fan tattoos of the Kushiel series' Night Courtesan marque
https://www.jacquelinecarey.com/fan-tattoos/
we see that basically nobody did neither the valerian of the submissives nor the mandragora of the dominants, but everyone went with the distinctive briar rose design of the masochist protagonist Phèdre nó Delaunay de Montrève (a fairly awesome tattoo, certainly, and apparently a design that preceded the book). most readers kept the "nape of neck between shoulder blades" part but not the idea of doing the whole back (though some went all the way).
given that, even though I am properly House Mandrake, I'll decide that my revealed pombagira rose-and-trident is my personal marque, done before I even heard of Kushiel's Legacy. after all it's at the exact place, theme and vibes as all the other fangirls (who aren't doing valeriana flowers either) and it was a tattoo connected to both to my sexual/BDSM coming-of-age and to sex work, so it matches the themes of the novel to a T. besides, I don't think adding a mandragora to it would fit very well, aesthetically.
(I might still do a mandragora somewhere else, though; the combination of witch herb, the Alraune character (from the German myth, the novel/movies, to the Castlevania plantgirl, to Yurivania), and now an association with dominatrices, all combine to make it an attractive theme...)
ok so I reached the part where Phèdre gets her mark, and it turns out that like, she's a masochist (an "anguissette") but not someone raised in House Valerian, and courtesans of the Nama religion unattached to a House have their own, individualised marques. thus her briar rose.
it follows that as a wild-grown bastard myself, I am also meant to have not a mandragora but some other floral tattoo at the nape of my neck, with abstract lines and of personal meaning, connected to a religion that sacralises prostituting. so my pombagira tattoo is literally my marque, done before I knew this fandom at all.
also my back looks hot now that I lift huh
