On this day exactly 120 years ago, the New York Times published an article, “The Abolition of History,” about the posthumous publication of a book by the English historian Edwin Johnson that, in a “scientific, dispassionate, searching method and manner,” total revision of the Christian history of Europe and the history of England in particular.
Abolition of History.
Generations of English schoolboys yet unborn will rise up and call blessed Edwin Johnson, if the contentions of his posthumous book just published here by the Putnams are successfully established. “The Rise of English Culture,” which appears three years after the author’s death, undertakes to abolish all English history before the end of the fifteenth century. There simply is no such thing. It is an invention, not of the devil, as no doubt large numbers of English schoolboys in the past have thought, but of the Benedictine monks. Respect for the powers and industry of this great hierarchy will be vastly enhanced if what Mr. Johnson maintains is true. In their monasteries was manufactured and turned out all the information, or what has hitherto passed for information, in regard to all the English Kings, all the achievements of the English people, nay, even all the history of Europe and all the literature that is supposed to date before that time. “A wall of darkness seems to rise behind the faintly outlined figure of- Henry Tudor and the fiendlike Richard,” says this uncompromising skeptic, “which shuts in the view of the observer and hides from him the earlier past.” The author puts it mildly when he says that this must come upon the unprepared mind with “a shock of surprise.”
Mr. Johnson is perfectly calm about it. His method and his manner are scientific, dispassionate, searching. He scrutinizes, and he gives his reasons. Being accused of having “Benedictines on the brain,” he gravely replies that it is modern history which he has on the brain, and he knows that this subject cannot be understood without attention to the Benedictine system. That system, as he explains it, is of a band of “dishonest fabulists organized and disciplined in the use of the pen,” “taught to agree upon a dogma and a fable.” From their hands came the whole of our Christian literature, the whole of our history, arranged to suit their purposes. Why have these points been so long neglected, and why have they escaped the notice of the most skeptical and thoughtful historians? These fables were founded, to begin with, on “the imagination of the world.” Already during the Revival of Letters there were brought to light expressions of doubt. They were forgotten or suppressed. The fabulists were organized and disciplined, working for self-interest; the critics were not.
The imagination, fertility, and intellectual power of the fabulists at least are worthy of admiration. Not only all the Saxons, the English Kings downward from “William the Conqueror” — so our skeptic designates his mystical character in quotation marks — are phantasmagoria of Benedictine brains, but laws and literature, the bedrock of our ancient belief, are all products of “the forge and writing house of fable” in the monasteries. St. Augustine and St. Jerome and Tertullian and a St. Thomas Aquinas and their works came thence. So did the Venerable Bede, the symbol of the literary activity of a knot of Benedictines, told off to the duty of illustrating the imaginary past of England. John Wiclif is no historic-personality, but a convenient figure of the poor priests at which the monks and friars aimed their polemical arrows. “Chaucer” (and Mr. Johnson mentions with modest pride that he is the first to point it cut) is a name under which masked a group of men of the English renaissance, keen but genial critics of the monastic system; we first hear of the “Chaucer legend” in 1540. Dante is in a similar predicament. Rabelais is another mask, worn by a jesting monk, who poured contempt through it on the whole system of historic fiction then coming into vogue. Roger Bacon is another mythological figure set up, by the Merton friars through the necessity felt for cultivating the little science then current. We may not even keep our Caxton; he is a legend and not the man who first introduced printing Into England. We must even give up Domesday Book and such a safeguard of our liberties as Magna Charta. Both are real, but both are late — and all that about King John and the Barons at Runnymede is fable.
In an introductory chapter, signed by Edward A. Pretherick, the reader is informed that Edwin Johnson was born in 1842 and died in 1901. He was a Congregational minister until he accepted the Professorship of Classical Literature in New College, London, in 1870. He wrote “The Rise of Christendom,” (1889) and translated the “Prolegomena” of Father Hardouin.
Published: May 14, 1904 The New York Times
https://preview.redd.it/dfai70zeec0d1.jpg?width=975&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=70d9d92cef8ee7f2623e59e16eb7798b1ec52d1c
Contemporary information about Johnson from the English Wikipedia:
Edwin Johnson) (1842–1901) was an English historian, best known for his radical criticisms of Christian historiography.
Among his works are Antiqua Mater: A Study of Christian Origins (1887, published in London anonymously) and The Pauline Epistles: Re-studied and Explained (1894).
In Antiqua Mater Johnson examines a great variety of sources related to early Christianity “from outside scripture”, coming to the conclusion that there was no reliable documentary evidence to prove the existence of Jesus Christ or the Apostles.
He asserts that Christianity had evolved from a Jewish diaspora movement, he provisionally called the Hagioi. They adhered to a liberal interpretation of the Torah with simpler rites and a more spiritualized outlook. Hagioi is a Greek word meaning “saints”, “holy ones”, “believers”, “loyal followers”, or “God’s people”, and was usually used in reference to members of the early Christian communities. It is a term that was frequently used by Paul in the New Testament, and in a few places in Acts of the Apostles in reference to Paul’s activities.
Both Gnosticism as well as certain Bacchic pagan cults are also mentioned as likely precursors of Christianity.
In The Pauline Epistles and The Rise of English Culture Johnson made the radical claim that the whole of the so-called Dark Ages between 700 and 1400 A. D. had never occurred, but had been invented by Christian writers who created imaginary characters and events. The Church Fathers, the Gospels, St. Paul, the early Christian texts as well as Christianity in general are identified as mere literary creations and attributed to monks (chiefly Benedictines) who drew up the entire Christian mythos in the early 16th century. As one reviewer said, Johnson “undertakes to abolish all English history before the end of the fifteenth century.” Johnson contends that before the “age of publication” and the “revival of letters” there are no reliable registers and logs, and there is a lack of records and documents with verifiable dates.

