#v: Turning of the Century

[diaryofawallfly]

❛ ... you look like you could use a hand with that. ❜ (bearer of marks verse)

"With...? Ah...," he looked down at the latté in his hand; caramel ribbon crunch with an extra shot of espresso, almond milk, and additional caramel syrup.

Then he looked at his other hand, dragging a tarp with a not-yet-corpse in tow.

"Ah."

He looked back at the man. He didn't... seem perturbed at his finding: a stranger kidnapping an individual in the middle of the night. Maybe that was worse. Well, he'd soon find out.

"Actually, if you don't mind? Could you hold my coffee while I wrap this up?"

[fashionsfromhistory]

Bodice Ornament & Hair Comb

René Lalique

1903-1904

The Art Nouveau style caused a dramatic shift in jewellery design, reaching a peak around 1900 when it triumphed at the Paris International Exhibition.

Its followers created sinuous, organic pieces whose undercurrents of eroticism and death were a world away from the floral motifs of earlier generations. Art Nouveau jewellers like René Lalique also distanced themselves from conventional precious stones and put greater emphasis on the subtle effects of materials such as glass, horn and enamel.

René Lalique, 'the admitted king of Paris fashions', chose his materials for aesthetic effect and artistic refinement, not for mere preciousness or brilliance. Credited with introducing horn into the jewellery repertoire, he dazzled the public with a collection of ornamental combs made of horn. They were moulded and sculpted in the shape of flowers, waves and butterflies.

Victoria & Albert Museum (M.116A-1966 & M.116A-1966)

[lazylittledragon]

discussion: would gale accept only getting a few decades with his partner because he’s a squishy human OR would he go the lich route a la barry bluejeans

[enlitment]

You've heard of Snakes on a Plane, now get ready for Voltaire on a Train

[resplendentoutfit]

Going for a Stroll in the late 19th century and Turning the Corner into the 20th Century.

Day dress • 1897 • V&A, London

Below:

Left: 1892-1894 Right: 1910

Day dress • 1897 • V&A, London

Blue and purple day dress • c. 1910-1912 • Italian • Pitti Palace: Museum of Costume and Fashion

[lurking-latinist]

OK, so, clearly Davie is behaving like an idiot this week. He’s trying to “protect” Catriona by one-sidedly setting the terms of their relationship. He should not do that.

I do think it is being intentionally presented as him making the wrong decision, at least by RLS if not by older!Davie the in-universe narrator. We can see that Catriona is in fact thinking and doing things that he just isn’t noticing or responding to. And—spoiler that first-time readers may find reassuring—they do communicate later and it does make things better when they do.

We’ve seen that Davie doesn’t always communicate well in emotionally-charged situations (see: mending his friendship with Alan by means of “what if I literally lie down and die here”) and I think this is another example of that. But I do think it *is* legitimately a difficult situation. Part of the reason he doesn’t want to talk to her about it is because he’s afraid that even saying “this situation looks kind of exploitative” could itself be exploitative. And, within the social norms in which they live, that might be kind of true. If he says “you know, this situation looks kind of sexually charged” to a woman in this situation, in the 1750s, she really might feel pressured to either leave (when she has no money) or marry him (even if she doesn’t really want to). So I do think he is genuinely trying not to put pressure on her, in this awkward situation that those social norms really do not account for in the first place.

What he is failing to consider, but what I think the narrative is revealing anyway, is that Catriona has independently noticed that the situation is potentially sexually charged.

Which isn’t great, but I honestly don't think we’re meant to think he’s right to ignore that.

[v-thinks-on]

“Through here!” Holmes hissed, pushing the door the rest of the way open and drawing me into a close chamber.

It was in truth not such a small room, but shelves packed with musty books crowded the walls so as to make it appear tighter. The remaining space was dominated by an antique bureau, worn down by what looked to be more than age, the fine wood scratched and stained.

The footsteps which led us there abruptly fell silent as though cornered, but I saw no one in the study apart from ourselves. However, open on the desk, as though someone had been interrupted in the middle of a page, was an old journal, and Holmes swiftly descended upon it.

“What’s this?” He murmured, hovering over the page and taking care not to disturb it. “This entry is dated to December 31st, 1799: ‘My lot is naught but madness. Madness which compelled me to return to this accursed place and madness which keeps me here, as though imprisoned in the home where I would be master. Another man might call my fear of this place mad, but I feel those burning eyes following me, hungering for my flesh, and the horrible whispers which reach into my very soul. It is always there, waiting for the slightest lapse, lurking around every bend.’”

