#i ended up combining both old and betty versions

[littledemo0n]

Last night i was granted a vision

Bonus: its just the baby :]

[ptergwen]

let’s just pretend

w/c: 3.5k

warnings: rom com references, drinking, and a little bit of angst

summary: you cope with your feelings for peter by getting drunk on halloween

a/n: ok i really really love this and i loved writing it too? it’s the first like original idea i’ve had in a while so maybe that’s why but yeah i hope y’all enjoy and that this puts you in a halloweenish mood :-)

-

there’s something about fall that makes you nostalgic. the same images pop into your head whenever you hear the word october. pumpkin patches, colorful leaves, and hot coffee. it reminds you of being a kid. only when you were a kid, all you could think about this time of year was what you were going to be for halloween.

you’d spend weeks getting your costume together and coordinating with all your friends. trick or treating was literally the only thing that mattered. if you wanted to get good candy, you had to have a good costume.

the high school version of candy is alcohol. everyone just goes to parties so they can drink the whole night. no one even dresses up usually. you personally would rather have chocolate than cheap beer. your whole friend group agrees on that.

that’s why you decided to throw your own party this year. anyone who misses the old halloween can come hang out. so far it’s only peter, mj, ned, betty, and the rest of the decathlon team coming. betty invited everyone for you. she also asked liz, but she’s going to flash’s party. he only gets so many people because his parents are never home and don’t care if he raids the liquor cabinet. whatever.

you’re out finding something to wear with peter and mj a few hours before it starts. ned and betty already picked their costumes. she’s going as an angel, and he’s going as the devil. you think they should switch. they’re out shopping for snacks while the three of you hit up spirit halloween.

mj groans every single second there’s silence, and peter keeps getting scared by the motion sensor decorations. he eventually ends up having to go somewhere in the store that doesn’t have any. so, it’s a lot.

“why don’t you be a vampire?” mj asks in her fake interested voice, taking a pair of fangs off the rack in front of her. you scoff. “i think i did that in sixth grade.” she puts them back with a huff. “witch?” she’s just suggesting every costume she sees so you can get out of here. her lack of enthusiasm makes you want to take longer.

“no.”

“zookeeper?”

“eh.”

“what about cat in the hat?”

“mj, what? no.”

“uh... school girl?”

“ok, that’s just offensive.”

“you’re right. why do they have that?” she eyes the costume suspiciously. you cover it up with a random cloak that fell onto the floor. you’re never going to find anything at this point. maybe it’s a sign you’re too old for this. just when you’re about to lose all hope, peter comes over.

he’s holding up the plaid yellow skirt and blazer cher wears in clueless. it’s one of the most iconic rom com outfits. you grab it with a gasp, peter giving you a knowing smile. “oh my god! wait, where did you find this?” “they have a section with movie stuff.” there’s a han solo costume in his other hand.

you throw an arm around his neck for a quick hug. peter squeezes you and chuckles when he pulls away. it gets a sigh out of mj.

“sure you don’t wanna be the guy she ends up with?” she elbows peter’s arm. the two of you share a disgusted look. “josh? ew, he’s her ex stepbrother,” you dismiss her. “they’re, like, related,” peter adds. mj rolls her eyes almost to the back of her head and starts to walk away. “someone needs to unplug both of your tv’s.” you and peter follow after her.

of course she would suggest a couple’s costume. she was probably trying to make you both get weird. you’re always being teased for spending so much time together. even your parents and may make little comments about it. you can’t help the fact that you have almost everything in common.

peter is the only person your age who doesn’t try so hard to be cool. when you’re with him, you can be the biggest nerd and wear fluffy pajamas and play with legos. it’s a judgement free friendship.

you’ll admit you’ve wanted it to become a judgement free relationship. there’s no way he doesn’t feel your heart beating against him when you cuddle during movie nights. he has to notice your goofy smile whenever he calls you a nickname.

but, it could all be platonic in peter’s mind. maybe he sees you as more of a sister. that would make josh the perfect costume to go with you as cher.

you shutter and try to push the idea out of your mind for the rest of your time at spirit halloween.

it’s almost time for the party to start when you get back to your house. your parents let betty and ned in to start setting up on their way out. they’re going for dinner so they aren’t around to embarrass you. you have until midnight, then there’s nothing you can do. that gives you four hours.

mj is changing into the coraline costume you made her get, which she actually doesn’t hate. betty is helping you do some last minute decorating. peter and ned are putting out snacks. it’s a really good system you have.

“love the the plaid, y/n. you look so fetch!” betty compliments in between throwing fake cobwebs over your couch. you snort and finish stringing up some lights. “wrong movie, but thanks.” “oh. oops,” she shrugs and gets back to cobwebbing. “peter found it for me.” all the lights are up, so you go to plug them in. betty giggles on your way over.

your living room has an orange glow to it now. dusting your hands off, you admire your work. the moment of admiration ends when you notice how betty is looking at you. “what?” “peter found it for you,” she repeats suggestively. “when he was getting his costume, yeah,” you say like it’s nothing because it is nothing.

“so, what i’m hearing is he wanted to see you in a skirt.” you furrow your eyebrows at her. “what? no, he just-“ she wiggles her own eyebrows at you. you’re going to start sweating if you talk about this any longer. too aware of yourself now, you pull down your skirt and trudge over to the stairs. “i’m gonna go check on mj.”

you’re in the middle of convincing her she looks great and to leave your room when everyone calls your name downstairs.

“what?” you shout back from behind the closed door. “you should get down here.” it’s only peter this time. mj widens her eyes at you, but you’re gone before she can say she isn’t wearing this again.

you make your way down the stairs. the three of them are huddled in front of the door. “is someone here?” you mouth, ned looking off to the side awkwardly. they all move out of the way so you can see who it is. it’s flash. you’re obviously surprised to see him at your house, especially since he’s supposed to be having his own party right now.

“um, what are you doing here?” you try not to sound mean. “didn’t you invite the whole decathlon team? i’m on it.” you’d forgotten about that. peter says he’s only an alternate. flash side steps past you to get inside. you didn’t say he could come in. he heads straight to the chip bowl on your living room coffee table. you’re left shaking your head in pure confusion.

“dude, kick him out,” ned whispers to you. you wave your hand dismissively and walk over. he’s kicking his legs up on the table when you get there. “dope outfit. you look good.” he winks and crunches on a tostito. peter is clenching his jaw, but no one sees. “why are you in my house, flash?” you push the bowl away from him. “oh, yeah. my parents came home from vegas early.”

mj finally gets downstairs, squinting at whatever is going on with you while she walks over to everyone else. “i thought we could combine parties.” flash eyes your friends in a way you don’t like. “all your guests are pretty much here, so don’t worry about space.”

you look back at peter to see what he thinks. he shakes his head no. betty is nodding her head so fast you’re pretty sure she’s going to get whiplash. ned agrees with whatever she thinks, and mj doesn’t care. majority rules. plus, you could use one of flash’s playlists to liven things up. how bad could it really be?

“text everyone my address.”

people are flooding your house in the next fifteen minutes. like, your entire grade might be here. flash hooks his phone up to your speakers and blasts his songs. people grab fistfuls of candy and dance around. you’re running low on soda, but one guy brought extra drinks. alcoholic drinks, which you’re uneasy about. that was a big reason why you wanted to have your own party in the first place.

you don’t want to be a lame host, so you let it slide. a girl is sitting on top of your kitchen counter making out with someone. people are yelling so loud you can’t make out a single conversation. this is all going on and yet somehow, the most surprising thing is that they came in costume. some are more casual, like cat ears and lifeguard hoodies. it still counts.

feeling a little bit lost in your own house, you search for peter. he’s sitting on the top stair just watching what’s going on. you get his attention by throwing a mini packet of sour patch kids at him. he catches it, grinning when he realizes you did that. “i love these.” “good. they were the only ones left.” you take a seat next to him and scratch at the material of his vest for emphasis.

“i can’t believe you said yes to him.” peter opens the sour patch kids. the first one is yellow, so he offers it to you. sharing food with him always works because you each seem to like what the other doesn’t. “neither can i, but i think betty would’ve actually hurt me if i didn’t,” you joke while chewing. he rolls his eyes, but he’s still smiling. “please. she’s too nice.”

you lean your head on peter’s shoulder and grab another gummy. he pokes your arm in protest. “this bag is small. get your own.” you’re nuzzling your cheek against him. “i told you they’re gone.” he’s about to put an arm around you when someone screams downstairs. you quickly sit up.

“i’m gonna go see what the hell that was. i’ll find you later?” peter does his best to hide his disappointment. “yeah, of course. good luck.” you clench your teeth and run down the stairs. this is somehow flash’s fault.

it’s been an hour and a half, and peter is nowhere to be seen. the chaos was just that someone really liked the song that was playing. it didn’t take you long to figure that out. when you went to tell peter, he was gone. you’ve looked everywhere for him since, except the backyard.

a pretty big group of people is out here either playing catch or talking. someone also brought a case of beer outside. you spot mj huddled up by the fence with a bottle. it doesn’t necessarily surprise you. it’s weird to see, either way.

“have you seen peter?” you walk up to her. she uses the bottle to gesture somewhere. he’s in the middle of a conversation with liz. your entire body feels like it’s collapsing into itself. it didn’t cross your mind she would be coming even when the party moved to your house.

she’s nice and all. you don’t have any issues with her. not that she knows about, at least. peter had the biggest crush on her for about a month, then it fizzled out. that’s what he told you. unless, he said that to save face.

you’re speechless. mj figured you would be. she gives you a sympathetic smile and holds out her beer. “yep. drink up.” your instincts tell you to take it, so you do. she heads back inside and leaves you alone with your thoughts. that’s not good for you. the only to way to get rid of them is by chugging the rest of this bottle.

you’ve never had your own drink before, and technically you aren’t now. this is still the most alcohol you’ll ever have in your system. before you can change your mind, you take a generous swig. it’s bitter. you don’t hate it as much as you expected to, though.

your eyes land on liz touching peter’s shoulder. that inspires your next big gulp of beer. you finish off the rest, and it hits you fast. you’re understanding why this is such a popular vice. you don’t feel anything but how tipsy you are. light and floaty. you decide to stumble back into the kitchen and find out what other drinks people brought.

the bright color of your costume catches peter’s attention. he was wondering where you were. excusing himself from liz, he follows you in. you bump into betty on your way to the punch bowl someone filled. she’s holding a red solo cup with the mystery liquid. both of you buzzed, you laugh and grab her arm.