Greetings, Fellow Managers.
With MD4's advent, I've decided to make a new centralizing post for my build updates. I'm still opting to be sparse on details, entrusting the reader to intuit specific tactics (but I'll try to give timely answers to questions in comments).
https://preview.redd.it/azgxjijwlb0d1.png?width=50&format=png&auto=webp&s=a62ec8d205f484194004976072d51231636f5b61
To new readers: this post serves as a crude follow up to my MD3 farming guide (covertly a teambuilding guide). It's quite the backlog to delve into that entire corpus (and I don't expect many would), but this post does rely on some cursory understanding of the strategies outlined (and updated) within that prior guide (and its revisions). As usual, feel free to make changes suited to your own preferences and enjoyment. Enjoy!
Original guide link(s):
https://www.reddit.com/limbuscompany/comments/18nvuos/md3_farming_strategy_deep_diveguide_part_0_1/
https://www.reddit.com/useEffective-Engine6745/comments/1cffe6o/md3_farming_team_listsupdates/
MD4 Analysis:
Lets begin with an analysis of MD4 changes, and their impact on our runs. Fortunately, I was made aware of an excellent, recently released guide, covering a lot of what I wanted to write about:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3237308577
I agree with much of this writer's analysis, but because our focuses differ slightly (theirs center difficulty management/being able to clear MD4 for newer players, and mine aggressively centers clear speed for the more experienced), there's necessarily some different recommendations that I'll highlight below. I'll also reiterate some of the more crucial points, and other points where our perspectives may differ.

1. Floor Packs. Naturally, avoid hard/time-sink packs, and remember rerolls exist. Specifically, for Story Packs: everything Canto 5+ should be avoided (but Lake World is okay). Unloving (Baba Yaga) and Unconfronting (Kromer) are decent, but slow with the wrong team. Intervallo packs are all great picks, but note whether they resist your current team. They're slightly slower on average, but have good gift pools that make up for it (so ideally you want to rapidly cheese through them with AoE EGOs). Everything else has the potential floor boss printed on the pack; so pick accordingly based on your team's specific strengths - you can refer to the tables in the steam guide linked above if you need help identifying them. Note that while number of nodes do correlate with clear speed, less nodes isn't always faster, because fight compositions tend to matter more. I'll detail any team-specific considerations (if any), in their own section below.
2. Fight Compositions. For many packs, regular fights now tend to face us off against groups of 3~4 as opposed to the 5~6 in MD3. This majorly changes our team building considerations. Notably, it slightly lowers the value of 5+ weight EGO, and allows 3-weight EGO to do almost as much work (but note that 5~6 enemy fights still happen, so have those EGOs ready in your back pocket). Similarly, SP gain is slower now, because enemies are less overleveled; so we have the opposite of MD3's excess sanity issue, and certain tactics abusing that SP overflow (e.g. some EGO spam strategies) get slightly worse.
3. Pathing/Node choices. As with MD3, we still prioritize event nodes (the "?" nodes) to skip fights. However, focused encounters are now worthwhile over regular fights, as Peccatula die far faster now (fewer units), trivially giving us additional reward chances. Risky encounters are also usually worthwhile, but will depend on the floor pack (you'll identify which to avoid with experience).
4. Abno Fights from event nodes. Most go down in 2~3 turns, but they're almost never worth the time sink (0 turns is faster than 2 turns after all). We should usually only fight these if we greatly benefit from both gifts, but I'll make the assumption that everyone has different barometers as to which fights are fast/easy, so I'll leave it to the reader's discretion. Detailing how to speed clear each individual boss fight is of course beyond the scope of this writeup.
5. Keywords and Fusing. Contrary to some popular sentiments, I regard the new gifts (and fusing) very highly. A majority of them are incredibly powerful, but do require some teambuilding to effectively exploit. I'll cover separately the specifics as it applies to each team, but will briefly cover general fusing strategies in the next section.
6. Fixed Target EGO gifts. Many only apply to a subset (based on deployment #) instead of the whole team, so it's important to judge their strengths as a fraction of a "full" EGO gift. What's notable is that some of them do target #1, thus boost 2 slots by T2. These front-targeting ones typically have a bigger effect than those targeting later slots. They also tend to be status gifts, and since we (usually) already deploy our best status units up front, it won't affect our team order too often. The back-targeting gifts so far have been for physical keywords (but their Tier 4s target only #3), so our teambuilding should try to catch as many of the good effects as we can. From some analysis, the average best pierce slot is #4. Slash thrives in #5, and multi-coin blunts should be put in #5/6. There's special consideration for slot #3, but we'll get to that in the fusing section.
7. Reward Cards. The starlight cards are clearly amazing. Once you've gotten into the groove of things, even after maxing out your tree, picking the starlight gain card is always a top choice. When you're just starting out, we do pick the guaranteed EGO gift every time. However, once you've filled roughly half your starlight buffs, you should often prefer picking the starlight card. Because we can reroll shops for 10 starlight now, they represent an average cost-save greater than picking the guaranteed EGO gift (when utilizing some clever gambits).
8. Ritornello (Hard) Mode. Better than MD3 in terms of starlight-time efficiency (due to starlight cards mostly), but it still doesn't beat normal mode's (even without getting into BP exp considerations). My current recommendation is thus still the same: hard mode for weekly, then farm on normal. However, it's certainly closer than before, and the new hard mode is also easier than ever. Some floor packs also only show up in hard mode, so if you're a completionist and wish to fill out your compendium, go for it. All our teams still perform well there.

Keywords and Fusing Deep Dive:
Let's talk fusing. The new fusing system is incredible, especially after filling out some starlight buffs. When you're first starting out, as with our MD3 strategy, it's better to hoard gifts and sell the unwanted ones later (lets define these as "junk"), to reroll shops or upgrade items. Eventually however, after filling in more buffs, you'll regularly clean out shops, and won't be starved for costs anymore. Instead, because fusion now targets specific keywords (and success rate being solely determined by # of ingredients), we've gained a powerful tool to exploit the small pools of some keyword categories. There is an in-game button ("Fusion Guide" in the fusion UI) you can refer, to look up specifics on success rates and tier outcomes, but I'll spare the details and describe 3 main fusion strategies I utilize:

1. upFuse: This is the obvious strat, fusing 3 gifts to get a higher tiered one. However, note the discounted Tier 4 fuse: Tier 3 + 3 + 2. We'll often use this, as well as the 2 + 1 + 1 fuse for a Tier 2.
2. rollFuse: This is actually the more important one, essentially rerolling junk into what we want. Like with upFuse, we can also get a discounted rate on this one. e.g. fusing Tier 3 + 2 + 1 gives us a Tier 3 back.
3. 2Fuse: This is a cheap trick we use (rarely) to fish for fusion gift components, specifically for Tier 1s. Using 2 ingredients is only a 60% success rate to get the targeted keyword, but notably if you miss, you get still get back one ingredient's worth. i.e. if you have 4 junk Tier 1s, you can reroll 3 times (which exceeds the 90% success rate of fusing 3). We should really only do this if we are overflowing with junk Tier 1s, and already have the other fusion pair (or simply for fun of course).

