#heavily based out of 18th century fashion | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thebeautyofdangerousassociation · 2 months

Text

The Silhouettes of the 18th Century.

A Silhouette is the recognizable shape of fashion as it changes. Fashion in the 18th century reflected affluent society's view on style, personal taste, social position, and world outlook. France was established as a fashion leader in the 17th century, and Paris became a world center for popular modes of dress throughout the 18th century.

The iconic silhouette of the eighteenth century is that of the conically corseted court dress, a simpler line of dress launched the era. The mantua, which dominated the beginning of the eighteenth century to the point that dressmakers were called mantua makers, was introduced in the late seventeenth century as a casual dress alternative to the heavily structured court dress required by Louis XIV. Before the mantua the dresses beforehand took more of a robe format however once the mantua became more formal, the bodice took more of an important role over the dress, the display of the stomacher, an inverted triangle of richly embroidered fabric. The placement of the stomacher allowed for an increasingly full skirts of which created a narrow-waisted silhouette for the mantua, which became increasingly extreme over the course of the eighteenth century. The triangle of the bodice was created by conically shaped stays that pressured the waistline to a small circumference while driving the bosom upward to bob about as a barely contained base for the spherical head. The rectangle at the base of this structure was created by panniers which were constructed with hoops, at first to support a bell-shaped skirt, but later drawn in with tapes at front and back into a flattened ovoid form.

By the 1770s, the silhouette of the skirts shifted away from the squared-off panniers. In the 1770s the polonaise gown was also developed, the waist remained small and pointed into a very full skirt. The fullness of this gown was created through the voluminous drapery fabric, most often via rings sewn on the underside of the skirt that were drawn up with cording to create puffs at the back and side of the dress. The puffs of fabric rested on full petticoats to create the still expansive base of the silhouette; its real shift was one of weight, giving as it did an overall lighter impression of the body within.

In the 1780’s the chemise became popular, this was a lightweight gown made from fine fabric gathered in at the natural waist by a sash. However, this gown still emphasised the waist. Furthermore, by the end of the eighteenth century, a different silhouette was beginning to emerge, intended in imitation of classic Greek and Roman dresses. The dresses took a turn from hard geometric carapace into a soft, thin chemise of cotton or linen that grazed the natural female form and almost fully revealed the breasts.

Rococo emerged in France in the 1720s and remained the predominant design style until it fell out of fashion in the 1770s. Excessively flamboyant and characterised by a curved asymmetric ornamentation and a use of natural motifs, Rococo was a style without rules. A smart and refined court culture called Rococo flourished in France after Louis XV came to the throne in 1715. Along with Rococo the leader in woman's fashion became more of a solidified statutes as international trendsetter. The essential spirit of Rococo era women’s clothing is expressed in its elegance, refinement, and decoration.

This is a typical Rococo period women's dress, "robe à la française". The ensemble shown here consists of a gown, the petticoat much like what we would call a skirt today, and a stomacher made in a triangular panel shape. The gown opens in the front, and has large pleats folded up at the back. All this would be worn after formed with a corset and pannier, which acted as underclothes. Until clothing accepted drastic changes with the 1789 French Revolution, rich outfits, such as is shown here, were worn.

The fan-shaped trims on the gown on the left.

Rococo S-Shaped.

0 notes

audreydoeskaren · 3 years

Note

Do you know which time period Dream of the Red Chamber is set in? (specifically the 1987 series). Also looking forward to the costumer review!

Hi, thanks for the question. Since I haven't started writing the review yet this will be it.

Dream of the Red Chamber 红楼梦 (1987)

There is a lot of academic controversy regarding the authorship of 红楼梦 Dream of the Red Chamber and when exactly it was written, but the common view is that the original novel was written by 曹雪芹 Cao Xueqin (1715-1763) under the title 石头记 The Story of the Stone over the course of his life, and the last 40 chapters or so were added to complete the story by the editors of the 1791 print edition 高鹗 Gao E and 程伟元 Cheng Weiyuan, who also coined the title of the novel Dream of the Red Chamber. Scholars get whole degrees on the study of this novel and there also isn't solid proof for anything so I won't speculate.

For our costume review purposes we just need to know that the original novel was probably set in the 1740s or 50s----no later than 1763 when Cao kicked the bucket. I looked up some descriptions of clothing in the novel (of which there are plenty) and they mostly match up with what was popular in the early Qianlong era (1735-96). The ethnicity part is more interesting: Cao and his family were ethnically Han but served in the Banners, the Manchu aristocracy. This makes the whole question of whether the fashion in Red Chamber was Han or Manchu or a mixture of both very muddled. My personal headcanon is that the male characters all wear Manchu fashion (as was customary in the Qing), whereas the female characters wear mostly Han but sometimes throw in Manchu elements. It’s usually argued that the clothing in Red Chamber was the most fashionable and beautiful of the time because Cao’s family used to work as supervisors to the imperial textile workshops in Nanjing so he should have in depth knowledge of the most expensive and fabulous fabrics and materials available at the time.

This novel became a cultural phenomenon and was immensely popular since its publication, and multiple film, dance and tv adaptations of it have been made in the 20th and 21st centuries. The most iconic version is without doubt the 1987 tv series directed by Wang Fulin and starring Chen Xiaoxu and Ouyang Fenqiang. The costume design by Shi Yanqin was so iconic and well received to the point that the 2010 remake got flak for its different approach to costuming.

Source here

Scene from Red Chamber.

Once we actually start looking at the costumes in the 87 version, though, it becomes clear that it really wasn’t the pinnacle of historical accuracy; it wasn’t even more historically accurate than a lot of period dramas made around the same time. I need to bring your attention to a very important aspect of the Chinese period costuming industry: most, if not all period dramas prior to the late 2010s did not design their costumes based on actual historical dress, but rather took looks out of the established system of 古装 guzhuang or “historical costumes”, which were heavily inspired by the costumes worn in Chinese theater at the time. Red Chamber was no exception. @guzhuangheaven mentioned it in this post I’ll just recap in case you missed that. The reason why some costumes from Red Chamber look vaguely 18th century is solely owing to the fact that most forms of Chinese opera popular in the 20th century have been popular in the 18th century and their wardrobes have been influenced by 18th century fashion, nothing more. The relationship between Chinese theater, guzhuang and period dramas is an interesting and complicated one, I will make a post about it in the future. For now it will suffice to know that the costume designers probably just adapted existing theater costumes to match descriptions from the book instead of consulting primary sources from the 18th century and moving on from there. Even if they did, they were more than likely to land on some non realistic 仕女画 shinvhua or infographics claiming the 18th century for the Ming; this was 1987, mind you, Xun Zhou and Gao Chunming have just published their lil incorrect book about Chinese fashion history and nobody knew they were wrong yet.

Source here

Take the hairstyles for example. The hairstyle of the female characters with the thin double pony tail and bangs has no historical precedent whatsoever and was instead a common guzhuang hairstyle of the 1980s. The Qianlong era gave birth to literally one of the most iconic Han women’s hairstyles of the Qing Dynasty, the “Apollo knot” as it was known in Europe where it was popularized in the 1830s (which is also what the person in my profile pic wears). From my understanding, a Qianlong era Apollo knot was achieved by securing the hair at the back into a high bun while the hair at the front is sectioned into a middle part, which is then pulled back and tucked underneath the bun. I don’t know if there was a specific name for it in China, I just endearingly call it 乾隆头 Qianlong hairstyle (I’ve heard some other fashion history people call it that too so I’m probably not the only one). Teenagers and servant girls in the 18th century would also wear Apollo knots but with optional loose hair at the back.

Source here

Part of the painting series 燕寝怡情图册 from the Qianlong era (not specified which decade but it looks like 1750s/60s?), showing women in the Apollo knot hairstyle and fashionable clothes.

Source here

射雕英雄传 The Legend of the Condor Heroes (1983) featuring hairstyles similar to those in Red Chamber.

Source here

笑傲江湖 The Smiling, Proud Wanderer (1984), again featuring a similar hairstyle.

Source here

As to the sideburns and gravity defying shapes on the top of the head, those were also 1980s guzhuang.

Source here

神雕侠侣 The Return of the Condor Heroes (1983) featuring literally the exact same hairstyle.

Source here

The iconic headpiece with the red pompom worn by 贾宝玉 Jia Baoyu (the guy on the left) is probably directly lifted from the illustrations for Red Chamber by 孙温 Sun Wen from the late 1880s.

Source here

Closeup of one of Sun’s illustrations. Needless to say, this was the 1880s imagination of a 1750s character, meaning it likely wasn’t accurate. However, these illustrations were highly influential (and misleading) to the popular perception of the fashion in Red Chamber.

Ok I should really make the post about the history of Chinese theater costumes, guzhuang and period dramas it will clear everything up and save me a lot of hassle explaining to people why it’s completely futile to look for historical accuracy in guzhuang period dramas. Basically the costumes in the 1987 Red Chamber were standard guzhuang which had solidified into a genre of its own in the 1910s already, being influenced by theater costumes which were in turn influenced by non realistic historical art (shinvhua). This means that unfortunately, non of the costumes in this show were historically accurate. The term “historical accuracy” had not crossed the mind of the costume designer once because it wasn’t considered a desirable or even necessary concept for period dramas back in the 80s.

If I try and read too much into the design, I could point out that the 对襟褙子 duijin beizi (center closing tunic) and 立领长衫 liling changshan (robe with standing collar) were indeed mid 18th century, but even then they look wildly different to the garments of the same names worn in the 18th century. The cut, fabrics, colors and decorations were all just not selected with historical accuracy in mind.

Source here

Personally I’ve always imagined the people in Red Chamber to have looked exactly like the people portrayed in 18th century paintings and engravings.

Source here

Mid 18th century reverse glass painting showing wealthy Han women.

I’d rate the costumes in Dream of the Red Chamber a 2/10, the lowest for accuracy in this house. I gave one point for the fact that the outfits are really pretty if you throw accuracy out the window and another for just how influential and iconic this show was. Just to clarify, the accuracy of a show’s costumes doesn’t necessarily interfere with how beautiful they are or how good a show is in general; 1987 Red Chamber is iconic for a lot of reasons and I’m simply looking at the one small aspect of it which is accuracy.

#guzhuang #dream of the red chamber #chinese drama #chinese fashion #historic fashion #18th century #costume analysis

149 notes · View notes

inkofamethyst · 2 years

Text

January 6, 2022

[November 1, 2020]

Started making a post only to have it destroyed by an updated tumblr page which is incredibly frustrating.

Basically, I was talking about how I’d come across a vintage ~lifestyle~ youtube channel run by a black woman and like,,, as soon as she started talking about vintage values I immediately thought of racism and this whole idea of protecting an in-group while abandoning all out-groups. She talked about how she doesn’t watch/listen to modern entertainment because of the progressive and political messages (I suppose she must not listen to black artists because being black in america is a political statement on its own) including fornication, a lack of love, swearing, a rejection of traditional masculinity among other things. There was another video about how to act more feminine where she talked about how women today are shamed for acting feminine while being celebrated for acting masculine, and she’s absolutely right! The thing is that liberal feminism is meant to promote an ideology that allows women and anyone else to express femininity and masculinity as they so choose. Like, vintage values would force me into a housemaking role and my husband into a breadwinner role, but that’s simply not feasible in the modern age, especially since I wouldn’t want either person in my marriage to feel as though they were forced into a role without any wiggle room.

