#medieval women did not wear corsets | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 3 years

Text

Hue and Cry V

Warnings: non-consent sex and rape; abuse of power, chase, unwanted touching, confusing Bucky is confusing, handjob, fingering.

This is dark!medieval!Bucky Barnes x reader and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Synopsis: You set out for the capital.

Note: I didn’t expect to get this done so soon but here ya go! Last day of work for the week.

Thanks to everyone and thanks in advance for all your feedback. :)

I really hope you enjoy. 💋

<3 Let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!

🏰 🏰 🏰

The night was interminable. Lord Barnes slept against you, his heat like flames across your flesh. Every time you pulled away, he latched onto you and brought you back to him. You stopped after the first hour, you succumbed to his hold and stared at the canopy with his arm stretched across your middle and his snores rumbling against your cheek.

When he woke, you had barely closed your eyes for more than ten minutes at a time. His hand slid down your body beneath the blanket and you held your breath as he pushed his fingers between your legs. You tensed and he drew away with a huff. He sat up and relieved himself in the chamber pot.

He called for a servant and soon his first meal was brought. He shared it with you, filling your plate with rashers and boiled egg. You ate only to appease him as your stomach twisted at the smell of food. When you finished, the dishes were cleared away and you were unused to being on the other side of the service.

Two servants came shortly after and carried a gown of teal brocade and a stack of accoutrements. You frowned as Barnes directed you up to your feet and ordered the pair of women to aid you in dressing. Your face questioned him but your words never came. He watched, still in his nightshirt, as you stared daunted at the garments.

You pulled on the shift before the women laced up the corset tight and you stepped into the heavy skirts. The sleeves attached to the bodice and your missing cap was replaced by a hood tailed with satin. You felt entirely out of place. When they finished and you were stiff as a board in the attire, Barnes dismissed them and began to dress.

“You are confused,” he said as he strapped on his arm, “a servant cannot openly travel with lords so if you are to ride in the carriage, you need to look the part.” He waved you over to help him into a pair of undershorts, “and…” he watched you as he stepped into his underclothes, “you look fine indeed.”

“Thank you, my lord, but I would not be unwant to travel with the servants--”

“I would,” he said tersely as you helped him into his tunic, “I want you with me as often as you can be, as close as you can be.”

You carried on and pulled up his breeches as he straightened the cuff around his artificial arm. He shrugged and groaned, “this damned thing,” he swore under his breath then looked at you again, “you don’t look at me the way they do… the arm… people can’t see it but they stare, they know. They expect it to just slip off and clatter to the floor like I’m some fool.”

“My lord,” you said gently.

“I’m not ashamed. It happened, it’s gone.” He said, “it’s just that others are and that makes me angry.”

“My lord,” you repeated again as you guided the heavy overcoat up his arms.

“I’m not ashamed of you either,” he touched the fabric of your skirt as you reached for the chain he’d wear around his neck, “but I do want you to look to others as I see you.”

“Yes, my lord,” you straightened the chain so the single sapphire hung in the centre of his chest.

“I never saw you as only a servant,” he turned and took his comb and brushed through his thick locks, “I tried, told myself it was… untoward but… here we are.”

You were quiet. He placed his comb back on the square table and turned to you. His eyes roved up and down your figure and he squared his shoulders.

“We will attend to our host as the servants ready the luggage. It should not be more than an hour before we are gone,” he declared, “and the journey will be strenuous.”

“My lord,” you breathed as he took your arm.

🏰

You'd never rode in a carriage before. The cushioned benches would be the envy of any servants afoot or crammed into the cart of luggage. You'd never worn a proper gown either and it wasn't as accommodating as the carriage. The corset pinched your waist and the brocade was stiff and scratchy.

As you set out, it was just you in the vehicle. You had a long cape around your shoulders as the closed windows hardly kept out the frosty morning. You were almost relieved to be alone, a breath from Barnes. You heard the horses' hooves in the dirt and the voices both familiar and not as the riders chattered. Soon, the carriage felt like a cage.

Just an hour after the sun reached its peak, the procession stopped. You listened through the carriage walls and pressed yourself to the seat as the door unclasped. Lord Barnes climbed in and offered you some dried meat and berries as he sat beside you. You took it and stared at the other bench, why couldn't he sit there?

The carriage jolted back into motion as you ate, the meat spicy and dry. He offered you a skin of water wordlessly as you finished and you kept your eyes through the window, the trees thinning out to pale fields. He sidled closer and you winced. You wanted badly to throw open the door and jump out, even if it ended in you being trampled or worse.

"You are quiet," he said.

"My lord," you murmured and stared at the cold horizon.

"Suppose we never spoke very much," he picked at your sleeve and rubbed the fabric between his fingers, "but I want you to make a habit now. You can speak to me."

And say what? You wondered. Did he think dressing you like a lady would truly make you one? You blinked and tried to ignore his lingering, if not pestering, touch.

"You are troubled. Tell me why?" He prodded. You kept quiet and he covered your hand with his, "please, tell me."

His tone brooked no defiance. You exhaled weakly and clenched your fist under his long fingers.

"My lord, with respect, do you believe those in the capital would be… accepting of a maid in lady's clothes? Do you think they'd be convinced by it?"

"Those in the capital are not my concern. They've not been for years and that will not suddenly change," he sighed, "if it was my decision, I would not attend but the king sent his invitation direct and is not within my prerogative to deny him."

"But must…" you began then clamped your lips shut at your error, "my lord."

"Must I bring you? That is what you thought to ask," he said, "I admit my actions have been sudden and I did not wish to frighten you so but… they were as much driven by the expediency of my departure as the intensity of my yearning."

You were still as he pried your hand open and forced his palm against yours.

"I am still only a servant even if you dress me up," you whispered and flicked your eyes with your fingers as tears threatened.

"To me, you are more," he vowed.

"No, you still… treat me as one," you tried to pull your hand from his grasp, "even if you think you do not and I can only ever be--"

"Enough," he snapped, "you grow bold and it does irk me. I have forgiven your missteps and you treat me as a beast."

You squirmed, your body still sore from his lashing. How quickly he forgot.

"My lord," you appeased and bent your head.

He sat back heavily and played with your hand. His breaths were heavy and angry as he thought. His grip tightened on you and he pulled your hand into his lap. You let him even as you went rigid and he turned your hand and rested it over his crotch. He pushed it firmly to his bulge.

"That is for you, servant or no," he groaned as you felt him twitch, "and that is your duty now."

You swallowed and batted your lashes. You were ashamed and appalled. You were to be his whore, you had no presumptions, but to hear him say it so overtly made it sink into your core like iron. You trembled as he moved your hand against his breeches. He led up and down his length as it throbbed desperately beneath the fabric.

"Look at me," he demanded.

You turned to him and hesitated before you could bring your eyes to his face. As a servant, you rarely were permitted to look at him straight. His face was limned in dark desire and tense with withheld lust. He slid your hand up and pushed your fingers beneath his breeches and the linen of his undershorts.

You tried to yank away from him but he forced you further down his pants. He urged your fingers around his cock and carried his former motion, up and down, up and down. He shuddered and squeezed your hand, an unspoken order. He drew his hand back and hooked his arm over your shoulders, his weight tugging on the tails of your hood.

He leaned his forehead against your temple as he moaned and you focused on your hand and the absurd activity of your own hand. He began to pant as he held you closer and you felt his muscles lock as he planted his boot firmly on the floor. The rock of the carriage and noise of horse hooves disguised his moans, your name floating around you.

"Quicker," he begged, "quicker, please."

You could do nothing more than what he bid. His lips tickled your cheek and he kissed your throat as he hunched down. He nibbled your skin and his hand tugged at your sleeve as you closed your eyes and just kept your hand moving. You began to shake too, afraid but more stunned. It was like every nerve in your body was alight.

He purred long and low as he sat back suddenly and pushed his hips out. He spasmed and you felt a warmth spill down your fingers. He reached down urgently and stopped younas he quaked and sputtered, "oh, oh, enough, please."

He pulled your hand from his trousers and you stared at his cum as it cooled between your knuckles. You tried to hide your disgust as he puffed and looked at the front of his pants. He swore as he felt the fabric, his mess seeping through both layers. He reached into his jacket and pulled a cloth free. He held it out to you.

"Clean yourself," he ordered, "try not to mess your gown."

You shakily wiped your hand with the cloth and he took it back to clean himself as best he could. "You did well," he rasped and folded the dirty side of the kerchief in and shoved it aside, "very well, sweeting."

His hand grazed the front of your gown and he slid off the bench. He bunched a handful of your skirt and slowly edged the hem up until you felt the cool air on your legs. You reached to stop him and he pressed his elbow against your side. A warning. His touched crawled beneath your skirts, gathered between his arm and your front, and under your shift, along the top of your stockings.

You held your breath and braced yourself against the seat as he cupped your cunt and you felt warmth gather in his palm. He pushed two fingers to you and slipped them along your folds. There was a peculiar slickness beneath them and you squeaked as he grazed a most sensitive spot. He rolled your bud beneath his fingertips and you grabbed his arm without thinking.

He kept you pinned with his arm against your torso, his hand nestled between your legs as he stretched his fingers along your cunt. He moved them up and down, lingering along that special spot and swirling, only to circle your entrance longingly but never going further.

He sped up as his fingers danced around your bud and your thighs clenched around his hand as you arched your back. You squeezed his arm and turned your face away as the fire spread through your body and ravaged your wits. You'd never felt this way and it was so new and so overwhelming that your voice erupted from you like a kettle boiling over.

The sudden snap inside of you had you writhing and whining. His fingers worked you fervently and the tendrils wrapped you up until you were breathless and broken, falling limp against the seat as you shook and he slowed his fingers in an agonizing descent.

He withdrew his hand, leaving a trail of your wetness along your thigh. Your skirts fell back to your feet and you hugged yourself as he moved his arm away from your body. You turned as he hummed and watched him dumbly as he sucked on his fingers. You gasped as he dropped his hand and smiled.

"Didn't that feel nice, sweeting?" He asked as he wiped his fingers on the tailnof his tunic and covered it again beneath his overcoat.

Your lashes fluttered and you hung your head. You didn't know what he'd just done but the rush of pleasure soured to a deluge of shame. The carriage smelled of your sweat and sin.

"My lord," you surrendered and he pulled you against him once more. His heart was steady but your own wouldn't stop hammering.

#bucky barnes #dark bucky barnes #dark!bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #hue and cry #series #fic #medieval #medieval!au #medieval au #au #marvel #mcu #captain america #winter soldier #dark fic #dark!fic

521 notes · View notes

cityoftheangelllls · 2 years

Text

Entries 9, 10, and 11 for my historical Disney Princess series: 1480s Esmeralda, Classical Greek Meg, and 1910s Jane!