To be continued...

[butchlifeguard]

the she/theys vs he/theys and wlw vs mlm posts are symptoms of a larger problem within the queer community 👍

[gogmstuff]

1890s dresses -

Top  1891 Reception dress. From tumblr.com/fashion-inspiration-s 1280X1920.

Second row left  1890-1895 Dinner dress front (location ?). From tumblr.com/costumeloverz71 626X900.

Second row right  1890-1895 Dinner dress back (location ?). From tumblr.com/costumeloverz71 865X1200.

Third row  ca. 1895 Paquin Robe de forme cloche en satin de soie chocolat (Tessier Sarou - 21Nov22 auction Lot 15). From their Web site 1776X2750 @144 4Mp.

Fourth row  1896 Worth evening dress (auctioned by Hindman). From tumblr.com/fashionsfromthepast 1061X1600.

Fifth row  1898 Lisa Colt Curtis by John Singer Sargent (location ?). From tumblr.com/baroque-beauty-24 1450X3072.

[flockrest]

eavesdropping, are we? / accepting / @gloryseized ( Link )

     "Where did you hear this from."

     The fledgling stills, blinking in unabashed nonplus, as though he had thrown out a complete non sequitur and not a perfectly reasonable question. The implications seem to seize Tulin by the wing a moment later, though; he suddenly ducks his head down, shying away from the boundary he's crossed with twiddling wingtips and averted eyes. Even so, he treads on its edges. "From you, Master Revali."

     From him. Cheeky. He's never breathed a word of those thoughts, adjacent or otherwise, to anyone or anything that would be alive enough to actively divulge them. Tulin wouldn't have any way of knowing about the knight he asks after, if not for the journal that had been returned to Revali in his first few days of roost-ridden recuperation — safekept in his absence, he surmises, by Teba. The boy's father.

     ...It shouldn't rankle him this much. A century of presumed death and a fledgling too curious for his own good — or Revali's. All but confirmed when Tulin blurts, seemingly spurred by his silence, "Sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't— I didn't know you'd still be here."

     He chuffs, not quite laughing nor scoffing. His feathers are no less ruffled for it, but therein lies the crux of everything. Nobody, really, was expecting their Champions to "be here". To come back. Perhaps this was only to be expected.

     Revali doesn't owe anyone his honesty. He hadn't back then — and certainly doesn't now, when he still finds, at times, the beginnings of far bygone names forming on his tongue or strange waves of wistfulness for an existence better left behind washing over him.

     "It wasn't difficult to dislike him," he allows, after a long stretch of folding everything back into himself.

     Tulin perks up, Windlines beneath his wings once more.

     "Speaking with him was often more trouble than it was worth."

     The fledgling nods sagely. He says, with the air of someone simply repeating something he hasn't quite digested yet, "'It's like talking to a stone.'"

     Revali smothers the sound swelling in his chest before it can pass his throat. Yes, he'd written something to that effect, hadn't he? That Tulin would recall such a line, supposedly verbatim — made all the better by the fact he hasn't made the connection yet, between this knight he naively slights and the one he's enthused at length over.

     And why would he? Or any Rito, for that matter. The blasted aches in his wings flare as his thoughts stray towards them, reminding him: a century has passed for all of them. Link, from what he's garnered in the Hylian's recent visits, is no longer even a knight. With the way he fits so perfectly into a space he’s either carved for himself or the others have made for him here, sometime in his journey before defeating Calamity Ganon…to the flock — to this flock — he is no more nor less than just Link. Champion descendant, apparently ( and isn’t that ludicrous in an entirely different sense ), but that's about the furthest they dare to reach. Sometimes, Revali wants to guide those wings to the truth.

     ( Sometimes, he wants to break this rhythm Link has created with his people, if only to have someone flounder for fragments with him. )

     "He was much like Link," Revali says, head turning away and tipping back to gaze at the skies, at nothing and everything.

     He doesn't have to see him to know that Tulin's leaned in with widened eyes, his own head tilted to the side. "Like Link? Really?"

     He doesn't repeat himself. The fledgling — as his equally tiny peers seem to like doing — always makes something of his silence, anyway.

     "Link’s lots better though, right? Master Revali?"

     He does laugh, then: a brief huff of something that might be amused. "Well, he's not any worse."

