#an edgier design than I’m used to but it was fun to make

[ren-054]

Me when new character 👻👻👻👻 their pronouns are whatever you think it is

thanks @freakdoodles for the name akdn

#art post #monster #I have no fucking clue what to tag this uh #terato #demon #monsterfucker #this is technically uh #starbench mafia #but also I think he may just become a regular oc of mine #an edgier design than I’m used to but it was fun to make #god it’s 3:30 whjdjdjd I need to sleeeeep #mulch

[alkalinefrog]

FASHION ANON HERE hahah I’m so sorry I didn’t see the question until now! Mainly Mello, Near, and Matt but honestly characters like Sayu and Matsuda or even Naomi or Mikami and Takada would also be okay haha! Sorry if the list is too long, you could just narrow it down to the first 3 if you want!

A NOTE FROM PRESENT ME: Omg I found this in my drafts and I'm so sorry, fashion anon. I was planning on finding reference photos and linking them in the more in depth descriptions but I never got around to it. I guess you'll have to use your imagination for this! I'm so sorry it took so long!

Hi fashion anon!! Welcome back and thanks for continuing such a fun prompt!

K this post is MASSIVE so I’m putting all the in-depth descriptions under the cut. Here’s the summaries of my ideas for the main three characters I’ll be doing:

First and foremost, my girl Misa!! Dude, I had such a hard time figuring out what to do with her. Unlike L and Light, who’s styles aged like milk left outside on the sun, Misa’s design is timeless. I legit sat here for a good half hour stressing about how I was gonna do this until I remembered--- she's a MODEL. She can wear ANYTHING. With that, I decided to base her style off of Harajuku Street fashion! I had to go big or go home so as not to disgrace her character lol 

I'm doing two different looks for Mello! I always got the impression that his design was supposed to lean edgier and more modern, but his canon outfit is... So weird. (Not nearly as egregious as Matt's vest thing though lol.) He also works with the mob, so I wanted to give him one high-fashion look and then one crime-boss look.

Near was by far the easiest in this group, I didn't feel like I was way out of my depth with him LMAO. Boy enjoys comfort. I’m giving him a cottage-core look in pastels to stick with his canon colour palette (or lack thereof lol), plus some chunky sneakers. Did he even wear shoes to the warehouse? Like bruh, you’re gonna get tetanus.

Here we go!

For Misa:  (small disclaimer though, I’m not super familiar with the subculture, so I’m basing all the looks off of individual pieces rather than sweeping statements about the movement as a whole)

The one commonality I’ve observed in Harajuku--- and the only comment I’ll make of the movement as a whole--- is that “more is more!” The more layers of outrageous clothes/accessories, the better! Here’s a couple articles I read about it in case you want to fact check outside of this!

First I'd give her two-toned hair (platinum blonde/black) split right down the middle. The styling options are endless, you can go from high-fashion to punk/goth in a heartbeat. She wouldn't be Misa without her pigtails, so if she was modeling for more editorial looks they can tie them into tighter buns.

More intense eyeliner looks are very in nowadays--- ALSO the graphic eyeliner trend would give her endless possibilities

For more casual wear, she's already THE og E-girl, so I'll just list a bunch of accessories that I think would look good on her instead of being redundant with styling

Give her those kitty-ear headphones too (and a gamer chair, ring light, and LED strip lights bc might as well oh god Misa stay away from tiktok PLS)

I saw these fingernail rings that would def suit her goth aesthetic (note from present me, they were literally silver nail covers that had a ring you'd wear above the last knuckle)

She's definitely the type to get long acrylic nails (I'm jealous of anyone who can wear them comfortably, I'd just gnaw them off out of annoyance) with intricate designs. It'd be cool if she got some stained glass window/church imagery inspired ones to fit the themes of the show

Other than that, I scrolled through images of all her canon outfits and they all hold up (except maybe ditch the horizontal striped shirts if you want to leave y2k territory)

For Mello:

Might be controversial, but I'm changing up his haircut from the bob to an undercut/bowl cut like this photo. I think it still captures the energy of his original design.

Then I'd give him these Balenciagas with studded heels (no reference I'm so sorry.)

Bringing back his leather pants in a deep purple

For the crime-boss look:

 I wanted to include his weird affinity for fur-lined hoods on his jackets. We could change the fur lining to a straight up feather boa.

With that look the bowl cut I gave him earlier might be too out of place, so I'd give him just an undercut like this here.

There ya go. A young mafia leader with STYLE. Both routes are pretty ostentatious, but man's so dramatic already he can pull it off lol

For Near:

I think his hairstyle's pretty timeless so I'd leave it as is and resist the urge to give everyone a mullet

Alternatively, Braided-Ponytail!Older-Near

I'd give him a pastel-filled wardrobe to stick closer to his canon colour palette (or lack thereof lol)

Lots of baggy sweaters and several cute pairs of overalls!

Then lastly I’d give him a small collection of chunky sneakers so he’s not in agony from stepping on legos all day

Tadaaa! 

Sidenote, he’d def be the type to wear ankle high socks with Nike slides and I would allow him and only him to do so

(note from present me: sorry Near's section is so short! I had planned to expand on it later :''D)

If I had time I'd give Matt a sports luxe look and you bet the first thing I'd do is throw out that weird fuzzy vest thing lol

#👏take👏mello👏to👏the👏met👏gala #I wouldn't have a lot of ideas for Takada or Mikami EXCEPT to update Mikami's joe jonas lookin haircut lolol #also to clarify; L's an example of great CHARACTER design #immediately recognizable #but we're talking about his closet lol #death note #head canons #gonna have to update that tag #misa amane #mello #near #nate river #mihael keehl #long post #clearing out my dn files 😭

[shealynn88]

Writing Process

TL;DR: please share your writing/revising process with me!  Post it and tag me!  Pretty please!

I’m trying to improve/find my writing process, and I’m curious how people write and revise/rewrite their plotty works.  I’ll tell you my processes and what’s worked and what hasn’t, and if you decide to accept the challenge and write up your process, please tag me!  I want to read all about it!  I’ve written 3 long things in the last year, none of them finished, and I’ve attacked them all a little differently.  Let me break it down:

First: Nano 2021, 50k complete (ish)

This was my...5th NaNo, my 3rd ‘win’, and a bit of a mess, but a fun one while I was doing it.

This was meant to be a ‘novel’ style fanfic, with a full plot, hybrid FBI procedural/romance.  I wrote it out of order, and some scenes I wrote several times in different ways as I got new brilliant ideas.  I also decided that I didn’t want to get bogged down in the details too much, since I was in a hurry, so a lot of the nitty gritty clues never actually...went into the story.  

The result is that I have a story that is almost a choose your own adventure.  I don’t know which version of which scene to use, and any choice is likely to cascade changes through the entire rest of the story.  It feels incredibly overwhelming and I don’t know that I’ll ever complete it.

Second: July 2022, 24k, 50k complete (estimate)

A new attempt at a plotty fanfic, not designed as a trad pub novel, more as a meandering character exploration with a side of case fic.  It’s not as complex as the previous one, and I’ve opted to still write scenes as I’m moved to write them, but if they’re out of order, I write them in a separate document and I rewrite them into the main document when I get to them, which allows me to choose one version, and to write it based on the previous emotional arc of the character rather than cutting and pasting something that misses the mark.

This seems to be more successful, but some of my favorite scenes have changed significantly.  The story has gotten much softer than I’d originally intended, and while it’s true to itself, I’m sorry to have to let go of those edgier scenes I’d planned at first.  I have one section that I know I’ll need to restructure in the main document because events happened in an order that doesn’t entirely make sense.  I have a rough outline (about a sentence per scene) of the rest of the story, and it looks like it’ll be about 15 more scenes or so.  The process is definitely better, though I think a complete rewrite (retype into a new document) will be really useful in fixing pacing, characterization and arc.

Third: August 2022, 13k,15k complete (estimate)

This is not so plotty, it’s a simple character arc with supporting plot.  I include it here because it’s closer to done.  The first draft is complete at 13k, the second draft is in progress at 5k, and it’s SO HARD.  

I started out writing it in a flurry, and it was rough and really wordy.  I wrapped the first draft up (missing a few scenes, and needing a denouement) in a week or two, and it was messy.  There were places it really dragged and felt awkward.  I opted to print it out and delete the draft from my documents, and rewrite from the printed draft so I wasn’t tempted to cut and paste anything.

I hate it.  The process feels like pulling teeth. But when I reread what I’d written in the second draft yesterday, I was really happy with it.  It really tightened up the story, allowed me to find the characters a little bit better, and is leading to better prose.  I THINK this is a good way to proceed except the part where I’ve struggled through the majority of the 5k words I’ve got down so far. I’ve heard people say that editing goes faster, that once the words are down, it’s easier.  I’m not finding that to be the case.  Now that they’re down, I don’t want to lose them.  I know when places are awkward but I don’t necessarily know how to make them better (I’m just getting to the part that really didn’t hit the notes I wanted to hit, so we’ll see how that goes!).  I’m really struggling with it.  But after the struggle, the words are better.  The character is better.  The arc is better.

The question is, will I be able to do this for something that’s more like 50 or 90k?  Or will I give up because it really is such a slog?

What’s your process, my friends?  What works for you?

#justshea #on writing #long fic

[tharizdun-03]

Bleach Review

I am moving some of my Twitter threads over to Tumblr as well. This is one of them.

First of all, Bleach is cool, alright. It's got that drip. It has a bit of an edgier style to it, the designs are beautiful and stylish, and Kubo is generally just very skilled with the pen (character art is detailed, and the battles are easy to read and striking).

This will be done in a very stream of consciousness, flowing, just getting it all down in one go kind of manner, so excuse me if this isn't very structured or coherent.

First of all, Bleach is cool, alright. It's got that drip. It has a bit of an edgier style to it, the designs are beautiful and stylish, and Kubo is generally just very skilled with the pen (character art is detailed, and the battles are easy to read and striking).

And that's really, I feel, what a battle shonen series should be at its core. It should be fun to read. And then, you know, even if the story isn't anything super innovative, I'm entertained to the degree that I wouldn't be with a non-battle shonen series of the same quality.I wanted to tackle Bleach here, in a kind of, arc to arc manner. 

Which I might still get to, just writing what's coming to mind after all lol, but either way, I wanted to start with just the overall writing, and I feel like I need to bring up Ichigo to highlight.

Let me just start off by saying that I like Ichigo plenty. On just a surface level, I find him to be very refreshing and endearing. The latter compliment fits a lot of the main cast tbh, but especially Ichigo.

It makes the slice-of-life moments we get with them, really enjoyable tbh, more so than I expected them to be based on other shonen I've read, that shall remain nameless for my own sake. Yeah, lovely kid that I really enjoy following along with.

That said, more could've been done, and this applies to the series as a whole. It has a lot of cool concepts, and a lot of storytelling potential, that Kubo often just glosses over, and from my speculation alone, partly because he's just not a good enough writer, and based on interviews, he just has his priorities mixed up sometimes. Let's go back to Ichigo, to illustrate this point. When I was reading Bleach, earlier in the story, I got the impression that Ichigo ties his self-worth to his strength, his ability to protect, which would root back to his childhood trauma, his inability to save his own mother. And that's his main character flaw, getting over that self-destructive mindset. That's great, interesting stuff that Kubo could do there, a lot of potential.

Except, you know, I eventually realized, that's not the case. I was looking too deep into it, cause Kubo gets into any of that. Ichigo's just depressed after losing, cause that's what shonen protagonists are like.

Kubo doesn't explicitly tie this to his trauma, he doesn't make any real connection between it, it's just explored as it normally would've been. Kubo has the elements to do something more here, but he doesn't commit.

Another example of this would be, Aizen. Who I do think is very effective in a presence/personality kind of aspect, but not so much characterization-wise. There have been, small hints, about him in relation to the theme of bonds.

Viewing everything from a hierarchical point of view, wanting to be at the top, of being unable to make personal relationships with other people, and resenting them for the mere thought of emotional investment in others, as he refuses to lower himself to such weakness.

But, this. This is all very barebones, I even have trouble finding panels that explore most of this, cause a lot of it is speculation and headcanon characterization, so to speak, from the breadcrumbs that Kubo has given us.

It's why Ichigo's final remark about Aizen may be having subconsciously lost on purpose because he envied normal bonds comes off as so weak. Because Kubo almost never really focuses on it, we don't get introspection, and we don't get an arc exploring any of it.

And right at the end, he mentioned something about Reio, the soul king, but we got like one sentence about that, and nothing more.

So, when I talk about their characterization like that, it just comes off to me as looking too deep into it, reaching, because the writing is just not that deep.

Which is fine, because Bleach doesn't have to be super deep. It's still a very effective battle shounen overall. Kubo just isn't as interested in the big picture, as I am.

