#it makes sense that she would be fluent in both German and French

[melikes-reads]

Leo: does anyone speak French?

Esther: a bit

Also Esther: [proceeds to speak French like a native]

[thewindsorway]

Creating a “What if…?” reality where Edward VIII and Grand Duchess Olga were forced into an arranged marriage to strengthen ties between the two countries before the outbreak of war

(based on an offhanded comment I read about Queen Victoria thinking the pair would make a nice arrangement)

Olga Nikolaevna married Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1913 to strengthen the Anglo-Russian alliance on the eve of the First World War. Their marriage was loveless, contentious, and increasingly scandalous.

Edward, then a rakish 19-year-old, was famously opposed to dynastic duties and wary of his restrictive royal role. Olga, barely 18, had little say. Deeply sheltered and still grieving the deaths of several relatives, she was thrust into the engagement to appease her father’s advisors and to fortify monarchist solidarity.

The pair were married in a hastily arranged but glittering ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London in November 1913, attended by much of Europe’s ruling elite — including Kaiser Wilhelm II and Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Court observers noted Edward’s dour expression and Olga’s visible distress throughout.

When World War I erupted in 1914, the marriage became a political lightning rod. Edward, openly sympathetic to Germany owing to his close familial ties with the Hohenzollerns, scandalized the British court by opposing Britain’s declaration of war.

Olga, conversely, was a fervent supporter of the Allied cause and deeply loyal to her homeland. She threw herself into war relief work and was often seen visiting wounded soldiers, earning genuine public admiration. The marriage quickly deteriorated as the couple found themselves on opposite sides of a growing ideological and emotional chasm.

By 1915, Edward had begun an affair with an older British socialite, Lady Venetia Stanley, while Olga immersed herself in hospital work, even allegedly carrying on a discreet relationship with a wounded Russian officer stationed in Britain.

Their only child, Princess Maria Alexandra Victoria Mary of Wales, was born on March 18, 1916 at Windsor Castle.

The birth was overshadowed by tensions between the couple and mounting war losses on both the British and Russian sides. Named in honor of both her Romanov grandmother Alexandra Feodorovna and Queen Victoria, Maria Alexandra became a symbol of royal continuity in a Europe torn by revolution and war.

When Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed in 1918, Olga suffered a mental and emotional collapse, while Edward reportedly showed indifference, focusing on his growing collection of mistresses.

As Edward’s scandalous lifestyle and pro-German sympathies worsened in the 1920s and 30s, Olga devoted herself to raising Maria Alexandra with a strict, old-world sense of duty and monarchic responsibility. The young princess was fluent in Russian, English, French, and German by age 10, and showed early signs of a sharp political mind — a necessity given the increasingly unstable royal household.

When King George V died in 1936, Edward became Edward VIII — and almost immediately plunged the monarchy into crisis with his insistence on keeping his American mistress, Wallis Simpson.

In this timeline, rather than abdicating, Edward forced through a compromise with the government: he remained king, while Wallis was exiled to France. Publicly humiliated and politically marginalized, Olga relocated with Princess Maria Alexandra to Balmoral, shielding her daughter from the worsening scandal.

After a series of pro-German remarks and secret communications with Nazi officials in 1940, Edward was forced by Winston Churchill and Parliament to abdicate in 1941, leading his young daughter, Princess Maria Alexandra, to ascend the throne.

At 25, Queen Maria Alexandra was the youngest woman to assume the British throne since Queen Victoria. Her reign was immediately overshadowed by the scandals of her father and the devastation of World War II.

Winston Churchill remained as Prime Minister and became Maria Alexandra’s mentor and protector, helping to shield her from lingering public resentment toward her father.

During the war, she became a beloved figure for her tireless hospital visits, radio addresses, and passionate speeches denouncing fascism, which earned her respect across Allied nations.

Her reign faced consistent controversy over her Romanov heritage, pro-Russian sympathies, and her father’s treachery. MI5 files released in the 1970s revealed that British intelligence continued monitoring the queen’s personal communications for possible subversive contacts well into the 1960s.

Her mother, Olga Nikolaevna, died in 1971 in Switzerland — estranged from both Edward and much of the British royal court. Her father, Edward VIII, died in 1975, denied a state funeral.

[thefencertf2]

just Kennedy things

ooc / third person 

written like headcanons except she's my oc / basically just me so it's canon

PERSONALITY / MISC 

— Has no sense of direction

— Like literally none you could lose her in an elevator

— An absolute idiot when she gets tired or excited

— Walks spectacularly in heels but absolutely WILL trip while wearing the flattest shoes

— When she's not in uniform, her fashion style is heavily influenced by Audrey Hepburn 

— She can sing, and isn't afraid to show everyone that. She'll sing while she's working, training, showering. Whatever. 

— She is an absolute disaster when it comes to animals and feels the need to love all of them and adopts everything she sees. She baby talks to Acero a lot

— She is apt at languages and linguistics; fluent in Spanish and English and fascinated with learning others such as German, French and Latin if she could. BLU Kennedy learned German and RED learned French. Both also dabbled in Latin.

— Her favourite foods are empanadas and cinnamon buns, her favourite drinks are hot tea and horchata

— She was raised to be an assistant like Pauling and Bidwell but ended up escaping early and then being hired as a Merc. She feels guilt over this.

— Demiro/Ace

HISTORY 

She was a Chicana brown beret, an activist who would regularly attend Latin heritage events. She was not that big on protesting, but as someone who already passed pretty well, she'd occasionally disguise herself, with a blonde wig, and change her accent, so she could more easily communicate with bigger names. She wrote letters and wrote telegrams to people in advocation for education and healthcare rights.

TRAUMA & INJURY  RESPONSE 

— Kennedy seriously lacks a sense of self preservation. She is extremely injury prone as well. While she does have common sense she'll often underestimate the amount of injury an activity could give her, and she rarely cares about said injuries until it gets really bad. This is likely a side effect of the pain resistance training she was put through. She tends to ignore her pain, considering it noncritical until it actually makes her completely unable to complete her duty.

— Has regular dreams where she is caught or tortured, but that is not what makes her afraid. What makes her afraid is the fact that her siblings and loved ones are usually in those, and she is undergoing it to protect them.

(RED VS BLU)  RELATIONSHIPS & FACTS

(reminder that Bidwell & Scout are brothers in my AU)

— Both Kennedy's love interest is Scout, of their respective colours

— Both Kennedys are good friends to Bidwell as well

— Both RED and BLU are ambidextrous, but RED Kennedy prefers her left hand and BLU prefers her right

— Both are best friends with Miss Pauling 

— Both RED and BLU love Scout's parents ( and know who they are ), but RED loves to hang out with his Ma ( I call her Marie ) and BLU likes to hang out with Spy.

— RED's ferret is Acero, BLU's is Florete

[faustianfascination]

Persephone Rowen Grey

"you are a force of nature, dear your breath curls from your lips"

"we could be hanging around here for centuries trying to make sense of this, my dear"

about Persephone:

suitors: Arthur & Faust

scorpio sun, scorpio moon, capricorn rising

Born in November 1995, Persephone was initially still born but was revived out of the womb, this is why her mother named her Persephone, like her older sister Artemesia named after a historical or mythological figure her mother admired. Her father left before she was born, leaving her to be raised by a single mother who wanted her daughters to have more opportunities than she had fostering a deep curiosity and thirst for knowledge in both of her daughters.

The trio were a close and loving family and they grew into intelligent and athletic girls who ended up winning them both scholarships to an elite girls public school where their mother worked as a secretary. Both Persephone and her sister ended up not only excelling academically, but finding passions outside of it with Artemisia becoming a skilled hockey player and Persephone discovering her love for ballet. She spent 2 years after finishing school in a French ballet company and touring Europe before going onto Edinburgh University to study a masters in Art History & English Lit.

Towards the end of her masters, Persephone began being mentored by a visiting respected expert in the Romantic movement; he was fresh out of a divorce, 25 years older  and very attractive, who encouraged  her to apply for a PhD at Cambridge where he was based so he could supervise her research. She was accepted but in the months before it began she, her mother and sister were involved in a car accident where she was the only survivor. When she began the PhD she was deep in mourning but couldn’t face dealing with it so she threw herself into her research and the mutual attraction between her and her supervisor ended up blossoming into a full fledged relationship. It was passionate, but also toxic, eventually leading to her having to abandon her path of being a researcher. After it all fell apart, she moved to London and began making money as an exotic dancer, eventually relocating to Berlin, then Paris where on one fateful day visiting the Louver she followed a certain gentleman through a very special door…

Personality:

Doesn’t suffer fools gladly, with a wit and winged eyeliner sharp enough to kill a man

Her favorite song is Lyre of Orpheus by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Her favorite writer is Angela Carter

Her favorite film is Suspiria (2018)

Scorpio sun, Scorpio moon, Capricorn rising 

Can out drink Arthur but not Faust or Comte

Fluent in French, conversational in German, Dutch and a good grasp of Latin

Her two passions are ballet and literature, she spent 2 years in Ballet of the Opéra National de Bordeaux touring Europe before going to Edinburgh University to study an MA in History of Art & English Lit

She only let those close to her call her Effy. The nickname was given to her by her sister who couldn’t pronounce her full name when they were younger, calling her Pers-effy instead of Per-sep-on-ne. Otherwise she prefers people use her full name, but will put up with being called Percy

 She has a bit of an insecurity over how small her breasts are, it was made worse by her ex who would sometimes use it to mock her 

Has a strong sibling-like bond to Theo & Vincent because they remind her of her older sister Artemisia. Including often engaging with arguments and prank wars with Theo while Vincent tries to mediate the chaos

When she was a girl, she had framed pictures of Arthur Conan Doyle and Percy Shelly decorated with love hearts and used to dream about marrying one of them. She will never tell Arthur this even under pain of death

Appearance:

5 ft 8” with a lithe, slightly androgynous but strong figure due to years of ballet training. Dark and wavy reddish brown hair prone to frizz, freckles both on her face and body with heterochromatic eyes - one blue, one gray but it’s not obvious without close observation.  Her face is quite sharp in terms of structure but still keeps a softness with a slightly crooked nose due to a hockey accident and one eyebrow having a patch missing due to a mishap with a piercing in her teen years.

