#white London

[holland-vosijk-antari]

wonder how many people in red london would have white or grey london heritage? surely people made some Connections back when there was open travel between londons? besides, all it takes is one particularly slutty antari a hundred or so years ago laying pipe in more than one london to make quite a bunch of descendents.

[chron0ph0bia]

the way holland and the white londoners refer to red london as "the cruel one"

[ravencromwell]

CW: death CW: mortuary practice

I think it was in the brilliant Muffinworry's Silver I first discovered the idea of Vortalis' bones beneath Astrid Dane's floor. And for a good year, this deeply haunting concept just percolated in the fannish soup. Until the advent of last semester's Art History survey courses. Because within those courses, I got to have an all-to-brief glimpse of the unique mortuary architecture of Çatalhöyük. This neolithic village incorporated the dead's remains into their houses. They were nestled in benches, or foundations. In at least one case, the people of a dwelling seemingly "slept on platforms beneath which their parents and grandparents were buried". With the obvious caveat it's presumptuous as fuck to think we definitely know what historical individuals about whom we have scanty record were thinking, it certainly suggests profound comfort in closeness with their dead.

Which led almost immediately to: this tradition could easily exist as form of reverence in Makt. After all, it is skin, blood, etc. which hold magic; particularly in a post-cataclysm world, it might be considered good luck indeed to hold whatever scraps of magic the dead retain—whatever did not disperse into the funeral dishes of earth and water—close at hand.

Which naturally got me thinking about an Astrid not sacrilegious in our modern! sense—literally walking on bones—but sacrilegious because when she took bones of all those citizens, she appropriated the blessings they should be bringing for their families for herself and Athos. And stripped away ability to know your dead were close at hand, _guarding you. They were instead in a palace you would have no reason to access, guarding the Pale Twins who you hated.

And for Holland in specific, who Vor would have wanted to take the throne if he could no longer hold it, whereupon he would have been guarding the prosperity of Holland's reign. To put them right between the thrones would be too perfect an irony. So Holland would be forced to kneel atop them and remember that in failing to attain. not even vengeance but _justice. He, who valued everything sacred, was absolutely furious at some cigar ash on some long _dead _trees that might. Or might not. Have been the last stand of magic. He had failed to kill the people perverting one of the most sacred rituals.

Kell? _HATES stepping on that piece of floor so! bad it always feels like it's pitching wildly and he's about to tip on his ass. And he will _never understand it's just Vor furiously going 'get your goddamn act together and do! something to HELP! (Kell should have known something was so fucking wrong when there was no vertigo on his way out the throne room the night, they were planning to give him Vitari. Even Vor was like well, you done waited too long and fucked up good and proper for your world too, kid. It would've been unkind to make him fall into the bargain.)

This also has me thinking about a Holland prior to Vor who, both because he moved so constantly and felt _responsible for Talya's and Alox's deaths left them to be utilized in blessing others because he had no right to their protection.

[onaloyveonce]

Holland Vosijk

[crookedcrowclub]

the way adsom begins with “kell wore a very peculiar coat” and acol ends with “kell wore a coat that billowed in the wind” oh i’m gonna need a minute 😭

[badassbutterfly1987]

Research is a funny thing: you start by looking up how widespread ondol were in late Joseon period (no longer reserved for the upper class), then you end up looking into the Little Ice Age, 1816 the Year without a Summer, and the Kyŏngsin Famine.

No idea if any of these will become relevant for writing but you know how it is.

[danielgrant]

Creepy London 🤍

[pinkcupboardwitch]

@muffinworry @ravencromwell @dr-dendritic-trees

we should talk more about cities that are vampires. cities that are cold and wet and sink into your bones and stay there. cities that are hungry and want to live. dead cities that dont know they're dead and suck the life force of their people to maintain the delusion. cities with harbors that are actually mouths; one-way entries. cities that are devastatingly lonely and see consumption as love

[undr]

Snow in Oxford Street, London, 1941

[goryhorroor]

“horror movies were reborn in the 1930s. sound revolutionized cinema across the board and had a huge impact on the horror genre— and not just in the form of dialogue. sound effects added an extra dimension to terror, from creaking doors to echoing footsteps to the rumbling of castle thunder. music cues built suspense or signaled the presence of a threat. as screen storytelling moved away from symbolism towards realism, the dreamlike wraiths of silent cinema were replaced by monsters that grunted, groaned and howled.”

