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amphtaminedreams · 4 years

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A/W 2020 Fashion Month: Before Vogue Went Blank (Part 2)

Hi to anyone reading,

I was going to start this post by jumping straight into Dion Lee and part 2 in general but there's been a lot going on the past couple of days-although this blog is primarily fashion, it wouldn’t feel right to start talking about designers without acknowledging all the shit that’s been going down.

^Photo Credit to @spiltcoco on Twitter

Yesterday, police footage came out of US police murdering yet another black man in broad daylight-George Floyd. He joins Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, and Alton Sterling, plus hundreds more named and god knows how many more unnamed African American citizens in the ever-growing list of victims of police brutality.

The majority of these are just people going about their daily lives, a majority of them doing absolutely nothing wrong; even those we know to have committed crimes have been unarmed and non-violent offenders. That being said, their offences are beside the point when we’ve seen the white perpetrators of mass shootings be calmly cuffed and escorted into the backs of police cars as if they were the ones selling cigarettes without permits. American police, given the amount of them that are armed, regularly become judge, jury and executioner trained for 8 weeks by an institution that originated from slave patrols. I cannot imagine how terrifying it is just to walk around as a PoC in America. I cannot imagine the collective trauma that has been suffered because of recent events on top of the intergenerational trauma that most likely exists because of centuries of oppression. I cannot imagine what it’s like to live in a country that was built to suppress you and was by law allowed to do so until very recently, those original structures still in place. I cannot imagine what it’s like to be made to feel like this is your fault. I mean, Boris Johnson is a useless, cold-hearted twat and I won’t defend him or this country for a minute (we have much blood on our own hands, and racial profiling is just as much a thing here as it is in America-I read earlier that you’re 28 times more likely to be stopped and searched in London as a non-white person compared to a white person), but I still can’t imagine him publicly advocating for the mass murder of groups he knows to be primarily made up of black people via Twitter. This whole situation is so unimaginably fucked up; anyone who still sees America as one of the world’s most developed nations needs to take a long, hard look at what is going on and reconsider that opinion.

Whilst we can’t fix everything, we can all speak up and make our voices heard, and it is our duty to do so. It’s not good enough to just “not be racist”, you have to be ANTI-racism, even if that means constantly reflecting on your own privilege and challenging your assumptions. Neutrality is complicity. Signing a petition isn’t going to change the world, but it’s a start:

https://www.change.org/p/mayor-jacob-frey-justice-for-george-floyd?recruiter=false&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_abi&recruited_by_id=7ba70000-a127-11ea-87fb-d1ff0bf6ea96

As I publish this, there’s less than 50,000 signatures needed to hit the target of 6,000,000 so if you happen to see it, get signing! There are lots of other petitions online but Change.org seems to be the only major one you can sign in the UK as the other are US based and require a zip code. I never thought I’d close a paragraph by quoting Macklemore but the line “no freedom 'til we're equal, damn right I support it” is at the forefront of my mind right now. Again, neutrality is complicity. We’re never going to achieve a fair society by sitting on our asses and hoping things will improve. Let’s all do the best we can.

Sorry if that intro wasn’t what you came here for, but I just think it’s so important to talk about. I know I’ve said in the past that fashion is supposed to be an escape from everyday life but there are some times when real life needs our attention and this is one of them. Feel free to unfollow if you disagree.

Anyway, onto the fashion. If this is the first post you’re reading, welcome! There’s a part 1! But I don’t wanna be pushy so start here if you wish!

If you read part 1, welcome back!

I ended that post by practically falling at the feet of Dilara Findikoglu, and I so wanted to start this post by regaining a sense of dignity and go straight into what-the-fuck-ing at Dior, but I know breaking chronological order would really piss off those “OmG I’m SoOo OCD, tHis BuzZfeEd aRtiCle WiTh DiFfereNt SiZed TiLes ToLd Me!” which is basically me minus claiming liking things to be organised means I have OCD-no, just dermatillomania and the denial that a compulsive skin picking disorder has anything to do with OCD because the neuroses club that is my brain doesn’t have any space left. SO, I have to continue where I left off and star the post with Dion Lee, whose collections I am a big fan of.

I could ramble a bit more but I did enough of that at the beginning of part 1 and am sure I’ll do more than enough in this post anyway, so here it is, Dion Lee:

Considering we ended with the maximalism of Dilara Findikoglu, sliding back over towards the other far end of the scale with a designer that tends to pitch their tent on the borders of the minimalism camp feels correct. Dion Lee, fortunately, seems the perfect collection to open with. There aren’t many other brands who do edge in such an understated and masterful way. If you want to be ready for combat and look like you’d fit right in at Vogue at the same time, look no further. This season’s collection is full of perfectly placed cut outs and immaculate tailoring and subtle street fighter-esque details as ever, and that’s why it pains me to say it:

Not that this is enough in the way of critique to restore my dignity by any means, it’s not a patch on last season.

I don’t think there was a single bad look in that show, and at times it felt like I was weeding through them here. When the looks were good, they were GOOD but a lot I found to be disappointing. Plus I have no idea why you’d put tie-dye in an A/W collection. I appreciate that it’s an Australian brand and that our winter is their summer, but they’re presenting to the rest of the world at fashion week and anyone in Paris, Milan, London and New York is going to be freezing their tits off and looking like a twat in an orange tie-dye sundress. There wasn’t much of a dip in quality for the menswear compared to last season, but honestly womenswear left a lot to be desired. That’s what happens when your expectations are high.

I used to think that if you assume the worst, it’s impossible to feel let down. And then I saw Dior’s A/W 2020 collection. Did a full 180 on that statement.

I suppose it’s a step up from haute couture, but then at least the styling in that was simple, and it just didn’t look like anybody had tried at all; here it’s clear Maria Grazia chucked everything she could at this collection, every headscarf, every gingham print, every shallow feminist undertone, and it was still a fucking mess. At first you think some of the individual pieces are cute but have just been ruined by the styling, and then you begin to look, and realise that even those individual pieces could’ve easily been bought in a New Look Boxing Day sale.

THIS IS CHRISTIAN DIOR, SUPPOSEDLY ONE OF THE MOST LUXURIOUS BRANDS OUT THERE. WHAT IS GOING ON!?

I don’t know, I included as many looks that I didn't mind as I could, but it’s like there always has to be a crappy, unnecessary detail in there. Everything is so literal. Of course the collection based around the divine feminine has the models dressed like basic ass Greek goddesses, so of course the collection based around the modern woman and equality has women walking the runway in ties and ill-fitting shoes too. Maria Grazia, here is a box:

Think outside of it.

Next is, thankfully, Elie Saab:

No, not exactly a trailblazer of a collection, but executed with poise and elegance as always. I mean, the styling is spot on. It looks like each part of the outfit was made for another, to contribute to a whole clearly envisioned look, similar to what we saw in the Alberta Ferretti show. Elie Saab is known for its haute couture shows where all the tiny details, the sequins and the silk and the embroidery come together to make something beautiful, and this is just that on a larger scale, with less “wow”s and more quiet admiration, more wishing you were the one wearing that outfit. If you’re gonna play safe, do it this well. The night dresses are stunning of course, but not even my favourite bit of the show. It’s the casual looks, the pussy bows and the ruffles and the neck scarfs and the private girls school monochrome colour palette with the occasional pop of red or purple, a toned down version of what we saw at haute couture, any of which deserve to be worn whilst eating macarons in front of the Eiffel Tower before trip to Musee D’Orsay. It’s Poppy Moore’s school uniform grown up and made fit for a fashion magazine editor:

Somehow managing to cram an Emma Roberts early 2010s fashion moment into every post is my talent, who knew. Wild Child was really a gem.

Erdem was a mixed bag:

With a lot of the outfits, I can’t tell if I actually like the garments that much or if I just like the look as a whole. I mean, without sounding too gluten-free Callie from the Valley, I like the VIBE, but there was a lot of outfits I almost included before I had to ask myself “LAUREN, do you ACTUALLY like this or do you just like the walking-into-your-sugar-daddy’s-will-reading-to-claim-his-fortune DRAMA of it all!?”

It happened a couple of times, where once I took off my black and white, theatrical violin accompanied entrance filtered sunglasses, I realised that the actual print was ugly. A collection so cohesively ornamental and kitschy is going to lean too far into that at times, and they were a few overly-fussy moments where it seemed less nudge nudge wink wink and more like Erdem Moralıoğlu fell into his grandma’s wardrobe, stole some fabric, and called it a day. I don’t want to sound like I’m not a fan of the collection because overall it’s gorgeous, I just thought it was a bit much at times.

Continuing with the theme of clever seasonal continuity that weaved its way throughout this year’s A/W offerings, Ermanno Scervino kept the core of his summer collection and made it just that little bit darker, added some weight to everything, and this is one of the rare occasions where I like the winter incarnation a lot more. I’m not huge about either but there’s a lot of things I’d love to wear here, the coats especially.

Up next is a reliable favourite of mine:

Etro.

Was it REALLY necessary for you to include ALL those coats I hear you ask?

Alaska Thunderfuck as Gia Gunn voice: Absolutelyyyy.

When it comes to bohemian fashion, Etro is unbeaten. Everything is always exquisitely coordinated and styled. Like I usually fucking hate aztec print but I love the way it’s done here. I’ve never known a brand to make belts seem like such an integral, tasteful part of the outfit in a field where they so often seem like a last minute addition for the sake of accessorising; it pains me to say it, but Elie Saab, I’m looking at you. It’s your only fault.

Yes for bringing back embroidered jeans! Yes for all those high necks! Yes for the tapestry print! Yes for the Afghan waistcoats! Etro will keep fedoras cool forever and I love them for that; I don’t know if she ever actually wore any of their stuff but I just know Stevie Nicks was in her prime would’ve ate this shit UP and she is my style icon for the ages. Plus, I might be way off base here but a lot of the collection seems to be inspired by traditional Romani style and it’s a beautiful direction to take things, a treasure trove of layers upon layers and rich textures and opulent prints.

I can’t wait til the phase of my phase of my life where I can swan around in maxi dresses and ponchos. I just hope those maxi dresses and ponchos are Etro.

Onto another brand which hasn’t had a bad show since I started my reviews: Fendi. This season, they took their late 60s/early 70s wild child aesthetic and gave a millionaire’s high maintenance wife spin on it, and what’s not to like about that?

