#i'm in the middle of taking some required italian classes and i'm using this as a way to study and practice and shit

[say-hi-intrepid-heroes]

bad news for the new year: i've returned to a toxic, manipulative, relationship where i will never be good enough in their eyes. i've returned to duolingo and its accursed owl.

[cityof2morrow]

(Re)organizing Your CAS/Bodyshop Folders

Published: 2-16-2025 | Updated: N/A SUMMARY One of the challenges of themed worldbuilding in Sims 2 is finding the custom content (CC) to bring your world(s) to life. Between October and December 2024, I reorganized my CAS/Bodyshop folders, purging ~4-5 gigs of CC. I wanted to share the strategies I use - Plan, Shop, Sort & Delete!

PHASE ONE: PRE-PLAN WITH A BASIC BACKSTORY Having a backstory for your world is not required  – simming is supposed to be flexible and open-ended after all – but it will make organizing CC easier if you do. The backstory is your rationale for why your sims look the way they do…the basis for whatever CAS/Bodyshop-related CC you decide to use. This should evolve as you start shopping/sorting CC. Skip to PHASE TWO below if you want to skip the “backstory” phase and jump straight into (re)organizing files. First, figure out the WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY details of your world. You don’t have to figure out everything now. If anything, try to come up with the most basic details. (1) WHAT kind of society do your sims live in (utopian, dystopian, mixed, fantasy, etc.)? Example: Pleasantview is pseudo-utopian, midcentury-style, pedestrian, mostly middle-class neighborhood. Strangetown is an eccentric, comically dystopian town nearby. (2) WHEN do played events in your world take place (recent or distant past, modern-day present, near or distant future, timeless, etc.) Example: Pleasantview and Strangetown are set in the early 2000s, after an alien abduction. Veronaville is 2000s-era take on the English/Italian elements of Shakespeare's universe, inspired by 13th century political factions.

Pictured: My game takes place in a retro-afro-futuristic setting...it's not uncommon to see A.I's, drones, and other non-human sims through the world. (3) WHERE do your sims live in this world? There should be some climate/seasonal clues here. People tend to dress for the weather – your sims should too! Example: Pleasantview is a lush, mostly temperate, hilly/mountainous, waterside, suburb outside of SimCity. Nearby Strangetown is a rural, militarized spot along a desert highway, not far from an alien crash site.

Pictured: My sims live on an arid planet that they terraformed and altered with advanced tech. Their clothing reflects the climate. (4) WHO are the sims in your world? Whether you focus on social groups or individual families and sims, make sure your ideas hint at the kind of lifestyle those sims have (jobs, hobbies, abilities, income, social roles, etc.). Example: Take the social groups from the Apartment Life EP for example. Gearhead townies often have darker, torn, utilitarian clothing. Meanwhile, socialites have more expensive looking outfits appropriate for leisure and high-status career paths. Lilith and Angela Pleasant are sisters with highly conflicting personalities – so they must have drastically different looks.

Pictured: My simlish society includes plantsims and hybrid plantsims (half plant, half human). These sims are more likely to be a part of my eco-friendly faction. (5) WHY do they appear the way they do? Dress them appropriately for the climate and time but make sure they actually look like members of their given social groups. You don’t have to make things historically accurate or logical unless you want to – have fun. Example: The utilitarian/punk-style look of the gearheads reflects their lower income and “toughness.” As nonconformists, bohemians dress in loose, artsy and colorful pieces. Lillith’s darker/gothic style reflects her grouchy/rebel personality in opposition to her more suburban/agreeable sister Angela.

Pictured: I'm using lots of trait and occult mods to reorganize my supernaturals into elemental classes. Here is a waterborne conjurer (left) and a grimborne necromancer (right). PHASE TWO: GO CC SHOPPING (AGAIN) This is the fun part. Now that you have a general backstory, go CC shopping! Grab everything that might fit – don’t overthink it! If you like it and think the sims in your world might rock it, download it. However, I recommend coming up with some ground rules, such as (1) A maximum poly count range (“faces” in simPE) for hairs, accessories, and/or clothes. Example: I have 32GB of RAM and decent hardware, but I still avoid hairs above 10K poly. If I really want it, I might go as high as 12-13K – no more than that. This is admittedly a conservative limit compared to lots of contemporary simmers. (2) A maximum file size (in gigabytes/GB) for all CAS/Bodyshop CC you’re willing to put in-game at one time. For windows players, SIZE is the actual size of your files/folders. SIZE ON DISK is the amount of storage they take up via system processes such as (de)compression, duplication, etc. Example: A maximum of ~6GB (actual size) of CAS/Bodyshop CC is my self-imposed limit. This keeps loading times and performance ideal since I also use several gigs of build/buy CC and mods. (3) Choose custom body shapes sooner rather than later. More than 50 (!) custom body shapes have been made for Sims 2 over the past two decades. Make sure you can find enough clothing for whatever shape(s) you choose…including career/work clothing. Example: Currently, I use 8 custom shapes - 3 for male/masculine sims (Bodybuilder, Fat, Bear Bodybuilder) and 5 for female/femme sims (Bodybuilder, Classic Pin-up, Dummy Thicc (not pictured directly below; pictured at the end of this post), Momma Lisa, Rio). I eliminated others to stay below my maximum file limit.

