#i will just incorporate the braid style hairstyle because i really love it

[ryllen]

Sebek & Yuu's teenage child . [insp] .

[shellomantic]

KIRIMA DESIGN !! my first out of a series where i design characters that hasnt gotten a canon design from rise of kyoshi. (shadow of kyoshi will be done later. theres a lot to unpack) i'll be doing lek after this!

Kirima's design notes / headcanons:

if daofei bad why pretty

her only indication really is the "wolf like fetures" and the earth kingodm tunic things,, there arent many official leads on how she looks like SO i implied a bunch of my own headcanons here

first of all, her hair. i love the idea of wolfcut kirima, but i just know that wolfcuts especially long ones aren't very practical in battle so i made her have wolfcut bangs + a braid.

now why does she have a braid? she has water tribe ancestry, spesifically from southern water tribe's wolf cove (where katara and sokka are from) however she's not 100% water tribe, i'd say around 25-50%

i headcanon when she was young, the water tribe side of her family would teach her things about their culture, mostly the hair and the fighting style. Her parents are probably also criminals, thats why she became a daofei, even after going off-contact from her blood relatives and joining jesa and hark, she still kept the hairstyle and accepted her heritage to be a part of herself.

The face paint is slightly inspired by Sokka's though i couldnt incorporate that too much because it doesnt work well in red

i dont know why i gave her blue eyeliner, it really gives her the menacing vibe to contrast her elegant teasing-ish personality, also she is a criminal so she has to apphear scary.

she definitely has siren eyes.

she is known to have a presice bending style. precision over power type of thing, her fighting style looks a lot more "sharp" and agile compared to the typical flowy movements of a waterbender

[jtkys]

hobie brown and opposite reader who likes pink and everything pink :) hcs or a scenario would be perf

𝐘𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐒!! 𝐢’𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟 <𝟑𝟑

✩☆ 𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍/𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐏𝐔𝐍𝐊 𝐗 𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐊-𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆!𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 ☆✩

𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐜𝐬 ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

★ 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰...

• your styles clash completely, and it’s PERFECT. PERFECT I TELL YOU!!

• I feel like with a s/o, Hobie wouldn’t want someone TOO similar to him. He wouldn’t prefer a copy and paste of himself, and I think he’s go for someone outside his comfort zone.

• (although i feel like he doesn’t pick. He just falls in love with someone and then is like “oh shit.” I don’t really hc he “has a type” he just.. falls for someone.)

• he loves your style. Completely.

• the colours and different vibes took him a minute to adjust to, especially when he walked into your room for the first time, but he grows to love it.

• he finds it sosoSOOO cute. He’ll find a way to incorporate little accessories of yours into his style, and you’ll do the same!!

• yes. He will let you put hello kitty stickers on his guitar. And he will have no regrets.

• goes out of his way you buy steal little items he think you’d like from different dimensions or big companies (he only steals from big companies, never family run businesses. He told me himself) that he think you’d like

• gives you one of his jackets to wear sometimes, it amuses him to see you wearing cute, pink, frilly and dainty clothes only to be wearing a heavy, leather battle jacket with patches and pins all over it on the top.

• probably doesn’t fully vibe with your type of music, but he likes SOME of the songs.

• will be more than happy to style your hair. If you have straighter/wavier hair he’ll do plaits, half up-half down, ponytails, etc. if you’re black and have more curlier/Afro type hair, he’ll try out different hairstyles with you (his personal favourites for you being jade braids and butterfly locs. He loves spending hours doing jade braids especially because he can put different baby pink, light purple and soft blue extensions and some accessories if u allow him to!!)

• the aesthetic of everything calms him, the soft scent of your perfume that smells like roses and morning breeze, the cute skincare and the skirts and high stockings, it’s all very different and relaxing for him.

• out in public, you two as a duo are certainly a sight to behold- polar opposites, arm in arm OR one of his arms around your shoulder.

• in conclusion, he loves you, your style and all the silly things that come with it more than anything else in the world.

𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐤. 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲/𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐲𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞!! (づ￣ ³￣)づ

[cooking-with-hailstones]

One day they will make a 3D Zelda with hair that doesn't mildly bug me.

I love Zelda, I love so many aspects of her character designs. She's such a cool character. But her hair consistently breaks my immersion in a way that many other characters just don't, so I am compiling a silly little list.

My credentials for this are the fact that I am a person with long hair who dabbles in hairstyling and I like doing my hair with braids and ribbons. I am also in theater, and purveyor of historical hairstyles.

This is a very unserious and rambling rant, so please bear with me! No shade and no harm meant. This is me having fun.

Alright, down to business.

CATEGORY 1: NO BUT SERIOUSLY, HOW THICK IS YOUR HAIR? OFFENDERS: BOTW/TOTK Zelda

That is a thicccc braid she's got there, but she simultaneously has long flowing hair (botw) that would need to be incorporated into the braid, OR her hair is shoulder length (totk) and you cannot physically make a braid that looks like that with hair that short. ALSO, the braid is very thick, starting from the crown of the head, while not incorporating any hair around it?

It looks like a fake braid headband (which is, I believe, what most cosplayers end up using). If you reeeally wanted to give her a headband, you could use a circlet or a ribbon.

Which brings me to...

CATEGORY 2: PHYSICS DEFYING RIBBONS OFFENDERS: SS Zelda and TP Zelda

I really do not understand this design choice at all. Ribbons are used to style hair in the real world all the time, but the only way I can conceivably see these ribbons staying in her hair is if they're made of velcro, or they're sticky. Either way, sounds painful. (Cosplayers how do you pull this off? I'm assuming glue?) Now, hair wrapping using string, ribbon or fabric is a common practice in many parts of the world, but you need strong tension, a full wrap around the hair, and these wraps usually begin at the scalp. An artist friend said that this was likely a way of getting around having to render braids. Which, fine, I am not an artist, but then why not just have those two locks of hair falling forward like normal? All you need to do is delete the ribbons. And if you insist on having that splash of colour, maybe you could give her some earrings or something?

CATEGORY 3: THE DE-BUTCHIFICATION OFFENDERS: OOT Zelda, Tetra

So I have no issues with the respective hair of any of these characters. My qualm is the immediacy of the transition, and the resulting sudden new length. Because I guess Zelda has to be super femme and that means she has to have long flowing locks when she transforms out of her pirate outfit/masculine sheikah disguise, so no more short hair for you! (Also, you can't be cute and femme and have melanin, apparently?? But that's a whole other issue...)

(And despite my beef with the overly chonky braids, I must give kudos to totk Zelda for righting this injustice. #shorthairzeldarights)

HONOURABLE MENTION: I REFUSE TO BELIEVE YOU CAN FIGHT IN THESE CONDITIONS OFFENDER: AOC Impa

I just had to include this, because I otherwise love the design for Impa in AOC, but the way I feel about this hair is similar to how most of tumblr feels about boob plate armor. You mean to tell me that this highly trained, stealth and combat expert fighter would wear her hair this long and this loose, when she is often in melee situations where someone grabbing and pulling your hair could absolutely be deadly?? Nah. (She also suffers from the same "how is your hair so thicccc??" issue as AoC/BotW Zelda)

Anyways that concludes my very silly rant. I will again add the disclaimer that I know dick all about character design, I just know how to style my thigh length hair with ribbons and braids. If you disagree, or you have any that I missed, I welcome your thoughts!

[doomh3ad]

slashers + playing with their hair/them playing with your hair.

[including michael myers, brahms heelshire, baby firefly, doomhead]

*please correct me if anything is inaccurate, as i don't know what it's like having all hair types! everything is sfw.*

Michael Myers (Halloween)

Playing with your hair

-loves if you have more textured hair. with your permission, he will gently twist curls around his fingers, making sure not to mess it up if you've got it styled. loves box braids especially, running his hands over them and lifting individual braids up so he can admire them.

-if you hair is less curly or rather fine, he'll pick out individual strands and maybe braid or twist them together.

-he loves seeing your hair in sunlight. especially if it's so dark it may appear black, but the sun shows the brown or lighter parts. light hair in the sun also shines in a way michael adores.

Playing with his hair

-if he's comfortable enough to take off his mask, his hair is fair game, just as long as you make sure he's in the right mood to be touched.

-you'll see a rare vulnerability when you play with his hair, perched on his lap for hours [he's super strong, it literally would not hurt or annoy him at all!], carding your fingers through his hair as he stares into your eyes. the eye contact may get slightly creepy, but michael means well; he's trying to convey that he trusts you, he loves you, he's grateful for you.

Brahms Heelshire

Playing with your hair

-ok so to be honest, it'll probably be rare he does this. while he loves your hair, he's slightly intimidated at the thought of him messing it up and you getting mad at him. but i feel like brahms would love to brush or comb your hair for you, and he'd be pretty good at doing hairstyles if you teach him!

-if you've got natural kinky, 4c hair, he'd be pretty good at using the pick to style a perfect afro. if you straighten it, he's so amazed seeing its actual length, as he's not used to the shrinkage. curious about protective hairstyles, or if you wear a silk or satin cap to bed he'll ask you about it.

-he's fascinated at all the different products you may use for your hair. loves different scented shampoos and conditioners, especially apple or strawberry scents!

Playing with his hair

-likes it a lot, it calms him. when he's feeling stressed, he'll just wordlessly lay his head in your lap and only start talking to you while you mess with his curls. baby boy is so sweet during this time <3

Baby Firefly

Playing with your hair

-she loves it so much! always happy to give you attention, but it also relaxes her. baby is very energetic and this is one of the few opportunities where you'll get to see her quiet and calm. will likely incorporate it into your bedtime routine.

-baby will run her hand over your hair, whispering gentle words of affirmation to you. you'll see that her love can be quiet, too. although she'll adore and endlessly praise any complicated style you may choose for your hair, baby most loves your natural hair in whatever form, because it's the most you.

Playing with her hair

-PLEASE play with her hair. please. she'll love you so much. one of baby's favourite things about herself is the blonde curls that fall to her waist, just tempting you to reach out and test if they're as soft as they look.

-she'll lay her head in your lap and smile up at you sleepily, letting you work your magic on her hair. really likes if you style or braid her hair too! baby's always looking for new hairstyles and will proudly show off whatever look you've given her!

Doomhead

Playing with your hair

-he struggles with clear mental health issues, he's prone to violent fits of rage and playing with your hair is one of the few things that can calm him down almost instantly. it's the closeness and intimacy, stroking his hand over your hair while he holds you in his arms.

Playing with his hair

-if you catch him in a quiet moment, he'll be affectionate like he's never been before. when you're running your hands through his fine hair, he can close his eyes and whisper how much he loves you, even if he doesn't tell you that often. his walls are down, he isn't as guarded and you can see that he's at peace.

[slutisnotabadword]

I’m currently writing a Bamon fic that basically reimagines TVD, starting with them starting college and with Bonnie as the protagonist. And like I have SO many headcanons I’m gonna incorporate. A lot of them comes from the show but just elevated.

1. Bonnie

My lovely, mistreated Bonnie… boy do I have ideas for you. First of all, she’s going to have some good ass hairstyles. BLACK GIRL hairstyles. I think Bonnie loves to wear curly ponytails with decorated scarves, or like some long knotless braids. AHHH I have some ideas for her hair. But speaking of style, Bonnie loves the bohemian aesthetic. So, air of half tops, waist beads, long skirts, etc (go on Pinterest and type “bohemian black girl, and you’d see what I’m talking about). She wears alot of brown, green, beige and like golden colors. She wears red when she’s feeling spicy. Bonnie is also into candles, HEAVILY, and crystals. She’s not religious but spiritual. And for college, she’s majoring in dance and minoring in occult studies. Her favorite genre of dance is contemporary. And her favorite breakfast is cereal, and she’s most likely a vegetarian. Also I wanna change her background a bit. She actually grew up being raised by her mother and her grandmother. Her father left because he couldn’t or wouldn’t handle with their witch ancestry, when he found out.

