#putting corsets in eras that didn’t have them

[desperatecheesecubes]

There’s nothing that shoots me out of a story more than someone getting a piece of historical trivia I know wrong.

[dreamwritesimagines]

Garden of Secrets [38] - Gladiolus

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback and support my loves, it made my whole week, you’re amazing!❤ I hope you’ll like this chapter as well, and please don’t forget to tell me what you think, thank you! ❤

Summary: Strength builds in time.

Warnings: Regency era society and social rules, some gender specific language and terms, mentions of sex, mentions of threat.

Word Count: 3100

Series Masterlist

Alright then.

Perhaps you owed Benedict an apology.

Ever since you had walked in on him and Madame Delacroix right after their escapade at her shop, you hadn’t stopped reminding him of his very frequent adventures with different ladies in the ton but in your defense, you had no idea the act was this…

Pleasurable.

Divine, even.

Yet, it raised one simple issue; the marriage bliss kept you too busy to pay attention to anything else. Honestly it didn’t feel like an issue at all to you -or to Benedict you were guessing- but you had lost the complete track of time in the last couple of days and you had to force yourself to think straight.

You put your shift on and walked to grab your dressing gown, your body aching in the most pleasant way and you bit down a smile as the memory of last night flashed through your mind, but then heard Benedict taking a deep breath, rising from his deep slumber.

“Y/N?” he asked, his voice hoarse from sleep and you looked over your shoulder, the sight making your heart skip a beat. He looked absolutely gorgeous, his hair all messy while he ran a hand over his glimmering blue eyes, the sunlight falling on his chiseled chest. You could feel the familiar desire sending sparks through your system but forced yourself to focus, shaking your head slightly.

“Good morning,” you said, dragging your gaze away from him to look around the room for the items of clothing of yours that Benedict had thrown around the room in his haste to get you out of them. “Did I wake you up?”

“No—what are you doing?”

“I’m leaving.”

His head shot up. “What?”

“For the day!” you added quickly and grabbed your corset off the floor. “I’m leaving for the day.”

“Why?”

“Benedict,” you said and motioned between you. “Perhaps it has escaped your notice but we have a problem.”

He tilted his head, confusion etched in his features. “A problem?” he repeated. “What problem?”

You tried to concentrate but it was rather hard when that fire was swirling in your lower stomach, the more you looked at him, the more you wanted to climb back in the bed and—

You cleared your throat, looking up at the ceiling, causing Benedict to look up as well.

“What’s happening?”

“If I look at you I’m going to get back in the bed so I refuse to.”

“How is that a bad thing?” he asked with a grin and you shot him a glance, then looked up at the ceiling again.

“You know, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we have a lovely ceiling.”

“My love, what are you talking about?”

You felt a smile warm your face, then grabbed your dress off the floor as well before turning to him, heaving a sigh.

“First of all, you were right about it being…divine,” you said, then narrowed your eyes. “Wipe that smile off your face.”

He held up his hands, gesturing surrender and you put your clothes on the sofa.

“That being said, do you not think we’re being a bit…fixated?”

“Fixated?”

“When was the last time you painted?”

“A week ago.”

“When was the last time you and I actually communicated with another person more than an hour without rushing to the nearest room?”

“There was the gala—”

“Gordon’s guest room.”

He hissed in a breath. “Right. Good point.”

“And I have a greenhouse,” you told him, putting your hands on your hips. “Ask me when the last time I’ve been there was.”

“…A week ago?”

“A week ago!”

“I mean Mr. Binsted is taking care of—”

Even you could hear the petulant tone in your voice; “It doesn’t matter, it’s my greenhouse!”

“Darling it’s not like it’s going anywhere—”

“Listen,” you cut him off. “I have a greenhouse with very rare plants. And flowers.”

“Mm hm.”

“Not to mention, I have the rarest flower in the world, in the aforementioned greenhouse.”

“I heard a thing or two about that, yeah.”

“Don’t get me wrong, you’re the love of my life,” you said, making a smile curl his lips, that softness apparent in his gaze again while you pointed at the window, stomping on your foot. “But my greenhouse!”

“Right.”

“It has my favorite flower in there!”

“Hasn’t escaped my notice my love,” he said with a grin, almost humoring you and you nodded your head.

“So that’s what we’re doing today—no, don’t get out of the bed until I’m away,” you stopped him as he swung his legs over the bed and you looked up at the ceiling. “Wait until I leave.”

“Why?”

“Because neither of us can be trusted,” you stated. “So we’re not to cross paths today.”

“The whole day?!” Benedict asked in shock and you flailed your arms.

“To repeat, we cannot be trusted apparently!” you said. “You—you take the studio side of the house and I’ll be in the greenhouse and we are going to be…calm.”

“Calm?”

“Yes, calm,” you said and heaved a deep sigh and turned your gaze to him again. “It’s alright. We can do this, I have faith in us.”

“I don’t.”

“Ben!”

“Shall I lie to you?” he asked with a small laugh and you tilted your head, narrowing your eyes again.

“I’m leaving,” you said. “See you tonight at the ball, not one second before.”

“Darling to repeat, we live in the same house—”

“We’ll meet there!” you said. “I mean it.”

“We’re going in different carriages?”

“Do you not remember what happened the last time we were in the same carriage?”

He gave you that lopsided grin you loved so much, making your stomach do a happy flip.

“Oh trust me, I do remember,” he said and you felt your cheeks burn, then you shook your head slightly and grabbed your clothes off the sofa.

“I’ll see you at the ball,” you said and walked through the door connecting his room to yours, painfully aware of the smile on your face.

                                             *

It was as if you were in a happy dream and if that was the case, you never wanted to wake up. You were sure that it had been hours since you stepped foot into the greenhouse based on the sun, but you could swear it had only been minutes. It wasn’t until you heard a knock on the door that you snapped out of your haze and looked over your shoulder, your hands still in the pot.

“Josie?”

“Wow,” she said, looking around. “I hope I’m not interrupting?”

“No no,” you said, shaking your head and pulled your hands out of the pot to take off your gloves. “Welcome.”

“I mean you mentioned it the other day and I figured…” she said, motioning around. “This is impressive.”

“Look!” you turned around to grab the pot you had been working on and held it up, a bright smile on your face. “It’s a Queen of the Night Tulip!”

“Pretty.”

“And the one to your right is a Ghost Orchid, and—that’s Middlemist Red! My favorite!”

She forced a smile.

“You’re never leaving this place, are you?”

“Never,” you said with a laugh and walked to the next pot, which was a gladiolus flower. Josie took a deep breath.

“So,” she said. “She came to see me.”

“Hm?” you asked, looking at her again. “Who?”

She blinked a couple of times.

“Mother,” she said. “Mother came to see me. Are you alright?”

You could feel your heart dropping to your stomach, your happy mood getting dim like a sudden shadow on a sunny day but you pressed your lips together.

“Yeah,” you said. “Sorry I was just distracted. But none of us told them you were here, how did she…?”

“Must have heard from someone in the ton.”

“What did she say?”

“She uh… remember how she found those letters between me and Bess?”

“And threw them in the fire before father—” a bitter taste appeared in your mouth as you tried to shake off the memory. “Yes?”

“Well as it turns out she didn’t throw all of them in the fire,” she said. “There is one left, and she is threatening to show it to not only uncle but also the whole ton unless I give them money.”

You closed your eyes for a moment, leaning back to the shelf.

“God damn it,” you muttered. “So not only are they using Teddy as a leverage for more money from uncle, they’re also—”

“Using Bess and Andrew,” she finished your sentence for you. “Yes. I don’t care what happens to me if the ton hears, but I can’t see them get hurt Y/N.”

You nodded your head.

“Of course not,” you said, running a hand over your eyes. “No that’s—that’s not going to happen. Did you tell them?”

“They were outside when mother decided to pay the visit,” she said. “I’ll tell them when I get home. I just wanted you to know before anyone else, just in case.”

You heaved a sigh, then walked to pull her into a hug.

“Josie…”

“I’m fine,” she said almost mechanically even though she wrapped her arms around you to hold you tight. “You know me, I can handle mother and father.”

You bit inside your cheek and pulled back to look at her better, holding her hand to squeeze it in an assuring manner.

“I know,” you said, remembering how relieved you felt when Benedict told you the same thing. “But you don’t have to handle them alone.”

She tried to smile and took a shaky breath, then looked around.

“Well alright then,” she said. “Go ahead, tell me all about these flowers.”

                                                *

By the time Josie left it was near evening, and though you had told Benedict you would be taking separate carriages, you were so desperate to talk to him that you had ended up changing your mind. He looked quite surprised to see you waiting for him by the carriage but he knew something was troubling you with one look at your face.

So you had spent the entire road to the ball telling him about what happened.

“Letters?” he asked as he helped you out of the carriage when it stopped in front of the Elwick house. You took his hand and stepped out, then placed your hand on his arm while you walked towards the house.

“Letters,” you said. “Josie eloped very soon after that because—well, you can imagine how mother and father reacted.”

Benedict clenched his jaw. “Unbelievable,” he said. “You know, I was thinking I should talk to your father again and this just proves I must.”

“The last time you talked, you punched him.”

“I don’t have any regrets over that.”

“Neither do I, I’m glad you did,” you said. “That being said, I’m not putting your wellbeing over him getting what he deserves, so no.”

You both entered the house and passed through the foyer, the music getting louder and louder as you approached the ballroom.

“Y/N—”

“No way,” you insisted. “I get that you’re angry at them, and trust me I’m angry as well. Me and Josie, but I told you before. My father is not worth your attention, let alone your fury.”

He reached to hold your hand, running his thumb over your skin as if trying to assure you and you offered him a small smile.

“I’m alright.”

“You don’t have to lie to me, you know?”

You heaved a sigh and shrugged your shoulders, catching the sight of Andrew out of the corner of your eye, Benedict following your gaze.

“Did she tell him?”

“She said she would—I just didn’t think mother would actually go to Josie’s house,” you said. “My parents didn’t even know she was back in the country, so to come up with that plan as soon as they found out she’s here… I knew they were evil, I just didn’t think they’d be that fast.”

Benedict’s head snapped up.

“Wait,” he said. “They didn’t know she was here?”

“No,” you said. “The last they heard, Josie was going to Spain with Andrew and Bess so I figure they still thought she was there. Even I didn’t know she was coming back until she arrived here, there is no way they had an inkling.”

Benedict’s brows furrowed as if he was in deep thought, then he raised your hand to press a kiss on it.

“Just give me one moment my love, I will be back,” he said and strode to Andrew, muttering something to him before Andrew nodded and they both walked away. You frowned in confusion but then someone touched your arm, making you turn to them.

“Lottie!”

“Oh thank God you’re here, you’re going to save me,” Lottie said, linking her arm with yours and pulling you to the foyer, making you let out a small laugh.

“What? What is happening?”

“Tony hasn’t arrived yet and everyone is asking me a lot of questions about the wedding that I don’t even know the answers to,” she said as you followed her through the foyer. “And my mama has been taken hostage by other mamas who want to be invited to the engagement ball that I haven’t even planned yet it seems, so you’re to be my savior. We’re going to the backyard.”

You repressed a laugh. “There might be people there as well, you know.”

“Fewer people who will not be as enthusiastic to ask me questions, I’m hoping.”

You hummed as you both stepped out of the house to the backyard. “If someone does approach, do you want me to threaten them?”

“Goodness no!” she said. “That would be very rude!”

“What if they are approaching you to ask you questions about the engagement ball you haven’t planned yet?”

She thought for a moment, her lips pulling into a pout as if she was torn between decisions.

“Don’t threaten them verbally, just glare at them please?”

“Understood.”

“I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m the happiest lady in the entire world but—” she huffed as you two sat down on a bench. “Everyone has something to ask and nobody leaves us alone anymore Y/N! With Tony, it’s as if everyone swore to…”

“Interrupt you?” you said with a grin and she looked abashed for a moment.

“…Yes.”

“So I’m guessing no other scandalous behavior has taken place?”

“Y/N!”

“Just a question,” you teased her and she heaved a tormented sigh.

“If only,” she sulked. “Everyone seems to watch us closer now that we’re engaged.”

“Tell Anthony patience is a virtue,” you said, trying to stop the smirk on your face and she nodded.

“I have.”

You let out a small laugh. “Lottie, you’re too sweet.”

“Thank you—how about you and Benny?” she asked and you blinked a couple of times, clearing your throat.

“Hm?”

“I mean no one has seen you on a social outing of the ton for almost a week,” she said. “Everyone has a lot of ideas about the reason.”

“Such as?”

“You’d tell me if you were with child, would you not?”

Your eyes widened, your breath getting caught in your throat.

“What?!” you asked. “No—I mean yes I would tell you but no Lottie, that’s not what is happening!”

“Good,” she said. “Because you see, I have many things I wish to shop for before your baby gets here—”

“That baby is nonexistent as we speak, Lottie.”

“And I’d like a pre-warning,” she said like she wasn’t listening and you scoffed.

“So that’s what the ton thinks?”

“Some of them,” she said. “Why haven’t you been attending outings then?”

You shifted your weight, trying to come up with an excuse but thankfully you saw Benedict approaching out of the corner of your eye.

“Oh look, Benedict is here!” you said, motioning at him and he gave you a smile.

“Charlie.”

“Benny, hello!”

“Anthony just arrived, he was looking for you,” Benedict said, pointing back at the house with his thumb and Lottie let out a breath.

“Oh thank God,” she said, standing up. “Benny, have you seen anyone asking him questions about our engagement ball?”

Benedict made a face. “Please stop reminding me you’re engaged to my brother, I’m still not completely alright with that idea.”

You raised your brows and Lottie rolled her eyes.

“You do realize that you will be the best man, do you not?” she asked as if teasing him, making him let out a whine.

“Charlie!”

“I’ll see you inside Y/N.”

“See you inside,” you said with a laugh and watched her walk away. Benedict heaved a sigh and sat beside you.

“So they’re actually going to get married then?”

“Seems like it,” you said, patting him on the arm as if trying to assure him. “Will you be alright?”

“Ask me again later,” Benedict said and stole a look at you. “How about you?”

“I’m alright with them getting married, I don’t know why you’re making it such a big issue—”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” he said and you paused for a moment, then nodded.

“Sure.”

“Y/N.”

“I’m fine, I just…” you let out a bitter laugh. “It’s rather surprising but it shouldn’t be. It’s just that, I’ve been so happy lately that I almost forgot they were here to cause trouble, does that make sense?”

“It absolutely does,” he said with that soft light in his eyes. “But it is going to be alright, I promise you.”

“What did you and Andrew talk about?” you asked, gazing up at him and he shrugged his shoulders.

“Nothing important, I just asked about your parents.”

You narrowed your eyes. “Benedict.”

“Yes my love?”

“That will not distract me,” you pointed at him while trying very hard to not let it distract you, making him chuckle.

“There’s nothing for you to worry about,” he assured you. “I’m not putting myself or anyone you care about in danger, I swear to you.”

You pursed your lips, then heaved a sigh and turned a little to face the backyard, putting your head on his shoulder. He entwined his fingers with yours, pressing a kiss on top of your head before burying his nose into your hair.

“Let’s stay here for a while?” you asked. “I like being alone with you even when we’re not…you know.”

A small laugh vibrated his chest. “Same here darling.”

You heaved a sigh, then frowned when the thought hit you. “But we’re still going to—”

“Way ahead of you, they have a library on the other side of the house.”

“Good,” you said, a small smirk curling your lips as you stole a look at him. “I happen to be an admirer of books.”

Chapter 39

[talesfromawannabewriter]

The Queen of Hell

A Christmas gift for @koji-haru and @twost3ps based on each other swap au.

Charlie was beaming with excitement as she waited for the Queen. After months of persuasion from the council and a bit of beseeching to her parents the little angel was finally able to get a meeting with the Queen of Hell herself. When Charlie had first learned about the overpopulation in Hell she didn’t think much of it. Only that it was a shame so many human souls chose a life of debauchery instead of purity. Then she heard about the solution to the problem, exterminations.

 Once a year an army roams about Hell killing all and any sinner. But what really made Charlie recoil in disgust was that according to her parents it’s the royal family conducting them personally. At first she couldn’t help but think they were monsters doing that to their own subjects. Wasn’t it their job to protect and care for them? She always heard her father talk about how when he got back from a meeting with them how not only their subjects were thriving but so were their subjects. 

According to him, there were few who weren’t happy in their kingdom. Even the lower class could gain jobs that paid well if they worked hard.So it was then that Charlie came up with a new theory. They simply didn’t have enough resources to take care of them! They were demons after all, in their minds they were probably putting them down like a sick dog. 

Thinking it was for the best. But soon they’d have a new solution, one that benefits everyone. Now Charlie sat there waiting patiently for the Queen to arrive and for this meeting to start. She didn’t have to wait much longer, the doors flew open as the Queen herself entered. 

She was tall with gold and black horns adding to her height. She was at least seven feet tall. She noticed the tiara nestled in her hair between the sharp horns. Its rubies glistened in the light. She was wearing a purple gown that reminded her of fashion from the Victorian era. 

Only this gown exposed a good portion of her more than generous cleavage. Which were snugged in by what Charlie imagined was her corset underneath. In fact she could see clearly that this woman was well endowed everywhere. Not just curvaceously but beautifully as well. She reminded Charlie of a sculpture made that stood in one of Heaven’s many gardens. 

However what grabbed the young girl’s attention the most were her eyes. They were golden, like angels. Yet they shone with no holy light in them. They were something else as they landed their sharp gaze on Charlie. She gulped and prepared to make her way over to where she and her companions were to introduce herself. That’s when she heard a deep voice echo through the room.

Adam: Charlotte Morningstar I assume? The daughter of the head seraphim?

Charlie felt her brain stop as a very male voice escaped the lips from the Queen. She blinked, unsure if that just happened. 

Adam: Well, are you?

Nope it definitely happened. The Queen of Hell had a…they were…she’s a…

Charlie: You're a man.

She stated dumbly. After a few seconds did Charlie’s brain catch on to what she just said.

Charlie: I mean of course you're a man! Why wouldn’t I know if you were a man? Because that’s what you, the Queen of Hell are! A guy! Hahaha!

The Queen merely gave her an unimpressed stare and sat down. 

Adam: Hmm, well you certainly are Lucifer’s child no doubt about that. Now are we going to get this meeting underway or not? I have a very busy schedule. 

Charlie blushed in embarrassment and cleared her throat. 

Charlie: Right, sorry. Your highness I have come here today there is a lot I want to get through and not too much time so let’s begin. I heard about your biggest problem and I’ve come with a solution!

Adam: Problem? What problem are you speaking of? We have no problem. Because any problem that we have we execute promptly. Such as the same for Heaven I imagine. 

It was then Charlie noticed that he somehow conjured a plate full of large, pork sausages. On the she side was a pear chopped in half that appeared to be baked. To finish this meal was a goblet that was filled to the brim of what Charlie assumed when she saw the dark liquid wasn’t juice. 

Adam: I hope you don’t mind what I eat. It’s been such a hectic morning that I didn’t have the opportunity for even breakfast. 

He didn’t give her a chance to respond before placing a cut up piece of meat in his mouth. 

Charlie: Uh no! Nope! Not at all, please feast away.

Adam: Thank you.

He said before nodding for her to continue. 

Charlie: Right! As I was saying, I have a solution to your problem, the overpopulation of Hell.

Adam: That’s not a problem for us actually we have that covered. This last extermination my daughter Aclima managed to kill over half of the sinner population. Isn’t that wonderful? I’m so proud of her.