I mean, Fendi is a brand which is always going to excel in its F/W presentations-the rich, bohemian prints (pro-tip: if you can’t already tell, me mentioning the word bohemian in a review pretty much guarantees I like the collection), the furs, and the warm colour palette all perfectly translate into clothes suited for walks through a city going through a post-summer burnout, where it rains red and orange leaves. You can tell Silvia Fendi is in her element when she’s got texture to play with, something that comes across in the gorgeous coats Fendi consistently puts out, and this season continues that trend. Plus, there’s a lot of adorable details here-shoes that show off the decorative socks underneath, the cube shaped bags and those furry ear muffs which I hope bring about a high street muff renaissance because they’re the equivalent of slipper socks for my ears and THEY’RE ACTUALLY REALLY PRACTICAL. The only thing I’m not in love with is the mirrored glasses, and I can’t help but think how replacing them with a pair of grandad style aviators would be the icing on the cake for the collection. Maybe I just need to see Miss Robyn Rihanna Fenty wearing them and then I’ll get on board. Usually works.

Ah, GCDS. I got so excited for it after last season but this time round, it was a bit of a disappointment. There were a few outfits that semi-matched up to how cutting-edge I saw their last collection, however a lot of the pieces looked pretty low quality. I get that streetwear is in the name, but it’s supposed to be a high fashion take on that, and a lot of the looks were quite pedestrian. Stand outs are the top 2 rows and the leather motocross style jumpsuit on the far right, third row down, but the quality of these pieces wasn’t consistent across the board and I feel like I ended up having to convince myself I liked some of the others just so I had enough photos to justify including the brand. It really sucks when I look back on how ahead of the game last season’s collection was-we’re talking outfits that wouldn’t be out of place on Instagram’s Tokyofashion page and as far as I’m concerned that’s the fashion holy grail. Some of these looks, especially the menswear, could be from a Boohoo TV ad and that makes me sad.

Meanwhile, Giambattista Valli put out a collection that looked like a virtual postcard of Parisian fashion; if a St-Germain-des-Prés streetwear themed Instagram doesn’t exist already, someone should capitalise on that, stat, because if my typical vision of French feminine fashion is correct it would be full of outfits like this. I feel like this is what a fashion novice EXPECTS Chanel to look like. Trust me-these days the reality is much more disappointing.

There’s many things I'm happy to see here besides the tulle and florals and prettiness I expect of the brand. Obviously the berets and the bows and the elbow length gloves are the kind of off-duty ballerina style touches I’ve become accustomed to but there are also some nice surprises here: the military style white jacket, the unexpected snake motif on clothing that’s otherwise overly delicate, and to my delight the return of the boater hat. IDGAF, this is the summer where I’m buying myself one off Ebay and making this happen for me whether they become a “thing” or not. I shouldn’t squander having this little of a double chin; the opportunity may never present itself again.

I haven’t watched Killing Eve in a longggg time since there’s only so much of two women attempting to kill each other and then miraculously avoiding death you can watch but I’d love to see Vilanelle prancing round a city in this kinda shit slitting some necks again. I hope that doesn’t make me sound like too much of a sadist; only in a purely fictional world is this something I want to see, I assure you.

Givenchy was really, really great this season too, imo. Definitely a step up from the last RTW anyway. Aside from the drama of the exaggerated floppy brim hats and the quirky tassle detail dresses a la Schiaparelli, a lot of these outfits kinda remind me of something a Miranda Priestly/Cruella De Vil type would wear, and you know me; I’m all for that kind of intimidating, about-to-either-slap-you-or-fire-your-ass bad bitch energy. The gathered leather gloves with the androgynous subtly checkered power suits feels CORRECT and if Giambattista Valli is the bottom in this relationship, Givenchy is the top. Am I allowed to reinforce sapphic relationship stereotypes as a bi girl? Probably not. I’m sorry. Won’t do it again. Just this once. And you know I’m right really xoxo

And OMFG Gucci. Another impeccable collection for me, honestly. Once again, it’s probably my favourite of the season. How it is that Alessandro Michelle gets it SO right for me despite his vision being so bold and different every time? He has this specific brand of strange, conceptual beauty which blends past and present trends in a way so supreme it should be considered art. It’s not a term to throw around loosely but the man is a genius, and tbh I’m still not over the human head props from the 2018 F/W winter show.

In my Haute Couture week review, I talked about the Viktor and Rolf collection (which I loved, don’t get me wrong!) and said that pretty meets grunge is my fave thing ever-this is that, but much even more substantial and intelligent. The Wes Anderson-esque pieces or that late 60s/early 70s hipster aesthetic that I loved in last season’s show hasn’t been done away with either-be it the level of detail or the colour scheme, it all somehow fits together. Never did I think I’d see dresses fit for porcelain dolls through the lens of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen seamlessly slotted in between outfits that could’ve been put together from the clothing rack of Dazed and Confused’s costume department. I want it all-opulent fur-trimmed coats, crucifix jewellery and pilgrim hats I’m sure both Edgar Allan Poe and modern goths would approve of, and the tiered skirts that wouldn’t be out of place in a Westworld saloon. The models were delightfully sad and almost creepy looking and I wouldn’t change that for the world. To say 10/10 doesn’t do it justice, so I’m gonna have to open a reviewer’s can of worms and say 100/100.

Gucci is a tough act to follow, and I’m sorry it has to fall onto the shoulders of Halpern. In the nicest possible way (as if there is any nice way of saying it), I don’t think I any expected anything but a downgrade, so if anything, my standards will be lower so...Michael Halpern, you can thank me I guess?

That was really mean, I’m sorry. It’s not a bad collection, and I definitely like it more than last season’s. It’s a slightly garish colour palette at times but an exciting one in spite of that, which when paired with the animal print dotted throughout makes this collection the perfect fit for a tropical beach party or at the very least, a semi-decent night at the Caribbean themed bar in your local town centre. The sequins and silk, a Halpern trademark, are as tastefully done as ever, and seeing them on the models, I can’t deny these are some power fits-the kind of clothes you are bound to look and feel confident in; if you wanted to play queen of the urban jungle for a night, this is what you need to be wearing.

Ah, Hermes.

Generally not one to stoke a fire inside me. In all fairness, the tailoring here is really, really nice and French biker chic, and the pieces are perfectly crafted-it’s not that I don’t like the outfits because I think that if I saw one of them individually in a natural, messier setting I’d probably be impressed. These are classy, elegant winter looks and what more could you want when you’re looking for outfit inspiration for this season? It’s just that it’s always a little too neat and uniform for me, and on the runway I like my fashion to be risky. This could almost be the sophisticated mother to a Tommy Hilfiger collection and whilst that’s something I would probably wear if I wanted to look put together, it’s not what you get excited to see at fashion week. Primary colours all together aren’t where it’s at for me either, the infamous colour scheme of the cheap plastic playhouses you’d find in the garden of every working/middle class British household back in the day. Yes, I had one. So did the after school club I was forced to attend whilst my mum was at work. Apparently the negative connotations are still too much for me (a boy I went to the after school club with did once fall off the back of one and crack his head open so maybe it’s justified).

Isabel Marant was pretty much exactly what you’d expect from Isabel Marant; if the Etro bohemian woman is one who rolls out of bed and chucks on the first thing she sees, the Isabel Marant bohemian woman is the one who claims she’s done the same thing but who actually planned it all out the night before. She designs for the gluten-free, bikram yoga Kourtney Kardashian style “hippy” who claims to be a free-spirit but would definitely not do acid with you. I was gonna say it was a collection for the Gwyneth Paltrows of the world but then I remembered Gwyneth proudly released a candle she claimed smelled like her vagina and changed my mind-she’d definitely do acid with you.

It’s definitely a cohesive transition from the summer collection; both have that seemingly laid-back, clean-cut vibe, and cater to the rich, impeccably groomed scented candle loving woman everywhere. Obviously the pieces are a tad more suited to an alpine lodge in Switzerland than a beach in Malibu this time round, but that same mild colour palette, pretty, naturalistic patterns, and generally relaxed fit persists. It’s cute enough.

J.W Anderson is a bit of an enigma.

Despite the experimental silhouettes and the kooky details that you think would very “look at me!”, the collections still seem to have a chilled, easy-going feel to them. They toy about with the strange but remain entirely sophisticated whilst doing so-I think it’s because aside from the little quirks that make the garments J.W Anderson, they’re otherwise fairly reserved and simple; even the quirks themselves mostly tend to be exaggerated, more conceptual takes on more typical stylistic motifs anyway. Anderson has a knack for producing statement pieces that don’t look like they’re trying too hard to be statement pieces, a talent he expertly deploys at Loewe as well. Whilst Maison Margiela collections are like the fashion equivalent of that Jughead “I’m weird, I’m a weirdo” speech, J.W Anderson’s refusal to conform is quiet and modest. I like it. It’s not generally my personal style but I can admire the thought behind the work, and there are still some things I’d love to try. I have a few standouts-the shoes with the hoop detailing dancing from the ankle straps, the dress on the bottom right with what appears to be art nouveau typography on, the trench coat with the cape detailing and the gossamer dress to its right are all stunning, especially that dress. If I ever want to dress as the bubble Glinda the Good Witch descends in when she meets Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, I know where to go, though I don’t suppose there’s going to be an occasion that calls for that any time soon. Can I just have the dress anyway?

Kim Shui is another new designer I found through blessed Twitter screencaps-thanks guys for doing my research for me. Much appreciated.

But anyways! Like Charlotte Knowles, it’s clear she’s still establishing her aesthetic as a designer, and thus far I love it. The whimsical, throwback prints on urban silhouettes that range from the androgynous suits of city dwelling cool girls to the amped-up sex appeal of nightclub dresses is gorgeous, especially twinned with dainty headscarfs and opera gloves-all in all I think this a very cool and wearable collection and I’m looking forward to the next collection she puts out.

Next up is Lacoste, and IDK why I always include their collections to be honest, considering they’re not really known for “high fashion”. I guess it’s because my dad has collected Lacoste shirts since I was little so I kinda have a soft spot for it and feel obligated to include it every time presentation season comes around. Yes, the outfits are unbearably preppy and the colours are garish but I feel like that’s kind of the appeal? So what if some of the tracksuits look like they could’ve been pulled out of a bad mafia movie? I see the argyle jumpers, with a bit of wear and tear, as a charity shop gem my sister would come across (she has the #Y2K Depop girl knack for finding old designer pieces in the shittiest charity shops without the audacity to try and sell them at a 70% markup) that I would then steal from her wardrobe to wear myself, contrasted with a ripped mini skirt, chains and and docs. I see the POTENTIAL of a look that is very fuck you to the rich middle age tory styling we see here. It’s punk, okay?

