content warnings: small swearing, mention of disease, mention of vaccination
word count: 1.8k
summary: the boys are shocked at how your hybrid features present themselves when you are feeling particularly emotional
requested: @shua-f4lmings
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How could it ever work being a Kpop idol when you were forced to hide a part of our identity every day? Well, you managed somehow. Despite the fact that you were a hybrid, JYPE still accepted your audition and allowed you to become a trainee. You felt fortunate that you didn't face direct discrimination from the company, considering you were part of a rare few, an experimental collective, of children that had turned into hybrids against their will. You see, there had once been terrible news of a new outbreak of an autoimmune disease breaking out, during your childhood, so when a vaccination was created, your parents had rushed at the opportunity to make sure you were safe. Little did you know, did anyone know, that it was in fact a scam. The disease - a hoax. The vaccination - contained a serum that caused you to experience genetic mutations and develop physical attributes very similar to a cat, all because of some deceiving scientists that wanted to experiment.
Luckily, you had learnt to love yourself and your feline features. Your fluffy black ears that helped your hearing become more sensitive, and perhaps even more attuned to music, your tail that would swish and perk up anytime you saw your members or somebody you loved, these all became things that you appreciated. It truly showed your strength and determination to not let anybody get you down, particularly when you used to feel like the black sheep, or, black cat, of the family.
You remember that it was not too long after Chan had gathered you all together as a unit, pre-debut, that you decided to reveal this side of you. After all, you could only wear baggy sweatshirts and beanies for so long.
"Guys, can I tell you something?" you spoke up after you were all sat evaluating a dance practice.
"I think we really should practice this dance again, can it wait?" Chan pondered, not wanting to miss any rehearsal time, especially since the new TV debut show was on the horizon.
"Please, it's important," you had urged them all, your future group members, not wanting to withheld this information from them for any longer.
"Ok, sure," Chan nodded and turned his phone off, before everyone was looking at you as you stood up.
"Is everything ok?" Hyunjin frowned.
"Yeah, I just want to share this side of myself to you. I've not been honest," you began, confident in yourself, just unsure about what their reactions would be.
"If we're going to be a group..." Changbin tilted his head.
"-that's why I'm telling you now! Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. Umm," you apologised, feeling guilty.
"It's ok," Changbin nodded, seeing the weight of the situation in your eyes.
"Please can you just tell us? The suspense is killing me," Jisung groaned, whining after when Minho smacked him on the back without even looking.
"I don't know how to say it so..." you had taken a deep breath before pulling your beanie off, ruffling your hair back into plsce and ultimately revealing your ears. It had seemed like some sort of headband at first, but seeing the way your ears twitched and pointed at sharp intakes of breath or gasps in the room, showed that they were very real.
Poor Felix was incredibly confused. It was hard enough for the Australian boy to follow the conversation, and even harder to make sense of things as he saw your fluffy cat ears on top of your head.
"What the-" Jeongin's jaw dropped.
"Why are your ears moving like that..." Seungmin was astonished.
"I'm a cat hybrid. There was an experiment gone wrong a while back, masked as a 'cure', a vaccination, when really it was an experiment. So, umm, yeah, I'm sort of like a test subject.." you trailed off as Chan came to stand in front of you, raising his hand slightly.
"Can I touch your ears?" he questioned, which honestly wasn't what you were expecting. Instead, you thought it was time for him to go into his words of wisdom mode, but really even he couldn't avoid his own curiosity, as he waited for your response.
"Oh, yeah sure," you shrugged, a smile working it's way into your face as you felt a soothing scratch and pat to the head. It was so relaxing that you shut your eyes for a moment.
And when you opened your eyes...
"My turn! My turn!" Han was suddenly in front of you, Seungmin and Jeongin surprisingly waiting too.
"Wow, so cute!" Hyunjin was looking at you with the biggest heart eyes, and you could also lightly hear Chan explaining to Felix what had just transpired.
"Cute, haha," Changbin chuckled, stood next to you and observing your reactions.
"So you guys don't find it weird then?" you laugh as you ask, knowing that they were entranced.
"No! Never!" Seungmin shook his head.
