going back to where your face is in the image, it’s a bit on the dark side. I would suggest try to make the light to where it is a bit brighter towards you and not so bright closer to the audience. Overall, nice work.

Luma Lee:  Luma, while I like the composition of your shot this week, the bottom part where you are at was hard for me to make out. I wouldn’t have thought Jack and the Beanstalk at all just from looking at your image because it was a bit muddled. After reading the description that you had chosen “Jack and the Beanstalk,” it made a bit more sense as to why there is an emphasis on the tree. What I’m having a problem with is that your lighting could use work, especially around your character. With you in the shadows and your outfit is the same color as your background, you blend in a bit too much. I also think a different filter would have worked in your favor as well. So far this is your best shot compositionally for me, just work on the lighting a bit more. Good job.

Adam Evershot:   While this is a nice shot for you Adam, I felt like you could have done more with the story of Sinbad. I find myself wishing that perhaps you could’ve brought in extras to help you with a “crew” of some sort or brought some part of the story to life. I do find the atmospheric lighting of your image nice, I do wish that you could have done a bit more with the lighting on your character to bring you out just a bit more. Just remember when doing a cosplay type shot to find a way to bring out the story of that character more. Overall good work.

[evendesignsbydearenblogspot]

CORSAGES

From culture to culture and across generations, flowers have played an enduring role in celebrating the joyous occasions that life brings

As we have discussed on our previous post boutonnieres add a sense of style to the grooms and his grooms men,so does a delicate corsage when it comes to enhancing the mother of the bride and the maids on this happy day.

But wait,what is a corsage?If your wondering,Lets start by schooling you,

A corsage is a small bouquet of flowers worn on a woman's dress or around her wrist for a formal occasion. Traditionally, they are given to her by her date.In some traditions, corsages are worn by the mothers and grandmothers of the bride and groom at a wedding ceremony.Another cute and chic way to rock corsages is for brides to wear a corsage while the groom  wears a matching boutonnière.

If you're the type of bride who can’t see yourself toting around a bouquet all night long, consider swapping the classic arrangement for this unexpected trend. Or you can also carry the corsage as if it were a classic posy if you still want something to carry down the aisle.

Another option you can consider to spice things up is to have all your guests wear  corsages. You can easily set up a DIY station where guests can create their own  corsages to wear throughout the wedding. Place containers filled with different flowers and other accessories along with some instructions for your guest to create their own corsage or boutonniere. It's a cute way to involve your guests, a great favor idea, and think of all the pretty pictures you will have!

Tips

It's best to have your flowers delivered one or two days before the wedding, so you don't have to have them in your possession for too long. Coordinate with your florist for the best delivery schedule. However, you must order them in advance to ensure the availability of both the flowers and the florist.

The easiest tip? Order hardy flowers in the first place. Hardy flowers are strong blooms which can withstand various temperatures and conditions without wilting or looking worse to wear. Some hardy flowers include roses, orchids, chrysanthemums, and baby's breath. Make sure to ask your florist for other hardy blooms to recommend based on their experience.

There a few ways you could wear corsages

Corsages that are pinned - are usually worn on dresses with sleeves. One thing that you should also consider is the material of the dress. If you or your bridal party will be wearing something delicate and soft, like lightweight silk or lace, be careful to not use too heavy flowers so that they won't damage the fabric.

On the cuff - Others whose outfits do not accommodate a chest corsage can opt to wear flowers on their cuff. Some have it delicate with only a single flower, some others have it merrier. No matter which look you like, a wrist placement looks sweet and unbelievably dainty.

Handheld - Another way to bring your flowers with you is by holding them in your hands. The mini bouquet, also known as a posy, is a very popular option for bridesmaids at the moment. It looks beautiful, and is more versatile for bridesmaids as it doesn't meddle with their mobility in any way.

[diamond-song42]

Pone Reviews 31: Three’s a Crowd Happy Festivus and welcome back to Pone Reviews! In order to take your mind off that last-minute holiday shopping and inevitable time with the in-laws, I have concocted a review of a Season 4 episode starring Discord and Twilight. Twilight is at her adorkable-est in this episode, and Discord… well, let’s just say he’s up to no good. Here’s “Three’s a Crowd!” As usual, the moral first. “Even the most chaotic times can be good when you’re with a friend.” I find this to be very applicable for the holidays. See, I hate to break it to you, but life isn’t perfect, especially in December. People are elbow to elbow in the malls, scrambling to find things to give to loved ones and ease tension. And it’s highly unlikely most Christmahaunkkwanza events always go as planned. Yet there are ways you can make the most of it with your loved ones. Our oven broke around Christmas one year, so we couldn’t bake cookies. So we decided to forego the cookies and make Christmas fudge, which doesn’t require use of the oven at all. And here, Twilight and Cadance were interrupted by Discord during their travelling Star Swirl exhibit time. Even though Cadance didn’t get the relaxation she had hoped for, she still enjoyed herself because it was different than her slow life in the Crystal Empire. This is a great lesson that spans all generations. And maybe you don’t get what you want, but you get what you *need.* How about plot? It’s good character development for… Discord? Yes, I would say this episode doesn’t have much character development for Twilight and Cadance. It really enforces their characteristics, showcasing Twilight’s adorkableness and distrust of Discord and Cadance’s loving, patient nature and composure of a princess. As for development for Discord, the episode goes further with the idea that Discord hasn’t taken friendship too seriously after being revived. While Discord claims travelling to find the flower to cure his blue flu was a “friendship test,” let’s be real, we all know he did it just to screw up her time with Cadance. While it isn’t mentioned, it is clear he hasn’t quite embraced friendship all the way yet and takes advantage of his “friends” the most Discordy way he can. And he knows he can get away with it because Fluttershy is not there to defend him. But I hear you asking, “How is this different than his previous appearances?” Well, in “Keep Calm and Flutter On,” he doesn’t start changing his ways until the end. And most of Discord’s antics in “Princess Twilight Sparkle” are just annoying and not too disruptive to the plot, and the Plunderseeds were planted long before the start of his reformation. So the episode builds on established Discord characteristics and plants that good old-fashioned continuity. And it works, too! I really enjoyed this episode. Here’s some other things about this episode that tickled me: *OMG, a Discord song! It’s one of my all-time favorite songs for the show. Everything about it (including pop culture references to Harry Potter, Star Wars, Flashdance, and more) were incredible. John de Lancie also seems to be proud of it. I saw him at Emerald City Comic-Con and went to his panel. As he answered a Discord-related question, he added, “Did you all see my song?” to which he got applause. *The Tatzlwurm is COOL. Why do the coolest creatures get the least screentime? *As someone who was introduced to Gen 3 as a little girl, you can bet my heart nearly skipped a beat when Fluttershy mentioned the Breezies. I believe the Breezie episode hadn’t been revealed by that time, so there was a lot of nostalgia for me. *Hahahahahahahah Rarity pulls no punches hahahahahahahahah *Rainbow Dash complaining about Star Swirl was so Rainbow Dash. *Fluttershy’s Breezie-watching outfit is so cute! *Cadance’s train looks badass. Shame we haven’t seen it since this episode. *GET YA HANDS OFF MY SISTER-IN-LAW *Discord mentions Abyssinia during “Glass of Water”… isn’t a certain Capper from there? CONTINUITY FOR EVERYPONY *And Twilight’s Star Swirl costume is back! YOU GET CONTINUITY AND YOU GET CONTINUITY *Cuddle with a Pekingnese. And here’s some things that almost gave me a bit of blue flu regarding this episode: *Was Spike vomiting at the beginning? What was that all about? *HEY WHO’S THAT ORANGE PEGASUS ON CADANCE’S TRAIN? GO BACK TO EQUESTRIA GIRLS. *I feel like Pinkie Pie’s hyperactivity waxes and wanes. I shake my head at her being distracted by a BALLOON. *On the subject of Pinkie Pie, I’m kinda bummed we didn’t get a followup episode about the patio furniture sale like we did with the Breezies. *The Star Swirl logo is cool and all, but the way his beard wraps around is kinda… unsettling. *Discord swapping the manes on Twilight and Cadance also looks a little weird. *So… no explanation as to how Rarity and Applejack were cured of the blue flu? *There is no “Sunshine, Sunshine” dance when Cadance arrives and I am in withdrawal. *Okay, if Discord is as weak as he says he is, why are the ponies not calling him out on his OBVIOUS MAGIC USE? *Does Cadance’s magic bubble work on herself and Twilight when they’re not standing next to each other? All in all: An extremely Discordy episode with Discord development and continuity galore. But did he ever get his glass of water? 4 out of 5 rainbows 🌈🌈🌈🌈 That’ll do it for today’s Pone Reviews. Come back tomorrow where I prepare for Hearth’s Warming the only way I know how… with an episode review! Diamond out!

[enniewritesathing]

Based on this article. This is a SUPER long read, so... it’s behind the cut (RIP mobile users, maybe), and just some stuff... rambling even, lol. But, it’s an info dump, some insights, silliness... etc...

On Preparation:

Brian: “Oh, lord. I don’t know who’s crazier during training -- me or John.”

John: “It’s both of us.”

B: “Yeah... listen, when fight week is here in this house? It feels like every seam is going to burst. It’s chaos, it’s anxiety, the tension.”

J: “Ah, sorry. Hey, you told me to take it outside, so I did. There’s a small gym in the backyard. Pads, mirrors, the treadmill, I even hooked up the soundsystem. I’m usually in there twice a day. Three times if I’m lucky.”

B: “I usually don’t see him for days at a time. Sometimes it works out, because I’m on rotation shifts at the hospital. Then I worry that I’ll see this [jerks thumb at John] dumbass on a stretcher. It’s one thing to push yourself, but to the point of injury. Again.”

J: “He’s never going to let me live that one down.”

B: [matter-of-fact look] “He almost died.”

J: “And you call me dramatic? Brian, I didn’t [in mocking tone] “almost die”. I’ll tell that story later. I have a bunch. Before he kicked me out of the house, I’d practice in what’s now the green room. Wait-- what about when we were living at ina’s house? You wanna...?”

B: “No, what do you do now.”

J: “Ah. Well, wake up in the morning, around 4. Go out for a five mile run. Come back, stretching, then drills for three hours. If I’m lucky, there’s breakfast, full of carbs. 30 minute rest, then back to more drills. Then, shadow box with the mirrors for... [makes vague hand gesture]. When I’m at that point, it’s easy get lost in it. After that, more drills, cool down run, stretches, meditate, then dinner. Repeat until three days before a fight. It’s all meditation at that point. I’m not worried about making weight or anything like that.”

B: “Y’know, I didn’t realize we had that many mirrors until I watched.”

J: “I didn’t either. How many do we have?”

B: “I counted twelve. And they’re [makes wide armed gesture]. Sometimes, I have to pull him out of whatever he’s got going on in his mind. That’s how intense he gets. It’s amazing.”

J: “Really? [raises eyebrow] You said you watched...”

B: “Well, duh, I’m gonna watch. You’re so focused... a couple of times, I watched for an hour and you didn’t notice. Like I said, I don’t know where he goes in his mind. There’s a certain... energy that he has. It’s also the same energy that makes me a little anxious and it drives me a little crazy because I keep... visualizing something’s going to happen during the fight itself. I know-- I know it’s weird to think that far ahead, but I think about all the things that can go wrong.”

J: “Except the times... yeah.”

B: “Yeah. I have to get in that mindset when he’s getting ready for a fight, but I am not... I never feel ready and honestly, I never will.. But, when I watch him shadowbox, the way he moves and how sharp he is, how he flows, hell, the way he looks. He fights beautiful. That and those shorts you always wear... [smiles] hmm. I love it when he wears those and he has his hair down, and he’s all sweaty--”

J: [slightly embarrassed] “Babe, please.”

B: “But behind the beauty is something... I’d say even demonic.”

J: “Oh my god. You’re like the third person to say that. My opponents, I understand. But my own boyfriend? Demonic?”

B: “There’s a better word for it -- ah, scary. There are a couple of photos we have that’s in his uncle’s gym that... scares me. Because it’s like looking at a stranger or a peek at something you’re not supposed to see. I admit the one where you’re just standing there, just covered in blood is my favorite... but the one that scares me is...”

J: [thoughtful look] “Which one? I have a lot of them.”

B: “Over the trophy case. The one with you screaming and your eyes are super wide and hair wild. You looked possessed.”

J: “Oh! Yeah, yeah, that one? That’s probably the scariest I’ve ever seen myself. It’s like ‘holy shit, what did I become?’” And it’s only for a few seconds I’m like that. The funny thing is I don’t remember doing it and I don’t remember that fight...”

