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muttkep · 2 months

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Greetings Rise fandom! I got another concept for you all!

This could be for its own au, but this is something I'm planning to add into my Dragon Turtles au. I got to thinking about how the turtles could advance with their mystic abilities after the events of the movie, and that's when I got the idea that the bros could gain familiars. Basically, think of these creatures as something like the Palismans from The Owl House, except instead of turning into staffs, they become more like totems, jewelry, or other small, inanimate objects that could be carried around in case of emergencies.

As for how they got them, I like to picture a sort of traveling market that popped up outside of Witch Town. That way all the bros can explore it out of curiosity without getting into trouble with the residents. And as for each one, they all chose the turtles based on a mystic connection. And each one is unique, so let's get into who got who:

Raph: Ursa Minor cub. Bears are classified as strong earth-based guardian spirits, but I wanted Raph's little buddy to be about more than just strength. I also wanted a mystic creature he could show a softer side with. One without worry of getting hurt by the amount of mental anguish suffered at the hands of the Krang turned possibly physical. Hence the decision to give Raph what is essentially a perfect sized teddy bear that also doubles as his mystic partner.

Donnie: Albino Basilisk. Now, I had quite a bit of debate on what to give Donnie as a familiar. I considered something like a rabbit or a cat, but that felt a bit too obvious or overdone. This version of Donnie deserved something unique, so I started looking for alternative animals. The basilisk stuck out to me in a few ways. One, snakes are usually connected to water. Two, making the creature albino means that it would have difficulties surviving, and would have to think outside the box to live in certain conditions. Kind of like Donnie and his soft shell. Making this serpent in particular a fast thinking/highly intelligent creature. Also, much like how Donnie could be misunderstood as a cold and closed off individual, so too are snakes. Snakes can be highly misunderstood as cold, efficient, killing creatures of evil, but some out there actually have calm and friendly temperaments. And while it would take Donnie a while to get over the creepy feeling of them crawling over him, the feel of the smooth skin would probably be great for someone who is theorized to have certain sensitivities to certain textures. Not to mention that the gentle massaging feels of them gently constricting him in a not-too-tight fashion could help keep him grounded in a mental spiral. (And yes, I based the design off of 2012's serpent Karai. it was an intentional reference)

Mikey: Phoenix. Mikey's was an obvious one for me to do. Being the most Mystically connected out of the brothers means he had the highest chances of bonding with a very powerful creature. Enter the phoenix, a firebird with the ability to be reborn from the ashes of an old life. Colorful, graceful, and powerful, the phoenix can also have a soft or even mischievous side to it. A fun-loving creature with great abilities to help a fledging mystic warrior like Mikey gain his proper footing in using them. Especially without hurting himself, like with the portal at the end of the movie. As well as helping him gain confidence to stand on his own when his brothers can't help him.

Leo: Kirin. Leo was also a hard one to figure out. I considered animals like stags, deer, elk and the like. But then, I remembered that Leo had a liking for Unicorns, however I didn't just want to give him a generic unicorn. That's when inspiration struck. I was revisiting the OVA series of Petshop of Horrors, and in the 4th episode, it talked about the Kirin. The Kirin is stated to be a holy beast, who serves no one but it's sovereign. Therefore, the person to gain possession of the Kirin, was destined to be a great ruler. That's when it all clicked into place. The Kirin is not only the Eastern equivalent to the unicorn, but a lot of what it represents could tie into Leo's struggles of being a better leader after the movie. Sovereign is another word for king or leader, and in ancient Chinese/general Asian lore, the arrival of a Kirin was meant to signify the coming or going of a great leading figure. A creature that was benevolent to its allies and had ruthless furry for its enemies. And not just anyone could choose a Kirin as a familiar or guardian spirit, it had to choose you. And after everything Leo went through, fears of failure, the pressures of leadership, the guilt of causing/nearly causing the apocalypse, he would need some kind of sign or reassurance that he was back on the right track. That he was improving and could be a good leader like Casey Jr. said. And what better way than to be chosen by a great mythic beast, with its own set of scars, to choose him to be its leader. If that doesn't prove Leo's leadership capabilities, I don't know what would.

