#*cora macdonald

[earthmoonz]

WIFEY. | EPISODE EIGHT (8.2)

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For Max, work had been a mercy. Pride month was ‘The Old Salt Bar’s’ busiest time of year (only rivalled by halloween). They’d been disconnected from their day job of late, ghosting through their shifts while their mind battled thoughts of their mother and now of a certain tattooed individual. But now they could distract themself with pride and ensuring that things at o.s.b ran like a well oiled machine. 

(transcript below)

(OVERLAPPING VOICES): Hi, hey, hiya! Hi gorg! How are you?

(CORA): …Do you wanna ring Aish to see where they are?

(MAX): [Weary] Nah. Let’s just start, I’ll deal with them later.

(CORA): Alright…Well thank you to everyone for getting here early. We just wanted to go over a few things with you for this week.

(MAX): We’ve got a drag show, two dj nights and the queer black book club has a coffee morning planned with us as well.

(CORA): The board game social has been pushed to next week ‘cause the organiser isn’t well, so Sim and Taz you don’t have to come in early that day.

(SIM/TAZ): Calm. / Thank fuck! …Sorry, but them lot creep me out.

(MAX): …Anyways! I wanted to highlight that with the drag show, like last year it’s gonna be an all hands on deck situation. We’ll have security again but we won’t be selling tickets on the door like last time, ‘cause that was shambolic.

(JORDAN): Real! 

(CORA): Everyone needs to be on job, I don’t want anyone being left on their own for no reason…

(TAZ): @ me next time?

(CORA): I’m just sayin’! maybe don’t flirt too much with the customers this year.

(TAZ): I can’t help it if people want me Cor. I’ve got a natural charm.

[The door opens, conversation pauses. Aish sits down silently.]

(MAX): …I also encourage everyone to dress up that night as well! We’ll have a photographer and I wanna put some pics on the website and our instagram.

(JORDAN): Wait, are we still doing the staff photo today? Cos I can’t let this fit go unseen.

(AISH): [Quietly] Shit.

(MAX): We are! Sim brought his tripod.

(JORDAN): God bless.

(CORA): Well! I think that pretty much covers everything. Does anyone have any questions?...No? Okay let’s go outside and do the staff picture then. I don’t wanna lose the light.

[Everyone except Aish and Max gets up to leave. Cora and Jordan hang back. It’s clear a conversation is brewing]

(CORA): Do you need me or Jord to stick around?

(MAX): You’re fine babe, this won’t take long.

[enbysiriusblack]

my marauder oc's:

lydia pettigrew- peter's mother. lesbian, witch, had peter when she was about 16 so didn't go back to school for her newts

cora- lydia's girlfriend, muggle and a wiccan, peter sees her as his stepmum and vice versa

catherine mckinnon- marlene's mum, witch, very traditional values, doesn't understand/get on with marlene

bob meadowes- dorcas' dad, muggle, works as a builder, very close to dorcas

raymond- known by 'ray', a music store owner in london that sirius and regulus used to visit sometimes

sy macdonald- mary's sister, muggle, quite a bit older than mary, punk lesbian, mary moves in with her after she leaves the wizarding world

owen- neighbour of the lupin's, runs a small farm that remus sometimes helps out on during the summer, taught remus welsh

lydia, cora, sy, and bob were oc's made by both me and @loserboyfriendrjl !!

[uwmspeccoll]

The author, Angela Hovak Johnston.

Johnston and Marjorie Tungwenuk Tahbone, traditional tattoo artist.

Catherine Niptanatiak: "I designed my own, something that represents me and who I am, something that I would be proud to wear and show off, and something that would make me feel confident and beautiful. . . . I have daughters and I would like to teach them what I know. I would like for them to want to practice our traditions and keep our culture alive."

Cecile Nelvana Lyall: "On my hand tattoos, from the top down, the triangles represent the mountains. . . . The Ys are the tools used in seal hunting. . . . The dots are my ancestors. . . . I am so excited to be able to truly call myself and Inuk woman."

Colleen Nivingalok: "The tattoos on my face represent my family and me. The lines on my chin are my four children -- my two older boys on the outside protecting my daughters. The lines on my cheeks represent the two boys and the two girls on either side. The one on my forehead represents their father and me. Together, we live for our children."

Doreen Ayalikyoak Evyagotailak: "I have thought about getting traditional tattoos since I was a teenager. . . . When I asked the elders if I could have my own meaning for my tattoos, they said it wouldn't matter. My tattoos symbolize my kids."

Mary Angele Takletok: "I always wanted traditional tattoos like the women in the old days. I wanted them on my wrists and my fingers so I could show I'm Inuk."

Melissa MacDonald Hinanik: "As a part of celebrating my heritage and revitalizing important traditional customs that form my identity, I believe I have earned my tattoos. I am a beautiful, strong young woman. I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend, and an active community member. I reclaim the traditional customs as mine, I re-own them as a part of who I am."

Star Westwood: "We still have some of our culture, but some things are slowly dying. Having tattoos helps us keep our culture alive. . . . . My tattoos represent my dad and my dad's dad. The ones closest to my wrists represent my sisters."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

National Tattoo Day

July 17 is National Tattoo Day. To celebrate, we present some images from Reawakening Our Ancestors' Lines: Revitalizing Inuit Traditional Tattooing, compiled by Angela Hovak Johnston, co-founder with Marjorie Tahbone of the Inuit Tattoo Revitalization Project, with photographs by Inuit photographer Cora DeVos, and published in Iqaluit, Nunavut by Inhabit Media Inc. in 2017.

