#monarchy tattoos

[karamazovposting]

Considering tattoos became fashionable between European aristocrats in the late 19th century and Tsar Nicholas II himself had a massive dragon tattoo on his right arm (that he got done during a trip in Nagasaki in the early 1890s), it's not completely anachronistic to imagine Dmitri Karamazov as having one or multiple tattoos.

Do whatever you want with this information, I'm just saying.

[antorious]

Drunk in a Wetherspoons. Most British thing I’ve ever done.

[bridgetwinderart]

"The Triple Crown."

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(18 inch x 24 inch, water-based oils and metallic acrylic on paper)

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All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws without artist consent or a credit line: Bridget Winder Art. 

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WEBSITE: www.BridgetWinder.com

PATREON: www.patreon.com/bridgetwinder

[billfarrah]

I genuinely can't believe there are actually people coming for Young Royals for showing a character empowering themselves enough to remove themselves from a toxic situation and framing it as Wille "running away from his problems."

Removing yourself from a toxic situation which has caused you nothing but suffering and trauma and grief is not running away from your problems and it's genuinely such a dangerous thing to imply.

Why does Wille have to stay in a role he's never wanted, to please parents who have never accepted him for who he is or what he wants, who want to dictate how he lives his life and how his boyfriend lives his life and what path he takes in life and how he portrays himself to the media?

The show is literally about personal autonomy and finding the strength and motivation to be radically yourself regardless of what is against you and Wille's decision is portrayed an act of bravery. Leaving the monarchy is not "running away from his problems" - he's removing himself from an institution he does not believe in and does not want to be a part of and choosing to take a journey of self-discovery where he can discover who he truly is, who he wants to be, without anyone breathing down his neck or telling him whether he is allowed to have tattoos or how short he is allowed to cut his hair. Wille should not have to beg and fight with his family and with the royal court to be accepted.

The ending of the show never implies that Wille's mental health struggles are suddenly over and done with. Nobody is saying his anxiety and issues with anger have disappeared. Nobody is saying he will never struggle again. However, majority of his mental health issues throughout the show are directly linked to his role and the pressures it puts himself under. Leaving that all behind doesn't solve every problem he could ever had, but it alleviates a large amount of stress. Have people never left a stressful situation or relationship behind and suddenly felt an immediate and monumental relief?

I'd also like to point out that the ending of the show is not Wille abdicating. He has to officially renounce his claim to the throne for that to happen. He's simply just telling his mother how he feels and what he wants to do. The journey is not over for Wille and there will no doubt be many hardships ahead for him, but now that he's released himself from this and is for the first time sure of what he wants and sure he is able to deal with it, he is more equipped to deal with what's ahead than ever before.

Wille removing himself from the expectations of his family and the royal court are demonstrations of him working towards bettering his mental health, because he is finally able to recognize that the situation has always negatively affected him and he finally feels powerful enough and not drowned by anger, resentment and anxiety to leave it all behind and start over.

If that isn't bravery, I don't know what is.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Every internet fight is a speech fight

THIS WEEKEND (November 8-10), I'll be in TUCSON, AZ: I'm the GUEST OF HONOR at the TUSCON SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION.

My latest Locus Magazine column is "Hard (Sovereignty) Cases Make Bad (Internet) Law," an attempt to cut through the knots we tie ourselves in when speech and national sovereignty collide online:

https://locusmag.com/2024/11/cory-doctorow-hard-sovereignty-cases-make-bad-internet-law/

This happens all the time. Indeed, the precipitating incident for my writing this column was someone commenting on the short-lived Brazilian court order blocking Twitter, opining that this was purely a matter of national sovereignty, with no speech dimension.

This is just profoundly wrong. Of course any rules about blocking a communications medium will have a free-speech dimension – how could it not? And of course any dispute relating to globe-spanning medium will have a national sovereignty dimension.

How could it not?

So if every internet fight is a speech fight and a sovereignty fight, which side should we root for? Here's my proposal: we should root for human rights.

In 2013, Edward Snowden revealed that the US government was illegally wiretapping the whole world. They were able to do this because the world is dominated by US-based tech giants and they shipped all their data stateside for processing. These tech giants secretly colluded with the NSA to help them effect this illegal surveillance (the "Prism" program) – and then the NSA stabbed them in the back by running another program ("Upstream") where they spied on the tech giants without their knowledge.

After the Snowden revelations, countries around the world enacted "data localization" rules that required any company doing business within their borders to keep their residents' data on domestic servers. Obviously, this has a human rights dimension: keeping your people's data out of the hands of US spy agencies is an important way to defend their privacy rights. which are crucial to their speech rights (you can't speak freely if you're being spied on).

So when the EU, a largely democratic bloc, enacted data localization rules, they were harnessing national soveriegnty in service to human rights.

But the EU isn't the only place that enacted data-localization rules. Russia did the same thing. Once again, there's a strong national sovereignty case for doing this. Even in the 2010s, the US and Russia were hostile toward one another, and that hostility has only ramped up since. Russia didn't want its data stored on NSA-accessible servers for the same reason the USA wouldn't want all its' people's data stored in GRU-accessible servers.

But Russia has a significantly poorer human rights record than either the EU or the USA (note that none of these are paragons of respect for human rights). Russia's data-localization policy was motivated by a combination of legitimate national sovereignty concerns and the illegitimate desire to conduct domestic surveillance in order to identify and harass, jail, torture and murder dissidents.

When you put it this way, it's obvious that national sovereignty is important, but not as important as human rights, and when they come into conflict, we should side with human rights over sovereignty.

