#SHOW YOUR WORK

[austinkleon]

Keeping a "writer's notebook" in public imposes an unbeatable rigor, since you can't slack off and leave notes so brief and cryptic that they neither lodge in your subconscious nor form a record clear enough to refer to in future. By contrast, keeping public notes produces both a subconscious, supersaturated solution of fragmentary ideas that rattle around, periodically cohering into nucleii that crystallize into full-blown ideas

Cory Doctorow

[liminaltrickster]

Show Your Work: Nicola Coughlan/Penelope Featherington

For now, I've decided to call this series of astrological investigations "Show Your Work." It's a working title 😉

As promised, let's look for Penelope Bridgerton (née Featherington, aka Lady Whistledown) in Nicola Coughlan's chart.

But first, the same disclaimers as before:

I'm a traditional astrologer. This is the source from which I pull the meanings of the planets, houses and signs. This also means that I use Whole Sign houses. If you're used to Placidus or another house system, things will probably look a bit different here.

Yes, there are natal charts available for the characters of Colin and Penelope. I just haven't had a chance to look at them closely yet. I hope to soon, and we'll see what we can glean!

When we look at a natal chart, individual placements can be read in a multitude of ways depending on what we're wondering about. I'm coming to this chart looking for Bridgerton, so the reading will be very specific.

I don't and won't make delineations for people's personal lives without their consent. That's why we're focusing on a piece of Nicola's public creative output here.

This chart was cast with an estimated birth time, but assuming the rising sign is correct, it's fine for our purposes.

—

Just as we did with Luke's chart, looking at the ruler of the 5th house feels like the most natural thing to do. This means that for Nicola, we're going to be focusing on Mercury (☿) in Capricorn (♑) in the 12th:

The 5th House and its Ruler

Being an Aquarius rising, Nicola's 5th house is Gemini (♊). Gemini isn't the sign of our focus, but I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the Gemini themes of duality, changeability, deception and invention are quite apt as far as Penelope and Whistledown go.

Anyway, the ruler of Gemini is...

Mercury

This first part is pretty simple: Mercury rules the mind, writing and speech. Penelope is a thinker and a writer. When anyone cares to listen to her, she has a lot to say, and she says it exceedingly well.

But Mercury is also the trickster, so let's discuss the archetype (see: my username). In myths and stories, the trickster is cunning and witty. We'll always find them breaking rules and crossing boundaries, including those associated with the social order, often to chaotic effect. Penelope not only publishes a scandal sheet, but she also blows past the limits of propriety by naming names.

There's also much to be said about gossip's usefulness in holding the powerful to account and the gendered criticism of gossip. Gossip has always been a way for vulnerable groups (in this case, women) to share information outside of the influence or control of the dominant group (in this case, men). The trickster is a disruptor who challenges authority. This is Penelope as Whistledown (and, eventually, as herself).

The trickster is a shapeshifter, and I'm not only talking about Penelope donning a disguise and accent to do business on behalf of Whistledown. Just as the trickster often exhibits gender variability, Penelope plays with the gender roles of Regency society. While she's not completely free to do as she pleases, she has an occupation that she's good at, that she's passionate about, and that brings in a hefty income.

In Nicola's chart, Mercury is very closely conjunct the Sun (☉)—this is called being combust. Combustion is a visual phenomenon whereby a planet is said to be "burnt up" by the Sun and cannot be seen because the Sun's light is too bright.

I don't know if it's possible to count all of the ways that Penelope goes unseen in this show, but let's try:

Not only does the ton spend three seasons not knowing who Whistledown is, but they very rarely take any notice of Penelope either.

At any given ball, Penelope is a wallflower of the first water because none of these dud(e)s think to ask her to dance.

In fact, it's this disregard that allows Penelope to collect information, disappear from events, and even repeatedly spend unchaperoned time with Colin Bridgerton.

Colin himself takes two and a half seasons to see what's directly in front of his face (Penelope... it's Penelope, lol). He doesn't see that she clearly has feelings for him, he doesn't see her as more than a friend, and he doesn't even see that he already has feelings for her. Heck, for a while there, he doesn’t even see her as a woman (“You are Pen. You do not count. You’re my friend.” 💀).

