#Cora Tidbits;

[moonwolfblues]

And then there was another one. Chapter 3, here we go!

You Look At Me Like I'm All You Want (I'm Hardwired To Be With You) by MoonWolfBlues

Ongoing | Sterek | General Audiences | 7,980 words | 3/?

Read on AO3: Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3

---

The world comes back to him slowly this time, his senses waking up and pulling on the feeling of home. When Stiles slowly lifts his lids, a pair of gray-green eyes are peering down at him. He can feel a soft smile pulling on the corners of his lips. He’s safe; he can rest a bit more. So his eyes flutter shut again. 

“Stiles,” a soothing, familiar voice says. He can feel a warm pressure on his arm. “Stiles, it’s time to wake up. Deaton’s here.”

The mention of the Druid brings reality crashing back down. “Ugh.” His whole body ached. He hadn’t noticed it the first time he woke up, but now he could feel each and every muscle strain when he moved to sit up. “What time is it?” he asks the man beside him while attempting to rub the exhaustion from his eyes. 

“A little past four in the afternoon.”

“The same day I arrived, right?” he asked, worried he slept the week away. It wouldn’t be the first time his drained spark kept him unconscious that long. 

That earned him a chuckle from Derek. The sound wrapped around him like a warm hug, melancholy thick in the air. For a brief period of time, he had thought he was never going to hear that sound again, never feel the joy from making Derek Hale laugh. It wasn’t the same, this wasn’t his Derek, but he couldn’t help the beaming smile on his face despite the ache he felt for his lost mate.

“Yes,” Derek replied easily, “it’s still the same day. You’ve been passed out for a while, but not that long.” When Stiles met the man’s eyes, he could see a gleam of mirth. “Just long enough to drool everywhere.”

Stiles sputtered out a laugh, trying to be offended but failing miserably. “I’ll have you know, that drooling is a natural, bodily function and I’m not going to feel bad about it.” His hands were flying through the air, just barely missing Derek’s face.

Derek laughed again, grabbing one of Stiles’ hands. “You sound like my sister. Though she’s definitely worse than you when it comes to drooling.”

Stiles lights up at that tidbit of information. “Oh my god, I cannot wait to tell Cora you said that.” He laughs, “She’s going to kill you.”

Derek tilts his head to the side in confusion. “Oh no, sorry, I meant my older sister Laura.”

The laughter dies in Stiles’ throat. “Oh, yeah… Laura.”

Derek looks taken aback by the sudden change in Stiles’ emotions. He gives Stiles’ hand a reassuring squeeze. Stiles attempts a smile but he can tell by Derek’s eyebrows that he only managed a grimace. 

“Look,” Derek starts, “I’m not sure what–”

“No.” Stiles interrupts, squeezing Derek’s hand again. “At least, not yet. I need to talk to your mother first.” And wow did that word feel strange coming out of his mouth. Stiles hasn’t had much experience with mothers since his own died when he was nine, and his mate’s passed before they met. Mellisa was the closest he’d gotten in a long while, but even then, it wasn’t the same.

Derek frowned but nodded. They sat in silence for a few moments before Derek tilted his head towards the door. A few seconds later, Stiles could hear shuffling on the other side before Talia walked in with Deaton and her husband. 

Stiles sighed, letting Derek help him sit up before addressing them. “You might as well get Peter down here. As much as I hate to admit it, he’ll be helpful for this conversation.”

Talia did something with her eyebrows that usually meant confusion when his Derek wore them, and called for the man in question.

While they waited, an awkward silence filled the small room. There was nowhere else to sit so the others stood against the wall opposite the bed. Stiles watched Talia assess him next to her son. Which, fair… to her, Stiles was still a potential enemy, a would-be threat. But this meant that he also saw when her gaze dipped to their hands. Hands that were tangled in the sheet between them, grasping on for something neither of them could name yet. She raised an eyebrow at her son in question and he sprang away from the bed, and Stiles, like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar after his parents had told him no. 

Stiles just rolled his eyes at the man. And they say Stiles is dramatic. 

Peter arrived just in time to save them all from another awkward pause, clapping his hands as he entered the room. “Let’s get down to business.”

The group stared at Stiles as if waiting for him to start, but Deaton beat him to the punch. Taking a step towards the bed, he spoke with an air of calm that seemed to settle the Hales. “Stiles, is it?”

Stiles nodded at the man. He looked much younger than the Deaton that had helped his pack back when they were in high school. His shoulders were held back, tall and sturdy, and his face was free of lingering worry. 

“Talia tells me that you aren’t from here. That you mentioned something about time and space? Would you like to explain what you meant by that?”

Stiles smiled and could feel the twinkle in his eye. Boy was Deaton going to regret asking him an open-ended question like that. “Well I’m pretty sure my spark altered space and time in order to send me to a different reality.” 

There was a pause before everyone started speaking at once.

“That’s not possible.”

“You’re a spark?”

“What do you mean a different reality?”

“Who the hell is this kid?”

Stiles just grinned at them before Derek’s dad – woah that was so weird to say – stepped in. 

“Okay, okay, everyone settle down. Stiles, why don’t you start from the beginning. Who are you?”

Stiles paused, debating on whether or not to answer. Was it safe to tell them everything? His magic didn’t feel threatened by them so they may be able to help him figure out what was going on. And the truth would probably be best – damn it, this wasn’t going to be fun.

“My name is Stiles Stillinski.” That got him a confused look.

“Like the sheriff?” Peter asked.

Stiles nodded. “Yeah, he’s my dad.”

“That’s not poss-” Derek’s dad began, but Deaton held up his hand to stop him. 

“Is it safe to assume, Mr. Stillinski, that your memory of things will probably not align with what we know to be true?”

Stiles tilted his head, thinking. “Yeah, probably. I’m not sure what all will be different but seeing as the whole Hale family is up and walking around in Beacon Hills, things are going to be pretty altered.” He winced at their confused faces. He hadn’t meant to say that.

Deaton just nodded, “I assumed so. We’ll try not to interrupt too much then.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes. Deaton was being much more accommodating than he was used to. Usually, he just nodded silently and let the pack figure things out on their own. Stiles nodded his understanding, nonetheless. 

Talia cut in then, “Why don’t you explain your connection to the Hale pack since it seems you know quite a bit about us.”

Stiles gulped, his throat dry all of a sudden. He isn’t sure how they’re all going to take this, though he guesses most of them already heard him say it to Talia earlier.

He began slowly. “Where I’m from, I am the emissary of the Hale pack.” 

Derek’s dad steps forward, “But you’re so young. How could you possibly be qualified to be Talia’s emissary? What happened to Deaton?”

Stiles reached up and scratched his neck, looking away, “Yeah, um, I never said Talia was my alpha…”

Read the full chapter on AO3.

