#I had to use a reference for the modern fit btw

[newts-and-sharks]

I want to show off my baby and her family, please.

#she’s a faun satyr #druid too #hence the spider #she got chopped in half #that’s why she has that golden scar lol #she has a sister named clover/a dad named fern/a deceased mother named willow/and a step dad named clay #clay is a werebear and I love him dearly #tw spider #she’s about to turn on her party so wish her good luck 👍 #dnd oc #dnd #dnd character #Hazel #Hazel Chestnut #I had to use a reference for the modern fit btw #newts doodles

[ratcash-wasgud]

MR. KRABS, I HAVE AN IDEAA! (I'm so sorry, I hope you get this reference...) Modern!Mizu x Shy Reader who absolutely adores sketching in their free time, but specifically loves drawing Mizu?

Mizu is unaware for a long time but finds a sketchbook filled with beautiful sketches of her, with little notes by them that the reader made such as 'I love my girlfriend' , 'Her nose is so pretty' , 'I like how well I captured her jawline, it encompasses just how pretty she is.' Every page is filled with little side-note compliments/notes to self (That the reader didn't expect her to see) and Mizu just fawns and falls in love with the shy reader even more. Maybe Mizu will bring it up and reader gets flustered and eventually they spend their free time doing little drawing contests of each other? I thought it was a cute idea, I hope you are doing well and have a great day! :)

DAAAAAMN

love this idea. i'm probably gonna turn this into loser!mizu propaganda tho muhahaha

btw I'M SO SORRY I'M ABSENT and i'm very behind on requests too and everything. i'll try to post more <3

AN: this didn't turn out exactly how the request asked, BUT PLS I had to add a little smut, sue me.

also, there are some audios at the end

Mizu.

The shine in her eyes.

The way her eyelashes curl.

The curve of her chin.

The way her cheeks move when she talks.

You loved everything about your girlfriend.

But she was just too grumpy sometimes, and when you gave her complimetns, she just got a little red and told you to stop. And you didn't have the confidence in you to try after that. But she was so pretty! You had to get your thoughts out somehow. So what can a girl do? Draw.

You secretly took candid pictures of Mizu, and used them as references. You drew her in every possible pose and with a lot of facial expressions.

You loved drawing her smile especially. Mizu never liked her own smile, she says it's dumb looking and it doesn't fit her, but it can't be further from the truth. Her smile was beautiful.

You could never show her the drawings tho, you'd die of embarassement. One day tho, Mizu was at your place, watching a movie on your bed.

But you were foolish enough to go to the bathroom, and leave her alone with your stuff for five whole minutes. Mizu stopped the movie when you left, because in her opinion, watching your reactions is more interesting than the movie, so watching alone is unnecessary.

But she quickly got bored, so she stood up and started looking around your room again, looking at the little trinkets you have everywhere, and the posters she had seen a hundred times before. Then she found something she hasn't seen before. It was a small, slim sketchbook.

On the cover, there were old receipts from your dates, candy wrappers you ate while watching her matches and a kiss mark in the middle you made with her favorite shade of lipstick.

You usually show her everything you draw, so having a sketchbook she never seen before was unusual. Maybe it's new? Her fingers glide along the back of the sketchbook before she decides to pry and open it.

On the first page, there was a whole page, colored marker drawing of...Mizu. She was a wide smile in the drawing, her hair let down, falling down her back and into her face, her eyes narrowed as he skin creased from how wide her smile was. It was obvious you spent a lot of time on it. But Mizu's eyes quickly dart to the little notes scattered all over the page.

"My girl's smile is too pretty"

"Her nose wrinkles up when she laughs."

"Her eyes shine so much."

"So beautiful. "

And many more. It had her blushing. She covered her mouth as she got more and more flustered the more notes she read. It was like you noticed everything and loved everything. It was so strange. You complimented even the slightest, most basic stuff. Did you count her pores too or something?

But damn...

It made all of her body flutter. She flipped the page, and the drawing just didn't stop, and so didn't the notes. It kind of overwhelmed Mizu. Slowly, the drawings got more and more...clotheless.

At first, it was her collarbones.

"Her skin is so smooth, and the bones cast such a pretty shadow."

Then her back.

"A canvas better than any other."

Then her full chest.

"Pillows of the gods."

Then her...

The clack of the door was heard and you stepped inside, looking mortified.

"Oh you uhm...saw everything?" *You murmur, looking at the sketchbook in your girlfriend's hand.

"Yeah." Mizu answers without hesitation, and puts it down, taking a step towards you. Her heart thumped loud in her chest, as if fire started burning her whole body. She just witnessed the most flattering thing ever but also...it made her want you so much. "You like drawing me?"

"Yes...sorry, I know it's pretty cringe, I...what are you doing?" Your eyes widen as Mizu's fingers grab the hem of her shirt and start lifting it.

"You never drew a full body picture. I'm giving you an opportunity. " She says casually, but her ears burn in a deep shade of red as she tosses it to the side, her sports bra following suit.

"I...but, are you sure? I swear you don't have to, it was just a silly hobby of mine, I..."

"Get your drawing stuff out." Mizu orders, pushing down her sweats, leaving herself only in boxers. You just nod quickly and clumsily gather your things, your face looking rather similar to a tomato.

Mizu throws away her boxers, finally releasing all of her skin and she is sculped like a goddess.

She has a toned body, muscles showing from under her skin, abs almost winking at you and her perky tits being decorated with her hard ripples were just the cherry on top. She has a pretty happy trail leading to her bush, that is guarding her lips.

You swallow thickly as she settles in the chair, looking directly on the bed where you sat down to draw. She spreads her legs, leaning back and her elbows resting on the armrests of the chair.

She looks better than ever.

You can't look into her eyes as you start sketching her body, hands slightly shaking.

"I can't read your notes now, so say them out loud." She breaks the silence, her voice low and breathy. "Tell me what you think."

You bite on the inside of your cheek, glancing up and meeting her gaze.

"Her uhm...her body is...something to die for." You murmur as your hand moves the pencil quickly.

Mizu's eyes never leave you. Her chest starts moving up and down visibly, and she feels her insides twitch everything you glance either at her tits or her pussy.

"Is your view okay?" She asks and before you could answer, she reaches down, spreading her lips, showing you her light peach colored skin that is now slowly dripping out slick.

Your mouth almost falls open, and you quickly start sketching a close up of her entrance on the side of the page, almost not even looking at the paper, but only at Mizu's skin.

"You're enjoying this, huh?" Mizu murmurs, her own lips forming a small smile. "Perv."

"...sorry." You murmur, and look down.

"Want an even better view?" She asks, spreading her legs even more. "Come here then."

You jump at the opportunity and kneel between her legs. You just stare at her pretty pussy as it pumps out her juices. But before you know, Mizu's legs wrap around your head, pulling you right into her. You don't hesitate, and start slurping up her slick right away, your tongue eager to please.

"You taste so good...the best." You murmur into her as groans of pleasure start leaving her lips.

"Yeah? Fuck...keep going...tell me more." She breathes out heavily, sliding deeper into the chair's back. "My pussy is the best, isn't it? You love it..."

"Yes, the best..." You whimper out pathetically, eyes staring up at her as you start slightly making out with her hole, your nose pushing into her bush. "So good, so pretty..."

"Oh fuck...just like that, mhm..." She moans as her hips start moving up and down, rubbing herself against your face...and you love it. You'd rather suffocate right now than stop. You moan into her, pleasing her giving you equally as much pleasure.

"Please...please cum...please give it to me, please please..." You chant between thrust of your tongue.

"Yeah...fuck...want me to come? You want it so bad, huh?" Mizu moans, her hand slowly finding her own breast and starts playing with her nipple. You nod eagerly as you suck on her clit, making her squeeze her thighs so hard around your head, they almost crushed your skull.

After a couple of moment, you felt her soft and warm release drip down your throat, and you happily swallowed all of it. "Fuuuck...yeah, drink it...all, okay? Mhm...yeah you love it..."

Mizu relished in the powertrip as her legs slowly let you go, and watched your head emerge from her pussy, soaked but with dreamy eyes.

"Next time, when you wanna draw me," She whispers, grabbing your chin. "Just ask."

#blue eye samurai #bes mizu #blue eye samurai mizu #mizu x reader #bes x reader #blue eye samurai x reader #mizu fanfic #fanfiction #bes smut #smut

[max-nico]

Sonic World Building Headcanons

For the soul

Any fic of mine that you read uses all or almost all of these Headcanons btw

Covering your hands and feet is the equivalent of covering yourself for decency. It's taboo to talk about what someone's hands look like if you've seen them before

Fingerless gloves give the same vibe as micro skirts and sheer tops with nothing underneath

All (or at least most) Mobians/anthropomorphic animals start off showing a lot more animalistic traits. For example, young children might sniff each other in greeting or get territorial over their bedroom or house

Children who go to school get taught to use their "grown up instincts" and essentially get trained to be "normal"

There are Mobians who are outliers of course, Knuckles for example grew up secluded on a floating island. Over the years he's learned how to fit in better with the general populace but he still comes off as very naive, or not mentally developed (I probably should just say what autistic look like to neurotypicals huh)

Shadow would be an even more extreme example since he's literally an alien

Because of this, kids aren't allowed to move up a grade if they're smart enough to test out, like Tails. If they did that, they would miss crucial developmental skills specifically targeted toward their instincts

Different types of Mobians need different types of diets. For example, spider Mobians can't have mint period. Whether artificial or real. Unless they had been fed little bits of mint at a young age to build up the immunity by the time they reach adulthood

In the comforts of their own home most Mobians fall back on their animalistic traits. Like cat types purring in the sunlight or bird types preening their feathers

It's rude to refer to people as their species. Not like, super offensive, just rude. (Ex. Shadow refers to Sonic as "hedgehog")

Most Mobians aren't one type of animal, most are mixed between two or more. For example, someone mixed with a jackal and a raccoon. Which one they get referred to depends first on appearance, so sometimes children don't get classified until three or four. If they truly look like a 50/50 split between the two species then they get DNA testing done and are referred to as whichever one is higher

The village Tails comes from is a small village completely comprised of Mobians from the canidae family, small villages being completely one animal family is regular, but cities being this way is unheard-of

Sonic is a famous hero and does have a heavily filled bank account. Not because he asked of course, but because of public outrage when he off handedly mentioned he doesn't get paid for saving the world

Off topic, but Tails manages the bank account because he uses the most of the money. Inventions aren't cheap. Any bills they have are on auto pay so they don't worry about them.

