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aurorawest · 6 months

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Reading update

I Am Not Your Chosen One by Evelyn Benvie - DNF

Another one of those 'reads like something I would have written as a teenager' books. Definite cozy fantasy undertones to this one. I just don't enjoy the subversion of the Chosen One trope with this kind of winking, genre-aware character. I also don't enjoy when things read like video game walkthroughs.

The Charioteer by Mary Renault - 5/5 stars

I bought this because Cat Sebastian recommended it. I had actually never heard of Mary Renault, nor was I aware this book is a queer classic (FAKE BOOK FAN). But I. Wow. The basic story is a love triangle between our main character, Laurie, who was wounded at Dunkirk and is recovering at a convalescent hospital; Andrew, a conscientious objector and orderly at said hospital; and Ralph, who was a prefect at Laurie's school until he was expelled for being queer. It's so much more than that, though. Very rarely do I read a book that's so gorgeously written. I actually kept thinking as I was reading that I bet Natasha Pulley is a Mary Renault fan, because the prose had that same aching quality.

It's not an easy book to read—there's as much that's unsaid in the dialogue as what's actually said (probably more, actually), so you definitely have to read carefully. And of course it was written in 1953 so blah blah blah problematic something or another. With that out of the way, please, please read this beautiful book.

Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders by Aliette de Bodard - 3.75/5 stars

I don't think my rating is entirely fair, because I haven't read the main series that this novella is based on, so it was very much getting chucked into the deep end of a world that I didn't understand and wasn't ever explained, because familiarity was assumed. That said, I still enjoyed it. I might eventually pick up the main series just to see how Thuan and Asmodeus got together.

Liar City by Allie Therin - 4.75/5 stars

Honestly, the only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because I wanted more romance. I'm hoping assuming there's going to be another book and that this is a slow burn romance between Reece and Evan. Might flip a table if not.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy - 4/5 stars

Obviously a book called The Ministry of Utmost Happiness written by Arundhati Roy isn't going to be a lighthearted read, and surprise, it wasn't. What was weird, and very am-I-in-the-matrix, is that the day I started reading this, someone referred to the conflict in Kashmir as "their little conflict" (for those keeping score, it was the same lady that said lab created diamonds have no intrinsic value; clearly a real winner of a human being). Then later in the day I started reading this because it had risen to the top of my TBR, and it's...largely about the conflict in Kashmir.

Our Favorite Songs by Anita Kelly - 4.5/5 stars

Man, I really like Anita Kelly. This is only the second book of theirs I've read but I just really vibe with their style. This was a super quick read. I hadn't read the first book in the series, but that didn't seem to matter at all.

Never Whistle at Night edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C Van Alst Jr. - 3.75/5 stars

This is an anthology of Native horror stories written by Native writers. Some of these stories were REALLY REALLY good, but there was a run of pretty bad ones in the middle that kept me from rating it higher. There was one in particular that was like...did someone owe you a favor because this is straight up awful. But the ones that were good were very creepy and unsettling. There's also one that was less a horror story and more just a horrible story. I didn't think it really belonged in this anthology but I really enjoyed it regardless. Good spooky read.

The Emperor's Bone Palace by Hailey Turner - 4.75/5 stars

The end of this book wrecked me. It's the middle book in a trilogy so I'm hoping for a happy ending in book 3.

The Venetian and the Rum Runner by LA Witt - 4/5 stars

Irish thief meets, works with, and falls for an Italian underboss in Prohibition-era NYC. This was a slooooooow burn and the romance at times almost felt secondary to the rest of the action. But I enjoyed it and felt like the historical stuff was really well done. Plus as an Italian-American I always appreciate reminders that there was a time when Italian immigrants weren't considered white enough (fun fact, I've been subject to more anti-Italian sentiment in my life than homophobic sentiment). If you're looking for a light hearted historical romance this ain't it. I was kind of shocked by the body count, and some of the deaths really got to me.