Another example would be Kubo playing around with what hollows and their masks represent metaphorically. He does this a lot in the first arc, which allows him to touch on some heavier topics in a pretty effective manner.

Hollows wear their masks to shield themselves from the outside world. From the fear of having the living people recognizing what they've become, of knowing the evil they've committed. Fear of having connections with other people, hurting them, and being hurt.

It's also why the Arrancars have started to remove their masks, cause they're starting to lose that fear under Aizen's rule, who they don't serve because he's the strongest, but because he's fearless. 

But then, that metaphorical aspect just kind of stops there. This is a bit of a shame, cause the Visored people are introduced, for example, people who can choose when to put on their hollow masks. Would've been interesting to explore what Kubo thinks of that metaphorically. 

This, simplicity, this not going as far as he could've, carries over into most deeper aspects of the story. There should be a lot more moral ambiguity behind Kisuke's actions (putting the Hogyouku in Rukia for example). But because our moral compass is Ichigo, a 15 year old boy who doesn't really care about that kind of stuff, we never really dig into it. There was also the quincy/soul reaper conflict, where there should've been more moral ambiguity. I mean, the whole deal between them was that they disagreed on how to take care of hollows, and the quincies were exterminated because of that. This was an issue that Bleach glossed over even back in the first arc when we meet Uryu, cause it tried to like grossly have his grandad (a Quincy) explain how the soul reapers were justified in their genocide. So, the series just kind of ends up presenting the soul reapers as the good guys and the qunicies as the not good guys, when there are deeper, more complicated aspects to dig into here. But, Bleach doesn't dig into that. I've been told that the novels explore this? Which is great. I will get to them, but, Kubo apparently didn't want to get into that, or dig too much into Yhwach's characterization/motive, cause it'd distract from Ichigo, who he wanted to focus on, which is stupid.

That's kind of that, about that. Uhm, shortly, trying to wrap this up now. Yeah, I've touched upon the first arc already, which I think is pretty effective overall, altho it's the arc I think the least about (could change when it's had time to sit with me).

The Soul Society arc is pretty damn good. Lots of flair, lot of personality. I mean, there's not a lot of interesting praise to dig into here, I feel, but I think it's pretty fucking solid.

There's some, there's a pretty annoying power creep, and some off-hand one-time abilities that get them out of trouble (consistent issue with the series), but other than that, you know, I'm cool with it. The Aizen twist (spoilers lol), is very well done.

The Arrancar arc is long. There are some dropped plot lines (like Orihime planning to destroy the Hogyouku, or Tatsuki having any sort of significant role), and it definitely does recycle some ideas, and some character archetypes from the previous arc that are less interesting here, but honestly, I think I overall liked the Espadas more here than the captains in the Soul Society arc, as antagonists. The Espadas were more visually distinct, and I felt that the better ones (Grimjoww and Ulquiorra) had more interesting characterization and dynamics. Already talked about Aizen, but I think he works super well as a force of nature kind of antagonist, so cool with him.

Now, the Fullbring arc, is by far the best arc. I love getting some more slice-of-life goodness, it has a pretty fantastic twist and goes deeper with its character exploration than any other arc. 

Chad and Orihime both get moments to shine. Ginjo is great, super unpredictable, and works as lovely contrast. Tsukishima's ability is some of the most creative shit ever and his relationship to Ginjo (and the rest of the Fullbringers) actually got me emotional.

You know, it's the Phantom Troupe type beat, lost souls finding a family with each other. That just hits.

And Ichigo, is at his best. Ichigo has always been about wanting to protect his loved ones, so giving that up to defeat Aizen was a huge deal. That was him giving up his shonen protagonist goal, basically. For over a year, he's powerless, and then Ginjo gives him a way to get them back. He trains and trains, to be able to protect his friends again. And as he does this, his family and friends turn on him. 

The only ally he has left is Ginjo, who betrays him at his lowest moment and takes his power, what he needed the most. And it just breaks him, he cries. For the first time, I think even, at least as an adult.

It's just an incredibly strong character moment and gives Ginjo and Tsukishima, who have gone to such lengths to create this personally designed hell to fuck him up, so much oomph. AND RUKIA AAHHH. It's great, best arc.

The Thousand-Year Blood War arc is messy. It has a lot of sudden abilities (several having been retconned), many fights (several that go on for too long which would've hell weekly), and besides Ichigo's backstory and his resolution with his swords, the series never gets into the moral ambiguity or characterization it should've. Yhwach is quite bland, for example. But, you know, it's still a mostly decent battle shonen arc, I'm quite tolerant to asspulls and stuff like that.

It's a light 7 for me, so it's not a really good arc, but I did enjoy it for the most part. So, you know, didn't ruin the series for me or anything. Just not great, but tolerable fun. The last two chapters are pretty bad tho. I don't have an issue with the ships, just, rushed, deus ex machina, unanswered questions, and just pretty uninteresting.

But yeah, I feel like I wanna stop here. I had fun with Bleach. The inevitable Naruto comparison will be brought up, so let me just get it out of the way. I like Naruto as a whole more. It's a solid score higher. I had more fundamental issues with Naruto, so Bleach was more consistently enjoyable, but as a whole, Naruto still did deeper and more interesting things imo. So, there's that. But yeah, pretty fun series. I enjoyed Bleach. I'll be watching the filler movies sometime, and ofc the upcoming anime (which if it doesn't adapt the novels, I'll have to read them then). Yup, that's it. Naruto during 2021. Bleach during 2022. So, I guess One Piece for 2023?

Score: 

Original Twitter Thread: https://twitter.com/Tharizdun03/status/1549030461128802304

#bleach #twitter thread

[brawltogethernow]

@mirrorfalls​ submitted: Came across this while searching for James Bond’s scrambled-eggs recipe (long story). Your thoughts?

~~

But did you find James Bond’s scrambled eggs recipe?

In this article, Scocca laments his inability to find accessible, lighthearted superhero comics suitable to read with his young son, while also demonstrating a mysterious aversion to looking at DC and Marvel’s lines of comics for children, which is where the accessible, lighthearted superhero comics suitable for reading with young children are. He wants his elementary schooler to be able to safely have the run of all superhero media so he doesn’t have to touch the yucky baby books.

This is not an industry-wide crisis. This is just one dude who got paid to write an article where he accidentally exposed one of his personal hangups.

The child headed toward the trade paperbacks of Marvel and D.C. superhero titles on the side wall […] a few steps in front of me. […] Is he with you? a clerk asked me. I said he was. You know, the clerk said, we have a kids’ section. The clerk gestured backward, at a few shelves near the entrance. I said, Thanks, we know and tried throwing in a little shrug, as the kid kept going.

You can’t just turn a seven-year-old child loose in a comic-book store to look at the superhero comic books. […] My seven-year-old really wanted to see that last Avengers movie […] that is, he wished it were a movie he could see, but he understood that it was, instead, a movie designed to scare and sadden him—a movie actively hostile to people like him.

They have a children’s section. Because comics are a medium suitable for stories for everybody, and they are sold in comic book shops, which have sections, like bookstores. You can use this organization to find books that you know in advance are suitable for children. What goes in that category is determined by industry professionals. This area will be bigger the bigger the shop is. These comics are not lower quality that titles from the main lines. They are actually slightly better-written on average.

Your local comic book shop has considerately wrapped Empowered in a plastic bag, so your child will not be drawn in by a colorful superhero and accidentally read a graphic scene. If you think your kid might find a memoir about internment camps upsetting, it is your job to notice them picking up They Called Us Enemy and read the blurb on the back before you let them have it. This comic adults are meant to read is in a comic book shop because that is where comics are sold. Not every public place is supposed to be Disneyland.

Movies have ratings systems. If you do not want your child to watch a PG-13 movie, you will find that most superhero cartoons are for children. They are about the same characters. Some are quite good! I really enjoyed Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Your child may like Avengers Assemble. At least I think that’s right. I’m always mixing those titles around.

This is a deeply weird bias for Scocca to casually demonstrate, because he identifies in the article that real childishness is striving for empty maturity.

He compares an old comic,

[…]a 1966 Spider-Man comic in which Spider-Man meets, fights, and defeats the Rhino; participates in a running argument between John Jameson and J. Jonah Jameson about his heroism; buys a motorcycle; breaks up with his first girlfriend, Betty Brant; flirts with Gwen Stacy; and reluctantly agrees to let Aunt May take him to meet her friend Mrs. Watson’s niece, Mary Jane.

and a new comic,

[…]a 21st century comic book in which Thor, brooding in a Katrina-destroyed New Orleans, beats up Iron Man. He also yells at Iron Man a lot about some incomprehensibly convoluted set of grievances, including involuntary cloning, that he believes Iron Man perpetrated against him while he was dead(?), and then summons some other Norse god from the beyond somehow for reasons having something to do with real estate. I think. Where the 1966 comic is zippy and fun and complete, the whole contemporary one is muddled and lugubrious and seems to constitute a tiny piece of a seemingly endless plot arc—simultaneously apocalyptic and inert.

and concludes that the edgier comic is actually less mature. This is true. (This is not news about mediocre comics.)

It also has nothing to do with either comic being child-friendly, the article’s nominal thesis, except in the sense that ASM #41 (yes, I eyeballed that from that summary, yes I am just showing off now) is better written, making it more everyone-friendly. It also has practically more space dedicated to word balloons than art and is about a college student juggling girl problems and a part-time job with a tyrannical boss. But the immature one, as Scocca points out, is dour.

These are both teenagery issues, separated only by quality. It’s true that lots of new comics published by the big 2 are bad in the specific way Scocca describes here, taking themselves too seriously and hauled down by associated stories instead of buoyed by them. Some are not! Some titles from these companies’ main continuities are zippy, contained, and child friendly. Give your child The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl! Or if you like vintage comics so much better, why don’t you…buy some?

The books on the kid’s rack are good and fun and totally suitable for parents to read with their children without wanting to scoop their eyeballs out. Scocca cites the Batman ‘66 comics as the brightly colored, tightly written all ages solution to his problem about sharing superhero stories with his son. My local comic shop stores this title in the kid’s section. I am glad that Scocca’s does not, as he seems to have a peculiar aversion to looking for comics to read with his son there.

Scocca cites Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as a superhero movie he could watch with his kids. (I was surprised when this line made it sound like he has several. I don’t want to assume the other one isn’t in this article because they’re a girl, but I very much am assuming that.) Great! Go to the kid’s section and look for Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man. It’s a fun, zippy title directly inspired by ITSV where Miles, Gwen, and Peter superhero together. It’s much more tightly written than most of the various Spider-Verse comics, which are ambitiously messy ubercrossovers. You may not want to give those to children because they include murder and so on, but also you just have the choice between the two as an adult reader deciding how much continuity you want to deal with. Adventures is one of the only titles I would buy on sight before corona. The kid comic rack is a reliable place to take a break from How Comics Get Sometimes regardless of how old you are.

This article makes me feel quarrelsome. Maybe it’s that it doesn’t seem like exploration of a single idea so much as a loosely grouped bundle of things to kvetch about. Maybe it’s that the experience of getting into superheroes that Scocca describes experiencing, projects his seven-year-old son will experience, and from which he extrapolates a metaphorical microcosm of the history of the genre is completely alien to me.

Comic books [and] comic-book movies—are […] trapped in their imagined audience’s own awful passage from childhood to adolescence. A seven-year-old has a clean […] appreciation of superheroes. They like hero comics because the comics have heroes: bold, strong, vividly colored good guys to fight off the bad guys and make the world safe.

But seven-year-olds stop being seven. […] They become 13-year-olds, defensively trying to learn how to develop tastes about tastes.

The 13-year-old wants many things from comics, but the overarching one is that they want to prove that they’re not some seven-year-old baby anymore. They want gloomy heroes, miserable heroes, heroes who would make a seven-year-old feel bad. (Also boobs. They want boobs.)

Not because of the boobs line, although that does illicit an eyeroll that this gloomy thinkpiece is fretting over preserving the superhero experience of little boys who resemble the little boy the writer was while casually dismissing everyone else. I was one of those unlikable little seven-year-olds with a college reading level and the impression that maintaining it was the crux of my worth. I only read Books - distinguished media you could club someone with. I have a formative memory of pausing, enraptured, in front of a poster for Spider-Man 3, preparing to say that it looked pretty cool, and being beaten to the punch by my mother making a disparaging comment about how the movie was trash. It wasn’t out yet, but it was a superhero movie. That meant it was for loud, brainless children.

That was the total of my childhood experience with superheroes, excluding being the unwilling audience to incessant renditions of “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” that left me wondering why in god’s name Batman’s sidekick was named Robin. I certainly never visited a comic book shop. I got into TvTropes, which got me into webcomics, which got me following David Willis, who got me into Ask Chris at ComicsAlliance, which led to me rewarding myself for studying like a demon for the AP tests with three volumes of Waid’s Daredevil, pitched as a return to the character being colorful and swashbuckling. I was seven…teen.

