#only thing i'm iffy on is the white shirt

[baskeigh-ball]

late-night brainstorming on what loathsome leonard looked like back when raph was first brought in as a mud dog (aka 2007-ish)

no major changes, just a couple new hairstyles and being in the good old sleeve-wearing days. sadly those days are far behind him

bonus dastardly danny past outfit reveal? more likely than you'd think

[toomanythought]

A critique of the magic knight captain's outfits because that's the kind of mood I'm in.

1. Charlotte

I've decided that she has the best outfit of anyone here.

She's got several colors going on, but most of them are neutral so It's ok

Blue and silver with gold accents isn't really a color scheme you can go wrong with

Could use a little more armor, but overall a rather practical look

Could stand to loose the helmet but overall not bad

10/10 something I would wear

2. Dorothy

I'm loving the energy of the pink in this one.

Honestly very pretty aesthetic

Not a lot going on, pretty much only pink w/ some black and white accents (There are two different shades of pink but that's ok because they're in separate pieces and nothing else is going on)

The green on her hat really helps make the pink less overwhelming, a great choice

Minus points because those shorts look a little bit like underwear and her boots should probably be black.

9/10 wouldn't wear it but I'd recommend a friend

3. The Vermilions:

It's pretty much the exact same outfit but Mereoleona wears it so much better.

The red and orange is kind of a bad combo, and I thought it was basic knowledge that redheads should avoid wearing red

The blue does work to cut this a bit though, so it's not as overwhelming as it could be

Kinda iffy on the pink sash. It really should match the cape by outfit laws, but I think that would put too much red in the entire thing

Fuegoleon you're pretty but that outfit really isn't doing it for you. Minus points for the lack of titty window. In the future show more skin. 6/10

Like I said, it's basically the same outfit, but Mereoleona wears it with a very different energy and manages to make it look good. I get pirate queen vibes. 8.5/10

Overall 7/10; I might wear elements of it.

4. Rill

The clothing needs a different style/cut but the colors are decent.

His cape doesn't class with his hair, and he's got the light colors well balanced with the dark

He looks like he's outgrown his pants though

Like seriously

They're a bit too short to be wearing without boots

And at least wear some socks to cover it up

Gonna give him the benefit of the doubt and say he hit a growth spirt and Walter hasn't had time to let out the hems

Shoes make me think of Tinker belle

6/10 I like the colors but he really needs different pants, and maybe shoes

5. Yami

Surprisingly not the worst but I am not without criticism.

He's got an aesthetic going that allows him to get away with a bit

As an outfit it's ok, but there's a distinct lack of professionalism going on

Sir are you really going to wear nothing but a tank top 24/7?

Also the over pant thingies make it look like he's wet himself

I like the creativity with the squad robe. No one else wears it like that

His outfit was better when he was with the Grey Deer

Can' figure out what's up with those boots

5/10. I'd never recommend wearing it but it's got a practicality to it.

6. Nozel

My dude you're rich enough to afford a stylist.

We're not even talking about the hair at this point, there are so many things that need straightened out

The ocean/teal blue he's got going on does not work with the periwinkle.

Also what's up with the pant leg cut outs. I really fail to understand the practicality of them

Why are there sandals

We are fighting people

Please wear close toed shoes

Also feathers and fur? Get it together my dude

While we're at it the feathers are kinda ugly in arrangement

3/10 I feel like someone failed to successfully merge two different outfits together.

7. Kaiser

I don't have a lot to say. It's pretty bland.

Very shapeless and fluffy

I'm honestly getting hot just looking at it

Aside from the buttons + gloves and squad robe, there's not much going on

I don't have many critiques of the squad robe. It's purple and yellow. Nothing too horrible.

5/10. Very generic and boring. Don't like at all but it's hard to come up with concrete bad things

8. Jack

Sir do you understand the purpose of clothes

It looks like an armored outfit so you get practicality points

What is up with all the leather straps

They literally serve no purpose

Please put on a proper shirt that covers your midriff

The pants/shoes combo is kinda sketchy

He needs to have either the black or the green running all the way up

Bracelets?

2/10. It's just... ugly

9. William

Sir I know your life sucks but please learn how to dress yourself. Your squad wears the uniform too and you aren't doing them any favors.