"Me?" Felix came up behind Seungmin, half hugging his arm before asking permission to also pet your ears.
"Yes," you smiled reassuringly at the shy Felix.
The only one of the boys who hadn't interacted with you after you revealed your big secret was Minho, and perhaps that was because he simply couldn't comprehend that his fellow band member he had naturally grown protective over was also part cat. His favourite animal by a mile.
"I knew there was something feline about you," Minho hugged you tightly, the only one not to go straight for the ears.
"That's all the approval I needed."
Post revelation, you were able to feel even more relaxed around your members at the dorms, and wow, when they saw your tail, to be frank, they lost their shit. That was a story for another day though. You had more important things to think about them, such as the meeting that had been scheduled with the company before filming began. Understandably, in your opinion, they had found some medication, hybrid suppressants, that would hide your features. Some people would have been offended by the gesture but in reality, you were relieved. You just wanted to debut and you didn't want to take any attention away from the boys with your obvious differences in genetics. Although the first day of taking the pills felt rough, especially with your body having to withdraw physical features, you went through with it, initially explaining to the boys that it's what you wanted. Whether they believed you or not at the time, you weren't sure, until today...
"No way!" you gasped, clutching the blanket for dear life as you sat up from your comfy spot curled up on the sofa. Once again, you had chosen to use your vacation off from work as a chance to binge watch your favourite show, and finally, you had made it to the end.
"Don't roll credits, don't roll credits, don't- NO!" you cried out in disbelief. As if they had just killed off your favourite character. You sobbed, curling into yourself, ears flat against your head and tail curled up against you, like you were trying to protect yourself from the TV screen even though you had already turned it off and thrown the remote away from you in distress.
You hadn't realised that your hybrid features had popped out, not that it would be a problem as you were on break, but you must have forgotten to habitually take your tablets, the ones you bad taken the previous day finally wearing off. Even with the box being on the coffee table in front of you, the idea had left your mind.
It was long forgotten now.
It was a pitiful sight, the way you were trembling as you cried, but with your physical hybrid features also came mental ones, emotional ones, instincts that you couldn't help but follow. That emotional attachment that cats found with their people, happened to you and your favourite TV show. You felt hurt, betrayed, distraught.
"Rori?" Minho was the first to call out in concern, as the boys piled in from their outing at the beach. Yes, Rori, that was your stage name. It was a running joke between you all that Minho adopted Dori and her namesake was because of you. They weren't that dissimilar right?
"What's wrong? What's happening?" Felix called out in confusion, still taking off his sandy shoes by the front door. The boys had wanted you to come along with them, but you hated water, and would much rather laze around in the comfort of your own home.
"Aigoo, your tail is all fluffy," Jeongin patted your head, yet you continued to cry. The eight boys looked between each other in confusion until Jisung spotted the medication on the table and looked at Chan pointedly, hoping he took would connect the dots he had just found.
"Oh, Rori, we thought you didn't like taking the, it's ok. It'll be ok, we'll sort this," Chan rubbed your back gently.
"We can announce it to the fans," Hyunjin suggested, and the others nodded along.
"We'll have a word with the company," Changbin added, their plan already formulating before your very eyes.
"They'll still love you," Jisung didn't like seeing you cry.
"They won't care, you're still the same person," Seungmin spoke up, last to enter the room. He had soon caught onto the situation though, only after rinsing his feet from the sand that lingered. He couldn't barely the itchy feeling.
"What are you talking about?" you sniffled, lifting your head out from your arms and your ears lifted in curiosity.
"Aren't you sad because of, you know, having to take the tablets...?" Chan was confused, so much so that his hand had even stopped it's comforting motions on your back.
"No!!" you cried out, tail fluffing up even more, irritation flaring up ever so slightly as you wished you didn't have to explain yourself. It would much easier if these humans just knew what you wanted!
"Oh," Minho pursed his lips in thought.
"Then what's wrong?" Jeongin urged, eager to hear what was truly wrong.
"-died! It's not fair! They were my favourite and they were so kind and-" you whimpered tearfully, already having flashbacks of the final episode you and just watched.
"It's because of a show?!" Felix rose his eyebrows in surprise, leaning back to try and see your whole face.
