guess it's just my rotten luck;

queen aminata mansaray of sierra leone.

[aminatamansaray]

leobraganca​:

( * / @aminatamansaray​​ )

they had been walking for quite a bit. perhaps he had exaggerated when he said he had ‘known the way’, but then again, was it his fault the signs for restaurants were so damned small ? the intersection they approach is looking awfully familiar – and he needed a distraction. maybe she wouldn’t notice. “ i have a question. what exactly IS your problem with kenny zulu ? “

“she’s stuck up and pretentious, mostly,” aminata replies, a small smile on her face. she’d known kenny for far too long, and hated her for just as much time. “also, she’s a zulu. i think we’re meant to have problems with them, some kind of long-standing feud. there’s some of them i like - minenhle is great. but she’s not a snob.” ami waves her hand, as if dismissing the family as a whole, “come on, your turn, who’s someone in the program you can’t stand? i’m sure there’s got to be a few.” 

[aminatamansaray]

table two  —

( @loladebelgique​​ @catherinestuart​ @yisvn​ @giselledorleans​ @svrgic​ @jinlixue​ @vitoriadobrasil​ @vslvano​ @tywysoges-g​​  )

aminata looks back over at the other tables for a few seconds, full of people willing to be auctioned, “maybe i should have joined them - i would’ve been the hottest monarch up there. no offense to your brothers, of course.” ami throws a smile at giselle and lixue, “how much do you think you’d be worth - in this arbitrary point system? i’m putting myself somewhere in the 900s, for my delightful personality alone.” 

[aminatamansaray]

queen of sierra leone, AMINATA MANSARAY, attending the charity date auction in MUGLER.

[altierra]

KATHERYN WINNICK & KYLIE BUNBERY for Emmy Magazine.

[aminatamansaray]

@nikaplays​

“hey - did you want to see this movie or wha-” she pauses, for a few seconds, taking stock of the spot in the lobby she was meant to meet her cousin and the girl who was very much not her, “you’re not my cousin -” aminata’s phone buzzes three times in a row, and she takes a few seconds to check it, “oh, shit, sorry - apparently maria’s too fancy for me. she took off home and didn’t bother to tell me until showtime. i’ll... do you want a free movie ticket?” 

[aminatamansaray]

@kcneilwe​​

she’d just dodged her assistant again, trying to escape her duties as queen yet again. it was evening, there was no reason for aminata to still be working. but that was a mistake, and she knew it the second she saw keneilwe zulu walking towards her. it was too late to turn around, to walk away and not have to make painful small talk. aminata was trapped, again, “kenny, how have you been?” she says, hoping her initiation will make the conversation end faster. 

[aminatamansaray]

Liechtenstein: How do people underestimate you most often?

"oh, hm... i don't know, really? i think people are always surprised that i'm not as superficial as some of the people here. they want me to like, give a shit about situations that don't affect me. for example, it's not really my place to care what the king of france does. unless it affects me, my country or my family - i just don't care."

[aminatamansaray]

cadmium yellow; when you think of the word “happy” what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

"my spouse, actually. it's kind of crazy, i met them on the worst day of my life, but the moment i met them i just... knew, that there was something there. i didn't know it was forever, but... i'm glad it is. i don't know how i'd live without them."

[aminatamansaray]

bragnca​:

“ Forced? Museum? Tell your cousin to call me next time. ” It’s hard to get her out of them! The hours she’s spent wandering the Museum of London alone should make her an unofficial tour guide there. “ They were incredibly brutal, and that’s probably about the only thing pop culture gets right about them. The helmets? Not a thing! There are so many misconceptions, and no one wants to talk about it. Archeologists are going mad, you know. ”

“yes, forced. i’m not a big fish-person. andrei is, though. i feel like i never can keep up when he starts a rundown on the finding nemo fish. he’s got, like, 400 of them,” aminata rolls her eyes fondly, and follows the brazilian towards the museum, “aw, i kind of dig the hats. it’s gives them a fun little thing. the horns are neat, too. not that i’d ever be caught dead in one, but... it’d look good on my brother.” 

