#Roy's Real Parent (April)

[mayisgoingnuts]

Got inspired by this post my mootie made and decided to make my own hehehe

[konniesreality]

Ok so here's my success story

Joined loablr 1½ yrs ago life was normal for me and I was comfortable in my circumstances so I never really applied it, I was always scared if changes so i just read posts after posts from a+p to void to states i overconsumed so much that I forgot what it truly was. I never truly persisted and i didn't even believed it. But then last April my worst luck hit and life started going downhill in every area i could imagine. I failed all my exams, gained weight and started hating myself, my friends left me I was completely outcasted and the worst part i had to keep all my despair to myself because I wasn't allowed to vent. My father lost his job and became super short tempered he'll scold me for everything and for my mum everyday the disappointment I saw in her eyes broke me. I was still skeptical of the law but this time I had nothing to lose...

So first i wanted to manifest my life without void because i had saw the void obsession and i knew if I would start now i too would be omw obsessed with it. So i decided to start loa from the basis.I first read Pink's doubt post i read it till i convinced myself that loa and void all were real. After that I compiled your how i manifest, su's loa basics post,Rosie's void doc and Raven's revision post. I then logge off Tumblr. I made a routine for myself taking inspiration from your post and Rosie's doc. And Raven's revision post made me confident that nothing was impossible.

Every morning I would affirm for void concept and self concept i didn't wanted to get obsessed with anything and struggle more by putting them on pedestal. When I had nothing to do I would vaunt while listening to baejin and Roy's subs. I logged off from every social platform and just completely focused on myself.It's like superrrrr hot here in summers so I would usually take naps in afternoons and that time I used for SATS. And at night I would do breathing exercises and would affirm to wake up in void state.

After 12-13 days i felt such a huge shift in my life like my dad started being super nice to me and mum was actually motivating me and taking me out on walks to cheer me up just like i visualised in SATS!!! This boosted my confidence so muchhhhh!!!! I was sure about my abilities my self concept was also amazing and I was manifesting small things here and there but i hadn't entered void till now. So i read Pink's post again and then Rosie's void doc this relaxed me and motivated me to keep persisting in my new story and the next night i entered the void state!!!!! It was so relaxing and calming and I felt so safe. It was just like how i thought it would be baby blue with sparkling stars everywhere!!!!! I felt so light and happy.... After staying for some time i affirmed for my desires stayed there for some more time and then came out.

Now the fun stuff i manifested

First— i woke up in my room!!!!! But in my old story i shared my room with my parents but here i was in my room that looked exactly like my Pinterest boards!!! Honestly I just laid there for 15-20 min i don't know why but i was crying??😅😅 I still don't understand it maybe because i always wanted a space for my own where i could just release all my emotions and always being surrounded by people i just learnt to swallow my emotions and remain stoic but on this day i just released myself i was so proud of me for sticking through and becoming the success story i wanted to be.okay...... not going too indepth in other things now otherwise it'll become a novel now😆

2) I was my desired weight and had my complete desired appearance. I felt so confident on seeing myself in the mirror.

3) My dad getting his job back and now having a big big promotion for the relentless work he did for the past 20 yrs.He is the senior of the guy who fired him on false charges hihi guess who got fired next😜😜

4) Passing all my exams with A+ and getting into my desired school it's a private school only for rich kids i always wanted to attend one so now I am attending it😎

5) Having amazing IQ and photograpjic memory.

6) We have an amazing house of ours now it is so big and beautiful 😻😻😻 it also has a big lawn outside.

7) Being the popular girl of my school those friends who ditched me are now begging to be in my group but you see I'm the popular girl and not the mean girl so they are not welcomed here 😎🤓😎

I manifested many many more desires and now I'm so so happy everyday is a blessing for me. And I just want to thank you and all the bloggers here you all are a ray of hope in our lives. I love you so much and will always remain thankful to you,Rosie, Pink,Sue and every other blogger who helped me. You all are amazing people and you all deserve the world.

Now I'm gonna deactivate from Tumblr so thank you again. We may don't know each other but you all have become an integral part of my life. I hope Tumblr good days return again and it get flooded with success stories again.

Nd all the bloggers here remain safe and happy and manifest positivity and goodness in their lives.

Sorry it became very long😅 but i hope Konnie you stay happy and healthy always and your blog is just filled with positivity you don't deserve these stupid haters. Thank you again for helping me...

Bye Konnie!

Anon I am so happy for you! I’m so happy I helped you, I’m so happy that you got everything you wanted love! Enjoy your life honey! 💗💗💗

[cainhood]

                  AUGUST  GARVEY                AKA:  JACK  HORNE.

basics.

given  name.     jack  horne. real  name.     august  garvey. nickname.     that  motherfucker,   give  him  some. age.     forty-one   (   april  24,   2003   ). place  of  birth.     reno,   nevada. gender  identity.     cis  man   (   he   +   him   ). orientation.     bisexual   (   femme  lean   ). occupation.     general  counsel  for  ichibangase   /   eisher  corporation.     former  public  defence  lawyer,   eventual  pocketed  lawyer  for  countless  wealthy  clients.     each  as  rotten  as  the  last;   none  as  sordid  as  him.     chronic  winner  gambler. moral  alignment.     chaotic  evil. character  inspiration.     saul  goodman   (   breaking  bad   ),   the  narrator   (   fight  club   ),   danny  johnson   /   ghostface   (   dead  by  daylight   ),   player  x   (   molly’s  game   ),   bojack  horseman   (   bojack  horseman   ),   lou  bloom   (   nightcrawler   ),   roman  roy   (   succession   ),   nick  dunne   (   gone  girl   ),   cain   (   the  bible   ).

background.

it  flickers  into  place.     singed  at  the  edges,   from  replay  after  replay.     relentlessly  watched  by  a  future  self.     your  entryway,   unremarkable,   caught  by  a  lens.     the  film-easy  parents:   an  army  man  and  his  open-tinned  housewife.     harbinger  of  the  final  frontier.     america’s  great  need  to  breed.     (   a  rhyme  a  day  keeps  the  lord  at  bay.     it  sounds  like  august’s  snark,   but  leaves  lips  that  call  themselves  jack.   )     you  are  an  off-centre  baby.     by  bare  minutes,   your  father’s  promotion  precedes  you.     their  best  wishes  will  falter,   stuck  in  the  tooth  of  a  waxed  badge.     one  of  the  photos,   only  one,   looks  directly  at  you;   tucked  into  your  mother’s  pink  elbow.     one  of  you  sleeps,   the  other  doesn’t.     when  jack  goes  missing,   that  will  be  the  only  milk-carton  picture  they  have.     in  a  shadowed  corner   –   the  memory  you  won’t  remember   –   your  father  rocks  you  to  sleep,   and  thumbs  the  apple  that’s  lodged,   still,   in  the  middle  of  your  throat.     he  finds  himself,   his  faded  scar,   on  his  son’s  little  neck.     under  the  same  wrinkle.     the  same  skin.     something  grotesque  rouses  his  gaze.     something  like  a  god  watching  snakes  grow  from  reeds.     something  heavy  and  impenetrable.     something  like  fondness.

what’s  left  for  you,   in  the  assuaged  family  life?     wooden  toys  for  you  to  throw,   but  no  will  in  your  hands  to  grab  them.     a  peach-pit  of  a  baby:   sweet-skinned   ––   or  sweet-fleshed,   whichever  sounds  prettier   ––   and  hard-hearted.     bred  into  boredom,   then,   alongside  the  hyena  that  eyes  its  windowed  fence.     the  cat  that  gnaws  on  a  dead  nose.     this  scene  births  your  boundless  ego.     whatever  you  hold  funnels  into  your  deep  sense  of  lack.     always  having  enough  skews  your  sense  of  enough.     there’s  no  wound  to  click  clean.     and  the  craving  in  your  bones  decants,   until  you  swallow  grape-flavoured  hate.     love  has  its  sun-blistered  days.     it  ducks  into  your  lonely  neck,   boned  finger  pressing  at  your  steady  pulse.     blinked  moments:   you  missed  them.     a  hand  curls  around  the  shell  of  your  ear.     your  hair  tousles.     later  at  the  creek,   someone  will  smooth  those  flecked  tresses.     and  another,   a  dry  mouth  pressed  against  your  hot  temple.     imperfectly  average;   painfully  modest.     what  makes  you  numb.     here   ––   in  the  arms  of  a  woman,   his  mother,   with  two  hands  and  one  heart   ––   he  births  his  own  taste  for  blood.

EXTERIOR  SHOT:   dark  woods,   retaining  a  daylit  ambiance.     dusty  peeks  of  the  sun  upon  mossed  rocks.     you  hear  water  flowing  and  barked  calls  beyond  the  trees.     leaves  rustle;   a  steady  flood  of  trundling  steps.     there’s  a  pale  dot  of  a  boy.     no  shoes,   ripped  shorts.     blood  dripping  from  his  brow-bone  into  his  eye.     breathless  and  alone.     he  fell  down,   this  boy  says,   we  fell  and  he  can’t  get  up.     you  will  find  the  boy’s  friend,   days  later,   shored  on  a  ravine.     spit  out  into  the  forest’s  jowls.     blue-lipped  and  water-bruised.     a  struggling  neck-wrinkle  of  deep  crimson;   nails  half-lifted  from  their  damp  beds.     and  yet,   august  emerges  with  a  simple  plaster  on  his  plain  cut.     wrong  place,   wrong  time,   he  will  eventually  say.     (   he  was  mine,  until  he  wasn’t.   )     august  chose  the  place,   and  the  time.     this  always  happens,   you  will  say,   you  always  happen.     august  knows  the  boy  for  the  bare  bones  of  half  a  day   –   which  is  enough,   in  his  child-mind   –   to  remember  him  with  the  familiarity  of  a  life-long  friendship.     to  displace  a  tender  heartbeat  where  it  doesn’t  belong.

INTERIOR  SHOT:   a  bottom-fed  graduation  hall.     rich  mahogany  scents  twined  nasal-spoken  accents.     even  before  the  ceremony,   no  word  reaches  above  a  whisper.     the  same  pale  dot  of  a  man,   amidst  a  pond  of  graduating  peers.     his  peanut  gallery  can’t  cross  into  his  domain,   for  they  are  fatherless  and  mother-ful.     maybe  a  brother,   or  a  dour  sister.     (   can’t  name  a  garvey  without  naming  their  brother,  can  you?   )     sorry,   definitely  a  brother.     none  of  them  smile.     he  would  blow  a  grin   –   jack,   now,   bearing  the  average  name  of  an  average  man   –   if  he  accepted  his  degree  without  a  black  medical  mask.     actual  top  of  the  class  in  a  year  of,   maybe,   thirty  of  his  duplicates.     this  moment  beyond  his  family  won’t  be  ruined.     not  by  the  shutter  of  a  camera,   nor  the  man  beside  his  mother.     this  is  another  beginning,   without  a  father  to  colour  his  background.     how  could  he  ever  be  unhappy?

the  years  unfold  with  the  flare  of  another’s  making.     the  green  woods  blend  into  the  brown  courtroom.     chewed  in  the  same  mouth,   spat  on  different  tongues.     no  establishing  shot  for  this  scene:   he  wakes  mid-stalk  behind  his  father.     a  rifle  in  hand;   his  heated  gaze  can’t  drop  from  his  father’s  head.     unsure  of  his  age,   or  how  tall  he  should  be.     you  won’t  miss,   his  father  says,   steady  your  knee.     you  take  aim  and  a  deep  inhale.     before  you  see  the  killing  blow,   you’re  sitting  beside  another  dead-eyed  client.     not  a  tense  muscle  between  you.     he  knows  you  better  than  that.     the  career  you  build  on  the  back  of  a  fleeing  monarch.     proverbial  in  his  guilt.     you  always  take  the  shot.     you  always  win.     greatness  falls  into  his  lap,   really,   he  didn’t  have  to  search  far.     there’s  no  emptiness  here.     there’s  no  room  left,   in  him,   to  harbour  any  such  cavern.     deeper  exhale.     the  shot  will  always  land  between  the  deer’s  unblinking  eyes.     your  father  would  pat  your  shoulder.     when  he  drives  home,   he  would  complain  about  a  hot  pain  behind  his  eye  sockets.

[lilacmermaid25]

Ted Lasso Fanfic Challenge 2022 - December

December’s Challenge:  Home

The Rules: There are none, EXCEPT that the concept of Home must be addressed in some way. Show Nate using his West Ham salary to buy his first flat, or Keeley returning to the one where she grew up. Write about Roy making his house into a real home that reminds him of his grandfather, or Higgins & Julie selling the only home their boys have ever known. Consider Sharon feeling at home for the first time at university, or Colin not feeling at home in England - home can be as small as a room, or as big as a planet. Think about Phoebe running away from home, or Nora begging Rebecca to come home, or Henry moving in with Ted. Write about Sassy learning to feel at home in her skin, or Rupert making himself at home somewhere he is not welcome. Show a Richmond match played on home turf, or Shannon squatting at Nelson Road, or Beard being a homebody. Consider Michelle being kicked out of her parents’ home, or Trent being evicted, or Sam losing his home in a fire.

Any character, any setting, any premise - anything goes! I’m calling it December’s challenge, but there is absolutely no deadline. And no word limit either - make it a drabble or a one-shot, or the longest multi-chapter you’ve ever written. (I can’t claim to need new things to read these days, but I love multi-chapters all the same).

Want to participate but aren’t able to write something at the moment? That’s fine too! Just describe what you’d like to write about for this month’s challenge. I’m curious what ideas all of you have in your heads!

Please add your fic to the AO3 collection HERE, and tag it with Ted Lasso Fanfic Challenge anywhere else you post!

Feel free to check out any of my prompts if you’re looking for inspiration. I hope to create a Masterpost with all of them in one place soon!

Bonus Challenge: Feel like setting an additional challenge for yourself? Send  me an Ask and I’ll give you a character or premise!

Good luck!

Previous Challenges:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

[brookston]

Holidays 7.31

Holidays

African Women’s Day

Always Live Better Than Yester Day

Apricot Day (French Republic)

Black Top Day (a.k.a. Black Tot Day; UK)

Change Your Ringtone Day (Australia)

Cool Japan Day

Crossfire Hurricane Day

Devoted Couples Day

Emancipation Day (Belize)

Father’s Day (Dominican Republic)

George Jetson Day

Gryphon Appreciation Day

Hapje Tapje (Leuven, Belgium)

Happy Potter Day

Hot August Nights begin (Reno, Nevada)

Insect Appreciation Day

International Lifeguard Appreciation Day

International Seriously Single Day

Joust of Quintana: La Sfida (The Challenge; Italy) [Pt. 2 in September]

Ka Hae Hawai'i Day (State Flag Day; Hawaii)

Law Enforcement Day (Louisiana)

Mac Davis Day (Lubbock, Texas)

Martyrdom Day of Shahid Udham Singh (Haryana and Punjab, India)

Milton Friedman Day

Mutt's Day

National Commando Day

National Diana Day

National Eisteddford of Wales (Wales)

National Heatstroke Awareness Day

National #Love Day

National Mom Bod Day

National Mutt Day (a.k.a. National Mixed Breed Dog Day)

National Orgasm Day (UK)

National Parent a Biracial Child Day

Operation Motorman Anniversary Day (UK)

Rabbit Rabbit Day [Last Day of Every Month]

Saui Sura (Javanese New Year; Suriname)

Saxophone Day

Treasury Day (Poland)

Uncommon Instrument Awareness Day

U.S. Patent Day

Warriors’ Day (Malaysia)

World Day Against Electronic Torture

World MS Trend Day

World Ranger Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Cotton Candy Day [also 12.7]

Jump for Jelly Beans Day

Make Homemade Ice Cream and Invite the Neighbors Over Day

National Avocado Day

National Raspberry Cake Day

National Spam Day

Rum Ration Day (a.k.a. Black Tot Day)

Shredded Wheat Day

5th & Last Monday in July

Carnival Monday (Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba) [Last Monday]

Independence Days

Vanuatu (from UK/France, 1980)

Feast Days

Abanoub (Christian; Saint)

Bill Gates Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Birthday of Nephthys

Cameons (Positivist; Saint)

The Clodhoppers (Muppetism)

Dress Up Day (Pastafarian)

Erich Heckel (Artology)

First Sermon of Buddha (Bhutan)

Germanus of Auxerre (Christian; Saint)

Helen of Skofde, Sweden (Christian; Saint)

Ignatius of Loyola (Christian; Saint)

Jacques Villon (Artology)

John Columbini (Christian; Saint)

Joseph of Arimathea (Eastern Orthodox)

Lammas Eve (a.k.a. ... 

Hlafmesse (Loaf Mass; Anglo-Saxon)

Lammas, Day 1 (Celtic, Pagan) [5 of 8 Festivals of the Natural Year]

Lammas Eve (a.k.a. Lughnassad Eve)

Lithasblot (Norse Harvest Festival)

Loki and Sigyn’s Day (Norse)

Lughnassadh (Grain Harvest)

Oiche Lughnasadh (Pagan)

Neot (Christian; Saint)

Real Ale Day (Pastafarian)

Seedy Birds (Muppetism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Bad Animals, by Heart (Album; 1987)

BASEketball (Film; 1998)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Film; 1992)

Dad’s Army (BBC TV Series; 1968)

The Dark Tower (Film; 2017)

Death Becomes Her (Film; 1992)

Enchanted April (Film; 1992)

Ever After (Film; 1998)

Four Weddings and a Funeral (TV Series; 2019)

Hang ‘Em High (Film; 1968)

Hot Shots! (Film; 1991)

Lego Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis (WB Animated Film; 2018)

The Living Daylights (James Bond Film, US; 1987) [#15]

The Lost Boys (Film; 1987)

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (Film; 2015)

Murder Included, by Joanna Cannan (Novel; 1950)

The Negotiator (Film; 1998)

Only the Lonely, by Roy Orbison (Song; 1960)

Plenty of Money and You (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Book of Poems; 1786)

Rascal Flatts, by Rascal Flatts (Album; 2000)

Rushing Roulette (WB MM Cartoon; 1965)

The Shadow (Radio Series; 1930)

Still the One, by Orleans (Song; 1976)

Urban Cowboy (Film; 1980)

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (Film; 2017)

The Wiggles (TV Series; 1998)

Today’s Name Days

Hermann, Ignatius, Justinus (Austria)

Ignacije, Vatroslav (Croatia)

Ignác (Czech Republic)

Germanus, Helena (Denmark)

Ave, Meevi (Estonia)

Elena, Helena (Finland)

Ignace (France)

Herrmann, Ignatius, Joseph (Germany)

Iosif, Sifis (Greece)

Oszkár (Hungary)

Barbara (Italy)

Angelika, Renita, Rūta, Sigita (Latvia)

Elena, Ignotas, Sanginas, Vykintė (Lithuania)

Elin, Eline (Norway)

Beatus, Demokryt, Emilian, Ernesta, Ernestyna, Helena, Iga, Ignacja, Ignacy, Justyn, Ludomir, Żegota (Poland)

Margarita, Marina (Russia)

Ignác (Slovakia)

Fabio, Germán, Ignacio (Spain)

Elin, Helena (Sweden)

Ignacio, Inigo, Reed, Reid (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 212 of 2024; 153 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 31 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 21 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Ji-Wei), Day 14 (Geng-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 13 Av 5783

Islamic: 13 Muharram 1445

J Cal: 2 Hasa; Twosday [2 of 30]

Julian: 18 July 2023

Moon: 98%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 16 Dante (8th Month) [Cameons]

Runic Half Month: Thorn (Defense) [Day 3 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 41 of 94)

Zodiac: Leo (Day 10 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 7.31

Holidays

African Women’s Day

Always Live Better Than Yester Day

Apricot Day (French Republic)

Black Top Day (a.k.a. Black Tot Day; UK)

Change Your Ringtone Day (Australia)

Cool Japan Day

Crossfire Hurricane Day

Devoted Couples Day

Emancipation Day (Belize)

Father’s Day (Dominican Republic)

George Jetson Day

Gryphon Appreciation Day

Hapje Tapje (Leuven, Belgium)

Happy Potter Day

Hot August Nights begin (Reno, Nevada)

Insect Appreciation Day

International Lifeguard Appreciation Day

International Seriously Single Day

Joust of Quintana: La Sfida (The Challenge; Italy) [Pt. 2 in September]

Ka Hae Hawai'i Day (State Flag Day; Hawaii)

Law Enforcement Day (Louisiana)

Mac Davis Day (Lubbock, Texas)

Martyrdom Day of Shahid Udham Singh (Haryana and Punjab, India)

Milton Friedman Day

Mutt's Day

National Commando Day

National Diana Day

National Eisteddford of Wales (Wales)

National Heatstroke Awareness Day

National #Love Day

National Mom Bod Day

National Mutt Day (a.k.a. National Mixed Breed Dog Day)

National Orgasm Day (UK)

National Parent a Biracial Child Day

Operation Motorman Anniversary Day (UK)

Rabbit Rabbit Day [Last Day of Every Month]

Saui Sura (Javanese New Year; Suriname)

Saxophone Day

Treasury Day (Poland)

Uncommon Instrument Awareness Day

U.S. Patent Day

Warriors’ Day (Malaysia)

World Day Against Electronic Torture

World MS Trend Day

World Ranger Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Cotton Candy Day [also 12.7]

Jump for Jelly Beans Day

Make Homemade Ice Cream and Invite the Neighbors Over Day

National Avocado Day

National Raspberry Cake Day

National Spam Day

Rum Ration Day (a.k.a. Black Tot Day)

Shredded Wheat Day

5th & Last Monday in July

Carnival Monday (Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba) [Last Monday]

Independence Days

Vanuatu (from UK/France, 1980)

Feast Days

Abanoub (Christian; Saint)

Bill Gates Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Birthday of Nephthys

Cameons (Positivist; Saint)

The Clodhoppers (Muppetism)

Dress Up Day (Pastafarian)

Erich Heckel (Artology)

First Sermon of Buddha (Bhutan)

Germanus of Auxerre (Christian; Saint)

Helen of Skofde, Sweden (Christian; Saint)

Ignatius of Loyola (Christian; Saint)

Jacques Villon (Artology)

John Columbini (Christian; Saint)

Joseph of Arimathea (Eastern Orthodox)

Lammas Eve (a.k.a. ... 

Hlafmesse (Loaf Mass; Anglo-Saxon)

Lammas, Day 1 (Celtic, Pagan) [5 of 8 Festivals of the Natural Year]

Lammas Eve (a.k.a. Lughnassad Eve)

Lithasblot (Norse Harvest Festival)

Loki and Sigyn’s Day (Norse)

Lughnassadh (Grain Harvest)

Oiche Lughnasadh (Pagan)

Neot (Christian; Saint)

Real Ale Day (Pastafarian)

Seedy Birds (Muppetism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Bad Animals, by Heart (Album; 1987)

BASEketball (Film; 1998)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Film; 1992)

Dad’s Army (BBC TV Series; 1968)

The Dark Tower (Film; 2017)

Death Becomes Her (Film; 1992)

Enchanted April (Film; 1992)

Ever After (Film; 1998)

Four Weddings and a Funeral (TV Series; 2019)

Hang ‘Em High (Film; 1968)

Hot Shots! (Film; 1991)

Lego Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis (WB Animated Film; 2018)

The Living Daylights (James Bond Film, US; 1987) [#15]

The Lost Boys (Film; 1987)

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (Film; 2015)

Murder Included, by Joanna Cannan (Novel; 1950)

The Negotiator (Film; 1998)

Only the Lonely, by Roy Orbison (Song; 1960)

Plenty of Money and You (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Book of Poems; 1786)

Rascal Flatts, by Rascal Flatts (Album; 2000)

Rushing Roulette (WB MM Cartoon; 1965)

The Shadow (Radio Series; 1930)

Still the One, by Orleans (Song; 1976)

Urban Cowboy (Film; 1980)

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (Film; 2017)

The Wiggles (TV Series; 1998)

Today’s Name Days

Hermann, Ignatius, Justinus (Austria)

Ignacije, Vatroslav (Croatia)

Ignác (Czech Republic)

Germanus, Helena (Denmark)

Ave, Meevi (Estonia)

Elena, Helena (Finland)

Ignace (France)

Herrmann, Ignatius, Joseph (Germany)

Iosif, Sifis (Greece)

Oszkár (Hungary)

Barbara (Italy)

Angelika, Renita, Rūta, Sigita (Latvia)

Elena, Ignotas, Sanginas, Vykintė (Lithuania)

Elin, Eline (Norway)

Beatus, Demokryt, Emilian, Ernesta, Ernestyna, Helena, Iga, Ignacja, Ignacy, Justyn, Ludomir, Żegota (Poland)

Margarita, Marina (Russia)

Ignác (Slovakia)

Fabio, Germán, Ignacio (Spain)

Elin, Helena (Sweden)

Ignacio, Inigo, Reed, Reid (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 212 of 2024; 153 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 31 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 21 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Ji-Wei), Day 14 (Geng-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 13 Av 5783

Islamic: 13 Muharram 1445

J Cal: 2 Hasa; Twosday [2 of 30]

Julian: 18 July 2023

Moon: 98%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 16 Dante (8th Month) [Cameons]

Runic Half Month: Thorn (Defense) [Day 3 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 41 of 94)

Zodiac: Leo (Day 10 of 31)

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Alas, I am in bed with a severe cold.  Damn.

How many MAGA people are there?  Enough to put DJT back in the Oval Office?  No surprise, the arrest and arraignment have brought an even nastier side of Trump and his pals (his odious sons are contributing to this).  A judge has received death threats.  This is real Mob stuff.  Somewhere Roy Cohn is smiling.  And Trump’s fundraising efforts, since the “surrender”... are going up, up, up.  

(Little Linsey Graham made a near tearful plea for more Trump contributions.)

Thursday, April 6, 2023

Terrible.  Can’t get out of bed for long.  Hacking, sneezing, etc.  The whole works.  And achy, of course, from lying in bed.  

I learn that M’s mother died.  M’s father died such a sort time ago.  The last I heard of him he was getting a bit dotty but mom seemed fine.  And now...M has lost both parents.  They can’t have been much older than me.  

Friday, April 7, 2023

What a bore it is to be ill.  I pull myself together and head out, for a little while.  I don’t last long...but must put some bills in the mail.  

Cherry blossoms in Central Park.  

Later: Channel surf and get an Angels game.  A rarity, I mean getting a West Coast game on TV.  MLB station...that I didn’t know I had.  A chance to see Ohtani and Trout, both nearing the end of their respective contracts.  These are the two the fans come to see.  Both of them want to play for championiship teams.  The Angels have had no luck in that reguard.  The Angels lose but give the crowd something to cheer about.  

to be continued

[plantsandpupper]

Today is my first day off of 14!!!!! Your girl is taking some much needed vacation time for my birthday 🥳

Im usually one to not make a fuss but with world happenings and just stuff in general we are going to vegas baby! It’s probably been 5 years now since we legit have taken a vacation and I’ve so missed the excitement of it.

My resolution for the year ( which I didn’t tell anyone about ) was to drink and have more fun, two things I hardly do in general. I dont plan to become a raging alcoholic (not that I think anyone does tbh) but I’ve honestly never tried alot of drinks other than strawberry daiquiris and you’re 20’s are for discovering yourself am i right?

So I’ve got my vegas trip this month, spicy pics in April, halsey concert in june, and another big tattoo in July. I forgot how exciting and sometimes stressful planning stuff is but it’s done wonders for my mental health to have things to look forward to. Life is too short

Also still staying with my healthyish ways. I’ll never be a salad all day everyday kinda person but I somehow manage to maintain my move goal of 500 with my watch most days so thats nice. I dont know what made me think of it but the other day I realized food no longer holds control over me. Mind u this is going on two years of my gradual weight loss 😅 and it does bother me that I didn’t realize how much control food had had on me.

Like brownies, they have and always will be my thing and i used to have the hardest time not eating a whole pan in the course of a day and i had no control over them. Now i can just have a modest serving and let that satisfy my sweet tooth.

Oh and i got my hair done last month and while the smocks are never flattering, I didn’t hate how it cut of my no longer pronounced double chins etc. it’s really these little things that catch u off guard that they don’t mention about significant weightloss

Food just gives me alot of joy, im so glad i did the MasterClass subscription for keeping my practical hobby of cooking alive. I seriously enjoyed watching Roy Choys class so much. I’ve tried to keep with veg and miss my vegan ways but the parents just dont budge. They also found this local butcher that just opened and I hate to admit that they are pretty great. I was holding out till they brought home some compound butter and house blend seasonings. Their pickles are also bomb af. I might just get a rosemary tattoo for my love of cooking and their sturdiness as a plant ( ours outside refuses to die and i love that about her)

Oh and Zeus now has a doggy doorbell that he bumps with his snoot! 10/10 recommend spending the $20. The princess is still going strong and has become increasingly lovable and is slowly becoming more and more a Real Cat ™️

On a real note though this russia stuff is unsettling but I love seeing the tiktoks about how people are coping and managing. From the savage granny, to the UN walking out on russia, and pornhub of all sites blocking Russia with a message of solidarity with ukraine it gives a little hope. I hope to see alot of sunflowers this summer 🌻

[mayisgoingnuts]

If your OCs were in a swap AU WI would they swap with? I don't mean an opposite AU, I mean like, that one swap AU where Roy and Lucky switch and roy looks like this

WOOO I LIKE THIS QUESTION!!/vpos

Sillies under the cut hehehe

Carmilla and Kevin definitely would swap. He's a bitchy rich boy and she is the tired employee!! But to keep a bit of their essence Carmilla still silently judges people who she finds ugly and Kevin isn't secretly strong, he's secretly a boyfailure KANSKS

Since JJD isn't particularly close to anyone in town, she'd swap with Teivel!! Teivel wouldn't be against violence and JJD would just be a pain in the ass in prison,, not causing trouble, just talking and being weird/silly

April and Sam swaps with Carmen and Richard!! Kinda explains by itself, real mom vs other mom contrastsss

Dahlia and Robert! Not 100% since he's still in the Hatzgang but he's now the psycho weird one >:]

And as a bonus (since I'm unsure about my boys) DAISY SWAPPING WITH VERENA!! HEHEHEHE

[artificialqueens]

Tree House Kisses, Chapter 18 (Adorney) - Scorpio and Veronica

A/N: Click here for previous chapters. Xoxo!

Chapter Summary: Someone’s planning a super sweet sixteen, and love is in the air...

Chapter 18: Those Magic Changes

Courtney skipped into the kitchen, trilling, “Gooood morning, mommy!” and giving Karen a big, warm hug. She turned to Karen’s new boyfriend, who was struggling with the coffee maker. “Hi, Todd. Let me help you with that.”

Karen raised an eyebrow at her daughter’s sunny disposition. “Okay, what do you want?”

“Well, now that you mention it, I was thinking about my party…”

“Oh god, here we go--”

“Moooom,” Courtney whined good-naturedly. “It’s my sixteenth birthday. We’re doing it here in the backyard, that’s saving a lot of money, right? I mean, Kim’s was at the Hilton.”

“Courtney, I don’t need to remind you that both the economy and our financial situation were very different back then, right?”

Courtney smiled and put her arms around her mom’s shoulders.

“I know, mommy. That’s my point. Kimmy had a booming economy and the emotional stability of two-parent family. I mean, I’m dealing with a divorce and two wars and a terrible president. I should have a nice birthday party, don’t you think?” Courtney pouted her lip.

Karen laughed. “Well, when you put it that way…”

“So listen,” Courtney said, getting down to business, “Roy’s cousin Tomas is a DJ, and he said he’ll do it for the friends and family rate.” She placed a business card on the counter. “I found a caterer in Pasadena that has tons of vegetarian options and she gives a huge discount if you go pick the stuff up from her.” She put a printout of another business card down carefully. “And she’s like 2 blocks away from a bakery that does vegan cakes and look at this!” Courtney pulled out a picture of a black and white cake with a bright pink bow. “It’s my colors!”

Karen shook her head. “I thought we’d get a cake from Costco, honey.”

“Mother. Costco?” Courtney clutched her chest dramatically. “Omigod, this is worse than the divorce.”

Todd, who had been silent, began to laugh. “I’m pretty stoked on the vegan cake idea, Court.”

“Thank you! Oh, and Party Planet can deliver tables, chairs, lights, decor, everything, early in the morning and then pick it up the next day. They did April’s quinceañera last year, and they are AMAZING.” She put the last piece of paper down triumphantly. “I’ve been doing a lot of research and these are the best deals in town, mom.”

Karen shook her head. “Fine, I will talk to these vendors. I’m not promising anything, though.”

“Thanks, mommy! And remember, we’re also saving money since Darienne and I are doing the invitations and placecards ourselves.”

“You spent three hundred bucks at Michael’s, Courtney. I don’t know how much money that saved.”

“Mommy...have I told you how beautiful you look today?” Courtney batted her eyelashes. “And so young…”

“Go get dressed for school, Courtney.”

She kissed Karen on the cheek and departed from the kitchen, singing, “This will be the best party ever! Because I have the best mother!”

Todd shook his head. “You’re getting so played.”

“I know,” Karen sighed.

-

Adore and Willam were the last to arrive at lunch; Fame and Pearl were deep in conversation about who knows what and Violet sat across from Trinity, giving her answers to some homework that she didn’t do.

“What’s up, guys?” Adore asked, plopping down in the grass next to Violet and Trinity. Willam sat against the tree butting his way into Fame and Pearl’s conversation.

“Hey, Adore. Just trying to get this finished before class--heard Mrs. Davis is checking for correctness.” Trinity rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“And Violet's helping you. Aw, look who's being nice today,” Adore teased Violet, trying to elicit some kind of response from the girl. Violet had been ignoring Adore since the locker incident and she just wanted things to get back to normal between them. Or as normal as possible, under the circumstances.

Adore sighed when Violet stared at the paper in front of her.

“Did you read the story at all Trin? He dies at the end,” Violet grabbed pencil from Trinity, erasing her answer.

“Lenny dies?!”

“Yeah-” Adore started only to be interrupted by Violet.

“Maybe, you should have read the book. I don't even know why I'm helping you,” Violet passed the paper back.

“Because you love me and like to see me succeed in life,” Trinity flashed a smile and Violet playfully rolled her eyes.

“Never suggest such a thing.”

Adore let out a frustrated groan before flopping back onto the grass between the two girls, “Can you, like, stop acting like I don't exist.” Adore said, a pout on her lips, hazel eyes blinking at Violet.

“Fame,” Violet called over Adore.

“Yes.”

“Do you still have some grapes left?”

“Mhm,” Fame nodded, ready to toss the ziplock to Violet.

“I'll come get them,” Violet said, crawling over to the others.

Adore sat up on her elbows, watching Violet crawl away. Then looked up at Trinity who was shaking her head, “Can you talk to her?”

“I'll try, but you know how Violet is.”

-

The cast was scattered all over the place waiting their turn to get on the stage and go over blocking and lines. And Adore didn’t hesitate to find her way to where the other pink ladies sat in the back of the theater, plopping down beside Raja.  

“Hey,” Adore said softly, bright eyes admiring the beauty of the older girl.

“Sup,” Raja nodded, pulling the headphones off her ears.

“You look good,” the words left Adore’s lips before she could stop them and her face reddened in turn.

Raja was wearing a Cyndi Lauper t-shirt under a frayed jean jacket, patches sewed carefully along the sleeves and front. Her caramel skin peeked through the rips in her jeans, her long dark hair was braided back, bangs swept to one side, and battered black boots giving her more of an edge and pulling the entire look together.

“I ‘look good’?” Raja raised a brow and Adore face grew redder but she nodded, because it was true. “Thanks for the compliment but I threw this on in two minutes. You, look like you took some time getting ready this morning, though,” Raja said, putting her feet up on the seat in front of her.

Raja wasn't wrong, Adore had been spending more time in the mirror in the mornings than usual.

“Not really,” Adore lied, remembering how she kept messing up her eyeliner and nearly wanted to cry because her right eye wasn’t perfect.

The smell of weed and Raja’s perfume had Adore’s stomach doing flips as she leaned in close; the music from her headphones echoed between them.

“Well, you look good,” Raja looked over Adore, before moving to take her feet off the seat.

“Thanks.” Adore tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

“Wanna go to the vending machine with me?” Raja asked.

“Yeah.” Adore hurriedly stood up, the pair making their way out of the theatre.

“Have you seen the jackets?” Raja asked as she put her money in the machine.

“No, have you?” Adore leaned against the machine as casually as possible.

“Yeah, I’m helping with the costumes. I gotta show them to you when we get a chance.” Raja said, moving closer to Adore after grabbing her pack of skittles. “Maybe try them on to make sure they fit?” Raja suggested, fingering at Adore’s jacket, brown eyes staring intently into Adore’s.

Adore’s thoughts raced with possibilities, but she only nodded in response.

“Uh, you wanna hang out later?”

“Sorry,” Raja smacked her teeth, stepping back and opening the bag of skittles. “Got work, but another time, okay?”

“Yeah,” Adore nodded.

Once back in the theatre, Raja put her headphones on Adore, going through her music seeing if the younger girl could name the songs from ear.

“You don't know this one,” Raja teased.

“Yeah, I do. Give me a sec; the song just started,” Adore smiled.

“Let me see what part it's on,” Raja leaned in, her scent filling Adore’s senses again. Raja’s hand found a spot on Adore's thigh as she leaned toward her. Raja put her ear to the outside of the headphones and the pressure on Adore’s thigh made it hard for her to concentrate on the song.

“If you haven't gotten it by now, then you're not going to get it,” Raja laughed, hand squeezing Adore’s thigh slightly. Adore turned to look at Raja, heartbeat speeding up when she noticed how close they were to each other; noses nearly touching.

“Whatever, it's all stuff from before I was born. It’s stuff from before you were born,” Adore pulled the headphones off.

“Exactly. When you come to my place… I'm going to have to get you acquainted with some real music.”

-

Courtney walked back to her seat, trying not to watch Adore’s ridiculously obvious flirting. Frankly, she found Raja to be a little bit pretentious and full of herself, but Adore seemed to think she walked on water, so she was just keeping her opinions to herself.

It wouldn’t be so bad, but she’d canceled their plans twice in the last week, which irritated Courtney to no end. She couldn’t be totally sure that the last time had to do with Raja, but Courtney had her suspicions. She sighed, approaching Roy and Darienne, who were of course dutifully studying for a US History test while everyone else in the theatre was fucking around.

“You alright, babe?” Roy asked.

Courtney looked down at him and smiled sweetly. “Mmmhmm…” She ran a hand through his thick hair and settled into his lap, demanding attention.

Roy grinned, dimples deep in his cheeks, and went in for a long, slow kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Roy, when did Teddy Roosevelt start the National--” Darienne began and then looked up, rolling her eyes. “You guys, come on...”

“Sorry, am I interrupting?” Courtney asked coyly, batting her eyelashes.

Roy laughed and sucked on her pulse point, one hand trailing down her thigh. “Yes. And don’t stop.”

“You used to be a really responsible study partner, you know!” Darienne said.

Courtney giggled as Roy buried his face in her hair, giving Darienne an apologetic shrug. “Sorry.”

“Whatever. I guess I’ll just be ruining the curve by myself now.” Darienne flipped her hair and went back to her textbook.

Roy lifted his head, eyes blazing. “Fuck you, I’m still gonna ruin the curve. I’ll get a higher grade than you without even studying.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Twenty bucks says I beat your grade on Friday without cracking this book.”

“Deal. Give me the book.”

“You don’t trust me?” Roy clutched his chest in mock dismay.

“Not as far as I can throw you, Del Rio.”

“Hmph. Well, you’re smarter than I thought.” Roy handed over his textbook, chuckling.

-

“Knock knock…” Adore said, standing at Courtney’s back door.

Courtney pulled off her headphones, sweaty after just getting back from a run, and threw open the door. “Hiya babe, come in!”

“I’m just here to hand-deliver the RSVP for the most ridiculous invitation I’ve ever received.”

Courtney clapped her hands, jumping up and down excitedly. “Did the glitter go everywhere?”

“Yes. You goddamned asshole.”

“Roy was so pissed. He was sitting on his unmade bed and now it’s like, in his sheets. And when I saw him there was even a piece of pink glitter in his eyelashes,” she doubled over laughing. “He said he’s gonna have his mom put a Santeria curse on me.”

“I’d support that.”

“Too bad she loves me!” Courtney giggled mischievously, then sat down at the table, sighing dreamily. “This party is going to be amazing. I almost feel bad for using the divorce to manipulate my parents into spending so much money…”

Adore laughed. “Almost, but not quite?”

“Well, do you remember Kimmy’s sweet sixteen party, at the Hilton?! Come on! I deserve this!” Courtney pouted.

“Of course you do, princess. So...I wanted to ask you a question about the guest list.”

“Yes, I invited Pearl and Willam and no, I did not invite Violet.”

“Noted. But, I was wondering if I could invite Raja.”

Courtney stared at her for a moment, blinking rapidly.

“I mean, you know, we’ve been hanging out, and...things are...why do you look like that?”

“Because Raja has never even said one word to me.”

“Well…” Adore bit her lip. “Maybe, she can just be my plus one.”

“This party is about me, Adore. Why would you need a plus one?” Courtney whined.

“Uh...” Adore hesitated, knowing how Courtney got when it came to her birthday. She was the most important person that day and she’d fight anyone who said otherwise.

“Whatever,” Courtney finally sighed crossing her arms in annoyance.

“Whatever? So, I can-”

“Yeah, you can invite her, I guess. But I expect your present to be the best one I open at my party. I want to be wowed and everyone else to be jealous that you’re my best friend.” Courtney raised a brow, challenging Adore.

Adore let out a nervous chuckle at her friend’s ridiculousness.

“Okay, yeah, it’ll be the best present you could ask for. I promise.” Adore leaned across the table planting a kiss on Courtney’s cheek.

-

“Pearl, if you can do the school over here, I can work on the foreground,” Sasha said.

“Sure!” Pearl settled down over by the corner as directed, arranging her brushes, chatting with Sasha about the plans for the other backdrops. She was especially excited about getting to take the lead for the drive-in, since Sasha had loved her sketches.

“Sasha! Did you know that the US History test is tomorrow?!” Shea came running around the corner in a panic. She glanced down at Pearl and tried to regain her composure. “Hey Pearl.”

Pearl flashed a coy smile and Shea returned a shy grin.

“Yeah, hon, I know. Do you wanna come over and study later?”

“Uh, yeah, duh. And can I borrow your notes too?” Shea smiled charmingly at her friend.

Sasha laughed. “Sure. I’ll go get them.” She rose from the ground and walked over to her backpack.

Pearl looked up at Shea, standing with one hip cocked, head tilted. She was just so damn cute.

“Shea, I love that dress. Where did you get it?”

“Oh, um...I made it.”

“You made it? Are you serious?” Pearl jumped up to examine it closer. “You are kidding me; this is incredible!” She ran a finger over the colorful fabric.

Shea cleared her throat. “Thanks.” She took a small step back and Pearl wondered if she’d crossed some boundary.

“You know, I heard that they need someone else to do costumes. If you’re interested, I bet Thorgy would kiss your feet.” Pearl tried to give her a friendly, non-predatory, no-homo smile.

“Cool, yeah, that’s…” Shea trailed off, looking into Pearl’s eyes, clearing her throat.

Sasha handed a red notebook to Shea, looking between them with an amused expression. “Here you go. I’ll be done here by 4:30.”

“Okay, thanks. See you later,” Shea said, quickly taking the notebook and bolting.

“Something I said?” Pearl asked.

Sasha laughed. “Don’t take it personally.”

-

“So, mother,” Courtney skipped into the kitchen, a sly smile on her face and a piece of paper in hand.

“Courtney, please don’t tell me-”

“Just a few last-minute things that I must have for my party.” She held the list out for her mom to take, but Karen only glared at the paper.

“Come on. It’s not bad, I promise,” Courtney waved the paper in front of her face, coaxing her to take it out of her hand.

With a sigh, Karen took the paper from Courtney, folding it up.

“Wait, what are you doing, look at it.”

“I will, when I have time.” Karen assured.

“What’s more important than your baby girl’s sweet sixteen?” Courtney crossed her arms.

“Courtney, don’t start,” Karen squinted at Courtney.

“Ever since you and dad finalized your divorce, it’s been like I don’t even matter,” Courtney eyes watered and her bottom lip quivered for effect.

“You know that’s not true,” Karen sighed, knowing Courtney’s tactics, but couldn’t help feeling the guilt that would eat her alive if Courtney didn’t have the birthday she wanted. “Let me see what you wrote.”

“Two cakes and an ice cream cart,” she looked up with wide eyes.

“We’re doing the vegan cake from Sweet Pea, plus I want a regular chocolate cake for everyone else and an ice cream cart for people who don’t like cakes plus it’s cute and fun and the awning matches my color scheme.” Courtney smiled and Karen rolled her eyes.

“You’ll get the vegan cake and one or the other; not both,” she said before she continued reading. “Smoke machines, strobe lights? Disco balls? Courtney--”

“They are just little add-ons to the lighting package! It’ll make the dance floor sooo much more fun, Mommy, please!”

“Balloon arch? Confetti cannons? A photographer AND videographer? Do you want a clown too?” Karen murmured under her breath, but Courtney heard her mother and only rolled her eyes.

“Mom, we need production value, and the photographer is to capture the memories, it’s going to be such a special day.”

“We can all take pictures. I have a camera, and so does your father, and Todd, plus I’ll borrow the video camera from Bonnie. And doesn’t your friend Thorgy take beautiful pictures?”

“Yeah, but that’s not as good as a professional!”

“Whatever,” her mother shook her head.

“Keep going,” Courtney waved her hand. Her mother grew silent as she continued to read the list.

“Okay, Courtney. No!” Karen slapped the paper on the counter, wanting to get it out of her hands as quick as possible causing Courtney to frown.

“What?”

“No spray tan, no teeth whitening! Even if we had that kind of money, which we don’t, that stuff is full of toxic chemicals.”

“But, mom, it’s winter and I’m so pasty, I need a tan!” she whined.

“I said NO! And I’m not hiring a professional makeup artist, or hairstylist either. Kimmy can do your hair and makeup. I don’t have the money for this stuff and you know it.”

“What about daddy?” Courtney asked. Did she know her list was a bit much, yes, but did she think it was unreasonable, no.

“Pick out three things that you really want from this and then I’ll call your father,” she slid the paper across the counter to Courtney.

“Mommy!”

“Courtney. Don’t.”

They glared at each other, before finally Courtney decided to give in.

“I’ll rewrite the list.”

“Thank you, I’ll call your dad.”

-

Fingers intertwined with Roy, Courtney made her way to her locker, going on and on about her plans for the party in a couple of weeks.

“I already have it narrowed down between three outfits that I might wear for my party. I just can’t figure out which one would be the best one,” Courtney pouted.

“You’ll look beautiful in any outfit you choose,” Roy leaned in, placing a soft kiss to her cheek.

“You haven’t even seen the outfits. How would you know?”

“That’s because you won’t let me and you’re the most beautiful girl no matter what you wear,” Roy smiled, tugging Courtney’s hand, pulling her into his chest as they walked up to Courtney’s locker.  

All Courtney had been able to talk about for the last week is party plans and Roy found it absolutely endearing how adamant she was on making sure everything was less no than perfect. His only job so far was to find the perfect birthday gift for her, which was stressful in its own right.

“Thank you,” Courtney said, stopping in front of her locker before pulling Roy into a sweet kiss, “but you’re no help right now. I just have to decide on what color I want to wear and then it’ll really narrow it down. Everyone else will be wearing black and white so that means I need to pick the perfect color to POP compared to everyone else.” Courtney continued as she unlocked her locker.

“I thought you’re wearing pink.”

“Oh my god, do you know how many shades of pink there are?” she rolled her eyes. “I mean- OHMYGOD!” Courtney squealed as she opened her locker, startling Roy.

“What!? What’s wrong?” Roy pulled the locker door open wider to see a black box decorated with glittery numbers saying “1996” sitting on top of a note. His brows furrowed in confusion as Courtney bounced on her feet in excitement.

She grabbed the box out of her locker and opened it, another squeal leaving her before she closed the box, looking up at Roy with teary green eyes. She reopened the box a big smile spreading across her face as she ran her finger over the pretty silver brush and pulled out a familiar bright red hair bow and slipped it onto her wrist.

-

Courtney sat at the table watching her mother take the cookies out of the oven, setting them aside to cool down.

“Are we going to take allll the cookies over there?” Courtney asked, blinking up at her mother, hoping that she would let her keep a few for herself; it had been her idea to bake cookies for the new neighbors instead of the lasagna Karen wanted to take over, secretly hoping that she’d get some cookies too.  

“We’ll keep a few here, since you were so helpful today,” Karen said taking her oven mitts off, “Now go wash up while the cookies cool down.”

Later, Courtney skipped down the sidewalk at her mother’s side, excited to be the first one to meet the new family out of all of her friends.

“Does the new neighbors have kids?” Courtney asked.

“Well, I saw a boy a little older than you and I saw a little girl around your age, when they were still moving yesterday.”

“I’ll ring the doorbell!” Courtney yelled, running up to the door and pressing the button, beyond excited to meet these brand-new kids.

“Just once,” Karen swatted Courtney’s hand away from the doorbell as she went to push it again.

Courtney mimicked her mother, smiling wide when the door swung open to reveal a woman with dyed curly blonde hair and a young girl hiding behind the woman’s leg.

“Hi! I’m Karen and this is my daughter, Courtney. We thought we’d welcome you to the neighborhood with some homemade cookies.” Karen held out the container.

“They’re vegan!” Courtney added, smiling up at the woman.

“Thank you! Vegan cookies, wow. Never had them before.” Bonnie gave a tight smile, taking the cookies from Karen.

“They’re really really good,” Courtney said, addressing the girl behind the woman’s leg more than the woman herself, hoping that they would like the cookies as much as she did.

“This is really appreciated. I’m Bonnie, and this is my baby girl Adore,” Bonnie said. “Do you want some coffee?”

“I’m not a baby!” Adore exclaimed, before hiding again, biting her lip.

Courtney smiled at Adore, wiggling her fingers at the dark-haired girl. She couldn’t see much of her as she peaked at Courtney from between Bonnie’s legs; but the bright red bow wrapped around the girl’s ponytail caught Courtney’s attention and she had an urge to tug it.  

Courtney was shaken from her thoughts as Karen’s hand on her shoulder guided her into the house.

“Adore, why don’t you and Courtney go play. You can show her your new bedroom,” Bonnie suggested, and headed into the kitchen, chatting with Karen along the way.

“I really like your bow. It’s so pretty, I don’t have any bows,” Courtney said reaching to tug at the bow, but Adore moved out of her reach, causing Courtney to frown for a moment until she saw a big smile spread across Adore’s face.

“Do you want to go upstairs and see my other stuff? I have so many bows,” Adore touched her own before turning to run up the stairs and Courtney followed.

-

She closed the box sitting it back in her locker and picked up the card that the box had sat on.

“Uh, so who is it from,” Roy asked even though he was ninety-nine percent sure he knew who it was from.

Courtney ignored him as she read the card:

Remember my favorite red bow I used to always wear? When we first met, you’d beg me to let you wear it. When I finally gave in, you lost it the next day. I can’t believe we stayed friends after that. :p It must be because you were the only one who had patience for my “tender-headed bullshit,” to quote my lovely mother. This is gift 1 of 10, for our 10 years of friendship. -Dory

-

Courtney watched Adore whimper, grit her teeth and stomp her feet as Bonnie detangled her hair.

“It's okay, Dory,” Courtney said softly, hating to see Adore like this. She sat in front of Adore, trying to distract her from the brush running through her hair.

When Adore let out a cry as the brush snagged on a particular knot, tears started to fall from her eyes. Courtney leaped forward, pulling Adore into a tight hug.

Bonnie shook her head, finding the whole scene adorable and over-dramatic.

“She'll be fine, Courtney.” Bonnie assured.

When the girls didn't let go of each other, Bonnie decide to send Courtney off.

“Courtney, can you be an angel and go get Adore's big red bow out of her bedroom for me.”

Courtney nodded, peeling away from Adore, running to get the bow, knowing that it was Adore's favorite and wanting to get back to her as soon as possible.

Running as fast as her little legs could carry she burst through Adore’s bedroom door, grabbing the red bow from her night table. Courtney hesitated for just a moment, admiring the brightness of it before Adore’s yelp from downstairs pulled her out of her thoughts, causing her to spring back into action.

Passing the bow to Bonnie, Courtney plopped back down in front of a crying Adore.

“Hold my hand, Dory.” Courtney said, shoving her hand towards Adore and they stayed like that until Adore’s hair was finished.

-

“Babe, are you crying?” Roy wrapped his arms around Courtney.

“No,” she sniffed, “I just really miss that red bow,” she turned around to face him.

Fuck, he thought, he completely forgot that he was going to be going up against Adore for the title of best gift. Best friend vs Boyfriend.

Around the corner, Adore watched Courtney’s emotional reaction to her gift with a satisfied smirk. Nailed it.

-

“Dory, pretty pleasssseee,” Courtney begged, hugging Adore tight.

All Courtney wanted was to wear Adore’s red bow, when her Grandma Muriel came to visit tomorrow, but Adore didn't want Courtney to wear it because it was hers.

“No,” Adore huffed.

“But I promise to bring it back,” Courtney pouted, blinking those wide green eyes.

Adore crossed her arms, red bow tight in her hand. Courtney smiled mischievously hand inching toward Adore's. She gripped the tip of the bow and tried to lightly tug it out of Adore’s hand.

“No, Courtney!” Adore yelled, hopping off the couch. Crossing her arms and turning her nose up.

“Pretty please! With cherries on top,” Courtney bottom lip quivered, her feelings hurt that Adore was being so mean to her to today. “I thought you were my best friend.”

“I am.” Adore uncrossed her arms nodding.

“No, you're not because you won't let me wear your bow.” Courtney pouted.

Hurt was evident on Adore’s face at Courtney's statement of no longer being best friends. She looked down at the red bow that she had taken off her hair earlier and contemplated her options. The red bow was hers and it was her favorite. She also liked being Courtney's best friend; they played together all the time, watched movies and did everything together.

She was scared Courtney would try to keep her bow, but she didn't want to stop being Courtney's best friend.

“Okay,” she sighed, “you can wear it.” Adore held the bow to Courtney, who squealed in delight, attacking Adore in a tight hug, sending them both to the ground.

-

“Here, hold this,” Courtney shoved the box and the card into Roy's hands. She raked her hair high above her head like she’d do on game days and wrapped the bow around her ponytail.

As Courtney fixed her hair, Roy noticed Adore moving toward them from the lockers behind them. Eyes wide in surprise that he hadn't noticed her there earlier, he moved to the side as Adore snuck up behind Courtney, wrapping her arms around his girlfriend’s waist.

“P.S. I'm still a little bitter about you losing my bow, even though your mom bought both of us replacements,” Adore snickered as Courtney squealed for the third time that day, turning around and throwing her arms around her neck.

“I didn't do it on purpose,” Courtney pouted and Roy cleared his throat. Adore immediately noticed the intimacy of their position and stepped back.

Courtney, distracted by the surprise, only turned back to the locker.

“Does it look good?” she asked straightening it out trying to look in the small locker mirror.

“Looks amazing,” Adore smiled.

“It looks perfect,” Roy nodded, before shooting Adore a quick glare, wracking his brain for the perfect gift to beat Adore’s.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Translations (like wives) are seldom strictly faithful if they are in the least attractive.

- Roy Campbell, poet (1901-1957)

Roy Campbell was a South African poet and satirist and to this day remains criminally under appreciated. He was considered by T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas and Edith Sitwell to have been one of the best poets of the period between the First and Second World Wars. Campbell's vocal attacks upon both Stalinism and Freudianism, and support for Francisco Franco's Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War, has caused him to be labeled a Fascist and left out of modern poetry anthologies.

Roy Campbell, was born in Durban, South Africa, and moved to England soon after he graduated from high school. An accomplished horseman and fisherman, he also became fluent in Zulu. He left the Union of South Africa in December 1918 for Oxford University, where he arrived early in 1919. However, he failed the entrance examination. Reporting this to his father, he took a philosophical stance, telling him that "university lectures interfere very much with my work", which was writing poetry.

Campbell left Oxford for London in 1920. Holidays spent in wandering through France and along the Mediterranean coast alternated with periods in Bohemian London. In 1922 he married without parental consent and forfeited, for a time, the generous parental allowance. His wife was Mary Margaret Garman, eldest of the Garman sisters, was part of the famous literary Bloomsbury group that incuded Virginia Woolf. Mary would go on to have a scandalous lesbian love affair with Vita Sackville-West. Both she and Roy had two daughters, Teresa (Tess) and Anna.

In England, Roy befriended poets such as Wyndham Lewis, who based a character in his novel The Apes of God on Campbell. Campbell’s first book, The Flaming Terrapin (1924), brought him immediate acclaim; as T.S. Eliot does in The Waste Land, to which Campbell’s book is sometimes compared, Campbell rebels against postwar cynicism and apathy. And like Eliot, Campbell eventually converted to Catholicism.

Elizabethan dramatists such as Marlowe, Chapman, and Dekker inspired Campbell’s poetry, and his work fit uneasily into the socially conscious turn affected by many English poets in the 1930s. His second book, The Wayzgoose (1928), satirized South African intellectuals, and his third, The Georgiad (1931), attacked the mores and pretentions of Bloomsbury, whose members Campbell called “intellectuals without intellect.” He also wrote more lyrical collections, including Adamastor (1930), Flowering Reeds (1933), and Talking Bronco (1946).

Campbell led an adventurous life; after The Flaming Terrapin was published, he traveled back to South Africa to edit the literary magazine Voorslag with William Plomer and Laurens van der Post. Campbell soon returned to Europe. In the 1930s, Mary and Roy Campbell moved to the south of France among Augustus John, Aldous Huxley, Sybille Bedford and Nancy Cunard.

They soon grew tired and moved to Spain. They had initially arrived in Barcelona in the autumn of 1933, having lived for several years in Provence. Their arrival coincided with the anarchist strikes that had followed the Right-wing victory in the recent elections. “For the Catalonians, as with the Irish, politics is a national industry,” Campbell wrote to a friend. In spite of the turbulence of the times, the Campbells fell in love with Spain and Spanish culture. Mary’s enduring love for the figure of St Teresa of Avila had fired her imagination for Spain since her youth, and she had evidently passed this imaginative fire infectiously to her husband, as is evidenced by the poetry about Spain that he wrote after his arrival in the country. 

Campbell wrote: “From the very beginning my wife and I understood the real issues in Spain. There could be no compromise… between the east and the west, between credulity and faith, between irresponsible innovation… and tradition, between the emotions (disguised as reason) and the intelligence.”

Tired of the brief interlude of urban life, the Campbells moved to the village of Altea, near Alicante, in May 1934. It was here that the whole family was received into the Catholic Church.

Fr Gregorio, the village priest, was delighted that a whole family of “English” was being won over to the Church. Two years later, the priest would be murdered by militiamen sent from Valencia. By this time, as we have seen, the Campbells had moved to Toledo, which Campbell eulogised in one of his poems as a “sacred city of the mind”.

Fighting in the Spanish Civil War and World War II and serving in East and North Africa and the East gave him the inspiration to write his more haunting poetry. Campbell published two autobiographies during his lifetime: Broken Record (1934) and Light on a Dark Horse (1951). He also translated work by Spanish, Portuguese, and French writers, including St. John of the Cross, Baudelaire, and Lorca, and novels by de Quevedo, among others.

In April 1957, Roy and his wife Mary set off in their tiny Fiat 600 from their home in Portugal, destined for the Holy Week celebrations in Seville. En route they stopped off for several days in Toledo, “this heavenly place which means more than all the world to me”, as Campbell described it in a postcard sent to a friend. Throughout the week of processions in Seville, Mary noticed that her husband was unusually quiet and particularly serious in his devotions.

On April 23 they set off back to Portugal, crossing the border in the early afternoon. A front tyre burst, and the car swerved out of control and hit a tree. Mary survived - she would die in 1979 - but Roy died at the scene of the crash. Thus ended, at the age of 55, the life of one of the finest and most controversial poets of the 20th century, a poet who counted George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, T S Eliot, Evelyn Waugh, J R R Tolkien and C S Lewis among his friends.

As regards his friendship with Tolkien, it is one of Campbell’s intriguing claims to fame that he was part of the inspiration for the character of Aragorn, who was played by Viggo Mortenson in the movie version of The Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien first encountered Campbell as a mysterious stranger in a pub in Oxford in 1944 who was listening intently to the conversation of C S Lewis. As Campbell peered intently at Lewis from under a wide-brimmed hat, he reminded Tolkien of Aragorn, the mysterious stranger who eavesdropped on the conversation of the hobbits in the Prancing Pony, the pub in the story in which the hobbits first meet Aragorn. Since Tolkien was in the midst of writing The Lord of the Rings at the time, and was deeply impressed by the adventurous life that Campbell had lived in Spain and elsewhere, it seems likely that Campbell helped to shape Aragorn’s character in Tolkien’s imagination.    

[silent-era-of-cinema]

Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s.

Arthur had feature roles in three Frank Capra films: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can't Take It with You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), films that championed the "everyday heroine". Arthur was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1944 for her performance in The More the Merrier (1943).

James Harvey wrote in his history of the romantic comedy: "No one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur. So much was she part of it, so much was her star personality defined by it, that the screwball style itself seems almost unimaginable without her." She has been called "the quintessential comedic leading lady". Her last film performance was non-comedic, playing the homesteader's wife in George Stevens's Shane in 1953.

Arthur was known as a reclusive woman. News magazine Life observed in a 1940 article: "Next to Garbo, Jean Arthur is Hollywood's reigning mystery woman." As well as recoiling from interviews, she avoided photographers and refused to become a part of any kind of publicity.

Arthur was born Gladys Georgianna Greene in Plattsburgh, New York, to Protestant parents, Johanna Augusta Nelson (1871–1959) and Hubert Sidney Greene (1863–1944).[7] Gladys' Lutheran maternal grandparents immigrated from Norway to the American West after the Civil War. Her Congregationalist paternal ancestors immigrated from England to Rhode Island in the second half of the 1600s. During the 1790s, Nathaniel Greene helped found the town of St. Albans, Vermont, where his great-grandson, Hubert Greene, was born on September 1, 1863.

Johanna and Hubert were married in Billings, Montana, on July 7, 1890. Gladys's three older brothers—Donald Hubert Greene (1890–1967), Robert Brazier Greene (1892–1955) and Albert Sidney Greene (1894–1926)[8]—were born in the West. Around 1897, Hubert moved his wife and three sons from Billings to Plattsburgh, so he could work as a photographer at the Woodward Studios on Clinton Street. Johanna gave birth to stillborn twins on April 1, 1898.

Two and a half years later, Johanna gave birth to Gladys Georgianna. The product of a nomadic childhood, the future Jean Arthur lived at times in Saranac Lake, New York; Jacksonville, Florida, where George Woodward, Hubert's Plattsburgh employer, opened a second studio; and Schenectady, New York, where Hubert had grown up and where several members of his family still lived. The Greenes lived on and off in Westbrook, Maine, from 1908 to 1915 while Gladys's father worked at Lamson Studios in Portland, Maine. Relocating in 1915 to New York City, the family settled in the Washington Heights neighborhood – at 573 West 159th Street – of upper Manhattan, and Hubert worked at Ira L. Hill's photographic studio on Fifth Avenue.

Gladys dropped out of high school in her junior year due to a "change in family circumstances". Presaging many of her later film roles, she worked as a stenographer on Bond Street in lower Manhattan during and after World War I. Both her father (at age 55, claiming to be 45) and siblings registered for the draft. Her brother Albert died in 1926 as a result of respiratory injuries suffered during a mustard gas attack during World War I.

Discovered by Fox Film Studios while she was doing commercial modeling in New York City in the early 1920s, the newly named Jean Arthur landed a one-year contract and debuted in the silent film Cameo Kirby (1923), directed by John Ford. She reputedly took her stage name from two of her greatest heroes, Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) and King Arthur.[citation needed] The studio was at the time looking for new American sweethearts with sufficient sex appeal to interest the Jazz Age audiences. Arthur was remodeled as such a personality, a flapper. Following the small role in Cameo Kirby, she received her first female lead role in The Temple of Venus (1923), a plotless tale about a group of dancing nymphs. Dissatisfied with her lack of acting talent, the film's director Henry Otto replaced Arthur with actress Mary Philbin during the third day of shooting. Arthur agreed with the director: "There wasn't a spark from within. I was acting like a mechanical doll personality. I thought I was disgraced for life." She was planning on leaving the California film industry for good, but reluctantly stayed due to her contract, and appeared in comedy shorts instead. Despite lacking the required talent, Arthur liked acting, which she perceived as an "outlet". To acquire some fame, she registered herself in the Los Angeles city directory as a photo player operator, as well as appearing in a promotional film for a new Encino nightclub, but to no avail.

Change came when one day she showed up at the lot of Action Pictures, which produced B westerns, and impressed its owner Lester F. Scott Jr., with her presence. He decided to take a chance on a complete unknown, and she was cast in over twenty westerns in a two-year period. Only receiving $25 a picture, Arthur suffered from difficult working conditions: "The films were generally shot on location, often in the desert near Los Angeles, under a scorching sun that caused throats to parch and make-up to run. Running water was nowhere to be found, and even outhouses were a luxury not always present. The extras on these films were often real cowboys, tough men who were used to roughing it and who had little use for those who were not." The films were moderately successful in second-rate Midwestern theaters, though Arthur received no official attention. Aside from appearing in films for Action Pictures between 1924 and 1926, she worked in some independent westerns, including The Drug Store Cowboy (1925), and westerns for Poverty Row, as well as having an uncredited bit part in Buster Keaton's Seven Chances (1925).

In 1927, Arthur attracted more attention when she appeared opposite Mae Busch and Charles Delaney as a gold digging chorus girl in Husband Hunters. Subsequently, she was romanced by actor Monty Banks in Horse Shoes (1927), both a commercial and critical success. She was cast on Banks's insistence, and received a salary of $700. Next, director Richard Wallace ignored Fox's wishes to cast a more experienced actress by assigning Arthur to the female lead in The Poor Nut (1927), a college comedy which gave her wide exposure to audiences. A reviewer for Variety did not spare the actress in his review: "With everyone in Hollywood bragging about the tremendous overflow of charming young women all battering upon the directorial doors leading to an appearance in pictures, it seems strange that from all these should have been selected two flat specimens such as Jean Arthur and Jane Winton. Neither of the girls has screen presence. Even under the kindliest treatment from the camera they are far from attractive and in one or two side shots almost impossible." Fed up with the direction that her career was taking, Arthur expressed her desire for a big break in an interview at the time. She was skeptical when signed to a small role in Warming Up (1928), a film produced for a big studio, Famous Players-Lasky, and featuring major star Richard Dix. Promoted as the studio's first sound film, it received wide media attention, and Arthur earned praise for her portrayal of a club owner's daughter. Variety opined, "Dix and Arthur are splendid in spite of the wretched material", while Screenland wrote that Arthur "is one of the most charming young kissees who ever officiated in a Dix film. Jean is winsome; she neither looks nor acts like the regular movie heroine. She's a nice girl – but she has her moments." The success of Warming Up resulted in Arthur being signed to a three-year contract with the studio, soon to be known as Paramount Pictures, at $150 a week.

With the rise of the talkies in the late 1920s, Arthur was among the many silent screen actors of Paramount Pictures initially unwilling to adapt to sound films. Upon realizing that the craze for sound films was not a phase, she met with sound coach Roy Pomeroy. It was her distinctive, throaty voice – in addition to some stage training on Broadway in the early 1930s – that eventually helped make her a star in the talkies. However, it initially prevented directors from casting her in films.[19] In her early talkies, this "throaty" voice is still missing, and it remains unclear whether it has not yet emerged or whether she hid it. Her all-talking film debut was The Canary Murder Case (1929), in which she co-starred opposite William Powell and Louise Brooks. Arthur impressed only a few with the film and later claimed that at the time she was a "very poor actress ... awfully anxious to improve, but ... inexperienced so far as genuine training was concerned."

In the early years of talking pictures, Paramount was known for contracting Broadway actors with experienced vocals and impressive background references. Arthur was not among these actors, and she struggled for recognition in the film industry. Her personal involvement with rising Paramount executive David O. Selznick – despite his relationship with Irene Mayer Selznick – proved substantial; she was put on the map and became selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1929. Following a silent B-western called Stairs of Sand (1929), she received some positive notices when she played the female lead in the lavish production of The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929). Arthur was given more publicity assignments, which she carried out, even though she immensely disliked posing for photographers and giving interviews.

Through Selznick, Arthur received her "best role to date" opposite famous sex symbol Clara Bow in the early sound film The Saturday Night Kid (1929). Of the two female leads, Arthur was thought to have "the better part," and director Edward Sutherland claimed that "Arthur was so good that we had to cut and cut to keep her from stealing the picture" from Bow. While some argued that Bow resented Arthur for having the "better part," Bow encouraged Arthur to make the most of the production. Arthur later praised her working experience with Bow: "[Bow] was so generous, no snootiness or anything. She was wonderful to me." The film was a moderate success, and The New York Times wrote that the film would have been "merely commonplace, were it not for Jean Arthur, who plays the catty sister with a great deal of skill."

Following a role in Halfway to Heaven (1929) opposite popular actor Charles "Buddy" Rogers (of which Variety opined that her career could be heading somewhere if she acquired more sex appeal), Selznick assigned her to play William Powell's wife in Street of Chance (1930). She did not impress the film's director John Cromwell, who advised the actress to move back to New York because she would not make it in Hollywood. By 1930, her relationship with Selznick had ended, causing her career at Paramount to slip. Following a string of "lifeless ingenue roles" in mediocre films, she debuted on stage in December 1930 with a supporting role in Pasadena Playhouse's ten-day run production of Spring Song. Back in Hollywood, Arthur saw her career deteriorating, and she dyed her hair blonde in an attempt to boost her image and avoid comparison with more successful actress Mary Brian. Her effort did not pay off: when her three-year contract at Paramount expired in mid-1931, she was given her release with an announcement from Paramount that the decision was due to financial setbacks caused by the Great Depression.

In late 1931, Arthur returned to New York City, where a Broadway agent cast Arthur in an adaptation of Lysistrata, which opened at the Riviera Theater on January 24, 1932. A few months later, she made her Broadway debut in Foreign Affairs opposite Dorothy Gish and Osgood Perkins. Even though the play did not fare well and closed after twenty-three performances, critics were impressed by her work on stage. She next won the female lead in The Man Who Reclaimed His Head, which opened on September 8, 1932, at the Broadhurst Theatre to mostly mixed notices for Arthur, and negative reviews for the play caused the production to be halted quickly. Arthur returned to California for the holidays, and appeared in the RKO film The Past of Mary Holmes (1933), her first film in two years.

Back on Broadway, Arthur continued to appear in small plays that received little attention. Critics, however, continued to praise her in their reviews. It has been argued that in this period, Arthur developed confidence in her acting craft for the first time. On the contrast between films in Hollywood and plays in New York, Arthur commented:

I don't think Hollywood is the place to be yourself. The individual ought to find herself before coming to Hollywood. On the stage I found myself to be in a different world. The individual counted. The director encouraged me and I learned how to be myself.... I learned to face audiences and to forget them. To see the footlights and not to see them; to gauge the reactions of hundreds of people, and yet to throw myself so completely into a role that I was oblivious to their reaction.

The Curtain Rises, which ran from October to December 1933, was Arthur's first Broadway play in which she was the center of attention. With an improved résumé, she returned to Hollywood in late 1933, and turned down several contract offers until she was asked to meet with an executive from Columbia Pictures. Arthur agreed to star in a film, Whirlpool (1934), and during production she was offered a long-term contract that promised financial stability for both her and her parents. Even though hesitant to give up her stage career, Arthur signed the five-year contract on February 14, 1934.

In 1935, at age 34, Arthur starred opposite Edward G. Robinson in the gangster farce The Whole Town's Talking, also directed by Ford, and her popularity began to rise. It was the first time Arthur portrayed a hard-boiled working girl with a heart of gold, the type of role she would be associated with for the rest of her career. She enjoyed the acting experience and working opposite Robinson, who remarked in his biography that it was a "delight to work with and know" Arthur. By the time of the film's release, her hair, naturally brunette throughout the silent film portion of her career, was bleached blonde and would mostly stay that way. She was known for maneuvering to be photographed and filmed almost exclusively from the left; Arthur felt that her left was her best side, and worked hard to keep it in the fore. Director Frank Capra recalled producer Harry Cohn's description of Jean Arthur's imbalanced profile: "half of it's angel, and the other half horse." Her next few films, Party Wire (1935), Public Hero No. 1 (1935) and If You Could Only Cook (1935), did not match the success of The Whole Town's Talking, but they all brought the actress positive reviews. In his review for The New York Times, critic Andre Sennwald praised Arthur's performance in Public Hero No. 1, writing that she "is as refreshing a change from the routine it-girl as Joseph Calleia is in his own department." Another critic wrote of her performance in If You Could Only Cook that "[she is] outstanding as she effortlessly slips from charming comedienne to beautiful romantic." With her now apparent rise to fame, Arthur was able to extract several contractual concessions from Harry Cohn, such as script and director approval and the right to make films for other studios.

The turning point in Arthur's career came when she was chosen by Frank Capra to star in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Capra had spotted her in a daily rush from the film Whirlpool in 1934 and convinced Cohn to have Columbia Studios sign her for his next film as a tough newspaperwoman who falls in love with a country bumpkin millionaire. Even though several colleagues later recalled that Arthur was troubled by extreme stage fright during production, Mr. Deeds was critically acclaimed and propelled her to international stardom. In 1936 alone, she earned $119,000, more than the President of the United States and baseball player Lou Gehrig. With fame also came media attention, something Arthur greatly disliked. She did not attend any social gatherings, such as formal parties in Hollywood, and acted difficult when having to work with an interviewer. She was named the American Greta Garbo – who was also known for her reclusive life – and magazine Movie Classic wrote of her in 1937: "With Garbo talking right out loud in interviews, receiving the press and even welcoming an occasional chance to say her say in the public prints, the palm for elusiveness among screen stars now goes to Jean Arthur."

Arthur's next film was The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936), on loan to RKO Pictures, in which she starred opposite William Powell on his insistence, and hoped to take a long vacation afterwards. Cohn, however, rushed her into two more productions, Adventure in Manhattan (1936) and More Than a Secretary (1936). Neither film attracted much attention.[44] Next, again without pause, she was re-teamed with Cooper, playing Calamity Jane in Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman (1936) on another loan, this time for Paramount Pictures. Arthur, who was De Mille's second choice after Mae West, described Calamity Jane as her favorite role thus far. Afterwards, she appeared as a working girl, her typical role, in Mitchell Leisen's screwball comedy, Easy Living (1937), with Ray Milland. She followed this with another screwball comedy, Capra's You Can't Take It with You, which teamed her with James Stewart. The film won an Academy Award for Best Picture with Arthur getting top billing.

So strong was her box office appeal by now that she was one of four finalists for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). The film's producer, David O. Selznick, had briefly romanced Arthur in the late 1920s when they both were with Paramount Pictures. Arthur re-united with director Frank Capra and Stewart for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), with Arthur cast once again as a working woman, this time one who teaches the naive Mr. Smith the ways of Washington, D.C.

Arthur continued to star in films such as Howard Hawks's Only Angels Have Wings (also 1939), with love interest Cary Grant, The Talk of the Town (1942), directed by George Stevens (with Cary Grant and Ronald Colman, working together for the only time, as Arthur's two leading men), and again for Stevens as a government clerk in The More the Merrier (1943), for which Arthur was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress (losing to Jennifer Jones for The Song of Bernadette). As a result of being in dispute with studio boss Harry Cohn, her fee for The Talk of the Town (1942) was only $50,000, while her male co-stars Grant and Colman received upwards of $100,000 each. Arthur remained Columbia's top star until the mid-1940s, when she left the studio, and Rita Hayworth took over as the studio's biggest name. Stevens famously called her "one of the greatest comediennes the screen has ever seen," while Capra credited her as "my favorite actress."

Arthur retired when her contract with Columbia Pictures expired in 1944. She reportedly ran through the studio's streets, shouting "I'm free, I'm free!"[46] For the next several years, she turned down virtually all film offers, the two exceptions being Billy Wilder's A Foreign Affair (1948), in which she played a congresswoman and rival of Marlene Dietrich, and as a homesteader's wife in the classic Western Shane (1953), which turned out to be the biggest box-office hit of her career. The latter was her final film, and the only color film in which she appeared.

Arthur's post-retirement work in theater was intermittent, somewhat curtailed by her unease and discomfort about working in public. Capra claimed she vomited in her dressing room between scenes, yet emerged each time to perform a flawless take. According to John Oller's biography, Jean Arthur: The Actress Nobody Knew (1997), Arthur developed a kind of stage fright punctuated with bouts of psychosomatic illnesses. A prime example was in 1945, when she was cast in the lead of the Garson Kanin play, Born Yesterday. Her nerves and insecurity got the better of her and she left the production before it reached Broadway, opening the door for a then-unknown Judy Holliday to take the part.

She did score a major triumph on Broadway in 1950, starring in Leonard Bernstein's adaptation of Peter Pan, playing the title character, when she was almost 50. She tackled the role of her eponym, Joan of Arc, in a 1954 stage production of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan, but she left the play after a nervous breakdown and battles with director Harold Clurman.

After Shane and the Broadway play Joan of Arc, Arthur went into retirement for 12 years. In 1965, she returned to show business in an episode of Gunsmoke. In 1966, the extremely reclusive Arthur took on the role of Patricia Marshall, an attorney, on her own television sitcom, The Jean Arthur Show, which was canceled mid-season by CBS after only 12 episodes. Ron Harper played her son, attorney Paul Marshall.

In 1967, Arthur was coaxed back to Broadway to appear as a midwestern spinster who falls in with a group of hippies in the play The Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake. In his book The Season, William Goldman reconstructed the disastrous production, which eventually closed during previews when Arthur refused to go on.

Arthur next decided to teach drama, first at Vassar College and then the North Carolina School of the Arts. While teaching at Vassar, she stopped a rather stridently overacted scene performance and directed the students' attention to a large tree growing outside the window of the performance space, advising the students on the art of naturalistic acting: "I wish people knew how to be people as well as that tree knows how to be a tree."

Her students at Vassar included the young Meryl Streep. Arthur recognized Streep's talent and potential very early on and after watching her performance in a Vassar play, Arthur said it was "like watching a movie star."

While living in North Carolina, in 1973, Arthur made front-page news by being arrested and jailed for trespassing on a neighbor's property to console a dog she felt was being mistreated. An animal lover her entire life, Arthur said she trusted them more than people. She was convicted, fined $75 and given three years' probation.

Arthur turned down the role of the female missionary in Lost Horizon (1973), the unsuccessful musical remake of the 1937 Frank Capra film of the same name. Then, in 1975, the Broadway play First Monday in October, about the first woman to be a Supreme Court justice, was written especially with Arthur in mind, but once again she succumbed to extreme stage fright, and quit the production shortly into its out-of-town run after leaving the Cleveland Play House. The play went on with Jane Alexander playing the role intended for Arthur.

After the First Monday in October incident, Arthur then retired for good, retreating to her oceanside home in Carmel, California, steadfastly refusing interviews until her resistance was broken down by the author of a book about Capra. Arthur once famously said that she would rather have her throat slit than do an interview.

Arthur was a Democrat and supported the campaign of Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.

Arthur died from heart failure June 19, 1991, at the age of 90. No funeral service was held. She was cremated, and her remains were scattered off the coast of Point Lobos, California.

Upon her death, film reviewer Charles Champlin wrote the following in the Los Angeles Times:

To at least one teenager in a small town (though I'm sure we were a multitude), Jean Arthur suggested strongly that the ideal woman could be – ought to be – judged by her spirit as well as her beauty … The notion of the woman as a friend and confidante, as well as someone you courted and were nuts about, someone whose true beauty was internal rather than external, became a full-blown possibility as we watched Jean Arthur.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Jean Arthur has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6333 Hollywood Blvd. The Jean Arthur Atrium was her gift to the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.

On May 2, 2015, the city of Plattsburgh, New York, honored her with a plaque in front of the house where she was born (94 Oak Street).

On October 9, 2019, Plattsburgh unveiled a large commissioned mural of the actress by artist Brendon Palmer-Angell on a wall behind the bank building at 30 Brinkerhoff Street.

As of 2019, the Adirondacks Welcome Center near Exit 18 on the northbound lanes of the Northway (I-87) in Queensbury, New York, featured a ground plaque of Jean Arthur, among other famous persons connected to the Adirondacks region, as part of the Adirondacks Walk of Fame, similar in style to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.

[mayisgoingnuts]

Keep thinking about April and Roy with I Bet On Losing Dogs. About Roy being held and rocked gently. They're stuck in my head.

Runs away

Haha.. jokes on you... I ALREADY IMSGINED THIS SONG WITH THEM MWAHAHAHA cries pathetically/silly

ROY BEING ROCKED BY HER.. she misses those times so much......

This song unlocks so many sad scenarios to basically all of my OC's it's insane