#*princess rachel’s world

[mariedemedicis]

inspired by @mihrsuri‘s awesome posts:

“While Charles regarded the Prince of Orange and Prince George of Denmark as suitable matches for his nieces, for his daughter and heir a mate was required who would willingly play second fiddle...” “Princess Elizabeth was given a choice among the younger sons of Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his wife, Sophia of the Palatinate, a granddaughter of James IV and I. Elizabeth chose for her prince the handsomest of the brothers, Maximilian William, a third son three years her elder...” (Charles II and His Daughter Elizabeth II)

“The birth of Princess Elizabeth went a long way towards soothing anti-Catholic fears among the English population, with a Protestant heir standing between the Catholic Duke of York and the throne. The Queen’s position improved immensely..” “Although her fondness did not extend to her father’s mistresses, the new Queen was inordinately fond of her half-sisters and brothers. Don Carlos accompanied his niece the Princess Royal on the occasion of her marriage to Philippe, Duc de Anjou, later King of Spain...” “Elizabeth’s closest inner circle included her mother the Queen Mother, uncle the Duke of York, the younger of her surviving cousins the Lady Anne, and her half-sister Charlotte Lee, Countess of Lichfield...” (The Protestant Princess Who Saved England: Elizabeth Stuart and the Protestant Succession)

“Although the match had been set for years, as the time drew near for Max to leave for England, Sophia began to harbor misgivings. Her son was not content as a third son; he had been very pleased to have been chosen over his brothers but how long he would be contented to leave the reins of power in the hands of his wife?” "Max proclaimed himself very happy with his new bride. Elizabeth was not classically beautiful (she had too much of her father in her for that) but she was considered handsome. Max described her in letters to his mother and sister as 'tall and well-formed with dark curly hair and sensual lips'..." "The first clash came when Max, slighted over the Queen's choice of her brother for a honor he believed should have been his, lashed out by showing deliberate and obvious attention to one of his wife's ladies..." "Theirs was a tumultuous marriage but when the couple worked in concert, they could accomplish great things indeed... " "Did Max and Elizabeth feel love for one another? We'll never know for certain but what we do know is that whatever their arguments, they remained physically affectionate throughout their marriage..." (Jolly Prince Max: He Who Would Be King)

“Unlike her father and uncle, Elizabeth, who lacked close family ties to France, pursued a much less conciliatory policy towards France and one that aligned more closely with Parliament’s ...”  “Though the pair later married their eldest surviving daughter to a grandson of Louis XIV, they also married the rest of their offspring with the exception of Princess Charlotte into the other royal families of Europe...” (Politics in the Court of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Max)

[evilhorse]

An angel

[darklordazalin]

My dear friend's account for their podcast, Wonderful World of Darklords, is locked out of Tumblr for mysterious reasons (read: Tumblr bot failure). And on the day of their monthly episode drop too, so I am posting for them. My friends take inspiration from Disney films (well, normally...in April they do non-Disney) and convert them into Ravenloft Domains of Dread. I write a small portion of the show as "Yensid" (aka Azalin using a false name) , the warlock D's patron who writes up the reports on each of these Domains. Anyway, here is their pitch. Give it a listen if you're interested: Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords! In the spirit of April Fool's Day, we're once again taking a break from Disney movies for this month's episode (yes, we know Disney distributed the Ghiblis for a while, but we operate under strict Calvinball rules in which Home Alone can be a regular episode but Princess Mononoke can't). There's so much nightmare fuel in Princess Mononoke that it's almost redundant to turn it into a horror setting, but turning it into a Ravenloft domain is another matter entirely. Topics discussed include:

How to give Irontown and the forest an unforgivable, irredeemable darklord when one of the movie's main themes is that no one is unforgivable or irredeemable (except Jigo, who we're going to discuss a lot);

A Disney movie that we will never, ever make an episode about, but that actually has quite a bit of thematic overlap with Princess Mononoke, so you can just pretend this is that episode if you want;

Multiple AU possibilities for the darklord, ranging from "fairly obvious" to "high-concept fever dream;"

The canon darklord who can fill the same role as Lord Asano but with more personality;

and more!

The full writeup for the Mononoke Forest is available for free on DM's Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/476619/Mononoke-Forest-A-Ravenloft-Domain-of-Dread?affiliate_id=241770

The real-life inspiration for the forest was Shiratani Unsuikyo on Yakushima Island. Swoon over some photos that look like they should have Okkoto in them here: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/shiratani-unsuikyo

All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licensed through https://musopen.org:

Chopin Nocturne in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9 No.1 (main theme), performed by Eduardo Vinuela

Chopin Etude Op. 25, No. 12 in C Minor: “Ocean” (darklord theme), performed by Edward Neeman

Chopin Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55 No. 1 (land theme), performed by Luke Faulkner

Rachmaninoff Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3 - 2. Prélude in C sharp minor (Dread Possibilities), performed by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Chopin Nocturne in E Minor, Op. 72 No. 1 (parting thoughts), performed by Luke Faulkner

Dialog for Yensid was written by Azalin Rex himself: http://www.tumblr.com/darklordazalin

The Wonderful World of Darklords logo was designed by Halite Jones, whom you can find on Tumblr and Instagram: https://www.tumblr.com/halite-jones and http://www.instagram.com/insta_halite

Contact us on:

Gmail: wonderfulworldofdarklords@gmail.com

Facebook: @wonderfulworldofdarklords

Tumblr: @wonderfulworldofdarklords

Patreon: www.patreon.com/WonderfulWorldofDarklords

[tybaltsjuliet]

people coming for rachel zegler for saying that her snow white will be learning lessons and having a character arc in the film, calling her “hateful and disrespectful” to snow... i have to laugh.

i love the animated snow white. she’s in my top three disney princesses. it is not a drag on her to say that snow white learns no lessons over the course of her film, and has no character arc, because she doesn’t.

what she has is a personality and a plot and many admirable character traits but she does not have an arc and she is pretty darn static, and that’s fine! this movie will be doing different things and that’s fine, too! (if it’s going to do them well is another matter entirely, but one we cannot judge until the movie is out. i was blessed by cinderella and burned by beauty and the beast so i’m firmly giving a hesitant benefit of the doubt to this and the little mermaid alike.)

i am more on the fence about rachel’s comments calling snow white a dated character - i think elements of snow white are dated, to be sure, but not everything about her is - but to act as though she’s disrespecting the legacy of disney’s snow white and? disrespecting adriana caselotti? is a joke.

