#Hyde Institute Library

[questionableadvice]

~ Rules for the Hyde Institute library, Somerset, England, 1930

[pompillar]

Hmmmmmm hmmmm self indulgent oc stuff time!

Professor Koyuu would have been an advisor under two circumstances: 1. If Ultio or Dionysia wasn't defunct. 2. If the academy could trust her enough to not let the ghouls in those houses be menaces.

Her favorite students are the quiet ones that do their damn work and turn it in on time. But despite that she has a soft spot for a few of them:

Alan due the the similar demeanor they have and the mutual respect they share.

Taiga because he used to be a decent student and respected her (bonding over Hyde hatred)

Sho because she's met him before he enrolled and thinks of him as the better Haizono.

Jiro and Yuri because they're serious about their work and Jiro is always interested in new book recommendations.

Her soft spot for mortkranken ghouls is partially due to her being a ghoul and needing to be seen by them instead of Darkwick general.

Please just let her sleep and not have to deal with brats all day. Frostheim and sinostra kids are her least favorite students (especially the general students)

Has strained relationships with a lot of the other staff members (especially hyde) Moby will not go near her. Under any circumstances. You could not offer him enough money to interact with her.

The only ones she even half way gets along with are Nicolas, Benkei, and Elias. (Maybe Dante but that's hard seeing as he's a new teacher and she will not trust his reanimated ass)

She is a weird natural attractant for anomalies. Small ones will just show up in her classroom and she'll easily drop them into a portable container she carries. The cats around campus are immune but most of the normal rarity warding card anomalies are drawn to her like catnip. Catch her being followed by the zipper crocs when she's walking or feeding the garbage can anomaly.

Has been in four different houses in her school time due to situations. Was a vice captain by default for one of them and then captain by default as she was the only ghoul to be put there that year. (I believe somewhere they said this group has a much higher concentration of ghouls than prior years but idr)

Would rather spend her day in a corner of the library than ever talk to the chancellor or do anything past her actual job description. Why didn't they just let her be a librarian?

She hasn't left Darkwick in nearly a decade bc she has no interest in going back to normalcy and also wouldn't be allowed off the island without at least a small institute entourage.

Her original artifact she used was confiscated due to the danger level it had paired with her stigma. (I'm still workshopping these...)

Now she just uses a pair of anomalous brass knuckles.

Hates that Hyde was allowed to be the guidance counselor for more reasons that one. Would she have wanted to be it? Not a chance but you have got to have better choices than this guy.

Is a little obsessed with hodge and podge. And she would absolutely steal them if she knew she could get away with it. They deserve better company.

That's all I can think of right now that won't give away a bunch of backstory stuff before I actually get to write it! I hope I can finish drawing her and get her stuff together. Maybe I'll be able to join in and play dolls with my oc soon.

[cbse-school-in-hyderabad]

Prachin Global School: Exceptional Infrastructure and Top-Notch Hostel Facilities

Prachin Global School, recognized as one of the best CBSE schools in Hyderabad, is not just an educational institution but a comprehensive environment designed to foster holistic development in students. Among the many reasons that make Prachin Global School stand out as one of the top schools in Hyderabad are its state-of-the-art infrastructure and worldclass hostel facilities. These elements are integral to providing students with an optimal learning experience, ensuring they have everything they need to thrive both academically and personally.

World-Class Infrastructure

Prachin Global School’s infrastructure is designed with the future in mind, combining functionality, aesthetics, and technology to create a learning environment that is both inspiring and conducive to education. Spread over a sprawling campus, the school boasts well-ventilated, spacious classrooms equipped with smart boards and modern teaching aids that enhance the learning experience. The classrooms are designed to accommodate various teaching styles, promoting interactive and engaging lessons.

The school’s science labs are equipped with the latest technology, allowing students to engage in hands-on learning and experimentation. The math lab, English lab, and computer rooms further support the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, essential for students to excel in today’s competitive world. The school also houses a fully stocked library, providing a quiet space for students to explore knowledge beyond the classroom and cultivate a love for reading.

Beyond academics, Prachin Global School offers specialized rooms for art, music, dance, and yoga, fostering creativity and well-being. These facilities allow students to explore their passions and talents, contributing to their overall development. The multipurpose hall is another highlight, serving as a venue for various events, from cultural programs to seminars and workshops, promoting a vibrant school culture.

Exceptional Sports Facilities

Physical education is a crucial aspect of the curriculum at Prachin Global School. The campus includes extensive sports facilities such as swimming pools, volleyball courts, basketball courts, cricket nets, and a large playground. These facilities encourage students to engage in physical activities, promoting fitness, teamwork, and sportsmanship. Our dedicated sports coaches work closely with students to hone their athletic skills, ensuring that they excel both on and off the field.

Top-Notch Hostel Facilities

Prachin Global School is also renowned as one of the best residential schools in Hyderabad, providing top-notch hostel facilities that ensure students feel at home while they are away from their families. The hostels are designed to be safe, comfortable, and conducive to study and relaxation. Each hostel room is well-furnished, offering a clean and organized living space that supports students’ academic and personal needs.

The hostel environment is carefully managed by experienced staff who provide round-the-clock supervision, ensuring the safety and well-being of all students. Regular medical check-ups, nutritious meals, and a structured routine help maintain the health and discipline of our boarders. Additionally, the hostels are equipped with recreational facilities that offer students a chance to unwind and socialize, fostering a sense of community and belonging.

Why Prachin Global School Stands Out

Prachin Global School’s commitment to providing the best infrastructure and hostel facilities makes it a leading choice for parents seeking quality education in Hyderabad. Located in Patancheru and Shankarpalli, the school’s campuses are designed to support the holistic development of students. Our low student-teacher ratio ensures personalized attention, and our fleet of buses provides safe and convenient transportation.

As one of the best boarding schools in Hyderabad, Prachin Global School ensures that students receive a balanced education that nurtures both their academic and personal growth. This commitment to excellence has earned us a place among the top CBSE schools in Hyderabad, particularly for students in grades 11 and 12.

Conclusion

Prachin Global School’s world-class infrastructure and exceptional hostel facilities are key components of its success as one of the best CBSE schools in Hyderabad. By providing an environment that supports learning, creativity, and well-being, the school ensures that every student has the opportunity to excel. For parents seeking the best residential school experience in Hyderabad, Prachin Global School is the ideal choice, offering a comprehensive education that prepares students for the future

[fdrlibrary]

#RooseveltFavorite

Do you have a #RooseveltFavorite? Go to https://rooseveltinstitute.org/fdr-library/my-favorite-things-roosevelt-edition/ to hear from our dedicated supporters: 

"I grew up in Poughkeepsie in the shadow of Franklin Roosevelt. As a child, Hyde Park was a world away. I knew that something was important and special about Hyde Park. While others swooned over Elvis, I was interested in FDR.

When I began to date my now wife, in 1968, I let her know right off the bat that I was a history geek. One of our first day-dates was an afternoon spent in FDR’s Presidential Library & Museum, where I proudly showed my then-new girlfriend the original “Day of Infamy Speech.” Don’t forget, in those days the speech was on public display. That memory stays in my mind as my favorite."

- Sal Assenza, a Library member and staffer from Hyde Park, NY.

[mannlibrary]

Mend and  Make New

Featured in the photographs above is some remarkable hand and sewing-machine stitching done in 1893 by Dorothea Beach, a 6th grader at a public school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The sample is from the archives of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences housed at Cornell University Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections.

