Written By Joscelin
June 26, 2019, 6:19 p.m.(5/10/1011 AR)
What is it to finally get the answer to a question you've chased for decades? It can be relief, a balm, it can spawn more questions than it answers. It can drive you insane, wanting to find it.
I have my road now, and I know where I'm going. I am grateful.
I have my road now, and I know where I'm going. I am grateful.
Written By Joscelin
June 25, 2019, 1:43 a.m.(5/7/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Vincenzo
I can't think of a noble that can afford my living expenses or the materials to pursue my craft without making coin from my stock, nor the raising of my children or supporting my family, at least not without devoting a massive amount of funding. And while we are called to inspire others, we are also called to answer Jayus' inspiration. Some of these inspirations require expensive materials.
Pursuing our need to create and answering Jayus and His inspirations is a personal matter, however. Just because I am comfortable with our traditions doesn't mean it's the best way of handling things.
Pursuing our need to create and answering Jayus and His inspirations is a personal matter, however. Just because I am comfortable with our traditions doesn't mean it's the best way of handling things.
Written By Joscelin
June 19, 2019, 2 a.m.(4/23/1011 AR)
Joss gave me flowers today. My flowers. He dug up all of my irises and left them on the kitchen counter with a drawing in charcoal of himself, Ianthe, and Mongoose. It was covered in fingerprints, just as my counter, towels, and the duvet the boy and the dog were sleeping on when I discovered them.
Written By Joscelin
June 19, 2019, 1:58 a.m.(4/23/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Josephine
Remarkable enough in her ability to grasp her weaknesses as much as her better attributes, to strengthen the one and lean on the other. We all stumble in our new roles, at least a little, though I admire her foresight in much of what she does, it's a relief to see that no one is perfect.
Written By Joscelin
June 19, 2019, 1:56 a.m.(4/23/1011 AR)
Sometimes, even when we don't intend to, we say the wrong things or don't say the right things at the right time. Timing can be everything, and our best intentions don't always come through in the proper light. We do our best, as leaders, friends, kin, and have to hope that when we fuck up, those that know us understand we definitely didn't mean to ruffle feathers or step on toes. Yes?
Written By Joscelin
June 14, 2019, 9:09 p.m.(4/14/1011 AR)
Joss smashed a butterfly today. He was chasing it through our little garden and ran into the house with it, then clapped his hands right on it when he wanted it to stay. It crushed it into the kitchen counter. He looked devastated the moment after, looked up at me and started to shake, didn't dare move his hands.
In the moment I saw him and his eyes, how they welled up like the emotion him was starting to, I remembered a conversation with someone about his mother. Ianthe was always wandering off, here and there, then joining caravans and ships on trade-routes. My mother used to fret over this, I suspect for the very reason Myrinda didn't; there were dangers out there, adventures. Myrinda, I think, knew Ianthe was strong enough. My mother and even I saw Ianthe as the baby who cried from bad dreams, who clung so hard when we hugged her. It was different for us. But the conversation I had with my mother impressed upon me the strength it takes to be one, to care for someone from when they were so small to what they grow in to.
"I could keep her with us always," my mother told me, watching Ianthe pack a bag for what had to have been her seventh trip out the gates that year, "but it would crush her wings to make her stay. You can't ever do that, Josie. You can't ever make her do what she doesn't want to. It isn't who she is. Let her be and grow, love her, but let her leave as often as she wants. I think you are 'home', and she'll always come back. It might just take longer some times."
Or something like that. My memory gets fuzzy. They never tell you that, scholar, that with childbirth comes loss of memory. You gain wits, to be sure, but I swear sometimes I can't remember much past Tuesday.
We buried the butterfly in the garden. I moved one of the large conch shells Ianthe brought me back and Oliver carved in to after we were married, and put it over its little grave. Joss stopped crying but he was sad for a while, went back inside when the sun set and hugged Mongoose until he fell asleep. I just moved him to the bed and tucked him in.
Sleeping, he is so much like his mother, and yet even when she slept she looked troubled. Joss sleeps without a care in the world, through the night, laughing in the morning over his dreams.
In the moment I saw him and his eyes, how they welled up like the emotion him was starting to, I remembered a conversation with someone about his mother. Ianthe was always wandering off, here and there, then joining caravans and ships on trade-routes. My mother used to fret over this, I suspect for the very reason Myrinda didn't; there were dangers out there, adventures. Myrinda, I think, knew Ianthe was strong enough. My mother and even I saw Ianthe as the baby who cried from bad dreams, who clung so hard when we hugged her. It was different for us. But the conversation I had with my mother impressed upon me the strength it takes to be one, to care for someone from when they were so small to what they grow in to.
