#to help unify them beyond just like the shape of their outfits

[neon-ufo]

so, say someone already has a good design for their character. but, it's a bit too... "normal". what suggestions would you give to make a character's design a big more out there, but not so much that the design becomes too complex?

I think what makes a good character design, aside from the basics such as shapes and silhouettes (when dealing with a cast of characters), is having several core details that remain unchanged, while everything else can fluctuate.

If there's one part of a character's design that's immediately recognizable, then you're on a good way to making a good character design. A good way to know if you got there is to try to draw your character in the most minimal, simple style you can, and see if they are still recognizable. Look no further than Araki's quick character sketches to see what I mean.

For some examples with my OCs.. with Barbi, I think the specific messy spiky shape of her hair, the axes on her shirt and the white collar and sleeves of the crop top give her a pretty distinct look

King can wear a lot of different outfits but still remains recognizable because of his extremely distinct hairstyle. I also always have a specific aesthetic in mind when designing clothes for him, so every time I give him a new outfit it seems believable that it's something he would wear. (Pinning down your character's fashion sense is really helpful if you want to design more outfits for them and keep them unified across the board)

Luv has been drawn in many different ways, but because the core elements of his design (fire hair, heart mask & striped legs) always stick around, he stays recognizable in pretty much every style

Giving a character design some minor but distinct detail that goes beyond the predictable (shirt print or necklace would count as 'predictable') can quickly elevate it from 'normal' to a bit more 'out there', as you put it. Weird hairstyles, hair accessories, earrings, beads, brooches or badges in unusual places on clothes, patterns, stitches or rips, skin being shown in an interesting way, unusual materials (fur, see-through, fishnet..) in unusual places - just one or two of things like these can help a design to become really interesting!

You see a LOT of that sort of designing in jojo.

My favourite design in jojo is Giorno who's a perfect example of how what was initially a pretty boring suit was turned into a gorgeous design. A lot of what makes his design work so well is really just small and very simple details; the hair, the ladybugs, the heart chest opening. An aspect I personally also love very much is the checkerboard pattern on the back of his jacket, it adds a little extra flair for when the character is drawn from behind.

Jotaro is much the same, with the most iconic parts of his design being the hat-hair, the badges on his hat, the chain and the long flowing jacket. An interesting aspect of Jotaro is also how his silhouette remains the same across all of his appearances in other parts, keeping him immediately recognizable, because the core parts of his design always return.

I think that a few good interesting details make a much more interesting, memorable and striking design than a ton of super detailed parts.

I really hope this was helpful!! <3

[edelweissdev-blog]

Bio for Zhu Yijun, winner of the OC Contest!

In honour of our winner of the OC contest, Omega, here is the profile of his award winning character, Yijun! Thanks again for this fantastic character!

Name: 朱怡君 (Zhu Yijun, or Yijun Zhu in western naming conventions)

Nationality: Han Chinese (specifically looking to rep Nat. China)

Ideology: Three Principles of the People/Mínshēng Syndicalism (Would be represented in game as Radical Socialist. Essentially a more agrarian version of socialism, based off the social conditions of rural southern china, and influenced heavily through Georgism. Would be pretty heterodox to typical syndicalism, but Yijun doesn’t really care what the damn French have to think about it, this is what her family has fought and died for.)

Appearance: Yijun, due to both already coming from a western-minded family, and due to living in France for most of her adolescent life, has adopted a western wardrobe. As a testament to her father and of her political beliefs, Yijun will often wear the sky blue that was once the color of the National Revolutionary Army uniforms. A typical outfit for Yijun might consist of a matching sky blue cardigan and skirt, with a white blouse, or it could be a light blue dress. Yijun typically does not wear a hat in everyday wear, instead keeping her long, back-length black hair free and straight. Yijun does have short bangs, and her hair comes around both of her sides along with her back.Her brown eyes are not bispectaled, nor does she typically wear any form of jewelry on her. Yijun’s most defining facial feature is a small, x-shaped scar on her left cheek, which she obtained during the fall of Wuchang and her escape from the city.

Much like the socialists she met in France, Yijun has took the habit of wearing an armband in everyday wear here in Geneva. Instead of the the typical red armband, Yijun instead wears a blue armband with the white sun of the Kuomintang. Yijun wears it as a visual reminder to herself that the Xinhai Revolution has not died yet, and she will be the bridge to carry it from her father’s generation to her own. It also serves as an immediate indicator to others that she is Chinese, but does not identify with the current Chinese government, along with indicating that she is a socialist (although not European-style syndicalism).

Personality: Yijun’s experiences as a child during the collapse of Kuomintang rule in Southern China, along with the visceral anger of losing most of her family in the resulting chaos, had fundamentally broken Yijun. What had once been a sweet, loving, and caring girl has been replaced with an unyielding, if tranquil, fury. It is hard for Yijun to focus on anything beyond her feelings of pain and guilt, and thus she has tried to erect barriers around herself to keep anyone from getting close to her. In effect, in Geneva, Yijun is simply afraid of getting too close to her fellow students, preferring to just focus on her studies in the background of whatever relationship drama is unfolding around her. That is not to say Yijun will not talk if approached to, but she will seem cold and distant; it could easily be misread that she simply thought everyone was beneath her, but it's actually because Yijun just doesn’t know how to connect with other people anymore, and is too afraid to try to again.

Yijun isn’t one to be quick to anger; her life experiences has made her simply let go of personal slights that may have gotten under other people’s skins. However, when it comes to truly important topics that Yijun holds close to her heart, like the legacy of her father and brothers, the way Germany, Japan, and other powers conspired to ransack her home again, or someone upholding truly reactionary thought; her anger towards that individual will be hard to subdue. Yijun is not one to easily forgive nor forget, but to anyone in Geneva who manages to open her shell, she will also prove to be a most loyal friend as well.

Yijun’s main interests, in an academic setting, is history, particularly the history of China. As part of her education back home, she is well-versed in some of the classic literature of her homeland, where she particularly identifies with the legends of both Hua Mulan and the Ming loyalist Koxinga. Asking her about her country’s history is one of the easiest ways to get her to open up, as she could spend hours detailing minute details of various peasant uprisings against corrupt and decadent emperors. However, that fascinations ends on anything related to the Qing: they are nothing more than foreign bandits that had, and now thanks to Germany, continue to plunder from China and keep it in a feudal dark age. Saying anything positive about the Manchu dynasty is perhaps the easiest way to get her to explode.