This is of the same thread as Scocca’s point that immaturity is running from childish things. It leaves me baffled that he doesn’t follow that maturity is embracing them.

I will disclose here that while I think it was dumb I had to overcome my upbringing’s deeply embedded shame associated with enjoying arbitrarily defined lowbrow media and children being childish, I think it’s fine that I was allowed largely unchecked access to technically age-inappropriate content. In my limited experience, content small children are too young for is also content they’re too young to understand, so it kind of just bounces off of them, and what actually ends up terrorizing them is unpredictable collages of impressions that strike out at them from content deemed perfectly child-friendly. I would not forbid a seven-year-old I was in charge of from seeing an MCU movie unless I had a reason to believe that specific child would not take it well. These are emotionally low-stakes bubblegum films. It will probably be easier to socialize with other kids if they have seen them.

But then, when I picture being in charge of a hypothetical child, I usually imagine this being the case because they are related to me, and the pupal stage in my family strongly resembles Wednesday Addams. ALL children love death and violence, though, right?? This isn’t a joke point. I know it looks like a joke point.

The MCU thing seems especially weird in light of the article’s particular focus on Spider-Man, which is the kiddie line of the MCU, even if they refused to waver from their usual formula enough to get a lower rating. Though I am more inclined to describe it as “preying on the young” than “child-friendly”.

(MCU movies are increasingly dubious propaganda, but I would not judge them in front of a child who wanted to watch them for that reason, just in case this led to them partaking of them without me the second they were old enough to and then they grew up to run a blog about them while our relationship suffered because they didn’t feel like it was safe to talk to me about their interests…Mom.)

I tried to overcome the philosophy of letting anyone read anything while compiling this handful of mostly-newish superhero recs for the road that anyone can read. (Handily, I have been in spitting distance of being hired as a comic shop clerk enough to have thought about it before):

For actual children:

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man (the new one is reminiscent of ITSV, the old one is more like 616) any DC/Archie crossover, Archie’s Superteens The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (for bookish children who think they’re too good for comics and adults afraid of the kid’s section) Teen Titans Go (even if you hate the show) Superman Smashes the Klan

For teens:

Ms. Marvel Young Avengers (volume 2) Unbelievable Gwenpool Batman: Gotham Adventures Teen Titans Go (the tie-in comic based off the old show was also called this)

Here are a bunch of relevant C. S. Lewis quotes.

#me every time i read a comic book article by a rag not exclusively about comic books: i know more than you. #marvel #spidey #DCU #MCU critical #mirrorfalls #asks answered #submission #unearthed this and bashed it out in one sitting ... i have not been working on it since you sent it last year XD

[dragynkeep]

I saw that you did top 5 best female & male characters in rwby and why, so i was wondering could you do the same but for 5 rwby worst female & male characters you dislike and why.

luke did this ask before along with the best one so i’mma steal this for me.

worst female characters.

robyn hill  —  hands down one of the most annoying additions to the show. she is meant to be robin hood yet fails in the character’s motivations & ideals in every instance, her outfit / general design are clunky & poorly thought out, her personality has the exact desirability of hot garbage juice & she herself is just as appealing. the only slightly fun thing about robyn is her voice actress, the amazing christina vee & the potential she could’ve had that i really enjoy seeing be brought out in fanfics instead. in canon? robyn can go rot.

blake belladonna  —  our resident all lives matter queen who was meant to be a champion for all minorities watching the show, a bisexual icon & a shining example of an abuse survivor ... only to fail on all three. blake’s influence on the racism storyline only makes her come off as a privileged brat who would lecture those who are just trying to survive & blame them for the actions of a terrorist organization she was part of, & it was dropped as soon as her abusive ex was killed. her actions as an abuse survive are nonsensical at times. & blake wasn’t even confirmed to be bisexual representation until eight years into the show & she / her female love interest still aren’t canonically together while the cishet writers hide behind a slow burn excuse that was never applied to their m / f couples.

ruby rose  —  it sounds nonsensical to say this about our main character & i wouldn’t have put her on this before v7 & 8, but her favouritism by the narrative in those two volumes to the point the story would break it’s back to justify her drove me crazy. i was watching this character who we were meant to root for make mistake after mistake after mistake & hide behind her age & inexperience like a coward; like she hadn’t shoved her way into this war & rejected everyone around her who had experience & wanted to help because they didn’t want to do it her way. ruby behaved like a petulant child & i have no doubt that this isn’t going to change.

cinder fall  —  listen she was always a middling type of character for me, i didn’t hate her but i didn’t love her either. cinder was just cinder, a kind of flat antagonist who didn’t go anywhere; until they tried to make her go somewhere & in doing so had her repeat the same character arc like three times. her “backstory” that was just cinderella lazily copy & pasted eight years after people had been asking for it was the final nail in the coffin for me. they waited too long & got too lazy.

nora valkyrie  —  again, not really a character i thought i would’ve put on here after i really started to like her in volume 4 when she & ren finally began to get character development. they were kind of in the background which annoyed me but they weren’t being obnoxious so it was fine. i want to go back to v4 - 6 so bad lmao; nora in these two volumes has been horrendous. not only did she ignore all of ren’s boundaries when he was trying to ask for space, she thought the appropriate action to him asking for that space & struggling to vocalize it was to kiss him without consent. and then, she co opts his entire arc anyways for v8 & now it’s nora who wants the space & ren is being unreasonable, ren is forcing her boundaries, ren is in the wrong. fuck her stupid ass one liner backstory too. nora dropped so far on my shitlist because of her actions the last two volumes smh.

worst male characters.

qrow branwen  —  again much like ruby & nora; i never thought i’d put qrow on here but his behaviour in these last volume especially has just dropped my fondness for him all the way to the grave lmao. he acts so much like ruby, a petulant child who was told no & lost his favourite toy, while acting like he didn’t specifically break that toy. he went from someone who was level headed, if an absolute asshole to a whiny manchild who spent the entire volume crying in a jail cell about how he was gonna kill his dead boyfriend’s boss because he doesn’t wanna admit he got him killed. & then he forgot about that in the last five minutes to cry about his potentially dead nieces, which only left me thinking, where was your concern about them the rest of this volume qrow? so yeah. on the shitty character list you go buddy.

ghira belladonna  —  i would change my mind & make this dumbass number one but he’s always annoyed me so i’m more settled with that emotion whereas qrow is a new development. but ghira is literally worse than annoying, he’s a useless character who takes up space & actively worsens the plot & the character  —  mainly blake  —  that he’s connected to. everything from his useless pacificism to the fact he’s a privileged faunus living in a mansion while his people are in huts to the fact that he’s now retaken the helm at the head of the white fang like?? what about his mentality has changed & how will that prevent another terroristic faction raising up in result of his negligence towards their people in favour of his own comfort driven pacifism?

hazel rainart  —  sir, your motivation is hokey & your hair is dumb & your braid ribs are giving me nightmares. originally i didn’t have as much of an issue with hazel infantilizing his grown twin sister because i thought we were at least going to get some rebuttal to this man using her death to metaphorically & then physically beat on ozpin. but no, he was validated & then had the gall to use her name in order to guilt trip ozpin in the “ no more gretchens ” line  —  like he hadn’t created dozens of gretchens in mistral with tyrian? sir you are a mass murderer  —  & then went out like an ass in one of the laziest redemption arcs i’ve ever seen. bravo, you suck.

adam taurus  —  he’s really not the highest on this list because i recognize that this is more because of milk & kornflake’s white comfort bleeding into their writing of a marginalized man & less of actually him as a character. adam is a bastard but he’s so much of a hate sink that i can’t take him seriously or hate him because of these traits; if mkek told me he killed puppies as a hobby, i wouldn’t hate adam for that, i’d hate them for continually making him edgier & edgier while ignoring their own racism around his writing.

scarlet david  —  this one’s a little bit of a joke one but also, i just hate this catty fay gay. get back in the closet sir because your face annoys me & your attitude stinks. i’m renting the down with cis bus just to run him over. ♥

#rwby #rwde #mkek critical #rwby critical #robyn hill #blake belladonna #ruby rose #cinder fall #nora valkyrie #qrow branwen #ghira belladonna #hazel rainart #adam taurus #scarlet david #owl.txt #answered #q

[starlocked01]

Dyeing to Meet You

AO3

Masterpost- Previous- Next

Summary: When your eyes could be the color of any shade of hair dye, Roman is positively upset his soulmate won't change colors. Especially since his color of choice is black. Content Warning: brief mention of kidnapping

Day 27 Prinxiety, background Intrulogical- Your eye color matches the color of your soulmate's hair, even when they dye it.

Roman kinda really hated his soulmate. Most people had brown or yellow eyes. His grandmother had silvery eyes that sparkled in the light. Remus had been a bit surprised when his rosey auburn irises went bleach blond for 3 months and then disappeared completely for a week. It had been pretty good evidence his soulmate was on the swim team so he'd started flirting with all of them, looking for brown eyes with a silver streak.

For the past four years, Roman’s eyes had been jet black. They never lightened, never sparkled, and he was convinced they were costing him leading roles in the school productions.

Roman decided to get even with his soulmate.

First, he got his hair bleached. After two weeks of rehabilitation, he had his hair dyed a bright bloody looking red. ---- Virgil woke up and found that his eyes had changed from bleached to the coolest shade of red ever. It worked so perfectly with his favorite red and black eyeshadow designs. Anytime someone pissed him off, all he had to do was stare at them and they left him alone quickly.

His soulmate had the best taste in color. ---- After a month, Roman’s hair had faded mostly pink and his eyes were still demonic. Not even slightly less black. Perhaps red had been a bit too natural. Next, he bought a bottle of dye and went full purple. It was a terrible job but it had to get the message across. ---- Virgil loved his soulmate. The purple with streaks of pinkish-yellow was absolutely edgier than the red that had faded so quickly. He wondered why the colors were changing so rapidly after natural brown hair for so long but shrugged it off. Perhaps his soulmate was just exploring his own identity. ---- Remus had managed to find Logan once his hair started growing back in its natural color. He was probably more enthusiastic than Roman was about his soulmate. The jet black eyes were still bothering him. It was time to get drastic. ---- Virgil stared in the mirror. One eye was still purple but the other was green. A wide grin broke across his face and he hoped his soulmate kept this style for a while. It was a shame he hadn't found anyone with such wild hair colors yet. Patton was watching for him too but it wasn't easy to find a soulmate unless they did something crazy.

He really wanted to meet them though. ---- Roman was at his wits' end. Nothing got the message across. Nor could he find anyone with wildly colored eyes and jet black hair. He decided it was time for his most daring attempt yet.

He went and got his hair bleached again. After 2 months of getting it progressively lightened he finally had platinum blond hair and was ready for the ultimate revenge.

Full Rainbow.

Roman adored his new look, as gay as he could make his hair, and he laughed every time he thought of his soulmate with rainbow eyes he couldn't change. ---- Virgil had an aesthetic. His eyes were no longer playing by his rules and looked gay as fuck. He guessed his soulmate was a gay boy who was probably very very flamboyant. Well, he wasn't flamboyant but he could match the energy of his tie-dye rainbow eyes. He started wearing rainbow eyeshadow instead of black, citing his eyes as the reason why.

He smiled, knowing his soulmate couldn't get to him. He kept dying his hair black with bangs long enough to hide behind if he didn't want his splash of colors immediately seen. ---- Remus was amazed he'd managed to drag his no-nonsense boyfriend and utterly preppy brother to a music festival. Although he might have been the only one enjoying himself. Logan was standing stoically still as Remus tried to get him to dance along or mosh or anything.

Roman sipped on his drink and stared at the sea of dyed hair, frightened of what kind of person might be his soulmate when Logan pointed out someone and whispered to Remus. Remus dashed off into the crowd and came back dragging another boy about their age with jet black hair and long bangs, head tilted down, and a scowl on his face.

"Let me go! I don't know you and I will press charges!" the boy shouted as Remus brought him back.

"Oh hush up and let destiny work its magic," Remus scolded, shoving the boy towards Roman, "look Ro, he could be your soulmate."

"Remus, you should have talked with him first. That was kidnapping," Logan glared at Remus.

"Eh, what's a felony conviction when true love is on the line?"

"I don't believe in true love, can I go back to my friend now?" the boy stared down at the ground. Roman found him fascinating, everything about him was as black as his own eyes and his sour personality had Roman intrigued.

"What color are your eyes, stranger?" Roman tried to ask warmly. He could see the movement as the boy's eyes flicked to look at him through his bangs.

"Your head looks like a box of crayons, what are you even doing here?" the boy smirked.

