#fashion glossary

[ace-the-fashion-dreamer]

Black Friday Fashion Dreamer photo dump

[celebratingwomen]

Nicole Scherzinger for The Glossary Magazine, Winter 2023

[youlooklikeabigdoll]

Her in the baggy shants with the cute feet 👣 📸🎏

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Some Editorial Vocabulary

definitions of terms during the writing, editing and publishing process

Acknowledgements: Text in which the author thanks those who’ve supported them.

Action beat: Short description that comes before, between or just after dialogue.

Adjective: A word that describes a noun.

Adverb: A word that describes a verb.

Adverbial phrase: A group of words that describe a verb.

Afterword: A concluding section, often reflecting on the book’s creation or providing additional context.

Anaphora: The deliberate repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive clauses for artistic effect.

Antagonist: An adversary. The character who creates obstacles and challenges for the protagonist, or behaves in a hostile fashion towards the protagonist.

Anti-protagonist: A protagonist whose own actions create opposition and conflict, often within themselves or against their own goals.

Apostrophe: A punctuation mark used to indicate possession, omission and, occasionally, a plural.

Appendix: Space in a book for material that doesn’t fit comfortably in the main text.

Asyndeton: Literary device through which a sentence’s structure follows the following pattern: A, B, C.

B-C

Back matter: Also end matter. Elements reserved for the back of a book, including appendix, glossary, endnotes, bibliography and index.

Beta reader: Test-reader who provides feedback on book.

Bibliography: List of all works cited in book, and any other work of interest to the reader.

Chapter drop: The space above and below the chapter title.

Character arc: Narrative that shows how a character changes and develops.

Characterization: The process of revealing a character's personality, traits and motives through actions and dialogue.

Colon: Punctuation mark that introduces additional/qualifying information about the clause it follows.

Comma splice: Two independent clauses joined by a comma rather than a conjunction or an alternative punctuation mark.

Conjunction: A word that connects clauses or sentences (e.g. ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘if’, ‘then’)

Copyediting: A review of grammar, punctuation, and spelling, ensuring consistency and accuracy in the manuscript's language.

Critique: Also manuscript evaluation. Report analysing a book’s strengths and weaknesses.

D

Denouement: The final part of the book in which all the plot strands are brought together and resolved.

Deuteragonist: A sidekick or confidante character who has the most influence on the protagonist, often helping them solve problems and overcome obstacles. Can be critical to driving the plot.

Developmental editing: Also structural editing. The improvement of a manuscript's structure, content, and overall narrative, focusing on big-picture elements. Attends to plot, characterisation, narration and pacing.

Dialogue tag: Also speech tag. Words that indicate which character is speaking (e.g. John said).

Dialogue: The lines characters speak in a book.

Diversity reader: Also sensitivity reader. Test-reader who checks for misrepresentation in books.

Double-page spread: Also DPS. The view of a printed book or PDF when opened so that the left- and right-hand pages are both visible.

Drama: The conflicts, emotional intensity, and impactful events that drive the plot and engage readers emotionally. The focus is on character relationships, motivations, and the consequences of their actions.

Dropped capital: Decorative first letter of the first word on the first line in a chapter. Larger than the rest of the text and drops down two lines or more.

E-F

Ellipsis: Punctuation mark that indicates a trailing-off or a pause.

End matter: Also back matter. Elements reserved for the back of a book, including appendix, glossary, endnotes, bibliography and index.

Endnote: Additional useful information at the end of a chapter or book.

Filter word: Verb that tells rather than shows (e.g. ‘noticed’, ‘seemed’, ‘spotted’, ‘saw’).

Folio: Somewhat old-fashioned term for page number. Also used to refer to a page.

Footnote: Additional useful information at the bottom of a page.

Foreword: A recommendation of the work written by someone other than the author.

Fourth wall: In books, the conceptual space between the characters and the readers.

Free indirect speech: Also free indirect style and free indirect discourse. Third-person narrative that holds the essence of first person thought or dialogue.

Front matter: Also prelims. Includes part title and title pages, foreword, preface and acknowledgements.

Full point: Period or full stop.

Full stop: Period or full point.

G-L

Glossary: Alphabetical list of important terms with explanations or definitions.

Habitual past tense: Uses ‘would’ or ‘used to’ with a verb to indicate events that happened routinely in a time past.

Half-title page: The first page of a book with any text on it; in a printed book, always a right-hand page. Contains only the main title of the book.

Head-hopping: Jumping from one character’s thoughts and internal experiences to another’s. Indicates viewpoint has been dropped.

Imprint: Publisher’s name.

Independent clause: A group of words that contains a subject and a predicate.

Index: Alphabetical list of all topics, themes, key terms and cited author names covered in the book, and the corresponding page numbers.

Information dump: Also word dump. Information that’s necessary to the story but isn’t artfully delivered, or weaved creatively into the narrative and dialogue.

Line editing: Also stylistic editing. The refining of a manuscript's language, focusing on consistency, clarity, flow and style at sentence level.

M-O

Maid-and-butler dialogue: Dialogue in which one character tells another something they already know so the reader can access backstory.

Manuscript evaluation: Also critique. Report analysing a book’s strengths and weaknesses.

Narrative arc: Also story arc. The structure and shape of a story.

Narrative authenticity: The believability and truthfulness of a story so that the characters and events feel real within the framework of the novel’s world.

Narrative distance: Also psychic distance. How close the reader feels to a character’s thoughts, emotions and experiences within a story.

Narrative: Story. The part of the book that’s narrated, excluding the dialogue.

Narrative style: The author's unique manner of storytelling, encompassing language, tone, viewpoint and other structural choices.

Narrative voice: The style, tone, and personality through which a narrator or character tells a story to readers.

Numerals, Arabic: 1, 2, 3 etc.

Numerals, Roman: i, ii, iii etc.

Omniscient: All-knowing. Refers to a viewpoint style in fiction writing.

Overwriting: Using too many words on the page. Often characterized by repetition and redundancy.

P

Page proofs: A file that’s reached a stage in the publishing process where the text and images of a manuscript have been laid out in their final format.

Pantser: A writer who doesn’t outline or plan story structure, but flies by the seat of their pants.

Period: Full stop or full point.

Perspective character: Also viewpoint character. The character through whose eyes the story is primarily told. The narrative lens through which readers experience events, thoughts, and emotions within the story.

Plot: The sequence of events in a novel.

Point of view: Also viewpoint and POV. Describes whose head we’re in when we read a book, or whose perspective we experience the story from.

Polysyndeton: Literary device through which a sentence’s structure follows the following pattern: A and B and C.

Predicate: The part of a sentence that contains a verb and that tells us something about what the subject’s doing or what they are.

Preface: An explanation of the purpose, scope and content of a book, and written by the author.

Prelims: Also front matter. Includes part title and title pages, foreword, preface and acknowledgements.

Pronoun: A word that replaces a noun (e.g. I, you, he, she, we, me, it, this, that, them those, myself, who, whom). Pronouns can act and be acted upon like any noun.

Proofreading: The final pre-publication quality-control stage of editing where any final literal errors and layout problems are flagged up. Comes after developmental editing, stylistic line editing and copyediting.

Proper noun: A named person, place or organization. Always takes an initial capital letter.

Protagonist: The leading character in a novel, often facing central conflicts and driving action.

Psychic distance: Also narrative distance. How close the reader feels to a character’s thoughts, emotions and experiences within a story.

Purple prose: Overblown, poorly structured writing with strings of extraneous and often multisyllabic adjectives and adverbs.

Q-R

Quotation mark: Also speech mark. Punctuation that indicates the spoken word. Singles or doubles are acceptable.

Recto: The right-hand page of a book.

References: List of all the works cited in your book.

