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cadybear420 · 17 days

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Cadybear's MC Wardrobes: Evie Ayana, OG HSS Book 3. Featuring some edits by me!

How this series goes: With each book, for a MC I'm invested in, I'll assess each of their in-game outfits. How much do I like or dislike the outfit? Is this something that suits my MC's style, or does it make me go "My MC would NOT wear/own this"? And for the outfits that my MC would not wear or own, how would I alter or replace them? I'm not going to use screenshots from the actual game because I can't be arsed. Also I want to use the different sprite expressions to express how my MC would feel about each outfit.

I like to think this is a good opportunity to elaborate on my MCs' dress styles, and show off some edits :D

Now, let's assess the outfits of OG HSS Book 3 and finish off the wardrobe for Evie Ayana! Well, not quite finish off, as I might make some posts for her in-game outfits in HSS:CA, as well as some bonus miscellaneous outfits I came up with myself for other events in the timeline.

Directory for the other parts will be included in the reblogs after I've completed the posts for all books!

Ch 1: "Cold Shoulder" Premium Starter Outfit

Evie would actually really love this top. Although she is pretty lukewarm/indifferent on bare-shoulder tops, she would totally wear this one, mainly for the fabric texture. However, I don't think she'd be too keen on the necklace or the skirt, though, as cute as the flower embroidery is.

Verdict: Only partly in Evie's wardrobe. Alter by replacing the skirt and removing the necklace.

Here's what it'd look like more in her style. I might headcanon this as her casual fit for HSS:CA 3.

Ch 1: "Spring Fling" Premium Starter Outfit

And here we have a reverse situation of the previous outfit. Evie would dig the pants, but not so much the top.

Verdict: Only partly in Evie's wardrobe. Alter by replacing the top.

So how about a combination of the two? :3 (Unfortunately the embroidery looked a bit awkward on these pink jeans, so I left it off).

As it is though, I think I'm perfectly happy with using the "Cardi Cute" outfit for her HSS 3 spring casual outfit (or the altered version of the "Bombshell" outfit, but that would mean paying for the original one which I don't quite think is worth the diamonds). Like I said, I might use these altered spring premium outfits for her spring casual outfit in HSS:CA.

Ch 1/2: "World Tour" Premium Outfit

It's not bad, I kind of like the trim design on the skirt. I can definitely see Evie dressing up so as to at least make the Hearst kids' tour fun. Plus, it sort of matches with Aiden's spring casual outfit, being that it's also a light blue button-up and dark blue bottom piece.

Buuuuuut I don't think the skirt is quite her style. It's just a little bit too short, and doesn't really seem "loose and flowy". Plus, she would prefer an outfit with pants for this type of event.

Verdict: Only partly in Evie's wardrobe. Alter by replacing (or lengthening) the skirt.

Here's how it would be if it were closer to Evie's style. Plus, a version where the skirt is closer to Evie's style. I tried to make the pants blue-ish to keep that color scheme match.

Ch 3: Baseball Uniform

Jock girls stay winning <3

Verdict: Technically not in Evie's wardrobe because you have to return uniforms at the end of the season, but the point is, Evie would love wearing it. Keep it as is.

Ch 4: "Light it Up" Premium Outfit for the Mitchell's Beach Party

This is gonna sound crazy, but... aside from maybe the arm bands, Evie actually wouldn't mind wearing this. The romper is really nice-looking color and aesthetic wise and it looks fairly comfy.

While it is arguably a bit revealing– namely, it does violate Evie's "no skirts that go above mid-thigh" rule, she probably would be a little more comfortable breaking that rule with a romper dress rather than a regular dress or skirt. Granted though, she wouldn't really wear rompers very often, so yeah.

Also, the necklaces are adorable. I love moon/star shapes and so does Evie.

However it might be a little bit too extravagant for her tastes for what I feel is a more casual house-based beach party.

Verdict: Actually would be a part of Evie's wardrobe. Move the arm bracelets, but otherwise keep it as is (but save for a different event and possibly go with a different outfit to wear to the party).

Evie in the altered outfit, plus the m!MC's version of the romper outfit. She'd also love to wear the replacement outfit for the pool party outfit from Book 1 (it would also match Aiden's outfit, then again I might give him a new beach party outfit too as well as all the other LIs). She'd also be perfectly happy wearing her regular casual outfit to the pool party like everyone else did.

Ch 7: "Key to my Heart" Premium Outfit for Open Mic Night at the restaurant

It's decent on its own, but I don't think it's really Evie's style. I don't think she'd really vibe with keyhole dresses.

Verdict: Evie would not own this. Keep the bracelets, but replace the rest with either her usual casual outfit or her usual semiformal outfit.

For this sort of event, she'd far prefer to wear the "Make a Statement" semiformal blazer outfit, or just her regular casual outfit like everyone else.

BONUS ROUND: Ch 11: Band Concert Outfit

Looks fly as hell. She'd dig it. But she would also think it's kinda dumb that the guys (and Cameron) all wear long sleeves while the girls all wear short sleeves lol.

Verdict: Part of Evie's wardrobe. Keep it as is (for band!Evie AU) (but also give her a long sleeved version, and save both for other events).

Long sleeved version! Though honestly, I'm not sure Evie would have really had much of a preference. She likes both styles.

Ch 12: "Silver Goddess" Premium Prom Outfit

God damn it. The cloth and color of this dress is so damn pretty! But there's no way in hell Evie would EVER wear a dress with a leg slit. She'd feel like... like the exact opposite of a goddess.

Also, why is it called "Silver" when the game file describes it as lavender? Not that it's even lavender anyways, that's clearly periwinkle.

Verdict: Evie would NOT buy this. Perhaps alter later by closing the leg slit and removing the arm band. But even then, it would not have become a part of her wardrobe due to a certain other premium prom outfit option...

For now, here's that one edit I made previously of Aiden wearing the outfit because I like it better on him <3

Ch 12: "Black Tie" Premium Prom Outfit

*inhales*

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

Verdict: Becomes part of Evie's wardrobe and is her official prom outfit for the book. Keep it as is.

Ch 12: "Just Peachy" Free Prom Outfit

It looks pretty nice, I like it much better than the premium prom dress. It's neat and simple, which is something Evie would enjoy wearing. She'd also like the peach color too. Especially considering she likes Aiden's "peach".

Of course, there's no way Evie is giving up that tux. So yeah.

Verdict: Evie would wear this, and it maybe would've become a part of her wardrobe if she didn't already buy the tux for her prom outfit.

Ch 16: "Once a Tiger" Premium Finale Outfit (and carries over to HSS:CA as MC's default outfit for that trilogy if purchased)

Not bad, but why does PB hate putting this MC in tops that are cut below the pants? Also, no thanks to the choker-style necklace.

Verdict: Somewhat part of Evie's wardrobe. Alter by lengthening the top and the necklace.

Here's the outfit more in Evie's style, plus her in the m!MC one because I do think it suits her better either way.

Though in either case, I don't consider it Evie's default outfit for HSS:CA. I'm going to be making a different new set of outfits for that instead, and that will be its own series. Stay tuned.

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the-ocean-in-motion · 2 months

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A post for publicly sharing the products of my Drawfee Lalafell idol project!

(if u don't know what the fuck I'm saying just scroll on)

NOTE: I am not affliated with Drawfee I just stole their logo for that edit. I'm not making money Julia pls don't sue me

FAQ

Q: Why do this? A: Fatal case of brainworms

Q: How long did you spend on making these? A: Too long. Enough questions

Jokes aside, here's a proper intro to what this is for people who aren't in that one very specific discord: As a creative project of sorts, I decided to make 4 Lalafells in FFXIV based on the Drawfee crew (youtubers). SPECIFICALLY these are based on their Newsday Comic Designs, because there's only so much staring at real people's faces really zoomed in I can do before I start feeling like a creep.

So, No, these are not "lifelike" or even "as close to life like as i can make potato people in a 10 year old video game". They're based on stylized ideas of people, warped by my creative liberty. That left me more space to make them cute instead of uncanny valley, which I'm sure any drawfee members that see this post might appreciate too.

They're also all heavily modded. It's more fun for dressup.

With that said! Onwards to the pictures (and design notes)!

Nathan: I actually "made" the beard for this myself - or, rather, I refitted it from a modded beard for Roegadyn. I even made an effort to mold it into a rough flower shape, but I'm afraid it doesn't show up that well. Still, remembering that there is no full beard for Lalafell in the vanilla game, I think it actually looks quite cute! For this "casual" fit I made an effort not to make Nathan look too fashion-y. Of course, they're idol photoshoot style pics, so I still had to dress him up a bit! With this sporty fit with the fun big red boots reminiscent of early video game character designs, I think I landed in a pretty nice middle ground.

Julia: This is the only design I paid real life money to make. I spent forever futzing with free hair mods trying to find one I liked, but in the end I forked over a few bucks to an experienced hair modder's online shop and got this hair that comes with all the features I wanted. Can't say I regret the purchase, it's very pretty. For the outfit, I knew what I wanted pretty much immediately. I have had this outfit mod for a long time, but I've never really known what to use it for. It feels very Julia, even if I can't remember necessarily seeing her wear this kind of thing before. Maybe it just feels French, and I associate Julia with France?

Karina: Karina's face sculpt mod was very easy to decide. Looking at the list of the free female Lala faces, I saw one that looked like a little shit - and named "Give Me the Phone" - and immediately knew it was perfect. I had to edit this hair to become hat compatible for later outfits, but overall this one was full of easy picks. Maybe I'm projecting too hard, though? I even dressed her in a top I modded for myself, after all.

Jacob: Jacob's design is one I agonized over, because finding a hair for him was quite hard. Short hair mods are rarer than long ones, and Newsday Jacob's hair is very distinctive. In the end I had to settle for a more realistic style, but I'm told it still reads as him. I wound up putting Jacob in maybe the cutesy-est outfit of the four. I don't think he'd mind, but either way the funny little overalls were too big a temptation for me to resist. Accessorising with bandages is where my weeb roots really shine through, though. Portraits done, here's the additional materials I've made!

Drawfee Kindergarten Field trip! Fun fact, I took this screenshot mere seconds before the dungeon I used as a set kicked me out, which means I spent the entire instance timer just deciding on accessories and posing! Where are they going? To see the big squid at the Aetherfont's center, of course!

youtube

The first music video! Motions not by me, I'm not that talented, these are retargeted Project Sekai dances (retargeting also not by me lmao animation modding scares me)

youtube

Childish war is such a fun song and dance, never mind the fact that none of the "personalities" really work for drawfee. It's dancing lalas! Who cares!

That's it! I might do more music videos or photo shoots in the future, but that's highly dependent on my brain chemistry, so truly nothing is certain. If you made it this far, I hope my silly little project brought you some joy! (and olive) And hey!

Check this out!

#drawfee #ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #lalafell #ffxiv modding

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drawingwithgreen13 · 2 years

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How do you make your sprite edits?

Hey! I'm flattered that you're interested, that's very sweet of you <3 I'm sorry if this reply came later than you expected but I thought for this I'd made a small tutorial, so I had to get screenshots for the whole process and stuff ehfuerhgr

So first, I start with grabbing the DRS bathing suit sprite of the character I want to edit because those sprites have the least amount of detail for me to erase (for this example let's use Junko)

Then I turn the opacity down on her model and start a basic sketch of the outfit design on top of it on another layer. Because the base has a lot of dark lines and details, I change the colour of the sketch to bright red so it's easier to see the difference.

After that, I make a new layer and start the lineart. Because the artstyle uses inconsistent line length, I try to do the same with my lines (a good tip is to see how the line width looks on the original base and try to mimic it on your own lines, it may not be 100% accurate but it'll at least be closer to the original style than if you used the same width throughout)

Then, I add the colours and the shading. This part gets a little complicated, because instead of doing the base colours and the shading on the same layer, I make one layer for the shading and then create another layer for the colours, which I put underneath the shading layer so I can keep the shading consistent (another tip: follow the shadows on the original base where appropriate and then add any extra shadow for stuff like fabric folds. This is especially important if you're editing a female character because of the shading around their breasts)

Next, I go back to the base and edit out any details from the original bathing suit that wouldn't be there with the new outfit (Junko's actually a good example for this, as her bathing suit covers her midsection but my outfit design doesn't, so I would have to edit it to look like it's exposed)

(Another tip is to add shading in accordance to the new outfit, such as the beaded armband in the picture above)

Buckle up for this part because it's a Lot-

This part might be a little confusing because I realised after taking the screenshots that I might have done the process...out of order? Compared to how I usually do them at least lmao. So what I ended up doing was blurring the lineart and shading layers slightly to match the blurriness of the original sprite, merging those layers + the colour layer together, making yet another layer, choosing a dark colour that fits the palette of the original character and making a circular gradient over the outfit, as the original sprite also has a gradient.

Then I searched for the polka-dot texture you see in Junko's hair and overlaid it with the outfit, resized it, blurred it and set it's opacity to where it matches with Junko's hair as much as possible (thanks @sir-sunny for this tip!)

(The texture that I use is the first result that shows up on Google Images when you search 'danganronpa texture overlay', which was made by JLE42 on Deviantart, who says it's free to use)

Generally I don't name my layers, and I usually delete the obselete ones as I go on, but for the sake of this tutorial I decided to keep them so y'all know what they look like. These are the result of this one edit:

(Before the gradient)

(After the gradient)

After that, I add every layer except the sketch layer together so it's one image (depending on the layering, I have to add certain layers in different orders so the last image is as neat as possible)

And there you have it! I'm sorry if this got hard to follow, this is my first real tutorial and I'm extremely bad at articulating myself efhiuerg. I hope it's at least enough for you to get an idea of how I work!

(Any messy bits I intentionally left in because the THH sprites are messier than the other games and I wanted to replicate the style as much as possible)

(Program is Firealpaca btw lol)

#Danganronpa #Danganronpa sprite edit #Sprite edit tutorial #Tutorials are harder than I thought :')#Still kinda fun tho!!