[camalyng]

don't make me turn this car around aka: Nomad conversations my beloved

Unsurprisingly, the woman who loves elevator conversations also loves Nomad conversations. Once again: A great way of adding characterization, squad dynamics, and lore, but this time with progression instead of just being random, and without mostly just having multiple slight variations on the same conversation!

Some fave tidbits once more:

Ryder actually chiming in once in a while! Not like Shepard awkwardly standing there while the squad throw around microaggressions.

Jaal asking everyone what they do for fun

Liam trying to tell everyone about his run-in with a scarred up turian vigilante

Jaal following up Cora's description of biotics being like a sneeze with "Amazing. What's a sneeze?"

"Sid asked if I could get her a timer, medi-gel, and fifteen pairs of socks."

Cora and Drack teasing each other a lot of the time but Drack genuinely comforting her after the asari ark

Peebee calling Cora out for being a weeablue and their tension between Cora's discipline and Peebee's free spirit

Liam constantly reminding Cora they're working with civilians who aren't at war, not soldiers

Jaal and Vetra talking about their sisters

Drack Surprise!

Peebee and Jaal wondering if angarans and asari can reproduce

Liam and Jaal swapping weird facts about their species

Drack being someone Vetra can vent to about raising Sid

Vetra and Peebee working through their initial tension about sister status to making plans to go out and do something stupid together

Vetra and Liam discussing combat music

Peebee and Drack talking about their ages and their species' longevity

Drack likes soccer!

Peebee thinking her and Liam would be "slapstick funny" as a couple

(I forgot who made these transcripts but here they are)

[oswaldthatendswald]

if youre still open for writing suggestions, perhaps little tidbits and headcanons about cora's devil fruit powers?

Okay, I saw this and a concept popped into my mind fully formed, but it's a little bit off the prompt. Still, I hope you enjoy!

Dare He Aspire

"Rocinante's disappointed by his Devil Fruit and it falls to Doflamingo to convince him that it's not all bad."

[calronhunt]

It sounded like Gaius is wrapped up in a bit of spoiler stuff but what tidbits can you say about her!

Her and Rosalyn had some Gal Pal situation, how much can you go into that! Also does Gaius see much of Cora? asked purely based on that one gym meme you drew.

Gaius and Rosalyn were super close friends when they were around 16-32-ish. Gaius was put into the Guard branch of the government (basically the police) by Leander to essentially give her something to do because he was too preoccupied being the Head Cardinal. Rosalyn was a healer apprentice so the two were in decently close proximity (ie. Gaius getting sent to the nurses office because of some sparring accident or other).The two really hit it off and just were very very close.

I think in their late-teen and early twenties, they did screw around a lot. Rosalyn is the kinda girl who's like "I'm straight" but kiss with tongue and get finger blasted by her girl bestie on the odd occasion. Gaius knows she's a lesbian and is fine screwing around with Rosalyn. They never officially dated or anything, but had a weird undefined girl besties gal pal situation going on. Then all the shit with Fate kinda completely blows up, and Rosalyn loses her marbles and Gaius tries to help but it's just. not enough.

AS FOR GAIUS AND CORA, They're having a situationship. Gaius had a crush on Cora for like. A long while (again, I think it was a case of Gaius gets sent to the nurses office and girl with clear Problems and Issues treats your wound and you swoon a little bit). Cora didn't even know Gaius existed at first basically. It was only after the death of Fate and Caroline did the two start really interacting bc of the plot to make Faith and all that.

There's some lesbian tension between the two of them for a while, before a Certain Event causes it to boil over and they start hooking up. They both need a little distraction from some things, and the other is there to be able to help.

Gaius is definitely more serious about it than Cora is. Cora feels immense guilt about it, but not in the like "i'm using Gaius" kind of way, but more in the "I'm distracting myself from what my mother really wants me to do I'm terrible I'm ruining her name what would she think of me like this" but she keeps going back bc girliepop is so tired and Leander keeps giving her more stuff to do.

[mydaylight]

I have been rewatching Downton Abbey while being sick and it struck me that Bertha's sister, Monica O'Brien, has the same surname as Cora's lady's maid Miss O'Brien. I don't want to read to much into it because it may well end up meaning nothing but it's certainly some interesting food for thought.

Another interesting tidbit I remembered is that in the first episodes of s1 they mention that Robert's valet before Bates arrived was called Watson, which would ultimately became the name of George Russell's valet in The Gilded Age.

[bella-caecilia]

I wish you would write a fic where... Cora and Robert would've had their son.

Yes! We were robbed! I don't know if I'll ever commit to this weighty storyline but here is a tidbit of how it could look <3

⟫⟫⟫

His hands clasped behind his back, Robert squeezed his fingers and let his gaze flit over the rainy garden behind the floor-to-ceiling windows. His mind was turning over the words of the latest letter from the war office. These letters were his invaluable connection to the front. He wasn't there himself; he had other duties to attend to. But at least he was being kept informed.

"Robert, darling. Do you want another cup of tea?" Her voice was soft but it pierced through his thoughts sharper than any scream could have. Her fragile tenderness was such a harsh contrast to the content of his thoughts. He suspected there was more she wanted to say from the open tone of her question. But upon turning around, he registered Carson and believed that her concern was too intimate to call across the room.

He left the rain-streaked window and took the tea Carson had silently poured him. He went to stand next to an empty settee and avoided looking at Cora. On his mind was the war. He didn't want mix these images with the vision of his wife, rosy and soft and naive.

Robert held on to the saucer and the silver spoon and felt no interest in the tea whatsoever. The same words went round and round in his mind. Germany is advancing on all fronts. Reading the letters from the war office felt increasingly like a fever dream. And he wanted to put an end to it himself.

"Oh, look who is there!" Cora's cooing caught his attention in an instant once again. Robert's head shot up and he took in Nanny in the doorway with the little master on her hip. A serene calm seized Robert's mind. Finally. Arthur managed to achieve this better than anyone else.

Robert watched Nanny walk over to where Cora was seated and place the little master on his mother's lap.

"Thank you, Nanny. I will ring for you when you can pick him up again."

Nanny bowed out. Robert lifted the teacup to his lips and followed Cora's gentle gestures with his eyes. She patted little Arthur's white gown and adjusted the ruffles on his tiny shoulders. His arms were so short, his little fists so easily disappeared in Cora's palm, his feet didn't reach his mother's knees. Robert was once again in shock at how miniature everything on Arthur was. Though, he was an infant after all.

Cora lowered her lips to the crown of Arthur's head. Robert watched the scene with a moved tug in his chest. What a gift. His eyes didn't leave the innocent, embracing duo as he approached them. He discarded his teacup on a tray and carefully sat down on the other end of Cora's settee. Their eyes met for a second before they both observed their son who had taken hold of Cora's pearl necklace and purred quietly in full concentration, studying the accessory.

"Careful, dear chap," Robert said softly. "That's a favourite of your mother's."