Lanvin was STUNNING this time around. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching Mad Men recently and it reminds me of the fashion on that-which I hope somebody won an award for at the time BTW, it is SO fucking good-but I just adore every look here. I can’t even remember if I reviewed Lanvin’s SS20 show, and so clearly if I did it wasn’t that memorable (no shade intended), however this collection is a different story. Every single one of these outfits is iconic movie moment worthy, a 60s Cher Horowitz plaid two piece equivalent that would get screencapped and replicated ad-nauseam, all the best looks of Betty Draper and Peggy Olsen and Joan Holloway and Megan Calvet brought together and refined for the modern day woman. I might even consider sacrificing my anti-royalist principles if it meant I could transport myself back in time and switch bodies with Grace Kelly so I could make this collection my princess-off-duty wardrobe and drive around Monaco in that Bella Hadid look, roof down, all the drama of the fur trim and the gloves and hair whipping about in the wind (but in this unrealistic vision I can actually see what I’m doing and I’m not choking on random strands and swearing at Mother Nature as if she is a real entity with a personal vendetta against me).

Loewe! More J.W Anderson! I’m gonna try not to repeat myself by arsekissing too much all over again and get the good points out of the way quickly! So rapid fire: elegant! Delicious colour palette! Interesting shapes! I think I’m seeing a Victorian/Edwardian influence there! Correct me if I’m wrong! I like it! The coats are strong! Remind me of the suffragettes! But lets pretend in this case these Loewe style coat wearing suffragettes are not raging classists!

AH. Apart from that, it was a bit too austere for me. I definitely preferred Anderson’s eponymous collection; there were a fair few recurring details in this show that I couldn’t get behind that I didn’t include, in particular this bib-like black panel that just kept popping up on everything. Sorry J.W Anderson. But a 50% success rate is still good! And at the end of the day, having 2 collections on Vogue Runway at once is more prestigious than the accumulative total of every accomplishment I’ll probably ever have achieved in my life by the time I’m on my deathbed so what do I know anyway? Sigh:( At least I’ll always have the honour of having the largest head by circumference of my class in year 4, right *sweats nervously*!?!?!

Louis Vuitton was definitely a downgrade on last season for me. There were for sure elements I liked-the Vera Wang-esuqe mixing of the tulle bustle skirts with the rougher, more masculine biker inspired vests and jackets was a cool choice, reminiscent of Gucci’s mixing of the lace dresses with harnesses. I enjoyed the baroque jackets and subtle nods to steampunk style too. Though we’ve already seen it a lot this season, the wet look coat with fur trim I can’t help falling in love with, and I’m immune to the potential ugliness of the muted blue monotone look purely on the basis I can picture Ripley from Alien in it. So like I said-it’s not as if I hated it. I guess when it comes down to it, the collection wasn’t bad so much as I just had higher hopes. I will say though, the staging was INCREDIBLE. As a history nerd, I never thought I’d see the day when a Henry the 8th lookalike actor was part of the backdrop of a Paris fashion week show-and I always thought there was no interesting career path for me in the subject!

And another big name I don’t tend to be so partial to, Maison Margiela. IDK, I did like last season but I wasn’t a fan of haute couture and it took me a while to warm to this. Call it deconstructed, experimental, whatever, but you know when you can’t decide what to wear and you’re in a rush so you kinda just throw all the shit you decided against into a pile? Well, my initial thought was that this season Margiela is kinda that, on the runway.

I will say, once I let go of my need to see a clear shape, a lot of the individual pieces were stunning (NOT the puffed up tabis though, I still can’t even get behind the regular ones). I guess I just wish they’d go for less is more with the styling because as it currently stands, it makes it hard to actually take the clothes in.

Ultimately, one thing you can always say about Margiela, like their clothes or not, is that it has a monopoly on being effortlessly bold.

Marc Jacobs I really liked again, though I will say it doesn’t stand out quite like the S/S collection did. That was absolutely STUNNING-I can’t remember specifically where I ranked it in my top ten but I know it was at least in the top 5. This, on the other hand, is...pretty. It’s very pretty, and very put together, so I’m not saying at all that I don’t rate it. I suppose it’s just a lot simpler than I expected it to be-I don’t have a problem with simplicity, at all, especially if it’s what a brand is known for but I feel like part of the appeal with Marc Jacobs is that it’s pretty kooky. I mean, not Thom Browne or Margiela kooky, but commercial kooky at least. I feel like the kookiness is lacking here? And that’s where this feeling is coming from? And also, the fact that Lanvin tackled the same era and did it a lot better? So there’s that, too. Plus, I adore Miley Cyrus but...why? Random celebrities waking the runway just doesn’t do it for me-it always comes across as a publicity grab, as if the designer isn’t confident enough in their collection’s ability to get people talking on its own, and I suppose in this case that says it all really.

Margaret Howell was...well, Margaret Howell. She’s known for her basics, and they’re always pretty non-offensive “regulation hottie” in the words of the icon that is Damian from Mean Girls. It’s been, what, four years? More? Since I last watched that film but I’m pretty sure watching it about twenty times between the ages of 9 and 15 tattooed it on my brain. I include her because even though they don’t get my pulse racing, I like these pieces; considering the fact that expecting straight white men to ever have style on the level of barbiedrugz (his instagram is my favourite thing ever) or Rickey Thompson is ludicrous, Margaret Howell’s menswear looks are probably are the best, realistic goal for any future partner. Because I like my men dressed like Paddington bear/a depressed Brown University English lit lecturer, okay? Or in other words, Will Graham from Hannibal.

Marine Serre had a few good moments-the looks that I liked were the ones that stayed within her lane of blending the weird with the visually appealing. There were a lot of cool things going on, and I like the utility vibe (the boot with the pouch detailing and the mask are perfect examples of this done well), but outside the fits I picked out a lot of it went over my head tbh.

Marques Almeida is a show I was looking forward to-it has such a youthful, experimental quality to its collections (it’s no surprise the designers said they were influenced by the HBO show Euphoria this year!), similar to Central Saint Martins, and you can tell the designers (Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida) are based in London too; we are talking about the birthplace of the punk fashion movement, and as a designer it’s probably almost a rite of passage that you incorporate elements of that into your work. Marques Almeida does that with a flair and consistency you can count on. Their clothes don’t have the wildest silhouettes or anything like that but the fun they have playing around with print and colour and the ease and confidence with which they settle on those combinations always comes through-the black and white coat with the yellow furs trim is one of my favourite pieces from the entirety of this season’s offerings.

I wasn’t so fond of Max Mara’s SS20 collection and I'm not gonna lie, this isn’t THAT much of a step up for me personally. It’s just one of those brands I feel obligated to include because it’s talked about quite a bit but I’m not totally sure if it’s for me. Too monotone, but I’ll give it another season! And I mean, there is a slight improvement here-this collection is a lot more laid back than the stiff, austere feel of the last, and there are some very well fitted and structured pieces. A lot of the looks kinda remind me of a 2020, fashion take on The Breakfast Club’s “Basket Case”, which is kinda cool, and just from looking at the clothes, the high price tag is palpable. Also, scruffy hair club unite! Though obviously it’s intentional here! That’ll be my excuse for the next time I turn up at work looking like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards-Max Mara made me do it.

Ending on those words of wisdom, I’m gonna bring this post to a close, because I can’t fit any more photos in! I’m desperately hoping that I can fit this all into 3 parts like I did with my last RTW review but even if I do have to make 4 posts, I still include my top 10 shows as I did before. I hope to get that post up within the next couple of weeks! After that, I’ve shot a Lana Del Rey inspired by each of her different albums and “era”s though given last week’s events I’m on the fence about whether to post it or not, especially given her silence over the last couple of days. I’m really proud of what I’ve put together and I’ll always love her art and music (I have 2 bloody tattoos, for fuck’s sake!), so I’m trying to think how I can reconcile that with those awfully worded posts and just the general lack of awareness of bigger issues that she’s displayed the last week. JFC, being a Lana stan has always been so chilled up until now. All the very valid and important takes aside, that “Lana pls delete that post and apologise, we can’t fight the barbz all your stans are depressed” tweet is the only good thing to come out of this shitshow. He got a point. Breathing feels like effort lately:( IDK, if you’re also a Lana stan and you have any opinions on the matter, feel free to DM me, because I’m feeling pretty conflicted rn.

Most importantly though, are the issues I opened this post by talking about, and I thought I’d finish by including the thread of petitions I saw on Twitter. Like I said, a lot of them aren’t available to sign in the UK but to anyone who read up until this point (thank you!) idk where you’re reading from so maybe some of them will apply to you:

https://twitter.com/yericvIt/status/1265801832930045953

Also, while we’re at it, because every tory voting twat seems to treat our country as if it’s some beacon of hope where racism is non-existent and love to tell PoC to stop moaning about their experiences, here’s a thread of black British men and women who have lost their lives to police violence:

https://twitter.com/illh0eminati/status/1266441604170223617

Thank you for reading until the end. I hope that you enjoyed the fashion part of the post but also that if you did read this far, you read the other bits too if you didn’t know what was going on already. It seems like everyone does but you forget that Twitter’s a bit of an echo chamber and that outside of it, there’s a lot of ignorance, whether intentional or not. I know Tumblr has a similar audience to Twitter so I imagine there’s loads on here about everything going on too, but ya know. I wanted to talk about it just incase.

