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petite-madame · 4 months

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Hey queen! Love your art and have been a fan for a while now.

Just a question out of curiosity: do you do art pieces/“fanarts” for fanfictions? Like, not under commissions because I see you don’t have them open atm, but for bangs or other things. And beside bangs etc, under what circumstances do you draw for fics? I’m just curious because I’ve fallen in love with your art in the life of Bucky Barnes, but I’m not really informed on whether you write your fics and draw for them too or not, or if people base their fics on your art and you just partner up with them.

Your art is kind of like my jam at the moment and I’m looking for as many stories with your art as possible.

Thanks if you’ll answer!

Hi anon ^^

Thank you so much for enjoying my art and for taking the time to contact me, it's very kind of you. 💗

Do you do art pieces/“fanarts” for fanfictions?

Oh yes, I did, tons of them! I used to collaborate A LOT between 2009 and 2015 but then :

I started The Life of Bucky Barnes in 2014, so less time for bangs, as The LoBB was extremely time-consuming

I had big health problem between 2014-2019 so less energy to do bangs (I was afraid to let authors down and not being ready for the deadline so I stopped signing up)

Everything was happening on Live Journal, I found it easy and convenient but when things started to move to Tumblr and that the sign ups + "fic grabbing" system changed (like Google drive forms and whatnot), my old ass dropped bangs entirely. My age is showing. 🤓

Anyway! If you are interested in all the collaborations I did, you'll find everything you need in THIS POST (fics + illustrations). You'll also find a download link to a big PDF with all the illustrations I did for fics from 2010 to 2017 (well, not all of them to be honest because I used to have a NSFW Live Journal account that I also used for bangs but I closed it eventually, same for my NSFW Tumblr account after the great debacle of 2017)

It's a bit different but I can also link you to THIS POST that gathers all the fics inspired by my art (I'm so grateful, you have no idea 🥳)

Under what circumstances do you draw for fics?

Two circonstances:

I sign up for a bang (because I love the ship or the theme of the bang), I see a summary that I like, I grab it and then I illustrate the fic. It can also be the other way around when it's for Reverse Bang for instance: I draw an artwork and an author grabs my art.

I collaborate with friends, fic authors that I met after years in the same fandom even if I must admit I haven't done it in ages.

I hope I answered your questions! Thanks again and have a great week🥰

#pmasks

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someonelookingpraediti · 1 year

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Subscription Box Comparison - 2023

This year, for my annual book box comparison (it’s happened two years in a row, that makes it annual) I’m comparing five subscription boxes: FairyLoot, OwlCrate, Illumicrate, Rainbow Crate, and A Year of Sanderson. I also received two book-only shipments, and a bonus box to share with you, which isn’t a book subscription: Witch Casket!

Let’s start with some of the boxes I didn’t include this year. One of the companies I featured last year (Book Box Club) has gone out of business - this is something I predicted, because they weren’t any good. Other boxes I’m not including: The Bookish Box - I think this box looks really good, and I’d love to try it, but they don’t ship to the UK. I could use a third party courier, but it would be very expensive. Fox & Wit - this only comes with one item, so I’m not that invested in trying it, I prefer full boxes. And their website is really quite terribly designed - it’s difficult to navigate, and there never seems to be anything available on their UK site. LitJoy - I’ve tried the occasional one-off purchase from LitJoy, and I can’t deny their quality is amazing. But they persist in clinging to their infatuation to H*rryP*tt*r, which makes me very uncomfortable. They say that they support trans rights, and don’t condone the author’s actions, but their worship of the series says otherwise. In this case, actions really do speak louder than words. But even if they sorted that out - their products are just too expensive. Yes, they’re good quality, but they are incredibly overpriced. FaeCrate - I will never, never order from FaeCrate again. I ordered one box - it was over three months late to arrive, which is apparently very common, and their customer service was not just bad, but they were genuinely rude. When the box finally did arrive, it was just absolute tat, and the entire lot went in the bin. Even the book was uncustomised. And on top of that, there was an item that they’d not included, and a note saying that this item would be sent on to me later. I never heard from them again.

Keep scrolling for my comparison! I've updated my scorecard for this year, which I'm using to rate the books out of 20. Click the Box Name to see a full unboxing for each.

FairyLoot Theme: Eternal Featured Book: Seven Faceless Saints - M.K. Lobb Price (before shipping): £27.50 / $35.90 Total number of items: 4 Items I actually liked: 3 Book Customisation Rating: 12/20 Overall: This is usually one of my favourite boxes - but this month's was quite disappointing. FairyLoot is normally really good, but I have seen a drop in quality recently.