So now that I've defined some techniques, what do we actually fuse towards? The classic fusion gifts isn't actually our main goal. We specifically want to target any category that have low ratios of junk for our team. And would you know it, there's quite a lot:

1. Physical Keyword Tier 3s. Would you look at that, there's only one Tier 3 in these categories. e.g. rollFusing a Thunderbranch + Golden Urn + Lithograph into Clasped Structure for our Tremor or Burn team is downright criminal.
2. Physical Keyword Tier 4s. This one is more situational (because it only affects #3 deployed), but again, there's only one in the pool. e.g. Our poise team uses Cinqclair in slot #3, and you should see what Punctured Memory does for him yourself.
3. Status Tier 4s. There's only 2 in the pool, and neither are junk for their respective teams. So it is trivial to upFuse for one of them; however, we should only do so if we have some junk T3 (or alternatively, force one from an easy event abno fight). They're really strong however, so it's often worthwhile.
4. Status Tier 2s. The consequence of starting runs with two Tier 2 status gifts is that it knocks out a considerable chunk of the pool. We'll usually get another Tier 2 from our keyword on floor 1/2 anyway, so we have a very good shot of cornering what we want. Notably also, many status categories' T2s are incredibly broken, and the duds are few and far between (burn or bleed for example doesn't even have a bad Tier 2, and yes, I consider Gossypium a good gift for bleed).
5. Classic Fusion Gifts. And finally, we do sometimes go for this, but usually only if we have the Tier 1 half already. Specific Tier 3s are actually easier to get than Tier 1s, as a consequence of the fusing system (and pools), so if we have the Tier 1, we can easily force the Tier 3 (and thus the fusion gift); though if you really want to, you can also 2Fuse for the Tier 1. However, we rarely -need- the fusion gift, but sometimes the situation just presents itself, so it's worth taking notice when it does (or of course, just for fun).

I'll specify in each respective team's section which particular fuse strategy (and for what targets) we're applying, but for the most part you can likely intuit what we want to target based on the team comp (though there are some notable exceptions like Tremor teams always wanting to fuse Tremor Tier 3s).
Updated MD3 Team comps:
Burn:

Bleed:

Tremor:

Rupture:

Sinking:

Poise:

Charge:

Updates:
I'm posting this in mostly text form first, then editing in images retroactively (to try to prevent the post from bugging out like my last one). I'll also put the writeup of each team's strategy (but not the screenshot of the comp) in a comment, then edit in links to those comments into the post body (again, hoping to not bug out the system too much, and probably helps you find my latest updates). Hope your farming has been going well, managers!
Last updated to: a week after MD4's release (DawnClair's additional buff patch).
Thank You.

Final update on Charlotte
My baby girl crossed the rainbow bridge today. It happened unexpectedly today, due to a turn of events with her health. We spoiled her rotten since we knew her time was coming. She loved a tremendous life and I’m blessed I got 15 years with her. She definitely left paw prints on everyone’s heart who met her. The wildest thing was, as I was leaving the vet today after she was put to rest, there was a rainbow in the sky! Thank you to everyone who showed us love ❤️

My baby girl crossed the rainbow bridge today. It happened unexpectedly today, due to a turn of events with her health. We spoiled her rotten since we knew her time was coming. She loved a tremendous life and I’m blessed I got 15 years with her. She definitely left paw prints on everyone’s heart who met her. The wildest thing was, as I was leaving the vet today after she was put to rest, there was a rainbow in the sky! Thank you to everyone who showed us love ❤️

Original Running Time: 137 mins FanEdits Running Time: 114 mins
Outline: Re-edited shot by shot, shots either trimmed or removed, and the sound/music reworked. The idea was to make a pacier, more kinetic & tightly edited version with dialogue more focused, more intense fights, and a faster pace in scenes, fights & dialogue to make a sequel that feels more in tone with the slick original Kill Bill movie.
The first Kill Bill made homage to many aspects of eastern cinema, from the wild Japanese style editing, to the over the top Hong Kong action movies, to the slower less over edited martial art movies of the 70s ...and it all worked together. That same energy I felt wasn't delivered in the sequel after the gory fun frantic energy of the original movie. But when it came out... Something was off about Kill Bill 2 for me. So i sat to rewatch it to work out what that was. The sequel felt (to me) like some of the dialogue wasn't as snappy, the pace far to slow, it lacked the vibrant energy the first one boasted, and scenes felt bloated. After the kinetic style of the first film (still incorporating great slower paced sequences like the death of O'Renn) The editing felt sloppy, with both the pace and edits feeling glacial at times. Some scenes (like Buddy at work, or with the gravedigging pal, felt less slickly scripted in comparison to the previous 4 movies by Mr Tarantino. The long walking shots to music felt like just that, long walking shots, rather than adding style or character atmosphere for the audience. The fights had weak continuity at times, as did some edits in other scenes, mostly michael madsens. I do love how this one is shot, I like the dialogue, and really enjoyed the training by the Sifu, but really... I rarely dig this out to watch, and if I do, I rarely finish it. The slow meandering intro, long pauses between dialogue, and often not adding tension or suspense, makes my mind begin to wonder during scenes, or friends i'm watching it with start to chat over it. So since I re-edited Kill Bill Vol. 1, I have been tinkering with this movie to try and make it feel more focused, have a more continuous pace, and for myself to create the worthy sequel to the first I felt wasn't delivered in 2004. Over the time of editing I realised that the scenes just all really badly needed a lot of tightening with smoother sound edits flowing together from one shot into another. ...Really I just wanted to see if I could make a cut I enjoyed more, & that I might watch more often in the future when i decide to dig out part 1. Hopefully you enjoy this different version of Kill Bill 2 as no scene, dialogue, or music montage is the same as the original version. People know the crack now, I keep what I think works and remove what I find doesn't (this is of course debatable, but hey, it's my edit) then I spend a few nights making the sound work so hopefully the edits are seamless.
Significant Changes:

• Every shot has been trimmed if necessary (basically all of them) to help pacing/style/continuity, and the music reworked to smooth over the many changes to each sequence.
• Recut opening wedding rehearsal. Dialogue removed. line by Samuel Jackson. lines from bill. The priest.
• Recut Bill & Mr Blonde speaking at caravan. Removed dialogue on selling sword cost and Beatrix deserving to die too.
• Recut Mr Blonde at work. cut Mr Blonde walking from truck to bar. Removed dialogue such as Stripper asking if she should leave, one of the days being scrubbed off the board, and about Mr Blondes hated hat, and Rockets end reaction. Trimmed/removed some tracking shots
• Recut Mr Blonde arriving home and suspicious of his surroundings. Cut looking at his hat cross-eyed.
• Recut Beatrix Coming up to door for revenge
• Recut Mr Blonde talking at Beatrix and call to Elle. Dialogue Removed. Zoomed shot of Mr Blonde getting blood sat over him so you can't see the glass of blood thrown at his right side.
• Recut Burial sequence. Dialogue removed such as Beatrix being sweet ass pussy, eyes burning. Recut Being nailed In. Recut Darness and Inside coffin.
• Recut Bill and Beatrix at campfire.
• Recut arriving at temple.
• Recut meeting Sifu Pai Mei
• Recut Beatrix & Pai Mei sword fight & Tiger Claw fight
• Recut Training Montage.
• Recut Rice Eating sequence.
• Recut escaping coffin. Removed Beatrix asking for a glass of water.
• Recut Elle Diving. Removed Elle pulling up at Mr Blondes. Removed Beatrix walking in desert. Recut transition to Beatrix watching Elle arrive at Mr Blondes. Inserted shot from removed sequence of Elle arriving at buds.
• Recut Elle & Mr Blonde chat in trailer. Dialogue/shots removed.
• Recut Snake Attack
• Recut Elle speaking to Mr Blonde as he dies. Dialogue removed such as always wanting to use gargantuan in a sentence. Recut clearing up money and phonecall to Bill.
• recut Elle & Beatrix fight. dialogue/shots removed.
• Recut Sunset montage
• Recut Beatrix meets Esteban (I should really google the spellings.) Dialogue Removed.
• Recut Driving montage to Bills.
• Recut Entering Bills. Removed a lot of Beatrix wondering about the lounge
• Recut Beatrix finding Bill. Recut Beatrix puts child to bed. Dialogue removed.
• Recut Bill and Beatrix chat. Dialogue removed
• Recut Pregnancy assassination scene. Dialogue removed
• Recut Bill & Beatrix fight.
• Recut walking away montage
• Recut character titles and more of Beatrix driving at end credits.

I may try to do an edit of both volumes as one movie (with sequences in probably a new order) and will just go with what feels right and if I can get something to work. As that may go on a backburner, or take some time, here is a cut of Vol. 2 to pair with my sensical cut of Vol. 1.
"Wakey Wakey ...Eggs & Bacey." (I may have removed the 2nd half of this quote in this edit)
I have done a version with the deleted scene reinserted and recut. This will be called the sensical cut extended.
Released

Fair warning, this is gonna be a long one :)
I started working on this for my own purposes because I’m fascinated by the similarities and differences between the HTT styling approaches Kibbe recommends for the different ID families, but then thought it might be helpful to share with the sub. I always see lots of mention of “lines,” but the overall HTT approach for each ID is sometimes (often) oversimplified. Plus all the other very fun elements that make up a HTT are, imo, getting short shrift! There are a few users who have posted amazing full HTTs for their IDs and I'm hoping even more people will be inspired to explore.
So what even is this post?
Basically, I went through the styling directives in Metamorphosis (Chapter 4) for the main families and directly compared the recommendations for the IDs on a number of smaller, more discrete variables because my brain finds it more digestible that way. I only did the main families because “you’re a [insert family here] first and foremost!!” is a thing regardless of your ID ;) And I thought it was more interesting to compare the elements of the pure families without the influence of any other undercurrents. Also it just would have been a lot of work to do all of them 🙃.
A few notes before getting to the good stuff

• I tried to mostly focus on the words Kibbe uses to evoke feelings rather than specific items, since the book was written in the 80s and clothing is obviously quite different.
• Some of the things that fall in the middle of a scale have debateable positioning since the middles are sometimes hard to compare (ex. Is a moderate pinstripe more angular or less angular than a soft-edged plaid? My vote was more angular but your vote could be the opposite!) I included all of the language I used to determine placement on the scales so you can make your own call if you want.
• I disincluded some, ahem, charged descriptors in a few IDs but I don’t think it changes the overall picture painted of what that ID would be looking to channel in their HTTs

This post includes all of the scales I compared the families on in 6 main categories - silhouette, fabric, detail, prints, color, and accessories - plus some keywords that came up for each family that give the overall impression of the HTT. I might make a second part later with key similarities and differences between the approaches for each pair of families, but we'll see! I'm also interested in any discussion here or observations that others might have on the various categories :)
And of course you can always read Metamorphosis for yourself in full here, which I highly recommend!

1. Silhouette

This section is related to the base silhouette of an outfit - the overall shape of garments that make up a HTT and how they relate to one another. For the purposes of this category, I'm defining "ensemble" as the pieces look related or like they were purchased together, which I believe is the sense Kibbe uses it in.
https://preview.redd.it/8earo8fbm70d1.jpg?width=1965&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40f17625fbfc45cc723b9cc83d447111428d8b02
Shapes

• D - “keep shapes sharp and geometric. Triangles, rectangles, and everything sculpted, sleek, and elongated, with crisp edges.” “square, sharp shoulders”
• R - “keep your shapes rounded with soft edges! Circles, ornate swirls, and intricate flowing shapes” “shoulders should be curved”
• C - “slightly geometric or slightly curved, blend the same shapes together in your look” “slight, crisp shoulder padding”
• N - “geometric shapes with soft or rounded edges are the key. Rounded-edged rectangles. Soft oblongs, rounded-edged squares, irregular shapes, and soft asymmetrics.” “soft-edged shoulder pads are very good”
• G - “small, sharp geometrics” “sharp edges and crisp tailoring” “crisp” “sharp edges and extreme tailoring and construction” “sharp shoulder pads”

Outline quality

• D - “Always straight, with elongated draping that is sleek”
• R - “your outline should always be soft and flowing” “lots of gentle draping everywhere” “soft fluidity”
• C - “smooth and symmetrical with the emphasis on controlled and even edges, soft, straight lines, or smoothly curved lines - softly tailored or slightly flowing.”
• N - “a relaxed, straight line is the outline of your look”
• G - “sharp, straight, and staccato” “severe lines with sharp edges” “broken, staccato, animated outline. Utilizing many short vertical lines and many short horizontal lines is also effective.”