B: “Hell, when your eyes do ‘The Thing’.

J: “Oh, like this? [he turns to Brian. His eyes widen slightly for a moment and Brian shirks]’

B: Augh! Yes, that one. I’ve watched your opponents shrink during the staredown. You scare the shit out them before they do anything.”

J: “Really? Am I that scary?”

B: “Let me put it this way, if I never knew you like I do, I would say yes. Since I do, and I know how you work, then no. I realize that you’re a different person in the ring. I don’t know him other than what I see. The John in the ring is vicious and sinister. Dominant. I would say a monster. [sees John frowns] But that’s the only time I see that John. This John is the John I know and love dearly, and I guess no one sees that side of him, or even think that he’s even capable of it. He’s a very sweet person, so of course for me it’s scary at first, then I have that mindset.” [shrugs]

J: [stunned look] “Uh... wow.”

B: “It’s the truth. That’s what I think of you-- well, John in the ring.”

J: “Well what about... John in training?”

B: “Him? Oh jeez [counts on fingers] loud, ornery, obsessive... sometimes, I don’t even bother you when it gets close. He’s a jerk.”

J: “Ornery?”

B: “When he has to make weight, John doesn’t like it when I eat or --god forbid-- cook around him. I have to air out the house so he won’t get upset at not eating delicious food. He made me eat out on the porch a couple of times. He’s an asshole when he’s hungry. Imagine that for two weeks. The little things set him off. It drives me nuts. And it makes me want to wring his neck.”

J: “Yeah... I can’t lie on that.”

B: “The only good that comes out of it is that this [gestures over chest] looks great. [John looks exasperated] Oh, don’t give me that look. You said the same thing about my legs and ass when I ran track.”

J: “You’re rarely this... forthcoming with your thoughts.”

B: “Oh, sweetie, you should hear me when I’m at work. I brag about you all the time. Are you blushing?

J: “N-no?”

On Traveling:

J: “When I was younger, travelling was exciting. New places, new people, new cultures... Now? [sighs] It can be rough. Especially if it’s a overseas trip. I usually fly out the week before so I can get over the jet lag.”

B: “It’s rough when I can’t go.”

J: “It sucks, but it’s a sacrifice -- totally because Brian’s a nurse and honestly... it would be selfish of me take him out of a place where he’s needed, y’know?”

B: “He’s a little more nervous --just a teeny bit-- when he has to go by himself. I’m not there to calm him down. When I drop him off at the airport, it’s like... watching a warrior going to battle. Of course, I know he’s coming back, but it doesn’t make it less... dramatic?

J: “It is when we kiss.”

B: “Really?”

J: “I mean... I think about it the whole trip there. It’s a nice thought...”

B: “Ah. We got fussed at by security a couple of times because they’re not too keen on ~romance~. We’re not making out or anything like that.”

J: “That old guy?”

B: “Ugh, him. It’s always him too. I make it a point to piss him off when John comes back and I leap into his arms and give him the biggest kiss I can manage.

J: “Anyway, when we do travel together, we always fly if it’s far enough. Brian brings just about everything.”

B: “No, I don’t; I just like to be prepared.”

J: “Everything. I pack my clothes, my gear, headphones... that’s it. Brian packs like ten outfits knowing full well we’re not gonna be there that long and other things that are just...”

B: “I also like to have options. [nods. John sighs.] One time we flew to Japan-- I checked the weather before we left and it was cool -- John insisted that we didn’t need coats or anything like that, but I packed a few hoodies just in case. [beat] It was snowing when we got there. John only wore some short sleeves and jeans.”

J: “Okay, okay, so I got caught...”

B: “We got caught in the middle of a blizzard”. [gives a very pointed look]

J: [glares] “I like sitting at the window seat. Brian, though? A couple of times he’s had to swap seats to the emergency row because his seat is small.”

B: “Until we started springing for first class seats. It’s expensive, but it’s worth it. It’s one thing being tall, but when you’re wedged between two people... you get a little claustrophobic. In first class? Not a problem. We can sit next to each other and still have room to ourselves to sleep.”

J: “He’s really cute when he sleeps on the plane. Brian hates turbulance, so I hold his hand or, y’know, stroke his hair or something. The flight attendants always ask if he’s alright. They think it’s cute.”

B: “When we get to the hotel... we always get raised eyebrows. I mean, you see him, and then you see me, it’s like the beginning of a bad porno. ‘Twink Gets Stuffed By...’ eh, you get the idea.”

J: “I wouldn’t call it bad. I mean, bad would be out in the woods with Mother Nature and mosquitos joining in.”

B: “Or bears.”

J: “Or bea-- Brian.”

B: [laughs] “There’s this voice that he puts on too. I can’t describe it other than you remove the bass. Kinda like... when you talk in Filipino or something else.”

J: “It’s my friendly voice. When you have a voice like I do, it’s commanding and authoritive or something. So, to not frighten anyone, I speak higher. That’s it.”

B: “It’s too...”

J: “Fake?”

B: “Oh, absolutely. The rooms are always nice, so there’s that. One time we got a Junior suite... Best bed I’ve slept in.”

J: “It better be. I looked up the price of the bed. It was four thousand dollars.”

B: “No wonder rich people are always smiling...”

On ‘The Myth’:

B: “That myth is... It really depends. We’re still trying to find that sweet spot. A month is excessive.”

J: “A month is complete and utter bullshit.”

B: “See, it’s not a big deal for me because my wants are low to begin with; a month is no problem. Extra sex? Bonus. But John? I have never seen him so sexually frustrated on purpose in my life.”

J: “Not even--”

B: “No, because while it’s cute when you beg a little, I usually throw the bone after. This is like on a scale of one to one hundred, it was... a ninety-seven. You were like a cat in heat. A month long tease. And John doesn’t like being teased much. It pisses him off.”

J: “No sex for a month before a fight was the goddamn worst. I don’t know if it affected me because, that was the fastest fight I had. Knockout in 34 seconds in the first round. Caught ‘em with a liver shot with my knee.”

B: “It was a beautiful knee. Right after when the ref calls it, he looks like me like “Get your ass ready.” Soon as we got back to our hotel, I had very little warning... [looks at John] “I told him to hold back until we get home... he didn’t.”

J: “Hoo, yeah, no, I didn’t. I couldn’t wait.”

B: “It was a mess. I’m glad we had all those pillows around. I may have screamed.”

J: “Oh, don’t worry, it was a good scream.”

B: “I couldn’t walk straight for a week.”

J: [a rather pleased smile]

B: “A month is too excessive. For me on the receiving end. A couple of days? I can buy that.”

J: “A couple of days is fine, but... a month? Who the fuck thought that was a good idea? I thought I was going to pop...”

B: “You did. Repeatedly.”

On injuries:

B: “Injuries. [long sigh] They’re terrible. They’re terrible in general, but when it happens right in front of you, you just hope that they’re going to be okay after. When John fights, I just hope he wins with minimal scratches. That goes for his opponent too.”

J: “Injuries... they can and will happen. Do I want them to happen? Absolutely not because there’s nothing worst than training for half a year or whatever, and you get hurt and lose because of it. I’d rather lose by points and hell, a knockout before losing because of that. It sucks. And while I do fight hard, I never have the intention of injuring someone on purpose. Does that makes sense?

B: “Like, legal cheap shots?”

J: “Yeah. Those piss me off because that pretty much says, “I don’t know how to fight so I’ll do this instead.” It’s like in fighting games, you use that one power attack and nothing else.”

B: “What about the... ones that are pure bad luck?”

J: “The Benni fight. God, that was rough. [John leans back] I broke his leg. I know it sounds weird, but I’m glad it was a clean snap, they’re so much easier to put back together.”

B: [nods]

J: “The way he looked, his scream... I cried behind that. Obviously, I asked about him after he, uh, got to the hospital. Visited him even, and I apologized like almost every other word. He told me not get upset over it because -- it happens. It was an unlucky moment.

B: “He took that fight pretty hard and John started to hold back because of it. No one else recognized that, but I did.”

J: “Brian got on my ass about it. I mean, I’ve hit hard. I’ve broken someone else’s nose or, slashed their face with an elbow, knock a tooth out; you can bounce back from that easy, you name it, I probably did it, and I don’t mean to. But breaking someone’s leg? [he shakes his head] That’s life changing.”

B: “I did. Now, you wanna talk about the Shapiro fight or... both sides of it.”

J: “The Shapiro fight is the fight I [looks at Brian] almost died. It’s more of ‘getting into deep shit’. So, during the second round, my defense was absolute shit and he got a knee in when he clinched me. I heard two, maybe three pops. There’s a brief pause and he lets go. I’m ready to strike and... I remember feeling something hot [lifts up shirt, points to three lower ribs] around here and I couldn’t breathe. I was on the floor. Ref’s counting. It’s a dull pain, but nothing I can’t get back up from.

I get up. Ref gives the okay. When I took a breath, it felt like I got stabbed. I didn’t let Shapiro know by my face, but I guarded more. By the time he picked up on it, the round was done. I told my uncle ‘I broke something’. I was starting to feel dizzy. He asked me if I wanted to go on. I should’ve said no, and have him throw in the towel. My pride wouldn’t let me [laughs]. It was stupid of me--

B: “--and probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen him do--”

J: “--that’s fair. Third round starts. I’m barely holding it together. I set up a combo ,ends with a Superman punch. Boom. He goes down. Thank god I knocked him out... I don’t remember the rest, other than telling my uncle, ‘I can’t breathe. I’m gonna pass out. I’m gonna pass out--’I took this huge gasp [exaggerated gasp]... and then next thing I know, I’m at the hospital.”

B: “Before the third round started, I heard John and my heart sank. I knew he was going to go for it. I wanted to scream at him ‘don’t you do it’. He looked like hell. He looked like he was going to pass out the whole time. Honestly, I wished he did. After the fight, John was in trouble. He was hyperventilating, shaking. He passes out. I’m going crazy because he’s not moving. We get to the hospital. John’s broken 3 of his ribs, and one of them punctured his lung.”

J: “I was out for a month and a half. To say that Brian was pissed at me is an understatement. But saying that I almost died? C’mon, man. That’s too much.”

B: “You scared the shit out of me. And given what I see everyday at the hospital, that escalates quick. Hell, you really scared your mom.”

J: “She cursed me out. I’ve never seen her so angry in my life. Brian had to hold her back from trying to beat the shit out of my uncle.”

B: “Your mom is like a tiny wolverine; she wanted to fight everyone. I mean, she was right in feeling that way. Especially... y’know. You’re her only son now. I know that calling it, especially with something that, is a blow to your ego given what you said earlier. It sucks. I get it, but you live, so to speak, another day. Less recovery time.”

J: “Brian took it harder than I did, and I’m the one that fought. It made me reevaluate things when I saw him cry. Full on, soul baring cry. And one thing I promised to myself is to not make Brian cry over me. He starts crying, I start crying too. Like every time he looked at me, he’d just turn away so I wouldn’t see him.”

B: “The Shapiro fight was the stupidest thing he’s done. Other fights? I can live with.”

J: “That’s because you love the scars. Everyone loves them. The bad about mine is that, you can barely see them. My tattoos cover a lot of them up. If you’re good enough with elbows, you can fuck someone up. They are the sharpest point on your body. I got cut a couple of times. [pulls back hair] de la Rosa got me with this. Pissed me off more than anything else because I have a lot of hair and it takes a while to wash it. It kept it from really bleeding enough for a stopppage, so there’s that.”

B: “A lot of his opponents try to go for his face. Obviously.”

J: “I think they’re jealous. I always hear ‘I’m gonna bust up your pretty face’, ‘I’ll make you bleed’, so on, so forth. I never take it as an insult because, hey, they think I’m pretty.” [shrugs]

On defeat:

B: “When John loses... and he does, he takes it personally. Not as much as when we were younger, but he does.”

J: “I’m still working on it.”

B: “I have to let him mourn, but at the same time, I have to pull him out of it. That’s been... sort of my role in this. I give him three days. That’s enough time to cry together, mope together, emotional together... everything. The fourth day? I have to step in. Remind him that he’s come this far. It’s a learning opportunity. Great fighters have losThat’s all .”

J: “When I was younger, before Jake died, I promised I’d win every fight. I thought that, y’know, if I win, he’d get better. That... wasn’t the case. [sniffs] Even after he died, and I’d lose, I’d... beat myself up over it. Like I broke my promise to him. I take them very seriously.”

B: “He does.”

J: “When I’m beat, it’s usually by points. The worst defeat I’ve had was by 8 points.”

B: “The... Santiago fight?”

J: “Yep.”

B: “Ugh, those judges were awful. That whole fight was awful. Not as awful as getting knockout out. [shudders] It’s like you see his soul leave his body.”

