The underdress is made from silk satin and the outer dress from chiffon. The underdress is a simple backless dress with a full skirt, and is fastened at the neck with ribbon. The overdress is a loop that is gathered at the front, back and sleeves. The arm cuffs are there to hold the chiffon in place. I ombré dyed both layers with yellow, pink, purple and blue dye to give the sunset effect. I sewed silk ribbon onto the top and bottom border of the chiffon, and down the centre. At the front the chiffon is bunched at the bottom too. At the back I made a mother of pearl brooch with glass beads attached.
The necklace and armbands were made from black worbla, shaped with heat and painted gold. I then added some mother of pearl over the top, which looks really shiny and pretty in the light
Now all that’s left is the crazy seashell wig, wish me luck! 😭
Holy /shit/ you look gorgeous????!!!
I’ve been DREAMING about having this dress since I saw it in the movie.
To summarize, a vagina can now be constructed from peritoneal tissue, meaning that it will self-lubricate, doesn’t require prior electrolysis, will be stretchier than one made from skin tissue, and doesn’t have any external grafting sites to worry about.
evidence that ancient paleolithic venus statues were made by women who were examining their own bodies and sculpting them from their own point of view, not, as previously assumed, exaggerated features from an outside perspective
One thing I never really understood was Sleipnir (meaning “slippery one” fyi) in depictions of Norse mythology. Sleipnir is an eight-legged horse, the steed of Odin and the son of Loki, and he is commonly depicted like this:
(image not mine)
But why would you depict an eight-legged horse like this? Horses gallop the same way most other mammals run, with all feet leaving the ground at one point, so having extra feet here doesn’t seem like it could make the horse any faster. I’m also not sure it would give it any more stable footing, since it doesn’t have a wider base.
If you want a stable eight-legged form that can reach great speeds for its size, wouldn’t you want to start with what nature has already provided? Wouldn’t you want something more like… this?
(my drawing)
“But wait!” you might say, “Sleipnir was conceived when Loki, in horse-form, seduced another horse! That’s why it looks all horsey, just with extra bits!”
Well, that’s a good point, but consider that Loki as a deity was originally based off the spider, and his name even derives from the old Swedish word for spider (source). Therefore, it’s not too hard to believe Sleipnir inherited his horse half from his mother and the more spidery half from his father. In conclusion:
Spider-Horse, Spider-Horse, He does spider-things of course! Weaves a web, Makes you gawk, Riding round ‘til Ragnarok! Look out! Here comes the Spider-Horse.
I am all for creative interpretations of Sleipnir. And spiders, obviously. This is epic.
But just so you know, that journal is from the 60′s, and the current scholarly consensus no longer considers the spider etymology to be likely. We still aren’t sure where the name comes from, and probably won’t ever be, but I’ve seen quite a few more recent academics lean toward Old Norse luka, meaning “close”, “shut”, or “end.” (See Simek’s Dictionary of Northern Mythology.)
^^^^ my research found much the same. (which is sad, i like spiders)
As far as Sleipnir having eight legs, it’s probably a reference to Icelandic horses. Icelandic horses are one of the few horse breeds with five gaits. They can do a walk, trot and canter/gallop, like most horses. But they have also evolved to have a tolt,
[ gif of a man riding a brown Icelandic horse doing a tolt. The back legs of the horse move rather stiffly back and forth, while the front legs are lifted up almost to the horse’s chest. While the horse bounces slightly, the man riding the horse could probably hold a glass of water without spilling. ]
which is fast, smooth and noted for its explosive speed and ability to cover long distances.
The second unique gait is called flugskeið, or flying pace.
[ a light brown Icelandic horse demonstrating the flugskeið. With the exception of the wind in the horses’ mane, the upper part of the horse and the rider seem to almost be still, with the background simply zipping by them. The horse’s legs, however, move fast enough to blur. Unlike with a full gallop, the horse does not fully extend its legs away from its body. This is particularly obvious in the front legs of the horse, which lift up to the chest of the horse and land under its chin the same way as in the tolt]
It is both smooth and fast, some horses being able to reach speeds of 30 mph. Not all Icelandic horses can do a flugskeið, but you’ll notice that when done properly the legs move in unison and so fast they can blur, giving the illusion of the horse having eight legs.
Anyways, here is a video to further emphasize how cool the flugskeið is;
I’d never heard this theory! That’s so neat.
The one I’ve read attributed the eight legs thing to a metaphor of a coffin + 4 pallbearers.
This is FASCINATING, and I adore Sleipnir! 😍 @tinaferraldo
You’ve brought my horse geek out now. You have been warned!
The thing is, until the late 1800s we didn’t know how horses moved.
In old paintings you typically see horses with their legs stretched wide as they thought that gave the appearance of great speed.
But it really just looks like Timmy’s big brother was being an evil bastard and bent the legs of his tin horses out .
