#michael ashtree

[bloodmoonloveletter]

Picrew Kiss Tag

thank you @rivenantiqnerd for the tag!

rules: make your barbies OCs kiss (and I do apologize because there are quite a few of these) using this picrew!

Michael (left) and Virgil (right)!! /actually pretty accurate (except maybe Michael's nose but it was as close as I could get) and I like to imagine that Michael can't stop looking at Virgil when they kiss :)

Vil (right) and Emile (left) my beloved :) seen here doing couple things as they do, Emile possibly still thinking they're friends cause he's dumb like that.

Aria (right) and Evie (left)!! everything here is pretty much accurate except Evie's hair, which is dyed dark green at the roots and slowly fades into black. Evie's just so happy that Aria likes her and oh my heart hurts

Laurie (left) and Amara (right)! wow is that two women in love who constantly used to compete for social status?

Charlotte (left) and Ella (right)! btw Amara and Ella are twins so that's why they have the same color palette. the hair is natural, unlike Aria's. this pic was taken the day Ella was crowned.

Julian (left) and Henry (right). this is in their 80s prequel era, specifically the moment that Julian essentially threw what he was doing to the side and kissed Henry. I will say that Julian's scar is a little farther from sight and a little less conspicuous. aaaa they're so cute <3

(p.s. I made a funnier version)

Taj (left) and Itsuki (right). this is their kiss right after Taj rescues Itsuki from Akahana, hence the blood and fresh scars on Itsuki and the scratches on Taj. might I mention that Itsuki is being carried bridal style?

oh this was great. thank you for introducing me to this!! gently tagging @elsie-writes @mundanemoongirl @the-letterbox-archives @missaddledmiss @lexywrite and @leahnardo-da-veggie + open tag!

[uwmspeccoll]

World Kindness Day!

Today is World Kindness Day, so to celebrate, we present An Act or Two of Kindness by William Saroyan with wood engravings by Helen Siegl. Published by Penmaen Press in 1977 in Lincoln, MA, this first edition was designed and set by Michael McCurdy. This book features two tales that highlight acts of kindness amidst a world consumed by greed. The stories are titled The Ashtree Talker and The Crying Drunk. 

William Saroyan (1908-1981) was an Armenian American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He extensively wrote about the experiences of Armenian immigrants living in America. In 1940, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and, in 1943, an Academy Award for Best Story. 

Helen Siegl (1924-2009) was a printmaker born in Austria who spent most of her life in the United States. However, her experiences in her home city of Vienna during the tumultuous period of Nazi annexation, World War II, and the subsequent Soviet occupation shaped her artistic beliefs. 

View other posts on the Penmaen Press.

View other posts with work by Helen Siegl.

-Melissa, Special Collections Graduate Intern

[lmichaelmcgrath13]

JAMES JOYCE KNEW AND LOVED HIS DRUIDLAND. BY MICHAEL McGRATH, KILKENNY. After 500 pages of FINNEGANS WAKE we come across the Everlasting Ashtree or the ‘Overlasting Eshtree’ in the Joycean language – I have one in my back garden that I had to regretfully cutback as it was interfering with reruns of Inspector Morse on TV. Joyce references a river and a mountain in Tipperary just over our…

[bloodmoonloveletter]

Hello!

I'm L (she/her)! Right now, this intro isn't finished, but I think I should put something up so people have something to go off of. I am an aspiring writer and songwriter (the former for at least 4 years, the latter for only around 1) , although Tumblr is definitely more of a writing place for me. I'm developing my art skills as well. I tend to write YA romance (almost always LGBTQ+) but I'm currently writing something with magical aspects and multiverses, so who tf knows. Tag me in stuff! Tag me in tag games - I love love love tag games.

also I'm now on ao3! check me out: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodmoonloveletter/pseuds/bloodmoonloveletter

WIPs:

Lilac

For the entirety of summer vacation, Virgil Whispercloud and Michael Ashtree have been at war. Both boys have come up with different pranks to pull on each other, many of which have cast a bad light on Virgil's dad's and Michael's mom's sporting goods businesses. Finally, the week before senior year is about to start, their collective parents decide that enough is enough and sentence them to no phones for the whole school year unless they can learn to be friends. For the sake of their phone access, the two boys resolve to become friends, and despite their apparent dislike of each other, it starts out promisingly. Could Virgil and Michael have more chemistry than they thought they did? And what type of chemistry exactly will it be? (Featuring one chapter from each of their friends' perspectives, the friends being Lali Mnemosyne, Ethan Hananoki, Liam Brown and Evan Boulder.)

Pomegranate (it's a series because of how long it is)

Oh, Christ, I'll try to keep this short (famous last words).

Essentially, three Californian teenagers (Arielle 'Aria' Brooks, Theo Amberfall, and Vivienne 'Evie' Halsey) are forcibly enrolled in a prestigious British boarding school, one they are all accepted to due to their extreme intelligence. Even though they don't want to leave their hometown, they end up reconciling with it due to their different yet unsatisfactory (to say the least) family situation. The three of them navigate and grapple with the turmoil of teenage life, love, new friends (Robin Gray, Emile Chastain, Albert Lightfoot, Nico Cyprus, Vil D'Or), the existence of magic, the fact that the universe as they know it is actually a multiverse containing nearly infinite dimensions, the endless anger of one girl hell-bent on vengeance and her many allies, and the war that seems to be hovering over the horizon. Together, they are the Supernatural Investigative Squad.