[s-t-y-x]

Here have some Dead by Daylight headcanons

David runs hot when he sleeps, so he typically sleeps shirtless and tends to sprawl out every which way.

Due to the sheer number of Survivors in the realm, there’s actually more than one bonfire, but they’re all within relatively close proximity to each other. There are also tents at the campsite, because come on literally everyone having absolutely ZERO semblance of shelter or privacy and having to crowd around one small fire would just be weird, especially if the Entity Is Merciful Sometimes Maybe Kinda.

Dwight and Felix are both autistic. So is Claudette, but I’m pretty sure that one is just straight up canon.

Jonathan is the one who discovered and subsequently taught the others how to spectate matches.

Rather than being perpetual night, days pass in the realms, but not in a way that makes time even remotely possible to track. Given that humans need sunlight in order to stay healthy, letting the Survivors see the Sun every now and then is how the Entity ‘takes care of her toys’ so to speak, so that She can get more mileage out of them before they get Voided.

Weather and time of day vary on every map, to add more variables to trials and keep them unpredictable and interesting.

Without the control of reagents, the thickness of the Dark Mist varies.

James uses the clear reagent frequently, having had More Than Fucking Enough fog to last a lifetime.

David can speak French. As the son of aristocrats he was essentially forced to learn it both in-school and by his parents, and his academic prowess made it more-or-less easy for him. He no longer speaks it fluently, because he didn’t care to keep it up, but he’s still conversational.

Ji-Woon has a shallow obsession with Dwight, given his history of fixating on men with nice voices.

Dwight has cats, and he cares for and talks to them exactly like this guy.

David is afraid of cats. He doesn’t hate them, and there’s no rhyme or reason behind it, it’s just one of those phobias that people sometimes have just because. After escaping with Dwight and spending a lot of his time at the Fairfield house, their own cats help him overcome his phobia, and he becomes a bit of a cat lover.

Yes we ship Kingfield. And we will chapter-and-verse anyone who will listen on how much sense it makes, but that deserves an entire post of its own.

After Dwight and David escape together, at some point Dwight gets a rose tattoo on his right wrist to match David’s on his neck.

While Her power is seemingly strongest on Dyer Island, another point of concentration for the Entity’s power is the US north/mid-east. Laurie went missing in Illinois, Quentin was taken from Ohio, we headcanon that Dwight is from Iowa.

In addition to German, obviously, Felix is fluent in English and French and conversational in Korean (probably Dutch as well given how similar it is to German, but we’re not sure if he’d have ever actively learned it).

Dwight likes to cook. He’s actually fairly good at it; that plus his cooperative/leadership skills are what helped him become the manager at PizzaWhat! so quickly. It WOULD have been a steady job, only with his luck, the store closed down and he wasn’t transferred.

Felix is a haemophiliac. The Entity keeps this in check enough for it not to stop him from being too interesting in trials, but as such, he is always afflicted with the Haemorrhage status effect when injured, and his Deep Wound timer depletes twice as fast.

Dwight is the Entity’s favourite of the lot, the one who’s been there the longest out of the OG 4, and the only one who remembers several of the Survivors that got Voided. This is part of the reason that pretty much everyone agrees on him as the unspoken leader.

The base Perks used to be the personal Perks for the Voided Survivors.

[exauhstedsunflower]

Kat speaks two languages. One being English, the other being the common tongue of the Queens’ household.

You’d think it would be Old English.

With all the languages spoken in the household, the fact that they’re all from different places, different social standings, different time periods, varyingly educated, you’d think they’d all speak some semblance of Old- mid fifteenth century- English ton each other. Made up of no contractions, words no longer spoken in the modern day, and strange pronunciations. Given that it’s the one language they seemingly all have in common it would make sense for most communication to happen in Old English. It’s familiar and easy.

But then they all learned modern English. And sure, that took some trial and error, because there are these things called contractions now and sentence structure is different and there are words they all know and use that aren’t even a thing anymore. But the internet is a beautiful thing, and through the power of the Urban Dictionary they’ve all finally got a grasp on it.

So with that, maybe their home language is modern English, or even a mixture of the two. It’s a little more complicated than that, though.

Anna speaks German and English, both with a distinct German accent. Anne, French and English; with a French accent, actually, though her accent when speaking English is a bit more pronounced than Anna’s. Perhaps because Anna was around long enough to mask hers a bit better. Jane speaks English and Dutch fluently. And while she has an English accent, her pronunciation in both is perfect, a fact of which she is very proud. Catalina knows many languages, speaking English, Spanish, French, Latin and Greek. She had a lot of time to perfect these languages, though they are rusty with aged words and rules nowadays. Cathy is in the same boat, fluently speaking English, Italian, Latin, French, and Spanish.

The household weaves back, forth, and around several different languages all of the time. You can often hear conversations being had in three separate languages and all of the aforementioned queens not even missing a beat in contributing. There are notes around the house in many languages, the fridge being covered in reminders meant for certain people in the language they think in. When Catalina and Cathy want to have a private conversation, it’s normally had in Spanish.

They’ve all been picking up bits and pieces, commonly used phrases, of each other’s known languages, too. Anne knows a bit of Dutch now, Jane will mutter insults in Latin, Anna’s been greeting people in Italian because of Cathy and because it’s so similar to Spanish, Anne will respond with what Spanish she has learned from Catalina.

And in the middle of it all, is Kat.

She’s never been the most educated of the bunch. She doesn’t know several languages, never traveled enough to know more than the basics of anything other than English. Sure, she’s picked up a bit from living with the others, but Kat only speaks two languages. One of which is English, and she can communicate this way. But this isn’t the most spoken language of the house. No one single mentioned language is the most common one.

No, the most common language, the second language Kat is fluent in, is sarcasm.

And Kat has to be proud, because it doesn’t matter if it’s delivered in Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian, German, Latin, Greek, or English. She always knows what’s being said to her.

[newtonsheffield]

Hello again!!!! I'm the Spanish girl back in here!

Firstly, I'd like to send you my best wishes for this tough week of work, and I bet we're going to miss you around here this week. But duty calls! And, look, how many people can say they've got a whole week for relaxing after a week of work? 😌 (Perhaps I've misunderstood the whole thing; I've read your posts quite quick and I've understood sth different to what you wanted to say lol)

Well, what can I say with one of the last prompts you have gifted to us...? Kate, Anthony (and his Spanish!!!!!!) and Spain; you got me there. 😂 I even cried the famous "Ole!" when I read all of it (curious note: not all Spaniards use the expression "ole" in daily contexts; it is more like a regional expression that became worldwide famous bc of several reasons that are too long to post here, lol) and I think it's needless to say I loved it... isn't it?

And, I LOVED a lot Edwina's POV and story (well, I've loved everything you have posted and gifted to us, but Eddie has a special place in my heart)! I don't know, but sometimes I get the impression that, in romantic literature, relationships between sisters are not addressed at all and kinda force them to be friends (if they're not rivals... which I find stupid, tbh), not really deepening in the bond between them. Like, they're sisters and they behave more like "my next door neighbour and friend to whom sometimes I'm distant bc life happens" instead of "this person and I share much more than many people can imagine that's beyond friendship and she's more important than anybody else" -idk if this makes sense anymore... I rewrote it a couple of times bc I got the impression I can't express my idea very well 😂-. And that's something I think both of you, JQ and yourself, have achieved and gifted to all of us! We see Edwina and Kate as sisters: they fight, they tease the other, they can't stand each other sometimes, but always, ALWAYS, they care for and love the other just as sisters do. Because of this, I think TVWLM is one of my favourite books in this genre: they give us a two fantastic love stories, not only between a -heterosexual- couple but also between sisters; which is as important as any other kind of relationship.

After my TED Talk (sorry if it's been too much... 😅), I cannot help but imagine an escapade between Anthony and Kate (sans children) and Matthew and Edwina (oh, Matthew... I love you) to Spain just for Anthony, in his stupid one-side battle against Matthew (I love this, tbh; it's sooooo fun 😂), demonstrate Matthew he can speak fluently another language... Just for Matthew be oblivious to this and enjoy a little escapade to Spain with his girlfriend and her family. 😂

Anyways; I hope you're alright and, again, I wish you all the best for this week.

Besos!!! 🥰 (Spanish equivalent for the "Love!" farewell expression; it means "kisses")

Hola! You’re back again! And I’m so glad! 

I do have a week off once I finish work tomorrow (Saturday)!! Very Exciting! I have a scarf to knit, and lots of writing to do so that’s very exciting. 

Oh Anthony on a Spanish beach in tiny little flamingo shorts? Ole! indeed! That is a curious note, I literally love learning things about other cultures and languages so if anyone wants to share a curious note about their culture, hit me up! I will in turn tell you about the curious culture of The Land Down under, and our propensity to butcher the English language!

I agree, Sister relationships are a very curious thing in media. I’m not a huge fan of very contentious relationships between sisters, I’m not saying they don’t exist in real life, they definitely do, I just think having them as constant rivals is exhausting. And Yes! I Love the relationship between Edwina and Kate very much because I see it as a mirror of my relationship with my own sister. My sister drives me more insane than any other person on this planet. We fight, we bicker, I get absolutely enraged when she steals the last property I need for a set in Monopoly, and yet, She is my favourite person. She can say whatever she wants about me, but were anyone else to? It’s fight on sight. I’ll be honest, that all I’m doing is basing their relationship in these fics  on my own with my sister. Nothing special! 

