Pictures and a poem

"A mosquito dreaming in a cage for a bird" I like that line.

Wow that guy and his kids are unfortunate looking.

I think you said it all Devin . Especially the one with the weird cheek things going on. I don't think King Malcom is all bad, just some of kids got some strange genes.

Poor Alred-sim . Looks like the strain of playing Alred is wearing on him.

The problem with Sims with "interesting" faces is that they sometimes have kids who are freaks. Sadly Liadan is among them.

How did you do such a square jaw ! He wants to challenge Sigefrith ? Does that mean we are going to see the famous Queen Margaret who offered red curtains as a wedding gift to Brit (?) ?

And the poem is very beautiful.

I made King Malcolm in BodyShop so I suppose I had more jaw-squaring possibilities than usual. His nickname is Canmore meaning "big head" so I wanted him to have a nice massive skull.

No plans to see Queen Margaret at this time. But we should see King Malcolm soon.

Canmore=Big Head. Hysterical. I wish I had known that while doing my tours in Alberta. Canmore, Alberta (the town just outside of Banff National Park) was home to the Olympic Athletes during the Calgary Winter Olympics. I knew it was named after a Scottish king, but never knew which one. Should've researched it more I guess. Loved checking through the different Wiki histories. Came upon the one for Empress Matilda, heir to Henry I of England. What "hutzpah"! Would love to imagine Gwynn turning into that kind of strong, influential woman. Gripping the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Lothere by the balls to maintain her legacy!

Edit: And by the way, I think Edgar Aethling is kinda "dreamy"! May I say "Phwoar"!

I agree about Edgar. I'd hit it. (But why was his wife 11 years older than him?)

Then again, I like dudes named Edgar. Edgar Allan Poe, Edgar from King Lear...

Poor sad Alred-sim. "Oh, Alred!" was the first thing that popped into my mind, of course.

Love that poem.

Unfortunately, if Gwynn marries Finn, she probably won't have much scope for political meddling. THAT may prove to be the hardest thing for her to accept, in the end.

(Raise your hand if Wolfman Congal has ruined that phrase for you, too.)

It would be fun if Gwynn married the Aetheling, however. THAT could be the change in history that causes the Anglo-Saxons to win back England in this alternate universe. Gwynn would know how to make him get his butt in gear and reclaim his kingdom.

About the Aetheling's wife -- Wikipedia says there's no evidence he ever married, but I have seen it said that he married King Malcolm's sister Margaret, in a weird sort of reciprocal "You marry my sister, I'll marry yours" arrangement. It being a totally political marriage, I'm sure the age difference wasn't really an issue.

Either way he doesn't seem to have had any kids. So I don't know what was up (or not up, perhaps) with Edgar. If you go out far enough he's a very distant cousin of Gwynn, since they're both descended from the House of Wessex, so he was probably one of the people Gaethine was referring to with his remark:

“Her mother was the cousin of a lot of limp-​​pricked sons of dead or exiled princes, none of whom has more than a house or two to his name. The day of that family is done.”

That could be fun! Gwynn marrying the Aethling, rewriting history. A warrior queen-in-the-making. It could be cool to see her like Elizabeth I in the movie, riding up to the battlefield on her white charger ..... flags fluttering around her ..... as she addressed her husband and army to victory. Then going back to her tent, swooning over how "romantic" she imagined herself doing that. And if they lost, her striding throughout the camp kicking everyone's butt! And see ..... men DID marry older women. Soooo, what would be wrong with an Aengus/Edris relationship?! (A comment I had made in a post somewhere).

I was typing during that last comment. Then again .... can't see Gwynn with "limped pricked sons of dead or exiled princes". NOT "ROMANTIC" in the least. Looks like what penelopethefox says is true! Don't need her anymore to bring up "penises"!

Aengus + Edris wouldn't be political though. It would be intended for the purpose of reconstituting a family for both of them. One would expect them to at least sleep together, and so on. (Which Edgar and Margaret might never have done, or no more than the one time required of them.)