[aminatamansaray]

bragnca​:

“ Respect my story. ” A phallic shaped museum, as if. There were amazing museums in this city; science, culture, history! And all everyone wanted to talk about was a bad gimmick. “Well, I’ll be honored to entertain you and drag you out of your boredom. I was thinking we could go to the Settlement Exhibition. The main centerpiece is a hall from the 1000′s that they were able to escavate! And it’s filled with viking artifacts, doesn’t that sound amazing?  ”

"sure, sure -” aminata agreed, “you know, if you’re that enthused with museums, you should meet my cousin. he’s like 8 foot tall, bulgarian, too awkward to talk to anyone - the only place he ever wants to go is museums. i’m usually forced to tag along with him.” she rolls her eyes affectionately. it’s not like she’s usually doing anything else, when andrei drags her to whatever weird aquarium he’s found that week. “oh, cool - sure, i guess. i’m not that interested in vikings, but i’m sure they’ve got some cool stuff. i watched that tv show once, it was pretty brutal.” 

[aminatamansaray]

bragnca​:

“Now that you’ve agreed, you can’t change your mind. ” Without giving the other person another second to think about it, Helena grabs their hands, dragging them out into the sun. After the weekend they had — funeral and a coronation, enough to send anyone into a fritz of contradictory emotions, Sunday finally came out along with a gentle golden sun. Perfect day to go museum hopping.

@hshqstarters​ 

“you’re lucky i’m bored and i’ve got two hours before my tour starts,” ami responds, with a smile. she had been about to hit up a few museums before the volcano thing took off. maybe she could talk the brazilian princess into something exciting after they saw the whale exhibit or whatever was in there, “what museums are there? preferably within walking distance? and please don’t take me to the phallic one, i’m not interested.”

[aminatamansaray]

queen of sierra leone, AMINATA MANSARAY attends the coronation of aleksander magnusson in CUCCULELLI SHAHEEN, paired with the freetown diamond tiara, made entirely of diamonds mined in sierra leone. 

[aminatamansaray]

kadrisayed​:

“ when you have kids,  they teach you a lot of useless shit that ends up being useful only sometimes. ”  not knowing why he crafted his response so complicated.  “ did we even make toast? ”  he pretty much blacked that day from his memory.  it was not his finest moment.  “ cute? ”  his face creasing with disgust.  “ i’m almost forty,  ami.  i don’t want to be associated with the word cute. ”  although if it was sadira saying it,  he’d probably faint from the endearment.  “ wait,  can you try calling her?  she’ll definitely pick up if it’s you. ”

“oh, thank god i don’t have any then,” useless facts were great when they came from andrei and she knew they were accurate. she wasn’t sure she’d trust a bunch of kids to fact-check. “no! we had no toast at all, we did literally nothing. it was a complete waste of the afternoon, if you don’t count how much our spouses made fun of us,” ami smiles through it - it was a terrible waste of food, but still a ton of fun. “aw, that’s the cutest thing you could’ve said!” she exclaims, as if it’s not going to make him grumble even more, “fine, sure. i’ll call her, but she’s got a sixth sense - she’ll know it’s you, still.” 

[aminatamansaray]

kadrisayed​:

“ it’s what they use to measure the level of spiciness of chilli peppers. ”  he learned that from one of his sons,  who was obsessed with hot ones on youtube.  “ i know you are.  remember when we both tried cooking something nice,  wanting to earn points with our partners?  but we had to cancel and book a last minute reservation. ”  he sighs,  looking elsewhere.  “ you forget that sadira finds me unbearably annoying.  i tried calling her earlier today and then i texted her…  —  she read the message,  but didn’t reply.  even my kids are ghosting me. ”

“cool, i’m going to forget that word in fifteen minutes. how do you even know that?” aminata looks at the bottle again. “oh, god - don’t remind me. my hair smelled like burnt toast for days, it was awful,” she laughs, it was actually a very fun night, if you didn’t count the mess they’d made. that was why she hired a staff, so she didn’t have to go through trying to cook again. “well you are unbearably annoying, but it works for you because you’re cute,” ami states, before she laughs, obviously joking, “you know she’s probably just busy. she’ll call later, or you’ll bug her until she texts back. that’s family for you.” 