J: “Oh my god, Brian.”

B: “I’m-- okay, of course when you’re knocked out, you don’t realize it. That’s the scary part of it -- he doesn’t quite fall at first, because, i-it’s a delay. His body keeps going. You look at his eyes, he’s not there. [he takes a breath] When he does fall, it’s quick. It’s like... a fish gulping for air. It’s for maybe thirty seconds and then he’s back up. Ugh...”

J: “It’s one thing to see it on tv, but when you see it up close, yeah, it’s uh... it’s brutal. I only remember what happens after. When I’m knocked out, it’s... different.”

B: “I can’t stand it... I was gung-ho at first, but, when we became boyfriends and watching him fight... it’s just scary. I’ll go for support, but it’s getting hard for me to watch him. I’m scared that...”

J: [grabs Brian’s hand] “I don’t hold it against it when he doesn’t want to go with me.”

B: “Not any more.”

J: “I can’t trust anyone else to braid my hair like you do...” [kisses hand. Brian smiles]

B: “Among other things.”

On Watching the Fight:

B: “I can watch most of it. When we started dating? Oh, I could barely stand it. I peeked through my fingers. John knows I’m there in the corner. I try not to yell. I can’t guarantee it when Noelle [John’s mother] is with me though. She’s contagious. I know you can’t hear us.”

J: “I do. You have a distinct voice.”

B: [shocked] “Really? Oh, boy, I’ve said... I’ve said some wild things.”

J: “He’s a shit talker. Like, I barely do it, but Brian? Oh my god. I don’t know which fight he said something about...”

B: “I said that the opponent moved as fast as my grandmother. [beat] She’s been dead for twenty years.”

J: [hearty laugh] “Jesus Christ, Brian!”

B: “I know, it’s terrible, but it was the truth! He was moving in slow motion. John took him out in the first round.”

J: “I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten you in trouble.”

B: “The key to great shit talking is knowing when to stop. It’s an art form. But the one thing I always love, no matter what, is his entrance.”

J: “Oh, are you going to gush again?”

B: “Yes, John, yes. I am. You don’t get to be humble again! When he’s announced, [in ‘radio’ voice] ‘Johnathan V! R! Davidson!’ [in normal voice] in so many languages and he walks out. Music’s blarin’, crowd is going apeshit. You can see the fire in his eyes. You can feel just the raw and absolute power he has when he stands there!

J: [noticibly blushing and trying to keep it together]

B: “The way he walks down the path... the swagger and confidence! It’s like he’s won the fight already and it hasn’t started. John... [sighs lovingly] John, you’re extremely sexy. I don’t throw that word around lightly. I should tell you that way more often!”

J: [his face is beet red]

B: “I don’t know what my favorite colors on him. Any color is good on him. I would say... man, a tie between all black and all white. Probably white. You can see blood better. Mm! And the way John moves during his war dance? It’s hypnotizing. [looks at John with a lascivious smile] Did it get hot in here or is it just me...?”

J: “Brian... mahal...”

B: “Oh, fine. How about this: it make me feel super gay for you. Most days I’m regular gay. But then? [scoffs] Holy shit. I feel blessed.”

J: “Didn’t know you had levels...”

B: “Well, now you know!

On Children:

B: “That’s... hmm.”

J: “Hmm... I think if we have kids, we’ll teach them how to fight. For defense and discipline. If they want to be like papa, great. If they don’t, great. I’m -- we’re not gonna push that on them. It wouldn’t be fair.”

B: “How did you and Jacob get into fighting anyway?”

J: “My uncle and aunt babysat us and we’d watch him going through his drills in the gym and given that we were both two wild and impressionable five year olds... my dad was actually the one to be cautious. Ina, on the other hand, she was for it. She practiced Arnis and, y’know, she was one of the top women in the nation, so...”

B: “That’s where he gets his competitiveness from.”

J: “It was more like ‘let’s see where this goes’. I think... that’s a good approach to it, right?”

B: “Yeah. A healthy approach to it.”

J: “But... if they choose to follow my path... that’s going to be hard. We’re gonna be the dads that have like, journeys watching our kids fight.”

B: “I don’t think I could take it. I have a hard enough time watching you fight.”

J: “It drove my dad crazy when me and Jake fought each other. Maybe... maybe we can wait until they’re teenagers. I mean, I’ve been fighting since I was five. That’s fucking crazy when you think about it. Well-- wait, I didn’t start competing until I was seven.”

B: “No, you had it right. You’ve been fighting your whole life.”

J: “It’s... gotten me through some tough times. A good outlet, if nothing else. I think I’d be a totally different person if I hadn’t started fighting. But... yeah, you’re right.”

Closing:

B: “Our relationship is uncommon for a lot of reasons, but I feel like it’s unique. There’s not a lot of... [thoughtful look], what would you say, John?”

J: “Uh, I’d say, it’s not for everyone. It requires a lot of communication and it also requires to really know and understand each other. We get into battle mode when I have my date. It’s the same thing I did for him when he went through med school; I made sure he was ready for tests and exams and whatever I could do to help him succeed. Brian makes sure that... I don’t do stupid shit when I’m training, he pulls me out of what place I go to. We’re so used to it, it’s second nature.”

B: “I’m there for him when he gets anxious, to listen to him. I’m there to get him through an injury he might get.”

J: “Yeah, Brian doesn’t... like to bring his work persona home, but, I dunno. I like him.”

B: “Oh yeah?”

J: “He’s sweet and gentle, doesn’t patronize me... doesn’t call me an asshole when I do something dumb.”

B: [laughs]

J: “Like everything, we just take it one day at a time. It’s a process. There’s ups and downs, plot twists, disappointments... it’s revealed flaws that we have, but it’s also made us stronger together. It’s a journey. It’s given us opportunities that neither of us probably never thought about.”

B: “Like paying off student loans, this house, not eating ramen every other night...”

J: “Sleep.”

B: “Oh, my god, sleep.”

J: “So, like I said. It’s a process, we’re taking it day by day. I don’t have a better person to be with than Brian. Love you.” [leans in and kisses Brian on the cheek before pressing his forehead against his.]

B: [smiles] “Love you too. [beat] Don’t think you’re getting out of doing the dishes tonight.”

J: [laughs] “It was worth a shot...”

[bigyack-com]

What Do Gen Z Shoppers Want? A Cute, Cheap Outfit That Looks Great on Instagram

For every Greta Thunberg and school-skipping climate change protester, there is another member of Generation Z buying inexpensive clothes on a smartphone. Their purchasing choices — fueled by influencer culture and catered to by a new wave of ultra-fast-fashion retailers such as Fashion Nova, PrettyLittleThing and Missguided (responsible for a £1 bikini that sold out in Britain) — are as much about how an outfit will look on social media as in the real world. Three Gen Z shoppers in America, Australia and Britain invited us into their homes to talk about what they buy, and why. All of them work after school or save money to pay for their own purchases. Their interviews have been edited for style and clarity.

‘I Browse Every Single Day’

Mia Grantham is a 16-year-old British high school student studying for her A-levels. She lives with her father and her younger sister, Annie, in Wilmslow, England, a town outside of Manchester. Her bedroom is small but immaculately kept, with a bulb-lit dressing table and pillow shaped like a speech bubble reading “You’ve Got This” on her bed. Mia’s interest in buying clothes ramped up about 18 months ago, when she started getting an allowance and attracting followers on her social media accounts. She has more than 1,500 followers on Instagram, gets around 500 views per story on Snapchat and spends three hours per day on her iPhone XR (about five hours on weekends and during vacation). Her favorite going-out look is a red dress. She owns 14 of them.How often do you shop?I browse every single day — at least once — on the Pretty Little Thing phone app. It’s my favorite, and I don’t look anywhere else, except if I see something on an Instagram influencer I like. My current favorite is Molly-Mae Hague, a star from the 2019 series of “Love Island.” She recently created an exclusive clothing range for PLT, which makes me like the brand even more. Normally I look at shopping apps at the end of the day before bed for about 10 to 15 minutes. But if there is an event coming up that I want a new outfit for, then I could browse for more than an hour. I don’t really go to bricks-and-mortar stores. If I do, I go to Primark. Sometimes H&M. Maybe once a month, probably less.What kind of an event needs a new look?It could literally just be a meal. Or a house party, or a friend’s birthday. It could also be school, where we have a dress code but not a uniform.Why is Pretty Little Thing your favorite fashion brand?I pay £8.99 as part of a yearly subscription, which gives me unlimited next-day delivery on anything I buy. I know all the delivery people really well now — they always know when I have plans on a Friday or Saturday night. I don’t buy from places like Boohoo.com or Missguided as I’d have to pay for delivery, which would be a waste of money. I buy something at least once a week, and my basket value can be anywhere from £5.99 up. Once it was £230. Last week I bought 11 items and sent back three. Seventy percent of the time I send some ordered items back.How many pieces of clothing do you think you’ve bought in 2019?Eighty? One hundred? Those are pieces I’ve kept.What is your favorite piece that you’ve bought, and how many times have you worn it?The ones I probably wear the most are gray leggings that cost £2.50. For going out, I bought a silky red dress with a cutout for a house party. It cost £12.50 from the PLT Shape collection, which is for people like me who have an hourglass figure. I’ve worn it out three times, which is a lot for me. Normally I just wear a dress once.Why only once?Because I’ll normally be in photos when I’m wearing it that are then posted on social media. I wouldn’t really want someone seeing me in a dress more than once. People might think I didn’t have style if I wore the same thing over and over. Style is about changing for whatever the situation you are in and for different events.When do clothes become old for you?Well, things like leggings that you just wear in private around the house you can keep for years. Dresses, when you’ve worn them: twice.Is price important?Of course. If I’m only going to wear something once or twice, I’m going to want to buy the cheapest possible.What else do you look for?Social media is a big consideration. I’m on Snapchat and Instagram, and occasionally Facebook. I take selfies for social media every single time I go out, first in my bedroom and post them online, and then always with friends or my boyfriend, Will, when I’m at the party. More people will see an outfit online than they probably will in real life. I’m on Snapchat the most because of its messenger function, then Instagram, where I have both a public and a private account and spend an hour per day.For IRL, if I see an item I like, normally I’ll search for it on Depop before I buy it so I can see what a real person rather than a model looks like in it. People buy and sell fashion so quickly, I can usually find even the newest things on there. Most of my friends do that too.What constitutes a more special purchase for you?An Oh Polly! dress. I buy them for about £20 from Depop, though new they cost about £40 to £60. Those dresses I keep — I have three of them. Teenagers don’t mind buying secondhand clothes like some older people do: You can get good looks at a cheaper price, or directly swap one dress for another online. I tend to sell lots of the clothes I don’t want in big batches on Depop. It gives me the money to buy new things. I also sometimes take big bags to consignment stores in town, where they give you a bit of money for your clothes depending on how much you bring in.Do you ever think about where those clothes go once you’ve given or thrown them away?No.Do you ever look at where your clothes are made?Yes. I’ve noticed quite a few are made in England, which shocked me. I thought they’d all be made in countries like China, India and Bangladesh. Also, we have been learning a bit in Sociology about how our clothes are made and the working conditions for people who make them. In some countries I know they don’t get very good wages. It’s part of globalization. I wouldn’t talk about it with my friends casually, but we do talk about it in the classroom.What do you think of sustainable fashion?It came on my radar three months ago, I’d say. I am hearing more and more about it because a lot of brands are now bringing out sustainable fashion capsule collections, where clothes are made out of recycled materials, for example. A lot look the same as the normal collection but cost a few pounds more. But if I’m honest, I do think: Why would I pay more, when I can get the same for less?

