#salon Vari

[thepathwechooseif]

DEMO

In the English countryside in 1914, you live with your two children on your late husband’s grand estate. Two years have passed since the tragic sinking of the Titanic, from which you became a single parent.

Though surrounded by wealth and community, you remain lost in a fog of grief. But with the arrival of summer, the neighbouring family prepares to host their annual month-long house party. Your curious children persuade you to attend, hoping the festivities will lift your sorrow.

Lucas/Lucia Bertham, the family's charming heir, bonds with your children and seems to understand you in a way others cannot. But will secrets regarding their family's future prevent love?

Azra Hays arrives, a traveling storyteller with a gift for magic in their words that soothes your soul. Gardner Isaac Hill has loved you in silence, finding joy through your children's smiles.

More suitors await too - brilliant sculptor Zephyr Langston, whose art mirrors your heart, and Doctor Henry Bellman, who ministers to the people with patience and good humor.

As festivities crescendo with masques, fireworks and more, you start to believe in love and laughter again. But which person holds your whole heart? And will dark forces from the past destroy this new paradise you’ve begun to build?

The summer promises intrigue, blessings, and maybe a sweet romance if you can let go of history and embrace the gifts of tomorrow.

Customise your character as well as your children’s

Choose where you live and how you dress

Your choices have an impact on how society reacts to you!

Uncover secrets from your past!

Pursuing different ROs with varying levels of affection leads to unique story endings that resolve the mystery

Lucas/Lucia Bertham (m/f/nb)

The Heir, 26, Lucas/Lucia Bertham is the only child and heir to the prestigious title and lands of Bertham. They are a successful businessperson, but relish returning to their ancestral home each summer. While other young people prefer to travel abroad, they prefer the simple pleasures of country life. They take their duty as head of the manor seriously, helping tenants with an approachable demeanor. Though destined to marry well for station one day, they remain single and enjoy lively flirtations. While others dance at balls, they are the happiest hosting gatherings under the stars or riding alongside farm laborers by day. Lucas/Lucia lights up any room with their charm, wit and easy smiles. But is there a lonely heart searching for more beneath this carefree facade? As always, only time will tell what develops between Lucas/Lucia and you over the magical summer months at Bertham.

Isaac Hill(m)

The Gardner, 35, Isaac Hill has lived and worked on your estate for years. His strong, weather-worn hands coax beauty from the soil. Gardenings comes naturally to gentle-souled Isaac, as does his way with any creature in need of care. The expansive gardens are his pride and joy, a wonderland open for all to enjoy. Despite his huge build, muscular arms and calloused palms, his demeanor remains soft-spoken yet self-assured. While most village maidens sigh for officers or heirs, Isaac's gentle soul and way with children has turned many a head. But he remains devoted to coaxing new life from the earth, finding solace in small things. Perhaps amid the Bertham's blossoms, Isaac's own heart may bud anew this summer as well.

Zephyr Langston(m/f/nb)

The Sculptor, 27, Zephyr Langston hails from one of London's most prestigious arts families. Though young, their sculptures have already gained fame across England. While many London soirees vie for their presence, Zephyr relishes escaping to the countryside each summer. Using moody landscapes as inspiration, they work tirelessly to capture fleeting emotions in stone. Some say their sculptures are too sensually lifelike, but the Berthams proudly collect their edgy works. Zephyr charms salon attendees but remains unmarried, focused solely on their "passionate mistress," their art. Though prone to brooding moody spells while working, they come alive at parties with a playful wit. Could this summer be when they find inspiration of the heart as well as hands among the Bertham estate's rolling hills?

Henry Bellman(m)

The Doctor, 29, though young, he runs the village medical practice with a maturity beyond his years. What he lacks in words, Henry more than makes up for with his compassionate bedside manner. He listens with steady brown eyes that seem to see into patients' very souls. While others chat idly, Henry prefers observing life unfold with subtle calm. An avid reader, he's as learned as any university man but without pretense. More than one farmer's daughter has blushed starry-eyed receiving his attentions, yet he remains a bachelor focused solely on his work. The Berthams value Lucas greatly for his discretion and healing touch. But does his solemn façade hide deeper passions waiting to emerge? As always, only time will tell what mysteries lie beneath the calm exterior of Doctor Henry Bellman, and what intrigues he may stir in your heart this season.

Azra Hays(m/f/nb)

The Storyteller, 27, Azra Hays is a free spirit , with mischievous eyes like the summer sky. While others settle, Azra is happiest wandering the countryside in their worn boots, flute in hand.They’re a jack of all trades but lives for their art - spinning spellbinding tales that transport listeners far from their daily toils. With their easy smile and flirty manner, Azra charms all they meet. Yet beneath this bohemian exterior beats a kind and generous heart, always helping travelers in need. An orphan from youth, they never take their freedom or talents for granted. Azra makes their coin sharing folklore, gossip and bawdy jokes in villages along their route. But they save their most magical stories for moonlit campfires, weaving magic that leaves audiences in awe. Some say their nose for intrigue could even rival the Sherlock Holmes tales. Will Azra linger longer this year among Bertham's gardens and party revelries? Is there feeling breeding beyond friendship beneath Azra's roguish charm? As always, only time will tell the true depth of bonds woven beneath the summer stars.

[oneshotgremlin]

PIZZATOBER 2024 (oh chaos this is gonna be my everest):

Based off the Royal flush task in Fastfood Salon (I always went after all the cards every time I played the level [my actual success in doing so uh, varied to say the least])

[beautflstranger]

I was in a lovely salon some years ago with my Mom. Somewhere in my 20's and in love with all things creative in the beauty/hairstyling industries. I never knew where to look first, my head swiveling between the hair cutters, colorists and makeup artists. Taking it all in.

At that time, the salon as spa was just beginning to take hold. This salon had added quite a few offerings, and weren't shy about their Madison Avenue pricing.

The owner showed the new brochure to me and I started curiously reading about all these exotic lotions, poitions and pressure points. No, I didn't indulge.

My Mom smiled and said that aside from a therapeutic standpoint, people are basically paying to be touched.

That insight was honestly impactful, and resonated deeply with me.

I began to think about what might be missing from one's life, where a person would reach for a massage.

The word Touch.

How often are people in a relationship touched sensually without it leading to a sexual scenario.

How often people want a hug to last a bit longer.

How people merely wish to be held and have their hair stroked.

Touch. Tenderness. Caress. Healing.

Flash forward.

I was in an amazing relationship where I was gifted with a nightly massage. Sometimes oil, lotion or just fingertip touch. ( In case you're wondering - of course reciprocated.)