OwlCrate Theme: Let's Rewrite History Featured Book: Midnight Strikes - Zeba Shahnaz Price (before shipping): £29.08 / $35.99 Total number of items: 4 Items I actually liked: 3 Book Customisation Rating: 08/20 Overall: This box has improved massively since my last comparison, last year I was considering dropping this box, but now they're consistently good!

Illumicrate Theme: Live Like Legends Featured Book: Lies We Sing to the Sea - Sarah Underwood Price (before shipping): £27.00 / $35.00 Total number of items: 4 Items I actually liked: 3 Book Customisation Rating: 13/20 Overall: I switched to book-only for half the year, but I went back to the full box as their item quality improved. They're still hit and miss, but vastly improved on last year.

Rainbow Crate Theme: Protect Your Own Featured Books: Ravensong - Cayla Fay and I am Not Your Chosen One - Evelyn Benvie Price (before shipping): £37.95 / $46.97 Total number of items: 2 Items I actually liked: 0 Book #1 Rating: 01/20 Book #2 Rating: 10/20 Overall: This is the first time I'm trying this box, and it'll be the last. Although you get two books, only one is properly customised. And there are only two items, neither of which were much good.

A Year of Sanderson Theme: Cytoverse Featured Book: none Price (before shipping): £32.32 / $40.00 Total number of items: 3 Items I actually liked: 1 Book Customisation Rating: N/A Overall: This one-off Yearly subscription was a complete rip off, and it's made me lose faith in one of my favourite authors. This box comes with either a book or box, and the quality is vastly lacking. It's hugely overpriced, and I've been nothing but disappointed.

This year there are also two upcoming subscriptions that I’m eager to try. There’s a sucker born every minute and, apparently, that sucker is me. One is the new OwlCrate Adult subscription that they’re currently working on. The shipping to the UK makes OwlCrate expensive for me, but I'll definitely try getting both boxes for a while, if I can afford it. The appeal of this is that it's a full box, unlike the FairyLoot Adult subscription, which is book-only. The other is the new Illumicrate Horror subscription. I’m keen to try something other than a Fantasy book subscription, and usually the only options are Romance or Spice, neither of which I’m interested in. This is book only, which is disappointing, but it’s a quarterly subscription, which is more manageable!

The two book-only options I received this month are FairyLoot Adult, and a three-month delayed Sanderson book from January.

FairyLoot Adult Theme: Rotten Opulence Featured Book: The Foxglove King - Hannah Whitten Price (before shipping): £20.00 / $28.00 Book Customisation Rating: 13/20 Overall: I've started skipping months for this subscription, and will probably end up dropping it soon. The books are nice, but they come faster than I can read them, and it doesn't seem as good value without the items, even though it's cheaper.

A Year of Sanderson Theme: Secret Project #1 Featured Book: Tress of the Emerald Sea - Brandon Sanderson Price (before shipping): £32.32 / $40.00 Book Customisation Rating: 03/20 Overall: I've made my thoughts quite clear on the overpricing of this subscription. For this month, we only received a book with no items. It was advertised as a "premium" hardback, which it absolutely is not. It's nice, but not worth the amount they've charged.

The last box I'm going to share isn't a book subscription at all! But honestly, it's so thoughtfully put together, and such good value for money, that I had to include it in this comparison post!

The box is "Witch Casket", and as the title suggests, it's a witch-themed subscription box. I've tried boxes with similar themes before, and always been disappointed, but this one blew me away so much that I've decided to make it a regular subscription!

It had an incredible twelve items, all of them exclusives, rather than the wholesale purchase stuff I've received in previous witchy boxes. You often get spell ingredients, candles, crystals, enamel pins, tea blends, incense. Such brilliant value for money - if this also included a book, it would be a perfect box!

#yearly comparison #unboxing #owlcrate #fairyloot #illumicrate #a year of sanderson #rainbow crate #witch casket #book subscription box

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kaus-quietis · 2 years

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Bungou Stray Dogs Volume 22 cover analysis - Even More edition!

Merciless spoilers ahead. Of a sacrifice that has already been made. Of the enigmatical Book and its related colours. Of possible implied power dynamics with future consequences in the manga.

Several analysis posts have already been made, all of which are beautiful and valuable, thus I will not repeat the main ideas covered by other BSD fans. Instead, I will focus on what caught my eye and will tag & reference other posts related to the general “BSD vol. 22 cover analysis” discussion, when connected to my observations. If you want your tag removed or edited, feel free to inform me via reblog tags, replies or ask box.

