#so now I also get to discover a new-to-me artist whose work I hope I like! (her name is Ellen McIlwaine btw)

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

My favorite rabbit holes to fall down start with my favorite band and lead me to my other favorite bands, as well as, of course, exposing me to new-to-me artists and bands. The cool thing about this is that IT ALWAYS HAPPENS in the way(s) I least expect. :')

[townsenddecades]

Recap 1320 – 1329

And that’s another decade done! It was certainly an interesting one. There was no deadly famine this time, but with the number of sims to manage increasing, the individual days have started taking longer to play through. Which explains why completing this decade has taken me almost four months.

Historically speaking, the 1320s were an…interesting time in English politics, to say the least. I touched on it in some posts, but the tensions between King Edward II, his nobility and Queen Isabella came to a head, first in the Despenser War, and finally in Isabella’s coup against her husband to oust him from power and instead place their son, Edward III, on the throne. In addition to these domestic troubles, there was also continuous war with the Scots (culminating in Edward III recognizing Scottish independence in 1328) and trouble with the English fiefdoms in France, a prelude to the Hundred Years War that will begin in the coming decade, and which ironically enough gave Queen Isabella the springboard from which to launch her coup.

Another prelude to the Hundred Years War was the death of King Charles IV of France, after which Queen Isabella put Edward III forward as a candidate for the throne. Unsurprisingly, the French weren’t too keen on having an English King, but we all know that that wasn’t the end of the matter.

When I started this challenge, I actually intended to incorporate the Scottish wars into my story, but in playing I shied away from the research I would have needed to put in to think up rolls for that. Maybe with the next one, because we also all know that this wasn’t the end of the border clashes between England and Scotland.

Because of this, my sims may have had a lot of heartache because of marital troubles and dead children this decade, but at least in terms of big historical events, they’ve had it rather easy. Which doesn’t mean I was bored, far from it!

Which is a perfect cue to stop waffling and finally get into the recap for the individual households. Of which there are far more than a decade ago. This will be a long post (hence the read more), but I hope the division into individual entries helps to read it if you need multiple sessions.

I have also decided to write posts with more in-depth descriptions of the deaths and weddings of this decade, and to intersperse some polls between posting these.

The Townsend Family (Tovar, Main Household)

Current members: 7

In 1320, the Tovar branch of the Townsend family consists of Benedict Townsend, his oldest son Benjamin and youngest son Gregory, Benjamin’s wife Malika and Benjamin and Malika’s two surviving sets of twins: Malcolm and Amye, who are seven, and Frank and Adeline, who are only infants.

Like most people of their community, the Townsends begin the decade by trying to rebuild after the devastating famine of the last few years, which means working on the field and buying new animals for the farm, among them a kitten named Mouser whose task will be, as the name suggests, keeping out mice. Amye, who loves animals, is especially happy about this. Sadly, even now that their fields aren’t waterlogged anymore, their crops are growing badly, so the harvest they bring in in early 1321 is small.

In that year, Gregory, who wishes to be a painter, asks his sister Anna, whose family moves in more well-heeled circles in Praaven, for help in securing an apprenticeship. He has always had an artistic bend, but it isn’t unlikely that the hardships of being a peasant have added fuel to the fire of wanting to escape life on a farm. Through some effort, Anna does manage to secure an apprenticeship with a painter in Praaven for him, although it doesn’t come for free. Before he leaves, Gregory travels to the Abbey of St. Wright to propose marriage to his childhood friend Agnes, who promises to wait for him.

Also in 1321, the younger set of twins ages up into toddlers. And to add to the joyous news, at the end of the year, Malika discovers that she is with child again.

In 1322, Malika gives birth to a son named Edwin. This year, the harvest is adequate, although they delay harvesting some plants that still haven’t grown as well as they would like. Fuelled by this, Malika starts thinking about ways to secure her family economically. Farming obviously comes with too many risks, and losing children, friends and family has left its marks on her. Independent of her thoughts, Benjamin has already started putting more emphasis on cultivating grapes for nectar, to be used by the local Guild of Nectar Makers. She proposes making nectar themselves, but Benjamin dismisses this as too risky.

Later in the year, Benjamin takes his older children to meet Sir Robert Chevalier, his recently married half-brother whom he hasn’t seen in years and whose new home is nearby. Malcolm is very impressed by having a knight for an uncle. Meeting Robert and seeing his spacious – by peasant standards - home gives him his first idea of wanting more in life than farmwork.

While this visit is happening, Clement Dudley, brother to the local earl, visits the Townsend's farm looking for party of riders. Instead of his quarry, he finds Malika, whom he had a brief flirtation with before her marriage. As she is still a beautiful woman, he is very interested but meets with rejection when he tries to charm her. Naturally, he is offended by this reaction and leaves in a huff.

Not to be deterred by a pesky thing like this he returns a few months later, in 1323. Malika, who has been considering gaining his support to push her idea of becoming nectar makers, reciprocates his advances this time and allows him to kiss her. They are nearly caught by Benjamin in this compromising position but manage to play it off. It is only after Dudley leaves that Malika confesses her plan to him, much to his horror and disgust. A few months later, he gives his reluctant consent and Malika and Clement become lovers, but Malika’s and Benjamin’s relationship suffers noticeably under this. Undeterred, Malika makes a first attempt to talk to Clement about the ways he could support her family, but he is clearly uninterested. For him, their relationship is a pleasant diversion, nothing more.

Ever the determinator, Malika keeps trying, which in 1324 begins to put Clement off. Only then does she admit to herself that he likely won’t help her. After he stops visiting her, she starts feeling ill, which is soon revealed to be the first signs of another pregnancy. This discovery (and the fact that neither can tell who the father of the child is) strains her relationship with Benjamin further, especially when she reveals that her plan failed.

In 1325, while heavily pregnant, Malika has a talk with Amye about marriage and childbearing. Amye is nearly a young woman now, which means that these matters, and the danger associated with childbirth, are starting to become more pressing for her. Despite her mother’s reassurances that many women survive multiple births without issues, Amye isn’t convinced. Later in the year, Malika gives birth to a daughter, Cecily, who strongly takes after her, which makes it impossible to tell who her father might be. During the birth, Benjamin realizes how much he still loves his wife by how scared he is to lose her. After this, their relationship very slowly begins to mend.

Some months after the birth Malika is visited by one of the earl’s men-at-arms. Sir Robert, informed about what has been going on via village gossip, has asked the earl to intercede, but as Clement’s paternity can’t be proven, nothing comes of it.

At the end of the year Amye and Malcolm age up into teens, Frank and Adeline age up into children and Benedict ages up into an elder.

In 1326, the four older children begin take on new duties. For Amye, this mostly means helping in the household, like caring for her little siblings Edwin and Cecily and taking over some of the cooking, cleaning and whatever else needs to be done. She likes the work, but still doesn’t think she wants to do this for a husband. Then, tragedy strikes: baby Cecily dies of a fever. Despite his uncertainty about the child and his feelings on the entire affair, Benjamin comforts his wife, who feels that Cecily's death may be divine punishment.

In 1327, Benjamin stuns his wife by announcing that he intends to apply to the Guild of Nectar Makers, as he has had all winter to ponder the merits of her idea and decided that they are worth the risk. He does just that, and after the requisite entrance fee is paid, they buy the necessary equipment, build a shed to house it and dig a cellar to store and age the nectar they produce. Their first attempt at mead-making fails, but Benjamin is undeterred, and later attempts to make cider and wine are graced with more success.

Amye turns out not to be the only Townsend child to ponder her future. Malika and Benjamin notice that Malcolm doesn’t seem to be quite sure what he wants out of life – which is a luxury problem for a peasant, truth be told – but reassure themselves by saying that he is still young and will find his footing sooner or later.

That same year, the Townsend children sans toddler Edwin attend the Mahlsberg Spring Fair, where Amye meets a young man named Alexandre de Bellefaye (grandson of the local baron) and Adeline meets a boy named Bertrand Pelham (also related to the baron, but more distantly).

In 1328, while making a delivery to his uncle Sir Robert, Malcolm meets the Chevaliers' new maid, the pretty and spirited Hawise Barton, whom he instantly takes a shine to. He also meets his newest cousin, little Jehanne, but because Malcolm isn’t overly fond of children, that part of the visit is far less pleasant for him. Hawise, though initially wary because she is home alone with the children and doesn’t know Malcolm, seems equally interested in him.

In the same year, Edwin ages up into a child.

Continuing their growing pains, the older twins are still thinking about the future. The years have helped Amye realize that she truly is content with living with her family, and glad that her parents don’t pressure her to find a husband. At around the same time, Malcolm has a talk with his mother about the future – he knows that she has ambitions for their family, and she admits that she would wish to see them rise in the world, but tells him that ultimately, it is his decision. That doesn’t really help Malcolm decide what he wants to do with his life and where his attraction to Hawise fits into his reluctance to settle down with a family like his own father has done.

Later in the year, Hawise visits the farm to carry over a message regarding Annette Crawley’s marriage and makes the acquaintance of Malika. On his mother’s prompting, Malcolm walks her home, and the two admit that they like each other, and share their first kiss.

1329 begins with the news that the family has to pay a tallage of nearly 13,000 simoleons. That is more money than they have at the time, but through hard work and a successful wheat harvest, they succeed in paying it off on time.

Since their kiss in the previous year, Malcolm and Hawise have been meeting often, which has deepened their attachment. After the harvest, Malcolm makes Hawise very bumbling, accidental proposal of marriage, which she accepts gleefully. His parents are equally content with his choice, and as the Chevaliers raise no objection either, the marriage is loosely planned for the following year, before winter sets in.

Everything seems to be going swimmingly for the Townsends – they have a budding nectar making business, at least one of their children is ready to start his own life, their farm is going well and they are content. So of course, tragedy has to strike them again. And so, the decade comes to a sorrowful conclusion as Edwin falls ill with some kind of stomach disease, which, through malnutrition and dehydration, claims his life. He is laid to rest near his grandmother and aunts in the Tovar churchyard, which means that the Townsends end the decade with the same number of children as they had at the start.

The Townsend Family (Lüghaven)

Current members: 5

Simon Townsend begins the decade as an apprentice to the witch Elea Ellesmere, which he has been for some years. Besides his teacher, he shares his home deep in Lüghaven woods with Elea’s daughter Mariora, who, unlike him and her mother, does not possess the gift of magic. 

Right at the beginning of the decade, in 1320, Elea gives birth to twin girls, both witches. Mariora, saddened by what she views as her mother now having the gifted children she always wanted instead of an ordinary daughter like her, feels superfluous and wishes to use this chance to to escape her isolation and start a new life. What holds her back is Simon confessing his love for her, feelings which she reciprocates despite herself. They agree to move a little closer to civilization into the half-destroyed village of Lüghaven, where they will live as husband and wife, even without a proper ceremony.

They make a home there, with her continuing her study of alchemy and him growing some plants and doing odd jobs in the nearby villages, which leaves them reasonably happy and comfortable. In 1321, they are already expecting a first child, which is born at the end of the year. They name the little boy Irving.  Sadly, he dies of a lung defect early in 1322, for which they both blame themselves.

In 1323, Mariora gives birth to a second son, Nicolas. They don’t see Mariora’s mother much, which Mariora views as confirmation of her fears that her mother doesn’t need either of them anymore – Simon was only ever a stopgap for her because she never had any gifted children to pass her arcane knowledge onto, and maybe as a means to have gifted grandchildren, should he and Mariora fall in love, as she thought likely. Surprisingly, Mariora doesn’t feel saddened by this. She feels free.

In 1324, Nicolas ages up into a toddler while Mariora is already pregnant with her third child, which turns out to be her and Simon’s first daughter. They name her Misty.

1326 brings with it both tragedy and joy. Mariora gives birth to another healthy son, Christopher, but they lose Misty due to illness a few months after his birth.  

Luckily, Christopher doesn’t follow his sister’s fate, and ages up into a toddler in 1327. Around the same time, Mariora starts musing about finally leaving Lüghaven woods, because their only link to the outside world is Simon venturing out to do his odd jobs and sell some of Mariora’s elixirs at market. She isn’t unhappy with her life – in fact, she is happier than she could have imagined when she accepted Simon’s offer of marriage – but she doesn’t want to spend her whole life hiding.

In 1328, Mariora gives birth to her fifth child, a boy named Joseph.

In 1329, Nicolas ages up into a child. The peaceful birthday party turns heart-pounding when a fire breaks out due to Christopher’s magic becoming uncontrollable in his frustration at being ignored, but thankfully, no one is harmed. The experience leaves a sour taste in Nicolas’ mouth, however.

Later in the year, Joseph ages up into a toddler (without a birthday cake, this time) while Mariora is pregnant with yet another child. Their year ends with troubling news: while at market, Simon was beseeched by a terrified father to help his daughter, who was dying of an infected wound. As a father himself, Simon couldn’t look away and helped the girl heal. While noble, both he and Mariora know that publicly using his magic like that could have dire consequences if his deeds reach the ears of the wrong people.

The Townsend Family (Praaven)

Current members: 3

The Praaven branch of the Townsend family (not to be confused with the Tovar branch and the Lüghaven branch) is established in 1321, when Gregory Townsend moves to town to undergo an apprenticeship to become a painter with a member of the painters’ guild named Jeremiah Browne. Because his father and brother had to pay a fee to give him this chance and his ability to marry his childhood love, Agnes, depends on his success, he is determined not to squander it.

And he doesn’t. Over the next few years, he acquits himself well, so that in 1325, he is made a partner by Master Browne. Browne also encourages him to marry Agnes and have her move in with them to keep house.

Following that encouragement, Gregory and Agnes are married in a joyous celebration with all of Gregory’s extensive family and many friends in attendance in 1326. While Agnes is a little intimated to be marrying into such a large clan, she is welcomed with open arms by most of them.

In the following year, 1327, Agnes gives birth to their first son, Colbert. Sadly, the boy seems to be born with some sort of birth defect that prevents him from gaining strength, despite his mother’s efforts to nurse and care for him. He dies only a few weeks old.

Luckily, in 1329, Agnes gives birth to a second son, Wymark, who doesn’t face the same issues. By the end of the year, she is already expecting her and Gregory’s third child.

The Crawley Family

Current members: 3

At the beginning of the decade, the Crawley family consists of George and Anna Crawley and their two daughters, Annette and Theodora. Of these two, only Annette is their biological child; Theodora is the bastard of George’s younger sister Caroline, which they are playing off as Anna’s child by George. Their attempts to conceive another child – ideally a male heir to the Crawley name – have so far been unsuccessful.

In 1321, Theodora ages up into a child.

Excitement is raised in the Crawley household when Anna finally falls pregnant again. Sadly, the child she gives birth to in 1322 is not only a girl, but also stillborn.

To compound Anna’s misery, in Illness marches through the Crawley household in 1324 and almost claims her and George’s lives, while the girls, Mary and Matthew recover comparatively quickly. Luckily, both of them pull through, although it seems like a small miracle to most.

