#Esther Hayes

[melodiousoblivionao3]

If the Gotham girlies are going to do one thing…it’s drop news when they shouldn’t

(Ali spoiling Esther to Gotham)

(Lynn spoiling Jenna for ROTY)

(Kristie confirming Hayes USWNT)

[buffythecomicslayer]

Slayers: A Buffyverse Story

Release date: October 12, 2023.

Original cast members from the beloved TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, reunite for an all-new adventure about connections that never die — even if you bury them. A decade has passed since the epic final battle that concluded Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV). The game-changing spell that gave power to all potential Slayers persists. With new Slayers constantly emerging, things are looking grim for the bad guys. Rebellious vampire Spike is working undercover in Los Angeles with his old pal Clem when he meets feisty, rookie Slayer, Indira, who wants Spike to be her mentor. Stakes intensify as Cordelia Chase emerges from an alternate reality where she alone is the Slayer, and Buffy Summers doesn’t exist. Cordelia enlists Spike’s help with a classic big bad terrorizing her world…his ex, Drusilla. Giles, Anya, Jonathan, and Tara also return, but through the years and the vastness of the multiverse, not everyone is who they used to be…

Writers: Christopher Golden, Amber Benson.

Starring: James Marsters as Spike; Laya DeLeon Hayes as Indira; Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia; Emma Caulfield as Anya and Anyanka; Amber Benson as Tara; James Charles Leary as Clem; Juliet Landau as Drusilla; Anthony Head as Giles; Phina Oruche as Olivia; and Danny Strong as Ghost Jonathan.

Also Featuring: Julia Cho as Ms. Bang; Josh Petersdorf as Kurgan; Juno Dawson as Miranda; Jessica Gardner as Amy Madison; Cheryl Umana as Zantina; Joshua McClenney as Rahim; Denise Pickering as Buzz; Glenda Morgan Brown as Esther; Jasmine Hyde as Althenea; and Michael Swan.

[southern-gothic-comic]

Page 40

Next 💜 Back 🖤 First

(Author Notes)

Panel 1-2-3: The next day at her job Imogen is looking tired and overwhelmed, resting her elbows on the counter and massaging her temples against a headache. The voices and thoughts of the other customers in the packed store crowd against her as she struggles to fill orders and she can’t seem to block them out. Everyone is clamoring for remedies, everyone is tense and nervous and angry, and all of them are causing her further pain. After a few panels she is flushed and sweating and on the verge of breaking down.

Miscellaneous Voices, spoken and unspoken: What do you mean, it’s out of stock? — What help is that to me? — laudanum, oatmeal, licorice root, antimonial — No! I said belladonna and chicory root, not licorice!! Are you even listenin’ to me? — Sweet Sarenrae what am I gonna do, where am I gonna get it? — Get a move on, stupid girl! — HOW MUCH for a healin’ potion?? — gods what’m I gonna do if he gets it too it’ll just be me left on my feet — Don’t you go cuttin’ the line, Esther Hayes. I’ve been waitin’ here all afternoon! — I got three sick kids at home! — You and everyone else in town. Get to the back of the line! — What is takin’ so long up there? — Momma, my throat hurts! Momma I wanna go hoooome! — quinine, chicken soup, epsom salts, mustardseed, honey — Two weeks, I can’t wait two weeks! I need it today! — how long is this line? — barley, oranges, throat elixir

Imogen, finally: Excuse me.

Customer: Now where do you think you’re goin’, girl? You’re not done with me yet!

Panel 4: She goes into the back room and leans against a shelf, trembling. Laudna, who is perched on a high shelf counting the dwindling stock, leans over to look at her.

Imogen: L-laudna? Are you in here? 

Her thoughts: I need you.

Laudna: Whatever is the matter, dearest?

Imogen: I’m . . . I’m not feelin’ too good.

Panel 5: She descends and Imogen falls into her arms and buries her face in her shoulder. Laudna leans back a little to support her weight.

Imogen: Everyone is too loud and too much and everything hurts and I can’t block it out and I don’t know why. It hurts.

Panel 6: Imogen leans appreciatively into the coolness of Laudna’s hand as she lays it against her forehead.

Laudna: Here, let me-- Oh, darling. You’re much too warm. 

Imogen: You sure it’s not just that you’re cold?

Laudna: No, you have a fever. You poor thing. Do you feel achy? Queasy? Itchy? Do you want some water? You ought to be home in bed, not out there being shrilled at by that gaggle of harpies.

Her thoughts: gods she is burning up what should I do where to find a doctor all right get her home put her to bed keep her safe but there’s no medicine left what should I do

Imogen: Can’t leave while the store’s still so full. It’s fine. I just need to sit down for a minute . . .

Laudna: You leave that to me.

Panel 7-8: Laudna leaves the stockroom briefly, leaving Imogen sitting on a grain sack. Screams are heard. She returns.

Laudna: Shop’s empty! Let’s go.

