#the two princes joan

[cloudcover23]

Posting the first (and only) two panels of a webcomic I wanted to make of The Two Princes. This is from Season 2. I’m abandoning this project - turns out drawing is hard and not my passion, but I like how these turned out. It’s been forever since I even looked at these and I just wanted to put them SOMEWHERE before clearing space in my computer.

[ceaselesswwatch3r]

ive only known joan for a minute or two but if anything happened to her i would kill everyone in this room and then myself

[robylovi]

Character: *has good fighting skills and a covered face*

Me: is this like a “Gotcha! bet YOU 👆 didn’t think it was a GIRL, you buffoon, hehe pranked. 😜 ” thing

[anotherttpfanaccount]

Body HCs

.

Rupert . . .

thin, low muscle definition ( more muscle in lower body )

improper appetite, eats better post-s2, gains some weight

artist bump on right hand

surgical scars ( T )

bite marks on wrists from self-harm

scars on hands and feet from the Hollow

scar on cheek ( Amir ) and in stomach ( Percy )

and freckles and beauty marks galore

.

Amir . . .

sturdy, high muscle definition ( more muscle in upper body )

improper appetite, eats better post-s2, gains a little weight

callouses on both hands ( ambidextrous )

scars on torso, arms, and hands from training

scar on leg from the cave crash

bite mark on hand from Porridge

scar on wrist ( Rupert ), scar on back ( Malkia )

streaks of white in hair ( Malkia )

.

Joan . . .

stocky, high muscle definition ( more muscle in upper body )

improper appetite, eats better after Cecily

callouses on right hand

scars on wrists from self-harm

scars on hands and torso from training // battle

permanent tear-marks on face after Despair

.

Cecily . . .

curvy, light muscle definition ( even muscle distribution )

proper appetite, only one who eats well from the start fr

small scrapes on her hands from sewing

scar on shoulder and leg from dragon fight

light scar on the throat ( Malkia )

permanent tear-marks on face after Despair

.

[museenkuss]

Marie Museenkuss Advent Calendar

For this advent season, I've prepared a selection of little treats - recipes, things to read or things to watch that I enjoy (or wrote) and am excited to share with you over the next few days. Each day, I'll 'open' another door to reveal the treat. I hope we can celebrate and have fun together!

[💎] To start, a cosy Christmas crime classic: Hercule Poirot's Christmas

[🦊] One of my all-time favourite fairy tales, Allerleirauh, can be read on this website! If you'd like to turn pages and see an illustration or two, you can also read it in the Green Fairy Book via archive.org, but beware - that version is censored!

[🪞] An all-time classic of a different kind, maybe just in time now that the New Year is slowly seeping in: Joan Didion's Essay "On Self Respect"

[💌] Feelings inspired to write? I’ve got some shimmering, cool, delicate december prompts ready for you!

[🗝️] In the spirit of the censored Allerleirauh: Read my thoughts on death, mutilation and the gruesome in fairy tales

[👢] On the morning of the sixth, German children will find little treats in their boots that Nikolaus left for them the night before. Let's use some of them (apples, marzipan(optional), nuts) to make a traditional German christmas treat - the Bratapfel. Rezept. Authentic English recipe.

[🏮] Let's take a virtual trip to the Tate and look at Sargent's Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose in two short videos that focus on description and technique!

[✨] The nostalgic excitement of entering a theatre and watching the other guests before the show - Chanel's A/W 2024/25 Haute Couture Show blends Opera and High Fashion.

[☕️] Today (very appropriate for the temperature drop), we're learning how to make French hot chocolate: [written recipe] [video]

[🦢] Do you have an hour to spare? Enjoy this charming little volume on perfume from 1928, a love letter to fragrance filled with anecdotes from all over the world and illustrated by the wonderful George Barbier: The romance of perfume by Richard Le Gallienne

[🌹] A Renaissance princess and her baroque prince... Here's a magical performance of Sleeping Beauty by the Bolshoi Ballet

[12] 🎪

[🍰 ] With eleven days left, there's still more than enough time to make the Fortnum&Mason Christmas Cake in time for Christmas! [the official F&M christmas cookbook has a very similar recipe for a fruit cake, but without the soaking and with a layer of fondant on top. let me know if you'd be interested in that, I'll post a pic]

[💋] today, let’s read one of my favourite sensual poems for winter: Francis Jammes — Tu Seras Nu (You will be nude), translated by Kenneth Rexroth

[🖋] This sunday, let's write! Or, alternatively: Let's daydream! Here are some brand new prompts for inspiration.

[🎞️] In the spirit of daydreaming: You and I by Papooz, Weak for your Love by Thee Sacred Souls, Mystery by Raveena are three extremely different but visually stunning music videos to songs I absolutely adore. To start this week, take a little moment to watch and listen, dream and dance.

[🍷] Easy poached pears in red wine with vanilla - a gorgeous, ruby-coloured dessert. I've made (regular) poached pears before and they are just as easy as this title suggests. But I'm SO eager to try (and share <3) this variant!

[18] 🎠

[🐻] After a long, tiring day of Christmas shopping (or Christmas stress), let's relax with a whimsical film! Panna a netvor (Beauty And The Beast) from 1978 <3

[💫] Imagine a zine, except more whimsical and more complicated - today, we're learning how to make a Victorian Puzzle Purse! They're so pretty, perfect add-ons for a christmas gift - or adorable presents in their own right.

[🩰] I feel like Christmas is the time where we can truly reconnect to the magic of childhood. So today, let's put on our (imaginary) ballet slippers and do a little 5-min Nutcracker ballet choreo in our living room! Whether we're dancers or not honestly doesn't matter - nobody is watching us, this is all about enjoying the fantasy of a snow-sparkling night. We're playing pretend! And if you'd rather improvise to something more dramatic, I used to whirl around to Borodin's Polovtsian Dances.

[🕰️] During this cold, dark evening, I present to you one of my favourite poems, caught between romanticism and irony: Heine's Old Chimney Piece (in translation).

[🎟️] About a year ago, Joel Haver made a video looking back on 4 years of uploading weekly short films. It's one of my favourite videos, visually, in its tone and regarding its message, and I feel now that the year is coming to a close, it might be a really inspiring watch: it's been fun.

[🎄] I wish I could invite you all over to show you the illustrated edition of E.T.A. Hoffmann's Nutcracker that my parents gifted me in 2001. Instead, I offer you a very nice translation: Nutcracker and the King of Mice - and, if you're the audiobook type, I found a good translation with Tchaikovsky's music here. The story is haunting, delicate, glittering, unheimlich. It starts on Christmas Day and infuses the following days and nights with magic. It was such a joy to share this Advent Calendar with you and I hope that with this, I can share some of my Christmas festivities with you, too, since they're so entwined with this story (and since the first chapters also somewhat accurately depict how I celebrate Christmas, too - on the evening of the 24th, after decorating the tree). Lots and lots of Love, darlings! I hope you have a magical day, a magical evening, and a very Merry Christmas!

