#resort wear 2020

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

☝️😡

“What was eye-catching was her explanation of why. In her ruling, Mizelle wrote she had consulted the Corpus of Historical American English, an academic search engine that returns examples of how words and phrases are used in select historical texts. Mizelle searched “sanitation,” a crucial word in the 1944 statute that authorizes the CDC to issue disease-prevention rules, and found it generally was used to describe the act of making something clean. “Wearing a mask,” she wrote, “cleans nothing.”

Searching large linguistic databases is a relatively new approach to judicial analysis called legal corpus linguistics. Although it has gained in popularity over the last decade, it is barely discussed outside of an enthusiastic group of right-wing conservative legal scholars. Which raises the question: How did this niche concept wind up driving such a consequential decision in the country’s health policy?

Now, new disclosures seen by HuffPost shed some light. Just weeks before she issued the ruling, Mizelle had discreetly attended an all-expenses-paid luxury trip from a conservative group whose primary mission is to persuade more federal judges to adopt the use of corpus linguistics. For five days, Mizelle and more than a dozen other federal judges listened to the leading proponents of corpus linguistics in the comfort of The Greenbrier, an ostentatious resort spread out over 11,000 acres of West Virginia hillside.

The newly formed group that picked up the tab, the Judicial Education Institute, received more than $1 million in startup funding from the billionaire libertarian Charles Koch’s network and DonorsTrust, a nonprofit that has funneled millions in anonymous donations to right-wing causes and has been dubbed “the dark money ATM of the conservative movement.”

Trump appointed Mizelle to the federal bench in late 2020 over objections from the American Bar Association that she had not been practicing law long enough to be qualified. A search of her other rulings found she had never previously applied corpus linguistics.

Neither Mizelle nor the Judicial Education Institute responded to requests for comment.

In response to the new disclosure, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who chairs the subcommittee on federal courts and oversight, called for more disclosure surrounding when judges attend ideological educational retreats.

“The multi-pronged billionaire-funded scheme to influence the judiciary includes flying amenable judges to luxury resorts to bathe them in the latest fantastical right-wing legal theories,” he said in a statement to HuffPost. “At the very least, the public ought to know when judges are attending lavish ‘seminars’ promoting the agenda of partisan special interests. The Judicial Conference should take a close look at tightening its rules to ensure transparency around such junkets.”

[whatisflorencewearing]

Editorial: Glamour Spain December 2020 outtake

Florence is wearing a @gucci Resort 2021 wool lamé floral jacquard dress paired with @gucci Fall 2020 Bonny crystal-bejeweled bow and chain-embellished mary jane pumps in dusty white.

Photography: @lillieeiger Styling: @aldenejohnson & @fatimamonjas Styling assistant: @mariangelaoorlando MUA: @sarahreygate Hair: @leighkeateshair

[monstersandmaw]

Here's this month's offering - a female monster this time, and a gender neutral reader, and we're back in Starfall Springs again, and after two months of extraordinarily long (12k each!!) stories, I'm back to the more normal and manageable 2-3k word stories with this one. 

Content: casual hookup that could be interpreted to go further in the future, no specific body parts mentioned during the sex scene, gender and body neutral reader Wordcount: 2702

Starfall Springs wasn’t a glitzy resort like Oyster Cove or Silversand Island. It wasn’t somewhere the extremely wealthy went, unless they had a reason to visit one of the Silkfoot family, of course.

So when you pulled up to the door of Shell Cottage, a tiny, cozy, stone fisherman’s house with limewashed walls and tiny, deep-set windows, and a slate roof that bore moss in between the tiles like extra caulking, you expected the resident to be someone… ordinary.

Of course, ‘ordinary’ for Starfall Springs was a bit more of a variable term than it was for the larger cities, where non-humans tended to be outnumbered 10-1 by humans, so since moving to the quaint, seaside town, you’d come to expect the unexpected with every delivery.

Leaning your bicycle against the rough wall of the house, you unslung your insulated backpack and carefully extracted the bag of hot food, enchanted to keep its contents warm and fresh all the way to its destination, and approached the front door.

Before you could knock, however, a voice drifted out to you from inside, and its owner did not sound happy at all.

“… I don’t care how they got left out of the article, I really don’t, but you need to include images of her paintings in the bloody article about her paintings! She’s an artist, for crying out loud! Gods-dammit do I have to run the entire fucking magazine myself? Fix. It.”

Shit. Sounded like someone wasn’t enjoying their holiday at all. Still, you had a living to earn, and you weren’t going to do it eavesdropping on angry city folk who ran magazines about artists, or whatever this person did.

With a decisive knock on the cutesy, cottage door, you stepped back and waited.

The door nearly flew off its hinges when the occupant opened up, and you looked up at them in surprise. And then up. And up.

At nearly seven feet tall, the tiefling inside was… huge. And… gorgeous.

Her tail lashed back and forth behind her like an angry cat’s, and she was wearing… oh by all the gods… You’d had the door answered to you in all sorts of getups, from cartoon-pyjamas to athletic attire, tuxedos to even just underwear, and one horrifying occasion where they’d worn nothing at all, but this was the first time you’d ever been… affected by it.

Read the whole thing over on Patreon right now, and get access to the huge pre-2020 catalogue, as well as access to polls, WIP snippets and previews, and lifetime membership to our chill Discord server.

[the-empress-7]

Speaking of Instagram comments, a last resort to some of the people was "she copied Meghan with the hat". I’m probably wrong in expecting them to be logical but it’s bewildering, as Meghan has worn only a few brimmed hats, and none of them was a green fedora-like style hat with feathers. Catherine also has been wearing this style for a few years now for more casual occasions like Christmas last year or her birthday service in 2020.

This look screams very British posh countryside chic to me, particularly with the colour pairing, it looks like something she would wear for a walk, just slightly more refined with the coat and boots. Not a style her sister-in-law would ever come near, unless she has to copykate for season 2.

This is Catherine in a feather topped piece circa 2008:

or how about the fedora she wore for Vogue in 2016?

[eruden-writes]

The Unexpected Human Problem - Part 20 (Yautja x Human)

Part 1 | Part 2| Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5| Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 (coming soon)

Early chapters available on Patreon for my patrons! ;)

Comments, tags, and reblogs are real motivators for me, too! ♥

☆ ☆ ☆

Summary: The night her abductors die, Rayelle finds herself running for her life. She doesn’t know where she is, what is following her, where to go. All she knows is she’s not on Earth any longer and the thing chasing her has the capacity to kill.

Tai'dqei never anticipated finding a human when he took the job of tracking and subduing a small contingent of smugglers. It was only when the human attacked and fled fled, Tai'dqei - hopped up on the euphoria of a successful hunt - gave chase, instinct burning at his center.

Will sense return to Tai'dqei before he catches Rayelle? Or will Rayelle be subjected to the yautja’s natural inclinations?

And what happens afterwards?

☆ ☆ ☆

I’m sorry to be contacting you so soon. It’s probably my imagination but…

Something doesn’t feel right. 

I think most of the staff are androids, made to look human. But there are other staff. Alien staff, which strikes me as strange, since you weren’t allowed on planet.

I also see non-humans late at night, after staff SUGGESTS we get some rest. I don’t know if they’re staff or visitors. They don’t wear Rerli uniforms.

But I’m catching sight of more of them at random intervals. There’s a buzz in the air, like something big is going to happen, too. Like an event or something. 

Something feels wrong. I don’t know how to explain it.

It’s probably nothing. I’m sorry. I’m probably bothering you. Maybe I’m just having a hard time adjusting. 

I hope you’re doing well, wherever your line of work has taken you. 

Sorry, again, for bothering you. 

~ Rayelle. 

With a heavy sigh, Rayelle threw her arm over her face as she laid on her bed. There, she sent it. And she felt like an awkward teenager for it. 

Or maybe her mind was playing tricks on her, making her see concerns that weren’t there, because she was desperate for a reason to contact Tai’dqei. How many times had she, in the past, reached out to someone under the guise of another issue? Although, to be fair, this was a genuine issue causing her concern. 

Rerli Resort had provided everything it said it would, including personal rooms for individuals. 

