#Winter western dress | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dcartcorner · 6 months

Text

a fantasy/dnd au because i can't help myself and the thought of ancient blue dragon simon who disguises himself as a human brings me joy.

please enjoy this small one shot ft. s1 adventuring crew (please excuse any errors, writing is not my strong suit!)

Rumours at the Tavern Characters: Tim, Simon, Sasha, Martin, Jon Ships: none

It wasn’t what Tim would consider a nice tavern. He had performed in nicer ones, ones where the counters were meticulously cleaned and the patrons were at least passably polite to the serving staff, and a mug of ale would set you back a silver piece. This place was not quite like that.

Then again, Tim had been to worse sorts of dives.

The Lazy Storm sat right smack in the middle of the two kinds of taverns, perched on the cliff side overlooking the choppy seas of the western coast, amidst the fjords in the town of Killn’s Rest. Not a bad place, not a good place. Just a place, somewhere to find some warmth, a quick meal, and something to drink. It was also the sort of tavern that didn’t take fire hazards all that seriously, if the number of people making merry that evening within its walls was any indication of the owner’s outlook on safety. It was busy, to the point where crowds spilled out onto the street even though the summer had come to a close and the winter, with its biting chill, was fast approaching.

Perhaps that’s why Tim noticed him - the old man. Because he was sitting on the bar top.

There were few other seats around. Sasha had managed to charm their way to a table of their own earlier in the night while Martin tried to see about rooms, and their party had stayed planted at said table all night as the crowds slowly but surely filtered in for the evening. They were lucky, in this regard, as many other people were forced to stand shoulder to shoulder. Not that old man, though. Perched on the edge of the bar like a bird, smiling kindly at the person next to him.

And his choice of seat was not the only peculiar thing about him, Tim thought. He wore clothing that Tim could only describe as ornate. If this was one of those nice taverns Tim had played in, he might have expected that sort of the look, but this wasn’t one of those places. This was the Lazy Storm, and that man was incredibly overdressed.

“It’s weird, right?” Tim said aloud. Martin looked up, then glanced around. Sasha craned her neck to look at him. Jon didn’t look up from his book. Tim nodded in the direction of the old man. “Someone dressed like that in a place like this. That’s odd, isn’t it?”

“Not really,” Sasha shrugged.

“Where?” Martin asked.

“Good on him, getting dressed up to go out for a night,” said Sasha.

“I think it’s weird,” said Tim. Because it was.

“Where?” Martin asked again. “Oh. Him? I mean. I suppose it’s… well, it’s a little odd.” The twist of a frown at the corners of Martin’s mouth. “Someone should offer him a seat.”

“Seems happy enough where he is,” Sasha said with a huff of a laugh as the other man at the bar leaned closer to the old man and whispered something to him.

“Could we please focus,” Jon finally interjected, shutting the book.

Tim rolled his eyes as he took a swig of his drink. It wasn’t silver coin ale. This was a copper-piece-per-tankard-ale, and it tasted like it. Which was to say, it tasted like a good night in the making.

“Have any of you actually asked anyone about any jobs yet?” Jon said.

“Asked just about as many people as you,” Tim said. By this, Tim meant: none.

“There’s a rat problem in the sewers,” Sasha said, “according to one guard. Doesn’t pay well, but at least it pays.”

“There are bandits, too,” Martin added. “Uh, just out east of here. Somewhere. Apparently they have a den in the woods? But I think someone might’ve already taken that one.”

“Mm.” Jon was not impressed. He looked over at Tim. “Anything?”

Tim raised his hands. “Don’t look at me, I can get a job whenever.” Plenty of people out there who were willing to pay for some good music. “Or did you forget who bought the rooms and drinks?”

Jon leaned his elbows on the table and put his face in his hands momentarily. Then looked up at Tim and said, “Could you please just. Ask.”

“Jon, maybe we should just… take a night off?” Martin suggested. “It wouldn’t be the worst thing…”

Jon shot him a look and that was the end of that conversation.

Well, didn’t matter. Jon didn’t have to join them in having a good night if he didn’t want to. Tim wasn’t going to let it bother him, and he got up to go order another drink with his own hard earned money, ignoring how much lighter his coin purse was compared to earlier that day.

Why was it his problem anyway, that they didn’t have much in the way of coin? He wasn’t going to let it get to him. It wasn’t getting to him. He and Sasha and Martin were just some poor souls dragged along on Jon’s pointless quest to find some answers that had nothing to do with any of them. So why did it matter?

It didn’t matter.

Dammit.

The old man was not the first person he asked that night about a job. As he waited for a drink he asked the person to his left and to his right, but neither of them were keen on talking - and it took him a little too long to realize they were part of their own adventuring party based on the matching bands on their arms, and wouldn’t be sharing any information with him. He tried to ask the bartender as well, but she was too busy to give him any answer that was not a look of inconvenience.

Tim sighed. And he kept asking, until finally his route around the tavern brought him to the old man at the bar. Sat there, dressed strangely, looking for all the world like he should be just about anywhere else.

“Are you quite alright?” the old man asked him. Tim blinked. “Not that I mind, but I’ve been told it’s rude to stare.”

Had he been staring? “Sorry,” Tim said. The old man smiled at him.

“Something I can do for you?” the old man asked.

