#it's a unique beauty standard because it's based on myself

[omgthatdress]

Barbie made her debut in 1959. The way she was sold then is a little different than the way she's sold now. These days, individual Barbies come with their own unique looks & usually some kind of unique function or accessories. You can buy clothes separately, but those looks are still secondary to the expectation of buying a lot of Barbies. Back in the day, you bought the one Barbie and then bought her clothes separately. This is why back then Barbie came with a bunch of friends and always came wearing a swimsuit.

The oft-memed origin story for the classic Barbie is that she was modeled on a German sex doll named Lili, which is only partially true. In the 50s, most dolls available for girls were baby dolls that primed girls for being a wife and mother. Fashion dolls were a thing but they were generally more reserved for adults.

Ruth Handler, who co-founded Mattel with her husband and served as its president from 1945-1973 (#girlboss much?), got the idea of making an adult doll for girls when she'd see her daughters playing with paper dolls. Instead of playing with babies, they chose teen-aged and adult paper dolls and played fantasized versions of adulthood. Then, on a trip to Germany, Ruth saw a Lili doll in a store, and asked her daughters what they'd think of playing with a doll like that. Apparently, they liked the idea.

Lili the doll wasn't an inflatable fuck doll. She was based on a popular comic strip character Lili created by Reinhard Beuthien and published in the Hamburg-based Bild Zeitung. Lili was a buxom gold-digger seducing her way through the wealthy men of post-war West Germany.

The comic was definitely adult-oriented, and the doll it created was a popular bachelor party gag gift.

The introduction of a doll with breasts did cause *some* controversy, but it was more pearl-clutching rather than tremendous cultural outrage. Barbie was actually an immediate hit. She fit in very well to late 50s ideals of femininity. I've heard it said before that parents liked her because she helped little girls get into the beauty, fashion, and level of grooming that she would need to catch a husband. IDK if that was intentional, but it seems to fit very well.

I don't want to get into whether or not Barbie is this huge feminist icon or not because, well, she's a toy. I think Ruth Handler was an incredibly smart businesswoman who saw a market demand and met it. Barbie is about the power of fantasy and imagination, and anything that people see in her are the things they want to see in her.

In her incredible multitude of careers, she also holds up an impossible and toxic standard of beauty. Mattel has always been very aware of Barbie's image. I'm pretty sure that the reason Mattel hated "Barbie Girl" so much wasn't because it was wink-wink sexual, but because it nailed the popular stereotype of the time that Barbie was this fake, plastic bimbo who was an unhealthy role model for girls (go listen to Aquarium, now!).

The recent years of Barbie taking on a more empowering, feminist, and diverse lean is because Mattel is simply correcting course and keeping up with the times. Honestly, they've done a very good job of it, but I'm not going to kid myself into thinking they're doing anything other than maximizing profits.

I love me some Barbie but I was always an AG girl, ngl. However, I think Barbie and her cultural context are still incredibly fascinating and worth taking a look at.

[mauesartetc]

What is your opinion on Winx Club and it's art direction?

Honestly I never watched Winx Club growing up, so my frame of reference for it isn't particularly intimate. But just looking at the characters, it's clear there's a bit of Sameface and Samebody Syndrome going on.

The art style's certainly unique for a Western kids' show, and there's a nice variety of bright colors. But man, I hate to think what kinds of messages the show's young target audience took away from these designs. If all kids see in their media are tall, impossibly skinny bodies portrayed as desirable, they'll wonder why their own bodies don't match. And creators should be especially sensitive to this when they're making shows for girls, since media bombards them with a host of beauty standards to measure up to (and it's not like I'm any kind of expert in child psychology, but I'd wager the advent of social media hasn't helped matters). So it frankly didn't surprise me to learn that this show was created by a dude.

Look, I'm not saying men can't be mindful of the effects media can have on girls, nor am I saying men and boys never deal with their own body image issues. But if you're making a show with a majority-female cast, maybe consult some women about their designs-? In the credits of the first episode there are two feminine names listed as character designers (Michele Lilli and Andrea Pulito), but they appear to be outnumbered by twice as many men. (Though apparently those names can be masculine in Italian, so it's possible Michele and Andrea are men as well. Too bad their IMDB pages don't list pronouns for them.)

And according to Winx Club's Wikipedia page, after a pilot that was unsatisfying to the creator, the team hired fashion designers to revamp the characters. At first I thought this would explain the girls' proportions (it's common practice in fashion design to draw slim, taller-than-average figures with elongated legs), but the concept art from the pilot tells a different story. Even before the fashion designers came aboard, all the girls had the same tall, skinny physique.

Not that there's anything wrong with being tall and skinny- hell, I'm a beanpole myself! But when all your characters have the exact same body type, whatever that may be, it leaves out so much human variety and just looks repetitive as a result. It's boring. And on top of that, it creates a visual impression that these characters are interchangeable with little to no individuality. The girls do have their own distinct personalities in the show (I ended up watching the entirety of Season 1 for this post), but those personalities don't come across well in still images.

It'd help if they were posed in ways that showcased their individual traits rather than just... "feminine and vaguely playful" across the board. Where's Stella's cockiness, Flora's kindness, Musa's sarcasm, Techna's logic? I'm wondering if the fashion designers sketched out these poses as well, because they seem much better suited to displaying clothes than demonstrating character.

(To make matters worse, there's a point in the show where the girls look like literal clones. This screenshot where they're all wearing the same outfit really highlights just how little body diversity they have.)

And what's bonkers about the faces looking so extremely similar is that creator Iginio Straffi based these characters on real women-? Namely Britney Spears for Bloom, Cameron Diaz for Stella, Jennifer Lopez for Flora, Pink for Techna, Lucy Liu for Musa, and Beyonce for Aisha. Here's how they all looked around the time of Winx Club's development:

And here's how I'd use the photos as a starting point to make each character's face stand out more.

They seriously couldn't have just leaned in to what made each face unique rather than painting them all with the same brush?

I get it, drawing all the characters with the same base makes it easier to keep them on model (and I imagine it keeps things cost-effective when making toys of them). But good god, you couldn't have treated them as actual characters rather than paper dolls for the fashion of the week?

From what I saw of the show, it's fine. It's passable. I fully accept that I'm not the target audience for it, but it's not bad for what it is. Could use a ton more character development, though, both in the designs and the writing. In any case, I'm glad that present-day animated shows seem to be evolving past cookie-cutter character design.

To close this out, here's something that I absolutely should not be able to get away with:

Recognizing these poses from the DVD cover is a sign of knowledge.

Realizing I switched them around is a sign of wisdom.

[moonjxsung]

Hello Star💛

TW: Mentions of ED, insecurities and beauty standards

Can I vent about kpop and beauty standards? I’m overweight, chubby (75kg), tall (173cm) and not particularly pretty either. On top of that, my body type isn’t really portrayed as beautiful in any society’s standards, mine or Korean. I’m so bummed about not feeling beautiful because I don’t fit any beauty standards. I would love to have a y/n moment and have one of the members stare at me but I just know that it won’t happen and if it does, they’d probably be judging me. I don’t get out a lot or really dress up but I want tickets to the next skz or txt tour. I would love to think that the boys don’t judge based on appearance but I know it’s so unlikely and I know that it’ll break my heart. I’ve avoided developing an ED for so long but lately I just feel so disgusting when I eat. I know that K standards are very unrealistic sometimes. I just would love to be considered beautiful and I just know that I won’t. Knowing that kind of hurts me a lot. And it’s not even in a delulu sense I know that they won’t fall in love for me or anything but I’d just love for them to see me🚶🏼‍♀️‍➡️Idk, I just wanted to let that out. If you don’t feel comfortable answering, you can just discard this message.

Thank you for reading💛 I appreciate having this space.

Hi my sweet angel 🫶

First off- PLEASE don’t be so hard on yourself. You are absolutely beautiful in your own way. Everybody is unique and lovely and your beauty is not defined by the number on a scale or the proportions of your features. You are absolutely lovely.