"I could keep her with us always," my mother told me, watching Ianthe pack a bag for what had to have been her seventh trip out the gates that year, "but it would crush her wings to make her stay. You can't ever do that, Josie. You can't ever make her do what she doesn't want to. It isn't who she is. Let her be and grow, love her, but let her leave as often as she wants. I think you are 'home', and she'll always come back. It might just take longer some times."
Or something like that. My memory gets fuzzy. They never tell you that, scholar, that with childbirth comes loss of memory. You gain wits, to be sure, but I swear sometimes I can't remember much past Tuesday.
We buried the butterfly in the garden. I moved one of the large conch shells Ianthe brought me back and Oliver carved in to after we were married, and put it over its little grave. Joss stopped crying but he was sad for a while, went back inside when the sun set and hugged Mongoose until he fell asleep. I just moved him to the bed and tucked him in.
Sleeping, he is so much like his mother, and yet even when she slept she looked troubled. Joss sleeps without a care in the world, through the night, laughing in the morning over his dreams.
Written By Joscelin
June 14, 2019, 8:59 p.m.(4/14/1011 AR)
Dear Ianthe,
I baked your favorite tarts today. The berry ones. You said they were as good as my scones so I only made them on your birthday and special occassions. So I made twenty four, to share with my customers and the children (and steal a few for me).
I left them out to cool.
An hour later they were all gone. I found a very sleepy boy with a very round belly dozing next to a very guilty looking deerhound when I came back.
I'm trying to stay mad at him. I really am. Stern-mother-face. I'm going to need a life-like mask, this is impossible. Did you know how hard it is -not- to laugh at him? Laugh with him? He keeps trying to make me smile and gods it's so hard not to crack.
He's impossible and he's just like you. I love him so much.
But... twenty-four tarts....! He's as bad as you are!
Your sister always until the end of time,
Josie
I baked your favorite tarts today. The berry ones. You said they were as good as my scones so I only made them on your birthday and special occassions. So I made twenty four, to share with my customers and the children (and steal a few for me).
I left them out to cool.
An hour later they were all gone. I found a very sleepy boy with a very round belly dozing next to a very guilty looking deerhound when I came back.
I'm trying to stay mad at him. I really am. Stern-mother-face. I'm going to need a life-like mask, this is impossible. Did you know how hard it is -not- to laugh at him? Laugh with him? He keeps trying to make me smile and gods it's so hard not to crack.
He's impossible and he's just like you. I love him so much.
But... twenty-four tarts....! He's as bad as you are!
Your sister always until the end of time,
Josie
Written By Joscelin
June 10, 2019, 3:05 p.m.(4/6/1011 AR)
Watching the bevy of messengers slide past my door and continue to the Velenosa wards, imagining that they're all headed to Josephine's makes me snicker, I can't lie. I'm sure at least one of them has messages from me as well but it's no less amusing.
What a strange turn of events! My shop is full of customers and interested clients and the occassional friendly face. A supportive missive from messere Sparte and a few letters... Will I ever get use to this? I suspect yes.
What a strange turn of events! My shop is full of customers and interested clients and the occassional friendly face. A supportive missive from messere Sparte and a few letters... Will I ever get use to this? I suspect yes.
Written By Joscelin
June 9, 2019, 6:54 p.m.(4/4/1011 AR)
It's done.
With a sigh of relief I pass on my position to capable hands, Josephine Arcuri will be a brilliant Guildmaster. From a collection of worthy nominations for successors, any outcome would have pleased me. My relief is in that it's over and I don't have to worry about my Guild as their leader, and can simply be an artisan and a mother for a while.
Still, there are projects to see through, ends to knot and situations to tie off. But I'm pleased, well beyond please, to see this work done and this chapter close. For now.
With a sigh of relief I pass on my position to capable hands, Josephine Arcuri will be a brilliant Guildmaster. From a collection of worthy nominations for successors, any outcome would have pleased me. My relief is in that it's over and I don't have to worry about my Guild as their leader, and can simply be an artisan and a mother for a while.
Still, there are projects to see through, ends to knot and situations to tie off. But I'm pleased, well beyond please, to see this work done and this chapter close. For now.
Written By Joscelin
June 4, 2019, 12:30 p.m.(3/22/1011 AR)
You hear rumors of customers that negotiate for better prices, but there's a difference between that and taking advantage of artists and their generosity. Fortunately, for the most part I've had very little trouble with this, though now and then a client will tell me I'm charging too much and they will take their work elsewhere, looking confounded when I wish them well on the way out the door.