Roman typeface: Not italic.

Running head: Text that runs across the top of a page (e.g. title of the book, chapter title, author’s name).

S

Scene: a distinct segment or building block where specific actions and events unfold in a setting.

Scene technique: The use of dialogue, action, setting, and tension to craft compelling moments in the story.

Semi-colon: A punctuation mark that indicates a stronger pause than a comma between two main clauses.

Sensitivity reader: Also diversity reader. Test-reader who checks for misrepresentation in books.

Speech mark: Also quotation mark. Punctuation that indicates the spoken word. Singles or doubles are acceptable.

Speech tag: Also dialogue tag. Words that indicate which character is speaking (e.g. John said).

Story arc: Also narrative arc. The structure and shape of a story.

Structural editing: Also developmental editing. The improvement of a manuscript's structure, content, and overall narrative, focusing on big-picture elements. Attends to plot, characterisation, narration and pacing.

Style sheet: In which an author or editor records stylistic and language preferences, and tracks who’s who, what’s where, and when X, Y and Z happens.

Stylistic editing: Also line editing. The refining of a manuscript's language, focusing on consistency, clarity, flow and style at sentence level.

Subject: The thing in a sentence that’s doing or being something.

Subplot: A secondary storyline that supports and enhances the main plot of a narrative.

Suspense: The tension, uncertainty and anticipation created by withholding information, raising stakes or placing characters in imminent danger. Readers are kept guessing or forced to ask questions.

Syndeton: Literary device through which a sentence’s structure follows the following pattern: A, B and C (or A, B, and C).

T

Talking-heads syndrome: Dialogue that isn’t grounded in the environment or the characters’ responses to that environment.

Tense: The form a verb takes to indicate when an action happened in relation to the telling of it.

Tension: The emotional strain or suspense created by unresolved conflicts, stakes or uncertainties that keep readers engaged.

Tertiary character: A functional character who gives the story realism and depth, but doesn’t significantly impact on or influence the plot or the development of the other characters.

Theme: The novel’s central idea or message about life, society, or human nature.

Title page: Includes full title (and subtitle if there is one), author’s name, publisher’s name, logo, volume number, and edition.

Transgressor: A character who commits morally, socially, or legally questionable acts.

Tritagonist: Third most important character, who often provide regular emotional or physical support, but don’t determine how the story develops.

U-W

Unreliable dialogue: Dialogue that doesn’t match a character’s true voice, mood or intent.

Unreliable narrator: A character whose telling of the story cannot be taken at face value. They may be naïve, confused, or deliberately manipulative.

Verb, intransitive: A verb that doesn’t have a direct object (e.g. ‘I giggled’).

Verb, transitive: A verb that has a direct object (e.g. ‘wrote’ in ‘I wrote a book’).

Verb: A word that describes doing. Can refer to a physical action (e.g. to dig), a mental action (e.g. to wonder) or a state of being (e.g. to be).

Verso: The left-hand page of a book.

Viewpoint: Also point of view or POV. Describes whose head we’re in when we read a book.

Viewpoint character: Also perspective character. The character through whose eyes the story is primarily told, and the narrative lens through which readers experience events, thoughts, and emotions within the story.

Vocative: The form of address for a character directly referred to in dialogue.

Word dump: Also information dump. Information that’s necessary to the story but isn’t artfully delivered, or weaved creatively into the narrative and dialogue.

Source More: On Editing ⚜ Word Lists

[lunastrophe]

🕷️ Drow Lore

Hello! Here is the list of my posts about D&D drow lore, organized thematically - it will be regularly updated. Feel free to take a look if you are interested in a particular character or topic, or if you are looking for inspirations for your fanfiction or artwork 🙂 I also have Ask Box open.

☕ Ko-fi - link for those who feel like leaving a tip. It is totally not obligatory, though - all my posts are free to read and everybody is equally welcome to send a question!

🕸️ BG3 Drow Lore:

🕷️ Character: Minthara

• Minthara's Social Station in Drow Society

• About Minthara's Past

• Minthara's Past: Age and Name Meaning

• Minthara's Past: Minthara's Mother

• Minthara's Past: Childhood

• Minthara's Past: Minthara's Lover from House Vandree (theories) new

• Minthara And Orin: Before and After Indoctrination

• Minthara's Time in the Cult new

• Minthara About Slayer

• Minthara's alurlssrin

• Minthara's ust-nor

• Minthara's Tattoo

• Nightwarden Title

• House Baenre Family Tree(s) new

🕷️ Character: Nere

• Nere's Social Station in Drow Society

🕷️ Character: Araj

• Araj's Past and Ambitions

• Araj and Her Army

🕷️ Character: Dhourn

• Dhourn's Social Station and Past

🕷️ Character: Kar'niss

• Kar'niss' Past: Szarkai Theory

• Kar'niss' Past: Eilistraean Theory

• How to Feed Your Drider

🕷️ Cult of Lolth:

• Prayer to Lolth

• Sacrifices and Adjuration to Lolth

• Order of Soul Spiders

🕷️ Cult of Eilistraee:

• Prayer to Eilistraee

🕷️ Other:

• Eliette / Phase Spider Matriarch

🕸️ Drow Culture - Part 1:

(Part 2 - about Drow Social Relationships and Drow Nature - can be found here)

🕷️ Language:

• Glossary from Drow of the Underdark (2e)

• Official and Unofficial D&D Drow Scripts

• Drow Names (sources)

• Common Drow Phrases / Sayings (and their translations)

• More Drow Phrases and their translations

• Drow Phrases from Icewind Dale 2 drow sound sets (and their translations)

• Drow Pronunciation

• Prayer to Lolth (translation)

• Prayer to Eilistraee (translation)

🕷️ Sign language and gestures:

• Sign of Dead Spider (quote)

🕷️ Drow spirituality:

• Lolthite and Eilistraean Clergy and Dogmas

• How Eilistraee Feels About Lolth

• Eilistraee and Corellon (and Seldarine in general)

• Followers of Other Gods in Lolth-sworn Drow Cities

• Eilistraeans in the Underdark

🕷️ Drow cultural values and worldview:

• Eilistraean vs. Lolth-sworn Drow Worldview

• Drow Culture And Menstruation

🕷️ Drow and surfacers / other races:

• Drow And Sunlight

• Drow as "Beautiful" People

• You worship what? (quote)

• Dangerous Drow Merchants - History of Nym

• Drow And Slavery

• Half-drow in Drow Communities

• Valas the Black Raven, half-drow from Rilauven

🕷️ Drow free time:

• About Menzoberranzan Festivals and nedeirra

• Drow Games: Sava And Charhylniss

🕷️ Drow appearance and fashion:

• Drow Fashion and Hairstyles - various information

• Drow Textile Markets

• Drow And Spider Silk: Part 1 , Part 2

• Drow Haute Couture - Matron's Robe

🕷️ Food and drink:

• Poisoned or Not?

🕸️ Driders & Co:

🕷️ Driders in drow culture:

• Driders of the House Melarn

• Sorn and Nadal, Drider Brothers: Part 1 , Part 2

🕷️ Habitat:

• Cavern of Driders (quote)

🕷️ Feeding habits:

• How to Feed Your Drider

🕷️Other spider-like creatures / transformed drow:

• Aracholoth

🕸️ Drow Lore in D&D History:

• Drow First Mentioned (D&D 1e)

• Drow and Concept of Evil Matriarchal Society - about possible inspirations

• Drow Lore Sources

[streets-in-paradise]

Field of Practice - Maximus Decimus Meridius x (Fem)Reader

Gladiator (2000) Oneshot

Warnings: captive man x kind captor lady ( reader is the daughter of Proximo, backstory explanation for this would be provided if i ever write a continuation). Charge me for use of the " good kidnapper, bad kidnapper" trope here, in correlation with a grumpy dad-sunshine daughter dynamic.