Yijun also has a budding interest in writing as well. Most of her writing, beyond schoolwork, has been unfocused short stories about whatever was on her mind at the time she picked up her pen. She even admits they’re not really all that good, but its something to do so that she doesn’t go mad when her mind keeps focusing on what happened ten years ago. Yijun has mused about the idea of writing an “alternative history” novel like that American novel she found in a Paris library, It Can’t Happen Here! However, she doesn’t know what to do with it, beyond a general desire to “fix” the Xinhai Revolution so that it was never betrayed by foreigners. A quirk related to her writing is that she only will do stories in her native Mandarin, with traditional hanzi characters. To Yijun, the symbolism and the artistic calligraphy of the characters adds a dimension to the writing that Latin-based scripts lack, but it also means that most students at Geneva simply have to take her word at what she’s writing.  

Biography:

[NOTE: This is based off of publicly revealed but not yet implemented lore for China, so if you’re wondering if some of these references aren’t making any sense, this is why. I got my source from here: http://cs.servegame.com/kaiserreich/thread-2204.html. However, it was down the last time I tried to access it, so you may need to wayback machine it]

Yijun was born in bumbling city of Guangzhou on June 1st, 1918; the youngest of three and the only daughter. Her father, Zhu Tao, was from Wuchang, and personally witnessed the Wuchang Uprising in 1911, the initial Tongmenghui resistance to the Qing dynasty. Ever since that fateful day on October 10th, the Zhu family’s fate would be tied to the successes and failures of what would eventually become the Kuomintang.

Yijun’s brothers, Qiang and Huang, were somewhat older than Yijun, being born respectively in 1908 and 1910. Tao was enthralled by the Kuomintang ever since he saw them openly defy the Qing Empire, and quickly registered for the Nationalist Party as soon as they formally organized. In 1917, the family moved from Wuchang to Guangzhou as the KMT clique was established in the city. It was once they finally settled down in their new home that Tao and his wife Jingyu, unexpectedly had a third child. Although it wasn’t their plan, they still loved her very dearly, and life went on with a slightly expanded family.

It was under the reality of a divided country that Yijun grew up under. Not even Guangzhou was spared from political violence: it experienced a brief civil war in Yijun’s infancy over whether or not Sun Yat-sen should continue to lead the party or not. However, it was, compared to the north, far more peaceful and prosperous, and perhaps one of the better areas to raise a child. Yijun got the best education a war-torn nation could provide, as Tao used his influence as a low-mid party member to pull as many strings as he could.

These formative years, from about 1920-1926, were the happiest of Yijun’s life. Sure, outside of her bubble, everyone was killing each other over the question of who should lead China. However, all she can remember playing with her friends at school, helping her mom with her chores, being read stories by her dad (whenever he was home), and even playing some games with her brothers when they weren’t too annoyed by her. It was a period of bliss that would soon be violently ripped from her.

In 1926, as a response to the growing instability of the warlords to the north, the KMT enacted what would be known as the Northern Expedition. Both Tao and the recently of-age Qiang both volunteered to join the army, as an officer and an enlistee, respectively. The march against the northern criminals might be long and arduous, but it would be the final struggle to unify China under enlightened, people-centered government. There would be no more war, no more dictators, but peace and prosperity.

The NRA never even reached Nanjing.

In their first major battle, the NRA forces were soundly defeated by the German-backed Zhili clique. Among the dead were both Tao and Qiang. Only a few months later, the Zhili themselves attacked Guangzhou. The entire city was torn into chaos as the streets ran red with blood in the urban fighting. Everything went by so quickly, that Yijun could barely process what was going on at first. Jingyu, Huang, and herself took whatever they could carry and headed for the docks. Rumor had it that there were boats to take the leadership to France. Although they were far too low ranked to be the intended recipients… it was their best chance to get out of the falling city.

At some point in their mad dash, an explosion rocked a building to their side, spewing debris onto the street. Yijun was gashed by splintering wood, but she survived. However, the shock knocked her out, and by the time she regained consciousness, she was already on a boat leaving shore, her mother tensly staring at the burning city, fighting back tears. Huang wasn’t with them, and her mother remained silent as the young girl asked where her brother was. All the little girl could do was join her mother, looking at the engulfing inferno that continued to consume the city

Yijun would later find out that Huang refused to evacuate, saying that his father and brother didn’t run from their duty, and neither should he. Plus, they’d have a better chance of pleading their way on a ship if it was just a single mother and her young child, rather than if he was there with them.  He promised to write back as soon as he could, to make sure they knew he survived the fall of the city.

He never wrote back. Yijun and her mother knew he would have crossed hell and highwater to get any form of contact with him had he lived: he’s gone as well.

Yijun and Jingyu both settled down in Paris with the other KMT exiles, both utterly broken from their experiences in Guangzhou. Jingyu arranged for her daughter to continue her studies in an école, but given that neither of them spoke French when they first arrived, simply readjusting to their new lives was going to be hard work. Jingyu was simply done with politics at this point in her life, and since that’s all the other exiles wanted to talk about, she was forced to try to reach out to native Parisians for any sort of friendship. Yijun on the other hand, grew to resent herself for not being able to do anything to help the situation. It didn’t matter that she was only 8 at the time; her entire family besides her mother died to protect her, the country, and the revolution, and beyond her survival, it was all for naught. As she started to approach her teenage years, Yijun felt the onus of responsibility to try to avenge them one day, when the opportunity arose itself.

Therefore, while Jingyu willingly embraced France, Yijun slid into isolation with the other exile’s children, finding them to be her only real friends in the Commune. Jingyu didn’t mind at first; it made sense that her daughter gravitated towards the children most similar to her, and it's not like they were really old enough to influence her. However, as she grew older, Jingyu attempted to push Yijun to accept their new life in Paris and try to make friends with her kids in school.  

However, Yijun continued to mostly hang out with the other exiles, who increasingly radicalized each other after sharing their stories of their families and their heroics in the name of the Nationalist Party to one another. During the height of the 1932 riots in the south, Yijun and her friends did an impromptu oath, similar to the legendary Peach Garden Oath, that they would one day return back to China “when the time was right”. This, of course, horrified Jingyu when she heard about it, but she also knew if she tried to intervene too harshly, her daughter would just meet with them behind her back.

Four years later, in 1936, Jingyu heard through one of the other exile’s wives that they were planning the “big one”. The tyranny in the Eight Provinces was reaching a breaking point, and it was only a matter of when before the remaining KMT cells in China would lead a new uprising, and they would return to their homeland. Jingyu was terrified; she knew her daughter would do anything to join the return trip. She didn’t want to see her only remaining child killed in some short-sighted quest of vengeance. Instead, she secretly enrolled her daughter into the International School of Geneva, to get her away from her friends and to keep her out of the next wave of bloodshed in China.

[sunlitroom]

Gotham – s4e08 – Stop Hitting Yourself

As I watched it, and some random observations here and there.