Closeness of fit

• D - “always tailored and sculpted” “streamlined shape” “tailored and sleek” “the more tailored the better”
• R - “showcase the lush curves of your body” “Sleeves should be tapered at the wrist” “waistline should always be emphasized, with soft gathers, folds, draped sashes, and lightweight and supple belts to give a cinched effect” “[Jackets] should be fitted at the waist”
• C - “very slight draping in constructed garments” “crisp and finished cuffs” “tailored pleats” “narrow and tailored [jackets] with a smooth outline.” “lightweight unconstructed jackets are fine when they are kept sleek and narrow. Blazers, cardigan-style, elongated Chanel (not cropped) are all good choices” “softly tailored”
• N - “softly tailored, always unconstructed” “Your outline should be fairly narrow and slim, in a loose and easy way.” “Dropped waist detail (loose sashes, overbloused tops, ties, etc) is excellent, as are slightly dropped shoulders.” “Relaxed shapes” “relaxed and easy fit” “dresses should be simple and unconstructed, with a narrow shape and a relaxed outline.”
• G - “Precision fitted and crisply tailored” “[a] precisely fitted silhouette is crucial to your look” “Sharp and narrow waist definition.” “very fitted” “[skirts] should be very fitted at the waistband” “Pants should always be very sharply tailored with outlined or animated detail at the edges (waistbands, pleats, crisp cuffs).” “Skin tight stretchy pants are excellent” “Very tailored [blouses] with sharp edges and crisp detail (collars, cuffs, pleats, etc.)”

Length of garments

• D - “Long, vertical lines are essential.” “generally [jackets] should be long (ending at the mid-thigh area), although a very sleek, Italian-style might be cropped (be sure this has an extremely sculpted, streamlined shape)” “straight and long [skirts]” “a long hem” “long cardigans or pullovers”
• R - "lengths should be kept gracefully long as uneven hemlines (mid-calf), and short as the tapered styles with an even hemline (mid kneecap)" "[for sweaters] short lengths with waist detail"
• C - “standard length is best [for jackets] (just below break of hip)” “slightly longer jackets are possible when the corresponding skirt is elongated to match.” “moderate length [skirts]”
• N - “Elongated [jackets] (ending from the upper thigh on down.)” “Moderate length [skirts]” “Very short skirts for fun/funky looks.” “Nearly all styles [of pants] are excellent, from very casual to very dressy… short, cropped, or long.” “Any and all lengths [for sweaters]”
• G - “Short, cropped [jackets]” “Straight, sharp, and short [skirts]” “A slightly flared hemline [on skirts] may be slightly longer (top of the calf). Anything extremely long is very tricky, and must have a slit and be pencil slim.” “[For pants] Short lengths, anywhere from cropped at the calf to the top of the ankle.” “Short, cropped cardigans” “Short cropped jackets, vests, and boleros work well with dresses for you”

Cohesion

• D - “keep individual pieces blended together in an artful way for elegance”
• R - “include an artful blending of plush textures, draped fabrics, and luxurious colors” “avoid any kind of harsh contrast between top and bottom”
• C - “A clean, unbroken silhouette is your most elegant statement! Think ‘head-to-toe’, and blend everything accordingly.” “Use [separates] carefully and sparingly” “Make sure colors, textures, and prints blend together”
• N - “Separates are extremely exciting on you, and should make up the bulk of your wardrobe” “you’ll do better with an artful mixture of patterns, textures and colors than you will with an overly matched look” “designer sportswear” “definitely mix n’ match in the most sophisticated sense of the word”
• G - “A use of well-coordinated separates with lots of animated and colorful detail can be very exciting to your look.”

Some random observations from me about this category

• N fam has a truly impressive amount of versatility in terms of the length of pieces they're recommended, probably because they're the only family that's really strongly encouraged to go whole hog with a mix and match/separates-forward approach (a superpower tbh).
• Although the scale of pieces recommended are obviously quite different, the words he uses to describe the shapes for D and G fams are extremely similar. Definitely two families that benefit from an emphasis on crisp sharpness and angularity.
• I thought it was interesting that he used "softly tailored" in both the C and N fam sections, although the effect they're going for is very different (blended understated elegance vs. relaxed funky easy vibes).
• He never uses the word "wide" in the N fam section. He does, however, use "narrow" and "loosely tailored" a number of times 😈 No oversized shapeless potato sacks here!

2. Fabric

This category is pretty self-explanatory I hope!
https://preview.redd.it/94e76p19190d1.jpg?width=1976&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=816214030ae525dd16ec2e071426eab1e571c544
Definition

• D - “fabrics that hold a defined shape are necessary”
• R - “fabrics that drape easily” “flowing”
• C - “beautiful, luscious fabrics are an important element in your understated look” “very slight draping in constructed garments.”
• N - “loose and easy”
• G - “must always be crisp, able to hold a defined shape, and be tailored easily”

Range of textures (how many different fabrics can they use)

• D - “Moderate to heavyweights are best, with a matte finish and a smooth surface” “textures should be tightly woven, and shiny fabrics should be very stiff and ultraglitzy”
• R - “softly woven fabrics” “ultrashiny fabrics” “ultrasoft or plush textures” “sheer fabrics” “any kind of sparkle is excellent”
• C - “Matte finish or slight sheen.” “Luxurious to the touch” “lightweight textures” “smooth knits” “smooth chiffon and elegantly beaded fabrics for evening.”
• N - “All soft textures are excellent” “any fabric with a rough or nubby surface” “any wrinkly fabric works well” “all woven fabrics” “knits are excellent in nearly any weight and thickness, from very finely woven to very heavy and rough” “Plush velours, suede, and soft leather are perfect” “drapable fabrics are best kept to heavier weight jerseys.” “A matte finish is far superior to sheen for daytime” “In the evening, you can go very glitzy with hard-finished sheens”
• G - “a flat surface or light texture is best” “finely woven knits, especially when ribbed and skinny, are good choices.” “matte finish is best, although hard-finished sheens can be very exciting (especially metallics)”