Then I watched a video about how vintage styles were becoming trendy, and girl had the audacity to try and gatekeep her clothing style. She says that vintage style comes with having vintage values, and that liberal people won’t really find happiness dressing this way. But like,,, so what?? She’d already expressed her dislike with how fast fashion trends came and go and how she didn’t want to let the media and Hollywood bother her, so why does this bother her is the trend will apparently blow over so quickly? I assume she’s referring to the cottagecore trend that blew up at the beginning of quarantine, by the way. Like,,, I’ve enjoyed fashion history for years now, and 40s fashion is a decade I can actually wear without looking to tacky/costume-y, and I’m finally at a place in my life where I can sew my own clothes, and I think florals are pretty!! But either way, I shouldn’t have to explain why my style is valid to anyone.

I should’ve known by the straightened hair with the bumped ends that she watches Fox News. Just vote for Trump and go. When she was showing vintage hairstyle examples, she gave only one example that had a black woman in the picture, and the woman had her hair straightened so it was waist-length. You’re telling me you couldn’t find a natural-hair or even a straight-natural version of a chignon??

It’s just kind of frustrating seeing a black woman talk like that, though I know she’s well-intentioned. There’s nothing wrong with expressing femininity or being conservative with your own views, but gatekeeping a clothing style? Sorry hun.

I’m not going to drop her name because I don’t plan to search her up in the future to watch any more of her videos and wind myself up again.

Maybe it’s just the raging liberal in me, but like,,, time moves forward. You can’t expect us to look back on history and not be critical. Also, she complained about how modern movies/shows are displaying mid-century 1900s in a way that deviates from fact which I mean,, hello? I know she doesn’t watch modern stuff but she at least has to know that average people don’t necessarily watch historically-based entertainment to be educated. I can get style inspiration (18th century, I believe) from watching Outlander (which I need to watch but haven’t lol [edit: apparently it relies pretty heavily on female trauma, so I think I might pass]) but it sure ain’t no documentary, and that’s not what I go to it for, anyway.

Oh boo-hoo, are there Black and Asian people in your historical drama about the early nineteenth century? Grow up.

[August 7, 2021]

So,,,, this has been in my drafts for a while. I was recently reminded of [redacted: different YouTuber], and I went on a mini hate-watch spree of some of her recent videos. In early high school, I used to listen to her stuff a ton, but honestly it only ever made me feel bad about myself (not to mention that I, as a fifteen-year-old, was not exactly her target audience)? Her point of view is... an interesting one to be sure, and nowadays I can’t bring myself to agree with half of what she says (and that’s okay!). Idk, I think that black women have such an interesting relationship with femininity as a demographic that some things just aren’t so simply explained or understood.

[Today]

Time to remove this from the drafts once and for all.

(Though I will say really quickly to close out my last point-- someone commented on a tiktok about how unhealthy it is for people like that YouTuber to be analyzing the “dating market” with such scrutiny and then going on to offer advice based on their analysis. It reminded the commenter of the guys over at r~dpill and I think they’re absolutely correct. That specific kind of content from men and women makes me feel icky.)

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but hate-watching is interesting to me because it’s like... I can tell whether I like something pretty quickly most of the time. That’s not a unique trait. What’s weird is when I sometimes continue to watch things that are simply not positive or nice or helpful to me in any way and only fuels some kind of undirected anger. I only hate-watch things to feel a strong emotion, essentially. And some part of that must feel good to me if I continue to do it. Kinda unsettling to think of myself as an emotional masochist. It doesn’t seem healthy. Wonder what I could do to prevent it in the future?

Today I’m thankful that I actually kinda know what a chord is after all. I got from the beginning to the end of Drippy to the point where it was fairly recognizable and with a few extra flourishes in four hours. I worked on little bits and pieces of it yesterday and it’s sounding adorable. It’s not done, but it’s a remarkably quick job arranging it so far (though the 3/4 bit in the middle really threw me off for a minute). I am still having trouble with the saxophones, naturally. I have learned a lot though, just through troubleshooting, and that’s nice.

3 notes · View notes

lumiereswig · 3 years

Note

im always so confused bc im bad at history but like when does batb actually happen?? like i know it's the 18th century but when?? (also i realise it's a fictional version of reality lol so things dont always have to be historically accurate but u know)

yea so there’s been a lot of dish on this and the real tea is that it’s a fairytale, so it’s no-time-no-place, and tbh any attempts to tie disney movies strictly down to history based on the tech/fashion/design styles we see will always end in disaster because frankly nobody designing it was thinking about it that hard! like. trying to make movies that weren’t made to be historical be historical is like, i dunno, making a rhino decide what type of dog it is. it’s a fucking rhino. asking if it’s a pomeranian or a bichon frise isn’t really gonna end well for you.

with that said it’s pretty clear from the 1991 concept art they were aiming for a baroque/rococo vibe, because the dress styles they’re using are clearly riffs on the 1600s and 1700s with their lacy cravats and flouncy shapes. gaston’s early design, when he was intended as a courtly fop instead of a macho man, is REALLY heavily mid to late 1700s, and a lot of Belle and Beast’s designs also look inspired by late 1700s paintings from the French court. Belle actually looks a lot like Madame de Pompadour in some of this art. since the original fairytale of Beauty and the Beast came out in the courtly era of 1740s France, they probably wanted to allude to that world in the design.

so yeah, going off the eras that come through in the concept art, Beauty and the Beast is proooooobably taking place somewhere from 1750-1780. but again—any attempt to tie the finished product down to a real era is a disaster, because Belle’s yellow dress as we see it in the movie genuinely does not look anything like a 1700s gown. like. at all. if anything it’s antebellum southern belle seen through the eyes of a 1950s debutante. stop trying to make ‘rococo’ happen it’s not going to happen

also lumiere builds a tiny eiffel tower during be our guest COME ON

[ps. just read this thru and sorry for going off on you but i am genuinely going to go ballistic if i read another overly-thought-through “analysis” of what era beauty and the beast “takes place in.” IT DOESN’T, IT DIDN’T HAPPEN, PLEASE GO BE EATEN BY A RHINO]

#personally? in my fics? 1770s all the way #why? no reason i just like it!!! and that's the best way to date a disney movie #i feel bad for screaming srry im just genuinely insane about this #every time someone bitches about emma's gown not being accurate im like. did you see the 1991 version #discuss w me how the yellow merengue is remotely accurate #beauty and the beast #bitching and moaning #batb 1991

18 notes · View notes

lightdancer1 · 3 years

Text

One aspect of basing the Fire Nation on the USSR and Nazi Germany, at least in part:

In real life totalitarianism had a twisted sense of humor baked into the premises in both the forms of Bolshevism and Nazism. The whole 'Work Makes You Free' on slave labor camps is the most obvious example of this but it's threaded through them. The early 20th Century totalitarians and their modern would be emulators were all trolls in the modern sense.

They were this way *DELIBERATELY*.

So in that exact same fashion, how does Sozin pull off a worldwide attack on four air temples with the greatest of ease?

Airships. Since nobody else has them, the Fire Nation has no concept of offensive air war and uses extremely impractical and highly flammable zeppelins to dominate the air, but after a century of virtual hegemony in the air never even bothers to develop any kind of strategic air power, because as far as it's concerned when Golden Boy Iroh is steamrolling the enemy across the world it will win the ground war (and in another nod to IRL history the ground generals prevent an independent air arm from existing, as otherwise you'd see the Fire Nation invent WWII scale bombing raids and essentially at that point they really would pull off the Douhet trick).

The Fire Nation has an unpleasant habit of trolling the Water Tribes by vast steel battleships and stomping on the memory of the Air Nomads they exterminated by flaunting their airships. For the Earth Kingdom it developed tanks they can easily see coming and artillery as in modern indirect fire artillery, purely to taunt the Earthbenders by their feeling the vibrations but time-on-target barrages literally turning them into hamburger.

In short, as the analogues of Imperial Japan they have at their best combined-arms forces in the 20th Century style with superhuman super-soldiers for roles that nothing in real war matches. And they use THIS against societies who are 18th Century China at the best down to Bannermen equivalents (Earth Kingdom) and against magic Inuit (the Water Tribes).

Among other elements that they also invent are railroads and equivalents of automobiles, meaning that their cities are cleaner than the Earth Kingdom, which has the ancien regime literal shit-filled cities with plenty of dead animal carcasses, and the Water Tribes are...magic Inuit who live in igloos but where they have a lot of *Waterbenders* in *Permafrost* are such dangerous opponents that they do more damage than the Earth Kingdom to Firebenders.

So at least part of why their propaganda is so believable is that the Fire Nation is in the magic 20th Century and the rest of the world at best is in the Qing era and it's a long slide downhill from there in modern terms. The Fire Nation is DELIBERATELY shown as more like modern Westerners and this analogy is played up to make the evils its army does more disturbing, not less, because they do the Rape of Nanking and Kill All, Burn All, Loot All offensives straight out of the historical actions of Imperial Japan.

And in the first AU there's also the Red-Blacks, who are mostly based on the KGB and led by Lavrenti Beria in the first arcs (down to the most horrible things Beria did, which is ultimately how he dies when he picks the wrong target out of spite) and Nikolai Yezhov in the second.

In the second the Eyes and Ears are the SS down to the lightning runes, a culture of marauding murder for murder's sake, and being racist blood-supremacists who preach a heavily distorted Fire Nation ideology directly patterned on the ideology of the SS. And as the EEs even get an alliterative shorthand name that translates to something much more boring than their reputation suggests.

Real life totalitarian states, or even the Tsarist Russia/Tokugawa Shogunate kind have powerful secret police agencies that are states within the state. The Dai Li are the only canonical nod to this, but the Fire Nation would absolutely have them too, there's no other way for autocracy to exist in monarchical form.

#fire nation #by fire and water and earth and air #dragon of the west #totalitarianism is bad #the fire nation gets a kgb and an ss clone #both are equally despicable but in different ways #the kgb clone is mostly domestic #the ss clone fights in the war and proves LEEROY JENKINS like the real life ss #the ultimate head of the ees in Dragon of the West is a chicken farmer with ugly glasses #yes Iroh has magic firebending Heinrich Himmler

2 notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

From Bridgerton to Hamilton: A History of Color-Conscious Casting in Period Drama

https://ift.tt/2IQI6Ak

Note: This Bridgerton article contains no book or series plot spoilers.

Bridgerton is a unique mix of Shonda Rhimes’ dedication to Black representation on American television and the British period drama tradition. White critics may dismiss this trend as unnecessary “pandering” to Black and POC viewers, but the number of productions designed around reforming all white-casting has increased over the past 10 years—and has only added to the success of the genre. The number one reason driving demand for diverse period dramas is from Black and POC fans of the genre. The impact of seeing an actor that looks like you can’t be measured in ratings or clicks online. Despite facing years of content and fandom overtly or covertly claiming that the universal themes in period dramas are not “for us”; the tide is starting to turn as fans use social media and the power of ratings to ask for more representation.

A quick overview of recent Regency England-set productions leaves much to be desired. Although the 2018 Amazon Prime/ITV miniseries and the 2005 movie adaptations of Vanity Fair left in West Indian and Jewish heiress Miss Schwarz, she is one of many supporting characters. PBS/ITV’s Sanditon, on the one hand, improved representation by prominently featuring Georgiana Lambe. However, her story was a huge disappointment to Black and POC fans who expected her plotline to end happily or at least have her conflicts resolved.

There have been three paths traditionally towards increasing diversity in period dramas: 1) blind casting (also called racebending), where Black and POC actors play traditionally white characters adding original Black characters to existing fictional works, and 2) Own Voices, where Black and POC writers share their own stories. These two are not mutually exclusive, but, in the world of British period drama, the former is more frequently used, as the bedrock of the genre is adapting existing novels and plays by white authors.

The theoretical framework for inclusive casting begins in the world of staging period drama at the theater. In Shakespeare’s day, men played women’s roles as women were not allowed to appear on stage. The genre evolved in later centuries to allow women to appear on stage, but the tradition of having actors who didn’t match the original descriptions remained. This is even true of his history plays where real women royalty were characters. Ira Aldridge in the 1840s was the first Black actor in Britain to play traditionally white roles on stage. Later on, in the 19th century, several stage adaptations of Jane Austen’s works had all-women casts.