Pictured: When choosing body shapes, I spent a lot of time comparing options. If you really like a shape but it lacks clothing, try using it alongside a similar shape. For example, I used clothing for the 'heavy male' and 'chubby guy' shapes on the same sims for a while. (4) Choose REPO’D versions whenever possible. Reposited/texture-linked skins, hairs, clothing, and accessories share image resources across multiple files. In contrast, standalone versions contain a copy of all necessary texture images in each file. Repo’d files are typically smaller in size/quantity and easier on game performance. PHASE THREE: SORT & DELETE This is the annoying part – but the payoff is worth it. I sort my CAS/Bodyshop CC in phases. If the CC doesn’t fit the backstory for my hood or exceeds my limit for poly counts – I remove it right away! I sort what’s left using the following criteria: - weakest fit for my backstory compared to other CC - poly count is too high - broken/bad CC (missing mesh, warped/distorted, excessive clipping, causes lag) - duplicate files and repetitive looks (too many items that look about the same) - repetitive colors (12 colors of each outfit, in 3 different shades/textures each, is too much for me!) I repeat this process anytime I add more CC to my game. During steps 4 and 5, I start recategorizing/townie-fying CC as well (see recommended programs below). I usually save the color/texture-sorting round for last. I just might be able to keep more color/texture options if I’m still below my max file limits (repo’d CC really comes in handy here!). …ENJOY! Organizing CAS/Bodyshop CC is often tedious and frustrating, but smooth, performance-friendly gameplay is worth it! The recommended mods/programs below allow more random diversity in my simlish population, and the sims truly look like they come from my world – not one dreamed up for me by maxis. I don’t play with pre-made sims, so seeing townies and NPCs with “maxis face” in my hood is considered an act of violence! Repo’d items, separates, and recategorized CC makes the same items available to more sims. I end up needing less CC overall…..then again, they also make it easier to justify more CC shopping. 😊 See how I organize my individual mods/cc folders for Sims 2 HERE (2024).

Pictured: Rough drafts...recreations of Urbz sims. RECOMMENDED CAS/BODYSHOP-RELATED MODS -Shared Maxis Outfits for YAs, Adults & Elders (Sim-Wolf, 2009; or Motoki, 2005) - young adults, adults, and elders will share the same default outfits. -Buyable Maxis Work, NPC, and Maternity Clothes (Motoki, 2005) – outfits are buyable when creating sims in CAS or shopping on community lots; clothing racks by Gayars (2019) HERE. -Separates For All (LazyDuchess, 2021) – dress sims in separate tops/bottoms in all clothing categories (you still need to download CC separates or recategorize default separates). Outside of the everyday category, you can only view/pick separates in-game via CAS (not Bodyshop). -Sim BIN NPCs (Test Version) (Free via Patreon - LazyDuchess, 2022) – townies/NPCs will generate using the genetics of custom sims saved in Bodyshop instead of default genetics. You need to download and/or save a larger-than-usual number of sims to your SavedSims folder for best results. Requires RPC Launcher (LazyDuchess, 2020).

-TS2 CAS Makeup Lag Fix (Test Version) (Free via patreon – LazyDuchess, 2024) – minimizes the infamous lag players experience when using the CAS makeup tabs in-game. -Townie Body Diversity (Nysha, 2017) – townies/non-playables will generate in different sizes (i.e. thin/fat/fit). RECOMMENDED CAS/BODYSHOP PROGRAMS -Sims2Pack Clean Installer (Mootilda, 2014; 2010) – use it to safely install custom sims (as well as lots, store content, etc.) or select CC used to make them; scan/sort duplicates and specific file types as well. -Bodyshop Organization Kit (BSOK Editor) (WHoward/PickNMix, 2024) - sort clothing/accessories according to default/custom body shapes. FYI: Sometimes, hairs may show up as “clothing.” -Outfit Organiser (WHoward/PickNMix, 2024) - sort and recategorize items across the CAS/Bodyshop catalog. -Delphy’s Download Organiser (Delphy/Tashiketh, 2020; 2007) – organize and investigate package files; compare poly counts at a glance. NOTE: Reported counts are global (total count for all versions contained in the package file) rather than the actual/original count (the count for the object in its normal/static state). If you’re unsure, double-check the count in simPE.

[peoplesrazor]

Part Two. Link to part one.

This is about things Lily does that could be considered part of Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt. I'm going to be fair as possible and none of these are a reach. Also, I'm going to skip anything that has to do with nations and militaries. Again, I don't think Lily is as strong as she thinks I do, or else those would be included.

