#i spend my design degree on this meme

[tealchameleon]

#yes I’m SO HAPPY to be spend my next nine fucking hours here #for the next five days #just so I can STILL be dirt poor and unable to afford my bills #I’m a fucking human punching bag like this job is so shit #I cannot think of a worse fit for me as a person honestly but there’s also no one I know of that pays more without a degree #work is also KEEPING ME from getting my degree so that’s great too #idk just rly realizing how this is all designed for lower class ppl to fail #hell world #fuck capitalism #personal #meme

[phantasmal-sunshowers]

A fic idea that popped into my mind as I went back to rewatch what was still available of season 0. Doesn’t matter the season, Yugi is just so gosh darn precious…!

As someone who likes fluff, I realized that I don’t normally write openly optimistic/encouraging fics like this one, so it was an experience. I had to end it on that line, no matter how cheesy (๑≧艸≦) I can’t read it without hearing the m-m-m-m-meme-d version of it—

As the rays of the afternoon sun flooded through the classroom windows, steadying my hands, I carefully placed down the angled cards. While my designated seat was at the opposite end, the degree of warmth that submerged the near lifeless room gradually increased as time ticked on.

I had long forgotten the rocky start I had at the beginning of the semester. And gradually, I had came to cherish the irreplaceable friends and memories I made at school. Everyday, no matter how small or mundane, I would look forward to the time I could spend with my friends. During our breaks, we’d gather together. We would play some games, chat, and there would almost always be laughter. Similarly, when school was out for the day, we’d spend a little time hanging out before heading home for the night.

‘And this afternoon will be fun, too!’ … … Is what I would like to say.

I took another pair of playing cards; a soft tap sounded as I levelled them on my desk. And as I delicately placed the arched stock paper, I recalled how this situation came to be.

Anzu, in preparation for an upcoming evaluation in her dance lessons, had been leaving as soon as the last bell of the day sounded so she could get in as much practice as she could. Miho, being Anzu’s closest friend, would leave with her to support and cheer her on. Honda, taking pride in being a part of the school’s custodian body, had his share of responsibilities around the school to see to. And last, but definitely not least, was Jonouchi. When no one else was free, we’d spend the afternoon with whatever caught our interests that day. Tabletop games, manga, the arcades— we went along with wherever our whims took us. But today, having owned Honda a favour, he had been pulled aside to help with the routine duties.

While I said I’d wait for Jonouchi until he finished what was asked of him, it would have been a lie if I didn’t say I was a little lonely. I thought I had forgotten this feeling— the loneliness I used to have…

To distract myself, I busied myself by building a house of cards, hiding away in its shade as it grew higher and higher. By now, although still in arm's reach, the top of the tower was above head height. Standing, I continued working on the construct.

It was strange, though. It was hard to put into words and describe the feeling, but even when I was alone, there were times when I felt like I wasn’t.

“Ah!!” Too focused on the moment, by the time I realized what was about to happen and had grasped the pendant in my hands, it was too late. With the gentle fluttering of the cards, in a flash, I watched as the tall pyramid came crashing down. Its contents dispersed on and around my desk. “... Aw, man…”

I looked down at the ‘culprit’ cupped in the palms of my hands. A dazzling gleam radiated from the golden puzzle basked in the light, a hint of a reflection looking back at me. Unable to find it within me to be frustrated or disappointed, I could feel a small smile spread on my lips. Wasting no time, I started to play a quick round of 52-pickup.

“Here.”

I followed the upbeat voice, finding your gentle expression standing at the end of it. “T-thanks! Uhm…” As I took the stray card you picked up, my voice trailed off as I realized I couldn't put a name to your face.

“[L/n], [F/n] from class A, but just call me [F/n]. And what’s yours?”

“I’m Yugi! It’s nice to meet you!”

“Hey, Yugi-kun,” A playful tone sounded as you crouched down to meet me. “That was an amazing castle. Would it be okay if you let me help you rebuild it?”

“Sure!” Swallowing my hesitation, I quickly mustered all the courage I had, “A–and if you’re interested, I also have other games we could play!”

“You do?” There was an kind sparkle to your eyes as you agreed, “Sure! Sounds like fun!”

Maybe days like this won’t be so lonely after all…

This afternoon, too…

I got to play games with Yugi again.

“Ah–” The gears clicked in place as you realized your mistake.

Things were already too late as you watched Yugi flip the one and final card he had needed to win the game, turning your previous play against you. “And that's my win!”

You gave a defeated sigh in response to his chipper declaration, “And that's my loss…” But the weary facade didn't last, dissipating just as quick as when you recognized your previous mistake. Perhaps seeing that you finally grasped a solid understanding of the fundamentals, Yugi wanted to test you and didn't let his winning chance slip by. Throughout the game, on countless occasions, the match could have prematurely ended if it weren't for him generously letting you undo some of your mistakes. You wouldn't have gotten this far otherwise. “You’re really amazing, Yugi-kun. It’s your first day playing and you’re already able to explain everything so clearly.” Giving a stretch, you shrugged it off, an airy comment slipping from you as you started to regather all your cards. “Not that I expected I could win against you on my first try. I’ve learned that much when we first met.”

“...” Eyes casted downwards, Yugi fell silent at your words as a thought flashed through him. “Sorry…”

“Hm?” But your spirited hum came to a halt as you noticed his quiet introspection, “No need to be.”

“... It doesn’t matter what game, whenever we play together, I’m always the one winning.” The air was stiff as he solemnly admitted, “It must not be fun to play with me…”

By now, you felt like you had a well-founded idea of what type of person Yugi was and that he wasn’t someone who’d act without reason. Putting together what you knew of him in tandem with your previous utterance, something must have happened between the last time the two of you hung out. That ‘something’ must have had to do with his peerless understanding and success with any game he encounters.

With your share of cards now in your hands, you squared off your deck. The audible clack from them took Yugi’s gaze off his lap. “I don’t think so.”

“Huh?”

“Starting something new doesn't mean I'll always do well. And just because I lost or that something is difficult doesn't mean I can't still enjoy it.” Placing your deck of spiralled-back trading cards on Yugi’s side of the field, you continued your train of thought, “Win or lose, first time or not— whenever we play together, we get to spend time together and I get to learn something new. I think that’s already exciting in itself. It might not be in Duel Monsters, but I'll steal a win from you someday— Just you wait!”

Dumbfounded at your straight forward, good faith, as much as he tried to hide it, you could see that Yugi always wore his heart on his sleeves. This time was no different as his astonishment was replaced with a sheepish and heartfelt smile.

“Now, come on!” You urged him along. “I’m waiting for you so I can shuffle your cards. I think I’ve got the hang of things and I’m not done trying to win yet. Or is it that you would like me to pick your cards for you, too?”

“Ah! N-no…! I— Um…!!” Snapping back to his senses, you watched as he scrambled to compile his cards. Lining up his deck, he gave a bashful glance and chuckle as he traded off his cards to you, “Heh… Thanks, [F/n].”

With his spirits lifted, you give him a giggle of your own, “Don’t mention it.”

“Alright,” After a thorough shuffle, sliding the deck back to their original player, the two of you exchanged a nod and a look of understanding as you both declared the start of the new round:

“It’s time to duel!”

#yugi x reader #yugi muto x reader #yugi mutou x reader #yugi mutoh x reader #yugioh x reader #YGO x reader #x reader #Yugi #Yugi Muto

[femgineerasolution]

any tips on how a newbie could start learning about software engineering?

Hi Nonny! Oh gosh, I might go on a bit here. I got into software engineering in a really weird way, basically fell into it, and that was like over a decade ago so a lot of things might have changed! There's a lot of good online resources for getting started in programming and engineering, and the whole maker-space scene is brimming with really cool and interesting people you can learn a lot from. But, beyond the cut you'll find my not particularly well organised thoughts!

Try to pick up a few different programming languages, including different types (like interpretted/scripting, imperative, object-oriented, there's a lot!)

I highly recommend learning Python, it's really useful for a wide range of stuff, I often use it just to automate something that would otherwise be tedious to do

Remember that all languages are a bit different, and will differ in the kinds of problems they're better at solving. No language is a panacae to all problems, so the more languages you know the less time you'll spend hammering a square language into a round hole! I think all languages can teach you something about programming, even if you don't use them so much in the end

For how to learn? I can't direct you to good resources, beyond knowing that there's a lot of good tutorials online, and saying that looking at tutorials is usually better than jumping in the deep end (as you can fall into bad habits that way)

For the engineering side, a good place to start is learning about software lifecycles - how do you go from need to finished solution? Waterfall and V are easy to understand but a bit old-school now, I think agile has really taken over (though is not always implemented well)

Design and requirements capture is so, so important, and so difficult, they're really good things to look into for engineering

I can't find the right thing to call it, but a useful idea is writing tests for your code first, based on the requirements, and then writing the code to make those tests pass. Not always appropriate, but being exposed to that idea helped me change the way I did some things

Version control! Very important, I didn't use to think it was until I made an error in a script that ended up deleting all the code me and two others were working on. Now I use it even for small at-home projects, because it's great to be able to go "oh no, I've broken everything, let's revert back to something that worked". Git is probably the most popular, and github has a really good tutorial (featuring their adorable cat-octopus mascot)

Once you've got the hang of version control, you could try getting involved in some open source stuff, check out https://www.firsttimersonly.com/ for some guidance on that

For me, it was really important to get a degree in this stuff. Like, any job I would have been interested in required a degree. I don't know how much that's changed, but it's worth thinking about. Depending on where you are things like conversion courses and intercolated years (where you take a year out of a degree to do some stuff from a different degree) might be available? And maybe nowadays there might be more companies that will judge you based on a porfolio of previous work instead of just a degree

Final thought, it was a bit of a meme back in uni, but the engineers always used to say that the big different between a software engineer and a computer scientist was that an engineer would actually consider what their code was going to run on. It was a bit mean, but it really hammered in the importance of considering the environment your code will run in

Okay, that was a lot, I'm not sure how clear it was, but I hope it helps!

If anyone wants any other advice about particular stuff, shoot me an ask! Though I received this one in August so I can't guarantee how quickly I'll see it and reply, sorry.