Without further ado, welcome to the Bungou Stray Dogs All-Smiles Problem-Solving Roooooundtable*! *Note: Problem-solving efficiency may vary.

Let’s start with adding our beautiful image of reference first:

The walls of analysis text are under the Keep reading cut. Enjoy!

1) The red flowers and the ram skull. A sacrifice already made

Like @thecoffeelovingfreak here, I don’t believe the flowers are red camellias (I cannot identify their particular inner yellow stamens, but it could be just the artstyle’s fault). I think they are something else, either carnations, like they suggested, or a specific type of roses (Rosa William Lobb), or perhaps Pelargonium Lord Bute (symbolizing ardour), I would say. I hesitate in any case. Since I am not 100% sure what they are, I suggest we focus on what is certain: the flowers are red, which is a very common yet elegant representation of blood being spilt. For me, these flowers together with the ram skull (it is definitely a ram skull, not a bull skull, the horns tell them apart) put forth a certain idea more than other meanings carried by the ram skull symbol especially: the idea of sacrifice.

Not to mix manga fiction with actual Biblical research too much, but I want to (briefly) share why to me that part of the cover is undoubtedly suggesting the idea of sacrifice above anything else. First of all, the ram is a sacrificial animal par excellence. There is a much larger Judeo-Christian context to this – I will refer strictly to the ram, not the lamb, which is another symbol with a different discourse entirely. In the Hebrew Bible (it is described in multiple places, first instance being Exodus 25-31), God instructed prophet Moses on the construction of the tabernacle and on conducting its holy rituals (the tabernacle refers to the dwelling place of God on Earth, in Latin it was translated as tabernaculum, “tent”); these instructions were very, very specific, and the sacrifice of rams, among other animals, plays an important role in the rituals (see Exodus 29 as a starter). Now, the offerings and sacrifices were in the end given at the altar, which is the sacred place of communication between God and man, the official meeting place so to say (this stayed basically the same in Christian conception). Consider the altar as standing directly in front of God’s eyes, an idea expressed plainly through the composition of the volume’s cover (Eye of God above the ram skull).

Then, red flowers “flowing” around the ram skull can very well suggest spilt blood (so, blood that has been spilled already), therefore the flowers make the sacrifice theme more evident. Moreover, to the right, the ram skull is broken, but not because of natural decay: it appears the skull has been violently smashed with an axe with something that left a big hole in its snout (snout? is that how you refer to that anatomical part of…sheep…? English is not my native language). This is independent from the Biblical exposition from before: the ram skull could depict both 1) the violent action that caused the ram’s death, and 2) the spilt blood (which is not fresh blood anymore, if we take a step further and consider the flowers withered, as they are a pale dark red of sorts). In the end, at least for me, this imagery tells me a sacrifice has been already made, and @bergamotex’s reply on @stories-from-saint-petersburg’s post here makes me think Chuuya, the former King of Sheep, is the sacrificed one indeed. Even more, @lastlenore‘s post here used the very fitting term “infected” for the ram skull we could further describe as “corrupted” by the red flowers. If that is so, and it all alludes to vampire-infected Chuuya as Fyodor’s current new pawn, then it would be valuable to re-evaluate how we associate the red flower side with Dazai and the smashed skull side with Fyodor: perhaps, instead of hinting to their respective future condition, the sides together refer to Chuuya’s condition fully.

2) Fyodor’s mysterious card: colours of the Book and its creative powers

Unlike Dazai’s card, which clearly represents Atsushi, albeit curiously from behind (!), Fyodor’s card is very ambiguous for a handful of reasons. Firstly, since its depicted content is very abstract, we can only speculate it to be representing a person, an ocean, water, anything really, and any guess could work. Secondly, I myself am unsure if what we see is the inside of the card or its backside. Despite all the mystery surrounding it, one thing is fascinating for certain: the main colours of the card. Whatever is represented on it, its main colours are pale shades of purple and a distinct type of turquoise. These shades of purple are predominant in the overall volume 22 cover, especially on Sigma’s and Nikolai’s hair and clothes. But the specific turquoise of Fyodor’s card is present in the form of glowing droplets or reflections, as if it is made of liquid metal. This would imply creative powers in Fyodor’s hand, because it goes hand in hand with the general metaphor of metal-forging / metallurgy as an art, an action and a power specific to a “creator”, creating both animate and inanimate beings in mythological or religious settings. Not to speculate too much on this, below I will add images emphasizing the shades of turquoise present in Sigma’s eyes and hair, Nikolai’s eyes and hair, both of their clothes, and floating as droplets over Fyodor and Dazai (only Fyodor shown below). I believe all these shades have the same type of turquoise as their base colour.