Stay safe, keep fighting the good fight, and again, thank you for reading!<3

Lauren x

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jewpacabruhs · 4 years

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hi guys! so this post is gonna be a rambly mess but fuck it, here ya go. if u dont wanna read all of it, u dont have to; skip down to underneath the tl;dr in bold text for the important bits :)

(there’s a brief & non-graphic mention of a triggering topic in the next paragraph. please be sure to skip this next paragraph if the thought of suicide is going to upset you.)

alright. so i didn't share this originally, but i spent some time in a psychiatric unit this month. suicidality related. 1000% unrelated from anything online, i've just struggled with depression for a very long time & shit happens. i didn't intend to share that at all & i certainly don't want pity; i'm telling u guys bc my time in the unit was extremely eye-opening, and i have some insight to share. since i've gotten out, with the help of my newest anti-depressant (fourth time’s a charm lol), i'm seeing the world in a better light & i finally have the energy to and the interest in exploring what it has to offer, which frankly i've never had before.

with that has come the realization that i’ve come to do something very unhealthy, and i want to break out of it. and that’s how much i’ve come to rely on my fandom life. i don’t want to get too candid publicly, but mental illness took a lot from me, and i lost most of my life, my future, and my options in the last few years. next year will involve a lot of working on rebuilding things. but in the time that i let things fall to pieces around me & i absolutely couldn’t get out of bed, i had a phone and i had a laptop. so when i couldn’t get up and physically face the world, i built up a new world online.

and i don’t think that’s a completely uncommon experience. most people are able to better manage things, and evenly juggle real life with an internet life (like i did back in middle school), because most people can’t abandon their real lives entirely like i managed to; but i do think a lot of people nowadays rely on their fandom life and their fandom friends when their irl situation isn’t ideal. and that’s an excellent coping mechanism in theory, but i think it’s debilitating in the long run.

forgive me for sounding like an old person, but i’m a heavy nostalgist and a bit of an anarcho-primitivist in that i resent modern technology's influence on society - but that hasn't stopped me from letting it be a big part of my life out of accessibility. the internet kept me occupied during my low points, and i became dependent, but i've realized i don't wanna live like that anymore. i’m vaguely grateful that it usually kept me busy enough that i wasn’t thinking the bad thoughts as frequently, but more than anything, i’m resentful that my grasp on reality got lost somewhere along the way, and i let time get away from me, too. because, again, an internet life should be a fun hobby, but when it’s a lifestyle and it becomes an excuse to avoid dealing with our real lives, bc our real lives aren’t as rewarding or as exciting, then it’s unhealthy.

everything’s at our fingertips these days, but i deeply believe human interaction, fun, and fulfillment shouldn't be spoon-fed to us through a screen. it's easy access, sure, but at the end of the day, is it any way to live? compared with how much world there is to see, i’m no longer satisfied with the thought of sitting behind a screen for another five years. i used to be, when i had no hope and no drive, but not anymore. i’m not gonna let myself settle for staying busy with the thing that takes the least amount of work & movement. not only because i’m a whole ass adult who needs to start sorting my shit out for the long run, but also because i deserve better.

and it’s fucking hard! especially for those of us who are neurodivergent. i dropped out of school three fucking times due to crippling social anxiety and utter lack of ambition and energy. i lost all my friends through that (making friends post-school is hard af); the thought of having to go out and remake friends makes me wanna fucking cry. i have a hard enough time making friends online, i’ve even come to struggle with correspondence thru text & email. phone calls? outta the question. but that’s therapy shit, and i know i’ll get there. i just have to stop putting life off by staying in a comfort zone.

and it’s interesting; depression and anxiety really took everything from me, and while i was dwelling in my own misery, my adhd worsened and decided to make my entire brain revolve around my fixations, so i didn’t have to deal with my own life. can’t think about how much you wanna die and how much you can’t function in society if you’re busy thinking about a ship you like or a character you find interesting. so i latched onto the safety of that. aggressively. problem with that is that once you let your “happiness” (as much of it as you can feel in the midst of your depressive episode, anyway) revolve around an interest, that’s all you have. so you become dependent and reliant, and that’s never good, especially if you’re someone like me who feels pathetic & ridiculous when you realize it’s all you can bring yourself to care about.

and i think that’s what i realized in the psych ward (where there’s legitimately nothing to do; i did soooo much more thinking than usual, and i already think too much haha); mental illness will try to fuck up your lifestyle, so you have to eradicate the things that’ll let that happen in the first place. for example, like i said, my adhd tries to counteract my depression by making me hyperfixate and/or hyperfocus on something else to protect me from bad personal thoughts, and that’s good in theory (doing something you enjoy when you feel bad, to distract urself, is the number one most basic coping skill you learn), but i can’t do it in moderation, i let it run my life, and that’s made me worse in the long run. so i have to force myself out of that completely and not let myself fixate on things that make me happy in the short term, but don’t ultimately further me as a person. having fixations helped me through some awful times, but now i need to force myself to grow up, you know?

and while tumblr and other social media is an excellent way to indulge those fixations, it’s an aggressive enabler, in more ways than one. what i mean by that... okay, so while i’m the type of person who self-destructs while unhealthy, i do occasionally lash out. and i know some people completely explode rather than implode when they’re not doing well. and that’s how you get discourse, i think. because when mental illness makes us care much more about our interests than we ought to, and someone has a differing opinion about that interest, the instinct is of course to attack, if you’re that kind of person. i don’t think i am, but depression and boredom go hand in hand, and i might be inclined to care more about discourse than i would if i were healthy, purely because it’s entertaining and something to do.

that’s a long winded way of saying, while i stand wholeheartedly by my past positions, i do regret starting shit in the first place. i’m not the kind of person who genuinely cares about much and i have little to no sense of morality (im a chaotic neutral bastard), so the fact i was bored enough to start shit really goes against my character and says a lot about how bad i’ve been. so i apologize for all that. but, again, i think that's just what happens when something is truly your everything. and i think the chronic negativity of modern fandom is a result of how damn seriously we all take it, because we care so much and we’re so dependent. fandom’s supposed to be fun, but it’s just too damn stressful this way.

idk my point in sharing all this, but i do think it'd be cool if this kinda got yall thinking. even if you don't engage in discourse, if fandom is just one of your only consistent sources of happiness, that's not healthy either. we all gotta break out & exist more & louder & more positively. and unfortunately i think tumblr fandom (and maybe all modern fandom) is no longer a place that encourages positivity and health.

but for all my criticism, i do just wanna say how eternally grateful i am that i was fortunate enough to meet the people i call my best friends through tumblr. they're my family, truly, and all the bullshit in this fandom has been worth it simply because it brought them to me. i love them to death and i always will, even if interests change, even if we grow apart, even if we quit speaking entirely in the next few years, i love them with my whole heart in a way that transcends a simple fandom friendship and i'm so glad we bonded over sp in the first place. that’ll never change.

i will also always love south park itself. now that the cat's outta the bag about my hospital visit, i can brag about my most pathetic and obsessive accomplishment; the fact that i've never let circumstance stop me from watching a new south park as it airs, and i've now watched sp on 1) an airplane, and 2) in a psych ward. i win for most dedicated fan tbfh. dsjkf & i'll keep that tradition, and i'll still watch this stupid show til it ends! it'll always hold a special place in my heart, & kyman's still my most meaningful & long-term ship. i'll never stop loving it.

tl;dr

so, to recap; for 2020 i'm making myself step back from fandom (not just sp fandom, but fandom in general) and quit letting my world revolve around my fixations so i can enjoy the outside world a little more, mental illness be damned, and the first step is gonna be quitting tumblr. this blog won't be deleted and i may occasionally post (maybe when next season airs) but you're absolutely free to unfollow bc this'll be a mostly inactive blog. i’m also unfollowing everyone, so mutuals, please don’t take that personally.

i will, however, try to write more prolifically, bc fic writing is something i'm able to do in moderation & enjoy, and i hope to get back into it. so if you'd like, you can keep an eye out for any upcoming fanfic i may post - my ao3 is leere. i also have snapchat, instagram, & twitter my mutuals can ask for asap (bc ill be logging out for good by the afternoon of the 31st, which is tomorrow) - though i'm not very active on any of them. still, if you wanna have access to me, i’ll be there.

i want some connection to the fandom still, albeit without letting my life revolve around it, so i'll be starting a new open-to-the-public kyman discord server! the post with the invite for that will go up soon. nvm im too anxious

thank you for reading, thank you for the good times (thnks fr th mmrs), and i hope everyone has a good 2020!

#txt #mine

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idontmeasure · 4 years

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Vegetarian taco filling

cost: about $4 for probably like 8-10 tacos, depending on how generous you are. price doesn’t include spices or oil or any substitutions. adjust to your level of struggle, friends

time: This takes me 15 min, from start to shoving it in my mouth. depends on your substitutions and knife skills.

ingredients:

- 1 tub fresh sliced white mushrooms (8 oz) (this is the most expensive ingredient at $1.79)

- 1 can black beans

- 1 can Rotel (or off brand Rotel - some mix of diced tomatoes and peppers)

- cooking oil (i use olive, but canola/vegetable works, too)

-minced garlic (i buy mine in a big tub)

- cumin, Mexican oregano, chili power (medium spiciness), onion powder, and garlic salt or regular salt

optional: chipotle Tabasco (i use it because someone accidentally got an enormous jug delivered to my mother-in-law’s house and she didn’t want it and the company wouldn’t take the return so she gave it to me. free tasty sauce!)

steps:

1. Dice the fresh mushrooms

2. Saute minced garlic (i just dig the wooden spoon into the jar and plop like whatever comes out on the end in there - garlic is gooooooood) in oil (enough to cover the surface of your pan) in a skillet over medium heat. do this about a minute. or whatever, just let it get warm without burning it.

3. after about a minute, plop in the mushrooms. Saute til they look kinda cooked. maybe another 2 min

4. Dump in drained can of beans and undrained can of rotel

5. Spices: Dump in cumin and red chili powder. Red chili is 2:1 ratio to cumin. So if you end up with a tbsp of chili, do half tbsp of cumin. i think that’s probably what i end up dumping in. Sprinkle onion powder (prob half tsp, but i just shake the container and cover the entire surface with a light dusting). Sprinkle salt or garlic salt to sparsely cover entire surface as well. Sprinkle enough oregano to cover the surface area of a fun-sized candy bar. or less. i do less because i’m not that in love with oregano, tbh. Squirt in some tabasco - i like to make a swirl design over the whole skillet because i have mine in one of those squeezy plastic bottles people use for bbq sauce.

6. Stir/mix well. Simmer as long as you want, but prob at least 6 min (6 min is coincidentally how long store brand taco shells that cost $1 a box take to get crispy in the oven - so convenient!). Stir and taste as you go. Add more spices as needed. Can’t tell what to add? try a tiny bit of salt and see what that does. Add black pepper, too.