[aminatamansaray]

leobraganca​:

his attention flits away from the tv; not that the news was necessarily enthralling – the banners flashing across the screen with buzzwords and hot takes was seemed to be unending and repetitive … was it the first time a monarch had been revealed to be heartless and cruel ? in his opinion, no. he shook his head. “ i wonder why people are SURPRISED. sure, it was drastic and maybe, terrible, “ he shrugs, aware he sounded terribly blasé. but he was teetering on hypocritical if he criticized too harshly. “ but … not unexpected. it was like a … “ he suddenly had a lack of a better word, and he cringed before letting it out, “ ticking time bomb. “

“oh, they’re always surprised aren’t they?” she’d thought about throwing some money at france a while back, they seemed to be the winning side, and she loved to back the winner. she was glad that she didn’t, especially since bulgaria apparently needed a little support, in the wake of everything, “it’s like their job to be shocked and outraged, isn’t it? i can’t stand journalists. the amount of microphones shoved in my face when someone had just tried to kill me was criminal in itself,” she paused, for a few seconds, “europe is like a time bomb, isn’t it? you guys are too close, in my opinion. i fight with my brother less now that we don’t live in the same house, it’s the same concept but on a bigger scale.” 

[aminatamansaray]

kadrisayed​:

“ this is not a little bit of heat!  this has 50,000 scovilles. ”  purely his fault for not bothering to read labels closely enough while hastily grocery shopping.  “ don’t worry,  i don’t intend on scouring your fridge for condiments. ”  he places his palms on top of the counter,  leaning back.  “ don’t you miss your spouse?  —  i wonder if sadira misses me… ”

“i don’t know what a scoville is,” aminata didn’t pay that much attention. she just liked her food spicy, “oh, that’s good - i don’t have many. i’m a terrible chef.” she takes a second, giving kadri a look, “oh, i miss them, sure. i’m not sure they miss me, i’m kind of annoying, i’ve been told. but i’m sure sadira misses you. you guys are, like, attached at the hip.” 

[aminatamansaray]

aromancva​:

how optics had changed in centuries since – a symbol of revolution reduced to nothing more than vandalism. “they’d be accused of pollution if anyone tried something similar today.” the irish princess would the first to accuse them, anya thinks, a tactic to keep in mind against any protestors of her own family’s actions. “it’s a good time to slide any controversial policy through, given how everyone’s attention is focused on the french,” she speculates; anya wasn’t offering advice, but simply being pragmatic. she ignores the comment about lyosha (less time performing his duties is not what she’d suggest) in favor of aminata’s political involvements. “do they expect your support against the greeks? the german royal family’s connection to the koreans seems to have won them china’s support as well.”

“oh, yeah, and what’s-her-name would lead the charge. she’d say they were killing the whales or seahorses or whatever. scottish, maybe? wait - she’s irish! i think. i don’t know, i try not to pay attention to the isles. after the shitshow in london, not knowing their names may help me avoid a murder charge,” it was pure laziness that aminata was clueless on the goings of other countries, but she liked to play it off as if it were tactical. “you say that as if i’m pushing policies through,” aminata left that to her government. she only stepped in when they needed her, really. it didn’t happen often. “i offered. i’m half-bulgarian, too. sofia’s basically my second home, i won’t abandon them,” her relationship with the current tsar was strained, but family was family - she couldn’t leave them out to dry, “that’s how it works, isn’t it? you marry people off to gain the country’s support, or whatever. i would have ended up just like that had freetown not been attacked.” had she not met her spouse, aminata isn’t sure who she’d be married to at this point - her father had been talking about it, before his death.