#nonny #software engineering #actual femgineering #long post is long

[ieatsmallorphansnamedtom]

Uh, hey. Yeah. I'm here for the matchmaking and I'm right giddy.

Preference: men, mostly.

My personality:

- I'm quiet. A little introverted to the point of antisocial. I do like being around a select few who are happy and even outgoing bc it makes me smile that they're happy

- I have a degree in Design and Technical Theatre. I adore musicals and am most likely singing to myself at all times. Because of the design and tech, I'm also a bit of a perfectionist. More organized anyway.

- I love all animals. I mean, I still eat meat but I love animals.

- In line with my degree, I love technology. I love drawing on my iPad or playing games/modding. I like to think of computers like the human body and it fascinates me.

- Get me started on a subject I love and I could talk forever.

- Nerd.

- I quote vines way more than someone should.

- I spend a lot of time sleeping, but could be persuaded to be awake given the right circumstances. That's depression, sis.

What I want in a partner:

- someone who makes me smile and doesn't mind the cheesy puns or memes I send them randomly.

- my love languages are touch and words of affirmation.

- someone who understands that sometimes you gotta have a night in without being around lots of people.

- homemade dinner dates are top notch and you can't change my mind.

Hi! I'll be honest, this was a tough one! Not to say your submission was tough, there were just a lot of people I could match you with! My last three were Sam, Sebastian, and Alex, but eventually I went with...

Sam!

His main selling point was his love languages. Man would absolutely give you the hugs and words of affirmation you need. He's also the lead singer of his band, so he'd totally join in with you when singing songs from musicals. Sam is also a very happy person, so he'd totally fit the bill of 'makes me smile because they're smiling.'

Cheesy puns are a must with this man. He will absolutely crack up with whatever jokes you tell him. I HC SDV takes place around 1996, so vines certainly aren't a thing yet. But if they were, oh boy, Sam would be all over them.

Also, for your degree in design, if you made a cover for one of Sam's albums he might just pass out.

He'd want to spend a lot of time with you, but if you really need a night alone, he's happy to hang out with his other friends. Cooking isn't really his strong suit, but he'll do his best to make you a nice date (just maybe help out with the dessert).

#ieatsmallorphansnamedtom #p.s. i really hope your depression gets better #remember you are loved #sdv #stardew valley #sdv matchmaking #stardew valley matchmaking #matchmaking #stardew matchmaking

[eternalstrigoii]

Fifteen for Fifteen Meme Tagged by @raointean

1. Are you named after anyone?

I don’t think so? I think my mom just liked my name....which is funny because I don’t go by it anymore.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Haven’t the slightest, tbh. Wanted to cry, today. Actually cried? Not entirely sure. It might’ve been the day I found out my neighbor passed only a week after being diagnosed with metastatic cancer.

3. Do you have kids?

I have pets and that’s slightly less expensive but more rewarding. Fight me on it.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Not as much as I used to. I’m more of a deadpan snarker like a proper Addams.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

>shrugs< I’m more of a once-over type. Your vibes do the distinguishing.

6. What's your eye color?

Hazel

7. Scary movies or happy ending?

A well-written movie has both.

8. Any special talents?

I am a goddamned freak of nature. Animals love me, plants thrive for me, and most things I can pick up on relatively quickly and with photographic memory-like accuracy. Until it comes to sports and/or math.

9. Where were you born?

In a building.

10. What are your hobbies?

I haven’t had proper hobbies in a hot minute. I’m going to get more serious about gardening (again) this year, and I don’t count care tasks as a hobby. I’ve gotten fond of interior decorating, the more macabre the better (fuck you, white people who can only design in farmhouse-minimalist-modernism with emphasis on pale neutrals). I sew, but that’s more of a practical skill than a hobby, though I’d like to take up cross-stitch and crochet. Maybe knitting. (You know, more practical skills.) That’s the same way I feel about cooking even though I do enjoy it. I’m learning how to roller skate instead of just roller blade. Learning how to take apart my bike and put it back together so I can do my own repairs (but I don’t know if I can count that as a hobby vs a practical skill, either.) I read. I have a formal degree in writing, though I’m SUPPOSED to do it for pleasure, too. I enjoy the outdoors and am (forcing) myself to spend more time birdwatching this year. ....I have a duolingo. (I think I might actually have hobbies even if I have to force myself to engage with them sometimes)

11. Have you any pets?

That implies they aren’t my kids. I have kitties, pups, fish, and -- soon! -- a tarantula. I had a tarantula. He passed about a year ago. I want another, I just had to work up to emotionally being ready again. My love for lil creatures is limitless. People, not so much.

12. What sports do you play/have you played?

This is gonna be the most “yeah, you’re Goth For A Reason” answer you’re ever gonna hear, but: I was a child ballerina. I did cheer. I also did tap. I also did martial arts for several years. Horseback riding. Now I’m into roller skating and cycling, though the latter is more of a transit + aesthetic thing than competitive. I do also enjoy swimming, hiking, climbing, and being able to out-lift most guys. I also would’ve done kickboxing but the panini hit, and I wanted to attend the Sword Gym in the city, but Expensive.

13. How tall are you

5′6′’. It works out now that I’m built like a werewolf.

14. Favorite subject in school?

English/”Language Arts” for early schooling and Horror Writing in college....for obvious reasons ;)

15. Dream job?

I want to hit the NYT bestseller list so I can make everyone subject to my bullshit on a regular basis. Succeed at everything and retain a captive audience afterward? 20/10, seems like a great idea. (It would be nice to Day Job back with animals, but only part time, and at a living wage.)

Tagging: tbd lemme see which of my mutuals I haven’t targeted lately >)

#Strig IRL #long post #tag memes

[wroteonedad]

Can Bad Interior Design & Architecture Be Art?

My brain has been feeling a little bit slow lately. Long difficult weeks at work mixed with the post holiday blues are something that are beginning to take its toll on me. I love nothing more than doing something that is spontaneous and different from the things I do every day. I love different, unless it's within a working environment, then I'll lie and say I love doing different things in the hospitality industry. All things aside, this week I decided to delve into something that is both slow and fairly simple.

Interior design can no doubt be considered an art form. The little trinkets stored on shelves, the texture and location of the sofa, and the rich peoples obsession with having marble everywhere. I never really thought about how much marble the rich have in their homes until you watch any form of Penguinz0 on YouTube about 'ugly homes' and he'll spend most of the time ripping into the marble everywhere. And maybe he's right, marble for the most part is pretty horrific.

But there are lots of mediums and details when it comes to exactly what creates a piece of art in interior design. I remember as a child at one point, I really wanted to become a designer, though I feel this may have something to do with the amount of Sims I played. I would always create a mix of homes. Sometimes it was a I'm going to use motherlode 10 times and create something so luxurious, so fancy and other times I would make a huge square building where every room would all be together in a small contained space and I would do anything possible to kill them. But what if we were to focus on the form of bad interior design? Something that is frequent in homes and that subvert every form of what it is that makes interior design art, and if the bad can still be considered a form of art. Take it from Dina, an interior designer based in Boston who not only runs her own Instagram account, focused on designs for customers to spruce up their homes. But she also runs another account on the side, the infamous 'pleasehatethesethings' in which supplies a large gallery of some of the most hideous designs in peoples homes. Some of them so bad, they are meme worthy, and I've seen a lot of them pop up again on TikTok.

We've got doors in the middle of the wall with no steps to access the door, a toilet on the centre of the staircase, a shower than when turned on goes straight into the toilet and the Jed (jean bed) to name a few terrible examples on the page. The entire page is the thing of nightmares and I love it. If anything, it shows people the deal breakers to look out for should they go to a house viewing and see anything half as erratic as that. I guess to some degree this can be considered a form of art, not a good type of art, but it feels so ironic like it was supposed to be a joke. Or worse yet, it wasn't designed to be a joke, but was left uncomplete because it's from an old build which doesn't have the sufficient space in order to make it have a design that isn't just functional and basic. Most interior design work you see is mostly something that only people with some form of money can afford, the working class don't typically have the spare funds to just knock over a pillar and completely tear down the kitchen in order to make it aesthetically pleasing. But maybe that's the point with bad design, it's for the rich to laugh at. The best we can do to make our homes look nice is to purchase little trinkets that can brighten up a rather bland mould ridden space. Old builds on a small budget are difficult, like last week I took my salt lamp off the plate it had been sat on for months and the whole plate was submerged in water where the home has such an awful damp and mould problem.

Ironically, it would also appear that the rich do tend to make bad decisions when it comes to the look of their homes. In this instance in the photo above, we have a toilet in the shower room. Perhaps this is from the plumbing, they wanted the shower to be moved elsewhere, but couldn't get a toilet in anywhere else so they just chose to keep it in the shower. It looks like walking into a toilet cubicle without any privacy. And the worst part,,,, there is marble everywhere else except for where the one toilet is situated.

Spicing up the idea of bad interior design, there is also this bedroom in the image above. I'm not really sure where to begin with this one, it looks like something you would see in a Disney hotel and I don't mean that in a good way. At the same time, why is the whole bedroom under the sea themed and why did this person decide to have a elephant painted on the ceiling? I have so many questions. This bedroom is not the quality of 'my home doesn't have enough space to build the thing I wanted' rather it's giving 'I had this weird dream about this nightmare of a room so I'm going to make it a reality'. The wall, floor and bed all with matching tiles are a living nightmare and I just cannot comprehend any type of person in the world wanting to sleep in this room.

If you thought that room was bad, there is also someone who lives in the Disney village who has a painted Woody from Toy Story painted on the ceiling in the corner of the bedroom. This was taken from a screenshot of a Kurtis Conner video where he delves into Disney adults. I don't want to expand on that video, but he looks into families who live in the multimillion pound homes which reside within a private neighbourhood in Disneyland. Every one of these homes are filled with 'subtle' Disney accents to make these people feel like they are living their childhood dream, but to me it has to be interior design at its worst. I could maybe understand the bad Disney interior a little bit more if you were staying in one of their designated hotels, but a home that you buy and choose to live in is wild to me. The placement is random, there is nothing next to it other than this one image of Woody and I think if I woke up in the middle of the night and looked up at the ceiling, he would make me scream and cry and throw up.