‘I Don’t Like to Repeat’

Andrea Vargas, an 18-year-old freshman at Hofstra University, loves hunting for sales. She looks for them on websites like PrettyLittleThings and Boohoo, as well as physical stores like H&M and Forever 21, where she can flip through the racks and, occasionally, find gems.“I go shopping when the season sales are on,” she said one Saturday night at her family’s home in Farmingdale, N.Y. She commutes to school and spends most weekend nights out with friends: getting dinner, maybe going to a party or a concert. Her plan for this particular evening was to go to P.F. Chang’s with three girlfriends. Her room is small, with wood floors and inspirational quotes in photo frames on her pale yellow walls. A Billie Eilish poster hangs opposite her bed. A guitar she made out of an old skateboard sits in a corner.Scanning the clothes in her room, she began talking about how she got them. “The back-to-school sales, the fall sales, the summer sales,” she said. “I love sales.”Her absolute favorite piece of clothing is a red plush jacket from Forever 21. She wears it relentlessly when the weather is right. “It’s just so cute,” Ms. Vargas said. “I feel like it dresses up an outfit.”Ms. Vargas pays for her clothes herself, using money she earns by working at Target. The red jacket cost her around $40, and she said it was worth every penny. But, she said, “I feel like there’s no point in spending $40 on a T-shirt. I personally feel like if the quality of the shirt doesn’t match the price, it doesn’t make sense for me to buy it. If a jean jacket costs $60 and I can find it for $20, I’m going to buy it for $20. Especially since I’m in college, I need to buy all these books.”Ms. Vargas guessed she had purchased between 100 and 200 items this year, including shoes and jewelry, and that her wardrobe comprises 500 or 600 total pieces. “I would say the majority of it is shirts,” she said. “They have to be graphic tees. I like a little quote on my shirt here and there. I have yet to buy new jeans. I like a lot of ripped jeans. I rarely buy shoes.”She doesn’t generally check where her clothing is made, and she doesn’t feel guilty about how much of it she has. After she’s done wearing something, it can have a second life. “My mom is from El Salvador and my dad is from Nicaragua,” she said. “They’re not wealthy countries, so I like to give back to people who don’t have a lot. It’s hot there, so I can’t send long sleeves, but I try to send shorts that don’t fit me, things that are still presentable and wearable.”She thinks the right amount of money to spend on clothes is $10 to $15 on tops, and $20-$40 on bottoms. For dresses, which are usually for a special occasion, she’ll go over $40. She estimates she wears each piece 15 times before ultimately donating it or selling it on Depop — but she also doesn’t want to be seen wearing the same thing every day on Instagram.“If I have a shirt in one of my previous pictures I try not to take a picture again in it,” she said. “I don’t like to repeat.”Ms. Vargas had invited her friends over to get ready. Alana Wilson, 18, said that Instagram plays a big role in her shopping life, too. The moon-and-stars earrings that sparkled beneath her hair were purchased off an Instagram ad. Almost all of her clothes are from Fashion Nova.“If it’s cute, it’s from Fashion Nova,” Ms. Wilson said. “Any time I have money I’ll do a whole spree on Fashion Nova. I like it because a lot of IG models have it.”Another friend, Sofia Barbetta, also 18, agreed. “I feel like I find most clothes I want to buy in Instagram ads,” she said. “I don’t even follow that many fashion pages, but I see an ad and I’m like, ‘That’s really cute.’”She unlocked her phone to show some outfits she’d posted on VSCO, a photo-sharing app. “I went through a camo pants phase,” she said of one look. “This outfit, I got inspiration from Twitter.” Ms. Barbetta said she’d gotten very into Twitter lately. She started a Post Malone stan account several years ago, but lately it had become a place to post personal things.An hour after Ms. Vargas began getting ready with her friends, she zipped herself into her outfit for the night: a pair of black platform military-style boots from Target, black and white houndstooth pants, and a black off-the-shoulder top from H&M.“I got this outfit yesterday,” she said. “I was like, ‘This is the outfit I’m going to wear.’”But first, her hair. Ms. Vargas propped her iPhone up in front of her and sat cross-legged in front of her mirror. She pulled Miss Jessie’s Jelly Soft Curls styler through her waves. “I wanted to get one of those vlogging cameras,” she said, “one of the Nikon ones.” For now, she uses her iPhone.Hours later she used it to Instagram a photo of her and her friends posing outside a restaurant in 50 degree weather. They had decided not to go to P.F. Chang’s after all, and were at Taste of Asia instead. None of them were wearing coats.“Trust me we were freezing,” she declared in the caption. But they were all smiling.

‘I’m Dressing to Be Seen’

Nicole Lambert, 20, lives in Sydney, Australia, with her parents and is studying for an undergraduate degree in public relations and advertising at the University of New South Wales. She tutors students on weekdays and works a retail job on weekends. When she has time off, she and her friends like to dress up and hit the festival circuit. On a recent evening, after spending the previous day dancing to EDM, she and her friend Helena Marshall got ready in her bedroom for a more relaxing dinner.We’re not influencers — but … When I’m dressing to go out, I’m dressing to be seen, which is weird to say because we’re not influencers. It sounds shallow, but I think in the back of your head you’re like: I probably should avoid wearing the same outfit twice.At the end of the day, I prioritize the look versus the practicality. And that’s so unbelievable.Working to be cuteMy friend yesterday at this festival had a really cute Tiger Mist top with hearts all over it, but it had off-the-shoulder sleeves. I felt so bad for her the whole day, because she couldn’t put her arms up. But she got cute photos, so it was fine. I know when you put something up on Instagram and it does well, you’re like, “Well, that was a good choice on my behalf.” I love it when people message, “Where did you get that from?” You know you’ve found something people can’t easily find.Staying relatableI think about what I’m going to post for a decent amount of time. It’s a very curated version of your life. You want to look good in your photo, but have a funny caption so people know you’re down to earth and relatable.That’s why we have private Instagrams, because it gets tiring. That’s where we feel fully free to post whatever. The tragedies of your life. The real me.Keeping it privateOn my main Instagram, people wouldn’t know I’m funny. Because I just overthink what I post: Will people get it? Are people actually going to laugh at that?Sometimes I’ll get a weird feeling where I need to get off social media. I know some people delete their Instagram, like just the app. But that’s admitting to yourself that you have a problem.Leaving shops empty-handedI look for clothes at least once a week usually — either for an occasion, or just as something to do either online or in store. I shop 60 percent online, 40 percent in person. But 75 percent of the time, I’ll go to the shops, have a look around, and not find one thing because I think everything is the same.I’m not afraid to put on something weird. I’m really big into animal print at the moment. Almost to the point where I’ll wear too much of it. I love my snake pants — and flares. Flares should never go out.Princess Polly and Tiger MistFor basics, 100 percent of my wardrobe is from Kookai. They’re always rotating really nice, classic things. I get a lot of stuff off Revolve, because there are so many different brands. You’ve got things there that you’re not going to see five people wearing once you’re out. From other online brands like Princess Polly, Tiger Mist. Sometimes it’s overwhelming how much stuff there is online. I could go on for hours.Often, on Instagram, I’ll scroll through the Explore page, and people just tagging outfits. It’s so helpful because you just click onto the account, find the item. That’s how I find the little niche things.Where were these dresses made?If I feel so amazing in something, I’m probably not going to look too hard into the price. But I don’t like investing a lot of money for something you might not wear too much. I like PrettyLittleThing for crazy things for cheap, because they just do interesting little tops or little dresses, clubbing clothes. Do I look at the labels of clothes? Not really. In the back of my head, I assume that I know where the clothes are made: in China.In terms of how much I would spend: average price of a dress, probably about $180 Australian dollars. Jeans, about $150. A good going out top, $50. I do like a nice pair of heels, so I’ve spent like $200 for a pair. But then again I’ve got ones for $50. In my wardrobe now, I’d say I have roughly 200 pieces.Cycling the wardrobe overseasI do a big spring clean every year and send boxes of clothes over to my family in the Philippines. One of my cousins has a market stall. So I assumed that maybe my stuff would end up there if they didn’t want to keep it for themselves.I would say 30 percent of my wardrobe would get pulled out. Maybe 80 bits of clothes. It makes a good dent.When I pull it all out and you see a big pile of clothes on your floor, you feel a bit sick. I’m glad that I can send it somewhere and it’s helping at least my family.Supporting sustainability — or notI want to support sustainable brands. But if it doesn’t work for me and what I’m doing in my lifestyle, I’m going to go with something else instead.Timing is important. For what I wore to the Listen Out festival yesterday, I ordered on Tuesday morning, it came on Wednesday morning: literally in 24 hours. That means so much to me. I’m the least decisive person and the least patient person. When miniature bags were in, I was obsessed with this one from London. You could get your initials on it. But it said it could take 30 days and I was like, never mind. I got a cute one from Mango.You’re pushing it after seven business days. If it’s a big order I don’t mind waiting for a week. But if it’s one thing, it’s like: Why? Read the full article

[shsl-shipper-gamer-fangirl]

Prompt: Naegi and Nanami swapping hoodies. That’s all I have to say. Go nuts. @rpbattleman

A/N Well they do have the same height and I do have an unhealthy obsession with hoodies so why not? In hindsight, I don’t know what happened. The characters wrote this themselves.

Hoodie Swap - Naegi and Nanami ft the rest of the cast

Wearing a hoodie was so much like second skin that they didn’t notice that they were wearing different hoodies.

Naegi wouldn’t even have noticed it and he probably would have gone home wearing it if his classmates hadn’t helpfully pointed it out.

“Halt! Naegi, how many times must we go over this? A hoodie is not welcome in a school environment. You are in clear violation of the school’s dress code.” Ishimaru was quick to reprimand him as soon as he entered the classroom.

“Huh? But isn’t it okay when it’s functional? It’s been getting colder lately so I thought the extra layer could help.” Naegi explained his reasons.

“I must admit that it is actually allowed to wear jackets provided that they aren’t needlessly distracting.” Ishimaru corrected himself and then pointed in accusation. “However! Yours is unconventionally designed! And quite honestly, I am distracted enough!”

“What do you mean? I thought it was plain enough.” Naegi replied with a lost expression.

“Can’t say I agree with your tastes for plain.” Mondo said from behind him as he reached out and pulled Naegi’s hood over him. “Cat ears eh? And here I figured you were more of a dog person.”

“What are you talking about?” Naegi asked, now more confused than before.

“I think it’s cute.” Maizono shared with a smile. “It’s unexpected but that’s what makes him look even cuter!”

“Master Naegi, if you would kindly listen to my request…” Yamada popped up beside him and positioned Naegi’s hand so that it was closed like a fist and raised beside his face. “Like nya.” He instructed as he demonstrated the action.

“Nya?” Naegi pawed uncertain as he tilted his head in confusion which only added to his catlike performance.

“Hold that pose!” Enoshima expertly slid in front of him and raised her phone to take pictures. “Okay now do that again with voice so I can get this on video.” She smiled widely behind her phone as she laughed. “Upupu… This is priceless! But I am willing to negotiate a price to any potential buyer.”

“Wait, is there something weird on my hoodie?” Naegi asked again as he slowly began to piece what was off with his garment.

“Well it’s not like there’s something wrong with the hoodie itself.” Fujisaki timidly answered. “It’s just that it’s… different from what you would usually wear.”

“Or is this something like your secret hobby?” Kuwata interjected with a smirk. “Because if it was, it’s cool, man. We won’t judge.”

Okay now that last remark convinced him that he was definitely wearing the wrong hoodie. He filtered his memories for any embarrassing hoodies he owned that he may have worn by accident. None seemed to strike him that would stand out. Last time he checked, he didn’t own any with cat ears unless… His eyes immediately went towards his sleeves and upon the familiar color, he confirmed just whose hoodie he was wearing.

“I’m wearing someone else’s hoodie…” He mumbled his revelation.

“Oh my, you’re quite the bold type to wear your girlfriend’s clothes.” Celes commented with a giggle. “Although it’s quite unconventional considering it’s usually the girl who wears the guy’s clothes afterwards.”

“W-What?!” Naegi could only spluter at her insinuation. “It’s n-not like that! In the first place, she isn’t even my girlfriend!”

“Back the fuck up. How did our resident herbivore land a girl before I could? I mean, I’m way cooler than him!” Kuwata took offense to the new information.

“With that kind of attitude, it’s no wonder.” Maizono commented offhandedly.

“So this is the source of today’s commotion? How absolutely trivial. I suppose this is the gossip that you commoner enjoy.” Togami scoffed from his seat. “Very well, consider this an honor. I shall allow you to indulge us in such to pass time.”

“Oh! Oh! I definitely want to hear this one!” Asahina all but squealed in excitement. “Yeah, tell us more about your girlfriend!”

Naegi blushed at that comment. “She’s not my girlfriend!” He denied.

“Hmm? Is that so?” Kirigiri intervened and although her face was the picture of calmness, there was a certain sharpness inflected in her tone, an underlying threat. “The evidence suggests others. Please, explain that by all means.”

“I didn’t mean to. It was an accident, okay!” He blurted out words without much thought in his panic.

“Naegi, that’s not nice to say about your girlfriend.” Asahina frowned in disappointment.

“Whether intentional or not, one must be prepare to take full responsibility of one’s actions.” Sakura reprimanded him as well.

“No, that’s not it. You guys are misunderstanding.” Naegi raised his hands in an appeal. “I was hanging out with a friend who happens to be a girl but isn’t my girlfriend and then I may have accidentally picked up her hoodie instead of mine.”

“Then w-why are you so d-defensive about it, huh?” Fukawa accused with a disgusted expression. “Just because you have a g-girlfriend now you’re g-gloating her already.”