Tim looked around briefly. The other person with whom the old man had been speaking earlier that night was gone. “Don’t suppose there is,” Tim said. “Unless you know of any get rich quick jobs around this place.”

The old man chuckled. “Well now, I can think of a few, but I’m not entirely sure those are the type you’re looking for,” he said, resting his hands on the head of his cane which he had propped up on the empty edge of one of the bar-stools. “Tough times, out there. Or so I hear. Something about the supply and demand of it all, I think. Too many adventurers, too few problems that need solving! At least around these parts.” The old man sighed thoughtfully. “This coast isn’t what it used to be. Time was you couldn’t take two steps on the road without running into bandits or cultists or a proper mountain troll. Now you’d be lucky to find a good sized rat nest to clean up.”

“Yeah, well. Killing rats doesn’t pay well,” Tim said.

The old man smiled, watching Tim over the rim of his glasses. His eyes were sharply blue, Tim noticed. “No,” the man agreed. “No it doesn’t.” He tilted his head. “Terribly sorry, but I’m afraid you’ll have to go further afield to find anything.”

“Thanks anyway,” Tim said, defeated.

“Although,” the old man said as Tim was turning away. Tim paused and looked back at him. “I’ve heard a rumour. There have been a few ships that have come into the harbour with some particularly strange news out of the Shivering Straight. Up north. Word is there have been a handful of whaling ships that have gone missing around Helkelson Bay. Only a couple of survivors. Those that do manage to best the frostbite say… well. You know how sailors can be, always creating the most fanciful stories. A ghost ship, they say! The mayor of Helkelson isn’t altogether convinced it’s anything so peculiar as that, though I hear he’s offering a handsome reward to anyone willing to… solve the problem. Whatever that problem may be.”

“Helkelson?” Tim said.

“That’s right,” the old man replied with a smile. “Ask around the docks, I’d say. Plenty of merchant ships coming and going that way. Of course, it’s only a rumour.”

Tim smiled back. “Better than nothing.”

It was at that moment the old man’s companion returned and gave Tim a wary look. Tim took it as his cue to leave with a nod of thanks and an imaginary tip of the hat before he returned to the table to join his companions.

“Let me start,” he said to them, “by saying you’re welcome. Now, any of you been to the Shivering Straight?”

#tma #the magnus archives #dnd au #fantasy au #tim stoker #sasha james #martin blackwood #jonathan sims #simon fairchild #fic #one shot #yes tim is a bard #fanart

318 notes · View notes

margaretoakgrove · 1 year

Text

Taking care of Heisenberg

If once you decide to open an old huge dictionary and find the word ''workaholic'' within this book, i bet the name of this handsome man certainly will be its definition.

It is just incredible that each day Heisenberg finds so many hours to build his metal army of mechanical undead soldiers and, unfortunately, such a small amount of time for taking care of himself.

The lord tends to put his own self-care and state of health aside, but you, on the very contrary, put them on the first place along with yours.

Actually, it will be fair enough to say, that you enjoy taking care of your loved one, and the undeniable fact that you are able to make his life easier and better turns you into one of the happiest people in the world.

Heisenberg is definitely a man of a good appetite, but in spite of that he prefers a simple food over rare exquisite dishes. Therefore if you just cook a fried meat with boiled potatoes and a simple vegetable salad, be doubtlessly sure that your pretty hands will be covered with little kisses of his endless gratitude.

Oftentimes, the old worn clothes of the lord become dirty and damaged as he usually works with motor oil and different metal scraps with rather sharp edges, but you are always ready to remove any oil stain from his trousers and sew up every hole in his shirt.

One needs to mention that your loved one's work is not only physically hard, but it's also hazardous, and, at times, sharp tools, metal scraps or even his own creation that, all of a sudden, went totally crazy can injure him. After such unpleasant situations you carefully patch his bleeding wounds up, and Karl, seeing a concerned look on your face, every time gives you a reassuring smile and tells that you shouldn't be so worried because of just another scratch. (Well yeah, just another scratch which, in the afterwards, turns into another deep scar.)

As Heisenberg strictly forbids you to wander the lowest levels of the factory completely all alone, warning that it's super dangerous, you cannot go down there and check on him when he burns the midnight oil, creating one more addition to his army.

But when the lord sits in his workshop on the highest and safest floor of the building, designing and improving scatches or writing down important notes, you always bring him a healthy snack and a mug of aromatic strong coffee even in the middle of the night which is not a problem for you at all.

When your loved one, after working hard during all day almost in nonstop regime, tirely flops down on your shared cozy bed, you don't ever mind to provide him with a wonderfully relaxing massage. The caring hands of yours slowly and gently rub his weary neck and shoulders, and Karl doesn't even try to hold slight moans of an absolute pleasure, letting you understand like this how unbelievably good you make him feel.

By the havoc which practically daily happens in his life Heisenberg, rather often, feels very stressed out, and you perfectely know that at these gloomy days of his Karl needs the comfort of your company more than usual. You caringly offer him to drink a nice cup of hot relaxing herbal infusion and take a slow walk on the fresh air somewhere in the woods, trying to speak on positive themes in the process of your little trip, at the same time listening to the calming ambient sounds of the nature.