Charlie: What? No! How is that a good thing!? Those souls you killed were human souls! You do realize that?

Adam looked considerate for a moment before going back to his usual self.

Adam: Well I apologize that you're a bleeding heart who has a weak stomach for violence but I fail to see why you care so much?

Charlie: Because those souls…they are just the same as the ones we have up there. Sure they are far from perfect but…

Adam: But nothing. Listen here and listen well, the human souls we have are nothing like the ones Heaven has. These souls that Hell houses belong down here. They have earned their place among the fire and brimstone. In fact if it wasn’t for us the sinners would be causing havoc. Maybe even trying to rule Heaven or worse me and my husband. 

 The king. The other ruler of Hell. The devil. The traitor. The one whose chaos spread all throughout the Earth. 

Even to this day. The being who scared Charlie when her mother would recount tales about him since creation. In fact there were barely any up there who wasn’t absolutely petrified by the mere thought of him. She pushed back those thoughts as she tried to make a counterattack.

Charlie: But these souls(makes sound then sighs) are your subjects. I thought you cared about them? 

Adam: Correction, they are not subjects. They are our prisoners. The ones born down here are our subjects. Our true people. 

Charlie: But, but, but…This is wrong! The exterminations are wrong! 

Something shifted in the Queen of Hell. He stood from his chair and slowly made his way down to the other end of the table. Where Charlie was. Dread filled the young seraphim as the queen suddenly stood in front of her glaring a hole into her.

Adam: Life isn’t fair, little one. But what would an angel, let alone the daughter of the head seraphim, know about what’s fair? 

Charlie: Please just listen! I know of another way! One where you no longer have to dirty your hands with blood! I can help redeem them! I can set up shop down here, somewhere and you can send the sinners to me and I’ll cleanse all their souls. Both overpopulation and the exterminations will be dissolved. You can even say it’ll be a happy day in-

Adam: I’m going to stop you right there and save us both precious time. I want you to get this through your thick skull. Not one of those sinners out there are capable of crossing your pearly gates. All those sinners had their chances to be better and now they must boil in my pot. By Heaven's decree the rules are black and white, so there is no use in trying to fight it. We will make them burn for their lives until we kill them again. 

He was practically growling out each syllable as his eyes glowed with fury. By the time he finished Charlie was a shaking mess, trying her best not to cry. Satisfied, the Queen stepped back, his eyes back to normal molten color and went back to his seat where he finished the remainder of his meal. All while Charlie sat there completely petrified. Once down he cleaned his face with a napkin and turned his gaze back on Charlie. 

Causing her to flinch. His lips tugged slightly upwards.

Adam: Now then, if that is all you came here for then I only have one thing left to say. Tell your father I, Adam, send my regards. 

Before Charlie could say anything the Queen, Adam, dissipated in a flash of smoke. Leaving behind his now empty plates. Charlie sat there stumped for a few minutes as she wondered where she heard that name before.

Charlie internally : Adam, Adam, Adam, Ad…wait. Adam as in the first man Adam? The first to sin Adam? That would mean….Oh that explains so much. 

Of course the Queen of the sinners would be the one to first initiate sin. By biting into the forbidden fruit after being offered by the snake. There wasn’t much told about Adam after that. Only that he and Eve were kicked out of the garden. Eve was given a new, more faithful husband and Adam was left to slowly crumble from the outside forces of the unfinished Earth. 

At least according to the history of creation told by Heaven, and her parents themselves. She guessed after he died he was sent to Hell. It all made sense now the reason he absolutely loathes all sinners is because he was the very first sinner. He must hate what he unintentionally created. Her big heart couldn’t help but squeeze at the thought. 

If she could show him that sinners weren’t completely hopeless then maybe she could reach him. Straight to…whatever demons have for hearts. 

Yes she will succeed. She will redeem a sinner before the next extermination and she will bring peace between the two realms. 

If only the angel knew of the long path of betrayal, truth, and heartbreak she would face when she started her journey. 

[thisnameisnotspokenfor]

I want to start by saying I LOVE your fanfic and the amount of lore you’ve built around everything, it’s just such an interesting world to experience and you’ve done an amazing job building it. Genuinely in my top three fanfics I’ve read across any fandoms I’ve been in!

IMPORTANT NOTE:

This discusses educational discussion of women’s undergarments in the context of fashion history, just in case you aren’t comfortable with it!

In chapter 29 I noticed one line that bugged me a little, so apologies for the LONG explanation here about corsets— if you already know about their actual history and not the hollywood misrepresentation of them feel free to ignore this, I just thought this could help in the future with the ball chapter especially!

““Ha,” she grinned, pulling herself upwards before she turned back to the star. “You think this is outlandish? You should see what some ladies are capable of doing while wearing a corset!”

“A corset?” he repeated.

“Yeah, it’s like a cosmetic thing that came straight outta hell, because no one down there wanted it, so now we on earth have to deal with it. “”

To start- corsets as a whole shouldn’t be demonized as much as they are in popular media since they were quite literally just the old version of bra’s— just like how there are uncomfortable ones and comfortable ones today, there were back then. I’m less here about historical accuracy but realism, because working class women wore corsets daily and they were an essential part of the everyday clothing they wore!

More accurately in this time period it would be called ‘a pair of bodies’ (later on shortened to bodice) and should have been comfortable unless poorly made and tailored. An uncomfortable corset means one of two things, it was poorly tailored like I mentioned before or the corset has been tight laced. Tight lacing only became popular in the early 1800’s and would be the beginning of corset demonization. Doctors would claim organs were being moved and fertility was being damaged (‘studies’ have been made but also debunked) hence the quickly descending popularity of them and the invention of the bra!

To put it into perspective, modern day translation would go like this:

“Ha,” she grinned, pulling herself upwards before she turned back to the star. “You think this is outlandish? You should see what some ladies are capable of doing while wearing a bra!”

(Which by the way, that’s so real, I hate mine so much)

I feel like it’s completely in character for your Asha to have a gripe with corsets, which is why I wasn’t sure if this wasn’t an intentional choice or not. Asha definitely seems like the type to strictly wear working corsets and avoid tight lacing ones like the plague.

Quick personal suggestion, since I noticed asha’s victory dress being very-ballgown like, It’s likely she’d opt for a corset of her own design similar to an Edwardian corset, which created an hourglass design not by cinching in the waist to extremes but adding volume at the hips (hip pads) instead. Ideally, an everyday corset should feel like a tight hug, not a torture machine.

Fun fact: It wasn’t uncommon for men to wear corsets as well! They were good for hiding ‘beer bellies’.

If you prefer visual learning, here’s a really engaging video that goes over the basic myths: https://youtu.be/LWYG5sQp0-E?si=LugoryF2eR_Dja83

Highly encourage you to look further into it because fashion history is so interesting and deeply reflects the political standings of each era.

Tldr: Just like modern bra’s have restricting pushup bras and comfy grandma bra’s corsets had comfy ones and tight lace ones. Asha likely would be wearing a corset too :D

It’s just a personal thing I’m very passionate about, and although im not a fashion historian I hope I gave you a general idea of what corsets are actually like if you didn’t know already 🙏

Seriously looking forward to the future chapters, this fic is a literal piece of art <3

First of all- thank you! I appreciate it!

Also, I did not know that much about corsets, (nor did I know that men actually wore them to hide 'beer bellies' that's too funny) so this was a learning experience to me! I never knew that they were actually comfortable- ((I'll be sure to look into it more!))

Admittedly, I do fine the fashion aspect to be a bit challenging because it's trying to balance the whole- medieval time period fashion vs the star fashion that you see in Asha's victory dress- along with some other things, but I will definitely go back and edit that line in chapter 29 when finished!

[godlovesdykes]

spoiler thoughts

hm. robin is a great character and i love that he sucks and takes the easy way out and doesn’t stick to his ideals (until he does). enjoyed him very much. his doppelgänger moments could have been played for more tension/horror. his parricide foreshadows him taking down the phallic structure of imperial power.

the other three have so little going on. until the bg chapters you don’t know who they are. ramy is the most fleshed out, and i appreciate killing him off because it gives the girls a chance to be characterized. before the hermes reveal, though, the main four and their relationships just feel like YA tropes. got to put in the found family and the hints of gay romance.

i did not like the treatment of letty. the idea of a white feminist liberal character is great, and her betrayal works well, but why is she hysterical and froufy and motivated by love for a man. she is the one female character who gets any personality before the last act and that personality is “sexist stereotype”. and ofc people are calling her a bitch in the tag.

and poor victoire has nothing at all until the end! i get that she’s ignored by letty, at least, and having letty not mention her once in her backstory chapter was poignant. but there is so much potential in her revealed in the VERY LAST CHAPTER. like sure, you can tell me that robin relies on her. but i don’t see it played out.

an excellent way to give the women more characterization would have been to examine their relationship to crossdressing. letty is coming from high society and victoire from indentured servitude. how does each of them feel about giving up her gender? why don’t they react when they have to cut their hair before canton? what does it mean for them to start wearing skirts again in their upper years? how does victoire feel being dolled up for the ball? having letty do her hair? what do they wear in summertime? what about the fact that 1830s men’s fashion has an hourglass waist? do they stay corseted?*

WHERE IS THE RELIGION. i appreciated ramy’s prayers and dietary restrictions, but i wanted more. how dows he feel about the christian worldview that would undoubtedly be taught even in translation and language classes? where is victoire’s folk catholicism? i want more religion in every book, but this would have been a great one for it. how was silver work affected by the septuagint? the vulgate? the reformation?

and finally: the footnotes. the footnote explaining griffin’s cohort was so unnecessary. write that into the story or leave it as a tragic loose end. don’t try to do both. the newspaper footnote about the bridge collapse, however, was very effective and made me gasp.

in summary, i suppose, i wanted a historical novel and didn’t get it. the era is simply a backdrop to the story. the plot is compelling, but the characters weak. i really enjoyed the final act, especially the barricades and solidarity with the strikers. i don’t have much to say on the anticolonial aspect that hasn’t already been said. would recommend, would not read again.

* please enjoy my favourite 1830s crossdressing images, both by gavarni:

[artzychic27]

Witch Izuku

After not getting his quirk, and with the horribleness of discrimination, quirkless statistics all over the Internet, and middle school, Izuku embraced the darkness since there was no light for him

Inko is a great mom and does whatever she can to support her son, even selling all of his All Might merch to buy some new furniture for his room that fit his tastes

His choice of dress is gender neutral, often wearing corsets, ankle length skirts dresses, black Sun hats, and tops with lace sleeves

He started ignoring his classmates when he was eleven. He reads enough hateful news articles, that their words don’t sting anymore. And he began wearing padding under his uniform when they try to beat him up

Any spider lilies they put on his desk, he cuts the stem a bit and places the flower in his hair

Izuku just spends his days reading pre-quirk era books and conversing with spiders he finds on the roof of the school

One day, after a particularly tough day at school where his teacher decided to punish him for no reason, he had his lunch thrown in the toilet, his favorite book burned, and one of his spider friends killed right in front of him, Izuku goes home early that day, crying for the first time in years

While walking home, a black butterfly blocks his path and seems to beckon him to follow it… To an abandoned shop. It looks like an old curio store, and then the butterfly leads him to an old book, just sitting on a counter

Even though the shop appears to be abandoned, Izuku leaves a few yen on the counter before taking the book and when he leaves… It disappears. Ooo~

Upon returning home, Izuku discovers that he bought a spellboook. While he doesn’t really believe in magic, he decides to try on out and casts a spell on his teacher

The next day at school, when Izuku’s teacher is once again reprimanding him for some stupid reason, a colony of bats suddenly fly in through the window and attack him

That’s gotta be a coincidence, so he tries out another spell on a few students. This one is to make them suffer a great loss

Cue one losing his girlfriend, the other losing the hair he took such great pride in, and the other’s old nose growing back in place of the one from cosmetic surgery

Izuku: Okay. Magic is real.

Now Izuku’s a witch, and he’s going to have some fun all throughout middle school with no one being none the wiser

Inko knows he’s been using magic to get back at everyone, and has no problem with it. It’s about time those assholes got what was coming to them

Their last day of junior high, Izuku is once again ignoring the idiots who surround him when the teacher goes on about the hero course, and by that time, he’s got his ear buds in

Bitch teacher: Oh, Midoriya! Didn’t you want to go to Yuuei?

Izuku: Maybe, maybe not, but that was not your information to share, you quirkist bitch. Now, pick your jaw up off the floor and kindly explain to your demon students that quirk usage is forbidden on school property.

He gets sent to the principal’s office, but not before casting a spell to make his teacher’s hair catch on fire and for his principal’s clothes to restrict him

Izuku goes home with a bright smile on his face… Then he runs into the sludge monster. Using his powers, he turns the monster back into his human form, and the man, Akatani Mika is eternally grateful

When All Might arrives, he only sees a young goth boy and his “uncle”, and takes off to look for the sludge monster

Mika: Kid, I-I owe you my life.

Izuku: I accept tablespoons of blood only.

Mika: … What?

Izuku: What? I need more ingredients. It’s hard to get blood these days.

Mika becomes sort of a father figure over the months, often helps around the house, buys groceries, and even buys Izuku some books

Oh, and Izuku is going for Yuuei, the hero course, since society needs actual competent heroes

Using the hundreds of spells he memorized, he creates a black hole to suck up only what he wants it to- The robots piece by piece

When he comes across Uraraka, he just touches the debris, and it crumbles into bits, then he fucking possesses the Zero Pointer and has it destroy the other robots

Eraserhead/Vlad King: … I WANT HIM!

And after a brutal combat between the teachers, Izuku gets into 1-A where he becomes fast friends with Fumikage and Dark Shadow once the former senses his inner darkness

Fumikage: We shall revel in the dark, my black hearted brother.

Izuku: I look forward to it, bringer of despair.

Katsuki: Fuck! Now there’s two of them!

Izuku gets through the quirk assessment tests pretty easily since he’s spent the past couple of months with Mika going to the gym and building up his strength and endurance

He ends up in fifth, and is pleased to see that the grape got last… BUT ‘TWAS ALL A RUSE!

Izuku, Fumikage, and Dark Shadow spend most of their time together and even attract two new members to their little cult, Reiko Yanagi and Hitoshi Shinsou

It takes a few weeks before Izuku feels he can trust them enough to show him his spell book, AKA, his “quirk”, and they still accept him

After looking through the rules, Izuku sees there’s nothing about dying his uniform jacket black… So he does

Let’s see, what else? Oh yeah. Izuku’s hero costume makes him look like a necromancer, he teleports the villains back to wherever it was that they came from and puts a protective seal over the USJ, he comes in second at the Sports Festival, gets only ten work study from the heroes who weren’t little punk bitches, his hero name is Salem, he does his work study with the Witch Hero, Crimson, and the training camp goes wrong because Izuku forgot to put a seal over it

Katsuki gets kidnapped and now the goth squad has gotta save his ass, incognito

They manage to get him back without getting caught before the heroes can even get there, and Aizawa- who saw everything- promises not to say anything. Goths (plus an emo) gotta stick together

Cue Dorms!

Izuku’s room is similar to Fumikage’s, completely submerged in darkness with a Victorian charm to it. He, Yanagi, Shinsou, Fumikage, and Dark Shadow hold weekly seances there and convince the spirits to mess around with Katsuki and All Might (Who didn’t retire, by the way and still hasn’t passed down One For All)

Quirk Provisional License exam, the Goth Squad all pass, Katsuki and Shouto don’t, on with the show!

Instead of leaving Eri at the hands of that bastard, Izuku uses a spell to freeze Overhaul, drag him back to Crimson’s agency, and then use a truth spell to force him to give over any information he has

They infiltrate his base, arrest everyone, and Eri gets adopted by the Yamazawas

Eri clings to Izuku like a lifeline since he was the one who saved her. He doesn’t mind one bit and even takes her to a seance to meet one of his ghost friends

So now, Eri is a baby bat goth

[doodling-doodle]

Through The Eras (CH.3)

Well. It was time for Showdown.

Wanderlust would admit, he was slightly nervous to perform Jack’s own song while he was watching.

He promised Jack that he’d come and see him afterwards, even if it was one in the morning.

The props were done, his outfit was done, everything was ready

It seemed like it was only uphill from here.

…

It was the day before Showdown. And Wanderlust was a little terrified. 

Everything was fine, the visuals were set, the props were set, and his outfit was ready- a lilac button-down shirt and trousers, a dark purple corset-laced vest with a sheer, sparkly golden cape, even a different crown, shorter, and a gradient from gold to purple. He even had a microphone to match.

But he was just nervous. His father still wasn’t thrilled about Jack, even though they hadn’t met yet. Jack had also taken Scarlet up on the offer of performing there, now that things had calmed down, so that was in a few weeks.

So now… He was just worried about Showdown going wrong, or it not being what he thought it would be…

“I wouldn’t sweat it.�� Jack said while talking on the rooftop, “You’ve been working on this for weeks. You’ll do fine.”

“Yeah, but… I think it’s just my own nerves.” He said, sighing.

“You got this, you always do!” Jack said, smiling, “I honestly can’t wait. I was never the biggest fan of Showdown, but I will be watching it!”

“Yeah. The whole world will have their eyes on me… it never gets easier to do it. I never got used to it.” He sighed.

Jack nodded, “Now that you put it like that… Understandable.”

“I just… normally don’t talk about how nervous I get about it… I try and just stay my positive self, you know?” He chuckled awkwardly, fidgeting with his braid.

“How much of it is an act?” Jack asked, turning to him.

“It depends, really…” He sighed, shifting slightly as Discoball sat themselves next to him, “A lot of the time, it’s not, I’m fine, but… Right now, my mind has been all over the place from all the shit we went through… I’m still hiding it from my parents.”

“Hiding me?”

“No- Not you! Just… the fact that I took someone from another world, ended up putting a lot of people in danger, briefly got turned into a minion, and fought face-to-face with Night Swan…” He sighed, holding his head in his hands, “I was an idiot… And I put you in danger to pick a side…”

“It was what I needed, honestly.” Jack said, putting his hand on Wanderlust’s shoulder, “Seeing that she wouldn’t hesitate to turn the Prince into… that… It wasn’t just me she was hurting, and I just finally had to tell myself, ‘Wake the fuck up, Jack, this isn’t okay’... I just feel bad that it took seeing what she wouldn’t hesitate to do to others for me to see it.” 

Wanderlust looked at him, sighing and leaning back as Discoball rolled into his lap, “What counts is that you got out and we’re all safe now… I just… I know I made a mistake, I think I fixed it, but we still don’t know where she went… But if she realized that she might not be able to win this one, we might be fine… maybe.”

“I’m not going to worry about it for now.” Jack said, “Honestly, she can come for me. I’m not afraid of her anymore. I refuse to be.”

Wanderlust nodded, looking down to the streets below them.

“I always wanted to be able to move here.” Jack said, “It always just seemed so lively. Everyone seems so relaxed, so happy… It’s so beautiful. And there’s so much art in the streets…”

“Oh yeah, street art has been getting a lot bigger here lately- which is perfectly fine and legal here.”

“Night Swan didn’t necessarily like it… There were a few places in Eternyx that weren’t controlled by her as much, and… the art, the life… I would always go there when I was a teen and I had a later curfew. A lot of times, I would end up finding entire walls of my lyrics, a lot of them from Lose Yourself… I knew it was the people that I met back at the little Rap Club that started it. They were really the only ones that knew the truth at the time.” Jack said, sighing and looking down at people with spray paint cans and face masks walking down the street, “I would sometimes start it, random lyrics… it got to the point where I think people could tell what I wrote and what she wrote, and they would only ever paint the lyrics of the ones that I wrote… Selios, the amount of times I saw Blank Space written on the walls…”

Wanderlust giggled, “That’s what you get for writing an absolute banger.”