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lgbtqforeverything · 1 year

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bionic action hero moments that i just really like

chase’s whole expression and demeanor when douglas talks about giselle dumping him

adam bree and chase leaning on the pillars and talking when douglas runs in. i don’t know why i like this but it makes me smile

i want to see douglas in a mullet so bad now

the abcs’ asses in their mentor suits. this isn’t specific to this episode but i just appreciate it

chase being able to get out of his mentor clothes and instantly getting into a flannel. sir you are gay

all the bits about the training room set looking fake when we all know that’s just the actual set that they use. that’s shits hilarious to me

chase and adam looking so happy/excited in this screenshot

the ‘what time will this be on tonight’ joke adam makes

the fact that it looks like spencer boldman shaved for the tank top

all the acting warm ups the boys do but specially adam running around like he’s on a toy horse again

the abcs’ bad guy outfits

chase’s line about bree knowing how to pick boys. like sir-

the way the instant troy pushes bree down adam is slightly holding chase back but chase breaks free and was about to euch troy is not for the huge gun. they be siblings your honor

chase telling everyone his plan like giselle couldn’t just run off while everyone was fighting to code a firewall

the bad edit where bree somehow loses her jacket before the fight but we never see it

bree going from a ‘sorry!’ to rage yelling

adam and leo being able to communicate through one word

chase smashing the laptop

adam’s face after giselle says she’ll rip out chase’s chip

chase’s little sarcastic smile

the panic in chase’s voice when giselle tells him that his family is going to die

chase’s scream when he sees the explosion

the elation in chase’s voice when he sees that they’re alive

leo being the one to save them <3

chase’s stupid face when he uses his molecular kinesis is to escape

chase’s stupid spider-man jump when he escapes

‘hold my hair net.’

the thing where chase pushes down the kicks troy aims at him

‘abs of stell brah’

chase’s arms/torso in his villain outfit

adam bree and leo’s expressions when they first see chase over the video call

bree’s villain tank top. big fan of this

LEO MAKING A GOOD PLAN AND EXECUTING IT. I LOVE HIM HE HAS GROWN SO MUCH AND IS SO GOOD AT THIS HERO THING NOW

the leo douglas dynamic in this episodes. i’m obsessed

chase being face up in the table even tho his chip is in the back of his neck and he should be face down. it keeps annoying me

none of the students doing jackshit even tho this is what they’ve been training for for MONTHS

leo being the one to think of how to take the android down. he was the true mvp of this episode and i love that for him

similarly: the abcs’ asses in their mission suits

giselle being a #girlboss

the android clearly not putting any of his weight on douglas

adam trying to bring chase back because he never gives up and bree being the first to say he’s gone because guilt she knows the consequences much more explicitly than he does. this scene can actually give you a really good look at their characters-more than just what disney even thinks they’re giving you.

the tears in adam and bree’s eyes

the way adam goes instantly to rage while bree goes to grief

the way adam clearly aborts a hug because all his barriers come back down when chase shows back up alive

douglas’ indignant ‘hey!’ when troy steals his gun

the way bree’s first thought when grabbed by troy is to have adam take out both of them because of the guilt she feels of getting everyone into this scenario and how she feels sacrificing herself is the only way to make up for it

adam’s ‘i can’t’

the way leo is the first to agree with her. he knows the realities and consequences. he has lost an arm and a leg. he has longs since suspected he might lose something more.

the line of agreeing with her going leo-chase-adam and how it takes adam longer to agree than the other two

the fuckin paper towel roll above the sink. it makes sense because sink but looks so out of place and something about it is hilarious to me

adam’s barriers being back up and deflecting when chase tells him he loves him and then punching chase, putting them back into their emotionally constipated normal

cause fucking manspreading over two chairs and a table. sir.

the fucking marcus hand. seeing that scene makes me so excited

#oops this accidentally turned into me just live blogging #a. j. liveblogs #lab rats #tune in next time for the essay i want to write about sibling dynamics in this show! (can not tell you when next time will be)

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centrally-unplanned · 3 years

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Allocating Your Aesthetic Budget: Sailor Moon Edition

Sailor Moon is a show that undoubtedly built a powerhouse of a visual brand. Should I even bother posting a screenshot of the sailor scouts, given that I am 100% confident anyone reading this can recall them instantly? I guess it won’t hurt:

Anime is often really good at creating iconic designs like this, through repetition of the visuals. It is awkward in live action shows if characters just wear the same outfit every scene (what, they only own one outfit? Are they homeless/work in the tech industry?), but animation gives us enough aesthetic “distance”, an awareness that this isn’t accurate to real life, that you can buy into the conceit. By wearing the same outfit every time, it just becomes the character. Not to mention a studio can really save quite a few bucks by streamlining production with neat tricks like having only one character design to animate - when you are on a shoe-string budget, like pretty much every anime in the 90’s was, every cut corner counts.

What is interesting about Sailor Moon is that most of the time it doesn’t really use this conceit at all.

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Episode 15 of Sailor Moon’s first season has, in its opening act, this shot of all of the Senshi (at the time) talking to the plot-of-the-day character, who clearly trains rock Pokemon in 16-bit caves in his off hours:

If you knew nothing about these three characters, you could probably infer about 80% of their personality just from their outfits. Usagi (the blond one in the middle, if that's necessary) is wearing:

Light pastel colours, with pink on top of that: girly, feminine, bubbly and breezy

Short-but-not-too-short of a skirt, and red heels: cares about fashion, wants to project an image of being a woman with a romantic hint to it

Long-twin tails w/ buns: Contrasting the shoes, she is still immature and childish. It also means she is the protagonist of an anime

Rei (far right) rocks a very different look:

T-shirt and jean shorts, shoes over heels: sensible, practical, a bit sporty

Very short shorts, long black hair: Confident, a bit aggressive, and suggestive of a more overt sexuality

Ami (far left) settles into a more restrained vibe with:

Full, long, but sleeveless dress, bob-cut hair: Chaste, more conservative, but not to the point of prudishness; particularly with the length (and the hand posture, shielding her body) probably a bit shy

Monochrome blue colour in outfit & hair: reserved, serene, possessing a calm demeanor

I know I have seen the show already, but really none of these details are a stretch - this is just the language of fashion. And all of these outfits are outfits that the characters have never (or rarely) worn before up until this point. The cast of Sailor Moon, far from that animation conceit of “standard outfits”, change clothes all…

the….

time.

I just randomly clicked on episodes to find these, it requires no hunting

And while it isn’t always as spot on as the top picture, they all in some way embody the language of visual design to speak to the personality of the characters. If you want to see more, check out one of the multiple tumblrs dedicated to the everyday clothing the Sailor Senshi wear, because of course those exist.

If this was a 2010’s Kyoto Animation show, pointing this out would be the end of it - every one of their shows has this level of impeccable detail. Sailor Moon is notable in that it is not at all that kind of show; the animation and designs in Sailor Moon take perpetual shortcuts to get the job done. I don’t think the transformation sequences need to be belabored - the way they permitted the team to recycle identical animation sequences, multiple times per episode, was surely a godsend to the production schedule. Yet not all of the budget limitations are so prettily masked:

I’m sure they finished the background art in the...VHS release?

The show is filled with dirty animation, unfinished backgrounds, backgrounds that are a simple color gradient for no clear reason, and so on. It is clear that the Sailor Moon team did not have the resources for every detail - which is why the decision of what details they did choose to prioritize is so interesting.

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What is the point of Sailor Moon? I do believe that shows have “points”; and by that I don’t mean a message or theme but a core appeal to an audience, something specific that they will get out of the show. Almost every show appeals along multiple axes, and Sailor Moon is no exception, but I want to focus on one: aesthetic identification.

If you learn someone is a Sailor Moon fan, there is the obvious follow-up question you have to ask, namely “which Sailor Senshi are you?” It’s the which-Harry-Potter-house-are-you question of anime, a horoscope where you can choose your sign (in this case literally). The premise of this concept is not hard for media to execute on - it is just personality traits and aesthetics grouped together under a label, a basic building block of media and clickbait internet quizzes. Harry Potter, ironically, raised up its memetic question almost by accident, as its focus is so squarely on House Gryffindor that the others are almost forgotten; it was just so mind-bogglingly popular that it didn’t matter.

Sailor Moon, however, takes this concept and allocates so much of its aesthetic budget into making it a centerpiece of the show. Sailor Moon herself is a klutzy, lazy romantic, Sailor Mercury is a shy, earnest bookworm, and so on, with none of them ever really becoming very complex characters. However, the show devotes itself to making you *feel* these archetypes as strongly and intricately as possible. All of those outfit changes are chosen because not only do real girls care about their outfits and can therefore identify more strongly with characters who do the same, but so they can constantly emulate their archetype in diverse, different ways. The show doesn't have the budget for intense action scenes, so after Sailor Moon engages in her hyper-serious transformation sequences, she proceeds to, nearly every time, bumble through the combat scenes like this:

Oh sure, the scenes are done this way because it is funny (and good comedy can be done on any budget - these shots are frequently still frames with motion lines!), but it is also done this way because Sailor Moon is a total screw-up, and if you identify with that it is validating to see someone “just like you” able to pull off wins despite it all. The transformation sequences are not only beautiful animation that showcases aspirational power, but are also crafted to highlight the personalities of the Senshi in question - unless you think aggressive, combative Rei got fire powers by coincidence. Half of the run-time of every episode is spent, not on the plot du-jour, but on light-hearted personal squabbles between the cast because those scenes are not just funny, but also allow for far more moments of character expression.

All of that work pays off in building with the audience, not a connection with a character who reflects their identity in total, but a connection that reflects one aspect of their identity in an extremely deep (dare I say multifaceted?) way. I think if you were to describe Sailor Moon as a “shallow” show, you would actually be right to say so, in a sense. These characters will never have the true depth of personality, themes and so on of a more ‘adult’ show. But those adult shows have to spend their effort somewhere - for all that the themes of say Evangelion or Paranoia Agent are pristinely detailed and impactful, you aren’t ever going to be memorizing the moves of their transformation sequences. The way Sailor Moon committed so strongly to fleshing out the archetypes the Senshi stood for is, I think, one of the keys to how this cast of five became so iconic.

Not even their school uniforms match! They had to spend time in-universe *justifying* this!

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A Final Note:

At least, everything I’ve said here applies to Sailor Moon at its peaks. The show, however, is not one without its stumbles, even in Season 1. This section doesn’t flow into the core essay too well, but I wanted to note it because if you were to watch Sailor Moon today, you might struggle to feel the dynamic outlined above. The biggest culprit here is the length - Season 1 is 46 episodes long, and sections of it most certainly drag. They also take a startlingly long time to introduce the cast - this choice builds tension around their arrival, but it also means the later Senshi get a lot less time to establish themselves. Sailor Venus in particular gets hamstrung by this - she is introduced and then immediately arc plot elements sweep the narrative, and so she is left as a hollow shell for some time. The pacing of the show is undoubtedly flawed.

I think Sailor Moon is a show that you do have to keep its time and place in mind for - namely, middle schoolers and anime nerds watching it on broadcast TV in the 90’s. As an adult you “get” the point of the show pretty quickly, and get satiated on it almost as fast. Watching it all in a few sittings only heightens this problem. For a younger audience, and one that is waiting for a week between episodes with no internet for plot reminders, all that extra time is needed to jog memories and build connections. And younger audiences just have that limitless commitment to the things they love! If you think no one could actually enjoy seeing the same transformation sequence for the 30th time, watch it with someone who would have died for this show when they were 10 and you will be disabused of that notion *very* quickly.

Still, we can’t travel back in time - Sailor Moon is a show of its era. There are “filler-reduced” guides out there, though I caution that the plot of Sailor Moon is absolutely not the point of the show in comparison to the character dynamics, and so sometimes the filler is the best part (Cat-Rhett Butler is the best character in the show YOU KNOW I’M RIGHT). Certainly, however, some method must be used to cut down on its length. If you are going to be a first time viewer in adulthood, that reality should be kept in mind, and if you do accept it for what it is you can really appreciate its core appeal - and don’t forget to finish it off with a 1990′s era internet personality quiz to really wrap it up!

#essay #anime analysis #sailor moon

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potatotrash0 · 3 years

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Please I’m begging you, I need your opinions on the 10th anniversary outfits, partially because my brain fell out of my head once I saw

Ponytail Komaeda✨

But also because I’m in LOVE with so many outfits. I also wanna roast some of them because yikes.

DJDJKEFJ YOU ENABLE ME..........i’m putting this under the tag because i talk a lot and this includes just about as many people as i have an opinion on.......which is a lot skfjskhfjd

Listen someone in Chunsoft looked at the fandom and decided to throw us a bone because they really made each antag look like a hot piece of ass. Byakuya with his big rich bitch coat, Kokichi with his swept hair, Ko with his pony.......they had no right to make them look so hot tbh

Also I love that for the first few days, the Komaeda tag was just full of us freaking out over Ko’s pony. One brain cell, I tell you. Komaeda fans collectively saw him and frothed at the mouth skfjdkfj.......

Okay I NEED to talk about the protags bc my god did they do them dirty.....Saihara’s dirt color suit? Hinata’s piss colored one??? Disgusting. The filter doesn’t help at all because I clearly see Hinata’s suit being white or off-white in the first one with only the protags and supports but SAIHARA???? He was done dirty since the beginning and I’m appalled that they would do that to my boy especially when Kaede and Makoto are right there in perfectly good outfits.

Real quick can we talk about Akane because she is GORGEOUS????? Also Peko!!!! Fuyuhiko you lucky bastard......

Sonia and Gundham??? Muah. Love his scarf, her ponytail, they’re snazzy dates. Also the Devas having lil baby ties on 🥺💘💓💗💞💗

I’m actually personally offended that they didn’t show Ibuki’s whole dress because she looks great already and I’d pay to see her in a dual tone ballgown.

So according to my friend, Souda looks like a neon Leorio and honestly I don’t think I could put it better. He’s even got the tiny grandpa glasses......like he makes them work but still. Grandpa glasses.

Miss Mahiru.........beautiful.....idk what’s up with her headband but I love her dress enough to let it slide.......Hiyoko isn’t in this shot but she looks adorable.......my only complaint is that they aren’t matching........

I like to call this screenshot “Girls 💓💖💕✨”

Celeste looks.....absolutely gorgeous.....I deadass just stopped everything to stare at her when i first saw her tbh her power is immense......Chunsoft give me her full sprite edit now you cowards >:/

Aoi and Sakura!!!!! They’re gfs your honor!!!! I like to think Aoi helped Sakura do her hair before the dance......though I do personally believe Aoi would have rocked a suit but know what she’s beautiful it’s fine

TOKO!!!!!!! I wanna see her hairstyle cause that’s either a bun or a single braid and either way I’m begging you to let me see my wife...............

Can. We talk about Junko. Please. I’m. In love with her........she might commit atrocities but god is she hot........haha........please kiss me—

Teruteru’s lil hat is adorable?? I know I don’t talk about him much but he’s actually very cute here I’ll give him that. Also there’s Hiyoko she’s very pretty.....