“So you have a girlfriend now…” Ikusaba quietly sulked at one corner.

“Did you not hear what I just said? This is all just a misunderstanding.” He insisted, practically pleaded at this point.

“Chill, Naegichi. I believe in you!” Hagakure gave him a thumbs up in support.

“Hagakure…” Naegi smiled gratefully towards his friend. “At least someone’s on my side.”

“There’s no way you could get a girlfriend so aliens must have abducted your hoodie and replaced it with theirs which is filled with all sorts of probing stuff.” Hagakure added from way at the back of the room.

Whatever hope he had been filled with was instantly shattered.

“Ah, I should’ve known. It’s Hagakure. Why did I even expect?” Naegi sighed as he sank his face into his hands, defeated.

And as they hounded him with questions and camera phones, he took comfort at the fact that at least the hoodie was comfortable and warm just like how it reminded him of its original owner.

Nanami wouldn’t even have noticed it and she probably would have gone home wearing it if her classmates hadn’t helpfully pointed it out.

“Hi, Nanami. Welcome back.” Koizumi greeted her as soon as she returned. “Hey, that’s a new color on you.”

“Yeah, what’s with the outfit change?” Saionji asked offhandedly but quickly narrowed her eyes as she felt something unusual about Nanami’s choice in clothing. “Hey, is it just me or is that color disgustingly familiar?”

“Huh, what are the odds of that?” Komaeda said from behind as he just entered the classroom too. He smiled at her. “Now it looks like we’re matching.”

Nanami stare at Komaeda’s hoodie and then back to her own sleeves which she was slightly surprised to find them as dark green like his. She could already piece what had happened given the owner’s luck but it hardly fazed her. She could always ask for her hoodie after classes or tomorrow so she had nothing to worry about. Oddly enough, it fitted her quite well so she had no qualms wearing this in the meantime.

It was strange to wear green instead of her usual brown or blue one but it was just a bit funny since it complimented Komaeda’s own hoodie. “I guess we do match.” She smiled lightly.

There was a peaceful lull in the room… until all hell broke loose.

“Wait! Wait! Waaaaait!” Souda yelled and ran towards them with tears in his eyes. “You guys are wearing matching clothes like what couples do? Someone please tell me this is a joke before I faint.”

“What dark sorcery is this indeed? To have enraptured a divine being without alerting my zodiac generals, truly only a fiend could accomplish such a feat!” Tanaka bellowed with his usual dramatic flair. “Tell me, mortal of unfortunate chance, what are your nefarious intentions with the holy one?”

“In my country, couples wear matching crowns. I now see that this is Japan’s equivalent.” Sonia said with practically sparkling eyes. “I will take note of hoodies when I return to inform my people of such cultural highlights.”

“Let’s not jump into conclusions just yet. We haven’t even asked them if they’re actually an item now.” Koizumi did her best at crowd control and when she was closer to the two, she whispered lowly, “Please feel free to deny all accusations.”

“Yeah! As if Big sis Nanami would ever date trash like Komaeda!” Saionji vehemently shouted “I mean just look at him! She could definitely do better than this hope fanatic!”

“Well you’re not wrong. I am just lowly trash undeserving of love especially from someone with hope as bright as Nanami’s.” Komaeda agreed with a cheerful laugh.

Nanami huffed at his self-deprecating comments. “Komaeda, you should value yourself more. Whether or not I’d want to date you shouldn’t be a standard for your worth.” She then smiled softly at him. “Remember, you are always worth it.”

“What’s with that moment? Surely it was charged with love!” Hanamura jumped at them. “Now tell me, what sorts of love have you two already engaged in? The more physical, the more details I’ll be needing.”

“I suggest you refrain your tongue from spouting any more.” Pekoyama intervened with her bamboo sword right at his throat. “It would do you good to hold back a bit more and respect their privacy on the matter.”

“Oi! Don’t think you can get away with harrassing them. It’s their choice if they want to share anything. So don’t go doing anything that I would need to silence you for, got it?” Kuzuryuu threatened Hanamura but it was all in good will. He then turned to the two still in the hot seat. “You two better start confessing if anything’s going on or else the rest of these guys are going to go off with crazy ideas.”

“An unexpected ship has sailed! Ibuki calls dibs on being the captain! And as captain, I will see to it that this ship reaches the shores!” Ibuki hollered as she strummed on her guitar. “Alright! Let’s sail this ship away!”

“A rarepair, huh. Well it’s not unheard of.” Ryotwo thoughtfully commented. “It’s just a bit suspicious that there weren’t enough flags triggered and there’s suddenly a development.”

“Ack! A critical hit!” Ibuki dramatically clutched her hand over her chest as if she was shot right there. “Not even an hour in and someone’s already attacking my ship! The sea is merciless as ever!”

“Attack? So there’s a fight, yeah?” Owari’s ears perked at the mere mention of the word. “Let me at them! I’ll be sure to fight and win for ya.”

“If it’s a fight you want then I won’t hold back either.” Nidai crackled with energy. “Looks like I have no choice but to do damage control again.”

For the two people who were the center of attention, they took it more calmly than most would.

“Ahaha, everyone’s full of hope like always. Truly, what a wonderful class this is.” Komaeda’s grin reached his ears.

“I’m glad that everyone’s having fun over this.” Nanami seconded with a smile of her own.

And as they hounded her with questions and camera phones, she took comfort at the fact that at least the hoodie was comfortable and warm just like how it reminded her of its original owner.

[tumblunni]

Bunni’s Rune Factory Sequel Thoughts/Wishes/OCs N Stuff!

Just my misc ideas for stuff I’d love to see in the series, and maybe some ocs hmm hmm~!

* Maybe have a town that’s more upgradeable or changeable as the story progresses? I expected something like that with the princess points in RF4, that you could support the various businesses and see the shops get new fancier sprites and stuff! And maybe have characters who start off just being unemployed npcs and then can start new businesses as the game goes on? Like if dylas could have been the fish salesman instead of it being a nameless npc. And maybe even after big events in the story the town could have stuff get destroyed, to show how dangerous the villains are? And then you could rebuild but it wouldnt be the same as it once was. * More activities for your pets to do! I like that they can help with farming but maybe they could unlock more tasks to automate as the game goes on? or maybe just have more customization for their farming, like you can choose what seeds they automatically plant, or set a rota for them to rest and swap fields. Maybe give them stats so certain ones could specialize in watering/planting/smashing rocks/etc? * Maybe have more random farm events like rune rain and typhoons? possible idea: period bandit raids or attacks by monsters. You set monsters as guards and if they win then they can farm dungeon items from the enemies, giving you a good way to gain them without having to revisit the same place ad nauseum. Or maybe have a random inspector event where you have a chance of winning a best farm award or something? And maybe when characters randomly visit your house they could actually do something instead of just standing there. Maybe they could comment on your crops? like, say yay if you have something they like, or give random tips, or small bonuses like casting a gigantifier effect on a random crop or restoring some health. Or depending on the character and their relationship with you, maybe they could do negative effects? Also i wish one of the endgame bonus awards could be the ability to turn these random events off entirely if you want, instead of just delaying it. * The possibility of maybe having a negative relationship bar as well as a positive one! So characters could maybe become rivals instead of just friends or indifferent, with nothing else. And maybe you could even have some points in both and have a friendly rivalry? * Characters having more potential interactions with each other outside of just you. I think it’d be nice if when you marry someone then the batchelor/ettes you dont pick could have random event chances where they marry each other. And maybe the player could influence who they end up with, depending on how you interact with the two of them? Play matchmaker! Help them find their happy ending even though you rejected them. Consolation for guilt! * Also can we maybe start having friendship options for each character’s main plot? Let me be able to resolve their sad backstory even if I dont date them, the only difference when I date them should be that I date them. Not that arthur never reconciles with his estranged mother unless we just happen to bump uglies :P * Adding LGBTQ marriage options would be hella amazing in every way, jesus christ please can we have this. Or like.. if we cant, then can we have like... less gay?? I dunno, i just feel like I’m sadder about not having gay marriage when the characters are CONSTANTLY teasing that some of them MIGHT have same sex romances yet nobody is allowed to ever do it. Stop rubbing it in. Its somehow more painful than not having any LGBTQ representation at all, just having this sort of ‘its not representation and it never will be but we’re gonna make it look like it just to torment you’. * i dunno, I feel like probably knowing the company we’re more likely to get a gay npc couple or something in the next game and still have to wait ages for an actual romanceable candidate. Theyre not exactly ahead of the times on the subject. BUT WE CAN HOPE!!! * I want Porcoline to cameo in the next game, or us to hear about how the porco restaurant family is doing. I got the most attatched to them! And I hope the De Saint Coquille family continues to cameo in every main rune factory game, though I think it’d be hard to top this incarnation of them! OH, it’d be amazingly awesome if the next De Saint Coquilles could be the direct descendants of Porco’s family and he cameos as a grandpa?? It could work if the sequel gives a canon love interest to lest/frey, like how raven cameo’d in rf4 and her dialogue heavily implies she ended up with micah. So if frey ended up with arthur or dylas or lest ended up with margaret, then they could be a new part of the de saint coquille family in this sequel cameo. or just be ambiguously referenced so that the player can decide which of the three marriages happened. Oh, or another idea is maybe you meet a branch of the de saint coquilles that’re all elves, if maybe the next game could be set in the elven kingdom? And they could reference being descended from porcoline who did a lot of work on human-elven diplomacy back in the day. Also maybe we could get another female character filling the usual role of the food-loving head of the family with the silly art style? I’ve heard that there was one female de saint coquille in one of the spinoff wii games i havent played but it’d be cool to see another. * Can we have two-seater monsters to ride? So you could go on dates atop an elephant! * Maybe be able to select one monster as your official pet? And it can live inside the house and have a lil food bowl and do more interactions with it, and have friends talk about it when they visit and maybe they can feed it snacks? And it could help raise friendship with different people depending on their preferences for different monsters. I just really like the monsters and I want to make them feel like a part of the family! * A possible very unlikely idea- maybe that monster could become human in a secret postgame quest, and be like your second child? I miss being able to have multiple children like in rf3, but I didnt like how children all looked identical and had basically zero personality in that game. This could be a good way to have two distinct kids! It’d be too tricky to give each monster a unique gijinka form like RF4′s guardians though, so just make it that they become a 100% human character with one set appearance and maybe a couple different colourschemes. maybe it could be that your close monster friend dies sacrificing itself to save you from like... an evil homunculus experimental weapon or something. And then they’re revived using the same magic that created that creature, their soul possesses it and they get to be this artificial human, and they get to have one preset appearance with a good excuse for why! And it could just be super cute and awesome to have them be so excited to finally talk to you and tell you how much they love you! And they could have funny sweet interactions getting used to human things, and their big sibling could help them. And they could be really good at helping with chores in the monster barn, just imagine them hugging all their old monster friends and they trust them completely and they can lead them off in a line like baby ducklings~! And maybe they can have random dialogue saying like ‘hey this monster wanted me to tell you they love you, mama!’ * It would be really cool if we could get a game with a customiseable protagonist, or even just the ability to choose between a few preset options for different races. or just a protagonist of the different races in general, like we’ve had a bazillion humans so cant we have an elf or dwarf? Micah being a were-monster was the entire appeal of that game, I think having another unusual protagonist would recapture that hype! But I really like the idea of having a customizeable protag who could be any of the main three races. I mean not much would have to change depending on who you pick, it’d be relatively less trouble to add in. Maybe just some occasional slightly different scenes to show the different perspectives? or they start with some boosts to different initial stats, or maybe have different aesthetics for the house you get? oooh, or maybe different aesthetics for all the outfits they can get! Like how theyre different for the genders in rf4, but they could have like a human/dwarf/elf cultural flair to each thing. I’d also love if there were more outfits than just pyjamas/bathing suit/8 different colours for default outfit. * I think I’ve mentioned this before but I had a cool idea for if a RF game had a ghost protagonist, now we know ghosts exist in this universe. You could play as both the male and female characters simultaneously, and just select which is the ghost and which is human! So there’d still be two routes with incentive to replay the game, but whichever character you dont pick gets to be the sidekick character with their own different personality and you can get them married to various sub-batchelors maybe? like, the assistant charrie’s romances are different from the ones you can get if you picked them as protagonist. Anyway. the setup would be that the ghost has to haunt a human in order to affect the real world, so thats why you have two characters. The more normal idea would be that protagonist is the human who’s haunted by an assistant/butler type ghost, but I also like the idea that you play as the ghost and you boss around this human to do all the heavy lifting. Like, instead of starting off and getting amnesia somehow, you start off alive and then die and have to possess someone in order to fullfill your unfinished business of raising this farm. You’re the ghost of the person who owned this farm, and you were sleeping here underground waiting for the chosen one you could bond with so you could get back to farming, but you slept too long and the place has got all overgrown and you start again from zero. And then the protagonist could be clueless about everything cos a century has passed, not just cos theyre amnesiac again. * Other excuses that aren’t just amnesia again: protagonist has moved here from another country, protagonist was some sort of sheltered princess who’s never worked a day in their life, protagonist is simply someone who’s never run a farm before and honestly who cares if you start off as someone who already lived here for years? Just have it like youre a loner who’s made a resolution to start being more social now, or some other reason. * A possible idea for a backstory- you are formerly a swashbuckling pirate who just decided to settle down. I dunno why but I think that’d make for a nice unique protagonist perspective! * Also maybe if we do amnesia again we can do something with it? Can we actually have an event eventually about regaining our memories? I was expecting in RF4 there’d be a reveal that before your amnesia you used to be a sechs empire soldier, since all we know about you is that you’re the one who had the rune stones in the beginning of the game. Only other explanation I can think of for that is that there’s some sort of earthmate country somewhere that creates these stones, or you were a merchant who somehow was selling such a rare artifact? I dunno, I still think that the ‘oh god i used to be evil’ twist would have been really really good! * Maybe it could be possible to have other ways to ‘choose’ a character, and get them to become an npc in your house and wander around? I dunno about you guys but I really loved all the themes of ‘found family’ in RF4 and wished there was an equivelant of the marriage routes where I could adopt volkanon as my grandpa or something. Or maybe have a bunch of orphan npcs you can adopt, as an option for if you have a same sex marriage? I just wished I could have made some sort of symbolic gesture to them to say ‘hey, you are my favourite of the non-dateable npcs, thank you’. * Also I’d really like to see a romanceable ghost! I just really think that now they revealed that ghosts are a thing that can exist, I wanna see more about ghosts. Some sort of bigger role to a ghost! * Also yes series please continue having adorkable monster people to marry, that was the entire reason i picked RF4 as my first game to play, lol! I am a bit sad though that all the girls in RF4 arent very monstery at all and all the boys are more monstery. Its a shame cos in RF3 there’s two super monstery girls with the best designs and personalities! I wanna play that game next, I wanna go backwards in order XD