In winter you are especially worried about the health state of your dearest man, noticing that despite a cold weather he is quite lightly dressed, and his neck is perpetually open to the strong gusts of freezing northern and western winds. Does one need to say how surprised the lord was when you timidly gifted him a simply-looking yet so soft and warm scarf knitted with your own golden hands? No, the man wasn't just pleasantly surprised, he was baffled, even shocked by this gesture because literally nobody in his entire life has ever done such a nice thing for him.

Having the new accessory wrapped around his neck (which fits him well, by the way), Karl attends special occasions by the name of family meetings where he with a smug-ass smile on his face lively brags to the siblings (especially to Lady D) about what a kind, caring and attentive person his precious darling really is, unlike someone's annoyingly buzzing bloodthirsty bugs.

Heisenberg is sure as hell that he will never be grateful enough to you for everything you do for him every single day, understanding very well that without your divine presence in his life he would never ever feel so truly loved and cared for.

But the lord does not even imagine that the short sincere ''thank you, Buttercup'' of his makes you melt like a sweet sugar cube in a hot fragrant tea.

And each new day you are willing to keep tirelessly surrounding him with your priceless love and tender care because this so close to your heart man means the world for you and, surely, even more.

#resident evil 8 #resident evil 8 village #resident evil village #re8 #re8 village #re village #Lord Heisenberg #Karl Heisenberg #Heisenberg #House Heisenberg #Lord Heisenberg headcanons #Karl Heisenberg headcanons #Heisenberg headcanons #Lord Heisenberg x reader #Karl Heisenberg x reader #Heisenberg x reader #Lord Heisenberg x you #Karl Heisenberg x you #Heisenberg x you

601 notes · View notes

physalian · 5 months

Text

Color in Fiction! (Once You See it, You Cannot Unsee it)

White versus black, red versus blue, Gatsby’s green light, Dorothy’s ruby red slippers, Belle’s blue dress.

Color is perhaps the most ubiquitous motif used across both fiction and reality to thread people or objects through a common theme, or to pit two ideologies against each other beyond their verbal spats. Color is also perhaps the simplest motif, but that doesn’t make it any lesser in its potency.

In fiction, color is an easy way for the audience to learn as fast as possible who’s on whose side, and who their opponents are, and today, we’re going to look at a few.

But first: Crash course into color theory:

Warmer colors evoke passion or uncertainty, movement and excitement, happiness and warmth, but also rage, aggression, love, and lust. The cooler colors evoke sadness and serenity, but also youth and spring and winter and death.

Most of the time when a creator wants to juxtapose color in a narrative or other work, they’re going to use inverses, just google one of the hundreds of teal and orange movie posters. Inverses are whatever colors lie at opposite sides of the wheel. Blue and Orange, Red and Green, Purple and Yellow. These pairs show up either in opposition, or as an ensemble of one character or a group or team.

Part 1: Black and White

Yes it has grounds in racism, but black and white are also accepted to mean chaos and order, good and evil, death and life.

In a show like Lost, themes of black and white are constant. The black and white backgammon pieces, the colors of the Dharma station logos, the show’s main title card, God stand-in Jacob (Lucifer from Supernatural), and his unnamed brother, the Man in Black.

Black and white show up *everywhere,* in some places subtler than others. In fiction with a male and female lead, if they are coded in black and white, the man is almost always the one in black. Black means strength and mystery and this deep, almost corrupted darkness. White is purity, femininity, youth, and nurturing, when a woman wears it, unless she's the villain.

Villains in white are very often surprise villains:

The White Witch (Chronicles of Narnia)

Saruman (Lord of the Rings)

President Coin (Hunger Games)

Hans (Frozen), Mayor Bellweather (Zootopia), Auto (Wall-E)

Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean is an interesting case. She begins the first movie wearing light colors and being trapped in the pure and lawful life of the governor’s daughter. She ends her arc in the third movie in solid black (through several costumes) a badass Pirate King and wife of the new Captain of the Flying Dutchman.

Men in black are chivalrous, dark knights, or morally grey vigilantes, silent badasses, or edgy badboys. Black is also of course reserved for villains a la Darth Vader, or Severus Snape and Voldemort and a million others. The "Black Knight" is his own trope, whether he's in a fantasy setting or not.

Women in black are temptresses, or seductive badasses. Black is the color of corruption, sin, and angst in western media 9 times out of 10 unless a narrative wants to subvert it.

I could do an entire essay on black and white in Lord of the Rings alone but here's a few other contrasts: The white Tower of Ecthelion, Minas Tirith, the "White City", the White Tree, Gandalf the White. The Black Riders, Black Speech, Black Land of Mordor, Orthanc (Saruman's Tower).

But you don’t have to make your character’s entire costumes black and white, no, you can just make their hair light and dark.

Part 2: Hair

**Possibly also because racism but we don’t have time to unpack all that right now**

When you have your male protagonist and his male foil, love interest, competition, companion, lancer, or villain, most of the time (in western media where blonds are in abundance) the more noble or “good” character of the two will be blond, the other brunet, especially in a love triangle. If two male characters have opposing ideologies on any level, they will often have opposing hair. A male and female lead duo will also tend to have opposing hair, but it’s most obvious what they’re doing when it’s two dudes and not just coincidence.