Second off- I KNOW how hard it is to consume media in a sphere where the beauty expectations are so heavily shoved in your face. I feel it all the time, I literally find myself comparing my features and my body to idols all the time and I hate myself for our discrepancies. But you have to understand that these people get paid to look good. Their free time is dedicated to enhancing their appearance and meeting an almost unrealistic expectation of looks. We don’t have that same luxury- and in some cases, that’s a luxury in itself. Let yourself be HUMAN! your body is here to eat good food and your pretty mind should feel all the beautiful emotions possible and you are here to experience a life that will fulfill you. Chasing after a beauty standard is not living, it’s confining yourself to a life where you are constantly living through the lens of other spectators.

The most important thing is to take care of yourself and give yourself what you need. If you’re hungry, eat. If you need to feel frustrated, or angry, allow yourself to feel. If you want to dress up, then do that. And if you prefer comfort, that’s fine too. Remember that these idols themselves would not look that way if they weren’t idols. You think they would have smooth, silky permed hair if they weren’t given direction by a stylist?? These are men, they probably didn’t have a skincare routine prior to all this 😭

You’re beautiful, regardless of any y/n moment or what skz’s own preferences are. You have a beautiful mind, a kind soul, you inhabit a body and you exist on this earth. That’s beauty in itself. Be kind to yourself. 🫶💞💕💝💘💖 sending you all my love sweet angel

[donnerpartyofone]

More notes on beauty:

1) I started feeling ugly from a very early age, really as far back as I can remember. There is something deeply revealing about being told you're pretty only by blood relatives, friends of the family who are trying to flatter your parents, and platonic friends who are not sexually attracted to your demographic; all those people are trying to make you feel better in some way, even though they might be accidentally pointing out a problem you didn't necessarily think you had.* But anyway, my parents never interfered with my sense of ugliness--even though I was extremely vocal about how worried and sad it made me. On one single occasion when I was probably around 12 and bemoaning how gross I felt, my father stoically offered up that beauty standards are just reflections of reproductive instincts, that the qualities men find attractive in women are markers of high quality breeding stock essentially. I now know that this is only true to a limited degree, and even at the time it wasn't hard to see that the average sex symbol wasn't necessarily "fertile-looking". Besides which, this knowledge wouldn't exempt me from continued rejection and alienation! It was just another way of viewing my natural reject-ness. But still, this shut me up somehow. It was like Oh OK, so even if I'm like exiled from society, at least there's a scientific reason. It's not "unfair", it's just rational.

2) My best friend is ugly. This is her own assessment based on her own experience of just being in society, dealing with strangers, trying to find a partner, etc. I don't know that she ENJOYS being ugly, but I don't think she's offended by the diagnosis; it just is what it is on some level, and it makes her incredibly enlightened about the complexities of embodied existence, but ANYWAY. I was talking one day with another friend about the general concept of looks, and when I mentioned this fact about my closest friend, my interlocutor got very prickly. She said something like "ugliness is a really important concept to me, I've seen pictures of your friend online and she's not it." To be clear this person was being more defensive of ugliness than of the stranger I was describing--but it put me in this corner where I had to go, "OK fine, her skin is like this, her hair is like this," etc, until it was like I had her whole physical person disarticulated on an operating table. Finally the person I was talking to conceded that she understood me, but it was an unpleasant experience and I wished I hadn't taken the bait. This person just had a fetishized version of what it means to be "ugly"; she meant, for instance, character actors with uniquely extreme appearances that amount to their own special aesthetic. She didn't want to include just general people who are routinely ignored and rejected in any circumstance where the key thing is visual attractiveness. And there I was, so desperate to defend my friend's inalienable right to be ugly (which is just one small feature of hers within an absolute treasure trove of amazingly great human qualities), that I carved her up into parts for this other person--I made myself think about my friend in a way that I absolutely never would do naturally, all because of my obsessive resistance of judging people by aesthetics, even the "ugliness" aesthetic. It left me feeling pretty awful.

*Actually I wonder if people, let's just say women who are very attractive are very often TOLD that they are attractive out loud by people other than sexual partners (and suitors who can't control themselves). I feel like people are so threatened by attractive women, in various ways, that they don't necessarily come right out and acknowledge this attractiveness in words. I think maybe people are more likely to express "you're extremely hot/beautiful" through behavior and action, than to be so vulnerable as to say the obvious to a beautiful woman. In fact I theorize that you might know if you face more challenges re: appearance from the fact that people TELL you you're attractive more often than they act like it. But this is all speculation about other people's lives, I really wouldn't know!

[scribblyspaceskeleton]

Hey, do you mind if I ask about your synesthesia? I'd love to hear more about your particular perception of the world

Of course!

I hope you don't mind the absolute wall of text you've just unleashed from this very hyperlexic individual.

I've got quite a few types of synesthesia, just about all of them are color related. All of these things are perceived as color:

-Sound (pitch, timbre, key signature, they *all* play into this)

By far my absolute favorite form of synesthesia that I have, period. Pitch, key signature, timbre, the raw sound itself vs what it would look like if I were to play it myself-- all of these things interplay together in a complicated mess that's impossible to replicate perfectly.

I can see even really small differences in pitch, and they do matter- if someone does something like fuck with me and change the base tuning of my keyboard from 440 to 420, I am immediately going to notice.

Taking a G-sharp note from standard tuning and bumping it up just a few hz produces the same difference as that between Prussian Blue and Cobalt. It is that noticeable and drastic.

I also can see each individual harmonic in any given note or sound- they are all automatically separated by my brain like a prism breaks apart light into different frequencies. I've been annoyed in the past when the harmonics from the bass in a song clash with the melody. It's just as plainly obvious as if someone put neon green and magenta together.

As an aside, conflicting songs playing at the same time tastes like if you left water sitting on the nightstand for too long and now it's acidic and gross. Yuck.

This could be sensory heaven or sensory hell based on context. It's so easy for me to get overstimulated by sound, but music is my favorite thing in the world and I will seek it out whenever I can.

-Graphemes (numbers, letters, etc)

My alphabet is a rainbow. Every single letter has its own unique color, and it's projected into 3d space onto the actual letters, numbers, and other symbols I know of themselves.

For example, A is red, and whenever I see the letter A on my screen, it looks tinted ever so slightly red. It's so slight as to be barely perceptible, but it's there in my mind's eye and I can see it.

-Morphemes (whole words in my case)

Not only do individual letters have colors, but a whole word might have its own color that overwhelms all of the others. The word orangutan starts with O, which makes it off-white, even though it contains a bunch of browns, reds, purples, and oranges in the rest of the letters, the word itself is white.

-Languages

Languages are color-coded, too. Spanish is mostly green with red and purple mixed in, Dutch is cyan and silver, French is golden yellow-orange, English is the most boring dull off-white you can imagine.

-Touch

Pretty self-explanatory, I see physical sensations as color. The ache of my shoulders and my arms in this uncomfortable position I'm currently refusing to move out of is... Red, deep muddy blue, gray, silver, orange etc on a black background

Goosebumps are like silvery white static that spreads throughout my body.

-Temperature

Pretty simple. Colder temperatures are lighter gray, warmer temperatures are darker gray, until it starts getting painfully hot and red and yellow and silver get added to the mix.

I love hot showers, they're perfectly dark and comfortable.

-Smell

I see smell as color. Those cinnamon scented pinecones that people bring out every November look like crinkled metallic violet.

-Taste

Most tastes are some kind of gray or neutral colors, but strong fruity tastes like lemons or strawberries are some shade of electric blue. Cinnamon is fuchsia, vanilla is pale cyan, and chocolate is a beautiful assortment of shades of purple.

-People's personalities (people are each assigned a unique color set that's a mix of their personality and the colors from their name)

-Emotions, both my own and other people's

This one is also overwhelming. Just because I can see/perceive an emotion, doesn't mean I know it's coming from me or another person, or what it means, or what to do about it. I think it's linked to mirror-touch synesthesia, which I do also have (and it's why I can't watch gory horror films!).

-Different states of the US

For these, I feel like I'm physically *inside* the color and it's surrounding me everywhere I go within the state in question.

California is a strong yellow color, New Jersey is olive green, Ohio is white, Pennsylvania is very bright and silver, Washington State is a deep veridian, New York is burgundy.