Rayelle’s room was a gentle blue, currently. She could change the color with the console on the wall, though, which seemed fairly anachronistic for the 2020s, but she wasn’t going to complain. Overall, the room reminded her of a hotel room. A large plush bed, a desk - equipped with a computer - and a desk chair. In one corner, there was a chair and a table, presumably so one could read. She even had her own attached bathroom with a shower. 

The first morning she had woken up there, she almost thought her whole excursion with Tai’dqei had been a dream. A very vivid, oddly detailed dream.

Of course, then Jezika popped her head in, to offer their newest resident a cheerful ‘good morning’ and all dream assumptions fled.

“Finally wrote him, eh?” From the floor, at the foot of Rayelle’s bed, Lisa laughed around her gum. It was hard to acknowledge that, by all technicalities, the young woman - with her cherry red hair and studded denim jacket and fishnets - was older than Rayelle. At least in the respect that Lisa was born in the 70s and had been a teenager in the 80s. Well, in the US.

Another thing Rayelle had learned while residing in the massive resort was the fact all the humans - men, women, and non-binary - had come from some stage of the United States. Whether it was the pre-colonial Indigneous land, the Colonies, the US, or a later iteration of the country. 

Theories had flown around as to why that was, but no one really knew. It seemed the resort was made for many more people, but fewer than 100 had arrived. Of course, Rerli was a new establishment, so perhaps that was why?

Rayelle had a growing paranoia that the reason why they were all from the US had to do with who had been snatching them all, though. She worried their captors shared more than just a proclivity for kidnapping. 

From the desk chair, which had been turned to face the other people in the room, Sandra chuckled. She was a housewife, abducted from 1956, with carefully coiffed hair and a penchant for blouses paired with long skirts. A light floral scent always wafted from her. In her hands, she worked a piece of knitting with her needles. “You have certainly agonized over that missive since you arrived!”

“It’s difficult,” Rayelle groused, faint heat nudging at her cheeks but not quite coming to the surface yet. It was a little aggravating to be teased so relentlessly from a housewife and a punk, but that was her life at the moment. She shrugged and sighed, a dollop of resignation in her voice, “He’s probably halfway across the universe.”

Though she did want to message Tai’dqei since setting foot at the resort, her reasons for doing so expanded the longer she stayed. It wasn’t simply her missing Tai’dqei, but a gut feeling that something was wrong. Though part of her still struggled against that instinct, believing she was just looking for any reason to reach out to him. It was a struggle against herself.

Before the other two could reply, one of the android staff poked their head into the room. A quizzical look passed over their features after a beat of observing the three women. “What are you three doing here together? You’re from highly disparate decades.” 

One of the few ‘guidelines’ of Rerli 3: Stick to your era. 

It was a rule few abided by, much to staff frustration. Some decades had far fewer people though. It was unfair to isolate the few from other eras, simply due to potential anachronisms. Besides, it didn’t seem there had been any successful return stories, from what Rayelle churned up. Which meant no one returning to their home could blab about the ‘wonders of the future,’ whether near or distant. 

Then again, the resort was new. Maybe there were successful stories of return trips elsewhere.

“What do you need, Jane?” Lisa asked with a tinge of irritation, her nose wrinkling as she popped her bubble gum.

Forgetting the transgression, or maybe simply not caring - as far as an android can care, - Jane made a delighted sound and clapped her hands together once. “There are guests who wish to make your acquaintance.” 

“Guests? Are they non-humans?” Rayelle pushed herself into a sitting position, trying to stifle the way her heart jumped. There was no way Tai’dqei could have gotten there so soon, right? So it had to be someone else. That itch of concern started to weasel its way into her thoughts.

“Yes, isn’t that exciting?” Jane’s smile didn’t falter, her eyes not blinking. 

Rayelle narrowed her eyes. The other two human women in the room exchanged glances, apparently already aware where she’d go with this. “What happened to not allowing non-humans here?” 

“I haven’t the slightest what you mean, Miss Brooks,” Jane replied, no hint of deception in her voice or her features. Although, maybe she was programmed not to show either. Jane folded her hands in front of herself, primly, still sporting that spotless smile on her pink lips. “We hope to facilitate strong bonds with non-humans here, in case our residents can’t go home.” 

Residents. Not guests. Rayelle narrowed her eyes, not really enjoying how her mind gnawed on the distinction of those two words. Sandra shifted in her chair and Lisa snorted, both swathed in the same aura of uncertainty that Rayele felt.

“What kind of… aliens are there?” Sandra was the one to ask, fumbling over the word aliens. Rayelle didn’t know if it was a novel word or simply her own personal experiences making it taste bad on Sandra’s tongue.

Not picking up on Sandra’s distaste, Jane twittered excitedly, “Oh, an array!” 

“Yautja?” Rayelle asked, unable to stop herself. Maybe Tai’dqei had gotten into the heads of the androids, altered their programming. Maybe he petitioned whoever ran Rerli 3 for access. Maybe, maybe, maybe. A billion wishful thoughts spun about Rayelle’s head, knowing they were all unlikely.

“Of course not!” If it wasn’t for their situation, Rayelle would have found Jane’s scandalized tone and expression funny. “They’re too much for humans’ delicate sensibilities.”  

Rayelle sucked on her teeth, before hazarding a tentative guess. “Florizian?”

“What a good guess!” Jane’s delighted tone felt like a punch to Rayelle’s gut, knocking her breath out for a moment. She wished the android had visited before she sent the message to Tai’dqei. Then she could have told him, warned him what was going on. Who was likely behind it all.

“Tell ‘em to come back later.” Lisa’s brusque voice caught Jane’s attention, the android turning a perturbed look to the red-headed punk. Waving her hand, her plastic bracelets rattling on her wrist, Lisa added with no less bite, “I don’t feel like meeting anyone new today.” 

Jane seemed about to say something when Sandra, with her working knitting needles jittering a little more than earlier, sighed, “Neither do I, I’m afraid.”

“Me either,” Rayelle chimed in, leaning back on her hands on the bed and crossing her legs. She and Jane locked gazes, across the small distance between bed and entryway. Calculations, considerations, and - perhaps - a fight between original programming versus new flickered behind Jane’s eyes. Rayelle waited quietly, hoping she’d be proven wrong.

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice in the matter. Our guests are sizable investors to our organization,” Jane finally answered with a sigh. She stepped to the side, motioning to the hallway where two aliens finally emerged. One had long, wiggling tendrils - like Zav - and the other had four multi-faceted eyes and strange solid-looking growths from their cheeks. Both were built like tanks, though. 

The air in the room stilled. One side, thick with distrust. The other firm in their sense of complete control. Only Jane, who appeared unaware of the quiet clashing of forces, made a gesture to the two aliens as she continued to speak to the humans,  “You will be escorted to the assembly hall with everyone else. Please, come along now.”

With that, Jane happily flounced from the room, leaving humans and aliens to leer at one another. Rayelle considered refusing to move, but Sandra sighed and put her knitting away into her bag. The housewife stood, dusting off her skirt.

Sandra shot Rayelle and Lisa a look that read ‘let’s get this over with’ and, quietly, the two women followed her lead.

—

Apprehension lit hot and heavy in the air of the assembly hall. As per everything else in the resort, each decade had its own auditorium to keep inter-decade mingling to a minimum. However, it seemed they shoved all available humans into the 2070s hall. Likely due to the heightened tech and plush seating available. 

Jane had gathered more humans since retrieving Rayelle, Sandra, and Lisa. It seemed as if she was just going door to door, herding who-so-ever was around. With the number of humans, the number of non-human escorts also expanded. 

By the time they made it to the assembly hall, there were six non-humans and nearly twenty-five humans. No one spoke, considering every time they did, one of their escorts would gargle or growl or snarl at them. 

An alien, that reminded Rayelle of a cross between an octopus and a shark, stopped Jane’s troupe near the entryway. They regarded a holoscreen in tentacle-y hands.  “Do you have guests TDA2G, TDA3K, and TDC8P?” 

Rayelle thought she could hear the whirring of mechanics in Jane’s head, before she eventually said, “Yes, I do.” 