7. Serve on corn tortillas (be sure to heat them up on a skillet) or hard shells or chips or eat over rice. Add any usual taco fixings, like jalapenos or salsa or sour cream or cheese (if you have a body and a budget that can afford dairy, that is)

Possible Questions Answered under the cut

q. seriously, though, can’t u put measurements on this?

a. no. i dont measure. you came to a blog called idontmeasure.

q. calorie count?

a. it’s relatively low. beans/tomatoes/mushrooms are maybe like 450-500 cals if you eat the entire recipe by yourself - shells/tortillas not included. i don’t count calories, though, so you’ll have to look elsewhere for recipes that do or use a calorie counter.

q: what if i can’t get fresh mushrooms?

a: you could use canned - be sure to drain and dice and saute ‘em. the taste will be a little different. you can skip them, too. i skip them all the time when i’m too broke for fresh stuff or i just can’t get to the store for a while. Cost decreases by almost half if you take out the mushrooms, but the taste is less umami.

q: this looks too spicy - what should i do?

a: cut out the tabasco. use mild rotel. use mild chili powder. use less chili powder. use none! it won’t taste the same, but it’ll still be good and filling.

q: this doesn’t look spicy enough - what should i do?

a: use habanero rotel, but be cautioned that for some people, that will be WAY too spicy. or add a dash of cayenne. i always dump whatever hot salsa i have and some jarred jalapenos on top afterwards because it’s never spicy enough but my husband can’t eat it if i use habanero.

q: i can’t get rotel or canned black beans

a: use fresh tomatoes and peppers. or just get regular canned diced tomatoes. add canned peppers or jarred green chili. you can also use dried beans - just be sure to soak them overnight. you can also sub kidney beans or pinto beans for the black beans.

q. can i just use one of those taco seasoning packs?

a: sure. it’s cheaper to use the spices, though, and seasoning packs usually include extra stuff like sometimes flour and always anti-caking ingredients, so just make sure you read it

q. onion powder?

a. i actually prefer to use minced onion, but i don’t have one on hand always. so if you have actual onion, use that! if not, use onion powder. don’t want onion flavor? skip it!

q. can i put bell pepper in this?

a. oh, heck yeah. fresh, diced bell pepper of any color is super good in this. you can put the frozen diced bell peppers in here, too.

#recipe #cooking #tacos #vegetarian tacos

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kwat01 · 4 years

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I love Faust! I'm so jealous. It's been almost 20 years since I've seen it. I got to see Samuel Ramey as Mephistopheles in L.A. It's funny to hear you say that about the Discworld fandom. I feel like I see those fans around so much more than Phantom ones! Phantom can be lonely for non-musical fans imo. Are you enjoying Maskerade?? I used to write a lot of fanfic, but it's been ages. I'm afraid distraction is a big problem for me too XD Are you traveling for the holidays? What's it like in AU?

Hello Santa! :)

I googled and watched some Samuel Ramey, what a voice! That would have been a great show to see :) I'd like to see a couple more operas, will be checking the website regularly.

I guess it's more that I had trouble finding discworld art, at least active blogs with my favourite characters lol. I've only given it a couple of cracks and was probably being to fussy with my search, and like with my writing, my attention span is fickle XD I should try again, I probably stumbled down an unused Tumblr rabbit hole lol.

Agree with you about the lonely factor for non-musical fans, I lose it a little bit when I come across some dark Leroux phics or some perfect Leroux art 🖤 if I could focus more I'd contribute some, why has anatomy have to be so hard!!? *throws drawing pad across the room* BAH!

Maskerade is a wonderful distraction at the moment, but I haven't read much, I've been so very tired lately, I find I read a page and realise I haven't absorbed anything, I haven't read much phanfiction either! Hopefully once silly season wraps up I can try to balance my time, the brain might relax a bit and I can catch up :(

I won't get much time off this year for holidays but my husband and I might be going camping for 2 nights, nothing hard-core, just caravan park lot with a bunch of family members who live in the country. We did this a couple of years ago and was really chill and fun, good for all the kids too. They tend to follow me around a lot, they can smell my fear XD I love them but I have no idea how to say no to them and they know it! One had me pushing her around the pool on a ring for an hour while her mother laughed at me as she snuck a Christmas bubbly. There was a really cool abandoned creepy twine shed next to the camp ground where I was able to snap some awesome photos, will check that out again if we do go. Would like to sneak some fishing in but I don't think it will happen with trying to fit in other family visits on the way, will have to wait til New Years, might plan a road trip 🚗

Usually by Christmas it's scorching hot here though so we're going to keep an eye on the forecast first. But it just wouldn't be Christmas if you don't end up with some serious sunburn... Will remember to take more food this year too, last time we tried to go shopping on Christmas day because we had blow-ins who wanted to be fed but EVERYTHING was closed. BBQ was stretched a bit thin, salad to meat ratio was disheartening XD

What are your plans for Christmas? Are you planning anything big or just a quiet one? Does it snow where you are? I'd love to experience a white Christmas just once, they look so magical :)

Thank you for your ask!

#poto secret santa

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nettlestonenell · 5 years

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How Peggy Carter Shows Up in Avengers: Endgame

...is actually a really important question to ponder, Gentle Readers. Thanks for asking.

As I recently set forth here, Peggy Carter is the central bedrock of the MCU. If you don’t like her, you don’t like it.

As such, it seems unlikely that the attention she will be given in Endgame will be limited to the infamous black and white picture Steve keeps in his old compass (which some fans believe he looks to for moral guidance. About which I stringently disagree.)

Insert your own traveling-across-realms Once Upon a Time Swanfire keychain reference here.

Just to cover all the possible bases, then;

SCENARIO #1: Peggy used solely as image/misunderstood totem for Cap.

NOPE.

I firmly expect “actual” Peggy Carter to make an appearance in Endgame, and according to the internet at large, I am not alone.

HOW she makes that appearance, and what is made of her appearance is entirely unknown at this time, but here are the strongest possibilities. (All following scenarios involve Time Travel or universe-shifting.)

SCENARIO #2:

Cap sent back in time to his version of a Valhalla/warrior’s paradise: right after his jet goes into the ice he manages somehow to arrive the following Saturday at the Stork Club at 8pm as she and he were talking about in his last moments on the radio.

While iconic for that time period, The Stork Club (of New York City) has always seemed a rather upscale venue for Peggy and Steve to pick. (Coincidentally, it closed its doors in 1965)

(Ultimately, you may recall Steve saying he’s going to need a raincheck on that dance.)

I don’t see it. Doing this robs those moments in The First Avenger entirely of their gravity and their far-reaching impact in the MCU. Peggy wouldn’t even have a hot moment to grieve for what she lost. What’s more, Peggy in the immediate aftermath of Steve’s disappearance hasn’t got anything to offer the plot/Cap in the way of fighting Thanos/the power of Infinity Stones. She’s just relegated to a sort of trophy/reward, without any utility in the storyline.

If Peggy Carter is used in Endgame without having something to contribute to the forward motion of the plot, IF, for example, she’s reduced to a sort of ‘Grey Havens’ for Cap, what an utter waste of everything MCU has put into her over the years. If going back to be with Peggy (pre-Marvel’s Agent Carter and ongoing developments in the MCU) is simply Cap’s “reward”, then Peggy gets reduced to nothing but a dog treat. [which, I daresay from reading enough tumblr plenty of bloggers think she is]

Just as I said in that earlier blog, narratively it’s Steve in TFA who has to “come up” to Peggy’s level, both physically

She could snap him in two if they tried that dance, now.

(at least narratively-speaking—obviously there’s absolutely NOTHING wrong in real life with two partners not being the physical equal of one another, in fact it’s rather more standard than not) and also heroic conviction-wise; he has to be willing to step out there and join the fight (as when he left the showgirls, etc).

Of course, even leaving the showgirls behind, Steve won’t miss out on the sight of a great pair of legs, Angie Martinelli will gladly tell you.

Ahem. It’s been awhile since Cap woke up from the ice. He’s seen and done a lot. But Peggy, in the immediate wake of his crash, well, she’s hasn’t had a chance to grow similarly.

TFA-era Peggy and Infinity War-era Cap are far from on the same footing. She’s only just had her first brush with the supernatural (Vibranium and the Tesseract, super-soldier serum). She’s still WWII-Peggy, and Cap hasn’t been WWII-Cap for awhile (remember his government’s betrayal in Winter Soldier? His own rebellion in Civil War?).

Unlikely we’ll see this noobishly terrified expression ever again.

Lots has happened since next Saturday at the Stork Club, 8pm. Let’s talk funerals. Cap has gone to Peggy’s,

I’m not proud of showing you this.

and in the season one finale of Agent Carter, Peggy “Goodbye, My Darling” (words, btw, she never said to him in real-life) Carter takes a moment to pour Steve’s blood sample off the Brooklyn Bridge to prevent it being used for ill, and memorialize and let him go in a real way, which she had yet to be able to do.

Do you think the military held a funeral/event in memory of Steve after he was lost to the ice?

A day or two (or even a year) after the crash, she hasn’t been able to bring herself to do that.

Secondarily, as I said in that earlier blog, Peggy has to live and operate in a world without Steve IF ONLY TO BE SHOWN AS SUCCESSFUL ON HER OWN TERMS and not viewed merely as Captain America’s Girlfriend.

Having him show up ON TIME for their dance doesn’t allow her that. It also doesn’t see her co-found S.H.I.E.L.D. (for one example). Peggy would have remained Peggy unchanged, and Cap—well, Cap’s changed plenty. He doesn’t even dress the same.

Just look at the confidence in this man’s face. This man has grown and changed since burying that plane in the ice.

If he wakes up in TFA the same year that film came out, that’s almost nine years ‘til Infinity War, and who knows how long ‘til the plot of Endgame picks up. All of WWII lasted six years. It doesn’t seem like Cap’s life since waking up has been any less of a crucible.

I absolutely understand the emotional desire fans have to see that dance and that date take place as though nothing has happened. I. Get. It. But from a story standpoint, it’s a bad idea that negates so much work and development that’s come before.

I deeply apologize for my story-based convictions on this matter.

SCENARIO #3: Parallel Peggy

Parallel universes make my brain hurt. Literally anything could happen in them. Except Steve getting time with actual Peggy.

Also, that would be something of a Whovian #10/Rose re-tread, wouldn’t it?

SCENARIO #4:

(Possibly one-way) Time Travel to Just the Sweet Spot Where Peggy Has Access to an Answer the Avengers Need

Peggy Carter’s life and work have meant a lot to the MCU (don’t get me started on the fact the franchise didn’t have Nick Fury, Coulson, Hill, and Tony Stark attend her funeral).

We know some of what she was involved in with SSR and S.H.I.E.L.D. (okay, well, likely she was involved with literally EVERYTHING). We know she had two children, a boy and girl, and a granddaughter (we don’t want to negate them, do we?[Aside: Could Steve and Peggy even have kids?]).

Children on the right, on the left the photo is taken later (note clothing style), indicating a granddaughter.

We know she was married, though the powers that be have stopped short of ever naming her husband.

Sorry, wrong wedding dress, wrong wedding, v.v. sad day about to happen.

