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grokebaby · 1 year

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Hell yeah, OC questions time >:)

How does Pesticinger feel about how people perceive her? How correct are people's assumptions about her?

Oh this is interesting hmm. I'm sure it can depend for some people but I think most would perceive her as this, kind of, horrifying creature tbh, despite her vaguely angelic appearance. She looks great in moonlight! Oh oh this is the perfect time to talk about her color scheme bc it relates to this topic so hard!!!

See, in the setting where she comes from, white is The Bad Color. It has the same kind of vibes and connotations as black does for us. It represents death most strongly and prominently, along with things like starvation, withering, a lack of things, deprivation and so on. That, along with like, a desaturated fleshy purple are The Danger colors but she doesn't have purple so I'll carry on. Sooo.. To us, her appearance is a bit creepily contradictory: Pearly white and golden feathers, yet it has a skull for a head and those icky lung sacks. It definitely looks eerie and does communicate a sense of wariness and danger to us, however, if I'd have designed her with the color conventions of like, regular color theory as it's understood in our corner of the world, she'd look something more like this

At least, if I'd use color symbolism to communicate things about her. But to the people of her world, she, in her white feathered glory, looks the same as That^ would look to us. Death on wings. There's even a saying back there, that goes "Beware of white wings", which she definitely fits into!

Anyhow, all that to say, she may be perceived differently based on culture. But I wanted to babble about how I made her white on purpose :3

I doubt that even with having white feathers, she'd look very friendly to us either, though.

I think she takes pride in being feared tbh! So for the most part, it's very favorable to the way people perceive it! However as I mentioned in it's original intro post, she also tends to sort of lure people in, like a siren's call, to come along and follow it and join her little nightmare parade of pillaging animals. Pesticinger is quite a social entity, I mean Hello it's a bird, a songbird no less, this gal needs playmates! In fact, the song that she sings whenever coming to pillage, is an invite! It's lyrics repeatedly encourage the listener to come along and join in. So to that extent I'd also say, maybe she might also wish to be perceived as more approachable. Beautiful, even u_u obviously she sings for a wide variety of reasons but maybe, just sometimes, she wishes to be heard by an adoring audience, who can't get enough of her song. So while yes it's happy to scare humans, sometimes Pesticinger wishes to be able to draw people in without the need for a hypnotizing song. I will say, she's a bit attention hungry..

I feel like a good amount of the time people's assumptions about her are.. Vaguely in the right direction but not necessarily accurate. If she's not being thought of as a sadistic menace (fair), she's perceived as an idiot (Maybe understandable but c'mon..) no, she's a smart bird, and extremely self aware, however humans see her engage in silly play and repeat playground rhymes ad nauseum and think "Ah, I can outsmart that, it's just a creature!", which, usually doesn't end well. If you don't get to know her beyond her raids, you'd probably just remember her as a terrifying monster. However people who've seen that, tend to be surprised to learn how playful and goofy she is, and that's usually when they'll start thinking "Oh it's just a big bird." which isn't incorrect but it's very reductive, as she's on the same level as a person, in intellect. And the intellectual part is what most people miss, see even among her peers she's thought of as the playful goofy one, but you can't be a singer without at least a little emotional baggage amirite!? :D

Unfortunately in order to be taken a bit more seriously she tends to be a bit of a playground bully, or some form of nuisance, as we see with characters like Margaretta Wormer. She does like goofing around and being her obnoxious nuisance self but she also has great memory, is poetic, good at reading people (at least their emotions) and an insatiable learner.

I'm also sad to report that she has gotten captured by humans a few times, and been kept in very cruel ways due to a combination of being seen as a monster and also just some creature rather than a person. If there's one thing she's scared of, it's nooses.. But I won't elaborate on that here, this reply got way more substantial than I expected haha whoops. Enjoy! Thank you for the ask :3

#Ask #Lore #Pesticinger Tuholaulaja #Margaretta Wormer #<-I've written about her a few times on this blog but haven't talked much otherwise #But she's uhhh a coworker of Pesticingers :3 #What can I say.... Bird and worm.. Classic dynamic

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shinxeysartgallery · 2 years

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Same anon with the sona (character limit is smelly) but I was also wondering where the idea for all your ocs names came from? Like some are probably obvious, like you said Tootsie works at a candy shop in that post, so she’s probably named after the candy. But what about like Tyler for example? What’s the story behind his name?

Gotta love that character limit, amirite?

But yeah, that's a really good question! Since there are a lot, I'll put it underneath the cut here!

Let's start with the non-Sonic OCs because there are less.

Angel Auclair - I went with Angel because at the beginning of the story, you're not exactly sure if she's dead or not, and there's that whole idea of people becoming angels when they die. Her surname I honestly just picked because it sounded good and I had started a trend where the three characters from this had last names that began with the same letter as their first name. Hunter Huxley - His digital avatar had been corrupted by a virus and was hunting down other people within cyberspace, making him a hunter. Last name is for the same reason as Angel's. Raven Thornton - Named Raven because of her hair being dark like that of a raven. She was actually the first character of the three that I picked a surname for and I liked how Thornton sounded, so went with that. I was going to change it to be something that began with R to continue the trend I set up with Angel and Hunter, but I liked this one too much, so just left it as is.