“Those’re Zav’s dibs,” the alien gurgled, before rushing to intercept another group. Another non-human shuffled into the spot Octo-Arms had left empty. This one was purple, blue flowers blossoming at their temples and vine-like hair pulled back into an elaborate pile atop their head.

“What an honor!” Jane crooned, as she turned to her troupe. She pointed out the three humans, bouncing on her heels with delight, “Bette, Rayelle, and Mizan, you’ll be going with this lovely Florizian gentleperson.” 

The two others - Bette, a 1940s factory worker, and Mizan, a scholarly young man from the 2050s - dawdled in the safety of the group, until Rayelle stepped toward their new escort. Bette and Mizan followed her, both staying behind as the Florizian led them away. Rayelle tried to shoot them both assured glances, but Bette’s features remained stony and Mizan looked about ready to faint.

The walk wasn’t a long one, but it did lead them to a more secluded area of the resort. It was a wing where basic administration and offices sat. Though as Rayelle traversed it, she realized it had changed since her first entry, five days ago. Cubicles had been torn out, desks shoved to the far walls. A number of aliens lingered about, some lollygagging as others moved with the purpose of a job.

Into one of the larger offices, the three humans were led. Other humans were led in, as well. Presumably from different herding groups. Faintly, Rayelle wondered what they were intending to do with the humans left behind, in the assembly hall. Her mind took her to too dark of places to focus on.

Instead, she turned her attention to the desk, behind which a figure familiar to Rayelle stood. 

“Ah, good, my darlings have arrived,” Zav said, when one of the Florizian who escorted the humans to the office got his attention. He turned, all smiles and charm while the vine-tendril hair wiggled with delight. He stood tall and lithe, dressed in a nice enough suit. Rayelle couldn’t help but picture how that smile could easily turn into a snarl, with so many teeth. 

“Let me take a look at you all,” he nearly purred as he rounded the desk and approached the roughly twelve humans in attendance.

All of them stood to attention as Zav approached, noticeably uncertain but spines straight. He tilted his head this way and that, drinking in the details of each person and occasionally touching them with a hair vine. He’d mutter instructions to another Florizian, a smaller one that tailed at his heels, but Rayelle couldn’t catch whatever he said. 

The longer the inspection went on, the more the humans lost their cool exteriors. Mizan’s shoulders arched to their ears, their lips pressed together with anxiety, while Bette glowered, with her arms crossed over her chest. Others fidgeted or tugged on their clothes. Rayelle tried to school her expression into neutrality, cover any inkling of recognition in her eye as Zav stared at her. 

His hair wavered atop his head, before he traced a single tendril down the curve of Rayelle’s jaw. It felt velvety soft and pliable, but cold. She braced against the vine, waiting to feel a thorny bite. “And you are the one who’d been traveling with a yautja, yes?” 

“That’s right,” she answered, forcing herself to remain still under the touch. Her eyes angled toward Zav’s face, hating that she had to look up into their features. Their dark eyes surveyed her for a moment. They were unreadable to her, though. She couldn’t begin to imagine what Zav saw in her, what he thought of her.

“I do hope he didn’t tarnish you,” he finally said, another brush of the vine coasted over her cheek to her chin and down her neck. A normally gentle action felt oddly like spiders, crawling over Rayelle’s skin.

Her brows furrowed at the assertion, a frown threatening to tilt at her lips. “What do you mean?” 

“Well, your importance to me is for the revitalization of the Florizian population.” He patted her cheek, his hand falling from her face. With narrowing eyes and a double-edged smile, Zav added, “Can’t do that if you’re carrying a litter of yautja spawn, can you?” 

A litter. That was curious wording. Rayelle stowed that away for later contemplation and, perhaps, to ask Tai’dqei if she ever saw him again. 

She chose not to focus on the implication of those words. Still clinging to her sense of calm, since she suspected it wouldn’t last, Rayelle managed to evenly reply, “If you’re asking if I had relationships with my traveling partner, I didn’t.”

“That is good to hear!” That edged smile softened into one of actual delight. Pity that he was a piece of shit, Rayelle realized, since the expression was actually almost sweet.

“I also don’t intend to be a Florizian broodmare,” she added, squaring her shoulders and raising her chin. At her sides, her fists clenched, her fingernails digging into her palm to keep her from trembling.

The Florizian before her blinked, owlishly. Behind him, others shifted awkwardly, aware of how the air around their boss dipped dangerously. The delighted smile was short lived as another, colder grin took its place. “You won’t be a broodmare. More like a greenhouse.”

Rayelle rolled her eyes at the wordplay. As if he could turn this into a cutesy exchange, when he was about to force the humans into perpetual parental servitude. “My tubes are tied. No babies for me.” 

Before she could register movement, one of Zav’s hands whipped out, grabbing her forcefully by the chin. A startled sound choked in her throat as his other arm looped around her back, pulling her closer to him. His hold was bruising on her face.

“Do you really think we can’t reverse that?” Zav sneered down at her, vines waggling in cruel amusement. A long green tongue flickered out from between his lips as he stared down at her, his teeth glinting in the brief moment his mouth opened. “Pity about the pheromones, though. That was more for your pleasure than anything else, but we’ll make do. Won’t we?”

He squeezed her cheeks, demanding a reaction or answer. A dull throb ached through her jaw as her heart pounded. Rayelle shot him a squinty-eyed, sarcastic smile as her hand moved carefully to her hoodie pocket.

It hadn’t taken a rocket scientist to feel the shift in the resort’s atmosphere, two days ago. Nearly every human noticed it. A few had mentioned the androids acting strange, as well. Others had mentioned actually seeing unfamiliar non-humans loping about. Two humans had gone completely missing, the staff unable to account for them, even in their own records.

Suspicious, Rayelle had spoken to others - revealing to them what Tai’dqei had told her about human breedability - and they decided to prepare for the worst.

Anything that could be used as a stabbing or bludgeoning weapon, that wouldn’t immediately be noticed as missing, was gathered. Knives and meat tenderizers from the kitchens. Scissors, knitting needles, woodcarving kits, and x-acto knives from the craft areas. Though the gardens had provided the most, with three-pronged cultivators, sharp edged trowels, shears, clippers, and even scythes. 

As far as anyone could tell, the staff hadn’t noticed at all. Which led to the bolder thefts. Shovels and automated knives and saws and anything that could feasibly have a use to protect themselves.

Larger items were hidden around the resort, in places humans could flee to. Smaller items were kept on their persons. 

Such as the hand cultivator in Rayelle’s hoodie pocket. Zav seemed too intent on snarling into Rayelle’s face - perhaps imagining what he would do to her - to realize her movement. She quickly withdrew the three-pronged weapon from her pocket, swinging it up and into the side of the Florizian’s face. 

Zav let out a shriek of shock and pain, as the satisfying squish of metal sunk into flesh and eye. As he shoved her away, Rayelle kept a tight hold on her weapon and it shlucked out of the side of his face. Dark green spurted from the injuries, sticky like sap. A scent like cut grass - but heady - filled Rayelle’s nostrils as she stumbled back. 

At her attack, the others instantly followed suit, pounding and stabbing into any alien who had the misfortune of being close enough. Bette, armed with a knife and a metal pan - wherever the hell she managed to carry that - as a shield. Mizan with their taser in one hand and a knife in the other.

The room erupted into chaos and screams. Rayelle hoped the others could hear back in the assembly hall or that they had already begun their own escape attempts. It hadn’t been a perfect plan, but hopefully the others figured out what was up and used their stolen goods to escape.

Stunned guards took a moment to react, before rushing toward the sharps and electricity. Green and red blood splattered, though more of the former spilled than the latter. Rayelle spun toward the door, absently slamming her cultivator into the back of another Florizian’s head; one that Mizan had been struggling against with his knife. 

“Let’s go!” Someone yelled heading for the hall, slamming through the door and into the corridor. High on adrenaline, and taking advantage of the shock, all the humans rushed from the room, scattering in the hallway. As Rayelle raced with Bette and Mizan, others met up with them, in similar states of bloody, bruised disarray. 

She thought to do a headcount, but there was no time. They had to get to the 1950s bomb shelter or to the 2170s radioactive shelter. There were a number of smaller holdout spaces, but most of the supplies, first aid kits, weaponry, and communication tech had been stored in those two places. 

The longer Rayelle ran, the more shrieks, the more screams she heard. Alarms started blaring through the resort, flashing red and angry, as the far-off sounds of booted footfalls and barking orders echoed. 

Trash cans and laundry carts and supply stations were overturned, to hinder alien pursuers. Anything that couldn’t be nailed down was thrown in the way. 

Ungodly howls lit behind Rayelle and she couldn’t help but look back. 

Zav was there.

Or she thought it was Zav. It was hard to tell. He’d grown and his tendrils had overtaken his body. He was a writhing mass of teeth and vines, one eye glowing and the other a bloody hole. Judging from the hate filled glare, pinned to her form, it was definitely Zav.

Her legs carried her faster, her heart stuttering as her lungs ached for more breath. She was close to safety. Others were already in the shelter, waving others in and screaming for laggers to hurry up.

Rayelle’s heart twisted. They had all agreed, if necessary, the doors would shut even if some were locked out. There was hope they could flee to another, smaller hidey hole or the vents or even the outside. 

They were banking on the fact their reproductive capabilities were too valuable to destroy. 

But they all knew it was a gamble. 

Rayelle hurtled over the threshold, with two others, before the door slammed shut. Spinning around as the locks chunked into place, Rayelle peered through the porthole - heavy glass that would deflect bullets or, presumably, lasers - as the solid door vibrated with impact. Something big and angry and vicious howled and pounded at the door. The door shook in its frame, but the metal held firm.

She stood, staring at it as her chest heaved with panting breaths. Her lungs ached and her legs twinged. Faintly, she felt the pain where Zav had held her, along her jaw, flare. It was probably bruised. 

But they had done it. At least for the moment, they had managed to rebel and get away from the aliens. The alleged ‘investors’ of Rerli 3. Likely also the aliens that had funded so many lives being ripped away from home, to begin with. Though, it wasn’t just Florizians, a small part of Rayelle realized. There had been other non-humans, ones she didn’t have names for.

Shaking her analytical thoughts away, Rayelle turned to the innards of the bunker. “Was that everyone?” 

“No one was locked out, if that’s what you mean,” replied Abe, an older man who Rayelle suspected was from the 1930s, judging by his attire. 

It had been somewhat surprising to find men at Rerli 3. Though, after some thought, Rayelle guessed there were aliens out there needing sperm, just as much as eggs and incubators. Or maybe there were non-humans that incubated via the men. 

She nodded and muttered a thanks to Abe, before glancing over the assembled people, crammed into the room. Not everyone got away in one piece, she realized. Quite a few people sat on the floor, as others tended to their medical needs. Quiet sobbing and whimpering filled the room. 

Rayelle tried not to fret or worry about familiar faces she didn’t find.

Even if everyone couldn’t get to the bunkers, they had mapped out a number of other decent hiding places. She just had to hope everyone had gotten somewhere safe. Even if those other areas weren’t stocked with as much food or intense weaponry.

With her heart still pounding, Rayelle glanced at her wrist gauntlet. Her fingers shook as she pulled up the communication app, the one she had sent a message through to Tai’dqei earlier. 

Had he seen her message?

Had he replied? 

Was he coming?

Her stomach sank as a ‘No Satellite Connection’ error flashed on the holoscreen.

[apompkwrites]

(i'm this anon btw)

ok ok so what if lil leech looked a little too similar to their older brothers which basically adds more fuel to the fire of other kids not wanting to be friends with lil leech bc of their older brothers' reputations.

now imagine a little leech that is basically doing everything to make themselves not look like the twins in any way, shape and form. from dying their hair, wearing contacts, maybe even downing some potions to change their bone structure or smth.

⚠️‼️BODY HORROR‼️⚠️

or maybe little leech grows to hate their too sharp teeth so much that they decide to just straight up file them down.

remember the tiktok trend back in 2020 (?) where people would like file down their teeth to make them pointier?? it's basically like that but in reverse.

now add the twins or lil ashen catching them in the act for extra angst.

yes yes yes this is honestly what i've had in mind with lil leech for a while now :O

!!BODY HORROR + FORM OF SELF HARM!!

like, the idea that the only way they think they can distance themselves from their brothers is by getting rid of those features that are synonymous with the infamous leech twins.

filing down their teeth is a BIG one that i've had in mind for them. like, their teeth are sharp and everyone in the coral sea thinks they're going to tear someone apart with them. so, what better way to distance themselves than to get rid of their teeth?

and by seven would it hurt. since they live in the water, they can't even open their mouth without having a burning sensation rush through their teeth. it hurts to talk, it hurts to eat, it hurts to open their mouth, it hurts to do anything.

also, to go even more extreme, what if, before filing down their teeth, they used them to tear at their fins? they hate the idea of even being a moray eel because of how their brothers have tainted the very concept of their being. so, they resort to ridding themselves of any hint that they are related, save for the heterochromatic eyes and blue-pigmented skin.

[meanmisscharles]

If you don't think Taika hasn't been on Tumblr since 2020 at the very latest and is running a carefully curated fashion blog and leaving bitchy comments on other fashion blogs that just lump spring/summer in with resort wear, I don't know what to tell you.

[malbwgafsblog]

What is our representation of fashion?

All of us who fall in love with fashion had the opportunity to do it in so many ways

Some of us wore our mother’s heels

Others discovered luxury

fendi resort 2023

versace fall winter 2022

And some were taught by watching the masters of it

alexander mcqueen spring summer 1999

Each started the beginning of your crazy love story with the subject that make all of us dream,

Fashion.

Even if a love story is singular,unique they all have one thing in common,passion.

Just like fashion.

Because every famous designer or models didn’t arrived where they are right now by luck or maybe luck did played a part

But the main fuel of their rise to power is their passion that fueled their vision of fashion and every part that they could use to make their vision come to life

Each one of them have their own vision their own style but one thing that is common is that they all use it to express what can’t come into words

Just like Simon Porte-Jacquemus who dedicated his fall winter 2020 collection to his mother,Valérie Jacquemus

“I was seven when I made a skirt out of a curtain for my mother, and she brought me to school wearing it.”

Donatella Versace has been the creative director of Versace for now more than two decades

She always used the brand as an immense tribute to her brother Gianni who tragically died in July 1997

Donatella kept the essence of the brand created by her brother in 1978

She participated to the creation of the phenomenon of "supermodel"

A group of models in the 90s including:

Kate Moss,Naomi Campbell,Shalom Harlow,Claudia Schiffer,Yasmeen Ghauri,Amber Valletta and others

I asked fashion pages that i follow their representation of fashion

what was your first experience with fashion?

what does fashion mean to you?

what is your favorite fashion moment of all time?

@high_fashion_ on tiktok 20,4K followers:

"I don't have a concrete answer to the first question, I didn't have any experience except that I once went to a casting and after that I fell in love with fashion and I started filming first on one account and then I started on this one"

what is your favorite fashion moment of all time?

"my favourite fashion moment is maybe bella hadid for coperni spray-dress"

@runwayr4mpage on tiktok 0.8k followers:

"my first experience with fashion was watching americas next top model"

"fashion delivers statements about certain subjects through clothing and allows people to express their individual personality through clothing"

"my fave fashion moment was naomi campbell opening dsquared2 fw03"

@vs.woman on tiktok 0.8k followers:

"My first experience with fashion was at the Victoria’s secret fashion show, but before that, I was fascinated by fashion when I watched a film by Audrey Hupburn, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”"

"Fashion for me is passion, where you can be yourself and create new trends and ideas! That even with the judgments, you remain firm, because fashion allows us to think that the sky is the limit. Fashion allows us to be self-confident, fashion allows us to tell the world who we really are. Fashion is love, purity, freedom, happiness and acceptance."

"For me, a milestone in the world of fashion was christian dior's “New Look”, it was iconic."

@fashion.runways_ on tiktok 121 followers:

"my firt experience was when i downloaded tik tok in 2019 i guess"

"it's a way to express myself in the world, fashion it's art, it's a revolution"

"my favorite fashion moment is when shalom was painted in alexander mcqueen 1999"

@moondustcouture on instagram 27 followers:

"honestly i’m not sure haha i think i started developing an individual style sense and then got interested in other peoples styles and kinda got interested in fashion like that"

"it’s a way of self expression but i also love looking at and analyzing it because in my mind it’s an art form"

"not a moment exactly but elizabeth hawes talking about sustainable fashion and style over trendiness she was so ahead of her time"

@modeladdict_ on instagram 1.1k followers:

"My first contact with fashion was watching the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2011. After watching the show, I became interested in the fashion industry."

"Fashion for me is art and creativity. It is a political act. It is the way that human beings express themselves to the world."

"I think I have three favorite moments in fashion and they're all from Alexander McQueen shows:

•Shalom Harlow closing the S/S 1999 show;

•Kate Moss hologram at the A/W 2006 show;

•Adina Fohlin in the wind tunnel at the A/W 2003 show."

@hautecouturing on instagram 170 followers:

"I personally study fashion design at university in Milan, for me fashion means expressing who you are without being judged, and honestly I don’t have a favorite fashion moment"

@velodive on instagram 0.9k followers:

"ever since i was little, i had an affinity for fashion. not that i was gifted in any way, but i was really drawn to it. from the casual outfits and small details that people use to express themselves, to the abstract fashion only seen on film and carnivals, i appreciated it all. the first exposure to fashion was probably when i was sitting in my parents' bedroom and some runway show was playing on fashiontv. i asked my mom how would you wear an outfit that eccentric on day-to-day basis and she explained the whole concept. i've been sewing outfits for my dolls ever since."

"it's not an integral part of my life, but it's something that makes it better – in a way. i've always elevated towards pretty things, like any human being, but picking out nice clothes for a special occasion is something i really enjoy doing. i care about my outfits, too. i spend a lot of time coosing my outfits in the morning, doing my makeup, picking out accessories, even if it's just a hair tie around my wrist. i'm a detail-oriented person, so i guess i can appreciate fashion on daily basis."

"i have two. the first one is the labyrinth scene in orlando (1992), the costume change was amazing to me. the whole costume design aspect of that movie is actually so good. the second one is givenchy haute couture spring 1997 by alexander mcqueen. the whole show is special to me."

@xoxofashionicons on tiktok 2.4k followers:

"I think my first approach to fashion was when my father told me about Naomi Campbell, and from there I started watching 90s fashion shows and fell in love with her."

"For me, fashion is the freedom to express yourself and wear what makes you confident and makes you feel good (but always with some rules)."

"I think my favorite moments in fashion are almost all the shows of Mugler, John Galliano, Versace and Alexander McQueen in the 90's/2000's and then some celebrity red carpet looks."

@saturnde1ll on tiktok 357 followers:

"my first experience with fashion was when my and my mom were watching a france document about fashion and i started getting interestred abt it"

"fashion means art to me because you can literally show yourself with it you can show your emotions you can play with it and you can do so many more"

"i dont have a favorite fashion moment rn:)"

@archivefashion_ on instagram 1.3k:

"i got interested in fashion in 2021 when i started sketching kpop outfits"

"fashion for me is pure art, through fashion you can know a person's style and even their personality"

"my favorite fashion moment is the catwalk gigi hadid for jacquemus fall winter 2020"

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

I first started having an interest for fashion because of two collections:

-Versace Fall Winter 2020 Ready to Wear

-Jacquemus Fall Winter 2020 Ready to Wear

I didn’t really knew anything about fashion at that time,but those two collections really spoke to me.I discovered that fashion could be fun and could be used to send a message.

Jacquemus fall winter 2020 was used as a tribute to the mother’s designer,Valérie Jacquemus.

The fabrics and the designs were so simple but so beautiful.With a lot of light colors.Simon shown to the world that simplicity could create so much beauty

Jacquemus Fall Winter 2020 collection

The one memory that i’ll keep from the Versace fw 20 collection will always be those dresses.

Because the fabrics reminded me of the same ones on my presents that i can find every christmas of every years.

And if clothes could make you remind of things entirely apart in your life so they could represent anything and everything.

Fashion doesn’t have barriers the only one that count is the sky and this one is endless.

This industry that is named by one word only count under her so many actors of it,creations and people who work every day to push the boundaries in every aspects of it.

No matter it is the designs,the models,the runways or the meaning behind it so let me ask the question to you,

What does fashion mean to you?

••••

It’s my very first so i’m all open to hear your opinions and and constructive criticism!

-English is not my first language

Hope you enjoyed <3

[ruiniel]

Prickly thorns, tender roses

Fandom: Castlevania series (2017-2021)

Rating: Mature🔞

Relationship: Alucard/Original Female Character

Characters: Alucard, Original Character(s)

Summary:

Set after the events of Castlevania (Netflix) Season III. After the betrayal of his young apprentices, Alucard feels barely alive in his lonesome castle. Days wear on, chipping away at his mind and sanity. And what is the son of Dracula to do with this unwanted visitor, suddenly come at his doorstep? Often the prickly thorn produces tender roses - Ovid

Chapter tags & warnings: Inspired by Castlevania, Canon Divergence, Blood and Injury, POV Original Character, Post-Castlevania Season 3, Canon-Typical Violence, Non-Canon Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Blood Drinking, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Strangers to Lovers, personal interpretation of post-season III Alucard

PART I

AN: first Alucard longfic from 2020. Heavily follows ‘Beauty and the Beast’ trope.

< PREV NEXT >

XVI. Changes

Ravenna glanced upward, to the lowered golden head, the eyes set on her wrist, then to the steady hands holding her arm fast. She was lying down on a table close to the apothecary section of the wide knowledge trove which consisted of his library and ruined laboratory.

A sharp hiss filled the space when Adrian poured a clear liquid over the open gash. His gaze flickered momentarily to hers before drifting back to the cut. The dagger had been sharp, and her nerves had been strained at the time. Thus the wound was deep, and as the pair reached the castle after an endlessly silent trek, the dhampir took Ravenna straight into this area to mend it. We would not want you succumbing immediately after such an honorable feat, he had said derisively. But in truth, Ravenna had sensed an eerie sort of unease reaching from him, along with the distracting sound of his heart and the feel of him, so warm and tense against her. In his arms at the time, the woman had completely and shamelessly leaned into him. And the silk of his bare neck against her temple was still etched into her mind, as was the beating of his life, pulsing through her with an intensity Ravenna had never experienced nor felt before.

"What type of alcohol is that?" she asked presently as the blond placed the bottle aside.

"A strong regional moonshine. It should prove a good enough disinfectant," Adrian replied, reaching for a thread and needle placed aside.

It was true. Though a largely forgotten piece of knowledge nowadays which few but healers and scholars were privy to, the ancients had been known to resort to alcohol for the cleansing of wounds. And he knew of it, of course he would know of it. His mother had been a physician after all.

"Now, its use will be twofold," he continued blankly, meeting her eyes again and handing her the bottle which Ravenna took with her other hand, rising into a seated position. She regarded the transparent liquid with a critical eye. "I must stitch the wound, and we have nothing to numb you with, so drink."

Warily, she complied. Ravenna coughed her heart out after the first burning sip reached down her throat and poured its fire into her stomach, mellowing her limbs. She did not partake in alcohol and thus her body had little resistance to speak of. She made a face, "Disgusting."

"More, Ravenna. This will hurt," Adrian urged as their eyes met.

There was a sudden sizzle ringing in her ears when she now stared into those golden eyes, and though Ravenna saw nothing in their depths, she somehow felt it all. His lips had touched her skin, she had offered him to partake of her blood... and it had transformed him, if only momentarily, into someone much more ruthless, merciless and no less deadly. It was the great proverbial behemoth in the room, but none would speak of it. She had never been as frightened of anything before, not even when gasping for breath under a night creature's hold; nor had she ever been as damnably excited. The thought caused immediate distress. What... what is happening to me?

"I have never done this before, mind you," Adrian broke the silence, finally looking away. "I have only ever seen my mother do it," he took the needle and thread, also placed into a dish with alcohol.

She could not do it properly herself anyway. Ravenna nodded in understanding, taking another swig of the moonshine. The taste was horrible but its numbing effects were already making themselves known. Just then Adrian placed a hand to her shoulder applying only a little pressure, urging her to lie down again. She startled, and as drawn by an unseen force their eyes met again. When had his become so dark? The shade of them was no longer light gold, no. His irises were now a reddish copper as they bore into hers. Ravenna swallowed and slowly reverted to her horizontal position, still unable to look away. And apparently neither was he, for the beam of his eyes still burned into her.

His lips, on her skin... What in God's name is wrong with me? the woman averted her gaze to the side.

As hours wore on since their return Adrian appeared to have regained himself, though Ravenna did not know nor understand his kind well enough to properly ascertain this. Though his drinking of her had seemingly been a deeply hidden and covert curiosity - if she were to judge by how the incubus had used it against her - the reality of it had been quite different, and in circumstances she never could have imagined. It had hurt immeasurably, it had been harrowing to feel her life force draining from her body. And when he ceased the unseen link had snapped, leaving her dazed, confused and... and... wanting? Part of her felt ashamed that she should think of him in this manner, knowing how troubled his mind and spirit were.

But try as Ravenna did, whenever he touched her now her body craved more pressure, more of him, more, more, more... Her skin would burn, her heart would rage. A sharp sting woke the woman from her unsettling colorful array of guilty thoughts. He had begun to stitch the wound. Her eyes strayed unbidden to his deathly white face now strained in concentration, to his furrowed brow, the straight set line of his mouth. He was even paler than usual. If she did not know better and under different circumstances, Ravenna would think him absolutely adorable, an apprentice attempting his trade for the first time. Gods, she had nearly lost him. Ravenna shook the offending thought away. Yes, she was undoubtedly somewhat unhinged, delirious even... she must be. How could she lose something that was not even hers?

"What were they looking for?" Ravenna decided to switch her mind to matters more rooted in reality.

The needle pierced her flesh again, and his gaze snapped to hers as if to determine its effect.

"You have had the pleasure of encountering bounty hunters boasting alchemical enhancements to their bodies. Their livelihood consists of contracts for gold. Mercenaries, if you will. And when desperate they resort to actively hunting creatures of the night to sell for profit to other humans, ones foolish enough to think they can contain the forces of Hell, or else subdue them to do their bidding."

"Then you-"

"I was a fortuitous and valuable catch to them," Adrian supplied. His gaze caught hers again at the words, before trailing to how her dark hair was fanned about her on the table, then back to her face and down to the hollow of her neck. A smile caught her by surprise, dry and brittle though it was. "-would have been," he corrected. "That was very foolish of you," his voice came softer, or she may have imagined it.

A different sort of sting flared behind her rib cage as Ravenna turned her head, a light crimson blush spreading over her cheeks. "You regret it then... that I returned for you." She gritted her teeth and gasped when the needle pierced skin again. It still irked her less than his words had.

"Ravenna," the young woman heard her name, and it came different to her ears than any times before.

When she did not deign to look his way Adrian continued. "I am not at all ungrateful for your successful attempt. I only denounce its worth compared to the risk you took," but there was no admonishment there. Yet Ravenna could not place the emotion coloring his voice, if there even was any.

"That sounds pretty much like ungratefulness to me," she bit, her words slightly slurred. Her belly felt warm and her eyes had become glazed over. "And of the self-righteous sort, at that," she could not help but add.

Ravenna heard a scoff and none spoke again until he was done, cutting the remaining thread with a small pair of metal scissors. He then bid her stand upright and as Ravenna did so, she found him standing close before her. Adrian took her forearm and applied of the mixture she had previously prepared for her other wrist. And Ravenna could not help but watch him as he worked, keenly feeling the touch of his fingers along with the pain. He was very close, standing effectively between her knees as she faced him. This way they stood precisely at eye level. She wondered what it would feel like to bring her legs around him-

Be silent! the woman willed her troublesome mind to cease. Just then his head snapped upward, and their eyes met again. Still holding her wrist Adrian was now in the process of wrapping it over.

What to say? The way his eyes shone was new and no less strange, and why on earth was he looking at her so... so... Hungrily? "Thank you for doing this," Ravenna settled for voicing her gratitude, her mind significantly fogged over and numbed by the alcohol she had ingested. Had she drunk too much?

A line tensed in his jaw, and for a moment Ravenna thought his shoulders fought back a shiver, his grip on her arm tightening so briefly she may have missed it, if she had not been so very aware of him. His gaze sharply flickered downward. "Never again, Ravenna," Adrian voiced, and there was both a plea and a command there. "No matter the peril, no matter my state. Never again."

Ravenna knew what he meant. He was closer, he felt closer. She wanted to bring her legs around his hips, her hands around his neck and... she shut her eyes when fingers tilted her chin upward.

"Do you understand?" Adrian urged, his gaze burning into her lowered eyelids.

"Yes," the woman managed, wanting more than anything for him to cease this, this... whatever it was that made her insides boil and churn and her thoughts so inflamed.

When Adrian released her and stepped away she felt hollow.

"Do you think they knew who you were?" Ravenna voiced another thought. "Do you think they were looking for you?"

Adrian sighed and followed the veiled skies visible beyond the great window. "I do not think so. But they may have sensed my presence owed to the concoctions they use. It enhances their abilities to track creatures of the night."

"Where are you going?" Ravenna asked swiftly when he turned his back on her.

"To the study," Adrian briefly looked over his shoulder at her just as Ravenna stepped off the table and was on her feet. His face was open to her for once, and it appeared as though he pondered and weighed between a number of opposing notions. "If you wish and prefer to rest there instead of the bedchamber, you may come with," Adrian voiced tentatively, and taken aback as she was Ravenna failed to reply until he was already walking away.

Despite her weariness and addled state, despite all that had happened since life had her stumbling into him of all people, in spite of her two mangled wrists and his unusual and oft times contradictory manner-

It was all she wanted presently. "If that bears no trouble to you," Ravenna hastened heading towards him while also wary of his own condition. What did drinking blood after a time of abstinence do to one of his kind?

When she reached his side Ravenna was regaled with another of his wry smiles. It was not the kind which suited him best, but beggars could not be choosers. "Oh you are trouble, Styrian. But of what kind, I have yet to determine."

< PREV NEXT >

[aly-eva-princess]

09/30/23

Doing well for myself today. No drugs, went out paid my rent. And packed for vacation tomorrow. I'm doing only pajamas. 💗 It's gonna be great!

Sitting in an all you can eat buffet wearing star and heart pajamas.

Going to the movies wearing a glow in the dark onesie.

Chilling upstairs in the bunk bed fort with cherry print pajamas.

I've got plansssss!!!

Not too stressed about the waterpark resort closing a few slides during my stay either. I'm okay with only going down to hit the wave pool. I'll get to strap on a lifejacket and just let the water take me. X'D I still can't swim.

I feel semi-alive, my sleep isn't fixed and there's a few more things I need to do. Like my braid my hair and wash up properly. But I'll get around to those before 10am tomorrow.

This is the cut for me rambling!!!~

Also if it feels like I vacation frequently...I do.

Admittedly if I stay in the house my depression goes full blown. And I am also in recovery for agoraphobia. So I try to have a big trip planned once a month. Or either every other month. Just to save funds to be able to do more while I'm out.

When I was a child, I stayed indoors to the point I never went to school. I slept, read books, wrote fanfics, and went cosplay shopping online. I would always cover the windows with blankets. And sleep inside my closet. I never knew rather it was day or night.

That was my everyday for like 17ish years.

Then one day I realized....I actually felt terrible. Soon after that I took my first ever trip to the beach. And realized what I was missing. I needed sunlight in order to feel alive. So I started doing things, anime conventions were my bread and butter up until 2020. It was my surefire way to get out of the house.

Now though~ I like to go out to eat, walk around the mall. Go to amusement parks, hotel resorts, trampoline houses, literally anything that gets me outside under the sun. And can entertain my autistic ass is a win/win.

Sadly though I don't quite have enough money. O3O So I do this dumb thing where I, keep planning vacations and reject basic needs so I can go out and live.

In November, I'll be taking a week long trip back to my home city of Philadelphia. As a result I've paid 70$ towards my rent. And I will be saving all the rest for toll booths & hotels.

What about food Aly?????

What the hell are you gonna eat?

Q~Q I don't get food stamps anymore so not a god damn thing. Unless I'm offered something, I probably won't eat in the first week of November.

[ollywears]

Olly Alexander wearing a Balmain Resort 2021 jumper in a Twitter photo (October 1, 2020).

[coochiequeens]

The Canadian government wasn't confused about the term Woman before 1918. (That’s when Canadian women won their fight for the vote)

By Anna Slatz March 13, 2024

The Supreme Court of Canada has asserted that a lower court judge should not have referred to a sexual assault victim as “a woman,” a term which they claim was “unfortunate and engendered confusion.” The ruling, published on March 8, goes on to imply that the more effective term would be “person with a vagina.”

The case being discussed was that of Christopher James Kruk, a man from Maple Ridge, British Columbia who had been convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in 2020. According to past news coverage of the initial charges, the incident occurred the night of May 26, 2017, after Kruk encountered a heavily intoxicated woman in the city’s urban center. Kruk reportedly offered to ensure the woman got home safely, and then brought her to his residence via the SkyTrain and a taxi.

At some point during the journey, he called the woman’s mother on his cellphone to let her know that he was going to bring her daughter home. But instead, the woman reportedly passed out or fell asleep at Kruk’s home. Meanwhile, her mother was frantically calling Kruk, ringing him more than 20 times over an almost two-hour period without any response from the man.

The victim testified at the first trial that she woke up to find Kruk penetrating her, and that she tried and failed to push him off through her disorientation.

At around 4 a.m., many hours after Kruk had initially called her mother and told her she would be brought home, the woman’s father and brother managed to track down Kruk’s address using information from taxi cab drivers, and arrived in his neighborhood. When the woman heard her father’s voice calling out for her from the street, the woman rushed out the door wearing only her sweatshirt and underwear. She told her brother she had been raped, and filed a police complaint.

In his defense, Kruk claimed he never penetrated the woman, and that she had simply become startled when he had tried to wake her up, misinterpreting the sudden sensation as rape. He also claimed her pants were off because she had spilled water on them and that she had removed them herself while intoxicated earlier that evening.

Finding Kruk’s defense “fanciful,” Justice Michael Tammen found Kruk guilty of sexual assault in 2020, in part because he asserted that it would have been “extremely unlikely that a woman would be mistaken” about the feeling of penile penetration.

But a 2022 appeals court overruled Kruk’s conviction and ordered a new trial, arguing that Tammen had “engaged in speculative reasoning” and “made an assumption on a matter that was not so well known as to be notorious, that was not capable of immediate and accurate proof by resort to a readily accessible source of indisputable accuracy, or that was a matter of common sense.”

The Supreme Court of Canada has now found the appeals court erred in overturning Tammen’s conviction of Kruk, determining that Tammen had acted appropriately in the case. But despite upholding Tammen’s initial arguments, Justice Sheilah Martin took issue with Tammen’s description of the victim as “a woman.”

While she disagreed with the appeals court’s argument that Tammen’s ruling relied on “speculation” as to whether the sensation of penile penetration was readily identifiable, Martin did imply that the terminology needed to be changed.

“Where a person with a vagina testifies credibly and with certainty that they felt penile‑vaginal penetration, a trial judge must be entitled to conclude that they are unlikely to be mistaken,” Martin wrote.

“While the choice of the trial judge to use the words ‘a woman’ may have been unfortunate and engendered confusion, in context, it is clear the judge was reasoning that it was extremely unlikely that the complainant would be mistaken about the feeling of penile‑vaginal penetration because people generally, even if intoxicated, are not mistaken about that sensation.”

Martin does not specify what about the word “woman” could have “engendered confusion.”

The ruling, first highlighted by Canadian journalist Tristin Hopper, comes on the heels of recent controversy surrounding an updated guidebook on general practice issued by the Federal Court of Canada which references pronoun use.

According to the guidebook, “the Court invites counsel, parties and witnesses to provide information about the correct pronunciation of their names (phonetic or syllabic spelling), titles (Dr., Mrs., Mr., Ms., Miss, Mx., etc.) and pronouns (she, he, they, etc.) prior to and at the outset of proceedings.”

While amended in late December of 2023, screenshots from the guidebook began circulating on social media in February of this year, prompting backlash from those concerned with gender ideology’s impact on Canada’s judicial system. While some feared the process may be mandatory, Reduxx reached out to the Federal Court and was informed that was not the case.

“It is important to note that this is simply an invitation. Participants before the Court remain free to proceed in the manner that they prefer,” the Office of the Chief Justice of the Federal Court stated.

[popolitiko]

Photo does not show Judge Aileen Cannon at Trump rally

Social media users are claiming a photo shows Aileen Cannon, the US district court judge assigned to the criminal case against Donald Trump for retaining classified documents, wearing Trump apparel outside one of the former president's rallies.

This is false; there is no evidence the picture, which Getty Images captured in September 2022, shows Cannon.

"This is interesting. Aileen Canon on the left," says one June 9, 2023 tweet sharing the image, which shows two women decked out in face paint, "Team Trump" hats and other merchandise. "This pic gives a good reason why she should recuse or be removed as the Judge."

"This is interesting. Aileen Canon on the left," says one June 9, 2023 tweet sharing the image, which shows two women decked out in face paint, "Team Trump" hats and other merchandise. "This pic gives a good reason why she should recuse or be removed as the Judge."

Similar posts spread the photo widely across Twitter and other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram after Cannon was assigned to the case against Trump, who faces dozens of felony charges of mishandling US government secrets. Several videos sharing the image on TikTok and Instagram raked in tens of thousands of views.

Cannon, a Trump appointee in 2020, will have enormous sway over how fast the proceedings move. The Florida judge issued a series of rulings favorable to Trump earlier in the investigation, slowing the probe into the classified documents stashed at his Mar-a-Lago resort before a conservative appeals court ultimately ruled that she had overstepped her authority.

But there is no evidence she is the person depicted wearing Trump gear in the photo circulating online.

The original photo

Getty Images photographer Spencer Platt took the original picture (archived here) in the US state of Pennsylvania more than nine months ago. The caption does not identify the duo, but the woman confused for Cannon online has different facial features and hair color than the judge, whose image has been widely published by US media.

[harleyjohnsonbcu]

Fas3003 References

  Sparke (2020) Althea Mcnish Obituary. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/may/04/althea-mcnish-obituary 

Liberty London (N.D.) A SPOTLIGHT ON… ALTHEA MCNISH. Available at: https://www.libertylondon.com/uk/features/craft/archive-althea-mcnish.html 

John Hall (N.D) About Pattern. Available at: https://www.aboutpattern.com/ 

Noko (2020) Stylish, sustainable Stella. Available at: https://www.bangkokpost.com/life/social-and-lifestyle/1831729/stylish-sustainable-stella 

Les Facons (2019) SHOP THE STELLA MCCARTNEY RESORT 2020 COLLECTION. Available at: https://lesfacons.com/2019/12/12/shop-the-stella-mccartney-resort-2020-collection/ 

Vouge (N.D) Versace SPRING 2000 READY-TO-WEAR. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2000-ready-to-wear/versace/slideshow/collection?redirectURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vogue.com%2Ffashion-shows%2Fspring-2000-ready-to-wear%2Fversace%2Fslideshow%2Fcollection#13 

Lopez (2020) Jennifer Lopez on Why That Green Versace Dress Is So Important. Available at: https://www.glamour.com/story/jennifer-lopez-on-why-that-green-versace-dress-is-so-important 

Cary (2020) Alexander McQueen’s Most Spectacular Nature-Inspired Collections. Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/gallery/alexander-mcqueen-nature-collections 

White (2020) Alexander McQueen celebrate their fascination with the rose. Available at: https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/evjyjm/alexander-mcqueen-celebrate-their-fascination-with-the-rose 

Duncan (2018) Trinidad Pride. Available at: https://newsday.co.tt/2018/12/16/trinidad-pride/ 

Auckland Botanic Gardens (N.D) Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. Available at: https://www.aucklandbotanicgardens.co.nz/plants-for-auckland/plants/hibiscus-rosa-sinensis/ 

Zoo New England (N.D.) Scarlet Ibis. Available at: https://zoonewengland.org/stone-zoo/our-animals/birds/scarlet-ibis/ 

Maria Lim (2020) Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Eighth Day) – THE SACRED HEART HELPS US. Available at: 

Huey (N.D) Tropical vegetation along the Gilpin Trail in the Tobago Forest Reserve, Trinidad. Available at: https://www.georgehhhuey.com/image/I0000l.rnce0YO8w 

Tripelio (2023) 6 SIGNS YOU’VE SURVIVED A TRIP TO TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. Available at: https://jessieonajourney.com/trinidad-and-tobago-survival-guide/ 

Harlequin (N.D) Wallpapers. Available at: https://harlequin.sandersondesigngroup.com/search/wallpaper?q=wallpaper&linksrc=nav 

Designers Guild (N.D) Designer Wallpapers. Available at: https://www.designersguild.com/uk/wallpaper/l1115 

Morby (2017) Iris van Herpen explores the contrasts between water and air for Aeriform couture collection. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/07/05/iris-van-herpen-explores-contrasts-between-water-air-aeriform-couture-collection-design-fashion/ 

Diderich (2017) Iris van Herpen Couture Fall 2017. Available at: https://wwd.com/runway/fall-couture-2017/paris/iris-van-herpen/review/ 

[styleofdiamandis]

        LOVE + FEAR TOUR: NADYA DZYAK & OTHER

We have finally arrived at the third and final chapter of our “Love + Fear” world tour fashion breakdown! After we looked at the designs of Maggie Barry and Olima, it’s time to tackle down all the looks created by the other designers who were involved in this epic tour.

This week I'm introducing you to Ukrainian emerging fashion designer Nadya Dzyak whose designs were adored by Marina and stylist Mercedes Natalia for her tour.

First up, we got the Spring/Summer 2019 long ruffled nude tulle dress with matching round belt ($822.00).

M also wears the Versace’s heart-shaped Love gold ring with Medusa icon and meander pattern...

...and her beloved Nike Huarache sneakers in full white!

Nadya Dzyak’s Resort 2020 lookbook showed the designer experimenting with unusual color combinations and new shapes. Here, our girl wore the nude tulle mini dress with multicolored dots, ruffles and silk trim.

Her jewelry here included a pair of Alison Lou’s green neon Jelly hoops from her iconic “Loucite” collection...

…and a vintage Chanel gold sunburst logo chain necklace.

Next, Marina looked dazzling on stage in another Nadya Dzyak Resort 2020 confection: a blue dotted tulle tiered mini dress with silk trim. Check out that circular pleat at the front!

This look was crowned with a pair of ZARA gold hammered earrings with three flat faux pearls...

...plus her Hermina Athens Amalthea gold-plated sterling silver statement necklace.

At her Dublin date, the Greek-Welsh singer chose this crimson red tulle mini dress with dots, matching belt and silk trim from Nadya Dzyak’s Fall/Winter 2019 collection.

Manchester-based label The Dolls House was founded in 2012 by Rebecca Henry. Marina debuted the sparkly Cindy silver sequin dress which features a square neck and ruched sash detail. HOT!

A pair of Steve Madden’s Carissa metallic silver sneakers with silver-tone rhinestones all over perfectly tied the look together.

We’re almost at the end! Marina wore two colorful looks from the Resort 2020 collection of Maisie Wilen, the young emerging designer who was discovered by Kanye West back in 2019! 

First up is this orange & blue psychedelic abstract print long-sleeve mini bodycon dress with asymmetrical hem.

The other look is the Body Shop psychedelic printed green & blue long-sleeve top and matching leggings.

All of her jewelry is Sylvia Toledano. She wore the Petite Candy hoops in gold brass with turquoise, turquoise verte, cornaline, yellow onyx, amethyst, died ruby and moonstone…

…the Fall/Winter 2019 Lee long necklace with multicolored stones which she wrapped twice around her neck…

…and the Byzantine cuff with green turquoise, dried ruby, turquoise, amethyst, cornaline, green onyx, tiger eye, yellow onyx, black onyx and calcedoine.

[liskantope]

Current status of my (largely selfishly based) COVID concerns based on the state of the pandemic now: my primary deep fear is of how much the increased level of social distance* is going to be permanent or persist indefinitely.

[Depressing ramble below.]

Things aren't fantastic where the state of the pandemic is concerned: COVID19 seems to be here to stay and we're all going to have to get another vaccine yearly and there will always be some people dying of it and it's another reason for the immunocompromised to be on their guard and so on. But there's little reason to expect the situation to ever really be any better than this, apart from the virus continuing to modify itself to be less lethal or medicine getting better at treating it, and I don't know how much room there is for those kinds of changes. But what I (perhaps selfishly) am mainly upset about is not that; it's a very deep worry that some of the changes we've made to societal norms are here to stay and in fact can't even be undone if we tried.

I mean, I think we've 80%-90% gotten "back to normal" in most areas of the US at least, and the aspects of our society that aren't "back to normal" could gradually get there if enough people's anxiety about the virus fades, but if we stay consistent and the state of the pandemic doesn't improve, then our new social norms aren't going to change. And that scares me.

I'm not suggesting that there are all that many concrete hard-and-fast rules which sprung into being with the pandemic that haven't been mostly reversed now (things being closed, masks being mandatory, and so on). And in fact there are some new moderately-held beliefs and norms that I think would be to our benefit to keep permanently, such as wearing a mask in public if you have symptoms, or an increased respect for vaccines and motivation to get vaccinated in general. When I talk about some new social norms that I'm afraid will stick with us for good, maybe "new social norms" isn't the right phrase, more like... social tendencies in the direction of remoteness and isolation? Like much more working from home, many more events being virtual, more inhibition against approaching others in public, more social anxiety from face-to-face interactions, etc. This shift is deeply unhealthy for us psychologically as a culture, especially given that we were tending alarmingly far in those directions already, back in 2019, and now it feels like the pandemic crisis gave us a rationale to sink further into remoteness and anxiety and lack of willpower to get up and go anywhere and reduced social skills, etc. and make it our permanent comfort zone.

And, again selfishly and "seeing the cup as half empty" -ly speaking, if this had to happen during my lifetime, couldn't it have waited until a point when I have a partner plus an intimate circle of friends and/or my own family?

At the risk of disrupting the cadence of this post, I'll end with a concrete example that came up just last night of how we've slid into a new norm that would be hard to get rid of even if we try: social meetup events (I'm speaking as an example about events through meetup.com, which is what I feel I have to resort to at the moment) are very frequently held remotely by default now and many don't seem ready to go back to being in person. The dynamic here is that once a group had to go remote in early-to-mid 2020, many new members living in far-away regions took advantage of the silver lining of being able to participate at a geographic distance, and this creates a ton of inertia in moving back to an in-person setting for that group's events. I'd seen this dynamic before, but last night I attended an event with a meetup.com group through Zoom as a first-time attendee, where the default venue would have been walking distance from my home (which would in fact have made it pretty much my only social event conveniently close to my home since I returned to the US three years ago, actually!). I asked at the end about whether the group was about to move back to meeting in person, as seemed implied from the title of further events listed on the group's page, and was met with protests from half of the other members, who lived far away and had only been able to start attending meetings because they were remote. And the organizer's answer was, to their reassurance and my disappointment, no, we're not going to resume meeting in person anytime soon.

And this clearly isn't anyone's fault. Many groups were essentially forced by the pandemic to start meeting remotely two and a half years ago, and they gained a bunch of members who for geographic reasons could only ever meet remotely, and now it's like most of their remaining members, and moving back to in-person would seem to unfairly screw them over. But in the meantime, those of us who feel we get intangibly but resoundingly more out of interacting with other humans in physical proximity, and who might (let's say) live alone and feel overall impoverished with respect to human interaction for years, are getting screwed over instead.

*by "social distancing" I'm not using the colloquial meaning that peaked in 2020 to mean maintaining some physical distance; I'm referring to something more vague and general about avoiding doing things in person and our level of intimacy, etc.