Okay! Here we go! Anthony and Kate + Goose and Edwina +Spain

Kate Bridgerton was many, many things, but she liked to think an idiot, was not one of them. And so, when Anthony had said, in a tone she was sure he thought was casual. “I think we deserve a holiday, you’ve been working very hard to grow the little broad bean after all and your sister and her little gander should celebrate their engagement.” She had known exactly what he was up to. And she wasn’t really sure why she played along along with it. Perhaps something in her thrived on the chaos she knew Anthony would would create, perhaps part of her just really wanted a decent paella. Surely it didn’t matter, the result was the same: Kate fixed an innocent expression on her face and said  “Where did you have in mind?” 

 And so, surprise, surprise, here she was: back on a beach in Spain. She had to admit, eyeing Anthony appreciatively as he paddled demonstratively in the shallow water, his plan had its merits. though thus far his attempts had been... unsuccessful at best. Matthew Bagwell seemed absolutely thrilled to be in Spain, on holiday with his fiancée, giving them helpful facts he knew about the architecture as they walked through the city, a wide smile on his face, Anthony practically purple when he corrected a fact Anthony himself had said.   “Do you speak Spanish, Goose?” Anthony had said dryly in the hotel lobby shortly after they’d arrived. And Kate had rolled her eyes at Anthony, though Matthew was not paying attention. He had his arms wrapped tightly around Edwina’s waist, whispering something in her ear that made her nose crinkle in delight, the sapphire of her engagement ring glinting in the sunlight. And the beautiful picture they made gave Kate’s heart a little stutter. Anthony tutted. “Matt!” He said sharply, getting the man’s attention, Matthew’s glasses slipping down his nose as his head shot upwards in surprise.  “Do you speak Spanish?” Edwina was rolling her eyes now. And Matthew, for his part was completely unbothered  “oh, no. Sorry Mate, might have to lean on your pretty heavily this week.” He said, and Kate caught the smug smile on Anthony’s face and bit back a groan Damnit Matthew.  “I’m pretty fluent in French, German and Mandarin though!” Matthew said smiling happily, turning back towards Edwina, completely oblivious to the scowl Anthony tossing his way. “Of course you fucking are.” He muttered, fixing Kate with an irritated glare as a laugh escaped her!   

The water surely must be a little cool in early October but Anthony showed no signs of it, Beckoning Kate into the water. She groaned and made her way towards him, laughing happily as he tugged her in, his hand resting on her stomach, still no sign of her pregnancy. “Is he watching?” Anthony whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist, spinning her through the water So she had a brief image of her sister smiling brightly at her fiancée who appeared to be... bless him building a sandcastle. 

“No. He’s not.” Kate said batting her husband’s hands away irritatedly as he scowled.  “Are you really trying to look more in love than they are?” Kate scoffed, disbelief at her husband’s idiocy rising with in her. Anthony looked indignant. “No! A man can’t take an interest in his wife now? Very poor show Mrs. Bridgerton.” He said, but his eyes, darted towards the shore at the last second.  “Oh I cannot believe you! You’re absolutely manic!” She replied as Anthony attempted to pull her back towards him, Kate putting up very little fight as she tumbled against. him, his voice hot in her ear. “Insufferable I hear.” Kate scoffed. “Ugh! If Anyone’s insufferable it’s him!” 

Kate turned to follow Anthony’s gaze to find Matthew waving at them, grinning broadly, completely unbothered. And Kate couldn’t keep from laughing as Anthony went on another muttered tirade.

Besos! 

[youneedasoultraveller]

Is Nicky the only one headcanoned by people as bad with languages or are Nile and Booker seen the same way too (Andy is of course excluded from that due to her age and Joe is universally depicted as skilled with languages) ? I would expect Nile to be seen as bad with languages due to the American education system but it doesn’t seem to be the case.

Hello! Post-response me would like to apologise once again for the length of this post :(

I have personally not found a single fic where either Booker or Nile were depicted bad with languages; at most I found fics where Nile cannot speak languages other than English yet and you have the rest of the Guard routinely teaching her this and that idiom.

So, no, in my experience the only one that I saw people actively headcanon as bad at languages is Nicolò. Even though exactly as you point our if we want to go by stereotypes the one that should have been hc’d as such should have been Nile precisely because the large majority of Anglos are monolingual and the way languages are taught in their educational systems is horrendous to say the least (I will never forget my experiences studying Arabic in a Canadian university).

As it stands, Nile is shown using a couple of words of Pashtu, and if I remember correctly it is mentioned that she speaks Spanish in her presentation card, but if it’s the average American knowledge of Spanish “mi casa es su casa” then I would not call that speaking it. But these are just suppositions :)

So canon doesn’t give us much, that we know. And this is where headcanons come in. Like I was saying, usually people would not write Nile as multilingual but as someone who is in the process of learning several languages.

No one is indicated that she is bad at it, although if you ask pratically anyone in the world they will tell you that Americans and Brits are the worst at both learning and speaking other languages, because in those cultures there is a deep imperialist bias engrained – whether they are aware or not – that everyone in the world speaks English, so they can spare the effort to try to pronounce properly another language, or, God forbid, learn it at all. Nothing indicates us that Nile butchers or not other languages, and no one ever takes it into account.

As for Booker, he is French so normally Anglos would have also made fun of his way of talking if it had not been for Matthias.

And now I reach my point. The main reason why Nicolò is consistently depicted as terrible at languages is because of Luca’s Italian accent, and the fact that you can see he is not as fluent in English as Marwan and Matthias are, who are like him not native speakers. This even though the man speaks five languages.

I am not going into the whole mess with interviews with native English speakers who treated him as if he were dumb just because he could not really understand their accent (I myself often have to slow down and ask for a repeat, because some accents are just not as immediately intelligible as Anglos think), given that it has been discussed at length.

The only thing I want to stress is how this headcanon is extremely imperialistic, condescending and plays once again into the harmful stereotype of the dumb, illiterate Southerner.

Linguistic discrimination is a thing, and it’s a thing everywhere. By linguistic discrimination I don’t just mean that against people who cannot speak a major language (or the “official” language of the country they are in), but it also affects accents.Accents have everything to do with geography and class: it is a marker of where you are from, and plays into prejudices linked to the social standing and the class usually associated to that accent. Now, languages are a natural process, in continuous evolution and adaptation, whereas standardised languages (including a standardised pronunciation) are artificial choices. Just think of British vs American English: they are both theoretically the same language, but they diverge in several instances in terms of both vocabulary and pronunciation.Whip this up to the max when it comes to speaking a language that is not your own. The sounds and grammar structures of your mother tongue have an impact on the way you process a different language. That’s why it’s difficult for Spanish-speakers to pronounce S + consonant at the beginning of a word, or why Slavic languages have a harder H sound (again at the beginning of a word). Even when you have the grammar and pronunciation down to a T and are virtually indistinguishable from a native speaker, it does not mean that people who lose their accents and speak like a BBC tv host are any better at languages than people whose accent is still noticeable, or whose speech flow may be slower.

Having an accent does not qualify the level of fluency in a set language. Not speaking like a dictionary does not qualify the level of your intelligence (and I cannot believe I have to even say that).

And yet having an accent is politicised for classist and racist purposes. If someone does not blend in 100% with the majority, it means that something is lacking in them: usually it means they do not have the same level of education, which means they probably come from a lower class, or that they also are foreigners. So they are less than, just because their speech is deemed as not up to par with that of the majority.

@lucyclairedelune meant this when she brought up the example of Gloria from Modern Family, saying “you don’t know how intelligent I am in Spanish”. I want to make an example that is closer to my heart. Elena Ferrante in her wondrous Neapolitan Quartet described the life of a girl who was trying to escape from the material and psychological misery of the slums of Naples in the 60s. To do so she migrates North to study at one of Italy’s most prestigious university: here, however, she is bullied for her accent that clearly marks her origins and (prejudicially, since people of the South were in general poorer) status, class, and, finally, categorises her as less intelligent. Just because of her accent when speaking standard Italian. As a Southern Italian woman, I have often felt like I had to mask my own accent, both in Italy and abroad, to be taken seriously. This regardless of my academic qualifications or how many languages I speak. 

When people describe Nicolò as bad at languages simply because Luca has an accent and speaks English slower and less fluently than his co-stars, this is the context that this treatment plays in. Subconsciously (or consciously) it adds to the image that a big chunk of the fandom is painting of him as dumb and ignorant. No one else. And the fact that (luckily) no one ever uses Nile’s monolingualism as a marker for being less intelligent is also because being American is still taken as the standard, as well as the fact that unfortunately Nile (like Yusuf) is going through positive discrimination by which she cannot have any complexity or flaws (starting from hardly ever acknowledging the fact that she herself was part of an invader/occupying foreign force which has bombed and killed civilians in Afghanistan, and was in the midst of a military operation exactly in this sense). 

According to that specific discourse, Nicolò is being given every single possible flaw, in order to be opposite to Yusuf. Again, because this fandom, with its Anglocentrism and Puritan incapacity of overcoming black-and-white oppositions, cannot seem to accept that we have a beautiful interracial, interreligious same-sex couple of complex individuals, who can both be smart at the same time. I myself think that Yusuf historically is better at languages than Nicolò, as he was a merchant (and an artist), and I love this difference about them, but conflating intelligence with proficiency in one single language (because it’s only proficiency English that we have been discussing, let’s be honest, if the show had been shot in German we would not be talking about Luca’s issues with the language probably) is an utterly imperialistic, condescending and ridiculous thing to do.

I probably lost the train of my thought (and I had two beers in the meantime, so I am too tired to reread), but what I mainly wanted to highlight is that this mocking attitude towards Nicolò is rooted in both a  wider downgrading trend of his character, and on a general approach towards non-English speakers that Anglos have virtually everywhere.