But the fun doesn't end at bad interior design because we can also extend into forms of the exterior itself. It's time to go into detail about two of the worst archiectual pieces in London, except one was never built. The first on the other hand, it was there once upon a time.

Say hello to the Marble Arch in London, the most infamous outdoor installation created in England to date. This was supposed to give you some of the best views of London, but to get there you had to walk up about a million steps just to find the view was the lovely heavily congested street. This God awful mound that was built still cost £2 million and gave us nothing. It was designed in order to attract more people to Oxford Street other than to shop, so these people could go to a new and upcoming tourist destination. The mound was supposed to be attached to a gallery and café, something that would be radical and different for the area. If you class paying anywhere between £4.50 and £8 to climb up a giant grass mound as a radical and fun day out of course. According to Winy Maas, founding partner of MVRDV, they not only wanted the structure to be built over the top of the 200 year old stone arch across from the mound, but they also wanted the piece to be steel based, and not on scaffolding and because of this, the original budget spiralled out of control and made the piece look more disappointing as time went on. It seems that MVRDV are so embarrassed by their own project, that it isn't even mentioned as one of their 393 completed projects on their website. I'm sure it was built to be something that was spectacular to view and would give you such an alternative view to the thick smoggy skies of London, but it just doesn't work. This was a flop, and it's sad because I went through the other projects created by MVRDV and they make some amazing out of the box pieces that are tailored to every form of space and environment. It could have been, but it wasn't. And I too would be too embarrassed to put this under my work portfolio.

Speaking of other outdoor mediums which deemed to be so unsuccessful that nobody even managed to start building it was the Garden Bridge, endorsed by disgraced ex PM Boris Johnson. The flashy high quality blueprints had been designed by architects, but it just never happened. It was something that was supposed to be sustainable. The idea consisted of one of the bridges over the River Thames to be transformed and covered in trees and flowers in order to help with smog levels and add some classic greenery to the capital centre. It was suggested that building this would cost an estimated £53 million. It could have been a beautiful piece of architecture had it not cost so much of the taxpayers money that Sadiq Khan lost trust that Johnson would have been able to deliver anything like it.

I'm not sure I would go so far as to say this is a piece of ugly architecture, but it did indeed turn out to be a form of architecture deemed as unsustainable and just undoable due to funds needed and its corrupt government trying to look green aware. The original proposal had promised to pay out over £21 million to build a brand new bridge over the River Thames, which would theoretically lower emissions over other bridges in Central London, especially with a bridge designed to connect North and South London by pedestrians. The bridge would then be covered in an estimated 270 trees and 2000 shrubs and have a lovely view of the rest of the smoggy city from its green utopia. Taxpayers still ended up forking money for this project despite it having no official planning permission to be built anywhere and Boris Johnson was then left in 2017 to give evidence for the downfall and failure of the entire project.

Do I think we can consider bad interior design and architecture as art? I'm very much in the centre about this, at the end of the day art is subjective. Interior design, if it's badly designed because of the bad building then I can't argue that it could be considered as any other art form except for a meme. This is the type of low quality image that I want to see at 2am when I've gone delirious and begin to think it's the funniest thing in the world. I mean, show me that under the sea bedroom after I've had 5 beers and I'll tell you that I want that built myself in my home. Architecture on the other hand, can always be considered a form of art no matter how disgraceful it is. What we can take from the Marble Arch piece is that maybe from the right angle, it would look okay, but because of its lack of budget and overall structure, it was just too janky to ever look good. I am also a firm believer that if Garden Bridge had gone ahead, I think it would have looked slightly similar to Marble Arch by end project and it could not have been sustainable for the taxpayer to have to spend their money on. It could have been, but it wasn't.

#writing #misc #interior design #architecture #pleasehatethesethings #penguinz0 #kurtis conner #mvrdv #marble arch #garden bridge

[salmonjewel4]

Tips On How To Use Twitter For Business? Twitter Business Profile

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#seo

[littlefacemusk]

#elon musk #elon #musk #elonmusk #little face musk #tesla #joe rogan #weed #nfts #nft #little face mitt #dogecoin #who gives a shit #whatever #goddammit

[averykedavra]

Headcanon: all the Sides have ‘tells’ when they’re upset, right? Logan doesn’t knot his tie correctly, Roman’s costume is rumpled or he’s not even wearing it, Virgil won’t take his headphones off for anything, Patton won’t stop smiling and fidgets a lot, Janus wears his ENTIRE OUTFIT even if it’s like eighty degrees outside, and Remus covers himself in blood because it distracts the others from his emotions.

But soon, the Sides figure out each others’ tells. Which leads to a cycle of trying to cover up their tells--Roman purposely tries to make himself look perfect, Janus purposely wears a t-shirt, Remus covers himself in dog shit instead of blood--and then cover up the fact that they’re covering up their tells. It’s a mess.

And without those tells being reliable, they no longer know when someone’s upset. They can no longer look between the lines and figure it out. So they end up confused and hurt, taking jabs at someone who’s not in the mood or being unable to realize when someone is hurting. Their relationships are suffering because they won’t let each other see their vulnerability.

After a huge blowout between Roman and Logan, Patton calls a fam-ILY meeting and they agree things need to change.

But despite their knowledge that communication is important when you’re feeling low, they’re still scared of opening up like that.

It’s Logan’s idea to reinstate the idea of “tells.” Now, however, they won’t be inadvertent slip-ups but purposeful messages. Each Side can choose something to wear that shows they’re not in a good mood, to alert everyone else without drawing attention to the fact or forcing them to talk about it. The other Sides are hesitant--wouldn’t that just have the same problem as the original tells--but they agree it’s worth a shot.

Virgil is the first to use the tells, surprisingly. He gets Roman to make him a second pair of headphones that are purple instead of black, and whenever he’s feeling overwhelmed, he uses those. After a while, he grows more comfortable with wearing them, even feeling that they calm him down during stressful situations. Sometimes, when he’s during a stressful conversation or event where he can’t get to his headphones immediately, he’ll ask if he can “change headphones,” which is a verbal cue he’s not doing well. It works really well for him.

It’s Virgil’s success, and a desire to be a role-model, that leads Logan to try it next. He wears a black tie instead of his usual blue one when he feels overwhelmed, listless, or really pissed. At first it makes him uncomfortable, broadcasting his emotions in such a public way, but after a while he appreciates how it improves his interactions with the others. Even Roman is more careful to be nice when Logan’s wearing a black tie--which, incidentally, leads him to be nicer in general. Eventually Logan starts wearing color-coded ties all the time, with different ones corresponding to different emotions. It helps him with processing and acknowledging his feelings, as well as helps the others with interpreting his not-always-clear emotional state.

Janus does it third. He’s gotten used to taking off his gloves around the others--it’s hard to beat Roman at Mario Kart with gloves on, after all. But when he’s having a not-great day, he puts on his gloves. It doubles as a cue for the others and a reassuring method for himself. When he’s feeling sad, it helps to fool himself into thinking he’s protecting and shielding himself from the emotion--lying to himself, essentially. The gloves make him feel safe without hiding the problem altogether. One day Roman paints little snakes on Janus’ gloves as a prank, and Janus keeps them like that. They make him smile.

It takes Remus a while to warm to it. He can’t even decide on a tell--he spends a week brainstorming, but there are too many fun options! A human spleen on his head? Eyeballs where his mouth should be? Blood all over him as a classic? Then he has a day that was crap, and not the fun kind. And he knows he wants to let the others know, but how?

He wears a meme shirt. He walks into the kitchen with a tacocat shirt, grabs a banana, and says “This is my tell. I feel sucky.” Then he pokes a hole in the banana and slurps up the juice inside. From that day on, lame meme t-shirts are Remus’s go-to when he’s feeling icky, and not the fun way. Virgil helps him brainstorm more of them, so they get steadily more obscure and cryptic. Logan spends a week trying to decode them, to no avail.

Patton is maybe the most nervous about this idea. Yeah, his kiddos can do it, but can he? He’s spent so many years shoving down his emotions...does he really want to worry them if he feels iffy? Shouldn’t he just ignore the problem so he won’t dwell on it? Due to this, he never really gives them a solid tell, and he never really chooses one for himself. Then, one day, he burns his cookies and trips on the stairs and snaps at Roman and Patton just feels bad. Really bad. He hopes it’ll go away overnight, but it only stagnates and burns him up inside.

So the next morning, he comes downstairs in a frog onesie.

He didn’t designate that as his tell, so the others are pretty confused. Except for Janus. Janus understands immediately. He gives Patton an encouraging smile and says, “How about I cook breakfast today?” And Patton smiles back, just a bit. The frog onesie is soft and comfortable and has the cutest googly eyes, and maybe--just maybe--he’s glad to be taken care of.

The final Side to use the tell system is Roman. Every time he thinks of using his tell--no sash--he feels disgusting. He doesn’t want to broadcast his failure, his insecurity, to all the people who look up to him! He doesn’t want to show how un-Princely he is, especially with a loss of his usual sash. His sash is his burst of color, his royal signature, what pulls his outfit together. Without it, he just looks boring and wrong and stupid.

This comes to a head on a completely terrible day. Roman can’t think of good ideas or anything to get Virgil for his birthday or why it’s so hard to get out of bed in the morning, and he feels ugly and disgusting and worthless and wants to crawl into a hole and disappear. He’s staring at himself in the mirror, wondering if it’s worth it to skip breakfast and maybe lunch and maybe the rest of existence, when Remus pops in and, without a word, changes his shirt.

Roman looks down and sees Remus gave him a red-and-white shirt. In big gold swirly letters, it says ‘I FEEL LIKE SHIT.’ Roman’s about to snap it back, but Remus looks so concerned and he’s really trying to be supportive...and hey, he wanted a tell, right? This could be a tell.

Roman looks at himself in the mirror again--stupid ugly worthless cruel wrongwrongwrong--and snaps his fingers once again. Two red words scribble themselves across the shirt. I FEEL LIKE (i am) SHIT

Remus smiles and claps his hands, and Roman’s standing in the hallway, staring at the kitchen. Patton’s making breakfast and humming something, Logan is reading a book, Virgil’s scrolling through Tumblr, and Janus is pretending to help with breakfast but actually just stealing strawberries from the fridge. Roman can’t imagine walking out there looking like this, hair unbrushed, dark circles under his eyes, a shirt proclaiming his insecurity.