Most Mobians are left handed

Okay, I don't really like humans in the Sonic world. If I had my way the Robotniks would be robins, Maria would be a mixture of hedgehog and bird in a way that's off putting to Mobians but we would think looks cool, that being said she'd be classified as a hedgehog

Anyway, this is not the case and humans do exist. In my head there're three different planets, one with humans, one with Mobians, and one with humans + Mobians

That being said, I think space travel isn't a super regular thing for Mobians to do but it's not unheard of. It's probably just super expensive if anything

Aliens are still fucking crazy to them tho

Some companies/governments (like GUN) span across two or more planets

There's generally a lot of animosity between Mobians and humans but in like a modern day racism (specism??) way and it is not the Mobians fault

Money also works differently Mobians (don't ask me how it works tho I got no fucking clue man), and a lot of the time Mobians just exchange favors for favors

Character Headcanons pertaining to world building

Reiterating: Sonic is famous and gets money transferred to his(read Tails') bank account. Tails village is full of dingos, foxes, jackals, wolves, coyotes, even some dogs.

Most of Sonic's friends are pretty loaded tbh. Obviously team rose, team dark, and team Sonic make the most money, but you know.. details

Very few things tip people off to Shadow being an alien. Like yeah he has canines but he might just be mixed species? He's right handed but some people just are so that's normal. Yeah he might hiss in public but you don't know his life. Maybe he can't control it.

I headcanon Amy as a hedgehog/echidna mix, but she simply looks more like a hedgehog in the face and body, but her quills are what really give her mixed heritage away (I am projecting)

Depending on which continuity you're looking at, Sonic was taught to control his instincts either from an orphanage, his uncle, his mom, or some secret 4 thing I'm forgetting.

He doesn't teach Tails about the whole instincts thing, but Tails has always been in a rush to grow up. He's smart and observant, he's the king of repressing them instead of learning at a slow and more natural pace that won't hurt him in the long run

Cream and Amy are the most socially competent by a longshot. Rouge could be if she, first of all, didn't spend so much time with Shadow and Omega, and also didn't find it funny to act like she does.

Okay, that's it for now. If I think of more I'll reblog the post with another headcanon, otherwise please add your own. I love headcanons, please let me add them to my arsenal. You're welcome to message me or go to my asks box as well as long as your nicest to me <3

I'm eventually going to do a post detailing what I think social media is like in the Sonic world.

If you have any headcanons put them in the tags, reply, or my ask box ! Any character you want me to focus on ? Message me, or hit my ask box ! Suggestions are always welcome .

#sth #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #i have the mic #shadow the hedgehog #amy rose #sth headcanons #sonic headcanons #sonic fanfiction #sonic fandom #sonic #knuckles the echidna #rrraarrrrr i love them all so much i love sonic the hedgehog come talk to me about it right now rrrrrrrreeeerrrr

[orangelemonsstuff]

Okay my last fic made me more inspired so here is my version of my automation au- this au still belongs to @jackplushie and i only take inspiration so the credits for the au belongs to them :>

btw id be referring to the reader/mc as the Scavenger since its kinda fitting title

(I'm going to continue the characters in another post)

The (Main) Characters

MC/Reader: The Scavenger who sells useable parts of robotd and androids for living, but although before they become a scavenger they are a student at the prestigious NRC Tech. Academy, but for some reason they had to drop out (or was forced by the headmaster to drop out) and end up where they are now. (the reason and their backstory is in your hands)

Grim: The Assistant/Companion Catbot. he was found by Sam the Trader and was sold to the scavenger to fix up, although to him the Scavenger is a simpleton henchman that he orders, he cares deeply for them and swore to stay by their side forever (the owner doesn't choose the cat, the cat chooses it's owner. plus who wouldn't you were the one has his weekly supplies of oil and tuna batteries)

Sam: The Trader that the scavenger sells parts to, he gives fair price to whatever the Scavenger had for him and good trinkets to give them, it is still a mystery how he got acquainted with the headmaster of NRC as why he's very familiar with him, but how had he known who the Scavenger is?, after all why would he, a businessman approach a random scavenger who only sells junk unless.... that he knew they studied in the academy of his acquaintance and interested in their abilities

World Building

The world of twisted wonderland had fell into the hands of machines. gadgets, androids, bots, artificial intelligence. you name it

the world is now filled with futuristic machinery that one could clap their hands and a android would do it for them

but as there are many gadgets and robots that populates the city like humans there are tons of dumpsites too. thats where you, my Scavenger makes a living. the Ramshackle Landfill is where most of the city's broken or discard androids and bots are thrown away and their body parts where you mostly get your money from, most of the you have good finds, some has no hope to make you a selling at all which marks them as bad finds, and last... are finds of androids that are still working yet thrown away for some reason (I'll get to them in the next post)

the Scavenger or you lives in a abandoned modernized smart home, not that far from the city of Sages but not too close either. nearby your was a dumpster of robotic parts where you scavenge and farage everyday, although it wasn't as the same anymore when you found yourself using your knowledge from studying in the academy to fix discarded androids. (only for them to be obsessed with you every time of the day, honestly...)

The NRC Tech. Academy is somewhere in the center of the city, it truly is prestige only to accept students that has skills and/or talents to create robotics for the economy and living. most android company CEO'S/Owners studied there, graduated and created bots for the society to use. but the headmaster of that academy tends to have alot of secrets maybe one of it was the reason why you dropped out.

(okay this is pretty much is it bout the basics so ill get to the characters later lol.

actually i do have a plan for the Reader/Scavenger's backstory about them being Crowley's child and being the top mechanic/technician in the academy but having a disagreement together with Crowley was the reason they dropped out but since Crowley is Crowley

he bought his child a home near a dumpsite out the goodness of his heart and keeps an eye on them by using Sam as a watcher

BUT THEN I REALIZED I WAS DICTATING THE READER'S OWN BACKSTORY AND NOT LETTING THEM DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES SO I DIDN'T CONTINUE

i want the reader to enjoy the imagination on their own way too so... the scavenger or your actual backstories belong to you guys lol dont let me dictate it.)

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst scenarios #twst fanfic #twst x reader #twst mc #twst grim #automation au

[20dollarlolita]

im trying to phrase this in a way that makes sense and isnt too long but its not working so: if i had a zelda print jsk but coorded it with all non zelda themed stuff, would it be cosplay lolita? (and also does this apply to the AP x Mario/Sailor Moon stuff?)

(the jsk is/will be made using ur tutorials btw!! you inspired me to keep sewing and designing through my Problems™️ - plus this means it'll have good lace and the right shape etc etc, im just curious if you as a person i appreciate from across the world have an opinion on fandom references vs cosplay)

So I did a post specifically on adapting Zelda looks into lolita fashion back in 2017.

And back in April when I was still able to stand, I did a coord with a Zelda print. I made the dress back in 2016 as part of a school project, but the coord involved a lot of new lolita fashion pieces that I've obtained since then. The bottom part of the skirt is the opening graphics from Wind Waker.

The really short answer is a JSK made with a printed fabric can be lolita and isn't a cosplay, but you need to make sure that the print is suitable for lolita fashion. I did a guide on that too.

But there's plenty of dresses with Sanrio characters that aren't Hello Kitty cosplays. An interesting brand to check out with regards to this is Secret Honey, who has a lot of disney tie-in dresses. You can see the difference between a themed dress and a cosplay dress.

Cosplay is cosplay. It's the art of dressing up as a character. In many cases, that's about creating or recreating specific garments worn in the source material. In cases where specific garments aren't being used, it's about looking like the character, and wearing clothing that is like what they could have worn. A good cosplay is going to go beyond just the garment and be a complete look, a head-to-toe costume.

Different from cosplay is things like Disneybounding, of which I guess the non-Disney version would be stealth cosplay. Disneybounding is dressing up in a way that resembles or reflects a character, without wearing a costume. This comes from Disney Parks policy that adults can't be wearing costumes in the park. A Disneybound look can distinctly resemble a character, but has to be constructed of modern(ish), mainstream(ish) garments. The whole look cannot be something that would look out of place at a Denny's at 2AM.

Themed lolita falls much more into Disneybounding than it does cosplay. The main difference is that a Disneybound look is composed of mainstream fashion pieces that resemble or remind you of a character. A themed lolita look is constructed out of pieces that can stand alone as lolita pieces, but that all fit a larger theme.

For an example on my coord up there, the skirt is a themed piece. The green linen was chosen specifically to look like Link's traditional green outfit, and the print is images from the game. My ocarina necklace is also a piece that I would not normally wear with a lolita look. However, the blouse is from Innocent World, a lolita brand. The overskirt was made by a lolita brand and was designed to be a lolita overskirt. The headbows aren't Zelda-themed and can be worn with other coordinates. The legwear was just going for color balance and doesn't actually add to the concept of the coord and objectively speaking, the bottom half of the coord is too punk-themed to really work with the top half of the coord. One of the really great things about wearing lolita fashion is that you can look at past looks, recognize that you like them, but also see things to improve on in the future. This is great because it allows you to experience wearing the same pieces repeatedly without wearing the same outfits repeatedly.

Regarding theme, a lot of brands have recurring themes and characters (Usakumya and Kuma Kumya are a good pair to start your research on). They make a lot of elements that are themed after these characters, but those pieces are themed lolita pieces, and not cosplay. (If anyone has ever done an actual Usakumya cosplay, please let me know ASAP. I need to see that).

Many people who wear lolita fashion are also cosplayers, and so the community has really tried to stop using "cosplay" as a negative term to describe poorly done lolita. You'll run into "cosplay lolita" still used in context of characters like Wednesday or Misa Amane, where the author or artist decided that they wear "gothic lolita" and didn't actually do a ton of research.

This means that people who wear their source material's "gothic lolita" look are really wearing a poorly-researched outfit made by someone who didn't really know what they're doing. People will also use the term "cosplay lolita" to describe a poorly-researched outfit made by someone who didn't really know what they were doing, as if "that's the sort of outfit you'd see as a cosplay of a character." However, it's a term that's falling out of favor and really isn't very nice to cosplayers who often spend a LOT of money and time on their cosplays.

#20dollarlolita #cosplay lolita #cosplay #gothic lolita #zelda

[synergysilhouette]

"Wish" rewrite: Setting the Scene (NOT the prologue)

Welp, I'm finally doing a lengthier rewrite of "Wish." For those new to my account, I must stress that you do not--repeat: DO NOT--need to read my shorter two rewrites of the film as well as song rewrites in order to understand this story. (BTW, the above art is by Sanjaycreates on Twitter.) NOTE: THis is all subject to change before I get the prologue and stuff going!

The Setting

The Kingdom of Nelke is a fantasy kingdom with German influences (but with racial demographics that you'd see in the Americas), but by no means should it be taken as something historically accurate, or even 100% culturally accurate. I kind of wanted something akin to "Baldur's Gate 3" where you see a mix of modern and historical garb--actually, it'd be pretty akin to many high fantasy RPGs, in my opinion, as well as the fashion for 2015's "Cinderella," if you will. I always loved the mix of modern and medieval aesthetics when used correctly. The royal family's crest is be a swan, in reference to "Swan Lake" and ruled by the favorable Queen Lina and overseen by her right-hand advisor, the sorcerer Eiko.

