#finally... its done

Sharle's outfit for the 12th Perigee Ball is complete!

His theme is that of a knight, or more specifically the archetype of a Dragonslayer. In-universe, his outfit was designed by Velour, who spent countless hours trying to perfectly meld the image of a knight in shining armour with high fashion concepts, taking inspiration from runway collections such as the Christian Dior Fall 2006 collection, and the Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2014 Menswear collection.

And don't worry, that sword is a prop and no stuffed dragons were harmed outside of this photoshoot.

Screenshots of details under the cut cuz Tumblr loves to kill the quality of my art:

TIFA LOCKHART AS A KOREAN - CODED CHARACTER; A NARRATIVE

NIBELHEIM: A MOUNTAINOUS VILLAGE, NOT APART OF MIDGAR yet still under the control of Shinra out of necessity. As Tifa’s hometown, it has served as a place of nurture, though not much else. As Zach & Cloud have joked, “A Mako Reactor outside of MIDGAR usually means... nothing else out there.” –it was a simple peace if you ignored the touches of SHINRA.

JEJU ISLAND: A KOREAN MOUNTAINOUS ISLAND, ALSO COLONIZED BY JAPAN during the annexation of 1910-1945. away from the start of industrialization of seoul (then, hanseong) the island consisted of villages and a more isolated way of life– till the intrusion of the Japanese Imperial Army.

HEADCANON: TIFA’S MOTHER: A COURAGEOUS DIVER, LOVING MOTHER. in a village in the mountains, the people of Nibelheim had to be creative and resourceful in their way of life. as a way of living, some women found themselves as divers and fishermen. Naturally, they made for better divers and the women-dominated profession grew into a supportive community.

HAENYEO: THE LIVELIHOOD OF JEJU ISLAND, WOMEN DIVERS WHO HOLD THEIR BREATH FOR OVER 3 MINUTES, HARVESTING UNDER THE SEA FOR THEIR COMMUNITIES. I’ve always been so interested in Haenyeo since I saw a monument made for them in Jeju and while I was thinking about how Tifa was Korean-coded, I couldn’t help myself as imagine Tifa’s mother as a diver. I just imagine her as an active woman who wanted to be out and about along with being a loving mother and wife.

THE NIBELHEIM INCIDENT: A TRAGIC MASSACRE AND  DESOLATION OF NIBELHIEM, though out of Shinra’s hands, justice calls for RESPONSIBILITY. Nibelhiem is covered up and never heard from again. Host to the JENOVA project, conducted by Hojo – which brought forth projects of torture, experimentations, and madness set the scene for chaos in Nibelheim– a convenience for Shinra to have these research projects outside of MIDGAR in order to have complete control of any experiments gone array. That chaos would ONLY be subjected to an unsuspecting village of innocents. A scene of a peaceful cover-up.

JEJU MASSACRE: FREE OF JAPANESE OCCUPATION ON AT JAPAN’S DEFEAT AT THE END OF WWII-- U.S. forces quickly split korea in two, in order to appease USSR forces, and both countries took their piece of Korea (the US taking the south in order to ensure ‘security’ of the capital). With heavy forces of freedom fighting done in North Korea against the Japanese Imperial Army, the people looked to elect the leader of the freedom fighters Kim Il Sung as their first president. The South had a rigged election and dictator put in place by the U.S. with Sygman Rhee as their first ruler. As the people of JEJU ISLAND protested for solidarity and soverignty, supporting the communist movements of land reform and education of the North– the US backed forces massacred anyone thought to be harboring communist sentiment, resulting in the cover up of 30,000 deaths.

MT NIBEL: A PASSAGE FOR THE DEAD. At 8 years old Tifa loses her mother to a tragic diving accident. In her grief, Tifa decides to follow her soul out to Mt Nibel, as it is believed to be the only place for the dead to pass through to the living world. Falling off a bridge, Tifa remains in a coma for seven days.

HALLA SAN: THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN SOUTH KOREA, RESIDING ON JEJU ISLAND. Much of the partisan fighting that occured during the war against the US backed police force and the communist freedom fighters, happened up towards Mt Halla. Many surviving villagers at the time tell stories of warning of the mountain, that whoever goes up– never end up coming back down. With 10% of Jeju’s population being massacred, sighting of ghosts were widespread through the grief of loss.

AVALANCHE: THE ECO-’TERRORIST’ INSURGENT ANTI - SHINRA GROUP. labeled as an organization out to cause disorder by aligning with WUTAI, a country that opposed Shinra ( though now is under their mercy through their defeat after the wutai wars). IN REALITY: AVALANCHE is an eco-revolutionary militia, set on dismantling the corrupt, fascist and capitalist monopoly: SHINRA from killing the world for their benefit.

UIBYEONG or RIGHTEOUS ARMIES: Throughout of much Korean history, cells of Righteous Armies (civilian militias) have poped up and survived throughout multiple invasions from China and Japan. Throughout the period of political turmoil of Joseon (Korea) before the Japanese Occupation, these civilian militias surged with activity in order to assert their independence.

at long last i’ve finished my maki fanmix. sorry about putting a marina song on a dr mix in the year of our lord 2017. had to be done.