Summary: Intrigued by the most mysterious among the freshly arrived gladiators, you appeal to unconventional measures to endorse his worth to your father. Your every attempt to get closer to him fails, untill his protectiveness emerges with a grim reminder of his past.

Tags: @wildsaltair

Notes: At this point I don't give a fuck If this makes sense because this took me three days to write, so if it's cringe so be it. Those about to clown salute you 🤡

Glossary: Pa - Informal contraction I made up from the latin word pater, meaning father.

Testings for the newcoming gladiators were their oportunity to prove their worth, but Maximus had no one to impress. He couldn't care less about the situation and acted precisely as such when his time came, amusing the trainer of the school in charge of leading the excercise. His attitude had certainly annoyed the master, but he proceeded with cautious patience, perhaps suspecting something greater could be hidding underneath.

Proximo wasn't the onlyone getting that impression, and a small part of the audience echoed it. As soon as he was released from the evaluative instance, Maximus found the sight of your bright smile observing the situation from afar. Reaching only once his attention exposed your presence, it was curious for him to see the sweetness in your face contrasting with the harshness of the enviroment. The general turned slave had also noticed you dressed in roman fashion: blue tunic and a modest palla.

Like a glimpse of the world he left behind, you didn't belong there. He observed you, radiant of cheer, saluting the teacher before the next fight would take place, and in that precise moment the master put his small cosmos in order.

" GET BACK INSIDE! This is no place for you to strut."

Far from being disencouraged, you protested the command with playfull mischievouness.

" Gladiatorial fights may be manly territory, but some of the most intense fanatics are often women. Being ignored only makes us scream louder in the crowd: everytime you bring new men I can tell who will become the most popular. Call it feminine intuition, but it's never wrong. "

Giving a few temptative steps closer with the same playfull attitude, you delivered a conclussion before your interlocutor could get angrier.

" Was i wrong about Haken? When I meet him, I said he looked like the Hercules of the germanians and that is precisely what he brings to the arena. When he fights, I see Thor wearing his magical belt of strenght just like in those stories he tells. "

Praise made the teacher smile very differently from the dry amusement Maximus obtained for his challenging attitude. That was the pridefull smirk of a man sweet talked by a beautifull girl. One calling him by his name, acknowledging him as a man.

The mocking comeback of Proximo cutted you off before he could express any kind of grattitude, or you could deepen the compliment.

" You were wrong about gettting a leopard cub, now I'll have to raise the little bastard AND IT MAY TAKE A YEAR TO MAKE A PROFIT !!! TWO, IF I MAKE HIM MATE! "

" Surely faster than it will take for those giraffes you got." You mocked him in return. " You won't have to worry, I will take care of the baby."

From that point, it was clear the argument was going to pause the activities.

" I CAN'T LET YOU DO IT!! I know you are going to approach it as a ' raise him with love' activity and then RUIN THE BLOODY THING FOR FIGHTING!! "

Despite he made fun of you with the same irony and cynism he directed towards the gladiators, it was clear you were close because no master of that sort and in that situation would have been found arguing or reasoning with a slave.

However, your entusiasm proved you had no fear for ignoring the scolding.

" Love seeker and useless for fighting ... WE SHOULD NAME HIM PARIS!! After all, Paris wears a leaopard fur when Menelaus spots him for their fight. "

Suddenly remembering that giving him a hug in front of the new slaves wasn't a good idea, you lovefully adressed him instead.

" Pa, you are the best!! "

Amused of the altercate yet somewhat shocked by the reveal, Maximus ended up doing the unthinkable because your irruption had distracted him. He wasn't thinking right when the words came up from his mouth, voice slightly dry from the prolonged silence.

" Have you read The Iliad?"

That wasn't precisely what he wanted to ask, but it was wiser than wondering out loud if you were trully the daughter of his short tempered owner.

You giggled for him before the response, unaware of the feat you had just accomplished.

" Of course! Not all of us are savages ... and trojan war epics are the only reading material you find in every corner of the empire because the emperors justify themselves on it to the foreign people they submit. "

Sweet, but not foolish or naive, you were proving yourself to him and Maximus refused to fall for it. Regardless of his initial dissaprobal, your father didn't miss the oportunity you left served for him.

" Spaniard is a deserter of the legions and that is all we know about him ... What can you tell me? "

The mere idea that you could do any kind of correct guess on him caused a cocky smirk on the gladiator, as if he challenged you knowing you would never make it.

You raised your eyebrows with amusement, shrug one shoulder, and observed him in silence for an instant before pronouncing a verdict.

" He didn't desert out of cowardice, he has the glance of a man that has seen enough, that wanders lost and has abandoned life way before stumbling with captivity ... But there is a timid light in his eyes. A sparkle, not strong enough yet. When the flame will shine once more, he will burn down everything in his way."

For the first time since he spotted you, he found himself trully impressed. Your accustom to hopeless men must had given you a talent to read them, distunguishing them apart from the desperation of those who still craved life.

" ... I need him to stand up before me if you want me to get more specific."

Proximo gave the order and he had to raise up again to present himself for one more examination he didn't want to pass.

" imponent physique, but not threatening. He doesn't look sculped by the gods, this is the hard work of a man. A mysterious man, and empty void that could be anyone. Whoever his fanatics want him to be a replacement of, whatever hole in their lives they need to fill following his fights. Others may think of unveiling the mystery, many women would love the challenge. He could be a soldier, he could be a farmer, the protective escort of a merchant ... Who knows? But he feels approachable and he is handsome. Of softer facial features than your typical gladiator, but manly without question. "

You were pacing in circles arround him, slowly and attentively as your observations were. Despite you didn't do it with any lustfull implications, Maximus despised to be examinated as a luxury item. That was exactly what you were trying to achieve: convincing your father that he wasn't worthless waste fitting for sacrifice.

" I am not your champion, save your flattery for him. It means nothing to me. "

" Not my fault if you are blind to your worth for the crowd. " You simply stated, sweetly behind his back before reaching the full turn back to his front. " When it comes to the female side of it, our northen god over here is popular among married women but maidens find him frightening. He resembles the big-sized barbarian up to ravage them in roman cautionary tales … You, Spaniard? What I have in front is a mysterious rebel of raw virile beauty irresistibly dangerous, but never menacing."

Tension in the environment kept increasing as your speech became slightly more daring.

" Strong arms that would hold you without crushing you, soft looking lips and a manly beard … Young women will adore you, parents will accuse you of corrupting the virgins. "

" And I will be the first If you don't stop praising his virtues. " Proximo interrumpted you, warning both with his choleric expression but you in particular on speech. " ... That is exactly why people form wrong assumptions of you! In every village we step, they whisper you are an easy girl. "

You turned back to face him, evidently angered by the reproach.

" I AM A SINGLE WOMAN SURROUNDED BY SWEATY GLADIATORS ... What do you think they would expect? What i do matters very little, I am guilty by association. I learned to live with that because I am very much proud of my father despite of being the useless daughter he discovered in old age, that he can't even directly inherit his business to. "

Maximus looked at the side in search for his numidian savior, verifying if he was amused as he was with that attempt of manipulation tactic. They shared silent smirks under the impossibility of laughing.

Used as he probably was, the father didn't fall for it.

" DON'T COME AT ME WITH THAT! "

" My behavior is irreproachable: If I give your men my honest encouragement, it's never of the physical kind. If the corrupt minded women commenting I am a whore knew me for real, they will think I am a fool instead. "

Eyes back on the gladiator, you approached him friendly as matter of proving your point.