 Previously on Gotham:

Sofia manipulated Oswald. Jim and Oswald squabbled. Jim was self-righteous and forgetful. Harvey made a terrible mistake.  Selina, Tabitha and Barbara teamed up. Butch Lee and Ed teamed up.

As always, long post will be long.  There are likely to be rambling digressions. Gobblepot might appear (although I welcome all shippers and non-shippers alike :)).  There will be naked favouritism and naked not-favouritism.  Broader comments at the end on plotlines and parallels and general direction.

The Narrows, Cherry's Place, where Ed is putting on a pre-fight show all about

The most-hated man in Gotham, the Penguin!

Being Ed, it’s screechy and theatrical.  It’s also informed by personal knowledge – zeroing in on Oswald’s emotional neediness. Ed plays to the crowd, referring back to the joint raid on the area – yelling that Oswald underestimated the Narrows.

Lee watches, amused, while drinking pretty heavily.  I’m tee-total and even I would like a drink at this point.

The crowd starts cheering for Butch, who comes into the ring and mock-strangles Ed as Oswald. Finally, the pantomime ends and the lights go down.

(An aside.  I feel like they ‘re not sure what they want me to think about the Narrows. We’ve seen two sides to it.  We saw the ordinary people who were struggling day to day – the residents who were terrorised by HeadHunter last week.  The rest of the time, we see these people – baying for blood. That’s not a unified group.  In fact, in normal versions of places as poor and hard as this, the ordinary people we saw last week are as much at the mercy of these people – their own fellow residents – as they are anyone else.  The idea that this crowd is morally outraged at what happened last week is silly.  Beyond a knee-jerk response to having their toughness challenged - nope)

Cherry introduces main event. Mr Murderface, a misplaced HotCop with a poor sense of self-preservation, is going to fight Butch.

Lee and Ed watch from the balcony. Lee’s pissed that Ed’s whipping up a bloodlust in the crowd with no real sense of responsibility or leadership. Ed doesn’t care, and tells her that the fans are not his problem.  Lee persists, telling him that he can’t do this and then just bail when trouble arrives.  Ed retorts that Lee isn’t willing to step up either, and tells her to lead.  When she looks away, he tells her that seemingly neither of them are willing to put their necks out.

They look back down at the ring.  Costuming-wise, Lee is also in green this week – echoing Ed’s outfit, and reinforcing the sense of some kind of bond.

(An aside – I’m not massively sure what either of them wants the other to do here.  Lee is running a free clinic – what more is Ed looking for? As for Lee – does she think Ed is going to lead some kind of revolution?  If Ed were still working for Oswald, he wouldn’t give a stuff for anything that was going on in the Narrows.  He’s a fundamentally selfish, exploitative creature.  Aside from any of that, the notion that the Narrows’ troubles are all down to Oswald is plain old bizarre.  Go talk to Bruce, or any of the rich, influential people in the city who allowed it to slowly rot.)

The fight takes place. Butch seems to be getting flashbacks of Tabitha when he’s hit hard enough.  The fight continues, and it seems (I missed a lot of because I was covering the screen with my hands) that Butch rips off the other guy’s arm and beats him with it.  The crowd loves this, brainlessly whooping and roaring for more.  They chant stop hitting yourself – as this is clearly some kind of signature move of Butch’s.

(An aside - I hate all these people. Sorry. The part of me that likes all the order and discipline of the bad guys in Star Wars comes to the fore.  The Narrows needs the kind of help Lee offers in the shape of her clinic, but places like this just need swept away)

 Elsewhere in the city, we see a certificate which tells Jim he is now captain, as he is congratulated by the mayor.  Jim seems conflicted about this.  According to the mayor, Harvey lost the rank and file after the Narrows, due to allying with Oswald and falling into Pyg’s trap.  The Mayor calls him a disgrace.

(An aside. Hmmmmm.  Did Barnes lose the rank and file after the Strike Force debacle? After insisting that everyone drop their criminal activities?  I don’t think he did.  I’m not so sure – then – that Harvey would have.  He’s worked there for years.  Unless it’s being ‘one of us’ that’s worked against him this time)

Jim doesn’t like Harvey being called a disgrace, and asks the Mayor what that makes him.  The Major makes oily noises.  Jim then asks what Oswald thinks of this.  The Mayor says he doesn’t know – and says things that make us think that Oswald’s grip on power is loosening.  Jim still looks reluctant, and the Mayor pushes harder by telling him that none of the other candidates would hesitate at working with Oswald. If he just signs on the dotted line, then he’s the new captain.

He leaves Jim sitting alone, staring unhappily.  We hear the string music motif that they use for GCPD moments, but the notes are distorted.

Oswald is trying to adjudicate between a representative of the bikers SBT (it’s faster to give Selina, Babs and Tabs an acronym) robbed last week, and SBT themselves.

(An aside - The whole dispute sounds massively irritating.  Oswald – you must have made a fair amount of money by now, just quit. Go live a stupidly luxurious life somewhere nice.  Get pretty apartments in European cities.   Let them get arrested if they want. Whatever)

As they continue to argue, Mr Penn enters and tells Os in a whisper about the stage act.  Oswald, predictably, loses the plot.  Twitching with rage, he gestures to Mr Penn to tell everyone what has caused him flip out.  Poor Mr Penn explains how the ungrateful Ed is staging a commedia dell’arte.

Os is twitching with rage. Selina doesn't know what a commedia dell'arte is.   I’d like to think that Barbara and Tabitha look less confused, because that would be a nod to their doubtless expensive educations – but I may be deluding myself.  Selina laughs at Oswald’s reaction.  Tabitha nudges her to stop.

Too late, though. Oswald hears, and starts to laugh himself.  The biker totally misjudges the situation, thinks this is sincere, and starts to laugh too – saying that the Riddler doing a Penguin act is pretty funny.

This manages to press several of Oswald’s buttons at once, and he stabs him in a rage.  Babs thanks him for clearing their debt – but he tells them that they now owe him the debt and, since they like a good laugh, they can go to the Narrows see Ed’s act bringing him back by nightfall.

Selina doesn’t like this and tells him that they’re not his toadies, and wants to know what they get in return.  You get the debt cleared, Selina – did you miss that bit?

Barbara seems pleased by Selina’s attitude.  Moving closer, Oswald says he won’t tell every criminal in the city to murder them and rip out their eyes and tongues.  Tabitha shifts a little closer to Selina.  Oswald stares her in the eyes and tells her that is what she gets – if that’s acceptable.

Babs steps forward and tells him this is acceptable.  Before they leave, Selina smirks at Oswald.  After they’ve gone, Oswald tells Mr Penn to get in touch with his Narrows informer, and liaise with Firefly, who will kill SBT if they’re unsuccessful. Firefly asks Oswald about ripping out their eyes, but he tells her it’s too messy to be practical.