[taylorsabrina]

watching snow white for the first time in 20+ years and i'm weeping.

[futfemfantasies]

Her name // Alessia Russo ~ Lionesses!reader

Italics = flashbacks

TW: spain not winning the wc, disgusting pregnancy cravings, pure Lessi girl fluff

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“But baby can’t you just tell me what it starts with?” Alessia whined as she laid her head in your lap, kissing your heavily pregnant bump in the process. 

“You said it was my choice since you got the last name. You’ll know in three weeks. Now, your daughter wants a pickle and peanut butter sandwich. Can you make her one?”

“You and your weird cravings mia ragazza (my girl)” She mumbles into your bump before getting up, kissing you on the way out. While Alessia makes your daughter her weird sandwich, your mind drifts off to how you got to this position. 

You transferred from Barcelona at 25, wanting to have a little bit more of a challenge in your league career. Alessia joined two years prior to your arrival and was smitten from the moment she met you. Kyra, Lotte and Emily gave her so much shit for not acting on her feelings. It wasn’t until an impressive half a season that you went to your second Lionesses camp, which is surprisingly the World Cup. 

Sitting alone on a little secluded beach next to the hotel got you thinking about many things. A few of your teammates were playing beach football and you watched, even though they attempted many times to play. You snuggle into your hoodie more as the sun sets and cold temperature appears for the night. A crunch of a branch makes you turn to see the blue eyed, blonde haired beauty you’ve grown to love. Alessia sits next to you in the little cave and drapes the blanket over the both of you, making her close to you. 

“I saw you out here in just your hoodie and shorts so I thought you could use this”

“That’s so thoughtful, thank you Lessi”

You two talk for hours and hours, you missed the texts and calls from your teammates. It wasn’t until you see flashlights that you know it’s late. You both get up and walk with Rachel and Millie back to the hotel. 

A few weeks later is the final of the world cup and you and Alessia are starting up front. The Spanish are putting up a good fight after scoring in the 29th minute, courtesy of Olga. Hemp scores early in the second half, levelling the score. England have a corner in what could be the last play of the game and you and Alessia are standing next to each other.

“You have this, go for it”

The hand is raised. Focus is on the ball. You can see it’s headed straight for you so you time your jump perfectly and head the ball towards the goal. You couldn’t believe it. You might have won the world cup for your country. The familiar swoosh of the net was heard and you ran to the corner post doing a salsa dance celebration before the team dogpile you. The ref blows her whistle to restart and tears are forming in your eyes as you look at the screen that shows 95:00. There was only six minutes of added time. England hold off the Spanish for another minute and then the final whistle is blown.

You are a world champion.

You won it for your country. 

Falling to the ground, you start crying until you feel arms around your shoulders.

“You’ve done well Y/N. Go celebrate with your friends” Sarina pulls you up and into a hug before you run off to the one person you want to celebrate with. 

You see Alessia in the distance hugging it out with Ella and on your way over, you are stopped by multiple Barcelona and English players congratulating you. Alessia catches your eye and runs over to you, hugging you tightly. 

“We did it!” You say with all the adrenaline running through your veins. 

“I could kiss you right now”

“I dare you”

Alessia smashes her lips on yours and you don’t regret it one bit. 

“Best day ever”

“Baby, princess, anyone home?” Alessia asks as she taps your temple gently with her pointer finger.

“Sorry, thanks my love” You give her a soft kiss as she sits next to you and pulls you in between her legs. 

“What were you thinking about?”

“The world cup final” Alessia smiles at that memory, one of her favourites.

Three and a half weeks later at 2:30 in the morning, you went into labour. You immediately started to freak out but Alessia calmed you down with some breathing exercises and words of encouragement. A short 14 hours later, your baby girl came out screaming her little lungs away. Alessia cuts the cord and the nurses asks her if she wants to hold her. Alessia whispers that she wants you to hold her first. The nurse takes her over to you and you move the gown for skin to skin contact. 

You hold your little girl and you fall in love immediately. Alessia falls in love with you all over again and shares that love to your little girl you are yet to name. You move over and gesture Alessia to sit next to you. She puts her arm behind you and runs her finger ever so gently down your princess’ small cheek.

“Hi my little Aria. I love you so much and so does your Mama. You have so many aunties that love you and two crazy but sweet uncles that can’t wait to play with you” You look at Alessia and she’s crying at the sound of her name.   

“Aria Mia Russo, meet your mama” 

You place Aria in Alessia’s arms and you lean on her upper arm. For what feels like hours, you are just staring at your bundle of joy. You give Aria a quick feed before Alessia puts her in the cot and cuddles up to you. 

“What do you think of her name?” You say tiredly.

“I think it’s beautiful, just like her mummy”

You give Alessia a kiss before the both of you get a quick nap in before the family comes to visit Aria.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

liked by alessia, ellatoone, leahwilliamson, stephcatley and 56,396 others...

ynyln: Aria Mia Russo you are our whole world 🥺❤️

view all 10,430 comments:

alessia: i love you both so much ❤️ ynyln: we love you too!

ellatoone: no way my best friends are mums 😭 alessia: you've literally know about this for 9 and a half months ...

alexiaputellas: La tía Ale necesita venir a visitarnos pronto. (Aunt Ale needs to come visit soon) ynyln: si, Aria necesita conocer a su tía española favorita 😉 (yes, Aria needs to meet her favourite Spanish aunt) albapts: hey!! 🥺😕🥲

[sethsclearwater]

You are absolutely correct. It started as a joke when Quil and his imprint were making fun of the other pack couples for being cheesy but then it stuck and now she won’t answer to anything else. You cannot convince me otherwise

IT SO DID OMFG😭

...

"princess," paul's voice called as he tried to convince rachel to get off her very comfortable spot on the couch and come over to the kitchen to help him find the spatula he supposedly lost.

you muffled your laughter in quil's chest, both of you barely containing yourselves as you both were reminded of all of the pack boys' very odd pet names for their imprints.