The Characters

(Note: I'm not an artist, so I'll simply use pics of characters who fit the overall vibe I'm going for, either in fashion, personality, or design.)

Talia--For those who don't know, a variant of "Sleeping Beauty" sees the main character named Talia, which is fitting since "Wish" was visually inspired by it. She's a young woman in her early 20s, wears an orange dress, and while she is kind at heart, she is rather hot-headed, and not always in an endearing way. Right now I'm considering making her half-Egyptian, half-African in reference to the lead couple in Disney's play "Aida." She has been a sorcerer's apprentice ever since she discovered she had magical powers, but talent isn't everything. She's become a bit shy around crowds, concerned with bringing out their ire of making them overly dependent on her. She occasionally leads her friends--nicknamed "The Dreamers"--when making decisions. (Art by Jonuelsketch and Disney.)

Vocally, I imagine her to have a deep, theatrical voice, something booming and powerful. She loves to sing in order to de-stress, though this doesn't always become a song; sometimes she just sings a line or a few sentences to herself like a lot of people do at random moments in time. If I was an artist, one person who would inspire her design would be Janelle Monae.

Aion--Taken from Aiionwatha, an alternate name for Hiawatha, a Native American figure who Disney made a short about and once tried to adapt into a feature film. He doesn't talk very often, and frequently tries to put on a brave face, despite his severe depression over losing one of his older brothers to magic when he was a child. He's the heart of the group, and often tries to diffuse conflict, as they stress him out. While he has great concern for Talia as a sorcerer's apprentice, he supports her, though Talia misunderstands his feelings and wants her to fail, since his own brother couldn't succeed at using magic. His main color is usually a flurry of colors, making him look like stained glass (which influences Talia's fashion at times).

Lucy--A reference to the protagonist in Walt Disney Pictures' adaptation of "The Chronicles of Narnia" with Walden media. She's of Arab descent and dresses in purples to reference Princess Jasmine. A fast-thinker, she always tries to think up solutions quickly and ahead of time, making her Aion's best friend when it comes to crisis aversion. The daughter of a diplomat and a smooth talker, she has confidence to spare and while she can be self-centered at times, she's first and foremost a great friend. For health reasons, she is often accompanied by a (stylish) cane, sometimes a wheelchair if things are severe.

Wolfgang--Not a Disney reference, but simply a German name. He has a lot going on with his life, largely due to being a political pawn all his life. While he has those he cares for, he isn't good at expressing it and consistently tries to control everything around him. It's been remarked that in another world, he and Talia could've been siblings, but not in this lifetime. He doesn't have many (real) friends, but his years of emotional abuse have led him to crave attention, even if it's not in the best possible way. Perhaps that's why he's often dressed in green; he has a bit of envy to spare.

Queen Lina-- A reference to "Thumbelina." The greatest person you will ever meet, or at least that's how the slogan goes. She's beautiful, intelligent, and often takes to disguises in order to check on her citizens. She's quite dramatic when you get to know her, but more in a theatrical way that pulls you in, not an annoying way. Her husband, bless his heart, likes to stay out of the limelight often, so he lets her be the face of the kingdom, and it suits her vanity just fine. Her clothing is colorful and ALWAYS memorable. Of course, she has an edge to her, something she doesn't want to let the citizens know about. As someone with a couple chips on her shoulder, Talia can relate--but are they in the same boat?

I imagine a soprano-type voice for her, but she has an affinity to rap when she's frustrated.

Princess Elsie--An occasionally clever, but altogether lazy princess. She enjoys her royal status and letting people fawn over her. Due to her commitment to being completely selfish, the people of Nelke assume this is an affront to a more caring future ruler (which Lina continually tries to support). When she's bored, she's been shown to be quite hilarious and astute, though you can be sure she won't let herself be bored for long. She's beautiful, but in a way slightly askew to mainstream society.

A good singer, albeit not the strongest; good enough for a movie, but not to sell albums.

Eiko--The queen's right-hand man and flatteringly referred to as her fairy godfather. A man who's past is shrouded in mystery (ironically clad in purples and greens), he vowed his fealty to the queen when he found her to be a worthy ruler. As of late, however, he has been looking for an apprentice to take over his place. As magic by birth is extremely rare and magic by education is difficult without a trained tutor (which there are few of in the kingdom), he has had difficulty finding one--until he comes upon Talia. While she is highly skilled, she doesn't always think things through, making her a mixed public figure before she's even come to prominence. When he isn't conducting official business for the crown, he is quite relaxed--and an excellent singer.

He used to be a more powerful singer, but he prefers a much softer sound now due to age.

Anselm--My Kingdom Hearts friends get this. The mysterious being in the west wing of the castle. It's said that his (their?) magic eclipses even Eiko's. But how Anselm came to be there--or what secrets lurk inside their mind--are anyone's guess. When Talia encounters him, they are a wise and mesmerizing figure, as she's able to see a sea of stars in his eyes. When he ventures beyond the wing and into the world below, he's shown to be playful and caring, always seeming to have one's best wishes at heart. Their magical form is a cascade of silvers, blues, and white, while as a human, they often wear "feminine" colors (bright/light colors, including pinks and purples) with flower motifs when in his human form, his favorite being a bleeding heart. His favorite room in the castle consists of a giant koi pond that frequently calms his soul. However, despite his outgoing nature, he can be quite shy when he develops a crush on someone, most recently Talia. Despite her attempts to look the other way, Talia reciprocates his feelings, and she finds that he may be hiding a mystery of his own, as she sees a sea of stars whenever she gazes into his eyes for a long time.

Probably the best singer, a tenor with heart and power.

Lemme know if you have any questions! IDK when I'll release the prologue, but it shouldn't be too long. Originally I was gonna include the storybook intro in this, but I've decided it's better to just put it in the prologue since I'm still figuring out my words. I may or may not write songs for this; I imagine it's a musical, but IDK if I'm gonna be happy with the songs I write.

#disney #disney animation #wish #yen sid #fantasia #enchanted #fictif #fire emblem #winx club #disney princess #jasmine #kida #atlantis #asha #kenai #brother bear #cinderella #once upon a time #barbie #swan lake #big hero 6 #pocahontas #she hulk #marvel #marvel comics #this wish #the arcana #asra

[waywardstation]

I keep thinking about the Hisuian forms and how they’re basically extinct by the modern day.

I’d like to think that most of the Hisuian Pokémon just adapted to the changes and become their regular forms or they can still be found in other places.

I know it sounds incredibly unlikely that Pokémon changes in such a short amount of time (one or two centuries) but we’re also talking about beings that rapidly change form and types in matters of seconds once they evolve. So I’d say it’s still possible. (We just can’t completely apply our understanding of evolution into the Pokémon world since animals and Pokémon are just so different)

Still sad to see some of the amazing Hisuian Pokémon gone in modern days but at the same time I wonder if they really could be around somewhere else…

(A thought I had btw is that once we get to the BW remakes or maybe even in a SV dlc, we can meet Ingo recently returned to his time and he gives out eggs of Hisuian Pokémon and trying to find places to get these Pokémon out in the wild again. But then again my theory is that SV are pretty far in the future of the Pokémon timeline… a I haven’t run into any big references to previous games yet like you could in older games you can’t because its been long since these things happened)

Ah sorry I got carried away a little…

I think about this from time to time too Anon.

MINOR SV SPOILERS BELOW CUT

I’m mostly thinking about it for Pokémon SV, when it becomes possible to move them over from Arceus to SV from home.

MINOR SPECULATION ON SV BELOW

I would love for hisuian pokemon to be introduced into Paldea at the same time DLC becomes available, and I would love for that DLC to give us some type of storyline to follow that could give us a narrative as to why extinct Hisuian Pokemon are in modern-day Paldea.

There have been some datamines that say some Hisuian Pokemon will have to be transferred into SV to get them (Hisuian arcanine, electrode, liligant) but there are some that you will be able to evolve just fine in SV? (I think wyrdeer, Ursaluna, and Scyther? I can’t remember exactly though, but they’re forms that come from modern-day pokemon) I really want an explanation for that. Why can we suddenly just evolve these extinct Pokémon in modern-day Paldea?? I really want DLC to have an answer for that.

Because it is sad to see these hisuian Pokémon gone in modern times. They’re some of my favorite Pokémon designs, and I know they’ll be in SV at some point via HOME transfer, but I hope we get an actual reason for them being back that fits into canon.

And of course, I’d love for this DLC, or BW remakes to address Ingo as well. If DLC can narratively explain the existence of ancient Hisuian Pokémon in modern-day Paldea, I would love for them to address something tying to the modern-day man in ancient Hisui. It’s just a wish for now though, I’m not betting on it. ^^; but I’d love it!!

#also interesting about your thoughts on SV being in the future #Rotom Phones and their designs could ground it within a certain timeframe #they seem to fit into the general timeframe as some of the more recent games #but we don’t really know #also the thought of Ingo helping to keep hisuian pokemon thriving by giving away eggs to good trainers is sweet ;w; #love your thoughts OP don’t apologize for rambling!! #it’s lovely stuff #wayward’s asks

[utouchmycookie]

I was briefly considering redoing a very old Percy Jackson fic I found that was terribly written but had a great plot. It was my own, to clarify, and from the era of Wattpad that was filled with ---line breaks--- and naming these dots: •. The era that I remember for having an account called Leo and the Whale Watchers that would call out, "WHALE" in the comments whenever this -_- emoticon showed up in a fic they were reading.

Anyways. This fic was probably eight-ish years old, and since then I have learned many things. I am using that knowledge here. FYI: I am not assuming anyone here doesn't know biology, I am just putting it here so anyone who doesn't has access to it without research.

Taxonomical Ranks are used to assess relatedness and group species together. From most vague to most specific we have: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. Scientific names are always Genus species. For reference, the taxonomy of a human is Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Primate, Hominidae, Homo sapien.

This is all to say, I have officially made a list of what Oceanic Animals would actually be the equivalent of, based on behavior and phylogeny (def.: relatedness of distant species based on most recent common ancestor), as someone studying to become an ethologist (def.: a scientist who studies animal behavior) and mammalogist (def.: a scientist who studies mammals). Gotta be flexible in this career field, Individuals.

Without further ado:

Dogs - Pinnipeds! Seals/Sea Lion/Walruses

Phylogeny: Like all marine mammals, Pinnipeds shared a land mammal ancestor that went back into the water. Pinnipeds are thought to share an ancestral species in the Carnivora order that diverged into modern day weasel-like creatures aside from the Pinnipeds.

Behavior: Pinnipeds have been used to help with an assortment of tasks for generations. Although they've never been tamed (def.: consistently willing to work with humans) in any larger amount than small, captive populations (def.: a group of individuals of the same species generally isolated from others of the species for whatever reason), they've shown willingness to work with humans and intelligence akin to that of their fellow "higher order" carnivorous mammals like dogs. However, they are more social than cats or bears.

