#Genie Frances

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The always delightful David Ogden-Stiers (M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Star Trek Next Gen, The Dead Zone), Marcia Wallace (Bob Newhart Show), Genie Francis (General Hospital, Young and Restless), Jeff Conway (Taxi) and James Sloyan (Star Trek Next Gen, VOY) in Murder She Wrote

season 3 episode 5 Corned Beef and Carnage

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Noël Hallé (French, 1711-1781) Les Génies de la Poésie, de l'Histoire, de la Physique et de l'Astronomie, 1761 Musée des beaux-arts d'Angers

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Diamond cutting workshop of Saint-Genis-Pouilly, Pays de Gex region of eastern France

French vintage postcard

[lee-sanghyeok]

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THE MAGIC LAMP WAS JUST ABOUT A BUNCH OF KOREAN MEN GOING TO MONTPELLIER TO DRINK WINE I HATE IT HERE IM SO JEALOUS

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L'Hérault _Olargues par Olivier Boyer Via Flickr : 050827_Sony_DSC09690_HDR le genie du jardin en pot www.minervois-caroux.com/fr/decouvrir/nos-villages/olargu...

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NEON LIGHTS

Pairing (Original Characters):

Jameson Lucas (Aaron Pierre) x Imani St. Cirie (Megan thee Stallion) Genie Adesanya (Jayme Lawson) x Ellington “EJ” Dupree (Kelvin Harrison Jr.)

Chapters:

Neon Lights Masterlist

Chapter Synopsis: while imani processes her lingering pain over jameson’s constant betrayals, jameson reels from her inattention. torn between loyalty to her best friend and processing her own feelings, genie grapples with guilt and anxiety while ej does his best to take care of her. sloane attempts to celebrate the split between jameson and imani but genie intervenes.

Warnings: toxic relationship, them b words! (watch them b words!), explicit terminology, dirty talk (kinda), usage of the n-word (if you white and read it, you owe us $20) -- if we missed anything, let us know!

Word Count: 5.6k Divider Template: @cafekitsune

Notes: 

The following characters are original creations. Their voice claims are Usher / Lucky Daye (Jameson) & Summer Walker / SZA (Imani). We have no affiliation to any of those artists.

1 week after Sloane's party

Jameson leaned against the kitchen counter, his phone clutched in his hand as he stared at the screen in surprise. The image of Christian reflected back at him and he briefly wondered when he even started following that nigga. A quick glance to the left-hand corner told him it was Imani's Instagram account. Imani? With Christian? He couldn't even see that bastard's face but knew he was probably happy as fuck to be with Imani.

Look who came to visit.

The caption made his stomach churn. There was nothing downright explicit or implicated more but the simple fact that she had taken the picture, thought of the caption, and posted it? It made him sick. He knew for a fact she couldn't stand him. After things ended abruptly between Christian and Genie, Imani hadn't seen it for him. Ever. But now they were close enough for him to visit?

Texts left on read. Calls that went straight to voicemail. The silence was deafening.

Jameson immediately left the app and went to his messages, texting her a blitz of...admittedly emotional responses. She still hadn't responded to any of the ones before. He put his phone face down on the counter, trying to rein in his temper. He didn’t need to read the comments to know what they said. Fans were undoubtedly cheering it on. Shit talking about how 'cute' he probably was. Wondering if she had finally replaced him.

What if she had? What if the space where he stood was going to belong to another person? Not just Christian -- anybody? That was enough to turn his stomach.

Jameson's hand clenched into a fist and he turned around, hitting the first thing he saw...which so happened to be EJ's fridge. His fist dented the medal but it hurt him a hell of a lot more than it did the inanimate object.

“Ay, muhfucka! I got that imported from France. Watch that shit. What's your problem?” Jameson glanced up to see EJ rounding the corner, a cup of coffee in his hand. He couldn't quite blame his best friend for being irritated but he was going through some shit.

“Her Instagram.” Jameson muttered, nodding toward his phone. EJ walked over, picked up the phone, and whistled low when he saw the post. “Ain't this a bitch.” He scrolled through the comments briefly before setting the phone down. “They have a ship name too. Chrismani sound stupid tho.”

Jameson glared at him and EJ quickly put the phone down, shrugging. "My bad, man." “What am I supposed to do? She’s not answering my calls. She’s ignoring my texts. And now she’s letting him—” Jameson cut himself off, shaking his head. He didn't know what the fuck the two had going on but either way, he didn't like that shit.

“Letting him what? Exist?” EJ raised an eyebrow. “Because that’s what it looks like to me. You give this nigga way too much power, man. Genie has a history with him, right? You know Imani. She not going too far with him."

Jameson frowned at EJ. He was right but he also knew..."Please. If you saw the girl you loved posted up with somebody else a week after ignoring your calls, you'd be tripping too." He didn't know what to do when it came to Imani. “She told me to choose. I could be friends with Sloane or I could be with her.”

EJ set his coffee down and crossed his arms, leaning against the counter as he stared at his best friend. “Okay? So Sloane's out. Now what?" Jameson began to rub his hand over his fist, rolling his eyes in agitation. "It's not that easy!"

EJ cocked his head, leaning against the counter as he stared at Jameson with wide eyes. "Fuck you mean it's not that easy? Lose a friend, gain a girlfriend. Besides, Genie don't like her and Genie likes everybody. That's how you know something is up with her."

Jameson sighed softly, reaching to snatch his phone off the counter again. EJ had a point. Genie and Sloane had fallen out around the time he and Imani had become serious. He never knew what happened but wanted them both to feel like they could count on him. He didn't want to take sides. His friend vs his sister? He didn't want to decide. "Sloane doesn't have anybody."

"She had a house full of people at that party last week." "None of those people give a shit about her." "And you do?" "Of course I do." "You want that girl?" "No! No. I'm so fucking tired of being accused of that shit. I've known her since she was fifteen. I knew her when she could barely look you in the eyes when she was talking to you. She was lonely as fuck. And she's still lonely. I'm sorry I feel guilty abandoning her."

Jameson saw EJ's face change. From confusion to understanding all in an instant and for some reason -- he hated it. "You keep saying you're 'abandoning' her. You're not, man. She's a grown up." Jameson braced himself, knowing what EJ was going to say next. "She's not you and you are not your father."

He shut it down within a second, shaking his head as he quickly moved out of the kitchen. His father was a forbidden subject. Nobody brought the man up. Not his mother, not the press. Nobody. As far as the world was concerned, it was just Anais and James Lucas against the world. "It's not about that, man. I just don't want to abandon my friend."

"Do you want Imani back?" EJ called out to him, following. "Of course I do." "Let Sloane go. You can't let her think Christian is the only muhfucka that cares about how she feels. Let her go."

Jameson stared at him, the words sinking in.

“You’ve got options,” EJ said, approaching him and patting his hand against Jameson's shoulder. “Write her a song. Send her flowers. Show up at the studio if you have to. You flew to fucking Italy within a minute. Why are you hesitating now? Don't sit there and let this nigga come take what's yours."

Jameson hesitated. “You think that’ll work?”

EJ shrugged. “I think it’s better than...you know. Punching my shit and stalking her on Instagram. You’ve always been a fighter, J. Don’t stop now.”

Jameson nodded slowly, his mind already spinning with ideas. EJ clapped him on the shoulder before heading out of the kitchen, leaving Jameson alone with his thoughts. He unlocked the phone in his hand and went back to Instagram, staring at the picture of Christian on her page. It was bullshit but EJ was right. He couldn't give up on her. He swore he never would.

The texts came through fast, almost as if he didn't have to think about what he was sending. She didn't take any pleasure in his reaction. Not really. But Imani needed something to flip that damn switch in Jameson's mind. He needed to know she wasn't playing. The mention of Genie made her heart hurt though. She texted her before she posted the picture of Christian but there had been no response. There hadn't been a response afterward either and Imani was praying she didn't hold this against her.

She forced herself not to finish reading Jameson's texts. She closed out the messages and went back to Instagram. Cross-legged on her couch, the soft glow of her phone screen illuminating her face in the dim living room, she scrolled through the comments on her post.

The likes were climbing rapidly, as they always did. Thousands of comments flooded in, a mix of excitement, speculation, and blatant nosiness.

"With your bestie ex? Oh, messy Mani." "What about Jameson tho? 👀" "Girl, you’re glowing without him. Keep winning!"

Her thumb hovered over that last comment, her heart clenching. Glowing without him. Was she?

She tossed her phone onto the cushion beside her, leaning back against the couch. The praise and speculation didn’t fill the hollow ache that had been gnawing at her for days. It wasn’t about Christian—he was nothing. She felt absolutely nothing for the man. She got the vibe that he wanted something with her but Imani couldn't tell if he was delusional or just stupid to really think she'd give him the time of day after he was with her best friend. Then again...People thought that's exactly what she was doing.

The post wasn’t about him though. It was about the one person who wasn’t tagged, wasn’t mentioned, but was still present in every corner of her mind.

Jameson.

He kept letting her down. Choosing other people over her. She wouldn't him do it again. She closed her eyes, and the memories came rushing back like a tidal wave.

It was late, and the city lights outside their hotel room window shimmered like stars. She remembered sitting on the edge of the bed, the air thick with tension. Jameson stood in front of her, his hands trembling as he admitted the unthinkable. The night he ruined their relationship. All their problems went back to that one moment. “I slept with her.” he’d said, his voice raw and cracking. “I'm so sorry. Mani, I...I don't know what the fuck I was thinking. I was drunk. I swear to god.” Her heart had shattered in that moment, the weight of his words crushing her. She remembered the way her chest had tightened, the disbelief that had turned into anger, then grief. They were done, she knew that. He knew that. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Huh? It's fuck me, huh?!” she’d whispered, her voice trembling. Her entire body shaking. “I trusted you. I gave you everything.” “Mani, please,” he’d begged, dropping to his knees in front of her, reaching for her hands. She snatched them away, trying to get up from the bed but Jameson grasped her by the waist, keeping her trapped. She pushed against his shoulders, twisting out of his grasp as tears filled her eyes. “I'm going to fix it, baby. I swear to god, I'll fix it. I'm sorry.” "Let me go! You can't fix this shit!" "Yes, I can. I can fix it. I'll be better." "Jameson. You just told me you fucked another bitch and you really think I'm going to give you a chance to fix it? We're done. It's over."

She opened her eyes, the memory dissipating like smoke, but the sting remained. She reached for her phone again, scrolling back to her post. The comments about Jameson were multiplying, each one a reminder of the life they’d shared and the pain he’d caused.

She couldn’t go back to that. She wouldn’t.

Her thumb hovered over the delete button for a moment before she pulled her hand away. No, she thought. Let him have to keep seeing it. Let him wonder. Let the tags in the comments be a reminder. “You won't get to the chance to play me again.” she whispered, her voice steady.

With that, she exited the app, her resolve solidifying. If Jameson wanted her back, he’d have to do more than beg. He’d have to prove he was worthy of her trust—and she wasn’t sure she’d ever believe that again.

Imani opened her texts, shooting a message to her engineer and manager. She had written so much shit when she was trying to get over the betrayal Jameson had done -- it was enough for albums. Why not use this pain to start a new chapter in her life? She spent so much of her time worrying about him. It was time to worry about herself. Her music. Her career.

Genie had done her best to put it out of her mind. The picture was exploding all over social media. She'd been tagged in it almost as much as Jameson was and each time made her chest tighten. The knot of anxiety she’d been carrying all day pulling tighter. She promised to meet EJ for lunch and had arrived early, sitting primly and perfectly -- covered in Chanel. Her beautiful dark coils pressed perfectly and swept back in a french curl. She looked much better than she felt.

She had known Imani was going to post it. The text had come hours before, but Genie hadn’t responded. She’d stared at the message, her thumb hovering over the keyboard, unsure of what to say. What could she say? No one knew the whole story of she and Christian. All she told Imani was that it was over. But shouldn't that have been enough? Of all the men to use to make Jameson jealous, why him?

She had complicated feelings about Imani playing with Jameson's feelings as well -- but it wasn't as if she didn't have good reason. He was her brother but he was an idiot sometimes. The image was out in the world and Genie felt that her silence was almost complicity in hurting Jameson. If the gossip was correct, Sloane was a thorn in their relationship and Genie knew a surefire way to get her out.

EJ finally arrived and Genie glanced up to see him making his way to their table -- led by the hostess. A smile curved her lips as the two maintained eye contact. She had never been so enamored with a man before. Even that crush she had on Christian had been bullshit compared to how EJ made her feel. They kept their relationship fairly casual. After their night at Sloane's party, he had been with her every step of the way, reassuring her and being patient with her. He was more than she deserved.

Before he sat down, he came to her side of the table and kissed her softly. It was a brief touch of his lips but the stiffness in her shoulders relaxed. She felt the tightening of her chest relax and for a minute, she felt like she could breathe. "Hi, baby." He told her softly, moving to take his seat as she poured him a glass of wine. His sharp eyes flicking to the phone on the table. “I guess you've seen it.,” he said, nodding toward it. “Jamie isn't too happy either.”

Genie hesitated, then nodded to confirm she saw it. “She said it was to make Jameson jealous, but…” She trailed off, placing the bottle back on the table. "I don't know. It seems so out of character for her. Mani can be petty but she doesn't waste her time with people she doesn't give a fuck about. I don't think she understands what she's getting into."

EJ nodded, lifting his hand to gesture to a waiter for a glass of water. He was totally different from her. He worried about their friends but Genie took it totally to heart. Probably because she loved them both. EJ loved Jameson -- she was sure he hadn't decided how he felt about Imani yet. "I told him to go get his girl back. But I kind of regret it now."

Genie prepared herself to defend Imani. Jameson was her brother but she wasn't ready to absolve him of his sins. Especially when the reason their relationship was so chaotic was because he cheated a year ago. "They love each other so that wasn't a mistake. They just...they can't seem to get it together.," she said softly. “This is going to make everything worse. For her. For Jameson. For everyone.”

EJ leaned back, studying her with a mix of concern. “Did you tell her that?”

“I...I couldn't." Genie sighed, then immediately regretted the admission. “I mean, I wanted to. But what was I supposed to say? ‘Don’t post him because he’s a jerk who’s going to ruin your life?’ I didn't want her to think I was jealous.”

EJ raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you?”

Genie opened her mouth to deny it, but the words caught in her throat. She had been jealous at the party. It had caused a twinge to her heart to see a man she used to want choosing other women over her. Women she loved deeply and respected. He had already taken Sloane. Now Imani? She had been scared. But as she gazed at EJ, she knew he was one of a kind. There wasn't a man like him in the world. How dare she be jealous over a man who wasn't worth it when one who was sat in front of her. “I’m not jealous. Anymore.,” she said finally, reaching across the table to take his hand. “I’m scared. For her. For Jameson. I don’t want to see either of them hurt. Between Sloane and Christian, their relationship could easily snap.”

EJ’s expression softened. He reached out and took her hand, brushing his thumb back and forth across her skin, “You worry too much about other people, Genie. It’s gonna tear you apart if you let it.”

Genie looked down at his hand, the warmth of his touch grounding her. “I can’t help it,” she murmured.

“I know. You got the kind of heart I love. But maybe it’s time you focused on you,” EJ said gently. “Let them figure it out. You’ve got your own life to live, Genie. Your own man to worry about."

"Oh? Are you my man?" "Didn't you cum on my face a few times? I could have sworn last night that you begged me to --"

Genie's eyes went wide as she peered around the restaurant to see if anyone heard him. No one did but her reaction made EJ laugh. She snatched her hand from his, reaching over to slap his wrist.

"Stop it! Don't say that out loud!" "It's true. You did. And you're gonna do it again when we leave here." "Is that all you're going to do?" "For now." "What if I want more?" "I gotta make sure you're ready. So stop babysitting everybody else and let me take care of you for a change." "Yes, sir." "Ooh. Keep that up. I like that."

She smiled faintly, though the knot in her stomach didn’t loosen. For the rest of the lunch, she and EJ didn't mention Jameson and Imani but her gaze kept straying to the phone. Thoughts of Christian and Sloane filtered through her mind. For her last act of babysitting -- she was going to make sure they didn't ruin Imani and Jameson's second chance. If they couldn't get it right, it had to be on their own terms. Not anybody else's.

It was nightfall by the time Genie managed to convince EJ to let her out of bed. He asked her to let everyone figure their shit out but she had to get this out. Once she promised him she'd wash her hands of it after talking to Jameson, he gave her a kiss and let her go. Texting Jameson and telling him it was an emergency was probably dramatic but he shared his location with her. When she pulled up to the recording studio, he was waiting outside -- leaning against his Range Rover.

He watched her curiously as she parked and got out, lifting his hand to press to her shoulder as he escorted her inside -- like an annoyed but worried older brother would. When they were settled in a quiet, private studio, finally he leaned in and nudged her arm. "Talk. You kind of scaring me."

They sat in front of the mixing console, a track playing lowly in the background. Genie could tell it was one of his. She knew his voice anywhere but hadn't heard this song before. She understood a few words here and there but couldn't catch the rhythm of the song. Jamie looked tense, his shoulders stiff. She knew he hadn't been able to shake the thoughts of Imani and Christian from his mind.

“What’s going on?”

Genie hesitated, the weight of what she was about to say pressing down on her. She took a deep breath and shrugged out of her jacket. "There’s a lot you don’t know. Things I’ve been keeping to myself because I didn’t want to -- Well, I wasn't brave enough to do what Imani did. I didn't want to make you choose. But after everything that’s happened -- Imani, that post, the way Christian's been acting -- I can’t stay quiet anymore.”

Jameson’s expression darkened, a storm brewing in his eyes as he grasp her hands in his. “What did he do?”

Genie exhaled shakily, her voice trembling as she began. “Christian and I -- it was a fluke from the beginning. Maybe I was too presumptive but I...I told Sloane how I felt. She encouraged me to pursue him. So I did. I put myself out there." Tears filled her eyes as she thought of the way she had embarrassed herself. The sting of being rejected had faded but losing Sloane -- knowing what she had done? That would never go away.

"I found them together. At your afterparty for the Grammys. They were...Well, they were fucking. In your pool house. I didn't say a word. I turned around and left but I confronted Sloane afterward." Genie took a breath and forced herself to continue. "She didn’t even deny it. Said it was no big deal because...it wasn't like he wanted me anyway. He liked someone else. She knew and didn't tell me. I stopped talking to her that night.”

She felt his grip around her fingers tighten for a moment before they relaxed. The look on his face was...a lot like hers the night Sloane had shown who she was. Devasated. Confused. Disbelief. “She said that to you?”

Genie nodded, her throat tightening as tears fell. “I told Christian I was sorry. Can you believe it? I apologized for not being who he wanted. It was embarrassing. I'm starting to think who he wanted...was Imani.”

Jameson shook his head but all the pieces were falling into place. “That’s why you’ve been avoiding her.”

“Yes,” Genie said, her voice firmer now as she pulled her hands free and wiped her eyes. “And it’s why I think you need to let her go, J. Do what Imani said. Choose her. Sloane only cares about herself and she’s only going to drag you down.”

Jameson leaned back in his seat. “She was your friend. I wouldn't even know her if it wasn't for you. You loved her before anybody else and she...she did that to you.”

“Yes,” Genie said gently. “If anybody knows what it's like to see the best in Sloane, it's me. I always saw it. Until she showed me something else, Jameson. Don't wait until she shows you.”

He looked up at her then, a spark of anger in his eyes. "And Christian?”

Genie’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I don't know. He may really like Imani but she...she deserves better." She may be there to help Jameson fix things but she couldn't bring herself to tell him that Imani was just trying to make him jealous. Loyalty to both kept her conflicted.

They sat in silence for a while so Jameson could process everything. He was distracted, clearly overwhelmed, but she knew what he would do when he spoke next. "I love you, you know?" he told Genie softly, his voice thick with emotion. "You and your dad...you two gave me and Ma everything we needed to feel like a family. You're my sister, Genie. I wouldn't ever let anybody hurt you."

She gave him a faint smile, tears filling her eyes again. For somebody who could write music, he had never been eloquent with her about his feelings. They irritated each other like siblings but she had never truly said it to him. "I love you too." Genie said softly. “I wouldn't ever let anybody hurt you either. That's why Sloane has to get out of our lives. Now.”

Jameson nodded, agreeing without words. “I threw everything away with Imani to be loyal to somebody who didn't deserve it.”

Genie reached out, squeezing his knee. “It may not be over. Try it. Let her know you choose her. Over anything. Even if you guys don't work it out, at least you’ll know you did everything you could. But you can’t move forward if you’re still holding onto people like Sloane.”

He nodded slowly, the weight of her words sinking in. “You’re right,” he said finally.

Genie smiled faintly, relief washing over her. “Good. Now, go clean up your mess.”

He gave her a small, rueful laugh. “I'm not good at that.”

“Get good at it.,” she said, standing and placing a kiss to his forehead...before slapping him on the back of the neck. Jameson flinched but only stared up at her. “Consider this my retirement from worrying about you and Imani. My man told me to stop.”

His brows furrowed as she turned to leave the studio. "What man?!" he called out after her. Genie ignored him and continued on to her car to get back home to EJ.

God had to have a sense of humor. No sooner had he watched Genie zip off in her car, he'd gotten a text from Sloane. A dinner invitation. He had been seconds from texting a denial but he knew this message was better delivered in person -- so he agreed to show up. He spent the entire drive to her place stewing in anger -- pissed at her and himself. He had spent months bringing this girl around Genie, around Imani. Begging them to give her a shot. He hadn't even asked why she and Genie had fallen apart. He was a shit friend and a shit boyfriend.

The elevator doors slid open, and Jameson stepped into the hallway leading to Sloane’s penthouse. His jaw tight and he had no idea how to release his tension. He had no idea what he planned to say. There was so much in his head. All he wanted to do was yell at her. Make her give him a valid reason for the shit she'd been doing. The weight of Genie’s confession bore down on him, and the idea of confronting Sloane left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He knocked twice, his knuckles rapping sharply against the wood. Moments later, the door swung open, and Sloane appeared, her face lighting up like the sun.

“Jamie! Just in time! Dinner is almost done.” she exclaimed, pulling the door wide for him to enter. When he did so, she immediately wrapped her arms around him. “Hi. I missed you.”

Her perfume was light and airy. In another place, another time, he probably would have complimented her on it and told her that he missed her too. And that would have been the wrong thing to do. Becoming disillusioned with Sloane made him notice everything. The way she clung to him, the way she looked up at him with bright eyes, the darkened apartment, the Ella Fitzgerald album -- one of his favorites -- playing softly in the background. He stood stiffly, not hugging her back but it didn't seem to phase her. She took her time hugging him, only pulling back when she deemed it was over.

Jameson’s expression didn’t waver. “We just saw each other last week at the party, Sloane,” he said, his voice cutting sharper than the edge of a blade.

She blinked, momentarily thrown off by his tone. “I know. It still feels like it’s been a minute…”

Jameson stepped further away from her, his movements deliberate. He glanced around, noting the intimate setup of the dining table—a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a single candle flickering softly. The oven lit up with the smell of a dinner that he couldn't quite place. Genie had lit the match but everything was ablaze now. Imani's accusations were crystal clear in his mind. God, she had been right.

“I saw Imani posted Christian on Instagram,” Sloane said, her voice carefully measured. “I’m sorry…you don’t deserve that.”

Jameson’s jaw tightened as he stood with his back with her, trying to get a grasp on his anger. “Imani's mine to worry about.”

“I-I know,” Sloane stammered, moving closer to him. Her voice softened, dripping with concern. “I just want you to know that I’m here for you, Jamie.” She reached out for his hand, her fingers brushing against his. “You can call me if you need anything.”

Jameson didn’t move. His demeanor was rigid, his body language screaming discomfort. He didn’t bother to touch her hand, his gaze fixed on hers with an intensity that made her falter.

“Is everything okay?” Sloane asked, her voice uncertain. She tilted her head, her lips curving into a small, confused smile. “You’re not acting like my Jamie.”

"Did you fuck Christian?" he asked her abruptly, tilting his head to look at her. He saw it for a second. For one second, she looked caught off guard. She looked...exposed. But then the guard went up, her brow furrowed and she gave him a laugh. He could see her about to lie. "Don't. Don't you dare lie to me. I've had enough of that."

She hesitated but then moved away, heading back to the table. She tripped over her own heels and clumsily poured herself a glass of wine. Jameson finally moved, the tension draining from his body the more he confronted her. Sloane lifted the glass to gulp down wine before Jameson continued on. "Genie told me everything." He watched her choke on the liquid, leaning forward as she coughed loudly and took deep breaths. "And I got to thinking -- if she could do that to her best friend...what else could she do?"

She turned wide eyes to him as she continued to try to catch her breath. "Christian was...a mistake." She gasped out, shaking her head. "It was just a night. We were drunk! We got carried away!"

He heard the same mistakes he gave Imani and his stomach churned again, shaking his head. "You destroyed someone who loved you. Better than anyone else. Do you think that excuse works? You hurt the kindest fucking person in the world. And you hurt her because you could. You humiliated her! And you act like nothing happened! You didn't even have the fucking decency to tell her you're sorry!"

Sloane’s lips parted, but no words came out. She looked at him, searching for some sign of forgiveness, but all she could see was disappointment and anger. It's all he had left for her.

“I believed in you. Imani told me to choose and I...I said I wouldn't but I did. I fucking chose you because I thought you were a good person. I thought you needed me. A friend.” Jameson continued, his voice low and steady.

"I do need you!" "You don't need me! You want me. There's a fucking difference, Sloane!"

He heard his phone notifications go off but he ignored it. Even when it continued, he kept going. His gaze didn't leave Sloane's. Her eyes filled with tears as she reached out for him but he sidestepped her hand. She clenched her fingers tightly and sobbed quietly but he didn’t flinch. "Jamie, please. I’m sorry. I never meant—”

“Are you in love with me?” he interrupted, his tone weary. He didn't need the confession but he asked anyway. “If you ever cared about me, tell me the truth.”

Sloane froze before she gave the slightest nod. That nod hit him hard in the gut.

"You want to hear what I feel?" He asked her and watched as she closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head. She knew he didn't love her. She couldn't bear to hear the words. But Jameson figured it out now. A hard lesson to learn but...he had to give them to her. "I love Imani. I love everything about her. I love her so much that I don't know how to live without her. She makes me want to be better. I love the way she loves Genie. I love the way she loves me. And I gave that up twice. I keep hurting her and I did it again. This time...for you. And I regret it."

The more he spoke, the more she cried. "I'm sorry I brought us to this. You can blame me for it. Not Imani. Goodbye, Sloane." He moved towards the door and she followed him. Her phone rang out loud and she hesitated, tears blurring her eyes as she turned back to the kitchen. He didn't stop moving.

As he reached for the handle, she called out, her voice breaking. “Jamie, wait—Please! Don't leave me.”

He paused but didn’t turn around. Guilt grabbed a hold of him again but he pushed it away, knowing that enabling Sloane would only hurt her further...so he opened the door and walked out. It clicked shut behind him and for a moment, he stood there, trying to catch his breath. He heard her scream, throw things across the room, and yell out for him -- but he pretended he didn't.

Jameson walked towards the elevators, the anger he had carried up with him left behind in her place. He fished his phone out of his pocket, pushing the button for the ground floor as he read each text that came through but one caught his attention: a text from EJ that contained a link to Apple Music and an article.

R&B Sensation Imani releases surprise EP, Diary

As he browsed the article, the elevator doors pinged open and an avalanche of notifications from Instagram came in. Even more than when Imani posted the picture of Christian. To make matters worse, he got a shit ton of texts from friends and acquaintances. Half of them were the fucking eye emoji.

"Shit." He muttered to himself.

[adarkrainbow]

Some scholarly notes about the Grimm fairytales (1)

Recently in France (well... for the last two dozen years), the publishing house José Corti has been specializing itself in scientific fairytales collections. While for the study of literary fairytales one would go towards Honoré Champion, when it comes to folktales and fairytales it is José Corti one must check. In their "Merveilleux" collection they have been publishing for the very first time in France or republishing out-of-prints collections of various European fairytales (from Denmark, Spain, Romania, and more) - with a few classics of the "literary" fairytales that marked deeply the evolution of the genre (such as Straparola's Facetious Nights or Ludwig Bechstein's fairytales).

All of that to say, José Corti has in 2009 published the most recent scientific (but for an all-public) edition of the brothers Grimm fairytales. The full collection of their fairytales, translated accurately in French, with annotations about their type/classification, their evolution throughout editions and their predecessors. I can't share all of these annotations with you, of course, but I can share a handful of them, about the most famous stories of the Grimm. They all come from the same person who translated the story in this edition: Natacha Rimasson-Fertin. (Of course my notes might be incomplete but hey, you'll have to buy the books to see the whole thing :p Or check them out at your local library)

The devil with three golden hairs (Der Teufel mit den dre goldenen Haaren)

This story is at the crossroa between the Aa-Th 461 "Three hair from the devil's beard" ; the AT 460B "The quest for fortune" and the AT 93à "Urie's letter/The prophecy".

In the 1812 edition, there were two different versions of this tale. Story number 29 "The story of the devil with three golden hair", told by Amalia Hassenpflug, and number 75, "The phenix", told by her sister Mary. In the second version the devil was replaced by a phoenix, and the hero had to get three feathers. In the 1819 edition the two stories disappeared and were replaced by the version we know today, told by Dorothea Viehmann. Another version that the Grimms had collected in 1812 had a princess falling in love with the woodsman that cuts a tree below her window.

The final episode, where the hero asks three questions to the devil through the old woman, echoes the Pentamerone's "The Seven Doves". Other versions of this story include Asbjörnsen-Moe's "The wealthy Peter Krämer", and Afanassiev's "Marco the Wealthy and Vassili the Unfortunate". The story of the brothers Grimm gathers several references to the Bible: the child throw in the water echoes Moses' abandonment, the letter meant to kill the hero is similar to the one David uses to kill Urie, finally the hair as holders of a being's wisdom and strength is linked to the legend of Samson and Dalila. But many other elements of the story evoke older faiths. The idea of a body of water as the frontier with the Otherworld can be found in the Classical Antiquity with the Greek Charon, and is found in other stories of the volume, such as "Frau Holle" and "The Iron Stove" - it as believed that water formed an obstacle spirits could not cross. The hero's mission recalls a tale of Saxo Grammaticus where Thorkill enters Utgard (the realm of supernatural beings) to steal a hair from the beard of Utgard-loki. The brothers Grimm had noted that the belief in the exceptional fate of a child born with a "hood" was also found in Iceland, where the "caul", called Glückshaut (skin of luck) was the home of a genie that would follow the child all of his life. And indeed, modern research has proven that the name given to this caul, the "fyljia" was also the name of a spiritual double, a tutlar spirit tied to a person or a family. This is why the tradition was to preserve and hide this "pileus naturalis" - in Belgium, it was called a "hem" and its color allowed for divination rituals about the child's future.

The girl without hands (Das Mädchen ohne Hände)

This fairytale is actually a cross between the AT type 706 "The maiden without hands" and the AT 930 "Urie's letter/The prophecy". The story was created by the brothers mixing two versions from Hesse, one told by Mary Hassenpflug, the other by Dorothea Viehmann. The second version lacks this story's introduction and begins with a father trying to marry his own daughter - when she refuses, he cuts off her hands and breasts, and chases her out of his house. It then follows the story. Meanwhile, the first version differs when the heroine is with her child in the forest: an old man tells her to hug three time a tree with her arms, which makes her hands grow again. He also tells her to only open the door of her house to one who will ask to enter "for the love of God" three times in a row - the king will be forced to do this before entering.

Outside of these two main versions, the brothers Grimm collected three additional ones. In the first, the angel that guides the girl is replaced by a small light that descends from the sky ; and the hands of the girl grow back when she plunges her arms in a stream after seeing a blind mouse enter its water to regain its sight. In the second version, a man is upset at his little girl praying for him day and night, but since she refuses to stop despite his demands, he cuts off her tongue. But she prays in thought and makes the sign of the cross, so he cuts off her right hand, then her arm all the way to the elbow, before banishing her. She is saved by a hunter that hides her in his master's domain and feeds her in secret with his master's dogs. When the master discovers this, he decides to raise the girl as his own child. One day she gives money to a poor man, who tells her she will regain her arm and tongue if she goes to drink of a certain stream, and he gives her a magical staff to protect her. When she returns at the lord's house, he marries her. The third version is about a queen banished by her husband with her two children, and is identical to the legend of saint Helen.

Other international versions of the tale include Zingerle's "The pretty daughter of the innkeeper", Basile's "Penta the one-armed girl" and Afanassiev's "The young girl without hands". There are some versions where it is a man that is mutlated, such as Afanassiev's "The brave without legs and the blind brave". The roots of this story date back to the end of the 12th century, and are located in southern England - this tale was the subject of numerous literary adaptations, the most famous being the verse romance of the 13th century "The Beautiful Helen of Constantinople".

The motif of the child sold to the devil is recurring among the Grimm fairytales - even though the character of the devil can be replaced by another supernatural being, such as in "Rapunzel" or "The Nixie of the Mill-Pond". The idea of offering the first thing one sees upon returning home is as old as the Ancient Testament (Judges). This story bears the signs of a heavy Christianiation, and was clearly inspired by the legend of Saint Genevieve of Brabant, falsefely accused of being unfaithful and condemned to death with her newborn child. The executioners take pity on her and she lives alone in the woods for seven years. As with other tales from the Grimm collection, this story mixes the Christian fantasy (the hands that regrow are treated as a Christian miracle) with pagan fantasy (there are several elements of folk-magic, such as the circle the girl draws around her to be protected from the devil, or the accusations of the queen giving birth to a changeling - a changeling also appears in the third story of "The Elves", KHM 39).

The Robber Bridegroom (Der Räuberbräutigam)

This story belongs to the fairytale type Aa-Th 955, named after it: "The robber bridegroom".

The tale was told to Jacob Grimm by Mary Hassenpflug, and was present as early as the 1810 manuscript. However this first version, that the brothers deemed "incomplete" was replaced from the 1812 edition onward by a new version which mixed two versions from Lower-Hesse. The brothers noted the existence of another version where the robber indicated the road to his house to a princess, by tying ribbons around the trees.

Ludwig Bechstein took inspiration from the brothers Grimm's tale to create his own "The Robber Bridegroom". This fairytale, like "Fichter's Bird", belongs to the "Bluebeard cycle" (several tales that the brothers removed from their first edition also belonged to this cycle).

Fitcher's Bird (Fitchers Vogel)

This tale is a variation of the Aa-Th 311 "The heroine rescues herself and her sisters", usually classified under the "Bluebeard" category.

The final text of the Grimms is actually a mix of two different versions of the same story that was told to the brothers by both Friedrike Mannel and Dortchen Wild. The Grimms noted the existence of a version from Hanovre which goes as follow: a poor woodcutter asks his daughter to bring him his meal in the forest, and to show them the way he places peas on the floor. However dwarves notice this, and change the emplacement of the pea so that their path leads to their grotto. The older girl follows the peas, and become the dwarves' slave. Then we have the Bluebeard "forbidden room" motif, and the story goes as the "Fitcher's Bird" goes, as the dwarves lure the two other sisters to their cave. The last sister sticks the feathers on her body by rolling herself in blood (presumably the blood of the dwarves' victims), and there is no resurrection of the sisters. Everybody that meets her on the way call her "geputzter Vogel". The dwarves hunt the girl down and almost catch her just as she reaches her father's house - she is so fast in closing the door that it cuts a piece of her heel. The Grimms also knew of a Dutch version of the story, translated in German, and that was identical to one of their first-editions tales, "The Murder-Castle".

The translation of the name of the "bird" always caused many problems, due to the difficulty of understanding the expression. The brothers Grimm themselves explained the name of the bird by the Icelandic "Fitfuglar", meaning "birds that swim" - as such, the girl would be called "Fitchers-Vogel" because she looks like a swan". However, other people do not agree with this etymology, some linking Fitcher with "Fitze", the thread. Rimasson-Fertin highlights that the expression "Fitchers Fitze", outside of a simple sonority game, might be two variations of the male name Fritz (the diminutive of Friedrich) - other usual diminutives were Fitze, Fitz and Fiete. The brothers Grimm noted that the motif of the blood that cannot be erased was much older than Perrault's Bluebeard - it could be found as early as the "Gesta Romanorum", where a mother who had murdered her child couldn't erase three blood-drops from her hand, forcing her to wear a glove. This story must be compared to the KHM 40, "The Robber Bridegroom".

The Juniper Tree (Von dem Machandelboom)

It is the AaTh 720 "My mother killed me, my father ate me".

Just like the tale of "The Fisherman and his wife", this story was written by the painter P. O. Runge, and the brothers Grimm used it as a model for how they should present their own fairy tales. In fact, we can note sentences almost identical between the two tales.

The brothers noted a variation of the story where the stepmother places her daughter near the pot where her brother cooks, and she forbids her from looking inside. But since the pot boils too much, the girl lifts the lid - then her brother's hand reaches out to her from the cauldron. There is yet another version noted by the Grimm where there are three children, not two, and the stepmother sends them pick up strawberries in the wood, promising an apple to whoever comes back first.

The cruelty of this fairytale earned the brothers a serious criticism from Achim von Arnim - who only tolerated such violence because it echoed the one present in Goethe's Faust. The description "red as blood, white as snow" of course echoes the tale of "Snow-White". The brothers Grimm mentionned in their notes that the juniper tree was a plant believed to have the power to bring back youth - and Rölleke noted that the juniper-tree's red berries were used in folk-magic. It seems to be a very ancient tale due to several very old motifs such as the soul returning in the shape of a bird, a resurrection out of bones, and cannibalism. This tale must be compared to "Brother Lustig", "The Singing Bone" and, of course, "The Fisherman and his wife".

Briar Rose (Dornröschen)

Of course, it is the AaTh 410 "Sleeping Beauty".

This fairytale was present as early as the 1810 manuscript, written by Jacob Grimm from a tale told by Marie Hassenpflug. Research has proven that this story is derived from Charles Perrault's own Sleeping Beauty. We also find back in the German story a motif coming from another famous French literary fairytale, madame d'Aulnoy's "The Hind in the Woods/The Doe in the Woods" (also known as the White Doe). In this story a Crayfish/Lobster fairy announces to the queen she will have a child, and later the same fairy curses the princess as she is born - and what a coincidence! In the first edition of "Briar Rose", the animal that announces the princess' birth is not a frog... but a crayfish. Proving that there is a direct link. As for the name of the princess n German, "Dornröschen", "small briar rose", it actually first appeared in the German translation of a 1730 fairytale by Anthony Hamilton (an Irish man who however spoke and wrote French), "Fleur d'épine" (Thorn flower/Briar flower) - it had been translated in 1790. Bolte and Polivka have also noted a comedy by Gryphius from 1660 whch was named "Die geliebte Dornrose", "The beloved briar rose".

In their notes about the fairytale, the Grimm brothers explicitely compare Briar Rose to the legend of Brunhild asleep behind a wall of fire, cursed into a magical slumber by Odin's "sleep-thorn" and woken up by Sigurd, the only one able to cross the wall of flames. The brothers Grimm were also aware of Basile's version of the story, "Thalia, Sun and Moon", which they compared to their own Briar Rose in their notes. The brothers were very fascinated by the consistant naming of the princess' children from Perrault (Dawn, Day) to Basile (Sun, Moon) and compared it to the occurences of "Day, Sun and Moon" as names within the Eddas. However we know that Perrault was heavily inspired by Basile's story when writing his own Sleeping Beauty, and only modified some parts so as to erase the more shocking and "unpleasant" parts (such as the married prince having sex with the sleeping girl). Of course, this story is also to be compared with the 14th century medieval tale of the Roman de Perceforest.

The wise women that appear in this story are the Germanic equivalent of the fairies. In fact, we know that the brothers Grimm carefully avoided (or erased) any mention of "Fee" (the German word for the English "fairy" and French "fée") from their tales, so as to better differentiate them from the French "fairy tales", "contes de fées". By turning the fairies into wise women making predictions at the child's birth, the Grimms notably opened an entire set of symbolism and interpretations linking them to the mythological figures of the Norns, Parcae and Moirai.

Snow White (Schneewittchen)

Of course, it is the AaTh 709 "Snow-White".

The full editing history of this tale was only "recently" recreated (the book was published in 2009, it was recent back then) in its entirety. We know that it begins in 1808 with a version collected by Ferdinand Grimm, brother of Jacob and Wilhelm, called "Schneeweibchen". It seems Ferdinand might have invented the story on his own. Wilhelm and Jacob then slowly modified it, by adding details from other collected versions, before publishing it in their first edition in 1810 (they did note at the time that it was a Lower-Germany story, and that in Upper-Germany the tale did exist but with the deformed name of "Schliwitchen". When the Grimms did their second edition, the main change they performed onto this story was the modification of the wicked mother into a wicked stepmother - something they also did for "Hansel and Gretel". In fact, from edition to edition the Grimms kept adding adjectives and expressons highlighting the opposition between the girl and the vain queen.

Th Grimms had collected several variations of the tale. One was much closer to the tale of "The Juniper Tree" and in it the queen, as she was with the king on a hunting sled, cut her finger while peeling an apple. In another variation the king and queen were walking by three mounts of snow, than went by three pools of blood, and finally saw three ravens in the sky, and each time the king wishes for a girl with the corresponding colors - soon afterward the couple encountered a little girl fitting this description. The king, immediately attached to her, takes her with him in their royal carriage, but the queen immediately hates her and tries to get rid of her - so she asks the girl to go seek a glove she threw out of the window, and while she is out of the carriage she asks the driver to leave as fast as he can. Then the little girl takes refuge at the seven dwarves' house.

The fairytale existed in German literature before the brothers Grimm published it. Indeed J. A. Musaüs had published in 1782 a fairytale called "Richilde" - and the Grimm were influenced by this tale, since in the margins of their first edition, they noted about Snow-White "It is Musaüs' Richilde". There was also a Snow-White story that had been published in 1809 in a fairytale book by A. L. Grimm (no relationship to the brothers Grimm). The Brothers Grimm did note the striking similarity between this story and the Norse pseudo-historical legend of Snäsridr, the beautiful wife of "Harald with fair hair", a wife that, when she died, stayed in her prime state so that it seemed she was still alive.

This fairy-tale has a very wide area of spreading, as it can be found from Ireland to Turkey passing by central Africa. It is especially present in the literary Italian compilations of fairytales. Basile has three variations of the story in his Pentamerone: "The raven", "Nennillo and Nennella" as well as "The she-cook".

The various virtues that Snow-White shows in this tale made her one of the big role models within the education of bourgeoisie girls in the 19th century - alongside Cinderella, of course. In fact, according to H-J Uther's analysis of the story, it is because of all her virtues that Snow-White's beauty does not fade away and stays undamaged even in death, unlike her wicked stepmother whose vices causes the fading of her charms. Finally, this fairytale is actually the proof that the brothers Grimm did not simply listed their fairytales one after the other in a random order, but deliberately created "bridges" and internal references to create a cohesive world within their book. Indeed, the mention of the snowflakes looking like feathers references "Frau Holle", while the glass coffin can be found back in, of course, "The Glass Coffin", and the blood-drops on the snow evokes "The Juniper Tree".

Rumpelstilzchen

Yes this story is the famous "Rumpelstilskin" (or Rumpelstiltskin? I never know how to write it in English). But why keep the German spelling? Because Rimasson-Fertin has some stuff to say about it: this name is the diminutive form of "Rumpelstilz", a term that Jacob Grimm defined in his "German Dictionary" as being synonymous with "poltergeist" (he noted a similarity between Poltergeist and Rumpelgeist, both designated a very loud spirit). While today "poltergeist" is mostly associated with ghosts, in a much broader way it designate a dwarf, a dead or a devil - or just any kind of phenomenon caused by witchcraft.

This story corresponds to the AaTh 500 "The name of the supernatural being". This fairytale has an interesting evolution history... Jacob Grimm had a version of it as early as 1808, named "Rumpenstünzchen", which was then slightly modified for the 1810 manuscript. This tale was actually the mix of two different versions - and one of these versions had a different ending. The queen didn't sent messengers searching for the dwarf's name, rather the king spotted the little man while returning from hunting on the third day. The Grimm also noted a variation where the initial situation was reversed: a young girl who had to spin hemp but could only manage to spin gold much to everybody's despair, and a small man appeared to promise her a wedding to a king's son in exchange for her firstborn child. It ended in such a way: the queen herself spotted the small man singing his name, jumping around a fire while riding a ladle like a horse. When she guessed his name, he flew out of the window and into the sky, riding the ladle like a witch's broom. We know that the episode of the spinning of the straw was only added by the Grimm in 1812 (it is not in the 1810 version), and that the final scene of the dwarf self-mutilating comes from a story of Lisette Wild and was added in 1819.

The first literary record of this story is a French fairytale published in 1705 and written by Mlle Marie-Jeanne L'Héritier de Villandon. It was "L'Histoire de Ricdin-Ricdon" (The Tale of Ricdin-Ricdon), published in her "La Tour ténébreuse et les jours lumineux" (The Shadowy tower and the luminous days). It had been translated in German by Johann Gottwert Müller in 1790, under the title "Straubfedern", "Ostrich feathers". As for the name "Rumpelstilzchen", it actually originates from Johann Fischart's Grman adaptation of the French "Gargantua", "Geschichtklitterung" (1584) - in it, Fischart lists various children game by name, and mentions a "Rumpele stilt oder der Poppart".

This fairytale type is very present in Western, Central and Northern Europe (British Isles and Ireland included), with also a few spottings in the Baltic countries, China and Japan. The name of the supernatural being always changes from one region or country to the next (in Swiss it is Hans-Öfeli, in Dutch Trillevip, in Swedish Titteliture, in Finnish Tuttirituli, in the Suffolk it is Tom Tit Tot, in Welsh Gnarwynathrot, in Irish it is Eve-Trot or Trit-a-Trot...). It is part of the enormous success of this tale-type: every country has to invent its own brand of nonsensical, un-guessable name. As for the rhymed song through which the dwarf betrays its name, it is found in England as "Nimmy nimmy not / My name is Tom Tit Tot", and in an Afro-American version of North Carolina "I'm so glad that she do not know / That my name is Tabutoe Tambutoe".

The brothers Grimm noted that in Germanic mythology it was typical for underground beings (aka dwarfs) to have names that are not usual among humankind, which is why, again according to them, the dwarf of this story would feel in perfect safety proposing the queen such a game. The rule according to which obtaining the name of a supernatural being means gaining a form of power over them is very common, and is even reused in another one of the Grimm stories: KHM 136, "Iron John". H. Rölleke did an analysis of the names the queen proposes at first: we have the three names of the Magi, aka the Three Wise Men, or King-Magi, which gives a Christian setting to the story, and could also serve as a metonymy for all the saint names found in the Christian calendar. As for "Heinz" and "Kunz", Rölleke sees in them the diminutives of the names of the medieval emperors Heinrich and Konrad, which used to be some of the most popular male names among German-speaking countries.

All-Kinds-of-Fur (Allerleirauh)

It corresponds to the AaTh 510B "The dresses of gold, silver and stars", also known as "Donkey Skin", after the famous Charles Perrault fairytales.

The story we read today was the one told to the Grimm by Dortchen Wild, but there was a variation of it told to the brothers by Jeannette Hassenpflug, "Princess Mouse-Skin", which was present in the 1812's edition of the volume (n°71) but was then moves to the annotations as a mere mention. The version of the story from the first draft (the 1810 manuscript) was called "Allerlei Rauch", "All Kinds of Smoke", and was heavily inspired by one of the tales present within the novel "Schilly" by Carl Nehrlich.

The line "God forbade a father from marrying his daughter. Nothing good can come from this sin which will cause the kingdom's decadence" was added in the 1819 edition, and references a tale of Albert Ludwig Grimm called "Brunnenhold und Brunnenstark". The brothers Grimm insisted even more on the condamnation of the sin of incest when rewriting the story for their "small collection" for kids, and also insisted heavily upon a political extension of such a decision, which would damage the state itself. It is actually an allussion to the failure of the Frankfort Parliament, which had been gathered in 1848 at the Paulskirche in an attempt to create a constitution for all of Germany - to which Jacob Grimm had taken part.

A variation of the story collected in Paderborn has the last coat made of all the furs of the kingdom, plus moss and various forest-related material. In this version, the heroine puts the cloak on top of her three beautiful dresses before fleeing, and she hides in an empty tree where she is discovered, not during a hunting party, but by woodsman that cut off the tree she was sleeping into, to bring wood to the king. All-Kinds-of-Fur works in the castle's kitchen but one day as she is preparing the soup, the king has her sit on his chair so she can delouse him (a motif also present in "The Devil with Three Golden Hair). As she does, the king glimpses the beautiful shining dress under the cloak's sleeve, and this is how he discovers the girl's true appearance. Another variation of the story yet, also collected in Paderborn, has the heroine pretending to be mute. One day the king hits her with a whip, it rips apart the coat, revealing the golden dress underneath.

Not all the German versions of the story include the incest motif. In Musaüs' take on the story, "Die Nymphe des Brunnens", "The Nymph of the Well", the heroine leaves her father's castle because it has been destroyed. Her godmother, an undine, gifts her a small magical box and when she leaves the ball she says "Night behind me and day before me / Might nobody see me!". As for the version of Hassenpflug, "Princess Mouse-Skin", it begins as the KHM 179, "The Goose-Girl at the Well": a king wants to know which of his three daughters love him the most, the first says she loves him more than the whole kingdom, the second more than pearls and precious stones, the third more than salt. The furious father has the last princess be sent into the woods to be killed, but the servant tasked with the execution spares her out of pity, and gives her, by her request, a coat made of mice skin. The rest of the story goes like within "All-Kinds-of-Fur", except for the final wedding, to which the father-king is invited. All the dishes served to him are without salt, and he ends up saying he prefers to die rather than continue eating without salt. The princess-daughter reveals herself and points out how he tried to had her killed for loving him more than salt. Her father begs her for forgiveness, and the tale ends with her accepting.

The motif of the incest can, however, be found back in a variation of the KHM 31 (The Girl Without Hands) that the Grimms collected, and where the father mutilates the daughter for refusing to marry him. The motif of the king trying to marry his own daughter has been attested in many, many European stories ever since the 12th century. As for the boots that are thrown in the heroine's face in the Grimm story, while in the final edition it has no follow-up, in the 1812 edition it was a recurring element forming a motif within the tale. Another German version of the story that preserved this structure that the Grimms erased is the story collected by Vernaleken, "Throw-Broom, Throw-Brush and Throw-Comb". In it the king throws out of anger at the face of the heroine (Adelaide) a broom, a brush and a comb. Every time she goes to the ball, she changes her pseudonym to fit which item hit her (one night she is "Throw-Broom", another she is "Throw-Brush", etc...). There are many, many variations of the story containing such a "name play".

Other famous examples of this variation, outside of Charles Perrault's Donkeyskin, include Straparola's "The maiden in the chest", Basile's "The She-Bear", Afanassiev's "Pig-Skin".

Jorinde and Joringel (Jorinde und Joringel)

It corresponds to the AaTH 405, named and created after this story, "Jorinde and Joringel".

The interesting thing with this story is that the brothers Grimm did not collect it from a direct source. Rather they lifted it, to the exact word, from the autobiography of Johann Heinrich Jung, "Jugend/Youth", published in 1779. The brothers deemed that the way Jung-Stilling had written the tale was the "perfect" way to tell the story, according to their definition of a fairytale. Though they did note the existence of a version of the story told in Schwalm - but which differs very little from the story of Jung-Stilling.

The brothers Grimm themselves noted a similarity between this story, and the KHM 123, "The Old Woman in the Wood". Rimasson-Fertin notes that the witch in this story is to be compared to the ones appearing in "Hansel and Gretel" and in "Little Brother and Little Sister". As for the name of the demon the witch invokes, "Zachiel", H. Rölleke identified it as a form of "Zachariel", a demon name coming from the very popular 17th century demonology grimoire "Clavicula Salomonis", "The Clavicles of Salomon".

[moreespressoformydepresso]

New ask gameeee thanks for the tag @ylvisruinedmylife and @majorsoapfan

send me an emoji and i'll write a couple sentences for the corresponding WIP, both ongoing works, things I haven’t started yet but want to, and the travesties in the making that reside in my drafts✨

Don’t question the emojis they make sense to me and me alone I fear. I tried to summarize as best as possible but while brevity is the soul of wit, I fear I am terminally stupid:

❤️‍🔥The Losing Battle(We Won’t Stop Fighting) Treech and Lamina stay together during the Hunger Games

⛲️ I Didn’t Think I’d Care (But I’m Not Letting Go) the zoo gets blown up and the kids stay with their mentors, somehow this causes the end of the games and the downfall of Gaul’s career and plans

⚜️ Ragtag Group Of Kids Separately Escape Death Through Various Increasingly Stupid Means And Wreak Havoc, More At 11 crack fic where all sorts of fix-it ideas are mashed together to create the end of Gaul’s career, the President’s dignity, and the Capitol’s ego. It’s funny to me but I am not funny so…

🐍 Vipsania’s Version: Realizations Vipsania Sickle’s POV of the events of When The Clock Stops Ticking (We’ll Be Painted Red) where Treech and Reaper meet, fall in love, and lose each other as Treech becomes the victor of the 10th Hunger Games

🕰️ Treaper: The Extended Universe Time Travel AU of When The Clock Stops Ticking (We’ll Be Painted Red) @tumblingghosts graced me with where Treech and Reaper travel back in time following the events of the 10th Hunger Games to the first time they saw each other in the train, decide that they’re not gonna suffer through this all over again and change the world through the power of teamwork and emotional manipulation

🪷 Flowers Bloom In The Ash Of Our Past Where Treech is a Jehova’s Witness and Tanner is a leather wearing social outcast in High School. One learns to open themself up to the world beyond their rigid upbringing, the other learns to not judge the person based on their beliefs, but on their actions instead. And perhaps they can both find each other in the middle

🪸 Mythical Creatures All the tributes are some kind of mythical creature and the first part of the mentorship assignment is for the mentors to earn their tribute’s trust. This forces them to learn more about the districts as a whole and makes the Capitol realize the districts all have cultures just as rich, if not more so, than the Capitol itself. The tributes get to blow up Gaul’s lab and thus the Hunger Games with it.

🦊 They Don’t Bite (Yeah They Do) The districts are all animal shapeshifters and their cuteness ends the Hunger Games. No that’s it that’s the fic it’s just cute animals ruining Gaul’s life

🧞 A Girl On A Mission And Her Anxious Genie Lamina hates life until she finds a lamp, cleans it, and gets herself a genie named Treech in return. A very cute genie who gives her three wishes a day and is curious about the human world. On her quest to get back at bullies and solve the problems that pop up in her life, she drags her new genie friend around on adventures and may just score herself a boyfriend in the process.

🖋️ Written In Ink, Printed In Gold Lamina’s a famous author who meets Treech on a boulevard where he’s trying to sell his own books because no agent will take him for totally not racist reasons. They fall in love at first nerd-session and Lamina loves his book so much she vows to get him and authors like him the attention they deserve.

🔏 The Author And The Actor Lamina’s a world-famous author working on the adaptation of her most recent work when she overrules a casting decision made by the director because she thinks Treech, who was originally rejected, perfectly captures her vision of the male lead. Her originally white male lead. The people object, Lamina rejects their objection, bing bang romance.

⚔️ Of Medics And Mercy Non-romantic WW2 AU: Treech is a young Japanese war medic sent to aid the Germans in France in the summer of 1944. Tanner (USA), Reaper (Canada), Marcus (UK), and Facet (French resistance member) are a group of allied soldiers trying to take back France. They meet in a small French town when Treech ignores his orders to retreat to help an injured Tanner.

🔮 Growing Pains Harry Potter AU where TreeMina are childhood friends. Treech is a muggleborn sorted into Slytherin and Lamina is a pureblood sorted into Hufflepuff. They grow apart, especially when Lamina’s new friend start to bully Treech for being in the “bad house” and her attempts to remain ‘neutral’ push him away further and further. Years later, she realizes just how far apart they’ve grown and just how deep her love for him runs, but is it too late to fix things?

❄️ Charmed To Meet You Lamina, a Gryffindor whose friend group is known at Hogwarts for fighting a new evil each year, is trying to find a solution for an obstacle on their latest adventure when she stumbles across Treech. A Ravenclaw (in)famous for playing around with magic of all kinds purely out of curiosity for what might happen and occasionally inventing new spells/potions in the process. When he offers to help her in hopes of learning something new, he not only becomes a valuable part of the team by creating a new spell for them, but also possibly Lamina’s date to the Winter Ball…

♈️ Heavens Know What Earth Must Learn

The Districts all have Zodiac-related magic, but they can only use it when summoned by someone who has their Rune, an object that acts as the key to temporarily activating one’s magic. Whoever holds the Rune can force the person tied to it to do as the holder pleases. When the Districts lost the war, they were forced to give their magic item to a Capitol citizen once they’re old enough to use that magic. The mentors come in possession of the Runes of their canon tributes (no games in this universe though) they learn how cruel Capitol citizens can be and begin to realize the flaws in the system, slowly rallying the people behind them and overthrowing the government.

I’m going to tag @persephoneprice, @tumblingghosts and @cleverqueencommander (I’m gonna post about Descendants again soon I promise I’m just still trying to recover from The Rise Of Red) I am very sorry if you’ve been tagged already

[tiva-challenges]

The September challenge is getting close! ❤️ We're very excited to dive into such a special TIVA episode. 🎶 "Like we were in Paris"...

Are you struggling to come up with fic ideas? We have prompt suggestions and ways you could explore this! Have fun with it!

🛏️ "The One-Bed trope"

By the end of the episode, the audience realizes both Tony and Ziva lied about who took the couch. But what really happened? Did they fight to get the one bed? Or did they silently agree to it? Was it funny or vulnerable? We'd love to know!

✈️ "The Before-Sunrise trope"

Having to stay the night in France to escort their witness the next day, the audience realizes both Tony and Ziva spent a whole night alone in Paris. What did they talk about? Did they see any sights? What changed them? Romance in the city of love!

🥐 "The Casablanca trope"

Only one night? Scrap that! What would happen if Tony and Ziva had more time in Paris, now knowing they couldn't live without each other? La Marseillaise plays in the background... And Rick and Isla stay together in our version 😌 Change the story!

🔥 "The Forced-Proximity trope"

So, there's only one room available and only one bed... And could you please not sleep shirtless? Why are your pajamas so flimsy in the middle of the European winter? And... is that your hand under the covers? We like heat! Write about it ;)

🦴 "The Skeletons-In-Our-Closets trope"

Jet Lag 7x13 happens right after Tony and Ziva overcome what happened in 7x01 in Somalia. But is everything truly resolved? These are complex, I-can't-talk-about-it characters. They can't help but worry about each other. Make them talk!

💌 "The Elizabeth-Bennet trope"

We discover later in the series that Ziva has a habit of writing about a lot of canon events in her diaries. There surely must have been an entry about Paris in them, must have not? What was she thinking during their stay there? Be her outlet!

🛵 "The Back-To-The-Future trope"

Discuss Paris. Tony has an entry on his bucket list that we never got to see: why would he need to later discuss it with Ziva? In Paris, it's difficult not to be in love. Well, now's the time! Be their genie inside the lamp, grant him this wish!

📸 "The Family-Heirloom trope"

Years later, Tali may ask about what that Ziva in Paris photo meant. We know it was Tony's favorite picture—the only one with someone in it. But what about the others? What memories do they guard? Tell Tali the secrets Tony and Ziva still hold dearly!

more information about the September TIVA fic writing challenge is in our pinned post! have fun with it ❤️

[jadedandconfusedao3]

And Then Make The Sucker Disappear

Draco was so angry that he didn’t know what to say or what to think. The sight of Hermione getting close to that evil creature filled him with fury. He knew it was jealousy and he knew he had overreacted, but he couldn’t help how he felt.

“That was hardly necessary,” Varek commented after she left.

The sadistic genie was leaning nonchalantly against his dresser. Draco hated the very sight of him. He was a physical reminder of everything Draco had done.

He picked out clothes and stalked into the shower. His parents were expecting him for brunch out in the main dining room and his father would give him hell if he was late. Sighing, Draco recalled the last interaction they’d had. The man had thrown him against a wall and threatened to rape his former wife. He was at least thankful Astoria had been saved from that.

This version of his father wouldn’t remember that altercation but there were plenty of other instances where he had done similarly monstrous things. Draco stepped under the warm water and banged his head against the tile. His mother should have left years ago, but she loved the man, however ill-advised that feeling was.

When he finished bathing, Varek was still in his room, looking bored.

“Would you fuck off already?” Draco hissed.

Varek’s eyes flashed. “Would Master Malfoy like me to make myself invisible?”

Draco stalked out the door. “I don’t give a shit.”

By the time he made his way down to the dining room his mother and father were already seated. From an outsider’s point of view, he was sure it must look like a sweet domestic scene. However, he could tell, from the red in his mother’s eyes and the way his father tapped his finger on the tablecloth that there was something sinister underneath the surface.

His parents were both still very attractive people. Narcissa looked like she had barely aged. Her face was youthful, a true testament to the longer lives of wizarding folk. The only indication she was not as young as she seemed was the slight hint of grey at her temples. His father, on the other, hand had settled into his looks. Rather than turning grey, his hair had lost colour all together, turning pure white. His face had simply grown more chiselled and severe as time passed.

“Good morning,” Draco greeted politely.

Narcissa smiled and Draco’s heart melted. No one could deny his mother’s love when she looked at him like that. It was like he was the centre of the world. A fact he firmly believed his father hated and for which he had been torturing Draco his entire life.

“Good morning, darling,” she crooned as she stood and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Good morning, Draco,” his father said gruffly from his seat.

As Draco circled around to take the spare chair, the man took another sip of his tea. Draco lowered himself and his mother poured him a cup of the Berlingot Alizes winds Tea that she imported from France. Mipsy popped into existence beside him and clicked her fingers, making the breakfast dishes appear on the table.

“Thank you, Mipsy,” Draco murmured.

His father glared at him as Mipsy handed him his napkin. The man had never approved of Draco’s treatment of the elves.

“Mipsy dropped the Miss off exactly as you requested, Master.” The little elf chirped. “I also checked that she got inside safely.”

Lucius stilled and Draco grimaced. “Thank you, Mipsy. You may go.”

“I thought I felt an aberration in the wards last night.” His father grated out. “It had not occurred to me to check whether that person had left. Really, Draco? Random one-night stands? At your age?”

Draco cleared his throat. “That matter was conducted discretely.”

Draco briefly wondered how many people had seen he and Granger making out in the park. He was reasonably sure no one had been there. Though he admitted he had been slightly distracted. Regardless, the lie will serve for now.

“Draco,” his mother cajoled. “We just want to see you happy, sweetheart. It’s been years.” She hesitated for a moment before continuing. “My friend Esme is visiting at the moment. You remember her daughter, Celine?”

Draco heart clenched. Celine was a lovely girl. She really was. Pretty and poised and everything a pureblood scion should want in a wife. Exactly like Astoria had been.

“Mother – I –”

“Excellent choice,” Lucius interrupted. “The Auvergne Family are a proud and noble French line. She is related to their current King.”

“I don’t need any help finding a wife, Father,” Draco objected.

Lucius slammed his cutlery down on the table. “If you didn’t need any help you’d be married by now.” He glared at Draco. “You will meet Celine and you will make a good impression. The Malfoy line need an heir, Draco.”

“Yes, Father.” Draco, grit his teeth. “When will I be meeting with her?”

His mother flashed him a grateful smile. “I’ll set it up for this afternoon.”

“Peachy,” Draco grumbled as he stabbed his eggs.

Read the rest on Ao3.

[queenofquestions]

Off Menu Tag

So the brilliant @the-eclectic-wonderer tagged me in this game and I'm just going to apologize to @valentinaonthemoon right now because I'm going to 100% misinterpret the point of this game.

The thing is, I got this this morning and I was thinking about my favorite foods and they just don't go together at all! Like my favorite dish is probably a Thai yellow curry but my favorite drink is definitely a root beer float and so on. But together, like yuck! So I was really really stuck.

But then I remembered this is a genie and they have magic and I actually do have a list of foods I desperately want to eat and will never ever get the change to have. So without further ado...

You're in your dream restaurant and a genie waiter is ready to take your meal order:

Where does my dream meal take place: late Cretaceous North America, about 66 mya on the day the asteroid kills the dinosaurs. Because I'd get to see dinosaurs and then I'd get to see a brilliant falling star and then an explosion and then the sky would look like it had caught on fire due to all the debris shot up into the atmosphere and burning up.

Still or sparkling water: still. I don't really get the whole sparkling water thing tbh.

Poppadoms or Bread: if these are my only choices probably bread especially if I can have it with jam. But if I can choose anything of this type, chips and salsa and guac because I just got back home from France and I have been craving it so much.

Dream Starter: This is where I'm going to go off the deep end and say a like Spanish tortilla style omelet made out of elephant bird eggs because I really want to know what those taste like. They're so big!!!

Dream Main Course: easy. Velociraptor meat. I want to settle one of the most pressing paleontology questions of all time: did dinosaurs taste like chicken?

Dream Side Dish: Follow me on a detour out of bird/dinosaur land and into the world of archaeology. I desperately want to try some plant dishes from the Eastern Agricultural Complex. There's archaeological evidence that the people in the American Midwest had domesticated plants like sunflower, marsh elder, squash and goosefoot (a chenopod like quinoa) before the arrival of maize from Central America. The domesticated versions of these plants are completely lost and I'm desperate to try a dish made out of them.

Dream Drink: I have no idea. Mammoth milk?

Dream Dessert: Now, because I'm pretty sure none of the stuff on my list actually tastes very good I'm going to go ahead and choose something actually tasty to help get the taste of dead dinosaur out of my mouth. My favorite dessert is lemonade cake. It's a confetti cake that has been soaked in condensed lemonade. It's sickeningly sweet, super sour, and topped with an incredibly large amount of whipped cream :)

Tagging, absolutely no pressure: I'm thinking @herbirdglitter cause you always like the archaeology stuff and @val-bespoke because you know I love talking to you about foods which foods we can't possibly believe the other person hasn't tried

[plif-0465]

bonjour a vous moi sui sde st genis de saintonge route de bordeaux

Salut tu est de quel ville je suis en France et je suis à Niort près de la Rochelle

[donaruz]

Sono passati 30 anni da quel 5 aprile del 1994, quando Kurt Cobain, leader del gruppo Nirvana, si suicidò con un fucile calibro 20 compratogli dall’amico Dylan Carlson, il frontman degli Earth.

Il corpo verrà ritrovato solo l’8 aprile dall’elettricista Gary Smith presso il garage della casa di Seattle sul lago Washington. "

Accanto al corpo, una scatola contenente droga, un cucchiaio, aghi, sigarette e un paio di occhiali da sole, così come hanno rivelato alcune immagini scattate dopo il ritrovamento del corpo e rese note alcuni giorni fa. Poco sangue, quasi nulla, e una lettera indirizzata alla moglie Courtney Love e alla figlia Frances Bean.

Il leader dei Nirvana, da molti considerato il vero padre del grunge, è morto come aveva vissuto, stordito dai farmaci e dalla droga, imprigionato - le parole sono le sue - nella paura di vivere e “avverso al genere umano”, a tal punto da non avere più “nessuna emozione”. “It’s better to burn out then to fade away (E’ meglio bruciare in fretta che spegnersi lentamente)”, scrive Cobain nel suo commiato, citando Neil Young (che oggi dice: “Se avessi avuto la possibilità di parlare con lui gli avrei detto di mollare tutto, di fare altre cose, di allontanarsi da quel mondo”).

L’inizio - letterale - della sua fine ha una data ben precisa. Due mesi prima del suicidio, il 3 marzo, in una suite dell’hotel Excelsior in via Veneto a Roma, Cobain andò in overdose. Con lui c’erano la moglie e la figlia, nella capitale per trascorrere qualche giorno di relax dopo l’ultimo concerto del tour europeo dei Nirvana, a Monaco. Già in quella occasione molti parlarono di tentato suicidio. Ricoverato al Policlinico Umberto I, Cobain fu poi trasferito all’American Hospital, prima di tornare negli States.

Le settimane successive furono un lungo preludio alla fine annunciata. Depressione, droga, molta droga, tranquillanti, e nessuna voglia di vedere la luce del sole. L’uomo simbolo del grunge aveva semplicemente scelto di morire. Da solo. Un altro nome nella macabra lista del ‘Club 27’, che allora contava, fra gli altri, anche Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix e Brian Jones, tutti geni della musica morti tragicamente a 27 anni. A loro, il 23 luglio 2011, si è unita anche Amy Winehouse.

[church-history]

The  12th c. Templar Chapel of Cressac Saint-Genis

South of Angoulême, in France, lies the small chapel of Cressac Saint-Genis built in the 12th century by the Order of the Temple, more commonly know in modern day as the Knights Templar.

On the north wall of the chapel, are still visible two "friezes" about one meter high each, one above the other, which tell of the events following the second crusade (1147).

The upper register of the north wall recounts the victory won in 1163 by the Crusaders at al-Buqaia, at the foot of the famous fortress called Krak des Chevaliers. The lower register, a little later, represents an exchange of prisoners on the occasion of a truce.

This beautiful little chapel that has survived religious wars, a revolution, and two world wars, is one of but few existing intact examples of Templar architecture and artwork with very rare depictions of the knights themselves among others in the vibrant frescos.

[the-greatwar]

Reginald, known as Reggie, was the eldest son of William (Bill) Stenning and his wife Emily

Stenning nee Gander. He was born in late 1891 and baptised here on 01/11/1891. His father was a

gardener and the family lived at Treeps Cottage. He is listed at home on both the 1901 and 1911

censuses when he was a baker’s assistant.

Reggie’s papers have recently been digitised but form part of the ‘burnt documents’ severely

damaged in an incendiary attack on the repository during WW2. Reggie’s papers are missing large

sections. It is possible to work out that he joined the 1/1st Sussex (Fortress) Reserve of the Royal

Engineers as a sapper on 16/11/1914 and was numbered T224, the ‘T’ indicating this was a Territorial

unit. This unit was based in Newhaven and their role was local defence. As the dangers of invasion

receded six engineer units formed the 1/1st Sussex Army Troops Company, RE. With their specialist

knowledge they left England on board the Empress of India arriving at Le Havre on 20/03/1915

joining the British Expeditionary Force at Etaples. At some point Reginald was raised to Lance

Corporal and, although the date cannot be read, it is most likely to have been before he entered

France. The Company was employed building accommodation for the arriving troops and hospitals

and roads around Etaples. They were moved to Vimy Ridge in May of 1916. Here their role was to

extend the deep dugout and tunnel systems under the ridge. One of their innovations was to construct

a ropeway slung from the roof to carry the spoil out to the surface. This system was later adopted by

other units. They also built concrete machine gun positions, and if that were not enough, some of

them, reportedly, helped the local farmers with their harvest.

In late 1916 a reorganisation of troop numbering of the Territorial Forces was undertaken. Six figure

numbers were allocated and the Sussex Fortress men were given numbers starting at 545001 on 01/

02/1917. Reggie was renumbered 545119. Just two days before this Reggie was hit in the leg by a

shell splinter. He was taken to 45 Casualty Clearing Station based at ‘Edgehill’ near Dernancourt but

died the following day. He is buried in the Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension in grave IV.

H. 8. He is remembered on both local war memorials.

Grave B102 in the South Avenue Cemetery holds a member of the Stenning family. In 1920 an Act of

Remembrance laid flowers on the graves of all servicemen who had died. Reginald is mentioned in

the newspaper article and it is possible that flowers were laid here. There is no stone.

Reginald, bekend als Reggie, was de oudste zoon van William (Bill) Stenning en zijn vrouw Emily Stenning - Gander. Hij werd eind 1891 geboren en gedoopt op 01/11/1891. Zijn vader was een tuinman en het gezin woonde in Treeps Cottage. Hij staat vermeld op zowel de 1901 als de 1911 gehouden volkstellingen toen hij bakkersknecht was. Reggie's papieren zijn onlangs gedigitaliseerd, maar zijn ernstig beschadigd bij een brandbomaanval op de opslagplaats tijdens WO2. Van Reggie's papieren ontbreken groot gedeelten. Het is mogelijk om eruit op te maken dat hij zich aansloot bij de 1/1st Sussex (Fortress) Reserve van de Royal Genie als sappeur op 16/11/1914 en was genummerd T224, de 'T' gaf aan dat dit een Territorial eenheid was. Deze eenheid was gestationeerd in Newhaven en hun rol was vooral lokale verdediging. Toen de gevaren van een invasie afnamen werden zes genie-eenheden gevormd in de 1/1st Sussex Army Troops Company, RE. Ze verlieten Engeland aan boord van de Empress of India, waar ze op 20/03/1915 in Le Havre aankwamen en zich aansluiten bij de British Expeditionary Force in Etaples. Op een gegeven moment werd Reginald gepromoveerd tot Lance Korporaal en, hoewel de datum niet kan worden achterhaald, is het zeer waarschijnlijk dat het was voordat hij Frankrijk binnenkwam. De compagnie werd ingezet voor het bouwen van accommodatie voor de aankomende troepen en ziekenhuizen en wegen rond Etaples. Ze werden in mei 1916 verplaatst naar Vimy Ridge. Hier was het hun taak om diepe dug-outs en tunnelsystemen onder de heuveltoppen te graven. Een van hun innovaties was het bouwen van een kabelbaan die vanaf het dak wordt gebruikt om de specie naar de oppervlakte te brengen. Dit systeem werd later overgenomen door andere eenheden. Ze bouwden ook betonnen mitrailleurstellingen, en alsof dat nog niet genoeg was, naar verluidt hielpen ze de lokale boeren met hun oogst. Eind 1916 werd een reorganisatie van de troepennummering van de Territoriale Strijdkrachten ondernomen. Zes nummers werden toegewezen en de mannen van Sussex Fortress kregen nummers vanaf 545001 op 01/ 02/1917. Reggie werd omgenummerd tot 545119. Slechts twee dagen eerder werd Reggie in zijn been geraakt door een granaatsplinter. Hij werd naar 45 Casualty Clearing Station gebracht, gestationeerd in 'Edgehill' bij Dernancourt, maar overleed de volgende dag. Hij ligt begraven op de Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension in graf IV. H. 8. Hij wordt herdacht op beide lokale oorlogsmonumenten. In 1920 werd in het kader van de herdenking bloemen op de graven van alle gesneuvelde militairen gelegd. Reginald wordt genoemd in het krantenartikel, gewijd aan deze herdenking.

[james-vi-stan-blog]

This is how Sky tv describes James and George‘s characters:

George:

George begins the series as a naïve romantic, largely protected from the true horrors of the world by his formidable mother. Mary holds a tense but uneasy hold over George as she masterminds his pursuit of the King. But as George grows in power, his relationship with Mary will be pushed to the very limits. George must prove to himself that he can be defined by more than just his beauty. He must make his mark on history, no matter the consequences.

James:

Capricious and unpredictable, James is never happier than when he's either drinking, hunting, feasting, or fucking. Being King is a burden for James. Though, when he cares to show it, he can be a shrewd political operator. But James’ desire to be loved makes him happy to put himself in the power of ambitious and beautiful young men, where he risks the danger of being exploited by tyrannical lovers.

———

So here’s my take on this. From what I gather from these vague descriptions is that George is more the victim of his mother than anyone else’s. He‘s described to be this naive romantic boy in the beginning who does basically everything his mother tells him to do. I think it’s going to be very interesting to see his reaction when his mother tells him of her plans to make him seduce the king. Will he agree to the plan immediately? Will he have doubts and concerns? I think that’s where we determine how much of a victim he really is.

As for James it seems like they’re going for the wanting to be loved scenario instead of just having uncontrollable lust, which I‘m really happy about. This explains why he let his favorites and especially George get away with so much. It also humanises his character and makes him much more sympathetic knowing his hard childhood. I hope we get a scene of him telling George about his past. But yeah I have a hard time believing he‘ll be abusive towards George. At least not physically.

I‘m sorry this turned out to be so long, but I love discussing these people so much.

———

This is Mary Villier‘s character description if you’re interested:

Julianne will be stepping into the shoes of the ambitious Mary Villers, Countess of Buckingham - the woman who would rise to great prominence through her son’s relationship with King James I. Having spent years of her life shackled to her cruel and abusive husband, Mary sees her long-awaited opportunity by pinning the family’s hopes on her second son, George, as she begins to mastermind their ascendency to becoming the most powerful family in England.

Always the smartest person in the room, Mary has never been able to realise her full potential. She is prepared to crush all opposition. She is not easily frightened or threatened by the English establishment who think they can get the better of her.

Thank you for this! (but also wow, so many questions and concerns I had could be addressed by just getting off my ass and readin' the darned website😂)

I think these depictions all sound reasonable. I think starting George as naive works for the story (I wouldn't necessarily assume he was, after finishing in France, but his engagement to Ann Aston could be read that way). It will be entertaining to watch "wide-eyed innocent corrupted by the decadent court" in a reverse of the typical gender assignments. However, I would find it more interesting if George's own ambitions come into play early, and he has more autonomy than simply being his mother's pawn. He is, after all, a man!

Also George "wanting to leave his mark on history" -- pre-emptive oof because when he was tested, he was proven horribly incompetent. (Some failures were not his fault, and he did have some successes. However, I would hate for the show to try to shift fault off George entirely. He was wildly arrogant, a megalomanical fool, and that doesn't need sugarcoating.)

Love-driven James is IMO more historically correct and more entertaining, more potential for tragedy and also showing the genius of George's approach to him. So I'm glad they'll go with that.

overly cautious tw for age difference/csa, etc.

One can guess from this text that Robert Carr is gonna get painted as a "tyrannical lover", which is certainly what James felt him to be at the end. But, I hope that Robert doesn't get too harsh a villain treatment in order to make George more sympathetic. Robert was somewhere 17-21 when he first gained James's attention, younger than George. He also was not nobly born (though he came from more influence than George). It is likely Robert and his friend Thomas Overbury had been trying to rise in position and favor when Robert had his lucky break (ha) in 1607, but still, this is another young man pushed and pulled by factional currents. Robert's downfall is partially his own fault (my impression of him is, uh, that he was not very bright) but also due to the manipulation of the Howard family.

So I mean, who's the victim, who's the abuser? It's all fucked up! There are degrees of gray, and some people are less awful than others. Like, Katherine, George's wife, is believed largely innocent of the scheming of Mary, etc. But anyone who held and exerted power in this period used it to push down and exploit others to get what they wanted. That's how these people got the significance that put them in the history books.

And Mary is doing all this shameless backdoor scheming because... she's a woman! She can't get a job! She can't hold a political position in her own right! What she has at her disposal is a handsome and charming son, and she uses that to benefit not just herself, but her other sons (who were terrible) and her daughter (reasonably not-terrible). She's doing fucked-up stuff, but that stuff is produced by the conditions of patriarchy and social stratification in the period.

Grading each individual character's victimness versus abuserness is just not that interesting to me, compared to exploring how their circumstances affect their psychology, their desires and suffering, and how they try to cope. As well as exploring our real-life queer history which, like all our history, is ugly and soaked in blood, and yet also is the story of real people trying to find fulfillment given their circumstances.