-The different months of the year

January is black and white, February is gray-purple, March is greenish gray, April is fuchsia, May is blue, June is orangey, July is brown, August is a strange shade of gray, September is golden, October is black and white and a bit of red, November is gray and dark, December is also black and white but in a different way.

Aside- I see time on a physical diagonal line of spaces inside my head- the future extends up and away to the right, the past extends down and back and to the left. The past from before I was born is really dark and murky and hard to make out, my lifetime is a brighter mix of silver and white, the future cuts off at a certain point and there's no way to look beyond that, which I think is how I think about my own mortality.

-My fingers

Starting at thumb: Gray-red-blue-pinkish-orange. I don't like nail polish for long because the colors are Wrong. I'm considering getting them done in my own palette and seeing how that works.

-Silverware, of all things

Spoons are yellow, forks are either green or pinkish based on how many tines they have, knives are gray.

---

That's the majority of what's happening in my head, 85% of it links back to color in some way.

Other, non-color-related types:

-Hearing movement

-Sound-movement (this is an odd one to try to explain, it's like I hear a sound and I just feel like I just should move a certain way. It's not like dancing or anything voluntary, it's like a specific sound makes me widen my eyes etc)

-Sound-touch (I feel music on my face, inside my mouth, on my eyelids, and the BEST songs are the ones I can feel (and SEE) in my chest. I don't mean like turning up the volume on a big speaker and feeling the vibrations in the air, I can feel this while wearing headphones.)

-Smelling/tasting some music (HOME Resonance smells like artificial cherry flavor)

-Hearing colors and shapes

-Numbers don't have personalities, but they each have a vibe to them. 5 is optimal and calm. 3 is warm and positive.

-Hearing the texture of different people's art styles (Vincent van Gogh had this one! I feel lucky I have this in common with him)

-Hearing my own thoughts as abstract sound

-Glitchy, misspelled ticker tape in my mind's eye (spelling "babe" as "baab" for instance)

-Lots of random stuff like how looking at a car's wheels makes me feel like there's something in my mouth and I need to bite down

----

This is a pretty exhaustive list, I might come back to it and add more as I think of them.

[tseecka]

I drove a two-hour round trip to go buy a treadmill off of someone on Facebook Marketplace, and I spent the entire drive talking to myself about Aggie---or more specifically, tonight, his Sire. Now you get to benefit from my highway monologuing.

So, DeVry. Beauregard DeVry. (Formerly Dorian Du Vrai Beau-Regard, formerly Dorian Beauregard).

He was handsome, once; its written all over his features, though age has shown him little mercy. Though he hasn't aged a day since he was 56 years old, the centuries he has seen still managed to write themselves into the lines and creases of his face, smudge their fingerprints ever darker under his eyes. He is, now, a tired sort of handsome, with salt-and-pepper hair cropped neatly around a tall, wide forehead, and a square jaw, not striking, nor pretty, but dignified and elegant nonetheless.

As far as vampires go, he's on the older side--a few centuries, at least. He was born sometime in early 17th century France, and was turned on the cusp of the Age of Enlightenment, but I don't actually care to get into it any more than that, because I'm not really very interested in French history and I don't want to get bogged down in details about DeVry when Aggie is RIGHT THERE. This is just to establish three and a half particular details: He's old, he's French, and he--and by extension, Aggie--are of a lower generation than might be expected. (I'm thinking he is 9th or 10th, making Aggie 10th or 11th, because I like the idea of my insatiable little hedonist being of a lower generation and giving other vampires conniptions.)

Like all Toreadors, DeVry has an eye for beauty; and like his childe, he finds that beauty in fine art. What DeVry seeks, though, rather than experience or sensation or emotion, is perfection. Precision. The epitome of beauty is a perfectly executed brushstroke, the flawless line of arm and leg in a ballerina's leap, technical expertise. Where Aggie wants to experience beauty--sink up to his elbows in it, crush it through his fingers and lap up the creative juices trickling down his wrists--DeVry would preserve it behind glass--immaculate, distant, untouchable, even those art forms that require air and movement in order to breathe. Over the years, this seeking of perfection has become a nearly pathological impulse, a flavour of madness, the standard for said perfection ever impossibly higher. Rather than finding beauty in the unique nature of a slight flaw, or in the evidence of humanity, it rings out discordant to him. He doesn't care for breaking new ground or trying something new, the evolution of style that comes with the passing centuries and changing human minds; rather, he knows what art should be, in his opinion, based on his experiences, and continually tries to seek out those he thinks are capable of being molded into that perfect model. DeVry doesn't want to experience art; he wants to observe it, for art's own sake.

Because, in his mind, the vagarities of human emotion are an impediment to achieving the platonic ideal of art, DeVry holds a belief that only a Kindred will be able to create it; though he accepts that a Kindred with no taste or aptitude for art in their human life will not become magically adept upon Embrace. Therefore, those he chooses to support and patronize--like Aggie--are humans who show an aptitude beyond that of their peers, one which could be molded and shaped and tended to the uppermost extent to which they are capable; and then, if they continue to show promise, Embraced so as to allow them to exceed the limitations of humanity, accessing the ability to create what he thinks of as art--something divine, to which humanity can only aspire.

To this end, Aggie is something of a failure. His artistry, while technical perfection in practice, is far too human in its expression; while he is capable of singing without his technique being overshadowed by emotion, he doesn't typically care to. Rather than unlocking hidden ability and potential, being Embraced only served to further feed the infusion of raw emotion that Aggie pours into his music, now inspired by the distance he is forced to take from Alastair and Phillip in his new unlife and the impact that his experiences with his heightened senses have on his emotions.

DeVry has only sought approval for Progeny a handful of times in his long life; he is incredibly discerning in bestowing the gift he offers, and so despite Aggie not living up to his expectations post-Embrace, he still harbours a great deal of care and affection for the younger Kindred. Aggie, for his part, is giddy with the new sensations on offer, and thankful to DeVry for the privilege of experiencing them and the faith that DeVry has always shown in Aggie's ability. (Another commentary on Aggie's relationship with music and with DeVry is forthcoming.) So the two share a fairly genial, familial relationship; the core of their disagreements and conflicts tends to boil down to their individual natures. Where Aggie is loud and unabashed, and free with his affections, DeVry is reserved; where Aggie is messy, even sloppy, DeVry is fastidious; where Aggie has a tendency to be emotional, DeVry is cold. If they do have a conflict, it is often smoothed over by Aggie giving DeVry a private concert in which he brings all of his technical skill and expertise to bear, as though to remind DeVry, "This is why you Made me; this is why it was worth it." (Aggie's technical skill does, indeed, improve once his ear becomes more capable of hearing the finest distinctions between notes, and he no longer needs to worry about breathing to sustain himself while singing.)

DeVry has been married a few times, once as a human and twice after his own Embrace. His first wife was a ballerina; his obsession with the pursuit of perfection in art has its roots in the way that no other ballerina was ever able to compare to her talent and beauty after he lost her, and has since--over time, with the erosion of rational thought, and the loss of connection to his more human emotions--perverted itself. He is currently unmarried, has no mortal descendants, and Aggie is his only childer.

[fourseasonsfigs]

Concert Twirl

This beautiful fig is inspired by one of my favorite moments in one of my favorite things - the Word of Honor Concert.

To explain how much I love this twirling concert intro, I have my phone lock screen set to this image:

It looks beautiful on the phone with the gorgeous swirly colors and the gorgeous swirly men, just saying.

Zhehan swirling/dancing/swift moving steps during his whole concert intro (and also moonwalking in the BTS) is just a perfect encapsulation of his personality, Gong Jun's personality in being game for whatever his Zhang Laoshi throws at him (in front of 7,000 people notwithstanding), and their caring and trusting relationship. I love it so much. I woke up at 3:30am Pacific Standard Time to watch both days of the concert live, knowing I wouldn't understand a word but not caring - which, may I say, felt like the height of my fandom craziness at the time. What could possibly top that level of insanity??

Ahem, right, moving on.