" You are safe with me, Spaniard. My admiration begins and ends in words, ask Haken if you don't trust me yet ... Only one more thing I may ask from you, and that would be knowing your name. At least in the limits of my father's home, I like to adress our gladiators by their names. "

He smiled for you, but no more words came out from him. You understood the message implicit on his silence.

" I guess I haven't earned it yet. Very well, so I will, eventually ... with some hard work and perseverance. I'm sure we will have enough time for it. "

It didn't take much longer for him to discover just how much perseverant you could be. In that place of pain and death, you would come to the men like light filtering through a crack. Asking them about their past lives, their stories, easing their fears, or bringing a last moment of peace for the less skilled ones that knew themselves about to die. He could tell you weren't raised in that cruel environment and approached it with the lessons of your different experience.

Why, despite complaining about it, your father didn't establish a harsher control stopping you from sneaking among the gladiators? He understood watching your effect in them. Doomed men would adquire a last glimpse from their lost sense of worth, resembling that strange mix between a powerless slave and a pridefull hero a gladiator was supposed to be. Broken by the life on the school, by the lead of your father, you would pick the pieces of those men and get them on their feet so they would give a spectacle worth to watch. From your part, the intention felt genuine. If you realized that was the one use your father found for you, that wasn't the motivation of your approach.

Maximus, or Spaniard, like you knew him as, observed every interaction in silence. When you questioned him about the fresh damage on his shoulder, he ignored the concern. Never seeking for your attention, he wanted to make you understand he would rather be ignored. Lost in his own tragedy, he accomplished it untill from the less expected of places something evoked it to him.

The scribe had begged for salvation at your feet. Careless for staining your nice tunic without the palla, you sat next to him and in desperate attempts of comforting him, you plotted a way of helping his case.

" We can make you my teacher!! Pa allways says that someday we will go to Rome. The new emperor is known for being a fanatic of gladiators, so we may have a chance soon if he lifts the prohibition. My problem is that the rudimentary bits of culture I have adquired are not enough for the capital … but you can change that. "

The frightened man smiled as he followed you in silence.

" With your help, when the time will come, I'll resemble a refined lady and maybe I will find a wealthy husband. If I present it to my father like an investment, not a matter of sparing your life, maybe he won't even get mad about it! The nature of his business makes it hard for me to find prospects, … I need all the help i can get."

You chuckled to your own self deprecating joke before deepening it.

" As you can see, I am a disaster. All I do well here is to make a sad man smile, but that is not enough if I want to really impress my father."

As if his will had been taken over by some vengefull entithy, Spaniard abandoned his letharge with loud, dark sounding laughter.

" See? He is laughing! Although I would like to know why. "

The casual mention of the man that ruined his life, a possible chance to get revenge presented to him and the irony that you represented in that context. Word by word, all the aspects of yourself you were mannifesting to the scribe would have been a delight for that bastard. He didn't know you for real, but it made him fear for you in advance.

With a sinister semblance, he informed you.

" If you ever step in Rome, Commodus will never let you go. "

Misunderstanding his words, heat raised on your face to the thought of finding your previous praise on him retributed.

" Ohh, Spaniard … That is adorable!! Very unrealistic, but I deeply appreciate your comfort. Specially because it comes from you. "

You gave a peck in the air on his direction, playfully blowing a kiss. He didn't reacted to it, not at least like you expected.

" That was not comfort, it was a warning. Stay away from that bastard. You analized me in order to discover which kind of unwanted attention from female admirors would follow me, I returned the favor. "

For the first time since your meeting, he was trully responding to you and you could only encourage him with entusiastical curiosity.

" And what can you tell of me? This is exciting, nobody tried it before. Certainly I can't understand what made you look at the daughter of the owner of a gladiator school in some distant provincial hell and conclude ' Sure, she would charm the emperor' "

The scared man of words shared a few nervous chuckles with you and only then you were reminded of his presence.

" ... I will plead your case later and come back with the answer … Would you let me have a moment with Spaniard? He is kind of shy and I am afraid he may stop talking to me if there are witnesses. "

He obbeyed your ask, not before thanking you one last time then reaching enough distance to abandon the conversation.

Still sitting carelessly with his back against a wall, the spaniard awaited for whatever would be the next step of your plan.

Taking off the leather ligaments keeping your hair in a tail, you moved your head so it would fall nicely and wildly. Then, you stood up and walked on his direction trying to feel as pretty as you could, as if he would be the buyer you needed to impress.

" Go ahead, be my measure of worth, … what do you have for me? Which one is the crowd were I should seek for a husband? "

You gave a slow twirl, allowing him to observe you from every angle and the reverse parody made him laugh.

" I can tell you have became your father's cheer to compensate the fear that you can't be his pride. I am almost sure he must be proud of you anyways, but you don't feel it in yourself. Since you can't find a husband, you have made of the slaves he trades with your field of practice. In your rehearsals, you turn worthless flesh into pridefull fighters. He knows it, so he ultimately allows it because it's good for business. He breaks the men untill they face they have became slaves, and you make them feel like men again in time for them to die when they are told to, but giving honorable performances. "

You smile had faded and you looked down, comfronted with an unconfortable truth. You could have given up, if it wouldn't be for the follow up of his grim commentary.

" And last, but definitely not least: you are beautifull. "

Your sparkle was back, surprised as you were with his statement.

" You think? "

He didn't intend to encourage you, what he had for you was more like brutal honesty coming from his frustrating position than actual praise.

" That scribe didn't have a girl as pretty as you worrying for him in his whole life and you must know it … And the germanian? Wrapped arround your finger, he smiled like a fool when you called him a god. On the outside world you have it hard, but here you are Helen of Troy watching the slaughter from the high tower. We are a cursed parody for the Age of Heroes and you are the missing piece in the recreated act. Any roman fanatic of gladiator fights would find that fascinating."

You colapsed next to him, sharing the surface of the same wall as support for your back.

" Very insightfull, even poetic ... but that is not enough. You pointed at the emperor, you spoke as if you knew him. There has to be something else you aren't telling me."

He realized of his emotionally driven mistake and quickly corrected it.

" I've heard rumours, that happens often in the army. They say his father was deeply ashamed of him. He failed at making him proud because he is cruel and whimsical, but desperately craves for validation. He wants to feel loved, among all things, and you are someone capable of finding beauty in the ugliest of places. You would charm him so fast, you wouldn't realize of your mistake in time. He would keep you captive, making you do for him what you do for those men ... A sword in your father's throat, and if you refuse he will make the head roll at your feet."

At that point you sensed he couldn't be talking of you: it felt too specific and personal. Whatever your talk with the scribe had awakened in him was taken as facade to deal with something he carried inside, a wound from his past.

" ... They made you hold the sword against the throat of an innocent and you refused to give the lethal blow .... That's why you deserted!! "

He let you have the partially wrong guess with a brief smile of comfirmation, because in that way he could at least satisfy your curiosity for him without revealing anything relevant.

Of course, he didn't consider that would only increase the already growing admiration you had for him.

" You are an honorable man ... YOU ARE A HERO!! I knew it!! I knew it from the first moment I saw you!! "

Despite he saw it coming, he didn't stop you from curling against him. It was the very first act of warm human contact he received since his friend of the road had healed his wounds, so he closed his eyes and pretended to not be enjoying of it until a lovely sigh from you got him staring back at you.

" ... What was that? "

He asked more playfully than angryly, trying to understand what he could have possibly done to cause it.

" Forget Rome and those boring rich men. Do you want to know what I think now, Spaniard? If I ever marry, I want my husband to be just like you."

You followed the confession with a chaste peck on his right cheek, but unfortunately got caught in the action by the arrival of his closest acquaintance there.

" Juba! " You sweetly saluted him, releasing the man beside you without leaving him before excusing yourself. " Your performance was excellent, ... did I forgot to mention it? You will do great in the arena, we are expectant about you. "

The terrible acting you pulled convinced no one.