OK, since I did Eilonwy, a relatively obscure Disney girl compared to these three, I thought it would be unfair to leave them out. So here ya go!

Esmeralda is dressed based on when the original novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame takes place, in 1482. I did research on both Romani clothing from around that time period and clothing from a few decades earlier, since, if Esmeralda had acquired Western clothing, it would be older or belonging to the lower class. I found very few resources describing or showing what medieval Romani women wore, but they gave me a pretty good idea: they typically wore an old shift, a blanket fastened over one shoulder, a turban, and silver earrings. So I mainly followed that when designing Esme's outfit. Given what limited resources I had, I may or may not have taken a few liberties, such as making the colors and striped pattern on her blanket/shawl reminiscent of her corset in the original design or leaving most of her hair loose and outside of the turban to hint at her rebellious, lively nature. I also gave her a lavender kirtle to wear over her shift. Its color is insanely muted compared to the skirt she wears in the film, since purple dye in that rich of a hue would not be widely available until around the 1860s, and even before that, even those of the upper class or royalty would have a very hard time being able to afford it. Aside from what few reference images from the 1480s or earlier I could find, I also was inspired by such paintings as "The Fortune Teller" by Caravaggio, which is from over a century later than the events in "Hunchback", but I still feel like basic Romani style wouldn't have changed much since then.

Megara also underwent some pretty drastic changes. I'm assuming that she's a common woman, and there is no record stating that the common folk of Ancient Greece wore anything other than plain, white sheets, since dying and embellishing linen and wool was an extremely tedious and expensive process. So yeah, no rich purples for Meg here, she's on the same boat as Esmeralda. I tried to make her outfit a little more interesting by making it a chiton with a peplos and a cord belt, plus a scarf in her hair. Speaking of her hair, it took me a while to find a hairstyle that was accurate and made sense for the common folk yet was somewhat reminiscent of Meg's voluminous ponytail and fringe. Oh, and yeah, I decided on Classical Greece for the time period since it would make since for the story to be set after the Trojan War.

Since "Tarzan of the Apes" was first published in 1912, I decided to put Jane in an Edwardian walking suit, despite her dress in the film looking like something out of the late Victorian era. My goal was to design something that wasn't overly frivolous and unsuited for walking through the jungle, yet not too plain either, hence the ruffles on the skirt. I also wanted to give her a hat that wasn't too over the top like most Edwardian hats are, but still decorative and feminine.

Commissions info

#my art #disney #disney fanart #historical disney #the hunchback of notre dame #esmeralda #hercules #megara #tarzan #jane porter #angie’s scribbles

48 notes · View notes

tenthgrove · 2 years

Note

In your vampire au can you rate the boys on who would like the see you in their respective historical fashions the most?

Old fashion is actually one of my special interests, so I couldn't help but go overboard with this and add pictures + my own musings. Nb that this is based off female clothing only, since that's what I'm most knowledgeable in. Also Pesci is excluded because he was born in the mid 1980s so there's not much of a difference from modern day.

1. Melone (Mid 18th century France)- 18th century fashion is hot, don't @ me. He specifically tries to emulate the high-end fashions of Versailles, with silky textures, bright colours, and intricate decorations.

He would go for something like this, together with some cute kitten heels, a nice hat, and a plain black choker which was popular at the time. The back would have what's called a saque-back, a feature specific to the French courts where the back of the dress is kinda like a cape that fuses into the skirt.

2. Illuso (14th century Spain)- Loves to pretend its still the middle ages and he's a humble troubadour come to sing to his muse. Bonus points if you'll stand in the balcony of the tower for him while he plays in the garden.

The 14th century is when form fitting clothing became a thing in western fashion, which he's certainly a fan of. He would remove the headdress and let your hair flow free. He would also occasionally dip forward into the next century for the clothes he dresses you in, adoring the V-shaped neckline popular in that era.

3. Risotto (10th century Sicily)- His reasons are the same as Illuso's but perhaps a bit less ego driven. It all goes back to his love of pretending you're his lady of the castle.

Risotto's family were barely on the ladder of nobility, and hence limited in how grand they could dress by sumptuary laws. He would greatly delight in ignoring this, indulging you with the bright, extravagant dresses of the Carolingian court (see above) that existed around the same time as him.

4. Gelato (Mid 17th Century Italy)- Another one who just thinks his era's fashion is hot (and he's right). Likes to fuse elements of the more structured early century fashion with the looser, almost classical fashions of the mid-century. Gelato himself grew up in almost a transition period between the two.

Spoilt for choice here but in the end I went for this as for some reason I always see vampire Gelato wearing white and he wants you to match. He'd combine this with lots of jewellery and maybe a cool hat. The 17th century gave women lots of cool hats to make up for the lack of cool hats throughout the middle ages.

5. Formaggio (Mid 16th Century Italy and England)- For him its less about the fashion and more the nostalgia it brings for the general environment of the Tudor court, all the games and scandal and fun he had with the other courtisans.

Unfortunately searching up Tudor fashion on google gets you a ton of shitty costumes and awful period dramas, so this will have to do even if I don't think it's quite Formaggio's thing. He would try and recreate the popular patterns of the era (some of which I believe even had meanings such as whether or not the lady was single).

6. Ghiaccio (1910s Italy)- Still being quite young in vampire terms he keeps up with modern living for the time being, so isn't too fussed about the clothes of his era. However, he did love the dresses of the visiting wealthy ladies growing up, so would want to dress you up at least once.

He loves the elegance of the 1910s, the curls in the hair, the pale colours. Also don't worry about corsets- this is when they're just starting to go out of fashion so you could probably do without.

7. Sorbet (8th century Byzantines)- Being a common soldier he almost had a disdain for the needless pomp of upper class fashion, but supposes it would be nice to see you dressed that way.

Byzantine fashion was still relatively close to the Romans at this point, but with a few more recognisably medieval touches.

8. Prosciutto (1st century Rome)- He's only so reluctant to dress you up in Roman clothing because of what happened to his soulmate's first incarnation. Bad memories for him, making you look like you did before.

This image is from the early imperial era so is pretty accurate to the kind of thing Pros would have seen in life. Note the considerable variation in styles.

#vampire au #la squadra #la squadra x reader

33 notes · View notes

inky-duchess · 3 years

Note

In this ask I want to know, list of historical inaccuracies that grind your gears ?

That corsets hurt to wear. Most corsets when laced properly are actually super comfortable and do wonders for one's back.

That Queen Victoria was a good person. Ireland starved under her watch and she was an incredibly self-centred woman.

That Richard III killed his nephews. I really don't believe this happened. It makes no sense, nor does the involvement of Margaret Beaufort. We all know who did it.

That the idea of LGBTQ+ didn't exist until recently. We've always existed, in every culture, in every time.

That Margaret Thatcher was a feminist icon. A huge fucking lie. She herself was stated to say women should not hold high office (not counting herself of course) , she was incredibly discriminatory toward the Irish and a tyrant to the working class of her own country.

That POC did not exist in ancient, medieval and history before the 1600s. They most certainly did.

That Ireland benefitted from English Rule. I'm not even going to explain this one. If anybody believes that, y'all can catch my hands right now.

That Christopher Colombus discovered America. The Natives were there first.

That English Colonization "helped" indigenous peoples.

#Ask answered

278 notes · View notes

vintagesimstress · 4 years

Photo

1893 aesthetic dress

03.10.2020 edit: fixed a problem with the mesh getting spiky when watching a sim walk from a distance. Please redownload!

***

Hello everyone!

Today I bring you something I've been planning on making for ages: an artistic / aesthetic / reform(ish) dress for your sims. It's not a full blown reform gown - those became the thing only a couple of years later - but it definitely is influenced by the whole dress reform movement. In case you've never heard of it - beware! Here comes a tiny 'history corner' section:

It all started with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a bunch of artists who found the Victorian fashion - especially female - too stiff and unnatural. They were rather fans of long, flowy, loose medieval and renaissance gowns (as you can easily guess from any of their paintings). And that's what they were trying to promote; to reform the way women dressed. They weren't extremely successful at it, as you can see looking at the majority of Victorian fashion plates, but with time the whole idea was getting more and more recognition. There were designers - and brave fashionistas - who liked the whole concept and enjoyed creating (or wearing) what they called 'artistic' or 'aesthetic' dresses. In early 1900s those dresses - now known mostly as 'reform gowns' - kind of made it to mainstream and even though they never replaced the 'proper' fashion, they were at times advertised alongside 'normal' dresses. Judging by how fashion developed in later 1900s and 1910s, I'd say the whole movement did make a difference in fashion history.

As cool as artistic dresses were, you have to remember that they could be worn only by the chosen few. Firstly, you had to be rather rich, as back then - just like now - art wasn't cheap. Secondly, you needed a proper social standing (and probably also the right character for this). Aesthetic dresses were VERY different from the mainstream fashion; especially in 1890s, the decade infamous for tight lacing, wearing something so loose that you could basically not wear a corset underneath at all (not explicitly encouraged, but everyone knew the option was there) made you look like a... Well, either a trendsetter or a weirdo, depending on how influential you were. And thirdly, you also needed a certain figure - tall and slender - to pull off this look, otherwise you could easily end up looking as if you were dressed in a sack. Imagine if that was what We wear bags meant! The whole neighbourhood running around in reform gowns XD

Sooooo, after this long introduction, here it comes! In 20 swatches:

polycount: ca. 7K

Base Game compatible

HQ mod compatible (...)

all LODs

custom thumbnail, bump and specular maps, some very gentle shine

tagged as everyday, party and warm weather (idk, looks like it could work for summer?)

found under long dresses subcategory

colour tagged

disallowed for random, as only chosen few blah blah blah

PDN for recolours included - you don’t need it for the mesh to work. Let me know if you’d rather have the PSD file!

I haven't spotted any problems, but let me know if you notice any.

Hope you'll like it, enjoy!

DOWNLOAD (free on Patreon, no ads)

***

Don’t: claim it’s yours or monetise in any way

Do: convert, recolour, include the mesh, edit the mesh to create something amazing - just please tag me once you publish it, so that I could also see it!

#ts4cc #vintage #victorian #1890s #adultfemale #outfit #dress #day dress #reform gown #artistic dress #aesthetic dress

515 notes · View notes

sanstropfremir · 3 years

Text

ok this took way longer than i expected because i got sidetracked looking at paintings and reading poetry and just admiring the mv, but it's finally finished!! let's talk about

higher

✨

i'm going to draw your attention to a few things.

firstly, these verses from rime of the ancient mariner by samuel taylor coleridge, published 1834:

The harbour-bay was clear as glass,

So smoothly it was strewn!