#i am not your chosen one #the charioteer #mary renault #of dragons feasts and murders #aliette de bodard #liar city #allie therin #the ministry of utmost happiness #arundhati roy #our favorite songs #anita kelly #never whistle at night #the emperor's bone palace #hailey turner #the venetian and the rum runner #la witt #reading tag

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debrink · 1 year

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Excelsior Palace Hôtel

Venise-Lido

~ Mario Borgoni (Italian, 1869-1936), circa 1910

#Excelsior Palace Hôtel #Mario Borgoni #1910 #Venetian Hotels #Italian Luggage Labels #deBrink

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thewasteland2 · 2 years

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Chioggia (Veneto). Calletta and villa Renier. This Calletta did not escape me, I found it very suggestive, it has no exit, it ends with the entrance to Villa Renier, from which it takes its name. The palace actually also overlooks the Course, the calle separates it from Penzo palace, but the sublimity of the small calle exceeds its modestly Byzantine aspect. The Renier are a noble and ancient Venetian family of which Goldoni speaks well, arrived in the 11th century from Croatia, even if they also boast Umbrian origins. The Chioggia branch dates back to the 12th century. A long history of the rich that is not worth the view of the calletta. #modest #calle #escape #croatia #venetian #worth #origin #branch #chioggia #veneto #exit #entrance #course #palace #found #sublime #ancient #speak #travel #traveling #visiting #instatravel #travelling #tourism #instatraveling #travelgram #travelingram #massimopistis #sovVERSIvi #estremisti Information for the purchase of my new book "Extremists!": The book at a cost of 12.00 euros (120 pages), can be ordered in the bookstore (ISBN 978-88-591-5719-9 - Editore Aletti) or requested to the e-mail [email protected] with additional postage (currently 1.28 euros - fold of books). https://www.instagram.com/p/CgcyPDGD9-u/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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formulauno98 · 5 months

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Waking Up In Vegas | Chapter One

Inspired by our favourite Spanish paddock Dilf and his late-night shenanigans.

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: Mentions of Sex/Nudity/Alcohol/Drugs

Author’s Notes: Disclaimer, purely fiction, no-one is taken in this alt-universe. And side note, I'm thrilled Fernando Alonso got P4.

You groaned as you woke up, the last thing you remembered was dancing in the hot sweaty mess that was Omnia. Knowing you had a race to attend the following day, you hadn’t intended to go on a big night out but it was just across the strip from your suite at the Venetian and your friends had persuaded you. What happened after that was an almighty blur, but one thing you did know was that your head was banging and you were stark naked and not alone in your bed.

Gingerly opening your eyes you were met with darkness and the strange feeling that your bed had turned around in the night. Finding it hard to make out the shapes in the pitch black you scrambled to find the switch to open the heavy curtains. Weirdly no matter how hard you tried, your hand found only a blank wall. Where the hell was the switch?

To make matters worse, you normally put your phone on the nightstand beside your bed and it was also nowhere to be found. Knowing that your companion was snoozing beside you you carefully lifted the sheets, putting a foot down on the floor. Even stranger, you could have sworn that your suite had carpet and all you were finding was cool marble.

Standing up you moved around to where you knew there was a rail to walk down into the sunken lounge area, trying to grab it in the darkness. Once again, nothing. Taking a careful step forward where you knew where there was a step, once again you were astonished to find no step. What the fuck was going on?

That’s when it dawned on you. This was not your suite. And although you were not the betting type, you’d be willing to put money on the fact that this room belonged to your mysterious bedfellow. Continuing to scramble around in the darkness you at last found a doorframe, and sure enough a door handle.

Carefully pushing down on the handle, you cracked open the door to reveal a very large living room, a large expanse of window along one side with a glorious view of none other than the Venetian. Great. Not only were you not in your room, but you were not in your hotel.

Stepping through into the living room, you felt a little self-conscious, still completely naked. Surely your clothes were somewhere around?

Catching a glimpse of yourself in the mirror you were even more horrified, your hair was stood on end, your make-up smudged around your eyes like a panda. Not a pretty sight. Taking in more of the enormous room before you, you noticed a fully stocked bar, grand piano and some expansive art pieces, all set around the largest sofa you’d ever seen in your life. Two half-full champagne flutes were left on the coffee table, aside from a large ice bucket filled with three empty bottles of what you knew to be very expensive champagne. Whoever this guy was, he was stacked with cash.