Aqua - A water dragon, and "aqua" refers to water. Blazefire - I named her when I was around 8 and was trying to make it sound "cooler". But she's a fire dragon, so blaze, like fire, and fire itself obviously. lol Breezy - A wind dragon, so came from "breeze". Bruno - A tough earth dragon, and I thought the name Bruno sounded tough, so it fit him. Cube - An ice dragon; cube like ice cube. Draco - From "draconic", referring to something resembling a dragon (and he is one lol). Ember - Blaze's mom, another fire dragon; an ember of flame. Flora - A grass dragon; "flora" refers to plant life. Shade - He is black like a shadow. Shelly - A water dragon; from "seashell" Valerie - Name means "strong, brave, or fierce" and it fit her personality. Volt - Thunder dragon; from "voltage" Wendy - Cute sounding name for the cute little sister.

Skystrike - The one MLP OC I still acknowledge. I tried it make it somewhat similar to how the ponies are named in canon, but that was honestly a tad difficult. lol She works for the Weather Factory, one of her primary jobs being to clear the skies. So she strikes the clouds in the sky.

And now for the Sanic oh sees

Aaron - First part of his name sounds like "air" and he's a falcon. Birds fly in the air. Amber - Amber is the color of fire and also sounds similar to "ember" when said aloud; she's a pyrokinetic. Archie - Was a name suggestion for Scar that I didn't think fit him, but thought it would make a cute name for an archaeopteryx. Ava - Taken from "avian", referring to birds and she is an eagle. Barry - Funnily enough, I did his design before his name and when it came time to name him, I just looked at him and was like "he looks like a Barry" and that's what I decided to name him. lmao Biscuit - Like a dog biscuit; he's a dachshund Bubbles - Seahorse with a necklace that creates bubbles Butterscotch - Her fur is close to a lighter butterscotch shade Caramel - Her brother is named after a candy product, so she is too. Her fur is a caramel brown, too. Carol - Saw a comment on a YT video by someone named Carol at one point and thought it would make a cute name for a reindeer. Cashmere - She's a child's clothing model and cashmere is a type of expensive fabric. Debbie - Her full name is actually Deborah, but she goes by Debbie and she just looked like she'd be a Deborah to me. lol (Same kinda logic I had with Barry) Dot - Ladybug covered in spots (or dots, if you will) Downy - From "down", which in this context is a type of soft, protective feathers that baby birds are born with. She's a fantail pigeon, so a type of bird that would be born with down feathers. Eva - Cynthia's evil counterpart from a parallel dimension; saying Eva out loud sort of sounds like "evil" if you stretch it and that was "haha funny" to me. Evelyn - I liked the name. :) Flare - Came from "flare gun". She was a part of a spy network for a while, where she learned how to use several types of guns, flare guns being one of them. Fresh - I actually didn't name him, my friend did. He was a joke OC and the concept and name both were based off those ads that are just like an image of Batman with the text "Buy Axe" and nothing else. Another friend did a skunk character based off the Axe ads in particular and I did a snail character based off the Dial Soap ads in particular. So Fresh, like being fresh out of the shower after using the soap. lmao Julian - He's a jewel dragonfly, and the first part of his name sounds like "jewel" when said out loud. Kelsi - Kiwi character; thought it would sound good having her name begin with a K so it could be "[K name] the Kiwi" and Kelsi fit pretty well imo. Mecha Cynthia - Robotic doppelganger of Cynthia; "mecha" referring to machines. Noel - While thinking of Carol's design, thought that "carol" made me think of Christmas while "noel" was another word that had the same thing. Nutmeg - Squirrel nut farmer; nut. lol Oreo - Mostly black fur with some white patches like an Oreo cookie. Peter Dactyl - "Dactyl" from "pterodactyl", his species, and Peter because "pterodactyl" begins with a P. "Peter" also would make his full name have the same amount of syllables as "pterodactyl". Pinchy - He's a scorpion and right after that large stinger tail, they're kinda known for having large pincers that will pinch you if they can get ahold of you. Quill - She's a hedgehog, and the spiky things on their back are called quills. Ramona - Sounded like a cute name and I felt it fit her. Rémy Rynchus - "Rhynchus" from "rhamphorynchus", his species, and Rémy because "rhamphorynchus" begins with an R. "Rémy" also makes his full name match syllables with "rhamphorynchus", just like with Peter. Sabrina - I liked the name and felt it fit her. :) Sandy - Girl scout known mainly for her cookie sales; there's a type of cookie called sandies. Scar - Sounds tough, and also references the scar across his left eye. Spot - Mostly white fur with a black spot over his left eye. Taffy - Much like her parents, is named after a type of candy. Talon - He is a falcon and large birds like that have talons on their feet.