And on the bay the moonlight lay,

And the shadow of the Moon.

The rock shone bright, the kirk no less,

That stands above the rock:

The moonlight steeped in silentness

The steady weathercock.

And the bay was white with silent light,

Till rising from the same,

Full many shapes, that shadows were,

In crimson colours came.

A little distance from the prow

Those crimson shadows were:

I turned my eyes upon the deck—

Oh, Christ! what saw I there!

Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat,

And, by the holy rood!

A man all light, a seraph-man,

On every corse there stood.

This seraph-band, each waved his hand:

It was a heavenly sight!

They stood as signals to the land,

Each one a lovely light;

This seraph-band, each waved his hand,

No voice did they impart—

No voice; but oh! the silence sank

Like music on my heart.

secondly, this ivan aivazovsky painting, chaos (the creation), c. 1841:

and thirdly, the memorial of percy shelley, who drowned in a boating accident at age 29, in 1822:

there's a common conflation between the romantic and the pastoral in the general cultural consensus because the pastoral a) has been around as an art term longer than romantic, and b) romanticism does use some similar imagery. but there is a key difference: the pastoral is specfically an idealization of 'the simple shepherding life,' often for high class and urban audiences who have no conception of the details of this life includes. one of the more famous examples is christopher marlowe's a passionate shepherd to his love, published in 1599:

Come live with me and be my love,

And we will all the pleasures prove,

That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields,

Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the Rocks,

Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks,

By shallow Rivers to whose falls

Melodious birds sing Madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of Roses

And a thousand fragrant posies,

A cap of flowers, and a kirtle

Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool

Which from our pretty Lambs we pull;

Fair lined slippers for the cold,

With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and Ivy buds,

With Coral clasps and Amber studs:

And if these pleasures may thee move,

Come live with me, and be my love.

The Shepherds’ Swains shall dance and sing

For thy delight each May-morning:

If these delights thy mind may move,

Then live with me, and be my love.

whereas romanticism is a more pointedly specific movement that was active from around 1800 to 1850, primarily focused on intense emotion and catharsis as the primary experiential output of an artwork. which most prominently manifested in a deep fascination and glorification of the natural environment and historical nostalgia. the movement sprung from the german sturm und drang (literally storm and drive/stress) period of the late 1760s to early 1780s, which was a direct reaction to rationalism and enlightenment. romanticism had similar impulses; it was also a revival of medievalism and a reaction against the looming urban sprawl and mechanization of the industrial revolution. a typical romantic poem from one of the originators of the english movment william wordsworth, composed upon westminster bridge, september 3, 1802, originally published 1807:

Earth has not any thing to show more fair:

Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sight so touching in its majesty:

This City now doth, like a garment, wear

The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep

In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;

Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

The river glideth at his own sweet will:

Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;

And all that mighty heart is lying still!

this romantic fascination with nature was underpinned by the philosophy of the sublime, generally agreed to be first treatised by edmund burke in 1756, the theory was also written about by kant and hegel. in the simplest of terms, the sublime is a quality of greatness beyond calculation, imitation, and human comprehension. the sublime is twofold; the greatness of the ocean is beautiful, but its power is also terrifying, and the experience of the sublime is to feel those two at once. to be in awe and also to be horrified of its ability to sink ships and drown a life in a tempermental change of tide.

let's take a quick detour to talk about

clothing

in the present day we have become much more lax thanks to the aesthetic movement in the late nineteenth century, but back in the early victorian period there are still highly structured rules about when and what clothing one can wear in public. and the clothing itself is also highly structured. anyone with a passing understanding of the victorian era knows about the whole flashing of the ankle thing and corsets galore, and it is true that the general day to day garments cover a lot of area. for men in particular, this manifests in no less than three layers in public at all times: shirt, waistcoat, and suit jacket, with a coat or mantle overtop in colder temperatures. this also includes a variation of a neck tie (depending on what year), hat, gloves, and any other decided upon accessories (this can also include a corset and other padded structural underpinnings). an important tangent to mention here is that this is the uniform of the upper classes, although the rules do apply to the lower classes if they wanted to appear 'sophisticated.' the working man's uniform was also shirt, waistcoat, trousers, but the difference here is in the textiles themselves; the colours tended to be much more drab, with less complicated patterns. obviously due to the price fabric itself, but also due to the labour of laundry. an indicator of class here is the white shirt itself and its pristine implications. (there is a longer conversation here about the invention of neckties and detachable collars and cuffs, but that's for another day). the silhouettes are very important to note here in the higher mv, as they are directly referential to the 'romantic poet' archetype of loose shirt and tight pants that we see in popular culture. but as i've just said, the reality is that men of the era were not dressed like this out in public. this look is essentially underwear; the implications are salacious. so where did this come from? well, we can blame it mostly on lord byron, who by all accounts was the first western 'rockstar.' notoriously called 'mad, bad and dangerous to know' by lady caroline lamb (a married women he publically had an affair with), byron was openly bisexual and deeply hedonistic with a lot of questionable habits, but his poetry was so popular that he was known to have women following him in the street and gathering in large quanities to see him at salons. and this was close to three decades before lizstomania. his close friends and contemporaries included percy and mary shelley, with whom he lived with abroad in italy for some time (this living arrangement resulted in the writing of both frankenstein and john polidori's the vampyre). byron's reputation was so eclipsing that the image of the lush poet lazing in his undergarments has become its own genre of romantic, slightly removed from the movement byron was writing in. it's also worth it to point out that there are no official portraits of byron dressed like this from the time. the visual assumption is somewhat apochryphal. now let's get into some specifics. a.c.e is not unfamiliar to this silhouette; as previously mentioned in this post i wrote about their styling, the boxy loose upper and fitted lower is their general mode for their styling because of its emphasis on legs. cactus was the most extreme example of this, and to prove my point, this specific silhouette is extremely common in classical ballet:

1. vaslav nijinsky, giselle, 1911 2. nehemiah kish, george balanchine's ballo della regina, 2011/12

higher fits very neatly into this same category: we have an emphasis on the legs through tightly fitted garments and also through light reflective textile, as well as a secondary emphasis on arm and shoulder movements with looser fit shirts. plus, the shirts are made from fabrics that have good drape and flow, and mimic the visual effects of water:

there are also several instances of scale patterning and wetlook hair styles, further elabourating on the siren theme. and the jewelry is the same, purposefully cut clear stones for oceanic sparkle or pearls, the gem directly born from water, as highlighting accents to specific parts of the body - namely eyes, hands, and torso:

the body jewelry also serves a double purpose in addition to being sparkly; it gives a semblance of shape to their torsos so their movements aren't totally lost in the shroud of their shirts, and it also invokes some of that salacious element that us as a modern audience doesn't necessarily perceive in the same way when we see a man wearing only a shirt. all of these points are especially prominent in the stage costuming. concerning the veils, these are an aesthetic choice following the theme of depicting water without actually using water. the song has a very breathless quality to it, and the lyrics directly make reference to water and breathlessness, so it only makes sense to have a physical manifestation of struggling to breathe.

now let's talk about

mise-en-scène

unlike most kpop mvs, I would argue that higher is not a spectacle in what we normally see spectacle to be. the overwhelming visual saturation of goblin (and the goblin remix) is more in line with what we expect, but how do you follow that, top it? the answer is that you don't. you aim for something with a completely different feel, which is exact what they did with higher.

the performing arts did not escape romanticism. the very start of the movement, sturm und drang, is actually named from a specific play written by friedrich maximilian klinger that premiered in 1777. the plays of the brief period are characterized by extreme and passionate emotions, and were siblings to one of the most famous genres of theatre, the melodrama. meant to appeal directly to the emotions of the audience using sensationalist plots and stock characters, the melodrama was the predominent form of entertainment in victorian england and gradually developed a specific form of its own. in this period we also start to see the development of 'stagecraft' into the recognizable form that it takes today. footlights, limelight/spotlighting, the separation of house and stage lighting, fly galleries, elevator platform mechanics, and the first (purported) western use of rear projection are all innovations of the late 18th and 19th centuries, as melodramas were known to have very intricate and spectacular stagings. and to go along with these stagecraft mechanics we see the rise in designated stage crews, which were predominantly off-duty sailors looking to make money. the rope systems that made up the fly galleries were very similar to that on ships, and much of the terminology and supersitions crossed over: this is the origin of the term 'rigging' being used for suspending set elements, and also the origin of the 'don't whistle in a theatre' superstition. as sailors communicated with whistle patterns on ships, the same system was adopted for changing scenery, and therefore whistling a random pattern could potentially drop a setpiece on an unsuspecting victim.

so with all this backstory out of the way, what is the very first full location we see? a stage, complete with forced perspective via the painted fabric legs (the side panels) and borders (the wavy upper panels). we even have a flat painted backdrop with a projection screen and hanging overhead lamps. there's also a second interior set, a desk in what looks to be a study of some kind. bit self explanatory on this one, taking the poet notion on the nose.

the locations have a bit of an obtuse arc, but it's there when you look for it. it starts interior spaces, where the ideas of sublime attempted to be recreated for the viewer. then it moves to transitory spaces; portions of nature isolated from a whole environment, interjections of human architecture into natural spaces:

(the white hut structure in the greenhouse is reminiscent of a skene (literally hut/tent), which is the structure at the back of the stage in ancient greek theatre used for the actors to change their masks and costumes. it was originally temporary, but slowly transformed into permanent stage architecture)

and then finally outdoors, into the sublime itself:

jwm turner, crossing the bridge, 1815

lastly,

lighting

there's a very clear lighting pattern here, primarily in light and dark. the base colour story is fairly simple complementary pairs; there's a lot of purple/red and green, and blue and yellow/amber, with everything relatively on the same tonal level. there are deliberate interjections of heavily saturated red for specific effect. there are also, most notably, a 'dark' version of all the sets. obviously as a reference to the eclipse that we see in the mv and in the concept photo series, but also as a reference to that darker undercurrent of the sublime, the upsetting, the uncanny, and the terrifying:

And the bay was white with silent light/Till rising from the same/Full many shapes, that shadows were/In crimson colours came.