Cats - Octopi

Phylogeny: These guys are very distantly related. Very distantly related. They only share a Kingdom - Animalia. However, octopi being invertebrates hardly makes them unintelligent.

Behavior: All types of cats are related at the Family level, and although we're mainly focusing on Felis catus - the domesticated cat - all cats are pretty behaviorally similar. They're mostly independent (although Felis catus, like all other cats, will often have overlapping territory - but territory differs wildly from home range despite their interchangeable usage by media - and lions lives in prides), they love boxes, they are attracted to catnip, and they're aggressive ambush predators. Octopi are individualistic, will fit through anything bigger than their beak, love to mess with humans, and are aggressive predators.

Horses - Whales

Phylogeny: These guys are probably way more related than you realized. Both are mammals, and although they are different Orders, that's more a matter of evolution than lack of relatedness. The most recent true terrestrial ancestor of all modern whale species (which, btw, include both baleen - Sub-Order: Mysticete - and toothed whales - Sub-Order: Odontocete -, and the Odontocete Family of Dolphins - Delphinidae - include Orcas/Killer Whales) was an Artiodactyla, which is the still existent Order horses (Family: Equidae) fall under.

Behavior: Horses have very high emotional intelligence and a distinct hierarchical system due to their very sociable nature that's incredibly similar to whales. For one, both species are matriarchal - or led by elder females - and both have a distinct male leader who seems to be in charge of breeding (in general. Animal groups tend to be far more complex than people give them credit for). Both tend to be migratory.

Birds - Turtles

Phylogeny: I'm going to blow. Your. Minds. Based on genetic comparisons... There is actually only one marine species on here more closely related than these two. Genetic comparisons have shown that scientists made a crazy mistake due to basing phylogeny in phenotypes (def.: physical appearance). The fossil record indicates after amphibians came lizards, and snakes are variations of lizards that have slowly speciated in their own direction. Meanwhile, turtles (including tortoises - all tortoises are turtles, not all turtles are tortoises) and crocodiles/alligators/caimans speciated in another direction, with a more recent common ancestor to bird than to lizards.

Behavior: I've never owned a bird, but I know a bit about them. However, no one has studied sea turtle behavior outside of egg-laying much yet, but I can see a sea turtle having a likeness to them.

Reptiles - Fish

Phylogeny: We just covered Bird/Reptile relatedness, and while we're going backwards here... Fish are more related to reptiles than sharks.

Behavior: I imagine owning a fish in the sea is rather like owning a reptile on land. Especially since while most of my icthy-based knowledge is freshwater, I do know there are a species of fish found in coral reefs who farm, and reptiles just give me a similar vibe.

Ferrets - Otters

Phylogeny: Full-disclosure, these guys are super related. Both are in the Family Mustelidae, and in the Sub-Family of weasels. By taxonomic standards, their relatedness is akin to that of a human and gorilla, or dog and wolf. Btw, they are thought to share a more recent common ancestor with Pinnipeds than bears, but because they both evolved from that common ancestor that is thought to still be in a more bear-like form, we leave it at that.

Behavior: Otters and ferrets are similar in the ways dogs and wolves are similar.

Goats - Sharks

Phylogeny: Okay. They're more related than cats and octopi at least?

Behavior: Everyone calls sharks sea-puppies, but like... Goats are very puppy-like. Can confirm, 10/10. I stand by my decision here.

Cows - Sting- and Manta Rays

Phylogeny: See above.

Behavior: Cows are grass puppies, especially when they're calves. They hang out, love scratches...

A Phylogenetic Tree I drew to show relatedness:

#percy jackson #pjo #mermaid #merman #biology #phylogeny #Whales #pinnipeds #otters #octopi #turtles #hoo #rick riordan #science #science side of tumblr

[tianshiisdead]

iggychu?

S+ tier, ultra OTP. idc if that rank isn't on the list. Oh man, how do I even start.

Short explanation here, long historic one under the readmore

I will preface this by saying it's a ship with a tumultuous history of imperialism and very real suffering, a perpetrator x victim ship, a 'dark' ship, etc. Keep that in mind as a general warning. I am personally rather confident in my ability to treat it carefully as a Chinese person and someone with a fairly solid background in early modern Chinese history, and I personally am rather laissez-faire with shipping, but YMMV

I think the main appeal to me really is the history. Like, it's my OTP that got me back into Hetalia like 2 years ago (and I met my darling gf thru it) so of course I love the ship as is and I love AUs, but the history hits all the points of tension and power imbalance and 'divorce' and crushed dreams that I love so much. I love both characters separately as well and I love how explosively they come together and fall apart. I think their personalities could fit surprisingly well in another world, another life, where they could have a quiet moment over tea and Wang Yao would appreciate Arthur's quiet grace and Arthur Wang Yao's pragmatism and beauty, but now and for the foreseeable future their interactions will always be tainted with smoke and pain and wars that Arthur doesn't even truly remember.

I do also love AUs btw I really do think they'd suit each other in another world, another time, without all the history hanging over them.

Rundown of relationship through the lens of chronological history: Fair warning, it's 1.5k words

Ok. Okokokok. So. Let's start from the beginning. I want to post this before bed so no references. Sorry if I get any history details wrong, it's been a second and this is all off the top of my head.

WARNINGS: abuse, drug use, nonconsent/assault, imperialism, the works. This is not a happy pair nor do they get a happy ending.

So initially, I imagine their first meeting to be the classic Macacartney Embassy of 1793, it's the classic (if rather orientalist) trope, Arthur marching in with the retinue after a year of exhausting travel, having finally reached the celestial kingdom, and Wang Yao there to greet him in resplendent deep blue robes. China was known in Europe through a variety of lenses, from the fascination with the exotic - Marco Polo's adventure to 'Cathay', Chinoiserie which had reached a fever pitch in the 1700s when China was both close and unknown - to the respect of philosophers for the faraway empire's imagined orderly way of rule. Arthur and his crew have been mistreated and pushed aside by official after official, but here they are now, and Arthur catches a glimpse of silky dark hair and frosty amber eyes and easy, effortless power and he's infatuated.

Wang Yao is, for his part, equally fascinated. Qianlong is wary despite his own fascination with European technology, Manchuria - will call him Erdeni - is even more wary, but Wang Yao's been screwing around the palace for a long time without much real political power outside the symbolic, and Arthur is a lovely surprise, finally he has a glimpse of those British who've been causing so much trouble in Canton! Arthur is a little rough around the edges, but certainly more refined than Wang Yao was expecting. His face lights up when he gets a moment with Wang Yao, he kisses Wang Yao's hand and tells him it's custom, Wang Yao allows it all with a sort of giddy amusement.

Their first meeting is like that, mutual fascination. Now, the British were already running something of a deficit and selling opium, however they were not the only ones at this point - the Dutch were the ones to introduce opium mixed with tobacco as recreational iirc, so although the dynasty had something of a problem they were trying and failing to deal with, it wasn't blamed on the British at this point. Qianlong is suspicious and a little tired, he knows he British have gunships (Macartney made sure to sail up on a big one) and he has to deal with stirrings of rebellion on top of Macartney's demands for more trade and land, Erdeni is horribly stressed, and Wang Yao is... kinda dreamy ngl! Likewise, Macartney leaves in an angry huff, but Arthur is just a little lovesick.

Now let's watch it fall apart! This part of the story is fairly straight forward, many issues happen in Canton including another failed embassy, the British East India Company losing their monopoly on Canton trade opening the shores up to private businesses both British and American, opium sales shoot up, rebellions shake the Qing, not helped by an aging Qianlong and a severely corrupt government willing to lie to his face, Arthur and Wang Yao are quite busy with their own affairs and only give each other a passing thought. Maybe there are letters, though, every once in a while, playful at the beginning but increasingly snippy as relations, what little there were, worsen. Their views of each other, developed within their own countries and politics, would likewise worsen.

By the time Arthur was invited to a debate in the British House of Commons discussing whether or not to declare war against China for all the chests of British opium dumped by Commissioner Lin into the sea, his view of Wang Yao was decidedly negative. Irritating, arrogant, backward, childish, and wholly unable to show any respect to his own, much less 'barbarians'. That pretty face is wasted, he thinks viciously, on a child tyrant in arrested development since before Rome, in desperate need of correction. On Wang Yao's part, he's starting to feel a bit of the rot, both the opium epidemic in its early stages and the rebellions that shook the latter part of Qianlong's reign leading to long decades of violence and famine, by the time the Daoguang emperor attempts ever more desperately to crack down on opium in the 1820s, both Wang Yao and Erdeni are nearly bedridden. In his periods of lucidity, Wang Yao curses his past self who giggled and allowed Arthur to kiss his hand.

So, then the wars start. Suffice to say, alongside war comes forced opium legalization, the taking of colonies (little Ka Lung, who's never known his older brother not surrounded by smoke and sickness, later on Weiwei, abandoned little coastal town left forgotten, Shanghai, Tianjin, etc) Arthur visits more, now.

Of course he does. Wang Yao can't say no.

He doesn't visit particularly often, however, despite personal interest, China has always been on the margins of British empire - only the China hands Truly cared about it, the central government did not. Arthur visits to oversee colonial development, visits imperial institutions the British had set up like the Imperial Maritimes Custom Service that control China's coast and later on postal system, etc. He drops by Wang Yao's place too, visits the bedridden fallen star living deep within the walls of a rotting imperial stronghold, does as he pleases because Wang Yao is barely awake enough to recognize him, anyways.

I won't go too deep into these few decades, just know they are excessively bleak. Rebellions come and go, Taiping and British involvement, Boxer rebellion sees Arthur marching in with a veritable army, Alfred, Ivan, Kiku, Ludwig, several others, Kiku jumps in headfirst and shakes hands with Arthur over Wang Yao's half-dead form, Arthur takes and takes and takes and when he's not taking he barely remembers Wang Yao is alive.

But Wang Yao... is alive. Alive, and responding to every desperate attempt by the emperor to reform and grow. Weihaiwei is a result of that, a coast where the Qing's first modern fleet were supposed to be docked, a child who was not a replacement for Ka Lung, but still an opportunity for Wang Yao to be better. Of course Weiwei gets taken away by Arthur in the end, but Wang Yao is far from finished.

I've let time get away from me, so lets quickly fast forward past the fall of the Qing and birth of the new republic, past ww1, when China sends workers to aid Britain and France, past May 4th 1919, all the way to 1922.