[taylorwarren]

I know you are struggling right now. You are not the prettiest, or the thinnest, or the best at dancing at the Laine Theatre Arts college. You have never properly fitted in, although you are sharing your Surrey school digs with really nice girls. You have bad acne. You think the principal has put you at the back of the end-of-year show (in a humiliatingly bright purple Lycra leotard) because you are too plump to go at the front. (This may or may not be true.) There is a red telephone box outside the school and you have just rung your parents, crying, “I can’t do this, I miss home, I’m not good enough.” And Mum has told you to come home. “We’ll go to Lakeside and buy a new pair of shoes,” she said. It’s tempting. But then Dad got on the phone: “Stay there, prove everyone wrong.” If you’d listened to Mum, you would be going to Lakeside. (Shoes are important, just not right now.) It would be the easy solution. And I’m writing to jolly you along, to offer consolation and encouragement, and to tell you, aged 18, to be strong. You haven’t forgotten being bullied at school, have you? Do you recall that first day at secondary school? Most children were wearing their own coats and had the latest cool bag, but not you. Kitted out in the full St Mary’s High School uniform, you stood in the freezing playground while other teenagers walking past threw soggy tissues and old Coke cans that they plucked from the puddles. But the thick skin that you developed then is already standing you in good stead, and it will do so for the rest of your life. Your complexion will sort itself out (in fact you will launch your own make-up brand); as soon as the Eighties are over, your perm will die down, and your weight will settle itself. At school you eat Super Noodles and boxes of Frosties because they say they are fat free, and you will endure many other silly fad diets (including an addiction to green juices). Instead, learn to embrace your imperfections – that is what I want to tell you. Let your skin breathe; wear less make-up. (And don’t ever let that make-up artist shave your eyebrows! The effects last forever.) You will always be addicted to Elnett hairspray but you will tone it down. Less of the “Hello! I just got stuck in a wind tunnel”, please. And I should probably say, don’t mess with your boobs. All those years I denied it – stupid. A sign of insecurity. Just celebrate what you’ve got. Do answer an ad in The Stage, looking for candidates to form a new girl band. Line up around the block and audition to change your life. You love musicals – Miss Saigon, Cats, Starlight Express and Les Misérables – so you will perform “Mein Herr” from Cabaret, while everyone else sings a Madonna song. You haven’t yet heard of the internet or electronic mail or smartphones. Nor have you perfected the art of the selfie for Instagram (you can’t even turn on a computer right now, and Dad still drives to London to send a telex). But one day you will find that audition performance again online, and at the same time discover that your name brings up 47,800,000 search results on Google. The judges of the competition will match you to four other girls, all misfits in their own ways. Together you will make it OK to look different. And, as the Spice Girls, you will sell 75 million records. You cannot possibly imagine your future life right now. You will travel on private planes, visit incredible countries, stay in fantastic hotels. (At the beginning, you will steal the hotel mini shampoos, shower gels and conditioners, but you soon realise that they leak in your suitcase – often disastrously.) You will storm into people’s offices, leap on to tables in hotels and go crazy (although you will also be the one checking that the table isn’t going to collapse). You will meet Nelson Mandela, Mariah Carey and Elton John. But please, I implore you, keep a diary. There will be so many amazing moments, and you will forget. There will also be down days and bad days. You will often be so busy that you will be in a different country every day. And being young and a bit silly, you’ll complain and sit in hotel rooms and moan about being tired. Go out and see the country where you are. Go to galleries, go to museums. Soak up the culture. You are lucky to be there. If you don’t join the Spice Girls, you might always be that insecure person in that little shell, and you will never become who you truly are. With this in mind, be kind, be polite, be considerate of others’ feelings, because I know that every one of us would sit here now and say they’re not the main culprit, but we didn’t fully appreciate each other a lot of the time. So practise what you preach when you sing “friendship never ends”, and celebrate everyone’s uniqueness. You are going to have so much fun with your clothes – PVC catsuits; chokers that say absurd things; weird spiky blonde hair. It will never occur to you that you appear ridiculous. You will turn up at awards ceremonies resembling a drag queen. But I look back at you and smile. It will add interest to your life to go from one extreme to another. I love the fact that you will feel free to express yourself. Fashion will take on added stature one day, but try not to be stifled by it. You will learn, as you mature, to swap heels for Stan Smith trainers, minidresses for crisp white shirts. And you will never be one of those people who just roll out of bed. Wear sunglasses a lot. Even inside. Especially at airports. They turn a nothing-outfit into something quite pulled together and cool. You are going to really like Aviators. (Then one day you will develop your own!) On boyfriends and lasting love: learn more about football, especially the offside rule. And yes, love at first sight does exist. It will happen to you in the Manchester United players’ lounge – although you will get a little drunk, so exact details are hazy. While the other football players stand at the bar drinking with their mates, you will see David standing aside with his family. (He’s not even in the first team at this stage – you are the famous one.) And he has such a cute smile. You, too, are close to your family, and you will think how similar he feels to you. He’s going to ask for your number. (He still has the London-to-Manchester plane ticket on which you wrote it.) I’m afraid that most of your first dates will be in car parks, which is not as seedy as it sounds. It is because your manager, Simon Fuller, will warn you, “Don’t let anyone see you out together or you’ll get hounded.” At the time, you won’t understand why. You are going to be very, very famous, both for the band you form and because of the man you marry, and then later for a fashion business you will launch in your own name. You will get used to fame. Although you cannot set a price on losing privacy, you will learn to use celebrity to your advantage. For good things. For charity. One day you will have the privilege to campaign on behalf of the United Nations to end mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Aids in Africa. And people will listen. Changes will happen. That is not to say you won’t be affected by what you see of yourself in the press. It will hurt you when people comment on your weight. It will continue to upset you whatever age you are, because we women are very tough on ourselves. The paparazzi will become part of your life, their long lenses waiting. Some are nice, some not. They may make your children cry, or they may give you a compliment – but you will not be able to control every image they publish. When you are pregnant with Brooklyn, they will snap you sitting by the pool at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles in a black-and-white bikini, and the picture will make the front page of a British newspaper. It is an unkind shot and so upsetting that for the rest of the tour you will barely leave your hotel or sit outside. And I’m the same now. Do I relax on the beach in a bikini? No. I am still hugely self-critical, and because of that I can be a little uptight. My 60-year-old self would probably say the same thing to me as I am telling you now: enjoy yourself a little more. Be less image-conscious. Learn to relax. You are going to make mistakes – of course you are. You will be super-super-successful, but you will find out that you can lose it all much more quickly than you can earn it. That is a hard lesson to learn. Collectively, I now see, the Spice Girls were victims of our own success, believing we could do anything, that the sky was the limit, that we could do it all on our own. You will learn from that, and when you have another opportunity you will not lose it again. On being a mother: once you are a parent, you worry. And you are going to have four, so that’s a lot of worry! Mum likes to say, “You might be 42, but I still worry about you.” Children mean that you will be constantly tired and will develop big bags under your eyes. Your children will always come first, but never forget who you are and what you want to achieve. Is it possible to have it all? To be a successful working mother? You will hear this question asked by many women as you grow older. What you will realise is that by working hard, yet always putting family first, it will be possible to achieve that balance. Nothing will be perfect, but it is only now that I have learnt to appreciate all I have and all I have been blessed with. I am happy. A word on school sports day: never wear platform heels and flares if you have to take part in the mothers’ race. And never believe another mum when she says she will stick with you at the back of the race. Because she won’t. And when they announce, “It’s the taking part that counts,” it’s not. It’s all about winning. You will shout at home but never at work. Be a nice boss. Ultimately, go with what you think, but don’t smother those who are talented. (If they are not, then admittedly I get frustrated – I’m not very tolerant.) On marriage: have patience. Bite your tongue. Be supportive. And preserve a bit of mystique. Never let yourself go completely (at least brush your hair, clean your teeth, have a bit of a brow going on because you will always want him to look at you and feel attracted). Always make time for each other. Because if you don’t, everything will revolve around the children and I’m not sure how sexy that is! And do not forget the person you fell in love with. You will follow your man around the world, moving from Manchester to Spain, and then America. In Spain you will revel in watching him enjoy some of his best footballing days. Spain is also where you will lay the foundations for your own fashion brand by collaborating with others on denim and sunglasses. But I need to warn you: a lot of your time there will be really hard. I’m not afraid to say now what a horribly difficult time it was. People will say awful things. You will be a laughing stock. Every time you turn on the television or look at a newspaper it will seem as though someone is having a go at you and your family. You will learn how mean other women can be. (And it will teach you always to support the women around you, to take them on a journey with you.) Others would crack under the pressure, but you won’t. Use that time to close off, to focus, work hard and protect the children. In relationships people will throw obstacles in your way, and you either manoeuvre around them or you trip up. You will never discuss with David how many children you both want; you don’t say to each other, “Where shall we live?” You don’t discuss any of that because you will be young and in love. Even when you don’t necessarily want the same thing, your support for each other will mean that you will stick together and grow up together. And it will be worth it. Most days, you will look at your life and think, “Wow! I was never the one who was supposed to get all this.” I want to tell you that I still feel that way now. Recently I was in New York for the British Vogue cover shoot in a penthouse at the Carlyle hotel. I looked out of the window and I could see the sun shining and all the yellow cabs below and I pinched myself. You are going to have many of those moments. Don’t take them for granted.

[recentanimenews]

Cats Is Still Big, Weird, and Furry in Japan

If you are capable of breathing and have an internet connection, then you’ve probably heard about the new, heavily computer animated movie based off Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1981 musical Cats. The show itself is loosely based off T.S Eliot's book, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. If you’re unfamiliar with the plot, here’s all you need to know: Cats is a show about a strange clan of felines singing and dancing for the opportunity to ascend to the “Heaviside Layer,” where they go to be reborn. It’s about life, death, memory, and lots of unresolved sexual tension. Whatever happens next depends on how much hip thrusting, skin-tight suits, and fur you prefer in your musicals. And Japan absolutely adores it!

  Since 1983, the Shiki Theatre Company has been performing their version of Cats to Japanese audiences. Cats was first adapted by late Shiki founder Keita Asari, who has adapted other major musicals such as The Lion King and Jesus Christ Superstar for Japanese audiences. And like all adaptations of musicals, each theatre company brings its own unique flavor to the songs, costumes, characters, and stage. However, Cats in Japan is different—although it was based on the original 1981 London production, it still has made plenty of changes for the sake of localization and artistic sensibilities.

