Cute

More Muriel Colors Unlocked!

We reached more color options tonight: Grapefruit, Mulberry, and Lime! I'm going to see about making a few more mock-ups of the bonus color options, because I find these particular combinations really fun. Here is the gif I made for the campaign page!

Want one? These colors are now unlocked for any doll option (kits, assembled blanks, and assembled blushed). And of course, here is a link to the Kickstarter campaign page!

That red coat

Hi! I see in your posts that there are names for the different types of hanfu...but i cannot tell the difference...would you be able to make a post on what the different types of hanfu are? If its too complicated thats ok!

Hi, thanks for the question! I covered the basic types of men’s hanfu here and here, so in this post I’ll describe the basic types of women’s hanfu. Resources on identifying different types of hanfu can be found in my reference tag.

- Ruqun/襦裙 - the most basic type of hanfu consisting of a top and a wrap-around skirt. The top is called “ru/襦” and the skirt is called “qun/ 裙”, hence “ruqun”. Sleeves can be narrow or wide. Generally speaking, people divide ruqun into two types based on the height of the skirt: “Qiyao Ruqun/ 齐腰襦裙” (waist-high ruqun) and “Qixiong Ruqun/ 齐胸襦裙” (chest-high ruqun).

“Qiyao Ruqun” is the kind of ruqun in which the waistband is on the waist. Both men and women can wear it. For women, the top’s collar can be parallel (left), crossed (middle), or u-shaped (right). Men’s ruqun are cross-collared only.

“Qixiong Ruqun”, on the other hand, has its waistband above the chest. The top’s collar can be parallel (left) or crossed (right). It’s only worn by women.

As seen in the photos above, ruqun is often accessorized with a long scarf called Pibo/披帛. Originally used to protect against wind and cold air, pibo gradually became an important feature of hanfu.

- Aoqun/袄裙 - a type of ruqun that became fashionable during the Ming Dynasty. It consists of a double-layered top called “ao/袄“ and a waist-high skirt (”qun”), hence “aoqun”. Unlike the “standard” ruqun that has the top tucked inside the skirt, the aoqun’s top is worn untucked, above the skirt. There are two types of “ao” - “short ao” and “long ao”. The “short ao” (left, right) reaches the waist, while the “long ao” (middle) covers the knees. Ao collars can be crossed (left, middle) or upright (right). Only worn by women.

- Unlike ruqun and aoqun which are made of separate top and bottom pieces, the Shenyi/深衣 style of hanfu consists of one-piece robes that wrap around the body once or several times. Quju/曲裾 (curved-hem robe) and Zhiju/直裾(straight-hem robe) are two types of shenyi. The quju (left, middle) is a robe in which the bottom hem of the left lapel spirals its way up to the waist of the wearer. Modern quju can come in a shortened version (middle) that reveals the skirt worn underneath. In contrast to the quju, the bottom hem of the zhiju (right) circles around levelly, creating a straight line. Quju and Zhiju are worn by both men and women.

- Beizi/褙子 - a parallel-collar “jacket” with side slits beginning at the armpit or at the waist. It can be secured at the front either with ties or a metal button. Extremely versatile, it can be long or short, have narrow or wide sleeves, and is worn by both men and women. During the Song Dynasty, it was popular to wear narrow-sleeved beizi over a chest undergarment and skirt/pants (middle). Another name for Ming Dynasty-style beizi is Pifeng/披风 (right). Pifeng collars can also be upright (not shown).

- Banbi/半臂 - a half-sleeve jacket worn by both men and women. It comes in various lengths and is usually worn over ruqun. Its collar can be parallel (left), crossed (middle), or u-shaped (right). When paired with ruqun, it can be worn tucked inside the skirt as well as over the skirt (untucked).

- Bijia/比甲 - a sleeveless jacket, usually worn over aoqun, that comes in various lengths and styles.

- Daxiushan/大袖衫 - large-sleeve robe commonly paired with ruqun. As its name indicates, its main feature is its broad sleeves. The length is at least 78 inches, and the width exceeds 40 inches. The material is generally thin and light, because it was originally created for wear in the summer.

Of course this doesn’t cover everything, but it describes the basic hanfu styles that appear most often on this blog. Hope this helps!

Continuing my Doll shelf reset! Just finished the next section and the Vibe is Dreamy.

honestly i’ve stopped caring if media is good. all that matters is that Me, The Most Important Person, is having a good time.