"Really?" Seungmin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"It's not just a show!!!" you wailed louder, tail swishing now as you felt a mix of sadness and annoyance.
"Ok it's not just a show, we know that, chill, kitty," Jisung patted your head but Minho nudged him warningly, knowing you didn't like that nickname.
"Ji-" you huffed.
"But it's definitely not because of the suppressants, right?" Changbin cut you off, which was annoying at first, having being interrupted twice in a row, yet you were appreciative of the change in topic.
"No, no, I don't care about taking them. I'm fine with that," you took a deep breath and wiped your remaining tears away, "I just might need 2-3 business days to recover."
Heyo! Am here to make you think abt ur scarian superhero au, cuz it sounds really fun!
I assume there's superpowers in the universe, but does scar have any? It seemed like he only used the gadget cub made him. What about Grian?
Also, Grian works to convince people that scar is hotguy through youtube essays, right? Is that all he would upload?
And last of all- cumbo???
HELLO! HELLO! HELLO! HELLO! HELLO! HELLO! HELLO!
first and foremost - i'm going to use you (and this ask) as a bit of a sounding board, if you don't mind! i tend to process best externally, and the more i yap with friends and fellows here on tumblr about this au, the more it's going to expand and grow and solidify. nothing i say here will necessarily be canon, more just...collective brainstorming!
that being said...i don't know that...there actually are going to be superpowers in this universe. this is subject to change but at the moment...i'm rather vibing with the idea of everything being technologically based. maybe some people have certain skills that are enhanced with the use of science and tech, but nobody necessarily has or is born with superpowers/mutations/etc. i think that perhaps scar was someone who was maybe just really athletic - or really talented with a bow - and was "scouted" based on that. ultimately though, i'm not sure! that's one of the main things that i need to work out before actually digging into the writing bit - this au didn't exist until like, two days ago, so i'm still figuring out the general worldbuilding :D however, i do know that grian is not going to start out as a hero or "enhanced individual". he might become one at some point in the narrative, but...that's also up in the air at the moment. smiles.
i think grian started doing video essays as a hobby to practice his editing skills (i think for a brief period, he considered going into video editing as a career, then switched to just plain old editing) but was too invested (stubborn) to give his essays up. i reckon that he started with doing video essays about various media (movies, shows, etc), then stumbled across scar's channel and immediately became borderline hyper-fixed on the (obvious!) similarities between himself and the city's hero, hotguy, and...well...it's all downhill from there!
oh, but of course! live laugh love cumbo. those bitches always gotta haunt the narrative
I've been slowly receiving critical, entitled, and passive-aggressive messages about the way I've been writing my comic! I wanted to address this behavior.
That being said, the majority of my readers have been nothing but positive! And when they spot a problem, they're kind about it. I really appreciate this; thank you to those who choose to be civil.
I'm making this post to address some issues, complaints, and questions I've seen. Let's take a look & see what we can discuss!
READ MORE UNDER THE CUT!
🦈-> I want you to use my character in your comic, but you're not using them! Sometimes, a character doesn't quite fit my vision for the comic-- even when they're designs that I love! I really do try to use as many people's characters as possible. I think it adds to the world & makes the comic feel more full of life! But I can't accommodate everyone's desires.
🐟->You're using my character in your comic, but you're not giving them enough screen time! Similar to the above issue, sometimes I don't think focusing on a particular character for any longer will serve the story well. Ultimately, I have final say on what happens in the comic. My advice is, if you feel your character isn't appearing enough, make your own content! Draw, write, craft, etc like I mention farther down below!
🐠->You said you were going to use my diplomat/character(s), but you only drew them in 1-2 panels. Why aren't you using them more? Similar to the points above! I was never planning on going into a TON of depth with the diplomats-- the comic focus also drastically changed, as I mention below.
🐡->You're using characters in the story that I don't like! Ahh that is too bad, but! In that case, you can always take a break from the comic & come back later to check if the characters are no longer being used, or maybe stop reading the comic altogether.
However! If you have concerns with how the character is portrayed because of legitimate sexual/violence/illicit/illegal issues, then that's another issue entirely and you should let me know.
