#jenny sturgeon

[leebrontide]

Hello random stranger I don’t even follow! I grew up on Lake Erie and we have a storm hag and I am so excited to talk about her! Mostly she’s from like the war of 1812 and partially forgotten about, but she’s said to cause storms that take down ships so she can feast on sailor flesh. She has a spooky little theme song but by the time you hear it it’s too late and she’s already next to your ship about to pull you under. Which like, you’d think then that we wouldn’t know the song but it’s:

Come into the water, love, dance beneath the waves

Where dwell the bones of sailor lads inside my mossy cave

She’s said to live in a cave under presque isle, which does not make sense because it’s a sand bar full of swampy lagoons, but also there’s a rip current medium often on the beach side so arguably she’s still out there sucking down souls. I’m just saying there’s bluffs on the other side of the bay that seem more reasonable as a place to find caves. But like also historically during the war of 1812 (but really 1813) Oliver hazard Perry’s fleet spent the winter in misery bay, which is sort of toward the end of presque isle, and they were very cold and hungry. I do also like to think that the people that fall through the ice dunes and die in winter are her victims. Maybe also the people that snowmobile on the ice too far into spring and go under. Then again she probably can’t be blamed for every kind of stupid death that happens.

Anyway apparently her name is Jenny Greenteeth, which makes it pretty clear that she’s an English import at least in name, but I love her.

Also, in case you don’t already know, Lake Erie is shallow which makes the currents weird and there’s like, so many shipwrecks. It’s warmer than the deeper lakes so they aren’t as well preserved as the ones in Lake Superior or anything, but there are genuinely a nuts number of them. Also there’s at least one ghost ship, the dean richmond. There’s this whole area called the Lake Erie quadrangle that they’re thinking about protecting federally because there’s so many shipwrecks? Like, beyond a Bermuda Triangle amount. But on the bright side, it doesn’t have as much of a plane crash history as the Lake Michigan triangle!

Also there are some giant goddamned sturgeon in that lake, and if you feel the need to go mermaid tail/person body with the mermaid thing I recommend a long twisty sturgeon tail and body! I forgot what this was for in my excitement to tell someone about my girl Jenny Greenteeth, but have so much fun!

THIS is what I'm talking about!

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 2.26

Beer Birthdays

Gabriel Sedlmayr II (1811)

Frederick C. Miller (1906)

Art Larrance (1944)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Tex Avery; cartoon director (1908)

Johnny Cash; singer, songwriter (1932)

Jackie Gleason; actor, comedian (1916)

Plato; philosopher (428 BCE)

Theodore Sturgeon; writer (1918)

Famous Birthdays

Robert Alda; actor (1914)

Grover Cleveland Alexander; Philadelphia Phillies P (1887)

Erykah Badu; singer (1971)

William Baumol; economist (1922)

Michael Bolton; pop singer (1953)

Godfrey Cambridge; actor (1933)

"Buffalo" Bill Cody; scout, entertainer (1846)

Honore Daumier; artist (1808)

"Fats" Domino; singer, pianist (1928)

Herbert Henry Dow; chemical manufacturer (1866)

Bill Duke; actor (1943)

Kevin Dunn; actor (1956)

Marshall Faulk; St. Louis Rams RB (1973)

William Frawley; actor (1887)

Jennifer Grant; actor (1966)

Victor Hugo; writer (1802)

Betty Hutton; actor (1921)

John Harvey Kellogg; dietician, doctor (1852)

Kara Monaco; model (1983)

Teresa Palmer; actor (1986)

Tony Randall; actor (1920)

Mitch Ryder; rock singer (1945)

Levi Strauss; inventor (1829)

Jenny Thompson; swimmer (1973)

Elihu Vedder; artist, illustrator (1836)

Wenceslas of Bohemia; ruler (1361)

[musicnewsweb]

ICYMI: Jenny Sturgeon & Boo Hewerdine release new album 'Outliers' - @hudson_records #JennySturgeon #boohewerdine @boohewerdine http://dlvr.it/T0WWY3

[entertainmehub]