2. Damon

Damon’s bisexual. That’s it, that’s the quote. But no seriously, I firmly believe that he is, and I stand by that. And also in my fic, Damon has this kind of… “punk rocker” aesthetic going. Imagine eyeliner, leather jackets with pins, ripped jeans, black and red color pallete. With that being said, he has a SICK fashion sense. He paints his own fingernails, mainly the color black. Another big thing about Damon is that he LOVES music. He is a music fanatic. He adores all the genres and can see the beauty in all of them, and he collects records. He also loves to play various of instruments. He has mastered the piano, the guitar, the violin and the trumpet and other shit too, and he loves to sing but he never sings infront of people. He loves to cook. Whenever he’s frustrated or gets startled, he swears in Italian. And speaking of Italian, Damon and Stefan’s were born in like the late 1400s or the early 1500s in Florence, Italy. And their family portrait was actually painted by the famous painter, Caravaggio. Damon didn’t come to America till the 1920s as he began to admire the American people’s party era.

3. Elena

She actually stays pretty much the same. However, Elena really likes Britney Spears so a lot of her outfits are inspired by her. She wears alot of dark colors, but you will see her in a pink matching tracksuit and a baby blue cropped top. Elena kind of takes every moment to show her belly button. Oh, and she loves cropped jackets. Veryyyyy Y2K going on here. Elena is trynna become a doctor but she’s also minoring in writing.

4. Caroline

I gotta be honest, I have no notes for Caroline cause I think her character in the show was written perfectly enough to be memorable and entertaining. However I think her aesthetic could be boosted up a notch to rest for her image. Caroline wears a lot of bubbly colors. Very bright but also soft color palette, so imagine a lot of soft pinks, blues, whites. She loves to wear plaid skirts and cardigans and sweaters. She’s trying to be a lawyer, which I fully expect from her. Think of Elle Woods without the hot pink.

5. Stefan

Stefan is good ol’ Stefan (except in my head, the version that I like). He’s very athletic, he gives very much sensitive gym bro. And he’s actually kind of passionate about all sports, and watches them regularly. That being said, he also loves writing, specifically poetry. So therefore he’s majoring in writing. Stefan first came to America, following his brother in the 20s. They were trying to make up with each other, and as Damon was trying to teach him how to feed as a normal vampire, it caused Stefan to be the ripper of something something. Basically in the show but different timelines. Oh and Stefan wears the color red and blue a lot, kind of patriotic of him lmao.

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

Analyzing Marinette’s hairstyles

So, I’ve actually seen a bunch of different posts and takes of what Marinette’s hairstyles represent and symbolize especially in regard to the episode “Heart Hunter”, but I wanted to go through all the different styles of hair instead of solely focusing on the pigtails/hair down of that particular episode.

With that being said, in no particular order, here we go:

The Bun

This hairstyle is almost exclusively seen in the episode “Animaestro”. However if you’re paying close attention, you will see Marinette wearing this hairstyle, in the old class picture, featured in “Reflekta”. I find the fact that the show made this connection between these two (scenes? examples?) incredibly interesting and very telling. Putting the class picture aside for a moment, one must analyze Marinette’s behavior in the episode “Animaestro”. To be sure, it isn’t great. For the most part, Marinette acts foolishly and immaturely and her actions in this episode, indirectly lead to the akumatization. Marinette, in her jealous state, goes so far as to join up with Chloe (a person she despises), and attempt childish pranks on Kagami. In short, I think that the bun hairstyle symbolizes a sort of immaturity for Marinette. The fact that she wore this hairstyle when she was younger only goes to prove my point. Marinette is not a perfect character, but her actions in “Animaestro” are arguably some of her worst, and naturally when she has hit a low in her maturity level, she reverts back to a hairstyle of her youth.

The Braid

The braid can be easily shoved aside as not holding any symbolism, as just a way the design team chose to incorporate the tail in her costume. However, there were a number of ways the tail could have been incorporated into the Ladynoir costume, and as such the braid must be analyzed. Now, a braid can be considered an almost restricting thing, it carefully tucks back locks of hair and traps them better than an ordinary ponytail can. However, the Ladynoir braid almost has a ‘fun’ twist to it (pun not intended but appreciated). It is long (like really long), and we even see her flick it playfully over her shoulder. I think that the braid is supposed to represent that dualism between responsibility and fun that the job of superhero can have. I have heard a lot of people criticize “Reflekdoll” for its lack of parallels. In other words, Chat Noir learns something and better appreciates Ladybug, but the reverse isn’t true, and I would say that in many ways this is true, Ladybug is not privy to the lesson that Chat Noir is. However, I would argue that she did learn something. Ladybug learned that it’s okay for her to have fun and to joke around. Towards the beginning of the episode we see Ladybug chastising Chat Noir for his joking around, however by the end we see Ladybug embrace this approach and even make some jokes herself. The braid shows Marinette acceptance of balance, of the combination of enjoyment and responsibility within her life.

The Space Buns

This design as well can be attributed to the design team finding a way to show mouse ears, but I’m still going to try to analyze this. I have two different ways to possibly explain this hairstyle. The first being to draw parallels to the bun hairstyle as this is essentially the same thing but two instead of one. The correspondence between the two hairstyles could be seen through Marinette’s feigned naivety in front of Chat Noir. She “accidentally” reveals herself as Marinette and pretends to be less informed than she really is. The other way to translate this hairstyle is as a security blanket so to speak. I haven’t gotten into the metaphorical interpretation of Marinette’s pigtails yet, but I will briefly explain a part of it now (and go into depth a little later). The pigtails serve as a sense of security for Marinette, as a source of status quo. The space buns are that, but elevated. In the episode this hairstyle is featured, “Kwamibuster” (I don’t think I mentioned this before), Marinette is desperate to keep her identity a secret from Chat Noir and develops a convoluted plan (including Multi-mouse) to accomplish this. She wants the security of her identity and wants to use her comfort style at this moment. However, Marinette is trying to distance herself from Ladybug and as such she uses a slight variation of her pigtails in her alternate hero form.

The Ponytail

I’m gonna be honest and say that I can’t fully analyze this hairstyle as we have not yet seen the episode where this hairstyle makes its second appearance. So I’m just focusing here on the ponytail from “Optigami”. I might make another analysis on the ponytail after “Sentibubbler” comes out but it might make more sense to wait until after the whole season comes out, in case there are new examples of ponytails (or other hairstyles for that matter). I don’t want to say anything about Pegabug’s ponytail, because as I’m sure you know, Miraculous trailers can be very misleading. Anyways, after that ramble, I now focus on Ladybee’s ponytail. To be frank “Optigami” was a bit of a doozy. I watched that episode with a sense of dread that did not lighten by the end of the episode. This isn’t a bad thing, but it was intense for a typical episode of Miraculous, a show where my usual reaction is a mix of “oh this is cute” and cringe (to be fair I cringe easily). But what I like so much about season 4 is that we get more than that (I won’t go into this now because I’m straying from the topic too much). Ladybee comes at a time of great stress for Marinette, she gets stuck in an elevator with someone and is thus unable to transform (let alone the fact that that “someone” is Adrien), she is without the help of Chat Noir and most of the other heroes, and (unbeknownst to her for a majority of the episode) her friend has been replaced with a sentimonster. Yet, despite all of this, Marinette remains cool, calm, and collected. She, unlike Alya, does not fall apart and despair when Senti-Nino is revealed, she knows she has to get the job done. A ponytail gives an image of “getting the job done” of focus. Although the situation is dire and dangerous, Marinette displays her competence in crisis and the ponytail magnifies that trait. I have a feeling that the same will be true for Pegabug, but only time (and the episode coming out) will tell.

Hair Down

In the two episodes that we have seen Marinette wearing her hair down, they were both in connection with Adrien and her relationship with her. I want to separate the two examples because though they both wind up achieving similar goals in regard to their symbolism, they do it in different ways. Focusing first on “Chat Blanc” Marinette wears her hair down in part to distinguish to the audience the difference between the two timelines. Though the surface level explanation of her hair would be sufficient explanation, this choice of hairstyle also has a deeper interpretation. This being as a metaphor for Marinette’s vulnerability. She is allowing her feelings to be known to Adrien, she is allowing herself to be open and honest about her emotions and with that freedom she lets her hair free as well. It is also significant that she is free from her secret identity (albeit unknowingly) and as she allows Adrien to see the full spectrum of her personality, she frees her hair from its restraint. In “Heart Hunter” too, this hairstyle signifies vulnerability and freedom. In this episode we see Marinette having fun with Adrien and Kagami, without the worry of how she is being perceived by Adrien, without the stress about her feelings for him. It is of great significance that when she lets her guard down, when she “lets her hair down” (both literally and metaphorically), Adrien comments on her beauty. We already know, as viewers, that Adrien has fallen in love with Marinette’s personality as Ladybug. But as Marinette, Adrien has not been privy to her full personality. He has only been given glimpses, as in this episode, to the full extent of her persona. Marinette is seen later on in the episode to revert back to her old hairstyle once she is no longer comfortable, when she feels inadequate compared to Kagami. She puts back on her guise when she feels she needs the security. Which leads us to that source of security.

Pigtails

I feel a bit bad as I have simplified this hairstyle in earlier paragraphs to a symbol for security. While this definition is a correct one, this hairstyle has more than one explanation. As Marinette’s primary hairstyle, in both her every day and hero outfits, we see this hairstyle A LOT. Because of this, there is an array of interpretation as to what this hairstyle could mean. Starting with the aforementioned, this hairstyle works as a form of security for Marinette. The style required her to hold her hair back, to keep it in check, away from possible disasters and viewers (wind can tangle hair very easily). The pigtails are the antithesis of letting her hair down, a common symbol for freedom and relaxation. The pigtails therefore show that she is on her guard and is protecting herself. The pigtails also represent her quality of being a do-er. She likes to do things, she is an active person, she doesn’t stand aside or wait for things to happen, she works to make them happen. As a do-er she needs focus, she needs a restraint for her hair that could get in her line of sight, and the pigtails do that well. As Ladybug, the same is true. She is focused and determined to accomplish her goals, to succeed in her battles and she needs to tie her hair back to best accomplish this. There is importance in the fact that she chooses to focus herself with pigtails rather than the equally practical ponytail. This can be attributed to the child-like quality that pigtails have. Marinette, simply put, is still a child. Though as a whole she is particularly mature for her age, at times she can show a bit of immaturity. It is interesting to note that as the seasons progress, the more we see her with other hairstyles. As she matures she wears the pigtails less. The pigtails are also a girly hairstyle and show how Marinette is a girly-girl in a plain and easy way. Additionally, the pigtails give her the approachable, girl-next-door look. In simply looking at Marinette one gets the image of her sweetness and good nature. In visual media, it is important to make a connection between personality and visage. In cartoons especially, a character’s design should fit with how they interact with their world, and the pigtails are an immediate signifier as to Marinette’s character. This about sums up my analysis of her pigtails. I know that there are more ways to interpret them, and feel free to comment if you think of any other interpretations!