Above: Title page, Lake Placid Conference of Home Economics Proceedings;  photo of Flora Rose (l) and Martha van Rensselaer (r) at a League of Women Voters meeting, Hyde Park, NY, 1920 (from Human Ecology Historical Photographs

The AAFCS was founded as the American Home Economics Association at the Lake Placid Conference of 1909. Participants at the annual conference, who had been meeting annually for 10 years,  were passionate about turning the formerly invisible work of women into vibrant arenas for building creative expertise. For the early pioneers of the field, Cornell’s Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose among them, home economics (also known as domestic science and, later, family and consumer sciences) would be a force for liberation. As a newly emerging field of study in land-grant colleges and other educational institutions, it would help women transform practical skills into creative capacity for finding innovative solutions problems that affect both individuals and society as a whole. A key area for this work was the challenge women faced keeping themselves and their families well clothed, despite the hardships of poverty and crises in the national economy.

Above from top:  Display of garments made from men's shirts arranged by Cornell home economics faculty for Farmers Week, 1919; Display of conserved hats prepared for an exhibit at the New York State Fair, 1918.(Both photos from the Human Ecology Historical Photographs collection). 

Through community workshops, live demonstrations at county fairs, and free publications, home economists have sought over the years to help their communities take on the issue of making, maintaining, and repurposing clothing. Teaching children good stitch work was an important start, but the ultimate goal was to grow this basic skill into a nimble ability to refashion unlikely resources, lean household budgets and thread bare clothes included, into fresh elements of a pleasing wardrobe.

“Keeping Clothes Wearable”, by Gladys L. Butt. Cornell Extension Bulletin 536, October 1942, in the archives of the Cornell Rare and Manuscript Collections at Cornell University; also viewable online.  

“Mending Clothes and Household Fabrics,” by Gladys L. Butt. Cornell Extension Bulletin 871, 1954; in the archives of the Cornell Rare and Manuscript Collections at Cornell University; also viewable online. 

“First Lessons in Sewing: A Manual for Junior Extension Workers in Clothing,” Cornell Junior Extension Bulletin No. 1, 1918, in the archives of the Cornell Rare and Manuscript Collections at Cornell University; also viewable online. 

Page from the handout “Restitch and Renew to Keep Clothes in Use,” by Bernetta Kahabka, Extension Specialist, Cornell University, 1974, in the home economics archives of the Rare and Manuscript Division of Cornell University Library. 

Most of the guides to sewing and stitching shown here are available as part of Mann Library’s online Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition, History (HEARTH) ,  the Cornell Historical Literature of Agriculture (CHLA), and the Hathi Trust Digital Library. These online repositories offer valuable (yet free!) resources for anyone interested in re-learning the art of making new from old.  “Upcycling,” a term first coined in the early 1990s, has become a common word as awareness of more sustainable “slow fashion” principles has grown. What does it mean exactly? According to merriam-webster.com, to upcycle is “to recycle (something) in such a way that the resulting product is of a higher value than the original item : to create an object of greater value from (a discarded object of lesser value).” For (happily) growing numbers of us, upcycling has become a fine craft that combines old traditions and techniques with contemporary style to create uniquely personalized wearable art that also signals a conscious effort to avoid harmful waste and use resources sustainably. With a little bit of mindfulness and maybe some handy ��how-to’s found in digitized, freely available historical materials, the old can indeed become some bright new for one and all.

Excerpted from Mann Library’s spring 2023 exhibit, Sustaining Style: Towards Responsible Fashion

Display in Mann Library exhibit, Sustaining Style:Towards Responsible Fashion (March 23 - September 15, 2023)

[mscoyditch]

D'Artagnan.

" Rain rain rain and It hasn’t stopped all day !!

I love these charming intimate works by American artist Helen Hyde (1868-1919)

#1 Helen Hyde “Honorable Mr. Cat “ 1903 ©Heritage Auctions

#2 The Family umbrella woodblock print 1915 Helen Hyde© Ronin Gallery

#3 The Blue Umbrella 1914 Helen Hyde woodblock print © Sotheby’s as in the Smithsonian

#4 Two Children in Rainstorm painting by Helen Hyde as in Smithsonian see #5 for the sketch

#5 Two Children in Rainstorm painting Helen HydeInk on paper, signed HH with red seal

This is possibly a study for Imps of Chinatown, 1898. See Tim Mason and Lynn Mason, Helen Hyde, American Printmakers, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, 1991), page 33

53½in by 24½in Sotheby's

#6 Cherry Blossom 1905 Helen Hyde woodblock print 17 x 10 in. (43.2 x 25.4 cm.) © Galerie bei de Oper