ICYMI: Jenny Sturgeon & Boo Hewerdine release new album 'Outliers' - @hudson_records #JennySturgeon #boohewerdine @boohewerdine http://dlvr.it/T0WRGC

[celtic-cd-releases]

https://www.salthousemusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SaltHouseMusic

https://salthouse.bandcamp.com/

https://open.spotify.com/album/4SdoFQUV5bJ54KmxIPDQpp

[musiconspotify]

Jenny Sturgeon

The Living Mountain (2020) … sun-dappled songs …

#JennySturgeon

[violettesiren]

I am a Selkie, in the waves you’ll catch me, Out beyond the frozen tide I can see you’re far from home now, Come with me and sleep tonight. I know the coast and I know the tides, The underwater world below, Listen to these words I tell you, I will be your best guide. Once my pelt was in your hands, And I a prisoner of the land, Until I stole my soul back from you, Now I have the ocean wide. The weather’s gone fae bad tae worse, There’s nothing more to see but rain, You’d be best to heed my words, I’ll guide you to the light of day.

Selkie by Jennie Sturgeon

[queerasfact]

Queer as Fiction

Queer as Fiction encompasses our podcast episodes talking about the intersection of queer history and media, whether that’s pieces of historical queer media, or modern media dealing with queer history.

All our episodes are gathered here in one place for you to check out!

Queer media from history

Pre-20th century

The Epic of Gilgamesh (c.1800BCE epic poem)

Achilles and Patroclus (figures from Greek myth)

Megillus (trans-masculine character in Roman author Lucian’s Dialogues of the Courtesans, 2nd century CE)

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (14th century English Arthurian poem)

Carmilla (Irish writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 lesbian vampire novella)

1920s

The Captive (1926 English adaptation of Édouard Bourdet’s lesbian play La Prisonnière)

1930s

Mädchen in Uniform (1931 German lesbian schoolgirl cult classic film)

1940s

Wonder Woman (1941-1948 American comics)

1950s

The World Well Lost (Theodore Sturgeon’s 1953 sci-fi short story about gay aliens)

Giovanni’s Room (James Baldwin’s 1956 novel about an American expat in Paris)

1960s

Victim (1961 film focussing on Britain’s laws against homosexality)

The Boys in the Band (1968 play, 1970 film, and 2020 film about a group of gay men in New York)

1970s

Queerness in Tabletop Roleplaying Games (1970s onwards)

1980s

The Color Purple (Alice Walker’s 1982 epistolary novel on a queer, black woman in America’s south in the first half of the 20th century)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddie’s Revenge (1985 queer-coded slasher film)

Queerness in Videogames (discussion of 1989 queer game Caper in the Castro, 1988 trans Mario character Birdo, and World of Warcraft’s Pride parade begun in 2005)

1990s

Paris is Burning (Jennie Livingstone’s 1990 documentary about the New York drag ball scene)

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994 Australian roadtrip drag comedy)

The Birdcage (American director Mike Nichols' 1996 gay comedy film)

The Matrix (Wachowski sisters’ 1999 cyberpunk trans allegory)

Queer media about history

Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire (a discussion on the way  medieval fantasy interprets historical reality the 2011-2019 TV series and 1996-ongoing book series)

The Handmaiden and Fingersmith (Sarah Waters’ 2002 Victorian lesbian novel Fingersmith and its 2016 film adaptation, Park Chan-wook The Handmaiden set in Japanese-occupied Korea)

Achilles and Patroclus in modern media

Call Me By Your Name (2007 novel and 2017 film depicting a relationship between a teenage boy and an adult man in 1980s Italy)

Pride (2014 film about the 1980s UK activist group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners)

Tell It to the Bees (2019 film and 2009 book depicting a lesbian romance in 1950s Scotland)

Stonewall in the media (Roland Emmerich's 2015 film and Crissle West's 2016 Drunk History segment on the 1969 riots)

Bohemian Rhapsody, Colette, and Vita & Virginia (three queer films from 2018, covering the lives of Queen’s frontman Freddie Mercury, 19th-century French author Colette, and early 20th-century English writers Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf)