🪼->I thought this story was about rescuing Kenne, but now she's not even in the comic! I don't like the way this story is going! This is a big issue some people are having and I completely understand. There's been a lot of things going on behind the scenes that I haven't explained, which must be generating a lot of confusion.
Originally, @kenneduck and I were collaborating closely on this comic. Recently, the dynamic shifted, and we're now working on the comic separately. @kenneduck is now responsible for the part of the story that heavily features her characters, i.e. Princess Kenne's perspective of the rescue, her rescue effort, and what's happening in the Domain of the Luminous trench.
I am now working on a different angle of the story-- the diplomatic efforts of Zora's Domain in their attempt to negotiate for Princess Kenne's return. So, the story is still the same... the focuses have just changed and split!
🦑->You reblogged my fan art and/or linked it in your comic directory-- does that make my content canon? Oooh, this is actually kind of a tough one! Normally, if something is in the comic directory, I consider it to be canon to the story. So, if you've drawn something, and I add it to my directory for a comic chapter, I'll consider it to have happened in real time.
THERE'S AN EXCEPTION! And it may be confusing, so I'm genuinely sorry! If you have drawn something where you are heavily modifying someone else's character--this means cosmetic changes, giving the character children/spouses/family, killing the character, altering their personality-- WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION, then I cannot accept that as canon.
It's still fantastic that you drew/wrote/created something and I will probably put it in the MISCELLANEOUS section of the comic directory. I'VE MADE MISTAKES ON THIS! So, I've since updated the directory. And, sorry for all confusion on this issue! If you've made something & intended it to be canon, let's talk about it!
🐳->I want to collaborate with you on your comic, can I do that? That's awesome! Maybe in the future, but right now I'm not taking on any more partners. Maybe you can make your own separate additions, with your character(s) like I mention below!
🐙>I want to make fan art, can I do that? You absolutely can. Go for it. This was originally meant to be a very interactive comic, so draw/write/create away!!!
🦀->I want to draw my character(s) doing something in the world of your comic, can I do that? You absolutely can. Go for it! Like I mentioned above, however, I may or may not deem it canon to the events of the comic. But even if I don't, I'll add it to the MISCELLANEOUS section of my comic directory! ...as long as you don't alterate someone's character without permission! If you've made something & intended it to be canon, let's talk about it!
🐬->I want to make a character based on a Domain you created/idea you drew/etc., can I do that? Of course! Go for it. I love seeing what people make!
I know this is a lot of text, but it's better to be comprehensive! Please, keep in mind, I'm just one hobby artist making a comic for fun, with the spirit of interactivity and collaboration in mind. But it's impossible to keep that spirit going when people feel entitled and demand things of me that I am not obligated to give.
I queue out my pages several weeks in advance with the help of the people I'm working with, so what you see in the comic is the product of a lot of thought and work. You're getting something for free here, y'all. It ain't so serious!!!!
Anyways, thanks for reading this! And for reading the comic! Peace out ✌️
Some of Louis’ choices in the finale do make me raise my eyebrows a little bit at him. He's got all the right to be pissed at Armand, no question. But why does this automatically redeem Lestat in his eyes? OK, sure, Lestat saves him - that's new information to him, but...First, this doesn't change anything about Lestat's part in Claudia's death (which is what he primarily confronted him about in the tower) nor the fact that Lestat willingly participated in the trial. Nor does it change the fact that Armand saved him from being starved to death. Technically, they both saved Louis, but at different points and in different ways. (If Armand really wanted him dead, he could have just left him in the wall or could have warned the coven about Louis’ plan to destroy/attack them, etc. And even though he lied about the proportion of his role, Armand had already admitted to knowing that the coven was planning to kill Louis and Claudia. And…Louis makes the choice to warn Armand to not be at the theater before he gets the “full” story of how much Armand knew/participated. At that point, all Louis “knew” was that Armand had saved him, which…wasn’t even technically a lie in and of itself, just, again the degree of things.)