I remember being so surprised and delighted that the two of them were showing so much fun and personality from the very start of the concert. What nerves? So charming and so fun. Also, it's an incredibly beautiful visual image.

Since Zhehan's the focus of this fig, let's check out the actual video here:

The main camera angle didn't give us a great view of the twirl (OR of Gong Jun twirling), so let's have some inspirational stills of him floating across the stage:

It's incredible how beautiful he is. I had to hold myself back from putting sparkles and glitter hearts all over my header pic, because he's just so bright and sparkly and alive. His whole personality just shines through.

Ah, no wonder this fig maker was so inspired by this. Who wouldn't be?

When the box arrived at the warehouse, the photos taken of the inside looked like this:

You can just imagine my expression when I saw the flowers just thrown on in there all together! There's no way those resin petals would survive the journey - it doesn't even bear thinking about. I paid 62 cents for the warehouse to wrap the flowers to protect them and called it a bargain.

And here it is! Mindful of the way the flowers had looked in the warehouse, I was still worried they might be broken, but they unwrapped - shockingly - perfect.

Here's the base and the flowers. Thrilled at my good luck, I pulled up the fig maker's photo so I could make sure I was putting all the pieces in the right place, and started flower arranging.

And - well, precious readers, if you've been with me through the Hanye with a Sword post, you'll know what I went through with modifying that fig's little hand. So you can imagine how my heart sank when I found that two of the flowers did not want to fit into their little holes in the clouds.

I tried gently wiggling them, rotating them, angling them...nope.

You can see this first one has the stem almost pre-trimmed down to fit, but it sure didn't work.

The good news, of course, was that I had just gone through all of this with Hanye and his sword, so I re-gathered up my nerves, and got to work. I carefully sanded down a small part of the stems verrrrry very slowly, turning it to try to make it even on all sides, constantly testing to make sure I wasn't over-sanding.

It ended up being way easier than Hanye's hand, plus something about it being a flower instead of, well, a hand, just mentally made it less stressful.

Ta da! Whew, so glad that's done. It's not perfect, but I will say that one of the many things that touched my heart from the concert was that I actually, for the first time in my whole life, saw with my own eyes and actually believed that things don't have to be perfect to be beautiful. In fact, things can be more unique and precious because they're not. Gong Jun's off key singing, Zhehan losing the key, Wang Ruo Lin slipping and falling, etc etc ... all the chaos and mayhem and sheer, utter delight. It's hard to undo a lifetime of programming that perfection is everything, but I will tell you that this concert cracked that wide open and a real and lasting way for me.

Zhehan attaches to the base via feet magnets, which I am a big fan of. I wish more figs had magnets! The little feet go on those circles there you can see on the base.

Since he's twirling, I'm going to treat this like my music box posts and do a 360 degree photo roll so you get all the angles:

Whew! Very tempted to invest in the USB rotating platform. If only it wouldn't use up my one-video-per-post slot, I would.

Not all resin figs come with printed boxes - a lot of times they are just a plain white box, but this one did. (The printed stickers are a reminder to film an unboxing video) It's very beautiful! The writing on the box says, Goodbye Jianghu, which is certainly apropos to the concert.

I didn't have a box card in my box, which is too bad, because it would have been lovely to have this a pic of the fig with this art in the background. So I kind of made one myself with the header pic. I think it turned out really nice, but you can be the judge!

Material: Resin

Fig Count: 205

Scene Count: 18

Rating: Endless Happiness

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

[wherestoriescomefrom]

if you had to introduce yourself through four books, what books would be they be? tagged by @metamatar thank u so much and i am v sorry for taking so long with responding to this <3

i am paralized by choices fr, but i think what rhu said in their post was also true that books you read when you're a teenager stick the longest. unfortunately for me one of the major ones was harry potter from which i have relentlessly disassociated over time so now that feels like no way to introduce myself. anyway

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. look i know it's not even my favourite (yeah, shockingly, my favourite is Mansfield Park) one amongst all of the books she wrote, but this was the first one i read, the first one i thought of when i thought ✨romance✨. i shudder to call it enemies to lovers also because the dynamic is so unique and the subject of every author's envy since miss austen dropped this beat in 1813. also you guys have no idea how much of my personality is inspired by this one, i have simply invented myself through the yearning and love that austen put in me. i wrote my master's thesis on emma.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik. this book saved my life during my master's. i had just gone through three years of undergraduate, and anyone who has studied literature will tell you that studying literature kind of sucks the life out of it. to discover it again takes something, and naomi novik entered my life, looked me in the eye, and said, "you're gonna fuckin love this. enemies to lovers, beauty and the beast, language based magic system, everything you love." and i fuckin fell for it, i was changed dramatically, i read all of the new age fantasy fiction of the fantasy renaissance. as u can see im just a romance gal.

Milk Teeth by Amrita Mahale. i hesitate to put this because i only read it this year, but since it's been living rent free in my mind since, i suppose we will just have say it's one of Those Ones. im not even sure if this one is as well written as it could have been but there were so many moments that made me feel like the author was crawling into my own skin, so, you know. the protagonist of the story was so interesting, the premise was so interesting, the dilemma and the political decision was so well framed,,,,, it is simply living in my mind since then.

The House that BJ Built by Anuja Chauhan. its basic and i know everyone's favourite is Those Pricey Thakur Girls but this one also happened to me and it just ushered in new kinds of reading for me. i know this is an unpopular opinion but loving delhi is such a central part of me that it just feels good to read about someone who falls in love in this city. also the protagonist is my absolute favourite, Bonu has my whole heart. i know she has like problems, i remember @whatdoesthefuturebehold and i had like a chat about it, but i can't help it, it's just my jam,,,,

The Truth by Terry Pratchett. sorry for cheating a little but i love this one so much. it's just got the best of pratchett in it, everything i love. meditations on the social contract, a printing press, fun romps with newspapers and the state of our reading public. plus that standard terry pratchett flair of just. militant decency. i know it makes sense as a standalone, but, holy shit, i'd have loved a sequel. i also struggled so much between putting this or tiffany aching, but i think i covered loving witches in Uprooted so you know, figured i'd throw in my love for print cultures.

shoutout to the Book of Indian Folk Tales of which i cannot remember the author. it's lying in my home in lucknow somewhere, i may post about it later. anyway thats me <3. let me tag @readingthenight @half-past-late @infantisimo and @khlur

[knitspiration]

The Classics

For my first post, I thought it would only be fitting for me to post some patterns that I find to be classic, wardrobe staples.

{PetiteKnit - April Cardigan}

PetiteKnit | Ravelry

The April Cardigan is such a staple knit, in my opinion. Although I have not (yet) knit it myself, I've heard nothing but good things about the construction and the fit. I think this is such a perfect cardigan to pair with any outfit. This pattern is considered medium difficulty on Ravelry, and has a size range from XS (91 cm/35.75" chest) to 5XL (158 cm/62.25" chest).

Honorable Mentions: Champagne Cardigan by PetiteKnit, Cardigan No. 7 by My Favourite Things Knitwear, Colett Jacket by Witre Design

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PetiteKnit // Mette (@petiteknit)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kalilah Harry (@kopykalii)

{The Knit Purl Girl - Semper Sweater}

The Knit Purl Girl | Ravelry

A raglan sweater is knitters must-have. It's probably one of the simplest designs to knit, and many designers have their own version, so it was very difficult to decide which one to include. I ultimately chose the Semper Sweater because it's cheaper than the leading pattern designers, from a newer designer that I wanted to highlight, and a bit more elevated than the standard raglan, with it's use of German Short Row shaping at the neck and a double-folded collar. The pattern is considered to be easy difficulty on Ravelry, and has a size range that fits chests from 75 cm/29.5 " to 145 cm/57".

Honorable Mentions: Warm-Up Sweater by Espace Tricot (free), No Frills Sweater by PetiteKnit, and Minna No Sweater by Noriko Ichikawa

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sophie (@the_knit_purl_girl)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suzi (@knitsbysuzi)

{Paulastrickt - Cara Hat}

Etsy

This is a classic modern beanie to keep your ears warm this coming autumn. It also makes for the perfect gift for the holiday season. I think the shaping is so elegant and the double knit construction elevates the standard hat design. This hat will fit head circumferences from 48 cm/19" to 62 cm/24.5".