As to what this could mean, I can only dream that it is related to the Book, thus deepening the link between Fyodor and the Book, or, if not the entire Book, then at least the individual page from the Book. Indeed the page that (we so far know) was used to create Sigma and the circumstances in which he lived in the Sky Casino, all of which (many speculate, me included) could have been written, in other words created, by Fyodor himself.

3) Additional remarks on the grid lines. Even more questions as a bonus

One last thing for this post: the grid reminds me of a radar, more than other things. I have no argument to expand on this, it’s just a hunch based on visual similarity between the respective grid lines. The Gogol game’s location is a well-kept secret, and Nikolai is positioned as if he is the master of said “radar space” aka a certain space he has a total map of. I have to mention @elf-osamu’s observation from here, it is excellent: as they wrote, the space itself is contained in a mirror frame, elegantly decorated with golden (Japanese oak?) leaves that are already a symbol attributed to Sigma in the manga so far. In that case, who will be more powerful in this game: 1) Nikolai surveilling the space (like an omnipotent god, hiding everything under his overcoat and even symbolically sanctifying Fyodor by putting a “saint” veil on his head, as discussed here), or 2) Sigma “embracing” all its contents? Regarding the latter, @stories-from-saint-petersburg also noted here how the golden leaves, Sigma’s plant in other words, even extend into the inner space, towards the Eye of God and the ram skull, and yes that could indeed hint towards Sigma’s possible profound influence in things of key-importance (such as the sacrifice itself, by extension Chuuya himself, in this post’s case, if that turns out to be correct). Or, on the other hand, should we take the Eye of God “literally” and immediately think of the superpowerful “Eyes of God” software Fitzgerald now owns, as @bsd-el discussed here? In that case, Fitzgerald could once again turn the tables around, his Eyes of God previously leading to Fyodor’s arrest. Oh, but would Fyodor fall for the same trick twice?

Conclusion: I love Bungou Stray Dogs.

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tcm · 3 years

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Dean Stockwell, Reluctant Child Star By Raquel Stecher

Born in Hollywood to a show business family, it seemed like Dean Stockwell was destined to become a movie star, but Stockwell stumbled into the industry simply by chance. In 1942, his mother Elizabeth “Betty” Stockwell, a vaudeville performer, and his father Harry, a stage singer best known for being the voice of the Prince in SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (’37), heard of a casting call for children. Dean and his older brother Guy auditioned for roles in a stage performance of The Innocent Voyage. Though only landing a small part with just two lines, it was all that was needed to catch the eye of an MGM talent scout. Before he knew it, the nine-year-old Stockwell had a seven-year contract with the studio. He was exactly what they were looking for. With his mop of curly hair and prominent pout, he gave off just the right combination of innocence and petulance that would make him a perfect fit to play orphans and spoiled rich kids in a variety of MGM productions.

Dean Stockwell was off to a roaring start with plum roles in big productions like ANCHOR’S AWEIGH (’45), THE GREEN YEARS (’46), GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT (’47) and SONG OF THE THIN MAN (’47). He held his own with big stars like Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Greer Garson, Robert Ryan and Lionel Barrymore and other child stars Peggy Ann Garner, Darryl Hickman and Margaret O’Brien.

He was an incredible asset to MGM. Stockwell could be counted on to cry in front of the camera, sometimes coaxed by a director who encouraged him to imagine a dying pet. Even with that, Stockwell developed a reputation as an intelligent and sensitive young boy who needed little rehearsal and minimal direction. They called him “One-Take Stockwell.” In interviews years later, he recalled “I had photographic memory when I was a kid. I still can memorize lines very easily.” Stockwell was a natural and the parts just kept coming. When he wasn’t working for MGM on films, his home studio would loan him out to RKO, 20th Century-Fox and Universal.

But Being a child actor took a toll on Stockwell. The studio system could be cruel to child stars and Stockwell often bore the brunt of it. In an interview Stockwell said, “[as a] child star… I didn't have much privacy and I was working all the time. I couldn't be where I wanted to be; I couldn't play; so I needed to find anonymity, to just disappear.” He often worked 10-hour days six days a week, which included 3 hours of learning in the Little Red Schoolhouse on the MGM lot. He had to keep going for two reasons: 1.) his ironclad contract with MGM and 2.) a family to support, now that Betty was raising Dean and his brother as a single mom. Stockwell desperately wanted to be an average kid. He loved playing sports, dreamed of going to public school and loved spending time with his dogs, Thug and Thief. On the set of STARS IN MY CROWN (’50), he even declared to producer William Wright “I wish you’d fire me, so I wouldn’t have to work!”