[retvenkos]

“college better be worth it.”

I HOPE YOU ARE ALL READY FOR A MODERN AU, BECAUSE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE PEVENSIES IN COLLEGE...

so let’s start with edmund, because he has the  m o s t  dedication to higher education and all of the benefits it entails

edmund is 110% that person who says “i haven’t studied or slept in two weeks” but can also be seen doing reading assignments early

he pretends he doesn’t care to be relatable but actually cares so much he gets sick during finals week

he is majoring in lingustics with a minor in communications

there were actually a lot of different languages spoken in narnia and edmund learned them all so that he could do negotiations himself, without a translator

turns out he has a nack for it and really loves them

spanish and arabic are his favorite

he absolutely hates french

“you don’t pronounce anything you see, lu, it makes no sense!”

he knows so many languages, and while he learns them because he loves to, he learned german just to flex on a kid in his class who said he knew how to speak 5  languages - one more than ed (at the time)

he is now fluent in 5 languages: english, spanish, arabic, german, and mandarin chinese

he wants to learn russian really bad, but he keeps getting side tracked by other things

and edmund? he’s a good student. but...

he’s not big on participation

unless it’s that one, cocky kid that sits in front of him

then he will decimate

which, naturally, brings me to susan

she is like edmund in the fact that she, too, is dedicated to school because she loves learning

she was originally going to study genetics, but then she swung hard the other way because she realized that the hard sciences weren’t for her

they were interesting, but they didn’t allow much room for creativity

so now she is an english major and can’t decide if she wants to do creative writing or journalism

she currently works for a newspaper, and she likes writing articles about new issues

but she also writes poetry in a journal she has, and edmund has told her it’s really good

they both have that angsty streak, y’know??

she also loves the freedom that the english major gives her

interpretations??? that’s up to you

writings??? that’s all on you, kid

but, the only bad thing is that susan needs inspiration

without it, she doesn’t do her work

edmund does his work out of spite, but susan does her work out of love and creativity

but, the teachers love her because when she is passionate about something, she doesn’t stop.

she will write a fifteen page paper on it

she will do extra reading

they just have to figure out how to spark that passion with everything else...

which leads me to talk about peter

because this boy  l o v e s  history, and that is his major

he minors in education too, he hopes to teach world history in 10th grade, but also wants to teach the tiny tots

peter is a dad, okay???

peter loves history

he can absorb documentaries and work through the boring textbook because he is absolutely fascinated by the past

he sympathizes with the wars

he really understands the intricacies of treaties

and he celebrates the times were history flourished

the teachers marvel at him because he has such a deep knowledge??? and he should be in politics because literally everyone would vote for him???

but peter says he could never shoulder that burden

not anymore

peter loves history because it’s a way he can be connected to narnia and the person he used to be, now that he can’t go back

and there’s always something wistful in his words when he writes about history

and there’s a sense of understanding in the way he writes about the give and take that kingdoms have to do

the sacrifices that have to be made

the wrongs that are never really righted

when he becomes a teacher, he definitely enchants those kids that he teaches

that’s just the peter way

and that takes me to our final pevensie, lucy

lucy knew from the minute she came back from narnia that her focus would be the environment

because the trees were her friends in narnia, and they had talked so many times

and lucy, like her older sister before her, works off of her passion

luckily, for her, it comes in spades

lucy studies environmental health and she’s also taken some classes on environmental science so that she can be better equipped when she has to do papers on it

and she talks to susan on how to make her papers sound better, because she’s always been that person to just go off of rants in the muddle of her informational writing

and she goes to peter to learn how to better public speak

and she goes to edmund to get her mind off of everything because while she loves what she studies, it can be a lot sometimes

lucy is definitely that person to make study groups

as you have seen above, lucy is big on collaboration

she’s a team player

lucy is 10/10 that student that teachers like because she is so sweet? but also has a real love for what she is doing?

and they are amazed because even during finals week lucy can keep her head above the water?? she’s just really well adjusted???

it’s a miracle, really

and all of the pevensies are good students because they have discipline, just in different ways

AND FLUFF ENSUES.

[risottoneroo]

Between His Fingers, Ch. 4

a/n: i have removed all sexual scenes and references from the parts where the characters are underage. this fic is and will stay sfw in that regard. when i started writing this and wrote the aforementioned scenes, i was seventeen. however, posting it now that i am an adult is against my conscience. there will continue to be references to violence and smoking, but not any more than are already in the show. i am also restarting my tag list, please pm me, send me an ask, or reply here to be tagged. sorry for my inactivity, enjoy chapter 4!

warnings: teen boys being awkward, cuddling, fluff, pining, my canon now

Jotaro wasn’t asleep. He was grumbling to himself in his head, thinking about the conversation he’d had with his grandfather. 

Joseph had shut the door behind you and Kakyoin, then looked at him carefully. “I know I never spent a good deal of time with you in your childhood, but these past days have shown me who you are, Jojo. You like her.”

Jotaro had looked down and refused to answer. Joseph sighed. “Good grief.”

Jotaro bit his lip. “Tch. Mind your business, would you? Bothersome old man.”

Joseph frowned. “Being nicer to her would help you a good deal. Maybe ask her out. Get to know her.”

Jotaro shook his head. “You don’t get it, do you, old man? Whatever I choose, she will never be mine. Kakyoin… He just looked at her and she was his.”

Joseph had put his hand on Jotaro’s shoulder. “You don’t give up a battle before it’s lost. She isn’t anybody’s but her own.”

Jotaro had closed his eyes. “Stop it, old man.”

He walked out and slammed the door.

Back in the room, you picked up your bag. “I’m gonna shower, Nori.”

Kakyoin smiled and nodded. “Okay.”

You walked into the bathroom and turned on the faucet, letting it run until it turned hot. As steam filled the room, you pulled off your clothes and stepped under the water. The stream ran down your body, soothing your tense muscles. You bit your lip, thinking. So much had happened since your last shower. 

You’d met Jotaro, and Noriaki, and the rest of the gang. You’d gotten punched in the jaw by a… let’s face it, really hot guy. He was a dick, though. 

You looked down at yourself. Jotaro was really attractive, and so was Noriaki. But Noriaki was the only one who really showed interest in you. But Jotaro seemed pretty reserved and bad at expressing himself, so… Maybe? Well, thinking about it like that wouldn’t do anything. You had to talk to him, get to know him.

You moved to wash yourself, quickly scrubbing and rinsing before stepping out and drying off. 

You slipped into pajamas and stepped back into the room. Jotaro was the only one there, writing in a small, leatherbound book. Without looking up, he said in Japanese, “Kakyoin is out getting food for us to eat in here.”

You nodded, setting down your bag and sitting on the bed he was on. You said in Japanese,“Jotaro, I think we got off on the wrong foot-”

He glanced up and interrupted you. “Jojo.”

You stuttered, “Huh?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Call me Jojo.”

You flushed. “Okay, uh, Jojo. I’m sorry.”

He nodded. You cocked your head at him. “What are you writing?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he said, “You were in the shower a while.” 

You flushed deep red. “I- Uh. I take long showers.”

He nodded again, seeming disinterested. You sighed. “You’re goddamn hard to have a conversation with, Jojo.”

Jotaro looked up at you. “And you’re belligerent.”

You flared up. “Don’t be a dick.”

He shrugged, returning to writing in Japanese. “Don’t be a bitch.”

 Luckily for you both, Kakyoin walked in the door at that moment, holding bags of takeout. You smiled at him and helped him put them out on the hotel table. You reached for a container of rice at the same time that he did, and your fingers brushed. 

Kakyoin looked shocked and started to pull his hand back, apologizing. You shook your head and caught his hand. You entwined your fingers, smiling up at him. He relaxed and smiled at you. His hand completely enveloped yours, as large as it was. You let him go after a bit, looking back down at the takeout. “Jotaro, what do you want?”

He sighed and got up, walking up behind you and looking over you at the food. You felt yourself tense with his bulk so close. You began to move to let him through, but he put a hand on your waist gently to let you know you were safe. His hand reached from your side nearly to your bellybutton. 

You turned and looked up at him, only to find him already looking down at you. His hand now rested on the small of your back, just above your ass. You flushed even deeper red. Kakyoin was looking between you two with unrestrained interest. Without looking away, Jotaro said, “That chicken is fine for me.”

He didn’t break eye contact, and you felt like you were being sucked in. Kakyoin coughed gently. “Not to quote Jojo, but if you two are done making eyes at each other…”

Jotaro broke eye contact to glare at Kakyoin. You breathed a sigh you hadn’t realized you’d been holding. You looked at Kakyoin bashfully. “Sorry, Nori.”

He chuckled. “That’s okay. It’s rare to see Jotaro show true interest in someone.”

Jotaro rolled his eyes and grabbed his food, walking away from you two. You looked up at Kakyoin, smiling a bit. He looked back at you, also smiling. You looked at the food and chose what you wanted, walking back to sit on the bed. As you all ate, there was a gentle silence. Not awkward, just an understanding.

Going to bed was a completely different matter. You were dressed in pajama shorts and a tank top, and after you brushed your teeth, you got in bed and snuggled into the comforter. You turned off the room lights, leaving you all in darkness. Kakyoin came out of the bathroom in his pajamas and stood in front of the bed you two were sharing. Jotaro was already asleep in the opposite bed. 

Kakyoin got into bed, on the opposite side from you, deliberately not touching you. You sighed and scooted over to him. He was lying on his side, facing you. You wrapped your arms around his torso and snuggled into his chest, sliding a thigh between his legs. Kakyoin flushed cherry red and gingerly wrapped his arms around you. You looked up at him and asked softly in Japanese, “Harder.”

He flushed even deeper. “Uh- what?”

You smiled at him. “Hug me harder. I won’t break.”