#7 Helen Hyde (1868-1919 ) late 1890 © George Grantham Bain Collection Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

~~~~ooo~~~~

Helen Hyde (1868 -1919 )was an American etcher and woodblock printmaker. Born in Lima, New York, Hyde grew up in California. She attended the California School of Design before she continued her artistic education in Berlin and Paris. Hyde developed her artistic talents through her studies with Franz Skarbina in Berlin, and Raphaël Collin and Félix Régamey in Paris. Régamey introduced Hyde to the Japonism movement through his vast Japanese art collection.She also found profound inspiration in the works of American Impressionist Mary Cassat

Hyde also studied with Emil Carlsen, an American painter, and Kanō Tomonobu, the final master painter at the famous Kanō school of Japanese painting.In 1899, Hyde travelled to Japan to study Japanese painting and woodblock printmaking from masters such as Emil Orlik, a European living in Japan and soon became known for her colour etchings and woodblock prints of women and children.

From 1903 to 1913, Hyde lived in Japan, refining her art

and traveling to China, India and Mexico. In 1914, she left Japan and settled in the United States, where she died in 1919. Today, a large collection of her prints can be found in the Library of Congress

Helen Hyde was a member of the Chicago Society of Etchers and the California Society of Etchers. She passed away in Pasadena, California on May 16th 1919

The American Magazine Art said in its tribute to her "There is a charm about her rendition of children , whether they be Japanese, Chinese, Mexican or American, which gives token to her sympathy with childhood; and with her passing has gone from the world of life of cheerfulness and courage and high purpose which, like a flower of sweet fragrance, has added beauty to life."

Love D’Artagnan xxx".

[amuhseen2003]

SANDERS SIDES KARAOKE: GOTHIC LITERATURE MUSICALS EDITION

Okay, so after four years of being in the Sanders Sides fandom, I’m going to attempt to write some headcanons. Here we go.

Since it’s well-known in fanon that the sides do have karaoke sessions, imagine what would happen if they sang musicals based on gothic literature.

Roman’s happy because broadway, duh, Logan is happy because it’s canon that he enjoys gothic literature since he dressed up as Frankenstein’s monster for Halloween, same reason for Virgil and Patton’s happy that his family is bonding. He made extra cookies for the occasion. He’s dangerous like that. 

(I headcanon that when Thomas had to write analyses of gothic literature novels for school, Virgil, Roman and Logan would work together to come up with stuff and write the best essays in class and Patton would be so proud of them)

I’m not going to count Les Mis because I’m not too sure if that counts as gothic literature and whilst the Hunchback of Notre Dame is indeed gothic (trust me I read that in a plane once. An entire, like, ten pages is dedicated to describing the scenery) I don’t think it became a broadway show.

Now this isn’t like their usual karaoke nights, no sir. Just idly remaining in the living room won’t do. Where is the gusto? The pizazz? The accolade winning extravaganza? The-

“We get it Princey, can you just get on with it?” - Virgil

No, this type of singing can only be accompanied with an atmosphere that will do it justice. To the imagination they go and with Logan’s (who has practically memorised every single one of these books and is not geeking out at all) input on how the novels describe each setting, Roman creates very intricate landscapes for each song.

When they sing ‘Alive’ from ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Roman thought that it would be really cool for Patton to play Mr Edward Hyde since Hyde is literally the human id and Patton, being the embodiment of morality, is literally the superego (although to be fair, Patton is also shown to be quite childish and impulsive since he’s also the base of Thomas’ emotions and Hyde is impulsive because he’s a way for Jekyll to act on his own emotions - especially since the only crime that Hyde does in the book are him over-reacting with his anger by beating a man to death. And in the novella, Jekyll writes that he and Hyde are like father and son and that Hyde is actually younger than Jekyll is, he does have that sense of childishness that Patton has only instead of that childishness being good and helpful, it’s bad and hurtful. Plus in the soundtrack of Alive, whilst Anthony Warlow does sing about how good being evil feels like, he also sounds like he is crying tears of joy of being able to be himself, the first words post-transformation being freedom and anyways these are supposed to be fun headcanons not analytical headcanons so I digress…)

Anyways Patton is happy to play the villain because “look kiddos, Roman conjured up this really swell cape” “the correct term is cloak” “and check out this top hat and cane!” and he’s just belting out the words and froliking around Victorian London without a care in the world, making his cape swoosh in the wind.

“Patton I would advise you not to take your shoes off. This is nineteenth-century London with people dying of cholera by the dozens, your feet could catch a myriad of infections.”

“Worry not, specs, the scenery is merely an illusion. I would never allow for our dear padre to succumb to the villain of illness”

“Aww, thanks kiddo (cue Patton’s sunshine smile) now where was I? IT’S THE FEELING OF BEING ALIVE! FILLED WITH EVIL AND TRULY ALIVE!”

They have Logan sing ‘I Need To Know’ because a doctor of science singing about wanting to expand his knowledge and having that thirst to do whatever it takes to get said knowledge. That is a Logan Sanders song right there. At first he’s like “why do I have to sing. I was happy enough giving directions and helping you with the scenery” but Roman creates this big scientific library that could rival the one from Beauty and the Beast/ laboratory from that’s practically the identical to Jekyll’s lab in the book and he’s like “Fine” like he isn’t enjoying himself. He is. They all know it. He’s not fooling anyone

Patton and Roman sing ‘Bring on the men’ together (yes, whilst wearing dresses) whilst Virgil and Logan drink apple juice from those big british beer glasses in the mind-scape created Red Rat (which Logan is quick to point out doesn’t exist and is vocally upset at how the musical adaptation added unnecessary romantic subplots with Lisa and Lucy when the book itself only had three background female characters who were only there for like one paragraph. He’s even more upset at the other inaccuracies with the book like how in the play Jekyll creates his formula as a cure for mental illness and Hyde was accidental whilst in the book he did it because he wanted to indulge in sin without fearing the consequences and Hyde, whilst not being exactly what he wanted, was actually created on purpose or how in the book Hyde only kills one man and in the musical he kills practically everyone except for the one person he did kill. Virgil pats him on the back with sympathy). Roman and Virgil are sniggering at the sexual euphemisms at the end of the song whilst Patton’s confused. She just seems really enthusiastic about food.

Roman sings both parts of ‘Confrontation’ by himself. He gets a standing ovation.

He also does ‘Transformation’. The problem is that he was so good at sounding like he was in complete agony and near death that they had to stop the song prematurely because Patton was getting upset. Don’t worry, Pat gets lots of cuddles by Roman afterwords.

(You know what I might do some sides reacting to The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde later because 1. It’s my favourite book and 2. All four of them would have very interesting takes on it)

From the Frankenstein musical Virgil plays the criminal from ‘Say Amen’ because he wants to (seriously, the guy’s first words in the song are ‘I curse the day that I was born into a world so black with hate’) and Logan plays Victor Frankenstein but Patton refuses for his son to even pretend to be executed by the noose so they have Roman play a man wearing a british executioner outfit with a foam sword and the creative side just bonks the anxious side on the neck with it. Logan despairs about the historical inaccuracy from his place in the stands whilst Patton is cheering next to him. Patton also hands him an extra jumper to keep him warm in the Switzerland cold. 

“Patton, I am grateful that you are thinking of my health but no one in eighteenth century Switzerland wore bright blue jumpers with cartoon kittens on them”

“Really, Logan, are you paw-sitive?”

“I would like to change places with Virgil. Immediately” 

Roman and Logan turn ‘Birth to my creation’ into a duet because Logan enjoys the scientific aspect of it and Roman can’t resist the drama (of course). He goes all out. He makes Victor’s lab perfect to the smallest detail (and cheers when Logan’s eyes start lighting up and he does that cute clappy thing when he’s excited), he conjures a storm and makes lightning strike at the best moments of the song. He even creates a ‘wretch’ (what Victor calls the monster in the book. I’ve heard that it’s name is Adam but all I remember from the novel is Victor calling himself god and the creature his Adam) to lie on the table. 

“And we didn’t even have to go grave-robbing for it. Or drop out of University.” - Roman