"I'm here with my friends, Count Monochrome," Roman scoffed.

"I'm pretty sure you guaranteed I'm never monochromatic," Virgil looked up, tossing his bangs to the side, eyes and eyeshadow on display.

"Oh my…" Roman stared into dazzling rainbows that perfectly matched his hair. Logan elbowed Remus with a smirk.

Virgil laughed, "look, I really dig the purple, and the green, and the red, basically all of it. Please never go back to brown."

"Well, only if you change to something less terrifying!" Roman found his voice again and laughed at Virgil’s shocked expression.

"Wait, you don't like the black?" Virgil asked nervously fingering his hair.

"Look at my eyes and tell me you would," Roman scoffed.

Virgil stepped closer, staring into Roman’s eyes, "I love them. Your eyes look so cool and edgy and mesmerizing. Yeah of course I would like black eyes."

Roman stared back helplessly, breath caught in his throat because of Virgil’s colorful gaze.

"Oh just kiss already!" Remus interjected, snickering at the two.

"Pass," Virgil raised a hand and shot a look at Remus.

"Why not?" Roman asked quietly.

"Uh, we just met. I don't even know your name. And it's possible someone else out there has rainbow hair and black eyes so like, we can't know for sure, right? Not until one of us changes," Virgil took a step back, not liking that he had to explain his thought process.

"You're right, I'm sorry… would you be willing to test the theory with me?" Roman backed off. He liked this rainbow-eyed emo and couldn't put his finger on why, "I'm Roman, what's your name?" he offered a hand to shake.

Virgil ignored the offered hand, "Virgil, and sure. We can try. What did you have in mind, Roman?"

"Well, you dig the purple, right?" ---- Roman was much better at dyeing other people's hair than his own. Virgil let him bleach out a swath of black and color it with the purple Roman had leftover. They avoided each other’s eyes until the dye was set and Virgil had rinsed and washed it well. He came out of the shower with his black skinny jeans on and a towel wrapped around his shoulders, stained black and purple from years of use. Roman looked up and met his eyes.

Virgil gasped. Instead of pure jet black eyes, Roman now had purple irises rimmed in black, similar to his hair. And he thought they were just as stunning as before.

Roman quickly pulled out his phone to check and gasped as well.

"Sorry, if I had known you didn't like the black, I wouldn't have changed a thing," Virgil grinned as Roman stood and walked toward him.

"Thank you for trusting me, Virgil," Roman smiled and held out his arms for a hug.

"I'm just glad you were right," Virgil blushed but accepted the hug from his soulmate.

It was a lot more fun to decide colors together.

Tag List: @stoicpanther @ifrickenhatedeverythingaboutthis @idontgiveafuckaboutshit @tsshipmonth2020

#Soulmate September 2020 #tsshipmonth2020 #Prinxiety #background intrulogical #soulmate au #eyes #eye contact #kidnapping mention #swearing #roman sanders #virigl sanders #logan sanders #remus sanders #yes logan is a red headed jock #patton mentioned like once

[authcenter]

how about hivemind collectivist >:3c good luck <3

what a name am i right. here goes. i'll only do their first name but this will be an absolute blast tho >:3 my little robot. i am holding them

H - Height - is there a height difference or a size difference in general between the two of you? how do each of you feel about it?

hive is only a bit taller than me. whenever i joke about it they like to lift me up and go "there. you are taller now."

I - Image - show us a picture of them that gives you a lot of feelings. if they aren’t a visual character, describe your mental image of them!

hive has only one canon art and ive posted it like 5 times so i guess i'll just talk about my character design ideas !! um i think they glow brighter when they feel an emotion strongly which isn't very often but still. shiny <3

V - Vacation- where would you two go to get away?

The Collective knows best and is always able to plan out a trip for us that'll be fun! we like going to cities because there's lots to do and see. plus all the technology and people makes them feel at home

E - Emotion - is your f/o open with their feelings or do they keep them close to their chest?

they just don't have particularly strong emotions so i can't really say either? they're serious about the majority of things though, i guess you can see them as closed off

M - Meeting - what was your first time meeting them?

monsoc stumbled into the off corners home very awkwardly when he was lost and injured after a fight. hive was the first to help him and took care of him through the night. tender moments

N - Nostalgia - what’s your f/o’s favorite memory?

The Collective remembers all, so probably meeting their friends or me? they have a lot of things to think about so i'm not sure if they'd have a favorite. actually. maybe the first time we held hands

D - Danger - which of you is more likely to get into trouble? how well does your f/o handle danger?

they're always able to see danger before it strikes and are very very good at keeping me out of harm's way. they're quite defensive of me with the others especially with the edgier ones like avaritionist.

#self/ship asks #📡

[dippedanddripped]

One cannot look back on 2001 R&B/hip-hop without paying homage to the fits, the fits, the fits! Designer monogrammed wigs, bedazzled denim from head to toe, the occasional inexplicable trend (Nelly, looking at you), and, of course, Destiny's Child never leaving the house without three glamorous variations of the same fabric.

"[Hip-hop fashion] was creative and custom," says Derek Lee, former stylist to R&B icon, Aaliyah. "It wasn't driven totally by designers, you could still show up with some street stuff and it'd be acceptable." Lee, who styled the beloved singer from 1996 to 2001, pioneered the "sensual tomboy" aesthetic, central to today's fashion landscape, and evident in the wardrobes of R&B stars like Ciara, Teyana Taylor and Rihanna.

Lee recalled his own customizing experiences, adding glitz to streetwear pieces for the late singer. "We were flying to Paris and I'd be bedazzling Enyce sweatsuits for Aaliyah," he explains. Lee paid homage to fellow stylist June Ambrose for her work with Missy Elliott in further establishing the craze surrounding bedazzled pieces.

Ambrose, who styled over 200 music videos, was Missy's right-hand woman, costume designing for every major Missy Elliott production including "Get Ur Freak On," "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)," "One Minute Man," and "Lose Control." She was a go-to designer for R&B/hip-hop heavyweights including Diddy, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige and Mariah Carey, and currently works as a creative director for Puma.

"We didn't have a point of reference that came before us," explains Ambrose. "We took the risk for the future." The "Rain" designer discussed the role of late '90s to early '00s designers as trailblazers, bursting through barriers between high-end labels and R&B/hip-hop culture. "I bridged high fashion with urban music," says Ambrose, "What felt so rebellious was taking a high fashion piece, and still keeping the same demeanor and swag that you wore in your neighborhood."

Dionne Alexander, the hairstylist behind Lil Kim's monogrammed wigs and Mary J. Blige's '90s updo's, agrees. "Look how free we are here," Alexander says. "It was very exciting, we were able to be extremely creative and we had to pull it from within. We didn't have Instagram, we had to go out and get magazines.

Tre Major, hairstylist to legendary celebrities including Aaliyah, Mary J. Blige, Patti LaBelle and Naomi Campbell, says the early '00s was "the best" era for fashion and hip-hop. "I was like an architect on the outside," Major explained. "Building the visuals, landscaping and making it gorgeous." Major was responsible for ushering in the lace-front wig into the world of R&B/hip-hop. "[The other stylists] were just geek because they never seen anything like it," says Major. "Now you can find a lace front wig on every corner, every boutique, every website."

On the 20th anniversary of this iconic, enduring year in fashion, Billboard caught up with the architects of the era, June Ambrose, Derek Lee, Tre Major and Dionne Alexander, to discuss some of the most memorable looks in '01 R&B/hip-hop and how these moments shaped the culture for decades to come.

Missy Elliott's Rhinestones, "Get Ur Freak On" Courtesy Photo Missy Elliott "Get Ur Freak On"

Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On" bedazzled denim

In '01, rhinestones were all the craze, and we have June Ambrose to thank. "It was all about making Missy a rock star," says Ambrose. "I got her hooked on rhinestones -- and once that happened, forget about it." The 200-time music video stylist says the glittering look from Missy's Dave Meyers directed video was meant to create a dichotomy between Elvis-like glamour and sportswear. "The jean jacket silhouette was very comfortable and relatable to her, but taking a Bootsy Collins over the top approach is what made it really tangible and special."

Aaliyah's Catsuit, "More Than A Woman" Courtesy Photo Aaliyah "More Than A Woman"

Aaliyah's "More Than A Woman" Chanel catsuit

Aaliyah's Dapper Dan-designed faux Chanel catsuit from the "More Than a Woman" video is one of the late singer's most iconic moments. "I knew that it was going to be a feature, that it would be striking, if it was different from anything she has done before," says Lee. The decision to choose Chanel was a step away from edgier brands like Dolce & Gabbana and Roberto Cavalli, which the sweet singer was typically dressed in. But why not have Chanel design the piece themselves? "[The major brands] didn't want to be associated with rap music and this street culture," explains Lee, "That's why we had to create our own stuff or have it knocked off by [Dapper] Dan." When Aaliyah saw the design, Lee says she was feeling it. "I had decided to move Aaliyah into almost a cartoon character," he tells Billboard. "I was going down to Little Tokyo and getting all these anime books and had this entire idea."

Lil Kim Steve Wood/Shutterstock Lil Kim photographed at the Versace Haute couture show, Spring /Summer 2001 in Paris, France.

Lil Kim's monogrammed wigs

Monogrammed tresses have popped up on the heads of the rap's most iconic first ladies, including Nicki Minaj and Cardi B -- but similar to countless other signature hip-hop trends, it started with Lil Kim as the blueprint, and hairstylist Dionne Alexander the architect. "The inspiration totally comes from [Lil Kim] and who she is," says Alexander, the mastermind behind Lil Kim's Versace wig and equally iconic blue Chanel wig. "It was such a flow of creative energy, like a power that was coming through."

Alexander recalls coloring the Chanel wig Lil Kim wore for Manhattan File Magazine late into the night, until 5:00 in the morning. "I went to the art store and got trace paper and created the logo, then I cut it out." And her secret? Black magic marker. "With the Versace wig," Alexander says, "She called me and left this message on my machine that I literally kept for years. She went nuts, and it was the same with the Chanel."

Alexander says the present-day response to both wigs is surprising. "It's more of a buzz now than it was then. I'm so shocked at how many people call me about it now."

Outkast "So Fresh, So Clean" Courtesy Photo Outkast "So Fresh, So Clean"

Outkast's 'So Fresh' and 'So Clean' looks

The evolution of men's fashion in hip-hop is inextricably linked to the genius duo best known as Outkast. The pair defied longstanding tropes of how rappers were expected to present themselves and sent the media into frequent frenzies, with their delightfully shocking red carpet looks. In the "So Fresh, So Clean" music video, the eccentric Georgian duo rock a myriad of hairstyles, from a sleek, flipped perm, to a combed out, asymmetrical afro.

"That's some Southernplayalistic s--t right there," says Lee, in reference to the pair's '01 look. Alexander says Andre 3000 and Big Boi "revolutionized male confidence" through their unapologetic expression of creativity. Of Andre 3000, Major says, "He took a real gamble and went for it, just being his true artistic self and everyone loved it."

Macy Gray Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect Macy Gray arriving at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York City on Sept. 6, 2001.

Macy Gray's Vocal Dress at the MTV Video Music Awards

It was the dress seen (and read) around the world. Macy Gray, a performer known for her unconventional style and music, decided to transform her award show dress into a walking billboard. "That was totally Macy's idea, I just had to execute it," says Ambrose, the designer of Macy's immortal dress. "Working with Macy Gray was so much fun because she was an anomaly," Ambrose remembers. "In that moment, it was important that she sold albums, and she had she wanted to capitalize on the moment. It's like, where's the return on the investment? I'm getting hair and makeup and spending money on wardrobe. Is it gonna help me sell records? We wanted to just make sure that it did."

Destiny's Child "Survivor" Courtesy Photo Destiny's Child "Survivor"

Destiny's Child's coordinated camo

There are few things more memorable about the late '90s and early '00s than DC3's coordinated looks. Whether it was award shows, music videos or MTV appearances, you caught the trio out and about without perfect coordination. "Tina Knowles strikes again," says Ambrose, of Beyonce's mother and the group's resident designer. "Utilitarian was such a celebration of being tough and dominant," Ambrose explained. "It showed females in military can be sexy, that it's not just a man's game." Major drew comparisons to another always coordinated, ever-influential girl group. "Every time I looked at them, I saw the modern day Supremes," he said. "Everyone wanted to follow the camouflage trend."

Nelly Charles Sykes/Shutterstock Nelly photographed on Sept. 7, 2001.

Nelly's inexplicable face band-aid and double headbands

There are countless rumors circulating the World Wide Web about the explanation behind Nelly's little white Band-Aid and criss-crossed headbands. But regardless of the backstory, Nelly's creative face accessory was all people could talk about. "He created his own thing, like a left-eye kind of moment," says Major, who remembered considering rocking a Band-Aid himself. Ambrose says the bandage symbolized a "thug badge of honor," as iconic to Nelly as eye black is to football players.