Also, unlike Lily, I'm going to acknowledge that these were written about a very special type of person in a very special kind of nation going through some unusual times. I have a feeling that's why she didn't use the correct name of his list. Can't have people looking up what a blackshirt is, can we? Else they might wonder what someone posting on tumblr might have to do with the Italian military in WW2.

So, again, this isn't one for one and feel free to take it with a grain of salt. Lily, you can take it with a spoonful of sugar. I hear it makes the medicine go down.

The rejection of modernism

This is my weakest point, as Eco was talking about people of the past feeling everything that came after the Age of Reason as depraved. Then again, he wasn't trying to link online discourse to fascism either. Lily does keep claiming older works were somehow superior.

Disagreement is treason

I shouldn't have to point out how Lily treats anyone who disagrees with her, even her fans.

Fear of difference

Here it is, this is the one I hinted at in the last post. This is that othering I was talking about. I quote: The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. "No one should listen to my critics, they are dirty stalkers and transphobes and you are too if you disagree with me," says Lily.

Appeal to social frustration

This is the appeal to the middle class. You know, all that rent talk and inflation stuff she's been spewing. @sillylilyposting has a post about this and other points on this list as well.

The obsession with a plot

Frankly, the rest of this list wouldn't be possible if she wasn't. Basically, we can't just be critical of her work, we have to be part of a larger obsession with attacking her because of...well, take your pick: She's a woman. She's a transwoman. She's indigenous. She's indigenous but not brown enough. She's indigenous, but makes her puppet too brown. Or we are just plain stalkers.

Make no mistake, by constantly parroting those plots, not only does she stop her fans from speaking out, not only does she make them afraid of being painted with that brush, she also makes it okay for them to attack and belittle us, cause we are the bad guys, right?

Once again, I want to acknowledge that those things do happen, and that Lily has likely experienced, at least transphobia. To have Lily Orchard, of all people, be the one transgender person I've ever met, spoke to, or heard of who hasn't experienced it is, frankly, ridiculous. I'm just saying that's not the motive of every critic and pretending it is, is just another form of othering.

I'm going to skip Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. It's there, but I feel that's more on the fan's end. This would be them coming into anon asks and attacking people. Here is an example, of such a post sent to @that-one-kiddo-in-the-back but be forewarned it's not pretty and could be triggering. This could be Lily, but it's just as likely to be a fan who feels they can't just stand by and also feel they can attack us, because hey, we ain't one of them, are we? See fear of difference above. There's that othering again. You'll see it if you do look at the post more clearly. Being told they shouldn't be allowed to be who they clearly are because they are critical of Lily.

I'm going to skip Everybody is educated to become a hero as I feel it's too closely linked, in this case, with my last point about her fans.

Machismo and weaponry

I could skip this one. It does require a bit of a modern reading. Let's point out the obvious connotations, though. Lily does seem to dismiss women creators more often, and she does seem to be a bit more, let's say unsavory, in her attacks on Ant, a bisexual man than on others. So, I'm going to leave this here.

Selective populism

Okay, going to copy this word for word. There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People. Now if you read this and think, wait, everything Lily says about fandoms and so on seems to go against this happening, you're correct.

But does she not want current fandoms to be "the Voice of the People," because that would be a bad idea.

Or is it because it's not her voice that is "the Voice of the People."

I'm presenting this as food for thought, and not a definitive take. Something I'll repeat at the end, but especially for this point. That's why I made sure to copy the whole thing.

Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak

Last but not least. First, I've accused Lily of this before. She's totally not responsible for SU having it's reputation ruined in one post and totally has the most popular video, if you trimmed down the videos that are about theories or whatever on SU, in another post. She's beaten up Courtney and been beaten up by Courtney. And so on.

She's more familiar with Newspeak at this point than Orwell.

Also this direct quote from the definition of what this is: All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.

Okay, so, I'm going to assume I don't have to point out the lack of critical reasoning Lily is pretty much famous for. That is, aside from straight up lack of media literacy, what we have been talking about. Lily does leap from point a to point z without much critical thought sometimes.

Again, this is food for thought and most of this is not a one to one comparison. I would have never just made these points so blatantly had Lily not invoked the Umberto Eco trap card on us. I just wanted to point out how controlling behavior is easily fit into this model.

You can read more about Umberto Eco's work and see the actual list here.

[quantomeno]

(there's a Bionicle reference at the end of this, be patient)

So once I did this subject in uni which was an Italian culture and language subject. It was like 20 students and 2 teachers in Italy for 3 weeks. In the middle of it we were in Rome and some sort of sickness was spreading through the group and by the point my story starts about half of the students were sick. Like really out of it sick: fevers and stuff, so bad they'd stay at the hotel instead of going to the language classes we were taking, they were that out of it.

Now, the subject was very badly organised: the teacher in charge of coordinating it would be very unclear about the requirements of assignments and change things at the last minute. Sometimes we knew we were expected to do a type of assignment but didn't know what exactly we'd do, or didn't realise until the day of that we'd need to write something up about an activity as part of the assignment.