“No matter how many times I wanted to.” - Virgil

Roman and Virgil do most of the songs from Dracula. The creative side creates this huge, expensive-looking window-balcony thing with glass double doors and billowing silk curtains so that he could dramatically sing ‘the longer I live’ whilst the wind blows through his hair and he dramatically drapes himself on the balustrade so that the light from the full moon hits his figure just right. Patton’s close to crying.

Logan is very eager to give as many facts as he can about nineteenth-century mental institutions for ‘The Master’s Song’. He gets really into the history behind certain treatments and different cases. Roman plays Renfield and the others play doctors. 

Virgil is super into Dracula’s castle during ‘Life after life’. He and Roman duet that song wearing all-black. Logan tries to help Patton’s slight fear by telling him the history behind different pieces of architecture.

Patton plays Christine during Phantom of the Opera

Roman, Virgil and Logan sing ‘A story told’ from The Count of Monte Cristo around a circular table in a dimly lit tavern. Patton takes pictures and drinks hot chocolate in the sidelines.

[bookswitchcraftandcats]

Rainy Days (Part 1 of 4)

Link to AO3 --- Part 2

Summary: Emma and Julian are in charge of the London Institute for a week and find a box that once belonged to Cordelia Carstairs and contains poems written to her by James Herondale. The story switches between Emma and Julian and oneshots about things that happened in Jordelia's life to inspire the poems.

Sorry if the formatting for the poems is messed up, I tried. 

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

Emma and Julian walk through the halls of the London Institute. Growing up, Julian always loved London, he found the city to be inspiring for paintings and loved the older feel of the buildings. They were here for a visit and also because Alec asked them to watch over it for a few days while Julian’s Aunt Marjorie was on vacation. Both of them love London and spent most of their time going to Hyde park and all kinds of little cafes but unfortunately, today was not a good day to be exploring the city.

Being from LA, they hardly ever saw rain and they felt as though even if they did, it wasn’t usually this much. It was pouring outside and nearly flooding the streets, even though it was the middle of the day it was so dark outside you could hardly see. So, the young couple decided to stay inside and explore the institute instead.

“Do you think the sun ever shines in London?” Emma asks while looking out the window. Today they were in the library just trying to get some work done. Julian laughs and then walks over to join her at the window, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

“Want to take a break and explore for a little bit?” He asks, taking her hand. They headed off into the rest of the building, looking for an adventure.

The London institute was one of the biggest in the world, it felt as though you could go for miles without ever seeing the same room twice. Now Emma and Julian were laughing as they raced through the historic halls, they hadn’t had much time to themselves lately and desperately needed this break. Every so often they would stop and take pictures of tapestries or portraits that Jules would want to try to paint once they got back home.

They came to a tapestry of a pond with ducks. It had a bit of text sewn into the bottom corner that just said, “never trust a duck.” They thought that was kind of wierd to have but it looked very old. They were approaching a whole hallway that seemed like it hadn't been touched in decades. The wallpaper reflected the style of another time period and the pictures were covered by a layer of dust.

Now out of breath the two stopped for a second and smiled at each other. They may not be parabatai any more but they still knew what the other was thinking. This was the most fun they have had in years. Julian stepped forward and kissed his girlfriend. Emma returned this with passion. Jules’ arms around her waist and her arms thrown around his neck.

One thing leads to another and next thing you know they find themselves stumbling backward into one of the abandoned bedrooms. They keep making out as the door slams behind them, falling onto the bed. Emma then suddenly stops and looks across the room curiously.

She had caught something out of the corner of her eye, a name. Her name. There was a wooden jewelry box with the name Carstairs engraved on it. It sat on a bookshelf next to an old leather bound book titled The Beautiful Cordelia and a book of Persian mythology. Looking around the room, it seemed as though no one had been in here for years. Julian followed her gaze and quickly caught on. Emma looked up at Julian,

“Do you think this could have belonged to one of my ancestors?” She asks while picking up the box.

“Probably. Didn’t Jem used to live here? Maybe it is his?” He responds as they walk back to the bed. They set the box down between then and open it up. Inside it is filled with treasures that belonged to someone a century ago. The first thing they pull out is a worn portrait.

“I don’t think it is Jem,” Emma says as she hands the picture to him. It depicts a girl with bright red hair holding a familiar gold sword. The same sword that Emma carries with her every day.

“Is that,” Julian starts with a bit of surprise, “Cortana?”

“I think so,” Emma says. “So this must be Cordelia Carstair.” She had grown up hearing stories about the warrior that fought greater demons in London and wielded the same Carstairs sword. She was said to be one of the bravest shadowhunters of her time. She had also met with Lily Chen during one of her visits to New York. The vampire had known Cordelia and had a few stories of her own to share.

“This must be a box of her belongings, and this probably used to be her room.” She continues while reaching in to grab a stack of notes. On each one was written a poem and at the bottom they were signed ‘J.H.’

“H” Julian wonders aloud, “I wonder if it stands for Herondale.”

“It does” says Emma, “James Herondale was her husband.”

“Do you think he wrote these poems to her?”

“I don’t know, maybe?” She says and then pulls out another portrait from the bottom of the box. It was of a boy with dark hair and gold eyes. They weren’t quite sure who this was but had a sort of an idea. They could always ask Tessa later too, she had sent a fire message earlier that day saying she was going to stop by tonight with Jem.

“Do you want me to read the poems?” Emma asks, retrieving the first one from the box. Julian nods and then she starts reading.

Cortana

You carry a sword of mercy and power It’s blade an extension of your own will. It can cut through the wickedest of powers, And slice through the chains that bind me.

The Sunlight reflects off it’s gold surface. Holding confidently to the grip of the hilt, Cutting down enemies for miles and miles, You could tear this very world in two.

The sword for the purest of hearts, For the one who has my own heart. The most beautiful of weapons ever made, Belongs to the most beautiful person I know.

It was another day taken over by the rain and The Merry Thieves and company were all sitting around the Devils Tavern discussing their latest projects. Lucie was just finishing reading her latest chapter of The Beautiful Cordelia. This section happened to be about “Lord Asher” and his new boyfriend, a knight named “Sir Tobias”. This prompted blushing from Alastair and Thomas while the others made jokes.

Cordelia was sitting next to James on the couch resting her head on his shoulder. She enjoyed these little displays of affection and was very content. James looked at her and smiled and then all of the sudden Mathew jumps up and says,

“Jamie, do you have any poems that you have been working on?” James sighs and then walks over to the book shelf and pulls out a leather bound notebook. He sits next to Cordelia and then starts flipping through the pages looking for a poem to read when the word Cortana catches her eye. She puts a finger on the page and looks at her husband, he winks and she blushes. James then quickly continues flipping through pages before his nosey parabatai notices. He starts reading the group one of his poems and they continue chatting for the rest of the afternoon.

Cordelia and James say their goodbyes and head back to the institute. Their carriage was kind of far away so they had to walk a bit in the heavy rain, not that either of them minded holding hands in the rain.

They were running and jumping in puddles, they would be wet anyways so what's the harm? Cordelia laughed as James pulled her in for a kiss under the street light. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. They pulled apart and smiled, walking off to their warm, dry carriage.

James put an arm around Cordelia as they rode home, they were both tired from a long day and the gloomy weather. By the time they got to the institute they were both half asleep and wet from the rain. They head up to their room to change into some dry clothes before laying down on their bed. Cordelia looks at James,

“So, what was that poem about?” she questions with a smirk.

“The Cortana one?” James says while grabbing the leather bound book from his bag.

“Yes,” Cordelia says, looking over at the journal in his lap. He turns to the page with the title at the top.

“Would you like me to read it to you?” he asks in a quiet whisper. She nodded.

