#the black shirt vest combo destroyed me

[atomicradiogirl]

had to do a post dedicated to cameron being babygirl cause like why do i have heart eyes rn

[emeraldspiral]

Who wants to see some old cringe selfies of vintage millennial fashion?

So, the backstory behind most of these pics is way back in 2010 I got a job at Target for a few months and during that time most days I had to wear a red top with khakis as my work uniform and I very quickly started to get bored with the monotony. So I decided to do some bathroom photoshoots of the different outfits I had at the time besides the red tops I was wearing every day. I pretty much don't have a single one of these articles of clothing anymore, except for a couple of necklaces. Most of these I think I got rid of because I gained a lot of weight after I got a car, if not because my tastes evolved or they fell apart on me.

This first collage is a bunch of all black outfits.

The scarf I'm wearing in the first one was a souvenir my sister got me from the gift shop at Alcatraz when she was on a school trip. It's got a fake stamp printed on it that says "Rejected: Too Cute".

Second outfit, I think I got from Forever 21, both the dress and the thigh high boots.

Third outfit was probably mostly made of JCPenny pieces. I used to wear it to a lot of job interviews, not that it helped because the job market sucked almost as much back then as it does today. Also, those heels were from Payless and although they were cute, they were absolute murder on my flat feet. I held onto that tie for a long time with no shirt to wear it with because they don't really even make women's blouses anymore that button all the way up and even when they do, I can't wear them because all button-up blouses gape on me. Also, can't really find vests anymore, for that matter.

Fourth outfit I think I got from Value Village.

First outfit bottom row came from Kohl's and I bought it after only looking at the hanger and not the actual tag, but despite the dress being an XS and me wearing a medium at the time, it miraculously stretched far enough to fit, so I kept it.

The off-shoulder top I got from a local retailer that is actually still in business today with a handful of locations that have shifted to different suites around town over the years, but never shut down.

The velvet outfit I believe was either a hand-me down or an old church outfit that used to be knee length before I cropped it into a hi-low skirt.

All of these outfits by the way I wore in my late teens and early 20s to school and walking around town before I had a car. Nothing I own now or have ever owned is a date outfit because I don't go on dates.

First outfit in this teal/turquoise set is probably my most cringe. That headband was really ugly with my short hair, and I don't think that long top over a short skirt and cropped hoodie combo was a good look.

The top from the second pic came from a gift shop at Niagra Falls from a school trip I went on my junior year of high school. It originally had black felt ribbons, but the first time I washed it I didn't realize the ribbons weren't sewn on, so they came off and got destroyed, so I replaced them with turquoise ribbons that were sewn on.

Third top I'm pretty sure came from Gottschalks before it went bankrupt and got replaced by a Forever 21, if that doesn't carbon date me like the fossil I am.

The top in the first two pics on the bottom row I used to normally wear with a pair of black jeggings. Hear me out though, these were not yoga pants with a fake denim print slapped on top, they actually had texture like real jeans and I think a button and zipper even. The pockets were still fake, but they were actually sewn-in faux-pockets like they have on normal pants, not a print. They were basically just very thin, very elastic form-fitting jeans I wore so I could have a smoother silhouette under long shirts. I actually still own the necklace I'm wearing with that top, but I never wear silver anymore, so it's getting donated soon.

Last dress in the teal set is another piece I got from the same place my off-shoulder top came from. I might've even gotten them at the same time.

First top I got from a specialty online goth fashion shop. I actually didn't have my own credit/debit card at the time because I was still in high school, but my sister told me if I gave her money and she didn't think it was cringe/inappropriate for school, I could show her things I wanted to buy online and she'd get them for me. So that star top was one of the things I got along with the goggles and fingerless gloves seen in other pics, and an assortment of other accessories from when I was deep in my Hot Topic Mall Goth Invader Zim-core aesthetic phase.

The corset I'm wearing in the next three photos had no boning in it, so it wasn't uncomfortable to wear, except for the fact that it didn't stay in place or hold its shape like a corset should. I got that corset from a local retailer that closed down, in a mall that has since become a dead mall.

In the middle row, I believe I got both the top and the cardigan from Forever 21.

The brown outfit in the middle of the middle I think I got from JCPenny, except the green top, which came from Forever 21. Shoes might've come from Payless. That was my second go-to job interview outfit and I miss it a lot. I tried looking for those pieces on Poshmark once so I could recreate it. But it turns out the brown top and skirt actually came from the junior's section, so there's no way even the largest size I could find it in would fit me now.

I think the silky green skirt and the green sweater in the next couple of pics also came from Forever 21.

The butterfly top on the bottom row I think came from the same store where I got my corset. I don't wear heels anymore, but I also don't wear converse anymore either because zero arch support is just as uncomfortable as heels on my flat feet. I don't wear headbands either because they aren't comfortable anymore. Every one I try just squeezes my skull too much.

