#clovis grant

[vixnarts]

I whipped up this cute drawing I did of Nico di Angelo and Clovis Grant. When I started reading TLH, I immediately started to ship Nico with Clovis. I absolutely love Clovis. I may change Clovis’s design and give vitiligo.

[astradreaming]

Dating Clovis Grant

MY MAN! HIM! JUST HIM <;33

masterlist

clovis is arguably the best boyfriend ever.

☆ not only does he give the most amazing hugs and cuddles but the man can cook up a storm. so expect homemade meals and desserts when your feeling down

☆ hes such an attentive boyfriend, he always knows when your having a bad day and knows just what you need to feel better

☆ he's one of the only people in camp who can get away with having you stay overnight. so expect sleepovers

☆ speaking of, he 100% joins you in your dreams and even though when you wake up you can't always remember them, he holds those moments close

☆ you were with him through the entire war, when he was unclaimed in cabin 11 to when he was finally claimed and had zero control over his powers

☆ with determination and your support clovis was able to keep his powers under control. every now and then he still needs a break and is found asleep in random corners of camp

☆ you definitely became his personal pillow when he was unable to control his powers and now he still lies down on you when he's tired almost as a inside joke

☆ now that he's got control the two of you definitely train together and he's an amazing swordsman especially when he figured out how to put his opponents to sleep

☆ whatever hobbies you have he will sit and listen to your rambles, he will ask questions and buy things that remind him of said hobby for you

☆ he makes sure you don't have nightmare but he can't stop most demigod dreams (seeing as most of them are in link with a prophecy/quest) but he's aware of them and goes straight to your cabin when he senses something's wrong.

☆ hes the type of boyfriend to buy two drinks and whichever one you dislike more he'll happily have.

☆ OLIVE THEORY BOYFRIEND RIGHT HERE

☆ yk those guys getting married who smoosh the cake in the brides face even though they know the bride doesn't want them too but they do it anyway? yeah clovis would rather die even think of being like that

☆ he also definitely hasn't fully planned out your wedding, and totally hasn't see it play out in one of his dreams

☆ he's the type of guy who would wait all year for the release of a movie then wait for the dvd to come out just because he knows you don't like the same movies as him and he's not going to force you to sit through a movie you won't like. and going to the movies without you? without. you. ??? no.

☆ he has the best pajamas and without a doubt lets you borrow them

☆ he would also love the matching pajamas/onesies. he might beg you to wear them with him

☆ speaking of begging, that man has the cruelest puppy eyes ever. one bat of his big brown eyes and your crumbling (your pretty sure it's even worked on chiron)

☆ he's the best guy to bring home as well, he is the perfect gentleman and he's so charismatic. whoever's at home with you will instantly accept and love him

☆ and please don't even get me started on how pretty he is

☆ because ugh he's gorgeous

☆ his wild and curly brown hair with his doe brown eyes. he has the cutest dimples and when he gets super tired he gets the slightest lisp

☆ he owns a pair of light blue bunny slippers he wears unironically and it's the cutest thing ever

☆ hes always on your side no matter what, and when he loves someone he loves them with all his heart

UGH CLOVIS IS THE BEST

[mysterysimblr]

Priene: So, how was “holding hands” with Clovis? Mercedes: Eep! Great, actually. I know you two have—wait, are you upset with me? Priene: Oh, please. As if a guy could ever stand between us. Mercedes: Right!

[cactusringed]

I miss being able to breathe..... I had no idea how good I had it........ Shout-out to breathing....

[secretmellowblog]

Happy Julius Caesar gets stabbed day! Here’s a Les Mis take on the subject, courtesy of Grantaire’s Drunken Rambles:

Whom do you admire, the slain or the slayer, Cæsar or Brutus? Generally men are in favor of the slayer. Long live Brutus, he has slain! There lies the virtue. Virtue, granted, but madness also. There are queer spots on those great men. The Brutus who killed Cæsar was in love with the statue of a little boy. This statue was from the hand of the Greek sculptor Strongylion, who also carved that figure of an Amazon known as the Beautiful Leg, Eucnemos, which Nero carried with him in his travels. This Strongylion left but two statues which placed Nero and Brutus in accord. Brutus was in love with the one, Nero with the other. All history is nothing but wearisome repetition. One century is the plagiarist of the other. The battle of Marengo copies the battle of Pydna; the Tolbiac of Clovis and the Austerlitz of Napoleon are as like each other as two drops of water. I don’t attach much importance to victory. Nothing is so stupid as to conquer; true glory lies in convincing. But try to prove something! If you are content with success, what mediocrity, and with conquering, what wretchedness! Alas, vanity and cowardice everywhere. Everything obeys success, even grammar. Si volet usus, says Horace. Therefore I disdain the human race.

