#aphroares

sooo. haha. ponyplay yeah ::::). this is inspired by those pictures of aphrodite having her kids pull her chariot! (see below)

and also my own. well. im sure you can tell. i put a WILD amount of detail into this so now we're gonna break it down:

first off. the pose is inspired by THIS statue of them (Mars and Venus, Canova 1817-1822).

i thought it was cute and intimate even if i didnt quite do it justice ::::)

next up ares' hoof gloves are based on ancient greek cestus which were boxing gloves and also aphrodite's girdle ! i pulled a lot from wikipedia's diagram of them bc i thought the scales fit but they didnt end up making it to the final render 😔

ares, while still armoured, is entirely decked in aphrodite's colours and symbols. this is the first time ive actually kept him away from ANY of his symbols! the clams and hearts on the hoofboots are aphrodite's, the only precious stone he's wearing is pearls, on the reins there's myrtle stitching and a dove, on his pturges belt there's two sparrows and a swan which were all sacred birds of aphrodite, and on the pull belt there's a goose which is also a symbol of hers! his arm jewelry has rabbits, and she has put him in a clamshell bra both bc it's hot and it's a symbol of hers. his helmet is covered in engravings based in lace because i thought that level of ornate would be something dite would like.

as for aphrodite herself: she's wearing a charioteer's outfit! which is really just a men's style chiton but they seemed popular in vase art like i based the collar he's wearing on. that DOES mean she is cross dressing! which is on purpose ::::) aresdite plays w gender roles a LOT and i felt theyd take that into the bedroom. her chiton is meant to look a little bit like calm waves and the lower edge pattern is inspired by some stuff ive seen on pottery which always reminded me of the waves and the upper layer is clams! her shoes are obviously golden sandals w a heart in them which is self explanatory but ALSO pulled from this real statue fragment

i chose her hair style bc it felt like the right level of "intense to maintain" (bc i know curly hair usually needs a protective style—loose is really hard on it. and the finger waves require hours of daily styling).

her chariot in the back is actually based on my friend's vase but i cannot show it as it could doxx her but she pulled from various roccoco pieces for the final project ::::)

the TEMPLE in the back is based off of this real temple to aphrodite i found online: (see the spiral columns and the interesting frieze!)

the statue in the temple is based off of the thousands of "aphrodite fixing her sandal" statues, and the plants are golden climbing roses, which roses are obviously a symbol of love. the clouds in the back are primarily hearts ::::)

alts:

"walk him like a dog dont you mean lead him like a horse haha"