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monilanchest · 4 years

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING WITH THE WASHINGTONS ! ! ! ! @trinibarra @martinaw

Despite the buzzing of their phone and the thousands of people following them, Monique Lanchester felt sick to their stomach. The tension was high around the dinner table, people were drunk and in their feelings. Trinity’s voice filling their ears, their Uncle Felix trying to calm her, and Aunt Lori who asked her to continue. Their eyes swept over to their Aunt Vivian who was silent with a tight jaw, their own mother texting furiously on her phone, and their father in the kitchen with the food. The table was missing two people this year, though it should’ve been just one. The family’s first Thanksgiving without Bernice Washington, the head and glue of the family. Every year the older woman would cook on hours on end for everyone, keeping everyone in line and keeping the love up. None of them knew how empty it was going to fill without her but they were going to make it work. But that couldn’t happen as they were missing another person year, one who left the day of without telling anyone.

“I just think it’s funny that the family’s little baby just decided to up and leave without telling us. Isn’t that just amazing.”

“Trinity--”

They began drumming their fingers on the table top, the beat slow and steady at first before increasing by the second. The fire inside of them bubbled like a volcano, ready to erupt at any minute. But they were doing everything they could to remain calm and to not explode. No one needed that and they weren’t allowed to blow up. They were the oldest of the trio, they had to keep their composure for the sake of their family. For the sake of their big momma.

But why was it that they were the only one of the trio doing as they were told? Why was it always them having to force themselves to grow up and be the ‘ bigger person ‘? Why in the world was it always them?

“Come on, everyone, leave Martina alone,” said Maxine. “She’s just with a friend--”

“And how do you know that?”

“Well, I’m texting her right now--”

“Oh!” Lori leaned back into her seat, frustration evident in both her voice and eyes. “So she can tell you but not her own mother? Okay then.”

“Lori it’s not like that and you know it.”

The drumming was becoming louder and the lava inside of them was growing hotter. Monique refused to look up at anyone, it would only set them off more. But there was no need to look up at any of them as their voices grew louder than before. People were talking over each other, adding more to the fire. Trinity and Lori ganging up on Maxine who tried to stand up for an absent Martina. Felix was trying to calm his daughter again but it wasn’t working. None of this was working, none of them were trying to do better, none of them fucking cared.

“Why do you keep trying to stand up for her? She obviously doesn’t care about this family like the rest of--”

They exploded. Their anger took full control as they picked up the glass plate in front of them and threw it at the nearest wall. All fell silent, eyes on Monique. And they looked at everyone, jaw tight and hands twitching. No words were said as they walked out of the dining room and to the living room, picking up their car keys and walking out the front door. They needed to leave, ASAP.

“Moni, Moni!” Called their mother, following right after their child. “What the hell was--”

“Why, mom?” Monique asked, turning around to make eye contact with the older woman. “Why isn’t she here? Is this friend of hers more important than us, than big momma?” Maxine stood there, staring at Monique as they kept going, the words flowing out just like hot lava. Slow and steady but still powerful. Still able to burn someone. “She doesn’t love us, mom, if she did then she would still be here. Honestly, Trinity doesn’t love us either because she fucking left us too. They don’t care about this family and they can do whatever the fuck they want, no one will ever say anything about it. But me? I don’t have that luxury, mom, I can’t just do whatever. I can’t do big momma like that, I can’t do our family like that.”

And they kept spilling, not caring that they were talking to their mom even though they should’ve. Maxine tried to interrupt them, by calling their name and trying to remain calm. But that wasn’t working because Monique Lanchester wasn’t trying to listen to anything anyone had to say. Maxine had to literally grab hold of their child’s face, grabbing them by the chin and cheeks. Despite her age and height, Maxine Lanchester will always remain the strongest one of the family.

“First of all, you need to watch who you’re talking to like that. I am your mother and I don’t appreciate you talking like that.” She was stern and serious, her voice and words calming their child. “Second of all, your cousins do love this family. Just because they don’t do as much as you doesn’t mean that they don’t. You need to understand this, Monique.” She was becoming softer now, watching as Monique slouched, leaning more into the touch that turned into Maxine gently holding their child’s face with now two hands. Their anger has shifted into deep sadness, tears ready to pour out. They didn’t even bother to wipe them away, not even Maxine tried to do so.

“Moni,” said their mother again as she watched the tears spill out. A silent crier, that was what Monique was. Never making a single sound, keeping to themselves as tears and snot ran out. “Baby, go home. It’s obvious how not okay you are, honestly, none of us are okay. Just.. go home, okay? Me and your dad are going to stay and clean up before we leave.” Bringing Monique’s head down to her, Maxine gently kissed their forehead. “I love you.”

“I-I love you too, mom.”

Both pulled away from each other, Maxine going back into the house and Monique to their car. Once alone in their car, they tried to wipe away their tears the best way they could. It was a temporary fix but with how their anger was leaving their body, the lava inside of them settling and cooling, it was turning into sadness. A deep regret for causing a scene, for acting so out of character, for allowing their emotions to get the best of them. They hated that small part of themselves so fucking much.

Turning the car on and phone connecting to the car’s system, fingers scrolled through their contacts book because they just needed to hear someone talk to them. The first or second name to come to mind should’ve been Yara Gale but it wasn’t. Because in their moment of weakness, their heart told them to do a group call with Kassandra Sutton and Julian Eaton. And their finger did hover over the names, ready to call before stopping themselves.

The two didn’t want to hear from them, especially not on this day that should be filled with nothing but love and happiness.

So instead they clicked on Yara’s name and waited for the other to answer before crying for the second time that night.

#about #ft. fambam #social media ♞ so tell me what's the cure for you #:)#ft. trinibarra #ft. martinaw #ft. yaragale #ft. kassamigos #ft. julixneaton #who's ready for a sad monique once the even is over?#bc i already have a starter ready

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meteor752 · 4 years

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Tilda of Mirkwood

This is the one I’ve been waiting for.

Out of the Bardlings, Tilda is easily my favorite and the one I think about the most, which is why she has a bit more info than the other two. Let’s just get into it.

Tilda was born on the hottest day Laketown had ever experienced since Smaug literally burned their city, so it should have said a lot about the ocean eyed girl.

Tilda quickly became known throughout Laketown as Bard’s troublesome child, that her siblings always could be found chasing after.

The young girl had always been a fan of climbing, and would try to literally climb anything she came across, including people. Her own da was her favorite, and he didn’t mind.

Tilda has always been a lot like her ma, assertive, stubborn, playful, and all over the place. Think five year old Yuki from Wolf Children, but spanning over the majority of her life.

Tilda was too young to remember anything about her ma, so she didn’t feel any sadness about her death, which she was happy about considering how many nights Bain has cried into Sigrid’s arms about her. It did make her feel a bit isolated from her family however, as they had something that she didn’t have.

During the battle of the five armies, this gal was hyped.

When the elves had arrived to help out the men of Dale, she basically bombarded every single one with questions, including the elven king himself.

And when her da and the king eventually fell in love and got married, she didn’t hesitate leaving dale to live in Mirkwood and get trained as an elf.

And I’m not going to talk so much about that, since I already covered that here.

But because of the fact that her da married the king of Mirkwood, it also meant that she was technically a princess of Mirkwood, and she hated that part.

Tilda is not one to just sit still and listen to when people talk. Either she will fall asleep, or she will start to babble about something irrelevant, causing quite a few problems here and there.

Legolas found her hilarious.

She’s not someone who holds her tounge while speaking with people she do not agree with, so more than once has she gotten into an argument with a council member about something, and she’s not one to hold back on the profanities.

Again, Legolas found her hilarious.

When it came to studying she was the same, mostly falling asleep during lessons or just not paying attention at all.

But when it came to more physical stuff, like hand to hand combat, or sword fighting, or archery, she was an expert.

She still stuck to her roots though, and could always be found climbing stuff, because she likes to feel tall.

It got out of hand for a while, as every time she traveled through a forest she would jump between the trees instead of walking on the path.

Because of the fact that she always stayed in Mirkwood and didn’t visit Dale much, she gained a much better relationship with Legolas than she did with her other siblings.

The two bonded over their total lack of self control, their love of nature and their archery skills.

Despite Legolas being her best friend, Tilda has other Elven friends.

There was Aria, the tailor who was a total snob but still kind enough.

Mambar, the soldier who had two daughters but no wife.

Taleki, the pretty much outcast who cuts his hair with a piece of glass so it looks jagged and spiky.

Kamarind, the fisherman that has never been clean in his life.

Vivian, the blind artist who lost her brother.

And Talalia, the kindest, most beautiful and most amazing person in middle earth.

Or, that’s at least what Tilda thinks.

Tilda is, to put it simply, a bit of a slut.

She sleeps around, she flirts with everyone, and she won’t shy to have sex with people of other races. What she’s attracted to changes every day, and she’s quite fluid in her sexuality.

And that applies to everyone except for Talalia.

Talalia is a tall, slender, pale, red haired elf, with soft freckles and a beaming smile. She works with the animals of Mirkwood, like horses, rabbits, elks, cats, and sometimes even spiders.

Tilda met her when she was about fifteen, when she’d found a small injured elk calf, and took it to Talalia for help.

Talalia helped Tilda nurse the small calf back to health, and while doing it they got talking.

Tilda ended up keeping the calf and named it Aloe, and Talalia was more than happy to help her take care of the small little fellow.

Aloe grew up beside Tilda, which made him very attached, and quite spoiled. Tilda often used to say that the only one who could rival the elks ego was Thranduil, so she always made sure not to give him to much praise or it would go to his head. She gave him plenty of treats though.

Anyways, back to Talalia.

Talalia was like Aloe’s other mom, as she was honestly the only other person he was okay with (He totally hated Legolas, always tried to bite his fingers off). She did not hold back on the praise and scratching, and Tilda always grumbled a bit when she did as she knew he would preen like hell the next few weeks.

Tilda didn’t know when she fell in love with Talalia, she just did all of a sudden, and to her own surprise she had a hard time confronting her feelings about it, but she just assumed that it would all work out fine.

It was when she received an invitation to Talalia’s wedding that she realized that it would not work out fine.

Tilda’s biggest personal problem in her life, was that she often felt coddled and felt that no one was taking her seriously.

Sure, she was a bit wild, but she was a master archer, a trained elven soldier, the daughter of a dragon slayer and a king, and one of the best climbers of middle earth, and yet people still one saw her as the family’s annoying youngest sibling.

It didn’t help that Legolas was one of the best archers in middle earth and the heir to the throne of Mirkwood, Sigrid was the queen of Dale and the best healer there was, and Bain was an excellent soldier despite his blindness and captain of the royal guard of Dale.

Meanwhile Tilda was just...okay in comparison. She was a good archer, but not as good as Legolas. She was an okay healer, but Sigrid was better. She had it easy to get along with people, but Bain was a master at it.

She could climb stuff fairly good, but that wasn’t much to boast about.

Plus, because of the fact that she was the youngest, and had a habit of getting herself injured, her family didn’t quite trust her. They didn’t want her leaving Mirkwood without an escort, and she always had to ask for permission, despite being way over an adult.

So when she was given the opportunity to follow Legolas to the council of Elrond, she turned it down just because she didn’t feel like doing something they wanted her to do.

And she regretted it ever since, because if she would have followed then she would have had the chance to really come out of the house and do stuff.

She still got Aloe and rode off when she got a message from Sigrid about coming to Gondor, without telling her da or Ada because they would have stopped her.

It was the feeling of total freedom as she rode to Gondor, that made her want to do this and never stop. Aloe was strong and quick, and only needed to stop a few times for about half an hour, so Tilda managed to arrive before Dale.

It was then that she met the hottest fucking person she’d ever met in her life, and she was just ready to go down on him right then and there.

Unfortunately, he was her brother’s loved one, so she didn’t make any moves on him. Well, she made a few, but it was just some light flirting.

Both Tilda and Aloe made it out fine, thankfully, and Tilda was already planning on letting everything go and just live in the woods with Aloe for the rest of life.

Which she did, after a long argument with both her Da and Ada and her siblings.

Tilda became known throughout small villages in Middle earth as the witch with the elk, despite not being a witch at all. She was just a weird girl with ocean blue eyes, wandering around with her elk and killing beasts that some Villages had problems with.

And one of those beasts was a Forest Dragon that had killed six people of the village, and had stolen a lot of their gold.

And Tilda didn’t even hesitate, she just grabbed the black arrow she stole from her da a long time ago and started to hunt down the dragon.

She didn’t think of The Dragon Curse for the moment, or of the consequences of her actions, she only thought of the idea of becoming a Dragon Slayer, meaning that she would actually be something other than the troublesome younger sibling of the family.

She killed the Forest Dragon, it wasn’t that hard they are pretty meek and doesn’t have too much of a defense, and Tilda didn’t think too much more of it, just that she could now brag about being a dragon slayer.