Also it was raining in Rome that week. The trip was around October/November so it was also getting cold.

Anyway one of the planned activities was a walk through this garden and it was raining and half the class was sick but as far as we knew it was still going ahead, and no one was sure that there wouldn't be something about the walk that would be assessed (like we didn't think there would be but we didn't want to risk it). So we all get ready, even the sick ones and push on through the rain trying to make it to the meeting spot in time.

It was a pretty long walk in itself and most people didn't even have umbrellas or hoods on their jackets. I remember some people covering their heads with scarfs to keep off the rain or huddling under umbrellas like penguins. But we got there on time.

But then the teachers (who had been waiting for us) were like 'given the rain, we've decided to cancel the walk'. We all just kind of deflated.

Then a thought crosses my mind and I smile.

And one of the teachers (the more organised one) notices and (with a happy tone) asks why I'm smiling.

And I say:

(I said it a lot more light-heartedly by the way)

Except the teacher did not think it was funny too. She actually got kind of annoyed at me.

Also no one else thought it was funny either. I kinda felt bad but it was the perfect opportunity to say it. Also everyone was annoyed they hadn't messaged or emailed to tell us it was cancelled instead of making sick students trek across Rome in the rain. They said it was so no one missed the message and come anyway, but we were all together when we went so that would not have happened.

Also the walk was not part of any assignment. They gave us €20 each that was originally going to be spent to buy an apericena/aperitivo or something and then said you can either go on the walk by yourselves anyway or go back.

The sick kids went back. The rest of us decided we'd come all this way so why not just push on.

We got drinks at some bar and then we went for dinner. I had a pork shank:

(me with my pork shank)

It had chestnuts with it. It was tasty. So all in all it wasn't a total loss.

[nawilla]

I took French in Junior High/High school.

Due to my parent's divorce, we switched schools the year we were supposed to start foreign language classes to a school system that started foreign language classes in high school.

The year I was there they started a pilot program in French class, so i ended up taking French for 2 days a week for half a year.

Due to money management issues, mom ended up moving us back to our hometown 1 year post divorce and we ended up enrolling back into the same classes, me having spent 7th grade (the middle year of middle school) in a different school (in a different state) and missing key middle portions of the second year of junior high (including first year language courses).

Key classes for which the curriculum was changed included: 1) advanced math/algebra, 2) social studies (to this day my knowledge of pre-Civil War US history is mostly non-existent because it was a 2-year history class and I missed the first half), and 3) foreign language instruction. (This is probably why I am not really that interested in seeing Hamilton. All I know of the Revolutionary War is from watching PBS).

Remember how I had one semester of French 2 days a week? My classmates back home had already had a full year of foreign language 5 days a week, in either French, Spanish, Italian (I think?) or German. Now that I was enrolling in 8th grade, I had a choice of either a) starting over in Spanish, because it was the only option for continuing the classes at the high school level the next year, because some people chose to take a third language or b) be put into French 2 for 8th graders and fake it until I made it.

They put me in French 2. I was more interested in French because I was 12.5% French (possibly French Canadian?) on my mother's side. I have no Spanish heritage. (I was also 12.5% German and 25% Italian, but those weren't options that would fit).

Bear in mind, I was trying to keep up in a class where I had less than 1/4 of the prerequisite learning that they rest of my classmates had. My vocabulary was pathetic. Grammar was baffling. I just kept studying and muddling through. I passed. I did reasonably well on tests. I could read French better than I could speak it. I just don't have an ear for foreign languages. Even as an adult, many foreign languages just 'sound like French' to me, and I recognize almost none of the words in actual French. But I paid attention, studied the vocab words, mostly understood verb conjugation at least in theory, was not really sure what the hell was going on with nouns (see missed the first year where that was covered), and ended up taking more French in my freshman and sophomore years of high school. At the end of my sophomore year, I took the New York State Regents Exam in French and if I recall correctly, I got a 91 on it, but I had absolutely no fluency in French. I just didn't. It was a painful and difficult chore to try to say anything and slightly less to read or write in it. To Monsieur Drelick's disappointment, I did not move on junior year French and opted to take Marine Science instead. (I'm sorry Monsieur Drelick. I really did try and you were a great teacher for the 2 years I was in your class, but if it's any consolation, I'm a biologist now).

In my senior year of college I took Latin to fulfill the requirements for 'Latin honors' (ie. to be considered for cum laude or higher, you needed to have at least one class in each of 5(?) different disciplines, one of which was foreign language. Clearly I had science nailed. I was not going to try college level French after having such a lousy foundation in it, but I thought because Latin was more reading and recitation as opposed to 'conversational' which I had such trouble with, it was the best choice. I wanted to be well-rounded, even though my grades would not be remotely high enough for even cum laude.

Taking Latin was a mistake. It was the only class I took pass/fail. After the final exam the professor ran into me when I was working the circulation desk at the library and asked me if I wanted to know my grade on the final. I looked her in the eye and said 'no, I do not.'