Cora kissed the infant's dark hair again. "It's alright. I like to share it," she hummed.

Robert was enraptured by the gentle display of mother and son. He lifted his hand to his wife's face and tentatively brushed the back of his forefinger over her incredibly soft cheek. She acknowledged him with a fond, even smitten smile.

Robert was reassured that his duty here at home wasn't any less important than supporting the war. It was very different but a single look at his wife and their infant son confirmed his responsibility and the rightfulness of his staying.

⟫⟫⟫

(Funny enough, I just started working on an old WIP again that's kind of fitting the brief and kind of not... Well, it's basically an angsty s1 pregnancy AU with a twist. But more about this when I've finished this ficlet :) )

I wish you would write a fic where...

[melkyt]

When you're so deep into hyperfixation, you want to make spin-offs from your own fic xd

I might post like little tidbits of fluff on ao3 for my reincarnation au

Like Law getting his first halloween costume with Lami and Cora, you know they are going to match and go all out and drag Law along into it

Law starting school and being really nervous at the idea of being around new people and teachers. He gets into a few fights. The first time Cora gets called into the office to bring him home, he tries to smile and be polite but scares the teachers when he first enters, tall and brooding in a dark coat that hide his colorful outfit underneath xd

Doflamingo being in a seperate school because he is not allowed near Law on the daily, this does not stop him to go bug the kid. Somehow the two of them end up burning part of the school down during their back and forth bickering. Which is why Cora was called into the office in the first place. He is struggling trying to parent his older brother turned teen xd.

Shanks teaching Law how to drive as nobody else in the compound either A: can drive or B: Wants to teach him, C: He would drop dead before he asks them (ie Doflamingo). Cora is in the back seat giving the most unhelpful advice and they end up driving into a ditch, and Law gets the fuck out to go 'cry' in frustration of failing.

He just wants to be useful when Luffy wakes up so they dont have to keep leaning on the adults. Robin is the one who ends up teaching him.

Lami's first birthday since she came back, the biggest party on the block. Law seeing her smile, really smile for the first time and getting emotional that she is here.

Law's first piercing. He sneaks out with some money he and Ace saved up to go to this place Yamato shared with them. Their guardians would let them get a piercings & tattoo's but they dont think that. This is two teens rebelling! He laughs and teases Ace about being a baby about picking a tiny tattoo. Ace never to back down from a challenge is like "Oh yeah!?"

They bicker about it but end up just getting their ears pierced. They are both a little scared about getting a tattoo at all, and the srtist doesnt let them as that needs a parents permission. Tells them to comeback when they are older.

Law gets his first tattoo when Luffy wakes up again. Just to mark it that he came back at all.

All the kids that are over seven missed most of their coming of age ceremonies & birthdays, so Shanks' crew sets up a festival just to do it for all of them in a week long celebration. Law and Lami buying their first kimono/yukata and getting all dressed up and celebrated

(The adults doing everything to give the kids a childhood and distract them from everything going on, just little slice of life situation between the main fic drama *tasty* xd)

[mcalhenwrites]

Since reading Rascal, Stargazer's Hill has been very interesting to me. I love the setting and I sure love my dear Frey. I do know some bits and pieces, but there's a lot I still don't know about the actual story, so very very curious about this one 👀👀👀

Hello, I'm just now getting to this. It has been wild lately, but thank you so much for sending an ask, my friend! 🧡 Frey actually won't be in SGH, except for... his mother being pregnant with him. There's actually a more direct-ish sequel to SGH called Before our Ghosts, and that'll have a child version of him in it, along with his massive family (two brothers, two sisters, and four parents). There's not much to say, but I will offer some tidbits: The story mostly takes place at the Glasser mortuary. That part hasn't changed from the original, which has gone through so many alterations since I started ironing out the plot issues. Ambrose and Thaddeus are kind of the main characters, but I have several other character POVs. I added Humphrey's POV to this version too! (The Humphrey Frey was named after.) The original had Cora, Evelyn, Silas, Glynn, Malakai, and I think even Hugo's POV?! Steampunk! Not much of it, just some on the side with Avery's creations. :) You'll have more insight into the "wastes" (Annen). Thank you again for the ask! :D

[tau1tvec]

Still thinking about Barrett and Ervin having a daughter named Aja who they named after the woman that officiated their wedding, and her and Cora being best friends.

I’ll never recover from this tidbit of lore.

[esta-elavaris]

For the fic ask game: would you mind answering either

19: the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic?

Or 3: how you feel about your current WIP ? (I know, you have quite a few of those. In case you take requests I‘d love to hear your thoughts about Absolution… I know, no surprises there 😅)

Thank you so much!!

19: the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic?

CTW was a lot of fun that way because there were so many tidbits of research to do just for throwaway lines, or knowing what words would/wouldn't be understood (same for almost everything I write since so much of it is historical leaning - I'm constantly looking up etymology of words to see where they came from and how reasonably I can use them).

Currently also having a lot of fun digging into Romanian folklore and history to try and at least give it a nod in Absolution, even if it's not exactly glowingly historically accurate.

Or 3: how you feel about your current WIP ?

LOVING Absolution!! It's the one I keep working on lately when I just choose to prod at whatever I like for an evening. I'm so happy, too, because I've wanted to write a story like this for so long but it's not particularly original and it's riddled with cliches so I was worried people wouldn't be into it, so seeing that that's not the case has been extra extra lovely!

What's very fun with it, too, is that I don't feel any real need for the main couple to be particularly healthy. I don't want it to read too dark or anything, but any relationship with Dracula is gonna be toxic, and a modern day Cora (who is ten years or so older in the modern day than she was when she met him in her previous life) is obviously gonna have differences from the one he knew, and I think that'll be an adjustment for him, so I can't wait to dig into that!

It's also strongly inspired by the Winternight Trilogy (particularly in the "past" segments), so if you need something to read while you wait for updates on that, I'd highly recommend it. It has those gothic wintry fairytale vibes that just slaughter me on every read.

Thank you!! 💜

[gumpistol]

𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐈'𝐃 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑!

alias / name:  lala / luka

pronouns: they / them

birthday: august 20th

zodiac sign:  leo

height:   5'9

hobbies:   writing, sewing, reading, video games, muay thai

favorite color: reds, purples, and black

favorite book: this is hard, because i have so many that i like. i also think i've told people my fave book and i forgot what i told them. anyway, i'll give a few of my faves: any of edgar allen poe's short stories (i really enjoyed reading these in high school and still love reading them), g.ood o.mens (or anything by n.eil g.aiman really), educated by tara westover (my whole immediate and extended family ended up reading this), and mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia (good spooky book) are some that stick out to me from my reading the last few years.

last song:   stayin' alive by bee gees

last film / show:   surprisingly not OP, but derry girls

recent reads:  g.ood o.mens, circe, were the most recent but i'm currently working on neverwhere, light from uncommon stars, and alone on the wall (one audiobook, one fiction, one nonfiction)

inspiration:  music is a big one for me, classic literature (some of poe's telltale heart is used as inspo for my Cora portrayal), but also a lot of irl people in my life get featured in my portrayals, or at least tidbits of them

story behind url: i was looking for new, shorter url and sev suggested this one because he had it saved before, and i liked it and went with it! (ty sev <3)

fun fact about me: i am working on my phd in plant pathology

tagged: i stole it from @kaizokugaris because i'm a terrible lil thief tagging: @belovedcorvid , @enjomo , @kiriage , @ferromagnetiic , @enruiinas , @godthread , @climatact , @mingos , @notanuki & you!!

