Artworks from our Community I

Milestones of Belletristican history

We've always worked hard to make Belletristica a better place for everyone. However, a huge amount of our culture actually comes from Belletristica's creative inhabitants.

In this article, we want to showcase some of the greatest works of our Belletristicans.

Thank you, for being a part of us!

1. Kathy Heap's Belle

While the idea of a fairy mascot named "Belle" was there from the beginning, she didn’t come to life until Kathy drew her for the very first time:

But Kathy didn't stop there. By the time our one-time "Halloween Challenge" turned into the all-year-round seasonal challenges we have today, Kathy started to draw a picture for each season.

Winter Belle

Winter Belle was the first that Kathy drew after the original Belle. She was announcing the first Winter-Challenge in 2015.

Spring Belle

After that, Spring Belle came along. The little software-bug "Lady" has been on her side ever since. Whenever anything on Belletristica malfunctions, it's most likely due to Lady chewing on the wrong cables again.

Summer Belle

Summer Belle and Lady are going to the beach. Of course, Belle's bag is chock-full of Books and Lady got some water wings, so she won't drown.

Autumn Belle

And finally, we got Autumn-Belle. There are suspiciously few pages in Belle's book, which might actually explain what Lady is eating in this picture. Classic distraction manouver with the kite - fairies are easily distracted by colorful things.

We are very grateful for these drawings, since they were most likely the first steps on the journey to our very own culture, as every future artwork was build upon Kathy's original drawing.

For "giving her a physical body in our world", Belle always refers to Kathy as "Mum", when they meet in the chat.

2. Phobos’ Realm of Belletristica

In the far north of Belletristica lies the castle of the vampire lord, count Phobos Escanor. The count was the first to create an extensive map of the kingdom of Belletristica. Back in the olden days, one could often meet him on his travels across the continent, constantly working on his map.

This map really catches the medieval fantasy vibe of our community, and has established itself as a golden standard for whatever roleplay might be going on in the tavern (our chat).

By the way, right now you are standing inside the academy on the western shore, because that's where our Blog is located.

Evolution of the Map

Over time, many locations were added to the map. Here you can watch how our realm grew:

Upon release of the fourth and final version of the map, Phobos announced that no further landmarks would be added, for he doesn’t want it to look crammed.

3. The Age of Smiley breeders on Belle

When the first settlers arrived in Belletristica, we didn’t have any emoticons at all. As the people were hungry for more ways to express themselves, we set sail to find the perfect breed of emoticons, which matched our kingdoms crazy style.

And we found them: 28 Gummy Emoticon Pack

For more than a year, we lived happily with our little herd of smileys, but as Belletristica grew, it became more and more clear that we needed to expand. Sadly the maker of the initial set didn’t ever create more of them – and moreover, had commented that he probably never would.

It seemed like we were facing a tough choice: either mixing two sets that wouldn’t really fit together, or abandoning our old emoticons, which we had all grown to love.

That was when a few courageous breeders started to work with our old smileys, in the hope of creating completely new kinds.

DerTypInSchwarz

DerTypInSchwarz, also known as Ric, was the first to successfully create a new smiley out of the old ones, and thus set the stage for the golden age of smiley breeders. Here are all of his creations:

Polly

Polly too created her own strain of emoticons, and she made a vast amount of them. If you ever used an emoticon on Belletristica, there's roughly a 50% chance that it was one of hers:

Kathy Heap (again)

Last but not least, there was another smiley breeder, which you already know from earlier in this article. Kathy too added a few of her own creations to the mix:

Thanks to the efforts of our heroic smiley breeders, we were finally able to satisfy the rising demand to express the full spectrum of human emotions.

Also, we now have fortune cookies, kittens and narwhals.

4. Leni's Fairy Drafts

Belle always has a lot of stuff to take care of, so we had the idea of hiring a few of her friends to help her out around here.

This is why Leni, my little sister, drafted Takaro and Khaeli. Along with two other fairy friends, these two are going to assist Belle in various tasks, so that she can focus on literature and community.

Of course, these were only rough sketches, but they made great material for our illustrator to work with.

Takaro, Muse of Fun and Games

Takaro will move in with us after the 2.0 update.

Takaro is not only a gaming enthusiast, but an expert in how to craft the most engaging gameplay mechanics. She knows both the math and the psychology behind gamification principles. For her, games are an important art of their own.

In the future, Takaro will take care of all gameplay aspects of Belletristica, such as collecting Fairy Dust, combining and selling gems, as well as awarding achievements, medals, and titles.

Khaeli, General of FairyShield

Khaeli will be our head of security after the 2.0 update.

Khaeli is not only an excellent warrior and general, but also just, incorruptible and always vigilant. Spammers and trolls alike fall before her blade. We'll be in good hands.

In the future, Khaeli will take care of our automatic security system, enforce copyright law, assist our admins and mods, and generally protect our community.

Translations, CoffeeShock and a Scarf

Aside from her fairy drafts, Leni also helps out a lot when it comes to translations. For example, the whole german translation for this article was made by her.

Right now, she is even working on a Belletristica-exclusive webcomic about writers titled "CoffeeShock" (which is yet to be published).

Also, she made a very nice Belle-scarf.

Some Final Words

Clearly, without its inventful inhabitants, Belletristica would not be the fun and colorful place it is today. But not only are we grateful to those who we mentioned in this article, but to each and everyone of you.

Every story, poem and comment, and every conversation or quirky roleplay in our chat, is a valuable piece of the great and colorful puzzle, which is our Belletristican culture.

Ben Wendtner is an Austrian writer and sofware developer, as well as one of the founders of BelletristicaZum Profil