[shippin-it-faster-than-fedex]

ok im just going to cry now

While Rupert and Amir’s love literally saved two countries and destroyed the CEOs of homophobia and hating your wife, I feel like Sir Joan and Lady Cecily’s romance (or future romance bc it WILL happen) is powerful in a different sense? I mean here you have this girl, who has fought her entire life to prove her worth, first to her father, then to her queen, then to the elites. She’s always fighting adversaries and policies... Joan falling in love with someone so ready to love her and love being with her is Joan allowing herself to be soft and vulnerable with someone... to drop the formalities and show her true self knowing her traits won’t be exposed for weaknesses to discredit her abilities. And Lady Cecily grew up with the expectation she will Marry A Man and Sit Pretty and Have Children. After the curse is broken she realizes she can be anything... and who helps her realize that? Joan! Joan who told her to fight and be proud because of it. Joan taught her that she had worth, that she was more than what she could give others, and she had control of her destiny. It only makes sense that Cecily pursues the woman that taught her that, because Joan saw more in Cecily than the world ever did. Rupert and Amir’s relationship is about balance, but Joan and Cecily is about growth.

[whencyclopedia]

Battle of Poitiers, 1356 CE

The Battle of Poitiers on 19 September 1356 CE was the second great battle of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453 CE) after Crécy (1346 CE) and, once again, it was the English who won. Edward the Black Prince (1330-1376 CE), son of Edward III of England (r. 1327-1377 CE), masterminded victory largely thanks to the continued domination of the powerful longbow weapon, Edward's excellent defensive positioning, and the outdated reliance of heavy cavalry by the French leadership. The French king, John the Good, aka John II of France (r. 1350-1364 CE), was captured along with many other knights and their ransoms provided the English treasury with a massive boost. A major consequence of the battle was that it allowed Edward III to keep 25% of France under the 1360 CE Treaty of Brétigny. The battle also cemented the reputation of the Black Prince as one of the greatest of all medieval knights.

Aftermath

After Poitiers, France, without its leaders, descended into the abyss of chaos. Most immediately, the disbanded French mercenaries who had fought so poorly caused havoc as they raided the surrounding area. Then King Edward pressed his advantage by marching on Rheims in 1359 CE, fully intending to have himself made king of the French where their monarchs were traditionally crowned. Rheims proved impregnable, though, and a harsh winter so reduced Edward's army he was obliged to start peace talks. In May 1360 CE a treaty was signed between England and France. Under the Treaty of Brétigny, Edward's claim to 25% of France (mostly in the north and south-west) was recognised and, in return, he gave up any ambition for the French crown itself.

The Hundred Years' War carried on as Charles V of France, aka Charles the Wise (r. 1364-1380 CE) proved much more capable than his predecessors and began to claw back the English territorial gains. Edward III was now too old to campaign and was showing signs of senility. The Black Prince died, probably of dysentery, in June 1376 CE and so England's martial prowess suffered a serious setback. Now, the only lands left in France belonging to the English Crown were Calais and a thin slice of Gascony. During the reign of Richard II of England (r. 1377-1399 CE) there was largely peace between the two nations but under Henry V of England (r. 1413-1422 CE), the wars flared up again and witnessed the great English victory at the Battle of Agincourt in October 1415 CE. Henry was so successful that he was even nominated as the heir to the French king Charles VI of France (r. 1380-1422 CE). Henry V died before he could take up that position, and the arrival of Joan of Arc (1412-1431 CE) in 1429 CE saw the beginning of a dramatic rise in French fortunes as King Charles VII of France (r. 1422-1461 CE) took the initiative. The weak rule of Henry VI of England (r. 1422-61 & 1470-71 CE) saw a final English defeat as they lost all French territories except Calais at the wars' end in 1453 CE.

Continue reading...

[laurelwen]

Nigel's Book Details: Spread Two

Using the order in which each spread is presented in the scene where Alex finally reads through Nigel's book, this is the second spread.

Text

The text included at the top left of the page is illegible, sadly. However, the handwriting seen here leads me to believe that it is Nigel's own notes, rather than an excerpt cut or photocopied from another book. This becomes apparent when compared to a sample of his handwriting taken from one of his notebooks, as below.

Map

The left side of the page features a map larger than the page itself and thus folded over. This map clearly shows the Levant, presumably at the time of the Crusades since that is the focus of Nigel's mythology. The color of the paper and the style of the map suggest that this item was pulled out of a fairly old book. There are probably thousands of maps drawn of this area in this time period, and there is sadly no way to identify this specific map or where it came from.

Just to give an overview of what this map is presenting, here are a few other maps of the area in this time period. The fourth map included below is from my post regarding the Battle of Forbie.

The Knights: Brass Rubbings of Tomb Effigies

The right side of the page centers on one large, very clear image. These three figures are very clearly knights wearing armor and carrying weapons and shields. I recognized the imagery and was able to track down a great deal of information regarding this item.

These are reproductions (rubbings) of monumental brass, "a type of engraved sepulchral memorial once found through Western Europe, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the pavement, and thus forming no obstruction in the space required for the services of the church, they speedily came into general use, and continued to be a favourite style of sepulchral memorial for three centuries." There are possibly around 4000 of these effigies remaining in English churches in the present day. The practice of recording brasses through a process of rubbing originates from the Victorian Gothic Revival.

Knight 1: Sir Roger de Trumpington, d. 1289

He is in the cross-legged position found on the earliest brasses and in three-dimensional recumbent statues. This may allude to a knight's participation in a crusade, since the Knights Templar were often represented in effigies with their legs crossed in honor of the cross. Others believe the position means the person was a benefactor of the church. In 1270, he accompanied Prince Edward, Henry III's heir, on the seventh Crusade to free the Holy Land. eight years later the prince, now King Edward I, drew up a list of 38 knights to take part in a tournament at Windsor Park; one participant was Sir Roger de Trumpington. Sir Roger thus used the tilting helmet seen on his brass---indeed, the helmet has a staple on top to hold his crest or a lady's kerchief. He is the only known Crusader to be represented in a brass in England.

Knight 2: Sir Robert de Setvans(or Septvans), d. 1306

From a brass in St Mary's Church, Chartham, Kent. Sir Robert was custodian of Rochester Castle during the reign of Edward I and fought during the wars against the Scots. He died in 1306.  In chain mail armour. His surcoat, ailettes and shield charged with winnowing fans, his armorial device. His name means seven fans. Father of Joan de Cobham.

Knight 3: Sir John Daubernon, d. 1277

The earliest brass now extant is that of 1277 at Stoke d’Abernon. The figure of Sir John Daubernon shows the armour which had been worn for the last three centuries. He is in chain mail with coif de mailles, hawberk and chausses complete, but the junctions of these are not distinct. Single-pointed prickspurs are buckled round the ankles. The only sign of the coming change to plate armour are the genowilléres, which protect the knees and are adorned with a fine pattern. They were probably at first made of leather, but later were of plate. Over the mail is a linen surcoat, drawn tight round the waist by a cord. Suspended upon his left shoulder is his shield, small and heater-shaped, charged with his arms: azure, a chevron or. The ground of the shield is in actual enamel—an almost unique feature. The cross-handled sword is attached to a broad belt and hangs in front of the body. This is the only brass which shows the lance. His feet rest on a lion, which is said to signify that he fell in battle. His legs are not crossed, unlike the other knights of the Surcoat Period.

