The Housestaff at the Townhouse Of The Boisterous Author
Some new Fallen London background character designs of mine!
As many who are familiar with basic facts of the victorian era know, a signficiant portion of the population in the 19th century worked in domestic service. Within households servants had their own titles and roles, especially in wealthier families who had great many working within a house -
And, going along with that, many people, even those just lower-middle class, had servants doing the housework, which was an incredibly time consuming task in the victorian era. This was before stainless steal, when basic household items had to be made by hands, with ironing to be done, and so, so much soot around - it was a lot of work.
I'll spare you all a further ramble of all i know about servants in the victorian era - but suffice to say, and as many already know, I have been thinking about giving more detail into those who work within my Fallen London PCs households!
Further detail on these characters under the cut
Viola
Age: Seventeen!
Role: Housemaid
Personality:
Anxious and shy, but very sweet and well meaning, poor Viola is not exactly the best at her job.She's extremely determined to figure it out, even if she has a habit of dropping things! Just give her the chance!
Previous Employment:
Viola previously, but briefly, worked at The Palace. Her elder sister who had worked their much longer had recently developed an illness, and the role had to be filled.
Things did not go well for Viola.
An inccident one day while Mst. Awnings was at the Palace led to a sort of confrontation, which ended in them offering her a job at their own home in the end instead.
Mary-Anne
Age: My, don't you know its terribly rude to inquire about a woman's age?
Role: Housekeeper
Personality:
It is Mary-Anne's job to run the house, and she is going to do it properly. Even if everything seems so set against her doing so....
Mary-Anne oversees all of the other staff at the house, and does not let them forget it. She is caring, but strict, and has certain expectations on the way things are meant to be done. She will never stand by and let things just happen - no matter who the one is comitting the offence.
Previous Employment:
Mary-Anne has been working for service for many, many years. It was her job on the surface, though her role and age was very different back then, and it is her role now. She had been the head of the staff at a large residence in London for many years now.
However after witnessing certan records and an incident by the former homeowner, Mary-Anne had refused to stay silent - which kept her morals clear, but left her without a job and without a recommendation.
She initially worked for Mst. Awnings alone, minimal job oppurtunities presented to her, and while she certainly complains about the... less typical attitudes of this household, she is not inclined to leave.
Edith
Age: Forty something or other. What's it to ya?
Role: Cook
Personality:
Edith has been round the block, and has been in and out of many kitchens in her life time. Her experience in resturants has built her, and though there's been a few flames here or there, she's not much inclined for worries.
Edith is rather gruff and improper, and isn't inclined to follow so called social norms. She'll do her job how she wants, and smokes wherever she damn well pleases. Ain't like she's hurting anyone, anyways.
You aint gonna find someone else who can work as well as she can.
Previous Employment:
Edith had been working at a particular resturant near Spite for a couple years now, and hadnt been much planning to move. However, during the GCO, Edith got caught among the chaos, and ended up sustaining a significant leg injury.
Her previous employer was not inclined to provide supports such as sitting in a busy kitchen job, and Edith found herself looking elsewhere. Which is how she found herself working in a house kitchen rather then a resturant one - with certainly an interesting state of requests.
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One Dress a Day Challenge
So Evil My Love / Ann Todd as Olivia Harwood
I haven't seen this movie, but apparently it's about a woman who gets drawn into a life of crime after falling for a charming rake (based on a true story), and it's set in the 1890s. Costumes are by Edith Head.
I really love the embroidery on this dress, especially the intricate patterns on the underskirt. I wish I knew what color the dress was, but the embroidery provides plenty of visual interest even without that.
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ASK EDDIE returns Thursday, February 1, 7:00 PM PT to our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/filmnoirfoundation/live
FNF prez Eddie Muller responds to film noir fan questions fielded by the Foundation's Director of Communications Anne Hockens. In this episode, we discuss our NOIR CITY 21 festival, ”Monsieur Spade”, Edith Head and other sartorial subjects, John Garfield, “Fat City”, and more. We wind up with a discussion of which film noir doctor we would go to if ill. Sorry, folks, not cats in this episode.
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