Anywho, thanks for reading my crazed ramblings, and I hope you enjoy the content. Feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts on the concept. Hope to see you soon!

Characters mentioned are not mine, all referenced media belongs to their rightful owners. The artwork is mine only.

#rise fanart #rottmnt fanart #save rottmnt #rottmnt #rottmnt au #unpause rottmnt #my art #mystic familiars

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0-enderbo-0 · 11 months

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I have Rottmnt AU thing! Well, I have 2, but one is more of its own thing compared to the other.

Be warned, this post is really F—-ing long.

AU #1

So, this AU is just the guardians of the galaxy, but replace characters with others. I was thinking Rocket would be Donatello just cause they are really similar. But I haven’t thought of this one much as far as which characters would replace which.

Another thing is exactly who I would replace with the turtles, I was thinking of replacing Lylla with Leo, Teef with Raph, and Floor with Mikey.

But also, I was thinking of replacing the guardians with the turtles. Star lord would be replaced by Leo, Drax with Raph, Gamora with Mikey, and Groot with Sheldon. April would probably be Mantis.

One of those two groups, not sure which one tho.

Idk if this is a good idea, but I thought that I would just toss it out there to see if anyone is interested in the idea.

AU #2

This AU would be heavily based on Guardians of the galaxy… again, but instead of replacing characters, it would be closer to the idea of the prototypes and would not follow anything that’s in the guardians of the galaxy.

I was thinking that the turtles could have be kinda experiments for Draxum’s Mutagen.After one of his experiments that went wrong, he would alter the way the mutagen was made so that the next experiment could be more successful.

Donnie would be the first experiment, he would be almost a complete robot, just with a turtle, with heightened intelligence, controlling the robot. He would start out as a really crappy robot that just barely functions, but as time went on he would upgrade his robot body to function much better. The mutagen only really effected him in a mental sense.

Leo would be the second experiment, he would be a bigger turtle with mechanical limbs, he would start out with just barely functioning limbs, but with the help of Donnie, he would get limbs that were made for fighting, and just living a relatively normal life.. well, as normal as it could be while being a giant turtle. The mutagen would have changed his physical appearance and his mental condition thing, but the mutagen left his original arms and legs either to small or way to big or messed up in some other way that wasn’t fixable.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention, both him and Donnie wouldn’t really talk with their own voices, Donnie is fairly obvious, he’s a robot, he doesn’t really need a mouth. His robot would work as his mouth, kinda being a large thought transmitter. Leo, he would have a thought transmitter thing that speaks what’s on his mind, but unlike Donnie, his would be much smaller and located in his neck, so it seems like he’s using he own voice to speak, but he’s not. The mutagen didn’t help with their speaking capabilities.

Mikey would be the third, he would have a metal shell, the shell replaced his one that he was born with and would act as his way of making his limbs work, the shell would act as a neurotransmitter, helping him move his limbs around and do normal tasks, the shell would be connected to his brain and have mechanical arms that go under his skin and helps him move around by moving when he needs them to. At first the neurotransmitter thing was super glitchy and would work only 25% of the time, but with the help of oldest bother and genius of the family, Donnie would fix it so the shell and mechanical arms worked 100% of the time. Mikey is the first of the experiments who could talk properly. The mutagen made Mikey have the right proportions with his anatomy, but all his limbs were paralyzed as a side effect.

Raph would be the fourth and final experiment, he would be almost perfect, he would just have little mechanical bits to help with balance and little things with speech. He was almost perfect and is the only one who never really needed Donnie to fix him up. The mutagen gave Raph the right proportions, and the right mental state, just little thing were off, mostly his balance and speech.

The order of age is Donnie, Raph, Leo, Mikey. Draxum saw that the mutagen didn’t work well on the oldest, so he saved second oldest till the end so there would be a higher chance that he would be strong and perfect.