[mediaevalmusereads]

Favorite Books of 2024

Ok, I usually do a whole post where I categorize every book I've read over the year into Good, Bad, and Meh. I read WAY too many books this year to do that, so you're getting this instead.

TOP 10 FAVORITES (if I have to choose - in no particular order):

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.

This book blew through my expectations and, as a former medievalist, I was hooked on the way monastic life was reimagined in a post-apocalyptic setting.

The Overstory by Richard Powers

I've never read a book more passionate about trees and nature. The effect was both devastating and hopeful.

The Children of Men by PD James

This one also blew through my expectations, layering complex questions about the purpose of life atop a dystopian landscape.

Ducks by Kate Beaton

A graphic memoir detailing Beaton's experience working the oil sands in Canada. Melancholy but immensely compassionate towards itinerant workers.

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen.

I'm not sure if this was "good," but for some reason, the worldbuilding and character dynamics stuck with me. I do think, however, it portrays the lived experience of discrimination well.

Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee

I loved the way this book thought about identity, culture, and language. Lee also has a gift for prose - I loved his sentences.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett

I usually don't like faerie books because too many of them portray faeries as humans with emotional abuse issues. This book, however, made them both whimsical and frightening, and I loved the dynamic between the two protagonists.

Dayspring by Anthony Oliveira

A queer retelling (mostly in verse) of the relationship between Christ and John the Apostle. The movement backwards and forwards in time was really elegant and there are so many hard-hitting lines in here. I also appreciated the author's thorough knowledge of secondary sources and other literary allusions.

Spinning by Tillie Walden

A graphic memoir about becoming a competitive figure skater and falling out of love with the sport. Walden's portrayal of numbness and depression is on-point.

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

A delightfully weird post-apocalyptic tale that questions what it means to be a "person." VanderMeer's prose is so good I wanted to eat it with a spoon.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

This One Summer by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki

Sleep Demons by Bill Hayes (review forthcoming)

There There by Tommy Orange

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley

All That Remains by Sue Black

Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig

Making Comics by Linda Barry

What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow

The Garden by Clare Beams

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

You or Someone You Love by Hannah Matthews

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

The Duke Who Didn't by Courtney Milan

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Never Look Back by Lilliam Rivera

Silence by Shusaku Endo

God's Monsters by Esther J. Hamori

Conflict is Not Abuse by Sarah Schulman

[todaysdocument]

Telegram to President Woodrow Wilson from Jane Addams and Other Women Regarding the Deportation of Emmeline Pankhurst

Record Group 85: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service Series: Subject and Policy Files File Unit: Appeal of Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst for admittance for visit, English Suffragette

This telegram petitioned the Department of Labor and their decision to deport Emmeline Pankhurst, a British suffragette. The authors wanted the board to reconsider and maintain "America's devotion to liberty."

Telegram The White House, Washington 6 PO.FD. 283 139 extra 10:25 p.m. Sa, Chicago, Ill., October 18, 1913. The President. Whereas, the Associated Press reports to the American public that Mrs. Pankhurst's deportation has been ordered by the board of inquiry at Ellis Island and, Whereas, such action is in direct violation of the traditions and customs of the United States which has always been hospitable to the political offenders and revolutionists of all nations, and, Whereas, our sister republic, France, is at the present moment sheltering Christabel Pankhurst, Now, therefore, be it resolved: That we, the undersigned women of Chicago, protest against this flagrant violation of our long established public policy, and, Be it further resolved: That we respectively petition the Department of Labor in reviewing the case of this distinguished English woman to reconsider the decision of the Board of Inquiry and to admit Mrs. Pankhurst; thus maintaining the high traditions of America's devotion to liberty and right of free speech. (Signed) Jane Addams, Louise DeKoven Bowen, Mary Rozette Smith, Mary McDowell, Margaret Dreier Robins, Harriet Taylor Treadwell, President Chicago Political Equality League; Margaret A. Haley, Business Representative Chicago Teachers' Federation; Ida L. M. Furstman, President Chicago Teachers' Federation; Mrs. Harriet S. Thompson, Director Chicago Political Equality League; Edith A. Phelps, Anna Nichols, Laura Dainty Pelham,

Telegram The White House, Washington 6 PO. Sheet 2- Chicago, Ill., Octo. 18, 1913. to the President. Stella Miles Franklin, Kathleen Hamill, Mary Foulke Morrisson, Anna Monroe, Edith Wyatt, Caroline Packard, Leonora Pease, Secretary Socialist Women's League; Mrs. L. Brackett Bishop, Marion M. Griffin, Margaret B. Dobyne, Mary E. Galvin, Judith W. Loewenthal, Agnes Nestor, E. Beatrix Dauchy, Belle Squire, Anna Willard Timneus, Emma Steghagen, Grace Wilbur Trout, Florence Holbrook, Catharine Goggin, Mary Anderson, Sophonisba Breckinridge, Edith Abbott, Esther Dresden, President Young Women's Suffrage Association; Amy Walker, Francis Harden, Anna Harden, Catharine Goggin, Mary V. Donoghue, Wilma Rhinesmith, Julia Donoghue, Serina Hayes, May E. Brown.