It was about three days later that she realized exactly what she’d done, in the middle of taking a step as well, so she fell to the frown in shock with a very confused Aloe beside her.

It took a few hours for Tilda to get out of the hole she’d fallen into, as she ended up having a panic attack right then and there, with Aloe just helplessly prancing around her, buffing her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.

Tilda then decided to not return to Mirkwood, or Dale, or Gondor, or anything like that, as she was to ashamed of what her pride had lead her to.

Instead, she decided to set out to find other Dragonlings and Dragons, that could teach her of what would happen to her exactly, as it wasn’t really widely known.

The first she went to was of course Moln, the ice dragon in the north that was known to not kill you, as long as you didn’t try to steal from him.

Moln was ancient, with little memory of the past couple millennials, and wasn’t too much help like that, but he did recommend to find a Swamp Dragonling, as they are generally not too agressive or deadly.

It took almost two years for Tilda to find another Dragonling, an at that point scales had already started to form on her hardened neck, and she was getting a bit impatient.

The Dragonling was a former elf named Reskal, that had killed a Swamp Dragon almost a hundred years prior. He told her about the pain of the wing formation, and the behavior differences she would experience, neither of which was something that she looked forward to.

And Reskal was right, around ten years after she’d killed the Forest Dragon she had the worst year of her life, and when her wings were finally out and ready to go, she was practically just skin and bone as it hadn’t been easy to hunt while in constant pain, so the meals had been rare.

Tilda has been forced to send Aloe away, as she feared what she might have done to him if the dragon instincts kicked in.

That turned out to be a mistake in her part, but also probably the best thing she’s ever done in the long run, as Aloe was quickly to run to Gondor to find Legolas.

Aloe didn’t like Legolas at all, anyone who would try to get the attention of his mama away from him was automatically evil, but his mama was in pain and he knew that the mean elf could help her.

When Legolas saw Aloe willingly come up to him, without Tilda by his side, he immediately knew something was up and Aragorn barely had time to follow after him when his husband got on his horse and rode after the elk.

Aloe led the two to a Forest, where they at first couldn’t find Tilda. It was first when she jumped out of a tree, her wings spread out and her teeth and claws barren, that they realized why Aloe had been so stressed.

Tilda had gone into beast mode, and it took a good while for her to fully catch Legolas’ scent and calm down, as he was a part of her treasure and she wouldn’t hurt him.

It took two days for Tilda to come back to her senses, and during that time Legolas and Aragorn managed to piece together what had happened, Tilda had become a Forest Dragon Slayer.

When Tilda had finally calmed down and had returned to her less animal behavior, she was held by her brother as she cried into his arms, scared of what she’d become, and what she might do.

After the two doing their very best to calm her down, which was not easy since Tilda was not one to show any vulnerable emotions so she’s been bottling up shit for years, they helped her up and separated, as Aragorn needed to go back to Gondor while Legolas would follow his sister to Mirkwood.

Legolas tried his very best to get out what had happened out of Tilda on their journey, as she knew the consequences of killing a dragon, and why in Valars name she did it anyway. Tilda didn’t feel like talking however, she just sat on Aloe as he walked, completely trapped in her own mind.

When they arrived at Mirkwood, Legolas took her straight to her da who just a few years prior had gone through his own wing transformation, though as a wyvern they had grown out of his arms instead of his back. Very painful indeed.

Her da was more than shocked when he saw his his daughter with wings growing out of her back, and horns halfway done on her head.

Bard forced Legolas to leave and sat down with his daughter, trying to comfort her while at the same time try to make her explain why she’d killed a dragon.

It took almost half an hour for Tilda to break, and explain that she’d just wanted to be something like her siblings, and that her pride had gotten in her way.

Bard was very comforting, and he told her that he wasn’t angry, just scared for her.

Tilda stayed in Mirkwood for a few years, just to be able to fully calm down and get a grasp of what had happened. She was gifted an enchanted cloak that could hide her wings, horns, and tail, so she wouldn’t get weird or scared looks while outside.

Tilda couldn’t stay in Mirkwood forever though, as she now had gotten a taste of freedom and felt like a caged bird. She grabbed her stuff one night, left a note, and then rode off on Aloe.

And it went okay. She continued to help small villages with their issues, and even taught a few kids how to fight with a sword.

It was during winter, when Tilda and Aloe had wandered through the cold weather for three (stinkin’) days, that she fully snapped, and when she came back to her human form, all that was left of Aloe was a bloody pile of bones and mush.

That day basically only consisted of her crying and throwing up.

The next day a dagger entered her chest, and after 346 years of constant hyperactivity, she finally got to rest.

•

If modern, Tilda would not really have a sexuality, as it’s constantly changing. Instead she would just get a lot of small pride flags from all the sexualities and sew them into a giant flag.

Tilda hater saddles more than anything else, as she found them restricting and uncomfortable. She would never use a saddle when riding Aloe, or reins for that matter, and she would just trust him of where to go.

Legolas made it his life mission after meeting Merry and Pippin to not let them meet Tilda, as he knew that it would be the death of them all.

Tilda absolutely loved Fire, and would always sit in front of it for hours when it was lit. She’s gotten a lot of burn marks because of it.

Despite being a fire lover, her favorite season was winter, as she found the snow so fun.

Tilda and Legolas would always have something to argue about, as siblings do. The most common thing was that one of them stole the other’s hairbrush.

Tilda absolutely loved Rivendell, as they weren’t so strict about what she could and couldn’t do, plus her favorite activity was to annoy Lindir.

Because of her amazing climbing ability and the fact that she never used a saddle unless forced to, she had gained an amazing balance.

AU Masterpost

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therevralphbirk · 4 years

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Ralph Birk Task 002 - Meet the Birks

// answering ooc...

What would your family’s Latin motto or House words be?

Family is Hope, Protect it Always. Stolen but fitting nonetheless.

Where is your family originally from?

The San Francisco Bay area, for Ralph and his Ex-wife, Dinah. His children were born in various parts of California or out of state.

What fictional family is your family’s counterpart?

Honestly, maybe The Proud Family?

Your character’s favorite family member, and why.

Ralph is NOT going to pick a favorite child omg that is a sure fire way of getting in trouble. He loves all his children equally of course BUT definitely, definitely spoils his daughters. Especially Mae, the youngest. They are both Daddy’s girls at heart. He’d put all of his sons in a headlock for different reasons. It’s out of love.

Is there a black sheep in the family?

His eldest, Sutton (who to be fair is in a metal band) probably thinks he’s the black sheep but in reality it might be one of the “twins” Grace or John. Grace, is such a free spirit, very much like her mother (maybe too much) which is why they’re always bumping heads. This is also why Grace is easily frustrated with searching for some kind of purpose or greater calling. John on the other hand is literally just a normal dude. He’s not cool like Grace or edgy like Sutton or particularly smooth like their youngest brother Eli or as enthusiastic and charming as Mae. He and Grace are the same age but John often feels like the middle child through and through despite his talents that Ralph tries to remind him of.

Most memorable family vacation?

One year, when his kids were young (ages infant to 10-years-old) Ralph rented an RV and they made the trip down to see the kids’ grandparents. It is, genuinely, one of the happiest memories Ralph has, even if he and his parents don’t speak anymore. It was nice to see his parents interact with his children before things got awful. It’s a reminder for Ralph that his parent’s are people. He wishes he had more good memories like that with them.

Describe your family in one word.

(His) Everything.

If you family were on a desert island and survival was of the essence, who would be the most helpful? Who is getting sacrificed?

Ok. This is how that would go down: Dinah would immediately be designated to call the shots; Ralph would handle shelter, food, and damage control; Sutton and Eli would work on finding service somewhere but otherwise would be on the table for being sacrificed because they’re divas; Grace and John would work on collecting supplies; and Mae would cheer everyone on. She’d want to help Grace and John or Sutton and Eli but they won’t let her because she’s baby so she’d stick with Dad at the camp helping cook and pouting about it.

//So you know!! All of the beans with, of course, the exception of the dogs (lol) are open!! That said, some of the information below/above is/can be subject to change if anyone is interested in playing one of Ralph’s family members! Fc's, personality, etc... I'm open to any and everything and, honestly, would love to see them on the dash.

Ralph Birk, 53, The Money Dispenser

Honestly, your typical dad. Maybe is a bit of a push over with his kids (you know, if mom says no they go to him kind of thing). But I don’t need to talk about Ralph, y’all know him already.

Dinah Leon, 51, The Boss

Can strike the fear of god into you one moment then melt you with the sheer warmth of her smile the next. Neither she nor Ralph is straight but they are the most compatible co-parents you will ever come across. Think... Annalise Keating from How to Get Away with Murder or Vivian Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The love is strong with this one. She’s currently backpacking Europe.

Sutton Birk-Leon, 28, The Artist

Lead of an experimental Metal-Rap band, Sutton is actually doing pretty well for himself in the music scene. He is not nearly as tough as hardcore as he puts on. As a matter of fact he’s a bit emotional, but lay a hair on any one of his siblings and there will be actual hell to pay. Even though he and Ralph go back and forth he has a good relationship with his father. They bond over music. Maybe he’s not the smartest bulb but he means well.

Grace Birk-Leon, 25, The Wild Child

Catch Grace on roller skates or pulling John into a impromptu dance sess in the living room or climbing over a fence that clearly reads ‘PRIVATE PROPERTY DO NOT ENTER.’ They use she/her or they/them pronouns and is just about the hardest person to pin down. The thought of labels gives Grace hives. When Grace loves, she loves. And don’t even get me started on when Grace dances. Grace and her mother butt heads but it’s only because Dinah knows Grace could do so many amazing things if she could just focus. Sutton thinks he’s the boss of the kids, but it’s always been Grace.

John Birk-Leon, 25, The Peace Keeper

Quiet, bookish, John will give you the jacket off of his own back if you offhandedly mention your cold. He’s a little shy, but a great listener, much like his father. Soft spoken and kind, John’s stillness is really the only thing that can ever truly balance out how restless Grace can be sometimes. He’s really brilliant, just doesn’t see it sometimes. After Mae, John is baby and must be protected.

Elijah “E” Birk-Leon, 23

E gives off the energy of this entire video. Oh my god, he’s a smooth talker. Definitely a flirt. Definitely gets into too much trouble... But he has an energy to him that endears him to anyone he meets. Personable, charming, warm... He’s a good kid at heart. Think Will from Fresh Prince, Drake from Drake and Josh, or Zack from Saved by the Bell. A pretty gifted singer like most of the other kids but NO! NO NO NO STICK TO THE STUFF YOU KNOW. HE CAN’T PLAY BASKETBALL AND SING DAD, GOD.

Mae Birk-Leon, 18-20ish, The Baby

The kindest, most enthusiastic person you’ll ever meet. Mae’s a little spit fire and you’d be hard pressed not to fall in love with her. She’s currently a student but undecided about what to major in. There’s just so many choices, you know? If she could she’d major in all of them she would! It’s cannon that she’s the person running across the courts in the Tommy Trojan mascot costume at USC games. And she loves every kitschy, sweaty moment of it. Think Number 3 from Codename: Kids Next Door or Bubbles from Power Puff Girls.

#[gay judgement] ( rev ralph | musings )#ft. family #sltask02 #//this was super fun

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spiltscribbles · 5 years

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Hamilton Friends AU | The One With The Engagement

Notes: Okay so this is so late, I beam the craziness f this summer. But a huge Thank you to the ever lovely @aswithasunbeamwho prompted me this perfect Friends episode to write in a Hamilton AU. You’re an amazing soul and I hope you enjoy<3<3

“Your face looks weird.”

“Rude.”

“Just an observation,” Angelica, as appraising and blunt as ever, chides at Alexander with a probing finger to his cheek. In turn alexander just scowls her way and sticks out his tongue for good measure.

“She is correct my friend,” Lafayette, currently trying to balance a fifth book on his head after proclaiming that yes, in fact he is as graceful as any of those fucking Disney princesses, tacks on. “As if your face has gone all goopy permanently.”

“It’s like you’re staring at Eliza even though she’s not here,” Hercules clarifies with a shrug.

“You’re all awful people and I don’t know why I’ve ever agreed to be your friend.” Alexander huffs.

“We’ve gone and made him all sour,” Peggy snorts and Laurens begins to mimic his peeved off expression in-between his own cackles.

“Awful!” Alexander reiterates. “Awful, awful people.”

“Answer the question at hand loser,” Peggy charges on, standing up from the sofa and swinging her weight to her left hip, defiant. “Why do you look so eerily unbothered, so, un-Hamilton like. For Pete’s sake even when you’re happy you look like there’s a hundred different things that are annoying the fuck outta you.”

“Harsh.”

“Accurate.”