"not a chance lahote!" rachel called back into the kitchen, shifting a bit under the blanket she currently had thrown over her lap as if to exaggerate her point as she got more comfortable

as if on queue, embry call stepped into the living room, his gaze immediately falling on his imprintee sitting next to rachel on the couch, "pretty thing," he started, smiling at her as you and quil both immediately lost it.

both of your laughter caught the attention of the other imprint pairs currently in emily's house, everyone watching the two of you with confused, but happy smiles on their faces as they tried to figure out what exactly you two found so funny.

quil's grip around your waist tightened, holding you closer to him as you two wheezed, "not princess-" he started, both of you immediately bursting into laughter again at the reminder of paul's ridiculous pet name for poor rachel.

"you know," you started, sucking in a few deep breaths with quil as the two of you tried to compose yourselves, "you're my pretty boy you know that?" you asked, barely finishing your question as your voice caught when you burst into laughter again.

quil had pulled you into his lap at this point, holding you close to him as laughter echoed through his chest, both of you completely unable to control your hysterics over the pack's pet names.

"my lovebug," quil mumbled against your hair just as your breathing slowed down enough to catch your breath. sure enough, it sent you both reeling again as you thought about how dumb that newfound nickname was.

quil's grip tightened around you, rocking you close to his chest, "my little lovebug," he teased, his laughter muffled against your hair as you two continued to stay lost in your own world.

"'m your lovebug," you reassured, a slew of giggles falling from your lips as quil momentarily tightened his grip on you in a silent way of showing you he approved of your response.

[brighter-by-the-daly]

Rachel’s insta posts as your gf:

houstondash liked this and 92,103 others

racheldaly3 I’ll follow you anywhere ✌️

yourinstahandle you’d get lost otherwise 🙃

ellsbells89 liked this and 106,410 others

racheldaly3 home is where you are 😘

mbrighty04 cuties! 🥰

lionesses liked this and 65,492 others

racheldaly3 it feels good to be back 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

mbrighty04 my bestie is home!! 🤗

louise_daly1 my baby is back 🥰

yourinstahandle liked this and 98,171 others

racheldaly3 chillin’ 🤙

mbrighty04 we can’t wait to join you both tomorrow ☺️

lucystan37 liked this and 76,235 others

racheldaly3 💦

rueshalj thirst trap

keirawalsh liked this and 75,431 others

racheldaly3 always looking at you bbg 👀

keirawalsh me too 😂

maz_pacheco liked this and 84,878 others

racheldaly3 away days with my princess 👸🏼

dalikenza too good for the bus with us! 🙄

lucybronze liked this and 89,432 others

racheldaly3 you’re my sunflower 🌻

jordannobbs this was such a cute day 🌞

yourinstahandle liked this and 51,821 others

racheldaly3 the world is ours 🌍

yourinstahandle planning our next trip ✈️

mbrighty04 liked this and 63,904 others

racheldaly3 🤭

yourinstahandle babe, why did you post this!! 😬

mbrighty04 🔥🔥🔥

rueshalj this should come with a warning! 🫣

bethmead_ I will never look at (y/n) the same again! 😳

[jungle-angel]

Singing and rocking their baby to sleep in the middle of the night with jake. please and thank you!!🤍💐

Rachel......my dearest darling Rachel.......you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married.....and ask this of me??? (lol). You've made me an offer I can't refuse.....consider this a new addition to your Mob Boss Jake universe.

You lay dead asleep in your bed, completely oblivious to the moonlight that spilled into your bedroom, brighter than the Las Vegas strip. You didn't even notice that your husband's side of the bed was empty, the covers turned down as if in a hurry for something.

You shook away the heavy grog from your head, throwing your silk robe on and plodding down the hall to find the nursery light on. You poked your head in the door, not wanting to disturb the sight that lay before your very eyes.

There was Jake, sitting in the rocker, shirtless and with his tiny little princess, Valentina, in his arms, just three days old, having been born at home and completely brand new to this unfamiliar world around her. She had looked so peaceful, sleeping the day away in her crib and shaded by the spider thin, rose pink canopy that covered her crib. Now in the dim light of the nursery, she looked more peaceful than ever, rested in the curve of Jake's arm and his voice having gone quieter than usual as he sang to her.

"Good journey, love, time to go I checked your teeth and warmed your toes In the horizon I see them coming for you

The mermaid grace, the forever call Beauty in spyglass on an old man's porch The mermaids you turned loose brought back your tears

At the end of the river the sundown beams All the relics of a life long lived Here, weary traveller rest your wand Sleep the journey from your eyes"

As soon as he was sure she was asleep, Jake very gently placed Val back in her crib and covered her with the pink and white crocheted blanket his mother had made for her.

"Hey," you said, smiling sleepily as you wrapped your arms around his waist.

"And what are you doing up my queen?" he chuckled.

"Didn't think big, tough mob boss Jake Seresin had such a beautiful singing voice," you purred.

"Oh you heard that?" he said with a smile.

You pressed a kiss to his shoulder, the two of you gazing at the precious little form snuggled deeply in her crib and barely stirring. "Well if it put her to sleep it must be good."

Jake kissed your lips. "I'll gladly take that as a complement Mrs. Seresin," he purred.

The two of you quietly shut the light off and left Val to sleep for another two to three hours, climbing back into bed with each other and letting that blissful spell take hold of the both of you.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

lilia and madame red

OKAY, BUT LIKE.

Does anyone else get vague Madame Red backstory vibes from Lilia in book 7??? 😭 PLEASE SAY IT ISN’T JUST ME, I SWEAR THERE’S PARALLELS HERE

Madame Red (real name: Angelina, which is what I’ll call her going forward in this post) was best friends with her sister, Rachel. Angelina considered Rachel the “sister [she] loved she most”.

Let’s think of this friendship like Lilia and Mallenoa, his princess and Malleus’s mother. He would complain about her callousness and her selfishness, but it’s clear from the way he jokes about her personality that he knows her well and considers her a good friend in spite of the trouble she causes him.

Later on, Angelina and Rachel meet Earl Vincent Phantomhive, and they both fall in love with him. Ultimately though, Rachel is the one that marries him. Angelina was heartbroken and conflicted about the matter, describing it as “the sister I loved the most was going the marry the man I loved the most”. They even have a child together. She was happy for their happiness, but was also always longing for something she could never have.