Honorable Mentions: Oslo Hat by PetiteKnit, Classic Ribbed Hat by Purl Soho (free), Musselburgh by Ysolda Teague

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Paula_m (@paulastrickt)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by MAIRAO | HANDMADE FASHION (@mairao.design)

{Typical Bliss - Typical Slipover}

Typical Bliss | Ravelry

Slipovers are the perfect garment for layering - the absence of sleeves means you won't get too hot during fair-weather days, and allows you to show off a blouse or dress with unique sleeves. They are also great for putting over a basic T-shirt and jeans to be both comfortable and chic. This slipover ranges from size XS (78 cm/31" chest) to size XXL (122 cm/48" chest).

Honorable Mentions: Vest No. 1 by My Favourite Things Knitwear, Stockholm Slipover by PetiteKnit, Open Trails Sweater Vest by Ashley Lillis (free)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by typical bliss (@typical_bliss)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @alexandrasgarn

{The Petite Knitter - Hytte }

The Petite Knitter | Ravelry

There is no better way to showcase your knitting talent than by knitting a colorwork or Fair Isle sweater. The motifs are detailed and beautiful and can vary in complexity. This particular sweater features a boxy fit, which I think is a refreshing change of pace from the standard close-fitting Fair Isle sweater. This sweater will fit chest sizes from 79 cm / 31" to 168 cm / 66".

Honorable Mentions: Twinkle by Midori Hirose, Alpenglow by Andrea Mowry, Gjof by LopiDesign (free)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by weichien 蔚倩 (@thepetiteknitter)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Walaa Emad (@walaaknits)

These 5 patterns are some of my favorite designs for wardrobe staples. I hope you find them as beautiful and timeless as I do. I look forward to posting more pattern round-ups based on TV shows, movies, and specific clothing aesthetics. If you have any suggestions for posts, please let me know in the comments or via the Requests page.

All the best,

KNITSPIRATION

[tjatheconlanger]

Ik heb in 2022 1.568 keer iets geplaatst

Dat zijn 1.568 berichten meer dan 2021!

56 berichten gemaakt (4%)

1.512 berichten gereblogd (96%)

Blogs die ik het meest heb gereblogd:

@literary-squagon

@arend000-blog

@bamsara

@your-favorite-closeted-bi

@florida-irl

Ik heb 227 van mijn berichten getagd in 2022

#:3 - 22 berichten

#:p - 6 berichten

#tjasks - 5 berichten

#thaelich - 5 berichten

#joke - 4 berichten

#here ya go - 4 berichten

#saori - 4 berichten

#genuine - 4 berichten

#rukou'ant - 4 berichten

#yes - 3 berichten

Longest Tag: 71 characters

#made myself in piccrew with the dutch flag behind me because i am dutch

Mijn populairste berichten in 2022:

#5

Hey, hello, I’ve decided to finally create a post to explain who I am.

I am TJA, a part-time writer and conlanger, I write fanfics on Ao3, mainly Mha or Fnaf

I currently have 24 conlangs, a conlang, or constructed language, is a language made by a single person, or a group of people, for one of a few reasons, though mine is mostly fun.

My conlangs in the standard order are:

Seissiric: a germanic language using the cyrillic script, with å and ø. (Ss)

Iaponic: sort of Japanese, though with less kanji. (Ia)

Saori: a germanic-ish language, using its very own script, based on Artifexian’s ‘OA’. (Sa)

Sierien: a germanic language. (Sr)

Sachrai: a mostly germanic language, though with a complicated version of the latin script with way too many diacritics. (Sc)

Mnavokh: a slavic language based on Russian, it has no spaces. (Mn)

Ytr/Jtr: a slavic language, though more similar to Slovenian and the likes. (Yt)

Zhuzhian: a germanic? language with its own script, this one is typeable, thankfully. (Lj)

Helaja’ika: an elvish language, used to have its own script, but it was untypeable, so I dropped it. (HL)

Pegas’ika: basically Helaja’ika, but with the Greek alphabet, and some minor differences. (Pi)

Thaos: based on Fr*nch, don’t know whether I’ve made it easier or not. (Ta)

Thaelich: based on Dutch, which is my native language, though it uses some old-english characters, such as þ ð and æ. (Th)

Rukou’ant: a slavic language with very few characters. (Rk)

Rakhchi: a slavic language based on Russian, thankfully has spaces tho. (Rh)

Lazerna: a germanic language with a script which is a mix between the latin and cyrillic scripts (why did I pick the latin r and slavic г). (Lz)

Ğajaţi: a romance language based loosely on Romanian and Fr*nch. (Gj)

Witase: this is a language which is quite unique imo, but its sentences can be somewhat long. (Wt)

Neùre Tho: a germanic language with a few more diacritics, though it has some small influences from Dutch and Fr*nch. (Nt)

Arhwnith: a weird language with a ton of diacritics and other weird characters, mostly based on slavic. (Ah)

Kije: a language for which I limited my vowels to e i and u, but gave each of them four different lengths. (Kq)

Krawzhish: a polish based language. (Kr)

Dó-chiāu-lièng: a language based loosely on Vietnamese, with it being just the inspiration for it. (Dc)

Syric: a germanic language, simultaneously easier and more complicated than Sierien and Seissiric. (Sy)

Arkhaic: a language with quite some diacritics, though a tad simpler than others, :3. (Ak)

Here’s a sentence in each of my languages, just to show the chaos beauty of them

‘Hello Tumblr and my fellow mutuals, this is just an example’

Het volledige bericht bekijken

6 notities - Geplaatst 12 mei 2022

#4

♾

:3

Like a prophecy fulfilled, I'm a prodigy revealed I'm at the top of any field when I'm choppin' as I wield Now, I'm notchin' up the kills, every block is gonna build A cacophony I've filled up with audible brilliance

8 notities - Geplaatst 19 augustus 2022

#3

A new masterpost to show all of my conlangs, with the way they are written, as it even has Saori in its actual script.

You are also allowed to send an ask with a sentence or two and one of the conlangs, and I'll try to translate it :3

Seissiric - a germanic language with hints of dutch, using the cyrrilic alphabet along with the characters å and ø (Ss)

Seissiri - ein germanishe tål mit ein flugl an niderlåndisch, mit das kirilishen alfabet mit å und ø (Ss)

Сеиссири - еин германише тåл мит еин флугл ан нидерлåндищ, мит дас кирилишен алфабет мит å унд ø (Сс)

Iaponi - a knock-off version of japanese, made by someone with limited knowledge of japanese (Ia)

iaponi-go - Nihon-go no nokku ofu, pashinde ikundo hatanki rādota (ia)

いあぽに語　-　日本語のノックオフ、ぱしんでいくんどはたんぎらあどた　（いあ）

Saori - a germanic-ish language using its very own script based on hangul, sort of (Sa)

Sa’o’ri - un ri ger’mann’nikh avr’vra wyn es’kript yv hañ’gul, sort of (sa)

Sierien - a knock off version of german, that’s all i can really say (Sr)

Sierien - ein knock-off versie van deutsch, das ist alles was ich kann sagen (Sr)

Sachrai - a language isolate, i guess, it uses the latin alphabet with quite a few diacritic marks. screw that, many diacritic marks (Sc)

Sakhrai - u shpraaksistema isolaatia, khai guessa, es arazh as alfabeta latinshi an wea diakriti. shcho es, viela diakirti (Skh)

Saćrà - u šprāksistema isolātí, ćà gúßa, es araž as alfabeta latinši an wé díkriti. ščo es, vìla díkriti (Sć)

Mnavoch - a slavic language, but without any spaces, good luck (Mn)

Mnavokh - slavikskiya, dvizhasaskishchy, udachi (Mn)

Мнавох - славикския, движасаскищы, удачи (Мн)

Ytr - a slavic language, which has gotten quite some influences from slovenian recently (Yt)

Ytr - yazik slavikshi, zhatsi shre zazhzats influenchia v slovenski (Yt)