[bellwood-qudditch]

All of Katie Bell’s siblings

Caleb William Bell (1961)

•18 years older then her

•Half-Siblings

•Different mothers

•Has four kids (Mitchell, Jenifer, Esther & Brody)

•Works in the “Improper use of Magic” office at the ministry

Jodie Lynn Bell (1963)

•16 years older then Katie

•Half-Siblings

•Different mothers

•Full-blood sibling to Caleb

•Has seven sons (William, Evan, Liam, Alexander, Anthony, Lucas & Stephen)

•Was a teen mom

Elliot Frances Bell (1969)

•10 years older

•Full blooded siblings

•Has five children (Eleanor, Blayke, Finley. Jr, Story & Hayes)

•Her favourite brother because he basically raised her

Finley Blake Bell (1971)

•Full blood related

•8 years older than her

•Passed away at 13 (she was five) from a heart arrhythmia

Harris John Bell (1972)

•Twin to Kara

•7 years older then Katie

•Gay and no kids

•The equivalent of Ian Gallagher in the wizarding world

•Despite being Kara’s twin, they have different fathers (yes I pulled a greys anatomy plot)

Kara Miranda Elizabeth Bell (1972)

•Twin to Harris

•7 years older then Katie

•2 children (was a teen mom—Addelyn Jade & Chanel-Jane “CJ”)

Mark David Keith Bell (1975)

•4 years older then Katie

•Full siblings

•Has 4 kids (Riley-Rose, Mara, Noah & Brighton)

•Katie and Oliver took in Mara, Noah & Brighton for periods of times in their lives

•Briefly played on the Ravenclaw qudditch team before getting kicked off

[embossross]

2023 in books: fiction edition

literary fiction published 2013-2023 (based on English translation)

The Employees by Olga Ravn (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

There’s No Such Thing As an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Human Acts by Han Kang (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Bunny by Mona Awad (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

All Your Children Scattered by Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Mister N by Najwa Barakat (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Brickmakers by Selva Almada (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

True Biz by Sara Nović (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Abyss by Pilar Quintana (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Rombo by Esther Kinsky (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Concerning My Daughter by Kim Hye-Jin (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Men without Women by Haruki Murakami (⭐⭐⭐)

The Sky Above the Roof by Natacha Appanah (⭐⭐⭐)

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa (⭐⭐⭐)

Luster by Raven Leilani (⭐⭐⭐)

Solo Dance by Li Kotomi (⭐⭐⭐)

Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah (⭐⭐⭐)

The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste (⭐⭐⭐)

The Deep by Rivers Solomon (⭐⭐⭐)

Afterlives by Abdurazak Gurnah (⭐⭐⭐)

Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey

Indelicacy by Amina Cain (⭐⭐⭐)

Out of Love by Hazel Hayes (⭐⭐⭐)

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (⭐⭐⭐)

The Reactive by Masande Ntshanga (⭐⭐⭐)

The Houseguest: And Other Stories by Amparo Dávila (⭐⭐)

The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore (⭐⭐)

Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst (⭐⭐)

Nervous System by Lina Meruane (⭐⭐)

Owlish by Dorothy Tse (⭐⭐)

The President and the Frog by Carolina de Robertis (⭐⭐)

The Magic of Discovery by Britt Andrews (⭐)

literary fiction published 1971-2012

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Corregidora by Gayl Jones (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Changes: A Love Story by Ama Ata Aidoo (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Open City by Teju Cole (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

The Lover by Marguerite Duras (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Mild Vertigo by Mieko Kanai (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Abandon by Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Toddler Hunting and Other Stories by Taeko Kōno (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Perestroika by Tony Kushner *a play (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Three Strong Women by Marie NDiaye (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Kingdom Cons by Yuri Herrera (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

A Mountain to the North, A Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East by Laszlo Krasznahorkai (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Queen Pokou by Véronique Tadjo (⭐⭐⭐)

The Private Lives of Trees by Alejandro Zambra (⭐⭐⭐)

The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector (⭐⭐⭐)

Sweet Days of Discipline by Fleur Jaeggy (⭐⭐⭐)

Mr. Potter by Jamaica Kincaid (⭐⭐⭐)

Bluebeard’s First Wife by Ha Seong-nan (⭐⭐⭐)

The Body Artist by Don DeLillo (⭐⭐⭐)

Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith (⭐⭐⭐)

Curtain by Agatha Christie (⭐⭐⭐)

The Iliac Crest by Cristina Rivera Garza (⭐⭐⭐)

My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk (⭐⭐⭐)

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman (⭐⭐⭐)

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (⭐⭐⭐)

Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (⭐⭐)

