Too many elements, I think it’s an AI composite of a dog, a person and possibly a deer edited into a RING camera photo. Or it could be a very unflattering fish-eye effect of a bad photo of an off-putting dog. But the shape of the face and the length of the legs look altered to me.
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I thought it was a fish-eye camera (security camera? Camera trap? Kinda looks like a night mode of a camera trap) photo of a cow. Reminds me of the “chance of getting killed by a cow” meme (which I absolutely hate).
Oh, you are so spoiling me (although that probably means I’ll have to play the cheat mode, bleh).
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Nope. Wrong type and shape of muzzle for a cow. Not nearly broad enough and the nostrils are all wrong. Not broad and flat enough between the eyes, either. It’s also pretty clearly at a door (you can see the hardware off to the side) and on an enclosed structure that could be either an entryway or a small brick porch. While it could still be a photo from a camera trap when it comes to the animal, that still just argues for the photo as a whole having been altered/being a composite.
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Mmh, I see what you mean. I was staring at that bony nose bridge and it triggered a few associations of this one artist’s work who has made a career of depicting this one breed
and the meme I mentioned.
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I went down the rabbit hole and found a Reddit thread about this image. Apparently it’s an extinct type of pig named Dinohyus. According to Reddit: “Dinohyus is an entelodont, an extinct group of pig-like (but not closely related to modern pigs) mammals that probably ate both meat and plants” Not sure what the story is on how it ended up on ring camera though? Also, something more credible than Reddit: Dinohyus: “Terrible Pig” in More Ways Than One @LiliArch
@judy I get that, but in my work editors do get paid. And for good reason. So the least I can do is at least offer some form of thanks, paltry as it may be.
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Well with that photo… it’d take about 5-10 min in Photoshop to splice it in a proper background.
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Yeah, seems to have been some TikTok meme during Covid? But I’m satisfied now, not going to dig further.
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Grew up around cows partly, so it’s probably easier for me to “see” the lack of bovine characteristics.
And that is interesting. When did those pigs go extinct? Had the sculptor ever seen a live one, or just the bones? Maybe it was less a terrible pig and more a terrible portrayal…
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Wouldn’t the equestrian PC’s father still legally own Bess? Couldn’t he (or Sharpe, if he knew about her) theoretically order the Haines family to turn her over?
Of course, that would require the PC’s father to put in some effort, which might be beyond him.
I imagine the equestrian PC’s Aunt would be the one paying for the stabling in London?
Just for fun, I tried to figure out how much it’d cost to keep a horse during the Regency.
One blog claims “one horse cost an average of £500 per year to maintain[1],” while another says “[t]he cost of keeping a single riding horse in London was around £120 a year[2]”. A New System of Practical Domestic Economy (1823) comes up with a cost of £42[3].
£42 in 1823 is about £4,300 in 2025, while £120 during the Regency is about £7-10k in 2025 pounds[4].
That’s actually not too bad considering it costs around £5-15k to own a horse in the UK today[5], and possibly closer to £20k in London[6]. (Though you can always pay more. My cousin’s three dogs cost over $25k USD a year.)
Inflation isn’t the whole story, of course. A nursery maid might earn only £7 a year[7]. £500 in 1823 afforded you a roof, a wife, three children, and two servants[8]. I’m not familiar with cost of living in the UK, but I suspect you couldn’t afford that on £52k (~$72k USD) a year?
Gotta say, I’m impressed how much readily available research there is on everyday life in Regency England. I almost wish I picked it as a setting.
Of course, please feel free.
A fantasy setting heavily based on late 1940s Britain, so about 120 years into the future from the Regency era. (Though I’m technically finished writing that project and should stop poking at it and move on.)
Travel for the Poor and Working Classes in Regency England | Jane Austen's World ↩︎
https://janeausten.co.uk/blogs/landscape-and-property/the-cost-of-keeping-a-horse-in-jane-austens-day ↩︎
Horse Cost Guide UK: How much does it cost to own a horse? ↩︎
The REAL Costs Of Owning A Horse Per Year In the UK – Paddock Blade United Kingdom ↩︎
https://www.heathermollauthor.com/post/regency-income-500-versus-10-000-per-year ↩︎
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I love this.
Can I add this to my useful info links thread?
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I love the way your brain works - very differently to mine 
I trample over facts, you coolly calculate them. Once again, I’ll waive your excellent logic with the trite: ‘the horse is MC’s own. It was gifted to them by grandfather/uncle Edmund/Griffith/a horse enthusiast who had to reward this gifted youngling with a horse and stipend to look after it.’
What era do you write about?
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Hello! Absolutely love the game! 
On the jilted fiancé route, I was wondering why none of the ROs have higher titles than our ex? (In the future, I know William will be a Duke.) Slight detail, but I think it would add a little to the revenge path if we married someone of higher status than them. With the exception of Iris, we are marrying above our station (title wise), but we won’t be getting a higher title. Making Christian and Alexandra a Duke and Duchess could also add to their tragedy lol. A Cursed Duke and an alleged penniless Duchess.
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Adding to the discussion about potential pets:
Could something similar be done for an athletics-focused MC? IIRC, the athletic MC has gone hunting in the past, so they might have a beloved falcon/goshawk/hunting dog that they stashed with Griffith/Ginevra.
Also, the more I hear about the MC’s father in the gambling route, the more unimpressed I am. Aside from the fact that he singlehandedly ruined his family’s financial future, he possibly did something to Levi North, resulting in his eldest child being challenged to a duel. A+ parenting; Mr and Mrs Bennett would be proud.
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Thank you! Well, basically there’s only William. There is nothing higher than a Duke, and he will be one (probably…), so that’s that. Our ex-fiancé will not be a Duke, Marquess is his highest possible title, so if a better title is what you’re after, William is goals lol.