[karmasuna]

May I request whatever boys and girls are YOUR favorite to write for with a girlfriend who has a shape shifting quirk and doesn't use it iften other than to change her hair every day? She gets wild colors and different lengths, and often has some complex style.

i would’ve written for shinso and dabi but i couldn’t think of anything so have todobakutama instead (◕‿◕) thank you for the ask!

Todoroki Shoto

○ todoroki would like watching you change your hair every day, always amazed at the seemingly infinite hairstyles you came up with

○ he would be really appreciative of the fact that your quirk helped you save a lot of time when you were going out, especially when you went on dates with him

○ it would only take you a minute for you change your hair up into a fancy yet casual looking style to get ready for anything

○ he would often gift you small hair accessories for you to incorporate into the styles you thought up

○ he likes it a lot when you make your hair match his, making it half and half just like his

○ and he likes always being around you and showing off your matching hair

○ it makes him feel good to know that you loved him enough to be willing to show it through your appearance

○ he also just thinks your hair is super nice in general, and he likes playing with it a lot 

○ your quirk meant that him accidentally tangling it wouldn’t be a problem either, and so he could just okay with it without worrying about making your hair messy or tangled

○ he always makes sure to let you know that he likes your hair every day, complimenting your new hair and reminding you of how much he loved your style and creativity

Bakugo Katsuki

○ his biggest issue with you constantly changing your hair would probably be how he sometimes couldn’t recognize you from behind

○ and he would be lowkey embarrassed because you’re his own girlfriend how could he not recognize you 

○ but he is interested in your quirk and “doesn’t hate” your ever changing hairstyles (his words, not yours)

○ he’s the only one who’s willing to give you his actual opinion on your frequent hair experiments

○ if he thinks your new look sucks, he’ll tell you straight up. better him telling you in private than someone else embarrassing you in public about it

○ sometimes you are a little hurt but ultimately you know that Katsuki’s only doing it for your own good

 ○he likes demanding you to try out certain styles that he thinks would look good on you

○ challenging you to try stepping out of your comfort zone with your hairstyles

○ rapunzel length hair? Do it. Pixie cut? Why the hell not. Rainbow hair? Would probably look awesome on you.

○ he’s aggressively encouraging with you when you aren’t too confident with a style that you like on yourself

○ “Why the hell are you doubting yourself? If i tell you you look good, you’d better believe I’m damn right, babygirl.”

Amajiki Tamaki

○ tamaki would be so in awe of how creative your quirk could let you be

○ he would adore how you used your hair for your artistic expression and would be super supportive of it

○ he likes suggesting new hairstyles for you to try out every once in a while, showing you pictures of different hairstyles he had found on the internet

○ it’s amazing to him how detailed and fancy you could style your hair to be, admiring the all the different ways you could style it and asking about the techniques you used

○ sometimes when you went on dates at nice restaurants, he would eat the edible flowers and leaves and grow you flowers to put in your hair 

○ and it never failed to make you smile, the way he timidly plucked the flowers from his hands and gently put them in your hair 

○ usually you wouldn’t do really bold or bright styles or colors, instead opting to use your quirk to just do ornate hairstyles with a more natural tone

○ tamaki also uses your constantly changing hair as a mood indicator so he knows how to approach you depending on your mood that day

○ if you were feeling down you usually wouldn’t put as much effort into your hairstyles, only without any of your usual styling and just leaving the color your natural tone

○ when you were especially sad or in a bad mood, tamaki would soothingly run his hands through your hair and give you head pats while letting you vent about your day and your frustrations to him

○ he would take times like that to experiment with his hair yourself, braiding your hair and creating his own hairstyles for you

○ the way he handled you and played with you hair gently would never fail to make you feel better, and the hairstyles your boyfriend came up with would always leave you in awe

○ “Tama, it looks amazing,” you breathe as he shyly shows you a picture he took of your hair from behind 

○ “it’s not as g-good as yours, bunny,” he says, blushing as you turned to press a kiss to his cheek

○ you’d definitely replicate his styles when you went to school the next day, and he would be so proud that you liked what he came up with

BONUS: 

○ one day he sees you with only a simple braid in your dark indigo hair and he immediately panics, hurrying up to you and asking if you were feeling okay

○ you tell him you’re fine, but you notice him looking at your hair worriedly and so you ask him if something was wrong with your hair

○ “y-you only do so little with your hair when you’re sad, so i was w-worried.”

○ you reassure him that that wasn’t the case, grabbing a lock and holding it up to his hair

○ “see? We’re matching now!”

○ and he blushes, embarrassed that he didn’t notice sooner that it was his own hair color but also because he’s surprised that you would want to show your relationship with him in such a blatant way for everyone to see

○ he actually loves the way the color compliments you, and the color would become one of his favorites on you

[mahou-furbies]

Magical Girl Raising Project Limited - character design ranking

Captain Grace

An alright pirate design with enough little details that keep it from being forgettable (I especially like the anchor buckle on her belt, and the earrings and hooks on her hair). The spikes on the coat are what stands out most to me; makes me think of a Mario enemy or something. However I’m not sure how much of a Magical Girl design it is. Like pirates and frills already go together, so the well tested formula (put a miniskirt and frills on it and it’s a magical girl look!) doesn’t really do much. Maybe it’d be better if she had some cutesy detail in there somewhere? Also is that an tail again or what, or some kind of blunt hook? What is it with these unnecessary tails in Magipro designs. 6/10. 

Funny Trick

I’ve always liked Funny Trick’s look, and it’s probably because of the pleasant colour palette, unique eyes and two-tone hair (I’m easy to please with two-tone hair). The nail polish and colourful glitter on her fur are also good little details. But apart from that I guess this is only barely strange enough to be any kind of “magical” look rather than just an anime stage magician, but at least that’s pretty close to magical girls already. Also is that a frigging tail again?? At least it goes well with the hair I guess... 8/10.

Kuru-Kuru Hime

It’s a cute design, but when I think of a ribbon magical girl I somehow expected more ribbons? Like this feels like an the higher end of an average magical girl amount of ribbons? Or maybe it’s totally over the top and my perspective is just skewed since I love ribbons and want them everywhere. Either way I like her outfit from neck down, but I’m not that into the headgear, the combo of the bonnet thingy and the weird crown just sitting on top if it looks strange to me. Nice hair tho even if it could use more ribbons. 6/10.

Weddin

I absolutely love Weddin’s design. The muted and light colour palette is very appealing to me, and the dark chains break up the mostly monochrome design so it doesn’t look dull and faded and also give the otherwise super frilly appearance quite a lot of edge. There’s repeating elements (braids in her hair and veil, the same kind of flowers everywhere, flower yellow also appearing in her eye makeup) so it doesn’t get too complicated, and all of them go well with the wedding theme too. The flame... is a bit of an odd touch and I’d rather associate it with a birthday party or Christmas than a Wedding but I guess you can have candles at weddings too, and I don’t find it too distracting.

I’m not a huge fan of the lingerie like look though, but at least visible garters go with the wedding theme and she’s so covered in veils and frills that it doesn’t look so bad. Also the back train looks kind of lazy. But overall still one of my favourite Magipro designs. 10/10.

Rain Pow

A tail again! However this time I actually like it, since she has that rainbow hoop behind her it looks good to stick something through it, and at least it somewhat resembles her twintails. 

As for the rest of the design, it has zero frills and ribbons and looks more like some kind of scifi spacesuit than a typical magical girl design, but somehow I still really like it. I think the weird heart hair is just enough to pull it into magical girl territory for me so my impressions are more on the “an unique take on an mg look” rather than “not mg enough” side. Then all the rings keep the look consistent (I absolutely love the rainbow halo) and the suit itself looks alright enough. I also find it interesting how muted the suit colours are for a rainbow magical girl and even the rainbow is pretty pastel, but I figure this is a better choice than all the expected seven colours in all their eye-strainy glory. 9/10.

Postarie

Please put on some pants, that is a shirt and not a dress.

Not too interested in this one, but I find it a commendable effort on making a design on the idea of “postal delivery girl”. Still lots of repeating elements so that’s a plus, especially the back epaulette is such an absurd idea but somehow it works and its wings and the wing hairstyle add the required fantasy touch. Bonus points for the cute birds. 7/10.

Tepsekemei

An inoffensive genie design but I struggle to really have emotions towards it. Butt flower is silly and I have no idea what the things hanging from it are, but at least they’re consistent with her head decoration. Don’t care for the shoulder spikes in an otherwise soft looking design. Huge earrings and multicoloured nails are a nice touch. 6/10.

7753

Also one of my favourite Magipro looks. It feels like the design philosophy here was “gakuran jacket and some frills, and then some hearts. And more hearts! More! Even more!” and I think it’s a great way to go with when designing a magical girl. Using just hearts everywhere makes the outfit cohesive, but since they’re all implemented in different ways it doesn’t get boring. I especially like the little hearts on her hands and under the eye, and the one in her pocket.

Two-tone hair in twintails is also one of the best design elements out there and the hairstyle is quite memorable (and also manages to incorporate the heart motif) and I’m always a fan of caps too. The green eyes and the little bit of green nail polish which you unfortunately can’t see here go well with the otherwise reddish look. Maybe the hair looks a bit too clunky (I only just realised it appears to be tied in a hoop behind her) but I won’t let it bother me. 10/10.

Mana

A solid witch design, I especially love the dimensional cape and hat. I also like the huge collar with the lace detail, but I’m not sure if it works with the hat brim. Not a big fan of the hair, I think it clutters the design. The snake leg accessory feels weird and a bit out of place but I do appreciate the asymmetry and also having something dark to break up the otherwise plain bottom part of the design.. 7/10.

Gekokujou Hana

I tend not to be a huge fan of kimono-based clothes, but this one is an exception I guess. The great colours must play a part in it, and the bottom part is fun. Then the dangly decorations add the correct amount of strangeness so it’s not just a bunny girl in a mini kimono Also, another tail, but this time it’s almost a requirement and I love how ridiculously huge it is (and also repeats elsewhere in her outfit). But really I can’t think of anything to dislike about this, must be the colours and the tail. 10/10.

Archfiend Pam

I believe this is the record on how little clothing you can wear in this franchise... At least she has the personality to pull that off. But that is not a top! At least it’s something new...? The wings fit the description in the story, but I don’t think these blank rectangles look very aesthetically pleasing. I like the tail best, the fur edge makes it a lot more interesting than just the usual demon tail. I don’t know, if the theme is a sexy demon girl this design definitely accomplishes it in a unique way, but also I don’t care for this fanservicey designs. Also not a fan of the hair. 4/10.

Pythie Frederica

Before drawing her for the chibi series I thought she had some kind of a helmet but upon closer inspection of course it’s a veil. But what are the horns? 

Upon closer inspection this one is also very fanservicey, in that her “dress” is actually see-through and the only thing covering the critical areas look like thin belt-thingies. At least she doesn’t look like she’s ten... But a major issue I have is the bottom part of her outfit, like how is it supposed to work? Is it one big piece of cloth, or multiple thin ones? What is the “fire” behind her? Is the dark part her hair, or the clothing, and is it supposed to be black or just shading? I do like the stars; otherwise the design gives a more mature “sexy” air, but the little stars everywhere adds a cute element. The colour palette is pleasing, but as much as I like multicoloured hair it doesn’t grant points this time, because the wiggly stray strands look very out of place here and the colour change makes them even more noticeable. 2/10.