Here’s a nonexhaustive list, with the brunet first (ignoring if the adaptation was faithful):

Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamnee (LoTR)

Aragorn and Boromir (LoTR)

Aragorn and Theoden (LoTR)

Denethor and Faramir (LoTR)

Thorin and Bilbo (Hobbit)

Jack Shephard and James “Sawyer” Ford (Lost)

Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar (Brokeback Mountain) *Also have opposing hats*

Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent (The Dark Knight)

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers (Marvel)

Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers (Marvel)

Loki and Thor (Marvel)

Nico di Angelo and Will Solace (Percy Jackson)

Percy Jackson and Jason Grace (Percy Jackson)

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (the Cumberbatch one)

Sam Winchester and Dean Winchester (Supernatural)

Edmund Pevensie and Peter Pevensie (Chronicles of Narnia)

Gale Hawthorne and Peeta Mellark (Hunger Games)

Damon Salvatore and Stefan Salvatore (Vampire Diaries)

Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby (2013 Gatsby)

Caledon Hockley and Jack Dawson (Titanic)

Notable nonexhaustive exceptions:

Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter)

Percy Jackson and Luke Castellan (Percy Jackson)

Jacob Black and Edward Cullen (Twilight)

Batman and Superman (DC Comics)

Luke Skywalker and Han Solo (Star Wars)

Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars) *wardrobe makes up for it*

*Feel free to tag the ones I missed

Not every brunet on the list is a “bad” guy, nor is every blond the “good” guy, but compared to each other, the brunet tends to be the more morally grey, the more corrupted, the one who’s ideologies end up getting them hurt or killed or proving them wrong. Or, the brunet faces more demons, has a darker personality, or tends to have a “shoot first ask questions later” philosophy.

This of course goes out the window if the media is set in a region or with a cast of characters who are meant to share similar features, like how there’s no blondes at all in Last Airbender (otherwise Aang would absolutely fit the pattern).

Whether that’s Frodo getting corrupted by the Ring and Sam being his rock, Jack Twist getting murdered while Ennis lives on, or the beloved Dark Knight and his bat-black demons while Harvey’s White legacy saves Gotham, next time you write a brunet and his blond competition, ask yourself just why you’re doing it.

*Side note, I’m pretty sure Harvey Dent, when he’s animated, is usually a brunet, but he’s also usually Two-Face by then and no longer a hero*

I don’t even have time for black and white in anime or the trope of the white-haired anime boy and since natural hair colors are kind of moot, I don’t think the same rules apply. But outside of the westernized “black knight vs white knight” I do want to dig deeper into color motifs in anime at some point.

Here's some notable dark and light dichotomies nonetheless in wardrobe and/or hair:

Kirito and Asuna (Sword Art Online)

Lelouch and Suzaku (Code Geass)

Midoriya and Bakugo (My Hero Academia)

L and Light (Death Note)

Medusa and Stein (Soul Eater)

Sasuke and Naruto (Naruto)

Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Eiji and Ash (Banana Fish)

Kyoya and Tamaki (OHSHC)

Yuri and Viktor (Yuri!!! On Ice)

Dracula and Alucard (Castlevania)

Part 3: Red v. Blue and everything in between

The megalith that is the color motif extends past the white/black dichotomy.

It’s also red and blue.

If red is pitted against blue in any story, red is always the team the audience is supposed to root against, unless this is sports. Red is the color of the Sith, the Fire Nation, red eyes are seen as evil, red is blood and rage and wrath and fire. Red is the color of evil empires. Blue is the color of heroes. It’s water and healing and camaraderie, serenity. Blue is the color of rebels and underdogs.

Red versus blue is in everything from the color of lightsabers in Star Wars to the color of cybertronian eyes in Transformers, to the color of the Water Tribes and Fire Nations (with some exceptions a la Azula’s blue fire) to the colors of the pills in the Matrix. Red is the ‘dangerous’ choice, blue is the ‘safe’ choice. Unless your character is patriotically sporting the red, white and blue of the UK, USA, or France.

Villains usually only wear blue if they're ice-coded, or belong to a faction wearing navy blue uniforms.

Red versus blue also shows up between leaders and their lancers. The first one I can think up off the top of my head is Robin and Raven from Teen Titans.

Purple is also usually lumped in with the bad guys and green with the good guys, but purple and green also show up a ton as contrasting colors of the same character like the Hulk or the Joker. But both can swing either way. The Decepticons in the early cartoons for Transformers had purple everywhere and reclaimed it in Transformers: Prime. Megatron, Soundwave, Shockwave, the Vehicons, Airachnid, and the Dark Star Saber, and some G1s]. Prime also has three sets of red-blue dichotomies within their factions: [Arcee/Cliffjumper, Optimus/Ratchet, and Knockout/Breakdown].

Green is the color of more Jedi, and the Green Lanterns, but green also represents sickness or disease or generic evil energy a la Loki, Dr. Facilier (Princess and the Frog) or the Hyenas and Scar in the Lion King.

Pink is really up in the air, as is orange and yellow, especially when it comes to female characters, especially female anime characters.

But enough about color dichotomy.

Part 4: Color Singularity

Color singularly is either meant to evoke a specific emotion, like using blue everywhere to represent sadness, or it’s meant to be a bold statement in an otherwise grayscale world.