“Fine,” Alexander twists his lips in annoyance of getting caught out. “If I tell you lot you better swear on everything you own that you won’t breathe a word.”

“Mysterious,” Laurens leers.

“It is Burr, he has died a most awful death! This is the source of your happiness, no?” Lafayette accuses.

“Ah, erm…. Not quite yet?”

“Well get on with it then,” Angelica scolds with no real heat. “Some of us have actual lives to get too.”

“”Drag race is on tonight and me and Ange have got a bet going.” Peggy explains.

“Which I will win,” Angelica sniffs.

“Fine, fine,” Alexander harrumphs, long acquainted with the larger than life personalities of all the Schuyler sisters, his heart contracting and stomach swooping once thinking of one in particular. Of her long, dark hair, and impossibly bright eyes, and the way her smile makes it feel like Alexander’s floating in midair.

Eliza.

She’s quite literally the most beautiful, brilliant, strong willed and even stronger hearted woman he’s ever known. She’s everything Alexander wishes he was and nothing but wonderful. He knows that, is positive, even if he concedes that she in fact is not an angel sent from the heavens above. Eliza’s not perfect just because Alexander swears she is. He knows that she is a bit of a clean freak, that she can get neurotic if plans aren’t followed through exactly as she had laid out. He knows that she was brought up oblivious to her insane level of wealth and that sometimes it takes full blown arguments for her to speak her mind instead of trying to spare him or anyone else of their feelings. Alexander knows all these small quirks and he doesn’t care because they only make him love her all the more. He loves Eliza more than the sun and stars and all the galaxies above combined, he loves her so much that somedays Alexander thinks his chest might crack with it.

But it never does, and she’s always there, and what they have is everything Alexander has ever wanted, and Eliza is someone who he never thought he could have. All this to say that he has absolutely no doubts in his mind when he pulls out the small velvet box from his trouser’s pocket and opens it to reveal the sparkling engagement ring he’s spent months saving up for.

“wholly fuck,” Peggy balks, scurrying closer to snatch it out of Alexander’s grasp, Angelica right on her coattails.

“No way!” Laurens crowed the same time Lafayette let out a strange, indecipherable squeal that Alexander is almost positive was only partially in French, partially in English and then a hodgepodge of other languages he’s never even heard before— all the books cascading down to the wooden floors in a crescendo of thuds.

For his part, Hercules just begins to tear up with a stiff lip and quivering hands. “Get the hell outta here.”

“You guys don’t like it,” Alexander asks with a shit eating grin.

“Don’t be cheeky dork,” Angelica reproves, never taking her eyes off the ring, swatting at Peggy to give her a chance to hold it.

“Don’t speak that way to your future brother-in-law,” Laurens snickers, claps Alexander on the back with an encouraging hug. “I’m so proud of you Ham, you’ve finally found the one.”

Alexander gives his oldest friend— the man he once thought would’ve been his forever if they hadn’t had such contradictory views on what that meant— a watery smile. “thank you Laurens, but don’t get too excited, Betsey’s still gotta say yes.”

“She’s crazy about you,” Peggy says airily, waving off his worries with a lazy hand. “Of course she’s gonna say yes.”

Alexander bites down on a smile, casts his gaze to the floor so to hide his reddening cheeks. He’s still in such disbelief that this is his life. He’s got the world’s greatest friends, an amazing job that he actually enjoys, and now he might actually get to keep the dream girl. So far away from the lonesome days and hard nights of St Croix. Far away from dying mothers and flighty fathers and cruel brothers who never bothered to keep in touch. This, right here, these people, Eliza, the Washingtons, hell even Burr on a good day… They’re his family, the people he’d die for and who he’s sure would die for him too. What a strange feeling that is, to love and be loved. How strange it is that he gets to keep this sense of belonging, of balance.

“God, now enough with the sappiness,” Peggy gripes. “I can see it on your face Hamilton, and just because you’re technically my brother now doesn’t mean I won’t beat your ass if I feel like it.”

“Charming,” Alexander deadpans.

“I thought so,” Peggy says with a magnanimous grin.

“So what’s the plan? How are you gonna pop the question?” Hercules interjects from where he’s now examining the rose gold band and round cut diamond accented with sapphires.

“I was planning to take her to that really posh French restaurant near fifth avenue that Laf showed us. Bets loves hearing me speak French,” he explains with a wink.

“My people’s language does arouse a certain, how do you say, sultry emotion.” Lafayette leers.

“For the love of God stop talking about having sex with my baby sister.”

“Right, ahem.” Alexander concedes. “Well after that I was gonna order us a bottle of her favorite, ridiculously priced champaign.”

“We use to drink it when we’d summer in our villa in the South of France,” Peggy explains, totally impervious to how fantastical that sounds to Alexander.

“Friends with too many rich people,” Hercules mutters morosely, handing the ring off to Lafayette, face scrunched up in displeasure all the while.

“Do not hate us for our good fortunes mon grand,” Lafayette sniffs. “Especially now that Alexander is considered part of our lot after he and Eliza’s inevitable union. One that is written in the stars mind you.”

“What’s written in the stars?”

Alexander’s heart stutters to a rapid staccato just as soon as he sees the door to the apartment swing open, revealing a disheveled, but radiant Eliza strolling through, one perfectly manicured brow kinked.

Before Alexander can take a breath, Lafayette impulsively stuck the ring— the symbol of his undying love and eternal devotion to Eliza— into his fucking French, snail eating mouth.

“Gross,” he hisses, to which Lafayette just tossed him the bird.

“Ah, the fact that Thundermist is totally beating Vivian October tonight,” Peggy blurts out in a totally high pitched voice. Jesus fucking Christ half of them work in politics and the other half are lawyers, save for Hercules whom’s perfectly content as the head of Ralph Lauren merchandize. But still, Alexander expected that they’d all be better at lying than this pathetic display!

He’s subsequently shown up the moment Eliza flickers her gaze towards him, a knowing smile blooming across her face that makes Alexander’s heart ache with want. He supposes it’s more the person who they’re all lying to rather than the act itself.

“You and Ange need to stop making everything a competition love, it’s teetering on ridiculous.” She toots, tosses her and Alexander’s mail to the counter before excepting the peck he can’t help but offer her.

“You know how daddy is with his horses,” Angelica argues. “It’s in our blood.”

That just makes Eliza role her eyes, totally fond, before she excuses herself to change out of her pencil skirt and red bottom heals.

“Hey is there paint on your top?” Laurens asks, brows furrowed.

“Oh yeah,” Eliza blushes. “The kids had arts and crafts today at the orphanage and wanted me to help out so I just set all the paperwork to be done tomorrow instead.”

“THat’s my top!” Angelica squawks, affronted.

“It’ll come out,” Eliza shoos her off with a lofty tip to her head.

Once she’s shut the door on her to change, Alexander cuffs Lafayette on the back, hard.

“This is the love you show me after I successfully kept your little romantic gesture a secret,” he harrumphs.

“Now I’ve got your French cooties all over it!” Alexander hisses.

“Many a men and women would have died to get my delightful French saliva within a ten mile radius of them.”

“We really need to talk about your ego one of these days,” Peggy snorts.

“I have Adrien as my wife and you lot are blunders in love, I shall not permit any judgment from any of you.”

“Hey, I’ll be joining you in that marital bliss soon enough,” Alexander contends, totally giddy smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

“Gross,” the remainder chorus in varying degrees of exasperation, dosed in pride.

Alexander’s really never had the best luck, most especially when it was the romantic sort. Before Eliza he’s never had a relationship that lasted over six consecutive months, or one that he didn’t constantly feel as if he had to garnish a facade of brilliance and magnetism that he’s never truly felt he had any right to own. Before Eliza Alexander never was able to picture himself settling into the domestic sphere quite so willingly. Never thought he would’ve yearned for quiet Sunday mornings in bed where Eliza’s head was propped up on his chest, and the early morning light would cascade atop her cheekbones and lips and glimmer in her hair. Those mornings where all Alexander could focus on was counting the quiet breaths she would let out and plotting out all the ways he could always make her look so at peace and lovely. Alexander never thought he would ever want the house in the suburbs with a large yard and rose gardens and everything his mother had tried to give him when she was still here. Alexander never had wanted it until Eliza came and he realized he could have it with her.

He remembers one particularly pitiful night towards the end of L2 when he had just cut ties with Cornelia Lotts because he had woken up that morning and had just not found her as interesting as the night before, which obviously meant he had drunken himself silly at some sleazy bar and tried picking up someone knew, just for the fun of it. Instead he was met by Angelica’s expectant, irritated glower once he was three drinks in, telling him on no uncertain terms that the reason his love life sucked so hard is because he always went for the obscenely wealthy and tragically pretty folks that always infested ivy league institutions. The same folks with too large egos and too little self worth to ever consider having an actual relationship with someone outside of their social circle— A circle that the Schuyler family were the crown jewels of is what Angelica didn’t have to say but Alexander heard in screaming clarity all the same.

“Fuck you.”

“You wish loser.”

That was when she tugged him by the ear to get out of the city with her for the long weekend to clear his head. When he slept in her family’s country home upstate. When he had stumbled downstairs in the middle of the night to be face to face—for the first time— with the sister he’s seen millions of pictures of and heard even more stories about by a beaming Angelica. The one who had just spent the year after graduating Yale in the peace corps. That was when Alexander’s heart had first swelled and he was a goner.

“Eliza.”

“Yes love,” Eliza smiles up at him through her lashes now, so many years detached from their first meeting. Years composed of unrequited crushes and tentative laughs that morphed into a strong friendship and shy words of sincerity. Eventually leading them to first kisses and first nights and all the in-betweens Alexander’s never gone through with any other relationship. Nothing else felt as vital, as permanent, as the one he shares with Eliza. Nothing else felt like it deserved his efforts in quite the same ways that he’s always known Eliza has. Nothing else has made him experience this distinct sort of want.

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” she giggles, mouth partially hidden from the lip of the flute of champaign she’s nursing. “Is everything alright deer? You look a little pale.”

Alexander’s throat closes up and he rinses his hands with anticipation.

“Yeah, yes. Everything’s Perfect Bets, it’s been perfect for a while now… Honestly ever since you agreed to actually go out with me. You. You make things perfect.”

Eliza doesn’t answer him in so many words, just cups her hands around hiss face and kisses him nice and thorough. Alexander wonders if how she makes everything inside of him go golden with every press to the lips will ever fade.

He seriously doubts it.

“Now, let me get this out, okay?” Alexander begs, squeezing her hands with his own and kissing the tops of each of her fingers gingerly.

“Oh, Andre.”

Alexander’s heart stills and the breath from his lungs escapes— It feels like something awful and freezing has just clutched his heart and rinsed it dry.

“No, Alex—- I’m Alex.”

That only makes Eliza role her eyes at him before nudging her head to where a ridiculously handsome, obviously well off man stands.

“Oh, yes…. erm that is Andre.”

“Maybe he won’t see us,” Eliza offers before he’s lead directly to the recently vacated spot besides them by a completely oblivious host.

“Maybe he’s blind now?” Alexander says hopefully.

“Lizzy Schuyler is that you?”

Alexander curses every ounce of bad luck he’s somehow accumulated before standing up to exchange awkward pleasantries and spending the remainder of the night refraining himself from knocking Andre/s lights out every time he stares a tad bit too longingly towards Eliza for his liking.

The pampered bastard.

Still inwardly fuming while drinking his morning coffee, Alexander was accosted by someone cuffing him on the back of the head, hard.

He isn’t surprised to turn around and Find a surly looking Angelica glaring at him, hands on her hips and mouth curled in a distinctly predatory fashion.

“What happened last night Hamilton?”

“How do you know something happened?”

“Well when I gushed to look at Liza’s hand this morning, instead of a rock on her finger she just looked at me like I was insane! I had to pretend I wanted to read her palm.”

“So confirming the insanity suspicion then?” He asks owlishly.

“Hamilton!” She says in a hiss.

“I couldn’t do it, okay.” Alexander snaps back, waspish.

“You chickened out,” Angelica accuses, depositing herself on the sofa besides him in the small cafe and snatching the muffin from his hand.

“No.”

“Then what? You changed your mind? My baby sister not good enough for you?” She needles, prickly as he’s ever seen her.

“Don’t be ridiculous Anne.”

“Then wh—“

“Andre showed up,” he blurts with absolutely no tact.

“No fucking way,” Angelica gapes, dropping the aforementioned muffin.

“I’m cursed aren’t I?”

“Kinda,” Angelica consoles with a pout, cradling his head on her shoulder.

“Ah oh, not a good sign.” Hercules observes once taking a seat with his own latte.

“Hamilton’s cursed,” Angelica informs him, matter-of-fact.

“Why this time?”