In 1325, Annette ages up into a teenager, which makes it imperative to find a good marriage for her. While Anna and George may yet have a son – they are only in their early thirties – the current lack of one makes Annette and Theodora eligible heiresses, and thus prizes on the marriage market which the Crawley elders, especially Mary, intend to see well settled. While Anna, George and Matthew would be content with her marrying a wealthy merchant or gentleman, Mary aims higher and intends to snare the young Baron Elbenhawke, her aunt Caroline’s stepson, for her. Annette is initially repulsed by being decided over like this, but her Crawley ambition asserts itself enough for her to go along with the plan.

She uses a family visit to Elbenhawke Hall in 1327 try to charm the baron, with questionable success. But regardless of the young lord’s own feelings, his guardians settle on another marriage for him, which puts and end to the Crawleys’ plans in that direction.

A year later, in 1328, Theodora ages up into a teenager. By then, George, Anna and George’s parents have identified a new potential husband for Annette: Alexandre de Bellefaye, the baron’s cousin and scion of a minor branch of an aristocratic French family. After meeting him and thinking through the possibilities such a marriage could mean for her, Annette – or rather, her father, who nonetheless consults her – agrees to it. 

The marriage takes place in 1329, after which Annette leaves her home. This means that only Theodora remains to be married of – but while her parents and grandparents are already looking for an equally profitable match for her, Theodora has her own ideas about where to seek love.

The de Bellefaye Family

Current members: 2

The most recently established household of the sprawling Townsend bloodline, it comes into being in 1329, right at the end of the decade, when Monsieur Alexandre de Bellefaye, youngest of the three sons of Henri and Joan (née Pelham) de Bellefaye marries Annette Crawley. The wedding is held in great state in Praaven Cathedral. It is all the more joyous for them because while they expected a marriage of convenience – with her gaining status and him gaining her sizable dowry – they become quite fond of each other over the course of their engagement and are looking forward to their married life. With the wealth Annette brings into the marriage and Alexandre’s connections as nephew of the countess and cousin of the baron, they are certainly a couple to take note of.

 By the end of the year, Annette starts feeling nauseous, which she hopes is the first sign of pregnancy.

The Watmore Family

Current members: 1

Even at the beginning of the decade, the family isn’t big, consisting only of orphaned serf siblings Elsie and Wilfred Watmore. Because children that young can’t live on their own, they are being raised by their paternal uncles, Alaric and Noah. Neither of these men is pleased at having to take care of them, and are sometimes rather harsh with their niece and nephew.

In 1322, Wilfred ages up into a child. Sadly for him, that only means that he is old enough to take over duties on the fields.

In the following years, but especially 1325, the Watmore family gets into repeated arguments with a neighbouring serf family, the Bransons, about whose parcel of land ends where, which eventually leads to a brawl between Alaric and Freddy Branson. Because Sibyl Branson, Freddy’s mother, is tired of the constant conflict, she goes to the earl with her complaints, and the Watmores are threatened with a fine. This overshadows even the joyous occasion of Elsie aging up into a teenager.

Because the Watmores don’t have the money to pay the fine and to resolve the legal quarrel, the earl decrees in 1326 that Elsie is to marry Freddy Branson, with the disputed piece of land as her dowry. Her uncles are not pleased with this arrangement but have no leverage to refuse.

Accordingly, Elsie leaves the household after her marriage in 1328, at the age of fifteen.

In the following year, 1329, Wilfred ages up into a teenager. This means that he needs to soon start thinking about his own marriage prospects, but he isn’t too fond of the idea of settling down with a wife, especially after watching his sister’s none-too-happy marriage. Time will tell whether an intrepid young woman can win his heart and make him change that stance.

The Branson Family

Current members: 3

This household is established in 1328 upon the marriage of Elsie Watmore to Frederick “Freddy” Branson, the son of Sibyl Branson (formerly Crawley, the sister of Elsie’s aunt’s mother-in-law Mary) and Sibyl’s late husband Tom.

While the marriage itself was prearranged, Elsie has grown up socializing with the Branson children. Before her parents’ deaths, she had sometimes played with them, and since returning to the village after the famine, she has met them at church and during many gatherings at the village green. Despite the animosity over the piece of land, Elsie has always gotten along well with Freddy and while not overjoyed about the marriage, she has been able to bear it with equanimity. Until the moment that Freddy forces her to hasten it by consummating it early against her wishes. This breach of trust not only cools her relationship with her new husband, but also leaves her feeling unprepared for being a wife. Her only consolation is that his family, especially his mother, is very kind to her.

Other than Freddy and Sibyl, the family consists of Sibyl’s new husband, their son Michael, and Freddy’s older sister Corinne, who is pregnant out of wedlock, but refuses to name the father.

Soon after her marriage, Elsie does indeed soon find out that she is pregnant, which at least gives her the comfort of having acted wisely. Her grandfather Benedict visits her during her pregnancy and is worried at her tired look, but can only tell her to keep her chin up and make the best out of her situation.

In 1329, Elsie gives birth to her and Freddy’s first son, Elton. Despite having lived with the Bransons for more than half a year, she is still struggling with finding her footing in the family and to acclimate to motherhood. Sibyl remains to be her biggest supporter and does what she can to comfort her.

The Chevalier Family

Current members: 4

At the beginning of the decade, Robert is still Robert Townsend, a squire to his half-brother, the earl of Petersmarch, and betrothed to Mademoiselle Elisaria de Bellefaye, to be married once he receives his knighthood. Even before then, he and Elisaria are close to Lord and Lady Petersmarch, a status they will continue to enjoy.

Robert is finally knighted in 1322 and weds Elisaria only months later. They change their surname to ‘Chevalier’, as a nod to her heritage and his profession, and are given the use of a small estate outside of Praaven by the earl as a wedding gift. Robert is still thinking about Katheryn, whom he shared a romance with in the previous decade, but determined to treat his wife well. This sense of duty soon blossoms into real love.

They have their first son in the following year, 1323, but sadly, the boy is stillborn. They name him Roman anyway and lay him to rest nearby.

In 1324, Elisaria gives birth to their second child, a healthy daughter named Marguerite. Unfortunately, their third child (and second son), Elijah, is born early in a tavern while they are en route home from a visit to another noble in 1325. The boy dies of a fever after they arrive home, much to their distress.

Some good news comes in 1326, when Marguerite ages up into a toddler. They celebrate this milestone in Praaven, since the earl and countess have invited them to put their daughter in the castle nursery, but Elisaria, who suffers from depression after the death of her second son, finds it hard to find joy in it.

Her spirits brighten a little when she gives birth to another healthy daughter, Jehanne, in 1327.

Around that time, they notice that their maid, Hawise, has started to develop an attachment to Robert’s nephew, Malcolm, who becomes a regular visitor in the Chevalier home. So, in 1328, Jehanne not only ages up into a toddler, but Robert and Elisaria also reveal to Hawise that they are in favour of her interest in Malcolm, provided he conducts himself properly.

In 1329, Elisaria gives birth to her third son (and fifth child), Landon, who actually survives his birth. Relieved by this, she and Robert begin to plan their girl’s education, now that they finally have a son and heir. But their joy doesn’t last long; they find Landon dead in his cradle a few months after his birth, which utterly devastates them and launches Elisaria into a crisis of faith, because she can’t understand why the Watcher would take all of her sons away from her.

The Dudley Family

Current members: 8 (Dudley branches), 4 (Penrith branch)

At the beginning of the decade, the aristocratic Dudley family consists of Ralph and Mary Dudley, the Earl and Countess of Petersmarch, their daughter and heiress Lady Maud, Lord Petersmarch’s sister Lady Gwendolen, brother Clement and Clement’s wife Lady Katheryn, as well as the siblings’ mother, the Dowager Countess Elizabeth.

For the Dudleys, 1320 begins with a joyous event: Lady Gwendolen marries Arnulf Penrith, the earl of Windermere, thus becoming a countess, as arranged for her by her brother. They hold the marriage in great state, before she leaves to live with her husband at his seat, which is only a few days’ travel away. The other joyous occasion of the year is Lady Maud aging up into a toddler.

Over the following years, the new Lady Windermere (Gwendolen) gives birth to several children: a son and heir, Vincent, in 1321, and a daughter, Lady Viviane, in 1322. In that same year, Vincent ages up into a toddler.

But there is some trouble in that year as well. Near the end of it, Lady Katheryn discovers that she is expecting her second child and tries to flee to her father’s estate. Her marriage with Clement has never been easy, and she especially doesn’t want his influence on any child of hers, least of all on a son. She makes a halt at Amrhein Hall, where the Dowager Countess resides and where Lady Windermere happens to be a guest, and tells them about what has happened. The Dowager Countess disapproves but promises not to detain her. Unfortunately for her, this promise becomes meaningless when her husband catches up to her before she can continue her travels, and forces her to return to Praaven with him. This worsens their already contentious marriage further.

Regardless of this, in the following year, 1323, she gives birth to her child, a son named Ralph III after Clement's late father. Lady Windermere gives birth to another daughter, Lady Margaret. Sadly, the girl doesn’t survive birth long, but as if to make up for that, Lady Viviane successfully ages up into a toddler.

Much to Clement’s chagrin, the countess falls pregnant again and gives birth to another son in 1324, hopefully averting the looming succession crisis. Her and the earl have had several sons before, but all of them died young during the famine of the previous decade. They name this new son and heir Robin. In the same year, Lady Maud ages up into a child.

In 1325, Ralph III, Clement and Katheryn’s son, ages up into a toddler, followed by his younger cousin Robin in 1326. Both of them continue to be in good health. This is followed by Lord and Lady Windermere’s surviving children, Vincent and Viviane, aging up into children in 1327 and 1328 respectively. The last birthday of the decade is Ralph III aging up into a child in 1329.

The Pelham Family

Current members: 5

At the beginning of the decade, the Pelham family consists of Peter Pelham (the aging Baron Elbenhawke), his widowed daughter-in-law Caroline, née Crawley, his grandson and heir Richard and Caroline’s young children, David and Josephine. And while for the Dudleys, the year begins with a wedding, for the Pelhams, it begins with sorrow.

Because in 1320, Baron Elbenhawke, who has been such a support for Caorline after the death of her husband has left her position uncertain, dies in his sleep, thus making his grandson Richard the new Lord Elbenhawke at only six years old. The running of the estate is swiftly taken over by regents, who will care for the land until young Richard is old enough to manage them himself. Luckily, Caroline is allowed to stay, to order the household and care for the children.

After that, life goes on. In 1322, David ages up into a child, followed by his sister Josephine in 1323. Already regular guests for feasts at the Hall, Anna and her daughters travel out from Praaven to attend the birthday celebration. And as always, Caroline is wistful that she can’t tell Theodora that she is really her mother.

Some peaceful years pass, and in 1326, Richard, the young Lord Elbenhawke, ages up into a teen, ready to take over the running of his lands and to look for a bride of his own, to ensure the continuation of the family line. If he notices that his Crawley relations would like for Annette to fill the role as his baroness, he never breathes a word of this knowledge to them or his stepmother.

In 1327, Caroline causes furore in Anna Crawley’s life once again by admitting to her that she has fallen pregnant out of wedlock with the child of a lover; apparently, she has been “seeing” her steward for a while now, a rare glimpse of happiness in her otherwise rather melancholy life. While happy for her friend, Anna can only really shake her head at her. Luckily, this time around, the father-to-be knows of the child and has rectified the situation by offering her marriage, which Caorline accepts.

In the same year, Richard is betrothed to a young noblewoman named Lady Lettice Adair.

In 1328, Caroline gives birth to a daughter, Isabel, attended by Anna. The birth almost claims her life, but the Grim Reaper decides to spare her.

And finally, in 1329, David ages up into a teen, which means that he, too, will soon need to go on the hunt for a suitable bride.

And that is it, at least for this decade. That was quite a lot to get through (and took a while to put together), but I hope some of you find this helpful. If anyone has actually read this far, that is, in which case: thank you!

I’m actually very much looking forward to what comes next for my sims. Not so much because of big historical events, although there is the Hundred Years War coming in the next decade, but mostly because of the stories I have planned. I am really excited to see what becomes of the Townsends’ nectar business, how Malcolm’s and Hawise’s relationship will develop once it becomes clear that he has no interest in spending time with their kids, where Amye’s path might lead her, and how the story I have planned for one of the side households pans out…

Which doesn’t mean that the social upheavals that will follow in the next few decades aren't interesting. That will be fun, too. The beginning years of the Hundred Years war aren’t too exciting, to be honest, but…well…

The clock’s ticking down to the Black Death in 18 years. Let’s enjoy the last decade without that hanging over our sims’ heads.

See you first to a few other posts and polls and then in 1330!

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[sydney-carton-of-sour-milk]

📣ANNOUNCEMENT📣 THE BIG 2024 PROJECT

At long last, I'm announcing what I've been working on🥁

Starting February 6th and continuing every other Tuesday through at least mid-December, this blog will be highlighting the work of various illustrators of A Tale of Two Cities over the many decades since its initial publishing!💫

As it stands right now, the archive will span from the very beginning in 1859 all the way through about 1992 (with a heavy density at the turn of the century) and will contain just under 500 individual illustrations by 20 individual illustrators — in styles ranging all the way from pen to painting and abstraction to realism✍️

All of these numbers will continue to grow, however, because this is an ongoing project! In fact I expect the queue to continue through a good portion of 2025 as I keep finding and archiving more and more — there's just so much out there! For this reason I am not posting these in a sorted order — I looked at what I have right now and ordered them to feel random and balanced, with some themed for certain months😎

Also! A large percentage of these (about half of the artists and well over half of the total illustrations) are coming from sources difficult or impossible to find on the Internet and are instead coming from my own scanning work: When I would discover in my research editions that I knew to have work by new illustrators whose pages weren't available for online viewing, I would seek out and buy those editions for super cheap online and scan them on my own printer's scanner — so for a lot of the old illustration work that this blog will be posting, it will possibly be the first time some of these have ever been uploaded for public view on the Internet!🤩

As far as keeping the archive organized on this blog, the organizational tag for these posts will be " #illustrators ", and I will also tag each post with the highlighted artist's name and with the decade in which each set of illustrations was initially published (as far as my research tells me)🏷️

On the off-weeks, this blog will be posting its usual miscellany, with a sprinkling of behind-the-scenes and extras for this specific project. But starting next week and continuing every other Tuesday* through about the entire year, expect a new post highlighting the work of a given A Tale of Two Cities illustrator — and be prepared because sometimes the number of illustrations on a single post will be in the tens/dozens since Tumblr increased the max image count for a single post to 30! *with the exception of April, which is going to have a special schedule for reasons you'll see when the queue gets there👀

I'm just so excited to at long last get to share this incredible archive here! I sincerely hope you enjoy this fascinating and often breathtaking look at these tiny, beautiful pieces of art history!🌟

[bettsfic]

Just read the excerpt of your story and oh my it is so interesting. I didn’t want to get to the end of the chapter ;(.