Wang Yao is a man reborn, Arthur is a man beaten down by an empire slipping away from him and a war that devastated his people and country on a never before seen scale. British imperialism in China has never been stronger, taking great economic concessions only to be bombarded with the ever-growing nationalism and anti-imperialism of the new Republic and then sending in the military to quell that. Arthur shows up periodically at this point, rolling his eyes at Wang Yao's arrogance and mourning the easy submission of the late 1800s - I've done Yao a disservice by allowing him to get these ridiculous thoughts of republic when he barely knows how to reason, he thinks, leaning pretty far right in his thinking due to all those personal emotions tangled in that he won't put a name to. Wang Yao though, Wang Yao only cares that he's above all that now, that Erdeni's dead by his own hand, that he's now Arthur's equal and WILL be treated as such. Wang Yao's also currently a little more preoccupied with, well, the constantly ramping up invasion on his shores, courtesy of Kiku.

Talking about that invasion, he certainly hasn't forgotten that Arthur had shaken hands with Kiku over his body and soul, splitting him up like a piece of meat. Arthur's relationship with Kiku has been deteriorating in the meanwhile, until, oh, Europe seems to be in some kind of war, and China's also at war with an ally of some of those Europeans, might as well formally declare an alliance!

1941. China is still riddled with colonies, colonial institutions, and concessions that would not start being returned until 1943-1999. The Republic of China joins the US, USSR, and Great Britain as the Four Powers. Wang Yao faces Arthur over tea and cookies, still bearing bruises from their last meeting (countries heal slowly when embroiled in civil war and invasion and chaos) and steels himself to talk strategy.

Nowadays? Arthur wouldn't be able to recall much about it all, Wang Yao rendered as just another pretty face in a long line of victims. Wang Yao still gets nightmares of opium haze and burning pain and Arthur's cheerful voice scolding him for taking on more than he can chew, and hides it behind a mask of nationalist fervour, lets it colour his vision so he will always remember what it feels like to be weak.

#ask game #anon #hetalia #hws china #hws england #iggychu #imperialism cw #colonization cw #violence cw #drug cw #racism cw #abuse cw #oh also my AU chaoyao dynamic... ty Stella_Azurite from ao3 ur my sister in arms in the battle for iggychu and also my inspo #pls go check her ao3 page if u like iggychu pspsps its fem yaoyao but its mwah impeccable as long as ur ok w that

[agnesandhilda]

I watched this production of the bacchae last night and, while I can't speak for its accuracy, I had a great time!

some impressions:

dionysus is played by a woman here, but dionysus is still referred to as "zeus's son" or with he/him pronouns sometimes, in what I assume is a holdover from the original script. (generally, masc terms are used for dionysus when his mythological background is being discussed, and she/her when she's physically present on stage). but in practice it just seems like dionysus has she/him swag

everyone's yassified. the maenads look like all their clothes come from forever 21 and it rules

pentheus and his cronies are costumed as patrick bateman wannabes, and I think it works for emphasizing how they're more controlled/conservative than the maenads

going in I figured dionysus would be the real showstopper, and she does a good job, but the actor for pentheus puts his whole pussy into it and I wasn't expecting that. he's really got that stodgy prep school boy energy

dionysus being played by a woman highlights the homoerotic aspect of pentheus' little "you're so pretty---not that I'm interested or anything" tangent, which I got to ramble to my mom about!

the maenads' dance numbers between the scenes are easily the iffiest parts of the production, but I appreciate that they're there (to replicate the music numbers that would've originally been there for an english-speaking audience. and music is hard to adapt, I know) and they're fun enough so 🤷

my favorite maenad is the one in the highlighter yellow skirt btw

cadmus wears a crop top in his introduction scene and I think that's beautiful

agave is only in one scene but she slays (ha) it. she's so frenzied!! my mom thought it was weird but I was into it so whatever

midway through pentheus' guards description of his death I realized that, while my professors told me most violence in greek dramas was kept offscreen because graphic violence didn't fit the sensibilities of audiences at the time, it's also, just, hard to depict scenes like this in a theater format, especially without modern special effects. how would you even pull off sparagmos if you had to perform it live with ~400s BCE tech? you couldn't! all you can do is send some dudes in after the fact to say "it was SO crazy guys you should've seen it"

I'm kind of disappointed pentheus wasn't costumed like the rest of the maenads when it came to giving him a disguise, because I personally LOVE fishnets and think everyone should wear them, but his boobs were out so I can't complain

on a related note dionysus' divine form is costumed like an insta baddie all in leather which is fun I think

I've been reading the paul roche version of the bacchae bc that's what I've got access to, but reading a play and seeing it performed are very different even if you try to remember it's a performance piece as you read, and seeing the actors get emotional in delivering their lines was interesting to me bc I mostly read their tones as flat/calm initially, which gives the bacchae a more sedate vibe

this makes me want to watch more productions of greek dramas. maybe shakespeare. I wanna see more dismembered bodies on stage

#bolo liveblogs #the bacchae #warwick ancient drama festival 2022 #tagamemnon

[rebranded-reboks]

Genshin harbingers but I make up middle names for them because I’m annoying and I can this is in their wiki order btw cause I’m lazyyyyy and it’s super late.

Pierro’s middle name is something really long and pretentious and probably has two parts to it and for some reason I think it should be French. It’s like Jean Marc Paul or something (also yess I’m aware I butchered the spelling I took like five years of French courses it’s just 1 am and I don’t care).

Dottore’s middle name is medical malpractice pantalone had it legally changed as part of a prank and dottore just genuinely doesn’t give a damn about changing it back.

Columbina’s middle name is soemthing really pretty but also it’s probably in one of the dead languages like Latin so no one knows how to pronounce it properly or maybe something Italian like arianna which is according to baby name sights (yes I’m using that for this it’s like 2 am my time allowed to be uncreative) it means most holy and I’m batshit insane for religious imagery so expect alot of that in future references.

Pulcinellas last name is only known by like himself and the tsaritsa it’s like a super well guarded secret even though it’s a super basic name like William.

Scaramouche (this is pre wanderer) Ramiel which is Hebrew for thunder of god and I think it plays well into his wishes to usurp his creator and overtake the first god he ever knew.

Sandrones is probably something flower related like rose or violet because flowers and dolls are seen as very perfect and feminine and I believe she changed her bio name to that to fit her ideal of what she should present herself as.

La signoras middle name is gizelle because I think it’s a beautiful name and she’s a beautiful woman.

Pantalones middle name is Odin because I personally believe that he had a Norse mythology hyperfixation in every modern au and I believe that it suits him since Odin was known as a god fo wealth.

Childes middle name is Marcus no I will not elaborate he’s just a white boy with the middle name Marcus.

Capitano doesn’t care much about middle names and didn’t have one until becoming a harbinger. He doesn’t even know his but legally his middle name is Asbjorn which means godly bear given due to his strength and ferocity.

Arlecchinos middle name is Luella which is old English and implies that the child is fae touched which I think that since arlecchino behaved so strangely as a child she was believed at one point to be a channeling of sorts.

#genshin impact #genshin #genshin headcanons #fatui harbingers #fatui #fatui headcanons #harbingers #I accidentally posted this so main at first #I seriously need to sleep more

[sasquapossum]

Deathloop is what happens when Dishonored meets Myst.

A while back, I bought Deathloop only to find that it wouldn’t play on my machine. More recently, I bought a new machine. Being able to play Deathloop wasn’t the reason I bought it, but having something that could play modern games (including for the next 2-3 years) certainly affected my selection criteria. This past weekend, I finally got tired of the other games I had been playing and put that long-ago purchase to use.

Mostly, the game play feels like Dishonored, which is my favorite franchise BTW. It’s pretty classic stealth-game stuff.

Hide in shadows and plan routes carefully.

Sneak up behind enemies and stab them.

Snipe enemies from long range.

Collect trinkets that give you extra powers.

Enjoy some of the same furniture as in the predecessors (plus one “easter egg” reference that I won’t spoil except to say it appears very early on).

There are some differences, of course.

Long-range sniping isn’t silent with a rifle like it is with a crossbow. It usually (but not always) attracts attention.

On the other hand, bodies always disappear conveniently, which required a special ability (or two) before. Yay, no more stuffing bodies in dumpsters and closets to avoid detection.

No sleep darts or other ways to render enemies unconscious. Just killing.

No rats, no weepers, no bloodflies, etc.

No money to find and pick up.

No drop assassination. This mechanic was always slightly ridiculous to the point of self-parody, but oh so fun. It’s the difference I regret the most.

Some of these changes are clearly simplifications to make up for the extra complexity on the Myst side.

You’re on an island, with multiple distinct areas.

You have to solve puzzles, some of which are quite visual and complex. It was discovery of one such that led me to recognizing the Myst connection.

Some of those puzzles require going back and forth between different areas to get information or pieces.

Time travel is involved, so sometimes you have to do things at a specific time.

Like every other game since, having little bits of lore scribbled on papers etc. is part of the fun.

It’s a bit of a surprising connection, especially since Myst quite explicitly eschewed violence while Dishonored fits firmly into the “murder hobo” category, but it really works. This might well become my favorite Arkane title. Unfortunately, it’s likely to be the last that’s recognizable as such, since they just got acquired by Microsoft. That’s not just generic MS-bashing, which I’m more than willing to do on other occasions, but their strategy regarding games in particular doesn’t seem very consistent with Arkane’s boutique feel and there have already been some significant departures. Let’s see if Redfall can prove me wrong.

#games #dishonored #myst #deathloop #tw microsoft

[cassyapper]

What are your thoughts on each JoJo opening? I'm asking bc I'm so hyped for the second stone ocean op

oh god anon you've opened the gates of hell this might get long

um to make a long story short: while i have my preferences for the music by itself, i do appreciate and respect all the openings to some degree. as for the visuals, i think they're almost all fucking brilliant and some in particular just make me completely insane (we'll get to that)

as for specifics:

sono chi no sadame

musically: I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE TOMMY I LOVE THE JAZZ I LOVE THE FULL FUCKING ORCHESTRA IN THIS SONG I LOVEEEE THE MODERN GUITARS I LOVE THE CHORUS SO MUCH. THIS SONG IS THE FIRST THING I LOVED ABOUT JOJO. the way it escalates and decelerates GOD. this song is a fucking experience. it's so fucking perfect im not even kidding. "JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOJO" lives in my fucking soul that shit echoed in my chest cavity and landed right the fuck in my heart and it never left.

visually: SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD. NOTHING WILL EVER FUCKING BEAT THE BEGINNING WHERE THE FUTURE MAIN-VERSE JOJOS ARE FEATURED AND THEN IT SLAMS INTO THE TITLE AND THEN JONATHANNNNNNNNNNNN OH MY FUCKING GOD. AND HE IS SMILING.... the "animated manga" look for this intro came together so so so fucking well with all the panels and i love the homage paid to the og colors (like when erina had brown hair) just UEHHGHH.. it's so fucking good. also jonathan running up the stairs toward DIOOOOOO AND HOW IT'S REFERENCES WHEN JOTARO MAKES IT UP THE STAIRS IN THE END OF THE WORLD OP GOUGHOHUGHJF;JNJNJWJJ;NJNJNJNJKSENDNKSN;KDN;KS;NJDJNJDJD im actually gonna cry shut the hell up. oh my god