Tot Pop

This one really isn’t my aesthetic, I very much prefer the cutesy style and there isn’t really anything ‘magical girl’ about this design. And it doesn’t really evoke the supposed image of ‘pop star’ to me either, like if you remove the guitar I’d think her theme was a prisoner or halloween. Though I don’t really know what a ‘pop star’ should look like anyway, like can’t they wear anything they want, I know Lady Gaga had a meat dress or something. But as of this design, I don’t think there’s anything specifically wrong with it, the colours are pleasing, the details are consistent and it’s not bland or boring either, but it just doesn’t do much for me because of the theme. I like the blood-stained hair and the spiky hair accessory, the long hanging part makes for a nice silhouette. Meanwhile the skulls on her shoulders feel somewhat tacked on, and in general I don’t care for piercings in anywhere else than ears. 5/10.

Pukin

And it’s a tail again. What is it with the stupid tacked on tails on every other design in this franchise? Sometimes it’s not so badly out of place, like if you have an youthful cutesy design, a fluffy animal tail can still add to the cute effect even if it’s otherwise out of place. But Pukin is supposed to be this dangerous and majestic authority figure and a cutesy tail very much doesn’t fit that image. And while we’re on the topic of animal features, the story describes that she has a feather decoration in her hair, but the way it’s drawn as a tiny feather jutting directly up in the middle of her head gives me more the impression of a character whose theme is a baby bird rather than a fantasy prince.

Now that we’ve dealt with the tail let’s get the biggest issue out of the way: I’m aware that there was a time in history when people used to wear these kind of giant ruffled collars but I really don’t care if there’s some kind of history based reasoning. It looks like your head is on a plate and it’s something I can’t ignore. I don’t feel even clowns can pull that off. There is no way getting around this.

When I first read Limited I thought Pukin’s appearance was an absolute mess and an instant 1/10, but upon closer inspection there is stuff I like about it too. She has a good colour palette, great shoes and gloves, and as a friend of multicoloured hair I welcome the yellow hair tips. The big heavy cape balances the small top and pants, and I really like the fur. Earrings go well with the pants too. The theme is a bit confused, or at least I don’t know of any fairy tales about pumpkin prince, but it’s not like I would complain about pineapple or cauliflower princess so that’s not really a problem. 3/10.

Sonia Bean

And we end Limited with yet another excellent design. I like how this manages to look kind of tattered and messy without actually being gross and dirty with the patchwork dress, dustball-like thingies, newspaper clippings and asymmetry. Even her hair looks disheveled. The headgear gives the design an old-fashioned vibe which suits her well since she’s so old. The light palette, soft design elements and ribbons give the look a cute feel, but at the same time she feels suspiciously pale, and the manic expression screams danger, like you can’t reason with this girl. She’s like a ghost of a Victorian era child who wants to play with you but you know you definitely should not follow her.

The design only works if I don’t think too much about it though, like dust is gross and newspaper paper is crinkly and not soft at all, but since we’re magical girls here I can ignore that and enjoy the image the clothing evokes. 10/10.

------------------

Limited average: 6,9.

[alinaastarkov]

Worst game of thrones hairstyles and why. Go!

Hi! Thanks for the ask! I profusely apologise for the extensive rant that is about to follow.

I thought, before we jump into negativity, I would list some of my faves. I liked the hair more than the costumes, and a few of these were really pretty. Here we go!

These are some of my faves and I will just run through a few of them. Dany’s hair was really good until the enormous braids started coming in. At the start, with a few really pretty braids, and especially when she had her hair down cause it made her look so soft, she looked amazing. It showed Daenerys the queen and Daenerys the girl at the same time. Her hair in these early seasons is what Arya’s should have been. The same goes for Catelyn and Cersei. These styles were understated but pretty, and was all part of Catelyn adapting to the Northern style and Cersei playing on her beauty to fool people. The same goes for Margaery. It incorporated braids and curls in a really fashionable way, matching her intelligence to her need to be underestimated. Sansa’s hair in King’s Landing (when it was down) was pretty too as she adapted to her surroundings and the people around her, but it was still soft and gentle like her. Petyr is here because he looks the most like his book character, I think out of everyone. They really cast and styled him perfectly. Jon’s bun style was the closest to book!Jon he ever got, and though I love his curls, I preferred this to his earlier looks. It helps that it matched his father’s and Arya’s hair, too, so for the first time (because of poor casting) we saw the family resemblance. And these styles for Arya, apart from maybe a few in the HOBAW, were the only times she looked like a Northerner and was allowed to look like a girl. It’s not perfect, as her Northern braids aren’t woven into loose hair, but it did make her look a little wild and were the only times we saw a proper Northern hairstyle done well.

Now, onto the ones I don’t like:

I’ll get these in heere now because they’re not the worst. Joffrey and Tommen’s hair was weird. It’s not the long, golden waves as described in the books, they don’t really look like Lannisters apart from the colour, and the hair itself did not work with the crowns they both wear, especially Joffrey. I don’t know, it’s not terrible, but the men’s hair was mostly unremarkable, so, scraping the bottom for these. And then young Ned. *sigh* Why did 20-or-whatever-year-old Ned have the exact same hair as Sean Bean? He hasn’t changed his hair in 17 years? Lazy and boring and makes no sense. He should also have darker hair but that’s a book thing, so…

From now on, we’re gonna tackle this by character. Up first: Margaery Tyrell

Margaery almost escaped this list because her hair was often really good. As with the outfits, I know she was supposed to be pious, but the hair was a miss in that situation. It was basic and boring, and so far removed from the Margaery we had seen before. Why is her hair straight all of a sudden when it has always been curly? And the way she tied it back when she wore that awful dress in season 2 looked very strange. As for her wedding with Tommen, there was the opposite problem. As Tommen was younger, she needed to look more innocent and sweet, but instead they went over the top to make her look elaborate and rich, almost emphasising that her family was ambitious. Normally her hair and clothes struck a balance between innocent and ambitious, but this just went too far and it didn’t really fit her face. Though, I have to say, I don’t despise any of Margaery’s looks.

Now, Cersei Lannister

Some of these just made absolutely no sense. The helmets of braids she got, one of which was lopsided, just looked awful. It was far too much and they’re never seen again, which shows how bad they were. I don’t even know what her hair was supposed to be during the tourney but it didn’t work at all. And her short hair didn’t always look terrible, but it got far too shaggy for a Queen and here it didn’t fit the clothes she was wearing in this picture.

The Sand Snakes

Once again, I am simply bored by the Dornish characters in the show. There is no variation or variety, very little thought put in other than hair that might be useful in battle. They didn’t care to give them anything interesting and it shows. Where is Tyene, with her flowing golden hair? Where is Nymeria’s soft but deadly features? Where is the variation? It’s boring and does a disservice to the Sand Snakes.

Sansa Stark

I liked Arya’s northern braids, but Sansa’s version did not work. They were a lot messier than Arya’s (ironic, isn’t it?) and it wasn’t styled properly to fit the image of a proper northern/ southern lady. She would have been better off with hair more like her mother’s rather than braids, both aesthetically and storywise. Her hair in King’s Landing early on was similar to Cersei’s, which was definitely a bad thing. Her hair, which looked like a massive headband, was not as bad as Cersei’s version, but it wasn’t a good look. There were no strands or enough loose hair to properly frame the face, so that became the only thing to focus on and it didn’t work. Now, Sansa’s second wedding looked alright mostly (though I was not the hugest fan of the dress but I’ll get into that in another ask) but the hair was an issue story-wise. There was this thing going on with the Starks, supposedly the wildest and most rugged of the great families, where their hair was constantly super tight and pulled back, restrained when it should be free and wild. I know Sansa was being held against her will, but this wedding is also to give the Boltons a claim to Winterfell, so they needed to emphasise that she was a Stark, and that includes having Northern hair.

And once again we have the opposite problem. Her coronation hair had nothing to it. It was completely straight, unadorned and had no northern-ness to it at all. There were no waves to give it a bit of depth. It was super plain, boring and unimaginative. Then the Dragonpit, though it looked good, at that point Sansa had betrayed her Northern heritage and her family, so she shouldn’t have been the most northern-looking person on the screen. Once again, this is a style that Arya should have had, not Sansa.

Arya Stark

Just like the costumes, she had the same hair for 3 seasons. It got old quick, especially when she has different hair in the books during this time. It made sense for 1 season, not 3.

This monstrosity was one of the worst hairstyles in the show. The one time Arya gets the chance to dress like a girl, and this is the hair that goes with it? Really? It didn’t frame her face well, it reduced the feminine aspects that Arya was finally getting to express, and was a clear attempt to infantilize Arya and prevent the audience from thinking of her as a woman. It was also not a very nice style on its own; the buns should have been further back, but that would have been space buns and so very inaccurate, so she should have just worn it down anyway. Huge miss on this one. Super ugly. Only upside is she finally got the blue flowers she deserved.

This is what I said about the Starks having restrained, pulled back hair and it’s especially egregious for Arya, who is sooooo Northern and so wild. She needed her hair down, with braids woven in, longer and more natural. Instead, her hair looks like it’s covered in tar and there is nothing natural or northern about it. Once again, I am bored by the looks. And she kept this for two seasons straight, never changing. It’s ridiculous. The makers of this show just didn’t care about Maisie or Arya and it shows visually. It makes no sense for the princess of the north to have the same hair and clothes for years, with zero variation, especially when Sansa and Dany are out here with a new look every episode, sometimes two in a single episode.

This is what Arya’s hair should have looked like:

It’s extremely disappointing what we got instead.

Daenerys Targaryen

I mostly adored Dany’s hair, but as the seasons went on her braids got more and more elaborate and fake, and it started to become painfully obvious that it was a wig with huge braids stuck on. The looks with huge buns in the back just looked a bit silly, and I feel bad for Emilia who must have been so weighed down by all of that on her head. The braid she wore beyond the wall, and the one on the bottom row second from the right, were just a bit messy. As I said, her hair became a bit insane as it went on, making it less believable and less beautiful. And her finale hair, whilst fine from the front, was the most obvious example of braids being stuck on. It was basically a helmet and it made no sense. The braids were far too big and it didn’t work.

Sorry for the rant, nonny, but thank you for the ask!

[ketsuyuki-hibana-typed]

A fluff request for @kasuminokokyuu because Muichirou contents aren't enough

Also, clingy Muichirou is just A++

Muichirou Tokitou x Reader (ModernAU)

"Haircut"

Muichirou was waiting for your arrival at home. He laid down on the sofa, playing with his phone. Even though he's looking at the screen, his mind was completely empty.

Until the radar inside his head was beeping when he heard the door opened.

"Mui? I'm home!"

Muichirou let out small gasps. He hurriedly stood up and leaped to the front door, ready to hug you.

"Welcome ho-"

He suddenly stopped. You tilted your head, confused. He usually ran and jumped into your body.

But now, he looked like he's ready to commencing a fight. Muichirou stepped back slowly, looking at you with cautious eyes.

"Who- who are you?!" He growled and stretched his hand, not letting you to get in.

"Hu- Huh? It's me!"

"No! The (y/n) I knew has longer hair!" He grabbed the nearest broom beside the table. "Announce yourself, who are you?! Where is (y/n)!!!"

You held your laugh because he looked like angry chinchilla. He still made distance between you two, acted like protecting 'the nest'. You tugged your hands into your bag.

"Mui, do you remember this?" You showed a can pin printed with his daydreaming face photo.

"Ah! That's limited!"

"See? It's me!"

"No! You could be someone else! You could steal it from (y/n)! What are you doing to her?!"

"Ok, next attempt. Ask me three questions about yourself."

"My favourite food?"

"Daikon white radish with miso sauce."

"What would I do when I only got 2 minutes left before die?"