The indents in the marble surrounding his brass form the letters of his inscription, now lost since all the brass letters sunk into the indents are missing. It reads as follows: SIR: JOHAN: DAUBERNOUN: CHIVALER: GIST: ICY: DEU: DE: SA: ALME: EYT: MERCY. (Sir John D'Aubernoun, knight, lies here. God have mercy on his soul.") A Roger D'Aubernoun came over from Normandy to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. His name probably derived from the river Aube in Picardy and Burgundy. Gilbert D'Aubernoun, Sir John's father, died in 1236 when his son was still a minor. Sir John became sheriff for the shires (counties) of Surrey and Sussex in 1264 and again in 1266. In 1253, he gained the rights to Albury Manor, as well as judicial authority in his village of Stoke D'Aubernoun. He died before 1278, the year his son, John, received his father's lands.

The Crossed Legs

From an abstract for a journal article regarding this topic:

Since the sixteenth century, both scholarly and popular readings of tomb monuments have assigned a series of interpretations to medieval effigies with crossed legs. These have included the beliefs that the effigies dated from before the Norman Conquest; that they commemorated crusaders, or those who had taken crusading vows; and that they commemorated Knights Templar. The ‘crusader’ theory has proved particularly tenacious, and, although largely discredited by scholars, continues to flourish in folk wisdom.

It would seem that recent scholarship has debunked this connection, but due to the paywall gatekeeping bullshit of Academia, I haven't been able to find the exact scholarship in question. Since the idea remains persistent, we can assume that Nigel thought of the knights depicted as being connected to the Templars and therefore worthy of inclusion in his bible. To go one step further into speculation, perhaps he even had personal reasons for including these three, such as common ancestry.

Further Reading:

Brasses, by J.S.M. Ward, 1912 (public domain book on archive.org)

Antiquarian Attitudes: Crossed Legs, Crusaders and the Evolution of an Idea (paywalled journal article)

Brass Rubbings at the V&A Museum website

Brass Rubbings: Catalogue of Rubbings of Brasses and Incised Slabs. Victoria & Albert Museum. by Muriel Clayton (1969-02-01), featuring Sir Roger and Sir Robert on the cover. It is my suspicion that the prop makers pulled their images from this book:

[Nigel's Book Details: Spread One] [Like Minds Masterpost]

[docgold13]

Heroes & Villains The DC Animated Universe - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

DeeDee

With the Joker apparently dead, Harleen Quinzelle was finally free of the Clown Prince of Crime’s enthralling influence.  She retired from her role as a super villain and carved out a life for herself a life as a civilian.

Some forty years later, the reformed villain found herself caring for a pair of twin granddaughters named Delia and Deirdre Dennis.  These two sisters were quite the handful. Although ‘Grandma Harley’ did her best to steer them in the right it was not to be as the sisters had inherited from their grandmother her hunger for action and mayhem as well as the propensity to fall under the sway of smooth-talking scoundrels done up like clowns.  

In their early teens, Delia and Deirdre fell in with the gang of hooligans known as The Jokerz.  Both sisters were highly accomplished gymnasts and hand-to-hand fighters and they took on the joint alias of ‘DeeDee.’  At first they joined a gang led by an angry cad named Bonk, but it was not long before the gang was taken over by a mysterious man who by all rights appeared to be a resurrected Joker.

The Joker sent the gang to steel various components that would eventually enable him to take control of an orbital weapons platform that could fire destructive particle beams down unto earth.  The gang remained largely in the dark of the leader’s ultimately plan and, in that he had viciously murdered Bonk, none were brave enough to question the matter.   

Batman was ultimately able to thwart this plan and stop The Joker.  DeeDee and the rest of the Jokerz gang were apprehended.  In that Delia and Deirdre were both minors, the sisters were released into their grandmother’s care.

Both Delia and Deirdre were voiced by actress Melissa Joan Hart and appeared in the animated feature, Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker.

[camisoledadparis]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more …

1404 – Gilles De Rais [also spelled Retz] (d.1440); A French noble, soldier and one time brother-in-arms of Joan of Arc accused and ultimately convicted of torturing, raping and murdering dozens, if not hundreds, of young children, mainly boys. Along with Erzsébet Báthory, another sadistic aristocrat acting more than a century later, he is considered by some historians to be a precursor of the modern serial killer.

If one is to believe his confession, and there is good reason not to, de Rais had run through his fortune and was convinced that sacrificing young boys to Satan would restore his riches. Somewhere along the way he decided that sodomizing his victims before killing them would satisfy his needs along with the Devil's, and so more and more boys disappeared in his castle, never to be seen again. When Gilles was arrested on charges of blasphemy, the grisly murders were uncovered. He confessed to having killed some 150 boys, "for the pleasure and gratification of my senses." Having been an ally of Joan of Arc, there is good reason to suspect that the murders were the invention of the Catholic Church.

1927 – Singer and songwriter Johnnie Ray (d.1990) caused a sensation in the 1950s with energetic concert performances of hit songs, including the chart-topping "Cry." Because of his emotional on-stage style he was dubbed the Prince of Wails.

John Alvin Ray was born on a farm near Dallas, Oregon on January 10, 1927. Several years later, at the height of the Great Depression, the family lost the property and moved into town, where Ray's father found work at a lumber mill.

Young Johnnie Ray showed musical talent early. At the age of three or four he began playing tunes by ear on a pump organ. His parents arranged for him to take lessons from the church organist, and soon Ray was playing at services. The boy's musical taste ran to pop, however, and he and his older sister began performing together at schools. By the time he was five Ray knew that he wanted to be an entertainer.

An accident in the summer of 1940 nearly derailed his plans. During a blanket toss at a Boy Scout Jamboree, Ray fell to the ground, suffering a concussion and severe ear injuries that cost him about fifty percent of his hearing.

When World War II broke out, Ray's family moved again, this time to Portland, where his father worked in the shipyards.

During high school and for several years thereafter he performed in Oregon, but at twenty-two he headed for Hollywood. Although he found some jobs, he did not enjoy much success in California. Within a year he was broke and on his way home.

Ray was delighted when the male-female comedy team of Bob Mitchell and Jay Grayton came to perform in Portland. The couple had helped him get some bookings in Los Angeles and had also made him part of a ménage à trois. Ray's participation in sexual activities with both Mitchell and Grayton is an exemplar of his bisexual tendencies; although he seems to have been mostly homosexual in orientation, Ray also participated in heterosexual liaisons. Once again the couple took him under their wing.

When Grayton and Mitchell, who were performing at the Flame Showbar in Detroit, persuaded the management to give Ray an audition, he barely had enough money for a bus ticket to Michigan.

While playing at the Flame in 1951, Ray was "discovered" by disk jockey Robin Seymour of WKMH in Dearborn. He brought him to the attention of record producer Danny Kessler, who said of his first view of Ray's performance, "I was probably more overwhelmed with what I heard and saw than by anything else I ever encountered artistically in my life." He signed Ray to a record contract.

Ray's recording of "Cry" topped the pop charts in late 1951, and the song on the flip side, "The Little White Cloud That Cried," reached number two. An appearance on Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town television program in early 1952 added to Ray's popularity.