So, what really changes re: Armand and Lestat in the final reveal? For Armand: he participated in the trial more actively and in saving Louis less than originally supposed. For Lestat: he participated in saving Louis, whereas initially Louis thought he hadn’t. So ultimately…both Armand and Lestat actively participate in the trial and then both participate in saving Louis. (Granted, Armand lies more in the process. But on the other hand – Armand can’t really be expected to care about Claudia and Lestat can; Armand had attachments and commitments to the coven and Lestat didn’t…) If Louis had just walked away from Armand as well, that’s fair enough. But how does Lestat suddenly warrant a reconciliation (and apology??) when a similar level of participation in this whole debacle warrants Armand – Louis’ partner for decades, whom he had supposedly forgiven for the worst of what happened in Paris, who has stuck with him through various self-destructive behavior trying to fix what he'd broken – an immediate break up (with some physical violence to boot) with no questions asked? (And he has to be at least somewhat over it if he hasn’t bothered to hunt down Sam despite them knowing all about where he is and what he’s up to these days.)
Speaking of questions for Louis, here’s one. So, Armand claims that the coven “improvised” a death sentence from the word banishment. He says this in the context of claiming that he saved Louis by mind controlling the crowd into sentencing Louis to banishment instead of death. But what if…it’s not true that the coven “improvised”? Perhaps “banishment” has a double meaning or gets used as a euphemism for those sentenced to die of starvation in the wall or just who get buried in those crypts after committing crimes. I’m not saying, btw, that this is indeed so, but we don’t actually have evidence that it isn’t. Satiago getting flustered at first indicates that this isn’t a formal way to refer to this kind of punishment/sentencing at least, but when he tells the coven to “tuck him in nice and tight” everyone know exactly what he means, so there’s a basis to assume the possibility of some common understanding of banishment = getting shoved into the wall, alive or not, whether slang, euphemism or similar. So, let’s for a second assume this is true.
Armand wouldn’t admit this context to Louis while he’s lying about saving him at the trial, because it takes away from Armand’s role as his savior, so if he’s going to lie about mind controlling the crowd, he has to lie/bend the truth about how much the coven needed to improvise to arrange for a death sentence regardless. It also makes sense then that Armand might not have taken this road to trying to save Louis, in fear/knowledge that it would/could just come out worse.
So, what of Lestat? Lestat knows the rules, conventions, and language customs around the coven because, well, he founded/was part of it. So if “banishment” could be easily interpreted as “banishment to starve in the wall,” then Lestat would know that or could be expected to. Yet, this is the punishment he chose when he could have mind controlled the crowd into saying anything. Hell, why didn’t he mind control them into saying “not guilty?” Would have solved a lot of issues, yk? Would this make Lestat kinda extra vengeful/sadistic? Sure, but…he did just willingly participate as the star witness in a trial to burn Louis and their “daughter” to death. Is this really sooo out of character from what Louis knows or thinks he knows about Lestat at that point in time? Like, not even to question Daniel’s suggestion that Lestat saved him – even though, the script is not actually evidence of that, just that Armand might have had a more extensive role in the play? (And…he could have still been under duress to direct it as much as he would have been to just not tell Louis about it. But Louis doesn’t ask about/consider this either.)
I’m not saying that’s how it went, mind. The reunion scene with Lestat makes it pretty clear that Lestat had in fact wanted to save Louis. But Louis can’t/doesn’t know this, certainly not prior to the reunion scene. Did Lestat actually save him? Is there any other context he might be missing? This is just a theory Daniel has after all. Does Claudia’s death no longer matter then? Doesn’t this just mean that both Lestat and Armand belatedly tried to save him? He’s obviously shocked and not thinking straight – I’m not saying this to bash him or anything (and leaving Armand would have been a justified reaction regardless, just for the lying). But it’s kinda crazy to me that Louis is apparently so eager to believe the worst of Armand and find any reason possible to forgive Lestat at the drop of a hat.
I don’t really have a point here. Just…need to throw thoughts into the void because the show melted my brain a bit. Forgive me, etc. I do love/enjoy all these characters.
I know it’s popular and I know it’s a motif that zutarians love but realistically
Zuko and Katara are not tui and la there is nothing push and pull about them. They have the exact same personality zuko’s just a bit angrier and katara’s more sarcastic but that’s more socialization. Even their functions with the story doesn’t support the push and pull. And honestly if any character relationship embodies tui and la it’s Aang and Zuko.