Alicia Keys Anthony Barboza/Getty Images Alicia Keys photographed in New York in 2001.

Alicia Keys' beads and cornrows

Before Alicia Keys arrived on the scene, cornrows and beads were seldom seen in mainstream music. Ambrose, who styled Alicia in the early years of her career says the pianist extraordinaire's team always kept her identity in mind. "We wanted to always keep a sense of that New York girl and celebrate all the things that that spoke to her Blackness," says Ambrose. Not only was Alicia's hair aesthetically striking, it also played a roll in representation of Black women's natural tresses. "Universally, it told other young Black girls and it's okay to wear your braids and your beads," explained Ambrose. "That this isn't a Bo Derek moment, this is an African moment."

Mary J. Blige "Family Affair" Courtesy Photo Mary J. Blige "Family Affair"

Mary J. Blige's avant-garde "Family Affair" wigs

It's hard to say what part of the "Family Affair" experience was most unforgettable. Was it the futuristic outfits? Iconic choreographed moves? The fact that Mary basically invented three new words? In the world of fashion, it was most definitely the wigs. Tre Major, Mary's long-time hairstylist, says the chart-topping singer was ever-evolving, setting trend after trend along the way.

"I gave her edge and femininity," says Major. "I named that wig the Marvin Martian," Major says of Mary's salt and pepper avant-garde wig, a nod to the Looney Tunes character. Major says he custom made the wig on the R&B diva, since her head was "so small" compared to the mannequins. "She was the best muse because she was so daring," he explains. "She trusted me."

#missy elliott #june ambrose #derek lee #nelly #hiphop fashion #tre major #streetwear blog #fashion blog

[aughraseye]

Gurjin x Seladon

Here you go anon!

who gets overwhelmed by small acts of kindness?

Seladon. Most of her life has been practice in isolation and shutting down her own emotions and needs. She has always been a princess first, a daughter, sister, friend second. So, she’s used to keeping others at a distance and having them treat her the same. When someone does push past her walls and insist on treating her not as a title but as a person it moves her deeply, especially because very few have even tried.

Gurjin’s kindness are particularly meaningful because they do not come with an agenda, like the skeksis, and are not born from a familial bond, like Tavra. So, when he treats her with kindness, understanding, and even love she can’t help but be overwhelmed. Though she desperately tries to appear unaffected, she can’t help the color from rising in her cheeks whenever he goes out of his way to treat her kindly.

who flinches at sudden movements?

This is also Seladon. Her trauma combined with poor sleeping habits can put her on edge and make her susceptible to flinching or jolting at sudden movement. She’s also developed the unfortunate tendency to expect the worst out of situations, making her even edgier.

While this trait does fade somewhat as time goes on, and Seladon recovers from her past and develops her faith in herself and those around her, it resurfaces with exhaustion or irritation.

Gurjin tries to be there for her, act as a steadying and reassuring presence, but she usually snaps at him and that makes them both feel even worse. He eventually learns that he just has to give her her space, and make sure everyone else does too, until she can get some rest and relaxation.

who is most confused as to why their S.O. is still with them?

Both occasionally deal with confusion as to why the other is still with them. When Seladon started to show interests in his advances he figured they might have some fun together, but little more than that. As things between them kept going and kept getting more serious he wonders at his luck. Part of him is constantly waiting for Seladon to realize that she’s out of his league and call things off. Part of him is constantly surprised that she still wants to be with him.

Seladon also kind of figured that Gurjin was only interested in her for a bit of fun, but no one had ever shown such open interest in her before. It made her feel beautiful, and brave, and willing to put herself out there to take the risk. She keeps wondering when he’ll tire of her - her dourness, and fallibility, her commitment to her endless responsibilities. She’s always holding her breath waiting for him to leave her and sighing with relief when he remains steadfastly at her side.

who says the other/s would be better off with someone else?

Both have said this. Seladon often thinks that her past mistakes make her less than those who have managed to stay true to their course - especially Gurjin. He is so good, and kind, and he’s loyal to the point of making Aughra’s title for her seem a joke. Seladon thinks he would be better with someone who has less baggage - someone who has made fewer mistakes and has less to atone for. When she says this though, in moments of quiet self-depreciation or angry self loathing Gurjin almost laughs. This usually just makes her angrier, but he explains how insane it is that she feels that way. If either of them would be better with someone else it’s her. She's All Maudra, and though he’s a prince he’s rough, and uncultured, and hardly suited to her. Besides she’s as amazing, if not more so, than any member of the resistance.

They kind of go back and forth on this for awhile before sharing a moment of mutual understanding. Then they both start reassuring each other that they love each other and wouldn’t choose anyone else.

who gets surprised when they are given gifts?

Both.

Vapra culture has pretty stringent gift giving practices and combined with lots of holidays and seasonal festivals it’s not common to give someone a gift without a reason. Gurjin was the first person to give Seladon a gift just because.  So, of course that had surprised and deeply touched her. But every gift he has given since has been just as moving especially because they come without occasion. Even after being together for many trine she wonders what she’s done to make him want to give her anything at all.

Gurjin is also surprised when Seladon gives him gifts. Because she has been fairly isolated for most of her life, spontaneous gift giving is a struggle for her. That means her gifts usually follow Vapra traditions, most of which Gurjin does not know. So, he’s always surprised at when they come and what they are - because the Vapra holidays designate the gift as much as the day. Sometimes it’s a paper fan they both know he’ll never use, or a twirl of fabric he’s meant to pin to his chest, or sometimes flowers or sweets. Often the items have stories that go with them, folklore and legends that mythify the exchange. Though Gurjin doesn’t always see the connection he’s happy to listen, and every now and then when the legends shift into stories of Seladon’s childhood, he listens even closer.  Because the real gifts are the pieces of her culture, her past, and her life that she willingly shares with him.

who is most likely to break down on the other and how does their S.O. attempt to calm them down?

Either of them have the potential to break down. Seladon obviously has a lot of trauma and internalized guilt. She can as easily break down crying as she can break out in an angry fit. She’s also still in the process of learning to let other’s be there for her, so she struggles to articulate the ways Gurjin can help her cope with her feelings. Depending on what elicited her distress he either tries to give her alone time to sort out what she needs from him, or he will stay close to her using gentle and kind words and soft comforting touches to let he know he’s there for her.

When Gurjin breaks down it’s usually because of his trauma from the time he spent in The Scientist’s Lab. He tries to keep his distress subtle, and not draw attention to his sudden shortness of breath and trembling hands. Early in their relationship Seladon doesn’t notice, but as things go on she starts to realize that certain topics - the skeksis, the drained gelfing - make Gurjin go stiff and distant. When she recognizes his panic for what it is, she gets him somewhere that they can be alone. Then she holds his face in her hands and breaths with him until his distress passes. 


who is most self conscious in public?

Seladon. Again, she has significant self esteem issues from her mother constantly and very cavalierly undermining her sense of personhood and self worth. Though she is a princess and carries herself with all the grace and dignity of her position, inside she is very aware of her perceived flaws and mistakes. She always worries that’s she’s said or done the wrong things, or said the right things but looked wrong doing it.

Gurjin doesn’t really notice her insecurity in public,  partially because she’s had a lifetime to practice concealing it. But, when they are together he’s so comfortable in his own skin and treats her so well that some of her anxieties quiet. With him at her side, holding her hand, or draping his arm around her shoulder, she can relax. Though the unease never fully goes away, she is able to enjoy being out instead of feeling like every crowd is an audience she has to perform the royal part for.

who is more likely to apologize a million time for a tiny mistake?

Neither.

Seladon has a hard time apologizing, maybe because she feels she has so much to apologize for. Though in the past she said ‘I’m sorry’ to her mother almost as frequently as anything else, now the words are too painful - triggering old memories of failures, mistakes, and disappointment. So, though she may apologize when it truly needs to be said, she prefers to show her remorse, and her penitence, through actions.

Gurjin on the other hand has no problem expressing himself. While he might apologize multiple times for the same thing it’s not often sincere and usually intended to placate someone else. When he does feel an apology is merited he’ll offer a single and sincere ‘I’m sorry’ and do his best to change his behavior to reflect it.

who admits they’re scared only when they think their S.O. is asleep and how does the other react?

Seladon. She does not like to admit weakness and vulnerability. It’s something that has been hammered into her since childhood, and it’s a habit she’s not been able to break. So, she can really only admit to feeling afraid when she thinks Gurjin is asleep.

When he’s not, she actually feels very relieved though. Being able to share her fears and anxieties with someone means a lot to her. Gurjin then takes her in his arms and holds her close. He does his best to offer as much love and comfort as he can, knowing that reassuring her of his love and unconditional support goes a long way in easing her mind.

who never thinks they’re good enough for the other?

Gurjin and Seladon each struggle with believing that they are good enough for each other, but Seladon struggles far more. She has chronic self esteem issues from the way her mother treated her throughout her life. She also bears a huge amount of guilt from her actions after Mayrin’s death. She knows that her behavior caused pain, and though she’s trying to grow past it and learn her own way of being in the world, some of that remorse will always be with her. So, she worries that she doesn’t deserve Gurjin or his kindness and love.

As for Gurjin, he didn’t initially give this much thought. He started flirting with Seladon a little carelessly, thinking it didn’t need to mean anything. But when she started to respond and reciprocate, and especially once they actually got together, he realizes just how in over his head he is. After all she is All Maudra, and under normal conditions a normal Vapra citizen wouldn’t pay a Drenchen any attention. However, this comes and goes in waves and isn’t as steady of an undercurrent to their relationship like Seladon’s anxieties.

who takes a bullet for the other?

Both. Seladon and Gurjin are naturally self-sacrificing when it comes to those they care about, and they’d both put their lives on the line for the other. However, due to Seladon’s position as Maudra - one on the front lines and bargaining with their enemies - she is more likely to be put in a position to make that sacrifice.

#seladon #gurjin #gurjin x seladon #the dark crystal #age of resistance #ask meme #mine #still working on the naia x amri one

[luuxxart]

GIVE US THE NEW WARRIORS HEADCANONS UR REDESIGNS ARE AMAZINGJAKMAKWJDKSL💖💖💖

aaaa omG thank you!! :’D I’m actually strangely attached to these characters so I’ll try to do my best to explain the design choices I made and everything

ok so here we go.

SCREENTIME

* first off

* Not an entirely bad name??

* I would prefer Worm tho as a reference to the Morris Worm

* And I did make his design a little more wormy. Kinda Doc Ock-ish.

* So his tragic backstory... Well. Long long ago... when he was just a little kid... his dad fucked his mom.

* Jkjkjkjk. But it would be better than fucking “internet gas.”

* To take this in a darker route, I think it would be cool if his grandad had been experimenting with creating cyborgs and turned his dad into one. And then turned Screentime into one. So Screentime escaped sort of half-finished and is just trying to help others who might mirror his situation of abuse.

* I like to think his first superhero story was he was just like fucking buying bulk ramen and then hears a dude harassing a girl in the next aisle over and is like. huh. word. guess I can intimidate this guy by threatening to take his fucking social security and make it public knowledge.

* Bc he can hook up to the internet and updates his database frequently so he can just Mr. Robot people.

* He’s probably like 18 or 19. Never was schooled and college is kinda pointless when you have the whole internet in your brain.

* So he’s just living in a rundown apartment. Payin bills by doing odd jobs and doin bitcoin stocks.

* On the battlefield, he’d definitely be a mind games kind of guy, but he’d also use his worm limbs for dexterity and could probably discharge bursts of electricity at the cost of losing some information in his database.

* Also it’s probably really hard to tell, but Screentime is my favorite out of the original designs.

TRAILBLAZER

* again! Not a bad name at all!

* Made me think of fire though... and hiking... so

* We really don’t have much information on these characters so they were kinda fun to play around w and I think she was my favorite in terms of concepts.

* Also what the fuck are those red things on her head am I just fucking dumb???

* They look like devil horns. So I’m gonna run with it.

* Ok so she got a backpack from a god.

* Well that god was a god of Hell and also her godfather. Her actual father was another god of Hell. And idk how gods really work in the Marvel universe?? But I think there’s probably at least some high-ranking demons of Hell. I think Hell exists??? If I remember Doctor Strange correctly? (Maybe not Doctor Strange... bro everything is so hard to keep up with)

* Anyway, her dad was killed by some hero traveling through Hell at some point probably. And so she’s been preparing since to go avenge him.

* Then she gets to earth and is kinda like... well, avenging can wait.

* And the reason she can’t just get anything she wants out of the backpacks is because the backpacks are alive. But over time as she gains their trust, they start to become more and more useful. So, like magikarp to gyarados.