#anon ask #shinxey's asks #original ocs #sonic fan character #sonic ocs #shinxey's ocs #I am NOT tagging all 80 of them #the one flaw with having so many ocs #at least I can remember them though?#watch me end up making more after this lmao #back to OC Hell I go

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langdhon · 1 year

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I follow you because you rescued me from hell, duh? All jokes aside, I follow you because I find myself always coming back for more with our threads. They’re one of my favourites to write. I love the dynamic Michael has with Madison, the way he pushes back against her bratty ways, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he and Rebekah get on. Michael is one of those stand out characters and you play him extremely well, the voice and they way you capture his movements in your portrayal is amazing and I don’t think anyone could quite get his ways like you do. I was a little star struck when you’d followed me back because I’d been admiring from a far for a while. Plus you as the mun are super cool and sweet, definitely a follow forever <3

You're welcome. Anytime again! 😉 Shit hits the fan right now because I'm going to sob,,, like I admit, while he basically writes himself at this point, I do sometimes struggle with keeping the balance. Like. He's this OP mfer who stands up against fellow brats but also supports exactly those; birds of a feather flock together amirite? Also he relies a lot on others despite his arrogance and power because he can be a big dumbass. He plays the heartless but gets all mush when the right people are soft to him etc. Has to be cunning but also off-putting. SOMETIMES THIS IS HARD, also English being my 2nd language... you have no idea how boss-level difficult it can be to just describe normal postures etc without it sounding like he does a clown dance dlrkrkrk SO THANK YOU for this! It means a lot to read I'm conveying things the way I aim to with him. And I love our brats, while uuuuh Rebekah, yessss, that's gonna be VERY interesting! 👀

#SAVED.#🦂𝙎𝙔𝙈𝙋𝘼𝙏𝙃𝙔 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘿𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙇 // ava.#multi-royalty-main

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ranichi17 · 4 years

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...somehow i’m not surprised at the revelation that most of the old timey dcmk writers are also very into good omens

#birds of a feather amirite #nadz rambles #is it weird i automatically think of a fic when seeing someone's url?#ehh probably not

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leatherbookmarking · 3 years

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jin guangyao is a goldcrest that keeps on falling in the exact same net during the ringing and lan xichen -- currently very busy with telling the Oh I Just Talk About Fun Things Yknow youtuber wei wuxian about what they’re doing, why and how etc, and also with the way his little brother, having freshly passed his ringing exam and in theoretical possession of all the bird focus in the world, seems to focus on... the youtuber himself... i didn’t know you were a fan, wangji -- lan xichen has ringed him himself then let him free, then fished him out again, then let him free a bit farther from the nets, and then, etc, etc, and at some point when the silly boy just kept on magically appearing back in the net, lxc pops him in his front pocket because the darling is a little bit tired (understandably) and carries on with his day as well as smarter birds (or so he thinks)

and then they’re going back and lxc is tired but very pleased with a job well done (wangji seems pleased with a job well done and the youtuber’s number in his phone, but wangji would also bite him to death if he even dared to mention that, so lxc has mercy and only gives him three A Ha I’m Your Big Bro And I Know :-) looks) and they’re all in da-ge’s car, wangji is a bit unhappy stuck in the back with huaisang who’s talking so much that lxc wonders if he needs to breathe, AND twenty minutes into the ride back home da-ge looks around, stops at lxc and says in a rather weird voice

“this is not enough for even one chicken nugget, xichen”

(indeed it Isn’t)

and like look in normal circumstances lxc would absolutely get them back and put the silly boy back However this is not normal circumstances. this is a xiyao post from a total fucking loon. lxc probably takes him home and gently cares for him, feeds him carefully because the boy looks a little slim, and like. he probably forgets himself one day and kisses the tiny bird head and suddenly has a lap full of boy, or something

they always sweat when someone asks about how they met

#something something magical realism #i am not really of the 'turning characters into animals/children' as they often come in the 'XZ shipper turns Y (the other ship for X) into #their kid/pet' flavour. BUT i am always an idiot for 'the animal actually IS HUMAN. can change. endless cuddling possibilities' idea #therefore etc #shut up shrimp #i don't know anything about bird ringing i just watched three yt videos #but if this humble one is allowed to have a niche in this fandom.... let it be 'tiny bird a-yao'#(or corpsefuckening lxc. or bird of prey qin su. yknow similar stuff)#anyway today i kind of risked my life to get a female duck's feather. it's very pretty #i'm ecstatic that i managed to do exactly nothing today. cant wait to have spent yet another weekend Not Resting as i'm gonna be #working all day tomorrow it seems #ah well #anyway birds amirite

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fiveminuterice · 3 years

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me n the hubby in great pain

#owl my beloved #lmao birds of a feather amirite #persona

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nekrops-no-more · 4 years

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Dinosaur study

#NekropsDraws #birds #doodles #my doodles #ravens #i didn't notice how HUGE their feet are #kinda surprised y'know #also i love how each one has a different style for the feathers #consistency amirite #15/06/2020

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tardisfireworks · 4 years

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fuck modi. he’s turning out to be worse than indira.