She told me anyway. It was a 76 if I recall correctly. After she left there was rejoicing, because I only needed a 70 and I never had to take a foreign language again. (Even if I had failed, I would have graduated, I didn't need the foreign language for that, but I had stretched beyond my capabilities, and it was BAD. And tanking my GPA just before graduate school would have been BAD).

Getting back to the question, I took French because a) I had to take something, the state mandated it, and b) I had no Spanish heritage, so it didn't interest me as much. If I could do it again and take it all properly and I didn't have this mental blind spot where deciphering foreign language should be, I would have taken Italian as I'm more knowledgeable about my Italian heritage than my French heritage. Maybe in my next life if there is one.

[stateofcharles]

rant incoming

i'm probably living my worst moment university-wise and i feel like crying all the time when i think about it.

i started engineering back in september, thinking that was gonna be *it*, that i would have liked it and i would've fulfilled the dream of working in f1. i have always liked science subjects and i was good at them, so i believed i actually had a chance. though, in just 6 months, i've completely lost all the determination and will to study. i can't even get to care if i fail an exam, whilst in high school i felt soo bad when i failed a test, even for subjects i hated (ik high school is different but still-). the prospect of failing and staying behind literally makes me feel nothing at all, whilst before i was scared to death of it.

i realise i am doing what i promised myself i would not do in uni, aka going to exams even if i'm sure i will not pass it. i procrastinate for days and then try to do something the night before the exam - yet lazily and uninterested. it's not even that i'm not interested in the subjects i do, it's just i don't want to study

i came to realise that this whole situation is the fruit of 8 years of restless studying (middle school + high school), of not allowing myself to be anything but at the top of my class and of sacrificing everything (free time, sleep, mental health, friends and family) to get the best grades. quarantine was the worst of it, yet i had to endure.

now i find myself with a high-school diploma that is not enough to start working (let's thank the italian school system for this), thus i'm forced to keep studying even if right now i just want to rest after those 8 years of hell - and i also feel like i deserve to rest. yet, i am not allowed to do it.

my mother knows about this struggle and she came to the same conclusion i came to: this is not the right uni for me, engineering is too much studying for the mental space i am in right now and i am 99,9% sure i will switch faculty soon.

at the moment i am torn between my two biggest passions: music and rhythmic gymnastics. on the one hand, i would love to study in a Conservatoire, but it's kinda complicated and because of my age and situation i would be hugely limited compared to my original idea. still, i could make a sacrifice and get a degree anyway.

on the other hand, i really see myself being a rhythmic gymnastics coach, spending the whole day at the gym and dedicating my life to it. i already love it right now that i do it part-time and - in my mind - it can only get better (even if it has already been proved that my mind is often wrong). the downsides of this is that the FGI courses to officially become a trainer are always online, and i fear this will partially push me towards procrastination, and it's kinda blurred when it comes to requirements, like- technically i don't need a degree in sports science, but practically it could be useful in the future, so should i leave engineering for sports science? (+ add to this that it's a bit more pricey than public unis, so i would have to partially pay for it myself - though this is the least concerning issue rn)

then comes the biggest problem of all: my mother (and my father once he knows). she keeps insisting that, if i switch faculties, i should go for something "solid" (my god i hate that word), so whenever i bring up rhythmic gymnastics she always tries to change my mind saying things such as "but what about just switching majors but still in the engineering realm?" or "what about going back to languages like in high school? or what about education? becoming a school teacher?" and i can't even get to express my real feelings - aka FUCK OFF. i don't even understand why she says she "supports me" if this is what she does.

i spoke with some friends of mine, and they said i should take this second semester to consider it all, so that in september i can finally make a decision. the problems? 1. my mom wants me to attend uni this semester as if i intended to keep going, she doesn't allow me to sign the withdrawal and look for a job instead. which means i'll be free in july only, and by then any chance of applying somewhere else have finished 2. if i switch faculties, it means going through a placement test, and i don't have the time these next months to prepare for it if i have to keep going with uni + the other things i do

also, another thing i hate - the look of pity on people's face when i say i'm struggling with uni. "but it's impossible for you, you've always done so well in school! you have a talent!" well karen, have you considered that perhaps i never really cared about school and i only studied like hell because i was (and still am) afraid of failing? never thought that i was not born a genius but i had to work my ass off to get what i got?

i really just wanna cry, but i feel i'm not allowed because it would mean keep waisting time

[talesfromsiteredacted]

Testing: Phase One

My first test post discovery of my new abilities. Or, as Dr. Clef explained to me, just how much control over everything do I really have? I'm nervous. I have no idea of anything anymore. I do know nothing good lasts forever, so I might not be around for long. Worse, it might be my own boss given the order. I'm not going to lie, I'm terrified inside. Outside, I'm desperately trying not to show it.