* her outfit was so fucking hard to redesign. like,,, I still don’t like it. The backpacks and stuff yes. Everything else no. But it’s better than the Neon Nightmare.

* Her powerset shouldn’t be limited to just her backpacks though. I saw a lot of people complain about that. Bc anyone could steal them from her and use them?

* So I think she should have superhuman strength. Also, her backpacks should only respond to her command. It’d be cute if they were also kinda cheeky about it. Bc yeah she’s a spoiled little brat. But she’s their spoiled little brat so they’re not opening up for anybody but her.

* She’s defo the youngest of the group

* Even if she is an immortal demon kid lol

S

bro I can’t even say it

I’m renaming them Shuriken. Effective immediately.

SHURIKEN

* So Shuriken is non-binary. Which I think is really cool! They’re not the first non-binary character that Marvel has,, bc Loki exists,, but while they’re not a good step forward... they’re a step forward nonetheless and I kinda commend them for at least trying.

* But goddamnit why did they have to go and name them S

* Sn

* please don’t make me say it

* So Shuriken has ice powers that are sort of threatening to take them over. Like if Iceman couldn’t control his powers ig. Their powers sort of came to them mysteriously in the middle of them already having a gender crisis and high school is happening and all that blah and now they’re just like,,, so ,, “superheroing seems to be a good venture right now. Maybe I’ll find myself in heroics and forget about everything else”

* And most of the heroic ideal is on their brother, ,,,, uh,,,, Quarterback,,, who idolizes the “classic” heroes like Cap, Iron Man, and Thor.

* Shuriken prefers reading news stories about Night Slasher and Punisher, Jessica Jones, and just generally, the other edgier heroes.

* But because their brother idolizes heroics so much, it makes it sort of a surprise when Shuriken takes up their mantle before Quarterback realizes anything is going on.

* And how does the ice stuff affect them? They’re sort of on the fence about finding a cure and whatnot. Most people speculate its like later-in-life mutation, but Shuriken isn’t satisfied with this answer.

*they sometimes chop off the spiky ice parts for convenience(they have no feeling in the frozen over parts of their body)

*(I’m toying with the idea of them having a crush on Ms. Marvel ngl)

QUARTERBACK

* not much to say about him? Other than goddamn that neon was terrible.

* Also I’ve seen jocks wear pink, so some youtube dudes complaining about that can fuck off. Maybe not that bright of a shade?

* But I figure with a defensive character, you would definitely want a bulkier frame. At least Power Man levels of a bulky frame? Like I’m not talking Hulk or Thing. Just.. yknow. At least a good Cap size dude.

* Also a blockier costume would make sense. Since he’s supposed to be. Uh. Safe. For people to like,, crowd behind. Like a safe

* Like a safe sp

* Like a

* safespace.

* I also like to think he was sort of a stereotypical jock and then here comes his little sibling (by like,, 7 minutes) who’s finally just like “yo fuck the gender spectrum” and so he finally opens up to his own interests that he’s been burying

* Like the color coral

* Which is definitely not pink my dudiest of dudes ;)

* He’s definitely more

* CHILL

* than Shuriken about the whole ice taking over his body thing. Like, at the end of the day, he’s still a jock even if he did turn out to be a mutant. Like , the world didn’t just end because he’s got some cool ice powers

* Also only being able to create a shield if it’s for others?? What a fucking joke man come on

* He can create platforms of ice and just mainly uses the ice as shields.

B-NEGATIVE

* OK THIS IS MY SON

* not the original he kinda just looked like he took one look at Welcome to the Black Parade and said “I can do that outfit. But crappier.”

* Listen,,,, I constructed a son

* It’s like that thing from that movie

* I was like

* “We can rebuild him...”

* is that fucking robocop

* At any rate, yeah yeah, Morbius stuff is still withstanding

* What if

* And hear me out

* His parents were sort of antivax sort of anti-mutant sort of folk. They get into some sort of car accident when he’s kinda young. He gets a blood transfusion against his parent’s wishes and in the end also gets adopted by this weirdass doctor who probably has some nefarious purpose, considering he used Morbius’ blood in the first place.

* This would explain how he could survive having vampirism since a doctor would probably have easier access to donated blood and stuff.

* Should the blood be going to people who actually need a transfusion? yes, however, this doctor is clearly ,, off his fucking rocker and corrupt as hell,, and what is his purpose?? The world may never know

* I don’t think B-Negative cares about anything. Like he just seems like that kind of character? Totally and inherently aloof and selfish because he’s just been fed blood on a silver spoon his whole life?

* Just does not care

* He does care about music though. Specifically rock(alternative, punk, hard, etc) and the history of it.

* me personally I really like Pink Floyd and I’m not going to,, shove my beliefs onto a character but

* I’m going to shove my beliefs onto a character and say his favorite song of all time is probably Welcome to the Machine

* And he probably will not shut up about how righteous of a song it is and how pertinent the message is

* Bc I think it fits,,, a lot of things about the stuff I’ve wrote with the backstories of these characters

* and yes

* he can perfectly mimic Great Gig in the Sky. the man!! has pipes!!!

* I also think it would be cool if he’s the oldest of them? Like, younger than 21 but he’s out of high school. Just trying to get a bachelors in music history at fuckin uh. NYU probably.

* he unironically likes twilight

#marvel #new warriors #ask #ik it looks weird haha i wrote this all in my notes and just copy pasted

[sophiacresta1-blog]

Vermont’s Luxurious Boutique

In the heart of downtown Burlington, Vermont the unique and trendy boutique, Liebling, caters to women looking for a classy wardrobe. The welcoming store sits across from other small businesses, as well as large corporate stores, such as Patagonia. The window displays convey the true luxury and high-end brands that are found inside, catching the eye of any woman. Liebling identifies its style as, “Casual luxury.” While Vermont is known to be more laid back and casual, everyone needs some chic items in their closet as well. Liebling is German for favorite, darling, and love. Perhaps Libeling wanted its customers to think of the store as their favorite.

Katchen McElwain just recently became the owner of Liebling after having a background with an interest in fashion. She says, “Definitely when I was younger I’ve always had a thing for fashion and clothing. I actually used to work at a cafe all throughout high school because I liked to buy my own clothes so it's always been an interest.” Although McElwain did not focus on fashion during her college education, she was interested in learning more about communication and business, as she says, “At UVM I studied public communication and community  entrepreneurship so the community entrepreneurship kinda goes with the business owning thing.”

McElwain previously worked at Ecco, another clothing boutique in Burlington, and Liebling throughout college. She says, “ I really wasn’t sure what I would do afterwards. It's one of those things where you're like, ‘Woah I need a career soon. What am I gonna do with my life?’ So I was already doing what I was meant to be doing.”

There are two other staff members that work alongside McElwain. “Right now I just have two part time staff,” she says. “I feel like I’m there more than anyone else.” She describes her staff:  “Adriana, she has a background in fashion. She went to the New School for design so she really cares about quality and fibers… Marley already loves clothes and was a customer beforehand. She's a friend of mine and she's just really good.”

Adriana 

     Marley

McElwain wants staff who are good with people and will be outgoing, while having a prior interest in fashion. McElwain says, “If you have an eye it's easy to sell to people because it doesn't feel like you're selling to them, it feels like you’re helping them pick stuff out.”

Liebling has been open since 2012 and although it is small, it has created a successful clientele. McElwain says proudly, “ I have customers that are a really strong repeat customer base so it’s nice to kind of know everyone pretty well. I feel like when I do the buying I can be like, “Oh you know like Tracy would love this.” McElwain knows her customers and their style so well that she has added a unique aspect to Liebling that many other boutiques do not offer. McElwain explains, “I definitely have customers that live in other states and they will call me for something and we send people pick boxes sometimes so then they can send back what they don’t want to keep.” These pick boxes allow customers who live far away to still be able to shop at Liebling and the staff will put together a box that includes several pieces that they think the customer will enjoy.

The downtown and involved location of Liebling has helped the success of the store. McElwain says, “I actually think being right around the corner from Church Street like the kind of main drag in Burlington it's kind of a destination you know and I feel like being on College Street, literally 30 seconds away from Church Street, we are right in that little sweet spot. It's actually really beneficial and College Street is really cute too because it's all locally owned businesses. It's definitely grown, we have gotten many customers recently and having Patagonia across the street is really helpful… The size of the store is really nice and we get a lot of nice sunlight too.”

Owning a small business or retail store in such a small town can be challenging to get customers in the door. McElwain is confident that Liebling stands out from other stores around her. She says, “A lot of the stores are more for high school and college students and I’d say we are more like an adult store and we really focus on quality, simplicity, and classy, but very high end. I feel like it's strong because there's not really any other stores like us in town so that's an advantage.”

McElwain contines, “The weaknesses are growing and getting new customers and figuring out how to get people at the door because winter, for all the stores in town, is a bit of a challenge because it's cold and no one wants to be out and about, so learning how to grow.  I think social media definitely helps with that. I have a lot of people come in and say, ‘I have never been here before but I saw you guys online.’ Even just being near Church Street I get people from out of town and they will be like, ‘This is so cute’ and then they will make a point to come back when they are back in Burlington.”

Business can be slow on Sundays in Burlington, especially in the winter, so McElwain incorporated a new aspect to Liebling that is useful for her customers. She says, “I decided in January that we would not be open on Sundays… I would like it to be by appointment so on Sunday the store is technically not open but if someone wanted to call and schedule an appointment with me they would come in and the store would be closed and they could get personal shopping from me. I've done it before and it ends up being really fun because you can have snacks and wine and just like the one on one experience is really nice for a lot of people, especially for those who can’t really get here during the week. I have some clients who live in Montpelier and Stowe and they are busy with their jobs and Sundays are sometimes the best time for them to do their shopping.”

The process of purchasing clothes for a retail store is very extensive and the owner needs to know what the trends will be in the next seasons. McElwain explains, “I go to New York four times a year for the buying. June and December are the smaller buying trips.” Planning ahead is crucial in retail because when going on buying trips, the shopping is for the next seasons to come. So, it is important to know what styles and trends will be popular in the future. McElwain includes, “The December market is for spring, so the stuff that comes in like February and March. However, the February market I was just at is for fall, one of the biggest seasons.” “If you go with a budget it is kind of hard because if you see stuff you like you know you can only bring about a quarter of it into the store”, says McElwain.  Schedules are built for the buyers, allowing them to make appointments with designers to look at their items. McEwlain says, “A lot of times there are models in the showroom so what you decide you like and they will try it on for you… Some stores will do the ordering right there but I always get my notes and then when I'm back in the store I look at the budget and do my buying off of what I saw and what I liked. It’s a fun process going to New York and doing the buying is really fun. Coming back and narrowing it down is the hard part.”

McElwain and her staff focus greatly on customer satisfaction and host events to thank their customers for shopping at Liebling. McElwain describes her events: “I try to do a holiday party and a spring party every year so I’ll send invites and will try to have something going on too like a clothing or jewelry trunk show. We have champagne and snacks and just make it a night of shopping and we always do gift bags.”

There is a wide range of designers that Liebling carries that are trendy, yet luxury. While clothing is the main focus, shoes and accessories are also popular at Liebling. McElwain describes some of her favorite brands in the store. She says, “One of my favorite designers is Nili Lotan, she is Israeli but she lives in New York, and her stuff is perfect for everyday. She does more special stuff like silk and more workwear but her everyday stuff is perfect for our customers. She has really nice sweaters and denim, just stuff that is easy to incorporate into your lifestyle. People can wear it both work and play and her stuff is great.”

“R-13 is another one of my favorite lines and they do beautiful denim that is all made in Italy but they are more of an edgier line so kind of like distressed stuff, but their quality is really good.” McElwain adds, “That's more of my edgier line and it's fun like it's very wearable but it's kind of a fun addition to the store instead of your more classic pieces, you get more of your fun pieces.”

McElwain also discusses the unique accessories that can be found at Liebling. She says, “We sell bags from B May, Barbara May, she is out of Detroit but she buys all the skins and leathers in Italy and we have carried her for a long time. We like how understated and clean her stuff is, so there’s no like heavy branding or anything. It's just really nice high quality bags that you can use everyday. I have a lot of customers that like her so much they will buy a new bag every season so those are great. I really love jewelry so I carry a lot of 14K and 18K, more like fine jewelry and diamonds and precious stones. I really like Sophie Hughes, she's out of Boston and she uses all recycled metals, which is more sustainable and conflict free diamonds, which is also really important to me. I would say we do gold and silver jewelry and then bags and nice scarves and then shoes like boots and sandals too.”  

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Spider-Man Self-Improvement #1 Thoughts

 A historic moment in Spider-History!

I’m sure you all know the backstory to this issue if you are reading this, but just in case you don’t I’ll briefly explain.