During his seven-year contract with MGM, he made nearly 20 films for his home studio and others while on loan out. For the most part, Stockwell was miserable working as a child actor but there were two productions that he particularly loved. One was the anti-war drama THE BOY WITH THE GREEN HAIR (‘48) produced by RKO. In it, he plays a war orphan whose hair suddenly turns green, making him stand out from the locals. Stockwell identified with his character’s desire to fit in and the film’s pacifist message. When Howard Hughes tried to get him to deliver a pro-war statement, Stockwell stood up to the studio tycoon and refused. A few years later, he starred alongside Errol Flynn in KIM (’51), an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s classic story. Flynn became a father figure of sorts to young Stockwell and the two got on like a house on fire.

As Dean got older, he entered into what he called the “awkward age.” He later said, “[MGM] couldn't see how they were going to cast me now that I was turning 17. So they let me out of it and I just took off.” Dean finished high school, attended UC Berkeley and dropped out before finishing his first year. He didn’t know what he wanted but he did know he no longer wanted to be Dean Stockwell the child star. He donned a new identity, Rudy Stocker, and lived in anonymity as a day laborer. He made his way back to acting after a few years. Had it not been for his escape from Hollywood, a time period Stockwell referred to as “an education in living”, as well as the support of his mother, he might have gone down the wrong path as other child actors have done. Instead Dean Stockwell made an excellent comeback in the Leopold and Lobb inspired murder drama COMPULSION (’59). Reflecting on his past, Stockwell said “I have to know if people want me – for myself.” He would make several comebacks throughout his acting career and he learned an important lesson from his days as a child actor: be true to yourself.

youtube

#Dean Stockwell #child stars #actors #old Hollywood #studio system #MGM #acting #TCM #Turner Classic Movies #Raquel Stecher

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nomanwalksalone · 3 years

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FASHION SURVIVOR

by Réginald-Jérôme de Mans

“It’s STYLE not fashion!” enough of us have trumpeted, reflexively, defensively, guiltily, at surprised interlocutors who have confused our interest in clothes no one else wears with fashion. Fashion, we have told ourselves, is fleeting, style – as manifested in the continued and compulsive frittering of our wages on items with details only our parasocial internet peer groups care about – is eternal.

And against the frenetic unpredictability of fashion’s changes, even the twenty or so years I’ve pursued my personal style give me a fair claim to a sort of eternity. But no style has a permanence that allows it to exist completely outside of fashion. The esthetics of cutting-edge fashion can still filter over into pedantic classic menswear, literally shaping gentle changes those of us who cling to that grammar are seeing, as trousers are getting wider and baggier. And, more pointedly, every strange clothing subculture has its own particular fashions, and thus is subject to fashion’s strange bedevilments within their own frames of reference, like some spooky exotic particles.

My twenty years of being a clothes bore means I have endured the style wars. Twenty years ago, the foolhardy and conservative hailed the return of traditional menswear (suits, ties, nice shoes) as if Arthur himself had returned from Avalon (rather than Bryan Ferry on yet another tour). They did not realize that the look of traditional menswear, too, was now simply one of the many fads fashion cycles through, a temporary resurgence. (As I literally have too much invested in it and, thanks to high school, have ample experience living on the margins, I’ll keep wearing what I want anyway.)

The heyday of that trend took classic dressing to flamboyant extremes: fussily detailed pocket squares, vividly colored and patterned suits, and the freak explosion of a mannered little feature of a classic, if previously rare, shoe: the double monkstrap. This, readers, is the story of how I succumbed and overcame.

The monkstrap is a relatively uncommon design for closing shoes – laces and slip-ons are classic, and seven-year-olds everywhere are grateful to the inventor of the Velcro that closes their sneakers, but there’s always been a shoe in most classic shoemakers’ catalogs that closes instead with a leather strap that buckles like a belt to close your shoe. Like a belt, it also can be less forgiving in fit than closures that allow stretch (like elastic-sided slip-ons), or laces’ element of give. But two straps?

The double monk has been a specialty of the shoe brand John Lobb, a brand that is actually two separate companies, whose odd relationship is a complicated detail no one but the fellow esoteric bores we talk to gets right. Suffice to say, this style, invented about a century ago by William Lobb, at his family’s custom shoemaking operation in Paris, had become something of a cult classic in the years prior to the classic menswear fad. As even a cult of fops is not made only of the insanely wealthy and self-indulgent, what allowed this fussy, intricate design to become a classic was the ready-to-wear version John Lobb Paris had begun selling in the years following its acquisition by Hermès. (Hermès bought Lobb Paris in the early 1970s, kept its French custom shoemaking operations going and launched an English-made Lobb ready-to-wear line based on some of the most famous Lobb custom shoe designs. All the while Lobb London, solely a custom shoemaker operating out of a single shop in London’s West End, has continued separately.)

