#am I the only one who thinks the woman might be a Romani?

[myfanfictiongarden]

The June 24th entry is still one of the most horrifying and blood chilling entries. From Jonathan discovering that the Count is going into villages in his traveling clothes to spread a false image, from the three Ladies attempting to hypnotise Jonathan and him barely escaping them into his room, to the wailing of yet another infant and the poor mother crying in the courtyard before being torn apart by the wolves…

[mage-of-mip]

Half-Foots and Ainu Culture in Dungeon Meshi

It sometimes feels like I might be grasping at straws with this, but I do feel like it's not completely unfounded. Please note, I am a white woman living in the USA, I am by no means an expert on Japanese culture in general, much less a marginalized subculture. I have simply made limited attempts to educate myself out of genuine interest born from exposure to media about Ainu characters and culture. I am always hoping to learn more.

I think it's fairly obvious that many parallels can be drawn between Ryoko Kui's Half-Foot race, and more than one ethnicity or subculture in real life. Romani, Irish, and Jewish stereotypes come to mind immediately.

But I think there's another one that may be explored less in the text, and much harder to catch by a western reader, but nonetheless could be intended by Kui, or perhaps was at one point. That of the Ainu people of Hokkaido, Japan.

There's not a lot of translated information about the Ainu online, so please bear with my limited knowledge. In short, the Ainu are the indigenous people of Northern Japan. For generations, their way of life has been taken from them and they were forced to assimilate to the wider Japanese culture. There are not many who still fully practice the cultural heritage in this day, but there are movements to bring the Ainu culture back.

In Delicious in Dungeon, there are two instances that reference the Ainu, both relating to Chilchuck. This could, of course, be a coincidence, especially if there are more references that I missed. It may be flimsy, but it still feels significant that this is the case, and that Half-Foots are or were meant to be an allusion to the Ainu.

This is the first instance. A significant panel in the context of the story. To my knowledge, this is the only specifically Ainu dish that's referenced in the text. On it's own, its just an interesting factoid, and the same dark humor that's being used for all the other character deaths in this fight against Thistle.

This is the second instance. From the supplemental material rather than the main story, Chilchuck is discussing what Half-Foots are called across the languages. The one that caught my eye here is the one in the top corner. Koropokkur.

The Koropokkur are a race of small people in Ainu folklore, their name meaning "those who live under the butterbur leaves".

Again, in a vacuum, this could just be a Japanese person using a Japanese word in her manga. But I think it's interesting that the two instances of Ainu culture being referenced have to do with Chilchuck and Half-Foots as a whole. It could warrant a deeper read-through looking for other references, perhaps by someone more educated than myself.

I think this could have some interesting implications in the wider worldbuilding. Perhaps the Half-Foots have faced similar cultural erasure and assimilation attempts, which is why a lot of their customs and clothing are just "Tallman but smaller", and why other races regularly mistake them for the children of tallmen, despite having pretty noticeable differences in how they look other than just their height(their disproportionately large ears, for example).

This idea might be a tad more indulgent, but I also like the idea that Half-Foot children don't receive a permanent name until they are toddlers. At one point, in Ainu culture(this may not be practiced today, I could not find information on that), the Ainu would give their children "vulgar" placeholder names until they started forming personalities, as a ward against evil spirits. Perhaps the same is done for Half-Foot children, and their two part names are selected when they are a little older.

Again, these are just the observations of an outsider looking in, please feel free to correct any mistakes I may have made! And if I'm completely off-base or have said something offensive, I apologize and will delete or amend the post as necessary.

[psychicxhearts-blog1]

Adding more to the Rook being Robin Hood Theory/ Rare Beastmen Theory:

Hello folks. Me at it again with another theory, but this time about Rook. Now if you don't know there has been a theory about Rook being Robin Hood for years. Thing is I have my own take on the theory and I want to share it. Sad to say I can't find the original poster for the "Rook is Robin Hood theory" But if you can please tell me so I can credit the OP. But I do want to share this theory someone else did on twitter about Rook being a beastmen as well by in a different point of view. Here is the link: https://twitter.com/MoonlightEquin1/status/1625355871999098880 I also want to add the theory that me and my friend @dgttwisted had about a rare beastmen birth that could happen. I promise it's not gross. Just a theory that could connect to Rook, but first I am going to cover the Robin Hood Rook theory. As well as cover one thing that people forget about Robin Hood that could connect to Rook more. With that out the way let's go to the theory. Also Spoilers to the Robin Hood movie and Twisted wonderland so warning when reading.

For those who don't know there is a theory that Rook might be a twst version of Robin Hood. To recap I want to abridge what the theory points out, and even bring up what others over looks for how similar Rook and Robin are. Sadly I can't find the original post of the theory so if I forgot something or if I point out something that was addressed to it in things I noticed, then I apologize for that mistake. What has been said by others of the theory:

1.) Rook Hunt and Robin Hood have the same initials. (R.H) 2.) Both are good archers or known to be archers. 3.) Rook's unique magic is "I see you" Which is him being able to locate anyone in Twisted wonderland with a arrow. Which could connect to Robin Hood's skill to always lock onto a target. 4.) Rook has a great sense of smell, has good eyesight, and amazing hearing which are almost super human in a way. Which also translates to his archery and hunter theme. Because of these things people think Rook might be related to fox Beastmen in some way.

5.) Both Rook and Robin like to tease a lion who are not king. 6.)Rook has 5 siblings meaning his parents have 6 kids. Same number of kids Robin told Marian he wanted to have with her. 7.) Robin told Marian that he wanted to travel the world with her. Rook mentions that his family own villas all over the world. As well his family loved to travel. 8.) Both have feathers on there hats. Things that people over look with the both of them:

Finally! Time to flex about this. The reason I know of these things is because I found out from my mom, that this was the movie I watched a lot as a lil kid, and re watching it again I noticed more details about Rook and Robin. Which I do want to go into detail with. Now on with the facts 1.) Both Rook and Robin praises those to make things happen. With Rook he praised everyone's talents and even how to work on there weaknesses in chapter 5. Not only that but Rook convinced Vil to let Deuce and Ace into the group, cause if he didn't then Ace and Deuce would have not been in that battle with Vil's OB. As well as Rook helping Epel out with Vil in Epel's Ceremonial Robe SR card. Robin on the other hand has used his words to find out things or to let people drop there guard. In points of the movie you can see this with Robin praising sheriff of Nottingham and the sheriff smiling over his praises from the start of him disguising as a Romani woman (I am not saying the G slur!) to him disguising as a bird to shake the sheriff's hand, and when he was a guard to help him sleep to get the keys to make the jail brake happen. 2.) Speaking of them praising others did you know that Robin hood can go on and on with praises to get what he wants to the point of talking forever unless someone stops him? It could be due to the fact that foxes are very vocal animals. If you don't believe me on that then look it up for yourself. And we know that Rook is very vocal as a person as well. With us finding out in chapter 6 that him and Vil talked for hours in winter to the point that both got sick the next day.

3.) So as you know Robin likes to mess with the king in the movie or just seems to know where he is at in the movie? Did you also know he likes to mess with and know where sheriff of Nottingham as well? A man who is doing what he is told and even a debt collector collecting taxes from the town's folk. Hey guess what. You know who Rook likes to mess with or know where they are at all points? Both Leona and the leech twins. And you know what the leech twins do? They help collect debts for Azul as well as the sheriff of Nottingham having yellow eyes like the twins who have a yellow eye due to there heterochromia didn't escape me. 4.) Did you know that Maid Marian and Snow white have something in common? A well known fact is that in the making of Robin Hood they had to cut corners due to having low funds with making the movie. So in Robin Hood there is a scene where Maid Marian's dance is rotoscoped from the scene of Snow White dancing with Dopey as well as a earlier scene of when Maid Marian clapping mirroring before Snow white starts to dance with her clapping as well. Which means that Rook being a fan of Neige might have a double meaning form this. 5.) Rook and Robin's eyes go smaller when they are shocked. I know others in the game do this as well, but look at them! Same vibe. 6.) Both are sneaky or always plotting. Robin plotting to be with Maiden Mary, giving King John a hard time, and helping out the townsfolk. Rook wanting to be around Vil, helping others out, or wanting to find out others weaknesses, and only using his UM to track people when he can't do it in normal means. Rook is a rare beastmen birth theory:

Now that I am done with those facts I want to talk about the Rook is a beastmen theory. This theory was made thanks to the help of @dgttwisted who really opened my eyes to this what if and me adding to it with my knowledge of basic fox facts. So remembering me pointing out how Rook Hunt is Robin Hood with that recap and other things people over look? Well I think it's not that Rook is Robin Hood, but what if Rook's dad is Robin Hood based? I mean hear me out here. As much as kids don't want to admit it, but we get traits or pick up things form our parents. For me I get a lot of traits of my father. I move my leg to help me sleep, We have this small birth mole like thing on the side of our eye, and we both don't talk a lot and just enjoy vibes. So I was wondering if that same applied to Rook? What if Rook got to be so good at hunting and archery due to his dad? So that begs the question about his mother. Well I was thinking he got her passion? I am not saying Robin Hood wouldn't be passionate. I mean dear god they have six kids together. That's a lot to handle Especially if you know that Maiden Mary wanted a dozen kids, which is 12 kids at least when she was talking to Robin Hood about kids in the movie! Not only that but when Rook mentions that his family travels that means his parents traveled a lot with them. Which was something Robin and Mary wanted to do for there honey moon. So as you can see I am of the camp of this being the case with these facts in mind. Back on topic since they are fox beastmen or maybe one of them is a fox beastmen and the other is human (I have seen some people do fan art of it as of late). One of which I think the mother being a fox beastwoman while the dad is human, cause fun fact Maiden Mary design was reused to make Vixey from the Fox and the hound. But I can't deny that people believe that Robin Hood might have been reused to make Nick from Zootopia. (Sorry I couldn't find if Robin Hood was reused to make Nick, but did find the theory of Robin and Nick might being related.) Back to Rook. I think nearly all there kid's have fox physical characteristics. All but Rook. Think about it. Here is what the wiki says about this traits: Rook has very good eyesight, being able to tell what book Epel was reading from afar, He has a good sense of smell, and yet again he is good at hunting. So what if he has the inherent animal traits then the physical traits? Meaning he has things a fox beastmen has, but no tail or ears? Also know I need to address this as well, but what if that's why he was in Savanaclaw? I know others can go to Savanaclaw. It's not just full of beastmen, and other beastmen are in other dorms, but in early game that was the case until Yana (The creator/writer) pretty much changed it that anyone can join savanaclaw. Which I am thankful for. Which makes me wonder if Ruggie and Leona now that Rook is half beastmen or a 100 percent fox beastman, but kept that to themselves or maybe they don't know? If so if it's reviled that he is a beastmen with a rare birth, then I want it for when Rook just invites some of the cast to meet his family for a event, and his little siblings are running around him with fox ears and tail. And he is like, Rook: "Oh sorry. Guess the cat is out of the bag. But I am a fox beastmen. A rare one at that. If you don't believe me then ask my parents. Also look at my siblings! We are so alike that you can tell we came from the same parents." You have no idea how badly I want this! if me and my friend's theory is true.

UPDATE: 8/10/24 Another thing that is odd about him that could connect to Rook being a beastman is that well is least favorite food. If you go to his character bio you see that garlic is his least favorite food, and if you look up garlic and foxes you find out that foxes hate the smell of garlic, and so not like it what so ever. I found this out today so I thought I should share it before I forget. And that's it for the theory and facts about Rook. Did you like it? Hate it? Or was I just plan wrong about something or forgot another thing about Rook and Robin I over looked? Either way I would like to hear any and all options on this and I hope you are all having a lovely day. Edit: So more bonus stuff. For one of the merch they are selling we are shown stuff for each of the dorm students and will you look at that. Rook's is a GREEN ARROW! If that's not on the nose with him being connected to Robin Hood then I don't know what is, but nope there is one more.

Got this on twitter btw from a post replied to by YuuRei20 by a different person covering up the theory as well. This proves that Rook pretty much has a final smoking gun to being or is connected to Robin Hood in some way.

Done talking about it now until Yana says if he is a beastmen, half one, decented, a rare beastmen birth, is connected to Robin Hood or is just a normal human with Light Magic plot armor. Hope you enjoyed the post so far. Bye bye for now.

[thealmightyemprex]

Well,we have more movies after this but actually we have already reached a sort of end here,as this block wraps up the big 3 monsters (Dracula,Frankenstein and Wolf Man ) and we end the 40's here

21.House of Frankenstein(1944)

So this is the big crossover movie,all three big monsters are together at last:Dracula ,Wolf Man and Frankensteins Monster....And they never fucking interact .Draculas dies halfway through ,and Wolfman dies right before the monster wakes up......So bit of a disappointment and the movies structure is a mess .Boris Karloff is back,this time as a mad scientist ,and he gives a good performance but it is kind of hilarious how much he screws over the monsters simply cause he is taking too much time to get his experiments done and he is kind of an asshole .Theres an interesting enough love triangle between J Carol Naish as the hunchbacked assistant in love with a Romani woman (Clearly trying to evoke Hunchback of Notre Dame ),who is in love with Larry Talbot ,Talbots story is nice and tragic ,with Lon Channey Jr being great as always as Talbot .As for the other two monsters they have good actors ,John Carridine fits a more book accurate Dracula ,and Glenn Strange with his huge build and craggy face is an imposing monster,but they are barely in the movie sadly .Will say I like the meta symbolism of the ending of the monster carrying Karoff only for the two to sink in quicksand together ,united forever .I dunno its a very flawed movie but its got its moments

22.The Mummys Curse (1944)

...Zzzzzzzz-*gasp*.....Oh yeah,....This was meh ....Just a bog standard Mummy movie......Yeah while I have fondness for the other monsters and am sad to see them go.....I am more then happy I am almost done with the Mummy movies ,at least the next ones a comedy

23.House of Dracula (1945)

The last of the war time Monster movies,and honestly the last serious film of the main line Monster films ,till Creature of the Black Lagoon in the 50's ....And its not good.It has the same problems as House of Frankenstein but more so :The monster dont really interact ,stories a mess ,but added to that ......The title character and main villain dies half way through ,to make room for a diffrent villain,Frankensteins Monster might as well not be there and its just a bit of a whimper.Will say Carridine is a good Dracula ,I just wish he had a good movie to go with his Drac ,I really liked the Nurse character Nina ,and I was really happy to see Larry Talbot get a happy ending for once

24.She Wolf of London(1946)

.....Why is this in this DVD set ? Cause ummm.....Its not a monster movie ,its more like Gaslight or like something from Val Lewton like the Leopard Man .....Except it isnt good .As much as I love June Lockhart she just isnt well directed here ,and I kind of knew really early on who the villain was .Will say there is a saving grace to the movie :Sara Haden as Aunt Martha is REALLY excellent .I think my overall takeaway isdissappointment,this is not a lady werewolf movie nor a particularly good thriller ,but Haden keeps me from hating it .Also Horace from 101 Dalmations plays a cop,that was fun

25.Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

So the monsters are brought back after a hiatus for one last ride to meet Universals other big money makers at the time,the comedy team of Bud Abbot and Lous Costello.....And my feelings are complicated ,not on the film,the film is great,but on its legacy.First off the idea of the crossover was brillaint ,as humor is fairly common in the Monster films and the main conciet is REALLY funny,cause Costello is REALLY funny when he is scared ,and who better to scare him then Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster .I also like that within the film the monsters are played seriously ,with the humor coming from the childlike fear of Lou and Buds grumpyness with Lou for thinking monsters are running around .The Monsters are great ,Lon Chaney Jr as Larry Talbot being are token heroic monster ,and being a good foil to Bud and Lou ,Glenn Strange actually gets stuff to do as the Monster (And even a few lines ) with a wonderful chase scene near the end being a highlight ,and Bela Lugosi returns to his most iconic role as Dracula and is a great charming yet conniving villain .The gags are funny ,with some great one liners and some amazing comedic set pieces .I also think it is both a great horror film for kids and is a go to film for me to throw on around Halloween .So yeah I love the movie and part of me feels it is a fun last hurrah for the monsters ......But seeing it in this marathon context it also felt bitter sweet ,they quit being taken seriously and were solidified as figures of fun.....but fun is not bad ,its just a diffrent way of viewing them .Overall I love this movie and it is one of my faves of the lot

Rankings so far

25.The Mummys Tomb

24.Werewolf of London

23.Invisble Agent

22.She Wolf of London

21.Mummys Hand

20.Mummys Curse

19.Son of Dracula

18.House of Dracula

17.Invisible Woman

16.Ghost of Frankenstein

15.House of Frankenstein

14.Mummy

13:Mummys Ghost

12.The Invisible Mans Revenge

11.Dracula's Daughter

10.Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman

9.Dracula

8.Invisible Man Returns

7.Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

6.Invisble Man

5..Son of Frankenstein

4.Phantom of the Opera

3.Wolf Man

2.Frankenstein

1.Bride of Frankenstein

To be....Concluded

@ariel-seagull-wings @the-blue-fairie @countesspetofi @themousefromfantasyland @piterelizabethdevries @theancientvaleofsoulmaking @princesssarisa @amalthea9 @barbossas-wench

[noblesixofhalo]

Fallout Bebop Chapter 3.

I really wished that I was able to get out the next chapter on AO3 but sadly it probably won't be until late Sunday or Monday since I'll be gone on Saturday and into Sunday morning. Who knows, maybe I'll pull a hail mary and get something out by tomorrow night. Any here's the next part.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Goodsprings, Mojave Desert, late spring 2271*

After the short walk from the Bebop to the town of Goodsprings and after a hearing Faye and Spike argue over stupid petty shit, the three human being disasters arrived at the town to begin asking questions around about the whereabouts of Marcos the killer ghoul.

"Really Jet, a saloon?" "How fucking cliched can you get?"

"Shut up and start asking around."

Jet grumbled at Faye as they arrived a saloon known in the prewar era as the Prospector Saloon. Much to Spikes chagrin, a large dog began barking before he was quieted down by the owner.

"Cheyenne, that's enough. Sorry about that, she won't attack unless you give me a reason to."

A young woman chuckled as she ordered the large Australian Cattle Dog who had heterochromia, a condition in which an animal or a person has more than one eye color, away from the three would-be cowboys.

Spike muttered, "Great more animals".

"I'm sorry, I don't think we had a chance to meet, I'm Sunny. Sunny Smiles."

"Pleasure to meet you Sunny, I'm Jet Black and these two washed up degenerates are Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine. We are here because we are pursuing a killer who has been responsible for multiple murders of settlers. His name is Marcos, a ghoul."

"I have heard of him but if you are bounty hunters working for the New California Republic, I'm sorry but I don't get involved in the politics of the NCR or any faction out here in the Mojave. The NCR only claims to care about law and order and making the roads safe but honestly that's only to protect NCR settlers, nothing against you guys."

"We don't work for the NCR, we are independent contractors you could say."

Jet said to the young woman as she glanced at the three further before continuing on.

"Well, you are more than free to look around and ask people about your killer, as for me I'm the town guard and the local trapper for this town. I mostly hunt geckos that are known to injure or kill any folks out here."

"Do you know if there are any folks out here that might know about Marcos?"

"Like I said before Mr. Black I'm only concerned for the wellbeing of Goodsprings, if you want to talk to the other residents here, by all means do whatever, I need to keep tabs on the town and one of those things is hunting wildlife that could pose a threat to the townsfolk here. If you need any supplies flag down Chet, otherwise Doc Mitchell, the local town doctor could possibly help. Good hunting."

Sunny bid the three farewell and took her dog outside closing the door behind them leaving the three now figuring out another plan in pursue of the killer ghoul. Faye huffed in slight annoyance that no leads could be made.

"Well that was a complete waste of time."

"As if you would have done any better Romani."

"Fuck off Spike, I would have so done better, ugh this sucks."

"Both of you quit whining and keep asking around, clearly Sunny doesn't know anything about our lead, but she mentioned Chet and Doc Mitchell might be able to help us so quit your arguing and keep asking around."

"Fine, Spike you go look for Chet I'll look for this Doc Mitchell guy."

"Why am I looking for him shouldn't we just stick together and work together you know, something that you suck at all the time?"

"Ugh men...."

"Women."

"I heard that!"

"Good for you!"

Spike hollered out at Faye as they continued their search for their head guy. Despite that little argument, they ended up sticking together asking one of the vendors at Goodsprings."

"If you city slickers are looking for supplies, I'm here for that."

"We're not city slickers, we're here because we were given some lead on a killer that must be brought to justice."

"Well if you're with the NCR, I'm not interested in helping ya out. We have enough problems as it is, last thing we need is some NCR hired bounty hunters causing trouble. That along with raider gangs and further out in the wastes, Caesar's Legion."

"Don't you mean "Seezures" Legion"?

"They pronounce it as "Kaizar's" Legion, I didn't invent the group so don't ask me."

"You must be Chet." Jet replied finishing up the conversation about the various factions vying for control of the Mojave Wasteland.

"Correct."

"Well Chet, my name is Jet Black, these two are Spike and Faye and I'll rest assure you and everyone here at Goodsprings that we are not part of the NCR or any of those groups in the Mojave wastes, we a private contractor and we have been tasked with hunting down a ghoul by the name of Marcos, have you heard of him?"

"Funny you ask, he was just here a few days ago, he was with a bunch of armed ghouls, no Khans or anything like that."

"Who are the Khans?" Faye asked Chet.

"Khans are tough mean sons of bitches, they mostly leave outsiders alone unless you got some chems they want. They aren't like most raiders who kill for the thrill of it, still I wouldn't fuck around with them."

"Do you know who Marcos was traveling with?"

"I'm afraid I don't know the name of the group Jet, that he was traveling with, he mostly passed by talking about 'getting vengeance against the smoothskins that did him rotten' and just carried on."

"Ugh enough talking around, where did he go?!"

"Jesus Faye, keep your shirt on, though that would be pretty hot if you...."

Whack! Faye angrily smacked Spike with the tall lanky cowboy taken a bit back from what just happened. Did she seriously smacked him in front of everyone in this strange town?

"Men are such idiots".

"He was moving north I think away from New Vegas and out away from the NCR border. I think he's going to that Ghoul sanctuary called Gecko? That's way far from here though, otherwise just keep going north. Do you have a photo of him?"

"Yeah right here, right from my terminal."

"Yeah that's the guy you would be looking for."

"Thank you Chet." Jet said politely to the merchant. Chet responded in kind.

"If you need any supplies feel free to take a look."

"Will do thank you."

"Alright let's regroup back at the Bebop and start searching northward from here. The fact that he was in Goodsprings just recently means he couldn't have gotten too far from here."

They bid farewell to the merchant and the folks of Goodsprings and began their quick trip back to the Bebop. Along the way, they encountered giant mutated praying mantises which both were quickly dispatched with Faye of course expressing her disgust for the giant bugs. Jet rolled his eyes telling her that this is what they will encounter on Earth compared to life elsewhere in the Solar System.

See you space cowboy.

[corvidcall]

I love the Hunchback of Notre Dame movie too and I did not know there was a musical, what didn't you like about it? Do I wanna know how bad it is

i have been waiting years for someone to ask me about the stage musical

Probably you haven't heard about it because 1. I don't think it's very good (and the world operates based solely on my opinions, right?) 2. for union/profit reasons, it has never been on Broadway and likely never will (apparently Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken, who also composed the original Disney film, said the stage version HAD to have a full live choir on stage, and getting the choir on a Broadway production would have required different union negotiations, and Disney didn't think it would be profitable. I honestly think they're probably right)

ANYWAY this got way too long so it's all going under a cut. I have some nice things to say in there, too! I swear!

i saw it in 2018 in Seattle, and while I love to talk shit, there are definitely things that I liked about it!! I went to see it because Joshua Castille was in the title role (he played Ernst in the Deaf West production of Spring Awakening). As you might know, I am a trained ASL interpreter! So I really wanted to support a Deaf artist, and I wanted to see how they approached my favorite Disney musical (and how the interpreters handled it!!!)

Joshua Castille was honestly incredible, and everything they did to incorporate his Deafness into the role was really cool. When he was by himself/with the gargoyles, he used ASL, but Frollo refused to sign with him and would only respond if he spoke, which I thought was a great extension of the way Frollo has treated Quasimodo his whole life (ie "I am abusing you for your own good"). When Esmeralda and Quasimodo start becoming friends, she tries to pick up some signs from him, which I thought was a great element. During Quasimodo's songs, one of the gargoyles would sing the part while Castille performed it in ASL. Here's a video of "Out There", if you're interested to see how it worked.

I think that in other productions, they've tried to kind of incorporate the fact that Quasimodo was deaf in the book? But I believe they started by having Hearing actors in the role, which is... well. It Is. But I saw it with a Deaf actor in the role and he was great. I thought that Quasimodo's hearing loss was a good thing they brought in from the original novel that actually really added to the production.

Not... everything was as good of a choice as that one.

See, it's specifically a stage adaption of the Disney movie. It uses all the Disney songs. One would think that it would maybe be aiming to have the same themes as the Disney movie, the chiefest of which is... let's say "internal vs external monsterhood." Quasimodo looks like a monster, but he is a good person, whereas Frollo looks normal, but is, inside, a monster.

You know what you wouldn't want to do, if that's your main theme? Start the show off with Frollo's sad backstory!!! He and his brother were orphans! They were raised by the church! His brother ran off with a Romani woman and Frollo didn't see him again until he was on his deathbed, when he asked Frollo to raise his son for him. That son was Quasimodo!

Like... why add this? Why give this character a sad backstory? A family that he loved? I don't understand what I'm supposed to get out of this. Is it... to justify why he's racist? Because I didn't really need a justification for that. It honestly makes his abuse of Quasimodo even weirder- like, he loved his brother and would have done anything for him, but is abusing his brother's son? I know it HAPPENS, but it just... feels so out of line with the rest of the story, I really can't fathom what I as an audience member am supposed to take away from it. This backstory doesn't add any richness or depth to the story. It takes away from it! And like... so Frollo was sad. Do you care? Clap if you care.

They made a bunch of changes to Pheobus, but I don't really care that much about that, beyond the fact that I think they made him somehow suck even more (iirc his intro song is basically "i just got back into paris from The War and im here to FUCK" like... ok i guess.)

But I'd say my number one biggest problem with the show is the changed ending. Esmeralda dies in this one. She gets tied to a pyre, and Quasimodo rescues her, but she's inhaled too much smoke, so she tells him he's been a great friend to her and then she dies.

I know this is more accurate to the novel. But like... I don't care about that? I don't think you can grade the quality of an adaption based on it's faithfulness to the source material. Why would anyone bother adapting anything, if that were the case? Some things don't work in adaption, and sometimes you're using the adaption to send a different message than the source material. An adaption should be able to stand on it's own, otherwise, why did any of us fucking bother? If a movie is based on a book, I shouldn't have to read the book to enjoy the movie, and likewise, they shouldn't include things from the book that don't make it a better movie!

The original novel was focused on the importance of architecture, how buildings were the primary way ideas were spread and preserved before the printing press. Hugo was concerned that the actual Notre Dame cathedral was in disrepair, that France would lose an essential part of it's history. If a good adaption was really only about being faithful to the source material, then we should be upset that that's an idea that has not been represented in most adaptions of Hunchback! I mean, sure, it's not represented in them because that's a problem that got solved, so we don't really need to spread the good word of historical preservation, but it's in the original! And also, the themes about social justice AREN'T in the original, so we should be mad about all those, too, right? (If you haven't seen Lindsay Ellis's video about Hunchback, I'd recommend checking it out. she talks a lot about the evolution of the themes in various adaptions.)

I'm saying all this because, while I know that Esmeralda dies in the book, and that basically every character in it kinda sucks, I think that really undercuts the themes that the Disney movie was going for (like I said, "internal vs external monsterhood"). Quasimodo and Frollo both are in love with Esmeralda, and she does not return those feelings. Quasimodo is sad and hurt, but he also is happy to have Esmeralda as a friend, and wants her to be happy as well. Frollo would rather she die than not be with him. This is one of the key points of contrast between Quasimodo and Frollo. Even their songs about Esmeralda are thematic opposites!!! Hellfire vs Heaven's Light!!!

So having her just die at the end makes that whole thing pointless. She doesn't get to be with the man she's actually in love with. Quasimodo doesn't get to complete his arc, where he accepts her decision and is happy for her. Frollo basically got what he wanted! What does this change add to the story, other than another token attempt at being "more book accurate," a thing nobody with an ounce of sense in their head should actually care about?

The stage musical uses the same music as the Disney movie, which were building to the themes and the conclusion that was shown in that movie, but it has a different ending, so those themes don't pay off. It's like they bought a lego set and used it to build something entirely different. Like, you CAN do that, but I'm not going to believe you when you tell me you actually built the lego set as it was intended.

Also I thought all the songs they added for the show sucked ass.

[hellmouth]

Okay, so, because I was caught in 4K HD in the tags on @hero-adjacent's post rambling about this theory that I don't think I've heard anyone on the brainwave of before, I figured I'd write the whole thing out. This is probably going to be a goddamn dissertation and I am so sorry. Giving credit where it's due for being the one who first said it, @reetamorgan was the original Oh Shit Oh Fuck mastermind here.

So bare with me here alright, this is off the fucking walls at first but hear me out:

We never get a specific timeline (to my knowledge) of exactly when Angelus was cursed with his soul, only that it happened when he killed a Romani girl (I'm not using the slur, Whedon, get bent) and the Elder of that tribe had him cursed with his soul for the pain and suffering he caused On Purpose like he was some kind of vampire psychological sadist Picasso. Now, here's where we get into the theory at hand: what if that girl was Drusilla?

Dru was sired in the mid-1800s, Darla was the one who hand-picked her for Angelus to bat around like a cat with a mouse, but it was his decision to sire her instead of kill her because he thought she was special (Angel 2x5). Darla was not 100% on board- case in point:

Angelus: "We turn her into one of us. Killing is so merciful, in the end, isn't it? The pain has ended."

Darla: "To make her one of us? She's a lunatic."

Angelus: "Eternal torment."

And he sires her before she can take her vows solely so that he can have the final laugh. Which... is kind of a big fuck you to just have nothing done about it, you know? What sparked the theory itself is a conversation that takes place in BTVS 2x14 Surprise in an exchange between Jenny and her uncle and the very specific language he uses to describe the situation which is as follows:

"...You just forget that he destroyed the most beloved daughter of your tribe? That he killed every man, woman, and child that touched her life? Vengeance demands that his pain be eternal as ours is!"

Except we do! Because it's my post and I said so and I warned you this might get dissertation length!

So the main reason this made us pause and stare at each other like the slow-pan to look at the camera in The Office after our- what- I think this is our third or fourth rewatch together? Was because he used the word "destroyed". He didn't say killed. And because he used the phrase "eternal pain" directly after this. Obviously that kind of tragedy stick with you for a very long time, but that specific usage very much sounds like something that they are actively still suffering with the consequences of, and not just because Angel is still alive.

We get a little bit of Drusilla's life in Angel the series, granted, with her mother telling her that her visions are an affront to the Lord and a little bit about her sisters, but to my recollection, we don't really get that much about her family life or ties other than this? I would think that it's entirely reasonable to assume that they could be of Romani descent, that her mother may have decided to possibly step away from her family once she was married and embrace a different lifestyle, or one of many different scenarios that would put her and her family slightly out of the frame of that lense, and that the visions Drusilla has could very well be a hereditary thing, something passed down from generation to generation, or possibly one that skips a generation, much like the Elder Woman is mentioned having visions in Surprise when Jenny's uncle tells her that she's seen that Angel's pain is lessening, that her visions are never wrong. This could also be why her mother reacts so aggressively to Drusilla having these visions in the first place, why she was so adamant that only God was supposed to see things before they happened.

Angelus proceeds to kill her entire family in front of her for The Bit, before forcing her to run to a convent to escape him and waits until just before she's about to take her holy vows before he turns her, again, purely for The Bit, and if that shit doesn't get you cursed, especially a curse of that magnitude, I don't know what else says fuck around and find out quite like that does.

I also think that it would be a rather karmic thing if the fate of Angel's soul was quite literally in the hands of the girl he tortured to madness and turned into a vampire, eternally bound to kill to live and still wracked with visions of things to come, whether it be knowing Buffy would become someone that would irrevocably change Spike, the man she herself sired, hence her almost desperation for him to get rid of her when he first comes into contact with her, or even the smaller glimpses at visions she gets throughout the Buffyverse of things that one way or another do come to pass.

It would also serve to tie into the weird connection and mutual trauma that Buffy and Drusilla seem to share, down to the fact that they even share a birthday. That because of Angel and Spike, their lives are always going to be a little bit entwined, they both love Spike in their own unique ways, and they both have a love and loathing for Angel for the attention and love he's given them and for the utter betrayal and frankly sadistic level of malice he has for both of them for making him feel anything for them when he's without his soul, how he's absolutely overtaken by the need to destroy everything that they hold dear, to take every last bit of light in their lives and make them suffer for as long as possible because they made him feel before he kills them or sires them- which I'm entirely convinced that if he got the chance when it came down to it, he'd have tried to turn Buffy too. Because as he said before, death is an end to the suffering. He wants it to last. He wants it to be eternal.

Anyway, that's the Overview of the "what if Drusilla is the reason for Angel's curse" bit that Wills and I have been tossing back and forth like Apollo's prophecy dodgeball. This was way more words than I had originally intended but goddammit I do my research when I have quite literally nothing better to do with my time. This has been Theories With Boofer, thanks for tuning in, that's my time.

[rakubalka]

Just me rambling about Dr Doom backstory and how it might break with some Slavic parts thrown in the mix

I will put it out there that I am not an expert or that knowledgeable in Romani culture so this is only on the Slavic part

While I know a lot more on marvel it's still not that much so we are going whit the Slavic side of things

So as I was heading home i stumbled on the thought that Victors mom making a deal with Mefisto makes sense only in a purely christian there are only god , angels and demons along with humans sense . Which doesn't make sense for a rural Slavic county in which legend and myths thrive and which considering that (even trou a very very very inaccurate depiction) the Slavic pantheon does exist , dracula and vampires exist and probably other Slavic associated mythological races also exist . Again makes absolutely zero sense as to why she , a presumably at least relatively strong and knowledgeable user of magic would risk her soul and posable life when she can much more easily make a deal with a Leshy(a master of nature in Slavic mythology who rules over the forest) for protection and hiding their tracks for the much much lesser price of tings like alcohol , human made food and other relatively small offerings . And I know that their group is Romani but when you live in an area you start to hear and know at least some of the local legends which if they have been in Latveria for at least one or two generations they would learn overtime , especially if it is a cautionary tale . So over time they would know of at least some legends .

Now while I don't know what specifically category Victor's mom is in , at in least Slavic magic I'm pretty sure we can rule her out as(I'm using DND naming here to make it easier to google to understand) cleric . Which leaves us with her being :

A) a warlock by using a newer version of Slavic magic in which case you make a deal with the devil and in exchange get a couple very low ranking demons to command and take power from , and if this is the case it asks the question as to why would Mefisto kill her as her soul wound probably be his if she doesn't give the demons away to someone else , which would probably be Victor but with how dangerous her life was , it might have killed her before that . Not to mention that is only if she is a practically a Saint

B) a sorceress with probably dampiric descent which makes more sense as to why he might try and kill her but also ask the question as to why she would sell her soul as she already had a relatively strong magic being at least partially dampire who were known as very good vampire hunters and also very talented in the magic department which would explain as to where Victor might be getting some of his talent for magic as there is very very little chance that a purely human person without a patron or sponsor of some kind get their magic to the same level or even near it as Dr.Doom even if they are training their whole life . And Victor did in like a 2-3 decades at max once he put himself to seriously learn magic . It's because he is naturally drawn to it and naturally good at it .

Another thing because I just saw the wiki on Victor's mom . She isn't the chief ? I was under the impression she was . Any way if what the wiki says is right , for Victor's dad hiding her being a magic user I would like to know why is that ? Does the clan/tribe think it's taboo for a woman to use magic or if uses of magic it's considered taboo purely on itself . Because in Slavic myths a magic user gender or genitalia doesn't determine how good they are at magic or as a person . That and also in times of great trouble which they probably constantly are as if the baron can't even properly take care of the "first class citizens" aka what would be considered the majority of the people it doesn't really give a good impression of what would happen to a minority , so having someone who can maybe predict the future a bit(not as Romani stereotype as the Slavs also have ways of divination) , have some healing spells, know their way around the herbs or just a straight up fighter who might be able to zap lightings or trow fire at people would come handy very often .

[squigleyssnakesfics]

Words that feel like home

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), White Collar (TV 2009)

Relationships: Peter Burke & Dick Grayson, Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey, Dick Grayson & Original Character(s)

Characters: Dick Grayson, Peter Burke, Neal Caffrey, Reese Hughes, Original Characters

Additional Tags: Don’t worry she’s not a Mary Sue she’s just an old woman, Neal Caffrey and Dick Grayson are the Same Person, Romani Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson Speaks Romani, Damian Wayne speaks Romani

Words: 1787

As usual, Dick Grayson entered the FBI white collar department as Neal Caffrey. And as usual, Neal Caffrey was met with a cacophony of noise; phones ringing, people talking, coffee brewing, victims crying.

Unlike usual, however, a lot of people were crowded around one particular crying victim. She was an old woman in a long, pink, flowery dress with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Her skin was dark and wrinkled and she was sobbing frantically and pointing at photos and saying things in a language nobody seems to be able to identify. Dick could see how desperate she was for someone to understand her, he remembered feeling like that when his parents died.

He remembered being taken away from their bodies by policemen who couldn’t understand him, past his thick accent and the few English words he knew. Because while they had been a travelling circus, they hadn’t visited many English speaking countries, since they were mostly based in Eastern Europe and Asia. One month, Dick remembers, they had gone South to the Pacific Islands and even did a small tour in New Zealand and Northern Australia before heading back to South Asia. Dick remembered learning some English in New Zealand but it hadn’t been much and some of it was very particular to that country and more like slang, so when Dick’s parents had died he had barely been able to communicate his basic needs as he was ripped away from his family at the circus. And no matter how many languages Dick knew it didn’t seem to change the fact that so many of them were monolingual.

Dick walked slowly towards the sobbing woman, because while god knows she was already swarmed enough by FBI agents trying and failing to understand her, Dick almost certainly knew a few more languages than them. ‘Plus’, he figured, ‘this is exactly what I wanted when I was a child’.

As Dick reached the table she had been sitting at he caught a few of the words she threw from her mouth like they’re dirty: “he stole it”. She was pointing at the photo lying on the table of a painting of a woman with long, dark, curly hair and golden skin and yelling desperately that it isn’t the true painting. And she was yelling it all in Romani. Dick’s hand moved slowly to cover his mouth, before he carefully lowered it and moved past all the people gathered around her to kneel beside her.

“Ma’am,” he said, carefully in Romani, “are you Roma?”

The woman heaved a sob and reached towards his face, grasping it gently and nodding, “yes, yes i am Roma, oh thank god, someone can understand me. Can you help me?”

Dick took her hands in his and nodded encouragingly, telling her to tell him everything that happened.

“There was a man in our house, I think he was one of my granddaughter's friends from college. He killed my granddaughter and took my grandmother’s painting. He knew I couldn't speak much English and nobody could speak Romani, that’s why he left me alive! He killed my granddaughter!”

Dick squeezed the woman’s hands and said “I am so sorry this has happened to you. I’ll let the Agents know what has happened and they can help you. Unfortunately, I believe I'm the only other Roma here so I’m the only one you can speak with unless you can speak any other languages.”

“If I calm down I might be able to speak some Arabic. Thank you so much for your help young man, may I ask your name?’

Dick considered for a moment, he hadn’t spoken to another Roma person since he was a child. It felt oddly calming, “It’s Dick,” he spoke carefully, “and I speak Arabic too, if you need me. These men know me as Neal though, so maybe don’t call me Dick unless it’s in Romani.”

She smiled and laughed softly, lines tightening around her eyes, she nodded and then asked if he could get all the Agents away from them. Dick nodded right back and stood.

Dick turned to all the Agents in the room, transfixed on their conversation, and said loudly to them all, “her granddaughter’s college friend killed her granddaughter and stole her grandmother’s painting. Now can all but the essential people please leave?”

The Agents slowly shuffled away, grumbling and muttering amongst themselves until only Peter, Diana, Jones and Hughes were left. Hughes glared at Dick, “what language was that, Caffrey?” he asked.

Dick glared right back, “None of your business, Hughes.”

“Except, it is, Caffrey, I’m overseeing this case so I need to call for a translator.”

Dick shrugged, “you don’t need one, you have me.”

Dick ignored Hughes’ scoffing and shaking his head and turned back to the woman, “what is your name, Ma’am?” he asked.

The woman responded Quickly, “it is Nancy Kahn, and my Granddaughter is Caroline Kahn.”

“It is lovely to meet you Mrs Kahn,” Dick says.

“And the same goes for you, Dick. I thought that I'd never meet another Rom again, after we moved to America.”

Dick laughed slightly, “I thought the same.”

“Do you mind if I ask, Dick, but your words are sharp with the American accent, how long have you been here?”

Dick smiled sadly, “that is a long story, Mrs Kahn, i came here with my family when i was 8, and then my parents died and i had to stay here, the policemen couldn’t understand me, they wouldn’t let me stay with the rest of my family after that and I had to be adopted. I haven’t spoken Romani fluently with anyone since I was 9.”

“I’m sorry that happened, my dear.”

“Thanks.”

Dick felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and turned behind him to see Peter. Peter motioned for him to follow him and Dick muttered a quick goodbye to Nancy before following Peter to a secluded spot in the department.

“Seriously, Neal,” he starts, putting his hands on his hips, “How are you the only person here who can speak that language, whatever it is. We are in a building of a huge amount of Federally trained Agents who worked their asses off for years to be even considered for a spot here. There isn’t a single monolingual person in this office, how is it that you are the only one who knows that language?”

“What? You don’t trust me Peter?” Dick asks, crossing his arms and smirking.

“I trust you. I just don’t trust how coincidental it is that you’re the only one who knows it.”

“It’s a closed language, Peter. You have to be born into it. Just drop it, honestly I don't want you digging into my past anymore than you undoubtedly already have after the other week. Just know that it’s not a language you’re gonna guess or find a translator for.”

Dick had to admit that he was thoroughly grateful for the fact that Peter dropped it after that and even went as far as to divert Hughes’ attention when it strayed back to the Romani he’d been speaking earlier. Neal was about to go out and assist Hughes on the case before he remembered something.

While he was passing his desk he quickly sat his fedora back onto the desk and jogged back to the conference room where Mrs Kahn was taking refuge from the muddle of unavoidable Agents and questions just outside. Dick opened the door and let it fall quietly shut behind him. He sat in the chair next to Mrs Kahn and smiled warmly at her.

“I’ve really enjoyed speaking with you Mrs Kahn. It’s been so long since I’ve had a long conversation in my native tongue: I’m teaching my kid to speak Vlax Romani, but he’s not quite fluent yet. I’d love to talk some more with you,” Dick wrote his number quickly on a sheet of paper and passed it to her, “and don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything, anything at all.”

The woman beamed at Dick and accepted the paper held towards her, “thank you,” she said, “one day bring your boy around and I can help with his learning, I’d love to be able to chat with more people.”

Dick chuckled softly and said to her, “I’ll try to convince him,” even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to see Damian until the mission was over. He waved goodbye to Mrs Kahn and stepped outside of the conference room, feeling lighter than he had in years, and yet somehow heavier at the thought of his family, old and new, at the thought of them combining through the language he’d grown up with. He hoped Damian was keeping up with his language revision, one day he would have to use it, one day Dick would introduce him to Mrs Kahn but in the meantime, Dick would just have to keep in touch with Mrs Kahn and wait for the day he could see his family again.

— — —

Neal had once again graced Peter’s living room with his unannounced and uninvited presence. Neal and Elizabeth had been having a lovely chat, as they always did when he broke in but then his phone had buzzed and continued buzzing intermittently until he excused himself and went outside to the verandah out the front of the house with no explanation but the murmuring of, “Mrs Kahn,” directed towards Peter before he waltzed away, Satchmo following as if he were Neal’s dog.

As soon as Neal shut the door behind him, Peter leaned in his spot on the lounge towards El, a smile on his face that made sure she knew that he had gossip.

“Spill,” El said intently.

“I have information about Neal and the woman he’s talking to,” Peter responded.

“So spill,” El repeated, already invested.

“He knows this language that absolutely no one else in the office knows. The fact that it’s a closed language and we wouldn’t be able to find any translators for it, was the only information I got from Neal. He's currently speaking to Mrs Nancy Kahn, she was a victim in a case Hughes was looking at, she speaks barely any English but she does speak whatever it is that Neal knows. He’s been talking to her for weeks.”

“So Neal has a new girlfriend that speaks a rare language?”

“No, god no. She's like 80. I think he sees her in the same way he sees June.”

“You’re adding this to the other information you have on him aren't you?”

“Elizabeth, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't keep a file on the mysteries of my other friends?”

[the-nightmare-before-bucky]

everything i love about hunchback of notre dame

*the g-slur will be replaced with roma, romani, or something else and will have brackets ([ ]) surrounding it to indicate a word change*

Olim -  i love the build up at the end into bells of notre dame 

bells of notre dame -  ”and some say the soul of the city’s the toll of the bells, the bells of notre dame” the fact that it’s esmeralda singing it. we’re already off to a great start.  jehan’s voice is so nice it’s beautiful the foreboding saints after jehan dies and right into the “ahhhhs’ “and the saints regarded frollo from their stone facade and he felt their gaze as if it were the eyes of God” - the difference between the stone saints for frollo and quasi is so interesting. One sees them as terrifying, boring into his soul because of his darkness within, while the other sees them as his friends and aid on his journey.  the way frollo says quasimodo “now here is a riddle to guess if you can, sing the bells of notre dame” “what makes a monster and what makes a man?” - song by Quasi. It just makes me tingle, I love it.  the way this song sets up so many motifs is just so good

Out There -  the beginning is manipulation 101 (it is I alone, your only friend, how can i protect you, etc)  michael arden is an icon i swear. he is phenomenal. his e m o t i o n “but part of theeeeeem and Ooooooout there” “out there among the millers and the weavers and their wives”  “heedless of the gift it is to be them. if I were in their skin I’d treasure every instant” “i swear i’ll be content with my share. won’t resent won’t despair old and bent I won’t care. I’ll have spent oooone daaay out theeeeeeeeeere” Amazing, showstopping, what a way to open a show and introduce a character, I cry almost every single time

Topsy Turvy pt. 1 -  “somehow i can wander through this helter skelter without fear now. no one sees i’m here now out here in the woooorld!” ugh i love him  “on the sixth of januervy” too catchy

Rest and Recreation -  I used to hate this song but now i’ve matured and learned that it is amazing I just love the tune, idk, it’s so fun and catchy until you get to the bridge and that’s what i love “rest and recreaaaaaa- four years at the front...” that’s on ptsd “the air filled with a stench of bodies in a trench. whoever pays the most i call my liege.” just the bitterness when he says that line. Amazing.  “and whatever i do i’ll make sure this is true i will never go back again.” i literally adore this part so much. it gives him so much motivation. and then we go right back into him being flirty because he’s covering up his ptsd with fun “But for a few night fun is my mission” oh me oh my that’s very attractive he sounds so awkward talking to frollo im going to cry  “there is no time for rest and recreation,” poor guy

Rhythm of the Tambourine -  “flash of an ankle flip of a skirt...come see me dance, hey what can it hurt?” I just love how she sings this part its so well done the dance break music is amazing. it’s just so nice and a great vibe.  “this girl who is she” the layers!!!! all three of them doing it in rounds!!! I love it!!! “she dances like the devil//she dances like an angel//an angel” AHHHHH beautiful, great way to show the differences in characters “but with such fire// such fire” I am in love with this line oh my gosh. like frollo is thinking about hellfire and pheobus is just like heart eyes i am also in love with esmeralda thank you

Topsy Turvy pt. 2 -  “aren’t you going to join in on the competition?” she’s so cute and pretty and i love her “we asked for the ugliest face in paris and we found him, aye?” love  “eeev...ry..bod...y”  “Hail to the king....oh what a king...girls give a kiss...we’ve never had a king like this!” just so much fun to sing 

Into Notre Dame -  “how could you do this to me?” more manipulation  “like a begger recieving an alm.” i love a good simile “the light of notre dame” I love the way she sings this, it’s just so good 

God Help the Outcasts -  “were you once an outcast too?” i love this because the answer is yes. Jesus was treated as other because of His teachings. He was most definitely an outcast, literally cast out of so many different towns. And He does listen to her prayer and it just makes me so emotional.  i literally...there is nothing wrong with this song. everything about it is beautiful.  “God help the outcasts or nobody will” chills every single time “I ask for love I can possess. I ask for God and hos angels to bless me” right into “I ask for nothing, I can get by” I LOVE IT SO MUCH it’s so beautiful.  the chorus of this show deserves a raise “but I know so many less lucky than I” really helps to show Esmeralda’s character a lot I think.��

Top of the World -  such a beautiful song like I could write the entirety of this song here because I love it so much I love the saints part so much the part when the saints are singing and esmeralda are singing is just beautiful especially the part “here at the top of the world(E)//look at you sitting at the top of the world(S)” “the two of us sitting/the two of us sitting/the two of you sitting” right into “On top of the world!” one of my favorite parts of the entire show oh my goodness. The way Quasi, Esmeralda, and the Saints all blend together so well is just askjhfklafkj

Tavern Song -  I can’t not dance to this song oh my it’s so so so fun.  just like the melody especially during “in the dark of the night, in the dead of the winter...come keep me warm until morning” I LOVE  It gives me very much Jack and Rose vibes from that part in Titanic “with the taste of the wine, hold me close while we’re dancing, but I hear you sighing, winter is dying, you’ll keep me warm until morning” HER VOICE IS SO GOOD the cross between the tavern folk singing and frollo singing in the Hellfire tune is just so good. just so good. i’m going to cry this show is beautiful.  the fading “come keep me warm until morning”s is UGH so good

Heaven’s Light -  When I tell you how much I adore this song.... his voice is just so soothing. the little flute thing in the background is just so sweet the way he sounds so happy the first time he says “Heaven’s light” i love him so much “but” AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH i cannot  “I swear it must be heaven’s liiiiiiiiiiiiiiight” one of my favorite notes in the entire show i swear it’s so beautiful also the bells of notre dame going right into Hellfire....ICONIC

Hellfire -  One of my favorite villain songs ever. Especially in this version, you can really hear his inner turmoil over Esmeralda. and i just love it.  from the get go, frollo is trying to put him above everyone (”you know i am a righteous man”, “so much purer than...”) and yet he is still struggling with lust like everyone else...he’s still a sinner “i feel her, i see her, the sun caught in her raven hair, is blazing in me out of all control” SO GOOD  “Like fire, hellfire” go look back at what he says in rhythm of the tambourine because it’s the same thing and i just “is turning me to sin” blaming esmeralda for his own sinful thoughts. it is not her that is turning him to sin. he is sinning of his own accord. but also the desperate way he says sin is always so interesting  “it’s not my fault, i’m not to blame, it is the [roma] girl, the witch who set this flame! It’s not my fault, if in God’s plan, he made the devil so much stronger than a man!” I really really love this series of lines so much. I can’t really explain it, but especially that last part. it just breathes a supposed “holy man” who can’t accept that his sins are his own and caused by himself so he’ll blame every single other thing other than himself. i’ve known too many people like this. “protect me maria, don’t let this siren cast her spell, don’t let the fire sear my flesh and bone” just so good. I love the voices in the background.  “destroy esmeralda and let her face the fire of hell, or else let her be mine and mine alone” he would rather condemn an innocent woman than confront his own sin. again, so many people are like this today. it’s just so thrilling to see that mindset condemned in media. also, patrick page is amazing  “hellfire, dark fire” the tone switch from him being scared of the hellfire the first time he said it to now he’s using it as power (how many of us have had hell weaponized against us? raise of hands?) is just so frightening and amazing all at the same time “God have mercy on her, God have mercy on me” I cannot tell you how much I love this line. it is phenomenal, especially the way Page sings it. I think that it is one of the central lines to his character (along with the “wicked shall not go unpunished” which i’ll probably talk about later) just the emotion he has in his voice when he says this line....chef’s kiss. especially with the next line (”but she will be mine or she will burn”), it seems like he knows what he’s doing is wrong (hence why he needs mercy), but he’s going to do it anyway

Esmeralda -  easily one of my favorite songs in this entire show. what an amazing end of act song oh my  the trumpets!! at the beginning!!! I love it!! “being under suspicion of sorcery, witchcraft, and the arts of hell” that is not actually why he’s arresting her which doubly means he knows that what he’s doing is wrong the tune of this song is SO GOOD I LOVE IT “these are the flames of Esmeralda...” this dude is obsessed with fire feels very much like the mob song from beauty and the beast “with the might of Notre Dame” using God in such a vulgar manner is blasphemous and frollo knows it. he’s using God’s might and strength to hunt down an innocent woman because he can’t control his own desires. I’m losing my mind “but the madam, that whore, denied it and swore by the saints, the saints of notre dame” i have no idea why but I adore this line and i love the way that it was song. I used to think that the madam was actually just esmeralda in disguise which made the next part of the song seem all the funnier the little lute strumming after frollo says “very well, we’ll set fire to it” because pheobus is having a change or heart “and he held the torch that crackled like the [woman’s] voice....and he knew this was the moment he must make a choice” this is why i like the play phoebus and not really the movie phoebus very much. i just love it  the chorus singing God help the outcasts in the background...amazing...chills “you’d throw away a promising career” Frollo’s desperate attempt to get him to comply  “God help the outcasts, or nobody will!” I LOVE THIS PART WITH MY WHOLE SOUL IT IS SO GOOD sometimes i’ll listen to this song on repeat just to hear him say this “you’re relieved of your patrol” “consider it my highest honor.” Iconic. just...so good. gives me very much “thank you for your consideration” vibes  the way frollo says kyrie eleison here is just so good frollo’s little speech is very cool with the chorus in the background I love Quasi’s little frantic verse there. you can hear his desperation in “fire, fire, smoke and flame” and then “is that all that I can do?” he wants to help his friend but he can’t and I know how horrible that feels phoebus part!!!!! I love it!!!! his voice is so nice!!! “with my career and body left for dead” nice, good, amazing.  “out there...” AHHHHHHH YES MOTIFS “somewhere she is lost//somewhere she is lost//Esmeralda!” love this bit so much  “the flames grow tall and sharp as fluer de lis” what a good metaphor, so good, so nice, I love the chorus they’re all amazing “all paris burns for esmeralda” now we’ve got burning again. are we talking about how paris is literally on fire because frollo is insane or is it the mob mentaility that is “burning” inside of them? good question.  “and still it all comes down to her and me” says three people. I love the melodies here. chills. so many of them. I love.  “the devil dwells in esmeralda//oh esmeralda//oh esmerlada//oh esmeralda” AHHHH again AHHHHHHH i love this bit (yes I know I say that a lot but its the truth) “wake up the city and sound the alarm!” good yes they’re all singing different bits and it’s growing and your heart is pounding until.... “these are the flames of esmeralda”  and then it all falls apart again oh my gosh it’s beautiful  until “the bells of notre dam!” and the “ah, ah, ah”s that I adore so much I love this song so much 

Entr’acte I can’t imagine how fun this would be to sing. it’s just a vibe Flight Into Egypt - I used to skip this song but I have since learned the error of my ways because i love it “then Quasimodo you can too” love that, just like he says it “and she gave it to you because she knows you’re smart” the fact that these are just part of his imagination so it’s really him telling himself he’s smart and i’m going to cry I love him so much “and this jewel must show where we’re supposed to meet” love his voice so much “it’s a map. it’s a map!” he’s so excited. he deserves the entire world.  “I’ll save esmeralda, her angel will be me,” brb crying  “for her I will be strong” still crying I love the entire end bit how their voices meld and the music swells all up until Quasi sings the last bit. it’s just so amazing

The Court of Miracles -  I’ve always loved this song. it’s so fun, but also sad.  “brother you’re there” YES  “but the dead don’t talk so you won’t be reveal what you found!” dead man tell no tales vibes “Not terribly different from bees in a hive” I love how erik says this line. claupin would be so fun to play oh my.  “where it’s a miracle...if you get out alive”  “any last words....i thought not *laughter*” obsessed with this  “but we must protect at all cost our secret, it’s our lives or yours!” and that’s the sad reality. that’s what makes this song sad to me.  “So you’re going to hang!” a lighter note as an end. very nice. 

In a Place of Miracles -  a few notes in and i’m already crying this song is so beautiful and i adore it. it makes me sad in a million ways but it also makes me so happy. the play did such a great job of making me love pheobus and esmeralda but also feel so, so bad for Quasi “but somehow you have made me someone new” yup i’m definitely crying “now i’m asking if you’ll let me come with you” you can’t see me but the tears are real “though our lives are tattered and torn, all i’m feeling now is reborn. i must be...” AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Pheobus and esmeralda’s voices just meld together so well im gonna cry it’s so nice and as soon as the first chorus is over, the tears of happiness turn into tears of anguish because Quasi pulls up with his heaven’s light reprise and it tears my heart to shreds my heart breaks for him esmeralda and quasi singing at the same time gives me very much eponine and marius vibes from a heart full of love (we love victor hugo so much /sar) like the parallels in what the both of them are saying is just phenomenal “no more need for a heart of stone//better to have a heart of stone!” AHHHH STOP I LOVE IT AND IT HATE IT AT THE SAME TIME “that holds no hope in heaven’s light” stop i’m so sad and then the chorus come in and it’s just so beautiful “will we reach a friendlier shore, will we find a haven once more, where we’ll be in a place of miracles...” it’s so gorgeous “where’s my place of miracles//in a place of miracles” that sound? yeah that’s me sobbing in the corner and it builds again and i love it so much it’s just so beautiful 

Justice in Paris -  this is the least played song on spotify (by like hundreds of thousands) and I think that’s so funny but i think the chorus does such a great job here, as usual, because they just have that menacing sound to them

Someday -  another of my favorite songs. this one is hauntingly beautiful and I have so many opinions. get ready.  esmeralda is just so sad and you can hear it in every single word she says. god my heart is already breaking.  “that i’d live to see a day of justice dawn” i haven’t actually seen the stage version so i’m not sure if they have the part where she cries out “justice!” when quasi is getting attacked, but this part just hurts me to the soul because of that specifically. she cried out for justice and now she gets none. “and though I will die long before that morning comes, i’ll die while believing still it will come when I am gone” this line just hits so, so hard. i can’t even talk about it. just imagining her singing this and pheobus listening to her with tears in his eyes...nope i cannot...i will cease to exist and then he joins in and i can just imagine her feeling no longer alone because she’s hoping that it comes “someday” and he’s echoing it, assuring her that it will. I can just picture her trying to stay strong as she says “Godspeed this bright millennium on its way” but she can’t and so her words fall out as she’s saying “let it come” and she can’t finish but pheobus finishes it for her. “someday” and I can just see her breaking down. she’s going to die and she never gets to see it, but he assures her that it’s coming. and he starts it up again. he starts singing again, and I think that it gives her the strength she then needs to finish.  “someday, these dreams will all be real. Til then we’ll wish upon the moon!” of all the lines in the entire play, this is my absolute favorite. the way the sing it, the power they hold, their voices blending together so smoothly and perfectly. i cannot handle how amazing it is.  “one day...some day...soon” and just like that, i am sobbing. beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful. 

While the City Slumbered - i love this little song. it’s so pretty and fast and it just gives us exactly what we need to know. love. 

Made of Stone -  Now to the last of my favorite songs. (Finale doesn’t count because although I love it, it hate it). You wanna know which song has the top score of making me cry the most? That’s right. This one right here. Let’s get into it. the talking at the beginning is a yes from me. “I only make things worse!” felt that also, the sound of him sobbing ruins me. “how do you know what I believe, what do you know of me? what do you know of all the things I feel? you’re only made of stone” finally him acknowledging that they’re not actually real and all apart of his imagination. “who is it that you see, instead of seeing what I am for real?” imposter syndrome? I understand that. “this twisted flesh and bone” the EMOTION  “you’re a liar” bro i cannot physically handle this. i can’t. I will cry. I am cry “would that I were made of stone like you,” back to that place of miracles song. i just he’s just so desperate. the only thing he could ever trust has fallen. He has nothing left. he can’t even trust himself (because that’s really all the stone saints by) “shut my brain down, if I were senseless, I’d prefer it” i totally understand the feeling of this. so often when thing go wrong in my life, i would like to shut down completely and stop existing and I think that’s what makes this song hit so damn hard “another gargoyle on this turret, spitting rain down to the stones below!” there is so much passion in his voice I love it so much. michael arden deserves the entire world for this performance “i’ve waste my faith believing in saints of plaster,” OUCH “the only one worth believing in was my master,” OUCH AGAIN “he’s the one who never lied. he told me it was cruel outside. he told me that i had to hide. his words were cold as stone, but they were true.” i can’t describe how emotional these lines make me. because he’s right but also it is such a painful, hard truth. ugh, i  “not like you”  “take all the dreams you’ve stone, take all your lies and leave me alone”  “alright Quasimodo, we’ll leave you alone,” that one hurt because as someone who pushes people away when they’re self destructing, the most painful part is seeing them actually leave you. even though you asked them too. “you’re right Quasimodo, we’re only made of stone, we just thought that you were made of something stronger.” now that’s a mic drop That would cut so, so deep.  “never again to wonder what’s out there” m o t i f s  “let it remain unknown. and my one human eye forever more be dry until the day i die, as if I were made of stone”  such a beautiful, heartbreaking, real song that I think so many people can relate to. I know I can. I have cried to this song so many times. I love it.  also, he holds that note for so long i’m impressed.

Finale - this song is long so get ready for it.  the crimes that Esmeralda is guilty for are not the ones that she was originally hunted for. he switched up his story. “the sentence is death!” immediate kyrie eleison (which i think is for frollo and not esmeralda) she spits in his face like a freaking queen “esmeralda!” Quasi’s cry is just so heart shattering and emotional I am so sad “he could remain stone no longer” I love that “sanctuary! sanctuary!” with the victorious sounds in the background are just so amazing “hear me, people of Paris, how much oppression will you allow?” with the chorus singing Someday in latin in the background?? I am not crying again “someday, your patience will finally break. why not make someday come right now?”  that part is just chef’s kiss. I love it so much. also, that’s the last we hear of pheobus. I’ve always wondered if he died so someone whose been in/seen the play, could you tell me? quasi’s prayer to the saints is just so good. i just love it so much. so beautiful. and it being similar in tune to Heart of Stone and having the part “raining fire on the stone below!” is just so good and then the moment between quasi and esmeralda is just... “you are home.” “home.”  and then we go to the top of the world reprise. haha. haha. ha.  “in my eyes you are beautiful too,” comparing him to the beautiful morning “i don’t think...forever...” “you’re such a good friend quasimodo” “yes your friend” and then she freaking dies and i’m so sad and then the music changes so quickly and it makes my heart drop every time “because of you” cut deep “at last we’re free of esmeralda. now that she’s gone, a poison dies with her.” to the tune of esmeralda. bitch i would have thrown frollo off that roof too “here in our sanctuary...sanctuary” “sanctuary? no sanctuary without her”  “even...loved her.” “love? what do you know of love?” I adore this part because Quasimodo finally realizes that Frollo’s treatment of him wasn’t love. It never was.  “no. you are the weak one. you the wicked one. And the wicked shall not go unpunished!” I cannot explain the fire that this lights in my bones. it’s amazing. just so good. and then all the voices, like the saints, come in “the wicked shall not go unpunished. the heart of the wicked is of little worth. the wicked shall not go unpunished” and they’re no longer on frollo’s side (they never were) the rising voices as quasi picks up frollo and is going to kill him *chef’s kiss* “You don’t want to hurt me” “yes you do” so, so, so, so, so good. i can’t even explain. it’s just good.  in to the abyss below! damnation! “the world is cruel, the world is ugly” yes  “but there are times and there are people when the world is not” i’m not 100% positive, but i’m pretty sure that’s jehan again and that’s just so beautiful. “and at it’s cruelest it’s still the only world we’ve got” the bitter truth “out there” yup yup yup crying you can’t stop me The bit with the chorus singnig someday in latin and english...i literally cant handle it. it is so freaking beautiful. and the violin? the woman singing is an icon. the voices blend together so beautifully. I am overcome with emotion. i- Quasi singing the last “someday” and then the blending into the beginning song and ugh “but here is a riddle to guess if you can, what makes a monster and what makes a man?” with the entire ensemble? yeah, that one feels good.  and being left off with the “ah”s

yeah, brb, i’m going to go listen to it again.

[songtoyou]

Tempting Fate - Part Two

Paring: Tommy Shelby x Reader

Warnings: Nothing major, but there is lots of smoking. 

Word Count: 2,080

Story Summary: Tommy is not a believer in fate or destiny. However, a new resident in Small Heath will question his beliefs and push his boundaries outside his comfort zone.

Chapter Summary: As you continue to live in Small Heath, you develop a strong camaraderie amongst its residents. The only one who continues to give you the cold shoulder is Mr. Tommy Shelby. Polly has a conversation with you and her nephew. She seems to know more than she may be letting on about the connection you and Tommy may have. 

A/N: For this story, Esme uses her maiden name and married name, so she goes by Esme Lee-Shelby. This story takes place during season two of the show. May Carleton is mentioned in this chapter and might be making an appearance in later chapters. I like May; she has never bothered me, and I like her “relationship” with Tommy. I did include a Romani phrase in this chapter, which translates to, “Go with God and in good health.” I found the phrase online and hope it is correct. If it isn’t, then I am profoundly sorry and do not wish to offend anyone. That is never my intent. Remember, there is no Grace or Greta in this fic. They do not exist in the realm of this alternate universe. 

Please do not post any of my fics to other sites without my permission.

Tag List: @owenniasstars​

You settled into Small Heath nicely, even making some friends along the way. Esme Lee-Shelby was one of those friends. When the two of you met, there was an instant connection. Both reminded the other of home, which helped with the homesickness both women tended to feel now and then. Being friends with Esme meant you were around the other Shelby’s, particularly at the family’s company headquarters. You most hung around the betting shop when it was not too busy and when Tommy was not around. You were not naïve to see that the man was not too fond of you for some reason.

Arthur and John would tell you not to pay too much mind to Tommy and explain that he was under a lot of stress.

“Tommy means well, love. He will come around eventually,” John reassured you one day while visiting Esme.

“It is because he likes you, and that probably scares him,” Esme would say, but you merely scoffed at the idea.

“I can admit that Tommy is cute, but he is not my type. He is too frigid. The guy is always so serious. Plus, I can tell he cannot stand the sight of me,” you replied, but Esme waved off your concerns.

“Trust me, Tommy will eventually come around to the point where he will seek out your presence because he will crave it. I have a feeling about it, and I’m never wrong,” assured Esme.

On another day at the betting shop, you stopped by; however, no one was around except for Aunt Polly. At first, the woman intimidated the hell out of you but soon saw the wonderfulness she possessed. She did not take shit from anyone, particularly the men who stopped by the betting shop. She kept everyone in line, including her nephews. You saw how Tommy would confide in Polly on specific business matters whenever the two murmured amongst each other.

“Where is everyone?” you asked, looking around the empty betting shop.

“Slow day,” Polly said, taking a sip of tea and reading a book with her feet up on one of the desks. “John and Esme are currently preoccupied with activities involving the expansion of their family if you know what I mean.”

“Well, that is…wonderful,” you stated sarcastically. “Will you tell Esme I stopped by and that I will see her tonight at The Garrison?”

Before you could leave, Polly called out to you to stay for a little while.

“Come sit with me, let’s talk,” Polly commanded and pointed to a seat for you to take.

You followed her orders and took a seat across from the older woman. She passed you one of her black cigarettes, and you happily accepted. The nicotine of the black cigarette had a pleasant taste to it, you noted.

“So, Tommy informs me that you are part of the Young clan in Cambridgeshire. I’ve met the Youngs; they are good people. Very dependable when one needs help. However, my nephew also shared that you aren’t a Young by blood, is that right?” Polly questioned the other woman.

“That is correct. My mother and father found me when I was a baby, so I am very much a Young,” you replied earnestly.

“Oh, that I can see. Especially in how you have taken it upon yourself to help out most of the Small Heath residents. From menial tasks such as making sure Ms. Wallace gets her weekly groceries, to assisting Old Man Pete and his family in finding their lost dog, and even going so far as to help out at the Yard with Charlie and Curly.”

“I only help with horses. I don’t do any of the moving of equipment or anything if that is what you or Tommy are worried about,” you reassured Polly.

“I wasn’t worried, but of course, Tommy was. You put him on edge,” said Polly with a smirk.

You took another drag of the cigarette, “That is not my fault that your nephew has his qualms about my mere presence in this place. All I am doing is trying to make a living, like everyone else. He has no reasons to doubt my intentions. I am not here to bewitch anyone or partake in any criminal activity that would undermine the Peaky Blinders. I may not have a proper education, but I am not stupid. I don’t have a death wish.”

“No, you don’t have a death wish. You have good intentions that Tommy will see that eventually. He always comes around. Someday, he will come to you because he will need your help,” shared Polly. “I can see things, my dear. I have the gift. I know why you are here. You are looking for your soulmate. Is that correct?”

You let out a sigh, “It is one of the reasons why I am here, yes. I only want to know who this man is; I don’t expect to fall for him. The idea of soulmates doesn’t ring true for me. It is a fabled concept.”

Polly let out a laugh, “Do not be so pessimistic, my girl. You have already met him, but I will let you figure out who it is; that is the fun part.”

As you were about to ask Polly for clarification on what she was talking about, in walked Tommy and stopped when he saw the two of you sitting together.

“Speaking of the devil, here he is, the man of the hour,” teased Polly, at least that is what you thought she was doing. She gave you a wink and put out her cigarette.

“Miss Young,” Tommy stiffly greeted you.

“Mr. Shelby, nice to see you.” While you may tend to put Tommy on edge, he did the same to you, but you were determined to make friends with the man.

When Tommy didn’t reply to your polite phrase, you knew it was your time to leave the premises. “Thank you for the cigarette and the chat, Polly.”

“Any time, dear,” Polly smiled and waved as you exited the betting shop. She saw that you did not say goodbye to Tommy, which she could not blame you.

While Tommy took off his cap and coat, Polly got up from the table and lightly smacked the back of the head. The move completely caught Tommy by surprise as he turned to face his aunt.

“What the hell, Pol!” yelled Tommy, perplexed.

Polly merely shook her head. “Do not have any manners, Thomas?”

“What are you on about?”

With a shake of her head, Polly grabbed her teacup and took a sip. The tea was long since cold. “She is a nice girl, Tommy. Why can’t you see that when everyone else can? What is it about his girl that has you so afraid?”

Lighting his cigarette, Tommy let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Everywhere he turned, he saw you. Not only at The Garrison, Uncle Charlie’s Yard, or the streets of Small Heath, he saw you in his dreams. The dreams where you were present brought him peace. He felt protected, which unnerved him since he was not used to the feeling of being safe, not after France.

“She’s me, Pol,” answered Tommy.

“What do you mean she is you, Tom?”

“Before the war. She was exactly how I was before everything changed,” Tommy replied honestly.

“Well, that should be viewed as a good thing. You two match. Why so cold towards this girl?” Polly asked again.

Tommy turned towards his aunt to bluntly say, “Because if I get close to her, then I will ruin her. I don’t think I could live with myself with that thought. I’m damaged goods, Pol. Nothing can save me. No one can save me.”

“Tommy, that is not true,” remarked Polly. “I still see the good in you.”

Tommy got up and headed towards his office, “Then you are wasting your time.”

Later that night at The Garrison, you were filling up drinks and talking to your regular patrons.

Noting was too out of the ordinary, except for the absence of the Shelby brothers. Typically, they would make an appearance, but not tonight.

“Harry, since it is rather slow tonight, do you mind if I head out early?” you asked.

“Sure, no problem, but do you mind coming in early?” Harry asked, which you agreed to do.

You waved goodbye to Harry and left the premises. You bundled your coat higher to offset the cold air and walked towards Charlie’s Yard. Curly mentioned they were getting a new horse for the races, and you wanted to see it. You loved horses, always have since you were a kid.

As you walked down the street, you saw the Shelby brothers exiting the betting shop.

Arthur called out your name, and you turned around to greet him. He asked where you were headed to and answered the Yard. When all three gave you a look, you told them that you wanted to see the new horse Curly kept boasting on about and, therefore, needed to see for yourself.

“I have to see for myself,” you commented.

Before John and Arthur were about to wave goodbye, Tommy spoke up, “I’ll walk you.”

His announcement took his brothers and you by surprise. “Come again?” you asked. You wanted to make sure you heard him correctly.  

“I said I’d walk you to Charlie’s.”

Before you could as Tommy ‘why’ he told his brothers, he would see them later and motioned for you to follow him. The walk to the Yard was quiet, with neither knowing if they should saying anything. Both opted that awkward quietness was probably the best outcome.

You bit the bullet as the quietness was beginning to drive you mad and spoke up. “Where did you find this horse? Curly mentioned you were going to train him for the races.”

“I got him at an auction, and I won’t be training him. I enlisted someone else to do the training to get him the horse ready for Epsom,” explained Tommy, lighting a cigarette. He offered you one as well, but you declined.

Finally arriving at the Yard, you continued to follow Tommy towards where the horse was residing. When you caught sight of the dapple-gray horse, you immediately picked up your speed to get a better look.

“He is beautiful, Curly,” you professed while rubbing your hand across its muzzle. The horse responded positively to you as it licked your hand. “Does he have a name?”

“No name, as of yet,” it was Tommy who spoke up to answer you. While you continued to pet the horse, Tommy quietly stood next to you. He reached over and began stroking the horse’s mane.

“May Carleton is expecting us to bring the horse for her to train in the coming days ahead, we need to get him ready for transport, Charlie,” declared Tommy while continuing to pet the horse. He then walked over to his uncle as the two men began to talk about how to transport the horse.

“It is a shame this horse has to leave,” you said to Curly, who quickly agreed.

When Charlie called Curly over to him, it left you alone with the horse. As you continued to pet the horse’s muzzle, slowly and softly, you placed your head against his, with no objection. The horse remained calm in your presence.

“Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa,” you whispered to the horse.

“Go with God and in good health,” translated Tommy as he stood next to the horse once again. “He’ll be fine, Ms. Young. This horse is going to be taken care of; I will make sure of that, I promise.”

You looked over at Tommy and smiled at him, “Oh, I know, Mr. Shelby. Pyramus knows you will make sure he is in good hands.”

“Pyramus?” Tommy asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s his name. Pyramus. It is a mythological name meaning ‘fire.’ It fits him perfectly, don’t you think?”

At that moment, Tommy was taken back by your attentiveness of his horse. He was impressed by how you showed so much care for the creature. He saw how your smile brightened your face and appeared to stir something inside of himself. Something he thought was long gone, his heart.

“Yes, it is. Perfect,” Tommy expressed, but he was no longer talking about the horse.

It was at that moment, where Tommy knew he wanted you.

[moonbeambucky]

Hey Neighbor (Part 15)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader Word Count: 4021 Warnings: fluff, mentions of the Holocaust

Summary: You had a plan and then life came along with one of its own. With your future almost derailed you worked hard to get yourself back on track and finally everything seemed to be going right… that is, until your new neighbor moved in.

A/N: Thank you also to Ary (formerly @johnnynunzio) for helping me with information and resources for the history of Romani people during the Holocaust

PART 14 | HEY NEIGHBOR MASTERLIST

Walking up the steps to the hospital becomes a little difficult as you zig-zag through groups of people trying not to hit anyone with your umbrella. Under the overhang of the building you shake it out after closing it, hoping the umbrella doesn’t drip too much on the floors as you make your way to the elevator.

It’s been a really wet day but you don’t mind it so much considering all this rain is supposed to bring beautiful flowers next month and the hope of something beautiful is exactly what you needed now.

It hasn’t been the easiest going to work every day. Metro-General is where you first met Billy and now that you’ve broken up it’s all you can think about every time you have to head down to the ER.

Wanda came over that night you got back from work and broke the news that she and Sam spotted Billy with another woman. You insisted on seeing the proof, the pictures being the final push in your decision to end things with Billy.

You admitted how things weren’t the same anymore, his attitude plus lack of caring when you were sick really made you reconsider your relationship. It had been a few days since you spoke to Billy but you wanted to call him out in person, meeting at a coffee shop to discuss things.

Confronting him was easier than you thought but watching him lie to your face was not. You had proof and he still accused you and your friends of lying just to make him look bad. After a small outburst he finally fessed up to seeing the woman named Krista. Billy didn’t tell you how long he had been cheating which pissed you off but you walked away feeling good about ending things.

It didn’t mean that you felt good. You knew that it was Billy’s loss but still, it didn’t feel good to be cheated on. You questioned everything. Was he lying from the beginning? Was work the real reason he had to cancel a few times? All of these questions made you doubt your self-worth.

Your friends were great after your breakup, each one of them there for you, readily offering up a chance to kick Billy’s ass if you let them. You all went out to celebrate how you “took out the trash,” round after round dedicated to your new freedom. But being surrounded by everyone in relationships didn’t make you feel the best, everyone except Bucky.

You might have had a little too much to drink that night and in a tearful drunken cry you might have asked him what was so wrong with you to make Billy cheat.

Bucky might also have had too much as he slurred his answer, but still he was insistent.

“There ain’t nothing wrong about you Y/N. Nothin’. Assholes like Billy treat the world like it belongs to them, like everything is up for the taking, no consequences apply. But he’s wrong and he lost the best thing to ever happen to him. You hear me? You’re the best thing that could happen t’anybody.”

You replay Bucky’s words in your mind as you pass by the nurses’ desk where Billy gave you his card. It was his loss.

Since the breakup you’ve been throwing yourself into work again. Dating Billy wasn’t a mistake, he just wasn’t the right person for you and after careful consideration you decided to chalk up those feelings you might have had towards Bucky towards all the care he gave you when you were sick. 

Bucky was your friend and a great one at that and so you made sure to fill your weekends by keeping a promise. You and Bucky began your pizza quest and it has been amazing. Your pants don’t quite agree with you but it’s definitely been worth it.

In between cases you responded to a text from Wanda. The exhibit she had been working on for The Jewish Museum is opening in a few weeks and she wanted to confirm you would be there. Like she really had to ask, of course you would.

Over the last few months she’s been working so hard on this and you couldn’t wait to be there to support her. Everyone was going and Sam made sure to take the day off.

Bucky: You up for a trek to Brooklyn?

The message caught you off guard but still brought a large smile to your face. You replied quickly asking what he was talking about and by the end of your shift it was decided; you and Bucky were going to Brooklyn for pizza. 

“I haven’t been here in forever,” Bucky said, while opening the door to Spumoni Gardens for you.

“These better be worth the two transfers Bucky. I am starving!”

You may have exaggerated a little but you were pretty hungry. Bucky insisted that you must try this famous pizza, arguing that Brooklyn is technically within the boundaries as part of your pizza quest. Semantics aside, you trusted that the hour long trip to get here would be worth it.

Spumoni Gardens was famous for their Sicilian pie and Bucky ordered one the moment you were seated. Soon enough twelve thick slices were laid out in front of you in the most interesting looking square of pizza you had seen before, with the sauce on top.

With a skeptical eye you squint at Bucky who urges you to take a bite, eagerly awaiting your response. There was no denying it, as you sank your teeth into the deliciously thick crust, with sauce and cheese hitting your taste buds like a pinball setting off lights and sound as it hits the winning targets.

A proud grin settled on Bucky’s face as he held up his own slice, taking a bite as he watched you dab at the bit of sauce in the corner of your mouth with a napkin. His eyes light up, raising his brows in a silent request for your opinion.

“So good.” Every bit of enthusiasm is behind the few words you’ve said, combined with the smile that stayed plastered on your face as you quickly took another bite, needing to taste the symphony of flavors again.

Bucky paid for everything despite your protests. He insisted that since you indulged him in his craving after a long day of work it was only fair. Side by side you slowly strolled back to the train, making a promise to come back for the spumoni when you haven’t stuffed yourselves full of pizza.

Conversation was always easy with Bucky, making the ride back home a breeze. When you reached your block you saw familiar faces headed towards the building.

“Hey guys,” Bucky greeted Clint and Natasha, as they walked with their arms linked to the door.

“We just had the best pizza!” you blurted out, unable to control your enthusiasm for the amazing dinner you had.

“Oh yeah, well we just had some shitty pasta.” Natasha playfully smacked Clint in the stomach for his blunt remark. “What? It wasn’t good!” he snarked.

“We just came back from a wedding expo,” she added.

Her lips were tense as they pressed together. They had been wedding planning for a while, not getting very far. Natasha’s work had set her back, which she didn’t mind since she was excelling professionally but it did require her and Clint to push back their wedding date a few times since they couldn’t commit to the time frame required.

“It’ll come together in time,” you said, offering a hopeful smile.

“All I know is Sonny Burch is not going to cater our wedding. That food was awful. Now tell me more about this pizza.”

Clint was practically drooling throughout the elevator ride as you and Bucky described the incredible pizza you had. After saying goodnight to them you and Bucky held back your laughter hearing Clint begging Natasha to go to Spumoni Gardens tomorrow as the elevator doors were shutting.

“Thanks for dinner Bucky,” you said, pressing a kiss to his cheek before unlocking your door. “Oh wait! Hang on one second!”

As you went inside your apartment you missed the way Bucky touched his cheek, still feeling the tingle of your lips against his skin. A moment later you came out, handing him a wrapped present.

“For taking care of me last month when I was sick.”

“You didn’t have to Y/N.” He meant it, whatever it was you got him really wasn’t necessary but you insisted it was.

Your lips pressed together with excited anticipation, staring at Bucky with widened eyes as he began to tear off the wrapping. He held up the stretched white canvas rectangle with vertical lines of varied height going across it. He smiled kindly, unsure exactly what he was looking at which was fine, his gift needed a little explanation.

“It’s Herrmann’s Psycho score in soundwave form.”

Bucky’s jaw dropped open as he stared at the vertical lines that conveyed every beat, seeing the taller lines represent the higher strings, the greater tension of the score. It was so unique, so perfectly suited for him and he knew you truly understood who he was.

“I love it. Thank you so much Y/N.”

One arm wrapped around you as he held the artwork out of the way. This gift reaffirmed the feelings he felt for you, making it harder to deal with the fact that he wasn’t going to do anything about them.

After your break up with Billy you made it very clear that you were not interested in dating. This was not the time for him to open up to you. He didn’t want to push you into anything you weren’t comfortable with so once again Bucky needed a distraction from his feelings. This is how he found himself back on the dating apps.

He finally went on a date with Bobbi, a few actually, only to find that the real chemistry they had was in the bedroom. The longer Bucky stared at the artwork you gave him the more he felt like calling her to help push aside you and thoughts of the amazing non-date that you had, but he knew she was out of town for the weekend.

Bucky’s too tired to get involved with calling someone else so instead he settled down in front of his keyboard. His fingers glide across the keys as he’s filled with inspiration, pouring his heart into a melody with you on his mind.

Wanda paced back and forth in her apartment, stopping each time to check her reflection in the scalloped mirror above her dresser when she passed it. The way she swept back the few loose tendrils of her now more conservative light brown hair wasn’t out of vanity but nerves, needing to do anything to stop the shakiness of her hands.

“Hey, everything’s going to be perfect. I promise you have nothing to worry about,” you said, offering open arms to Wanda.

She was so fidgety she was barely able to stay in your embrace for more than a second. Wanda couldn’t help it. Tonight was the opening of The Jewish Museum’s exhibit on The Holocaust and Wanda was extremely nervous. Knowing this day was so important to her, you took off from your internship, promising Elena you would make up the hours.

The buzzer of her doorbell rang and Wanda jumped with excitement. “Mom!” Wanda called out, running towards the door.

It had only been a few months since they saw each other but on a stressful day like this nothing comforted Wanda more than her mom.

“Y/N, it’s so good to see you sweetheart.” Marya wrapped her arms around you and it felt like home, and seeing her brought back all the memories of your youth with Wanda and Pietro.

It was impossible not to think about him, especially considering he shared so many features with his mom. Piet would have been so proud of Wanda today and amidst the hug you choke back the tears you felt forming.

Wanda needed to be at the museum early so you and Marya went for a light dinner first as she headed there. Catching up was easy and Marya told you how proud she was for all the hard work you’ve been putting in to get your degree. The passion behind social work was unspoken because she already knew how deeply you felt about the circumstances of Wanda and Pietro’s upbringing.

“I think about it sometimes… what could have been.”

The twinkle in her eye suggested she knew the childhood crush you harbored for her son. It wasn’t something you ever admitted before. Even Wanda didn’t know.

“Years ago I finally had the strength to go through his things. I may have found your names in a heart, scratched on what should have been his notes on American history.”

You brushed aside a tear that trickled down along the curved cheek from your smile. Piet hated history so doodling became a common way to pass the time, and knowing he felt the same doesn’t make it any easier in losing him.

Marya brought a napkin to her face to soak up her own tears. She apologized though you told her there was no reason to. “So tell me, are you seeing anyone?”

As you retold the story of putting off relationships while you earned your degree you saw her mouth pull into a frown.

“Don’t put your life on hold, you know how quickly things can change.”

Her advice didn’t feel like a lecture, and you knew you might have jumped the gun on calling off dating again; not everyone would be like Billy.

An intricately detailed archway leads you through the main doors and into the crowded lobby of the museum. It’s past the normal operating hours, premiering the exhibit for the media and friends and family first.  

You spot your friends gathered together in the corner and happily introduce them to Marya. Sam smiles a little wider as he introduces himself. “Yes, that Sam,” he replied. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Bucky is wearing his long hair down, neatly tucked behind his ears and even in all black he stands out. The white printed pattern on his black button down shirt draws your eye to the velvet blazer that makes him look incredibly sophisticated.

“You look great,” Bucky said, as you both leaned in to press your cheeks against each other for a kiss.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of you and the shine of your beige satin shirt. The delicate gold chain you wore draped lower than the V-neck cut and he let his eyes linger down your body, from the black pants that hugged your figure to the pointed black heels.

“Thanks, you look pretty good yourself. Ooh fancy,” you said, running your hands along his velvet lapel.

The chatter in the lobby grew for another ten minutes until you were directed to follow the group towards the exhibit. Marya was accompanied by Sam and both their faces lit up as they spotted Wanda, standing proudly beside a curtain that was drawn across the entry of the main room. Her eyes twinkled as she spotted them, you and everyone amongst the crowd.

A man not much taller than her walked in front of the curtain with a microphone in hand. He introduced himself as the museum’s director Phillip Coulson. Wanda had always spoken highly of him and you can see why. He was soft spoken with a kind smile, welcoming everyone to the exhibit.

“On the eve of Yom HaShoah we invite you to do what is asked, remember. We remember through stories, from letters that made it out while their writers did not. We remember through pictures, of people and the faces we strive to never forget, of discarded belongings left behind deemed as irrelevant as the lives of their owners. As we remember the decimation and destruction we also remember the endurance, the survival. We remember and we will never forget.”

A round of applause breaks through the crowd with the increased flashing of camera lights as Director Coulson gestures to Wanda who proudly draws open the curtain, opening the exhibit.

The large room is painted in a somber blue, as if the life had been sucked out of a once vibrant sky. It’s fitting. This is a place of reverence, surrounded by artifacts that tell a painful history.

There were three smaller rooms connected to the main area, each showcasing smaller exhibits, one of which you knew was the one Wanda was most proud of. She stood in front of it, awaiting her friends so you could walk through it together.

“It’s called The Ghosts of Genocide and it focuses on the Romani aspect of the Holocaust.”

Unlike the main room there were few displays. One wall was dedicated to Philomena Franz, the first Romani woman to document her experiences in the concentration camps. You read the information beside her photograph, “Zwischen Liebe und Hass” (“Between Love and Hate”) was her autobiography, the dichotomy of a happy childhood against the brutality of Auschwitz.

The next photograph was of Elena Lacková, a Slovakian Romani poet and playwright. “Holocaust Romů v povídkách” (“Holocaust of Roma in short stories”). A copy of the out of print book was behind a glass enclosure.

The large wall featured the paintings of Ceija Stojka, an Austrian Romani Holocaust survivor. You chew on your bottom lip tensely as you stare at the images. Simple ink depictions of dead bodies stacked in a haphazard pile like they were nothing more than logs meant for a fire. One image burns itself into your brain, “Mama in Auschwitz” the wide-eyed look of fear immortalized by the memory of a child.

“Wanda.” You clear your voice of the thickness that built up inside, the heavy lump that weighed on your chest from reading everything. “Forgive me if this sounds disrespectful but I thought you were supposed to incorporate the history of those who were Jewish and Romani.”

She sighed heavily. “I was but there are so many factors that play into the reason why I couldn’t; loss of information being a big one but also most people didn’t specify that they were Jewish. Obviously we know that some were but it was an issue of safety. They were already dealing with being Romani and the prejudices that came with that so they couldn’t come out with it. It’s why we have this.”

She turned you around to the far wall, glossy black tile shines against striking spotlights.

“But it’s blank.”

She nodded, pointing to the dedication. “For the countless, nameless Jewish-Romani lives lost.”

You reached out to touch the wall, your palm against the cold tile; the emptiness that contrasts so starkly in a place filled with history on every wall. And you suppose the lack of information is a lesson learned in history itself.

“This is pretty powerful stuff,” Bucky’s voice called out from behind you.

“Yeah. It is.” You didn’t have any more words.

When the night was coming to a close everyone went home quietly. Wanda’s achievements would be celebrated another night. It was comfortably silent as you and Bucky left the elevator. The unexpected feeling of your arms wrapping around him for a hug was surprising but nice and he deepened the action, firmly pulling you closer to the soft fabric of his blazer.

“Sweet dreams Y/N,” he whispered before you went inside.

That night Marya’s words replayed in your mind and after the exhibit’s reminder on how precious life is you promise yourself to be open to whatever the future brings.

Golden hues begin to creep in on the blue sky ahead of you. As the day starts to wind down the city doesn’t stop. Construction is contained by go-away green walls, with orange and white barricades used to redirect traffic on the busy street. Brake lights flare as the cars begin honking incessantly at the driver going far too slow for the city’s standards.

You see it all from the observation deck of the High Line, accompanied by Bucky and a dozen other people enjoying the first weekend of warmth. You climb the stairs away from the crowd and find a bench beside a small tree.

Bucky opens the box he’s been carrying for a while, revealing two unique and delicious doughnuts that you couldn’t wait to try.

“What’s the square one again?” you asked, licking your lips in anticipation.

“Blackberry jam, and the other is rose I think?” his voice raises with uncertainty. “It looks like a rose at least.”

That it did. The dough was shaped to look like a rose in bloom, with a pink glaze over it. Both were tempting you and the decision was tough but you chose to try the jam filled doughnut first. Hands made sticky by the glaze, you tried your best to pull it apart evenly for Bucky to have an equal share.

Your head nodded in approval as you tasted the sweetness of the jam, mixed perfectly with the airy dough. “This is good,” you said, with your hand hovering over your mouth as you continued to chew through your words.

Bucky brushed his fingers down the corners of his mouth, wiping them on a napkin afterwards and you laughed to yourself. When you were ready Bucky presented the rose shaped doughnut to you as if he was handing over a bouquet.

“How sweet,” you feigned sweetness, bringing your hands together in your best impression of a Disney princess pose.

He let you rip off the first piece of the doughnut, finding it had come apart in a small crescent which was fine, you weren’t sure you could eat much more than that.

Bucky cleared his throat as the glaze melted against his fingers. “So, uh, I have something to ask you.” His nerves stilled momentarily as you hummed in response, sucking the glaze off your fingers.

“Will you be my date to my cousin’s wedding?”

You weren’t sure what he was going to ask but this was definitely not what you imagined. It surprised you especially considering the long list of available women he had to choose from and you couldn’t help but ask him that.

“Them? No. They’re not good enough to bring to a wedding,” he replied.

“Bucky that’s horrible!” you playfully scoffed.

His head dropped down, cringing at his words. “I didn’t mean it like that! I don’t really know any of ‘em that well, and it would be nice to have a friend with me and just have fun.”

Thoughts were running through your head faster than you could process them. Being asked to be Bucky’s date seemed like a dream come true. Yes, despite losing hope in dating after what you went through with Billy it didn’t stop the crush you had on Bucky from growing. But your mind stopped your heart from indulging in its fantasy, reminding you that Bucky legitimately had a long list of women to choose from and you were one of many.

His reasons for asking you made sense, you were very close and sometimes you questioned Bucky’s intentions. He’s never made you feel uncomfortable, it’s the opposite. You’re always comfortable with Bucky, no matter what you do. It feels like what a relationship should be except without the intimacy.

That was the scariest part of it all. Part of you wanted to take a risk and see if there could be something more to what you had but what if it makes you just another girl on his list. A convenient person to sleep with along with the others.

“Please, I already RSVP’d for two,” he begged, staring at you with big eyes as his plush bottom lip protruded out comically far.

The tug of war between your brain and heart wins in favor of the latter as you agreed to go with him, convincing yourself that it’s just a date to a wedding with a friend and nothing more.

PART 16

[wexhappyxfew]

The Nightingales of Fortune Favors the Brave

A Band of Brothers Fanfic Coming Fall 2021 (or presumably whenever Landslide finishes up!) 

HELLO!! If you’re reading this, then as you can see, I’ve finally created a master post with all my Nightingales (well, not really mine THE PUBLIC’S but you’ve all gifted them to me ever so graciously, and it honestly, it means the world to me). Just to see the excitement and reception I’ve gotten from so many people in the fandom involving a female group of Pathfinders - an area of war, I have wanted to cover ever since nearly over 2 years ago I got involved in the fandom. All OC’s will have their creators name listed beside them - I did not create any of these OC’s, all credit goes to the lovely people who crafted and gifted them to me for FFTB!

Viewing where I currently am in my life, I’m going to going to college this year! I got accepted into the school I wanted, the program I wanted, even a scholarship! And I’m beyond excited. I really wanted to have something there for me when college does finally, you know, HAPPEN, and so Fortune Favors the Brave was the only way to go! To have a wonderful group of Nightingales, of female Pathfinders in the Band of Brothers fandom, seemed to be the way to go. Updates and such will definitely be different - I’m picking up more work hours this year, probably even summer classes, night classes, weekend classes - whatever I can do to benefit my degree and myself, I’m taking the opportunity. 

And so, updates will presumably be quite different, depending on a variety of things, but...this will be my college story! No matter how many years it takes to complete and update and write, this will be the thing I have with me through it all for when I need a mental break from school! And I am beyond excited for when I do finally get to share this story more than anything! 

We have such a great group of OCs here - different backgrounds, different reasons for joining, different creators who gifted them to me, different friendships, relationships and abundances of sisterhood and brotherhood moments. I’m truly beyond excited to showcase the Pathfinders side of the war in the light of 16 female OCs, whose stories will be told through their viewpoints based on different episodes whether whole or split! 

So thank you ALL!! These past 2 years have been a joy in the fandom and let’s hope for another few more! I’ve managed 3 fics and 4 books total and I’m excited to bring, presumably, my FINAL Band of Brothers fic in the fandom to you all in the near future. Thank you!! <3

THE NIGHTINGALES 

Team C DZ C for 506th PIR, 501st PIR 

-> 2/506 PIR (Stick 2/Plane #4) 

-- TOCCOA VETERANS --

Team Leader 

Captain Eleanor Graham - @basilone

Eleanor Graham had never met a challenge she couldn’t conquer - the eldest of four and a farmer’s daughter, teamwork and diligence were drilled into her mind like clockwork, along with being as much of a leader in the eyes of her family as she could. There was more to life than a farmer’s wife for her future though, no matter how much she adored the farm her family had grown to craft from the ground up. Iowa brought no opportunity except the farm life deemed fit for her, so upon seeing the advertisement “ It’s Your Fight Too “, OCS had never seemed like a better choice in her eyes. Because it was all their fights - man, woman, child, anyone - it was a World War, a fight for all their lives, for human lives. And with the capability to obtain Captain just before leaving for Camp Toccoa, it solidified her position for not only leading in Easy Company, but leading the Nightinagles - the first stick of female Pathfinders.

Assistant Team Leader

Lieutenant Florence Godfrey - @pxpeyewynn

A British lady and an artist at heart, from the little town of Avebury, set inside Wiltshire of Great Britain, her father made it big in New York just as the war that swarmed throughout Europe, erupted into spitfire. And suddenly thrust into the world of an America before war, was unsettling. Her country fought while America remained neutral. Yet, when the advertisement flooded throughout New York City - she couldn’t help but take it as her only way to get into war. OCS was beyond enough challenges, but walking in as a Lieutenant for Easy and for the Pathfinders, she was no longer the little girl who prayed at night to whomever was above to end the people’s suffering, or avoided interaction to instead draw in her notebook. She was a Lieutenant, and she was a woman at war - yet what was she even fighting for? 

Eureka Operators (each equipped with a Eureka Transponder each)

Sergeant (NCO) Marie Reynal - @thoughpoppiesblow

Grandmère Reynal always held her at night, under the dark night sky and sang in her soulful Cajun French, the words flowing from her lips and remaining an ever-present comfort in times where food was hardly ever on the table, or when she had to watch the other girls at school get the latest Mary-Janes and she was stuck with her old ones. Her grandmère taught her to appreciate the small things in life. But when the “It’s Your Fight Too” poster came out in the papers, Marie Reynal knew there were larger things in life than the newest Mary-Janes at school. Packing up what she could, Marie headed out to Camp Toccoa, equipped with nothing but some clothes and her fiddle. 

Corporal Edith Lockner - @mercurygray

Remember to look up - her mother would always tell her that. Especially when things on their little farm got hard in Stanford, Illinois where the only thing that occurred there was the wagering price of corn that fluctuated with the ever-changing times. So...she figured that’s why she always tended to look to the stars when her mother would tell her that before bed each night, looking out the wooden window under her quilt as a cold draft blew in. She always imagined herself up there, amongst the stars and for once seeing what the stars saw. But to be up with those stars and to get to study them, she’d need a lot more money than what ever amount the corn tended to bring in. And the Airborne with a fantastic pay grade, along with the Pathfinders and their earnings -- it seemed her ticket out. Maybe there won’t be stars - but anything’s got to be better than here. 

Wireman 

Corporal Chiyoko ‘Luna’ Omori - @papersergeant-pencilsoldier

Know your place. Eyes down, mouth shut. And most importantly, honor your family. Chiyoko Omori has never been one to step out of line, nor has she been one to speak when otherwise not spoken too. Trained in the art of kendo, the Japanese martial arts that her ancestors trained in, she leads with discipline and integrity amongst the group of Nightingales training as Pathfinders, as the solo wireman of the group. Her intelligence, more than once, has saved her and in war might just save her again and again. Her father’s garage had always been home to a multitude of repairs and many she had learned to do herself. But there she had been Chiyoko. But for war, she must forget who Chiyoko is and embody the only other name besides her family name that she will ever know - Luna. 

Lightmen (each equipped with 2 Halophane Lamps each) 

Staff-Sergeant (Senior NonCom) Sarah Prowse - @junojelli

For once in her life Sarah Prowse would not have her twin brother by her side. He hadn’t been by her side for years after he went back home to fight with the English and lost his life at Dunkirk. But this was real, this was happening - and the Pathfinders withheld the opportunity to prove to herself that Edmund had died with valor and courage. And he would not have died in vain. The nannies had always said they were inseparable but they weren’t those kids anymore. This was real life. And in real life, there was love and loss and pain. And sometimes the only way to get through it all was to do the thing to distract you most from it all. Some days she wished her family could’ve just stayed in England - maybe Mum would still be here. With her sharp mind, and the ability to read people like an open book, rising to the rank Staff-Sergeant had come easily - reading the field and reading people were pretty similar...right? 

Corporal Jean Dawson - @tvserie-s-world

Life in Louisville, Kentucky had always been a sort of cozy-comfort that Jean Doxon had always enjoyed. The weekend fairgrounds filled to the brim with people enjoying the night life it offered, early summers filled with watching her father race horses around the tracks sprinkled throughout the town and nights by her boyfriend, Glenn Hartley, where the sky seemed to stretch forever into the night. That is before the war sent him away to the Pacific. And their only form of communication was reduced to letters, with pressed flowers and the hint of rose perfume. Jean refused to mope about, when she knew this war was hardly far from over. Quick-thinking on her feet, and a town champion for knot-tying in her days in elementary, she packed what she could and left for Georgia the second she was able to take the first train out. The Airborne had much to offer, but more importantly so did the Pathfinders. 

Corporal Mercy Codonoa - @whoahersheybars

Mercy Codona always been a traveler, never staying in one place and always on the move to somewhere new that she might've never quite been before. This meant new neighbors, new friends and a new way of life. Something the United States readily offered. Each new town in a new state had a different way of life than the next. She figured that's why she was so quick to adapt to her surroundings - nothing was ever permanent, nor set in stone. Neither was family. Orphaned by 17 and left to fend for herself, left in the care of her mother's estranged sister, Mercy took the liberty by herself to do what she could to support herself. Taking up odd jobs in each town she traveled to and managing what she could to feed herself. But she was proud of her Romani-Croat heritage and what her ancestors had done in their past lives. She intended on continuing what their stories had not finished. If only she could continue to support herself. It was only when the "It's Your Fight Too" showed up newly on the Fort Wayne clipboard by the post office in April 1942 and then and there in that moment did she decided - with the extra money the Airborne offered, along with that of the Pathfinders, she'd be able to support herself in the future as well as possibly find people with the same dreams as herself for their futures, and for once finally belong.

Private Kennedy Rutlidge - MINE

Kennedy Docherty had always had quite a wild and exciting mind, always having a new idea, or a new method on selling the most recent paper that got her a few cents an hour. All through her schooling years and even up to her senior year, she took to the busiest corner on Lake Ave and Lyell Ave, calling out to sell her papers, before heading home for the night and running her normal routine the very next day. She spent summers at Lake Ontario, in her grandmother's home on the lake, where some of her fondest memories of her youth had been born. She always believed that's why she was always fascinated with flying, like one of the birds or hawks that flew out across the lake in the early morning. What she'd give to get that feeling just once in her life, away from school and away from the constant need to make as much money as she could to help with the family. The words "It's Your Fight Too" scrawled across the paper in early April had caught her eye within a second and left her running home just that night to break the news that she was signing up. And almost a week later, she found herself packed on a train towards Camp Toccoa, Georgia, bright eyes and the last bit of innocence fading from sight.

Security Personnel  

Sergeant (NCO) Alexandra Calypso - @iilovemusic12us

A Boston girl who grew up with her proud Jewish faith, with a Greek mother, knew hard work and sometimes it was pushing yourself to the very limit beyond what the human body could handle sometimes. So that meant falling, scrapping your knee a few times, sucking up the tears, sending a quick prayer to God and moving on with your life. Life had always been like that - they weren’t the richest, nor the poorest, but there wasn’t ever enough food on the table or enough money to fix the roof, or even to keep the mortgage paid. But her parents never stopped working. And she supposed what drove her to the Airborne and to the Pathfinders was seeing how hard they worked. And they paid well she had heard. She could work with it. And if anything, the Pathfinders were more accepting than any school in Boston she’d been to. 

Sergeant Nellie Shaw - @hellitwasyoufirstsergeant

Hailing from a small, coastal town in Maine, the proud Scot wanted more than anything to stay out of war when it finally came knocking on America’s doorstep. But Nellie Shaw, loyal as saint, knew that there was one thing she could do for this country and that was fight. Give her a pack of cigarettes or a bottle of gin, and she’d go in swinging for the war effort, even with her grumpy morning attitude that slowly became infamous in her elementary school days among the school children. She had no purpose on a farm on a mountain side anymore, rather destined to do what part of the fight she could. Taking Greer Riddell under her wing, the fellow Scot befriended the least likely person to enjoy her company and yet Nellie’s easy-going companionship slowly became integral to the entirety of Easy Company and the Nightingales. 

Private Greer Riddell - @leighinthesky

Schruz, Nevada was home for 21 years and by the looks of it, home for the rest of her life. A bee farm in a tiny town wasn’t idle for the rest of her life, but if she never got the money for college to get out of the small town, she feared she wouldn’t ever leave. And knowing the military had offered 16 women a stick of a plane to get their shot at becoming Pathfinders for the Army was her ticket straight to Toccoa, Georgia for training. The pay could send her not only to college, but could get her out of that tiny town which had confined her to nothing but her family and a cute little bee farm where hard work always paid off. Don’t be fooled by her subdue and withdrawn nature, the second her hands touched the rifle - the field was hers and yet so was the valley.

Codebreaker [Betchley Park Member]

Sergeant Laverne Robinson - @vintagelavenderskies

For her 23 years of life, Laverne Robinson had known just about every spot in London where you could catch a smoke break and not get caught by one of the older women and get scolded for doing so. She blamed her older brother, he blamed her. It was a mutual thing. But that had been the only thing to fear in London - until war struck, which sent every eligible man off to fight for the effort. Her brother included, leaving her staring out the rain speckled window all alone as the smell of her mother's soup wafted past her nose. Yet, like many women of the time, she wanted to fight too. Fluent in French and German and skilled in mathematics and code-work, Bletchley Park seemed the best fit. Working on codes, both sculpting and breaking them inside the building, keeping her lips shut and going on about her normal day when not inside the institution, life didn't seem as dreary as she had anticipated. Because she knew she was apart of the effort to end this war. That was until, she was called upon in late March 1944 to join up with the 101st Airborne with the first female stick of 12 pathfinders to make the jump into Normandy and assist them in anyway possible. Laverne knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and if her brother were there, he would've told her to run with it. Becoming a professor of mathematics would have to wait.

REPLACEMENTS

Corporal Alessandra Lisi - @tvserie-s-world

Alessandra Lisi had never known her parents. She was always told that sickness had taken them when she was just a child. Her brothers had been older than her and had tried to protect her from the sight of her parents dying. And so when their Nonna had taken them into her home without hesitation, Alessandra grew to look to her Nonna as the other parental figure she’d ever had. Of course, her brothers were always there for her, protective as they were, they never let her get into any sort of trouble without hearing about it first. Alessandra grew to adore her Italian heritage, cooking with Nonna on Sunday’s, inviting family over to enjoy the meals and even getting to stir the sauce as Nonna dropped in fresh, cut tomatoes. That was life and it had always been life as such. But when war sent her 3 brothers away, she knew she would not go down without a fight either. Upon receiving the paper in November 1943, she noticed the cover page withheld the picture of 12 women, adorned in jump wings as well as military grade goggles and scarves standing with wide smiles and bright eyes in front of a C-47, the title 'The Nightingales', lying just underneath. Female Pathfinders. If her parents were here, they would've been telling her what Nonna would've been telling her now. Fight for what you believe in, because while there's life, there's hope.

Private First Class Bettie Smith - @sgtxliptons86

Brooklyn, New York had it all - the kids in the streets, the shops on the corners where you could get a piece of candy for as little as 5 cents, even the corner stores in the summer where you could get ice cream for a dime. And as Bettie Smith grew older, running the streets of Brooklyn became like a weekend job - checking in on the younger kids of friends, riding bikes past the floral shops and picking up flowers for her sister, getting a bag of charcoal for her father. Even throwing some curses towards the boys who would heckle her for the way she wore her hair or the old shoes laced on her feet. Her older sister wasn’t too pleased with it all, but ever since Ma had passed, she seemed to let it slide - it was an escape for Bettie. So when war came knocking on the Smith’s door, anger, yet pride for their country filled the home, as well as the streets of New York, as more men and women began signing up for the cause. More friends left to join the effort, leaving Bettie there on the concrete doorstep. So when Bettie received the daily paper in November 1943, showcasing the 12 female pathfinders of the 101st Airborne, front and center for all to see, Bettie took it in quite large strides and took the first train of December 1943 to Fort Benning, Georgia.

Private Annie Laine - @wereinadell

Annie Laine, the daughter of Finnish immigrants, had always dreamed of leaving the quiet countryside her parents had always preferred for their family for the big cities of the Midwest - maybe she’d go to Chicago and study theater, or maybe she’d go and finally attend college in Milwaukee. Anything to get out of the small town she currently resided in. But the countryside had brought alone its perks - orienteering and hunting were big in the Laine family and every child, her 3 brothers, her and her sister, had all been taught the noble art. Swimming the streams, fishing in the lakes, taking hikes through the forests and coming back with a deer for dinner - life had always been quite peaceful Annie felt. But she could always hope that one day it changed. And it seemed war rung those bells quite early on. Annie was tired of structured life and if anything, she knew that the start of structured life in the military would fall quite nearly to shambles once they hit war. The November 1943 issue of the daily newspaper brought upon not only sudden interest in the military, but in that of the female pathfinders who were paving their way in all of military history to be the first stick to jump into continental occupied-Europe. All it took was what cash she had saved for college and a small suitcase to get her on the way to Fort Benning, Georgia.

Private Marla Hughes - @hellitwasyoufirstsergeant

Lafayette, Louisiana had been home all her life - Baton Rouge just to the East and New Orleans just a little further. It had always been home for as long as she could remember. With the fancy parties her father always allotted for the family to attend, talking with the men in pristine suits, or the women with the big hats, some days Marla Hughes just wished to be able to go outside and enjoy nature instead of suffocating amongst the people who seemed to live in a world that didn’t even seem like real life. She supposed that was when she had hit her breaking point and joined the Airborne in Fort Benning, Georgia. She was tired of the life that did absolutely nothing for her. There was more to this world, so much more and yet she was confined to a party dress and an expensive glass of wine that tasted bitter when it rushed down the throat. There were small bars, where the music played, and you could dance until your feet grew tired, there were beer bottles awaiting to be clinked together with friends and there were people beside the stuck-up society she was forced into. The Airborne accepted anyone far and wide - and maybe she could strip of the posh life given to her and finally be set free.

THESE ARE THE NIGHTINGALES!!!

> if you have any questions, feel free to send them in! if not, it’s all good! these are our 16 nightingales! :) thank you to all of you who sent them in back in early December! It’s been an honor to craft these wonderful OC’s!

[alatismeni-theitsa]

I’ve recently seen posts encouraging people to support Romani/Roma people in the Balkans and that’s supreme!!! With that in mind, I wanted to post about how the Roma identify in Greece (I repeat, this is solely for Greece). The dominant voices on this site are from the US, so we mostly hear about the identification of Romani / Americans with Romani heritage. But what is used by the Rom in Greece might surprise you.

I will use “Rom” as the proper identification for Roma/Romani in my text. For non-Rom people I will avoid using the Romani word gadje / gadjo / gadji, as it’s derogatory towards non-Rom people (it means “being of lower social class”, “barbaric”, “peasant”, used in a belittling way). I see Rom from other countries here using it often and that’s perhaps the meaning has been lost for them, but I don’t feel comfortable using it. In some Rom communities of Greece there is still some belief that being “pure”/”true” Rom by blood ratio is better, and I don’t want to enforce that either.

For the non-Rom I won’t use the words balamos (μπαλαμός) (m) / balami (μπαλαμή / μπαλαμοί) (f. / pl.) either because it means “White” and we all know that is a complicated issue for this site. But it’s worth mentioning that Greeks are usually considered “Whites” by the Rom of Greece, so balamos (m) / balami (f. / pl.) apply. I use the term “non-Rom”, as I think it’s better suited for an English text and for readers of different cultural backgrounds.

I will also use the full words of identification and slurs for educational purposes only and with no ill intent. If you don’t know much about Rom identification, you can’t know what words not to use if you don’t see anything more than the first letter! (And also “just google it”, especially for information on the communities of Greece, rarely helps foreigners). Also, whatever I am writing comes from my own experiences and may not apply to all the Rom communities of Greece.

The popular identification and self identification of the Rom in Greece is  tsiganos (τσιγγάνος) (m), tsigana (τσιγγάνα) (f), tsigani (τσιγγάνοι) (pl.). Yes, I know, it’s the word Rom from many countries tell you to never use. And please, don’t use it for Rom from the US or anywhere else Rom don’t want to be called that! But in Greece the identification has stuck and it’s not a slur (as of 2021). In fact, it’s currently acceptable for Rom and non-Rom to use in private and public life. This is how they introduce their heritage, or, if offer a service/sell anything they have made, they use the term to describe it - when speaking in Greek.

I will give examples from a PDF availiable online, the Greek-Romani Lexicon, written by the Rom (and Rom speaker) Ioannis. Georg. Alexiou. (2000s) (Find it >> here <<). He has collected phrases and words from different Rom communities in Greece and he includes the entry Τσιγγάνος (tsiganos) as simply meaning “Rom” and. He repeatedly uses the word Tσιγγάνος for any Rom (seen in the pic) , “Τσιγγανιά” for “Romanipen” (seen in the pic), and “Τσιγγάνικη” to describe the language, when he describes in the Greek language.

One of the many examples is the introduction of a Rom contestant in Greece’s Next Top Model (2020), where she identifies herself as “tsigana” and the other Rom women as “tsiganes” more than five times (0:13, 4:23 ++) and there is also no problem when non Rom use the term for her in front of her (5:12, 7:04, 7:08 ++) Yes, the judges are not the most knowledgeable people when it comes to the Rom culture(s) in Greece but I am using the example for demonstration purposes. Also notice all the people in the comments who use it naturally (search the words “τσιγγάνα”, “τσιγγάνοι”). No, they are not hate comments and they don’t use it as a slur. (Google translate exists, just translate them to make sure). >> Link to the video <<

Using it is not offensive to the Rom of Greece. It’s likely the most suitable word, as of 2021. (You will see later why the other terms don’t apply that much and/or might be confusing). Tsiganos is a word like any other, and yes, it can be used in a derogatory way, the way the word “woman” can be used in a derogatory way by sexists. It’s only about the tone and intent, and not about the etymology of the word. And, speaking about the etymology, you might already know that the word “tsiganos” comes from the Greek word αθίγγανος (athiganos) can mean “untouchable” / “not to be touched”. But it might not have come from the (indeed) bigoted Greeks around them.

The Greek philologist Dikaios Vagiakos (Δικαίος Βαγιακάκος) tells us that Athigganoi was called the religious group Melchizedekites (Manichaists) or Katharoi in Greek (”Clean ones”). The Athiganoi were practicing divination, and so it came that whoever was practicing divination at the time was also called Athiganos. (The word just stuck and the meaning left, because a divination practitioner wasn’t considered actually unclean). When the Rom came to the area, they also practiced divination, so they also were given that name. (Source in Greek - sorry it was super hard to find anything in English, as many parts of Greek history are obscure to the world).

No matter the origins, people in Greece (including the Rom) rarely know what it means (if you live in Greece, you must be very interested in linguistics to dig it up), as the meaning has been been lost in time for the Greek residents. It’s like the world “girl“ (κοπέλα) in Greece, which comes from the word “slave”, but Greek speakers use it because they have forgotten the meaning and have no idea where it comes from.

Roma (f) / Romis (m) / Rom (m. / pl.), Romalen (pl.), is many times the term the Roma of Greece use to refer to themselves in their own language (Romani / Tsigganika). In this article (where the word tsigganos / tsigganikos is again used casually, as various Greek articles) we find the word “Ρόμης” for the Rom man (and it can also be used as “husband”).

Greek speakers don’t use "Rom” and when they hear it they mostly get confused. “Rum” was the name of the regions were Greeks lived inside the Ottoman empire so that complicates things further for Greek speakers, as Rom and Rum sound very similar. What is more, the Hellenic region of the Byzantine Empire was called Romania, adding another “Rom-” to the Greek history.

“Roma” (singular and plural) is gaining popularity amongst the Greek Rom and Greeks alike. But still falls far behind “tsiganos“.

“Gyftos” (Γύφτος) (”Gypsy” in English) is a negative/derogatory term for the Greek Rom. Implying someone is from Egypt is not bad on its own, but the word has been weaponized against the Rom of Greece by the Greek speakers. What is also important, is that a lot of times “gyftos“ ISN’T meant to describe a Rom. This doesn’t make it any less of a slur against the Rom, but let me explain its other use. Greeks often use it for dirty, homeless people (and not those who beg for money necessarily). Of course, that is probably because historically the Greeks saw Rom people that way, and then they attached the stereotypical negative traits to other people. What is peculiar is that I’ve heard Greeks say “gyftos is the guy you see with rags on the street, Greek or not. The nomadic people are called Tsigganoi! It’s a different thing!”. So yes, anyone, even a super pasty Greek can also be called “gyftos”. It’s just worth mentioning that some Greek speakers have the word “gyftos” detached from the Rom (because meaning is lost and diverted as time passes) and so if you hear that word from a Greek, better ask them what they mean and if they know the origins of the word. There is a chance they might not actually know.

To my knowledge, the word “Romani” is not often used to identify a Rom person in Greece. I’ve only heard it for the language. But, again, I can’t know what happens in all Rom communities of Greece (and there are many, with different linguistic influences). “Romani” as someone’s identification is very slowly gaining some popularity among the Greeks because it’s used in nearby countries - and even because of the influence from the US. But still, it’s mostly among the Greeks and not the Rom. (At this point, I should also say that many Rom feel Greek and most have a Greek citizenship, I just that that distinction inside the Greek borders for simplicity’s sake.)

That’s all! Keep in mind that the identification of Rom in Greece might change the next decades, so always be aware of the changes and, if you can’t find any information simply ask the Rom person how they wish to be called!

>> Anyone can interact but if you are not part of or not close to a Rom community of *Greece*, I advise you against of trying to “correct” anything. This isn’t about your experiences or ways of expression. It’s about the Rom of Greece.

>> Rom from Greece or/and people close to a Rom community of Greece can, of course, add or correct stuff - always with respect to Rom sources and voices from Greece.

[drawing-way-outside-the-lines]

Indefinite Hiatus.

To anyone reading this, I ask that you respectfully do not reblog this post, as it is very personal, thank you. That being said, the post is long, I’m a writer, what do you expect? But there were so many things I needed to get of my chest, whether anyone reads it all or not, simply doesn’t matter. I had to speak it all out, in order to move on. I will as such hide it under a cut, in case anyone should be curious why I am going on hiatus. Which I don’t usually do, I tend to just take off for a couple of days when things bother me enough to leave. But I thought this time I had to make an announcement, as it is quite possible I am simply just done with this place, and wont be returning. I simply don’t know at the moment, and none of what I write in this post, is written as a form of attention seeking, nor a way for me to get people to show me attention or beg me to stay. If I’m going, I’m going, and there’s nothing anyone can say that would make me stay. I simply make the announcement out of the respect for the few followers I still have some respect for. I wont just up and leave with no word when there’s people on here I still care about. So to be abundantly clear. This is a hiatus. I might be back. I might not be back. Only time will tell. I may some days hang around to check up on cc, you may even see me reply a person here and there, and not reply others. This isn’t anything personal towards anyone. I am simply a person who constantly bend over backwards for everyone else, then push myself repeatedly aside. And I am officially done with it. From now on if you see me online, on any sort of platform, I will not feel bad in any sort of way for not being available, simply because I am online. From now on I will only engage in things that resonate with me, when they resonate with me. Anything else steals my peace. And I no longer want to allow that. I might be gone a couple days, I might be gone a month. Maybe you wont ever see me return, and that’s that. I will take the time I need, even if that means for good. I will no longer put others before my own well being. I might even come by to reblog this post a few times, simply for the fact that I spent many hours, weighing my words, trying to make them as polite, yet clear as possible. I spent lots of time and energy on this, so if I during my hiatus come by to reblog it, it’s not a way to seek attention, or more likes/comments. It’s simply that I made a large effort, and I want as many of my followers to read this, so there’s no confusion as to why I am suddenly gone. If you want me to clarify further than that/you’re curious what finally made a “kind” person give up, it’s all below the cut:

I’ve been sitting on this for a couple days. Debating on whether I should say something or not. But I’ve come to the conclusion that I want to be as transparent as possible, in hopes that, it may, help someone else avoid being in a similar situation. Maybe someone will learn something along these lines of words I so carefully have put together. Preventing someone else from getting hurt. One can hope. And I also hope by speaking up, I can release the negativity I have been carrying, and set it free. Preventing it from weighing me further down. A few days ago, I entered one of my oldest characters, Odette, into a model casting, for Billsims. An experience that should have been fun and enjoyable, but instead resulted in making the decision to pull Odette out of the casting, to avoid Billsims potentially getting in trouble. You see, on the application info post, Billsims mentioned that it would be nice if a bit of info would be written about the sim we would enter, but it wasn’t a must. I decided, as a writer, to write a bit about my character, cause you betcha, as soon as someone mentions they might want a few words about a character of mine, -and my words start spilling like iced tea on a hot summers day! So I added the basic info I thought Odette herself would find important. Among that, I mentioned she’s a ‘Romanian Gypsy’. I did this to best clarify what Ethnicity she has, and what she classifies herself as. If I had simply written ‘Roma/Romani’, many people might not have understood what was meant. And I wanted to be as clear as possible about her, plus the word Gypsy, is simply what she has chosen for herself. I furthermore added she’s a proud woman, and a Pagan. Surprise surprise, someone didn’t like this info, and decided it was okay to point that out on my application post.  I still don’t understand some people’s need to constantly nitpick at anything they see online, specially in public, and specially when it comes to people simply having a hobby, enjoying said hobby peacefully, without harming anyone. Now, the post is still up on my blog, the comments are still there. Anyone is free to go have a look if they wish to know exactly what was said. But that being said, I hope and would like to think my followers are old enough to not attack anyone. Please. It wont solve anything. I also ask that no one bother Billsims about the matter, he was perfectly wonderful about it all, and had no issue with neither me, nor Odette. I was the one who decided to pull her out of the casting, in order to protect him, he even told me I was more than welcome to enter someone else. I decided against that however, to protect my peace. Something a very wise person told me to do. Thank you. I stopped replying to the person after my first reply, simply cause I saw no reason to engage in a debate that would lead nowhere. It seemed as if they already had a rather twisted view of me or my character or what was going on, quite possible a mix of it all? So I let them stay in their belief. Trying to convince them otherwise seemed like a tedious task, I had no energy to take on. And I instead went for advice from a trusted person, and enjoyed a long peaceful and uplifting conversation, rather than a fruitless quarrel with someone that was already so sure I was out there doing all sorts of harmful things through my character. I suppose the person commenting wasn’t a follower of mine, and if they were, I cannot imagine them to be a longtime follower. You see, I am aware Gypsy by now is often seen as a ‘slur word’, as this person was trying to educate me. I do not write something into my characters without making at least some sort of research first. Had this person been a long term follower, they would have known, I rarely ever use that word. As a matter of fact, not so long ago, I posted the bio of another character, Gabriella, she was also listed as ‘Romanian Gypsy’. So is the rest of the Lupei clan that both Odette and Gabriella belong to. They have always been listed as such. Ever since I started on Simblr 5 years ago. No one has ever commented on it before. And when I posted Gabriella’s bio earlier this Autumn, I was even met with surprise that I have Roma characters. So it seems, even long term followers hadn’t noticed. Which must mean, I am certainly not a person spreading the word around. It’s not the first time, I have had to get ‘whipped over the back of my head with a wet newspaper,’ by someone who thought I needed some schooling. I have had that experience twice before. So 3 times in total the 5 years I’ve been here. What a rebel I must be, since I have had to be corrected so many times. Once for having many gay characters in Polyamorous relationships. Once for having twins/blood related characters dating each other, and was as result accused of saying incest is right and spreading it as if everyone should be doing it. Which I never did, and never would. We have Game Of Thrones doing that already. First of, I simply don’t agree with that. I don’t think incest is right. However, I also don’t think it is wrong, if the people involved love each other and can make it work. And yes, that is possible. The person getting their panties in a twist over River and Jackall being a couple, did mention they had experienced incest close hand, so I do wanna defend them, and give them their space to be outraged, since I could understand it was a trigger for them. However, I cannot prevent everyone’s triggers, nor is it my job to do so. It is up to you to avoid your triggers, and to find a way to deal with them, so when someone does trigger you, you can handle yourself the best way possible. The whole world is never gonna wrap you in cotton. You need to wrap yourself. It took me no more than 2 minutes to find a very informative Wiki article about how incest IN FACT can be between two consensual adults, which the individual claimed could NEVER exist. Furthermore it can happen between two consensual adults whom happen to love each other just as dearly as two people in a completely “normal” relationship can. Two minutes research was all it took. Imagine if people would do just a minimum effort of research BEFORE they start attacking other people. Imagine a world like that. By all means, if I were out there on the street corners of the world, with pamphlets promoting incest, drag me to a side and slap me. That aint cool. But I am just over here, in my quiet little corner, doing my own thing, which btw you are more than allowed to disagree with, but don’t come knocking on my door with your disagreement. The very few posts I have ever shown of my incestuous couples, have all been very tasteful. And although it is mentioned on each characters bio, whom they are in a relationship with, I think it’s been years since I last even posted a pic of any of said people. I have posted far worse things, and no one ever mate as much as a squeak about it. Still, you are allowed to disagree, I just wish you would handle it in a better way than schooling everyone who does something you mildly (or even strongly) disagree with, and save the schooling for the real issues such as child pornography, Nazi’s, global warming, racism, whether people should wear a mask or not, and any sort of abuse/bullying. Here’s three alternatives I welcome on the other hand: 1. Scroll on. (I have talked with several of my long term followers, and they have confirmed they don’t always agree with the things I post, but they follow anyway, because they enjoy the majority of what I post, and the rest they simply scroll past. It doesn’t ruin their day, or their enjoyment of following my blog in general.) 2. Unfollow. You are always more than welcome to unfollow A-NY-THING on social media, if you do not like what you are seeing. When you subscribe to something/someone, the moment you no longer enjoy what you are seeing, you always have the chance of unfollowing. It’s not a permanent subscription for the rest of your life. Nor a chance for you to try to change what others are posting about. Specially as long as it isn’t harming anyone. 3. Block. The button exist on the vast majority of social media for a reason. Use it if you believe something or someone is so bad that it/they steal your sunshine. Block block block, and move away from it. If you keep hanging onto something you have blocked, what’s the point really? You’re still allowing it to affect you. Move on. And for the umpteenth time, even if my characters does something/say something/engage in something, doesn’t necessarily have to mean I agree with them/their choices/their lifestyle. With some things I do, others I don’t. I’m a writer. I enjoy writing things that challenges me, and challenges the reader. I simply don’t find joy in writing the typical white picket fence story where everyone fits into society, and everything is butterflies and Dandelions. But at the same time, I also don’t run around nitpicking at the people who do enjoy writing or reading these types of stories. The thing is, it’s fiction, right? I’m not writing about real life characters. So I ask you, do you believe every piece of fiction you have ever read? Does Lord Of The Rings or Harry Potter align with real life? If you can say no to that, then why on earth are you so dead sure that the fiction I write align with reality? For the last time, I do NOT agree with incest. For my characters, which btw doesn’t end at just River and Jackall, I do believe in it, simply for the circumstances of how the relationships happened. But you would have to read my whole story to finally understand it all. But I am not cramming it down your throat, specially if you have already made it clear you disagree. To that I once again want to add, my story is nowhere public, so I am really not in any way educating anyone on incest or ‘Gypsies’ or polyamory or anything else. I think polyamory is cool for the people who enjoy it. Have I personally ever been in a poly relationship? No. But I am at the belief people can do with their private life what they wish, as long as they aren’t harming anyone and everyone involved agrees. And to get back to what this post originally was intended to be about, the matter on Odette’s post, I have a few last things I need to say before I put the matter to rest: I'm not representing all of Romani, when I speak for my character(s). I never once mentioned this is how all Romani is. So if that’s what you read, that is on you and the words you add to mine, not my actual words or intention. I'm simply allowing my character and her family to be whatever they want to be, and call themselves however they see fit. As long as they are good kind people, it shouldn't matter much what they call themselves, as long as they don't use slur words for others. I never once claimed that all Romani is Pagan. Odette is. Her father or twin brother, isn't. Odette comes from a mixed background, and is as such a mix herself. And how beautiful is that? Wouldn't it be a shame, if we were only ever allowed to be just one thing in this life? I am not out here educating people on Romani culture, I am not calling people Gypsy in real life, nor do I do it online. In fact I don't call anyone anything in real life, cause people's skin tones simply doesn't matter that much to me. We are all just shades. No shade is more important than the other. We are all decaying plant food. Really. Odette has proudly chosen this word for herself, just as her family before her has been proud to do so. I have in no way portrayed my characters in the meaning of any sort of slur word. They are all highly intelligent well educated people. Odette is under education as a nurse. Her father is a well known and well respected doctor. Furthermore, they are all shape-shifters, whom can shift into very large wolves. Odette’s father being the Alpha. Wait, does that mean I am calling all Romani werewolves? It’s fiction. I am not standing on some stool somewhere preaching to anyone. I’m just me and my characters. I keep it between them and I 99% of the time. My roomie has a friend whom proudly calls herself a Gypsy. She has family whom proudly call themselves Gypsies. So not everyone views this word as bad. And yes there are real life people out there, who sees the word as positive and call themselves by it. Are you going to run after them too, and dictate what they are allowed to call themselves? Or is that only reserved for Simblr’s you disagree with? You simply can’t box up a whole minority like that and claim the word is always offensive and no one is allowed to use a specific word to describe themselves. Furthermore: Mixed background/ethnicity/religious beliefs/spiritual beliefs is a thing in the real world too, not something I made up over night to harm anyone. 'Gypsy' has never been said as a slur word coming from me, it was never ill-intended, and never will be, just like gay never will be said as a slur or ill-intention coming from me. Yet gay is also a word that has quite often been used as a slur. And still is. So, should we stop using it all together? No. It can be said in good intention, and in bad, it all depends on the person using the word. And people should surely be allowed to call themselves gay, shouldn’t they? Never have any of my Romani characters been portrayed in a bad light. (Or gay characters for that matter, but that's not what the subject is about)   And if they ever would be portrayed in a bad light, it would certainly have nothing to do with them being Romani. I personally see no point in that. My story and my characters are a source of joy for me, I have no intention of bringing racism into it. Now, we can agree that the word Gypsy is by now used as a slur, but it wasn't originally a slur, and once again, I do believe a person is allowed to call themselves whatever they may wish. Odette and her family wouldn't call other people Gypsies, unless they knew they were okay with it, and proud. Added to that, I do not believe a word can be racist or a slur in itself. A word is just a word. A string of consonants and vowels tied together to create a sound. It's the person using the word, who gives it ill-intentions, not the word itself, unless it was deliberately created with the only intention of hurting. Which as far as I am aware, wasn't the origin of the word Gypsy. 'Roma (Gypsies) originated in the Punjab region of northern India as a nomadic people and entered Europe between the eighth and tenth centuries C.E. They were called "Gypsies" because Europeans mistakenly believed they came from Egypt. This minority is made up of distinct groups called "tribes" or "nations." Most of the Roma in Germany and the countries occupied by Germany during World War II belonged to the Sinti and Roma family groupings. Both groups spoke dialects of a common language called Romani, based on Sanskrit (the classical language of India). The term "Roma" has come to include both the Sinti and Roma groupings, though some Roma prefer being known as "Gypsies." ' - Source: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/roma-gypsies-in-prewar-europe So to really boil this whole thing down to the bone, so hopefully this wont ever be an issue again: I do not use the word Gypsy in my day to day life. By creating a character who addresses herself as Gypsy AND also happens to be a Pagan, I do NOT in any way indicate that all ‘Gypsies’ are Pagans. I simply state that my character is. Nothing more, nothing less. I do not agree with incest in real life, though I do believe people are allowed to do with their private life as they see fit, as long as they aren’t harming others, and everyone involved is agreeing. I do not promote Poly relationships. Although once again, I’m a firm believer that people are allowed to do with their private life as they see fit yadda yadda... I do not promote being gay or any other sort of sexuality for that matter. Not that I have ever been accused of that, but I wanted to cover it anyway, cause who knows, it might be the next one I should get corrected for. I have a few times mentioned being trans, that was also not in any way a promotion. I do not promote Necrophilia. And here I really must snort. Some years ago (on an old blog, not this one) some very dear followers of mine, gently persuaded me to make some rather graphic pictures of my character Raven, literally f*ck*ng some corpses. It was posted in October as some satirical Halloween-ish post, as far as I remember, and was started from a simple question of, IF, it could be done in ts3? I was then challenged to do it. I did. People clapped. I’m sure others cried. But to my surprise my follower numbers didn’t drop, they increased? No one came running to ‘teach me a lesson’. No one came around to tell me what my demon was allowed to do or not. He was free to do whatever/whomever he wanted. And that’s the thing. There’s so many things in my story, and about my characters, that you don’t know. Cause I don’t post it out there for everyone to see. Cause I am not trying to promote a thing. I am simply here to challenge myself, and along that line challenge the few people I ever trusted to be my readers. You see, I don’t write for the numbers, meaning I don’t write a story that is meant to have a large following. I write for me, cause it is one of the only things that has ever helped me get through life, and fight some of my inner demons, to fight complications, to fight grief, to cope with all sorts of personal things I’m going through, and to have a place to escape to when life is too scary. I write for the content, the depth, for me, not for the fame, not for likes, not for anyone else. This is mine, and I don’t promote it on any scale, I keep 99% of it in private, and the rest I do air in public I air on a very minimal scale. If you decide to get offended about the fact that I drizzled a specific word once on a post, and a handful of times on my personal bios, well, that’s on you. It’s not a word I am out there spreading like a wildfire. People that has followed me for years never saw it till recently. Which should really speak loud of how little that word has ever come from me. I’m a respectable person. I do my best to respect everyone around me. At any time. Even when people don’t deserve an ounce of my respect. But that does not mean I should be weighed down with the burden of never offending anyone, cause then I might as well never speak again. Fact is, now more than ever, people are so offended by almost anything they can come across on social media. Jumping to conclusions here and there, when all they could do is simply ask, before getting offended and as a result decide to school or attack everyone around them. For no one to ever get offended again, we should all log out, and never sign in again. Why does it have to go to these extremes where no one can speak a word any longer, cause everything is an offense, a trigger, a slur? So I stay here in my little corner, doing me, doing my characters the way I like them. It is up to you to agree or disagree. You are free. But don’t come at me expecting I’ll change a thing for you. Cause you will only get disappointed. These people and their story is my way to cope with life, and as long as I am not out there shouting slur words at people or promoting certain ways of lifestyle, or deliberately harming anyone in any form of way, I cannot see why I shouldn’t be allowed. Just as you are allowed to do your own coping. Just as you are always allowed to scroll on, unfollow or even block things/people, you disagree with. Odette stays the way she is. So does the rest of my characters. It wont ever change because someone disagrees. The only way my characters change, is by character development, which mostly they decide for themselves. And I simply don’t see it in the cards that Odette will wake up and not feel Gypsy or stop using that word to describe herself, cause she personally sees nothing negative in it. Nor will she stop being Pagan because her mixed religion/background is making you uncomfortable. There’s plenty Christians out there, with Jesus or Bible quotes tattooed on them, yet Leviticus 19:28 say: Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord. Interpret that the way you want it. But allow my character to do her religion the way SHE sees fit, simply for the fact that I am sure you want the same respect. I will not ever change my characters or my story for anyone but myself. You can express your dislike from here and until you get tired of repeating yourself, you can unfollow, you can block, you can even report me and get my posts taken down. You can even take it as far as getting my blog shut down. It wont make a difference. My story has been written for 6 years, some characters was written even longer than that. The story is over 200 book-length-chapters, close to 300 as a matter of fact. If I should change anything for a person I don’t even know, it would be almost 300 chapters I would have to reread and rewrite. Would you do that for some person that came by a post of yours, disagreeing with the way you portrait your own original character? If your answer is yes, I truly feel sorry for you. Lastly I want to say, try to be kind. Try to breath before you go and attack someones way of doing their own thing. Before you accuse someone of portraying something a certain way, maybe take a look at the persons previous work. Is it a one time thing, or is it a reoccurring matter? It may just be an itsy bitsy thing that you are blowing out of proportions, sorta like entering a conversation you know nothing about and then start correcting people left and right. It makes little to no sense, and in most cases, even if you might be meaning well, you end up doing more harm than good. Like in this case. You didn’t get to teach someone something they didn’t already know. You didn’t stop someones inappropriate behavior. What you did on the other hand, was extinguishing someones last spark. Their last will to keep going. You take that to the bank now, and be proud of yourself. Was it worth it? You can always accuse and assume. You’re free to do just that. But maybe in the future, try to replace accuse and assume with politely asking if your ‘concern’ is valid or not. Try to be mindful, try to be kind, try to consider that maybe the person you are about to put on the school bench/attack/bully or whatever you are about to do, is fighting an invisible battle you know nothing about. Maybe you are going to be the last straw for them. So try to weigh it all, is your righteous crusade worth it? Is it worth it to spill your two cents on a possible harmless matter, just so you can feel you fought a righteous battle and took someone ‘evil’ down, whom in fact were just trying their best to survive, by doing the one thing that helps them through it all, in their own little corner, harming no one. You know, there are tons of people like that out there. Making someone online feel so absolutely useless/worthless that they end up taking their own lives. Then blame the victims for it. Now, I might be a pretty strong person, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be at the end of my rope, and you simply don’t know. Do you? Thank you for taking your time to extinguish my last spark.

[deepdonutkid]

Modern head canon part 3

Shelby-Family and music

Arthur

He listens to classic rock like cream and Derek and the dominos. The clash, the Beatles, Queen, the doors… stuff like that, but different to his brother John, he doesn’t keep a lot of records around and doesn’t go to concerts anymore. Also he is not interested in finding new music, but he listens to the radio in the car, because it’s just easier this way. And while he is working on a car, there better be music blasting all over the garage.

Song to represent him: Born under a bad sign- Cream

John

Cus we’re at it!  Like mention before, he owns a huge collection of CDs and Vinyls. John loves concerts and goes to at least one per month. It is probably more. In his free time he wears band shirts. Suits are cool, but not very comfortable. And he would let his girlfriend wear his shirts, because they look super-hot on her. Especially, if the shirt is the only thing she is wearing.

In his apartment there is an expensive sound system, which he can also console from his phone, but no one but him is allowed to touch it. And you can look at the records, but you have to put them back in place, because he likes to have a special order with his collection. Nobody understands that order. Also worth mentioning, John knows bands nobody else knows and he could talk hours about that topic only. His family is already annoyed by him and won’t even ask a music question while he is in the room.

(I have a playlist of songs; I think that suits him just right, but enough said about my little guilty pleasure. So sorry about the list, I couldn’t decide on one song only. If someone is acutally interested or just liked the songs I picked… there are more where that is coming from)

Song:

Little Monster- Royal Blood

Night People- You Me At Six

Just to Get Your High- Arcades and Lions

Do You Want to- Franz Ferdinand

Gang Control- Leftöver Crack

Too Drunk to Fuck- Dead Kennedys

Finn

Sweet, little Finn likes to emulate his brothers. So he is trying to listen to all the old stuff his brothers like. Huge Queen Fan, but he also likes so much more music. Finn has a little thing for minimal and well, he doesn’t fixate on just one genre- but he hides that from John, because John is so picky about music. The smolest Shelby brother also likes going to clubs and dancing there, with the b-boyz and the b-girls. Isaiah is always with him and they keep each other’s back.

Finn is chill and he clearly gives of the “indie-vibe”. I’m thinking of Hozier and Milky Chance.

Song: The Game- Milky Chance |Wasteland, Baby- Hozier

Tommy

(I thought about that so fricking long. What kind of music would Tommy hear? A friend said something like, he don’t like music at all, but I think that’s not possible as music is available nowadays and all around us and it’s human to like melodies and the rhythm)

Tommy is the guy who would prefer silence, especially when he needs to think, but of course, when there is nothing on his mind and he has some free time with his family or friends, music is okay.

He likes romani music as this reminds him of his mother, which was a beautiful singer and would sing whenever she felt the need to. This music also reminds him of his childhood. Tommy is very reflected on that part. He knows when his parents failed and weren’t the best parents. He is still bitter about his father and wished that his mother hadn’t died, but he also remembers how much fun he had with is siblings or his parents, when they had a good day. Sometimes he likes to think about that time of life. And the music brings back the memories. Then he even likes to dance- with the right woman of course.

Besides that he likes instrumental music, like tango music or classical pieces, because there are no distracting vocals.

Song: Barcelona Gipsy Klezmer Orchestra - Djelem Djelem

And I’ll add a song with I associate with him: Bad things – Jace Everett | Bad news- Melody Gardot

Polly

Jazz, definitely Jazz here. To specify… Swing, Gypsy Jazz like Django Reinhard-Style, Bebob and some Gospel, which is not Jazz, but just leave it here.

She can also dance to that and if she’s getting an invitation to a concert she is most likely to say yes. Polly likes to show of her skills and the most guys are pretty impressed by that and her stunning confidence. When she enters the dance floor, the heads turn around.

Aberama likes to dance with her until they fight for air. Then they drop dead on a chair and drink some more.

And she taught Michael to dance, so he doesn’t have to sit around at parties. Actually she taught them all, but it didn’t work with Arthur and John.

Song: Whatever Lola wants- Sarah Vaughan | No Man’s prize – Melody Gardot

Michael

He can dance so well. Some might think he is even better than his mum. While he was in custody with the other family he had dancing classes and he’d loved it. Mainly because there he could meet pretty girls and he was one of the only boys. Until this day he still likes to dance with a girl, but he can also do it solo.

But his taste in music goes far beyond the music his mother likes. He has a thing for hard tech, hard bass, gabba, French core and general techno, but not house. And yes, he learned jump style or hakken, because he liked the challenge. Finn films him sometimes while doing that. He is proud and would totally argue with John about music. Michael also likes some rap and the artist The Weeknd. His music always makes me think of Michael

Song: It’s called XCT –Dr. Peacock |Often- The Weeknd

Ada

She isn’t so fussy about music. If she likes something, she likes it. As easy as that. She doesn’t like to stick to a genre and listens to everything that is shown to her. Her playlist look like pure chaos because there is pop mixed with rock mixed with jazz mixed with metal mixed something else.

And she likes to play music all the time, because she is not comfortable with dead silence. So her music plays while she is working, while she is baking, while she goes for a walk or grocery shopping. She dances a little, but isn’t so confident as Michael or Polly. Ada is somehow pretty up to date when it comes to music. She always knows the latest song of her favorite artists.

Song: Prisoner- Miley Cyrus ft. Dua Lipa |Back to Black - Amy Winehouse

__________________

Am I missing someone? Should I add a character?