With the structure and with the clarity of Layla’s voice, I was wondering how you came about writing this project and what that was like?

thanks, anon! i'm hoping to share more of it now that the rewrites have gained some momentum.

basically in january 2023 i had a silly story idea about two coworkers who antagonized each other but were anonymously corresponding on a (bdsm) dating app. the guy finds out his coworker is the femdom of his dreams. they fall in love. end of story.

i wrote a scene where the love interest discovers the POV character is covered in tattoos. i wrote a scene where he gets a new tattoo, and he doesn't care what it is, he just wants to be marked by someone. and then i wrote a scene where the love interest offers to pick out what he eats for lunch and he loses his mind, because someone making decisions for him is his thing. then i decided to make him an underwriter, because i thought the character concept of "an underwriter, whose job is to make economy-altering decisions on a daily basis, detests making decisions" was interesting. so i was goofing around across 10k or so when the POV character (Henry) really caught my interest, and i kept asking myself, "what's this guy's deal" over and over again.

fast forward a couple weeks, i'd mostly given up on the project because it just seemed too ridiculous to exist and i couldn't think up any sustaining conflict. i was meeting up with my former thesis advisor for lunch, and on the hour-long drive i kept thinking about my indecisive underwriter covered in tattoos. she and i had a great conversation about craft in general, and i left thinking, so what if it's too ridiculous to exist? i'll write it anyway. it's not like i have anything better to do.

i cut out the stupid dating app thing. i got bored with the love interest (Layla) being perfect and decided it would be interesting to make her a character who thinks she's a sociopath but is not at all a sociopath. and i've also just always had a thing for loose cannon characters who are willing to commit atrocities in the name of their skewed sense of justice.

the first draft was 120k with a trash document of over 100k. i finished it in june. there was a cult involved, and trauma and the recovery thereof, and really a lot of sex. the hardest part about writing it was my own apprehension that i was maybe finally writing a novel that would be strong enough to exist in the world. when i shot it off to my agent, i felt great about it. as i waited for her feedback and started getting some distance from it, i started to feel less great about it. then i started to feel ashamed of it. then it made me sick to think about.

i tried to stay positive. i got great feedback just in time for last year's artist residency, and on the 10 hour drive to new york, i came up with a revision plan. as soon as i arrived at the residency i started working on it, and i worked on it so much that i burned out after the first week. and then i started spiraling, because it became clear to me that conceptually there was something wrong with the story, and even if everyone who touched it totally loved it, i still wouldn't want it to see the light of day. i truly can't begin to explain how i could love something i wrote so much and still be mortified by its existence. and yet for months thereafter, i wasn't ready to concede any of the foundational elements of the story. all of it still seemed so important and meaningful to me. but also i knew it wasn't very good, and i didn't know how to make it better.

fast forward to last month, i finally had a big breakthrough about it and enough distance that i still admired it but was willing to gut it and basically start over. i was prepared (and planning to) get rid of all the things i loved in the name of making it a better story that wouldn't make me feel ashamed of myself, and in the process found that all of those things i loved have actually become clearer simply in my willingness to let go of them.

i'll have about 300k words worth of scenes and concepts i cut, but i'll have around 90k of what might be a good story that will go out on submission at the end of this year or early next. and although there's no guarantee it'll get picked up, a few editors will probably have some nice things to say about it.

[stoneycarterartist]

Who inspires Stoney Carter?

Stoney Carter is inspired by many things and many artists. I can remember my grandfathers love of music and him showing me his favorite jazz artists among them John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Grover Washington Jr. I also remember the music that my family would play on Saturday morning while cleaning and the songs that came on the radio when I was being driven to school. I became very acquainted with Anita Baker, Jill Scott, and Oleta Adams, even though their music was not of my generation. I have to say that their influence impacts me. When I developed an ear for the music that I like and that resonated with me I became a fan of Tyler the Creator, because who even remotely close to my age had music out and also had his own variety show. The Internet because they not only played, performed and wrote their own music, but their style was like the music that I dreamed of making.  Teddy Walton, because his sound and production is purely genius to me, (“10 out of 10”). Bryson Tiller created clever vocals around edgy music and all of these artists are pretty much the landscape of my childhood. Discovering the Dream, and his innovative lyrics, his vocal delivery and musical style gave me an innovator to emulate. Hearing what they could create inspired me to create my own sound and gives me someone to measure it against. I often listen to the Dream as a reference to how the sound quality of something that I am working on should sound. I have learned to play Tyler’s songs on the piano because I am such a fan. I also listen to Teddy Walton’s production with a close ear to hear the nuances and techniques that are used. I also listen to the Dream’s vocal production and delivery along with his adlibs and chord progression because I consider him the litmus test and standard to hold myself to when creating a sound. I can only aspire to hope that the sounds of my influencers shine through in the music that I create, because then I will know that I have given it justice. So, with all of the influences that I have sometimes my music sounds old and sometimes it sounds new depending on whose influence is influencing me when I create something new. I hope to create music that will get the attention of those that I am influenced by and collaborate with them in the future, whether I am engineering their projects, singing background vocals, creating video content for their music or writing and producing for them.  In five years from now, I will be receiving my income solely from musical projects that include placements, songwriting credits and collaborations with other artists. I will be receiving name recognition and accolades from other artists. Working with the right artists on the right projects, I will eventually receive award recognition such as a Grammy award. But, I do not make music for those reasons, I do it for the love of music.  

#whoinspiresstoneycarter?

[miraculouswolf99]

Breaking Into The Watchtower Part 1

Miraculous Ladybug-DC Universe crossovers are some of my favorite fanfictions. They are just a good match. I especially love ones where the Justice League either ignores the Paris situation or one of the League members gets the messages for help and doesn’t believe them. Mostly, it’s the Flash, Guy Gardner, Green Lantern, or Booster Gold.

In this story, some of the miraculous have changed hands for my story. There will be new holders and different holders for old miraculous. All of my OC characters will also be included. Nathaniel has the fox, Marc has the turtle, Rose has the horse, Juleka has the tiger, and Alix will have the bunny.

*****

“This is most definitely not something that I would ever have thought that I would ever do,” White Wolf says.

“We are magical teenagers that use the power of mini gods and mystical jewelry,” Beautifly says. “Your statement pretty much sums up every day of our lives.”

“Trust me, I never thought that I would be doing anything like this before I met Plagg,” Cat Noir said.

“At least I can cross this off my bucket list,” Ladybug giggled.

“Why is the name of the Olympian gods would this be on your bucket list,” White Wolf looked at the teen hero weirdly.

“I put it on after they started to ignore our cries for help,” Ladybug crossed her arms. “Or, when it was made obvious that they were ignoring us, at least.”

“How much sleep have you gotten lately,” Beautifly asks. “You only get this sassy when you haven’t slept in about two days.”

“I remember going to sleep on Wednesday,” Ladybug put her hand on her chin as she started thinking.

“Uh… It’s Saturday,” White Wolf deadpanned.

“Oh,” was all Ladybug could say.

“If you don’t go right to sleep after we get back, I am sending Plagg over to destroy every device you have to make sure you are not distracted and can finally sleep,” Cat Noir threatened.

“But what if there is an akuma,” Ladybug protested.

“Then we will have to make sure that Cat Noir saves his power so that he can Cataclysm the moth when it comes out of the akumatized object,” White Wolf says.

“And the damage,” Ladybug continued to protest.

“We will get to that when we get there,” White Wolf said.

“You are sometimes too selfless for your own good,” Beautifly shook her head.

“Yeah, she tends to be like that,” Cat Noir chuckled. “Why do you think I force myself between her and the villains we face when she tries to protect me because she will take the hit for me. But she needs to be the one that the attack does not hit because she is the one that purifies the akuma.”

“We are a very colorful crew,” Beautifly giggled.

“Says the butterfly girl whose hero outfit is almost entirely black,” White Wolf said.

“Not my fault that Flutter is a monarch butterfly kwami,” Beautifly shrugged.

“I certainly wish that I had some color on my suit,” Cat Noir says. “While the black makes my eyes pop, the color doesn’t match my personality at all. Why couldn’t Plagg be a tabby cat or a white cat?”

“Because he is the literal god of bad luck and nobody thinks of either of those two other kinds of cats when bad luck comes to mind,” Ladybug stated. “Deal with it, Chaton.”

“Yeah, you really need some sleep before you become permanently sassy,” Beautifly says.

“I blame Hawkmoth and his never-ending late-night akumas,” White Wolf stated. “My ears are still ringing from that banshee akuma he created last week.”

“And talk about unoriginal,” Cat Noir rolled his eyes. “Scream Queen was probably the most obvious choice of name in the history of villain names.”

“Even more so than that Poison Ivy woman in Gotham,” Beautifly asked.

“Well, she could have called herself Mother Nature,” Cat Noir shrugged.

“Point made,” Beautifly said.

The four then looked at the rest of their teams preparing themselves for what was going to be done. The Greek hero team had stayed the same throughout the three years of fighting, but the French team had changed. Their current members were Vulpix, Emerald Turtle, Queen Bee, Viperion, Lady Unicorn, King Monkey, Ryuko, Shadow Cat, and Bunnix. The last two being the newest members of the hero team. The Greek team was Gladiator with the grizzly bear miraculous, Tigress with the leopard miraculous, and Ocean Mage with the mermaid miraculous. The last one being the only person to be currently using a magical creature miraculous on the planet.

All of the heroes were getting ready in their own ways. Ryuko, Ocean Mage, and Viperion were meditating. King Monkey, Bunnix, Tigress, and Gladiator were all getting themselves hyped up for the mission. Queen Bee was trying to find a way to take off her gloves to file her nails. Vulpix and Emerald Shell were cuddling, comforting each other, and probably trying really hard not to start making out. The same could be said about Shadow Cat and Lady Unicorn. Those four were always the more timid ones of the group, even though all of them were amazing heroes.

“Alright, does everyone remember their parts of the plan,” Ladybug asked them, snapping them out of their trances.

“I will make sure that everything goes smoothly and no one truly gets hurt,” Viperion says.

“White Wolf, Lady Unicorn, and I take out our biggest worries to being discovered before we are ready,” Bunnix added.

“The rest of us force them into a position where they have to listen to us,” Gladiator said.

The rest of the team nodded in agreement. Some of them were still looking nervous about what they were about to do.

“Are you sure doing this is the right thing to do,” Lady Unicorn asked. “We could get into serious trouble for this.”

“We wouldn’t be doing this at all if they stopped ignoring us,” Tigress crossed her arms. “Even with all these miraculous being active, Hawmoth’s akumas are getting more and more dangerous.”

“He is also akumatizing more dangerous people like con artists, martial artists, and policemen,” Ocean Mage says. “What’s to stop him from going all Scarlet Moth and sending his moths to a prison if he gets desperate enough?”

“That is why we need their help,” Ladybug said. “If contacting them through official means does not help, then we must do what we have to.”

“I just hope that we don’t get labeled as criminals for this,” Beautifly said.

-----------------------------

If there was one thing that Robin currently was, it was bored. He had to stop himself from yawning as he sat in another long and boring meeting of the Justice League.

One would think that a young hero like him would not be a part of one of these meetings. But this was less of a war room and more of a meeting between all heroes to discuss general things involving heroes in general and not entirely league business. It was always the same things being discussed in these meetings. Egotistical politicians trying to control the league, villains breaking out of prison again, as well as discussing potential new members of the League and the Young Justice team.

Other than Robin, the rest of the Bat-family was there as well. Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Oracle, Spoiler, Orphan, Batwing, and even Batwoman. The Super family was also there. Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, and the former Superboy that now called himself Krypton. Robin smirked at how Conner had finally broken the trend of having “Super” in his hero name. He may be a clone, he knew that both Kara and Jon both adored him. The other young heroes that were there were Red Arrow, Artemis, Aqualad, Tempest, Miss. Martian, Beast Boy, Starfire, Zatanna, Kid Flash, and Impulse.

And other than Batman and Superman, there were also the mentors of the other young heroes as well. Green Arrow, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Dr.Fate, and the Flash. The other adult heroes in the room were Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Wonder Woman, Sparton, Black Canary, Red Tornado, all three Green Lanterns, Black Lightning, Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, the Atom, and Katanna.

As Robin looked around, he noticed that he was not the only bored-looking young hero. The entire Bat-family looked to be wanting to be anywhere else, especially since they lived in a city where a crime was committed every five seconds. But the other heroes that looked bored were Superboy, Krypton, Red Arrow, Aqualad, and Beast Boy. They were all probably like him. They were excited to be part of league meetings until it was discovered that there was a lot more politics involved than actual hero work.

“Does anyone have anything else that they would like to add,” Superman asked the room.

“How about we talk about actually saving people instead of dealing with politicians,” Nightwing muttered, making the Bat-family hide their snickers.

“Especially that psycho Lex Luthor,” Krypton muttered from his place next to Nightwing.

“Well, if that is all…” Superman was about to wrap up the meeting.

“Wait,” Zatanna shot up from her seat, her hands on her head. “I sense something.”

All the younger heroes were all now thinking how something interesting was finally going to happen during one of these meetings. But the heroes were also all reaching for their weapons if they had them.

“What is it,” Wonder Woman asked the magician, her hand on her sword.

“There is an incoming magical…” Zatanna was cut off.

A bright blue portal opened up right under her feet. She fell in before she could finish her warning. The portal closed right after she fell into it.

“What in the world,” Flash gasped.

“ZATANNA,” the members of Young Justice yelled their former team member’s name.

“Oracle,” Batman did not even have to say the entire order.

“I’m on it,” the wheelchair-bound hero immediately started typing on her holographic computer. “She’s… I can’t find her.”

“What do you mean you can’t find her,” Captain Atom demanded to know.

“It’s like she vanished into thin air,” Oracle continued typing. “She’s nowhere in the Watchtower, or on Earth, not even on my planet in our galaxy. There is no sign of Zatanna anywhere.”

“She managed to say that it was something magical that was approaching,” Wonder Woman says.

“Dr. Fate, can you do something,” Superman requested of the lord of order.

The master sorcerer stood up from his seat. While he, personally, did not care for Zatanna other than a fellow user of the mystic arts, his current host body was that of her father. So finding her will hopefully silence all the yelling that Zatara is currently doing inside of the helmet.

But before the lord of order could do anything, another portal opened up behind him. But unlike the bright blue of the first one, this portal was a ring of blue surrounding a white portal. Something had quickly reached through and Dr.Fate was instantly turned into an ice statue. An invisible figure sneaked through the portal before it closed.

This caused all the other league members and Young Justice members to all jump and, drawing their weapons or preparing their powers. They all looked around and were on guard just in case another portal opened up.

“Oracle,” Batman ordered her again.

She was typing as quickly as humanly possible.

“I can’t find anyone else in the Watchtower,” she said, still typing. “I’ve run heat scans, x-ray scans, even the program to search for invisible opponents. I still can not find anyone else in the Watchtower.”

A soft tune suddenly played throughout the room. It was like a theme song for a peaceful day in the Fall played on a flute. A ball of light soon soared to the end of the room and brightly flashed. When the flash died down, the heroes were all shocked to see a message had been written in light in the air.

“We Just Want To Talk.”

It floated there for about a minute before Superman and Maritan Manhunter flew over to the message to examine it. But the moment that one of them touched it, it vanished in a burst of orange smoke-like light.

“It was an illusion,” Nightwing was the first to realize it.

“Maybe that is how they are hiding,” Red Robin opened up his own holographic screen over his glove and started typing. “Under an illusion.”