Weight

• D - “Moderate to heavyweights are best” “occasionally lightweight fabrics can work if they are extra-structured in the design of the garment”
• R - “lightweight fabrics”
• C - “moderate weights. Lightweights in very constructed or tailored garments.”
• N - "knits are excellent in nearly any weight and thickness, from very finely woven to very heavy and rough." “moderate weights are best, although textures can easily be lighter”
• G - “usually your fabric will be of moderate weight, though lighter weights that hug the body are excellent”

Some random observations from me about this category

• Again lots of similarities for G and D fam as far as structure and matte finish, although D also has heavier structured wovens while G has fine knits.
• R fam and N fam get by far the most diverse recommendations as far as fabric and textures go (again a ton of versatility in N fam!). Seems like you really can't go wrong with something sparkly, shiny, glitzy, or plushy if you're in R fam. And for N fam it sounds like you get to mix far more textures into one HTT than everybody else does, which is exciting!
• I thought the emphasis on flowing for R fam was interesting. It makes total sense - I haven't read too deeply into R since I am clearly not one lol - but for some reason I had flowing associated with N in my mind.
• I really love the C recommendations myself - "luscious fabrics" just makes me think about burrowing in a cashmere blanket haha. I could definitely picture Grace Kelly as I was reading them.

3. Prints

Also self-explanatory!
https://preview.redd.it/nn24my93490d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a8d47c3a4d4d5984b6cac8d9deeccdf7da834c4
Pattern

• D - “bold and geometric: stripes, zigzags, asymmetrics, and irregular shapes.” “Think Picasso and strive for a contemporary feeling”
• R - “rich and luscious with the emphasis on an abstract, watercolor blend (think Monet). Swirls of color, flowing together, with soft and rounded edges may be used in abundance.”
• C - “symmetrical, evenly spaced, and regular or realistic patterns. Understated prints (pin dots, pinstripes, checks, blended plaids, herringbone, symmetrical paisleys, etc.)”
• N - “casual styles that are soft-edged geometrics (plaids, stripes, paisleys, etc.) and funky prints in irregular shapes (abstract asymmetrics, leaves, animal prints, etc.).”
• G - “Prints should be sharp, colorful, and animated. Small geometrics and angular asymmetrics are excellent. Most of your prints should be very contemporary in feeling (“Picasso-ish”) although humorous styles that are outlined and caricatured can be quite stunning on you as well.”

Contrast

• D - “Bold color combinations and high-contrast blends work best”
• R - “swirls of color, flowing together”
• C - “Make sure colors, textures, and prints blend together” “understated”
• N - “generally have a softly blended edge”
• G - “colorful and animated” “outlined” “contrast”

Scale

• D - “bold”
• R - “luxuriously large: oversized florals or feathery shapes are especially lovely”
• C - “understated”
• N - “moderate scale to slightly large”
• G - “small”

Some random observations from me about this category

• Again lots of similarities for D and G for the type (sharp geometric) and feeling of prints (contemporary/Picasso) with the main difference being large vs. small scale (don't worry, they're about to diverge hardcore 😂)
• R fam is recommended significantly more abstract and organic prints than everyone else. I also thought it was interesting that both D and R call for larger-scale prints - finally something in common!
• For C fam it seems like the most important thing is that the prints blend in and are understated rather than drawing attention to themselves.
• Preferring high contrast and sharp prints vs slightly more blended and soft ones seems like a notable difference between D/G and N fam.

4. Garment Detail

This category is related to the details within the confines of the outline of a garment. So things like necklines, collars, effects like beading and sequins, trim, buttons, etc etc.
https://preview.redd.it/342pwi6y390d1.jpg?width=1971&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64115f1045c7a3cb6d9ac1d6d843754ca943a603
Shape - sharp vs soft

• D - “angular shapes” “sharp edges” “clean, angular necklines (plunging v’s, skinny turtlenecks, high Mandarins, slashed collars, halters…)” “anything tailored (crisp cuffs, sharp pleats, sharp lapels, etc.)”
• R - “soft” “[Sleeves can be] very soft and flowing” “lapels should be curved, rounded, or shawl-collared” “gathers, tucks, or bouffant shapes” “any draped, gathered, or shirred touches are wonderful accents”
• C - “clean, tailored necklines” “crisp and finished cuffs”
• N - “Any unconstructed or loosely tailored detail works well.” “Simple necklines… are best, and you should concentrate on open necklines for your air of casual chic” “lapels should be tailored, notched, or clean (lapel-less).” “Cuffs should be very plain.”
• G - “Detail should always be… sharp” “very crisp, staccato, broken up, and multicolored” “lots of crisp trim” “lots of outlining (collars, cuffs, waistbands, lapels) with piping of contrasting colors or fabric, braiding, beads, etc.” “Small, crisp pleats.” “Sharp, angular necklines - also small” “Small, crisp ties (ribbon, leather, etc.)” “Small, tailored lapels or crisp lapel-less with piping.” “Small, crisp cuffs.”