(context: indira gandhi removed the freedom of the press after she made a whole shitshow. modi’s doing something worse. he’s painting the protests as extremist (according to his right hand man, our dear Home Minister Amit Shah, that would be muslims’ fault) when its a lot of people who are sick and tired of the extremism that the bjp seems to be mass producing. and you know what, his bhakts are eating it up like prasad at a temple when it is poison in the devil’s lair)

how long do you think until the bhakts brigade last week tonight?

(basically, fuck modi and his bjp shitfuckery)

#india #indian politics #i am so sick of living in this country #the world is dying and the only thing that our prime minister does is fraternise with the likes of bolsonaro and trump #birds of a feather #amirite #i am absolutely disgusted by my country's leadership #why couldn't we have elected someone incompetent instead?

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probably-haven · 2 years

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So i was reading venti’s wiki again- as one does, for totally random reasons- and i perceived this line: “ Venti was never able to give that feather to the lad, for that lad had fallen in the battle for the sake of song, sky, and birds, and for the people who, like him, had dwelled within the storm-wall.”

which reminded me of the storybook cutscene about the first flying birds from Amber’s story quest- and my connection fueled mind came upon the following realization

The story of the birds seems an awful lot like a metaphor for the rebellion against Decarabian to me- which i know i dwell on that a lot but hear me out

these are the exact lines from the cutscene:

When the first wisp of wind brushed across the land Birds that yearned for the sky had wings But no way to fly They asked the Anemo God: "How can we reach the heavens?" To which the Anemo God replied: "You have yet to find that which is most important" As the God spoke, the wind thrust the seeds of a dandelion High into the sky The birds thrust out their wings But the breeze was all too mild Leaving them to stumble across the earth So they went to the gorge Where the wind showed off its wild and incomparable strength They threw themselves off the cliff And flapped their wings amongst the howling winds Until they were able to fly freely in the sky To the Anemo God they went, to gleefully say: "We understand now! All we needed was a stronger wind to fly" In reply the Anemo God said: "What you lacked was not wind, but courage" "It is courage that has allowed you to become the first flying birds of this world"

Now consider the following parallels

The birds being a placeholder for the people of Old Mondstadt Wind being a kind of placeholder for power or divinity The sky/heavens being freedom the gorge/cliff being the confrontation with Decarabian And courage(”that which is most important”) being both the literal meaning of courage, but also the nameless bard

now, as much as i would like to skip stones and say “imagine if venti wrote it,” it doesn’t fit with the typical writing style for most of the things we know are written by Venti, which tend to have a fair amount more rhyming and a more regular rhythm.

However, we don’t recognize the voice, and in genshin the person voicing a cutscene tends to be the person telling it or who wrote it so- hear me out. Gunnhildr.

now a while back ago i made a post about the roles of a few characters within the rebellion, and i think this fits oddly well. Sharing in the responsibility of subtly commemoration the events that happened.

but anyway now that that explanation is out of the way, may I propose to you a few things:

Venti who finds out after waking up from another one of his long ass naps(the one shortly before the events of the game to be specific) that the story made by another one of his old friends still exists and is still popularly known today, not yet faded from Mondstadt’s memory(unlike a certain dragon, amirite?), although it had admittedly been simplified to a children’s tale. But regardless it still exists as a physical reminder of his memory.

Plus Venti just seems like the kind of guy who would be pretty fond of children’s stories anyway, and i can’t believe it took me this long and a literal concrete example to realize that headcanon

Venti who puts copies of the storybook in random places in the library just to be a little shit, and Lisa who now automatically knows the culprit whenever she realizes this has happened(and also greatly wonders where tf Venti gets so many copies like damn)

Venti who hears some grown ass person being all angsty and troubled in the corner of Angel’s Share and, with the most serious expression on his face, slides a fucking children’s book across the table as if it were the Knights of Favonius’s most confidential files.

just- vibes

#genshin impact #genshin venti #venti #venti headcanons #genshin analysis #genshin headcanons #challenge complete

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sttngfashion · 3 years

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5.26 and 6.1 - Time’s Arrow

Oh my god. Y’all. It’s a new Fashion It So post. In the year of our Picard 2020. Yes.

For literal years, Charlie and I have been like UGH WE NEED TO DO TIME’S ARROW PARTS 1 AND 2 BUT IT’S JUST SUCH A MONSTER.

Well, I’m doing a complete rewatch of the series with my partner and we just got to these two, so IT IS TIME.

We open in a cave in San Francisco, where Data and Picard are checking something out:

Rent for the cave is $6,000 per month

Showing them around is this guy in a Science Outfit:

He’s ready to go night biking

We’ve seen this look before in both Silicon Avatar and Devil’s Due, and it’s functional, yet cute. Basically a windbreaker in jumpsuit form.