Fast forward to 2015, when Lin-Manuel Miranda in Hamilton redefined what it meant to cast inclusively in modern period dramas by using actors descended from slavery and colonialism to play the Founding Fathers. Every aspect of the musical was designed to reframe the existing narrative of early American history. The costume design also reflected the identities of the actor by featuring braids, locs, and textured hairstyles over 18th century white hairstyles. Rap lyrics conveyed to the audience the names, dates, and other descriptions of the Revolutionary War. The old adage that someone must “look the part” to play a biographical role was thrown out the window.

Hamilton proved that many of the old excuses used to sideline diverse period dramas no longer held to be true. Millions of white people listened to the cast album, brought tickets, or streamed the movie on Disney+. UK theater patrons flocked to the West End cast of Hamilton, as well, before the pandemic. Memes, parodies, and more on social media proved that white audiences can conceptualize historical figures as fictional characters while also knowing the real figures looked and acted quite differently. Fans of the show pushed Ron Chernow’s biography back onto the bestseller lists as they wanted to read what really happened.

The first clear impact the show had on the genre of British period drama comes from a mystery. Daisy Coulam, Grantchester’s head screenwriter, cited reading an interview with Miranda as the inspiration behind the exit plotline for James Norton’s character Sidney Chambers. UK crime dramas For those unfamiliar with the series, Grantchester is a mystery procedural based on a series of books about a 1950s crime-solving Anglican vicar by James Runcie. Norton’s exit plotline in Season 4 generated an original to the show character named Violet who was the daughter of a visiting African-American preacher. Violet was an original character who forced the audience to consider that the US civil rights movement indeed reached their treasured vision of the lily-white British countryside. Coulam already laid the groundwork for Violet in earlier seasons by abandoning large sections of the original novel timeline and but keeping the case of the week focused on addressing 1950’s social issues. Fans heavily criticized Coulam’s writing for style and pacing, but her imagination clearly indicates that Hamilton’s proven formula for disrupting established historical aesthetics can just as easily be applied to fictional depictions of the UK’s past as blind casting a biography-based series or depicting real figures of Black British history.

Other period dramas released in recent years share traces of Hamilton’s impact but in a more thematic and less direct different way. Some shows turned real Black British figures into fictional characters. Lina (Stephanie Levi-John) and Oviedo (Aaron Cobham) on The Spanish Princess are composites of Catherine of Aragon’s servants and several famous Black Tudors. Catherine “Kitty” Despard (Kerri McClean) in Poldark Season 5 was a forgotten Black British figure added in to expand the world outlined in the novels. Victoria featured Ira Aldridge (Ashley Zhangazha) mentioned earlier, plus spotlighted the Queen’s adopted daughter Sarah-Forbes Bonetta and Cuffay (C.J. Beckford) as the leader of the proto-socialist Chartists. Lucille Anderson (Leonie Elliott) on Call the Midwife was not mentioned in the original memoirs, but she was added to represent the Caribbean nurses from the Windrush Generation of UK immigrants.

Racebent casting also increased. Dev Patel’s role as the title character in the movie The Personal History of David Copperfield proved that Dickens adaptations could indeed include POC casts without changing the fundamental plot and message. PBS/BBC’s Les Miserables miniseries also extended the Broadway tradition of casting Black actors in traditionally white coded classic literature characters. Hulu’s The Great featured Sacha Dhawan and several Black actors as Russian nobility, politicians, and courtiers.

All of these series, however, carefully attempted to stay grounded in recreating the original source material or invested in faithfully replicating the era they were set in. Bridgerton radically expands upon Hamilton’s formula by divorcing inclusive casting from any desire to accurately recreate historical events, eras, or figures. Romance, fantasy, and social/familial drama are universal themes that don’t depend on having a white-dominant vision of society. Quinn’s original novel series sparingly referred to historical events during the Regency Era. Her focus was on creating a world where the most important events were balls and weddings. More Dukes and other holders of inherited titles exist in her vision of the Ton (the most elite members of Regency society) than in reality. Historians would likely dispute her characterization of the elite social season as well. Characters’ internal dialogue is in modern English peppered with regional accents and slang. They rarely lampshade or criticize the way of society beyond their romantic desires and family obligations. Readers see the physical intimacy on the page Austen never mentioned. This literary environment is ripe for inclusive casting on screen.

The most critical flip in characterization is Simon, Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page). His character is the romantic hero of the first book in the series The Duke and I and is the character that set fan expectations high for future novels. Simon having visibly African features and yet being an object of desire is incredibly subversive in a genre where white beauty standards dominate hetero and homosexual fiction.

Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh), Simon’s godmother, is an elder stateswoman and a twist on the battle-ax aunt trope popular in period dramas. She isn’t as caustic and insulting as some other famous widows and spinsters but she commands authority and a mansion filled with people to perform all the hard labor. Lady Danbury is even implied to be slightly higher in status than her white counterparts with children of marrying age Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) and Lady Portia Featherington (Polly Walker).

Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuve) being played by a biracial woman is actually a subtle Easter Egg to existing history debates. Many have debated if her portraits were airbrushed to disguise African features. A few years ago, a documentary established her African ancestry is via the Portuguese royals. All of her scenes involve petting her Pomeranian, demanding to know the latest gossip, and manipulating the gentry into doing her bidding.

The miniseries doesn’t end the racial diversity with those at the highest social rank or even at the lower orders of domestic servants. Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker) is a cousin of the Featheringtons and represents the “poor relation” character popular in stories based on the British gentry. A Black modiste (dressmaker) trained in French fashion makes all of the dresses the characters wear. Will Mondrich (Martins Imhangbe) is a boxer, likely a reference to former slave turned bare-knuckle boxer Bill Richmond. Alongside the characters with plot lines viewers follow, there is a conscious effort to hire Black and POC extras to fill in crowd scenes at balls, park scenes, and other public events. The viewer sees people who look like themselves in every class level of society and can feel like they too can become part of their world.

How Bridgerton Can Avoid Outlander’s Mistakes

By Amanda-Rae Prescott

Books

Bridgerton: Cast Announced for Shonda Rhimes Netflix Series

By Alec Bojalad

Attire is a critical part of upholding the fantasy and cultural diversity Bridgerton and also in communicating to the audience the series isn’t your aunt’s neutral tone Austen adaptation. Marina and Lady Danbury would never be caught dead in a plain white muslin frock. All of the popular Regency hairstyles for women have been modified and reworked for natural textured hair, braids, and locs. Some of the Black male extras even have modern African hairstyles left in tact. The only Black characters who wear the traditional white wigs are older men or servants in full formal uniform. Queen Charlotte’s Black courtiers and servants wear a mixture of extravagant 1770s and 1780s attire and Regency court wear to create a physical separation between them and the rest of the ensemble cast. These style decisions are right out of the playbook of Still Star-Crossed, Shondaland’s first foray into period drama. Although that series took place in 1300’s Italy, the priority was on blending fantasy and Black fashion aesthetics over catering to white costume enthusiasts and reenactors.

In the world of Bridgerton, slavery and colonialism are directly or indirectly referenced exceedingly sparingly. One reference is to Lord Dunmore’s army of emancipated and runaway slaves during the Revolutionary War proclamation. (Hercules Mulligan’s Black troops referenced in “Stay Alive” is the Patriot equivalent of Dunmore’s forces). These sparing hints make it clear to the viewers that class, family, and personal family drama is the root cause of joy and pain in this series.

Since Bridgerton is completely ignoring the physical descriptions of the characters in many cases, the set design carries the bulk of the attention to historical detail. The series hired Dr. Hannah Greig as a historical advisor to ensure these details were as close to 1813 as possible. Greig has previously acted as a consultant to the Sanditon, Poldark, and The Duchess cast and crew is likely where the Easter Eggs in character references come from. Lavish mansions and castles and the more humble spaces ground the fantastical plot details in historical reality. Several previous period dramas have recreated the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, but these scenes in the miniseries are elevated to the next level thanks to Netflix’s budget.

Noughts + Crosses: Why You Should Watch This Afrofuturist Alternate History Romance

By Amanda-Rae Prescott

World on Fire Returns People of Color to the Dunkirk Narrative

By Amanda-Rae Prescott

The success of Bridgerton applying color-conscious casting to a fantasy/romance series has implications far beyond potential future seasons. Studios especially those in the UK have been hesitant to utilize recent historical romance books for screen adaptations. Modern historical fiction by Black and POC authors (called Own Voices fiction) which is crucial in the fight for increased representation. Novelists such as Beverly Jenkins, Courtney Milan, and Alyssa Cole have written romances set in the Regency and other eras of American and British History that can easily be transformed into movies and miniseries. Some of these novels recreate existing history while others lean into escapist fantasy. The ultimate goal in period drama representation is for Black and POC creatives to tell their own stories covering all the ranges of emotion, not just historical trauma.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Critics can keep attacking period dramas for being “too woke” (a term that was stolen from anti-racism activists) for remembering that white people aren’t the only inhabitants of the British Isles and America, but series like Bridgerton are here to stay. Black and POC viewers and readers of period drama and romance fiction always existed, and viewership will only grow if more inclusive period romance projects are greenlit in the future.

The post From Bridgerton to Hamilton: A History of Color-Conscious Casting in Period Drama appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3mjLv8v

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

10 notes · View notes

eluviansandevanuris · 4 years

Photo

So for my fic i’m trying to think of a form of high fashion for the elves of Thedas, something akin to the high fashion that we see in the court of Orlais, but distinctly elvhen. The fashions of Orlais seemed to be pretty heavily based on 17th and 18th century french and Italian court dress but with their own Dragon age twist. So I wanted to find a style that could be the bones of elvhen high fashion.

From the armour and the robes that we see in game there seems to be an emphasis on flowing lines and nature inspired patterns, not unlike Art Nouveau patterns. As far as structure there seems to be some emphasis on loose flowing robes and high necked collars like the robes of the high keeper in their female and male versions.

(I really want to to get the DA:I art book, but it’s gonna have to wait)

So this is a Late 19th century üçetek entari, women's ensemble of the Ottoman era. It’s made from yellow silk and embroidered in the laid cord technique. it’s part of the Sadberk Hamin Museum in Turkey.

Aside from being just a beautiful ensemble I really like the silhouette and style of the ensemble. It has a lovely high structured collar with flowing sleeves, the detailing on the body is also exquisite.

Now that being said, i’m not just going to take this style wholesale and make it into elvhen fashion, but this is inspiring.

There’s also some more modern designs that I think really suit the aesthetic i’m trying to create, and I may try my hand at sketching out some ideas.

High Fashion fantasy, although that could just be me projecting my own wardrobe wishes onto this fic.

idk

Dareth Shiral

#dragon age #Dragon age problems #dragon age inquisition #BioWare #rpg #fashion #fashionhistory #fanfic

59 notes · View notes

cult-of-artemis-and-athena · 3 years

Text

"Should women wear makeup at work" Part 2

To recap from part 1:

- Both men and women use sexual displays at work to feel confident and be likable to others, because attractiveness and sexuality are linked

- Men's status displays communicate wealth, competence, harnessed potential for aggression (strength)

- Men can lower their status with displays of overt sensuality and allusions to sex work

- Women do not have a traditional status display for competence and strength

- Women's displays of wealth traditionally relate to a man's ability to provide for them

In this post I'm going to "blow apart" the third and forth items.

As I said in part one, it's not as though men's status increases proportionally to the sensuality he puts on display. There is certainly a sweet spot.

As JLP says elsewhere in the interview, in reference to situations that don't explicitly have a dress code, that sweet spot is "somewhere between a suit and boxer shorts". That's the essence of women's challenge.

