#book castles

[gateskp]

Libraries are important

My Silent Gen grandparents like to write me long emails and letters about everything going on in their lives. Today my grandma sent me an email and told me about how she negotiated for a lower internet/phone bill and got free cell service for a year, and she traded in her old cell phone (I think it was a flip phone, my grandparents didn't get a cell phone until 2013 and that was because when I was visiting, the car broke down and I had a phone that we used to call AAA) for a new one (a Samsung 14G? idk, I don't think she knows either)

ANYWAY. Grandma signed up for classes at the library so she can learn to use the phone because she's afraid of doing something that makes it not-work. She goes to the library to check out books and has taken classes there before.

SO: this is a reminder that public libraries are critically important. They're social centres, they teach important community-based classes to people (esp older people), they provide resources...I could keep going.

Libraries are so much more than just Book Castles. Support your local library. Protect it from those who seek to destroy it and the treasures stored within.

[sadfishkid]

green slime be upon ye

[oexas]

A lil practice in perspective with this piece mostly, so here's Howl and Sophie, who I designed based 50/50 on their book and movie counterparts! I actually would love to revisit this piece and paring in the future, since the book is one of my all time favs

[shebsart]

Im sick with flu so naturally I picked up my newly bought copy of Howl's Moving Castle which includes DWJ interviews in the back.

And im in love with the way she tells these stories feels like a part of her books.

And my favorite:

The magic in the mundane :)

edit: I'm copying the ID by @princess-of-purple-prose below, thank you!

[ID: Excerpts of printed text which read:

I suppose there's also a biographical element in that Sophie is the eldest of three sisters, and so am I. The idea for Sophie grew out of the time I discovered I had a very severe milk allergy. I almost lost the use of my legs and had to walk with the aid of a stick. I was moderately young, but because of this I suddenly became old.

I had to wait until I knew what Wizard Howl was like. I began to discover Howl about the time when one of my sons took to spending several hours in the bathroom every morning and I got really, really, really annoyed with him.

Where were you when you wrote it? I wrote the book the way I write everything, stretched out on the big sofa in my sitting room, in everyone's way. This often annoys my husband rather a lot.

which made me burst out laughing. I laughed and laughed at the seven league boot, and when I came to the bit where Sophie accidentally makes Howl's suit twenty times too big for him, I laughed so much that I fell off the sofa. My husband was really irritated by this time. He snapped, "You can't be making yourself laugh!" And I gasped, "But I am, I am!" and rolled about on the floor.

Are any of your relatives or friends included in the book? Yes, well the thing that started me off writing the book was a friend of mine who never does her laundry. She has it around the place in huge bags for often as much as a year. When she does tip it all out and try to wash it, she discovers all sorts of clothes that she has forgotten she had.

Which is your favourite part of the book and why? I like the book all over, but I suppose if I had to choose a bit, I'd choose the place where Howl gets a cold. It so happened that when I was writing this bit, my husband caught a bad cold. He is the world's most histrionic cold catcher. He moans, he coughs, he piles on the pathos, he makes strange noises, he blows his nose exactly like a bassoon in a tunnel, he demands bacon sandwiches at all hours, and he is liable to appear (usually wrapped in someone else's dressing gown) at any time, announcing that he is dying of neglect and boredom. So all I had to do was write it down. End ID]

[winter2468]

Howl truly is the man of all time. He’s a playboy. He’s a malewife. He fell in love with a ninety year old woman. He’s a rugby player. He smells like hyacinths. He’s not a natural blond. When dying his hair went slightly wrong, he filled his home with slime. He has a PhD. He’s a wizard. He found a way to another universe and he told absolutely nobody about it. He makes video games about the magical universe for his nephews. He can’t play the guitar. He always takes a guitar with him when he’s trying to seduce a woman. He’s a self-proclaimed coward. He got drunk to trick himself into doing something dangerous. He overcharges for his services to rich people. He undercharges for his services to poor people. A woman invaded his home and declared herself his cleaning lady and he just let her stay. He loves spiders. He lies about his surname to everyone, including royalty. The true spelling of his first name is Howell, but we don’t find out until halfway through the book because the POV character thinks it’s spelled Howl. He’s even Welsh.