In the spring of 1952 Ray married Marilyn Morrison, the daughter of a Los Angeles club owner. Morrison had avidly pursued the handsome young singing star. She was aware of Ray's homosexuality but told a friend of his that she would "straighten it out." Her resolution was doomed, as was the marriage. The couple separated within a year and were divorced in 1954.

Ray's long-held dream of being in films was realized when he appeared in Walter Lang's There's No Business Like Show Business (1954). Ray hoped that more movies would follow, but when producer Darryl Zanuck, who had praised Ray's performance, left Twentieth Century Fox to form his own company, neither studio offered him any further projects.

When Ray appeared as the "mystery guest" on the What's My Line? television show in 1956 he met journalist Dorothy Kilgallen, who was a regular panelist on the program, and the two began an affair.

The romance was an unlikely one. Married and fifteen years Ray's senior, Kilgallen embodied cosmopolitan sophistication, while Ray had the image of a country boy turned pop singer. Kilgallen remained with her husband, and Ray took one man after another as lovers. Nevertheless, the affection between the pair was genuine, and the affair lasted for years. Ray was devastated by Kilgallen's mysterious death in 1964.

Although Ray's 1951 arrest for cruising a public washrrom had been alluded to in various scandal sheets over the years, the general public was unaware of it. That changed in 1959, when he was once again arrested by the Detroit vice squad on a charge of soliciting an undercover police officer in one of the city's gay bars, the Brass Rail.

This time Ray hired an attorney and fought the charges. Kilgallen stood by him, even calling the judge in the case to insist that that he receive a fair trial. After hearing the testimony, the jury took less than an hour to find Ray not guilty, apparently concluding that he had been entrapped. Ray promptly left Detroit and never set foot in the city again.

The hard drinking in which Ray had indulged since his teens caught up with him in 1960. Weakened and exhausted, he contracted tuberculosis. He recovered after several months of treatment and resumed his career. He did not give up alcohol, however, and landed back in the hospital in 1963, suffering from cirrhosis.

Once again Kilgallen was at his side, but this time so was Bill Franklin, who had worked in public relations in the entertainment industry before becoming Ray's manager and also his lover.

The relationship with Franklin gave Ray's personal life a stability that it had lacked for many years. With Franklin's encouragement, he started paying attention to proper nutrition and swore off drinking.

However, the 1959 arrest and widely disseminated gossip about Ray's homosexuality took a toll on his popularity, and contributed to the decline of his career, especially in the United States. Ray continued to play club dates in the U.S., though at increasingly less prestigious venues.

Eventually Ray started drinking again. Despite Franklin's efforts to limit his intake of alcohol, he reverted to his old ways. His career, already in decline, suffered further, although he could still draw adoring crowds in England and Australia.

Franklin, frustrated by Ray's self-destructive behavior, left him in 1977.

The concert that would be Ray's last took him home to Portland, where he did a benefit for the Center for the Performing Arts in October 1989. Afterward he went back to Los Angeles, where he became reclusive and withdrawn. He was malnourished and seriously ill with liver disease. To cope with his pain, he was using, in addition to alcohol, the tranquilizer Halcion.

Ray was soon hospitalized. He lapsed into a coma for a few days; although he came out of the coma, he had no chance of recovery from the liver disease. He died on February 24, 1990.

1929 – Tintin, the beloved comic strip character, is gay, claims Matthew Parris, British ex-Tory MP. Parris insists that the boy reporter whose adventures have sold more than 200 million copies and been translated into 50 languages, is gay and that fans are in a state of "denial". Parris, himself gay, is a well-known newspaper columnist who notoriously 'outed' Business Minister Lord Peter Mandelson in the middle of a television interview in 1998.

Tintin, who was born January 10, 1929, on the pages of a children's supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle, has an unknown background and origin, says Parris, adding: "This is common among young gay men, some of whom find it hard to believe that they really are their parents' child".

In fact, Parris suspects Tintin may well have been a spy - "secret intelligence has always attracted gay men. I myself applied for and was offered a post in MI6."

He finds Tintin's world full of men. Of the complete list of 350 characters in Tintin books, Parris counts only eight women, and he doesn't find them attractive. The best known of them, chain-smoking opera singer Bianca Castafiore, is a "diva fag-hag," while Peggy, the wife of a Latin American dictator, is a "curler-wearing virago". "The butch, bitchy, bullying, cigar-smoking, hard-drinking, flame-haired wife of General Alcazar may well have been lesbian," Parris proclaims.

Snowy the loyal fox terrier is the only "unambiguously heterosexual male mammal in Tintin's entire universe," Parris says.

Parris is not the first person to speculate on Tintin's sexuality. In 2001, Belgian police seized 600 copies of an unauthorised book titled "Tintin in Thailand" - which showed Tintin and his friends living it up in Thai gay bars.

Belgium-based Studios Herge reacted stoutly, with spokesman Marcel Wilmet declaring: "Tintin is not at all gay - he was very macho in fact. He has many friends who are boys but they are not boyfriends."

Sal Mineo with James Dean in "Rebel..."

1939 – Sal Mineo, American actor (d.1976); A Golden Globe winning American movie and stage actor , best known for his Academy Award-nominated performance opposite James Dean in the film Rebel Without a Cause, Mineo, born in The Bronx, New York City , the son of a Sicilian coffin maker, was enrolled by his mother in dancing and acting school at an early age. One of the articles of faith of the James Dean cult that grew out of the actor's early death in 1955 is that Mineo "turned queer" after the auto wreck that took his co-star's life. As the story goes, young Sal left a séance in which he had attempted in vain to contact his fallen friend, only to wreck his own car. His life was spared, but the words "James Dean" suddenly appeared indelibly on his smashed windshield. Supposedly he was Gay from that moment on.

However, Mineo's homosexuality was a fairly open secret even at the height of his Hollywood success. He was rumored to have pursued numerous affairs, including one with Nicholas Ray during the filming of Rebel without a Cause.

The Hollywood Code of the `50s may have dictated that Dean win Natalie Wood at the end of Rebel Without A Cause, but anyone with half a brain knew that it should have been Mineo's Plato and Dean's Jim who embraced at the climax.

Other films in which Mineo appeared include Giant (1956), The Gene Krupa Story (1959), Exodus (1960),Cheyenne Autumn (1964),Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965), and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). He also had a modest success in the 1950s as a rock 'n' roll singer.

With maturity, Mineo sought to explore his homosexuality more fully in both his life and his art. Although he appeared in several television productions and films, in his latter years he increasingly found the theater more supportive of his aspirations. Sal Mineo grew up to produce the revival of John Herbert's Fortune and Men's Eyes, about homosexuality in a Canadian prison, and to star in a West Coast production of James Kirkwood's P.S. Your Cat is Dead, both of which enabled him to say without a word "I'm Gay. So what?"

Rumors that he spent his off hours in the company of rough trade have led to lurid speculation about his grisly murder in 1976. Such is Hollywood fame and popular legend that no one wants to believe that, like so many innocent Americans these days, he was "merely" mugged, robbed, and left to die just a few short steps from the safety of his own home.