Jack rolled his eyes, chuckling, “Hell, the amount of times I’ve heard people listening to Shake it Off in their cars, or in the streets. Like, I knew that me fully switching to pop would be a big deal, but four years later??”

“You're a big deal, you know!”

“Somehow…” He sighed, “At least I can fully revisit a lot of my music from when I was younger…”

“Have you found a new label yet?” Wanderlust asked, pulling his legs up to his chest from dangling off the rooftop.

“Working on a contract now… Honestly, I’m just worried because I know it’s gonna take a lot of time to re-record my old albums… Especially the songs that I didn’t want… But a few of those were some of my most popular songs at the start of my career.”

Wanderlust nodded, “Well… can’t you at least add songs that you couldn’t have to start with?”

Jack seemed to think for a second, “Good point… Holy shit, I can add those songs to Red!”

“That’s more like it!”

Jack chuckled, “All Too Well became ‘the song’ of Red… That thing was originally ten minutes long.”

“Seriously??”

“Look, being twenty-one and having a fairly traumatic breakup will do that to you. I had to shorten it to be a normal length… buuut, if I were to re-record it… Who’s gonna stop me?”

“Not me!”

“Hey, maybe I’ll have some of your songs that you wrote on them- or have you featured!”

He smiled softly, “Flattering…”

“I’m serious! You have to have something that you’d want out!”

He shrugged, “You know what I was writing at the time of your albums, you saw the notebooks. You can use them.”

“It wouldn’t feel right.”

Wanderlust looked up at him, looking confused.

“It wouldn’t feel right knowing that you had songs that were just you pouring your heart out onto paper, only for me to have them… You need to be able to put them out. As you… especially since the re-recordings are me trying to get my life… not back, but actually finally have it.”

He nodded, sighing, “Don’t get me wrong, I want to… I just can’t yet.”

“When you can. Will you?”

He shrugged, shaking his head, “I… don’t know.”

“It might be nice to just record it, if anything.” Jack said, smiling softly, “I think my old recording of that ten minute version was still around my studio somewhere.”

He chuckled, “Maybe… I have a different notebook, just about songs I wrote from breakups… only a handful got out.”

“The lighter ones?”

“One from a breakup my parents were happy about, that one was heavy.”

Jack chuckled, “It’s always nice to put out that one slander song.”

“I know, right? It's SO therapeutic!” He said, smiling softly, then looking down at Discoball, who was showing him the time.

“Oh shi- I have to go get some sleep, I have to get up early tomorrow.” He said, standing and jumping down from the ledge of the rooftop.

“Wait!”

He turned back as Jack jumped down after him, walking back up to him.

“I, uh… I wanted to give you something… before you left.” He said, reaching into his pocket and holding out a small box… a jewelry box.

He took it, opening it…

A beautiful ruby necklace, encased in a gold frame and strung by a gold chain.

“Oh, wow…” He said, gently pulling it out from the box, “Jack, I… it’s beautiful.” He looked back up at him, smiling as he saw Jack’s face shift into a slight smile.

“It’s a thank you…” Jack said, “For being my friend.”

He smiled, almost tearing up as he hugged Jack tight, feeling him freeze up before slowly, slowly, put his arms around Wanderlust.

“Thank you for being mine…” He said softly, looking up at Jack, who looked like he was holding back tears

“You should… go get some sleep. Good luck tomorrow.” Jack said.

“Thank you…” He smirked, “You're still watching it, right?”

“I’ll be at Scarlet’s.”

He smiled, “You’ll like it.”

“I better!” 

He chuckled, opening a portal back to his room, “Night, Jack!”

“Night, Wandie!”

He smiled, walking back to his room as Discoball went to the nightstand to sleep, and he quickly changed, took off his makeup and undid his hair, setting his crown on the vanity… he stared down at the necklace again, taking it out of the box and seeing a note…

“Thanks, Starboy.” 

He smiled, taking the note and taping it to his vanity, next to the photo he took with Jack last week. 

Then he finally went to sleep, now excited for the next day…

…

Jack found himself playfully annoyed with Wanderlust all day from him not saying a word about what he was doing for Showdown. The last text he got from him was a few hours ago, probably right before he was put into the hair and makeup chair, and it just said “You’ll see ;)”

“Alright, fine, keep your secrets. See you tonight”

He planned to go a little early so he could help Scarlet get set up- they had gotten close in the past couple of weeks from when Wander first brought him there and when he agreed to have his own show there- which was soon and he didn’t have any grand plans for, just an acoustic guitar show.

So he was getting ready, putting on his makeup and getting dressed in dark maroon dress pants, a black button-down shirt and a vest in the same color as the pants. He rolled down the sleeves to hide the scars on his arms left from Night Swan… He didn’t care about her- hell, he realized that he probably stopped caring long ago- but those scars were with him forever. And they would only ever remind him of her. Maybe it’d be a good idea to make them public at some point. Just to expose her more… RIght now wasn’t the time, he’d wait until his life was a little more stable again.

But for now, he put on a jacket, grabbed his things and left to get a taxi to Scarlet’s. 

It was already decorated on the outside, a sign in the window saying, “Come Watch The Showdown at Scarlet’s Palace!” With smaller writing around it. He honestly didn’t know who was representing what Danceverse, he hadn’t kept up with it. But he was kinda excited to see, ESPECIALLY since Eternyx had a representative. That almost never happened, he had only gotten a handful of awards outside of Eternyx in his entire career. 

“Scarlet?” He called out once he got inside, taking off his jacket and setting it on a chair.

“Jack, you're here!” They called back from behind the bar, “Thanks for coming early. We have about an hour until opening.”

“Great, what can I do?” He asked, looking around.

“Uh- you can clean the tables and set up the chairs, Ann is getting the screens now.” Scarlet said, standing and cleaning some glasses from the bar.

“I’m on it!” He said, immediately going to get the cleaning supplies and going to the tables.

“Are you rooting for Eternyx?” Ann asked from the stage, where the massive screen was being placed. It looked like it was either from below the stage or above it, it was definitely attached to something.

“I honestly have no clue who’s doing what, I’m just here for the drinks, food and Wander.” He called out, semi-jokingly.

“Fair enough, You sound like you’ve had quite the time the last few months.” Scarlet said, setting up the drinks and glasses in the bar.

“Yeah, you could say that.” He said, sighing, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited for this, but Wander has refused to tell me anything about what he’s doing!”

“He didn’t tell us either!” Scarlet said, “I tried to get hints and all he said was, ‘Jack would get the hints and still not think about this’. So, Jack, what do the words, ‘purple and fireworks’ mean to you??”

He thought for a second, leaning on the table he just cleaned, “I got nothing.”

“Damn it!” Ann yelled, “Why didn’t he tell us?? Normally he’d always tell us what he was going to do!”

“Maybe it's an original?” Jack asked, now thinking about the notebooks that Wander had, thinking what could fit that… again, crickets.

“I guess we’ll find out in about an hour and a half.” Scarlet said, coming out from the bar to help Jack, “But in the meantime, Jack, you know what you're doing for your show?”

“Yeah, it's not anything flashy.” He said, “Just need a guitar and a mic, really.”

“Perfect, I can do that.” They said, “You get two hours, eight P.M.”

“That’s good with me.”

…

The place was starting to fill up with people now, and The Showdown was just about to start. The cameras were on, and it showed the crowds all looking towards the stage as the props were being set up. Then it showed the suites that Si’ha Nova and The Traveler were in, directly across from each other. 

He was sitting in the same VIP table that he and Wander always sat at, so he had a great view. And he got a text just before Wander was going on stage.

“You at Scarlets?”

“Yep.”

“See you in a minute!”

He chuckled, looking back up at the screen when the show came back on, seeing Wander’s band on stage, all the screens starting to light up, showing a few purple pillars. He was still clueless.

Until the band started up… He recognized the beat of those initial guitar strums. He knew that exact color of lilac. He remembered the lavender fields on the screen…

“You fucking did not.” He whispered to himself as the camera went to Wander, the lights shining on him leaning against one of the pillars…

“There I was again tonight, forcing laughter, faking smiles, same old tired, lonely place…” 

He did. He actually did it. He couldn’t look away from the screen… 

“Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy, vanished when I saw your face. All I can I say is, It was enchanting to meet you~”

Did anyone know what he was doing? What was the crowd thinking? What were The Traveler and Si’ha thinking? Were people looking at him right now, knowing what this song was?... He didn’t know, he was sucked into watching this, watching as Wander pushed himself off the pillar, slowly walking across the stage.

“Your eyes whispered, ‘Have we met?�� Across the room, your silhouette starts to make its way to me~...”

Wander had clearly studied his performances of it. The slow hand and arm movements, the walk across the stage, turning from walking forwards to walking backwards, the slow spins…

“The playful conversation starts, counter all your quick remarks, like passing notes in secrecy…”

He started studying the outfit, seeing the soft and subtle floral patterns on the pants and vest, like what he had on the Speak Now Tour for this song…

“And it was, enchanting to meet you~...”

Wander had the necklace that he had given him yesterday… He was wearing it.

“All I can say is, I was, enchanted to meet you~”

Wander was smiling slyly, glancing at the camera as he wrapped his arm around a pillar.

“You. Little. Shit.” He whispered, shaking his head in awe as the drums started. That band was spot on, too…

“This night is sparkling, don’t you let it go, I’m wonderstruck, blushing all the way home,”

Wander had swung around the pillar, looking up at the camera before letting go and looking back out to the crowd at the edge of the stage.

“I’ll spend forever, wondering if you knew, I was enchanted to meet you~!”

He smiled softly, almost as if he was smiling back at Wanderlust as he turned back around on the stage, flinging his cape a little as he did, standing on a rising platform.

“The lingering question kept me up, two a.m, Who do you love? I wonder till I’m wide awake…”

He’d be lying if he said he never thought Wander’s voice was beautiful. And this proved it… He’d be lying if he said he never thought Wander was just stunning.

“Now I’m pacing back and forth, wishing you were at my door, I open up and you would say,”

Wander had gone on a platform that was suspended from the ceiling, over the crowd, who had turned to look at him… Jack briefly saw The Traveler’s face, and he was a mix between pissed and shocked. Wander looked right at him… AND HE FUCKING SHRUGGED, before going right back to his performance, and he could swear he heard Si’ha laughing.

“Hey, it was, enchanting to meet you~... All I know is I was, enchanted to meet you~...!”

He jumped down from the platform, going back to the stage and holding onto a pillar again.

“This night is sparkling, don’t you let it go. I’m wonderstruck, blushing all the way home.” 

Wander knelt down at the edge of the stage, and Jack realized just how much Wander had put into this… He’d often do that himself, even when he was on the 1996 tour, he’d do that…

“I’ll spend forever, wondering if you knew~!...”

He stood back up, backing away from the stage and smiling brightly.

This night is flawless, don’t you let it go, I’m wonderstruck, dancing around all alone,”

Wander spun around, holding his cape out as he did, before looking back up at the camera above the stage.

“I’ll spend forever, wondering if you knew, I was enchanted to meet you~!”

Wander had gone back to the platform that rose from the stage, pointing out to the crowd as he did, and visuals of fireworks were on the screen behind him… fireworks… the fireworks.

“This is me praying that-”

He dropped to his knees, holding his arms to his chest as he looked back out to the crowd.

“This was the very first page, not where the story line ends,”

He looked at the camera above him, almost reaching out to it.

“My thoughts will echo your name, until I see you again.”

He held his head with his hand for a moment before reaching directly above him.

“These are the words I held back, as I was leaving too soon,”

He looked directly into the camera that was in front of him, slowly lowering his arm.

“I was enchanted to meet you~...”

That look flawlessly mimicked the look he’d give the camera during the tour…

“Please don’t be in love with someone else, please don’t have somebody waiting on you.”

Wander slowly stood, the platform lowering back to the stage as he walked back to the edge of the stage.

“Please don’t be in love with someone else! Please don’t have somebody waiting on you!”

Jack was wonderstruck himself at this point. Yet all he could focus on now was the necklace that looked gorgeous on him…

“This night is sparkling, don’t you let it go, I’m wonderstruck, blushing all the way home. I’ll spend forever, wondering if you knew~!...”

Wander still had the brightest smile on his face, looking more than thrilled to be doing this.

“This night is flawless, don’t you let go, I’m wonderstruck dancing around all alone.”

He looked back at the camera, reaching up towards it.

“I’ll spend forever, wondering if you knew, I was enchanted to meet you~!”

Jack realized just how much he was smiling, and that a tear fell from his eye while he watched Wander look back to the crowd.

Please don’t be in love with someone else, please don’t have somebody waiting on you…”

The crowd erupted into applause, and the camera panned around the stadium, then to the two suites. Si’ha was smiling brightly and clapping, while The Traveler was just clapping, looking semi-emotionless.

Wander smiled, waving to the crowds before going backstage with his band.

He got a text in less than a minute after that.

“Hiiiii :3”

“Is this why you weren’t saying anything?”

“Yep!”

“I hate you. So much.”

“Oh come on, that was good! Right?”

He smiled softly, “Yeah. Yeah, you bet it was.”

“Good! I have to stay for the whole thing but I should be back at like 1:00?”

“I’ll be on the rooftop.”

There wasn’t a response, Wander probably had to go.

“There a reason you looked like you saw a ghost?” Scarlet asked as they walked up with drinks.

“That, uh… That was my song.” He said, huffing out a small chuckle, “That was one of my older songs…”

“No way!”

“Yeah…” He sighed, “That’s why he wasn't talking about it. He wanted to surprise me…”

“That boy…” Scarlet said, shaking their head and smiling, “I think Sun Horizion’s next.” They said as they walked away with their drink, leaving him to his own thoughts…

Wander had done so much for him… And he didn’t know why. But he was never going to complain, not when he had his first real friend in years.

Heh… He really was enchanted to meet Wander… He was enchanted to meet Prince Wanderlust Nova.

He had zoned out for quite a while, coming back to his senses right before Sun Horizion’s set was over and Eternyx’s was starting.

“This’ll be good.” He whispered, leaning forward as the show started back up.

But his face dropped seeing the name. No. No, it couldn’t fucking be.

But it was… 

Oh… Oh, no…

This wasn’t going to be good.

…

Wanderlust was really tired by the time that Showdown ended. Not a huge shocker, but Sun Horizion won.

He had been texting Jack throughout the night, which was what kept him up.

He went straight to the rooftop to find Jack afterwards, seeing him sitting with his back on the wall of the stairwell.

“Hey!” He called out, walking up to him.

“Hey… How was it behind the scenes?” Jack asked as he jumped up onto the ledge

“It was really cool! Getting to see all the Danceverses getting ready, all the costumes, the bands- It’s so cool!”

“Yeah, then you pulled the best long-con you could have, you little shit.”

He cackled, grinning from ear to ear, “What can I say, it was a good idea and I liked the song!”

Jack shook his head softly, “Uh… Did you get to talk to anyone from the Danceverses?”

“Everyone except Cygnus- Well, I said two words to him tonight, but other than that, our schedules didn’t line up.”

Jack nodded, “Okay, can I… be honest for a second?”

He looked over, a little concerned now, “Of course.” He said, fully turning to him.

“Uh… I know Cygnus…” Jack said, looking down and fidgeting with his hands, “Or, knew him, I guess.”

Wanderlust nodded softly, staying silent in case Jack was about to say more.

“I’ve never really said this publicly, or at all… But, uh…” He sighed.

“He’s my brother.”

Wanderlust had to really, really process what he just heard. He didn’t know Jack wasn’t an only child- He had no clue! He just… he was in front of and next to Jack’s brother all night.

“He left when I was five. Thinking about it now, it was probably a lie, but Night Swan always said it was because of me… I reminded him of our dad.”

“Oh yeah, she lied.” Wanderlust said.

“I know that now, but when I was a kid? Yeah, add some more damage to my life.”

Wanderlust sighed, “When was the last time you talked to him?”

“The day he left.” Jack replied, now loosening up a little, “He was probably just trying to get away from Night Swan. I don’t blame him now.”

He nodded, “I… do you want to try and find him? Talk to him?”

“He’s still in his tower in Eternyx. He helped make the damn city… RIght now, no, I don’t want to talk with him. I just… never thought I’d see him again.”

Wanderlust nodded softly, “I’m… really sorry.” He said, and Jack shrugged.

“Not your fault… I just wanted to talk about it.”

They sat in silence for a moment, but Wander jumped slightly when his phone rang, and pulled it out of his pocket to answer it.

“Hey, mom!”

“Hey… where are you? I’ve looked almost all over the palace.”

“Oh- Sorry, I forgot to tell you. I’m in the city right now, I promised Jack I’d come and see him after the show. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“You're bringing him, right?”   

He froze up slightly, blinking and looking at Jack, “Uh… Do- do you want me to?”

“Yeah! Why not, I want to meet him!”

“I’ll… I’ll ask him.”

“Good. Guest room is set up, he can sleep there. See you in a minute, sweetie.”

“Bye, mom.” He hung up, looking up at Jack.

“What was that about?” He asked.

“Uh… my mom wants to meet you… wants you to come to the palace- you don’t have to.”

Jack blinked, stuttering a little, “I… I mean, sure, I’ll go… Let me get some things.” He said, jumping off the ledge of the roof to go back down the stairwell to his apartment.

Wanderlust sighed, deciding to just wait for him on the roof as he thought… 

His mom always seemed more sympathetic than his father. Especially towards Jack. He had overheard conversations in the past between them, talking about the Night Swan situation. They’d often talk about Jack, but when he was younger, he didn’t know what they were talking about. His mom would often say that they couldn’t blame Jack, he had nothing to do with it. His father would often say that they couldn’t prove it.

But now that they could… He was between rubbing it in his fathers face, or just make sure he knew Jack was going to be a part of their lives, and just inviting Jack to the hotel once in a while. Just try and act casual while hiding the biggest cackles.

“Alright, we going?” Jack asked when he came back up to the roof with a bag over his shoulder.

“Yep!” He said, smiling and opening a portal to the main floor of the palace, “After you.”

Jack chuckled, going through the portal and looking around, seemingly in awe. “Woah…” Jack said quietly, “it’s… bright.”

Wanderlust giggled, watching as Jack slowly walked, looking around. The walls were different shades of blue and gold, the floors were marble and the walls had so many paintings of the family. One wall was just of paintings of Wanderlust growing up…

“Oh, there you two are!” 

They both jumped a little, turning around to see his mom walking up to the two of them, smiling.

“I assume you're Jack?” She asked.

“Uh… yeah, yeah I am.” He said, shaking her hand, “It's a pleasure to meet you, Queen Nova.”

“Oh, please, call me Si’ha, dear.”

He smiled softly, “Thank you…” He mumbled, looking away softly as she lightly touched his shoulder.

“You two should probably go get some sleep.” She said, “Wander, can you show him to the guest room?”

“Yep! Night, mom.” He said, gesturing to Jack to follow him up the staircase.

“She… actually seemed to like me.” Jack said, and Wanderlust chuckled.

“She’ll probably keep my father from killing you, at least.” He said, “He’s the one who had more history with Night Swan. Try not to take it personally, he’ll probably warm up to you.”

“I’m used to it anyway.” Jack said, sighing, “This the room?”

“Yeah. Mines down the hall.” Wanderlust said, turning to him, “I can text you when I wake up?”