[diaryofawallfly]

continued from x with @lantern-lost

"All-night shops are a marvel, aren't they?" he set about tucking the body back under a fold in the tarp. It was lost on him how he could go about his business like this and not have anyone care. He chalked it up to the American city. They couldn't possibly-- hopefully-- all be like this, right?

"I got it from... It was a couple blocks down and next to the petrol station," he looks off in the direction, perplexed, "Now that you mention it, I don't really remember it... but the coffee is wonderful. I recommend it."

He stood up and pulled a cloth from his suit jacket to wipe his hands, though dried stains remained. He also took the moment of having free hands to remove his jacket and throw it over his shoulder. He seemed rather lithe to be hauling a body.

"Thank you," he said with a soft smile and took back his coffee, "A stranger's kindness is rare nowadays. I very much appreciate it."

He offered his hand.

"Renfield. And you are?"

[fashionsfromhistory]

Evening Dress

Jay's Ltd. (London, England)

c.1908

Victoria & Albert Museum (Accession Number: T.193&A-1970)

[sanguinifex]

Just FYI, the last time “why bother, both parties are the same” was a remotely true statement was the Dewey vs. Truman race in 1948. Please register to vote.

[amillixnvoicesarch]

❛  Stay  close  to  me.  ❜ - ( Pulitzer ) @historiavn​

        She can’t remember the LAST TIME she’s heard him say those words to her. If she’s being honest, the Katherine can’t remember if she’s ever heard him say them, but she likes to think so anyway. Not that it matters anyway, or well...it does, but maybe not as much as whatever is going on right now. 

    “Why?” She asks, finally, voice quiet, “What’s wrong?”

[waywardsalt]

drawing is difficult for me and writing is something i’m considerably better at sooooo…

written list of ideas i have for a humanoid design for bellum bc i think im finally zeroing in on something after a few uhhh years of brainstorming

(if you read this and have like. some ideas you want to share or some possible [constructive] criticisms go ahead and share them if you want)

Not actually properly humanoid; he can take on a fully human look but it isn’t his default and requires a bit more energy

Therefore, he usually lacks ears (they’re just. holes), finger or toe nails, a navel, an adam’s apple, or basically any kind of human detail that could be easily overlooked at first glance (maybe leaning into a bit uncanny?). He does have these traits when he actually puts the effort in to pass as human

The traits shared between his usual humanoid form and the more explicitly human form are: an eyepatch over his left eye (he doesn’t have a left eye or eye socket in either form. it’s like one-eyed willy in goonies), yellow hair (actually the same color as link’s), a lack of a nose (effectively like it’s been torn off, just leaving the nostril lines/openings), and a lot of large scars pretty much everywhere (some are just normal looking scars, like one across his face that looks like items from a wound that cost him his nose, while others vaguely resemble the markings on his body when he’s in demon/normal form), so either way he’s going to draw attention

In his usual form (more obviously nonhuman) his left eye is his usual black and orange eye, and he has sharp teeth, but he can switch those to appear more human if he’d like

He’s below the average height and appears to be only slightly muscular, logically more built for flexibility or with the build of a dancer, but his demonic strength remains, though his speed and flexibility is limited by the form he takes

His hair is a mess and mostly short, and if he’s in the more demonic-leaning human form, it’s usually got streaks of black (black is in there in some way, how it appears is still a wip) in all of the yellow

Clothing can vary but most commonly he chooses something loose and casual, he doesn’t particularly value his clothes and doesn’t really have anything to hide and so pick stuff that won’t drag him down or get snagged in a fight, flimsy loose clothes are good

Other times he’ll wear boots and gauntlets and gloves in a more serious context, usually opting for designs and materials similar to what he gives his phantoms, he doesn’t fully lean into the phantom-style of armor or fighting unless he needs to focus on defense, however

In either of his human forms, he’s still capable of fighting (and in his more demonic form he can use his tentacles, the come from his back), and doesn’t so much as have a fighting style as he generally just kills with whatever seems most convenient or entertaining at the time, ranging from creating a weapon for himself to use to just bashing a guy’s skull in with his bare hands

He’s very violent but can talk just fine and can be just about eloquent if he wants but usually leans into being more chaotic and acting the part of a brutal ruffian if the job can be completed using force, so a lot of the time he doesn’t even bother with looking explicitly human most of the time

He greatly prefers his demonic form and uses the human form for specific reasons, and can’t actually use it if he’s too weak

[tenth-sentence]

"V for Vendetta" - Alan Moore and David Lloyd