The green bustier-looking top is another one of my most cringe outfits because it was constantly rolling up.

The next top after it is also pretty cringe, cause it's just an unflattering shade of neon green.

The last outfit was one of my most frequently worn from late high school and throughout college. I used to wear it with a pair of dangly guitar-pick shaped GIR earrings that my sister got me when she went on a trip and got to visit a Hot Topic before we had one locally. At some point I swapped out the GIR earrings for a pair of zipper pull earrings because my sister told me the GIR earrings don't go with the rest of the jewelry I wore with it.

The navy crop jacket was another Forever 21 piece, and I think I got those agonizingly painful booties from there too.

Then there's my Butch Girl Style Icon Dib Membrane shirt that I had to alter to fit right because it only came in a men's size.

The next outfit below was a hand-me down velvet shirt/jacket thing that I turned into a dress.

Last outfit is probably my oldest. I think most of its components I got as far back as middle school, and I think they were hand-me downs even then.

I used to love that purple cardigan until it got stretched the fuck out in the wash. I think it came from the same place as the off-shoulder top and the teal dress.

The next top I believe was another Gottchalks piece I might've had as far back as middle school. It used to be a hideous brown/olive green until I dyed it, but it was already getting threadbare even then.

The purple cowl-neck outfit I think I also got from the same place as the purple cardigan.

Last outfit is another one of my most cringe outfits with yet another overlaying piece that rolled up all the time.

Closeups of some necklaces I wore in some of the above pics. I actually still have the black flower necklace, but that's another one that's getting donated soon because I don't wear silver anymore. I totally forgot it used to have another black chunky chain attached before I removed it. The soda tab necklace I made myself and painted with nail polish. I actually made several necklaces and bracelets out of soda tabs, some of which I handed out to my friends.

Bonus:

Me in one of many iterations of a black belted jacket I've worn throughout the years. I don't have this specific jacket anymore, but once I started wearing them, I've never not owned a long, black belted jacket as my main staple piece of outer wear. So I've never really escaped my Zim-core roots.

This pic was taken by somebody at my college paper. They saw me waiting for classes to start and wanted a picture of me for an article on fashion. I got a few copies to show my family, but they also posted the article online. Not a lot of people saw it and there were only a couple of comments, but none of them mentioned my outfit and one of them said something to the effect of "None of these outfits are in style and the writer of his article has no business giving out fashion advice cause everyone knows Alaskans are always 5-10 years out of date on the trends".

[misfxts]

Your Star || Ichisada Drabble

The devil doesn’t always wear Prada, sometimes he likes to laze about in a hoodie & sweatpants combo. Perhaps he feels like wearing a dress, who’s to judge? He’s the devil!

In this case, the Devil wears a blue dress shirt tucked into his dress pants, with a black vest to tie it all together.

The Devil’s name and place always changes...today it’s one Atushi Miyamoto. Sitting in the office of his beloved Masquerade Bar, looking into the eyes of his best and brightest bartender.

His star.

“Miyamoto-san, why am I here?” She inquires, her stature is stiff. Like a private addressing their general, without all the war formalities.

“I wanted to discuss some...’business trips’ you’ll be taking next week.” Atsushi replies, pulling out a schedule and other papers to hand to Ichisada. “You’re in awfully high demand, my star. You’re lucky I spread these out for your sanity, we can’t have my little star burning out so quickly do we?”

Atsushi chuckles, in which his star politely giggles in response. Then motions down to the calendar. “You have three bars you’ll be attending this week; The ___ on Monday, ____’s on Wednesday, and ____ & ____ on Friday. You’ll do what you do best, and give them the financial boost they need with your presence. Be sure to pull out your best tricks for ____ & ____, they paid quite a lot for me to let you go to them on one of busier days of the week. Make sure they all get their money’s worth, that goes double for ____ & ____.”

His star stares at the schedule for a bit, reading over what Miyamoto had written down about each bar, their layout, demographic, anything that would prove useful to her.

After some reading, Ichisada sighs.

“...Yes, Miyamoto-san.”

“Is that...hesitation in you voice I hear, my Star?” Atsushi stands up slowly, looking Ichisada in the eyes with a particular glare to them.

“No, Miyamoto-san.”

“Don’t lie to me. I know how you work...that was definitely hesitation.” He walks over to her, circling her like she was a helpless animal in the water and he was a shark that could smell her blood seeping into the water. “Are you...questioning my authority..?”

“It was not hesitation, Miyamoto-san.” She assures him. “I will do as you say, no questions asked.”