I wake up in a dark room. Not just dark, but DARK. Night vision required dark. I'm on the floor, but at least in my clothes this time, not the molecule thin D-Class onesies. I'm barely given a chance to get my bearings when an intercom barks out instructions. The voice is vaguely familiar, but not much else is.

"Rabbit, wake up. Test begins. You're in a dark room. There's a candelabra in the room on a table in the chamber. Illuminate the room, please." I start fumbling around for a table, but get stopped. "Not like that, although some of the staff appreciate the visuals more than I do. Use your pyrokinetic properties only." O-okay. I light my right hand on fire, just a fingertip really. Ah. Target sighted. But... it's a bit low for a candelabra. Weird, but I light the wicks in the candles at once, going for the impressive method. There's a few claps over the intercom, but more importantly, light. And, apparently cake. I read the words written in blue frosting.

"Congratulations! You may live another day. Just don't eat this cake." The lights come on, sure enough I'm in a testing chamber. I blow a quick cold breeze to extinguish the candles. I throw a deathglare at the one way glass. I can't see them, but I know they can see me.

"Very good, Rabbit. Once Dr. Clef recovers from his giggle fit, we can continue." I hear Clef's failing attempts to stop laughing at his own dumb joke in the back. "Okay, we established she can do both cryomancy and pyromancy. Now, onto the next part of the test. Rabbit, throw the cake in the trash, but do not touch it."

"It's clearly a Mabel. Don't touch it? I probably could throw it in Mount Doom and it'd still be exactly the same after some confused future backyard geologist in Middle Earth finds it in his garden." I create a cake sized hole to nowhere, and watch as the cake falls in.

"Portal generation, interesting. For the record... Waste Management just reported a cake falling by itself into the grinders. One worker was mildly concussed by cake debris, but otherwise a successful disposal. Good work. Onto the last part. We're sending in Dr. Clef now, give him a toy." My boss walks in, gives a nod and a wink, then waits to see what I come up with.

I open a tiny rift into someplace, root around, find something plushie-like, and pull my hand out. It's a beanie baby snake, long with blue fabric but mismatched eyes like my boss. Only... it's not his color. I wave a hand over it, and as I do, it changes from blue to red with gold bands. I hand it over to my boss with a bow. He bows, and drapes the silly thing around his neck like Iceberg does his scarves. Haven't seen him this smug since our first shift of Keter Duty after giving Bright the beans.

"Test successful. We'll begin phase two next week, same time. Dr. Clef, please take Rabbit to her quarters, then both of you... back to work. Usually anomalies do not study or contain themselves." A nod at the glass and we head out.

We're walking down the hallway, neither saying a word. Out of nowhere, Clef wraps his arm around my shoulder. I stop, confused. Dr. Clef is... well, a whole lot of things, but touchy feely isn't one of them.

"You okay, Boss?" I look him eye to mismatched eye.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just wanted to be sure you are, Bunny. Not going to lie... O5 has no idea what to do here. I advocated for training, but they're still debating. Bunch of useless bloody wankers anyway. So, while technically obeying orders, we're also conducting our own tests. Test number one... how do you manage to make a lasagna so good it'd make an Italian grandmother envious?"

"By having a sort-of Italian nonna of my own. Mrs. DiLuka down the street from me used to babysit me, and as your standard grandmotherly type, a lot of it was in the kitchen. Didn't care it was child labor, I was just happy to hang out and learn. My folks didn't care, I was safe and happy, and very well fed. You left the DiLuka house hungry for only two reasons, either you couldn't eat gluten or they weren't home when you knocked. Washed a lot of dishes, but learned a lot of stuff." We head on, his arm around my shoulders.

[otrtbs]

hello, hope you're doing well! not quite to do with your fics, moreso art history itself. uh, i know you're studying art history (as you've mentioned) and i (a curious student who must make decisions and who was rereading ahb! and decided that they miss the subject) wanted to ask what were the things you cover in your art history courses? like, what all is it that you study and do, i suppose. i did art before for my finals before dropping it when choosing my IB HLs (like a levels, i suppose) but i'm not sure how much of that is the same i guess. ANYWAY, i did some research but i thought i could ask someone who's as passionate in the subject as you are.

sorry if this is an inconvenience or anything else, lmao

not an inconvenience at all!! i’m so happy to answer/talk about this!!

so the way my university course was structured for undergrad, we had three lower division art history classes. (Core Art Studio 1, Prehistoric-Renaissance Art Survey, Renaissance-Contemporary Art Survey) where the survey classes were lecture style seminars where we went over major art movements, artists, and pieces of each time period. Like a giant crash course in art history over the course of human existence essentially.

Then we had to take three mandatory upper division classes. (Art History Politics of Display, (why/how we display art in museums and the implications of that) Art History Methodologies, (how to analyze art and the frameworks we use. like feminist, queer, postmodern lenses etc) And Art Historical Research (basically independent class to write a paper on an art history subject of your choosing. Like a mini dissertation or thesis normally the paper you’d submit for graduate programs when you apply)

And then the rest of our art history classes had to satisfy different regions and time periods. So you needed one European Art History class, One African or Middle Eastern Art History Class, One Latin American Art History Class, and then One Oceanic Art History Class or Arts and the Diaspora class

and then time periods you needed one prehistoric art history class, one classical civilization class, one renaissance time period, one 1800s, one modern.