Scale - large vs small

• D - “bold, sweeping geometrics”
• R - “oversize bows, flouncy ruffles, and delicate lace are always good choices”
• C - “[detail] should never call attention to itself”
• N - “pleats should be soft and deep” “You can use small touches of hand embroidery or rough lace and eyelet for very simple trim.”
• G - “Detail should always be small” “Small, crisp pleats.” “Sharp, angular necklines - also small” “Small, crisp ties (ribbon, leather, etc.)” “Small, tailored lapels or crisp lapel-less with piping.” “Small, crisp cuffs”

Complexity - clean vs intricate

• D - “detail should always be clean and minimal”
• R - “intricate, ornate… with an emphasis on framing your face” “Sleeves should be tapered at the wrist with intricate buttons” “any kind of sparkle is excellent (pearls, sequins, beading, etc.)” “belt buckles should always be intricate” “the more intricate or antique looking your buttons are the better” “ornate detail” “ornate necklines”
• C - “clean, simple, and minimal - just enough to add an elegantly understated touch.” “never call attention to itself” “clean lines” “minimal detail” “minimum of detail”
• N - “detail should be kept minimal. Plain and simple is best for you.” “gathers should be minimal” “simple tailored styles with minimal detail” “Simple shapes with easy fits” “Minimal detail”
• G - “an overabundance of detail” “You can never wear too much detail! An abundance of it and everywhere in your look is one of the most effective tools you have for capturing your animated effervescence!” “Detail should always… call attention to itself (not blend into the lines of your garments)” “lots of animated and colorful detail” “Collar, cuff, lapel, and waistband detail (outlining, trim, piping, ribbing) are essential”

Some random observations from me about this category

• A very stark divide here between the families that lean minimal/clean (C, N, D) and the families that lean complex (R, G)!
• Even though R and G both call for a lot of detail, G fam seems to like it literally everywhere (but especially at the edges) while R focuses on framing the face. Another difference between them is that G detail is high contrast, sharp, and colorful while R fam's detail tends to the ornate, flowing, intricate, and sparkly - very different shapes I think.
• Finally a category where N fam is not running away with the versatility haha - it seems like a more minimal and clean approach to detail really helps them shine.

5. Color

Y'all know what colors are :)
https://preview.redd.it/5he7hmfk790d1.jpg?width=1949&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bc59971dc9518bfbd276300feccba5838f4d7971
Number

• D - “Always think ‘head-to-toe’ with your color schemes” “All monochromatic schemes are excellent”
• R - “include an artful blending of… luxurious colors”
• C - “Make sure colors, textures, and prints blend together” “monochromatic schemes are excellent, although you do not need to be limited to just one or two colors.”
• N - “Color is an area in which you should have lots of fun! Strive for zip, verve, and lots of pizzazz with bolds, brights, pastels, vivids, and wild color combinations - anything imaginative.” “Break all the rules when it comes to color! Mix ‘n match with ease.”
• G - “lots of animated and colorful detail can be very exciting to your look” “Your use of color should be bold and sassy; break all the rules here! Multicolored splashes are perfect. Bright and shockingly colored accessories played against a dark or light background. High, sharp contrast and wild color combinations are all very chic on you. Break your line with color!”

Effect

• D - “color combination should be bold but elegant. Combining bright shades with dark shades achieves this with ease.”
• R - “should emphasize a watercolor palette of soft pastels and luscious brights.” “rich, luxuriously blended colors” “pale neutrals… are your best accents”
• C - “accentuate your smoothly blended visual outline. This means that a mixture of colors in an outfit should blend together in intensity so as not to disrupt your clean and smooth silhouette.” “The key is to make sure the tones (intensities) blend, instead of contrasting.”
• N - “Strive for zip, verve, and lots of pizzazz with bolds, brights, pastels, vivids, and wild color combinations - anything imaginative. Neutrals work well when they are used in beautifully textured fabrics… but you will feel a little dull without a few bright accents, either in accessories or jewelry.” “Colors can be very wild and unusual if you wish, or more muted and earthy-looking”
• G - “bold and sassy” “Multicolored splashes” “Bright and shockingly colored accessories played against a dark or light background.” “High, sharp contrast and wild color combinations”

Some random observations from me about this category

• It's been said before but D fam's inability to do anything but monochrome has been greatly exaggerated. Outfits can have high contrast colors as long as they still read bold and sleek!
• I found it interesting that both C fam and R fam call for a blended effect.
• Color seems like a key category to focus on for both N fam and G fam - bold color kings/queens 👑

6. Accessories

The category for everything else - bags, hats, shoes, jewelry, belts, etc etc.
https://preview.redd.it/ek7fu7oz790d1.jpg?width=1923&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7c24f3db63656cef4a8da916665ba0f19893cc86
Scale

• D - “Belts should be bold and wide” “Metal belts will be sculpted and quite large.” “[Hats should have] wide brims” “[Jewelry should have] an emphasis on bold, modern shapes.” “[For jewelry,] Pieces should be large but not overly bulky.”
• R - “The effect may be lavish, but the workmanship should be intricate and delicate.” “delicate [shoes]” “[For bags,] Delicate shoulder straps. Elegantly slim briefcases.” “Jewelry should always be delicate and lavish, with intricate and ornate touches. Rounded shapes, curves, swirls, and lots of dangles”
• C - “slender pumps” “narrow heels” “moderate size [bags]” “slim and elegant” “keep [belts] elegant, slim, and narrow with small smooth buckles” “small and crisp [hats] with even brims” “Small [jewelry]”
• N - “moderate-sized [bags]” “Jewelry should be kept on the chunky side” “It is possible to get away with very minimal chains, tiny diamond studs, etc., but chances are you won’t be satisfied with this once you experiment with a zippier look!”
• G - “All accessories should be small, crisp, geometric, and colorful” “Small, crisp geometrics [for bags]” “[Belts] may be narrow to moderately wide.” “Small, crisply tailored hats.” “Jewelry should be small and sharp.”

Shape

• D - “All accessories should be crisp, sharply tailored, and angular with geometric shapes. Keep everything sleek and contemporary in feeling.” “High, straight heels, crisp soles, and elegantly tapering toes.” “Angular envelopes, clutches, or structured briefcases.” “[For jewelry,] thin sharp pieces are good choices, as are avant-garde works of art.”
• R - “softly sophisticated.” “[Shoes of] Lightweight and supple leather.” “[For bags,] small, rounded shapes. Soft, supple leather or fabric.” [For belts,] soft and supple leather or fabric.” “Soft, curvy [hats]” “Large, fluffy fur hats.”
• C - “elegant scarves in symmetrical ties” “tapered toes” “elegant leather” “softly tailored flats” “crisply tailored [bags]” “supple leather [bags]” “tailored, symmetrical shape[d hats]” “Keep your jewelry elegant, smooth, and symmetrical” “Small, slightly geometric shapes [in jewelry] are good, as are smoothly curved swirls.”
• N - “Unconstructed styles with soft or rounded-edged geometric shapes are most effective.” “high heels should be very angular and straight, not tapered” “unconstructed pouches” “Simple geometrics in supple leather” “softly geometric [belts]” “unconstructed [hats]. Large, loose, and floppy. Shaggy-haired fur.” “Soft or rounded-edged geometrics [for jewelry]”
• G - “All accessories should be small, crisp, geometric, and colorful” “tailored and angular [shoes] in lightweight leather. Unusual shapes in toes and heels are excellent (asymmetrics, wedges, sharp points, etc.) as are bold colors and printed fabric.” “Small, crisp geometrics [for bags]” “Stiff leather [belts] with geometric buckles.” “Jewelry should be small and sharp and in geometric, asymmetrical, or irregular shapes.”