That nightly massage wiped away the day, literally. It sometimes led to pure deep slumber, and sometimes led to something sexy.

The beauty of it was that there weren't any expectations.

Touch simply given in abundance and received in gratitude.

The sensuality of skin texture.

The sensuality of fingertips with varied touch.

Either drifting off or fully turned on.

A relationship of pure giving sensuality.

Pleasure derived from gifting pleasure.

The definition of sensual.

- beautflstranger

[remiratboi]

Lost Souls Campground - Intro

Masterlist

Hey There! Welcome to Lost Souls Campground, located in the Moonlight Realm. If you haven't been here before, let me tell you a bit about it. 

Since the pocket universe, now called the Moonlight Realm, was discovered around 100 years ago, humans and monsters have learned to co-exist. Creatures of all kinds flock to the popular vacationing spot, Lost Souls Campground. But as i'm sure you can see, from our site map, and your own eyes looking around, Lost Souls is more than just a campground. Its almost its own town. We took the best parts of resort towns, glamping and threw in some nostalgia. 

Here at Lost Souls, we have over 500 camping sites varying from basic no service tent sites, all the way to fully loaded, massive 5th wheel or motorhome sites. We also boast 30 fully functioning cabins with a variety of rooms. Lost Souls has its own private beach, a main street with a number of independent businesses, round the clock park attendants and security to help you with anything you could need. We host regular events, classes, activities and more! Our main street is home to a small grocer, salon, outlet store, bar, a few restaurants and a cafe, a gas station, and a liquor store.

Here at Lost Souls Campground, your adventure is our passion. We can't wait to show you everything we have in store!

Please use the reservation system on our website to book, or contact us in office if you have any other questions.

** Please Note, not all businesses run year round. Some are seasonal.

If you're interested in working seasonally or long term at Lost Souls Campground, please send your resume and cover letter to lostsoulscampground@mail.mr.

[thegoldensanctuary]

The King's Bedchamber Part I The Genesis

The King bedchamber in Versailles, also known as Louis XIV bedchamber or the King's Grand Bedchamber, is a place visited by millions every year, as one of the must-see locations of the palace. Situated in the center (from the North-South axis) of its central wing, right behind the Hall of Mirror, the Grand Bedchamber is remarkable by its opulent decor filled with symbolism, from its attic statue down to its very location, and its association with the sun King himself key figure in the palace's history.

But far from remaining an untouched sanctuary of the sun King, the room saw countless changes of varying magnitudes over the years.

The central position of the Bedchamber might not appear obvious to the visitor passing from room to room surrounded by a dense crowd. But a simple look at map of Versailles does reveal that the southern and northern wall of the room are indeed equidistant from the southern and northern edges of the central wing respectively, this reality is further reinforced by its location right behind the central Avant-corps of the Cour de Marbre(Fig 1).

 (Fig 1) The King bedchamber behind the central avant-corps of the Cour de Marbre.

From Versailles, from Louis XIII to the French Revolution

That position however is entirely artificial, as the room only became the sun's king bedchamber during the last 14 years of his reign, in which he changed 12 times the position from the day he first slept in Versailles, before finally settling for that central spot. In fact, even the avant corp of palace was inexistant until the late 1670s.

1.Mansart in Charge

 The story of how the King’s bedchamber came to find its current place, starts in the 1670s at that time the garden façade was dominated by a large terrace on its first floor made by Le Vau(fig 2), while the façade of the courtyard was still that of Louis XIII with only a few minor changes (fig 3), and no distinct Avant-corps. In 1678 Louis XIV decided to turn the palace from a secondary residence into a primary one, and as such significant changes had to be made. One of them was the replacement of the garden terrace in favour of a large indoor Gallery. Such changes implied significant structural alteration to the building, as the western wall of the rooms, with a view on the front yard, were used to support the façade of the terrace (fig 4), therefore pushing it westward to create an enclose space would mean a redesign of those rooms and a restructure of the roof.

Fig 2 : Versailles view from the Patrerre d’ Eau, with Le Vau’s Terrace in the background, Anonymous

Chateau de Versailles,

Fig 3 : Château de Versailles INV.GRAV 61

Fig 4 : Versailles, Blueprint of the first floor with the terrace in yellow and the western wall in pink, 1676-78, Stockholm, Nationalmuseum NMH CC 74

Considerable funds were assigned for the completion of those projects with a budget going from 30.000 livres in 1677[1] to 350.000 livres in 1678 and 200.000 extra livres added for “extraordinary spendings”[2] in 1678. Jules-Hardouin Mansart who had previously designed the marble cabinets of the Bosquet de la Renomee in the gardens, was put in charge of the project.

  Out of the 550.000 livres of budget, the 350.000  would be used to build the necessary wings to house the court and administration[3] while the 200.000 livres remaining would be allocated for the creation of the Gallery replacing the Terrace, with all its sutural implications, namely  : the creation of two high salons at the edges of the Gallery, each giving access to both royal apartments , with the salon de la Paix linking it to the Queen’s apartment, the salon de la Guerre linking the King’s apartment, and a central salon with a view on courtyard common to both royal apartment.

While the final layout is known (fig 5) several preliminary drawings give us a better insight into the evolution of the projects and its structural implication.

Fig 5 : Blueprint of Versailles first floor 1684, BnF Est. VA. 361

The first preliminary drawing(fig 6) shows the initial design of Grand Gallery and the central salon, with ionic columns and pilasters in the Gallery, and ionic pilasters in the Salon. The attic of the salon was supposed to be lit by lightwell linked to windows on the courtyard facade. The roof above the Salon is misaligned, maybe as a desire to keep parts of the original roof structure.

Fig 6 : Cross section of Versailles, with the projet for the Gallery on the left and the central salon on the right, 1678 Archives Nationales (from now on referred as AN) V.A. LXIII-24

A later drawing(fig7) shows several changes to the initial design, the vault shape of the gallery ceiling is now more pronounced, with a greater elevation and lightwells added on each side of the structure, while the lightwells of the salon on the other hand became narrower.  On the courtyard side the roof of the two lateral facades has been embellished and is now joining the central façade, the more pronounced vaulted shape of Salon ceiling forced Mansart to consider slightly re-centring the roof above.