“Yeah… Yeah, that sounds good.”

Wanderlust smiled, “Good.” He said, quickly hugging Jack, “Goodnight.” He said as he let go and walked down the hall, summoning Discoball as he did, who beeped at him.

“What?” He asked as they got to his room, and Discoball hit him in the side of the head lightly, looking annoyed.

“Ow! What the hell?”

They beeped, giving him a bit of a side eye.

“Look. I just want to let Jack know that he does have people who care about him. He’s twenty-eight, he’s never had that. He’s traumatized. Can’t I help him?”

They beeped again, seeming to agree.

“I know you were made to protect me. But I promise you don’t need to worry about him.”

They looked like they sighed, sitting on the bed as he did, sitting on his lap.

“I need sleep, buddy.” He said, “Let me change, okay?”

They got up, and he sighed as he started taking off all his jewelry. 

He had listened to nearly all of Jack’s songs at this point. Enchanted was probably still his favorite. He would admit to days that they’d be in Jack’s apartment, Jack playing guitar while they’d just sing random things. Sometimes he’d actually be able to fully visualize the songs that he had written down years ago.

Jack was kind. He was someone who was hurt, manipulated, gaslit, neglected, and abused. He was scarred, physically and mentally. And even though he had never seen the scars, and might never, he knew they were bad. Probably worse than what he already thought.

He couldn’t help that. But he could maybe help the mental part. He could be there for him.

He loved being his friend. He wanted to be able to help him.

He hoped he could.

The next day…

Si’ha had woken up about ten minutes ago, and she found herself on the balcony outside of her room for a while, thinking.

Before she called Wander, she got into an argument with her husband… He wasn’t overly happy about Jack Rose being their son's friend. Or, as he liked to call him, “Jack Swan”. Ew.

But she was thrilled about it. She knew the extent of what happened to him. She knew the scars. She wasn’t able to help him… 

But now she could meet him. She could give him some type of care and attention.

She heard something coming from downstairs, and perked up, going back in her room to get dressed and put her crown on before walking downstairs. She was sure her husband wasn’t awake yet, but It might have been Wander. Or Jack. Both? Or the staff waking up.

She hummed to herself as she walked downstairs, hearing something coming from the kitchen… And she stopped briefly when she heard music and singing. Wander?

She slowly kept walking, hearing what sounded like Jack’s voice… Both of them?

She chuckled softly, confused as she slowly peeked into the kitchen…

Sure enough, it was both of them, and both were dressed in very comfy looking clothes. It had actually been a while since she’d seen Wander in a hoodie and sweatpants, and that is exactly what he was wearing. His hair wasn’t braided and his crown was on the counter. Jack was wearing similar clothes, and she wondered if Jack had made him feel more comfortable wearing clothes like this…

Wait, what were they even listening to- oh. That was Jack’s music, wasn’t it?

“Hey, isn’t this easy? And you’ve got a smile that could light up this whole town, I haven’t seen it in a while since she brought you down. You say you're fine, I know you're better than that. Hey, whatcha doing with a girl like that?”

She held back laughter, still peeking around the corner into the kitchen as they danced around each other, smiling brightly and laughing.

“Cause she wears high heels, I wear sneakers, she’s cheer captain and I’m on the bleachers! Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find, that what you’re looking for has been here the whole time!”

She decided to take her phone out, recording them. She could only imagine how many times this has happened before.

“If you could see that I’m the one who understands you, been here all along so why can’t you see? You belong with me! Standing by and waiting at your backdoor, all this time, how could you not know, baby? You belong with me! You belong with me.”

She was holding back tears of laughter, and joy, to be honest. Both of them looked so relaxed, so happy. And she had a feeling she knew who was behind the necklace that Wander was wearing last night.

“What is happening-”

She immediately turned to shush her husband, who had walked up behind her, and he looked confused, trying to peek into the kitchen.

“Oh, I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night, I’m the one who makes you laugh when you know you’re ‘bout to cry! And I know your favorite songs, and you tell me ‘bout your dreams, think I know where you belong, think I know it’s with me!”

The best part about this? They were actually also cooking breakfast! Wander kept turning to make sure the bacon wasn’t burning! And Jack was in the middle of chopping up strawberries! She didn’t know if she could hold back laughter for much longer.

“Can’t you see that I’m the one who understands you? Been here all along, so why can’t you see? You belong with me! Standing by and waiting at your backdoor, all this time, how could you not know, baby? You belong with me! You belong with me.”

She looked back at her husband, who didn’t look too happy about this, but oh well, she was enjoying this!

“You belong with me! Have you ever thought just maybe, you belong with me? You belong with me.”

Both of them started laughing again before they looked over to the doorway, seeing the two of them standing there. Wander started cackling, leaning against the counter and Jack collapsed from laughter, his hands still holding onto the kitchen island.

She finally started laughing, leaning against the doorway as tears ran down her face. She just witnessed one of the best things she’d ever seen her son doing. He’d never even really done this with other friends! They’d listen to music, but not be this happy and carefree while doing it.

“What… were you two doing?” Her husband asked, looking emotionless. 

“We were up early.” Jack said, standing and wiping the tears off his face.

“We started listening to music and now we’re here.” Wander continued, putting his hair up in a ponytail.

He sighed, “Well… Not how I expected my morning to start.” He said, “Your Jack Rose?”

“Yes, sir.” Jack said, and even though he tried to hide it, it was clear he was terrified. But he did reach out to shake his hand, “Pleasure to meet you.”

Her husband did return it, even if he was death glaring Jack and silent.

“What are you two making?” She asked as she walked up to Jack.

“Oh! Bacon, pancakes, I was getting some strawberries and eggs.” Jack said.

“Thank you for getting it started, boys.” She said, patting his shoulder softly, “Why don’t you two go to the dining room, we’ll finish up.”

“Thanks, mom!” Wander said, and he and Jack walked out, still laughing with each other.

“I have never seen him like this.” She said, “He looked so happy.”

“Yeah…” Her husband said, “I think Jack is rubbing off on him. It’s… been a while since he’s dressed like that around the hotel. Probably here too…”

“That's not a bad thing!” She said, “He looks really comfortable with him.”

He growled quietly, “We’ll see.” He said, “But I will say, he is respectful.”

“Then you can respect him, right?”

“I will.”

That was good enough for now, she guessed.

They finished breakfast, going out to the dining room to see Jack and Wander watching something on one of their phones and giggling together.

“So, Jack, what’d you think of the opening of Showdown last night?” Si’ha asked before her husband could say anything.

Jack chuckled, “Was I in shock? Yes. Did I love it? Yes! I haven’t been on tour for years, I haven’t performed that in years. It was so good.” He said, smiling brightly.

Si’ha giggled, looking at Wander, who looked a little embarrassed, but happy… It looked like he still had the necklace on.

“Have you been writing music? It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” She asked.

“Well… I have, but I don’t want to put anything out yet… I’m waiting for things to fully calm down before I do anything big. I have a show at Scarlet’s Palace coming up in two weeks, So, there’s that.”

“Oh, that’s exciting!”

“What’s that going to be?” Her husband asked, leaning forward slightly. Yeah, she was keeping an eye on him.

“Just gonna be an acoustic show, just me and my guitar.” Jack said, smiling.

“I sense utter chaos coming from that.” Wander said, smirking as Jack lightly smacked his shoulder.

Oh yeah, this friendship was lasting.

…

Oh yeah, she liked the kid. Heck, he offered to help clean up after breakfast! But pair Wander and Jack together, and you will either be questioning everything they say or barely standing because you were laughing so hard.

“Well, Jack, would you like to stay for the day?” She asked after a while of talking in the kitchen.

He perked up, smiling, “I’d love to, Si’ha… thank you.” He said.

“Oh, it’s no issue. I’m sure Wander would love to show you around the palace… wherever he is right now.”

“Jack!” Wander called from another room, running in, “Might be a small issue for you.”

“What is it?” He asked, and Wander looked down at his phone, reading from an article.

“‘Eternyx star Jack Rose spotted walking amongst the public multiple times in the past months. Coming out of hibernation?’”

Jack’s jaw dropped, eyes going wide, “You're joking?”

Wander glanced up at him, shaking his head, “Ha. No. ‘The Pop Star and son of The Night Swan, Jack Rose, has rarely been seen outside of Eternyx, other than being on his highly successful tour for his album, 1996. Ever since the wake and controversy of his mothers actions against coaches in their home Danceverse, he hasn’t been seen either with her or in Eternyx, making many wonder where he has been. But paparazzi photos have recently been released-’ I knew it would be paparazzi!” 

“Seilos damn it!” Jack yelled, leaning against the kitchen island and shaking his head in disbelief.

“Oh, we’re not done yet.” Wander said, and Si’ha scoffed in disbelief. Apparently, yeah, Jack was being more lax about it and he was about to say where he was himself, but SERIOUSLY??

“‘Photos have been being taken for at least six weeks, and only recently been published. He’s only been seen in downtown Dancecity, walking down the street, and last night was seen getting out of a taxi in front of Scarlet’s Palace-’ you could have asked me to make a portal to be hidden, just saying- ‘likely to watch The Showdown, in which His Highness Wanderlust performed his song ‘Enchanted’ to open the competition. The Prince has also been seen with the star, often on a few different rooftops, leading to speculation to where Jack is living in the city.-”

“FFFFUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKK!!” Jack yelled, slamming his head on the counter, “Couldn’t I just have, ya know, announced this myself?? What the hell, man??”

“These people are ruthless.” Si’ha said, “They get gossip or information on a celebrity and they were go with it quickly.”

“There’s more to this, and pictures.” Wander said, “‘The singer has recently started posting on his social media’s again, leading to more speculation as to what his situation is like right now, who he has been in contact with since leaving Eternyx, and if that’s for good.’... So yeah, it seems like the paps were waiting to put out all the pictures at once, when there was undeniable proof that you were living in Dancecity.”

Jack took a deep breath, “What do I do? Anything?”

“You really can’t.” Si’ha said, shrugging, “But… Yeah, that’s messed up.”

Jack sighed, “Oh, I wanna scream.”

“Don’t do it in here.” Si’ha said, “Uh- Wander, why don’t you show him around the grounds? Fresh air, time to think might help.”

“Yeah… Jack?” He asked, looking at him as Jack stood again.

“Yeah, why not?”

They left the kitchen, talking about the absurdity of it as they left.

She was up on her balcony again after a while, with her husband, and they were talking more.

They heard screaming coming from the palace grounds after a while, and she smiled softly while he stood, looking around.

“They’ll scream it out. Might be therapeutic for both of them.” 

 She’d never admit out loud to doing it herself… or when she heard Wander screaming his broken heart out many times before.

Now it seemed like he was just screaming to do it with Jack. To help him.

It wasn’t broken. It was relieved.

She never thought she’d be happy to hear a scream like that.

[whimsicaldragonette]

Blog Tour and ARC Review: By Any Other Name by Erin Cotter

Welcome to my stop on the By Any Other Name book tour with Colored Pages Blog Tours. (This blog tour is also posted on my wordpress book blog Whimsical Dragonette.)

Book info:

TITLE: By Any Other Name AUTHOR: Erin Cotter PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers RELEASE DATE: October 10, 2023 GENRES: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fantasy PAGES: 464 REPRESENTATION: Queer MCs

Goodreads StorygraphBlackwellsAmazonBarnes & NobleBookshop USOther Retailers

Synopsis:

A down-on-his-luck actor and an English lord reluctantly team up to solve the murder of Christopher Marlowe in this Shakespearean-era young adult romp perfect for fans of F.T. Lukens and Mackenzi Lee.

London, 1593. Sixteen-year-old Will Hughes is busy working on Shakespeare’s stage, stuffing his corsets with straw and pretending to be someone else. Offstage, he's playing a part, too. The son of traitors, Will is desperate to keep his identity secret—or risk being killed in the bloody queen’s imperial schemes. All he wants is to lay low until he earns enough coin to return to his family.

But when his mentor, the famous playwright Christopher Marlowe, is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Will’s plans are hopelessly dashed. What’s worse, Marlowe was a spy for the queen, tasked with stalking a killer rumored to be part of an elusive order of assassins, and his secrets and untimely death have put Will under a harsh spotlight. And so, when Will unwittingly foils an attempt on the queen’s life, she names him her next spymaster.

Now, to avoid uncomfortable questions, prison, or an even more terrible fate, Will reluctantly starts his new career, which—yes—will secure him the resources to help his family…but at what cost? Adding insult to injury is the young Lord James Bloomsbury, Will’s new comrade in arms, whose entitled demeanor and unfairly handsome looks get under Will’s skin immediately.

Together, the two hunt the cunning assassin, defend the queen’s life, and pray to keep their own...all while an unexpected connection blossoms between them.

Author Bio:

Erin Cotter writes young adult fiction. Originally from Buffalo, New York, she currently calls Austin home. When not writing she spends time with her partner and pets, eating tacos, and searching for Golden-cheeked Warblers in the Texas Hill Country.

Author Links:

Goodreads WebsiteInstagram

My Rating: ★★★★

*My Review, Favorite Quotes, and Tour Schedule below the cut.

My Review:

I can’t give this five stars because I didn’t love it and I definitely wouldn’t read it again, but it absolutely deserves four for how very much I didn’t love the setting - purely a case of personal preference - and at the same time how much I loved the characters. It takes skill to pull such a visceral response of dislike from me and at the same time endear the characters to me so strongly.

The thing I like least about this book, and the thing that makes me admire the skill of the author the most, is the rawness of life in this medieval world. These characters live in filth. They are accustomed to it. Humanity here, from the aristocrats to the peasants, is only a step away from animals. Life is unpredictable, brutal, full of disease and filth and crassness and betrayal. And no one bats an eye.

It reminds me of Catherine Called Birdy (a book I still vividly remember viscerally hating when I had to read it for school all those years ago) in the way it portrays a world of casual brutality and scrabbling in the mud for a life. Honestly it’s probably at least in part a bit of germaphobia that makes me hate this world so.

Will and his friends go through so much over the course of the novel, and there are so many plot twists, that I was constantly surprised by events and by their tenacity and determination to survive. I never saw a single thing coming in the course of the assassination and murder investigation. I could see, after each piece had fallen into place, exactly how it fit, but not how it got there.

The characters and events were melodramatic and sometimes strained credulity, but it all fits with the underlying theme of plays and players. Shakespeare and Marlowe are even characters. Will begins as an actor playing girls on stage in Marlowe's plays, and he keeps all of those actor characteristics to his personality throughout the story.

Will is likable no matter his selfishness and many faults, and i found myself continually rooting for him and his star-crossed love. And I came away loathing the nobility, especially Elizabeth. Her court was rotten and she was the worst of them all.

The way the story played out was very satisfying and wrenched a lot of feelings from me. Not least of which was the conviction that I absolutely positively never want to visit this world.

Seriously though, James' sister Catherine deserved so much better. Her part of the story is the one thing that really disappointed me.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Colored Pages Blog Tours, and Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers for providing an early copy for review.

Favorite Quotes:

Goddamn it. I’ve been trying not to let these two become my friends, but they became my friends anyway.

---

Whatever lack of experience Bloomsbury claims he has, his inspired performance as the most vexing person I’ve ever met is certainly coming from somewhere.

---

To hell with Marlowe and Bloomsbury and all the other people who tug me into their dark intrigues and give me no lantern to light my way. I am tired of being left in the dark.

---

“We don’t need your coin!” Maggie snarls. “’Tis coin. We always need coin,” Inigo amends in a small voice.

---

Should I fail, the stakes are dire; impersonating a man of the noble class is a crime punishable by death. Though to be fair, most of the crimes in England are punishable by death.

---

’Tis a brave and dangerous thing to go about this world having dreams. A dream is even more fickle and fleeting than a life.

---

“So we’re not here to have fun?” I say, to be cetain I’m understanding Foxwell correctly. Because it very much appears as though we’re in the midst of fun.

---

’Tis Reamonn, the swashbuckling pirate lad. He prickles with knives like an adorable, bloodthirsty hedgehog.

Tour Schedule:

October 4th

@monikasbookblog - Review + Favorite Quotes

raavenreads - Review Post

October 5th

Yourlocalbookreader - Review + Reel

@monarchsandmyths - Review + Favorite Quotes

October 6th

_perpetualpages_ - Review Post

Whimsical Dragonette - Review + Favorite Quotes

October 7th

ofpagesandprint - Review + Reel

@moyashi_girl - Review Post

October 8th

@poatic.library - Review + Reel

@gingerly_reading - Review Post

October 9th

Readreviewcoffee - Review + Favorite Quotes

Spacey Ghost - Review Post

October 10th

​​@rubyraereads - Review Post

Bangalimeyreads - Review + Reel

[realcatalina]

Hororr-documentary about Tudor fashion

I am usually trying to give people benefit of doubt regarding inaccuracies in their work. We are all humans after all. But everybody has their limit and when you publish a documentary I expect it to be accurate with minimum mistakes.

So on youtube there is video called TUDOR FASHION (2023) - FULL DOCUMENTARY - HD.

And it is absolutely inaccurate. The mistakes, the misconceptions, misleading  myths presented as facts! On scale of 0-10, I’d give it -5. Long story short-don’t watch it, it’s total waste of your time! 

But if you’re interested in my shorter rant about how inncaurate it is, allow me to entertain you a bit with some of their best bits!

-In Tudor times english poor people wore mostly clothes made of cotton!

(They meant wool.)

-Tudor sumptuary laws forbidden everybody but royalty to wear crimson!

(High nobility could wear crimson throughout entire Tudor era!)

Apparently corset and stays were worn simultanously during Tudor era.

(Stays were predecesor of corsets and even during Elizabethean times, women wore their stays, not their corsets!)

Aparently Tudor nobility bathed a lot! (First time I hear of that!)

Aparently Anne Boleyn NEVER wore english fashion(I am sorry what about the medal? What about lady of the garter depiction? Doesn’t ring a bell?) 

and she introduced french hood and french gown to English court

(this is myth. Mary Rose introduced french hood in mid 1510s and french gowns gained on popularity after Field of Gold in 1520.)

Oh did you hear Catherine of Aragon was forced to give up her spanish clothes especially her fartingale upon arrival to Englan?-probably in Marie Antoanette style(i mean the movie).  

(That's lie. She did adopt english ways and clothes as was espected, but it was gradual change. Not something she’d be forced to do immediately upon arrival as was implied. Also, you have to distinguish between farthingale and early fartingale which was called verdugado and didn’t have the conical shape they mention. So they don’t know basics about fartingale!)

Other interesting ‘facts’: 

Tudor early fashion didn’t exist! Because they didn’t include it!

Nice that we hear english hood was also called gable hood, but how about informing us of its historical name-frontlets and bonnet which would prove you know it isn’t actually a hood?

Apparently throughout entire Tudor era you could randomly decide to put on ruff or farthingale. Because nobody included date of when these came to fashion!

Oh and Henry only had only 3 wives, because they skipped Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr! Like WTF.

Henry VIII started to dress up with new materials and dyed clothes available to him only through naval discoveries! 

(I was always under impression that silk and cloths dyed in Asia arrived to Europe much earlier. Technically this is not entirely impossible scenario, but as far as I know, all materials and dyes available to him were already available to his parents.)

Apparently Henry VIII only passed one sumptuary law in 1540s(i was always under impresion he passed several...) 

and he introduces those laws-he was first to ever make them(lie as hell!)

He also stopped wearing longer coats solely to show off his legs

(apparently that male fashion all around europe went with shorter coats was mere conincidence not worthy of mention.)