The benefit of a second strap to fasten a shoe is debatable. Its main attraction seems to be its novelty, and as a style it was relatively unusual for decades, perhaps because it’s hard to make a shoe pattern with two straps that fits comfortably, unless the shoe is made to fit a single person – the excellence of custom. And no matter how well made a ready-to-wear shoe is (and Lobb ready-to-wear is quite nice), there are limits to how well it can be made to fit an individual wearer.

Once classic menswear was indeed in fashion, the double monk was adopted by dandies, posers and happening fools alike, some of whom would even walk around with their double monks unbuckled for obvious, obnoxious sprezzatura, a superficial nonchalance that was no longer studied but copied from an Internet essay library. Lobb Paris ran with it, coming up with new styles of double monk shoes and making the double strap its attempt at a signature brand design, even offering what may be the ugliest briefcase ever made.

Lobb London stayed above it all. As a purely bespoke shoemaker, it makes whatever design a customer asks for, one pair at a time, although it has a vast catalog of samples for the customer’s inspiration. A literal catalog, I discovered, when I first began ordering shoes from Anthony Delos, the gifted custom shoemaker who had worked at John Lobb Paris’ custom shop, where institutional, trans-Channel, custom shoemaking memory ran deep and customers could consult the very same gigantic, luxurious catalog of samples. Among those custom shoe sample designs was a simple jodhpur boot – a buckled ankle-height boot – with a double strap closure. Those two short straps replace a single jodhpur strap that traditionally winds sinuously around the upper part of the boot, so they actually don’t look any more flamboyant than the normal design for that piece of footwear. And at last I, too, succumbed to the allure of the double monk, out of romanticism for the idea of a bootmaker trained in the Lobb custom tradition making them for me, out of the finest, softest suede he could find, and the sentimentality of a last order from a maker I considered a friend.

The result has endured, survived along with me the decline of the classic menswear trend and the devolution of the double monk into not only hideous briefcases, but even into triple-strapped mutant shoes and penny loafers whose very saddles have become double monk straps. To say nothing of the past year and change where I have worn only sneakers, but I am optimistic that the styles of that period, too, will evolve and pass.

#rjman #reginaldjeromedemans

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chiaroscuroverse · 4 years

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Christopher Eccleston’s isolation preservation kit

The boxsets, music, exercises and more that are helping The A Word star stay happy and healthy while staying at home

May 5, 2020 By Adrian Lobb

Binge-worthy boxsets

I’m rewatching O.J.: Made in America, the documentary, which is a complete and utter masterpiece. It’s an incredible portrait of an individual whilst also being a portrait of a nation that gives us an opportunity to look at America and its racism through the lens of celebrity. The only thing I can think of that comes close to it is Ken Burns’ Jazz documentary series, which uses music to look at race in America. I’m obsessed with that. Myself and my children have watched all of the Studio Ghibli films. They’re most famous for Spirited Away but this weekend, we watched Princess Kaguya, which I think is their masterpiece. It had my son Albert, who is eight, in tears. And myself, Albert and Esme were all spellbound and incredibly moved. I would urge anybody, adults or children, to watch it. It is one of the greatest animated films I’ve ever seen. It’s very special.

Read all about it

I’m reading Motherwell by Deborah Orr, the late Guardian journalist. It’s a portrait of a childhood and a place and a relationship – I can’t really articulate it, but it is an extraordinary book. And I’m also loving re-reading the Manchester poet Lemn Sissay’s book, My Name Is Why. He is incredible.

The soundtrack to my isolation

I’ve managed to source from Japan a boxset of Soul Train, which was this massive black American music programme in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. You’ve got people like Marvin Gaye, Al Green and Curtis Mayfield performing in studio with the famous Soul Train line dancers, and that, during these times, is tremendously uplifting. Like the box set of The Old Grey Whistle Test, it functions both as a provider of musical gems, but also a social document. Q Tip from The Roots wrote a book about it, where he talks about finally seeing people who look like him on television in America – there are chapters about his favourite episodes, their impact on him, and their impact on the black community in America. It chimes a lot with the OJ Simpson doc. Probably because I am a white boy who grew up in a working class area on black music in the 60s, I’ve always been fascinated by the the music’s impact socially and culturally.

Staying active

I’ve been going out running for an hour a day. And I’ve been doing weights for an hour a day as well. So exercise has been massive for me. I’m trying as hard as I can to complement that training by eating healthily.