They find a couple of items in the cave, including a pocket watch from 1889 and also:

I left my head in San Francisco

IT’S DATA’S HEAD!!! And it’s been there for FIVE HUNDRED YEARS. What could have caused this? And why is Data’s head so absolutely terrifying?

Is that fondant

This head is, in a word, haunting. The 2020 of heads.

Data and Geordi chat in Ten-Forward about what the presence of Data’s head in the cave means. Data says it means he’s mortal; that someday he will die, and that’s comforting. Spoiler alert: that’s not what it means. But it’s a nice conversation.

Also, Guinan is here!!!

Merlot My God!!

Or maybe: Burgundy-lightful!! Or perhaps: De-Crimson-alize Sex Work!! Okay that last one was a stretch but I really think I missed my calling as a nail polish shade namer.

Anyway, she’s here in her classic look of a pizza-sized hat and a flowing gown/coat/top/robe. The collar here is a little too close to a mock turtleneck for my liking and honestly - this is a little staid for our friend Guinan. I want a TEXTURE or a SWEEP or some WIDE RIBBING or some PLEATS. Don’t worry, though...she will get plenty more later.

Then there’s some plot which frankly we DO NOT HAVE TIME to get into but let’s just say: the away team goes to a planet, there’s a temporal disturbance, and Data ends up here:

Huge mood

Where are we? Or should I say WHEN are we??

Well that old-timey font is a good clue...also the horse

Are we in the Old West land of an off-brand Disneyworld? Are we going to ride something called Large Lightning Mesa Train Tracks? What colorful characters will we meet here?

Winner of 1893’s Mustache Medal

This type of ‘stache is called a Fu Manchu, after the character Dr. Fu Manchu. It’s not...a great look? But it is memorable, which is sometimes enough. He’s also wearing a simple black cap, probably made of silk. He’s keeping it cazh.

So where are we?

SAN FRANCISCO, OPEN YOUR GOLDEN GATE / YOU’LL LET NOBODY WAIT / OUTSIDE YOUR DOOR

Yes, it’s San Francisco. And it’s *eyes popping out of head like a cartoon wolf seeing a busty babe* 1893!!!! That temporal disturbance was...disturbing.

So who else do we have hanging out?

Please check out our Vaudeville act, Knit Cap ‘n’ Bowly

These dudes understand those famous Bay Area MICROCLIMATES, amirite? We’ve got a Henley. We’ve got a buttondown. We’ve got a vest. We’ve got a coat. No matter which way the thermometer decides to go, THEY ARE READY. Also loving the pop of forest green on Knit Cap’s knit cap.

We also have a 49er:

No, it’s not Steve Young. I googled “famous 49ers” to complete this joke so if there is a more famous 49er please let me know

It’s a literal 49er. Since it’s 1893, this guy’s been hanging around in town for a while, and he’s also familiar with the layering techniques one must master if one is to conquer the Bay Area’s climate. He also has a kicky Colonel Sanders-type tie. He asks Data for money and gives him a few panhandling tips. He’s chill. We like him. But don’t get too attached if you know what I mean!!!!

Data decides he needs somewhere to stay, so he finds a hotel:

Brian.

Why is this so funny to me. Brian. Why would you name your hotel Brian. Brian!!!! I know it’s a last name but like...Brian. HOTEL BRIAN.

This bellhop’s name is not Brian:

Where’s your hat, bro

He’s giving us a classic bellhop look, complete with too many buttons. He gives Data the very important information that there’s a poker game happening in the back of the hotel, which means: Data is about to be RICH rich.

The poker game includes a few good looks:

Louie Anderson IS Wolverine IN a Lands’ End barn coat

Two plaids? Sir...I salute you

Colonel Sanders Goes to Carnaval

Data, of course, wipes the floor with them so hard that he wins their clothes:

Didn’t get that barn coat tho

Yes, that’s the actual vest and the actual hat of those guys from the previous scene. Oh, I love it. I love Data in a vest over his uniform and I love Data with a feather in his cap. Let’s call it macaroni.

Meanwhile, out on the street, the plot is happening:

Beige: inescapable

This is our first taste of the decadent 1890’s sleeves that appear in this episode, and these aren’t even the best sleeves!! These are an amuse-bouche of sleeves. An armuse-bouche, if you will.

Anyway, these two are aliens disguised as humans who are here to steal the 49er’s life energy.

Pew pew pew

I told you not to get attached!!!

Back on the Enterprise, Guinan is doing mixology:

She would never call it something as stupid as mixology though

She tells Picard that he needs to go check out the temporal disturbance, too, even though captains don’t normally go on away missions, and then she gives him this look:

It’s that serious

When Guinan looks at you like this, you do what she says.