Season Two of Agent Carter shows her embarking on a relationship with Daniel Sousa,

All my love, Daniel!

but for all we know that proved a non-starter, and in a twist she wed Jack Thompson—or even Dum Dum—or some other guy we never met. We’re simply not told. No man appears in photos by her bedside in Winter Soldier, her husband is given no name in her official obit from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In her 1953 interview we’re told that she’s married by that time, she speaks about her husband, a WWII vet. (The bedside picture with her two children shows her with a similar hairstyle to this interview)

What we’ve never been given is information about how long that married lasted. Divorce, death of a spouse? Entirely possible. If Cap’s being sent back (at least in part) to pitch woo to Peggy, I’m betting her husband will have passed on. (Truly sorry if it’s you, Daniel!)

I’m betting that in those files Cap was reviewing in The Winter Soldier, there may have been something among his research about what Peggy got up to after he was gone.

In my memory, there’s like a whole box of this sort of thing sitting around Cap’s apartment.

And that among her work, or even among Howard’s Bad Babies, might well be technology or an item needed to help defeat Thanos or reverse the snap.

So, Cap shaves his beard (to be more recognizable to her),

goes back not to 1940, but sometime after Peggy’s interview in 1953

(recall the motion-capture dots on Hayley in that Instagram pic which may be used to age her, recall also the casting call for 1960s office girls).

This gives us BOTH a Peggy who had moved on and done important work, AND a Cap who has grown and changed since being pulled from the ice.

In a scenario like this, what we are presented with (again) are Steve and Peggy as two EQUALS, the reward for each of whom, and their lifetime of service and sacrifice is each other. And a Cap returned to a world more in- line with his human life expectancy (and among which he might feel more comfortable—and in which some of his friends/the Howling Commandos might still live). Peggy would be in her 40s in the 1960s*. (Don’t even get me started on loving middle-aged awesome, reaching her sexual peak Peggy getting to be with constantly on-peak super-soldier Steve.)

I mean, check out Peggy in her late 60s: Here, hot, and still happening.

SCENARIO #4 doesn’t diminish a possible Steggy happy ending. In fact, it just deepens and burnishes it.

*Perhaps whatever takes place in the 60s also involves the long-unexplained tease of how Peggy as head and founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. remained (we assume) unaware that Hydra had long infiltrated her organization. #utterpipedreams

COMPLICATIONS:…now don’t get me started that if Cap-Now goes back, Cap-Then is still in the ice, destined to wake up, and that gets all kind of weird—sort of like Parallel Universes.

Time Travel and the potential plurality of existence is treacherous and headache-y to contemplate.

QUESTIONS THAT PERSIST: IF Cap is able to go back in time, and there’s nothing in-story that can be gained by it other than his reunion with Peggy, doesn’t it make more sense that he’d choose to go back and reverse something terrible in history, such as prevent the US from dropping atomic bombs, saving countless (estimated around 250k) lives?

Or that he would go back and rescue Bucky from Armin Zola?

After all, he’s seen that Peggy’s life was happy. She died loved, safe, and respected as a (very) old woman in her bed. Ya can’t say that for ole Buck.

Truly, if the power of time travel is in your hands, and you choose to use it purely for selfish reasons, well, that’s about the most un-Cap thing I’ve ever heard of.

So, Gentle Readers, how do you think this thing is going to go down?

#captain america #avengers endgame #mcu #peggy carter #steve rogers #steggy #marvel's agent carter #is my marvel superhero #cap won't mind #peggy in endgame #meta #daniel sousa #never forgotten

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seenashwrite · 5 years

Text

Cards Against Supernatural: January 27th

◄ SUNDAY JANUARY 27th, 8:00/8:30 P.M.-ish* CST ►

(* As always, this is not precisely when the game starts - I aim to have the rooms open at about 15 til so we can ideally start at the time above - we take a little time for everybody to get logged in & settled in chat, so feel free to come & hang out while you wait!)

If you see this? You’re invited. ALL SPN Family members who are at least 18 years & older are welcome!

💡 IF THIS WILL BE YOUR FIRST GAME WITH US, YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE IT’S GONNA BE YOUR JAM & VISIT CASPN HEADQUARTERS 💡

—> This is a mobile-friendly page and contains tons of need-to-knows —> This is NON-NEGOTIABLE FOR NEW PLAYERS

🌟 Post with game link + password AND the links to the Discord room will go up closer to start of game 🌟

—> Make sure you are ready to go at Discord prior to game time so all you have to do is click-n’-chat! —> At the game site and on Discord (if you do not already have one), make sure you use your Tumblr name or a variation thereof so we know who you are - this prevents unnecessary confusion. 😁

🃏 Find out ways you can contribute to the decks, the most recent CASPN updates, quick tips for players, & how to join the tag list below 🃏

YOU CAN HELP MAKE THIS GAME BETTER!

Anytime you spot a great quote - and it will probably be on a gif! - that you think may work as a question/answer, shoot it my way and I’ll see if I can work it in.

Please include the season & episode number so I know which deck to put it in. FYI: We do not need any from seasons 3, 5, or 6 - those decks are complete or near completion.

UPDATES

On Dramatic Fic Readings…

If you’re a vet, you know we’ve been having a blast with these, closing out our games with a dramatic reading of a Fic Wreck by yours truly.

For our purposes, to be a Fic Wreck Dramatic Reading candidate, it means:

Features a heinously out-of-character Dean and/or Sam –> this is the core characteristic & is non-negotiable

No smut/kinks/Wincest/ABO –> this is non-negotiable

In the 500-700 word range or less (so, a Drabble)

Can be on Tumblr or from an outside site (FF.net, AO3, Wattpad, et al)

If on Tumblr, preferably at least a year old/not currently circulating on all our dashes with great fervor

Preferably not anyone’s BFF or whatever - and NEVER someone in our group, though y’all are certainly welcome to volunteer any of your own short fics if you just want to hear it read aloud in my crazy voices

Preferably features an immature/annoying/etc. “Y/N”

Preferably has an inexplicably high note/reblog/kudos/etc. count for what it is, which is a wreck

Preferably has a plot that is objectively ridiculous and/or plot points that are crazy confusing

New CASPN Perma Chat!

This is the permanent chat room for the CASPN Crew, the link is set to never expire. It will not be deleted like the weekly chats, so feel free to use this space to make suggestions or let your fellow CASPN buddies about things you may need (such as a beta) or things you’ve got planned (such as a challenge) or upcoming events (such as a convention).

VERY IMPORTANT REGARDING VOICE CHAT

If you are going to participate in the voice chat over at Discord *PLEASE* make sure you are in a quiet place, and if you are unable to do so, kindly mute yourself and just listen until you are able.

Also, kindly mute yourself if you need to speak to someone on the phone/someone who is with you in person, and mute yourself if your environment becomes noisy - it happens! No worries! Just jump back in when that’s done/when it’s your turn to read

Have this set up and ready to go prior to game start, and ensure all other apps/messaging on your device of choice are muted.

If you are in voice chat just so you can listen because you can’t/don’t choose to read aloud, that of course is fine, but you need to have yourself muted, please, and communicate via chat that you need myself or someone else to read your hand.

TIPS & TRICKS FOR IN-GAME FAQs

(A kind reminder: most everything I/veteran players are asked in chat during games is covered at CASPN Headquarters)

Should your mic go out/no one can hear you in Discord, same thing applies as it does when you get duplicate cards/can’t choose a card over in the game - REFRESH! Just refresh the browser page for Discord, and give it a second, and it should remedy itself.

🏷️ Tag Me In The Future, Nash! 🏷️

TO BE TAGGED, YOU *MUST* SEND AN ASK! I will not tag you any other way, nor will I tag you if you’ve never played with us before. Them’s the breaks.

I AM UNABLE TO TAG ON THE DAY OF GAMES, suggest you look out for the post, come try the game on for size & if you enjoy it, kindly send an ask stating you’d like to be tagged after you know you like it & are able to participate in future games

IF YOU HAVE CHANGED YOUR NAME, it is YOUR responsibility to send me an ask - I will not track you down or assume you want to stay tagged

FOR THOSE WITH SETTINGS THAT PREVENT TAGGING, you do not have to follow me in order to participate, however I will not follow you just so I can tag you - I am following some CASPN players, however it is only when I find their content of interest or I was already following them prior to the original deck’s conception - if you want to be in the know about the game dates/times, I suggest you (a) follow me and/or #CASPN which is unique to the weekly games I run, or (b) make a side blog with standard settings that is purely for the purpose of being on this tag list (ex: “CASPN-[your handle])

Tag team, back again…

@impandagrl

@salt-n-burn-em-all

@coffeeandwinchesters

@gryffindorable713

@rozadolphin

@abbessolute

@ohio-cnk-80q3

@a-screaming-ghost

@ferferelli

@growningupgeek

@thefanwithoutfear

@ericaprice2008

@butiaintgonnaloveem

@bumbleball13

@ultimatecin73

@looksmokin

@muchamusedaboutnothing

@crowleyshellhoundspn

@idreamofhazel

@blackcherrywhiskey

@winchesterprincessbride

@bemyqueenofdarkness

* The Cannot Tags! *

It either (1) looks like the blog under this name is inactive, (2) you’ve changed your name and not told me, or (3) there’s a setting on YOUR end that prevents it.

None presently as the list has been purged/updated as of 11/11/18

❓ WHY AM I NOT TAGGED? you may ask ❓

Reminder: I’m taking roll at games so I can keep up maintenance on the tag list - if you aren’t participating often [read: approx. every 6 wks/6 games] & you haven’t let me know to move you to my “Hiatus” list, then you won’t be tagged on posts, but I’ll keep you on the CASPN tags page, listed at the bottom under the time frame you were removed.

It is possible I made a mistake if I get busy and neglect to c/p the roster frequently throughout the game - all you have to do is speak up. The biggest issue I have with keeping up is when you use some rando name in game that neither I nor any of the other players recognize. If you want to stay on the tags, you need to use a name I’ll know. Otherwise, I couldn’t care less, call yourself whatever strikes your fancy! :)

Want to be back on “active” status? Want to be removed altogether? No problem! Kindly communicate your wishes with me via Ask.

#CASPN #Cards Against Humanity #Cards Against Supernatural #Sunday nights #during season 14 #Queueby Dooby Doo #Dad's on a blog post and #he hasn't been queued in a few days

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franeridart · 6 years

Note

*SOBS* IM JUST SO GLAD YOURE BACK

Aw thank you !!!!! It’s really just thanks to the past couple of days of cooler weather tho, ngl hahaha the earth has been indulgent to me, this past week!