Fig 7 : Cross section of Versailles, with the projet for the Gallery on the left and the central salon on the right, 1678 AN O1 1768A/1-1

The project was approved the 26th September 1678 by Colbert, as shown in this drawing(fig 8) with his signature at the bottom. The overall design is remarkably similar from the previous one, the ceiling of the salon slightly lowered, and the lightwells of its attic leveled with the windows of the façade. The pilasters of the Gallery have changed order and are now Corinthian, and the archway lowered to give more room for a larger overdoor with a cartouche in its center.

Fig 8 : Cross section of Versailles, with the projet for the Gallery on the left and the central salon on the right, 1678 Collection Louvre, Inv. 30 282

Despite Colbert’s approval, the drawing in question still appears distinct from the Hall of Mirror as we know it today. A later drawing (fig 9) exists however, featuring the definitive version of the Gallery, with the columns standing on a higher pedestal while keeping their upper level, and with the two niches removed. The rest of the drawing is more foreign: with an added floor to the front yard façade and an elevated roof on the garden side. While this Appearance of the Gallery became the definitive one, Mansart had to downgrade his ambitions and return to his previous ideas shown in earlier drawings for the rest of the project.

Fig 9 : AN, V.A. LXIII-25

As highlighted in those various drawings Mansart’s view of the Gallery was intrinsically linked with that of the three salons, they had to be greater in elevation when compared with the room of the apartments but also more spacious and a with a better flow of light. While the two salons at the edges of the Grand Gallery did benefit from their angular position, allowing the flow of light to come from two different directions, the central salon on the other hand had to rely on the presence of a higher open attic allowing light to penetrate by several lightwells, and to give it the necessary portions to be worthy of its  role as common room for the two royal apartments in Mansart’s greater scheme.

The solution found to house the attic without affecting the harmony of main façade of the courtyard (the Cour de Marbre as it will be known) was to create an an elevated Avant-Corps and place the central salon and its attic behind.  In conformity to the will of the King, the Cour de Marbre façade remained faithful in spirit to the original castle of Louis XIII. The central façade was entirely disassembled and reassembled a foot further[4], and, after the addition of the avant-corp it became the Cour de Marbre(fig 10) as we can still see almost 350 years later

Fig 10 : AN O1 1768A/1-2

The 9th of May 1684, Mansart sent the following letter to Louvois[5](who oversaw the King’s Buildings) about the completion of the facades shown above:

“The exterior of the small castle will be entirely complete by the 8th of next month, with all the gilding of the recently added plumping on the attic as well as the two dormers, I can assure you that they will look fine.

I think it will be better to scrub the balustrades, figures, and vases of the little castle instead of tarnishing the new which will never succeed regardless” 

The 7th of June Louvrois decided to inform the King:

“The yard of the castle is entirely clear, and the entire apartment, salon included, is ready for your majesty” [6]

[1] Compte des Bâtiments I,936-938

[2] Compte des Bâtiments I,1013-1016

[3] Ibid

[4] Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1976 Jean Claude Le Guillou Remarque sur Le corp central du château de Versailles

[5] AN O1/1795

[6] SHAT A1, 714, Fol. 113 as seen in Jestaz 2008, volume 2 p. 180

[almostarts]

Gaetano Pesce (8 November 1939 – 3 April 2024)

Moving against the stream of rational, functional modernism in the 1960s and early 70s, Mr. Pesce experimented with materials and production methods to create furniture pieces imbued with political or religious meaning for brands from Cassina to B&B Italia.

Many would go on to become icons of Italian design including the Up5 chair – an innovative vacuum-packed chair designed to resemble a female prisoner – which he designed for B&B Italia precursor C&B.

Pesce moved to New York in 1983 and began to move away from mass production to create "standardised series" in everyday materials like resin, adapting conventional production techniques to create varied and imperfect outcomes.

The result are pieces such as the 1884 Pratt chair, which toe the line between functional design and decorative art, helping to create a new category that would later become collectible design.

Mr. Pesce was born in the Italian city of La Spezia in November 1939, only two months after the start of world war two.

As was common at the time, he trained in both architecture and design, studying first at the University of Venice and later at the Venice Institute of Industrial Design.

Among his architecture projects is the Organic Building in Osaka from 1993, with its plant-covered facade made of orange fiberglass that served as a precursor to today's vegetation-covered green walls.

But Mr. Pesce's most pioneering and well-known work happened in the world of design. In the late 1960s, he became one of the leaders of Italy's Radical Design movement, rejecting modernism's rigid focus on forms dictated by function.

Instead, Pesce focused on the idea that functional objects, much like art, could carry a deeper message.

One of the most famous examples is the controversial Up5 chair from 1969, which manufacturer B&B Italia describes as "the first product of Italian design with a political meaning".

Rest In Power !

"Up 5 & 6" Dressed Up Chair & Ottoman, 1969 – 2014, Polyurethane foam, fabric, Height: 40.5 in (102.87 cm)Width: 47 in (119.38 cm)Depth: 51 in (129.54 cm)Seat Height: 16 in (40.64 cm),

“Square Airport Lamp” (1986/1994). Photography by Elizabeth Carababas/The Future Perfect. Light sculpture consisting of a flexible rubber membrane studded with small light bulbs. Although made from a mold, no two lamps are alike, due to the imperfections that arise from the hand-mixing and pouring of colored urethane. H 92 - W 65 Cm,

"Feltri" Armchair for Cassina, 1980 -1989, Felt, Fabric, Resin, Width: 156 cm, Depth: 80 cm, Height: 129 cm, Seat height:42 cm, Courtesy: Oldera,

"Pratt Chair #7," 1984 2018 (purple), 2018, Transparent polyurethane, :93 x 53 x 53 cm. (36.6 x 20.9 x 20.9 in.),

"The Cabinet of The Tired Man," 2018, Photo: Courtesy of Salon 94 Design and Gaetano Pesce,

"Tramonto a New York" three-door screen, for Cassina, Made of coloured resin, hinges and feet in burnished brass, Width: 221, Height: 199,

"Organic" Building, Osaka, Japan, Completed in 1993 to embody the corporate ideal of Oguraya Yamamoto Co., Ltd,

"La In-Portante" Modular Bookshelf from the "Abbraccio" Series, 2010. Comprising 57 adjustable polyurethane resin shelves. Produced by Le Fablier, Italy. Polyurethane resin, painted wood, lacquered metal, 86½ x 118¾ x 16⅞ in. (219.7 x 301.6 x 42.6 cm) Courtesy of Sotheby's,

La Michetta Modular Sofa,Compostion of 8 by Meritalia, Structure in Lacquered Wood Seat with Elastic Belts, Flexible Polyurethane & Fiberfill Padding, Dimensions: W370 x D245cm,

Unique 'Ireland' table, Made of polyurethane and metal. The table was made and exhibited in 1996 by Gallery Mourmans, Knokke-Zoute, Belgium. It was part of a series of 'EU tables', where all 15 member countries were represented as a table, in this case Ireland. The top of the table has the shape of the outlines of the country and it stands on legs in the shape of question marks. W.80.71 in;H.28.74 in;D.57.09 in; (W.205 cm;H.73 cm;D.145 cm), Courtesy: Incollect.