1953 – Dennis Cooper is one of the most controversial writers working today, He is best known for his series of strikingly original, critically acclaimed, albeit transgressive and contentious, novels exploring the nature of sexual obsession, alienation, brutality, and death. His works obsessively feature callow but beautiful adolescent boys, predatory older gay men, punk rock music, drug abuse, explicit sex, and graphic violence.

He has also courted controversy and debate for his works' extreme sexual nature, seemingly bordering on pornography, and his alleged fascination with pedophilia. Cooper himself has even been the recipient of death threats and protests by outraged gay activists.

Cooper grew up the son of a wealthy businessman in Pasadena, California. His literary aspirations were explored early on and often took the form of imitations of Rimbaud, Verlaine, De Sade, and Baudelaire. He wrote poetry and stories in his early teens that explored scandalous and often extreme subjects. As a teenager, Cooper was an outsider and the leader of a group of poets, punks, stoners and writers.

In 1976 Cooper moved to England to become involved in the nascent punk scene. In the same year he began Little Caesar Magazine which included among other things an issue on and dedicated to Rimbaud. In 1978 with the success of the magazine, Cooper was able to found Little Caesar Press.

In 1987 he moved to Amsterdam, mainly in pursuit of a boyfriend, where he finished writing Closer which took as inspiration a postcard that featured an image of Mickey Mouse carved onto the back of a young boy.

While in Amsterdam he also wrote articles for different American magazines including The Advocate, the Village Voice and others. He returned to New York in 1987 and began working on his next novel, Frisk. In the next few years Cooper worked on several different art and performance projects including co-curating an exhibit at LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) with Richard Hawkins entitled AGAINST NATURE: A Group Show of Work by Homosexual Men.

He completed his renowned, ten years in the writing sequence of five interconnected novels, 'The George Miles Cycle,' in the year 2000 - Closer, Frisk, Try, Guide, and Period. Since then he has written three novels: My Loose Thread, The Sluts (winner of the Lammy Award for best book of gay fiction of 2005), and God Jr.

George Miles, a recurring character in two of the series' five novels, as well as the model for most of the other major young male characters in the cycle, is also the name of an actual person in Cooper's life: his most important and influential friend from high school onwards.

As Cooper explained in an interview: "[Miles] was a few years younger than me, and very sweet and brilliant, but he had a severe chemical imbalance, so he was all over the place; really chaotic and unpredictable. Our relationship was intense and unforgettable, and if I have a muse, it's him."

The two remained extremely close friends, and years later, when Cooper was 30, he and Miles had a brief sexual relationship. Cooper lost contact with Miles, however, after he moved to Amsterdam, and tried tracking him down, but without luck. "In a way," Cooper noted, "I wrote the novels for him, and assumed that somehow, somewhere he was reading them, and knew how important he was to me."

In 1997, Cooper finally learned that Miles had killed himself ten years earlier while Cooper was still living in Europe.

A film adaptation of the novel Frisk was released in 1995, directed by Todd Verow and featuring Craig Chester and Parker Posey. Cooper himself makes a cameo appearance in the film.

Since the summer of 2005, Cooper has spent most of his time in Paris, France. While there, he has worked a stage adaption of his novella Jerk (2008). These theatre works have been highly acclaimed and have toured extensively in Europe and the UK.

As of late 2009, Cooper was completing his ninth novel, tentatively titled The Marbled Swarm.

1961 – The New Jersey Supreme Court suspends, until he is "cured," an attorney who had sex with another male.

1975 – The Chicago Board of Education approves a plan that allows, for the first time, the city’s teachers to answer students’ questions about homosexuality.

2005 – Israeli Supreme Court allows each partner of a lesbian couple to adopt the other’s children. The case involves Tal and Avital Yaros-Hakak who are raising three children conceived through donor insemination. Tal gave birth to two children, Avital to the third. They unsuccessfully sought to adopt each other’s children in the Family Court in Ramat Gan. The Supreme Court ruled that the Family Court should grant these adoptions if it were in the best interest of the children to do so. The ruling came at the end of a long legal battle, decided at the High Court. The Yaros-Hakak couple had lived together for 16 years.

2011 – In a ruling by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, the Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing" is effectively banned from Canadian radio airplay, after 25 years of airtime, after a gay resident of St. John's files a complaint because the lyrics contain the derogatory slur "faggot". It occurs in the line: ''That little faggot with the earring and the make-up." The ruling is later rescinded on August 31, with the council leaving it to individual radio stations' discretion whether or not to play the song.

[cloudcover23]

Some Jecily art. I have a big time crush on Joan’s VA

[gavalaa]

Sketches of all my redone designs for my Phantom Thieves from my AU, Icarus! Lots of info down below on the cut, so if you want to know more about the details and inspiration, feel free to keep reading!

This includes Akechi’s design for his Princely/Robin Hood attire, BEFORE his Icarus attire you might have seen from my other posts! Check out the Icarus AU tag for more info! Icarus has a main focus on Akechi and his relationship to the thieves, but the AU is actually an entire rewrite with new designs, 3rd semester and epilogue/strikers/tactica stories, hence Zenkichi and Sophia’s inclusion.

Read below for individual info:

I decided to include more motifs towards their persona’s and general vibes; and also just my own personal touches haha.

AKIRA - Not much has changed, I really like his design overall. I raised his boots to be like Arsene’s and changed his neck area.

MORGANA - I hate the OG pill shaped head, his new design is based heavily on the shape of Palico’s from Monster Hunter. Added a little more nod to Zorro/His persona motifs and also just made him cuter! Little hamburger headed cat.

RYUJI - I made him a little bulkier and gave some more weight to his outfit overall. I gave him heavier boots and a slightly buffer build to relate back more to his sporty style.

ANN - honestly was never too big on her latex outfit, I wanted to call back to a personal favorite female lead; Christine Daae, and used one of the versions of her Don Juan costume as inspiration. I remember seeing Phantom live and in many stage versions of her character, the Don Juan scene was a pure moment of female control, and she was truly working the Phantom and controlling every movement on the stage. Her presence is commanding, and I thought it was a very fitting tribute to Ann’s character as feminine strength. (I’m absolutely not referring to the movie iteration of Daae btw.)

YUSUKE - I referred to some historical art and legend of Goemon to add more elements of design to his outfit. When I color them, I want to add some really strong pops of color to his clothing to really drive the aesthetics and artistry home.

MAKOTO - Another totally redid outfit, I opted to give her a design which relates back to Popess Joan, and also Anat. I gave her a clawed hand on her right side and an uncovered hand on her left as both a nod to Anat’s hand raised in iconography of her from art history, but also to show the duality of Anat’s title as both a goddess of war, and of love. It also relates to the mythology of Joan and her nature as both a leader and a martyr. I changed her mask to a Venetian Commedia mask as well.