“And if they are magical like Zatanna said, it would not be possible to detect them since the technology that can detect magic has not been invented yet,” Oracle added.

“There is no such thing as magic,” yelled out Kid Flash.

Young Justice rolled their eyes, used to the constant rants that the speedster goes on about his disbelief in magic. It certainly annoyed those like Aqualad and Tempest, who both were born in Atlantis and attended the conservatory of sorcery there. Few other magical heroes tolerated the loud-mouth. Which was why heroes like Phantom and his brother Gold Siren wanted nothing to do with the team. (Reference to my fanfictions on Wattpad, Phantom Music and Home.)

“Try to find out where the illusion came from,” Superman ordered.

“You could try looking right in front of you,” a female voice was suddenly heard.

The heroes all turned and saw three masked teenagers standing there. Two boys and a girl. 

The first boy was a redhead with his bangs covering his right eye. He had on a fox-themed skin-tight orange and white outfit with red boots, gloves, and a red jacket. He also had real fox ears and a real fox tail as well. A flute was strapped to his back.

The boy next to him had black hair with green tips, which matched his turtle-themed outfit. The outfit also had a dark green leather jacket and boots with a green shield on his back, going with the goggle-like mask over his eyes.

The girl was blond with a single black streak in her ponytail. Her outfit was definitely themed by bumblebees. But unlike the shoes of the two next to her, her shoes had a slight heal to them. Like a two-inch-high wedge heel. Around her waist was a spinning top on a string.

“What have you done to our allies,” Captain Atom demanded of them.

“They are perfectly fine,” the turtle boy informed them.

“Why should we believe you,” Robin held his katana in his hand.

“Because we need your help and harming your fellow heroes would not help our situation,” the fox boy crossed his arms.

“What could you possibly need from us,” Black Lightning’s hands sparked with his powers.

“How about for you to stop ignoring us while we have been fighting a terrorist for three years,” the bee girl yelled at them.

“We also are not lying,” the fox boy said. “We have no reason to lie when surrounded by most of the world’s heroes.”

Before they could say anything else, all three were surrounded by separate green spheres that floated them up into the air. The Green Lanterns all had their rings pointed at one of the masked teens.

“This is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous,” the bee girl complained as she crossed her arms.

“I got captured by the original Green Lantern,” the fox boy looked to be almost fanboying inside of his sphere.

“Lucky, I got that class clown Guy Gardner,” the turtle boy almost seemed to pout.

“Hey,” Guy Gardner protested, offended.

“Why are you here, where is Zatanna, and what did you do to Dr. Fate,” Superman demanded of the three as he flew close to them.

“You know, you are a lot less threatening than you think you are,” the bee girl stated with a smirk. “By the way, whoever told you that underwear on the outside of your pants was a good choice needs to be thrown into fashion jail.”

Most of the Young Justice team had to stop themselves from laughing. Even Superboy, Supergirl, and Krypton were trying not to laugh. They had no idea who this girl was, but she was certainly sassy.

“How did you get into the Watchtower undetected,” Superman continued to demand answers from them.

“That is for us to know,” the fox boy started.

“And you to find out,” the turtle boy finished.

The smirks the three had told the league something, alright. Batman was the first to realize what it meant.

“There are more of them,” he said.

As if him saying that was their cue to come in, three more masked teens almost seemed to materialize into the room. A guy in a monkey-themed outfit hit his Ruyi Jingu Bang against the ground and then threw it into the air.

“Uproar,” he yelled.

He threw his now glowing staff into the air, the staff letting out a flash as it spun in the air. With a swift flick of her lasso, Wonder Woman grabbed the weapon before it could fall back into the monkey boy’s hand. But something else fell into his hands that they did not see.

But then came the second masked teen, who looked like he had been born of the ocean. He took out what seemed to be a hilt made out of sapphire. Water came out of the hilt as the masked boy flicked his wrist, the water forming into a whip. Before they could move, the teen whipped all of the Green Lantern’s hands at once. Pulling his whip, the masked teen caused their hands to collide together.

That was when the monkey boy threw the object that he had caught out of the air. Katana was close enough to try and slice through it with her sword, but she was intercepted by a second masked girl, this one appearing out of nowhere and seemed to have a tiger theme to her. Even if she was purple and black and not orange and black. Katana’s sword was met with a metal tiger-claw gauntlet. While they fought, a bunny-themed girl showed up and intercepted Green and Red Arrow, fighting both archers at once. Then, to the shock of the Green Lantern trio, a stuffed octopus child’s toy landed on their connected hands.

For a moment, nothing happened and they wondered why a stuffed animal had been thrown at them. But then their rings all started to malfunction at once. The rings stopped glowing and all three trapped teens were released from their bubbles. And since the rings were no longer working, the Lanterns all fell to the ground without their ability to fly.

“We’re teenagers, not stupid,” the bee girl smirked.

No longer wanting to underestimate the masked teens, the big hitters of the league all started to move toward them. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Red Tornado, and Captain Atom.

“Venom,” the bee girl shouted.

The top in her hand seemed to grow a bit in size and start glowing. As Superman flew at her, she dodged him and managed to touch him with her top. He fell to the ground and did not move from his punching pose. He was paralyzed.

“Confusion,” a female voice shouted.

Wonder Woman turned around to almost immediately be scratched on her arm by a girl in a leopard-themed outfit. The scratch on her arm glowed purple and the hero suddenly became very dizzy and could not seem to focus. She had never been drunk before, but she was sure this was probably how it felt.

Captain Atom’s hands lit up as he aimed one of his energy blasts at the masked teens. As he was just about to blast, another masked teen appeared. This one was themed by a brown-furred bear. Probably a grizzly bear.

“Roar,” a male voice yelled just as Captain Atom blasted.

The bear boy’s fist lit up gold and he punched right into the energy beam. To the surprise of the league, he was able to keep the beam at bay with a single punch.

Red Tornado was about to throw one of his twisters when he was hit on his robot head by a thrown horseshoe. It bounced and flew around like a boomerang-gone-wild until it landed back in the hand of a horse-themed girl.

All of the heroes and masked teens in the room were either fighting or dodging the attacks of another from one of the other groups.

“Enough,” a male and female voice shouted at once.

Even the Justice League froze as the voices boomed throughout the room. Standing on the other side of the room were six more masked teens. Three boys and three girls. The two that had shouted were a ladybug-themed girl and a boy with an icy wolf outfit. The boy standing next to the ladybug girl looked to be related to Catwoman while the girl next to the wolf boy was like a butterfly turned human. The last two were a snake boy and a girl that looked to be dragon-themed.

“All of you, front and center, now,” the ladybug girl ordered.

All of the animal-themed teens stopped what they were doing immediately. They put their weapons away and walked over to join the others at her sides.

Wonder Woman looked at the group for a few moments. The drunk feeling had been lifted from her and she could focus. There was something about them that was making an old memory of her’s rise to the surface. An old story that her mother used to tell her about when she had been friends with, who she had called, an adorable and wise little creature known as a kwami. A creature that she also remembered was bound to a magical object called a miraculous.

“The ladybug and black cat are active once more,” she gasped.

The league looked at the Amazon princess in shock. She actually had an idea who these teens were.

“We thought that you would be the one to recognize our magic, Wonder Woman,” the ladybug girl softly smiles.

Wonder Woman approached the group, putting her sword away as she did. And surprising the league again, she bowed to the ladybug girl and cat boy. The two of them and the wolf boy and butterfly girl bow back.

“It is an honor to meet the wielder of the ladybug miraculous,” Wonder Woman said.

“The honor is all ours, daughter of Hippolyta,” the ladybug girl says. “Tikki says to tell your mother ‘hi’ for her.”

Wonder Woman smiled at that.

“Would you care to explain exactly what is going on,” Batman ordered them, crossing his arms. “Starting with where Zatanna is and what you did to Dr. Fate and Superman.”

The bunny girl got out a pocket watch from her pocket. She checks the time.

“We can answer the first question now,” she smirked. “We’re right on time.”

She put her watch away and then threw her hands forward yelling “Burrow.” Out popped the same type of portal that Zatanna had disappeared through. And seconds after the portal was opened, out fell the magician.

“What just happened,” Zatanna immediately asked.

“The rest of your comrades will be fine somewhere between five to ten minutes,” the butterfly girl says.

“Before we go into the full explanation, do you guys have a bathroom in this place by any chance,” the leopard girl asked.

[dotthings]

Finished season one of Kung Fu, which is 13 eps, and not a dud among them. Nicky Shen and her family and her heroic quest stole my heart.

Magical warrior girl with a quest for weapons and mystical forces, blended with real world issues and familial issues. There's generational trauma and generational love and support. Women are driving driving the story--there's three different sets of sisters, in different generations whose sibling bond and feelings are important to the plot. The inclusion is intersectional. The male characters are also layered and appealing, but make no mistake, women are the backbone of the show and reflect a wide range of abilities and strengths and traits and roles, and multiple roles. S1 also sets up some expectations on behavior, then quickly overturns them, revealing the characters in a fuller light very quickly. There's also multiple emotional arcs, for the Shen siblings and their parents, about discovering the best version of yourself and about maintaining your own identity while also wanting and needing to respect traditions and heritage. Or making choices that subvert a destined one.

This is enjoyable urban fantasy. Multiple episodes made me cry. The cast will steal your heart, and it hits a lot of marks on what draws me to a story. And its take on the Chosen One concept is refreshing.

Behind the scenes, because yes, I checked, there isn't one of the 13 episodes in S1 that doesn't have a writer, or director, or both, from artists from marginalized groups, and there is more than one woman and more than one Asian woman in the writers room. I also read some interviews and they listen to the Asian actors. They did an episode about BLM and Asian community allyship and had a black woman write it. So while the all Asian cast centering women is impressive, it's also impressive that behind the scenes they are walking the walk. Inclusion and change in the tv industry isn't just about the faces on the screen and who gets to be the hero, it matters behind the scenes as well.

No, I still don't trust that network and now I can worry that it will take this delightful series and ruin it somehow. Because that's been the track record. But also I remembered that the reboot of Nikita (2010) was a thing that ran on cee dub for 3.5 seasons (I loved the original series and the reboot) and it was solid all the way through. I loved it. They did some good work. So maybe this is one of those exceptions that can work in its own bubble and escape the network curse. Or maybe this show is a reflection of changes, reform already starting at the network, before the sale was announced. My hope is that the retooled network under new ownership will value shows like this. And not repeat the bad business practices and mistakes that outright ran old cee dub into the ground.

[ellenripleysbelieveitornot]

What about an Akechi/Joker role swap AU where Akechi is still the detective prince and Joker is still the Shujin delinquent, but the major difference is that Morgana never lost his memories and found Akechi before he approached Shido with his metaverse assassination plot?

Like, imagine Akechi, bitter and jaded, who has just awakened Loki and felt the terrifying and thrilling rush of the berserk power. He's formed a plan to get back at his piece of shit father, even managed to set up a meeting, which he had to set up months in advance, and on the day he's going to present Shido with info on the metaverse, he winds up arriving a few minutes late, because even though he intended to be early, he was accosted by a talking cat (he's been in the metaverse, so he can hear him) on the way over, and in the whole wtf-ery of the moment, lost track of time. Shido, being Shido, refuses to see him and will not reschedule because he doesn't like having his time wasted.

Pissed off, Akechi leaves to find Morgana still waiting for him outside. So he doesn't look like an idiot yelling at a cat on the street, he brings Morgana back to his shitty apartment, where Morgana explains why he had found Akechi and whats up. He doesn't know about Yaldobaoth taking Igor's place, he just knows there's two champions, and Akechi was the one he found first, so he must be Igor's chosen champion. (It is my theory that it doesn't actually matter who was Igor's and Yaldobaoth's champions, it was more about the choices they each made and where they ended up.) 

Akechi has no interest in saving the world, but he knows that if he wants to get back at Shido, he needs to become someone of consequence, so he agrees to undergo Morgana's training, since Morgana clearly knows more about the metaverse than he does, and he can use it to solve cold cases, earning him a place as the Detective Prince. He changes a few hearts, to pacify Morgana, too. It takes a couple years, but during his senior year in high school, he makes it, earning himself the cooperation of the police and the spotlight of the public eye. He's getting so close to making Shido notice him that he can practically taste it. Also, what’s this ‘velvet room’ he keeps dreaming about?

Then Morgana finds Kamoshida’s palace and is like ‘heyo, you thought changing hearts in the metaverse was cool, check this shit out’ and Akechi is admittedly intrigued , so he takes a look. He sees the inside of Kamoshida’s heart and is appropriately disgusted and says to Morgana, ‘hey we should totally kill this guy’s shadow.’ Morgana’s like ‘why is your first suggestion always murder, we don’t know what would happen if we killed his shadow, Igor wasn’t very clear about that bit, we should try stealing the treasure instead’ and Morgana has been useful (and it’s been really nice to have the company these past two years, though he won’t admit that) so Akechi agrees ‘fine, we’ll steal the treasure, but if that doesn’t work, then I’m killing his shadow.’

And that’s when Ryuji and Ann make an appearance (’ohmigawd, goro, be more careful with that damn app, i s2g.’) Ryuji’s mom apparently thinks Akechi is pretty neat and watches all his interviews, so Ryuji knows who he is and is delighted to find out that the lame-ass detective his mom has talked about is actually a grumpy badass in the metaverse, with this shadow that has some kind of insane power, and hey, he helped them bring down Kamoshida (alive,) so maybe he is actually pretty cool, even though sometimes he spaces out and talks about evil twins and some longed-nose dude. He decides then and there that he’s going to be Akechi’s best friend, since he apparently has none, and Ann is all too happy to join in for the ride, and all of Goro’s protests have fallen on deaf ears, and they know about the whole detective prince thing being a facade, so he might as well indulge them for now. 

The ‘Phantom Thieves’ (a name that makes Goro want to roll his eyes whenever he hears it, and why is everyone calling him ‘leader?’) gain fame and change hearts, gaining new members such as this weird-ass artist dude who fights with ice, and oh, god, one Nijima is bad enough, don’t tell me there’s two! and she uses nukes, wtf?!

Around this time, he also meets Shujin’s delinquent, enigmatic transfer student whose talk of hope and justice never quite seem to reflect in his stormy grey eyes, and he and Goro are clearly birds of a feather in a way, he can tell, there’s just something about him, and he thinks this guy might actually be his best friend, but don’t tell Ryuji that, he’d never hear the end of it.

Akechi learns the truth behind Akira’s arrest and Shido’s involvement and he is disgusted to find that he genuinely wants to help this guy, and he can’t do that if Shido’s dead, maybe he doesn’t want his revenge as badly as he thought??? Oh, ew, I have feelings that aren’t anger and it’s all my friends’ fault, I can’t just leave them and go off to get revenge, they’d literally die without me, those lovable idiots. Also, when Ryuji saw his home, he pretty much insisted he stay with him instead, and Ryuji’s mom reminds him of the good times he had with his own mother, and he honestly doesn’t think he has the strength to disappoint her like that. So, he decides to change Shido’s heart, but he knows that there’s no way that this little group of miscreants is strong enough to take on the fucked up bullshit that he’s seen in Shido’s heart, so let’s hit pause on that for now.