It's worthwhile to look back in history to understand the situation. Men's modern Western clothing derives from basically two sources: military uniforms and sporting clothes. Whenever we see pictures of frilly frock coats from the 18th century, that's just a pimped-out version of a military uniform. The modern button-front shirt with the laid collar is 19th century athletic wear. The polo shirt was basically the same idea but it came later. Sportcoats - the stereotypical one being brown wool tweed with elbow patches - were worn as outdoors-wear for hunting, and they're not extremely dissimilar from the design of a WWI uniform jacket.

Upper class women's clothing was never designed with the concerns of combat and sporting in mind. It was just meant to look a certain way. While corsetry isn't the constricting evil it was made out to be, floor-length skirts and robes that are suspended away from the body get wet, pick up dirt, and become a fire hazard. Silk isn't a very hard-wearing fabric. Lower-class women's clothing has always been more functional, with shorter hems, tougher fabrics that suit the climate, and slimmer or shorter sleeves. The issue of pants was seemingly a religious one. Cross-dressing is forbidden by the Bible, and pants are thought to be immodest because they show the shape of the legs and the space between them. While pants for women are beyond acceptable and not really forbidden, there is still a vestige of skirts being more "appropriate", more formal than pants, and a skirt- or dress-wearing woman to be feminine and more respectable than a pants-wearing woman if one were forced to choose. Pants are fine for most contexts, but women's formal suits and tuxedos, and jumpsuits with the same material and embellishment as a dress, are still very polarizing. There was also an instance a few years ago of a woman being kicked out of a red-carpet event for wearing flat shoes - if I recall correctly, they were Louis Vuitton and were metallic or covered in crystals - instead of heels. They weren't men's shoes, and they couldn't be confused for work boots, but somehow they were considered to be not meeting the standard of the event's dress code.

Again, women have a contradicting set of standards. While practical clothing for hunting, sport, and the military were associated with male prestige, practical clothing for women - flat shoes and pants - continues to read as low-class, or at least lower class than fine fabrics, heels, and skirts. At the same time, there continues to be evidence that a sexualized appearance negatively impacts how others rate a woman's competence.

But, a heavily sexualized appearance also negatively affects men as well...

I haven't seen studies that directly deal with sexualization of men and competence, but there are hints of it in other studies, that show negative perceptions of competence in men wearing tank tops, exposed underwear, beach clothing, skinny jeans, deep-v shirts, too much jewelry, too much hair products, etc. There's a perception of sleaziness in a shirt with too many buttons undone, an animal print suit, or a metallic polyester shirt that looks like something from Night at the Rocksbury. Perhaps this isn't an issue of discrimination against women, but an issue of communication between men's style that shuns the "contributions" of sex work and things adjacent to it, and women's style that integrates - often to naive wearers - styles that come from sex work.

With that in mind, what is the history of makeup? It's complicated.

There's been a constant up-and-down regarding the acceptability of makeup. One century, makeup is normal and even men are wearing it, and the next, it's solely the mark of a whore.

America is a strange case in this respect, because since the first settlers arrived, the history has been almost three centuries of "makeup is for whores". Then, enter the 1920s, when film stars normalized makeup for everyday wear. Then in the 30's and 40's, red lipstick had become patriotic, seeing as Germany and Italy assumed the "makeup is for whores" stance (it's worth noting the Nazis were responding to the explosion of sex work and cinema in the Weimar Republic). In the 60's, a woman could be branded a mentally ill lesbian for not wearing lipstick.

From the 70's onward, designers began taking inspiration from sex work, and now we're in a place where a bra, hotpants, a fur coat, and thigh boots paired with heavily-contoured drag queen makeup is high fashion. In a weird way, though, perhaps there is some truth to the association with female power and the stripperiffic. A corset and high leather boots feel like armor, and ripped fishnets are unfussy and conjure images of tucking a knife in the waist of your cut-off shorts 'cause you can wield it if trouble finds you. Even in fascist countries - especially in fascist countries - men may have married the girl with virginal, white cotton, high-waist panties, and had missionary intercourse with her; but they paid hard-earned money to let their dark side out with the woman in the black lace thong. Getting whipped and stepped on, a freaky dance, or something involving a swing set, for a long time, wasn't normally something men could ask their wives for. Who has often inherited kingdoms more often? The king's wife, who he married to form a political alliance; or the king's courtesan or concubine, who he chose himself? Women channel the prostitute because she has more agency and power than the submissive, virtuous, pious maiden. The prostitute is colorful and exciting. She has better stories and has met more interesting people. She's seen the highs and lows of the human condition. She's ruled men in her own way.

The prostitute exchanges sex for agency and power, but do the men she engages with also see it that way?

Dave Chapelle said, of women dressing in a way evocative of sex work, "If you're not a whore, why are you wearing a whore's uniform?"

Exchanging sex for power in the workplace is quid pro quo sexual misconduct. If you're not exchanging sex, what are you exchanging, then, for power? Probably something like labor, expertise, revenue, technical support, reliability, etc.

Perhaps I just probed and hit bottom here. If I'm building an image of competence for women working alongside men, it doesn't look like sex work. I don't think that's discriminatory toward women, because men are also punished for appropriating the masculine aesthetics of sex work. It's just more difficult for women due to how ingrained the aesthetics of sex work are into mainstream fashion, how ambiguous the standards for "proper dress" are for one situation or another, the lack of history and norms of women in work, and how those make it easier for women to unintentionally slip from expressing themselves and being likably attractive to self-objectification and being too sexualized for the setting.

I suppose the first rule could be: If it's associated with sex work, don't wear it to non-sex work.

It's necessary to clarify: no one deserves or is "asking" to be sexually assaulted or harassed at work based on anything, including what they wear. There seems to be a fine line between saying "be aware of how others could misinterpret the messages you send" and victim blaming. The person making the unwanted sexual advances is the one responsible for their behavior. Acknowledging that the existence of dirtbags is inevitable doesn't excuse their behavior, and acknowledging they have predictable triggers does not absolve them from responsibility for the damage they do to others.

#jordan peterson #feminism #fashion #women at work #amazon feminism

1 note · View note

cantankerouscanuck · 4 years

Text

Character Breakdown

Abilities

-Close quarters combat; swords, axes, knives, or even bare-knuckle brawling are all skills Jones has mastered from a lifetime of violence

-Artillery Gunner; while specializing in muzzle-loading cannons of the 17th -18th century, Jones’ knowledge of large bore ballistics makes him capable of using modern artillery if required to

-Dealmaker; like other powerful demons, Jones gains power from striking bargains. His particular brand of deals are of a gambling nature, wagering souls he owns against anyone that challenges him to a game where the winner takes all. Those that lose to him are eternally sealed in his Locker, fuelling the supernatural powers of the dread captain

-Gambler; in any game based on the use of cards or dice, Jones is a formidable player. He knows the rules and even if it’s new to him, he learns frighteningly quick

-Magic; Jones' specialty in the magical arts pertain to the ocean he roams. His trademark spell is to conjure Sea Ghosts, ghoulish versions of sea creatures at his beck and call. He also possesses slight weather control, the captain limited to only conjuring fog at will. His most feared magic though is his Gambling Sorcery, Demons finding their very existence at stake in a sadistic game of Jones'

Equipment

-Triton; Jones' sword is a fearsome weapon, an ancient weapon stolen from Atlantis itself. The strange energy it’s imbued with can slice through virtually any substance, save an Angel's blade

-Cane; Acting as a sort of channel for his magic, Jones' cane is used by the captain in a similar manner to a wizard using their staff. It’s also a stylish fashion statement and its durable material makes it an effective melee weapon

-Flintlocks; carrying twin Flintlock pistols, these guns each fire special issue Angelic rounds. In Jones' hands, they have erased many demons

-Cursed Coins; when playing a game, Jones doles his gold coins out similarly to casino chips to the players. Regardless of the game played, each time the demons that challenge Jones lose coins, they lose parts of their souls to him. Once they lose, Jones owns them

-Locker; a footlocker aboard his ship, Davy Jones’ Locker is an infinitely spacious chest that contains ever soul Jones collected from his Deals. It’s stored power can be transferred to Jones under ant circumstance, fuelling the captain's sorcery

-The Casket; Jones' ship. A sizable vessel, the Casket appears to be a baroque and ghoulish galleon. Heavily armed, the Casket has won her captain many battles, the ship often the last sight of anyone who witnesses it at sea

35 notes · View notes

burneyanddefoe · 4 years

Note

Could you maybe explain what is inaccurate with those two dresses? I know a little bit about 18th century fashion and they look fine to me, (except that the blue-green dress doesn’t have a stomacher for some reason) but you seem to know a lot about it and they do look a bit "off".

Thanks for the question! This reply ended up being really long and I feel like it’s really nitpicky…but also, it shows that a little bit of research can go a long way for those Outlander costume designers. I’m not an expert, this isn’t an area I’ve studied heavily (yet) but I know where to find resources so that gives me an edge. If anyone has corrections for this post, please let me know!!!

This analysis is based on 18th century fashion and doesn’t account for the modern influences that Brianna and Claire might bring to the table. It also doesn’t take into account the rare exceptions to some of these points.

EDIT: I recently discovered Frock Flicks so if you want to hear more about the fashion choices on Outlander, the good and the bad, check their Outlander tag out! And here is the group absolutely destroying Gellis’s hair choice.

Brianna’s Wedding Dress

In some cases, an 18th century woman’s wedding gown would simply be the nicest one she had in her wardrobe. If she had a special gown made, it wasn’t a one-and-done thing like it is today. It would have been worn again and again for special occasions because it would likely be her nicest gown. That being said, it wasn’t always white.

Sleeves usually had some sort of decorative feature such as ruffles of lace or fabric. With lace or white fabric ruffles, they can be sewn on then taken off at a later date to wash or sew different ones on.

Not related to the outfit, but the hairstyle is a tad bit inaccurate but I’ll let that slide.

Most fichus are not that long, they would typically end either at or above the waist. I think there’s something else a bit off with the fichu but I can’t put my finger on it.

I feel like there’s something off with the fabric choices, but I can’t pinpoint it.

Here are some examples of 1700s wedding outfits. In most cases, they were identified as wedding outfits by family lore.

Gown from 1763 - worn in Maine, USA. - The MFA, accession number: 52.558

Gown from 1742 - made in England but worn in Massachusetts, USA - The MFA, accession number: 42.210a-c

Gown from 1760 - French or British - The MET, accession number: 40.136.1a, b

Gown from 1776 - American - The MET, accession number: 2009.300.731

Gown from 1747, altered in the 1770s - British - The MET, accession number: 2014.138a, b

Gown from the 1770s-80s - British textile, worn in Rhode Island - Colonial Williamsburg, accession number: 1951-150,1

Petticoat from 1775 - American - Colonial Williamsburg, accession number: 2016-123

Petticoat fragment from the 1750s-80 - Philadelphia, USA - Colonial Williamsburg, accession number: 2009-43,2

Claire’s Wedding Guest Dress

Again, the hair is inaccurate. I can let it pass for Brianna, but not for Claire. There shouldn’t be that big chunk of hair hanging down her back. For a special event, fashionable women wore a pouf. To create a small pouf, all you need is a hair cushion and a bunch of pins. This photo of Abby from American Duchess shows a simple hairstyle.

So Claire’s gown doesn’t actually fit a definition of any of the types of gowns that I’ve come across? It’s not a robe a l’anglaise but it’s slightly closer to a round gown. The issue is that Claire’s gown appears to be ONE entire piece, as if it was put on over the head. There are no ties, pins, hooks and eyes, or way to close it. The buttons of this gown are decorative.

A round gown as a back bodice similar to the anglaise but the round gown is one piece. The gown and petticoat are attached.