Coraline by Neil Gaiman (⭐⭐)

The End of the Moment We Had by Toshiki Okada (⭐⭐)

The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty (⭐)

literary fiction published start of time-1970

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

🔁 The Stranger by Albert Camus (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

🔁 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Machado de Assis (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Empty Wardrobes by Maria Judite de Carvalho (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Stoner by John Williams (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

The Chandelier by Clarice Lispector (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

An Apprenticeship, or the Book of Pleasures by Clarice Lispector (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

The Woman in the Dunes by Kōbō Abe (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Dracula by Bram Stoker (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Chess Story by Stefan Zweig (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Aura by Carlos Fuentes (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev (⭐⭐⭐)

All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West (⭐⭐⭐)

The Hole by José Revueltas (⭐⭐⭐)

Baron Bagge by Alexander Lernet-Holenia (⭐⭐⭐)

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (⭐⭐)

Barabbas by Pär Lagerkvist (⭐)

[lboogie1906]

Lynn Nottage (November 2, 1964) an award-winning American playwright, was born in Brooklyn. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was a child psychologist. She was inspired by school productions to write her first play, The Darker Side of Verona.

She is a graduate of both the High School of Music & Art, a Manhattan music magnet school, and Saint Ann’s School, a K-12 private school in Brooklyn. She received a BA from Brown University and obtained a MFA from the Yale University School of Drama. She worked in the press office of Amnesty International for four years.

One of her most well-known works, Intimate Apparel, is based on the life of her great-grandmother and follows Esther, a Black seamstress in early 1900s New York City. The play won the 2004 Steinberg New Play Award.

She won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Ruined and Sweat. She is the first woman of any race to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice since the Pulitzer Prizes were established. She is the second playwright of color to have won the prize twice. She and August Wilson are the only people of color to have done so.

She was the recipient of the MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, Laura Pels Master Playwright Award, Helen Hayes Award, Lee Reynolds Award, and the Merit and Literature Award from The Academy of Arts and Letters. She is a board member of the Dramatist Play Service, Donor Direct Action, Second Stage, and The Dramatists Guild. She is the co-founder of the production company Market Road Films and has developed several original projects for television networks like HBO and Showtime. Her most recent work is the She’s Gotta Have It TV series on Netflix directed by Spike Lee.

She moved back to Brooklyn with her husband, independent filmmaker Tony Gerber. She is an associate professor of theater at Columbia University as well as a guest lecturer in playwriting at the Yale School of Drama. She has two children. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[fayekwans]

FAYE KWAN

full name: faye kwan

pronouns & gender: she/her, cis woman

birthday & birthplace: october 12, 1982 (41); los angeles, ca

location: aurora bay drive

time in aurora bay: on and off since birth, permanently since april 2024

sexuality: bisexual

occupation: owner of the movie house

@aurorabayaesthetic

about.

drugs tw, overdose tw, addiction tw, racism tw

faye is the second oldest of four born to esther and george kwan. esther and george were both actors who made a comfortable enough living doing multiple jobs a year in film and TV. at first, it was mostly bit parts in hayes code war movies that featured some pretty egregious asian stereotypes, but esther got her big break in a soap opera in the 70s, just before faye was born. that steady gig and the residuals from the show were enough to secure a nice home for the family and let both parents take their foot off the gas a bit career-wise.

the family also bought a small summer home in aurora bay, where they'd take their kids on weekends or between jobs.

faye first got in front of a camera when she was five, playing the daughter of her mother's character. she only got a short arc, but the experience was formative for her. although their parents' line of work didn't seem to interest her siblings much, faye wanted to get back on a set as soon as she could. her parents' agent sent her out for commercials and small "daughter" roles, but work for asian americans was still hard to come by then, and the roles that did come up were competitive.

still, faye was hard-headed. school was sort of a passing afterthought (she coasted on straight B's and C's until she graduated high school), but after the bell rang she was going over sides with her parents or they were shuttling her to acting lessons or auditions. even though she was technically a child actor, neither she nor her parents had anywhere close to enough success for hollywood to get to her head or fuck her up (yet). the three of them were very much working actors.

she decided to forgo college after she graduated high school and dedicated herself full-time to work, and more of it did come as she got older. the rise of the teen sitcom in the 90s did wonders for her — casts were diversifying a bit, and getting on any one of those shows was a good way to get eyes on her quickly.

the (first) Big Break came on an ABC sitcom when she was twenty-one. she started as a recurring character, the token ethnic best friend, but audiences (and the showrunners) liked her enough to bring her back as a main cast member in the second season. she started earning enough money to move out of her childhood home and start having her own life.

having her own life did mean going off the rails a bit. she was twenty-one and getting checks with more money than she knew what to do with, and she felt desired for the first time. she started dating a co-star, nathaniel, who led her into a world of young hollywood parties that included a certain volume of drinking and drugs that she'd never experienced before.