Once upon a time in the 1980s Marvel fan Randy Schueller proposed an idea about Spider-Man getting a new black costume from Reed Richards with all sorts of special features. Marvel liked the idea enough to buy it and bring the fan in to work on the story behind it. The original story ideas were never used but were later repurposed for what eventually became Spider-Man’s iconic black costume, which later of course was revealed to be an alien symbiote and later still became fan favourite villain Venom.

Spider-Man Self-Improvement is a comic book based upon Schueller’s original vision for the costume and the story surrounding it, but brought to life by writer Peter David and artist Rick Leonardi, coincidentally the co-creators of Spider-Man 2099.

Schueller’s original vision for the costume was that it was a high tech outfit created for Spider-Man by Reed Rchards. The design of the costume would ostensibly be identical to the black costume we all know and love, albeit with the white parts swapped for red. It would be made of unstable molecules (see the Marvel wiki for more info on what those do) that would improve Spider-Man’s wall-crawling powers and come with cybernetic components that would enable his to mentally control his webshooters. There are at least two drafts of Schueller’s original story that we know of, and an element in both of them is that the black costume is somewhat frightening to people and that Peter ends the story opting to not make the costume his regular attire. There are other elements to the story but we’ll talk about those later.

All the above elements are what made it into PAD’s version in this comic.

As a story unto itself it’s fairly superfluous. It’s really not worth the price of a standard issue of ASM, but perhaps wouldn’t have been as objectionable if it had been priced at early-mid 1980s prices (which even accounting for inflation were a lot cheaper than today).

There is nothing egregiously wrong with the story itself, it’s just very simple, basic and linear is all. As Spider-Man stories go at worst it’s subpar because it doesn’t address his personal life all that much beyond the very last page where he pricks his finger sewing his old suit back together; and I guess the fact that he can’t control his webbing.

The most interesting aspect of the story to me, beyond the superficial coolness of seeing the original black costume, was the idea that the costume would be scary and intimidating and thus prompting Peter to reject it in favour of his classic friendlier attire.

It’s a small but interesting angle to take with the character and feels I dunno...appropriate for Spider-Man’s character. It also touches upon a topic I talked about a long time ago regarding the black costume vs. the classic costume.

In that post I referenced a fan letter published shortly after ASM #300 where a fan talked about why the classic costume was much more fitting for Peter’s character. This issue by accident or design seems to subtly echo some of those sentiments. It is ironic though given how Peter David’s work on Spider-Man famously featured him in his black costume and used it to tell darker and grittier stories. Then when David and Leonardi went on to create Spider-Man 2099, who was also edgier than the classic version, they intended his outfit to also be red and black like this version of the costume. And of course now days PAD is working on symbiote Spider-Man, which is possibly what led to him getting the assignment for this issue.

I hesitate to really critique PAD for this because he is after all simply executing someone else’s story, and the story was really more of an under developed outline. It was a few ideas strung together and little more than that.

The design of the costume is cool, and having Rick Leonardi, which IIRC had some kind of contribution to the look of the original black suit, draw it was a cool touch, referential to history too.

His art in the story is also mostly fine. I say mostly because weirdly everyone looks fine except for Spider-Man himself. In either of his outfits in this comic he seems a tad...off. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but he just doesn’t look right and seems oddly out of place next to everyone else. To say it’s not the prime of Leonardi’s art like in the 80s or the 90s would be an understatement but it is not bad by any means.

More interesting than examining this issue unto itself though is the opportunity to play compare and contrast with both Schueller’s original drafts and the original Alien Costume Saga. That could get a little long but let’s try those out in brief.

Schueller’s drafts are actually included in this issue as a very fascinating piece of Marvel history. In addition to what I talked about above, you have Sue Storm and Janet van Dyne designing the look o the outfit in the first draft, Spidey being over excited like a kid with a new toy in both drafts, him having the equivalent of gliding web wings or a web cape in one of the drafts, his inability to control the webbing in both drafts and the idea that the cybernetics interfere with his spider sense, which is more pronounced in the second draft.

I think PAD cut these elements out to better streamline the story, and the Wasp making Spider-Man a new costume doesn’t jive very well with their established hostile relationship.

Firebrand’s inclusion in PAD’s version instead of generic thugs is likely to add something more visually dynamic to the story, something that would better test out the suit’s new abilities given how fighting regular thugs is something he could do in his regular outfit.

He retained the idea of Spider-Man having to rescue a woman though, just in Schueller’s original draft but changed her fate and circumstances; her situation reminded me of his Five Minutes prose story from Ultimate Spider-Man actually. In Schueller’s original draft the injured woman Spidey failed to save felt rather out of left field, something oddly dark and cruel to pop up in a story which up until then had been a lighthearted tale about a kid and his new toy. It also set up the idea of him becoming a darker avenging figure in line with the suit’s scary new look. Which was ahead of it’s time now I think about it.

The first draft I feel suffers from something I see a lot in fanfiction. I won’t rake fanfiction over the coals here because being wacky, experimental and well something you wouldn’t normally see in professional works is part of it’s charm. However Schueller’s script wants to use the lore of the established universe badly and use it to introduce something they’ve dreamed up themselves. That’s fine and dandy but often I’ve observed that this comes off as contrived in many fanfics and sure enough that is true here. Why would Reed Richards for instance whip up a new suit for Peter? In the PAD version of the story it’s still a little eyebrow raising but he essentially did Spidey a kindness after he almost died of burn injuries. In Schueller’s draft Wasp and Reed just decide to give him a gift out of the blue. Schueller better justifies this in his second draft but DeFalco still scrutinizes the decision.

I also think Schueller in both drafts sort of lost sight of the core idea behind Spider-Man, moreso in the first draft. He was clearly enchanted with the idea of Spider-Man having a high tech suit with cool features that he didn’t stop to consider if that really fit well for Spider-Man’s character. Credit where credit is due he did come to a compromise in his second draft wherein Peter would keep the suit but use it sparingly as a treat for himself. However I found the rationale behind that rather contrived. Schueller in fairness was trying a lot harder in that second draft and it was markedly better, but pretty much all of DeFalco’s critiques were on the money. Would Spider-Man really be like a kid with a new toy? Would he really care that much about his public reputation? Would the Bugle really not want pictures of this other superhero?

By the way, this is a total dick move on my part I admit, but seeing DeFalco shoot down Schueller’s script was I’m sorry to say kind of funny to me.

Overall PAD made much better use of Schueller’s drafts, he knew what to drop and what to keep and how to rearrange the pieces to make it all work much better.

More significantly I think is the fact that Schueller might’ve had more influence from his drafts than even he imagined. Some of his ideas are rather reminiscent of Spider-Man 2099 and the Iron Spider costume. Could it be that the creators of both were directly or subconsciously influenced by his original drafts? Or was it minds thinking alike? I prefer to think it was the former.

Comparing all 3 versions of this original story to what we got in the Alien Costume Saga I have to be blunt, the original is simply much better.

Making the costume an alien allowed for a more dramatic rationale to get rid of the suit and more importantly taps into the Parker luck. Rather than the costume being a cool new toy which has some kinks ad drawbacks which makes Peter drop it or drop it but keep it as a treat for himself, DeFalco and Frenz made the suit too good to be true. The Parker Luck in action!

The features of the Alien costume were also more impressive than those of Schueller’s, and they repurposed the way it interfered with his spider sense in a more interesting way. Rather than opening him up to possible dangers the suit itself WAS the danger because it didn’t trigger the spider sense.

So, whilst this issue is a fun ‘what could have been’ story, I think ultimately we were lucky to get what we got.

All that might sound like I wouldn’t recommend you pick this up but it’s quite the opposite, I think this is worth your time. Check it out.

#Spider-Man #Symbiote Spider-Man #Venom Symbiote #Alien costume saga #Tom DeFalco #Peter David #Peter Parker #Reed Richards #Mr. Fantastic #Mister Fantastic #the wasp #wasp #janet van dyne #Rick Leonardi

[ciaragorgeous]

My ideal Child’s Play (2019) (WARNING: LOADS OF TEXT)

I enjoyed the film unlike most people, but it could’ve been better imo

Here’s what I’d do if I directed the film.

Loads of changes, controversial or not, ahoy!

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* The film is at least two hours, the hour and a half runtime we got is my biggest issue. There’s also a ‘director’s cut’ that’s 30 minutes longer.

* Andy’s friends are friendlier and interact with him and Chucky more. They weren’t handled well in the actual film and the runtime wasted any potential for extra character development.

* Chucky’s design was good for the most part, but it does look pretty eh in some scenes. I’d change his design so he looks cute for the first half but as the film progresses he becomes less so and more like that one shot in the film where Andy’s screaming about Shane.

* Karen is Andy’s sister instead of his mom and they have more interactions. She feels more like a sibling to Andy than a mother and, being a reboot of Child’s Play, would work well as something different.

* Isn’t Mike supposed to be Omar’s dad? I’m pretty sure he is, and I’d have them interact more. I’d also make Mike a more serious character during the second and third acts as he begins to figure out who he thinks is doing the killings.

* Omar is presented as a nicer character who is under the bad influence of his other friends who are utter douche bags. We see character development for him as he slowly begins to side with Andy’s friends.

* More emotional scenes with Chucky during the first and second acts to show that he’s becoming more aware of his surroundings. Instead of leaving Chucky to hug the bear, Andy comforts him and warns him again not to hurt others (while making some accidental, indirect comment about bad people being an exception). Another scene shows Chucky struggling to connect with Kaplan’s products and being upset over it. Finally, there’s a scene where Omar’s douchebag friends harass Andy and kick Chucky.

* More kills, which get more sadistic and gruesome as the film progresses. Omar’s friends are killed by Chucky after Gabe (thrown out of a window, necks slit with Kaslan drones, etc), Doreen’s death is pretty much instant and inspired by the crash at the beginning of The Descent, lots more kills during the ZedMart scene, etc.

* Like Omar’s friends, kids aren’t safe from Chucky either. During the ZedMart scene we see some kids being murdered by Buddi 2 dolls.

* Andy’s friends help out during the final battle, destroying Buddi 2’s left and right. They, Andy and Mike (seemingly) destroy Chucky in a contrasting callback to Chucky being deactivated.

* Karen dies. I found it odd that she was hung for that long but somehow survived. How this would work, I’m not sure, but having Andy cry over her death with his friends by his side (another additional callback to the Chucky deactivation scene - instead of walking away they comfort Andy as they interacted with/cared for him too) in a similar vain to Bill finding Georgie’s jacket in IT.

* Chucky doesn’t swear until Omar’s douchebag friends first appear and encourage him to stab the unicorn toy. This is because Andy doesn’t swear that often until the second act when shit gets real.

* Stronger language is used, specifically “cunt”. Why? I don’t know, just to make the film ‘unique’ since the word is rarely used in movies. How Chucky starts using it? Not sure, but I’d want it to be his common swear word to show that he’s no longer the innocent, cute doll that wanted to make Andy happy.

* Chucky doesn’t go for Andy’s friends until after they deactivate him. He doesn’t really go after them in the film.

* Lots of ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ scenes of Gabe stalking or ‘hands in his pantsing’ to Karen to show how much of a unsettling, sick fuck he is. It’s also much more fucked up since Karen is younger here.

* The film has a more consistent tone, starting off slightly dark before going into a comedic and ‘family-friendly’ tone for the first half of the film. The emotional scenes gradually frequent by the end of the first act and are mixed fluently with the horror and black comedy during the second and third acts.

* LOADS of POV shots from Chucky, the film was lacking those and they could’ve been utilised well during the kill scenes and during the scene where Omar’s friends bully Andy and kick him.

* The soundtrack includes more emotional pieces and, like most elements in my ideal idea for this film, starts off bouncy and fun before gradually getting darker.

* The film’s ending is much more bittersweet thanks to Karen’s death and Chucky being alive in another body is given more foreshadowing. Other than that, it’s pretty much the same.

* Loads of little foreshadowing nods to the film’s climax (like Karen ‘hanging’ herself in the actual film) or one of Andy’s drawings (which is shown for a split second compared to the others) being a bear disembowelling a man.

* Other nitpicky details I won’t get into.

Those are the changes I’d make to Child’s Play (2019) if I were the director (or co-director).

Again, while I enjoyed the film and have it as my second favorite Child’s Play film behind the second one (Brad Dourif is a legend in that film and that climax!!! ❤️), the runtime, Andy’s friends and Chucky’s design (the latter being a minor issue) were kind of a let down.

————————————————————

One more, controversial idea.

Child’s Play (2019): DARKER CUT

========================

Obviously, a much darker, edgier (I hate saying that word) version of the film (my ideal idea for it, I mean, not the actual movie).

* It starts off like the actual film, but instead of sticking to a darkly comedic tone throughout it simply becomes more bleak and disturbing by the final act.