#a.c.e #ace w #kpop analysis #group analysis #me - a staunch defender of kpop as valid spectacle: actually this one is a melodrama its meant to hit different #this essay is otherwise known as the quickest and dirtiest history of romanticism ever #i really should have pointed out that when i say romantic i mean romantic with a capital r #that probably would clear up some confusion but i have an aesthetic to maintain do not @ me #this is potentially the most pretentious thing i have ever written i am so sorry if this makes no sense #some of these connections are so tenuous who let me have opinions on the internet #did i write this as an excuse to look at the percy shelley memorial because i am obsessed with it as a piece of art? maybe #anyways read tom stoppard's arcadia if you want to know more about that #you should read all this with the caveat that the sublime and romanticism need to be deconstructed through a postcolonialist lens #because these theories are super colonialist about 'unclaimed untameable natural spaces'#when in reality most natural spaces are specifically architected by indigenous peoples in order to preserve and coexist with the ecosystem #this is may be more obviously applicable to american subliminal painting than european but it still applies #since the british were notoriously good at fucking up every kind of expedition ever #because of their lack of respect for literally anything and everything #and their inability to listen to anyone other than another white british person #see: history of the northwest passage #im a bad theorist and not caught up so i didnt get that deep into it because counter to the wordcount #i am not trying to write another dissertation #this is not as well researched as it could be but also im not reading burke and kant again #also yes byron the shelleys and polidori did just bang out the foundations for all of science fiction and romantic vampire mythology #in like three days because the all got bored during a storm and want to try and 'outscare' each other #also by 1840 like every prominent romantic poet was dead either from their own stupidity or tuberculosis #with the exception of wordsworth that motherfucker started the movement and then outlived it #text

17 notes · View notes

dresshistorynerd · 1 year

Text

Dress History Corner Navigation

Welcome to the corner of the interned where I nerd about (mostly) Western dress history! This is the post I will update with all my more structured and researched articles. I have the same navigation on my blog, but it's only for the browser so I figured it would be useful to have navigation that work for the app too.

Some basics

An Introductory Timeline Of Western Women's Fashion

How I do my research into dress history

Dress History

Lacing in Western Fashion History

Dress Etiquette Thorough Western History

When Did It Become Acceptable For Western Women To Wear Pants?

When Did Skirts Stop Being Acceptable For Western Men To Wear?

Is Lingerie Going Backwards - A Rebuttal

The history of showing your boobs for fashion

Victorian Era

A summary of different kinds of corsets

Historical Finnish Clothing of Modern Period

Victorian Dress For Every Occasion - 1890s Edition

1890s Day Dresses

American Civil War era (1861-65) ball gown

Regency

Debunking the common narrative about Beau Brummel - The whole modern men's fashion is not the fault of One Guy

Gender non-conforming Regency styles

18th century

The Colonial History of How Cotton Became the Most Important Fabric

Mantua And It's Variants

Northern Italian countryside fashion in late 18th century.

Working Class Clothing In Late 18th Century France

Early Modern Era

Deep Dive into 15th and 16th Century Working Class Fashion in Western Europe

Medieval Era

Late 14th to Early 15th Century Bohemian and German Men's Fashion

Construction of Men's Hose

Codpiece

Construction of the French hood

Iron Age

Viking and Crusader Age Finnish men's dress

Historical Sewing

Sewing Medieval Bathhouse Dress

Historical Costuming

History of the Fantasy Corset

Met Gala 2022 Costume Commentary

Pride and Prejudice 2005 Costume Analysis

Ranking Men's Costumes in Renaissance Period Dramas - Part I: The Bad

Ranking Men's Costumes in Renaissance Period Dramas - Part II: The Good

Textiles

Hemp's properties

Sustainability

How to see through the greenwashing propaganda of the fashion industry - Case study 1: Shein

The Real Cost of the Fashion Industry

Architectural History

History of Sauna and Steam Baths

Historical Queer Figures

Julie d'Aubigny

History

Palestinian History Between Great Powers

European History Is Not White

Tag Navigation

#answers

#resources

Primary sources

#primary sources

#extant garment

#photograph

#painting

#illustration

#fashion plate

Pinterest Boards

Victorian Fashion

#i actually don't currently have the exact same navigation on the blog but i will once i get around updating it lol #fashion history #dress history #history #historical sewing #historical costuming #textiles #textile history #architectural history #architecture #historical resources #navigation #nav

211 notes · View notes

gh0stfacesho3 · 4 years

Note

could i get a medieval AU where Mirio Togata is a highly respected knight who falls in love with a poor and neglected prostitute who was forced to become a sex worker to care of her 2 younger brothers? you can decide how they meet and put whatever details. Also pls add smut at the end!^^

Ouuuuuuu wow I love this ☺️ thank you so much for this I love the variety of characters I’m getting !!! Also I made Eri the princess that Mirio protects for this plot bc it just makes sense.

Shining Armor

Pairing: Mirio Togata x (F)Reader

Warnings: +18, smut, praise kink

Word Count: +5.7k words

Mirio stood closely to the princess, watching guard as she looked at a street market, amazed by all the crystals and rocks that were on the table.

“Sir Mirio, may I get this one?” The young Princess asked as she tugged at Mirio’s finger, pointing to a crystal necklace. He turned his attention to her and smiled.

“Of course, Princess! You can have anything you’d like, and I told you that you can just call me Mirio.” The knight chuckled as he pulled some gold coins from his satchel.

“The Princess can take it free of charge!” The old women said, handing the necklace to Eri who refused it.

“She won’t take it unless it’s paid for.” Mirio smiled, handing her extra coins. “For your generousity, I’ll pay you extra.” The blond smiled, taking the necklace and placing it around Eri’s neck. She did a spin and smiled, making the old lady tear up.

“I’m so glad we have such a beautiful and cheerful princess in our kingdom now.” Another old witch popped in, holding a staff to keep herself up.

Mirio nodded, remembering the day he helped save her. That is exactly how he became so respected, being he risked his life to save this princess from a very evil dragon king. This kingdom was accepting of all nature and races. You could be a witch, troll, giant, dwarf, half human and half of anything else and you’d still be excepted with open arms into the Ultra Kingdom. So, when Mirio was almost killed by the dragon king, he was able to strike the last blow, pushing his sword through the eye of the dragon king. Thanks to all the witches in Ultra, he was able to be saved and have all his injuries healed for the most part. Being his injuries were very sever, they took Mirio off the front lines and now have him as the sole protector of the new princess.

“Mirio!! Look, they have sweets!” Eri said, dragging Mirio towards another booth. It’s been about three month’s since he saved Eri, and it always made him tear up to see her so happy now.

“Sir Knight Mirio! Please take these pastries! You’ve fought so hard for us and protect our sunshine! We don’t know what we would do without you and Princess Eri.” The baker said kneeling down, holding a basket for him.

“Why than-” Mirio started to take the basket but was stopped by Eri. She put a stack of gold coins on the table before nodding with a smile.

“I wanted snacks anyways!” The young one said with a smile before skipping off. He grabbed the basket and thanked the man before quickly going after Eri. Mirio noticed she was playing around with two boys close to her age.

“Hi! I’m Knight Axel Y/L/N! I shall protect you princess!” The youngest of the two boys yelled, holding out a stick to the air. Mirio watched with a grin as the three made a scene in the street.

“Not for long! I am an evil knight from the All for One Kingdom! I will take the princess for my kingdom!” The oldest yelled as he held a stick that had blue paint on it. This was one of the knight’s named Dabi from the All for One Kingdom which was known for their harsh ways but after the attack to the dragon king, they’ve been a lot more friendly to Ultra Kingdom. Also, recently a new rule was added where to not talk about what happened with her. Eri loved playing with kids but some kids would re-create the scene saying they were the dragon king but it sparked such bad memories for her that it’s a rule for them to not speak of it.

“Knight Axel! Protect me from that nasty knight!” Eri yelled as she stuck her tongue out at the boy. The two boys stared fighting with their sword’s and Mirio was very shocked to see that they both fought very well with their fake swords. Mirio walked over to the two and clapped when he saw the youngest push the oldest to the ground and held his fake sword to his throat.

“Very good form you two!” Mirio said with a smiled, making the two boys stand to attention before they bowed. Eri quickly found her way back to Mirio’s side, sneaking around in the basket’s of goodies before handing them to the boys who smiled brightly.

“There you are! Hey! You two didn’t steal these did you?” You asked as you walked over to your younger brothers.

“No! Princess gave them to us!” Axel said as he held it tight to his chest.

“Princess?”You asked as you looked at the little girl. You quickly knelt down and bowed your head.

“I’m sorry if these knuckle heads I call my brothers bothered you, Princess.” You apologized with a smile and a chuckle. She shook her head and smiled back.

“Nope! We were just playing. Can we play more often please please please!!” Eri begged Mirio, tugging on his arm, making his armor clink and rattle.

“If that is okay with you miss?” He asked, making you look up at him. Once you made eye contact you almost gasped being it was Knight Mirio. You’ve heard of his adventures but what’s more commonly talked about with females is his looks. God, where the rumors true. You bowed your head again before getting up and holding your thin cloak over your body.

“I don’t know. I’d love for them to but I wouldn’t want the Princess to get dirty or see where we live. We aren’t well off.” You spoke to him once you stood up, careful for Eri not to hear.

“Eri doesn’t judge! She just want’s play mates.” Mirio giggled before his eyes met yours. “If its a privacy reason, they can always come to the castle. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her bond so well with any other kids.” He said looking at the three who were playing again.

“I truly appreciate that offer, but they don’t have any other clothes besides their sleep wear, and my work won’t let me travel with them to the castle. We live on the outskirts.” You shamefully admitted. The outskirts of Ultra Kingdom was were low poverty homes were, if homes is what you could call them. The outskirts had a lot of crime in the area. Mirio could see the pain in your eyes and the stress was weighing on you. No one has ever told Eri about the outskirts since the King believed a princess shouldn’t know about such things being she went through so much already. Mirio knew that if Eri knew, she’d run the castle broke trying to help everyone

“I’m sorry, we must get going.” You quickly turned to leave but were stopped to see the three kids in front of you.

“Can we play longer, ma’am?” The princess asked with pleading eyes.

“I’m so sorry princess, but we have to leave.” You apologized, quickly grabbing your brother’s hands and starting to walk off.

“Wait!” Eri yelled before running over to you. You stopped when she pulled on your cloak. Her action caused it to slip off, exposing your very low cut red dress that was accentuated with a black corset that pushed up your bust. There were gasps heard and murmurs about what they have just seen.

“Is she a-” “She must be-” “Outskirts?” “Prostitute?” “Whore-” Could be picked out of the crowd. You quickly pulled your cloak back on, flustered at what just happened. Most women wore neutral color but never colors like red or black.

“I’m sorry about you’re cloak! But I want you to have this so it’ll give me a reason to see you all again!” Eri smiled, completely un-phased by what happened. Your eyes welled with tears as you held the crystal necklace. You slipped it over your head before you nodded and ran off.

“Let’s go princess.” Mirio said as he picked her up, watching your form get smaller and smaller in the distance.

“What’s a whore?” Eri asked as Mirio walked.

“I’ll explain later, just rest.” Mirio hushes, holding Eri close to him as she slowly fell asleep as he walked.