"Li- Listen to my voice repeating 'Mui-kun suki!' or at least that's what you told me- GOD THIS IS EMBARRASSING, NEXT QUESTION!"

"The last time I say 'I love you' to-"

"Around 3 minutes ago, you said it thorough voice mail." You smirked. "It's clear now."

"Okay, you are (y/n)." He let out relieved sigh, put the vroom back to its place and proceeded to hug you. "Welcome home, (y/n)."

"I'm home, Mui!"

Muichirou grabbed your hand, brought you to living room and sat on the sofa. He hugged you again, mumbling 'I was kind of hoped that it's not you with new haircuts.' on your chest, but you just assumed that he rambled about how he missed you.

"Why did you cut them?" He looked up, touched the tip of your hair with his fingers. It's still smooth as he thought.

"Wanted to change sometimes, it's summer after all."

"But, I can't comb your hair anymore. I mean, I still can do it but it's not fun."

"Because I cut them short?"

"Yeah, I mean-" He touched your back hair, caressing them slowly. "I can't braid it again."

You actually felt a bit sad when you cut your hair because you know he loved your hair. But damn, it's so hot here. Like it or not, you have to choose.

"But I still could comb your hair, like always. Do you want me to do it right now?" He nodded eagerly, letting out little 'Hum! Hum!' sounds. You chuckled. "Alright! Turned around!"

He obeyed, turning around like you said, eagerly waiting for you to comb his hair. He sat down on the floor, while you still sitting on the sofa. You started to comb from the top of his head, making slow motion to untangle small knots at his hairs.

"Did you rub your head on the sofa? It's a little bit mess here."

"I'm bored because it took you so long to come home."

"And why are you rubbing them?"

"Making small electricity so that this house burns and you'll come home faster."

"....your mind is really something."

After that, you silently comb his hair with bristle paddle brush while humming a song he loved. It's sort of a lullaby to him that he started to doze off.

"Ah, hey. Mui, I can't do this properly if you're asleep."

"Ng... What are you doing?"

"Braiding your hair, like you always do to me."

"..."

You're confused because he didn't react but proceeded to braid his hair. You splitted the section into three pieces and three-strand braid them, making sure to incorporate more hair from each side of his head each time you cross the hair over. You continue braiding and feeding in sections until you reach the ends, then tie them off with blue elastic.

"Done!" You satisfied while looking at your creation. It's simple but actually could bring joy to your heart's content. "How is it?" You gave him a hand mirror.

Muichioru touched his hair, feeling weird but happy at the same time.

"Not bad." He said. "It's a shame I can't do it to you anymore."

"My hair will grow in no time!"

"I hope so." He stood up and turned around, patting your thighs. You knew that he asked permission to sleep on it.

With one nod from you, he positioned his head, feeling the tightness and softness at the same time. Smiling like idiot, he adjusted his head in comfortable place.

"I just braided you." You stroked his head gently and rubbed s circle on his T zone. "It will hurt your head."

"No, you make perfect braiding for my head, it fits on your thighs. But more importantly-" He looked up. His hand touched your plump your lips. "Where is my welcome home kiss?"

"A- Ah..." You scratched your cheeks, started to feel redness scattering on them. No matter how many times you did it, it still made you flushed.

He didn't want to wait anymore, so he just went with his way. He pulled the back of your hair, making your lips met at his. No tongues out, just a simple deep kiss.

You patted his shoulder when you were out of breath. He released the kiss and licked a small amount of liquid at the corner of his lips.

His hand was still on the back of your head, rubbing the tips, still feeling devastated. But it's okay, it grows back. He believed it.

Or, maybe he will do haircut too, matching with your style. Couple hairstyles. Just imagining how bamboozled you will be when he get new haircuts made him excited.

[galmaborn]

okay so here’s that promised post about 𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐔𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏/𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 but it’s under a cut because it got crazy long & no one wants all that on their dash.    not all of these traditions are still around, but some are & others are slightly altered.

𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐘𝐋𝐄𝐒 & 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐃𝐒.    some of the traditions about hairstyles are a bit outdated & not really popular anymore, but there are still some (who have long enough hair) who follow them.    in the past, those who weren’t interested or open about being courted by another would always wear their hair in some form of updo that may or may not have included braids.    anyone who kept their hair in sort of half-down, half-up styles were potentially interested in a romantic relationship, & anyone who kept their hair loose was fully open to being courted.    once one was being courted by a potential suitor, they would always wear their hair up in public, but typically down in private with their partner.    this also worked out because generally those with longer hair wore it up when they were working, & so they weren’t interrupted in their work by those looking to court them.    those who were married wore marriage braids, which consisted of two small braids at the back of the head & a larger braid between them.    often not all of the hair is braided to leave a sort of backdrop for the marriage braids or they’re all twisted together into an updo.    these braids represent the uniting of two people, & two families, into one cohesive unit.    during weddings, one parent from each family would braid one of the smaller braids & then their partner would braid the center one.    in cases where parents could not be present, generally someone close to each of the wedding party would participate in the braiding.    out of all of the different hairstyles, the marriage braids are the ones that are still rather common on batuu.    mostly, they’re only worn during wedding ceremonies or anniversaries & some still feature the braiding as part of those ceremonies.

𝐊𝐄𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆.    to show interest in courting someone, generally men (but anyone of any gender could), would gift them a very uniquely hand-carved key to symbolize their possession of the only key to their heart.    mostly, the key was carved from wood but some got more creative & carved it from chunks of spire, shaped metal, or even knitted or wove the key.    typically, it would include some symbol related to both parties such as part of a family crest, some object important to them, or something to do with their occupation & would also have the person receiving the key’s name engraved somewhere on it (usually in their native language).    accepting the key would begin the start of their courtship & denying it would result in the key being burned & usually the one who carved it attempting a more elaborate key design.    the key was a way of showing off their skills, & even those interested in the courtship were free to decline accepting the key as a way of truly testing how dedicated their potential partner is.    often, the key would be incorporated into a necklace that the receiver would wear in public as another way of signifying that they are currently being courted.    this isn’t still super popular, but a lot of those in the more artistic industries do participate in it.

𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐒.    so like i’ve said before, weaving is a highly respected art on batuu, so it makes sense that it both plays a part in the courting process & wedding ceremonies.    at some point during courtship, as a symbol of love & also how seriously one is taking the relationship, couples will often gift each other a woven scarf.    in the past, it was expected that each half of the couple would weave their own scarf, but nowadays most just buy them from the market or have them custom made.    the scarves would generally be in the favorite color of the receiving person, & included a lot of elaborate designs that usually symbolize events that have occurred during their courtship or anything they feel has progressed their relationship or holds a lot of importance in it.    a lot of the time, the couple would be the only ones able to truly interpret the scarf’s design.    sometimes the scarf would even include a romantic poem stitched into the inner side for only the wearer to read.    these scarves would somehow be incorporated into the couple’s wedding attire.    some wear them as intended, some cut them up & gift pieces to their families, & some weave them into socks or headdresses.    most scarves gifted these days are far less elaborate, but it is still a really common tradition, especially in relationships where one party is a native batuuan & the other is an off-worlder.

𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒.    it was expected that one would pick up their date from their home regardless of where they lived or where you were going on your outing.    you going to the cantina at black spire but you live in galma & she lives in peka?    too bad, you’re taking your speeder all the way there & back; there’s no meeting halfway.    you were also expected to always bring a small gift, usually flowers or something sweet from the local market.    this got lost as batuu became more criminally oriented & practicality overtook what was previously seen as just good manners.    there are a good many, mostly those from families who have lived on batuu for many generations, who still adhere to this, particularly the part about bringing gifts.

𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈.    yeah you saw that right, batuuan weddings take place over three days.    the first day is a big welcome party for anyone coming from other planets & just to help the guests of both parties get to know each other before the big day.    typically the party takes place in the evening & after the wedding rehearsal (if there is one).    the family/friends of one half of the couple will typically make all of the food & serve, but this isn’t necessarily part of modern batuuan weddings.    there’s also usually a lot of drinking involved.    a tradition that hasn’t stood the test of time as well is that of the friends & family of typically the bride will have a series of tests for their potential partner to undertake to prove their worth.    this used to be full on braga bear hunts & feats of strength & such, but became modernized to just embarrassing acts like singing love songs in front of everyone or having their clothes stolen & hidden from them.    obviously, this isn’t limited to being only between brides & grooms.    anyone is welcome to test either partner regardless of gender.    there’s not really anything particularly formal about the first day, it’s mostly about partying & having a fun, lighthearted time with each other.

𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐈.    the actual wedding ceremony & reception takes place on this day & not much else.    some ceremony traditions include the couple not seeing each other until the ceremony, their vows including poems that they’ve personally written for each other, tying a single ribbon to the trilon wishing tree together, & asking the black spire for good blessings & safe travels in their future.    often, there will also be a very young, potted trilon tree that guests are free to tie their own ribbons onto as good wishes for the couple.    the plant will usually be placed in the couple’s home & eventually planted outside of it.    the reception afterwards is either catered by both families of the couple or by an outside party.    the ceremony & reception are also timed in order to have fireworks at the conclusion or, for those who cannot afford fireworks, a chance to do a bit of stargazing.    the stargazing in particular is meant to evoke an appreciation that in a galaxy this expansive, the couple managed to find each other.

𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐈𝐈.    a last chance to give gifts, say goodbyes, & such before the couple leaves on their honeymoon.    this usually consists of a brunch provided by the family/friends of the other half of the couple.    it’s a chance for the couple to spend more time with their guests as a married couple than they likely had time to during the reception.    sometimes, the food is themed to the planet the couple will honeymoon on.    just before they leave, the couple will release a pair of pipa birds as a blessing for safe travels & a sign that they will always return to the place they were married: batuu.    in the past, it was expected that each would capture their own bird but in modern times the birds are often raised domestically.    it’s considered to be a sign of a marriage that won’t last if the birds fly in different directions.

𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐒.    they are always bright, bold colors & typically on the warmer side of the spectrum but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to have a cooler themed wedding.    red wedding attire is considered to be symbolic of a passionate relationship & good luck.    orange symbolizes vitality & a long-lasting marriage.    yellow is for a happy & adventurous marriage.    blue is life-long loyalty & stability in the marriage.    traditionally, the warmer colors were popular because they symbolized the inevitable rising of batuu’s suns & the hope of a new day & fresh start they bring with them.

𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄.    typically, dresses & suits aren’t overly elaborate.    this has changed a bit with time & the introduction of more marriages between batuuans & off-worlders, but batuuans are just more practical people than anything.    the usual colors are listed above & i also mentioned the inclusion of scarves gifted during courtship, but the couple will also wear bracelets or necklaces with beads amounting to the number of months they’ve been courting.    the beads are typically a light blue with other colors symbolizing different events such as the proposal, first kiss, first date, etc.    each couple chooses the other colors for their beads together so they could literally mean anything & only each other would know.    

[erniesbrainfreeze]

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ZOE ROBINS, NINJA STEEL WHITE RANGER: by pearl, co-moderator of @erniesbrainfreeze 

The lovely & talented Zoe Robins, who plays Hayley Foster in Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel, was kind enough to agree to an exclusive interview for erniesbrainfreeze with me and we spent almost four hours talking about Hayley’s backstory, the romance between Calvin & Hayley, her favorite moments with the cast, and how she got started with acting!

Below the cut is our conversations, my questions/comments and her answers. And thank you to those in the fandom who gave me amazing questions to ask her!

We hope you enjoy the incredible behind-the-scenes information Zoe has shared with us and don’t forget to watch Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel every Saturday on Nickelodeon at 12/11 central!