Now, while we don’t know for sure what the timeline is between Lilia meeting Mallenoa and Lilia meeting Levan/Revan, it’s clear that they all knew one another at some point. Lilia at least knew them both since childhood (which must be hundreds of years). Then his two best friends marry and produce an egg. The conflicted feelings that Angelina experienced only really have a direct parallel if you headcanon that Lilia was in love with either Mallenoa or Revan, but we don’t necessarily need romantic feelings here for the parallel to work. It could be that Lilia feels a little lonely because his friends have less time for him since they have each other and important duties to tend to (plus, let’s remember they also dump some of their tasks onto Lilia). However, I will concede that this point in the timeline is the least mirrored with the story of Angelina; we don’t actually know a lot about Lilia’s feelings concerning his friends’ romance and how that impacted their relationship with Lilia.

Then (I’m skipping over a lot of things that happened in Madame Red’s backstory to get to the relevant parts) her beloved sister and brother-in-law perish in a fiery blaze, and she’s powerless to stop it. All that’s salvaged from the burning building is “the child of the sister she loved most and the man she loved most”.

A similar tragedy could have befallen Lilia and Malleus’s parents, given the current direction of book 7. Levan/Revan goes missing, and Mallenoa is all but guaranteed dead at the hands of the invading human forces led by the Dawn Knight. Where does that leave Lilia once his two best friends are gone? He’s been left behind and forced to pick up the pieces of what little remains of a country ravaged for its resources, burdened with an unborn child to look after in their stead.

I would say the main difference between Angelina and Lilia is how they coped with the aftermath of the horrific events in their life. Angelina becomes angry at the world and envious of those that take what she cannot have for herself for granted. Those feelings manifest in violent murders. Meanwhile, Lilia, the man who has been fighting and killing all this time, becomes wise and accepting of humans, wishing for a time and place where all races can join hands and the children of tomorrow can live in harmony 😭

“It’s the world Mallenoa and Levan would have wanted for their son. The world I would want for my own son. A world of peace, not war.”

[torpublishinggroup]

Do you hear that??

It’s the sweet, sweet sound of gifts and the necessity of buying them for all of the humans, animals, and unidentified entities in your life. That’s a lot of pressure, but don’t sweat, because we’ve got your back, and more importantly, we’ve got a ton of increasingly niche book recommendations to get you through the holiday season! Check them out here and let us know which ones you’re grabbing in the comments. 

by Rachel Taylor and a cat

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree is for the treasured party member who’s saved your character’s life many times on TTRPG night

We all have That One Amazing Player who has pulled our butts out of the fictional fire on D&D night, and what better way to show your endless appreciation than with the gift of LITERATURE?! High fantasy, secondhand books, and first love–what more could you ask for?

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake is for the angsty goth who still wishes it was Halloween

So they’re in denial that it’s not Halloween anymore, but guess what?! In the unbroken face of eternity, time has no meaning! Every day is Halloween!

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune is for the plucky traveler who’s got the whole world to see

There are many ways to see new and exciting worlds, and TJ Klune always provides queer and cozy adventures that you only need to pick up a book to explore. Consider picking up his latest venture for that friend who’s been bit by the travel bug!

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Ebony Gate by Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle is for the action movie fanatic who owns a cardboard cutout of John Wick

Assassins, dragon magic, and Chinese diaspora urban fantasy set in contemporary San Francisco.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Book of Night by Holly Black is for the insatiable reader who has way more books to read than hands to hold them

And if you order and submit your receipt before 12/15, you can receive a Book of Night tote bag! Even Charlie Hall needs a safe sling to carry her contraband. Who’s Charlie Hall? A professional thief / bartender who pilfers shadow magic secrets! Read the book!

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

T. L. Huchu’s Edinburgh Nights series is for the Supernatural fan who’s looking to expand their fandom across the pond

Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker, but she’s not just carrying messages anymore. You talk to one ghost and suddenly you’re spending late nights in the occult library, solving murders, and following trails of huskified children to their sinister spectral source.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz is for the science-enjoyer in your life who’s looking for environmentally-conscious fiction

This sweeping, uplifting, and illuminating exploration of the future from a science fiction visionary is the perfect gift to give your non-fiction loving, environmentally aware bestie who wants to dip their toe into a more fictional space.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson is for fans looking for The Princess Bride vibes but just haven’t quite found them yet

Do you have a Princess Bride superfan in your life? They don’t need another fandom-y Etsy gift this year–they need a book that gives them the same emotional rush they got the first time they laid eyes on the fairytale-inspired glory that is their favorite 1987 classic.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Everfair by Nisi Shawl is for the history buff in your life who can’t stop thinking about other paths the world might have taken

After being purchased back from the Congo Free State’s colonizer, Everfair becomes a land of fantastic technologies—of spying cats and gulls, nuclear dirigibles buoyed by barkcloth balloons, and silent pistols that shoot poison knives. What happens when these technological advances are brought to bear against Belgian tyrant Leopold II?

That’s Everfair, and then you can read Kinning (on sale 1/23/24) for the continuation of this expansive alternate history.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

The Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab is for people looking to put a different kind of magic into their holidays

Let’s put the magic into the holidays, shall we? V. E. Schwab returns to The Shades of Magic universe with a whole new series, perfect for readers who loved the original and new fans who want to explore magical alternate universes from in front of a cozy fireplace.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Shelley Parker-Chan’s Radiant Emperor Duology is for the unhinged danmei consumer who’s looking for their next great read

Do you have someone in your life that consumes danmei like candy? Are they tired of waiting for their new favorite series to be translated so they can add it to their shelves? Do we have the series for you. She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World explore a stunning reinvention of the Ming Dynasty’s founding emperor. It’s queer, it’s fantastical, and it’s complete! Snag both books in the duology for them now.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher is for the friend with an ill-advised yet much-beloved Shrek 2 tattoo

“Better out than in” on the inside of the wrist, Thornhedge open in hand.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow is for anyone who has never been disappointed by the combo of Mike Flanagan and a Scary House

Home is where the heart is, and really puts you in a vulnerable position when your house HATES you.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

Starter Villain by John Scalzi is for Megamind

If you’re not Megamind, keep scrolling. Just kidding—this book is also for cat lovers and fans of Despicable Me and The Venture Brothers.

━━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━━━━━━━

The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan is for people who loved Season 2 of The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime

If you have someone in your life that got sucked into the masterpiece that was The Wheel of Time Season 2, don’t worry, you can help them relive the fun with The Great Hunt, the inspiration for the show and the second book in The Wheel of Time series!