The foundation of their relationship is that they are Yin and Yang. Zuko and Aang spend the entire seasons locked in a push and pull relationship both emotionally and literally. (Emotionally Aang pulls zuko pushes, physically zuko pulls (trying to capture, Zuko is more a close range fighter), Aang pushes (getting away most defensive air bending is literally pushing people away)
Life and Death - Air is literally life you cannot survive without breathing and you need air to breathe. It is literally called the breath of life. In the past 100 years fire has become so synonymous with destruction and death people hate you on principle for being a fire bender. Even Zuko believed that fire bending was a tool for destruction to be used in anger. Also air can either fan or snuff out the flame, balance has to be reached to
Good and Evil - Aang by virtue of being the avatar is the “ultimate good” he also embodies a more child like innocence and his whole arc is figuring out a way to strike a balance between that innocence and duty meanwhile the Fire nation are the big bars and Suko is the face of that for a long time. He represents the darker side of child hood abuse and his entire arc is trying to regain some of that innocence back.
And I don’t even need to go into the yin and Yang you see the poem you get the metaphors.
But yeah Aang and Zuko are as tui and la as it gets which honestly it’s very specifically a water bending thing so the comparisons aren’t complete so take everything with a pinch of salt. And honestly tui and la is actually a wonderful metaphor for the physical flow of water bending because even just watching them you can see the push and pull.
But yeah Aang and zuko’s relationship to each other doesn’t get enough credit in fandom and Zuko and Katara’s is often forced into boxes it doesn’t quite fit.
They aren’t quite opposites attract the only opposite thing about them is fire and ice they are actually pretty similar, like their colors they are just hotter or cooler versions of the same personality. On similar ends on the sliding scale of temperament. And honestly I think that’s what makes them so fun!
If anything Zuko and Katara are two sides of the same coin. Similar in disposition different in socialization. It’s why the water siblings and the fire siblings mirror each other so well. Personality wise zuko is katara Azula is sokka if the conditions they grew up with were more extreme. (Obviously they have their differences) but even their principle relationships with their parents are similar. Zuko and Katara with their moms and Azula and Sokka with their fathers. (Again obviously the two parental situations are nothing alike just how they function with each child’s story is similar)
[OLD ART ALERT] A COLLECTION OF SCENES FROM THE GILLIONS CATSCRATCH ARC THAT BROUGHT ME GREAT JOY. i love fishy chips especially when its just gillion being delirious and violent and hostile
I heard that Edward IV and Elizabeth Widvile were known to be very beautiful. Were there any reports on their appearance at the time?
anon 😂
But yes, contemporaries and post contemporaries in the 16th century were pretty much unanimous in praising their appearance. I'll list some of the ones I could find:
Elizabeth:
'The most beautiful woman in England' ('la plus belle fille d'Engleterre') - Jean de Waurin
'Her very great beauty' ('sa tres grande beaute') - Jean de Waurin
"Her beauty of person and charm of manner" - Dominic Mancini
"None of such constant womanhood, wisdom and beauty" - Hearne's Fragment; its author was one of Edward IV's servants
"A daughter of prodigious beauty' - 1469 Continuator of Monstrelet's Chronicle
"Both faire, of a good favor, moderate of stature, well made and very wise" - Thomas More
Edward IV:
"The beauty of your personage it hath pleased Almighty God to send you" - James Strangways, Speaker of the Commons in Parliament
"The king is a handsome upstanding man" - Gabriel Tretzel, travels of Leo of Rozmital
"A handsome prince and had style" - Oliver De La Marche
"In the flower of his age, tall of stature, elegant of person" - Croyland Chronicle
"One of the handsomest knights of his kingdom" - 1469 Continuator of Monstrelet's Chronicle
"A handsome and worthy prince" - Pietro Alipranto
‘...Tall and strapping as the king’ - John Paston, Paston Letters
"He was young and more handsome than any man then alive" - Philippe de Commynes
"A man so vigorous and handsome that he might have been made for the pleasures of the flesh" - Philippe de Commynes
"The handsomest prince my eyes ever beheld" and "I don't remember ever having seen a man more handsome than he was" - Philippe de Commynes
"A very handsome prince" - Louis XI, from the Memoirs of Commynes
"He being a person of most elegant appearance, and remarkable beyond all others for the attractions of his person" - the Croyland Chronicle, referencing Edward a few months before he died
"He seized any opportunity that the occasion offered of revealing his fine stature more protractedly and more evidently to onlookers" - Dominic Mancini, writing shortly after his death
"He was a goodly personage and very princely to behold...of visage lovely, of body mighty, strong and cleanly made; howbeit in his latter days, with an over liberal diet, somewhat corpulent, but nevertheless noy uncomely" - Thomas More
Etc.