Describing a round gown is complicated but basically, the gown and petticoat are sewn together in the back while the front petticoat is brought up with the ties being wrapped around the waist. The front of the round gown will then be pinned closed or use a hook and eye closure. This creates the illusion of it gown and petticoat being separate.

This post shows the construction of a round gown!

I don’t have a clue what’s going on that zig-zag. Zig-zags are seen later in the 1780s and 1790s with contrasting trim in fashion plates but that’s not what’s going on here.

I’m not an expert on lace, so lace-experts feel free feel free to correct me! The green portion of the gown looks like cheap, modern tatted lace. In the eighteenth century, lace was handmade and very expensive. Here are some beautiful examples of handmade, 18th century lace. Obviously I don’t expect the designers to be buying yards of expensive, handmade lace but seeing as they have a very large budget and unlimited resources, it shouldn’t be too hard to find decent lace at a decent price.

THE END!!

#beth speaks #18th century fashion #outlander #discussion #women's fashion #fashion #modern era #modern media #tv show #mine*

5 notes · View notes

musings-of-the-imperial-legion · 4 years

Text

Bios

(So, it didn’t work. Because of this, I’ll be posting all of the bios here under a Read More link. Be prepared, because it’ll be a wall of text. It will follow this order: Therak Dynatos, Slavos Dorei, Nathaniel Okayaki, Jakovich Hideyoshi, Ezekyel Takashi, Ebrahimi Roshan, and lastly, the Imperial Legion itself.)

Full Name: Therak Tsuyoi Dynatos

Rank: Captain of the Second Company, Second in the Council of Captains

Age: 345, born March 18th, 655. M41, 1154 Hours.

Place of Birth: Xiliv, Eastern Fringe of Segmentum Ultima

Eyes: Soft blue

Skin Color: Mostly pale, though his head is more of a tan.

Body Type: That of a Large Astarte. Excessively muscled, even moreso than that of other Astartes.

Hair: Thin, well-groomed, and a deep, jet black.

Personality: Therak Dynatos is fairly philosophical, and generally does not fall into the trap most other Astartes do, in believing that they are something more than mortal. In similar fashion, he is fairly quiet, preferring to listen rather than to speak, but will not hesitate to do what he need to command the respect he requires.

Armor: Artificer Armor. His Mark VIII Errant Power armor have a large amount of higher-quality, very thick plates fitted to it, reinforcing the plates. The servos have been replaced with a far more high-quality variant; and the bodysuit itself has even been more armored. An Iron Halo is fitted on the backpack, and a handful of purity seals decorate the armor in various places. There is no Helmet to speak of.

Weapons: Ryza Pattern Storm Bolter, with five spare magazines. Sword-Based Relic Blade. Both Frag and Krak grenades, two of each.

Current Status: Alive, Second in the Council of Captains

———————————————————————————————————–

Full Name: Slavos Dorei

Rank: Primarch of the XI Legion

Place of Birth: Xiliv, Eastern Fringe of Segmentum Ultima

Eye Color: Amber-Brown

Height: About equivalent to Vulkan

Skin Color: Lightly tanned

Body Type: That of a Primarch, far more excessively muscled than a Primarch physically should be.

Hair: Long, jet-black hair that trails to the bottom of his shoulder blades if let free.

Personality: Slavos Dorei is among the kinder Primarchs. Despite his origins as a slave, he has spent a significant amount of time with his brothers, attempting to kindle a stronger bond out of the web of paranoia that seems rampant among them.

Armor: The Armor of Faded Vengeance, a unique armor notable for both it’s size, being a fair amount slimmer than most other sets of power armor, and it’s heavy-handed amount of large, dark-colored chains, particularly around the gauntlets; many of these chains weighing a significant amount, even enough that Astartes have trouble lifting them. He had no helmet to speak of.

Weapons:

Legionnaires Requiem: A unique pattern of Heavy Bolter, notable for it’s design to be held more like a rifle than it is a heavy weapon.

Warfist of Furious Tides: A Unique pattern of Power Fist, notable for both it’s slimness, and the notable attribute of it’s power field covering the entirety of the weapon, rather than simply a single area.

Oathkeeper: A Massive Power Sword, easily as long as Slavos is tall, notable only for it’s size and the Gothic lettering down the center of the blade, which spelled out it’s name. Despite Slavos never using it, he keeps it on him constantly, as it is tradition among his world that whoever wields Oathkeeper is named as the true ruler of Xiliv.

Metallic Destructor: An Archeotech Warhammer, notable for it’s similarities to standard Thunder Hammers, and for it’s odd ability to atomize inorganic matter it comes into contact with. Gifted to Slavos Dorei from a “Mysterious Benefactor”

Current Status: Alive, mostly exploring the Warp for the Traitor Primarchs, but stops back in Realspace every so often for personal reasons.

———————————————————————————————————–

Full name: Nathaniel Koizumi Okayaki

Rank: Captain of the First Company, First in the Council of Captains

Age: 344, born September 30th, 656. M41, 1337 Hours.

Place of Birth: Xiliv, Eastern Fringe of Segmentum Ultima

Eyes: Beige

Skin Color: Mostly pale, though his head is more of a tan.

Body Type: That of a Large Astarte. Excessively muscled, even moreso than that of other Astartes.

Hair: Shaved.

Personality: Nathaniel Okayaki is your typical Astartes, and more. He has an incredibly pointed attitude, a sturdy will to see things through, and more than a thick enough skull to resist hardships that stand in his way. Among the Council of Captains, his voice is often the first heard, and the last as well, if he gets his way. This attitude makes him a sturdy leader, and dangerous in battle.

Armor: Artificer Armor. His Mark VIII Errant Power armor have a large amount of higher-quality, very thick plates fitted to it, reinforcing the plates. The servos have been replaced with a far more high-quality variant; and the bodysuit itself has even been more armored. A Chapter Banner is fitted atop his backpack, and a handful of purity seals decorate the armor in various places. There is no Helmet to speak of.

Weapons: Mark VI Heavy Bolter, with five spare magazines. Master-Crafted Power Maul. Both Frag and Krak grenades, two of each.

Current Status: Alive, First in the Council of Captains

———————————————————————————————————–

Full name: Jakovich Oda Hideyoshi

Rank: Scout Master, Formerly Tenth in the Council of Captains

Age: 824, Born April 1st, 186. M41, 0001 Hours

Eye Color: Steel Gray

Skin Color: Extremely Pale

Body Type: Slimmer than most other Imperial Legionnaires, still excessively muscled, vaguely hairy.

Hair: Long buzz cut, steel gray

Personality: The closest to his Primarch, always attempting to solve disputes calmly, and prefers to teach with kindness not often found in other Astartes. More often than not, he prefers to sit and listen, only putting his own thoughts forward when the need arises.

Armor: Scout Armor. There have been little modifications to his armor over it’s years. It it covered almost fully by a unique Camo Cloak, which constantly shifts its colors to match the terrain around them.

Weapons: Mark Vb Bolter, with four spare magazines. M40/A1 Space Marine Sniper Rifle, with ten spare magazines. Both Frag and Krak grenades, two of each.

Current Status: Alive, AWOL

———————————————————————————————————–

Full Name: Ezekyel Hordohan Takashi

Rank: Captain of the Shadow of Unrelenting Vengeance, formerly the Shadow of Force. Favored son of Slavos Dorei

Age: 400, born January 18th, 950. M30, 1154 Hours.

Place of Birth: Xiliv, Eastern Fringe of Segmentum Ultima

Eye Color: Bright Green

Height: ~8.5 Ft, ~2.6 M.

Skin Color: Deeply tanned

Body Type: That of a Large Astarte. Excessively muscled, even moreso than that of other Astartes.

Hair: Bald, covered in implants.

Personality: Easily the angriest of all Imperial Legionnaires. Ezekyel Takashi’s state of being can often flip on a dime between unrelenting fury, and the calm of a Primarch; though it was not always this way. After the events of the Horus Heresy, something within Ezekyel snapped, and became the first to suffer the effects of what would later be called ‘The Fury’

Armor: Ezekyel Takashi is one of the few Imperial Legionnaires in it’s entire history to receive Terminator armor, specifically Cataphractii-Pattern Terminator Armor, which had been modified to account for his size. Since it’s acquisition, it had been turned into a variant of Artificer armor, adorned with skulls, and covered by a robe.

Weapons:

The Legion’s Talons: A unique set of Master-Crafted Crusade-Pattern Lightning Claws, one with a built-in Crusade-Pattern Bolter, and the other with a built-in Plasma-Fusil.

Current Status: Alive, Lost in the Warp

———————————————————————————————————–

Full Name: Ebrahimi Khurshid Roshan III

Rank: Admiral and Captain of the Fist of Xalanx, former Commander-In-Chief of the Icarus Defense Forces.

Age: 441, Born September 3rd, 910.M30, 0110 Hours

Place of Birth: Xerxes, Northern Fringe of Segmentum Ultima

Eyes: Dark Brown

Height: 2M, ~6.7 Ft pre-Augmentation; 6 M, ~19.6 Ft post-Entombment

Skin Color: Caramel

Body Type: Large build, heavily muscled

Hair: Shaved Bald

Personality: Eccentric, non-nonsense and straight-to-the-point commander. Relatively kind and unwavering, but refuses to accept excuses. Quick to adapt strategies when they prove inefficient, and slightly paranoid.

Armor: Xellephon-Pattern Dreadnought Chassis with Built-In Anti-Grav device.

Weapons: Micro Turbolaser Destructor, Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon with Built-In Quad Multi Laser, Power Glaive, and Back-Mounted Cyclone Missile Launcher.

Current Status: Alive, Lost in the Warp

———————————————————————————————————–

Legion/Chapter Name: Imperial Legion

Allegiances: Loyalist

Founding: First Founding

Legion Progenitor: Slavos Dorei, XI Primarch

Geneseed Flaws/Mutations/Traits:

Hyperactive Ossmodula: All members of the Imperial Legion are far larger than the standard, easily able to match Primaris in height, and can be considered the largest standard Astartes in the Imperium.

Hyperactive Biscopea: All members of the Imperial Legion are noticeably stronger than the standard. This strength, over a span of centuries, can be continuously expanded to an, as of yet, unknown limit; to the point where the Strongest Imperial Legionnaire has been able to take down an Ogryn in unarmed, bare-body combat through brute force alone, hit-for-hit.

Hypoactive Haemastamen: The Haemastamen within the Imperial Legion acts slower than in most other Astartes, and often times not truly activating at all. This combination with the Hyperactive Ossmodula and the Hyperactive Biscopea could, in theory, result in the members of the Imperial Legion to grow to the height of their Primarch if given the correct conditions.

Missing Omophagea: During early stages, insertions of the Omophagea resulted in chemical imbalances which left an incompatible body for growing of the Progenoids. It was decided early to not include the Omophagea to ensure the Legion’s survival.

“The Fury”: Certain numbers of the Imperial Legion develop a condition though their careers known as ‘The Fury’. Between a combination of the Hyperactive Biscopea, sheer stress from the battlefield, the method the Chemical Treatments are done, grief from the belief of their Primarch’s death, and likely, but unproven, some form of Psychic interference, certain numbers of the Imperial Legion enter a suicidal state, made notable by the desire to clad themselves in little but their ceremonial robes, and charge at the foe with Eviscerators, ignoring any and all pain they endure.

“The Farms”: One of the most important aspects of the Imperial Legion, and yet, is also their greatest secret. During the Implantation process, within some members, the Progenoid glands undergo an effect which is not yet fully understood. The progenoid glands begin a rapid mutation, expanding and encompassing most of the empty space within the former initiates body, bloating them into deformed masses of what they once were, and pressing other organs up against the stretched flesh. These “Farms” however, have a far greater use, given that these expanded Progenoid glands are still completely usable. Each one matures quickly, and can have it’s Geneseed harvested repeatedly, and far easier than with other Astartes.