Feathers and fluff. Are you a bird dude? Is that your magic? No. It's trees. I know you like birds but you don't need to look like one

Please don't get me started on the colors

For posterity's sake I will now list every color contained within this outfit:

White

Gold

Red

Dark Red

Tan? Light gold?

Dark blue

Lighter blue (but only in one place and it's not touching the dark blue)

Purple. Because this outfit needed some more pizzazz.

White

Black

Get some pink and green and you'll be representing all the squads with ease

The style and cut is actually pretty good but the colors are beyond horrid

He tells Julius that the mask is tacky and then continues to wear it

And also match the rest of his clothing to it

He should have kept the mask as a statement piece and kept the outfit as one or two colors.

Honestly a very in character outfit because it demonstrates his inability to choose a side

3/10 I guess. I like some things about it but there's just too much going on. Bad overall outfit. Needs help desperately. Ask Mimosa. I have a feeling she realized it was bad.

[aceofspadegrass]

Firedance

Characters: Niragi Suguru, Chishiya Shuntaro

Genre: General. It's a fancy party and Niragi and Chishiya are causing a little chaos.

2.9k words

My brain went a little iffy for a little (I'm fine don't worry), so instead of staring at my wrist and thinking about my wrist, I instead wrote nearly 3 000 words of arson with only the implication of arson. But hey! There's dancing! ...... And Niragi and Chishiya living together for some reason.

The fire licks at the walls, people coughing and sputtering as they race to abandon the quickly crumbling building that was filling with smoke. It was going as planned, and Niragi sits by himself, enjoying a glass of something that tasted like honey on his lips. His hair was tied in its usual style, save for the braids that trailed across his head up into the bun, fastened with a small crown comb.

Niragi takes a sip and watches with bated breath as the party crumbles at its seams, as a burning paper lantern flutters downwards, disintegrating into nothing before it could even kiss the ground goodnight. Niragi could barely breathe from how beautiful it was tonight, before it burst into the even more stunning ambers and dusky grey that made a flame a fire. Hell, he could barely take a gulp of air now, but Niragi wasn’t worried. After all, he’d miss the fire dancing around him, without a care in the world and exhaling monoxide as if it were its child.

He could remember tonight clear as day.

“ What’s that?” Niragi looks up from the snowy white envelope in his hand, stamped shut by a wax seal when he hears the voice that sits across the table from him. He looks down at the envelope again, turning it over to look at the looped lettering imprinting his name, this address.

“ A pregnancy test.” He answers with a sarcastic bite in his voice, tossing the envelope onto the table as it slides over to his companion at the dining table, smaller and more nimble hands picking it up to examine the otherwise ordinary thing with a slow motion. “ What the fuck does it look like.”

“ No need to be snippy. I was asking if you knew the contents.” His fingers brush over the wax, perfectly round with not a single imperfection. Niragi shakes his head, and a small pocket knife is produced from the other man’s pocket. Chishiya slides the wax free from the paper with ease, flipping it open. He doesn’t pull the paper out, leaving Niragi to easily reach over and tug the whole thing free from his loose grip, Niragi flipping the envelope over to pull the crisp butter coloured invitation out from its confines.

With one hand Niragi flips it open, eyes tracing down the lettering, printed and embossed. At the bottom was a signature, clearly handwritten as it differed from the rest of the text. His nose picks up the faintest scent of perfume wafting off the invitation, and a corner of his lip tugs upwards. Chishiya says nothing, eyes tracing Niragi’s face instead for the answer and giving off his own half-smile.

“ Is there room for one more?” The man asks, and Niragi nods, thumb brushing along the card paper as he memorizes the words on the paper. He hands the card over to Chishiya to let him scan the words for himself, Niragi getting up and walking to his bedroom to check if he had the appropriate clothes.

His closet wasn’t filled much for formal events, Niragi finding no real need to look prim when his work left him needing only a business casual at best. He brushes past his usual button ups and long sleeve shirts, towards the back ends where he kept anything of real worth. There was, at the very least, a selection in which he could choose from, Niragi tracing his fingers against the plastic coverings keeping them from dust. He had to choose something that would fit what he wanted to look like for this particular event, held similar to a masquerade ball.