[inexplicifics]

ooooh if you cared to expound upon the isnliv wips, I would be all hearteyes, i love ISNLIV to itty bitty teeny tiny pieces. Also question: on the WIP list you have a few that are J/W - I'm assuming J is Jaskier, but who is W? or does that mean Witcher (generic)?

Here's a little bit of Coën pining, just a little, for his Wolves:

He’d found their brethren good company, too, when he made it up the Trail to Kaer Morhen - most of them, at least. Old Vesemir is a bastion of strength and wisdom, Frank and Gwen good-natured and willing to grant a strange beta space as long as he doesn’t overstep, and Clovis is, as far as Coën can tell, just irritable by nature. They aren’t replacements for his lost Schoolmates, who he knew as well as he does himself, but it’s good to be around other witchers all the same. But then this year - this year, and Gardis, and Aubry. Coën has never met anyone quite like Gardis and Aubry before.

"W" in this context is "Wolves" - since I didn't want to write out all of their initials!

[mapsontheweb]

Barbarians and Romans: the geopolitical recomposition of the 5th century.

1 : « Atlas historique mondial », Les Arènes, 2019

2 : « Atlas de Rome et des barbares », Autrement 2018

via cartesdhistoire

The presence of barbarians could not be resolved by force alone, so the emperors chose to address the issue politically. Treaties that settled barbarians in specific regions helped to stop the violence and costly devastation from a fiscal standpoint. Additionally, the barbarians strengthened the imperial army against other barbarians, usurpers, and anti-tax revolts. There was also hope to integrate them into the empire.

During the 5th century, the status of federates recognized by the emperor allowed local elites to cooperate with the barbarians while remaining loyal to Rome. Political reasons (such as the legitimacy of the barbarians' presence granted by the emperor), acculturation (acceptance of Christianity, Latin culture, and many Roman social traditions), and long-standing relations with the Romans facilitated the acceptance of barbarian power, as they often belonged to the same late Roman world.

For example, the Salian Franks entered the Empire around 290 as dedicates in Batavia and settled in Toxandrie in 342. In 451, they allied with Rome against Attila, then against the Burgundians and the Visigoths. At the death of Childeric, Remigius of Reims considered Clovis a natural partner. Similarly, the Goths signed their first treaty with Rome in 332 and regularly helped Rome from 413 to 460 against other barbarians (Alans, Hasdingi Vandals, Suevi), usurpers (Jovinus), Bagaudae revolts (454), and invaders (Attila). They had been in the Empire for a century when they were recognized as independent. The Burgundians signed two treaties as federates around 413 and 442. After 458, their leaders defined themselves as masters of the Gallic militia for more than half a century. The Ostrogoths, on their part, came to Italy at the request of Constantinople.

[whencyclopedia]

Georges Bizet

Georges Bizet (1838-1875) was a French Romantic composer best known for his opera Carmen and the instrumental music for the play L'Arlésienne. None of his earlier operas had enjoyed any great success, and even Carmen took several months to gain public and critical acclaim, too late for the composer, who died of a heart attack aged 36, to witness.

Early Life

Alexandre César Leopold Bizet (later known simply as Georges Bizet) was born in Paris on 25 October 1838. His father, Adolphe Bizet, was a wig-maker and hairdresser, but he taught singing occasionally. Georges's mother, Aiméé Delsarte, was the daughter of a successful businessman, and she also had musical talent, this time as a pianist. Georges showed his own great musical talent at an early age, and he was enrolled in the Conservatory in Paris aged just nine (one year younger than was usually permitted, but his aunt and maternal uncle pulled some strings). In 1855, when he was just 17, Georges wrote his Symphony in C. Georges was a star pupil at the Conservatory where he won the 1857 Prix de Rome along with several other prizes such as for composition, his entry being the one-act opera Le docteur miracle. Other prizes were gained for his piano and organ playing and for two cantatas, David and Clovis et Clotilde.

One of Bizet's composition teachers was Fromental Halévy (1799-1862), significantly, a composer of operas. Bizet became a great admirer of the German opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864), whom he described as "a thundering dramatic genius" (Schonberg, 269). Another influence on the young composer was Charles Gounod (1818-1893) whose operas included Faust (1859). Above all, Bizet believed in melody, and he admired those who could produce it.