I mentioned a few at the top of the post and I’ll elaborate on them here:

In Great Gatsby, green and yellow are very important colors. The “green light” is this real object at the end of the titular character’s love interest’s dock. This light and this color are motifs that represent Gatsby’s longing for Daisy and to return to a glorious past he can never have again (it’s also the color of American money). Yellow is also everywhere in this book. It’s the color of his chekov’s car and several dresses at his extravagant party. Yellow is the color of his current life of glitz and glam and riches (and is also the color of gold). If you listen to one of the accompanying songs to the 2013 film, Florence and the Machine’s “Over the Love” recognizes the importance of yellow in the narrative.

Dorothy’s red slippers in the Wizard of Oz are hyperbolically bold, especially since the movie starts out in black and white. Color is a huge piece of this film- the Emerald City, the Yellow Brick Road, the horse of many colors. Red scientifically is the color humans tend to notice first, those shoes were made to be remembered. Color in Wizard of Oz is the symbol of the fantastical, which was really helped by the time the film was made and simply seeing so much color on screen dazzled audiences.

Red catches your eye faster than any other color, and red in a world of black and white sticks in your mind, just look at Schindler’s List.

Belle from Beauty and the Beast, along with a lot of fictional women wear blue. Blue is biblically Mary’s color, and at one time was the color marketed to women before the shift to “blue for boys”. In the original Beauty and the Beast, Belle was the only character who wore blue, because she was an outsider, and outlier, a free-thinker. Or at least, Belle is the only one who wears blue until she dances with the Beast. The live-action remake didn’t maintain this extra level of the narrative and that’s a shame.

I didn't mention eye color much above (also maybe because racism) but blue eyes, especially animated blue and green eyes, go to characters who are more hopeful, heroic, nurturing, morally just, honest, or brave than their brown-eyed counterparts, unless he's a blue-eyed Tall, Dark, and Handsome. Blue-eyed people tend to be blond, so the traits go hand in hand for the "good" character.

Weirdly enough, this also applies to blue-eyed animal characters -- your animated anthropomorphised villain is rarely going to be drawn with eyes that aren't brown, black, green, red, orange, or yellow.

Because color is also a subliminal or overt way of foreshadowing in both written and visual media as much as any other motif and recurring symbol. You can foreshadow death, or impending doom, or an eventual identity reveal, whatever you want.

You can also subvert the usual associations with specific colors. Black doesn’t have to mean evil in your world. Black can be life, too. White doesn’t have to be pure, white can be clinical and sterile and lifeless (but please no more lady villains in white pantsuits, that's its own cliche at this point). Shake it up a bit every once in a while.

So whether it’s dueling ideologies or the very forces of good and evil, a harbinger of doom or a secret tell, or community and camaraderie, or an enduring hope, you can represent it all with a careful dose of color.

#writing advice #writing tips #writing resources #color theory #literary analysis

107 notes · View notes

kingdoms-and-empires · 1 month

Text

Dance of Wolf and Raven: Prologue

Hi guys, this is the new Romance serial novel I've started featuring our mother, Adelina!

There'll be new chapters every Friday on Patreon, that are already scheduled and primed to release using Patreon's scheduler thingy every Mountain Standard Time 4pm.

There's currently 11k words written to give me a head start, of which 2 chapters are released.

A lot of it came about due to the worldbuilding spree I went on last year, and since I didn't want any of it to go to waste nor include it in the main game cause of bloat or fatigue, thought this was a good idea to do it!

So without further ado, here's the prologue!

Dance of Wolf and Raven: Prologue

It is the winter of 599 A.L.

Almost 600 hundred years have passed since the Belthean people landed upon these shores.

600 years After Landfall.

600 years of blood and conquest.

Today, just weeks before the turning of a new century, the continent of Nareth is unified by way of the spear.

And her father is to blame.

"Princess?" A familiar voice whispers worriedly.

Adelina, youngest princess of the Belthean Empire turns to her lady-in-waiting, Lady Valerie. She waits for her to continue.

Lady Valerie fidgets, her eyes looking everywhere within the carriage except the princess, who offers the nervous girl a hand on her knee. "Speak Valerie, there's no one else in here but us two."

The words and gesture seems to calm her down, though she still gulps before asking, "Was the empress able to…?"

Princess Adelina rolls her eyes as she crumbles back into her seat, a heavy and long sigh escaping her lips. She slumps further and further into her seat before Lady Valerie giggles and helps her sit straight again. But the worried look remains on her face.

Hesitantly, she places her hand upon that of the princess's. Gripping softly, she whispers, "Wrinkling the dress would only serve to anger your father, my lady," she says this sadly, her expression that of defeat.

And defeat it may have well been.

Her mother had tried protesting her daughter's marriage to the Butcher's son, both in public and in private. But her father wanted this alliance badly enough that her mother was ignored and overruled.

Thus, she was betrothed to the prince of a kingdom who had betrayed their allies and sided with her father in his invasion of the western territories.

If that wasn't bad enough, the father of the prince she was to marry had become infamous for massacring entire noble families in a single bloody night. He was known as a cold and emotionless man, ruthless in his decision making. And she was to marry that man's son.

Princess Adelina grips her dress in anger, causing Lady Valerie who notices to bring her close for an embrace.

Again, the princess stifles a sob, refusing to let tears come out. She made a promise to herself that she wouldn't cry.

She had been alone for too long. Abandoned by even her dear brothers who'd always protected her in the imperial palace.