Failing to find your clothes anywhere in the room you glanced out of the window, trying to figure out where exactly you were, you could see the large red sign for Casear’s Palace as well as the Venetian and if you craned your neck to the right, Resorts World. You had to be at the Wynn. Knowing you had to find your clothes and your phone and hotfoot it out of there, you snuck back into the bedroom, leaving the door open just enough to see better.

“Buenos días, mi ángel.” came a voice from the bed. You froze. You hadn’t been as quiet as you should have been.

“Hi.” you said, awkwardly turning to cover your body as you finally located your dress, flung across the floor at the foot of the bed, “I’m so sorry, I was just leaving, go back to bed.”

“No, no, but why?” the man said, his heavy Spanish accent raspy with sleep.

“I’m so sorry, I don’t normally do this… I don’t know…” you stammered, trying to pull on last night’s dress, as quickly as possible. No mean feat in the semi-dark.

“Oh.” you could hear the disappointment in his voice, “At least stay for breakfast? Look I can find you a bathrobe.”

You could just make out a dark shape getting out of bed, a slight but muscular frame and long, tousled hair. At least he seemed hot.

“Sure, but I do need to find my phone, I need to let my friends know where I am, they’ll be worried,” you said, sitting down on the edge of the bed while the man went into the bathroom. You heard the light switch click on and curious what this man looked like in the light of day, you glanced up.

Nothing could have prepared you for what you saw. Fernando Alonso. The affable Aston Martin Formula One driver. Ass out, equally as naked as you were.

Trying to compose yourself and pick your jaw off of the floor, you were floored as he replied, slipping on a bathrobe “But don’t you remember? You wanted to stay out dancing but your friends wanted to go to bed so I promised them I’d bring you back to the Venetian?”

“Oh.” you said feebly, “But we’re not in the Venetian…”

Fernando smiled wryly, “I didn’t say what time.”

“Touché,” you said as he returned to your side with a matching fluffy white towelling robe.

“Here,” he said kindly, draping it across your shoulders, “Let’s find your phone Y/N.”

“You remember my name?” you asked, dumbfounded.

“Of course? Do you not remember mine?” he raised an eyebrow as he got back up and made his way towards a control panel, pushing a button to open the curtains.

“Fernando?” you said.

“Yes. Thank God, I was worried there,” he said, grinning as the electronic curtains whirred into gear, opening to reveal another large expanse of glass with a commanding view of the Las Vegas strip.

“Sorry,” you said, “I must have drunk a little too much last night.”

He smiled kindly, “Well me too, to be truthful I don’t remember what happened after we left the club. I know we got here so maybe we took a taxi. I will check my phone. But let’s find yours too”

He bustled about, lifting cushions and various items of his clothing that were thrown about. Not remembering anything about last night you wondered if you’d had sex. Waking up naked in his bed it was inevitable but you didn’t feel like you had.

“Ah here,” he said, waving your distinctive lilac phone. “Here you go.”

“Thank you so much,” you said, glad to have something that might help you piece together what had happened. Your smile faltered though as the screen stayed black “Oh no, it’s dead though.”

“I have a charger, let me find it for you.” he said kindly, “And then we can order breakfast.”

“Oh thanks, that’s super kind.” you said, standing up and tying your robe tightly, deeply uncomfortable in this increasingly awkward situation, “Again, I am so sorry.”

“Please, stop apologising,” he said, looking bemused, “It looks like we had fun last night. Even if we don’t remember anything.”

“Do you think we…” you started, not sure how to broach this delicate question.

“No.” Fernando answered succinctly, clearly his thoughts aligned with yours, “There was nothing in the bathroom bin and we were not sober enough to clean up.”

Slightly relieved you smiled, “Ah thank God.”

Looking slightly offended, Fernando raised his eyebrows as he handed you a phone charger, “Am I that scary?”

“No, not at all.” you said, trying to salvage the situation, “Just that you know… I don’t normally make it a habit to spend the night with strangers and wake up in their rooms.”