“Because Eliza’s fucking perfect ex-fiancé somehow showed up last night with his own date and sat there besides us looking all handsome and waxing all poetic and reminiscing about how he and Eliza were caught fucking in her childhood bedroom her sophomore year of college and making her laugh and I couldn’t get a damn word in edgewise!”

“Oh not the thanksgiving story,” Angelica winces.

“So I reckon you didn’t propose?”

“I was gonna do it tonight instead, but thanks to Mis babble mouth over here,” he elbow checks Angelica. “Eliza most definitely suspects something is up now.”

“Hey! It’s not my fault that you apparently committed some sort of horrendous crime in a past life.”

“Who asks to look at someone’s hands!” Alexander hurls.

“People who think their sister was just proposed to!” Angelica defends.

“It’s fine you guys, we’ve just gotta throw her off the trail a little. Make her think marriage’s the furthest thing from your mind.” Hercules placates.

“Yeah, yeah Herc, you’re right.” Alexander nods, is thrown to alert the moment the cafe’s bells chime— indicating a new customer— and it’s Eliza’s soft timbre that rings in his ears.

“I swear, I don’t care what Laf says, French people are total weirdos.” She sheds off her jacket and assumes the seat in Alexander’s all too willing lap. “I walk into his place to pick up some papers I left there and the first thing he wants to see is my hand to see if it’s proportionate to his.” With a huff, she grabs the coffee mug from Alexander, face scrunching up adorably at the excessive amount of sugar he always mixes in. Totally oblivious to how his heart is pulsing and his face is infused a bright red.

“Oh— Hah, how weird,” Angelica titters awkwardly.

“Why do you sound so strange Ange?”

“No she doesn’t,” Alexander quickly pipes in.

“Yes…. She does.” Her brows furrow, the smallest dent between her eyes telling Alexander that she’s suspecting something. “What’s going on?”

“We were just reading this article in the New Yorker is all,” Hercules explains, saving all their asses. “It’s making her worry about her relationship with Mr Big.”

“His name’s Church, stop comparing our lives to Sex In The City characters,” Angelica admonishes with no heat.

“Whatever Miranda.”

“So what’s this article that’s got you all frazzled Angelica?” Eliza asks worriedly.

“It’s about marriage,” Alexander answers instead, seeing his opportunity and plunging for it.

“Marriage?”

“Yeah, just about how it’s a total scam. I mean think about it Bets, legally timing yourself to another person? Doesn’t that sound Orwellian to you? A ploy by the government just to get our money and to keep us in check if you ask me.”

Eliza’s frown somehow, impossibly, sinks deeper.

“That’s not what you think Alex, is it?”

“I mean, ah yeah—“ His voice most certainly does not screech like he was a character from Saved By The Bell. “I mean you know me Eliza. I mean marriage didn’t keep my dad around for my mom.”

He can’t believe he just used that card on her. He totally deserves to go to hell for that one.

“It doesn’t always have to end up like that hon.” She cards a hand through his hair, kisses his cheek gingerly. And yeah, eternal damnation here Alexander comes.

“Eliza like 60% of all marriages now days ends in divorce,” Angelica contends. “Can you even name a couple that hasn’t been separated at least once.”

“Our parents,” she sniffs.

“But is it worth taking that chance,” Alexander says, reminds himself of how happy she’ll be tonight after he pops the question, when Eliza shakes off the hand that’s trying to lace their fingers together.

“Yeah, Yeah Alex I do think it’s worth that chance! And you know I do!” She starts to get up now, properly mad. “I mean don’t you guys want to promise yourself to the person you love in front of all your nearest and dearest. Be bound to someone so intimately and permanently. To get to show off your love to the world to see!”

“Sounds kinda selfish to me,” Alexander counters and Hercules and Angelica mumble their agreements.

“Okay,I’m running late for work.” In a cloud of carefully concealed fury, found in the pinch of her shoulders and downturn of her lips, Eliza collects her bag and jacket before storming out. A quiet fury in total opposition to her sisters’ brash words and ear shattering shouts.

Alexander yet again reminds himself of her beaming face when she doesn’t dip down to give him the customary kiss goodbye.

“This’s gonna workout just fine.”

#Hamilton #Hamliza #Eliza Schuyler Hamilton #Alexander Hamilton #Spilled Ink #Friends Meme #aswithasunbeam #SPILT ink #friends AU

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choicesatnight · 5 years

Text

Devoted Fiend

Title: Devoted Fiend

Pairing: James Ashton x Vivian (MC)

Rating: Angst n stuff..?

Word count: 2,048 words

My disclaimer: This character is owned by PB, I just enjoy some elaboration. I really love James Ashton and I love Choices fanfics, especially nasty ass stuff but there isn’t much featuring my original bae, James Ashton from The Freshman series

So, I decided to put my amateur ass talent to work and write with James being the *star of the story*

A/N: * is a separator due to scene change, use of Daddy, Italics are James thoughts

Four months later, Vivian is the only suspect in Reyna’s murder although they cannot link the poison to Vivian as the autopsy revealed Reyna’s cause of death as extreme amounts of black mamba venom. They did find an empty vial in Vivian’s purse which is the sole reason she is a suspect. Out on bail, thanks to James, she gave birth to a healthy boy who currently resides with his father.

After putting Logan down to sleep, James sits down to dial Comfort.

“Hey hun"

“Hey C, where are you?”

“Almost at your place”

“Good. Logan misses you.”

“Oh, does he? Logan's got some explaining to do"

“Uh oh.”

“I'm here.” She hangs up the phone and opens the door.

Comfort walks in wearing her usual type of outfit. An oversized top, formfitting jeans, and heels. The top is so long it hides the part of her bottom half that James likes to see the most.

“You look nice" he kisses her lips.

After the kiss, “I'm going to see Logan. Sit down, hun. I'll be right back.”

Seconds later she returns from the nursery and sits on the couch beside James.

“He's sleeping.”

“Hopefully for a while. He’s quite the night owl.”

“That’s the complete opposite of you.”

James' eyes scrunch in confusion, why does she think I’m not a night person at all? I can hang late at night. Shouldn’t she know this by now?

“I guess. But it’s exactly like his mother.”

Comfort rolls her eyes,

“Why are you talking about murderers?”

“You know I believe in her innocence. Regardless, she’s still Logan’s mom.”

“She's a murderer which brings me to my next point. James. You paid for her LEGAL TEAM!?” raising her voice in absolute disapproval of what he’s done.

“Yes. She's Logan's mom”

“Babe. She's a damn MUR👏🏼DER👏🏼ER"

James smiles, “You called me babe.”

Like Vivian used to.

Her mouth flat and eyes full of anger

“Listen, if she gets free you will be responsible for a murderer on the loose. She's obsessed with you so I'm next and when I wind up dead it's on you. Know that.”

“Comfort, I'm sorry we disagree about her role in Reyna's murder but she's Logan's mother and I’m always going to look after the mother of my child.”

“Okay honey remember you said that when I'm dead and you ultimately end up back with her because you're soft for her.”

“Soft for her? Comfort, we were together for nine years. She's the mother of my son. I have a right, no – a VALID REASON to stay in her life and excuse me for being polite and using the money I have for things” He takes a breath before he continues, “and PEOPLE that are important to me! I’m only looking out for her.” His tone is elevated, he’s standing and looking at her with furrowed brows as he speaks. How dare she speak so ill of Vivian!

She stands up and gets in his face,

“Really James? Do you think raising your voice is gonna back me down off of the fact that you’re taking care of a murderer? I don’t care how long you were together, she’s a killer and this is not cool. You need to have a seat, get the hell outta my face and go tell her to stay in her damn place!”

Feeling even more frustrated, he sits down without a word. Comfort remains standing.

“Exactly. Sit down. Don’t try to argue with me about that damn murderer. I got this argument.”

Did she just tell me what to do?

Nothing. James says nothing.

“You act like you're still together. The only difference is that you're having sex with me and I have a key to your apartment.”

“Are you saying you think this is only about sex?”

“I hope not.”

“I’ll talk to her, okay?” He has no intention of talking to her about this situation. She’s innocent and not even Comfort can convince him otherwise.

“That’s all I’m asking, at least. Man up.” James thoughts linger to Vivian. She would never talk to him this way, nor would she be so demanding.

“Okay, well…”

“Um, yeah, I’ll call you later, okay?” Comfort attempts to kiss James though he bends as if he’s looking for something and she leaves.

What Comfort doesn’t know is that James also paid her bail, so by her definition he’s already let a murderer loose.

Vivian sits at home alone. Thinking of the situation she's gotten herself in when her phone rings "Sweet Love" and steals her attention. Upon grabbing the phone, she sees its lit with notification. Today is...or would have been, her 10th anniversary with James. Imagining how amazing the day and night would have been if they were together and if she were not facing a murder conviction leads her to dial James.

"Hey James"

"Hey" she can hear the tiniest cry near the phone.

"Awww is that Logan?"

"Of course, it is. I'm feeding him."

"Can I come by? Do you have company already?" He knows she's asking about Comfort. She always avoids saying her name. Is Comfort equivalent to Voldemort to Vivian?

"Only Logan and I are home. Come by."

"I miss my baby. See you soon" she hangs up the phone and heads to James apartment.

Once there, she kisses James on the cheek and sets her purse and keys on the table. Removing her coat reveals the low cut, form-fitting shirt she is wearing. He gets lost remembering the way she'd call him Daddy when he'd bite her nipples simply by staring at her top and maybe a little from the warm familiarity of her perfume. But he is pulled from his memories when Vivian repeats "I'm gonna go see Logan.” Until he responds “Okay.”

She walks to the nursery and rocks baby Logan in her arms while singing. "ABCDEF is for Frugal which your father is not. And hey! Father. F is for father GH is for Hoe. The kind of partner you shouldn't commit to IJ..." James walks in "Those ABC's don't sound appropriate for an infant." He smiles, only to show that he is not chastising her. "He'll know his letters and some adult lessons by the time he's three. He'll be a scholar and know how to avoid getting hurt. He'll be better than his mom. He'll be like his dad."

James walks behind her wrapping her in his embrace, hands rested on her stomach

"You're a wonderful woman." She softly places Logan in his crib

"I wasn't good enough for you."

He releases her from his embrace only to make her face him,

"Vivian, are you kidding me? You're the love of my life. You don't seem to understand the change I had to go through after realizing that you were not committed to me. It broke my entire person. But I emerged."

"And started dating her. I pushed you to her and that’s who you share your happiness with.”

“It’s not happy” Fuck! I shouldn’t have said that. Vivian doesn’t need to hear about this…

“What’s wrong, James? Why aren’t you happy?”

“Okay,” he visually relaxes after deciding its okay to share this with Vivian.

“We argued and she talked down to me. Spoke to me like I were an idiot. You know how intensely I feel for words. She changed the way I see her plus I’m still mad.”

She steps closer to James “So now she's talking you crazy. Treating you like less of a man. Babe. You don’t deserve that.”

James is hardly able to resist Vivian, she's like kryptonite to him, but with the strength he has he says “Give me a second, gotta take advantage of this time while you're here with Logan" he laughs heading toward the bathroom.

Vivian can't help but notice James phone left on the baby`s changing table.

“My trusting lover never fails me" she laughs at the ZERO methods of protection on his phone and looks for her name “Vivian (Logan's mother)” to change it to “Soul Mate (Logan's Mother).” She's proud of her son, there’s no reason to change that. Next, she looks for Comfort. And finds her under “My everything (Comfort ❤).” Thank goodness for his parenthesis or she wouldn't ever find her. She changes her name to “Temporary Bitch (Comfort)” and puts his phone down. Just in time as he is walking back to her.

Now in the living room, James returns to Vivian

“Thanks for allowing me that quick shower. I felt pretty grimy. Logan doesn't deserve a grimy dad" he laughs

She joins in the laughter. “You're definitely the type for Dad jokes.”

“Oh, I'm a comedian. Comfort has extracted parts of me I didn't know existed.”

“Did she do that when she was screaming at you what to do?”

James is silent. Vivian knows exactly how to finish James, how to make herself irresistible to him.

“Hey, come here” she grabs his hand, pulling him into the bedroom and sitting on the bed. She gets on her knees behind him, massaging his shoulders.

“Close your eyes. Just relax to my touch…Daddy”

James is ready to relax but the flame ignites when she calls him Daddy. He turns his head around to look at her and they begin to kiss as attempts to pull her unto his lap. The movements are a little tricky, but she ends up on his lap as they continue kissing. He pulls away long enough to say,

“I need you, Viv" before returning immediately to kissing her, deepening the kiss unknowing where to let his hands roam. For once, he just wants to kiss her until they share breaths, but she pulls away

“I missed you so much"

“I missed you too, Viv. I didn’t know how much.”

“Will you come to court with me tomorrow?”

“Yeah, of course.” He kisses her. “I'll be there every day. I testify on Tuesday.” He kisses her again.