[louisa-gc]

de-influencing you

from someone who gets overwhelmed any time she opens a social media application.

expensive cosmetics. keep it simple and stick to skincare, makeup and hair products you know and trust. i've tried it all from salon shampoos and high-end concealers to ridiculously priced face oils and praised nail polishes, only to realise my favourites are the affordable drugstore products i can easily repurchase. it's the ingredients that matter, not the prestige or popularity of a brand or the amount of products in your routine.

new clothes. of course you can and should replace your holey socks and the jeans you've grown out of, but i'm certain most of us have more clothes than we need. what if we tried to use up (and, when possible, mend) our existing pieces instead of getting new trousers and sneakers just because there's now a trendier option out there?

dietary supplements. unless you have a deficiency and have been told by a healthcare professional to take a supplement, you probably don't need one. with a healthy, varied diet, you can skip all those green powders, probiotics and multivitamins, that weirdly enough have become part of some internet aesthetics. if, however, you do need to supplement (as i need to with iron), make sure you know what is in the product you're buying and how it works best — iron, for example, should be taken on an empty stomach and with vitamin c.

internet aesthetics. your style, your whole lifestyle, doesn't need to fit an "aesthetic". it's tiresome to try and classify your tastes and attempt to stuff them into the narrow confines of these artificial ideals. do things you enjoy, decorate and dress according to what appeals to your eye and forget about the rest.

regular beauty treatments. if your skin is healthy, a normal at-home skincare routine should be enough to make sure your face is glowing. a (fake) tan, hair removal and manicured nails aren't and shouldn't be necessities either, but if your beauty routines are important to you, just do the things at home and save your resources for more valuable pursuits than the ever-expanding requirements of modern womanhood.

cosmetic injections or surgeries. i've always been of the opinion that we should all be allowed to do as we please with our bodies, without shame or judgement from others. however, the more i learn about the risks of cosmetics procedures and the rates of patients' dissatisfaction with their results, the more negatively i've started to view it all. with more and more people walking around with filler, botox and surgically enchanced or erased features, i worry about our ability to accept ourselves as we are. i worry about the class divide these procedures are creating (who can afford it at all? who can afford a good result?) and i worry about people spending massive amounts of money and time on what are essentially unnecessary health risks. so i say: don't do it.

anything designer. as we all know, price and quality don't always go hand in hand. while i'm all for choosing great quality lasting products, popular designer brands might not necessarily be the way to go. people haven't ditched designer goods just because the go-to style is now "old money"; they've just moved from gucci to céline. i personally don't think any designer brand is really worth it, but wherever you buy, at least pay attention to materials and construction, and stay away from counterfeit goods.

trying to look "expensive". while i have always had a more classic style and was raised never to show logos ("you're not a free advertisement, dear"), i find the "looking expensive" thing such a strange trend, one that returns whenever times are financially unstable. even though i wholeheartedly approve of buying timeless quality pieces (if that is a style you actually enjoy), i don't think anyone should do so in order to look wealthy. nobody will think you're the trust fund offspring of a centuries-old family if you aren't, and most of all, nobody really cares whether you are one or not. the thing is, you really cannot tell whether someone is wealthy based on their looks, so why spend time and money trying to look the part?

clothes that don't fit your lifestyle. it's difficult to resist cute athleisure, but as someone who only wears workout clothes to actually exercise three times a week, i know i only need two or three sets. buy pieces that fit your everyday life, not the life you wish you had. no amount of cocktail dresses will make your life a flurry of parties, if these events are already few and far between.

most stationery products. i love stationery as much as the next person: i love a good notebook, beautiful pens and all the related little knick-knacks, but frankly, i only use one mechanical pencil, a specific type of black gel pens, and three notebooks at a time. no matter how cute some highlighters, letter papers or pastel page markers may be, i have zero reason to buy them.

trending books. i know this might be a controversial one, but buying piles of books on the recommendation of social media influencers isn't a smart use of space and money. just last year i got myself half a dozen popular titles from a cute bookshop, but ended up regretting the purchases because i only liked one of them. borrow the trendy new books from your local public library, and if you really want to collect books, only buy ones that you really love.

[petrolstationflowers]

Update 13 Dec 2023: Updated 13 Dec 2023 with a Portuguese translation by David Manaia as well as correcting the Level 10 metrics!

A mortician career for your sims! This was requested by Catrillion and was super interesting to research! Your sim can join it via the Hospital rabbithole and is available from Young Adult through to Elder.

If anyone would like to translate this, please feel free! The English strings are included in the download file, just drop me a message here or on MTS!

I used @missy-hissy's career tutorial to make this and a huge thanks to @zoeoe-sims for helping me with some infuriating bugs we finally got sorted out!

Details under the cut!

This career has ten levels and requires you to level Science and the hidden skill Styling, which can be improved by using the Styling Station to do makeovers at the salon. The skill won't show up in the skills panel, but the metric should change and you can track its level through MasterController.

Since there wasn't a strict progression for this job IRL, I've varied it a little bit to encompass all skills a fully qualified mortician and embalmer would need. There's long hours and extra studies included -- it's not an easy job!

There's no opportunities or books to read, but there are uniforms from the Medical career included, which should show up from Level 2. Carpool only shows up at Level 2 onwards, so don't panic if you need to manually send your sim to work.

Please note if you want to use this, you must have Nraas Careers installed for it to show up!

There's two custom tones:

Study Anatomy (increases Science) Practise Styling (increases Styling)

I've put the levels, hours, and pay under here if you'd like to take a look: Level 1 - At the Crossroads - 10:00 until 16:00, M-F, 10 simoleans p/h

Description: "You’ve always been fascinated by death, sneaking into the movie theatre to watch the horror flicks much too young and reading books your mother would have definitely taken away from you. You have a knack for biology and have followed Olive Specter’s SimTube channel since she first started uploading in the middle of the night. With the job market uncertain right now, why not look into becoming a mortician? It can’t be any worse than EverFresh Supermarket…"

Level 2 - Apprentice - 09:00 until 15:00, M-F, 30 simoleans p/h

Description: "After many days of scrolling through job listings and qualifications in the hospital cafe, you’ve finally found the guts to apply for an apprenticeship. It’s not the best paid and you’re still stuck in the classroom, but at least the coursework is interesting. Now just to pass the exams…"

Level 3 - Mortuary Admin Specialist - 09:00 until 17:00, M-F, 40 simoleans p/h

Description: "You’ve passed your course, got that diploma, and swaggered out of that classroom with a spring in your step… only for your first gig to be doing the admin work at the local mortuary. At the moment you’re spending your time booking appointments and sending emails with the occasional aside of cleaning the equipment, but show enough enthusiasm and you’ll soon be moving on up."