“So she’s a prostitute. That’s why she’s scared of her little brothers playing with Eri. She doesn’t want them to talk about her or the outskirts with Eri while she is gone.” Mirio talked to himself in his chambers as he removed his knight armor.

“Come on, eat up.” You huffed as you fed your younger brothers some bread and very watered down soup.

“But it’s so bland.” Axel whined as he still ate.

“Shut up! Y/n works hard for this!” The oldest fussed, making you scowl at him but smiled because he knew just how hard you work.

“Adrian, mouth.” You huffed before walking over to the table to join them.

Adrain was about 11 so he kinda knew everything being you had to grow up quick if you lived in the outskirts. He was also your shoulder to cry on when you got stressed. You always apologized because no child should have to deal with this. Axel was 8 and you were 26. Your mother had you very young because she was also a prostitute but it was a meet up that went wrong. She then had another child with her first husband 15 years later when she turned 31. Then with her second husband she had her third child at 34. She died last year by taking her own life. You knew it would happen one day but never so soon but you were also surprised she held out that long after everything. You assumed it was also due to the sickness she had around the time.

“Alright Adrian, I’m going to work. Take care of our little brother okay. And remember if I don’t come back or if someone else tries to come here, you know where to go.” You told him, earning a nod from the boy. You looked at Axel to see him asleep on the cot with a wool blanket over him.

Mirio got dressed into some darker clothing along with a dark green cloak. Eri was protected by two other guards at night so Mirio could rest. However, tonight he was on a search, a search for you. He headed out, saying he was just going for a late night walk.

He hopped on top his horse before riding off down to the outskirts. He stopped about a mile out and tied his horse to a pole. Mirio walked into the outskirts and kept his head down, knowing he’d attract a lot of attention if he was seen. The blonde looked around a few dark allies before he finally found someone who looked like you. He walked over to what he thought was you and tapped your shoulder.

“You looking for a fun night boy?” The woman said but when she turned around, it was a goblin woman who just had similar hair like you.

“Oh- sorry, wrong person.” Mirio mumbled before walking down another ally.

“Look, I said I won’t do it! I do business only at the customer’s house, not mine so buzz of!” You huffed as a scraggly old man kept grabbing at your exposed skin, making you walk a little faster to get to the cabin where a lot of prostitutes go to escape creepy men.

Mirio could hear you familiar voice and quickly followed it before seeing the situation. He walked over to the man and quickly grabbed his wrist that was reaching for your ass.

“She said buzz off, now why don’t you listen to her, hm?” Mirio asked, only exposing his sarcastic smile, making the man buck up.

“Who do you think you are, son?!” The old man yelled, making Mirio move his cloak to expose his sword that hung from his belt. “Well, looks like I’ve made a mistake. My bad sir.” The man wobbled away, cursing at the ground.

“Thank you but I don’t need protection from another cre-” You were cut off when he exposed his face to you with a big smile.

“Hey, I never caught your name.” Mirio smiled but you only turned away and started to walk to the cabin.

“I don’t do friendships. Get out of here before you get robbed.” You said with a huff.

“I’m here on business!” He made up, walking in front of you. He held a stack of gold coins. “How long will this get me?”

“One hour. Let’s go. Keep your head down.” You snatched the coins and put them in small black satchel you had connected to your dress. This amount would actually get someone about three hours. You didn’t even want to take it being he is royal and your not but you knew he’d just be persistent. The two of you got to a private room and you began to take off your corset.

“AHh! NO no, I just wanna talk to you!” Mirio said, blushing brightly as he covered his face.

“Talk? Fine, make it quick I guess. And its y/n” You said as you continued to take off your corset anyways. Mirio removed his sword and place it against the wall.

“What are you doing?” He asked as you sat on the bed in just your dress.

“Getting comfortable, what do you think?” You asked with a small chuckle at how soft Mirio looked. “So what did you want to talk about?” You asked as you admired his built body that sat cross-legged on the bed.

“I want you to know that Eri really wants to play with you brothers. We wouldn’t mind housing you and your siblings.” Mirio started but you cut him off quickly.

“I don’t want your charity. I understand you’re trying to be nice and all, but it isn’t fair to all the other women working like me. Why should I get housing while they still struggle?” You questioned, pulling at a small thread on your red dress.

“Well-…” Damn, Mirio was stuck because you did have a point. He needed a way to make this seem fair. “What if we did it like we had a big play date with the kingdom and whoever Eri likes to play with the most gets to spend a week at the castle. So that way its just a way for you too take a break and have your siblings live like royalty.” Mirio explained with a bright smile.

“If we win.” You said as you fiddled with the necklace Eri gave you. “But fine, as long as its putting us on the same level and don’t be biased!” You warned before getting up and dressed back into your corset.

“Why are you getting dressed? We still have about 40 minutes left.” Mirio said standing up

“Help me with this please.” You said before answering his question. “I also have to work and you need to get back to the kingdom to rest and bring together this big idea. No need for me to waste your time Sir Knight Mirio.” You explained as he gently pulled on the strings to tighten your corset. “Ngh-harder. Pull the strings harder.” You huffed as the corset was tight around your chest but the way you asked kinda sounded lewd, making Mirio slightly aroused. He quickly pulled the strings tight and tied them before grabbing his sword and walking out.

You were slightly confused at how quiet he got but just shrugged it off before walking out the cabin slightly after.

After a few days, all you could hear was the buzz about a big play date with the princess. It ended up being more like a whole festival and your two younger brothers could not stop talking about it.

“Pleaseeee!! Please big sis! I promise I’ll never complain about the food again!” Axel begged making you chuckle.

“Well, I just might have to bring you then.” You joked as you picked him up on your back, having him hold on tight as you made some lunches for tomorrow, wrapping some bread and meat in some paper leaves. You cut some fruit up and poured lemon juice on it with sugar. You were glad to have these things due to the Knight visiting you every day and providing you with some money even though you tried to deny his offer.

“You aren’t going to work tonight y/n?” Adrien asked as it was past 10 at night. You shook your head and smiled.

“Tomorrow is a big day for you two and I have to make sure you are ready in time.” You placed Axel in his cot, covering him with the wool blanket before you kissed his forehead. You sat at the table, cutting some fabric and sewing it together. You stayed up most of the night, making two shirts for your brothers. You were able to buy some pants for them and the shoes they had were still knew. You woke up to Adrien moving some pans to the stove.

“Hey, what you doing?” You asked as you turned around to see him cooking some eggs.

“A very shy man in nice clothes was knocking at the door to give these to us, he might still be there.” Adrien said as if it was nothing making you run out to see the royal clothing slightly fade to the distance. You shook your head before you returned inside.

“That shy man was Knight Amajiki. He fought alongside Knight Mirio.”You said in a calm voice, waiting for his reaction and what you got was not what you expected. He face palmed himself and looked down.

“How could I forget, Axel will never leave me alone about this once he finds out.” He said before he continued to make breakfast. You laughed before you went get the youngest.

The three of you all got ready in your new clothes and you wore your mother’s plain white dress and blue corset that had a matching cloak. The three of you began your journey to the kingdom, picking up a ride or two from a few people. You walked with your basket held at your elbow, holding Axel’s hand as Aidren held onto your cloak.

You smiled brightly as you walked to the castle, waiting at the gate before being let in. You saw a lot of children and got slightly discouraged at all the kids playing in the grass. What if Eri find’s someone else to play with and likes them more. That would crush your brother’s spirits to pieces but before you could realize it, they were off playing with a bunch of other kids. You noticed there was an area for people to place their things so you placed your basket and shoes in a crate, locking it before taking the key and placing it around your neck, being it was on a string.

“Hey, you didn’t think you’d be playing without me did you?” You asked as you ran up to your younger brothers. You got a lot of weird looks from other mothers but you didn’t care being you were having fun. The grass was so soft against your feet and you finally felt like a kid for once, even though you were 24. Eri was finally spotted but you didn’t want the boys to rush in, being it would overwhelm her. So you just decided to mess around and pretend to be in danger.

“Knight Axel! Please help me!” You cried out, holding back your smile as much as you could.

“Don’t try it! I am the evil ice witch and will freeze her!” A random girl said as he blew small snow from his palm. It was a little witch and training which made you smile.

“Not if we have anything to do with it” Adrien declaired, holding up a wooden sword that the castle provided. You played for a long time before Eri finally found the three of y’all. You smiled as she hugged you tightly before running to Axeln and Adrien. You stood up and started to walk away before you bumped into a tall figure.

“Oh I’m so sor-sorry.” You said before you saw it was Mirio. His looks always surprised you, especially that smile. “Hello, Sir Knight Mirio.” You curtsied, bowing slightly as well.

“Miss Y/n, pleasure to see you here.” Mirio said as he bowed back. “Now, I think Eri want’s us to play.” Mirio said as he walked over to Eri, pulling you behind him, making you laugh softly.

“Let’s battle! Me and you! If I win, I get to protect Princess Eri!” Adrien said, pointing his wooden sword at Axel. Eri smiled before she pulled out her own wooden sword.

“Who said I can’t protect myself?” Eri asked, making Axel’s eyes light up.

“Can we fight?” Axel asked Mirio, making sure it was okay and nodded.

“Why don’t me and you battle?” You asked Mirio and he chuckled.

“Okay, I’ll go easy on you.” He said wielding a wooden sword as you held one too. The two of you bowed and made sure you had enough room and wouldn’t hurt anyone else. The two of you started to fight and Mirio was quite shocked at your strength and form.

“There is a lot you don’t know about me.” You spoke, as your blocked his sword from swinging down on you. “I always wanted to be a knight when I was young.” You pushed forward, making Mirio back up and take this more seriously. With the two of you so enticed with each other, you hadn’t notice all the kids watching. You were smiling brightly, before you quickly spun around, grabbing Mirio’s outstretched hand, pulling it close to you.

“You’re quite strong, maybe you should live in the castle.” Mirio said with a wink before he hooked his free arm around your waist, spinning you and placing his sword to your throat but was blocked by your own sword. You hooked your leg behind his and kicked it out, but before you knew it, you were spun back around and you fell on top of Mirio. You quickly got up, pointing your sword at his throat before he laughed loudly. You couldn’t help but join him as you laid down next to him, panting softly.

“Wow, it’s nice to be a kid again.” You mumbled, rubbing the beads of sweat from your forehead. Then there was a loud rupture of clapping and cheering from the kids, especially Eri who also defeated Axel. She ran up to you and pulled you up.

“Girls can fight too!” She said with a bright smile, making you laugh before you looked over at Mirio who was watching you. You blushed lightly before averting his gaze. “Hey, the necklace I gave you is glowing!” She said with bright eyes, holding it in her hand. The rose crystal now shined a bright pink, making you cock your head in confusion.