The Old Guard (2020 Netflix film featuring queer immortal mercenaries)

Interview with emily m danforth (interview with author of The Miseducation of Cameron Post about her 2020 book Plain Bad Heroines, described as Picnic at Hanging Rock meets The Blair Witch Project with lesbians)

Ma Rainey (episode on the 20th-century American blues singer Ma Rainey, featuring a discussion of the 2020 film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)

The Boys in the Band (1968 play, 1970 film, and 2020 film about a group of gay men in New York)

Our Flag Means Death (2022 comedy about pirates Edward “Blackbeard” Teach and Stede Bonnett)

A League of their Own (2023 TV show about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League)

Cassandro (2023 biopic of gay American-Mexican luchador Saúl Armendáriz)

Contemporary queer media

Neptune Frost (2021 Rwandan sci-fi musical)

[txemrn]

Yo Em! Tell us about your MC! BRYNN!!

Yo anon! OKAY! 🤣

Thank you so much for the ask! Click "Keep reading" to learn more about my absolute favorite character Brynn, my MC from TNA. 

FYI: this is the Brynn from the "Once...Always…" universe, which I now call, "the Schuyler-Dalton Chronicles". This universe now spans 12 years since TNA. I have several one-shots planned for this universe that are meant to be read as individuals, but each story is a building block to the entire picture (so you can assume certain things without me having to give a back story; hence, the same universe). They will be labeled accordingly and placed on my masterlist as they come out. Please feel free to send me any prompt requests about Brynn, and we can create this universe together! 😘

Name: Brynn Noelle Schuyler-Dalton

Nickname: Brynny

FC: Victoria Pedretti (some of my older fics will have Carolina Porqueddu in the moodboard)

Birthday: December 21 🎄🎅🎁

Age: 27 during TNA; now 39

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

Education: Bachelor's of Science in Biochemistry, Master's in Chemstry from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Brynn's original plan was to teach science due to her love for the subject and for children; when her Nana was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, simply sitting back and watching her deteriorate angered her; therefore she switched her focus to research; she even took a lab research position after graduation at MIT; the funding was pulled from her project after almost 2 years

Family: Kaye Schuyler (mom); Bryson Schuyler (older brother); Brynn's dad abandoned the family when was a little girl; the family moved in with Kaye's mother, Brynn's Nana; with only a high school diploma with no formal training, her mom quickly went from full-time homemaker to working two full-time jobs to make ends meet; she finally went back to school after Bryson and Brynn graduated high school; she now works on a pediatric floor as a registered nurse

Bryson is almost two years older than Brynn; he opted for trade school, becoming a mechanic on commercial vehicles; he still lives in Philadelphia, married to his high school sweetheart Laura with their three kids

Brynn and Bryson have had a conflicted relationship all of their lives; Brynn sees her older brother as lazy and unmotivated; Bryson sees Brynn as "the golden child": everything came easy to her, many things being handed to her

Former relationships: prior to Sam, Brynn has been in 2 relationships; she and her high school boyfriend Shane Sturgeon were inseparable much to her mother's discontent; he was 2 years older, in a band, and rocked some badass tattoos and piercings; then she dated her O-Chem TA Cody Blakenship; they moved in together after graduation, and he treated Brynn like gold; the only problem: he didn’t believe in marriage, and slowly a rift grew between them; the day she lost her job at MIT, she left him; 4 months later, she interviewed for a nanny position...

Current/Future relationship status: after almost a decade of marriage, Sam and Brynn divorced after she caught him cheating on her with the nanny; now she is dating a single father of two from her kids' prep school named Ian Kingsley; he is the co-chair of the department of sociology and anthropology at Bernard College in NYC

Children: twin step-sons: Michael “Mickey” Aaron (extroverted, very personable; athlete); and Mason Alexander (introverted; sensitive; incredible student, musician); 2 daughters: Olivia Noelle and Charlotte Amelia; there are 12 years between the boys and Livvy, and 5 years between Livvy and Charlie

Odds & Ends: 

She's 5 ft 2 in to Sam's 5 ft 10 in

Sensibly thrifty

Loves watching sports, especially Football and Baseball 🏈⚾️

12 piercings; 4 tattoos

Studied ballet growing up, starting at the age of 3 until she was 18; she now participates in a hip hop class twice a week

Abhors olives

Good friends with Tara Day-Mendez; Jenny has remained a loyal friend

Loves to run; has completed 4 marathons in her lifetime; enjoys participating in fun-runs with her family; she has dragged Sam to several mud-runs

Loves dogs (and animals in general!)

