Balamb Garden Festival Committee

Shiva

Ifrit

Leviathan

Gilgamesh

Next time someone complains about singular “they” I’ll point them to this 17th century rant against singular “you”.

THIS ROBOT DOESN’T HAVE A FACE BUT IT’S STILL ADORABLE

A Squall/Rinoa fanmix.  (Originally created for the Where I Belong challenge in August 2012)

i. chasing cars - snow patrol  ii. more than this - roxy music iii. anna begins - counting crows iv. to build a home - cinematic orchestra v. as the world falls down - david bowie vi. waiting on an angel - ben harper vii. everything = nothing - sefiros viii. i melt with you - nouvelle vague ix. who wants to live forever? - david garrett x. gravitate to me - the the xi. the highwayman - loreena mckinnitt xii. closing in - imogen heap

Shadow of The Colossus

In the west the white wedding dress has it’s origins in the Victorian era, specifically in the white dress Queen Victoria wore in her marriage to Prince Albert. At the time, red was the most popular color for upper-class women to wear at their wedding, and her wedding dress was sort of the contemporary version of Lady Gaga wearing some outlandish outfit to a red carpet event. (She also eschewed the ermine and crown traditional for a queen to wear, which was quite startling to many people.)

After that, a pure white dress became a fashionable way for wealthy, upper-class women to show off their money. Because a pure white dress would quickly yellow and could be ruined by a single spill or a little dirt in an era before 20th century laundering techniques, a white wedding dress was a way of saying “that’s right bitches, I’m so rich I can afford to have this beautiful, elaborate gown made for me and I’m only going to wear it once. Plus odds are good I’ll never work a day in my life or come into contact with anything that might soil it so yeah, great to be me, right?”

Connotations of spiritual purity and eventually virginity only came years later, when the idea of a “white wedding” began to appear in etiquette and housekeeping guidebooks. Even then, it was more because these qualities were associated with upper-class women rather than because the white dress was an honor earned through keeping hands off one’s genitals. Even then, most women just wore their best church dress to their wedding for quite a while. It was the image of thew white wedding dress in post WWII Hollywood movies that finally cemented it as a standard and iconic part of the culture.

Nowadays of course, the American wedding is an orgy of conspicuous consumption, and every woman regardless of her financial situation is expected to get married in a dress she’ll never wear again.

I will NEVER understand why people place so much stock in being a virgin when they get married. If that’s your cup of tea, cool; I have no right to tell you to do otherwise. You do you. But physical intimacy is a real and important part of marriage, and personally I wanted to make sure I was one hundred percent compatible with the person I was pledging to spend my entire life with.