2. bloody stream

musically: literally could not be more perfect. coda has such a gorgeous and unique voice and it fits the blatant modern jazz of this intro SOOOOOOOO well fuck. such a good texture to it. the instruments are swanky and smooth and funky just like joseph and just kjNJDNJFJ;DJ;J. god. oh my god. it's so good. i would literally kill a man to hear this song for the first time again

visually: STUNNING. not as much like symbolism? but the colors and movement are just so GORGEOUS. it comes together SO WELL FUCK. the intro's justice for joseph is so good and also references his og color palette (the purple). UGH IT'S SO GOOD. the bits of suzi and smokey are so cute and lisa lisa is so fucking pretty in this intro. AND CAESAR AND JOSEPH'S DYNAMIC REPRESENTED VISUALLY...IT CAME OUT SO PERFECTLY...also i really fucking love the part where joseph screams with caesar's headband. haunting. UGH. so good

3. stand proud

musically: in the words of my friend maddie, this intro is so naruto-esque, but god dammit it's still so fun. i love jin's voice and the echoes in the chorus i love how fucking Final it feels and i would KILL and DIE for that fucking guitar oh my god. WRRR WRRR WRR WRRRRRRRRRRRRR WRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. god. it makes me so fundamentally sad btw the beginning riff just ehcoes in my soul and frankly makes me want to sob. i want to cry. i want to cry so bad jotaro please. it's so supposed to be fun and hype and epic but it makes me so nostalgic and wistful and ache and i dont know if that was intentional on the muscians' part but god fucking dammit if it isn't at least a few points in their favor because good. LORD.

visually: NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING WILL EVER MAKE ME NEED TO EAT DRYWALL AS BAD AS THIS INTRO. except the next one but we'll get to that. oh my god where do i even begin. the movement. the colors. the camera work. oh my god all the spins in this intro make me feel so excited it's like im on a rollercoast or some shit. please and the SYMBOLISM FUUUUUUUUUUCK. the part where jotaro's kneeling down and all his family are above him on his shoulders I HAVE NOT FUCKING KNOWN PEACE SINCE THAT DAY. oh my god an all the shots of the crusaders using their stands FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. it's so good. it'sssnsj;n;wn;kw ;sm nj;

4. sono chi no kioku (the end of the world)

musically: i wasn't a fan when i first heard this intro but now OHHhhdu;djod. i think bringing together all the op singers so far for this song was fucking genius. it's sjksjn IT WAS FUCKING GENIUS. oh my god it makes me so ill. it reminds me that part 3 was originally going to be called heritage for the future like nothing else. fuck. AND THE MUSIC GOES SO HARD THE GUITARIST PUT THEIR ENTIRE PUSSY INTO THIS SONG AND IT CAME OUT SOOOO GOOD. the fucking violins btw too oh my god. THE DRUMS. such a great sense of foreboding. so good. and the harmonies of the singers are so good. oh the way they each sing "crusaaadeeeeeeerrsss" ohhhh oh

visually: NOTHING AND I MEAN NOTHING HAS RUINED ME LIKE THE VISUALS FOR THIS INTRO. the clock gears and pendulums everywhere. the sand. the colors. all of the crusaders fighting so hard. THE LINE UPSSSSSSSSSSSS oh my god when they were in a row during the "ha ha ha HA" part and then on the last ha it turned into their stands FUCK OH MY GOD. the ghosts of his family following jotaro around AGAIN. dio watching and waiting. .... tick tock.... oh my god. oh my god. i mentioned this earlier but jotaro making it to the top of the stairs where Jonathan couldn't FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK AND HOW IT . AND HOW IT. CAUSE JOTAOR INHEREITED JONATHAN'S BATTLE. SO LIKE. TEARS DOWN MY FACE. oh my god it was all perfect. do not get me fucking started on the scene where dio stops time and walks smugly past jotaro and IT NNSNKANSJKS;NJ;SNSDSNJSN AND HE TURNS AND GITHR SKJLSKJ ;S;JKSB;SKSK;S;NSJ ;KSBANA; ;im actually fucking isnane. ohbim sjks; toh j;ks sk; oh this intro has fucking ruined me

5. crazy noisy bizzare town

musically: SO FUCKING FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVED THE RETURN OF THE JAZZ I LOVE HOW IT'S A REFERENCE TO JOSUKE BEING JOSEPH'S SON. it comes together so well i enjoy it so much it bangs so hard I LOVE LISTENING TO THIS INTRO. it always makes me have such a smile on my face. fuck the horns and drums fit together so perfectly and the singer's smooth and calming voice is just so good. this is the song you listen to on the bus to wake yourself up and get optimistic and ready for the day. it's so GOOD. fuck. even the edm version is fun but nothing beats the og

visually: i really missed the 3d openings so i was really disappointed when i started part 4 and saw it switched to 2d intros. HOWEVER the colors and movement in this op were still VERY reminiscent of the 3d style esp the bloody stream op and just god it's so good. it's SO fun to watch fuck. i love how apparent it is that josuke okuyasu and koichi are students i love how it's like "we're in this wacky little town together but it's our town (:" UGH SO CUTE. fuck. oh my god. AND THE LIKE WAY THE INTRO REPRESENTS THEIR STANDS AND HOW KOICHI HAS NOTHING THERE AT FIRST BUT THEN!!! ECHOES APPEARS AND POSES WITH HIM AHGHGHGKL sobbing. so good. fuck. also the shadows that haunt them... OUGH. so good

6. chase

musically: I KNOW THIS INTRO GETS A LOT OF HATE BUT I FUCKING LOVE IT SO MUCH. i love the raw and emotional tone of the singer i LOVE LOVE LOVE A GOOD GUITAR RIFF FUCK i would eat the sounds that electric guitar makes in this song if i could. AND I LOVED THE DRUMS i love how this song is so representative of josuke's fury at injustice. i love how the singer is almost like yelling in the end like "CHASECHASECHASE-E" AUGHH IT . i just think it does an amazing job of representing josuke's mindset during the kira chase especially when kira made it personal by killing shigechi

visually: I LOVE THE BEGINNING SEQUENCE WHERE THEYRE ALL SPINNING TOGETHER AND THEN IT FADES INTO A PHOTO GRAPH AND JUST !!!!!!!! FUCK EVERYTHING. i love the blue color palette in places. i love how we see flashes of kira and his stand and REIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII. fuck. oh my god and do not get me started on josuke screaming and reaching, reaching, reaching and the camera turns and we see killer queen's eye in kira's face FUCK. oh my god. actual fucking chills.

7. great days

musically: the horns and drums in this opening just make me want to cry to be quite honest with you. they're just so powerful and fun and it makes me want to jump up and go nuts. this whole song frankly gives me the vibe of a celebration happening in the summer at dusk and you're with the people you love and just having so much fun and it's beginning to cool off and you're all at a comfortable temp and just having so much fun and just existing to the fullest. it makes me so fucking happy. great days indeed king fuck you're so right. oh my god. the way that they didn't even have to edit the song btw for kira's time fuck, they just already had that in the song, and IT STILL SOUNDS SO GOOD. FUCK. makes me think about how you want to make that moment i was talking about earlier last forever. but god. GOD. LET THE VOICE OF LOVE TAKE YOU HIIIIIIIGHER. this song means so much to me and i think it's the fucking PERFECT WAY to end part 4. fuck

visually: SOOOOOOOOOOO FUN. the sequence where we were going through all those doors on rohan's porch were so fucking funny. THE LIKE?? SILHOUETTE WORK IN THIS OPENING IS SO GOOD AS WELL. LIKE JOSUKE'S WALK IN THE BEGINNING, JOTARO/ROHAN/YUKAKO/KOICHI/OKUYAU'S LIKE TURN AND POSE THING, SHINOBU WATCHING TV, HAYATO BOWING HIS HEAD AND TURNING INTO A SILHOUETTE, KIRA TURNING INTO A SILHOUETTE IN THE REWIND INTRO....JUST SO FUCKING GOOD. also the fucking. beginning when kira is smiling all smugly and he raises the detonator and clicks it UGH. so fucking good. ALSO REIMI AND THE END WHERE THEY ALL POINT UP AT THE SKY. FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. THE FINAL GROUP PHOTO. im insane. so good

8. fighting gold

musically: i wasn't a fan at first of this one either. i did get used to it but it'll never be my favorite. i do love coda's voice though and i love the part right before the chorus sm

visually: i LOVED meeting all the team and their stands in the intro. like all of them just running and doing their thing and looking swag as hell. and the ABUNDANCE of symbolism in this intro. fuck it was so good. i also love how the colors were so fucky wucky almost the whole time, reminds me of cnbt. ugh. i enjoyed it

9. traitor's requiem

musically: eh. it did eventually grow on me but the chorus is the only part of the song i ever grew to full on like. i do like when it picked up and got like faster paced but it just kind was all over the place for me. also no jazz elements for any of the p5 intros. boo.

visually: the whole first part is unnecessary. i get they didn't rlly know what else to animate for it that wouldn't spoil anything but like. idk just half the visuals do literally nothing it's just recapping what we already know. and the like intro where the dude is kissing giorno/diavolo's hand. idk. it would've been fine if that was a shot but the amount of time it had dedicated to it was just. like come on. get on with it. once the intro gets started though it's very fun. twish (: i also love the crumbling of bricks and gio's whole sequence at the end with the stand arrow and shit. ugh so fun i wish the whole intro was like that

10. stone ocean

musically: SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FUCKING GOOD. THOSE GUITAR RIFFS IN THE BEGINNING MAKE ME WANT TO FUCKING SOB. THEYRE SO DETERMINED BUT IT ALSO FEELS LIKE THEYRE BEING PINNED DOWN AND IT JUST OHHHHHHHH JOLYNE............ AND THE SINGER GOD. SHE DID SUCH AN AMAZING JOB. THE RAWNESS AND ANGER AND PREP UGHHHHHHHHHH. OH MY GOD AND THE BACKGROUND SINGERS TOOO. FUCK EVERYTHING, ONLY THIS INTRO EVER DO YOU UNDERSTAND. I LOVE HOW EVERYTHING IS LIKE. SPIKEY AND ROUGH AND UNPOLISHED IT'S NOT SMOOTH IT'S NOT GOING DOWN EASY IT'S CLAWING AND ANGRY AND WANTS A FUCKING FIGHT JUST LIKE JOLYNE OHHH FUCK IM INSANE AND ILL IM ACTUALLY GOING TO CRY. OHH FUCK AND THE DRUMS. THEYRE SO PERFECT. THEY COMPLEMENT THE GUITAR AND THEN THE SINGER PERFECTLY. OH AND THE BASS FUCK. FUCK. IT'S SO TASTEFUL. FUCKJJKCJNCJN im ;ksns;ks i cant get over it. im actually going to sob just thinking about it.