Shido had Wakaba killed via completely non-supernatural ways and stole her research, same as before, so Futaba still has a palace. He found out Akira worked at Leblanc a while ago and started dropping by, and then somehow Ryuji found out about it, and now all the Phantom Thieves know, so much for a peaceful place to get away, but he actually doesn’t mind that much, and Akira lets Akechi keep an eye on the shop when there are no customers so he can go out and do errands and Boss doesn’t mind, so they’ve ended up hanging out there as a group from time to time and talking Phantom Thief business, so Futaba knows who they are, and asks for their help.

Okumura’s palace pretty much goes the same, Okumura dies somehow, are we responsible, why does murder actually make me feel kinda bad, stupid friends and their stupid good influence. 

Goro attends the Shujin student fair as guest speaker, whoa, the class president being friends with Akechi does have its perks, doesn’t it? Akira finds them all there together and approaches them, tells them he saw them go into the metaverse, awakened his own persona, and saw a guy in a black mask kill Okumura’s shadow, hey why don’t I join you, you probably need all the help you can get, who’s heart are we stealing next, how about Sae, she knows my probabtion officer and has been giving me hell, plus I already checked, she definitely has a palace.

They agree, and oh, hey, Akira can hear Morgana talk now, but WAIT A MINUTE?! Didn’t he hear Morgana talk before when he told Goro that Leblanc didn’t sell sushi, even though Goro hadn’t asked for any?

They hack Akira’s phone, learn that Shido (Akechi recognizes that voice) will have thugs waiting to capture them when they leave the palace. They plan around it, pull the metaverse switch and manage to sneak a heavily drugged Akechi out of the warehouse Shido stashed him in by traveling through the metaverse. Shido’s lackey’s have written a fake suicide letter from the leader of the Phantom thieves, and the chief of police, under Shido’s orders, delivers a statement confirming its authenticity, and look the plan succeeded. All they need to do know is take down Shido.

Things are going great, until they get to the engine room, where Joker, having realized what happened, is waiting for them. Joker, who lost everything after he transferred, who discovered the metaverse completely alone, who didn’t mean to kill that guy’s shadow, but he attacked him first, and Shido had somehow known, had been keeping an eye on him, had him convicted for a crime that he didn’t commit in the hopes that he would break because he needed an agent in the metaverse, and so far he’s had no luck. Joker, who had nothing left to lose and had accepted the only hand that had reached out for him.

They fight, and when it looks like things are going badly for Joker, he pulls out... a second persona?!?! At least, it looks like a persona, but something about it is off. it looks familiar somehow. And then Akira asks if they knew it was possible to fuse personas and Akechi realizes what he’s looking at. These aren’t the clean executions that Caroline and Justine perform, these are personas that have been ripped apart and haphazardly thrown back together with no thought to form or elegance, look, there’s a Yaksini’s arm, and that bit right there clearly used to belong to a Rangda, and I think that piece might have belonged to a Seiryu, and Akechi should stop listing personas now because Ann thinks she’s going to be sick.

They keep fighting. Joker can’t understand the difference in power between them. After all, aren’t they the same? Unloved, unwanted, soldiers pitted against each other by some bullshit higher power?

When Joker shoots the bulkhead door closed and Futaba reports that she’s lost Joker’s reading, Akechi vows then and there that he’s going to kill Shido after all. And he almost does. He stands there, with his gun pressed to the head of the shadow of his father, his friends can’t blame him, and even Morgana knows better than to try and stop him. But he doesn’t. He remembers Akira’s madness there at the end, and wonders what he would have become of him if it weren’t for Ryuji, who somewhere along the way, he’d realized he’d stopped tolerating and started actually liking. Ann, who shared his woes about being in the public eye and swapped tips with him about how to handle the press. Yusuke, who, although he was still completely bizarre to him, appreciated the beauty in life and didn’t tease Goro for his taste in Grandpa clothes. Makoto, who knew the importance of hard work and who, between herself and her sister, had caused Goro to pick up some healthier coping mechanisms. Futaba, who made fun of him for his food blog, but liked the same nerd bullshit that he did and would bombard him with memes until his day somehow became a little less shittier. Haru, who dreamed of starting her own business and actually cared about Goro’s opinions, and could threaten someone with a smile in a way that even Goro was jealous of. And Morganna, who had reminded him what it was like to not be lonely, and demanded more sushi than he could afford, but always made sure Goro ate his fill, instead of getting so focused on his work that he forgot.

Akechi guesses that he must have turned soft somewhere during the past several months, but after seeing what happened to Akira, he can’t help but be grateful, knowing with certainty that if things had turned out differently, that would have been him. Hey, Morgana, you know that world-saving bs you talked about two years ago? Let’s leave this piece of shit here to rot and focus our attention on that instead.

And you guys know the rest.

Or, at least, that’s how I thought it would go. Feel free to share your thoughts. :)

[jiejie-eonni-onee-sama]

Mystery Girl

For the cute @multifandomfix 💝🌹​

Hope you will like this gift!

"No, Gil! Don't tell me you agreed to this!"

"Sorry, Malcolm, but those are the orders of the hierarchy. Besides, having backup can't hurt you!"

The profiler shook his head, annoyed: he didn't need this!

Bright repeated to anyone who would listen that he preferred to profile criminals alone. Why pair him up with a stranger?

Grumbling, the young man nervously ran a hand through his hair. The police didn't want to let him work properly.

JT, one of his friends, patted him on the shoulder and said jokingly:

"Congratulations, Malcolm. You're about to discover an unknown concept: teamwork!

"Very funny, JT."

Dani, his colleague and best friend, tried to make him smile.

"Don't worry: I'm sure you'll be fine. You might even get along with your new partner!"

Malcolm rolled his eyes.

"I think you're very optimistic, Dani. They're going to send me some pimply, snooty kid from the best police academy who's more likely to get in my way than help me!  So, sorry, but I'm not enthusiastic!"

"What do you know? You've never met them!"

At the same time, Gil joined them.

"Bright, your new partner is waiting for you in the office! Try to hide your bad mood!"

Letting out a long sigh of annoyance, Malcolm headed for the room, ranting in anticipation of this unwelcome partner.

"I hope Malcolm doesn't get upset!" muttered JT.

"The way he's in a bad mood, it's not looking good!" whispered Dani.

"Don't worry, both of you. When Malcolm meets our new profiler, I bet he will be different!"

Meanwhile, Bright walked into the room, expecting to run into an arrogant young graduate who would have already criticized his work to no avail without knowing a single detail about the case. Instead, he came across a lovely young woman who was reading the report of the initial investigations.

Forgetting his sour mood, Bright tried to make a good impression on the newcomer. 

Quickly combing his hair and checking his breath, he cleared his throat, attracting the attention of the lady who looked up from her reading.

"Hello," she replied.

Malcolm noticed that she had a lovely voice. Charming must have been her middle name.

Smiling kindly, he introduced himself:

"Hello, you must be the new profiler. I'm..."

The young woman interrupted him with an amused smile.

"I know who you are, Malcolm Bright. I've heard a lot about you."

"Yes, I suppose you've heard that I'm crazy, insufferable, dangerous, and the spawn of a terrible serial killer. Don't bother with that: I hear it all day long!"

Placing the file back on the table, the young woman continued:

"Yes, I've heard that, but those aren't the only things I've heard. I understand that you are intelligent, perceptive, cultured, observant, and stubborn! All in all, an interesting person to work with!"

Bright was surprised!

"Wait, does that mean you asked your superiors to come and work with me?"

"Yes, I did. And from what I can see, you fit the description well: your clothing shows a comfortable lifestyle. I would say that you are very well off financially. 

On the other hand, the paleness of your complexion and the dark circles appearing under your beautiful brown eyes indicate a poor sleep pattern, which can lead to one of two things. 

Either you are an incorrigible party animal, or you are a man whose mind is always racing and troubled by traumatic memories. In your case, I'd go for the second hypothesis. You are a more complex person than most people want to believe."

Crossing her arms, she asked defiantly, a smile on her face:

"Now, Mr Bright, your turn: what can you deduce about me? Apart from the fact that I'm not a pimply little pretentious graduate!"

Malcolm winced: she had heard him!

"I assure you I had no idea who you were. Otherwise, I would never have allowed myself to say such things!"

"Judging without even knowing the people? Big mistake for a brilliant profiler like you, Malcolm!" laughed the young woman.

"Even the best make mistakes."

"If you can give me as much correct information as possible, I'll give you my name. If not, I'll let you search all day. Are you up to the challenge?"

"Challenge accepted. Well, let's see: who are you, mysterious miss?"

He circled the young woman, looking for the slightest detail that might give him information.

After a few minutes of observation, he gave his conclusions:

"From the look of your clothing, you are in a decent financial position. You are not a multi-millionaire, but you make a good living. You like simple, comfortable styles, probably because you like to look elegant and efficient at the same time.

Your posture and stature tell me that you are an athlete. I'd say you've done quite a bit of dancing, but your muscularity shows that you're a martial artist. Am I right?"

"I have a black belt in karate and judo, and I practice taekwondo, as well as ju-jitsu and Muay Thai. And I did a lot of dancing when I was younger."

"Haha! I was right. Well, as for the rest, I'd say you have an excellent photographic memory: you put that file down exactly where you took it. You are also a brilliant observer because you have deduced details of my life just by looking at me. 

I suppose you are an artist in your spare time. I saw in your bag a sketchbook and a box of pencils. Both are well placed, which betrays your meticulous side. 

Finally, I would say that you are a hard-working, kind and mischievous person. Your superiors must appreciate you enough to accept your request to come here. So, what do you say?"

Amused, the young woman clapped slowly.

"Well done, Malcolm Bright. You've lived up to your reputation. Everything you have deduced is correct."

"You will find me delighted. And now, to finish the introductions properly, may I know your name?"

"Of course: my name is (Y/N) (L/N), a certified FBI profiler."

"Pleased to meet you, Miss (Y/N) (L/N). Something tells me we'll work well together."

"That's what I hope."

Hiding behind the door, Gil, JT and Dani were relieved to see that Malcolm and (Y/N) seemed to be getting along well. Now, let's hope that this duo can be effective against the criminals that have New Yorkers on edge.

A few months later.

Sitting on a bench, Malcolm and (Y/N) enjoyed a hot chocolate while enjoying a beautiful autumn day. The two profilers wanted to have a quiet moment, away from the eyes of their colleagues and Malcolm's family! 

"Are you going to tell them the truth about us, or are you going to let them stew for a while longer?" the young woman asked.

The profiler smiled mischievously.

"I think I'll let them work their brains out for a few days before I tell them everything. Just for the fun of seeing their faces when they learn the truth!"

"I didn't know you were such a tease!" joked (Y/N).

For all answers, Malcolm took the young woman's hand in his and placed a kiss on it.

"I'm a man full of surprises, my dear. Just like you!"

"You sure didn't expect me to kiss you first!"

Malcolm pretended to be offended.

"But I thought of it first!"

"Oh, did you?"

"Certainly. Let me prove it!"

The profiler leaned over and kissed his girlfriend on the lips. 

Unfortunately, this sweet moment was interrupted by a ringing mobile phone.

"I think you should pick up the phone!" the young woman pointed out.

Grumbling, Malcolm picked up his mobile phone and picked it up:

"Hello?"

**"Hello, big brother!"**

"Good afternoon, Ainsley. To what do I owe this call?" the profiler asked.

**"I just wanted to let you know that Mum's inviting us to dinner at the house tonight. She's counting on your presence. Is that so?"** asked the reporter.

"I'll be there. It's not like I have a choice!" quipped Malcolm.

**"I'll take that as a yes... Oh, by the way, she'd like you to invite your mystery girlfriend!"**

At these words, the two lovers looked at each other in amazement: would Jessica know?

Controlling his stress, Malcolm replied:

"I don't know what she means, but I don't have a girlfriend!"

**"Oh yeah? Well then, you can tell me who the pretty lady you just kissed lovingly is!"**

Looking around him, the profiler spotted his little sister standing at the other end of the park and waving at him, a smirk on her face.

A little annoyed, Malcolm asked:

"Is your favourite pastime spying on me?"

"I admit it's very distracting. But I promise I won't tell Mum. I'll leave the great honour of making the introductions to you."

"I'm sure you'll be glad to, dear little sister."

"See you tonight, big brother. And give my regards to your lady of heart!" 

When the conversation was over, (Y/N) smiled:

"It seems that someone has found out..."

"And unfortunately, it is my sister."

(Y/N) kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.

"Honey, I can't be your mystery girl forever anyway. They're going to have to know that!"

Malcolm smiled.

"I have to admit, you're right. In any case, my love for you will never be a mystery again."

Now that their secret love affair gets revealed, Malcolm and (Y/N) will have more time to unsolve differents mysteries...

Thanks for reading! 

I hope you enjoyed the story!

Please don’t hesitate to request me a story and see you soon!

Take care! 😍🥰😘

[pip-n-flinx]

On Creativity

So I’ll probably be updating this a couple of times, but I spent nearly 2 hours with a friend debating the nature or definition of creativity. It’ll be difficult to get all this in text, but I’m going to do my best because I think thinking is so important my lord. I promise, if you follow along you’ll find that some beans, and some beans, is four.

Old Blackadder jokes aside, I recently participated in a survey on creativity. I was so angry about the methods and assumptions that after spending maybe 2-3 minutes on this online survey I ranted at length to one of my best friends.

The Impetus:

The TL;DR for the survey was input 10 nouns, and get a score. The score measures how ‘creative’ you were in thinking of your nouns. It’s a word association game, where the fewer associations the study could draw between the nouns, the higher your score and the more ‘creative’ a participant was judged as being. But see, here’s where I think that breaks down - ignoring the hidden algorithm and apparent data-set of connections the survey claimed when calculating this inverse relationship - I don’t think creativity has anything to do with originality.

What do you think of when you think about creativity? What is creative? What does a creative person do? According to Merriam Webster: the ability to create. Most people might lean more towards the Oxford definition which reads as : the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work. Or perhaps you prefer the dictionary.com version: the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination. Truth be told, I think MW is the closest. And I vehemently disagree with the following two.

Allow me to explain - creativity and productivity are two sides of the same coin. You don’t have to be original or unique to be creative, and anything you do that is purposed or fashioned to aid in your survival - here extended to include any activity that you get paid for - is productive. An artist who carves out time to write a novel they’ll never publish, a musician who wants nothing more than to jam in the basement with a friend, these people are being creative whether or not their work is original. Artists who sell their art or their time or their expertise are not inherently less original, or less artistic. Indeed, they aren’t even necessarily less creative than an artist whose art never earns a penny. They do however, spend time and energy making their art specifically for a market. They have to take time to carve out space in whatever market they inhabit. So they are spending more of their art-time being productive.

Let me be clear here: this isn’t a call against productivity, or art as a means to support oneself, or a condemnation of ‘selling out.’ If you enjoy doing something, I can scarcely fault you for seeking out ways to spend more time doing it. That can be hard when you also have to secure the basic necessities of life. Furthermore, I don’t want to lionize either productivity or creativity. I think wanting to better yourself, or secure food or safety for yourself or a loved one, is a laudable goal. I think this very human urge is the seat of productivity. On the other hand, to do things for no other goal than the pleasure of doing them, the hedonism and joy of simply being, should not be demonized. Surely if were to be purely ascetic we would never know soul food, or barbeque, or sushi, or coffee or tea, beer or wine, cake or pie.... Rarely do we do anything for purely creative or purely productive ends. For as sure as bread brings nourishment it warms the heart.