Also the inaccurate depictions or portraits used are staggering. For first few minutes while they talk about Tudor dynasty they show portraits of royalty from 16th century(and few from 17th century) of which majority is not even english. 

For Jane Seymour when they first talk about her they don’t use her portrait by Holbein, but sketch of unknown woman in gable hood, which is commonly assumed to be Anne Boleyn.

When we finally see portrait of Jane it is not in very good quality.

And this documentary at beginning said majority of information we got about Tudor fashion is from portraits-but fail to show even well known portraits in good quality.(in 2023!)

For Anne Boleyn they use portrait of Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, which was in past mistakenly labelled as Anne Boleyn(because of label Anna Regina), but by now it well-known in Tudor circles that it is not her and the outfit is central european!

Oh again ‘the divine timing’ thing about Anne’s miscarriage coninciding with Catheirne of Aragon’s funeral. Overall this documentary has tons of ‘facts’ and information regarding general tudor history. Things we heard milion times before which have absolutely nothing to do with Tudor fashion!

If we left this out, the documentary would be half an hour instead of hour. It takes really a lot of time, and I don’t think documentary focused on fashion should do this. 

They also lie about Jane’s waistline being slightly under normal. I’ve seen her portraits and many other portraits, only thing abnormal about her waistline is the gap which reveals more forepart than is usual. Rest must be her bodyshape. 

Also they totally flip how Jane Seymour thought about french hoods at least at first. Initially they say ‘ Jane was forced to give up french hood’  Instead of Jane was FORCING others to give up french hood!  (she’d not allow women to serve her in it. She had problems with it, nobody else!’

‘and told to obtain frontlets and bonnet instead’(by this time they didn’t explain this is what gable hood was called, so viewer who doesn’t know it before watching this, doesn’t have a clue what they mean.)

Only then they say she banned it! Their editing sucks!

Also the lie about Jane bringing english hood back! It didn’t disappear by this time, it just started to lose on popularity! It’s misleading as hell. 

And for Jane the ‘1526/1527 miniature was used! (You know the miniature nobody knows who it is, but was at times labelled as all different women Henry VIII has ever slept with.) 

They use horrible photos of Mary’s portraits! Some prior to restoration-and I recall these portraits only ever restored. So very old photos. 

I’d not call Mary’s childhood idilic. I’d say it nicer than her later life, but it goes hand in hand with lie/myth that marriage of her parents was happy for 20 years. When it was broken/cold before she was born. So it is misleading in way.

Then one drawing which I believe is of Isabella and drawings not based upon Mary’s actual portraits showing inaccurate shape of fartingale more typical for gown worn by her relatives elsewhere in Europe. 

Or drawing showing gowns from 1560s or 1570s, which more likely show Mary Stuart. In past portraits of Mary I of England and Mary I of Scotland were confused a lot. But by now, you should not not confuse them. The fashion differences are pretty obvious and person learned in Tudor portraiture in 2023 should absolutely not make this sort of mistakes.

It’s also inccurate to say by Mary’s reign french hood was on its way out. Because what happened was that french hood’s shape changed to be more square, but it was still french hood, just new type.

It’s not ok to call verdugado fartingale and then don’t call Mary’s headwear french hood. It shows you either have double standards or you do not know what you’re talking about.

Later style of French hood kept being worn even in Elizabethean times, but due to different hairstyles and angle it is not very visible. By stating that Mary already didn’t wear it( or as they said later- that it was final stage of french hood-once again horrible editing), you’re misleading people greatly. 

‘Mary dressed in utterly english style at beginning of her reign and later started to dress in more spanish manner, added spanish elements to her clothes and wore clothes in darker colours etc’ 

(Didn’t you say little while before her favourite colour of gown as Queen was crimson? Like make up your mind and show me proof she wore way more of spanish fashion. Like a drawing or portrait which is not madeup.)

They mistake Mary I’s pearl and la Peregrina pearl.(I’ll allow that, because not long ago even I wasn’t aware those were two different pear-shaped pearls.)

Instead of using photo of portrait of Elizabeth as Princess, they use a drawing of it. And i don’t have a clue why. It’s freely available! 

I stopped watching at 40:00, because honestly I didn’t want to continue. It was boring as hell.

But overall it is very inaccurate and misleading ‘documentary’. Substandard on many levels, showing very little of true facts, very few of them presented in non-misleading way and very little actual information about Tudor fashion. 

It’s total waste of time. Don’t watch it. 

[hopeyallenjoy]

First time

Tell me the truth Severus. Don't you want me?

Pairing : Young Severus Snape x Fem!Reader 

Warnings : slights smut ; severus switch and reader switch ; dom/sub kink ; little bit of swearing ; alone at house ; bathroom teasing 

Wordcount : 3,504 words

Request : Marauder era Severus x reader’s first time 

Resume : That’s the same request as “An eventful birthday” but I did it with a more bold reader and only Severus' first time. Hope you’ll enjoy it just as much ! 

Y/l/n = Your last name Y/n = Your name 

"She asked you what?" said Lucius as he and Severus headed to their common room.

"She invited me to come spend the weekend at her house over the vacations," Severus repeated, rolling his eyes to the sky.

"Tell me mate, you've been dating Y/l/n for how long now?" Lucius as he opened the door to their dormitory.

"9 months." he replied.

"And you've already gone beyond a simple kiss? You know, despite what they say about young wizards, it's the young women who are the most hormone-driven. Think about it, Severus! That's why they're all so obsessed with love. They need a man and they need him to be their own to calm their ardor. And it's even truer for the veela.”

Severus shook his head negatively, setting his things down on his bed. Lucius couldn't help but smile mischievously at his friend.

"What are you getting at?" he asked when Malfoy didn't continue.

"My point is that she didn't invite you to chat. She wants you, Severus Snape, the dark male, to take over and make her your bitch.” Severus widened his eyes, not expecting such a revelation.

Was this really the case? You were a former student of Durmstrang Institute who had arrived at Hogwarts at the beginning of seventh year even though you were already of age. Because of the reputation of your former school, rumors about you had spread within a week of school, claiming that you were an accomplished black mage or a monster from the darkness, a cross between a veela and a vampire. You ended up in Slytherin, which wasn't entirely in your favor. You even had to deal with the most popular students in the school who were self-appointed protectors of Hogwarts and wanted to check the rumors.  Luckily for you, you were persuasive. You weren't a dark mage or a monster, but you had learned enough from Durmstrang to stand up for yourself and stop anyone from stepping on your toes.

After your little show of strength, girls started coming to you when a boy bothered them and guys who thought they were irresistible, like Lucius Malfoy or Sirius Black, came to try their luck with you. You'd packed them all, one by one. None of these boys were interesting for you, you only had eyes for your Potions and DADA partner, Severus Snape, the only one who didn't ogle your form even when he thought you didn't see him, the only one who shared your curiosity about dark magic, and especially the only one who didn't seem to be interested in you. That's what you liked about him, he really wasn't interested in you, or at least not more than in friendship, until you spent more and more time with him and finally confessed your love. 

In fact, you didn't really do that, you two just kissed on a full moon night in the astronomy tower and it was so natural between you that you just started acting like a couple. Holding hands during Hogsmeade outings or during classes, kissing for hours in your common room while all the other students were watching Quidditch matches, taking turns reading  poetry under the moonlight every night or so. In short, everything was done in a natural way, without the need for embarrassing confessions or the obligation to call each other ridiculous names. No, you had no obligation to each other, you just saw other as you pleased, doing the things you liked and it was just... perfect. 

The more Severus thought about it, the more he thought how stupid it would be to change that.

Add sex to such a perfect relationship? No way. It wasn't that he didn't find you attractive, on the contrary, he simply found you breath taking and sometimes wondered what such a beauty was doing by his side but he wasn’t sure that sex was for him. Sex was always something you grow tired of, and there was so much about it that he didn't know, he was sure he would disappoint you if you ever introduced sex to your relationship. Everything Severus Snape knew about sex, Lucius had told him, and if there was one thing he had learned from his friend's stories, it was that sex was complicated. 

Then when he presented himself in front of the door of the manor Y/l/n, he was well decided to keep his pants on. He knocked and expected to see one of your parents open the door for him, but he came face to face with your little face when the big door was fully opened. His eyes didn't leave your face but his peripheral vision allowed him to see that you were dressed a little lightly for the season, a simple t-shirt pulled over your tantalizing curves. He swallowed hardly. Keeping his pants on seemed much more difficult now. 

"Hello, Sev'. I see you're still on time. You'll excuse me, this time it's me who's a little late." you gave him your best smile and invited him to come in "My parents aren’t here so I took the opportunity to sleep in a little longer.”

Well, that wasn't entirely true, but he didn't need to know that, did he? You'd been up for a while and had spent the morning getting ready for the special weekend ahead. Despite the blasé expression you wore, inside you, your hormones and your heart were racing. Your little Severus was just beautiful and you were even more aware of it now that you saw him without his school uniform.

“Do you mind if I go put something on quickly?“ you asked without noticing the gleam of desire in the eyes of your companion. 

He shook his head negatively too happy that you propose of yourself to remove this angelic vision of which he had difficulty to get out. Merlin what you could be beautiful. You left to change your clothes after taking him into the great hall. Severus was trying to calm his imagination as he gazed out at the garden of your house that could be seen from the living room window. He was still standing there when you returned from your room, looking so absorbed that you had to pull him by the sleeve to get his attention. When he turned around he was breathless again. You had changed but your new outfit didn't help his case at all. You were now wearing a flowing black knee-length dress with a white corset that showed off your slim waist and gently carried your swaying breasts. If he was to believe what he saw, you weren't wearing a bra and he hoped... no panties either. 

"Severus...are you okay?" you questioned as he said nothing.

Severus quickly pulled himself together, serving you one of his grinning smiles that only he had the secret to. What was he talking about? Wasn't he the one who wanted to keep your relationship simple and natural? As recently as thirty minutes ago? And now he was the one who imagined you fucking on the floor, after having torn off your little black dress. This weekend was getting more and more complicated for him. He nodded nevertheless seeing the worried look that you threw to him, the back of your hand put on his forehead as if to see if he had a fever.

"Are you sure? You're all red?" he took your hand, squeezing it gently.

"Yes, yes. It's just your beauty that bewitches me," he said, placing a light kiss on your hand.

It was your turn to blush. Severus' compliments were rare and always came when you least expected them, so when he complimented you, you took full advantage. You kissed him tenderly.

"Idiot. You scared me."

He savored her words in turn, still not used to someone worrying about him and showing it.

"I should scare you more often if you kiss me like that every time" he murmured a sneer stretching his lips.

"You know very well that I would kiss you every day like that even if I wasn't worried. You just have to ask me or... do it on your own.”

At the fiery look you gave him, Severus stiffened and looked away a little.

"Do you have a chess set? It's been a long time since I've played against the grand queen of chess," he said in an attempt to divert your attention.

This worked in part, you nodded and went to get your chess set and then you sat down at the small table near the window. It was a hectic late afternoon of battles and verbal jousting, all of it friendly and good-natured. Even if your thoughts were turned to the particular behavior of your boyfriend. You wanted to wait for him to come and explain to you on his own what was the problem but you were sure he wouldn't. You didn't embarrass him with a serious discussion though, not wanting to spoil the wonderful weekend ahead. And you were right. Severus, on the other hand, was having a hard time concentrating, with hot scenarios taking up all his attention. If you had always been a bit daring, he had never noticed before, too busy admiring your little face or your knowledge of dark magic. And now he was biting his fingers, having the impression to rediscover the wild beauty that you were.

Laughing loudly, arm in arm, you entered the kitchen, your bellies rumbling. You brought in the leftovers from the night before and you gobbled them up in a few seconds, neither you nor he being picky in terms of food and it wasn't as if you had eaten mud, quite the contrary. 

It was your father who had made the food the day before. He had deliberately prepared more food than he needed, not wanting to leave his princess without food during the long weekend he was going to spend away from you.Because yes, you had fought for your parents, especially your father, to leave you at the mansion alone. Yet they knew you could handle yourself, after six consecutive years at Durmstrang, it was rare not to know how to handle yourself. 

The meal was just as nerve-wracking for Severus as he couldn't help but make you laugh which made your breasts jiggle under the thin fabric of your dress. You even bent down to grab the pepper on the table which allowed him to see that you were indeed not wearing a bra. He almost choked, his imagination and hormones still running wild. By the end of the meal, Severus was convinced that he was going to lose his mind before the end of the weekend if it continued like this.

"Y /n, could I know where the bathroom is? I'd like to take a shower before I go to sleep, if that's possible," Severus asked, convinced that a nice cold shower would put his mind at ease.

"Oh, of course. The bathroom is upstairs. It's the first door on the left. Do you need me to lend you something? Slippers, a nightgown?” you asked as a particularly Machiavellian idea appeared in your mind.

At this point of the evening, you had understood that your boyfriend, who you thought was so innocent, had started to understand that you were no longer a child and that your body was indeed the one of a young adult. Seeing him almost choke at each movement you made and that revealed a little more of your forms, was, it had to be said, a most amusing spectacle. So you let him go up the stairs to the bathroom and slowly followed him once the plates were washed and put away.

Meanwhile, Severus had slipped out of his black clothes and into the bathtub, which was filled to the brim. It wasn't every day that he could afford a nice hot bath and he was sure you wouldn't mind if he took a few drops of the Muggle lotions that adorned the rim of the big tub. He slipped all the way into the water, after a deep breath, desperate to calm his ardor. If Severus Snape was so determined not to give in to temptation it was mainly due to the bad treatment he had received from the Marauders, humiliating him to the point where his body was dripping and he was unable to touch himself, even alone. So how could he have succeeded in maintaining a carnal relationship with anyone? Love, love was different, he felt it and managed to express it, but sex? Very little for him. Finally, this afternoon spent by your side had shown him that even if the thing seemed inconceivable to him, he was still capable of desiring someone. And to want you, he wanted you really bad. He opened his eyes, his head still immersed in the bathtub, and saw through the water a figure towering over him. He emerged from the water recognizing your little face. 

There you were, standing in front of him, you had left your corset behind and were now wearing only your black dress. Your face was still impassive.

"Y/n? What the..." he began.

"Sev', do you love me?" you didn't let him finish, starting your Machiavellian plan. "Because I'm starting to doubt it, you know? You've been acting weird ever since you got here. So tell me the truth, Severus. Don't you want me?" as you spoke his words, you let your robe slip off at your feet showing yourself completely naked to him. 

Severus could not believe his eyes. In that moment, he couldn't stop his eyes from devouring you, his cheeks from turning red, and his sex from growing. The fire that swept over him was so sudden that it took his breath away. You were satisfied with your little effect, but when Severus didn't move, just clung to the edge of the tub, you slid as sensually as possible into the bath without taking your eyes off him. Severus watched you, holding his breath. Yes, you were definitely going to drive him crazy. 

"-Severus, how do I look?" you asked again as he still hadn't said anything.

"Y/n... You don't know what you're saying. I... I want you so much, you can't even imagine how much but..." Severus was short of breath, "I've never done anything, never even t-touched myself. I wouldn't know how to... I wouldn't know how to do it and I could only..." you cut him off, kissing him gently as tears of frustration flooded down his face.

 You felt a little bad now that you knew the truth. You had never wanted to made him cry but you understood that he needed to cry so you let him, kissing his cheeks, his nose, his eyes, in fact, everything that was within your reach, wanting to reassure him a maximum.

"Shhhhh Sev'... It's okay, don't worry. I'm here.  Shhhhhh... Oh boy ! I could never be disappointed in you, Sev' I assure you. So please don't cry anymore. I hate seeing you like this. I love you so much, you know." you continued to kiss him with your arms around his neck.

"I-i love you so much t-too ," he replied between sobs. 

Severus was drowning in your affection, his whole body burning. He felt so good in your arms, covered in your kisses. You covered him with tender kisses for another moment, telling him how beautiful he was in your eyes between two kisses. Once the sadness passed, he wanted to return your affection, covering the zebra skin of your breasts with soft kisses which felt like butterfly wings. Then the butterflies became more urgent as your hand clung to his ebony hair and your lips let out sighs of pleasure. You pulled your lover's face up to steal a passionate kiss, your two foreheads finally pressed together, your body slightly elevated as Severus had his arms around your waist.

"Do you... do you want to go all the way Sev'? I certainly don't want to force you to do anything you don’t want, love."

How? Weren't you supposed to not give him ridiculous nicknames? I don't remember saying that. Severus nodded, pulling you tighter against him.

"Guide me, Y/n," he breathed.

His voice was infused with desire, as was his entire body. He was overflowing and tense with desire beyond your touch. You placed his hands in the places you knew were your pleasure points, guiding him to know what to do. His lips came to rest on your neck as you told him to, as your hands slid gently through the cool bath water to land on his crotch. It may have been hard to believe but Severus Snape was very well built, his sex was moderate in size but not all the way down, his base and glans were wider than the rest. It was also slightly curved towards the glans. If you hadn't already had other relationships you wouldn't have realized just by touching him, that Severus was just perfect for you. Your fingers began to do him good, drawing grunts from him that made your skin tingle as he didn't stop his attentions. When you felt him grow a little larger in your hands you stopped your stroking, spreading your own legs just enough for him to enter.

"Severus... I want to cum with you..." he understood the invitation taking his sex in his hands and positioning it facing the entrance to your pussy. 

He didn't really know what to do once he entered so it was you who guided him again, initiating back and forth, impaling yourself a little more each time, your hands resting on his shoulders. Severus moaned with each return, feeling your insides react to his member. You weren't especially tight, but he was still able to fill you up completely. You guided him for a moment and then he felt confident enough to take over. Slowly but surely, he varied the strength of his thrusts. Then he added his lips in your neck making you plant your nails in his shoulders when a so good and... unexpected pleasure. Instinctively, he squeezed you tighter as the last thrust inside you came accompanied by waves of immeasurable pleasure. He had finished before you but you were so close to cumming that you couldn't stop a groan of frustration from coming out of your mouth.

"This one is different from the others. Did I hurt you?" Severus fretted as he came to stop, causing you to let out another frustrated moan.

"No, no, no ! I... Can you go on a little longer, please? I'm not far..." you whispered in his ear. 

He undulated his pelvis gently under you, a sneer coming to perch on his lips.

 "What exactly do you want, Y/n? I need you to explain it to me precisely, please. I don't think I'm experienced enough yet to understand your demands without you finishing your sentences," he said, kissing your temple. 

He knew perfectly well what he was doing now. You wanted to protest by realizing it but it had started again to undulate under you, letting out of your mouth only words drowned between your moans. He ended up kissing your temple again, letting you breathe and waiting for your answer. 

"I want you to fuck me until... Until I cum Severus, please!" you finally managed to articulate making Severus' smile grew wider and wider.

"Gladly, love," he replied as he began to pound you again. 

[reidyoulikeabook]

48 from touch prompt list and 75 from prompt list 5 🥺🥺🥺 im so proud of you love such an amazing achievement i love you

-efirstly i love you thank you so much 🥺 secondly the PERFECT two prompts together you have a galaxy brain and i can truly not thank you enough for this!!

Ship: Fem! Reader x Spencer Reid

Word count: 1.4k

Warnings: Some mentions of alcohol consumption & brief olden-time being married young talk.

Prompts: #48 - Dancing with each other & #75 Talking in an Elizabethan style to woo somebody

A/N: I listened to the ‘So Close’ song from the Enchanted soundtrack the entire time I was writing this so...put that on if you want!