[simplyjustagirlsblog]

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Castles - art by Alan Lee (1984)

[ramshacklefey]

I've seen increasing buzz around here about Howl's Moving Castle (book). I think you all deserve to know that all of Diana Wynne Jones's books are filled with characters and plots that are absolutely as delightful and unhinged as that one.

Some Actual Plots include:

Dogsbody - The star Sirius is accused of murder and sentenced to exile on Earth in the body of a dog until he finds a magical item called a Zoi. He's adopted by a young Irish girl living with her abusive and neglectful English relatives. He has to balance his desire to find the Zoi with needing to be a Good Dog for the girl who takes care of him. Also the Wild Hunt is there. Hexwood - A girl finds a magical wood behind her house where she meets a wizard who thinks he's a convict of the intergalactic government, a boy created by the man to destroy said government, and a robot found in a junk heap. The magic wood is actually an alternate reality being generated by an AI who has a grudge to settle with the head of said government. The book is about abuse, PTSD, and trauma. The Dark Lord of Derkholm - Magical world is being destroyed by a company using it as an isekai amusement park for people from another dimension. Bio-wizard is appointed Dark Lord for the year, and he and his family (four of whom are bioengineered griffins) have to find a way to survive the season while everything is going wrong. Deep Secret - Interdimensional detective/diplomat/wizard needs to find a replacement for his deceased mentor. He does so at a fantasy convention, while trying to keep an interdimensional empire from collapsing into civil war after the emperor is assassinated along with all of his heirs.

She's an absolute master at weaving fantasy elements into the mundane world and writing from the PoV of kids. Her books are funny, clever, and full of delightful characters. I'm begging you all to check them out.

[felixandresims]

Hello Hello Hello :),

I swear it's a coincidence that EA just published a Book Nook kit, maybe they have seen my hint from last month :D, joking.

I am thrilled to show you this month's items, a 40-piece modular library. The bookshelves are traditional in style and perfect for a chateau setting, in my opinion :) The Bookshelf can be made from six pieces: two single-tile bookshelves, a 2-tile version, a rounded inside corner, an outside corner, and an extra decorative piece for separation. The bookshelves are full height and you will get short, medium, and tall versions. To spice up this library you will get ladders for the medium and tall versions.

Now let me reveal a little secret, I made functional secret book doors matching the shelves, I included arch versions too :) People were asking me to make them for years, but don't ask me why it took me so long to create them :D, I loved watching my testing sims walk through the book wall.

To fill up all the space I created 14 clutter items, 9 book pieces in two different styles and various sizes, 2 sculptures, 2 vases, and a box. I matched the slots to the dimensions of my items and everything can be mixed and matched quite well :)

This Set is on Early Access and you will find it here

Thank you again for all the support I hope you enjoy using this set!

Happy Simming and lots of Love,

Felix xxx

[myhyperfixationisiforgot]

Look it is very important to me that everyone knows that Sophie is also fucking nuts in the book. Everybody always talks about how absurd Howl in the book but Sophie is right there with him.

She's so determined to be the normal sister that she's just actually convinced herself that the magic she is clearly, visibly, blatantly performing happens to everyone. Just. You know. Not anyone around her. The curse wore off weeks ago and she's just totally sure she's happier as an old woman. Her sisters have initiated some complex long-game tomfoolery to switch lives and Sophie also thinks that this is the most logical choice.

Sophie does not move in with a romantic mythic man who treats her right, she moves in with a runaway doctoral candidate who immediately dates her sister and drags her into his family drama. She and Howl are both so afraid of romantic commitment they accidentally trick themselves into becoming life partners. They kill the witch of the waste mostly on a whim, and they argue about which one of them is more impulsive for doing so the whole time.

[jupiterlandings]

Rip Howl Pendragon, you would’ve loved Korean skincare.

[peacefulandcozy]

Instagram credit: opheliesz

[mydaylight]

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson: English covers

[shopwitchvamp]

"People need to read the book to see how dramatic book-Howl is!" True, but on top of that, even people who read the book need to read the sequels..

[laurenillustrated]

A Walk in the Skies 👒

Howl’s Moving Castle illustration!

[vseshlo]

movie howl vs book howl (i like both of them)