(An aside – I posted about this elsewhere but yes – while Oswald can be funny – the sheer amount of sneering sent his way is disproportionate, and this weird hate-figure everyone has of him makes no sense given their personal histories, in which there are plenty of real antagonists.  

But then, sneeriness is one of the main characteristics of the newly formed Sirens which – I have to confess – leaves me pretty cold.  There’s not much of substance there.  When Tabitha has become the warmest person in the trio – something bad has happened to your other characters.  Selina did used to be selfless, altruistic, warm, annoyed by unfairness – that all seems to have flown out the window in favour of this, which is a pretty poor trade-off, for me.)

In the city, Selina gives Barbara convenient backstory on the Narrows. Tabitha is distracted by the thought of getting her hands on Ed.  Barbara was in league with Ed, but this seems to be OK by Tabitha.  Selina asks whether Ed isn’t supposed to be a genius, but Barbara mentions the rumours about his new state of mind.  They decide to go prepared anyway – if by prepared they meant, just wander in and make no attempt to be inconspicuous.

Nothing, however, could prepare them for Ed’s act.  Babs is open-mouthed while Tabitha just looks revolted.  Her eyes wandering, presumably in a desperate bid not to look at the stage, Barbara spots Lee watching from the upper level. Meantime, Tabitha steps forward when Butch enters the ring.

Butch!

God – another arm is ripped off. Tabitha says his name again and asks Barbara if she knows what this means. Barbara thinks this means she is owed apologies for her electrocution.  Tabitha runs off to try to get to talk to Butch.  Barbara stares up at Lee again, and says that she has to know what is up with this outfit. Selina irritatedly mentions that they do have a job to do.

 GCPD. Harvey looks at bullets in a box.  Jim enters the room.  After last week’s unpleasantness, his tone is casual and friendly – mornin’ Harve.  He apologises for being late, and says he was stuck in traffic.  

Harvey tells him that these are the bullets taken from the wounded cops.  Jim tells him that he’s not responsible for that.  Pyg is the one who set the trap, and they need to move on and find him before he can hurt anyone else.

Harvey nods, seemingly grateful for the support.  Lucius walks in.  Jim asks him what the word is.

 The word, as it turns out, is ‘absence’, as in – there’s a lack of any useful physical evidence from the crime scenes.  Harvey says that Pyg is a crafty loony.  Jim and Lucius walk off to discuss the case more.  Harvey calls after Jim, and tells him he’d appreciate it if he’d be at the Bullethole Club with him today.  Jim tells him of course, and Harvey thanks him for having his back – calling him partner.

Lucius asks what this club is, and Jim explains that when officers shot in the line of duty come back they’re given the bullets that wounded them.  Lucius eyes widen, as he realises that Harvey will have to give bullets to the officer he shot, and comments that it’s no wonder Harvey wants a friend there.

 At the Orphanage, Oswald is ranting to a busy Sofia about Ed turning his idiocy into a way of taunting Oswald.  He says that no-one appreciates how hard it is to be a crimelord.  Sofia comments that she understands, since she grew up with one. Oswald smiles tightly, and asks if she’d like to go to lunch and

talk over the vagaries of this capricious calling

Unfortunately, Sofia has to see the caterer for a fundraiser.  Oswald is irritated and disappointed, and – grimacing - says of course he can't expect her to be at his beck and call.  Sofia gets up her chair and, as she walks closer to him, strokes his arm briefly, telling him that he needs a different source of relaxation. Oswald flusters for a moment before Sofia tells him he needs chickens.  

Oswald blinks at the sudden shift in tone.  Sofia continues, and Oswald tells her than he does remember the Don’s predilection for chickens.  She tells him life can’t just be about business, and when her father was stressed, he spent time with his birds.

Oswald seems puzzled until Sofia clarifies that he needs some kind of interest outside the business. She smiles and tells him to give it some thought, and they’ll talk when she gets back.  Oswald smiles incredulously as she leaves, repeating chickens to himself.  

He wanders over to the window and watches as a small boy is bullied in the playground by a much larger boy and girl.  After they finish with him, the small boy walks away with some purpose.  Oswald watches him frowning and then wide-eyed as he sees him with a can of kerosene (where the fuck did he get that?) and matches. He calls out the window.

Boy - come here this instant

When Oswald asks him what he was going to do, the boy – seemingly mute – draws a fire on a notepad he keeps round his neck.  Oswald tells him he cannot do things like that. The boy looks serious, and then Oswald follows up with your enemies will know that it was you, and then he looks happier – albeit sinister.

(An aside – there’s quite a lot here.  First of all, a small point, but Oswald’s got a huge vocabulary – he’s pretty wordy later, too.  I always headcanon that he skipped a lot of school due to bullying, but that Gertrud probably had a lot of old books lying around.  Oswald’s vocab at points throughout this episode has that feel to it.

Next up.  Oswald is openly confiding in Sofia here, and seeking out her company.  I think it’s worth noting that given the change in mood later in the episode which, to me, feels very abrupt.

Again with Sofia there’s the combination of sincerity with manipulation.  From what she’ll say to Jim later, she’s still plotting Oswald’s downfall – if, indeed, she’s being sincere with Jim.  In the meantime, though, the observation that Oswald needs some other interest to provide relaxation seemed a genuine one, and she’s not wrong.

The moment with her hand on his arm was brief, but it was there.  Oswald, for a split second, thought she was going to suggest something romantic/sexual – otherwise the chicken comment wouldn’t have confused him so much, and he wouldn’t have been so flustered.  It’s interesting to wonder whether Sofia still has that option on the table in the event that she feels it would be useful.  I’m also not entirely sure how Oswald, as we see him in this scene, would have reacted.  I’ve never really felt that Oswald has demonstrated any physical attraction towards women at any point on the show.  However, while he was presented as flustered, we were not shown him recoiling, or stepping away.  I don’t know whether they’ll follow this up, although it would be pretty twisted, given – as we’ll see later – that he starts to get suspicious of her.)

Backstage at the Narrows, Tabitha hugs a confused Butch, and then frowns when she realises that there’s something very wrong with him

On the gallery, Lee is looking out when Barbara covers her eyes and gives a

Guess who?

Psycho killer stalker

Lee is aiming a gun, but Barbara says if she was going to shoot her she’d have done it by now.  Lee backhands her instead, commenting that it felt good.  Barbara regroups quickly, and literally turns the other cheek – but Lee seemingly only wanted one slap.  She tells Barbara that this seems like a low rent neighbourhood for her, and on hearing that she’s working, tells her that being Penguin's flunkey suits her. Barbara has a jab at her own life choices.  Lee tells her that some people make decisions not just for themselves but for others.