Level 4 - Mortuary Technician - 09:00 until 18:00, Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun, 60 simoleans p/h

Description: "Your first actual job is dressing and caring for the deceased, making sure they’re laid to rest in the coffin of their choosing and that their funeral is exactly what they and their family wanted. It’s delicate, gentle work, making sure death has dignity. Sometimes it’s the living that need you more; you’ll need a calm voice and be a shoulder to cry on for families who have to say goodbye."

Level 5 - Mortuary Technician Team Leader - 09:00 until 18:00, Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun, 75 simoleans p/h

Description: "You’ve proved to have a light touch with the makeup brush and know the right words to comfort the bereaved, so a promotion is in order and that means working with the parts that make up a human body. Your duties will include weighing organs, taking tissue samples, and reconstructing bodies so they’re ready to be buried. Make sure you study up on identifying diseases in organs if you want that promotion!"

Level 6 - Senior Mortuary Manager - 09:00 until 18:00, Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun, 105 simoleans p/h

Description: "Finally, proper pay! Unfortunately, it more means managing your coworkers than the corpses. You’re allowed to sign off on the higher level decisions and have more responsibility, but you didn’t get into this role to do people management. Maybe there’s another path you can take…"

Level 7 - Trainee Embalmer - 12:00 until 21:00, M-F, 50 simoleans p/h

Description: "Back to the classroom you go! Sort of. You’ve put in an application to train as an embalmer, and are splitting your time between shadowing one of your senior coworkers and attending night school. It’s long and tiring, with late study hours for not much money, but it’ll pay off in the long run (you hope)."

Level 8 - Qualified Embalmer - 09:00 until 16:00, M-F, 200 simoleans p/h

Description: "The graft has paid off, and you’ve got another diploma under your belt (as well as a bit more cash, thank the Watcher). You’ve transferred back to the hospital mortuary but this time to work as an embalmer, washing and taking care of bodies and taking all the steps to make sure they’re preserved with the right chemicals. It’ll require careful technique with not only the embalming fluid and syringes, but also your empathy; you’ll need to make sure the family, as well as their loved one, are well cared for."

Level 9 - Mobile Embalmer - 18:00 until 03:00, Mon/Tue/Fri/Sat/Sun, 220 simoleans p/h

Description: "For some reason, embalming isn’t a sought after job – which means good news for you! Work is dispatching you all across SimNation to provide your services, from vampire attacks in Bridgeport to meteor strikes in Lunar Lakes. You’re spending more time in hotels than at home, and while you’re raking in the money, maybe it’s time you struck out on your own."

Level 10 - Locum Mortuary Technician - 11:00 until 15:00, Mon/Sat/Sun, 500 simoleans p/h

Description: "You’ve had enough of the corpo grind and chucked it in; you’re freelance, baby! As a fully qualified mortuary technician and embalmer, you pick up agency shifts and choose when and where you want to work, on whatever catches your eye. If someone wants to pay you good money to preserve the corpse of Bigfoot for their collection, now you don’t have to turn them down for something more sensible. After all, if you love your job, you don’t work a day in your life!"

[hannahhook7744]

Heart Sibling Headcanons;

Quinlynn, Hardy/Hart, and Red/Róisín were born on the isle of the lost. When the barrier was brought down Quinlynn was 21, Hardy was 16 (almost 17), and Red was 10.

Hardy has been rumored to be an affair child: the rumors on who exactly cheated aren't really clearly and the Heart siblings aren't really sure there's any truth to it at all.

When asked why they look so different from one another, they always respond with one of two things: "Genetics are weird" or "Wonderland genetics".

Hardy is a part of Uma's crew, Quinlynn is a part of Harriet's crew, and Red is a bit of a loner but eventually joins the Badun Detective Agency.

Out of the three siblings, Red is the only one who didn't really mind working at her mother's salon. She hated having her as a teacher, though (they all did).

Hardy (along with the rest of the crew) ends up briefly working at Auradon Prep (because Uma asked him to and he's not saying no to Uma).

Hardy and Quinlynn both avoid getting trapped in Wonderland when their mother took control (when Red was twelve or so) but Red wasn't so lucky.

Hardy hated working at his mother's salon but would do it to keep the peace because he didn't want to deal with another fight.

Quinlynn gave her parents the hardest time, both when it came to working at the salon and at life in general.

Red is the only one who really yearns for her mother's love and approval still. Her siblings both gave up ages ago on that.

Quinlynn and Hardy are both protective of Red.

The three of them get along quite well. As well as siblings can, anyway.

Hart's full name is Prince Hartmann Hardison Hearts of Wonderland. He hates it and refuses to go by anything other than Hardy or Hart, even if it does cause a fight.

Quinlynn's full name is Princess Quinlynn Mirana Hearts of Wonderland. She is the only one who doesn't hate her actual first name.

Red's full name is Princess Róisín Evangeline Hearts of Wonderland. She also refuses to go by her actual name.

Quinlynn, Hardy, and Red all hold varying degrees of resentment towards their father for not protecting them, but none of them outright hate him (they claim to hate their mom, but well...she's their mom and they can't actually bring themselves to hate her).

Hardy taught Red how to do graffiti: Quinlynn pretends that she has no idea this has occurred but she's fully aware and pretends otherwise to keep up appearances as the 'stern older sister'.

Hardy spends as much time as he possibly can on the Lost Revenge without his mother storming over to get him.

Quinlynn became bitter and disillusioned with love because not only did Lil Yaz die before she could tell him how she felt but after she tried moving on with Cheekbones Stabbington, he died too. After losing them, she swore she'd never love again and she might just keep that promise. One might even call her depressed.

Hardy's weapon of choice is a pole axe, Quinlynn's weapon of choice is a Bardiche, and Red's is a flamingo croquet mallet (which her siblings made sure she knew how to use).