“sorry. s- sorry.” you’re squeezing behind her, her angel wings brushing against your face in the process. you have to weave through everyone to make it to the drink table. peter meets you there when you’re getting a cup. he’s shocked.

“y/n?” smiling lazily, you take a sip. “hey, peter. pete.” the sober voice in your head tells you to stop talking. he probably shouldn’t know you’re drunk. then again, your cup gives it away. “y/n, have you been drinking?” he sounds concerned. everything is funny to you right now. you giggle out a “yes.”

peter doesn’t want to be that person, but you’re not acting right. he reaches for your drink. you pull it away too abruptly, and some of it spills onto the floor. “you... you’re so...“ you start losing your balance. “woah.” peter wraps an arm around your waist to steady you. he takes the drink out of your hand and sets it on the table.

frowning, he throws your arm around his shoulders so he can help you get upstairs. “come on, y/n/n.” you don’t argue this time. you’re at the part of being drunk where it doesn’t feel good anymore. peter holds you close to his side and walks you out of the kitchen. he stops to talk to ned for a second.

“hey, man. y/n’s parents are gonna be home soon. could you get everyone out?” he says into his ear. “why can’t she do it?” peter moves out of the way so he’s not blocking you. ned sees. you’re completely faded. “oh, shit. is she okay?” he whisper yells. “i’m gonna take care of her.” “i’ll tell everyone to go.” peter presses his lips into a tight smile, then he’s taking you up to your room.

you flop down onto your bed face first. peter shuts the door behind you. “you okay?” he chuckles, you nodding with your face smushed into the comforter. he’d think it was cute if you weren’t piss drunk. gently nudging you, he moves you so you’re on your back.

“let’s get you out of this.” “ooh, betty was right. you do like me in a skirt,” you giggle and bat your eyelashes at him. he huffs. “no, i mean you have to put on pajamas.” you’re pouting now. “you don’t like me in a skirt?” after going through your drawers, he comes back over with a big t-shirt and fuzzy pants. “i never said that.”

you grin again and grab them from him. “ha.” “do you need help changing?” he sits at the edge of your bed. you’re still laying down. he’s not sure you can handle getting up. “no. don’t be creepy,” you say completely serious. peter has to remind himself you’re drunk. “you were the one who thought i wanted you naked, but ok.”

making peter close his eyes, you peel the costume off your body. you got pretty sweaty. you kick everything onto the floor and start putting on your pajamas. your head gets stuck in an arm hole by accident, so peter has to fix that. the rest is fine. he’s about to bring you into the bathroom to brush your teeth, but you face plant into his lap. you’re out.

the next morning, you wake up feeling like ass. your breath is hot and tastes disgusting. your head is pounding. you could throw up. you’re not even sure how you ended up in your bed. then, you notice peter sitting at your desk. he must have helped you in.

a vague memory of him tucking you under the covers while you whined comes back to you, along with a few others. one of them is of him and liz. the whole reason you did this to yourself.

“hey.” your voice comes out hoarse. “hi.” peter nods and points to your night table. there’s a fresh glass of water. you drink it all down as fast as humanely possible, a hand on your heart. it doesn’t phase him after what you did last night. you set the empty glass down and pat the spot next to you. peter sits by your side.

he’s still dressed as han solo, but his vest and belt are sprawled out on the floor. the boots are under your desk. he actually stayed all night for you.

“i think i’m hungover.” you rest your head against his arm. his body relaxes. “you didn’t drink that much. mj said she gave you half a beer,” he almost laughs, you groaning. “that means i’m a lightweight.” “for now.” your arm wrapping around his, you look up at him.

“sorry you had to deal with me. am i in trouble?” “nah, your parents don’t know. we cleaned everything up before they got home.” he lightly pats the top of your head with two fingers. you squeeze your eyes shut when he does it. “you did? thank you so much, wow.” peter nods and smiles for a second.

he lays his back against the pillow on his side. “let’s just pretend that never happened.” “you’re good at pretending,” you mumble to yourself. you’re not as quiet as you think because peter hears it. “um, what?” you feel too woozy to come up with a cover. letting out a breath, you take your head and hands off of him.

“i saw you talking with liz.” “she wanted to know if i could lead decathlon practice next week. she’s not gonna be in school,” he says slowly, not getting it. “why?” having to spell it out is making you frustrated. “didn’t you say you don’t like her anymore?” “yeah, i don’t.”

“so, why was she being all... touchy?” the jealousy is clear in your voice. peter shrugs. “that’s how liz is. i still don’t get why it matters.” you ease yourself to sit up and turn to face him. those three words you’ve been meaning to tell him are on the absolute tip of your tongue. they’re about to come out.

then...

“i like you, y/n.”

peter says them for you.

you’re so surprised you nearly vomit for real. or, it could be the possible hangover. almost a minute has gone by when you realize you’ve been sitting there with your mouth hanging open. you swallow your spit. “you... you do?” “a lot. i kept trying to tell you, but there was never a good time.” his voice is softer now.

“i realized after homecoming. i wished i went with you instead of...” he doesn’t have to finish the sentence. you nod, a small smile spreading across your face. peter’s eyes are so hopeful. “i like you, too. a lot.” your gaze trails down to his lips.

“i’d kiss you if my breath didn’t stink.” “i’ll let you owe me one.” he’s fully grinning now, and both of you laugh. they’re the kind of laughs you do because you’re so happy you don’t know what to say.

peter presses his lips to your temple, your eyes fluttering closed. “get some more sleep. i’m gonna ask you out when you wake up,” he mumbles against your hair. you grab his hand that’s resting on the comforter. “can you stay with me?” “of course.”

he lays down next to you. you pull back the covers so he can get under them. your head is resting on his chest, an arm around his torso. both of his hug your waist. you’re instantly comfortable cuddled up in his embrace. you drift off to sleep with a smile.

this feels like such a dream. it’s the exact type of situation you’d make up in your head. but, it’s real. peter is still holding you when you wake up. he’s not going anywhere.

[papermoonloveslucy]

MARILYN MONROE

June 1, 1926 - August 4, 1962

Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson) was an actress, model, and singer. Famous for playing comedic "blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s and was emblematic of the era's changing attitudes towards sexuality. She was a top-billed actress for only a decade, but her films grossed $200 million by the time of her death in 1962. More than half a century later, she continues to be a major popular culture icon.

"When I was five I think, that's when I started wanting to be an actress. I didn't like the world around me because it was kind of grim, but I loved to play house. When I heard that this was acting, I said that's what I want to be. Some of my foster families used to send me to the movies to get me out of the house and there I'd sit all day and way into the night. Up in front, there with the screen so big, a little kid all alone, and I loved it.” ~ Marilyn Monroe,1962

Lucille Ball never worked with Marilyn Monroe, but meet her in 1953 at Ciro’s Nightclub on Sunset Strip, along with Betty Grable, and Red Skelton. Monroe’s immense popularity permeated Ball’s work none-the-less. 

At the start of “Changing the Boys’ Wardrobe” (ILL S3;E10) the gang is heading to the movies to see “That picture we’ve been trying to get to for weeks with Marilyn Monroe.” The movie is likely Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which premiered in New York City in July 1953. On November 5, 1953, the same day the episode was filmed, Monroe’s new film How to Marry a Millionaire was released in the US. 

The November 1953 cover of TV and Movie Screen Magazine saw Lucy (in “The Camping Trip”) and Marilyn wearing the dress she wore on the May 1953 cover of Life Magazine promoting Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. 

Also on November 5, 1953, the town of Monroe, New York (60 miles from New York City) was temporarily renamed Marilyn Monroe.

The film later inspired much of the plot of “Second Honeymoon” (S5;E14), Lucy’s failed attempt to make their transatlantic crossing to Europe more than just a working vacation.    

Monroe’s dinner companion turns out to be a seven year-old boy, just like Lucy’s ping pong partner turns out to be young Kenneth Hamilton (Harvey Grant). 

Lucy gets stuck in a porthole just as Monroe did, also draping a blanket around her shoulders so passersby wouldn’t know what was really going on.

The idea for the burlap potato sack dresses in “Lucy Wants A Paris Gown” (ILL S5;E20) comes from Monroe’s real life. 

In 1951 Marilyn Monroe took a series of high fashion photographs wearing a potato sack as a response to a journalist who said that she might look sexier in a burlap sack than her usual fashion choices. 

Lucy first wore burlap at the end of “Mr. and Mrs. TV Show” (ILL S4;E24) as her scary version of a Phipps make-over.

In “Ricky’s Movie Offer” (ILL S4;E5) Lucy and Ethel argue about who looks more like Marilyn Monroe. 

While Lucy has the facial features, Ethel has the blonde hair. 

Fred (hilariously) settles the argument!  

In “Ricky’s Screen Test” (ILL S4;E7) a long list of Hollywood names are dropped in anticipation of hobnobbing with celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe. 

In “Lucy and Harpo Marx” (ILL S4;E28) Lucy wonders if Ethel might pass for Monroe to a near-sighted Carolyn Appleby. After Ethel tries to walk like Marilyn Monroe, Lucy decides that “nobody is that near-sighted!” Fred says that he looks more like Marilyn than either of them! 