PEARL: So the first question is about Hayley, she seems like a really fun character to play even if she doesn’t always get a lot of focus. What’s something about Hayley’s character that you have in your head or in your personal notes that we might not know from the show itself?

ZOE: Ooo great question! I decided early on that Hayley’s love for animals stems from her experiences of always being surrounded by them from a young age. She was raised on a small ranch with her mom and younger brother after her parent’s divorce. They were almost self-sustainable. Her caring nature comes from her mother who dedicated her life to sustainable living and caring for the planet.

Her empathy and compassion for all things come from the unconditional love and bond she has with her younger brother, who recently came out as gay.

PEARL: Oh, I love that so much! I always thought of Hayley as being a flower child raised by environmentalists so her being raised on a ranch is so cool! And so much love for the idea of her little brother, I wish Power Rangers would explore that some day for real.

Question by Jaz @elizabethdelgados: If there was an episode that you could have solely about Hayley, what would you make it about? How would you incorporate her backstory into a Power Rangers-esque plot?

ZOE: I would love an episode to be just a solely Hayley focus. She hasn’t had that yet - and there’s obviously so much more to her than just being Calvin’s girlfriend and a part of the ranger team.

If anything it would be about her and Kody, or maybe a situation where she goes above and beyond with helping someone and actually makes things worse. I think one of her weaknesses is that she gives too much of herself so learning to put herself first and valuing the process of self love would be fun to explore, and a great lesson for children! And adults as well!

PEARL: That’s so true and it would work great since a lot of the other rangers have had their flaws highlighted in various focus episodes. And we all love Kody so more of him is always good.

In fact, a question by Chipster @kimberlyannharts: Since having an animal as a side character is pretty uncommon for Power Rangers, how did you prepare for working alongside Kody? Did you have to take time to do classes or exercises with him before the show and how did you approach that as an actor?

ZOE: I’ve never owned a dog in my life so initially I was really nervous! We had a few chances to meet and play before we started and really it was just about us being comfortable around each other. The trainers were amazing and were always nearby!

I would have treats in my pocket or in my hand if he (Jax was his real name) needed to come to me in the scene or do something wild like wake me up by licking my face in the forest. We actually had peanut butter and bits of raw meat under my fringe so he would lick my face in that scene. It was nasty and I smelled so bad hahah

PEARL: Wow, that sounds gross but also your dedication is inspiring! I’ve also never owned a dog so I don’t think I could do that. But it came out great in show, I love watching Hayley and Kody together.

Speaking of your fringe, a lot of us were wondering, since Hayley’s hair is a lot more relaxed than your hairstyle at your Power Morphicon reveal 2 years ago, how did you or the stylists come up with that style? I know they made Chrysti [Ane] dye her hair blonde (I guess for hair color diversity?) so did they also ask you to relax your curls? (question by @hunterbradley)

ZOE: It was production’s idea, I would’ve loved to have kept the curls but I guess maintaining the look like the one they chose is much easier! And yes when we were all initially cast, we all looked very similar. Tan/brown skin tones with dark hair, so I think they were worried that kids might not be able to tell us apart lol. I would love to see a ranger with dreads or braids one day.

PEARL: Well, that’s fair, but there’s just so little natural hair representation in kids shows. I think there’s only been one ranger with dreads and one with an afro, both before the current era.*

ZOE: Absolutely! I would’ve been more than happy to rock my natural hair for representation.

PEARL: A question by Tabitha @operationoverdrive: It’s a sad fact that only five black actresses have played power rangers in the past 25 years (and you’re the fifth), however that is the perfect amount for a teamup! Have you had a chance to meet any of these actresses and how has it been to meet previous rangers in general? Did they give you any advice on being a ranger?

ZOE: Yes, I have, and they were beyond lovely. Camille [Hyde] was the first I met and she was so sweet! I met Karan [Ashley] at Comic Con and then Morphicon and Nakia [Burrise] as well. Everyone is just so great and for the most part the advice has been to make the most of every moment. They’ve all welcomed us to the “family” from the moment we were announced which has been so special.

PEARL: That’s so sweet! I love Karan and Nakia so much, they’re always so genuine and wonderful to their fans.

Going a little back to Hayley, she mostly sticks to Calvin and Preston for the majority of the series. Was there any cast member or guest star you wished you would’ve gotten a chance to work with more? (question also by Tabitha)

ZOE: I would’ve loved more scenes directly with Kelson [Henderson]. I couldn’t speak more highly of him. He’s the most professional, talented and down-to-earth person I’ve ever worked with and he’s a wonderful man too. He is so patient and had a great way of calming us most days when we were in the 11th hour of shooting and slowly losing the plot. Haha! I probably learned the most from him - his tenacity and gratefulness for the work grounded me so much.

Chrysti and I had a lot of fun with the Hayley and Sarah episode with their parents! It would’ve been nice to have more female driven episodes!

PEARL: That’s so sweet! Everyone has only high praise for Kelson, he’s such a legend on this show, I’m so glad he ended up being on Ninja Steel.  And we loved that Hayley/Sarah episode! Their cute little handshake/hair flip thing was adorable and their dynamic was so fun and unique.

ZOE: Hahaha we put that in there ourselves! There’s a lot of stuff we added in the hopes that they’d make the edit and surprisingly a good amount of it did!

PEARL: That makes it even cuter! I love all the little things you guys add in the show it helps make the rangers so much brighter as characters.

Speaking of, Nico [Greetham] and Chrysti both recently took to Twitter to talk about how there was originally a love triangle/breakup storyline planned for Calvin/Hayley and Sarah, but that you and Chrysti spoke to Chip [Lynn] and they decided not to do it - a great choice, as we all love Calvin/Hayley. But we were wondering, did that plot ever get to script and what do you think Hayley’s feelings would’ve been on a potential Calvin/Sarah relationship? Would she have eventually moved on as well? Maybe even with one of the other boys on the team, although that would definitely be awkward, but Hayley has had focus eps with Preston and Levi both and those dynamics are really fun and interesting.

ZOE: We were told very early on with the story lines and both Chrysti and I were really confused about where they were going with it and concerned about the message being put out. We arranged a meeting with Chip where he really listened to us and I’m assuming saw how much we cared about the relationships within the whole cast. Women are constantly being pitted against each other in society and we were just not having it in our show.

Ultimately, Hayley would be fine, lol. Of course Calvin is her best friend and she loves him but she has joy and love for many other things in her life too! It would take some time for them to get over a breakup and remain in the same team and deal with the enormous responsibility of saving the world (lol) but those two have a lot of respect for each other so I think they would be able to stay friends.

Also LOL! I’ve seen some comments about the chemistry between Hayley and Levi. There are a lot of eps with Preston and Hayley together too. Honestly I think it’s because I just have so much fun with them both and love them very much as people so that probably translated on screen. I don’t think any of the rangers in our season would switch up partners haha

PEARL: I’m so glad Chip listened because yeah, two girls fighting over a guy is almost never a good storyline and it’s so predictable in media nowadays. Although I personally love romance & drama so I really enjoyed the ep with Calvin getting jealous over Hayley and Preston even though there was nothing between them haha. And that’s so cute how much Calvin and Hayley love each other, I think it really comes across on screen! You have great chemistry with the whole cast of course but you and Nico play off each other so well.

Have you and Nico ever discussed how Calvin and Hayley met and ended up in a relationship? They’ve been dating for two years by season 2 but was it a childhood friends to lovers thing or did they meet in high school, what do you think the start of their romance was like?

ZOE: For drama, yeah, I can see why they thought that could work but it’s just so contrasting to the tone of our show it just didn’t make sense. I’m glad production listened too! Because it was in something called “The Power Rangers Bible” which had storylines that we were told were set in stone and could not be changed!

And yes we have! Though I have absolutely no idea where my journal is for Hayley so I won’t be able to say what we agreed on and discussed 100%. I think we decided that they had been friends for a few years before dating and Calvin secretly crushed on Hayley for a while. I think we went out for a drive in his truck to a beach one night to watch the sunset and he asked Hayley out. Nico can correct me if I’m wrong but I’m sure I’m not pulling it out of nowhere! Haha

PEARL: That’s the cutest thing ever! You know, usually in Power Rangers they would just show the crush part (see: Tyler and Shelby, or Jake and Gia) without bothering to show the relationship part so it’s really cool that we started with Calvin and Hayley already established. But I would’ve loved to have seen that sunset scene. We all love Calvin and Hayley so much, their focus episodes are some of the best and most charming eps of the show.

ZOE: We really wanted to have flashbacks and conversations that alluded to the start of their romance but I guess it’s fun that the audience can fill it in for themselves :)

Thank you! Nico and I worked really really hard on the relationship and spent a lot of time getting to know each other off set before we started filming - and then obviously during the duration of filming. As a result we became really close, so our job was easy! The chemistry was already there!

PEARL: That’s so cute! The effort you guys put in really shows, even in the background scenes, how Calvin softens whenever Hayley is near him and how she’s always touching him... a lot of us are romantics at heart in this fandom so we love seeing that.

ZOE: Haha I love it! There’s so much opportunity to sneak those things in as the Rangers stand around as a group a lot! So we wanted to make it as believable as possible

PEARL: We’ve talked a lot about Hayley and I love all the new stuff we’ve learned about her but we also wanted to know more about you! Zali @2014federalbudget wanted to know: Being a kiwi, do you prefer to work at home in New Zealand or abroad in America/Canada? And are there are any classic New Zealand shows that you would be interested in being a part of?

ZOE: Working at home would be a lot easier as I’m pretty familiar with the way things work over here and ideally I want to be near family. Unfortunately our industry is so small and diversity is still an issue, so I’m finding I’m auditioning for a lot more projects overseas, mainly in America. I would’ve loved to be on Outrageous Fortune for a bit. It looked like a lot of fun and many talented actors that I look up to (Antonia Prebble, Claire Chitham, Sophie Henderson, Nicole Whippy, just to name a few) were on there and do amazing work.

PEARL: That makes sense, and that would be so cool! Did you know Antonia Prebble was on Power Rangers too?

ZOE: Yes I did! She was also on a show called The Tribe! I was in a remake of the show when I was twelve so I’ve been a fan of her work for a while!

PEARL: That’s amazing! I love the connections between Kiwi ranger actors, there are so many of you guys!

Kels (@rltarepulsas on twitter) asked a related question: Was there a role you saw growing up that made you want to act?

ZOE: It was Dakota Fanning in a role.. it may have been in I am Sam or Charlotte’s Webb - I can’t actually remember the specifics. But I do remember watching her and thinking “Oh that’s it. That’s the thing I want to do.”

PEARL: Dakota Fanning is super talented, that’s so cool! We also loved you on the Shannara Chronicles - how was that experience like and how was filming a more teen-oriented show different from a kids show like Power Rangers?

ZOE: Oh thank you! That was my first big international project and I was super anxious going into it but I had such a great time. The people involved were awesome. Very talented NZ actors and from overseas - Austin [Butler] is one of the sweetest people you could meet. I love doing fantasy too, and my character Zora is so much cooler than I am! Haha! I had to have archery training for that which was a lot of fun.

PEARL: Archery training sounds hardcore but then you also went through PR’s stunt training so I guess you can do anything!

We are all super excited to see you in more projects after PR! Ivory @lunarskye wanted to know if there are any projects you’ve been working on currently and if you can tell us anything about how they’re going?