And you could double dip so if I took class in exploring sexuality through Italian statutes in the 1500s class or smth it would count as a European art class and a renaissance class. (So you can check off an area and time period)

If you have any hour requirements that need to be met after you meet the above requirements you are free to take any other art history courses you want (this is how you can have an area of focus or concentration as an undergrad) so if I took a lot of modern art classes then I could say I had a bachelors degree in Art History with an emphasis on Modern Art

You span all time periods and regions of Art with an art history degree!! You tend to specialize in an area in graduate school or in your PhD program :)

I hope this makes sense!!! And wasn’t too confusing/too much!! <33

[playingplayer2]

Additionally, a lot of the schools we have for early language learning aren't accessable for a number of reasons.

Fair warning, everything below is personal experience. I speak almost entirely English, I don't travel, and I have a serious disconnect with the non-white-american side of my heritage. Less personal stuff further down.

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My sibling and I were homeschooled for several years (starting at pre-k aged to 2nd/3rd grade age), and when my older sibling got sent off to school(6yo), it was to a Mandarin Immersion School in our area because our (now-permanently-out-of-the-picture) father is a Chinese immigrant and it was decided to try that, and if it went well, I'd be going the next year. (Funnily enough he didn't want me or my sibling or our mother learning Cantonese or Mandarin, and not for pleasant or heart-warming reasons.)

It did not go well.

(In fact it went so badly because of abuse in the school system, racism, and ableist bullshit, that my sib got pulled so fucking fast with such a public fuss, that in the coming years that school apparently did a total overhaul to change that. Comparatively, one of my best friend's friends went to a French Immersion School and never had any issues and now, knows French. I on the other hand (public school from 7/8 on up) didn't have an opportunity outside of things at home- and with a recently divorced mother, scrambling to get work and take care of two kids & court, and a P.O.S old man, there really wasn't time for me or my sibling to learn more.)

My mom taught us some Latin, she'd taken Latin in school, and ASL, having learned a lot for/from her deaf friend in high school, and pre-divorce we'd been learning some Mandarin when my father wasn't around.

Now flash forwards, I don't start learning a new language through school until I'm in middle school at 13. I take French for a year. I switch to Spanish in high school a year later, end up with a really bad teacher (no srsly, she taught French and Spanish and kept switching to French lessons, so many people had issues with her teaching Spanish) and so the next year I don't sign up for a school language class, start trying to learn Italian on my own. Then I end up starting French again in 11th grade because most colleges required at least 2 years of a non-english language classes.

I take two years of French, and in the last three months of my senior year there's a Global Pandemic (please note; it isn't over, check with your local epidemiologists for more info). Real wrench in my life plans, y'know?

So, now, three years post hs graduation, the biracial child of an immigrant, and I know a handful very basic words in (textbook) Spanish, I remember French at the weirdest damn times (but can barely speak any of it), and my Cantonese and Mandarin are basically non-existent (Cantonese because my father's side is immigrated from Hong Kong, Mandarin bc that's the "what everyone speaks" in said relatives words).

Now, in terms of travel? I've left my State (I live in the states) twice. Both times add up to less than 12 hours out of state, and less than an hour past the state border each time.

I grew up and I'm still poor, like a huge portion of Americans. I've never been on a vacation outside of school mandatory ones. I've never left the U.S, I don't even have a passport and I don't drive.

My mom? Grew up poor. Vacations aren't a thing for people below a certain income. But bc of where I grew up, all of my friends could afford to go on a family trip to Florida or NY or Cali or wherever every year or two, most of my friends now can and have travelled out of state, even out of country, on a semi-regular basis.

But most of those friends grew up in a 2-income family, remarried/non-divorced households that were already decently well off.

To the less personal stuff.

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Every person above has fucking point though. The States could, and quite frankly should, be doing better, should be doing more.

But racism and classism and sexism are all still rampant, frothing at the mouth, vicious and blatant.

Our transportation in-country is horrid. The cost to leave the country is tremendous, starting with the cost of passports to whether or not taking a week off will cost you your job.

And there's a shit ton of clueless, rich Americans who go out there and Americanism all over everything in the most miserably rude, senseless fashion they can, most of them not even realizing it.

There's a ton of faults, and a whole lot of cluelessness that breeds ignorance and insult, on both sides.

Europeans don't, for the most part, understand just how split up the States are, culture, language, etc. Because each state, each region, is vastly different from geography to mannerisms. They don't get just how easy it is for them to travel, their schools promote learning multiple languages. Our schools, our governments? They don't. Well. They do if you're rich, white, and cis. Then it's a "bonus in your job applications." But if someone who isn't one or any of those speaks two or more languages, then it's a count against them.