Remus gives him a little nudge and another smile. “I’m right behind you, bro.”

And Roman, hands shaking, walks into the kitchen.

And it’s...not terrible. Patton glances up, reads Roman’s t-shirt, gives him a lopsided smile, and hands him a few strawberries. Janus squeezes Roman’s shoulder as he passes. Logan, when he looks up, immediately offers to postpone the video session. After reassuring Roman that he’s not mad and it’s not giving up, Roman agrees. Virgil’s approach is simplest--a smile and a nod.

It’s when Roman is in front of the fridge, eating strawberries and watching Patton hum ‘You Will Be Found’--did Patton choose that song on purpose? He wouldn’t put it past him--that Roman looks down and realizes what Remus added.

I FEEL LIKE (i am) SHIT. And below that, in green chickenscratch lettering?

I’M WRONG

For the first time all day, Roman smiles.

Remus makes many of those shirts over time. Roman bares his heart on some of those shirts, confesses his deepest insecurities, his fears that he’ll never be good enough for Thomas or any of his friends. And Remus always, always, adds that Roman is wrong. Simple and constant. Occasionally he also adds penis drawings, but Roman can forgive that.

They all have their tells when they’re upset. Virgil wears his favorite purple headphones with skull stickers on the sides. Logan wears his red tie for angry or his yellow tie for anxious or his black tie for sad. Janus wears his gloves and continues the henna-like drawings that are accumulating on them. Remus wears one of the many meme shirts hanging in his closet. Patton wears his frog onesie. Roman wears his insecurity t-shirts.

Or, if there’s no time? Virgil will ask to change headphones. Logan will ask to change ties. Janus will flex his hands experimentally, Remus will scrawl a meme on his hand, Patton will just say “Ribbit.” And Roman’s getting better at just saying, “I don’t feel that great.”

It’s not perfect. But it lets them curl up on the couch together, Virgil with his headphones and Logan with his tie and Janus with his gloves and Remus with his ‘The Birds Work For The Bourgeoisie’ shirt and Patton’s frog onesie and Roman’s shirt which reads ‘I THINK I’M NOT LOVED. I’M WRONG.’

It’s not perfect. But it’s a start. And they’re getting better every day.

#i spent way too long on this #sanders sides #sanders sides headcanon #headcanon #ts spoilers #logan sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders #patton sanders #remus sanders #roman sanders #sadness #angst #insecurity #emotions #emotional issues #tw self esteem issues #seriously this took me like half an hour #i had plans for this evening #welp #averywrites

[regrettablewritings]

Look, if it helps y’all feel any better, try imagining Actor AU.

Personally, my idea of Actor AU includes:

Hunter’s actor is actually goofy and leans in hard to the dad vibes. His hair is, in fact, quite real, much to the dismay of his cast mates. Omega may have recorded BTS snaps of everyone and his included attempting to play dad rock on a guitar he keeps in his trailer.

Wrecker’s actor is actually the Smart Guy, having a degree in something complex like biochemical engineering or something. He’s also quieter and a lot more gentle than the character he plays, preferring to spend his time off-camera reading.

Echo’s actor likes to crack jokes a lot, specifically about how he’s the guy who always has to be in the makeup chair “at the crack of dawn’s ass”. Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair get an earful of playful fussing if he hears them whine about sitting still for their tattoo or scar makeup. Actually has a prosthesis, though his is for one of his legs.

Tech’s actually got a degree in English (“Why else would I be acting?”) and while he’s also on the spectrum, he’s a bit less rigid than the character he plays. He sometimes wishes his character was more forward about things but ultimately respects the sass. His Kiwi accent is a bit stronger outside of the role.

Crosshair’s actor . . . is ironically nearsighted. Initially, the reason he always seemed to be glaring was because he was trying to get used to the contacts he was given for the first shoot the Batch ever appeared in and it just suited him. Surprisingly chill guy otherwise, very aware of how intimidating he can come off as by looks alone.

Omega is the most like her on-screen character. Just a really cheery, outgoing girl! She brings her homework to do on set sometimes, and asks Wrecker for help since he’s the one who’s best at math and science.

Everyone is always joking about the hair situation: Hunter’s hair is real, they keep having to shave Echo’s hair, Wrecker prefers to be bald, Tech’s hair is actually curly and he hates how it constantly must be jacked up for the sake of his character (think Cillian Murphy’s feelings a la Peaky Blinders), and Crosshair made jokes about how he was so used to dyeing it that he no longer remembers what his hair color actually is. Then when they made him bald (even if by use of a bald cap), Echo and Wrecker chanted “One of us! One of us!” Omega’s hair is naturally blonde and cute so the costumers left it that way.

Once, Omega snapped a pic of Echo in the middle of his makeup regimen all powdered up. Fans saw and quickly began to compare him to a baby covered in powder. Echo liked the image and comparison so much that he printed it out and taped it to his mirror. Now, a common meme that he happily plays around with is “Echo is Baby.” Sometimes, he’ll even deepen his voice and go, “I  a m  B a b y” just to get a laugh out of someone.

Interviewer: So one of the things that makes the Batch stand out is how they’re generally unafraid of experimenting with their appearances, tattoo-wise in some cases. Are there any tattoos you’d perhaps like to get? Anything like the characters you play? Hunter: Oh, not at all! A face tattoo?! That big!? I’d pass right out right in the chair! Crosshair: Same. I think Crosshair’s tattoo is more about intimidation, and frankly I think I’m scary enough. That, and I don’t know what the guy was on to be able to withstand a tattoo to the face, but I don’t have any of that on me so I doubt that’s ever gonna happen. Hunter: Yeah, the closest thing I think I could do is maybe something on my arm. Maybe my child’s hand print or something of that nature. Crosshair: Ooh, a good old dad classic. Hunter: Yeah! Wrecker: I actually haven’t thought about getting a tattoo since, like, my university years. But hey, who knows? I’ve been told I have plenty of real estate for it! Echo, sheepishly laughing: I like the idea of tattoos, but needles freak me out. Yeah, I know it’s a different type of needle but like?? I don’t like pain!! I think the best I could do is just keep applying one of those temporary tattoos to the same place over and over to create the illusion of having actual ink on me. Maybe mess around with people and skip a day or two. Or better yet: Change out the design! One day there’s a dolphin on my neck, the next day it’s a tiger! Omega: Mum says no tattoos until I turn 18. But I’d like to get a Batcher helmet as commemoration! Tech: I actually have a tattoo! I mean, it’s nothing like what Tech would probably have. I feel like if he ever got any ink, it’d probably be something geeky like his favorite equation, or something symbolic of the galaxy bottled up into a formula of some kind. I imagine that if he wanted something artsier, he’d probably outsource to someone with more artistic skills. Tech: Anyway, my tattoo is of a turtle! Everyone: *is either looking at him or snickering* Crosshair: . . .  A turtle. Tech: What’ve you got against turtles?

Omega convinces the guys to participate in some TikToks and such “for media purposes”. This ends in Wrecker, in character, saying, “Hunter: Omega’s trying to sneak around. But I’m dummy thicc, and the clap of my butt and meaty fists keep alerting the guards!”

Yes: Everyone wishes they could have a lightsaber. Yes: Everyone would most definitely make the lightsaber noises if they had one. And yes: Everyone makes do with their blasters, but they do revert into children who go “pew pew!” every time they pull the triggers. Even Crosshair’s actor, who more so goes “pow” or “bang”.

Interviewer: How are you like the characters you play, if at all? Hunter: I’m a cool dad with awesome hair. Omega: We’re both very curious! Wrecker: I don’t think we -- Oh, you know what? We both love Lula! Echo: You mean aside from a prosthesis? Uuummm . . . Ppprobably . . . We both love a godawful pun! Tech: I think we both like to collect knowledge for the sake of it. And also, we drive like crazy. Crosshair: We can both be a bit catty

Tech’s actor is constantly fumbling his lines simply because of all the technobabble he has to say.

I do not know why but the image of Crosshair’s actor being a surprisingly good juggler haunts the cinema of my mind’s eye.

And also . . . They are most definitely Maori or of Maori descent, so jot that tf down.

Don’t know how it’ll help, but Actor AUs are simply The Best™️ so that in and of itself has my stamp of approval for cheering up!

#bad batch #the bad batch #actor au #bad batch actor au #Star Wars #been sitting on this for a month #i just! I just love actor AUs!!

[realrollypratt]

so I saw this ship meme and I really only want to do it for Dasey so here we go:

who’s the cuddler: totally derek. if they are a couple? he wants to be touching her at all times. while watching movies. after sex, when they fall asleep. in the morning. casey loves it.

who makes the bed: casey. derek never ever makes the bed and they argue over it all the time because derek doesn’t see the point in making the bed if they’re gonna unmake it later and casey threatens his life and future children probably.

who wakes up first: casey but only because she gets up with her alarm. if they sleep in without an alarm, derek wakes up first. and then she yells at him for not waking her (but she looked too comfortable and adorable to bother!)

who has the weird taste in music: derek, finds all those obscure indie bands.

who is more protective: i think they are equally protective to a terrifying degree. do not touch one of them, the other will rip your face off. (and that’s when they claim to hate each other)

who sings in the shower: casey does, she gets all those stupid jingles stuck in her head. even when she isn’t in the shower she is humming them all the time and derek is aggravated because then they get stuck in his head.

who cries during movies: oh casey cries during any movie, derek says it’s embarrassing but he secretly thinks it’s cute. he lets her wipe her gross face on his shirt.

who spends the most while out shopping: derek. though casey probably has fancy tastes, she will budget and look for the best possible price. derek buys the most expensive designer clothes and the biggest tv and no you can’t replace his favorite cereal by the off brand and if he has enough money he will probably buy a new car on a whim.

who kisses more roughly: they both have it in them. i think derek is probably surprisingly gentle and casey has all this frustration to take out on him so she is generally more aggressive. but derek knows to be rough at the right times.

who is more dominant: casey is more dominant in life and when it comes to plans and house organization, but derek is more dominant in bed (classic brat/brat tamer) (though they are not against switching when the mood strikes).

my rating of the ship from 1-10: 💯/10

#dasey #text post #words for the void

[honestlyvan]

IDW Perceptor and Brainstorm for the headcanon meme?