In “Lucy and Superman” (ILL S6;E13), the Appleby’s come over for a social evening that Ethel calls “the bore war” because the couples only talk about their children. As the scene opens, Caroline is in mid-sentence talking about a Marilyn Monroe film.

CAROLINE: “...and he picked up Marilyn Monroe, slung her over his shoulder and carried her off!”

Although the title is never mentioned, the film they are discussing is Bus Stop, starring Marilyn Monroe and Don Murray. It was released in August 1956, two and a half months before this episode was filmed.

When “Lucy Does the Tango” (ILL S6;E20), she stuffs eggs down her blouse and Ethel stashes a some in her back pockets. Lucy tells her, “Whatever you do don’t try to walk like Marilyn Monroe,” but the ‘yolk’ is on Ethel when Fred suddenly enters through the kitchen door! 

In “Lucy the Gun Moll” (TLS S4;E25), Lucy plays Lucy Carmichael and Rusty Martin. The name Rusty Martin was probably derived from Lucy’s hair color and the surname of Mary Martin, who introduced the song “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” (music and lyrics by Cole Porter) in the 1938 Broadway musical Leave It to Me. Marilyn Monroe sang it in the 1960 film Let’s Make Love.  In that same film, Harry Cheshire, who played Sam Johnson in “Oil Wells” (ILL S3;E18), played Monroe’s father. Jerry Hausner (Jerry, Ricky’s Agent) and Joan Banks (Reporter Eleanor Harris in “Fan Magazine Interview”) played uncredited supporting roles. 

Lucy and Marilyn shared a leading man in handsome Keith Andes. Andes was Lucy’s male lead in Wildcat on Broadway, and later played was featured on three episodes of “The Lucy Show.”  

In 1952, he played opposite Marilyn in Clash By Night, an RKO picture. 

In “Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio” (1952), the June 3, 1952 of Look Magazine actually had Lucille Ball and Marilyn Monroe on the cover!  Monroe was promoting Clash by Night, and Desi had written a feature on his wife for the magazine. So Marilyn actually did appear on “I Love Lucy” - if only in a still photo. 

Some Like It Hot (1959) is arguably one of Marilyn Monroe’s most popular films. What does it have in common with Lucille Ball? In 1958, both Lucy and Monroe were depicted at San Diego’s famous Del Coronado Hotel. It is the hotel that the Ricardo’s and Mertzes stay at in “Lucy Goes to Mexico” (LDCH S2;E1) as well as the backdrop for much of the film. Although Desilu filmed establishing footage of the hotel, the cast stayed in Hollywood, while Monroe went on location (as seen above). In “Lucy Goes to a Hollywood Premiere” (TLS S4;E20), Mr. Mooney says he wouldn’t buy a second hand nightie if it had been worn by Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot.

The Irving Berlin song “There’s No Business Like Show Business” was sung on “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show.”  Although it was originally from the Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun (1946), it also served as the title and was performed (by Merman) in the Marilyn Monroe film There’s No Business Like Show Business in 1955. 

In 1952, Marilyn co-starred by Richard Widmark (”The Tour” ILL S4;E30) in the film noir drama Don’t Bother To Knock. The film also featured “Lucy” players Lurene Tuttle (Fine Arts League President), Verna Felton (Mrs. Porter), Gloria Blondell (Grace Foster), as well as Harry Bartell, Olan Soule, Robert Foulke, and Bess Flowers.

That same year, Monroe starred in We’re Not Married! opposite Lucy’s friend and former co-star Ginger Rogers, as well as Eve Arden (”Hollywood at Last!”), Paul Douglas (”Lucy Wants a Career”) and Eddie Bracken (Too Many Girls). 

One of Monroe’s most iconic moments came in March 1962 when she sang “Happy Birthday” as a birthday present to President John F. Kennedy in a public birthday celebration also attended by Lucy’s friends and co-stars Jack Benny, Jimmy Durante, Henry Fonda, Danny Kaye, Shirley MacLaine and Elliott Reid. A year later, Lucy Carmichael also gave Kennedy a present, a sugar cube replica of the White House on “The Lucy Show” with Elliott Reid doing Kennedy’s offstage voice as well as playing a small on-camera role! 

"I never quite understood it, this sex symbol. I always thought symbols were those things you clash together! That's the trouble, a sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing. But if I'm going to be a symbol of something I'd rather have it sex than some other things they've got symbols of." ~ Marilyn Monroe, 1962

Monroe was married (and divorced) three times: 

James Dougherty, Merchant Marine & Policeman (1942-46) 

Joe DiMaggio, Baseball Player (1954-55)

Arthur Miller, Playwright (1956-61)

In “Lucy is Enceinte” (ILL S2;E10), Fred gives Lucy a signed baseball for his future 'godson’. When he asks Lucy to read out the signature, she at first says “Spalding,” the ball’s brand name, but then finds it is signed by Joe DiMaggio.

In “Ragtime Band” (ILL S6;E21), Little Ricky asks his Uncle Fred: 

LITTLE RICKY: “Who’s Joe 'Maggio?” FRED: “'Who’s Joe 'Maggio?’ You talk more like your father everyday.”

In “Sales Resistance” (ILL S2;E17), Lucy compares herself to Willy Loman, the title character in Death of a Salesman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Arthur Miller first produced on Broadway in 1949 and made into an Oscar-nominated film in 1951.  

Speaking of husbands, Desi Arnaz has something in common with Marilyn Monroe, too. Both of their souses were accused of being Communists by the House Un-American Activities Committee during the 1950s. Both Lucille and Arthur Miller were cleared of charges and their careers continued, although that was not true for many celebrities of the time. 

Monroe died on August 4, 1962. The toxicology report showed that the cause of death was acute barbiturate poisoning. Empty medicine bottles were found next to her bed. The possibility that Monroe had accidentally overdosed was ruled out because the dosages found in her body were several times over the lethal limit.

The character of Ginger, the movie star castaway on “Gilligan’s Island” (1964-67) was described during casting as a combination of Lucille Ball and Marilyn Monroe. Tina Louise had Lucy’s red (ginger) hair and Monroe’s shapely physique. The series also featured Natalie Schafer (Phoebe Emerson) as Mrs. Howell, and Alan Hale Jr. as the Skipper. Hale performed on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy”. Series creator Sherwood Schwartz was a Lucy fan. His brother Elroy Schwartz actually wrote scripts for Lucille Ball. 

In the 2013 web-series “Ryan & Ruby” both Lucille Ball and Marilyn Monroe are given special thanks for their inspiration. The last name of star and creator Ryan Burton's character is "Carmichael", the same as Ball's character on the "The Lucy Show". In Ryan’s kitchen there are fridge magnets with photos of both Lucy and Marilyn.  

Lucy and Marilyn are street characters at Universal Studios theme parks, their iconic hair and costumes making them instantly recognizable.

The same day Marilyn Monroe was born in 1926, another Hollywood icon with connections to Lucille Ball was also born, Andy Griffith.  To read his birthday blog, click here! 

[tandv]

So true what you said about ships!!! I remember being pissed off at Grey’s Anatomy because all couples kept breaking up and in an adult show that was just annoying. I want to see some people in their 30s and 40s being together until the end of the show, with all the real life challenges and ups and downs etc. And then Riverdale where characters have the right age to do dumb shit was just SO BORING. I think maybe they were just too absorbed by the mystery plots to develop relationship drama enough. Same with friendships tbh, Veronica & Betty and Jughead & Archie were supposed to be best friends but there was barely time to see that unfolding and growing (especially the girls).

(I am happy that Nancy Drew (not sure if you watch it) switched its main couple through season 1. I was bracing myself for more show-long commitment but apparently we can still be surprised.)

I just think in the case of Riverdale they really could have spent more time switching ships earlier on so that having long lasting relationships even later in high school if not in adulthood would have been more effective?

Look at Gossip Girl they didn’t stay with the same partners the whole time and yet they ended up with their most popular pairing. And love or hate their “endgames” at least we knew that they dated other people and they ultimately chose the partner they felt the most connected to in the long run.

A pairing like Choni where Cheryl assumably never dated anyone else as an adult is just really boring to me. I wanted her to have lived a life outside of Toni and not been cooped up inside her adult years and then when the reconcile it’ll be as new and improved versions of themselves because we know hey they have been with other people and experienced life outside of this one pairing and they still found their way back. That would be far more satisfying as a tv viewer to me idk.

And the Varchie/Bughead/Choni situation where even when they did break them up, they either got back together within a few episodes or in Veronica and Archie’s case; their new partners were never intended to be treated like they mattered to them and were easily ended when it was convenient. Which was so frustrating.

There was no reason to end Veronica and Reggie just because Archie came back. And they were like “oh they weren’t even dating it was just hooking up”

The show didn’t tell us that until Archie was back and suddenly she was like oh yeah I love Archie actually Soz.

And I think Toni and Jughead could have actually dated properly in season 2, established them as friends and then dated and then broke up later on. It would have given their storyline’s a better longevity and established Toni as a character before being Cheryl’s girlfriend. And made sure Toni had real connections outside of being her love interest. It could have really given a good insight into the serpents to have them both be a focus (this only works if Toni was treated important in that storyline and not just substituting Cheryl for Jughead obviously)

Barchie should have happened in high school and not as a cheating storyline. It should have happened as an in between relationship of bughead and varchie’s break ups. Either while Veronica was with Reggie or Jughead and Toni. Or whoever else.

Then as adults they could have gone back to them or focused on bughead or varchie or whatever other new love interests and combinations.

I think the reason why so many people got sick of the main ships was because there was never a change. It was always catering to the shippers of those ships.

And yes I agree to an extent that those ships are important and a crucial part of the show. And I’ve enjoyed them for the most part even with criticisms along the way.

But I also think that if they’d broken up and not for the sake of it, for a reason that actually added to the plot, and given different ships more opportunities to further the plot by creating fresh and new dynamics. Then the friction in the fandom right now wouldn’t be so jarring.