You carry a sword of mercy and power It’s blade an extension of your own will.

He is right next to her and she can feel his warm breath as he reads each line. She thinks of her own sword, the sharp edge for mercy, the sword itself full of power. The Sword was an extension of her will, it had chosen her and would always come to her in a fight. James kisses her cheek.

It can cut through the wickedest of powers, And slice through the chains that bind me.

It had cut through wicked powers, when she needed to save James. She wasn’t even thinking then, she just knew she needed to save him. She had also cut through the bracelet that binded him to Grace, freeing him. She knew that even if he didn’t love her, he should be free to choose for himself who to love, but he did choose her.

The Sunlight reflects off it’s gold surface. Holding confidently to the grip of the hilt, Cutting down enemies for miles and miles, You could tear this very world in two.

She had fought many demons, even princes of hell and her sword never failed. James was always by her side fighting too. Together they could defeat the most dangerous of creatures, they even tore through the layers of this world once to stop one. Her love for James extended beyond the bounds of this world and she would do anything to get to him.

The sword for the purest of hearts, For the one who has my own heart.

She didn’t know if her heart was necessarily pure, she could only try her best. She loved James and he certainly had her heart too. She could feel her heat racing while watching his lips form the words in a calm whisper.

The most beautiful of weapons ever made, Belongs to the most beautiful person I know.

This made Cordelia blush a little, James’s eyes turned to meet hers as he closed the book. He carefully tore the page from the notebook and handed it to her.

“This was meant for you anyways,” he says as he kisses her softly on the lips. She placed the paper on the nightstand. “I love you Daisy.”

“I love you too,” Cordelia says as she kisses him again. They then lay back in bed and fell asleep next to each other, listening to the rain outside as it lulled them into a deep and loving sleep.

Tag list: @fortheloveofthecarstairs  @thehotfaeriethreesome  @shadowrunner2000  @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 @surrounded-by-exquisite-clutter @gabtapia  @niathesanctuary-bolastair-kanej 

Let me know if you want to be added or removed from the tag list :)

[tessasclockworkangel]

Headcanon that today Will when woke up, Tessa and the kids had mysteriously disappeared from the Institute, nowhere to be seen. Will finally gave up and went to Hyde park to torment the ducks some more. But even they came up missing. He wondered if someone had had the good sense to take them away but the thought of them with a stranger caused an uneasy feeling in his chest. He went back home expecting to have a quiet day to read but lo and behold THE DUCKS WERE IN THE LIBRARY. SITTING ON THE STACKS, IN THE NOOKS AND CRANNIES OF HIS BELOVED TOMES. Will ran away screaming bloody murder while tessa and the kids laughed from behind the curtains. When he reached the steps of the institute, HE was right there. Arms open, waiting for his other half to join him, complete the broken shards of the now incomplete rune. And will, like a giddy child jumped right into them, two hearts, now knit together again.

[bambooslayer]

Scent Headcanons

so my covid/quarantine experience has been marked mainly by two things: indie perfume and the magnus archives. to combine these two interests, I’ve decided to match the “scent vibes” of some magnus characters and the entities. scent headcanons I guess? if those weren’t a thing before they are now. scents that I’ve tried will be marked with a *.

The Institute Staff

Jon- Solstice Scents' Gibbon’s Boarding School: dusty wooden desks, paper, carefully hidden tobacco pouch, dying fire, dried leaves, leather chairs, autumn breeze

This scent really captures the “tired academic” aura of Jon, especially S1-S2. Not quite completely put together, but still surrounded by the scent of knowledge.

Martin- Stereoplasm's Lydia*: A uniquely transformative scent; opens with agrestic lavender and earl grey tea with snips of fresh fennel greens. A flood of soapy emerald green bubbles then rests softly into clean sunset musk.

Martin has a comforting, calming scent. He always, always smells like tea no matter what he wears or does. Hints of soap peak through as he tries to keep himself clean and put together, even if the world is about to end. The scent of someone who’s learned to pull himself together to be ready for everyone else.

Sasha- Alkemia's Old Books and Fresh Flowers*: Fresh neroli orange flowers and heliotrope blossoms pressed between the delicate paper pages of a leather-bound book

Boundless beauty and ancient knowledge in one scent. She’s always sorting through the archive’s resources and constantly smells like the ancient paper surrounding her.

Tim- alphamusk's Bardot*: Gorgeous badass goddess like musk that’s insanely irresistible. Notes of roses, woods, magnolias but all blended so effortlessly and meld together beautifully in this sexy magnetizing musk. Everyone who smells it loves it. Very femme. Iconic.

Who doesn’t love Tim at first sight? A sexy, charismatic, fingergun shooting bisexual who’s always ready to do what he needs to get things done. A scent that blurs the lines between gender fits him, and it’s sexy to match. Even when he’s at his lowest, he still draws you in.

Elias- Alkemia's Book of Shadows*: A biblichor of eldritch books - heavy parchment paper, ancient iron oak gall ink, crumbling leather bindings, and wafts of rare incenses

Jonah Magnus smells of all the cursed knowledge he’s acquired. The statements and ancient books he’s encountered leave their marks on him in scent. You can’t smell the underlying evil, but there’s a certain darkness that lives there.

Basira - Death and Floral’s Red string of fate: Red musk and black, burnt amber blended with golden honey and black molasses

I don’t have a good explanation for this, it just feels right.

Melanie- Death and Floral’s Half-hoping to be eaten by a bear: Woody, sweet bare skin; the lingering scent of dry leaves on a cold morning.

Melanie smells of her supernatural adventures and longing for something more.

Daisy- Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's Mr. Czernobog: Unfiltered cigarettes, the leather and metal of sledgehammers, aortal blood slowly drying, and black incense.

Daisy knows what she’s done. She’s a Hunter, and these smells follow her.

Peter Lukas- Arcana Wildcraft's Black Sand: The scent of a warm night on a dark, sandy beach. Atmospheric sweetness with a hint of salt air and a subtle undercurrent of danger. The richest amber resin, black coconut, coconut husks, and smoky vetiver.

The scent of the loneliest sailor. There’s a dangerous draw to him still, but you can tell you should keep your distance. (unless you’re Elias of course)

The Entities

The Buried- Alkemia’s St. Louis Cemetery #1: “An atmospheric brooding of Spanish moss, crumbling stone, old cement, red clay brick, and graveyard dirt.”  

It’s not quite burying you, but it’s about to. You won’t be able to tell that it will until it’s too late.

The Corruption- Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s Elli’s Song: “The horrors of entropy, death, and decay: desiccated black mosses, vetiver, olibanum, patchouli, and ashes.”

Rotting. Decay. The disgusting decomposition of all things.

The Dark- Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s Event Horizon: “A disconcerting scent, heavy and oppressive, through which no light, no matter, and no spirit can escape. Black opium, labdanum, opoponax, black orchid, and benzoin.”

Pretty self-explanatory. Complete and utter darkness.

The Desolation- Arcana Wildcraft's Devilish: “Shaking off vanilla's reputation for namby pambyness, this infernally dark and smoky fragrance comes complete with licks of fire and sulfurous wafts of brimstone. The devil really does have all the best scents.”

Was it worth it? The meaningful life you lived? Was it worth meeting this fiery end? A scent to match the end of a life worthwhile.

The End- Alkemia's Dustsceawung: “Dustsceawung is the contemplation of dust, worldly desires, and the ephemerality of all things... raspings that were once a tree, ruins that were once cities, bones that were once lovers. Dust is always the ultimate destination on our journey. The scent of forbidden explorations and an olfactory meditation on dust... attic air, the inside of old trunks, abandoned haylofts, library stacks, and abandoned buildings.”

The death of all things. Everything must succumb to its true form: dust. No matter what you fear, no matter how accomplished you are, no matter what you’ve planned, it will come for all. This scent carries the dust of those already ended, a reminder of your fate.

The Extinction- Alkemia's Deus Ex Machina: “An olfactory portrait of industrial decay and the fallen gods of age of disruption, innovation, and technological revolution... fire hardened steel, rusted iron, motor oil, wet cement, burnt copper wires, and grey amber.”

Mankind has brought itself to the edge. All that it has created is what finally destroys it. Remnants of industry linger, all that’s left of humanity’s monstrosity.

The Eye- Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's The Book: “Old, yellowed parchment paper, tattered leather bindings. There’s a distinct warmth to the scent, though it is ancient and brittle.”