Eloise spends two seasons looking for Whistledown, and it turns out it was her best friend all along. She's also surprised when Penelope and Colin show up engaged because she has somehow never noticed that her closest friend has been in love with her brother the whole time.

Penelope's mother and sisters assume that she's a lost cause who'll remain unmarried. When they find out she's been writing letters to Colin in season 2, they scoff at the idea of them being friends. Portia takes comfort in the idea that Penelope will always be around, but she has no clue that her home is Whistledown HQ.

The 12th House

The 12th house doubles down on these themes of something or someone being unseen. It is a difficult place, but it makes sense for Penelope. Some of its topics include secrets (yes), scandal (uh huh), and hidden enemies (I'd say so).

It's also a place of ostracization. As a woman seen as undesirable for marriage, Penelope is already snubbed by Regency society. Whether it's by her friend (and future husband) Colin Bridgerton or her enemy Cressida Cowper, she's suffered no shortage of slights and cruelty.

She keeps her identity as Whistledown a secret for so long because she risks further alienation if the ton discovers who's been casting aspersions and spilling their secrets.

This house is a place of "self-undoing." Whatever we may think of Whistledown's utility, the whole scheme gets away from Penelope this season. By her own admission, she's made mistakes, hurting others and herself in the process. The only way forward is to own up to it.

Capricorn

Nicola herself has referred to Capricorn as a "famously uncool sign," and I suppose Capricorn has this reputation due to the seriousness of its themes. Resourcefulness, persistence, ambition and goal-setting aren't particularly cool, but they can certainly get you stacks of money under the floorboards.

Capricorn can also be steely and even ruthless. Penelope is a fundamentally good person, but there's an eerie level of discipline, detachment and single-mindedness required to publish gossip about those closest to you, not to mention about yourself.

That being said, I believe that Capricorn (like all signs) is much more complex than folks give it credit for. Let's refer again to Liz Greene in The Astrology of Fate:

I understand [Joseph] Campbell to be saying by this that the father-son polarity, the avenging Lawgiver whose strict and structured rules of life collide with the lusty, libidinous goat-like desires of the son, exists within the one individual. Morality and shame, law and lawlessness, seem to comprise some of the polar opposites of Capricorn. The son must face the father's punishment, only to find that the father is within himself; and the father, the old king, must face the son's rebellion, only to find that it is his own youthful spirit that he thought he had outgrown long ago. The initiation of the son by the father is an inner experience which, it seems as though by fate, Capricorn is often denied in the actual parental relationship, and he must therefore seek it within himself on a deeper level. By this description I am, as usual, not talking about men only, for this father-son constellation belongs as much to woman and her capacity for effectiveness and self-sufficiency in the world as it does to man.

That sums up Pen’s arc pretty tidily, don’t you think?

It's only when she decides to come off the wall and integrate these two disparate parts of herself that she's able to start saying what's really on her mind and articulating her needs. This is when she starts getting what she actually wants: to be with the person she loves, to have better relationships with her mother and sisters, to earn the forgiveness of her best friend, to write openly as herself, and to be recognized by society.

—

That’s all folks!

The next one of these, whenever I get to it, will be looking for Sydney Adamu in Ayo Edibiri's chart.

[mozaicstudio]

Feeling playful with pen and ink today. This abstract design makes me happy, hope you enjoy it as well.

#abstractart #penandink #abstractdrawing #art #artist #contemporaryart

[allycat75]

I am beginning to wonder if this is who you really are, Boston Dumb Fuck.

But hey, prove me wrong. 🤷‍♀️

[shukei-jiwa]

'Aight, The first chapter of "Stranger In My Dream" officially released, hehe! Come find me on Wattpad !

Feel free to a look at my story, i made the cover myself! (But in the wrong size, it should've 512x800 but i use 800x1228)

Here are the link to SIMD in bahasa Indonesia (ID) :

And guess what! I got a free time today, so i was able to dum-dum-dum-dum translate it to English! Yeay! 🎉🎉

I hope you guys enjoy it, SIMD will be update every Friday and i'll try my best to stay consistent! Hihi. Oh! And don't forget to give me your opinion, so I can continue to improve. Thank you!