she fired her parents' agent, thinking that he was far too stuffy and old school for where she was trying to take her career, and got a new one whose ambitions matched hers. four seasons into the show, he'd lined up something big for her — an audition for a small but substantial role in a blockbuster movie that he promised could take her to the next level.

she did get that job, her agent strong-armed her current job's showrunners into writing her out of the show, and she was off to the races. over the next twenty-something years, she transitioned into movies fully and her roles got bigger and bigger. she got a house in beverly hills and one in aurora bay, where she continued to spend her time off through the years. she started to rack up wins and nominations for almost every award but an oscar, and got married to nathaniel, that same actor from her silly sitcom who she'd been off-and-on (and tabloid fodder) with for years.

all the while, though, she was keeping herself motivated and tirelessly working through those same drugs nathaniel had gotten her into when they were in their twenties. he had kicked them and left acting to pursue producing and screenwriting instead, but she was self-medicating and was very good at hiding it.

but it all came to a head in early 2024, during a shoot for a movie that was already looking like it would be her ticket to that long-coveted oscar, headed by a director who was known widely as a fucking asshole but also made great movies, and a hotshot writer whose screenplay had been one of the most desirable hits on the black list. it'd been a challenging shoot from the start, and faye's difficulties with the director and long days spent shooting led her to make her first and biggest mistake in all of her years of success. a PA found her unconscious in her trailer after she missed her call time, and she was rushed to a hospital and her drug habits exposed.

nathaniel checked her into rehab, and by the time she was out she had found that her role was recast and production had moved forward without her, her agent of nearly twenty years dropped her in the face of the massive PR crisis, and her husband couldn't look her in the eye anymore.

so instead of dealing with any of it, she ran, heading down to the safety of her aurora bay drive house and serving nathaniel papers for a divorce. never one to sit idly by for long, she bought the movie theater in town and has been running it ever since, trying to keep a low profile and ignoring everything and anything that might connect her to her life in LA.

personality.

+ shrewd, efficient, amiable

– obstinate, dishonest, short-tempered

tidbits.

when she was nineteen and still hurting for work, she reappeared on her mom's soap opera twice, once as her original daughter character all grown up, and then again as her mom's character in a flashback.

owns one of those minimalist phones that only lets her call, text, listen to music, and set an alarm. she's been completely off social media ever since she left LA and doesn't touch the internet much if she doesn't have to.

the guy she bought the movie house from tried to convince her to make her own version of the nicole kidman amc ad to play before every screening, but she flatly refused.

for someone who started in sitcoms and never even had formal training in acting, she's way too pretentious about it. she refers to it as "her craft" way too often and has always intellectualized way too hard about her characters.

genuinely adores movies so so much though. her four letterboxd favorites would be wong kar wai's happy together, agnes varda's le bonheur, robert altman's nashville, and the iron giant.

she's got two golden globes and two indie spirit awards. they're both collecting dust in a storage unit somewhere. however, her razzie award, which she won for her role in a particularly bad ensemble romcom (a la valentine's day), is one of the few things she sent for from her house in LA. it's on her mantle in her AB house.

she's still in the process of divorcing her husband, who she hasn't actually seen in person since she left LA. she's never gone back up, and he's never come down, even though he knows exactly where to find her.

she's beefed with every single one of her narcotics anonymous sponsors. the longest any of them has lasted is three weeks.

hostess with the mostest. her parties back in LA were legendary.

[arcticdementor]

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” has a well-deserved bad reputation. It’s a song about, as our Britt Hayes put it, “a woman being held hostage by some guy who may or may not have drugged her adult beverage.” But it didn’t simply spring, fully formed, out of our culture’s collective disrespect for women. Before “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” became a rapey Christmas classic, then was overcorrected into a Nice Guy anthem, it was the musical centerpiece of an equally terrible hit summer movie: Neptune’s Daughter. Premiering 75 years ago—bringing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” to a moviegoing public who, until then, had no song to put on when pressuring their date into sex—Neptune’s Daughter clearly had no idea that its single notable contribution to pop cultural history would become a holiday staple. Again, this was a June release. It’s not set during Christmas, in the winter, or even in a locale that actually ever gets cold. Neptune’s Daughter is a truly idiotic entry into MGM’s series of “aquamusicals,” starring Esther Williams. Yes, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” won an Oscar for Best Original Song for being in a movie that was mostly a vehicle for swimwear and racism.

…

In Neptune’s Daughter, Williams (playing a swimwear entrepreneur) and Montalbán (playing a “South American polo player”) get caught in a rom-com of mistaken identity (and cultural appropriation). But that only lasts for an hour before the movie gets bored with itself, adding in a mob subplot (also of mistaken identity and cultural appropriation) to kill time during its final 30 minutes. The key incident of the film is when Montalbán’s identity is stolen by a virgin masseur (played like a spasmodic toddler by dough-faced comedian Red Skelton), which leads to all the horrible accent work you might expect as he parades around pretending to be a Latin lover.