[fandomtrumpshate]

Unlisted Fandom Challenge

Two days ago, at our last Unlisted Fandom Challenge update, we had a 3-way tie for first. Today? One of those fandoms has taken the lead AND a new fandom that hadn't had even a single signup before has jumped all the way into a 4-way tie for second. Your fandom could do the same, in the hours still left before signups close!

At present, our leaderboard looks like this:

7 Danny Phantom

5 Carmen Sandiego (2019) 5 For All Mankind 5 Tortall 5 Yu Yu Hakusho

4 Ace Attorney 4 Alan Wake/Remedyverse 4 Formula 1 RPF 4 Ted Lasso 4 The Goblin Emperor Series - Katherine Addison 4 The Stanley Parable

3 Greek Mythology/Religion 3 Buffyverse 3 Bungo Stray Dogs 3 Call of Duty 3 Detective Conan 3 Dragon Ball 3 HBO War 3 Kingdom Hearts 3 Persona Series: 3-5 3 Professional Wrestling 3 Realm of the Elderlings - Robin Hobb 3 Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab 3 The Mummy films 1999-2008 3 Undertale

Given the way Carmen Sandiego came from *nowhere* to tie for 2nd place, a single signup really can shake things up! And for the next few hours, signups are STILL OPEN! Do the thing!

The rest of our unlisted write-in fandoms under the cut for length -

2 Ghosts (TV) 2 Black Sails 2 Cosmere 2 CSI 2 Cyberpunk 2077 2 Dead Friend Forever 2 Death Stranding 2 Dice Punks (podcast) 2 Dimension 20 2 Donten ni Warau / Laughing Under the Clouds 2 Dracula 2 Dune 2 Firefly 2 Glee 2 Guardian/Zhen Hun 2 Hermitcraft/The Life Series SMP 2 Imperial Radch Series 2 Inception 2 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2 Mob Psycho 100 2 Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury 2 Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint 2 Ordem Paranormal Quarentena 2 QSMP / Quackity SMP 2 Riverdale 2 Saw 2 Slow Horses (TV Show) 2 South Park 2 Stormlight Archive 2 The Bear (TV) 2 The Empyrean - Rebecca Yarros 2 The Folk of the Air (Holly Black) 2 The Radiant Emperor Series 2 Venture Bros 2 Voltron 2 Wolf Pack 1 1670 1 A Court of Fey & Flowers 1 a league of their own (TV series) 1 A Plague Tale (Videogame Series) 1 American Gods 1 Among Us 1 Bandom RPF (Bad Omens) 1 Bandom RPF (Lorna Shore) 1 Bandom RPF (Motionless In White) 1 Beastars 1 Bendy (and The Ink Machine/Dark Revival) 1 Horror 1 Bioshock 1&2 1 Blue Beetle 1 Blue Eye Samurai 1 Books of the Raksura 1 Boondock Saints 1 Breakfast With Scot 1 Bunny - Mona Awad 1 Buzzfeed Unsolved/Watcher Entertainment RPF 1 Cabin Pressure 1 Cats the musical 1 Charlie's Angels (2019) 1 Cherry Magic 1 Chronicles of Narnia 1 Cobra Kai 1 Coffee Talk (Video Game) 1 Criminal Minds 1 Death Note 1 Devil May Cry 1 Dexter 1 Digimon 1 Discworld - Terry Pratchett 1 Disney Theatrical Animated Universe 1 Divergent 1 DMBJ (Grave Robber's Chronicles) - Xu Lei 1 Dream SMP 1 Dungeons and Daddies (podcast) 1 Endeavour/Morseverse/Inspector Morse (ITV/Dexter) 1 Ensemble Stars!! 1 Fallout Video Game (Bethesda) 1 Falsettos 1 Fargo FX 1 Farscape 1 Fire Emblem (4-10, 13, 14, 16) 1 Five Nights at Freddy's 1 Friends at the Table 1 Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid 1 Grantchester 1 Green Creek 1 Grey's Anatomy 1 Grimm 1 Gundam (see below for details) 1 Hatchetfield 1 Hawaii 5.0 1 Hello From The Hallowoods 1 High School Musical 1 Higurashi no Naku Koro ni 1 Hollow Knight 1 Honkai Star Rail 1 Horizon Zero Dawn 1 Infinity Train 1 IT (Movies - Muschietti) 1 Jeff Satur - music videos 1 Julie and the Phantoms 1 Kushiel's Legacy 1 Law and Order 1 Legend of the Galactic Heroes 1 Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4) 1 London Spy 1 Lovecraft Mythos 1 Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic 1 Magnificent Seven 1 Mary Grant Bruce's Billabong series 1 Mrs. Davis 1 My Little Pony 1 Nancy Drew (CW Series) 1 Narcos (TV) 1 Nine Worlds Series - Victoria Goddard 1 NU: Carnival 1 Omori 1 One Direction 1 Orphan Black 1 Outlast 1 Paranatural 1 Phantomarine 1 Re-Animator 1 Resident Evil/Biohazard 1 Sex Education (TV) 1 She-Ra and the Princesses of Power 1 Simon Snow Series 1 Skins (UK) 1 Slam Dunk 1 Starry Musical 1 Succession 1 Sunless Sea 1 Super Sentai 1 Sweeney Todd 1 Team Starkid 1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 The Adventure Zone: Balance 1 The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension 1 The Adventures of Tintin 1 The Artful Dodger 1 The Good Place 1 The Greenhollow Series - Emily Tesh 1 The Hollows - Kim Harrison 1 The Last Kingdom 1 The Left-Handed Booksellers of London - Garth Nix 1 The Lunar Chronicles 1 The Mechanisms 1 The Pairing (Casey McQuiston) 1 The Saint of Steel 1 The Shadow Campaigns - Django Wexler 1 The Terror (TV 2018) 1 Three of Hearts 1 Tin Can Bros 1 Tower of God 1 True Detective 1 Twilight 1 Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold 1 Wayfarers (Becky Chambers) 1 Weak Hero Class 1 1 Westworld (TV) 1 Yellowjackets 1 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Timeline: Part 5 - August 2017

Previously:

2015 - April 2017 | An Update

May 2017 - June 2017

July 2017

This piece features events, press, and PR from the summer of 2017. You will see competing narratives - the Daily Mail leaking Meghan's dossier drip by drip by drip and Meghan's team counterattacking with engagement rumors.