“I love you so much"

Vivian smiles, laying her head on James' shoulder. She’s getting everything she wanted in spite of Comfort still being alive.

“I love you too, James"

“Stay here. I’ll be with you tomorrow anyway.” His fingers combing through her hair as she sits on his lap.

“What about your place holder?”

He laughs when she refers to Comfort as “place holder"

“Who cares. She predicted this would happen anyway.”

“She predicted us getting back together?” she laughs

“Yup. She said I`m soft for you…but I'm definitely not soft right now"

She laughs even harder, “Freaky as ever! I missed that.”

They kiss. “It feels like home being back with you. It will be us forever, baby. You, me and Logan."

“Yup."

DAY 1

THE PEOPLE VS. BLACK MAMBA

Both sides have presented their argument and Vivian stands with James and her attorney

“Sounds like the prosecution has no real evidence against you. They only called upon the testaments of forensic professionals. We're going to win.” The lawyer looks at James, “Who is this? Who are you? Vivian, are you entering a new witness?”

Vivian giggles and grabs hold of James' hand, “No. Michael. He paid for you to defend me"

Michael straightens his stance and offers his hand to shake “Mr. Ashton! Michael Board. It's nice to meet you, sir"

James laughs briefly while shaking his hand, “You're thinking of my dad. You can call me James.”

“Jay, Jim, Jimmy" he points finger guns toward James with expecting eyes.

“James.” James' voice is unmoving in tone, indicating tedium.

Vivian moves closer to James, still holding his hand “You can tell him anything. He's should be included in all of it.” James raises their intertwined hands to kiss hers.

“Are you married to James? Vivian, this will be amazing for your image.”

“Well, n-" James cuts of Vivian before she can finish answering

“Yes. I’m her husband.” He stares in her eyes as he speaks

“Perfect! The jury will not convict our brand-new mother and wife when she’s got no evidence tying her to this murder. Mrs. Ashton, consider this case won!” Michael is trying his best not to break out his “We're winning” dance moves when Vivian and James are still locked holding hands and staring into one another's eyes.

Teeny Tiny Tag List

@zigortega4life

@littlecrookedheart

#JamesAshton #TheFreshmanSeries #Choices #FreakyFics

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yourdeepestfathoms · 6 years

Text

Healthy Pendragon Sibling Headcanons

* Morgana is the oldest, then Arthur, and then Morgause. Arthur is the tallest, though

* Their backgrounds are very confusing. Arthur and Morgana have the same dad but Morgana and Morgause have the same mom. Morgana alternated between who she lived with for awhile before mainly sticking with Uther, who had custody of Arthur. Morgause was given to her “father” by Vivian, but moved in with her siblings when she was a teenager.

* Morgana is a lesbian, Arthur is bi, and Morgause is ace/aro

* Morgause has a love for theatre and if she gets in a show, her siblings screams every time she comes out

* They sneak out a lot

* Literally broke into their school to swim in the pool

* They’ve reenacted Lord of the Flies in the middle of the night before because why the hell not

* These kids get super competitive in any co-op game they play

* They secretly buy each other pride flags, hang them up in their room, and see how long it takes to get noticed

* They’re so close hhh

* Morgause can only handle physical contact from them

* Sometimes one of them will yell “HALL MEETING!!!” and then they have a meeting in the hallway

* Morgana is the best at comfort

* Arthur and Morgause are not

* Morgause is terrible at verbally comforting someone. If a person is hurt, usually she’ll just hug them from behind, rest her head on their back, and wait until they calm down or stop crying

* Arthur just gets protective and is ready to fight

* Morgana will literally use her sibling’s middle names when she’s worried about them

* Oh yeah, middle names! Morgana Elizabeth Pendragon, Arthur William Pendragon, Morgause Autumn Pendragon

* They’ve learned all of each other’s triggers to avoid making each other uncomfortable

* Morgana is super gentle

* Arthur took his sisters clubbing before but they mainly just sat at a booth the whole time playing on their phones

* During this one Thanksgiving, they played kickball against other family members and Morgause ran into a windmill

* They are a very competitive team

* Morgause loves animals and wants to take home every stray she sees. Arthur is so set on this idea

* They compulsively bought a baby goat before

* Gwaine is determined that they wear some kind of matching costumes during Halloween. They end up going as Link (Arthur), Zelda (Morgana), and Sheik (Morgause)

* As a little bonus, Gwaine gets everyone in the gang to go as Legend of Zelda characters, even if they don’t play the game. He goes as the Skull Kid, Merlin goes as Wizzaro, Gwen goes as Twili Midna, Leon goes as Dark Link, Elyan goes as Komali, and Percival goes as Ganon

* “Where are my SIBLINGS!!!!!” -Morgana, 24/7

* Both Arthur and Morgana are super stubborn and when they argue it’s like someone is yelling at themselves in the mirror

* Morgana drives them everywhere because Morgause is too scared to, even though she has her license and Arthur driving makes her nervous

* Uther isn’t actually home that often because of business, so they take care of the house. Morgause is actually a really good cook. Arthur is not.

* Morgause has a tendency to go nonverbal for a short amount of time, usually after a panic attack or episode, but the other two are very patient with her

* Oh yeah she has some issues

* Morgause sometimes will play a certain song over and over again to relax herself and her siblings have just gotten used to it

* They play The Floor Is Lava a lot and sometimes they’ll just sit on the coffee table for an hour until someone backs out

* When getting groceries, Arthur is fully set on taking all the bags in at once which causes Morgana to scream “ARTHUR THE EGGS”

* They do this thing where they’ll just...see this place and they’ll be like “yup that’s where I’m going to spend my day”

* For example, Morgana walking into the kitchen to get a drink and sees Morgause on top of the fridge reading and she doesn’t question it at all

* Arthur, throwing a water bottle at his sister’s heads: YOU NEED TO STAY HYDRATED CHILDREN

* But that quickly turns into little reminders for each other: “Have you eaten today?” “Did you drink any water?” “Do you need anything?” “Wanna talk?” “Have you slept at all recently?”

* Morgana once finished a project for Morgause because she was exhausted and the topic was touchy. Morgana found her at her laptop, tears streaming down her face, gritting her teeth and struggling to type with her hands shaking so badly. That’s when she stepped in

* Morgause is allergic to hazelnuts and has always wanted to try one. One day, she hands Morgana an EpiPen and makes Arthur dial 911 and then shoves, like, twelve hazelnuts in her mouth

* It’s become an ongoing joke to call Morgause a ferret because she looks like one

* Gaius, about Morgause: I don’t think we’ve met.

Arthur: Oh sorry this is our pet ferret

* Morgause once fell out of a tree she was climbing and came down so hard branches snapped under her. She had to sleep on her stomach for two weeks because of how badly her back was bruised

* Morgause: Do you think Arthur and Morgana actually want me around? What if I’m just a nuisance at this point? What if I’m intruding?

Merlin, visibly annoyed: Morgause, this is the seventeenth time you’ve asked that. I don’t know.

Morgause, walking away: Okay, I’ll come ask again in a few minutes

* Morgana showed Arthur and Morgause Life is Strange to make them cry but she ended up sobbing, too

* In return, Morgause shows her Little Nightmares

* Morgana, when Six eats a rat: what the fU-

* They’ve played co-op on Shadow of the Tomb Raider together and Arthur ends up glitching through the floor and gets stuck. The girls laughs so hard they wheeze

* They went to see Tomb Raider (2018) together and they thought it was amazing

* Morgana: Tomb Raider was good. I liked when Lara killed the men

* She definitely has a crush on Lara Croft

* Morgause stress chews and when there’s nothing around for her to gnaw on, she bites the skin off her knuckles

* Morgana, noticing that Morgause is grinding her teeth against her bottom lip: GET THAT LIP OUT OF YOUR MOUTH YOUNG LADY

* They rarely ever fight, but you know it’s bad when they do.

* Morgause starts carrying gum around with her everywhere (mainly because of her chewing problem) and Arthur asks for some all the time. She once just threw an entire packet at his head before. He thanked her

* Morgause spends New Years in the basement. The fireworks are too much for her and she has multiple panic attacks. Morgana goes down to comfort her and they watch the old Tomb Raider movies together

* Morgause gets really violent and unpredictable when she’s having an episode or bad panic attack. She bites, scratches, spits, punches, kicks- anything to get away. She miscalculated a swing this one time, caught her fingernails on Morgana’s earring, and it tore out. Her sister had to get stitches for it. Arthur thought it was kinda cool

* Arthur accidentally poured a can of soda into a bowl of macaroni and cheese while his sisters watched without attempting to stop him

* Morgana walked into the kitchen and found a block of cheese in the utensils drawer, which somebody had decided was a knife when they were putting away groceries. Then she tried to look for cream cheese and could not find it for the life of her. It still hasn’t been found

* Morgause wears glasses

* But this one time she fell asleep with contacts on and woke up thinking she got her proper sight back

* Morgause: *glasses fall off and fall into the deep end of a pool*

Arthur: I gotchu fam

* If one of them has a date the other two like to spy on what’s going on

* Morgause attempted to cut her hair with a knife and it did not end well

If anyone has anymore, they can add onto this! I’d love to see more headcanons with these kids!

#HI I LOVE THESE KIDS!!!!!#pry all of these headcanons from my cold dead fingers #i dare you #bbc merlin #merlin tv #merlin tv show #merlin #merlin emrys #bbc arthur #arthur pendragon #bbc morgana #morgana #morgana pendragon #bbc morgause #morgause #the pendragon sibs #headcanons #merlin headcanons

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stopforamoment · 6 years

Text

Part Two: Burnt Marshmallow (Series 12, Part 2 of 15)

Series Twelve: Putting the Children First (15 Parts) Part Two: Burnt Marshmallow (Series 12, Part 2 of 15)

Masterlist

Book: The Royal Romance (After Book Three)

Pairing: Bastien Lykel x OC Rinda Parks Word Count: 866 Rating: M for Language Author’s Note: Obligatory disclaimer that Pixelberry Studios owns the TRR characters and my pocketbook with those darn diamond scenes. OFC with all of her quirks is all mine. My apologies if Tumblr or I do something stupid when I try to post this. The keep reading link shows up on my laptop but not my phone. Ugh.

Thank you @asherella-is-a-dork-3 for always being my sounding board! Thank you @liam-rhys-deactivated20180927 @silviasutton1989 @bobasheebaby for still being a part of the journey!

Series Summary: We’re wrapping up week six and moving into week seven, the week of October 21st. Putting children first is the priority in this series. Rinda and Laura advocate for more social workers and psychologists in Cordonian schools, and the Cordonian Safety Response Program keeps moving forward. Vivian Trakas still isn’t prioritizing her own children, and Henry deals with his own struggles with losing his dad.

Chapter Summary: Rinda is worried that Drake will burn out at the school, and she takes some time to talk to him about it.