[adarkrainbow]

The art of Perrault (1)

I found this fascinating article on an art-and-museum website talking about the few times Charles Perrault's fairytales entered the world of art. It's entirely in French, but for those non-French speakers I thought of sharing some elements and points made by the article.

First and foremost, their talk of the Gustave Doré illustrations, THE most famous illustrations of Perrault's fairytales to this day.

A few contextual reminders. We are in the 19th century, the time of nationalism, where each country focused onto itself, explaining the boom of interest for national folktales and fairytales. The literary Romanticism had also started to enter the world of the art - in the British world it was through the Victorian "fairy painting" wave of the 1850s and 1860s. And in France, right as the business of illustrated books and precious engravings is soaring, we got the Gustave Doré illustrations for Perrault.

The book they come from is the Pierre-Jules Hetzel Contes de Perrault edition of 1861 (illustrations by Gustave Doré, preface by P.-J. Stahl). It contains the eight prose tales of Perrault, from his Histoires ou Contes du temps passé (Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots, Cinderella, Little Thumbling, Toads and Diamonds, Riquet with the tuft), plus a prose version of Donkey Skin. The book contains 40 illustrations, all based on models and drawings of Doré, though done by several engravers that were selected by both Hetzel and Doré: François Pannemaker, Héliodore and Anthelme Pisan. In 1861 the engravings themselves were shown, on their own, at the art Salon de peinture et sculpture (the huge yearly artistic event of 19th century France) - they were destined for collections, be them the personal collections of Doré and his engravers, or those of wealthy collectors.

The order of the fairytales was changed in this edition, which decided to go: Little Red Riding Hood, Little Thumbling, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Puss in Boots, Riquet with the tuft, Donkey Skin, Diamonds and Toads, and Bluebeard at the end.

The Bibliothèque Nationale of France and the Musée d'art moderne et contemporain of Strasbourg have both preserved precious photographies which were taken (by Nadar and Michelez) of the original wood-drawings Doré made for these illustrations. Doré had them exposed at the Louis Martinet galerie, and these photos are VERY precious because they are the only trace we have of Doré's original plans for these pictures - as well as the only way we can know of what changes and modifications the engravers brought to them.

Doré's illustrations reveal many things. First and foremost, how fairytales clearly were not just for children at the time. While he tries to stay true to the letter of Perrault's stories, Doré still uses a Romantisme noir style (dark Romanticism), offering dramatic, phantasmagorical, almost oppressive visions. The complex engravings play on the lights and the shadows, on the size of the characters and those of the landscape ; they also make heavy use of the monstrous and the uncanny. In the Little Thumbling illustrations, there is an effort to convey the loneliness and anguish of the characters - the forest is endless, dark and scary, swallowing the children... The compositions are however still very detailed, with a lot of accumulations, because they are to be beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. For example, the picture of Bluebeard's wife receiving the keys shows a lot of precious cloth and a varied jewelry - and this overbearing of the decorum, mixed with the unusual appearance of Bluebeard (especially his gaze) all conveys the tragedy that is unfolding here.

By opposition to these scenes of cruelty and tragedy, Doré makes several more "peaceful" illustrations. Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella are still filled with mystery and disturbingness, but they are rather dominated by the sweetness of the two young women. Doré doesn't limit himself to strong and isolated characters, on the contrary he creates an entire "decorative universe" just to have his characters fit into a narrative. The overabundance of tiny details causes an almost unconscious reverie, making the audience almost "re-discover" Perrault texts anew.

The illustrations of Doré caused the massive success of the Hetzel edition, and very quickly these pictures became part of popular culture, influencing the way Perrault's fairytales were perceived up to this day.

[sweetstarart]

Welcome home house interior headcanons!!!

Home looks mostly normal but in every single room something is missing (The kitchen only has one chair, the bathroom has no mirror etc.)

Their indoor walls are the same color as their outside walls and their wooden floors are the same color as the door

Many of Wally's furniture has eyes however they are not alive most of the time

Sometimes Home uses them as an extra pair of eyes

Their favorite piece of furniture is a sofa with eyes at the arms

This sofa can walk if home so chooses!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, almost every floor in the house is made of mattresses!

Everywhere is a cozy place to sleep accept the bathroom

All the rooms are decorated with adorable dog themed stuff and accented with clown and dog stuff (horns, balls, prank stuff, chew toys etc.)

There's food hidden in every room 👀

Barnaby would rather you take your shoes off the door so there's less dirt and mud on the mattresses but he won't rly enforce it. He'll say "Take your shoes off, or dont!" And never mention it again

Sleeps in a rly big dog bed that has a pattern that looks like ketchup (i drew his room before but I wanted to mention it bc it was fun to make ^^)

His bathroom is a mix between a human bathroom and a dog salon (bc I am all about this dog motif)

There's paw prints everywhere even on the ceiling!

The wallpaper looks like his vest

Looks like a Bodega but a lot bigger

Has a freaking grill behind the counter so can make hot dogs

Has tons of stuff in jars behind the counter as well

Has a secret room, thats where he sleeps at night

It's a rly big room and it has everything he needs (including a secret bathroom!)

Sleeps in a sleeping bag in a hammock like a caterpillar in a cocoon

Has absolutely everything in his room

Has a red and orange tile floor!

The wallpaper looks like his shirt

Her house has a green carpet that resembles grass

It even has little flowers in it!

Her wallpaper in her bedroom is pink with little white flowers on it

The rest of the wallpaper matches her dress

Her bed has tons of heart shaped pillows of varying shades of red and pink

Has a massive closet that looks tiny, but is actually a walk in closet!

Has a big cozy love seat ^^

[vecchiorovere]

Jean Eugene Bulland, 1852-1926.

Pittore francese, figlio di un incisore,

all'inizio della sua carriera fu attratto dal simbolismo, e produsse diversi quadri ispirandosi a questo movimento, poi cambiò radicalmente stile, passò alla rappresentazione della vita quotidiana, fu premiato varie volte al Salon di Parigi.

Giovani genitori , 1903 Museo D'Orsay Parigi.

[snek-eyes]

You recently claimed "there are no stupid questions," so I'd like to know what nail polish/manicure you'd choose for Crowley, Aziraphale, and whoever else from the cast tickles your fancy. :) And does the choice vary if they walk into your salon and tell you it's for a ~date~? :D

Aaaha 😂 okay, to the salon we go! 💅✨

Aziraphale canonically gets his nails done regularly, but I think he'd normally go in for a simple manicure without polish, maybe just a clear coat. He enjoys the experience and the practice of keeping his corporation neat and tidy, but doesn't feel the need for alteration.