Splinter worked for Draxum during the Turtles getting experimented on and only did cause they were his pet turtles and he loved them dearly, but he needed the money that Draxum had promised him. But after hearing that Draxum had perfected the Mutagen and was going to dispose of all the failed experiments, Splinter got his turtles and tried to make a run for it, but ended up being coated in mutagen and became a rat man. The lab was destroyed by Splinter on his way out, and some chemicals mixed with others and ended up exploding the facility.

Before Splinter worked for Draxum, he was a ninjitsu master, and after making a home for him and his new sons, he started to teach his sons the way of ninjitsu.

[so… umm.. if you made it to here, thanks for reading my dumb ideas. Sorry if there are many spelling mistakes, I simply just can’t spell to save my life.]

#rottmnt #rottmnt au

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just-a-random-egg · 4 years

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His Name.

@eternalglitch 's fanfic: "Like Father Like Son"

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ala-mhinyan · 5 years

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B A S I C S Full Name: C’arha - Daughter of Noyoh Pronunciation: Kar - uh Nicknames: Arha, Lil Lily, Pretty One, Runt, Flowery Cat, Little Sun, Gremlin, Bastard, etc! Height: 4 fulms, 10 ilms Age: 25 Summers Old ( 26 on July 30th ) Zodiac: Leo Languages: Coeurl ( Tongue of the Sun/Moon ), Huntspeak, Common, Sanskrit, Thavnairian and some Xaelic. P H Y S I C A L | C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S Hair Colour: Chestnut Eye Colour: Neon Green Skin Tone: Tan Body Type: Pear Shaped; Surprisingly Muscular and Compact Accent: A thick middle eastern accent that borders on Thavnairian and something else. Dominant Hand: Ambidextrous Posture: Slack and lazy, appearing deceptively sleepy. OR, challenging with her chin ticked higher. Scars: Grotesque, raised lash marks ruin her back from the back of her neck down to her hips. They obscure about 85% of her leopard spot tattoos. Discoloration on the center of her chest and right shoulder from burns. Tattoos: Leopard spots that start at the back of her neck and run to the base of her tail. They fade around the edges and do not extend down her arms or legs. Most Noticeable Features: Small, semi-round ears and a stub tail that sticks out 3-4 inches from her body. Wild, sleep mussed hair that usually goes unbrushed or uncombed. Bright, nearly fluorescent green eyes that glow almost yellow in the dark. Chun Li thighs that can and will snap your neck paired with freckled skin. C H I L D H O O D Place of Birth: Ala Mhigo, Gyr Abania Hometown: Ala Gannha, Gyr Abania Birth Weight / Height: 5 ponze, 9 onzes ( She is the runt of the litter. ) Manner of Birth: Natural First words: “Paba.” Siblings: An older brother named C’oto and a middle brother named C’oxhi that died during the Garlean siege of Ala Gannha. The youngest brother named C’inx that was murdered a year ago by an ex-lover. Parents: C’yn was her father who also perished in the Garlean siege on Ala Gannha. C’ohna is her adoptive mother who has taken care of her since C’mayan gave her up at birth. ( C’arha doesn’t know this. ) Parental Involvement: C’arha was born of C’mayan, the tribe chieftess and previous Jali in the city-state of Ala Mhigo while the woman was on errand within the Lochs. C’mayan and C’yn, C’ohna’s husband, had very knowingly been having affairs with one another while C’ohna was busy raising the Ankobia’s children. Once C’arha was born, C’mayan panicked at the new weight of being a mother as well as having to remain the tribe chieftess and raise the next Jali--previously believing that she would be able to handle the stress. The two fled home to the village and came clean to C’ohna, who held more sympathy for the child than the two adults who had so recklessly engaged in bringing into this world. She offered to adopt C’arha under the condition that the girl never be told of the real mother and that C’mayan remain a constant in her life as an aunt and guide. C’arha grew up in a loving home, cared for deeply by her now adoptive mother and her father that treated his only daughter like she was god’s gift to mankind. C’mayan regrets giving up her child but agrees that C’arha had the best life she could have had with C’ohna as her mother.