Atsushi chuckles, continuing to circle Ichisada. A single finger dragging across her shoulders and eventually her collar bone as he walks. “I know you will...but, I can’t help but wonder if you’re losing faith in me, in what we built, what I’ve sacrificed for you...need I remind you, my Star? I could ruin you so so easily...throw you in jail...destroy you without barely lifting a finger..you understand don’t you, Ami?”

“...I understand, Miyamoto-san. I’ve never lost faith in you, and I’m not going to start now.”

“Good..” Atsushi nods. “Remember now...wherever you are...whoever you align yourself with...there will always be one person you will always answer too...who has done everything for you...who you owe your life too...that person is me.”

“You are my Star, Ami Ichisada.”

[deadletterpoets]

The Paladin (Chapter 1)

Summary: The crew of the Paladin are on their way to Helios. They just need to get through this storm first.

Word Count: 1777

Feedback through asks or messages encouraged. This is the first chapter to hopefully an ongoing story. We’ll see.

Chapter 1

Alice involuntarily held her breath as they piloted the ship into the storm. Violent winds tore through the Paladin’s shields rocking the crew inside. The Paladin, a military spacecraft being held together by parts found in a junkyard, was the home for a crew of five. If they had their way they wouldn’t be flying to a planet with an everlasting atmostorm. Yet this is where the next mission led them and they were already late.

“Hang on,” Brenden said. Alice watched as he took the Paladin off auto pilot. “Alice!”

“Right.” Alice moved her holo screen in front of her. She brought up a map of the planet typing in the coordinates for their destination. The screen distorted flashing a low power warning before erroring out. Alice tried again but the same result came up. They had redirected most of the power to the shields and the storm’s interference was making it hard for the computer to find the coordinates.

“Anything?” Brenden said.

Alice shook her head.

“Well, lucky you,” Brenden started. “You’re about to witness the greatest piece of flying you’ve ever seen.”

Alice once again held her breath. She was beginning to regret volunteering to help co-pilot the storm. However she was the one with the most navigating experience besides the captain and he was busy maintaining the engine room.

“How are we looking, Brenden?” The captain’s gruff voice boasted through the intercom.

Ryker Richards, an ex-alliance officer, was captain of the Paladin. After a dishonorable discharge from the Alliance he fled to the outskirts of deep space and became a mercenary. Alice never asked what cause his discharged and he never spoke of it.

“Shields at 40%. Navigation is a bust. And I can’t see shit in this storm.” Brenden held the throttle so tight his knuckles were losing their color. “Other than that, you know, it’s all good.”

“I’m going to divert power from the computers to the shields if they can’t be used in the storm,” Ryker said.

“Captain,” Alice started. “I’m no longer of use up here. Do you need me there?”

“No,” Ryker replied. “I don’t want you moving around until we’re docked.”

“Roger that.” Alice pushed her holo screen away and stared into the dark storm.

Her brown eyes brightened with every energy surge through the black clouds. The winds so ferocious attacking the ship. Despite Brenden’s efforts the ship continued to jerk hard enough her belt squeezed her thighs. The thick clouds weighed heavy on the wings of the Paladin. Alice could hear Brenden softly cursing to himself trying to steer through the storm.

Somewhere in this storm was a city called Helios a known haven for the worst of the worst. It used the storm as cover to hide from Alliance patrols that scoured the galaxy for such cities.

Alice watched as the little power left drained from the computers. They no longer had anyway to map the storm. The shields went up by 15%, but that didn’t keep the storm from pounding on them. Without their navigation the coordinates they were given were useless. Flying blind through an atmostorm looking for a city could be the death of them. The Paladin would shatter piece by piece before they even navigated one percent of the storm.

“Captain!” Alice said. “I think we should divert all power to the navigation.”

“Are you crazy?” Brenden yelled.

“Explain.” Ryker said.

“We only have so much power. Putting it all in shields will only keep us alive so long. We can’t blindly navigate the storm. We need those coordinates. Just a few seconds so we can map the storm.”

Alice grabbed her seat as the shipped jerked in the air.

“You’ll only have a few moments. Make them count.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“The wind is going to rip the ship apart,” Brenden whispered.

“Yeah,” Alice said. “I’ll work fast.”

Alice brought her holo screen back in front of her. The screen held still with no power running to it. She held her fingers in front of the screen and waited.

The ship jolted from the winds. Alice heard Brenden curse as he lost control. The holo nav screen lit up. She pulled up the map and typed in the coordinates. The storm’s interference was still strong but the extra power helped the console lock on.

“Done!”

“Raise shields, Captain!” Brenden said.

The nav froze in place signalling the city’s location in the storm. Alice pointed it out only to get a nod from Brenden. With the shields back up he took control flying straight to the city.

Despite a few more moments where the wind attempted to tear through their shield the ship held together till the city appeared through the storm. Once in sight the dampers built around the city to keep out the storm engulfed their ship.