“That’s a love crystal.” The small witch from early spoke, pointing to it as it slowly dimmed. “When you look at someone you love, or feel love from someone, it glows.” She explained, making you blush more.

“Hm, must be because I care and love the princess.” You played off, poking Eri’s tummy, making her giggle.

“It only glows for intimate love.” She shrugged, “But I could be wrong, I’m still learning.” She hopped away and then you were helped to your feet by Mirio.

“That was really fun, and now it’s time for Eri to pick her favorite people to play with.” He explained before walking away with Eri. You and your brothers went eat, talking about all the fun they had.

“Hellllooooo everybodddyyyy!!” Sir Yamada yelled, getting everyone’s attention. “It’s time for Eri to pick who will stay at the castle for a week! Now if you don’t get picked, don’t be discouraged, we will probably have many more to come!”

“I had fun with you all and wish I could pick you all, but those aren’t the rules. I, by myself pick who I want to stay in the castle for a week. And I chose who made me smile the most. But not only did this person make me smile, they made my best friend smile and laugh more than he already does and thats Miss Y/n and her two younger brothers!” Eri yelled out, making you cough softly on the bread you were still eating.

You looked up on the stage and saw Mirio smiling, and saw Eri waving you three up there. A few kids were cheering, saying you need protect Eri since Mirio lost to you. Some kids were crying while others just smiled, knowing they might get it next time.

It was the third day in the castle and you just plopped onto your king sized bed, sighing loudly.

“Hey, finally got your brother’s to bed?” Mirio asked as he stood there in loose clothing, much different from his armor or royal attire.

“Yes! I feel like they never run out of energy and I’m so sore.” You patted the area next to you and Mirio walked over and laid down next to you, watching the heavy door close on its own.

“I’m really glad you got to spend this time here.” Mirio smiled lightly, making you look over at him and smile. Your necklace glowed through your shirt, making you grab it and sit up.

“Yeah… uhm, wellll, I’m going to take a bath to help with my muscles. Can you show me how that large tub works again?” You asked with a small blush before you grabbed some clothes that were provided by the castle. Mirio nodded and walked over to the deep tub that was in your chambers, turning the handle, allowing water to pour out before he put a stopper in the drain.

“That’s pretty much it, do you need anything else?” He asked as you kept your eyes on the floor. He nodded before he walked out and you started to pull of your dress shirt, struggling lightly from your sore muscles. “Oh hey-…I’m so sorry, I should have knocked. I just remembered you needed a towel.” Mirio blushed as you pulled your shirt back down.

“Oh it’s okay…uhm, can you help? If not can you get someone to help me remove my clothes?” You asked as you blushed lightly, making your crystal glow again. He nodded and closed the bathroom’s wooden door before walking behind you.

“Arm’s up.” He spoke softly, lifting your shirt to expose your skin. While Mirio was taken away by your body, he remained calm being you were in a place of need. He pulled down your skirt, allowing you to step out of it, making your face light up. You’ve done similar things countless times but right now, it feels like your first time.

“I’m going to remove your bra and underwear for you if that’s okay?” He asked, making sure he had consent from you before he continued. You nodded, allowing him to remove your clothes and once that was done, he helped you into the bath.

“Wait-…could you stay?” You asked just as he was about to leave, making him pause and turn around.

“Any particular reason or just want a friend?” He asked with a smile while he sat on a stool next to the tub.

“I just think I’ll need some help getting out.” You mumbled,holding your necklace in your hand to keep Mirio from seeing it’s bright pink tint. You knew you could probably get out and dressed on your own but you had to admit, you did like Mirio’s company.

“Oh yeah, I should’ve thought of that.” He chuckled, stretching his arms in the air as he watched you run your hands through your soapy hair. Mirio walked close to your head and started to help rinse out your hair. “We meant it when we said you’d get treated like royalty.”

“Thank you Sir Mirio.” You smiled and relaxed into his touch, making him blush softly before going back to the task at hand. Maybe this stone was right, maybe you did love him but there is no way he’d feel the same so you should just shut out those feelings. “Ow! What the-?” You let go of the necklace that shocked your hand and chest.

“That a love crystal you got, deny the feelings you have and it shocks you.” Mirio chimed in, breaking your train of thought. “You don’t have to worry, I’m sure whoever you’re thinking of feels the same way.” He smiled brightly. After awhile, he helped you out the tub and got you dressed in a loose night gown.

“Thank you for helping me, Sir Mirio.” You blushed lightly as you walked over to you bed and sat down, watching Mirio clean up the bathroom. Mirio walked over to you and smiled before he bent down and kissed your lips, making your necklace glow.

“I’m sorry, but I just had to know this crystal glowed for me.” Mirio blushes before he stood back up straight but you pulled him back down to you.

“I guess my secret is out.” You smiled before reconnecting your lips.

You pulled Mirio closer to you, having him crawl on top and pin you down. His lips were soft but you could feel the small scars he had from it being repeatedly busted from fighting or training. He pulled you on top as he sat up so you can straddle his lap, allowing his hands to travel your foreign body. Mirio’s hands were so gentle when he traced them down you sides, or when they rested behind your neck while he ran his fingers down your spine with his other hand. You tracked your finger down his jaw, pulling away to see his flushed face and red lips.

“You’re cute when you are all red.” You smirked, making the blonde blush even brighter.

“Thank you, y/n.” Mirio mumbled, making you reconnect your lips as you felt down his chest before slipping your hand up his shirt, feeling the defined muscles and small scars from battles. You tugged at his shirt so he could pull it off but he pushed you on your back before he did so.

“Let me take care of you, you are in pain.” He smiled before he lifted your gown up and over your body. You smiled back softly before shutting your eyes in pleasure when you felt his lips kiss down your exposed body.

“Mirio, have you ever done this before?” You asked with a blush as his lips perfectly danced along your skin, getting lower and lower making you catch butterflies.

“Once or twice, why?” He teased with a grin, sucking at your skin on your thighs, leaving hickies behind as he got closer to your clothed core, making your body tremble and arousal pool in your underwear.

“I’ve done this hundreds of times and no one has ever made me feel this good just by kissing me.” You propped yourself up to see him looking up at you with a proud grin.

“Well, I did say I would take care of you.” Mirio kissed your wet core before he pulled off your underwear, making you sigh in relief. He licked up your sopping wet core, making you moan out softly. “You’re so beautiful. Your voice sounds like an angel.” Mirio mumbled, making you blush at his praise. Usually when you had sex, you got degraded mainly because you were a prostitute and they were ashamed so they took it out on you so when you were praised by Mirio, it just fueled your arousal. He connected his mouth with your core, running his tongue down you before sucking on your sensitive clit.

“Am I being good?” You moaned out, arching your back softly. You needed to hear that you were being good and Mirio understood that after you asked him.

“No, you’re being the best.” the blonde smiled before he continued his meal, pushing you closer to the edge with each lick, kiss, or suck while he’d tell you how good you taste and how well you behaved.

“Sir Mirio, I’m close,” you grabbed at the sheets, waiting to feel the familiar knot build and break but he removed himself from your core, licking his lips before he leaned down to kiss you. Your hands tangled themselves in his golden hair, desperate to feel him close to you. You were so lost in the kiss you hadn’t noticed Mirio line himself up with your core.

“Are you ready?” Mirio asked once he pulled away from your lips, allowing you to nod quickly.

“Please, I need you.” You whined out, allowing Mirio to push his hard member into your aching heat. You huffed, pulling Mirio in for another sloppy kiss before you kissed down his neck as he thrust into you.

Mirio groaned softly with a small smile, noticing the necklace glow brightly as it hung next to your head. You kissed along his neck before finding a sensitive spot, making him moan softly before he picked up his pace while you attacked his sweet spot. Mirio held your hips down with one hand while the other rubbed your swollen clit. You bit your lips to suppress your moans, gripping his back tight as your nails dug into his flesh.

“Let me hear those sweet moans, beautiful.” Mirio requested, making you follow his command as you were now a moaning mess.

“Sir...I’m gonna c-...cum.” You blushed brightly as you clung to him for dear life but he only picked up his pace.

“Go ahead, you deserve it.” And with those sweet words, your climax came crashing down, sending you into complete euphoria. Your body trembled as your high took over before you notice Mirio pull out to see his cum spill out over your stomache.

“I’m so sorry.” Mirio blushed, letting his head fall on your shoulder in embarrassment.

“Don’t worry,...” You panted as you came down from your high. You whined when Mirio got up and walked away but was pleased to see him with a rag to clean you up. Once cleaned, the two of you laid down in the dark except for the bright necklace that still glowed a pink tone.

“Stay here in the castle with me.” Mirio said, looking down at your tired form. You don’t know whether it was the exhaustion or euphoric bliss you were in but you nodded without hesitation, before slipping off into sleep.

A/n:

I hope you alll liked it :) I had a lot of fun writing this but it took me forever 😅 mainly bc I procrastinate.

#my hero acadamy #fluff #bnha x reader #writing #reading #headcanon #mirio x reader #mirio smut #bnha mirio #bnha #mha #mha fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #bnha fantasy au #mirio togata

358 notes · View notes

kaaras-adaar · 3 years

Text

Kaaras + Lingerie/Crossdressing

// I wanted to go more in depth about Kaaras and cross dressing in the bedroom. I had a big post about Kaaras and lingerie specific, but I can no longer find it. First of all, that’s what I want to make clear: this is not something Kaaras does outside of the bedroom, this isn’t something that Kaaras does on a daily basis, it IS a sexual thing. It is something that causes and stirs sexual arousal out of him, not something that he would do on a day to day basis.

Under a cut for obvious reasons.

Cross dressing for Kaaras has nothing to do with identity. He is a cis male. Whilst he’s exceptionally open minded about those who are not cis, Kaaras does consider himself a male and identifies as a man, but he is also very aware of his femininity and need to feel soft. He’s comfortable with his masculinity, and if people were to insult him and call him a “girl” in some kind derogatory way, he’d not be offended. Kaaras believes women are equal to men and should be seen as such. He grew up with women, knows that they can be strong willed and physically strong and adept as well. He does not see softness as “only feminine” nor does he see hardness as “only masculine”. He believes people are PEOPLE, and all that gender stereotype bullshit is exactly that: bullshit. It’s not important to him and he doesn’t really care to think about it (except for equality of course).

However, you do also have to remember that Kaaras grew up around certain ideas and ideals. Even as a sheltered individual, he was subject to Fereldan culture and human customs. That does include certain dress codes.