Upon graduation in 1858, Bizet went to Rome – paid for out of his prizes – where he spent the next three years visiting the ancient sites and composing. Bizet enjoyed Italy and was beginning to find himself. He said, "I am beginning to think of myself as an artist but what howlers, what failures" (Steen, 585). Here in Italy, he composed a comic opera, Don Procopia (not performed until 1906), and various orchestral works but not the mass he was supposed to have composed as a condition of his grant. The orchestral works would be rearranged into the composer's Roma symphony, not fully completed to his satisfaction until 1871. It was in the Italian capital that Bizet first began to have the problem with his throat that plagued him for the rest of his life.

Continue reading...

[a-driftamongopenstars]

thinking about the way Destiny shows obsession.

we have so many examples of it in the lore. Clovis Bray, Eramis, Calus, now Maya Sundaresh, and earleir even Osiris. The Osmium siblings, too. All of them dipping into the darkness in search of salvation and immortality, and dooming themselves. Like a monkey's paw.

Here, have your immortality, but to your senses it will be perverted and dangerous, and the Traveler will reclaim it anyway if it can. Have your salvation in the shape of revenge, but it won't matter, because you are just a pawn. Have your riches and loyalty, but it will not matter, because looking back at you are empty husks.

And then they all, or almost all, die. And everyone else is left to fix it, but maybe they can't.

Not only is it about obsession, it's about the way it directly affects the people around said people. Exos, other Eliksni, the Cabal, now the whole of Neomuni and more. It's like rolling waves, far into the future.

And even more so, that salvation and immortality and favour they are looking for is also everything the Traveler grants. But also as a monkey's paw with... maybe possibly better outcomes? Not sure.

IDK, but it's interesting to me how much Destiny puts these types of characters on the forefront of storytelling, and it IS very compelling. Listening to Chioma Esi's logs put a lot of things into perspective imo.

[a-french-coconut]

Travis Stoll (Part 6)

As soon they both enter, the entrance closes by itself, leaving them in complete darkness

"Will, do the thing."

"I'm not doing the thing, it's ridiculous and embarrassing."

"Dead people don't judge William."

"You judge enough for the lot of them."

"Oh by Hermes, I told you once that you looked like a living lamp !"

"Nobody wants to be compared to an object !"

"Fine, fine, I apologise. Happy now ?"

"No."

"You're insufferable."

"I am not, everybody would have the same reaction as-"

"Shut up."

"What ?"

"Did you hear that ?"

"Travis, this is not the time to be joking."

"Don't be ridiculous Willy, a good joke is always welcome. Now lighten up, please, so that I can see if we are about to be a monster's delicious meal."

A beat passes before Travis hears Will sighs next to him in the darkness.

His friend is now glowing a soft golden light, flickering at the rate of his heartbeat and illuminating the underground corridor.

"Not a word.", warns Will when he notices Travis smiling.

Footsteps coming right toward them stop him from answering to his friend.

Quickly, Travis pushes Will behind a large rock and urges him to stop glowing.

As darkness engulfs them again, the sound gets closer and closer until it's right in front of them.

"You should really stop trying to be on stealth missions amore mio, you suck at them."

Will's glowing comes back with such force, Travis is pretty sure his vision won't ever recover.

"Nico !", exclaims happily Will as he goes hug his boyfriend.

"How did you know we would be here ?", he asks the son of Hades still busy with his own personal sunny leech.

"Clovis sent me a dream about your quest," Nico's face darkens, "I promise you Travis, I'll help you as much as I can to save Connor."

"I know what is it like to lose your sibling after all", he says with a sardonic smile.

Right, what was her name again ? Biana ? No, Bianca. Bianca Di Angelo.

"Thank you Nico, really, I mean it."

"You're welcome. Now come on, we have to hurry up, we don't have a lot of time and Persephone may be hard to convince."

Connor's fate looms over Travis like the sword of Damocles, a constant reminder that his brother could die any moment from now.

How much time has passed since they enter the Underworld ?

How much has he left ?

Dad, I know I've been asking a lot of things but please grant one last favor. Keep me updated about Connor's health, send dreams or whatever other signals.

He doesn't have any offerings to burn for his prayer to reach his father, he can only hope Hermes is paying attention to him.

"You're right Neeks, lead the way."

"Don't call me Neeks, Stoll."

"Do you prefer Nicolas ?"

"Oh I'm keeping that one."

"No I don't and Solace if I ever hear calling me by that name I-"

"Ouch Will, you're on second name basis."

"You're both insufferable."

"For the last time, I am not !"

Despite the sorrow weighing on his heart, Travis cackles the whole way to Hades' Palace at Will and Nico's constant bickering.

part 7 posted !