For thousands of years, Inuit have practiced the traditional art of tattooing. Created the ancient way, with bone needles and caribou sinew soaked in seal oil, sod, or soot, these tattoos were an important tradition for many Inuit women, symbols etched on their skin that connected them to their families and communities. But with the rise of missionaries and residential schools in the North, the tradition of tattooing was almost lost. In 2005, when Angela Hovak Johnston heard that the last Inuk woman tattooed in the old way had died, she set out to tattoo herself in tribute to this ancient custom and learn how to tattoo others. What was at first a personal quest became a project to bring the art of traditional tattooing back to Inuit women across Nunavut.

Collected in this book are photos and stories from more than two dozen women who participated in Johnston's project. Together, these women have united to bring to life an ancient tradition, reawakening their ancestors' lines and sharing this knowledge with future generations. Hovak Johnston writes: "Never again will these Inuit traditions be close to extinction, or only a part of history you read about in books. This is my mission."

Reawakening Our Ancestors' Lines forms part of our Indigenous America Literature Collection.

Angela Hovak Johnston (right) with her cousin Janelle Angulalik and her aunt Millie Navalik Angulalik.

View other posts from our Indigenous America Literature Collection.

[brian-in-finance]

Douglas Henshall as Taran MacQuarrie (Outlander/Starz) and Jimmy Perez (Shetland/BBC)

Bill Paterson as Ned Gowan (Outlander/Starz) and James Perez (Shetland/BBC)

Grant O’Rourke as Rupert MacKenzie (Outlander/Starz) and Jamie Narey (Shetland/BBC)

3 of 52 and counting…

Overheard (via text) in November:

Bill Paterson (Ned Gowan in Outlander) makes an appearance in Shetland. Sorry if this is old news. — GreyMatterMaelstrom

Love Shetland and was gutted when Douglas Henshall announced he was leaving. As far as actors go, the more episodes you watch, the more Outlanders you'll see. I used to keep a list, but stopped updating it for no good reason. — Brian-in-Finance

Decided to update the list. You might need a magnifying glass to read it. 🔍 Appreciate notification of errors and omissions.

Actors in both Outlander and Shetland

Remember when Brian Fraser married Flora MacDonald in Shetland Season 6? Remember when Anne Kidd played Grannie Wilson the purported corpse in Outlander and Dr Cora McLean the pathologist in Shetland? Remember when Torin the blacksmith’s “It’ll cost ye” sounded just like Connor McKay the Health and Safety inspector’s “But it might take some time?”

This one’s for you @greymattermaelstrom 😂

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Scottish actress Dawn Steele.

Born as Dawn Anne Nolan in Glasgow on December 11th 1975 in Glasgow, the family moved to Milton of Campsie at the foot of the Campsie Fells, north of the city in 1982, she attended nearby Kilsyth High School before going on to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Dawn picked up bit parts in Highlander: The Raven TV series and the film The Debt Collector before getting her big break in the excellent BBC Scotland dram series Tinsel Town, after this she got arguably the part she is best known for as Alexandra “Lexie” MacDonald in Monarch of the Glen. Dawn went on to appear in the paranormal series Sea of Souls before joining the cast of Wild at Heart in series 4 right through to series 7 when it ended.

We next saw Dawn pop up in the brilliant Case Histories, set in Edinburgh before heading back west to join the popular Scottish Soap River City as doctor Annie Jandhu in 2015. Dawn left the show in 2018, citing the travelling was causing her to miss seeing her daughter grow up, she turned 11 this year.

On leaving the show in an interview she said she was open to doing another soap and mentioned Casualty and EastEnders as being attractive possibilities, well Casualty’s “sister” show Holby City came calling and it wasn’t long until she joined the cast of the hospital “soap” as Angel “Ange” Godard, a consultant general surgeon, she has now racked up 128 appearances in the show, which was cancelled and ended in March this year.

Dawn lives with her hubby Paul Blair, in the seaside town of Whitstable on the Kent coast and enjoys swimming regularly in the sea there. She was recently back in Scotland filming the new BBC detective series Granite Harbour, set in Aberdeen, Dawn plays DCI Cora MacMillan. While it was nice to see some shots of Aberdeen I think the show was a bit of a dud, I really can’t see there being a second series, if you are looking for a show like Shetland, this falls way short of that. Unfortunately for Dawn the interior scenes for the show were shot in a Glasgow studio, which left her disappointed that she didn’t get the chance to film in Aberdeen.

“I was quite jealous when everyone else went up, because I love Aberdeen. I rehearsed for a tour of Tutti Frutti at His Majesty’s Theatre and then we opened the show there, so I spent eight weeks in the city. I also filmed a film, Marionette, there, so I got to know it well. It can be so beautiful and it’s nice to see it on the screen again.”

Steele knew from a young age that acting was where her future lay. “I started off with dancing and I was in drama clubs from when I was young. I was part of Kirkintilloch Players from when I was 10 or 11.

However Dawn did say she enjoyed filming in her hometown of Glasgow, taking the opportunity to catch up with friends and family, as well as reconnect with familiar faces within the industry.

“I will always work in Scotland,” she says. “I love it because it is home and I know everyone. It is nice because you walk onto a set and there are so many crew who have been part of your life over the years – our lighting guy Stuart was on Monarch of the Glen with me.”

Of late Dawn was on the TV series Granite Harbour, cop show set in Aberdeen and the latest Shetland series with Ashley Jensen.