She's not a regular mom; she's a cool mom! She's actually quite involved with her kids, and volunteers for school events, class trips and bake sales where she can

Enjoys anything and all things live music

Prefers hard liquor

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 2.26

Beer Birthdays

Gabriel Sedlmayr II (1811)

Frederick C. Miller (1906)

Art Larrance (1944)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Tex Avery; cartoon director (1908)

Johnny Cash; singer, songwriter (1932)

Jackie Gleason; actor, comedian (1916)

Plato; philosopher (428 BCE)

Theodore Sturgeon; writer (1918)

Famous Birthdays

Robert Alda; actor (1914)

Grover Cleveland Alexander; Philadelphia Phillies P (1887)

Erykah Badu; singer (1971)

William Baumol; economist (1922)

Michael Bolton; pop singer (1953)

Godfrey Cambridge; actor (1933)

"Buffalo" Bill Cody; scout, entertainer (1846)

Honore Daumier; artist (1808)

"Fats" Domino; singer, pianist (1928)

Herbert Henry Dow; chemical manufacturer (1866)

Bill Duke; actor (1943)

Kevin Dunn; actor (1956)

Marshall Faulk; St. Louis Rams RB (1973)

William Frawley; actor (1887)

Jennifer Grant; actor (1966)

Victor Hugo; writer (1802)

Betty Hutton; actor (1921)

John Harvey Kellogg; dietician, doctor (1852)

Kara Monaco; model (1983)

Teresa Palmer; actor (1986)

Tony Randall; actor (1920)

Mitch Ryder; rock singer (1945)

Levi Strauss; inventor (1829)

Jenny Thompson; swimmer (1973)

Elihu Vedder; artist, illustrator (1836)

Wenceslas of Bohemia; ruler (1361)

[jdu662]

10 songs that bring back memories of my travels: Jo Frost's playlist

10 songs that bring back memories of my travels: Jo Frost's playlist

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Alamy Zorba’s Dance by Mikis Theodorakis

© Photograph: Alamy Cape Verde accordionist Victor Tavares, known as Bitori, on stage with bass player Danilo Tavares.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of family holidays to Greece. These days Zorba’s Dance is undeniably a bit of a cliche, but when I hear that slow bouzouki intro, I’m reminded of my dad, who would put this LP on after drunken dinners and start dancing the sirtaki. I watched Zorba the Greek for the first time during lockdown last year when I came across it in my dad’s DVD collection. I was surprised by how much it affected me, making me pine for Greece – and for my dad, who I realise looked remarkably like Zorba (played by Anthony Quinn).

Vuoi Vuoi Me by Mari Boine

© Provided by The Guardian Sami musician Mari Boine on stage in Norway. Photograph: Gonzales Photo/Alamy

Womad has been the source of so many of my musical introductions: it was there, in 2007, that I first saw Mari Boine – the unofficial ambassador of Sámi music – perform live. It started a fascination with Sámi culture and joik, the distinctive guttural song style of the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia. Several years later I was invited to Kautokeino, way up past the Arctic Circle near Boine’s home of Karasjok, for the Sámi Easter festival. It felt like a crash course in all things to do with joik and reindeer, but it also gave me an invaluable insight into Sámi history and the people’s relationship with those who colonised their land. These days the Sámi have their own parliament, flag and national day (6 February).