" You are here for him, we all know that. "

" I can't play favorites, but he looked like he needed a hug. Have you seen the mess in his shoulder? And he wouldn't let me call a healer! " You complained with him once you were back on your feet. " Stubborn man is your fellow. "

You shared a few chuckles of agreement on an observation that was mutual, untill another irruption coming from behind him changed the course of the situation.

" There she is, ... the backstabber! Already seeking to try the softer arms of the spaniard? "

Haken was looking at you in mockfully played offense, as if he resented you would be siding with his competence. Despite it was certain that your interest in the spaniard was quite different from the playfull compliment exchanges you had with your friend, you didn't want to make him feel bad about it.

" What I said doesn't apply to me. I am not scared of you, that was for the girls in the crowd who have no idea that your huge chest is the casket for the big jewel that is your heart. "

The occurence was so intricate that he simply bursted into laughter looking at you smiling with innocence at the end of the phrase.

" Then I suppose you won't get frightened if I do this ... "

Without any more warnings, he easily picked you up from the ground in parodic representation of the insidious roman misconception you mentioned before. Your cheerfull screaming caught the attention of more bystander gladiators, circunstantial audience for the comedy.

Maximus abstained himself from entering the game in the role of your savior, the closeness you had briefly shared was enough for one day.

[staybabblingbaby]

W.I.P Glossary and Master List

Ok, so, I'm gonna start posting w.i.ps here shortly, but like. As writing process archives? I just think it'll be fun. I'm posting this in advance bc my organization system is a bit weird. SKZ fics will be here at @staybabblingbaby and BTS fics will be at @babyarmybabbles. I may make another side blog for other fandoms I write for, but we'll see. All fics are xReader unless otherwise indicated. Stuff and Things under the cut :D

Bear w me bc I don't usually do text posts and have no practice with formatting yet lol

Glossary:

Attempt - A draft with major changes. Wording changes of a paragraph or more (not including completely new material), changes in POV, setting changes, characterization changes, etc, are included in this. Abbreviated as a(#) [e.g. Title a(1) d(4)] Draft - A manuscript that has been edited. Even minor edits like grammar and spelling corrections are a new draft. These are labeled, but only saved as new files in intervals of 5. Abbreviated as d(#) [e.g. Title a(1) d(4)] Addition - A manuscript that has been added to enough to warrant a new post.

My intent is to upload all new Attempts, Drafts in intervals of 5, and Additions in intervals of 1,000 words or more. My hope is something of a progress log? I think it'll be fun, help me keep track of what I've done, and help motivate me.

Master List:

Coordi AU: Current Total Word Count - 5,469

Intro Part a1 d3 - 1,178 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Han Part a1 d4 - 2,190 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Chan Part a1 d4 - 640 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Lee Know Part a1 d4 - 639 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Hyunjin Part a1 d4 - 854 Words, Posted 5/12/24

Felix Tinder AU: Current Total Word Count - 3,123

Felix Tinder AU (First Date Part) a1 d1 - 1,543 Words, Posted 7/22/24 Felix Tinder AU (First Date Part) a2 d3 - 1,580 Words, Posted 7/22/24

Fan Day AU: Current Total Word Count - 1,399

Fan Experience with SKZ a2 d2 - 1,399 Words, Posted 5/12/24

Janitor AU: Current Total Word Count - 1,293

Janitor AU (Ambush Part) a1 d2 - 1,293 Words, Posted 7/22/24

Bangchan/Youtuber AU: Current Total Word Count - 1,258

Chan/Youtuber (idea drabble) a1 d1 - 296 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Chan/Youtuber (Discover Part) a1 d1 - 962 Words, Posted 7/22/24

Childhood Friend SMAU (Best Friend Protocol): Current Total Word Count - 2,672

Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Intro Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/15/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Plead Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/16/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU(Bridge Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/18/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Meet Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/22/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Plan Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/26/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Worm Part) -N/A Words, Posted 7/29/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (STAY Part) - N/A Words, Posted 8/9/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (SLEEP Part) -N/A Words, Posted 8/9/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Bet Part) - N/A Words, Posted 8/31/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Angst Part) - N/A Words, Posted 9/8/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Filler Part) - N/A Words, Posted 10/04/24 Best Friend protocol SAMU (Blackmail Part) - N/A Words, Posted 11/03/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Crush Part) - N/A Words, Posted 11/10/24 Best Friend Protocol (Team Meeting Part) - 2,672 Words, posted 11/29/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Take Me OUT part) - N/A Words, Posted 12/01/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Fashion Advice part) - N/A Words, Posted 12/01/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Bite Part) - N/A Words, Posted 12/14/24

Soulmate Garden AU: Current Total Word Count - 13,954

Soulmate Garden AU (Idea Drabble)a1 d2 - 209 Words, Posted 8/02/24 Soulmate Garden AU (Prologue) a2 d4 - 1,308 Words, Posted 9/02/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.1 (Dahlia) a2 d5 - 5,368 Words, Posted 9/02/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.2(Anemone)a3 d2- 4,218 Words, Posted 9/21/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.3 (Daffodil)a2d2 -3,060 Words, Posted 10/04/24

Extras/Old Versions: SGAU Ch.1 (Dahlia) Editing Sacrifices - 928 Words, Posted 10/18/24 SGAU Ch.2 (Anemone) Editing Sacrifices - 127 Words, Posted 10/18/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.2 (Anemone)a2d1 -4,075 Words, Posted 10/18/24 SGAU Ch.3 (Daffodil) Editing Sacrifices - 254 Words, Posted 10/18/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.4 (Lewisia) a1d1 - 237 Words, Posted 10/20/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.4 (Lewisia) a2d2 - 1,558 Words, Posted 10/20/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.4 (Lewisia) a2d3 - 2,866 Words, Posted 10/25/24

[aego-weaver]

Asexual characters getting laid

So, the recent discussion around a certain demon has brought a certain subject to the forefront of my circles. So, in this essay, let's talk about asexual characters getting laid, usually in fanfiction, but my advice applies to original work as well.

Glossary

As I discuss this, I will be using the relevant terms. For your convenience, I will define them here. Those in the community, you can skip this section.

Asexual: Often shortened to Ace, an asexual is a person who experiences little to no sexual attraction.

Gray Ace: Notice how I said "little to no" in the previous definition? gray Aces are why. Still falling under the field of asexuality, gray aces experience sexual attraction only on rare occasions or in specific situations.

Demisexual: A person who only experiences sexual attraction after a close emotional (not necessarily romantic) connection exists. It is a form of gray ace.

Aromantic: Often shortened to Aro, an aromantic is a person who experiences little to no romantic attraction.

Alloromantic: Alloromantic is opposite of Aromantic, being a person who regularly experiences romantic attraction. For this essay, I will use the abbreviated form Allo for this meaning exclusively. In more general parlance, Allo can also be short for allosexual, the opposite of asexual.

Sex Repulsed: A person who is sex repulsed has a strong negative reaction to sexual situations. This can manifest as fear, disgust, anxiety, etc.

Sex Favorable: A person who is sex favorable has a positive reaction to sexual situations. This shouldn't be confused with being sex positive, which is about your opinion regarding sex in society and sits outside the scope of this essay.

Opening Principles

The main question is this: Is it okay to write a story in which an asexual character has a sexual encounter or long-term sexual relationship?

The answer, in my opinion, is yes, if you do it right.

The question you need to ask is why are they doing this? You should really ask that question for any character getting laid, but it's really important when you want an asexual character to do the dance.

Asexuals and their relationship to sex

Now, as I start this section, I feel the need to drop my credentials... I am a sex-favorable aroace with an axe to grind. That's it really.

