#mae and her best friend gene

[remadra]

Mae and her best friend Gene, a very normal guy.

[princesspuresarahk]

 Bob’s Burger Fanfic Belcher's On The Run!

The Belcher siblings are on a really big adventure with new changes Tina gets a new look with a possible new love, Gene is rising with music entertainment and Louise is ready to make it big with finding big money, but this summer will more crazier that they realized cause this time they'er on their own when they believe they're on the run after Mr.Fischoeder's home was caught in unexpected fire at a event that nearly killed the landlord putting him the hospital for a while and the kids 'think' they were the cause of it and need to find proof they are innocent.

Chapter 1: Summer change is here! Part 1

It's been 2 years at the Belcher family home and things couldn't be any better and sweeter Bob and Linda still working together at the restaurant their relationship still full of strong love and support Gene and Louise we're now 13 and 11 Gene was his still carefree friendly self still writing and playing his musical unique (sometimes strange) songs that had really gotten good and improved, his family really enjoys with Gene even writing special songs for each of them that really touched the whole family's hearts. Louise is still mischievous as ever enjoying pranks and pulling a few skins that worked out pretty well with results of one of them being winning $150 at a new mechanical bull ride at Wonder Wharf owned by a woman named Billie Mae who moved into the neighborhood hood and have recently became a really good friend with the Belchers (even new best friends with Linda) she was tall proud woman with wild bodacious hair tough as nails and smart as a whip who grew to really like Bob's burgers while visiting for lunch after hearing about how good his food was in fact she loved it so much she gave them a surprise $100 tip and amazing 5 out of 5 star review that nearly made Bob cry in amazement how it was a sweet kind place with awesome customer service food was really good and it was big family friendly a great place to go eat when you want a nice big juicy burger. Not also that Billie talked to Bob (with the encouragement from Linda and the kids) to go into a side business with her whole made barbecue sauce shoppe and add her famous sauces to his burgers of the day price 50/50 Bob was reluctant but decided to give it a try and much to a surprise everyone seem to really like it when he first put on the new burger of the day "The dark midnight holy spice BBQ brisket burger " customers and tourist came all over when they started hearing about the new barbecue burger series at the restaurant with the Belcher family making more money than they ever realizing this was the most special day they ever had Bob still thought he was dreaming.

It was nearing now the last day of school for Summer Gene and Louis had just gotten back as they opened the door to the restaurant as Linda "there are my sweet babies are you guys excited for your last day of school!" She cheered giving her two youngest each a kiss on the cheek.

Always the mama’s boy, Gene was happy to hug Linda back, but Louise squirmed away from the kiss. “Yeah, I’m excited it’s the last day! It means I can have a summer of not going to school and getting sent to Mr. Frond all the time,” she responded. Noticing someone missing Linda look around "hey where's your sister where's my Tina beanie?" Tina haven't gone through the door yet well Gene and Louise looked at each other, then toward their mom "Tina wanted to walk by herself mom, she's still in that long summer slump ever since Pesto Jr. Moved to attend that performing arts school where his mom lives," Louis explained as she and Gene sat by the table Linda surprised went by the window to look at the distance seeing a loan figure hiding in a big gray hoodie "oh oh my poor Tina can't believe that big ugly funky cloud came back thought it went away after Christmas still can't believe she still sad about Jimmy Jr. leaving.?" Linda expressed worryingly did this was the biggest slump the now 16 Tina had been in as she watched her oldest child solely walk one step at a time hidden in her hoodie. Last Summer Tina was hoping her and Jimmy Jr would become summer sweethearts again and on the day that she was going to ask him he was thrilled to tell her the news of him given the opportunity to go to a performing arts school to which Tina was happy for but later on it turned out that Jimmy would have to move in with his mom in order to attend and would have to leave by the end of June which made Tina devastated but she knew she couldn't hold Jimmy Jr. back in this big opportunity. “Gene, Louise, you guys go on and catch up with Tina, make sure she’s okay,” Bob addressed his younger kids.

“Got it.” Louise nodded, and she and Gene left the restaurant so they could catch up with their sister. “Hey, T! Are you okay?”

For a few minutes there was nothing just silence the occasional sound of soft breathing until they heard their sister give a big soft sigh "sigh..yeah.. I'm..ok ..sigh" she spoke softly continuing to slowly walk to the restaurant "oh boy"Louise mumbled she wished Tina could just get out of the slump. Suddenly she got a little idea "hey Gene got any songs for Tina to get out of a slump we got to put a smile on this girl!" Giving her brother a wink “You know I do!” Gene nodded and excitedly began loudly singing a song he’d written. Gene set up a tune with his new harmonica as he came up with lyrics to a song that he knows his sister likes "🎶 oh Tina the coolest sister I know, she dances to a steady beat stand up to a girl who's ever mean she's a strong sensual woman relaxing write into her stories and zombies and if she anything in fantasy she will be the zombie Queen! Fighting and riding Jericho her mighty steed that's her imaginary horse! Oh Tina the coolest sister I know Tina please smile for us come on Tina just for us!" Gene ended with a high note as he tried to catch his breath after coming up with the quick song.

Tina finally smiled a little, but Louise could tell her sister wasn’t completely happy. "Hey Gene I think we need to pick it up a little." Understanding remaining Gene set the tune again as both he now Louise sang the song again to get Tina to smile in arms and swing side to side.

Singing it louder and louder until a small smile fully appeared on Tina's lips showing how much her siblings care "That's the Tina we know,” Louise smirked as they finally made their way to the restaurant heading inside with Linda happy to see a little cheer up smile on her daughter "hey there's my tina teeny beanie how's my sweet girl." Coming over to give Tina a hug and a kiss on the cheek like she did with Gene and Louise a while ago

"Hi, Mom," Tina said quietly all smile still on her face seeing her mom that she was happy to see her daughter cheered up a bit

“That’s my girl.” Linda hugged her. “Are you ready for school?”

Tina smiled more "yeah Mom we're going to have a little party for the last day tomorrow." She explained and silently it looks like it was going to be fun even without Jimmy Jr. Suddenly the door could be heard opening in a familiar voice with a deep southern accent appeared "Howdy doo shugs! How'll y'all doin today!" Came wild and bodacious Billie Mae wild big red all over the place with her honey caramel eyes wearing a suede summer jack with a deep blue top tight jeans and cowboy biker boots that stomped loud as she entered the restaurant loud with pride.

Linda brightly saw their new friend enter "Hhhhhheeeyyyy Biillllie! How you doing girl it's nice to see you today!"

“No fair! I wanna be a cowgirl!” Gene exclaimed.

Billie smiled "You can be any cow folk ya want little man!" She gave a wild grin to Gene before giving his hair a toss and placing her straw cowboy hat atop Gene's head making the teen smile.

She then greeted the rest "Hey Louise how's my favorite little punk still causing mischief?" Giving Louise a fist pound as the youngest Belcher gave a wild grin like her "It's nice seeing you Billie." Bob greeted from the kitchen "Thanks and I'll be having your burgers of the day the El cheddar jalapeno shudder with extra spice in it to go." She ordered Gene slightly winced at the mention of jalapenos remembering the time being Beefsquatch him and his in competition against one another and his dad tricked him into eating one of his burgers that had a bunch of spicy jalapenos on it!

Morning on the Last Day of School

“I guess we need to get to school so we’re not late,” Tina finally sighed.

She still wore her hoodie hiding herself in it as her siblings made their way downstairs

Linda noticed and it made her ever concerned as she watched her babies off to school she needed someone to talk to pick up her she looked at her contacts and pressed the first number she saw after a few rings there was a "Hello?" Taking a breath "Hey Billie it's Linda hey hon I need some help with Tina."

“Yeah? How can I help you?”

"she's been down in the dumps for a long time recently ever since her old summer sweetheart boyfriend moved away last summer it's been rough on her so I was wondering if you could help me come up with an idea to help her get this lump out of her once and for all I don't know maybe help me plan a girls day for her?" Remembering how she took Tina out on one when she learned Jimmy Jr was going out with a girl on Valentine's Day

"hmmm you know what shug I think I can come along to help and I think I have an idea that can help with Sweet-T!" she declared making Linda smile happy and excited " Oh thank you Billie that be wonderful so what's the plan?" She whispered the last part as Billie explained their plan when Linda went to pick up the kids “I’ll tell you what, I think we should take Tina for a good spa day. I know a great spa that owes me a favor  'cause I go there so much!” Billie replied.

That brought a smile to Linda's face "Oh Billie that sounds wonderful I'll get the kids ready once they get off from school just tell me the directions and we'll meet you there hon ok bye bye now!" Linda hung up the phone excited this was just what Tina needed!

Meanwhile, later on at school, it was nearing the half-day school Tina's class was having a small pizza party with a movie called The Lone Ranger it's a pretty good movie Tina as a forever deep horse lover thought it was pretty good, especially with the mystical white horse silver the Ranger rides. She smiled as the main fight/chase began as she munched on the last of her pepperoni pizza silently looking at the side as Tammy and Jocelyn quietly talked on their phones (their teacher saying it was ok since it was the last day of school as long as they are quiet during the movie) typing away at their screens. she then turned to her other side where Zeke was kicking back against his desk enjoying the movie as he made excited remarks from scenes in his deep southern accent.

Zeke had taken it a bit hard when Jimmy left but he seemed to doing well after a while he always helped support his best friend and from what she heard/said Jimmy was doing excellent in his new dance school and even got to do a few big auditions.

Soon the last day of class was over as Tina made her way out Louis and Gene showed up just in time "Hey Tina my teacher had a milk and donuts party and she let me have two extras for you and Louise," Gene declared happily handing Louise a chocolate glaze with sprinklers and giving Tina a strawberry pink one also with sprinkles as Gene chowed down on his maple bacon glazed.

“Thank you, Gene.” The last day of school hadn’t been too bad, so Tina was noticeably in a better mood as she accepted her donut.

“Thank you, Gene.” The last day of school hadn’t been too bad, so Tina was noticeably in a better mood as she accepted her donut.

Taking a small bite she enjoyed the sweet taste of strawberries and cream of the pastry as she and her siblings walked out of the school just in time to see their Mom with Billie in her big black 2004 pickup truck both smiling excitedly "Hey kids ya really to go for a day at the salon and shopping?" Linda cheered all pumped up for fun and to help her Teeny Tina!

“Yeah, Mom, that sounds fun.” Tina nodded and opened the door and got into the backseat.

"Yahoo a day at the salon I can get a pedicure my aching musical feet need it!" Gene commented following Tina in while Louise thought it was nice cuz Billie would be paying for it all as her treat which meant free stuff!

Yeah, it’ll be fun. Thank you, Billie.”

It wasn't they arrived at the salon across from them was one of the new arcades so if Louise and Gene got bored they could go over there to play Billie even gave them $100 bucks each (yup she's that loaded y'all) while Tina is getting her makeover "all right Tina baby cakes you're ready for a life-changing new you?" Billie asked giving a wild grin making their way inside wear a hair stylist was there just in time waiting for them "Hello you must be Tina the name's Diane and I'll be giving you the most relaxing day of your life honey," she explained as Tina slowly got on the chair "all right sweetie first let's remove this hoodie and see what we got here," shyly Tina removed the hood and well caused everyone to gasps "holy moly!" Gasped Diana "Honey what got you into this jungle?"

credit to the amazing https://burgerspeople.tumblr.com/ for being part of this Fic! : )

Stay tuned for Part 2 as Tina reacts to her Cinderella transformation that slowly brings her out of her slump.

[dykerachelsummers]

earth-82 superfam continuity part one: the early years

dru-zod’s attempted revolution fails and gets him and his compatriots sent to the phantom zone, but there are casualties

among them being his sister, delle bet-zod, and her wife, teva van-dul. they left behind a three year old son, val-zod, who was adopted by jor-el and lara lor-van

val was two years younger than his adoptive cousin keren zor-el, at five, and two years older than his other adoptive cousin, kara zor-el. val and keren quickly bonded and became best friends

val was ten years old when his younger brother, kal-el was conceived. he was eleven when krypton was destroyed and their parents sent them to earth

val and kal were found by jonathan and martha kent and adopted, though jonathan and martha struggled with the language barrier as val only spoke kryptonese. it didn’t take him long to learn english though as his new adoptive parents learned kryptonese in tandem. (growing up clark was called kal as much as he was called his earth name by everyone in his family)

lana lang’s meta gene was activated by the meteor shower of kryptonite, although she didn’t learn this until she was sixteen. she moved to national city to study textile engineering and became superwoman only a scant year after superman appeared in metropolis and nimbus (val) appeared in san diego for the first times

lana fell in love with a young widow, eliza danvers née lee, when she was twenty-five. eliza had a ten year old daughter named alejandra or—as she preferred—ale/alex

as an adult, val moved to san diego for college, with the intent to become a nature photographer (partially as an excuse for why he traveled around the world, partially because he learned he was both talented at it and enjoyed it)

clark was twenty-five and val was thirty-six when lex luthor created what was supposed to be an alternative hero for metropolis in matrix, who took the form of a seventeen year old girl. this eventually ended in clark bring matrix, who would soon be named mae beatrice kent, home to smallville to be properly raised by martha and jonathan. she became a little sister for clark and val

almost a year later, the pods that held keren and kara were found. clark, at only twenty-six, didn’t feel prepared to take in a thirteen year old and an eleven year old and val wasn’t an option as he didn’t tend to stay in one place for long, so they asked lana and eliza, newly engaged, to take the two girls in, feeling that with lana’s abilities and eliza’s history with the deo (the department of extranormal operations), they’d be able to hand the two young kryptonians, knowing he was almost always only a call of his name away. keren and kara were introduced as karen and kara starr, eliza’s distant cousins who had been newly orphaned

after the formation of the justice league, keren soon became acquainted with several teen heroes and decided to become one herself, becoming power girl at age fourteen, and soon after becoming a founding member of the first iteration of the teen titans

[cloveroctobers]

HARRY ZHONG (MITCHELL-WHITE)

IG info/bio: @/heedful.harry | 15.6k followers| hi, I’m Harry and I’m a business major. No, You don’t have to hold your applause 🧐

21 years old

From York, England

Cancer sun + ARIES MOON energy

He and his younger brother, Archie were foster children in the Mitchell-white household

which consisted: Harrison Mitchell and his daughter from a previous marriage, Briony, Piers White and together they had a surrogate carry their child, which gave them their second daughter, Pippa

Later they came to the decision to adopt Harry and Archie Zhong, if only that’s what they wanted too

It took longer for Harry to warm up to the family since he was still waiting and wishing for his mom to come back for them

He was diagnosed with IED around 15 years old

Goes to therapy for it and meetings with others with similar issues...he dreads the meetings since it makes him feel like he has a problem or something, which HE DOES but it makes him feel like a...but he knows that’s a ignorant way to think

He’s currently a business major and loves telling people about it *yawn* (don’t drag me lmao)

He’s thinking he’ll be a Financial analyst or a Marketing manager

The type of person who’s done a lot in his short life that it’s often unbelievable ex.) telling the villa he’s driven one of the cars that was used in the fast and furious franchise & getting pissed when bill and everyone else didn’t believe him

Harrison is a train driver and is normally bubbly + wears bright preppy clothes

He also loves Broadway, much to Harry’s annoyance...if he hears one more Hamilton song he’s gonna slam his head thru a wall stg

Piers is a music producer and is more reserved or “stand-off-ish” until he gets warmed up to you + his aesthetic is a rocker, yeah he’s got the whole tattoos and boots thing going for him, after all he was in a rock band

Piers makes the most $ and is of high status, which brought him and his family perks but is not a snob about it...it’s whatever ya know?

Harry’s closer to piers, feels he understands him more & can be kinda rude to Harrison when he’s in one of his moods but tries to be better at responding to him since he made him cry once years ago — yes he felt like complete shit afterwards

Harry is anemic so he always finds himself cold, experiencing fatigue, irregular heartbeat, and if he gets up too fast or moves too fast? Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the—FLOOO000R! (I’m making this joke as a person with anemia)

Likes cold weather since everyone else can feel what he feels on the daily

Plus he loves dressing for winter season, trench coats, wool coats, turtle necks, thermal t-shirts, fleece pants, rolled up beanies that keeps his ears covered and his hair glued to his forehead...you name it!

On the regular? He’s a khaki’s kinda guy, dress shirts, and loves wearing suit and ties...he’s not the biggest fan of jeans. He loves dressing fancy unless the measurements are bloody awful

I’m going by the alternative design for Harry and...whew! Then he’s 6’1 if we’re talking about the one they gave us then we all know he has a baby face, so I’d say he’s about 5’8

He’s got long legs + arms and hates how majority of his pants barely fit around his ankles

has dry scalp too

I feel like he’s pretty intelligent and sometimes it can come off as a know it all, yet, he’s always down to help people & isn’t condescending while doing so

He knows how to make soaps and would sell them on his etsy account in highschool where plenty shat on him for it so for awhile he stopped the hobby until Harrison encouraged him to keep at this if it was what makes him happy

Harrison is the type of parent you go to for comfort and hugs even if it might feel like he’s smothering you

Piers is the one who lets you come to him when you’re ready to talk about it, no pressure

Harry went to a high school that focused on technology so he’s all into the latest gadgets

This is a secret but he only got a apple watch to feel like a true spy

His intelligence got him somewhere with a few ladies ;)

He’s a certified freak, 7 days a week and had a handful of hookups and about 4 gfs in his life so far

He’s kinky!!!

& has a f**t fetish

His past relationships were not long relationships, which sucked but Harry felt like...this might sound arrogant, but it’s either their lost — although there was never any bad blood with his breakups! or his person was still out there somewhere...

I haven’t fully played his route (AJ stole my ass since I couldn’t romance seb or Nicky sorry) but I’ve seen screen caps and he’s a total sweetie if he’s really committed to you, you might be his “true love”

He’s nervous opposed to his usual confidence when he’s chatting to other ladies with ease, with you it’s different, it’s magnetic, nerve-wrecking, butterflies, electric, and exciting all wrapped in one

I feel like he shows his love language with quality time but also enjoys physical touch from his partner

Picky eater

But he was worst as a child! Barely ate anything which led to him being lanky or it’s in his genes but mostly he wouldn’t eat a damn thing

These are a few of his favorite things: figs, green tea, and almond milk

makes the best spring rolls with the rice paper, those are superior than fried! “Fried food will kill u u know!” “Okay bill.” “Iona, don’t know if u had too much to drink but, erm I’m Harry.” “R/WHOOOOssssh! And you’re s’pposed to be the smart one, yeah right.”

outside of the villa he found himself continuing his friendship with bill—even tho he pisses him off sometimes since he’s always got some shit to say but they’re probably the closest, Iona she’s always honest and is always a good time to be around when they hang out, Then there’s Camilo and Miki that he hangs out with too

Is the first one sharing about his day in the group chat with all of the villa, he can feel half of them rolling their eyes at him since many feel he tends to exaggerate

if he’s not endgame with mc...he kinda feels a way that Genevieve found her happiness in seb instead of him, it’s not that he’s bitter—he genuinely liked her and felt like maybe they didn’t try hard enough but deep down knows relationships can’t be forced. It’s just his ego trying to control things that’s all! plus he was comfortable with vieve even if it felt more on a platonic side...oh well

once slid into jen from s1’s dms one dark stormy drunk night & admitted on live that erikah kinda gave him some tips before going on the show... & that he thought one of the new girls that entered the villa was a better fit than one of the originals from s2 which caused him to get blocked by said original OOP

Has a circle of close friends outside of the villa, they’re all brainiacs and have something going for themselves

Enjoys action films and biographical drama films like: James Bond, John Wick, and the social network

Isn’t ashamed to admit that he loves using sheet face masks but isn’t the greatest at following a consistent skincare routine

Has his own back massager that he spent a lot of $ on since it wouldn’t go on sale and then a week later...it went on sale

sends a lot of “🙃🙂” texts when you piss him off

probably worked at GameStop, the apple store, Godiva, and currently works at a electronic repair shop for a side of cash but is looking for a internship since he’ll be graduating next year

Always Keeps cough drops on him? 

is a huge cuddler & falls asleep easily

His brain is always active, experiences REM sleep often

fav video games are tekken & hitman

owns a drone now 😏

also loves strategic board games & riddles

Took quarantine life seriously, did his research before it completely broke globally and started buying shit excessively in person and online that he sent most to his family before the campus shut down

Is the friend that will check on his friends :)

Keeps his dorm and his room back home CLEAN af, is OCD about everything being in order/organized. Will know if you touched his shit, Archie felt his wrath many times before

Has a life goal board in his closet, & plans to be fully established by 25. More power to ya Harry!

Celeb crushes: Victoria justice, Jesy Nelson, Deepika Padukone, Brec Bassinger, jasmine tookes, and princess Mae

Who does he listen to? oceanfromtheblue, Galimatias, Ta-Ku, Aries, Tyler, the creator, rich Brian, NIKI, viji, & AJR

Anthem = DPR IAN, “So beautiful”

[formeandmyfics]

Jugenea Fan Fiction ‘LOCKED IN’

Because Judy & Gene are having ‘marriage on the rocks’, Sinatra & Bacall decide to do something about it. But, will their plan work out? 

Spring 1956

Gene stood at the end of the Bogart's driveway, next door to his home, as he took one last drag of his cigarette. He could hear the sounds of steel drum and ukulele music echoing from the back yard, along with sounds of his rowdy friends, and many familiar cars lined the Beverly Hills street in front of their houses. Exhaling the smoke into the night sky, he then dropped the cigarette the the ground, and stepped on it before heading up the driveway.

When he walked through the gate, he saw that the Luau was in full swing. With strings of yard bulbs lit up over the party, he could see everyone was dressed in Caribbean attire, with women wearing flowered lei's, as they hung around the tiki bar or the large buffet table.

Gene's eyes scanned the crowd for one particular person, but didn't see her. There were many people, and being so short, sometimes it was hard to find her. It was, however, never hard to hear her, but right now that voice of hers was non-existent over the music and chatter.

"Hey, bud, you made it," Van said walking up next to him in a bright yellow shirt with palm trees all over it.

"Hey, hey," Gene said smiling wide as they gave a hug and pat on the back.

"Here," Van said reaching for one of the sea-shell lei's on the welcome table, "Lazar said entry into his birthday party is that everyone has to wear one."

"That's fine," Gene said as he bent so Van could place it around his neck, "I haven't been laid in a while."

"That's 'cause you were on the other side of the pond for 5 weeks."

Yeah, add three weeks on top of that five, Gene thought a little irritated, as they joined the crowd.

"His birthday was last month. Why are we having it 3 weeks late? Not that I'm complaining. I'm happy to be here."