I'm tagging @edwardslovelyelizabeth because I think you got a similar ask?
I hope this answers your question, anon! I don't generally pay a lot of attention to the physical appearance of historical figures (I find it pretty irrelevant), but in this case, it ultimately does play a role in both Edward IV and Elizabeth's historiographies for better and for worse, and seems to have actually been a personal prop of Edward's kingship, so I don't mind discussing it :)
Patti Smith wasn't butch, but she was definitely macho, albeit in a kind of goofy way--consciously overstated tough guy. It was. a redolent punk pose that came naturally to her, as well it should have: she helped invent it.
She sings like a woman, dresses like a boy, fronts a band of all-male pals and covers not only Lou and Mick but Pete, and when she does Van she doesn't even switch the gender, chanting, "I'm gonna make her mine make her mine make her mine make her mine!" as if that were the most natural thing in the world.
Now, it wasn't like women had never worn unisex hair or little black vests before. What this skinny weirdo offered wasn't androgyny per se but a new use for it: to cut a niche in the music that was neither sexual invitation nor sexual confrontation, like, "Hi! I'm Patti Smith. I'm going to be charismatic. But not sexually charismatic! That way we can be friends."
from Trouble Girls: The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock, 1997
Do you think the 1 was inspired by harry styles? It fit their relationship perfectly.
We were something//i swear it was something , roaring 20s : they were on off in her 20s , we never painted by the numbers : the had a 'situationship' that wasn't by the rules, if my wishes came true// i wish you would , if one thing had been different//Did you wish you'd put up more of a fight, oh
When she said it was too much? Considering folkmore is somewhat personal and midnight rain guy shows up in ttds is it a stretch?
okay so i am hesitant to say the 1 is about a single particular person, but i've seen a lot of people draw these parallels and i don't think it's entirely out of the question (...pun not intended!) that there are similarities there. i think a big part of it is in, "and if you wanted me, you really should've showed" which is a residual feeling all over 1989, along with "did you leave her house in the middle of the night?," then "if you never bleed, you're never gonna grow" which is kind of...a mild criticism when read a particular way, similarly to "did you wish you put up more of a fight?," "and it's alright now" is a softer version of "i'm sure that's what's suitable, and right." "in my defense, i have none, for never leaving well enough alone" is interesting too, in light of excavating unfinished/unanswered questions (digging up the grave another time), and the wistfulness of, "it would've been fun," because that sense of longing to be in carefree, roaring 20s love isn't as much of a feature in the other past big impact relationships. it may be a case where it's a mixture of inspirations, like illicit affairs and a lot of other songs on folkmore, but i definitely get why it conjures up some ties to him and that situation specifically.
I've been watching the track events at the Olympics since I was a wee lad. It was a tradition in our family. We'd gather around our ancient low-definition 19 inch CRT television and watch tiny blobs compete against other tiny blobs and root for our country.
It was a bit like watching YouTube on your phone in 144p.
Several heroes emerged.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee was amazing.
You can't forget about Flo-Jo.
And then the Olympics decided NBA players were allowed in the competition.
Which formed... The Dream Team.
Was this fair?
Well... they won each game by an average of 44 points.
So... no. It was not fair.
Though it became more fair as time went on.
But, umm... yeah. The other teams looked like the Washington Generals and the US looked like the Harlem Globetrotters if they stopped screwing around half of the game.
