#literally nothing except the outfits had effort in it

[hyst3r1a-113]

Because @emeraldkyber encouraged this idea (consider this a gift), I present you this

Don't ask what came into my mind when I worked on this, not even I know 😭

[sanstropfremir]

wait tell me more about your undergrad thesis play you did

ok i can't actually say too many details because it will doxx me (the play was deeply specific to the city i went to undergrad in) but i have to lay some groundwork first:

i did not actually choose to do this play. if given actual agency i would not have done this play, it was a bad play

hilariously, not every design program grad actually got to do a final/thesis show. our program only did three shows a year, which meant that a maximum of 3 students per discipline (set/costume/lighting) got to do a show. and usually it was less that that bc there were graduate students and occasionally a professor stepped in if the student crop was weak (it usually was). this is how you obtained a final show (for set design):

duking it the fuck out in a no holds barred semester long competition IN the set design class where the prof pits you against each other in every critique to see who can design the best show according to the director's specifications.

no i am not joking

i was not particularly enthused by any of the show selections in my graduating year (the season is picked in advance by a committee of staff+directors) but i sure as hell am ambitious so i decided i was gonna do preliminary designs for every show. and also interview to try and get a costume design slot, but the department literally stepped in and told me i couldn't design two shows in a year.

anyways. i go above and beyond building prelim models for these three shows, but again i get sidestepped by the department and told that i can't design more than one show, so i have to pick which one i want to do, so i went with the show that would become my final show bc the director was very adamant about working with me.

the play is a REWRITE of the government inspector by nikolai gogol, and that rewrite is being done by the director herself. the rewrite is set in the literal city that my university is in, part of it revolves around a very famous historical landmark

all of this happens a year in advance to the actual show (second semester of my third year, the show's run dates are late second semester of my fourth year), so i have the entire summer and all of the first semester to tidy up the prelim design and get it approved etc etc. here are a select few of some of the insane stories than happened over the time it took to make this show:

the director does NOT finish the script until about a week before rehearsals start

the director invites me to a 'design meeting' that actually turns out to be a private meal at a very expensive sushi restaurant and possibly the most expensive meal of my entire life. the director treats me to some extremely expensive fish and two bottles of sake, which i drink all of. i should point out that i am 21 at the time and the director is anywhere between the age of 65 and 85, no one actually knows. also the director IS LITERALLY MY PROFESSOR

the director will not decide on what she wants on the floor (has to function as both indoor and outdoor space, the floor is also a nearly 30ft diameter turntable (not my choice) so any patterns HAVE to match a circle) and when we finally settle on a mandala pattern she makes me draw FORTY DIFFERENT MANDALAS over a three week period before she decides on one.

i make the props department order over a thousand dollars of fake plants. it takes up a third of my budget, but they are most of the set pieces 🤷‍♀️

the head of shop somehow gets the actual city council to lend us real actual city lampposts. like real real ones made of aluminium and glass and shit. they get wired up with portable dimmer packs and put on small platforms so they both actually for real light up AND roll around the stage

there's a fuckup with the scenic painting class + the rehearsal schedule (the rehearsals are running behind and there are not enough scenic painters) so the mandala painting has to happen in only two days AFTER 10pm. i end up painting most of the mandala myself in those two overnight shifts that go until 4am

oh and there's also a fuckup with the new set design prof that's coming in so i'm literally left without a supervisor for an entire semester while the show is in pre production.

[esamastation]

Shizuroth, part seven

-

First things first: a proper, decent and hopefully fully chest-covering shirt.

Sephiroth has them, and none of them fit. He has, literally, outgrown all his shirts, turtlenecks and jackets, and judging by the looks of it, he'd never bothered to get new ones. Even the stretchiest of them pops stitches when trying to accommodate his shoulders and chest! It's ridiculous! What, was he a little string bean of a man and then burst into a beefcake overnight?

Ignoring the influx of new messages from the mailing lists Genesis subscribed Sephiroth's phone to, he investigates the shops' menu with more detail. It soon proves he definitely has access to clothing stores and he definitely has the money to use them. He also has the means to just requisition a free new uniform from SOLDIER any time he wants, but apparently pressing a few buttons was too much work for the man! Better have your chest out and about than bother with the barest minimum of effort for the sake of personal comfort or public decency, apparently!

So, add laziness to the reasons why Sephiroth's outfit is like that. 

…Or maybe, possibly, some form of executive dysfunction? It might explain the room he's supposed to be living in, which is barely fitting for existing in. On a more thorough look, it really looks like everything was just placed just wherever with no care to how it looked or what the vibes were. It has a very that's good enough feel to it.

Except it isn't! It's awful! The place is barely better than a first year college dorm room! Not that he'd know what those look like, he had his own apartment by then - but still! You can do better, surely!

No, wait, actually - how old is Sephiroth right now?

The bathroom mirror isn't very helpful. Sephiroth has that same androgynous ageless look that Shen Qingqiu has - just much beefier and sorta monochrome. In xianxia terms he could be anywhere from twenty to two thousand, hah! Though from what he recalls of the game, weren't everyone kinda young? Old for JRPG, what with only one teenager in the main character group! But still way under thirties. And this is way before that….

Ahhh he misses fan wikis! He needs thoroughly documented timelines! He needs a birthday! He needs a character ID - he needs -!

Actually, Sephiroth should have some kind of ID, being an evil megacorp employee, right? An employee card, or what a SOLDIER might have. Dog tags?

Quickly he begins rummaging about his person again.

There are no dog tags, but Sephiroth does have a wallet and a bunch of cards. Including a Shinra Employee, Personnel Medical Information, Shinra Medical Research and Shinra Military cards. And Sephiroth is twenty-one, apparently. 

That's… hmm.

Yeah, he has no idea what to do with that - but it explains the awful dorm room vibe! Clearly the guy didn't have experience with how to live. And who knows how long Sephiroth has been living on his own anyway, and where and how he lived before. Plus, with his schedule, he can't be spending much time at all in this room. None, apparently, if he could manage it. And no wonder! The place is soul-suckingly awful.

Well, that's not how he's going to live, that's for sure. The shirtless life is not for him!

Hmm… ordering clothes and stuff without even seeing what they look like first, though…

Snapping the flip phone shut he goes to investigate the laptop, hoping that maybe they did figure out web sites after all. It turns on with gratifying swiftness and reveals itself to be a Windows knock-off from the nineties or something like that - with just about the same level of security. It doesn't even ask for a password! Convenient.

In a glowing example of video game redundancy created by developers being lazy, it has the exact same apps as his phone, just with a bigger keyboard. No internet, no websites, no games, nothing. And judging by the single folder on the computer, the only thing Sephiroth ever does with the thing is write mission reports. How sad.

It almost makes him miss Zhongdian.

The shops' menu comes with pictures, thankfully, so that's something - and it's conveniently hooked straight to his wallet, so all he has to do is  press buy and the thing is done, just like that! Videogame shop mechanics for you. He has no idea how the purchases would be delivered, maybe he will have to go pick them up at the building lobby or something, but whatever! He needs shirts, curtains, carpets, a couch, and a proper damn tea set to start with! And maybe, if he really goes crazy with it, some house plants!

Guessing at his size by using the tags on the shirts that don't fit, he puts in some dozen clothing orders for several different sizes to start with - and it barely makes a dent in his wallet. Then he scrolls through the available furniture in another store until he finds a couch big enough for Sephiroth's huge ass body to actually lie down on. Tea set is harder, there isn't one that matches his criteria, but he finds a home decor shop that sells teapots and sets of cups that will do for a start. Carpets are harder - who the hell decided that black ceiling was good for anyone - and ultimately he ends up choosing dark forest green.

And then he finds out that there are no live plants to be had in Midgar. There's a shop that sells life-like plastic replicas… but just looking at it makes him feel so sad. Because, yeah, right, he forgot.

Life-sucking megacorporation. Literally. The whole city is surrounded by dead desert, and you probably just can't keep houseplants alive in Midgar. Because Shinra is literally draining the lifeblood of the planet, and only the tragic heroine with mysterious lineage can make the flowers grow.

And he's her ultimate, poisonous antithesis. Yeah.

Depressing.

Leaning away from the disappointment of a computer, he heaves out a long sigh from Sephiroth's deep chest. The idea that he might never see living bamboo again makes him feel vaguely nauseous, and with a grimace he rests a hand on Sephiroth's washboard abs.

Energy sits like an undigested mass in his guts. He's all but bloated with the lifeblood of the planet. Ugh. He should really do… something with it, huh?

And then the awful Feng Shui hits him in the face.

"Ah," he mutters unhappily, eyeing the room. He can almost see the energy pooling in the middle, stagnating. That can't have been helping with Sephiroth's situation. He can't do much about it yet, not without more furniture - but he can at least move the damn bed and redirect the energy elsewhere!

Which he does.

By nearly flipping the metal frame of a probably really heavy bed over and almost throwing it into the wall.

Ah.

Right.

Super SOLDIER.

Tentatively he crouches down and tests his strength on the bed. By very carefully picking it up. Which is something he can do, apparently! It doesn't even strain him - he just puts his hands under it and lifts. Just like that. Amazing.

… Is this what it's like to be Liu Qingge? Wow.

He kinda feels sad for Liu-shidi now, for never getting to see - and fight - someone like Sephiroth. Poor Liu-shidi, always looking for a strong opponent to test himself against, always asking his useless shixiong for a spar, and here is his useless shixiong, in one of the greatest fighters in video game history - utterly out of reach! What a shame!