FUTABA - ok. I’ll be honest. I never liked her skin-tight outfit, it just doesn’t match her personality at all. Also, the high tech Egyptian feel never really sold me. I totally understand the tomb thing, but I truthfully think a dungeon/palace which was more like… tech/nerd themed would have been much more “futaba” the inspiration for this new outfit relates back to her persona, the Necromomicon, as well as her nerdy personality, and her affiliation as Alibaba (Ali Baba.) I wanted to go more lovecraftian, long sleeves and patterning designed to look more like lovecraftian tendrils, and big baggy pants and her classic shoes to match. The patterning on her undershirt will resemble a rib cage, both as a reference to her deathly “tomb” iconography, but also to Lovecraftian and Necronomicon lore. I think she matches the description of a nerdy, techie DND dungeon master more than the initial outfit, so that’s the route I took personally.

HARU - relating back to some fashions from 17th c France, where Milady’s story (the three musketeers) takes place, I kept her design relatively similar. I just gave her a little more iconography relating to the three musketeers and that general timeframe.

AKECHI - in his pre-Icarus outfit, I’ve given him a princely sort of outfit befitting of his two faced nature, and edited it to relate to Robin Hood a little more. I tried to keep it sleek and just generally very concealing and layered.

SUMIRE - i gave her some iconography relating back to one of her personas, who is an inference to Freya. I also included some more nods to classic Cinderella, with fantasy gown elements. Overall, relatively similar.

ZENKICHI - again, relatively similar, I really like his outfit. I just opened up the face some to show more personality and spiced up the outfit generally to keep it matching. honestly, les mis/Valjean was a hard one, but I also think his character could be heavily related back to Edmond Dante (Monte Cristo.) so I gave some nods to that as well.

SOPHIA - I turned her into a FINGIE!!!! I made her whole dress as a nod to her persona/to pandora’s tiles around her/the pillars. I wanted to make her small and almost unnatural since she’s an AI, and I thought having a little guy on the team would add some more variation.

[tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors]

If laoft characters hadn't already had names, what names would you have chosen?

ooooooh okay so ironically. they did almost, technically, kind of, have different names

in my VERY first notes reference for laoft, literally written in my phone the day after CLBG aired and i desperately wanted to make a really cool role for what i thought was the series newly introduced antagonist, was a list of characters "true names"

basically, i was going to take the idea of being careful with your true name to the maximal extreme, to the point that your "true name" in wickhills wasnt even your legal name, but a completely secret name that only you and your parents knew. Logan, Patton, Virgil, Roman were all going to be "outer names" and these new names i wrote would be the true ones.

and also that these names got little add ons as you aged and met certain milestones, developed certain traits. i dont know if any of you have read eragon (and i dont reccommend you do) but it had a similar system

so Patton was going to be born "Adal" (righteous, sincere, noble), and then sometime in toddlerhood gain become "Adalwin" (Win meaning friend. He gained Eulalos (which i later reused the feminine form for Eulalia the parakeet!) when he got his gift, and "Clement" (Gentle) when he befriended Logan.

Roman was born "Wynne" (friend), which became "Hartwin" as a toddler ("hart" meaning brave, or a male deer). around the time he started hunting fae he gained the second name "Kemp" (warrior) and after the deal gained "Alcaeus" meaning "strength"

Logan i never settled on, but the top contenders were "Mattan" (gift), "Epiphanes" (appearing) and "Irenaeus" (peaceful). i also played around with the idea of matching twinny names for Logan and Thomas. Samson and Jericho (sun and moon), Florus and Thales (flower and blossom), Artemidoros and Apollodoros (gifts of the moon and sun, respectively).

And you've actually already seen what Virgil's was going to be, or at least part of it. "Brennus" the name of Virgil's character in the Fair Folk and Fortresses universe, was my pick for his first name, and the full thing was going to be "Brennus Aelfric Sitheach"

Brennus can mean king/prince or raven, Aelfric means elf-king, and Sitheach means fairy-like. i also had this idea i thought was clever that the reason the curse worked so well was because it changed his true name from "Aelfric" to "Aelfstan" (Elf Stone) ie froze him to stone

like i said this was literally my very first laoft document, so none of this really survived once i started worldbuilding in earnest, mostly because as you can see it would have been really just wildly impractical.

its so old that it still has the name of Thomas's IRL friends as classmates (joan valerie talyn etc) from before i decided i wanted to use cartoon therapy characters instead and save the fictionalized real friends for thomas to meet in college AND from when i was still assuming it was going to be moxiety and logince.

changing the two separate romantic plots in The Darkest Part Of The Forest to one poly love "triangle" was the point where i really started to diverge from "making a one-to-one DPOTF au" to making something that was more personal to me. im not even entirely sure if i'd call this particular document LAOFT LoreTM but its definitely a step in the process i think is kinda neat!

[anotherttpfanaccount]

*makes up info*

.

thought of the background details on the characters and decided to add some details or make up my own for them:

Amir:

he wasn't perfectly honest with his mom ( aside from the usual things kids lie about ), as he would sneak out of the Palace every now and then. not nearly as often as Rupert would, though.

reason why he wasn't freaking out about his feelings for Rupert ( i think ) is cuz he had a crush on a boy when he was younger. one that i decided looked similar to Rupert, by coincidence.

morning bird, no matter how little he slept.

knows how to handle chaos, but it takes him a minute when he's running out of fuel. when he's out of said fuel, he's more likely to become snappy. this is about the food thing, yeah.

always asks if someone needs help, namely Rupert, as he feels bad when he doesn't do something and it leads to a lot of anxiety.

.

Rupert:

the moment he came out as trans, Lavinia just assumed he was into girls instead. he didn't have the energy to argue with her about it, especially since he had no idea he was into guys.

he's not sure if he can call it dancing, but he has a lot more fun doing it when he's by himself and has severe anxiety doing it front of others, due to Lavinia scolding and reprimanding him when he wouldn't do well in his dancing lessons as a kid.

sneaking out of the Palace was often, of course, but it was almost always to Chamberlain's library or the gardens. aside from stealing the Forbidden Book, the one time he snuck out into the town didn't go well, and Rupert still hasn't forgotten about it. the only reason Lavinia hasn't forgotten about it either ( in her own way ) is because Rupert bit her.

not necessarily a morning bird, but body clock prevents him from sleeping in most days, so he's kinda grouchy when he first wakes up. give him tea and cuddles.

he's much closer to Chamberlain than Lavinia, and this doesn't really change in the future.

.

Joan:

grew up being bullied, both for being a stable-girl and the daughter of a failed General. wouldn't start fights, but would try her damn best to stop them, much to Brutus' annoyance.

her mother died of an illness when she was young, but Joan's fondest memories are with her. she's not sure when it was the last time she genuinely smiled in Brutus' presence.

read through a lot of books, finding interesting historical events in ones from other regions, particularly ones of Lady Knights. inspired by them, and her mother's words of never losing her heart and to always do what's right, Joan began to train herself.

since she was hated, at large, from such a young age, Joan got used to people not liking her and expected that perception to get even worse when she became a Knight. this is a huge reason why Cecily's feelings for her make her uneasy, especially since she had no idea if they were even real. that, and she's never known how to act around people who like her, Atossa, Rupert, and Amir included.

.