A D U L T | L I F E Occupation: Jali/’Bardpriest’, Mistress of the Haughty Mason, Fist of Rhalgr, Drug and Weapon Smuggler, Assassin. Current Residence: A portion of her time is spend in Ala Gannha with her tribe, another portion is spent in the Lavender Beds where she hosts events for the Haughty Mason and the third portion of her time is spent between Ala Mhigo and Rhalgr’s Reach handling shipments, meeting with informants and training. Relationship Status: Polyamorous and Open Relationship ( Love is a bitter, jaded topic for her. Proceed at your own caution and expect nothing. ) Current Lovers: Elodea Inarch and Zurri Isyal Y’zareen Serhan and Arden Tide ( Divorced ) Damien Takayama Kaua Financial Status: Very well off. The Haughty Mason does well to put gil in her pockets. Driver’s License: She ate the last chocobo that was ‘legally’ hers. She owns a tamed coeurl. That’s enough. Vices: Excessive Alcoholism and Drug Usage, Possessive Habits and a Penchant for Dining on the Flesh of Man. S E X & R O M A N C E Sexual Orientation: Bisexual Romantic Orientation: Demiromantic ( Aromantic Leaning ) Preferred Emotional Role: submissive | dominant | switch | unsure Preferred Sexual Role: submissive | dominant | switch | sex repulsed ( Sex is the very basis of a whole truck load of trauma for C’arha. Because of this, she very rarely will engage with strangers and with cis men she MUST be the dominant leading the session. Only with extensive trust, time and patience is anything else even remotely possible. If your cis male character attempts to top her during sex she WILL get up and leave mid session. Please be advised that if you’re lookin’ for a one night stand, C’arha isn’t the one! ) Libido: Moderate to High; Excessively High only when experiencing her heat. Turn On’s: Respect and Patience, a good and attentive listener, confidence in one’s image/personality/abilities, authority figures, physical prowess, the thrill and threat of death/excessive bodily harm, mutual understanding, a sense of humor and world experience. Turn Off’s: Disrespected boundaries, forced or assumed physical touch/affection/relationships/sex, overly macho/pushy personalities, liars, ‘hero/savior’ complexes, being made fun of for being naive/ignorant, irredeemable ignorance, pure or complete innocence, lack of survival skills and GARLEANS!!! Love Language: Prophetic philosophical debates and conversations surrounding life. Song and elaborate dance in their honor. Gift giving of fresh flowers or sweets. Vulnerability. Relationship Tendencies: An impossible lover to some and a breath of fresh air lover to others. She is Mother Earth and caring for you is the sunlight she needs to flourish in her own right. Her emotions are a flash flood or a desert storm, never anything in-between. She is too much and not enough. Her heart means well but trauma and so much fear make her the hardest to really get close to, to really understand how she functions. The reward, however?; The sunlight in all her infinite, burning glory. M I S C E L L A N E O U S Hobbies to Pass the Time: Gardening, training for extensive hours or until she faints, cooking or baking to feed her loved ones, singing, dancing, exploring new areas of Eorzea/Othard and charting her progress, metalworking, getting lost in a particularly careful hunt, engaging in stimulating conversations about the universe, people-watching, day dreaming on long walks through the Shroud or the La Noscean Jungle, practicing her calligraphy and taming Coeurl. Mental Illnesses: Bipolar Disorder, Depression and PTSD. Physical Illnesses: Alcoholism, Chronic Fatigue, Hanahaki Disease and Severe Insomnia. Left or Right Brained: Right Fears: Jauhar, drowning, being pinned by a man, letting down the pack, disrespecting Rhalgr’s will, losing Tolemy, Ayanga or Elodea, Self Confidence Level: Low to Moderate; She’s FANTASTIC at pretending to be confident. Vulnerabilities: All of the sexual/emotional trauma that makes romance and relationships nearly impossible, exploiting her blind devotion to Rhalgr’s Will, Tolemy, any one of her lovers or her pack’s safety and well being, any cruel injustices toward children, any cruel injustices toward anyone considered feral, exposing her false self of identity and the back of her neck. Tagged by: No One! Tagging: Anyone who reads this and would like to do it!