It is my Jayus-given right to follow my inspiration, and if you don't inspire me, I'm less likely to create for you. Kindness, compassion, patience, understanding, these things can inspire me. I will still do great work for the brusque and the professional, and still be inspired by them. But rudeness, cruelty, disrespect, none of those things make me want to work with you.
Put plainly: don't do this. Noble or commoner, don't do this. Pay what we're worth, and we are worth the effort and the time. My days as Guildmaster are numbered but if you rouse the ire of enough of us, we are a force when we work together. We have proved this again and again in times of crisis, and we support each other in our efforts to create and earn a living. We also -discuss- these things, clients who continue to attempt to pit us against each other, suggest they can find better prices not because they want to take their business elsewhere, but because they want us to submit to the demands that are being made of us.
We remember and we talk about it with each other. Please, treat us well and encourage others to do the same. We as artists pour more of ourselves into the smallest bit of work than most would know, we carry with a tradition that borders on holy to some and beyond to many.
It is my Jayus-given right to follow my inspiration, and if you don't inspire me, I'm less likely to create for you. Kindness, compassion, patience, understanding, these things can inspire me. I will still do great work for the brusque and the professional, and still be inspired by them. But rudeness, cruelty, disrespect, none of those things make me want to work with you.
Put plainly: don't do this. Noble or commoner, don't do this. Pay what we're worth, and we are worth the effort and the time. My days as Guildmaster are numbered but if you rouse the ire of enough of us, we are a force when we work together. We have proved this again and again in times of crisis, and we support each other in our efforts to create and earn a living. We also -discuss- these things, clients who continue to attempt to pit us against each other, suggest they can find better prices not because they want to take their business elsewhere, but because they want us to submit to the demands that are being made of us.
We remember and we talk about it with each other. Please, treat us well and encourage others to do the same. We as artists pour more of ourselves into the smallest bit of work than most would know, we carry with a tradition that borders on holy to some and beyond to many.
Written By Joscelin
June 4, 2019, 11:20 a.m.(3/21/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Victus
How about the first person that fished out a thing with many tentacles and decided it was food?
In both cases, though, everyone got lucky.
In both cases, though, everyone got lucky.
Written By Joscelin
June 4, 2019, 2:01 a.m.(3/21/1011 AR)
The votes are pouring in and I'm delighted with the Crafters' involvement. It's like herding cats for most things but when I put them to voting, the rise to it like a tidal wave.
Written By Joscelin
June 3, 2019, 11:15 a.m.(3/19/1011 AR)
Breckendale Vale has proved to be a complicated situation, with satisfying work and a foothold put in however, it will be seen through. I have campaigning to do now, finding supplies on an ongoing basis in exchange for favors and goods, but I've also noted a few things about the people coming to help build: design and art in wearable items and wares brought, things that tingle at the edges of my mind. Inspiration, definitely, but not just for me, for the city to share in.
I've spoken to a few of these transplanted craftsmen, some of the things they make are unique in aesthetics but practical in function, belts that hang low and split across the hip for more support and accentuated curves, a cut to certain fabric that makes it hang without wrinkling, an alloy of certain metals that lend it qualities desirable in both ornament and blade. Trading knowledge is a beneficial negotiation for all parties. I mean to visit as often as possible, to share what we can and continue our work; we've a long way to go yet but I am intensely hopeful for the future.
I've spoken to a few of these transplanted craftsmen, some of the things they make are unique in aesthetics but practical in function, belts that hang low and split across the hip for more support and accentuated curves, a cut to certain fabric that makes it hang without wrinkling, an alloy of certain metals that lend it qualities desirable in both ornament and blade. Trading knowledge is a beneficial negotiation for all parties. I mean to visit as often as possible, to share what we can and continue our work; we've a long way to go yet but I am intensely hopeful for the future.
Written By Joscelin
June 3, 2019, 10:56 a.m.(3/19/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Ajax
I have no idea what I'll do, either, or how much different it would be. I still want to know the worries of them in the Guild, top to bottom, work out problems, talk to people. But I also want to put out the work my soul has been burdened with, heavy inspiration comes without work, I am weighed down with ideas that must. Come. Out.
I have two beautiful children to raise, one who has decided to skip the walking phase and go straight to running, and the other that continues to demonstrate his love of heights and his absolute disregard for the dangers of the world. They require more of my sanity than I have, and trying to split that with them and some thirty thousand others isn't just difficult. It's uncomfortable.