…

The script eventually called for a little romance to lubricate its humming race-joke engine, which meant finally putting the musical into “aquamusical.” That’s where Guys And Dolls songwriter Frank Loesser came in. But “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” wasn’t supposed to be in Neptune’s Daughter. According to Williams in that NYT piece, the filmmakers had a completely different Loesser song, “I’d Love to Get You (On a Slow Boat to China),” ready to go, but the Hays Code’s censors balked at its use of the word “get,” which they thought was too clearly a euphemism for “fuck.”

…

Neptune’s Daughter is as hacky as anything MGM was putting out around then, and a fitting follow-up to the previous year’s Williams x Montalbán production. In On An Island With You, Williams’ character is literally kidnapped to a remote island by her love interest. This (and, y’know, all that xenophobia on display) paints a fitting picture of how the studio—and the powerful censors OKing everything—thought the world should work. But their time was running out. In just a few years, America would be flooded with movies from all over the world, movies that treated audiences like adults who live in the real world. Studio pictures would change in turn, their conservatism now often hiding out in the subtext of our blockbusters. But some of the cultural ephemera that kept it front-and-center, like “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” continues to live on, increasingly anachronistic to our modern eyes and ears. It’s strange and uncomfortable, and it makes sense that it’s still the target of popular backlash, but as soon as you place the song back into its original context, you realize that it’s a miracle that a worse version hasn’t been haunting our holidays.

[mintywolf]

A Long Road Home - Page 40 Author Notes

Page 40

She culled the Karens. ;)

Also alas Imogen can’t use Mage Hand to get things off high shelves at work because some customer would complain. Probably Esther Hayes.

In Ye Olden Times when the theory of humors in disease was still prevalent (debunked with the advent of germ theory in the 1850s but the practices based on it remained in common use until the late 19th century* ) the first treatment given to a patient would be to rid them of “excess” humors by bloodletting and inducing vomiting, doubtless rendering an already miserable person even moreso. Leeches, fire cupping, or a lancet were used for the former, and mustardseed or antimonials (made with the toxic metal antimony :[ ) were used for the latter. Mustardseed was also used to make poultices for sore throats and respiratory ailments. Licorice was used for sore throats and itchy skin. Baths from epsom salts or oatmeal were (and are) used to relieve the itchiness from rash-causing diseases like the one the town is currently experiencing.** Quinine was actually mostly used for malaria so one person is confused about what’s going around. Belladonna (aka deadly nightshade), although toxic, actually had some effectiveness as a preventative for scarlet fever if taken early after exposure. And laudanum, as I have mentioned before, was used for everything. So there’s some context for all the assorted shopping lists bombarding Imogen over the first three panels.

(* which I mention because Exandria’s technological level as of C3 seems to be early Industrial Era, although my Gelvaan aesthetic also has some 1880s and 1930s elements. And magical healing seems to be reserved for the privileged, given the high cost of healing potions, how many strings the relatively-anonymous Bells Hells had to pull to get help for Laudna, and the number of people who seem genuinely surprised when FCG offers them healing out of kindness. Most people probably rely on home remedies.)

** which hasn’t been made obvious yet but it will on the next page. You can see some suggestion of the eponymous scarlet on Imogen’s neck in the bottom left panel though.

So a long time and several fandoms ago a friend used to give me a hard time about my over-reliance on melodramatic Victorian novel disease as a plot device (specifically, targeting the heroine — or her best beloved — with it) so I imposed a rule on myself that I could only deploy it once per fandom (with the assumption that I’d have a different audience every time) and it had to drive the story forward. And friends, the time has come.

But I mean, come on. I couldn’t hang that gun on the wall and not have it go off and hit one of them.

This fandom’s enthusiasm for sickfics and whump in general has relaxed my stance a bit though. Before coming here I didn’t realize it was an entire genre and moreover, one that seems to target Imogen almost exclusively. If I had I might have leaned towards the alternative I also considered where Imogen tries futilely to convince an angry mob that obviously Laudna didn’t curse the town with a plague if she has it too. But then they’d be on the run before she had a chance to recover (you know, like after she got resurrected no I’m not still salty about it*** ) which isn’t a very satisfying chapter end. But fear not, this is all reciprocated in a later chapter.

A common thread I’ve noticed in sick Imogen fics though is that Laudna always seems to be much more calm and reassuring about it than she should be, haha. Imogen is the only thing in the world she genuinely cares about and she’s already half convinced that she’s always just a few missteps away from losing her forever. She’d be panicking.

(*** this is a lie. Also you know what else I’m still mad about? That she didn’t get that lil gryphon toy!! She clearly wanted it, she went in looking for a toy because she was feeling vulnerable and childlike and wanted the comfort of something simple intended to make a child happy. (Which is even more clear now since she was in the same regressive emotional state then as she has been recently after Ashton ate the lava shard, which she coped with by making another doll.) Fearne bought it and totally forgot about it. :( We could have had another meat-named doll character this entire time!!!