Her eldest brother, Gareth, had fought alongside her betrothed in the war against Lymark, and she had waited for any letter of his to reassure her. Or perhaps express his support in canceling this arranged marriage.

Anything.

But none had arrived.

She didn't know what to make of it, even Daerin her second eldest brother hadn't been able to communicate with her. No one had.

Alone in the capital she had waited.

Her brothers off to wage the war started by her father, later followed by her mother once rumors of a marriage were being whispered at court.

Those shrews for sisters had already married before the invasion to stabilize the empire.

It wasn't long after that she was ordered to ready herself for marriage, but not with a high lord from the empire, or someone she at least liked or knew how to handle.

But with a foreign prince from a kingdom that had betrayed its ally.

She was to be an offering of peace sent by her father, like something that could be given.

Like an object.

The iron inside her heats again.

She straightens herself, gently pushing Lady Valerie off her. She nods thanks to her lady-in-waiting.

'That's right…' she thinks to herself. 'That man pretends I don't exist until he needs a daughter to marry off.'

Her eyes narrow as she focuses on controlling the growing storm within her.

Her mind is set.

The emperor of the greatest nation ever forged, calling for the forgotten and unwanted princess to arrange her marriage without an honor guard. Without scores of retainers. With only one lady-in-waiting, who volunteered.

Only a temporary escort was given.

A single carriage, with a single cart loaded with whatever she could fit inside it.

Lady Valerie had tried defending her father when the journey started.

"Who would dare?" She said.

The princess knew deep within that it made sense. That the lands were now pacified, now moreso than in any other time period.

Who would dare face against the emperor of all Nareth? The king of kings, the Goddess' representative on the mortal plane, and most important of all… the wielder of one of two most powerful weapons in all creation, A'luthean Armor. Handed down throughout the generations by her family, it has impacted the world in numerous ways.

Depending on who is asked, it is either a curse or blessing that only a single member of the imperial bloodline could possess that artifact at a time, as it bonds with that person for life. No other, even with the Ravenea bloodline running through their veins, can use the holy relic crafted by the Goddess Herself for Her Champions during the A'lethic Era.

Her ancestor, Garland the Conqueror, founded the Belthean Empire with it.

Her great-great-grandfather, Emperor Saldwin, used it to bring a nation to its knees, and forced another to become "Imperial Friend and Ally".

These and other such acts forced the Archpriestess to ban the use of such relics in wars, or to proclaim excommunication upon those who broke the decree.

'But how could the Archpriestess force an imperial dynasty to not use its most powerful weapon?' was a question she had asked her tutors when learning of this proclamation.

Excommunication meant losing the accounts, support, legitimacy, and administration provided by the church, but was it enough to stop her family from imposing its will?

She knew it wasn't.

Princess Adelina feels her mind racing once more as she pictures executing her plan, and a small smile sneaks its way across her face.

"Valerie," she rests her left elbow the side of the carriage as she gets her lady-in-waiting's attention, "what can you tell me about the kingdom, or more specifically, my husband-to-be?"

Lady Valerie smiles at the informal use of her name, though she quickly regains her professional demeanor, "Why, you should kno-"

The princess cuts her off, "I'm only refreshing what I know, don't worry," she responds quickly waving a hand dismissively, "Please, think of it as an exercise or an escape from the daily boredom."

Her counterpart rubs her thighs as she knew all too well how uncomfortable it was to travel via carriage for so long a distance.

"Okay…" she replies, a bit absentmindedly as she begins to recount all that she'd learned over the journey to aid the princess.

With smile still in place, the princess innocently presses on, "What's so special about my betrothed?"

Lady Valerie, either ignoring or not catching the tone, answers immediately, "Why, that'd be either his eyes and hair, his status as the future king of Argent, or the fact he belongs to the only other A'luthean bloodline in Nareth."

Princess Adelina excitedly claps her hands, only to lean forward towards her friend, "And what exactly does that mean?"

A knot of worry forms on Lady Valerie's eyebrows as she carefully answers, "… it means he will be given his family's complete set of Blessed Armor, given to their line by the Goddess Herself, the A'luthean Armor of Argent?"

The princess laughs at her friend's textbook answer, "Oh Val! How long did you practice memorizing all that?"

Lady Valerie however saw the change in the princess' face when she gave her answer. "Lina… what exactly are you planning?"

Princess Adelina slowly sits back into her seat, making herself comfortable. "Nothing… just happy to hear my match is of such a Blessed bloodline!"

The smile on her face however, doesn't reach her eyes.

'The Archpriestess could only stop the imperial family from using their A'luthean Armor with the threat of another,' she thinks to herself as she leans back on her seat, her head on the puffed headrest. 'The other belonging to a royal family on the other side of the continent, in the Kingdom of Argent.'

She was to be the wife and queen of the one who would inherit such power, power enough to equal her father.

Princess Adelina was to become Queen Adelina. Here in this foreign kingdom she would be treated with respect. She would ensure it. Never again will she have to be under her father's control, never again will she be discarded and used in the negotiations of men.

And all she had to do was seduce her soon-to-be husband.

The plan going forward is this. For the sfw thread, at the end of the month ill be posting the Patreon version of the revised demo.

The NSFW KaE Thread will receive the Silverhill Martial Route four weeks after the Patreons receive it.