A reminder I’m taking prompts for my 1k celebration until May 21st! :)

If Penelope Garcia loved two things in this world - Derek and science fiction aside - it was costumes and parties. So it made sense that for her birthday, she’d decreed she’d be throwing an Elizabethan-style ball. And that everybody had to dress up accordingly. Derek, always eager to put a smile on her face, had offered to throw it at one of his houses.

So it was there that you were headed, on this glorious Saturday night. In a not-so-glorious and infact, quite heavy, Elizabethan era gown. It was a good job you’d elected to take an Uber, because quite frankly the dress weighed a ton. It would have been impossible to drive in.

Good job they didn’t have cars back in the Elizabethan era.

Not that women would have been allowed to drive them anyway.

You’re only a little late when you arrive. Fashionably late, you’d go so far as to say.

“____!” Penelope greets with a squeal, rushing out to embrace you into a hug. You don’t even make it all the way through the door before she’s on you with a flurry.

If you thought your dress was a lot, you have to hand it to the birthday girl. She could never be upstaged. How her gown actually fit inside the house was a mystery, it was huge - puffy with a corset that cinched her in tightly at the waist. Her hair was coiffed into perfect curls. She looked stunning; like she’d stepped right out of a painting.

“You look amazing!” You tell her, squeezing her tightly.

“So do you! I’m so glad you took the theme seriously!”

“I take all themes seriously when it’s you threatening me about them.”

She laughs. “Well Derek did too. And Spencer, the others...” She frowns, “Well, I’d like to say they tried, but Rossi definitely didn’t. He did, however, pay for a gazebo and a live band so I’m willing to let it slide.”

You smile, allowing her to take you inside. She babbles some more on her way in about all the decorations, food, and how next time she’s going to make everybody send her pictures of their outfits beforehand.

She’s right about the gazebo though - it’s beautiful. It has elegant fairylights adorning it, illuminating the place in a candescent glow. The live band is an instrumental one - there’s even a fiddle.

Where the hell did Dave find a fiddle?

He’s rich.

That has to be the satisfactory answer for now. There are far more pressing matters at hand: like everybody’s costumes.

Horch is wearing some fancy suit, Emily has one that’s similar, Rossi clearly is just dressed in his normal attire. J.J appears to have picked one up from a fancy dress shop, but if anyone could make that look good, it’s her. Derek looks an absolute dream - clearly dressed by Penelope. It’s Spencer though, unsurprisingly, who has gone all out. He has a miniature version of one of those puffy collars on, his suit a gorgeous maroon colour. He even has white tights on, with the boots that matched. If there were prizes for best costume - which knowing Penelope, there might well be - she’d be up against some fierce competition.

“Spence!” You chime, opening your arms to greet him, “I love your costume!”

“I love yours too!” He beams, hugging you tightly, “The skirt of your dress is very fitting to the period.”

“Thank you!” You say, reluctantly letting go of him to greet everybody else in turn.

It’s hard to keep your eyes off him though, and everybody knows it. You and Spencer had been dancing around each other for months, the epitome of the will-they-won’t-they, and you can’t help but hope that tonight you might finally cross that threshold.

It’s Penelope’s birthday.

Who are you kidding? Penelope would be ecstatic to claim credit.

***

You’re giddy, not just with the glass of wine in your system. With happiness, the exuberant kind that comes from watching all your friends exist among one another. It doesn’t hurt that Spencer barely leaves your side the entire night. He’s a veritable treasure trove of Elizabethan era facts. You’ve learnt more than any history class could possibly teach you.

A slow song comes on, which is when you decide to seize your opportunity.

Now or never.

You bump your shoulder against his. When you have his attention, you nod towards the dance floor, “Come and dance with me.”

He furrows his brows, clearly weighing up his options in his head.

You affect an Elizabethan lilt, “Thou art going to leave me alone at the ball, fair Lord Reid?”

“I could hardly dream of it,” He says, imitating you, “Would thou care to dance with me?”

He offers out his hand. You take it, noting how he gets the barest blush on his cheeks.

“Thou had me practically petrified, I thought you may never ask,” You tease, accepting his hand, squeezing it once for reassurance.

He laughs, nose crinkling. He rests his hand on your hip hesitantly, only solidifying his grip when you rest yours on his bicep. His other comes to rest on the other side, just above where your dress puffs out. The song playing sounds vaguely familiar, although it’s harder to place with it being an instrumental version.

You lean into him, side-stepping in time with him. He’s not a dancer by nature, that much is clear, but he is surprisingly good at leading.

It’s easy to let him guide you around the dance floor. You stutter a bit, almost tripping. His grip on your hip tightens.

“Be careful fair maiden,” He reprimands teasingly, “Thou wouldn’t want to fall.”

“Thou wouldn’t want to be seen with a maiden who has made a royal fool of herself.”

He shakes his head, “I could hardly bare it.”

“I do not know how you can bare to be seen with me regardless. I’m practically a haggard spinster,” You say, with a dramatic sigh.

He twirls you around, voice slipping back into his normal tone, “Actually it was mainly women from wealthy families who would marry young, from age 12. With poorer or middle class families it was most common for women to be in their mid-twenties by the time they got married, the average age was about 24.”

“Still younger than me,” You retort, stepping in time with him. You’re pressed up against his chest now.

His breath fans over your cheek, from the way he’s bent, from the way you’re leaning in to him. His big hand spans over your back, holding you close to him as he steps to the right.

“Well,” He says, affecting the English accent, “Thou art a lady of the highest stature. A commoner could not possibly hope to marry one such as yourself.”

You giggle, “Oh fair Lord Reid. Whenst will I possibly find a husband?”

With surprising ease, he dips you, allowing you to fall gracefully into his arms. He’s study, supportive. Before you know it, you’re back on your feet.

“Thou might be looking in the wrong places.”

“Pray tell, wherest would one suggest a lady like me ought to look?”

“Perhaps closer to ones home,” He says, English accent - if you could call it that - slipping a little, favouring sincerity.

“How much closer?”

His hands return to your waist, and yours to his chest. There’s only an inch between your bodies. He looks down at you with sincerity brimming in his eyes, “Perhaps a little closer.”

Your hand trails up to his chin. It dips at the mere weight of your thumb resting on it, “Gallant Lord Reid, perhaps this close?”

“Perhaps,” He swallows, voice morphing into the accent again, as if he’s afraid to be vulnerable, “Thou art a maiden, thou art to be courted before marriage.”

“And where would one court a fair maiden like me?”

“Where would the fair maiden like to go?”

“Wherever, as long as you’re the one taking her.”

He swallows. His eyes scan your face, watching how you deliberately look to his plump lips. He hesitates for only a moment longer, before leaning in and planting the most delicate kiss upon them.

If it wasn’t for the elated drunken giggles of everyone else around you, you’d have been lost in the bubble of a moment forever. It’s okay though, because at your wedding, Penelope is sure to tell the tale of the Elizabethan ball where you - the fair maiden - finally got together with your perfect Lord. You have to admit, it’s a good one.

Permanent Spencer tagslist: @ssa-m-187 @reidingmelodies @cyanide-mustard @shesalatesh @sapphic-prentiss @geostarr @kathrynisadogperson @rem-ariiana @spoonielivingfree @starsandshit90 @spencerreidat3am  @takeyourleap-of-faith @sassiest-politician @calm-and-doctor @ssa-m-187  @averyhotchner @muffin-cup @purplewaterbottles082 @reidsnose  @wheelsup @ellesgreenaway @sunlitspence @spencerreid9 @drspencerreidd @reiding-recs @bauemily @cmily @retrxbarnes @jhillio @txmhoelland @spenxerslut @im-autistic-not-stupid @amoeebaa @veridianluv @sad-bitch-h0ur @nighttimerain123 @ytj2304 @reidtome @converse-spence @randomfavtingswall @bethc54 @hubbybowenss @sebstan-is-the-man @justanothercrazyfangirl @eli-side-blog @vntgreid @reidmeastory @reidemandweep @ggublerss @s1lverhand @cigarette-day-dread @newtmyheart @i-understood-that-reference @willowrose99 @v-is-obsessive

(message me to be removed - visit my taglist form to join!)

[anxious-allie-ren]

Hey everyone! I’d like to introduce the new story I am writing! You can find it on both my AO3 and Wattpad. Both of which are linked in my bio. But I’ll also be posting the chapters here for you all. Be easy on me as I haven’t quite figured out how to post chapters on here and create a master list. That is something I will be working on. Alright, now in to the good stuff.

Erota

As the only daughter from a high society family, the pressure is on you to impress the ton and find a suitable match. You hope to find love, but your fate is decided for you. Your marriage is arranged to King Kylo of Chandrila. Pain and tough decisions are soon to follow.

This story is inspired by Bridgerton and regency era.

Hello everyone! I have been dreaming of writing this fic for a bit now and finally gathered the courage to do it! Like I said in the description, this story is heavily influenced by the regency era and the Netflix show Bridgerton. I've done my best to keep it accurate to both the era and the Star Wars world. I hope you enjoy!

The Ton.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The season has finally arrived. You have officially joined the ton and are coming out into society. The debutantes of higher society are to be presented in court. This now includes you and your family.

You were the only child of the Duke of Selonia. A small territory southeast of Drall within the kingdom of Corellia. It's a quaint little area, nothing to brag about. It was cozy and calm. Many of the families had lived in the area for generations. Neighbors all knew each other. But despite its comfort and kindness it was lacking funds.

Since you had been able to remember, life was very simple. You helped in the gardens, the kitchens, and even with the laundry work. Your family took trips to town often, visiting with the people. Your mother loved to stop at the bakery and buy pastries to bring back to the estate. She told you stories from her childhood as bedtime stories. Coming from a common family and marrying into high society. Your parents married for love and not statues. Many scolded your father for marrying "below his station" but he let their words roll off his shoulders. He was attracted to your mother for her beauty, kindness, and capabilities. Your mother was no stranger to hard work, and she assured you weren't as well.

As you matured, you watched as your home aged as well. Bricks began to weather with time and vegetation started to take over. Farmers had less success each year and businesses were closing. The help your father was once so quick to provide had now dwindled into nothing. There was no help to give. The funding was nearly gone. After your mother's death, the strong and reliable man you had once called your father was gone. What replaced him was a shell of a man. He gave up on his duties as a duke and instead threw his time and money into bad habits. Gambling and drinking had become his crutch.

You lost your mother in your adolescence. Still a young girl so in need of a mother and her guidance. Her death left you confused and in desperate need of comfort. You tried to lean on your father. But in his own grief, he seemed to forget about you. Instead, you turned to your community. The maids and butlers became your family. They ensured your schooling would continue. The men even went as far as to teach you math and science. When you entered your teens, you attempted to take on the dukedom in secret. You went over all the documents and finances, trying to find a way to help your people and restore your estate. It was to no avail. Nothing could be done without your fathers signature. So you were left with no choice but to let it go. You focused on your studies and lessons with the maids. They helped bring you to maturity. Now, it was time to join society as an eligible woman.

Marriage has been heavy on your mind for many years now. The idea of meeting a man and marrying just for statues or titles didn't interest you. Neither of those things mattered to you. A marriage had become something with such a negative connotation. But love, now that was very different. You yearned for a true love match. You craved a deep connection unlike any you'd ever experienced. As a child, you'd developed small crushes on some of the neighborhood children. The butterflies and blushed looks were something you understood. But you'd never felt love before. You loved your family of course. You even loved your townspeople. But that was so different from what you hoped to find.

Becoming a debutante was not something you were looking forward to. Joining the ladies of high society was only asking for drama. But as the daughter of a Duke, it was your duty to join the ton and find a suitable husband. This had become increasingly important as your territory lost more and more money to your father's lifestyle. These thoughts scrambled around your mind as you got ready. You would be heading to the first ball of the season, your entrance into society, in moments. You were dressed in your nicest items. A deep red ball gown embroidered with golden florals along the bottom of the skirt and corset. Your hair was pinned back, allowing your face to stand out. Your maid, Jillian, was helping you put on your shoes as you looked at yourself in the mirror. Jillian had been with your family before your mother passed. She had watched you grow from a pained child to a strong young woman. She was with you every step of the way. Jillian became a motherly figure and your most trusted confidant.

Jillian pats your calf as she begins to stand, finished with clasping your heels. Her touch pulls you from your thoughts. You give her a polite smile and thank her, turning back to the mirror. Your anxiety is growing with each tick of the clock and in typical Jillian fashion, she can sense your discomfort. She comes to stand behind you, adjusting the pins in your hair.

"You know you're prepared for this. There's no need to sit and worry."

You meet her gaze in the mirror, her gentle blue eyes giving you a wave of comfort. You let out a sigh and play with your fingers.

"I felt prepared, but now that it's upon me, I'm not so sure. So much is at stake here, Jillian. The people of Selonia are relying on me to find someone who can help. What if I'm not up to standards?"

Jillian only chuckles at your words and places her hands on either of your shoulders.

"Standards? Now you're just being silly. You are a kind, intelligent, and strong young lady. Any suitor would be lucky to have you as his wife."

You turn to look at her, face scrunched in concentration.

"That's exactly the issue! It can't just be any suitor. They need to be able to fix dukedom and be the love I've been waiting for. What if that's unrealistic? How can I ever find someone to do both?"

Jillian places a comforting hand on your cheek, her thumb slowly stroking your cheekbone. She gives you a small smile before she speaks.

"Is that what you're so worried about? Dear, you're placing too much stress on yourself. Don't worry about the dukedom or Selonia. Go and find your love, everything else will fall in place."

You lean into her hand and smile, her words bringing you peace and a newfound sense of confidence. She pulls her hand away and turns towards your bedroom door. She calls back to you, "Now let's get you going! It's time."

————————————————

The carriage stopped in front of the King's summer estate. Many of the guests were already walking up the grand entrance and making their way inside. Your father hurried around and opened the door for you, holding his hand out and helping you down. Tonight he was doing his best to look and act presentable. You place your hand in his bent arm and let him lead you into the ball. Neither of you had spoken more than a few words to each other in years. You were surprised he even accompanied you tonight. His presence only made you nervous again. You weren't sure what his intent was by coming. Was he finally stepping back into his positions as father and Duke? Or was there some ulterior motive?

You found out quickly as he leaned in to speak to you, just as you were arriving at the entrance of the ballroom.

"I am expecting you to perform well tonight. I want to see gentlemen callers of high status calling on you tomorrow."

You look up at him and furrow your brows in confusion. So this is what he came for? To ensure you schmoozed with the highest titles with the most money? If so, he's going to be very disappointed.

"I'm here to find a reasonable suitor for myself, father. Not a suitor for you and Selonia."

He stops walking at your words, his head turning to look down at you. You can see his clenched jaw and anger in his eyes. His distaste for your words is written all over his face.

"Stop with your foolish girly fantasy of a love match. You're here to do as I say, and I'll be damned if you disobey me."

His words sting your heart. Your father had never spoken to you this way. When you were young, he was always so gentle and loving towards you. Now it seems you're just another pawn to be thrown around his chessboard as he pleased. You swallow the lump in your throat and move your gaze back down. Now was not the time to worry about this. You had more pressing matters.

You allowed your father to lead you to the entrance, stopping to allow the announcer to get your names. You took a deep breath as you prepared to face the ton. First impressions were everything, and you did not want to screw this up. The announcer clears his throat and stands at attention. Everyone in the room stops what they're doing to await the next debutante.

"Presented by her father, the Duke of Selonia, Miss Y/F/N."

You stare forward as your father leads you into the ballroom and towards the King and Queen of Corellia. You both stopped before them, your father unlinking your arms and bowing. You fall into a curtsy, bowing your head in respect. Your father stands back up and looks to the king. You stay still, awaiting the command to move. The king of Corellia rises from his throne and moves to stand in front of you. Everyone holds their breath, watching closely to see what unfolds. He places a gentle finger under your chin, raising your head to meet his gaze.

"Stand up for me, dear. You can relax."

You do as he says and stand quickly, giving him a polite smile as you return his intense eye contact. His finger never leaves your chin. He smiles back at you and begins to speak again.

"You are a true beauty, my dear. You know, they say the eyes are a window to the soul. I can see the love and strength living within yours. Hold onto that, they will be your biggest asset."

Your eyes widen at his words. You can't help the smile that spreads across your face.

"Thank you, your majesty."

With that, he removes his finger from your chin and climbs back to his throne. He turns his attention back to the room and declares, "Let the festivities continue."

Your father grabs ahold of your arm again and leads you away from the thrones. You can feel the crowd staring at you, but you can't find it in you to care. King Luke of Corellia spoke to you! Not only that, but he complimented you. This was a great honor bestowed on very few. You would take his advice to heart.

It seems your father had a different perspective. He leads you to a table with dance cards placed neatly in rows. You begin to search for your name as he smirks and begins talking.

"Compliments from the king will help greatly in gaining potential suitors. You'll be the most desired lady in the ton. Seems finding you a husband of high title will be easier than I thought."

You finish tying the card to your wrist and turn to look at the room. Your father continues to talk as you observe your surroundings. You look up at the elegant chandelier. It shines beautifully in the light, casting sparkles all over the room. You watch as they dance across the guests, creating an angelic and light atmosphere. A waiter comes by and offers you and your father glasses of champagne. You take a small sip and return your attention to the crowd. Many of the ladies are giving you glares or speaking with the eligible men in attendance. You take notice of their attire. Many have much more elegant gowns and jewels on. Their appearance shows how much they have to offer. Your feelings of inadequacy begin to creep back in. You don't even notice a man approaching.

Your gaze stops on a young man across the room. His dark brown curls and bright smile grabbed your attention. He was speaking to another man, seeming to be in deep conversation. His face was so expressive as he spoke, hands moving about to help prove whatever point he was trying to make. You couldn't help but be captivated by him. If there was anyone you were hoping to get a moment with this evening, it was him.

You snap from your thoughts as your father greets him and motions towards you. This man must have been reaching his thirties. Much older than any of the debutantes here. His bright ginger hair stands out like a sore thumb. He makes eye contact with you as your father talks. An uneasy feeling sweeps over you. For some reason, something about this man doesn't sit right with you.

"Y/N, I'd like you to meet the Earl of Drall, Lord Armitage Hux" your father says as he motions towards the man. Lord Hux takes your hand and raises it to his lips, kissing your knuckles. The contact makes you cringe internally. Your father looks at you expectantly and you quickly pull yourself together.

"Hello Lord Hux, it is so nice to meet you."

Your father smiles at both of you and claps a hand on Lord Hux's shoulder.

"Lord Hux here is a good friend of mine. I was hoping to introduce you both tonight."

The uneasy feeling now makes sense. Any friend of your fathers is likely a crook. Not at all the type of man you want to be speaking to. You nod politely, biting your tongue from speaking your mind freely. The men then turn away from you and begin a discussion of their own, leaving you out. You lift your glass of champagne back to your lips and turn your gaze back to the direction of the man you had spotted before.

Instead of finding the curly haired man again, you met eyes with someone else. Standing with his hands clasped behind his back was a raven haired man. He stood tall and broad, much larger than any other man in the room. His gaze pierced through you, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand. You wanted to approach him, but to do so would make you look indecent.

Your eye contact is cut off by Lord Hux coming in front of you. He holds out his arm to you in invitation.

"Would you do me the honor of a dance, Lady Y/N?"

You wanted nothing more than to say no and go speak to the mystery man. Or even go find the curly haired man from before. But you know you had no choice in the matter. To deny him would make you look bad to the ton. Plus, your father would never stand for it. So you placed your hand in his arm and nod.