Comfort foods

I found in the first couple of weeks of lockdown that I was drinking too much. The first couple of weeks I was struggling. I think possibly a lot of us drank more than usual. So I have knocked that on the head and I’m trying to stay off drink until the lockdown is lifted because it wasn’t helping me personally. I’ve not missed it, actually, because I like drinking in a social situation rather than isolation.

Tech

I always speak to my mum once a day on the telephone. But since the lockdown myself and my mum, who is in Salford, FaceTime twice a day. I got her an iPad a couple of years ago and she didn’t really use it, but it’s really helped me and hopefully my mum during this lockdown. My mum, like me, lives alone. So it has been key for both of us to see each other, to see a loved one.

New skill

I was just about to start a big job. We were supposed to start shooting a six part series for Channel Four called Close To Me on April 20. I’m 56, and I would have been learning lines every single day for four months. That’s taken away from me now and I was missing that creative outlet, so I’ve been making myself learn poems. I have recorded a poem for the NHS – I did that on my iPhone. And I’ve dived headlong into the collective works of John Cooper Clarke. I’ve been recording some of his poetry and putting them on my Instagram, which I’ve never done before. I’m gonna try and do some more – maybe some Yeats or Lemn Sissay. So it’s practical, but it’s also a creative outlet.

The A Word starts on Tuesday 5 May on BBC One

#christopher eccleston #the a word #the big issue #quarantine

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wellwornwornwell · 4 years

Text

“The Second Coming”

Have you heard? Hashtag Menswear is back. No, really. It turns out he’s been vacationing in Ischia for the past decade, but now it’s full of New Yorkers and so he has returned to us, Stetson in hand, to reveal he’s changed. He’s ready to make a real go of this and make us all honest men. He donated his John Lobb double monks and in them were his non-industry credentials to Pitti Uomo. It’s not just for show anymore. The global pandemic has given him a lot to think about. What’s really important?

Of course I’m joking. The real Hashtag Menswear died long ago, asphyxiated in a puddle of his own herringbone vomit. We’ll never again know the unnecessarily dressed-up world that he gave us. We need never to dress like turn-of-century Australian convicts again. Cary Grant’s picture can continue to yellow on its decade-old mood board.

There’s no denying the Coronavirus pandemic will have a forever effect on the world’s psyche and impulse. It’s impossible to know exactly what will happen or who will drive the new cultural norms that await us. And I even agree that being cooped up in your own house, dressing endlessly casually will drive anyone to fantasize about gussying up for a night out on the town. But that’s the problem with reviving the corpse of Hashtag Menswear – he’s a rebound from your current toxic relationship; a half-hearted affair to cleanse your seemingly tasteless palate.

Just as lonely nights and one too many drinks can have you recalling all the best qualities of an ex-lover, so does Hashtag Menswear sit in our collective mental ether, ever-alluring. His nailed-down, worsted silhouette punctuated with the exclamation point of mirror-shined Oxford cap-toes. You remember him for all the good things. How important and safe you felt in a suit. How elite you felt discovering another Neapolitan tailor who was just a little less expensive than the last, but DEFINITELY just as good. Man, we could have been something. Your relationship with Hashtag Menswear was as natural as its American-grown fibers, while your current commitment to Athleisure is decidedly synthetic.

But the reality is our tryst with Hashtag Menswear ten or so years ago was no more meaningful than our (apparently now souring) marriage to overt branding and streetwear sensibilities. They’re both a means to an end, another line in the suicide note of late stage capitalism. Your most recent love apparently wasn’t as Supreme as you’d thought.

It’s worth noting the tides were changing before COVID. Not long ago we were awash in capital-S Sustainability. The fashion industry’s newest buzzword, like its father Bespoke, promised a totally new world, one that we could control and feel good about. One that was never going back to our ignorant, fleeting consumerist impulses. But it appears the high of responsibility wasn’t sustainable at all, and so now we must bend a new silver spoon to fire up an intense, euphoric sense of sartorial consciousness.

And that’s what this is all about, really. Being left with our own thoughts for months has led us to the realization we have too much of all the same things. Somewhere along the line we got our “Buy Better, Buy Less” tattoo covered by a box logo. It was all just too painful to remember Hashtag Menswear.

But that’s all fine! Hashtag Menswear, Jr. is inheriting a world where overt consumerism and rabid brand loyalty is ready to join forces with “a commitment to conscious quality.” You just met him at your ex’s funeral and he’s holding you tenderly, comforting you by quietly suggesting you “buy better AND buy more.” He’s stirring you a Negroni and telling you the provenance of the Vermouth. It’s all moving so fast!