[pronounmelon]

What were your inspirations for the names of all the GAP characters? I'm really interested in learning about name origins!

hmmmm let’s see

Ginger’s surname Saab means “difficult” in Arabic, meant to show Ginger as a struggling character. Getting the brunt of the assault at Younique, having to hide parts of herself from people, and having the toughest relationship with her family out of the main 3. It’s also a common Maronite surname, which works because I envision Ginger’s parents to be Christian.

Cherish and Kaia?? Cherish just kinda sounded nice… I originally wanted to name her Cherry or Cerise, Cherish felt like it could have more of a story behind it. Kaia though was one I found on a transfem names list lol. Happy coincidence that Kaia is also a Hawaiian name!! I changed their names because I didn’t realize they had canon ones when I originally redesigned them.

I’m gonna be changing Cherish’s surname after advice from an Indian Leasecord member, but the Khatri surname, like quite a few I give my characters in general, was taken from a celebrity 😭😭 after the advice I was given, I am planning to change her surname to Shikandhi. Typically not a surname, but it was already canon that Cher’s grandmother Indira chose her surname after a divorce… so whatever!! Shikandhi is a character from a Hindu epic, Mahabharata. The original epic shows them as a trans man, though modern retelling often show them as a trans woman. During a past life, they were screwed over by a guy called Bhishma who abducted them. In their next life, they were able to brutally defeat him in a war. It both had a pretty good connotation for Indira to choose it (I mean… what divorced woman wouldn’t find it badass to name themselves after a character who got vengeance on a shitty man) and also serves as foreshadowing for Cher’s arc… let’s just say standing up to asshole significant others runs in her family.

Theodosia was originally stolen from Fluffy’s Babygirl redesign before I started leaning more towards the name Trinity as Trinity became more butch in my iterations of her. Her surname, Harper-Cohen, was my work around for her original surname being Hecox 💔 I couldn’t find any surnames that had H and C in them at once that didn’t sound transphobic to give a trans character, so I just hyphenated an H and a C surname LOL… Cohen was stolen from Cora Cohen (abstract artist), and I liked how Harper also sounded like a unisex first name. I like to think Trinity went by Harper in highschool for egg purposes.

I named Brick’s bio mom Tasnim, so the addition of Tasnim to their surname is meant to be their connection to their bio family!! They have a close relationship with their bio mom :3

Ennui was just vaguely meant to sound goth I didn’t think about his at ALL. I just didn’t like that his name was stereotypical. Stereotypical trans names are stereotypical for a reason but yk, the intention in Leasebound wasn’t good and I wanted to change it

I legitimately mistook Jasper’s name to be Jupiter when redesigning him so I didn’t think I was changing it until I read over their bio again and kept it anyway. Galilee was meant to evoke Galileo. Space vibes

Darren is a fun one!! His name is a shoutout to my history teacher that was nice to me. The surname Riverside was meant to allude to him being a chill guy, peaceful like water.

Kai felt too stereotypical a transmasc name so I stole a name from the class of 09 character Kylar.

I wanted Noaline to have a “vintage” sounding name, and Noaline came up a few times on vintage name lists and it sounded nice. And the surname Burkins sounded a lot like a surname a female fish out of water protagonist would have, which is fitting since while she’s obviously not the protagonist (duh), tidbit about her character for the future is, as a young new hire, she’s obviously trying to figure out her way around things… very fish out of water, I felt like a basic protagonist ass surname fit her.

OHOHOHOHO NOW THE TERFS. THE TERFS WERE FUN.

Changing Ruth to be Ruth’s middle name and not her first name was just a tiny dig at Rusty for giving all the Yonique workers with more femme names short unisex nicknames and then proceeding to still deadname trans characters. I removed the extra e from her surname to make it just Green because Greene sounds fucking pretentious. Why do you need the extra e?? Fuck you

This is gonna be a pattern for the Younique workers, Dana’s surname Bloomerson was meant to be an immature and unfortunate surname (bloomers, like old people underwear LOL). Dana and Reese were just a combination of 2 older unisex names

Rebekah…. Okay so I have beef with Riley’s name. Her congregation is supposed to be like. A representation of a hella conservative JW congregation. Do y’all know how STRANGE it was back in the day at JW congregations to find a kid with a non-Christian name?? Like you’d find them but those kids got eyebrow raises. Also by the time Riley is born Riley had JUUUUST become an acceptable name to give a girl. That’s a conservative religious family, that’s not gonna fly. RUSTY WAS EVEN ORIGINALLY PLANNING TO NAME HER BRODY OR DALE. BRODY OR DALE. IT DOES NOT SOUND LIKE HER BACKSTORY WAS PLANNED VERY AHEAD. Anyway yeah I went with Rebekah cause it’s a biblical name + it’s the spelling douchey doomsday christian school people usually go with. Personal experience, I knew a Rebekah at catholic school

Morowa is just a lovely name. It means queen. When looking for names for Jaden, I wanted to give her a really pretty name that the Younique ladies completely butcher, being classist American (mostly) white women who have never had to say anything in their lives. I did not like how “Morowa Anderson” sounded so I just went with a just as basic surname lol. Government assigned butch nickname is Maury. Poor lady.

I do not think I have to explain Ivory Gwenyth White. You have eyes. Haha funny white woman joke. Also since Ivory is also the closest in appearance to Rusty…. iykyk

Prudence something something unfortunate name that sounds like virgin. The surname Showman was meant to evoke what an overdramatic performative douche she is. Government assigned butch nickname is Prudie. Even worse.

Regina Knipple something something Vagina Nipple. Her government assigned butch nickname is Reggie.

Alexandra was just a nice name, idk. Pedowitz… again you have eyes. Government assigned nickname is Alex.

I liked the sound alliteration with Hana Pohan. Her government assigned nickname is Han-Han.

Vivian is a totally original character who’s name is not at all derivative of the character Violet.

Francis is a totally original character who’s name is not at all derivative of the character Faith.

I decided to give Tori a name that starts with the same letter as Kylar’s deadname (it’s not Tiffany… even if he no longer goes by it Rusty is fucking weird) to show that she kind of projects onto her kid, like a lot of unsupportive transphobic parents.