He nodded and pulled you into his chest tightly. You breathed in deeply and smiled. He smelled good. You shifted against his broad chest. “I feel so safe with you already, Nori.”

He smiled. “I hope you know I’m not like the men you’ve been with before.”

You looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

Kakyoin was avoiding eye contact. “I don’t know what Dio is like with the people he’s close to, but from what I saw… He doesn’t have much respect for women.”

You frowned. “I never met you when I was there, so you didn’t see how he acted around me. It was very confusing.”

Kakyoin nodded. “What do you mean?”

You looked down. “He thought I was his ticket to- Heaven? I think.”

Kakyoin nodded. “He told me about that. Not much, though.”

You rested your head on his collarbone. “He called me a holy woman. Said I was pure, that he didn’t deserve to look upon me, let alone touch me.”

Kakyoin put his chin on your head. “He never let you out?”

You shook your head. “He trained me. Him and a few others. Vanilla Ice, the other vampires he’d made. He would make vampires to test my Stand. None of them could get close when I materialized her. He knew he couldn’t kill me. He taught me. I know English, Japanese, French, and Spanish fluently, and fragments of German and Italian.”

Kakyoin kissed your forehead. “Your Japanese is excellent.”

You looked up. “It was weird. One day I was struggling with just the alphabet, and the next I was fluent.”

Kakyoin shrugged. “Things like that happen around Dio.”

You nodded. “It was the day after he brought in that kid, Pucci?”

Kakyoin laughed softly. “Pucci’s Stand could take parts of someone’s soul and implant them into other people. Stands, languages, memories.”

You nodded, “That makes sense.”

He nodded. “What’s your most comfortable language?”

You shrugged. “I still like Arabic most, next English, but those were my first two. And I can only speak Arabic with Avdol. But I like talking to you in your language.”

He nodded. “Japanese is pretty.”

You agreed. “I enjoy the flow of it.”

You yawned and snuggled into his chest. “Sleepy time now.”

You passed out in his arms. The last thing you heard was his soft chuckle.

[hanavolkova]

🌙 — 𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑹𝑶𝑫𝑼𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵 ;

“Metamorphosis is the most profound of all acts.”

― CATHERYNNE M. VALENTE 

                               𝓟𝓘𝓝𝓣𝓔𝓡𝓔𝓢𝓣  /  𝓑𝓐𝓒𝓚𝓢𝓣𝓞𝓡𝓨

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: 𝖘𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖞 & 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖘 𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖚𝖙 !

☉ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆(𝐬): war crimes, death, allusion to sexual assault

—  ♢  𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒.

BIRTH NAME ➵ moon hana LEGAL NAME ➵ hana volkova NICKNAMES / ALIAS ➵ han; hanushka; moon of russia GENDER + PRONOUNS ➵ she / her DATE OF BIRTH ➵ march 4, 1937 OCCUPATION ➵ soloist SEXUAL ORIENTATION ➵ demisexual LANGUAGES SPOKEN ➵ fluent korean & russian, choppy french, german, and english HANDWRITING ➵ Autograf

—  ♢  𝐏𝐇𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋.

HAIR ➵ raven black, wavy, down to her hip EYE COLOUR ➵ onyx BODY TYPE ➵ lithe, willowy, short torso & long arms and legs HEIGHT ➵ 5 feet, 8 inches SMELLS OF ➵ powder, lotus blossoms, cherries, and mint HEALTH ➵  allergic to walnuts & figs DOMINANT HAND ➵ left FACECLAIM ➵ seo yea-ji SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS ➵ inordinately long fingers & a long, slice of a scar on her back

—  ♢  𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘.

TRAITS ➵

+ creative, captivating, faithful, disciplined, reliable, prudent, hard-working, observant, mindful, warm – complacent, pedantic, neurotic, gullible, deceitful, fearful, indulgent, morbid, secretive, petty

ZODIAC ➵ pisces sun / sagittarius moon / virgo rising MBTI ➵ INTJ / “The Architect”

An Architect (INTJ) is a person with the Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging personality traits. These thoughtful tacticians love perfecting the details of life, applying creativity and rationality to everything they do. Their inner world is often a private, complex one. It can be lonely at the top. As one of the rarest personality types – and one of the most capable – Architects (INTJs) know this all too well. Rational and quick-witted, Architects may struggle to find people who can keep up with their nonstop analysis of everything around them. Architects, independent to the core, want to shake off other people’s expectations and pursue their own ideas.

Architects can be single-minded, with little patience for frivolity, distractions, or idle gossip. That said, it would be a mistake to stereotype these personalities as dull or humorless. Many Architects are known for their irreverent wit, and beneath their serious exteriors, they often have a sharp, delightfully sarcastic sense of humour. MORAL ALIGNMENT ➵ lawful neutral TEMPERATMENT ➵ melancholic

Your temperament is melancholic. The melancholic temperament is fundamentally introverted and thoughtful. Melancholic people often were perceived as very (or overly) pondering and considerate, getting rather worried when they could not be on time for events. Melancholics can be highly creative in activities such as poetry and art - and can become preoccupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world. Often they are perfectionists. They are self-reliant and independent; one negative part of being a melancholic is that they can get so involved in what they are doing they forget to think of others.

HABITS/HOBBIES ➵ randomly braiding strands of hair, be it her own when she’s too in her head, or a friend’s, embroidering, gardening, collecting perfumes LIKES ➵ snow, silence, letters, honey, chamomile tea, olives, dressing up, cinnamon, classical compositions, wine, long baths, cooking, reading (especially poetry, or plays) DISLIKES ➵ vodka, fish, thunderstorms, tomatoes, being airborne, dogs, confrontation, running, public speaking

—  ♢  𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒.

oKAY, SO! hana was born in seoul, south korea, in march of 1937, to moon si-hoo & min-young; a middle child, born five years after her brother, bo-gum, and a year and a half before her sister, sooyoung. 

her maternal aunt, mina, took her to see ballet when she was a wee girl of approximately six years of age, and the reeeest was history. she was absolutely bewitched by the beauty & strength of it, the way they seemed to bend their bodies in such impossible ways yet look so ethereal. all she wanted from the moment she saw those ballerinas was to be that beautiful.

she’s never felt that beautiful, not even now, not even after she’s been lauded as the moon of russia. 

the korean war between north & south korea happened between ��50—’53, and in that war, she lost both her father & brother. due to seoul being captured four times. hana & sooyoung & their mom huddled up with basically all the women in their family, mostly on the maternal side, but even with the gathered, shared rations, they couldn’t keep up. when the war dwindled down, ending in that stalemate, that year, the state placed sooyoung, 14 yrs old, in the system to go to a home better cared for, seeing as their legal family was left with no man anymore. 

it was around the time the infamous harry & bertha holt adopted 8 children from korea after the wars, making charity-adoption from debilitated countries as a trend. hana went to a different adoption agency, and instead of cherrypicking like the US started, the U.S.S.R. moved that entire adoption agency from south korea over to leningrad. keep in mind that russia was all pro-north korea btw??

she came to russia at 16. super traumatised, she basically clung to ballet as much as she could, but the months passing in russia, with her not even speaking the language, she lost interest and just floated. but her accolades were in her file; russia had acquired the orphanage as a power move.

irina & ivan volkov adoped her in ‘56. ivan told her to dance, and pushed her into bolshoi theatre, turning her passion into something that only ever makes her feel ugly anymore. she worked her way up from basically being a prop to becoming a principal dancer. reviews rolling in about how she can bring tears to an audience’s eyes, she moves like water, she looks unreal, she is mythic and mystic and melancholic. she gained popularity, the public is super jazzed over her suspected tragic backstory that ivan’s leaked and talked about when he was basically using her to progress politically. 

however, about a month or so before the RP is set, though, she put a toe out of line, rejecting a pass a foreign dignitary made at her, she stabbed his hand with her fork... aaaaand now she’s a soloist, demoted, because it doesn’t matter that it was her face everywhere, her name in the papers, she’s still a puppet & she had to remember that.

which has just trodden down on her, made her feel small, and generally wounded her ego.

girl is a pisces sun / sag moon, she is repressing her Emotions™ — and it’s clearly gonna end so well.

Stay Tuned~

template source: stusmachers

[gasp-iwrotesomething]

pleeeeeeeeeeaaaase can I get some nsfw hcs for helena, vivienne, and tk using their native tongue in bed to tease/taunt their mcs? Thannks so much 💋💋💋💋

This is such a cool idea so of course you can, anon! I’d be happy to write this for you; thanks for your request and I hope you enjoy!

NSFW Native Tongue Headcanons

Helena Klein

Helena doesn’t typically speak German in bed but whenever she does, boy does MC melt.

She’ll casually be touching MC, stoking the flame that flickered between them, then she’d whisper something both infatuating and dirty into MC’s ear.

Being someone who doesn’t know a lick of German, MC is unaware of what Helena whispered into her ear; all she knows is that it sounded hot and that it made the floodgates swing open.

The sorceress would often implore German in the moments where MC was unsuspecting it most; half of the gratification Helena gained from talking in her native tongue was the surprise that she inflicted upon MC.

She’d stick to something derogatory but pretty vanilla, like “you taste so sweet” or “I love the way you feel around my fingers, my love”.

Regardless of whether or not MC ever does understand what Helena says in the bedroom, she’ll forever be a faucet that Helena can turn off and on as she pleases (little bit of a gross analogy but hey, these are NSFW so 😏).

In conclusion, Helena loves it when she can frazzle MC in the bedroom and give her something to fluster over; speaking German is just the tip of the iceberg for the sorceress--there’s other ways to make MC scream her name.

Vivienne Tang

Vivienne uses her fluency in many languages to her advantage every single day but does that stop her from using them to fluster MC in her bed? Hell no.

For Vivienne, it’s a game of how red she can make MC turn before she’s reached her limit--she’s got a score that makes tomatoes pale in comparison.