So when a hipster tells you their favorite artist sold out to the record label, or a critique calls a piece gauche and derivative, they are commenting on a real change in behaviour. Usually, the reasons they give are rationalizations or worse baseless attacks on a stranger’s character. Rarely are we actually upset that our favourite band is releasing music with more time and effort and polish in it’s production or recording, for instance. It’s impossible to pin down, but if you go from being a creative artist to trying to make a career of your art, or even just trying to earn some money freelancing, you are allocating time and energy to the productive part of the process - talking to patrons and commissioners, managing social media, networking, etc. - and that time and energy both must come from somewhere. This doesn’t necessarily mean you spend less time on creative endeavours, but if you aren’t then you must be pulling the time/energy for productivity from other productive behaviours.

This is the shift that I think young artists/musicians/actors struggle most with. ‘Get a job doing what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ What a load of BS. You will absolutely be working. And some of the freedom of the creative process will have to be turned over. Transitioning from loving music to studying music in college was one of the most heart-breaking things I ever had to do. The harder my professors pushed me to be better, the more time I spent practicing things I myself didn’t discover, the less I enjoyed my music.

I chose to study Jazz, out of all the fields of music, because I had this sense that jazz improvisation was more creative than playing in an orchestra. That the originality of inventing a melody on the fly was somehow more creative than playing a written part in an orchestra. This is simply not true. They are both acts of creation, of creativity. One takes marginally more originality, and one takes marginally more cooperation and teamwork.

Originality still relies on the constraints of the environment. You can’t break the mold if you can’t recognize it. You can’t bend the rules if you don’t understand the rules. As per the infamous Shakespeare quote “nothing new under the sun.” In any act of originality we still stand on the shoulders of those before us. When I was younger, it was always tempting to conflate originality or inspiration with creativity. I think it’s important now to move beyond that. They are different words, they mean different things, they might even influence one another, but they are not the same.

Take, for example, one of my college roommates. They worked all through highschool and college, trying to help support their family after an ugly divorce and then trying to move out and make their own way in the world. The weight of being constantly productive wore on them, and while they had been an honor student in a college prep program they simply dropped out of college before two years were up. For those formative years between the ages of about 14 and 20, Jess did not have time to be creative. All their energy was spent trying to ensure they had enough money for food or rent or utilities or whatever other mundane cost can be associated with living. I was by all measures a more creative person for 6+ years. Then Jess made time to do things for themself. Cosplay, the convention circuit, nights out at the bar or club. Jess was never less original than I was. Only ever less creative, and only then by force of habit. This does mean that people in marginalized groups are going to - on average - look less creative than those of us with privilege and the advantage of even minor inherited wealth.

Remember that, the next time someone tries to tell you you’re creativity is average.

Oh and fuck that survey it was garbage and what little they disclosed of their methods made fuck-all sense I sincerely hope that was a student project and the creator(s) have a chance to learn to do better later.

[owlmylove]

I love your fashion sense and obviously it's not something you deal with yourself but I was wondering what you would suggest for someone who is pretty fat to kind of clean up their look because I mostly wear like graphic tees and like my nicest trousers are a pair of plain boot cut jeans lmao

Thank you so much for your kind words darling!! But, before you get too entrenched in the quicksand of comparison, I actually have dealt with that precise scenario. Multiple times to be honest, and while I’m fortunate enough to be able to find fitted clothes more easily than a few of my friends, I’m still bigger than most of them and have always been very aware of that growing up. There have been periods of my life (including right now tbh, #quar) where the function and comfort of my clothes has become overshadowed by the frustration and low-level embarrassment they inspire

That doesn’t mean the clothing is bad, or I was silly to wear it previously. It just means I’m changing, and so are my tastes. You can love your graphic tees and still want to try fancier pants on for size, and that’s all okay! Don’t let hyper-consumptive disposable culture try to guilt you into despising anything you may have once enjoyed, or been comforted by. Like foods, there’s no such thing as good or bad clothing. It’s just finding the clothes that fill your current needs and make you feel as good as you deserve.

BUT you came for fashion advice and fashion advice you shall HAVE babe. for cinematic purposes, please picture the following advice as a voiceover to our dressing room montage scene as i throw hangers over the door & applaud every time you do a lil catwalk spin

1. Fuck trends. They’re bullshit!! Unless you sincerely like the look of something and feel good in it, don’t fall into the trap of needing to wear the newest spring/summer anything. There’s nothing wrong with trying out a new style, but always remember the clothes’ job is to fit you; you don’t need to fit the clothes. If something doesn’t feel comfortable, or flattering, or right, that’s a failing on behalf of the clothing (and, most often, the designers’ limited understanding of the human body) and never on you.

2. Try stuff! I highly recommend trying on absolutely anything you have the faintest interest in*, trends included. Also: things you never in a million years would’ve tried on, but a friend/partner/random telepath recommended for you. It can be frustrating when things don’t work out, but that just teaches you something about what does and doesn’t work for you. Don’t think of your fashion sense as a pass/fail test, but a language you’re gaining fluency in. Learning what doesn’t work for your body can be as helpful as what does.

*Sidenote: This can be tricky in quarantine, but try online stores with free shipping/returns, and/or local stores that you can breeze through for returns. At-home try-ons also allows you to compare what you already have & see how new pieces could be incorporated into your wardrobe.

3. Learn your type. I hate categories of any kind but fuck me, my body type actually does serve as a helpful guideline for what does and doesn’t work on me. For instance: I’ve been wearing exclusively high waistbands for the last, oh, 6 years, bc I wanted to contain my lovely soft stomach and delineate my waist. But this actually just cuts me in half like a magician’s assistant, and I counterintuitively look better in one-piece swimsuits and un-tucked (but fitted!!) shirts. Hence: learn your body type, research what works for your body type, and try some of what they recommend. 

3.1. Break the rules. Anarchism baby!!! Everyone knows that learning the rules is the first step to breaking them. Research what science says is supposed to look good, but also trust your intuition on what you feel good in. Datasets can’t allow for individual tastes, and that’s where real fashion comes from (rather than just algorithmic minimalist capsule wardrobes)

4. Look for patterns. Obviiiiiiiously not just in prints (though I’m weak for stripes and polka dots, everyone around me is well aware) but in the cut, drape, and construction of what you love. Breaking down the elements of what brings you joy helps you recognize more of it out in the wild. But think about function too! What do you like and dislike about the fit of your shirts? Do you like the flair of boot cut jeans? Hate their length? Which elements of construction would you like to avoid in the future, and which would you like to see more of?

5. Find inspiration. If you don’t already have a sense of what you do and don’t want to add to your wardrobe, try giving Pinterest and/or moodboards a whirl. Look to people whose style you admire (and try Instagram [but avoid the identical influencer mill], Pinterest, cool Etsy boutique owners, etc). Compare their builds as an artist might, focusing not on comparative aesthetics but form. Do they use certain waistlines that would complement yours? What about colors? Finding someone with your exact body type & coloring can be extremely difficult depending your race and size, but you may be able to find influences who can guid you in one regard but not the other. Let them help you learn what you love without limiting you to just one style.  

6. Go (bargain) hunting. I maintain some things are worth spending money on — facial moisturizer, a tailored white button down, and well-fitted pants to be precise — but I almost exclusively shop clearance racks. If you’re still in the process of figuring out what you do and don’t like, there is something to be said for starting with inexpensive brands as training wheels. Discount stores like Marshalls can yield a lot of good stuff, while Etsy, resale platforms, and thrift stores can do the same for relatively low prices (and yield some p. unique pieces.) Once you know the silhouette, colors, and cuts you enjoy, that’s when I recommend investing in a $100 pair of jeans that you know will serve you for years.

Finally: Once you have a collection of things you love, experiment with them! Try them on in different combinations, add a hat, try different earrings, etc. etc. As you settle into your new wardrobe, new outfit formulas will emerge that you know you can rely on in the rushing, early mornings without feeling stressed by the question “what do I wear???” (honestly, the biggest unsung benefit of a good wardrobe is just the decrease in anxiety)

Also: I recommend looking for pieces you love first and foremost, rather than entering the fray with a shopping list of “gray blazer, navy blazer, white shirt, black shirt,” etc. Not to say I don’t own each of those basics (which are good to have!) but those kinds of Pinterest minimalist capsules work best for instant-professionalism sans personality. If that’s you need, go for it! But if you’re excited to develop your sense of style, give yourself the time and space to discover what brings you joy. Learning your tastes should be an ongoing experiment throughout life. Don’t let previous ensembles dictate future purchases (unless they’re inspiring them!!)

And, for what it’s worth, I actually still have a bunch of the graphic tees I was once so embarrassed of wearing when I was younger. And for what? They were comfortable, convenient, and expressed what I was passionate about at the time. The ones I really loved, even if I no longer fit into, still make me so happy as records of the person I was. I think taste and selves grows outward, like the rings of a tree, and there’s nothing wrong with remembering your roots c: 

Excessive tree pun alert, and sorry for being sappy, but I hope this rambling love letter to style could help! I’m sending you all the fairy godmother energy I am capable of from afar darling<333

[peekbackstage]

Hello. At first let me thank you for your blog. I mean your posts and opinion as an insider is so interesting to read, it’s like you let us see a little more in this entertainment industry. After reading some posts I can now clearly see why so many stars live hard life, often have anxiety and even suicide thoughts. I mean their life seems to be fully controlled until they become really “someone” in this industry. Does it mean that until it happens they will do anything their company want and have nothing to do. I mean even if they get hate, they should pretend like they don’t care and can’t even say something against haters. My question is so random, I’m sorry. I also wanted to know, why so many singers and idols go acting even if they know many will hate it, they know they will get comments like “idols don’t let real actors to play”. I’m not sure about c-ent as I’m new. But I saw many such comments and reactions in Korean media. So why do they do it? Will they earn more money than being a singer or? Why not to try acting then? Why do they try to become idols? I mean there are so many talented singers and trainees who want ro sing. But eventually we see that many people who debuts as idols soon or later give up singing and try acting. I was just wondering. Thank you in advance, sorry if my question is too obvious. And better late than never. Happy New Year :)

Disclaimer: The following post is informed by my own experience working in the music industry. Chinese industry practices might vary.

In Asia, the world of entertainment tends to be pretty tightly regulated. It’s generally pretty difficult to get a foot in the door and even more difficult to actually “make” it. This post is going to mostly discuss Korea and Japan’s industries, as I am most familiar with those two markets. 

LET’S TALK A BIT ABOUT IDOL HISTORY! 

(Skip this entire section if you aren’t interested in history.) 

In 1962, Johnny Kitagawa, the CEO of the entertainment company, Johnny’s & Associates, launched Japan’s first boy band, Johnnys. While this group saw some minor popularity, it paled in comparison to the group that is often considered to be Asia’s “first” idol group, Four Leaves, who debuted in 1967. 

Four Leaves was a project composed of bishounen (pretty) boys who sang and dance but didn’t play any instruments. They were hand-selected and trained by Johnny Kitagawa himself, who largely focused on the artists’ personalities, attributes, and physical characteristics. 

Four Leaves’ success was so great that Johnny’s sought to replicate it, creating the first idol (aidoru in Japanese) training camp system which is the foundation of all idol companies these days. Just like idol companies today, Johnny’s selected young bishounen boys who were admitted via an audition process, and then placed them in a dorm together. There, they would train as Johnny’s Juniors (aka trainees) until they were ready to debut. 

By the 1980s, Japan had quite a few idol management companies (jimusho) that wanted to replicate Johnny’s success. By that time, the idol industry had matured, and the training camps had become extremely rigorous, Olympic-style singing, dancing, acrobatics, etc. all for the sole purpose of improving stage performances. By the time SMAP debuted in 1988, the system was already in place. But what SMAP did changed the game entirely: they launched their own variety show, effectively putting themselves into every Japanese household and endearing themselves to every single Japanese housewife. 

This caused their popularity to skyrocket, which in turn led to the creation of the ecosystem we now all know: the all-encompassing idol who sings, dances, and acts in tv shows, variety shows, plays, and films. Brand deals and endorsements also really took off during this time, especially with the most popular member, Kimura Takuya. 

(It must be noted that SMAP became very popular not only in Japan, but also all over Asia!) 

By this point, South Korea was taking notice, and by the 90s, debuted their first generation of idol groups, which included the likes of H.O.T. and Shinhwa, who all went through more or less the same style of training that Japanese idol jimushos put through trainees through. 

It must be noted that during this time, South Korea was pretty invested in trying to find the right secret sauce to also debut their artists in Japan, given the mature idol market there. S.M. Entertainment succeeded in doing this with their second generation artists, BoA, Super Junior, and TVXQ, by partnering with Avex Entertainment in Japan. (They even went as far as debuting a visual kei idol group, TraxX, which was actually produced by Yoshiki from X-Japan, to capitalize on the entire visual kei market in Japan.) JYP followed suit with Se7en and Rain, and YG Entertainment debuted BIGBANG and 2NE1. 

During this period of time, it must be noted that the big talk of the town was surprisingly not pop internationally - it was actually Jrock, which had a big surge of popularity in overseas markets between 2007-2009. (Hence S.M.’s desire to debut a visual kei idol band in Japan.) The Hallyu wave hadn’t really started yet, but within a matter of a few years, Kpop was suddenly the hottest new thing just about, well, everywhere.

In fact, it was so popular internationally, that by 2013, Kpop had become the #1 biggest contributor to South Korea’s GDP. It was so important to South Korea that the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism established KOCCA (the Korean Content Agency), which began heavily investing in the export of all things “Hallyu,” but especially Korean music. International industry conferences worldwide suddenly started to see the rise of Korean showcases, which took place literally everywhere. KOCCA was determined to export their idol culture all around the world. 

To capitalize more on international success, companies such as S.M. Entertainment and JYP began to incorporate Chinese members into their groups. This was specifically to give them a foot into the massive Chinese market, which, until the Hallyu ban in 2017, had a massive demand for all things Kpop. 

It was around this same time that TFBoys in China debuted. The industry largely considered them to be the first real homegrown mainland Chinese idol group that rose out of a similar training system used in both South Korea and Japan. 

HISTORY LESSON OVER! 

Why did I feel the need to explain all of this history, you wonder? Couldn’t I just answer the question in a straightforward way? 

Well, not really. It’s pretty important to understand that oftentimes, in the industry, idols aren’t seen as true artists - they are actually seen more as manufactured cultural products. The more products there are (i.e. music, acting projects) the more money there is, which in turn leads to more opportunities. When they are just starting out, idols never get to pick what activities they actually participate in - especially if they haven’t yet established themselves as very successful artists. 

And even when they are established, oftentimes, an idol company will push an artist to try expanding/broadening their various creative outputs with acting. Why only sell music, when you can make money through tv and film? 

