#secret blue moon chapter coming soon /j

[brightlydust]

thops nation never dies

[im14andivebeen14foramonth]

The Parent Trap - Chapter 1

This lovely art piece was done by @sanderssidestrash27 !!! You guys should definitely give them a good compliment for it, I love it!!!

So here's the first chapter, sorry it took so long adjjaajasndj but I really hope you guys like it! Lemme know what you think!!!!! Also lemme know if you wanna be added or removed from the taglist!! (There are probably a lot of editing mistakes sorry bout those!!!!)

They didn't mean to fall in love. It just sort of happened.

Patton James was all alone, perched over the side of the large cruise boat watching the dark waves below him pass by. He thought it was beautiful, the way the waves were able to reflect the bright moon lingering above him in the clouy sky. By day, the view from the boat was absolutely gorgeous. But at night, it was stunning. Awfully hypnotic, even. He kept getting lost in the view, barely able to keep his eyes off of it.

A certain other man was also having trouble keeping his eyes off a rather beautiful view.

Janus Parker was all alone, perched awkwardly a feet away from a particularly quiet sir. He thought the man was beautiful. Golden locks of fluffy hair tucked behind his ears. A flowy, pastel blue button down tucked into pastel yellow pants with thin white vertical stripes. He certainly looked out of place. Every other man on the cruise had black slacks with a black overcoat and a normal button down, or at least something of the sort. Janus himself was dawned on black slacls, a yellow button down and a black overcoat. Janus had noticed the man wearing a white overcoat through small glances at him in the party hall but looking around now he couldn't seem to spot it. And with the cold water coming up the side of the boat in sprays in the chilly breeze all around, the lack of attire seemed to leave the other man rubbing his arms. The flowy material of his shirt couldn't have been much help, either. Still, with the odd sense of fashion and the state the other man was in, Janus thought he was stunning. Hypnotic, even.

Yet there he stood, watching the other man shivering in his shoes. He didn't even know what the man's name was that he had been watching all night. Hell, the man he was watching didn't know Jamie's either, let alone that he had been watching him! Oh boy, any unlucky person to walk by would think he was some creep or something! But he just couldn't being himself to make a move, to walk over and at least say hello. He felt like a coward the way he had been staring from afar all this time. Usually Janus was suave and charming, flirtatious even. But looking at this man, this gorgeous, lovely man, Janus was at a loss for words. No matter how hard he willed his legs to me forward, his feet to just go one after another, he just couldn't do it. He was just so nervous. No, no, scratch that. He wasn't just nervous, no, Janus was scared shitless. Now that was to say the least. This gorgeous man stood only a few feet away from him, shi Bering and alone, yet he was scared shitless.

Janus sighed. If he wasn't going to even try and go up to the man, what was the point of standing around like some creep all night? It's not like he had anything better to do, he was here in the cruise all by himself. But still, he should do something better with his time, at least try to enjoy the few days on the boat. He was sure he could find something to do with himself that didn't involve stalking after some stranger. He lingered for only a minute longer before deciding that it was time to go. But just as he we about to turn and walk off, a small voice cracked through the quiet of the night.

"Are you just going to stand there staring at me while I freeze to death or are you going to offer me that jacket of yours? I mean I'm not getting any younger over here, " the man asked with a smirk. Janus startled at the unexpected question, even more so at how sly the man sounded when he asked it. But would you look at that, despite the obvious open invitation, Janus just stood there like a bumbling idiot. His cheeks were most definitely flushed a dark red and his eyes were blown wide as he continued to stand stiff in his place. When the other didn't hear a response from the flustered man, he turned his head to look over his shoulder and directly into Janus' s eyes.

God. Damn.

If Janus thought this man was gorgeous from a few glances and a side profile, then whooo boy. The man just had a certain look to him. There was a mischievous glint deep in his eyes, in his big, gorgeous blue eyes, that paired nicely with his little smirk. His hair was completely out of his face, giving Janus a full view.Even with only the moonlight to shine upon the other, Janus could tell he was drop dead gorgeous. And with the way Janus looked at the moment, the other thought he just about might drop dead right there. He looked like a fish with his mouth hanging open like that, a bright red fish apparently with his flushed red cheeks.