CHIAKI AND KYOKO........ACK........be still my heart..........they’re beautiful I want to kiss them and be their date please. Chiaki with buns and Kyoko in a ponytail is everything. I’ve never been more in love with them skjfhfrjgdj

also MIKAN!!!!!!!! ACK SHE’S SO PRETTY......mmm, I am a little bothered that they gave her.....that, idk, instead of a normal jumpsuit because she would have looked drop dead gorgeous without being given something that I feel would probably make her uncomfortable but know what whatever. Maybe I’m nitpicking. She’s still rocking her outfit and looking happy and that’s all I want for her.

I’m so sorry for Leon stans because that suit is literally the most atrocious thing I’ve seen ever. Purple and orange plaid with HIS hair????? Disgusting. I’ve never been more repulsed by one man. He and Saihara got dressed together change my mind.

Miss Kirumi.......kiss me........she’s gorgeous and I want her to rock these kinda outfits more please she deserves it

Miu’s outfit makes her look like an instagrammer or something and honestly good for her, wear those sunglasses inside like the extra inventor you are babe 💖

Chihiro.......I mean they look great but why the leprechaun aesthetic..........very cute though I kinda like it. It’s funky.

Tenko!!!!! Rockin her suit and skirt, very snazzy. The top hat looks out of place but know what, Danganronpa doesn’t draw hats very well in general so I’ll let it slide

...........Ouma move outta the way you’re blocking Himiko skfjskfj. Anyway I like Himiko’s dress too, but I’d probably make the dress navy and blue or something, I think the red/pink/magenta color scheme clashes weirdly with her hair.

Ngl I think Kork and Rantaro actually look okay. The fedoras are. Questionable. But I like to think Rantaro convinced Kork to do it just so they could stand at the entrance when the party started to help hold the doors open and tip their hats, going “m’lady” and winking every time a girl came by. It’s like the only way I can excuse them skfjk

HOWEVER. I can’t forgive Ryoma’s hat because what the hell is that. Did he glue horns to his fedora. What. Huh. Why is that image in my memory now and how do I get it out arghhhhh

Anyway Harumaki!!!!!! My wife.........gorgeous as always queen keep doing what you’re doing.......on that topic, Tsumugi, Angie, and Sayaka also look stunning.......muah

In conclusion all the girls are gorgeous. The guys......hit or miss I guess they do miss huh.

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rainbowoftamaran · 3 years

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Check out my rainbow of friends!

"So, yes, I made all these awesome friends, and I realized that I have a full rainbow! Obviously, that's really amazing and perfect and I just have to show it to anyone who cares!

Nisha - @chainxdancer - is just really cool! She's strong and can fight and she's... I forgot what exactly she is but she's not human and has a tail and horns and she doesn't mind sharing her money or food with me, and if things go as planned I might be able to join her on her adventures soon to earn my own money!

Moonshot - @warriorfortamaran - uh... look. I needed to fill the orange slot, and I do know him. He's a meanie though, typical tamaranean with a side of extra-grumpy. Best you avoid him.

Yuko - @rosecoloredmuses - was so very nice to me! Despite having quite clearly caught me attempting to steal from her, she offered me some of her candies, and oh are those great! Definitely worth our encounter! We didn't have that much time together, since she had to go soon enough, but, it was really cool to meet her and I do consider us friends after this - I mean, you don't give non-friends just free food, right? - and just, I love her sweets and am absolutely convinced that she's a great person to meet!

Sirise - @siriseen - and I met on some other planet. It was really nice to have company during that exploration, and she knows so much! She's also really good at medicine and these things, so like, definitely someone that I'm glad to know! Still not quite sure what that Starfleet is that she belongs to, but, yeah, it's been really fun with her and I do hope that we'll meet again!

Minato - @dxfiedfxte - actually is not dyeing his hair, as he told me! I never thought humans had such a variety in hair-color! It does seem to be a unique thing for him, too, so I probably thought right. It's very awesome to know someone else who has a rather unique hair-color of their species! He's also been really nice to me so far and it's fun to hang out with him!

Perrine - @flusenimkopf - has helped me before with giving that karrn'k Moonshot a bit of what he deserves, even before we got to know one another! She's also not human either, and I think she doesn't know all about where she's from just like how I don't! It's just really cool to hang out with her, and I'm glad we're having some things in common! I'm also very happy to have someone that I can complain about Moonshot to and do stuff to him together with, that's really something I needed.

So yeah, they are all really amazing and awesome to know, so I absolutely suggest that you consider enriching your life by knowing them, too!"

[[This all has been presented to you by Starlight, found on this blog, @rainbowoftamaran . Below the cut you can find some OOC-stuff like credits and the likes.]]

Hello! If you do reach the cut, thank you for checking the OOC blabber behind the post, too! I've been working on this thing for a little bit now. I'm not entirely happy with it, but content enough to post it, as some sort of promo I guess. Please feel no obligation to reblog this, whether you are in this or not, I just had to do something "for Starlight" upon realizing she had the full rainbow together. (Obviously, not saying that friends are something to collect, or anything ridiculous like that, but I'm hopeful that no one of you will understand this wrongly!)

Moonshot is my own blog, as is Starlight, you can find a link to my mainblog and to my other blogs on each of these blogs' pages.

I sorta-copied the rainbow-waterfall-thingie from a copyrighted picture on some of these websites. I didn't use and just erase the watermark, I only took it as example and created my own thing based on it. I do hope that I don't need to credit for that, then - though during my search I found on these pages also pics with watermarks of others so they probably are in no place to call me out for using their pic as base.

In the next paragraph you find info of the pictures, and a little message to each mun in smaller in brackets behind the stuff.

Nisha's pic is taken from here, which was a commission as you can read in the post I linked. (-- I would've liked to not cut her body off quite as early, but these pics were the first I found on your blog outside of that one in your about and liked for this thing, and since they weren't going any further than this I had to cut it there! I do hope you like my choice of picture here and aren't disappointed or something that I didn't show more of Nisha!) Moonshot's pic is an edit, like the 2 other pictures I have of him, of a picture from Touda from Shounen Onmyouji. Yuko's pic is taken from an official picture, as far as I know, simply made transparent. (-- I do hope the picture is one that you like to see of her!) Sirise's pic is an edit of a screenshot showing Poison Ivy from that recent Harley Quinn show. (-- I gotta add that I was like so lucky that you actually mentioned a FC for Sirise of all your muses when I asked you that "random" question! I really wanted to include her but kinda didn't really want to add one actor among anime/cartoon/drawn characters, and when you then mentioned Ivy and I found a fitting appearance, I was so happy to have found a way to include her without mixing RL and animated characters! This thing here is also the reason I made this edit in the first place, but it was cool that I could kinda ask for your opinion on it beforehand through our talks xD) Minato's pic is, as far as I know, from an official source, and again just made transparent so it worked for my thing. (-- I really really tried to find the pic you're having as background in your theme, it looks pretty cool and I was intending to use that, but I couldn't locate it anywhere! So I kept searching, I first had a different pic chosen where he's like, very light blue all over - not in skin or the likes but I mean hair and suit - but that was a little too one-color for me in the end so I chose this one even though I prefer a bit more color! I do hope it's a 'normal' outfit of his and that you like my choice!) Perrine's pic is from here, which is art of the mun of the blog. I wish I could draw so well! (-- Your art is amazing and I'm glad you were alright with someone using it for a thing as long as you still are mentioned!)

Starlight's pic too is an edit, of an official art thingie of Rika Jougasaki from iDOLM@STER (I hope I wrote that right). And yes, she's supposed to be sitting on that cloud.

So, yes, I think this is all I have to say to it! I'm very glad that y'all are interacting with my little rainbow here (and perhaps my other blogs too), you're very awesome and it's an honor and delight to be your mutual and interaction-partner! Thank you!

#🌈 Look at all the colors! 🌈 | Self Promo #🌈 They're so cool! 🌈 | Promo #I don't know what else tag to put onto this; I don't usually tag promos with that; but I guess I should #anime tw #not sure if this really is a promo or something; maybe moreof a 'thank you' post; idk #just take it as whatever you want to take it as!#I am; like; /so/ worried over posting this or not #I mean once you see it I obviously did post this so nvm I guess; but still #if you end up not liking it or something feel free to just ignore it #and I very much do hope that I didn't; uh... cross any boundaries through making something like this #with including a group of different people and all; I sure hope that it's not like someone of you now goes 'ugh how could she include me an #d xyz in the same thing; that's so rude/wrong/whatever #please please please lemme know if something isn't alright with this for you; I can't promise I'll take down the thing but I can... idk; tr #y to change something about it; or something?#I love all our interactions so thank you for being here!#I waited with this until blorthog because what better day to post a friends-thing on than the festivity of friendship?

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choisanbooty-uwu · 3 years

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(Boss)Kim Hongjoong X Fem! Reader

(Fluff)

Summarry: Covid Edition! Hongjoong is your Grocery store boss (on the side obviously) and you’re a cashier who has to quarantine. One day you’re friends on break at the same job you work at, and Honjoong takes her phone.

‘Quarantine. Fucking. Sucks.’ You think. All you’ve been able to do is eat, sleep, lay down, play games, watch things, bathe, etc, anything BUT things involving people interaction and leaving the house. The only people you could see and interact with was your family.

Sure your results came back negative, but you still had the 10 day quarantine rule. You missed working, and you missed seeing Hongjoong. Sure, maybe your 17, and he’s 22, but you just couldn’t help yourself.

Your friend was working a long shift, and wanted to facetime you, so you accepted.

“Hey (f/n)”, you say.

“Hey (y/n)!” She explaims with a giggle.

“Geez— you’re gonna make the whole store hear you—”

“Ah it’s just me, Mingi, Jongho and Hongjoong today. And Mingi is near but no one else— ah, wait Hongjoong is coming,” (f/n) says.

“Shhh, shut up (f/n)—”

“Who’s on the phone?” You hear Hongjoong say. Your friend looks at you, and smirks, knowing how infatuated you are with him.

“It’s (y/n),” she says. Hongjoongs face pops up next to your friend on the screen and you can’t help but turn red. Just the way of how good he looks, with his fluffy blue hair, his black mask, and his processional but not too professional outfit.

“Can I borrow your phone for a sec then?” You hear Hongjoong ask. Without a second of thought or hisitation, your friend hands her phone to him. He walks into the room next to the break room and pulls down his mask. “(Y/n),” he starts to say.

“... hmm?” You say, your camera off for you don’t want him seeing you admiring his beautiful features and light red tinted lips.

“I want you to text me more often.” You look closely at the screen to see his cheeks tinted partially pink. He was flustered. “I’ve been worried. And I miss seeing you here. So you should talk and text me more often so I don’t worry so much,” he finishes, the pink more prominent.

“O-oh, okay....” you stutter out, 50 shades darker then you ever have blushed before.

“That was all,” and with that he walked back to your friend to return her phone. He seemed to have a relieved expression after you had agreed to talk to him more, which made you fill with pure joy.

“Sooo??” (F/n) asks. You remain silent for a few seconds before answering.

“I don’t know. I’ll tell you when I do,” you say laughing. Your friend laughs in return.

“Well my breaks just about over so byee.”

“Byeee,” you reply and hit the x. You were both so happy yet still so confused. You sent Hongjoong a simple text saying “hey” and then went to shower.

~Time Skip~

It was now about 10:30-11:00PM, and you were getting ready for bed when you got a facetime call from a unknown number. You answer it, your camera looking straight up at the ceiling, and Hongjoong’s face instantly fills the screen.

“(Y/n)?” He asks. You didn’t know hot to speak fir a second, you were kinda shocked he randomly called.

“U-uh yeah?” You finally say.

“Sweet ok good,” he says laughing. It was a magnificent laugh might I add. “Sorry for calling so late. Floor night, you know? Had me at the store late. But I wanted to talk to you and I wanted to hear your voice again and see you, so I called you. Althought I can’t really see you—”

“Cause I don’t wanna show my face,” you say with a nervouse chuckle.

“How come? You’re beautiful.”

Now you definitely couldn’t respond. Your heartbeat was in your ears, you blood in your cheeks. “It’s reasons like that I can’t.” You say with more laughter.

“Haha, I guess I didn’t make it easy.” There’s a moment of silence before he speaks again. “When do you get out of quarantine?”

“Monday.” Another pause, as though he’s thinking. “What’s wrong? What’re you thinking about?”

“You, and how I wanna take you on a date next week, on a day you’re not working.” You felt as though you could pass out from the amount of blood that’s rushed to your face. You truly were on cloud 9–

“O-oh, okay, that’s f-fine I guess..” you say, your smile clearly visible in your voice, he doesn’t even need to see it. He smiles and mutters something. You had yawned as he muttered it so you hadn’t heard him. “What was that?”

“I said you’re so adorable, it’s perfect. But I’ll let you go to bed now, good night princess, and I’ll text you tomorrow morning, sleep well,” he says with a beautiful smile, that you manage to screenshot before he ended the call. The notification saying you took a screenshot popped up as the end sound went off and his beautiful face disappeared. You chuckle and then get startled by a notification.

From: Hongjoong

To: (Y/N)

Subject: 😏

Sneaky girl, taking screenshots already. Better be your lockscreen. 😋💞

You laugh to yourself again, setting it as your lockscreen as he said. You then played some music, got comfy, and drifted off to sleep.

~End~

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bettycooperoutfitwatch · 4 years

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3x20 Chapter Fifty-Five: Prom Night

I shall now attempt to get a decent screenshot of Betty’s prom attire.

But first—as we so often seem to—we pick up not long after we left off, with Betty still in the black windowpane check sweater and the snug tan-colored pants; now topped with her funeral gloves and that black check trench-coat. Windowpane on windowpane.

A nice look at the texture on this coat! And a clearer glimpse at the rear-pleats—so pleatiful.

I’m almost certain that by this point in the show’s run, Ms. Reinhart is wearing hair extensions. As a person who also has endured artificially blonde hair that’s been damaged by heat, I feel honestly soothed on her behalf. Anyway—it’s perhaps more noticeable during the prom scenes, but you can sort of tell by her ponytail here, too. I love behind-the-scenes stuff.

I absolutely wore a long-sleeve shirt with this print in, like, 2003. This is a sweater, though, with slightly fluttery cuffs and hem, paired with some very dark-wash jeans. These might even be black, but I feel like there’s the subtlest hint of indigo still in them. Suitable for a girl whose dad just died (ostensibly).

Fuck off this is cute.

(Note the hem, cuffs.)

The silhouette is very Betty but there’s a...velour vibe to it that I don’t even know what to do with. It’s got some tartan, and she is working closely with Jughead here, so... It remains an oddity to me. Maybe she’s off-balance. I wouldn’t blame her, given the events of the episode.