[queenjunothegreat]

Hi! First off i wanna say i love your work, literally an highlight each week, no matter what i always look forwars to saturday and the updates

I'm wondering if Piper can sense that there's, ehm, something very much not platonic going in between Leo and Jason. I'm pretty sure they don't know (disaster gays) but will anyone figure it out? I can picture Annabeth, like Thalia, just going"🤔".

Also can i just say i love how gay Jason is here? He really is great rep for all disaster queers out there (thank you Jason), from his interaction with Clovis ( i cackled) to him taking for granted Leo was referring to either Cal or Zethes when he talked about his "prom date", to gay panicking every time Leo is being Leo (that boy really likes curly hair). I'm legit thinking he could see Leo with his whole seducing-Narcissus-followers awful outift and just crush even harder. He is such a perfect mirror to Piper-falling in love with every girl I meet-McLean. (Literally twirling her hair while running miles with Thalia, what an icon).

That's so sweet of you!! I'm glad you're enjoying the fic so much!! Thank you for letting me know!! <3

Now, as for Piper, daughter of the goddess of love herself, easily the most emotionally intelligent of the Seven, she absolutely has NO clue about Jason and Leo lmao. Romance flies RIGHT over her head. She is the embodiment of that one meme where the old lady is like "They seem like good friends. :)" She DOES wind up clocking Jason's crush eventually, but it was pretty much a moment of divine inspiration. In fact, I'm pretty sure the only reason she DID figure it out was because Aphrodite was just throwing stuff at her from Mount Olympus. Annabeth does eventually sus it out and tbh Thalia thinks they're already dating. She'll refer to Leo as Jason's boyfriend and Jason thinks she's making fun of him but she's not. She just full on thinks that's his boyfriend. That's why she doesn't take any of Leo's flirting seriously.

And Jason! I have had SO much fun writing him as an absolute disaster queer. He doesn't even fully realize he likes boys yet (he's been BUSY, okay?? There hasn't been a lot of time for soul searching!) but being a gay little mess in baked right into his DNA. No amount of memory nonsense can fix him. Leo does show up covered in motor oil with Sharpie tattoos and Jason is for sure into it. Piper is judging him SO hard, but she doesn't have any room to talk considering she ordered three extra drinks when they went to the movies just because the girl behind the counter was cute and she wanted an excuse to go back and talk to her.

[astradreaming]

YOU ARE THE BEST ONG I LIVE FOR CLOVIS GRANT AND IM SO HAPPY SOMEONE HAS FINALLY WRITTEN FOR HIM

He is Deff the type of bf just to go to ur cabin to sleep in ur bed when he misses you

OMG THANK YOU SM!!

CLOVIS IS THE BESTEST BOY <33

masterlist

☆ he's the literal definition of a pillow boyfriend. cuddles with that man are so comfy and warm.

☆ the rest of your cabin is used to him just walking in and making himself at home, whether its a the crack at dorm or if he's breaking the rules and staying the night

☆ the only reason your cabinmates don't snitch on you both breaking the rules at night is because once he's asleep everyone else soon follows, they always get better dreams when he's around.

☆ he runs around talking to people in 'dreamworld' for date/gift ideas (which he takes credit for)

☆ and don't even get me started on when he figures out his powers, that man is putting anyone who looks at you funny in a deep nightmare filled sleep for weeks.

[mysterysimblr]

Unfortunately, Clovis attacked Gerry after an unlucky drink… Is this the end to the fraternity friendship?

[kanansdume]

Thornidala AU

Thorn is assigned to watch over Padme after some sort of attack on the Senate/Coruscant or assassination attempt on Padme happens. They're actually in a rotating schedule, so Thorn is not the ONLY person assigned to watch over Padme as a bodyguard and generally they aren't assigning Commanders to this, but the trooper who was supposed to go on shift that day ended up hurt or something and Thorn maybe is on some sort of light duty leave after an injury and so jumps at the chance to volunteer (probably not entirely going along with medic's orders by doing so lbh) and so spends a day with Padme at the senate building playing bodyguard.

Padme's pretty busy, so while she's professionally friendly when she sees him and does recognize his rank as a Commander and asks how she managed to rate a higher ranked officer out of the blue, she's not paying Thorn a whole lot of attention and is just doing her job.