visually: when i saw that we returned to the 3d openings for stone ocean i quite fucking literally nearly passed out i cannot stress this enough. AND THEY DID NOT MISS THEY DID NOT DISAPPOINT. OH THE FUCKING. I LOVE THE SWINGING AROUND SCENES THAT WERE "ON PAUSE" IN THIS INTRO IT WAS SO GOOD. LIKE HERMES AND JOLYNE SITTING ON THE BUS AND GOING DOWN THE HALLWAY JUST OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDD. SO FUCKING GOD. oh i love the many palettes used in this intro and the fucking references to the manga volume covers (like jolyne hermes and foo all standing and posing) FUUUUUUUUUUCK. oh my god when jolyne is like kneeling in the water and she's handcuffed and crying before she gets ANGRY AND SHE BREAKS THE CUFFS AND STANDS WITH STONE FREE I ACTUALLY WAIIIIIIIIIIIILLLED WHEN I FIRST SAW THAT. AND THEN AT THE END WHEN WE SEE JOTAOR BEHIND HER AND SHE'S WALKING SO CONFIDENTLY BUT THEN SHE MEETS THE BARS OF THE PRISON AND THE BUTTERFLY GOES PAST HER AND SHE WATCHES BEFORE CLOSING HER EYES AND THEN GROWLING OHHHH FUCK. OH FUCK. I LOVE WOMEN I LOVE JOLYNE SHE'S SO FUCKING COOL SHE'S SO GOOD SHE DESERVES THE ENTIRE WORLD DO YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND ME. ALSO DON'T GET ME STARTED ON ALL THE REFERENCES TO THE PREVIOUS PARTS. IM GOIGN TO FUCKING PASS OUT.

um and there's that. im so sorry for this word vomit and I'm even more sorry cause i am not gonna proof read it. but yeah these are my thgouths. god bless

#cass cries #jjba

[bentosandbox]

some thoughts about Stultifera Navis’s armature

Paragraphs before the cut are spoiler free

This was the first event I didn’t spoil myself with datamines beforehand and I mostly locked myself out of social media to not be influenced by others and it was great. During events/new content drops I usually do a bit of translation as I go and share on twitter but this time while going through the event I just kept thinking ‘wow I wish I could have experienced this first-hand in a language I could parse fluently enough without having to open up 10+ tabs of Chinese dictionaries and other aids lol’ (mandarin is my mother tongue but I’m not fluent, and even more so if we’re talking about ‘mainland’ mandarin)

This is probably my favourite event now (sorry Dossoles... Also recently read a blogpost on the problem with Chen’s characterisation in DH that I mostly agreed with but that’s a blog post for another day if they give me permission to share lol)

 Anyway spoilers under this (ended up not writing anything about Skadi and Specter I'll leave that for another day maybe)

I was expecting the plot to be something like what the original allegory was about—a crew of ill-fitted people all quarrelling over who should be captain; or the satire (been trying to read the Barclay translation but the non-modern English is killing me) the most direct reference (iirc) is when Kal’tsit is asked

“If Terra is a ship, what kind of ship do you think it is?”

Later near the end she says:

“Terra is full of ills and ignorant idiots, and full of saints who seek reason from madness and disorder.“

I think the story asks the reader two questions, the first one Under Tides has already touched on—

What makes one ‘human’?

What makes one a ‘fool’?

After finishing the event I can tell you the answer to 2: fools are people like twitter user twilledW who don’t know a blip of the language they’re (machine)translating and you should take their ‘‘‘translations’‘‘‘ with a huge Stultifera Navis shipload of salt especially for main story/lore content. Apparently they block people who point out the TLs are wrong too I really don’t understand clout chasers.

For example Kal’tsit says this near the end:

可在这数万年的岁月里，我也有我的职责。

“Within these tens of thousands of years of time/life, I’ve also had my (own) responsibilities.”

They just read the surface and went "Btw, Kal'tsit is confirmed to be over 10,000 years old" as if she said ‘within my quadrillion years of living’ when clearly it is not the case... yes, perhaps you could say she might be, but its not an absolute confirmation.  Please use technology wisely my fellow knights on tomorrow’s boat!!!!!!

If anyone read all of this nonsense here’s a shiptpost for your efforts, here is what I think is the story’s armature. I know UT tackled this a little but I think SN built on it even more; I mean it’s basically a deeper dive(hehe) into the core of Arknights’ story right. I would say feel free to discuss but I don’t see anyone using replies here like they do on Lofter lol

#Might as well use my blog as a personal soapbox as originally intended #arknights #bentotexto #spoilers #stultifera navis

[audreydoeskaren]

History of Chinese standing collars (part 1: Ming & Qing)

So, a lot of people nowadays refer to a certain type of standing collar as a “Mandarin collar” but I'm not sure if that’s legit, because standing collars throughout Chinese history looked different. I was confronted by this topic when I was writing my post on 1950s Chinese fashion and felt like I had to make a separate post. I’m gonna do a quick break down of all the different types of standing collars in historical Chinese fashion from the 16th century to the present and how they developed.

Ming Dynasty  (1368-1644)

The first mature 立领 liling standing collars were applied to women’s robes in the late 15th/early 16th century. Before any garment with a standing collar was invented, both men and women in Ming China wore garments with either a 圆领 yuanling round collar, 直领 zhiling parallel collar or 交领 jiaoling crossover collar, with crossover collars being the more common in womenswear.

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Early Ming Dynasty portrait of a lady in a crossover collar robe.

The development of a standing collar was in large part thanks to the invention/adoption of the 子母扣 zimukou metal clasp button. I wonder why the fabric knotted buttons used on round collar robes were not used on standing collars in this period? They were awfully similar to the pankous of later. Anyway, at one point in the 15th century, some women thought it would be cool to add zimukou to their clothes and it resulted in this (they were also used on 比甲 bijia, 半臂 banbi and 短衫 duanshan but those are irrelevant to collars):

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Part of 明宪宗元宵行乐图 (a painting depicting various Lantern Festival activities at the court of Emperor Xianzong), 1485. This lady is wearing a crossover collar robe with a zimukou at the middle.

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Modern reproduction zimukou. You could buy these for cheap on Taobao if you want to sew your own Ming style hanfu btw.

In the 16th century a fashion revolution took place in China: the standing collar, which came out of nowhere, began to suddenly dominate women’s clothing. This OG Chinese standing collar was very tall and form fitting, usually covering all of the wearer’s neck. It had sharp, rectangular edges and was closed by two zimukou, one placed at the bottom of the collar where it meets the bodice and another slightly above, not reaching the top of the collar. An important feature that set this apart from the collars of the 20th century is that it was unstiffened and made of the same fabric as the robe, meaning it was soft and could be worn with the top bit folded over, showing the lining which could be of a contrasting color. For archival purposes let’s call this collar style 1.

There are various theories as to why the standing collar was invented, e.g. because of colder climate during the little ice age, which peaked in the late 16th/early 17th century. Methinks it was just a fad which stayed.

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Late Ming Dynasty portrait, collar style 1.

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Late 16th century/early 17th century aristocratic lady wearing a standing collar robe underneath a round collar robe. The top of her collar is folded over. Collar style 1 variation 2.

Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

This style of collar became the norm for Han Chinese women’s fashion in the mid to late 16th century and stayed that way throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. While the clothing silhouettes and accessories changed, the shape of the standing collar remained the same.

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Late 17th century illustration for pornographic novel 肉蒲团 (1657). Collar style 1, but it became fashionable in the 17th century to have rows of piping around the neck for each button, so variation 3. Oh and wlw pride come throoouuuugh

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Early 18th century court painting, collar style 1 variation 3.

At some point in the late 18th century Han women decided it would be cool to use 盘扣 pankou, this fabric braided/knotted button of Manchu origin (more on Manchu dress later) on their collars instead of zimukou. The decoration also became more extravagant, with often rows of thick binding, piping or trim, corresponding to the decorations on the rest of the robe. It’s also slightly shorter, the upper button being at the very top of the collar. Let’s call this collar style 2.

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(Presumably) late 18th century reverse glass painting showing collar style 2. The late 18th century deserves more attention, it’s such an important transitional period but also charming in its own way. This is true of European fashion of the period as well, I honestly love both places in the late 18th century.

In the beginning of the 19th century, the fashionable collar shape suddenly changed for some reason. It became extremely low, approximately only 1-2cm tall, only tall enough to accommodate one button. It still had crisp, rectangular edges. You could say this is another variation of collar style 2 but it is so iconic to the 19th century I think I’ll call this collar style 3.

Source here

Reverse glass painting ca. 1830. Han lady wearing a robe with collar style 3.

Now a brief look at Manchu womenswear.  I am not an expert on Manchu historical fashion so tell me if I’m wrong. So the Manchus, who were apparently a confederation of Jurchen tribes from the area in what is northeastern China nowadays, invaded China successfully in the 1640s and remained the rulers of China until 1911 when they were replaced by the Republic of China. Throughout most of the Qing Dynasty Manchu women wore collarless robes, it was not until the mid 19th century that some Manchu women started to wear detachable collars to emulate Han women’s fashion, and not until around 1908 (!) when standing collars were actually added to their gowns themselves. Yes, period dramas did Manchu women dirty, poor gals have been dressed in the wrong costumes this, entire, time. The misrepresentation of Manchu historical fashion in the media in general is just fucking infuriating, but well, topic for a future post.

Source here

Late 17th century/early 18th century portrait of a Manchu lady. She is wearing a 衬衣 chenyi, a robe with straight sleeves, no slits and closed at the right side. It’s a casual gown worn for everyday activities. Her chenyi is collarless and the collar is closed by binding.

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1840s/1850s court gown.  She is wearing 氅衣 changyi (the bottom part of the first character should be 衣 not 毛 but this character is so obscure that it literally DOES NOT EXIST in the Chinese language anymore omg), a more elaborate style developed in the early 19th century with slits down both sides and wide trims along the collar, cuffs, side closure, side slits and hem. I have yet to see an extant example with a standing collar, all the changyi from the 19th century I’ve seen in museum collections are collarless, so the collar seen in paintings must’ve been detachable. Maybe some Manchu women liked Han women’s fashion and wanted to wear a detachable collar. I have, however, seen Manchu women’s vests and jackets with standing collars. These were similar to late 18th century Han women’s collars, so collar style 2.

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1890s/1900s women’s vest with collar style 2. 

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Ca. 1908. Chenyi with standing collar. If the passage of time is still not clear, notice the Western fabric used. Collar style 2.

At first glance this might look like a cheongsam but it is not. Chenyi did not have slits down the sides, unlike most 20th century cheongsam. It may have been a source of inspiration for cheongsam though, as I have explained in one of my 1930s posts, although the more obvious prototype for cheongsam was the changyi with slits and standing collars.