Detail

• D - “sleek & elegant”
• R - “ornate” “strappy, slender-heeled [shoes] with tapered or open toes” “[Flats] with ornamentation” “[For bags,] Ornamentation or luxurious detail (beads, gathers, trim).” “[For belts,] All beaded, bejeweled, or sparkly styles are excellent.” “belts are a focal point, and should be selected as carefully as a fine piece of jewelry” “Jewelry should always be delicate and lavish, with intricate and ornate touches. Rounded shapes, curves, swirls, and lots of dangles… sparkly materials are essential… and an antique, baroque, or rococo effect is desirable.”
• C - “simple, clean, and elegant” “Be careful not to overdo! Go elegant instead of extreme.”
• N - “Accessories should be kept minimal; plain and simple is your best look here” “evening sandals should be very bare, not strappy” “belts should be simple” “[For jewelry, think] “wearable art”... or it can be bright and funky costume pieces that add pizzazz! Earthy materials are very elegant and sophisticated on you (copper, silver, amber, turquoise, etc.). Hard-finished enamels and glass are fun, especially when used in bold colors for vivid accents”
• G - “[Accessories] should call attention to themselves as detail” “Contrast is being strived for with your use of accessories, as well as bringing out your wit and a sense of fun.” “[For shoes] bold colors and printed fabric. Flats of all kinds should always be funky and fun (patent leather, trimmed, etc.)” “Brightly colored belts are excellent aids in breaking your line.” “[For jewelry] Brightly colored enamel, stone, or glass are best. Very contemporary avant-garde pieces are excellent on you, as are trendy pieces that accentuate your wit.”

Some random observations from me about this category

• In keeping with the general themes, D fam again shines more with much bolder or larger scale accessories than everyone else, although they don't need a ton of detail within them. The overall shape seems to do most of the heavy lifting.
• In contrast, G fam and R fam once again call for a lot of detail within their accessories. They also get the most fun-sounding shoes (to me, a magpie).
• And again N, C, and D have the cleaner strategies for accessories, although N does have a more G-like approach recommended for fun colorful jewelry.

7. In closing, some keywords

Picked out from the sections for each main family. I find these helpful to kind of paint a word picture of the overall vibe each family is recommended to go for.

• D - sharp, geometric, elongated, sculpted, sleek, streamlined, defined, structured, clean, bold, sweeping, angular, tailored, elegant, long, straight, contemporary, avant-garde, crisp, modern, chiseled, high-contrast
• R - soft, rounded, ornate, intricate, flowing, draping, light, shiny, plush, sheer, delicate, curved, tapered, sparkle, gathers, folds, blended, luxurious, fluid, antique, shirred, flounces, frills, fluffy, swirls, watercolor, rich, abstract, sophisticated, strappy, ornamentation, beaded, bejeweled, lavish, rococo, elaborate, colorful, glitzy
• C - smooth, even, blended, controlled, softly tailored, slightly flowing, clean, elegant, luscious, understated, quality, moderate, simple, minimal, crisp, symmetrical, gathers, slim, beaded, sleek, natural
• N - geometric, soft, rounded edges, irregular, asymmetric, relaxed, straight, softly tailored, unconstructed, narrow, slim, loose, easy, textured, plush, matte, minimal, plain, simple, open, casual, chic, separates, mix and match, pattern, color, sophisticated, easy, elongated, short, zip, verve, pizzazz, bold, bright, pastel, vivid, wild, imaginative, funky, blended, chunky, elegant, tousled, free, fresh-faced, glowing, radiant, healthy
• G - small, sharp, geometric, fitted, crisp, tailored, straight, staccato, severe, animated, broken, short, detail, defined, flat, light, matte, sheen, moderate, call attention, colorful, trim, outlined, piping, ribbing, contrast, pleats, angular, ties, lapels, narrow, well-coordinated separates, tapered, stiff, slim, asymmetrical, bold, sassy, splashes, bright, high contrast, wild, chic, contemporary, humorous, wit, fun, angular, unusual shapes, prints, irregular, avant-garde, sleek, beading, tousled, cropped, fresh-faced, glowing, doe-eyed

Phew! You made it to the end. Hopefully it was helpful, or gave you some ideas of smaller, more approachable categories to explore for HTTs. If not, at least it was a great exercise for my own weird brain processing lol. Feel free to drop any observations/thoughts you might have in the comments, I'm curious what everyone else sees or thinks is notable or interesting!

I'm looking to have a tattoo designed to memorialize my grandfather. My idea was a paw print with elements of the animals he rescued/raised most. While he would take in any animal, parrots, koi fish, turtles/tortoises, and foliage were his passion. They were also a huge part of my childhood spent with him.
I am open to any variation of leaf, and for the elements to be rearranged to create a better sense of balance. The birds he worked with most were Macaw, African Gray, and Cockatoo.
This will be done in black ink only. I'm also open to having the quote included in a different way or other ideas for the center of the paw.
Thank you so much in advance, and please feel free to reach out with any questions! I've never done a request here, so I'm honestly not sure how the payment aspect usually works?

There’s a critter finding joy in creating chaos in my garden lol. There’s a local stray cat that I’ve seen in our community garden and assumed it was that, but it I saw this paw print which obviously isn’t from a lil Siamese cat. Could it be a raccoon or maybe a possum? I’m in Los Angeles, in the most urban part and I’ve personally never seen a raccoon out here but I have seen a couple of possums in another neighborhood not too far away.
(The oranges were there to deter the stray cat. I feel like if it was a raccoon it would’ve taken the oranges?)