[teltales]

@lcvenderhcze for regina !

All Anastasia knew of the Evil Queen were stories. She knew a bit more of Regina - tidbits Cora had told her between lessons, during their afternoon teas in her garden. Ana also heard, years later, that she had declared herself the 'Good Queen' and renounced all evil-doings, but... to Anastasia, it was more than a little suspicious that the Queen here in London looked exactly like the sketches she'd seen of the formidable Evil Queen, the woman who had cursed the residents of Storybrooke all those years ago. Seeing her now, curiosity got the better of her. "Your Majesty. Pleasure to finally meet you," she said with a slight nod of her head. "But I have to ask. This curse. Is it yours?"

[cleverhottubmiracle]

Disclosure: I received these items free of charge to review. Today’s lingerie review is a little different to usual. Last year, British D+ bra retailer Bravissimo asked me if I’d like to have an online bra fitting and as that’s something I’d never done before, I was curious and said yes. So in place of a straightforward bra review, I’m splitting this article up into two main parts: a review of the fitting experience and, of course, a review of the lingerie itself. The online bra fitting Bravissimo offers in-person fittings in its stores, but if you can’t make it to one, they also have a free virtual fitting service done via webcam. Helpful for me since I live in Spain! There’s no need to book ahead; you can just click a button on the website to get connected with a fitter, all the way up to 10pm on weekdays and most of the day on Saturdays and Sundays too. My fitter was named Cora. After introductions, we kicked off the fitting with me showing her the fit of my current bra; I couldn’t find any advice on the Bravissimo website about which type of bra to wear, so I opted to wear an unlined one, wired since that’s usually my preference and without any major fit issues. (The FAQs note that you can also wear a fitted top, if you’d prefer to be more covered). There was no tape measure involved, just a friendly chat about how the bra was fitting. Cora asked me to turn to the side so she could see the underwire placement, and also show her how much ‘give’ the band had. She also asked about my usual size and the shapes I typically like or don’t like. After the fitting part of the call was over, we switched to looking at the Bravissimo website together where she walked me through some styles she felt could work well for me. Funnily enough, two were exactly the ones I’d had my eye on before the call! I never brought them up myself, so she certainly understood the shapes and styles I was most interested in. Those styles were the Dana bra, a plunge in unlined lace and with a front fastening, and the Niya bra, also a plunge but with smoother, lightly padded cups. She also suggested trying the similar Niya Lace bra. As a lingerie writer who almost exclusively shops for bras online, I have a good understanding of how a bra should fit and feel pretty confident about selecting styles for myself that are going to work for my body shape. However, I still found the virtual fitting helpful thanks to extra tidbits that Cora threw in while we were browsing; while showing me the styles, she also gave me fit advice, noting for example that the Niya bra had a slightly smaller cup fit than the Niya Lace. Overall, I had a good virtual bra fitting experience with Bravissimo. The only negative point I can think to mention was that it was a little hard to hear at times due to a poor connection, but we made it work! I do imagine that an online, tape measure-free fitting service such as this one would get less accurate the further out your current bra is from your ideal size. But if you’re not happy with the fit of your bras once they arrive, Bravissimo tells me you’re welcome to hop on a new video call before returning them so that a fitter can take a look at the issues and help to narrow in on your perfect size. The Bravissimo website Just a quick note to add here about the Bravissimo website: while they do also sell briefs, there’s no actual briefs category and bottoms don’t have their own product pages or appear in searches. They’re only visible on their matching bra’s page under a ‘complete the look’ heading, although you can still add them to your cart without the bra. That plus the fact that all three briefs were sold out in my size at the time I was sent these products – the Dana brief in fact being sold out in 6 of 7 sizes despite being a fairly new launch at the time – makes me assume that briefs are just not a priority for this retailer. But I do find it strange that they’re not easier to find on the website! I’d also find it helpful to have back-in-stock alerts, so I could get notified when my size becomes available again instead of having to remember to keep checking the website. Niya bra interior Tarnished hardware on the 6-month-old Niya bra Review: Bravissimo’s Niya bra Available sizes: UK 28 DD-J and 30-40 D-J / US 28 DD-M and 30-40 D-M The Niya is the bra that Cora told me had the smaller cup fit, and we decided to try it in my usual size of 30DD. This is a bra style they’ve had around for years. It’s a lightly-moulded bra with cups made from four vertical panels, so it gives a lot of lift but isn’t an overly deep shape, making it one of those rare moulded bras that actually works for and doesn’t gape on shallower busts. It also looks very smooth under clothing. The plunge neckline is quite deep, although looking at the website photos, I can see that to add extra, they’ve made the centre gore slightly taller on larger sizes than it is on my 30DD. On the inside, the cups are soft cotton and the band is powermesh; on the outside, both