Until Anakin shows up in her office and Thorn really isn't SUPPOSED to leave the office, that's... part of the gig here and Padme actually asks Thorn to stay because she's super busy and she's trying to ask Anakin to leave and it goes badly and they end up in an argument and for a hot minute there, Thorn's worried he may have to step in and make Anakin leave. Anakin doesn't really raise his voice, but he does go from manipulative (think like the Senate Hostage episode) to more quietly demanding (kinda like in ROTS when Padme tries to insist that Palpatine's not the mensch Anakin thinks he is) and Padme is... folding. It's REALLY not Thorn's place, but if Padme's heading in that direction he'd rather not be in here when it does, so he just sort-of quietly asks if she needs him to leave, and the reminder that Thorn's been there this whole time sort-of brings Padme back to herself and she insists that Anakin leave this time.

Once he finally does, she turns to Thorn and says something to the effect of "I'm sorry you had to see that, he's not normally like that, it's just this war..." and nothing happens that explicitly makes a MARRIAGE clear to Thorn, so he has nothing to really keep secret aside from the fact that she's not making the relationship public, but she's not doing anything entirely wrong. Not recommended, frowned upon, perhaps, but not illegal. Thorn just responds with "I completely understand, Senator, this war affects us all."

Thorn's very accepting response to his accidental viewing of something Padme's sort-of embarrassed about means that any time she has to bring a squad of troopers with her on a trip or needs a trooper to accompany her somewhere, she inquires if Thorn is busy. Sometimes he is, but more than once he's available to accompany her and while he never views anything that intensely personal again, Padme knows he's trustworthy and professional.

After the Clone War ends and Palpatine removed from power and the clones released from service and granted citizenship in the Republic, things aren't going well for Anakin and Padme's marriage. They kept it a secret as long as they could, but since Anakin can spend so much more time around and with Padme now, and Padme is still swamped with work having to fix up the Senate and work out treaties with Separatists and Neutral Systems and re-work relationships with the Corporate Alliance etc etc she hardly has time for her marriage. Anakin is resentful of how little time Padme has for him and Padme starts to get frustrated at this resentment.

Things devolve until Padme just leaves for Naboo and tells Anakin not to follow her, and she goes to visit her family. Anakin is seething and basically about to explode, similar to the Clovis 2.0 arc, but maybe he does something like snap at an initiate/padawan or something and one of the Masters forces him to sit down and talk about it, because that's a line you don't cross and if you cross it, it's time to sit down and figure out how to get back in balance. Anakin doesn't really want to talk, so he effectively gets grounded until he does.

Padme goes to visit her family and is rattled enough by the way her relationship has gone that she's more inclined to lean on her family for support and listen to them when they express worry for her and just... lets it all out. Everything she's gone through, every fear she's kept bottled since the Trade Federation occupation over a decade ago, the secret marriage, the war. Her family helps her work through it and she eventually decides to end things with Anakin.

Whether this means basically serving him divorce papers or just sending him a message saying it's over, this causes Anakin to implode. He's angry, he's furious, he wants to just chase Padme down and make her see sense, but he's grounded and can't go anywhere and the Jedi won't UNDERSTAND and eventually he just kinda... starts screaming at the Jedi, starts letting it all out because it has to go SOMEWHERE and it may as well be at the Jedi who made the problem in the first place. And shit comes out that make the Jedi aware that Anakin's broken some vows and once Anakin kind-of lets it all out, he just... keeps going maybe. He gets it into his head that somehow he can get back what he's lost, if he just... proves himself better he can get Padme back and if he can appease the Jedi he'll stay a Jedi and somehow he can STILL HAVE BOTH so long as he just does as the Jedi say, so he goes along with it.

They end up sending him to Tatooine after a while with a chaperone on a sabbatical and to make amends for the massacre of the Tuskens. He stays with Beru and Owen or just meets up with them and spends time with them and they consider him Family obviously and treat him as such and while he doesn't have good memories of Tatooine, he does like the way it feels to spend time with Beru and Owen, who give him the kind of familial commitment he's so wanted, who feel so familiar to what he had with Shmi. Not QUITE the same because they're not focused on him above all else, but... similar. Family is the Most Important Thing in Tatooine, and as a member of their Family, he is Important. And, eventually, he starts to actually heal and gain some self-awareness and realizes that he DOESN'T really want to stay with the Jedi, it's not the right path for him and won't make him happy.

Padme in the meanwhile has been convinced to leave the Senate once she serves Anakin divorce papers and has been healing on Naboo, working at the university maybe with her brother-in-law or helping out at the mountain village her parents founded near Theed where she was born, getting back to her roots so to speak. Eventually she probably joins her father's Refugee Relief Movement again, helping him out as the President or taking on some sort of higher position in the organization.

And it's here that she meets Thorn again, who's either been helping out in the Refugee Relief Movement himself or working with similar organizations and he ends up on the same project as the Refugee Relief Movement with Padme. He is surprised that Padme recognizes him when he comes up to say hello and even more surprised when Padme says she wouldn't mind his company if he wants to stay and catch up some more.