No deadlines will be publicly given.

I'll be posting and releasing more things as time goes on, thank you!

#kingdomsandempires #DoWR #romance #serial fiction

82 notes · View notes

syngoniums · 3 months

Text

Self-sown Epithelantha micromeris. This species is native to western Texas and self-fertile, flowering and fruiting off and on throughout the warm season, but historically any seedlings that did germinate in this pot ended up dying off for one reason or another. This past year, a top dressing of coarse sand, the addition of Osmocote pellets, and an overall very mild winter has worked in their favor. This isn't even all of them!

#cactaceae #texas natives #plantblr #gardeners on tumblr

51 notes · View notes

telekinetictrait · 9 months

Text

What is beautiful is good and who is good will soon be beautiful. - Sappho of Lesbos

fuck it. higher class english woman from a jewish-italian family and her cornish childhood friend-turned-housemaid that slowly fell in love over the 1910s.

on a more personal note, i don't think i can describe the big old smile on my face when i saw the antique wheelchair from @lilis-palace and the accompanying poses. disability related cc is few and far between, and finding historical disability related cc is like finding a dolphin in the desert. disabled people have always been here, and will always be here.

we've existed throughout history! shanidar one was a neanderthal who had brain damage and possible paralysis, and is estimated to have lived to be between thirty-five and forty-five – pretty old for a neanderthal! disabled people show up often in medieval and biblical texts. the greek god hephaestus is famously described as "lame," "deformed," and/or "impaired". various disabled bodies are portrayed in ancient egyptian art. some people with developmental/learning disabilities were honored by western european courts in the renaissance and believed to be closer to god. closer to the time period portrayed in this post, rosa may billinghurst was known as the "cripple suffragette" and was involved in near constant rallying for women's rights. disabled people are overlooked in studies and perceptions of history for so many reasons; mistreatment, abuse, erasure, eugenics, different ways of categorizing and labelling disabilities, and simply being lost to time and translation. but we've always existed. for every iconic figure of disability history, there's hundreds more who simply existed and had their lives forgotten.

there's names you know like helen keller, frida kahlo, franklin d. roosevelt, and names you don't. if anything i've said at all has interested you, here are a few more notable disabled people from history and modernity to research if you'd like: brad lomex, wilma mankiller, niccolò paganini, ivar the boneless, and barbara jordan.

cc used under the cut! (if it's not linked, it's from the game)

see my resources page!

all/multiple - lilis-palace's antique wheelchair + poses / rheallsim's fancy hairline / mlys' sibel rolled updo / the-melancholy-maiden's edwardian bandeau / citrlet's ivy freckles / plumbobteasociety's fancy fascinator hat / waxesnostalgic's toque hats / blueraptorsden's vintage stockings / satterlly's elizabeth boots / waxesnostalgic's edwardian heel pumps / xldkx-cc's rogue brogues

everyday - linzlu's hattie dress (download link) / sokea-cc's sweater dress

going out - dzifa's holmes dress / dancemachinetrait's priscilla set

wartime - waxesnostalgic's female war worker uniform / waxesnostalgic's v.a.d. headwear / satterlly's v.a.d. nurse uniform

formal - madameriasims4's laurel wreath headpiece / satterlly's silk dress / simlaughlove's alyssum succulents / retro-pixels astor dress

athletic - vintagesimstress's 1897 cycling hat / waxesnostalgic's armistice blouse / waxesnostalgic's female knickerbockers / waxesnostalgic's open collar blouse

sleep - vintagesimstress's 1893 aesthetic dress / sunivaa's lola dress

party - simverses's hat with plume, bow, and roses conversion / historicalsimslife's tea in the garden dress / pinkpatchy's sunless walks hat / twentiethcenturysims' fern dress

swim - linzlu's bathing belle swimsuit / eirflower's bain de soliel bathing shoes / lollaleeloosstuff's historical swimwear

summer - happylifesims' 1910's day dress #1 / waxesnostalgic's open collar blouse (short sleeves) + 1919 skirt (i think) / twentiethcenturysims golden ring accessory

winter - simverse's edwardian tapestry coat conversion / waxesnostalgic's cloche hat / linzlu's florence outerwear (download link)

thank you to @lilis-palace @rheallsim @mlyssimblr @the-melancholy-maiden @citrlet @waxesnostalgic @blueraptorsden @satterlly @xldkx-cc @linzlu @antiquatedplumbobs @sokea-cc @dzifasims @dancemachinetrait @madameriasims4 @simlaughlove @losts4cc @vintagesimstress @sunivaa @simverses @pinkpatchy @twentiethcenturysims @eirflower and @happylifesimsreblogs !!!

#my sims #sims 4 lookbook #ts4 lookbook #s4 historical lookbook #ts4 historical lookbook #ts4 disability #sorry that this turned into like. half an essay. lol.

132 notes · View notes

nekohime19 · 5 days

Text

Mini Mac # 8 : Local Monkey King questioning his feelings

Wukong is doing some introspection today, the only thing he got out of it is the certainty that Macaque is cute.