(An aside.  Lee talked earlier about her guilt over stopping Jim from preventing the release of the virus, although she did mention being infected. I’m not sure if I’m to assume here that she’s also feeling guilty about the selfishness of infecting herself in the first place?  If not, she’s a bit hypocritical.  That was as self-indulgent as it gets).

Barbara comments that she’s sexy and self-righteous now, and asks what Jim makes of this.  Lee offers a flat Jim who? – before swigging back more booze.  Barbara smiles.  She tells her it’s been interesting, but she has to get back to her kidnapping.  Lee takes a minute to put two and two together, and rushes after her.

 Ed is tying up his laces and fails to twig that the little girl voice congratulating him is a ruse. Selina kicks him hard in the face, and – unimpressed – comments that she though he was supposed to be smart.

Jim and Sofia walking together.  She’s telling him to relax – that she has Oswald wrapped around her finger.  Jim brandishes the certificate and asks her to explain this, if she has such a good grip on him.  She tells him that wasn’t Oswald – and that the mayor and commissioner presumably just feel the wind changing.

Light dawns for Jim.

it was you.  You must have made a hell of a contribution

She makes a deprecating face and says no – it was just the Falcone name.  Jim says he won’t do it – not like this, at Harvey’s expense.  Sofia impatiently tells him Harvey is weak, and asks when he’ll stop propping him up, and how many cops have to die due to his incompetence.

Turning to face him, looking displeased, she tells him he needs to stop pretending that he’s not taking the job.  Jim protests, but she said if that were the case, then he’d have thrown the contract away. Walking away from him, she tells him to visit after he takes command, and that they’ll celebrate.

(An aside – Jim is not bright.  Not only did he think Oswald might be behind that promotion, he seemed surprised to hear that it was Sofia.  He then had the nerve to be affronted by her methods, when they met while he was begging her gangster father for a favour.  I just…. what?)

Oswald and Martin are in the office.  Oswald is telling him that revenge can’t just be tit for tat.  It has to be specific.  He asks Martin what he imagines revenge to be, and he draws his enemies dead with knives in their eyes.  Oswald feels this is a little overly ambitions, and tells him to be crafty. Oswald’s hair is deliberately styled in this scene to look like a devil’s horns.

He tells Martin that friendship itself can be a deadly tactic, and asks him how he might use it. Martin writes that his enemies are failing maths.  Oswald guesses that Martin is very good at maths, and asks him to tell him more.

 We see Martin enact his revenge.  He makes a friend of one bully by letting her copy his maths test.  Out in the playground, he then pretends that the other bully hit him.  His new-found friend is outraged, and his enemies end up fighting each other.

He smiles and makes his way to Oswald, who praises him and tells him

See? Minions are so much better than friends

Martin frowns and writes on his pad.

But I'm YOUR friend

He smiles.  Oswald tears the page out in a temper.  He tells Martin the greatest friend he had became his worst enemy.  Friendship should be shunned.  They’re better than friends.  They’re conspirators.

He shakes hands with Martin. Martin looks back at his still fighting classmates, smiles, and walks off.  Oswald watches him go, smiling.  He then glances back at the page and looks pained.  He closes his eyes for a moment before leaving himself.

(An aside.  Oh Oswald….

In a slightly longer aside, Oswald’s state of mind is not good.  I mean, it’s never good – but his response to Martin’s assertion of friendship is painful.  He’s on the edge of what looks a lot like a breakdown a couple of times in this episode.  

It’s also a little confusing.  Yes – Ed’s stageshow has reopened old wounds – although Oswald conveniently glosses over the fact that he murdered Ed’s girlfriend.  However, his recent interaction with Sofia – so we’ve been led to believe – has encouraged him to believe in the idea of friendship again, their scene where he tells her that it’s hard for him to trust, even earlier – when he genuinely wants to have lunch with her.  Yet here he’s violently anti-friendship again?)

 In the Narrows, there’s a messy scene I’ll tie up fast.  Selina has Ed tied up – which pleases Babs.  Tabitha is trying to get through to Butch, showing him her scar – but just as he’s getting somewhere, Butch says Ed restrained and flips out.  Tabitha tries to convince him that Ed’s not his friend, while Ed tells Butch to rip them all to pieces.

(Just an aside – in an episode where Oswald is apparently the lowest of the low, we know that Butch could actually physically do this)

Lee appears on the scene, and says that they’re not taking Ed anywhere.  Barbara dismissively calls her a bleeding heart.  As everyone squabbles more – Selina calls on some law of the Narrows: they settle this in the ring.

 Nighttime in the Narrows, and this pantomime again.  Fuck off with this, Ed.

Cherry watches alongside Lee.  Ed announces that the winner tonight takes…. him.  Not even for free, Ed.

At the ringside, Tabitha is confident Butch loves her too much to hurt her.  Barbara tells her she loves her faith – but wants her to take a large club.

Lee and Cherry are still watching.  Lee is worried that Butch will throw the fight because of his relationship with Tabitha – but Cherry says it doesn’t matter: Ed will be taken to Oswald anyway.

In the ring, Tabitha keeps trying to get Butch to remember her.  Butch hits her very hard in the face.  Tabitha falls to the floor, and Selina and Babs urge her to get up. Butch grabs her by the leg, but Tabitha grabs the club and hits him in the face with it.  Butch starts flashing back to moments with Tabitha.  He blinks round at the crowd, and then at her, and manages a Tabby?  This – however – coincided with Tabitha taking another swing, and he drops.  Tabitha drops to her knees beside him.

 At the bar where the bullet ceremony will take place, Harvey hasn’t shown up.  A disappointed Jim hands out the bullets in his stead. Officer Patel attends in a wheelchair. Jim squeezes her hand lightly when he gives her the bullets.  She nods in response to his salute, and he swallows.

 Back at the Narrows the crowd is screaming as Tabitha tries to wake Butch.  Babs tries to leave with Ed, but the crowd won't let them leave.  Firefly arrives, she tells everyone – in the name of Penguin – to back off, and tells an incredulous Selina and Barbara that they missed the deadline.

Ed is now trying to wake Butch up.  He’s confused and angry – but very scared of fire too.  This amuses Brigit.  Selina calls up to her, and tells her she’s from the Narrows.  Brigit says that this is true – and she couldn’t wait to escape. She also says she agrees with Oswald – the place is a sewer.  She’s going to burn it down.

Lee approaches her on the stairs.  She tells Firefly she's the only thing that stinks here and shoots a gas canister on her back, knocking her out.  Ed laughs maniacally, while Barbara stares.