Now this outfit is much better than the earlier one. We have some pleated sleeves, which I didn’t even think was a thing you could DO. We have some sort of functional(?) strap(??) across the front. We even have matching fingerless gloves which always make a look A LOOK. And if Picard wasn’t sure whether he needed to go on this away mission, she then gives him THIS look:

Okay now it’s REALLY serious

Back in 1893, Data is making something:

It’s actually just a really complicated and large music box that plays “I Left My Head in San Francisco”

He’s gotten his hands on some more period-appropriate clothing, including a bow tie and a vest. Since he’s not wearing arm garters and his sleeves appear to be the correct length for his arms, we can conclude that the shirt was custom-made, not ready-made, because Data is now a baller due to his poker earnings.

Then, Data sees this in the paper:

I know her!! From work!!!!

Yes, it’s Guinan. In 1893. In a hat!!!!

We cut to the literary reception, which is honestly not as well-attended as I thought it would be, considering it got a GIANT photo of Guinan on page THREE of the paper, but okay. And who should we spy there but:

You’ll love my secret blend of 11 herbs and spices

No, it’s not Colonel Sanders. (Sorry, I really have Colonel Sanders on the brain because of that Lifetime movie.) It’s Samuel Clements, AKA Mark Twain. I had an English teacher in high school who explained the origin of his pseudonym (it indicates a mark of two fathoms, aka twelve feet, on a steamboat) and for some reason she shouted MAAAARK TWAAAAAIN when she told us that story so now her delivery of that line is in my head until I die I guess.

Anyway, it’s Mark Twain.

He’s wearing his iconic white linen suit with a black bow tie, and he’s also wearing a lot of prosthetics, because the actor playing him (Jerry Hardin, AKA Deep Throat from The X-Files AKA Melora Hardin AKA Jan Levinson-Gould’s dad) (was that too many AKAs) (you get it, right?) didn’t look enough like Mark Twain, I guess? In conclusion: what if eyebrow wigs were a thing?

Twain is having a chit chat with “Madame Guinan,” who is wearing what can only be called a sumptuous gown:

It’s 11:30 and the gown is sumptin’ sumptin’

There are so many ELEMENTS to this look! First of all: the color. Royal purple. Fit for a queen. Appropriate.

Then: those sleeves! These sleeves are known as “leg of mutton sleeves” because they KIND OF look like a leg of mutton. Have you ever seen a leg of mutton? I haven’t. I’ve only seen these sleeves. Plus they have a stripe?? No, I don’t know why, but I LOVE IT.

The cuffs and the cravat bring this from “dress” to “lewk.” Top it all off with this hat and you have a true 1893 mood.

What bird is that feather even from

We get a few good extra looks in this scene as well:

Pink Lady is NOT wearing a corset

Look, sometimes you don’t have enough period-appropriate undergarments for all the background people and that’s fine. But I WILL notice.

Is that Loretta Lynn

I am loving all of this! That purple dress is fantastic, those stripes? I die. Military man has some fun flair on his shoulder, and there is a dude in a beautiful turban back there. Plus, another Black lady in addition to Guinan and That One Ensign Who Is On The Bridge Sometimes.

Data rolls in to the literary event in a different suit with a CRAVAT:

Craving a cravat

Data is like “we serve together on the same starship in the 24th century” and Guinan is like “huh” but then she’s like “okay” which...I’m not sure if I would believe that? But let’s just say it’s fine.

Over in the 24th century, the literal entire bridge crew is checking out the temporal disturbance and I DON’T LIKE THIS AT ALL:

Blue Man Group...on ACID

These beings are like ghosts but also like Dr. Manhattan but also like pure energy.

Then everyone goes through the temporal disturbance AND THE SEASON ENDS.

Fortunately for you, this post will continue...right now.

Okay, so we’re back in San Francisco in 1893. You can tell by the horses:

Also the fruit carts

Samuel Clemens is strolling around with a reporter, telling him that he has a great story for him that involves time travelers and, like, protecting the nation.

Here’s the thing about this episode’s version of Mark Twain: he’s kind of a dick. Was the real Mark Twain kind of a dick? I just feel like Mark Twain should be JAZZED about meeting time travelers and not acting like a fuckin’ time cop* and trying to put the Enterprise crew on blast.

Anyway I love his double-breasted vest.

See my vest

The reporter’s hat is technically period-accurate, but that style is SO associated with the 1930s-1950s that I would have gone with something else. He looks cute though.

Meanwhile, Data is wearing a three-piece suit:

My positronic olfactory synapses are interpreting something as...a fart

I hate brown, but this is fine.

Additionally, the beige baddies from before are back and this time, they’ve got a SNAKE CANE:

Love the snake cane, hate how they suck the life out of people

But we are not here for them, we are here to see our faves in period clothing. Our first look is at Riker, who is dressed as an actual cop, not a time cop like Mark Twain:

The past just had...so many buttons

I guess if you’re a time-traveling white man there are worse disguises than a cop. But WHERE DID HE GET THIS UNIFORM? I choose to believe that he found a cop with a similar large handsome body to his own and beat the shit out of him and stole his clothes. Now we can all enjoy imagining a cop being beat up.