[supertvngames]

Arthur (Series) OC - Anthony "Tony" Samuel Read

Age: Over 3 Years Old

Species: Arctic Fox

Family: Arthur Timothy Read - Adoptive Eldest Brother Dora Winifred "D.W." Read - Adoptive Older Sister Kate Read - Adoptive Younger Brother David Read - Adoptive Father Jane Read - Adoptive Mother Thora Read - Adoptive Paternal Grandmother Bud - Adoptive Paternal Uncle Loretta - Adoptive Paternal Aunt Monique "Mo" - Adoptive Paternal Cousin Dave - Adoptive Maternal Grandfather Jessica - Adoptive Maternal Aunt Richard - Adoptive Maternal Uncle Cora - Adoptive Maternal Cousin Fred - Adoptive Maternal Uncle

Favorite Colors: Red and Pink

Hobby/Hobbies: Drawing pictures, scalping, singing privately, making stink bombs or any kind of prank tools, disobeying his parents' absurd strict rules, and especially pranking (mostly his older siblings)

Friends: George Lungden - Closest Male Big Kid Friend Fern Walters - 1st Closest Female Big Kid Friend Sue Ellen Armstrong - 2nd Closest Female Big Kid Friend James MacDonald - Closest Male Kid Friend Buster Baxter - Friend via Arthur Alan "Brain" Powers - Friend via Arthur Shelley "Binky" Barnes - Friend via Arthur Molly MacDonald - Friend via James

Enemies: D.W. Read Cora Francine Frensky Muffy Crosswire Timmy Tibble Tommy Tibble

Likes: Pranking his siblings for fun, pranking his enemies for spite, semi-cloudy soft-windy days, winter and spring, scavenger hunt, sleeping in his (not-so) secret hiding spots, Bionic Bunny, Dark Bunny, his adoptive brother, their friends, and especially his crushes: Fern and Sue Ellen.

Dislikes: His meal interrupted (he gets grumpy), harsh sunny days especially in summer, practically almost anything D.W. likes (Mary Moo Cow, Crazy Bus, Tina the Talking Tabby, etc.), and anybody who picks on his siblings (only he gets to do it)

Personality: Tony is just your typical little toddler boy, who is a curious thrill/adventure seeker. He is just ready any form of excitement and yet knows when to sit down and relax. And although Tony can be slightly carefree and mischievous, he has a lot of more common sense than he leads, for a kid. Tony even throws snarks every now and then, most notably just to mess with his big brother Arthur and their friends. Plus Tony seems to have a short temper, especially when it comes to the nonsense of obnoxious and spoiled brats, and all those who wrong his family and friends. He can be a bit protective. And not to mention, surprisingly, Tony can be extremely shy when meeting girls he likes, specifically Fern Walter and Sue Ellen. Although, he later on, he builds his confidence around them. Tony is oblivious when preschool girls have a crush on him. He's just not used to being crushed on. Plus being adopted can be a sensitive topic for Tony when someone tease him about it. Tony, however, resent the fact that David and Jane have favorite D.W. This is also a sensitive topic.

Bio: Tony Read is the adoptive younger brother of the titlcular character: Arthur Read. Tony's birth parents were family-friends of David and Jane Read. However his parents unfortunately passed away due to different circumstances (child birth and car accident).

After the deaths of their friends, David and Jane adopted Tony to honor them. Tony has live a decent life with his adoptive family, mostly with his brother Arthur, who doesn't seem mind too much to take him with him around despite the sibling rivalry between them. D.W., on the other hand, cause trouble for Tony as much as she does with Arthur. However, Tony retaliates by pranking her. Tony can be prideful, which is essentially his downfall. He take pride when it comes to his schemes or skills and talents. He never see it could lead into consequences to bigger ones that are almost too much to handle.

Since Arthur took Tony to hang with his friends ever since Arthur was in the 2nd grade, Tony got along with Buster, Brain, and Binky very well. Although, Tony can't stand Francine's arrogant attitude and Muffy's bratty behavior, all remind him too much of D.W., and how they antagonize his big brother despite being Arthur's "friends". And Tony got make a friend of his when meeting George. He found George to be a fun and interesting guy, and loves his puppet play. And he got acquainted with George's friend Carl. Of course, when Tony first met Fern, he had a huge crush on her. Tony thinks Fern is adorable. Initially he often goes quiet as he's extremely shy when seeing face-to-face with her, and as well as goes hiding. After gaining his confidence to talk to Fern, they became friends. He enjoy mysteries and detective stuff with her, and he doesn't mind scary stuff. And since Sue Ellen moved in to Elwood City, Tony's had the same reaction when meeting a new crush, he was timid around Sue Ellen yet he is interested in her. Tony thinks Sue Ellen is cool as she's brave and knows martial arts. He even ask Sue Ellen for lessons on a couple of moves. Tony thinks Sue Ellen is cute too. They became good friends as well.

Of course Tony does make friends at preschool, like James MacDonald, who they became good friends after Tony leads the conversation and protect him from the Tibble Twin's shenanigans. Emily is another preschooler that Tony made good friends with even back when D.W. doesn't like her being perfect. Yet Tony does tease D.W. that Emily is better than her in every way. Although, Tony does not like Tibble Twins at all, considering how obnoxious and loud they are. Though, of all the kids to bombard with pranks, the Tibble twins are Tony's favorite targets

Trivia: - I figured that if Arthur had a younger brother as suppose to he had a twin brother relationship with Buster and see an older brother in Brain, I thought it would be interesting how he would handle a younger brother. - Plus I wanna have Arthur interact with Fern and George more. So the connection they had with Tony makes it possible. - I also figure that how D.W. would handle against someone who doesn't care she has parental favoritism on her side.

[kwebtv]

Character Actress

Carol Thurston (born Betty Lou Thurston; September 27, 1920 – December 31, 1969)  Film and television actress who played the fictitious Emma Clanton in eight episodes (1959-1961) of the ABC/Desilu western television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.

In 1949–1950, she was cast in two episodes, "Finders Keepers" and "Masked Deputy," of the western series, The Lone Ranger. In 1952–1953, she performed in six episodes in different roles of The Adventures of Kit Carson. In 1954, she appeared in the episode "Sequoia" on the syndicated Death Valley Days, a western anthology series. In 1955–1956, she was cast as Mrs. Cora McGill in "Paper Gunman" and as Annie Brayer in "The Salt War" of another western anthology series, Frontier, on NBC.