As far as a stereotype exists for asexuals, it's a sex-repulsed aroace who is usually so extremely repulsed they just about faint at the sight of a bare breast or is so naive they wouldn't know what a dildo is.

Now, both of these people exist, I'm sure. But, they aren't the only options. You can have sex-neutral or favorable aces, you can have allo aces, you can have gray aces and demisexuals. Asexuals can like kinky stuff or keep it vanilla. The options are limitless.

Libido is different from attraction. I'm sure you've heard of people who just need it more or less often. Guess what? Asexuals can get aroused just like everyone else; we just have less of an outlet for it.

A good but honestly overused analogy is food: libido is getting hungry while attraction is thinking something looks delicious. Some of us aces (like myself) are just sitting in the kitchen, hungry as all hell, but nothing catches the eye. We still might eat something and enjoy it, but it's a different process.

The only unifying factor for asexuals is experiencing little to no sexual attraction. That's it!

Reasons your asexual character might want to get laid

I'm going to run through a bunch of reasons why an asexual person might find themselves getting laid. I'll go over story ideas they make me think of (which you are free to steal; please steal them, I beg you) and potential pitfalls you need to avoid.

Do note the phrase "want to" in the title of this section. I'm only covering story reasons that are at least mostly consensual.

These aren't in any particular order; I'm just writing them as I think of them.

Personal Gain

Perhaps they benefit in some fashion from the arrangement. For example:

An asexual prostitute is an easy example.

A con artist, using sex to influence their victims, but not feeling anything real towards them.

This one is a great choice for dark character exploration. It's also one of the few options that works well if the character is sex-repulsed; put the reader in the shoes of a sex-repulsed character who needs to have sex for some reason and you've got something I've never seen before and really want to see done well. Tread lightly though, that idea is very easy to get wrong.

For a loved one

This one's for the allo aces out there. An asexual character could have sex for their partner's sake. Just like you, for example, might see a movie you don't care about because your SO wants to see it.

That's a fine reason... with a major caveat: it shouldn't be a transactional thing. Nothing in relationships should be, but I'm calling it out. Your ace character doesn't owe their loved one sex, but if they want to make their love happy, it's an option.

That said, if you want the audience to hate the loved one, get as transactional as you want. You don't have to write healthy relationships, just be aware of what you are doing.

For pleasure and fun

If your asexual character isn't sex-repulsed, they could just... want sex for its own sake. The only caveat here is treating the issue with respect. The characters approach to sex is different from attraction, being more something they want rather than a need.

Exceptions

You could explore an ace character drifting into gray ace territory, struggling with new emotions... or even just a character who already identifies as gray asexual.

My main concern here is avoiding invalidating the character's identity: they are still asexual, just with some shades of gray.

A common refrain from those opposed to asexuality is "you just haven't found the right person yet". Two things about that:

Don't unwittingly write a story where those idiots are right.

If a person experiences no sexual attraction, and then finds themselves doing so for a specific person, usually one they are close to, we have a word for that. It's in the glossary, starting with a D.

One-offs

Rapid fire time. These are all reasons an asexual character might have sex on a short term basis. If you're writing a short story, that might be all you need.

Peer pressure to stop being a virgin. Not a fun reason, but I'm sure it happens.

Curiosity about sex.

Manipulation by their partner. Be careful with this one, it borders on non-con... unless that's what you're writing.

They are trying to have a baby.

Some weird magic thing in your setting.

Fuck, they could lose a bet if you feel like it.

Conclusion

Just because you're writing about people doing the horizontal hula doesn't mean the few ace characters we have need to be stripped of their identity just to be stripped of their clothes. Keeping that identity in mind can help open new story paths, paths that are currently unexplored.

Side note: if you can find any well written smut featuring an asexual lead, please tell me about it. I want to read it.

[puppietooth]

hi these are some of my sydcarmy headcanons:

* i love reading fics where they both realize they like each other and then start furiously making out but. also. what if carmy asks syd out and she’s a little skeptical about it at first? but she agrees to go on the date anyway — and carmy takes her out to a little fancy joint by the river and is so nervous about messing up that his hands are so so so shaky and he can’t even pour the wine into their glasses right. so he fumbles through some half apology half speech about how he’s just really happy she’s here and how he really really really likes her and how he’s honestly glad that she was willing to give him a chance and how he’s very anxious because she looks so pretty in that dress she’s wearing. and syd realizes that, holy shit, he really does like her — and she thinks she really likes him too. so they wine and they dine and when the night is over he takes her home, walks her up to her door, and doesn’t kiss her because he says that’s something he’d like to do on the third date, if she’ll have him. and of course, she says yes, she would like to go on more dates with him — she says yes like he just proposed to her, because they’re so intense about everything they do.

* i think that syd and carmy, carmy especially, are the type of people to be vaguely private about their relationship. like, it’s very obvious that they are together, they won’t hide it — if you see them in person, if you see the way they look at each other, move with each other, the way they talk to each other, you will know that they’re together. they will casually mention each other in interviews and articles, refer to the other as their partner. but they will not post a million pictures of each other on social media, they are not that couple. there will be the occasional, slightly vague post — a picture of carmy in his chef whites, back turned to the camera, posted to syd’s instagram account to congratulate him on The Bear’s fifth year of service. A congratulations to chef sydney adamu on her james beard nomination tweeted to carmy’s twitter account. and if they ever do attain that level of fame, there will be the occasional pap shot of them walking back from a deli, or a farmer’s market (in true JAW fashion). but unless you’re close to them you’ll only see that surface level to their relationship

* i know that they’re roughly the same height but in my head sydney is just slightly taller than carmy, just by a few inches, nothing too big. carmy is not the type of person that cares about height, it’s not a big insecurity of his, and deep down, he finds the similarity in height between him and syd to be quite grounding and comforting. he likes being able to hug her and comfortably put his chin on her shoulder. he likes how it doesn’t feel awkward when they put their arms around each other, and how neither of them have to bend down or get on their toes to kiss each other.

* another thing i absolutely love in fics — when syd just gets the opportunity to talk about her hair. i don’t think carmy is ignorant, but realistically, he does not know about, for instance, the difference between 2b and 4c hair (as in, the labels) and how to care for 4c hair, which (i’m pretty sure) syd has. like, i think hair care would be such an important aspect of their relationship — syd teaches him about protective styles, tells him why she sleeps with a satin scarf wrapped around her braids, what silk presses are and why she has to spend a good twenty minutes wrapping it up each night before she goes to bed. and carmy helps her take her braids out, because four hands are faster than two, he helps her put twists in, helps her blow dry and comb it out the night before her next appointment. and sixth months into their relationship, he becomes a walking glossary — he will tell you what leave-in conditioner is, what edge control is for, why you shouldn’t buy cantu products, the textural difference between synthetic and human hair. and secretly, he thinks to himself, this will also be useful information for him to know if he and syd ever have kids one day because yes — carmy doesn’t do things halfway and he is already thinking that far ahead.

[uispeccoll]

#MiniatureMonday

A guide to the ball room : being a complete compendium of the etiquette of dancing : with the figures of all the quadrilles, gallopades, mazourkas, polonaises, etc., etc., beautifully embellished / by a man of fashion.

A guide to the ball room is a stunning little book dated all the way back to 1884. Detailing many etiquette and dancing rules, along with instructions, this book is a perfect guide to learning the ins and outs of the ball room.

The back of the book also features a glossary of French terms often used in the ball room. So grab a partner, read this book, and get to dancing--just like those from the 1800s!

--Adair J.

[sturionic]

In the course of spiralling down an internet rabbit hole today, I found a truly excellent essay about the trials and tribulations of fandom: How To BNF Without Tears, by Walter A. Willis

If you are familiar with the term BNF (Big-Name Fan), you may have heard it in the context of early-aughts fandoms, or some configuration of superwholock. But this article is from 1954!