Let us now turn our attention to Manchu menswear, which is where things get complicated. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Manchu riding habit, 行服袍 xingfupao, was a form fitting calf length robe with form fitting long sleeves and 马蹄袖 matixiu “horse hoof cuffs”, closed at the side with pankou. It was constructed in the same method as Han Chinese clothing. This original Manchu robe was collarless----I cannot stress this enough. The Manchus did not come barging into China wearing robes with standing collars goddamnit, get your facts right period dramas.

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Portrait of Emperor Kangxi in a xingfupao. This is from the early 18th century already but the style didn’t change much so you get the idea. I love this color btw I think he looks great in it.

The xingfupao was an informal riding habit and only one small part in the gigantic system of Manchu court dress, the rules of which are well documented but I don’t bother to look them up. If you would like to do that, Google 大清会典.  At one point in the early 18th century some Manchu dudes decided it was cool to add a collar to their xingfupao (like... Han women??) and it resulted in this:

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An early example from the Kangxi era (1661-1722), a xingfupao with a standing collar of a contrasting color. The hem is detachable for horse riding (horse riding was an important aspect of Manchu culture and that influenced many of their fashion decisions). Judging by the fur lining I assume the standing collar was added for warmth in winter? I also saw some xingfupao with fur trim attached to standing collars so maybe that was the purpose.

Standing collars on xingfupao was constructed in a similar way to Han women’s collars, with rectangular edges and closed by two buttons. Pankous, which were unique to Manchu dress, were used instead of the Han zimukou. It appears that this collar was also soft and unstiffened, so it could be worn with the top bit folded over like in ye olde times (the 16th century). It’s important to note that xingfupao with a standing collar were not common at all, maybe a 1/20 probability to see in museum collections. Construction wise it’s similar to collar style 2 but it appeared earlier and was exclusive to menswear, so let’s call it collar style 4.

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Qianlong era (1735-1796) portrait, xingfupao with standing collar of the same color folded over. Collar style 4 variation 2.

Another garment with a standing collar was the dress of the officials, known by white people as “Mandarins”. From the artworks and photographs I’ve seen, the collar only appeared in the outfit with a 行服褂 xingfugua, a button down tunic with straight, wide sleeves and slits at the front, back and sides. It was usually worn in combination with xingfupao, like how a shirt and vest are fixed combinations in European menswear. However, the collar of this kind of outfit was separate from the tunic itself. A plastron with an attached collar was worn underneath the robe and tunic (completely detachable collars were also used I think??) and the collar was buttoned from the inside. Not sure if this qualifies as a standing collar at all since it isn’t even attached to the robe itself, but anyway let’s just call this collar style 5.

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19th century portrait of an official. He is wearing a blue xingfupao, an indigo xingfugua and a blue detachable collar; a standard ensemble (well he’s also wearing pants and boots and stuff but that’s not the focus here). Collar style 5.

Oh I forgot to mention, after the Manchus took over China, they enforced their dress code on Han Chinese men but not Han Chinese women, so in the Qing Dynasty Han and Manchu menswear were one and the same but Han and Manchu womenswear were not.

I’ve only been talking about court dress so far, educated/well off civilian Han men would wear 长衫 changshan, a floor length robe, sometimes with a 马褂 magua, a short riding vest (derived from xingfugua), whereas poorer Han men would wear 短打 duanda, a short button down shirt, and pants. Well people who wore changshan also wore pants underneath but they’re not visible. All men wore pants tbh (incoming tangent), a while back when Harry Styles in a dress (which I stan) was making the rounds on social media some well meaning people were trying to find historical precedents for men wearing dresses and they named Chinese historical clothing as an example. I just wanna say, while I appreciate the sentiment, the harsh reality was that historical Han Chinese fashion was extremely gendered (except for a few brief time periods and a few select garments). Pants were reserved for men and skirts for women, the long gown like garments seen on men in historical portraiture were all robes, not dresses; you wouldn’t consider a long coat or bathrobe a dress nowadays, would you? Men always wore pants as undergarments while women wore petticoats. However I think that’s great for illustrating how our perception of whether a garment is masculine/feminine could change over time and that gender is socially constructed. Back to the main topic, to my knowledge, magua never had collars because it was a vest, changshan commonly had collars and duanda sometimes did too. I’m not sure when the standing collar began to appear on changshan, maybe when the court xingfupao gained collar style 4 it stuck in civilian fashion, maybe it was some point in the 19th century.

Anyway, fast forward to the late 19th century, the men’s changshan had a tall standing collar but again it was different to everything we’ve seen so far. It was exceptionally tall and had a smoothly tapering edge closed by only one pankou at the bottom. This resulted in a huge v shape gap down the middle. It’s still unstiffened but because of the lack of a rectangular edge it couldn’t be worn folded over. Let’s call this collar style 6.

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Late 19th century/early 20th century portrait of a man. Changshan with collar style 6.

Let’s finish this part with Han women’s collars in the 1890s and 1900s. Around this time Han womenswear began to modernize and become simpler, but that trend did not apply to collars: the collars of Han women’s robes suddenly became unnaturally tall. They were so tall that they touched the wearer’s cheeks and couldn’t be closed at the front at all, kind of resembling Regency era European men’s collars?? This style of collar was oftentimes called 元宝领 yuanbaoling, ingot collar, or 马鞍领 ma’anling, saddle collar, after the object it resembles. Let’s call all of these tall collars that touch the wearer’s face collar style 7, but bear in mind these had a lot of variations.

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Photograph from the 1900s. This could be categorized as a cursed variation of collar style 6 judging from how it only has one pankou and a tapering edge instead of a rectangular edge. But like, belle époque Chinese collars are a whole other species, so let’s comfortably call it collar style 7.

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More collar style 7 representation. This collar style will never stop being funny to me, like just look at it it’s so tall.

So, in summary:

Collar style 1: OG Ming Dynasty standing collar, in fashion from the 16th to mid 18th century. Tall, unstiffened, rectangular edges. Closed with two zimukou. Could have piping (17th & early 18th century). Could be worn with top bit folded over (16th & early 17th century). Worn by Han women.

Collar style 2: developed from collar style 1, popularized in the late 18th century. Medium height, unstiffened, rectangular edges. Closed with two pankou/other fabric buttons. Commonly has binding, piping or trim. Worn by Han women in the late 18th century, partially adopted by Manchu women in the late 19th century.

Collar style 3: developed from collar style 2, exclusive to the 19th century. Extremely short, unstiffened, rectangular edges. Closed with one pankou. Commonly has binding, piping or trim. Worn by Han women.

Collar style 4: collar style 2 but simpler, appeared in the late 17th/early 18th century. Tall, unstiffened, rectangular edges. Closed with two pankou. Commonly plain. Worn by Manchu & Han men.

Collar style 5: detachable standing collar, a staple of official’s uniforms throughout the Qing Dynasty. Medium height, unstiffened, rectangular/rounded edges. Buttoned from the inside. Always plain. Worn by all officials (exclusively men in this era).

Collar style 6: civilian men’s collar characterized by v shape gap at the front, I don’t know when it first appeared, some point in the Qing Dynasty. Tall, unstiffened, rounded and dramatically tapering edges. Closed by one pankou. Worn by civilian Manchu & Han men.

Collar style 7: cursed belle époque (1890s & 1900s) women’s collars that touched the wearer’s face. Extremely tall, stiffened, both rounded and rectangular edges existed. Closed by one pankou at the bottom but sometimes had more pankou for ornamental purposes. Worn by Han women in this period.

Join me next time as we dive into the Republican era where things get extra complicated.

#hanfu #historic fashion #chinese fashion #chinese history #ming dynasty #qing dynasty #16th century #17th century #18th century #19th century

[theocanread]

A MAP OF DAYS- MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN

Page 357, chapter 14

SORRY I SKIPPED SO MUCH. AND IVE BEEN GONE. I had a two week break from school and didn’t read. Then today and yesterday I went ham.

Ok- I’m so sorry this will mainly be about Enoch ;~;

1. Him making a nest and sleeping in a closet? Iconic

2. His love for cars? Amazing

3. Calling other people dumb (constantly) and then telling someone in 65 the car is a 79 model? Hypocritical

4. Offering to commit arson in protest of segregation? Valid

5. BULLYING BRONWYN WITH HIS SARCASM? Rude

6. Awwww poor kitty meow meow was bullied by Abe awww. Virgin (derogatory)

7. THE FIT. I HATE IT. GROSS OMG GET OUT. YOURE DONE. “normal people scare me” STFU YOU WRETCH. Narsty

8. Cat zombie hoard do be kinda funny good for him. Comedic

9. He legit likes cars. Enoch’s interests: cars, war, arson, knives, mortuary science, sarcasm, pissing people off, Horace. VALID (again)

Ok time for Millard’s smaller section, which I will format differently.

He deserves the world. He’s sick of just being invisible and having to hide that from normals. He’s going off, what a king. Also…. He referred to turning invisible as “terrifying” when it first happened. The casual way he said it hurt my bones and my heart. Muah, golden boy, he can do no wrong. (I don’t count him stealing as wrong)

Good luck Hugh, I hope you find Fiona :( I miss her.

And Horace being a background character hurts my heart. Plenty of good Enoch content, but I do miss Horace a lot. I think he’s wayyy stressed about the present though. So he deserves to sit this one out :) he is very overwhelmed. Horace just wants to dress nice, make nice food, and be appreciated. I appreciate him fellas. %100 malewife.

Ok let me just quickly say a few things that bother me. (I may have mentioned one of them before, but I genuinely can’t remember. I’ll keep that complaint short)

For the record these are all about Enoch because I believe I just pay the most attention to him. (Sorry everyone else)

• He is 117 or so and was in a time loop in the 1940s, but didn’t age forward. That goes against the rules shawty. (He would have been born in the 1890s btw considering this was setup in book one, written in 2011)

•Enoch was not a part of the original group to get clothes at the mall. He had a line of dialogue AT THE MALL. Later Jacob specifically says no one on the mission got modern clothes. 😳

•Enoch and Bronwyn get in a fight at some point (before the mission.) and not only is Bronwyn super strong, but apparently sitting in the car is uncomfortable because of how long her legs are. Miss ma’am must be big. (I’d pictured her being built like Harriet Tubman, but she can be built like my sister that’s fine too) BUT HOW DID ENOCH LAST 2 SECONDS IN THAT FIGHT??? She would have had him pinned. There would not have been a struggle. Jacob says Enoch is like 5’3 in book one ya’ll. (Maybe it was 5’4)

SORRY EVERYTHING IS ABOUT ENOCH. HE HAS UNFAIRLY USED HIS CHARM AND STUPIDITY AGAINST MY BRAIN.

Also Ransom Riggs you ain’t slick. Somnusson? Somn….. sleep… F off

#book club #miss peregrine #miss peregrines home for peculiar children #enoch o’connor #bronwyn bruntley #millard nullings #jacob portman #horace somnusson