Thurston had other guest roles in the 1950s on such series as Sky King, Soldiers of Fortune, The Rough Riders, 26 Men, Behind Closed Doors, Highway Patrol, Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, and The Man and the Challenge. She was cast twice on the Richard Boone series, Have Gun - Will Travel, and once on CBS's Rawhide as Waneea in the 1959 episode, "Incident of the Power and the Plow".

Other than The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, her last television role was as Jenny Larson in the episode "Murder Plays it Cool" in the syndicated legal drama series, Lock-Up, starring Macdonald Carey.  (Wikipedia)

[byneddiedingo]

Lana Turner and John Garfield in The Postman Always Rings Twice (Tay Garnett, 1946)

Cast: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames, Audrey Totter, Alan Reed, Jeff York. Screenplay: Harry Ruskin, Niven Busch, based on a novel by James M. Cain. Cinematography: Sidney Wagner. Art direction: Randall Duell, Cedric Gibbons. Film editing: George White. Music: George Bassman.

It's one of the most memorable entrances in movies. Actually, her lipstick enters first, rolling across the floor toward him. She is Cora Smith and he is Frank Chambers, the man her husband has just hired to work in their roadside café/filling station. But more important, she is Lana Turner, one of the last of the products of the resources of the studio star factories: lighting, hair, makeup, wardrobe, and especially public relations. And he is John Garfield, one of the first of a new generation of Hollywood leading men, trained on the stage, and with an urban ethnicity about him: His vaguely presidential nom de théâtre thinly disguises his birth name, Jacob Julius Garfinkle. The pairing shouldn't work: She's a goddess, not an actress, whom the publicists had turned into "the Sweater Girl" while claiming that she had been discovered at a drugstore soda fountain. He was the child of Ukrainian-born Jews and grew up on the Lower East Side, trained as a boxer and studied acting with various disciples of Stanislavsky. But the chemistry is there from the moment Frank picks up Cora's lipstick and the camera surveys her from toe to head: white shoes, tan legs, white shorts, tan midriff, white halter top, blond hair, white turban. She reaches out her hand for the lipstick, but he doesn't move, so she comes over and gets it. It's one of the many power plays that will take place between them. The rest is one of the great film noirs, from a studio that didn't usually make them, MGM. In fact, the studio head, Louis B. Mayer, hated it, which is always a good recommendation: He hated Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 1950), too. (Mayer's tastes ran to Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy operettas and the Andy Hardy series.) It's the only really memorable movie directed by Tay Garnett, so I suspect a lot of credit goes to the screenwriters, Niven Busch and Harry Ruskin, and to their source, James M. Cain's overheated novel. Cain also wrote the novels that were the basis of two other famous noirs: Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) and Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945), so the screenwriters and the director had some powerful examples to follow.

[riding-palominos-every-day]

Do you have any backstories for the Brooklyn girls?

Had two requests for these girls! I'm afraid I don't have many on account of there's not a huge amount of info about these girls, but I have a few ideas (although a lot of Mack's is taken direct from Lindsay herself)

Mack

Jeanie MacDonald emigrated from Scotland with her family at a young age, looking for farming opportunities. She grew up eldest of three girls, and took on a lot of the farm work to help her father.

The farm eventually fell through, resulting in the family having to move into the city when Mack was twelve. Mack, believing she was too old to go back to school and not wanting to take up a boring job like lacework, took the initiative to move out and start selling newspapers. She's still close with her family and visits often.

Lucky

Lucky grew up the son of a widowed gambler. Their relationship was strained throughout his childhood, until his father died when Lucky was nine. Lucky spent a year with his uncle until he ran away, taking refuge at Sheepshead Racetrack and reinventing herself to more accurately match how she felt inside.

She advised betters on which horses to back, sometimes being given a share by some of the more generous winners. Eventually she fell in with Spot Conlon's gang after a scuffle with York, claiming Sheepshead as her selling spot.

Pips

Pips was mostly raised by her older brother Bart. With their father in prison and mother emotionally absent, the two siblings grew close. Bart would often join other boys at vaudeville theatres after work, sneaking Pips in too because she loved all the pretty costumes.

Eventually, when Pips was seven and Bart ten, they left home. Pips stayed with her brother at Poplar Street until she was ten, when she then moved to the girl's lodging house. Thanks to negotiations between Bart and Jack, Pips took up dancing lessons with Cora at Medda's theatre in Manhattan.

[virgogeminiposts]

House Strong

The Strongs of Harrenhalll

Lord Lyonel Strong, 61 AC - Lord of Harrenhal and Master of Laws

First wife died in 87 AC after giving him two sons. Second and current wife: Sally Strong nee Vance, 74 AC

Ser Harwin Strong, 81 AC - First born son and oldest child of Lord Strong with his first wife. Larys Strong, 85 AC - Second born son and last child of Lord Strong with his first wife.

Lady Lucile Strong, 91 AC - Third born child and first daughter of Lord Strong with his second wife Lady Cora Strong, 98 AC - Forth born child and second daughter of Lord Strong with his second wife

Alys Rivers, 89 AC - Rumored to be Lord Strong baseborn daughter

Faceclaims: Gavin Spoke, Ruth Wilson, Danielle Macdonald, Ryan Corr, David Mazouz, Emily Alyn Lind, Georgie Henley, India Eisley

(pictures taken from pinterest, none mine, rights to the owners/editors.)

[legends-of-time]

The Journey of Living at Downton

Chapter 35: February 1924

Masterlist

A/N: Somehow, I've got to season 5 with this story? Don't know how that happened 😅

——

"How was it?" Tom asks Emma as soon as she emerges from the Hospital after a long shift. They share a kiss and an embrace.

"It's been a long morning. One of the nurses is out with a cold so I had double the work with taking care of her usual patients on top of making up tomorrow's schedules and doing the filing for Dr Clarkson." Emma complains as she climbs into the car as Tom does the same on the other side.