The badge that Riker is wearing is a great historical detail; the SFPD started wearing them in 1886 and are reportedly the first law enforcement agency to have worn the seven-pointed star, which is now a common shape among sheriff’s departments across the United States.

But let’s move on to a better look: Dr. Beverly Crusher:

Curlz MT

Okay, now I have more questions. Beverly obviously wouldn’t beat someone up for their clothes, so where did SHE get HER outfit? And who did her hair? Did she do her OWN hair? Where did she get a curling iron? Does she know how to use a curling iron? Was it one of those ones that’s actually made of iron that you have to heat up in a fireplace?

We will get answers to zero (0) of these questions.

We actually get a much better look at her dress later, so let’s focus on that cloak!!! I love it and I also love her hat. Okay, I guess I had less to say about those than I thought.

Bev and Will, along with the rest of the officers, have somehow procured a room/apartment in some lady’s lodging house. It’s cute!

They gave it 5 stars on AirBnB

This also raises questions. How did they get this room? How many bedrooms does it have? Are they sharing one large bed? If so, who has to sleep crossways at the foot of the bed and why is it Geordi? We will get zero answers to these questions as well, so let’s move on to arguably the hottest costume in this two-parter:

I’ll be in Holodeck 4

Whewwwwwww. He’s giving us a rolled sleeve. He’s giving us a casual tweed vest. The pants? They’re perfect. And he KNOWS how that slouch is working. It’s working VERY well. But the Irish landlady? She’s having NONE OF IT.

Absolutely NO nonsense

She needs the rent, but Picard charms her and she leaves. So I guess that’s how they got the room. Her look is knitwear-forward:

Eileen Fisher does sound like an Irish name

She’s got a shawl AND a cardigan! The cozy factor is OFF THE CHARTS. She also has a brooch, because a touch of fancy is always welcome. I will say that her hair is a little more fashion-forward than I’d expect for a woman of her age and station. This is straight up 1890s hair, and she would probably still be rocking an 1860s look, which isn’t as sweepy and would likely involve more braids. Still, she looks lovely.

Geordi is also here looking dapper:

Make the collar as high as you can. I want to be sliced open by my own collar

You CAN go wrong with a three-piece suit, but it’s difficult to. He can’t wear his visor, so he has some kicky shades which we’ll get a better look at in a sec.

Back at the Hotel Brian (lol), the bellboy (who we learn in this scene is Jack London, inspired to be a writer by Mark Twain [citation needed]) lets Mark Twain into Data’s room and allows him to look around unsupervised. This is very bad hotel management.

Great Scott

Then Data and Guinan show back up, and Mark Twain hides in an armoire.

One short day in the emerald brocade

I think one reason I love Guinan’s looks so much, both in the 24th and the 19th century, is that our color palette is very similar. We’re both winters. Bold jewel tones are the vibe. This one is in a beautiful deep green fabric with what looks like a velvet flocking pattern on it. The collar is also velvet, and I love that sleeve with a flounce on top like there wasn’t already enough fucking fabric on the sleeve so they just added a random piece to be like “yes, bitch. I’m a sleeve.”

Naturally, the hat is also jaunty af:

San Francisco’s hottest milliner is: Madame Guinan

This hat has everything: feathers, netting, a brim, an angle that makes you think it’s going to fall off but it doesn’t. We stan.

Meanwhile, Picard is setting up a sensor in a hospital while wearing a hat:

I’m bowled over

We haven’t even asked where Picard got these clothes, but I would like to point out that he’s dressed as a lower-class guy, while Riker is a cop, and Geordi looks like a gentleman. Was there even a discussion they all had about how they would disguise themselves? Was Picard like “I just really want to wear a beat-up bowler hat” and since he’s the captain, they extrapolated from there? This episode is NOT CONCERNED about any of this. They all have clothes, end of story.

Bev even has TWO outfits!!

Hello nurse!!!!

I love this look. She still has her unlikely hairstyle happening, which means her nurse’s cap is sitting atop her voluminous hairstyle. (Not very practical, but realistic!) She’s sporting a simple striped dress and a button-on apron. (Look closely and you can see the two buttons holding the apron to the dress.) The fabric underneath might be cotton seersucker, but it’s likely a lightweight cotton or linen twill. You can see how closely her look matches these nurses from a similar time period:

Hello nurses!!!!

Deanna is also in this scene and this episode, but you wouldn’t know it from what she’s given to do. HUGE SHOCKER: TROI NOT GIVEN ENOUGH TO DO IN AN EPISODE. 🙃

She still looks beautiful:

Why aren’t capelets more popular

We never get a really GREAT look at her whole outfit, but I can tell you that it has a capelet, it’s in the red family, and the hat has a lot of business going on. For those reasons: approved. It has a flounce in the back too:

More fabric = more wealth

Sometimes I think about just how much fabric it took to make these old-timey dresses and I’m like...how did anyone get anything done?? It takes me like 4 weeks to finish a pair of leggings and those have like 5 seams and I own a serger. These historical bitches were sewing whole ass dresses in no time at all.