They end up spending a lot of time together, partnering on projects sometimes and spending meals and leisure time together. Padme introduces him to Naboo literature and tells him childhood anecdotes and Thorn teaches Padme some of the card games the clones had invented during the war and all the ways to cheat at them and all about the crazy flora and fauna he's seen on his travels since the war. On the little time off they're given, Padme offers to take him to see various sights around Naboo. One night, when she wins her first game with him, she kisses him, to both of their surprise. But she decides to commit to it and asks if it's something he wants, and if not then there's no pressure. Thorn does. The next morning, Padme realizes that maybe they should talk about this a little more and tells him she's not really looking for a committed relationship, but that she likes him and she likes making him feel good and spending time with him. Thorn understands and is willing to live with those conditions.

After the project ends a few months later, they go their separate ways, promising to keep in touch.

Padme stays on Naboo again, getting some rest, Thorn goes to Coruscant to see Fox and catch up with his brothers who still work on the planet. Fox is in a relationship with at least one Jedi and so Thorn wants to get his advice on how that kind of stuff works because as much as he was willing to abide by Padme's limitations for their relationship, something about it was starting to sit a little different and he didn't know what to do about it. Fox tells him that it's obvious he fell in love with Padme but if she's not ready for a relationship or just doesn't feel the same way he's going to have to accept that and be happy with what she IS willing to give him or walk away. Thorn mentions that maybe he should just find himself a nice Jedi like Fox did and settle down and Fox just laughs and is like "The fact that you think anyone SETTLES DOWN with a Jedi just goes to show how bad of a match that would be for you."

Padme and Thorn keep their promise of staying in touch and meet up again when Padme makes a trip to Coruscant or something and Thorn decides to tell her how he feels. Not because he's expecting a relationship out of it, Padme was pretty clear on the arrangement and how she wasn't ready for a serious romance yet, but because he doesn't want to be dishonest with her and if she needs her space from him because of this, he wants her to be able to take it. The last thing he wants to do is make her feel uncomfortable, even inadvertently.

Padme, however, doesn't want space. She's not ready for a romantic relationship still, but the fact that Thorn came to her without expectations and was ready to step away if she asked speaks volumes. He makes her feel safe, and happy, and makes her laugh, and she's not interested in giving that up if it doesn't bother him that she also can't give him what he wants. Thorn just wants to make her happy, in whatever shape that takes, so they stay friends, but Thorn does request that they don't sleep together anymore just so lines don't get too blurred.

Fast forward several years down the line, Padme and Thorn have remained good friends and only gotten closer over the years. Padme is really happy and settled in her job running her dad's relief organization because it does allow her to choose when she travels for work and when she stays home on Naboo to reconnect with her family. Padme brought Thorn home to meet her family once and he got to talking with her mother about education opportunities on Naboo he could take advantage of if he was interested. He's worked his way through schooling while doing some local jobs on Naboo and helping out with the relief organization occasionally. He's finding he really likes using his hands to be creative and has gotten into textile engineering via connections to Padme's old handmaidens. Having individualized outfits that can double as armor is both creative and practical! He also likes music and has a very decent singing voice and has picked up several instruments, but that's more of a hobby. He also loves dancing, but has no desire to learn to be good at it. He knows he COULD, but it's more fun to just let his body move to the music however it wants to, it feels like freedom.

Thorn's obviously gotten to know Padme's family and gets along pretty well with them. He's also managed to befriend her former handmaidens, including Sabe. Padme spends time getting to know more about Thorn's friends and family, which likely is predominantly Fox and the other Coruscant Guard commanders, but potentially a few men who were in other battalions as well, especially if they had joined up in the relief organization with him or are also taking advantage of the education opportunities on Naboo. Padme was obviously always polite and friendly to the clones but hadn't truly made time to get to know them very well during the war and certainly wasn't familiar enough with them to know what sort of traditions and culture they had built for themselves or understand their values and history. Most of what she knew was probably second or third hand through Anakin or Ahsoka, so a lot of what she learns by finally just spending time with the clones in an informal capacity is very new to her and she has to unlearn a lot of assumptions she may have had about them.