Some more examples: Thailand's lesse majeste rules prohibit criticism of their corrupt monarchy. Foreigners who help Thai people circumvent blocks on reportage of royal corruption are violating Thailand's national sovereignty, but they're upholding human rights:

https://www.vox.com/2020/1/24/21075149/king-thailand-maha-vajiralongkorn-facebook-video-tattoos

Saudi law prohibits criticism of the royal family; when foreigners help Saudi women's rights activists evade these prohibitions, we violate Saudi sovereignty, but uphold human rights:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55467414

In other words, "sovereignty, yes; but human rights even moreso."

Which brings me back to the precipitating incidents for the Locus column: the arrest of billionaire Telegram owner Pavel Durov in France, and the blocking of billionaire Elon Musk's Twitter in Brazil.

How do we make sense of these? Let's start with Durov. We still don't know exactly why the French government arrested him (legal systems descended from the Napoleonic Code are weird). But the arrest was at least partially motivated by a demand that Telegram conform with a French law requiring businesses to have a domestic agent to receive and act on takedown demands.

Not every takedown demand is good. When a lawyer for the Sackler family demanded that I take down criticism of his mass-murdering clients, that was illegitimate. But there is such a thing as a legitimate takedown: leaked financial information, child sex abuse material, nonconsensual pornography, true threats, etc, are all legitimate targets for takedown orders. Of course, it's not that simple. Even if we broadly agree that this stuff shouldn't be online, we don't necessarily agree whether something fits into one of these categories.

This is true even in categories with the brightest lines, like child sex abuse material:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/09/facebook-reinstates-napalm-girl-photo

And the other categories are far blurrier, like doxing:

https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trump-camp-worked-with-musks-x-to

But just because not every takedown is a just one, it doesn't follow that every takedown is unjust. The idea that companies should have domestic agents in the countries where they operate isn't necessarily oppressive. If people who sell hamburgers from a street-corner have to register a designated contact with a regulator, why not someone who operates a telecoms network with 900m global users?

Of course, requirements to have a domestic contact can also be used as a prelude to human rights abuses. Countries that insist on a domestic rep are also implicitly demanding that the company place one of its employees or agents within reach of its police-force.

Just as data localization can be a way to improve human rights (by keeping data out of the hands of another country's lawless spy agencies) or to erode them (by keeping data within reach of your own country's lawless spy agencies), so can a requirement for a local agent be a way to preserve the rule of law (by establishing a conduit for legitimate takedowns) or a way to subvert it (by giving the government hostages they can use as leverage against companies who stick up for their users' rights).

In the case of Durov and Telegram, these issues are especially muddy. Telegram bills itself as an encrypted messaging app, but that's only sort of true. Telegram does not encrypt its group-chats, and even the encryption in its person-to-person messaging facility is hard to use and of dubious quality.

This is relevant because France – among many other governments – has waged a decades-long war against encrypted messaging, which is a wholly illegitimate goal. There is no way to make an encrypted messaging tool that works against bad guys (identity thieves, stalkers, corporate and foreign spies) but not against good guys (cops with legitimate warrants). Any effort to weaken end-to-end encrypted messaging creates broad, significant danger for every user of the affected service, all over the world. What's more, bans on end-to-end encrypted messaging tools can't stand on their own – they also have to include blocks of much of the useful internet, mandatory spyware on computers and mobile devices, and even more app-store-like control over which software you can install:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/05/theyre-still-trying-to-ban-cryptography/

So when the French state seizes Durov's person and demands that he establish the (pretty reasonable) minimum national presence needed to coordinate takedown requests, it can seem like this is a case where national sovereignty and human rights are broadly in accord.

But when you consider that Durov operates a (nominally) encrypted messaging tool that bears some resemblance to the kinds of messaging tools the French state has been trying to sabotage for decades, and continues to rail against, the human rights picture gets rather dim.

That is only slightly mitigated by the fact that Telegram's encryption is suspect, difficult to use, and not applied to the vast majority of the communications it serves. So where do we net out on this? In the Locus column, I sum things up this way:

Telegram should have a mechanism to comply with lawful takedown orders; and

those orders should respect human rights and the rule of law; and

Telegram should not backdoor its encryption, even if

the sovereign French state orders it to do so.

Sovereignty, sure, but human rights even moreso.

What about Musk? As with Durov in France, the Brazilian government demanded that Musk appoint a Brazilian representative to handle official takedown requests. Despite a recent bout of democratic backsliding under the previous regime, Brazil's current government is broadly favorable to human rights. There's no indication that Brazil would use an in-country representative as a hostage, and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with requiring foreign firms doing business in your country to have domestic representatives.

Musk's response was typical: a lawless, arrogant attack on the judge who issued the blocking order, including thinly veiled incitements to violence.

The Brazilian state's response was multi-pronged. There was a national blocking order, and a threat to penalize Brazilians who used VPNs to circumvent the block. Both measures have obvious human rights implications. For one thing, the vast majority of Brazilians who use Twitter are engaged in the legitimate exercise of speech, and they were collateral damage in the dispute between Musk and Brazil.

More serious is the prohibition on VPNs, which represents a broad attack on privacy-enhancing technology with implications far beyond the Twitter matter. Worse still, a VPN ban can only be enforced with extremely invasive network surveillance and blocking orders to app stores and ISPs to restrict access to VPN tools. This is wholly disproportionate and illegitimate.