I also think the reason why it hurts the shippers of the main three pairings is because the show got too used to just having them together for so long that it became the norm. Everyone who ships them got so used to their pairing being together that now going cold turkey and not even having a friendship between them is something that hurts because it’s never happened.

The show sucks at writing friendships and like you said, they could have put in so much more effort into using those friendships and dynamics to make the storyline’s better but they really got into a rut and stopped knowing how to write relationships outside of the ones they already are too lazy to focus on outside of the case driven episodes.

And as for greys I agree! I mean especially with characters like Lexie and Mark who could have been fine without all the break ups. And they’re right now trying to make Meredith get into another triangle? Like why? She’s a middle aged woman with kids she doesn’t need a love triangle. Just pick one and work on it. There is no reason to be giving middle aged characters the same nonsense that 20 year olds go through. Like if your only solution to adding drama to relationships are cheating and triangles then you need some new writers lol

(I don’t watch Nancy Drew but I’m glad they’re shaking it up early on aha)

[traincat]

i just found out about the gwen and norman babies and i’m just wondering what the fuck

“What the fuck” is a pretty accurate summary, but okay, so. Story time, because while this ask refers to the developments of a story called Sins Past (Amazing Spider-Man #509-#514), in which it was revealed that Gwen Stacy had twins fathered by Norman Osborn, to grasp the full story here we’ve got to go back to a little bit to before the death of Gwen Stacy.

In Amazing Spider-Man #93, after George Stacy’s death, his brother Arthur invites Gwen to come stay with his family in England. (This is notably where The Amazing Spider-Man 2 gets its “Gwen moving to England” storyline.) Peter had been planning to propose to her, but freezes up under the knowledge that Gwen blames Spider-Man for her father’s death:

Gwen takes it as a rejection, and leaves to go stay with her aunt and uncle in England. One thing I don’t think gets touched on enough with Gwen is that she’s very empathic, and good at picking up on all of Peter’s feelings and cues – it’s just that she doesn’t have the full context to interpret them. This also isn’t the first time Peter’s been in this situation; after he graduated high school, knowing that Ned Leeds had proposed to Betty Brant, Peter also had planned to propose to her, somewhat secure in the knowledge that Betty would’ve chosen him over Ned. (She would’ve, and in fact when Betty’s marriage to Ned began falling apart much later, she and Peter briefly engaged in an affair.) But when Betty says she could never love a man who was an adventurer, “a man who risks his life each day”, Peter realizes that as Spider-Man it wouldn’t be fair to propose to her and storms out.

(He notably did not take into consideration that he was a high school graduate with a freelance job who still lived with his aunt in the “to propose or not to propose” dilemma. Typical.)

Gwen would return to New York in Amazing Spider-Man #98 – a whole five issues later. Coincidentally, this also marked the return of the Green Goblin, Norman’s memories of Peter’s secret identity as Spider-Man having returned. The Green Goblin was briefly stopped when Peter used the sight of Harry – who was suffering from a drug overdose – to shock Norman out of the Green Goblin persona. With Norman once again unaware that his son’s best friend and roommate was Spider-Man, Harry on the mend, and Gwen back from England, everything was coming up Parker and, though no specific details had been ironed out, Peter and Gwen were set to marry. (I think it’s important to note with PeterGwen how serious they were, and that they were planning to get married.)

But, famously, that didn’t last – Norman did remember, during a particularly nasty overdose of Harry’s, and he kidnapped and killed Gwen in Amazing Spider-Man #121. 

So with all that in mind, let’s talk Sins Past itself. This got long. More under the cut.

Alright, so, all that said and done – in Sins Past, the story is flipped on its head. In Amazing Spider-Man #509, Peter receives a letter from Gwen, allegedly written while she was in Paris, indicating that when she died she did so with some kind of secret. The letter arrives incomplete, the secret unrevealed.

Furthermore, two mysterious (and super-powered) shadowy figures are trying to kill Peter, but that’s just like, a Wednesday for him. Along the way, and with a stunning admission from Mary Jane, it’s revealed that the two shadowy would-be assassins are Gwen’s twin children, and that their father is Norman Osborn. 

Yeah.

The twins – Sarah and Gabriel Stacy – are aging preternaturally fast because of the Goblin serum Norman had dosed himself with. They were also born after only seven months – but the infants weren’t premature. It’s revealed that that’s why Gwen left for Europe, not, in fact, to stay with her father’s family, but to secretly have her children.

Yeah.

The twins were brought up in France by Norman, kept isolated from the world, and raised as trained fighters who believed that Peter was their father, and that he had abandoned them and killed their mother. So now they’re here to kill him.

Yeah.

So we’ll pause here to take some questions.

1) “What? Why? What?”

So initially, writerJ. Michael Straczynski wanted Sarah and Gabriel to be Peter’s children with Gwen. This was nixed by Marvel, under the belief that having two adult children would age the character too much. I mean, they’re actually like, seven years old, but okay. Denying Peter the status of fatherhood because it would “age him” too much is a frustrating pattern in Spider-Man canon: Norman notably orchestrated the murder of Peter and MJ’s baby several years before. Instead of chucking the story out of the window altogether, which you know, would have been my first pick, it was reworked so that Norman was the father of Gwen’s children, because that was so much better than Peter discovering he had children with one of the people he loved most in the world. Comics are here to be a frustrating experience for everyone.

2) “So Gwen cheated on Peter?”

This is a frustrating take on the situation I’ve seen on more than one anti-Gwen post, painting Gwen as the villain of the piece for sleeping with Norman, instead of as a vulnerable young woman taken advantage of by the father of one of her best friends, a disturbingly realistic scenario before you ever even add in the fact that Norman is a literal supervillain. When Gwen recounts her one sexual encounter with Norman to Mary Jane, she herself seems confused about how and why she ended up in the situation. While I don’t think the intent was to have the encounter be out and out nonconsensual, there’s more than enough room to wonder. 

This is a very emotional time for the cast of Spider-Man; George Stacy is dead. Gwen blames Spider-Man and Peter is dealing with that and the way he is dealing with it is making Gwen doubt his love for her. Both Harry and Norman are falling apart in very different ways. Sometimes, things happen and situations arise and there’s no planning involved; “naive young woman is seduced by the darkness inside of an older man” is a tired trope, but a prevalent one. In any event, even if Gwen did deliberately cheat on Peter (which, no matter how you read the issue of consent in Sins Past, is clearly not what Gwen describes to Mary Jane), she was taken advantage of by an older man in a position of power over her, and after she had his children he turned around, killed her, and raised and abused her children to believe that the man Gwen wanted to raise them had abandoned them and murdered Gwen. So there’s no version of events here in which Gwen Stacy is the bad guy, and using that argument to prop up one of Peter’s other love interests as a better person than her is a bad take. There are no “good people” here: these are fictional characters who have been handled by many different creators over the years. They cannot make their own choices.

3) “Wait, J. Michael Straczynski? Isn’t that the guy whose Spider-Man comics you’re always telling people to read?”

Haha yeah it sure is!! It can be rough recommending a whole run, because the longer they get, the greater the chance there is of there being that one story in there you reaaaaally don’t think is for everyone, which is Sins Past. And this is tough, because as much as I don’t think Sins Past should be in continuity, JMS’ amazing voices for both Peter and Mary Jane never falters.

There are a lot of different kinds of bad stories in mainstream superhero comics: bad plot, bad characterization; good plot, bad characterization; bad plot, good characterization – and those are just some of the possible bad story combinations. I think Sins Past is a bad plot that’s very disrespectful to a female character whose legacy was already her brutal death at the hands of a supervillain. Reframing that death so that, instead of merely being at the wrong place at the wrong time and paying the ultimate price, Norman purposefully hunted down Gwen before she could tell Peter about her twins, doesn’t help. As a fan of Gwen, I don’t like her part in this story and I personally don’t think it should exist (as the story it currently is, and I’ll touch on that later) in continuity. I think it should be explicitly retconned out in a way that brooks no argument. (JMS himself has said he wished to retcon it out, but wasn’t allowed.)

That being said, have I read this like eight times? You bet. I think the art is stunning, I think JMS’ is really an incredible talent when it comes to writing Peter, who can be, to put it simply, a difficult character to get. I find the PeterMJ scenes are beautiful, as are Peter’s melancholy-tinged memories of Gwen. Also, I love comic book garbage. Skrulls? Clones? Robots? A character’s long lost children, artificially aged to adulthood and back to kill their supposed father? Oh my God, that’s so stupid. I want twenty of it.

So my feelings here are really mixed. I don’t like the rewrite of Gwen’s history. I don’t like that this is in serious continuity (and I’ll touch on that in a moment). Additionally, I don’t think the timeline really works – I’ve never felt Gwen was abroad for quite that long, even with the sped up pregnancy, and when she does come back, there’s quite a lot of time for her to tell Peter, which was something Sins Past had made clear she’d intended to do. But whatever, retcons are retcons, they rarely if ever are perfect fits. I do like the characterization of Peter and Mary Jane, and I like it a lot. If I had to pick a story that in my own opinion perfectly highlights how Peter experiences every single strong emotion, it would be this one, which is unfortunate because, well, everything else about this. It is unfortunately totally believable to me that Norman would have slept with Gwen and then killed her, but tbh if I was picking a member of Peter’s social circle who would willingly sleep with Norman, it’d be Flash, who briefly worked for Norman and was quite enamored by him – before he waterboarded Flash with whiskey, strapped him into a semi-truck, and made him crash into Midtown High, landing him in a coma. Oh, and then, way later, also murdering him. Norman’s gonna Norman.

Like I said: mixed feelings.

3) “Wait, but is it in continuity when it’s almost never brought up again, and nobody, not Peter or Mary Jane or Norman, mentions it even when it would make sense to and also nobody wants this in continuity anymore?”

Hhhh yeah it unfortunately is, and I’ll outline why, because it would have been so easy to take it out of continuity. So Sins Past takes place shortly before One More Day, wherein Aunt May was shot following the events of Civil War, during which Peter had revealed his identity on national television and the Spider-Man cat was out of the bag. In One More Day, Peter’s offered a choice by Mephisto: his marriage for his aunt’s life. Ultimately, unable to live with himself if he says no, Peter agrees. The marriage (although notably not the long term committed relationship – in the altered timeline, Peter and Mary Jane were still together from the date of their wedding to just after Civil War) was erased from the timeline, Aunt May was saved, and Peter’s identity was once again hidden from the world and from many of the people who had already know, like Felicia Hardy, the Fantastic Four, and most notably from Aunt May. There were also some additional changes made: most notably, Harry Osborn, who died in Spectacular Spider-Man #200, the best issue of all time, was alive. Clearly, the changes to the narrative’s web, if you will, extended beyond the framework of just Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage. Like I said: basically nobody talks about this story. It shows up on lists of the worst comic book plots of all time all the time. The characters almost never bring up Gabriel or Sarah – there is a sequel story called Sins Remembered: Sarah’s Story (The Spectacular Spider-Man vol 2 issues #23-26), written by Samm Barnes, where Sarah sends for Peter’s help in Paris and he does his level best to be her dad.

But of course all is not as it seems blah blah. I won’t say it’s the worst comic I’ve ever read. 

It would have been easy, then, to retcon Gabriel and Sarah out with Brand New Day, since nobody ever talks about them or wants this story to be in continuity, including its original writer. Right?

Wrong. In the American Son miniseries, which is post-Brand New Day, Gabriel Stacy makes a prominent reappearance, although Sarah’s whereabouts are unknown.

I’ll be honest: I personally don’t consider this series of events to be canon. I never mention or include it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s extra-canon material, not to be counted. But that’s just me personally as a reader. If I was asked whether or not this was actually canon, in that it was published and not retconned back out – the answer is yes, the twins exist in canon. Not my personal canon, but the actual canon.

But we could fix that.

4) “Well, Traincat,” said nobody, “how WOULD you fix Gabriel and Sarah Stacy so that the twins could be kept in continuity without everyone screaming?”

Great question, me! I would fix it with the greatest out Spider-Man storytelling has ever given us: clones. It’s very notable that Sarah looks exactly like Gwen…

Gabriel was specifically drawn with a strong resemblance to Peter. Look at that. The Osborn hair doesn’t spare people that way. The answer then, becomes simple: keep the story. Keep Gabriel and Sarah. But have them be revealed as two of the Jackal’s Peter and Gwen clones. It’s a better explanation for why Gabriel and Sarah would be adults than “the goblin serum did it”, and planting the twins, who could fully believe they were who they said they were with the use of artificial memories, in Peter’s path as a form of psychological torment fits with many of villains – presenting Spider-Man with the children of his lost love, fathered by one of his greatest enemies, as a form of torture. As for Mary Jane’s recount of when she found out, well – the same thing: implanted memories. There are more than enough characters on the Marvel landscape who are capable of that. It’d be pretty easy to pull off, since Marvel seems stubbornly set on keeping Gabriel and Sarah on the playing field, and honestly, it makes a lot more sense. Clones! (Let me pull it off, Marvel!!)

One final note: Sins Past outright alleges that Gwen and Peter never had sex, because Peter knows from the start in the story that they couldn’t be his children. To which I would like to say: lol yeah right.

So that’s (probably more than you wanted to know about) Sins Past! 

[its-me-im-coraline]

Jughead Jones | My little Serpent

Count of words: 2567

Warnings: super long, longer than intended, fluff, maybe kind of spoiler about the season finale but I guess you have all seen it. I SWEAR I DIDN’T INTEND ON WRITE SUCH A LONG IMAGINE BUT I’M PROUD!

A/N: this is seriously as good as it could be. It is currently very late at night and while I was trying to sleep I couldn’t cause someone is having a wedding on the next street and there are fireworks, which I’m scared of so heeey I got a distraction.....I swear this is 100% your average big greek fat wedding going on in that house. IT’S BEEN ALMOST 6 HOURS NOW!!! Sorry I rumble about this... Anyway enjoy my late night creation ♥

PS. Let’s pretend that Fred was either not shot or survived the shot...

(My little Serpent part two)  (My little Serpent part three)

MASTERLIST

PROMPTS

AND REQUESTS HERE

@tayrae515 asked: Ok so don't hate me but I had another idea! Could you do one where you are once again Archie's younger sister and you and Jughead are really close friends so when he became a serpent you were around them a lot and became friends of the serpents and because they take care of there own the offer you a jacket to and Archie and Betty and the gang find out and get upset, they feel like they already lost Juggie and don't want to lose another friend but you join and idk fluff? Jughead x reader. 💕💕💕

Even with all that crazy stuff following you ever since the death of Jason Blossom, you thought that for once you could have a quiet day. And you did, but not for long. You woke up that morning with your brother, Archie, and his best friend ,and roomate, Jughead jumping on top of you. They were laughing while trying to wake you up to have break fast and go to school with them. As soon as you realised what was going on the two dorks started tickling you and the extreme laughter combined with the extreme ab exersise you were getting by it didn’t really let you talk. “Stop! Stop you are killing me,” you yelled. “DAD! SAVE ME!” You called at him after seeing him standing by the door, admiring the joyfull moment before him. “Hey, boys, enough,” he tried stoping him but the didn’t stop. “Well, you know what they say, Y/N. ‘If you can’t stop them, join them’ .“ “NO!” You screamed as your dad joined the two boys tickling you; more like stabbing you, with their fingers. 

“I hate you all,” you said at the two boys sitting in front of you eating breakfast trying to suppress their chuckles. “She’s right, you know,” your father butted in jokingly. “Oh, you don’t talk,” you grumped and went on with your breakfast as the man let out a breathy laugh.

The day seemed to be rather calm. You know, stupid classes, small breaks, lunch with your brother and his friends; in which Jughead would not stop tickling you. You really had no idea why they were like that today but you liked it. As much as you hated to admit you liked it. But, your quiet day came to an end as soon as you walked inside your house with your brother and your close friend short behind you. 

As you stepped a foot inside you spotted a woman around the age of your father talking to him. “Hey, guys. This is Ms. Weiss from Social Services. She’s, uh, she’s Jughead’s case worker.” Your father declared as soon as he saw you three. You all seemed shocked and you were. While the boys walked towards the small kitchen you followed close behind. “Jughead, I know how terrible and emotional the last few days have been for you. Your father’s facing serious jail time. Your mom’s over-extended and out of state. We just want to make sure that you’re taken care of.” The woman admitted and Archie butted in , “Well, he can keep staying with us, right, Dad?” Your father simply sent him a sad smile telling him that he already offered. At that moment you knew what was coming. You took Jughead’s arm in your hands and held it firmly, while you later proceeded on hugging it close you your body and interwine your fingers together. He turned his gaze on you for a second smile at the sight of you like this. No, you were not together, not that it would bother you. But Jughead was the person you truly fitten in with. He was quiet and so were you. You were the two members of the little group of friends that would never talk, and when you were it would mostly be between you two and you would be just making sarcastic remarks. “Great, so what’s the problem?” You asked even though you knew the answer.  “It was a DUI. After your mom left. Look, we can talk about this later but between that and my cash flow problem, it knocks me out.” Your father explained as Jughead gave your hand a reasuring squeeze. “There is a family on the Southside that’s offered to foster you. They’re good people, they’ve worked with us before.” The woman added while looking at him. “That doesn’t sound completely horrible.” Jughead reasoned, saying that mostly for you to hear. “It does mean you’ll be in a different school district, Jughead, and you’ll have to transfer schools.” That’s when you lost it. The only person you were comfortable around in school was going to tranfer to the southside. Great, wasn’t that just great?

After leaving them and dashing into your room you were completely unaware of anything else that was said. All you could do was stay in your room and try to calm down a bit. There was a soft knock on the door and without having anytime time to answer the sudden visitor opened the door. “Are you ok?” A person you recognised as Jughead asked. You slowly rearrenge your posistion so you could look at him. “Do I look ok?” you replied with tear stained eyes. “Oh, little one, come here. I’m not gonna be that far away,” he said hugging you close to his body. “I’ll tell you what. I will be staying at my dad’s house, ok? And you will be coming over as frequently as you would like, ok? We could even have sleepovers!” He cheered trying to explain to you that it was not the end of the world. “Yeah, ok. But you will not be there with me at school. How will I do that?” you asked, probably acting like a baby but you didn’t care. “Well, uhm, I could give you my beanie but we both now I won’t,” he said jokingly and making you smlie, “but I will give you one of my flannels. You can wear it on school and it’ll be as if I’m there, yeah?” He said giving you a peck on the forehead. “Good. Want me to sleep here tonight?” he asked and you simply nodded as he started getting comfortable in the bed and pulling you towards his body, embrassing yoy and allowing the heat to warm your small body up in this cold night. “The door stays open,” your father called passing by, always destroying the moment.

It had already been a couple of days ever since Jughead moved to the southside and you spent most of your time there.You would finish school and then you would instantly run to FP’s trailer to meet Jug and today was not going to be any different. The thing was that before that Jughead would come over so you all would go to the Jubilee together and as much as he hated it he did it for you. He walked inside and was stunned after he saw you. You were standing by the kitchen island with your brother and mother. A stunning off-the-shoulder tight-fitted black dress, falling down to your knees. You looked absolutely stunning and Jughead could not hide it. “Oh, Jug’s here,” your mother called and you saw the boy looking at you all. “Jug!” You called and walked up to hug him. “Hey little one,” he said hugging back and giving you a forehead kiss. “Are they a thing?” Your mother asked Archie silently that replied with a disappointed no. “I think we should head off,” your dad said and grabbed his car keys as you all walked to the truck.

After the boring dance was over... Well, it was not so boring. I mean you had Betty’s speach and your brother sing with his current love intrest, and your mum being annoying and a lot more things, but let’s stick to boring. So, after the boring dance was over you and Jughead were going to walk to his father’s trailer, watch a movie and you would then sleep here. And that’s exactly what happened, with a little twist. You made it to your destination and walked inside. Jughead offered you a shirt of his he knew would be huge on you and a pair of his boxers as shorts, knowing that his sweatpants would be enormous on you. You were after all tiny in front of him, but he found that cute. Not that you knew. After putting that on you found Jughead sitting on the couch turning on the TV to find a good movie, and knowing him it would probably be some great old one or a scary movie since he was always amused when you got scared. But his actions were stopped when there was a knock on the door. He walked outside but you didn’t know what happened until you got out as well to see what took him so long and he was wearing his father’s Serpent jacket. When he saw you he seemed scared of your reaction but you took it surprisingly well. You even said that he looked like a very dark version of Clark Kent with the hair and all, or like a younger and more adorable version of Damon Salvatore. After that you continued doing what was on your original plans.

Your brother and his friends were devastated when they saw Jughead walk inside Pop’s wearing his Serpent jacket. Betty was shocked to say the least, while your brother seemed angry, Veronica didn’t think much of it and neither did Kevin so they just kept on making jokes and comments like the ones you did when he was given the jacket. The downside of this was that you were going to have your brother talk about this for a long long time, but you would indeed avoid it as much as possible. 

It had been about a week since Jughead became in charge of the southside Surpents, since his father was the ‘leader’ before. But he did have help both from you and a man’s that was second-in-command that took his dad’s place until Jughead came to the southside. Due to that and because you and him seemed to become even closer with everything that happened you spent a lot of time together in the southside, either just walking around and talking, or staying at his house, or some times spending a lot of time in the Whyte Wyrm. Everyone was surprised and you constantly had your brother or father trying to keep you from going there with Jug, but you didn’t seemed to care. The thing is the Serpents accept you as their own, they got your back not matter what. Like that time this girl from your school started calling you names and some of them happened to be around they did everything to protect you from her and make sure you didn’t actually believe everything she said. They even had one of their own stick around you just to make sure you were ok but your brother didn’t know. 

One day you all were going to hang out over at Jug’s so you, your brother and the girls were driving there in Archie’s truck. Just as you stepped outside a bunch of Serpents appeared in front of you. Betty got scared, thinking they would attack you or something, since they were told you to stop walking, and she hurried to get Jughead. He walked towards you watching as the second-in-command came over to you and hugged you. “Look,” he began, “we see your friends here are like family to you, you are one of them. But you are family to us and you are one of us. And you know how we take of our own. So we wanted you to know that we will keep on taking care of you, kid. It’s always good when you stick around and, well, we thought you deserve to have this. You deserve to have this cause, as I said you are one of us.” He finished. It was so sweet how much these people cared for you. I mean you grew up with the idea that they are vicious and bad. But they’re not. They are nice people; different people that are under the influence of the stereotypes. You smiled at the man and reached for the jacked but Archie stopped you. “Y/N, no. Don’t you dare. You are not a surpent. You are one of us.” He said. “He’s right, Y/N. You don’t belong with them but with us.” Veronica butted in, agreeing with the stupidity of my brother. “We already lost Jughead to the serpents,little one, we can’t lose you as well,” said Betty adding to the anger that began to boil inside of you. “You are joking right? You don’t mean this stupid things you said.” You mumble. “No, Y/N we’re not,” replied Archie. You looked down for a second contemplaiting what was going on exactly, and then you did what your friends and brother didn’t want you to. You grabbed the jacket from the surpent and wrapped it around your body. After a long time you felt like home. You felt that you truly belonged somewhere. The serpents start cheering on your decision the one that gave you the jacket even hugged you once again. Jughead stared in aw as the two girls with Archie walked inside.

The serpents left and both you and Jughead walked inside meeting a furious Archie, a disappointed Betty and an annoyed Veronica. “What’s wrong with you guys?” You asked trying to understand why they all were like that. “What’s wrong? You ask what’s wrong? Y/N, you are no serpent. You are my sister. They are no good for you.” Archie said pacing up and down the small space. “Arch are you joking? They are amazing people. At least most of them. They treat me like family, they take care of me. They have one of their own to keep an eye on me and make sure I’m safe with all that shit you guys get yourselves into and drag me into as well.” You fired back at him. “Wow, Y/N, wow.” Betty said looking at you with a very disappointed, almost discussted look. Tears pricked your eyes as this kept going on for a while. “Just don’t come home until you find a way to explain this to dad,” he said in an angry matter. “That’s it. Get out. All of you get out. And don’t come talk to me or her until you stop being irrational.” Jughead yelled, seeing how these words hurt you. You started sobbing in an instand as Archie said that and Jughead pulled you into his arms. Archie tried to apologise but Jug didn’t let him. “I said leave. Now.” He chanted once more since your brother wouldn’t leave. Eventually he did and Jughead picked you up and walked to the couch.

The whole night you spent on that couch. He would say things to calm you down but your tears would not stop. He wouldn’t give up though. He would hold you in his arms stroking your hair and back in attemts to relax you. “It’s ok Y/N. It’s gonna be alright. You can stay here for as long as needed. You know the serpents love you. I love you,” he said. You stopped crying after he said that and you just stared at his face. “Yo-you love me?” You asked surprised. Jug didn’t reply so you took matters in your own hands and you kissed him. You kissed him with so much love you had never shown to anyone. “I love you too,” you uttered before the boy took you in his arms bridal style and run to the bedroom playfully as you laughed. He seemed so happy you said that, so he threw you on the bed and run to the window and opened it. “My little serpent loves me back,” he screamed repeatingly so every one would know.

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY AND ALADDIN’S LAMP

S3;E21 ~ February 1, 1971

Directed by Charles Walters ~ Written by Frank Gill Jr. and Vin Bogert

Synopsis

When Lucy holds a garage sale, she discovers an old lamp. When wishes start to become reality Lucy believes the lamp may posses magic, until she loses it hiding it from Harry.

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter), Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter), Desi Arnaz Jr. (Craig Carter) 

Guest Cast

Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane) played Betty Ramsey during season six of “I Love Lucy.” She also played Cynthia Harcourt in “Lucy is Envious” (ILL S3;E23) and Evelyn Bigsby in “Return Home from Europe” (ILL S5;E26). She played Audrey Simmons on “The Lucy Show” but when Lucy Carmichael moved to California, she played Mary Jane Lewis, the actor’s married name and the same one she uses on all 31 of her episodes of “Here’s Lucy. Her final acting credit was playing Midge Bowser on “Lucy Calls the President” (1977). She died in 1999 at the age of 83. 

George Niese (Mr. Frost) previously appeared in “Lucy Becomes a Father” (TLS S3;E9). This is his only episode of “Here’s Lucy.”   

Robert Foulk (Janitor) played the policeman on the Brooklyn subway platform in “Lucy and the Loving Cup” (ILL S6;E12) and a Los Angeles Detective in “Lucy Goes To A Hollywood Premiere” (TLS S4;E20). This is the third of his six characters on “Here’s Lucy.”

This is Foulk's third episode in a row on the series.  

William Lanteau (Mr. Minkle) first appeared with Lucille Ball in The Facts of Life (1960). In addition to an episode of “The Lucy Show,” Lanteau did four episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” He is best remembered for playing Charlie the Mailman in the play and the film On Golden Pond (1981).

Mr. Minkle is the superintendent of the office building where Harry and Lucy work.

The Telegram Delivery Boy is uncredited and has no lines.

Some reports say this episode was filmed on April 6, 1970, ten months before its initial air date. However, that is a Monday, and most all episodes were filmed on Thursday or Friday after four days rehearsal, so this is unlikely. 

This is the second of only two episodes directed by 1954 Oscar-winner Charles Walters. The previous entry was “Lucy’s House Guest, Harry” (S3;E20). He went on to direct two of the Lucille Ball Specials: “What Now, Catherine Curtis?” (1976) and “Three for Two” (1975). From 1942 to 1945, Walters served as dance director on six films starring Lucille Ball. This episode is mentioned in the biography Charles Walters: The Director Who Made Hollywood Dance by Brent Phillips.   

Likewise, this was the second and final episode written by 1955 Emmy-winner Vin Bogert. The first was “Lucy Stops a Marriage” (S3;E16), which he also co-wrote with Frank Gill Jr.  It was a posthumous credit for Gill, who died six months earlier. It was the penultimate screenwriting credit for Bogert, who died in 1978. 

The title refers to the Middle Eastern folk tale of the boy Aladdin and a genie that comes from a lamp to grant him three wishes. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights ("The Arabian Nights"), and one of the best known - although it was not part of the original Arabic text, but was added in the 18th century by Frenchman Antoine Galland. The story has been the basis for many screen and stage re-tellings, including the current Disney musical Aladdin.

Another television sitcom was based on the legend of Aladdin: “I Dream of Jeannie” (1965-70), which had just ended its long run on NBC. It starred Barbara Eden as the genie named Jeannie, who lived in a bottle rather than a lamp. Barbara Eden made her TV debut on “I Love Lucy.” Hayden Rorke, who played the long-suffering Dr. Bellows on the series, also did an episode of “I Love Lucy” and recently appeared on “Here’s Lucy” as a Judge. 

In the first scene, Craig is wearing a top hat with a flower in it. The other actors (Mary Jane Croft and George Niese) seem a bit taken aback by it. 

MARY JANE: “Oh! I like your hat. (under her breath) Bless your heart.”

MR. FROST: (Points at the hat, surprised) “Oh!  Oh ho ho ho.” 

Perhaps it is something Desi Jr. saw in the props pulled for the scene and took a liking to? It also many have some sentimental significance to the actor, but for such a visual statement, it does not figure into the plot, which is unusual. 

At the start of the episode, Kim is holding a heart-shaped throw cushion that may be a tribute to the opening credits of “I Love Lucy.”

Lucy gets a Western Union telegram from the (fictional) Murphy Soup Company to tell her she’s won a contest.

Lucy's prize-winning soup jingle is to the tune of “Jingle Bells,” a song that was heard many times on “I Love Lucy.” 

Aside from Ann-Margret, Craig would wish for two tickets to the sold-our Rams Football game. After a dramatic thunder clap, Craig gets a call from his friend Alan who offers him a ticket. Craig says “How sweet it is!” Sex symbol and singing sensation Ann-Margret charmed Craig in a season 2 episode of “Here's Lucy.”  The Los Angeles Rams would have been the Carters' hometown football team. “How sweet it is” was the catch phrase of actor / comedian Jackie Gleason (“The Honeymooners”), who made a cameo appearance in the second episode of the series.  

Craig reads the October 1968 issue of McCall's with English actress Samantha Eggar on the cover. In  “Ricky Has Labor Pains” (ILL S2;E14), pregnant Lucy Ricardo is reading the January 1953 McCall’s, which clearly has a cover that says “Why I Love Lucy” by Desi Arnaz. 

Kim wishes for Jamoca Almond Fudge Ice Cream, her favorite. After a dramatic thunder clap, Uncle Harry promptly arrives at the door to deliver it!  Jamoca Almond Fudge is a signature flavor of Baskin-Robbins, who first marketed it in 1959. It is made by combining Jamoca coffee ice cream with roasted almonds and a chocolate ribbon. The bag Harry is holding, however, is not branded with their logo: pink and brown polka dots encircling a large number 31, the number of flavors they offer. 

The second scene opens with Harry and Lucy coming to work with a happy Harry (dreaming of great wealth if he got access to the lamp) paraphrasing Robert Browning’s verse drama Pippa Passes (1841). The original goes:

The lark's on the wing; The snail's on the thorn: God's in his heaven - All's right with the world! — from Act I: Morning

Harry’s version replaces mention of larks and snails with “The sun is shining; the birds are singing” and omits any reference to the Deity altogether. 

When Lucy won’t let Harry make any monetary wishes on her lamp, he storms off pouting and Lucy calls him Attila the Hun. Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. During his reign, he was one of the most feared enemies of the Roman Empire.

Mary Jane tells Lucy that there's a sale on Italian knits at Morton's Department Store. Morton is Lucille Ball's married name since her marriage to Gary Morton (nee Goldaper) in 1961. Gary Morton is also a producer on “Here’s Lucy.” The fictional Morton’s Department Store joins Morton’s Service Station, Morton Pictures, and a number of other businesses named Morton on the series! 

The janitor comes to empty the waste paper baskets idly singing “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.” The song was written by Chauncey Olcott, George Graff Jr., and Ernest Ball in 1912. It was sung by William Frawley (Fred Mertz) in the 1936 film It's A Great Life! and was heard on “I Love Lucy” in “The Star Upstairs” (ILL S4;E25). 

Harry says the Unique Employment Agency is located in office #1506. This implies that they are on the 15th floor.

Finally finding the bottle in a dumpster, there is just one thing preventing Lucy from getting it back: a glass bottle! Preparing himself for Lucy to hit his finger with a hammer to get a bottle off it, he says “If John Wayne can do it, so can I.”  John Wayne appeared with Lucille Ball as himself on “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show.”  Both episodes were titled “Lucy Meets John Wayne.”

At the end of the episode, Craig reveals that the lamp is just a novelty store item manufactured in Pittsburgh. A disappointed Lucy corrects him. 

The Mexican border city was the location of “Lucy and Viv Visit Tijuana” (S2;E19) aired a year earlier.

It wouldn’t be “Here’s Lucy” if Gale Gordon didn’t get wet! 

Garage Sale Treasures! 

Hanging above the steamer trunk is Lucy Ricardo's iconic blue polka dot dress from “I Love Lucy.” It was designed by Elois Jensen and was seen in many episodes of the series.  

Next to the blue dress is an art deco poster of Sarah Bernhardt by Alphonse Mucha (1897). The poster was previously seen in the dorm room in “Lucy, the Co-Ed” (S3;E6) and in the studio of the knife thrower in “Lucy, the Cement Worker” (S2;E10). 

The zebra lamp with the red shade was on the tables of the Red Devil nightclub “Lucy and Ma Parker” (S3;E15, left). Unboxing items for the garage sale, Lucie finds her favorite doll, Clarabelle. Clarabelle made an appearance in “Lucy, the Part-Time Wife” (S3;14), although she now has on a new frock. 

Lucy pulls out a fur-lined jacket she says was worn by Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce. The 1945 film won Crawford an Academy Award. Joan Crawford guest starred on “The Lucy Show” in “Lucy and the Lost Star” (TLS S6;E22). Craig says that judging by the shoulder pads she could have worn it in The Spirit of Notre Dame. Craig is referring to a 1931 football-themed movie starring Lew Ayres.  

Search through the building’s trash for the lamp instantly brings to mind when the Ricardo’s and Mertz’s searched through the trash of 623 East 68th Street to find the pieces of Lucy’s torn-up roman a clef in “Lucy Writes a Novel” (ILL S3;E24). 

Lucy and Harry were also up to their necks in trash in “Lucy the Process Server” (S1;E3) - this time in a department store basement - searching for an envelope of cash.

Leaky ceilings in need of plastering was also a plot point in two episodes of “The Lucy Show”: “Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower” (TLS ) and “A Loophole in the Lease” (TLS S2;E12). Both times the leaks were caused by overflowing tubs and showers, but here the cause is the continual rainfall. 

Sound vibrations and not water was the cause of the ceiling collapse that ended  “Breaking the Lease” (ILL S1;E18).

Flashing way back to 1813, prolific novelist Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) penned a children’s book titled Harry and Lucy. In it, they marvel at the power of steam bursting through a kettle spout, comparing it to the magic of Aladdin’s Lamp. Not only did Edgeworth foresee the era of the steam-powered engine, she may have foretold “Here’s Lucy” as well!  

Do You Live in a Barn? His arm in a sling, carrying an umbrella, and taking off his hat, Gale Gordon is unable to properly shut the front door, despite the fact it is pouring rain outside. Lucille Ball’s eyes dart over at it, doubtless wondering if she had time to close it without spoiling the take. She doesn’t - and it stays open for the rest of the scene. 

Where the Floor Ends!  When the hole in the ceiling breaks open, the camera is back too far and viewers can see where the carpet ends and the stage floor begins. 

Sitcom Logic Alert! Only Lucy would find a miraculous lamp that grants wishes and hide it in a trash can in order to go on a shopping trip for discount sweaters! 

“Lucy and Aladdin’s Lamp” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5

A fun episode that straddles the reality / fantasy line effectively. The Easter eggs in the garage sale scene are a treat for Lucy lovers! 

[amplesalty]

Christmas 2019: Day 12 - White Christmas (1954)

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Twelve singing soldiers!

So, Christmas has passed for another year and I have one movie remaining. Unfortunately, this is the closest I’m getting a White Christmas, in reality it was a relatively sunny affair this year, I only recall a couple of times that we had snow on Christmas Day in my life.

This was originally meant as a joke during last years viewing of the animated Mariah Carey movie ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ but why not, it’s nice to have an earlier entry amongst all the post 2000 media that these Christmas marathons tend to throw up. Evidently even back then I had envisioned this whole musical motif that has run throughout the month.

The song White Christmas actually had its origins in an earlier film ‘Holiday Inn’ back in 1942, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, which led to it winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song before going on to be the best-selling single of all time. The Crosby version I find a little bland though and it moves at a glacial pace. Maybe it’s just because I’m more used to it due to its use in Home Alone but The Drifters version is a bit more interesting, probably down to the ‘doo wop’ style.

Crosby had quite an extensive on-screen career, matched (if not exceeded) by his work in the music studio given his 100+ albums. Granted about 10% of that are from post-humous compilation releases but it seems pretty crazy to me that someone could have so many albums., he almost seemed to be putting them out at the rate of one a month at times. I feel like I don’t know where to start when I get into a new artist and they have 5+ albums, nevermind 100. Though, in looking at this, Buckethead is infinitely worse due to his ‘Pike Series’ of mini-albums of which there are 275, leading to a total of 306 total albums when combined with his other work.  

I know I mentioned it in that post and have probably made reference to it before but in regards to Crosby’s treatment of his kids, this seems to stem from the memoirs of his son Gary in which he talks about the cruel treatment he and his brothers received. His brother Philip disputed these claims, whereas other brothers Dennis and Lindsay seemed to lean more towards Gary’s side of the story. Most of it seems to boil down to Bing being one to use corporal punishment, perhaps a little too heavy handedly at times, rather than him doing it just for shits and giggles. Whilst we’re talking family though, Denise Crosby is Bing’s granddaughter, she of Star Trek and Pet Sematary fame.

The movie starts out with its own form of violence, taking place during Christmas Eve 1944 as Cpt. Bob Wallace (Crosby) and Private First Class Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) are entertaining their troupe. This includes a big finale as a toast to their departing commanding office, Major General Thomas Waverly. It certainly creates some unique visuals, the performers vibrant Santa outfits standing out amongst the otherwise gray/green/brown looks of fellow soilders and the surrounding area. Their background of an idealic landscape of snow topped houses stands in stark contrast to the actual background of a bombed out town where the only houses left are but crumbling remains.