Getting back together (or getting together for the first time, depending on how you look at it) isn't dramatic. It's not a life or death decision and doesn't involve a crazy romantic gesture. Thorn and Padme go out to watch a meteor shower one night or something, or they make a visit to a nearby animal sanctuary, or to an orchard to pick some of their own fruit so Thorn can try his hand at baking some new recipes Sola or the handmaidens recommended he try, and Padme just looks at him and knows. She knows that this is the person she wants to spend her life with. She can be happy without him, now, she knows that, too. But she'd rather be happy WITH him, and keep doing things to make HIM happy. So she takes his hand to get his attention and when he turns to look at her, she kisses him. And there's no more shadows, no more hesitation, there's just him, just them.

Thorn ends up designing and creating Padme's wedding dress, and when they eventually start their own family, Padme gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

[cruelprincae]

THE LORE DAMP, THE LORE DAMP, THE LORE DAMP

"Mab was born when the world was young," The Thirstlewitch says. "In those days, we Folk were not so diminished as we are now, when there is so much iron. Our giants were as tall as mountains, our trolls like trees. And hags like myself held the power to bring all manner of things into being. Once a century, there is a convocation of hags, where we, the witches and enchanters, the smiths and makers, come together to hone our craft. It is not for outsiders, but Mab dared enter. She besought us for all that she wanted, the power to create. Not a mere glamour or little workings, but the great magic that we alone possessed. Most turned her away, but there was one who did not. That hag gave unto her the power to create from nothing. And in return, she was to take the hag's daughter and raise the witch child as her heir. At first, Mab did as she was bid. She took for herself the title of the Oak Queen, united the smaller Seelie Courts under her banner and began bestowing sentience on living things. Trees would lift their roots at her beckoning. Grass would scurry around, confusing her enemies. Faeries that had never existed before grew from her hands. And she raised three of the Shifting Isles of Elfhame from the sea."

Oak frowns at the dirt. "Has [ Cardan ] inherited some of her power ? Is that why he can - "

"Patience boy," Says the Thistlewitch. "Prince or not I will tell you in full or I will not tell you at all." [ . . . ] The Thistlewitch clears her throat and begins to speak again. "Mab called the child Mellith, which means 'mother's curse'. Not an auspicious beginning. And yet, it was only when her own daughter was born that she began to think of ways to weasel out of the bargain."

"Clovis, who ruled before my grandfather, Eldred."

The thistlewitch includes her head. "Indeed. In the end, it was a simple trick. Mab boasted again and again that she had discovered a means for Clovis to rule until the rumors finally found their way to the hag. Enraged, she swore to kill Clovis. And so, the hag crept up on where the child slept in the night and fell upon the girl she found there, only to discover she had murdered her own daughter. Mab had bested her. But the hag was able to put a final enchantment on her daughter's heart as it beat its last, for her daughter was a hag too and magic sang through her blood. The hag imbued the heart with the power of anihilation, of destruction, of unmaking. And she cursed Mab, so that piece of her child would be forever tied to the queen's power. She would have to keep the heart by her side for her magic to work. And should she not, it's power would unmake all that she created.

As for Mab, you know the rest. She made an alliance with one of the solitary fey and founded the Greenbriar line. A trickle of her power passed down to her grandson, Eldred, granting him fecundity when so much of Faerie is barren, and to the current High King, Cardan, who pulled a fourth isle from the deep. But a large amount of Mab's power stayed trapped with her remains, confined to her reliquary."

THIS IS HUGE THIS IS HUGE, THIS IS HUGE.

[reasoningdaily]

Snippet of a New York Times article from 1910 describes founding of Mound Bayou, a town founded on the wealth of a steamboat patent. SundayMagazine.org 

America has long been the land of innovation. More than 13,000 years ago, the Clovis people created what many call the “ first American invention” – a stone tool used primarily to hunt large game. This spirit of American creativity has persisted through the millennia, through the first American patent granted in 1641 and on to today.

One group of prolific innovators, however, has been largely ignored by history: Black inventors born or forced into American slavery. Though U.S. patent law was created with color-blind language to foster innovation, the patent system consistently excluded these inventors from recognition.

 A New York Times article from 1910 describes founding of Mound Bayou, a town founded on the wealth of a steamboat patent. SundayMagazine.org 

As a law professor and a licensed patent attorney, I understand both the importance of protecting inventions and the negative impact of being unable to use the law to do so. But despite patents being largely out of reach to them throughout early U.S. history, both slaves and free African-Americans did invent and innovate.

Why Patents Matter

In many countries around the world, innovation is fostered through a patent system. Patents give inventors a monopoly over their invention for a limited time period, allowing them, if they wish, to make money through things like sales and licensing.

The patent system has long been the heart of America’s innovation policy. As a way to recoup costs, patents provide strong incentives for inventors, who can spend millions of dollars and a significant amount of time developing a invention.