#ffxiv #crystal rp #mateus rp #c'arha #tidbits #my writing #longpost

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linkspooky · 7 years

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The Witch’s Servant

This is a full on theory post which is something I rarely do, it’s also not my personal theory but a summary of fandom theories that have existed for a long time. I can’t track down the original posts, but know I’m more of a collector of evidence in this case rather than the first person to point that out.

That being said I’ve been receiving a lot of asks lately on what Hide’s future role in the story could be. For me the most likely theory has always been the witch’s servant theory. As to who the witch is: Only one character has ever been depicted as a witch in Tokyo Ghoul.

Eto is also connected to the witch through Tarot her associated card the queen of clubs as pointed out by @pipirupirulance here [x] is guarded by a black cat.

Yes, please, read this:

The Queen represents the yin, or receptive qualities of each element. She shows an appreciation of that element rather than the King’s social use of it. This does not mean that the Queens indicate weakness, or even inaction, but rather the element translated into feeling and understanding. A black cat guards her throne. In Christian folklore the Devil gave a black cat to a witch to guard her from attack. The meaning here is less melodramatic. Sometimes if a person loves life, the world appears to respond by protecting that person from harm and send her or him joyous experiences. (From the book: “ Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom ”)

And yes, that is a sunflower. Just so you know.

The sunflower represents her naturally sunny outlook and disposition and along with the lions, which form the armrests of her throne, connect her to theFire sign of Leo if found with the Strength and Sun card of the Major Arcana. (x)

To further the tarot argument connection between the two though while still on the topic, let’s talk about the arcana of the sun. In Tokyo Ghoul, there is a theory that each individual arc is based off of a major arcana tarot card in the fool’s journey.

The most recent arcs have been the star -> the Moon and then the next logical one would be -> the sun.

The star arc is when the Fool is offered a brief realization, that inspires hope in him.

The Fool is suffused with a serene calm. The beautiful images on the Star (17) attest to this tranquility. The woman pictured on Card 17 is naked, her soul no longer hidden behind any disguise. Radiant stars shine in a cloudless sky serving as a beacon of hope and inspiration.

I also predicted for a long time this is the first time we would see any mention of direct Hide in the manga, and what two characters showed up right around the same time again and swelled in importance.

Both characters suddenly appear on Kaneki’s doorstep, and give him part of the answer but not the whole answer. Both characters are also tied to the concept of breaking the egg, the Demian quote is first brought up by Kaneki when he needed to protect Hide, and then later repeated by Eto. The chapter in which Hide shows up in Kaneki’s subconscious is named “K’s Egg.”

Then next comes the moon, in which after being filled with hope the Fool makes a mistake and then falls into a trap.

What effect could spoil this perfect calm? Is there another challenge for the Fool? In fact, it is his bliss that makes him vulnerable to the illusions of the Moon (18). The Fool's joy is a feeling state. His positive emotions are not yet subject to mental clarity. In his dreamy condition, the Fool is susceptible to fantasy, distortion and a false picture of the truth.

The reason Eto and Hide were mentioned in the star, only to disappear again is because the Moon is an illusion that makes it seem like the insightful light of the star is all but gone.

The character who physically removed Eto from the manga, is the embodiment of the moon himself, Furuta.

As long as Furuta is the antagonist, the manga will remain in the moon too. However the point of the Moon is illusion and assumption, as long as we are in the moon arc everything is not as it seems. Furuta may seem like the main antagonist for now, but he’ll only last as long as the moon arc lasts.

Once Furuta exits the story though, then the sun will come in. There are two characters who are associated with the sun so far in comic. First, Uta who has made his reappearance in the middle of this moon arc (funny how that works huh).

You can read his association with the sun here [x] There’s also Yoriko who is associated with sunflowers, which are once again the flowers on the physical card of the sun.

A character who has also been brought back to relevance in the middle of the moon arc, to quite obviously set up for the next arc. As I foreshadowed above, as the Sun arc is the arc of long kept secrets finally being revealed and the final enlightenment card of the tarot it is very likely that Rize will also make her reappearance in this arc, she might even be the first one as she’s destined to kill Furuta.