That said, if he walks into my hypothetical salon and mentions he's going for a date, I think I could nudge him into something with a subtle bit of sparkle.

(Rumor has it, Portfolio, Hope, Aria)

I doubt he'd actually go for Aria, but I'd suggest it to get a laugh and make the others seem reasonable. And hey, maybe someday!

He'd pick one of the subtle ones and giggle over being daring. And of course, Crowley would actually notice and be impressed by the change.

Crowley I see as a matte black creme for most days, but he's a multichrome guy when he's feeling fancy. Maaaybe some understated shimmer. I don't really feel sparkles for him, but threw a couple in to tempt him with.

(Eclipse, Lights Out, Annabelle, Diablo)

He's briefly intrigued by Diablo, until he notices the name and gets annoyed at falling into a cliche. Maybe if there was something as dark as Annabelle but more red, he's got an aesthetic to maintain, after all.

If we want a touch of angst, for things they'd avoid: I think Aziraphale would have complicated feelings about applying earthly golds to his corporation in such a way. And Crowley would find magnetics that imitate space charming, but find them too lacking to enjoy wearing them himself. Which is a shame, because he could miracle them perfect without having to wait for the dang magnet.

Maggie I see as a person who enjoys the self-care ritual of painting her own nails. She would mostly do solid cremes or jellies, but once in a while she'd enjoy an afternoon playing around with stamping and other cutesy nail art.

(The entire Tea Crèmes collection is so her aesthetic. Stamps from Maniology, those photos are me and I can't currently remember all the colors, but the orange is Zyler The Cat.)

However, for a special occasion, I can see her branching out like Aziraphale and having fun with a jelly flakie or a shimmer.

(Gumdrop, Fairy Dust)

Nina initially grumbles about getting dragged along for this hypothetical, but then her eye gets caught by the foils. Maybe she goes with the classic gold, but her coffee shop suggests she likes blue. She spends the rest of the day catching sight of her nails and smiling to herself.

(Skyline, AU)

[fool-counter]

Are We Cool Yet? is an artistic movement existing on the fringes of the international avant-garde, with roots in the early surrealist art movements of the late 19th and early 20th century and the growing scientific understanding and study of the anomalous that began to develop during that time. (For one man's account of how the movement came into its own, refer to the contest entry tale "Birth of the Cool".) The movement has no centralized leadership, no headquarters, very few traditions or conventions, and no official membership roles or requirements - the only thing one need do to call oneself a member is to make art that employs, exploits, or revolves around anomalous objects, beings, or phenomena.

The organization of an AWCY? cell varies wildly from place to place. Many groups are organized into small salons led by a creative mastermind or a professional critic, while others are collectives with no clear leader, and some members prefer to work entirely on their own. In the opinions of some, it is not even necessary to know that the movement exists in order to be a part of it. The tendency of some such groups to produce highly visible public artworks that cause death, injury, or lasting psychological harm has led some to decry the entire movement as a bunch of "art terrorists", a label some of its members wear with pride, some repudiate entirely, and some wear ironically.

The largest and most visible gathering of AWCY? artists in any place or time is "Sommes-Nous Devenus Magnifiques?", a grand exhibition held every ten years since 1874, at which those "in the know" can gather to view and scrutinize a selection of some of the finest works in anomalous art produced over the previous decade. To have a work accepted is considered (by those who care about such things) to be one of the greatest achievements an anartist can attain in a career, and members of cells all around the world petition to have their works displayed.

Are We Cool Yet? is an artistic movement existing on the fringes of the international avant-garde, with roots in the early surrealist art movements of the late 19th and early 20th century and the growing scientific understanding and study of the anomalous that began to develop during that time. (For one man's account of how the movement came into its own, refer to the contest entry tale "Birth of the Cool".) The movement has no centralized leadership, no headquarters, very few traditions or conventions, and no official membership roles or requirements - the only thing one need do to call oneself a member is to make art that employs, exploits, or revolves around anomalous objects, beings, or phenomena.

The organization of an AWCY? cell varies wildly from place to place. Many groups are organized into small salons led by a creative mastermind or a professional critic, while others are collectives with no clear leader, and some members prefer to work entirely on their own. In the opinions of some, it is not even necessary to know that the movement exists in order to be a part of it. The tendency of some such groups to produce highly visible public artworks that cause death, injury, or lasting psychological harm has led some to decry the entire movement as a bunch of "art terrorists", a label some of its members wear with pride, some repudiate entirely, and some wear ironically.

The largest and most visible gathering of AWCY? artists in any place or time is "Sommes-Nous Devenus Magnifiques?", a grand exhibition held every ten years since 1874, at which those "in the know" can gather to view and scrutinize a selection of some of the finest works in anomalous art produced over the previous decade. To have a work accepted is considered (by those who care about such things) to be one of the greatest achievements an anartist can attain in a career, and members of cells all around the world petition to have their works displayed.

fool count: 14

[acesw]

UTTU Part 2: The Flash Gathering

Part 1: The Magazine is here ! Read it beforehand to have more context on UTTU.

Now, this post will be simply just be a more in-depth explanation of UTTU's Flash Gathering, and final reflection about UTTU in general.

Unlike in the previous post, this post will look into the events and involved characters more to further expand on what we see in this event below the surface level. The information in this post is subject to change.

[Spoilers for the storyline in both events!]

Flash Gathering

*UTTU Flash Gathering, a reading salon held regularly by UTTU Magazine.

UTTU’s Flash Gathering is an event where they host a mass reading for their FLASH magazine and card collection sales. Described by Melania in 1.1, they’re essentially a club that has piqued the interest of the arcanist world, adding that “They have no fixed venue, nor a fixed theme.The only thing that remains unchanged is the numerous interesting books it provides and the great rewards.”

Now, how the event starts varies between 1.1 and 1.2, and I’ll be briefly explaining how it goes down for both.

1.1: Trophy of Past Glory

In London, newsboys holding UTTU’s FLASH:FAME magazines spread out across the city, appearing and disappearing for certain moments to hand out the magazines. With enough magazines, one can get into the UTTU Market and read the UTTU:FLASH magazines. Diggers and Pickles are given FLASH:FAME magazines and Melania barely misses them and loses an opportunity to find the market location. But, Pickles has another magazine and this allows the three to go to the market.

1.2: Night Visit to the Lake

Horropedia, Blonney, and Jessica (and also Vertin who gets dragged along, Tooth Fairy accompanies them) are given invitation cards to the UTTU market situated in Green Lake Campsite, in which they all head to for a night.