Again: racism, classism, sexism.

But, Americans also aren't "cultureless." I'm from the Midwest. That's very different from the central plains (now often lumped in w/ the MW) or from the East, South, West, etc. The cultures between regions are incredibly different- and it varies more-so state to state. You can't say NY and NJ are the same, just like MN and WI aren't. CA isn't WA state, and KS, AZ, and GA can't even be compared, region or state.

It's just that the predominant majority of American Tourists come from the same middle-to-upper class, white, nuclear-family backgrounds and their ingrained ignorance paired with the European VP (that we hear the most) is that All Americans Have The Same Opportunities and Upbringings leads to a lot of bullshit fuckery.

europeans will really look americans dead in the eye and say they’re so uncultured because they never leave the us

[diverse-writing]

I'm white and My story I'm writing dealswith immortals starting in Victorian ukI made the two main characters white the story is from their perspective with side characters of colour because I thought it would be wrong for me to write the intense racism they wouldexperience and also I felt like as a white person it wasnt my place to write that so I made them white Should it stay like this or should I make a main character a poc and do extensive researchand try to write to the best of my ability

There’s a lot to unpack here so let’s dive in.

First of all, I want to tackle this idea that as a white person, it’s not “your place” to write about a character experiencing racism firsthand. I feel like this idea is a misinterpretation of the sentiment behind #OwnVoices that advocates for allowing marginalized voices to tell their own stories. And it’s true that POC don’t want white people writing race narratives, full stop. We don’t want white people writing books about what it means to be Black, Asian, Native, etc. We don’t want you to write entire novels telling us about the racism and prejudice we experience, profiting off our pain without experiencing it. Those narratives focused around identity and prejudice should be told by the people who know what it’s like firsthand.  

But that’s not the same thing as wanting you to not write POC. In fact, it’s the opposite; we want you to write POC as fully fleshed out, dynamic, and interesting characters who live full lives beyond their race and the racism they face. Yes, sometimes writing POC may include writing about the unique problems they face (which, in your case, would be Victorian racism). But we just don’t want you to write only about that, reducing our lives down to our pain and the prejudices of people who hate us. So yes, it’s not your place to write a story about being Black, but it is your place to write a story about a Black character.

Secondly, let’s look at the role race plays in your narrative premise. Every single story about immortals is about immortal white people. Twilight is about immortal white people; Tuck Everlasting is about immortal white people; The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice is about immortal white people; How to Stop Time by Matt Haig is about immortal white people; even Doctor Who is essentially about immortal white people, with a few recent variations to the pattern. Hell, even if you just wanted to look at examples of immortality narratives in Victorian London, all you would come up with would be more immortal white people. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, Dracula by Bram Stoker--all of these are more or less about immortal white people in London circa the late Victorian era. I’m hard pressed to think of an immortality narrative that isn’t about white people. (And no, The Old Guard doesn’t magically make up for literally hundreds of immortal white people narratives.) It is, at some point, a tired out narrative trope.

And now, getting to the heart of your question: You’re right that POC in Victorian London probably faced a vicious brand of racism. But that racism probably looked different than it does today, just as the people on the receiving end of that racism would be more different than one might expect. Remember that “whiteness” as we know it is essentially a modern construct. When you look back at Victorian race relations, some of our modern race categorizations would still apply. For example, Black people and Asian people would still clearly be identified as “not white.” But that “not white” category encompassed a wider variety of racial/ethnic groups than it does today; at various points, Italians, Greeks, Slavs, and Hungarians were all filed under the “not white” category despite firmly registering as “white” within our modern consciousness (to say nothing of indigenous European ethnic groups like the Romani, Saami, or Basque people who may visually code as “”white”” while still facing horrific prejudice and racism). 

And once you factor in the not-uncommon sentiments against the Irish, Welsh, and Scottish peoples that English Londoners shared a country (and city) with, so-called “white” racial dynamics become even more complicated. On top of that, London was and is a hub of religious diversity which adds an additional dimension of prejudice, with Jews, Catholics, and non-Anglican Protestants all facing different struggles throughout the Victorian era, when the religious demographics of the UK underwent a period of extreme change. Thus, it’s easy to see that simply being “white” wasn’t necessarily a guarantee against prejudice and why ethnicity, nationality, and even religion are necessary concepts to discuss alongside race. 

Unless your main characters are both middle to upper class English WASPs born to generations of middle to upper class English WASPs, they will likely have to interact and navigate prejudice of some kind. It’s up to your discretion what kind of prejudice they face.

Obviously, it’s up to you but... in my opinion, you absolutely should branch out in terms of who and what you’re writing about. You’re right that writing a POC would require extensive research but literally any historical fiction is going to need extra research; this is just an extension of that. So take the time to reassess your narrative premise, do more research, and then dive back in and write your heart out. This ask doesn’t directly address the same problem you have here but it might have some helpful advice for moving forward nonetheless.