There are two main stories in the royal sphere during this time that we know Meghan is paying attention to, as these most definitely shape her understanding of what it means to be royal: royals taking glamorous summer vacations and daily coverage of Diana's life, the impact of her death, and her lasting legacy to the world.

Fasten your seatbelts!

(Note - this was initially meant to be in the same post as the July 2017 events but Tumblr was having problems saving the post.)

August 2017: Throughout the month, there are frequent articles about the various royal families having glamorous vacations in luxurious tropical resorts. Here is a selection of them:

Charles and Camilla vacationing in Greece on a superyacht.

Felipe and Letizia vacationing in Mallorca.

Prince and Princess Michael of Kent vacationing in St. Tropez.

Mary and Frederik vacationing in Greece on a private yacht.

Princes Caroline of Monaco vacationing with Karl Lagerfield in St. Tropez.

August 2017: Throughout the month, there are tons of articles about Diana as it is the twentieth anniversary of her death. Here's a selection of them. (Most of the ones I've chosen to list here are ones that Meghan most likely paid attention to.)

Diana speaks from the grave to say she loves Kate but doesn't think Meghan is right for Harry. (August 2)

Diana was into alternative medicine and was worried about the royal family taking her children. (August 4; in hindsight, it reads like a Meghan plant.)

Mohamed Fayed still mourns Dodi and Diana, still believes the BRF ordered their deaths to keep Diana from marrying a Muslim. (August 4)

How Diana worked with the paparazzi and knew how to take a good picture. (August 6)

Diana's jewelry collection (August 6)

Diana's Kensington Palace apartment (August 7)

Diana's iconic hairstyles (August 13)

How Diana's shoes charted her happiness in marriage (August 14)

Media preview/announcement of the new Diana documentary, which has footage from/about William and Harry. Their footage in the documentary includes them discussing Philip's "If you walk, I'll walk" promise.

Diana's parenting practices (August 19)

The Queen cried for Diana (August 25)

August 2, 2017: E News (a confirmed Meghan mouthpiece) publishes a timeline of the Harkle relationship, hinting something big is coming for her birthday.

August 3, 2017: Daily Mail begins recapping Suits; in today's episode, Rachel Zane has trouble planning her wedding and her father tells her "Whatever Rachel wants, Rachel gets."

August 4, 2017: Meghan's 36th birthday and she gets the full-court press coverage of her dreams:

Meghan tells E News that she and Doria have been visiting London. They stayed for a week at the end of July when she had a break from filming Suits.

Meghan hints to People that they're engaged, and People speculates about the royal engagement ring.

A timeline is published of how Meghan's celebrity evolved to the sophisticated fashionist she is now.

Harry whisks Meghan away to Africa. She calls the paps, who takes photos of Harry and Meghan being escorted by airport security as they walk on the runway. In the photos, Meghan is carrying two hats and a large paper-wrapped gift. She hints to friendly publications that the wrapped gift is her birthday present from Harry. Speculation begins that Meghan, who is almost always papped carrying a hat or wearing one, uses the hats to signal to the paps where she is (it's a common tactic in Hollywood).

August 5, 2017: Daily Mail publishes a story about all the girls Harry has taken to Africa.

August 6, 2017: It's revealed Harry attended a three-day Google "summer camp" in Italy earlier in the summer. (I couldn't find specific dates for Google Camp, but I found several other articles that suggested Google Camp was the week of July 30, 2017. Also, Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King were at the very same Google Camp that Harry attended...)

Also on August 6, 2017, Penny Junor waxes poetic on how much Harry hs changed since dating Meghan and everything the couple has in common. including how much 'at home' they are in Africa where their celebrity doesn't matter.

August 7, 2017: Dan Wooten advises Meghan to learn from Diana's mistake and not confirm to the firm; she should be unapologetically herself. Meghan gets the cover of Hello Magazine and the Harkles merch their houseboat safari to the Mirror.

August 8, 2017: Laine has the scoop on Harry and Meghan's African holiday and she "speculates" on the timing of their engagement and when they would announce it. Paul Burrell, Diana's infamous ex-butler, says Kate doesn't have Diana's magic star quality and immediately the mainstream British press rises to Kate's defense.

August 11, 2017:

The British public wants William to be King next, not Charles.

The Daily Mail publishes another expose of Meghan and includes the revelation that Trevor thinks she cheated on him in Toronto. This leads to more rumors that Meghan isn't a good fit to the royal family and that she's hiding many more skeletons.

August 12, 2017: Gossip gets printed that Meghan doesn't want to marry Harry and she is only using him to boost her career prospects.

August 13, 2017:

It's confirmed that the ratings for Suits have increased enormously since the Harkle relationship was revealed.

Later, Hollywood industry gossip hints that Suits was "on the bubble" (i.e., in danger of being cancelled) due to poor ratings but the new blockbuster ratings following the Harkle relationship reveal stayed their execution.

The Daily Mail calls Meghan a "princess in waiting," all but confirming an engagement, and continues to drip more information about Meghan in another expose, this one about her relationship with Cory.

Harry gets a 'Hero Harry' PR piece published about his work in mental health.

Meghan leaks to the Daily Star that Harry proposed and she has accepted.

Also on August 13, 2017, Mike Tindall gives an interview in which he speaks about Meghan. He gives her the stamp of approval and says they (he and Zara, but probably all of the Phillipses, including Anne) haven't met her yet. The Daily Mail's story about Mike's comments also includes the first reporting that Harry treated Meghan to a weekend stay at a friend's house in the Hollywood Hills at some point in Fall 2016 (we know now this to be the Beckhams' house, but there some split of opinion on when this visit took place - some say Thanksgiving, some say Christmas, others say it wasn't tied to a holiday). The article also shares some details about the relationship that are inconsistent with their narrative as we know now (and knew back then).

Harry and Meghan had a date at Wimbledon and sat together in the royal box. (Didn't happen, becuase it would've been all over the papers if it did.)

Harry and Meghan spent all of July 2016 and August 2016 apart because Harry was in Africa. Meghan flew to London in September 2016 because she missed him too much. (This debunks the Harkles's own claim that they met in July and that Meghan went to Africa with Harry in August.)

August 14, 2017: The Daily Mail discusses Meghan's ancestry and geneaology; her father's family is Irish and Dutch, her mother is descended from American slaves.

Also on August 14th, the Daily Mail publishes an article about whether it's appropriate to ask someone if they're pregnant. It has nothing to do with Meghan, but it does cause some speculation that the press knows something they're not telling (i.e., Meghan's so insistent pushing Harry to the altar because of a bun in the oven). It's probably a coincidence, but I'll let you decide.