All knowledge lives here. It has watched you your entire life. It knows everything about you, everything about everyone, everything about everyone that has lived. Pages and pages and pages of its stronghold live in the institutes.  

The Flesh- Arcana Wildcraft’s Edward Hyde: “A depraved mix of dirt, blood red musk, roasted meat accord, acrid yellow musk, salt, and an odd hint of expensive men’s cologne.”

Meat. Meat. Meat. Meat is meat. A meaty scent that marks the servants of the flesh.

The Hunt- Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s Berzerker: “Thick furs, strips of leather, and a blood-stained axe with crushed poplar bud and juniper”

The Hunt is never over. Once you get a taste of blood, there is no going back. Furs of a predator, the sharp metallic weapon mixed with the blood of your prey.

The Lonely- Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s Desolation: “In the perfume, I also tried to capture the blue-violet-white of an afterimage and the silence of a snuffed candle. The scent is dry with age, taut with loss, grief, and heartbreak, and sorrowful in the unspeakable desolation of simply being forgotten.”

Alone at last. Forever. Alone in life, alone in memory, alone in history. A scent that marks those marked by the Lonely, disappearing into nothing.

The Slaughter- Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s The Black Tower- “A sepulchral, desolate scent. Long-dead soldiers, oath-bound; the perfume of their armor, the chill wind that surges through their tower, white bone and blackened steel: white sandalwood, ambergris, wet ozone, galbanum and leather with ebony, teak, burnt grasses, English ivy and a hint of red wine.”

The scent of those trapped in the endless cycle of the violence of war, spanning centuries of slaughter.

The Spiral- Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s Azathoth: “Azathoth is the blind, idiot god who sits on a black throne at the center of Chaos. His scent is high-pitched and screeching, both impenetrably dark and searingly bright with the clarity of madness: tangerine, saffron, vetiver, black amber and cedarwood.”

A scent that matches the contradictions and chaos of the spiral.

The Stranger- Arcana Wildcraft’s Blood & Circuses: “The monstrously sweet scent of clowns gone wrong. An outlandish, carnivalic mix of white pancake makeup accord, pink cotton candy, and the salty sugariness of warm kettle corn.”

The circus has returned. I hope you’re ready for the show. Steer clear of anyone who carries this smell, and give an extra glance to the mannequins you pass.

The Vast- Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s R'Lyeh: “The sunken city of the Great God Cthulhu. A hellishly dark aquatic scent, evocative of fathomless oceanic deeps, the mysteries of madness buried under crushing black waters, and the brooding eternal evil that lies beneath the waves.”

The scent of an eternal expanse that you cannot possibly comprehend. Is it the fear of what lies beneath? Is it the depth itself? Does it matter once you’re lost in it?

The Web- Haus of Gloi’s Spider Silk: “Procured from a dream: delicate water mint, wispy grey musk, crystalline webs of amber, oakmoss, torchwood, copaiba resin, and a touch of withered violet leaf.”

A gentle spider creeps its way around, leaving their little traces in the webs they weave. Only too late will you notice that you’re trapped in the web.

[livia-dovehallow]

Little Ella Herondale’s Adventures

a sort-of spin off of my “of great use” series for @lucieblckthorn!! hope you enjoy!!

1905

Elizabeth Herondale was two years old when she saw the training room for the first time.

Granted, no one had brought her there to see it. Ella simply followed the sound of clanging metal, intrigued, until she waddled through the doorway and giggled at the sight of her sister. Lucie, who until that point had nearly beaten their cousin Christopher in sparring, dropped her short sword. “Ella!” she shouted. She rushed over and lifted Ella off the ground and immediately away from the walls lined with a variety of sharp, dangerous objects. Lucie huffed and stepped into the hall. “Papa!”

Will Herondale sauntered into the hall from the library, his nose stuck in a book. “Yes, Lulu?”

Lucie cleared her throat, which prompted her father to look up at her. He smiled, guilty, when he saw Ella in her arms. Lucie raised her eyebrow. “I know it has been a while since you’ve had a toddler, Papa,” Lucie scolded. “But letting them wander about the Institute where there are sharp objects and stairs about is particularly frowned upon.”

Will walked over quickly and took Ella from Lucie. Ella frowned at her father and attempted to lean back out of his arms. “Lucie!” she called. “I want Lucie!”

“Your sister is busy, Ella,” Will cooed, wrangling her. He looked up at his elder daughter, who still had her scolding face on. She looked so very much like her mother, then. “Why don’t we go see if there are still lemon tarts in the kitchen, hm?”

Christopher burst into the hall. “There are lemon tarts?”

Lucie groaned. That was the end of training that day, and Ella got to stay with Lucie after all.

1906

When Elizabeth Herondale was three years old, her brother James took her to Hyde Park.

She squirmed in his arms, pouting, until he relented and let her down onto the grass. “Don’t run from me Ella,” he said gently. “Stay close.”

Ella immediately ran off, toward the bustling crowd of children playing in the large field of grass. She’d never seen so many children her age before. Her cousin Alex decided he was too old to play with her anymore. Before she could reach the crowd, James hauled her back up into his arms. “What did I say?” he asked, though he sounded more concerned than angry. Ella blinked at him, her wide pale eyes she shared with Lucie visibly weakening James’s resolve. “I cannot glamour you,” he sighed. “So, we must be careful, okay?”

A laugh sounded behind them, and Ella leaned over her brother’s shoulder to find the source. Cordelia stood with an amused smile. “A true Herondale,” she teased.

James turned and smiled. Ella waved her small hand at Cordelia, and the other girl waved back. “Daisy,” Ella giggled. “I want to play.”

Cordelia placed her hand softly on James’s cheek. “Let her play,” she said to him softly. “Ella has no Marks. She will not draw unwanted attention.”

James frowned. “But we have Marks. We can’t glamour because Ella can’t glamour, and I suspect that a lonely toddler in the middle of Hyde Park would draw unwanted attention.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes and opened her arms. Ella threw herself at her out of James’s grip, prompting a startled shout from him. “I will take her to play, then,” Cordelia said. “And you may sit here, sulking, if you so desire.”

Ella squealed as she buzzed across the grass with the other children. Every so often she would catch her brother frowning at her, but then Daisy would say something, and her brother would be happy again. She never understood why James kept touching Daisy’s tummy. Maybe she was hungry.

London Institute Fall 1906

Three-year-old Ella stumbled over to the dining room table and pulled at the loose tassels of the cloth that hung over the edges. Lucie, who had been looking through various samples of desserts, grabbed the plates before they went flying.

“Troublemaker,” she mumbled. Ella grinned at her.

“She is too much like your Aunt Cecily,” Will observed calmly from the other side of the table. “Always looking for trouble.”

Tessa raised an eyebrow. “You don’t take any responsibility for that?”

“None at all,” Will declared. Ella laughed and ran from Lucie, who looked like she was about to become the tickle monster, and Ella did not like to be tickled by anyone other than her papa.

The room was adorned in gold, and Ella was particularly interested in the treats just out of her reach from her spot in her father’s lap. Will quickly grabbed a biscuit from one of the plates while her mother was not looking and put it in Ella’s hand. “Shh,” he said, with a mischievous sparkle in his eye.

“Lucie, Aunt Sophie says your dress is ready upstairs. Come along to see if it fits properly,” Tessa said with a bright smile. Lucie’s face brightened and she scrambled up from her seat.

“Ella, do you want to see my dress?” Lucie asked, holding her hand out for her young sister. Ella stared back skeptically.

“Is it shiny?” she asked. Ella did love shiny things. It was also why her mother had the weapons in the training room moved higher on the wall—again.

“Very shiny,” Lucie answered with a nod. “And you get one, too.”

That was enough for Ella. She slipped down off of her father’s lap and grabbed Lucie’s hand, following her and their mother up the stairs. .

“Lucie, you are pretty!” Ella yelled as Lucie emerged from behind the curtain in her gold dress. Lucie smiled brightly at Ella, then turned toward their mother and the rest of the family.

Aunt Sophie beamed. “Oh, I knew it would fit.”

Aunt Cecy and Cousin Anna nodded approvingly. Ella was rather fascinated by the blue waistcoat Anna was wearing but remembered the last time she tried to touch the fabric with her grubby, muddy hands after playing in the garden and decided that the scary look Anna gave her meant no more touching waistcoats.

Daisy emerged from behind Lucie, with Tessa, looking proud. “The future Mrs. Blackthorn, everyone,” she declared. Ella did not know what that meant, but her sister looked very happy, so she was very happy, too.