I cannot make them all Dukes, there were very few Dukes and actually having a young one participating in a Season was a novelty. Two or three will just stretch the suspension of disbelief too much, I think =P (Princes aren’t really in contention, although I might introduce a German or Prussian prince in the end that MC who chose to romance no-one can marry or something. We’ll see.)
Well, it won’t be too much of a stretch to add a hunting hound to the pet options that only athletic MC can access. But honestly, athletic MC already has so many game advantages - at least so far. I don’t want to favour them too much. Intelligent and charming MC is starting to catch up a bit in Chapter Two, but yeah. I’ll check what the MC balance looks like in a few chapters, if athletic MC is no longer leading in most advantages I’ll consider giving them a special pet, but right now they’re spoilt enough =P (I’ll probably add a hunting dog though, but it won’t be doing anything exciting and different from the other doggos for the moment.)
I might also give every specialty their own special pet - but not yet. I want to focus on the bones of the story for the moment. I think I’ll start feeling a little overwhelmed with more variables now.
And yeah, MC’s father is a mess. He’s a man who has good intentions but zero self-control, and at some point you stop forgiving people like that, unless you’re an utter saint… I did a lot of reading on gambling and debts in the Regency era, and this behaviour seemed to be pretty normal. Many noble fathers (and young men and women too) just happily gambled everything away, and were either saved by friends and family or fled the country. Gambling was a real scourge on the Regency aristocracy.
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Yup, through the entire Regency era, there were potentially 6 non-married / available Dukes…two of those were very young at the time (aged 13 and 8), so that leaves 4 single Dukes throughout the entire period. 
Reddit - The heart of the internet (The unrealistic number of Dukes…)
There were hardly any female peeresses sadly with power of their own. Most had married into it. Compared to the hundred of men, below are the female peeresses with titles in their own right. The highest ranked was a Countess. No Duchess or Marquesses…believe me I checked…
In order of precedence-
- Title (date when title created)
Countess-
- Sutherland (1235)
- Rothes (1457)
- Loudoun (1633)
- Orkney (1696)
- Antrim (1785)
- de Grey (1816)
Viscountess-
- Massereene (1660)
- Ferrard (1797)
Baroness-
- de Ros (1264)
- Willoughby de Eresby (1313)
- Dacre (1321)
- Grey de Ruthyn (1324)
- Polworth (1697)
- Abercromby of Aboukir and Tullibody (1801)
- Sandys (1802)
- Barham (1805)
Here’s my list of titled gentry-
Technically William is a Marquess right now. Dukes gave their heirs to use one of their secondary titles. Courtesy titles were titles tied to an actual title, that you had it through your connection to someone i.e your husband or father who had the actual title. So William’s father has the actual title - the Dukedom, through land ownership etc, and so his family get courtesy titles related to that title. So William’s father will likely have a secondary Marquess title he gives to William.
In Regency era, if you were a male peer, your title was the name you were known by. So the Duke of Norfolk is called Norfolk. The heir to a Dukedom would be known by his courtesy title as a Marquess. e.g. say the Duke of Norfolk has a courtesy title, the Marquess of Wrexford that he gives to his heir, then his heir would be known as Wrexford.
The only reason William would be using his surname still as the name other people called him, is if he was a younger son, that then later into his life inherited the courtesy title after his older brother died. Everyone who didn’t know him, would insist on calling him e.g. Wrexford, his new courtesy title. His father and mother would certainly be calling their new heir by his courtesy title. But Wiliam’s friends who still knew him before the change, may then still call him Blevins.
It’s the same elsewhere, the female MC’s ex, is currently an Earl through the secondary title his father - the Marquess - had given him. An heir’s courtesy title was the next peer level down.
It goes further, if William has kids, if his father is still the Duke at the time, William’s heir might have a lesser courtesy title, e.g. Earl of Sutherby.
So in general it would be-
| Actual title of peer- | Duke | Marquess | Earl |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heir’s Courtesy title | Marquess | Earl | Viscount |
| Heir’s Heir’s courtesy title | Earl | Viscount | Baron |
Edit: there were exceptions to the rules, if the secondary title is the same territory designation, you had to skip it and go to the next title down.
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Thanks for confirming that! I didn’t know the exact number of eligible Dukes, but I knew there had to be very few of them 
I don’t mind going off the historical accuracy rails slightly if necessary (because this is fiction,) but here the ducal title is also a big part of William’s story, so it cheapens his story too.
Update-wise, I’m in a bit of a writing lull. I’m still writing, but more like 2000 words a day and not 5000. I’m not worried, I wrote all the exciting bits first and now I’m at the part where I have to join them up together with less flashy scenes, so it makes sense I’m slowing down. I won’t write this way again lol. But my lofty hopes of having both the chapter and the edits out in a week seems a bit far-fetched.
So yeah, the end of the month goal that I promised if I’m slow seems the likely one. Sorry if I created hopes. Sometimes I forget that you can’t really always keep up the same tempo with creative pursuits…
Currently at 46 000 words for Chapter Two with 9000 added to the first two chapters.
Edit: Also, I just remembered that a five-day cricket match that my country is playing in (the World Test Championship finals!) is coming up next week. So yeah, no, definitely only going to be done at the end of the month lol.
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Progress is progress!
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I wish I could get 2000 words a-day in, for that matter.
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Some people are fast, but there’s much to be said for being slower and really being thoughtful about what you write. As long as there’s some output every day, it adds up.
(And I’m trained to write fast, in a different field, but it still carries over to other writing somewhat. )
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Idk if this will make sense, but playing as a dysphoric lady and being challenged to a deul from Levi was possibly the most gender affirming thing that will ever happen to them, so obviously they gotta risk death to chase that high and accept! Oh and honor or whatever
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