not at all! sorry, I only just saw this ^^

okay looking at this now.... it is on so many levels hilarious that she has a cussing parrot left to her by her aunt.... because Nicholas also has a cussing parrot left to him by his grandfather................

@Ellianna Moonshire (Kaylee) why not both ;)

welcome to the disappointments club? perhaps we should be friends -- if not in backstory, then going forward lol

I'm definitely gonna have some shenanigans to post as we get closer to the time.... only one of them so far involves animals that aren't really supposed to be at a ball...... hmm wait I wonder how the Everblooms feel about him bringing Bartholomew 😂

oh boy that's a big social event to start out with if she's never really been to a substantial social event before 😂

lmao isn't 27 getting a little "old" for that ;)

@Janet Twisden certainly! rumors abound with Nicholas, so it would be very easy for him to be painted in a negative light. the only real issue I could maybe see is that by and large his family cut contact with him at a certain point, and he with them, but I'm sure we could thing of a reason/way around it with that aunt if needed. or, perhaps he was still writing to Janet on occasion, and the aunt disapproved? it's a noted theme that he was close to his several cousins as a child and they began to grow distant after a point, so Janet could be no exception to that. the last logistical hoop would be that because of the current layout of his family tree, they might have to be like, second cousins instead of first cousins, unless Emmeline, who it is not letting me tag for some reason, would be interested in having another cousin on that side of the family. anyways, sorry that's a bit complicated 😅 we've had a few months to overthink things hahahaha if that's getting to be too much, otherwise, we could just keep it to friends somehow or another, if you would like. https://www.romancingjan.com/forum/general-discussion/earl-nicholas-howard-connections that's Nicholas' thread if you would like any more information on him as a character. and feel free to PM me if that makes things easier.

happy to be an arts & theatre connection -- Nicholas is not much of an artist himself but attends the theatre frequently and has a number of related connections. he's also a notoriously bad poet and it's debatable whether or not it's intentional. also a bit of a wild child dead set on getting wilder so... there's that. possibly happy to work with "the wicked nephew" depending on what you have in mind there? most of his older family members, RIP all of them, have not been especially happy with him over the years lmao

@Jude Clarke (Holly) oh of course we will be in correspondence! just a matter of "have we talked already or are we about to start" haha. certainly if you think that Jude would want to ask Nicholas questions about any of the animals, or anything else, then feel free ^^

@Jude Clarke (Holly) works for me! up to you if you want Nicholas and Jude to have any actual contact yet or if they haven't actually met/been in correspondence directly just yet.

@Holly Eatinger the camel plot is somewhat coordinated with @Abraham Griffen (Steve he/him) and I believe arrived in England sometime around early January? alternative, there is a zebra which was delivered more like later February if that suits your timeline better.

@Holly Eatinger sounds good to me ^^ that means they probably met fairly recently, sometime since December. Maybe Jude had a had in transporting the camel, or one of Nicholas' other equally ridiculous animals? (also feel free to PM me if you feel like that would be easier)

@Holly Eatinger Nicholas is a bit more into zoology but he is generally interested in natural science and more than happy to throw money at people. They could possibly have met when Jude was doing an odd job, either for Nicholas or during the time Nicholas was sort of... Bumming around London haha

@Taethath Serdanhia lol just let me know what kind of thwap it is so I know how to color the interaction when/if it's mentioned XD although I suppose if it's especially late in the day he might not remember lmfao

@Amelia Rutherford (Renee) lmk if you want to come up with anything particular for them to have talked about. hopefully Amelia will get Nicholas' letter before the race lol

very happy to get introduced, probably flirt a little with both of you, possibly comment on your attire (although Nicholas is not much one for fashion and probably would have little to say other than "ooh neat"). feel free to hit him with the whip, accidentally or playfully or with some affront, whatever lol

oh jeez I just realized that I didn't comment on this (I thought I did). it seems likely that Nicholas and Amelia would talk at least briefly at some point, although for plot reasons Nicholas and Elisa can't see each other before their argument in the afternoon

@Taethath Serdanhia pretty sure we will both thrive off of your disapproval :P (please, I love IC conflict lol)

@Captain Katharine Sunderlin (she/her, Kim) oh no the whole thing is very cordial, possibly even painfully so, we just clearly don't like each other lol