“I got you.” he said winking, producing a small booklet, “What do you like for breakfast? Pancakes? Fruit salad? Coffee? Tea?”

“Any of that sounds good right now.” you said, plugging your phone in beside the bed, “Maybe pancakes and coffee?”

“Coming up mi ángel,” he said, picking up the phone on the dresser to ring down for room service.

Now faced with more awkward silence as you waited for your phone to come to life, you wriggled back into bed, slipping your dress off from under your bathrobe and folding it neatly on the nightstand. You may as well be comfortable while having the most awkward breakfast of your life.

“Please don’t look so scared,” said Fernando, making his way back towards the bed, having made his order, “They said breakfast will be here in fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you,” you said, eyeing him up as he slid into bed beside you.

“Want to watch some TV?” he said, reaching across for the remote.

“Sure,” you said. Anything to break this awkward silence.

“So Y/N, how much exactly do you remember of last night?” he said, flicking through the TV channels before settling on the trusty Weather Channel.

“Not so much to tell you the truth. I remember seeing you in the club and you coming over to ask me to dance, then dancing for a pretty long time. After that, no clue.”

Looking concerned, Fernando turned towards you, “Did you take anything apart from drink?”

Surprised by his accusation, you shook your head, “No, I don’t do that kind of stuff.”

“Just checking.” he said, looking bashful, “It’s just I only remember you drinking vodka tonics, and not enough for you to be blackout drunk.”

“That’s what I thought!” you said, feeling more animated, “But you said you don’t remember us coming back here, how much do you remember?”

A guilty look on his face, “Not so much more, I remember your friends leaving, and then my friends asking us if we wanted to go to another party and that is all.”

“Oh.” you said, “You don’t happen to remember where we went?”

“Nope.” he said, shrugging his shoulders, “But we made it back here so we’re safe and sound.”

“That’s true I suppose.” your conversation interrupted by your phone beeping to life. It was finally charged enough to message your friends.

“Maybe you took some photos?” said Fernando, smiling hopefully as he saw you grab your phone off of the nightstand.

“That’s a good point actually, I’ll just reply to my messages and then let’s do some detective work,” you said, scrolling through several notifications from your friends, demanding where you were.

Y/N, are you okay?

Y/N are you still with Fernando?

Y/N please call me.

Hurriedly replying, you were happy to know that your friends at least had met Fernando so would have had some kind of lead if you’d gone missing.

“Your friends are worried?” Fernando asked, peering at you curiously.

“Of course,” you said, “Would you not be worried if one of your friends went off with a strange man in Vegas?”

“Maybe.” he said, “But I’m not strange.”

“You know what I mean,” you said shaking your head. “Let’s have a look through my photos, maybe we can figure it out.”

“Yes, let’s do this,” Fernando said, leaning in closer, eyeing up your phone over your shoulder.

Scrolling through your photos your jaw dropped once again. Looking at Fernando, he looked equally as shocked.

Little Vegas Wedding Chapel. Spelt out in bright pink letters above a photo of you draped in Fernando’s arms, bride style.

“No.” was all you managed to say, “No there’s no way.”

“Scroll up!” said Fernando, his brow furrowed.

Clear as day, there it was, you and Fernando stood at a bedazzled neon altar in front of an Elvis impersonator, surrounded by a gaggle of what seemed to be Fernando’s friends.

“Fuck.” you said, looking at Fernando, eyes wide. “But surely they don’t let drunk people get married no?” he said, trying to rationalise the photos.

“No, and besides I’m sure it’s not legally binding,” you said, mortified by this discovery.

“100%, if it was there would have to be a contract or paperwork,” Fernando said, on the ball.

“Yes! You’re right. I’ll check my purse.” you said, jumping out of bed to check.

“Yes, let’s check every pocket, purse,” Fernando said, jumping out of the other side of the bed.

“All good!” you said, having rifled through your purse, finding only a lipgloss and your room key card.

“Fuck!” called out Fernando’s voice.

“What’s wrong?” you asked, making your way over to where he stood, a piece of paper in his hands, eyes wide, mouth agape.

“We are married,” he said gulping.