The fact that Edris is getting to the end of her childbearing years is also a point against her for the purposes of people looking to fix Aengus up with a new wife. Aengus only has one legitimate son. It seems much more likely that Aengus would marry someone ten years (or more) younger, who could take care of his kids and give him a few more, and be around to take care of him in his old age. (Which we must hope, for her sake, is not too Colin-like.)

Also... it's just... Aengus and Edris. That's almost a crack pairing to my mind. There is just NO chemistry there. Putting aside his forced relationship with Lena, Aengus's natural taste seems to run towards dark-haired, somewhat mannish women, along the lines of Maire and Girl-Flann. Not absent-minded, easily-flustered, freckle-faced redheads. After all, how creepy would it be to have the same fetishes as your dad? Especially when your dad officially IS a creep?

I can't see Gwynn with limp-pricked anybody. She's Gwynn! It would be like an oxymoron! Even possibly-gay Cubby cannot resist her innate powers of seduction.

Never thought of that! Aengus would want to father more children I imagine .... keeping up the family name, I guess. Besides, I can just imagine Colin with a bottle, skulking outside their bedroom door at night! Big Ewwwwwwww!

So, I wonder if that means Edgar may have enjoyed an alternate lifestyle? Maybe that's why I find him so dreamy! My "gaydar" kicked in!

It could be! I do recall Matilda making disparaging comments about his manhood.

Alas, that would explain why I find him so dreamy as well. /sigh

Yeah, Gwynn is a total hottie. I had a dream last night that she was some sort of prostitute, which was...weird. She opened up some booth and was...servicing...some of the Lotherian boys for coins. And this was published as a chapter, but then I became sort of...in it, and there was some sort of local police force going against this?

(Also Cedric was one of the boys and he was all awkward and angsty about it, and I remember commenting that she was lucky a boy with his morality was in there with her, or she would have gotten into something she couldn't handle.)

It was incredibly weird. :/

Really, Cassie? That's so crazy! I had a dream about a new Lothere chapter last night as well It wasn't as interesting as yours, though.

Oh, Alred indeed! What was he even doing?

Hmm, I once dreamed that I was in the shower with Vash, but I couldn't enjoy it because I was Iylaine, and I kept thinking, "But I'm Team Malcolm!"

Apparently one can't enjoy imaginary showers with Vash without being instantly affected by his emo.

I don't know what Alred was doing. He's just autonomously devastated these days. Egelric wrings his hands and Alred wails at the heavens.

SHOWERING WITH VASH??? Why cannot I have these dreams? Instead I dream about driving with Dante. And spend the night with Mysterious Reeve.

Has anyone dreamed about Leof yet? That would be interesting for sure.

This may be somewhat off-topic, but how much of Alred does Young Sigefrith see these days? Just thinking about that chapter where Alred was noting the similarities between himself and Hilda, and I'm wondering if Sigefrith might have picked up on that a little more in recent months.

Anything about Alred is on-topic for this post.

I'm really glad you asked that question! Young Sigefrith's relationship with Nothelm will be the subject of a chapter later in January (1086 that is).

Young Sigefrith is a big sweetie and no one blames him for anything, but it's still really awkward. He's Leof's son, and he's even very Leof-like in appearance. He's even of an appropriate age to fall in love with Hetty himself! (They're both 25.)

He's more loyal to his mom than to his dad where the affair with Hetty is concerned, but even so, he's still on the opposing team. Alred does not like having him hanging around.

Alred doesn't even like Haakon coming around at the moment. He can't come out and forbid that family to visit (except for Cedric), because that would be pathetic, but between Young Sigefrith's sensitivity and Alred's recent inability to refrain from making frightening faces, I think everyone gets the picture.

Sigefrith's awkwardness at seeing Rua recently wasn't only about seeing Rua. He used the excuse of the kilted welcoming committee to get himself into Nothelm without being too noticeable.

So to answer your question, at the moment I think poor Sigefrith is too busy feeling awkward about similarities between himself and his dad to be able to notice any similarities between Alred and Hilda.