[kemetic-dreams]

Rev. Dr. William J. Simmons was born a slave in Charleston, South Carolina, to Edward and Esther Simmons on June 29, 1849. While William was young, his Mother fled slavery with her three children, William and his two sisters Emeline and Anna. They initially landed in Philadelphia, PA, and was met by an uncle named Alexander Tardiff, who housed them, fed them and educated the children. Due to stemming pressures from slave traders, Tardiff relocated his extended family to Roxbury, Pennsylvania, Chester, PA, and ultimately settled down in Bordentown, New Jersey. Tardiff had received an education from the future Bishop Daniel Payne and undertook to give Simmons and his siblings an education on that basis. From 1862 to 1864 William served as an apprentice to a dentist. He served in the Union Army during the US Civil War, enlisting September 15, 1864 and serving a one-year term. He took part in the siege of Petersburg, the Battle of Hatcher's Run, and the Battle of Appomattox Court House and was present at the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. After the war, he returned to dentistry. In 1867, he converted to Baptist and joined a White Baptist church in Bordentown that was pastored by Reverend J. W. Custis. The congregation helped him through college. He attended Madison University (now Colgate University, graduated in 1868), Rochester University, and Howard University, from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1873. As a student, he worked briefly in Washington D.C. at Hillsdale School. In Hillsdale, he boarded with Smithsonian Institution employee, Solomon G. Brown. After graduating he moved to Arkansas on the advice of Horace Greeley to become a teacher there, but returned to Hillsdale soon after where he taught until June 1874.

The following summer, he married Josephine A. Silence on August 25, 1874 and moved to Ocala, Florida. The couple had seven children, Josephine Lavinia, William Johnson, Maud Marie, Amanda Moss, Mary Beatrice, John Thomas, and Gussie Lewis. In Florida, he invested in land to grow oranges, became principal of Howard Academy's teacher training program and served as the pastor of a church, deputy county clerk and county commissioner. He campaigned for the Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. He served there until 1879. He was ordained that year and moved to Lexington, Kentucky where he pastored the First Baptist Church. The following year, he became the second president of the Kentucky Normal and Theological Institute, which he worked for a decade. The school was eventually renamed the State University of Louisville and later to Simmons College of Kentucky after Simmons due to schools progression under his tenure. He was succeeded in 1894 at Simmons College by Charles L. Purce.

In Kentucky he was elected for several years the chairman of the State Convention of Colored Men. On September 29, 1882, he was elected editor of the journal, the American Baptist where he criticized the failures of both political parties to support blacks in their civil rights and progress. He was also president of the American Baptist Company. in 1886 he was elected over T. Thomas Fortune to president of the Colored Press Association, having lost to W. A. Pledger the previous year. In 1883, Simmons organized the Baptist Women's Educational Convention, and in 1884, Blanche Bruce appointed Simmons commissioner for the state of Kentucky at the 1884 World's Fair in New Orleans. In 1886, he organized and was elected president of the American National Baptist Convention. The convention was a call for African American Baptist unity and was also led by Richard DeBaptiste and featured notable presentations by Solomon T. Clanton and James T. White. In 1889 in Indianapolis, Simmons was a leader at the American National Baptist Convention and wrote a resolution to provide aid for blacks fleeing violence in the South and moving to the North.

Simmons received an honorary master's degree from Howard University in 1881 and an honorary Doctorate degree from Wilberforce University in 1885. In 1887, he published a book entitled Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising, which highlights the lives of 172 prominent African-American men, while serving as the school's president. He was working on a sister edition of the title that would highlight the lives and accomplishments of prominent pre-1900 African-American women, but unfortunately died before its completion. He died on October 30, 1890, in Louisville, Kentucky.

[fundiesimsfamily]

Dear diary,

The genderrevealparty was a hit. It was so nice. Everybody was there. and I even saw Esther smiling. She liked Paisley being there. They are really friends. It's such a nice thing to see. Everybody was thrilled that it's a boy. Hayes and Paisley already have three girls and two boys so that will get even out with our little boy.

Only David couldn't make it. That was such a shame but he will come by to see the nursery. Everybody promised they wouldn't tell him anything. I'm very excited.

Bethany and Olivia did a wonderful job on the cake. Nora had kept her mouth shut and didn't tell Fabian. It was wonderful. I'm ready for this sweet little baby to come and meet all these wonderful people in my life.

Love, Gertrude

Back I Beginning I Spreadsheet I Next

[character-actor-tournament]

Round 2 matchups

Results of round 1 can be found here.