Hrrrrrn so I don't really. Do IDW, like *gestures at Brainstorm* I haven't seen this man in my life, but I can try to take a crack at Perceptor. These are considerably more half-baked than my usual stuff, though, just bear that in mind.

Realistic: Definitely like quadruple educated, he keeps picking up new degrees but not, like, from studying, he just works on such broad projects he can just spend like a year to write them up for submission or however that works idk

Unrealistic but hilarious: This includes degrees in things he conceivably as a physicist would not have any use for. Like he has like a doctorate in landscaping because one of the power plants he worked on kept getting complaints that it was ugly as sin, so he just kept redesigning it and the environment around it to make it more pleasing and learned a bunch about urban design as a result. He also probably has a bachelors degree in public relations from the same debacle.

I’m taking you down with me: Kup dies before Percy has an opportunity to really apologise for... all of that... He never quite gets over it, even if it's a black mark in his personal history he doesn't really discuss with anyone -- a true moral failure on his part.

Fuck You It’s My House: His relationship to his improved frame is more complicated than "love it" or "hate it". By necessity combat prep dulls the senses a little bit, power rerouting changes the way his secondary processors respond, his memory mapping has significantly changed to be more stable... the overall effect is that everything is a little more delayed, a little more summarised. Nothing about his processor or core systems has changed, exactly, but the heavy stress penalty made it feel like he'd gotten stupider out of nowhere at first, and he's never been able to shake the feeling that he just thinks less well in this frame.

#Maccadam #I cannot emphasise enough that I have not read the comics #or at least I have not read enough of the comics to form any sort of opinion #and at this point I pretty much refuse to go through the effort lmao #Also that last headcanon is based on something that happened to me when I first went on meds #*years* of feeling like I gave myself brain damage before I stabilised properly #Transformers IDW'05

[doshmanziari]

Architectural Criticism in 2021/2022 || Part 1.5

Before writing a fuller continuation of my previous essay on architectural criticism, I’m inserting a mini-essay that focuses on a particular piece of criticism. Let me be clear: I don’t see Kate Wagner, the person behind @mcmansionhell, as an enemy; I’m just using one of her articles as an example because I had, in my essay, already linked two articles of hers (more accurately, one article and an image from another), and I’d rather elaborate on what I mean when I write “...a vapid buildup to a politically convenient takeaway” than bring in an entirely different item. Wagner, in my view, represents a sort of destabilizing criticism that takes pleasure in tackling “dry” subject matter with breathless, Meme-heavy sarcasm. I find the tone off-putting, but I appreciate it as one attempt to invigorate and broaden the audiences of architectural appraisal. My issue is that by now the joke has overestimated its capacity for judgmental clarity. Really anything can be made fun of if you’re determined enough, and the more of an unquestioning audience you have the easier it is to believe everything you say is true or coherent.

The image was from this 2018 Vox article: “Betsy DeVos’ summer home deserves a special place in McMansion Hell” (a title likely devised by the editor; given the other residences Wagner has lambasted, I would be surprised if she truly believes this is among the worst). My observations won’t make sense unless anyone who is reading this reads her article as well, so please do that if you’d like to follow along. It should take only a couple of minutes.

What I’d first draw readers’ attention to is that Wagner spends the first four paragraphs on the United States’ beyond-vast inequality of wealth. Two of these paragraphs are the article’s largest, and the article is twelve-paragraphs-long, meaning that 1/3 of it is devoted to establishing a socio-economic context -- at least, that is the pretense. Once Wagner writes “...getting paid to make fun of DeVos’s tacky seaside decor is one of few ways to both feed myself and make myself feel better”, it is clear that her personal intent is a kind of vengeful mocking, and that her intent for readers is to prime them to associatively, knee-jerkingly despise anything which could come next with flat-affect “lmao”s. It’s hardly irrelevant to mention economic realities when examining luxury items (and what else is a mansion?), but Wagner’s subsequent analysis is not really architectural or even artistic: it is rather about looking at several photographs of a building, knowing who lives there and hating that person (and also imagining that they were responsible for all design decisions), and then mocking this-and-that in whatever ways one can devise. These grievances are understandable, but understandable grievances do not automatically lead to perceptive criticism.

Please look (perhaps again) at the first image. Note that only four, maybe, of the fourteen details Wagner chooses to focus on -- “no wry comment needed”, “these look like playdoh stamps”, “when you love consistency”, and “oh my god is this a shutter” -- approach anything vaguely resembling coherent criticism; and the other four images fare even worse (with the exception of the highlighting of an apparently absurd interior balcony). The rest are inane attempts at saying anything at all. Writing “hell portal” by an upper porch area may be funny for a moment, but what does it actually express? Well, nothing, except the author’s own irritation which will find whatever it can to announce its contemptuous sarcasm. Wagner’s captions will land only to the degree that the reader is humorously sympathetic.

The aforementioned remarks, excepting the one about the embedded chubby Tuscan columns’ Play-Doh-likeness, suggest that the worst thing a building can do is be formally heterogeneous. The implicative corollary here is that good architecture is eminently justifiable in all of its parts -- consistent, unified, rational. This is as fine a personal belief as anything else, but when it is wielded as dogma against architecture which has no interest in being a Petit Trianon it can only reveal its intellectual self-limitations. Wagner writes that “there is a difference between architectural complexity and a mess”, yet what that difference may be is hand-waved away. We just have to believe that thirteen different windows styles is too much. What’s the threshold? Does it depend on the size of the building? The types of styles used? Who knows.

Now of course bad architecture exists, and sometimes the failure indeed points to deficient editorial acumen; for architecture, like any other art, is as much about what’s included as what’s excluded. But in saying so little about the shingle style itself, Wagner seems to have given no thought to readers concluding that all shingle style houses are freakish -- more specifically, concluding that this freakishness is a damning transgression, and that no self-respecting, punching-up class-warrior would ever be caught dead sincerely enjoying their geometric, “exquisite corpse” escapades. In fact, the freakish tendencies of shingle style houses are just what make them such great fun to see, visit, or reside in. Wagner’s article, as far as I can tell, omits this possibility. When she writes, “Betsy likely went with this style because it is very popular in New England and in coastal enclaves of the rich and famous in general”, one is being pushed to presume that the only probable reason the shingle style exists or could be preferred over another style is to signal élite solidarity.

The photograph right above is of Kragsyde, a Massachusetts shingle style mansion, designed by the US-Northeast-oriented firm of Peabody & Stearns, completed in the 1880s. It was demolished almost a century ago, but the few exterior images of it which remain are, I think, fascinating -- maybe most of all for its enormous archway, possibly a porte-cochère, which has a thin, overextending keystone bizarrely driven into the top like a nail puncturing a petrified rainbow. I bring the building up because Wagner gives us no reason to consider why Kragsyde may have been a genuine architectonic accomplishment and not merely an oversized farce of contiguous pretensions. To the layperson hot off of the Vox piece, there may be no artistic difference between it and DeVos’ place, except that perhaps Kragsyde has a more consistent fenestrative application (would that make it better? if so, why?).

I appreciate that only so much can be said when you’re limited to less than a thousand words, especially when the issue is “complicated” (as the byline for Vox’s First-person series advertises). But the problem I keep coming back to is how DeVos’ mansion is treated as a stand-in for DeVos herself. This makes any architectural critique, no matter how pressed it is for size, flimsily presentist: its durability starts and ends with how alive the architecture’s resident(s) and political presence are. On some emotional level, this is pretty sensible: if we despise monarchical institution, we can find a sort of loophole to enjoying Versailles palace on the basis of it no longer being the residence of royalty. Our awe over its decadence and scope is intersectionally “admissible” on the basis of its having become a UNESCO World Heritage site. Similarly, one can imagine DeVos’ mansion being appreciated in a hundred years (should it still exist then) because the passage of time will have rendered DeVos’ person a historical fact, and perhaps more separable, and then tolerable, in that regard -- even if the building remains private.

But if architecture is, as a craft, critically whittled down to nothing more or less than inorganic expressions of social disparities, with every aesthetic decision a reflection of politically explicable taste, then we must assume that a great deal of the world’s most remarkable architecture is equally ridiculous and despicable, since so much of it was born out of great privilege and required specialized resources. I doubt Wagner actually believes this, because it would betray the entire premise of her McMansion Hell project, which is to demonstrate how so many modern day mansions are deeply unpleasant mounds of visual illiteracy, and cannot hold even a stump of a candle to the luminously learned and eclectic talents of prior great architects such as Mackintosh, Norman Shaw, Lutyens, or Ledoux. So what’s the takeaway here? As far as I can tell, it’s simply that if you hate Betsy DeVos, and if you care about class, you should hate her house too. And I do not think that that is architectural criticism.

#Architecture #architectural criticism #mcmansion #shingle style

[lemon-wedges]

6, 17, 23 for artist Q's!

Questions from this meme :D

6. Which piece took the longest

Oh man. I think it was an OTGW leyendecker redraw I did in back 2017. I wasn't very good at anatomy or painting so so much of the time was dedicated to me learning. Hmmm I want to say it took me 6 months? But like that was just because I kept start and stopping for every little detail

Nowadays I think the longest I spend on pieces are a month and thats only if it's a painting for a zine :o

17. Ur inspiration?

Hmm....comedies mosty. As much as I wish I could be hit by inspo looking at beautiful art and cool ass movies they usually leave me like. Sitting in front of a blank canvas going "any minute now.....something will happen :)" vs when I play my goofy little games they immediatly set me off. Like if I don't draw/write out my ideas I'm gonna explode (Favs being like: disgaea, psychonauts, portal, etc etc etc.....)