are covered with a diamond-patterned mesh. The straps on this bra can be detached at the back and crossed over. All of the hardware, including a decorative semi-circle between the cups, is rose gold and unfortunately the strap hardware has tarnished a fair bit in the six months I’ve had it. And how does it fit? Pretty true to size! The band fit is great, firm but comfortable (and hasn’t stretched out at all in these six months), while the cups are fairly spot on – the neckline is digging in just a touch on one side. I still think that this is the best size match I could have got with this bra, but I agree with the product description advice that you should choose the larger one if you’re between two cup sizes. Niya and Niya Lace bras – notice the different centre gore height Niya Lace bra with J-hook detail, and Niya bra with hooks to detach the straps Review: Bravissimo’s Niya Lace bra Available sizes: UK 28 DD-JJ and 30-40 D-K / US 28 DD-O and 30-40 D-O The Niya Lace might initially seem like it’s just the original Niya bra with a lace overlay on the band, but there are actually more differences than that. The main one is the centre gore: it’s taller, making it a less-deep plunge. The straps here have a J-hook to convert them to racerback, instead of being able to be crossed over, and the outer cup is a smooth woven fabric instead of sheer mesh. The hardware is also different, a Bravissimo ‘B’ between the cups in gold and tone-on-tone strap hardware. As it’s slightly less of a ‘basic’ bra, it’s currently available in Navy instead of the Black/White/Champagne options of the plainer Niya. There’s a different in the fit, too. Firstly, the band – although both of these bras are 30s, the band on Niya Lace is roughtly 1cm shorter on the tightest setting. It still fits me well. As for the cups, supposedly only the original Niya fits small, but in my opinion, they both do. Now, I can’t give you a direct comparison because I received the Niya Lace in a 30E, but these cups fits me super well (just the tiniest bit of gaping at the top) and since I normally wear a 30DD, that means they do also come up a bit on the small side. Dana bra interior Review: Bravissimo’s Dana bra Available sizes: UK 30-40 D-H / US 30-40 D-K Finally, I tried the Dana bra back in my usual 30DD. I’d liked the look of this one for its plunge shape in stretch lace, which tends to be a good fit on me – the thin, stretchy fabric makes it less likely to gape than a more heavily-structured cup. The decorative back also adds outerwear styling potential, such as under a blue camisole in summer. Dana is a front-closure bra which, while ideal for anyone with mobility issues, can be trickier to fit since often (as is the case here), the band length is fixed. The stretch lace is lined with powermesh in the cups and band, and the cups have a support-enhancing interior side sling in a double layer of the same mesh. They fasten at the centre-front with a gold snap closure. The back is tall with a racerback shape, and the straps that start behind just behind the neck are adjustable, which is the only fit tweak you can make on this bra. Unfortunately, the Dana bra doesn’t really work for me. The band fit is actually fine – stretchy so flexible, but also firm and supportive. The neckline also lies nice and flush, so you would think this bra was a good fit if you only looked at that part. However, the underwires are completely the wrong shape. They’re too wide, meaning the outer tip is too close to my underarm, and they swoop down too low, creating a 1″ section of fabric at the base of the cup that stays empty and flat no matter how I try to adjust it. It’s the same issue I have with the Panache Clara bra, only even more exaggarated. Maybe in a cup size down with a smaller wire this bra would fit me better, but really, I think it’s just better suited to something with a much fuller bust shape to fill it out. There are reviews on the website that are very complimentary about the fit, and others describing it as “odd” and “weird”. It’s definitely a bra that I think is best tried on in store so that you can assess a few different sizes. Also, although the snap closure stays securely fastened, it started to dig in a bit on my sternum by the end of the day, so I can’t say I found this bra terribly comfortable either. Niya brief and Niya Lace Brazilian. I’m not reviewing these as I received them in a size up, due to my size being out of stock for both. Final thoughts – do I recommend Bravissimo? I received these bras almost exactly half a year ago, and I’ve been wearing the Niya and Niya Lace ones non-stop since! They’re very comfortable, supportive, smooth under clothing, and close enough to a perfect fit. If you prefer a deeper cup shape then you might not have as much success with the fit as I did, but otherwise, I’d definitely suggest giving them a try if you like the look of them – just remember to pick the larger one if you’re debating between two cup sizes. The Dana bra, while a cute design, is going to be more hit and miss. But if you can’t make it to a store, at least Bravissimo offers free returns and exchanges, even on international orders. And don’t forget about their free online fitting service! While my experience with the Dana bra goes to show that nothing can replace actually trying a bra on your own body, it can still be helpful to chat to an expert if you have questions about the fit or you’re not even sure which bra style to try – I’m really glad I got the other two that Cora had recommended. Are you a fan of Bravissimo bras? Have you ever had a virtual bra fitting? Add your thoughts or questions in the comments section below. The product recommendations directly above are affiliate links Source link

[norajworld]

Disclosure: I received these items free of charge to review. Today’s lingerie review is a little different to usual. Last year, British D+ bra retailer Bravissimo asked me if I’d like to have an online bra fitting and as that’s something I’d never done before, I was curious and said yes. So in place of a straightforward bra review, I’m splitting this article up into two main parts: a review of the fitting experience and, of course, a review of the lingerie itself. The online bra fitting Bravissimo offers in-person fittings in its stores, but if you can’t make it to one, they also have a free virtual fitting service done via webcam. Helpful for me since I live in Spain! There’s no need to book ahead; you can just click a button on the website to get connected with a fitter, all the way up to 10pm on weekdays and most of the day on Saturdays and Sundays too. My fitter was named Cora. After introductions, we kicked off the fitting with me showing her the fit of my current bra; I couldn’t find any advice on the Bravissimo website about which type of bra to wear, so I opted to wear an unlined one, wired since that’s usually my preference and without any major fit issues. (The FAQs note that you can also wear a fitted top, if you’d prefer to be more covered). There was no tape measure involved, just a friendly chat about how the bra was fitting. Cora asked me to turn to the side so she could see the underwire placement, and also show her how much ‘give’ the band had. She also asked about my usual size and the shapes I typically like or don’t like. After the fitting part of the call was over, we switched to looking at the Bravissimo website together where she walked me through some styles she felt could work well for me. Funnily enough, two were exactly the ones I’d had my eye on before the call! I never brought them up myself, so she certainly understood the shapes and styles I was most interested in. Those styles were the Dana bra, a plunge in unlined lace and with a front fastening, and the Niya bra, also a plunge but with smoother, lightly padded cups. She also suggested trying the similar Niya Lace bra. As a lingerie writer who almost exclusively shops for bras online, I have a good understanding of how a bra should fit and feel pretty confident about selecting styles for myself that are going to work for my body shape. However, I still found the virtual fitting helpful thanks to extra tidbits that Cora threw in while we were browsing; while showing me the styles, she also gave me fit advice, noting for example that the Niya bra had a slightly smaller cup fit than the Niya Lace. Overall, I had a good virtual bra fitting experience with Bravissimo. The only negative point I can think to mention was that it was a little hard to hear at times due to a poor connection, but we made it work! I do imagine that an online, tape measure-free fitting service such as this one would get less accurate the further out your current bra is from your ideal size. But if you’re not happy with the fit of your bras once they arrive, Bravissimo tells me you’re welcome to hop on a new video call before returning them so that a fitter can take a look at the issues and help to narrow in on your perfect size. The Bravissimo website Just a quick note to add here about the Bravissimo website: while they do also sell briefs, there’s no actual briefs category and bottoms don’t have their own product pages or appear in searches. They’re only visible on their matching bra’s page under a ‘complete the look’ heading, although you can still add them to your cart without the bra. That plus the fact that all three briefs were sold out in my size at the time I was sent these products – the Dana brief in fact being sold out in 6 of 7 sizes despite being a fairly new launch at the time – makes me assume that briefs are just not a priority for this retailer. But I do find it strange that they’re not easier to find on the website! I’d also find it helpful to have back-in-stock alerts, so I could get notified when my size becomes available again instead of having to remember to keep checking the website. Niya bra interior Tarnished hardware on the 6-month-old Niya bra Review: Bravissimo’s Niya bra Available sizes: UK 28 DD-J and 30-40 D-J / US 28 DD-M and 30-40 D-M The Niya is the bra that Cora told me had the smaller cup fit, and we decided to try it in my usual size of 30DD. This is a bra style they’ve had around for years. It’s a lightly-moulded bra with cups made from four vertical panels, so it gives a lot of lift but isn’t an overly deep shape, making it one of those rare moulded bras that actually works for and doesn’t gape on shallower busts. It also looks very smooth under clothing. The plunge neckline is quite deep, although looking at the website photos, I can see that to add extra, they’ve made the centre gore slightly taller on larger sizes than it is on my 30DD. On the inside, the cups are soft cotton and the band is powermesh; on the outside, both are covered with a diamond-patterned mesh. The straps on this bra can be detached at the back and crossed over. All of the hardware, including a decorative semi-circle between the cups, is rose gold and unfortunately the strap hardware has tarnished a fair bit in the six months I’ve had it. And how does it fit? Pretty true to size! The band fit is great, firm but comfortable (and hasn’t stretched out at all in these six months), while the cups are fairly spot on – the neckline is digging in just a touch on one side. I still think that this is the best size match I could have got with this bra, but I agree with the product description advice that you should choose the larger one if you’re between two cup sizes. Niya and Niya Lace bras – notice the different centre gore height Niya Lace bra with J-hook detail, and Niya bra with hooks to detach the straps Review: Bravissimo’s Niya Lace bra Available sizes: UK 28 DD-JJ and 30-40 D-K / US 28 DD-O and 30-40 D-O The Niya Lace might initially seem like it’s just the original Niya bra with a lace overlay on the band, but there are actually more differences than that. The main one is the centre gore: it’s taller, making it a less-deep plunge. The straps here have a J-hook to convert them to racerback, instead of being able to be crossed over, and the outer cup is a smooth woven fabric instead of sheer mesh. The hardware is also different, a Bravissimo ‘B’ between the cups in gold and tone-on-tone strap hardware. As it’s slightly less of a ‘basic’ bra, it’s currently available in Navy instead of the Black/White/Champagne options of the plainer Niya. There’s a different in the fit, too. Firstly, the band – although both of these bras are 30s, the band on Niya Lace is roughtly 1cm shorter on the tightest setting. It still fits me well. As for the cups, supposedly only the original Niya fits small, but in my opinion, they both do. Now, I can’t give you a direct comparison because I received the Niya Lace in a 30E, but these cups fits me super well (just the tiniest bit of gaping at the top) and since I normally wear a 30DD, that means they do also come up a bit on the small side. Dana bra interior Review: Bravissimo’s Dana bra Available sizes: UK 30-40 D-H / US 30-40 D-K Finally, I tried the Dana bra back in my usual 30DD. I’d liked the look of this one for its plunge shape in stretch lace, which tends to be a good fit on me – the thin, stretchy fabric makes it less likely to gape than a more heavily-structured cup. The decorative back also adds outerwear styling potential, such as under a blue camisole in summer. Dana is a front-closure bra which, while ideal for anyone with mobility issues, can be trickier to fit since often (as is the case here), the band length is fixed. The stretch lace is lined with powermesh in the cups and band, and the cups have a support-enhancing interior side sling in a double layer of the same mesh. They fasten at the centre-front with a gold snap closure. The back is tall with a racerback shape, and the straps that start behind just behind the neck are adjustable, which is the only fit tweak you can make on this bra. Unfortunately, the Dana bra doesn’t really work for me. The band fit is actually fine – stretchy so flexible, but also firm and supportive. The neckline also lies nice and flush, so you would think this bra was a good fit if you only looked at that part. However, the underwires are completely the wrong shape. They’re too wide, meaning the outer tip is too close to my underarm, and they swoop down too low, creating a 1″ section of fabric at the base of the cup that stays empty and flat no matter how I try to adjust it. It’s the same issue I have with the Panache Clara bra, only even more exaggarated. Maybe in a cup size down with a smaller wire this bra would fit me better, but really, I think it’s just better suited to something with a much fuller bust shape to fill it out. There are reviews on the website that are very complimentary about the fit, and others describing it as “odd” and “weird”. It’s definitely a bra that I think is best tried on in store so that you can assess a few different sizes. Also, although the snap closure stays securely fastened, it started to dig in a bit on my sternum by the end of the day, so I can’t say I found this bra terribly comfortable either. Niya brief and Niya Lace Brazilian. I’m not reviewing these as I received them in a size up, due to my size being out of stock for both. Final thoughts – do I recommend Bravissimo? I received these bras almost exactly half a year ago, and I’ve been wearing the Niya and Niya Lace ones non-stop since! They’re very comfortable, supportive, smooth under clothing, and close enough to a perfect fit. If you prefer a deeper cup shape then you might not have as much success with the fit as I did, but otherwise, I’d definitely suggest giving them a try if you like the look of them – just remember to pick the larger one if you’re debating between two cup sizes. The Dana bra, while a cute design, is going to be more hit and miss. But if you can’t make it to a store, at least Bravissimo offers free returns and exchanges, even on international orders. And don’t forget about their free online fitting service! While my experience with the Dana bra goes to show that nothing can replace actually trying a bra on your own body, it can still be helpful to chat to an expert if you have questions about the fit or you’re not even sure which bra style to try – I’m really glad I got the other two that Cora had recommended. Are you a fan of Bravissimo bras? Have you ever had a virtual bra fitting? Add your thoughts or questions in the comments section below. The product recommendations directly above are affiliate links Source link

[chilimili212]

Disclosure: I received these items free of charge to review. Today’s lingerie review is a little different to usual. Last year, British D+ bra retailer Bravissimo asked me if I’d like to have an online bra fitting and as that’s something I’d never done before, I was curious and said yes. So in place of a straightforward bra review, I’m splitting this article up into two main parts: a review of the fitting experience and, of course, a review of the lingerie itself. The online bra fitting Bravissimo offers in-person fittings in its stores, but if you can’t make it to one, they also have a free virtual fitting service done via webcam. Helpful for me since I live in Spain! There’s no need to book ahead; you can just click a button on the website to get connected with a fitter, all the way up to 10pm on weekdays and most of the day on Saturdays and Sundays too. My fitter was named Cora. After introductions, we kicked off the fitting with me showing her the fit of my current bra; I couldn’t find any advice on the Bravissimo website about which type of bra to wear, so I opted to wear an unlined one, wired since that’s usually my preference and without any major fit issues. (The FAQs note that you can also wear a fitted top, if you’d prefer to be more covered). There was no tape measure involved, just a friendly chat about how the bra was fitting. Cora asked me to turn to the side so she could see the underwire placement, and also show her how much ‘give’ the band had. She also asked about my usual size and the shapes I typically like or don’t like. After the fitting part of the call was over, we switched to looking at the Bravissimo website together where she walked me through some styles she felt could work well for me. Funnily enough, two were exactly the ones I’d had my eye on before the call! I never brought them up myself, so she certainly understood the shapes and styles I was most interested in. Those styles were the Dana bra, a plunge in unlined lace and with a front fastening, and the Niya bra, also a plunge but with smoother, lightly padded cups. She also suggested trying the similar Niya Lace bra. As a lingerie writer who almost exclusively shops for bras online, I have a good understanding of how a bra should fit and feel pretty confident about selecting styles for myself that are going to work for my body shape. However, I still found the virtual fitting helpful thanks to extra tidbits that Cora threw in while we were browsing; while showing me the styles, she also gave me fit advice, noting for example that the Niya bra had a slightly smaller cup fit than the Niya Lace. Overall, I had a good virtual bra fitting experience with Bravissimo. The only negative point I can think to mention was that it was a little hard to hear at times due to a poor connection, but we made it work! I do imagine that an online, tape measure-free fitting service such as this one would get less accurate the further out your current bra is from your ideal size. But if you’re not happy with the fit of your bras once they arrive, Bravissimo tells me you’re welcome to hop on a new video call before returning them so that a fitter can take a look at the issues and help to narrow in on your perfect size. The Bravissimo website Just a quick note to add here about the Bravissimo website: while they do also sell briefs, there’s no actual briefs category and bottoms don’t have their own product pages or appear in searches. They’re only visible on their matching bra’s page under a ‘complete the look’ heading, although you can still add them to your cart without the bra. That plus the fact that all three briefs were sold out in my size at the time I was sent these products – the Dana brief in fact being sold out in 6 of 7 sizes despite being a fairly new launch at the time – makes me assume that briefs are just not a priority for this retailer. But I do find it strange that they’re not easier to find on the website! I’d also find it helpful to have back-in-stock alerts, so I could get notified when my size becomes available again instead of having to remember to keep checking the website. Niya bra interior Tarnished hardware on the 6-month-old Niya bra Review: Bravissimo’s Niya bra Available sizes: UK 28 DD-J and 30-40 D-J / US 28 DD-M and 30-40 D-M The Niya is the bra that Cora told me had the smaller cup fit, and we decided to try it in my usual size of 30DD. This is a bra style they’ve had around for years. It’s a lightly-moulded bra with cups made from four vertical panels, so it gives a lot of lift but isn’t an overly deep shape, making it one of those rare moulded bras that actually works for and doesn’t gape on shallower busts. It also looks very smooth under clothing. The plunge neckline is quite deep, although looking at the website photos, I can see that to add extra, they’ve made the centre gore slightly taller on larger sizes than it is on my 30DD. On the inside, the cups are soft cotton and the band is powermesh; on the outside, both are covered with a diamond-patterned mesh. The straps on this bra can be detached at the back and crossed over. All of the hardware, including a decorative semi-circle between the cups, is rose gold and unfortunately the strap hardware has tarnished a fair bit in the six months I’ve had it. And how does it fit? Pretty true to size! The band fit is great, firm but comfortable (and hasn’t stretched out at all in these six months), while the cups are fairly spot on – the neckline is digging in just a touch on one side. I still think that this is the best size match I could have got with this bra, but I agree with the product description advice that you should choose the larger one if you’re between two cup sizes. Niya and Niya Lace bras – notice the different centre gore height Niya Lace bra with J-hook detail, and Niya bra with hooks to detach the straps Review: Bravissimo’s Niya Lace bra Available sizes: UK 28 DD-JJ and 30-40 D-K / US 28 DD-O and 30-40 D-O The Niya Lace might initially seem like it’s just the original Niya bra with a lace overlay on the band, but there are actually more differences than that. The main one is the centre gore: it’s taller, making it a less-deep plunge. The straps here have a J-hook to convert them to racerback, instead of being able to be crossed over, and the outer cup is a smooth woven fabric instead of sheer mesh. The hardware is also different, a Bravissimo ‘B’ between the cups in gold and tone-on-tone strap hardware. As it’s slightly less of a ‘basic’ bra, it’s currently available in Navy instead of the Black/White/Champagne options of the plainer Niya. There’s a different in the fit, too. Firstly, the band – although both of these bras are 30s, the band on Niya Lace is roughtly 1cm shorter on the tightest setting. It still fits me well. As for the cups, supposedly only the original Niya fits small, but in my opinion, they both do. Now, I can’t give you a direct comparison because I received the Niya Lace in a 30E, but these cups fits me super well (just the tiniest bit of gaping at the top) and since I normally wear a 30DD, that means they do also come up a bit on the small side. Dana bra interior Review: Bravissimo’s Dana bra Available sizes: UK 30-40 D-H / US 30-40 D-K Finally, I tried the Dana bra back in my usual 30DD. I’d liked the look of this one for its plunge shape in stretch lace, which tends to be a good fit on me – the thin, stretchy fabric makes it less likely to gape than a more heavily-structured cup. The decorative back also adds outerwear styling potential, such as under a blue camisole in summer. Dana is a front-closure bra which, while ideal for anyone with mobility issues, can be trickier to fit since often (as is the case here), the band length is fixed. The stretch lace is lined with powermesh in the cups and band, and the cups have a support-enhancing interior side sling in a double layer of the same mesh. They fasten at the centre-front with a gold snap closure. The back is tall with a racerback shape, and the straps that start behind just behind the neck are adjustable, which is the only fit tweak you can make on this bra. Unfortunately, the Dana bra doesn’t really work for me. The band fit is actually fine – stretchy so flexible, but also firm and supportive. The neckline also lies nice and flush, so you would think this bra was a good fit if you only looked at that part. However, the underwires are completely the wrong shape. They’re too wide, meaning the outer tip is too close to my underarm, and they swoop down too low, creating a 1″ section of fabric at the base of the cup that stays empty and flat no matter how I try to adjust it. It’s the same issue I have with the Panache Clara bra, only even more exaggarated. Maybe in a cup size down with a smaller wire this bra would fit me better, but really, I think it’s just better suited to something with a much fuller bust shape to fill it out. There are reviews on the website that are very complimentary about the fit, and others describing it as “odd” and “weird”. It’s definitely a bra that I think is best tried on in store so that you can assess a few different sizes. Also, although the snap closure stays securely fastened, it started to dig in a bit on my sternum by the end of the day, so I can’t say I found this bra terribly comfortable either. Niya brief and Niya Lace Brazilian. I’m not reviewing these as I received them in a size up, due to my size being out of stock for both. Final thoughts – do I recommend Bravissimo? I received these bras almost exactly half a year ago, and I’ve been wearing the Niya and Niya Lace ones non-stop since! They’re very comfortable, supportive, smooth under clothing, and close enough to a perfect fit. If you prefer a deeper cup shape then you might not have as much success with the fit as I did, but otherwise, I’d definitely suggest giving them a try if you like the look of them – just remember to pick the larger one if you’re debating between two cup sizes. The Dana bra, while a cute design, is going to be more hit and miss. But if you can’t make it to a store, at least Bravissimo offers free returns and exchanges, even on international orders. And don’t forget about their free online fitting service! While my experience with the Dana bra goes to show that nothing can replace actually trying a bra on your own body, it can still be helpful to chat to an expert if you have questions about the fit or you’re not even sure which bra style to try – I’m really glad I got the other two that Cora had recommended. Are you a fan of Bravissimo bras? Have you ever had a virtual bra fitting? Add your thoughts or questions in the comments section below. The product recommendations directly above are affiliate links Source link