It’s completely unnatural looking, but horses moved too fast for us to be able to see how they moved, until Edward MAuybridge captured their motion in a series of consecutive photographs in 1878.
And for the first time we could see that all four legs did leave the ground. (and are never stretched uncomfortably wide!).
He also created the first motion picture as the individual photographs could be put together as a series of film frames (below).
So, all this is to say that back when Sleipnir was being dreamed up, they didn’t understand how animals moved and probably thought more legs = faster, and to a degree they were right, things on four legs run faster than bipeds so they continued that principle to its logical, if incorrect, conclusion.
THIS IS THE BEST HORSE MOVEMENT DISCOURSE EVER
or we can consider that norse epics were, above all else, poetry, and consider that the image of an eight-legged horse brings to mind a horse that moves like a spider – with that fast darting scuttle that so many people find terrifying. an alien horse. a divine horse. a monster.
(personally i find the spider run adorable, like when a cat gets startled and does the skitter. but i recognize this is an unusual reaction.)
So, inspired by the whole concept of a spider-horse I very loosely sketched this:
…To which my brother @foxofwar simply pointed out, that being a spider-horse, it’s a sporse.
Slightly off topic, but it isn’t unique to Norse mythology to give a magical horse unusual number of legs tho. In Hungarian folklore special horses (usually fond of eating cinders, capable of flying or running faster than the win or even faster than thoughts, usually liked to sass the hero of the tale) had 5, 6 or 7 legs.
Obviously those numbers were chosen because they held cultural significance (our dragons/giants had odd number of heads too), but it probably sounded like common sense that more legs=faster horse.
I have nothing to add but damn is this thread epic.
There’s a Peruvian horse breed called the Paso that has a fifth gait as well – kind of a smooth, toe-skimming shuffle between the trot and the canter. It’s smooth as butter.
Epic horse thread is epic. And fascinating 🙂
Mythology, gaited horses, Muybridge and a wee touch of biomechanics. 👌 well done with this blog bait. You have caught me. You have won
This is me. I am fat. I am fit. And I am a badass, apparently.
I know whoever’s following me is here for art, but bear with me. This is important to me.
I’ve never seen myself portrayed as this cool fighter in the photo – so the fact that this is me, is a revelation to me. This photo was taken as part of an article about plus-sized women who work out for fun, not for weight loss. It’s an interesting article; it reviews recent scientific studies debunking myths about fat bodies, and includes interviews with 3 other women besides myself. It’s in Hebrew, though; here’s a LINK.
I started practicing in Abada Capoeira 4 years ago. All these four years, I’ve been constantly struggling with crippling insecurities and self doubt, every single practice. But my struggles are working out for me. It’s slowly sinking in, that being fat doesn’t stop me from doing anything – I stop me from doing things. After all, just like everyone else in western culture – I was taught that fat people can’t do things. And I’ve always been fat.
I’ve spent most of my life worrying about food, dieting, and forcing myself to exercise. It was clear to me that I, a fat person, could never take pleasure in sports, so I never sought out a pleasurable experience in my workouts.
At some point, I became sick of torturing my body and my brain with haunting thoughts about food, with my seesawing weight and the depression following the inevitable weight gain. And I decided to give up. I quit my gym subscription. I quit the weight watchers thing I had been part of. I just existed with my body and tried to be ok with it.
I wasn’t. My body’s always been a useless lump attached to my brain, holding me back. Giving up didn’t change that.
My best friend had started taking capoeira classes. He’d been raving about this awesome sport for a few months, about how nice and communal and friendly it was. How creative and fun. He made it sound awesome. And I decided I’d take a venture outside my comfort zone, and give it a shot. My friend was highly skeptical. He knew that I was a proud couch potato, knew how much I hated working out – and capoeira is an intense fucking workout!
But I tried it, and it was so hard, and so painful – but most of the time I didn’t even notice, because my big strong brain was getting a workout, too. And suddenly, I could do a one-handed cartwheel! I felt like a superhero!
My friend stopped going a short while after I had started. But I stayed. Not because I was forcing myself, not because I had a goal. I stayed because I just liked being there. I liked the process, I liked the progress, I liked the people, I liked the person it turned me into. I did it for fun.
And that’s my revelation for you guys – working out can be so much fun, even if you’ve always hated it. You just haven’t found the thing that engages you, yet. Get creative! Go outside your comfort zone! Try something no one expects from you! And forget about your dumb goals! Just have fun!
So now I’m still fat. And I’m finally cool with it.
Took me 30 years of living, but I’ve finally realized that my body isn’t a thing to be looked at. It’s a tool for me to use. A powerful tool. And it’s mine; I live inside of it.
And when I give it a chance – it never ceases to amaze and surprise me.
Beltainefaerie's Flights of Fancy 