23. Have you taken art classes

;u; I have a degree in art and currently taking more classes for a focus on bg and prop design

#asks #anonymous

[amphtaminedreams]

Spring/Summer & Haute Couture Week 2021: Whoops, I’ve Missed a Loooot (Part 2)

Hey to anyone reading,

I’m so sorry for the gap between the last fashion week review post and this one! Argh. I had no idea I posted it as long ago as the beginning of March but I think we can all agree that lockdown has fucked with our perceptions of time completely. I wish I could say the delay in posting was as simple as me being busy but I’ve also started to reflect on whether or not I want to carry on this format of posts for the time being; on the scale of problems, this one is wayyy down there in the very lower quartile of the first world region, but my motivation to carry on this kind of content in the form of long-winded text posts is...meh...not so much there anymore. At first I was thinking the issue was that working on these was my last priority on my daily to-do lists but as I’ve got back into writing fiction, it’s kind of occurred to me that the fact I was putting these posts on my to-do lists in the first place along with things like doing the ironing and contacting student finance speaks volumes. When I’m back from work or winding down, opening up Tumblr and coming back to this draft isn’t something that I think of as a fun stress reliever in the way drafting stories is. It doesn’t feel like I’m using my imagination or my creativity or expressing myself in any way and it’s not much of an escape from day to day life in the way that writing dialogue or exploring characters is. Maybe it’s because I’ve done quite a few of these posts now but I just tend to feel like I’m repeating myself, you know kinda like when you’re writing an essay and trying to fill up a word count; of course there are collections that I do have a lot of opinions on but by and large, sometimes it boils down to THESE CLOTHES ARE JUST FUCKING PRETTY, OKAY?! There’s only so many things you can say about a tulle skirt or an exaggerated collar before you want to strangle yourself with said tulle. I used to think iF VoGUe RuNwaY wRitErs CaN dO iT WhAT's MY exCusE until I realised that 1). Vogue Runway writers actually get paid and 2). for the most part all they do is explain the designer's intentions behind the collections verbatim without giving a critical opinion anyway.

I think a lot of the pressure I feel to justify what are in reality quite simple observations and opinions goes back to some of the feelings I explained in my first ever fashion week review where people who know more about fashion and have a formal education in the subject tend to be kind of gatekeep-y and elitist. It can never be that you appreciate different things about a collection but rather than one of you has taste and the other doesn’t and if it wasn’t obvious, the taste level assigned to you by the powers that be tend to positively correlate with the amount of money you have available to spend on a degree that has a reputation for failing to provide a steady income, which for most makes it an unrealistic avenue to pursue. I know, I know, the pressure is totally self-inflicted and wholly imagined seeing as I have under 500 followers on here and those who do interact with these posts most likely do so for the pictures but I still feel it, and given that I’m going to have enough external pressure to write essays when I return to uni in September, why on earth am I wasting time putting it on myself? When just posting photosets of my favourite looks is not only actually enjoyable for me but is also what other people WANT to see too? Nobody wants to read a self-indulgent paragraph like this when they’re here for the clothes and to be honest, for the most part I don’t want to write them anyway unless it’s something I have strong feelings about or if a collection can only be properly appreciated with analysis. I think I’ve made pretty clear which designers I’m a fan of, do you really need to hear me raving about Gucci or Zimmerman or Miu Miu or Balenciaga again? Is there gonna be anything revolutionary in yet another rant about Maria Grazia? Course not. I mean, if you are reading, you might have to witness those things one last time because I do intend to finish off this season’s review in this format for consistency purposes and because I’ve already got all the notes now but on the whole, I doubt anyone will miss my rambles.

So, with all that in mind, I think after I finish my S/S21 posts I am gonna start just uploading these posts without the written part. I mean, for one, the simplicity of doing this means I’m much less likely to procrastinate making them which in turn means I’ll be able to get them out right after the shows as a kind of summary as opposed to months later when they’re no longer as relevant. This will also give me more time to work on the writing I actually enjoy. Right now I’m going through and editing my 17 year old self’s “grown-up” take on the Pretty Little Liars blackmail murder mystery style plot line which I wrote back when I was completely and utterly obsessed with the show and bitterly disappointed by the last couple of seasons. The writing is pretty mediocre and often hugely cringey to read back now but I am still a fan of the basic plot and I’m genuinely motivated to see if I can make it something actually worth reading, and to get onto that ASAP; this feels especially important right now given that the HBO version of the series’ apparent upcoming release has sent that ever-present writer’s fear of seeing-your-same-storyline-done-better-by-somebody-else-thus-forever-relegating-your-version-to-being-the-poor-imitation-so-you-gotta-get-there-first into overdrive (or maybe that’s just me and my neuroses). Again, it’s a totally unfounded fear based on the fact that the HBO show will probs get millions of viewers whilst I will be doing little more than shouting into the void but anybody who’s used Turnitin to submit an essay that ultimately counts for little more than like 1% of your grade or degree will know that no matter how irrelevant your work is, the concept of failing a plagiarism check, be it via a computer algorithm or one random stranger on the internet’s assessment, is enough to conjure visions of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse galloping towards you screaming “START THE WHOLE THING AGAIN” before releasing a hoarde of 2015 Chanel vs. Walmart style comparison memes.

Now, speaking of Chanel, I should probably get back into the reviewing. 

So for the last time for a little while, here’s Christian Siriano:

Siriano’s designs are a great example of work I feel guilty enjoying. I know that when it comes to quality, the high fashion community have a lot of (negative) things to say and I really can’t speak to that because quite honestly, I know very little about textile manufacturing. Solely from my own point of view though, I do like his work a lot. I wouldn’t claim for a minute that he’s a pioneer in terms of his creations but I would 100% love to wear them and I DO hugely admire his commitment to putting women of all sizes on the runway and designing pieces that don’t simply cater to straight up and down types which is more than can be said for most brands. I get that his collections are pretty formulaic, taking what has worked for the likes of Chanel and Alessandra Rich, De La Renta and Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors too (who is kind of guilty of the same thing himself), but that’s not to say his work is bad. Let’s be real, we’ve been on this planet thousands of years, we’re all taking inspiration from someone, and maybe figures like Kors and Siriano could wait a *little* longer before taking said inspiration but their aim at the end of the day is to sell clothes, not break barriers, a task which although often left to the big name brands, they too often fail at. I’m not going to lie, I’m feeling this whimsical mid-century tea party vibe, it’s elegant and it’s cutesy and My Fair Lady-esque, and you bet your arse I would be absolutely thrilled to wear one of these looks on a summer red carpet. I just can’t say no to anything tulle-maybe it’s that I was on Toddlers & Tiaras in a past life or maybe it’s that I watched too many Barbie Princess films growing up, but I like pretty much everything going on here, especially Siriano is giving us matching fedoras too. Plus, can we take a moment to praise Siriano for his COVID relief efforts? Near the beginning of the pandemic, he turned his studio into a mask manufacturing factory in order to send them out as donations, and I think that is very cool.

Then there’s Christopher Kane who once again came through with the most insanely gorgeous prints:

I mean, paint splattering is hardly a new technique but I haven’t seen it done as a print so tastefully before-it eats the Moschino biro scribble print (which apparently was copied too speaking of the tendencies of designers to “borrow” inspiration) for breakfast. It’s shit because there weren’t many looks in this collection and they weren’t really shot in a way that does them any justice but I thought I’d include the few I saved.

Comme Des Garcons is a fave of the high fashion community and one I look forward to seeing at fashion week but can never quite get behind. I appreciate the what-the-fuckery of it all with this show totally being able to pass as a run-through of some kind of nuclear waste themed scare house at one of Thorpe Park’s fright nights. I assume given that and the plastic Mickey Mouse print it’s supposed to be some kind of reference to the part late-stage capitalism has played in the hellish landscape we find ourselves in today? Or something all intellectual? In which case I made my interpretation with farrrr too much confidence. But Anyway! Who knows! I’ll leave the analysis to the fashion students, and give it one word: trippy.

Onto Dion Lee, a brand I truly do get excited to talk about because it’s rare that I don’t LOVE his work.

Without fail, Lee manages to be confidently ahead of the curve without going out of his way to announce it and his genius to everyone with flamboyant shows and exaggerated designs and extortionate prices. He is very much an underdog in the fashion world in terms of big names but you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t love his collections. His S/S21 collection is one of my favourites of the bunch. I love seeing something I’ve never seen before and the palm leaf breast plate is so odd but so cool and so perfectly Dion Lee at the same time; we’ve seen jungle/tropical inspired collections sooo many times *cough cough D&G cough cough* and THIS is how you make them fresh and unique. I mean, never in a million years did I think I’d get behind the resurgence of the gladiator sandal trend but Lee has me changing my mind. This is one of the very rare times you will ever see me using this meme to praise a man but:

I mean, he has Fernanda Ly modelling for him, that the man has taste goes without saying.

Now for a bit of a full circle moment, given that I did actually praise Dior’s haute couture collection in my first ever post; Maria Grazia did GOOD. Well, with haute couture at least.

She’s always pretty hamfisted with her references, there’s no denying, with that Grecian Goddess style RTW collection typifying that statement completely, but luckily she struck gold this time round; as someone who studied the Tudors for A-level history, seeing a modern take on the exaggeratedly feminine renaissance silhouettes with the baroque prints and the deep jewell tones got me super excited especially when you throw in the dreamy tarot theming and the nods to the mystical and arcane. Seeing as the Heavenly Bodies Met Gala (I know, I know, I need to move on) was some time ago now and Cersei Lannister’s *SPOILER* been crushed by a rock (could also be seen as a metaphor for the irrelevancy David Benioff and D.B Wise condemned GoT to when they aired that shitty ending tehe) and so probably won’t be getting a collection based on her costumes any time soon, this is the only fashion take on this kind of period dress I’m going to get…and you know what? I’m okay with that. Thanks Maria, I guess?

Her RTW collection wasn’t absolutely awful either, and slightly better than the past few collections at least. Put a monkey in a room with a typewriter (or show it enough similar well-received collections) and it will eventually write something that makes sense, don’t they say? I like the nomadic feel of a lot of the looks and there’s beautiful layering going on but the aura of exotic opulence unsurprisingly didn’t stick around for long and I found that there was a decline in quality in the midsection of the show that landed a lot of the outfits in either awkward mother of the bride at a beach wedding or The Only Way is Essex Ocean Beach PLT sponsored poolside party territory. The looks picked back up a bit towards the end stretch of the show but I wasn’t a fan of the Gucci style oversized glasses which were so out of place with the rest of the theming that if anything they seemed like a cheap grab at relevancy. So yeah, a middling, subpar Etro-esque collection which is better than usual for Dior I suppose.