An irate Cherry tells Lee Firefly is Oswald’s enforcer.  Lee – in turn – tells the whole crowd that Cherry works with Oswald.  Cherry tells the jeering crowd to shut up – this is her club, her turf, and they’re all scum.  She points at SBT and tells the mob that they’re the problem – they work for Oswald.

Babs sees this means death at the hands of an angry mob and shoots Cherry.  The crowd is silent.  Barbara announces that they no longer work for Oswald.  The crowd cheers.

Barbara – all the while retreating – tells Selina that they sure love their coldblooded murder down here. Meantime, Ed is trying to encourage Butch up from the ground, telling him that the fire lady can’t hurt him, while Tabitha promises she’ll come back for him.

Barbara glances up at Lee and makes good her escape.  Lee smiles down at her, satisfied.  The power has shifted in their interactions – and Lee is now the one to be feared, not Barbara.

(An aside – Cherry’s death seemed rather wasteful.  She was a very striking character – what was the point of ditching her so easily?)  

GCPD, where Harvey drinks alone at his desk.  A sad-eyed Jim enters the room and asks Harvey where he was.  A drunk Harvey tells him he was having a little drink and invites him to join.  Jim shakes his head.  Harvey tells him not to be like that and fixes him one anyway.

Jim tells him those cops were waiting for him.  Harvey bitterly says only because they wanted to spit in his face.  Jim says yes – if that’s what they wanted to do.  He owed it to them to look them in the eye, and if he’d done that, then he’d have got their respect.

A bleary-eyed Harvey glares at Jim like he’s stupid and tells him that he doesn’t deserve their respect.  How could he have possibly looked Patel in the eye.  Jim tells him that’s the job – taking responsibility for what happens to his cops.  Harvey angrily asks if he’s telling him what the job is.  Jim simply answers yes.

Well today, Jim - I just couldn’t do the job - so I sent you because I knew you could

Jim tells him that’s not good enough, not today.  They needed him.  Harvey tells him that there’s nothing he can do about it now.

Rising, Jim asks Harvey for a pen.  Damn, Jim – this is cold.  He signs the contract and shows him it – telling him that he’s relieved from duty. Harvey looks pained and bitter.

Well well - look who finally got what he always wanted.  But what did you have to do to get it?

Jim sanctimoniously remarks that all he did with his job.  Jim’s job description apparently specified collusion with the mafia.  

Harvey narrows his eyes. He comments that

Nothing in Gotham is free, Captain Gordon

Taking his hat and bottle, he shambles out.

As he’s about to leave, he turns and tells Jim

You just better hope you can pay up when the bills due - and it'll come, too.

Jim is left alone. Interestingly – we leave him facing the empty chair.  This role doesn’t yet truly belong to Jim.

 Night-time in the office at the Orphanage.   We hear cricket noises

(An aside – crickets? Is Gotham warm enough?)

Oswald is teaching Martin how to stab someone in the heart.

Sofia enters, momentarily pleased that Oswald has met Martin – less so when she sees what they’re doing. A twitchy Mr Penn interrupts to tell Oswald of the comprehensive failure of the night.  Oswald yells.  Interestingly, we see Sofia jump.  She’s usually fairly smooth with just about everything – but if this episode has tried to remind us of anything, it’s that Oswald has a hair-trigger temper.

He adds that Jim was promoted.  We see Sofia look shiftily back at Oswald.  Martin steps forward, seemingly because he can see that Oswald is upset.  Oswald however, coughs and seemingly manages to control himself, remarking that

That is quite a lot to go awry in one day

A relieved Mr Penn leaves. A smiling Sofia turns to Oswald and tells him.

You see, Oswald - business is not the end of life.  There are other rewards: companionship, peace of mind, friendship

She hugs him.  Oswald’s face over her shoulder has about 10 different emotions shifting over it.  

She invites him to dinner back at her house (did she forget she invited Jim?), but Oswald says Martin needs more training.

As she leaves, a strained Oswald passes his hand over his face.  Turning to Martin, he says

Martin - remind me: what did we learn today about friendship?

Martin draws a picture of people stabbing each other in the back.  Oswald smiles.

Yes.   If you’re not careful, friendship can blind you to what is staring you in the face.

Turning, he walks to the window and watches Sofia leave.  His jaw clenches. Behind him, Martin watches.

Lee examines Butch, calling him ‘big guy’ with some degree of fondness.  In the background, Ed is admiringly mimicking what she said to Firefly.  Lee better hope Ed doesn’t go wig-shopping, or she’ll be the latest character in his show.

Lee brushes it off, and tells him that she gets melodramatic under pressure, asking Butch how he is.  Butch tells her that he’s confused.  Ed looks round the crowd – quiet for once.  Lee asks what’s going on with them.  Ed says that they’re acknowledging their new leader.   Lee rolls her eyes and asys that they do love him.  Ed comments that he thought he was supposed to be the dumb one, and points out that she is the new leader.  She heals their children and their warriors – vanquished a fire-breathing monster, killed the queen.

He then uses the same line as the mayor used on Jim.  If she doesn’t do it, someone else will – likely someone worse than Cherry.  A nervous Lee looks rounds and asks where she should start.  Ed tells her to do something to make them happy.  Lee thinks for a moment before calling drinks on the house!  Ed tells her that was a good move, and Lee smiles – enjoying her new position.

 Outside Sofia’s house, Jim is waiting on the steps.  She smiles as she gets out the car, commenting that he came to celebrate after all. Seeing his face, though, she asks what’s wrong – she made him captain, after all.  

Jim stares and echoes you made me.  Yes, Jim – this is why you turned Falcone down way back when you arrived in town.  You knew how hollow it would be to know that he owned you – so quite why you were so willing to go ahead with this is a mystery.  He bitterly tells her that she can toy with Penguin all she wants (er – no she can’t, Jim.  Oswald has caught on faster than you, even though you knew the score from the beginning) - but he’s not her puppet.

She retorts that he’s not her puppet, he’s her partner.  Jim sneers at her.  He tells her he just stuck a knife in his partner’s back.  Sofia tells him coldly that was a mercy killing, and that he needs to grow up.  He wanted a gangster to help get rid of Oswald, and this is what that help looks like.  Harvey had to go.

Jim – now showing an eye-watering lack of awareness – tells her that he doesn’t need her help anymore, and that it’s time she left Gotham.  Did Jim honestly think she’d just go because he said so?  Wow.  Sofia smiles, and tells him that she’s not going anywhere. She came here to restore the Falcone name.  Standing in the doorway, she asks him again to come in and celebrate.  Jim answers that he’d rather stay out here where he can breathe.