[Flash Journal] and FLASH:FAME

The Flash Gathering has two different sections: The Market and the Retails. The UTTU Market holds many of the good rewards and their [Flash Journal], while the UTTU Retails holds the FLASH:FAME magazines and greatly rewards people for reading them, even challenging them to read more magazines (i.e. “Intensive reading”).

The Flash Journal and the FAME magazines are a compilation of stories in relation to the themes regarding the event, such as stories of football in 1.1, and a collection of horror stories in 1.2. It seems that the characters stay around the market area casually while reading through their books, whose physical forms have similar properties to their main magazine. The way they get their rewards is simply proving that they read the book through arcane wits/wisdom.

For both events, they capture a moment of the characters enjoying the gathering by having new realizations and bonding through shared interests formed in this event. With the Rimet Cup trio, they all respectively learn a lot about football, art (in a philosophical approach thanks to Diggers), and unity through sportsmanship. While for the Green Lake cast, Blonney and Horropedia bond for their love for horror as Vertin helps Jessica reenact one of the stories that they read, with the intent to scare them for the fun of it.

All in all, the Flash Gathering really ties together the themes of the event’s story and how the relationships between each of them play out once they find time to gather in a special place such as this.

Here you can find the recorded and compiled storylines of both events here:

Trophy of Past Glory

Night Visit to Green Lake

---

Other Information and Reflection

Other information about UTTU

-UTTU has an office/headquarters situated in an unknown place in the world. It seems that they are immune to the Storm like how the Foundation/Manus/etc. are.

-As mentioned earlier, Pandora Wilson is the main writer and reporter for the profiles of the arcanists in our playable roster. She has the most knowledge about our arcanists (besides Vertin) and will seem to continue releasing articles about them as more characters join

-They act accordingly to the events that are present and find ways to host more than one Flash Gathering (which I think is the case since as we know Mor Pankh and Rimet Cup are happening almost simultaneously)

-Vertin doesn’t have an article in UTTU; Which to me is a bit strange because we don’t know enough about her. But then again, we are playing as her. Whether or not she would have an article doesn’t matter anyway since we are watching her own story through her eyes. If she did, she might be just simply not bothered to take a look at it.

Final Remarks

This is all the information I have on UTTU so far, and I plan to add to this when more information about them comes out. I find UTTU to be a really interesting organization and I hope we learn more about them as we catch up to our CN siblings, haha. They're very passionate about their work and strive to share the stories of the arcanists around the world, and I think that's already quite inspiring in of itself.

[dolphin1812]

They’re here at last!!!

I love all of Les Amis, but their introductory paragraphs have also been pretty thoroughly analyzed - @everyonewasabird and @fremedon have pretty comprehensive posts on them from previous Brickclubs. Rather than go through them individually, then, I’ll try to point out some general trends that would be relevant to Marius (given that we meet them as soon as he’s kicked out of his house, we can assume there’s a connection):

The first major issue is the legacy of the French Revolution (1789) and the Terror (1793). All of the characters we meet here (with the exception of Grantaire) are attached to the legacy of the former, but they’re divided over the latter. Enjolras, for instance, is compared to Saint-Just – a more radical figure from that time period – and with his “warlike nature” and link to the “revolutionary apocalypse,” he’s definitely more in the tradition of ‘93 than ‘89, even if he’s attached to both. Combeferre, on the other hand, fears that kind of violence, only finding it acceptable if the only alternative is for things to stay the same. Like Marius’ newfound Bonapartism, all of their ideas come out of the clash and evolution of thought after the Revolution and the French Empire under Napoleon, placing each Ami in a similar position to him as they work out their ideas. All of them, though, came to a different conclusion than Marius, prioritizing the Republic over the Empire. At the same time, they’re all distinct from each other, too, revealing the diversity in French republican thought. With his limited exposure to political ideas outside of royalism (and now, idolization of Napoleon), the myriad veins of republicanism that the Amis offer broaden up the political sphere of the novel significantly.

On top of that, they’re a group; they can learn from each other in a way that Marius hasn’t had a chance to. Even Grantaire, who claims to not believe in anything, has friends, and while he distances himself from specific ideologies, his jokes illustrate that he’s familiar with them (for example: “He sneered at all devotion in all parties, the father as well as the brother, Robespierre junior as well as Loizerolles”). Marius doesn’t have friends or people to really work through ideas with. Oddly enough, the most similar structure to this that we’ve seen so far is the royalist salon. The key difference (aside from the obvious) is the chance to learn from different perspectives, whether that’s based on variations in republicanism, in priorities (conflict vs education, the local vs the international), or both. They’re not even all defined by their politics. Courfeyrac (who easily has the most insulting character introduction in the book) is defined by his character and personality first, with his political ideas mainly being a given from his participation in this group. These variations in emphasis, then, not only show us the diversity of their views, but the varying intensities with which they hold them (as in, you could talk to Courfeyrac about something that isn’t political, but you couldn’t do that with Enjolras) and how they’re kept together in spite of their disagreements (a common goal – a Republic – and many fun and socially savvy members). All of these factors serve to give a sense of liveliness as well, contrasting sharply with the “phantoms” of the royalist salon.

Les Amis aren’t very diverse class-wise, but they’re still better than the salon. Bahorel and Feuilly, at least, aren’t bourgeois or aristocrats.

Feuilly also brings us to the international level, far beyond Marius’ early attempts at imagining himself as part of a country. Focusing on the partition of Poland in particular, Feuilly advocates for national self-determination in all lands under imperial rule. The idea that a people should govern themselves was key to republican thought more broadly in that time (nationalism really took shape in the 18th-19th centuries), but to Feuilly, this isn’t just an issue of nationalism, but of tyranny:

“There has not been a despot, nor a traitor for nearly a century back, who has not signed, approved, counter-signed, and copied, ne variatur, the partition of Poland.”

The word “despot” ties this back to France in a way, with his rejection of despotism as it affects Poland possibly implying a similar anger at the same phenomenon in France. The Bourbons at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 were, after all, the same Bourbons who ruled during the Restoration. A quick note on Lesgle: I didn’t get the joke around “Bossuet” the first time I read this book. Then, I had to take a class on the French monarchy, and I was assigned a text by Bossuet of Meaux, court preacher to Louis XIV and fierce proponent of absolutism. His name seemed familiar, but it took me a while to think to check Les Mis? And now I think calling Lesgle Bossuet because he’s Lesgle (like l’aigle=eagle) of Meaux is one of the funniest jokes in this book.