#f1 x reader #fernando alonso fic #fernando alonso #f1 fanfic

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oak23 · 1 month

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My Wataru may be the first Wataru doll in a Venetian Palace dungeon in all of history

#wataru kun #doll junk

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emaadsidiki · 2 months

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Venice, the feast of life.

– William WordsWorth

#Italy #Venice #Saint Mark's Basilica #St Mark's Square #Pigeons #Doge's Palace #Venetian Gothic #Lion of Venice #San Marco #Venezia #Italia

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gavalaa · 7 months

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Sketches of all my redone designs for my Phantom Thieves from my AU, Icarus! Lots of info down below on the cut, so if you want to know more about the details and inspiration, feel free to keep reading!

This includes Akechi’s design for his Princely/Robin Hood attire, BEFORE his Icarus attire you might have seen from my other posts! Check out the Icarus AU tag for more info! Icarus has a main focus on Akechi and his relationship to the thieves, but the AU is actually an entire rewrite with new designs, 3rd semester and epilogue/strikers/tactica stories, hence Zenkichi and Sophia’s inclusion.

Read below for individual info:

I decided to include more motifs towards their persona’s and general vibes; and also just my own personal touches haha.

AKIRA - Not much has changed, I really like his design overall. I raised his boots to be like Arsene’s and changed his neck area.

MORGANA - I hate the OG pill shaped head, his new design is based heavily on the shape of Palico’s from Monster Hunter. Added a little more nod to Zorro/His persona motifs and also just made him cuter! Little hamburger headed cat.

RYUJI - I made him a little bulkier and gave some more weight to his outfit overall. I gave him heavier boots and a slightly buffer build to relate back more to his sporty style.

ANN - honestly was never too big on her latex outfit, I wanted to call back to a personal favorite female lead; Christine Daae, and used one of the versions of her Don Juan costume as inspiration. I remember seeing Phantom live and in many stage versions of her character, the Don Juan scene was a pure moment of female control, and she was truly working the Phantom and controlling every movement on the stage. Her presence is commanding, and I thought it was a very fitting tribute to Ann’s character as feminine strength. (I’m absolutely not referring to the movie iteration of Daae btw.)

YUSUKE - I referred to some historical art and legend of Goemon to add more elements of design to his outfit. When I color them, I want to add some really strong pops of color to his clothing to really drive the aesthetics and artistry home.

MAKOTO - Another totally redid outfit, I opted to give her a design which relates back to Popess Joan, and also Anat. I gave her a clawed hand on her right side and an uncovered hand on her left as both a nod to Anat’s hand raised in iconography of her from art history, but also to show the duality of Anat’s title as both a goddess of war, and of love. It also relates to the mythology of Joan and her nature as both a leader and a martyr. I changed her mask to a Venetian Commedia mask as well.

FUTABA - ok. I’ll be honest. I never liked her skin-tight outfit, it just doesn’t match her personality at all. Also, the high tech Egyptian feel never really sold me. I totally understand the tomb thing, but I truthfully think a dungeon/palace which was more like… tech/nerd themed would have been much more “futaba” the inspiration for this new outfit relates back to her persona, the Necromomicon, as well as her nerdy personality, and her affiliation as Alibaba (Ali Baba.) I wanted to go more lovecraftian, long sleeves and patterning designed to look more like lovecraftian tendrils, and big baggy pants and her classic shoes to match. The patterning on her undershirt will resemble a rib cage, both as a reference to her deathly “tomb” iconography, but also to Lovecraftian and Necronomicon lore. I think she matches the description of a nerdy, techie DND dungeon master more than the initial outfit, so that’s the route I took personally.

HARU - relating back to some fashions from 17th c France, where Milady’s story (the three musketeers) takes place, I kept her design relatively similar. I just gave her a little more iconography relating to the three musketeers and that general timeframe.

AKECHI - in his pre-Icarus outfit, I’ve given him a princely sort of outfit befitting of his two faced nature, and edited it to relate to Robin Hood a little more. I tried to keep it sleek and just generally very concealing and layered.