(An aside – the wounded self-righteousness after you’ve got what you wanted - a destabilised Oswald and more power – doesn’t count for much, Jim)

He turns and walks away. Sofia watches, obviously displeased, the wobble to her jaw similar to Oswald’s anger earlier.

 General Observations

Remind me, what did we learn today about friendship?

To Oswald, friendship is a double-edged sword.  He’s desperate to be loved – hence Ed’s harping on that point in his show.  He’s also pretty desperate to give love, but we often see this impulse stymied, or twisted into different shapes – like his mentoring of Martin.  He’s decided now – apparently – that the whole venture leaves you too vulnerable to hurt, instead talking about conspirators, minions – anything to avoid the word he used to use so often.

All that said, he seems to have had the wool pulled over his eyes by Sofia.  His relationship with her has seemed to jump about here – and I felt that some more ‘show your working’ would have been nice in this episode.  He goes from being apparently clueless that he’s being manipulated to all out suspicion.  The hug seems to have been the moment this happened – but it’s hard to exactly say why.

Somewhat ironically, Sofia is currently probably closer to Oswald than she is Jim.  She’s hard to read – but some of her advice to Oswald seems pretty sincere.  That’s not to say she probably wouldn’t be able to knife him in the back – Oswald, too, can profess fondness for someone and still want them dead, but it’ll be interesting to see where things go.

Lee and Ed are forming a strange little partnership.  I’m not massively sure why – aside from the money – Lee prevented him from being kidnapped, but we’ll see if Ed can manage some gratitude.

Jim and Harvey’s friendship is disintegrating.  This whole ‘Harvey is weak and incompetent’ feels too sudden and contrived to me, to be honest.  We’ve had seasons of Harvey pretty deftly treading the line between managing Jim and the rest of GCPD, covering for Jim on several occasions, and sitting down and actually using his brain when Jim just wanted to speed ahead.  For him to be over on the basis of one bad decision seems strange, and – to be honest – the decision itself was OOC.

As for Jim – Harvey is his closest confidante and best friend.  He can feel disappointed by his failure to show up at the bullet club – but his total condemnation was cold.  It was also utterly hypocritical.  Jim might be the hero right now, but he’s going to topple from that pedestal fast when everyone finds out he’s been colluding with the mob. Also – am I ever going to find out why Harvey is in such dire financial straits? No?

Lots of power shifts too. in this episode, some less evident than others, and some only superficial.

At first glance, power has moved in Jim’s direction.  He’s been given the captaincy over Harvey.  We know, however, what Harvey can only suspect: Jim is not his own creature. He’s not earned this.  Sofia used the fear and power of the Falcone name to obtain it.  Jim’s essentially meekly taken what Falcone dangled in front of him way back in season one. Sofia says they’re partners – but the truth stings for Jim: he’s her puppet.

Power is slipping away from Oswald, which is intolerable for him – because Oswald has learned that the only way to guarantee yourself respect and safety is through power. When you lose it, you’re at the mercy of others – and that’s not a safe place to be in Gotham.  

He has - though – regained some personal power in the shape of his new-found suspicion of Sofia.  He’s not quite as meek and clueless as she thinks – which could lead to very unpleasant time for her later.

As for Sofia – she’s seemingly on top, but wobbling more than we’ve seen.  Jim’s suspicion has blossomed into outright rejection.  She can’t very well rescind the captaincy now, either – not without looking indecisive.  We now know that Oswald is suspicious.  Martin is an unknown quantity, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ferried information to Oswald.

Lee unexpectedly found herself with power and seems to like it.  That was a very amused smile she sent Barbara’s way as she scurried quickly home.  How she’ll run the Narrows remains to be seen, as does the possible role Ed might play by her side.

Randomly thinking of Carmine – he’s very quiet.  He’s not remotely suspicious that Sofia left town almost immediately after Jim’s visit? Surely he’d have people still in Gotham reporting back to him?

Lastly – the title – stop hitting yourself.  Harvey doesn’t think he deserves respect or forgiveness, and is drinking self-destructively.    Oswald losing his temper resulted in strategic losses at the Narrows, and his angry shunning of the friendship Martin offered seemed to physically pain him.  Jim put the cherry on his self-destructive cake by taking the captaincy obtained through mafia interference, and stabbing his friend in the back.

Thoughts?

[dippedanddripped]

Esprit is a brand that many of us remember fondly from our childhoods for its bright athletic wear and multicolored lettering. But what you may not know is that, beyond its colorful and upbeat aesthetic, the Northern Californian brand was one of the first to use its voice to talk about issues greater than fashion.

While lots of fashion brands are now placing conscious messaging at the forefront of their campaigns, for Esprit, the decision to create consciously was never a marketing ploy – it was as much a part of the brand as its fabrics and threads. Doug Tompkins and Susie Russell founded Esprit in Calfornia in ‘68, a time that was arguably the heydey of the countercultural movement. From day one, they weaved those revolutionary values in the brand’s DNA by producing consciously, advocating for equality and inclusivity, and looking after its employees.

Long before sustainability and diversity crept to the top of every brand’s agenda, Esprit produced a line using organic cotton and non-died wool, advocated for AIDS awareness, and featured employees rather than models as the face of its campaigns. The latter, known as the “Real People” campaign, first launch in the ’80s and outwardly demonstrated their commitment to fostering inclusivity and diversity.

This philosophy of inclusion carries through to their marketing efforts. For this year’s Pride, the brand teamed up with New York illustration duo Craig & Karl on a colorful capsule drop, the profits of which helped provide 12.500 meals to homeless LGBTQ+ youth in New York. Similarly, to celebrate International Women’s Day, Esprit launched a limited-edition t-shirt and, for every piece sold, donated the full retail price to the UN Women National Committee of Germany.

Now, Esprit is revisiting its “Real People” era with the #throwback collection. The limited-edition collection brings back the bright and bold design aesthetic of the ’80s and sees iconic styles from Esprit’s archive reworked in a modern way. Seizing the opportunity to amplify the voices of those trying to make a change, they linked with three activists making waves in their creative fields and it’s for this reason that body positivity ambassador Baby Gyal Ally, dancer and activist Christian Yav, and HIM + HIS author Helene Selam Kleih find themselves dressed in pieces from the colorful #throwback collection in a studio in Berlin. While their journeys and the causes they advocate are different, they are unified through their desire to make a change and spread messages of self-love. We sat down with them to discuss identity, activism in fashion, and why the messages behind brands matter.

More than ever, clothing brands are being judged as much for their commitment to activism as they are for the actual garments. Why does the message behind brands matter for you personally?

Ally: I need to know what I am putting on my body isn’t harming people or the planet. I can’t be supporting a brand or anything that is only taking money and profit into consideration and not the sustainability of the world. It’s also highly important to me to not support brands who have made transphobic, fatphobic, homophobic or racist remarks or support anything of this nature. I understand people can change but grown adults should know better by now, or at least be ignorant in silence.