He arranges the bed away from the doorways and sits down on it with a heavy sigh.

Oh, but he will really miss Liu-shidi. The knowledge that he will never see him, or anyone else from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect again… it really is a shame. He didn't get to do enough in that life - but at least Liu Qingge survived! Hopefully… hopefully his life will be good. Hopefully Luo Binghe would forgive Cang Qiong Mountain Sect for their involvement with Shen Qingqiu, and they'd all live long, good lives… without him.

Ah, probably best not to dwell on it. He'd got a new transmigration, a new body and a new life to adjust to! New villain to embody - and a new doom to circumvent.

Kicking off his boots, he puts Sephiroth's feet up and into a lotus position, draws a breath and begins to see what he can do for the man's internal energies. Can cultivation practices be applied to Final Fantasy VII Mako and magic?

Time to find out.

[tmntxthings]

Haiiii! I was just wondering if you could do rise!turtles x gn!reader who has trouble eating? Like they don’t have an eating disorder, their body just doesn’t like to have food in it and makes them feel sick, so they take medicine to help them eat? Maybe it’s how the boys react to finding this out?

Food Issues

author’s note: lovely anon thank you for requesting and sorry for the wait <3 hopefully this is what you were thinking of c: this one hit a little close to my heart

warnings: eating issues, fluff, angst, comfort, unedited

—————————————————————————

Raphael

Raph had kicked everyone out of the lair that night (except for dad ofc) because tonight was date night and Raph had been cooking up an idea, quite literally cooking hehe, he was fixing you an absolute bangin’ meal (and no it’s not pizza!)

He had searched up a whole bunch of date night menus and settled for something on the easier side since he wasn’t super confident in his cutlery skills. Chicken Alfredo pasta was on the menu tonight at the lair and it was finally done! Raph set the table, poured some soda in glasses and also took out some water too (options!)

Raph couldn’t stop his smile as he heard you call out, “Raph?” He looked back at the set table, he had chosen to sit the two of you closer together rather than across the table like the movies. Plates full of pasta! It all looked perfect, “Hey! I’m coming,” he said as he went to you

You were beautiful everyday but today in particular Raph noticed how much effort you had put into yourself for date night, you smiled warmly at him, your hair looked so soft, as it framed your face, you were glowing in a stunning outfit and Raph pulled you in for a hug, happy to see you

“You’re taking my breath away,” Raph said twirling you in a circle as he hugged you tight, you blushed “you do the same!” You said as you hugged him back just as tightly, “so date night?” you asked as he set you back on your feet

“Yes! I’ve got a bunch of stuff prepared,” Raph beamed as he took your hand and led you to the table, “I made us a meal first, then we can do whatever you want! I’ve got movies or games, or anything else you can think of!” he was so excited as he pulled out your chair for you, “thank you” you smiled as he sat down next to you

“Wow Raph! This looks amazing!” And it really did, your heart panged knowing you wouldn’t be able to eat all of this. Much less it would probably be a couple of bites since you hadn’t even thought to take your medicine today, you were in such a rush once you looked at how little time you had left after getting dressed and doing you hair, you’d spent about 2 hours in the shower!

Raph smiled at your compliment and started to dig in, he hoped it tasted as good as it looked and to him nothing seemed out of the ordinary, he felt relief he really didn’t want to mess up date night, the conversation flowed as Raph ate, and you pushed the food around with your fork, taking occasional bites hoping Raph wouldn’t notice

But since Raph had cooked this meal he was very much aware that you weren’t eating, “is it not good?” he sighed putting his fork down, he had cleaned his plate and you still had more than half of the portion of pasta he had put on your plate, “oh no Raph, that’s not it at all, your pasta is really good,” you tried reassuring him but he didn’t believe you, even as you forced another bite down

“I’m sorry I just, I’m not hungry… I didn’t take my meds before I left,” you admitted to him and now he looked a little concerned, “what do you mean Y/n?” You put the fork down and turned to him, “I don’t really eat much, so when I do I need to take this medicine or else I get really sick” and as soon as you said the word a wave of nausea rolled through you. You shot up to your feet, “Raph” desperation in your eyes, “I’ll be right back, I’m really sorry”

You held your hand to your mouth as you booked it to the nearest bathroom, almost not making it as you gagged into your hand, then slumping down to your knees as you held the toilet bowl and puked the few bites of alfredo you had eaten, tears streaming down your face, you had totally ruined date night and hurt Raph’s feelings on top of that!

You heard a soft knock on the door before Raph entered the bathroom and another onslaught of puking came up, he held your hair back and rubbed circles on your back, trying to soothe you, “Y/n you could’ve told me, I wouldn’t have felt bad! Especially now since the consequence is you hurting,” the both of you stayed in the bathroom for a while, until the puking finally subsided and you were trembling with dried tear stains down you cheeks

“I’m sorry,” you said after you had rinsed your mouth out with water and brushed your teeth (yes you had a spare toothbrush at the lair) “Nothing to apologize for Y/n, I just want you feeling better,” Raph hadn’t known anything about your eating issues and once you had told him, all those other times of hanging out and you rarely eating clicked, it seemed so obvious now

“Do you wanna go lay on the couch and watch movies?” he asked, holding your hand and smiling softly down at you, “I’d love that,” you nodded and the two of you cuddled up watching Lou Jitsu

Leonardo

“Say what?” Leo asked, needing a repeat of all of what you had just said, you groaned of course he’d make you repeat everything, “I’m not feeling so good today, but it’s not a big deal you don’t need to come and check on me,” you said into the phone. It was silent, “hmmm I think I shall come over, to help in your hour of need!”

“Leo, did you not just hear me?! I said-“ Leo cut you off and you groaned inwardly, “yes yes I know, but wouldn’t you feel way better way faster if your boyfriend was there taking care of you?” He didn’t know why he had to spell this out to you, he was coming and that was final! Of course he’d be there even if it was some crazy bad sickness

“Okay you stubborn blue turtle!” You quipped not even knowing why you dared try to stop him in the first place, once he got an idea, Leo was a force to be reckoned with, an unstoppable train wreck, “do you want me to bring anything in particular? what exactly is wrong?” his voice went serious towards the end, “it’s just my stomach,” you tried to sound light but Leo replied, “isn’t the stomach like a second brain or something?!” he wondered how much truth you were telling him and if he should be more worried

“I’ll be there soon,” Leo said in a hurry and promptly hung up. You fell back in your bed, you had been spewing up your guts all morning and when Leo had called wanting to go out and do something you had to say no, to which he whined and demanded for a good reason as to why, to which well it was already stated previously… thankfully the nausea had passed but your stomach was cramping and you knew you were dehydrated

“This is the worst,” you said feeling emotional as tears welled up in your eyes, sometimes you wished life was simpler, that you could eat whatever you wanted without consequences and didn’t have to constantly think about when your next refill of medicine would be ready, you blew out a breath telling yourself not to cry, it would be your luck that Leo would burst through the door the second the tears started falling

“Alright I’ve got Jupiter Jim and Lou Jitsu, what do ya wanna watch first?” It was crazy how you just knew he would barge in as soon as you had thought of the blue devil, you smiled as you sat up on your elbows looking at him, arms full of movies. “You pick,” and so he had Jupiter Jim Saves the Galaxy 4 in and running in no time

He got into bed with you, lying back on his shell as his arms went back, one behind his head, and the other pulling you in close. You followed suit snuggling into his side and making his heart melt into goo. When the first movie ended, neither of you got up when the credits started rolling and Leo asked, “do you know why your stomach hurts?”

He was peering down at you and you were looking up at him through your lashes, “yes..” you said softly when you didn’t continue Leo waited, “i ate something awhile ago and it didn’t agree with me, but I’m used to it” you sighed

He patted your tummy gently, “that sucks” and he looked so sad while saying it but you stifled a laugh, his word choice was always so straightforward, “yeah it really does” still trying to keep it together, you shook your head at him before sliding out of bed

“What I meant to say was..” Leo said watching you go to the tv, but you waved your hand telling him it was alright, “I know what you meant,” you gave him a smile then turned back to the movie selection.

“Alright you had your movie now my turn but I’ll be nice and let you choose out of my two options,” Leo smirked waiting for his two choices, though if he was a betting turtle… “let me guess,” he said as you simultaneously said “twilight.” Leo threw up his hands he had just known that was your first pick. Then you continued on your own “or sonic the hedgehog?” Leo thought for a split second “too easy, BLUE DEVIL!”

Donatello

Donnie knew something was up with you, because it just didn’t seem possible to him that you had only eaten one meal together in the entire span of your relationship which was 6 months 21 days 7 hours and 8 seconds.. 9.. 10 well you get the point, the two of you were going strong. But only a one, singular time you ate?

Yes, according to his calculations he should’ve seen you eat something 3 out of the 6 months at least, this seemed to be a big staple in relationships, well the internet said so. Donnie spun around in his chair thinking a mile a minute. He wondered if perhaps you could be embarrassed to eat in front of him, that seemed to be legit because a lot of people anonymously confided to that on the wide web.

But Donatello had continued to do research on this because first of all he didn’t like having only one option, six more and he’d start feeling like he was getting somewhere, by the third he came across illnesses or more along the line of stomach issues, he frowned why did he have a sinking feeling… maybe it was just the thought of thinking that this could possibly be true and that made Donnie sad

Yeah that was it, just the possibility because surely…hopefully you didn’t suffer from this, he wouldn’t wish it on anyone, and for you, he winced now he needed to know the remedies, just in case of a worse case scenario. Donnie stopped spinning, and continued researching.

“Y/n?” Donnie said quietly into his phone, “Heyy Dee, I just finished up some studying and was about to head over!” Well he could wait til you got here, it was probably a conversation better in person. “Okay sounds great,” though to you Donnie sounded far off, like he hadn’t really heard what you said

“You okay Donnie?” and he blinked, gripping the phone tighter, “just contemplating some things,” he managed to say, he predicted that he was gonna have to spill over the phone rather than what he wanted to do, wait for your arrival to go down on his knees and ask a million questions and then comfort you with a million solutions

“Contemplating what?” You became very serious because you had a feeling something was wrong, “what’s going on Donnie?” the seconds of silence broke as Donnie sighed into the phone, “Y/n, I’d much rather have this conversation in person but I think I’ve made the situation seem a lot more dire than it really should be”

You listened intently, as Donnie kept going, he was on a roll, in a monologue, “I was doing some research on what couples usually do together and a lot of that had to deal with eating and it made me realize you don’t eat in front of me and then I continued to research as to why some people don’t eat in front of others,”

He took a deep breath and continued, “among many other options one stuck out to me, stomach issues in lament terms, and I think this is the reason why but I want to be wrong, I want you to tell me I’m wrong but even if I’m right I want you to know that they have solutions out there and you don’t have go through this alone!”

The line went quiet as Donnie calmed himself, and went back to steady breathing, “…Y/n?” He winced wondering if he had just metaphorically dived head first off the London bridge. “I’m still here, you just amaze me sometimes” you said warmly now that you had caught up to speed with what was eating at Donnie’s mind. “You’re right, I do have said issues and I already have medicine that helps, it still hurts at times though,”

Donnie smiled in relief no jumping off of bridges, “we can talk about it more when you get here and hopefully with the help of science we can figure out a better solution than the medicine you’re taking,” you smiled tears in your eyes, of course he would do everything in his power to help you the second he found out.

Michelangelo

“Alright!!! Pizza’s here” Mikey hollered but it wasn’t needed because everyone was already waiting at the table. “About time!” Raph complained as he eyed the boxes Mikey was carrying hungrily. “It was a new delivery person, they kept walking back and forth past the alleyway,” Mikey laughed as he placed the boxes on the center of the table.

Everyone was immediately reaching for the first box, opening it up and letting the aroma waft through the lair. “Smells so good,” Mikey’s mouth watered. Grabbing two slices, one for him, one for you before heading further down the table at where you sat.

“Gotcha a slice!” Mikey smiled as he handed you the plate. “Thanks Mikey, though I’m not really hungry” you smiled back at him, he was so kind you thought, always thinking of others.

“But you’ve been at the lair all day today!” Mikey said confused on how you weren’t absolutely starving like he was, like Raph was, like all of them were. You shrugged wanting to move past the topic, you hadn’t thought Mikey would think anything of it because it was your usual excuse!

“When did you last eat?” Mikey asked after swallowing a bite of pizza. He was looking at you with worried eyes. “I had something yesterday..” you admitted softly and by something you drank some water and managed to get down a granola bar.

Mikey was frowning, “don’t humans have to eat three times a day?” and you nodded, he finished off his pizza and thought, “do you not like pizza???” It hurt his heart to say, he couldn’t believe that they had someone out there who didn’t like pizza it was just too good, but maybe that’s why you never ate at the lair, the menu here was mostly different varieties of pizza.

“It’s not that I don’t like it,” you said “I just don’t have the appetite for really anything” you sighed to yourself. You guessed there was no point in lying, Mikey would’ve found out eventually the more the two of you hung out. “That can’t be good!” Mikey’s heart was hurting in a different way now, he couldn’t imagine not ever being hungry

“I get hungry sometimes” you tried to explain, “I just feel awful afterwards and it usually comes right back up..” it was pretty gross to talk about especially at the table with food around, but Mikey listened intently with sad eyes, “is there anything I can do?” he asked wanting to help if possible

Gosh he was so sweet, you smiled, “I can go back to my place and take some medicine that usually helps” Mikey stood wanting to come along, “I’ll go too! I’m pretty sure we’ll need more pizza anyways”

The two of you looked down the table to see four empty boxes, the only slice that had survived was sitting on your plate! You giggled the turtles sure had been hungry, “Yeah” you agreed, “and this time I’ll pay because I wanna get my favorite!”

“You have a favorite pizza?!” Mikey exclaimed, “well yeah when I do get a little peckish I’ll buy a supreme pizza with stuffed crust,” Mikey was licking his lips, “sounds delicious!” and so the two of you left the lair, talking about other favorite foods, Mikey was making a list in his mind, that way he’d always have a least something at the lair you would want to eat

[fleetwood-cheese]

Phantom Thief outfit breakdown: pt 4

This is a continuation of my previous post and series regarding my opinions on the phantom thieves' metaverse costumes, prompted by a poll by @waywardsalt. I will like all of these together as they're finished.

Akechi - Ann - Makoto - Futaba - Yusuke - Akechi 2

Next on the docket is Sumire, as her outfit is another I have very strong opinions on.

My main gripe with Sumire's outfit is that, by and large, its NOT her costume, as thus her idea of justice personified, its JOKER'S. The real-world reasoning for this is because she's the mascot and marketing character for Persona 5 Royal specifically and thus must match the promotional material, which is the thematic black and red, but it does drive me up the wall that this character, whose entire arc is learning to be and embrace herself and not cling to idealized versions of the people she loves as things to mimic and mold herself into, has a costume based entirely on another character's costume. This outfit tells me nothing about her except that she admires Joker and is probably romanceble.

Firstly, I would make efforts to incorporate an additional motif to her overall design inspiration. Her design is largely lacking them as it follows Joker's theme but lets go of many of his gentleman thief and Arsene Lupin inspirations in its desire to be more feminine. My preference is either for more fairytale/Cinderella motifs, to match her persona, or to add an element of the black swan from swan lake, as it would be a nice bit of foreshadowing to the way she's pretending to be Kasumi for confidence and validation, like how Odile impersonates Odette to charm the prince.

I would change up the leotard a bit. As it is, it's very basic, which I think is a disservice since we see her prettier leotards for competitions. I would add the skirt and some of the filigree decorations of her competition leotard, which only appears very briefly as Sumire mostly wears Kasumi's pink one instead of her own blue, and which provides some delicacy and a nod to her status as a gymnast to the outfit, as well as tying her to Cendrillon stylistically.

If you wanted to lean into the black swan motif, you could instead have the leotard incorporate feather embroidery or an edge that looks like primary feathers (the stiff ones, not loose like down).

I would also make the stockings a lighter color and make the ribbons on her shoes more obvious and climb higher on her legs. They are an interesting detail that gets lost against the similar color of the tights, which is really a shame, as they tie in nicely to her position as a rhythmic gymnastic specifically, which we can tell she is because her of her dance-like routines and the involvement of the ribbon over elements such as the bar or trampoline. Again, it would also play nicely into a ballet and specifically a swan lake theme. I also don't love the heels but I don't have anything specific in mind to replace them, so they can stay for now.

If you want a really big change, I would go with a color palette overhaul. If you incorporate more blues or pinks over the red, or the violet that's her literally code name, I think it would freshen her up and make her stand out a little more. Maybe you could even lighten her base color to a grey or a very dark purple if you really want to drift from game colors. I'd say go all the way and make the black elements white, but that wouldn't contrast well enough against Maruki's palace enough to stand out and would make her monochromatic in a way equally bad to the monochromatic she is now.

Overall, most of my problems with this outfit stem from the fact that it has so little of her personality (or even Kasumi's) and so much of Joker's for branding reasons, and think that the incorporation of another theme or a change in color palette would really do it some justice. If they had acknowledged that her outfit was modeled after Joker's and tweaked it during her second (true) awakening, I would have been happy with that, but they didn't. I rank her 9th place out of 10 outfits and a score of 2/10 overall.

[decepti-thots]

knowing almost nothing abt the comics industry I've no idea how likely this actually is, but; is it possible Hasbro hasn't granted the the license to do tf comics to anyone else bc they're setting up their own in house comics company (Hasbro having their own in house animation studio sets just enough precedent for this thought to refuse to stop haunting me)

Possible? In the literal sense, sure; Hasbro are a multibillion dollar entertainment behemouth, and there would be nothing stopping them from doing so.

Realistically? No chance, IMO.

American comic markets of the sort Transformers naturally occupy given the assumed demographics at play- the ~22 page monthly release that comic shops have a near-monopoly on- are infamously a money pit that is dying by slow agonizing degrees, and even if you are the most successful non-big two publisher (so not Marvel or DC) out there, all that means is that you aren't actively going broke. (Hey, did we all see the news about IDW, by the way?) The average "successful" monthly release American comic sells jack shit compared to other industries, tbh. Marvel, in the 80s and early 90s, could leverage an issue of X-Men into sales of literally millions with the right PR boost*. Now, in a post-superhero movie world where superheroes are the default mode of pop culture, they're lucky to hit 100,000. Very lucky. You're more often seeing even some of the biggest names getting 50k or less shifted a month. For a non-big two company, you're looking at under 30k for your biggest hit a lot of the time. The exceptions are notable largely for being exceptions. (Skybound, I'll note, has had a couple: Invincible is the most notable.)

(*well, OK, the 90s also had the speculator boom which eventually caused many issues later on, which accounts for part of this. but big name comics were still selling much better before that becomes a factor, and it does not account for all of it.)

To make breaking into an industry in these dire straits worth it, you have to be sure you can compete with the biggest (non big-two) players, because anything less is a huge amount of time and effort and coordination for scant profits at best and losses at worst. (Comics are a pain in the ass to produce, at least comics of that sort; any given issue will have at least a writer, an artist, a colourist and a letterer. Many will also have some or all of the following: an interiors artist doing just pencils, an inker, a dedicated colour flatter, a layout designer, backup artists and writers...) And. Well. Why would you? That's a bad deal! Plus, Hasbro would have to pump out quite a few series to make it worth it, and while they do theoretically have the IP to do so, they've never focused that much on comics and would be starting from the ground up for most of those franchises in an industry where again, "success" does not look like a lot of money. (And they haven't even pulled all their licenses from IDW; many of their IPs still sit happily with other publishers with no sign of that changing.)

The flipside to this is the place where American comics are doing much better; publishing graphic novels in bookstores, not monthly releases in comic book stores. But if you have a big, recognizable IP, the thing is, now suddenly the traditional publishing industry handles that. Sure, there are dedicated comics publishers in that sphere, but if you have a guaranteed winner of a pop culture franchise, HarperCollins and the like are interested. And there is no reason not to go with one of the big five conventional book publishers then, because they have SO much infrastructure in place that it would take you years to even begin to catch up... and you won't anyway, because that infrastructure exists because they publish so many books a year that they can sustain massive publishing empires that make publishing those graphic novels comparatively trivial, which no specialist publishing outfit can hope to reach at a smaller scale.

What it boils down to is: getting into the comics industry when you don't have to is a bad idea and everyone knows it. Outsourcing to the people already established is overwhelmingly the better option. If you're doing monthlies, anything else has a 99% chance of failing, and even if you manage it, you now have a ton of work and minimal profits. (Marvel doesn't make money on comics. It makes money on Literally Everything Else. Its IP makes money, it's just that Marvel's IP is historically generated through comics.) And if you wanna do graphic novels and you have recognisability already, book publishers are the obvious way to go.

Nah. They'll charge a publisher money for the license and then, if it goes tits up, all they've lost is the hypothetical profit that success would have given them, and at least they can still pocket their fee. Film and animation are different because they can bring in big money on a scale comics can't match.

As always, I recommend the Twine essay "The Problem With Comics" for a deep dive into the historical issues that caused this situation in the American comics industry.

[itmeblog]

THERE WAS LITERALLY NOTHING STOPPING ME FROM WRITING FAN FIC ABOUT MY OWN SHIT!!

FUCKING NOTHING!!!!

(Maybe because I created this world it's canon now? But that is 1001% not my concern nor my problem)

Nova was alive. The pulse that ripped between her temples and settled angrily behind her eyes informed her as much.

She groaned, reaching in vain for memories from the night before. There were flashes: a bar, a party, another bar, a man, possibly a third bar and then…nothing. The rest of the night was ash and dust. She reached out for the glass SAWA should have left on her night stand and knocked something over sending shards of pain dancing in the space between her eyes.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.” She ground her face into the pillow. It smelled of something sweet, herbs the people on this planet used to keep pests away.

“Fuck.”

Please be a hotel.

She couldn’t take another morning of awkwardly running into the members of a family of someone she could only vaguely remember.

Nova gathered what pieces of herself she could manage. Her mouth was dry, her head was attempting a revolt from her neck, and spending the morning retching in whatever passed for a toilet here seemed a half-decent idea. It only got worse as she sat up.

The room was sparse, just a bed really. Her clothes were strewn across the floor, mixed with an outfit Nova didn’t recognize, all sequins and scarves. A screen sat nestled into the far wall and flickered silently through a morning report, a perky looking reporter sang the GU’s praises in the subtitles that scrolled across the bottom.

A hotel room.

Thank God.

Nova’s attention landed wearily on the woman sleeping beside her. What had happened to the guy she’d been with? Had she ditched him? Wandered off and found better company? She tried to remember but all she could recall was him pinning her to a wall, the heat of his body pressed against hers and the fleeting thought, hazed by brandy and something bitter she’d been offered to smoke, that he wasn’t enough to silence the thoughts in her head.  

Maybe the woman had succeeded where he’d failed. Nova wasn’t sure. She couldn’t remember this woman at all.

That was supposed to worry her. Lulu would be concerned.

Nova shut the thought away with a viciousness that made her stomach pitch.

As it turned out, there was a proper restroom, though a prerequisite for puking was actually having eaten something in the first place, so it was really more about form than efficacy. Nova sent prayers to a porcelain alter, a thought that teased a near hysterical laugh from her throat.

God, she was tired.

She picked up her clothes, showered, and left her companion to sleep off whatever had happened the night before.

“Hey.” Nova leaned heavily against the front desk she only half-remembered approaching, rubbing her fingers against her temples as she reached for words.

“Yes?” The person behind the counter, some alien with six eyes that blinked asynchronously in a way that made the impossible task of focusing on where to look, harder still.

“I—, uh, shit, I don’t even know the fucking room.” She turned around like that might somehow make it clearer, but she distinctly remembered taking a lift. She was fucking this up. Breathe. New tactic. “I’m Nova. Did a Nova sign in a room yesterday?”

The receptionist typed something, every key stroke hit like an axe between Nova’s brows.

“Last name?” Thunder.

“Don’t have one,” except the art of opening her mouth properly had escaped her and everything had come out in a continuous nearly indecipherable donaveone. Which after receiving several blinks Nova repeated to marginal success.

“Mmm, there was a Nova NoStar.”

She cringed. “NoStar?”

The clerk nodded, well, sort of nodded. Bobbed. They had no neck or equivalent thereof.

“Goddammit,” her hands returned to her temples, her elbows to the counter, the effort of keeping herself upright just a bit too much when she had to deal with this shit. “Yeah, NoStar. I’d like to pay, yesterday and today.”

She’d have to burn this planet off the list. How fucking stupid did she have to be to give her real name? Sure, there were probably millions of Nova NoStars out there but Jeanne would find a way. Fuck.

Nova paid, the blaring of the screen as her transaction went through made her want to dash her head against the wall.

“Is there anything else you need?”

Nova blinked, waiting for the words to settle in her head and mean something. “Need? Oh, uh, yeah, fuck, is there someplace to get breakfast around here?” She glanced at the sun that filtered in through the small window by the receptionist’s desk. “Or lunch?”

The directions she’d received sent Nova to a small food stand that smelled of grease and the promise of revival. She couldn’t read the menu and simply pointed and was handed something that might have been bread and some sort of meat, along with a bottle of water. The man who ran the stand was some flavor of human, though Nova could hardly be bothered to parse his existence. Modified, maybe?

She tried not to look too hard at what he’d given her. It undulated a bit if she stared at it too long, like it wasn’t quite dead despite the steam wafting from it. The first bite reminded her that she hadn’t really eaten the day before and the thing was gone before she knew it. She licked the oil from her fingers and set on the water.

Thank god for small miracles. She felt halfway human.

The traffic of the world sang through the air above her, in large ships belching black into the skies and buffeted her from all sides in lower forms of travel, things with wheels and rails and low flying capabilities. Galactic Union banners waved high overhead. Somewhere a commercial played calling for people to sign up for positions at their embassies.

The Galactic Union: Be part of something bigger.

Nova didn’t recognize this part of the city. It was cramped and crowded, two things Nova actually liked while she was working, but now that she was simply eating and drinking her way through her savings, was simply another obstacle that teased the remainder of her headache from the corners of her mind.

That and with food and water sustaining her, what little of her mind that was able to rouse for non-essential activities busied itself chiding her for her stupidity or cycling through all the things she could have done to save Lulu.

If only she’d been faster.

If only she’d noticed sooner.

If only she wasn’t such a fucking idiot.

If only she hadn’t listened.

Nova, stay put. The words rang clear as a bell between her ears. And then she was there again, frozen. Watching.

Lulu smiled. The skin at the corner of her eyes crinkled in concern, for Nova or herself, Nova didn’t know.

Then Lulu was gone.

The air around Nova was too thin, her pulse was a thready hum. She walked faster as if that might somehow put some distance between herself and the memory. A horn blared and the world rocketed into focus as a vehicle stopped just short of ramming her full speed and settled instead for banging into her leg just enough that her palms slammed into the hood to keep her steady.

Nova stared, wide eyed at the driver, her breaths coming in pants.

Wasn’t this what she’d wanted?

Why hadn’t they been driving faster?

Why did they stop?

The curses that filtered in through her translator were colorful and fantastical. Her bottom lip quivered as tears pricked the back of her eyes.

Lulu wouldn’t want this for me.

Her hands flew away from the hood as if she’d been burned. “Sorry,” was all she offered as she hurried away, her leg protesting at her speed after enduring that abuse. The driver’s curses followed her until she turned a corner and pressed her back against the wall of some towering building. The stone dug into her back, rough and painful, and real.

Her hands shook with leftover adrenaline.

“Fuck.”

She was going to cry. She couldn’t keep doing this.

“Lulu wanted you to live, you fucking idiot,” she whispered. “How could you forget how to do the one goddamn thing she wanted you to do?”

[blackjackkent]

Continuing Hector's terrible day by logging back into the game and IMMEDIATELY having him get mocked by a random goblin guard for having fallen for the warg shit trick:

Anyway, going to try to figure out where Halsin is being held. The quest marker is fairly vague so I think this is going to require asking around.

"A druid? Can't be sure - got one of 'em chained up below, though. Just follow the hollerin'."

Sounds promising and suggests he is indeed inside the corrupted Selune temple/prison, which is just great because Hector wants to be literally anywhere else right now.

Also implies that the correct direction is downwards, which doesn't clear up as much as you might think. This place is a real maze; perhaps Selune is also the goddess of not being able to find your way anywhere.

Another interesting encounter - a Zhentarim trader (who Hector, with a passed history check, recognized by the logo on her outfit), who had some potentially useful insight:

"Goblins sell the best prisoners - cheap, quiet, and eager to be elsewhere. Till this crowd converted and started sending their captives to Moonrise Towers, at least."

She didn't have any info on what Moonrise Towers *is*, though - except that a lot of prisoners of the goblins (or potentially just *these* goblins, and therefore the Absolute) are being headed that way.

The real interesting bit, though, comes when we wander into a back hall and find the goblin's leader, a big hobgoblin named Dror Ragzlin. He is standing over the body of a dead mind flayer, reciting off a magical spell.

"Shuugaan, a shuulkac. O taash okec dor. I command you, corpse: speak! Reveal truth to the Absolute!"

"Nothing. Must be reading it wrong."

He glares at Hector as the group approaches.

Narrator: The hobgoblin turns to you, and the parasite squirms in your skull. You taste the ale on his tongue and the bile in his soul. The vision clouds your inner eye for a brief moment once again. You see the hobgoblin, bowing before the armoured elf you'd glimpsed before. The elf speaks of the hunt for a great weapon, and the rewards that will go to whoever finds it. The hobgoblin's eyes gleam hungrily.

"If it isn't another True Soul." Ragzlin smirks, lounging back on his heels.

Narrator: He doesn't speak his next words, yet they still rattle your skull from within.

"You ever talk to a dead squid? Now's your chance."

Hector has not, nor has he ever wanted to, but perhaps there's information to be gleaned here, so he tries to mask his discomfort as he walks towards the dead illithid.

Study the corpse. Was this the mind flayer that tortured you?

Narrator: This mind flayer's build is smaller, its garb plainer - a fearsome creature even in death, but not the one that tormented you. Yet it, too, roamed the nautiloid. It would have seen you, known you...

"Absolute says the dead squiddie had a weapon. I reckon the killer nabbed it and scooted off to that looter camp," Ragzlin grunts, almost conversationally, between his teeth. "We find who killed it, and we find who took that weapon. So settle in."

Another burst of emotion shoots through Hector before he can respond - different from Ragzlin's brutal rough edges, but the firm sharp line that he has already come to recognize as Shadowheart.

Narrator: You feel Shadowheart's anxiety. The weapon the Absolute seeks - it's the artefact that she carries. The same one that protected you as you entered the goblin camp. Her mind focuses. Their suspicion cannot be aroused. They cannot discover that the weapon they seek is within their grasp.

Hector swallows, keeping his face immobile with an effort of will. To leave now would only be to arouse more suspicion...

"Then let the ceremony proceed," he says uneasily. He can see Shadowheart glance worriedly at him, and gives her a slight shrug in return. Perhaps they can interfere with the ritual somehow...

Narrator: You choke on black smoke as the hobgoblin bellows his incantation.

"I command you, corpse: speak and say sooth. Lhuuc an ac akuul'dec shuulkokec!"

Narrator: The hideous corpse rises, tentacles writhing. Your heart seizes. Under questioning, the creature might recognize you as its killer.

For a moment, he struggles with the question. He has already decided he does not wish to use the powers of the parasite - it saps something fundamental from him, it holds unknown dangers, and he is not confident he has the mental fortitude to do it successfully. But the danger here is acute and real and...much to his shame, his fear is too great.

He turns his head, the parasite squirming as he reaches outwards with his mind.

[WISDOM] Dig into Ragzlin's mind and control the interrogation.

Narrator: Ragzlin's mind reels - then calms. He will speak as you command.

Hector's fists clench and unclench rapidly. He feels raw with fear. This was a mistake. He shouldn't have done this, he panicked, but he's in too deep to back out now.

Narrator: With Ragzlin's voice, you ask...

"What did the killer want?"

Narrator: Ragzlin scowls, shocked by his own words, and a jolt shoots through your skull.

Narrator: The creature speaks in visions - a swarm of githyanki dragon-riders, silver blades held high. Control panels melting, flesh-pods spilled open...

Ragzlin takes a step back; his eyes are glowing with the light of the connection but he knows something is wrong. He's struggling against it. "Gith on the hunt," he mutters hoarsely. "They know something..."

Narrator: He is suspicious, confused by the question that fell from his lips. You proceed carefully...

Equally afraid to disconnect and to stay, Hector forces another question through.

"Why were the gith chasing that ship?"

Narrator: You see dark tunnels lit by noxious pools of brine. The darkness spreads through the earth. The sky splits open and nautiloids pour out of a void that consumes the stars.

"What in the--" Ragzlin bites each word out past the control tightened around his tongue.

Narrator: Suspicion floods Ragzlin's mind. Your brain *howls* as you force a final query into his throat.

Hector feels nauseous and panic-stricken, and only one question feels clear enough to demand.

Who is the Absolute?

"Who is-- who--" The words stagger in Ragzlin's mouth, the deception slipping. He rounds on Hector with sudden fury, the light fading in his eyes. "YOU! You're no True Soul!" he barks.

As the control slips, Hector becomes aware of his companions shifting subtly into a defensive stance, and the other goblins around them turning with sudden malice.

[PERSUASION] "It's a mistake!" he gasps out desperately, clinging to the scraps of influence and control as they begin to slip away. "I'm a True Soul, remember? We connected!"

Ragzlin stares at him for an eternal moment of fear, then scowls and looks away. "Yeah. Yeah. You're right. You're a real True Soul. I felt it."

The illithid body sags back onto the stone, and the hobgoblin roars with frustration and rage.

"No. No! I'm not done!" He rounds again on Hector but the danger has eased; this fury is directed outwards, not at them. Hector feels the muscles in his back begin to unknot, although he can still feel the squirm of the sated parasite behind his eye.

"Riddles, all of it. And nothing to show for the trouble but rotting squid meat." Ragzlin spits. "No answers, no killer, and no damned weapon! Hmph. The damned drow was right. Can't let her get all the glory." He points a finger in Hector's direction. "Seems I ain't done with you. Report to the drow. Minthara's the name. She's mounting an attack on that blasted grove. Tell her you'll join her."

Hector swallows and nods agreement. He has no intention of helping this drow, or anyone in here, kill anyone back at the grove - but there's no question he's pushed his luck more than enough for now. His heart is racing and the images the illithid transmitted are burning into his skull.

[gnomey22]

Everyone in Failtopia is trans

Again, except maybe the cis guy who created the series, but again, ignore that part.

Friend is genderfluid, and Mar crossdresses, that is canon. Bo is transfem, and neither Pirahnyawn nor Chat conform to human gender, that's all heavily implied. I'm using this post to discuss the intricacies of everyone else's transness, from my perspective.

Transmasc!Bob is interesting because he's already a character pretending to be comfortable in his pre-existing identity, and his character development revolves around embracing his actual personality traits. The way I see this hypothetical, he'd have already transitioned before S1, and believed that to be the extent of his identity exploration, only to be shown the contrary throughout S1. A metaphorical transition, if you will.

Non-binary!Smuk is interesting because the easiest way I can explain their character is 'someone who ignores all the abundant oddities about themselves to pursue the humble goal of becoming a talented chef/healer'. Them having a weird gender on top of being raised in a swamp, having protrusive green ears, and having a horrific accent, would really only heighten this characterisation. Their identity is something to be proud of, it's never a limitation to them.

Transfem!Erica is interesting for surprisingly similar reasons to Bob. She spends so long putting the team's needs above her own, claiming to be self-reliant while focusing all her efforts on other people, and it brings her to a breaking point where she gives up on all of that and finally listens to her own needs, against all her previous logic. If she had already transitioned, I can see why she'd think drastically changing an aspect of her life would be a good idea.

Transmasc!Deko is interesting because he literally canonically went through surgery that scarred him for life, because he hated his identity and wanted to change it at all costs. If he had already done this, to an actual success, of course he'd trust those scientists to fix the remaining things wrong with him, it worked the first time! Not to mention that he has the same insane fashion sense Mar does, if that's worth anything.

Transfem!Chi is interesting because she's well-established to be the 'antithesis of anatomy' and this is just another thing to add to the pile of weird shit about her body. Plus, she's willing to change her entire career path on the fly, and seemingly becomes more confident in her flashy Scientist poses than her previous Mage ones, despite their similarities. I don't need to explain the comparison I'm drawing there.

Transfem!Lanc is interesting because the only two times she ever has an especially positive reaction to one of their outfits are the overtly feminine ones. She's trying her hardest to be taken seriously in their profession despite the goofy shit that surrounds them, and seems at her happiest when she leans into the goofy shit. Again, you know what comparison I'm making there. (It should be noted that this is the only time I'm outright reversing a character's gender, Lanc is canonically male, but I don't think it really matters)

Transfem!Rose is interesting because she shapes her entire identity around who she's expected to be, rather than who she really is, and puts a whole lot of effort into keeping up that facade, despite her reluctance and initial -ignored- attempts to explain herself. If she were trans, that might give her just the slightest bit of her own identity throughout this whole ordeal, and I like that. She deserves to have a feeling of a little bit of control over her life.

Transmasc!Joker is interesting because there's literally nothing to him aside from who he's basing himself upon. He's drawn so much inspiration from people around him that he doesn't quite know who he actually is. His similarities to the real Joker are the only indicator he has of his own identity, and he goes all-in on that persona because of it. It's the only way he can, even remotely, exist as himself. He's also covered in bandages, I wonder what from.

Transmasc!Orion is interesting because he's significantly older than the rest of the cast. He'd probably have more of an inherent struggle with it than anyone else here, and considering just how prone he is to bonding with the younger party members due to relating them to his experiences, I think this could add a whole new layer to that. He doesn't just see Slapo in them, he sees himself in them.

Transfem!Shrimp is interesting because her entire backstory revolves around being beaten down by the bullies because she tried to express her wants and dreams, and no-one accepted that she'd be able to realise them. She was forced out of her own home due to this, and focused her life from that point onwards to realising that dream at all costs, now that she's been granted the opportunity. Plus, she struggles with physical differences from everyone else she knows. You can't convince me there's nothing trans about this.

Transmasc!Bill is interesting for what is essentially a combination of the former two paragraphs. He's been isolated his whole life because of his physical differences, and built himself with as many muscles as possible to protect those who face the same ostracisation he did, culminating in his eventual goal to aid Shrimp. The way I see it, he's the literal embodiment of "Protect Trans Kids".

[mv-damn]

Transfem Egg Akarsha x Comphet Noelle

been thinking about this one pretty much since I started thinking about transfem akarsha. it became super obvious supper quickly. you have akarsha, nominally a boy, and noelle, nominally straight. things happen.

anyway aside from any more like. fic-specific, contrived ways (like the Fake Dating idea I mentioned in the transfem akarsha post) I think this relationship could begin on three footings (or a mix of some/all):

A) mutual eggishness/unconscious bearding. i.e. "I'm definitely straight/a boy and I'm entering into this relationship as a way to confirm/convince myself/others of that." this differs importantly from the next option in that the *who* is ultimately not the point, so much as the fact of *being in the relationship.*

B) queer magnetism/"you feel different from all the others"/"the gay in me speaks to the gay in you." they get into the relationship because - though they don't realize it - some part of themselves recognize themselves in each other.

C) nothing special, they literally just like each other. they stumble into it working out well in the long-term.

and I think the relationship could continue in a couple different ways as well:

1) the relationship fails relatively early on. they both have too much going on in their own heads to truly commit to the relationship, or be as vulnerable as you have to be for this sort of thing to really work. they part on relatively good terms, but things are Weird between them for a while.

2) the relationship fails, and ends in flames and blame. they barely see each other throughout the rest of high school. perhaps they meet again later, as adults, fully themselves, and old feelings bloom again.

3) the relationship fails, and they gratefully go back to being just friends. it is a weight off both of their shoulders. they actually grow closer.

4) the relationship works, with a deal of work on both of their parts. they both Realize, but stay in the closet, too afraid of losing what they have. one day, it bursts out of them, and they have a nice mutual "oh!" moment.

5) the relationship works, and Akarsha comes out before Noelle has Realized. she commits to her now girlfriend - her feelings haven't changed, and who would she be if she abandoned Akarsha at this moment? - but Noelle eventually becomes more and more aware that Akarsha is not, in fact, an exception, and that Noelle is actually Quite Gay. could do something with the relationship going on "pause", and Noelle seeing Akarsha truly begin her transition, and falling for her even harder. like

Noelle had always thought that Akarsha was handsome, if in a slightly unconventional way. But now, seeing her like this - smiling at her reflection, standing up straight and being truly confident in herself, putting real effort into her outfits and enjoying it - she was beautiful. Noelle had never been so blinded by Akarsha's grins, and certainly not so often, but she couldn't be happier.

wow this got long quickly. holy shit. anyway this has been sitting in my drafts for too long so. yeet.

[swampgallows]

@anastacialy i get what you're saying but i think the difference between unconventional clothing (like the tiktok is talking about) vs alt subculture is that you are a member of a community rather than just dressing a part. on one level yeah people can dress how they want but it's also setting up for an error in communication (at best) to co-opt certain aspects of a subculture for one's own self-expression with little to no regard for what message it sends to those affiliated with the community. any social situation will have unwritten rules, and people can recognize when someone who is not affiliated with a community is attempting to rewrite the rules from outside of it (e.g. "gays are okay except when they're flamboyant"). it's not gatekeeping to remind someone that they're a noob, especially when they start giving orders. and there's no shame in being a noob either.

regarding the bit about how the internet is curated: exactly. there is a small sample pool to draw from, and by merit of them dedicating time to make meticulously-curated videos of themselves for thousands of viewers, we are already excluding a vast majority of a population of potentially-authentic people in favor of those who make concentrated efforts toward their image. i had this same discussion with my "subcultural" friends many times in the past. the major reason i did not join tiktok despite the pressure of my more "image-centric" raver friends to "bring raving to the new generation" is because i am not the kind of person to get dressed up and dance around in front of my camera.

it doesn't mean that i don't want a new generation of ravers--i do! not being on tiktok does not make me any more or less of a "real raver"; however in the environment of actual physical raves it was obvious how uncomfortable e-girl influencer "Internet Girl" was at an underground rave party, and how vastly different the vibe is at one of the "Insta Raves" or a corporate music festival versus an underground. reflexively, it was always obvious who showed up at the rave looking for drugs, and who was there to check out the music. and no, their outfit (usually*) had nothing to do with it. (*in fact, the people decked out in kandi at their first rave tended to be the biggest tryhards and would "quit" the scene within months).

it's not that these people are necessarily inauthentic in their interests, it's just that they've had to develop their own microcosm in order to adapt to the environment of the subculture they're aping (this is my theory for the development of "scene" as well, as it was essentially mallgoth gone feral--but im not part of that scene so it's all conjecture from my limited exposure). ive mentioned before in my "new to raving" posts that like yeah, you can be a candy kid, but if you roll up to the wrong kind of party dressed like that you could literally get stabbed. (it has happened before.) one can tell when a fish is out of water; one recognizes imitators and mimics. this is knowledge gleaned from participation in the culture. so ultimately what they are actually "part of" is a separate animal entirely, which i think is what the alt post was primarily critiquing. what walks and talks like emo looks like a bodysnatcher from those on the inside.

i had this jarring experience myself toward the end of high school and in college where i would see people wearing kandi, but they were "ragers" and went to "rages", and noticed my kandi too but looked at me with an air of disgust and disapproval, as if -i- were the encroacher. it was a meeting of divergent species. ultimately the misappropriation of these kinds of symbols and totems results in a mirage of common ground.

sorry this is long and sprawling, I'm on my phone lol

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

Iunno, it’s still static sprites that go on a pre-rigged skeleton. It isn’t that much more work. Source: I’ve literally worked on mobile game that uses similar techniques. That said the characters I worked on aren’t nearly as dynamic as they’re only seen from the waist up, but looking at limbo’s animations they need just a couple alternate arms and hands for the most part. Plus there are three variants it feels like they intended a full separate summer servant and then went with costume instead.

i debated answering this bc if i have to see more posts about this subject ill scream but im tired and petty atm and honestly feel like we're not even asking them to make MORE servants just like

instead of making it so its 7 female summer alts and 3 male costumes just make 6 female alts and one summer male alt as a test drive or something. like its frustrating to see people making posts about how the devs couldnt make more costumes for the men bc of crunch time the extra female costumes are more simple etc etc etc like that isnt really the point? the point is that constantly giving ppl 7 of one kind and 3 lesser versions of the other is unfair and people ARE allowed to wish theyd put a little less effort into one side and more into the other, even if the posts DO get annoying. like the valkyrie welfare has six alts- and yes, yes theyre all very similar with basically only the hairstyle changed but have we EVER had a male welfare with a similar amount of attention given to them? are we now not allowed to be annoyed that they couldnt...idk give tai sui his grown up form as a costume as well (which DOES have a sprite, it shows up in his np, even if theyd have to animate some more movement) without someone coming in chiding us for not being appropriately considerate of how hard the devs work?

i KNOW game development is hard and there's a lot of work that goes into it especially with how detailed and intricate fgo sprites are, but theyve persistently been given feedback that people want this and have done nothing to acknowledge it except doing in-game actions which, to the people who are asking for it, can read a lot like taunting or mockery. yeah, it's nice that they included the extra art hasendow did, but doing it for a wildly popular guy after a tidal wave of people begging for more male alts last year reads a LOT differently than the outfit for shuten douji, who has a welfare alt as well as her 'other self' in the event in a swimsuit. do you understand what im saying? ibuki and douman were released at the same time, and one was VASTLY more popular and profitable, but only one got a multi-ascension alt with a bonus costume and i think it isnt actually unreasonable for his fans to feel put out by that.

like, idk, i just think people are more upset than usual this year bc after all the fallout last year with how bad it was it had felt like fgo was actually getting more equal with how it treated it's cast-and with the announcement that there was going to be three ssrs, i legitimately thought that they WERE going to do a male summer alt, but were worried about the reception so weren't messing with the number of female summer ssrs-and i think other people thought that as well! but instead they continued with the same pattern they've always done, EXCEPT that they made 3 of the summer female alts ssrs instead of 2- which shows they're willing to buck tradition but not in the way people are asking for. the male summer alt thing isnt a new problem, they've had ample time to know that people have really really wanted it, they just dont want to do it, and its really annoying that when you complain about it you get a rush of people coming to defend the devs in various ways-they can't do summer alts of the men NOW bc what about the previous men who already got costumes, they cant do summer alts of the men NOW bc they just changed companies, they can't do summer alts of the men NOW bc they never did before, etc etc etc its just annoying like ok. i get it. you dont want to hear people complain! but if working on all these alts is so hard they can also cut down on the number of female alts...

like does this make sense? i know this is incoherent and probably whiny im just tired of whenever people are like 'hey can we actually change this annoying aspect of the game' people rush in to explain why it's impossible for it to change. they also said that about pity and quick casters and a whole bunch of other stuff that they then changed more recently, people were allowed to get their hopes up even if it was 'premature of them'

[queen-rainy-love]

The Crown Wedding Part 9

Let's go!

*Later that week, it was finally time! It was the day of the wedding! After the whole week of finishing up wedding details, being scolded by family members, and dealing with a Cake Hound stampede (don't ask), it was finally time! Espresso and Latte were getting ready for the big day. The twins were dressed in a mixture of Crème Republic and Dark Cacao Kingdom fashion.*

Latte: *fixing up Espresso's head piece* And there! I finally got it!

Espresso: *smirks* Only took you two hours to get it right.

Latte: *playfully smack his shoulder* Oh hush you! Be lucky I found out about it.

*Espresso chuckled as he straighten out his outfit.*

Espresso: This is it. This is finally the day.

Latte: *smiles* Yeah. Together with your prince charming. Quite literally.

Espresso: Shut up.

*The twins laughed a bit before a knock caught their attention. Latte walked over to the door and opened it up. Standing right out there was Affogato. Espresso's smile disappeared.*

Espresso: What do you want?

Affogato: A father can't see his son before his big day?

Espresso: That's if the father earned it.

Latte: Espresso...

Affogato: Hmm. *walks over to Espresso and starts to fix his headpiece.* The headpiece is off.

Espresso: This doesn't take away what you did to us. You abandoned us in another kingdom. We were only five when you turned your back on us!

Affogato: I wasn't the first one to abandon you...but it still doesn't excuse what I did.

Latte: Why didn't you leave us with our mother?

Affogato: ...Who do you think was the first to leave? *The twins kept quiet as he kept going* Your mother and I were part of an arranged marriage. But let me explain our tribe. In the Coffee Tribe, the more coffee in your dough, the stronger you are. I was the black sheep of the Coffee Tribe, the weak bean, and they wanted to get rid of me. They believe marrying me off could save them the trouble. So they married me off to a Cookie from the Milk Tribe, your mother, and pushed us into the Milk Tribe's village.

Latte: When did you go back to the Coffee Tribe?

Affogato: Right after you two were born. She wanted nothing to do with us and convinced the Milk Tribe to return us back to the Coffee Tribe. *Finish adjusting the headpiece*

Espresso: I thought Cookies from the Milk tribe were kind.

Affogato: Your mother was the exception. *Dust off Espresso's shoulders.* Regardless, the Coffee tribe treated us poorly, especially Latte due to her dough having milk. So before either one of you turned one, we left the tribe and traveled across Earthbread.

Latte: Until we got to the Crème Republic. Why did you leave us there?

Affogato: ...No matter where we went, no one wanted us. So when we got to the Crème Republic, a very young place, I thought no one would mind a few travelers. But in the end, they would never let us go near the upper parts of the Republic. They were not even kind to you two. The only Cookie who gave us kindness was those Cookies with the seaweed hair.

Espresso: Seaweed Cookie...

Affogato: Her family was willing to take you two under their care and I knew that they would give you two a better life than I could back then. A more stable home.

Espresso: So you left us to have a better life.

Affogato: If you think I had an easier time, you're wrong. I trained hard to gain more power to make sure no one could look down on me. On us. I just didn't take into count how long it would take. Or where I would go.

Latte: ...We could have gone with you.

Affogato: And have you both missed out on finding better happiness? *shakes his head* No. You two were better off without me.

*Silence filled the air as Affogato finally finished dusting off Espresso's wedding suit.*

Espresso: So why come back?

Affogato: I do want to rebuild our relationship and be there for both of you. I don't expect any forgiveness from either one of you now. But I do want to make an effort. So, please...just give me a chance.

Latte: I can't speak for Espresso but I would be happy to start over. After all, you are taking goodness class and did help out the Cookie Kingdom. Espresso?

Espresso: ...You did help out with the Cake Hound stampede and you have been getting along with Madeleine. It would be foolish for me to ignore your attempts. Very well. Let us start over.

Affogato: *smiles* Thank you, my dear children.

Espresso: But if you try anything, I still have a right to give you to Red Velvet's Cake Wolves.

Affogato: Fair enough.

[noro-noro-noro]

oh yeah the dream i had was weird, smth like my dad remarried 2 people & then i sort of reconciled with someone i have no intention of getting along with at the mall & then there was a choose your own adventure novel

i think my dad remarried or something to another married couple. the mom was nice. the 2nd dad was weird. we had to move into their house, which was kind of like the guest room in my mom’ shouse except with like brown wood panelling & it had beams. like it was good enough. tthhe 2nd dad was an inventor of some kind? i remember weird gadgets & stuff. they also had a bunch of kids who were all fairly young, max 14. maybe 3 or 4 of them. i was thinking that i should try to make an effort if these people were supposed to be my parents too rather than treating them like strangers in my house. it’s not even my house. 

scene cut. i’m at the mall. the mall also somehow feels old-fashioned & a bit different. kinda cozier tbh rather than like all the white lights & white tiles. there was brown wood panelling again. i think christmas decorations were up. i was walking with my friends from college. my worst roommate was there but we were getting along ..? he made fun of my second worst roommate & i laughed bvc i thought it was genuinely funny! & then i heard my 2nd worst roommate behind me say “that’s not funny.” she was wearing some kind of red & green christmas themed sweater, so i guess it was christmas. & i shrugged & said “i don’t really give a shit whwat you think”. she kind of followed behind me looking mad for a while & then pulled me aside in a store & i was like 🙄what & then she like pulled a jacket over my eyes or smth started fighting me. i couldn’t see but she was like trying to hold my arms down so like i ended up biting the middle of her forehead & then going for like the eyebrow muscle. i thought i cut her but i eventualyl got the jacket like off me & onto pinning her arms instead & we both just sat down. her face wasn’t bleedng, which was kind of a relief since i didn’t want her skin in my teeth. 

then i apologized??? why the hell did i apologize to her. i did literally nothing wrong. she’s the one who was like “oh you broke up with your boyfriend? i’m gonna fuck him & lie about my whereabouts for 2 weeks.” idk why i apologized. maybe for biting her. anyway then she started crying & became nicer & was saying some stuff that was leading me to believe that she got dumped by my ex , which even though  my stupid ass dream self apologized to her for no reason i still got excited about the concept of them breaking up because they’re both horrible people & i want them to get in a car crash & then the car explodes & then they neither of htem die but just get inflicted with crippling burns & injuries & then the car explodes again & then they’re at fault so insurance takes them fore verything they have, & their parents are so embarasse dthey don’t provide any financial support (this is my way of getting them out of this fantasy since they’re all fairly decent people. i don’t know how they raised kids so stupid). 

anyway after that my ex showed up out of a fucking black hole that was tearing the mall apart but he was like in a fuckin mech suit or some shit. super powers. it wasn’t like a huge mech eh just had like his litle head on some huge body wearing some kind of superhero outfit and cape in yellow and light gray. ugly. and he was mad. he grabbed my 2nd wworst roommate & i was like “well i don’t care about that bye” & ran home to my dad & my step parents & then my ex teleported into the house. at this point it was like a paused cutscene almost - everything was still moving & the effects were looping but there were like 5 or 6 different options i could do. one of them had the stepmom do some kind of thunder cross split attack that blew him up. good end ^_^ but it wasnt’ the true ending so it looped back to the cutscene.

there was one option that like blew the house away down some kind of hyperspace tunnle but the stepdad was there with his inventions. idk

[ofprincessesandqueens]

I feel like the fact that it had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the theme makes the situation so much worse. I could potentially have been a bit more forgiving if it was perfectly on theme and she didn't go through all that trouble (losing weight, wearing extremely high and uncomfortable shoes, walking like she was figuring out how legs function, all the shape-wear she would have undoubtedly had to wear + changing in and out of replicas and potentially harming the dress) only for it not to blow us out of the water. The amount of effort it took unfortunately didn't amount to the final look. The hair was wrong, she was uncomfortable, it didn't come together flawlessly. The only good thing I can say about the outfit is that she didn't look bad. There are so many more negatives than positives. She would have been better off getting someone to make something bespoke for her.

I mean, being on theme was more of the exception this year, ahahaha. I think if it had been well executed it could have worked, but you can't put a dress literally made for another person and expect the effect it had on Marilyn. Specially, not an historical piece.