Add in the additional benefit of not having any risk at all involved in said tv/film project and it’s win/win for the company - because they aren’t putting up any money upfront to produce and market the project. 

Companies want their idols to pursue acting gigs because it increases the market share for the artist and more opportunities for their artist to create new fans who might discover the artist through the drama or film. This tends to be a big part of the idol ecosystem, though it must be noted that not all idols do go down this route if their company determines that their music products might generate far more money than their acting products. 

This is especially true for rappers in particular, whose solo musical releases might not generate as much fanfare (or as much money) as an acting gig - especially in South Korea, where there is already a very mature, established Korean hip hop genre with plenty of very established hip hop artists. (There’s also a very popular hip hop competition show, Show Me The Money, that regularly features celebrity Korean hip hop artists.) 

Sometimes, it just makes more sense to take acting opportunities, as they can generate better income than music. 

Talented singers sometimes might also choose to go the acting route for the same reason - also because opportunities keep coming across the desks of their managers, who sometimes talk them into the projects. Other times, it may simply be that once an idol tries their hand at acting, they realize they have a real knack for it and end up wanting to pursue more acting projects. 

In any case, there isn’t a single, universal reason why idols choose to go from singing to acting, but there is a universal reason why all idols inevitably do make the switch: money. 

And for companies in particular, acting projects their artists star in are 100% pure profit with zero financial risk. 

In any case, quite a few artists started out in music, tried their hand at acting, and then continued to do both. We see this especially with artists such as Vanness Wu, IU (Lee Ji-eun), and BLACKPINK’s Jisoo, who are all still active in both acting and music. 

I hope this massively long post was informative and also helped answer the question, “Why do idols go from singing to acting?” (I also hope I helped explain the way the idol ecosystem works and how it all started!) 

Thanks for the questions and for reading.

Edit: Oops, I totally forgot to answer the question, “Why do some people become idols?”

The answer is pretty simple: it’s really hard to get into the entertainment industry, and many people see idol factories as a straightforward roadmap into a career in entertainment. While it isn’t the only way into entertainment, it often is the path many artists do ultimately choose to take. 

[gumnut-logic]

Thunderfam Appreciation Post

I’m giving this a new post to prevent scroll city, but the original and several reblogs can be found by clicking the above link. Also, it’s an excuse to post a piccy of Virg cos any excuse, really :D

Many thanks to @willow-salix for writing this question list :D

Before I start, I just want to say that I value every member of this fandom. I’m often hopeless at communicating in group settings so I don’t speak to many peeps, but that is my failing, not anyone else’s. You are an amazing group and you have supported me and each other just brilliantly over the last nearly three years that I have been hanging with you guys. Thank you ever so much for all your wonderful support and encouragement. I’ve had so much fun and created so much stuff…you guys are amazing. Thunderfam rock!

Please note that my memory is pathetic and I will fail to mention everyone. Please do not take any offence if you aren’t listed below. That does not mean I don’t value you, I do, it just means I have swiss cheese between my ears.

-o-o-o-

Your favourite writer of your favourite boy.

@i-am-chidorixblossom  You are a whumper and comforter after my soul. You speak the Virg :D @vegetacide I adore your turn of phrase and your description is to die for.

The person who's stories you will always read.

I try to read most fics that come across my dash, but there are a few that have me jumping up and down. @i-am-chidorixblossom , @vegetacide , @tsarinatorment , @scribbles97 , @the-lady-razorsharp , @janetm74 Of course, I regularly fail at this as some of you write a huge amount of fic and I am often playing catch up, but fic!

Who wrote the first fic you read in this fandom.

I landed on FF.net back in May 2018. I immediately ran into @the-lady-razorsharp who I knew from another fandom ten years prior and she was absolutely wonderful, drawing me in and introducing me around. I gobbled up several of her fics in the process.

Person you can talk to for the longest without a break.

I am hard to get started, persistence is required, but once started, it is usually hard to shut me up. @scribbles97 @vegetacide and @tsarinatorment have all discovered that. Dangle a Virg, a plotline and stand back.

Person you can't be trusted to be left alone with.

Um, @vegetacide and I have plotted out the entirety of Warm Rain together…poor Virg. Add @the-lady-razorsharp into the equation and Virgil ends up with a beard, dressed in leather and riding a Harley – that was a hilarious evening.  Between @tsarinatorment and @janetm74 Virgil gets grey hairs and has to go rescue Scott – because Scott inevitably ends up in the story :D  @scribbles97 gets the blame for Gentle Rain – expand your horizons she said ::headdesk:: But then there was the time I left one random line about Eos visiting Virgil in the shower and went to bed. I woke up to hilarity and chaos as Thunderfam took the idea and ran with it! Love you guys :D

Person whose fic made you cry the most.

I know there were at least two fics that made me cry, but for the life of me I can’t identify them. I did cry writing my own fic – Flannel – and don’t tend to reread it for that reason. Purupuss traumatised me with A Quiet Day to the point I had to put it down and walk away for a bit ::wails::

Person whose fic made you laugh the most.

I have no idea. I know there are fic out there and I know I’ve read it, but without a complete list of everything I’ve read, I don’t have a clue.

Person whose fic made you think the most.

Aaaargh, I don’t have a master list so can’t remember everything. Staring at my paltry favourites list on FF.net (which was mostly gathered three years ago and never maintained), Purupuss’ ‘Brothers in Arms’ and her whole Quiet series has me wanting to write a Scott-Virgil telepathic fic (and she has given me permission to run with the idea, I just haven’t actioned it yet). Counterpoint by Swallow and Amazon is amazing and likely contributed to Sotto Voce.

Person you have laughed with the most.

I’m really not liking this ultimate one person idea. I’ve laughed with a lot of people in this fandom. I’ve candy cannoned a bunch of you as well :P There has been mad plot cackling, evil conspiring, fic written to stir pots and delight on purpose. Hell, I’ve even written fic that was purposefully a giant virtual hug because I’m so far away that even if half the world wasn’t in isolation, I couldn’t hug most of you. Sure, I talk with some of you more than others, and there is laughter in those chats…oh, god, so much cackling, poor, poor Tracy boys. But then there are also so many smiles both vocalised and not. Thunderfam is one of my happy places. Bring on the belly laughs :D

Your comfort fic that you'll go back and read again on a bad day.

I will often resort to my own fic when I’m really down simply because it helps me get to sleep :D and it is kinda tailored to me ::grins::  (and my memory is that bad I often forget what I wrote anyway – yes, it is that bad) But there are also a few on my FF.net favourites list. Mostly hurt/comfort in a Virg flavour. Cheesycheese, nhsweetcherry, A Small Rescue by Nalina, Breathe Easy and Under the Weather by @loopstagirl – several of hers, in fact – the Virg ones :D Pretty much anything that has Virg fainting and being looked after apparently :D Chiddi and Veggie fic, of course.

Favourite piece of fan art.

I have never been so honoured by artists before. This fandom has some amazing skills and I have been gifted some beautiful works. You guys are amazing (I keep saying it like a broken record, but you are).

Again, I’m stuck on having to list one and I can’t. I think Fanart Appreciation Month in January pretty much summed up my opinion.

Who have you known the longest in the fandom.

@the-lady-razorsharp followed by @vegetacide both wonderful peeps. I can’t miss out on @weirdburketeer either for her amazing support almost from day one.

Favourite OC.

I have to say that I really enjoy reading about Ray from @i-am-chidorixblossom ‘s fics :D He is so gentle and kind and just ::sigh:: Virg likes him lots :D Selene by @willow-salix is, of course, a major presence in the fandom and amazingly written. @hedwigstalons ‘ Claire is lovely.

Person who supports your work the most.

The Thunderfam? There have been some wonderful people who support all the time. @hedwigstalons  @cg29 @janetm74 @weirdburketeer in particular have been amazing support liking and commenting on just about everything I write. I honestly don’t know how they do it. Plus several peeps over on FF.net and Ao3 who support me over there.

And then there are the poor souls who put up with me in chat and listen to my wibblies and whining and character checks and field random chunks of writing that get thrown their way. @scribbles97 @vegetacide @the-lady-razorsharp  @tsarinatorment @i-am-chidorixblossom @onereyofstarlight @godsliltippy  @willow-salix @janetm74 all have had random passages thrown at them at all times of the day and night by a crazy me begging for feedback. Does this work? Is this in character? Am I insane? What the hell is Scott doing? Is this John??? I give up, tell me what to do? Virgil is driving me insane! So, um, yeah

Person who's progress you are the most proud of.

I love those peeps who appear in fandom who start off poking around commenting and generally being lovely and then all of a sudden get out their own pens and start writing and they are frickin’ amazing! Both @janetm74 and @hedwigstalons come to mind in this department. Like holy cow – ‘here is my first fic and I’m not sure’ ::reads it:: Omigod! Where did you come from? That was amazing. Sit down here now, keep doing that writing thing, bloody hell! I think being brave enough to pick up a pen and join in is a major thing :D

Person who's story you think is underrated and should be read by more people.

If I find fic I like, I reblog it and shout about it. What I like is definitely skewed in a Virgil direction and this dictates often what I’m going to read first. I can’t reblog what I haven’t read. So, this equation will always be skewed by ‘reasons I haven’t read a fic’ which mostly involves either Virgil or the fact I’m juggling RL. So, my answer to this is if I think a fic needs to be shouted about, I shout about it.

Something you think people would say about you.

She’s nutty.

Silliest 'thing' you do with someone.

I’ve been known to write fic on the fly directly into chat windows to try and distract peeps going through shitty times.

Favourite pairing you now Stan because of someone's fic.

Virgil/Kayo because of @vegetacide for reasons I have blamed her for multiple times. @the-lady-razorsharp and @weirdburketeer were accessories to the fact.

Favourite headcanon from someone's fic.

Um, Virgil and coffee? I got that from somewhere and it has infiltrated my fic…a lot.

Ultimately, though, I feel most people I interact with contribute to my fic and how I’m feeling. This has been a wonderful experience. I try to return the support as much as I can, but sometimes it is a juggle between writing more, my stupid fluctuating mood, the demands of RL and my own creative drive. I hope I’ve helped a few peeps, because you guys have certainly helped me ::major group hug::

And yes, I hug a lot, because to be honest, I have no other descriptor to communicate how I feel, so you get buckets of hugs :D

Tagging the Thunderfam. Feel free to grab these questions and run with them. You’re all part of the gang whether you write, read, art, gif, screenshot, chat, babble, stare at Virgil all day...I know I do a lot of staring.

Nutty

(Thunderfam rocks!)

[eikhos]

[GIFT]  his colors.   [Laszlo Kreizler x Original Howard Character.]

[FOR MY DARLING WIFE @lovie-barnes xxx i love you. ]

Rating : K.

Fandom : The Alienist. 

Characters : Original Howard Character,   Laszlo Kreizler, Sara Howard,  John Moore,  brief appareance of Stevie and original character.

“The strings of her corset tightened sharply,, making the air from Alice's lungs get  brutally expelled, she clenched her teeth as her maid bent down to put the folds of her petticoat back in place. Red, bloody red that was married to black, her maid -Miyanda-, smiled at her and slowly slipped the pendant that formed a gold heart around her neck, Alice thanked her maid while checking that her hair was incapable. The youngest of the Howard family had spent several years in France, taking care to learn the language of the country while launching body and soul into her passion, painting. For many people it wasn’t a real job, but her sister, Sara, had always told her that she had a real gift. Already small, her parents found her asleep, paint staining her face and her clothes, making her mother sigh. She grabbed the pocket watch - which had belonged to her father before the accident -, and noticed that it was already seven fifty-five, Sara had given her an appointment at eight o'clock at the mysterious Doctor Kreizler’s  house even though he was not that mysterious, she had read the press, he was the Alienist, often hired as a consultant by the police to help them solve pretty sordid cases. She sighed, she had never met him and it twitched her stomach, was he going to search her soul to reveal her darkest secrets? Swallowing her saliva with difficulty, Alice stepped outside after slipping her arms into a light jacket, her coachman was waiting for her, the horses seemed slightly restless tonight.

The way to Doctor Kreizler's house was peaceful, Alice watched the childrens playing in the streets, collecting stones and taking care not to be pushed around by some men who seemed badly tipsy, Sara had advised her never to go out on her own at night, at least without a weapon. She shook her head before the coachman pulled on the reins of the horses which stopped protesting, the coachman growled under his beard before descending to help Alice down, she thanked him with a smile and approached the front of the house. Doctor Kreizler's house.

There was absolutely no doubt that the Alienist was definitely richer than half of New York. Cautiously going up the few steps to the door, Alice felt her heart leap, she knocked  lightly several times  on the heavy door, she heard voices, one of which seemed to belong,  to a young boy.

-Good evening ma'am! My name is Stevie. Are you here to see the doctor? the young boy asked with a jovial smile.

- Good evening, yes…. I -.... My sister, Sara, invited me over for the evening.  Maybe she has already arrived? Alice stammered hard, feeling her anxiety growing.

-For sure, ma'am! Miss Howard is already present as well as Mr. Moore. Oh, how stupid am i, it's not very hot and you're outside, the Doctor clearly wouldn’t  appreciate that sort of rudeness, please forgive me, the young man sighed as he let her in.

She smiled as she stepped inside, she looked around, inspecting the walls curiously, everything seemed perfectly cleaned and tidy although it would surprise her that someone like Doctor Kreizler did his daily housework himself. Young Stevie escorted her to the living room where the discussions were going well, Sara smiled and hugged her, Alice returned the hug awkwardly before smiling at John who did a bow in front of her,  making her blush. 

Leaning against the wall, a figure seemed to be absorbed in the darkness, it made her frown slightly before Sara rolled her eyes, looking vaguely annoyed, her sister glanced at John who shrugged as he grabbed a box made of wood which contained cigarettes. He lit one of the cigarettes, offered one to Alice who refused, not wishing to damage her lungs. She chatted for several minutes with her sister who asked her absolutely all the details of her trip to France, it had not been as exciting as expected but at least she had visited a country.  Alice jumped as the shadowy figure passed into the light, Doctor Laszlo Kreizler's piercing eyes fell on her, Alice bit the inside of her cheek.  His  hair was neatly groomed, his beard was trimmed to perfection, he  was wearing a very simple black suit and a waistcoat with dark gray arabesques and gold buttons. He walked over to her and gently grabbed her hand before placing a frail kiss on it.

-Laszlo, this is my sister, Alice Howard. My sister has an artistic streak, she is a painter, to the great regret of our father. -Miss Howard, a pleasure to finally meet you, Sara never ceases to brag about your talents as a painter. -The pleasure is entirely shared, Doctor Kreizler, Alice smiles softly. I have followed your work extensively over the years, I find your approach to the human mind absolutely fascinating. - Thank you, Miss Howard. Many do not share your opinion.

This made Alice smile slightly,  she nodded, continuing to observe the Alienist, she had often taken care to get all the papers that mentioned him. And now, she was in front of him, she thought as John poured four glasses of excellent scotch. She continued to nibble her lower lip mechanically, a twitch of nervousness. Alice jumped as the Alienist's fingers caught her lip gently to pull it out of her teeths. 