This had been a nice pattern that they'd developed ever since she went back to the Hospital and started her job as head nurse. If Tom isn't around to pick her up, often it's Billy as he heads home from work or Edith as she often spends her time in the Village these days anyway.

"You best not be too tired on Saturday," Tom warns her as they drive off towards the Abbey.

"Why?"

"It's Robert and Cora's wedding anniversary, remember? I think they'd want you to be there."

Emma groans. "Fine. What have I missed at the house today anyway? Is Robert still lamenting about a working-class prime minister?"

Tom laughs. "Of course. Maybe we should've warned him."

"Nah." Emma dismisses. "I wouldn't have been able to provide much information anyway. I only know that Mr MacDonald is the first Labour PM and it happened in the 1920s but that's it. That wouldn't reassure Robert. Sorry."

"It's alright. I don't expect you to know everything." Tom reassures her, glancing at her briefly with a smile before looking back at the road.

Emma huffs. "You've changed your tune. I recall you telling me off for not being able to tell much of what happens in Ireland." She grins at him to show she's somewhat joking.

Tom chuckles. "I know but I realise it's the education system's fault, not yours."

"Why thank you."

"Mind you, Mr MacDonald is definitely going to make my job as estate agent more difficult. Apparently, he's not fond of the upper class." Tom says.

"Mmm... suppose that indicates moving forward with our American move idea?" Emma prompts.

"Maybe. We'll have to see."

——

They are all assembling ahead of dinner in the Drawing room except for Cora, who'd been pulled away by a phone call, and Edith, who'd not returned from the Village. Robert, Billy and Tom, in black tie, are bent over some plan or map on a table while Emma talks to Mary and Rose by the fire.

Jimmy opens the door for Edith. "I hope I'm not late."

"No, Carson hasn't come in yet," Rose reassures her.

"That reminds me. We're to receive a Village delegation tomorrow. I ran into the postmistress. She asked if they might pay us a visit." Robert tells them.

"Mrs Wigan?" Rose murmurs.

"What was it that reminded you?" Mary questions.

"She asked for Carson to be present."

"What's it about?" Emma asks.

"They want to erect some kind of memorial to the war."

"What?" Edith asks, confused.

On the other hand, this causes Emma to perk up.

"Well, not to the war, but to the men, the local men, who died in it. They'll be all over the country." Robert further explains. "I suppose they want me as chairman."

"I think a memorial is a great idea," Emma says. She receives the usual look she gets from Tom when he thinks she's making references about the future.

Cora comes walking in from the telephone.

"Who was it?" Mary asks.

"Tony Gillingham," Cora says. "He had some business up here, and you told him he could stay if he needed to?"

Mary shrugs unenthusiastically. Emma is honestly confused about what's going on with Mary, Charles and Tony nowadays.

"When does he want to come?" Robert asks.

"That's the problem. The 16th."

Robert frowns, confused. "And..."

Emma closes her eyes in exasperation. Oh, Robert.

"It's our anniversary," Cora explains to her husband.

"Oh, that doesn't matter. Ring him back and say yes." Robert dismisses.

"We don't have to," Mary argues.

"No. I'd like to see him." Robert argues.

Mr Carson appears at the door.

"Right. That's dinner, everyone." Cora says and they all move through to the Dining room.

——

Once again Emma is back at work the next day and is picked up by Tom at the end of her shift.

"They passed over Robert for Mr Carson as chairman of the war memorial?" Emma asks in shock after Tom informs her of what happened at the committee meeting as they drive along in the car. "That's a surprise."

Tom shrugs. "Is it? Times are changing. Men in his position aren't getting the same privileges anymore."

"No..." Emma admits, pondering for a moment. "But you can't help but feel sorry for them. They're wild creatures who are having their habitats grow smaller and smaller."

"Suppose."

"How was the school?"

"Good. Rose gave out her prizes, Edith seemed very muttery with Mr Drewe and..." he pauses for a moment, "...Sarah Bunting was asking after Billy."

Emma raises an eyebrow. "Is anything going there? He doesn't tell me anything about it." She mutters petulantly.

"Me neither. I don't know if he's happy with her advances or not." Tom replies.

Mmmm...

——

Emma emerges to see it's Edith this time. She gives her a bright smile as she approaches. "Well, this is nice."

Edith gives her a slight smile back. "Tom was busy, I was in the Village anyway so I thought I'd come along."

Emma frowns when she notices that despite trying to be otherwise, Edith seems upset. "Is everything alright? Is it Michael Gregson?"

Edith shakes her head as she pulls the car away. "No, it's not that it's..."

"What?"

"Nothing..."

——

Cora and Robert enter the Drawing room where Emma, Tom, Mary, Rose, and Edith are already gathered.

"She's driving through the Village on Saturday and would love to see us." Cora is saying to her husband as they enter,

"What did you say?"

"Well, it's only tea."

"Are we doing anything special for our anniversary?" Mary asks her parents.

"What had you in mind?" Cora asks

"Well, we were thinking, now that Tony's staying, we could invite some people, make an evening of it or something," Emma suggests.

"Well, you girls ask some friends. I'd like a young party for once, instead of all those old duffers." Robert remarks.

Billy enters. "Hello." He greets the room at large.

"Oh, Mary, Emma, I've got an idea," Rose says. She leads them to a corner of the room.

——

The ladies exit the Drawing room after dinner. As they move towards the staircase, they pass Thomas, who's probably hearing everything they say and taking notes. Emma casts an amused glance in his direction.

"Why must Lady Anstruther choose Saturday, of all days?" Cora laments. "Do you think we ought to invite her to the dinner?" Said woman had invited herself to tea.

"Isn't she staying somewhere else?" Mary asks.

They start ascending the stairs. Thomas has heard enough and walks off.