Next, Elie Saab, whose S/S21 collection was kinda disappointing, tbh. Oh how the turns have tabled given that positive Dior review and my usual love of Saab’s collections.

I know his dresses lose some of their appeal when we can’t see them in motion but even ON the runway I can’t see myself being dazzled by any of these pieces the way I usually am. They’re lacking the level of detail and craftsmanship I associate with the brand seemingly in favour of block colours and suits and the issue is that the whole Disney Princess fantasy has always been the appeal for me because the silhouettes aren’t interesting enough on their own. They’re not ugly pieces, they’re nice, but does nice really have a place in high fashion when the pieces are so basic in both their design and presentation that the shots could pass as ripped from a catalogue? The strongest parts of the collection were when it did go down the more delicate route with the muted blue suits and the white feather trimmed dresses, the small, ornamental gold details reminding me of a very toned down nod to Schiaparelli’s hardware, but with regards to the bright coloured pieces, I can’t lie-they did look like something you could find in the M&S Per Una holiday section. Then you’ve got the weakest parts, which were just flat out ugly: sheer giraffe print, sweat band style elasticated waits, and long chiffon shirts that I hate to admit read as frumpy. There are times where I’ve not been particularly excited by an Elie Saab collection in the past, but I do think this is the first time I’ve actively disliked parts of it.

Conversely, Erdem’s S/S21 collection was super strong, and solidified the brand’s place in my mind as a dependable source of kooky maximalism, this time round giving us  Anya Taylor Joy’s Emma wardrobe on speed. You could tell me Erdem Moralıoğlu had just raided the Bridgerton set’s fitting rooms and put it on a runway and I would 100% believe you and I mean that in a positive way because to give my unpopular opinion, the clothes were the only good thing about that show. The endearingly florid details of exaggerated bows and clashing florals were still there but this time in a way that felt more subtle and self-assured, as if the calming influence of the wooded set’d had a direct hand in the designs, giving the rugged, ethereal feel to the collection I associate with brands like Brock and Simone Rocha, all whilst keeping the parts of Erdem I’m so fond of.

Is it really much of a shock that I included pretty much every look from the Etro S/S21 show?  Like, you know that Christian idea of God, like, (the voice in my head is very much taking on the dumb valley girl voice that anybody who reads this is most probably getting too) knowing our souls? I think Veronica Etro knows mine. So no, no surprise. Though there were a few unconventional touches thrown into these looks (the campier prints and nautical theming we see with the 80s beach towel print, for example, reminded me a bit of Versace) the mystical bohemian it girl that Etro designs for would still be highly satisfied. Sure, it might be a wardrobe fit for a holiday less adventurous than backpacking but if she wanted a tropical poolside holiday, this collection is the one, the paisley print chiffon mini and maxi dresses especially. I’m just gonna pretend I don’t see the monstrosity that is leggings worn as trousers-it’s a fashion rule I refuse to abandon-because they are the only stain on an otherwise expectedly gorgeous collection.

Next, an unusually reserved RTW collection from Fendi:

More in line with the wardrobe of a European fashion editor than the glamorous trophy wife (who let’s say uses that facade as a guise to ruthlessly run her husband’s whole business empire from behind the scenes because in this house we do complex female characters only), these pieces are lot “smarter” and more professional looking than Fendi’s typical offerings; where I feel Fendi usually designs for the society girl who wouldn’t mind a front page scandal, these are the kind of outfits a young member of Monaco’s royal family would wear for a positively received but business-as-usual press tour. I know, Fendi is an Italian brand, but this is more Southern France to me. We’re talking some 2nd page shots of a Kate Middleton type on a yacht on the Riviera smiling and waving as her PR team’s ideal scenario. Still, whilst fewer exaggerated silhouettes, animal prints and overtly luxurious fabrics (real leathers, silks and furs for example) mean that the drama’s a little toned down, it’s all still very expensive looking and combines the classically feminine glamour of the past and the minimalism of modernity in the artful manner that we’re used to. Maybe it’s me being a basic bitch but I always love seeing Ashley Graham on the runway too, even if brands to tend to use her as their single token plus size model.

Kim Jones’ debut haute couture collection for Fendi, however, wasn’t a very well received one. I don’t hate it personally but I can see where the criticisms are coming from. Whilst it’s closer to the version of Fendi I’ve come to expect and there were some stunning pieces which completely encapsulated that distinctive aura of luxe and glamour, there were quite a few lazy pieces which could’ve been from any designer. I also felt the collection was a bit upstaged by what seemed to be a who’s who of the modelling world; having Bella, Cara, Kate and Naomi ALL walk in one show was a bit distracting and took the focus off the clothes completely.

Giambattista Valli’s RTW collection was gorgeous as ever; the man has undeniably mastered the art of delivering classic, objective elegance, the kind of designs I feel would make you light on your feet and smell like strawberries and cream the minute you put one on. Whilst as a brand his RTW shows are rarely trendsetting, they reliably produce a plethora of unfailingly graceful and demure pieces, as appealing to your mum and your grandma as they are to young women and little girls, and this collection is another victory lap for Valli when it comes to upholding his signature tea party and artisan cupcake making and rose garden strolling and bottomless rosé brunch appropriate aesthetic. There were a lot of outfits that were bordering on overly juvenile, with structures a little too basic to justify the amount of sequins thrown on, but when it’s good, it’s so sweet that regardless of how to formula it is, I can’t help but fall in love.

Valli’s haute couture collection was stunning too and for sure a more exciting offering than the RTW. There was of course a lot of the signature tulle but it was head-turning, over the top in a way that leant far more towards the experimental than I expected. The photos themselves are 100% believable as a some kind of Vogue behind the scenes editorial shoot on the set of live action Disney princess movie (in between takes of the climactic ball scene if you wanna get specific with the vision); if you are looking for a prettier alternative to the primary colours and disruptive shapes of a Molly Goddard collection, this is the one. It’s giving the themes of excess and abundance I associate with that of the Hunger Games Capitol but through the softer lens of a Sofia Coppola movie, and being the typical cinema loving white girl I am, I’m obviously on board with that vibe.

I did SUCH a 180 on Givency’s S/S21 collection from when I first saw it to writing a review. My initial reaction was one of disappointment, I guess simply because Givenchy has given us so many bold pieces and presentations over the last few years whereas this is more low-key. After properly considering it though as I would any other brand, I came to the conclusion that I do actually really like it. It’s still got the strange, androgynous silhouettes popping up throughout and the futuristic space-age details but with a more down-to-earth, streetwear feel, albeit a very slick, glossy spin on the trends of the rabble (that’s us guys) of course before we go believing it’s achievable. On the one hand, the devil horn accents are a touch Claire’s accessories halloween range but at the same time, done with confidence they’re kind of cool and bring something new and fun to the table in line with the dark theatre of Givenchy’s last few shows.

Now for Gucci, which for the first time I have to say, if I'm attempting objectivity, is not a standout. 

Like, can I just start by saying though the format it’s presented in is cute, it’s not ideal as a way of actually showing the collection. I get that the vintage shop bin vibe is a huge part of Gucci’s brand but polaroids make it SO hard to actually see the clothes, and that’s what we’re here for right? I don’t want to give the impression that I don’t like what I see here-the clothes are gorgeous, an idyllic ode to the off-duty wardrobes of Studio 54-ers, bohemian style icons like Charlotte Rampling and young Olivia Newton-John, psychedelic rock guitarists and the inhabitants of San Fransisco’s Haight during the late 60s and early 70s, Alessandro Michele’s favourite period of reference. I can’t pretend otherwise, or act like I wouldn’t want to wear the shit out of this collection. Buut, for Gucci? It’s a little underwhelming. These are the kind of filler looks we get in a typical Gucci show to go alongside the more statement pieces, which this collection is lacking. It’s just that these are designs which usually gets people talking and these pieces don’t do that. It sucks because for most other brands this would be a stand out collection, an immersive, luscious vignette of what people tend to think of as a cultural golden era, but when you’ve had a show that involved models carrying replicas of their own decapitated heads down the runway in the last 5 years, of course something more toned down like this is gonna generate a lot of “is that it?”s.

I owe Hermes an apology. Looking back, I have disliked all their previous collections for the same reason that I now really like this one; maybe it’s in part down to the frustration of still having to whack out the winter coat on occasion in May (fuck British weather and climate change), but suddenly I really appreciate the value of some good quality, versatile outerwear. Hermes is giving us that in spades here and for that, I bow down to them. The pieces on offer are clearly well-made and genuinely practical, and through the minimalist approach manage to retain both an air of timeless sophistication whilst also being youthful and on trend. The leather tactical vest co-ord I can easily see edged up and taking centre stage on one of those insane Seoul street style slow-mo TikToks that were big a couple of months ago and there are several pieces that could tie together a grunge influenced k-style look just as well as they could exist for years on end as the wardrobe staple of a high-powered businesswoman. Designer Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski’s strengths really come through with the simpler looks and it’s the patterned pieces that drag down an otherwise flawless collection; I guess because the aesthetic is very minimalist, the patterns can’t be anything overly decorative but unfortunately this has a bit of a dowdy effect when you pair it with such modest silhouettes. Disregarding those elements of the collection though, it was super good.

It goes without saying that Iris Van Herpen’s haute couture collection was breathtaking; if the fashion community can agree on anything, it’s that this woman’s work is consistently awe-inspiring. She captures the wonder of the universe, the biological structures and kaleidoscopic colours we don’t even register, through fashion in a way that others can only imitate, to mesmerising, truly transcendent effect; I can only assume Van Herpen has mother nature whispering into her ear because how the hell else do you explain her ability to take the kind of microscopic organisms they show you images of in an outdated GCSE science powerpoint and make a dress that resembles one so stunning? Care to explain, Iris? Because if there is some kind of line of communication between the two of you can you please tell the bitch I’m over this weather and that I have cute summer outfits I’m waiting to wear so can she pack this torrential rain shit in? K, thanks xoxo

See it seems shady as fuck to go from IVH to Isabel Marant like this because we are talking 2 designers with totallyyyy different approaches to fashion; Iris Van Herpen is haute couture for starters whereas Marant is commercial, and that’s her thing, but unfair comparisons aside this collection is still a bit of a let down. This is considering I do usually really like Isabel Marant collections based on whether or not I’d wear the pieces, which seems a more appropriate barometer to use to come to a quality verdict. Whilst there were a few of the elegant bohemian pieces my mind goes to when it comes to her brand, the steps outside of that comfort zone didn’t pay off; graffiti print (can be cool if done with some subtlety which apart from a few exceptions was not the case here), cheap looking reflective fabric, and MC Hammer style dungarees, it seems to be an attempt to merge 80s trends with modern urban culture, and an attempt that at times verged on the disastrous. It’s good for a brand to experiment, of course, and appeal to a wider client base than usual, but when it’s bad the unfortunate take away is that the design team don’t have the chops to pull off straying from familiar territory; designers wouldn’t be showing at fashion week if this was truly the case because disregarding the influence of nepotism, fashion is an area you need real talent, perseverance and business smarts to excel in, and so it doesn’t do a team justice when they do fail.