He shook his head in an attempt to regain his composure. Soon his red cheeks were only slightly tinted pink, along with the tips of his ears. His lips formed into a smirk.

"Where are my manners?" Janus said, walking over to the side of the man. He shrugged his overcoat off of his shoulders and was met with a chilled breeze.

Janus leaned down to the shorter man to place the overcoat on his shoulders, but not before stealing a closer glance into his bright, sky colored eyes. He almost melted the second the piece of attire was layed on him.

"That cold now, are we?" Janus chuckled. He adjusted himself to match the other's position, with his forearms laying on the edge of the boat and leaning forward. He tried his hardest to look cool and charming as he turned his head to look at the other.

"Well, I've been standing out here waiting for this jacket of yours for God knows how long, actually I'm surprised I'm not a popsicle yet, " he laughed. He turned towards Janus, who looked utterly baffled by the man's words.

"But-but you has a jacket inside, in the ballroom, I saw it. I mean not in a creepy way, I mean it's not like I was watching you I was just-I mean yeah technically I was but it's just because you're so awfully cute-no wait I didn't mean to say that! Not that you're not cute because wow you're really cute and where's your jacket?" Janus stumbled , eventually getting out at least something close to comprehensible. He looked everywhere but at the man, who he could hear laughing beside him. When he finally looked over at the amused man, he saw him with one hand covering his beaming grin and the other pointing downwards. Slowly, Janus turned his head and peered over the side of the cruise. And would you look at that, floating right there in the water was the white overcoat. Realization of hit him all at once and busted out laughing.

"You did not throw your jacket overboard just so that I would give you mine," Janus snorted.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Guess we'll never know." The two laughed together for a little while longer before falling into a short quiet.

"Sooooo," the man started, "What's the "J" on this jacket of yours stand for?" Janus looked over to see the other man fiddling with the sewed on letter.

"Janus. Janus Parker," he said. "and who may be the lovely man wearing my jacket? " he inched just slightly closer to the man, trying to look charming as ever.

"Patton. Patton James."

"My, what a lovely name you've got there Patton."

"Thank you, Janus. I got it for my birthday. " The joke left Janus giggling with Patton soon f following the action.

"Handsome and funny. Well, Mr. James, would you care to join me for a bottle of wine?"

"What kind?" Patton asked, ever the tease.

"Only the finest chardonnay."

"It's a date."

"How about we make it a little more than a date?" Janus asked nervously.

"Deal."

That's how it all started, in the side of the Queen Elizabeth the 2 on a rather chilly night. With two secret love birds. With a midnight black jacket on pastel clad shoulders. With a bottle of wine. With a paper and pen. With two signatures. With two "I do's". With a kiss.

They didn't mean to fall in love. It just sort of happened. But you can be certain that it wouldn't be the last time.

Tag list: @eggrollsandfandoms @sanderssidestrash27 @ab-artist @yep-another-fander @safesandersides

[sartle-blog]

12 Must-Read Novels for Art History Lovers

Maybe you’ve been experiencing “The Agony and the Ecstasy” of trying to figure out what to read next! If so, we’ve got you covered. Go beyond “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and “The Goldfinch” with these incredible novels about art and art history.

Disclaimer:  Some of the links below are amazon affiliate links, meaning that at no additional cost to you, by clicking through and making a purchase of a book you like, you will also be contributing to the growth of Sartle.

1. "The Girl in Hyacinth Blue" by Susan Vreeland

If you loved “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” you’ll fall in love with this book, too. Starting with a troubled math teacher who is quite certain the work he hides in a cabinet at home is a genuine Vermeer, the novel traces the owners of the painting back in time in a series of vignettes that function as a living, breathing provenance. An exploration of the meaningful roles art can play in the lives of those who cherish it, this book is as thoughtful and gentle as the light that falls from the windows in a Vermeer painting.

2. "The Relic Master" by Christopher Buckley

A crime caper steeped in art and history, the story follows one Dismas, the official relic master to Frederick, Elector of Saxony, and Albrecht, the soon-to-be Cardinal of Mainz, in the year 1517, when Luther has shattered faith in the Church and relics themselves begin to be called into question. He and his friend, none other than the preening Albrecht Dürer, get swept up in a scheme to make a copy of the Shroud of Chambery. The novel, like what one imagines 16th century Germany to be like, is earthy, humorous, and occasionally quite brutal. But it’s witty and shameless (“To Hell with Purgatory!”) and a perfect Renaissance romp about the intersections of art, piety, and politics.