"Tell me tomorrow who's coming, of your pals. Keep the numbers even." Cora says instead of answering.

"Rose wants to invite a friend of Billy's. He must feel so outnumbered." Emma tells her. She's a little unsure about it but maybe Billy does like her so what's the harm?

"Someone local. Rose and Emma have met her." Mary says.

"So have I. She's quite respectable." Edith adds.

"I think it would be nice," Cora replies.

Hopefully...

——

Everyone is busy that Saturday. Violet is holding a luncheon party with Isobel, Lord Merton, Lady Shackleton and Dr Clarkson. The invitation of the latter means Emma is left running the ship by herself. There is also no Isobel to help, who's been hovering since she's helping with the set-up of an out-patient clinic.

Emma returns from work to find out that not only is Lady Anstruther coming for tea but she's now staying the night as her car has broken down. Emma is suspicious though when Tom tells her that evening when they're getting dressed for dinner, for Robert and Cora's wedding anniversary party, that he went to look at the car but found nothing wrong.

When they gather in the Drawing room, Emma glances at Lady Anstruther suspiciously as she and Gillingham walk over to where Mary and Emma stand.

"You'd be an ornament at any gathering," Tony reassures her.

"Oh, how nice. Thank you." Lady Anstruther turns to Mary and Emma. "No cocktails? I thought everyone had them now."

"Not at Downton. Our butler tried them once and he hasn't recovered." Marley remarks.

Lady Anstruther laughs, then looks over at Robert and Cora. "Oh, look at your parents. 34 years. I'd never manage it. That's the advantage of an older husband. One gets an early release!" She laughs again.

Emma smiles slightly in reply but it probably comes out in a grimace.

Mr Carson announces another guest. "Miss Sarah Bunting."

Sarah enters a little shyly. The room goes very silent and Emma feels sorry for her. Robert, who stands with Cora, Rose and Kitty Coldhurst, a friend of Rose's, is not amused. Rose walks over to greet Sarah, followed by her friend Kitty. Rose is making the introductions. Billy joins them. Emma is not sure it's going well as there are embarrassed smiles on their faces before Rose's friend makes her escape and Billy and Sarah exchange an uncomfortable look.

Violet and Isobel enter and Mary and Emma make their way over.

"How are you?" Mary greets her grandmother.

"I'm exhausted. Two parties in one day is too much for me." Violet huffs.

"How do you think I feel?" Emma remarks. "I've been working long day shifts all week and because of your little party and taking Dr Clarkson from me, I've been run under my feet."

"But you enjoy it?" Isobel probes kindly.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I can't complain." Emma retorts causing Isobel to chuckle.

"Was your luncheon a success?" Mary asks.

"You must ask Cousin Isobel," Violet replies pointedly. She looks around the room at the other guests and spots Sarah Bunting. "We've cast the net wide tonight."

"Can't Billy have a friend of his own?" Emma says, irritated by her snobbish remark.

"Oh, of course. But it's time he decided whether he is fish, flesh, fowl or good red herring." Violet replies.

Isobel thankfully isn't deterred. "Well, I think it's nice to see an intelligent face here." She walks over to where Sarah and Billy stand talking to one of the other young male guests.

——

Everyone is at the table in the Dining room as Robert stands and addresses his guests.

"Marriage is a lottery, as we are often told, but I am a man who has drawn a winning ticket. I have been awarded a bumper prize: beauty, brains, a heart, a conscience, all in one. I give you, my Cora." Everyone rises. Cora smiles happily. "The best companion in the world."

"Mama." "Lady Grantham." "Cora." They raise their glasses and drink, then sit down again.

Mr Carson goes around serving the wine. Isobel addresses him across the table. "Carson, Lady Mary tells me that you're to lead the Memorial Committee."

"That is so, madam. Yes."

"You'll drive it splendidly."

Jimmy serves the savouries. As he leans in for Lady Anstruther, who sits on Robert's left, to help herself, she puts a note in the pocket of his coat. Emma notices it from where she sits in between Cora and Tom diagonally across from Lady Anstruther.

Gillingham seems to notice from where he sits directly across from her on Cora's other side. "Do you know that footman?"

"Yes, he used to work for me. It's always nice to see a friendly face." Lady Anstruther replies with ease. But Emma frowns, she glances over to where Thomas stands and he also seems concerned.

"I'm not convinced these memorials are a good idea, but I suppose that's a different issue." Emma here's Sarah saying from further along the table.

"Why not? Won't they give people a focus for their sorrow?" Tony questions.

"And a reminder of the sacrifices that were made?" Mary adds.

"If it were a memorial service, then I might agree, but a stone edifice on the centre of the green, to remind us forever of death and a pointless war - what's the good of that? To say nothing of the waste of money."

Emma frowns at this, thinking of how the war memorials still carry importance in the future. The centre of Remembrance Day.

"Would you prefer all that death to be forgotten as years go by?" Emma speaks up, trying to ignore how everyone has paused and is now listening. "Because it will definitely become pointless if it's all forgotten if we don't learn from it. People's losses should not be forgotten." And forgetting the lessons learned because of war leads to another one.

"No, but millions of men dead and no more 'justice' than there was before," Sarah replies. Billy is shifting uncomfortably next to her.

"You are wrong. But we must strive to keep things light." Robert interrupts.

"It's a pity they didn't want you on their Committee. You put up a stout defence of their intentions." Sarah then says.

There is a very awkward silence. Robert puts down his glass and is about to explode when Mr Carson comes to his defence, shocking everyone by speaking up uninvited.

"They do want His Lordship on the Committee. Forgive me, M’lord. I'd have told you later, but they held a meeting this afternoon, and they would like you as their patron." Mr Carson explains. Emma can't help but think it was more the butler's idea but Emma won't discredit him for it.

"Oh, how nice. I dare say that was always their plan." Cora says.