[mindingbussiness]

Today's highlight :)

Posting this to keep reminding myself things I wanna remember

[shay3li]

I'm glad that despite bad algorithms, many of you still show your works on social media. Don't let yourself break cause the world needs you, I need you. You are important 🖤

[sunahjewelry]

Trying to stay consistent with my sketchbook practice. While I was living in Chattanooga last summer I made my sketchbook a big priority in my process. I sort of re-learned the importance of ideating on paper. I sometimes forget that my sketchbook is not a place for perfection but a place for iterations and problem solving. Taking the things I’ve been exposed to and drawing influence from them quickly on paper has been my routine lately. It’s not pretty, but my ideas are flowing quicker these days.

[harveydentfanclub]

billy fandom what tswift album do we think he is

[lovelycanica]

I sketch this while I was listening to the audiobook "Show Your Work" by Austin Kleon, which was so nice and learn a lot so I decide to take some notes while drawing. There was a lot that stuck with me and there are things that I want to try, it was so nice to hear advice and reassurance about just showing what you love and let yourself make mistakes. It's okay. It doesn't have to be perfect. You are okay!

[glitteringkatie]

Refrigerator Art

I read a lot about creativity. I see myself as a creative person, but not in a field that is traditionally seen as “creative”. But what is creativity? Creating. You create something for some reason and put it out there.

Then what is software? That’s creating code to teach a crystal with lightning how to show the internet. I digress. This isn’t a post about why software is a creative trade.

Back to reading. I’ve found a pattern of books that spark my creative interest: they focus more about sharing your work or making space in your head to make the work than anything else.

Both Show Your Work by Austin Kleon and Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte talk about this concept of bite sized work. They call this work “stock” or “intermediate packets”, respectively. And respectively? I hate those terms.

So I’m going to make refrigerator art. Refrigerator art is bite sized, something you see when your main point isn’t to Observe Art™, and there is no pressure on quality. If a 6 year old can make art deemed worthy of the refrigerator in a day, then so can I.

I’m not sure what medium this will take—infographics, mini blog posts, water color, lil doodles, whatever. But it doesn’t matter. The sheer fact that this refrigerator art is coming from my brain means it is a cohesive body of work. I’m what ties it together!

But maybe you can expect a more deep dive into these books I’ve found creatively intriguing. But also this isn’t an assignment to me. I CAN DO WHAT I WANT.

It’s Refrigerator Art ✨

(Find all books from graphic on my list on Bookshop.org)

[liminaltrickster]

Show Your Work: Luke Newton/Colin Bridgerton

Yes, of course, I cast charts with estimated birth times based on the information Nicola and Luke shared above, haha.

When I was looking at Luke's chart, something fun happened. My eye was very quickly drawn to a placement that screamed Colin Bridgerton! to me, so let's talk about it.

But first a few disclaimers:

I'm a traditional astrologer. This is the source from which I pull the meanings of the planets, houses and signs. This also means that I use Whole Sign houses. If you're used to Placidus or another house system, things will probably look a bit different here.

Yes, there are natal charts available for the characters of Colin and Penelope. I just haven't had a chance to look at them closely yet. I hope to soon, and we'll see what we can glean!

When we look at a natal chart, individual placements can be read in a multitude of ways depending on what we're wondering about. I'm coming to this chart looking for Bridgerton, so the reading will be very specific.

I don't and won't make delineations for people's personal lives without their consent. That's why we're focusing on a piece of Luke's public creative output here.

As I said, these charts were cast with estimated birth times, but assuming the rising signs are correct, it's fine for our purposes.

—

OK, here's what we're looking at in this post—Jupiter (♃) in Libra (♎) in the 3rd:

The 5th House and its Ruler

The 5th house rules creativity, so when looking at the creative output of an actor, I start here. Being a Leo rising, Sagittarius (♐) is in Luke's 5th house. (Side note: Both the 5th house and Sagittarius are associated with hedonism and the pursuit of pleasure. How fitting for a show like Bridgerton!)