Burnt Marshmallow Sunday Morning of Week Seven

“Hey Drake, are you doing anything before Laura comes over?” Laura and Drake were meeting at Rinda’s house that afternoon so they could go over things with their presentation to the Royal Council. Laura and Rinda were doing the bulk of the presentation since Drake was an actual member of the council, but they all agreed he should have some material ready just in case. And no, Drake didn’t have any other plans. “Okay, good. Then you’re coming over for lunch and we’re going to have a drink and talk about the craziness of last week. Non-negotiable, Mr. Walker.” Drake just mumbled an okay—he knew better than to fight Rinda on this one. . . . . . Rinda handed him a glass of whiskey. “It’s 5:00 somewhere” she quipped. “I even got the good stuff for you. Although it was more for me than for you. Your cheap shit gives me heartburn.” Drake laughed as Rinda sat down on the couch next to him with her own glass. She took a drink before starting. “So . . . last week was pretty crazy and I’m worried about you. You’ve been thrown into one of the very worst parts of protecting these children, and it’s only been a couple weeks. You really didn’t have an ease in period to enjoy coaching football, doing dance jams, and the fun stuff. And I know everything with Gracie and CPS wasn’t exactly part of the security officer job description. How are you really doing? And don’t bullshit me.” Drake tilted his glass, watching the liquid roll back and forth. He needed time to think, and Rinda gave it to him. “I feel better now that CPS is helping Gracie. This past week has been hell.” He looked up at Rinda. “Did Bastien tell you about our fight?” Rinda shook her head. “No. I knew you both had talked last week and you told him that a lot was going on. But I didn’t know you fought.” Rinda grinned. “Bastien was too focused on scolding me for not telling him what he can do to help. You know how he is.” Drake grinned and rubbed his hand through his hair. “Yeah. He’s . . . he’s good at this stuff. I mean, helping people.” “So are you, Drake. It’s hard to figure this shit out. If you care too much it kills you. If you don’t care enough there are more kids who slip through the cracks. So finding that balance only comes with time, and even then it changes as you have a family of your own and less energy to devote to other people’s children. But when we get more social workers and psychologists into the schools you won’t have to directly deal with as much of this stuff.” Rinda paused. “You know Henry’s friend Alex, right?” Drake nodded. “At the start of the school year Stephan was bullying him, but Bastien let Alex help him with a perimeter sweep after school, and Alex told me that Bastien also taught him a few self-defense moves.” Rinda was smiling, remembering how excited Alex was to show Henry his moves. “Drake, we’re helping Gracie and she’s going to be the child where you know, without a doubt, that you made a difference. Just like Bastien did for Alex. And that’s what’s going to keep you going.” Drake shook his head. “How can you be so sure?” “Because I have to believe that. No matter how crazy or far-fetched it may seem, I need to cling to that hope. Otherwise I’d lose my mind. Drake? Laura has been a God-send for me. Alicia and Julian, too. But Laura. She shares my inappropriate sense of humor and I know I always say this, but we’re a team at work and with stuff in our personal lives. She’s one of my best friends here, and I don’t know what I’d do without her.” Rinda paused, trying to think of how to explain what she was trying to say. “Drake? I’m so glad you were hired because I needed someone amazing to work with. And I’m glad you were hired because Laura’s going to have someone amazing to work with. You’re already doing so much to help her with football practice and with her dad. But she’s there for you, too. You both are working on a strong friendship, and that’s important because you both need to be there for each other. That’s how you’re going to get through this. Bastien was right to choose you, Drake. He knew what he was doing. He has faith in you. I have faith in you too, and Laura has faith in you. Now you need to have faith in yourself, but that also means knowing when you have to reach out when you need help. Okay?” Rinda gently cupped his cheek. “Hey, okay?” Drake nodded, and Rinda lovingly tousled his hair. “All the shit you went through growing up? It’s helped you to be so compassionate and so understanding. You’re amazing with Henry. You’re amazing with the other children at school. You’re amazing, Strubelkopf.” Tousled Hair. “Don’t ever doubt that.”

#bastien lykel #rinda parks ofc #long post #choices trr

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iwanttobeyourwonderwoman · 4 years

Text

Nobody gives a shit, git. (1)

Finally. Finally I’m gonna have the courage to say and post about certain things. And even then, nobody ever reads or listens to me but I’m gonna do it anyway. For myself. Whether anyone reads it or not, it’s something for me to look back on in the future.

So here I go.

On a new segment I like to call “Nobody gives a shit, git”

(for many obvious reasons)

So it’s the day after Singapore’s general elections.(Yes in the middle of this pandemic, the country decides COME LETS VOTE FOR OUR PARLIAMENT!) The past 10 days have been very heated with intense campaigning being done on such short notice. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE had their own views on this. So much drama and even more chaos. So that’s when I decided to do a little research myself to understand what the hell was going on and as a first time voter, who should I vote for to represent my constituency?

So what’s so special and dramatic about elections for parliament in our small island of a country, you ask? LOTS.

Firstly, I wanna talk about the opposition candidates.

I didn’t realise how many opposition parties there were but it’s good to see a healthy competition in all areas. Before last week I knew nothing. All I knew is that PAP rules the whole country basically and WP ruled Aljunied GRC. This year I feel that WP had a stronger support from the public as well as better and more capable candidates. After all, you’re voting for who represents you in your area and ultimately in parliament. Yes PAP still makes most of the decisions but then the opposition is the one who stands up and says “but why not this way?” This in a way helps to challenge the PAP but also forces them to take a look at the public’s perspectives a little more closely instead of just a general view.

What was good this year is that there are many younger members in WP as compared to considerably older Politicians of PAP. This in itself reflects on the parties as PAP has been around from the beginning, gaining us our independence. Whereas WP has been wiggling their way through over the past few elections. A younger team, a fresher mindset, with candidates having different backgrounds and experiences, as compared to the (majority) elites of PAP.

Now, Pritam Singh. This man. Amazing leadership. He has ensured his candidates exude class and confidence and respond gracefully. This is something I really admire about him. Everytime a WP member has spoken against other parties, he has made sure that they do so with class and not simply throw down PAP. Yes PAP has faults, we all know that. But we would not be here without them. And it is necessary for us to be grateful as a nation for all the work PAP has done over the years, instead of simply calling them out on their faults and spewing accusations. PAP is too powerful for that. You must fight on their level. Which is exactly what Pritam Singh and the Worker’s Party have tried doing.

Hot favourites obviously belonged to the Sengkang team, who as a whole, managed to reach out to their specific demographics as well as the rest of Singapore youths/millenials in particular. Despite online accusations and what not, they managed to fight through and secure Sengkang GRC which was a MAJOR accomplishment and milestone in so many ways. As well as the East Coast GRC team who fought very hard but fell short by a very small margin.

Another party that was so close to being elected, was PSP led by Dr Tan Cheng Bock. This one is an interesting story. I had only found out all this information a couple of days before. This man is already 80 years old and was making waves on instagram because most campaigning was being done so online. Dr Tan Cheng Bock was already a familiar name among the older generation, considering he was formally from PAP, then having resigned to run for presidency but unfortunately could not win. Affectionately known as hype beast ah gong to the younger crowd, he as well as his marketing team made a huge move to post videos of him on Instagram to relate to the youth. And Guess what, it worked. Even those who don’t really know much or care much about politics (me for example) went to research him and found out how qualified he is and what he stands for. I wish his party did have a little more support to win (he lost by a less than 2% percentage) because it would have really shaken the PAP. But he was also going against strong PAP members and I also think that people may question him because of his age (he’s 80!!!???) thus questioning his ability to govern at his old age. Yes I would say it is a possible concern to many but who is to say he is not capable of the role? He has built such a strong name for himself, which is admirable at his age. Another very admirable thing he did was saying if his party did not win but if one candidate is being offered a seat in parliament, he will not take it. So if you agree with what he says and want him to oppose PAP, it was either you vote for him and his whole team to all have seats in parliament, or you don’t get him at all. Like do or die. Definately a risky move, but just shows how much he cares for his whole team. Also, I’m sure they’d target him throughout so he would require his team for backup,otherwise another strong member shall be sent in his place, which I also think might be a good idea because TCB has had his run in parliament already and can serve as a very good advisor to his potential candidates.

So coming back to my second point, which is regarding PAP. Ahhhh, so much could be said about PAP. long story short, their feathers were definately ruffled and could have acted with a little more grace. Yes they do handle certain areas well, for example, my GRC, Marine Parade. Formerly run by senior minister Goh Chock Tong, it was always a sure win for PAP. But then watching the results I realised many people were unhappy. Why? Was PAP not handling their area well? Possibly. Handling Marine Parade is a little tricky as well. An area with such rich history and culture that represent Singapore, is the home to many affluent Singaporeans. The area is decked with endless landed homes and condos as compared to HDBs. Well known government and Catholic schools, and our very own East Coast beach. Now for Marine Parade, I realised there are a few types of residents who voted the way they did.

1) Genuine support for PAP, usually the older generation who have only known the ways of PAP all their life, through independance of Singapore till now.

2)Genuine support for Worker’s Party, people who possibly root for the underdogs.

3)People who want to see change and have an impact but were not convinced by the Worker’s Party candidates and their lack of experience, hence voting for PAP as the safer option to maintain our area, which has done pretty well till now.

4)People who could not be bothered and just vote for PAP because that’s how it’s always been and would rather stick to that and be ignorant.

So basically going back to PAP, yes they have the experience and the knowledge to run the country. But what about a lot of underlying problems that have surfaced during this elections? Racism, social class, education opportunities, elderly healthcare? Are they really considering all these factors too? That’s when the opposition comes in plays their part. To really represent the people. I’m not saying that they don’t know how to do their job, they most certainly do. And over the years they’ve had some great and highly respected ministers who have made a huge impact in their respective fields.im just saying that times are changing and the younger generation is getting more involved and PAP isn’t getting any younger.

I don’t wanna make this any longer so I’m gonna shorten my third and most important view personally.

SPEAK GOOD ENGLISH!!!!!

How do you expect to be the ‘voice of the people’ if you can’t speak proper English? The way we articulate things, being our points across, never underestimate the importance of this! How are you going to be credible to your people if you can’t speak well with confidence and passion? Listening to some of the broadcasts made me crazy because many opposition members could not speak well and spent most of their argument blaming the PAP!! Where is your point? Where is your class? You wanna argue with PAP and with your very own prime minster, then at least try to do so with some elegance. This is our prime minister after all, not some hawker uncle. If you wanna talk about these issues, he could very well devour all of you single handedly. If you want to state your cause or your unhappiness, do so smartly and in a way people will listen, not just empty words spewing out in anger.

Looking at the better speakers this year such as everyone’s new favourite person, Jamus Lim ; Raeesah Khan, He Ting Ru, Pritam Singh, Nicole Seah, Sylvia Lim and also Tan Cheng Bock of the opppsition and then Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Tharman Shamugaratnam, and a couple other more. I have much respect for you all to be able to speak the way you do and it’s people like you who give me hope for the betterment of the country.

So to end off, I mostly just wanted to share a snippets of my thoughts. I did my research during the elections and went from knowing nothing to being able to have proper conversations about this. Why? Because I felt stupid for not knowing what was going on and seeing many others my age ranting online and having full on discussions about all this and I tried so hard to understand what was going on. Everyone seemed to know what was happening and I thought to myself, why is it I don’t understand? Do I not care or do I just not know? I am a person who doesn’t like being in the middle of controversy and arguments and will gladly silently back out just so I can avoid the hooha. And I did this time round too but I also just wanted to educate myself a little more so that I could form my own opinions and not blindly follow what others say. Yes I respect PAP for building this country from the ground up. But I also respect the oppositions, mainly the few teams from workers party who have made a very strong impression.

Change is inevitable. And this year’s election is the turning point.

And with that, I end off. If you read through all this, congratulations, this was long but it was what sparked me to write after quite a while. I am just a simple girl with simple views but nonetheless views that matter and it’s about damn time I speak up a little more. I may be young and dumb and slightly carefree or ignorant about certain things, but that doesn’t mean I am not smart about certain things or am not capable of having mature conversations. I am and I don’t want that to be overlooked at times.

#gituuuu #ngasg

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johnark · 4 years

Photo

This is the Johnston family home in Hope, Arkansas. The family moved here in 1939 with the aid of Ruth’s brothers. This was then the home of Ruth until she was placed in a Hope nursing home after having her first stroke. She was subsequently moved to a nursing home in Hampton, Arkansas where she died at the age of 93. This continued to be the ‘family’ home until the death of TJ in 1983.

The Johnston family home in Harrell, Arkansas as it was in the 1935 - 1939 period. Note the disrepair of the front steps leading onto the porch. This appears to be from years of neglect, attesting to the family financial situation in that period. This is significant. With labor cheap and available, still funds could not be committed to this repair. Times were indeed dire in the Johnston household. The people in the photo are Ruth, Vivian and John. The woman in the hat is unknown.

The principle contributors to this narrative are Melissa Mohon Papineau, John Charles McLeod and Frankie Lou Weisinger Means. Melissa now lives with her husband, William Edward Papineau, in Wichita, Kansas. John lives with his wife, Tamiko Tagusari, in Reno, Nevada. Frankie Lou lives with her son, Thom Means, in the family home in Woodberry, Arkansas. Here is the final resting place of the principle people named in this narrative.

Ruth Gunter Johnston, 31 December 1886 - 12 April 1980, is buried next to her husband, Charles Bennet Johnston, 12 November 1875 - 22 November 1932, in Dickinson Cemetery near Harrell, Arkansas. The cemetery is located 2 1/2 miles East from Harrell on Highway 278, then North 2 miles on Road 38. Pleasant Grove Church is nearby.

TJ Johnston retired from sawmill work in 1982 at age 65. He was living in the Hope house at 707 East Division Street. He had always done most of the work around the house and very seldom hired outside help. The rain gutters in the house required cleaning. TJ failed to accept that he was now elderly and with less coordination, balance and strength. He undertook this task, one he had always done himself. He fell from the roof, injuring himself and was confined to the hospital. He chose not to go to the care of our family doctor, Dr. Jim McKinsey, in the Branch General Hospital where Vivian was the Chief of Nurses; but went to another hospital instead. Vivian commented that he would not receive optimum care in the facility that he chose. While confined in the hospital he suffered a heart attack and died, ten months after retiring. He had been a smoker for most of his life. While the fall did result in severe injury, surely it was demon tobacco that took his life.

Vivian was the Chief of Nurses at Branch General Hospital. In addition to her administration tasks, she also worked in the cancer ward of the hospital. She developed a chronic cough. Dr. McKinsey, who she worked with there, kept urging her to check out the cough. Finally she made a chest X-ray. She told me “when I saw those X-rays I knew I was looking at my death warrant.” She had lung cancer. She had been a smoker most of her life and was a smoker then. She had surgery but all the cancer could not be removed. She was given six months to a year to live. In about a year the cancer returned. It was demon tobacco taking another life.