That’s It! by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band

© Provided by The Guardian Jazz at Preservation Hall, New Orleans. Photograph: Alamy

Like many others, I saw most of my travel plans scuppered last year, including a road trip from Nashville to New Orleans to coincide with the New Orleans jazz fest. The impetus for the trip had largely come about while binge-watching the HBO series Treme. We’d compiled a playlist for our journey through Tennessee and Louisiana, but when it became clear that our dream of visiting venues such as Preservation Hall in New Orleans wasn’t going to happen, we’d play it at home. This track by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band always lifts my spirits, gets me dancing and makes me dead set on rebooking our trip as soon as it’s safe to do so.

Bitori Nha Bibinha by Bitori

The most internationally celebrated artist from Cape Verde is the late Cesária Évora, the doyenne of morna music, steeped in saudade (nostalgia or longing). I could have picked any number of Cesária songs, but when I visited Santiago – largest of the Cape Verde islands – it was funaná that became the soundtrack of my trip, blaring out of the packed alugueres (minibus taxis), market stalls and bars. Funaná was banned by the Portuguese up until 1975 as they feared the songs in Creole were subversive and its frenetic dance rhythms immoral. Septuagenarian accordion player Victor Tavares, AKA Bitori, is the genre’s unlikely star, largely thanks to singer Chando Graciosa who persuaded him to record this in 1997, and to Samy Ben Redjeb of Analog Africa, who rereleased it in 2016.

Train Song by Sakar Khan

One of the most atmospheric festival locations I’ve visited is the Mehrangarh Fort, home of Riff – the Rajasthan International Folk Festival, held each October during the harvest moon in Jodhpur. This colossal red sandstone edifice reverberates with the sound of Rajasthani folk musicians such as Manganiyar legends Lakha Khan and the late Sakar Khan, masters of traditional bowed, stringed instruments the sindhi sarangi and the kamayacha. Riff is a full-on immersive experience and to do it justice, a certain level of stamina is required as concerts start at dawn, carry on through the heat of the day, then continue long into the night. Whenever I hear the rasping sounds of these ancient instruments, I’m instantly transported back to Jodhpur.

St Thomas by Sonny Rollins

© Provided by The Guardian The Jazz a Vienne festival, France. Photograph: Alamy

One of the benefits of studying French and German (in those happy EU days) was being able to spend a year as an English language assistant in a school in Vienne, just south of Lyon. After my stint teaching, I volunteered at Jazz à Vienne, a wonderful two-week jazz festival held in the town’s Roman amphitheatre. I returned every summer during the early 1990s, making lifelong friends and getting a crash course in jazz in the process. Over the years I saw incredible artists, including Ray Charles, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, and Sonny Rollins, who remains one of my favourite sax players. The experience became the foundation for my love of music from around the world and my work today.

The Plateau by Jenny Sturgeon

I’ve always found comfort in walking, and last year it took on even greater importance. So between lockdowns, my partner and I headed up to the Cairngorms to do some hiking. Just before our trip I received Jenny Sturgeon’s musical tribute to Nan Shepherd’s book about the Cairngorms, The Living Mountain. Every hike we embarked on would reveal different landscapes – and every type of weather imaginable. Back in London, listening to Jenny’s album brings back memories of those mountains, especially hearing the bird song on this opening track, as Jenny sings: “Step on step, foot by foot, we walk that’s how we know, through the heather and the mud, the plateau ringing through our blood.”

Count Your Blessings by the Como Mamas

© Provided by The Guardian Porto Covo beach, Alentejo. Photograph: Alamy

One of my European festival highlights in recent years was FMM Sines, held on Portugal’s wild and relatively untouristy Alentejo coast, in the towns of Porto Covo and Sines. A really relaxed, friendly vibe permeated the opening weekend in the seaside resort of Porto Covo, where a mixture audience of locals and travellers congregated in the main square. The Como Mamas, from Mississippi, were unknown to me, but turned out to be a revelation. As the three singers took to the stage, the atmosphere transformed into something resembling a devoted congregation at a gospel gathering. Since then, Count Your Blessings has become a mantra, particularly last year.