ZOE: Thank you! At the moment I’m just enjoying being home after being in LA for over a month. With the down time I’m hoping to finally start writing, I have a few stories that I want to tell. But I’m auditioning for projects a lot of the time :)

PEARL: Oh, you’re a writer too? That’s so cool, what kind of stories do you write? Is it like scripts or do you prefer novel form?

ZOE: I’m not actually! Haha I just have some experiences and stories that I want to share. And they would be scripts. I definitely want to work behind the scenes as well as act :)

PEARL: Either way, that’s awesome! Did you get to do anything behind the scenes on Power Rangers? I know Peter [Sudarso] said he would pitch scripts to Chip occasionally and he even got to write an episode once.

ZOE: It’s something I’ve never thought that I could do but I’ve been so inspired lately to say something that it’s only a matter of time until I give in lol

Chip and the production team were great about that actually, in that they fully invited us to basically intern - be it shadowing directors if we wanted or submit scripts etc. Honestly I can’t speak for the whole cast but I do know we were super tired after working 6 days a week and there wasn’t much more we could give of ourselves when the week was over. It really was like an endurance test and I think for the most part we chose to focus on the task at hand and look after ourselves the best we could. Which meant on our day off we would relax and do whatever we needed to refresh ourselves. And yes, Peter’s episode was actually amazing, I hope he continues with that as well.

PEARL: Ah, that makes sense but it’s really cool that they let you do that! Speaking of the cast and your downtime, Kat @powerprincesses wanted to know, with you and Jordi [Webber] being the kiwis of the cast, was there any sort of culture clash with you guys? Did you take them out to tour New Zealand at any point and show them the sights?

ZOE: We had a few bonding trips before we started, one was heading out to a beautiful west coast beach called Piha together. We just spent time together and practised our morph on the sand lol it was cute!

Chip had an evil idea of picking us up super early in the morning a week or so before filming, to drive a few hours out of Auckland to do the Waitomo caves. Look them up, they’re extraordinary! You end up abseiling into this cave, and trudging through mud and water to see waterfalls and the amazing cave formations - and the glow worms! I’m pretty sure it was on our day off so none of us wanted to go as we were tired from training and all we wanted to do was sleep and prep. But Chip was right, it was one of the best times we had together.

Jordi took a few of the boys to his home in Rotorua, where they met his family and were introduced to some parts of the Maori culture. I know that was really special for them too.

PEARL: That all sounds so amazing! Those caves must have been seriously magical to witness. And that’s so cool about Jordi and the boys, I wish we got more of his Maori culture in the show, it would be really neat to teach more people about that. I think he’s only our second or third Maori actor on Power Rangers.

ZOE: It would’ve been super cool! But for some reason they didn’t have any New Zealand characters in our season!

PEARL: I noticed, that was so weird, especially since they let Chase not only be kiwi on the show in Dino Charge but he got whole episodes devoted to his New Zealand culture, including one where his little sister was part of a Maori dance group. But I guess since Ninja Steel is an anniversary season they wanted to take it back to the show’s American high school theme roots?

ZOE: I’m not sure! I think it has something to do with the tax incentives here where international productions have had to somehow showcase New Zealand for tourism benefits and have a certain amount of New Zealanders as cast. I think that’s changed cause we didn’t do that at all lol

PEARL: I definitely remember reading about a New Zealand grant starting with Dino Charge, yeah. I think it’s mentioned in the credits of each episode too. I think Peter also once told me that just having two kiwi actors in the cast was enough so maybe that’s what changed?

ZOE: I’m not sure. I remember Chip telling me that Jordi and I weren’t cast because of that as it didn’t apply anymore :) Makes sense as the new rangers are all American!

PEARL: Well that’s interesting... I’m glad you guys were cast anyway! It’s really so much fun watching you all each Saturday, I can’t express how much I love Ninja Steel.

I should wrap this up as I think I’ve asked a lot of questions already, so just one last one: Is there anything you can tell us about this last batch of upcoming Ninja Steel episodes, things to look forward to in general? Anything exciting for Hayley coming up?

ZOE: Us too :) Thanks so much! It means the world to me to have amazing fans like you. Thank you! And yes, I don’t want to give away too much but I think the best stuff with Hayley is yet to come xxxx

[trinuviel]

Winterfell’s Daughter. On Sansa Stark (part 5)

This is the fifth part of my analysis of Sansa Stark’s character arc in Game of Thrones. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). This post will focus on how certain events and certain people serve to re-establish Sansa’s romantic illusions after they had been temporarily dashed. Sansa puts her blinders back on but only because she is persuaded to do so.

A REAFFIRMATION OF THE CHIVALRIC CODE

The Tourney of the Hand continues the next day and this time Ned is in attendance. On this second day of the tourney, Sansa’s faith in the chivalric code and the pageantry of the court is reestablished by the actions of Ser Loras Tyrell and Sandor Clegane, i.e. The Hound.

Sansa is singled out by Ser Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers, who gives her a single red rose. This can be seen as a less formal equivalent to the conventional naming of a Queen of Love and Beauty by the winner of the tourney. This is most likely a dream come true for Sansa and her reaction shows that she is extremely flattered.

That tradition is in itself inspired by the ideals of Courtly Love as they are described in the Chivalric Romances, that probably inspired GRRM for the literary culture of Westeros with the stories the Sansa loves so much - such as Florian and Jonquil as well as Aemon the Dragonknight and Queen Naerys. Thus, receiving this rose is a very special experience for Sansa – he honors her with a token of admiration, just like the knights honor their lady loves in the romances she loves so much. She is literally living out one of her fantasies and the the Knight of Flowers, with his good looks and beautiful armor, is embodiment of Sansa’s girlish fantasies.

Sansa is immediately charmed by Ser Loras but after the experiencing Ser Gregor’s brutality the previous day, she is terrified that the dashing Knight of Flowers may come to a sticky end. Thus she clings to her father’s arm, whispering: “Don’t let Ser Gregor hurt him”. I find this line rather sweet because it shows that despite her anger at Ned for killing Lady, she still has a child’s faith in her father – and that is something sweet and precious.

Like the day before, Petyr Baelish insinuates himself into a conversation with Sansa, attempting to sour her experience of the chivalric pageantry.

Baelish: Ser Loras knew his mare was in heat. Quite crafty of him.

Sansa: Ser Loras would never do that. There’s no honour in tricks.

Baelish: No honour but quite a bit of gold.

Like the day before LF points out that things are not what they seem and that people have sordid motives for their actions. He manages temporarily to sour the whole experience for Sansa. Just look at her face after he makes his remarks! Neither does Ned look pleased with Baelish’s interest in Sansa and his attempts to disclose the sordid reality beneath the festive façade of the pageantry.

Sadly, LF is right. Loras is using underhanded means to stack the odds in his own favour – even his gift of the rose is undertaken with ulterior motives (It is a chance for him to make eyes at his lover, Lord Renly Baratheon, who is seated behind Sansa). This, however, doesn’t make Sansa’s genuine joy in getting a token from a dashing knight any less real to her. Unlike her little walk with Joffrey, that ended so disastrously, the formalized pageantry of a tourney can be considered as a somewhat safe space for Sansa to indulge in her romantic fantasies of noble knights and fair maidens. The danger lies in her transferring said ideals and fantasies to other aspects of her life at the royal court. Sadly, she is too young and too innocent to recognize the difference.

Despite Baelish’s attempt to sour Sansa’s experience of the tourney, events conspire to reaffirm her belief in the chivalric ideals. When Ser Gregor attacks Ser Loras in a fit of rage, the Hound jumps to Loras’ defense and Loras then declares Sandor the winner of the tourney. Thus, Sansa’s faith in the chivalric ideals is restored. Look at how she jumps to her feet, applauding the Hound fervently. Evil (Ser Gregor) has been overcome and valour (the Hound) has been rewarded.

Ironically, it is a non-knight who saves Ser Loras; one who detests the whole institution. Furthermore, it is very likely that Sandor only intervened because it gave him an excuse to cross swords with his detested brother. Most likely, he didn’t really care about saving Ser Loras. Sansa is, however, aware of none of this. In the end, the tourney is just a piece of pretty theatre – the appearance does not match the reality but Sansa hasn’t realized this yet. Or rather she allows herself forget the ugliness that she witnessed the day before in order to revel in the fantasy she lived out on the second day of the tourney.

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

I want to talk about Sansa’s appearance at the tourney – more specifically, her dress and her hairstyle in relation to the motif of the rose. Ser Loras gives Sansa a red rose as a piece of stylized gallantry that is conventionally associated with chivalric pageantry. It is a piece of flattery but also a piece of theatre, where Loras plays upon the trope of the noble knight and the fair maid: a trope that is popular in the songs and stories that are part of the chivalric culture. The irony is Loras’ gift just a piece of theatre. He’s simply playing a part that is but a cover for his real object of affection, which he cannot acknowledge due to social taboo: homosexuality is not accepted in Westeros.

Sansa debuts a new dress at the Tourney of the Hand – and it marks a curious deviation in Sansa’s sartorial iconography because it features roses. This is the only costume of Sansa’s that incorporate roses as a decorative motif, which is interesting in itself. She wears it multiple times after the tourney but it introduced at an event where she is gifted a red rose, with all its romantic connotation, in a piece of chivalric gallantry that subtly invokes the conventions of Courtly Love.

In several ways, Sansa’s rose dress represent at sartorial mid-point between the fashions of the North and the fashions of King’s Landing, both in terms of colour and in terms of silhouette. This is the first time that Sansa wears a colour that diverges from the blue and grey colours that costumier Michele Clapton chose to associate with Northern dress:

We have a lot of blues and grays, murkier colors that seemed right for the harsh northern climates. The Starks represent a warm family unit, so the blues of their costumes are rather warm. But within the family, the various personalities are reflected in what they wear. For example, Sansa is in a slightly cooler blue. – Michele Clapton

Early on, we see that the Stark women dress sensibly for the climate with high necklines and embroidered collars and fine linen undershirts that can be seen above the neckline. The dresses of the young girls are decorated with knotted and embroidered pieces of cloth at the neckline.

Sansa’s early dresses are also not closely fitted to her figure. They are the dresses of a child.

The lavender dress marks an important change. The colour itself occupy a mid-point between the blues of Sansa’s northern roots and the dusty rose that many of the Southern ladies wear (and that Sansa will wear at the end of the season). The neckline is significantly lower and the more elegant roses have replaced the decorative, embroidered knots at the neckline. This dress thus represents a merging of Northern and Southern styles. Unlike Sansa’s previous dresses, this dress is more closely fitted to her body. It isn’t the dress of a child but rather of a young girl, blossoming into maidenhood.

It is a beautiful dress and it is among one of my favorite costumes from the series. Apart from the delicate roses at the neckline, the dress is embellished with vines and leaves that trails down from the shoulders, along the sides, leading to embroidered direwolves.

The last element is hard to see on screen but according to this website, Sansa’s lavender dress is decorated with both roses and direwolves. The direwolf is self-explanatory since it is the Stark sigil. The roses, on the other hand, is an interesting motif because it is a symbol that usually is associated with House Tyrell in the world of Westeros. However, in the books, roses are associated with Stark maids on several occasions – and there are sexual connotation to all of these examples:

There’s the story of Bael the Bard. He was according to legend, a King-Beyond-the Wall who stole away and impregnated Lord Brandon Stark’s only daughter, leaving behind a single blue winter rose.

Sansa herself is associated with roses when she acts under the guise of Alayne Stone. The singer Marillion writes a song called The Roadside Rose, which he intimates is about her. The same man later tries to rape her.