But that wasn't the only tactic the Brazilian state used. Brazilian corporate law is markedly different from US law, with fewer protections for limited liability for business owners. The Brazilian state claimed the right to fine Musk's other companies for Twitter's failure to comply with orders to nominate a domestic representative. Faced with fines against Spacex and Tesla, Musk caved.

In other words, Brazil had a legitimate national sovereignty interest in ordering Twitter to nominate a domestic agent, and they used a mix of somewhat illegitimate tactics (blocking orders), extremely illegitimate tactics (threats against VPN users) and totally legitimate tactics (fining Musk's other companies) to achieve these goals.

As I put it in the column:

Twitter should have a mechanism to comply with lawful takedown orders; and

those orders should respect human rights and the rule of law; and

banning Twitter is bad for the free speech rights of Twitter users in Brazil; and

banning VPNs is bad for all Brazilian internet users; and

it’s hard to see how a Twitter ban will be effective without bans on VPNs.

There's no such thing as an internet policy fight that isn't about national sovereignty and speech, and when the two collide, we should side with human rights over sovereignty. Sovereignty isn't a good unto itself – it's only a good to the extent that is used to promote human rights.

In other words: "Sovereignty, sure, but human rights even moreso."

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/06/brazilian-blowout/#sovereignty-sure-but-human-rights-even-moreso

Image: © Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Border_Wall_at_Tijuana_and_San_Diego_Border.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

[rwrbficrecs]

The Keepers by foux_dogue (book-verse)

@dot524: This oneshot was full of so many big-sister feelings from June. This is an AU in which Alex is hospitalized in an accident. June realizes that Alex and Henry have been in a secret relationship for a while and tries to help the rest of her family understand while she grapples with this new reality. TBH I want more to this little universe but I loved what we got in this story!

Cracked Heart by @absoluteaudacitywrites (book-verse)

@na-dineee: This canon variation had me completely hooked! Alex's world is rocked by a quite publicly breakup with his childhood sweetheart, Liam. Things take a turn for the better when he forms an unexpected bond with Prince Henry. Alex is portrayed as soft and vulnerable, while Henry provides endless patience and support. He also helps Alex discover new facets of himself. I wholeheartedly recommend! Bonus: the shorter follow-ups are a treat, too.

(Not) A Cinderella Story by @welcometololaland (book-verse)

@na-dineee: One of my comfort reads! Alex is a JSD student at NYU Law, Prince Henry officially lives in NY and is unofficially out. Also, Alex hates the monarchy, eat the rich and all that. When the two meet at an event, Henry's curiosity is piqued when he receives back the NDA that Alex (and all guests) had to sign, marked up thoroughly in red. The story is very fast-paced, super funny, a lot smutty, also touching - it's everything! And Junora are the icing on the cake!

Cold Cases, Lost Causes by @tintagel-or-cockleshells (book-verse)

@suseagull04: In a nutshell, this fic is RWRB meets mystery novels, and it's amazing! The mystery, the romance and the angst all make this one of my new favorites!

i want to mark my skin (it is paper thin) by violetbaudelairequagmire (book-verse)

@na-dineee: In this charming one-shot, Alex is a tattoo artist, Henry is still a prince - and he wants a tattoo. After being to Alex's studio once, he wants one more. And maybe one more? - Of course, oblivious Alex doesn't get who his new regular is, but the sparks start flying instantly. Rated M but feels more like E to me, this sweet story is an absolute delight to devour.

we broke all the pieces (still wanna play the game) by @theprinceandagcd (book-verse)

@heysweetheart-writes: I absolutely loved this best friends to lovers fic having drunken sex because they're both dumb and in love your honor, in every universe. It's funny and sweet and hot. Please give it a read!

Rule Number Nine by @clottedcreamfudge (book-verse)

@suseagull04: TZP works collide in this The Kissing Booth AU! This fic really has it all- friends to lovers, all the feels, and a little bit of angst, and it's all done in the same fast pace as the book, especially the banter between both Alex and Henry and June and Henry, which is amazing!

l'échappatoire by @anincompletelist (book-verse)

@14carrotghoul: This time loop fic is an amazing exploration of grief and Henry's character. Sucks you right in, breaks your heart, and patches it together with beautiful prose as a cherry on top!

check out our past Monthly Faves here ❤️

[myyoungroyalsblog]

Every time Simon learns Wilhelm isn't fully free as The Crown Prince👑

He isn't allowed to have tattoos or have shorter hair, or even a hair style that he likes for that matter, he has to keep a well kempt appearance

There will always be eyes on him and comments made online and in real life, both from fans and people who hate him/the monarchy, so as a result people who are close to him will likely get hurt as well

He can't stand up and show support for things like mental health and the queer community, since that's always been considered a "political statement" (but like Simon says, this is about human rights, it shouldn't be fucking political, but sadly it is)

He could be assassinated at any point, even by poisoning

He can't be himself in the public eye, much like how he can't show support on certain matters, he has to hide himself and pretend to be someone else, or pretend that he's okay when he's not, he has to be Crown Prince first and Wilhelm second

[xuterboo]

Good day! Or night? It doesn’t matter, today we will have residents of Hades for analysis

Recently I found a person who posted all the (at that time) characters in full size. Why did I find this so late 🥲

However, let's get started

Some of the kings dress differently from their subordinates, but Levi decided to insert his own dress code. In Hades, strict clothing is accepted. With permission for some accessories, similar to the type of chains the King himself had. On the hand of the King of Envy you can see three sixes located in a circle. Honestly, at first I didn’t understand that this was the number of the devil. I thought it was some kind of symbol with deep meaning. But everything turned out to be simpler

Foraz and Valefor share the same clothing style. Apparently they occupy approximately or the same positions at work. The details that are interesting to me are several things: a noose on the neck, which speaks of devotion (applies to all the demons of Hades), different left boots, differing only in color and material (?) And of course capes with ropes on the sides. I don't think I particularly like Hades as a country, but the fashion there is great 😍

Foraz has distinctive details in his image: a chain on his horns and a tattoo on his cheek. What's also interesting is that he doesn't wear the chain because he's imitating Leviathan. More precisely, not only for this reason. According to Foraz, he just likes the look of the chain. And also his tattoo is his own artifact.