Anon said:I really liked that wgole bakushima gem thing! What would bakugou do if kirishima somehow got corrupted and couldnt reverse it? (Without the other diamonds)

Thank you for liking it!!!! And I guess he’d just go ask the other diamonds? Well, he would never let it get to that, but if it were the only option it’s not like he’d leave Kiri like that!

Anon said:Quick, someone put a flashlight on diamond!Kiri

He’d be shinier than Aoyama and Hagakure using her special move put together !!!!!!! v pretty~

Anon said:your kiribaku gem AU inspired me so much that i’m finally watching steven universe just so i can understand it better because what i did understand was that i loved it

OH MAN I hope you’ll enjoy it!!!! It’s a bit silly and all over the place through the first season, but try to give it time !!

Anon said:Hi! I went and checked out your fan art for Kuroko no Basket and I absolutely adore AoKaga! Your AoKaga works make me so happy! I love them all!

Ohhhhh man thank you so much !!!!!!!!!! it’s super old stuff tho how did you even find it hhhhh haha

Anon said:Hello hello! here w bad news a instagram page posted your art and i know you dont like repost so im informing you. The page is kags.fujoshi and it was posted july 23

Yeh I know, I’ve been trying to report it and the other one I’ve been being told about but instagram won’t let me submit the thing so I guess this is how things are and I’ll just die mad about it since instagram likes to make things as hard and impossible to me as it can

Anon said:Bless your art

Thank you ;;;;;

Anon said:Omg literally your kiribaku Steven universe crossover is so fucking perfect thank you for blessing us with it; I’d love to see more if you have anything or feel like ever doing more about it but I don’t want to pressure you or anything, do what you want to do and what makes you happy :) Take care!

Ahhhhhh thank you so much!!!!! I’m super glad you liked it this much!!!!!!!

Anon said:✨Gentle reminder to take care of yourself today ✨

You too, anon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Everytime I see you upload new art I end up looking through and loving your entire BNHA Art tag. It’s so wonderful

gAH thank you so SO much!!!!!!!!!! don’t waste so much time on my blog, tho hahaha

Anon said:heya! I was just wondering if u had any short bakukiri one-shot fic recommendations. i prefer to read short things bc i have some learning difficulties and i was hoping u might know some good simple reads. Thanks! (

Aw man sorry but I really don’t have the time to make a rec list rn ;; if you’re fine with it this is the tag on AO3 filtered so that it shows only complete content with a max word count of 5000 starting from the one with most kudos going down, the first ones showing are all super good fics - in case you’re not okay with explicit content you can filter that too (if youre not okay with mature either just check that out as well) and to go further this is the tag excluding the fics tagged as tddk cause that’s not what you’re looking for and the tddk and krbk fandom sure like to put each other in the listed relationships even if the fic isn’t about them (it excludes some krbk fics too but what can we do about that)

Anon said:ASDFGHKRNOFNE your last doodle killed me!!!! soft todoroki

AHHHHH I’m super glad you liked them !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;;;

Anon said:I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of your art, you beautiful gift you

Thank you smmmmm ;;;

Anon said:I am taking the SU story down for now. Please, let me know if I have your permission to post it, or if you don’t want me to. // And just to clarify - I’m not deleting the story out of spite or anything. I wrote it as a “get-well-soon” gift, but since you make it very clear you want to know how your art is used and that you must give your approval, I began to fear it would become a source of annoyance to you rather than something nice. I can put it back up if you want me to.

I don’t mind you writing the story or posting it, so if you wanna upload it again go for it! For future reference tho, if you’re in a rush to get an answer out of me (referring to the message where you asked if it was okay) your best bet is to go off-anon since those I always answer privately and as soon as I can. It can take me up to over a week to answer anon asks here, which I’d guess is sort of obvious? so seriously next time you’re in a rush to get an answer it’s better if you don’t go through the anon option!!

Anon said:HI I LOVE YOUR ART IT’S GORGEOUS AHHHHHHH

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Anon said:How long does it take t draw one artwork for you?

Some things ten minutes, some things three days of work, it really depends on what I’m drawing? If it’s bw or colored, if it has a bg, if it’s a bust or a full body, if it’s one person or five, one drawing or a full comic, how used I am to drawing the character vs how new it is, how easy the clothes are and how many details there are on them - if you sent me an example I could specifically tell you how long it took me!

Anon said:is bakugo ticklish? what do u think?

Bakugou is ticklish but the immediate aftermath of tickling Bakugou is to be blasted into kingdom come so maybe better not to tickle him unless you’re Kiri and can protect yourself

Anon said:Bakukirikami is some good stuff my dude

It sure as heck is! Lately my old stuff for them is getting a bunch of new notes, I’m assuming people are getting into it thanks to the anime haha the magic of the license exam my doods

Anon said:hey I hope I don’t sound creepy but, I just want to say that your art really makes me happy and that you’re one of my favorite artist out there. So even if somtimes you feel like your art sucks I want you to know that I think it’s beautiful! Hope you’re doing well!

You don’t sound creepy at all!!!!! thank you SO MUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:i live for ur kamisero art just saying

I haven’t drawn much of that, have I? I’m glad you like it tho!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Mako and Tai ♥️♥️

!!!

Anon said:This isn’t an ask, just that I love your art style and it reminds me of a beautiful and cute point and click adventure, “Harvey’s new eyes ” and “Ednas break out” Its very cute and pretty just like your art style and I love both ^^

Oh man thank you!!!

Anon said:Q U O R K

I honestly can’t even remember if this is just a random ask or if it was referring to something specific, ngl (if it’s the second, sorry about my memory being like this orz)

Anon said:Gah I keep missing preorders! I’ve only ever really wanted 2, and each time, don’t have any money, til after they’re done 😢 oh well, I guess. Hope you’re doing well!

If you’re referring to the takemyhand zine, preorders are still going tho!!! and thank you!!!!

#fran answers #SOME ASKS!!#i didn't get to everyone who mentioned the reposts but yeh that's how the situation is #im still trying but things are how they are so there's that #i #really hate instagram ngl #but you know how it is #breathe in breathe out let it go don't think about it #it's useless to stress over stuff you can do anything about after all haha #anonymous

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jordanjaeger · 5 years

Text

Life Update + What Will Become of This Blog

Hello everyone! I know it’s been a very long time since I last updated this blog. I still log in and browse around from time to time, but obviously I’m no longer very active. So I apologize for that.

I see I’ve gained quite a few new followers. I want to say nearly 150-200+ since Fall 2017. I’m not sure. I haven’t really kept up with who’s new and who isn’t. That’s why I wanted to come on here and give you guys an official update and what the future of this blog may look like.

If you’re not necessarily interested in my life update, then you can go ahead and skip down to the section where I talk about my blog and what I foresee it becoming in the future. If you are interested in getting to know me, where I’ve been, what I’ve been up to, and how I’ve been, then keep on reading!

To my old friends whom I made when I first started this blog, I really, truly hope you are all doing well! I noticed some some of you have changed usernames, or moved on to new blogs. I’m just happy to see that most of you you all are still here. <3

As you may know, and to the new followers who may not know, I’ve been in college for about three almost four years now. My first university was a four year school just ten minutes away from my home. I attended there after graduating high school back in 2015, but I only attended for two years primarily to focus on my general education courses and save money. I did this because my first school didn’t offer my degree, which was Graphic Design, so I knew I would eventually end up having to transfer.

While I was at my old school, I had a lot of free time on my hands. If I wasn’t at school I was at home in, my room drawing, writing, or binge watching Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and other various anime. It wasn’t until Attack on Titan season 2 that I really became invested in the show, and decided to create my blog jordanjeager.

I knew I loved anime and writing, and I had already been following a multitude of different AoT/SnK blogs, so I thought why don’t I create one myself? It’ll be fun, and hopefully I can make some friends who enjoy the same things as I do in the process. In the end, my blog became very successful. I found myself writing almost everyday all day, even at work, and I made about five or six really amazing friends on here.

In Fall of 2017 I transferred schools to pursue Graphic Design. That’s when things started to turn left. It was my first official “freshman” year as it was my first time being away from home, and having to adjust to a new city, new environment and new campus turned out to be more than I could handle. Also, I was distracted with new friends, and just overcoming personal battles that would help me to promote growth and happiness. Because of this, I had a hard time focusing on school which in turn reflected on my grades. Not to mention I was still trying to find time to write for my blog. I ended up triggering a small era of depression that would come and go.

2018 was just a bad year for me period. The friends I had made my first semester at my new school started falling off one by one. One got pregnant, so she moved back home, and the others just failed to reciprocate the same energy I had given, so I eventually backed off and became isolated. I was alone, and for a while I was fine with it, but as time went on, my depression worsened.

In the summer of 2018 I took two classes, each one was four hours long, which in total was 8 hours. You guys, I was going to school for 8 hours a day, four days out of the week, with no breaks. The classes were extremely accelerated and it felt like I was working a 9-5 job with no pay. Not to mention towards the end of the summer semester, I became extremely ill for two weeks.

Fall 2018 came around and my on and off depression had gotten a lot worse, mostly because of my degree. I was finally getting into my upper level classes for GD, and after barely passing one of my classes, I was starting to come to the realization that maybe GD wasn’t for me. But I was too conflicted to switch majors because I was afraid of either starting over or prolonging my graduation year. I currently won’t graduate ‘til Fall 2020. You guys, I’m 22. You see my dilemma here?

I tried to do my research on what I else I could possibly pursue in the arts that wouldn’t put me behind, but my options were degrees that I knew I’d struggle to find a job in. I don’t want to be living paycheck to paycheck after spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on a degree.

Finally, 2019 rolled around and I started another semester. This time though, I’m taking the part II to the class I barely passed last semester. Still unsure of what to do as far as my degree, still depressed, I wondered if I’d ever find something to study that brings me joy and makes me happy, but will, at the same time, sustain me with a decent salary. Then something amazing happened.

After talking to one of my professors, whose class I both needed to take for my GD degree and am now currently taking, I learned of a new degree that overlapped with GD. It’s called Intermediate Design (app and website building) and it was basically the gist of the class I’m taking right now, which is Interactive Media. You guys, when I learned about this degree, I was quick to do my research and schedule an appointment with the advisor and head coordinator, because the class I’m taking now with said professor is basically a synopsis of ID, and I love my IM class.