Patent Office relief on the Herbert C. Hoover Building. Neutrality 

The history of patents in America is older than the U.S. Constitution, with several colonies granting patents years before the Constitution was created. In 1787, however, members of the Constitutional Convention opened the patent process up to people nationwide by drafting what has come to be known as the Patent and Copyright Clause of the Constitution. It allows Congress:

This language gives inventors exclusive rights to their inventions. It forms the foundation for today’s nationwide, federal patent system, which no longer allows states to grant patents.

Though the language itself was race-neutral, like many of the rights set forth in the Constitution, the patent system didn’t apply for Black Americans born into slavery. Slaves were not considered American citizens and laws at the time prevented them from applying for or holding property, including patents. In 1857, the U.S. commissioner of patents officially ruled that slave inventions couldn’t be patented.

Slaves’ Inventions Exploited by Owners

During the 17th and 18th centuries, America was experiencing rapid economic growth. Black inventors were major contributors during this era – even though most did not obtain any of the benefits associated with their inventions since they could not receive patent protection.

Slave owners often took credit for their slaves’ inventions. In one well-documented case, a Black inventor named Ned invented an effective, innovative cotton scraper. His slave master, Oscar Stewart, attempted to patent the invention. Because Stewart was not the actual inventor, and because the actual inventor was born into slavery, the application was rejected.

Stewart ultimately began selling the cotton scraper without the benefit of patent protection and made a significant amount of money doing so. In his advertisements, he openly touted that the product was “the invention of a Negro slave – thus giving the lie to the abolition cry that slavery dwarfs the mind of the Negro. When did a free Negro ever invent anything?”

Reaping Benefits of Own Inventions

The answer to this question is that Black people – both free and enslaved – invented many things during that time period.

One such innovator was Henry Boyd, who was born into slavery in Kentucky in 1802. After purchasing his own freedom in 1826, Boyd invented a corded bed created with wooden rails connected to the headboard and footboard.

The “Boyd Bedstead” was so popular that historian Carter G. Woodson profiled his success in the iconic book “The Mis-education of the Negro,” noting that Boyd’s business ultimately employed 25 white and Black employees.

Though Boyd had recently purchased his freedom and should have been allowed a patent for his invention, the racist realities of the time apparently led him to believe that he wouldn’t be able to patent his invention. He ultimately decided to partner with a white craftsman, allowing his partner to apply for and receive a patent for the bed.

Some Black inventors achieved financial success but no patent protection, direct or indirect. Benjamin Montgomery, who was born into slavery in 1819, invented a steamboat propeller designed for shallow waters in the 1850s. This invention was of particular value because, during that time, steamboats delivered food and other necessities through often-shallow waterways connecting settlements. If the boats got stuck, life-sustaining supplies would be delayed for days or weeks.

Montgomery tried to apply for a patent. The application was rejected due to his status as a slave. Montgomery’s owners tried to take credit for the propeller invention and patent it themselves, but the patent office also rejected their application because they were not the true inventors.

Even without patent protection, Montgomery amassed significant wealth and become one of the wealthiest planters in Mississippi after the Civil War ended. Eventually his son, Isaiah, was able to purchase more than 800 acres of land and found the town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi after his father’s death.

A Legacy of Black Innovators

The patent system was ostensibly open to free  Black people. From Thomas Jennings, the first Black patent holder, who invented dry cleaning in 1821, to Norbert Rillieux, a free man who invented a revolutionary sugar-refining process in the 1840s, to Elijah McCoy, who obtained 57 patents over his lifetime, those with access to the patent system invented items that still touch the lives of people today.

This legacy extends through the 21st century. Lonnie Johnson generated more than US$1 billion in sales with his Super Soaker water gun invention, which has consistently been among the world’s top 20 best-selling toys each year since 1991. Johnson now owns more than 80 patents and has since developed different green technologies.

Bishop Curry V, a 10-year-old Black inventor from Texas, has already applied for a patent for his invention, which he says will stop accidental deaths of children in hot cars.

Black women are also furthering the legacy of Black inventors. Lisa Ascolese, known as “The Inventress,” has received multiple patents and founded the Association for Women Inventors and Entrepreneurs. Janet Emerson Bashen became the first Black woman to receive a patent for a software invention in 2006. And Dr. Hadiyah Green recently won a $1 million grant related to an invention that may help treat cancer.

True to the legacy of American innovation, today’s Black inventors are following in the footsteps of those who came before them. Now patent law doesn’t actively exclude them from protecting their inventions – and fully contributing to American progress.

 Shontavia Johnson is the Associate Vice President for Academic Partnerships and Innovation at Clemson University.