Alice could hear Brenden exhale in relief as he flew them to the docking bay. She couldn’t help but smile planting a kiss on Brenden’s cheek after he locked them into the bay.

He began to monologue about his superior piloting skills as Alice left the bridge to go to her room. She didn’t have much time to get her gear together. She was the captain’s right hand on the mission and she didn’t take that lightly. Especially not in this city.

Her room was the smallest one in the ship. Alice didn’t mind. She was the newest member of the ship and it was the only room they had left. Alice walked in to see the shaking of the ship knocked down her belongings. Everything from her books to her weapons and even some family heirlooms covered the floor of her room. Every bone in her body wanted her to meticulously put back her things exactly where they belong. Instead she threw her things on her bed hoping to get to it when she came back.

After semi cleaning the mess she opened her closet. Her clothes extended out of the wall allowing Alice to choose her outfit for the mission.

She changed into a light armored shirt with a brown jacket and pants combo. Her boots held a small holster where she put a pocket knife. She attached her weapons, a pair of cybernetic gauntlets, to her arm. The gauntlets expanded covering her whole arm. Their sleek skeletal look had a blue power LED light flowing through it letting her know they had full power. She grabbed her tech lenses from her bed putting them into her eyes. A HUD appeared in her viewpoint and began scanning everything in the room updating itself in the background. She took control of the gauntlets through the lenses disguising them as black fingerless gloves.

Alice opened her door to leave her room almost crashing into the captain’s daughter Kira.

Kira had the same dark skin tone as her father. Her brown hair in one long braid draped over her shoulder. She wore a tight black tank top showing off her toned arm muscles. Her dark green pants and boots completed the rest of her attire. Alice could tell she rushed out of her room once they docked. Her brown eyes gave her a quick look before she nodded in approval.

“I suppose I have you to thank for the amount of repairs I’m gonna have to do while you’re gone?” Kira asked raising her eyebrow slightly at the last word.

“Could be worse,” Alice said. “We could be lost in that storm holding each other waiting for death.”

Alice couldn’t help but notice a softness in Kira’s face as she stared at her. Alice gave her a small smile. She could see Kira wanted to say more. They had become fast friends when she joined the crew a year ago and now Alice felt like she wanted more. It was unclear to her if Kira felt the same and if she did she never said anything.

“Remember why we’re here,” Kira stated.

“I know,” Alice said.

“Be safe.” Kira said to Alice before walking away.

Alice watched Kira leave before walking to the ship’s cargo bay on the bottom floor.

The captain stood waiting for her.

Ryker’s dark grizzled face looked tired. His wrinkles were showing through his silver full-grown beard. His slicked back hair was losing it’s brown polish and going back to it’s natural grey. His cloudy brown eyes stared at Alice as she walked towards.

Despite his dishonorable discharge from the Alliance he still wore what many considered an alliance uniform, a blue vest over a black thinned armored shirt tucked into black pants with combat boots. His pistol clipped to his thigh. He already had his fingers glued to his pistol ready to pull it at any minute.

“An Alliance vest isn’t the best idea for this mission, Father.”

Alice turned to see Jace walking behind her. He pushed past her ignoring her presence. His clean-shaven face mirrored Ryker’s stern expression. Alice slowed her stride allowing Jace to catch up with his father first.

The older of Ryker’s children Jace stood eye to eye with his him. He wore a red long sleeve shirt with black pants. His long sleeves hid the cybernetic implants in his arms. Alice noticed Jace wore long sleeves often. It was another one of those unspoken things on the ship.   

“I should be joining you on this mission,” Jace said.

“You don’t trust me?” Alice asked walking back into his eyeline.

Jace’s dark eyes looked at Alice. His stoic expression didn’t change as he walked closer to her.

“Given the fact you almost destroyed the ship,” Jace said. “Kinda hard to trust you at my father’s side.”

“I didn’t destroy the ship,” Alice said. “I got us to the city. You can repair the ship.”

“Repairs cost credits. Credits we don’t have. Did you think about that?”

“I’m sorry your precious ship isn’t at 100%. I guess I was just more worried about it being ripped to pieces with us still inside.”

Jace moved closer. His eyes glaring at hers. Alice held her ground.

“You don’t have what it takes to survive this city,” Jace said.

“You seem to forget where you found me,” Alice retorted. “I lived in a city like this.”

“Not like this.”

“Enough,” Ryker roared. “She’s with me. End of discussion. Prepare for our return by fixing the ship.”

Alice couldn’t hide her smile as Jace inhaled deeply through flared nostrils. He turned leaving Ryker and Alice alone in the cargo bay. Alice didn’t say anything as Ryker removed his Alliance vest replacing it with a black long coat.

Alice pressed the button opening the cargo bay door.