But my absolute favorite Olympian was a runner named Michael Johnson.
He was cool as heck.
For one thing... gold shoes.
But he also had this crazy, upright, Tom Cruise-ish sprinting style that just made him look like a running robot on the track.
And in the 1996 Atlanta games he just trounced EVERYONE. I mean, it wasn't even close.
Yikes. Those losing blobs are probably really embarrassed.
Last night I decided to invigorate my nostalgia and watch the track events again. And I got to see one of the wildest races in history.
It didn't even last 10 seconds but it was one of the most exciting sporting events I've ever witnessed. Almost every runner won the race.
After I saw that initially, I was like... who the heck won???
Even in slow motion I wasn't sure.
This was one of the closest finishes in history. There has never been a race where all 8 runners were within this margin.
The arena was silent as the winner was being confirmed. The runners just kind of paced around waiting for official word. My best guess was the Jamaican runner, Kishane Thompson. But then the loudspeaker announced Noah Lyles.
The last tiny morsel of American pride burst out of me with a big "Wooooo!"
I forgot what it was like to be proud of my country. I wish it happened more often. But this young man, despite being last place in the first 3rd of the race, turned on the afterburners and won in a photo finish.
And that's when my inner nerd took over.
Because when they showed the photo finish image, it looked super weird.
Why is the track white?
Why do all of the runners look all warpy like that QWOP game?
So I went down a research rabbit hole to figure this out.
Photo finishes are actually fascinating. The first photo finish captured the end of a horse race in 1890. But that was mostly luck and timing. The actual photo finish mechanisms weren't used until 1937.
Originally they would film the finish line through a physical slit.
And the first horsie head that appeared in that slit would be the winner. This technology ended a huge aspect of corruption in horse race fixing almost overnight.
But we have come a long way since then. And I'd like to introduce you to the Omega Scan 'O' Vision Ultimate.
This slow motion camera sits fixed on the finish line of every race. The concept of the photo finish has remained remarkably similar to the 1930s approach. The camera sensor is specially designed to only record a vertical slit.
Only the finish line itself is actually captured.
And because it limits what it records to only that slit, it can capture 40,000 frames per second to get amazing temporal resolution.
So why don't the photo finishes just look like, well... this?
That is because the camera takes a picture of time more-so than dimensional space. I guess it would be more accurate to say it *assembles* a picture of time.
As the runners cross the finish line, the camera combines all of the little strips of pictures into a single image.
It's almost like if you tried to reassemble a piece of paper after it had been shredded.
Imagine each strip of paper is a picture of ONLY the finish line, just at a slightly different point in time.
What if someone stopped on the finish line and didn't move... what would that look like?
Once they got there, the same part of their body would just be repeated.
So the right side of the photo finish picture represents earlier in time and it just assembles the image strip by strip as time passes and you literally get a picture of time itself.
NEAT!
Okay, but how do they determine the winner from the photo finish?
I mean, that shoe looks like it is ahead of Noah Lyles!
Clavicles!
The IAFF rules state the foremost part of the torso must cross the finish line first. And the endpoint of the torso is the outer end of the clavicle.
So if you get this bone across the finish line first, you win the race.
Two more fun facts!
The start of the race is actually just as carefully timed as the end of the race. There are sensors in the starting blocks of each runner.
The starting gun also has an electronic sensor.
They have determined the fastest a human can react to the sound of a gun is roughly 100 milliseconds. So if you start running before 100 milliseconds they know you didn't actually hear the gun, you just got antsy and started running too early.
And the final fun fact...
Did you notice the Omega logo at the top of the photo finish?
That isn't superimposed or added after the fact. That is captured by the camera.
But if this image is composed only of tiny little slivers, how did they get the Omega logo to show up?
That is a little display. And it is synchronized with the Scan 'O' Vision Ultimate to show a little sliver of the Omega logo for each frame captured.
So when the final image is stitched together, it looks like a cohesive logo at the top of the photo.
What I'm Made Of (Sonic Heroes OST) 🤝 With Me (Sonic and the Black Knight OST):
Final boss songs who's lyrics apply almost just as much to Sonic as they do to the villain he's facing