She’ll have MC in a position where every brusque sensation could send her sprawling and then she’ll murmur, in a very seductive voice, something in one of the many languages she’s excelled in.

MC hears Vivienne speak in different languages all the time but hearing it while she’s sexually vulnerable and wantonly needing her touch is like an aphrodisiac.

Vivienne has a knack for saying things the way they are in the bedroom so there isn’t much of a difference when it comes to talking in foreign languages.

The language she speaks most often is French though Vivienne loves to switch it up every now and again to spice things up.

Her phrases consist of simple things like “good girl” and overall just words of encouragement, though Vivienne Tang knows how to get funky when funky is due.

MC had been briefly taught some French for heists but her knowledge wasn’t grand enough to understand every word Vivienne says.

To summarize Vivienne’s native tongue in the bedroom... MC is astonished that she could manage to make her fall apart with her tongue in more than one sense.

TK Yoon

TK doesn’t speak much Korean at all in his day-to-day life because most of the people he acquaints with only speak English, so there’s not really a necessity for his native tongue.

This especially applies to when he’s intimate with MC considering she speaks fluent English; but he has his moments where he just wants to see her malfunction.

The two of them will be engrossed in exploring each other’s bodies and then out of the blue, TK will murmur something real off-beat into her ear in Korean.

MC, not knowing a single word of Korean, is caught off guard by it but soon all she can focus on is the guttural purr of his voice as he spoke it.

Being a shy person means that TK isn’t really the type of her person whose able to descend into some real filthy dirty talk, so speaking in a language that MC doesn’t understand helps snuff some of that embarrassment out.

But it’s never something extremely explicit, more like “you take my fingers so good” or something along those scandalous lines.

MC loves it all the same even if she can’t make out anything he says; the sexy appeal of how it sounds is all she needs to develop a wetlands between her thighs (again, not the most appealing analogy but this is NSFW so it’s valid).

Occasionally, just to be a dirty tease, he’ll lean into her when they’re just chilling and whisper an innocuous compliment to her in his native tongue that’s wholly wholesome, but to her it sounds like bedroom eyes vocalized.

In summary, TK is a confident flirt who makes even the most simple phrases sound naughty and makes it hard for MC to surmise them as anything other than a tactic to get her out of her clothes--which is effective every single time, unfortunately.

Thanks again for your request! I really loved writing this for you, it was very refreshing (and very sating if I do say so myself😏)!

If you want to request something, here’s the Prompt List, here are the Guidelines, here’s Who I Write For, and here is where you can Request me.

[qqueenofhades]

hello! it’s youngin anon again! quarantine is still ongoing (i think? i mean I’m staying in) and while I am very bored, I have been slowly chipping through some of the book recommendations you gave. (i am a slow reader...) in your ask about France’s own history and struggle with racism you said you spoke some French (which is cool!) how did/do you go about learning languages? thank you!

Hello! I am delighted to hear that you are safe and staying smart (and busy) during the ongoing plague years. I'm also touched to hear that you're working on the book recommendations. No worries about being a slow reader, since after all, we all have nothing but time right now and the fact that you're taking a crack at it is the most important. So yes. This delights me.

As for languages, I've been through the grab bag on various ones. Due to the scandalous and tragic insistence on monolingualism in America (it's the xenophobia!) it is hard to learn languages unless you're born into a family who speaks a second language or you really work at it. I was... sort of both? Ish? Both of my parents speak relatively decent French, so that was the second language that we studied on and off as kids, had various French computer games, etc, though it was never systematic or fluent. However, I absorbed enough of it to (and I stress, I do not recommend doing this) put off the foreign language requirement for my M.A. until like the last two weeks before I was set to graduate, then go in and pass a French-language skills exam rather than having to take Greek. In hindsight, I should possibly have sucked it up and learned Greek anyway, but alas.

Then for my PhD, I was working on French history and with French historians, which meant that a lot of secondary source material was in French and I spent a lot of time reading academic French, which will whip you into shape in a hurry. Then when I went to France to study in 2018, I was mostly able to communicate in French (I'd say 75% of the time) though I had to do Frenglish for a few more complicated conversations. It was intimidating and there were a few moments of misunderstandings, but for the most part I got around without having to use English and that was a confidence boost. (My mom and I were also in France in 2009, though iirc she did most of the talking then.)

I also studied a couple years of Italian in high school, in regular classes, most of which I have now forgotten (though I may need to revive it). I also had to cram-learn Latin for my graduate work, which was just as painful as it sounds. I.e. you sit in a Latin classroom with four other graduate students and the professor and have to translate things and list verb forms and the million different word endings and want very badly to leap out a window. The greatest feeling in the world is walking past a Latin classroom and knowing you do not have to go in it. My Latin is not world-beating by any means, but I can usually translate bits of charters and chronicles and find corresponding passages from English sources and such like.

Then recently, during quarantine, I decided that since I had wanted to learn Russian for a while, I'd kick my own ass and start doing it. I managed to learn to read it pretty quickly, all things considered, even if I still have no idea what the words mean or much, if any, sense of the grammar. But Cyrillic is relatively easy to memorize and learn how to read as an alphabet with just a little dedicated work. I went to to the Russian alphabet wikipedia page and read the letters and memorized them to recite and wrote them out, then threw myself in the deep end and opened up some Russian academic articles and transliterated them to the Latin alphabet, and practiced writing in Cyrillic and so forth. There's also an app called Learn 50 Languages which I downloaded and used to learn some basic Russian vocabulary and do some translation exercises. (Actually, I should get my butt in gear and work on that some more, but then, it's not like I have anything else to do...) As a result, I could probably scrape by in very basic ways if you dropped me in the middle of Moscow, and would be able to read the signs, but that is about it. I will work on it.

My little sister is the real language-learning whiz in the family, as she has lived across Asia for 8 years and has learned Khmer, Korean, Urdu, and probably some others I can't remember in that time, as well as already being fluent in French. I may also take a crack at German at some point, depending on how things go. I feel like it is easier to come back to languages as an adult than it is in grade school as a kid, but then childhood is the best time for second-language acquisition and it's harder for your brain to rewire as a grownup. But with some decent persistence, you can take a hack at it, and it's fun to be able to go somewhere and not have to rely on English and look obviously like a tourist. I've gone a few places where I didn't speak any of the language at all, and within a week was able to at least order a coffee and conduct a basic transaction (and lbr coffee is the only thing that matters). People appreciate it when you make an effort, especially as an American, even if it's not perfect, and will usually help you out. So it is worth doing it.

Anyway, good luck with this and your reading and whatever else you're up to. I've probably said it before, but I'm very proud of you and everything you're working on, and as ever, you're more than welcome to drop in whenever you like.

[theanimeview]

(THEORY) The Goddess Reborn: I Choose the Emperor Ending

By: Peggy Wood | @peggyseditorial

You know that song, "[What If God Was] One Of Us" by Joan Osborne? I Choose the Emperor Ending reminds me a lot of that song, mainly because Marina, better known as Rino or the Technician in the story, is the world's "goddess" without anyone knowing it. That, I think, is something we can all agree on. But, what if Marina's chosen character role isn't merely that of an Eastern slave? That's the topic I'm planning to discuss here today:

An issue I see with Marina's role as a player in this story is that even if she was starting at the bottom, it wouldn't make much sense for her to have been given a slave's body. Even if she decided to take the harder route by beginning at the lowest social position in their society, by the time she sees the main character of her story, Duke Edward Allen Dihas, several days have passed and they have not passed easily given the way Marina looks when we see her in the slaves' cell. Granted, some of that was played up for dramatic effect, but ultimately she's looking paler and thinner than at the start. Maybe this is a reflection of her real-world body before being found and put in a hospital, or maybe not. Regardless, time is passing, and her role is not well chosen for the game.

This wouldn’t be the first time such a thing happens either, several mangas and other manhwas of this genre have depicted the creators of a story being reborn or transferred into their creative works--often with the undefined, but general feeling, that they’ll have to live out the rest of their lives in this new world. Luckily for Marina, it seems she’ll be traveling back and forth (or maybe unluckily?).

If you examine the cover image of this comic, you'll be able to see a lot of hints to how long Marina will be trapped in this story. For example, in the comic's cover image, Marina's hair has grown longer by several inches, and even Edward looks a bit older, though not by much, which implies that at least a few years will pass in the course of this story. It also means that we'll be following the story until Edward has crowned Emperor (which we know to be the ultimate end of her novel).

That being established, whose body did she take in this transfer to the new world? 

If we look at the title of Lasnarok, the book version that Marina’s brother shows her is in the middle of being written (chapter 52), we can tell that Marina has not taken over the cover character.

AND YET, it’s hard to make the decision that she hasn’t when the book is written from Marina’s point of view regarding the events of her story in the game-world thus far. 

The easy assumption would be to say that Marina has taken over the body of an Eastern Royal who was hidden within the crowd. It would make sense for the game aspect as that would give her a level of importance beyond “slave” to warrant meeting the lord of the castle and progressing the story.

We’re given hints early on to this idea. This appears as early as Chapter 1, where we view Marina, disguised as a boy, through Edward’s eyes: “‘He was a boy with a peculiar look. Despite his low class, he looks down on others like an insolent royal.’” Edward ratifies this in Chapter 6 where the preview from Chapter 1 is expanded upon, “He was a boy with a peculiar look... Did more easterners come to this area...? Hair too light for an Easterner, oat-colored skin as clean as an aristocrat child’s, He definitely looks like an aristocrat even though he is a foreigner. And there’s something about his gaze.”