Barbados has a fur belt with his signature rose flower. The same pose is on his earring, and the artifact of this character is also a rose. Oh yes. And attacks too. He really loves roses. He even smells like roses. It seems he even eats them sometimes hahaha

Glasyalabolas, (Damn, I hope I didn't summon some creature while I was writing this) altogether a unique case. Judging by the medals and banners, he is a general, or any military figure. This can be judged by the carriages, a special braided rope with peculiar tassels, black and white ribbon and, in principle, more luxurious clothing. Fighters get paid a lot, especially in high positions.

I want to say that his artifact, the raccoon, does not suit him at all. He's a menacing killing machine. What, the hell, a stuffed raccoon??

The name Glasyalabolas is made into 2 words and one French article "La". As we know, people took many things from hell, and France is the embodiment of Abbados, the land of lust (We can judge this by the names of the demons from there). In that case, my question is, what did you forget in Hades? The vibe from this character suits the place though.

By the way, Hades itself represents the architecture of England, somewhere in the Victorian era. Absolute monarchy and complete submission are very similar to this country

[demigodsanswer]

In Vino Veritas/ Royal AU

Modern royals au

~

Percy tapped his foot nervously as his father stared at him. It was never a great sign when his dad needed to speak with him. Percy was not, by any means, an important part of the Spanish monarchy: fourth son of the king's brother. He was basically a socialite with a funny social media presence, handsome face, and a memorable ocean-themed back tattoo.

His father continued to stare at him, and Percy was sure the strength of his gaze was only making his hangover worse. Annabeth had dared him to steal a bottle of scotch from the event's bar last night, and he'd stolen an even fancier one on principle. When they woke up, too much of it was gone.

"Did you," his father finally said, "have sex with the heir to the Swedish throne last night?"

Percy laughed. "What? No, of course not."

Oh he had, he so had. Scotch or not, he couldn't forget that. His clothes still smelled like her. His dad didn't need to know that though. Whatever someone thought they saw, or whatever hotel room they thought he went into last night, they could just deny. Who gave a shit about the Spanish or Swedish monarchies anyway? Percy was barely even a Spanish citizen. He'd gone to Yale for fucks sake. He had a loft in New York.

"I'll ask again," his dad said, turning his computer around so the screen faced Percy. "Did you have sex with Annabeth Chase, against a window in a Paris hotel room last night?"

The Sun had posted a large, but blurry photo of two people pressed against a window. The blonde woman was looking out, most of her body covered by the man, who's back was against the glass. There was another one, one where the woman's face, and more notably her jewels (literally, not her breasts. Her gown was still on) was visible. The man's shirt was off.

It was the first time Percy regretted his back tattoos. And those were certainly some famous heirloom jewels from Sweden. And that was certainly Annabeth's gorgeous, gorgeous face, blurry as it was.

Percy sunk down in the chair. His phone started to buzz.

Annabeth

"I'll assume that's the princess," his father said. "We'll talk later about how we're going to clean up this mess."

~

They'd seen each other at some fancy event at the Louvre. With her blonde curls pinned in an elaborate up-do, the back of her neck was exposed.

Percy had mostly been raised in New York by his mother. The man he considered basically his older brother, Luke, had taught him a thing or two about the thrills of stealing. Luke was American old money, probably a Kennedy somewhere down the line, and he'd taught him how to oh so carefully --

Percy slipped the clasp on Annabeth's necklace.

"Oh!" She gasped, reaching for her neck, but missing it before it fell. Percy swooped around and caught it before the jewels hit the ground.

"You dropped this," he said. "May I?"

Annabeth didn't look entertained. She was giving him the I'm so scary look. But after four years on rival mock trial teams (Yale won Nationals almost every year, fuck you Harvard), he was used to it.

"May I?" He offered.

"You may not," she said, handing him her Champaign flute, before taking her necklace back and re-clasping it herself.

"Be careful with that, smart ass," he said, "you know what they do to monarchs in France."

She took her glass back, and her face softened. "It's good to see you again, Percy. Are you still in New York?"

"Most of the time," he said. "I see you've been busy entertaining men in Sweden. Looking for a royal husband?"

"Why? Do you want your name added to my list?" She asked, stepping closer to him. "I'm allowed to marry non-Royals now. My dad changed the rules."

"I'm in the line of succession," Percy protested.

"Barely," she pushed back.

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not a cousin or uncle or something," Percy said.

"Inbreeding jokes from someone in the Spanish royal family?" She asked. Percy tried not to let her know he'd been trumped. It was a dumb move. She ran a hand over his jaw. "You do have a strong chin. How much Hapsburg is left in your line?"

"Very funny, Princess," he said. She always blushed when he called her that.

The deserts were wheeled out. "Should I let you eat cake?" She asked.

"After you," he said.

~

The event dragged on, but he and Annabeth only got more bubbly on glass after glass of Champaign. When she dared him to steal the bottle of scotch, she leaned in close, her hand on his thigh under the table, running up until the princess was groping him in public.

"If I do --" he started.