"He was over in Australia, I think. Bogie wanted to throw him a party with all of us."

"Where is Swifty?"

Van motioned, pointing back and forth behind Gene. Gene turned around and saw the familiar 5'2 bald man in glasses in a serious conversation with Moss Hart, another client of Paul's, or 'Swifty' as they called him. 90% of everyone here was, or had been, a client of Swifty's at one time or another, including himself.

"Look at him," Van said, "He's at his Luau and he's still over there discussing work."

"And with Moss, too. They're probably closing some business deal."

"And it's probably regarding your wife," Van teased as Swifty was Judy's current agent and Moss was her last film director.

Gene took the cold beer that Van offered and scanned the crowd again when Lauren walked up in a halter top and grass skirt.

"How ya doin' suga," she said in her best Mae West accent.

"Hi, doll," he chuckled giving her a friendly peck on the lips, "How are you?"

"I'm good. We've missed you."

"Oh, I've missed you all, too. It's good to be home."

"How good," she asked cautiously raising her eyebrow.

"Haven't made it that far yet," he said taking a swig of his beer.

"I'm glad your back. My husband's been taking me on the boat in your absence. He's says I'm not as good of a skipper as you are."

"Oh, being on the boat again sounds amazing. The weather over in England is shit."

"Cloudy?"

"Rainy and cloudy. Imagine spending over a month in that."

"Well, it definitely hasn't been like that here. It's actually been quite warm for this time of the year."

"Good. Maybe I can take a dip in your pool tomorrow if it's warm enough."

"Oh, yeah, anytime."

"Where is your other half, by the way," Gene asked.

"Over there at the Tiki Bar," she said, and in perfect timing the group of men there burst out in a roar of laughter, "They've just started doing the Jack Daniels."

"Oh, it's about to get fun then," Gene laughed.

"You know it. Oh, and your other half is in the house with Junie if you're wondering. I'll be right back."

Gene looked at the back patio door, as if he expected Judy to come walking out at that moment. When she didn't he started walking to go in, but he suddenly heard his best friend's unmistakable, but slightly intoxicated, voice.

"Gene!"

The other men joined in seeing him, as it'd been over a month, and he couldn't help but get pulled into their welcome circle.

Judy sat at the island in the large kitchen as June made them both another Mai Tai and discussed 'You Can't Run Away From It', a movie she was almost done filming at Columbia.

"As much as I love my husband, I gotta tell ya, it's been a little annoying working with him like this, as the producer and director, and then coming home together. I don't know how you did it with Vincente."

"During The Pirate, it was hard. It was really hard. I wasn't in the best shape, mentally, but I think working together like that put a lot of strain on our marriage. That's why I wanted him replaced on Easter Parade. I didn't want it to make our marriage worse, but it didn't matter in the end, anyways. I didn't understand it because I loved working with him on St. Louis and The Clock."

"That's because you two weren't married then. You didn't have to come home together afterwards."

Judy giggled, "That's true."

"Do you think if Gene directed you in something right now, you'd be as annoyed with him as I am with Richie?"

Judy put on a smile. She heard her friend's frustrated tone, and knew it was a hypothetical question, but it hit pretty good.  

"Well, I don't have to work with him to get 'annoyed' at him, but actually, it's the opposite with us. We work so well together, you know? He knows the way I work. He directed me in all the dance choreography for the last two films we shot together, and we weren't married then, but it always brings us closer together when we work. It's been hard going in two different directions, professionally. Working together is all we've known, it's how we met. And even after I left Metro, he was there helping me when I started my concert career and he was there to help me when I went over to Warner Bros for A Star is Born."

"And now you're away doing concert tours and he's making films."

"Yep."

"Or, he's away making films and you're here doing albums."

Judy sighed, resting her cheek in her hand, "Yes, June."

"But you always come back to each other. You're back from that small tour up north and he's finally back from London. Didn't he get back yesterday?"

"Yeah. Yesterday morning. He spent the afternoon with the kids when I was at the recording studio."

"I spoke to Pete on the phone this morning. He said he is subletting his Wilshire Terrace condo to Gene for a little while."

"That's what I've been told," Judy said licking her lips before taking a sip of her fresh cocktail.

"It's convenient, as it's literally right down the road, but...what the hell, Judy?"

Judy nudged her shoulders, "It's his decision."

"I know you, my friend, and I know Gene, which means I also know that you have a lot to do with that decision of his," June said in a motherly voice as she waved a skewer of sliced oranges and grapes at Judy.

Judy huffed and grabbed the skewer before June poked her in the eye, "Give it."

"Have you seen him yet since he got back?"

"Not yet. Frank said he was going to stop over here tonight, though.”

Just then there was a roar from a bunch of men followed by laughing. Junie turned to look out the window behind her.

“What’s going on out there,” Judy asked.

“I don’t know. Looks like the guys are up to something.”

“My gosh, they’re making a lot of noise,” Judy said getting up to follow behind her friend out the door.

They walked to where the group of men stood but first saw Lauren cracking up pointing.

“What is going on,” Judy giggled to Lauren.

Just then the crowd parted and there stood a few of the men in straw hats, bare chested, with coconut bras on. When Judy saw this, she laughed hysterically, grabbing onto Lauren’s hand for support, as the two women almost doubled over.

When Gene saw Judy happily laughing, it made him smile. He hadn’t seen her like that for a while. When their eyes finally met, they were both chuckling, and he took that opportunity to walk up to her. But he did so in a sexy stride and tilted his straw hat on his head, the way she does with her fedora in her Get Happy number.

“What do you think,” he asked smiling proud.

Judy giggled and placed her fingers on her lips as she looked down at the bra covering part of his naked torso, “I think you look ridiculous.”

“Good, just was I was going for.”

“This the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe you’re all wearing those.”

“Touch em,” he said playfully grabbing her wrist but she quickly pulled her hand away laughing.

“Get out of here.”

“Wanna try em’ on,” he said untying the back.

When they were off, she took it from him and examined the petite, wooden cup, “Darling, I’m afraid they’re a bit wee small for my liking.”

“Let me see,” he laughed and took the bra back. He was about too place it up to her chest when she pushed him away, crossing her arms.

Gene laughed and took his big, straw hat off and placed it on top of her head.

“This is not what I was expecting once you got back home, but it’s pretty damn funny,” she said adjusting the hat.

“What were you expecting,” he asked, his tone a little more serious.

“I don’t want to talk about it right now,” she said taking the hat off, “Can you please put your shirt back on, we’re at a party.”

“Yes, dear,” he said in the all-too-familiar husband voice.

After Gene grabbed his shirt that was sitting by the tiki bar and put it back on, he found Judy sitting at a vacant picnic table. He immediately sat next to her, beer in hand.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t home yesterday when you got back.”

“It’s okay. I know you were working.”

“The kids were so happy to be with you again. They couldn’t stop talking about it,” she smiled.

“I gotta tell ya the truth, I got teary eyed. I missed the all so much. I’m glad Liza was there, too.” “You handled all four of them alone, huh,” she asked with a raised eyebrow as she needed help doing it herself.

“Oh, sure, but they were on their best behaviour, just because it was my homecoming I’m sure.”

“Kerry spent the night for a few days.”

“She told me. She said you took her to Capitol Records with you. She thought it was the coolest thing ever, her words.”

“Well, I promised to take her shopping and out to eat, but I had to record a song up at the tower first. She insisted she wanted to go with. I thought she’d be bored.”

“Oh, no. I think it’s thrilling to her. You know how excited she gets whenever she gets to come to the studio or one of your shows.”

“For a few hours, it was just the two of us. I’ve only been able to do that a few times with her since we got married, but now that she’s a teenager, it’s a different kind of bonding. I really enjoyed it.”

“I really appreciate you doing that for her, and treating her like your own ever since we moved in together. I cannot believe it’s been six years already.”

“I know, and I can say the same thing about you and Liza.”

“How’s the album coming along?”

“It’s going really great. I love the playlist.”

“Is there a title yet?”

“Oh, yes, one that I think beats my last title.”

“What can be better than ‘Miss Show Business’,” he asked dramatically.

“Judy.”

“Judy,” he repeated and she nodded with a gleam in her eye, “Well, damn, that does beat it. That’s not original at all.”

She laughed, genuinely, and reached down to scratch the bandage over her ankle. He remembered her telling him about her ankle sprain. They hadn’t spoken much over the phone while he was away. When they had, it was distant and cold and only about the children. The one time they actually spoke like a married couple was when their daughter had told him that Mama broke her ankle. When Gene had gotten Judy on the phone, worried, she told him about the sprain while she was in Frisco. He was happy that she was okay and at least didn’t break it. Judy reminded him that their daughter had an affiliation for over-exaggeration but thanked him for caring.

“How long do you have to keep the bandage on?”

“Two more weeks, just so I don’t sprain it again. It’s just a wrap. I don’t have to walk like a toy soldier or anything.”

“Does it hurt,” he asked taking her ankle gently and lifting it on his lap.

“It’s sore if I’m on it for long periods of time, but doesn’t hurt. It developed a nasty bruise though.”

He undid the bandage and there he saw her a large bruise over half of her foot now fading.

“Shit, Judy.”

“I don’t even know how I did it,” she giggled.

“Probably falling down while you’re sleepwalking,” he said putting the bandage back on.

“I don’t sleepwalk.”

“Whose that walking around the house at 3 a.m., a ghost,” he teased.

“Yeah, the ghost of Dorothy’s past.”

He looked at her as she smiled, looking down as she stretched her bare legs straight. His eyes traveled up them to the tight, and short, high-waisted white shorts she wore. A yellow, mid-drift shirt was tied around her waist, with a matching bandage holding up her hair, and a pink lay of flowers was around her neck. She looked very cute, and more radiant, than she had the last time he saw her. Of course he had watched her GE performance on television like everyone else, and noticed she had lost about 10 pounds, but now in front of him, she looked younger as well.

When her eyes didn’t meet his, he knew that she knew, that he was staring. So, he leaned over and whispered in her ear, “You look so beautiful.”

Across the way, Lauren nudged Frank with her elbow, to get his attention. When she had it, she motioned for him to look at their two best friends. When he did, it was just in time to see Judy look up at Gene, smiling, flattered by his comment.

“They’re getting along,” Frank said.

“Let’s hope it stays that way. I’m not looking for a repeated performance of what happened last time they were at my place.”

“What happened,” he asked.

“It was a few days before he left for Europe…” she said trailing off.

*

“Judy! Open the door! Judy! I swear, I’ll break it down!” Gene’s yelling caused the dog next door to start barking as Lauren walked around the bushes that separated their yards. “You’ll huff, and you’ll puff, and you’ll blow the house down,” she said, her arms crossed in front of her. “Oh, Jesus,” he slurred. “May I ask what you’re doing?” “She locked me out. She took my god damn keys and now all the doors are locked.” “Why did she take your keys,” she responded calmly. “Because she didn’t want me going out even though I had these plans for the past few weeks,” he smiled with his finger up like he was smarter, “So, I had Frank come pick me up. Ah ha, she couldn’t stop me then.” “She took your keys because you were probably drinking before you left,” Lauren responded matter-of-factly. Gene swatted his hand and shook his head, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He turned back to their front door trying the knob as if it was going to miraculously open again, “OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!” Lauren slightly jumped and placed her finger on her temple,“Dear, she isn’t home.” “Yes, she is. Her car’s right there.” “She . isn’t . home,” she slowly stated in aggravation. “Then where the hell is she?” Lauren pointed to her own house and Gene rolled his eyes before heading that way.            Judy was singing at the piano, as Kay played, when Gene entered the living room, Lauren on his heels. It was a small group, as Bogie, June & Richie watched. Gene was ready to have words, but seeing Judy singing, he sighed and composed himself.  No one interrupted when Judy Garland was singing, not even her own husband.

When Judy saw Gene, singing loudly through a long note, she nonchalantly lifted her left hand giving him the bird. The room turned to look whom she was flipping off and Gene looked at Lauren who smiled, putting her finger up to her lips to shush him. “Whatever you did, maybe you should apologize,” a man in his late 20’s said with a chuckle, as he walked up to Gene out of nowhere. “Why are you immediately taking her side…‘cause she’s got the tits,” Gene asked as if talking to a friend, but then when he looked, he didn’t recognize the guy. “Yeah,” the man chuckled. “Who are you?” “And if you don’t make up, maybe I’ll end up having the tits, too. Hi, I’m Robert,” the man’s voice was full of sarcasm, clearly joking, and he extended his hand happily to introduce himself but Gene turned red. In his current state, with the current circumstances, Gene took the comment the wrong way and saw red. He suddenly grabbed the guy by the collar with his fists and baked him up to the wall startling everybody. “Don’t fucking talk about my wife,” he shouted. “Oh, Jesus,” Judy said and quickly ran over. Robert put his hands up, “Whoa, I was joking! BACK OFF MAN!” “Gene!” Lauren shouted. Bogie grabbed Gene from behind, calmly, to back him off but Gene just stared at the man, still in a hold. Suddenly Judy was next to them. “Gene, that’s Lauren’s cousin, now BACK OFF,” she hissed. Hearing her voice, suddenly brought him back to reality, and he let go. He looked at the man with complete remorse, helping him smooth his jacket. “I’m sorry.” They watched as Gene walked out of the room, running his hand through his hair. When he passed Richie & Junie, the two looked at one another shocked. “I am so sorry, Robert. Please do forgive my husband. He’s not himself right now,” Judy pleaded. “He’s not usually like that,” Lauren added. “I thought we were joking around. I guess it got misunderstood.” “He’s a walking bottle of whiskey right now, hey, Judes,” Bogie asked a bit amused but she didn’t find it funny. Judy shook her head, looking at Lauren, before she walked the opposite direction that Gene went.

* Lauren handed Frank his fresh beer, “Judy really locked him out of the house that night. He spent the night in our guest room. I had never seen Gene’s temper like that.”

“Yeah,” Frank chimed in, “Even when drinking, he isn’t like that.”

“Judy really wasn’t lying about his temper becoming a problem.” “But from what he told me, Judy’s mood swings are a huge problem as well. With his temper like a short fuse, and her bi-polar moods, that ain't good. Do you know what they've been fighting about?"

"No clue. But Judy did tell me they had a blow out the day before he left. She said it was the worst fight they ever had. I guess they both said things that were pretty hurtful, attacking below the belt, and all. She doesn't know where their marriage stands right now."

“Well, maybe they’ve made up, or will later,” he said wickedly.

Judy turned her head away when Gene had leaned in to kiss her and it really pissed him off. He didn’t say anything, but his face said it all as he slowly leaned back from her.

“Gene, don’t,” she said. She wasn’t playing hard-to-get, she was serious.

Gene exhaled, not wanting to get into an argument, especially here at the party, “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“I have no definite plans.”

“Good. We need to talk.”

Judy didn’t like his tone one bit, “I’m not sure I’ll be in the mood to talk tomorrow.”

Hearing her actress voice, he whispered, “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but that thing you sent in the mail, is full of shit. Just know that.”

Without another word, Gene got up and walked away. Judy’s eyes followed him until he sat down in a chair by the pool.

Back across the way, Frank and Lauren looked at each other.

“Well, that didn’t last long,” Lauren said.

“I wish we could do something to help ‘em, you know?”

“What we ought to do is lock them in a room together until they figure things out.”

Frank nodded and took a swig of his beer but suddenly his eyes widened.

“Betty.”

“Hm?”

“I got an idea.”

Debbie Reynolds sat next to Judy, and playfully nudged her shoulder as she did so. Judy acknowledged her friend’s presence with a gentle smile, but that not-so-like-Judy welcome alerted Debbie.

“Alright, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing for you to worry about, darling.”

“Man problems?”

“If you want to call it that, sure,” she giggled.

“Is it that time of the month for Gene,” Debbie joked.

“Yes, but for both of us, and has been that way for more than just a week, let me tell ya.”

“Oh, it’ll be okay. Every marriage has ups and downs.”

“I know,” Judy said a bit frustrated, “I’ve had my share of downs with my past two marriages, but not with Gene, at least not like this.”

The seriousness in her friend’s voice altered Debbie’s smile and she took Judy’s hand, “You’ll be okay, I promise.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Because it’s you two.”

They were quiet a moment before Debbie spoke up again, “Now, I have some exciting news to tell you that might turn that from upside down.”

“You’re pregnant,” Judy said joking.

“How’d you know,” Debbie answered gleefully.

“Wild guess,” Judy giggled back, still joking, but when she saw the look on Debbie’s face, her eyes grew wide, “Are you really?”

“October.”

Judy gasped, with a huge smile, before putting her in for a big hug, “Oh, darling, that’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you. We haven’t announced it to everyone yet, but I’m so thrilled.”

“Oh my goodness, I bet Eddie is excited.”

“Oh, he is. It’s not for another six months, but I think he’s already gone and bought cigars for when the baby’s born.”

Both girls laughed.

“Hey, Judes,” Frank said walking up.

“Yah, honey,” she asked turning to look at him over her shoulder.

“Can you stand up a moment?”

“Why?”

“Can you stand up a moment,” he repeated.

“No. Why?”

“Come on, come on.”

Judy and Debbie gave each other strange looks before Judy stood up, a little self conscious. Frank walked up arms length, and put his hand up so she would place her hand in his, which she did. He kept a hold of it and looked at her, as if observing her outfit.

“What the hell are you - what are you doing,” she asked now trying to get her hand away but he kept a hold of it.

“Mm hm, mm hm,” he said then all of a sudden yanked her to him and picked her up over his shoulder.

Judy gasped and grabbed onto the shirt of his back so she wouldn’t fall, “Frank,” she yelled, “Put me down!”

“No can do, babe,” he said as he started walking down the small hill.

“God dammit, Frank, put me down,” she continued and kicked her legs. Instead of a verbal response, he gave a small slap to her behind. Judy leaned up, angry, and hit his back in response to this. Everyone pointed and laughed as they watched Sinatra carry Judy over his shoulder down towards the pool.

Gene just lit his fresh cigarette, sitting on a poolside lounge, when he heard commotion coming his way. He turned to see Frank walking towards him as his wife angrily wiggled over his shoulder yelling vulgarities.

“What the fu--,” he mumbled as they got close but he was interrupted by Judy.

“Don’t you dare,” she said hitting Frank’s back again as she saw the pool in front of her. When Judy saw them about to pass her husband, he reached her hand out, “Gene!”

Gene immediately put his cigarette in his mouth, so he wouldn’t burn her as she almost violently reached to grab his hands. Laughing, Gene was able to grab her arms hanging off the back of Frank, and pulled. Frank kept a hold and took a few more steps. This alarmed Judy, and she gasped, wrapping her arms around Gene’s neck, his chest now pressed up against Frank’s back.

Gene lifted his chin up to the sky, holding Judy, the cigarette dangling back and forth between his lips as he spoke, “Come on, man, let her go, she’s gonna choke me.”

“And I’ll choke you to death if you let go, Gene,” she warned kicking her legs.

“Ow,” Frank said as she nearly kicked in him the face, “Ok, ok,” he said and loosened his grip.

With that, Judy slid off, and clung onto Gene. Near the edge, Frank then tackled Gene’s side, giving a huge push.

“Oh my God,” Lauren said, but not surprised, when she heard Judy scream before seeing the big splash as the couple landed in the pool. She placed her hand over her eyes, stifling a giggle. Frank hadn’t been kidding.

Judy and Gene walked into the master bedroom soaking wet.

“I can’t fucking believe he did that,” Judy stated furiously.

Gene chuckled, “The little shit.”

“Why are you laughing,” she asked untying the wet bandanna from her hair.

“It’s just water, baby, lighten up,” he said starting to unbutton his shirt.

“Lighten up,” she asked with a shriek and was about to go on when the door opened.

“Hi,” Lauren said smiling, “If you don’t mind, I just have to…” She trailed off as her eyes landed on the bedside table and she walked across the room.

Judy and Gene both just stood there, confused, as they watched her pick up the phone. She fiddled with it before the cord was no longer plugged in.

“Ah ha, there we go,” she said and head back towards the door.

“What the hell are you doing,” Gene asked.

“Why are you taking our phone,” Judy added completely flabbergasted.

When she went out the door, Frank appeared with a tray of veggies in one hand and fruit in the other, obviously from the party.

“Here ya go, something to hold you over til’ morning. You’re good with just water til then, ya?”

“What are you talk--what the hell is going on,” Gene said taking a step towards him, his arms out confused.

Frank smiled, gave him a thumbs up, before shutting the door behind him.

Gene looked at Judy, who was making a strange face, before he walked back to the doors. But, they wouldn’t open. He tried again.

“What the fuck,” he said and tried again.

On the other side, Frank had tied one of the kid’s jump robes around the double door’s handles like a tourniquet. Lauren stood by smiling when she heard Gene and Judy mumbling inside.

“Frank! What the hell are you doing,” Gene yelled.

“Locking you both in.”

“What do you mean,” they both answered at the same time.

“Now, darlings, don’t get mad…” Lauren started.

Judy interrupted as she stomped to the door, “Darling’s going to get mad if you don’t open the god damn door!”

Frank looked at her eyes wide hearing that rare, but intense, yell, “I think she means business.”

Lauren went on, “Now, listen, you two are going to stay in there together, and work on whatever shit you’re going through, no ‘if’ ‘and’s’ or ‘but’s’ about it.”

“We are not going to stay in here, now OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR,” Gene yelled and hit hit fist against the door which made Frank back away startled.

“Stop it,” Judy said pushing Gene away and put on a calm and sweet voice, “You cannot just leave us in here.”

“Sure we can. You have a bathroom, you have snacks, you have water, you have a bed, you have each other, you’ll be fine until morning,” Frank added.

“We’re not joking,” Lauren said walking closer to the door, “We’re not letting you out until you can work out your problems.”

“Great,” Gene said, “We’ll die in here.”

Judy gave him an evil glare before trying the door herself, but of course it didn’t open, “Betty, I love you, I really do, and I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but you don’t know anything about what we’re going through, and quite frankly, it’s none of your business.”

There was silence a moment before a piece of paper was slid under the door. The couple didn’t even have to pick it up to know what it was: Deposition for Divorce. Gene sighed, running his hand through his hair, as he started to pace.

“Found this on the table in the foyer on my way up. Frank and I planned this little charade before I even saw this. I may not know why this exists, but, as your friend who knows you both very well, I do know that it shouldn’t exist.”

“I agree,” Frank said matter-of-factly.

“You’re really going to keep us in here,” Judy asked, trying to avoid Gene’s gaze.

“Just until morning.”

“What about my children?”