Please enjoy these excerpts:

Very well, let's consider a day in the life of this wretched Neofan. Brighteyed, the little fellow wakes early, listening for the tread of the postman. His ears are so sensitive to this faint sound that he will leap out of bed, every nerve quivering, when the man is a hundred yards away ….. whereas before he became a fan a whole battery of alarm clocks barely fluttered an eyelid.

It's me, I'm the wretched little fellow refreshing my AO3 inbox, nerves a-quivering

Consider now a day in the life of the BNF. He too is driven from pillow to post, but since he was up to two o'clock in the morning finishing an article he had promised for ten days ago, the postman has to knock twice to waken him. He staggers down the stairs, observing with a sinking feeling that the porch is covered with a layer of various sized envelopes[....]Some of the letters are from his friends, and he puts those in his pocket to be enjoyed later. Some are from self-appointed enemies, and he puts those aside until he feels stronger. The rest are from Neofen. Some of them want subscriptions to his fanzine. Some want information. Some want material for their fanzine. Nearly all of them are rude.

1954 equivalent of "RIP your inbox"

Now, on the way the BNF handles this mail depends whether he shall stay in fandom or retire suffering from chronic disenchantment like so many others[...]So I am going to suggest some rules which you might consider following when you become a BNF. (All that is necessary to become a BNF is to maintain a reasonably energetic standard of fanactivity for approximately two years.)

And then our friend Walter goes on to advise BNFs to "comment on as many first issues [of fanzines] as you can, and always find something to praise," "Always be polite and kind to Neofans," and to take the piss out of yourself: "Humourous attacks on you should be encouraged -- they add to the interest of fandom, rank as egoboo, and might give you something to write about." (Walter also warns on the dangers of attending conventions, and advises that you wear a false beard to maintain anonymity.)

Of course, I had to know: what fandom were these guys in?

So I did a little digging. Walter mentions a "Ken Potter" in his letter. Turns out Ken Potter ran multiple science fiction fanzines through the 1950's and 60's, including Brennschluss, Triumph and Scientifiction.

A scan of Brenschluss, containing such gems as "tho I did once kiss a girl" and "Isn't Fandom romantic!"

Additional glossary for some terms used in Walter's essay:

"Egoboo": A colloquial expression for the pleasure received from public recognition of voluntary work. Originated in science fiction fandom as early as 1947

"Hectoed" fanzine: A method of copying text and illustrations that fell out of fashion after the 1940's. It involves involves making a bed of gelatin, transferring a special carbon ink to the gelatin and then laying on and picking up pieces of paper.

"Faned": Slang for "fan editor," aka the editor of a fandom publication, usually a zine.

[yinyuedijun]

TOKYO VICE | glossary and notes

hi this is my extended author's note for my unserious yandere suo fic (which will be posted very shortly after this). deeply sorry if you read all that. see below for vocab and world-building delusions!

Disclaimer: I am not fluent in Japanese, have only spent very limited time in Japan’s red light districts, and definitely have no association with Japanese criminal organisations. Thus, I cannot promise 100% accuracy of the below lol. However, I have tried to understand and briefly describe these terms to the best of my abilities. Take it all with a grain of salt!

YAKUZA TERMS/NOTES

yakuza organisations have familial hierarchies in place, so familial terms are often used between members:

aniki – term to address an older brother (or an older male in the organisation, in suo’s case)

anesan –  term to address an older sister; this is used for wives of yakuza members, especially high-ranking members. yakuza do maintain certain principles/ethics, and apparently one is that the wife of another member can’t be touched. this is partly why suo likes to call you his wife (for protection purposes), but he’s also just wants to marry you lol

oyassan – term to address one’s father (or the head of the organisation, in suo’s case)

oyabun –  literally “parent figure” (head of the organisation)

chinpira – rookie yakuza; also used for petty criminals. I got the impression that these guys would be the ones doing street-level grunt work

irezumi – a particular style of tattoos that yakuza members get. they are strongly associated with yakuza membership in Japan (unlike in western countries where people may get them for aesthetic reasons). examples:

han-gure – non-yakuza criminal organisation, which may include delinquents, colour gangs, etc. interestingly, it came up in some of the documentaries that I watched that some people perceive yakuza as necessary evils because they suppress and/or minimise activity by han-gure, which are seen as causing more trouble for civilians.

relating to the ethical code followed (in theory) by yakuza – although yakuza are violent criminals, there are also ideals of chivalrous behaviour and protecting the weak among yakuza. (this is, for example, why yakuza organisations will donate aid/resources during major disasters.) this reminded me quite a bit of bofurin, and I came across some real-life cases where members of the yakuza were previously delinquents, so I thought it was fitting that the yakuza might try to recruit from bofurin in the fic. 

I saw some opinions from older ex-yakuza members that current organisations do not really strive toward these honourable values, and that yakuza are too money-driven these days. I think it made a lot of sense for suo (due to his general disposition and time in bofurin) to adhere very strongly to these ethical codes and endear himself to older gang leaders this way.

one of the reasons that yakuza are nowadays considered less relevant is apparently because japanese policing of petty crime is so strong nowadays. in previous decades, when law enforcement was much weaker, yakuza actually did (or at least, were described to) play a major part in suppressing petty crime or criminal violence toward civilians. this, again, reminded me of bofurin – the police are essentially implied to have given up on makochi, and bofurin formed in order to suppress petty and/or violent crime instead. I assume that this applies to the nearby red light district as well, since roppo-ichiza formed in response to crime on keisei street. it stood to reason to me that this would create a situation where a yakuza family could become extremely socially dominant, and where these old-fashioned ethical codes would actually be quite relevant. this is why suo is so well-known within the red light district and well-respected by his peers.

some yakuza organisations, also as part of an ethical code, do not involve themselves in businesses such as drug trafficking. I didn’t personally come across anything implying that sex trafficking was banned by any ethical codes, but narratively I think it made a lot of sense that suo wants no business with it after what the reader went through. 

on the note of sex trafficking – apparently a lot of sex trafficking and sex work-adjacent professions in japan affect runaway teenage girls specifically, which this reader does qualify as. this is why her backstory got so dark as I was developing the storyline for this yakuza au (I did not initially put her into mizu shobai work for such a narratively significant reason though lol – I just thought the mental image of smuggling three delinquents into the washroom of a girls’ bar was very funny when I was writing Sincerity)

MIZU SHOBAI TERMS/NOTES

Mizu shobai or “water business” – euphemism for certain types of jobs in the entertainment industry, especially those pertaining to nightlife (including girls’ bars and hostess clubs). yakuza are known for their involvement with mizu shobai establishments. 

Girls’ bar – bars where the bartenders are all women, who will make conversation with (male) customers as they serve drinks. 

Hostess bars – bars or clubs where women will accompany individual or groups of (male) customers as they drink, making conversation, singing karaoke, etc. they are not sex workers and are not allowed to have sex with customers (nor is touching generally allowed). in the interest of not misrepresenting this line of work, I want to be very clear that the reader is having sex with her customers not as an industry standard practice, but because something is extremely wrong with her situation (financially, socially, and mentally). 

Douhan – dinner dates that hostesses may go on with customers.

Kyabakura – a portmanteau of “carabaret” and “club”, these are a type of hostess clubs. kyabakura establishments tend to employ younger girls in comparison to high end clubs.

High end clubs – much pricier than kyabakura, with much greater earnings for the hostesses themselves; I got the sense during researching that these tend to be extremely competitive environments for the hostesses.

Mamasan – a “head hostess” who will typically manage girls, and or even manage the club itself. since the reader is working at clubs run by criminal organisations, the mamasans are not the actual owners.

