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itsfarrah · 7 months ago

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|Chapter 5|

As the first blush of dawn tinged the sky, Farrah awoke, her spirits buoyed by the remnants of a whimsical dream featuring the Dashwoods at Sir John Middleton’s party. In her slumber, she had seen them engaged in a merry, if somewhat absurd, dance involving three-legged races and copious amounts of laughter. The incongruity of the vision brought a smile to her face as she sat up in bed, the sheets pooling around her.

She moved to her vanity, the morning light casting gentle illuminations across the room, and began to brush her hair. Her thoughts, unbidden, wandered to the forthcoming party, and the notion of a gentleman seeking her company caused her cheeks to bloom with color. She quickly dismissed these fancies with a shake of her head, laughing softly at her own silliness.

Her musings were abruptly interrupted as Margaret burst through the door, brimming with excitement. “Farrah, make haste! Breakfast awaits, and we mustn't tarry if we are to ready ourselves for the party!” Grabbing Farrah’s hand, Margaret pulled her toward the dining room where the scent of a warm meal filled the air.

At the breakfast table, Marianne and Mrs. Dashwood were already deep in conversation about the evening’s prospects, their voices a blend of excitement and eager anticipation. Elinor, ever the practical sister, was at the stove, flipping what appeared to be pancakes. She looked over her shoulder, her eyes twinkling as she teased Marianne and their mother, “Perhaps today we shall finally see our dear Marianne swept off her feet!”

The table burst into laughter, the joyous sound mingling with the clink of cutlery and dishes. As they ate, the conversation naturally drifted back to the party, each sharing their hopes and slight anxieties about the evening.

After breakfast, Farrah excused herself to prepare for the party. She took a leisurely bath, allowing the warmth to soothe her nerves. Once dried and dressed, she stood before the mirror. The gown she chose was reminiscent of the one worn by Pauline Bonaparte in the painting by Robert Lefèvre—elegant and striking with hues of blue, white, and gold, its design subtly challenging the typical English fashion with a dash of American boldness.

Her hair was styled in a loose bun with curls softly framing her face, enhancing her natural beauty without ostentation. A light touch of makeup and a pair of matching silk gloves completed her ensemble. She descended the stairs, her gown whispering against the steps.

The Dashwood family ceased their chatter, momentarily struck by Farrah’s appearance. Regaining their composure, they showered her with compliments, to which Farrah responded with modest demurs, deflecting the praise back onto them.Observing the faint blush coloring Farrah's cheeks, Mrs. Dashwood briskly gathered us all and ushered us into the carriage.

As the carriage wheels crunched the gravel beneath them, the conversation inside turned, at the behest of Mrs. Dashwood, to Colonel Brandon, the very mention of whom seemed to carry a certain weight of respect and intrigue.

“He is quite a sight, you know,” Marianne began, her eyes alight with the vividness of her description. “Tall, with an air of quiet strength, and his countenance—oh, it speaks of depth and the kind of handsome maturity one reads about in novels.”

“Not to mention his intellect and his admirable service in the army,” Elinor added, her tone reflecting both admiration and a hint of melancholy for the man’s past trials. “He has just returned from a strenuous deployment in the West Indies and Australia. It must have been quite taxing.”

Mrs. Dashwood nodded, her expression turning somber as she delved deeper into his history. “Poor soul, he has indeed been unlucky in love. Years ago, he was quite taken with a young woman named Eliza, a beauty of gentle disposition whom he intended to marry. But alas, fate was not kind. She was compelled to wed Colonel Brandon’s elder brother, a match of convenience that broke more than one heart.”

Marianne sighed, her romantic sensibilities clearly piqued. “And after his brother passed away, Eliza left him, vanishing from his life forever. One cannot help but feel for him; such misfortune in love is a cruel burden.”

“The poor man,” Elinor murmured, shaking her head. “It seems unjust that someone so deserving of happiness should be so thoroughly cursed by love’s caprices.”

The carriage fell into a brief silence, each lost in contemplation of Colonel Brandon’s plight, until Mrs. Dashwood, ever the matchmaker, brightened and said, “Perhaps, Farrah, someone fresh from different shores could change his luck. You are both new beginnings in your own right.”

Farrah, caught between amusement and bashfulness, managed a laugh. “Oh, Mrs. Dashwood, a distinguished man like him would hardly find what he needs in an American orphan like me.”

Their light-hearted banter filled the carriage as it rolled towards the Middleton estate, where the evening’s festivities awaited, and where, unbeknownst to Farrah, her fate might intertwine with the very man they discussed with such fervor.

Arriving at the party, they were greeted by the sound of laughter and music, the estate bustling with guests and festivity. As they alighted from the carriage, Farrah took a deep breath, steeling herself for the evening ahead, filled with both excitement and a hint of trepidation about the possibilities the night might hold.

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Colonel Brandon awoke with a rare sense of tranquility that morning, the remnants of a pleasing dream lingering in his mind—a dream filled with laughter and light, a stark contrast to the last arduous eight months. It was a luxury to wake naturally, without the harsh summons of duty or the jarring sounds of a military encampment, and he savored the unfamiliar indulgence of arising late.

After dressing in simple attire, he descended to partake of a modest breakfast, enjoying the quietude that only a morning at one's own pace could offer. With a light meal concluded, Brandon donned his hat and strolled into his well-tended garden. The air was crisp, the garden lush with the bounty of late summer. He carefully selected an assortment of ripe fruits and crisp vegetables, envisioning them as a thoughtful offering to the Middletons. His next choice was a fine bottle of wine from his cellar—a vintage that had matured as gracefully as he hoped his own years were unfolding.

Once his gifts were prepared and set aside, Brandon retreated to the sanctuary of his personal quarters for a soothing bath. The warm water was a balm to his weary body, and he took his time shaving, ensuring his appearance was as meticulously tended as his estate. Clad in the outfit he had selected the night before he examined his reflection. The mirror showed a man marked by recent trials yet carrying himself with an enduring hope that perhaps, at today’s gathering, new joys might begin to soften the old scars.

Mounting his horse, Colonel Brandon felt a stirring of anticipation. The ride to the Middleton estate was brisk and invigorating, bolstering his spirits further. As he approached the familiar grounds, his thoughts were optimistic, tinted with a cautious excitement about the impending social gathering. This day, he mused, might yet hold more promise than any dream could foretell.

#alan rickman #colonel brandon #new writers corner #new writter #sense and sensibility #original character #love #romance

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houseofbrat · 6 months ago

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I love Google Translate...

Kate Middleton 's life is at a crossroads marked by illness and loneliness. As she faces a tough battle with cancer, she finds herself increasingly isolated in her home, with the responsibility of caring for her three children falling solely on her shoulders. On the other hand, Prince William , her husband, seems to maintain a parallel life that is far from the supportive public image that he tries to project. In his first public engagement following the announcement of Kate 's cancer diagnosis , Prince William attempted to show a caring and caring side. During a visit to Surplus to Supper, a charity in Surrey, the prince interacted with staff and received cards of well wishes for his wife and his father, King Charles III, both affected by the disease. In an emotional moment, Guillermo promised to take care of Kate, showing an image of commitment and support. A public commitment, a hidden reality However, sources close to the couple paint a very different reality. Behind this façade of marital support, the marriage between Kate and William appears to be going through serious difficulties. Guillermo apparently shows little interest in his wife's health, delegating all medical responsibilities to staff available 24 hours a day. Meanwhile, he continues to enjoy an active social life, attending parties and nights out with friends and "special friends." Among his regular company is Rose Hanbury, a woman who rumors indicate has been his lover for more than five years. This double life of Guillermo contradicts his promise to look after Kate, who is fighting a devastating illness and needs the support of her partner more than ever. Kate Middleton's loneliness: a heartbreaking reality Kate Middleton's isolation is palpable. During the weekends, while William is away to enjoy his social life, Kate is left alone at home with her three children . This time, which should be rest and family support, becomes a period of loneliness and total responsibility for the princess. At her home, Kate takes refuge in the love of her children, but the lack of marital support aggravates her emotional and physical situation in these difficult times.

The situation is a reflection of a significant gap in their marriage, where the public image of a united couple contrasts drastically with the private reality of disunity and lack of commitment. Kate Middleton, who has always been a figure admired and respected by the British public , faces not only a fight against cancer, but also the loneliness and disappointment of a marriage that seems to be breaking down. Kate and Guillermo's situation has implications that go beyond the personal. The mere suggestion of a divorce would be a monumental blow to the British monarchy. Kate Middleton has managed to win the love and admiration of the British people, evoking the popularity of the late Princess Diana. A divorce could unleash an image crisis for the British Royal Family, generating an incalculable political and social impact.

#my gif #spain #media #british royal family #rumors...conjecture #William The Terrible #William The Weak #William The Prince of OWN GOALS #prince william #William The Prince of Wales #kate middleton #Catherine The Princess of Wales #Wales fandom ARMAGEDDON

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fortunefms · 7 months ago

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𓏲 * ( cis woman, she/her ) ⸺ pictures of eleanor louisa middleton, the forty year old artist/business partner, have been showing up all over my feed, and considering the last time they were #trending, it was due to someone making a plagiarism claim — i’m not likely to unfollow anytime soon. with their an erdem white cotton maxi dress with black paint splattered loafers, they’ve managed to garner a reputation for being more compassionate than erratic. their critics say that they’re more delusional than creative when they aren’t too busy focusing on their paint splattered loafers, trying to master technology and frantically double messaging people. reputation.com has taken to calling them alice in wonderland in order to avoid a lawsuit ( again ).

triggers: death, adoption, mental illness

eleanor was born to a single mother. she was never planned and was indeed a strain on the household. her mother hid her pregnancy with her until she went into labor and told her parents. it was a disaster and continued to be when el was born. none of it was her fault but her mother was already suffering from mental illness, something that wasn’t helped by the judgemental people around her. then suddenly, the woman was gone in an accident - eleanor's own family didn't want her. she would scream for her mother, for anyone but they wouldn't come.

at the age of five, she was adopted by the daughter of edward astor middleton, a known billionaire . money prevailed in getting the woman what she wanted, a child when she was a single and vile person that would say and do anything to get one. when unable to conceive herself, she looked towards adoption and the process was much quicker taking a five year old, plus, she skipped out baby night feeding so it was of no concern to her.

it took her a while to get settled but with edward’s help, eleanor managed. she always felt a bit out of place with her peers; she didn’t catch onto jokes that fast nor did she necessarily care about designer things or status. she was labelled as odd and that’s how it stayed. she loved singing, mainly to herself and also art. that was her happy place along with being with people - even if they didn’t understand her, she still found the positives to enjoy it. her grandfather was very supportive with whatever she wanted but she never once asked for anything apart from ‘dinners and dance parties’. in the absence of her mother's caring, edward was the one to make her feel like she was exactly where she needed to be, even be quick to put her into therapy, not because she was broken but because she needed that external support where she could be honest. el was always grateful, always reminded that she got lucky with the life by her mother and edward took that pressure off. the whole world probably had some opinion on the billionaire but he was perfect to her.

when she was in her teen years, she worked as a model for her mother’s cosmetic company. without realising it, el was responsible for her mother’s success because it made the woman branch out into new foundation shades - it wasn’t perfect but it was a step in the right direction and her mother was applauded whilst felicity became the face of the entire company - not just the face but the name of astoria cosmetics. you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing her face. it did cause controversy with her being young, as well as eleanor receiving hate for how she looked but it got people talking.

it was a lot of pressure to put on her but she was agreeable in nature and never wanted to upset her mother so never said anything. she fell into her art work as a way to process emotions and things she cared about . through connections, she did manage to get a place at nyu but she’d crumble and pull out only a few months in. it was mainly sitting in her studio, headphones on being in a completely different world while she created and that was and continues to be her happy place.

the news that her grandfather was ill and he wasn’t going to get better hit eleanor the hardest. he was the one person who she felt understood her, the one that tied her to a lot of things and made her feel loved. impulsive and intense behaviour came from her during this time, that was in her second month at university. living in denial was a hard place to be as her mental health deteriorated quickly - el's mother wasn’t the talkative type and every time she tried to accept reality and try to talk about her feelings with the woman, she’d be shut down and thrown into a schedule. she’d dropped out and hadn’t told her mother - being dishonest was not her thing...

she had a breakdown at a photoshoot. the photographer was quick to intervene and attempted to comfort her until they could get her somewhere safe. a day after, she was hospitalised but her mother wanted to get her out quickly to 'salvage their reputation'. the entire ordeal upset her.. it was just her and her mother and although she felt broken, she needed to be there to comfort her mom because she could see that the woman was struggling - it was hindering them both that she still didn’t want to talk about it.

the reading of edward middleton’s will was a big event. eleanor wasn’t expecting to get anything as he’d given her more than enough love to make up for the lack in her life. it was a great surprise to everyone, including her, when edward left everything to her. overwhelmed didn’t even cover it. his savings, current bank account, shares in his company, property... everything. she was so confused as to why and did feel sorry for her mother but she didn’t even have time to think about what she wanted to do with the billions (tabloids will say millions which is half-true because they underestimate the situation) before the woman that she called mother would be filing to court to try get it revoked and passed to her.

eleanor did not want to fight with her mother. the woman didn’t even tell her about it, a lawyer made her aware that her mother wanted to take it from her and was bringing her sanity into question. despite her mental illness, the ordeal was ruled in her favour but winning against her own mother didn't feel like a win at all. she'd dropped out of university but had the luxury of focusing on her artwork as she had the privilege to do so. all it took was one person to come into her studio and the rest was history. eleanor was always humble, never flaunting her wealth in people's face (not for the most part, anyways). when she did, it was because she wasn't that self aware to recognise she was doing it.

she managed to keep herself steady for a while. her medication and therapy was working, she felt comfortable, her artwork was being admired and sold for $$$$$$$$ - she was happy, right? she felt like she had gone from someone that was easily satisfied to never being satisfied. it was then when she found someone she'd call her best friend. the two were very different but got on really well - eleanor felt safe, like they wouldn't judge her and when she had a bad day, they'd always find a way to cheer her up and if they couldn't, they'd make sure to sit with her in her penthouse to make sure she wasn't alone.

however, pressures would get to her - with deadlines, her attempting to try have a hand in her grandfather's company from a legacy... everything seemed so stressful and then it felt so threatening. it was a long time coming but she sold the majority of her shares in her grandfather's company (she still owns 25% but is more a nepo figure than actually having to do anything). however, it didn't feel like a weight had been lifted - her grandfather would be so disappointed with her. she just wasn't up to - she was flighty, unreliable, a people-pleaser and whilst he'd always encouraged being kind, there was a point where she needed to stop letting people walk all over her.

the last straw was when someone accused her of plagiarising their work. she hadn't, she'd done no such thing - if anything, they had taken some inspiration from a few of her pieces. another law suit was following and she really didn't want that to happen again. the other was adamant that she'd stolen from then when she hadn't; it was quite upsetting to her. eleanor was far from professional in the weeks that followed. perhaps she'd dreamt of the other's piece before they even released it? or she'd seem their artwork in passing? she didn't know but none were good defences. "i didn't know!" or "sometimes i have dreams that come true" wasn't something that would hold up either and she was crumbling at the start of proceedings. she felt like if it came out to the public, her image would be ruined and it would lead them to question other pieces. art was her passion and she automatically assumed the worst because she felt like it - eleanor had always been her worst critic.

she was already having an episode but people in her circles were ignoring it. it hadn't helped that her therapist had moved on because of a new opportunity and whilst she had set her up with someone else, there were issues from the get-go. her awareness and fear of everything getting worse was making it worse in itself, until she was no longer aware of it and labelled everything as fact because it felt so real to her... it was the footman in her building that took her to the hospital after she returned to her penthouse block, looking worse for wear, without any shoes on and then she insisted on taking the stairs up because she was too afraid of the elevator (that she'd used earlier that morning)... she was hospitalised and admitted to in-patient therapy for four weeks, missing one of her own art shows but it was used as a fundraiser for a mental health charity instead of the money going to her - she'd decided she didn't need it.

things aren't settled with the other artist as of yet but she's trying to come to some sort of arrangement - she just doesn't want to look like she's guilty but perhaps she's unintentionally done it. eleanor doesn't trust herself right now at all, especially after recent events. however, she's really trying to take care of herself and try to get over this newly found fear of creating something. however, pretending that it was just a blip and isn't a worry for her isn't doing her any favours.

little facts:

she’s not bothered about designer labels. if it’s pretty, she’ll buy it, whether it’s from chanel or a charity shop, it doesn’t matter to her (but she will buy her basics from brands like the row just because she can).

tries to be positive to everyone and everything but it makes her feel good. she is naive when it comes to trusting people but wants to be loved so is ultimately a people pleaser.

cries very easily - if she’s happy, sad or scared, she’ll be crying. el also very much wears her heart on her sleeve!

was labelled as ‘kooky’ pretty early on but doesn’t really mind. she does try to fit in but it never ends up being how she imagined. she's diagnosed with schizophrenia. it's not that she hides it, just doesn't feel the need to mention it most of the time.

has drunk since she was a teen and still doesn’t know her limits :)

she is messy, both in organising and behaviour.

either cant sleep so she decides to scrap book while listening to music at three am or she does nothing but sleep.

has taken up yoga for the first time and she thinks she's terrible at it - not flexible and unbalanced but she does run a lot when she needs to clear her head and will say it's better to do that here than across the country on a treadmill.

loves to wear suits and blazers! messes her hair up within 3 mins of leaving the house.

she's recently been giving a plant as a gift to help her focus and look after something (part of her self-care) but she's really bad at keeping green things alive - she's really trying though.

is incredibly loyal and loving but doesn’t try to ask too many questions. her personality can sometimes be imposing as it is.

is trying to act like nothing is happening so is over-compensating with her chirpy personality.

likes all types of music apart from country, sorry :/

her fave colours are blue, green and purple but not together

#wealth.intro #mental illness tw #adoption tw #hospitalisation tw #death tw

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eleanorfms · 7 months ago

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( cis woman , she/her ) - a gossip blog reported that eleanor middleton , the artist , was attending a high society event last night . according to the blog , the forty one year old was acting compassionate , but also some reports said erratic . who really knows ? after further deep diving , she reminds me of statement rings, looking windswept, frantic messaging at 2am, paint splatters on loafers . i’m sure we’ll be seeing more of her !

triggers: death, adoption, mental illness

the last straw was when someone accused her of plagiarising their work. she hadn't, she'd done no such thing - if anything, they had taken some inspiration from a few of her pieces. another law suit was following and she really didn't want that to happen again. the other was adamant that she'd stolen from then when she hadn't; it was quite upsetting to her. eleanor was far from professional in the weeks that followed. perhaps she'd dreamt of the other's piece before they even released it? or she'd seem their artwork in passing? she didn't know but none were good defences. "i didn't know!" wasn't something that would hold up either and she was crumbling at the start of proceedings. she felt like if it came out to the public, her image would be ruined and it would lead them to question other pieces. art was her passion and she automatically assumed the worst because she felt like it - eleanor had always been her worst critic.

she was already having an episode but people in her circles were ignoring it. 'eleanor and her stories, she does let that brain of hers run wild sometimes' or just a simple scoff and shrug of the shoulders before 'artists...' was mumbled. all of a sudden, everyone in her life felt so distant. there was somewhat of an incident at the national gallery - the security suspected that she was on something. it was a member of the public that took her to a&e and that lead to multiple referrals being made for her as well as her being admitted.

little facts:

she’s not bothered about designer labels. if it’s pretty, she’ll buy it, whether it’s from chanel or a charity shop, it doesn’t matter to her.

tries to be positive to everyone and everything but it makes her feel good. she is naive when it comes to trusting people but wants to be loved so is ultimately a people pleaser.

cries very easily - if she’s happy, sad or scared, she’ll be crying. el also very much wears her heart on her sleeve!

has drunk since she was a teen and still doesn’t know her limits :)

she is messy, both in organising and behaviour.

either cant sleep so she decides to scrap book while listening to music at three am or she does nothing but sleep.

loves to wear suits and blazers! messes her hair up within 3 mins of leaving the house.

she's recently been giving a plant as a gift to help her focus and look after something (part of her self-care) but she's really bad at keeping green things alive - she's really trying though.

is incredibly loyal and loving but doesn’t try to ask too many questions. her personality can sometimes be imposing as it is.

is trying to act like nothing is happening so is over-compensating with her chirpy personality.

likes all types of music apart from country, sorry :/

her fave colours are blue, green and purple but not together

#socialitefm:intro #death tw #mental illness tw #adoption tw

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discoverdurhamnc · 1 year ago

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Things to Do in Durham this Weekend (Aug 17-20)

Check out our full Durham events calendar.

If you'd like to add an event to our calendar, submit an event here. Please check with the event organizers to see if events change due to weather. Have a great weekend!

Venue Weekend Schedules

Events at DPAC

Aug 17 and 18 at 7 p.m. - Leanne Morgan with Special Guest Karen Mills (sold out)

Sat, Aug 19 at 8 p.m. - Arrival From Sweden - The Music of ABBA

Events at The Carolina Theatre

Sat, Aug 19 at 6 p.m. - Please Don’t Destroy Live

Events at The Pinhook

Thu, Aug 17 at 8 p.m. - Gengis Don And The Empire and Zoocrü

Fri, Aug 18 at 8 p.m. - Diggin In The Crates!

Sat, Aug 19 at 8 p.m. - Pop Punk & Pasties : A Burlesque Tribute To 2000s Pop Punk

Sun, Aug 20 at 11 p.m. - No Visa + The Conjure with DJ RP Boo

Events at Rubies on Five Points

Fri, Aug 18 at 10 p.m. - The Floor with Special Guest Mobelizer

Sat, Aug 19 at 10 p.m. - Fortune Factory Presents: Club Cabana

Events at Motorco Music Hall

Thu, Aug 19 at 8 p.m. - The Heavy Heavy with Joelton Mayfield

Events at The Fruit

Thu, Aug 17 at 9 p.m. - Overgrown Throne, Paranoid Maniac, Hot Rats, and sister, brother

Fri, Aug 18 from 6-9 p.m. - Energenesis: Paintings by Jalen Jackson & Jessica Goldstein

Fri, Aug 18 from 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. - Haus Of Liqueur Welcomes You To Hell: Drag Show & Dance Party

Sat, Aug 19 from 8-11 p.m. - The Seven Deadly Bibs

Sat, Aug 19 at 10 p.m. - DanceGruv Radio Presents: Transmissions featuring Jask

Live Jazz at Sharp 9 Gallery

Fri, Aug 18 at 8 p.m. - Thrio

Sat, Aug 19 at 8 p.m. - Mark Tipton Quintet

Live Music at Blue Note Grill

Thu, Aug 17 at 7 p.m. - Celebration of NC Songwriting

Nancy Middleton, Stan Lewis, Carrie Marshall & Kirk Ridge

Fri, Aug 18 at 6 p.m. - The Duke Street Dogs

Fri, Aug 18 at 9:15 p.m. - JVo & Co

The Wiley Fosters perform the solo music of John, Paul, George, and Ringo

Sat, Aug 19 at 4 p.m.

Sat, Aug 19 at 8 p.m.

Events at Moon Dog Meadery

Thursdays - Free Board Games

Thu, Aug 17 at 6 p.m. - Guildhall Board Game Night

Fri, Aug 18 at 8 p.m. - 3rd Friday Lindy Hop Dance Night with Djam!

Sat, Aug 19 at 8 p.m. - Comedy on Broad Presents - The Bull Pen

Events at Arcana

Thu, Aug 17 - Queer Trivia and Tarot with Rene

Fri, Aug 18 - Ally J & Kevin Clark and Tarot with Virginia

Sat, Aug 19 - Patrick McGrew and Tarot with Emily

Sun, Aug 20 - Ann Arader and Tarot with Emily

Events at Durty Bull Brewing Company

Thu, Aug 17

5-9 p.m. - Food Truck: El Jefecito

7-9 p.m. - Thursday Trivia with Nick

Fri, Aug 18

12-9 p.m. - Food Truck: Tacos Paraiso #1

8-11 p.m. - Open Mic Stand-up Comedy

Sat, Aug 19

2-9 p.m. - Food Truck: Tacos Paraiso #1

3-7 p.m. - 3rd Saturday Vintage + Maker Market

4-6 p.m. - Live Music: Taxicab Preacher

Sun, Aug 20

12-4 p.m. - Food Truck: Pull-Ups NC

1-3 p.m. - MotoGP Watch Party

2-4 p.m. - Hammered Trivia with Thor

Events at Boxcar Bar + Arcade

Sat, Aug 19 from 3-6 p.m. - Meet and greet with adoptable dogs from Hope Animal Rescue

Sat, Aug 19 from 7-10 p.m. - Stephen Alexander

Sun, Aug 20 from 2-5 p.m. - Grand Ole Uproar

Sun, Aug 20 from 6-9 p.m. - Steven Compton

Events at Fullsteam

Thu, Aug 17 from 8-10 p.m. - Fullsteam Trivia!

Fri, Aug 18 from 6-8 p.m. - Hello, Durham: A Community Meet & Greet

Sun, Aug 20 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. - Songs for Humans

Events at Glass Jug Beer Lab in RTP

Thu, Aug 17 from 5-10 p.m. - Evelyn's Tex Mex BBQ Food Truck nights

Thu, Aug 17 from 6-9 p.m. - Beer Garden Jam Sessions

Sat, Aug 19 from 5-8 p.m. - Yacht Party in the Beer Garden

Events at Glass Jug Beer Lab in Downtown Durham

Fri, Aug 18 from 6-9 p.m. - Tasman Bay Release Event

Events at Boxyard RTP

Fri, Aug 18 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. - LOJO: Log Off, Jam on

Sat, Aug 19 from 12-3 p.m. - Mini Bazaar hosted by perSONALIty designs

Sat, Aug 19 from 5-8 p.m. - Saturdaze: DJ Ras J

Live Comedy at Mettlesome

Thu, Aug 17 at 7:30 p.m. - Was It Something I Said?

A live sketch and variety show.

Fri, Aug 18 at 7:30 p.m. - Was It Something I Said?

Fri, Aug 18 at 9 p.m. - Hush Hush

Improv inspired by anonymous secrets from the audience.

Sat, Aug 19 at 7:30 p.m. - Was It Something I Said?

Sat, Aug 19 at 9 p.m. - House Party

A mix of short and long-form improv with audience participation.

Events at Atomic Empire

Fri, Aug 18 from 6-8 p.m. - Disney: Lorcana TCG Release Party

Sun, Aug 20 at 12 p.m. - 7 Wonders: Duel Tournament

Multi-Day Events

Intergalactic Bead & Jewelry Show at Durham Convention Center

Love vintage beads? How about Chinese crystal or Ethiopian Opal? Find all this as well as large selection of rare beads, findings, tools, and more at the Durham Bead Show!

Ages 13+

Sat, Aug 19 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Sun, Aug 20 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Home Stand at Durham Bulls Athletic Park

Thu, Aug 17 at 6:35 p.m. - Dollar Dog Night

Fri, Aug 18 at 6:35 p.m. - Friday Night Fireworks

Sat, Aug 19 at 6:35 p.m. - African American Heritage Night, Ripken the Bat Dog, and Saturday Night Fireworks

Sun, Aug 20 at 5:05 p.m. - Kids Run the Bases

Thursday, Aug 17

Thirsty Thursdays at Dashi

Each month Dashi's Thirsty Thursday drink specials revolve around a monthly theme – spirits, cocktails, special ingredients, brand, location, etc. – with new sips every Thursday. Learn more about upcoming themes on their website or visit them in person – there's always something new to try from their expansive bar!

5-10 p.m.

Vinyl Night with DJ Deckades at Gizmo Brew Works

Enjoy fresh vibes on the patio with DJ Deckades. Bring your own vinyl to share or just listen to what the DJ is spinning.

6-9 p.m.

Free admission

Boulders & Brews Meetup at Triangle Rock Club - Durham

Show up and climb at TRC Durham, then head over to Hi-Wire for some brews. Don't worry if it's your first time or haven't bouldered before; everyone's welcome.

Your first visit to the gym with the Meetup includes free admission and gear rental, and subsequent visits with the meetup are $15 and include harness rental (outside of meetups, day pass rates of $19 apply and do not include rentals).

6:30-8:30 p.m.

The Gojo Sessions at Gojo by Goorsha

VOID Air Motion Sound System, rotating lineup of talented electronic music artists both local and beyond.

Every week, every Thursday

7:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.

$10 cover at the door

Trivia Night w/Big Slow Tom at Clouds Brewing Brightleaf Square

Join Clouds Durham for Big Slow Tom's Trivia Night, every Thursday. Win some prizes, drink some beer, and show your smarts.

Enjoy $4 select draft and $5 rotating bartender's choice all night.

7:30 p.m.

Free admission

Al Strong Presents: Jazz on the Roof at The Durham Hotel

Al Strong is a two-time Grammy-nominated artist who will bring regional jazz artists to improvise on the Roof. Performers will play a set, then members of the community will be invited to join in the jam session.

7-9:30 p.m.

Free admission

Flashback Flicks: 2023 Summer Outdoor Movie Series at Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club

The JB Duke Hotel and Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club, are hosting a summer outdoor movie series that celebrates classic feature films across the decades, ranging from beloved romantic comedies, suspenseful thrillers and tales of adventure.

JAWS

Free admission

Friday, Aug 18

Tasting at Ten at Counter Culture Coffee

Every Friday morning at 10 am, Counter Culture Coffee opens their Training Centers to coffee lovers who want to learn more about Counter Culture Coffee’s high-quality, sustainably sourced menu.

10 a.m.

Free, but donations accepted

Hands-on History at West Point on the Eno

Join in for milling demonstrations and discover the inner workings of West Point on the Eno's historic water-powered grist mill.

2-4 p.m.

Free admission

Third Friday in Downtown Durham

Support local artists and add beautiful works to your collection.

6-9 p.m.

Free admission

Third Friday at Golden Belt Arts

See new exhibits and meet with resident artists.

6-9 p.m.

Free admission

Underground Cocktail Series at 21c Museum Hotel

This special cocktail series focuses on new, experimental, or thematic cocktails dreamt up by expert bartenders, available only in the lower-level bank vault. Sip and see what their team has been mixing up, and be among the first to experience these exclusive drinks. For August's event, they are taking inspiration from the season with a focus on cool, refreshing Summer Classics.

7-9:30 p.m.

Free admission

Erie Choir + Entrez Vous + Neill Weyman at Shadowbox Studio

Born of navel-gazing self-indulgence and vague ambition, Erie Choir began at the dawn of the new millennium as the solo acoustic folk singing sort-of-thing of Sorry About Dresden’s Eric Roehrig.

Kelly Reidy (singer-songwriter, Theoretical Physicist, Lou Reed devotee, rock’n’roll enthusiast) and Clark Blomquist (multi-instrumentalist member of The Kingsbury Manx, drummer for Dan Mechior Band, former Spider Bags guitarist, consummate Road-Dog, Bohemian Punk true-believer).

Neill Weyman is the new band with Neill Prewitt, Ben Spiker, and Bob Wall.

8 p.m.

Ticket info TBD

Saturday, Aug 19

Durham Farmers’ Market at Durham Central Park

The Durham Farmers’ Market offers locally grown fruits and vegetables, meats, eggs, cut flowers, artisanal cheeses and breads, home-baked pies, honey, handmade chocolates, preserves, local wines, handmade soaps, fresh pasta, and artwork of all sorts!

8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Free admission

South Durham Farmers' Market at Greenwood Commons Shopping Center

The market strives to support new and growing farms and vendors in the greater Durham area, and they are also home to some of the most iconic Durham brands around.

8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Free admission

parkrun Durham at Southern Boundaries Park

A free, fun, and friendly weekly 5k community event. Walk, jog, run, volunteer, or spectate. It's up to you!

8 a.m.

Free admission

Durham's Civil Rights History in Downtown Durham

Explore Durham’s Civil Rights Legacy with Preservation Durham’s walking tour. This exciting tour focuses on many of the sites in downtown Durham that were important during the 1950s and 60s Civil Rights movement, including the Durham County Courthouse, the Arts Center (originally Durham High School and later City Hall), the Kress and Woolworth buildings, sites of sit-in protests and the "Confronting Change" exhibit at the Carolina Theatre.

10 a.m.

Registration required, donations appreciated

"Geer Cemetery: A Legacy of Resistance" at Museum of Durham History

The exhibit is an outdoor display highlighting information and artifacts from the ongoing preservation work being done in Geer Cemetery. Geer Cemetery, located in Durham, is a historic African American cemetery with burials from the late 1880s until the 1930s. It is one of the oldest public cemeteries created by African Americans in Durham.

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Free admission

Brightleaf Harvest Day at Duke Homestead State Historic Site

Experience North Carolina farming culture and history at Duke Homestead! They’ll be harvesting their tobacco out of the field and demonstrating the process of tobacco looping. Visitors are welcome to try their hand at these activities, or to chat with an interpreter in the historic house.

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Free admission

Crafternoons at Gizmo Brew Works

Free pint with purchase of craft box. Choose from a variety of craft packages available for all ages.

12-10 p.m.

Guided Walking Tours with Triangle Adventures

2 p.m. - Downtown Durham Walking Tour

4 p.m. - Durham African American History Tour

6 p.m. - Downtown Durham True Crime Tour

$10

Rock the Park Movie at Durham Central Park

Top Gun: Maverick

8:30-10:30 p.m.

Free admission

Bachata Fixation at Luna Nightclub

Bachata plus salsa, kizomba/zouk, and more!

Free lesson starts at 9 p.m.

$10

Sunday, Aug 20

Al Strong Presents Jazz Brunch at Alley Twenty Six

Al Strong, the Grammy-nominated jazz trumpeter, composer and recording artist, will bring a rotating lineup of musicians to perform during Sunday brunch at Durham's Alley Twenty Six. Weather permitting the band will perform in the bar’s namesake alley.

Music from 12-2 p.m.

Trivia at Navigator Beverage Co.

Hosted by the Triangle’s Trivia team, Hammered Trivia, gather your team and post up to compete for prizes and enjoy an afternoon of great drinks, great friends, and great games.

2-4 p.m.

Free admission

DPS Fest at Durham Central Park

DPS families, come and enjoy games, food, door prizes, bounce houses, and performances; make a self-care kit to start your school year off right; dunk your principal to earn money for your school; and learn about DPS and community resources that will help you this school year.

3-7 p.m.

Free admission

Running Art Exhibits

Paul Hrusovsky: New Paintings at Craven Allen Gallery

The paintings in Scratching the Surface showcase the diversity of Hrusovksy’s subjects and techniques, ranging from the figurative to the abstract. All feature the luscious surface textures and color harmonies for which the artist is well known.

Gallery hours: Mon-Fri from 9:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. | Sat 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Runs through Aug 26

Free admission

Andy Warhol: You Look Good in Pictures at the Nasher

Andy Warhol: You Look Good in Pictures explores the breadth of the artist’s relationship with photography through several distinct bodies of work including screenprints of celebrities, all of which were taken from photographs, a group of Polaroids and black and white snapshots illustrating his social circles, and an early silent film of the curator Henry Geldzahler from 1964.

Tue-Fri from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. | Sun from 12-5 p.m.

Runs through Aug 27

Free admission

Member Artists Exhibit at 5 Points Gallery

Get ready to be enthused, moved, and enriched by the power of art in this notable exhibit, “Inspiration Ignited”. This thought-provoking showcase invites you to dive into various realms of inspiration, as the artists share their unique visions with a range of styles and mediums including paintings, sculptures, fused glass and mixed media works.

Meet the artists at the Third Friday reception on Fri, Aug 18 from 6-9 p.m.

Runs through Sep 9

Free admission

“Lovingly Prepared by: A Multimedia Installation by Feed Durham” at Durham Arts Council

Feed Durham is a scrappy mutual aid collective that came together in response to mounting hunger in the Durham area, due to COVID. Since 2020, we’ve fed 155,000+ neighbors in need through our sprawling no-contact cookouts, where we lovingly prepare meals for 500 people per day and offer grocery giveaways.

Filmmaker/Photographer Katina Parker, Sculptor/Muralist/Illustrator Dare Coulter, Emmy-nominated filmmaker Saleem Reshemwala, Samantha Everette aka “The Shooting Beauty,” Jade Wilson, Courtney Symone of “Silent Sam” fame, D.L. Anderson, Jasmine Leeward, Tommy Coyote, Anna Carson DeWitt, Elizabeth Miller-Derstine, and Casey Toth (formerly of the News + Observer).

Mon-Sat from 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. | Sun from 1-6 p.m.

Runs through Sep 12

Free admission

Art of Peru at the Nasher

This gallery features ceramics, textiles, metalwork and carvings produced by ancient cultures across what is known as present-day Peru.

Tue-Fri from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. | Sun from 12-5 p.m.

Runs through Dec 2

Free admission

Love and Anarchy at the Nasher

Drawn from the Nasher Museum’s extensive historical and contemporary collections, Love & Anarchy demonstrates some of the ways in which these two concepts have inspired artists, visually and conceptually, over millennia.

Runs through Feb 18, 2024

Free admission

Exhibit at 21c Museum Hotel

Truth or Dare: A Reality Show

Runs through March 2024

Open 24 hours

Free admission

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olympicpaintingpros · 6 months ago

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#Painting Company Lynnfield #Painting Company Middleton

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dwellordream · 3 years ago

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“Antifeminist jest and satire against alewives, shrews, and gossip soften grouped together as gossips' literature-provides a rich site for this sort of excavation. The word gossip itself requires more careful treatment than it is usually given. Respectable for centuries, gossip (from godsip) referred primarily to a godparent of either gender. By the sixteenth century the word was being applied to any close female friend, though it was sometimes used for male friends as well. In the late sixteenth century "gossiping" described a "merry meeting" of women to drink, laugh, and talk; it was not until a century later that Johnson's Dictionary equated gossip with the obnoxious woman "who runs about tattling like women at a lying in." Early modern speakers drew important distinctions between scold and gossip. The words were by no means equivalents.

Unlike talking about one's neighbors, scolding was a chronic, legally actionable offense; and the connotations of shrew varied from mild to damning. In Brathwait's Essaies upon the five senses (1619), a scold "goes weekly a catter-wauling, where shee spoiles their spice-cup'd gossiping with her tart-tongued calletting." Whatever those gossips are up to, the scold is wrong to spoil it. Such a distinction suggests that women had certain rights of assembly-despite all the injunctions that women should stay indoors, avoid all gadding, and strive for silence. Traveler Emmanuel Van Meteren marveled that Englishwomen spent so much time visiting their friends and keeping company, conversing with their equals (whom they term gossips) and their neighbours, and making merry with them at child-births, christenings, churchings and funerals; and all this with the permission and knowledge of their husbands, as such was the custom.

Daniel Rogers warned husbands that they would be foolish to forbid their wives to attend gossipings and even advised them to give wives money "to bestow upon the meetings and lawfull merriments of their kind, which it were a poore thing for a husband curiously to enquire after." Robert Cawdrey urged moderation rather than abstinence: gossips should meet only as often as "the law of good neighbourhood doth require." John Stephens's character "A Gossip" predictably conflates a woman's volubility and mobility with sexual and bodily incontinence.

Her knowledge is her speech; the motive, her tongue; and the reason is her tongue also: but the subject of her eloquence is her neighbours wife, and her husband, or the neighbours wife and husband both. Shee is the mirth of marriages, and publicke meetings .... Shee carries her bladder in her braine, that is full; her braine in her tongues end, that shee empties .... Shee emulates a Lawyer in riding the circuite, and therefore she keeps a circuit in, or out of her own liberties: striving to be both one of the judges, Jury, and false witnesses: that is her freedom only, to censure .... Her truth is, to make truths and tales convertibles: tales be her substance, her conceit, her vengeance, reconcilements, and discourse .... If she railes against whoredom it savours not of devotion; for she is only married to escape the like scandall; from the doore outward.

The irony, of course, is that the author rails in the catty tones of a censorious neighbor. Despite the formulaic hostility in this character, one may glimpse a shadow portrait of a neighbor and a neighborhood. Like neighbor, the term gossip implies a relationship between peers. Always on hand for disputes and interventions, she also serves as a chief relayer of news and knowledge within the community. As the sarcastic phrase "one of the judges" indicates, she operates as an informal social arbiter. Ironically, it is precisely her narrative skill that qualifies her for this role. No matter how caustically "tittle tattle" was scorned, gossip "gave women a particular standing in neighbourhood social relations," as Gowing puts it. "Telling stories and judging morals made women the brokers of moral reputation."

While Stephens derides his gossip for gadding and tattling, he fails to suppress an uncomfortable social fact: such women can never be excluded from the crucial labor of maintaining social order. Pamphleteers and playwrights devoted much energy to trivializing women's talk at gossipings, betraying their fear that the effects on men's reputations could be far from trivial. In a merry meeting in Thomas Deloney's Thomas of Reading, some gossips "talkt of their husbands' frowardnes, some shewed their maids sluttishnes, othersome deciphered the costliness of their garments, some told many tales of their neighbors." Some jest gossips are two-faced, greedy, and leaky, such as those in Middleton's Chaste Maid in Cheapside. Others are almost witchlike.

The author of The Gossips Greeting (1620) rants against "the proud, peevish, paultry, pernicious shee-pot companions, those curious, careless, crafty, carping curtizanicall Gossips ... dangerous as hell, / None of you beare a modest womans mind / You do infect even with your smell." These representations must be read alongside gossips' texts that are more nuanced and altogether less bilious. Samuel Rowlands's best-selling Tis Merry When Gossips Meet (1602) and A Whole Crew of Kind Gossips (1609) painted alehouse meetings with a mix of humorous voyeurism, mild satire, and unusually candid social realism. In the first pamphlet a wife and widow give a maid fairly standard advice about men and marriage. The widow buys them rounds with an evident pride in her ability to pay, providing a strong contrast to the many jests in which drunken men cheat the hostess.

Satire is directed largely at the widow, who gets tipsy and garrulous. But for the most part, the pamphlet leaves the impression that it offered readers a glimpse of women indulging in a merry pastime that formed an important and familiar part of neighborhood socializing. To repeat Wrightson's argument, the ideal of "good neighborhood" required everyone to accept neighbors "as a reference group in matters of behavior and to promote harmonious relations among them." How could a woman fulfill this obligation without asking, "What news?" The surprising answer is that she couldn't. What we now call gossip was, in fact, essential to being a good neighbor, and talking about neighbors and strangers was not considered the prelude to scolding or near kin to slander. The obligation of neighborhood made constant comment not only normative but a prime regulating device.

To use Merry Wives as an example, the Windsor wives' censure of Falstaff and gossip about Ford initiates action that will eventually involve their neighbors in neutralizing the threats to the common peace posed by a sexual adventurer and a horn-mad husband. Their joint consultation and campaign of mockery lie firmly in the bounds of "good neighborhood." Censorious gossip "could be an effective informal method of control: it indicated community disapproval, and shamed its subject. If the subject of gossip did not stop the behavior, at least everyone else knew what to think about it." Gossip, defined this way, could maintain and reiterate social boundaries. Fueled by curiosity and pleasure in ridicule, gossip also primed audiences to recognize the more cutting forms of wit and the aesthetically engineered moral judgment known as satire.

Proficiency at this narrative form, so often salted with jests and proverbs, promoted rhetorical efficacy in life and art, while skill at telling believable stories about one's life and neighbors held much weight in the courtroom and on the streets. Gossip was not always conservative in effect. By asking "What news?" women also had a chance to learn about and talk over events in the larger world, out of the hearing of husbands, fathers, and masters. According to historian Steve Hindle, gossip is both a "female subculture" and a "formative stage in the development of 'public opinion' over a whole range of issues, local and national, private and public, personal and political. To ignore gossip is to ignore one of the few channels of participation in this 'public sphere' that was open to women."

Gatherings during working time or in leisure moments, such as christenings, may have given women a place in which to articulate opinions and to plan for common action, such as the many enclosure protests, grain riots, and religious disputes in which they participated. Some fictional gossips poach eagerly on male discourses supposedly closed to them, such as biblical interpretation, the worth of stage plays, and the fate of kings. In The gospelles of dystaves (c. 1510) a group of women meets secretly to hear a new kind of preaching by "apostles" named Dame Hengtyne and Dame Abunde, while a male scholar transcribes. Their chat mixes homely proverbs and bawdy laughter, interspersed with more serious challenges to religious teachings about women's subjection.

While the pamphlet obviously satirizes ignorant and unruly women, it also suggests that women did talk together about what they heard in church and that they were given to interpreting biblical passages in favor of women's interests. Female association could be dangerous to the state: the weird sisters of Macbeth carp about their neighbors, crack jokes, practice riddling prophecy, and rearrange Scottish history. Like gossips in their cups, they "scorn male power" while "their words and bodies mock rigorous boundaries and make sport of fixed positions. " In The Staple of News, Jonson attempts to silence and discipline unruly women in his audiences by presenting caricatures of neighborhood gossips.

Underlining the close association between the juries of the threshold and the theater, Tattle, Mirth, Censure, and Expectation boldly invade the stage with their stools, sitting down to cavil about the actors and the sweaty playwright, forming a jury of women who judge a play together as if they were judging gossip and scandal at home. Despite the satire, Jonson casts them as the prime producers and consumers of news and rumors; he cannot help but make them sharp-eyed judges of the staple, which commodifies word of mouth" by printing it. Occasionally gossips are painted as resourceful and clever. In Dekker and Webster's Westward Hal, citizen wives furnish themselves "a commodity of laughter" by leading their jealous husbands and eager suitors on a wild-goose chase up the Thames.

As in Merry Wives, this pleasure carries a risk. When they plot to scare their husbands with the prospect of horns and turn the tables on their arrogant suitors, one wife warns the others that they must deflect any resulting slanders using shrewd foresight: tho we are merry, let's not be mad: ... It were better we should laugh at these popin-Jayes, then live in feare of their prating tongues: tho we lie all night out of the Citty, they shall not finde country wenches of us: but since we ha[ve] brought em thus far into a fooles Paradice, leave em int: the Jest shall be a stock to maintain us and our pewfellowes in laughing at christning, cryings out, and upsittings the twelvemonth.

Similar scenes of female complicity are rooted in the social reality of women neighbors and gossips who rely heavily on each other's judgment in matters sexual and romantic. Such interdependence was especially important for unmarried women. Comedies featuring maids satirizing suitors (like Portia and Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice) or coolly ranking types of men (like Franck and Clora in Fletcher's The Captain and Celia and Rosalind in As You Like It) probably did stoke masculine anxieties about patriarchy's vulnerability to the desires of women. On the other hand, the very same scenes may have delighted women or taught them sophisticated new ways to squelch unwanted suitors.

The antimasculinist satire and complaint that fill gossips' literature function in a distinctive way in Margaret Cavendish's Convent of Pleasure, which virtually reproduces passages from gossips' literature and from women's tirades in controversy pamphlets. Poor women meet in the street to moan about the flaws of their husbands, which include wife beating, heavy drinking, and gambling away the household funds. Other scenes show the terrors of childbed and the persecution of a gentlewoman threatened with rape by a married man whose proposals she rejects. Neighbors and friends cannot stop rapine suitors or worthless husbands in this dystopia; so Cavendish creates a gender retreat that takes female complaint seriously, dedicating her earthly paradise to women's association, education, and delight: a high-toned gossips' feast.”

- Pamela Allen Brown, “Ale and Female: Gossips as Players, Alehouse as Theater.” in Better a Shrew than a Sheep: Women, Drama, and the Culture of Jest in Early Modern England

#better a shrew than a sheep #pamela allen brown #history #tudor #renaissance #elizabethan #jacobean

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hometoursandotherstuff · 4 years ago

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Color lovers will love this- using color as therapy. Meet Michelle from “The Beige Blues” blog. This is the exterior of her “Thanks for ruining the neighborhood” house. Michelle says, “It's my freak flag and I'll fly it if I want to.”

Michelle’s story: “ My name is Michelle Carder. I am a recovering insurance lawyer and breast cancer survivor. Explosive colour, the compulsive painting (and re-painting) of every square inch of our house, and decorative floofing, futzing and faffing with exuberant flourish are my chosen therapies.”

This is the kitchen and everything is entirely DIY. Michelle does the painting and her husband Mike builds. Michelle says she has no background or training in interior design, architecture, or anything relevant to the creation of an interior space. In fact, I have no idea what I’m doing, but that’s half the reason my blog is funny.

Our entry hall, staircase, and upper hall are painted brilliant Lapis Lazuli (Behr). I chose this colour because the natural light in these areas is fickle, tending towards dark and shadowy, and I thought the bright, punchy blue would take things up a notch. Which it did.

The Study/Home Office: This is a fabulously quirky room. It was light blue and I promised Mike I wouldn’t repaint “just this one room.” That changed after I discovered Farrow and Ball’s Middleton Pink and put a sample splotch on the wall. The colour was too magnificent to resist. It almost made me cry. So up it went.

The Master Bedroom: I repainted this room twice. The lesson I learned is this: No matter how much you love your spouse, if you are the alpha in the décor arena, DO NOT COMPROMISE on paint colour for walls or furniture.

The Den: The home’s original dining room. It has stunning, dark-stained oak wainscoting. We wanted to spend as much time in the room as possible, so we commandeered it as a TV room/den. The walls are painted a colour called Raging Bull by Behr (Toro! Toro!), which gives the space a wonderful, small theatre feel.

Guest Room: The wall colour is Farrow and Ball’s St. Giles Blue, which the company advertises as a “striking blue hue” that “cannot fail to make you smile and will hold its own even in the darkest of places.” True that. I smile every time I walk into this room, or even past it on the way down the hall.

The Turret Room: This tiny room is in the cupola (turret room). The star attraction is the giant red leather and black gloss throne. Because the walls here are black, they recede, and because of that, we can get away with big statement pieces in a small space.

Parlour/Dining Room: Our parlour currently serves parlour purposes, plus it is our temporary dining space. Currently, I’m exploring other colour options to change the mood of this room into something more akin to a dramatic secret underground cocktail lounge.

The Powder Room: With the kitchen remodel, we also ripped out a horrible adjacent bath. The plan was to make it white w/Carrara marble. However, the walls and ceiling were in pitiful condition, and we wanted a shortcut solution, so we painted it Timeless Ruby (Behr). Now the room feels like a pre-Bolshevik Russian jewel box and we love it. I think decorating is excellent therapy. too!

https://www.thegirlwiththegreensofa.com/home/2019/1/2/the-beige-blues-colourful-maximalist-home

#decor as therapy #decorating therapy #color therapy #colorful decor #bold home design

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ilovethewaleses · 3 years ago

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I just thought about that, remember how the midds were inappropriate and too low class and all that jazz? Even though the most harm they’ve done is having an shady uncle and maybe being a bit of a fail when it comes to starting businesses (James)

Oof, yes. The Wisteria sisters, doors to manual, etc., etc. How dare those Middletons make their own money and give their kids as lovely a life as they could possibly afford and hand-sew some tags into all of their sports kits and things they brought to school?! (does anyone else remember that snarky article about Carole being too perfect? Lol) (Also, /s, obviously!)

And that's the thing. No family is perfect. The BRF surely aren't! The Middletons aren't! I like to joke about how Kate and William are but I know they're actually not lol. But there is a huge difference between trying to do the best for your kids or your family or your future position and sometimes missing the mark and just torching everything. I have been so, incredibly impressed with the Middletons from the very beginning. A failed Marshmallow company + a crazy Uncle is nothing compared to what could be (and what sometimes is.)

The Middletons have done some things that people don't like and I'm sure they will continue to do so. But for the most part they have literally changed the way they live their lives in order to paint Catherine in the best possible light for the good of their country and I think that is so, hugely admirable. It must be so tough on them at times.

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doubleattitude · 4 years ago

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NUVO Dance Convention, Dallas, TX: RESULTS

High Scores by Age:

NUbie Solo

1st: Ariella Scott-’My Boyfriend’s Back’

1st: Sylvie Win Szyndlar-’Rainbow Connection’

2nd: Sebastian Mancini-’Guerriero

3rd: Avery Olson-’Monster’

4th: Reis Terhune-’Saxx’

5th: Arianna Claxton-’Ride’

6th: Mackenzie Glover-’Suddenly’

7th: Avery Redus-’Lost Boy’

8th: Ella Benjamin-’In Love With A Monster’

Mini Solo

1st: Ellary Day Szyndlar-’Snow’

2nd: Naiya Abalos-’Forces’

2nd: Tiara Sherman-’The Things That Remain’

3rd: Roxie Onellion-’Mellow Yellow’

3rd: Alexis Alvarez-’Wide Eyes’

4th: Camilla Sonnier-’Ave Maria’

4th: Ainsley Epton-’Dangerous’

5th: Anna Holley-’Reminisce’

5th: Addison Price-’We Will Not Give In’

6th: Braylynn Grizzaffi-’Path5′

6th: Kazuma Brailsford-’Mugen’

7th: Esprit Frank-’Grains’

8th: Winter Eberts-’Dreamlike’

8th: Karyna Majeroni-’Pistolette’

9th: Maddie Pedder-’Vibrations’

10th: Delila Hewitt-’Shop Around’

Junior Solo

1st: Kennedy Kahler-’Inanna’

1st: Laci Stoico-’Mibiso’

2nd: Kayla Jinks-’First Ember’

2nd: Lucy Cavender-’Formed From Static’

2nd: Graham Johnson-’New Shoes’

3rd: Lilly Allen-’Femme Fatale’

3rd: Campbell Castner-’Hallelujah’

3rd: Jade Bontron-’Harlequinade’

3rd: Amaya Llewellyn-’Must’

4th: Kylie Kaminsky-’Beneath the Surface’

4th: Ava Mogote-’Somewhere Over the Rainbow’

4th: Sydney Kelly-’You Are the Reason’

5th: Julia Chavez-’Going Under’

5th: Ryleigh Jane Touchstone-’This Is Real’

6th: Anya Inger-’Quiet Thoughts’

7th: Adelyn Kolanz-’Transform’

7th: Alita Kneeland-’Transparent’

8th: Anabel Alexander-’It’s Okay ‘Till It’s Not’

8th: Colby Rich-’The Letting Go’

8th: Campbell Clark-’The Scarlett Effect’

9th: Nily Samara-’Dot 2 Dot’

9th: Brielle Ring-’I Remember Her’

9th: Finley Aldridge-’Jealous’

9th: Nyah Jackson-’Slow Meadows’

10th: Kylenn Pallohusky-’Get There’

10th: Kenlie Winsett-’Patterns of the Tides’

10th: Clare Loftus-’Restless Night’

10th: Makaia Roux-’Runaway’

Teen Solo

1st: Isabella Jarvis-’Allow The Light’

1st: Sarah Kate Kurzius-’Charmed’

1st: Avery Hall-’Lie To My Heart’

2nd: Hudson Pletcher-’Ascension’

2nd: Addison Middleton-’Dark Dissonance’

2nd: Savanna Kristich-’I Copy’

2nd: Avery Watson-’Locked’

3rd: Gianna Mojonnier-’One Note Samba’

3rd: Sabine Nehls-’Shout’

4th: Mini Preston-’Granular Breath’

4th: Macy Orvis-’Look At Me’

4th: Trinity Kelly-’Sorrow’

5th: Sydney Orr-’So Far’

5th: Ella Williams-’The Garden’

5th: Sydney Ishaug-’Unseen’

6th: Lydia Werschay-’A Deal With Chaos’

6th: Dru Neal-’Bring Back The Path’

6th: Drew Rosen-’Deconstruct Composition’

6th: Isabel Reese-’Inside’

6th: Kali Knewitz-’My Accomplice’

6th: Dasha Vishnyakova-’Partita’

6th: Lauren Rahimizadeh-’Settle For More’

7th: Ava Lynn-’Catch 22′

7th: Ava Miller-’Tarnished’

7th: Cambry Bethke-’Winging It’

8th: Kathryn Martinez-’Another Brick In The Wall’

8th: Natalie Bowen-’Distance Between’

8th: Beth Anne McGowans-’The Water Rises’

8th: Sophia Bishop-’Unravelings’

8th: Isaiah Bowens-’You Know What’

9th: Mikaella Lopez-’Mind In Flight’

9th: Brielle McCoy-’My Brightest Diamond’

9th: Gianna Garwacki-’Penance’

9th: Braylon Browner-’Run From Me’

10th: Aiden Skelte-’Baiao Destemperado’

10th: Katelyn Neasham-’How They Run’

10th: Kalen Latin-’Made of Silk’

Senior Solo

1st: Christian Burse-’Atlas’

2nd: Kamryn Funk-’5,6,7,8′

2nd: Charlotte Foldes-’Shock To Us All’

3rd: Raegan Davidson-’After That’

3rd: Peyton Winsett-’Distortion’

3rd: Lainey Myers-’You Are the Reason’

4th: Sophia Seymour-’Broken’

4th: Makenna Wallace-’Hope Is A Dangerous Thing’

4th: Taelynn Ritchie-’If You Could Do It Again’

5th: Raegan Stafford-’Beneath the Light’

5th: Gracie Lee-’Love of My Life’

5th: Emma Sucato-’Memories’

6th: Kylie Sicillan-’Time & I’

6th: Haley Beck-’Upside’

7th: Chloe Lopina-’In Love In Vain’

7th: Kennedy Barry-’The Distance Between’

8th: Makaila Teagle-’He Needs Me’

8th: Brooke Jensen-’Sunder’

9th: Riley Canterbury-’Figures’

9th: Haley Bogdon-’Giuseppe’

10th: Emmalynn Mackaron-’Georgia On My Mind’

10th: Gracie Zytysnki-’Letters of a Traveler’

10th: Emma Johnson-’To Be’

10th: Caroline Pierce-’What Remains’

Open Solo

1st: Summer Martin-’Insomnia’

NUbie Duo/Trio

1st: Bobbie’s School of Performing Arts-’Tomorrow’

2nd: Beyond Belief Dance Company-’Insomnia’

Mini Duo/Trio

1st: The Pointe Performing Arts Center-’Angel by the Wings’

2nd: Stars Dance Studio-’Stronger’

3rd: The Dance Movement-’Pour the Milk’

Junior Duo/Trio

1st: Beyond Belief Dance Company-’Painted Black’

2nd: Bobbie’s School of Performing Arts-’Inception’

3rd: Bobbie’s School of Performing Arts-’This Is Me, Sincerely’

Teen Duo/Trio

1st: Next Step Dance-’Georgia’

2nd: Bobbie’s School of Performing Arts-’After The Fall’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Kitri’s Friends’

2nd: Bobbie’s School of Performing Arts-’What Goes Around’

3rd: Next Step Dance-’Daina & Acteon’

Senior Duo/Trio

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Tea for Two’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’As The Petals Fell’

NUbie Group

1st: Next Step Dance-’Milly Rock’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Gypsy’

Mini Group

1st: Next Step Dance-’Knock On Wood’

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Strings’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Ain’t Your Mama’

3rd: Next Step Dance-’Charlie’s Angels’

Junior Group

1st: Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Dance With You’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Threads That Blind’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Marquises’

Teen Group

1st: Next Step Dance-’A Women Left Lonely’

2nd: The Rock Center for Dance-’Hey!’

3rd: Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Put A Spell On You’

Senior Group

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’A Human, A Light’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Manic’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Completely Gone’

NUbie Line

1st: Next Step Dance-’Boy From New York City’

Mini Line

1st: Next Step Dance-’Sweet Dreams’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Spring’

3rd: Next Step Dance-’The Chain’

Junior Line

1st: Next Step Dance-’Vogue’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’On Your Radio’

2nd:Next Step Dance-’Opening’

3rd: Next Step Dance-’I’ll Be There’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Salute’

Teen Line

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Where Is My Body’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Tarentella’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Invocation of Lust’

Senior Line

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Devour’

Mini Extended Line

1st: Next Step Dance-’Runaway Baby’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Footloose’

Junior Extended Line

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Don’t Stop Me’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Respect’

Teen Extended Line

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’American Pie’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Distortion’

3rd: Next Step Dance-’#FreeBritney’

3rd: Next Step Dance-’It’s All So Incredibly Loud’

Senior Extended Line

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Hotel California’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Sexy Crazy’

Mini Production

1st: Dance Industry Performing Arts Center-’Cool Rider’

Junior Production

1st: Next Step Dance-’Let It Cook’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Flatline’

3rd: Next Step Dance-’Everlasting Love’

Teen Production

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Goodnight’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Overture in A’

Senior Production

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Crunk’

High Score by Performance Division:

NUbie Tap

Next Step Dance-’Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’

NUbie Hip-Hop

Next Step Dance-’Milly Rock’

NUbie Jazz

Next Step Dance-’Boy From New York City’

NUbie Lyrical

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Gypsy’

Mini Lyrical

1st: Next Step Dance-’Sweet Dreams’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’We’ve Got Aways To Go’

3rd: The Dance Movement-’Wings’

Mini Ballroom

1st: Next Step Dance-’Runaway Baby’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Ain’t Your Mama’

Mini Tap

1st: Next Step Dance-’Charlie’s Angels’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Weird Science’

Mini Jazz

1st: Next Step Dance-’Knock On Wood’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Boy Meets Girl’

3rd: The Dance Movement-’#Hashtag’

Mini Contemporary

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Strings’

1st: Next Step Dance-’The Chain’

Mini Ballet

1st: Next Step Dance-’Spring’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’The Ladies of the Wild West’

Mini Specialty

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’The Stepford Wives’

Mini Musical Theatre

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Footloose’

Junior Musical Theatre

Paragon Dance-’The Internet Is Down, A Musical’

Junior Jazz

1st: Next Step Dance-’Vogue’

2nd: Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Dance With You’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’On Your Radio’

Junior Contemporary

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Threads That Blind’

2nd: Paragon Dance-’My Life Is A Song’

3rd: The Dance Movement-’Don’t Give Up On Me’

Junior Tap

1st: Next Step Dance-’I’ll Be There’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Sunny Side of the Street’

3rd: The Dance Movement-’Shine’

Junior Ballet

1st: Next Step Dance-’Opening’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Salute’

3rd: The Dance Movement-’In Time’

Junior Specialty

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Marquises’

Junior Lyrical

Next Step Dance-’Free As A Bird’

Junior Ballroom

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Don’t Stop Me’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Respect’

Junior Hip-Hop

1st: Next Step Dance-’Let It Cook’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Flatline’

Teen Contemporary

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Goodnight’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’A Women Left Lonely’

3rd: The Rock Center for Dance-’Hey!’

Teen Jazz

1st: Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Put A Spell On You’

1st: Next Step Dance-’Technologic’

2nd: The Dance Movement-’Cola’

3rd: The Dance Movement-’Thule’

Teen Ballet

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Overture in A’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Tarentella’

3rd: Downtown Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’An American In Paris’

Teen Hip-Hop

1st: Next Step Dance-’#FreeBritney’

2nd: The Dance Movement-’Wow’

3rd: Contemporary Ballet Dallas-’Speed It Up: The Beginning’

Teen Tap

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’American Pie’

2nd: The Dance Movement-’I Feel Good’

Teen Ballroom

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Distortion’

Teen Musical Theatre

Next Step Dance-’All That Jazz’

Senior Ballet

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Completely Gone’

2nd: Next Step Dances-’Fratres’

Senior Contemporary

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’A Human, A Light’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Hotel California’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Devour’

Senior Tap

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Manic’

Senior Lyrical

Dance Industry Performing Arts Center-’Yesterday’

Senior Ballroom

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Sexy Crazy’

Senior Jazz

Dance Industry Performing Arts Center-’Like A Boy’

Senior Hip-Hop

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Crunk’

Best NU Groups:

NUbie

Next Step Dance-’Milly Rock’

Mini

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Strings’

Next Step Dance-’Sweet Dreams’

Junior

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Flatline’

Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Dance With You’

Next Step Dance-’Vogue’

Teen

The Rock Center for Dance-’Hey!’

Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Put A Spell On You’

Next Step Dance-’A Women Left Lonely’

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’American Pie’

Senior

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’A Human, A Light’

Next Step Dances-’Fratres’

Studio Pick:

The Dance Movement-’Gemini’

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’A Human, A Light’

Next Step Dance-’A Women Left Lonely’

#dallas #nuvo #2020 #dance

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katefiction · 4 years ago

Text

A Royal Christmas Carol

by katefiction (Maria) / 2013

The voices of hundreds of feverish and excitable people rose and fell through the crowd. Occasionally, snippets of conversation could be heard like little balls bouncing up from the ground. ‘How much? Ten pounds?’, ‘Oh she’ll absolutely love that!’, ‘It looks yummy…I might just have to try one’.

Catherine Middleton’s voice was just one of them.

‘Brutwurst for the pretty lady?’ a vendor said, thrusting a long German sausage in her direction.

‘Oh no thank you’ she replied politely.

‘Only two pounds for you’ he said, with a twinkle in his eye, his thick German accent adding extra charm, ‘it’s delicious!’

‘I’m sure, but I’ve just had some stollen and mulled wine from that stall over there’ she said pointing to one of the wooden huts that were lined neatly in a row.

‘Stolen my business!’ he said, throwing his arms theatrically in the air, followed by something in German that Kate presumed to be an expletive.

Kate giggled, pushing William along gently before they were convinced into buying any more food. They both already had a bag each filled with meats, gingerbread and fudge.

It seemed to William that his new housemate wanted to stop at every stall possible at the Christmas Market that had landed in St Andrew’s that December day.

‘Oh that’s gorgeous!’ Kate enthused, looking at some blown glass baubles with a hand painted design.

William trudged on behind her, his feet sore from the walking and fingers numbing in the wintery air. He pondered for a second whether this was what having a proper girlfriend felt like. The constant pretence of being interested in the wooden toys, sparkling decorations and handmade crafts that Kate had insisted on showing him that afternoon. Not to mention always having to carry the heavier shopping bag.

Still, William might not mind all that much if Kate were his girlfriend.

‘What do you think Will? Should I get one for Mum?’ she said holding a bauble up to the last bit of daylight there was left.

‘Urm, yeh?’ he replied, looking over to his protection officers who blended into the crowd like two bored men waiting for their wives.

‘Oh I don’t know though, she might not like it. It’s one of those marmite things, you know, she’ll either love it or hate it’

William nodded, ‘how much is it?’

‘Twelve pounds’

‘For ONE bauble?!’ he exclaimed.

‘You’re paying for the quality and the craftsmanship’ she explained.

‘Extortionate’ he muttered so the vendor couldn’t hear him.

‘Oh don’t start that again’ she laughed putting the bauble down and walking away from the little wooden hut a little mournfully.

It was a fact well known that William Wales hated Christmas. He thought it a brazen excuse for companies to rip people off. Who says you should have a turkey, a tree, and a mound of brussel sprouts at the table? And why, oh why must Christmas songs be obligatory from November onwards?

As they walked back to their little home in Hope Street, Kate rattled off all the things she still needed to get for their house Christmas meal.

‘We still need crackers, and to decorate the tree, oh and I should fish out my snowman slippers!’

If William weren’t as enamoured with Kate as he was, he would find this irritating. But the plain fact was that just recently, he found nothing about Kate irritating.

The way she threw her hair behind her shoulders, sending a gentle waft of her shampoo scent in his direction. The manner in which she gently touched his arm when she was teasing him. He liked everything, every little thing.

‘I think the snowman slippers are going a bit far’ he said drily.

‘Oh bah humbug!’ she retorted.

Just as he was about to tell her how her festive spirit was all a concoction of the media driven world, a small ball of energy, about knee height crashed into them.

‘Whoa’ Will shouted, almost dropping his bag.

‘Tim!!!’ screeched a high Scottish voice.

From around the corner leading up to Hope Street came a rather dishevelled looking woman. From a far, she looked like she could be fifty, with dark thin hair and bags under her eyes. As she grew closer, however, it was clear to William and Kate that she was thirty at the most.

‘Say sorry Tim!’ she shouted at the little boy, who was now peering into William’s carrier bag.

‘Sorry’ he said.

‘It’s fine’ Kate said kindly.

Tim, like his mother, was scrawny and tiny too for his ten years.

‘Righ’ come on’ Tim’s mother said, grabbing him and pulling him along the street.

‘But Ma, they’ve go’ a turkey!’ they heard him say, ‘you said the shops were all out o’ turkeys!’

‘They must’ve gone somewhere fancy, we can’nae afford somewhere fancy’ she replied.

It was true, William and Kate had queued for half an hour for their turkey from a high end butchers in town.

‘But I want a turkey this Christmas!’ he moaned.

‘I said no! We’ll have ham’

Their voices were cut off when they entered one of the terraced houses on the street William and Kate were walking down.

‘I feel terrible now’ Kate said, looking down at their overflowing bags.

‘Don’t, if we hadn’t been preconditioned to associate turkeys with Christmas, that little boy wouldn’t know any different’

‘Do you ever get tired of being a Scrooge?’ she asked.

‘No’ he laughed.

‘What made you hate Christmas so much anyway?’ Kate said as they approached their house.

‘No reason’ William said. ‘I just do’

Christmas Past

‘Where are you going!?’ she shrilled.

‘I told you, I have a meeting’ he responded calmly.

‘I don’t believe you’ she said defiantly.

‘Well that’s not my problem’

William stood behind the door, peeking through the crack at the two figures inside his father’s study. He couldn’t see much, just the odd shadow or a splash of blonde hair going back and forth.

‘I don’t want you to go!’ she continued.

‘I have to’

‘Please Charles…’

Sometimes the shadows would come closer and William would jump back quickly, scared to be found eavesdropping.

After a minute’s silence, the voice of his mother came again, but quietly this time. ‘I know where you’re really going’ she said at almost a whisper.

‘I am going to a meeting’ he said sternly.

‘Why must you lie? Why must you lie to me?’

William could hear the familiar closing of her throat, her voice becoming wobbly. He pressed his eye closer to the door crack.

‘William, what are you playing?’

William was almost thrown backwards by his heart jumping at the shock of his six year old brother’s voice behind him.

‘Shhhhhh’ he ordered quietly, turning around with his hands on his hips. ‘Go away’

‘Why?!’ Harry said at his normal volume.

‘I said shhh!, it’s grown-ups only’

‘You’re not a grown up’ Harry sulked.

‘I’m more of a grown up than you now push off’. He attempted to push his brother down the hallway, but he wouldn’t budge.

‘I’m gonna tell mummy and papa you were spying’ Harry said, poking his tongue out.

The voices inside the study began to raise once again, footsteps approaching the door.

‘It’s Christmas in two days Charles! Please think of the boys!’

The footsteps stopped briefly. ‘I must go, I’m sorry’.

Darkness covered the whole crack of the door and William sprang to action.

‘Go, move!’ he said, pushing Harry down the hallway and around a corner just as the door swung open. Neither Harry nor William dared peek to watch their father descending the stairs, but they heard him. Seconds later, their mother’s heels clicked on the hardwood and she shouted over the bannister.

‘I hope you’re happy! You’ve ruined Christmas! Ruined it!’

A door slammed. Then there was silence.

‘Go back to the playroom’ William told Harry as they released themselves from the soldier like stance against the wall.

‘Where are you going?’

‘I’ll come in a minute’

‘And we can play spies again!?’ Harry brightened.

‘Yes, we can play spies’ he agreed.

Harry ran off, leaving William to tread carefully down the hall, purposely avoiding the creaky floorboards he knew so well. He went into the study and pulled a few tissues from the tissue box on his father’s desk and set off to find the familiar sound of sobbing.

It wasn’t long before he found it, at the end of the hall in the first floor bathroom.

‘Mummy?’ he said to the shut door. There was no response, just the harmony of sobs.

‘Mummy?’ he said again. She couldn’t hear him, so consumed by her sorrow as she was.

Deftly, William kneeled onto the floor and pushed each tissue under the door one by one. Then he waited, and waited and waited until finally she came out, mascara wiped from her cheeks, her smile back on her face, but the sparkle gone from her eyes.

Christmas Present

William had never told anyone that it was that Christmas when he was eight years old that has ruined it for him for years to come. No-one need know how his parent glared at each other in stony silence over the turkey at the dinner table. They didn’t need to know how Charles had lavished gifts on the boys that year, only for Diana to say he was ‘trying to make up for something’ when she thought they weren’t listening.

He’d never enjoyed Christmas since that year, and after his mother passed, it seemed even more meaningless.

‘We’re home!’ Kate called to their housemates, as she brushed her boots onto the door mat.

Fergus bounded down the stairs, eager to lay his hands on the sweet treats they’d bought.

‘Don’t let him near them!’ Kate said immediately to William, ‘they’re for tomorrow’

‘What a taskmaster’ Fergus laughed. ‘Was she like this all day?’

William stared at Kate dopily but said nothing. Their hands had just touched when she took his bag off him and he was reeling from the after effects.

‘Helloooo?’ Fergus said. ‘Bit distracted are we?’

William frowned at his friend, but Kate was so caught up in her festive haze that she didn’t notice.

‘Can you two unpack this stuff? I need to put up the tree’ she called from the kitchen where she placed the shopping down. ‘But no snacking, Will I’m trusting you to keep him in check’

She flashed a wide grin at him, causing butterflies to flutter inside his stomach.

‘I’ll rugby tackle him if I have to’ he said.

After Kate had gone upstairs to relay the wonders of the Christmas Market to Olivia, Fergus set about interrogating William.

‘So did you talk to her?’ he said, inspecting a gingerbread man.

‘About what?’ he replied, his cheeks flushing.

Fergus sighed, ‘About you two, you should do it before Christmas’

‘There’s no rush’

‘Not if you’re not worried about her going home for a few weeks and kissing some loser from Bucklebury under the mistletoe’

William didn’t reply to this, focussing instead on a bottle of wine.

‘I’m just saying, you don’t wanna leave it too late, Kate’s a good one’

‘I know that’

William more than knew that. But beneath it all, he was shy and insecure and did he really want a steady girlfriend anyway? He tore open the gingerbread man to distract himself.

‘William!’ came Kate’s voice from the stairs as she spotted him eating the biscuit.

‘Sorry’ he smiled. ‘Couldn’t resist’

She tutted and rolled her eyes at him.

‘You keep telling me to get into the festive spirit, so I did!’ he teased and read from the label of the gingerbread, ‘“enjoy your Christmas with Gingerbread George” – see he told me to eat him’

Kate pulled it off him and snapped off the arm to taste ‘Gingerbread George knows that festive spirit isn’t about eating yourself silly’

‘You tell him Kate!’ Fergus chimed in. ‘It’s about drinking yourself silly too’

Kate scowled at Fergus playfully, ‘it’s about spending time with your loved ones and being thankful that you have them’

‘Isn’t that thanksgiving?’ William teased.

‘Yeh and Christmas is about Jesus?’ Fergus added.

‘You two are impossible!’ she huffed jokingly.

As Kate went over to the living area to decorate the tree, Fergus saw an opportunity to leave them alone, patting Will on the back and sprinting upstairs.

‘So what do you do on the actual day?’ Will asked, helping her to attach some baubles to the tree.

‘We usually go to church, and take a nice walk, play board games…oh and dad usually buys some kind of fancy dress outfit and turns up in it’

Will laughed at the thought of Mr Middleton in fancy dress.

‘Pretty similar to our family Christmas then, minus the fancy dress’ he said.

‘See, not so different, you and me’ she said with a nudge.

‘Apart from you actually like Christmas!’

‘I’ll make a convert of you yet, just you wait’

‘I doubt I’ll ever enjoy it’ he said, his mother’s dulled blue eyes suddenly popping into his head.

‘Maybe when you have kids you’ll change your mind’ she said placing the star at the top of the tree.

William scoffed, ‘doubt it’

Then would’ve been the perfect time to talk to her about how he felt. Surely that little nudge was a sign?

Kate looked at him expectantly, like she was waiting for him to say something. But his thoughts had been clouded by memories of Christmas’ past, the stale feeling it gave him, the one he thought he’d never get over.

‘No, Christmas is about money and pretending to like people you wouldn’t talk to any other time of the year’

Kate shook her head; clearly her patience with William’s attitude was waning.

‘Well I’ll enjoy it regardless’ she said plainly, getting up and heading upstairs again.

Will cursed himself; he’d just missed his chance.

Christmases Yet To Come

That night, he slept fitfully, images of Kate and Gingerbread George floating in his mind. He had probably eaten too much of it, he thought as he drifted uncomfortably from reality to dream.

He found himself standing in a large living room, a sparkling tree in the corner, a cream sofa covered in thick throws and a fire crackling under the mantelpiece.

To his shock, out from one of the rooms came someone who looked very much like himself. Well a version of himself that he almost didn’t recognise. This William had bags under his eyes and much less hair, but he was smiling, beaming even at something he was holding in his arms.

‘Rockin’ around the Christmas tree, at the Christmas party shop’ he sang, bouncing the thing up and down in his arms.

‘Those aren’t the lyrics’ came a voice he knew so well.

Kate appeared from the room looking just as, if not even more beautiful than William knew her.

‘It’s Christmas party hop, not shop, that doesn’t make any sense’ she added.

‘Alright Mother Christmas!’ he laughed. ‘Mummy’s such a know-it-all isn’t she?’

It was only then that Will noticed what his older self was holding. A bouncing baby boy.

Was it his? Surely it couldn’t be his.

‘George, tell daddy that mummy does know it all, yes I do’ she said tickling the baby’s stomach. ‘Especially about Christmas’

Kate held up a tiny red knitted jumper that she’d had behind her back, a reindeer design was on the front.

‘That’s ridiculous’ the two Williams said in unison. The younger clapped his hand over his mouth before realising that no-one could hear or see him.

‘It’s cute Will!’ Kate insisted.

‘He’s gonna be boiling in that thing’

‘He’ll be fine for a few minutes while we take some pictures, won’t you my pumpkin?’

William sighed in defeat.

As he stood observing from the corner, William recognised the look that his older self was giving Kate as the same dopy look he often gave her in their home at Hope Street. Was it conceivable that this could be his future? Married to Kate and with a baby that he sang Christmas songs to?

George screamed out as Kate tugged the jumper gently over his head.

‘He hates it!’ William shouted over the noise.

Will walked over to the sofas and sat close to the three of them, finding himself grinning at their domesticity.

Kate managed to get the jumper on and began snapping away with her camera, while William stood behind her making faces at the baby until finally after all the fuss, George cracked open a huge smile.

‘That’s my boy!’ Kate beamed.

For the next hour, or what felt like an hour as he had no sense of time, Will followed the family around the house. He watched them as they laughed together, chatted about a trip to Australia and other everyday things. He smiled with them when they fed George, and got frustrated with them when he wouldn’t eat.

When George was safely tucked up in bed, they sat down again at the couch, and he was surprised to see his older self voluntarily switching on Miracle on 34th Street. What had happened to him?

‘I love this film’ Kate said happily, tossing her legs up onto William’s.

‘It’s a good one, especially that scene at the end in the court room’

‘Do I need to get you some tissues?’ Kate teased.

William smirked at her, as did Will.

So this was what normal family life was all about, he thought.

Just as he was about to get comfortable and watch the film with them, darkness clouded over his dream, pulling him away.

He tossed and turned in his bed, neither waking nor going back to that room in Kensington Palace. Instead, he found himself plunged into a study, just like the one his father had.

There was William, the older, sitting at the desk, writing letters. Only this time, he was even older, fifty maybe. He sat with no expression on his face, a lamp flickering on his desk. There were no pictures on his desk, no sign of his wife or child, just emptiness.

‘Oi’ Will shouted.

But William couldn’t hear him.

He walked around the desk and behind the chair, where he could see William dating the letters as 24th December.

‘Oi’ he repeated. ‘It’s Christmas Eve, what are you doing here alone? Shouldn’t you be with your family or something?’

Will knew instinctively that there was no Kate or George in this scenario. This was the William of a future without a family.

And he hated it. He wanted to see himself ice skating with his kids, or chasing after them with snowballs. He wanted to be forced to watch Christmas movies, and eat turkey and brussel sprouts, and spend ridiculous money on visiting Father Christmas’ grotto with George.

‘Get off your arse!’ he shouted at his older self. ‘It’s Christmas!’

‘Get up! You’re married remember?! Go to your family!’

Of course the older William didn’t move, he merely sat solemnly, and just like he’d seen somewhere before, the sparkle gone from blue his eyes.

Will woke with a start, feeling like he hadn’t been asleep at all. He sat up for a few minutes dazed from being snapped out of the particularly vivid dream. But it had felt so real, he thought. He could almost taste the crackling fire from his apartment.

On walking downstairs, unable to stay in bed any longer, he found Kate warming some croissants in the oven.

‘Morning’ she said brightly. ‘Sleep well?’

‘Not really’ he said rubbing his eyes, ‘I had the weirdest dreams’

‘About what?’

He considered for a moment telling her the truth, but maybe it was a little too strange. ‘Um Gingerbread George…he came to life’ he said.

Kate laughed.

‘Can I help you with the lunch today?’ he asked.

She eyed him suspiciously, ‘you want to help?’

‘What’s wrong with that?!’

‘No, nothing’ she said, waving a butter knife in the air, ‘just surprised that you want anything to do with Christmas, that’s all’

William smiled, ‘I promise I won’t do anything without your approval’

‘Fine, you can start on the turkey stuffing, that’s hard to mess up’ she joked.

So William and Kate set about making Christmas lunch. William was pleased to spend this time alone with Kate before they went home and once or twice he almost plucked up the courage to ask her out. The dreams from last night still ran through his mind. If he didn’t ask her now, would he end up that lonely old man working on Christmas Eve? Was it even possible that he could know a happy family life so different from those tense Christmases of the past?

By the time Olivia and Fergus emerged in the kitchen, William was still mulling over his thoughts and was alone with Kate no longer.

Timed perfectly by Kate, at one o’clock, the four of them sat down at their small table, food and drink almost falling over the edges.

‘It all looks amazing’ Olivia enthused, ‘I can’t wait for you to cut into that turkey’ she said to Kate.

The turkey was the centrepiece of the table setting, golden brown and oozing with juices and stuffing.

‘Actually I think Will should have the honours’ Kate said, slipping on her snowman slippers for the occasion.

‘Me?’ he said unconvinced.

‘You’ve shown your Christmas spirit today, plus you made most of it, it’s only fair you should carve it’.

They exchanged a look over the table, and Will knew he was doing the dopey eyes again, realising how much he liked Kate’s attention.

‘There’s enough to feed a small army here’ Fergus remarked as William picked up the knife.

Just as he was about to slice the knife through the turkey, he stopped abruptly.

‘Will?’ Kate said.

‘You’re right…you’re absolutely right’ he said vacantly.

He dropped the knife on the table and picked up the entire turkey, platter and all.

‘Um Will, are you ok? … where are you going with that?’ Kate said, concerned as William headed for the front door.

Kate, Fergus and Olivia exchanged worried glances.

‘Come with me’ Will said, attempting to put on a baseball cap while balancing the turkey with one hand.

‘Where?!’ Kate asked, but William was already on the doorstep, so she was forced to jump up and follow him.

William turned right from their home, and strode up the street purposefully. ‘Keep up!’ he teased as he turned and saw Kate rushing behind him.

They rounded a corner onto the next street and William looked searchingly at each door, finally recalling the one he wanted.

It was then that Kate understood what was happening, and she couldn’t help smiling to herself as William rang the doorbell at his chosen house.

The door opened a few inches, ‘we haven’t got any spare change’ a voice snapped from behind the door, and began to shut it again.

‘No we’re not collecting for charity’ William said quickly. ‘I’d just like to…well I have something I’d like to give you’

‘I’m not interested in finding Jesus’ she said spikily.

‘Wait please’ he said before she could slam the door in his face, ‘we met yesterday, we live down the road, your son’s Tim isn’t it?’

‘What has he done now?! TIM!!!!!!!!!!’ she screeched.

‘Nothing!’ Kate attempted, ‘please could you open the door’

The woman finally relented; opening the door fully as tiny Tim came storming down the stairs.

‘Wow! Ma look a’ tha’ turkey!’ he said, his eyes transfixed.

William grinned at his excitement. ‘It’s for you, if you’d like it’

‘Wha’ for?’ the woman said suspiciously.

William pondered for a second and then said, ‘call it Christmas spirit?’

Kate beamed and placed a hand on William’s back.

‘There’s nothing wrong with it honestly, we made it this morning, I know it’s a bit large…’

‘…but you can cut it up and put it in the freezer until Christmas day if you’d prefer’ Kate finished for him.

‘I’ve go’ three more kids in there’ she said, ‘they’ll polish that off’

‘So you’ll accept it?’ Kate said hopefully. ‘As a gift’

‘I can’nae really say no, can I?’. For the first time the woman smiled, softening her face considerably.

William handed the turkey to her, and ruffled Tim’s hair, who was still transfixed.

‘Thank you’ the woman said. ‘From all o’ us’

‘No problem’, Will said, lowering his hat and turning away.

‘Wait, what are your names?’ she said.

‘It doesn’t matter’ William said. ‘Merry Christmas to you all’

‘Merry Christmas’ she said back to them both.

William and Kate walked back to Hope Street partly in silence, nothing really needing to be said.

‘Do you think Olivia and Fergus will be pissed off I’ve given their turkey away?’ William asked eventually, as they walked purposely slowly.

‘We have more than enough other food’ Kate said sensibly. ‘Besides they’ll have the same opinion as me when they know where it went’

‘Which is?’ he said, smirking.

‘That you’re very sweet and even a little awesome’

William stopped in the pavement, ‘you think I’m awesome?’

‘You know I do’ she said rolling her eyes as if it was a silly question.

‘Right…well the thing is, I think you’re kind of awesome too’ he said, with all the confidence he could muster.

‘Do you?’ she gave him a smile that made him blush.

‘And I was thinking…maybe when we come back after the break, we could…um…you know’ William was bright red and running out of words.

‘Be awesome together?’ Kate suggested.

‘Yes, exactly, if you wanted to, obviously’ he mumbled.

‘I thought you’d never get the hint’ she chuckled.

‘Well I’m not very observant’ he said calmly though his spirits soaring.

Kate reached on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek, sending the flush roaring back to his face.

Maybe that dream last night wasn’t just a dream, perhaps it was the push he so badly needed, he thought optimistically.

He looked down and saw that to his great amusement, Kate was still in her snowman slippers.

‘Nice slippers’ he teased, pulling a face at their gaudiness.

‘Oh bah humbug!’

#katefiction #royal fanfiction #cambridge fanfiction #kate middleton

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roc-thoughtblog · 4 years ago

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Sense and Sensibility Readthrough Part 8

Chapter 11, Pages 45-49

What even happened last time, it's been a few days and all I remember is Willoughby. Ahem,

Previously, Willoughby makes his entrance proper as Marianne's dream man, and they hit it off basically immediately. In the process, they're kinda mean to Colonel Brandon, and get into a small argument with Elinor over it. Ah, yep that's what happened last time.

Slightly shorter for both being a shorter chapter and also because I've been having trouble concentrating the past few days and that hasn't let up.

Readthrough below.

Chapter 11 The Dashwoods were not expecting to be socialites here but Sir Middleton has other plans. "Parties on the water were made" is this a turn of phrase or were they actually having boat parties? Willoughby is naturally present at all of them, of course, such that he and Marianne can get their flirt on. I wonder if Sir Middleton deliberately is helping them along?

Elinor wishes they could be a little less lovey-dovey haha. Oh Elinor, I mean, it doesn't seem like they're at PDA level yet, so surely it can only get worse from here. :'D

(and I just lost 10 minutes looking up what technically constitutes PDA)

When he was present she had no eyes for anyone else. Everything he did, was right. Everything he said, was clever. [...] Such conduct made them of course most exceedingly laughed at; but ridicule could not shame, and seemed hardly to provoke them.

D'aww. They do very basically-a-couple-but-not-quite things, though at least they're very self-aware. Mama Dashwood's happy to just see it, what a balanced lady between the siblings. I guess she's been through it all.

This was the season of happiness to Marianne.

D'awwwww. Yeah I've seen my friends get giddy-high off of just having a big fat crush. Sure is crazy. Love is a drug, etc. It's adorable to see, especially for people like Marianne where it means so much to them as a person. She even misses Norland less!

Infatuation: cure for depression! *side-effects may include imminent depression via love being unrequited

Elinor's happiness was not so great.

Oh. :(

Seems like without Edward around she's got noone to talk to and no fun to have. The Middletons are a bit shallow and repetitive to her. She doesn't dislike Willoughby, but he's too single-mindedly focused on Marianne to keep Elinor any good company. Just good ol' wallflower Brandon is the only person interesting to talk to.

Colonel Brandon, unfortunately for himself, had no such encouragement to think only of Marianne,

hahaha ouch. Well at least he has Elinor to converse with!

[...] when they were sitting down together by mutual consent, while the others were dancing.

This is.. I just want to highlight this because it is adorable. Just two slightly melancholy acquaintances, sitting down to share a moment, opening up about themselves while the party goes on in the foreground. I... ah, I really enjoy this. I’m the type of person who often finds themselves in these situations, and as hazy as the details become they’re often some of my favourite memories. Fleeting and yet forever. That and those deep night 3am conversations.

Anyway, the two of them discuss Marianne. Brandon's already picked up on her less than flattering opinions of less traditionally romantic love. "Second attachments" specifically. So that's our hint that Brandon's loved before. He's a lot more forgiving on Marianne's youth than Elinor is haha. She just launches right out into her complaints about Marianne's tendencies towards impropriety. Also, nice point about how Marianne hasn't reconciled her notions on "second attachment's being unpardonable", with her own father's remarrying, yet. I forgot about that.

Here he stopped suddenly; appeared to think that he said too much, and by his countenance gave rise to conjectures, which might not otherwise have entered Elinor's head.

Aha, yep. Another plain painting on a wall may well become another part of the scenery, but a hook on a wall with the pallid silhouette of a picture beneath, begs the question of what censored artpiece once occupied the space, and why it was removed. As it is, Elinor can easily put a few pieces together suggesting it's something to do with past love, but;

Elinor attempted no more.

Yeah probably for the best. I think at some point if there's something personal somebody doesn't want you to know, well, there's probably a reason they don't want you to know it. It's something best respected, or in the very least, asked rather than speculated.

But Marianne, in her place, would not have done so little. The whole story would have been speedily formed under her active imagination; and everything established in the most melancholy order of disastrous love.

HAHAHA but of course Marianne knows how to have (potentially inappropriate) fun. I need to see this! I need to see what madcap she fancy she spins.

#800 words #been a little bit #Jane Austen #Sense and Sensibility #readthrough #novels

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helenaspencer · 4 years ago

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intro to helena

Is that HELENA SPENCER-MAY? Wow, they do look a lot like PHOEBE DYNEVOR. I hear SHE is an EIGHTEEN year old FRESHMAN who are studying HISTORY at Luxor University. Word is they are an ARISTOCRAT student. You should watch out because they can be CHILDISH and SNOBBISH, but on the bright side they can also be GENEROUS and CHARMING. Ultimately, you’ll get to see it all for yourself. [YUNI, 21, GMT, SHE/HER]

lord knows why i did this. im sorry.

01: basic information

Full Name: Lara Helena Spencer-May

Nicknames: Helena - she insists on being referred to only by her middle name.

Date Of Birth: August 12, 2002 (currently aged 18)

Zodiac: Leo sun, Leo ascendant, and Libra moon.

Place Of Birth: New York

Nationality: American and Swiss.

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

Course: History (Freshman)

02: physical

Faceclaim: Phoebe Dynevor

Ethnicity: White (Swiss, English)

Height: 173cm (5′8)

Weight: 56kg (124lbs)

Eye Colour: Blue

Hair Colour: Blonde

Distinctive Features: a tangible air of disdain for anyone who earns less than 100k a year

Clothing Preference: Helena won’t wear anything which isn’t designer, but even then, she has her preferences. Perhaps stereotypically, she adores Chanel, closely followed by Versace. Her sense of style is fairly feminine, with a lot of dresses and skirts, and she wouldn’t be caught dead in a pair of jeans.

03: personality

Overview

Positive Traits: Generous, charming, loyal, creative

Negative Traits: Childish, snobbish, insincere, judgemental

MBTI: ESTP

Religious Beliefs: Atheist

Description

Helena has pretty much the emotional maturity of Veruca Salt. Which is to say, she cares about one person in the world, and that is herself. She doesn’t make long term plans, instead pursuing short term happiness - which means that whatever she wants in that moment, she will go for. And if you stand between her and whatever she wants, no matter how dumb - whether it’s a bag or a college - she reacts dramatically. She’s not above throwing tantrums, literally stomping her feet and screaming, scratching, you name it, until she gets what she asked for. She once keyed an ex boyfriend’s car because he understandably refused to invite her to his sister’s wedding and Helena had already picked out her (white) outfit. In addition to this, Helena’s sheltered upbringing has made her extremely ignorant to the world as a whole. She fails to comprehend how anyone can not be rich, since it’s all she knows, and so she tends to assume that poor people are always lazy and unambitious. As a result, she refuses to associate herself with anyone who is a scholarship student or comes from a poor family, as she insists that mindset might be contagious and drag her down. Her mood can switch very rapidly - one minute she is being sweet and charming to you, and the next minute she is screaming and crying. She’s also extremely adept at crocodile tears, which she uses on everyone she wants something from, seeing no problem with manipulating others if it gets her what she wants. She generally has a very superior outlook on herself as opposed to others, hence why she just assumes she’s going to inherit the May family’s company, over her cousins.

04: past

Biography:

Lara Helena Spencer-May was born in New York to a Swiss father, Matteo May, and English mother, Margaret Spencer. Her father works for the family’s pharmaceutical company, her mother is from British landed gentry and works as a classicist for the British Museum. Helena spent the first few years of her life in New York, before moving back to Switzerland, although she continued to spend a lot of time in New York over the summer, where she would later meet Zander Driskell.

Although her first name is legally Lara, Helena forced everyone to call her by her middle name from the age of eleven. Firstly, she thought that Lara sounded common, and slightly too similar to her cousin Loren’s name, and secondly, as her classicist mother told her the story of Helen of Troy, who she had been named after - and there was nothing which sounded better in Helena’s shallow mind than being beautiful enough that men started wars over you.

Helena is her parents only child, and she was absolutely spoiled rotten from the moment she was born. Her father gives her anything she asks for, and pretty much dotes on her; her mother also treats her as if she’s the centre of the universe. As a result, Helena has become accustomed to never being told no, and has no idea of a good way to act if she is - hence her tendency to throw tantrums if she doesn’t immediately get what she wants. She’s far too used to being able to manipulate daddy with a few tears into giving her an extra 5k in her bank account.

From the age of six, Helena was sent away to attend Ecole des Roches, a prestigious boarding school in Paris. She would either come back to Switzerland over the summer, or spend summers in New York. One such summer was spent in Saratoga Springs when she was sixteen, where she met Zander Driskell - and who she began dating, with Helena deciding to stay in New York after summer ended to be closer. Despite this, their relationship quickly turned toxic, with Helena’s spoiled and selfish nature making it difficult for her to put up with Zander not giving her everything she wanted - they broke up and got back together multiple times over the course of the next year, before a particularly bad break up caused Helena to up and leave for Paris again, finally finishing her high school education in Paris.

Then came the time for college. To be honest, Helena has no actual interest in gaining a degree. As far as she is concerned, she is just going to get a degree for the sake of having one, as she is convinced she is going to inherit the family business. Still, she had ambitions to attend the University of St Andrews in Scotland, primarily because she knew Kate Middleton met Prince William there, and Helena would love to be a Queen one day. However, her grandparents instead gently pushed her to attend Luxor University, suggesting that Helena would benefit from some bonding time with her cousins. She instantly refused - and was thus incredibly shocked when for once, her father put his foot down, insisting that either Helena attend Luxor, or he would cut her allowance. No number of tantrums, screaming, threats to jump out of the window, or run away would work - Helena ended up at Luxor, much to her upset, surrounded by her dreaded scholarship students.

Timeline:

August 12 2002 - Helena is born in New York

2006 - Helena moves back to Switzerland

September 2008 - Helena is sent to Paris to attend boarding school. She returns to either Zurich or New York over the summers following.

Summer 2018 - Helena meets and begins a relationship with Zander Driskell. They have many fights and an on and off relationship.

December 2019 - After a particularly bad argument, Helena throws a tantrum and leaves New York, returning to Paris to finish her high school education.

September 2020- Helena begins attending Luxor University.... fashionably late.

05: other trivia

- Helena speaks fluent Swiss German, Swiss French, and English. In addition to this she is fluent in High French, since she attended school in Paris. Her accent when speaking English is sort of an amalgamation of American, English, and French due to her upbringing and her English mother, and it tends to change depending who she’s speaking to - if she’s speaking to someone English, for instance, it will be more on the English side as she subconsciously matches them, whereas if she’s speaking in English to a French person, it becomes more French.

- Adores the British monarchy. Especially Princess Diana. And yes, Spencer means she’s a distant relation. She won’t let you forget it.

- If you call her Lara, she will spit on you.

-She loves classical paintings, and collects art. Her dorm room walls are covered with paintings and reproductions of Greek tapestries. She dresses as Helen of Troy every. single. Halloween.

- She can play the piano, and the flute. She is constantly in a stage of quitting and rejoining the concert band though, as she joins, can’t take any criticism at all, quits, and then misses it and wants to rejoin.

- Massive fan of Lana Del Rey.

06: notable connections

Within Luxor:

- Friendships: ...

- Former Relationships: Zander Driskell

- Cousins: Loren Velazquez, Zelda Reese

NPCS

- Matteo May and Margaret Spencer May: Her parents, who she has wrapped around her little finger.

07: connection ideas/wcs

Friends

Although Helena is often too childish to hold friendships for long, she can be fun for a party, so I see her having a lot of friends who she just drinks with or parties with every once for a while, without any genuine connection going on or spending too much time together

Enemies

Maybe someone who is annoyed by her antics and has been on the receiving end of one of her tantrums and thus sees the immature side of her personality as an annoyance.

Hookups

As long as she doesn’t perceive you as poor (god forbid), she loves a good hookup or friends with benefits.

08: tl;dr

Helena is highly immature, childish, and spoiled. She is rich to the point of not being able to understand or appreciate anything cheap or anyone poor in life, and looks down on pretty much anyone who isn’t at her level of rich as a result, seeing them as lazy. She truly believes she is superior to her cousins and that she’s going to inherit their family’s company, purely because she wants it that way.

#luxorintro #here is helena #loool i am sorry in advance #but feel free to dm if youd like to plot!!!!!!!

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