"We'll go back to my room and share it," she said.

"How drunk are you?" He asked. He was decently tipsy himself. He'd probably feel drunker the moment he stood up.

"Sober enough to know I want to do this, drunk enough to act on it," she said.

"Well that's the perfect amount," he said, before standing quickly before she could get him noticeably hard.

Stealing the bottle was easy. Keeping his hands off of her until they were back at her hotel was the real challenge.

And he failed.

Miserably. She rolled up the partition as his hand slid under her dark blue gown for the first, but not last, time that night.

~

"So, what, do we need to get married now or ..." Percy asked.

Annabeth laughed on the other side of the call. "Don't be ridiculous. This is barely a sex scandal."

"Really? Because my dad seems to think the Swedes are about to invade Spain for what I did."

"What we did," she corrected. "I called because my team is going to run a press release, mostly about the gross invasion of privacy that this was," Percy was glad he decided to have her keep the dress on for their first round. It kept the world from seeing her totally naked. "But then they are going to confirm that we were friends in college."

"No, we were rivals, and I will never forgive you for getting the number one attorney award at ORCS. It should have been me, and you know it."

"You shouldn't have let your witness do a Swedish accent if they couldn't speak Swedish," she shot back. "But, does your team want to sign off on it?" She asked, getting back on track.

"Send it over," Percy said. "I'm sure it's fine, but I have a feeling no one here is going to trust my judgement in the near future."

"Sorry," she said.

"Don't be," Percy insisted. "Are you still in Paris?" He asked.

"Yes. They haven't cut my head off yet," Annabeth said.

"And thank god, because your head is incredible," he teased. She scoffed on the other line. "Since we are such good friends from college," he started, "would you want to get dinner tonight?"

"Is this a PR stunt?" She asked.

"This is a take-Annabeth-out stunt," Percy said. "It's earnest. It has nothing to do with paparazzi."

"I don't know. The paparazzi are there no matter what, and bad things happen to blonde princesses and their lovers in Paris," Annabeth said.

"Well then, why don't you just come here, and I'll cook for you," he suggested. "There's better security anyway."

There was a long pause before: "Okay, send me the details."

[oneofthosebells]

Sunday snippet

From untitled tattoo artist!Simon x drunk!Wilhelm fic (nearly finished, but I've put it on hold to try and get the next chapter of Incognito Mode out a bit sooner.)

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“If I wait until I’m sober they’ll talk me out of it.”

“Yes,” says Simon pointedly, even as he wonders who ‘they’ might be. “That’s why we don’t do it.  Tattoos are kind of permanent, we do like people to be sure.”  It’s not the only reason, but somehow he doesn’t think Wilhelm is going to take in a lecture about how alcohol thins the blood and makes tattooing more difficult right now.

“I just want…”  He leans on the front desk, resting his weight on his forearms, his eyes pleading where they’re fixed on Simon.  Simon swallows, his mouth suddenly dry for some reason.  “I just want something they can’t cover up or hide away, you know?  Something that’s mine.”

There’s a strange atmosphere that’s settled over them, the air thick as they look at each other across the desk, the shop so quiet they can hear the roar of traffic on the main road.

Simon swallows again and tries to lighten the mood.  “Okay, but they can cover it up though.”

Wilhelm frowns at him in confusion, head on one side.

“I mean, if you - they - needed to, they could cover a tattoo up with clothes or make-up, or they could airbrush it out of pictures.  Or they could get you to remove it altogether by laser.  It’s—” he nearly says ‘very expensive’ out of habit, remembers who he’s talking to and changes it to “—really painful, but it can be done.”

A pang of regret flashes through him at the way Wilhelm’s shoulders slump in defeat, the light going out of his eyes.

“What tattoo were you thinking of anyway?” Simon asks, partly out of guilt but mainly because actually some inner imp of curiosity does really want to know.

“Okay, right, so…”  Wilhelm gathers himself back up, pulling himself back into the conversation.  He blinks a couple of times as though trying to concentrate.  “Right. So this was my first thought, in big letters all down this arm: ‘Fuck The Monarchy’.”

Simon bursts out laughing.

[unfortunate17]

Hate how some ppl are saying it shouldn’t have been a big deal for Simon to delete his accounts and lay low for Wille. Yeah sure that’s probably what’s expected for the crown prince’s partner, but wasn’t s3’s whole point ‘why should he have to? Why should Wilhelm have to?’ You want a queer king to revolutionise the monarchy but want that monarchy to operate exactly as it always has?

It’s not even that he hated all the attention! He loved being appreciated for his music, he was so happy that boy in bjarstad looked up to him, he thought that if Wille had to start a foundation, he could do some good for a cause he believed in. Yeah they’ll probably always still be in the public eye, but I think with time and support Simon could make peace with that, if he got to handle it in a way that fits his values and lets both him and Wille thrive (this is how pop star Simon can still win). IMO the issue was the royal court and Wille’s own issues leaving him out in the cold, with no idea how to deal with the hate except to “ignore it”

No you’re so right 👏

Honestly I’ve always felt that Simon and Wilhelm both have very “small” dreams. I actually kind of disagree with the pop star Simon agenda (but I also don’t fully disagree with it I think it can work depending on the context), but yeah he loved the positive attention 😭

I see a lot of people who keep saying that abdication wouldn’t solve all of Wilmon’s problems but they’re kind of missing the point?