 -You are extremely nervous, Miss Howard. I assure you that your lower lip has nothing to do with it and biting it will not reduce your current anxiety in any way, the Alienist pointed out. Could I know what worries you so much? Would you happens to have social issues ? 

-I'm sorry, Doctor Kreizler. Since I was a child, being around other people has always been a huge source of anxiety for me. I still feel like some odd specimen put in the middle of a room full of people from other ranks, Alice sighed, gently scratching her right wrist. 

He nodded slightly, listening to it patiently before taking her right wrist in his hand, the alienist's fingers trace whitish lines that seemed encrusted in the skin, it didn't take a genius to understand the meaning of such traces. She bit her tongue delicately, Laszlo Kreizler's fingers browsing the whitish lines.

-You are an artist, Miss Howard and many think that art is a form of madness, but I do not share that opinion. You should be able to be comfortable with other people. I would love to be able to admire your works if possible, of course? Kreizler asked.

Alice's eyes had shone at that moment, she had seen the shadow of a smile on the Alienist's lips. Her heart was pounding in her chest, she almost felt like it was about to pierce her envelope of  her skin soon. There was something reassuring about the Alienist, she felt good, calm. The usual panic in her from being in the presence of mens wasn’t there. The evening went off without a hitch, Laszlo and John insisting that Alice taste the new liquors from a famous American distiller. She stopped after two glasses, she was caught by the Alienist when she almost fell, he clumsily supports her and reinstalled her in the armchair, kneeling down to check her reflexes, she had a sorry smile, Laszlo advised Sara to take her home.

Alice painfully opened her eyes the next morning, she rubbed her eyes with her hands and then yawned, vaguely remembering the events of the night before, a pair of chocolate eyes seeming to invade her thoughts. She washed and changed, walking to the kitchen where Miyanda had already made her usual breakfast, Alice glanced at the huge oak clock, it was ten in the morning. She quietly ate her buttered bread and her grilled bacon with two eggs whose yolks were still runny when cut.

- Miss Howard, a gentleman called, I dared not to wake you up. He said his name was Doctor Laszlo Kreizler, I remember reading about him in the papers. He would like to convey the message to you that a package will be waiting outside your door after nine-thirty, but I heard no one, Miyanda announced with a slight smile.

It took a while for Alice to register the information then she leaped like a beast from the chair she was sitting in, rushing to the door to open it and find a huge wooden box, she frowned and  lifted  it with difficulty, wincing before heading to the living room, setting the box down on her table before finally opening it carefully. She slid the thick wooden board that was on top of the box before her jaw almost dropped to the floor when she discovered the contents of the box: tubes of gouache from a prestigious brand, perfectly sharpened and aligned pencils. , chalks whose different variations of the same color made her hold her breath and there was also a little box with a beautiful silver  pen and black ink. She nodded before noticing that there was a folded note with her initials delicately written, she took the paper gently before unfolding it.

“Miss Howard,

Your sister whispered to me that you had lost a lot of your precious drawing materials that you had saved so much during your childhood. I could not bring myself not to offer you a material worthy of the name, from the best craftsmen in the country. I hope you will put it to good use, you have aroused my curiosity about your art, the praise of your sister confirms me in the idea that you are undoubtedly gifted with great talent. Would you agree to accompany me to the opera and then have dinner at Delmonico’s on Saturday night? My contact details are written on the back of this letter.

Cordially,

Doctor Laszlo Kreizler. “

[ryuichirou]

I like asking digital artist about how they became such great drawer. it’s really interesting to hear from other artist. Hope you will answer my question you may skip if you don’t want to answer some^_^ Thank you for answering!

Tell me a story of how you became a artist.

Who inspired you?

How did you start?

What was your first drawing?

How did you start drawing SNK?

What do you want your artwork to say? 

Do you ever want to do commissions or sell your art one day?

Have there ever been a time you didn’t want to draw anymore?

Who’s your favorite Anime character? Tell me why?

Describe what kind of person you are.

What is a advice do you want to give to other artist?

This is such a fun ask omg, I’m sorry it took me so long to reply…  The reply itself is also quite long because apparently I can’t stop talking once I’m being asked this type of stuff.

Who inspired you?

Back when I was a kid, my main inspiration were cartoons and comics that I watched and read. I used to have a lot of VHS (*old person voice* remember those) that didn’t even work properly anymore because I rewatched them 3-4 times in a row sometimes, and it ruined the tapes.

I don’t think I had one particular person around that inspired me, mostly because I didn’t know the names of the artists whose stuff I liked. But I remember that I started drawings comics because my cousin was doing it (I was ~6-7? I don’t remember). He lost his interest very quickly though, but I kept drawing them by myself.

Oh oh! I also remember enjoying thick books of political caricatures by Jean Effel and Herluf Bidstrup. Didn’t understand a thing, but they sure were funny lol

And when I was 13 I discovered manga, and the rest is history.

How did you start?

Well, I don’t remember lol I think my mom told me something about trying to keep me busy while she was working. And then the cartoons, the comics, the manga, and then, as I started to sliiiiightly lose interest, Katsu became a huge part of my life, so I kind of never stopped drawing.

What was your first drawing?

I have no idea lol it was sooo long ago

How did you start drawing SNK?

Like I said a couple of times, we watched SnK in 2013, and I wanted to draw a fanart of it, it was just an obvious thing to do. We didn’t post much back then, but I always want to sketch at least one little sketch after we watch/play/read something that we like, just as a memory piece. And SnK wasn’t an exception – the characters were just too darn memorable and fun not to draw them.

But I’ll say this: it took me a lot of time to start drawing the way that satisfies me and Katsu. Not only anatomy-wise, but also design-wise: for some reason I used to mess them up royally… You can see it in my Levi-throughout-the-years post.

What do you want your artwork to say? 

For the most part it’s “I HAVE SO MUCH FUN DRAWING THIS CHARACTER OH GOD” lol, the majority of my artworks (if not all of them) are simply love-letters towards our favourite shows, characters and ships.

But I also think that a lot of drawings say “hey what IF”, and those are my favourite ones to draw. It’s obvious that we have a lot of fun with AUs, concepts and other stuff, and it’s especially cool when we manage to put some ideas and concepts out there.

Oh yeah right sometimes it’s just “isn’t it funny? LAUGH AT IT”

 Do you ever want to do commissions or sell your art one day?

I do commissions wink wink

Have there ever been a time you didn’t want to draw anymore?

Nope. I don’t think there’ll ever be a moment when I feel “well I think I’m done”, to be honest, not anymore. Too much stuff to draw…

 Who’s your favorite Anime character? Tell me why?

I have tons of favourite Anime characters… as for now, I think it’s a tie between Levi and Killua Zoldyck? I love it when characters are loyal to someone but aren’t afraid to call them out, to grumble, to critique their actions, but ultimately still side with the said someone because they’re very dear to them. It’s a very broad way to describe Killua and Levi’s relationships with their special people, I know lol but it’s also about someone being very powerful, but also quite sensitive when you look at them closely. Also both of them are super funny and I love their designs.

 Describe what kind of person you are.

Katsu called me Connie Smith the other day, I still think there is no better way to describe me.

 What is a advice do you want to give to other artist?

Don’t forget that art should be fun, first and foremost. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t push yourself out of your comfort zone and try new stuff. Even if it’s difficult at first, it’ll get easy and exciting once you figure it out, and you’ll definitely figure it out eventually if you keep trying. Don’t torture yourself, but don’t be afraid of trying new things: these make the drawing process more interesting,

Phew, I think that’s all… Thanks again, it was a fun ask!

Sorry for the late reply.

[foul-z-fowl]

Webtoons

I was inspired to write a post about my favorite webtoons and my thoughts on them, so buckle up for a hell of a ride.

Series used- Adventures of God, Small World, Brass & Sass, My Dictator Boyfriend, To Love Your Enemy, Love Me Knot, True Beauty, My Giant Nerd Boyfriend, The Four of Them, Lore Olympus, Luff, Brimstone and Roses, Miss Abbott and the Doctor, Prince & Knight, Sweet Cinnamon, Enjoy the show, Pixie and Brutus, Big Small Spoon, We are a Family, LMLY, A Matter of Life and Death.

Adventures of God-

Not for the easily offended, ESPECIALLY if you’re religious. At first I had my doubts, but this hilarious series won me over and I always look forward to the regular updates on Tuesdays and Saturdays. (Teo & Corey) 

Small World-

Sometimes they make me laugh, sometimes they make cry, sometimes I’m left wondering what the hell I just read. Welcome the world of Robin and Julian, the most adorable comic couple ever. Updates Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday (Wonsun Jin)

Brass & Sass-

Absolutely a contender for my favorite webtoon, I spend every day counting down until Thursday when it updates. The characters, their dynamics and just EVERYTHING is amazing, not in the least the adorable art. One of my favorite things is how Camilla still isn’t good at the trumpet after just a few months of practice. Her struggles with learning how to play (and with her cute tutor) are so relatable! (antlerella)

My dictator boyfriend-

To be honest, I read this for the same reason the artist draws it- for the butts! I discovered this through Adventures of God, after seeing what else the artist/authors worked on. While most of it is humor and fluff, the angst and the moral moments are buried in there, and I live for it. Updates every Thursday and Sunday. (Teo & Guy)

To Love your Enemy-

I’ll be honest, I almost dropped this one in the beginning. The plot lines seemed a tad confused, almost like the authors weren’t sure what direction they wanted to go with. But then, out of nowhere I just dug my heels in and read and just like that, I was in love. Updates every Monday and Thursday. (Junyoon & Taegeon)

Love me Knot-

I’ve always loved the mythology surrounding the red string of fate, and the second this popped up on my radar, I was hooked. The characters are adorable, quirky, and relatable. It also teaches several important lessons, including one I’ve always loved- Just because your soulmate is the best person for you, doesn’t mean they have to be the ONLY person for you. You can be happy with someone else. Updates every Wednesday. (sophia)

True Beauty-

I know, I know, everyone says that that ‘the love triangle took over’ , but I think in the last episode or two, the webtoon has really started to go back to it’s original message. It’s so crazy to think how far I’ve come with these characters. They’re no longer in high school, now they’re adults, whose careers and dreams sometimes interfere with their relationships and family. As only the second webtoon I ever read, back when I swore that I would never read webtoons for fun, it holds a special place in my heart, and is one of the only webtoons I have memorized the update day for- Wednesdays. (Yaongyi)

My Giant Nerd Boyfriend-

This Slice of Life webtoon has so many episodes, I’m still trying to catch up! But it’s safe to say Fishball’s hilarious down-to-earth real life stories are awesome. And sometimes very, very, weird. Updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. (Fishball)

The Four of Them-

To be honest, I’m only three episodes into this, and it’s already on my subscribe list.  Updates every Monday. (Mai Hirschfeld)

Lore Olympus-

Yes, I know it’s the top webtoon, and everyone has to be ‘not like other people’ and ‘quirky’ and ‘against the status quo’, but guys, that’s what made me miss out on One Direction when they were popular. I love Lore Olympus, and I love the character development. Persephone and Hades’ relationship is real. Also, this was the series that introduced me to webtoon. I was scrolling through youtube ignoring the recommendation’s for Helevetica Dubs dub of it, until I finally listened to it, and I was hooked. That was made me come to webtoon and without it, I would have missed out on several amazing stories. I do have one major problem though- I think Persephone is over sexualized. Updates every Sunday. (Rachel smythe)

Luff-

Oh my god. Luff. Where to begin. I loved every second of Luff. It took me on a roller coaster ride of emotion, and trust me, if the premise and the beginning seem cliche, that just makes the payoff of the ending all the more sweet. Luff was beautiful look and humanity, love, and relationships. Finished :(. (Arechan)

Brimstone and Roses-

I just started this one an hour ago, but what the hell. Brimstone and Roses seems alright so far. (Honestly, I’m kind of hoping Bea gets her ex back instead of ending up with the demon.) Finished (Mei Rothschild)

Miss Abbott and the Doctor-

Another recommend form Helevetica Dubs, this adorable, hilarious, heart-warming, amazing, beautiful series is perfect. And because the author is amazing, there are regular episodes where everyone is gender bent. Yeah! The best part about these Mr. Abbott and the Doctor episode is that things don’t always play out the same. 10/10, would recommend! Finished :(. (Maripaz Villar)

Prince & Knight-

This author has quite the talent for making EVERY all-to-short episode end in a cliffhanger, which is very frustrating for me. But, this is adorable, so it can slide. :). Updates Monday 6pm, UTC. (Tsuyonpu)

Sweet Cinnamon-

To be fair, only half of the update actually are part of the story line. But, hey the author knows how to write compelling characters who I would let be my friend in real life! Updates are fairly sporadic, but usually a week or two apart. (Glen_❤️)

Enjoy the Show-

Another one of my top contenders, this webtoon makes me cry in the spaces between updates. I found this series through a canvas creators collab, and I was HOOKED. The characters, the art, it’s all amazing. And the twist! ARRRRR, I was so mad I never considered that!! One of my favorite things about this series is anytime it looks like a character might be a love interest for out heroine, they are swiftly dealt with. Jailtbait? Self-explanatory. Gabe? He’s just a flirt. Updates are generally once a month or so, but the creator regularly participates in collabs! (Jenna A)

Pixie and Brutus-

You’ve probably seen at least one of these adorable comics somewhere besides webtoon, but there are actually a lot more than you think! Pixie and Brutus is about a tiny little kitten and an old retired military dog, and their friendship, and how protective Brutus is of Pixie, is adorable! Update are fairly random- sometimes the update are a month apart, sometimes they happen back to back. (Pet Foolery)

Big Small Spoon-

Big small spoon opened up a whole new world of webtoons for me. It introduced me to the Slice of Life genre, and the creator’s canvas collabs have brought me to so many of my favorite webtoons! This comic is adorable and drawn from the creator’s real life. Updates Tuesday ACST (a r v i e)

We are a family-

Even though this adorable webtoon only has 24 episodes, it definitely is another contender for my favorite! It’s just so precious and adorable! It’s about a young couple (Joon and Erin) who are trying to raise a baby (Edan), it’s veeeery funny (just be warned- it has an inappropriate content warning for a reason. Nothing’s graphic, just alluded to.) Updates roughly a week or two apart. (mocoso)

LMLY-

Short for Let Me Love You, this adorable series is about a boy who’s crush asks him to fake date her! The characters are adorable and I love the design for Leon (the boy) who has hectochromia (two different colored eyes). Updates used to be close together, but recently they’ve become every few months. (edbe)

A Matter of Life and Death-

Probably my favorite webtoon of all time. The characters are amazing, the idea behind the series is amazing, the art is beautiful, and watching the creator’s style evolve over time is such a treat. This series is truly amazing. Unfortunatly, the creator, the AMAZING BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL SNIPSTER, has been dealing with some issues and hasn’t updates since May, and doesn’t intend to anytime soon. Speaking of Snipster- Snipster is so awesome she posts fanfiction, fanart, and alternate universe versions of her characters. Go to her Tapas for some highly NSFW extras. Updates not forthcoming for a while (and it ended on a cliffhanger!!!) (Snipster-webtoon Snarpers-Tapas) @the-snipster

Still here? I hope you found something good to read!