Pothole in the Sky by Lisa O’Neill

© Provided by The Guardian Irish musicians at O’Donoghue’s pub, Dublin. Photograph: Hugh Reynolds/Alamy

One of the things I sorely miss during these socially distanced times is those random conversations you strike up with complete strangers over a pint. There’s nowhere better to do this than in Dublin, especially in one of the city’s many music pubs, such as The Cobblestone or O’Donoghue’s. I haven’t been lucky enough to see the Irish singer Lisa O’Neill at a session, although she was apparently a regular in pre-Covid times. The combination of chat, beer and music is perfect and I can’t wait to revisit.

La Grande Folie by San Salvador

Most of the travelling I do as editor of Songlines is to festivals around the world, and one of the things I most enjoy about them is the communal listening experience. There’s something visceral about hearing music being performed live with other people around you. For me, San Salvador perfectly encapsulate this feeling. A sextet from Saint-Salvadour in south-west France, they sing in Occitan. There’s a real physicality to their music and something incredibly powerful about the combination of voice and percussion. They always finish their sets with La Grande Folie – a song that resonates with these crazy times.

• San Salvador are due to perform at Songlines Encounters Festival at Kings Place in May (Covid permitting)

[musicnewsweb]

Jenny Sturgeon & Boo Hewerdine release new album 'Outliers' - @hudson_records #JennySturgeon #boohewerdine @boohewerdine http://dlvr.it/T0T0b6

[entertainmehub]

Jenny Sturgeon & Boo Hewerdine release new album 'Outliers' - @hudson_records #JennySturgeon #boohewerdine @boohewerdine http://dlvr.it/T0T0bC

[rjzimmerman]

Ms. Miller and her crew are all enrolled members of the Yakama Nation. They release thousands of sturgeon about this size into the Columbia River every year. Credit...Jenny Riffle for The New York Times

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

For centuries, sturgeon the size of great white sharks swam the Columbia River. Its currents spread their eggs, scattering them across the bottom. Its waterfalls churned up food for them to eat. Some lived as long as 150 years and grew longer than 15 feet.

But in the late 1800s, commercial fishermen came, killing the enormous fish for their caviar, which was shipped around the country as a delicacy. Half a century later, in the 1930s, hydroelectric dams fractured the river’s snaking flow. Soon, the entire Columbia basin, which stretches through the Pacific Northwest into Canada, faced a profound ecological disruption. Along with many other species, the sturgeon population dwindled to a fraction of what it once was.

But in the past decade, the fish have been coming back. In 2009, Donella C. Miller started building the Yakama Nation White Sturgeon Management Project in an abandoned cornfield in Toppenish, Wash., about 160 miles southeast of Seattle. To date, she and her dedicated crew of three men have released more than 91,000 sturgeon into the river.

[whirlybirbs]

r u joking me uh MISS TURNER cleaning up a BEAT UP ARTHUR’S WOUNDS i LOVE MY SOFT BOY

a/n: this is ridiculously soft. arthur has feelings, everyone notices, save for you. while you’re lost in thought, arthur’s in a mood. who knew a few well-aimed punches on arthur’s behalf were enough to knock you loose from your funk. 

here’s some miss turner + arthur being lovesick and stupid pining idiots. again, from my simpler said aloud series!

You haven’t been the same since your sister Jenny left.

Dutch had sent her on her way with parting words and threats veiled within hugs as they posed as cousins departing in the Rhodes railway station.

Best not tell anyone where we’re at, Miss. 

She will, of course, but it’s one less mouth to feed and one less conflict dividing the camp. 

After Jenny’s less than kind words, the Van der Linde’s gang had been more than careful with you -- and it was driving you up the wall. You weren’t some wallflower to be marveled at.

You’re angry -- and, not wanting to inflict that upon others, you pull away.

You don’t eat with the girls at dinner, instead holing yourself up with your book and doing your chores around camp in silence. You keep your head down, even going so far as to walk past Arthur when he rides back from hunting with Charles without a word. 

Typically, he’d at least get a hello.

Your mood is making Arthur Morgan just as bitter.

Everyone notices it. At first, it was thought that maybe, just maybe, Arthur had gotten himself into a bad mood with the climbing heat -- he’d has always had a short temper in the summer months -- but, it’s not until Mary-Beth and Tilly overheard Miss Grimshaw griping about ‘how Arthur hasn’t had it this bad since that wretched little wench, Mary Linton’ to Hosea one morning that they piece together what’s going on.

And, if anyone can read the outlaw, it’s Miss Grimshaw. She has, after all, known Arthur nearly as long as Hosea and Dutch.

Mary-Beth and Tilly, for all the romance-novel-reading they do, can’t believe that hadn’t noticed it sooner. 

Arthur Morgan is sweet on Miss Turner.

And, so began to the week of hell in Camp Van der Linde. 

Arthur’s mood is a wretched thing -- he can barely sit still with you like this and he hates himself for it. I mean, you’re clearly upset and no amount of him tryin’ his best to cheer you up seems to help (though, really, he limits himself only to small talk and bringing you coffee; the need for distance is driving his heart apart). You just... pass him by with a sad look on your face. 

Even Sugarcube, for all her trying, isn’t able to get you to perk up a smidgen. No matter how many nuzzles and whinnies she gives.

Given all that, Arthur is like a hurricane, tearing through camp. 

After five days of this nonsense, everyone in camp has had it. 

Karen has started a tally of how many long-drawn sighs Arthur tosses in your wake. She’s up to six.

That’s when Dutch and Hosea decide some fresh-air might help.

So, they go out fishing. 

(In reality, they get up to more than just fishing -- they run into Rhodes’ sheriff and deputy and a sad lookin’ Trelawney being carted in the back of a jail cart. Arthur is dispatched to help catch the Anderson Boys and, after one fist fight, one knife fight, and nearly falling off a moving train three times, he ends up being recruited as a damn deputy.)

When they come back, rowing in just before sunset, Arthur’s got a nasty set of bruises up the side of his face and a bag of fish in his hand. Hosea and Dutch and him are laughing, booming, happy sounds that catch the camp’s ears -- Pearson is first to help them pull the boat in.

You spy the trio making their way to the fire. You lean back, swiping at your forehead and leaving your washing for a moment.

Mary-Beth, Tilly and Karen watch as your jaw drops.

“Christ, Arthur --”

The outlaw perks up, sheepishly so, at the sound of your voice saying his name. In the orange light of the sunset, you can see the angry purple and black bruises along his cheekbone and eye. His nose is busted along the bridge, lip split. He is, really, in rough shape -- but he’s peachy-keen when your hands surge up to touch his jaw. He clears his throat, trying to ignore the evident hammering of his heart at the gentle touch. You turn his head, shock slapped on your face.

“S’ nothin’, Miss Turner,” he rumbles, “Really.”

“Did a fish do that?”

“Mm,” Arthur chirps, “Sure, big ol’ sturgeon, it had a mean left hook.”

Pearson leans around you, snagging the bag of bass from the outlaw’s hands. You blink at Dutch and Hosea behind him, sending them off with raised hands as they try to skirt your worry -- the camp seems to hang on the interaction, eyes lingering on you and the lead enforcer as you drag him towards his cot and force him to sit. 

Susan Grimshaw hums. Mary-Beth, Tilly and Karen can hardly look away. Forget those silly romance books, this is the real thing. 

Away from the mid-evening bustle, Arthur can finally get a good look at you; you’re digging through a box Hosea had set aside on Arthur’s desk, pulling out rubbing alcohol and a pad of gauze. You are, really, a sight for sore eyes. The summer sun has you looking like something out of a dream -- glowing. Your hair, swept up and away, frames your face with fly-away’s. 

“I swear,” you mutter, “One of these days --”

“I’ll be alrigh’, Miss Turner,” he says slowly, watching as she pulls at the gauze, dunking the alcohol on it, “Nothin’ a lil’ sleep won’t fix.”

“Good thing you were already mean-lookin’,” you chirp the bold lie, moving to stand close and tilt his jaw up, “These bruises sure ain’t gonna make you any prettier.”

Arthur laughs at that, eyes screwing shut. You grin. 

Quickly, you dab the open cuts along his cheek and nose. He doesn’t even flinch -- not a bit -- so you make sure to clean them nice and good. He tries to memorize the feeling of your hands along his face. When you turn, Arthur’s eyes are back on you. 

Across camp, Mary-Beth shoulders Karen. “Look at him look at her --”

“He’s got it bad.”

Arthur clears his throat when you swipe at his cheek again.

“Are... Are you alrigh’, Miss Turner? You been awfully quiet this week an’ --”

“I’m fine,” you say quickly. You note the way he seems to pull away, pull a pout and a dejected look. Quickly, guilt floods you. Arthur doesn’t deserve the treatment. You begin again, fiddling with the gauze, “Just... embarrassed.”

Arthur shifts on his cot. “... Embarrassed?”

“ -- The whole fight, y’know, with Jenny.”

“If I may say,” Arthur hums, “She deserved it, mouthin’ off like tha’.”

“Well,” you sigh, “It’s mostly what she mouthed out about that’s got me upset.”

Arthur pulls a face. “The bit about you and Waylon?”

“I passed up a life some of you would kill for -- a life some of you have killed for. All because... All because I wanted to be in love and happy and... It’s stupid. It’s all so stupid.”

You chuck the gauze in the bin, dropping your hands to the edge as you sigh. The sunset has painted the camp all kinds of shades of citrine; it’s calm, with a nice breeze cutting through. By the fire, dinner is being cooked up. The flaps of tents flutter in the wind. 

A moment passes, and Arthur speaks again. This time, it’s a bit gentler.

“I don’ think it’s stupid, Miss Turner.”

That catches you off guard.

“... You don’t?”

“No,” he laughs, a bit sheepish, “No -- I mean... Before... When I was younger, I was real sweet on this girl -- she, uh, she didn’t share the same ideals as you. Family before everything else, y’know? And, uh, marrying for love... It just didn’t happen. She was sad, after that.”

“... Didn’t work out?”

“He died,” Arthur says, “And she regretted it. Tried to come back to me.”

You blink. A brief flare of jealousy strikes you in the chest. You’re not sure how it had been stoked, but it’s alive and burning. You turn and eye Arthur carefully. Blue eyes are stuck on you. Like honey.

“I... I could never,” you muster, “Waylon... he was seventy years old, Arthur --”

“Christ.”

“Old as dirt.”

“... I’d say you dodged a bullet,” Arthur says then, standing and moving to touch your arm, “Don’t beat yourself up too much -- sometimes, families aren’t do or die. I’d know.”

“Yea...?”

“My pa,” Arthur drawls as he closes the box of medical supplies and moves to shuffle it under his cot, “was a no good bastard. Left me with nothin’ but his hat an’ memories.”

“An’ your ma?”

“Don’t remember her much,” Arthur says, eyes falling on the framed portrait by his bedside, “...Dutch an’ Hosea have been the only real family I’ve had. An’ John, if you count ‘im. Slippery bastard.”

You laugh, fiddling with your hands as Arthur steps outside his tent. His hand falls along your back, leading you gently -- he is every bit a gentleman when he wants to be. It never ceases to amaze you. 

“So, what I’m sayin’ is... Let us be yer family. We’ll keep y’ safe. Sure won’t try an’ marry y’ off any time soon, that is.”

“I think, Mr. Morgan,” you say slowly, eyes glued to his smile as he approaches dinner. Everyone seems to perk up at the appearance of you both -- Karen and Mary-Beth and Tilly are grinning like silly. You smile fondly their way, “I don’t have much choice.”

“‘Course y’do,” he smirks, “Y’ jus’ like us too much.”

“Right, well, with you gettin’ beat on by fish --”

“Like I said, mean left hook.”

You laugh so brightly, Arthur’s whole world stops. The Van der Linde gang watches on, enraptured at the prospect of their lead enforcer being locked in the gooey tempo of love-sickness. Hosea and Dutch share knowing looks. It is rare, this moment of happiness and peace that washed over Arthur’s face. He isn’t bitter. Isn’t old. He’s boyish and young and stupid for being in love.

You sit shoulder to shoulder with the blonde outlaw that night, deciding that, well, he’s right.

Family doesn’t need to be blood; this is right enough.