I have forgotten to point this out:

“Don’t worry, Mother,” said Valancy, lightly but quite respectfully. “It isn’t likely I’ll do anything very terrible. But I mean to have a little fun.”

“Fun!” Mrs. Frederick uttered the word as if Valancy had said she was going to have a little tuberculosis.”

"I remember Grandfather Wansbarra. He was one of the few human beings I have known—almost the only one."

Lately, I have spent quite a lot of time thinking about what knowing someone really means. I haven't come to any concrete conclusions yet, I'm afraid – but I am very glad that Valancy has had someone in her life that she feels like she has known, nevertheless, even if he has long since passed away.

Grandfather Wansbarra seems to have been something of an eccentric, in a fun but also, perhaps, somewhat annoying way. So far, we've learned that he chose Valancy's name, that he claimed to be the reincarnation of his great-great-grandfather, and that apparently, he didn't have too much time for social niceties ("He talked all his life exactly as Valancy did today.")

All this makes me wonder how on earth he managed to father and raise someone like Mrs. Frederick. Perhaps that was Amelia's quiet form of rebellion, becoming someone completely unlike her father? And like someone said, she has likely had to put in a lot of effort to be accepted into the Stirling clan despite her family background, so whatever small peculiarities she might've inherited from her father must've been ironed out in the process.

~

Sidenote: I keep thinking of starlings whenever I read or write the name Stirling. That's too nice an association for this bunch, really. Starlings are such beautiful birds.

(photo by TheOther Kev on Pexels)

~

"“Fun!” Mrs. Frederick uttered the word as if Valancy had said she was going to have a little tuberculosis."

This made me laugh.

~

So, to be honest, while I outsourced the possibility of an FC for Esmanur (and a little bit with Osman too) to begin with, I'll openly admit that, whenever it comes to, "Oh, could this be Esmanur...?" literally the first step in the vetting process for me is going to @alwaysright27.

There are some folks in this fandom that can be considered "specialists" on a given character and she's 100% that with Nigar.

I do have a soft spot for Akile, to be honest, but, under just my own opinion, I don't entirely see Esmanur when I look at her? And, to be fair, that's influenced through the fact that I've always imagined Esmanur's hair much darker, like her mother's.

But, at the same time, I will say that I have no idea how I didn't think to consider her as the daughter of Gülnihal and the husband I wrote for her.

Ironically, though, while I certainly search out FCs to use for edits, the Esmanur in my mind isn't necessarily "conventionally" attractive? Or, at the very least, when I write with her, striking does feel the right word for her since, combined with her rather arresting features, she kind of holds herself in a way that, unintentionally, demands attention and her eyes are more expressive than her overall face most days.

A good example of this is how Zhou Xun in the Legend of Ruyi is able to depict so much in her acting through her eyes alone in that role, but also this quote in particular, from the Tudors, is very Esmanur coded.

Tess Durbeyfield icons

requested by @allforlaura

TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES (2008)

Blue Castle Book Club improves my

Literature