Cecily:

considered a mistake, as her birth was accidental and her parents never loved each other, Cecily grew up in a home where she had to take care of herself in almost every way possible. her insecurity and confidence, at once, comes from having no one else.

originally, she didn't want to marry Rupert, but a mix of realizing she might finally be considered significant and her parents talking about how it's the "least she could do for what she put them through", Cecily decided to go.

her reasons being quick to fall are pretty obvious now, right?

in hindsight, she's pretty certain her feelings for Joan started at the Knight's speech. but, confused and a little scared, Cecily wasn't sure what to do with those feelings. it was... easier, to ignore it. until she suddenly couldn't.

she isn't sure why, but Cecily's parents suddenly tried to turn a new leaf after the Hollow. but she wasn't interested. and what'd she say when they got upset? "get over it", of course.

.

and here's hcs of the group overall:

Cecily makes her own dresses and accessories. yes, they take forever. yes, she loves them all, even if she thinks some of them are ugly and never to be worn by anyone ever.

Amir and Atossa take a few days out of the month to have mother-son bonding and they talk about a variety of things, including his lack of a proper childhood and his father. Atossa gives him the words of affirmation he needs, telling him how proud she is of him and how far he's come. Amir definitely doesn't cry.

Porridge and Fitzroy are the emotional support animals, but i think that's a given...?

like Rupert, Joan doesn't know how to dance, but it's from the fact she's literally never had the opportunity to try. her first attempt resulted in nearly breaking Cecily's foot, which she was extremely apologetic about.

i think they all have a hot spring episode, cuz they deserve it. ( "but Amir and Rupert had a-" SHHHHHHHHHHHH. )

*puts fingers on my forehead* all of you get anxiety // panic attacks, NOW!

pretend there's an episode where Cecily and Amir are stuck in a bad, life-threatening situation together and they start talking and bond through the power of trauma-dumping, and same for Joan and Rupert, okay, okay-

ironically enough, Rupert and Joan feel the most comfortable dancing with each other. maybe because they're both bad at it.

i think Joan should have a magic sword and have everybody admire her for it, as a treat.

Atossa and Chamberlain love all these children and you can take them from their cold, dead hands.

.

i might post the TTP ocs i have, esp since i have a Southern Princess that i was excited to talk about before disappearing! they won't be drawn, most likely, but i'll provide Picrews and i hope you'll be looking forward to them regardless!

[fancyfeathers]

Society of Protection (Yandere Bungo Bungou Stray Dogs x reader x original characters) (normalized yandere au)

Chapter Twenty Two, The Genius That Leads

(A/N- I read Romeo and Juliet before writing this and now I love the idea of William being called the prince of cats like Tybalt because of their similarities and that being the story much of his character is based on)

Prologue and oc intro

Chapter one

Chapter two

Chapter three

Chapter four

Chapter five

Chapter six

Chapter seven, part one

Chapter seven, part two

Chapter eight

Chapter nine

Chapter ten

Chapter eleven

Chapter twelve

Chapter thirteen

Chapter fourteen

Chapter fifteen

Chapter sixteen

Chapter seventeen

Chapter eighteen

Chapter nineteen

Chapter twenty

Chapter twenty, part two

Chapter twenty one

“Deal.” The moment you said that a smile came across his face. You glanced back at the book you were asked to retrieve, before he could say something you grabbed it from the table. You looked back over at him, keeping the book curled up in your arm. “Not a word.”

“Only if you keep your end of the deal, doll,” Ayatsuji replied as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “You’ll have a hard time hiding that book at the party, what do you plan on doing?”

“I will be leaving early, I have my own matters to tend to.” You took out your phone, ready to call your driver to pick you up. “The Society is not the only affair that keeps me busy. There is something I need to get to the bottom of, a mystery if you will.”

“How interesting, but you are not a detective, are you?” He hums, tapping his gloved finger against his cheek. His eyes are fixed on you, scanning over your form, trying to find any sign of what you are thinking.

“Perhaps, it is a family profession after all.” You picked up the skirt of your dress and began making your way towards the door. You spared him a glance as you pushed open the door to the hallway. “Now I suppose I’ll see you soon enough and hopefully we will be on the same side of the playing field. Goodbye, have a lovely evening, detective.”

“We will see…”

You stepped out into the long hallway, slowly making your way to the garage where your driver would be picking you up. You looked down at your phone, dialing up your driver’s number. The ringing mixed with the echoing of your heeled shoes as they clicked against the floor. You were a far enough distance away from the auction hall that you knew Ayatsuji was not following you, but something still felt off. You felt yourself grow more tense as you walked along the hall, as if someone was watching you. The mixture of clicking and ringing did not help calm your nerves, only blocking out another one of your senses…

Click…

Ring…

Click…

Ring…

Click…

Ring…

Click…

Ring-

You heard the line get cut at the sound of your phone getting a call. You pulled your phone away to see who was calling you, you looked down to see the contact name as none other than William Shakespeare. You hit the bright green button on the screen without hesitation, answering the call as you held it up to your ear.

“William, I have the book-“

“(Name), I need you to come to room two-three-six, the plan has changed.” You heard William’s voice speak to you, but he was not worried, not bothered, if anything he was… happy? “Things may be turning in our favor after all.”

Did he find Miss Jane already? Thoughts ran through your mind as you made your way down through the floors of the hotel. The clicking of your heels rang through the halls, everything was silent except the clicking of those heels. Soon enough you came to the door, knocking once and the door was answered not even a moment later. It was answered not a moment later by a familiar face, just not one you were expecting.

“Joan?”

Before you stood the maid who was one of the first people you met at the Society’s headquarters, only she was dressed in an outfit suited for business, a black suit and a blue plaid tie. Her long blond hair was down, not up in her usual bun that also let her blue eyes be on display. She smiled back at you, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she stepped aside to allow you to come in. “It seems we have quite a bit to explain to you.”

“What do you mean- Oh!” You cut yourself off as you entered the room, turning your head to see sitting at the table of the luxury room the familiar face of William who summoned you along with-

“I apologize for setting you up, (Name).” Those words escaped those lips, soft and gentle as always. You saw sitting at the table with William, the form of Miss Jane. She was not dressed how you expected, she herself wore a black vest over a white button up, a long blue skirt, it was simple but elegant. She rested her head against her hand, a smile coming across her face. “The truth is, I never turned myself into Fitzgerald, I would never dream of it.”

You heard the sound of the person you once thought to be a maid closing the door behind you as she approached the table. William looked over at you with a smile, before a laugh escaped from his lips. “Honestly it surprised me as well, but Jane, Wells, and Leroux fooled us all.”

“Wells?” You turned to look at the woman who opened the door for you, was that Joan’s real name? Who was she really?

“Ah yes, let me properly introduce you,” Jane said, reaching out a hand over to the woman standing beside you. “This is an old friend of mine from my work in England when I was looking for capable individuals to join the Society. May I introduce to you H.G. Wells, she has been the one keeping our Society safe from the shadows this whole time along with the one who has been brewing up those  updates  on where I was for Emma and the others that led to this elaborate planning for this ball that fit into the plan I devised with Wells and Leroux.”

“But Gaston is missing, I found his blood in the room along with-“

“Not missing, he is exactly where he needs to be in this plan.” Wells cut in, coming to sit down on the couch not too far from the table, swinging her arms over the back of the couch and crossing her legs. “Leroux was kidnapped by a well-known European criminal known as Nikolai Gogol. Due to Gaston’s time working with the European Union when tracking down Fyodor Dostoevsky, he found evidence that the two had connections to one another.”