Jtr - jazik slavikśi, źaci śre zaźzac influenćia v slovenski (Jt)

Zhuzhian - another language isolate, with its very own alphabet, though it has some influences from german and dutch (Lj)

Zhuzhas - an ander linggwa isulat, wo alvabeta zhe shia, zoh talzhe av ae invluenshiae da linggwa at Germaniee et linggwa at Nederland (Lzh)

Ćućác - án ánfėy ÿiñxŵá ícüÿát, wó áÿŵábétá ćé çiá, čöŷ táÿćė áŵ aè ínŵÿuénçiaè fá ÿiñxŵá at Xèyňániée èt ÿiñxŵá at Néfėyÿánf (Ÿć)

Negija’ika - an elvish language, uses the latin alphabet in a syllabary like fashion, the third form of the language (Hl)

Négijá’ika - ika’é élévî, zé’û aùfâbéte látin zû sîlíbárija, sén kún ika’é (Hl)

Helaja’ika ihla - the original version of Helaja’ika, using its very own script, and not bound by being a syllabary (Hi)

Helaja'ika ihla - seda walije u helaja'ika, aahi esdlibetaa, ni buuntaa i silabali (Hi)

ƥelqjqʋıɲq ıƥlq - çeɲg wqlıje u ƥelqjqʋıɲq, gƥı eçɲlȷbeðg, nı bųnðg ı çılqbqlı (ƥı)

Pegas’ika - the second version of Helaja’ika, adopted when i decided to simplify the language by using a single script (this was when i used an ipad) also this uses the greek alphabet (Pg)

Het volledige bericht bekijken

9 notities - Geplaatst 6 juni 2022

#2

Liam was sitting all alone, care to join him?

>Yes

>No

Yes

44 notities - Geplaatst 26 augustus 2022

Mijn #1-bericht van 2022

Ama as well

69 notities - Geplaatst 23 mei 2022

Bekijk je jaaroverzicht van 2022 →

[isaidsstuff]

I saw a video of a throuple and they looked really good together now my brain is rambling-

i love the concept of a relationship way more then i like participating in one. don’t get me wrong i love to feel loved but i hate how complicated everything becomes and i really dislike having to put my trust in another person.

tbh i do get depressed when i haven’t had human interaction.

ok reading that sentence back it’s like “du that’s literally just part of being human”

i really like daydreaming. most of my daydreams don’t involve me. i don’t exist and am nothing but an observer to the world i created. when i do daydream about myself i am more of an imaginary version of me, i don’t act the way i act.

i hate being observed in a relationship. well not quite, i like friendly pda walking arm in arm, putting my head on someone’s shoulder so i can see when they are looking at on their phone…that may be it.

i’m also not really a fan of traditional kissing i’m always too in my head about it. I constantly think i’m doing it wrong or that they don’t like it.

one time after a guy and i kissed he excitedly pressed kisses from my forehead, to the tip of my nose, down to my neck and it was one of the best feelings in the world. it felt like he couldn’t contain his affection and needed to kiss me the way you need to squeeze something you find cute. it made me feel like i was something special, something someone would get excited about.

he turned out to be a not so great guy. looking back i did something’s that i regret because it’s the way he wanted me to act, I was a worse person when i was with him.

the problem is most people just suck. I find everyone unbearably annoying at least sometimes. Liking someone makes people stupid. every time i talk to someone in a relationship i can’t help but roll my eyes at the way they talk about there partners.

but god does being with people sometimes feel great. i’m just not sure it worth the rest of it. being around people just makes me tired most of the time.

anyway my ex best friend texted me today. she wants to ketchup. she text me every couple months wanting to ketchup and i have to sit there and listen to her boring fucking problem and try not to slam my head into the wall as i placidly agree with her. assuring her that she is in fact the best at everything and is in fact right all the time.

the worst part is i’m just as bad! i complain about how stupid people are but I do all those things too. the only difference being that i’m self aware enough to realize that i’m doing it. the problem is knowing you are doing something doesn’t stop you from doing it. I’m a self centered piece of shit just like everybody else.

i don’t know why i can’t forgive other people for just being human and doing the same Annoying shit i do.

also i’m not hot. at risk of sounding hubristic i’m gonna say that i’m decently cute. my face could be worse, but it is also incredibly soft. i have a round face and dimples and it makes me look young for my age. i have what i would consider a unique/distinctive looking face. the two points in traditional beauty standards that i have are that i look young and thin.

if i ever want to look masculine i look even younger. i absolutely do not have the face for short hair! I don’t want to be a guy for some other reasons but if i’m honest it’s mainly that i would make an ugly guy.

people rarely find me attractive in a way that they would actively pursue a relationship with. not that i blame them i’ve turned people down mainly on the basis of how they look. I’ve also turned down people i do find attractive for other reasons so me finding them attractive is not the only quality that is a must, but it is one based on my previous dating history.

I’m also bad at social cues i usually don’t know that someone is flirting with me until they are literally asking me out. i often times need the quiet parts spelled out.

i just want connection and understanding that takes years and a level of emotional maturity that i do not possess.

sometimes i’m so self centered that i think i may be a narcissist but then i look around and it just seems like everyone is like that but i’m the only one willing to admit it to myself. I see people act like sadistic fucks to those around them then not even realizing that’s what they are doing. (i’ve mostly seen that in men being openly sadistic to women/ actively hateful and not even realizing it!)

i think we are all just brain broken. we are all wild animals that grew up in captivity pacing our cages that is at complete odds with what we evolved to do but if we were ever released we wouldn’t know how to survive.

yeah so that is too say that i am currently single…

[azriel-edgemont]

The Sire: Beauregard DeVry

I drove a two-hour round trip to go buy a treadmill off of someone on Facebook Marketplace, and I spent the entire drive talking to myself about Aggie—or more specifically, tonight, his Sire. Now you get to benefit from my highway monologuing.

So, DeVry. Beauregard DeVry. (Formerly Dorian Du Vrai Beau-Regard, formerly Dorian Beauregard). Went by John DeVry when he was teaching at Eton.

He was handsome, once; its written all over his features, though age has shown him little mercy. Though he hasn’t aged a day since he was 56 years old, the centuries he has seen still managed to write themselves into the lines and creases of his face, smudge their fingerprints ever darker under his eyes. He is, now, a tired sort of handsome, with salt-and-pepper hair cropped neatly around a tall, wide forehead, and a square jaw, not striking, nor pretty, but dignified and elegant nonetheless.

As far as vampires go, he’s on the older side–a few centuries, at least. He was born sometime in early 17th century France, and was turned on the cusp of the Age of Enlightenment, but I don’t actually care to get into it any more than that, because I’m not really very interested in French history and I don’t want to get bogged down in details about DeVry when Aggie is RIGHT THERE. This is just to establish three and a half particular details: He’s old, he’s French, and he–and by extension, Aggie–are of a lower generation than might be expected. (I’m thinking he is 9th or 10th, making Aggie 10th or 11th, because I like the idea of my insatiable little hedonist being of a lower generation and giving other vampires conniptions.)

Like all Toreadors, DeVry has an eye for beauty; and like his childe, he finds that beauty in fine art. What DeVry seeks, though, rather than experience or sensation or emotion, is perfection. Precision. The epitome of beauty is a perfectly executed brushstroke, the flawless line of arm and leg in a ballerina’s leap, technical expertise. Beauregard DeVry rarely, if ever, really experienced art through a lens of emotion. Even as a human he was always overly analytical, and maybe didn't really understand why people were enthused over works that lacked technical merit--those were flaws, through and through. The tragedy for him, I think, is that with the enhanced sense that come with vampirism, such flaws stand out to him more than ever.

Where Aggie wants to experience beauty–sink up to his elbows in it, crush it through his fingers and lap up the creative juices trickling down his wrists–DeVry would preserve it behind glass–immaculate, distant, untouchable, even those art forms that require air and movement in order to breathe. Over the years, this seeking of perfection has become a nearly pathological impulse, a flavour of madness, the standard for said perfection ever impossibly higher. This obsession, connected as it is to the Beast, has drastic implications for triggering Frenzies when his perfectionism comes up short.