There’s a vague line between this, because in medieval periods (such as Thedas), things like robes, peasant clothes, frocks and tunics are pretty unisex. This is why it doesn’t really extend to things like that. Kaaras grew up wearing peasant clothes, which were generally a dress. One long item of clothing tied off at the waist (I also have a post about KILT WEARING, too, but I’m not going to go into that here).

Kaaras’ cross dressing is lingerie/undergarment specific. These are clothes that are exclusive to women in a general understanding. These are items specifically labelled for women, because they are shaped for their bodies (underwear, stockings, bras, corsets etc). The idea is to show femininity, to capture it and make one feel, well… ultimately sexy.

This was something Kaaras found out at a young age. When his father died, he was the only male of the household, between his mother, his adopted younger sister and his mentor. This was an exceptionally difficult time for Kaaras because he was just blooming into his teenage years (his father died when he was 12). It means Kaaras had a really difficult time coming to terms with his body, because he felt different from the women around him. He felt like they wouldn’t understand him, and ultimately, this was when Kaaras began to close himself off to his mother a lot. He began to feel uncomfortable and insecure about himself because he didn’t have any male influence anymore. He already lacked in friends because of him being a qunari, so he really didn’t have anyone to help him discover himself until a later age (that’ll be left for a different post that will go into Kaaras and his alcoholism).

Like a lot of curious children, it did mean Kaaras would sneak into his parent’s room to rummage through the cliches of makeup and underwear. That’s pretty much how Kaaras found out he enjoyed wearing womens clothes. It was innocent enough at first, of course, he was young and not really sexually matured. But it was the foundation of where this ‘kink’ came from.

As an older teenager, Kaaras began to realise that this stirred sexual arousal in him. Especially when he was involved with female lovers for the night. Being drunk gave him the confidence to fool around more, to explore and discover himself without being embarrassed about it. Most of Kaaras’ sexual experience is, unfortunately, based off many drunk nights–until his past lover. That was when Kaaras REALLY got to explore and discover himself.

Kaaras is a complicated personal when it comes to much about him. He’s simple and yet not in many ways. His sexuality is a long, long road of self discovery, pain and chaos, and that’s not all due to the fact that he suffers PGAD (PSAS). There are a lot of contributing factors that one may never think about when they see Kaaras as the man he has grown to become now.

Wearing women’s clothes became something of a dirty little secret that he has been very ashamed to speak about and express, because he had in his head the idea that it is not ‘normal’ for him to enjoy it. Kaaras is a hypocrite in the fact that he is so open and willing to accept OTHERS but never HIMSELF, because he’s grown up with so much self hatred and such a NEGATIVE image of himself, so these are all things that make him feel even worse about himself in the eye of the public.

But lingerie, dressing in women’s underthings, makes him feel gracious, makes him have this idea of soft, makes femininity that he can finally see and feel in himself that no one else can and/or will. This isn’t something he will open up about to just anyone, this is something that he will only expose to someone he trusts will accept him (and even then, he has a lot of fear and shame in the whole thing). This also doesn’t mean Kaaras doesn’t think men can be feminine and beautiful, he does, remember, he just has a lot of internal hate towards himself, and being told that he is an ugly savage oxman all his life doesn’t help with his image issues. Kaaras is a very insecure person, crippling so at times. But his clothes? They speak for him. And that doesn’t just mean the lingerie in the bedroom, but clothes in general help Kaaras EXPRESS himself. They always have. They make him feel stronger, they make him feel professional when needed, they make him feel practical. He often does not make his suffering known, or even his happiness at times, but his clothes are a form of expression for him, which is one of the reasons why he very much agrees with Vivienne that they should LOOK the part if people wish to take them seriously, despite him being a commoner.

Lastly, I should mention while Kaaras certainly enjoys others wearing lingerie in the bedroom, this kink may never involve them. This is something he does for himself, and does not need or require someone else to be involved. If your muse is willing, then that’s certainly great! He would love to be able to express himself and feel sensual in the bedroom with his lover, it’s a real bonus to have that support and care, but Kaaras also is very used to the fact that this is a solo act. Something he enjoys doing in the comfort of his own self.

At the end of the day, this is not something easy for Kaaras. This is something that’s come from a background of confusion, self hate and being sheltered. Even if Kaaras has an exceptionally supportive family, Kaaras struggled to express himself and open up once his father died, shutting his mother out of a lot of his life. His sister only knows by accident, and his mother has only suspected, but does not push her son to speak what he is not comfortable with. When/if she finds out, she would be willing to make Kaaras the most beautiful crossdresser because she’s so supportive of her children.

#Kaaras Adaar #Meta #Headcanons #Naughty ram #Kaaras and lingerie #Kaaras and crossdressing

8 notes · View notes

bi-writes · 4 years

Note

Medieval fantasy AU with prince Tom plsssss 😍😍😍

ooooooh here we go down this rabbit hole lmao

The corset of your dress was so tight, you could barely breathe properly. You refused to wear them in your own home. They made you uncomfortable, and you weren’t able to mount your horse properly. They made you stiff and proper, and you hated being stiff and proper. But your mother had begged you, and you gave in.

You were happy to do it for her until she forced a new dress on you and put you in her best jewels. Emeralds on your neck, rubies in your ears, and diamonds littering your tiara and making it sparkle unimaginably. She was powdering you up for the party, and you hated feeling like a trophy to be passed around. But how could you protest when...you weren’t allowed to even have an opinion?

You were on your mother’s arm when you entered the large hall. The ceilings were high, tens of feet tall, and the chandeliers were glowing with lit candles, casting a gorgeous light on the party below. There was music and tables full of food, trays of wine never going empty. You saw chocolate and sweets, and then you saw everyone staring. Of course they were staring. You were a princess, unwed, polished like a golden trophy for all of them to gawk at. Lords staring at you to see if you were fit for their sons, and men staring at you to see if you were fit for their households. It was insulting, but your mother tugged you along anyways.

You grabbed a handful of sweets, popping them into your mouth before your mother could see. She let you go to get a few glasses of wine, and that was your cue. You ripped your tiara off and hid beside a server as you followed them into the kitchen. You greeted the staff warmly before going out the back, into the stables. You were going for your horse, that beautiful black horse that stood at the back of the stables. You hurried, picking up your skirt and running, and thats when you bumped chest first into someone else, both of you falling backwards onto the floor.

“Oh, Christ!” The other person swore, sitting up, rubbing their chest. “Oh! Oh, my lady—”

You let out a breath as you were picked up off the floor quickly, put onto your feet. You were dizzy for a moment having hit the ground so fast and so forcefully.

“N-No, it’s...it’s all my fault, I wasn’t watching where I was going,” you said after a minute, putting a hand on your head. You blinked, trying to focus, and you swallowed hard when you noticed the man in front of you. He was wear a simple dress shirt and trousers, tucked into his riding boots.

“Getting away from the party so quickly? I hear it’s grand,” he tried to lighten the mood, and you sighed, rolling your eyes a bit.

“Grand for who?”

“The princess, of course, is this party not for her? The invitation said all eligible noblemen were to attend this evening,” he chuckled, and you picked up your crown, hiding it as you went to the back, towards your horse, towards Eve. You tossed your crown into the hay, putting both hands on her and petting her warmly.

“Of course it did,” you muttered. “The queen is adamant on her daughter finding a husband. But...it doesn’t even matter. I don’t know why she pushes so much. Don’t you think a woman should be allowed a few years to herself before she even begins thinking about uprooting her life and starting a family?”

He laughed behind you, shrugging, “I...I suppose a woman should be entitled to that. But...they aren’t.”

“No, I suppose not,” you replied with a hard tone. “But they should be. You can’t even be pardoned of that burden as royalty. It’s as if all a woman is good for is marriage. They teach us to dance and to sing and to paint and to curtsy and to...to sew. And for what? No one will want to watch us do any of those things. They don’t care.”

You laid your cheek against Eve, sighing deeply.

“In our lifetime, I suppose that is all a woman can do. But perhaps they can find men that make them feel otherwise.”

You turned your head to look at him, and he was blushing all over. His cheeks were red, his ears were red, and he was adorable, looking so flushed.

“You’re funny,” you said finally, laughing. “To think such things are possible.”

He came towards you, offering his hand. “I’m Thomas.”

“y/n.”

“Shall we...get away from this party? Go for a ride?”

You nodded slowly.

“I’d...I’d like that very much.”

He helped you onto your horse, his hand in yours as he lifted you up over Eve. You got comfortable on her back before clicking your tongue a bit, patting her to walk. Tom reached for his horse and followed you close behind. You took him on a small tour of the grounds, following the paths you walked everyday with Eve. You went through the gardens, around the lake, through the trees.

You didn’t ride in silence. Tom was quick to pick up conversation with you, and you were laughing, always. You bantered back and forth about who was the better rider, who could eat more chocolate tarts in two minutes, and the first time you both got drunk on old cellar wine. You were starting to get tired as he helped you off of Eve. You both sat on a bench near the edge of the lake, which was lit by torches all around. Your horses were tied behind both of you, relaxing.

“Do you think the princess is having fun then?” Tom asked after awhile, looking over at the castle in the near distance. “Surely. This whole...thing was for her.”

You looked in the same direction as him, watching the figures in the windows dance and eat and move around. You sighed.

“I don’t think the princess cares for parties all that much.”

“No?” Tom looked back at you. “What does she like then?”

You frowned, “why are you so interested?”

He bit his lip, “my father instructed me to come down here. He said I was to come, meet the princess, and give her my best. He talks too much. Of course I’d never catch the attention of the princess.”

“Oh? And why not?” You asked, sitting up, curious now.

“They say the princess is...the most beautiful woman in this country,” he murmured, turning back to look at you. You smiled a bit at him, and he smiled back, staring at you, intrigued. You looked lovely bathed in moonlight. “They say she has a sweet tooth, that she wears dresses made of silk always, and that she has a voice like a siren.”

You snorted a bit, “she sounds terrible!”

“What?!” Tom blushed, so embarrassed. “Is it so bad to secretly admire someone I’ve never met? To think that...in some alternate universe...a princess described such as that could ever be mine?”

You stared at him longingly, nudging his shoulder.

“Are you a nobleman? Looking to...rise in station by marrying a princess?”

Tom shrugged, “it isn’t like that,” he muttered. “It’s just...I’ve met many princesses. And I’ve been to a lot of countries, love. And they...they all have stories written of them such as that, but then when you meet them...” He closed his eyes. “I am disappointed when I meet them. Because they are not always sirens that sing and...and they are not always as sweet as others might tell you. Sometimes they mock others beneath them and rule with wicked hands. Sometimes they...sometimes they are cruel.”

“Women can be cruel,” you said softly. “They ought not to be, but sometimes they are. And it’s not always their fault.”