He’s not the only one that will note this difference between Marina and the other Easterners, Lavine--the weaponry technician--says Marina has “too much of an aristocratic air about him to be a slave,” and Lavine’s assistant notes that Marina is too fluent in the language to be an uneducated slave. Granted, the Easterners are considered savages, so the slaves who were held may or may not have been well educated for their country, but that’s not clarified. One other thing to note here is that in Chapter 4, we learn that only the Eastern royal family has been given the knowledge to create “sticky fire” (Greek Fire, also known as Napalm). So that set’s her role as an Eastern royal, correct? Maybe not. 

Again, we turn to the cover image of Lasnarok, the story of a story within our story. I assume it is the image of their world’s goddess because of her placement among stars on the cover and because she somewhat looks like the statue of the goddess we see in chapter 11.

Here is that image of the goddess, btw:

Fool, that is your goddess.

Now some of you may disagree as the woman on the cover does not have wings, and their clothes are different; however, I would direct naysayers to look at the similarity of their hair, which is parted in such a way that the left side remains unseen. Besides, even if they don't look that alike, we could write it off as the artist and people not truly knowing what their goddess' true form is or would be--which is my main point. 

I believe that, from the perspective of those inside the book, Marina is their goddess brought down to human form. This would not be unlikely as gods in real-world mythos often took the forms of impoverished people to test their worshippers' hospitality and heart. In fact, I think Ovid mentions Zeus and Hera doing such a thing in Metamorphoses. To me, oddly, it seems like this makes more sense than Marina being an Eastern Royal turned slave despite all the hints leading to such an idea. My reasoning for this largely lies in the analysis of the comic's cover. 

For example, the crown we see Marina placing upon the duke seems French-inspired due to the fleur-de-lis, (men's imperial medieval crown fleur de lis gold).  “Since France is a historically Catholic nation, the fleur-de-lis became "at one and the same time, religious, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic." Then we see that Marina holds the Sceptre in her arms or rather it is leaned against her. The “Sceptre, also spelled Scepter, ornamented rod or staff borne by rulers on ceremonial occasions as an emblem of authority and sovereignty. The primeval symbol of the staff was familiar to the Greeks and Romans and to the Germanic tribes in various forms and had various significances. The staff of command belonged to God as well as to the earthly ruler; there were the old man’s staff, the messenger’s wand, the shepherd’s crook, and, derived from it, the bishop’s, and so on." In essence, by the cover’s depiction, Marina is the person choosing who to crown. She has done so in her writing of the VR game and is doing so again via her own work in the story during her time transferred there. 

We know she is the goddess in terms of our reading since she created the world of the story, HOWEVER, is she that in the story, or is she someone else? I think that it will come out that she is both the goddess born to their world and an Eastern Royal turned slave within the story, but it could also be only one of those things. Who is to know until more is released? And what are your thoughts? 

Let me know!

[intothewilde]

⌠ ellie bamber, 20, cis female, she/her ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, GIORGIA WILDE! according to their records, they’re a FIRST year, specializing in UNDECIDED; and they DID NOT go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (first edition books, walking in the rain, candy-scented lip gloss, getting lost in a museum, millions of twinkling city lights). when it’s the (sagittarius)’s birthday on 12/13/1999, they always request their CHERRY PIE from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation. 

she can’t do shit with knives yet but it’s a great gif, don’t @ me) but DO like this if you want me to hit you up for plots

@gallagherintro​

tw: implied neglect, brief mentions of mental illness and addiction

ok! so giorgia was born and raised in new york city. both of her parents came from extremely wealthy families. her mother was a french socialite and her father was the golden boy of a hearst-like (founders/owners of a distinguished publishing conglomerate) family from connecticut. some of his family members claimed to be descendants of one of oscar wilde’s cousins (a rumor that has yet to be confirmed) and he believed he had it in him to become a literary great himself. he seemingly succeeded, having published multiple best sellers popular with young pseudo-intellectuals. 

giorgia was never sure if her mother had wanted a daughter or a life-size doll. from a very young age she was primed to fit into high society and paraded around her parent’s lavish parties. most of her time was spent with nannies and violin tutors, studying her father’s poetic heroes, and dancing ballet. she was taught how to socialize with society’s elite, but she never felt comfortable doing so. she felt safer hiding behind her mother or sitting beneath the stairs with her nose in a book.

while her mother wanted her child to be pretty and proper, her father wanted someone to continue his family’s legacy. she learned to read when she was four, and by the time she was five, gio was forced to write in a diary every. single. day. (over the last fifteen years she’s filled up dozens of notebooks that live on a bookshelf in her childhood bedroom). she didn’t particularly like her father and she didn’t want to want what he wanted for her. (did that sentence make sense? i hope so). but she did like to write and she was damn good at it. her poetry was published in online journals and lit mags, her short stories won young artist awards. on the outside, she was everything her parents wanted.

but like i said before, gio struggled with the social part or being a socialite, and the life of an heiress was never something she wanted. she didn’t seem to have the right attitude - she was demure and diffident, a textbook wallflower. she was never happier than when she was reading a book or roaming a museum, always curious about the world around her. she never misbehaved or did anything wrong, but her parents wanted her to behave differently. 

their tribeca penthouse always had a certain cold air to it and the high ceilings only seemed to add to the lonely feeling that gio couldn’t escape. her relationship with her parents seemed to become more strained with each passing day. the more she learned about them the more gio realized she didn’t know them at all - the spa retreats her mother went on were really trips to psychiatric facilities and rehabs, and the endless slew of young women her father employed as assistants were all lazily hidden affairs. they never talked about it, if she tried to she was shut down or ignored entirely.

gio grew up wanting to go to nyu. she didn’t know where the dream came from (her parents wanted her to go to vassar or dartmouth) but she loved her home city and something about nyu had always called to her. she was accepted early admission to the gallatin school where she planned to major in an individualized study of creative and dramatic writing.

she loved her freshman year of college. she was finally out of her parents’ home and into a postage stamp of an apartment with an eccentric girl studying theater. she was around people from all over the world and all walks of life instead of the tiny bubble of rich snobs and private schools. she was around people she actually had things in common with. she was still shy and she still found it extremely difficult to talk to people. the easiest way for her to interact with people was to overcompensate for her shyness and be excessively friendly. when she was actually able to talk, she found she had many things to say, and once she started talking it was hard for her to stop.

her roommate was a big fan of movie marathons (in october they watched all of the scream movies, and then all of the saw movies, and then all of the children of the corn movies. that’s twenty horror movies. gio still has nightmares from them). for a few weeks in the fall she had a spy movie marathon. mission: impossible and jason bourne movies, mostly. something about them piqued gio’s interest, and she started reading spy novels, which quickly turned into her writing one of her own. she wanted the protagonist to be a woman for once, and one who’s main personality trait wasn’t tits. her novel, at dawn beneath the bridge of sighs, followed a cia operative and an italia aisi agent who are forced to work together to find the kidnapped daughter of an american diplomat along with the priceless jewelry she was wearing at the time of her capture. (do i know what the fuck im talking about? no!!) 

gio comes from a family of publishers so it was fairly easy for her to find someone who wanted to publish it, but the nepotism ended there, the success was all her own. it was lauded as an impressive debut novel and critics praised her subversion of genre tropes and inventive action sequences. but it stuck out to a select few for a different reason - the heroine used tactics uncannily similar to those used by actual spies, and she used them well. some people were curious as to how the character would handle other situations in the spy world, or really how the author would plan it.

so yeah she got a letter from gallagher, and she thought it was a joke at first. she eventually figured out it was very real (how? idk!) and her curiosity got the better of her. she decided it would be good for research, and that she could go back to nyu if she wanted to. once she arrived at gallagher, giorgia... did not know what to do. she had never been so out of her element, and she felt like she was terrible at everything. but that wasn’t really true, all the things you could study for were things she was actually learning. she became determined to actually do well, and as her first year comes to an end, gio still feels extremely unsure of herself, and unsure of where she wants to focus her studies, but she’s starting to feel like gallagher is the right place for her to be.

personality: she’s very sweet, very earnest, sometimes has a tendency to retreat into herself and get quiet, but she still combats her shyness with an outgoing attitude she learned from her mother that takes her far out of her comfort zone. basically as outgoing as an introvert can be. she tries to see the best in everyone and every situation. emphasis on tries, because she’s a total worrier and is often pulled between the desire to find a silver lining and the fear that something horrible will happen. she will give people more chances than they deserve and let them walk all over her. her self esteem can be pretty low, but one thing she is confident about is her writing (although she won’t tell you because she doesn’t want to seem boastful). art and literature in all forms are her favorite things and she could talk about it forever. she’s the kind of person who tries to learn everyone’s names and once she knows it she’ll say hi to you every time she sees you.

other stuff: she’s fluent in french and english and grew up speaking them equally. (she also knows some spanish, italian, german, and russian from her nannies, but she’s not fluent). she has a deep love for photography, usually bringing a camera with her at all times. she can play classic violin and piano, but hasn’t in a while and is probably rusty, she continued to dance until she came to gallagher and no longer had time to practice. she has a cat named pierre (named after pierre-auguste renoir). she's a vegetarian. she’s basically addicted to fruit. she listens to a lot of sad pop music. her favorite colors are blush pink and forest green. she watches a lot jean-luc godard and wes anderson movies. she’s kind of a sad girl/art ho. she gets crushes on people easily and all the time. she is very impressionable, and seems to experience heartbreak often. she just wants someone to lover her for her, you know? 

wanted connections: (im super fucking tired so im just gonna write some really basic shit but hopefully i’ll edit it tomorrow).

a best friend: it’s not easy for her to make friends but i want gio to have one person she can truly be herself around. a platonic soulmate, if you will.

friends: really just anyone who is understanding of how she’s not always comfortable talking but will also listen if she starts ranting about queer representation in 20th century poetry and plays, ya feel?

big brother/big sister: because she hated being an only child and she really needs someone looking out for her

bad influence: its not hard to be a bad influence on her but someones gotta do it!

good influence: someone who lets her baby ways rub off on them

idk what to call this but a sort of mutual respect with someone she’s had a class with?

idk what to call this either but someone she really clashes with, they just don’t understand each other

people she knew in nyc: she was there for the first 19 years of her life so if your character was there in early 2019 or any time before that, they could’ve run into each other

someone from a similar background who she can just be like... felt with?

hookups/flings: she loves love but love does not love her

an ex: could be good or bad terms idk 

crushes, mutual or unrequited

give me literally anything, the more angst the better!!