Like yes Wilmon will always have to live with scrutiny and probably security, but they’ll be free to live how they choose. Wille can cut his hair how he likes, he can get tattoos, paint his nails, move out of the country, choose not to have children, get married however he likes - or not get married, dress how he likes, develop his own interests without wondering how the public is going to perceive him, etc. Simon can post on social media however he likes - they’ll have no reason to hide behind outdated ideas of respectability or tradition.

They’ll be free in all the ways that matter.

I also want to point out that the last thing Wilhelm says to his parents is that he loves them and the queen lets him go. It’s very much implied that Wille’s going to repair his relationship with his parents and it’s probably going to be a lot healthier now that he can be himself

[arkipelagic]

[long post] finally watched the kingdom (2024), here are my thoughts:

1. as i expected, it had very weak worldbuilding.

the point of divergence from real world history to their fictional history was the three paramount rulers of luzon: rajah matanda, rajah sulayman, and lakan dula existed. the current dynasty is descended from lakan dula and the seat of power for the kingdom of kalayaan is in manila. therefore, the characters are tagalog (and kapampangan?) descent — yet they utilize aspects of classical visayan culture for an inexplicable reason: the tattooing culture, the employment of babaylans rather than catalonans, and the bakunawa motif.

despite the oft-times awkward placement of exposition throughout the film, there is none provided to explain how it is that spanish and other european & american powers failed to colonize the archipelago. was it a coalition of asian powers (e.g. filipino-chinese-japanese) against european ones? or were europeans already weakened at the time of the would-be conquest? was it a matter of manpower or technology? diplomacy and collaboration with foreigners in exchange for nominal freedom?

in addition, there’s no explanation for why the modern tagalog culture resembles classical visayan ones more than their own. if rajahs matanda and sulayman & lakan dula existed and resisted colonization, then it only makes sense the current population would only be muslim as these rulers were increasingly islamized. rajah matanda is famously related to bruneian royalty. tagalog elites ceased growing their hair long, ceased eating pork, and ceased tattooing by the time the spaniards came. the general population was still animist-polytheistic, but realistically they would come to accept islam just as their rulers did without the implementation of catholicism by spanish proselytizing.

i think the people behind this film were either too attached to the visayan image of a precolonial philippines or too scared to alienate their majority christian viewers by portraying a muslim-majority alternate philippines. they even forego using malaysia and indonesia as cultural inspirations and relied on the monarchal thailand instead.

also, again there is no explanation as to how the kingdom of kalayaan includes visayas and mindanao — nor why they are still called that. (“mindanao” came from the corruption of “maguindanao” after the maguindanao sultanate which, at the time of the colonial writers describing the land, ruled majority of the island. if there were no colonization though, then it must be called something else OR the maguindanao sultanate somehow encompassed the whole of the island at its fictional peak.) classical visayans rejected islam whereas mindanao was split between muslims and animists. it makes no sense to have disparate ethnoreligious groups in all three major islands to unite under the same manila-based animist monarchy.

there is, however, some interesting and casual shows of culture and customs. for example, igorot men wearing their traditional attires without humiliation from non-igorot characters living in the cordilleras; the prince being served alcohol by a servant who presents it with two hands while bowing; and the elevation of sabong as a hybridized boxing-wrestling sport.

2. the beginning scene (i.e., native fishermen being illegally apprehended by a foreign navy; a thinly veiled allusion to chinese harassment of filipinos in the west philippine sea) is too on-the-nose, as with other scenes in the film.

in the beginning, for example, we see villagers discussing who they wish to succeed the king. the camera pans to merchandise worn on their bodies, e.g., rubber bracelets announcing their “team.” very reminiscent of the previous election.

3. it’s an action-heavy production but the camera work, direction, choreo, and/or editing amount to very stilted scenes. regardless, the acting — especially from cristine reyes and piolo pascual — were believable.

4. little time to explore the deeper motivations and backgrounds of the antagonists. there is a separatist movement but it ends before the film does; we meet only the leader of the otherwise faceless movement. there is then a plot twist and a post-credit scene involving a different antagonist.

the themes as well! towards the end the writers introduce the concept of the fallibility of memory, which unfortunately amounted to little emotional impact due to restricted time and no hints leading up to its reveal.

tl;dr: this could have been better if the worldbuilding were different and if it were a limited series instead of a film.

[vanillablankcanvas]

Hi! Any headcanons about culture and customs of different troll tribes? Their takes on weddings, funerals, hatching days? Do they differ? Monarchy system?

Hello Gorgeous! 💖

Let's see what I can come up with. 😏

Imma open this up too. If anyone has headcanons for each Tribe let me know and I'll add them.

Rock Trolls 🔥

Lava proof. (Canon?) Will sit in lava like a Jacuzzi.

Aren't typically monogamous.❤️‍🔥But they have favourites.

They raise their kids as a group.

Bulk of the population lives inside volcanoes. The homes are carved out of the walls and the layers spiral around in a walkway.

They use the lava for light and power (Was in a fanfic I read that I can't remember)

They add chilli flakes to food instead of salt.

All the Trolls that were in Barb's Angler are part of her 'court'.

Techno Trolls 🌊

Fresh out of the egg, the babies are like tadpoles. Tiny head with a tail, little arms and a single hair. Also gills, they can't breath above water until they're a bit older.

They wear ropes of glow beads as formal wear.

Trollex has an extended royal family living across the ocean.

Classical Trolls🪶

Have huge libraries and museums.

Their beds are more like nests of cashmere and silks pillows.

Trollzart isn't royal. The one in charge is whoever works their way to head composer. Maybe a vote? He will have the majority vote when choosing a successor.

Funk Trolls🫧

Would have their own version of Hookah

Queen Essence is the one with the royal lineage.