Summers over get this man pumpkin spice

Creating Conflict

Or, as I call it, causing ~drama~

The key that keeps readers interested in your story is conflict. If nothing is at stake, then there is not much to see. So, here are a few general tips to cause some ripples in the ponds of your characters’ lives.

“Prioritizing”: Your character has two main motives that they have been working towards, but they end up in a situation where they have to sacrifice one to save the other. Depending on how easy or hard the choice is, this range from “disappointing” to “devastating” in the sacrifice. 

Character Flaws: As I talked about in my cornerstones post, every character should have a flaw. Flaws are flaws and not strengths for a reason- they get in the way. Have your character have a moment of weakness, where they lose their values and give in to temptation or get carried away.

 In addition: Even without their key flaws, characters can sometimes just… be wrong. Maybe they miscalculated. Maybe they misunderstood. Maybe they made the wrong guess. They did what everyone does: They Done Messed Up, and now they have to deal with the result.

Liar, Liar: Someone is lying, or even keeping secrets, and now, it’s causing problems. They can’t go forward without the truth, or worse, they are making mistakes due to a warped perception of the situation.

Draw backs: Let the good things come at a cost. One key rule for worlds with magic or superpowers is that all power should come at cost- equal to or greater than the power itself. 

“Because I Said So”: Don’t forget, there are other characters in your story, and even if they are on the protagonist’s own side, they are not always going to just merrily go along with whatever the protagonist said. Maybe they disagree. Maybe they are powerful enough to get in the protagonist’s way, and maybe it’s that important to them that they try. If fighting an enemy is hard, fighting a friend is harder.

Take It Back: Your character makes a decision that seems right at the time. Maybe it was the obvious choice, or maybe it was taking a risk. But uh-oh…now there are unforeseen consequences. 

Or, the opposite…

Decisions, Decisions: Maybe your character has to make a decision where there is not an immediately obvious choice. Make sure that both/all the options have both positive and negative possible or certain outcomes. There is no obvious right or wrong choice. Bonus, it’s funny to watch the fandom debate it later. 

Strip Them Down: Remove your character’s greatest strength. For whatever reason, your character’s most valuable asset is not available, and now, they have to live without it. Bonus mode- it would be really, really helpful if they had it right now!

Or, do the opposite…

Boss Fight: Maybe, instead of your protagonist getting weaker, it’s your antagonist that gets stronger. Strengthen the opposition and see if your characters can adapt to survive, or if they lack what it takes. 

Change of Plan: The rules of the game have changed. This can mean different things depending on your story. They could be literal rules, or more general. Think Hunger Games- did I say two tributes? I meant one, after all. Fight to the death now, please.

Amplify the Emotions: … And the results that come with. People do crazy things in the heat of the moment. You can’t think straight when all you can do is feel. Blinded by anger, sadness, or even joy, your character makes a bad choice. 

*Pile It On: You know what a full plate needs? Even more stuff. Your character is already juggling, trying to balance a variety of responsibilities. So add one more ball. Do they crash and burn immediately? Does it take a while? Do they succeed?  Any which way, the stress is high.

*Note: this one can be difficult on the author, too. Make sure that with all these plot lines, you’re not losing track, yourself.

“Murphy’s Law”: Simply stated, this is a plot tool that says, “whatever can go wrong, will.” I’m just going to say right away… be careful with this one. It’s really frustrating for your audience to watch the characters fail or lose or face misfortune over and over and over again. It makes it feel like nothing will ever come out of rooting for them, so you may as well give up now. Murphy’s Law can be great in the proper proportions, please, let your characters have some victories, or there’s no point to it.

And hey, don’t forget about your inner conflicts. You never know when those are going to have the opportunity to cause trouble. 

Give ‘em hell, kids!*

***disclaimer: you do not have to be a kid to give them hell.

~Penemue

hey folks if you have an android phone: google shadow installed a "security app".

play.google.com

Android System SafetyCore - Apps on Google Play

Provides safety features for Android devices.

I had to go and delete it myself this morning.

Some parents will never forgive you for how they failed you

Alternate heads ahoy!

Alucard's open mouth noggin, Zhang's dragon head, and my (still unnamed) Fox-Boy's "human" head are here!

The boyfriends are finally together ahhh I'm so happy 😁

Next up is their faceups!

• Foxboy is a Fengxian Chanshan Head on an Arcdoll Zilang Body

• Zhang is a Dollzone x Reduce collab Yunchi head on a Loongsoul Black Dragon body

• Alucard is a 小花sp head :]