"I dare say it was, Your Ladyship."

"I should be glad to accept," Robert says.

Emma glances over to see an irritated Sarah Bunting staring at her plate. Serves you right.

"Now, if you can all put your swords away, perhaps we can finish our dinner in a civilised manner." Violet remarks.

"But I admire it when young people stand up for their principles," Isobel argues.

"Principles are like prayers. Noble, of course, but awkward at a party." Violet counters.

The consternated silence lingers.

——

The guests are gathered in the Drawing room after dinner, attended by Mr Carson, Mr Molesley and Jimmy. Isobel sits on a settee with Mary and Emma.

"I've enjoyed myself. Both gatherings were interesting, in their different ways." Isobel remarks.

"You get on well with Lord Merton. I know that." Mary says pointedly.

Emma smiles lightly at that. She's noticed since Rose's ball that the two have been spending a lot of time together but Isobel seems reluctant to say it's any more than friendship.

Isobel is surprised by Mary's statement but recovers. "I do, but Cousin Violet had other plans for him at luncheon." She looks quite annoyed.

Emma glances around and can't spot said woman. "Where is she anyway?"

"She said goodbye to your mother, but she wanted to slip away. The day of parties had taken its toll." Isobel explains.

——

Cora, Emma and Mary come out of the Dining room and are about to go upstairs after the dinner party when Thomas, who is on duty in the Hall, suddenly emerges from behind a pillar and addresses Cora.

"Your Ladyship, might I have a word?"

Cora exchanges a look with Mary and Emma, then, realising she wants them to continue, Emma and Mary go on alone.

Emma lets Mary walk ahead and slows to a stop when she's at the top of the stairs while Mary continues walking into her room. Seeing Thomas' look then Cora's, Emma is immediately suspicious of what's going on.

"I'm very sorry to say it, but I've learned something that makes me feel both responsible and guilty." Emma immediately recognises this as Thomas putting on his best fake 'Oh I'm so worried' tone.

"Would this have to do with Baxter? Because if it concerns her criminal record, then I know all about it." She sounds not amused at all.

Emma's eyes widen at that. Miss Baxter is a convicted criminal?!

"Do you, M'lady?"

"What I don't understand is why you placed a convicted felon in my household, in my bedroom, when you knew every detail of her past." Cora continues.

"I wanted her to have another chance."

Strange response. Emma would have thought it would be easier for Thomas to pretend he'd only just learned about Miss Baxter's criminal record himself.

"Don't you think that should have been my decision, in my own house?" Cora retorts.

"Yes, M'lady. Perhaps it should." Thomas responds. Emma can only imagine the look on his face. Likely an 'oh shit' one.

"So, why tell me now? Because, if you have been using your knowledge against her, I'll have to consider your future here, Barrow. Indeed, whether you have one at all." Cora continues raining down on him.

Emma winces, knowing this isn't good for Thomas at all but he does deserve to be thrown a peg or two down for this kind of behaviour.

"I just thought I'd been wrong, and you ought to know." Thomas manages to say.

"I see. Well, now I do. Good night."

Emma realises Cora is ascending the stairs and quickly scurries on so she isn't caught.

——

Emma is startled awake by yelling. She quickly sits up along with Tom and realises it's Thomas yelling that there's a fire.

"Oh God," Emma mutters, "the children!"

She and Tom, in their dressing gowns, spring up from their beds and immediately make their way to the Nursery where Billy has already arrived and is scooping up Sybbie. Tom grabs George and Ivy while Emma scoops up Michael. Mary is exiting her room as they come running past.

"We've got the children!" Emma cries as they hurry along with Mary following.

They meet Robert, who sighs in relief at the sight of them. "Thank God! Mary, Emma, you take them. Tony, go with them."

Mary takes Sybbie while Gillingham, who had suddenly appeared behind them, offers to take Ivy and George. Emma continues to cling to Michael.

"Tom, Billy, come with me. You know where the sand buckets are kept." Robert instructs.

Emma, Mary and Gillingham run downstairs with the children, who are whining sleepily, while Robert, Billy and Tom race to get the fire under control. Emma flicks a worried look over her shoulder to her husband as she hurries out, concern for her husband and children both pulling at her.

——

Everyone is gathered outside the house with the fire engine parked nearby. The overnight guests are leaving the house, and the servants carry out random valuables to keep them safe. Gemma brings overcoats for Emma and Mary so they can keep warm in the early morning February air.

It had been Edith's room and thankfully she is fully conscious again. She had been put to sit in a chair to rest after all the heavy smoke she'd ingested. Emma had immediately made sure she was alright along with Thomas as the both of them had breathed in a lot of the smoke.

Emma sighs with relief when she sees Billy, Tom and Robert emerge from the house. They are all coughing and gasping a bit with sooty faces as they take in the fresh air but they're alive.

Emma runs over and flings herself at both Billy and Tom before grabbing Robert and doing the same. The three men chuckle but don't complain.

After hugging Robert, Emma turns to Tom and gives him a big kiss. The two share an embrace for a moment before pulling back.

"Oh God." Emma gasps. "I was so worried!"

Tom laughs slightly, stroking her face. "I fine but I would like some water I think."

"Of course!" Emma quickly takes him to get some water.

Soon they get the all-clear to go back inside. Hopefully, they'll all get some rest.

——

A/N: Emma certainly has suspicions about why Edith had disappeared for so long and that it's more than just Gregson missing but she doesn't want to push Edith.

Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.

[earthmoonz]

WIFEY. | EPISODE THREE (3.3)

start / previous / next

(MAX): Morning Cor. What’s up?

(CORA): Have you heard from Aish at all? They’re meant to open up with me but they’re not answering my calls.

(MAX): Swear? I've not heard from them but I’ll give them a ring and get back to you. In the meantime ask Sami if he can start earlier. I’ve got some stuff to sort but I’ll be in around 5. 