J.W Anderson, on the other hand, really put his best foot forward this season and presented this work in a really cool way too which only added to the positives; whilst the way the shots were edited was funky af, it didn’t detract from the actual outfits, and if we are to see the same limitations when it comes to the F/W collections being released, this is something a lot of designers and editing teams should take note of. The idiosyncratic exaggerated shapes that we see as a recurring feature of Anderon’s collections were still on show but this time round with added femininity, billowing skirts and trailing jewellery that channel the stage looks of Stevie Nicks in a way that’s modern and functional and maybe even fit for the office if you were to work in a more creative industry with a chill boss. Could also work for a coven of witches who practice meditation by bonfires in the moonlight and burn the letters of men who wronged them in some Arizonian desert, so like I said, functional! Who doesn’t like versatility? The only thing I’m not too keen on is the shoes but they’re not so bad that it affects my opinion of the collection and they look comfy I guess.

Lastly, we’ve got to talk about Jacquemus, one of the most influential names in fashion at the moment. And yes, this time round, I’m doing it: I’m buying into the hype.

This collection is gorgeousss! I can see already that a lot of the recurring elements of the show are going to be big summer trends for this year (the cut outs and strappy details on the blouses are everywhere already) even though it isn’t hot enough to have collectively decided the time to start dressing for heat is upon us yet, and that’s always a good indicator of how successful the designer was in their vision and attempts to assess the needs and wants of fashion enthusiasts; whether I’m as big a fan of his work as everyone else seems to be, there’s no denying Simon Porte Jacquemus has always excelled at this practice if the buzz around him is anything to go by. It makes sense given the last year of us all being stuck in and suppressed that a lot of us are already romanticising the summer ahead, anticipating picnics and beach days and general Theresa May running through wheat fields type shenanigans galore, in spite of how dubious an assumption it is to make that British weather will allow for this; Porte Jacquemus has very much catered to this wishful thinking and the popularity of the whole escapist “cottage core” aesthetic, sexing it up a little bit with pieces that hug the body in ways only Mugler knows how whilst being lightweight and relaxed enough to look good with windswept, sandy hair and a little dose of sunburn. I’m talking enough to give you some cutesy freckles and rosy cheeks not PSA on the importance of suncream territory, guys, what is it with those of us on the gen Z/millennial cusp not taking sun damage seriously!? Why do I have to beg so many of my friends to wear it!? Does nobody else remember those photos they’d show you in PSHE in English primary schools of burnt people’s skin under UV lights? Or is that just me being weird and only having such a vivid memory of the images because teachers told us we had to wait until year 6 to see them due they to their “graphic” nature only for my gore-loving self to be extremely underwhelmed when we finally did get that lesson? They showed us a woman giving birth in year 4 for fuck’s sake. THAT was traumatising.

Back to the actual point anyway, with just a couple of negatives, the first of which being that the pieces are very similar to those feminine looks we saw dotted about the Jacquemus menswear collection from last year that were all over fashion Twitter. In Simon Porte Jacquemus’ defence though, it makes sense that those tones and silhouettes would be revisited in a full womenswear collection for that very reason; considering they went down so well and that lockdown gave us a bit of a half-baked summer in 2020, expanding on those elements enough for a whole new collection makes good business sense. We did get some cool additions too, mainly in the form of accessories, with the hardware details on the belts similar to those included in the Givenchy collection and the abstract hair slides being standouts for me. It was all exquisite-the shoes, the jewellery, the styling, everything 10/10. My other nitpick, and I say nitpick not because it’s not important but because it’s an issue that’s hardly restricted to Jacquemus (this casting team are far from the worst offenders, Saint Laurent I’m looking at you), is that I WISH we’d see more diversity with the models. Despite what my body dysmorphia yells at me, I am small, and yet seeing all those fucking minuscule waists made me die a little inside; it’s crazy to me that in 2020 the lack of variety in body types on the runway is still such a problem.

I must have said this a million times but I don’t want to end on a negative note so let me reiterate: this collection was STUN. NING. Plus there were some others I’ve talked about in this post that I’m sure will make it into my top 20 in the final part, Jacquemus, Dion Lee and Etro for sure; we even got some gorgeous pieces from Maria Grazia which I thought was a sentence I’d never type out. Have I said enough to not leave a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who read to the end of this post? I hope so, lol! TBH, it’s impressive given everything that’s going on that the majority of designers did roll out collections in September as usual so serious respect to them and their design teams for that.

In the next post, I’ll fingers crossed be able to include everything from Kim Shui (exciting!) through to at least Off-White (actually pretty good this time?!) and make this whole thing a 4 parter before getting straight on top of the photo posts I’m thinking about doing for the time being for the F/W21 shows. So as usual, if you did read to the end thank you so much and I respect the perseverance you must have to get through all my rambling, lmao. Hope everyone is well and coping okay and again, my inbox is always open for any post suggestions, constructive criticism, or just a chat for anyone who needs a listening ear.

Big love and thank you again!

Lauren x

#fashion #fashion post #trends #fashion trends #summer #summer fashion #ss21 #designer #high fashion #accessories #haute couture #couture #fashion week #personal style #review #nyfw #style #style inspo #runway #details #super models #supermodel #dion lee #fendi #gucci #erdem #jacquemus #simon porte jacquemus #uxury #luxury fashion

[brotheralyosha]

In Odd Arne Westad’s magisterial volume The Global Cold War, the Yale historian reaches one conclusion that has received insufficient attention. Westad (who is Norwegian) asserts that “globalization” is the wrong word for the rapid expansion of a specific type of capitalist order in the late twentieth century. A better word, he says, is “Americanization.” In the early twentieth century, an aggressive and militaristic Western European settler colony was ascendant, and it became the world’s predominant power in 1945. With the accidental suicide of Soviet communism, the system that the United States had been imposing on its lessers in this or that territory became globalized—even if you might operate according to different rules domestically. From 1990 on—and now this is my contention, not Westad’s—Americanization was so profound that it became hard to even notice it. Invisible, that is, until it begins to fall apart, or is contested.

Everybody understands that the military, as well as economic pressure and covert operations, are central pillars of American hegemony. It’s also fairly well understood that Hollywood is an important vehicle for projecting American “soft power.” But in the last ten to fifteen years, the internet has done far more to make the world think like Americans than Marvel movies.

At one level, this is because of the way the online experience is structured: the built environment of the internet, if you will. It used to be there were millions of different internet pages. But the logic of capital accumulation, within the U.S. regulatory and cultural contexts, has whittled them down to two basic models. Type one relies on you to supply content, then manipulates your subconscious desires, keeping you scrolling through other user-generated content, for as long as possible—all in the service of selling your attention to advertisers. It is by now quite obvious how the monstrously wealthy companies behind this trick have warped and reshaped how the world is represented, and the way we see each other.

The other major type of website requires you pay a subscription to watch some kind of television show. With a curated streaming service like Netflix (responsible for over 10 percent of global internet traffic during the pandemic), subsidiaries in India or Nigeria have local teams in place. But they were still hired by an American company, to maximize its profit. In order for streaming services to be profoundly American, you don’t need Americans running day-to-day operations on the ground throughout the world, just like the British Empire didn’t rely on persons with white English identities to do the same. Dynamics of dominance and cultural diffusion also happened through the selection of local vassals.

Of course, there are also “online marketplaces” where you can purchase goods. But you don’t spend any time there; you just lose money. And since I am a journalist, I should probably acknowledge that there are still media web pages, where you can read a newspaper or magazine. But in truth, for a majority of people, those are just sites where you click away four to five pop-ups before giving up and returning to scrolling through the news on social media. Mainstream media sites these days get all their money from guilty liberals.

Then there is the content. Both major types of websites started out overwhelmingly populated by American users, and this shaped their cultures. American voices remain primary on most social media platforms, speaking through the biggest YouTube and Instagram accounts. In Indonesia, social media influencers make sure to use English, even if their audience is entirely local. As importantly, whether in Chile or the Philippines, conversations tend to be governed by American concepts and discursive practices. Even if the conversation is about Brazilian politics, a huge amount of internet-cultural capital is associated with fluency in American terminology and meme language. The South American far right has obviously been influenced by right-wing U.S. YouTube culture. There are  German Q Anon accounts.

People from countries without our history of overt racial hierarchy get into labyrinthine conversations based on U.S. designations. Are Palestinians white? Are Filipinos the “Mexicans of Asia”? But the United States is not normal. We have a very particular history—beginning with the genocide of Native Americans, followed by a reliance on slave labor for development, and then de facto apartheid at least until the 1960s—which shapes our concepts for things like race and politics. There are many reasons you would not want the whole planet to normalize our cultural superstructure.

This summer’s worldwide Black Lives Matter protests illuminated the degree to which American culture is now universal. In an essay that I don’t agree with in its entirety, Alex Hochuli pointed out something remarkable about BLM marches in places like Finland and Serbia. Some people, it seems, weren’t marching in solidarity with the people of the richest nation on earth. They were marching as if they were themselves Americans. But this makes a lot of sense, because (with some major exceptions), when you are on the internet, you are basically in the United States.

#not sure I agree with that last sentence #I'd want to hear more about this from people who were actually involved with blm marches outside the us #still excellent and very much worth reading #vincent bevins #the baffler #tech #internet #imperialism #us foreign policy #long post