Returning to Hide and Eto then, the two of them are going to appear together. Metaphorically, they each appeared to guide Kaneki in the star, but there’s also evidence in comic that they are working together. The play that appears in Kaneki’s flashback with brain ghost Rize is the one responsible for foreshadowing his rise as the one eyed king, if that’s the case then Hide’s specifically mentioned role in the play should be foreshadowing too.

The way that Kaneki even refers to his position as main character in the play, mirrors how he became the one eyed king. Not a result of his own choice, but rather setup and manipulation by both Arima and Eto.

Hide also references the same play, but at the time Hide says that Kaneki instead of being forced into the main character, lived up to the role, was bold, and surprisingly good at acting. Kaneki views it self depreciatingly, while Hide views it from the outside and sees his success despite pushed into that role.

(This also comes from 118, unlocking, which is a chapter after 117 where Furuta gets mistaken for Kaneki and we see his face for the first time, what a strange coincidence).

In the unused root A drafts there even exists a scene directly from the play where Hide recites lines from the play, saying the witch’s servant was a good friend of the prince who betrayed him, because he thought it would help him. [x]

Besides the play parallel though, Hide shows a general knowledge of ghouls that a normal human shouldn’t have. He knows how to exploit their weaknesses, shoving human food in the face of a ghoul chasing after him. He’s also the one who leaked the location of Aogiri’s base to the CCG, even though that turned out to be a trap to facilitate Aogiri’s prison break.

Hide is even seen meeting with Takatsuki Sen in person and discussing ghouls with her.

This same book is the one that shows up on Kaneki’s doorstep.

Which Uta himself confirms that he did not send. Which means Hide or Eto are the only ones who could have sent it. Even more convincingly though, the one who ends up bringing Kaneki’s memories back fully is Eto.

The question is why did she go to such great extent for Kaneki? Eto was literally manufacturing half ghouls en masse, or at least attempting to in an arm’s race to find king candidates to replace Arima. Somebody must have convinced her of Kaneki’s worth, that she went to such great length to set this up with Kaneki. We receive a partial insight into this with Kaneki’s flashback of Hide.

The way Hide talks “You must show him you are worth keeping alive”, is as if he brokered some kind of deal with Arima, and by extension Eto, that Kaneki was worth her time. After all, Eto expressed an interest in Kaneki before this.

So there are plenty of hints of what Hide’s betrayal was. It’s vague so far but my theory is that Hide knew Eto somehow before the events of Tokyo Ghoul even began, possibly through some relation to Ukina. Then Hide became invested to help Kaneki and went to Eto sometime after Kaneki became a ghoul. His betrayal is the deal that he brokered with her “You’re looking for a one eyed king, I’ll help you motivate Kaneki to become one eyed king if you promise to keep him alive when she shows his worth to you.”

From that point forward Eto, Hide and possibly Arima collaborated both to motivate Kaneki to fight Arima in V14, to restore Haise’s memories, to reveal parts of the Washuu to Kaneki and convince him to become one eyed king, and finally in the sun arc both Hide and Eto will make their reappearance into the plot and finally explain all of this.

At which point Hide will apologize to Kaneki for betraying him and becoming the witch’s servant for Kaneki’s sake.

#meta #tg meta #hideyoshi nagachika #eto yoshimura #tokyo ghoul theory #tarot #sun arcana #moon arcana #star arcana

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fashiontrendin-blog · 6 years

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How to Wear Gym Clothes to Fancy Places: 4 Outfit Ideas

http://fashion-trendin.com/how-to-wear-gym-clothes-to-fancy-places-4-outfit-ideas/

How to Wear Gym Clothes to Fancy Places: 4 Outfit Ideas

n a not-so-past life, my waking moments were almost entirely punctuated by plyometric pushups and tuck jumps, backbends and pretzel poses of yoga, and isolated polyrhythmic gyrations in African dance class. I lived a life synonymous with activity, a “somatic practitioner,” as pronounced by my first yoga and dance teacher, Anna Leo. But all of that changed when I moved to New York.