From here, we look to the planetary ruler of Sagittarius, which is...

Jupiter

Jupiter is associated with exaggeration and expansion. In Luke's chart, it's in the 3rd house of siblings. As we know, the show centres around a family that includes 8 children, which is... a lot, lol.

Jupiter also represents nobility (the Bridgertons fall under a viscountcy) and prosperity (they riiiich).

Lastly, Jupiter often brings with it themes of faith, trust, and hope. These are essential elements of any romance, but I find it particularly the case this season because both Penelope and Colin continually and consciously put themselves in the vulnerable position of telling each other what they want and need. They've developed a lot of trust in each other through their friendship and seem to have faith that if they just put themselves out there, no matter how terrifying, it'll be worth it.

The 3rd House

We've already discussed siblings, but another 3rd house topic is neighbours and we know where Penelope lives:

In fact, almost the entirety of Bridgerton is set in the local environment (another 3rd house topic) of Mayfair in London.

Another mainstay of the 3rd house is writing, including letter-writing. Enough said. Also, gossip and rumours. Again, enough said.

Traditionally, the 3rd house was also associated with the Queen and, in Bridgerton, she holds ultimate sway and power over all of the other characters.

I think there's also something to be said for the fact that Colin ends up with Penelope, who, as Whistledown, is eminent in power and achievement. Given the context of her life and the show, it’s not wrong to regard her as a self-made queen 😉

Libra

Finally, we come to Libra.

Libra is associated with beauty, and on the surface level, obviously, everyone and everything on the show is beautiful—from the cast to the costumes to the sets to the music. It's all eye (and ear) candy!

But Libra is about evaluation and judgment. The show is narrated by a gossip writer (and future Mrs. Colin Bridgerton) who passes judgment on the members of the ton.

It also makes sense that once Whistledown is unmasked, she promises to be more discerning and fair in her writing as these are also Libran themes.

Not to mention that Colin is consistently concerned with the fair treatment of people around him, especially those who are dear to him.

As Liz Greene writes in The Astrology of Fate:

"The sign is much more connected with questions of ethics and morality, judgement and apportionment. This theme of morality is one which I have encountered many times in the lives of Librans, for there is that within the sign which longs for the verification of this deity who holds the perfectly balanced scales of judgement; and in order to achieve such an experience, imbalance and extremes and the violation of the law are necessary happenings from which Libra does not readily escape."

"The law" in this passage also means truth and the social order.

Colin spends much of season 3 trying to reconcile what he views as Penelope's unfair treatment of himself, his family and Marina against the fundamentally good person he knows her to be. How can she be both?

As far as his character arc goes, sorting this out is messy but unavoidable.

—

OK, I think that's everything. I'm always amazed at what we can find by looking at just one placement.

I noticed one other thing in Luke's chart that immediately made me think of a specific scene. You can check that out here.

And I'll try to post about where I see Penelope/Lady Whistledown in Nicola's chart sometime later this week.

[an-artthief]

daily dispatch #1: anyone there?

I've read Show Your Work by Austin Kleon at least five times now. It usually catches my attention on my bookshelf when I've been creating a lot and don't know who to share it to other than my handful of friends.

One section of the book is literally titled "Send out a Daily Dispatch" talks about putting out a little something about your process every day (the sections before talk about documenting your process, so if you're doing that, you can do this part).

My problem, as (primarily) a writer, was figuring out how exactly to share my process.

This is probably my third or fourth attempt at starting a personal blog at this point. And I've had a few years between the last time I tried this. Which means I think I have a better understanding of what I want to put out, how I want to do it, and why I have this urge to do it.

So, hello to the void of the Internet.

PS: There are nearly 10000 reblogs on my account before this post. I think it shows a lot of the things that I've liked over the years. I didn't have the heart (or interest) in starting another blog elsewhere.

[mozaicstudio]

A lil’ rabbit sketch to celebrate the season.

[allycat75]

If you are looking for some actual help this political season, here are some resources that don't phone it in from a bunch of neophytes, clout chasers and future has-beens.