#white london

[holland-vosijk-antari]

idk if anyone else has thought about this concept but i am in LOVE with the idea of white london having a lot of greenhouses/hothouses for growing plants that wouldnt survive the colder climate. how people tried to preserve seeds as the world got harsher around them, and that many now plants only exist to grow in these greenhouses. of course there would be fields of crops and orchards too but some things are too fragile to cope with the mix of colder weather and fading magic, these would slip into the category of "luxury"(which is a lot better than "extinct") as people will always find new methods against all odds. the greenhouses would be kept warm with a few small bits of magic, and tended to with reverence. due to the importance of food in a dying world, they are something of a neutral ground and people dont tend to tamper with anything in them through the fear of losing it for good. some are smaller for personal use, fitting inside a room with only enough space for a couple of plants, and some are larger, like ones on the outskirts of the city that provide things like certain veg to the people (and therefore must be appeased by the current monarch, if you dont have the farmers you dont have the city)

obviously this also makes me think of holland finding enjoyment or at least some peace amongst the plants, and perhaps even sneaking a few seeds from red london (to sate the danes curiosity if not his own...) and perhaps if he has a rough night and cant seem to sleep, he goes to just sit in one of the royal greenhouses, lets the warm of the air and the steady presence of the plants ease some of his tension.

[chron0ph0bia]

the way holland and the white londoners refer to red london as "the cruel one"

[ravencromwell]

CW: death CW: mortuary practice

I think it was in the brilliant Muffinworry's Silver I first discovered the idea of Vortalis' bones beneath Astrid Dane's floor. And for a good year, this deeply haunting concept just percolated in the fannish soup. Until the advent of last semester's Art History survey courses. Because within those courses, I got to have an all-to-brief glimpse of the unique mortuary architecture of Çatalhöyük. This neolithic village incorporated the dead's remains into their houses. They were nestled in benches, or foundations. In at least one case, the people of a dwelling seemingly "slept on platforms beneath which their parents and grandparents were buried". With the obvious caveat it's presumptuous as fuck to think we definitely know what historical individuals about whom we have scanty record were thinking, it certainly suggests profound comfort in closeness with their dead.

Which led almost immediately to: this tradition could easily exist as form of reverence in Makt. After all, it is skin, blood, etc. which hold magic; particularly in a post-cataclysm world, it might be considered good luck indeed to hold whatever scraps of magic the dead retain—whatever did not disperse into the funeral dishes of earth and water—close at hand.

Which naturally got me thinking about an Astrid not sacrilegious in our modern! sense—literally walking on bones—but sacrilegious because when she took bones of all those citizens, she appropriated the blessings they should be bringing for their families for herself and Athos. And stripped away ability to know your dead were close at hand, _guarding you. They were instead in a palace you would have no reason to access, guarding the Pale Twins who you hated.

And for Holland in specific, who Vor would have wanted to take the throne if he could no longer hold it, whereupon he would have been guarding the prosperity of Holland's reign. To put them right between the thrones would be too perfect an irony. So Holland would be forced to kneel atop them and remember that in failing to attain. not even vengeance but _justice. He, who valued everything sacred, was absolutely furious at some cigar ash on some long _dead _trees that might. Or might not. Have been the last stand of magic. He had failed to kill the people perverting one of the most sacred rituals.

Kell? _HATES stepping on that piece of floor so! bad it always feels like it's pitching wildly and he's about to tip on his ass. And he will _never understand it's just Vor furiously going 'get your goddamn act together and do! something to HELP! (Kell should have known something was so fucking wrong when there was no vertigo on his way out the throne room the night, they were planning to give him Vitari. Even Vor was like well, you done waited too long and fucked up good and proper for your world too, kid. It would've been unkind to make him fall into the bargain.)

This also has me thinking about a Holland prior to Vor who, both because he moved so constantly and felt _responsible for Talya's and Alox's deaths left them to be utilized in blessing others because he had no right to their protection.

[onaloyveonce]

Holland Vosijk

[crookedcrowclub]

the way adsom begins with “kell wore a very peculiar coat” and acol ends with “kell wore a coat that billowed in the wind” oh i’m gonna need a minute 😭

[badassbutterfly1987]

Had loose thoughts in regards to the "Holland as ethnic/religious minority within Makt" and while I don't want to fully copy a specific real-life group (partly because White London is indicated to have a wildly different history), there are some potential examples:

Jewish people in general

Ainu people of Japan

Jeju people of Korea

Sámi people of northern Europe

[danielgrant]

Creepy London 🤍

[celestisae]

Lila Bard

"I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still."