Country Trolls🐄

More 'conservative' and 'modest' in the sense that they have cotillions and chaperones and no living together before marriage.

No dancing too close together "Save room for the Muses"

Every family absolutely owns at least one firearm.

Rather than tattoos, they get branding.

They wear horseshoes.

The favourite sport is racing.

If you visit a country troll family, they will FEED you.

Delta Dawn is Queen but she was voted into the sheriff position.

Weddings are a town affair, potluck style.

Other 🎶

Subgenre tribes have so few members because they are actually from overseas.

Since the alliance, Poppy has received letters from the extended royal families proposing marriage. She is flattered, but of course rejects them. Later on they send ones for Viva. 🤭

[montyshistoryblog]

Aber pride happened today

Got to watch my friend kick Labour campaigners out, get to fuck you transphobic bastards

Bought an anti-monarchy poster, got a discount because "he'll be dead soon anyway"

Decided to wear the spike-bra battlejacket combo and got catcalled by some 50-something biker

Watched 2 drag queens absolutely kill a performance

Watched a local band play live at the end, was fun just by virtue of seeing those guys live again. The drummer dresses like a bisexual dad and I love him.

Mostly good but I wish the bad didn't happen.

Oh and those pathetic nazi cunts the Valley Commandos pretended to be tough outside their shitty tattoo shop and couldn't even bring themselves to so much as glare at any of the queer people. Not a spine among them, no clue how they stay on the bikes.

[hazyange1s]

𓉘❦ 𝑹𝒂𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒔 ❦𓉝 *currently editing*

𝕭𝖆𝖘𝖎𝖈𝖘

Full name: Raegan Caítríona DesRosiers

Nicknames: Rae, Rae Rae, Reggie (don’t call her that she’ll hex you)

Gender: female

Species: witch

Date of birth: November 27, 1874

Nationality: French and Irish

Blood status: half-blood

Sexuality: bisexual

⋆༺𓆩⚔️𓆪༻⋆

𝕬𝖕𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊

Hair color: dark ginger

Hair style: often worn pulled back in a loose braid or bun, though she starts wearing it down in her natural messy waves after fifth year. seventh year brings on the trauma haircut. 💀

Eye color: amber/gold/red (when using ancient magic)

Skin tone: fair, often has a light tan

Height: 5’5”

Body type: curvy and toned from Quidditch/dueling

Clothing style: dark and warm colors (black, red, brown), likes heavy fabrics such as wool, velvet, and leather, prefers to dress casual in battle-ready clothes but also enjoys dressing up

Accessories:

likes to use her wand to keep her hair up

often wears dragon hide gloves

ring made of goblin metal (given to her in sixth year)

Other distinguishing features:

two old scars through her left eyebrow (no memory of getting them) and a longer scar over the same eye (cut by a sword during the final repository battle)

Unbreakable Vow and Dara knot tattoos

LOTS of freckles

𝕻𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖞

Positive traits: confident, persuasive, energetic, brave, passionate, clever, protective, good sense of humor

Neutral traits: rebellious, stubborn, domineering, competitive, flirtatious, sarcastic

Negative traits: hotheaded, proud, defensive, ruthless, slow to trust, can be manipulative, vengeful

Likes: summer, history, flying, parties, freedom, traveling, independence

Dislikes: authority, swimming/the rain, silence, wet blankets, seafood

Hobbies: dueling, Quidditch, historical research, dancing, weapon-making/collecting

Fears: drowning, being forgotten/insignificant, losing control

MBTI: ESTP-T

Enneagram: 8w7 (873) sx/sp

Zodiac: Sagittarius sun, scorpio moon, leo rising

Temperament: choleric

Archetype: The Rebel

Similar characters: Aelin Galthynius, Ginny Weasley, Damon Salvatore, Bellamy Blake, Jude Duarte, Faith Lehane

𝕸𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖈

Boggart: her father…until her guilt over the loss of Professor Fig leads him to be her new one

Patronus: tigress

Polyjuice: turns amber and tastes like honey mead

Amortentia: cinnamon, clove, smoke, and sandalwood

Special abilities:

Ancient magic —

bubbling in your veins until your blood heats and your skin flushes. eyes glowing red — then gold, and red again. it writhes around your bones, climbs up your throat, fills your lungs with smoke until you have no choice but to let it out. it burns, first orange and yellow and then white hot, exploding from trembling hands and spreading like a forest fire.

Dark Arts (wielded “when necessary” which is really just…whenever her instincts say)

Pyromancy - Raegan is an Igneus; a species of witch that is immune to and can conjure fire at will, the trait being passed through her mother’s bloodline

𝕽𝖊𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖕𝖘

Father: Marcel DesRosiers

As a French ambassador, Marcel is charismatic, cunning, and — though he hides it well — manipulative. His wealthy status and rumored descendance to the old French monarchy contribute to his massive ego, and growing up as a Catholic Muggle, he despised any mention of spirituality or “magic”.

Mother: Kassady DesRosiers (Fallon)

A kind, adventurous, and headstrong dragonologist from Galway, Kassady spent most of her adult life traveling until she settled in France after meeting Marcel. She had a brief reunion with an old flame, Aesop Sharp, just beforehand — leading to her becoming pregnant with her son Ronan only two months before Raegan is conceived.

Growing up, she attended Hogwarts as a Gryffindor and was very close with a Slytherin named Guinevere Faughn, who eventually becomes the mother of Raegan’s best friend, Diana. Kassady was also friendly with Samuel Sallow and his wife, Alyse.

A sometimes absent and distracted but very loving and protective mother.