The opportunity cost of my tumultuous transition from Atlanta to New York was that, between bouts of sleeping on the sofas of friends and “rooming” with my octogenarian uncle while I put together the pieces of the new life puzzle, downward dog became more like sleeping dog. My athletic routine fell by the wayside so much so that one day I woke up 30 pounds heavier, with a noticeably rounder face and even more domed quads.

And while I suffer no shame at any iteration of my flesh and bones, the changes in my body heralded to me a certain dissipation of my former self’s physical discipline, a discipline that I recalled seeped into other aspects of my being, a certain physical empowerment that bolstered my sense of mental limitlessness as though threading connective tissue in the mind-body. This feeling! It was this feeling that I missed more so than being able to fit into my skirts of yore. And now, having found a semblance of stability in other aspects of my new life, I knew it was time for me to afford myself the luxury of working out (and the necessity of a well-trained mind) again.

And make no mistake, in a city like New York, where fitness classes usually set you back about $40 dollars a session, staying active can be a luxury. (Yes, running outside and dancing to Angélique Kidjo in my birthday suit are free, but I like to mix in group fitness for a multiplicity of reasons.) Besides the fiscal deterrent, there was one other hurdle to overcome: inertia. How does one suddenly disrupt a cycle of lassitude when, even though the mind is willing, the flesh is, in accordance with the laws of physics, simply too weak to break the current state of inactivity? I found two ways.

The first was finding someone to answer to. After I put out an SOS, a friend introduced me to Jahkeen Washington, certified personal trainer and co-founder of Harlem High Intensity Fitness (HIIT) studio JTW FIT. Jah shifted from a nine-year career in the finance industry to become a certified personal trainer after losing a friend to a heart condition. Dedicated to bringing affordable fitness to the Harlem community, his studio offers classes as low as $15 dollars a class. As I find immeasurable value in being able to turn off my brain, so to speak, and have a professional craft an effective routine for me, I reached out to Jah. I knew my partnership with him was the right move from the moment I met him and experienced his easy air of confidence, deep devotion to his cause and a sense of humor that matched mine to a T.

So with that box ticked, the second inertia-busting strategy is why I come to you today on this rather prolix journey: apparel! When I realized that my workout wardrobe had not been updated in some seven or so years, I found myself scouring the web for what was new and exciting in the athletic wear market. All I had to do was perform one search and then sit back and let the oracular algorithms of the internet speak to me. And speak to me they did when an ad for a two-toned unitard flew into my field of vision. I immediately texted my friend Grant. “Need this!” I wrote, not realizing how expensive it was. “This Athluxury, Sis!” he replied. And so the term was born (at least in our little corner of the world; little did we know it was brewing in the Nike-verse as well) and its afterbirth was the idea for this story.

Sticker shock aside, I have always felt strongly about investing in my active gear (which probably explains why seven years on, the same cycling shorts are still making the rounds in my closet): Why shouldn’t the clothes I spend hours shaping my body in aspire as much to form as they do to function? Why should I not search for the same beauty I do in other aspects of my life, in the suits in which I will sweat as I attempt to shape the inner beauty of determination and self-discipline? “Wilt thou deny me the sheer joy of expanding my Spandex repertoire?” I asked my shoulder angel (or devil, depending on one’s vantage point). “I didn’t think so!” I scoffed, quieting and the supernatural being perched atop my medial deltoid.

To my imagination, Athluxury is the kind of athletic gear that espouses a thoughtfulness in design and brand ethos. And, yes, since luxury is a function of time, and time, they say, is money, the pieces I found in my “research” often came with a price tag to match. But they also came with an understanding that they were built to last. And while it is sacrilegious in my personal religion to wear more than 10% Spandex outside the church of the gym, if am spending this much money on athletic wear, I require the clothes to do a few extra things, including water my Meyer lemon tree monthly, take my future Jack Russell Terrier out for walks (twice a day, please) and not least of all, be able to hold their own when styled for everyday life. So here you have it, four Athluxury brands that rekindle my commitment to the active life every time I put them on, also styled for life beyond the sweat.