Even Jug can tell something is off. I mean, ostensibly her dad did just die. Ostensibly.

Additionally—completely forgot about this new Serpent hangout space the gang slapped together out of a former Gargoyle den (214). I was thinking this was the Jones-formerly-Cooper basement.

This varsity jacket is new to us, more on it later.

Look at the conviction in her eyes, I love when Betty is convinced she’s got it figured out.

Not the first time we’ve seen Betty in something ever-so-abstractly animal print, and also not the last. Notably, these are both moments in which her...conviction, shall we say, is tested.

A l e w k. The tartan of the mini is very Betty-&-Jug, but the scallops are Ms. B Cooper. The coloring is Betty-but-darker, if you will. She’s not Miss Baby Pink Betty Cooper, and she hasn’t been that for a long time.

Backpack 2.0.

The palette is also a gesture forwards to her prom gown.

(Faces.)

Your Prom Queen. Vote Betty Cooper.

There’s a vibe, alright?

I’m not even going to engage with the question as to how the denizens of Riverdale have such plentiful ren faire attire so close at hand (Edit: You know what, let’s call it the Stars Hollow Principle). It’s all very generically ‘medieval’ or ‘renaissance,’ but this prom—and Gryphons & Gargoyles—is not about historical accuracy. This is Eldervair.

Let’s just role the outfit footage, Jimmy, and appresh the hard work of the wardrobe department.

Echoes of 111.

There are also some very intentional callbacks to young Alice and the Midnight Club’s Fizzle Rock-fueled revelry throughout this set piece, some subtle (a Tears for Fears soundtrack), some less-so (actual footage of Ms. Reinhart as Alice Smith from 304):

She s t i l l has Ms. Grundy’s gun.

She superrrr wisely kicks off her shoes early on in this chase, pls see bottom right.

This feels like a very Canadian blanket. Am I crazy? Hudson Bay vibes? Canada, come thru.

Riverdale.

I have NO idea what to even think about this sequin dinosaur t-shirt. This is fckn wild. Betty finally acquiesces to coming under the protection of the Farm, now that Black Hood Hal is afoot again, so perhaps this goes to explain whatever is going on here outfit-wise.

I’ve been watching so much Succession recently that I want to say she’s finally ‘coming in,’ a la Shiv Roy.

Note the “Coach” embroidery on her left breast. This bomber is reversible, we’ll see it again in season 4.

Whew. That’s a resigned face.

Summary: Seven outfits (not including the 304 flashback)

That backpack?: Backpack 2.0 still around

Best outfit: Let’s say scalloped crop-top and tartan mini

#3x20 #s3 #riverdale #betty cooper outfit watch #betty cooper

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lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

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Quick Thoughts on The Royal Heir, Book 1 Chapter 1

• We're back! Hopefully with a better series this time, but I'm not going to keep my hopes too high.

• If my QTs are clogging up your dash, I recommend you block these particular tags: #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, and optionally #long post.

• Much like my Book 3 QTs, I will be exploring as many playthroughs as I possibly can to see how each LI's route is being written. Last book, this experiment definitely helped me figure out that they were putting more effort into some characters and less into others, and I'd still like to keep an eye out for these things as much as possible.

• I feel this QT might be shorter than my usual (edit: joke's on me - it's not!! 🙈), mostly because the opening chapter itself is...pretty light, and is mostly meant for us to spend time and have fun with our chosen LI. Plus a tiny smidgen of buildup to the premise, which is having a child in Cordonia. But I do have a theory about the overall theme that I'm going to be expanding on towards the end of the chapter.

• Okay that's it for preliminary explanations, it's time for me to start with the chapter! XD

• Ooh. Oooooooh. This loading page now has tidbits about Cordonian society!! Interesting.

• Title: Happily Ever Afterwards

Alternative Title: Be Grateful We're Letting You Have This Much Sex For Free This Week, Because That's The Last Time It's Happening.

• I'm extremely offended they're making me wear that Pepto Bismol outfit again.

•

...thanks so much for reminding me you still don't care about Hana, PB! 🙄 Everyone else remains to be some version of "loyal", but Hana is still considered more for her skills than for her own steadfastness, even though she was the most hardcore-loyal of the four (SHE LEFT HER FREAKING HOME. HER FREAKING FAMILY. FOR YOU. While the other three were certainly loyal and honorable to the MC, they definitely didn't have to completely cut ties with their families to do right by the MC).

• The "fairytale" aesthetics of the frame story were what drew people into TRR in the first place, so it's not too surprising that the LIs and MC give a nod to the flagship series with a "once upon a time". If you're with Liam, it goes straight from "falling in love with the Prince" to what his relationship with her taught him, before the happily ever after. If you're with one of the other three LIs, it specifies that she came there for Liam but fell for someone else. Sounds a lot like Maxwell's book 😄 In Maxwell's playthrough, in fact, there is a reference to it when the MC calls him a "famous author".

•

(Screenshots organized as follows: 1 - Liam, 2 - Drake, 3 - Maxwell, 4 - Hana. Liam's and Hana's are my own. Drake's from @thefirstcourtesan, and Maxwell's from Kaitlyn Walker's YouTube channel).

The other interesting thing to note is that in Liam's playthrough, he leads the narration. While in everyone else's the MC is the one who steers it. One reason I can think of is that the narrative still treats this story as Liam's story as much as it is the MC's (if I'm right about the theme) - which...has honestly always been a sore point with the fanbase in TRR. That would depend on how us and our baby are now further involved with Cordonia in the story. Another factor for why she leads the narration...could be that essentially, the MC took initiative in the other three relationships, while in Liam's case it was he who took a more active role by proposing to her.

• The little story ends with this question from the MC:

Question: But what happens after Happily Ever After?

Answer: Mess. In Cordonia it's always mess.

• Cordonians (specifically the upper classes, since I don't know enough about the common populace to tell, since they're, yknow, practically invisible) are addicted to tea, apples and fucking shit up where they don't even need to.

• ANYWAY. What (literally) happens after 'happily ever after' is a tropical honeymoon on Liam's private island. In the case of the other three, he allows them access to the place and gives the staff instructions on making the stay comfortable for them.

• Now, since Liam owns the island and has probably visited it a could times, he shows more familiarity with it. He tells his wife that on previous trips the island had more rustic accommodations, but the villa they're now staying in was prepared recently. Additionally, the butler welcomes Hana, Maxwell and Drake as newcomers to the island, considering it's their first time. With Liam, there is an air of familiarity - he calls the butler by his name (Javier) and enquires about him and his wife (Mariana) - to show us perhaps how familiar he is with this holiday spot.

• Why the hell does everyone call Liam "Your Highness"? It's been two whole books since he became King, and the proper title for a monarch is "Your Majesty". How is it that Constantine gets to rake the MC over the coals for calling him Your Highness, yet Liam has to hear this from practically everyone. From Javier to freakin' Protocol-Monitor-Madeleine! The disrespect, I tell you!

• Okay so we're having a candlelit dinner by the ocean, and we get our first OOTD. Cute beach dress, has bright flowers and some crochet work on the bodice. I bought it because I couldn't bear to have Esther stay another minute in that Pepto Bismol of a dress.

• LOL @ all the LI responses to "this spot is right where the sharks are!"

• Tuna sashimi and pineapple aioli, huh? I have never had either so idek what that's supposed to taste like (someone on this writing team likes pineapples). I remember having to cut down on tuna during pregnancy, which meant no more Subway sandwiches since the tuna sub was the only one I liked at the time. IIRC most of my family were also cautioning me against pineapples and papaya during my first trimester!

• My gosh this butler doesn't waste much time jumping into assumptions huh?

• Also Javier, why is Cordonia's future so dependent on the well-being of my foetus even if I'm not ruling the country?

• Does Cordonia have sex ed? My money is on no. (esp in the Hana route).

• So there are two parts to the way the premise of wanting to have kids is built up in this sequence. In the first part, the LI impresses upon the MC the need to have children soon after the wedding. The second part addresses the urgency - the "why right now?" factor, and explores the LI's personal emotions towards having children. This bit also feels a bit like a follow-up to the Valtoria balcony scene in Chapter 15.

• The first part is pretty similar for Drake, Hana and Maxwell - all three of whom are now married to a Duchess and are aware that securing the duchy is important. They word it in their own distinctive styles, but the gist is pretty much the same. In Liam's case, since he is the king of the country, he speaks more about Cordonia and its tensions with neighbouring countries.

Take note of this because I'll be returning to this point later. (also who are the writers trying to convince about Cordonia's size. "Small kingdom" my ass).

• I'll be going by the LIs' personal reasons to have a baby now, one by one, along with a summary of their views on children in the Valtoria balcony scene last book (since this scene clearly references that diamond scene if you've bought it last book).

(Screenshots: Liam's and Hana's screenshots are mine, Drake's is from @thefirstcourtesan and Maxwell's is from Kaitlyn Walker's YouTube channel)

- Liam: Liam's love for family and need for children is well-known throughout the series. In Book 1, he's dropped hints about wanting to have a different kind of family dynamic from the one he'd experienced as a child, and in Book 2 there were multiple references to wanting to not be Constantine - both as a King and as a father. In the balcony scene in Book 3, Chapter 15, Liam tells us a number of things - about the value of having more heirs for succession, of him always dreaming of having at least 3 children, about Kenna, Cordonia's most legendary warrior queen which leads to an interesting factoid about how the rules of successions for both the throne and duchies are not gender-specific (he also cites Olivia and Penelope as being in line to inherit their duchies). In this sequence Liam undoubtedly has more to say about the political aspect of having an heir than the personal, but his statement about "someone missing" in their lives is of no surprise when he's been enthusiastic about kids for three books straight.

- Drake: Drake perhaps gets the lengthiest 'personal' bit of all, revolving around his eagerness to be a father and his own family history. This scene has Drake speaking of wanting a child with "your eyes and my hair", but most of all of Savannah and her little family, and wanting the happiness his sister is experiencing now. The writing often manages to tie Drake's thoughts about his future family with his past: in the Valtoria balcony scene, his memories of his father and his desire to bring up his own kids the way Jackson did are dominant in the conversation on children. He speaks at length about the absence of a proper 'home' so far in his life (stating that his room at the palace always felt like "a room in someone else's house") and how high on his priority list the prospect of having children is. The Valtoria scene shows him eager to have kids asap, and this scene builds up the same urgency. You're left in no doubt that he wants those kids now.

• Maxwell: Maxwell's route of this scene soundly pretty sudden, tbh. In his Valtoria scene, Maxwell expressed doubt and nervousness when it came to children, citing the example of Bartie ("I love palling around with little Bartie and everything, but if he bonks his head or something, I can just hand him back to Savannah. When it's your kid, you're the one people hand him to."). While this is referenced in TRH's dialogue when Maxwell jokes about forgetting diapers and baby socks - it's a pretty big jump from the man who didn't exactly feel ready to have children yet, and not enough work was done to justify that shift. This could be somewhat excused in the beginning of Book 3, when the narrative had just begun to treat him like an LI, but they've had an entire damn book and several months after to reflect on how to write him properly. That is...if they actually gave a damn.

- Hana: They don't even have the excuse of "relatively new LI" in Hana's case. Because she is the lone female LI married to a female MC, her scene should have been a lot more extensive and explored her urgency to have children so soon after their wedding, a whole lot more. There are tiny changes, like the one where she hints at the "logistical concerns" that come with two women considering a family, and where she speaks of giving her child the childhood she never had (which, frankly, is an extremely vague statement and could be applicable to more than one character in Cordonia). But there is urgency that, again, isn't properly explained in the scene. Even Hana's Valtoria scene doesn't have much that would explain why she would want a child barely weeks after her wedding. The Valtoria scene does have her outlining her dreams for the duchy (along with a joke about her enacting "Beauty and the Beast") and her happiness at the thought of being a mother (she maintains that out of the things expected of her, motherhood is the one she looked forward to). They could have spent some time thinking up a reason for why Hana would rush this, even before anything has happened, or outlined something personal and not ultra-generic. Both Maxwell and Hana deserved a lot better than this.

• Maxwell speaks about possibly forgetting diapers (PLS NO MAXWELL NO) and baby socks (um okay not as bad but depends on the climate), and one of the MC's dialogue options is to say..."diapers and socks are overrated". Guys your kid won't care how much fun you are when they have a bum rash.

• A-ha! Diamond scene. First-chapter diamond love scenes always come cheap in these series' (12 diamonds) and are usually quite a steal.

• ESTHER HAS NEW LINGERIE OMG I'M SO HAPPY I'D BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR SO LOOOOONG 😭😭😭😭

• ...and it is also matches Liam's underwear. Maxwell's too 😅

• The scene is nice, there are variations between the ways the LIs work up their appetite before they finally roll in the...well, sand 😅 Maxwell has what they call an "ocean duel", Hana's fulfills her lifelong dream of carrying and spinning around her wife on a secluded beach, Drake chases the MC through the water...and Liam just enjoys being a huuuge tease, okay? 😂

• Oh God, why are they still using the old LoveHacks sexytimes music. That "DHUM-boom-ta-doom-DHUM" beat drives me nuts, and not in a good way. You have better music now, PB! Like the sexytimes tunes from RCD and PM. Use those!

• My gosh this entire group is quite horny for dominant duchesses, aren't they. Every last one of them. Each playthrough has these four gazing at the MC in wonder and telling her some variation of "I think you ordering me around is hot". Olivia could trample over them all with spiked heels and they would thank her!

• As always, when something suspicious happens, my dumbass MC goes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and never thinks about it again until shit actually goes down. This woman will never learn, will she.

• Anyway! We now move on to the rest of the honeymoon, summed up in three-four varying scenes per LI:

(Screenshots: Liam's and Hana's screenshots are mine, Drakes is HIMEME's YouTube channel, and Maxwell's is from Kaitlyn Walker's YouTube channel).

- Liam: Focused and dedicated. And insatiable as hell. Sex on a bed (SHOCKING!), sex after his wife points out what could be an apple constellation during stargazing (the MC effectively killed Liam's boner for Cordonia, I see), sex after having chocolate strawberries at a sunlit pond, sex again on a bed (Why is he getting four? 🤔). While the staff is still around somewhere on the island. This is a man with a mission.

- Maxwell: Fun and playful - kind of a "let's live wild and do daredevilry while we can!" vibe. In one Maxwell and the MC cliff dive into the ocean, debating over the wisdom of such risky adventuring when they may possibly be having a baby. In another, the MC watches, concerned, as Maxwell eats a raw squid appetizer. There is a nice callback to Maxwell's House sigil - the kraken - when he tells her that a squid would never hurt a fellow squid. The third shows them playing Strip Monopoly in the comfort of their bedroom.