Unreliable Melanochrome: After the intense battling of the Rain of Blood Campaign, the Melanochrome began to malfunction, affecting even those Marines that weren’t directly affected by the land battle, resulting in a large number of Imperial Legionaries to develop a darker, more mud-like skin color.

Successors of: N/A

Successor Chapters: None

Founder: Slavos Dorei

Legion Strength: [30k] 230,000, [40k] 1,000 Battle Brothers, 1,500 Scout Marines, 2,000-3,000 initiates-in-training.

Homeworld: Xiliv; a feudal world in the Eastern Fringe of Segmentum Ultima, in the Suom sector.

Legion Demeanor: Brothers In battle, Purity of Flesh, Uphold the Honor of the Emperor

Legion organisation: Codex Divergent. The Imperial Legion does not have a Chapter Master, and instead, it’s ruling is done via a Council of the Captains.

Doctrines: Close Combat, Melee

War Cry: A loud screaming.

Colors: Grey and White.

Heraldry: A Sword going through a Fist

Notable Ships:

Fist of Xalanks: Gloriana-Class Battleship

Shadow of Unrelenting Vengeance, formerly the Shadow of Force: Retribution-Class Battleship

Notable Figures:

Primarch: Slavos Dorei [30k-40k]

Second Company Captain: Therak Dynatos [40k]

Scout Master: Jakovich Hideyoshi [40k]

First Company Captain: Nathaniel Okayaki [40k]

Captain: Ezekyel Takashi [30k-40k]

Admiral: Ebrahimi Khurshid Roshan III [30k-40k]

Unique Units:

Ogre-Class Dreadnought: A unique Dreadnought notable for it’s heavier armor, and for it’s ability to be more flexible with it’s weapon armaments, capable of easily replacing both arms with almost any weapon standard Dreadnoughts could carry, as well as weapons that are found almost exclusively on more Specialized Dreadnoughts, and weapons usually not put on Deadnoughts at all. The Ogre-Class Dreadnought is the very definition of multi-purpose.

Avengers: A squad of anywhere from five to ten Imperial Legionnaires, each one overwhelmed by The Fury. Rather than how other Astartes chapters deal with similar issues, the Imperial Legion allows these marines to go out in the blaze of glory they desire. Each clad in only robes, and each armed with an Eviscerator, these Astartes quickly become the bane of any vehicle they come into contact with. There are some among the Legion that finds the practice of using these Astartes in this way distasteful, and it is a widely debated topic within the Chapter.

Xellephon-Pattern Dreadnought: Only one of it’s kind. Built utilizing technology from the planet Xerxes, and used only to save the life of admiral Ebrahimi Roshan after sustaining chronic wounds at the hands of an Ork boarding party.

#mun above all (ooc)#wall of text #bios #bio

3 notes · View notes

aeneasx · 5 years

Text

Here’s Which Notorious Serial Killer You’d Be, Based On Your Zodiac Sign

check rising sign and mars sign

Aries

(March 21st to April 19th)

Paul Knowles (Born April 17th)

Also know as “The Casanova Killer”, Knowles was a serial strangler convicted of killing at least 18 people in 1974, despite his claims to have murdered at least 35 individuals. Impulsive and hotheaded, Knowles committed all of his murders within one year. In typical Aries fashion, Knowles demonstrated a lot of tenacity and drive in the beginning of his killing career, but grew too sloppy and overly emotional to have the ability to carry out his crimes without being caught. He was arrested after attempting to crash his car through a police blockade, was chased on foot, and then was apprehended by a civilian with a shotgun.

Taurus

(April 20th to May 20th)

H. H. Holmes (Born May 7th)

Leave it to a Taurus to go so over the top they create an actual Murder Castle. H. H. Holmes, sometimes referred to as “America’s First Serial Killer”, was a serial killer and con-artist in Chicago around the turn of the 19th Century. Overly ambitious, money hungry, and a bit on the dramatic side, Holmes would lure people into his murder castle (filled with secret passageways and hidden rooms) where they would never be heard from again and Holmes would attempt to collect their life insurance policies. Although he was only pinned to around 5 murders, many people suspect he actually killed closer to 200 people.

Gemini

(May 21st to June 21st)

Jeffrey Dahmer (Born May 21st)

Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer who notoriously raped, murdered, and mutilated 17 men and boys from 1978 until his arrest in 1991. Dahmer was also a necrophile and cannibalized some of his victims, as well as preserved body parts and bones from the bodies of the young men who he murdered. Charming and personable, Dahmer was able to lure the young men back to his apartment and often convinced them to pose for photographs before the nightmare began. But the true shift in personality from a Gemini like Dahmer came in prison where he fully committed himself to Christianity and completely atoned for his crimes before being bludgeoned to death by another inmate. Pretty big personality shift from someone who kept an alter of body parts in their home as a shrine to themselves…

Cancer

(June 22nd to July 22nd)

Genene Jones (Born July 13th)

Biography Genene Jones is a suspected serial killer thought to be responsible for the deaths of up to 60 infants while she was a licensed vocational nurse between the 1970s and 1980s. Cancers are known for their big hearts and wanting to take care of people, but Jones’ heroine complex took her to a murderous level. Jones would inject infants with lethal doses of succinylcholine in order to get them close to death with the intention of reviving them for praise and glory. After being convicted for the death of 15-month old Chelsea McClellan, she was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

Leo

(July 23rd to August 22nd)

John George Haigh (Born August 10th)

Only a dramatic, attention seeking Leo would end up being someone known as “The Acid Bath Murderer.” John Haigh was a serial killer in England between 1943 and 1949. Haigh would bludgeon or shoot his victims before dousing their bodies in sulfuric acid in order to destroy the evidence. He would then cash in on their belongings by forging papers and selling what he could find for substantial amounts of money. But like Leos typically do, he became so excited about his sinister plan he misunderstood a key detail. Haigh believed that under corpus delicti if there was no body he couldn’t be convicted of a crime. This was not the case and there was enough evidence to sentence him to death by hanging in 1949.

Virgo

(August 23rd to September 22nd)

Rodney Alcala (Born August 23rd)

Known as a “killing machine” by many, it’s no surprise that someone as methodical, careful, and tactical of a killer like Rodney Alcala is a Virgo. Alcala would kidnap victims after luring them by promising to take their photograph and enjoyed “toying” with them before they died. He would strangle them to the brink of death only to revive them and torture them all over again. Alcala was convicted and sentenced to death for 5 murders, but new victims continue to be revealed while he has been on death row. Hundreds of photographs of naked men and women were found in a storage locker in Seattle, and many are believed to be victims of Alcala. Some believe Alcala was responsible for upwards of 130 murders.

Libra

(September 23rd to October 22nd)

Patrick Kearney (Born September 24th)

Patrick Kearney, also known as “The Freeway Killer”, is an American serial killer who hunted young men in gay bars and along freeways in California in the 1970s. Kearney would shoot his victims before dismembering and mutilating their bodies, sometimes even beating the corpses as a way to “release his rage.” Libras often have trouble with saying no and with their self-control, and Kearney took this to the extreme with his inability to satiate or control his murderous and necrophilic urges. However, also like Libras, Kearney was eager to come clean when caught and immediately confessed to all of his crimes in order to avoid the death penalty. He is currently serving 21 life sentences at California State Prison, Mule Creek.

Scorpio

(October 23rd to November 22nd)

Charles Manson (Born November 12th)

Charismatic, captivating, and ultimately completely self-serving and terrifying when crossed, it’s no shock that one of the most notorious cult-leaders, Charles Manson, is a Scorpio. Leader of the infamous Manson Family, Charles Manson lead his “family” around California in the 1960s, and eventually ordered several gruesome murders between July and August of 1969. Manson believed in what he coined “Helter Skelter” which would be an apocalyptic race war. He believed the murders would spark this war. Since 1989, Manson has been single cell-housed in the Protective Housing Unit at California State Prison, Corcoran.

Sagittarius

(November 23rd to December 21st)

Ted Bundy (November 24th)

Arguably one of the most famous serial killers to have ever existed, Ted Bundy was a rapist, necrophile, burglar, and murderer known to have killed at least 20 people during the 1970s. That being said, like most Sagittarians Bundy was prolific and grandiose, so it’s heavily suspected that he murdered far more people than he ever copped to. Sagittarians are also incredibly unpredictable, which is evidenced in the fact that Bundy did not have simply one method of murder. If he wanted to kill someone, he would find a way to do it. After escaping prison twice (again, so Sagittarius of him to not go down without a fight), Bundy was eventually captured and convicted in Florida, where he was eventually executed by lethal injection.

Capricorn

(December 22nd to January 20th)

William Bonin (Born January 8th)

Described as “the most arch-evil person who ever existed”, William Bonin was a serial killer who preyed on and murdered 21 young boys and men between 1979 and 1980 in Southern California. Expertly careful and practical like a true Capricorn, Bonin created a perfect murder/torture venue in the back of his Ford Econoline van. Bonin removed all of the inside handles from all of the doors aside from the driver’s side in order to minimize the chance one of his victims could escape, and would kill them inside of the van before dumping their bodies along various highways in California. The only reason Bonin was caught was because someone heard him raping and strangling a 17-year-old boy in the back of the van, which lead to his arrest. Bonin was the first person to be executed by lethal injection in California in 1996.

Aquarius

(January 21st to February 18th)

Robert Hansen (Born February 15th)

Detached, unpredictable, and incredibly secretive, Aquarians make the perfect serial killers. This is why it’s no surprise that someone who enjoyed literally hunting people was Aquarius Robert Hansen. Hansen would kidnap women and after raping them, set them loose in the Alaskan wilderness where he would hunt them down like animals. He’s known to have murdered 17 women, but is suspected of killing at least 30. As part of his plea bargain Hansen helped locate the bodies of other victims, and was eventually sentenced to 461 years in prison.

Pisces

(February 19th to March 20th)

John Wayne Gacy (Born March 17th)

A Pisces is a natural dreamer and can get caught up in their own imagination, so it’s no surprise that Pogo the Clown aka: John Wayne Gacy ended up being the sinister side to this sign. Gacy raped, tortured, and murdered 33 young men and boys and buried many of them in the crawl space of his Norwood Park home. Like a highly emotional Pisces, when it was evident police were cornering in on him Gacy gave a rambling, drunken confession to his attorneys. Gacy remained on death row for 14 years before being executed in 1994.

473 notes · View notes

quilloftheclouds · 5 years

Text

WIP Questions Tag Game

Because I have to start this blog off somehow! Say hello to some random facts about One Siren’s Soul.

... what, what do you mean I could post some actual writing? Pfft, no.

I actually got this game from @thelysstener‘s blog and thought it was pretty cool! I wasn’t tagged or anything but I really like doing tag games. Hope you don’t mind!

1: Describe the plot in one sentence

Magical things get stolen from magical people, forcing a siren, a sea witch, a pirate, and a legend of the Royal Navy to begrudgingly work together to get them back. (Aka: A study in how Quill doesn’t know how to write story pitches yet) 2: Pick one sight, smell, sound, feel, and taste to describe the aesthetic for your WIP. (I definitely did not follow the “one” thing but too bad)

Sight: The soft, welcome blues of the sky peeking through clouds of a dispersing storm, the ocean below calm despite its froth of foam drifting across rippled dark water.

Smell: Salt and drying seaweed and rotting fish. And then a permeating, engulfing scent from the ocean that you can’t place or describe, like the very depths of its soul. Magic.

Sound: The howl of wind through a cave opening, a background of distant waves crashing amidst sea bird’s cries.

Feel: The crackling of static electricity through your fingertips as you smooth down the folds of your clothing on a stormy day.