Ella stood and walked over to Lucie. She knew better than to tug on the shiny dress, but Lucie looked down, so there was no need to fight for attention anyway. “Ella,” her mother said, interrupting Ella’s thoughts—she was going to say something to her sister, but now she forgot. She turned to her mother with a confused face. “Are you excited for the wedding?”

Ella stared blankly. She did not know what a wedding was.

The women laughed. Aunt Cecy lifted Ella into her arms and poked her nose. “Do you remember Jesse?”

Ella grinned and nodded. She did remember Jesse. He had dark hair, like her, and he never said no when she asked him to go on an adventure in the garden with her. She liked Jesse.

“Well, your sister is marrying him, which means he will be your brother, too.”

Ella’s face returned to confusion. “Jamie my brother,” she said.

There was another wave of laughs, and Ella scowled. She did not like being laughed at. But Aunt Cecy smiled kindly. “Yes, he is. But Jesse will be, too. It will make sense when you are older.”

Older. Ella did not like that word.

There was a knock at the door, and Ella heard her papa’s voice. “Am I permitted to enter?”

A chorus of no’s rang out, but Ella shouted happily, “Papa!”

“You know the rules, Will,” her mother called through the closed door. “And don’t think we don’t know that James and Jesse are with you. We can see your shadows under the door.”

“How did you know it was me?” James answered. “I could have been Matthew, or Kit, or Thomas. Maybe I’m Uncle Gabriel.”

“Your Uncle Gabriel is in Idris with Uncle Gideon,” Aunt Cecy called. “But nice try.”

There was poorly-stifled laughter from the hall. “All right,” Will called, defeated. “But we’ve come to tell you that there may no longer be any desserts in the dining room when you return.”

Ella was sad about that.

@tsccreatorsnet

[tsc-updates]

Modern TID - Part 15

Part 14 - Part 16

Will and Jem ended up taking Tessa on a tour of places around the city they guessed she would enjoy. They walked along Hyde Park where Will refused to feed the ducks. Visited Oscar Wilde’s statue where Will made a point to recite one of his favorite Wilde poems. They took her to the British Library where she travelled through all the open floors and marvelled at all the ceiling-high bookshelves. They went to Pillars of Hercules, the pub mentioned in Tessa’s favorite Dickens novel, where they had snacks and drinks. They took a picture next to the “Manette Street” sign. Lastly, they went to Charing Cross Road, where Tessa must have entered almost ten different bookshops just to gawk at the second-hand books.

When they returned to the Institute, the name the boys gave the house that Tessa had picked up on, it was dinner time. They sat down at the table, still chatting about the day they’d had. Sophie pretended not to eavesdrop, but Tessa caught her grinning at certain things. Jessamine scowled, probably because the attentipn wasn’t on her. Henry was lost in his plate of peas and mashed potatoes. Charlotte rested against the back of her chair. a knowing look on her face.

Their chatter ded down after a while. The group all ate in silence until Charlotte cleared her throat. “Tessa, are we gonna have the pleasure of having you stay another night?”

She shook her head. “No, I must go back to my apartment.”

Will’s head whipped quickly in her direction, his curls bouncing. “What why?”

She giggled nervously. “Will, we agreed it was only for the weekend.”

“I know but...” He turned to her fully and took her hands. “Stay for the rest of the week.” She was going to say something, but Will gave her a look that asked her to wait. “Your brother is going to be away for another week, and everyone wants you to stay. Right guys?” He turned to the rest of the table.

Jem leaned on her left side. “I would like you to stay.”

Tessa smiled at him. “See!” Will exclaimed. “Sophie?”

“It’d be pretty cool if you stayed.” Sophie gave her a small smile.

“Charlotte?”

Charlotte nodded. “You have been quite a good company.”

“Henry?”

...

“Henry?”

Charlotte put her hand on his, and his eyes immediately lifted towards her. “Henry, dear, how would you feel about Tessa staying another week?”

He made a confused face. “Tessa?” Charlotte made a soft movement with her head towards Tessa. Henry turned his hazel eyes on her. “Oh! You’re new!”

She heard Jem snort next to her and had to stifle her own laugh. “Tessa Gray.” She put out a hand to him.

“Henry Branwell.” He shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too.” She smiled brightly.

He turned to Charlotte again. “I like her. She seems nice.” With that said, he turned back to his peas and mashed potatoes, and within seconds he was lost in his own world again.

Charlotte sighed. “That’s Henry for ‘Welcome’.”

“Everyone agrees then.” Will was cut off by Jessamine.

“I didn’t give my opinion on this yet.” She crossed her arms in annoyance.

“That’s because no one asked you.” Will gave her a fake smile and turned back to Tessa as Jessamine gave a very unladylike growl. “So will you stay for the rest of the week?”

Tessa worried at her bottom lip. Her brother was away, and she really did want to stay. “Fine, I’ll stay.” Will gave himself a fist bump in celebration. “But I still have to go to apartment.”

“Why?” He asked, the celebratory look leaving his eyes.

“I don’t have anymore clothes.” She blushed.

He chuckled. “We’ll go get some more tomorrow morning.”

“Are all of your clothes as horrifying to look at as those?” Jessamine asked, her nose twitching in disgust as she inspected Tessa’s old t-shirt and jeans.

“Apparently.” Tessa’s smile dropped onto a frown.

“Don’t bother getting your clothes then. You clearly need a makeover. Tomorrow, we go shopping.” The blonde gave small claps and squealed. “We’ll have an all-girls day! Get real close and personal.”

Charlotte waved her hand negatively right away. “I can’t. Benedict already has a stack of paperwork planned for me tomorrow.”

“Oh.” Jessamine’s flawlessly drawn pink lips formed a straight line. “Just us then.”

Sophie leaned forward, an excited smile in her face. “I know this great store that always has the prettiest bargains...”

“I’m sorry, who invited you?” Jessamine interrupted. As quickly as the smile had appeared on Sophie’s face, it vanished altogether.

“Jessamine!” Charlotte scolded.

She threw her hands up. “I just assumed she’d be too busy... dusting.” The word hit Sophie like a slap, and the look on Jessamine’s dool-like eyes said that was precisely what she had intended.

“It’s alright. Jessamine is right. I’m too busy.” She got up, not sparing a glance at anyone in the table. She kept her hazel eyes locked on her plate. “I’m going to go see if Bridget has finished dessert.” She left swiftly, but her steps were heavy with pain.

Tessa looked behind her, tracing all of Sophie’s steps. When the other girl disappeared into the kitchen, she turned back to the table and caught Jessamine’s cold gaze fixed on her. “Just you and me.” Tessa felt a chill go down her spine.

“I’ll go too.” Will shrugged.

Jessamine’s golden mane whipped with force as she look pointedly at Will. “What why?”

“Jem needs new clothes, and we both know what a terrible fashion sense he has.”

“It’s true, I have horrible taste in clothes,” Jem whispered in her ear. He straightened up. “I should probably go as well. To try out the things that Will picks out.”

Jessamine huffed. “Fine.” Her attention on them was lost as she went into rambling about something utterly ridiculous that had happened to her during the day.

Under the table, Tessa poked a hand of each boy with her nails. They both turned to her. She mouthed ‘thank you’ and heard them both chuckle. Will leaned closer to her and kissed the side of her head. Jem leaned in on her other ear and whispered. “You’re welcome. newbie.”

[ericvick]

With a scholarship to NU in hand, Mattapan youth talks about how Sportsmen's Middle anchored his lifestyle

Wesley Ward did not know substantially about tennis ahead of he very first stepped on the courts at Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center 10 years ago. Rapidly forward a decade, and the 20-calendar year-aged Mattapan native is headed to Northeastern on a valedictorian scholarship attained soon after yrs of athletic and educational development at the Blue Hill Avenue facility.

In a new job interview with the Reporter, Ward praised Sportsmen’s as an anchor institution in an region where there have not generally been a lot of resources and stores for children.

“Growing up in Mattapan, it is distinctive than most other components of Boston,” he claimed. “There is not a high college for this space. When I was escalating up, there wasn’t truly substantially of everything in this location, not until like extremely lately has there been additional designed,” he mentioned, citing the Fairmount Line acquiring a new Blue Hill Ave. station. “Before, they just type of skipped more than our town,” he said, “So I would say growing up right here has been sort of diverse in contrast to how it is heading now with issues continually enhancing and acquiring possibilities and more faculties getting designed all-around in this article, much more children heading to the library.