So after talking to both the advisor and coordinator of the ID degree, I realized that this is what I want to pursue. This is what makes me happy. Despite it being challenging, I find myself becoming more and more excited as I work on my projects for my IM class, and if the projects I’m doing now are what’s to be expected of the ID degree, then I know what I want to do.

Since making the decision to switch my major, I have been nothing short of happy. I withdrew from the class that was the second part to the class I barely passed last semester, and am now only taking three courses. I can’t tell you how happy and relieved I am, and how much weight I feel has been lifted off of my shoulders. I feel like I have a clearer headspace now that I know what I want to do for the remainder of my college career.

The Blog

With all that being said, I want to start back writing again. I’ve had a lot more time to catch up with AoT/SnK, and now that I’m up to speed with the manga, I feel inspired to write again. I want to write again. Writing has always been a hobby of mine and a getaway from everyday life.

I don’t have any friends where I go to school, so I’d like to pick back up this hobby because I know it’ll help take my mind off of the loneliness I sometimes feel being here. Plus, I know that I won’t be judged for liking the things I like and participating in the things I enjoy.

But, I want to know what you all’s thoughts are. To those of you who have been with me since the beginning and those of you who are new, would you be interested in me opening my request box up again? I still get many notes and reposts from you all, and I’ve even gotten a couple messages from some of you hoping that I’ll start taking requests again. I want to make this an experience for both you and I, and I want to become more engaged with my followers. So let me know you guys’ thoughts and I will take them all into consideration.

That’s all I have for now!

Xoxo

Jordan Jaeger

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coopdigitalnewsletter · 3 years

Text

2 Sep 2021: Shortages and brittle supply chains. How to make your website greener.

Hello, this is the Co-op Digital newsletter. Forward it to a pal who’d like to read about what the internet is doing to retail businesses, people, communities and society.

[Image: by Noel Broda on Unsplash]

Shortages and brittle supply chains

Food: McDonald's UK restaurants run out of milkshakes, and remember that McDs, Nandos and other large chains are experts at supply chaining! Iceland supermarket boss sounds alarm over Christmas supplies.

Haulage: UK truck driver shortage signals a broken labour market. Food firm in 'drastic' action amid driver shortage.

Shipping and containers: China-U.S. container shipping rates sail past $20,000 to record.

Labour: Prisoners to plug worker shortage in meat industry. ‘The anxiety is off the scale’: UK farm sector worried by labour shortages. Amazon offers £1,000 joining bonus for new UK staff.

Health care: NHS stops some blood tests due to vial shortages.

Not forgetting: semiconductors and computer chips.

If you want to buy holiday presents that contain computer chips and are imported from the other side of the world, your gift will slowly surf the wave of many of these shortages. (And maybe you should order now!)

There isn’t one simple cause for these shortages. Brexit, low wages, and Covid are all factors, as are supply chains that were already stretched thin. “Our demand for everything, 24/7, at knock-down prices creates a fragile food chain, vulnerable to shocks.”

Those fast, efficient, optimised supply chains may now be mis-matched to a changing world: supply chains need to be more resilient to changes and interruptions in politics and borders, climate and weather. More resilient supply chains probably means removing some of the just-in-time optimisations - deliberately making everything less efficient so it can keep going. Slower, more expensive, but less brittle and more adaptable. As the programmers used to say, fast, cheap or reliable: you can pick two. Or in this case, maybe just one.

“Our demand for everything, 24/7, at knock-down prices” is a neat way of describing a very large and complex retail infrastructure. It’s hard to imagine it working in a different way. So one good question is how you sell a world like that to consumers. Perhaps retail leans into the constraints of seasonality, locality, a smaller range…

Previously: the need for slower supply chains.

Retail workers

A report from a shelf edge technology provider: “why store teams are essential to shopper loyalty” (pdf). In store retail, the “system” (replenishment, logistics etc) are fairly invisible. The magic is in the visible bit - the stores and the staff. Online retail is more or less the opposite model: the system is more visible (website, deliveries) and the staff are invisible.

Elsewhere: Retail bosses demand more protection for UK workers. Just Eat announces 1,500 new jobs in North East. Mr Kipling maker Premier Foods offers staff hybrid working.

How to make your website greener

Each hour you watched of Netflix in 2019 emitted 36 grams of carbon dioxide, mostly from the electricity used to store and move the data. Transferring data across the internet has been getting cheaper in recent years, which is good. But the total amount of data being sent is obviously growing massively as internet use grows, which is a problem.

So you might wonder how to measure the carbon emissions of your website, and how to make your website greener. Some resources we’re reading:

“Just last week I reduced global emissions by an estimated 59.000 kg CO2 per month” by making a JavaScript library more efficient.

Does Irresponsible Web Development Contribute to Global Warming?

The average web page tested produces 1.76 grams CO2 per page view.

Website Carbon looks at data transfer, energy intensity of web data, energy source used by the data centre, carbon intensity of electricity, and website traffic (coop.co.uk scores ok, but could be better).

Greening the Web: How We Can Create Zero Carbon Websites - ideas from a web hosting company.

And Gerry McGovern is building an interesting model (xls file) that includes device use.

17 ways to make your website more energy efficient.

Previously: “If you thought digital transformation was spiky and disruptive, wait til you see carbon transformation”, climate change right in front of you, and the climate/carbon plans of the larger supermarket businesses in the UK.

Retail and ecommerce news pick ‘n’ mix

UK loses 83% of department stores since BHS collapsed.

Amazon is 'planning to open department stores in US'.

Aldi takes the radical step of putting doors on the fridges.

Morrisons backs US firm's improved £7bn takeover offer.

Boots will offer drugs and make-up via Deliveroo.

Walmart will sell its delivery service to other businesses.

Samsung supports retailers affected by looting with innovative television block function.

Manchester office food delivery & corporate catering | Feedr.

Tesla’s robot: uncanny valet

“The Tesla Bot, which only exists as a design plan and a person wearing spandex, will be a humanoid capable of lifting heavy boxes and picking out groceries, Musk said.” Tesla did a corporate presentation about AI which included a person pretending to be a dancing robot. Tesla’s robot will be friendly, “won’t fight back” and “we’re setting it so that it is at a mechanical and physical level you can run away from it and most likely overpower it”. These phrases must have sounded like thoughtful and reassuring human-first design to Tesla before Elon said them on stage.

Elsewhere in disconcerting robots, Boston Dynamics robots can do parkour, but not perfectly yet.

Co-op and Co-op Digital news

Co-op content designer Helen Lawson won in the #BeingCoop awards. Well deserved, and big salute from the newsletter. See also Helen’s blog post on content principles in funeral care.

Evolving the mobile experience with the Co-op.

Thank you for reading

Thank you friends, readers and contributors. Please continue to send ideas, questions, corrections, improvements, etc by replying or to @rod on Twitter. If you have enjoyed reading, please tell a friend! If you want to find out more about Co-op Digital, follow us @CoopDigital on Twitter and read the Co-op Digital Blog. Previous newsletters.

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69-osomatsu-niisan-420 · 6 years

Text

I was tagged by: @glasssnowdrop

Rule: Answer all 20 questions and tag 20 people you’d like to know better!

Nickname: Yen, Hard Lad, 420-oniichan (Snowdrop’s name for me).

Height: 5′7(and a bit).

Orientation: Pan.

Nationality: Great Britain.

Favorite Fruit: Lemon.

Favorite Season: Summer.

Favorite Flower: Sunflower.

Favorite Scent: Fresh summer rain.

Favorite Color: Purple.

Favorite Animal: Frogs man, they’re soo cute!

Coffee, Tea, or Hot Chocolate: I love tea but caffine... So hot chocolate?

Hours of Sleep: I can get away with 4-5 hours sleep but I prefer 12.

Dog or Cat Person: I’m only comfortable with Greyhounds when it comes to dogs. I love cats too so I kinda like both.

Favorite Fictional Characters:

おそ松さん: It’s so hard to choose between the matsunos. I do like Kara, Jyushi and Oso a lot though! Overwatch: Lucio. Easy pick for me I love his character and I love playing as him. Team Fortress 2: Pyro and Engie love their characters and I love playing Pyro.

I could go on and on but that would be too long to read!

Number of Blankets You Sleep With: 2-3 in winter.

Dream Trip: A long roadtrip across Japan. (Tolls are gunna be pricey I might take the train instead).

Date of Blog Creation: I think the 05/01/18 (uk date format) I didn’t start posting til the 12/01/18 though.

Number of Followers: 188 (yoooooooo thank you so much)

Random Fact: You may notice that I wrote lemons as my favourite fruit. Funfact: I have an allergy to all fresh fruit and a number of nuts apart from lemons haha. So it kinda sucks BUT I can cook the fruit and eat it since I’m just allergic to a protein that is in the fruit which is destroyed by heat :^) I currently don’t have any friends in the matsu community apart from Snowdrop so I won’t be tagging anyone :’)

#that was fun #mywork

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gingervsblondie · 5 years

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Blondie Plays Cupid (1940)

1:54 AM, Monday, 25 November 2019

Whoops it’s been more than a month since I did one of these WHOOPS

Been really busy working on my short film for college and I didn’t find time to keep doing this. But now it’s finished so back to the Blondie grind! There was a point a while back where I had the thought “I’d like to be watching a Blondie right now,” so I guess it may have gotten to the point where these are somehow a comfort thing for me. But hey we’ll see how long that lasts when I’m actually watching one again.

This time it’s Blondie Plays Cupid.

1:58

AAAHHH WTF THEY’RE NOT PLAYING THE THEME SONG! I WAS ABOUT TO START TYPING IT OUT AND NOW IT’S DIFFERENT! THIS IS NOT A GOOD TIME TO BE THROWING CHANGE AT ME!

2:00

Dick Flournoy is credited in the intro but not on the Wikipedia page. Wonder what the deal is there.

2:02

There’s a bunch of dogs in the Bumsteads’ house chasing Daisy right now. Shenanigans, not important, but one who’s got its head stuck in the pet door just did two barks that were definitely played backwards. I have no idea why they were played backwards, but I’m sure I can hear the echo before them.

2:07

Hey, movie got a laugh out of me!

Dagwood found one of Daisy’s bones in his bed. Dagwood: What have I got in my hand? Blondie: Why, it’s a bone. Dagwood: Oh, I’m coming apart! Blondie: Nonsense, you don’t come apart til you’re 40.

Just looked it up, Arthur Lake would’ve been about 35 when he was playing Dagwood in this. I look forward to seeing him come apart in a few films time.

2:10

The dog’s such a good actor. The way it emotes just by looking where it’s been directed sells the anthropomorphism so well.