Taste: The slight tang of something metallic. Is that blood, or sweat, or metal? Or all three? (Or the tears of my future readers?)

3: Which 3+ songs would make a playlist for your novel?

I’m normally better at making playlists for things but in this case I was really picky, so...

Your Bones by Of Monsters And Men (Probably one of the biggest inspirations for the overall aesthetic and just... feeling of my wip.)

Sirens by Fleurie (The name and lyrics of this song fit in both definitions of the word.)

Coastline by Hollow Coves (There’s... a happy song on this list? What?)

4: What’s the time period and location in which your novel takes place?

Early 18th century on an alternate Earth in the North Atlantic.

5: Are there any former titles you’ve considered but discarded?

So uh. Funny story about that. One Siren’s Soul was originally going to start with ‘A’ instead of ‘One’. I realized pretty quickly why that wasn’t such a good idea, and also I just like how it sounds more, now? 6: What’s the first line of your novel?

Mmmmm this is a first draft, mate, I don’t wanna touch that just yet. 7: What’s a line of dialogue you’re particularly proud of?

Oh, jeez. All of the ones I really like are heavily context dependent or ridden with spoilers. In lieu of those, have a somewhat-kinda-funny one:

“Colin! Nice to see yer up. Or, well. Down.” - George, right after Colin falls flat on his face in front of him.

8: Which line from the novel most represents it as a whole?

~Spoilers are fuunnnn~ 9: Who are your character(s) face claims?

I’m definitely not the most set on these (especially for Io and Dione), but:

Celestine - Amandla Stenberg

Colin - Booboo Stewart

Phoenix - Enam Heikeens Honya

Dione - Maggie Duran

George - Johnny Harrington

Isabel - Camila Cabello

Io - Kirby Griffin

Rose - Nivetha Pethuraj

I have no idea for Io or Sheila or Alixandre yet, oops.

10: Sort your characters into Hogwarts houses.

For some reason these sorts of things are always tough for me? I myself don’t fit in only one so I think that’s worn off on my characters. Here’s some approximates, though:

Gryffindor: Phoenix, Isabel, Colin

Ravenclaw: Dione, Alixandre

Hufflepuff: George, Sheila

Slytherin: Rose

I can’t decide whether Celestine is in Ravenclaw or Slytherin, and Io’s stuck somewhere between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

11: Which character’s name do you like the most?

Chichima is probably my favourite. Who’s that, you ask? Nyehehee.

Including full names it’d probably be Phoenix Solarin because if that isn’t the most over the top thing to name a pyro I don’t know what is.

12: Describe each character’s daily outfit:

I’m just... gonna do my PoV characters, since I have too many characters in general, and fashion (especially historical) is not my strong suit.

Celestine: Maroon, long-sleeved dress; long, cream woolen scarf; and a pair of dark brown, lace up leather boots.

Colin: Simple white tunic; red and multi-coloured knit sash around his waist; brown trousers; and black cavalier boots (but to be honest he goes barefoot way too often).

Phoenix: Simple white blouse; bright red sash around her waist and as a headband; dark trousers; and buckled black leather boots. She gets a scarlet frock coat with gold trim later on.

Dione: Honestly, I have no idea how to describe Dio’s clothes. Other than black felt boots and a light green dress-like thing, I know she has a billion hidden pockets and a giant, hooded, fur and wool cloak that covers over all of the rest of her clothes so you can’t even see them. I dunno.

13: Do any characters have any distinctive birthmarks/scars?

Phoenix has a tattoo of crossed cannons somewhere (and also her, you know, vitiligo), George probably has a couple sailor’s tattoos as well, Isabel only has one arm, Celestine is missing her whole left eye, and Io has very distinctive scarring that she hides and is totally not going to become plot important at all.

14: Which character most fits a character trope?

Maybe Sheila? She’s the sweet and kind old lady shopkeeper who has all the best juicy gossip for our main cast to conveniently learn of.

15: Which character is the best writer? Worst?

Dione. Just. No competition. She writes poetry in her free time. She keeps a diar—I-I mean journal. Also she has actual training in writing but you’re not supposed to know that so shhh. Worst is probably Colin. He can barely read due to his dyslexia and as a regular deckhand he never really had the need to learn anyways.

16: Which character is the best liar? Worst?

You’d think it’d be actual thief and criminal Celestine but no, it’s Phoenix. Also another character I can’t mention because spoilers. Worst would be Colin. That comes up a lot. Sorry, Colin.

17: Which character swears the most? Least?

Rose. Swears. A LOT. Celestine does in Spanish. Least would probably be Alixandre because he’s just... too sweet. Too innocent of a boi.

18: Which character has the best writing? Worst?

Dione also has the best handwriting, since spoiler reasons but also she’s just like that. Colin’s handwriting isn’t the best, but it’s actually Io’s absolute chicken scratch that takes the cake for the worst. You wonder how people can even read her ship logs.

19: Which character is the most like you? Least like you?

Fun fact: Colin was originally based on another character of mine that was originally based on a sona form of me. So. His clumsiness is a new development, I don’t have that, and I’m apparently really good at lying, so there’re some differences. (Also I’m a writer and he can barely read. Oops.) But that obliviousness? That absolute clueless, distractibility? That inability to sit still? Those terrible puns and attempts at being socially adept? That’s me.

20: Which character would you most like to be?

I think Phoenix? You’ll find out why that is in the book, ‘cause her true personality isn’t quite the one people think of her as having, but... yeah. Phoenix is fun.

I’m gonna ignore the rules like a rebel and not tag anyone, so I’ll just tag everyone who wants to do this, instead!

Want to learn more about One Siren’s Soul? You can find the page here. I’m going to be starting a taglist soon, too, so let me know if you’d like to be added!

#oss #one siren's soul #wip #wip tag game #tag game #wip intro #wip introduction #writing #writeblr #writeblr community #ocs #my ocs #i enjoy doing tag games way too much #please tag me if you ever do them #plz

6 notes · View notes

nellygwyn · 6 years

Text

Harlots Season 2, Episode 1 & 2, thoughts

I watched the first two episodes of Harlots Season 2 and the main thought going through my mind is ‘AAAAA EVERYTHING HAPPENS SO MUCH” but here are a list of more specific and lucid thoughts. SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT:

Episode 1

Characters we don’t seem to have anymore: Marie-Louise (she’s left, leaving Mags £50 out of pocket), Betsy, Daniel Marney. There are a plethora of new characters, though,

Justice Josiah Hunt is a REALLY interesting new character to me. He genuinely thinks he is doing good and occasionally, he had periods of sympathy and reason (re: when he spoke to Lydia Quigley about the violated, mutilated body of a girl found a few nights earlier). However, in the next breath, he is having Violet branded and potentially transported for stealing a tiny amount of money from a notorious drunkard. @marieduplessis and I were discussing that he may be based on Henry Fielding who was not completely devoid of true morality, but he certainly was no saint.

Speaking of both Lydia and Violet, the episode begins with them both being thrown in jail. Violet is to be transported, though Amelia is intervening for her, and Lydia faces the House of Correction if she fails to pay her fine. However, Mags and Nancy were accidentally present during Lydia’s sentencing and Mags declared she was a kidnapper and responsible for many rapes.....so now she and Nancy are trying to prove their accusation to send Lydia to the gallows. Lydia, meanwhile, contacts all her “friends” (I say this loosely considering the only reason she has them in her grasp is because she blackmails them with their own secrets) in the aristocracy to help get her out of her predicament. This is where Lady Isabella Fitzwilliam, as well as Lord Fallon, come in. I liked this touch as bawds often had friends in high places to bail them out.

Violet’s storyline thus far is reminding me of Moll Flanders, though in Moll’s case, she was sent to the gallows for her petty theft.

I LOVE Charlotte and Lady Fitz’s budding relationship. It wasn’t much in this episode, which is fine, I think Lady Fitz should remain a background character, but their conversation was cool. I think Lady Fitz likes her a lot. And I do actually think Lady Fitz is heavily based on Georgiana Cavendish, because not only is she potentially going to be sapphic, but she has major issues with gambling.

Lady Fitz has very specific problems of her own, mostly concerning the fact her brother (her CREEPY brother, so I hope this doesn’t turn into an incest storyline) holds the purse strings on her own fortune. Also, Liv Tyler’s English accent is really good. She lives here with her husband and kids now so that probably explains it. I can hardly tell she isn’t British.

I HATE that Mags and Will have broken up. I’m tender about break ups right now anyway, but I also feel it was a little bit....ooc for Mags to be so jealous of Harriet. Harriet and Will, of course, have no sort of romance at all but Mags seemed to believe they did which didn’t seem Very Her. She’s too confident in herself??? Of course, this was a last straw for Will; he has been maligned by Mags before. I hope they get back together. Poor little Jacob didn’t want his dad to go.

EMILY LACEY AND CHARLIE!!!! Emily seems to want to testify against Lydia but she wants to keep it from Charlie. God, they have such a cool relationship. They just love to have fun. I thought it was hilarious, too, when they came across Lydia’s dildo in her private things.

I love Charlotte Wells so much. I have such a strong affinity to her, especially now that she’s really going it alone. She’s so iconic. Makes me tres emosh to see her on screen, I feel like I’m being represented.

Lucy is still around and I’m excited to see how her storyline progresses. She doesn’t feature super heavily in episode 1, though I do have to comment on two things. 1) I loved her conversation with Will, where she said “I know you didn’t fuck Harriet” and he said “Coarseness doesn’t look well on you,” which is true as I think a lot of Lucy’s bravado is a front. 2) She’s started wearing sackback dresses now which is AMAZING. Love these new fashion choices.

MAJOR SPOILER: Lord Fallon (and the Spartans, presumably) murdered Kitty. Took her to Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens instead of taking Lucy, probably raped her (which is so sad considering what she told Lucy about how she lost her virginity in the first place), and then dumped her dead body on Mags’ doorstop for Fanny to find. I am DISGUSTED.

“Historical advisor: Hallie Rubenhold“ DOUBT

Episode 2

Opening the episode with Mags sewing up Kitty’s slit throat was so.....powerful. What a symbol of all the sex workers who did die and do die at the hands of clients in brutal, degrading ways.

Fanny is so angry and I feel it. She’s even starting to see through Armitage’s façade of being nice to her but not very kind to other women. When he told her that Kitty was just another dead street girl, her lividness was palpable. I hope she gets some justice, Kitty was like a sister to her.

Amelia helping Violet is sweet, of course, but I don’t know how I feel about her suggestion to Josiah Hunt, that Violet should work for him instead of facing slavery in the Colonies. I know Amelia means Violet to become Josiah’s maid, rather than a slave, which is infinitely better but........Don’t Trust Like That (especially since, if Violet tries to leave Hunt’s employ, she’s just gonna be sent right back to prison). Amelia means so much good though. I love her. She uses Christianity the right way.

Lydia’s out of jail, since Charlotte came to pay her fine, and she’s not impressed by Charlie and Emily’s behaviour in her house whilst she was locked up. In this scene, she calls Charlotte her true heir. I wonder how furious she’s going to be when she finds out that Charlotte is actually working to bring her down, in the same way everyone else is.

“She was guilty.....of being poor. The worst crime you can commit!”

“There’s no evidence strong enough to condemn a white wig. And none too weak to hang a whore”

To be honest, I am loving this growing class consciousness!!!!

I hate Lord Fallon, I hate Lydia Quigley, I hate all their rich friends who love murder and kidnap and rape. I hate them all!

Nancy, poor Nancy...her anger at Kitty’s death leads her to go up against the law and in return, she faces a public whipping. I think this is one of the worst punishments, other than being tied to the pillory post, in 18th century England.