“Oh,” Lauren said cheerfully, “I’m taking them over to my house for a sleepover. Won’t that be fun?”

“You’re going to wake them up, to take them over to your place, just to go back to sleep,” Gene added ridiculously

“They’ll be fine.”

“Have fun with that one,” Gene added.

“I have kids of my own, remember. I’m well aware how they work.”

“You guys need anything before we leave,” Frank asked exuberantly.

“How about for you to let us out of here,” Judy called out frustrated.

“Cannot process that request. Anything else?”

“Well, I do know one thing, I’m going shopping for a new best friend after this,” Gene stated.

“Ok, well, if you don’t need anything, have a good night.”

“Tata,” Lauren added.

Gene pressed his ear up to the door and heard the footsteps fade away. He then looked at Judy shocked, “They’re really leaving us in here.”

Judy just gave him a look and walked into the bathroom slamming the door loud behind her, the picture rattling on the wall.

Gene exhaled through his nose, “This will be fun.”

When Judy emerged from the bathroom, she was wearing a black, silk robe that came to her knees, and her face was freshly washed, damp curls framing it.

Gene, who had changed into a pair of dry pants and a t-shirt, was standing on their bedroom’s small veranda looking down at their enormous backyard. As Judy walked over, she could hear the echo of the party still going on next door.

“Might be a bad idea, Gene,” Gene mumbled to himself, “you might break something if you jump.”

“Are you insane,” Judy said ridiculously, “You’ll break your damn neck.” She looked over the side at the vines that covered the back of the house, “What if you, you know, shimmy down the vines?”

Gene was the one to look at her ridiculously now, “This isn’t The Pirate, Manuela,” he emphasized and Judy looked at him insulted as she placed her hands on her hips. He went on, “Besides, even then I was harnessed to a safety wire.”

Judy followed him inside, shutting the veranda doors behind her. He walked over to the large, white mahogany, double doors and placed his hands on his hips.

Judy looked at him warningly as she saw the determined expression on his face,“No.”

“No, what,” he asked, but was preoccupied with turning the door handles gently to see if whatever was locking them in would come loose.

“Whatever you’re thinking about doing, it’s a big fat no, buster.”

“What am I thinking?”

She placed her hand on the door in front of his face, leaning on it, “You’re not going to try to break my door down, Gene.”

“Your?”

“Our,” she corrected rolling her eyes, “These are brand new doors that I had specifically made to match the carvings on last ones. That hole you kicked in them was there for a month before I could get it fixed.”

Gene sighed. She knew exactly what he had been planning…kicking the door through enough to unlock it.

“Is it really that horrible to have to be stuck in a room with me for a night that you’re willing to break down the doors?”

“Of course not. I just don’t like to be a prisoner in my own fucking house and I know you don’t like this either, so don’t even try arguing with me.”

“Look, you can’t jump off the damn balcony and I’m not letting you break the door down, we don’t have a phone, so we’re just going to have to make the best of it. Besides, the doors are heavier than the last. You might hurt yourself in the process.”

“Oh, so you still care,” he exaggerated but Judy took offense.

“Don’t be silly.”

Gene walked over to the veggie tray and picked around as she turned on the radio and grabbed a magazine.

“Well, at least they left us food, though I wish Frank woulda left me some bourbon.”

“I bet you do,” she sassed back with her eyebrow raised as she head for the lazy boy chair in the corner.

“What,” he said with a warning tone that told her that he knew exactly what she said but was challenging her to say it again.

“Nothing,” she half sung as she curled her legs up underneath her and opened her magazine.

“Can we at least try to get along,” he said out of frustration, “I mean, you know Judy, I’m back home after being gone over a month and…”

She cut him off sharply, “You wouldn’t even be here right now if they hadn’t locked us in. You’d be down the street at Petey’s apartment.” Gene was silent a moment as he bit into a baby carrot, “Do you have a problem with that?”

She ignored his question, “Why did you decide to stay there?”

“I told you over the phone, Peter was looking for someone…”

“...to sublet the apartment to,” she finished for him, “Yes, I know. But he has lots of friends who could do it. Why did *you* decide to do it?”

“Because I wanted to help him out. Besides, it’s only a couple minutes down the road.”

Judy blinked as she slowly turned a page of her magazine, avoiding his eyes, “Is that the only reason?”

“Well, this has something to do with it, too, but I’m guessing you already knew that,” he said dropping the divorce paper in her lap and walked away.

Judy placed the paper on the table beside her and went back to her magazine. Gene walked back out onto the balcony as he lit a cigarette. He exhaled only once before he spotted Richie and Junie start down the Bogart’s drive way.

“HEY! Powell! Up here!”

“Oh, hey,” Richie waved.

“Junie, come up and help us!”

“Help you what,” Rich called back.

“We’re locked in!” “What do you mean?!”

“Lauren & Frank locked us in!”

For a moment Richie started to walk towards the house but June quickly grabbed his hand. She spoke to him briefly before she smiled and waved pulling her husband with her. Richie put his hand out as if to say sorry and followed his wife down the driveway.

“OH GO TO HELL, POWELL!”

Judy was sitting up straight, obviously alerted to the fact they almost got out of ‘jail’, when Gene walked back inside slamming the door behind him.

“I assume they were told not to help us,” Judy said amused.

“Yeah, nice friends, huh?”

With a new Bing Crosby show starting, Gene laid on the bed to listen and finish his cigarette. For the entirety of the show, the two didn’t talk. Any show of Bing’s was a favorite of theirs and they both chuckled in almost all the same spots. For how uncomfortable their situation was, the atmosphere never felt uncomfortable when they were together, even in silence.

When guest singer Jo Stafford sang one of her most requested songs, ‘You Belong to Me’, Gene lifted his head up to look at Judy.

“Did you sing this song before, I can’t remember.”

“Mm hm, a few years ago, on his show, coincidentally.”

Gene dropped his head back down, “You sing it better.” Judy giggled, “How do you know if you don’t remember me singing it?”

“Because,” he said stretching before sitting up, “you sing everything better.”

“Oo, even ‘Singing in the Rain’, hm?”

“Ok, maybe not everything,” he teased and got up walking into the bathroom.

About fifteen minutes later, he re-merged wiping his now freshly shaved face with a towel. He noticed Judy staring out the patio door, resting her head on her hand, deep in thought.

He switched off the radio, which he knew would tick her off, but he wanted to talk without corny laughter or cheery music in the background. When Judy didn’t even glance his way, he found it a little irritating.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Things,” she mumbled.

“What things?”

Judy sighed and looked up at him impatiently, “Things that are none of your business.”

“None of my business?”

“Gene, my thoughts are my business. Always have been, always will be.”

“Oh, well, considering you’re my wife, that’s my business. And this is half of my bedroom that we’re both stuck in, that’s my business, particularly in a house that I mostly paid for. Anything, and anyone, in my house,” he pointed to himself, “is my business.”

“You sound like a prick right now, stop it,” she said disgusted, and then stood up, “You know what, while you ran off to Europe, I have been here for over a month alone running *your house* and taking care of *your children* while I was also working. Since this is *your house*, maybe I will go stay at Peter’s and you can take a crack at it for a while.”

She stormed past him, but when she got to the doors, and they didn’t open, she yelled in frustration, hitting her palm against the door. In the heat of the moment, she forgot.

“How’s that working out for you, hun,” he said sitting down in the chair she was just in.

“Shut up,” she chuckled placing her hands on her hips, and looking up at the ceiling trying to calm down.

Hearing her laugh made him smile a bit and he continued, “I mean, I would call Peter myself to see if he would be okay with the switch but…” he motioned to the empty spot on the bedside table where their phone used to be, “Bacall.”

Judy knew he was trying to make light of it, but if he wanted to talk, then fine he would get it.

“You knew I wasn’t comfortable with you being away for 5 weeks, but you took the job anyways.”

“Because I loved the script and I am under contract still. I’m not fighting about this again. It’s was a job. I didn’t tell them to film in another country. And you weren’t alone. You have help and I took care of everything before I left. So, don’t play the ‘abandoning’ game with me, Judy.”

“I begged you not to go,” she continued, “A wife shouldn’t have to beg her husband to do anything.”

“Well, the last time I saw you, when you told me to get the hell out of your life, I thought, maybe, you changed your mind,” he said in a very sarcastic undertone.

“It seemed fitting to say after you yelled that maybe we shouldn’t be together anymore,” she said tilting her head at him, reminding him of his words.

Gene stood up in rage and walked over to her, “I only said it because you told me that this, us, wasn’t working out the same anymore.”

“It wasn’t! It isn’t. I meant that we have to change something. I didn’t once say we should not be together anymore. Those were your words,” she yelled, tearing up.

Gene took two strides to the dresser grabbing the piece of paper and held it up to her face, “THEN WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!”

Judy pushed it out of her way and walked past him.

“I know exactly what you’re doing, and I want you to admit it,” he said standing in the same place she left him.

“Admit what,” she said, her back to him, her hands resting on her elbows.

“Why you sent me this stupid thing.” Judy didn’t respond, but when he saw her try to flick a tear away, without being too obvious, he clenched his jaw, looking down feeling bad.

His body relaxed and he sat on the end of the bed speaking calmly, “If you won’t be honest about the divorce papers, then at least have the decency to apologize for what you said to me and I’ll do the same. You know what I’m talking about.”

She nodded but still didn’t turn to look at him.

*

“Judy, it’s out of my fucking hands! I’m under contract, or do you not remember what that’s like? The schedule and on-location can be hell, but I love the business, and being in movies, and I’m not changing my mind.”

“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be in movies.”

Her comment hit him so hard, and was so shocking to him, Gene couldn’t help but what came out of his own mouth, “And if it weren’t for me helping you to get into a stage career, and A Star is Born, you’d still be an MGM has-been!”

*

Gene spoke a little emotional, remembering it like it was yesterday, “I’ll start. I’m sorry for what I said to you, sweetheart. It was beneath me.”

Judy let out a sob before she sat back down on the lazy boy chair. Her expression killed him, but so did her comment.

“You really hurt me, Gene. You know you’re the one person I trust with all my insecurities and then you just sweep the rug from under my feet.”

“Honey, I only said it in retort from what you said to me. It was like a god damn punch to the gut. You know how grateful I am to you for…”

“I know,” she cut him off not needing to hear it and lowered her voice calmly repeating, “I know. I’m sorry, truly.”

Gene nodded, hearing the guilt and sincerity in her voice. Gene scooted back on the bed and rest his back against the headboard. Even though they both apologized for the blows, it didn’t change the situation

For, what seemed like an eternity, the two sat in complete silence lost in their own mind. The stress was heavy hanging over them like a dark cloud. After a while, Gene couldn’t stand the stillness any longer.

He got up and walked past Judy, who was hugging her knees to her chest, her face hidden. He thought she looked smaller than usual as he glanced at her before looking out the window. The Bogart’s party had ended and now it was pitch black in the backyard.

“The first movie we saw together was Casablanca.”

Judy lifted her head up and looked at the back of him, curiously, as he had his back to her, with one hand up resting on the wall, the other on his hip.

“It was only like a week after we first got together. Do you remember that,” he asked looking at her over his shoulder and she nodded, a little taken back by his random memory. “We snuck into a night showing at some theater on Hollywood Boulevard and sat in the back row so no one would see us. I held your hand the entire time. I was so enamored by what was happening between us, it didn’t matter that I was thirty-years-old, when I was with you, I felt like a love stuck teenager. And so much so, I even made love to you in my car afterwards. Even though we had already slept together, a few times before that night if I remember correctly,” he joked which made Judy giggle and he went on, “You said to me that you were usually not that easy on a first date.”