3. "The Parable of the Blind" by Gert Hoffmann

A strange and haunting tale that looks at the painting of the same name by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the novel is told from the perspective of the blind “sitters” for the painting on the day that Bruegel painted them. As they journey across a landscape of unseen people and obstacles, they wonder where they are going, why they are being painted, and why anyone would want to look upon them permanently when people turn their heads away in real life. Riddled with black humor, the novel is a picture of suffering and existential woe à la “Waiting for Godot,” and will linger in your mind long after you read it.

4. "The Muse" by Jessie Burton

Don’t be deceived when the cover calls this book a “Simmering romance” because it’s far more than that; it’s a meditation on artistic integrity and ownership wrapped up in a story of relationships that reads like a thriller. The novel follows two storylines that intertwine masterfully. In one, a Caribbean émigré trying to make her way in 1960s London dreams of becoming a writer but gets a job at a prestigious art institute working for the mysterious Marjorie Quirk. In the other, an English girl living in rural Spain in the 1930s yearns to become an artist and falls under the spell of the countryside and painter-turned-revolutionary Isaac Robles. It’s a vivid tale of love and loss, ego and creativity, that is a marvelous follow-up to her first novel, “The Miniaturist” (which you should also definitely read if you haven’t already!).

5. "Modern Art" by Evelyn Toynton

Inspired by the lives of Lee Krasner and her husband Jackson Pollock, this novel follows Belle Prokoff, an aging artist from the New York School, who has outlived her much more famous husband and spent her last few decades guarding his albeit troubled legacy. As she faces her own mortality and hires a grad student (who is also in love with an artist) as a live-in helper, Prokoff is forced to confront ghosts from her past when a nosy biographer comes sniffing around for dirt on her husband. Adroit and piercing, the novel asks what do you do with yourself after you have poured all of your being into someone else? And what does sacrificing yourself in that way do to you? Toynton tackles themes of suffering and artistic integrity with elegance and wisdom.

6. "The Moon and Sixpence" by W. Somerset Maugham

This classic novel follows a turn of the twentieth century English artist named Charles Strickland who abruptly abandons his family and life as a stockbroker to devote himself entirely to painting. Completely impoverished but in desperate pursuit of beauty, he studies in France and eventually ends up in Tahiti, where his artistic genius flourishes even as he suffers from leprosy. If this sounds reminiscent of the life of Paul Gauguin to you, you would not be mistaken--Somerset Maugham was inspired by the very same, only his version of the artist is by turns both more and less brutal than the real man. The Moon and Sixpence is a prime example of a kunstlerroman, a novel about an artist’s growth, painting the artist-hero as a necessarily anti-social being whose creative side can only flower in isolation and rebellion against social norms. While it’s not a perfectly accurate image of Gauguin’s life, and while the narrator espouses some outdated views about women and people of color, the book raises questions about genius and legacy that are still relevant today.

7. "Sunflowers" by Sheramy Bundrick

If you liked “Loving Vincent” or are just fascinated by the work of Vincent Van Gogh, then this novel is for you. Told from the perspective of the prostitute named Rachel unto whom Vincent famously bestowed part of his mutilated ear, the novel gives life to Vincent’s happy but troubled years in Arles. Many of the people he lovingly painted are presented in the flesh, from his friends like Joseph Roulin to the perfectly nasty Gauguin, whom readers will find reason to hate even more than in the “The Moon and Sixpence.” At its heart the book is a love story, but it’s punctuated by moments of both joyous artistic creation and those of the darkest depths of mental illness.  His romantic self, a side of Vincent we don’t normally see, is explored with great sympathy. Written by an art historian, the novel is convincing and well-researched, and even includes a list of all the paintings referenced in the back.

8. "A Month in the Country" by J. L. Carr

In this slim, poetic volume, a young Englishman recovering from a broken marriage and shell shock after the Great War finds himself spending a summer in a Yorkshire village, where he has been hired to uncover a medieval mural in a church. By night he sleeps in the church’s belfry, and by day he befriends the locals, bonds with another veteran whose been hired to uncover a medieval grave, and falls in love with the Vicar’s wife, all while working steadily at uncovering a medieval judgment scene. Tiny revelations--in the begrimed mural at which he’s chipping away, in his own wounded heart, and in the hearts of those around him--make up the soul of this placid yet powerful book that is a hymn to the healing power of art.

