SIMPLY LOOK NORTH

Forugh Farrokhzad, from "Border Walls" D. H. Lawrence, from The Rainbow

Jean-Paul Sinibaldi (1857-1909), Salammbo (details)

Robe à la française, 1750′s, altered 1780′s

From the V&A

SHADOW AND BONE | 2.01 No Shelter But Me

Safia Elhillo, from Home Is Not a Country; “Baba”

WARDROBE APPRECIATION

JESSIE MEI LI as ALINA STARKOV Shadow and Bone | S02E02: Rusalye (2023)

oh. oh. she really has made a mess. Esmeralda wipes up the lifeblood dripping down her chin with a middle finger and licks it clean, then sets to the twin wounds at her throat. she cannot help the stifled moan that escapes the back of her throat, the lady's pulse jumping at her tongue, begging her to drink a little more. she mustn't. she mustn't. Miss Smith is so small and precious ... it is a wonder such a body has accommodated such a great thirst.

❝  Carina, mi querida, mi estrella ...  ❞

once her neck is unmarred by the stain of blood, and the bite reduced to only two faint pricks in the skin, does the creature withdraw her tongue ... but not her lips, not her nose, which takes in the scent of her as greedily as if she'd not had a DROP. she tastes like starlight. like the vast expanse of a freshwater lake teeming with life. like the petal of a flower sighing its first scent of spring. like love.

❝  say you are alright. say you forgive me.  ❞

her heartbeat races at a ruthless speed, pulsing against her throat with violent abandon. the warmth of crimson blood against skin lasts for only a moment before it is eagerly consumed, as if she is the finest of culinary masterpieces. Carina responds in quiet hums and moans, occasional ever so soft pleas of desire; what semblance of her mind that is left struggling to determine how she can derive pleasure from such sharp pain.

for each drop desperately given, she sees a hundred stars in her blurring vision. as the warmth dissipates from her throat, her eyes reveal to her a NIGHT SKY that is all her own, her own constellations, the creation of a UNIVERSE conjured from the loss of her essence. if she felt she could move her trembling hand, her fingers would dare to grasp at the SPARKLING TREASURES, but purred endearments and requests pull her away from her stars.

❝  yes.  ❞

searching to anchor herself in reality, a shaking finger lands onto Esmeralda's shoulder, a reminder that she is no longer FLOATING in her constellations, that she did indeed plead for the lady to feast upon her, to quench her THIRST.

❝  yes, yes , i forgive you a thousand times over.  ❞

she blinks herself out of her UNIVERSE, not quite present, her mind lost in the fog, enraptured in a delirium of bliss.

❝  i saw stars, Esmeralda, my very own stars.  ❞