[ranahan]

Canon Mando’a analysis: project outline

Idk, if anyone is curious about what I’m cooking?

I’ll probably re-title and split and merge and move chapters around several times before I’m happy, but the idea is it might look something like this:

Mando’a Phonology

Appendices

Phonetic transcription of Jesse Harlin’s Republic Commando Soundtrack lyrics

Phonology of Jesse Harlin’s Mando’a: vocabulary, phonemic inventory, phonotactics

Phonetic transcriptions of Karen Traviss’s audio recordings

Comparison of Traviss’ glossary ortography, glossary pronunciation, and recorded pronunciation

Phoneme inventory

Phonotactic analysis

Stress analysis

Not necessarily organised in exactly this fashion, but approximately this content.

Mando’a Morphology

Appendices

Tables (so many tables: roots, affixes, compound noun types & couple of specific issues will be covered, but idk yet how these are going to be organised most logically)

Interlinear gloss of Republic Commando Soundtrack lyrics

Mando’a Derivational Dictionary

Now split apart from Mando’a Morphology

Mando’a Syntax

?

Appendices

Interlinear gloss of Republic Commando Soundtrack lyrics (same as above in Morphology)

Interlinear gloss of Traviss’s published Mando’a sentences

Whoops, my hand slipped? That’s about all I can say for myself. 😂

[fashionbooksmilano]

Jewellery from Art Nouveau to 3D Printing

Alba Cappellieri, editor Valerio Terraroli, design Marcello Falcone

Skira, Milano 2018, 264 pages, 25x29cm, ISBN 978-88-572-373-4

euro 45,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

A chronological compendium of the masterpieces of 20th-century jewelry

Jewellery: From Art Nouveau to 3D Printing presents an extraordinary collection of jewels and jewelers from the start of the 20th century to the present day. The book is a global journey through taste and fashion, taking the reader from France to Russia, from the United States to Italy, from Britain to Germany and from the Netherlands to Scandinavia. Conceived of as an ideal gallery of the masterpieces of 20th-century jewelry, this volume proceeds chronologically. It begins with the Art Nouveau masterpieces of Lalique, Vever and Fouquet, followed by the Art Deco elegance of Cartier, Boucheron, Tiffany, Mario Buccellati and Fabergé. After World War II, Van Cleef & Arpels and Bulgari's whimsical inventions of the 1950s share space with the designs of the Dutch avant-garde and the artist's jewels of the 1960s. The book closes with the new millennium, with the intermingling of art and design and the introduction of new technologies like 3D printing, wearable technology and new modes of distribution and communication. A brilliant historical-critical essay by designer and academic Alba Cappellieri introduces the magnificent selection of pictures, and the objects are accompanied by thorough technical explanations and an exhaustive glossary. Beautifully produced and comprehensively researched, Jewellery: From Art Nouveau to 3D Printing promises to be an indispensable tool for the specialist, the collector and the jewelry-lover alike.

02/11/24

[disenchantedif]

How active are the Ro’s on Owler? (Just typing that word made me so giddy, it’s such a fun one)

Glossary: Owler - Twitter, Hoot - Tweet, Rehoot - Retweet

Viktor: Mostly rehoots pottery stuff, sometimes makes sarcastic remarks to Theo’s dumb hoots.

Theo: Loves posting shade at certain people and dumb stories that don’t sound believable but are 100% true.

Charlie: Rehoots Theo’s shade posts just to stir the pot. Also posts about what they’re currently reading and what’s on their TBR.

Amri: Rehoots news to do with corruption in general. Drags their family on the regular, especially their dad. Also rehoots any and every tweet that calls MC hot once you meet.

Cameron: Usually just rehoots obscure sorcery documents and pictures of cute animals. Will occasionally fall for Theo’s bait and end up in an argument.

Luci: They’re barely active and mostly use their account to lurk. They rehoot Cameron’s animal posts occasionally.

Penny: New to Owler and posts the weirdest hoots about what gosh she prefers eating. No, Theo, she’s not talking about sushi. Also rehoots random fashion posts she likes.

Harlow: Private account that barely follows anyone and hardly ever posts.

Avery: Has an account under their Canadian alias that Charlie follows. Mostly hoots pictures of the local scenery and the cute pasties the cafe they work at sells.

???: They’re non-corporeal to start off so they can’t exactly hold a phone, but they would love to help you write your hoots.

[ludi-ling]

The Tailor & The Seamstress - A Reading Aid

So here's some stuff I'm just putting up here as a kind of glossary/reading aid/moodboard collection for The Tailor & The Seamstress.

It's not an easy read in some ways, because it's set in 1910 and deals with some fashion terminology that can be opaque, so yeah. Just dropping this here.

Accents

Firstly, Remy and Anna do not speak in their accents, and that was deliberate. Working where and in what they do (i.e. haute couture in 1910's New York), having a Southern accent would have been very uncouth. For professional reasons they would have got rid of their accents, or polished them off, fairly quickly. But both of them actually filed off their Southern accents earlier in life, for entirely different reasons (which will become clear later on in the story).

The closest you'd probably get to what they sound like is probably the Transatlantic accent, which developed in the late 19th century in the acting industry and among the American upper class. (Thanks to @narwhallove for pointing this out!).

You can hear what this accent sounded like in 1930's and 40's Hollywood movies:

Dress Forms

There are a lot of dress forms floating around in this story. A dress form is very much like a mannequin, where a garment can be mounted on it to make working on it easier. The difference between a dress form and a mannequin is that a form can be adjusted to different sizes. Here's an example:

Nowadays, dress forms usually conform to modern standards of sizing, but back in the day, all dressmakers/fashion houses would have dress forms made according to the sizing of their target clientele, and adjustments would be made to individual customers when a dress was purchased.

The dress forms at the House of Burford, of course, are made to Anna's measurements. 😉

Maison Maillot

The idea of Remy working at a waning fashion house was inspired by the historical House of Worth, which was probably the world's first modern atelier. Established in 1858 by Charles Frederick Worth, it came to dress empresses, queens, actresses and singers. The business was later taken over by his sons, but the house's fortunes waned in the early 20th century. IMHO, you begin to see the decline in design quality by the 1920's. Worth was bought out by the House of Paquin in 1950, and closed in 1956. In 1999, it was revived.

Early Worth designs were so powerfully beautiful, and always innovative and at the cutting edge. In the story, the House of Maillot's heyday would have been the same - a tale of an exciting and forward-thinking atelier that dressed the best and brightest.

By the early 20th century, at the time of the story, they are still putting out beautifully breath-taking clothes - but decades of newer competition means that their work no longer stands out. By the 1910's, the House of Worth had been eclipsed by designers like Callot Soeurs, Paul Poiret, and Lucile (of Titanic fame), who were becoming the innovators in women's dress, and Worth tended to follow where others led. This is where Maison Maillot is at in the story; and their rival, the House of Burford, is one of those new and exciting innovators in fashion.

By the 1920's, fortunes have fallen, and the House of Worth was putting out stuff like this:

The Peacock and the Phoenix Dresses

The rival dresses don't have any analogue in real life, but here are the dresses that roughly inspired them.

A 1909 evening dress by Callot Soeurs:

And a 1913-14 evening dress by an unknown artist:

I like to think of Remy always being slightly (maybe a lot) more ahead of his time with his clothes than Anna is with hers. Remy is designing tubular dresses a few years before they started to become a fashionable silhouette. Ironically Maillot rejects them, but I find it kind of funny that by the end of the decade, he'll have been wishing his house had set the trend Remy had conceived of years before.

At SOME POINT I will draw how I envision the dresses to be. I HOPE.

If you want to see my moodboard for this story, you can catch it on Pinterest here.