I think Lucy is suspicious of Lord Fallon, at least a little bit so I’m not sure EXACTLY why she’s trying to catch him as a keeper. Maybe she thinks his money outweighs his creepiness, especially since she sends the money he gives her as a kind of deposit to Kitty’s daughter.

There’s a lovely scene near the end of the episode where Florence and Amelia take some soup with Mags, Fanny and Lucy at Mags’ house. Florence makes a comment about Kitty’s “ungodly gash” (meaning her slit throat) and everyone, including Florence, starts to laugh at the unplanned double entendre. Was so lovely.

So, we know Lydia is a creep and has some kind of hold over anywhere who comes under her spell but I genuinely hope Charlotte doesn’t become tied up in the web. I know she’s planning to take her down but Lydia still seems to be running rings around her.....maybe Charlotte feels wanted and needed for the first time in her life. Which I get. But Do! Not! Trust! Lydia! Quigley!

Emily is starting up her “House of Exotics.” Harriet is her first girl, I think she’s going to have a new character, Cherry Dorrington, in there too (who is a little person). Plus, there is a new black sex worker, but I don’t know her name yet, so I reckon she will also be living there. How exciting! I hope we get a few more women who aren’t white and/or able-bodied because of this.

For anyone wondering: here is where I watched Episode 1, and here is where I watched Episode 2.

#harlots spoilers #long post

8 notes · View notes

westywrites · 6 years

Text

A History Of Gods

Finally, I have got around to writing out the history of the gods in my WIP “Story with Gods” (which still needs a title). Below the read more please enjoy 2000 words explaining how Zeus’s kingdom came to be in the Americas, and how he was subsequently overthrown. The history is based on real-world events but includes my own spin on things. Find out how Zeus became a god, how Christianity changed the lives of the gods, and why Zeus is no longer allowed to step foot in Europe! @novelistcore , here it is, hope you enjoy!

Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades (or, as I tend to call them, the “Big Three” Olympian gods) hail from the early independent settlements on mainland Greece. These settlements, eventually developing into what is now known as Mycenaean Greece, had a culture based on warfare and raids, warriors were highly celebrated within their communities. As humans, the Big Three all met their doom at the same battle between two larger settlements at some point between 1800 and 1700 BCE. Zeus and Poseidon were opposing leaders, Zeus was in charge of the raiding warriors, and Poseidon was in charge of the defence. Hades was foot-soldier fighting under Poseidon. The battle left massive carnage on both sides, though the defending settlement held out in the end. Unfortunately, among those to lose their lives were Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, whose bodies were left in the field where their human lives had ended.

Soon after, Zeus found himself awake again, and he was thoroughly confused. All around him were the bodies of his men; he knew that, by all means, he should have been dead. But he wasn’t. He wandered the battlefield, looking at the corpses and thinking to himself. Eventually, he stumbled across a soldier who was sitting up and staring around him with horror in his eyes. This was Hades, whose godly abilities (often unfortunately) mean he can see ghosts. As Zeus tried to question Hades, they were approached by an equally confused Poseidon. Unsure what to do with themselves, the three banded together and headed toward the town.

In the town, Poseidon tried to question his men, but they either fled in fear or knelt down in reverence. They had seen their commander die yet now he stood before them. Poseidon urged them to speak, but they were in too much awe to respond in much depth. The three men soon found out that they had indeed been dead. The inhabitants of the settlement began to offer gifts of appeasement and even sacrifices to the three men who had returned from the dead. With the exception of Hades, they accepted these gifts and their new reputation as something more than human. As their powers developed, they left the town for fear of hurting its people. They wandered the countryside and interacted casually with anyone who happened to cross their paths. Whenever they came across scenes of death, they would gather anyone who happened to, well, not to stay dead. Soon, they had a fair group of them who travelled together, and legends grew.

These legends, plus the exaggerated stories the young gods would tell, soon grew into the basis of what we know as Greek mythology. As the myths spread, the stories became more and more exaggerated, and the humans of the land began to truly worship them.

Along came the Romans in 146 BCE. The gods, who had continued to build a kingdom amongst themselves, interacted freely with the Romans as well, many of them earning themselves new names in Roman mythology. Zeus’s domain over the gods spread with the Roman Empire (and he ruled in mighty Roman fashion). Not all of the humans who were reborn in this time supported Zeus, however, and some (arguably accidentally) made quite a name for themselves in the way they interacted with humans. Particularly those with a somewhat rebellious tendency, such as one who you may have heard of… Jesus Christ.

Humans loved Jesus and the stories he would tell of one all-powerful god (and that god being his dad), but man did the other gods hate him and the shit he was always stirring up. Some of the gods even had Jesus crucified, hoping that he wasn’t powerful enough to be immortal. Unfortunately, he is immortal, and his ‘resurrection’ just brought him more support from the humans. Under jealous Zeus’s influence, Christians were heavily persecuted in Rome, and it was even a fun pastime for the Romans to feed Christians to lions.

In 313 CE, Christianity was legalized in Rome, and Zeus lost his hold over the Roman Empire. Zeus tried to push his control over the gods northward, but many of the gods were now fighting over whether or not they should interact with humans, the general consensus was no, they should draw back and avoid humans. In 391 CE, the worship of other gods was made illegal, and Christianity began to persecute any gods who dared show their abilities.

Behind the scenes of human life, Zeus and those who supported him continued to rule the kingdom of the gods. Zeus was still very attached to his conquesting culture and spread his reach throughout the gods of Europe. Most either accepted Zeus’s claim to rule because they did not care (or were even beginning to fear the humans) or simply ignored Zeus and went about their lives unchanged. The gods present in the east had their own kingdom, and Zeus would not dare touch it as, though he would never admit it, he was afraid of them.

As Christianity spread, Zeus was bottle-necked, and it was becoming harder to exert his rule over the other gods while still staying in hiding. The gods he wanted to rule were afraid or simply trying to disappear as the punishment against non-Christians grew.

Eventually, Zeus pushed too far north (largely on the part of the Holy Roman Empire) and ended up in the territory of the Norse gods’ kingdom. Understandably, Odin was fucking pissed that Zeus would try to claim control over his land and they fought brutally, often around Denmark, for hundreds of years. It seemed Zeus was succeeding, he reluctantly used the Holy Roman Empire’s forces in his fights, but Odin knows warfare, and with time, the empire began to fracture, putting Zeus in a delicate position. Their fights culminated in the Thirty Years’ War, one of the most destructive conflicts in human history. Odin’s forces won out, and Zeus and his supporters were banished to the New World.

Many of the gods dropped their allegiance to Zeus and stayed in Europe, living under Odin who now had claim to rule over most of the gods in Europe. Very few gods were allowed/would bother to travel between the Americas and Europe (Loki was one, so was Ares because Odin liked him), which meant that Zeus’s kingdom now consisted of very few subjects. The most notable figures who stuck with Zeus in the Americas are Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Artemis, and Hephaestus, among others. Both Hera and Athena came along for a short while but soon returned to Europe.

Zeus journeyed around the Americas and announced his kingdom to all who would listen. He quite liked the Americas because few protested his rule (the gods who were there already did not give a shit, many were older and more powerful than Zeus anyways, and they thought of him as a child and let him do whatever). Those who did protest found their support from humans quickly wiped away by Zeus’s subtle influence over the colonizers. (Zeus is a dick if you didn’t already know this.) As the population grew in the New World so did the number of deaths and therefore the number of rebirths, allowing Zeus to expand his kingdom through new gods who didn’t know enough to rebel against him.

In the New World, Zeus didn’t have to care about Christianity as much because by this point it was super distorted (and also Jesus was back in Europe hiding from Odin’s wrath at all the shit he had caused). When Zeus’s kingdom first arrived in the New World, they did make some mistakes and ended up causing some witch hunts and similar incidents, but as time passed, they developed ways to stay better hidden while still having their hands in human business.

In the mid 18th century, Odin sent a group of gods to check on Zeus and ensure he wasn’t planning anything drastic. Zeus got pissed at this disrespect which basically resulted in the American Revolution (where my asshole oc Rylan ends up reborn). Zeus hoped that the separation of the U.S. (and eventually the rest of the Americas, though that took time and wasn’t always entirely successful) would help prevent Odin from meddling in Zeus’s affairs. Most significant wars between anywhere in North or South America and Europe were symptoms of Zeus’s continual bickering with Odin across the sea.

Then comes the American Civil War, a conflict that Zeus did not expect.

By this point, a charming young god named Rylan had gathered the support of many other young gods across the U.S. Zeus was an unquestionably harsh ruler, often abusing his people and keeping strict rules on how the gods could act or even use their abilities (arguably these rules were for their protection from the humans). Rylan represented something new, something different. His radical ideas sparked dreams in the minds of young gods who thought they ought to have more power than they did. Rylan, however, also represented a great risk.

Rylan is a rebirth of Loki, god of fire, tricksters, deceit, and chaos. Loki is often described as having a silver tongue, able to manipulate even the most resilient. This trait is not something Rylan was lacking; his charisma meant that those who supported him supported him wholeheartedly and had no hesitation to follow through even on his craziest plans. He may not have been a god of war or strategy, but he had a tendency for reckless insanity that gave him the advantage of surprise.

Zeus wasn’t ready for the opposition from so close to home, his supporters fought as well as they could, but their forces were unprepared, and Rylan soon took the throne (there wasn’t a literal throne at the time, that didn’t exist until Rylan built his palace/base).

There’s been a whole lot of fighting back and forth ever since as Zeus tries to reclaim leadership, but Rylan has support and knows how to delegate, so he has gods helping him with strategy and organization. The gods are downright terrified of Rylan in a way they never were of Zeus. Rylan is a horrible king. He is just as power hungry and controlling as Zeus but lacks any remorse or sympathy for his subjects. Most gods are too scared to fight back and find themselves stuck fighting for King Rylan, rather than risking the consequences of going against him.

Zeus’s support has bases across the Americas where they continue to put up a resistance, but their numbers are dwindling, and they can’t seem to recruit anymore. As their forces shrink, King Rylan’s forces grow. He has a system of recruitment centres set up all over the continent that operate in a variety of ways, but all of them are built to kill humans and recruit those who are reborn as gods (as well as test those rebirths to tell how powerful they are and assign them their rank in the army). These recruitment centres bring in new foot-soldiers in mass numbers, mostly gods who are not overly powerful, most of them hardly more than human. It takes a great deal of power to be immortal and so, to Rylan, these lower-level gods are disposable playthings he can use to build up his kingdom. When the system does find a more powerful god, Rylan is quick to give them a position of significant power in the kingdom.

King Rylan’s fighting tactics are brutal and insane. He takes advantage of the natural chaos in human life to gain advantages among the gods, but he also causes chaos himself. For example, one of Zeus’s bases used to be in New York City. Zeus himself was staying there for some time about seventeen years ago. Rylan’s informants found Zeus’s location; they also found some plans that Rylan was quick to use to his advantage. Amidst the chaos of the greatest tragedy in modern America, Zeus was captured by Rylan’s forces. Zeus and his supporters had rushed immediately to help in any way they could; it wasn’t until days later that Apollo realized that Zeus was missing.

And that brings us to the beginning of my WIP. The war seems like a lost cause. Zeus’s supporters are few and far between, hanging on by a thread. Most are in hiding; some are still trying to plot and plan, still trying desperately to find Zeus. Trying to find any shred of hope that the tides of the war could change. Then they intercept some news from one Rylan’s recruitment centres.

The three most powerful rebirths in centuries have been found.

#west's words #writeblr #worldbuilding #history #mythology #Story with Gods #the world of gods #the Big Three #King Rylan #Zeus is an ass #but Rylan is undoubtedly worse #fun choices for king right?#I need to go through all my posts and make sure everything is tagged properly for this WIP #and also tag characters #so that you guys to scroll through stuff if you end up interested

8 notes · View notes