SUMIRE - i gave her some iconography relating back to one of her personas, who is an inference to Freya. I also included some more nods to classic Cinderella, with fantasy gown elements. Overall, relatively similar.

ZENKICHI - again, relatively similar, I really like his outfit. I just opened up the face some to show more personality and spiced up the outfit generally to keep it matching. honestly, les mis/Valjean was a hard one, but I also think his character could be heavily related back to Edmond Dante (Monte Cristo.) so I gave some nods to that as well.

SOPHIA - I turned her into a FINGIE!!!! I made her whole dress as a nod to her persona/to pandora’s tiles around her/the pillars. I wanted to make her small and almost unnatural since she’s an AI, and I thought having a little guy on the team would add some more variation.

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dominadespina · 1 month

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WHAT HAPPENED TO COUNTESS MARIA OF SALONA?

Maria Fadrique was born around 1370, the daughter of the last Catalan Count of Salona, Don Louis Fadrique, and his Greek wife, Princess Helena Fadrique, also known as Helena Kantakouzene or The Despina, Helena Asenina.

Not much information about her early childhood has been preserved. We do know that she grew up as an only child to the noble couple and was likely prepared and claimed as the only heir to the County of Salona.

In 1382, at the age of 12, she lost her father and became the Countess of Salona in her own right. However, due to her age, she was deemed too young to manage the county, so her mother, the Dowager Countess Helena Fadrique, took charge as regent. That same year, she was betrothed to Bernat Hug, a son of Felip Dalmau, but the betrothal was annulled.

Despite reaching the age of maturity in 1386, at 16, an age when she was now deemed fully capable of managing the County of Salona, her mother remained in power over all state affairs, and Maria had yet to step a toe into the world of politics. That same year, her mother betrothed her to a son of the Serbian Emperor Symeon Uros for political reasons, but this betrothal, like the first one was annulled. That same year, she was betrothed to an alienated associate of the King of Aragon, but the wedding never took place.

From the years of 1388-1391, Helena refused to repay damages to a Venetian citizen who suffered the loss of property aboard a ship from Ancona by her late husband, Don Luis Fadrique, in 1380. This made her mother very unpopular with Venice.

Her mother was quite hated by the people, who most likely would have preferred Maria to take charge over state affairs, but this never happened. Even at the age of 20, Maria had not taken charge over state affairs. This decision to keep the Dowager Countess in charge would eventually cause their deaths.

Though Necdet Sakaoğlu in his work “Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları” claims she was betrothed to Manuel II in 1393, I have not seen another source to confirm this claim.

In this same work, Sakaoğlu tells the story of the capture of Maria and her mother in late 1393 or early 1394. “Turkish soldiers captured the Frankish ship that was bringing Maria to Istanbul in the Dardanelles and captured its occupants.” - Necdet Sakaoğlu, “Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları,” pg 88.

Upon meeting the beautiful and affianced Countess, Sultan Yildirim Bayezid Han was smitten with her, and both the mother and the daughter were brought to his harem in Edirne, and Maria became his concubine.

That same year in 1394, Helena died, but it is not clear if it was due to an execution or other reasons. According to Laonikos Chalkokondyles, the Countess Helena disgraced herself and brought shame upon the people of "Delphi" by committing her authority into the hands of her lover, a priest called Strateus, for which reason the Archbishop of Larissa denounced her to the Basileus (Sultan) and gave him the pretext for taking over the County of Salona. - The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos (Cantacuzenus) Ca. 1100-1460: A Genealogical and Prosopographical, pg 161.

As for Maria, she was executed a year later in 1395 after Bayezid found her unworthy of him, and eventually lost interest in her. However, this reason seems highly improbable.

When Bayezid lost interest in her, he wouldn’t have executed her but instead discarded her or even sent her away to the old palace in Bursa. The reason for her execution must be something else, either she was executed for political reasons or she went against the rules or even committed a crime. Nonetheless, it is highly unlikely for a Sultan to execute a concubine because he lost interest in her.

( Sources: The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos (Cantacuzenus) Ca. 1100-1460: A Genealogical and Prosopographical, Necdet Sakaoğlu, “Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları".)

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