Rather than finding beauty in the unique nature of a slight flaw, or in the evidence of humanity, it rings out discordant to him. He doesn’t care for breaking new ground or trying something new, the evolution of style that comes with the passing centuries and changing human minds; rather, he knows what art should be, in his opinion, based on his experiences, and continually tries to seek out those he thinks are capable of being molded into that perfect model. DeVry doesn’t want to experience art; he wants to observe it, for art’s own sake.

Because, in his mind, the vagarities of human emotion are an impediment to achieving the platonic ideal of art, DeVry holds a belief that only a Kindred will be able to create it; though he accepts that a Kindred with no taste or aptitude for art in their human life will not become magically adept upon Embrace. Therefore, those he chooses to support and patronize–-like Aggie–-are humans who show an aptitude beyond that of their peers, one which could be molded and shaped and tended to the uppermost extent to which they are capable; and then, if they continue to show promise, Embraced so as to allow them to exceed the limitations of humanity, accessing the ability to create what he thinks of as art–-something divine, to which humanity can only aspire.

To this end, Aggie is something of a failure. His artistry, while technical perfection in practice, is far too human in its expression; while he is capable of singing without his technique being overshadowed by emotion, he doesn’t typically care to. Along with unlocking hidden ability and potential, being Embraced also served to further feed the infusion of raw emotion that Aggie pours into his music, now inspired by the distance he is forced to take from Alastair and Phillip in his new unlife and the impact that his experiences with his heightened senses have on his emotions.

Most of DeVry's protégés that had the chance to meet his standards and be granted the gift, to have their senses and awareness awakened to the true potential of artistic perfection, fall short before they ever reach that stage. This failure, combined with the obsessive manifestation of the Beast in his blood, is often a trigger for his Frenzy--the tragedy there being that the Frenzy looks an awful lot like lack of emotional control. Because of how horrifying he finds it to be so out of control of himself when confronted by a Frenzy, he seeks to avoid it.

As a result, DeVry has only sought approval for Progeny a handful of times in his long life, to mitigate the risk of losing himself in a manner most unbecoming--but this also decreased the likelihood of finding that perfection he is constantly seeking.

Despite Aggie not living up to his expectations post-Embrace, he still harbours a great deal of care and affection for the younger Kindred (in part because Aggie, while affected by emotion more than DeVry cares for, is in fact capable of achieving mastery of his voice that DeVry has seldom heard before). Aggie, for his part, is giddy with the new sensations on offer, and thankful to DeVry for the privilege of experiencing them and the faith that DeVry has always shown in Aggie’s ability. (Another commentary on Aggie’s relationship with music and with DeVry is forthcoming.)

The two share a fairly genial, familial relationship; the core of their disagreements and conflicts tends to boil down to their individual natures. Where Aggie is loud and unabashed, and free with his affections, DeVry is reserved; where Aggie is messy, even sloppy, DeVry is fastidious; where Aggie has a tendency to be emotional, DeVry is cold. If they do have a conflict, it is often smoothed over by Aggie giving DeVry a private concert in which he brings all of his technical skill and expertise to bear, as though to remind DeVry, “This is why you Made me; this is why it was worth it.”

Aggie’s technical skill does, indeed, improve once his ear becomes more capable of hearing the finest distinctions between notes, and he no longer needs to worry about breathing to sustain himself while singing. Beyond that, there's something special and unique about Aggie to DeVry, something that prompts the elder Kindred to risk more and support more than a Kindred his age normally would. (Maybe Aggie looks like his dead wife, and over time that gets twisted around to signify how much more potential he has than any of the others did, like Aggie in the present is superimposed on her in the past.)

Before learning about the Masquerade, Aggie didn't challenge DeVry very often. If he slipped and let emotion colour his voice too much, and DeVry got angry--the beginnings of that Frenzy--he would adjust to make his master happy. He's willful and prideful, certainly, but DeVry also gave him something he had never had before--attention from a "parent" (neglected child of nobility, etc etc etc), which he is terribly loathe to lose. So he learned when to push, when to not, when to sing with technical perfection and when he could let a little more emotion through.

As the years have passed since Aggie's Embrace, he has become very good at reading DeVry, because whether the elder realizes it or not, he is affected by emotion, and Aggie is tuned into that. Appeasement behaviours--giving private performances, demonstrating technical mastery when he knows DeVry is in the audience--have typically been enough to placate him, though in recent years Aggie has noted that DeVry's mercurial reactions have become more volatile. These strategies don't really placate him as much as they used to, and Aggie knows that. It's part of the reason they aren't cohabitating by the end of the 20th century--Aggie can't sing him a song to calm him all the way down, anymore, so he has also started to find ways to put distance between them. It's almost like...dealing with senility in an older relative. Aggie respects DeVry, has affection for him, but is having to manage his swings more and more, and is getting more and more frustrated at the impediment it represents to his own expression. DeVry is like an old man, bewildered that they don't make the one specific candy from his youth anymore, and lashing out in confusion and frustration that no one will just go buy him the damn sweet.

DeVry has been married a few times, once as a human and twice after his own Embrace. His first wife was a ballerina; his obsession with the pursuit of perfection in art has its roots in the way that no other ballerina was ever able to compare to her talent and beauty after he lost her, and has since–-over time, with the erosion of rational thought, and the loss of connection to his more human emotions–-perverted itself. He was never a man who was moved to emotion by beauty, and so rationalized his feelings for her by assuming it was because of her technical merit, when in fact it was something far less logical and analytical than that. But he had no frame of reference for it. And because she was never actually technically perfect--that was just his perspective, his rationalization for his love--everyone else falls short. Even despite the objective perfection of Aggie's technique, DeVry is waiting for someone to make him feel like she felt, and that's never going to happen. There's only so long it can continue to simmer before something has to give in their relationship.

DeVry is currently unmarried, has no mortal descendants, and Aggie is his only living childer.

[chicwishblog]

Chicwish Review: Honest Opinion & Here’s What You Should Know

What is the first thing you do when you come across a new brand online? You are most likely to visit the brand’s website and check the reviews left by other users. A positive review of the brand depicts some level of confidence whereas a negative review creates doubts among prospective buyers. This is particularly true in the case of fashion brands where people remain unsure about the quality of products as returning or replacing fashion products is quite complex.

In today’s dynamic market scenario, brand perception has an important role to play. This is why brands go extra mile to deliver a smoother shopping experience to buyers in order to get a positive review. This is why most people get a link to share their review about the product and the overall shopping experience. If you are looking to buy fashionable clothing either for regular wear or formal wear, Chicwish is one name in the fashion industry that has been winning the hearts of women shoppers worldwide.

Since its launch, Chicwish has let fashion enthusiasts choose from a wide range of apparel in an economical way. At Chicwish, you may probably find anything you can imagine, including swimwear, loungewear, shirts, bottoms, dresses, and lingerie. With little regard for moral or environmental standards, Chicwish is committed to offering attractive, unique designs. The company strives to make luxury affordable for people who care about the environment and fashion.

The internet is full of various Chicwish reviews, which confirms the superiority of the store's offerings. These endorsements show that Chicwish is a reputable business in the online clothing market. Chicwish strives to maintain its leadership by offering everyone fashionable clothing that is cheaply priced.

Chicwish Reviews:

Let's look at some of the most-read Chicwish reviews on the web.

1.       “I just have to see how your clothing fits first! This was a gift for a very special friend for her birthday and she is going through treatments next week for cancer. This pink sweater/coat in PINK will be special in more ways than one. I hope to come back for more. Love your advertising and the pieces that I've looked at. LOVE. There's a lot to consider with all the sizing in different countries and want it to fit another person I am buying for. The reviews didn't have enough information in them to tell anything about sizing to be sure. I know you are targeting a younger age group but don't forget us older ladies like to look just as good!” – Stanetta C.

2.       “Since discovering Chicwish, my mother and I have made at least 5 orders between the 2 of us, and they have never failed to reply quickly and efficiently. I love their designs and their quality is solid, as long as you know what to expect based on the pictures.” – Aria C.