  Shiki cast at the Imado Shrine during a promotional photoshoot

  The Shiki production recently celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2018, and as of this year a brand new Cats-dedicated theatre was built in Tokyo. With about 10,000 performances of Cats under its belt, the Shiki production is one of the longest running international adaptations out there. Which for a show as popular as Cats, is no small feat. This April, the current Tokyo Cats cast even took a trip to the famous Imado Shrine (home of the “beckoning cat" statue) for a promotional photoshoot. In the business, we like to call this "peak aesthetic."

  Adaptational Differences

In the Cats lore, there are no main characters, but instead a large ensemble cast. Some productions use up to 33 named cats, however the current Shiki production uses about 25 characters. The most notable difference is the lack of Alonzo in the Shiki cast, a very visible role that is typically reserved for the principal male dancer. In the original London casting calls, Alonzo is described as a black and white cat who is a “very good dancer” and the “ensemble baritone”; however, in Japan, he’s typically replaced by two very different characters: the Japan-only Gilbert and the odd bird Rumpus Cat.

  Rumpus Cat in the Tokyo 2018 production

  While Gilbert was an all-new addition based off a siamese cat and alternate designs for Alonzo, Rumpus Cat already existed. In fact, Rumpus Cat might have well been the strangest choice for the Shiki production—Rumpus typically only appears for one major number in most productions, and amateur productions tend to skip it altogether. Rumpus is clearly based off Superman and American super hero characters, making him probably the most garish of the entire cast. However, in the current Tokyo production Rumpus resembles a Final Fantasy character I might've drawn in high school with his strange hair and red visor. This version is both a weird yet still respectful adaptation of the original John Napier costume design. It's silly, but it works.

  Musical theatre in Japan has always been a big deal. Organizations such as the Takarazuka Revue have been putting on productions since 1914, many of which have been adapted from Western works. While these shows do include dance numbers, they’re nothing compared to Cats. What makes Cats unique is its intensity—as a sung-through show with heavy emphasis on dancing, this makes putting on professional productions incredibly demanding. All this action is compounded by the fact that actors are dressed tight outfits with ears, tails, and coats of fur. The amount of costumes required for Cats has naturally led to the Shiki production developing an individual aesthetic, with plenty of new designs introduced over the years.

  Shiki Theatre Company Rum Tum Tugger (left) and Napier's original design (right)

  Let’s take a look at Rum Tum Tugger here. Compared to the original 1981 Napier design (right), the Shiki version of Tugger (left) is missing half a pant leg, has prominent cheetah-shaped spots, bigger furry cuffs, and a posse of fangirls. Strangely enough, his design was altered for the 1996 Tokyo production, exchanging the black and tan coat and fur for all white. That of course was eventually swapped for the original Shiki design, and hasn't changed much since. And that’s just the fur. For makeup, the Shiki production has experimented with both full and partial face paint, which might remind some of the stage makeup worn by Kabuki actors. Except if they were all, you know, funky cat people.

  So what’s the big deal about Cats in Japan? Ever since its debut, Cats alum have moved on to all facets of the Japanese entertainment industry. For example, in the original 1983 production, Shintarō Sonooka played Munkustrap, and later on went to do voice-over for Yu-Gi-Oh! and Kingdom Hearts. Another Cats alum, Masachika Ichimura, who played Rum Tum Tugger, is most well-known for his role of Mewtwo in Pokémon the Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back. Two epic feline roles for one actor—a purrsonal record maybe. Akiko Kuno, the first to play Grizabella and perform “Memory” on stage in Japan, also has credits in the Sakura Wars franchise. The current Tokyo-based production of Cats even includes special merchandise like mystery charms, just in case anyone was planning their Cats themed ita-bag any time soon.

  Collect them all!

  Cute merchandise tie-ins aside, Japanese localization is never easy. Much like any piece of entertainment that needs to be re-written with a different audience in mind, Cats has been twisted and played with dozens of times. However, despite the many iterations, Cats in Japan is a testament of how even high-concept ideas don’t need to be radically re-imagined to get their point, nor their charm across.

  Cats will always be near and dear to my heart no matter what shape it takes. However, as a fan of the show’s colorful look, I can’t help but fall in love with the Shiki production. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Japan has always been obsessed with cats both in popular culture and the fine arts. Whether it be the Nemuri Neko statue sculpted by Hidari Jingoro, or Hello Kitty, cats have historically been celebrated for their aloofness and cuteness. Cats has a universal appeal that isn’t going anywhere any time soon—and the Shiki production of Cats is still breathing fresh life into a show relishing in its albeit weird, but iconic personality.

  Do you love Cats? Have you ever seen any musicals in Japan? Let us know in the comments!

  ----

Blake Planty is a writer who loves his cat. He likes old mecha anime, computer games, books, and black coffee. His twitter is @_dispossessed. He also just launched a new, free newsletter called Boy Toy Box, where you can hear all about the fictional boys he loves to hate and hates to love.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[puddygeeks]

Hi everyone!

I’m sorry it’s been so long since my trip and this is the first bit of Disney content I’m posting! This wasn’t the plan, but then I didn’t expect the recovery to take quite so long. I thought it was finally time for me to share a breakdown of my Disneybounds from my trip, the character they are based on and where I got the items. I will be posting some more Disney content over the next few weeks on my YouTube channel, including the last of my vlogs if that’s something you’re into. Without further ado, onto the outfits!

Quick note: I actually did not Disneybound every day so there will be some days which are skipped.

Day 1: Minnie Mouse

Okay this is the best image I have so I thought I’d include us all, as we all did Minnie based outfits for the first day. I wanted to keep it relatively simple for Minnie, as I was mostly still working out what would be too much for the parks, and what I was going to be comfortable in. I don’t generally wear jewellery as I find it irritating, and I definitely didn’t want to be dealing with that in the Florida heat, so I kept it simple with a Minnie outline silver necklace which was only £3.50 from Ebay and my Not A Fitbit. I then have this super cute bardot top which was £7 in the sale and mustard converse from New Look, which by the way New Look converse are super comfortable for the fab price of £10 and last well! I finished it off with a Minnie feel with this skirt from Ebay, which actually only cost me £5 for that and a neckerchief in a fancy dress set. This worked well for me as it was light and thin, perfect for the heat.

Day 3: Universal Studios

For Universal I had two Harry Potter based outfits lined up, both of which included a hand made skirt from Etsy. Due to weather changing our days around, I actually didn’t get the chance to wear the second one, which was the one I liked better! Although it was a shame, I just consider it something to save for our honeymoon 😉 For this outfit I used my Minnie necklace again, as I couldn’t get my HP choker to stay on. I’m also wearing a Ravenclaw vest from Primark, but that I got on Ebay for £10, a Harry Potter clutch from Primark for £12 and Harry Potter converses which were from Primark at £8. Although I absolutely adore these shoes, and I used to consider Primark my favourite place for comfortable converse, these were horrible painful due to the loop at the back. Unfortunately this is second pair of Primark converse I’ve had this issue with, after buying a gorgeous Marie pair from them before my holiday which give me blisters everytime I wear them. Sorry Primark, but I’m afraid New Look is winning this round. Lastly, I finished it off with a beautiful skirt from Etsy shop PicknMix. This was a stunning piece, along with other skirt I purchased from them, and I absolutely could not recommend them enough. They do a huge selection of skirts, lots of nerdy themes such as Batman, Star Wars or Sherlock, but they also do non pop culture work too. Check out their shop here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PicknMix

 Day 4: Mary Poppins

I must admit I struggled to put together an outfit for Mary Poppins. I had decided on a fabric a while ago that I wanted for a skirt, but when I got around to ordering it for my trip it was out of stock everywhere, so had to impulsively change my plans. That is how we ended up with this. Having said that, I was quite happy with the outcome, and the outfit was cool and comfortable even in the crazy heat we were dealing with. The white blouse was £12 from Primark, the “not Toms”were £10 from New Look (again, super comfortable, entirely recommend) and the skirt was home made. I ordered the fabric from Ebay for £16.50 for I believe three metres, which was enough for around 3 elasticated skirts it turns out because I can’t judge fabric at all. I also added a small red strawberry necklace which annoyingly you can’t see in this photo, which was very old and from Avon.

Day 5: Alice In Wonderland.

I’m going to admit that this outfit did not go at all to plan. Every mistake I could possibly have made with this skirt, I made. I went through all of the 3 metres of Alice fabric I bought by cutting it wrong in the first place, and every time I tried to fix it cutting it wrong again until eventually all I had fabric left for was an uneven patchwork effect. I also cut the blue part wrong twice, wasting two different blue fabrics. And finally, when it came to putting the outfit on that morning, I realised that due to the change in fabric, the blue now clashed with the blouse I originally bought for this outfit. So I used my Poppins one. And hence this outfit was born! I do not have a total on the cost of the Alice skirt, as doing so would be far too depressing, and I can’t even remember where the key necklace came from as I’ve had it forever, sorry! The converse were again £10 from New Look, and I customised them with some super glue and gems, and a new set of laces.

Day 10: Jane Porter, Tarzan

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to have a photo with Jane in this outfit, but as we all know, Disney is incredible hectic and plans are in no way solid. This dress was £15 from Primark, and I removed the sleeves myself as they were originally elbow length. This dress was SUPER comfortable as it’s so thin and floaty, it helped me to stay cool and didn’t cling or squeeze anywhere, will definitely take this on my next trip! I then included a little monkey outline necklace from Ebay for £2.50 (again annoyingly can’t see it in this photo) and a chunky elephant necklace I got on holiday in Mexico, and a couple of wooden bead bracelets from Ebay for £5. I wore my white converse again, as I didn’t have anything else with me that suited Jane, and the giraffe ears were from Marwell Zoo, which I actually bought specifically to wear in Animal Kingdom. Fun fact: Safari Mickey & Minnie LOVED these!

Day 11: Snow White & Mulan

Okay so I doubled up one day! I know, that totally seems excessive, however as you can see from the numbering of my days, I missed quite a few planned outfits due to plans changing. I also realised that my Mulan skirt no longer fit as I’d lost weight in the run-up to holiday, and so was left with just a top. I decided the best thing to do was to combine it with my Snow skirt, and as both Snow & Mulan are in EpCot I decided to quickly switch out my top to meet Mulan. This turned out really well, as although the colours were a little more of a clash than what I had originally planned, the Snow top was quite thick and high necked, and by the time I got to Mulan I was super glad to take it off!

The peplum top for Snow was £4.99 from Ebay, the yellow skirt £5 from Everything5pounds.com & I used my red “not Toms” from New Look again. I also added a little poison apple necklace for £3.50 from Ebay. As for Mulan, the top was from Etsy and is available in a great selection of colours from this shop https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RainbowTank which has a whole bunch of other loose and comfortable Disney tops with some brilliant designs. Lastly I wore my own custom Moana ears!

Day 12: Marie, Aristocats

Oh my, this outfit was cute but SO hot!! The t-shirt sleeves were sticking to me and the skirt fabric was way too thick. Although I loved this outfit, this is definitely more suited to Summer in the U.K. Both the tshirt and skirt were from EMP, who by the way have some of the loveliest Disney collections. The tshirt was £16.99 and the skirt was £31.99, so a little more of an investment, but at this point I had been looking at it for months and had a £35 voucher for EMP so decided to make use of it! I will 100% get more wear out of this outfit at home as I love it. I did originally intend to make myself some custom Marie ears but ran out of time before the trip. Next time!

And that is the last of my Disneybounds! I did have other outfits with me, but either I didn’t get a chance to wear them due to swapping park days around, or because the weather was so much hotter than usual for that time of year. Now that I have experienced a trip, I’m not sure that I’d Disneybound again, but if I did I’d certainly be a lot wiser on what to wear. For anyone interested I will post photos of what I wore on the days I was not in bounding outfits at the bottom of this post, obviously except the days I was at waterparks!

For more Florida content, check out my YouTube!

Peace

Kit xx

      Day 6

Day 7

Day 13

Disneybounding: A breakdown of my outfits Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long since my trip and this is the first bit of Disney content I'm posting!

[fashiontrendin-blog]

I Asked 10 Women to Show Me Their Ultimate Summer Look

https://fashion-trendin.com/i-asked-10-women-to-show-me-their-ultimate-summer-look/

I Asked 10 Women to Show Me Their Ultimate Summer Look

S

omething I really like about summer is how the weather provides an occasion to really get dressed where there might not ordinarily be one. Despite temperatures and humidity levels that might reasonably demand basic, sweat-wicking materials, it seems like people really take advantage of the vacation-like energy that appears magically in June. Maybe we’re nostalgic for the time in our lives when summer meant no school, no homework, no obligations. Maybe we’re just that sick of utilitarian coats. Either way, at least around New York, summer seems to have a way of encouraging us to add an extra earring or try out silhouette we normally wouldn’t. It provides an excuse to wear only swimsuits or break out the thing we’ve been saving, because if not when the sun is shining, then when? As a result, even in the least amount of clothes, everyone appears so much more fully dressed in June, July and August. And it’s so much fun to look at.