So i will be 'retired' from my position as Guildmaster, but not much else. I will still be Joscelin, mother, jeweler, artist, Crafter, no less devoted to my peers than before. More devoted, maybe, in that I want to see them put in hands that will take care of them properly, take them places I can't, guide them further into flourishing greatness.
I have two beautiful children to raise, one who has decided to skip the walking phase and go straight to running, and the other that continues to demonstrate his love of heights and his absolute disregard for the dangers of the world. They require more of my sanity than I have, and trying to split that with them and some thirty thousand others isn't just difficult. It's uncomfortable.
So i will be 'retired' from my position as Guildmaster, but not much else. I will still be Joscelin, mother, jeweler, artist, Crafter, no less devoted to my peers than before. More devoted, maybe, in that I want to see them put in hands that will take care of them properly, take them places I can't, guide them further into flourishing greatness.
Written By Joscelin
June 2, 2019, 11:28 a.m.(3/17/1011 AR)
And so it begins! The Crafters vote and we see who's chosen. I am quite excited to see who is.
Written By Joscelin
May 28, 2019, 11:41 a.m.(3/8/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Apollo
Sweet hands of Jayus, I just put on the corset given to me and created by you. Your work is stunning. The glimpses I've had of your other creations and projects... I am astounded, your work isn't just fantastic, it's -inspired-.
I honestly don't know if I deserve this, but it's so beautiful you'd have to pry it from my fingers.
This is a call to the city to observe Crafter Apollo's work; exquisite. -Exquisite-.
I honestly don't know if I deserve this, but it's so beautiful you'd have to pry it from my fingers.
This is a call to the city to observe Crafter Apollo's work; exquisite. -Exquisite-.
Written By Joscelin
May 27, 2019, 2:24 a.m.(3/5/1011 AR)
I said all I needed to say in my proclamation and the slightly more pointed announcement to the Guild.
I have been the honored one to serve such a position, I felt honored to have been elected in the first place. I feel I've established policies that help the Guild flourish and still provide the Crafters with that rare ability to forge a measure of their collective future.
The Guild is stable, strong, and there is no better time in my opinion for a change of hands. Do we want to see the leadership change in times of struggle? No. Change can bring growth and new perspectives. I have faith in my people and the change they are capable of inflicting. It is time for another to guide us.
Perhaps in the future, when another election comes to pass, I will throw in my name a second time. But for now I am more than content to let go and have another take my place. Fresh eyes and all that.
That being said, I too hope I am kept on in some capacity, as adviser or assistant, at least for a time to help the newly elected acclimate. I wouldn't have been near as capable in my position if it weren't for the many hands that helped me steer. Ida and Morrighan, you've both been beyond invaluable in that regard. I literally wouldn't have found my footing without.
I have been the honored one to serve such a position, I felt honored to have been elected in the first place. I feel I've established policies that help the Guild flourish and still provide the Crafters with that rare ability to forge a measure of their collective future.
The Guild is stable, strong, and there is no better time in my opinion for a change of hands. Do we want to see the leadership change in times of struggle? No. Change can bring growth and new perspectives. I have faith in my people and the change they are capable of inflicting. It is time for another to guide us.
Perhaps in the future, when another election comes to pass, I will throw in my name a second time. But for now I am more than content to let go and have another take my place. Fresh eyes and all that.
That being said, I too hope I am kept on in some capacity, as adviser or assistant, at least for a time to help the newly elected acclimate. I wouldn't have been near as capable in my position if it weren't for the many hands that helped me steer. Ida and Morrighan, you've both been beyond invaluable in that regard. I literally wouldn't have found my footing without.
Written By Joscelin
May 23, 2019, 10:56 a.m.(2/25/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Valenzo
No! Oh no, not Kev. Oh that beautiful bird. Rotten, gorgeous, snarky bastard.
Written By Joscelin
May 21, 2019, 1:41 a.m.(2/21/1011 AR)
You know, Aureth's silver hair looks quite lovely. It's annoying, how it's gone from old, worn, warm gold to this wintry shade of electrum. I'm quite enamored with his, mind you, but... stark bright white like moonlit lines on black shadow? Too abrupt, too jarring. No gray, it's just ... stark, blazing white. My mother though, as I recall, went silver very quickly after father died. In fact, when she took the boat back to the islands, her hair was completely white and straight, like aeterna.
Ah well. Time comes for ['us all' has been scratched out, to be replaced with] most of us.
Ah well. Time comes for ['us all' has been scratched out, to be replaced with] most of us.
Written By Joscelin
May 21, 2019, 1:36 a.m.(2/21/1011 AR)
Four more white hairs, now, one for every letter in your name, Hana.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.