Judy’s smile had disappeared by then as she stared at him, as he stared out the window, a slight curve on his lips. She remembered that night fondly and, because of it, the movie had always been one of her favorites. It almost shattered her heart to think about it. Not to mention that the star of the movie lived next door.

“Why are you thinking about that now,” she asked in almost a whisper.

“I don’t know. I suppose it’s normal to think about the beginning of something towards the end of it.”

Judy felt her heart flutter, in a bad way, when she realized that she just heard Gene’s confession about where he thought their marriage stood. She hadn’t signed the divorce papers, because she wanted to know how he felt on the situation. If he sent the papers back to her signed, then she knew. But he hadn’t signed them, and that gave her some hope, though she was not going to admit it until he did. But now here he is, thinking of the end of them. This was not a game. It was real.

“I’m getting sleepy,” she said sounding as casual as she could as she got up.

Gene watched as she walked over to the bed, tossing the throw pillows on the ground, before getting under the comforter. He checked his watch before heading into the walk-in closet to change into pajama pants.

When he returned, he walked over to the bed respectfully, “I don’t want to sleep on the floor.”

“I don’t care if you sleep in the bed, Gene,” she said coldly, “Besides it’s your house, your room, *your* bed, right?”

Without another word she turned off the light. As he got into bed, he noticed she rolled on her left side, away from him, something she never had done in the past, ever. As Gene turned out the light and rolled onto his back, he stared up at the shadows of the palm trees dancing on the ceiling. It was a new, but odd feeling, he suddenly felt. Judy was there with him, but the room felt very empty.

Stop

That was the word that went through her sleepy head, but she didn’t dare say it out loud. It felt too good. Her body was betraying her mind as an aching arousal was building between her legs. It had been so long since they had sex. She wasn’t thinking about anything that had transpired before they went to sleep, and she didn’t even know what time it was, all she was focused on was how her body was feeling.

Still on her side facing away from him, Gene’s left arm was slid under her neck, resting on her breast though her silk robe, his thumb moving against her nipple back and forth slowly through the fabric. His other hand was also moving slowly, up and down her thigh, knowing how much that always turned her on. She couldn’t help the pleasurable whimper escape her mouth as his sucked gently against her neck. And the sound of his lips against her skin, the only sound in the room, just heightened the sensation.

In their dark room, the bed made a slight sound as Gene pressed his body closer to the back of her. She could feel his hard on, which always excited her, but the warmth of his body cascading hers always made Judy feel safe. Feeling safe wasn’t what was going through Gene’s mind. It had been about 6 weeks since they had sex, and even though they were fighting, it didn’t matter. They never failed to get turned on, and God o’mighty, he was horny. And he missed her, he missed the feel of her. And judging by the sound she made, he knew she felt the same. He also knew he wasn’t going to last long. It had been a long time…a long, stressful time.

Gene’s hot breath tickled her ear as he breathed heavily, rolling his hips gently against her as he pulled her closer. The sensation suddenly engulfed her body with pleasurable shivers and she slightly gasped at the feeling of it, her nipples also tingling in the process. She leaned her head back against him and Gene took that opportunity to leave hard, wet kisses along here neck as his hand slid between her thighs, which were pressed tightly together. He had trouble reaching the spot he wanted, and tried to nudge her legs open but she quickly grabbed his wrist stopping. Instead she rolled onto her back and lifted her bum, quickly shimmying out of her undies.

Seeing this, he let out a breathy groan in anticipation and tugged his pajama pants down. Crawling between her open knees, he jerked himself a few times before grabbing her hips. He scooted her towards him and lifted her a bit, the perfect angle, before pressing into her. He gave off a moan as he did so, she was so wet and there was absolutely no resistance. Wish he could say the same for her attitude sometimes, he actually thought, as he reached all the way in. But then her muscles immediately snugged around him, and he forgot about any attitude. As he slid in and out all the way a few times, he really knew he wasn’t going to last long. So he willfully adjusted himself, and her, knowing all-too-well where her spot was and started a rhythm. And she didn’t disappoint. Her sighs quickly turned into mewling cries which each thrust. The arousal he created for her earlier, was now growing, forming into one spot feeling better and stronger each time the head of him pushed up on it.

Her tiny screams, his desperate moans and the sound of his pelvis hitting her skin, getting louder and faster, was so erotic to both their ears.

Gene was so lost in the sensation of being inside of his wife again, he barely heard her whimper that she was coming, until he felt her body tighten, and her moans stop. He slowed down, but hit her with rough strokes when all of a sudden she let out a loud gasp. Gene stopped moving when her orgasm milked him hard, wanting to feel the sensation around him. He almost came then. When her body relaxed, she gave off a little ‘mmm’ and he started moving again. It only took him a few more strokes until he started panting and then gave off a loud groan, his body jerking into hers. It seemed endless as he kept coming into her hot warmth.

When Gene stirred out of sleep, he heard the quiet sound of some commercial playing over the radio and the sounds of birds chirping. Opening his eyes, he noticed the patio door open, the drapes blowing in from the spring breeze, and the sky was blue.

Sighing relaxed, he turned over and noticed the bed was empty, her robe laying where she had slept. He was about to call out for her when he heard the sound of the shower running. Gene threw on a white t-shirt before he grabbed his smokes and walked out onto the veranda. It was a gorgeous morning he thought as he lit the cigarette. Leaning on the banister, he took a drag, when he heard familiar sounds of children. He couldn’t see all the way into the Bogart’s backyard, but he could see a few kiddos running around, and he knew one of the was his baby girl, as a dog also barked obviously playing with them. He smiled a moment, at the peace, and had a sudden urge to kiss Judy and tell her everything would be okay.

After finishing the cigarette, he smashed it out before walking back into their bedroom. As he passed the dresser, he did a double take before stopping. Slowly, he picked up the piece of paper.

Judy wrung her hair out, and was about to turn the shower off, when the door suddenly banged open and the shower curtain was ripped aside.

She jumped, startled, “Jesus, Gene!”

“Get out of there,” he said and motioned for her to come out.

She gave him a funny look before speaking irritated and turned off the water, “I was about to. What the hell’s wrong with you barging in here like that?”

He tossed her a towel, “Come on.”

She secured it around her body and stepped out, “Do you mind?”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out, though she tried resisting, “It’s cold. What are you doing?”

“I want you to see something.”

He stopped at the dresser and took the paper. Staring her dead in the eyes, he slowly tore the deed, the divorce papers, that now had her fresh signature on them.

Judy looked a little surprised, “Why did you do that?”

“Why did you sign it,” he asked her back.

“Because you made it clear last night that our marriage is over.”

Gene looked at her ridiculously, but also trying to understand her, as he placed his hand on his hip, “By making love to you?”

Judy laughed, “We did not make love,” her voice got almost venomous, “We both just got off, and you know it.”

“What the hell does that matter? I didn’t want to fuck Betsy, even just to get laid, at the end our marriage. Where did I make it clear last night that I want our marriage to be over?”

He placed his hand on her cheek, being very serious, but she quickly moved out of his way afraid of the sudden affection, “You were thinking about when we first got together. You told me it’s because it was the end of us.”

“Judy, it was just my mind getting sentimental because we were sitting there locked in a fucking room together with divorce papers under our nose. Look at me,” he demanded, but with a soft voice.

She looked at him and he stared at her a moment, biting down on his jaw a few times, “I know you’ll have no trouble getting another set of papers drawn up, but I’m telling you right now, I’m not signing. I’m not giving you up that easily. It took me nearly a decade to make you my wife, I’m not giving that up from one fight. And if you think I am, you’re a damn fool.”

“I don’t want this either, Gene, but we obviously aren’t working out the way we used to. Look at us, we’ve been locked in a room together and all we’ve done is argue. If this was before, we would’ve spent the time playing games or dancing or…”

“It’s just a stressful time and stressful situation, Judy, we will get through it.”

“Are you really sure about that? We’re changing as people, and our careers have changed. We’re not the same people we use to be.”

“No one is. But we’ll work through the changes,” he reiterated, “I’ll do anything…even marriage counseling if that’s what it takes. You know how the thought of that makes me ill but I’ll do it. But you need to help, too. It takes two to tango, baby.”

He took her hands desperately, “Tell me, what do *you* need?” When she didn’t answer, only looking down with sorrow, he sat them down on the bed, “We need to communicate or we won’t get anywhere. Tell me.”

“For you to be home more. For you to not drink as much, no matter how stressed you get, because your temper scares me. And I need you to understand why I don’t want you to be away from me so long. I know I’m selfish about that, but it is for my mental health. Please no more 5 weeks away.”

“If, and I say if, either of us are going to have to be away for long for work, we will travel together. I’ll make sure it’s in our contracts. But you have to understand, that some things are out of my hands and I never do anything to purposefully upset you or hurt you. And I promise to work on not drinking like that anymore, but you need to be calmer with me as well. Your erratic behaviors scare me, sometimes.”

Judy’s voice cracked, “You know sometimes I can’t help that.”

“But you can control the intake, especially when *you’re* stressed,” he said referencing to her medication. It was something she often relapsed with, but when she did, he was in control of it. But it had been harder with him away working so much, and she wasn’t good at that kind of control, especially since it was her own body. To Judy, it was like money, it was something she needed but always relied on other people to control or take care of.

Judy squeezed his hands, “Do you really think we can go back to how things used to be?”

“No, because like you said, we’re not the same people we used to be. We can certainly grow together and change together but still be us. We just have to find a new way to make things work. And instead of arguing right away, we should talk through it and consider our options.”

“Except when picking a television show,” she said wickedly.

“King of the house, I own the remote.”

“We’ll see about that, buster,” she said playfully elbowing him.

Gene chuckled before getting serious again, “Judy, I love you. I love you more than life itself, but you’re fucking mad sometimes.”

Judy laughed gleefully, “Good. I feel the same way about you. You drive me insane.”

“Come here, sweetheart,” he said cuddling her damp body to him.

She rest her cheek on his chest and sighed, feeling like a weight was lifted from her shoulders. When she felt his finger lift her chin, she looked up at him.

“I’d like to kiss you hello,” he said remembering how she ignored it when he tried kissing her at the party.

His lips almost touched hers when she leaned back, placing her hand on his chest, “On one condition.”

“Name it.”

“That you make love to me.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he breathed as his lips met hers in a passionate kiss.

She purred, practically melting into him, as his tongue pushed its way into her willing mouth. Judy didn’t even realize her back was on the bed until Gene suddenly lifted himself off of her as the bedroom doors opened.

Lauren was walking in when Judy and Gene both yelled, “Get out!”

Her eyes opened wide as she quickly retreated, shutting the doors, a huge grin on her face as she walked down the hallway.

[vavuska]

FRESH OFF THE BOAT, POSTERS AND ART

Season 1, 2 and 3 are HERE:

Season 4, 2017

In 2017, the cast of Fresh Off The Boat re-created the painting "Whistler's Mother" (1871) by James McNeill Whistler for a poster to promote the forth season of the show. Constance Wu posed as Whistler's mother, Anna McNeill Whistler.

Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1, best known under its colloquial name Whistler's Mother, is a painting in oils on canvas created by the American-born painter James McNeill Whistler in 1871. The subject of the painting is Whistler's mother, Anna McNeill Whistler. The painting is 56.81 by 63.94 inches (1,443 mm × 1,624 mm), displayed in a frame of Whistler's own design. It is held by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, having been bought by the French state in 1891. It is one of the most famous works by an American artist outside the United States. It has been variously described as an American icon and a Victorian Mona Lisa.

Anna McNeill Whistler posed for the painting while living in London with her son at Cheyne Walk, Chelsea.

Several unverifiable stories relate to the painting of the work; one is that Anna Whistler acted as a replacement for another model who could not make the appointment. It is also said that Whistler originally envisioned painting the model standing up, but that his mother was too uncomfortable to pose standing for an extended period.

The image has been used since the Victorian era as an icon for motherhood, affection for parents, and "family values" in general, especially in the United States.

For example, the painting was used in "Fight for Her", a World War I recruitment poster from Canada, urging men to enlist with the Irish Canadian Rangers and to fight for the women in their lives. It appeals to notions of motherhood and family values that were popular at the time, and often attributed to this painting.

The painting become the subject of a 1934 three cent U. S. postage stamp "in memory and in honor of the mothers of America".

In 1938 the painting was used as model for Mothers' Memorial, a statue in Ashland, Pennsylvania. The Ashland Boys’ Association (A.B.A.), an organization of men and boys born in Ashland, raised the funds for the fabrication and erection of this monument.

The A.B.A. was formed in the early 20th century in response to the widespread job loss and dispersion of coal miners as mines began to fail. It was a homecoming organization that welcomed former Ashland residents back to their hometown. Men from all parts of Pennsylvania, as well as several other states, participated in these annual celebrations. The A.B.A. was the archetype of a poignant Pennsylvania story: how successive waves of industrialization and economic development create then destroy industries and communities, leaving large groups of people longing for the associations and comforts of family, friends and home. The Mother’s Memorial stands as a symbol of this sentiment.

The seven foot high three-dimensional sculpture was designed by Emil Siebern and sculpted by Julius Loester. Both artists were sculptors from New York who specialized in public art – funerary decoration, memorials, park statuary, etc. At the base of the statue you can read the words "a mother is the holiest thing alive".

Season 5, 2018

In 2018, the cast of Fresh Off The Boat posed for a Pop-Art poster, that recall the most famous of Andy Warhol seriography.

Andy Warhol was a neurotic and fragile child. Growing up in Depression-era Pittsburgh, he developed Sydenham chorea, a neurological disorder that left him confined to the house for months at a time. During his convalescence, he stoked an obsession with movie stars: he pored over fan magazines and even convinced his older brother, Paul, to write fan letters to the celebrities on his behalf. In exchange, the studios sent him dozens of headshots—autographed glossies of stars like Veronica Lake, Mae West, Marjorie Reynolds and, his all-time favourite, Shirley Temple, who misspelled his name in her personalized message. He painstakingly pasted each one into a cardboard scrapbook, arranging them in orderly grids.

That scuffed album is the key to understanding Andy Warhol: a whimsical career devoted to the reverence and ridicule of celebrity commodification. (Even his fluffy platinum-blond wig looked like a distorted tribute to Hollywood glamour.)

Born to a poor but close-knit Byzantine Catholic family, young Andy Warhol absorbed images of both the saintly icons on the altar of his local church and the glamorous stars he saw in the movies at his neighborhood cinema. Both would influence his life and art.

Warhol was an obsessive collection continued also in adult age: in the 1970s, when Hollywood studios were emptying their vaults, Warhol attended auctions to find photographic treasures. He purchased many photographs depicting celebrities past and present from the great collector John Kobal, and received others as gifts or discovered them at antique stores and flea markets.

After graduating, Andy Warhol moved to New York to become a commercial illustrator.

He was good at it too, creating magazine ads with a particular inky style that was very popular for a time.

Getting his art into the galleries, however, wasn’t so easy. Back then there was a clear line between fine art and commercial art, and Warhol had become a well-known commercial illustrator.

But Andy Warhol decided to use that to his advantage. He began to experiment with the stuff of commercialism itself—logos, trademarks, icons—things that had no fine art qualities at all.

Calling his studio "a factory", Warhol was interested in mass production, in commerce, and in the business of making money. Using repetition of similar or identical ready-made objects as a formal structure, he referred to himself as "a machine".

The use of repetition in the work of Andy Warhol is perhaps the most interesting and challenging components of his Pop Art.

In his works Warhol simultaneously celebrated and criticized consumption choices and mass (re)production, effectively turning his work into a repetitive whirlwind and establishing the grounds for the most successful Post–World War II art movement.

In the obsessive repetitions of Warhol, repetition produces a harmony which frees the shape from the contents.

Warhol's pop art can be seen as a relation to Minimal art in the sense that it attempts to portray objects in their most simple, immediately recognizable form.

On the occasion of Marilyn Monroe’s suicide in August 1962, Warhol used this image for his screenprinting. It was a publicity shot by Gene Korman for the film Niagara, made in 1953.

"In August 62 I started doing silkscreens. I wanted something stronger that gave more of an assembly line effect. With silkscreening you pick a photograph, blow it up, transfer it in glue onto silk, and then roll ink across it so the ink goes through the silk but not through the glue. That way you get the same image, slightly different each time. It was all so simple quick and chancy. I was thrilled with it. When Marilyn Monroe happened to die that month, I got the idea to make screens of her beautiful face – the first Marilyns."

Each print is vibrantly colored to reflect her vivacious personality. In many of the prints, her iconic lips are boldly colored a deep red. Many of the prints also emphasize her platinum blonde hair by adding variants of yellow. The colors ultimately bring to life Marilyn Monroe’s iconic status and celebrity glamour. By creating repetitive imagery, Warhol evokes her ubiquitous celebrity status.

Marylin Monroe is not a person anymore, she is become a commodity good, endlessly consumed by her public. (About how Marilyn Monroe become a sex symbol: LINK)

Season 6, 2019

In 2019, the cast of Fresh Off The Boat re-created the photo "Lunch atop a Skyscraper" (1932) by Charles C. Ebbets for a poster to promote the last season of the show.

The photo appeared the first in the Sunday photo supplement of the New York Herald Tribune on October 2, 1932.

The photograph was taken on September 20, 1932, on the 69th floor of the RCA Building during the last months of construction. According to archivists, the photograph was in fact prearranged. Although the photograph shows real ironworkers, it is believed that the moment was staged by Rockefeller Center to promote its new skyscraper.

Formerly attributed to "unknown", and often misattributed to Lewis Hine, it was credited to Charles C. Ebbets in 2003. Evidence confirming his authorship held in the Ebbets' Estate archives include original work orders showing invoices to Rockefeller Center for the time period surrounding the photo, letters of recommendation from his work at Rockefeller Center when the photo was taken, a copy of the original article from the NY Herald Tribune when the photo first appeared in 1932 in his own scrapbook of his work, photos from his office in NY taken in 1932 showing the image on a bulletin board display of his work, and a negative of him at work on the site that day.

The movie Men at Lunch traces some of the men to possible Irish origin, and the director reported in 2013 that he planned to follow up other claims from Swedish relatives. The film confirms the identities of two men: Joseph Eckner, third from the left, and Joe Curtis, third from the right, by cross referencing with other pictures taken the same day, on which they were named at the time. The first man from the right has been identified as Slovak worker Gustáv (Gusti) Popovič from the village of Vyšný Slavkov in the Levoča District. Popovič was originally a lumberjack and carpenter. In 1932 he sent his wife Mária (Mariška) a postcard with this photograph on which he wrote, "Don´t you worry, my dear Mariška, as you can see I'm still with bottle. Your Gusti."

Gustáv and Mária's joint grave in the Vyšný Slavkov cemetery is decorated with the picture.

[yourdeepestfathoms]

when you’re gone i’ll still be Bloody Mary

oof everything but the fight isn’t my best and you can tell i got bored and started rushing at the end BUT!! here is today’s fic! i hope it makes you mad!

Title from Bloody Mary by Lady Gaga

Word count: 5024

TW: Violence, blood, asphyxiation

———————

For better or for worse, the kids were alive and well again, and ever since then, the queens have changed. Everyone has noticed it- the sudden shift in behavior and attitude caught a lot of attention. Suddenly, they lost all their personality and just became a slave to the maternal mentality that awakens in their brains at the sight of their children.

First, there was Anne and Elizabeth. They didn’t look alike at all- Anne with her chocolate brown hair done in spacebuns and Elizabeth looking as if she was Merida from Brave- but they shared a similar gremlin-like gene. Anne was probably the least overbearing with her motherly attitude- she was still very much caring and loving, but she gave her daughter space and let her do whatever she wanted...which wasn’t exactly a good thing. Elizabeth had way too much freedom, especially towards Maggie, who would always get very quiet when the girl came around her. But Maggie tried, tried to be happy to see the girl again, and tried to be happy for her best friend, but her smile was very tight and forced, and pain would always flicker in her eyes whenever she saw the two together. She was dreading the worst- waiting for the sword hanging over Anne’s head to finally fall again.

Then there was Jane and Edward. Unlike her predecessor, Jane was extremely overbearing with the whole mum thing. She was always checking on her son, making sure he was happy and that everything was okay, and she pampered him constantly. Somehow, Edward didn’t seem to mind at all. He was basically living in the lap of luxury. Not even Kitty was bothered by this! She was just happy to finally get to be the big sibling in the family.

Thirdly, and most surprising, there was Cathy and Mae. The toddler actually appearing was a huge shocker to everyone, especially Cathy, but she took up responsibility for her daughter very quickly. She was very patient with the little girl, unlike Bessie, who had to leave the room whenever Mae would cry or even simply just giggle. Every time this happened, Cathy’s rage built up a little higher. It wouldn’t be long until she finally blew her top.

Finally, there was Aragon and Mary. It was easy to know that they were related; Mary seemed to get everything from her mouth when it came to looks- skin tone, eyes, hair, height, jawline, nose. However, there was one thing Mary inherited from her father: his bloodlust. Aragon, of course, didn’t acknowledge what her daughter had done at all. She was sheltering her mind from the crime, pretending it doesn’t exist because, to her, it didn’t if nobody brought it up. So nobody did.

Seeing all the kids was weird again, but Mary was by far the strangest, or at least to Joan. Mary appeared to be sixteen, maybe fifteen, so it was odd seeing her younger than Joan, but Joan pushed that aside and just tried to befriend the girl. After all, they had a common interest- having Aragon as a mother. Or, well, mother figure in Joan’s case. It wasn’t official yet.

“Hey, Mary!”

After everything was settled with the kid’s arrival was when Joan decided to make her move. She didn’t want to hold out much longer or it may seem impolite of her.

Mary turned to Joan, and Joan got a sudden bad feeling as she approached her further, like she was a sheep walking right into the den of a hungry hyena.

And now that it was mentioned, Mary kinda did look like a hyena. If Joan concentrated enough, she could almost smell the pungent, rank scent of death that clung to the girl as it did to the scavengers.

“Uhh. Hey.” Mary said. She was looking at Joan as if she were a dirty peasant clambering into her throne room. “And you are...?”

“Joan.” Joan said. “I’m the music director and pianist. Aragon and I are friends!”

Mary squinted at Joan. “Are you sure? Mother doesn’t mention you.”

“Well- maybe not as a friend, per se.” Joan scuffed her foot against the ground, trying her best not to do a giddy little happy dance as she said, “She- well, she sees me as a daughter!”

Mary blinked.

And then she started laughing.