August 15, 2017: The mother of a childhood friend of Meghan revealed that Meghan was obsessed with her video recording of Charles and Diana's 1981 wedding and that Meghan was inspired by Diana's humanitarian work. Serena Williams does an interview and photoshoot with Vogue Magazine, and Meghan is asked for quotes about Serena to use in the story.

Also on August 15, Meghan publishes the "10 Women Who Changed My Life" essay for Glamour Magazine. #7 on her list is the actress Julia Roberts. Later in 2023, it's speculated that Meghan uses Julia Roberts for style inspiration when she wants to appear relatable or is doing an "America's Sweetheart" PR campaign because many of her outfits are copies of Julia Roberts' costumes.

August 16, 2017: British oddsmakers have opened bets for Harry and Meghan getting engaged and when the wedding would take place. The article says Meghan hasn't yet met The Queen.

August 17, 2017: The Daily Mail continues to recap Suits. In today's episode, Rachel Zane rows with Mike Ross over his lies.

August 18, 2017: It's confirmed that William and Harry have cameos as stormtroopers in the new Star Wars film.

August 20, 2017: The royal family is papped at Balmoral going to church. Plant does a three-part feature on how Meghan's PR has completely torpedoed Harry's "Hero Harry" PR and turned him into a rich celebrity.

August 21, 2017: Harry leaks to Camilla Tominey that he picks Meghan up from the airport all the time because he's worried about her security and privacy. The Daily Mail writes that Kate's jewelry collection is a tribute to Diana.

Also on August 21st, a royal blogger writes about Meghan's faith and religious history following conversations she had with Samantha Markle. She concludes that Meghan has never been a faithful person (the Markles aren't a religious sort) and that Meghan has never been baptized or confirmed into any faith, not even Judaism as Meghan claimed she was when she was married to Trevor. Her research indicates that Meghan needs to be baptized and confirmed into the Church of England per royal protocol to marry Harry. This causes discussion in the royal fandom about whether The Queen could withhold consent unless Meghan is baptized and confirmed.

August 24, 2017: Meghan hints to Harper's Bazaar that she and Harry are engaged.

August 25, 2017: Meghan leaks that the African holiday is over and that the trip ended at Victoria Falls.

August 28, 2017: Well-wishers begin leaving flowers outside the Kensington Palace gates for the anniversary of Diana's death. William and Harry later view the tributes (on August 30th).

August 29, 2017: The Cambridges have officially moved back to London and Kensington Palace. William and Kate to be full-time royals as George goes off to school. The Express continues hyping up an engagement.

August 30, 2017

The 100th episode of Suits airs. According to the Daily Mail recaps, Rachel Zane and Mike row again. (They're not a very happy couple, are they?)

The royal family uses the Balmoral Test against prospective new family members. Wallis Simpson bombed it.

William, Kate, and Harry visit the new Diana memorial garden at Kensington Palace. It's Harry's first Court Circular appearance since July 28, 2017, and Kate's last appearance before her third pregnancy is announced.

***********

A couple of things about Botswana in response to some of the royal-watching commentary that I rediscovered on the Botswana airport pap pics:

There was a great deal of special treatment by the airport because they were escorted by airport workers across the tarmac. This is standard practice in most of the smaller African airports. I went to Africa for vacation in June this past year and traveled between several countries. All of the airports we went through (in Johannesburg, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe), we had to walk on the tarmac to embark and disembark and each time, we were escorted by airport workers for security reasons. The only thing "unique" about Harry and Meghan's security escort was that it was just the two of them on their flight, rather than the 30/40/50-person larger group most of us fly in. (In fact, the only airport where we didn't have to exit the facilities was Johannesburg when we arrived from the US and were departing back to the US.)

There was a lot of "they can't possibly be in Africa now because they're wearing summer clothes and it's winter!" commentary because in the pap pics, Meghan and Harry are in summery casual clothing - shorts, flip-flops, tank top/t-shirt. Botswana doesn't get winter the way we do; their winter feels more like our spring, with temperatures in the 50s/60s. Someone who was used to harsh Canadian winters, like Meghan was at the time, would have thought a Botswanan winter was absolutely balmy and would have been perfectly comfortable in a tank top and flip-flops.

[rayssion]

Guys, guys!!

Imagine like 4000 years later where human civilization developed or retreated I don't care it's not necessary.

Imagine if all sources of greek mythology vanished or died with the years, and as much as we depend on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey now people on the future find PERCY JACKSON and the other Rick Riordan serieses as the only source of mythological knowledge!!

They'd read the books and imagine that those are the gods we believe in now and they'd think that Percy and the other demigods are real,

And couple of millennia later, Rick Riordan's books were destroyed or lost so people only told the stories verbally for centuries,

And as stories go they got deformed!! Imagine people after so so many years thinking Percy and the other demigods are like super super heroes whom are like much stronger than your local demigods yet still below gods, and then further deformation happens!!

And people start to think that the demigods are the gods!!

Now please, imagine.... imagine!

Percy, god of the sea, water, storms, hurricanes, earthquakes and horses. (I can see him becoming the new king of the gods btw)

Jason, god of the sky, lightning and thunder, law and order.

Nico, god of death, shadows, ghosts and spirits. King of the underworld.

Annabeth, goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and warfare.

Piper, goddess of love, pleasure, passion, procreation, fertility, beauty and desire.

Frank, god of war, violence, bloodshed and manly virtues.

Leo, god of fire, master blacksmith and craftsman of the gods; god of the forge, craftsmanship, invention and volcanoes.

Will, god of the sun, of light, prophecy, philosophy, archery, truth, inspiration, poetry, music, arts, manly beauty, medicine, healing, and plague.

Thalia, goddess of the hunt. the wilderness, virginity, the Moon, archery, childbirth, protection and plague.

And I'd like to add!!

Dakota, god of wine, the grapevine, fertility, festivity, ecstasy, madness and resurrection

Rachel, goddess of family and marriage, women and childbirth.

Hazel, goddess of earth and riches. Princess of the underworld and younger sister of Nico, King of the underworld.

Conner, god of traps, diplomacy, thieves, games and the guide of dead souls.

Travis, messenger of the gods; god of travel, commerce, communication, borders and eloquence.