(CORA): Cheers. I’ll keep you updated.

[enbysiriusblack]

marauder parents hcs:

mostly for my own continuity fanfic writing reasons

remus- hope and lyall; very in love, they're an adventuring turned sitting on the sofa with a cuppa couple. they both sell things at the village market, and help out neighbouring farms. hope died in early 80s and lyall spends the rest of his life mourning her and his son

james- euphemia and fleamont; literally besotted with each other, best friends turned lovers but it was fleamont crushing heavy on euphemia whilst euphemia was in a highschool romance with minerva. died in each other's arms <3

sirius & regulus- orion and walburga; arranged marriage, knew each other since they were babies (being cousins and all). didn't particularly get on, they just tolerated each other and both had numerous affairs

peter- lydia and cora (mum and dad divorced and his dad legally isn't allowed to see him); lydia was a teen mum to peter and later realised she was a lesbian, got with cora whilst peter was a teenager and cora became his unofficial mum-in-law.

dorcas- bob (mum isn't around/left when she was very young); he's bob the builder /real. is very gay. never came out to dorcas (she knew). sirius was the one who told him dorcas was dead, weeks after it happened. and after it came out in the muggle world of sirius being a huge criminal, bob blamed him for dorcas' death.

lily- jean and lee; both huge workaholics (boring office jobs) and put a lot of academic pressure on petunia and lily. *cough* lee is in love with bob *cough*. lily gets the ginger-ness from lee. they both don't know a lot about their kids life, which they regretted after lily's death.

marlene- catherine and ian; catherine is a huge bitch, we hate her. ian is just there. he's a classic sitcom dad- goes to work, reads the paper, watches tv, occasionally fixes stuff in the house and plays football with his sons. he's much closer to marlene's brothers, since catherine doesn't like marlene doing 'masculine' things. they're both middle class, wannabe perfect and traditional family people.

mary- aymee and ronnie; quite chill. ronnie works at the post office, and aymee sells homemade jewellery. they both get on more with mary than her older goth lesbian sister, sy. aymee went to hogwarts, was in hufflepuff, so is the parent to help mary out with magic related things.

emmeline- mi-sook and yeong-su; yeong-su went to hogwarts so got emmeline to live with her grandparents (in scotland) so she could go there too. as such, she's not that close to her parents. she does gets on with her mum, sending letters to each other every week and spending time together when emmeline visits. but doesn't get on with her dad, him being distant and comparing her to her younger siblings

pandora- tilly and cian; they both worked as apprentices to nicholas flamel after finishing school and met each other there. they're the lovegoods (i'm a 'xenophilius took pandora's last name' truther.) regulus' parents let him be friends with pandora in hopes her parents would get regulus a connection to the flamel's. they both dissaproved of xenophilius but agreed it was better than pandora's previous sapphic poly relationship

[wildshub]

“Was there supposed to be an age-regression theme I didn’t know about?

@cherclle

[whibleysims]

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Scottish actress Dawn Steele.

Born as Dawn Anne Nolan in Glasgow on December 11th 1975 in Glasgow, the family moved to Milton of Campsie at the foot of the Campsie Fells, north of the city in 1982, she attended nearby Kilsyth High School before going on to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Dawn picked up bit parts in Highlander: The Raven TV series and the film The Debt Collector  before getting her big break in the excellent BBC Scotland dram series Tinsel Town, after this she got arguably the part she is best known for as Alexandra “Lexie” MacDonald in Monarch of the Glen. Dawn went on to appear in the paranormal series Sea of Souls before joining the cast of Wild at Heart in series 4 right through to series 7 when it ended.

We next saw Dawn pop up in the brilliant Case Histories, set in Edinburgh before heading back west to join the popular Scottish Soap River City as doctor Annie Jandhu in 2015. Dawn left the show in 2018, citing the travelling was causing her to miss seeing her daughter grow up, she turned 11 this year.

On leaving the show in an interview she said she was open to doing another soap and mentioned Casualty and EastEnders as being attractive possibilities, well Casualty’s “sister” show Holby City came calling and it wasn’t long until she joined the cast of the hospital “soap” as Angel “Ange” Godard, a consultant general surgeon, she has now racked up 128 appearances in the show, which was cancelled and ended in March this year.

Dawn lives with her hubby Paul Blair, in the seaside town of Whitstable on the Kent coast and enjoys swimming regularly in the sea there. She was recently back in Scotland filming the new BBC detective series Granite Harbour, set in Aberdeen, Dawn plays DCI Cora MacMillan. While it was nice to see some shots of Aberdeen I think the show was a bit of a dud, I really can’t see there being a second series, if you are looking for a show like Shetland, this falls way short of that. Unfortunately for Dawn the interior scenes for the show were shot in a Glasgow studio, which left her disappointed that she didn’t get the chance to film in Aberdeen.

“I was quite jealous when everyone else went up, because I love Aberdeen. I rehearsed for a tour of Tutti Frutti at His Majesty’s Theatre and then we opened the show there, so I spent eight weeks in the city. I also filmed a film, Marionette, there, so I got to know it well. It can be so beautiful and it’s nice to see it on the screen again.”

Steele knew from a young age that acting was where her future lay. “I started off with dancing and I was in drama clubs from when I was young. I was part of Kirkintilloch Players from when I was 10 or 11.

However Dawn did say she enjoyed filming in her hometown of Glasgow, taking the opportunity to catch up with friends and family, as well as reconnect with familiar faces within the industry.

“I will always work in Scotland,” she says. “I love it because it is home and I know everyone. It is nice because you walk onto a set and there are so many crew who have been part of your life over the years – our lighting guy Stuart was on Monarch of the Glen with me.”

Dawn also managed to keep up her swimming while in Glasgow, travelling down to Luss for a dip in Loch Lomond.