His fingers pause upon one, black just like all of his other ones, but weaved through the fabric were threads that made it glitter in the light, like stars in the deep nighttime. Niragi pulls it off the bar to examine it closer, the artificial light in his room alone making the suit sparkle quietly.

“ This’ll work.” Niragi lays the suit against his bed, which didn’t stand out much when his blanket was of the same colour, but that didn’t matter. Niragi turns his attention back to assembling the rest of the outfit, finding a decent dark blue vest and a white dress shirt to offset it. He lays those besides the suit, humming thoughtfully. “ This’ll work.” He mutters once more, and he leaves them there for later on, walking out of his room to do chores.

He doesn’t see his housemate until later on, when Chishiya appears from nowhere in the kitchen by himself, already dressed in a white tuxedo tailcoat. Unlike Niragi’s, who left his coat open, Chishiya’s buttoned his, grey vest still showing along with his equally as white dress shirt. His hair held nothing special other than that he had now tied it in a low ponytail, which rested comfortable along his nape.

Chishiya’s eyes trail along Niragi’s form with the same gaze as he held everything that befell his sight, cold and knowing that it was simply not worth another breath of his infinite thoughts, as those same eyes look away to stare instead at the letter that was left on its lonesome on the table. Niragi’s gaze held similar in return, although they instead burned with a more arrogant taste, knowing that he held superior.

They say nothing to each other, and Niragi doesn’t care. He doesn’t want his opinion anyhow, and Chishiya would never give one. Instead eyes watch the wall clock that ticks faithfully onwards, until it was time to leave the house. Niragi makes sure to dip the house into sleep as the two walk out to a car that wasn’t there in the daytime, Niragi locking up before following after.

A man opens the door for them to step in, and as they had expected, the inside was roomy, enough that Chishiya and Niragi did not have to sit by each other. They sit at a distance from the other, although just close enough that it was not clear whether they simply wished to avoid the other yet knew they needed some form of familiarity in their space.

The limo pulls away from the neighbourhood, and Niragi opts to watch out the window. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Chishiya was doing the same, and perhaps also watching him from the corner of his eye as well. No words were to be exchanged between the two of them, and quiet music picks up to bolster the silence. Niragi didn’t know what it was, noting only that it was meant to be calming, to introduce the energy that was to be the event.

Calming, perhaps romantic, something meant to be from a fairytale’s tongue. An event that Niragi would only imagine belonging to the wealthy within movies. That wasn’t to say he was poor, he was well off for a man of his age, and the same could be said for Chishiya, a surgeon who held life and death underneath his fingers.

If that was the only criteria to the invitation, Niragi did not know, nor did he particularly care at the moment. Chishiya perhaps did not give much thought or emotion as well, but Chishiya wasn’t much for emotions in the first place.

The ride went by without any fuss, and the door opens for them to exit once more at their destination. Niragi, being closer to the doors, steps out first as a mask is pressed into his hand by the chauffeur. Niragi steps aside to let Chishiya out as well, even if something in him wants to inconvenience him for just a few meager seconds by standing in front of the door, Chishiya given a mask as well.

Together they adorn the masks, which obscured the upper hand of their faces, walking up to the magnificently shining building that lay in front of them. Niragi and Chishiya share no words as they enter, people all about in merriment and conversation. Chishiya disappears as he usually does once he enters, and Niragi spares not another thought about the snowcapped man as he trails through the crowd with a pride in his walk, in his smile, in his presence. Niragi was sure he was catching the attention of the others, looks turned his way even if their faces were hidden, even if their eyes were partially concealed from clear view at a distance.

Niragi commanded attention in a way that instilled silence. If he was anyone else, maybe he could incite excitement, incite devotion in just one sweep of the room, but he was not a man of that sort of charisma. If he could describe it, his presence was more like a chill that ran down a spine whilst alone, a presence that brought respect and awe, one that held everyone in place because it was a disaster that sparked an odd sort of beauty held in its grasp.

His strolling leads him into the main venue, tables lined throughout the room, people occupying a few here and there, otherwise left free in favour of standing, mingling, dancing. There were service bars by the walls, workers and chefs standing behind the tables to feed the many guests with a buffet type food service. Niragi could pick out between all the guests waiters and waitresses, bringing out drinks and foods for those who didn’t wish to move from their spots, Niragi’s lazed smile twitching in amusement at them, too slothful to move to collect their meals for the night themselves.

Niragi makes his way to the bar set up, the bartender nodding a greeting to him. A menu laid on the table in front of him, the man ignoring it to simply tell the bartender what he wanted, easily received by the professional as they got to work. Niragi leans his weight idly to one side as he watches the bartender at work, the air filled with gentle music. His gaze does not falter once, even as he can feel eyes watching him not that far away.

The drink is slid to him, and Niragi pays upfront, his eyes and attention finally turned to the one that continued to watch him. It was a woman, dressed in a fine pink dress that showed off her body well yet didn’t make her too exposed, cut just low enough and adhering to her body type. Niragi takes a slow sip of his drink, savouring the taste upon his buds, eyes twinkling as she giggles upon catching his attention. He knew her motives, and he would be a fool to at the very least entertain himself here as well as her.

He walks up to her, and his eyes drift slowly, soaking her in, adjusting his weight to appear as good as possible as he cocks his head.

“ Are you enjoying the view?” He purrs, and the woman smiles, twirling a lock of hair.

“ Oh, plenty. Did you come here alone?” She asks, and Niragi only smirks, leaning forward. He could pick up the scent of perfume, flowery and faintly of a light lemon.

“ If you mean I have no partner to enjoy this night with, then you are right.” Perhaps Niragi was a little bit of a liar, but at the same time he was truthful, knowing his ‘partner’ wanted nothing to do with him in proximity to him.

The woman offers a smile, and Niragi could see her eyes behind the sparkling mask she wore, crinkling up in a genuine smile along with her honeyed lips painted in a soft pink shade.

“ Then may I accompany you this night? I can’t dance alone, you know.” She says, and Niragi lets out an inaudible huff of amusement from his nose.

“ I don’t see why not.” He responds, and takes another sip of his drink.

Niragi entertains this woman in small talk, offering what she wanted tonight in his company. The lights dim as music plays from the stage, an orchestra that set everyone in the mood for the first dance of the night. The woman extends her hand to Niragi, and he accepts her silent invitation, guiding her out to the floor. The dance was slow and gentle, and Niragi holds her as they dance to the song that played, enveloping everyone in a blissful trance. The woman keeps her sights on Niragi, and Niragi keeps his in hers, taking the reins in moving them around the grounds, easily avoiding the other couples and pairs that swayed around them like fallen flowers drifting in a river.

He satisfies the woman in her company just long enough until the lights gently brighten once more, the music brightening up for a little more energetic sort of dance. Niragi excuses himself instead, the woman bidding him a far too fond farewell as he escapes her side.

Another drink is made for him, and he trails along once more through the crowd. A few were twirling others upon the dance floor, chatter enveloping the place, weaved through the thrums of the orchestral piece that tied it all. Niragi sees for only a second a glimmer of familiar white, and as easily watches it disappear back into the throngs of people moving to and fro within the place.

Niragi takes a seat at a table and continues to drink and take in the decor. It was certainly expensive, crystal chandeliers above everyones heads, the floors still clean from any sort of rubbish that may eventually scatter and make kinship with the ground. There were vases upon each table, each cradling fresh flowers in their grasp, resting upon silky tablecloths, each adorned with placemats in front of each chair, draped as well in cloth to match. The stage itself was decorated to match the theme of the place, keeping it feeling far expensive and lavish. Paper lanterns bordered the walls, which allowed light to remain as they dimmed the main ones, making sure to illuminate just enough as to not darken the venue to be consumed in the night. It made everything here feel important, untouchable yet eye catching, wishing to graze a finger across the surfaces for a taste of riches.

Niragi takes a sip of his drink, and he remains in place as he hears someone call for help somewhere in the distance. He does not make a single move as he hears more calls, as people start speaking far louder above others, alerting everyone else.

It was already beginning, as planned. Niragi sits by himself as chaos seeps into the bones of the event, as the fires spread and people rush out. In their panic they do not care for the man dressed in the sparkling nights sitting there, too worried for their own hides as the burning fire licks and eats away, creating disaster in its wake.

The fire spreads fast, and the building begins to dissolve at its seams, and Niragi remains seated.

“ May I have this dance?” A lightly mocking voice all too familiar to his ears, halfway muffled by the raging growl of the building becoming ashes and debris around them, calls from behind him. Niragi sets his glass down and rises, turning around to his oh so detestable yet still magnetizing partner, his mirror image that arrived with him.

“ I don’t see why not.” Niragi responds with a sneer, and he extends his hand, Chishiya resting his smaller and far more nimble ones in them. Niragi pulls him close, and smoke fills their lungs as Niragi grips Chishiya’s a little tighter, Chishiya’s lips curling up a little more as they danced between the fallen decorations, between toppled over tables and chairs and trays, over shattered chandeliers.

They stare at each other with a shared knowledge of the cause, light dancing across their clothes and eyes and smiles playing at their lips. Their smiles, of course, did not come from each other’s presence, and never would for a long time, but they smiled nonetheless. They smile as fire danced around the two, Niragi spinning Chishiya before letting him unfurl, then furl back into his arms as they danced within the dying building with the rush of destruction as their orchestra.

The two dance in the flames and destruction, barely avoiding falling woods and objects strewn along the ground that would trip them up. Smoke slowly fills their lungs, but they do not care as Chishiya cradles Niragi’s back and dips him as wood whizzed past his head, fire lapping at his hair as Chishiya pulls him up with a smirk, Niragi baring his teeth back.

They continue to dance and whirl within the masquerade now consumed in glorious destructive beauty, and Niragi can’t help but imagine how his clothes must be dancing in delight, woven threads glittering and sparkling like the night sky. Perhaps that made Chishiya the moon, his moon, but the night had many moons depending on where they were.

They dance until they could dance no more, and Chishiya slinks away as Niragi follows. They end up outside, fire at their backs as the night sky remained above them, Niragi and Chishiya expelling smoke and the taste of beauty into the night, the cold air licking at their now sweating skins and granting them a sense of peace.

Niragi turns his face to the sky with a wry smile, and he sees in the inky night the thick smoke drift and feed the party’s newly made beautiful chaos to the moon and night sky.

“ Come on, let’s go. Party’s over, after all.” Chishiya makes his way down to where ambulances and firetrucks were beginning to form in front of the burning, magnificently shining building that barely stood behind the two men.

Niragi, flicking his tongue across the smoky new taste of his lips, nods in agreement as he follows after Chishiya. It was a beautiful party.

[oak23]

hey, I'm legit interested in hearing you talk about the Mattel racial biases thing. I have a hard time understanding stuff like that sometimes so hearing your perspective would be good!

Okay, I'm kind of hesitant to write this cuz Im just a cis man of colour and not a woman of colour, especially one who experienced colourism but hey I'll give my thoughts.

Anyway, divorced from each other the designs are alright, but together they paint a picture of racial biases in design.

So the blonde, white mermaid probably has the most detail pored into her design. Like individually drawn pearls and scales and accessories. Plus she has a specific hairstyle happening. Along with her pearl themed colour palette, it's the most subtle and least garish in design. That, coupled with her being thin, and the lightest skinned of the group, it's hard to ignore that the designer put the most effort into designing her.

This doll has darker skin, but she has literally nothing else in her design that indicates she's been designed as a person of colour. She has blue eyes, her features are almost identical to the blonde mermaid AND her hair is almost bone straight. A lot of people have already written why swapping skin tones doesn't make for a more diverse cast, but yeah, little to no thought to challenging Euro centric beauty standards.

The fact that this design is only wearing a harness and some armor pieces doesn't go well with the stereotype of darker skinned men being overly sexualised, especially considering how desexualised Ken is when he's a white design. Like I am all about sexy men, but considering the lack of racial representation in Ken collector dolls, and one of the first darker skin Ken designs (that isn't a palette swap of white Ken) isn't even wearing a shirt like the other mermaids is iffy as hell.

Plus the fact he has blue eyes and straight hair again ties in with Euro centric beauty standards.