- Hana: Adorable, caring and looking through every detail. Hana's three scenes involve her showing the MC the sights around the sunlit pond (which Hana and the MC lovingly call the "Hana Lee Honeymoon Itinerary"), watching the sunset under blankets, and this little scene of them choosing sperm donors for their baby:

It's a nice addition, but it still doesn't explain why they couldn't have waited a few more months. Nothing has happened yet in the timeline of the story, the women are (they believe) finally safe and happy, and while Javier seems to believe that babies born to a couple that consists of two women pop out of nowhere, I'm hoping the denizens of their duchy will have at least a little more common sense (this is Cordonia, so "hope" is the operative word).

- Drake: Langorous, relaxed and contented. Stargazing on the beach (I wonder whether this was a nod to the meteor shower scene in Book 1), whiskey on a patio/balcony/whatever in the afternoon, and eating roasted pork by the fire. Plenty of sex but also lots of outdoors, which means lots of the stuff Drake enjoys doing.

• Aaaaaand it's time for sexy scene 2! The couple are now relaxing in bed on the last day of their honeymoon, and the LI proposes a momento in the form of a sensual photoshoot (which comes with artwork of the LI in their underwear, posing for the MC) The male LIs pose with their hands at the back of their heads, smirking at the camera, while Hana strikes a coy pose, leaning against her hand. It's a quick, fun scene that's supposed to squeeze as much alone-time out of the couple as possible, because from here on the focus may shift to other things. Basically this chapter is meant to be one giant (but largely safe for readers) smutfest. I like the artwork - it's different and I guess meant to be a little more realistic than the usual full-page art in the books (like the engagement and wedding photos with your LIs last book), which is why I think it takes a little getting used to. I know it took me some time!

• Maxwell got an underwear upgrade too!

• We've now come to the end of our honeymoon, our bags packed and ready for our return to Cordonia. The chapter ends with us seeing a "familiar face", who could either be Liam (if you married someone else, and he doesn't show any expression) or an unspecified person (if you married Liam, and he looks ultra happy). Now that could either be related to some paparazzi-related stuff, if the flash of light was paparazzi-related, or it could be a fake-out and he's actually brought along the rest of the gang to surprise you. Idk and I don't want to speculate too much on this, mostly because something more interesting caught my eye.

• So that's it for my thoughts on the scenes themselves! On to the "general thoughts" section.

• General Thoughts and Potential Theories:

- As a first chapter for a new series that is still tied to an older one, it worked. It mirrors the light feel and sensibility of TRR's very first chapter, in that both chapters build an illusion of a fairytale-like place, with hints of the darkness within emerging the next chapter onwards (in this series though - since we're already familiar with Cordonia - the darkness is lightly hinted at this chapter itself). In a lot of ways I think we're going to see a lot of parallels between TRR and this new series.

- Unfortunately, one of those similarities also includes the imbalance in the writing for the LIs. Specifically with Maxwell and Hana. It's the most glaring in the dinner scene, which builds for us the premise on which this entire book stands (the topic of pregnancy). There are ways you could have them make the jump from nervous about having kids to excited, if you tried - there are elements in their storyline that could have helped us understand their urgency.

- I played Liam's route first, and was happy overall with it but I still have my misgivings. The good in terms of Liam's story is that he gets importance because the story is also about him and his country, where we are staying. He gives us some very important details in his route, and personally I like that his role as Guide To The Intricacies And Nuances of Cordonian Society still exists...but you can't deny that there were things in his storyline which should have been addressed and never were. I hope those are addressed this book. If they do the same this time around, it will only be to their detriment.

- Also, I find it highly ironic that Drake is the one to mention Savannah and Bartie when it was MAXWELL who was more involved in helping her with the child. Sure, he was - as he confessed in that Valtoria scene - more the "fun uncle" type, but he was still pretty heavily involved. Still keeping track of what Savannah needed and what Bartie would want. In his own final Book 3 scene, Maxwell is shown having an amazing rapport with little Bartie, playing peekaboo with his nose. I can barely count scenes involving Drake and Bartie with the fingers of one hand. Why couldn't Maxwell reference that last moment in Book 3, drawing up some inspirational moment from it? Like spending more and more time with Bartie changed the way he felt about kids? Or maybe that Savannah or Bertrand said something regarding the joy children bring to him. Anything that gives us some idea of when this shift happened.

Maxwell may have been new last book. It may have been a struggle to know what to do with him last book. But that isn't the case right now. By now they should have settled in their writing of him and figured out ways to make his story make sense? To give him more depth rather than simply reducing the man to the court jester? Maxwell's story was supposed to be about him growing, the scene in Valtoria was supposed to be about wanting to be a good father for his future children but fearing he might fail...yet the writers have the same man say the exact opposite. Maxwell's family history was thrown away for no good reason last book, and was replaced by Savannah drama. There was more space given to Savannah's love story with Bertrand (which didn't NEED the entire book to gain fruition) and Drake (optionally) enjoying humiliating Bertrand. That time, energy and effort could have gone in building up Maxwell, getting an insight into what happened to the Beaumonts that they became so poor...but no. The only Beaumont that mattered seems to be Savannah (and we know exactly why). And going by the fact that they're going to force an entire wedding storyline involving Bertrand and Savannah down our throats, that still seems to be the case.

- Hana's is even more worrying considering that it was poles apart from the rest of the playthroughs and therefore SHOULD have had more thought. Yes Hana loves the idea of being a mother. Yes Hana loves children and has a nurturing nature. But the urgency is still the same as the others' in her playthrough, and it made absolutely no sense. There was a clear dissonance between their current situation and the rush these two were in.

Hana's deserved at least some more time in her dinner scene. Maybe one where she could speak about growing up an only child, with no companions and not even toys. She could explain the loneliness involved in having a small family with parents who gave her more duties than affection, and then speak about giving her kid a better childhood. There isn't even any discussion about which of them should be the person carrying (we know it will be the MC, but why it has to be her in their case is anyone's guess).

What the team have done here is give Hana the bare minimum, after an entire two books of giving her even less than that. I know I'll probably be judged for thinking negatively rather than being cautiously optimistic, but the fact is that the moment this team feels they can get away with tossing scraps or less than that, they can and will do it. It's not stopped them before: not from botching up Hana's storyline, not from giving Hana fans a reception full of goof-ups and shoddy writing, not from pairing her with her bully. Perhaps last year I would have been happy and grateful to see Hana and the MC calling each other "my wife". This time...I refuse to settle for just mere scraps. If you can give thought and care to Liam and Drake's storylines, you'd better be able to do the same for Hana and Maxwell, otherwise what's the point of reviving this book? What's the point of using Hana specifically in two of your ads as bait for your lesbian/bi/wlw fans?? Might as well let the entire series rot in the trash where it belongs in that case.

- I've heard theories about our child becoming heir to the throne, thanks to a possible future arc that may make Liam unable to have children. I personally hate this possible plot line for two reasons:

1. As it is the MC gets more importance than she deserves, whether or not she actually puts in the work. She becomes a front-runner during the social season even if she fails. She becomes a Duchess even if she lacks even the most basic skills, while Hana who has done way more than she ever had for the country gets nothing, not even a needle-point's worth of land. She becomes Champion of the Realm even if she is literal garbage throughout that book, when that title could have easily gone to Olivia or Hana instead if she didn't earn enough to get it. And now to have her kid be made an heir to the throne? For no good reason? Get outta here.

2. Forcing Liam into yet another storyline that is tragic and painful (and I'm pretty sure the writers will find yet another excuse to write a thesis on Drake Walker in the time they could be using to let Liam actually break down, or vent. If they couldn't be bothered to explore the man's feelings when his own father died, do you really think they will bother with him in this??) on top of whatever else he's had to experience so far? At this point I can do with less of that. I'm honestly sick of storylines that put Liam in very uncomfortable, painful situations with very little space for him to air out his grief. Give the man a fucking break. Let him have some breathing space to rule his goddamned kingdom, get him a fantastic therapist and get him better friends while he's at it. Pushing him into yet another messed-up situation when you've barely even scratched the surface with what his experiences have done to him, is really just drama for the sake of drama, nothing else.

- Nonetheless, since this is about a pregnancy and a future heir, I believe there will be plenty talk about succession, and about the importance given to fertility and children in Cordonian society. But as with the social season in Book 1, the engagement tour in Book 2, and the wedding + Unity Tour in Book 3, I believe the pregnancy itself is a frame story. The kind of story that justifies the glitz, the glitter, and the glamorous events...that can serve as a temporary gloss to cover the conflicts within. All while the inner stories reveals those conflicts, layer by layer (again, if it's done right. Book 3 is a good example of a great premise ruined by bad writing. I sincerely hope this book does not go in that direction).

- Remember those screenshots I put up in that dinner scene from Liam's route? About Cordonia's tensions with its neighbouring countries, and how the country may be viewed as vulnerable? I think that's where the actual theme of the story lies.

Books 1 and 2 mostly revolved around the illusion of Cordonia - the fairytale kingdom - before the MC herself is confronted with the tensions brewing within. Book 3 was about strengthening Cordonia through resolution of internal conflict. It was about learning about the intricacies of the country, its most powerful duchies, their histories and identities, Cordonia's messy, complicated history - to tackle the problems that lay within.

I feel like Book 4 would be taking a natural progression from resolving internal conflict to finally standing united as a nation against outside forces. Constantine - in his conversation with the MC in Shanghai - hints not only at groups within Cordonia that wanted to destroy the monarchy, but also foreign powers ("suffice to say there are those who envy Cordonia's prosperity...". Not the royal family's - but "Cordonia's").

Keeping a united front and showcasing strength through pride in the country - ergo 'patriotism', or perhaps 'national integration' since Cordonia is home to many different cultures and geographical locations (I originally wrote 'nationalism here, but now realize there may be negative connotations attached to that word in today's times: thanks @musicallisto!) is often viewed as an asset against alien forces. The MC is now a part of the monarchy/nobility, and will be irrevocably tied to the country's future - so it makes sense that she will now dig into the deepest and most intimate parts of Cordonia's history, and go several steps further in helping to unite the nation.

- Why do I theorize 'patriotism' or 'national integration' as being a theme? There are several reasons for this:

The Unresolved Storylines: We still have a ways to go in understanding Cordonian history. We don't know which other forces were involved in previous assassinations, and we don't have a clue what happened to Liam's mother. All we do know is that other people and groups that we have probably not even seen yet, may have been involved. Francesco (who also knew Liam's mother) and Xinghai, the only foreign delegates/visitors that we got to network with in Book 2, have minimal roles so far but SEEM to have had some influence when they were introduced earlier. Francesco particularly could have some sort of role to play, given what we were told about him in Book 2. Now would be a good time to explore why he needed contacts with these people (other than the fact that Xinghai is Hana's dad). It's possible that nothing will happen and we may not even see these two, or exchange any important information, but I'd still hope that there is some importance to their appearances in Book 2.

The Connections We Made In The Engagement Tour: Meeting Francesco in Capri was related to getting access to EU markets for Cordonian products. The engagement tour itself revolved around grabbing international attention towards Cordonian problems - one of which was the tsunami that hit Portavira, which we learn more about in Book 3. There is a possibility that these threads may be picked up in the future.

Both the above points hint at possible threats, or allies. At this point we can't exactly determine who is friend and who is foe, but it is clear that neighbouring countries - and indeed countries we have associated with in the past - will play a pretty big role in the way we view Cordonia, and in the way we direct the narrative of this country.

The Artwork: I love this part of my theory because it is the most based on actual evidence rather than guesswork. The idea of a nation depends as much on items of familiarity and symbols, as it does on history. It's why countries have national animals, anthems, fruits. Why art depicting national and local legends can often be considered almost sacred. The book has barely even begun yet, and already it is FILLED with all kinds of things symbolic to Cordonia.

Let's first take a peek at the cover art:

Now let's ignore Liam's and Drake's (busted) faces in this cover and focus on what the three are holding.

The MC holds a rattle in her hand, and the jewel within the rattle looks similar to a ruby, which has been associated more than once with apples in the story (Cordonia's most valued variety of apple is the Cordonian Ruby, Liam's wedding gift to the MC is a ruby in the shape of an apple. The same rattle shows up in the second cover [on the left] as well. It's a stretch, I know, but I've got better evidence. Stick with me).

Liam holds a onesie with a crown design on the front - and we know that "for crown and country" is a popular phrase, especially for toasts, in Cordonia. Drake holds out a toy lion: the lion is the national animal, and holds a place of pride in the national Coat-of-Arms. The throne on which the MC herself sits, is blue and gold - both considered national colours. That's at least 4 symbols related to Cordonia vying for our attention on the same cover!

I mean, even Book 3 had just two major symbols - the apple (related to Cordonia) and the phoenix gown (related to Valtoria) - featuring on its cover.

The biggest proof to me, however, is not the cover, but the loading page. To be more precise - what is written above that loading page. A number of Choices books (BB, for instance) write little factoids about the world they are building above the loading bar, which players can read while they're waiting for the chapter to load. This wasn't a common practice with TRR, but they've definitely started it now! Some of the commentary is usual stuff - about gaining advantages through outfits, welcoming you back to Cordonia, etc...but THIS TIME there are tidbits of information given to us as well. And 80% of those involve apples!

Here are a few I managed to catch. One fact on the importance of apples in Cordonian culture, two specifically on the Cordonian Ruby itself including a rare recipe, and two old proverbs (this isn't the only time we've heard apple-related proverbs in the books - in Book 3 for instance, Bertrand refers to their trip to Fydelia as 'slicing two apples with one knife'). Proverbs in general often give us an idea of what people within a region hold up as important, as so connected to their life experiences that they can use those familiar objects as motifs for things that they see in daily life (eg. proverbs in my home state, Kerala, often refer to things/animals we find locally: jasmines, coconuts, jackfruit, dogs, elephants).

The fact that the apple features so often and with such emphasis in the loading page itself - and we have already seen what this simple fruit means to Cordonia - indicates to me that this national symbol - and the idea of the nation itself - will be of great importance. Not only will we be exploring foreign relations, IMO, but we'll also be learning how to build a national narrative that will benefit and strengthen Cordonia.

What's also interesting is that the apple symbolizes fertility to the Cordonian people as well - the apple cutting ceremony during a wedding (as explained by Regina to Leo's fiancée in RoE) is "a symbol of the fruit the tree will bear - you being the tree, of course", and there are chances that the fruit may feature often within the context of pregnancy/having children as well.

• That's all for now, guys. I hope to write more and theorize more as the chapters progress! Until then, I hope you enjoy this one, and I'd love to hear what you have to say.