Roses of Autumn (working title)

Suuuuper rudimentary summary because I haven't done much work on this since 2021, but Autumn Roses is the Oregon-based story of Melanie Chambers, a girl with unresolved trauma from her past years of school and a whole lot of social anxiety, who ends up living with a mysterious, cool surfer chick who's just moved from California, Emma Flores. As the two get to know each other and become close, they discover more about themselves and each other than they ever thought they would.

Beams of Light (working title)

Same setting as Autumn Roses (and same rudimentary story), this is about Kayden Vigilanco, a boy whose entire perspective changes on the day he meets Dexter D'Angelo. The two are opposites in life and behavior, but against the odds, they become fast friends. Their relationship deepens, and suddenly, Kayden starts to question his sexuality. But, there's no way he could have a crush on his best friend... right?

Drops of Ambrosia (working title)

Same setting as the last two (honestly, I just wanted to write a story focusing on each character pairing in the first story). This time, it's a little darker.

Aurelie Chambers knows she does not like Ava Pierce. She is sure of that. She does not, will not, and cannot like that girl, no matter how attractive she may be. It's not because Ava is a girl, oh no; everyone knows that Aurelie is pansexual and proud. No, it's because Ava was actively present for the trauma that impacted Aurelie's sister Melanie so greatly, and so Aurelie has sworn off her. Absolutely. No doubt about it. But when that plan falls through and Aurelie can't resist temptation, she starts to fall down a rabbit hole of guilt and lies. Will Ava display a new side that pardons her to the Chambers sisters, or will Aurelie have to make one of the most difficult choices of her life?

"Maid thing" (either a graphic novel or a book - has no current title)

Since the day he was employed as a maid, Jonah Adair has been after one goal: marrying his employer, Roman Rochester, and living in opulence for the rest of his life. Jonah is very attractive and hardly subtle about his advances, so his task should be easy, right? Wrong. Roman is the most clueless Duke in the world. It's alright for the moment, though - Jonah is paid well, as is his sister (Tilly Adair), who is a maid like him but serves the Duke's sister, Ruth, and as much as he'd like to persuade himself that he has no pre-marriage feelings for Roman, it's always pleasant when the two are together. One day, though, out of the blue, a threat arrives in the form of Countess Anachronia Linden, who unfortunately has the same goal as Jonah. The only difference is she's got the parents on her side. Now, with the pressure on Roman to marry Anachronia, Jonah must rely on his allies (Tilly, Ruth, and the third Rochester sibling, Ricky Rochester) and his own charms to sway Roman into choosing him.

"Storriach mystery" (either a screenwritten series or a book - has no current title)

Henry Storriach is a young man. Smart. Pretty. Raised with love. Grieving. A while ago - not years but not weeks, six months, that's it, Henry always forgets - his wife Helen and child Daniel were killed in a house fire. Since the funeral, Henry has been roaming his house like a ghost, barely eating, barely sleeping, holding the hands of his piano like the past love he no longer can hold, and now, at the six-month mark, he is reunited through a series of events with his two formerly closest friends, Sumire Rydell-Eimin and Julian Underwood. After Julian dredges up something about the death, he and Henry end up investigating Helen and Daniel's deaths as a murder under the noses of their friends-turned-suspects. Can two young men with a troubled history together effectively solve a murder, or will their lives be turned to dust under the weight of the crime they've dug up?

Diadem/Teardrop (working titles - it will probably have to be a series because fuck it if all my characters can't have love lives and tragic backstories)

Almost as old as the Roses of Autumn series. Wowee!

Fuck prophesies. Princess Eclipse 'Ella' Vespertine has been treated badly her whole life and only finds respite in the company of her best friend and up-and-coming Duchess Laurie West. Princess Amara Vespertine has been expected to be a savior of the people and defend them against her own sister, expected to be the perfect heiress and ruler and take exactly after her mother, and so treats her sister like trash despite knowing it's wrong. Eventual Duke Alexander Toussaint-Corbin is a social pariah just because of the magic he was born with. At the start of freshman year in college, one meeting will change their lives for the better.

The three stories:

- Ella meets up-and-coming Duchess Charlotte Toussaint-Corbin, a girl who somehow embodies royal composure and yet an air of devil-may-care attitude. Friendship blooms instantly. Romantic tension blooms even faster, as easily as a princess with essentially no romantic experience (or so you'd think) and a girl who's as hot and has the same temperament as the sun can meet on a train. How will Laurie and Amara react to this new relationship?

- Laurie and Amara, though frenemies at first, are roped into a roommate situation and forced to learn to live with each other. Laurie has her preconceptions about Amara (and vice versa) but despite that, they quickly become friends, and to her own horror, Amara starts to develop a crush on Laurie. After a few too many drunken hookups, Amara gets in a life-threatening accident. I wonder how it will affect her life (wink wink).

- Alex Toussaint-Corbin has never been in a platonic relationship with someone who loved him, let alone a romantic one, but somehow, freshman year of college lands him in a love triangle with his hot, mean roommate, Luca Prince, and his new best friend, Adrien Solace. (Also, there is no Miraculous Ladybug connection. I swear to God I pulled those first names out of my brain caverns.) On top of that, he is quickly gaining new friends via his sister and somehow, a deep friendship with the current heir to the Vespertine throne herself, Amara. With so little experience in any of these matters, will Alex be able to handle all of it or will it all come crashing down on him?

When I have the energy, I will update this intro with the rest of the WIPs and information about yours truly.

But for now, I hope you enjoyed reading and have a good day!