My uncanny knack for rare-pairs has led me to consume every Edwin/Cat King fiction I can get my hands on in less than a week and I must say, I have absolutely fallen in love with some of the head canons I've come across!
Head-canon 1: The Cat King is one of Desire's children. I would love to explore this idea more... like one of the reasons he can see through Edwin when they first meet is because he can smell desire/see WHAT people desire. And I bet he 100% would/has used other people's desires to manipulate them, but at the end of the day, it's about their desire and their choice to LET him. Because without consent, it's no longer a manipulation of their desire. If they don't give in to it willingly, then it's no longer interesting...
Head-canon #2: If/when Edwin submits to the Cat King and let's him "mark him as his," he ends up gaining additional abilities through his bond with the Cat King...
Head-canon 3: (This one is pretty uncommon), but I like the idea of the Cat-King being more of a rare entity. And that being a Cat King is what he IS, not just a title which he obtained. That he came into this world a Cat King rather than evolving into one or into the position--this ties back to the whole idea of loving the idea of him being one of Desire's children.
Head-canon 4: I like the idea that the Cat King may be a lot more powerful than he lets on and is a lot older than anyone suspects (or will ever know). I head-canon him as actually immortal (along with any other existing Cat Monarchs who would essentially be his siblings). Even if he plays up the I only have 9 lives bit. After all, he is a shape-shifter too... how is anyone going to notice if he doesn't let them?
Head-Canon 5: I haven't really seen this one, but I really don't see the Cat King as being possessive of Edwin. I think he would be more than happy to share him as long as his needs were being met... and the individual in question was treating Edwin right.
And that brings me to Head-canon #6: I think the Cat King dislikes Charles because he knows (even before Edwin does) that Edwin loves him, and he also knows that Charles does not love him like that back (at least not yet) and is all twitter pated over Crystal... which HURTS Edwin, even if he doesn't understand why yet. I think it's quite possible even that if the Cat King had met Charles and Edwin prior to the addition of Crystal to their friend group , he may have had less of an issue with him.
And the Cat King doesn't like Monty because he knows he is manipulating and tricking Edwin.. once again. Hurting him.
I head-canon that the Cat King can feel/sense strong emotions connected to desire, and Edwin keeps choosing these people who hurt him (with desire(s) as the root cause) while not giving into his desire for the Cat King, which that Cat King KNOWS he has!
I see the Cat King as a protective BAMF who is fascinated by Edwin and wants protect him and make him happy... and is frustrated all to hell because Edwin won't LET him and keeps choosing pain and sorrow instead.
Note that the Cat King had no problems at all with Niko. Just saying.
66 notes
·
View notes
Some Chinese fashion styles
Disclaimer: The following styles and their definitions were observed by me and are not authoritative. I am only familiar with Hanfu and if I made mistakes and picked the wrong photo examples or fraud shops, please let me know. Also, this post focused on women's fashion because 1. I am not into men's fashion so I don't know much about them. 2. The algorithm also knew that so I don't really see them.
汉服/Hànfú
传统服饰/Chuántǒng fúshì (传服/chuán fú)
清汉女/Qīng hàn nǚ
旗装/Qí zhuāng
旗袍/Qípáo
新国风/Xīn guó fēng、新中式/Xīn zhōngshì
汉元素/hàn yuánsù
茶艺服/Cháyì fú or 茶服/chá fú
唐装/Tángzhuāng
中山装/Zhōngshānzhuāng.
汉服/Hànfú
The ethnic clothing of Han Chinese (not the Han Dynasty).
There was a prohibition of Han clothing and hair styles in Qing dynasty, i.e. the 剃发易服/Tìfā yìfú qu Queue Ordinance, so modern hanfu is an on-going revivalist moment.
Modern hanfu are based on archeological evidences with minor twists to suit modern like, such as the type of fabric used and cut.
As a result, there are many types of garments and sub-styles. The figure above shows some examples.
While which style should be included and promoted is a constant debate, but in general, the cutout line is the Qing dynasty (however small accessories such as purses are alright).
传统服饰/Chuántǒng fúshì (传服/chuán fú)
No example because I am not sure who identified with this label.
The Chinese traditional clothing.
This either referred to historical clothing restorers (regardless of ethnicity) or people who promoted that the traditional clothing of Han people should be in the late Ming dynasty style, since "people should get up at where they had fallen".
They might be agreeable with the hanfu movement or not.
清汉女/Qīng hàn nǚ
The clothing of women of Han Chinese in the Qing dynasty.
Since the Queue Ordinance wasn't that strictly enforced on Han women, the Han women clothing in the Qing dynasty had quickly absorbed Manchurian's elements while retaining the characteristic two-piece silhouette. (Manchurian women wore a one-piece robe.)
I believed it appeared around 2019 when the styles of hanfu had moved to fully embroidered surface to a more tone down brocade or weaved patterns.
旗装/Qí zhuāng
The ethnic clothing of Man people (Manchurian).
The women's clothing are generally in round collar opened on the left (youren) with straight sleeves.
The most basic item is a 衬衣/chènyī, which doesn't have vents.
However, the most common item I have seen on the street is a 氅衣/chǎng yī (probably rented), which should be worn on top of 衬衣, since they have side vents.
They usually have no standing-up collar but in some cases a fake collar could be worn.
On top of changyi they could wear a 马褂/mǎguà、坎肩/kǎnjiān、褂裥/guà jiǎn.
旗袍/Qípáo
The Chinese clothing of women originated from the Minguo era, known in English as qipao or cheongsam.
The male equivalent is 长衫/chángshān.
Currently in style is the retro-cut, while uses the traditional flat cut (no shoulder seam) instead of the more body-hugging modern draping style.
There are also many variations and cuts, but the overall silhouette is similar.
新国风/Xīn guó fēng、新中式/xīn zhōngshì
Innovative clothing that was inspired by Chinese traditional aesthetic.
It is an umbrella term.
汉元素/hàn yuánsù refers to clothing inspired by hanfu specifically, while xinguofeng could be inspired by qipao and other ethnic clothing. In addition, hanyuansu is a term more familair to hanfu-ers, so the target audience is slightly different between hanyuansu and xinguofeng.
茶艺服/Cháyì fú or 茶服/chá fú,i.e tea dress, which aimed to convey a zen and rustic aesthetic could also be considered a sub-style. They are often worn by retirees, artists or workers in tea shops, calligraphy shops, Chinese spas, Chinese traditional medicine clinics etc.
The older "Chinese style" generally refers to 唐装/Tángzhuāng and 中山装/Zhōngshānzhuāng.
Tangzhuang (Tang Suit) was a men suit characterized with a mandarin collar with a row of 盘扣/pán kòu frogs in the middle. There are two pockets at the bottom front of the suit. It was a well-known looked worldwide due to the 2001 APEC summit. However, other clothes resembled a 马褂/mǎguà could also be called a tangzhuang.
Zhongshanzhuang was designed and named after Sun Yat-sen but was often known in English as the Mao Suit. Mao Suit was characterised with a 关门���/Guānmén lǐng(“closed-door collar", but also known as Mao collar in English) with a row of round buttons. There are four pockets at the front of the suit.
中华lolita/Zhōnghuá lolita
A sub-style of the lolita fashion inspired by cheongsam/qipao, hanfu or other Chinese artistic elements.
The same item could appeared in different styles, but with different cut and accessories. The following examples showed a mamianqun used in different styles.
THE END
539 notes
·
View notes
Feel free to ignore you've probably got a lot going on right now, but considering you know a lot about DOTC and Clear sky, I had a question...
We know that he's a terrible, misogynistic, woman beating and war mongering lunatic who was excused of all his actions because his equally misogynistic brother said " But-But he's nice! Deep down! This isn't the real him! "
But! In a world where the Hunters could write such a character, what do you think Clear Sky would look like as an actual sympathetic villain?
Idk if that makes sense, but what I've thought of doing is taking purely cannon Clear Sky and attempting to change him enough that he's still an antagonist, but not too far where only Reddit defends him.
I don't think he works as a sympathetic villain, on any level, ever. I think you're making a huge mistake to even try, and I have never seen an AU where it was done well nor am I interested in entertaining the thought.
Characters. Are. Tools. They exist to tell a story. The story that people tell me, by obsessing over some alternate universe where he was "ACTUALLY sympathetic and had a REAL redemption arc," is that they're not fucking interested in his dozens of victims. Nor do they actually care about the abusive impact he had on the minds and feelings of his family. They're JUST interested in Clear Sky himself.
Just like the Erins. Everything that happens in DOTC revolves around him. Everything. All his wives die so he can be sad about it. His brother defends all of his actions and BEGS you to sympathize with his pain so he can be 'redeemable.' One Eye comes out of nowhere so that there can be an example of "real" evil to contrast Clear Sky so he's less bad in hindsight.
The first three books of DOTC are bad, but the last three are fucking insufferable because SUDDENLY all that Gray Wing apologia pays off, and they take their main villain and throw him out a window. You CAN'T have "redeemable" Clear Sky and the plot of DOTC without dragging in someone else to drive the conflict, to BE the bigger threat to "unite" against. Slash and One Eye have to be conjured up out of thin air so Clear Sky can WHINE about how people only suck his toes instead of deepthroat them after he killed all their friends.
And yet, in spite of this absolute failure of an attempt, we continue to see this bullshit "redemption" be a mistake because Clear Sky is a fantastic villain, with major antagonist roles in nearly EVERY bit of follow-up material for DOTC that came after.
He's the most consistent monster in all of Warriors.
He's a fragile, egotistical, self-absorbed megalomaniac who ALWAYS sees himself as the victim, REFUSING to self-reflect and blaming everything else for all of his terrible choices. He will USE your love of him against you like it's a chain through your nose, step out of line and he will yank you into place with guilt trips, manipulation, public shaming, and violence.
He's a child abuser. He's a tyrant. He abandons the sick and disabled as soon as they're of no use to him, with grand speeches about "illness" and "weakness." He's a murderer who stands above the shredded corpse of his victim and bellows, "I'M NOT GREEDY! I'M JUST STRONG!"
And you'd write a "good" redemption arc for this, why?
Why are people so chronically unable to accept that there are LOTS of people like him, and you can't save your abuser? Why don't you ask yourselves why you're not interested in exploring Thunder, or Petal, or Gray Wing, and how his toxic influence impacts them? Why does the sympathy fall on Clear Sky? What about the DOZENS of victims who are dead by Book 3, and how THEY could have been saved?
Why ruin a perfectly good villain?
What's behind this trend where a billion people say to me, "Yes Clear Sky is a walking cavalcade of fucked up abuse apologia, and an incredibly realistic depiction of an abuser, but how would you change this while keeping it all the same?"
I wouldn't. You can't. It wouldn't be the same story, or it wouldn't be the same character. Never seen it done well, and I have seen it a lot. So I don't entertain this deeply frustrating "Well What If Clear Sky But Nice" impulse.
119 notes
·
View notes