• I did the Hana screenshots for this chapter, since the first chapter allows me to play repeatedly within losing keys, but I won't be able to do so from Chapter 2 onwards. If there are any Hana fans out there who keep screenshots of scenes in their route and are interested in sharing, I'd love to hear from you and will definitely credit you for the screenshots I put up!

• If you'd like to be tagged in future QTs, please let me know! Tagging @nikkisha16 for now since she asked xD

• Until Saturday, folks!

#long post #trh quick thoughts #the royal heir #trh qts #king liam #liam x mc #hana lee #hana x mc #maxwell beaumont #maxwell x mc #drake walker #drake x mc

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chernoblank · 5 years

Text

Ulana's sartorial choices

Everything she ever wore, going from this, to this:

Now, I’m not a fashion connoisseur by any means, and tbqh I’m more likely to dress like her or worse than her IRL, so grain of salt and all that. All gifs are mine. Images are either screenshots or from HBO/BBC/not mine. Sorry for potato quality.

Lab wear

So, we first meet Ulana in her lab, asleep at her desk, on April 26, 1986 at 8:30. We can either assume she: a) spent the night in her lab and fell asleep, b) came ungodly early and fell asleep. I hope it’s b), because she doesn’t change clothes the next day, which would make her be wearing the same shirt for 3 days straight if it’s a)

So we have a red button up shirt, with a dark red/purple tight-ish cardigan. She’s wearing a watch on her right hand (?), a golden locket necklace, and a ring on her left hand.

Before you all freak out like I did, I’m told married rings are worn on the right hand over there - certainly the other characters do. This also seems to be some kind of jewel ring, not really a marriage alliance. We’ll revisit it later.

Not really lipstick.

Here are her reading glasses, typical 80s round glasses, I remember my mother, teachers etc wearing those

Even though she wears her watch on her right hand, Ulana operates the instruments with her right hand so she’s not a leftie.

Here’s a glimpse of her skirt.

Girl, what? I mean, kudos for vaguely matching because the um, pink bird poo motives of the fabric kind of go with the red on red theme she’s doing but uuuh.

Party Headquarters

Ulana grabbed a really fucking ugly brown leather overcoat, a brown briefcase and her black? purse and went to the Party Headquarters dressed as she was. Not really lipstick again.

But! We see her shoes, and oh my god, I like them.

Here’s a purse close-up

Smallish purse, nothing worth talking about.

Now, in the show continuity, night falls in Pripyat, Valery goes to the hotel, the next morning they start dropping sand and boron.

Back to the lab

The next time we see Ulana she’s in her lab, it’s daylight, and Dmitry’s hair looks like he hasn’t gone to bed all night. I can only presume they stayed in the lab worrying all night.

Ulana looks relatively groomed, but is still wearing the same button up dress shirt (unless she owns, idk, 10 of them and wears them all the time), but now has added a wonderful, enormous BRIGHT ORANGE cardigan.

Peak Ulana fashion.

Now it seems her skirt is brown (possibly grey?) but it’s difficult to see.

For my sanity, I’m going to pretend she went home, had a shower, and changed clothes at some point in the evening, and she just happens to really really like those red shirts. It might even be that this is a darker red shirt, hard to tell.

Pripyat

Ulana drives to Pripyat herself, is stopped, and brought to Valery and Boris. I have no words for what she’s wearing. First glimpse here. Very little lipstick, if any.

Here she is, in all her glory

The lighting really sucks on this gif and I’m sorry. But it looks like the skirt is grey and different from the bird poo one. So at least she changed! I like this skirt, actually. The scarf thing, I, um, well, I have no words, again.

Can I just point out that even dressed so unfortunately, Emily Watson is SO GORGEOUS and I’m in love with her? Her eyes, aaa

The lipstick that is visible in the still image above seems “show make-up” because it doesn’t look very visible in the action scenes. The shirt is, you guessed it, red.

She’s still wearing her ORANGE CARDIGAN underneath, in case you were doubting.

I’ll just leave this here because I can

Same, Boris. S A M E.

Kremlin

Now the stakes are higher! Ulana had to up her game.

Now, on my first couple of watches of this scene, I thought her dress was underwhelming and a little inappropriate. I mean, it’s definitely not what I’d wear if I were to meet the President of my country in a formal meeting.

But on second thought, idk, the material looks nice, it’s sober, the neckline isn’t too low, she removed all of her bling. It looks like a formal-ish working dress. About 100 steps above anything we’ve seen her wear so far, in any case.

Edit: 29/09

Now you all know my theory about how she came to wear that, but it’s not out of the question that she thought of packing something vaguely formal before going to Pripyat, and this so happened to be the best thing she had on hand.

My girl is wearing more evident lipstick now, her hair is combed, and she looks amazing. Second best look of the series, imo.

Back to Pripyat

Next time we see Ulana is in Episode 3, on May 2-3, working at the bar of the hotel when Valery joins her to flirt ask her to go to Moscow. Now bear with me, the lighting is atrocious for the whole scene.

Bare legs unff. Excuse the shitty brightening:

She is wearing a grey cardigan, a skirt (possibly grey BUT SEE BELOW), what seem to be her nice shoes of episode 2 and a red shirt again, but this one with a uhh, questionable pattern. Little lipstick again. Also she’s definitely writing with her right hand in this scene.

I think she really really likes red clothes ok?

BUT WAIT

I brightened the scene as much as I could

Edit 29/09:

IT’S NOT A SKIRT

SHE’S WEARING A DRESS

A RED DRESS WITH THAT WEIRDO PATTERN

IN THE MIDDLE OF AN IRRADIATED ZONE

man sometimes I make leaps in fic character-wise and then I realize I was actually right and just lmao Ulana ilu

Moscow - Nurse

Not much to see here. She didn’t have a choice, standard nurse clothes. Even the shoes. This is what she wears for the rest of episode 3, until Valery frees her.

Moscow - Library

This is, in my opinion, Ulana’s third best outfit of the series. A grey, tweed-like dress, both professional and as elegant as the poor girl can get.

See this excellent post for a good look at the dress in an exhibit (we'll revisit the look shown there in a bit): https://littlethingwithfeathers.tumblr.com/post/186844994289/so-i-was-fortunate-enough-to-get-to-visit-the

Notice her shoes are a little different this time, with the square heels and possibly cream - light brown in color

Still wearing her ring (and the watch, and the locket)

Definitely a jeweled ring. Looks like a family heirloom imo.

Abandoned Building scene

Oh my god. Oh my god. She’s never looked as pretty as in this scene.

Production stills:

Where do I begin!! The beret! The lipstick! The scarf! The coat!

The red leather gloves

The coat, peeps. THE COAT. I’m DYING. My girl is dressed to SLAY.

Valery breaks her heart hurts her academically and she still looks like this

GIRL, WHAT HAPPENEd

WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN THE BIRD POO SKIRT AND THIS FASHION-SHOW-LOOK-AT-ME-I’M-GORGEOUS-AND-I-KNOW-IT OUTFIT?

All the awards for this look, omfgggg.

Listen, if it’s not Boris, at least she idk went shopping in fucking Moscow for new clothes or something while she was researching.

Back in Minsk

I’ve spoken about this mysterious look before:

and established it comes from a deleted scene in Minsk where she makes a spur of the moment decision to go see Valery. She’s wearing her excellent grey tweed dress again, but alas, the orange cardigan is back. Is it a comfort thing? Does she really like the thing, does it make her feel comfortable? All in all, I have to say the combination doesn’t look bad? It actually is a splash of color on the boring grey tweed, giving more liveliness to her look.

Valery’s flat

Ulana takes the train to see Valery in his flat, and wow

My girl. What is even that pattern but it looks SO GOOD with this white jacket.

When we pan down, it’s AGAIN a whole dress with that pattern, which um, I’m not too sure about. I mean, she looks GORGEOUS from the waist up. It matches her eyes! (Is this Marfa's second dress?)

ULANA REALLY LIKES HER WEIRDO PATTERNED DRESSES ok? And I can’t help noticing it’s the same kind of “look” she wore when Valery made that request of her in the hotel - intentional? I think so. I LOVE HER SO MUCH.

Heeled shoes, but I can’t quite tell which ones they are.

Edit 30/09: she is wearing earrings in this scene! I don’t think we’ve seen earrings for her in the entire show.

Looks like her ears are pierced? Those don’t really look like clip-ons but I’m not sure. They are red and gold (silver and green would have looked amazing, don’t you think?).

Trial

We arrive at Ulana’s last look. I think she looks really good from the waist up

I LOVE THE SKIRT

but when I look at it as a whole I feel the jacket is a little bit too tight and short for her? And I don’t really like her look in motion.

I think with her body type (and very nice ass), a jacket looser at the bottom and a bit longer might have worked better with this type of pencil skirt, instead of forcing a straight line to her figure.

Also not a fan of the ribbon thingy on her shirt, but you know, idk, whatever it’s ok. Wish she’d tied it more symmetrically.

But she looks polished and professional (and a little soft? innocent-like?), and I approve.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk! I clearly have too much time on my hands. I hope you agree with me that Ulana’s clothes took a turn for the better as episodes went on.

#ulana khomyuk #chernobyl hbo #emily watson #ulana fashion

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sillyfudgemonkeys · 5 years

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Kasumi’s PT Outfit Analysis

Tell me what do these two have in common?

If you said “Cat theme” you are correct! If not, well then buckle up my dudes cause this is gonna be fun~! :D (I also want to take the time to point out, while this isn’t want I’m talking about, I do like this fan artist’s perspective on her gloves :D)

I know what you’re thinking, and no I’m not smoking anything I don’t do that, but Kasumi really does have cat thief themed origins (and no not because of the fan art, didja click on it? it’s cute!). I realized it after realizing she was a gymnast and was like “Why? Why does she get a gymnast theme? How does this fit with the outlaw theme? Has there been a thief who had gymnast outfit?....wait....could it be.....omg it IS!” AND THE ANSWER IS YES! 4 thieves actually, 3 are sisters in one series, and 1 is an expy of those sisters by the same author in his other work. If you know who I’m talking about I’m talking about.....CAT’S EYE! (and Phantom Thief 305 from City Hunter, I dunno the meaning of the name tho)

Let’s start with Cat’s Eye (not a 100% expert in it, but I know more than City Hunter tbh). Cat’s Eye is about a trio of sisters (Hitomi the middle who is the main character, Rui the oldest sister, and Ai the youngest) stealing things using their multiple skill sets (such as gymnastics), partially because they want to contact their missing dad who is also a thief (and their attempts to contact him are through the calling cards and stealing the items in hopes he comes as well). And....that’s basically it I think (been awhile since I read the manga and I’m in the process of re-reading it now). Movie wise, it seems they are in the process of trying to rescue him (hard to find info, no eng subtitles for me to watch so efsljdfl;aj).

Anne and Kasumi are the biggest shout outs to Cat’s Eye than anyone else (tho you could argue Cat’s eye is probs the reason Makoto drives a Motorcycle and Futaba is an semi-orange themed tech genius, and Haru who is “Noir” tho I don’t feel like looking up who came first, her or the Cat’s Eye Pachinko machine cause it’s not important). Anne’s outfit is more a shout-out to the Cat’s Eye Movie version while Kasumi’s is more a shout-out to the original manga/anime. Let’s focus on the Cat’s Eye movie for a second tho.

This isn’t the first time Cat’s Eye movie was used as inspiration for Persona. Back in P2 Tamaki Uchida dressed as Ai (the youngest sister of Cat’s Eye, but is the lead role in the movie), as the actress she is based off of (Yuki Uchida) played Ai in the movie.

Anne, however, seems to be based on Hitomi outfit with some Rui flare to it (they differ slightly)

(btw the movie opens up with an anime sequence before going full live action, Hitomi Left, Rui Right I think for both pics, Ai is in the middle for the bottom pic, and recolored Anne for better comparison and also because I can 8U)

I know what you are thinking, “But what about Catwoman????” I think she’s still related to Cat’s Eye tho. Catwoman came first in creation, and Catwoman was the first to use the leather outfits (tbh, mask wise, Tamaki’s mask/ears seem to draw from the Catwoman 60s tv show outfit), and it seems she/Batman were the inspiration for the movie costumes. Also considering how Persona likes to use Batman, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the cat theme stuff was also Batman/Catwoman related as well as Cat’s Eye. So there’s still a connection to Catwoman esp with the movie!

Another possible connection to the movie is Anne’s name, specifically “Anne,” as the person who went by the stage name “Anri/杏里” (I mean Anne is just the 杏 kanji but still) who sings the theme song “Cat’s Eye 2000″ for the movie. Fun fact.

Now let’s look at the manga/anime, where it’s Kasumi’s time to shine (tho Anne will come back up).

As you can see they’ve been redesigned a few times (btw Hitomi’s colors in the first vol of Cat’s eye is actually blue with an orange ribbon, it was changed to yellow later it seems, also the top right is a spinoff manga of Cat’s Eye called Cat’s Eye: Ai where Ai is the MC)

As you can see, the girl who is mostly in the blue is Hitomi, and she has a tendency to wear a chocker with her leotard. Kinda like.......Kasumi!

Recolored with blue to highlight the comparison (also because I NEED COLOR IN HER DESIGN ATLUS LORD GIVE ME STRENGTH DX)

Fun fact, Hitomi I believe is a gymnast and she utilizes her skills as a thief (and thus where we get the gymnast as a thief outlaw theme and why it only works for Kasumi/gymnasts and not runners like Ryuji).

But Kasumi also has similarities between her and Ai, both have red in their theme, both I think are first years. Also, while Ai isn’t as strong or skilled as her older sisters in fighting, she is the most agile (which we don’t know if Kasumi is in the same boat but it’s worth noting just in case). Another thing about Ai, is her connection to Tamaki up above, Tamaki who is based off the actress who played Ai was in the fencing club (which Yuki Uchida was also a fencer), and what weapon does Kasumi wield? A one handed sword similar to other fencers in Persona (like Mitsuru), so woot we’ve come full circle on that! (also if Kasumi is Hamuko reincarnated, or Hamuko’s younger sister, it should be noted that one of Hamuko’s theme colors is orange along with pink and red so fklsdjfsajf; bonus points if that comes true!)