"Of course, Lord Hux."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really hope you enjoyed this! Let me know what you think!

Love,

Allie

[sketchmre]

Costume/Fashion Reference Masterpost

because i need somewhere to put this and tumblr has a better layout for it

for anyone using this besides me, this will be updated over time

Last edited: May 14th, 2022

Note to self: at some point, add key words to each reference to find specific things through CTRL+F

The references (currently) are divided into these categories: Websites, museum websites, videos (and channels), copyrighted books, and books that are (legally) online and/or in the public domain.

I also want to give a huge thank you to the Fashion Historian for providing nearly all the MET text resources. I knew there was an art department, but I didn’t know it offered online PDFs as well. 

If you want to see the Fashion Historian’s blog, here is the link: http://www.thefashionhistorian.com/

If you want to find additional MET publications, here is the link: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications

WEBSITES

The Collection of Motion Picture Design

https://filmcostumecollection.com/

A private collection of film costumes, organized by decade (that they were created), collection type, and keywords. Primarily costumes from Hollywood(?). Includes hats, props, and jewelry as well.

NATIONALCLOTHING.ORG

http://nationalclothing.org/

A blog that delves into traditional/folk costume by country (and occasionally era, such as Ancient Greek and the like). Very good for finding additional sources!

The Dreamstress

https://thedreamstress.com/

A blog composed of many things, which can be seen in the sidebar.

Truly Victorian (Costume Patterns of the 1830′s to the 1900′s Specializing in the Bustle Era)

https://trulyvictorian.info/

TBA but note that the patterns in the shop offer cover art and actual patterns, if you want to buy them

VOGUE Runway

https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows

TBA

Morgan Donner’s Pinterest Boards

https://www.pinterest.com/morgandonner/_saved/

TBA

FASHION HISTORY TIMELINE (STATE UNI OF NEW YORK)

https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/

TBA

MUSEUM WEBSITES

The Costume Institute | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/collection-areas/the-costume-institute

TBA

For some specific articles that I found interesting/plan on reading: https://sketchmre.tumblr.com/post/679175209483403264/met-articles

The Los Angeles Museum of Art

https://www.lacma.org/

https://collections.lacma.org/node/589000

TBA

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London

https://www.vam.ac.uk/

https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections?type=featured

TBA

The Fashion Institute in New York

https://fashionmuseum.fitnyc.edu/collections;jsessionid=56988B2630FAF0FA0ACC733C6E943862

TBA

The Fashion Institute of Design Merchandizing Museum in Los Angeles

https://fidmmuseum.org/

TBA

The South Carolina State Museum

http://scmuseum.org/tag/fashion/

TBA

The National Museum of Antiquities in The Netherlands

https://www.rmo.nl/en/

TBA

The Bendingo Museum in Autralia

https://collection.bendigoartgallery.com.au/objects?query=fashion

TBA

The Meadows Museum

https://meadowsmuseumdallas.org/

TBA

Boston Museum of Fine Arts

https://www.mfa.org/collections

TBA

VIDEOS (AND CHANNELS)

Karolina Żebrowska

https://www.youtube.com/c/Karolina%C5%BBebrowskax

TBA

A Dress Historian Explains the Difference between Corsets and Stays

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8tRK3gn-NA

TBA

COPYRIGHTED BOOKS

Victorian Fashion: A Pictorial Archive, 965 Illustrations, by Carol Belanger Grafton (1999)

A collections of illustrations for the Victorian era, though specific dates are not given. There’s almost no text in this book; it’s a collection of illustrations and fashion examples, for those who prefer visual references. Personally give it 5/5 stars, for inspiration.

A Dictionary of Costume and Fashion, by Mary Brooks Pickens (1998)

A dictionary of terms used for fashion and costume. Has a few illustrations, but does not have one for every definition. Rather, it groups collections of words under an umbrella term (such as bows, jackets, shirts, etc). 

BOOKS ONLINE/IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

History of Russian Costume from the Eleventh to the Twentieth Century, by  Alyoshina, T. S., I. I. Vishnevskaya, L. V. Efimova, T. T. Korshunova, V. A. Malm, E. Yu. Moiseenko, M. M. Postnokova-Loseva, and E. P. Chernukha (1977)

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/History_of_Russian_Costume_from_the_Eleventh_to_the_Twentieth_Century?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

TBA

The Imperial Style: Fashions of the Hapsburg Era, by Cone, Polly, ed. (1980)

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/The_Imperial_Style_Fashions_of_the_Hapsburg_Era?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

TBA

Man and the Horse: An Illustrated History of Equestrian Apparel, by Mackay-Smith, Alexander, Jean R. Druesedow, and Thomas Ryder (1984)

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Man_and_the_Horse_an_illustrated_history_of_equestrian_apparel?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

TBA

Dance: A Very Social History, by Wallace, Carol McD., Don McDonagh, Jean L. Druesedow, Laurence Libin, and Constance Old (1986)

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Dance_A_Very_Social_History?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

TBA but state that, as noted by the Fashion Historian, there is a chapter dedicated to dresses for dance (page 80)

From Queen to Empress: Victorian Dress, 1837–1877, by Goldthorpe, Caroline (1989)

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/From_Queen_to_Empress_Victorian_Dress_1837_1877?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

TBA

Heroic Armor of the Italian Renaissance: Filippo Negroli and his Contemporaries, by Pyhrr, Stuart W., and José-A. Godoy, with essays and a compilation of documents by Silvio Leydi (1998)

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Heroic_Armor_of_the_Italian_Renaissance_Filippo_Negroli_and_his_Contemporaries?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

TBA

The Age of Napoleon: Costume from Revolution to Empire, 1789–1815, by Le Bourhis, Katell, ed., with essays by Charles Otto Zieseniss, Philippe Séguy, Clare Le Corbeiller, Pierre Arrizoli-Clémental, Jean Coural, Chantal Gastinel-Coural, Raoul Brunon, Colombe Samoyault-Verlet, and Michele Majer (1989)

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/The_Age_of_Napoleon_Costume_from_Revolution_to_Empire_1789_1815?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=&fmt=

TBA

[dresshistorynerd]

So I saw this illustration recently floating around here and it’s so riddled with bullshit I decided to go through it with meticulous detail. Also it’s whole point is bullshit, but we’ll circle back to it. I have to note I’m not dress historian and don’t know all the nuances related to history of undergarments, and wouldn’t have even room for that in this post. And the illustration is completely devoid of them anyway.

So strap in and jump into the rabbit hole with me! Let’s start with the accuracy of the figures illustrating the undergarments. I don’t know why the 18th century stays (corsets come later) look like that? They are so wrong in so many ways. This is what 18th century stays looked like.

They did not flatten the bust at all. On the contrary, they pushed the bust up. It makes the stomach flat, but bust very much not. The boning was made from whale bone, reeds or slim wood bents most often, which are all very bendable and soft materials. Which means it was firm but not hard or restrictive. They mostly just smoothed the torso and supported bust. Also none of these illustrations have shift or chemise under their corset/stays, which was extremely important part of the undergarment (they protected the skin from corset/stays and it from oils of skin).

Now I’m questioning weather the makers of this info graph have seen Regency dresses. Firstly they claim that the ideal figure was “natural waist” when you can see that the waist can’t even be seen under the dress. There’s literally no waist. I would rather say the ideal figure was long tube body and boobs (emphasis on boobs). They also say the “corset” (still stays) stops bellow the bust line, but if you have seen a Regency dress, you know the bust is basically on the chin. (There were some stays that actually stopped under breasts, but the ones with cups where much more common as they were better at getting the fashionable silhouette.)

You don’t achieve this look without some heavy lifting done by the undergarments.

Here’s what they looked like. (Picture is from Abigail Polston’s blog.) They were basically push up bras. They didn’t have boning at all or sometimes a couple bones, but were usually made at least partly of stiffened fabrics. Between the breasts there’s a wooden slab that keeps the boobs separate and the stays from crinkling. They only smoothed out the rest of the torso and their only real purpose was support the bust and lift the hell out of it.

The next figure has so so many things wrong about it. In 1830s the stays were basically same as Regency stays. In 1840s the stays started to have a little more of the Victorian hourglass shape, but their construction was still similar. Though at the same time corsets started to live along side stays, till in the 1850s they took over the undergarment business. Here’s an example of 1890s corset.

Victorian corset is result of very complicated engineering. The shape is achieved with very ingenious patterning and strategically placed bones. Maximal shape with minimal boning. When you go back to look at the 18th century stays, which are covered in bones and then check out bow little there’s bones in the Victorian corset. The shape subtly changed thorough the rest of the century, but the basic construction and hourglass figure stayed the same.

Now the description says tight lacing became popular and it’s not entirely wrong. Tight lacing became a thing. In the previous centuries it wasn’t really even possible in same sense, because the materials used were too soft. Well some rich fashionable women still did it in 18th century (with regency stays it just wasn’t possible), but because of the materials, they couldn’t restrict bodily functions like breathing (looking at you PotC). Victorian corsets however usually had couple of iron bones, the rest being the soft whale bone, giving them more ability to shape the body. Tight lacing however was not common. Some rich, young and fashionable ladies would do that, but it was seen broadly negatively at the time. People talked about the health consequences and perhaps more than that, saw it as very vain. Tight lacing every day for a long time had negative health consequences, but vast majority of women didn’t do that and they were nothing nearly as dramatic ass people claim. Corset’s magic wasn’t it’s ability to reduce waist, but rather accentuate bust and hips. It was all about the illusion. Padding was added too on top of the corset. All women used corsets and it didn’t restrict them from doing all kinds of stuff, like working in a factory, or climbing a mountain.

I don’t really have anything to complain about the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. They have at least the right shapes and don’t have weird claims. Now, I’m not very knowledgeable in any decade after 1920s, but I know at least that bullet bra were already a thing in the 40s? You can see it in 40s dress silhouettes too.

After all this wildly inaccurate info, the whole point of the info graph is that lingerie is going backwards and apparently it’s a bad thing. It gives the impression that undergarments were bad in the ye olden times, then they got good and apparently they are bad again. I think the funniest part is when it says in the 80s bit that “lingerie no longer a way to control the body but to empower women”. Empower how? How were 80s bras more empowering that previous or following bras? Also it says that the ideal figure was “any”. Now, I’m not that familiar with 80s, but if you look at the fashion then, you definitely notice a common silhouette: broad shoulders and natural waist.

After that apparently shaping bras are used to make the bust look bigger, which is bad I guess. Worse than padding on shoulders for some reason?

It is not outright said that the undergarments of earlier periods were used to control women’s bodies, but it’s implied. That’s a really common misconception, but not really true. In the 17th century women didn’t wear stays, but the bodice was heavily structured and boned. When mantua (loose robe draped on body, think of robe á la francaise) entered the western fashion (around 1680s), women jumped on it. Stays became very quickly very popular, to give the fashionable silhouette even without the rigid bodice. Stays and mantua combo was more comfortable and more adjustable to changes in body so it took completely over the fashion during the 18th century. And when corsets became a thing in the Victorian era, most corset makers were women. Women invented a lot of the engineering that went into patterning corsets.

Corsets and stays were not some torture devices. They were flexible, constructed with the right measurements and their purpose wasn’t to reduce the measurements of the body, but rather create optical illusions and support the bust and the back. Many people who have used recreations of historical corsets say they are in many ways more comfortable than modern bras, which shift all the weight of the bust on shoulders. Corsets and stays distributed it on hips instead. Perhaps the biggest actual health concern with a regular use of corset especially (excluding tight lacing and stays didn’t to my knowledge have this problem at least to the same extend) is it supporting the back too much, making the wearer’s deep muscles wither. So in a way, they were too comfortable. Victorians were aware of that, and upper class women, who didn’t do manual labour, were encouraged to excercise to keep their torso in good shape.

Now at some point when making this post, I started to wonder who made this illustration and why. It does seem, if not well researched, at least professional. After googling the label in the bottom left corner, I found this.

The poster is saying it’s terrible when fashion tries to shape your body with clothing and it has the solution for you. Shape your body literally with the serum they are selling. They even say in the 2000s section that big bust is the desired shape, which now looks a lot like marketing. Though it doesn’t seem like they are selling it anymore. Their website is down and I couldn’t find any info on them. The whole product seems a little suspicious. It’s apparently a cream containing estrogen you put on your breasts and it should make your breast grow. Now I’m no expert, but that’s not how estrogen works. Any cream that claims it has some hormones that will change your body or skin? They don’t work. Don’t buy them.

I think this illustrates very well why I disagree so much with the idea that shaping your silhouette with clothing was so terrible and it’s good that we moved away from it. Fashion always has a silhouette, it’s part of the overall look. When the silhouette was still achieved with undergarments, your body shape and size didn’t matter. It wasn’t about the size, it was about proportion and you could create that with corsets/stays, padding and illusions. Nowadays you see sometimes thin celebrities praised for being fashionable when they wear boring clothes which show their stomach, and people have started to question if they actually have style or are they just thin. And often bigger people are ridiculed for wearing the exact same thing. Now it’s the body which is fashionable, not the clothing. And it leads to companies like these trying to push people to change their bodies.

Now, I don’t think any strict fashion or beauty standard is ever good, even if it could be achieved with clothing alone. But I think there’s something to be learned from past, to maybe not reserve fashion and style only for a specific type of body. I don’t think it’s ever helpful or healthy for a body type to be trendy. There’s always all types of bodies and they all deserve to enjoy style, if they wish.

TL;DR: Add tried to sell their boob cream by spewing inaccuracies about historical undergarments.

[imgoingtofreakoutnow]

An old friend - Part 1

Summary: You're back in London after years living in the countryside and tonight you're attending the Cowper's ball. Who knows who'll you meet there?

Pairing: Anthony Bridgerton x Fem!reader

Other characters: Violet Bridgerton, Sir Hugh Feversham (OMC)

Words: 2k+

Warnings: very slight mentions of attempt at harassment, a bit of Regency-era yearning

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Not my gif, credit to the rightful owner

Whoever entered the Cowper’s estate to attend that evening’s ball would’ve been blinded by the richness of the decorations: the cristalized tears of the chandeliers glimmered in the dancing lights of the candles and at every corner colourful flowers spread their sweet and enchanting scent all around the huge ballroom.

Every person in it could just stare in silent awe of the magnificent view, taking in even the smallest detail as the music caressed their ears, a silk touch to the soul... but to you, that wonder was your last interest.

“Miss Y/L/N!”

You, right now, had the hardest task to accomplish: lose in the huge crowd a terribly improper suitor, Sir Hugh Feversham, who followed you in the gardens and tried to forcefully kiss you. Luckily the slap he received had shocked him enough to give you a ten seconds headstart before he stubbornly followed.

“Miss Y/L/N, please.” His voice was closer than before, so you tried to quicken your pace without looking like running away from anyone. ”If I could just explain myself to you...”

Part of you just wanted to turn and face him - or to be more accurate, slap him, again - and thus expose his terrible behaviour to every soul in the room. However another part of you, the thoughtful and rational one, knew that the situation in which you were tangled was very inconvenient, with or without your willingness to be part of it.

Keeping this in mind, avoiding him for the rest of the night was the best choice you had, if not the only one. Nevertheless, you couldn’t spend every second left at the ball running in circles trying to outrun him... you needed somewhere to hide.

Since the gardens were off-limits, you scanned the room, looking for a dark corner in which you could disappear or, even better, a friendly face who could save you. But having just moved back in London after years living in the countryside, you wouldn’t recognize an old friend even if you bumped into them.

As you kept walking, a kind voice reached your ears: “You must dance at least with one girl, Anthony. You can’t stand here on the side while many young ladies wait hopelessly to be asked a dance”

That name stopped you in your track, opening memories you thought you forgot. It couldn't be...

Slowly turning to the woman and the young man she was talking to, you scanned them closely, searching in their faces those features you kept for so long in your mind.

“Lady Bridgerton?”

The woman turned towards you with a gentle smile on her face, even though her eyes scanned you with a puzzled look. "Shall I know you, dear?"

"I believe not". You curtseyed, somehow remembering the manners you've been learning since you were born. "It has been a while since we last saw each other"

"Then would you please us with your name, miss?"

You moved your eyes on the young man, Anthony Bridgerton, his furrowed glare locked on you. He probably thought you were some crazy lady or whatever... he surely didn't remember.

"Of course, my lord. I'm-"

"Miss Y/L/N" Lady Bridgerton's eyes finally widened in recognition. She left her son's arm and took your hand in hers. "It has been quite some time. You left that you were just a child but now..." - she took another look at you, from head to toe - "you've bloomed into a beautiful woman"

You gently squeezed her hand. "It's a true joy seeing a friendly face in this buzzing crowd. You wouldn't believe what happened to me just-"

"Miss Y/L/N"

You tightened the grip on Lady Bridgerton's hand when Sir Hugh appeared by your side.

"I've finally caught up with you" he smiled, slick as he was in the garden. "I believe we could talk better on the dancefloor"

He stretched out his hand but you didn't want to take it; every inch of your body screamed to stay away from him. However you had no excuse to refuse him a dance without exposing yourself in the meantime.

You let go of Violet's hand, ready take Sir Hugh's, when a third hand broke in between the two of you.

"Sadly sir, miss Y/L/N is already engaged for this dance", and with that, Anthony guided you to the dancefloor, just in time for a waltz.

"I believe you just saved me" you sighed in relief, watching your suitor finally walking away. "I shall be forever in debt with you, Lord Bridgerton"

"Please, call me Anthony" he murmured with a knowing smile gracing his lips. "We know each other too well to be bothered by these titles"

You raised your eyebrows, faking surprise. "Are you to tell me you haven't changed in the slightest, my lord? Even after all these years?"

"Surely I have, but deep down I'm still the boy who ran with you down the hallways of our estate", and looking in his eyes, you caught a glimpse of the mischievous kid you once knew.

You smiled. "So you do remember me"

"My lady... you wound me". Anthony pulled you closer, leaning over your shoulder. "A gentleman never forgets his first kiss"

“A real gentleman would never discuss such matters while dancing with a lady” you reminded him. “Besides, we were nothing but two kids trying to emulate adults: I remember well the disgusted look on your face as you run back crying to your mother”

You noticed an hint of red on your partner’s face but he didn’t seem to care. “Shall I not cherish those old days regardless?” Anthony fixed your gaze in yours. “I recall adventures in the wild corners of the gardens, afternoons spent searching for treasures through my mother’s drawers and rainy days watching my father’s atlas on the settee near the library’s window...”

"...dreaming of all the places we would visit together" you finished for him, smiling fondly at those memories. "I do miss those times: everything was much more easier back then"

"Indeed" Anthony's grip on your hand slightly tightened as the look on his face grew serious. "Now, would you like to tell me what that man has done to put you in such distress a moment ago?"

You freezed in his arms, almost losing the tempo of the dance. "I don't think you would like to hear it..."

"That is for sure" he agreed. "But I need to know what happened. This way I shall find a way to help you"

"And how could you possibly help me?"

"You would be surprised by the power I have, miss Y/L/N". Then, after a twirl: "So? Are you going to enlighten me or shall I beg you?"

With a sigh, you told him what had happened in the gardens, even though the mere remembering gave you chills down your spine.

"I truly cannot understand why he did that" you told him, shaking your head. "I was just trying to make some new acquaintances and he seemed nice... but I did not gave him any hints that I fancied him!"