If she really wanted to pay homage to Marilyn she could have had a similar dress made for her. I was thinking, for example, on Rihanna's crystal dress. On Marilyn, the dress made her look like she was naked but covered in crystals, it didn't look like that on Kim. The fabric was too light for her. Point is, the original dress wouldn't have worked on anybody else and loaning it is irresponsible. Add to that the worng hairstyle, make up and the fact that she looked uncomfortable and you get an underwhelming result.

[sufandomgirl]

Amphibia Soulmate AU Fanfiction 1 Part 10

Andrias x Leif

Two Weeks Later...

Leif: (finishing her letter)

{Branson burst into the room, startling absolutely no one except Leif.}

Leif: Oh Fr--Branson, you scared me!

Branson: Sorry about that. Anyway, I just came to ask if you picked out what to wear to the performance in a few days...you know, your big date.

Rain: Mommy has a date?!

Leif: (shakes head) See what you started? I was kind of in the middle of finishing something while watching the kids, but I do have an outfit in my wardrobe.

Branson: Okay. (walks to her room; comes back with cloak in hand) Seriously?!

Leif: (signing paper) What's the matter?

Branson: What is this?!

Leif: Literally the nicest clothing piece that I own. (sets paper down on lap desk) Why, what's wrong with it?

Branson: It's literally a dark cloak! Why would they let you into the theater wearing this?

Leif: Well, I'm sorry if I haven't had time to shop around!

Branson: I doubt that King Andrias would personally care what you wore, but think of how he would feel knowing that people would judge you because of what you were wearing. Even then, don't you think that he deserves a little more effort than that?

Leif: For your information, my kids hate shopping, especially clothes shopping. I took them to the market in Wartwood once and Pod and Bud wandered off, carrying Rain with them. It took me hours to find them! Could you imagine them getting lost in a city as big as Newtopia?!

Kids: (shudder)

Branson: We can ask Barrel to watch them.

Leif: On his day off? I don't think so. It's bad enough that we have to ask him to on that night.

Branson: You do realize that he takes days off in the castle to spend time with the kids, right? You've been basically a 24-hour nanny since you got here.

Leif: I thought that was my job as Governess.

Branson: (crosses arms) Not when you agreed to spend some alone time with the king. Keep it up and you may not be just Belle's governess anymore.

Belle: What will she be, then? Will she quit?!

Branson: No, Belle, that's not what I mean. Why don't you take the others down to the outdoor gardens to play with Uncle Barrel for a while, I'm sure that he'd love to.

Belle: (smiles ear-to-ear) Okay!

{Oak gives Leif and uneasy look before leaving. Branson closes the door behind her.}

Branson: What was that about?

Leif: Oh, nothing, just a habit she developed since we've spent so much time together. Anyway, what do you suggest that I wear, because I'm feeling nervous about the kids being out of my sight.

Branson: Then, we really should've started preparing earlier. You and the king will be gone for several hours.

Leif: (sighs) Sorry, I've just never had the kids more than an arms-length away since...that day.

Branson: (eyes wide) Oh...

Leif: Sorry, sorry. You probably don't want to hear me complain. I'll...(stands to get bag) just get my things and we can go shopping.

{As Leif rummages through the pile of toys left behind by the children, Branson picks up the folded paper, noticing that it had fallen. They didn't mean to start reading it, Leif had simply left it there, open.}

Branson: (reading to themself) 'Dear Melina, I would appreciate if you and the rest of the family would stop attempting to contact me and the children. You had your chance to settle this civilly, but you refused. I only wrote to you the first few weeks as a courtesy as I have full custody of the kids. However, the tone of the family's letters to myself have prompted me to go no-contact. This is the last time that I request you and the family not to write me or my children again. Best wishes, Leif.'

{Leif hadn't noticed them yet, so they set the letter back on the lap desk where it had been previously. Leif exclaimed, exasperated.}

Leif: I thought that I taught my kids to clean up after themselves!

Branson: (chuckles) Well, you know how kids get with friends. They don't always remember, they get too carried away.

Leif: (chuckles) Yeah, I suppose that you're right.

Branson: How about we just go?

Leif: How do you expect me to pay for an outfit without my card?

With Barrel and the Kids...

Barrel: (looking through gardens) I'm gonna find you!

Later...

Leif: It's...wow.

Branson: I know. It looks so good on you.

Leif: I never thought that I would look this good in anything.

Branson: I guess that's the one, then.

Shopkeeper: Excellent choice! It complements you perfectly, milady.

{While Leif is changing and the dress is being folded into its box, Branson decided to bring up the nagging question.}

Branson: Leif, are you sure that you aren't having problems with anyone? You know, outside of the castle.

Leif: (silent for a moment) You read my letter to Melina, didn't you?

Branson: I didn't mean to. It was just open and happened to catch my eye.

Leif: I guess that makes it more my fault than yours.

Branson: Are you angry with me?

Leif: A little, but I knew that one of you woyld find out eventually. I was just hoping that it would be when I worked up the courage to tell you myself.

Branson: Full disclosure, I think that your letter was very civil. Especially--!

Leif: (hushed) Can we not talk about this is public?!

Branson: Right, sorry, when we return to the carriage, then.

Inside the Carriage...

Branson: So, about the letter...

Leif: It's nothing. Just the children's grandmother harassing me and getting the rest of my late husband's family on her side. I debated whether or not to tell Barrel and Andrias, but I figured that it would feel as if I was using them, so I wanted to try dealing with it on my own.

Branson: Admirable. If the letters were making you that uncomfortable, though...

Leif: I know, I should've said something. You don't know what it was like there. My kids had no friends. I had no allies. When I got married, my mother-in-law--well, ex mother-in-law now--never missed a chance to jab at me or Oak. I just...seeing how great this move back to Newtopia turned out for them, I wish that I had left Wartwood sooner. That I didn't let Aldrich bully me.

Branson: Bully you? The former king of Amphibia basically banished you and lied to his son about it. You're not to blame for anything that you think you are, especially not for 'Melina's' actions. She's a grown woman and she needs to act like it and look at herself in the mirror hard before she can even think about having any contact with you or the kids again. (pats her hand) You did the right thing.

Leif: (smiles)

With Andrias and Barrel after the Kids Fell Asleep...

Andrias: Come on, Barrel, the night has to go perfectly!

Barrel: (chuckles) Okay, okay! I just...never thought that I'd be doing this. After Leif left, you never cared much about your appearance.

Andrias: Yes, and now that she's back...I just want her to stay, okay!

Barrel: Me too, 'Drias. I'm glad that she makes you happier than I've seen you in years! Don't worry, I promise that Branson and I will look after Belle, Oak, Pod, Bud and Rain with our kids.

Andrias: I know you will. Now to convince Leif that it's okay.

Barrel: (looks outside) They must've found something. They haven't been gone for an hour and the carriage is already back.

Andrias: (goes to window) What, let me see! (sighs) Ugh, Leif. (retreats)

Barrel: Let me talk to her. I'll be the one watching her kids after all.

When Barrel Came to Leif...

Leif: Oh, hi, Barrel!

Barrel: Did you find something?

Leif: Surprisingly, yes. I even thought that I looked good.

Barrel: (shocked) No way!

Leif: I was shocked, too!

Barrel: You're going to knock 'Drias off his feet!

Leif: (blushes; rubs arm) I hope not. I'm still just me, Barrel. A plain, ordinary frog.

Barrel: Yeah, the plain, ordinary frog that literally got asked out on a date by the king!

Leif: You are not going to let that go.

Barrel: I don't spare Andrias any teasing about it, ask him!

Leif: (chuckles) I missed your enthusiam, Barrel.

Barrel: Aw, shucks. Save the flattery for 'Drias, he might get jealous. My partner wouldn't be too happy, either.

Leif: I would, but you know that I clam up around him.

Barrel: Yes, indeed. Nothing has changed since our teenage years in that respect. Don't worry, he's still 'Drias, and I've been holding out hope that you two will realize that you're soulmates.

Leif: (rolls eyes) How did you hold out hope that you would even find me? For TWELVE years?!

Barrel: Well, I always remembered how you and Aldrich walked off that day and knew something was off, but other than tell Andrias, there was really nothing that I could do. I was just a cadet back then.

Leif: I don't blame you, Barrel. We were only kids. Teenagers.

Barrel: I know that I shouldn't feel guilty. I just...wanted to let you know that your kids will be safe with me and Branson caring for them.

Leif: I know, I haven't had them more than an arms-length away since the day we lost their father. (clenches fists) If I hadn't been there and gotten them to shelter, I might have lost the kids to the herons, too.

Barrel: (eyes go wide) Oh, Leif...I...I didn't know.

Leif: How were you supposed to? I never told anyone here. (starts to cry) Sorry, I shouldn't burden you with this. I just haven't thought much about romance since.

{Barrel wraps her in a big hug.}

Barrel: No worries, Leif. The kids are safe with me.

Leif: (sighs) I know.

Barrel: Just focus on having fun. No pressure.

Leif: (hugs him back)

Barrel: You don't have to worry anymore. Me and 'Drias are here now, you aren't alone anymore, no matter how much you feel like it.

Leif: (separates) Yeah, about that...

{She explains to him about the troubles she's had with the letters and her former husband's family members. How she didn't want to "use" him or Andrias by telling them. Needless to say, Barrel was not pleased. He didn't blame Leif, he just wished that she'd told him sooner.}