[holland-vosijk-antari]

I've been thinking about how white london probably has different kinds of physical affection to red and grey, I can't imagine hugging being common among people who are casual friends like it is in a lot of places here (I'm talking from the pov of someone from an area not too far away from real london so i get that this isnt the case everywhere lol) hugging requires a certain trust that the person you are hugging is doing anything nefarious with their hands - like stabbing you in the back for instance... so i like to think that in white london where trust is about as thin on the ground as magic, hugging is a massive declaration of trust in which you may as well tell the other you love them.

on an additional note it makes me wonder about what affections would be commonplace, would a kiss on the cheek be a more common greeting to someone you care for? would people give a short bow as a greeting towards an acquaintance? (both things very common in many places in this world too so not exactly strange?) or are people simply all-or-nothing with their affections, giving all their affection to one or two people who have their absolute trust and not showing any at all otherwise?

when it comes to greeting a stranger i was taught in my martial arts classes to introduce myself with both hands visible and to shake hands with both of my hands as a sign of respect within the culture so i wonder if that kind of action would be common in makt - dont hide your hands when trying to gain someones trust or they will think you are hiding something...

[pinkcupboardwitch]

ID: a very small girl dressed in a Mongolian deel with her hair in pigtails stands holding the reins of two reindeer. The background is snowy with some conifers. /end ID

Girl and Reindeer, Mongolia

Jeroen Toirkens

[wh0-is-lily]

Sharon Tate in a Halston hat for Harper’s Bazaar Photographed by Neal Barr, 1967

[ravencromwell]

some scattered disability and White London thoughts:

Schwab missed a hundred thousand opportunities for disability rep; this is a bleak, apocalyptic landscape where one of the prevalent currencies is blood, and both children and adults are frequently attacked for their power.

Sign language. Look. Most magicians need to speak to focus their power, though Schwab makes clear it's more a way to keep up concentration than a necessity (take Lila's tiger, tiger, burning bright. So I wanna see that taken to its logical conclusion: tongues removed because many. many people think they! are the source of power, or at least where immense magic will nest.

Therefore: A thriving culture of sign language, where everyone is at least semi-fluent.

Holland, watching Talya's hands trace the old stories in gorgeous, fluid arcs with her hands as her face takes on a million expressions. Later, finishing them beneath the blankets, fingers tracing words intohis skin in the dark.

Holland stands out as much because his Antariness has allowed him to avoid disability as for the power itself.

Way the fuck more prosthetics particularly prosthetic hands considering how so many people carve element-control runes directly on their skin. Take away your hands, and some enemies would think they could take away your ability to fight.

Lethally sharp hooks for hands, with the runes carved directly into the metal and the most ruthless fighters absolutely willing ready and able to gouge out your eyes with their prosthetics.

Consequently: prosthetic care. Eventually, you have to take your hand/hands off; moisturize the stumps etc. Who you choose to be that vulnerable with says a thousand things about your character. (and the moments when you don't particularly *choose* it but you need to anyway because you've had it on too long and the skin is blistering; infection in Makt would be deadly.

The irritations of amputations. I know from some other characters I've researched for: things like washing your hair with only one functioning hand: an absolute bitch.

Anemia. In AGOS, part of what Ojka says Osaron's powers does is "warm her blood". Everyone in that city must be A. constantly cold; and not cold like a coat can fix. Cold from poor circulation and generally "weak" blood. People who have an affinity with bone magic (Athos, Vortalis, Holland himself) would have a significant advantage because everyone else is moving just slightly sluggishly, always dragging at the weight of exhaustion. It's part of what would make Talya's dancing so fucking _impressive, that she moves like that even despite the headaches, dizziness, etc.

Holland as Antari: essentially a fucking human heated blanket to anyone who isn't afraid to be so close to y'know the extremely dangerous magician.

God, there's so. so much more, but my brain is swiss cheese. But I at least wanted to start the ball rolling, because I feel like this's a corner of fandom that's just _bursting with possibilities.

[robotpussy]

apparently riots are have been planned to take place in London this Wednesday. I needed people to stop saying "they can't try that in London 🙄" like 3 years ago. they ALWAYS do shit like this in London. why do people think because a area is diverse, bigots won't attempt their shit in those places? I hate it when people are shocked there bigoted hate crimes can happen in London that doesn't mean shit!!

[eroticlamb]

People on King’s Road, London, 1971 ♡ Photographed by John Hendy