9. "I Always Loved You" by Robin Oliveira

With such a title this book might easily be dismissed as a typical romance, but it is actually a rarer thing: a story about love between two people that may never have been returned by either party. Namely, it chronicles the fraught and querulous relationship between Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas. Set in a glittering and rain-washed Belle Époque Paris, the novel follows Mary Cassatt as she struggles to establish herself in the art world until Degas takes her under his wing. Her successes and sorrows over the years unfold alongside the drama of Degas’ vision loss and the grief-stricken love affair between fellow impressionists Berthe Morisot and her brother-in-law, Edouard Manet. Aside from being a vivid look at the politics of the Impressionist circle within the Parisian art world, it is also an eloquent tale about the struggle of artistic creation in the face of constant doubt, harsh criticism, and heartache. You can learn more about the puzzling relationship between Cassatt and Degas here.

10. "Portrait of an Unknown Woman" by Vanora Bennett

This novel follows Meg Giggs, the twenty-three-year-old ward of Sir Thomas More, at the eve of the Reformation in England. The More family, which will soon be torn by political, religious, and courtly strife, is visited by Hans Holbein the Younger, who paints their portraits multiple times with an uncanny ability to capture the hidden truths of their hearts. While More’s humanistic ideals become warped by anti-heresy fanaticism even as Henry VIII grows disenchanted with the faith More fiercely protects, Meg finds herself increasingly drawn to the German artist who embodies a more earthy, compassionate form of Humanism. While Bennett occasionally plays fast and loose with history (like the identity of the sitter in Holbein’s portrait of the titular name, for one), overall the book is richly drawn and well-researched. Even better, her descriptions of Holbein’s painting process for such enigmatic works as The Ambassadors is highly compelling. The dangerous times in which he lived, as well as a taste for symbolism in the Tudor world, meant Holbein had to couch the truths he perceived in iconography both subtle and complex, and Bennett illustrates this well.

11. "The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo" by F. G. Haghenbeck

This colorful and spirited novel was inspired by a mysterious notebook found in Frida Kahlo’s house in Mexico City that was full of handwritten recipes the artist had collected over the years. A complex woman, Frida was quite the cook, and this novel explores the prominent place food had in her life, with recipes at the end of each chapter. Throughout the course of Frida’s tumultuous time on Earth, her marriages to Diego Rivera and her affairs with lovers from Georgia O’Keeffe to Leon Trotsky, she is haunted by a vision of death, whom she calls her Godmother, and whom she meets the day she almost dies in a trolley accident as a teenager. In Haghenbeck’s capable hands, Frida’s veneration of the Day of the Dead, her existential feminist fire, and the emotional intensity of her paintings come alive with surreal imagery and the imagined taste of Frida’s fabulous food on the tongue.

12. "I Am Venus: A Novel" by Barbara Mujica

Told from the perspective of the unknown model who posed for what is arguably Velázquez’s most beautiful work, The Rokeby Venus, this novel follows Diego Velázquez’s rise to prominence in the Spanish court. Court life under Philip IV is depicted as a splendid bubble of contradictions: lavish and luxurious yet plagued by bankruptcy, lascivious and self-indulgent, yet clinging to a sober sense morality. Of course, one of the things that tantalizes most in this book is the mysterious production of the Venus painting, painted when feminine nudity on canvas was a punishable offense. However, Mujica also takes special care to chronicle Velázquez’s efforts to elevate art as a gentlemanly endeavor in a country where painters were regarded as mere tradesmen. (Seriously, before him, being an artist in Spain was the WORST.) Furthermore, she gives a voice to the women who surrounded him in his family and social circle, painting a broad picture of Spain itself through their experiences and hardships. This novel is evocative and compelling, and a perfect read for lovers of the Baroque artist.

As Vincent van Gogh once said, "It is with the reading of books the same as with looking at pictures; one must, without doubt, without hesitations, with assurance, admire what is beautiful."  May you discover beauty and joy in all of your reading adventures!

By: Jeannette Baisch Sturman