All this singing and dancing seems to have attracted the wrong attention though as a bombing run ensues and Davis only narrowly manages to drag Wallace out of the way of a falling building. When Wallace thanks Davis and offers to repay the favour sometime, Davis immediately asks to perform with Wallace when they get back home, to which Wallace reluctantly agrees. They’re a hit though as we montage through the end of the war, them returning home to some initial success before growing to the point where they’re producing a hit musical.

Shortly before Christmas, they receive a letter from one of their old army buddies suggesting they check out his sisters new act. There appears to be some initial attraction between Wallace and one of the sisters, Betty, which Davis and the other sister Judy are keen to fan the flames of. But first they have to deal with the sisters being outlaws of sorts when their landlord comes knocking with a bill for a burnt rug for which he holds them responsible.

He’s even roped in the local sheriff to come arrest them so it’s up to Wallace and Davis to form a distraction whilst the two ladies pack up and bundle themselves into a waiting taxi. This leads to them performing their own version of their ‘Sisters’ number involving hitched up pants and fancy father fans. It makes for an entertaining, campy performance, albeit one that is a bit repetitive having already heard the song in full minutes earlier. Betty and Judy perform it again later on as well, it would have been nice if they’d given them another song or two on their own.

This initial courting period is fun, it plays up this dynamic between Wallace and Davis where Wallace is a little more curmudgeonly and Davis is trying to lighten him up a bit. It looks like it would be shortlived as the guys are heading to New York and the gals to Vermont, but Wallace is talked into staying on and all four head to Vermont and even sing a quartet about how much they’re looking forward to the snow.

Only, they find there isn’t any snow and the hotel that booked the sisters is empty, to the point that they offer to pay the ladies half their fee to make up for the cancellation. By happy coincidence though, the hotel is run by the boys old CO Waverly. It’s amusing to see these big shot producer types still stop dead in their tracks in fear/respect of the guy. Wallace gets the idea of bringing their whole show up for the holidays in order to try and get some guests through the door.

It takes on a more personal edge though when Waverly shares with Wallace that he’s applied to go back in the army. Only, his contact in Washington doesn’t even register that Waverly might have been serious, playing it off as a joke that Waverly is enjoying a life of luxury in his retirement whilst everyone else has to suffer through work. Either that or he’s being too polite to reject him outright. Sensing Waverly’s feeling of being forgotten and useless in his advancing years, Wallace sets out to invite all the old gang to come up on Xmas Eve to show their appreciation.

This does all lead to a sweet, It’s a Wonderful Life-esque finale which I surprisingly didn’t feel emotional about. Probably down to Waverly not being the central focus of the movie, most of the second half is dedicated to the will they, wont they romance of Wallace and Betty. There’s a big misunderstanding when Wallace arranges a TV spot to invite all of his army buddies to the hotel but Betty thinks this is being done only as a form of free promotion for Wallace and Davis’ stage show.

You see quite a few musical numbers from the show throughout the second half of the movie as well, often under the guise of rehearsals. A lot of that is dancing which, whilst technically very well done, isn’t particularly interesting to me. There is one avant garde looking number where Davis and accompanying girls are clad in all purple and he’s singing about how old forms of dance are being replaced by modern ‘choreography’. They’re doing all these weird interprative dance looking poses and in one line he sings ‘through the air they keep flying, like a duck that is dying’.

There’s another song which involves a character called ‘Mr Bones’ who seems to tell terrible jokes in a very self aware manner so between that and the very meta choreography song, I have no clue how this show works structurally. Frankly, I’m just relieved this wasn’t a horrible black-face affair that I was worried about when it started as the ‘minstrel number’.

I preferred the songs that involved Davis more, Crosby is a bit dry on his own and Davis just injects a bit more fun into proceedings. There’s a bit of campiness to Danny Kaye’s performance, very exaggerated body and facial language at times. He’s like that even off stage, very eager to try and push Wallace and Betty together but when Judy proposes a mock engagement between the two of them to try and spur the other two on, he’s like a rabbit in headlights. I mentioned it earlier as well but the playful bickering between Wallace and Davis is entertaining, Davis more than willing to bring up the fact that he saved Wallace’s life every chance he gets.

It seems apt that music of this era is now very evocative of playing Fallout given that Danny Kaye was responsible for one of the songs that featured in both 3 and 4; Civilization. There’s a very tongue in cheek tone to that song which seems to be representative of him in general going from this movie as well.

Between this movie, the aforementioned Mariah one, Rudolph, Frosty and even The Christmas Shoes, we certainly have stumbled upon a strange trope of song based film adaptation. Perhaps this might turn into a running segment but that’s a story for another year...

[ettadunham]

Day 22 - Brown Betty

I’m posting this later than usual but at least I can say that by now all the Fringe September sets are done and scheduled, so let’s just talk about the absolute delight that is Brown Betty.

Well, okay, maybe absolute delight is not the right word. This episode is also just... sad and melodramatic and sometimes even dark. But alas, it’s also one of the most memorable of the 19th episode specials (even if it’s technically aired as the 20th episode in the season because of Unearthed).

Sidenote: of the 5 ‘specials’ 3 was done using drug concepts, and this one was the first of them.

Brown Betty’s tonal complexity comes from the fact, that it’s the episode after Peter learned about his origins, and disappeared. So Walter, to take off the edge of his pain, decided to smoke some extreme drug combination he just calls “Brown Betty”.At the same time, Olivia is trying to chase a lead on Peter, while also having to look after Ella, so she drops off Ella at the lab, asking Astrid to look after her while she’s doing her offscreen shenanigans.

So poor Astrid is on double-babysitting duties, but fortunately Walter and Ella seem to be getting along fine with minimal supervising - especially after Ella gets Walter to tell her a story.

And... Walter does. He tells a detective story with some random musical numbers in it starring Detective Olivia. And oh my God, it’s hard to know where to seven start with that!

Basically fictional Walter hires Olivia to find Peter through Rachel - who in this story is an actress, pretending to be in love with Peter, to get Olivia to take the case in the first place. But fictional Walter isn’t really looking for Peter, but a special glass heart he apparently stole from him.

And you know who else wants that heart? Nina Sharp of course. Who wants to open a stable door into another universe... to be with William Bell. And the Observers in this fictional world are called Watchers and they work for her... until they don’t? There are a lot of weird twists and turns as you would expect it from a detective story, but those twists also often refer to past and present (and future) actual storylines, so it’s a relentless fun.

It however turns real dark after fictional Olivia finds Peter and he reveals the truth - the heart has always been his own, and he was willing to give it to Walter so he could keep inventing wonferful things until he found out the truth about him. Fictional Walter got his ideas from stealing children’s dreams and replacing them with nightmares. “It’s a Pattern of Destruction” - Peter says. - “Of damaged kids, shattered innocence.”

It’s a harrowing mirror of how Walter sees himself at the moment, especially compared to his character’s introduction at the beginning. Fictional Walter is initially presented to us as the man who invented everything that’s good in the world from flannel pajamas to rainbows... only for him to turn out to be the ultimate Bad Guy almost.

So once they find out the truth, and fictional Peter and Olivia take back the heart, Walter pleads with Peter. He tells him he can change, that he can repair all the bad he’s done... But in Walter’s version of the story, Peter says it’s too late, and he leaves. Just like in the actual story.

Ella, bless her tiny heart however refuses that ending. In her version Peter looks into Walter’s eyes, and sees that there’s still good in him. And so he breaks his heart into two pieces, and gives one half to Walter, so they could all live happily ever after.

And I’m not crying, you’re crying about that.

Noirs and musicals have become sort of a staple episode specials that many shows will do at one point, but imo Brown Betty also transcends that. While it’s technically a filler, since the story itself doesn’t move forward, it’s an extremely enjoyable stand alone piece that offers a plethora of easter eggs. It also has an excellent framing device and the barely concealed metaphors give an extremely strong emotional resonance with the current arcs.

I’ll just jump to pointing out a few things now, although rest assured there’s a LOT MORE:

While the clothes and cars represent the noir period that the story seems to be taking place in, there’s a complete technological dissonance as well. People use both old faishioned wired phones and cells, there are computers from the 80-90s, but Astrid also has a laptop... It seems to be a huge intentional mess tbh.

The story plays around the idea of Nina and Massive Dynamic being evil the same way that S1 did - except in this story they actually are the bad guys. I mean, no surprise there since this IS Walter’s story.

Singing corpses?????

Oh, and Nina and William Bell having had a thing is something that actually comes back later on in the show.

The map about the Pattern is used in the story, with “147 pins” in this version. 47 is of course a number that was sort of the “special number” on Alias, JJ Abram’s previous show, and it comes up a lot on Fringe as well as a reference to that.

“Peter Bishop stole your heart?” “They disappeared at the same time.” - It’s FINE.

Fictional Peter is not fictional Walter’s son in the story. Just as Peter wasn’t born as our Walter’s son.

Walter seems to be completely remiss of the fact that he’s telling this story to Ella, since he just fucking murders her mom at the start??? Fortunately Ella at that point is already drawn into the story itself, and stopped connecting the characters to the ones they’re based on, so she doesn’t mind. That.

The fact that Walter’s story hints at Rachel and Peter being a thing is probably a wink at the audience, since there was a scene in the show that kind of made people (and Olivia) wonder if that’s gonna be a direction.

The Watchers go by star signs here instead of months. I wasn’t able to tell if “Gemini” was September - I kind of hope that he was Virgo. :D

Speaking of which, there IS a brief scene with September at the end of the episode, setting up the end of the season. He’s once again being mysterious and vague on the phone, saying that Walter doesn’t seem to remember his warning and Peter isn’t back yet.

Broyles also appears in the story, but doesn’t have much of a role. He’s a Lieutenant who Detective Olivia has a pull with, because she’s seen him doing something murky.

And bless fictional Astrid’s heart, who once again is Olivia’s assistant, and apparently the one who patches her up when she’s out doing crazy shit. So technically we get one of those rare Olivia/Astrid scenes here I guess.