I, John McLeod, also smoked as a youngster as most people did in those days. I smoked for about ten years and finally became disgusted with the filthy habit. This was before we knew that tobacco could and most likely would kill you if you used it. Ridding myself of the demon tobacco was the most difficult thing I did in my life. I attribute a heart attack I suffered in 1999 to the demon tobacco. Today I continue life with high risk from cardio vascular disease. I wrote a blog about the demon tobacco. Create a hyperlink on your computer with the following address, click on it, and you can read the blog. If you are reading this on a computer connected to the Internet, that is a hyperlink. Just click on it. https://JohnArk.Tumblr.com/tagged/tobacco

MELISSA’S FAMILY IN 2018

From the left: Bradley Mohon Papineau, Mateus Lima, Melissa Mohon Papineau, Anne Papineau Nelson, Mikael Nelson, William Edward Papineau.

In this narrative we have briefly stated that Big cared for her dying husband in difficult circumstance in Harrell in the early 1930s and later cared for her dying mother in her home in Hope. The comments about Big’s caring for her mother, Martha Frances, are on Pages 4 and 6 of this narrative. I observed this and was amazed at Big’s skill, patience, compassion and strength both physically and mentally in dealing with what I observed as a very difficult person and difficult situation. I was just a kid at the time, but I was mature enough to recognize an extraordinary life and death event unfolding in that room and appreciate what I was seeing. But even more extraordinary and astounding as well is how deplorable conditions, devastating events, surprising and disappointing betrayals around the final two years of the life of her husband, Dr. Charles Bennett Johnston (CB), were met with such extraordinary determination, loyalty, skill, organization, perseverance, compassion, dedication, endurance, improvisation, stamina, grit, moxie – need I go on? This was indeed an extraordinary situation confronted and overcome by a more than equally extraordinary person. I want to add to what has been said about this in this narrative on Pages 2, 21, 22 and 23.

Let me start by trying to establish the situation in the Johnston household in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Vivian told me that Charles B. Johnston died of Parkinson’s disease. This disease is a progressive, untreatable, incurable nervous system disorder manifested with movement disorders, autonomic dysfunction, neuropsychiatric problems among others. The end stage of Parkinson’s is an extremely distressing situation. Today hospice takes over at that point. Family cannot provide or endure care at that point. CB probably suffered with incontinence, insomnia, dementia, hallucinations, severe posture issues with back, neck, hips and was surely bedridden. Just think of a bedridden heavy man, drooling, urinating uncontrollably, with induced diarrhea to relieve constipation, depressed, and demented. It would have been impossible for Ruth to have cared for CB alone. However inexpensive, inexperienced assistance could have been available from the black community. Surely Ruth would have expected assistance from her children – Vivian 9 or 10, TJ 13 or 14 and Mary 16 or 17. The situation in CB’s room must have been hell. And probably smelled that way, too. Hell at that point and the future very bleak. The country was in the midst of the depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Is this the reason that Mary dropped out of school, abandoned her family and ran away with Frank McLeod? What about family loyalty, personal responsibility, conscience? What did Ruth think when her oldest daughter abandoned her in the time of most need? Yes, abandoned. Fled. That’s the way it looks to me. Yes, living with Frank would have been “wonderful” compared to the hell that existed in the Johnston household. Had she stayed with Frank, as it turned out, it would have been a blessing for Ruth. But rather than escape from it, Mary returned just in time to add to that hell and responsibility for Ruth. I was born on 21 September 1931. CB was in the last, tortured year of his life. He died on 22 November 1932. So, in summary, the situation for Ruth at the return of pregnant Mary was: caring for CB in the direst and most demanding period of his declining health, supervising untrained CB care givers, caring for two high school children, managing a household, managing the family finances, and now Ruth has to organize the care of Mary and the child and deal with Frank McLeod. Probably Mary demanded that Ruth force Frank to marry her. The fact that Frank sent her home probably meant that he would not easily agree to this. Hiring an attorney and settling the situation through the courts if required was most likely out of the question because of finances, time element, physical location and life and death responsibilities. Probably in the interests of a quick settlement of the issue, Ruth and Frank agreed upon marriage, separation, no contact, no responsibility. And Frank went happily on his way, leaving Mary angry, distraught and pregnant. This situation would surely have overwhelmed a lesser person. That house in Harrell, still standing in 2020 (Page 25), is a small one and could not physically accommodate all the activity thrust upon Ruth. So, Ruth organized an unknown benefactor in Artesian, Arkansas to take in pregnant Mary and care for her and her child. Ruth organized for Dr. J. E. Rhine of Thornton, Arkansas to deliver the child. Today unmarried mothers is a common situation. In those days there was an immense stigma associated with this. Even divorce carried a stigma. Was the Artesian relocation for Mary to relieve her of the humiliation by her classmates, and perhaps relieve Ruth of the humiliation by her peers in Harrell? I don’t think so. I think it was just a byproduct of the situation; that the relocation was dictated by the turmoil in the Johnston household at the time. It was life and death “crunch time” in the Johnston household and Ruth did not have time for social contemplations. Probably Ruth did not have the time or the inclination to convince Mary that this was the best course of action. She probably just informed Mary that this is what we are going to do and it is not open for discussion. If this is the way it was, and this supposition is logical in this circumstance, then it very well could have been a great point of contention and resentment Mary had for Ruth. So Mary went to Artesian, had the child and nursed to the weaning point where the child was sent to Harrell and Big’s care and Mary completed her high school education. Surely Ruth arranged this knowing that in the future Mary would be severely limited without at least a high school education. Ruth continued the management of the Johnston household which entailed the hospice care of CB; going into that room with its fetid, malodorous odor with compassion, skill and determination; the care of two school children; providing food for all of them; and financial control with dwindling resources, no income, no safety net from prior work or the federal government and the country in the midst of The Great Depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Accomplishing all of this with a bleak future facing her could have been completely overwhelming, but she safely steered her ship of household through this massive storm to calm waters after the death of CB on 22 November 1932. The hell that had dominated the household for several years was passed, but the financial situation remained extremely dire. There was no income and the Great Depression and its effects loomed large. Now Ruth used her imagination and ingenuity. She began serving noon-time meals to the nearby railroad workers for twenty five cents per meal. The former college professor and wife of the town doctor found a way to overcome every obstacle. The next event confronting Ruth was the return to the family of Mary with her Artesian high school diploma, shown in photos on Page 10. It was soon discovered that Mary was once again pregnant. This revelation had to be distressing to say the least for both Mary and Ruth. I think this is where TJ told Mary ‘why can’t you keep your pants on?’ This infuriated Mary and she never forgot it. As stated in this narrative on Page 13, Mary, now an adult, nearly 22 years old and responsible for her own actions, was sent to the Witherington farm where her Artesian schoolmate, Frank Weisinger, was working to inform him that she was pregnant with his child and to see if he would marry her. He did the honorable thing and married her. Frank was a handsome, but simple man. His mind and world revolved around what was needed and what was required in the life of a ‘share cropper,’ which is essentially what he was. He had no vision of further education, of art and culture – only the farmer life that was presented to him. So Mary now the adult, nearly 22 years old, the daughter of a college professor and doctor, was left with the prospects and situation that she had created.

The Johnston household in Harrell continued with little money and scant hope for a better future. Even in very limited circumstances, Ruth never lost her sense of humor. A story she obviously told Vivian and which Vivian told me involved a hefty eater among the lunch time railroad men. Finally Ruth informed the gentleman that she was going to have to increase his meal price to thirty cents. He replied “Oh, Mrs. Johnston, I wish you wouldn’t do that. I have enough trouble now eating twenty five cents worth.” So in 1934 the Johnston household continued with its meager resources supporting Ruth, TJ, Vivian and John. This was the situation for the next four years. Then in the 1938 – 39 time frame Ruth’s brothers came to her rescue. They were prospering in the sawmill business in Hope, Arkansas. They invited the family to move to Hope and offered TJ an important job in the sawmill. The Johnston household world was transformed. The move to Hope, new situation and a change of life. The family income secured and hope for the future. Ruth happily joining her brothers and sisters with bright and unlimited prospects for her children and me. Mary was left with her prospects and situation that she had created.

#FN3color20MAY2020

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mergowyn · 7 years

Text

Stories, life

OK, let's start from the start.

So naturally, as a straight white male who’d been reading scifi my whole life, my first real novel is a 70’s detective romance about two mixed race cousins, one of whom is a married lesbian. And the sequel also has lots of not white & not straight people.

Wait, what?

Why?

And how does that have anything to with me writing into this second, not yet started novel, fictionalized versions of people I barely know through Twitter?

Stay with me for this long bit: It's about who I've become, and discovering some of who I've been for a while, and about rediscovering some of what was lost. And how all of that determined what I choose to write.

In 2009, I discovered this webseries, Anyone But Me. Back then, webseries were a brand new thing. TV shows made for the internet were super low budget, because there was no standard way to reach an audience or monetize. This was before crowd sourcing sites. Webseries then were something like audio drama podcasts now: make some episodes, build an audience, then ask for donations or sell ads to make more. But there was no Patreon back then. Crowd funding was much harder. Anyway, the series caught my attention with the trailer because it had something you didn't see in a dramatic presentation: two women kissing. But the show wasn't to show men two women kissing; the show was about two teenagers at that crucial first point in life where you start to figure out what path you're going to be on in life. Where you really start to see how your life is different from what you expected it to be.

You learn how your life doesn't match the stories you were taught growing up.

Sometimes we learn that later. It's really obvious, and really hard, when something about who you are doesn't line up with what society teaches you is the way to be. That can be what you love, like nerdy things; it can be the color of your skin, or your religion; or it can be who you fall in love with.

Anyone But Me is about two people in love dealing with life changes, and ultimately working their way back to each other over and over. So it was about being in love and making it work, when how you're in love doesn't match what you were taught being in love was like.

The stories we're taught about being in love don't teach us how hard it is to work through so many of life's challenges together. They don't teach us that both people have to be committed to doing the work, but that sometimes one or both can't do the work for a time.

Sometimes that's OK; sometimes it's not.

The stories don't teach us that sometimes love fails.

That's why divorce is so hard. We're never prepared for it by what our society teaches us.

2009 was when I had accepted that my marriage was failing, had had the talk with the now ex about it, and that I'd keep working on it.

She didn't work on it. So Anyone But Me struck a chord in that I really, really wanted to have a loving relationship that worked. The series ended in 2010 with a poorly crowd funded third season of only 5 episodes. In 2011 I separated from the ex, 3 years after deciding the marriage was almost certainly beyond repair. It hurt me a lot to know that although I had to separate to not be miserable, it would be hard on my daughters.

I was terrified that I would live my life alone, without the story of a happy life together with someone being fulfilled.

The stories taught us that someday we'd be in love.

The first week I moved out one of my daughters had massive meltdowns. She had only recently been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, so I had at least some idea about why she was acting out this particular way.

The stories don't tell us about all the ways we might grow up to be different. Then, I had my own apartment. A few weeks later my boss told me he was moving me from being the help desk manger to doing the knowledge management role full time. I had built a successful help desk but couldn't do certain things my boss wanted. Dealing with the divorce and taking care of my kids required too much time.

One of the other stories this society teaches us is that if we work hard enough, we'll succeed, we'll become the boss; we'll make a lot more money.

That also doesn't always work out, but the stories don't tell us that, either.

In the new role I made some good friends, and did some amazing work at making the company super responsive to customer needs. But I'd had to redefine myself.

I wasn't the leader anymore; I was back to being a scout, to figuring out the best paths to making things work better. In 2012 I met Ayalah.

When you date a black woman, you very quickly learn about white privilege. Every thing anyone black has ever said about being treated unfairly, and as lesser -- yup, now I've seen it firsthand.

I got into Tumblr on the strength of an article written by a woman (@unwinona) about her frequent harassment by men as she would ride the train home. It blew my mind just how common harassment of women was. How had I missed that?

I was to learn a lot more about things I'd missed, about how I still saw a lot of people as not quite like me, because the stories had taught me that was the way things worked.

The stories aren't always right.

In 2013 my mom passed suddenly from rapid onset leukemia. She couldn't accept donated blood due to having radiation treatment for breast cancer previously. I asked Ayalah to marry me. She said yes. I ran into the Tumblr by Jasika Nicole, an actress I'd known about from the show Fringe. She wrote a beautiful blog post about how she got married to her long time partner, how every time someone referred to Claire as her wife, she got a little pang of joy. I could totally relate, as I felt that way about Ayalah, although we weren't married yet. Seeing someone who wasn't straight as not quite like me, as "not of my tribe," went away. In 2014 I was laid off from the company I'd given nearly 10 years of my life to, a month before our wedding. I got a new job 6 months later.