And that’s where they want you. In reality there is no commitment to quality, no benefit to a conscientious consumer. Sure, they hope you feel that way at the register, but this is just an evolution in marketing, not a shift in thinking. A push to “return to quality” without ever explaining what that means, or coming to terms with why we abandoned it in the first place. Buying “quality” clothes for the sake of “quality” betrays an ignorance that invariably renders the impulse a fad. “Quality” has no control, and they can move the goal posts whenever they want.

To return to Hashtag Menswear (however half-heartedly) is to create the next scapegoat. At some point there will be a new current of consumerism. A new call to arms (and legs) that we cannot ignore. Sure, you could make the argument this is always the case; that fashion by its very existence must operate cyclically. It’s true that very few people ever get off the bus, regardless of how many appealing stops it makes. But none of those other stops remind me of how painfully lame I was in the early aughts. The Hashtag Menswear bus terminal has been gentrified. It’s now a Design Within Reach store and no one there is wearing a suit. Driver, please keep moving.

#menswear

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petite-madame · 2 years

Note

Thankyou Soo much for taking the time to reply to my admittedly vague question about fanfics sent after midnight when I was struggling to sleep XD. Your link and the people leaving notes gave me the answer it was the life of bucky barnes! Now off to enjoy reading the other fics in that link as well ^_^

[This ask is a follow up to THIS ONE]

Hi anon ^^

Good job everyone, everybody can go home now 🤝

I'm very happy you managed to find what you were looking for. I thought about The Life of Bucky Barnes by Stephrc79, of course but as I didn't know by what fandom/ship you were interested in, I didn't dare to say anything. 😳

Speaking of The Life of Bucky Barnes, it's time for a shameless self-promotion. 😁 You can find the webcomic + fics here:

The LoBB on Tumblr

The LoBB on Instagram

The LoBB - PDF download (6 parts)

The LoBB (fic by Stephrc79)

Thanks again for enjoying my art so much and happy reading! 🥰

#pmasks

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petite-madame · 3 years

Note

Hi! You mentioned in a reply to another nonnie that you’re thinking of working on The LoBB again but it sounds like that thought is a little overwhelming to you. My personal thought, but I have a feeling many others would agree with me, is that you should do what brings you joy in your art! The LoBB is a massive, beautiful project and we all love it dearly, but don’t want you to feel any anxiety about keeping it going just for your fans. If your hiatus is months, years, or slowly becomes forever, you should be proud of everything you have created and poured into that work. The thing is, we love all of your art and are so thankful that you share any of it with us. Take time to explore new projects, and feel freedom to come back to LoBB when and if the time is right for YOU. Sending you love!

Hi anon ^^

You mentioned in a reply to another nonnie...

“nonnie”!

I haven’t heard/seen this word in years! You must have been on Live Journal back in the days!! Amazing! 😁

Anyway 😳

Thank you so much for you very very kind message and for your understanding regarding the situation of The Life of Bucky Barnes. I went into hiatus because I was extremely tired, that the artworks were becoming more and more complicated (too many details and characters) and the captions longer and longer. I mean, I could only blame myself: nobody asked for this but the more I was working on this project the more I wanted it to be perfect (which is completely silly 😅) so it became more time consuming and stressful too. I’d like the point out that I was the only one putting so much pressure on my shoulders (because I’m a total idiot 🤓) and that nobody never pressured me into posting more or felt entitled to a certain “schedule”. My beta reader, Vegetamochi, was the most patient and kindest person ever during the writing and when I was on short hiatus, I was actually receiving messages from people who wanted to know when the account was coming back BUT they always told me to take my time and wished me good luck.

But anyway, I stopped for a while because I was exhausted. HOWEVER, this big hiatus is leaving a bit of a bad taste in my mouth because 1) I really want to finish this project and 2) I was SO close to the end. I mean, I drew about 600 artworks for The LoBB and I stopped at maybe 30-40 drawings before the end. I feel like a marathon runner who gave up at 20 yards from the finish line. In addition, I already drew about 7-8 drawings that were never published. It pisses me off because I still ship Steve and Bucky (hard 🤓), it’s not even a question of losing interest. Now, I just have to find the right amount of energy and inspiration to get back to it!

Me getting back into shape to start working on The LoBB again. I’m going to be honest, drawing series of 18 artworks that take two months to complete isn’t helping either.

Anyway, thanks again for your kind words and I hope that one day I’ll be able to announce that The Life of Bucky Barnes is out of hiatus! 😤

#pmasks

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