And yet again, Mattel only makes a curvy collector doll when it's a woman of colour. The fact that they decided to put her in the most garish colour scheme, with the least amount of accessories, jewellery or hair styling feels incredibly lazy especially compared with the blonde doll. It feels incredibly /othering/ to have your dark skin, curvy design to have a hot pink outfit that covers the most skin, and the least amount of thought go into the actual design. Slapping starfish on a dress doesn't equate to the amount of careful pearl decoration, scales and shells that's put into the blonde one.

Anyway, all together, the designs just show a person who's idea of "diversity" is two thin, straight haired girls with blue eyes, a dark skinned shirtless man with blue eyes wearing a harness, and a curvy woman of colour wearing a clown dress from the plus size section with like, no head wear much arm decoration

[secondhand-sheep-shack]

Fucking ow

OK so some of you recall me asking for boot recommendations.

I bought Keen's. I bought super custom insoles for them. I still had foot pain.

I gave in and went to the work clinic today.

I have plantar fasciitis in both feet and Achilles tendinitis in the right foot.

I got my script for the prednisone filled at the clinic for free. Then I went to work for 8 hours. The NFL can kiss my very firm, miserable white ass. I go in hurt. I go home hurt. I can only get 8 pain pills at a time for the 10 day script. I'll play the full 8 tomorrow and 10 Saturday and I won't make millions complaining.

That said my stats:

Weight, in full work gear: 215 lbs.

Weight minus work gear: 207 lbs.

BP: 1st time was 86/50, 2nd try was 91/60.

Pulse: 41-43 depending on if I was talking or not.

O2: 100%

Body fat by the scale was estimated at 28%.

As I was only being seen for my feet I wasn't taped.

So my own measurements.

Wrists: left - 7.25"; right - 7.125"

Forearms: left - 8"; right - 8.625"

Upper arm resting: left - 13"; right - 14.5" (I'm not sure this is right, I have limited dex in my left hand right now so accuracy is iffy at that angle.

Chest (around boobs): 46" [this has gone up due to increased muscle mass in my upper back, but upper chest has decreased by 6"

Waist: 40"

Hips: 48"

Quads: 3" above the knee and 6" above the knee left - 24", 27"; right - 22", 27" (there's scar tissue and differences in tracking of my left patella due to quad reconstruction a decade ago - was told I'd never see south of 32" at 6 aotk on the left...they were wrong)

Calves: left - 15", right - 16.25" (right is swollen because of the lower foot issues, they're normally nearly exact.)

Ankles - again both swollen but left is 9" right is 10"

Still"severely overweight by any chart you go by, but the rear doesn't lie.

When I started trying to be healthier in 2015 I was 280#. My waist was 52". My quads were 32". My chest was 54". My bp was anywhere from 70/40 to 110/60. My pulse was always 75+. My O2 was seldom over 96%.

I was wearing men's big&tall jeans at 54" waist. I was in a men's 5x T-shirt.

I still take a 2x work shirt because I have broad shoulders. And I like them longer.

But mundanes I bought a men's large T-shirt last week, it's a perfect fit.

Current diet is: make myself get to 2500 (at least of the 3500 calories I'm burning daily) some days I fail at getting to 2000 let alone 2500, 3000 or 3500.

I drink water, Gatorade and tea like it's going out of style. Because I can drain 2 gallons of fluids in a night at work.

And the nurse put me on prednisone... So I'll lose more weight and have no appetite for 10 days. (Abnormal outlier) I average 25-3ps loss during or after prednisone.

So.. Yeah. I made the nurse very happy that she didn't get to counsel me on bp, pulse, or weight. In fact with the stress she's surprised my pulse and things weren't higher.

I do my job as best I can, on unreliable equipment, managed by a forgetful supervisor and I, the still noon know more than any full-fledged set up tech on my shift about my line. I have consistently bettered numbers than 1st or 3rd shift and I AM the girl and I am the only shift without help on my lines.

I run 3 lines. Solo. Sometimes I run great, some nights I eek out what I get. Some days I make the maintenance guys blood pressure rise,some nights I get Wade to laugh. Tonight sucked. Feet hurt. Lines struggled to run smooth. It started out like that. It ended with me gifting 7 parts to 3rd on line 3 because 0 runtime looks better than -2 minutes.

I did it though. I'll do it again tomorrow and Saturday. And a week from now, I'll get Ben here with me. And maybe by then my feet won't hate me quite so much.