Okay, so Bev is in this hospital and here come some more energy-stealing aliens, disguised as healthcare professionals this time:

I cannot take a medical professional wearing a LIGHT BROWN TOP HAT seriously, sorry

Bev AND this energy-stealing alien have BOTH managed to get their hands on the SAME nurse’s uniform?? I guess in the case of the alien, she is a shape-shifter, so she got her clothes from...that. And her hair.

I hate this light brown top hat. If you’re going to wear a top hat, don’t DISRESPECT IT by making it BROWN, but if you’re going to make it brown, make it a good brown, like chocolate. Stupid energy-stealing aliens.

There’s a skirmish, the energy-stealing aliens disappear, and the real cops show up:

MOUSTACHE

Of course, the cops showing up is bad, because when has a cop showing up ever made a bad situation better? Never. Defund the police, but don’t defund handlebar mustaches. Those can stay.

Fortunately, Data has gotten a ping on that machine he was building before and shows up on a motherfucking HORSE:

Brent just wanted to show off

He’s back in his brown striped suit and red tie. Okay.

Everyone returns to the boarding house to suss out the situation, and we get a look at what Riker is rocking underneath his cop jacket:

Suspend me daddy

You can see very clearly here how the collar is not actually attached to the shirt. This was a thing people in the olden days did so they could wear their shirt for multiple days in a row and just switch out the collar and cuffs so they looked clean. As someone who is wearing the same sweatshirt for the third day in a row, I support this method. (If you’re interested on more info about collars, here is a very enjoyable article about them.)

We are also blessed with a better look at Deanna’s sleeves and bodice:

Black lace cuffs? Decadent!!!

You can also see Geordi’s shades, which suit him really nicely. One thing I’ve been enjoying on this rewatch is just how well LeVar Burton can act without having his eyes visible. He’s great. Let’s just all think about how great LeVar Burton is for a second

And also Bev’s dress:

I legitimately want this dress

I don’t think those buttons are functional. Can you imagine how annoying THAT would be? But I am absolutely in love with this dress. Two paisleys, Beverly???? A goddess. I’m also dying for that brooch with the chain. A+ look all around, great work.

Finally, FINALLY, Guinan meets the rest of the crew:

When you meet someone you won’t actually know for 500 years

She is wearing a hat that looks like a toilet paper cozy. Did your grandma have one of these? They’re so stupid and I love them so much.

Picard and Guinan meet for what is the first time for her, but not the first time for him, and honestly it is...sensual?????

If I got a m’lady from P. Stew I wouldn’t even mind

Patrick and Whoopi truly do some nice work in this ep. But we are here to yell about clothes, so: LOOK AT THIS DRESS ON AN EXTRA:

Gimme dat dress

I just want that dress to wear around my house. I legitimately bought an 18th century costume dress to do just that, so don’t think I won’t literally do this.

OKAY, WE ARE ALMOST TO THE END.

The crew, plus Guinan, go back to the cave where this all started:

Cave Club, the only club that meets in a cave

We get a nice look at the bodice of Guinan’s dress here and guess what: MORE BUTTONS. Buttons on the lapels, and also buttons on the front panel with the pointy top. I wonder if she has multiple front panels for that dress in different colors, like a Swatch watch.

Unbeknownst to them, Mark Twain followed them!! Then there’s a scuffle with the energy-stealing aliens during which a few things happen:

Data’s head flies off

Mark Twain gets sucked into the temporal disturbance

Guinan gets hurt

Picard stays behind to make sure Guinan is okay

So we end up with Mark Twain on the Enterprise, where he sees Worf, and he’s like:

Buh-WHAT

Worf is also confused:

This is...extremely perplexing

We have a few more looks back on the Enterprise, including Regular Guinan:

ShoulderSpreads™: The Bed Spread for Your Shoulders

I love love LOVE this outfit. The color is perfect, the shoulderspreads are perfect, the front draping is perfect. It looks like a velvet housedress from the 1960s except FANCY which is kind of my ideal aesthetic. And it’s red (my fave).

We get a quick glimpse at the barber uniform:

Bitch let me pass, idc if you wrote Huck Finn

This barber does. not. give. a. fuck!!!!

Geordi reattaches Data’s head, the one they already had, which means this whole thing was a ding dang closed loop. The reattachment also kind of diminishes the whole conversation they had earlier about how Data’s head in the cave meant that Data could die someday, because...he didn’t. He still might, but his head is back and he’s fine now.

Meanwhile, Picard is still back in 1893 and they have to go get him, but only one person can come back through the temporal disturbance, so Mark Twain is like “duh I’ll go get him.”

And finally Guinan and Picard can talk about how their friendship spans 500 years!!!!

Hey girl

Hey

YOU’RE WELCOME

*abolish the police

#SEASON 5 #SEASON 6 #TNG #TNG FASHION #STAR TREK #STAR TREK FASHION

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