Yav: The message behind a brand is very important because, in the end, it’s a mirror of the customer that feels attracted to the brand. Often I do question brands’ motives. In this day and age, everybody talks about diversity and being inclusive but often it’s done not to be pointed out as ‘the one who’s discriminating’, rather than to try to create a more welcoming society. At the end of the day, brands have big platforms so their message has a big influence.

Kleih: I believe strongly that the personal remarks of designers of big fashion houses and the way designers are using other people’s work as ‘influences’, should inform the way we see the brand in its totality. I would not want to put money back into a company that has made racist remarks or has created clothing with even the slightest indication of what I deem as cultural appropriation. We have to be as wary as possible and do the most we can in order not to condone these acts.

What do you think fashion brands need to do to adapt to the modern sociopolitical climate?

Ally: They need to listen to the public, the current generations, and the political climate. Cater to how we want the world to move forward. Also, use their platforms to better things for our future and future generations, and not their own personal gain so no culture vulturing!!

Yav: I think fashion brands need to be more honest in their intentions and why they want to portray their brand in a certain way. Like that we all can work more productively and make bigger steps forward.

Fashion is so integral to our identity. How have you used clothing and fashion in general to shape your identity?

Ally: I feel like fashion has always been something that has shaped my personality and identity since I was a kid. I use it as a vessel to show how I’m feeling at that particular moment and where I am at in life. There are a thousand different versions of me, sometimes I dress like a steampunk kid from 2005, sometimes I’m doing up the simple life kind of trash outfit, sometimes it’s hoe but make it fashion and then there’s the roadman ally, fully tracksuit, puffer & tns going to the shop. Also paying homage to where I have got my inspiration from or to my culture or a certain culture I love and appreciate is very important to me as well.

Yav: I try to take it day by day. I was born in a male body but always gave my own definition to it and that’s no different from my style in clothing. I’ve always had a love and fascination for clothing, I’m inspired and driven to wear what I like. I do adapt my style to the circumstances that I’m in because unfortunately we still live in a society where we’re not all safe.

Kleih: I’ve used fashion to show that I’m still fun. It sounds ridiculous I know, but walking into boardrooms and speaking on mental health, people assume that you have to be dressed in a suit. But these discussions and our outfits don’t have to somber, they should reflect both our daily life and our personal styles. As much as we have to conform to certain environments and situations, you can’t compromise your style too much, it’s part of who you are and a uniqueness that should give you confidence and make you shine out of a bunch.

Ally, you do a lot of activist work for body positivity issues. Was there any particular moment or spark that inspired you to move into this path?

Ally: When someone recognized me from a music video where I’m in a bikini and tracksuit bottoms and told me she showed her little sister (who’s a bit bigger) and her little sister said she wanted to wear crop tops and whatever she felt like wearing. That really touched me, and all the feedback I get from both men and women for all my work I do now always really touches me. It’s important to me that girls in the future or hopefully even now can grow up seeing more than just European beauty standards and can love themselves just how they are.

Yav, you use dance to create dialogues about sociopolitical issues, specifically around racism and queerness. How does this medium help you take on these issues?

Yav: It’s a different way to communicate. Physical conversations, as I like to call it, have the possibility to trigger people on a different frequency. Theaters, for example, are still white-dominated spaces so the moment Black works gets shown in a space like that, the communication can have a different outcome than performing for a majority that can identify with you.

Kleih, what message do you want people to take away from your advocacy work?

Kleih: I want people to understand that I’m not just working to move the dialogue further for men and mental health and that HIM + HIS doesn’t invalidate the struggles of any other person either. It’s about recognizing that the language of mental health needs to change for everyone and the way we treat mental health issues needs to be more accepted. As much as HIM + HIS was born out of the personal struggles and tragedies of both my twin brother and male cousin, it was also so much to do with how the families and women of men are affected by heteronormative standards enforced socially. I’m just trying to facilitate a discussion that men are furthering themselves and I only hope HIM + HIS allows this while trying to cater to as many different people and experiences as possible. It’s hard but it’s just a learning curve for all of us and I can already see attitudes changing and people becoming more comfortable, first and foremost my brother and I!

Seeing all that’s happening in the world, it’s easy to feel hopeless. How do you fight back against that and find inspiration to keep going?

Ally: Don’t stay in your house by yourself too long. Take a fucking break. Surround yourself with like-minded, open, creative & amazing souls. Continuing creating always, realizing that mistakes or being turned down is not the end, but means your path is just taking another direction. And most of all take care of your mind, body & soul, you are the most important person in your life.

Yav: I keep hoping that the next generation learns from our flaws and feels inspired to do it differently. That’s why education is key. Safe spaces are key. I’d like to find like-minded people who are willing to open the discussion and learn from that.

Kleih: I always try to remember that all things will pass, that even within catastrophes and crises, there is still good that shines through. I’ve said it in HIM + HIS that there is clarity in the confusion, but only with community and acceptance. Within our world today, we definitely need to focus on care in the aftermath and prevention for the future. It’s hard not to ruminate on what we have lost as people and communities, but for me, that’s what brings us further into ourselves and into a hole, we’ll struggle to get out of. We need to remember our similarities before our differences and value how much each of us has to offer our neighbor or even a stranger. That’s how I motivate myself really, telling myself that nothing is ever that bad and that I’m still yet to meet the best version of myself.

In regards to your activism, what’s next for you?

Ally: I would really love to do a panel or start a panel on body image, highs and lows in the industry. I feel we have a lot covering mental health but body image is apart of your mental health as well. When you’re working mainly with sample size models and feel like a token, it’s hard to know whether these things are actually changing in this industry or they’re just using you to “cover all their bases.” I want to talk about bodies in the industry and how we are treated, how we treat ourselves and I would also love people on the other side to be a part of it, so casting directors, creative directors… What do they think and why have they chosen these girls or boys?

Yav: I hope at a certain point to be able to create a platform with partners with whom I can create a safe space for people’s stories to be heard. Change starts with listening and there are still loads of people who feel unheard and that needs to change! Every story has a tremendous amount of worth.

Kleih: We’ve got a really exciting year ahead with HIM + HIS. We’ll be continuing our monthly HIM + HIS: Here sessions, each event is a mini-exhibition and a party, focused on a theme. Its purpose is to encourage a dialogue on mental health through art and conversation about our minds and experiences in a chilled, fun way, without being forced.  The HIM + HIS community is growing by the day which is so wicked. Right now, we have a documentary in the works and a couple of events penciled in abroad. I’d love for there to be a physical community outside of London and the UK.