Ernest Leoty:

A gateway drug, if you will, this cerise and aubergine bodysuit by French startup brand Ernest Leoty was my first foray into the Athluxury world. The brand, which takes its name from a legendary French corset maker who invented the first modern corset in the 1800s, is designed in a sensibility très Parisien. Employing traditional French tailoring and technical activewear seaming, its high performance fabrics are sourced from Italian mills, and take my word for it, these details are apparent from the moment one slips on one of their butter-soft sheaths. Truly a second skin, Ernest Leoty felt like a natural choice for returning to the dance studio where the suppleness of their offerings meant melting, unencumbered, into the movement itself. For life outside the studio, the palette of the bodysuit led me to pair it with a magenta vintage kimono sourced for Harajuku for me by my personal shopper (just kidding, I can’t afford a personal shopper, but I do take advantage of my dear friend, @junebugshpr, a lawyer who moonlights as one). In the folly of my youth, many moons ago, I spent an entire paycheck on the Dior heels you see here, and as for the Tara Jarmon belt, it is my styling “golux” (aka mythical creature that comes to the rescue in all times of need).

VAARA

The entirety of British brand VAARA’s offerings exist in simple yet striking color dualities. Wrought from thick stretch fabric with a swimwear-like smoothness in quality, I found this brand offered a nice intersection between strong support and flexibility for the demands of HIIT training. The unofficial general consensus in the training world is that the Nike Metcon 4, seen here in white, is THE training shoe. You will find no objections on my part. The light blue of the stripe of these leggings is picked up almost exactly in the varying sized polka dots of this wrap-dress-worn-as-a-top from Second Sight. I find a nice interplay between the linearity of the stripe and the circular Kusamaësque dots of the dress. And to finish off the look, I added another pair of “investment” shoes, a well-aged pair of Nicholas Kirkwoods from my closet.

Outdoor Voices

Outdoor Voices is no longer a secret by any stretch of the imagination, and the brand’s popularity is well merited. Its mission statement is to foster people “doing things,” and I appreciate this uncomplicated, sensible approach to the active life. Their design team stems from both fitness and fashion realms so there’s as high an emphasis on aesthetic as there is on performance. Easily recognizable for their color-blocked, mutli-seamed styles, I was pleasantly surprised to find this solid, sanguine color among their offerings, which I tested out for running along with Nike’s Air Zoom Pegasus 35. The real MVP though is this OV men’s sweatshirt, rendered in a knit so cloud-soft I did not wish to ever take it off. Ever the fan of mixing unexpected fabrics, I paired the sweatshirt with an elaborate sequined dress from Erdem (worn as a skirt) and even more scintillation is brought to the mix by the Sophia Webster heels.

No Ka Oi’

According to its website, No Ka Oi’ means “the best” in Hawaiian, but the yoga-focused brand is actually made in Bologna, Italy. Strong color, eclectic fabrics and a plenitude of geometric design is the brand’s calling card. I was all too excited to roll up and strap tight this textured mat from the brand. While I’ve owned the leather mat strap here for about eight years, it has never come in handier than here in New York, where mat rental fees at studios are a real thing and schlepping a mat to class is about more than posturing. The vegetable-tanned leather strap is fashioned by Andrew McTeer who makes everything in his Queens studio, always aiming at as little waste as possible. He based the design of the strap on an antique example he found in France, adapting it for usability.

McTeer’s work, to me, is a paragon of the essence of luxury: While it may (or may not) be reflected in price point, luxury’s real signifier is that it is a labor of love, that thoughtfulness in design is equally reflected in the ethical production. The beauty of the resulting product is then but a little bonus with a great impact. After all, as professor and novelist Muriel Barbery asked, “Where is beauty to be found? In great things that, like everything else, are doomed to die, or in small things that inspire nothing, yet know how to set a jewel of infinity in a single moment?” Finding my way back into the luxury of the gym or dance studio may be a small victory, but no price tag can be placed on how boundless the active life makes me feel.

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Photos by Michelle Kappeler. Follow Jahkeen on Instagram @jah_holla. Follow Natasha on Instagram @natashanyanin

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