Sibling: Ronan Sharp (half-brother/twin)

Born to parents Kassady DesRosiers and Aesop Sharp out of wedlock, Ronan grew up separated from his sister and mother. Raegan isn’t even aware she has a sibling until Sharp formally introduces them in their sixth year.

A charming Hufflepuff and future Healer who excels in inventing in his own Charms.

Companion: Soleil

A fiercely loyal phoenix rescued from poachers in a mountain mine, Soleil lives primarily in the Vivarium while Raegan is at Hogwarts — but he’s known for showing up anywhere and everywhere at the most unlikely times.

Friends: Diana Blackwine (childhood best friend), Sebastian Sallow, Natsai Onai, Garreth Weasley, Ominis Gaunt, Leander Prewett, Imelda Reyes (frenemies)

Love Interest(s): Sebastian Sallow

After they meet in fifth year during DADA, Raegan and Sebastian have a dynamic that can only be expressed as mutual respect hidden beneath a lighthearted rivalry. Though their equally willful and opinionated personalities tend to clash, they begin to find that they have more common ground than they thought. They’ll duel each other — no holds barred — to settle a squabble, but at the end of the day they’re sharing chocolate frogs as if it never happened.

(you can read more about them here)

𝕭𝖆𝖈𝖐𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞

TW: infidelity, abuse, familial death

Born in Avignon, France, Raegan had a turbulent childhood. While her mother was loving and kind, she often had to travel for her work - as did Raegan’s father, meaning she was often with only one parent for extended periods of time or had to be watched by one of her paternal aunts. When he was around, Marcel was not an affectionate man…in fact, he was often physically and verbally abusive to his wife right in front of Raegan and extended the treatment to her as she got older.

Eventually he discovered that Kassady had had an affair and conceived a son with another man. This coupled with his disdain for witchcraft led him to abandon his wife and daughter. So, the two moved back to Kassady’s hometown of Galway, Ireland.

However, times were tough. Her mother’s career as a dragonologist was no longer lucrative enough in the troubling times, and so they again relocated to London.

It was there that Kassady met a tragic, sudden end at the hands of an unidentified serial killer (who many suspected was actually a wizard). A newly orphaned Raegan, upon hearing the news, burned her house to the ground and wound up killing the officer who reported it accidentally.

The emotion was enough to unlock the ancient magic that had been hidden away inside of her, and just days after her mother’s funeral she received her Hogwarts letter. She now lives with her best friend (Diana)’s aunt in Scotland.

𝕬𝖈𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖒𝖎𝖈𝖘

Best subject: DADA

Favorite subject: Flying and History of Magic

Favorite teacher: Hecat and Sharp

Worst subject: Herbology

Least favorite subject: Herbology and Divination

Least favorite teacher: Binns

Quidditch: Chaser (sixth year) and Quidditch Captain in seventh

Notes:

Rarely late, but she does miss (more than) a few classes in her fifth year

Detention record reads more like a rap sheet

Infamous but still respected as a dedicated and intelligent student

𝕱𝖚𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖊

Career: Auror

Though Raegan notoriously resists authority and despises the incompetence of the Ministry, she sees working for them as an opportunity to change things. Being in on the more secretive matters going on behind the scenes of the Wizarding World (and the chance to deal with them under the protection of their influence) doesn’t hurt, either.

They likely would have fired her on her first day for her insubordination, but they can’t deny the fact that she quickly becomes one of the best they have. Really, it’s a case of mutual loathing maintained through an advantageous truce.

Eventually, she does leave of her own accord, and takes up studying ancient history and magical weapon making.

(thanks @rypnami for motivating me by association to finally post this months old draft 🤠)

[splatoonpolls]

SPLATOON OC TOURNEY ROUND 3 BATTLE 10

Keen Eye For All That Glitters, Hand of the Storm Surge (or Surge for short) by https://shadowlugia711.tumblr.com/ @shadowlugia711 vs Maddy Medusa by @anemonequeen

PROPAGANDA/BACKSTORY

SURGE

A Salmonid Snatcher, who is notorious for bringing back many eggs safely from battle. It is also an avid collector and horder of shiny objects, filling it's home with all sorts of trinkets. Some are "borrowed," others stolen, and still more bartered for.

This is Surge! (Full Salmonid name - "Keen Eye For All That Glitters, Hand of the Storm Surge") It is a Snatcher known for being great at retrieving Golden Eggs, but it has a penchant for taking just about anything shiny.

Its home is filled with all sorts of trinkets and scraps, collected from all sorts of places including Runs, scrapheaps, and just about anywhere where stuff isn't nailed down.

Surge isn't just a kleptomaniac though, and enjoys art. The various sheets of metal its obtained are etched with designs it carved itself. Driftwood is similarly whittled into small statuettes. The Horroboros tattoo circling its arm and shoulder was done by another Salmonid, but Surge drew up the design itself.

If you like little guys with a penchant for mischief and that make art out of abandoned bits and bobs, you should vote for Surge!

MADDY

oc post

my splat3 sona! shes a funny anemone girl she's the heiress to the throne of a not-so-distant region called Choralia, populated by mostly sea anemones. She's in hiding though, since she doesnt want the responsibility of being queen and she's strictly anti monarchy she has a purple clown fish named perseus who's constantly acting like she still wants to be the heiress moved to the splatlands from reef city, the capitol of choralia she constantly has her headphones blasting loud music as a form of stimulation. she enjoys the vibration she runs a music store in splatsville called Medusa's Temple, but it's barely open cause she's out playing turf war and napping