Full list of matchups under the cut

Jesse White vs Ed Wynn

Lionel Barrymore vs Charlie Ruggles

Frank Morgan/Frank Jenks vs Betty Garrett

Mischa Auer vs S.Z. Sakall

Patsy Kelly vs Margaret Hamilton

Hans Conried vs Hattie McDaniel

Leonid Kinskey vs Eve Arden

Edward van Sloan/Jack Oakie vs Butterfly McQueen

Zasu Pitts vs Charlotte Greenwood

Marjorie Main vs Bert Lahr

Marie Dressler vs Una O'Connor

Dwight Frye vs Esther Muir

Thelma Todd vs Christian Rub

Gail Patrick vs Sydney Greenstreet

John Carradine vs Verna Felton

Una Merkel vs Conrad Veidt

Scatman Crothers vs Guy Kibbee/Walter Brennan

Nat Pendleton vs Raymond Massey

Erich von Stroheim vs Eddie Anderson

Reginald Gardiner vs Joseph Calleia

Sam Levene vs Edna May Oliver

Charles Laughton vs Gabby Hayes

Elsa Lanchester vs Lionel Atwill

Bill Robinson vs Andy Devine

Ernest Truex vs Edward Arnold

Sterling Holloway vs Nancy Kulp

Jean Adair vs Grady Sutton

Glenda Farrell vs Lillian Yarbo

Marjorie Gateson vs Joy Hudges

George E. Stone vs Donald Meek

Warner Baxter/Jerry Colonna vs Spring Byington

Felix Bressart vs Eric Blore

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

🔁

forgive me for going a bit insane here, I'm putting it below the cut because it got very out of hand! (this is also definitely not an exclusive list just the ones that came to mind!)

Send me a 🔁 and I’ll list one or more crossovers between our ocs that I’d be interested in talking about

Roni Tanner:

Mercy Bowen

Mia Queen

Piper Pan:

Finley Rider

Isadora Darling

Nerissa

Winnie Pan

Violet Kingsleigh

Terry Bell:

Nerissa

Winnie Pan

Rose Smythe:

Annika Webster

Imogen Allen

Kelsey Doyle

Mia Queen

Bobbi LaCosta:

Jane Forester

Lucas Gilmore

Charlotte Howard-Danes

Eleanor Doose

Eliya Rygalski

Evan Mariano

Gabi Mariano

Holland Bass

The Band (Matt King, Tommy Gilmore, Luca to-be-renamed Bloom, Livi Ruiz, Esme Gerard, Skye Bloom)

Sam Gleason

Carli Tanner:

Ophelia Wayne

Isolde Kean

(Plus other general batman & batman 2022 ocs who could be modified to fit gotham!)

Lila Lupin:

Adriana Flores

Gemini Black

Jessica Stevens

Holly Evans

Athena Prewett:

Bobbie Fortescue

Emerald Evans

Lyarra Vance

Nineve Weasley

Phoenix Dumbledore

Venus Malfoy

Violetta Greengrass

Stella Knight:

Atalanta Jackson

Carissa Grace

Cassandra Aelius

Delia

Lila

Melody Weiss

Gwen Macintosh:

Brandy Hayes

Sherry Unwin

Xenia Hart

Kris Smythe:

Imogen Allen

Sadie Maddox

Roni Stark:

Alessia Stark

Adelaide Stark

Adonis Stark

Aris Stark

Athena Stark

Aurora Hansen-Stark

Ava Potts

Brigid

Ezra Barton

Cora & Orion Royce

Tyler Barton

Zora Wright

Will Parker

(there's definitely more but I have too many mcu ocs so i'm trying to chill)

Rikki Lane:

Chloe Grace Routledge

Cody Maybank

Jo Clarke

Alexa Cantwood:

Cressida Brantley

Crystal Solace

Elyana Chase

Melody Weiss

Stella Beauregard

Victoria Blofis

Drea Jones:

Ana Andrews

Charlotte Jones

Delaney Carlyle

Fallon Parris Jones

Harper Harrison

Jett Jones

Kris Keller

Lyra Lovell

Tanya Conway

Sharon Henderson:

Beth Munson

Camila Nelson

Cara Henderson

Rhiannon Ballard

Samantha Mayfield

Sidney Hopper

Stacey Byers

Valerie Rush

Roxy Winchester:

Ainsley Winchester

Deborah Winchester

Elle Winchester

Esther Colt

Isla George

Nevaeh Murphy

Phoebe Winchester

Trix Stilinski

Cora Hargreeves:

Alice Hargreaves

Andromeda Hargreaves

Audrey Hargreaves

Cassie Hargreaves

Cleo Sullivan

Dahlia Mort

Kamaria Hargreaves

Max Carmichael

Mira Hargreaves

Mireille Labonair

Odessa Hargreaves

Poppy

Sierra Nearing

Vienna Montgomery

Virginia West

Wilhelmina Hargreaves

[alexbkrieger13]

https://twitter.com/deanmears/status/1664715495461777408?s=46&t=Fe8R91edtPQXb41p-tOuJg

Did she actually go and get Esther 😭💀

Emma Hayes multi cultural Blues Sounds like a fusion band