* Chucky speaks lesser as the film progresses.

* The kills are NC-17 level, very sadistic and gory with little to no comedy whatsoever. Lots of focus on the injuries.

* The film’s atmosphere goes from colorful and child-like to eerie and gritty.

* Despite Chucky’s increasing sadism and mute voice, he keeps his child-like design to show that despite his actions he’s still the Buddi doll that was once Andy’s friend.

* The latter half of the soundtrack takes cues from horror films such as Sinister. Specifically Sleepy Time ‘98 (Aghast - Sacrifice).

* The film’s ending is extremely dark, shuts down any potential for a sequel and cements its status as a stand-alone film.

Basically, Chucky succeeds in killing everyone but Andy. This includes his friends, his sister and Mike.

We’re treated to eerie, slow panning shots of Andy’s city, various buildings and their interiors, Andy’s apartment complex, schools, hospitals, the police station, other stores... all of which have dead bodies strewn everywhere. The obvious implication being that the Buddi 2s have escaped and killed everyone.

This is all set to Aghast’s Sacrifice, making the eerie shots all that more unsettling.

The final shot is of Andy (who went into a ‘PTSD’-like state thanks to seeing everyone including his friends dead) in the darkness of the now abandoned ZedMart with Chucky hugging him, his blue eyes being the only source of light as they illuminate Andy’s face.

As the camera slowly zooms out, Chucky’s eyes close, leaving him and Andy in complete darkness as the soundtrack fades and echoes out and the credits silently roll. The end.

————————————————————

So yeah, what do you guys think? I don’t normally post on here but I thought I’d share my ideas for this film.

#childs play #chucky #buddi doll #buddi #child’s play #childs play 2019 #child’s play 2019 #alternate version #alternate ending #idea #ideas #kaslan #andy barclay #dark child’s play #in reality id suck as a director #childs play 2019 might be the most underrated film this year #sinister 2012 #aghast #sinister’s soundtrack is creepy af

[moomingitz]

what is your least favorite modern Sonic game?

Based on the main modern Sonic games I have played as of posting this(I can’t just up and buy the newest consoles okay), that game would have to be, Shadow the Hedgehog.

I could go and talk about how the whole thing with Shadow being related to aliens feels like the writers just pulled it out of their asses, or how the intended darker and edgier approach falls flat. But those things are not the ultimate reason why I’m not very fond of this game. It’s just not a fun game to play. It’s just a chore.

Sonic Heroes may not be perfect and at best is just an okay game, and Sonic 06 may be broken and can be very frustrating at certain moments, but, I was still able to beat their main and final story campaigns. It took more patience than what should probably be required, but I still managed to at least finish them. Shadow the Hedgehog, on the other hand, is a slog to get through even when taking the easiest and most basic neutral route. Every time I try to pick this game back up I quit soon after, the game is just that frustrating and monotonous to play. The only reason I know what happens in the game’s story is due to resorting to watching cutscenes and gameplay online.

I really like it when games give you the option of having of multiple alternate endings. But it was implemented here in the worst possible way. The game being such a slog and chore would not be so bad if it at least had the courtesy to let you go back to a stage you already unlocked and branch off to another path. But no, you have to start a new game, and work from the very first stage, every single time! Each route isn’t even long in it’s actual length, especially depending on which route you choose to take, but the fake difficulty and unfair deaths will definitely make them feel longer than they actually are. It’s all just a cheap way to pad out a game that would take maybe an hour or two at most to complete! It’s not even like Undertale where your actions actually hold weight and have consequences in whatever route you take. Black Doom will keep saying that your disobedience will be severely punished, but he’ll quickly forget or not give a shit if you just continue to flip flop back and forth on which side you go with each stage. You could help Black Doom blow up an entire fucking city and Sonic will just casually talk to you like nothing happened, just as long as you choose to pursue a less villainous route right after!

Even the multiple alternate endings you could end up with don’t feel like you really earned them. Nearly every single alternate ending is just Shadow saying he’s finally got all of the Chaos Emeralds, there’s some changes in dialog and which character you may be partnered with(depending on the route you take), Shadow proclaims some conclusion or truth he thinks he’s figured out about himself, he then says, “This is who I am!”, and half the time he karate chops Eggman to death. There’s only two alternate endings that actually stuck out to me: The one where Shadow says that his purpose in life is to protect Space Colony ARK and the legacy behind it or something, and the one where it’s implied that Shadow committed suicide afterward. That’s it! All of the other alternate endings are forgettable.

Now unlike a lot of people who jump on the hate bandwagon towards the added guns and weapons, I actually like them. Not only do they make it way easier to take down enemies and their dreaded health bars, but it helps change up the monotonous gameplay a bit. Unfortunately, that’s where the good parts of the gameplay and mechanics end for me. It’s super obvious this game was made using Sonic Heroes’ engine and recycling assets from it. The levels in, Sonic Heroes, were at least mostly designed to give some leeway with the more slippery mechanics and other flaws in the gameplay. But hold on everyone! If the lack of momentum and other janky things in gameplay tested your patience in Heroes, well it comes back with a vengeance in, Shadow the Hedgehog, with levels and more careful platforming not made nearly as much with it in mind.

One last thing I think I should mention about this game, and also a good part of why I’m not really a fan of this game. For a game that wants to show you how totally darker and edgier it is, that edge is pretty dull. Outside of some unintentionally funny moments, and actually genuine sad or touching moments peppered throughout this game, it’s just overall dull. Not even the game’s music really stick out to me. Outside of the main opening theme, and the ending songs, only about maybe a handful of tracks in the game’s soundtrack really stick out to me. Tone deaf just seems to be a good way to describe this game in general.

The recycling of Sonic Heroes’ assets and character models don’t help with the intended dark and edgier approach with the game, either. Then there’s the new models they made for the human characters outside of Eggman. Commander Yaoi Hands, President Billboard Shoulders, and Insect Eyes Maria. I’ll never get over how hideous Maria looks in the game.

You know what hurts me the most about this game? Giving Shadow his own game to rap up his story arc, and explain exactly what happened back then, was a perfectly good idea and concept. With actual care put in, and having people who know what they’re doing behind it, this could have easily been a great way to actually expand Shadow’s backstory and character. But no. It’s obvious this was made and shoved out as fast as possible to capitalize on Shadow’s popularity while it was still at it’s peak. To this day I still think Shadow as a character deserved better than this.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic #Shadow the Hedgehog #opinions #awaits possible backlash #asks

[scoutception]

Persona 5: The Prison of Regression: The very good, the very bad, and the lack of anything in between

Persona 5 is a game I am very conflicted on, to say the least, to the point I’m just waiting until I can replay it via Royal to completely form an opinion, despite beating it many months ago. Regardless, with Royal out in Japan, I feel it’s appropriate to say something about it. So, this time around, I’m gonna do something a bit different. The final palace of Persona 5, the Prison of Regression, has been on my mind a lot lately, fairly sensibly considering, it’s the note the game goes out on, but beyond that, it’s got some of my favorite parts of the game... and some of my least favorite. This is just my attempts at sorting out my varying thoughts on this final part of the game. Needless to say, there will be many spoilers. With that, let the rambling begin. The good: 1. The buildup. A lot of Persona 5′s attempts at build up, like towards the confrontation with Shido, didn’t really do much for me, but one thing I was always interested in was the question of just what was at the bottom of Mementos. It’s a thought that’s always present, but never too heavily pushed by the game itself. It lets you dwell on it for almost the whole game, seeing how distorted Mementos gets further down, and seeing just how many others are headed straight to the bottom, and when you’re finally forced to go down there, instead of some paradise looking destination, or whatever else, it only gets even worse. The buildup only continues as you go further in, having no idea what’s awaiting you further in. Unlike every other palace, there’s no single person for you to be expecting at the end. You’re just delving deeper and deeper in until you find the heart of Mementos itself. Writing wise, this is easily one of my favorite moments in the whole game, and few other things in recent memory have managed buildup that’s kept me so consistently fascinated like this. 2. The music. Freedom and Security, the theme of the prison, is honestly my favorite track from Persona 5. Most of the palaces have either high energy or sneakier themes to suit the the Phantom Thieves, but this one is completely different. It’s calm, and even kinda relaxing out of context. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t fit the setting, though. While the calmness suits the prisoner’s twisted happiness with their prison, it always carries an oppressive tone at the same time. Plus, hearing something so low key back dropped against a downright hellish environment only makes it all even creepier. It’s also used as the credits theme for the bad endings, where it fits just as well. 3. The setting. Most of Persona 5′s palaces are fairly grounded, at least creatively speaking. A bank, a museum, a cruise ship, a casino, even outer space, it’s not mundane, but it’s not really that special. The Prison, on the other hand, is such a giant change of pace. It’s more or less Hell itself. Nobody even close to sane would imagine something like it, and this is what the general populous collectively wants. Red and black are pretty much the only colors to be found, and the characters don’t fit in in the slightest, even compared to freaking space. That’s not to say it looks bad, though. If anything, it’s beautiful, in an extremely eldritch way, and since I adore eldritch stuff in games, it caught my interest like no other location in the game. The giant red, veins winding around the whole place, the near total lack of any features other than the platforms, it’s just completely wrong, but things like the giant winding paths downwards, and the temple that houses the Holy Grail are breathtaking in their own right. The second half of the area, with Mementos merged with the real world, is also pretty cool, seeing the giant bone structures extending all over the place. This is honestly my favorite aspect of this whole palace, and if nothing else, I appreciate its existence just for its fantastic visuals.

4. (Parts of) the plot. At the very least, it has an interesting premise. Since Mementos is the palace of Japan’s collective populace, there’s no single owner to just point your finger at and beat up. Everywhere you go, there’s people in cells lamenting their lives, actively desiring imprisonment so they can escape the responsibility of thinking for themselves. There’s not even cognitive people to feel sorry for; everyone in the palace is against the Phantom Thieves, especially while fighting the Holy Grail itself. The other part I like is the Igor twist. Things that might just come off as Igor having a midlife crisis after 8 years since a non spinoff Persona game, like his different voice or the way edgier Velvet Room, are actually due to this Igor actually being an imposter. Not only is it a clever twist on its own, but it also makes for a great meta twist: one of the main themes of the game is how many of the villains are respected by the general populace, and what authority figure would the players respect more than Igor himself? The bad: 1. The actual area design. I really don’t like the level design of most of the palaces, and while it didn’t irritate me as much as a few others, the Prison is definitely one of the worst offenders. While I love the visual design of the place, almost every area looks the same, and ar very barren beyond that, mostly being completely linear without detours, the puzzles are easy, yet annoying to deal with, and the enemies are way more of a problem than they should be just because the game is fond of dropping you directly in front of them after cutscenes. Additionally, there’s only one safe room about halfway in, and considering you have nightmares like Mara wandering around, you can lose tons of progress pretty easy. And that’s just the first half: while shorter, the second part is no less repetitive to look at or go through, constantly stopping you for the Archangel fights, of which only Michael is memorable, and even worse enemies are wandering around. Not fun, to put it simply. 2. All the rest of the plot. While I don’t like Shido as a character, ending off on him would have been great. But, no, since it’s apparently obligation at this point, you gotta go through another whole palace and plot that just feels jarring. It’s also basically just the Izanami plot from Persona 4, and besides points lost just for lack of originality, hearing “people don’t want to have to think” gets really annoying after a while. Combined with just how long the cutscenes drag on, and you have a really sour note to end most of the story on. 3. Yaldabaoth as a whole. For what’s basically the closest thing Persona has to YHVH, this guy is pathetic. He looks cool, and sounds cool, and that’s about all the positive things I can say about him. He spends most of his time as a fancy cup, most of his dialogue just blends together, and in general just doesn’t feel very threatening compared to Shido. This even extends to gameplay: whereas Shido has an awesome boss fight that would easily be satisfactory as a final boss, Yaldabaoth’s fights just aren’t nearly as good. His Holy Grail form barely qualifies as a boss, and the use of Rivers in the Desert during it is downright laughable, and his actual final boss form doesn’t even feel like a final boss. It’s not that’s it overly easy or anything, in fact it can drag out for quite a while, but it just feels like something’s missing. Even the music isn’t satisfactory, with his theme just feeling like build up more than anything, up to no real payoff. While I may have listed more positive opinions than negative, overall I feel the Prison of Regression is very much more of a failure than a success, especially in gameplay and writing, and unfortunately, there’s not much middle road for me to take its aspects. While it definitely had me captivated early on, overall, it was a disappointing to end off the game on. While I’ve heard Royal’s additions aren’t nearly as much as was hyped, I’m hoping it at least gives a better ending to everything than this. With that, this absurdly short by my standards post comes to a close. Till next time. -Scout

#persona 5 #persona #JRPG