“No, it’s not always their fault,” he murmured. “Women with history...women with pasts...sometimes they are damaged here,” he touched where his heart is, “but sometimes it makes them better. They feel deeply. They love stronger. They speak wiser. My mother was like that.” He smiled a bit to himself. “That is the kind of woman I’d like to have. I suppose I’m just chasing stories until I find the right one.”

“What if you never do?”

“Then I suppose I will never marry.”

You looked out at the water, tucking your hands under your knees.

“Me neither,” you said softly. “I wish...I wish I could be the woman you dreamt of, Tom. I wish...perhaps tonight would have been that night for you.”

He nudged you a bit with his shoulder. “Aye, I wish that, too. Do you think I still have a chance with this princess then?”

You took a deep breath, shrugging. “I don’t know. Perhaps you should go find her inside.”

Tom stood up, nodding to himself. He picked up your hand and kissed it gently, and your stomach fluttered a bit.

“You deserve someone very special, Thomas,” you said sheepishly, smiling at him. “You’re...too kind for this world.”

“As are you, sweet y/n.” He leaned over and gave you a kiss on the cheek next. You watched him mount his horse and ride back to the stables. You stayed a little longer outside, looking out at the water. Thomas seemed lovely, lovelier than any prince your mother could throw your way. You refrained from kissing him, from pulling him close. If he was anyone else...if he was a lord or a nobleman...your mother wouldn’t approve.

But what did it matter? You were never traditional, anyway. What would it matter who you found yourself with? Didn’t you owe it to yourself to try?

You got onto Eve, pulling on the reigns so she could hurry back to the castle. You slipped off of her quickly, brushing your dress off as you looked for the crown that you threw in the hay. You started to panic when you couldn’t find it. Your mother gave it to you to borrow for the night, and you had thrown it like some cheap child’s toy into the hay.

“Looking for this, love?”

You turned abruptly, and Tom stood there, holding the glittering tiara in his hands. You blushed.

“Tom...I...I wanted to tell you, I just—”

“Didn’t want me to know you were a princess?” He asked, raising a brow. “The princess? The princess of all the stories I’ve been hearing?”

You looked down, “What do you want me to say? I don’t...I don’t sing much. I’m not...I’m not the most beautiful woman in the country, and...and I don’t wear dresses made of silk. I’m just me, Thomas. And you’re...you’re you. Why would you want someone like me? I have no idea how to be the princess you said I was.”

He chuckled a bit, “you know, I did come all the way from England to meet you, Your Highness.”

“Please don’t call me that,” you sighed, coming closer to him. “Please call me y/n.”

He smiled down at you, “then don’t call me it either. We’ll have a truce.”

“What does that mean?”

“Formally, you should call me your highness, but I suppose I’ll let it slide for you, love,” he teased, and you pushed him a bit.

“Y-You’re...you’re the prince? The prince of England?”

“Aye, love, I am, but let’s not talk in detail, yeah?” He reached up to touch the side of your face with his knuckles, and you laughed.

“And you said nothing?”

“I didn’t want you to get a crude impression of me. I thought you were...”

“More humble?” You asked, touching the collar of his shirt. He nodded a bit, and you put your head on his chest.

“I like to be. I don’t care for theatrics, Thomas. I like the simple things,” you said, looking up at him. “Don’t you?”

“Oh, love...” he smiled wider. “I’ve been chasing after a story all my life. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. Just a woman on my arm as sweet as the stories they told about her...”

“And?”

He leaned in, nuzzling his nose against yours.

“Tell me, darling...how long would I have to kiss you to find out?”

You broke into a giggle, “forever, I suppose.”

“Then I suppose that’s what I’ll do.”

#just wanted to write something soft dont come at me #tom holland imagines #tom holland imagine #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fic #tom holland x reader #tom holland au #tom holland fluff #prince!tom #requested

218 notes · View notes

alistonjdrake · 4 years

Text

Adapting Historical Fashion for the Fantasy Eye

I’m back. Why? Because we’ve seen a resurgence of people talking about corsets and whether they were the death traps some would like you to believe (they weren’t and we’re not here to discuss that but I beg you to do some research), people not knowing that there is a vibrant and active historical fashion community who either engage in history bounding (dressing up in period accurate clothing) or add elements of it to their daily lives, and just as always people not knowing the difference between stays and corsets.

But, June, you say. You’re a fantasy writer. What does historically accurate clothing have to do with anything? Historical accuracy is for losers. And to that I say, you are correct. But if you’re using something that has a heavy historical context (like clothing, technology, etc) you might as well know a thing or two about the subject before looking a fool. If only because readers like me notice the small things and cry OR because the aesthetics are cool but knowing where they come from and how they can be changed to fit your world is even cooler.

Fashion defines a society. Fashion defines a culture. What garments are important? What garments are the same among the upper and lower class? Do their roles as garments change depending on class? (ex: stays were often wore “out” for working class women while upper class women would see them strictly as undergarments) How do fashion trends define the eras? It’s not hard to notice that throughout history nearly every decade as a definite silhouette. It’s not hard to tell the difference from a regency era gown from an early Victorian gown to a late Victorian one. They all look vastly different.

I’m not asking anyone to know the ins and out of historical clothing but it doesn’t hurt to read up on it or look at some existing examples. To know the anatomy and construction of what would make a complete outfit (or to read about what people might wear for a given situation if no artwork or garment exists). It all feeds into how your characters hold themselves, how they might be able to move. It’s not so much that people were just “Shaped Differently” back then. Their clothes were constructed with a certain poise or look in mind. And y’know. I just want to stop seeing modern underwear in fantasy underneath historical clothing while we all pretend the undergarments don’t contribute greatly to the finished overall look.

But again, you’re right. We’re not writing historical fiction here. We don’t need to have every mention of clothing in our fantasy novels be completely in line with the point in time we might be basing our setting off of. This is about adaptation.

Adapting Historical Fashion for Non-Historical Purposes.

I’ve said it a bunch by now I’m sure. My books take place in a world based off the late 18th century. Why? I dig it. As such, when I first started putting together the aesthetics of the world that period was also my go to. I know I already did a whole thing on culture and society but really this is more or less just about how fashion can amplify those two things. I mentioned setting and what fabrics might be commonly used or found. And what might make sense to use (lighter, breathy fabrics for hot climates vs thicker fabrics and furs for cold ones) vs ones considered high class and enviable or with trends that might be coming from other countries that have stronger influence.

When I take real life fashion and shove it into my world (give or take a few changes) I usually ask myself a few things first.

1. Who controls the fashion trends?

The younger generation, the monarchs, a group of travelers who just look super stellar? Who is the rest of the community following when it comes to the newest look and what elements of it are they trying to steal/adapt? What element is the thing that really catches on?

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge fan of waistcoats and breeches and stockings, tailed coats with flaps (although anyone who reads my book will also know I axed powdered wigs. Because I could.) But to just copy wouldn’t say much about the opulent and flamboyant Escana. To increase the idea of the vanity and the peacock attitude of the younger, partying courtiers I have young men who usually dye their stockings to match their waistcoats (because colored socks > white or black socks) and forgo the coat to show off sleeve details as well as lose some of that “seriousness”. It says a lot about them while still remaining in a circle that gives readers a clue as to where my inspiration came from.

2. Who disagrees with the fashion trends?

And how does their disagreement influence the perception of certain garments or the people who wear them? Just read one thing about how evil corsets are and how crinolines are literally cages for women and how many of us go around thinking Victorian ladies fainted every time they opened a window and understand these perceptions can be long-lasting and completely change an outsider’s opinion on how people lived. Granted for world-building or story purposes hopefully these will be happening currently instead of being a huge misunderstanding of history.

Over and over again I say things like cultures not being monoliths but neither are generations and there’s nothing that makes a world feel more lived in and full than people who don’t all wear a uniform based vaguely on what the author thinks a medieval gown looked like. It’s just also sometimes nice to get tidbits like a character wearing a scandalous or pricey color just to look good even if they can’t afford it. Is it usually super vital to the plot and story? No. If used sparingly can it be fun background information to how the society your character lives in works or views things? Sure.

3. Colors and fabrics and spares, oh my

Okay. That’s not a question. But it’s an umbrella for me to put my thoughts under. Because I live in the 21st century I don’t often think about things like dyes or luxury fabrics but this would be front of mind for most of my characters. Not everyone can afford to wear certain colors, or certain colors come with a context that means they shouldn’t be worn for certain situations or for certain people and the same could be said for fabric. We live with these fashion rules now (although I’m not so strict in my memory of them because my current life doesn’t depend on it, but I do write about princes and courts so it’s more important for a courtier to not wear a happy color to a funeral than for me. Or things like no white after labor day).

Hand-me-downs. I grew up wearing them. They were common in history and should be more common in fantasy. If a family was not wealthy they could only afford so much fabric or to follow fashion trends for their eldest. It wouldn’t be unheard of for a family to still be wearing clothes considered “outdated” and it’s not like we all just throw our clothes out when they get old. While a trend might have moved onto a new silhouette or something, someone with less means might still be wearing decades-old clothing that have held up well (these clothes were built to last. Fast fashion could never) or could have chosen not to jump on the trend at all. In my book, the opulent courtiers and royals of Graza Palace dress completely different than some traditionalists who wear garments more native to Escan before it was an empire that are completely different from the suits and 18th century gowns I’ve borrowed. They’re timeless and probably see a lot more turnover from one family member to the next than a gown that could be out of style in a year.

4. And lastly, making sure I’m not turning it into a costume

This becomes important when taking garments that have a cultural context in the real world and using something similar to it or basing another garment off of it. I would start with this for the purposes of using culture clues to ease someone into what actual culture the fantasy one is taking inspiration from to give them a taste of what certain things might look like without going into full detail but it’s key to then know what makes these garments...these garments so you’re not bastardizing them. Why do people wear them? (especially if a form is still worn in modern times) What are they usually made out of? What are the occasions they are worn for? A respectful nod to something will just add to your world building, a costume rendition with 0 understanding of how certain garments will work will just make it seem like all your characters are in cosplay.

So in conclusion: No, I’m not advocating you be historically accurate for your already not historically accurate but it pays to look into why your basing clothing off a certain period and what goes into making that piece of clothing...that piece of clothing. Why it looks that way, how someone wearing it would look/hold themselves, and what it means in the context of your setting as well as things you might change and take extra liberties with for the purpose of storytelling. Clothing can add character and it could be just as useful a tool in world building (in my biased opinion) as language given that fashion can have such a huge impact on people but it can also fall flat.

#june trash #world building #worldbuilding #tss trilogy #thanks for letting me rant #I'm glad I got that out #never post another picture of a robe a la anglaise and say something about corsets again if you wish to live

76 notes · View notes