The most famous Stark maid associated with roses is Sansa’s tragic aunt Lyanna Stark, who Rhaegar Targaryen named Queen of Love and Beauty with a crown of blue winter roses at the ill-fated tourney at Harrenhal.

I don’t know if this association between roses and Stark maids from the books provides the inspiration for this particular costume as I haven’t been able to find any quotes from Michele Clapton about this dress. However, I do find it very interesting that the hairstyle that Sansa’s sports at the Hand’s Tourney repeats the rose motif of the dress since the two pairs of coiled braids at the top of her head bears a stylized resemblance to roses.

On this basis, I’d definitely argue that the visual association of Sansa with roses (and possibly the romantic and sexual connotations of the flower within the textual universe) is deliberate. Whether this association has any particular significance is another question.

A “LOVE” TOKEN

I mentioned in an earlier post that Sansa was aware that Joffrey disliked her after the incident with Arya, Mycah and Nymeria. She’s quite right: Joffrey doesn’t like Sansa anymore, he doesn’t want to marry her and he certainly doesn’t want to do something nice for her when Cersei demands it (s01ep03). It takes him a few weeks but after the tourney, Joffrey seeks out Sansa in order to charm her (s01ep06). After the customary greeting (a curtsey from Sansa and a bow from Joffrey), he goes on to apologize to Sansa.

Joffrey: I fear I have behaved monstrously in the past few weeks.

He presents her with a necklace with the Lannister sigil.

Joffrey: With your permission?

Sansa: It is beautiful…

Sansa: … like the one your mother wears.

Joffrey: You’ll be queen someday. It is only fitting you should look the part. Will you forgive me for my rudeness?

Sansa: There’s nothing to forgive.

Joffrey: You’re my lady. One day we’ll be married in the throne room. Lords and ladies from all over the Seven Kingdoms will come, from the Last Hearth in the north to the salt? Shore of the South. And you will be queen over all of them.

Joffrey: I’ll never disregard you again. I’ll never be cruel to you again. Do you understand me? You’re my lady now… from this day on… until my last day.

Then he takes her face in his hands and kisses her.

Notice how Joffrey uses a slightly formalized language. He uses the language and conventions of courtly love to win back Sansa’s regard, calling her “his lady” and giving her a love token. He uses these forms in bad faith but Sansa doesn’t know that. She accepts his apology and his gift in good faith because she has been raised to believe in the best in people. She believes in honour and that things are what they seem. That’s her fatal flaw: she wants the illusion and since no one is willing to listen to her fears and worries, she decides to believe in the illusion when Joffrey reverts back to the script of her romantic fantasies (like he acted before the mess on the Kingsroad). Thus helped along by Joffrey’s mendacious performance, Sansa convinces herself that all is well and that she loves her betrothed. After all, he seeks her out to talk to her, to address her concerns – something that the adults in her life don’t. Where Ned and Septa Mordane ignore and dismiss her worries, Joffrey lays them to rest – and Sansa is thus persuaded that her instincts are wrong.

To be continued…

[tinkiisms]

tagged by @chillin-at-partys-bar​ bc i’m alllowed to and i need to revive my muse tagging everyone who wants to

—    BASICS.  

▸     IS    YOUR    MUSE    TALL    /    SHORT    /    AVERAGE ? Oh, so small. Depends on verse exactly how many inches but there’s the thing, she’s never taller than 5 inches (unless in an AU.) Among her own kind, she is quite the average size though.

▸      ARE    THEY    OKAY    WITH    THEIR    HEIGHT ? Not totally; there are times Tink wishes she was taller because she feels overlooked or lacking power as a small fairy, but she also wouldn’t really want to be huge or she wouldn’t fit into her home in Pixie Hollow anymore...

▸      WHAT’S    THEIR    HAIR    LIKE ? Soft and bouncy. If she wore it down it would be around shoulder-length, but she almost exclusively wears it up in a bun or ponytail. She’s often shaking or flipping her bangs out of her face, and when she’s in concentration, frustration or deep thought, she tugs on them.

▸     DO    THEY    SPEND    A    LOT    OF    TIME    ON    THEIR    HAIR     /    GROOMING ? She spends a minimal amount of time doing her hair because she has plenty of other things to do with her days that interest her more--she favors wearing a hairstyle that is cute, but very simple to pull together. All she has to do is pick out a ribbon or accessory and tie her hair up, easy. No curls, braids or anything else to maintain. She is very well-groomed, though, in general with regards to hygiene.

▸      DOES   YOUR   MUSE   CARE   ABOUT   THEIR   APPEARANCE   /   WHAT    OTHERS    THINK ? Honestly, yes. There are certainly more important things that she cares about with regards to how she is perceived by others, but she’s not immune to self-consciousness in her appearance. She fancies herself fashionable and pleasant to look at, and tries to dress nice--she’s not totally the type to dress for comfort over style. She does want others to look at her and see someone beautiful.

—    PREFERENCES.

▸      INDOORS    OR    OUTDOORS ?     outdoors ▸      RAIN    OR    SUNSHINE ?    sunshine ▸     FOREST    OR    BEACH ?     forest ▸      PRECIOUS    METALS    OR    GEMS ?    precious metals ▸     FLOWERS    OR    PERFUMES ?     flowers ▸     PERSONALITY    OR    APPEARANCE ?   personality ▸     BEING    ALONE    OR    BEING    IN    A    CROWD ?     alone ▸     ORDER    OR    ANARCHY ?     order ▸      PAINFUL    TRUTHS    OR    WHITE    LIES ?     painful truths ▸     SCIENCE    OR    MAGIC ?     magic ▸      PEACE    OR    CONFLICT ?     peace ▸     NIGHT    OR    DAY ?     day ▸      DUSK    OR    DAWN ?     dawn ▸   WARMTH    OR    COLD ?     warmth ▸     MANY   ACQUAINTANCES    OR    A    FEW    CLOSE    FRIENDS ?     imo these aren’t mutually exclusive bc acquaintances and friends are different. you can have a ton of acquaintances and be well connected in society while also maintaining only a few close friendships so...yes ▸     READING    OR    PLAYING    A    GAME ?      playing a game

—    QUESTIONNAIRE.

▸      WHAT    ARE    SOME    OF    YOUR    MUSE’S    BAD    HABITS ? With Tink the answer can only be her temper and stubbornness. She very much has issues with not getting things to go her way, she’s easily jealous, and she tends to lash out when she’s upset instead of finding a way to cool down. She has a terrible habit of blowing up with little warning.

▸      HAS    YOUR    MUSE    LOST    ANYONE    CLOSE    TO    THEM ?      HOW    HAS    IT    AFFECTED    THEM ? Yes dependent on how the transition between movie verse and book verse timelines is dealt with. There is no winter woods or winter fairies in general at the time the book series is set, while Tink has a frost-talent twin sister in the movies. If we assume something happened to Periwinkle and some other movie-verse-exclusive characters between that time (whatever natural disaster or war caused the destruction of the pixie dust tree and the decimation of the golden age of Pixie Hollow) then she has a very tragic loss story.

My main verses don’t really play with that concept all too much because I keep them separate and there’s little reason to bring it up in any unrelated threads, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility to incorporate that in my writing someday, as it would greatly affect Tinker Bell and how she goes through the world post-losing her sister. I’ve written about it before, and reblogged relevant musings when applicable.

▸      WHAT    ARE    SOME    FOND    MEMORIES    YOUR    MUSE    HAS ? Any time Tink has spent with her sister, her best friends, Peter Pan, and the human friends she’s made such as Lizzie Griffiths. As well as working on her talent which brings her so much joy, making inventions, repairing pots and pans, and playing fairy games and attending fairy dances. There’s just endless joy to be found in Never Land and Pixie Hollow when you let yourself be open to it, which Tink has learned to do over many long years.

▸     IS    IT    EASY    FOR    YOUR    MUSE    TO    KILL ? No, remember how she’s 5 inches tall? It’s really hard for her to kill. Actually it’s easy for her to make a decision like that in the heat of a moment, because she can be filled to the brim with one emotion at a time, so if she’s feeling murderous, she’s gonna send a pack of lost boys to shoot you out of the sky...I don’t like it, but that’s how it is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

▸      WHAT’S    IT    LIKE    WHEN    YOUR    MUSE    BREAKS    DOWN ? When she breaks down, she will break entirely down. Let her boundaries and defenses down because she’s uncontrollably sobbing. She doesn’t like to be vulnerable so much so it’s a rare occasion but when she rains, she pours.

Luckily she’s also able to pull herself together quickly after a breakdown and focus on her next move, so they don’t last too long.

▸      IS    YOUR    MUSE    CAPABLE    OF    TRUSTING    SOMEONE    WITH    THEIR    LIFE ? Yes; she has put her life in others’ hands regularly. She is such a loyal fairy that it almost doesn’t occur to her not to trust easily in other people’s loyalty.

▸      WHAT’S    YOUR    MUSE    LIKE    WHEN    THEY’RE    IN    LOVE ? This depends on whether her love is requited or not. Unrequited, she tends to be very jealous when the object of her attraction focuses their attention elsewhere, because there’s no exclusive commitment between them, but her heart is already involved so she feels vulnerable like she will be forgotten in the wake. In general she’s very clingy and affectionate with those she loves. If her love is requited there’s basically going to be 0 space ever between her and her significant other, she’s gonna be glued to them. Again, there’s no lack of loyalty when it comes to Tink so once she’s with someone, they’re stuck with her forever.

[karmilarostov]

12DG Beaut & Fash Faves

I’ve seen a lot of trends this year, here are some of my beauty and fashion favourites. 

BEAUTY

1. sleek hairstyles

Very classy and smart, reminds me of very badass women. Its very chic and eye-catching. 

Paired with a bold lip ( like the ever so gorgeous Taylor Hill ) you can save the whole world if you’d like.

2. minimalist look

Many runway models are sporting clean and fresh looks. This look has many variations, either a bare face with only bronzer & blusher, only lipstick, or the whole shebang ( like the blonde model in the picture ) but v v subtle.

I think it’s refreshing. Plus, this makeup look would look well with many outfits. 

3. sleek pony

Very similar to No 1,but I think this particular look deserves it’s own part because I absolutely love this. Its universal and very do-able. Perfect for school, work or even for a day out. It can be made to look formal and vice versa

4. medium length haircut 

I’ve seen many rock this haircut. It’s a good balance, not too long nor too short. It doesn’t require much maintenance, its very easy to work with and is perfect if you don’t really have time to style your locks.

5. undone braids

My favourite hair trend I’ll have to say. This hairstyle is effortless and modern. 

There are so many braids that you can incorporate for different occasions and outfits, Go crazy! 

FASHION

1. double denim

A twist to the classic look. I love how it incorporates new and old, the perfect silver lining.

Or I guess denim lining.

2. padded jackets

I honestly think anyone can rock this look. It can be paired with almost every outfit. Somehow reminds me of marshmallows haha

It’s comfortable and a definite must-have for Winter.

3. pop art

A very bold and risky look, but definitely captivating.

Its very fun and great to experiment with. There are so many patterns to choose from too!

4. jumpsuits all day, everyday

This is a no-brainer for me. This look has been popping in and out over the years, but I’m glad it resurfaced again this year. Its comfortable, fuss-free and effortless.

Perfect for fall.

5. cargo pants

A firm favourite of mine. It gives off a very chill vibe to anyone who wears it. Usually paired with a tee and sneakers/sandals/heels. 

If you plan to go to the nearest mamak or you just really can’t be bothered then this is for you.

Here’s to 2018′s trends!

Love always, K