Because I can’t get enough, I asked 10 women to show me their Summer Looks, capital S, capital L — the outfit they keep wearing over and over because it so perfectly captures who they right now — plus what inspired them, how they feel in them and, for very important context, their go-to summer drinks.

Senior Market Editor at The Cut, @chupsterette

If you had to give this outfit a high school superlative, what would it be?

Most Likely to Be Mistaken for the Art Teacher, or Most Likely to Be Twinning With My Art Teacher.

Why is this your Summer Look?

I HATE summer about as much as I hate wearing color, which is to say: a lot. I can’t imagine myself in bright floral prints, off-the-shoulder tops or any other warm-weather trends — it doesn’t really suit my personality or style. Instead, I’ve figured out that I like a uniform year round. It always centers around something avant-garde looking, usually by a Japanese brand. If it’s a top, I’ll wear it over jeans or trousers, and if I’m in a crazy skirt, I’ll tuck in a camisole or sleeveless turtleneck. And no matter what, I always choose comfortable shoes.

This outfit ticks all of the boxes since the Pleats Please top feels like something an extremely hip Tokyo grandma would own in triplicate. The Tibi culottes are a really old pair of pants that have held up well and have enough volume to strike a balance with the tank. I would normally wear flats, but I had to run around today to a few appointments, so I swapped in these low-heeled Céline mules that play off the black-and-white palette.

If I weren’t in this, I’d most likely wear a (probably black) Comme des Garçons skirt with pleats or crazy ruffles, coupled with a camisole and Nikes or sandals. It’s mindless but still looks like I put in effort.

Where did the inspiration for this summer look come from?

Winter is my favorite time of year since I love a good turtleneck, snowboarding and feeling perfectly climate-controlled. Come summer, my only goal is to wear the least amount of clothing against my body without feeling like I’m over-exposed. Also, I really hate anything that clings to my figure — it only serves to add to the sweat levels! So I’m always trying to figure out how to do that and still look like I work in fashion. I’ve discovered that choosing stuff on the fringes of whatever is currently trendy helps me do that and also keeps my budget in check. I can rewear this over the next three years and it won’t look outdated, which makes it worth the price tag.

I always joke that I want to become Rei Kawakubo, especially as I get older. I really hope this is a step closer in that direction. She’s so damn cool.

How does it make you feel?

Like I can survive the next two months? I just need it to be snowy and dark!

What’s your go-to summer drink?

Iced coffee with oat milk during the day unless I’m being super fancy and indulgent, and then it’s a milk tea with grass jelly, pudding AND boba. If it’s nighttime, then all I want is an orange wine that’s super funky and turns off most people around me.

Illustrator, @Jennymwalton

If you had to give this outfit a high school superlative, what would it be?

Most Likely to Get Detention for Showing Too Much Stomach.

Why is this your Summer Look?

It’s my summer look because it’s so comfortable, but it still feels fun.

Where did the inspiration for this summer look come from?

From wanting to combine all of my most comfortable pieces and then style them in a way that still felt fun and not boring. To do that, I knotted the top and added a fun statement earring and a cute bag to match the striped shirt.

How does it make you feel?

Like I could go from the beach to a party! (Even if I’m just going from walking my dog to picking up a salad.)

What’s your go-to summer drink?

I think I overdid it on Campari last summer, so now I’m onto the Cappelletti Spritz instead. But I’ll still have a plain Campari soda every once in awhile. It’s so simple that it’s hard to beat.

Founder, Man Repeller

If you had to give this outfit a high school superlative, what would it be?

Most Likely To Be Worn on the Way Home From a Long-Winded Meditation Retreat So As to Demonstrate Without Having to Say Every Twenty Minutes That You Are Now an Enlightened Individual.

Why is this your Summer Look?

This dress isn’t necessarily my summer look so much as the color (or lack thereof) palette is. I find that I’ve been gravitating towards combinations of white and ivory in whatever form they want to take. The majority of the time, they’re cotton shorts and linen button-down shirts, but sometimes they’re dresses or drop-crotch pants or T-shirts. My guess is that I am after simplicity — a lack of complexity in what I wear that does not suggest I am “simple,” but rather, it highlights the multidimensionality of being human. Whoa, I stopped thinking for a second and just let my fingertips type, tbd on whether that actually makes sense but we are going to go with it for now.

Where did the inspiration for this summer look come from?

Nazareth.

How does it make you feel?

Put-together — like I showered this morning, even though I haven’t showered since last week. Like I have time to stop and smell the roses. Like the luxury of ordering coffee “to stay” is one I take for granted because I am afforded its stillness so regularly.

What’s your go-to summer drink?

Oat milk over ice. I feel like I was sleeping when Oatly blew up, so I’m doing my part to make up for the time I missed.

Glossier Editor, @minamigessel

If you had to give this outfit a high school superlative, what would it be?

Most Likely to Make Her Own Almond Milk.

Why is this your Summer Look?

The sleeves are linen, so it’s breezy and keeps me cool. Sneakers, because comfort.

Where did the inspiration for this summer look come from?

German milkmaid discovers comfortable sneakers that make her look taller than she actually is.

How does it make you feel?

It makes me feel cute and sexy.

What’s your go-to summer drink?

Shake Shack’s watermelon basil lemonade with a dash of Sprite! Hella fresh.

CEO & Creative Director of The Apārtment Global Group (arva, The Apārtment & Fole Studio) Personal Instagram: http://instagram.com/abimarvel The Apārtment Instagram: http://instagram.com/theaptmt The Apārtment Website: http://theaptmt.com arva instagram: http://instagram.com/arvastories arva website: http://arvastories.com Fole Studio instagram: https://www.instagram.com/folestudio/

If you had to give this outfit a high school superlative, what would it be?

Most Likely to Be Underestimated.

Why is this your Summer Look?

It’s comfortable, and I think it’s also quite casual, but I guess due to the color palette and accessories, it can also be worn in pretty formal environments too, making it perfect for most occasions, which is great because most of my days take random turns.

Where did the inspiration for this summer look come from?

I recently spent lot of time in Majorca, Spain, and everything from the overly relaxed way of life, which encourages neutrals and comfort, to the sunny weather, which inspires light and soft fabrics, to the fun and entertaining side of the culture, which probably led me to explore wearing more jewellery than I typically do, has made me gravitate towards pieces that represent how my time there made me feel.

How does it make you feel?

I know I keep saying comfortable, but it really does make me feel comfortable! But alongside the comfort and practicality, it makes me feel mature, confident and ready for wherever my day takes me. Plus, with the jewelry, I feel quite fancy — probably because I never wear this much!

What’s your go-to summer drink?

Aperol spritz slushie!

Editor at ZEITmagazin and founder of C’est Clairette

If you had to give this outfit a high school superlative, what would it be?

Most Likely to Get Denied Access to an Italian Cathedral.

Why is this your Summer Look?

This summer has been the most incredible I’ve ever experienced in Berlin – we’ve basically had sun and heat for three months straight. I’ve been in a swimsuit the whole time because sweating doesn’t feel gross in it. Plus, you’re always ready to join a pool party or dip into a fountain. The dress I found in a lovely vintage boutique during a work trip to Florence is the result of my newly developed passion for Italian style — you know, the beautiful patterns, the feminine dresses, the fun-loving atmosphere around it. There’s something equally effortless and over-the-top about the way Italian women dress. I’ve worn this outfit during aperitivo hour on my balcony and buttoned it up to go outside (society here in Europe requires me to do so).

Where did the inspiration for this summer look come from?

I think it came from a fantasy. I’ve been picturing myself lounging in an olive garden in Puglia all summer, probably because I’m actually (finally!) going there in September (after seemingly everyone has been on vacation except me). And if a swimsuit paired with a Missoni dress and hoop earrings isn’t the perfect outfit for this kind of setting, I really don’t know what is.

How does it make you feel?

It makes me feel so free! Not only because it’s basically just a swimsuit and a shirt and takes me five seconds to put on, but also because it offers a way to let my thighs breathe without having to put them in shorts or denim cut-offs (which I love on everyone except me).

What’s your go-to summer drink?

Daytime: homemade ice tea (made from Earl Grey, lime juice and a few drops of maple syrup). Evening: Campari orange, always and forever.

Managing Fashion Editor at Nordstrom, @preetmasingh

If you had to give this outfit a high school superlative, what would it be?

Most Likely to Make a Comeback.

Why is this your Summer Look?

I’ve been on a mission to streamline my life this summer, and my closet has been a big focus of that. I wanted to stop thinking, “I should keep that in CASE” … I wanted my closet to be things I could pull together almost at random that could work for the majority of places I go on the regular. Basically, I wanted to front load the effort so I can be lazy about dressing but still look polished enough. A denim pencil skirt and polo with a low-heeled sandal and crossbody bag is that boiled down to its essence: kind of casual, kind of dressy, kind of classic, kind of trendy, very easy. Looking for classic pieces with unique details is an easy hack to get there.

Where did the inspiration for this summer look come from?

This is how I dressed in high school! I loved denim pencil skirts, I loved polos, I loved a thong sandal — and I still do! There are some pieces that are part of your style DNA and I feel like I’m (re)discovering those in the great closet purge of 2018. Some things you just always feel good in.

How does it make you feel?

Good! But seriously, I feel like I don’t have to fuss or worry about something being out of place, which is paramount. I get really fidgety and anxious otherwise. The Sagittarius rising in me also feels like I could be spontaneous in it — like I could go to a nice dinner on a whim or to the beach…or just to work, which is most often the case.

What’s your go-to summer drink?

Rachel’s Ginger Beer in Seattle makes delicious coconut dark ‘n’ stormy slushy drinks. They are dangerously yummy and strong.

VP Design, Proenza Schouler, @elizabethgiardina

If you had to give this outfit a high school superlative, what would it be?

Most Obviously Knocked Up.

Why is this your Summer Look?

Because I am pregnant and I seem to feel the happiest in a bikini or a caftan.

Where did the inspiration for this summer look come from?

Necessity. And I don’t like maternity clothing. Also I love the colors of this Kanga cloth.

How does it make you feel?

Like I am channeling my inner earth mother.

What’s your go-to summer drink?

Club soda with bitters and lime. Damn I miss a stiff drink.

Digital Talent (Instagram), @slipintostyle 

If you had to give this outfit a high school superlative, what would it be?

Most Likely to Be ET’s Date at the Leopard-Themed Senior Prom.

Why is this your Summer Look?

It’s my summer look because it’s super easy to get in and out of and I can wear multiple versions of it with different tees and different wrap skirts every single day and no one one will ever notice, I promise.

Where did the inspiration for this summer look come from?

During summer, it’s too hot to wear long sleeves, but at the same time, I need to protect at least one part of my body — my legs in this case — from mosquito bites, so a T-shirt and a midi skirt sounds like a good compromise.

How does it make you feel?

It makes me feel all sorts of ways: glamorous because the skirt is silk, cool because I’m wearing a “Space Cowboy” T-shirt and a bit like a modern-day Marie Antoinette because of the big velvet bows on my silver mules.

What’s your go-to summer drink?

A creamy and thick piña colada with a pink umbrella and pink sugar on the edge. It’s the only way to make me feel like I’m really on summer vacation.

Model and Student, @musegold

If you had to give this outfit a high school superlative, what would it be?

Most Likely to Ruin My White Top by Lunchtime! (I love white but am terrible at keeping them clean.)

Why is this your Summer Look?

My summer look will always be a tee-and-mom-jeans combo. A silk scarf material keeps me cool in the summer. The straw tote has been a staple this summer — my favorite trend of the year! As for my shoes, sneakers are always in and comfortable for a long day of meetings and running around the city.

Where did the inspiration for this summer look come from?

Comfort! I’m inspired by things that make me comfortable and are versatile. I like wearing something that I can dress up or dress down depending on what I’m up to that day.

How does it make you feel?

Beautiful! You always feel good when you find jeans that fit, right?! Pants that fit me in all the right places can make me feel like I’m on the moon.

What’s your go-to summer drink?

I make a mango smoothie every morning! I love smoothies because they reminds me of summer and they’re refreshing. I’m also an iced coffee addict and proud. French vanilla or caramel are always a good idea.