Kasumi’s mask is also probably based on the Cat’s Eye calling card (or at least it follows a similar pattern):

Same point pattern, same eye shape and design (it’d also explain why it’s so thick, cause the emblem is thick looking too 8U)

So I mentioned we’d come back to Anne, and here we are! There is one last thing that is similar to Anne and the Kisugi sisters, and it’s that they are all hafus! The sisters are all half german, and Hitomi looks just like her western grandmother if Hitomi had blonde hair, and later dyes her hair blonde for her thieving:

Also *cough* a pink/red outfit I wonder who that reminds us of? 8U

Now onto City Hunter, which....I think is the biggest evidence that Kasumi was based off these people. And it’s this girl:

The girl with the glasses is the same one as the girl in the same girl in the green leotard (the one in the red isn’t a thief, but was wearing one to match the other girl while they stole a flower).

This is the first episode this girl shows up (only one I’ve seen too tbh), she’s actually 17/a 2nd year iirc.... And guess what her name is? Kasumi Aso. Kasumi is spelled the same way too (aka only in hirigana)! From my research she only steals what is commissioned of her (I think she steals back what is stolen from other people). She has connection to flowers like Kasumi Yoshizawa (Aso is connected to the [black] tulip, Yoshizawa has flowers on her belt). Both are pretty unassuming in their civilian outfits too tbh. (tho slightly off topic, fun fact, there was a Japanese hafu rhythmic gymnast named Kasumi, I’ve been wanting to post about that for awhile but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s who IRL Yoshizawa was based off of)

Sadly I don’t know much else about Aso, I need to read more of City Hunter to find out (even tho she’s not a super main character), and tbh this is where I kinda end with the Kasumi/Anne and Cat’s Eye/PT 305/Catwoman analysis. But I’ll use this time to talk about a few misc stuff and maybe a few theories related to cat themed thief ladies:

P5 probably got the “Thief who works at a cafe during the day (and the Cafe name also is a reference to their thieving as well as possibly housing a cat)” from Cat’s Eye and City hunter (which take place in Tokyo/Shinjuku, tho in different locations), as the Kisugi Sisters work at their cafe called “Cat’s Eye,” and Aso being their expy, also works at a cafe by the same name (tho it’s run by different people cause it’s in a different/parallel universe).

I wouldn’t be surprised if Tamaki’s tendency to house a Nekomata in her workplace to be similar to the kitty (Tiger I think it’s name is) that Ai has at the cafe (esp considering, again, Yuki Uchida played Ai).

According to the Japanese fan wiki of Cat’s Eye, in the sequel “Cat’s Eye: Ai,” the Cafe is moved to a new location, which is Kichijoji, which is the new area that has been unlocked in P5R (maybe a certain cafe will be available for us to wander into? :0 Or maybe Kasumi works at a cafe XP or maybe is connected to the billiards place, tho that DARTSLIVE3 screenshot seems to have a “cafe” poster in the background so maaaaaaaybe that’s a cafe XP)

Part of me wonders if Mitsuru’s Arena outfit is related more to Black Cat, due to the signature “white fur” both characters wear.

Kasumi Y’s hairstyle (aka if her hair was down, so basically we are going off her bangs) is similar to Hitomi (at least the Pachinko machine ver)

Anne’s circle zipper designs might be more of a shout-out to Marvel’s Black Cat, not that Catwoman hasn’t had that as well, but I don’t feel like figuring out who did the circle zipper first 8U

Satomi Tadashi dressed up as Zorro and was romantically involved with Takami. Anne who is a Cat’s Eye expy is crushed on by Mona (who wields Zorro). And Kasumi, another Cat’s Eye expy, looks like a Hamuko Expy, while Mona’s human form looks like a Minato Expy.

Kasumi has a similar black mask with silver line design (not the mask shape itself, the line design) as a woman named “Noir”(?) who appears in the Cat’s Eye Pachinko Machine (yes I did come across interesting things, no I don’t know what her deal is or really who she is tbh cause I think she’s a pachinko original 8U ;w;)

So yeah just gonna kinda end it here awkwardly. FYI this doesn’t mean you HAVE to like her outfit (you have every right to dislike or like it tbh), it’s just a history lesson, and explaining how it fits the outlaw/PT theme, where’s Ryuji’s track or Haru’s ballet doesn’t.

Oh! Edit cause I forgot, if you push her mask up over head, it might look like cat’s ears, just a theory tho (of course it might look like devil horns but so does Anne’s so fklsjdfk;aj;faj;f take this for what you will):

#persona 5 #persona 5 royal #kasumi yoshizawa #persona 2 #cat's eye #city hunter #p5r #p5 #p5tr #p2

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ralfstrashcan · 5 years

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3x16 Reaction / Commentary

Alec “Proud Puppy” Lightwood

THAT FACE HAHA. Also crêpes man I'm jealous.

Rude man, don't rip him away from his hard earned waffles.

This is so hilarious to me, okay, this prompting hand flick Alec does (which you can't see here because I can't gif, only screenshot ahahaha) man I love it. Sadly I didn't find a gif of this yet, so I can't put one :( I can't even put into words why it's so hilarious to me. And Magnus's sceptical gaze hahaha.

Edit: I FOUND ONE

HAHAHA HELL YEAH

I mean we all knew this was fake, not least because it implies Magnus is wearing the same outfit two days in a row and obviously this would NEVER happen, but also because in no universe does Alec have smooth dance moves. It's a law of nature.

lol is this an innuendo or something because I don't get it, pls help

Tiny waist touch is spotted and highly appreciated.

That scene transition was brilliant and there is nothing else to say about it. I lost count of how many times I've rewatched it because it's awesome. The way Alec's voice sounds slighty off, the way Magnus gets heavier in his arms, the way everything spins out of focus, and Alec's last “Stay with me” sounds almost hard with urgency.

When I first saw this I was legit yelling at the screen why the hell Alec is just shaking him instead of, idk, doing CPR but I did him a grave injustice there because he actually does and I really appreciate that. (Though, if he learned first aid I wonder all the more about 3x12 (or was it 3x13, I lost count lol) where he just lets Sentry Guy die without even trying to save him.)

That being said, I'm really happy we got to see the immediate aftershocks of it because I was half afraid this episode would just start with Magnus in the infirmary bed. Still, I have a question. Who called Catarina? Izzy? Because why is she then so shocked when she learns Magnus is not breathing? When she presumably first entered the room to receive the instruction to call Catarina, did she not... wonder why Alec was cpr-ing him? Or did Magnus not immediately stop breathing after collapsing but just, faded slowly while Alec had already told Izzy to call Catarina? I kinda wanna know the mechanics here.

I mean, no surprise there if you keep killing them?? Ahahaha.

My fangirl brain: What, General Amaya from the Dragon Prince is gonna appear? Sign me the hell up!!!! My rest-brain catching up: No this is not a crossover and no, r is not y and just, no. My fangirl brain: :<

........ignoring the fact that summoning her is super stupid, there's also the tiny detail that they don't have leverage why would she help them are they just gonna say “pretty please”?? I can't believe them.

lol Bohemian if you see this, this panel is only for you to haunt your dreams XD hehehe sorry sorry but I just couldn't resist XD

Wtf I can't believe those words just came out of his mouth. Jace, you're gonna start with a pep talk? You were possessed and forced to do things against your will, you should know better than this. Honestly.

The way his voice goes up, just kill me now.

THIS DETAIL OH MY GOD

I absolutely loved this scene, in terms of acting it was perfect and it was painfully in character for Alec to blame himself for everything that's not going alright with someone he loves. The problem I have however (because come on, there's always a problem with me) is that they genuinely want to tell me that Alec didn't realize Magnus was faking it? Magnus loses his magic and he “doesn't think twice”? I mean, that's either really really insensitive or really really stupid. And Alec might be insensitive sometimes, but not like that and he surely isn't that stupid. So, uh, I don't really like that bit. Again, if he was secretly happy that Magnus's immortality is gone that's one more thing to feel intensely shitty about, I get that, but being secretly glad how things turned out and not realizing the other person is suffering from how things turned out are two entirely different things. And just, tf Alec. He can't possibly be that dense, can he, that he genuinely thought Magnus was okay with this. Even if he thought this was something Magnus could get used to in the long run, he didn't expect him to need some kind of settling-in period? Really??

HELL YEAH I STAN CAT SO HARD IN THIS SCENE. And I'm so glad she's the voice of reason in this.... after deigning to appear at long effing last ahahaha sorry not sorry for that dig XD Look it's not her fault, it's the screen writers'.

I got a soft spot for Simon calling her Fray. Also, high-key loving how they're all sitting there waiting for news and finally acknowledging that something's up with Magnus.

LOL CLARY TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL. Kidding. It was the Evil Rune at work again, even though she's nowhere near fire. Maybe it was the hypnotic neon lights? In any case, this is becoming a real problem lol. (No, tbh I found that outbreak totally hilarious XD)

.............................*sigh* I mean, your fierce determination doesn't change the fact that this plan is doomed to fail and you still don't have any leverage over Lilith, but sure. Go off.

YEAH BECAUSE AS SHE PROVED SHE HAS COMMON SENSE. Though I really hope she also told Alec about this dumb-ass request by his dumb-ass parabatai so he can intervene. But, tbh I don't really expect that to happen. *sigh*

Kill herself and then revive herself, hoping a short moment of death is enough to severe the connection? Or maybe, uh, try to use her rune power to cancel her Evil Rune instead of summoning Lilith??? Just for starters.

WTF I CAN'T BELIEVE I'D SEE THE DAY WHERE J A C E IS THE VOICE OF REASON WTF COLOR ME IMPRESSED I LOVE IT

“See, I infused it with a strong dose of Plot Convenience, so that shouldn't be an issue.”

THE PORTRAIT IN THE BACKGROUND HAHAHAHAHAHA

“Why? Why do you hate him so much?” “It's simple. All my life I've had to sit by and watch...”

Thanks for 100% confirming my headcanon, I do love that :)

BAM!!!

I really like the detail that he's so out of breath from the magic, it shows that it was probably more harmful that just a shove back? Oh the questions I want to ask.....

Bitch you're 484 don't round down so much hahaha

Is Lorenzo actually gonna be swayed by this????????????????????? uh

Edit: Ahahaha we later learn he actually is and obviously I had to write a ficlet about it, so uuuuh whatever I'll put it at the end with all my other shameless self promo I'll include in this thing XD

OH YEAH I remember the “Different outfits for different occasions” comment from 2x19 I wonder what she'll wear? The same, or even older??? Btw why does she share a smile with Meliorn as if this is a private joke? Because, like, it isn't.

I mean that's touching and all, but that doesn't change the fact that Lilith loves you and seeing you dead would absolutely tear her apart, thus making this a fitting revenge. Wtf Jonathan this is no sound counterargument.

Hm. Tbh I liked her youngest self best? But she's still cast very well. And I recognize that her talking face to face with Jonathan would have been a little ridic if she only reached his navel XD

Ugh, Bohemian, can you see me rolling my eyes?

lol at least this was funny

OMG Luke could you be any more dramatic, are you actually kidding me. I'm gonna be sick soon if you don't cut the bs.

Wow the first sign of Sizzy that didn't suck, yay! XD this was actually pretty sweet.

Oh you mean that time that Raphael was feeding on her and they were indulging in mutual addiction? Because as soon as Izzy was clean she steered clear of Raphael.

..............................................what happened to “scumbag ex”? Why am I even asking?

?? Yeah? What happened to “While Saia lasted it was the best thing ever?” Then again that was what, three episodes ago? Can't hold him accountable for something that happened so long ago, right.

Hahaha okay that was cute.

1) LOL how hilarious would it be if they summon Lilith and just get her corpse plus Jonathan holding the sword still sticking out of her chest. 2) Jonathan is a true sadist, making her wear those heels. 3) Who's that wheelchair for? I mean, Lilith designed this apartment for her disciples, right?

.................which she doesn't need, since she's no warlock and her powers come from her angel blood, not ley lines. So, points for trying, show, but please don't mix up your races. Makes you look so unprofessional. (Except if this is a hint that shadowhunters also run on ley line energy, have ley line magic flowing through them etc. but honestly I'm not even entertaining the thought because then I'd have a conniption.)

Wtf it's literally standing twenty seconds of intense mindnumbing pain, why the hell would you need a coach for that? Just hold it together and endure it. Also, if they attempt it, 20 bucks say he'll die for some dramatic Sizzy “Oh shit you could really have died, too” moment.

Awww you can really see the love in that touch. <--- sarcasm.

Awww you can really see the love in that touch. <--- no sarcasm.

Honestly, Magnus's touch is natural and familiar (btw love the uncoordinated grabbing) while Alec turns Magnus's chin as if he's trying to make as little physical contact as humanly possible. Is a hand on his cheek really too much to ask for? *sigh*

lol you'd think he'd start with that immediately after Magnus wakes up instead of taking risks (it's what I would have done) but whatever.

He's.... actually there to help? For free? Or is Alec gonna have to hand over the Institute's keys to him when the job is done? Lol. (Also that suit jacket could be straight out of Magnus's closet.)

Oh my God Alec just say he could die. Why sugarcoat it? Say it how it is, and Magnus might listen to you.

.........yeah. This is so relatable and I love how he delivers this line. The desperation is clear, but he's also determined about it. Also, quick question, why didn't Alec get Catarina to be there when Magnus wakes up instead of Lorenzo? I'm not saying it would have changed the outcome but it might just have made Magnus feel less shitty about being exposed to his nemesis in this weak state. Then again I get it, Alec is running on panic and instinct, so consideration is the last thing on his mind.

This scene was amazing. Or, lol, this part of the scene. Magnus's performance is stellar and FYI the next thing he says, the “Look at me! Can you honestly say you like this?” was improvised and that's just ugh so good. Coincidentally this is also where my issues with this scene begin. They're not about how the characters act, I found that part very very fitting; it's meta.

The issue Magnus is having isn't about some fear that Alec won't love him anymore now that he doesn't have his magic anymore. Magnus is projecting. His issue lies within himself. He feels differently about himself, he can't say he likes this, and it's only in conclusion that he assumes it must be the same for Alec. But Alec isn't the root of this issue. But of course it's easier to pretend it's about Alec than to openly admit his severe self-image issues, so that's what Magnus does. Perfectly ic to me. The problem I have here is that if we take what Magnus says at face value it appears that Magnus only wants his magic back so Alec will keep loving him (sidenote: even more if you cross out Harry's addition and just focus on the “You fell in love with the High Warlock of Brooklyn. Can you honestly say you don't feel differently about me?”) and the solution to that is clear: Alec drops some wedding vows, problem solved.

But that's not the problem here. Magnus would literally rather be dead than without his magic and no amount of Alec waxing poetry about him is going to change that. And honestly, I'm so grateful for Harry's addition because that made it abundantly clear to me that Magnus is projecting. His bewildered “Can you honestly say you like this?” is an admittance of “I see what I am now and I can't bear it, so how could you?” If that scene had been about Alec, that would have been so uncalled for.