"I'm sure you didn't, but some men know nothing of honor and virtue". His knitted brow framed a marble face. "I shall make sure Sir Hugh Feversham is exposed for his actions. If he did something to you, rest assured that many other ladies will have more to say on the matter"

Finally, a smile appeared again on your face. "I can't find the words to convey how grateful I am to you, my lord"

"It's the least I can do for an old friend" he said, his mouth now mirroring yours.

For a moment, you just spinned around the room, letting the music guide your steps as you gazed in each other's eyes. You felt so light that it seemed your feet weren't even touching the floor.

"I know this might sound egoistical" Anthony said, breaking the silence, "but, as much as this experience must have been terrible for you, I'm delighted that it brought you back to me, Y/N". His hand moved to the centre of your back, his eyes never leaving yours. You didn't realise how disgracefully close the two of you had gotten. "I shall believe we will see each other more frequently from now on, if you still enjoy my company"

It took you a moment to realise the music had stopped and you two were now still on the dancefloor as everyone moved around like bees above flowers. A shaky breath left your lips.

"I fail to see how I could deny my presence to you after so long"

The smile Anthony gave you took away the last air in your lungs. Suddenly your corset felt too tight around your chest as he put a hand on your elbow to gently pull you to the side of the room. His mother was there, a pleased smile tugging her lips.

"You're a marvelous dancer, my dear, lighter than a butterfly" she said, before looking at you with worry. "Are you quite alright? You seem slightly overheated..."

"I'm feeling wonderfully, Lady Bridgerton. It has been a very pleasant dance, your son is very talented" you swiftly cut her off, taking the focus away from your flushed cheeks.

"I only wish he would show his hidden talents more often" she sighed, giving a side glare to Anthony who simply rolled his eyes. You stifled a laugh, curtseying once more.

"It's been the most welcome surprise meeting you here, Lady Bridgerton. Thank you for being so kind to me"

"The pleasure was all ours". She took again your hand in hers, smiling at you just like a mother would. "And I shall hope we will see you again soon. Perhaps tomorrow for tea? I'm certain your presence will be appreciated by everyone in the household"

You kindly accepted Violet's offer, promising to take her greetings to your mother.

She then eyed Benedict on the other side of the ballroom. "I shall go now and retrieve all my dear children". When Anthony offered his arm to her, she gently shook her head. "There's no need. I'm capable of wander through these rooms without a chaperone. But thank you, dear".

You watched her walk off to his second son and giggled seeing Benedict's resigned look when Violet caught his arm. Like a predator on its prey.

"Even after all those years, my family doesn't fail to make you laugh"

At Anthony's comment you felt the heat in the room rising once again. "I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to offend-"

"You couldn't offend us even if you tried". He smiled again at you, earning a shy smile from you as well. Then he took your hand.

"Are you to dance with me twice in a evening, Lord Bridgerton?" you asked cheekily. "I wonder what the ton would say".

"As much as I would like to be the next front-page scandal of Lady Whistledown," he said, stroking his thumb on the back of your hand, "I shall now reunite with my family as well"

You lowered your gaze, cursing your boldness more than ever. "Of course, my lord"

"But it has been a pleasure dancing with you, miss Y/L/N. And trust my word when I say that isn't something I can often admit"

He didn't wait for your answer. He took your gloved hand to his mouth, placing on the fabric over your knuckles a light kiss. As your heart pounded against the strings of your corset, you never wished so hardly your skin was bare just were he touched it.

"Goodnight, miss Y/L/N". Anthony bowed. Then, his voice the softest whisper: "Tomorrow won't come fast enough, my lady, and I shall wait impatiently for us to be in the same room again"

Breathless, you watched him walk away, his phantom touch lingering on your hand. You slowly moved it to your mouth, placing a kiss just were he did and with closed eyes, it was like kissing his lips.

"Goodnight, Anthony"

[harmony88]

None Left to Protest

Chapter 1: Love is Blind (read on Ao3) 

(I’ve never really posted my chapters on here like this, so I thought I’d give it a go. Genuinely have no idea how this works on this site 😂) 

Summary: Six months after the Battle of Canary Wharf, the Doctor and Rose are still circling the stars, but dealing with the loss of Jackie and the ghost of nearly losing one another. The Doctor decides to plan a day with Rose in mind and takes her to 16th century England, where he hopes to finally tell her some of the things he once swore he never would, but when they hear whispers of witches and meet the Bard himself, nothing goes according to plan.

The TARDIS door opened, and the Doctor stepped out first with a wide smile on his face. He was in his pinstripes, and he took a loud whiff of the air, laughing as he began to look around.

“London, England, 1599!” he announced, gazing at the people in simple frocks marching across dirt roads, but when he turned to look over his shoulder, he frowned when he realised Rose wasn’t with him.

He then smiled knowingly.

“You don’t have to change!” he called out. “No one is going to care. They’re all too drunk to notice. Trust me.”

“But this is more fun,” she said as she peeked her head out the door only to disappear again a moment later, and with a smirk, he began muttering under his breath to himself, because he knew it was going to be close to twenty minutes before she was ready to explore now, and while that normally wouldn’t bother him because it would mean he could simply get a head start and look around, today was all about her, and he was already feeling rather nervous. He sniffed and cleared his throat, looking up at the sky. It was still daylight, and twenty minutes wouldn’t delay them too terribly. He could make up for it and still do all the things he wanted to do and show her all the things he planned to show her before sunset, and he spent a few minutes leaning against the ship, people watching.

It always struck him how much the human race embraced hustle and bustle regardless of what era they might be in. Everyone was on a mission, whether it was to find ale or bread or make a bit of money, and he watched countless interactions unfold before his very eyes that really weren’t so different from what Rose was used to. It made him smile, and he began to tap his foot on the ground when a man began to play a lute a few metres away from him for change, and he threw a pound in his direction, landing it in his bucket perfectly.

“Oi! Thanks, mate!” he chimed, and the Doctor nodded, continuing to look around. The pub was exactly where he knew it would be, which was good. That was the first stop on his agenda for the day. There were a few others he wanted to make before the most important one, and he began to recite his speech in his head. Words held such meaning, and he was completely lost in what he wanted to make sure he said today that he didn’t hear the door open, and it hit him right in the back of the head.

“Ow,” he groaned, but he turned to look at her, and he forgot about all types of pain entirely when he saw her smile. “Wow. Look at you.”

“Yeah?” she asked, and he nodded, not quite sure how words worked at all suddenly. She was wearing a dress that was a perfect shade of gold, corseted up top and billowy at the bottom, but there was a slight green trim along the skirt that matched the headband she put in her hair. She was every inch perfection, and he had to actively tell himself not to stare or call her beautiful, because he knew she would make some comment about the first time he’d said those words to her, and he had a bloody plan to adhere to. But this dress was making it quite hard to think about that at the moment, especially when she fluffed the skirt and let him see the way it highlighted every part of her body in ways he was pretending he didn’t notice, and he tugged at his ear nervously, giving her a wide smile.

This day was about her , after all.

“Wait here,” he said, and she bit her lip and almost teased him for wasting time when he ran inside, returning a minute later with a necklace. “I was given this once from a market in Syracuse. The planet, not the town - I’d helped them with an oil spill, it’s actually a long and rather lovely story, basically, I was…”

She smiled, and he sighed, shaking his head.

“The gem is a sign of friendship and it, erm. Well, it matches. If you want.”

“Do I wanna be your friend?” she whispered, and their eyes danced, completely unaware of everyone around them for a moment. “I mean…I s’pose if I have to.”

“Fair enough,” he said, and she laughed.

“Shut up. I’d love to wear it,” she told him, and before he could quite process what was happening she turned around and tucked her hair over her shoulder, allowing him access to put it on for her. Very slowly, he took a step closer to her, his lungs filling with the scent of orange blossom and lilies from her perfume, and he had to focus on the task at hand with everything he had. The necklace came to rest right above her heart as he closed the clasp, and for a moment, he was overcome by the desire to plant a small kiss to her shoulder.

He didn’t. He couldn’t. Not yet.

There was a plan.

She let out a breath when she felt him take a step back.

“How’s that?” he whispered.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, turning around to look at him, and he smiled. “Thank you.”

“Glad you like it,” he said, and as she smiled brightly at him, he held out his arm, which she took happily. “So, as I was saying before. Welcome to London. 1599. Lots on the agenda, Rose Tyler! Starting with chips.”

“What?” she asked, laughing, but he just nodded toward the pub, and they began to walk. “You know we can get chips anywhere, right? Places with indoor plumbing, maybe.”

“Ah, but the chips of yore are a delicacy. Trust me,” he mused, holding the door open for her as they stepped inside, immediately overcome by the smell of piss and beer, but he didn’t seem to notice. In fact, he was suddenly smiling like a madman at her, and she sat down at a table near the window (trying to get some air, at least), bantering with him as he went to order a plate of fish and chips for each of them, and when he came to sit down in front of her, he winked. “10 quid it’s the best thing you’ve ever tasted.”

“20,” she said.

“Done,” he said, and she just smiled and looked out the window at the town. She could see the Thames, but other than that she didn’t recognize any of the buildings, and he watched her carefully, trying to get a sense of how she was feeling. “I… Rose, I know we promised not to come back for a while. But this is a different time. A new era, even though it's a rather old era… So…I just… If you want to leave, we can -”

“No,” she said, looking at him softly, and he clenched his jaw. “It’s okay. I’m excited.”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, smiling when he took her hand across the table and gave it a squeeze. “It’s just so different.”

“Not really,” he said. “Look over there. They’ve got recycling.”

She peered out the window just in time to see a man scoop a pile of manure into a bucket, and she bit her lip and gave him a look that made him smile.

“And water cooler moments,” she added, pointing to two men talking near a barrel. He hummed thoughtfully, both flirting quite hard.

“And the whole world will be engulfed by flames!” a drunken man suddenly said at the next table over, and they both watched him make fire noises at his friend and wiggle his fingers like they were eating the air, and they locked eyes.

“Global warming,” the Doctor stated.

“Or conspiracy theorists,” she said.

“Well, they’re wrong of course, but to some, that’s one and the same,” he teased, and she rolled her eyes, looking back out at the Thames. “There’s… well, there’s entertainment, too. Some of the best.”

"‘ere you go, lovies,” a woman in a dirty top and dirty apron said as she set two plates down in front of them, and Rose’s eyes widened at the smell and the implication the Doctor just made, who thanked the woman as she walked away.

“Try the chips,” he instructed, but she just stared at him. “The sauce, too.”

"Are you talking about Shakespeare?” she asked with a thrill in her voice, and he smiled. “Oh, my God, are we gonna watch a play?!”

“And meet him, if we’re lucky,” he said. “Later. Tonight. There’s an entire day’s worth of things to do before then, but I plan to get us to the best seats psychic paper can buy. The TARDIS said tonight was the best performance of his to go to. I ran a scan.”

“Are you serious?” she asked, and when he just nodded, she smiled and took a bite of her chips, immediately moaning. “Oh, my God.”

“Good?” he asked.

“Gorgeous!” she exclaimed, and he chuckled and took his own bite, thinking to himself she truly was. “What play?”

“Not sure. Figured it could be a surprise for both of us. But…well, seeing as it’s 1599, I can only assume it’s either Love’s Labour’s Lost or Much Ado About Nothing , and oooh… I hope it’s the latter. One of my favourites.”

“I’ve never seen it,” she stated, and his eyes widened.

“By my sword, Beatrice, thou lovest me. Do not swear, and eat it. I will swear by it that you love me and I will make him eat it that says I love not you  -” he began to spout at a rapid speed, and Rose began to look at him like he was nuts. “Will you not eat your word?”

“What are you doing?”

“With no sauce that can be devised to it, I protest that I love thee. Why then, God forgive me. What offence, sweet Beatrice? You have stayed me in a happy hour. I was about to protest that I love you. And do it with all thy heart -”

“Doctor, what are you -”  

“I love you with so much of my heart there is none left to protest!” he said definitively, and she stared at him.

“What? ” she gasped, and he closed his mouth instantly, stunned. “What did you just say?”

“I didn’t. I… I was quoting my favourite scene in Much Ado. It’s what Beatrice says. To Benedick,” he clarified, looking down at his plate of food, and she reminded herself to breathe. Suddenly, he looked up, completely confused. “How have you never seen that? ”

“I never went to the theatre growing up,” she said, shrugging, and he sighed, realising she was most likely thinking about her mother suddenly. “But it sounds like a lovely play.”

“It is,” he said softly, but the next thing they knew a crowd in the corner of the room cheered, and the same woman who had served them walked over and handed a man with tangled brown hair a tankard.

“Drink up, Will. There’s enough beer in this ‘ole to serve the Spanish.”

“Dolly Bailey, you’ve saved my life,” the man said, and Rose’s eyes widened. The Doctor just scoffed in disbelief.

“It can’t be…” he said.

“I think it is,” Rose laughed, and they both looked over at the man again. Dolly Bailey was clearly flirting with him, and there was another woman in a plain uniform washing the table they were all seated next to.

“Oi, girl, hurry up with your tasks. The talk of gentleman is best not over’eard,” Dolly Bailey said, and the woman practically curseyed as she nodded. She was rather pretty, Rose thought, with bright blue eyes that reminded her of the ocean, and the Doctor sat back, watching as Shakespeare took a sip of his beer and looked right at the man he was sitting with.

“ Love’s Labour’s Won , are you mad?!” he asked squarely. “We’re not ready. We’re meant to go next week, not tonight.”

“Oh, brilliant,” the Doctor hummed, and Rose laughed, taking another bite of food as the two men continued to quarrel.

“We can do it,” Shakespeare said.

“You’ve not finished it!” another man, who was smaller than the one sitting directly across from Shakespeare and therefore had been hidden until he spoke, piped up.

“I’ve just one more scene to go,” Shakespeare said with a smile, and the two other men just looked at each other. “Burbage, come. You trust me, don’t you? I’ll finish my beer and go write. We’ll be ready by sunset.”

“Burbage?” Rose whispered, and the Doctor smiled at her.

“Richard Burbage. Shakespeare’s leading man for most of his life,” he muttered. “The other one must be William Kempe. Another actor. Apparently there weren’t very many first names in this time… I’ll be right back.”

“What are you doing?” Rose whispered, but he just winked, and she rolled her eyes when he was suddenly standing over Shakespeare’s shoulder, laughing with him.

“So sorry to interrupt,” he began. “You’re Mister Shakespeare, are you not?”

“Look, I’m not signing any autographs at the moment, lad, best to sod off. I’m not posing for any portraits either, don’t have the time. Not today.”

“Oh, no, no, that wasn’t -”

“He’s just a big fan,” Rose said, coming to stand next to the Doctor, and she smiled. “We’ll be going.”

“Hey, nonny, nonny, halt,” Shakespeare said, and the Doctor’s smile fell when he saw the look that crossed his idol’s face now that Rose was there. “Come sit by me, bright angel.”

“Nope. We’ll be going,” the Doctor said instead, but Shakespeare grabbed Rose’s hand and tugged her down, giving her no choice but to sit directly next to him on the bench he was occupying. The Doctor clenched his jaw.

“Such beauty,” he said, cupping his cheek in his hand as he gazed at her. “Those lips are shaped by the goddess of love herself, this hair shines brighter than the sun…”

“Come lads, I think Will has found his new muse,” Dolly Bailey murmured, and Kempe and Burbage both shared a glance with the Doctor before they stood and left them alone. The Doctor took Kempe’s seat.

“What is your name?” Shakespeare asked, bringing Rose’s hand up to his lips, and she just looked at the Doctor, who sniffed and pulled out his psychic paper.

"Yoo-hoo. Hello. I’m the Doctor, this is my companion, Rose,” he said, holding it up.

“Companion?” Shakespeare said with a twinkle in his eye. “My, my. Is that what they call it nowadays?”

"Watch it, Romeo,” Rose said, and he smiled at her.

“Romeo, what a clever name. I must remember that… And Rose, was it? Lovely. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” he whispered, kissing her hand anyway, and the Doctor tried not to glare at him.

This was not part of the plan.  

“Interesting piece of paper you have there, Doctor. It’s blank,” Shakespeare said. “Could use some words.”

“Words, words, words…” the Doctor muttered, and Shakespeare’s eyes lit up. “That’s brilliant. That you can see that. You’re brilliant. I knew you were, but… well… This proves it.”

“It’s psychic,” Rose said, locking eyes with the Doctor, who swallowed. She pulled her hand away from Shakespeare’s and reached for his under the table, which he took quickly, and he gave it a squeeze. She visibly relaxed, and he had to look away to stop himself from giving Shakespeare a cocky grin.

Oh, she knows.

“Psychic?” Shakespeare laughed. “Never heard that word before. I must remember it. Your accents… What part of the country are you from?”

“Oh, it’s… a bit far,” the Doctor said, and Rose bit her lip, when suddenly she noticed the girl from earlier watching them with her blue eyes. She waved at her, and instantly, the girl looked away. “Did I hear you mention you were going to perform Love’s Labour’s Won tonight?”

“Ideally,” Shakespeare said. “Have you seen the first?”

“Love’s Labour’s Lost?” Rose asked, and the Doctor’s face broke out into a smile, thinking everything about this day just got to be a lot more interesting.

“Oh, yes,” the Doctor said, squeezing Rose’s hand again, and Shakespeare just chuckled and finished his beer, when a man with rather wiry hair came running over to them looking as angry as Rose had ever seen a man look.

“MASTER SHAKESPEARE,” the man bellowed, and Rose looked down at Burbage’s abandoned tankard of beer, which rippled as the sound ricocheted across the room. “Master Kempe and Master Burbarge have informed me that you are seeking to perform a play without warning in just eight hours. As Master of Revelry for this town, I demand to see a script! No performance of any kind may take place without my approval!”

Rose could smell the testosterone, and she glanced at the Doctor, who chuckled.

“The script! Now!” the man ordered, and Shakespeare sighed.

“Master Lynley, please,” he began. “Just give me a few hours.”

“NOW!” Lynley screeched, and Shakespeare shook his head. “Then tonight’s performance is cancelled.”

Shakespeare closed his eyes, and Rose looked back over at the woman, who slipped away through the side door. She furrowed her brow.

"Well, I’m sure you can perform it another time,” the Doctor said, noticing that Shakespeare had started to inch closer to Rose as he had been yelled at, and he’d quite frankly seen enough men pine after her for one day. “Nice to meet you.”

He stood and wrapped his entire arm around Rose’s waist as they began to walk away. Rather scandalous for the time, he knew, but she seemed to relish it, and it also seemed to make his point to Shakespeare, who shook his head. He led her back over to the table by the window and was about to sit down so they could finish their lunch when Rose gave him a certain look he recognised completely, and he sighed.

“What?”

“I think maybe we should try talking to Lynley,” she offered, and he closed his eyes. “Look at him. He’s devastated.”

They both looked over at Shakespeare, who was indeed sulking at the moment, and the Doctor sniffed. “ Love’s Labour’s Won doesn’t exist, Rose. It’s his lost play. It’s mentioned in his folios but there’s no record of it. I doubt it was ever performed.”

“Or… Was it just performed once and then was lost,” she offered, and he started to smirk, seeing where she was going with this. “Please? The TARDIS told you tonight was the best performance to attend for a reason, what if this is it?”

“A moment in history,” he murmured.

“Exactly. And who are you to argue history, Doctor?” she flirted, and his gaze dropped to her lips for a moment. Her next words caught in her throat, and he licked his own lips, then turned his attention back to her eyes. “Doctor…”

“Oh, fine,” he said, his breath hitting her cheek as he took her hand, and she bounced happily as they walked outside and tried to find Lynley, but they didn’t have to go very far, because he was walking back into the pub.

Holding his neck.