“Sportsmen’s, of class, has been there because way prior to I’ve been alive. It’s been a part of my family for a prolonged time,” additional Ward. “One of the major attractions of this region is the tennis courts, the parks. It gives a large amount of children in this place of Mattapan, Dorchester, and Hyde Park, and even Roslindale the option to play tennis and get assist with teachers and find out new things that Boston has to give and Sportsmen’s has to provide as well.”

Academics are viewed as just as significant as tennis at Sportsmen’s exactly where young children and teens participate in after-university applications and summer time instructional enrichment camps in addition to doing the job on their serves and backhands. Ward recalled how the heart supplied him help and assisted him obtain his footing when he was battling in college.

“When I was in elementary college, they produced guaranteed that I obtained my homework accomplished before I went on to play on the courts, and stuff like that,” said. “It was just a excellent finding out experience though I was in elementary school and center school.”

The social component of Sportsmen’s and the connections created through the extensive-reaching local community there have also experienced major impacts on the trajectory of Ward’s life, he stated.

“Sportsmen’s has a lot of prospects for networking and to make a ton of buddies,” he reported. “If I did not go to Sportsmen’s, I would not have long gone to Beacon Academy, which is a 14-thirty day period application exactly where you get to fill in some of the gaps in your education, you get to meet new children, you get to study new ordeals, and just fortify all the things and hone your abilities…Sportsmen’s really launched me to Beacon Academy.

“When I was at that system, my connections at Sportsmen’s like Ms. Wiley ended up just motivating me to excel at Beacon. I was undertaking properly on the tennis courtroom but not as properly in school, and so Sportsmen’s and Beacon have served me out.”

A youthful Ward honing his tennis abilities circa summer time 2015. Photograph courtesy Marton Balla One of Sportsmen’s staff members members close to Ward is Marton Balla, who has been his mentor given that he very first arrived to the center as a 10-12 months-previous. Balla spoke with the Reporter about how he has found Ward grow considering the fact that he arrived at the heart raw and inexperienced.

“He was talented, he liked it, he received some focus, and soon he was hooked,” recalled Balla. “It was a journey. It was not normally a smooth experience, just like for any one else. There are so a lot of features of the game to master: it’s one particular matter to strike a tennis ball but the psychological and psychological part of the activity can be extremely tricky. Wesley has developed a large amount in how he manages his thoughts and…he has matured really a bit. His notice span at the beginning was often in brief bursts, but sooner or later he grew to become these types of a grown, experienced man or woman.”

Ward’s dedication to the sport caught Balla’s eye early on, he said.

“I don’t forget when we very first begun in 2012, when my schedule obtained occupied, I told him I was only available to hit with him Saturday morning at 8. I wasn’t certain if he would demonstrate up, but he was there just about every single Saturday morning at 8. His mother couldn’t pick him up right until later on, so he would perform tennis from 8 to 9, and then sit in the lobby for the rest of the morning. He had that determination at a extremely young age.”

These times, Balla’s discussions with Ward have a tendency to veer into economics, which Balla studied in university and Ward intends to pursue at Northeastern. Having individually witnessed the development of Ward’s critical pondering expertise and his the natural way curious mind, Balla pointed to the latter fifty percent of the Sportsmen’s name— the enrichment portion— in discussing Ward’s development.

“Overall, we have a holistic frame of mind towards children. We do not just stick to tennis we make certain they establish as a man or woman, and produce values like supplying again to the neighborhood.”

Ward has previously volunteered at Sportsmen’s as a junior counselor, but this summer he’s getting on a larger function as a summertime mentor, mentoring young children and passing along his have awareness and expertise.

“It’s lovely when it comes total cycle like that,” explained Balla. “It is extremely satisfying to see, and we’re all so very pleased of him.”

Ward’s success story, extra Balla, need to be an instance to mother and father who are pondering about their children’s upcoming.

“The tuition at Northeastern now is what, $70,000 a 12 months? The typical guardian looks at that and states no way, but people today will need to know that Wesley and other individuals have a way to get in there if they work hard.”

As for Ward, he’s looking forward to savoring the “amazing” tennis courts on Northeastern’s campus, but is glad that Sportsmen’s will carry on to be a 2nd home for him.

“Tennis has intended so significantly to me when I was developing up that it is a little something I just can’t just enable go,” he claimed. “I’d really like to be able to give youngsters the exact chances and encounters I experienced, and even progress on some of the matters that I was taught so that they can have a far better working experience.”

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[fursasaida]

lmao uchicago sent out their “here’s how we’re addressing racism” statement and it’s laughable in so many ways

they have never given a shit before

they fucking led other schools in the charge against student activism re: diversifying the curriculum, safe spaces, etc back in like 2012 or whenever it was

they didn’t do jack shit for students of color when i was there

they didn’t see a problem with campus police arresting black students for being in the library while black

they had to have their arm twisted for years to agree to open a trauma center in their state of the art hospital that would actually serve the surrounding community

speaking of which, they have gentrified hyde park past all recognition

they were content to allow a Men’s Club as a student organization when i was there (you know, as a response to affinity groups and women’s groups)

the email itself LITERALLY reads like the mcsweeney’s parody

ten years after graduating this fucking institution literally makes me angry almost monthly that the common term for your undergrad school is “alma mater” because it is not the fucking mother of my god damn soul

[mannlibrary]

Mitsu Nakayama

The month of May is a month of blossoms and green growth in North America, and it seems fitting to close out Asian Pacific American Heritage month with a tribute to an artist whose work has graced some of the most important publications of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium, a national center for the systematics of wild and cultivated plants based in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. The Hortorium’s laboratories, living plant collections, and collection of rare books and ephemera in the plant sciences are housed in the Mann Library building. For four decades, Mitsu Nakayama worked alongside the Hortorium’s scientists, students, and curators to render specimens collected from campus greenhouses and gardens or further afield into crisp yet delicate 2D representations that would convey the precise insights of careful observation.

Mitsu Nakayama (at right) with colleagues, including Hortorium Director and leading authority on palms and plant taxonomy,  Harold E. Moore Jr. (at left) 

Study of Columnea Wilsonii, by Mitsu Nakayama

Mitsu Nakayama was born of Japanese parents in Westchester County, New York where she attended high school and received training in art. Having spent several years teaching art in a girl’s school in pre-War Japan, Nakayama became a staff artist at Cornell’s Hortorium in the early 1950s, where she worked until her retirement in the spring of 1980. She lived in Ithaca, N.Y. until her death in 1993.

Mitsu Nakayama at her work bench, Bailey Hortorium, Cornell University. 

Study of Commelina (Native to Florida), by Mitsu Nakayama.

Illustration of Columnea illepida, by Mitsu Nakayama. For publication with H. E. Moore’s article “Columnea illepida: A new species from cultivation," in Baileya, vol. 8 (1960), pp. 54-58. 

Nakayama provided many illustrations for the department’s journals, Gentes Herbarum and Baileya, contributing also to Hortus Third (1976). Scientific illustration can be painstaking work, involving multiple studies of individual specimens to render the most minute botanical features and details as accurately and effectively as possible. Particularly impressive in Nakayama’s drawings is the light touch maintained in creating these precise renderings--her illustrations are as much breathtaking works of art as they are works of science. 

Iris study, by, Mitsu Nakayama.

In addition to contributing to the Hortorium’s renowned publications, Nakayama made a lasting impact on the institution in at least one other important way as well. She is credited with creating the Hortorium’s original logo, which, slightly modified at the time of the renovated center’s re-opening in 2007, continues to be the Hortorium’s logo today. Give it a good look--a great deal of meaning is packed into the simple yet effective graphic, which is clearly a hallmark of Mitsu Nakayama’s life’s work 

All illustrations courtesy of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium.