#especially with all the modesty standards and all that

[tawaifeddiediaz]

i bought clothes online and they did not make me dysmorphic, hate myself, or any given combination of the above 😎😎

[astrogre]

Aphrodite(1388) Beauty Indicators

What counts as Aphrodite(1388) beauty indicators:

Aphrodite in 1st house (YOU are appealing, this asteroid is simply who you are as this house represents you as a whole, physically and personal identity)

Aphrodite in 10th house (this is how you publicly appear to others at large, so if you have an asteroid here it kind of shows those themes come to mind in general when people think of you and what your reputation is associated with, imagine yourself as a concept, you perceived as a brand)

Aphrodite Conjunct Venus (your beauty and the way you style express yourself, you express your love and sense of beauty in similar ways, Venus also shows where we are most beautiful therefore the things that make you most beautiful are like Aphrodites)

VERY Strong indicators:

Aphrodite Conjunct ASC (it further amplifies because you become the physical embodiment of Aphrodite, no longer just a hint but may even be mistaken for her your form of expression and how you come across to all and most importantly yourself is just like Aphrodite)

Aphrodite Conjunct MC (same as 10H however it’s even more prominent, your Aphrodite characteristics may manifest or be needed for the job you do as well)

Aphrodite conjunct is at 0-2 orbs. Closer the orb more exactly like your appearance. 0 orb means Aphrodite is YOU to a T. Your physical appearance/public image/expression of oneself, if described with an adjective would be the asteroid itself.

2 or more of any of the previous Aphrodite indicators this asteroid is far too prominent in your chart to be an adjective to describe your beauty, it’s more like an epithet.

What kind of beauty you have:

- You embody the ideal beauty standards

- You shapeshift to appeal to the senses and pleasures of individuals who look at you

- People may struggle to define you by your appearance because you come across so differently to each person

- The allure (the buzz and positive talk of you) stands out more than what you put out to reality especially for Aphrodite asteroid in 10H/conjunct to MC

- You’re beauty is so rare that it’s unbelievable, people that hear of you described by others who know you may think you’re a myth or not real like a catfish or someone pretending to be real. Eg someone looking at your instagram may think you’re not real or if a guy is explaining you to his friends you sound too good to be true especially from the male gaze. That is until they meet you and realise you live up to their expectations and then the rumours of you further amplify as even MORE talk of you. If you start dating around jumping from man to man, people will gush over you

- You may pretend to be modest, demure and coincidentally sexually attractive yet your sexual attractiveness is purposefully intentional

this is based on aphrodites Greek and Latin scholars who wrote about the famous statue at Knidos on which it is based, says that Aphrodite’s facial expression and gesture show ‘false modesty’. She purposefully displays false modesty to look like her nudity and sexual allure is unintentional and just happens to be on her

- You show your beauty through your clothing perfumes and hair accessories. Aphrodite wore perfumed and silken garments, a crown of gold or flowers in her hair, and had expensive jewellery covering her body

- As time goes on you are more sexualised, no joke if you guys made a sex tape in your elder years you’d be like a trending milf dilf, especially with Capricorn, Saturn and 10H Aphrodite

Aphrodites depictions were always fully clothed until as centuries progressed the men that idolised her wanted to make her wear less and less, become sexier and sexier, they project their lustful thoughts on her and Aphrodite viewed it as compliments

- No matter what people may say about you, they cannot shake or change the fact that you are beautiful, they may also bring that up when talking about you behind your back if in 12H conjunct ascendant

- You have feminine curves which are shown best through draped clothing, you look best in clothes that drape to your skin and hug your curves

- No matter what you wear people will always see you nude or want to, they may sexualise you and you may subconsciously enjoy it because you feel desired and it feels good to know you’re making others feel pleasure just from looking at you

- You look best naked, your breast and hips may be most prominent and something men recognise you for and what garners admiration from women too. Women may look up to you as the standard and what they wished the looked like

Source: the idealization of womanhood in all her femininity; the Aphrodite sculpture, Praxiteles was mainly responsible for establishing the type-sensuous in its soft curves and voluptuousness.” (Morford 180). As told by Morford, the exaggeration of body parts, breasts mostly, became Aphrodite’s spotting mark in art

- You could have long hair, or your hair can be styled in a different way to other women, very distinct, it can be different from what others expect, your hair may be “immodest” like it looks like it’s uncovered, not domestic, you may put a lot accessories on it or do something specifically that makes it stand out and look better, it’s kind of “unintentionally” erotic.

- You look best in bodies of water, playing with your hair in water, when you’re showering, wringing your hair dry, you may get a lot of stares when you go to the beach just relaxing, or if you’re swimming. It’s something people could watch for a long time

- You love to accessorise excessively

- Men change the way they see you physically from your body to your face and hair, all just to fit their imagined ideal beauty standards. For an example: say a man may prefer brunettes, if you’re blonde, that man will imagine you with brown dark hair and romanticise it, from that point onward he can no longer see you as blonde no matter how blonde you are because the fantasy of an idolised you is so overwhelming

- Men fantasise about you a lot, women too. You invoke fear/admiration into women because of your appearance

- You represent the most ideal physical traits, you can be compared as the standard for others and people may put you on a pedestal so high that makes others want to be where you are but knowing they simply cannot as it’s not in their nature. Because competing against you would destroy them and they do not compare

- You may make people feel ashamed of themselves because you’re so uplifted and idealised by many

- You can adapt to the taste of the target/person you’re trying to seduce

- Your clothes and the way you style yourself enhance your features and make you look like someone who is wealthy and important of high status/nobility

- You are one of the most physically desired people to others

- Your physical appearance isn’t the only thing that makes you so beautiful, it’s the fact that everyone finds you desireable no matter who is looking.

Honestly when I think of Aphrodite I think of someone who is overly sexualised by men. Like they collectively came together and said THIS is what we like. She is the image of sex and desire because they put her there. And she likes it, which is probably why she is labelled as the god of sex, pleasure, love and beauty, it’s because she accepts all kinds of admiration from anyone. No matter how degrading or intensely it manifests. Do you too also accept love no matter how sexually degrading or intense it is? Do you have a tendency to expect to be glorified?

Source:

Link to the historical study of Aphrodites physical appearance

Homer, for example, said that the goddess could be recognized by her shining eyes and “desirable breasts.” Other writers gave her the epithet “Smile-Loving,” indicating that she often had a happy expression. More often, writers described Aphrodite’s beauty through her clothing. She wore perfumed and silken garments, a crown of gold or flowers in her hair, and had expensive jewelry covering her body. most of what we know about Aphrodite’s looks must be drawn from the art of the period.

gain, the representations leave much room for interpretation. The one aspect they have in common is that, fittingly, Aphrodite was shown as beautiful.

This usually meant that she had feminine curves, which were often accentuated by closely-draped clothing. When she was dressed it was often only partially, but the goddess was just as often shown in the nude.

She usually had long hair that was left at least partially down, in contrast to the more demure, covered hair of matronly and domestic goddesses. A favorite subject of classical artists was the emergence of Aphrodite from the sea, in which she was sometimes shown wringing the water out of her long hair.

Sculptors had more freedom than painters to imagine the goddess in different poses and situations. Often these poses emphasized her feminine shape and attractiveness to the male gaze. As the goddess of beauty, she represented the most desirable female form possible.

She often changed her appearances to suit her purposes.

This shape-shifting also allowed artists to portray her in a way that reflected the physical idea of their own time and place. Aphrodite could have dark hair in one place and be blonde in another.

Thus, our modern interpretation of Aphrodite has been filtered through the ideals of female beauty from not only Greece and Rome, but long after as well. Medieval artists gave her a high forehead and Renaissance painters showed her with flowing blonde hair because those were the ideals of their times. The written descriptions of Aphrodite were open-ended enough to allow artists to show her in a way they thought was beautiful for centuries. While later artists were influenced by the paintings and sculptures of Rome and Greece, they had the license to show the goddess of beauty in a way that made sense within their own cultures.

Most often, Aphrodite’s clothing and jewelry were described in greater detail than her body or facial features. The richness of her garments and adornments both enhanced her features and signalled her nobility.

The lack of written detail meant that artists were able to portray Aphrodite in a way they felt was beautiful. While these typically followed certain conventions, these conventions could vary between regions and time periods. Aphrodite/Venus was therefore shown with certain marks of beauty that had persisted from the ancient world, but also with the features and clothing considered ideal in the artists’ own times. She could be recognized not by a specific feature, but by her desirabilithy.

[ae-neon]

Nesta Vs ACOSF, a rambling rant

TW: mentions of sexual assault and abuse

Besides the "love" story that read like a quiet descent into domestic horror, ACOSF has one element that keeps me from being able to pick it up even just to sift through for Nesta gems: sex.

Here me out, I'm not a prude and I think we could have gotten a smutty romance but...

At her core, Nesta has always been a proud and modest person.

To be clear, with pride, I mean that her sense of self - her famous steel spine - has kept her together and unbroken even during harrowing circumstances. It's vital to her. It's so ingrained in her that - given we have no other explanation - we can assume it's what shields her mind from literal magic. However, like any trait, her pride can also be a thing that comes off as negative in the wrong situations.

With modesty, she was raised to keep a certain ideology that based her value on sex, beauty, marriage etc but it's important to understand that Nesta applied those standards inwards, at herself. (Eg In acotar, she brings up Feyre and Isaac in defence of her and Tomas, in acomaf, she is mostly upset about not hearing from Feyre or being notified that Feyre has switched courts - not about Feyre sleeping with Tamlin and then Rhys)

Now, I don't think Nesta's modesty makes her better than Feyre, in fact I was happy to get the representation of two different types of views on sex

But what I didn't consider at the time was that SJM was painting this out to be a negative trait.

In retrospect it seems obvious even though Nesta has defied her narrative destiny and become a sort of icon, at the end of the day she was still supposed to be written in a negative contrast to Feyre.

It seems funny but imagine you consumed the book the way Sarah intended, the way so many in the fandom have. The old Sarah Says rule, for my long time mutuals.

For example:

The dinner in acomaf - it's obvious Nesta is upset that she hasn't heard from Feyre only to have her come through not only as a whole Fae but bringing others and endangering their entire family.

But imagine it as a one dimensional reading and suddenly the "I fuck" dialogue is a girlboss moment of feminism giving a fuck you to the strict patriarchy of the "mortal lands" let's ignore how the Fae are actually more patriarchal and the Illyrians even more so than that

So understand that Nesta's modesty is being directly contrasted with Feyre's sexual freedom. The reader - at least from sjm's perspective - is supposed to agree with Feyre and disagree with Nesta in a sort of win/lose, yes/no, black/white dichotomy.

And because sjm is consistent and boring and a self-inset author, this dynamic doesn't change even when the protagonist does.

Only now sjm and her feminism has changed from fuck-whoever-I-want girlboss to kinky-but-only-with-my-husband tradwife

So Nesta can't be prudish and cut off because 1) it's not as conducive to the breakdown of self and buildup of a dependent and abusive relationship and 2) it's not in direct contrast with Feyre's current monogamous, traditional family values character.

So Nesta starts drinking and sleeping around and it's not because we're going to explore the unraveling of the pride and modesty at the core of the character as part of her transformation or as a result of her trauma

But because it's supposed to be a bad look, degrading, it shows she's failed, it makes her a loser

All of that is already insane. And even more so when taken with the context of her assault by Tomas and the sex centred relationship she has with Cassian

Now add to that the fact that in the book, Nesta is an object of desire for 2 villains and undergoes assault and drowning AGAIN

Sjm literally gives less than 2 fucks about SA, that much is obvious even from the way she inflicts and then disregards the experience of both Feyre and Rhysand respectively. It's a tool for her, a quirky story element

But to have Nesta experience such a similar thing - especially when the experience of being Made can be read as a sort of rape allegory on its own - and all for the sake of "romance" fantasy??

Even Nesta's reading habits are sexualised, to be clear I don't think there's anything wrong with reading smut, but the scope of her intellect and reading is narrowed down when we're suddenly made to believe most of the books she reads are smut.

This is someone who likely taught herself economics and investment within months in order to not just pay off the debt, upgrade her whole family's way of life but also rebuild the family fortune. Someone who, having stopped schooling at around 14/15, did the math needed to calculate the feasibility of the evacuation of a small country.

Someone who's verbally stated life goal was to see what a woman could make of herself in the world.

Even her love of reading is used as a stepping stone for how horny she is, instead of it being a result of her deeply ingrained need for escapism

She reads smut because the only thing she has in common with Cassian and the IC is sex. Because sjm thought one of the core elements of a friendship between 2 SA survivors and a disabled woman from a culture that mutilated her for being born a woman would be their desire to fantasise about men.

All the while the male love interest treats her like garbage.

We could have had a smutty book filled with sex where each scene could have been the growth of Nesta's trust and love of Cassian through intimacy. It could have been a sexual relationship that involved and explored kink - which explored vulnerability and the negative impact of how Nesta's pride became a source of stress and strain.

It could have been an exploration about the complicated relationship with desire and oppressors that many survivors have. But it isn't.

It's hahaha horny, so RELATABLE

Even when it comes to the abusive situation Nesta grew up in, it's just hung up like decoration on the character. Not explored, let alone healed. I don't wanna hear that sjm explained or explored Nesta's abuse when we don't even get her mother or her grandmother's names

We don't get

The complexity of being a trapped and abused woman who came from a trapped and abused woman who came from a trapped and abused woman

Or the complexity of a dysfunctional family

Or even the journey of recovery from addiction and self-harming behaviour

Now, not every aspect of Nesta or any survivors lives have to boil down to how it relates to their experiences but SJM is praised for her "recovery" and so much of this book is about sex and abuse but has no depth

It could have been a less-deep, fun experience of sex and desire and kink. But no

Nesta has sex with many faceless men because sjm is condemning her as a failure. Sex is her punishment, it makes her dirty and unworthy and cheap.

Then, through her "healing", she becomes a sex doll for the right guy. Sex is her reward, it makes her hot and useful and appealing.

Sjm writes not just like a man but like a particularly talented misogynist so it's the way sex is used that really puts me off

Edit: ultimately I think the sex and romance should have interacted with and evolved her pride, modesty and past experiences, rather than those things being demolished to turn her into a sex doll

[lomofic]

okay but in the subject of convincing a character not to pee somewhere embarrassing... what about someone who has different standards for when it's okay to wet themselves without embarrassment?

such as:

-you can wet yourself if you're outdoors. you're not trying to make a mess inside of a vehicle or business, and make some poor guy clean it up, but if you're outside, you can't mess anything up besides your clothes.

-you can definitely wet yourself if you're on vacation far from home. because like, you don't live in this town, so none of these people are ever gonna see you again. or if they do, it'll probably be a long time from now, they won't remember you, and even if they do... what are they gonna do, judge you for having an accident 5 years ago?

-you can wet yourself if you're on your way home. especially if it's at an unobtrusive time of day, like early morning or late at night. obviously you wouldn't want to go somewhere covered in pee, that's rude, but if you're gonna head home anyway, you're only putting yourself out.

-you can wet yourself if you did something that got you wet already. when you're wearing a wet swimsuit, or attending a theme park where you got on a water ride, or were otherwise in the splash zone, or it's heavily raining. what's a bit more wetness, really?

in general, this person just doesn't care that much about shame. if someone sees that they peed, oh well, they weren't exactly trying to hide it. they had to go. it was uncomfortable. they did their business, and that took care of it.

problems with this don't really come up that often... they're rarely caught in these situations to begin with. but if these standards clash with a more reserved and self conscious friend, it could be pretty entertaining. especially if this person just starts peeing without explaining their reasoning, and the friend starts freaking out about their modesty, which this person doesn't care about at all.

I love this so I’m sharing with the class

[venuszn]

☆ : The Prologue

Cw / Princess x Royal Guard AU, Fem!reader x Bada, Bada is dressed as a man, Male pronouns used, Slight misogyny, Mentions of death, Angst, Slowburn

Series / Enchanted

Wc / 2.2K words

Next

Multiple pairs of busy hands poke and prod you as you inhale what feels like your final breath of air. Your hair, perfectly primmed, lays pinned back revealing your soft but disgruntled face powdered with the latest cosmetics that the maids insisted you try - especially for this occasion. A small hiss shoots from your tinted lips as the bones of the corset dig further into your ribs, as if intending to merge with you.

“Any tighter and I might burst.” You snip, eyeing the old maid that stood at your behind as she laced you into oblivion.

Her eyes flicker to you through the mirror and a meek smile rests on her lips. “Forgive me, Princess. But when you capture the attention of a worthy suitor, this will be the last thought on your mind.” She utters smoothly as her skilled fingers work the laces into a bow - ready to send you off as a gift to whoever would be fearless enough to court you.

Two other maids guide your gown as it slips over you, swallowing you whole and you feel like you’re drowning.

Your frown deepens and you scowl at your reflection. “I look like a disfigured teapot.”

The old maid chuckles briefly, “No, Princess. You look like a decorative teapot, ready for display.”

She takes a step back and admires her work. A gown, coloured by the softest of pinks, graces your frame. Gentle shimmers of jewels and stones dance along your chest and a long silk fabric cascades around your waistline in a waterfall of modesty and beauty - a testament for the standards you were bound to.

You sigh and begrudgingly allow a pair of silk gloves to don your hands.

“Do cheer up, Princess. You’re wearing your mother’s jewels today.”

Your stomach drops and your heart follows. You hated the mention of your mother. You hated how others before you had the privilege of knowing her whilst you did not. You hated how she was able to live on in the memories of those who were not you. Wouldn’t she pay you a visit ? Perhaps come to you during the peace of the moon, gently stroke your hair and show herself to you in a dream or a memory ? But you knew better. After spending countless nights of your younger years weeping into your sheets and praying to the heavens for your mother to return, whether in flesh or recollection, you knew that it was in vain. She passed when you were a child and now you would only dream of becoming half the woman she was. The Queen was amiable and dutiful, she was devoted to the throne and thus, adored and loved by all. However, you were brash and outspoken and you chafed under the corsets and constraints of the crown. The people did not hate you but they did not love you either.

“My mother was able to marry who she loved. I believe that I can do the same, can I not ?” You stubbornly state.

“That was under different circumstances. Now stop frowning so much. A Princess mustn't have frown lines or wrinkles.”

The old maid gently chides as she delicately places a length of diamonds around your neck and you watch as it shimmers along with the tiara that sat poised and tucked into your hair.

“You look breathtaking my dear, just like your mother. I just wish you would refrain from frightening all the men that look your way. Heaven knows you need a strong man, especially due to recent events.” She says, worry knitted along her brows. You cherished her words and admired the beauty of the wisdom written in lines across her face - an honour to her years.

But you adherently believed that there were no men left worthy of your stature and you disliked the games of the little boys that paraded themselves as men.

“I will be perfectly fine. Doesn’t father have a tired list of personal guards that he has been assigning to stalk me every waking hour of the day ?”

“And each one of those guards have been injured protecting you and have been replaced each time. The king only cares for your safety.” She voices in a gentle manner.

You sigh and run your silk clad palms over your dress, smoothing imaginary wrinkles. “What he cares about is marrying me off to some half-witted ape that doesn’t want a wife but a bearer of children and nothing more. That is not me.” You state with firmness.

“Your father has seen to it that you marry a prince actually. He is from the neighbouring border and rumour has it that he is a fine young man. You have nothing to worry about, have some trust my dear.”

You possessed not an ounce of trust. You were wary and hesitant when it came to bonding with others. Throughout your years you had come to learn that most people did not care for the person wearing the crown but cared for the social elevation that would come from associating with it. You had no friends, no acquaintances - unless the maids and the palace walls applied. The remaining atom of trust that you had belonged to the old maid and to your father, although you were angry at him at the moment.

“I have met many princes. I am yet to be swept off of my feet.” You say dryly.

The old maid smiles at you fondly, “Promise me that you will not frighten this one away. It has been decided you marry him, regardless of whatever antics you have up your never ending sleeve of mischief.”

You snort and turn to face her, elbows slightly bent and hands placed proper and poised in front of you as you interlock your fingers. “I cannot promise that, unfortunately.” You say with a slight raise of your brow.

The old maid chuckles once more, “If you so desperately need to escape, you know where to find me, Princess. I was there for your mother and I am here for you.”

You smile for the first time that evening.

“That is if I am able to flee from whichever godforsaken stalker that father has now recruited for me.”

“I hear you will meet him also tonight.”

“How wonderful, I doubt he will last long.”

You now stand before two grand doors. The muffled sound of chatter and violins resonate through the thick solid walls and you do as you have grown accustomed to, you inhale a deep breath and force a smile onto your lips, although it fails to reach your eyes - they remain vacant. But nobody ever realised, and if they did they never uttered a word.

The palace guards that stood upright at their post reached out and opened the doors.

You step forward onto the balcony overlooking the ballroom and your presence alone silences the nattering of the audience beneath you. They look at you, probing you with their eyes as they inspect you, some with curiosity and others with anticipation of whatever scene you intend to cause tonight.

You were now on display, a decorative teapot.

You allow another palace guard to guide you down the stairs, your wrist delicately limp and fingers poised in his hold. You ignore the stares and maintain your posture, back straight and head held high on relaxed shoulders. You mutter a gentle ‘thank you’ as you reach the ground and you catch sight of the king, your father.

The King crosses the ballroom floor, parting the colourful sea of socialites in his steps. He approaches you with tired but kind eyes and reaches for your hand, which you allow, not that the choice was yours but your skin didn’t crawl at his hold and you knew that he was still your father.

“Father.” You curtsy with a graceful dip of your head.

“My dear.” He says gently as he gazes at your attire. “You look beautiful.” His eyes fall on the diamonds illuminating your skin. “Your mother would have loved to witness the fine woman you have grown to become. And on this day in particular, where you meet your future husband.”

Your smile falters for a second and you suddenly remember why you are angry at your father. His kind words now dismissed and discarded. “Oh father, you mustn’t go through all that trouble. There is no rush for me to marry.”

“Nonsense. There is much urgency and you are aware. Hence, the need for a suitable husband and a much more productive bodyguard.”

You press further, eyes flaming with obstinance. “Surely a suitable husband could also act as my protector, rendering the need for a personal guard useless. Shouldn’t he be ready and willing to take a bullet for me, a stab of a sword, perhaps unrelenting torture ?”

Your father gives you a look, as equally intense, telling you to behave.

You almost fail to notice the two additional presences standing before you. Your father clears his throat and extends his arm sidewards.

“My dear, meet your husband.”

The man takes a confident step forward and lowers his top half in a deep bow.

“Your Majesty.” His voice deep and clear as he reaches to kiss your knuckles. “What a pleasure it is to meet my wife. I have longed for this moment, I have spent many nights dreaming of you.”

You fight the urge to recoil under his touch and feign another smile.

“It is a pleasure to meet you as well. Although, we are not married. I am not your wife.” You say gently, forcing the venom down your throat as you stare at him with disinterest.

The prince chuckles with gusto as if you uttered the most humorous of words. “You truly are fiery. Nothing that cannot be tamed under the right man.”

You snatch your hand back but your face remains even-tempered. “And you believe yourself to be that man ?”

“I do. And by next summer you will too, princess.”

Your brow raises in confusion.

“That is when we are to be wed.” He announces with finality.

“Oh, joy.”

Your attention shifts to the man occupying your father's left side. Your eyes meet and you suddenly feel as if mighty waves have swept away the entire room, leaving only the two of you. His tall frame towers over the prince and inches over the king. Deep brown orbs fiercely peirce into you with a steadfast gaze as he stands chest puffed and back stiff. Long arms lay firm and proper at his sides before he takes a bow. You find yourself unable to tear away your eyes.

“Your Majesty.” His voice was light but modulated with something you could not pinpoint.

Nonetheless, it sounded sweet like honey to your ears and you deliberated on whether to force the man to read you a book later on.

As he rose your eyes remained on him. You found yourself captivated by his aura, it was nothing like the men that you were used to. The allure of his appearance and his spirited gaze - you were enchanted by the person before you.

“This is your new personal guard. He is from the Lee family. So the standards are exceptionally high and I trust he will serve you well.” Your father says, moreso to him than to you.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope you will be able to keep up, especially with me.” You say with a slight tease and your father frowns.

“You will never leave my sight, Princess. And I will never leave your side. My duty is to protect you and I will ensure that is the case, regardless of your usual tricks and jests.” Your newly assigned guard stated.

“Oh, so you are aware of those ?” You press with a smirk.

He looks right at you, face expressionless. “I am aware of everything about you, princess.”

You feel your heart perform a skip and a jump and you find yourself leaning in ever so slightly.

“Lovely to know you take your role as my stalker seriously. My father has really outdone himself.”

You were so deeply engrossed in the pull of the tides you had not noticed when your father stepped aside along with your husband-to-be, who now stood peacocking for a horde of ladies.

Men.

“I am not your stalker, princess. I am your guard. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“What is your name ?”

“Bada, of the Lee family.” He states with conviction.

“Well Bada, are you willing to cross oceans for me ? To part the seas if it means my safety ?” You tease further.

“I am. Because it is the duty I have sworn to.”

You frown a little.

“Is everything a duty ?”

“Regarding you, yes.”

Your hands pick up your gown, preparing to march away. “I am a person - not a duty. That is what your predecessors failed to understand. If I were you, I would focus on the sharp stick that appears to be lodged up your backside. Pray it doesn't puncture a vital organ.”

You swiftly turn on your heel and strut away.

Bada doesn't miss a beat and follows your trail, walking behind you with arms tucked at his back. Unbeknownst to you, a slight crack of a smirk briefly played on his lips.

You were truly a handful. But it was nothing he wasn't prepared to handle.

Authors note / Hi all, sorry for the wait ! This is my first time writing a series, especially one that is a royal au. I was researching and hoping I could portray the atmosphere as accurately as possible lol. A little bit of my inspiration comes from Mulan and the time period where my story takes place is during the regency era - much like Bridgerton ! As usual feel free to lmk your thoughts and I hope you'll enjoy 'Enchanted ' 💗

Taglist / / @princhii , @lil-elliesgf , @wiselight @nimixe ! [Feel free to lmk if you would like to be added or removed]

[roseinyoursaltwater]

RELGIOUS HEADCANNONS - RU’UAN

RELIGION - RU'UAN

    ◦    THE GUIDANCE OF LADY IRENE

Religious Figure: Lady Irene is the main figure in Ru'uan. Enki, Esmund, Shad, Memphia and Kul'Zak are also acknowledged in tales and in the holy book of the region.

Region: All villages in Ru'uan demonstrate religion and the devotion of Lady Irene in some way. However, O'Khasis and Phoenix Drop are the largest leaders of devotion.

Sayings: Oh my Irene, Holy Divine, Irene (interchangeable with Oh my God, Jesus Christ, God, Swears (ie shit and fuck)

Literature: Book of Divine (equivalent of the Bible) there are also many research books and other literature - which is mostly lost.

Standards: The religion is very based on giving, kindness, peace and fertility. They praise the growing crops and lush land and strong animals. They are a monogamy based standard (though affairs aren't rare, especially in places of power) Caring for your family, neighbors, villagers and strangers is the standard as well as peace with everyone. However, other villages take their own versions of this.

Most villages in Ru'Uan are poor therefore they aren't able to always be modest or have vibrant crops or strong animals. Meanwhile, powerhouses like Scaleswind and O'Khasis take it more intensely. They expect purity, modesty and wealth. O'Khasis belittles the lower class and expect everyone to be pure and beautiful.

The religion of Lady Irene is probably one of the most manipulated and abused in all of the regions. Her word is always changed to fit places of power for the better.

REWRITE LINK BELOW

https://www.wattpad.com/1460441108?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_writing&wp_page=create_writer&wp_uname=LetsPretend-

[tosxah]

&&. | @nagareboshiko

He insisted- no he reaaaaally insisted. Throwing a party with him as the guest of honour? He just spent four years fighting a space whale in the rip of the fabric between space and time, he relived his childhood trauma on repeat as his delusion kept him alive, every day, over and over and yet for you just over a month had passed... It was nothing. But when they asked for a third time in the same conversation, he guessed he couldn't keep turning it down, it would just be impolite. So it went ahead, his time in Fontaine that was originally meant to be a holiday finally seemed to actually become one. The odd looks and stares in the street become less so because he was a harbinger but more so because he was that harbinger, like he was some kind of hero- he guessed it caused no harm to enjoy that while it lasted.

Despite his cutthroat modesty, he was actually pretty surprised at how grandiose this affair was actually becoming. Especially when it turned out his normal attire was not 'fitting'. Though the letter put it nicer than that, he didnt see any reason why his normal wear wouldn't be suited for a party... Despite this, he wore the outfit that came in the parcel that had been sent to the place he'd been staying in and wore it without a fuss. He was almost concerned when it was tailored to his exact measurements, he wasnt even sure his own standard clothes fit him this well.

When he got to the party, it was more or less already in full swing; the people bustling, mingling, lively. Though he may have been invited as the invite d'honneur, the event was to celebrate the lives won, and lives lost in the recent flood that almost took all of their lives. So no fanfare for his entrance? That was fine, in the end he wasn't actually the one to take the beast down.

As he looked over the crowd- some smiling and waving when they caught his eye, other's tipping their hats in a thanks to which he nodded in a 'it was nothing'- eyes landed on a familiar face, though not so familiar in other ways. It took Childe a moment to fully recognise her, like his mind was playing some odd trick, like a work of art with a hidden meaning he couldn't quite put words too. She was a vision of beauty, the lonely traveller.

Childe approached the woman like a shooting star amongst stars in the night sky, you couldnt help but look and too scared if you'd blink you'd miss it. He opened a hand out to her with his usual smile and to his delight she took it.

"More like a brotherly one." The harbinger replied in earnest. It's a knight's honour to dance with a princess, that's what he had told Tonya when she'd play the same record she's had since she was 6 and he'd have her on his feet as he swayed them about the room. He'd be the first to admit he hadnt the slightest idea what he was doing at first; Batya was too ill to teach him, Mama too busy and his older siblings wanted little to do with him. Though there were rare occasions he'd get to see his family dance, when father was feeling well and he'd waltz with his mother in the kitchen to the radio or when his eldest brother got married and he only arrived at the wedding early enough to catch the first dance. Time was a good teacher, and Tonya was a faster learner, all the better for him in turn to get better. He doubted Pulcinella or Skirk would have taught him anything of the sort... Those two dancing? That conjured a funny thought. "You'll pick it up in no time, there's not been a thing I haven't seen you do." With that, Childe led her to an open space on the dance floor, a live band playing music with a good enough pace to move too yet still relaxed in nature. Other couples around them danced to their own rhythms it would seem, some simply swaying in embrace, some dancing like they had lessons their whole life- a mother and son, a sister and brother, two close friends, the people who survived the flood.

Placing his hand on her waist was a slight challenge, being taller than her meant his hand was resting more on her side than her hip. He kept a respectable distance between their bodies, and held her hand as he lead their dance at a casual pace; two steps to the left, one to the right, repeat. It was more just fancy walking than a dance really. "I like the dress. Darker colours suit you."

[blueepink07]

Doing a short analysis of the desert in Mahiru's MV. ~🍰

I haven't seen anyone talking about why they chose this particular cake, so because I was bored and I love sweets, I decided to do some research and I think I found some interesting details. ~🍓

Due to the amount of frosting and strawberries, I think there is no doubt that this is a strawberry shortcake.

In Japan, this cake is very popular, especially during Christmas, which here it's not considered as a religious holiday, not even a national one! Christmas is celebrated more like Valentine's day.

Of course, I don't necessary think that Mahiru's MV happens during winter or something, but it shows that this cake represents love, prosperity, themes frequently seen in her song.

But i don't want to just talk about the cake itself, but also the main fruit that composes it - strawberries. 🍓

This fruit is a really interesting one, and I really think that it gives us more insight of Mahiru's character and maybe her relationship with her boyfriend.

~Meaning~

Strawberry represents a delicate symbol of love and it is often used to show romantic desire or attraction. It can also be a symbol of righteousness, purity, perfectionism and modesty.

I think this fruit shows the ideal relationship that Mahiru wants, the characteristics that composes her love for her bf.

Righteousness and purity - Mahiru aspires for an innocent love, a cute, happy one. Her MV's are usually energetic and very aesthetic when it comes for the moments with him.

Perfectionism - I have always perceived Mahiru as being quite a perfectionist when it comes to love. She admits that her favorite hobbies are watching dramas, reading magazines. Consuming a certain type of entertainment, raises your standards and changes your perspectives about different topics. Mahiru describes her younger self as being a "sheltered girl" and in contrast with the fact that she went to an all girls school, it strengthened the desire to experience true love. She wanted her relationship to be the same as in dramas. In these TV series, to increase suspense and tension, the partners experience various quarrels, misunderstandings and breakups, which are fortifying their bound, until they reach their happy ever after. And these things are shown in both MVs. Mahiru admits that she is testing him, she is "happy" to receive this pain that occurs after a breakup. "The breakup rituals" in her point of view are strengthening their relationship and as the time goes on she believes they are closer to their happy ever after. Which in her case, it doesn't really happen.

"Even when I test you, even the times we do

the breakup ritual,

Is because I love you"

"We fought sometimes, I was happy

to get hurt

Let's have matching pain, the sickness

is pretty bad"

Modesty - Mahiru has actually very simple wishes when it comes to love. She wants loyalty, the interrogation questions demonstrating that she dislikes cheating and finds it morally wrong.

"Have you ever had an affair?"

She is happy with everything she receives as long as it was made with care and love.

"What's your favourite food?"

Mahiru just wants a person who accepts her love, someone who can appreciates her for who she is.

"What do you wish from your lover?"

A lifetime, traditional love, based on loyalty and compassion...

"What is the ultimate form of love?"

~Beliefs~

-> If two people split a strawberry between themselves then they are bound to fall in love.

The sequences with the cake are interesting... Maybe I'm overthinking, because they aren't literally splitting the fruit, but I want to point this detail:

The bf's slice is small, while Mahiru's filled with a lot of frosting and the whole strawberry. It seems like the bf wasn't as involved in the relationship as Mahiru and that this relationship was bound to fail from the start... Mahiru's love could have been too overbearing for him, resulting in him wanting to end ties with her. It's really sad from both perspectives... While I understand Mahiru and the feeling of wanting to be loved and having someone that understands you, he wasn't the perfect match for her, and neither she was for him. Both had different perspectives of love and neither of them had filled their requirements and needs...

->If you dream about eating a strawberry it could mean that you are about to witness a wedding. Dreams where someone else is eating a strawberry are often interpreted as meaning the dreamer has strong romantic attraction for the person cosuming the food.

Now, I know this seems like a scretch, but to be honest i always perceve the MV's as dreams. I imagine the prisoners sleeping during the extraction and while the machines is doing it's work, they have visions with their crime.

Anyway, Mahiru is trying to make her bf eat that slice with the strawberry, basically she is giving him her love. Unfortunately, he refuses to eat it, he is refusing her love and we see this scene from his point of view:

A rotten love, it's the best I can describe it. Mahiru is forcing her love and feelings to him, who doesn't want to receive them anymore.

And a note for the wedding part: Mahiru always wanted to marry the person she loves. In the MV she is never seen eating the strawberry.

"What's your opinion on marriage?"

Mahiru: "It's something I really dream of."

->Entire strawberry plants were used to treat drepression and melancholy.

Another interesting fact indeed.

This can also refer to Mahiru's mental state, which is deteriorating in Milgram's prison, but maybe it can also refer to her bf as well?

The first part of MV... The lyrics are quite sad and depressing.

"Sigh... No appetite, I can't sleep,

my hair's a mess

What am I supposed to do now?

If you won't tell me, I can't be me"

Considering that he ended his life, this shows that he was in a very bad state of mind, so Mahiru trying to give him the strawberry could mean that she wanted to help him, to cheer him up. An act that doesn't help and does more damage...

Also, the lyric were it says that she doesn't have appetite... The only food shown is the strawberry shortcake, and as the fact tells.. It's like she doesn't feel worthy of this "treatment" to cure her own sadness... :(

If I find more interesting things, I will probably continue. I'm not very pround of this, but I think it highlighted a few details.~🍰🍓

[md-confessions]

Call me a prude or something but I hate that V doesn't have pants. Or like. Anything to cover her lower half. Since she's the only murder drone we've seen that doesn't wear something long (like N's coat and J's overcoat) it feels kind of ridiculous that she's bare from the waist down, especially when literally all her other outfits cover her lower half. Honestly, the camp outfit annoys me just because of how GOOD it looks on her, like why couldn't that have been her standard outfit, just in black and yellow? Overall her pantslessness just makes her look silly, it's hard to take her seriously when she's just walking around with it all hanging out (not literally of course lmao). I know all drones technically don't wear pants, but they're always covered enough to give the illusion that they do, at least enough for it to not feel weird. With V it's so blatant and obvious that she's wearing nothing down there, and the lack of literally anyone else having an uncovered bottom half makes it look and feel wrong, despite it being perfectly normal for drones since it's not like they have anything they need to hide. Anyways, I think people should draw V with pants/shorts/skirts/etc. not for any "modesty" reasons or anything like that, but because it'd look cute and I think she deserves to wear something down there when everyone else gets to.

.

[phasedsun]

by all technicalities, naziism and transphobia isn't banned by tumblrs community guidelines

in fact, it is further affirmed by the CEO, wherein he says that the users should generate discussion or block people instead of reporting them

therefore, inadequate protection of the minority groups on this site is undeniable

condemn these people all you want, your indifference to their existence on this website through this guideline is indicative of a staff-wide value. instead of a moral standard, this topic is interpreted as moderation, curious further that your detailed stances tend towards sexual content instead of hateful speech—which is only defined by wishing death upon a group, as opposed to the in-depth description of what is permitted to be shown on this website with regards to nudity and sexual content, especially that of pedophilia

so we turn to the current discussion of transmisogyny, with our knowledge that historically those transitioning into a feminine western standard are interpreted by patriarchy as sexual obsessions stemming from the masculine view of the female body as the object of their atteaction. at this point, this view has been subconsciously planted into the minds of all who exist under the patriarchy, and it is very much your job to identify instances of transmisogyny—especially those instances unintended or unlabeled, they are subconscious biases

it is also important to note that sexuality is an integral piece of queerness. it is not wrong to say this, as there is nothing evil about sexuality. it would be a blatant denial of history to say that queerness is non-sexual in nature. the only instances of sexuality being interpreted as an evil is that of oppressive religious moral standard; regardless of the individual's religious status, the view stems from the ideas of sin and modesty, which are all social constructions based in religious belief and integrated into society. your laws are based on religious morals, so your society is inherently religious, so your society inherently views sexuality as evil. your society is based on patriarchy, which views femininity as inherently sexual for the purpose of male pleasure, therefore making a transwomans femininity a threat to their own sexual desires—a sexual threat on men is therefore an evil threat on men, transfemininity is therefore evil

I hope by now you see how these views interplay. I will now return to the guidelines of tumblr once more, under this notion and more I did not particularly discuss, however I trust the reader to be able to understand how forms of sexual abuse can be connected to generalized sexuality under the interpretation of sexuality as evil. tumblrs sexual guidelines includes sexual content of children being banned (CSAM, pedophilia), as it should of course, however it is the way in which it is batched with sexuality that is problematic. transwomen on this website are the victims of false mature content flagging, we see this prevalent in posts with absolutely no sexual content within them

these false flags are not in line with any nudity guideline. so why, then, are they marked as sexual content? tumblrs goal is to protect children from sexual content exposure, and, after all, transfeminine bodies are not inherently sexual in theory. yet we are aware of the societal view for transfemininity and queerness: an inherent sexual interpretation, an inherently evil interpretation, and an identity that encroaches on the sanctity of children, who shan't be soiled by the sight of sexual content

a direct correlation to pedophilia, the same arguments parroted by TERFS and nazis, the same "free speech" encouraged to be "discussed" on this website

in the end, the message sent—regardless of intention—is clear. it is not out of the question to make the assumption that moderation treats transfemininity as inherently pedophilic in the same manner in which western politics does. it is not out of the question to interpret tumblr moderation as inherently transmisogynistic

and while an aforementioned reform to this bigotry and extremism would be welcome, we see how the current sexual guideline treats the transfeminine minority, and therefore I cannot help but ponder how their terrorism and hate speech guidelines would be adapted with regards to activism (we already see this suppression in undocumented forms)

tumblr may be the self proclaimed queerest place on the internet, but it is most certainly not safe for any queer individual

their actions have spoken

[atrwriting]

control -- aemond x highborn!fem!reader

warnings: forced marriage, sexual harassment, mentions of non-con (i think that’s the correct warning), eventual smut, angst, slow burn, knives, and aegon ii is not on a leash

chapter two

your standards were horrifically low for your arranged wedding, and yet, somehow, you were still met with disappointment. the prince had dragged you by the elbow down several hallways to, what appeared to be, an entire wing dedicated to him and his immediate family. he pulled you into a room and shut the door behind the both of you. 

you let out a breath that you didn’t realize you were holding as aemond went into a separate room attached to the reception quarters of, what appeared to be, his suite. your eyes scanned the room as he opened a few doors and drawers in the separate room, attempting to understand your area before you were forced somewhere else by your betrothed. 

“you will need to change,” the prince stated sternly, staring at her as he laid a dress of emerald green on a nearby chair. “you should look presentable for... our wedding.” 

you eyed the dress with a small smile. “thank you. it’s beautiful, prince aemond. when will we be... when is the wedding?” 

“as soon as you are dressed and have done something with your hair,” he spat before pressing his lips into a thin line. 

you raised an eyebrow at him, more out of confusion and hurt rather than attitude. he rolled his eyes before turning his back to you, hands folded behind him. you stared at his back, confused on what the prince exactly expected you to do next, before he spat, “we haven’t all day, woman. get dressed.” 

you sucked in a sharp breath. anxiety began to well in your chest as you scanned the room once more, hoping for a place to change, until you realized he turned his back because he expected you to strip and put the dress on in his presence. you had never been bare in front of any man, and didn’t exactly want to start like this, but you knew if you didn’t act quickly he would probably grow more upset. 

“my prince, would you...” you mumbled, not in the slightest bit comfortable with addressing him first. 

“what is it?!” he snapped, turning back around to face you. 

you narrowed your eyes at him once more. with gritted teeth, you replied, “would you mind unlacing my dress if there aren’t ladies here to help me?” 

you didn’t give him time to answer before you turned around, cueing him to help you. he stalked over to the place behind where you stood and began aggressively pulling at your corset. you struggled to maintain your balance and modesty, especially when he began loosening the strings to the bodice. once finished, he grabbed you by the upper arm and spun you around to face him. the prince was only a few inches from your face as his eye appeared to dare you to disobey him. 

“speak to your lord husband like that one more time and you will sleep in the dragon pit,” he warned, gripping your arm tight. 

fuck keeping the peace. you were tired, stunk of dragon, forced to change of an insufferable man, and now being threatened. you narrowed your eyes at your lord husband. “do you recall how my family didn’t request a chaperone when you fled with their daughter on dragon back?” 

his grip grew tighter. “i remember escorting my lady wife-”

“i remember my father letting me leave with you, with no protection, because he knew i could take care of myself,” you spat, ripping your arm from his hold. “throw me in the dragon pit and watch me fly out on the back of one, lord husband.” 

you hadn’t won that argument, don’t be mistaken. you may have gotten away from the prince and found a private space to change in his suite, but the prince had only let you get away because he couldn’t help but let a laugh escape his stoic demeanor and forgotten to scold you. you hurriedly slipped off your old dress and into your new one, struggling to lace up the back and fix your hair at the same time.

the prince had regained his composure once you had entered the room once more. you were fumbling with your hair, attempting to pull back the sides so the length of your hair could cascade down your back but the front would be out of your face. 

as you plaited the sides of your hair back, the prince stepped behind you and began lacing the back of your dress with hard, sudden jerking movements. you tried not to make a sound and not let it affect your hair, in fear of the prince snapping at you once more. 

“protecting yourself in this court means keeping that sharp tongue of yours to yourself,” the prince ordered. “i will not be made a fool of because my wife doesn’t know her place, do you understand?” 

you huffed, finishing your hair as the prince was nearing his end with your bodice. “i have no intention of embarrassing you or myself, believe it or not. if you noticed: my supposed sharp tongue didn’t make an appearance until we were in private, my prince.”

you were suddenly turned around and pressed against a nearby fixture, wall, you couldn’t tell. you sucked in a sharp breath as you braced yourself against whatever was behind you as your eyes searched the face of aemond targaryen quickly as he held both sides of your jaw in one, tight hand. 

“if you don’t keep it that way, you will regret it.” 

you didn’t respond. you barely breathed. shallow breaths caused your chest to expand a few times out of anxiety, but you felt frozen under the prince and his piercing gaze. his strong, firm midsection was pressed against your breasts as the sudden movement caused your dress to slide down, lower and lower, inch by inch, as you both stared at each other. 

his grip on your face tightened as you struggled to remain emotionless. anger had taken over his entire demeanor as he spat, “do you understand?” 

you swallowed, struggling to keep your dress from exposing your chest. “always did, my prince.” 

he didn’t respond as he stared down at your face. your nerves had consumed you in that moment as he held your face literally in his hands and your dress threatened to slip even more when you moved. your sharp tongue had disappeared, obvious to the both of you, and the prince smirked. he leaned down so his lips were pressed against one of your ears, and whispered, “keep it that way, my lady wife, since you know what’s good for you.”

he pressed a chaste kiss to your cheek before he turned you back around and finished lacing you bodice, leaving you stunned. 

* * *

the ceremony was merely a few meaningless words that were rushed for the intent to begin the feast. your lord husband did not look in the slightest bit happy to be married, nor was he excited to drink his bachelor sorrows away in wine and ale. the couple sat as the guests of honor next to the king, aegon ii, and on the other side of the king sat queen helaena and the queen dowager alicent. 

prince aemond, officially now your lord husband, sat stoic and, frankly, appeared to look bored. you had drank three goblets of wine at this point, bored out of your mind hoping the buzz from the alcohol would keep you company. you figured conversation may worsen his mood, so you thought to give it purpose at least. 

“lord husband,” you began, testing the waters, “do you think you could introduce me to the queen helaena and the queen dowager alicent when it is convenient for you?”

your husband appeared to consider what you were saying, and would have possibly answered if his brother, the king, hadn’t interjected. in a drunken haze, he bellowed, “you haven’t met my wife and mother, yet, dear sister? why, you and i haven’t even been properly introduced yet!”

the look of boredom on your husband’s face was replaced by irritation upon hearing his brother’s words. the king pushed himself from his chair and sauntered over to where you and aemond were sitting. you went to get up, to greet the king, but your lord husband had roughly pulled you back down into the seat. 

“your husband is a rude fuck, dear sister, but he is right: do not get up on my account,” the king said, pulling a chair over and clutching a goblet of wine in the other. the king placed a fat, wet kiss on the side of your face and cupped the other side of your face with his other hand before sitting down. “pleasure is mine, as is your army!”

he erupted in laughter at that, smacking his brother’s shoulder in hope that he would join in on the joke. the prince aemond simply turned, joining the conversation but not adding to it. 

“my house is grateful we could show our loyalty to you, my king,” you began, trying to ease the tension. 

“speaking of loyalty...” the king stated, taking a gulp of his wine. “how loyal are you going to be to my brother’s cock tonight?” 

you coughed, completely caught off guard. you hadn’t expected such a crude remark coming out of a king’s mouth, but aemond appeared unsurprised. he did, however, turn towards his brother. 

“you think i would allow her to speak of such private, intimate matters to my brother, the king?” aemond spat, taking the attention off of you. 

“with lips as plump as hers, brother, she can say anything she wants to me,” the king stated, staring through you rather than at you. “she can put those-” 

suddenly, the prince grabbed your hand and pulled you from your chair. he muttered something about “fulfilling his duty” and hauled you away and from the banquet room. you struggled to keep up with your new husband as he dragged you down hallways, around corners, and throughout entryways that were intricate and very far away from the banquet room. suddenly, you remembered: you and your lord husband would have to consummate the marriage. you had expected it and knew it was going to happen, but the day’s events and the wine had caused you to forget your duty. 

your anxiety had taken over, and suddenly all you could do was wait for your lord husband’s direction on the events of the evening. he had barely expressed any interest in you at all, causing you to wonder whether or not he even wanted to partake in the act with you. suddenly, he turned to face you. 

“i made it very clear that you should be careful engaging with members of the court,” he spoke, nostrils flaring. 

your eyes widened. “that interaction was no fault of mine, prince aemond!” 

“then who’s was it, princess, hmm?” he asked, sarcastically, walking closer. “because the king did not lick the side of my face, now, did he?” 

“i asked if i could meet your sister and mother to show you that i wanted to be a good wife to you,” you spoke incredulously, attempting to keep your volume level. “i cannot control the actions of those around me.” 

“you’re going to have to learn if you are to survive this court, wife,” he spoke, gravelly, pouring himself a goblet of wine. “you are lucky it is our wedding night and i was able to take you away from the table. be grateful.” 

the words tumbled from your mouth before you could stop them. “be grateful that my husband was doing his duty by me? oh, no- i’m sorry- not his duty. my husband simply expects me to be grateful that he doesn’t share what he considers property.” 

aemond targaryen did not give in to your attempts at pulling anger out of him. his face was stoic as ever, drinking his wine, but his eyes held a fire that should have served as a warning you should heed. but you didn’t. wine, anger, and rejection coursed through your veins until all sense and anxiety was lost from the beginning of the day. 

you didn’t stop, even though you should have. 

you stepped closer to your husband, and he raised an eyebrow at you. he was nearly done with his cup of wine, one of many of the evening. he was also ready to play if you dared. 

“and seeing as though my lord husband has more of an interest with wine than fucking his new bride, i might as well take my plump lips to his brother-”

you had done it, and you should not have. 

aemond targaryen had thrown his goblet of wine somewhere behind him before he shoved you against a neighboring wall. your upper body and head smacked against it, leaving you without the concentration to finish your sentence. he had one hand gripping your throat and the other pressed to the wall above your head. you were chest to chest with a fire burning between the two of you. he glanced down at you with an animalistic anger in his eye that taunted you to be his prey, but you glared up at him, struggling to breathe, as if you could honestly win in a fight against him. 

“i could fuck you, or anyone i want, tonight, wife,” he spat through gritted teeth, hold still tight on your throat. “however, i thought it gentlemanly to not pounce on you like my arse of a brother. do you want me to be a gentleman, or would you rather me fuck you like the annoying whore you are?” 

“gentleman?” you struggled to get out. “i’m surprised you don’t see yourself as a dragon, a being with limitless power, with your arrogance.” 

he chuckled darkly, leaning forward so you were mere inches from his face. “i am no dragon. dragons do not have limitless power, woman. i am the rider that makes the dragon bend to my will. i am worse. much worse.” 

the prince tightened his grip on your throat, actually causing fear to well within you. “i can still be a gentleman, and you can still be a good wife. we can go to sleep. you need only stop your games.” 

you laughed with whatever strength you had left. your brain was starting to go fuzzy from the lack of air and the surplus of wine in your system. “and i can still go to your brother.” 

he sneered at you before unsheathing his dagger from his belt. “like a whore it is, then.” 

- - -

spice next chapter !! x

[birchbow]

Your character designs are always so dang cool!!! Are the captain positions on other ships in the holy fleet challenged for like the position of GHB in a duel to the death, or are they appointed? (Some combination thereof?) The Orisoner looks so friendly, but I bet he’s brained somebody with that whimsical staff! I love that in the group shot Kurloz’s frame is almost a 2x scaled up version of Sister Waspclaw - his Gigantic Lankiness is just so fun. (Also LMAO at Kurloz being too prudish to claim his right to show tits! Honestly any time he mentions modesty standards being different a couple centuries ago it cracks me right up 😂)

Aw, thank you! :D Waspclaw is real small for a highblood, especially a relatively old and powerful one--smaller than pretty much all her pupated students, and a few of the pre-pupation ones! So next to Kurloz "Big Motherfucker" Makara, she's absolutely tiny. But does still manage to have more boobs than he does. Tragic.

RE: succession, it varies! It's pretty much always going to include some amount of combat--some of the variety where the loser is allowed to slink away and lick their wounds, and some where they definitely don't. Let's see. On a scale from most to least "Challenge To The Death"...

Definitely the Behemoth. It follows the same rules as the Grand Highblood challenge--if two trolls who want to be in charge walk into what passes for a captain's court on the Freakshow, only one is going to come out. Yozuna's not fast, and most trolls who ARE fast aren't nearly strong enough to make a dent in it even if they hit it--but the fact that Kurloz is big enough to really hit it hard and also came up specializing in speed and evasion is probably a real big part of the reason it hasn't made any attempt to challenge him for the throne, honestly.

Waspclaw. She's very lax with gutsy newbies getting fresh with each other and their superiors, thus the Joker's reputation for letting people get away with stuff, but stepping to her directly is SUPER dangerous. Make your gamble if you know you can get away with it!! But always know you aren't going to get away with it with her. :o) Plus, much like the Uderaks and Untoxxic, she works in poisons and venoms, and also she's heavily min-maxed into speed, so by the time you realize your challenge fight has officially been accepted, she's gone "well, they made their choice!" and you've been stung with something fatal.

The Abattoir. He isn't fucking around, although she also strikes me as very businesslike about it, and not inclined to be vindictive about the act of the challenge itself. I think the format is a little less "immediate fight to the death" and a little more "courtly duel" in keeping with both of his knightly sort of vibes. The exception being if you manage to draw blood on either of him, in which case shit flips very much into death-match mode. Also like. Hard-mode. You do have to challenge for both ships at once, and you will be fighting both of her. So like, considering authority over Elixir and Stardust features a lot of interfacing with the nonbelievers and doing Finance and shit, not a lot of people are jumping at THAT daunting prospect lol.

The Judgment. She wants to hear your argument for why the fuck you think you have what it takes to perform the physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually-taxing work of disciplining the wayward sinner-criminals of the church, and she's not getting any younger, here! If she feels like she's won her argument and the battle and you're inclined to back down in shame, she's not going to continue to press the point, but she will definitely openly think less of you for making a stupid and badly thought out attempt on her authority. She's as close as the church fleet gets to having a legislacerator taskforce, and she's just as stern and hard-assed as the Cruelest Bar, but also a large part of the Penitent's function is for flagellation and rehabilitation (???) of potentially-redeemable highbloods who've fucked up in ways that the church considers forgivable enough to give them a shot. She's down to clown (fatal) but also she's not an executioner necessarily.

Brother Libation. I drew inspiration from Il Dottore from the commedia del'arte, Bacchus, and the whole concept of drunken fist characters as an archetype, so if he's challenged he's got like... a 33% chance of just offering some kind of whimsical puzzle challenge that nobody ever manages to solve to his satisfaction, a 33% chance of just verbally convincing them to chill the fuck out by being a Cool Hang, and a 33% chance of bonking them heartily to the brink of death with his big spiky gourd.

The Orisoner wins for least deathmatchy. You can try to challenge, but you'll just get invited to come chill and vibe and just like. Really get into why you think your leadership will be hilarious and honoring to the messiahs, and what you think about art, and why you feel like you need captaincy to make the changes you want to see in the church and empire. If anybody attempts to escalate to violence, they'll mostly be met with a vaguely disappointed, surprisingly benevolent no-weapon-open-palms kind of rebuff, and if things continue to get more aggressive from there, the big spiky walloping staff will come out and be employed with startling effectiveness and skill lmao. But! If there were ever going to be highbloods inclined to take debate of best leadership policy over violence, it's the ones who decide they want to be theologians professionally. (Debate of best religious interpretation is a whole other ballgame, and gets aggressive here more than any other ship on the fleet lol). Orisoner in general though, would be one of the safer trolls you could be around as like, a human or a lowblood, if you had to pick a ship.

[saintsenara]

death (eaters) in paradise bellatrix lestrange/lord voldemort mature | 7.3k words

‘this is lovely,’ she said to the muggle bell-boy, who gave her a cheeky smile.

‘i asked for a twin,’ said the dark lord.

the bell-boy looked at bella, and then looked at the dark lord as though he were insane. ‘sorry, señor,' he said, not sounding very sorry at all, ‘but this was all there was available. you’ll be fine to share with her, no?’

a spanish anti-muggle group wishes to meet with the dark lord in marbella. so, it makes perfect sense for his favourite lieutenant to go with him. after all, she could do with a holiday.

this piece was written for week six of @ladiesofhpfest, on the theme of hot girl summer [you can find the masterlist for this week's fics here].

authors notes under the cut

and it's too hot here to think to much about anything, so this is not a particularly deep story - the inspiration was entirely the fact that the idea of bellamort on holiday in marbella is funny. these are not two people who can be easily imagined lounging by a pool - although it has always tickled me that lord voldemort is ascending to the height of his powers alongside a period of luridly-coloured pop culture. the tiki cocktails of the late 1940s and the disco drinks of the 1970s shouldn’t be something one associates with him. and yet.

but there is something serious underneath all the brits-abroad capering [rip to the german tourist, hated by a nation for hogging the sun loungers]. i’ve always been struck by the fact that - even though jkr considers it to be more egalitarian than the muggle world - the wizarding world is constrained by extremely restrictive gender roles.

and i am convinced [and have explored more seriously elsewhere - especially in my piece nor all that glisters gold and its notes] that one of the reasons why bellatrix is so easily radicalised into being an enthusiastic death eater is because voldemort gives her a chance to transcend the expectations placed upon her by her gender and her social class. in death (eaters) in paradise she finds herself free - for the first time in her life - of pureblood modesty standards [after all, in canon, wizarding clothes seem to cover much more of the body than contemporary muggle fashions], of the need to pretend her marriage is happy, and of the need to pretend that she isn’t a sexual creature.

in death (eaters) in paradise [as, again, i’ve explored more seriously in my piece other women and of purer blood and its notes], there’s the idea that bellatrix’s lack of interest in pregnancy - and her desire to see sex as something with value beyond society’s belief that she should want lots of children, as is her duty as a pureblood - is considered quite scandalous in the circles in which she moves. that voldemort should be the only person she knows who doesn’t think this may not initially seem to be in line with his character - but, actually, the canonical voldemort tolerates a huge amount of casual affection from bellatrix. until the last stages of deathly hallows, he allows her to be physically very close to him, to touch him, to allude to the relationship between them, and so on - and my justification for why they are a sincerely plausible couple is directly connected to this. both bellatrix and voldemort want to be really known and really understood, and they provide a level of recognition and comfort to each other which is there in canon and really fun to draw out in fan-fiction.

plus, him giving her a horcrux is - and i’ll die on this hill - weirdly romantic.

[why i always write him as an arse man is unknown to me, but good for him.]

three final points: yes, i’m aware what the real-life john lewis incident was; rookwood’s hot daughter has turned up in other women of purer blood as well, and maybe she deserves her own story; and this is the dress jane russell wears in gentlemen prefer blondes which is seared into lord voldemort’s retinas:

stunning.

[01298283]

According to the tradition of my country (Brazil),a good woman,a real woman is one who follows the biblical commandments, which means that according to tradition I am a witch,crazy,slut and pervert and a mockery to society,but I I love being a witch,crazy, slut and horny.

Here you must be submissive to your man and follow moralistic and conservative principles to be accepted,there is a social standard based on religious principles in absolutely everything here,a kind of religious fascism,even adopted by the political and judicial system.

But the majority of religious people here (Christians) are extremely hypocritical and here there is a high rate of femicide,sexism, homophobia precisely because the basis of society here and its teachings are based on biblical principles,even part of the misery in this country is thanks to religious imposition, as this religion is a mass of political maneuver here.

Everything that deviates from Christian modesty and custom is demonized here and most of them live on appearances and are fascists,most Brazilian men are extremely misogynistic and sexist and are part of Christianity,Christianity is a factory of abusers and sexists.

It is normal within religious institutions here to witness different types of abuse and all of this is camouflaged by religion and justified in the name of a God,the Christian God for example,their customs and teachings are similar to Islam. Your value here is based mainly on your religion,many companies when they find out that you are not part of the Christian carcinogenic herd automatically delete you and they declare war on you.

Many women ally themselves with patriarchy and male chauvinism,defending sexist or scoundrel men for fear of criticism and exclusion and for fear of dying single,they shape themselves to fit archaic and medieval standards. Now they are voting in the political plenary to ban gay marriage and are using the Bible as a reference and implementing their religious dictatorship in society and many Brazilians are supporting this,religious fascism is very strong here.

Here it is normal to see women defending patriarchy,archaic customs and abusive men, especially if he becomes a Christian,he will automatically be canonized,rape culture in this country is still very strong and is far from over.

Christians fight to impose their religious dictatorship on everyone and anyone who does not follow their principles will always be hostile to them and seen as inferior, especially women who decide to live a life free from religious and conservative impositions.

They preach the famous charity and Christian love,but all of this is just a farce to camouflage who they really are,their charity is limited, that is it is only done for those who really decide to follow what they believe. They are always looking for ways to brainwash you and convert you, especially with tales of Christian guilt and hell.

There is a high rate of abuse among Christian couples,many husbands abuse their wives physically and psychologically and develop various psychological and physical health problems and the church blames the woman and the Devil,and uses biblical verses to justify abuse and encourage women to continue living alongside their abusive husbands and save the relationship,most of these men are mass abusers,violent,cheaters,manipulators, pedophiles,rapists.

Brazilian justice is abusive in several aspects and continues to abuse victims in the courts, patriarchy and sexism are very strong among them and the entire judicial system has no preparation whatsoever to judge or protect victims of abuse and are extremely slow in the processes on purpose,they try in every way to blame the victim and you can hardly get justice,the judiciary hates women,hates children and hates the poor. If the abuser is white,Christian and has more favorable conditions in the eyes of the law, he is well regarded even if he abused,the majority of judges are sexist,including female judges.

So in fact Brazil is a large medieval colony full of corruption among the majority,especially the political class and judiciary and fascism is present in several places here.

[halorocks1214]

one detail that has stuck with me since the beginning of splatoon 3 was the explanation my friend gave me as to WHY mr. grizz was suddenly mr. "nice boss around the block" instead of the raging asshole (affectionate) he was in 2

apparently the translation team had decided to go for a more direct translation, and in the japanese version of the game, mr. grizz is genuinely a much nicer fellow than his american counterpart: but why was that the case? my friend told me why, but i did some research to confirm his findings

in the japanese language, there are two words that play into the country's work culture: "Seizensetsu (性善説)" and "Kenson (謙遜)"

Seizensetsu (性善説): A belief that human nature is good and people are naturally inclined toward virtue. Conversely, the negative elements of society tend to corrupt people. To prevent this from happening, people need to work relentlessly and do their best to maintain their virtue.

Kenson (謙遜): The act of demonstrating your self-sacrifice and accepting your lower status, even when you believe you should be praised highly by others for your achievements. This is something you must never voice or draw attention to. This torture-like modesty is considered a virtue, especially among the elite classes. They are the ones expected to be role models within Japanese society.

to summarize an already overly long post (sorry), the general idea is that bosses worry that if they give their workers praise, it could lead them to become complacent and to do less of a good job at their work, which is why "tougher" bosses are seen as good examples (and to an extent, "nice" bosses are seen as hiding something). another side is that their workers are so used to not getting praise that when they DO get it, they don't know how to respond and it makes everything awkward, so why not avoid it altogether?

so that's why there's such a character shift between 2!grizz and 3!grizz: in 2, the translators worked to make him more of a "bad boss" by american standards while in 3 they figured going for the one-to-one translation would be better. something something "back in my day mr. grizz would tell me to kill myself if i only brought in 100 eggs" something (no personal opinion on this one way or the other, it is what it is etc.)

i'm rambling a bit much here, but i wanted to explain my thought process about this splatfest. my friends and i genuinely picked big man because of the theme, but the second choice was always going to be frye. we all thought shiver would be the worst "leader" because they held grudges easily and tended to be rude and full of themself, just look at how they treated their shark in the story mode!

(i still love them a lot don't get me wrong but yeah, not exactly a shining example of a "good" leader)

going into splatfest though, i thought about mr. grizz. i thought about how a "makes sure to point out all your flaws" characteristic was seen as valuable and respectable in workplaces. i thought about how a few splatfests had already been swayed by the japanese playerbase (it is a japanese-based game, after all) and-

yeah, i thought it would be skewed, but i will admit i was completely shocked at just HOW skewed it ended up being

now, could i be reading too much into this? most likely yeah. this IS a kid's game, and i highly doubt a lot of kids are worried about proper workplace culture, but i got to share cool mr. grizz lore, so i consider this a good post anyway <3

[20dollarlolita]

hi, so idk if this is the right place, but I like your blog & you seem friendly, so: is it really that bad if I wear a JSK that’s above my knees (and by that I mean by like, 10 cm)? Most of the time I only see pictures of dresses, skirts etc that are longer but I’m quite tall and sometimes already have trouble finding clothes that fit properly here in western clothing shops :/. which makes me quite self conscious, and I can never wear shoes like anything with platforms or heels, bc I’ve heard multiple times (especially in school) how weird it is for a woman to be my height. Ok but this isn’t a place for “trauma dumping”… but just thought I’d let you know my thought process and why it isn’t as easy as just saying fuck them haters, lol. There’s a dress I really want to get but I’m worried I’ll look inappropriate or ‘ita’ or something

I had a very long post about short skirts in lolita before realizing that that's not the right answer here.

First of all, you can find examples of above-knee skirts in every lolita substyle. I'll have proof pics when I make the long post about that. 10cm/4" above the knee isn't really unheard of.

diagonal stripe JSK: models A&B (shortest, red dress) - size XS, 85cm. models C&D (tallest, mint dress) - size S, 87cm.

Here's Summer Fairy showing their same dress on five models of different heights. The model on the right is 174cm tall (5'8").

And here's a similar one from Haenuli, showing the same dress on different models.

Not all major lolita brands are going to offer a dress in different sizes. Some JSKs have adjustable straps, or are easy to add adjustable straps onto.

I know that these models aren't actually all that tall by a lot of Western standards, and it's hard to find examples of Japanese or Chinese brands that have taller models. However, that doesn't at all mean that tall lolitas (Tallitas) don't exist or aren't welcome in the fashion.

Anyway, here's like 30 something pictures from Gothic & Lolita Bible, spanning from 2002 to 2014, showing skirts that appear to be roughly 4" above the knee:

In this board are examples of sweet, classic, gothic, punk, and old school lolita fashion. You can wear skirts above your knees! You can wear them in any substyle.

The one thing to note is that not every substyle is as open to bare knees. You can wear tights with an above-knee skirt in pretty much any substyle, without much of a question. It's actually a great chance to show off printed or patterned tights, because you can see more of the design.

If you want to wear socks, it's generally helpful to wear lace-trimmed bloomers that peek out of the skirt, and under-knee socks with trim on the top. This look makes the coordinate look more like you built it with modesty in mind (a key element of lolita style). It allows you to add detail into the look and tie everything together.

Generally, I advise people to stay away from over-knee socks if they're concerned that their skirt will be too short. This is because of the sock gap (SFW link) concept in a lot of non-lolita fashion. It's possible to pull it off, but it's not something you should attempt until you're confident and won't care if someone tells you that it's wrong.

Another thing that's really common is an underskirt that either has a decorative lace or a ruffle on the bottom. These are meant to be worn under an existing dress, often to give it some additional length. The nice thing about these is that you can buy a couple of them and then wear them with everything. They're also pretty easy to make, and since the waistband isn't seen, they make a good first project to sew yourself.

If you're tall and also have a long torso, you can look to see if your dress you're looking into buying has straps that button in the back (if it's a JSK). Even if it's not adjustable, if it has that button in the back, you can pretty easily extend the straps to make the whole JSK a little bit longer. You can do this on a JSK without button straps, too, but it's a bit more involved.

On the subject of ita, a lot of things can go into something being considered ita. Generally, ita is actually a manifestation of behavior, not actually about a single garment of clothing. Buying a really garbage replica isn't inherently ita, but insisting on wearing it to an event, and then calling everyone a meanie and a gatekeeper when it's not accepted well is a behavior that you can choose not to have. The opposite of ita is humility.

If you bought a decent-quality garment, and someone talks about your outfit negatively, it natural that it hurts, so give yourself some space. But, when you're ready, go back to that conversation and ask yourself a question: was there anything constructive in that critique? If you asked someone what they thought about your outift, and they couldn't find a single nice thing to say, and they decided to just give you a solid Reasons You Suck speech, you're not the ita one. We as a community call concrit "concrit" for a reason, and that reason is that we generally aren't afraid to politely discuss with someone the cons and the pros of our outfits. If there's no con in that crit, they're just being a dick. You know how I said ita is behavior, and not fashion? The person doing the con-less crit is the one behaving painfully. You're not the ita there.

So go buy that dress!

Lolita-Tips has a whole tag about body shape, which can be good to look up.

I made a whole post about how to coord a short skirt, before realizing that wasn't the question, so expect that in a few days.