Meg, Goddess of the harvest, fertility, agriculture, nature and the seasons.

Reyna, Goddess of the hearth, fire and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family, and also goddess of war.

Yes, they have 16 gods!!

I don't know what to name them but it has to be a cool name, like we got the Titans and the Olympians so it has to be cool.

Also imagine if like the Olympian gods we have now being translated to future generations as the bad guys (like how we have Kronos and Gaea now) and like the demigods gods (cuz I still don't know what to name them) are the forces of good that protect humanity, because they need humans to worship them of them to exist obviously.

So this generation of demigods gods are like nice gods for once!! They care for their children and the people under their wings!!

Best things as follows:

Percy, the god of the sea, is married to Annabeth, goddess of wisdom and war strategy.

Nico, god of death and the underworld, is married to Will, god of the sun and music.

Jason, god of the sky, is married to Leo, god of fire and crafts.

Frank, god of war, is married to Hazel, goddess of earth and riches.

Reyna, goddess of the hearth and war, is married to Thalia, goddess of the hunt.

Conner and Travis are the new twins and Rachel, goddess of family and marriage, is a sworn maiden because she wills her powers to maintain other relationships either between gods or between mortals.

Dakota on the other hand, doesn't like to be restrained as much as a mad person could go.

In this world there's nothing called being a maiden so as to be a hunter, bullshit I'm telling you, goddess Thalia herself is married.

Piper, the goddess of love and beauty knows best than to fall in love. Meg is one of the young gods, still closed in her bulb.

Also pffft, Thanatos who? I'm sure Nico can manage it all.

Another generation of demigods arise within no god is whoring around, the gods observe mortals and seek potential within them and when a god catches a mortal child leveling up to their preferences they claim them as a sort of blessing and take them under their wings.

The camps theme is surly still there, merged into one camp because one for some reason humans are less, and two because there's nothing called greek and roman gods anymore, only one version.

Demigods still go on quests, and as we know gods can't directly help them but they always make sure not to use mortals unless it's necessaity, and they try to help as much as they can.

I'd really love to live in a world like that! This post started off as a little imagine then quickly turned into world building, lol.

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

is there any fics w kurt being a prince and blaine a knight/soldier?

Here are some previously recommended. (which I haven't read yet!) ~ Jen

Say You’ll Be My Nightingale by @poorlittleklainer

Prince Kurt has been engaged to Princess Rachel since the two of them were born. However, what should he do when he finds himself falling for the Princess’s beautiful knight?

~~~~~

Knight Errant by @alilactree

Blaine is a knight who meets a young prince Kurt and is later assigned as his personal guard.

~~~~~

Noble’s Journey by thentheyhadsex [pdf and epub]

The night after Kurt, Crown Prince of Turano, finds out he’s to be married to seal a treaty, he feels that his life is over. He always thought he would marry for love, not to make peace with their eastern neighbors. But his plan to escape takes a turn for the worse, and in the woods he finds something he was never expecting.

~~~~~

The prince and the knight by ca_te

Blaine hadn’t become a knight by choice. Then one day, when he was almost fourteen and about to become officially a squire, he met Kurt and the whole world tipped sideways.

~~~~~

Your Majesty by Healthy Obsession

An AU in which Kurt is a prince, Blaine is a knight, Karofsky is an evil Lord and it all goes from there, romance, drama and maybe even a few fights along the way.

[torchwood-99]

So I first heard Rachel Zegler's comments about Snow White and thought, good, they're doing something different with the story. No point in their being a remake if they don't. And her growing into a leader? Makes sense. She's a princess, heir to the throne, she's been usurped by a tyrant, there's a whole untapped mine of drama there. And of course, she can be all this and still fall in love and be ladylike and elegant, where does it say she won't?

But you know what? Why the fuck should she? All these people throwing a tantrum that "women aren't allowed to be feminine and strong anymore" and I have to laugh because what, did they think that 2015 Cinderella wasn't "feminine"? Or Belle or Ariel? That they weren't elegant and gracious and beautiful and very much fitting in with gender norms? They had some grit, they had dreams outside marriage and love as well as beyond, but they were far from GNC.

So to eff with it. Snow White has been a servant for a good chunk of her life, she's been mistreated and she hasn't been taken etiquette lessons. Let her spit. Let her get dirty. Let her be rough and vulgar and ready to get dirty and rough house for the sake of it. Let her do that because it's fun and it suits her and it's part of who she is, not because she want to be like the "boys" and girls like her just want to be NLOGs, but because that stuff is just what she likes. Let's have a princess who takes what the world tells her is "feminine" and stamp on it.

If people are going to get into a hissy fit about female characters not being allowed to be "feminine" anymore, let's give them something to really piss them off. They'll see how good they have it. Right now, Eloise Bridgerton in her bows and her desire for basic autonomy is pushing the boat too much. Princess Peach in a bright pink jumpsuit is butch. Daenerys Targaryen and Arya Stark have "male privilege" because they are warriors and leaders and don't engage in traditionally high class "feminine" pass times. I think these viewers need to see a female character who is all the things they fear, and realise just how narrow and limited their view of women and "femininity" is.

And it's really telling that all Rachel is saying here is that Snow White is going to be thinking on things other than romance, is going to rely on herself instead of her true love alone, that she's going to be thinking about herself as a leader and a ruler, and fans took that as "Oh why can't Snow White be feminine anymore? Why can't a character be feminine and strong!?!"

No one was talking about Snow White's femininity, just her role as a leader and her gaining some proactivity. That's her strength, there. But the mention of it has you saying that she's not being allowed to be feminine. And you're upset that women can't be "feminine" and can't be "strong" at the same time. But you're worried that in being a leader and being proactive means that Snow White is no longer "feminine".

If that's what you're saying, then the only people saying that women can't be "feminine" and can't be "strong" are in fact, you.

And you know what, a live action princess who is rough and reckless, properly dirty and uninterested in how she looks, who never gets a glow up, isn't a "secretly/wild beauty" type, who gets to get rowdy and not have this held up as her somehow rejecting being a woman, but just a person being true to herself, would be really bloody brilliant. Brilliant for the little girls at home, who get to see there are options for them, brilliant to watch on screen and brilliant to follow on a journey. And you don't want to watch a character like that? You want someone who wears dresses and wants romance and fits in with "feminine ideals". Go ahead. You'll see that you have plenty of options.