“So this all has to do with Fyodor, doesn’t it?” You asked, glancing around the room at everyone.

“Exactly, Gaston had informed me of what happened when he was asked by the Port Mafia to look into the disappearance of one of their executives who had Fyodor in their custody. We immediately knew Fyodor was planning something.” Jane nodded to your question and answered as it all was obvious. “We knew that the Port Mafia would be wanting any information they could in Fyodor after so even before all this we had all of Gaston’s observations from his work in European Union on Fyodor printed into a book and set up to be sold at an auction, that’s the same book you are holding now. We planned on dangling a carrot for the Port Mafia to desire and for Fyodor to destroy.”

You glanced down at the book you held, this was all a ploy. 

“I apologize for you having to be a pawn in all of this, but you played your role wonderfully.” Jane complemented with a smile, a giggle escaping her voice. “Now Gaston has Fyodor under constant surveillance and that  rat  has no idea, he will practically reveal everything to us and that bastard has no eyes on us because he is so focused on the Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia.”

“I see, I have just a few questions…” You found yourself sitting down at the table along with the others, you felt yourself crew at your lower lip in thought. “How did you fake yourself leaving at the mansion all those months ago and how did you know that Nikolai would be here?”

“Ah, well the first answer is with Ms. Wells and her ability. She was disgusted as the driver who brought the two of us there. That envelope I gave her with the instruction to  open when the time was right  was all she needed to know what to do.” You glanced over at the woman on the couch, she was disgusted as a maid for all these months, what was stopping her from being disguised as a driver? “You see Wells’ ability is called Time Machine and allows her to manipulate time itself. So inside the envelope told her the exact time to activate her ability, when you got inside the car. She activated her ability on me, giving me 3300 seconds to go back in time myself and slip away from Fitzgerald, who was also used as a pawn in all of this. After that I returned to Europe for a few months, working with some old friends of mine in the Order of the Clocktower, but I am afraid that is trivial at the current moment.”

“I did not expect for you to be this much of a mastermind, Miss Jane.” You heard William chuckle as he crossed his legs with a closed-eyed smile. “But I suppose I should have expected that from the leader of the Society of Protection.”

“Well, I do pride myself on my understanding of the human mind, so manipulating it with both my plans and my ability is all too easy, no offense my dear (Name).” Jane apologized with a smile which you nodded to.

“None was taken, Miss Jane. After all, I have quite a lot to still learn.” You giggled along with her smile, which was true you did have so much to learn compared to the actual geniuses that hid within the Society. “But what of my second question?”

“Ah, about Nikolai, well that is thanks to your visit to Mr. Tonan with Leroux and Dr. Stevenson such a long time ago. Do you remember his assistant and the strange behavior he had?” You nodded at Jane’s question which caused her to hum. “I did not believe him at first, just a strange assistant and nothing more, at least that is what I thought at first. As you know Gaston is a composer at the Paris Opera House, a theater, he has experience with actors and the art of such so it is easy for him to tell when one is acting. He told me that he forced the attitude of a sane man to have a perfect accent, but not to one who works with actors from that part of the world every day, so detecting a fake accent was child’s play for him.”

“So Mr. Tonan’s assistant is Nikolai in disguise?” You asked, most. to yourself as you pondered the question and then it clicked. “Wait, Mr. Tonan and his assistant were invited to the ball, so Nikolai was among the guests.”

“Just as planned, they fell into our trap like rats.” Wells smiles as she speaks, running her hand through her hair. “And now we will trap them all like rats, all of them running in a maze they don’t even know.”

[wonder-worker]

"By the mid-1220s, relations between Gwynedd and England were amicable and royal officials met a number of times over the course of two years, presumably as a means of establishing a permanent agreement. Joan was the pre-eminent envoy during these years and in 1224 she was given safe passage to meet with the king [Henry III] to help lay the groundwork for a conference. Joan did not travel on her own in every instance as in 1226 it is recorded that she was accompanied by Llywelyn and Dafydd. It seems, however, that Joan’s personal contributions to peace negotiations in her role as political envoy in 1225 and 1226 were recognised by her brother. She was rewarded with the manors of Rothley in Leicestershire and Condover in Shropshire soon after her meetings with him. Later, in 1227 Joan was excused from paying a tallage tax on these manors, the king recommending to her tenants that they, instead, reimburse his sister with reasonable aid. It was also during this period, in 1226, that Henry offered to sponsor Joan’s legitimisation, which, too, may have been a symbol of royal friendship and support.

Louise Wilkinson argues that the sources suggest the gifts and support bestowed upon Joan by Henry are evidence of the familial bond felt between brother and sister and that Henry held Joan in high regard. This is certainly a reasonable assessment given the lifecycle identifiers used to describe Joan and her family in chancery records. Although the designation of ‘Lady of North Wales’ is used in close juxtaposition with that of Llywelyn’s title as ‘Prince of North Wales’ in examples from 1224 and 1226, it is her personal relationships that are used to clearly identify her. In 1224 she is referred to as sister of the king and wife of Llywelyn (Johanna Domina de Northwallia sorore Regis ac nuper uxor Lewlini Principis Northwall), whilst in 1226 when safe conduct was granted to her and her family, she is described simply as Llywelyn’s wife and the king’s sister (uxore ejus sorore Regis; uxorem suam sororem nostrum). In these instances, even the familial connections between the king and Llywelyn (Lewlino Principe Northwall’ fratre Reg’; dilectum fratrem Lewlinum principem Norwalliae) and Dafydd (filijs suis nepotibus Regis; filium suum nepotem nostrum) are emphasised. Joan’s status as Lady of North Wales is clearly recognised and such acts were issued because of her status. However, it seems that the lifecycle identifiers in these documents were employed as a means of emphasizing the personal nature of the relationships between the king of England and the family of the prince of Gwynedd, Joan being at the centre. That is to say, it seems that particular family relations, both natal and uxorial, played a large role in her successful dealings with the English Crown.

Further evidence of the bond between sister and brother appears from 1228 when Henry reclaimed the manors of Rothley and Condover as a likely consequence of inflamed hostilities between Llywelyn and Henry’s justicar, Hubert de Burgh (d. 1243). Although Joan lost ownership over the manors, Henry sanctioned the removal of her livestock and chattels situated at Condover and also ensured that the corn she had given instructions to be sown there remained in her possession. Rothley was restored to her later that year after she and her own officials met with Henry at Shrewsbury to initiate proceedings for another Anglo-Welsh truce. It is evident that Joan successfully negotiated an armistice given the cordial correspondence that subsequently passed between the prince and the king. Further, and most significantly, the Patent Rolls record that on 13 October 1228, Joan accompanied Dafydd when he paid homage to the king at Westminster on behalf of Llywelyn. It is likely that in this instance she appeared in all the capacities mother, wife and sister. However, it was most likely as queen that she officially stood; as the most pre-eminent member, and representative, of Llywelyn’s court in his absence."

Danna R. Messer, "The uxorial lifecycle and female agency in Wales in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries", PhD dissertation, Bangor University, 2014.