3.       “Finally a skirt that fits great! Not to mention gorgeous. It's beautiful for spring and carries right into the summer for brunch, weddings, etc., or just because. Dress it up or down.” – De B.

4.       “I discovered this website last year and I fell in love with its products, but while reading the reviews on the internet, I wasn't very sure how it would turn out. I eventually decided to order one dress and set myself up for no expectations. I ordered before the holidays and during the vacation time, I didn't check the order status at all. The order arrived at my door in about a month (I live in Finland) and I had to pay customs for it, so please take that into account when ordering. But I must say, I was very impressed with the dress, the quality, and the fit. It became very fast my favorite dress and I will definitely be ordering more from Chicwish :)” – Claudia J.

5.       “At first I was a little cautious, didn't make good experiences with Asian online shops. But the clothing is not only *really* cute (been looking for something like this for ages), the quality and fabrics are awesome too! Takes a few weeks to deliver, but I think it's worth it.” – Kerstin E.

The Conclusion

Whether you are looking for casual clothes or formal wear, Chicwish is one name you can always trust upon.  Chicwish is a leading online clothing store where you can explore all types of clothing at affordable rates.

END OF THE DOCUMENT

[shg-experiment]

I am, fundamentally, torn about this experiment. On one hand, I know that society has systemically brainwashed women into spending incredible amounts of time and money focusing on how they look. It is a way to keep an entire (more than) half of the population preoccupied by how they are being judged, instead of making policies and/or realizing how much they are oppressed. And that’s bullshit. On another hand, I am inspired by hot, sexy, beautiful women all the time! Especially the ones that are hot in their own way, their own power, and emit intelligence and authority along side their hotness. It’s like they aren’t put into any one box that society has for them. They’re in ALL of the boxes. That seems bitchin’.

In one way, making effort into “being hot” by certain standards feels like I’m giving in to… ugh… men… and their views on what makes a woman valuable. And that feels gross. I know that historically, it seems that how women looked (and sex in general, I guess) was one of their only ways to have a sense of “power” in the world. Manipulation feels like an icky word, but it was essentially that. A woman, who had no rights of her own, could manipulate the men around her to secure her place in life… at least temporarily. So does following that logic, in essence, mean that I am dishonoring all of the work and progress that the women before me have made? Women today CAN vote, CAN own a business, own property… all that jazz…

Then why does the idea of manipulating my way through a world that, let’s face it, is still largely run by men, sound so appealing? It doesn’t mean that I won’t also work hard, or have intelligence of my own. It doesn’t mean I have to be walked over or taken advantage of… in fact, I am sure I won’t be. If I’ve learned anything in my years of working, it’s how to walk away from a situation. So I’ll keep that in mind going forward.

This might sound crazy as well, but, well… I wonder if this might lead towards deeper and more authentic relationships. Hear me out- most of society makes snap judgements. I’m not saying it’s right, but it’s what happens. I saw a TikTok video a few months ago about a person who had extreme face tattoos, piercings, and uniquely shaved hair. In this video, they made the point that they use their extreme look as ‘protection’ in a way, because if someone wouldn’t want to get to know them based on what they looked like, it wasn’t the sort of person who they would want to know anyway. If someone was going to judge them so harshly just based on their outward appearance, then they didn’t have to spend the time and energy deciphering if that was the sort of person they wanted to spend time with.

I wonder if I might experience something similar. Not the same, exactly, because my look won’t defy social norms the way theirs does. But… pretty people get judged too. I’m not saying it’d be the same as having my face tattooed like a skull, and I’m not saying that pretty privilege isn’t a thing- but I’m just saying, some people might judge me as shallow, or stupid, or the wrong way to be a feminist- and if that’s what they think, then I probably wouldn’t really want to be friends with them anyway. Plus- through this “journey” (if I can stick with it), I might meet other people who don’t let society’s judgements limit them or label them into any one box.

We’ll see.

Have I convinced myself enough? I kind of have no idea… and it might be quite a bit out of my comfort zone, but I’m hoping I can roll with that. I mean, I’ve been depressed and haven’t had much motivation to do, well, anything. This feels like it might be a way to gamify life a bit. It’ll be like putting on a character, playing the role of a “hot girl”. Making a decision to do something- it’s not what *I* would do… it’s what a hot girl would do! Plus… is it embarrassing? I don’t know, maybe, but I’m living in a different country from all of my family and most of my friends, so what better time would there be to attempt a social experiment of this nature. I guess I just want to see how my life changes. Will I feel any different? Time will tell. But I’m ready to be hot!!

[venussaidso]

Love me some brown skin, all shades on men and women. My favourite is light/dark caramel cause that's my tone and I just like it more. I like being brown.

[itsmaferart]

SxF Chapter 65 · An extraordinary mother·

Warning: This contains spoilers

As I said before, I'm reviewing SxF chapters. But today's chapter was surprising and I needed to analyze it the moment I saw it. Without even expecting it, today I was able to surprise myself with a Plot twist that made me fall off my chair. I clarify, that all this is from my point of view, based on the manga.

After exploring Twilight and Anya in previous chapters, it was Yor's turn.

I love that the opening chapter in the most everyday way. Yor doing the shopping for her family, being in charge of bringing something to her adorable girl. Crunchiest tea Cake!

But Yor's surreal imagination sabotages her again —I see that it is customary for Mr. and Mrs. Forger to make complex and absurd assumptions xD

Again, we return to one of the biggest conflicts that the Yor Briar/Forger character has "Her performance as a mother". From Yor's naive perspective, normal people know how to be normal. They have no problems integrating into society, social roles and they know how to respond to everyday conflicts

Yor's problem is that she overestimates normality, and makes it look like "an ideal of perfection." She feels limited by not coming from a standard family.

What she ignores is that all these people are more or just as insecure as she is. Nobody teaches us to be parents or married wives. These are things that we are discovering as we go and we need a lot of support.

But she and Yuri had no support, only mutual. Two kids alone trying to survive. Added to this, her profession as an assassin.

Unfortunately, except Yuri. Yor has had no support from anyone. Everything changed when she met Loid (Twilight) who has been the first person to support her and see how incredible she is. Of course, also Anya and Bond adds to this.

But, before the Forgers. Yor was resigned to not leaving the comfort zone created, and her co-workers are envious people who like to annoy her because Yor allows it

I clarify that I don't hate Camila. Honestly, I think she's not a bad person. She's just immature and envious. Yor just needs to learn to respect herself and put her aside

And it is at this point, when Endo exceeds my expectations. Yor is incredible, she is strange and unusual, she has unique abilities. But that makes it extraordinary. And it's nice to meet someone (outside the Forgers) who can see this unpredictable nature as something amazing.

To me, everything about the Desmonds is a mystery. They are so inscrutable that it is difficult for me to make an analysis at this point. I really question their role as the "final bosses" of evil. So I'll leave my speculations for futures

This is my face every time I see Yor, in every panel. I fell in love with her too!

Note: If one day Anya and Demiand get married, we already know that Yor and Melinda are going to get along very well xD

Here, Endo was not enough for one plot twist, but two plot twists. A game of volleyball!!

This panel is dedicated to appreciating the supreme beauty of Yor!!!!!

Every time I see Yor being incredible I think: How could I not want to be married to her? Ultimately, Twilight knows the wife he got

Now, I am going to go to the most important points.

Yor understanding that maternity problems are normal. No mother really knows if what she is doing is right or wrong. Children are people, each with their own needs. The best we can do is understanding, and teach them with all the love possible, and especially protect them. Being normal is not synonymous with being perfect. Because normality is a subjective concept.

Yor learning to socialize and get out of the comfort zone. Meet new perspectives. People who can see their strength as something amazing. And they doesn't stop to judge her. This can help her change and stop evaluating herself negatively.

Now, this won't be the only thing I want to talk about in this chapter. But I reserve it for a post that continues it

Melinda Desmod has been a huge surprise for me. I love that Yor has a canon friend.

It is good to see how Yor becomes a more mature character, with great growth. She is learning to function, gaining more self-confidence, and to balance her perception of herself and the world around her.

This is a giant step, for insecure people who are afraid of the world around them

I hope the next chapter continues in this new arc