Sun Wukong intently looked at the black-furred monkey sitted on one of the mahogany tables of the western wing. Macaque was leaning on the basket, busying himself with a freshly cut cloth he took from one of the curtains. He was attempting to sew the rough edges together with a needle to create a proper robe, mainly out of pride after the sage pointed out the way he dressed. Of course, Sun Wukong wasn't mocking the way he dressed, he also favored leaves and simple cloth before his training with his former master, he only pointed it out because he found the macaque shivering multiple times in the course of winter. Nevertheless, Sun Wukong found it cute how the needle looked like a short blade in his palms.

Macaque wasn't really good at sewing, maybe because the needle was difficult for him to handle or maybe he simply didn't have the dexterity needed for this kind of affair, his stitches were uneven and falling apart at some edges. Still he kept going, face constantly frowning, focused on his work. Sun Wukong silently watched him, head lost in thoughts. His conversation with his brothers came to his mind and he frowned. He liked to believe he was in love with the lil guy but yet again he knew nothing of this feeling and never experienced it before. He never felt the need to dissect what was happening in the depth of his heart and only thought of courting in passing. In all honesty, Sun Wukong wasn't that interested in courting, he only mentioned it because he overheard some of his monkeys talking about spring coming and thought it would be a good time to initiate anything romantic with Macaque.

But like his brothers said, maybe he ought to understand his own heart before trying to give it so easily. So Wukong observed and he thought, did he loved the other like he loved any shiny pebbles on the side of the road? Or did he love the other in the way lovers did with each other? Feelings were confusing, thought the sage, but he was willing to explore them.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Asked Macaque as he lifted his head, looking at the sage with narrowed eyes. Sun Wukong chuckled at the way his cheeks puffed out in irritation.

“What are your thoughts on love?” Questioned the sage instead, not at all embarrassed by his inquiry. He wasn't one to shy away from any type of subjects.

“You mean romantic love?” Demanded the lil guy as he returned to his sewing.

“Yeah, what do you think? Have you ever been in love before?” Sun Wukong felt himself becoming curious about the anwer. With how suspicious Macaque was acting on a general basis, he struggled to think of him in love. How would he be?

“I don't know, I never felt it before.” Shrugged the black-furred monkey. “I'm not interested.”

“Really?” Asked the sage, tail lowering a little.

“What about you?” Asked the black-furred monkey instead, still focused on his work. “Have you ever been in love?”

“I don't know.” Sighed the King, he looked at the way Macaque's tail swayed in deep concentration and found it unbearably cute. “Maybe, I'm still figuring it out.”

“Hm, that's surprising. Never saw you as the type to be in love. The person you're interested in must be something.” Replied Macaque, he stick out his tongue the more he focused on his work, for some reason a gust of wind passed by and flipped the macaque's ears. The lil guy hissed at the wind and resumed his sewing with irritated sways of tail.

“R-really, never saw me as the type… You have no idea who I'm interested in?” Asked the sage as he leaned over the little macaque.

“Why would I know?” Sun Wukong sighed and let his head fall on the table, he heard another gust of wind mess with the black-furred monkey ears and chuckled at Macaque's outraged gasp.

“Stop bothering me already.” Grumbled the macaque, Sun Wukong flinched and lifted his head.

“O-oh, sorry. I'm distracting you, aren't I.” Awkwardly chuckled the sage.

“What? No, not you, the wind.”

“The wind?” Repeated Sun Wukong, confused but also curious. “You're talking with the wind?”

“Of course I'm talking with the wind, and it's getting really annoying right now!”

“That's so cool! How does it work, what does the wind say?”

“A lot of stupid things.” Huffed Macaque as he rolled his eyes. “It doesn't really have a voice, it just uses words lost in the air.”

“That's really cool, were you blessed or…?”

“Yeah, at my birth.” Nonchalantly replied the black-furred monkey. Sun Wukong was glad to learn more of Macaque's life, of course he knew not to push too far, but he was happy with the crumbs of information he could taste now and then. For now, he knew Macaque wasn't born on Flower Fruit Mountain but traveled here in search of a sanctuary, he also knew Macaque was really cautious of the outside world (probably because of his life before living here). “Look, I made it!” Suddenly exclaimed Macaque after a little bit, showing his robe with pride. The cloth was falling apart at some edges and it was a bit too long for Macaque's frame. Sun Wukong opened his mouth, ready to say his real thoughts, but decided against it when he saw how proud the other was.

“Yeah, it's pretty.” Macaque eyes lightened and his ears flapped in joy, Sun Wukong bit his lips to restrain the squeal threatening to pass his mouth.

The sage didn't know a lot about love, but there was one thing he was sure of : Macaque was cute.

+ memes

+Cut scenes

SWK *if he said what he really thoughts* : Well it's a little too long, and it looks like it'll fall apart quickly. 😅

Mac *embarrassed* : really? 😟

SWK *panicked* : N-no, it's really good! Prettiest robe I ever saw!

Mac *proud* : I knew it!

Mac *after putting the robe on* : ah, it's a bit too long 😕

Wind : I told you so 🙄

Mac : In fact you never told me, you just flipped my ears and laughed at me for being obvious or whatever. 😠

Wind : 😅

#shadowpeach #lmk #mini mac au #shadowpeach fanfic #SWK is trying to drops hints but Mac remains obvious #denial is a river in egypt #Macaque is drinking the whole damn river #The wind is at the same time amused but also irritated by this obvioussness #When a litteral element is pitying you #Good luck Wukong

30 notes · View notes