[tscsarevna]

 ❝ ⤚⟶ EUROPE, 1458. thanks is given by the CROWN PRINCESS EUDOXIA GLINSKAYA, from RUSSIA. they are at best FEARLESS, and at their worst DISCORDANT . whilst abroad, their ambition is to CULTIVATE A REPUTATION ACROSS COUNTRIES & TO HAVE A SON WHO MAY DETHRONE THE TSAR. SHE seems to remind everyone of ANNA SHAFFER & FURS BRUSHED UPON YOUR NAKED SKIN, THE HOWL OF WOLVES AGAINST THE MIDNIGHT SNOW, THE LAUGHTER OF WOMEN WHO LOOK LIKE GREEK NYMPHS & A LIP COLOURED BY RED WINE AND BLOOD .❞

yes that’s right, a fifth muse by yours truly.. wish me luck... tw : stillborn, miscarriages (briefly mentioned)

STATS.

full name  — eudoxia (ancient greek, Εὐδοξία - “good, repute, good judgement”) yuryovna (”yury” russian Юрий form of george, patronymic name  - “farmer, earthworker”) glinskaya (feminine suffix, “belong’s to)  of house glinski (polish origin - habitational name) titles  — lady of glinski (birth - present), tsesarevna of russia (1456 - present) birthplace  —   smolensk kremlin, smolensk, kievan-russia, russia age  — eight and twenty (28) languages  — russian/old east slavic (mother-tongue), arabic (basic tutoring), german (few dialects), french (simple words), turkish (fluent, mother’s language) dynasty  — house glinski (founded by michael glinsky in poland-lithuania)

father  — yury petrovich glinskoy, prince of glinski & principality of smolensk

mother  — olga vaslievna petravaya, lady of glinski 🕇

spouse  — konstantin alexander dmitrivich, tsarevich of russia 

issue  — n/a

siblings  — older : stillborn son 🕇 older : stillborn son 🕇

other  — father-in-law : tsar dmitri of russia 🕇 brother- in-law : tsar ivan of russia sister-in-law : tsarevna katrinka of russia england  sister-in-law : tsarina adalsinda of anjou russia

zodiac/element — taurus religious affiliation — jewish face claim — anna shaffer height  — 5′7″ recognisable features — curls upon curls of dark brown hair, framing her features like the mane of a lion rather than the crown of a crowned princess.

TIMELINE.

1399 — YURY is born to the grand house of glintski, the family comes from a long line of influential and wealthy people who openly practice judaism, they create smolensk to be a happy and multi-cultural estate beneath the tsar’s rule, opening it’s borders to the jewish people, around this time, the state adopt western cultures and influences, which both sets them ahead and behind the rest of the tsardom 1400 — OLGA is born, she is the daughter of kunsag, a cuman leader who held his own lands  1416 — with the blessing of family and the tsar himself, yury and olga get married and create a world within smolensk, olga converts to judaism from orthodox catholicism 1418 — olga suffers her first, and not last, miscarriage 1419 — olga delivers a son, but the babe does not live past two weeks 1420 — yury inherits the principality of smolensk from his father 1422 — olga’s health declines, leaving yury to focus on extra-marital affairs and smolensk 1425 — olga suffers her last stillborn child, who does not pass three days 1429 — olga and yury go against their religious wishes and instruct the help of a seer/druid to help them conceive a living, healthy child 1430 — after many children who do not pass a few weeks of life, they welcome EUDOXIA who, by prophecy, is named the savoir of their dynasty and line - she is made from black magic 1433 — yury looses the principality of smolensk to the pushing grand duchy of lithuania, he flees with his young family to moscow where he convenes with the tsar and his cousins, that same year (rumoured to be influenced by black magic), his cousins die childless - leaving yury, olga and eudoxia to unfathomable wealth 1435 — rumours arrive that eudoxia is betrothed to the tsar’s firstborn son, ivan dmitrivich 1440 — catching her father having an affair with her governess, eudoxia bribes her father for extra-funds and horse-riding lessons in exchange for her silence 1445 — first catching wind of the arrival of opium, eudoxia finds herself engrossed and begins to stray from her family’s nest to make her own name 1446 — olga dies due to natural circumstances, she is buried in moscow 1448 — yury remarries to a much younger lady of another house, her name is elena 1450 — despite thinking that she is betrothed to the tsar, it is declared that she is in fact betrothed to the tsar’s younger brother, konstantin! 1456 — celebrated in the kremlin, eudoxia marries konstantin, the crown prince of russia; leaving her father and step-mother behind 1458 — eudoxia arrives in portugal for the summit just behind her husband’s company, after staying behind with friends 

HEADCANNONS.

PARTIES & HEDONISTIC WAYS

always described as special, dearly wanted and spectacular in many different ways, eudoxia had little means to act with rebellion, or to fall into pits of depression as a young girl. actually, she was a stroppy child and often threw a fit if she did not get her own way. spoilt in every sense, eudoxia was handed almost everything she ever wanted. horse-riding lessons, jewels fit for the future tsarina, her own house in the countryside to host her elegant parties and dinners with high noble friends! these little parties would soon evolve into parties that’d introduce people into the new wave of opium that had been traded into russia from islamic states by the 1420s. she craved an audience, and would put on dances/plays/monologues for friends before marrying the tsar’s crown prince.. and even now married (a wife and a crown princess by her husband’s name) she continues to host extravagant get-together. with her charismatic ways and her family’s long line in trade and opened borders, she tends to import rare substances from the persian empire, which have leant eudoxia a hedonistic reputation. going as far as to allow her husband to leave before her, as to host a going-away shindig with her friends in moscow - she arrives a week after her husband, in the hope that the leave from her main posse of women and men will push eudoxia to chase what she really needs to affirm her stability and her right to be tsarina; a son. 

FAITH

the house glinski was founded by michael glinsky, who boasted that the family came from a melting pot of cultures. whilst some like to think that they herald from the orthodox hungarian nobles and emir mamai of the golden horde, this branch of the glinski house (directly related through her father’s heritage) comes from a group of jewish travellers after the mongol occupation - first mentioned in a 10th century kievian letter from cairo, they are the oldest know family to have settled in smolensk. judaism was always important to the house, even if they were subjected to ridicule for being so different to the rest of the tsardom (the main religion practised was orthodox christian, which even the house glinski largely took a part off), yury in particular, did not bend to the will of others. he brought eudoxia up to stay stubborn and alongside her faith; even if she did not care for faith in general. when she had married the crown prince, everyone had suspected that eudoxia would convert to orthodox catholicism, but eudoxia had refused - stating that she was proud of her jewish heritage and that she’d change for no man, not even the tsar’s little brother. this left her reputation in question, but mostly allowed her to gain the respect she so hungered for. her mother, olga of the cumans (a daughter of a famous cuman leader) had been orthodox, but had happily converted for her new husband. 

FASHION

as trade from europe and moscovite russia passed through smolensk, eudoxia adopted a hybrid of styles as a child. most of her clothes were made of diverse patterned and highly colored fabrics which acquirred an especially decorative character, and details consisting of gold (metallic) lace and precious stones. as a young woman however, she spent all of her time in moscow which left her to adopt a more traditional dress on declaration that the russians must preserve their traditions. she wears the letnik (a garment with very broad, short sleeves with detachable flaps made of expensive fabrics embroidered with stones and pearls). the garment was heavy, and so eudoxia is often described as strong since with every year that passes she adds more stones and more pearls. the keivan- russian dresses were especially adopted from the byzantine empire - eudoxia adopted such trends as the kolty (earrings that came in both large and small sizes), bracelets, beads, finger rings

MARRIAGE

from a young age everyone had told eudoxia that she would be fit to rule russia as tsarina along the new tsar. she had believed this, and talk of a betrothal was always on the horizon - alas, when news came that he was set to marry a french princess, eudoxia had thrown herself into a fit of immature values. she threw her father’s vases, ripped expensive fabrics and screamed bloody murder till she fell asleep upon her father’s lap. it was perhaps, an insult, to be instead betrothed to the second son of russia, konstantin. this insult to her pride left a bad taste in her mouth, and following their marriage things have yet to settle. two years on, she knows of his affairs and questionable bastards - it isn’t that she’s jealous or pining for him, but merely insulted that he dare question her pride and reputation. with the trip to portugal, she hopes to find time to stabilise his right to rule by conceiving a son of her own - after all, the tsardom needs a legitimate son. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

friends/party goers (think the great gatsby parties but medieval), flirtations (with little to no emotions ofc, just flirting sk), western courtiers/queens/princesses to influence, persian and chinese empire courtiers to woo/coo over (eudoxia comes from a long line of trade rich family members, she often has personal ties with the trade in order to have a good party), old-suitors (though always betrothed, she wouldve flirted with danger - if your guy (or girl) visited russia then !! come @ me), a woman who may help her conceive... aka.. black magic, 

INFLUENCES.

catherine (the great) prudence night (sabrina) lily frankenstein (penny dreadful) andromache (greek mythology) veruca (charlie & the chocolate factory) erzulie (haitian folk religion) jay gatsby (the great gatsby) bessie coleman (american history) anne boleyn (english history) volumnia (coriolanus, shakespeare) lady of the lake (english folklore, king arthur) arachne (greek mythology) the swing (1767, painting) hildegard of bingen (german history) tissaia de vries (the witcher)