In 2015 I decided it was time to write, and finish, a novel. So I started what was to become The Red and the Black. I started with a character wholly unlike me, and added a second main character wholly unlike me, and then I realized they weren’t unlike me at all. They dealt with grief, with loss, with love, with marriage, with children, with parents, with doubt, with fear, with courage, and with eventually figuring out who the hell you are in the middle of all that.

The setting is a town, Wick, founded by two interracial couples so that their kids would grow up in a supportive environment. Along the way one set of parents figured out their daughter was gay, so they made their town friendly for who she was.

And, as a 70’s detective story/romance set in the south, it also has kung fu, power afros, redneck cops, and lots of great music. End of March 2017 I reconnected with a friend who had stopped talking to me due to his own life stresses about the time of my separation. He was about to be in town for another friend’s birthday party. I'd known both guys since we were 15-16. So I could have the relationship again. End of April 2017 I rediscovered Anyone But Me. Turns out there was a series finale filmed as episode 6 of season 3, and several "lost scenes" filmed as zero budget, theater like, performances in 2015. The lead actresses acted out several scenes that hadn't been filmed for the regular series, with no costuming, no sets, just them and two cameras, in somebody's apartment. So I could have enjoying the series again, and revisiting all the emotions it had caused me to feel, and the whys behind it. And I realized how much the hopeful relationship of the series had influenced my writing, and how that driven me to write three (ultimately) happy love stories in my first novel. And how the series had inspired another novel that I have partially written in my head, that may one day be written down.

It struck a chord with me this time because being in love with someone of a different skin color is like being in love with someone of the same gender: society teaches you that being in love with that person is not supposed to happen, and will end badly.

But the stories are wrong.

Because Anyone But Me is a story about how the stories we're taught don't prepare us for becoming who we are, if we don't fit a certain mold.

If you're a nerd, or not Christian, or not the boss, or don't sing well, or don't feel like you stand out, or black, or not straight, or you fall in love with someone with a different skin color, the stories didn't teach you how to be. You have to figure that out. You have to figure out how to be who you are.

On the last day of April in 2017, I watched the last of the lost scenes.

In the third to the last of them, the two main characters are talking about applying to colleges. Vivian is surprised that Aster is applying all over the country, realizing that although they've found their way back to each other after months apart, that they're going to be separated, on and off, for years.

"We'll be together, someday," says Aster.

"Someday. I hate that word," says Vivian.

That was a lost scene from the series finale.

The last of the lost scenes is set after college, five or six years after the main story. Vivian and Aster have just moved in together. They sit on the floor because they don't have a table yet, and toast with champagne.

They trade keys in a symbolic marriage ceremony.

They talk about how they finally get to be together; no more calling parents, no more taking trains, no more nights apart.

Then Aster says, "Hey, Vivian, do you know what day it is? It's someday!

I'll have been with Ayalah for five years, as of a few days before I turn fifty.

She's my someday.

I'm doing a lot of deep thinking about what is is in life to fall in love with someone, to change your life to intertwine it with theirs, and even what happens when you have to pull away when someone changes too much or when someone passes on. When my mom passed suddenly, my dad gave away or otherwise got rid of all her stuff, and most of the things that had been theirs together, except their house. It was the only way he could survive; they'd been together for over 50 years, since she was 17 and he was 19.

There's a story I've been writing just in my head. It works as a series of short stories, so I started to write it as an audio drama. I was listening to a lot of audio drama podcasts on my very long commutes at the time. One of my favorites, The Bright Sessions, is basically two people talking, in a single room. That format would work really well for my story, so I gave it a shot.

My expectation was that it would work as a short story, but I realized there was an enormous amount of back story (and forward story) to be developed first to be able to tell this one piece.

So writing it would take as long as the novel I'm working on, so I shelved it.

I love the premise though.

It has a theme of transformation, because transformation is so important in what I write. I had to transform myself when my marriage failed. Beings who have obvious transformations, like werewolves, tantalize my imagination. My father had to transform himself after my mom passed. I became somebody different with Ayalah.

The story is a way of examining all the little, daily things married couple do that express love and affection to one another. Not the big, dramatic things. Instead, things like taking out the trash because although you hate to do it, your spouse hates it more. Or sitting next to each other instead of across from each other when you go out. Or making them cookies when they're sad.

"Remembering Her Scent" is about Brynn. As the story starts, she wakes up in bed next to someone... but doesn't remember how she got there. She dresses quickly, then notices a light on the outside of the bathroom door, shining on a note. In her handwriting. That starts, "Brynn, if you don't remember where you are, here's why: You're having a temporary period of memory loss. Your memory will come back over the next few hours. The memory loss was caused by a brain injury from a car accident. Every so often, your memory resets to the period just before the accident. By the way, that was 3 years ago, and you're married now... to a woman."

So then Brynn has to come to terms with who she is now that so many elements of her life have changed so radically. She remembers figuring out over several years that she wasn’t straight, and was about to ask Gaby out, because she wondered, “Am I falling for her?”

Her memory doesn't come back at first as images, but as intuitively knowing things. If she tries to remember, it doesn't work. If instead she sits in what is her chair at the kitchen table, it feels familiar. When she looks at a photo from 2 years ago, she can't remember it. When she smells Gaby's hair, that's comforting. The details gradually fill in from those aspects of senses below the conscious level: smell, muscle memory, and touch.

So the first story is the process of Brynn going through her daily routine causing the memories to fill back in. Sitting down for breakfast with her spouse. Brynn cooking Gaby's eggs half hard while Gaby gets her morning coffee. Knowing which chair to sit in at the table. Knowing where the dishes are, but if she thinks about it, she can't find the forks. All the little pieces of how two people share their daily routines unfold, and so do Brynn's memories. She rediscovers who she has become over the last few years.

For me, that's a way of very consciously looking at the little details of how I interact with Ayalah, to make those mundane tasks a conscious expression of love.

“Remembering Her Scent” led me to another story that also forced me to deeply look at how relationships work. What happens if you fall in love with two people, instead of one, and they fall in love with each other, and each of them also falls in love with you? How effectively do you have to communicate, how relentlessly do have to be truthful, to deal with the inherent instability of a three way relationship? I called that story “Triple” as in not a couple, but a triple.

Then I realized that those two stories could easily intertwine as they were both about deconstructing relationships. And then I figured out the stories had to be set in Wick.

So I had a sequel, with romances, and great characters, but no real plot, and then a goofy gay voice actress & a nerdy, biracial, deeply thoughtful writer/actress make themselves known to me through audio dramas, and I get to interact with these really interesting and wonderful humans, and then I get an idea…

Wick has to have detectives, yeah?

Who better?

Now, how do I fit in & fictionalize Kristin DiMercurio’s antics and Danielle Shemaiah thinkiness into that story?

Hmmm. I could mash them up with some of the many existing main characters….

Yeah, yeah. Gonna let that percolate in my brain for a while. I already have some ideas… I mean, I’ve already thought of them in certain roles should “Remembering Her Scent” ever become the audio drama it started as...

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johnark · 4 years

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MELISSA’S FAMILY IN 2018

From the left: Bradley Mohon Papineau, Mateus Lima, Melissa Mohon Papineau, Anne Papineau Nelson, Mikael Nelson, William Edward Papineau.

Let me start by trying to establish the situation in the Johnston household in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Vivian told me that Charles B. Johnston died of Parkinson’s disease. This disease is a progressive, untreatable, incurable nervous system disorder manifested with movement disorders, autonomic dysfunction, neuropsychiatric problems among others. The end stage of Parkinson’s is an extremely distressing situation. Today hospice takes over at that point. Family cannot provide or endure care at that point. CB probably suffered with incontinence, insomnia, dementia, hallucinations, severe posture issues with back, neck, hips and was surely bedridden. Just think of a bedridden heavy man, drooling, urinating uncontrollably, with induced diarrhea to relieve constipation, depressed, and demented. It would have been impossible for Ruth to have cared for CB alone. However inexpensive, inexperienced assistance could have been available from the black community. Surely Ruth would have expected assistance from her children – Vivian 9 or 10, TJ 13 or 14 and Mary 16 or 17. The situation in CB’s room must have been hell. And probably smelled that way, too. Hell at that point and the future very bleak. The country was in the midst of the depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Is this the reason that Mary dropped out of school, abandoned her family and ran away with Frank McLeod? What about family loyalty, personal responsibility, conscience? What did Ruth think when her oldest daughter abandoned her in the time of most need? Yes, abandoned. Fled. That’s the way it looks to me. Yes, living with Frank would have been “wonderful” compared to the hell that existed in the Johnston household. Had she stayed with Frank, as it turned out, it would have been a blessing for Ruth. But rather than escape from it, Mary returned just in time to add to that hell and responsibility for Ruth. I was born on 21 September 1931. CB was in the last, tortured year of his life. He died on 22 November 1932. So, in summary, the situation for Ruth at the return of pregnant Mary was: caring for CB in the direst and most demanding period of his declining health, supervising untrained CB care givers, caring for two high school children, managing a household, managing the family finances, and now Ruth has to organize the care of Mary and the child and deal with Frank McLeod. Probably Mary demanded that Ruth force Frank to marry her. The fact that Frank sent her home probably meant that he would not easily agree to this. Hiring an attorney and settling the situation through the courts if required was most likely out of the question because of finances, time element, physical location and life and death responsibilities. Probably in the interests of a quick settlement of the issue, Ruth and Frank agreed upon marriage, separation, no contact, no responsibility. And Frank went happily on his way, leaving Mary angry, distraught and pregnant. This situation would surely have overwhelmed a lesser person. That house in Harrell, still standing in 2020 (Page 23), is a small one and could not physically accommodate all the activity thrust upon Ruth. So, Ruth organized an unknown benefactor in Artesian, Arkansas to take in pregnant Mary and care for her and her child. Ruth organized for Dr. J. E. Rhine of Thornton, Arkansas to deliver the child. Today unmarried mothers is a common situation. In those days there was an immense stigma associated with this. Even divorce carried a stigma. Was the Artesian relocation for Mary to relieve her of the humiliation by her classmates, and perhaps relieve Ruth of the humiliation by her peers in Harrell? I don’t think so. I think it was just a byproduct of the situation; that the relocation was dictated by the turmoil in the Johnston household at the time. It was life and death “crunch time” in the Johnston household and Ruth did not have time for social contemplations. Probably Ruth did not have the time or the inclination to convince Mary that this was the best course of action. She probably just informed Mary that this is what we are going to do and it is not open for discussion. If this is the way it was, and this supposition is logical in this circumstance, then it very well could have been a great point of contention and resentment Mary had for Ruth. So Mary went to Artesian, had the child and nursed to the weaning point where the child was sent to Harrell and Big’s care and Mary completed her high school education. Surely Ruth arranged this knowing that in the future Mary would be severely limited without at least a high school education. Ruth continued the management of the Johnston household which entailed the hospice care of CB; going into that room with its fetid, malodorous odor with compassion, skill and determination; the care of two school children; providing food for all of them; and financial control with dwindling resources, no income, no safety net from prior work or the federal government and the country in the midst of The Great Depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Accomplishing all of this with a bleak future facing her could have been completely overwhelming, but she safely steered her ship of household through this massive storm to calm waters after the death of CB on 22 November 1932. The hell that had dominated the household for several years was passed, but the financial situation remained extremely dire. There was no income and the Great Depression and its effects loomed large. Now Ruth used her imagination and ingenuity. She began serving noon-time meals to the nearby railroad workers for twenty five cents per meal. The former college professor and wife of the town doctor found a way to overcome every obstacle. The next event confronting Ruth was the return to the family of Mary with her Artesian high school diploma, shown in photos on Page 10. It was soon discovered that Mary was once again pregnant. This revelation had to be distressing to say the least for both Mary and Ruth. I think this is where TJ told Mary ‘why can’t you keep your pants on?’ This infuriated Mary and she never forgot it. As stated in this narrative on Page 13, Mary, now an adult, nearly 22 years old and responsible for her own actions, was sent to the Witherington farm where her Artesian schoolmate, Frank Weisinger, was working to inform him that she was pregnant with his child and to see if he would marry her. He did the honorable thing and married her. Frank was a handsome, but simple man. His mind and world revolved around what was needed and what was required in the life of a ‘share cropper,’ which is essentially what he was. He had no vision of further education, of art and culture – only the farmer life that was presented to him. So Mary now the adult, nearly 22 years old, the daughter of a college professor and doctor, was left with the prospects and situation that she had created.

#FamilyNarrative #FN20MAY2020 #JArkBlog30 #FNcolor20MAY2020 #FN2color20MAY2020

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