And also loooool but uuuuuuhhh I found Alec's speech less than impressive? I'm sorry, I know he tried but it just didn't work for me? I felt like it really wasn't up to his usual par. Lol I honestly rolled my eyes when he started about the spark that lights up the room XD It felt impersonal, kinda. It's hard to describe. Of course I can cut him some slack on that, because he was emotionally severely overchallenged in that moment and had to make it up on the fly, but uh. Yeah.

Anyway what I really didn't like was his closing line because it kinda sounded as if he was making that decision for Magnus and that's not his place. It might be dangerous and stupid and “not worth the risk” but Magnus isn't in a place where he should have his authority revoked, so. Kept from gambling with his life, yes. With sound arguments and empathy, yes. With dictation, no. So that didn't go over too well with me. Anyway I channeled that into a ficlet already, too, which I'm also advertising at the end.

......has she just been sitting there for six episodes? Btw I wonder, if Jonathan is happily manipulating Lilith by faking positive emotions towards her I don't get why he totally fell for it every time Clary did the exact same thing to him.

THAT MALICIOUS SMILE HAHAHA THE LITTLE (S)ASS

1) SO SHE'S LITERALLY BEEN SITTING THERE FOR SIX EPISODES?!?!!?!?!

2) Why hello there Plot Point XD srsly why tf would Asmodeus use Magnus's magic instead of his own if, need I remind you, his own demonic magic is stronger than Magnus's, Magnus's wasn't even enough to destroy her demonic possession on Jace.... so why would Magnus's magic be enough to bind Lilith, the mother of that possession, to a room? Uh, lemme guess... Plot Convenience? So when, theory time!, Lilith is slayed he has no need for it anymore and can return it to Magnus?

“...to kill you while you were weakened.”

WOW WHAT A DELIVERY AMAZING

........I gotta be honest, I was really confused at his submissive behavior but then I realized... they have a 10 year history of these mechanisms, and slipping back into the pattern of things must be so easy. Also, I mean, that paints a really wonderful and peaceful image of his formative years, right?

Jimon Shipper Moment <3 ;) Look I don't even ship it, but their bickering is high-key amusing to me.

Instead of just standing between them from the get go? Why?

?????? I guess the incest runs in the family, pun not intended?????? Btw Jonathan's weird incest-y obsession makes so much sense now. If this is literally the only way he ever learned how “familial love” (Lilith Greater Demon Edition) is expressed I have no questions anymore. Seriously, he's so screwed over by everyone and it's just unfair. (On that note, glad we never had to see him make out with Valentine. Some things are just too terrible to envision. Damn, why did I say that, I should just shut up for all of our sakes.) Anyway, back to our favorite tortured soul here, I'm honestly not even sure if I can hold the incest thing against him any longer. His entire life consisted of being raised by Valentine, who kept him in a hut in the woods where he never got to see anyone but him, and then Edom where there was Lilith and demons. It makes a horrifying amount of sense that normal human norms mean nothing to him. He's never lived them, he's never witnessed them and maybe he doesn't even know them. So yeah. I guess I'll just add the incest thing on the long long list of things that are due to the stellar parenting he enjoyed, and not entirely his fault.

Damn so close to see my prognosis come true. Then again, I guess this was just the perfect timing because who knows if Lilith won't even help them now kill Jonathan because betrayal bla bla.

1) No need to twist the knife, then again this is Lorenzo so what am I even expecting.

2) WTF ARE THEY REALLY NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THIS SOME MORE?!?!?!??!?!

3) If it's like a transplanted organ being rejected by the body, just, idk, look for a different warlock whose magic fits Magnus better? There must be tests for that kind of thing? And even if there isn't, if you go slow and don't immediately portal all over the world plus end an encanto-coma you should be able to tell the magic doesn't fit pretty quickly without going into cardiac arrest. Magnus only got some nosebleed at first, remember, and it got worse only because he didn't slow down. I'm just saying, there would be Ways.

Wow I never realized before that he's actually got an undercut. Makes his hairstyle look even stupider.

Wow I believe this even less now than I did in 3x12.

“Let's hug in these trying times, but please make sure your face doesn't touch mine, otherwise people might draw the absurd and outrageous conclusion that we're in a relationship or something.”

Honestly. Their portrayal of casual intimacy is abysmal and I hate it.

1) The infirmary is very weird and open space for a place that should be easily closable if you need to contain, idk, sick people and their viruses and keep it sanitary. 2) I've been wondering since the start of the episode, did Lorenzo's pony tail get shorter? Wasn't it longer before? 3) At least Malec managed to make their feet intersect minimally, so yay for small mercies.

“One dose of Plot Convenience, coming right up.”

They're just.... gonna torture her? Really? I don't even have words for this. Oh no, I do:

Seriously. It's as if morality isn't a thing, and torturing a sentient being isn't always and under all circumstances a Wrong and Bad thing to do. Because clearly if the person receiving torture is just Evil Enough then it's okay. Thanks for standing by and doing nothing Simon, this is exactly the reason I hate your inconsistent streak on this matter. I don't even expect better from the born shadowhunters, and Clary is way to un-reflected to even twitch but. Ugh. Why am I even wasting my breath (my typing capacity?) on this. It's pointless.

Wow this is pointless, too. I mean, why is Izzy not interfering? She literally just fell down. She shouldn't be out of comission by this. Ugh.

Also ugh to Izzy slinging her whip around his hand instead of, idk, his whole upper body and his arms.

Also ugh to Simon waiting to attack Jonathan until the last second as a heroic saving move to save Izzy which, ugh.

But this here

#AwkwardGrownUpSquad

I'm honestly lol'ing so hard right now. Hahahaha this is just hilarious to me. Then again, who knows, maybe now they'll team up with Jonathan to kill Lilith and I'll get my hopes up again for a redemption arc XD

......................HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Btw I bet you she copied that move from Doctor Strange.

lol another thing I didn't see coming.

1) Hello Hannibal lol 2) Who went in there and put restraints on him? 3) Who's gonna pay that Seelie actress now??

This scene was actually nice? I know, I'm surprised myself.

How convenient. I mean, good thing he didn't say “Glorious” otherwise Izzy might have thought he was asking for that one ESC song to be played at his funeral.

Please, Maryse, don't flatter yourself, all you had to do was scratch Elliot's corpse from the floor boards, the rest was already completely furnished.

..................................................................................................................bye

Look, while part of me is undeniably thrilled at the prospect – because while I was totally rooting for a Malec Wedding I was pretty sure it was an unachievable dream, just like hoping for Sheith – this is exactly what I mean with taking things at face value. Alec takes Magnus at his words (that he has doubts Alec will still love him now that he lost his powers) and so he thinks that a grand gesture of commitment will fix it.

But it won't, because that's not the problem. Or at least I hope it's not the problem, I mean if I lost my arm my main worry would be “Holy shit how am I gonna cope without my trusty appendage” not “What are the neighbors gonna think? Will I still be able to rock my favorite outfit without that limb?”

Anyway. I don't think this'll go over too well at this point in time. And honestly, Alec just realized at the beginning of this episode that he was fooled by Magnus's coping facade and tricked into thinking Magnus would be fine without his magic. And now Magnus has lost is magic again and Alec just... makes the same mistake again, blindly believing the words coming out of Magnus's mouth instead of taking a look for himself and seeing how Magnus is faring? Did he learn nothing from this? Alec. Why are you like this.

Anyway, conclusion time: This episode was way more reasonably paced than the last, the shit decision making was kept to a minimum (except for the part where they, y'know, summon Lilith back to earth) and Jace gets a diligence starlet for displaying common sense.

And now, self advertisement time! I wrote three ficlets: a) a continuation of the scene with Alec and Lorenzo b) a gap-bridging Malec scene set after the “I won't lose you” line and finally c) a what-I'd-like-to-see-happen-in-3x17-fic where Alec tells Izzy about his proposal plans.

I'd be thrilled if you checked one of them out. Until next time XD

(Gif Source)

#shadowhunters #3x16 #alec lightwood #jace wayland #magnus bane #clary fray #isabelle lightwood #simon lewis #jonathan morgenstern #lorenzo rey #lilith #luke garroway #maryse lightwood #malec #reaction

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terfslying · 5 years

Text

What is the deal with the NLPB situation? A compilation of all the evidence I’ve ever found

A lot of us in the antiterf community are rightly skeptical of accepting outright claims that individual trans women are predators based on minimal evidence. So lets examine the @nerdylilpeebee situation in a bit of depth!

tl;dr - the evidence of NLPB’s supposed pedophilia is well and truly blown out of proportion and I think we can safely say that NLPB does not create, reblog or distribute drawn child pornography.

Here is every accusation I have found through my own blogs and the tags (I have edited to remove misgendering because this is my post, I am Queen here):

our-common-condition (in reblog): Nerdylilpeebee is the new blog of Lolivampirequeen, who was responsible for posting lolicon, shota, and other drawn pedophilia.

anticoincidencecircuit (in PM to me): I don’t have sources for Nerdylilpeebee being a pedo except for some old tumblr callouts for [her] old screenname on against-map blogs.

anonymous ask to me: isn’t Nerdylilpeebee that Lolivampirequeen pedo?

anonymous ask on witches-against-maps (tagged “lolivampirequeen”): big head’s up to all anti-terf bloggers, there is a user named lolivampirequeen who will join in your fight against exclusionary feminism who will pretend to be your friend, then send you lolicon images (cartoon pedophilia). block and report everyone!

uteri-my-duderi post (tagged “nerdylilpeebee”): Nerdylilpeebee is [...] a pedophile. Those screenshots were just the tip of the fucking iceburg (sic). Don’t bother deleting.

Discyours also had a high-profile about-face on the situation recently, after mostly disregarding the rumours. I suspect everyone has already seen the post. Here’s an excerpt:

NLPB: These blogs? I followed thinking there was no NSFW. I don’t look at them much, but stuff pops up on my dash. I reblog the cute stuff I find. If that makes me a pedo, then whatever.

Discyours: but you said you’ve seen “questionable” stuff [once or twice]. That doesn’t disturb you? Doesn’t even make you unfollow?

NLPB: It disturbs me, yeah. But I’ve kinda learned to ignore it. In the anime community, it’s rare to find cute stuff without pervy stuff following closely nearby. If I want [to follow] the cute stuff, I have to put up with the mild NSFW. […] I never said it was nothing or that it doesn’t matter. I said that it’s currently a reality you have to deal with in the anime community. Densensitization comes with the territory.

Discyours: Desensitisation to the sexualisation of children

NLPB: Yeah. It bothers me too, but yeah.

The images shown in the callout post after that fact were not images that NLPB posted or interacted with; they were images produced by users who had produced SFW images that were rebogged by NLPB.

So what do these accusations say?

Nerdylilpeebee allegedly has been responsible for drawn lolicon images

Nerdylilpeebee allegedly creates and sends lolicon images to antiterfs who trust her

Nerdylilpeebee allegedly follows and tolerates creators shotacon/lolicon images, although she may avoid reblogging NSFW images

So knowing that all of this has been accused, where is the evidence? NLPB’s blog is still the original lolivampirequeen blog just renamed, so you can go through and look at all her old posts. Having done that, it seems like there are 2 images that NLPB has had major criticism for.

The first one shows an anime image of a well-endowed woman in a bikini, flashing by pulling her skirt down and her top up. NLPB’s comment was: I don’t know about anyone else, but if a girl just straight up did this with me right in front of her, I’d be like, “Um….. What are you doing?” And I’d be blushing as red as a tomato. XD

Is it sexualised? Yes.

Is the sexualised body a child? No, that’s pretty clearly a mature woman’s body.

Is the outfit possibly a school uniform? I’d say so, yes.

Are sexy school uniforms on adult women a well-established phenomenon? Also yes, they’re commonly sold in all costume shops.

The second one shows two anime people (one seems to be a teen girl and the other an older woman). The teen girl is hugging the older woman, with her face well and truly in the woman’s ample bosom. NLPB’s comment was: My fantasy dream world. XD definitely. This is exactly what I’d want to do if I was an anime character.

Is it sexualised? Kind of - the breasts of the adult woman are clearly sexualised even though the pose is not a sexual invitation like in the first image

Is the sexualised body a child? No, the sexualisation focuses on the mature woman’s breasts.

Is the outfit of the younger character somewhat risque? Yes

Is the use of absurdly-short-skirts in “magical girl” anime a well established trope that is based on the fact that japan culturally tends to finds short skirts more acceptable than western nations? Also yes.

(Edit: I have since been told that the “younger looking” character is an adult woman goddess character with a “waif” appearance)

What do we actually have evidence for, here?

NLPB reblogs anime which may sexualize adult women

NLPB follows some anime blogs for fanart which occasionally post fanart featuring young characters that is too sexual for some people’s comfort - however these anime blogs still do not feature shotacon, lolicon, or drawn pedophilia.

Some people might still have a problem with #2. That’s your own personal business, if you want to not interact with someone for their anime tastes, you do you. But that is several worlds away from NLPB actively creating and distributing lolicon and pedophile images, as she has been accused of. Additionally, here’s a conversation I had with NLPB earlier today after seeing some rude comments towards her from radfems:

Me: I don’t personally like that anime style [that you reblog] and I do find the fandom a bit overly sexualised in some ways. It’s also absolutely not pedophilia. They’re treating all that anime as if it’s all secretly Boku no Piko or something which is bizarre.

NLPB: What is Boku no Piko???

Me: It’s an actually pedophilic hentai. Was a meme for a while ages back.

NLPB: [...] I think I saw the name on here once. But I still never knew what it was. It’s pretty gross that anime like that is allowed to exist, tbh.

So here is what we should take away from this situation:

There is no evidence that NLPB is responsible for drawing or distributing pedophilia images, either publically on her blog or directly in PMs

There is no evidence that the risque anime images NLPB has posted in the past are sexualising children in any specific way

There is no evidence that NLPB is tolerant of actual child pornography or explicit shotacon; she has stated she is desensitized to the potential sexuality of the girly anime genre images. She did not state that she is desensitized to actual pedophilic images.

NLPB is not knowledgeable about very infamous pedophilic hentai videos and images, and also disapproves of them strongly.

Obviously if anyone actually has any evidence, feel free to PM me and I’ll keep your identity quiet - I’m not interested in supporting actual pedophiles. But it seems like so far there are no victims, and no crimes either.

And given the TERF predilection to call trans women predators, rapists and pedophiles, we need to practice some skepticism when it comes to these accusations.

#nerdylilpeebee #lolivampirequeen #anti terf

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