The image of a hyena floated back to the surface as she did so- her laugh is barking and shrill. It grates Joan’s ears like barbed claws or scorpion stingers.

“You?” Mary asked for confirmation.

Now slightly flustered, Joan nodded.

Mary laughed again.

“Oh, that is adorable!” She wiped her eyes with a slim finger that seemed more like a talon. “Seriously, that is just too cute! My mother! Being yours!” Another chortle.

“It’s true!” Joan squeaked. Her voice is pitching and wavering slightly, which doesn’t help her case at all.

“Oh, I’m sure it is,” Mary said. “In your dreams, maybe. Why would Mother ever want you as her daughter? What makes you so special?” She tilted her head at Joan, and Joan just managed by the skin of her teeth to not squirm under her gaze. It felt like the ex-princess was sizing her up....estimating how big the wooden stakes would need to be when she set her ablaze.

“I-”

“Actually,” Mary cut her off. “don’t answer that! No offense, but I don’t care.”

She swung around to leave, not giving Joan a chance to defend herself.

“Thanks for the laugh, June!”

She walked off, disappearing further into the theater and leaving Joan alone.

“...My name is Joan.”

———

It’s been five months since that first interaction, and Joan swore Mary had something against her. She always saw the girl glaring at her from a distance, like she was imagining how good her head would look on the end of a flaming torch.

It gave Joan the creeps, to say the least.

But it didn’t end there. Mary began to torment and taunt Joan constantly- whether it being teasing or purposely making her fuck up somehow, Mary tried to make Joan’s life a living hell. And when she tried to tell Aragon, the queen got mad. Like, really pissed off. Joan doesn’t tell her about the harassment anymore. Especially when she got terribly ill the next day.

The thought that Mary somehow poisoned her for snitching scares her even more.

What’s worse: Aragon was starting to spend a lot less time with Joan. That was natural, of course, but Joan’s jealousy just couldn’t handle it. Especially when it was Mary getting all the queen’s attention.

But what could she do? Aragon would never choose Mary over her.

———

The sound of her dressing room door shutting and the lock clicking snapped Joan out of her workaholic reverie. She snapped around and was startled to find Mary standing there, her hands pressed together and folded neatly against her stomach.

(Joan remembers something about the princess having several pregnancy issues. She wonders if those still exist within her after reincarnation, and if they’re the reason she’s so bitchy.)

“Can I help you?” Joan said impatiently. She didn’t have time or the coffee to deal with this right now- she had work to do.

“Yes, actually,” Mary said. She crossed the room in just a few quick strides; her movements were poised and confident- she knew what she was doing. “I just wanted to talk to you about Mother.”

“What about her?” Joan asked cautiously. Red flags are already going off in her head, if the fact that the ex-princess locked the door wasn’t enough to tell her that this situation seemed sketchy.

“Back off.”

“What?”

“Back off of Mother.” Mary said. Her voice is still languid and smooth, but there’s now an underlying firmness to it- a drop of poison in the honeyed words.

Joan didn’t know why she thought for even a split second that this was going to be a truce or an opportunity to finally make friends with the princess. She should have known she was walking right into Mary’s flaming claws.

“You know she never actually loved you, right?” Mary went on. “You didn’t believe it, did you? Be honest.”

Joan bit her tongue until she could taste blood. Her fingers clenched into fists, which Mary glanced at. The princess smirked.

“Of course you did.” She said. “I can’t blame you. You have nothing. Someone as meaningless and worthless as you has to cling to whatever they can get their hands on. It’s quite entertaining. Like dangling a carrot on a stick in front of you!”

“You’re lying,” Joan growled. She drove her fingernails into her palms even deeper until she felt the skin break open. “Aragon— She didn’t say that. She wouldn’t.”

“I’m not.” Mary said smoothly. “Why would I lie to you, Joan? You know I don’t care enough about you to do that. God, just standing here and talking to you makes me worry that I’m gonna get some of your desperation and neediness rubbed off on me!” She laughed like a hyena. It hurts Joan’s ears.

Joan can’t reply. She can’t do anything but sit there and take the insults hurled at her. She does, however, flinch back in her chair when Mary walks right up to her and gently cupped her cheek.

Her touch feels like fire.

“I have to thank you, though,” Mary crooned in a way a mother would when talking to their child, her voice like sickly sweet venom. “For taking care of my mother. But there’s no need anymore.” She pats Joan’s cheek. “There’s no use for you any longer. So why don’t you do us all a favor and just go crawl into the hole you came out of and die.”

Joan’s breath hitched slightly. She lowered her head so Mary couldn’t see the glisten in her eyes, but she knew she did from the sneer above her.

And that’s what made the rage bubble up.

Joan’s anger was not a hot, volcanic thing, but rather a cold, resentful feeling that ran in her blood for a long time. Her chest would turn icy and she suddenly couldn’t care about anyone else. Only justice for her broken self esteem.

She grabbed Mary by the wrist and yanked her hand off of her cheek. This startles the princess, who staggers back for a moment, then narrows her eyes. Her other hand comes around fast and slaps Joan hard across the face.

Like that, something in Joan’s brain sparked to life. An instinct she didn’t even know she had in her. It told her to fight.

( “We may be thieves, but we aren’t killers,” Her brother had once said. Ironically, he was sharpening an iron pick at the time. “But if you feel your life's on the line, Joan, you fight back. Whether you like it or not, to you, your life is the most important thing in this world. Not mine, not any of your friend’s, your own. You should protect it.”

“Where should I hit someone?” Joan had asked. She remembered shifting anxiously after asking it.

Her brother thought for a moment, tapping the pointy pick against his chin. Then, he smiled.

“The knees or stomach. Then get them in the jaw to incapacitate them. Your nails and teeth are also your greatest allies.” His eyes went dark for a moment. “But...if you fear they’re trying to kill you, then go for the throat and don’t let go.”)

Mary didn’t see Joan coming, even when glowering right at her. She hadn’t been expecting her prey to spring out of the chair and barrel into her at full speed, but here she was, being driven back against the nearby makeup table, watching tabletop items scatter and clatter in various directions in slow motion, before senses returned to her in a flash and she felt the sparks that shot up her and alerted her brain of the threat.

Joan had her hands on Mary’s shoulders and one knee wedged between her legs, the plated bone pressing uncomfortably against the sensitive bundle of nerves her thighs would usually shield from harm. She pushed backwards, causing Mary’s back to bend against the table edge in a way that made it feel like her spine would snap if she didn’t get away quickly.

The princess squirmed, then finally got her arms free. She shoved against Joan’s chest, which caused her to stumble back slightly. It was enough of a chance for Mary, as she took her turn to do the ramming.

Both girls collapsed to the floor in a wondrous heap, where they tousled like angry cats. It was an awkward, but deadly dance they did on the floor until they ripped away and scuttled away for air. Scratches gleamed red and pink on their sweaty faces, like they just got into a fight with a sentient knife and lost. Bits of blood and flecks of skin cling beneath their nails.

“So you do have some fight in you,” Mary panted. If she was trying to make Joan angrier, it was definitely working. “I’m impressed.”

“I don’t quite appreciate compliments from murderers.” Joan grit.

Something flashed in Mary’s eyes- guilt? Terror? Trauma? For a split second, she almost looked like she felt bad for what she had done and what she was doing now. Joan could almost see a girl in there who felt guilty about everything, and who maybe understood why it had been wrong.

But that girl was never going to be the one anyone saw.

“I am not!” Mary shrilled. “I was saving my people from those—those leeches!”

“Saving them?” Joan scoffed. She struggles to her feet, feeling the scratches scattered across her body lighting up with fresh pain. “Is that what you call burning their friends to death?”

Mary bared her teeth. Joan flashes her own right back.

“Shut up!” Mary snapped. “You weren’t there, so you have no idea what I had to do or why I had to do it!”

“Why are you acting like this?” Joan said. “You have another chance! You can redeem yourself! Why are you wasting it by acting like such a bitch?!”

Mary lunged at Joan. Joan sidestepped just in time to avoid being rammed, but Mary moved again, too. She whipped around and drove her fist into Joan’s stomach.

All the breath in Joan’s lungs left her in a whoosh and a spray of saliva droplets that splattered onto Mary’s yellow-and-violet striped shirt. She staggered backwards, snaking her arms around her aching stomach tightly, and her knees buckled underneath her.

She’s had the wind knocked out of her more than once and she knew that in a few moments, she’d be fine again—or as fine as someone who’d just been socked in the gut could possibly be—but this wasn’t exactly the kind of situation where she had moments to spare for breath-catching.

And on top of that, the human body had a tendency to freak out when it couldn’t breathe. Like, a lot.

She choked and spluttered, mouthing like a fish out of water as she tried to pull air into lungs that just weren’t ready to get back on their feet yet. Through the oxygen-deprived haze that was covering her vision, she saw Mary’s bloodthirsty expression return to confidence, like Joan’s struggle for air sated her hunger for suffering for now. But it would be back.

It was only really then that Joan realized what she had gotten herself into.

Joan knew that she wasn’t going to get away from this bitch if she relied completely on pure strength. Mary was taller and stronger than she was, plus she was fueled by insanity, which seemed to supply her with an endless stream of energy. She wasn’t knowledgeable in combat by any means, but if Lara Croft has taught her anything, it’s that you need to use tactics.

That thought of a possible plan was cut short, however, when Mary knocked her to the ground.

Pain rattled up Joan’s spine when she hit the floor. Fingers close around her throat; Mary was on her. Her hips are straddled and she’s pinned to the floor. She was being choked. She could feel the princess’ thumbs press down on her airways.

“Stop struggling!” Mary growled. “Just let it take you.”

Joan gags helplessly, clawing at the fingers around her throat. Even when she scratches Mary’s hands to bloodied shreds, she still doesn’t let go. She tries to gouge the princess’ eyes out, but her eyelids prove to be a strong barrier above the sockets, which she so desperately wanted to sink her nails into. Mary wrings her neck when she doesn’t stop and Joan choked, feeling pops and crackles shooting down her spinal cord.

“There we go...” Mary cooed when she saw Joan’s head flop to the side. She was still gasping like a fish out of water, but it wouldn’t be long, now. “Good girl.” She spoke to the music director as if she were a dog or one of her dead babies. “Such a good girl...”

Joan made a pathetic squeaking wheeze, which made Mary croon down at her alarmingly blue face pitifully.

“I would stroke your hair to help you along if I could,” Mary said. “But I can’t. I have to say, though, you are very obedient. Well trained. You make it too easy!”

Joan’s eyes were starting to roll back into her skull. Her tongue lolls out of her mouth, suddenly feeling like a block of heavy lead. The ice in her veins is smothered by Mary’s fire. It lights in her chest and incinerates her lungs to smoldering ashes. Her throat is being burned open from the princess’ burning touch.

This was it. She was about to die. In just a few moments, Joan’s strength would deplete, her neck would snap, and she would be just another body on Mary’s growing pile.

Then, it would all be over.

Cinders are stoked through all of Joan’s nerves, numbing them in a terrible, blistering way and rendering them useless. Her arms now lie outstretched, sprawled aimlessly across the floor. There, her fingers twitch against something.

Mary began to twist Joan’s neck back in a sickening, horrible way. She keeps her victim’s throat wrenched and was just about to snap it like she would a little bird when something sharp and pointy is stabbed into her lower stomach.

Mary shouts as zigzags of pain shot through her abdomen. She ripped her hands back to instinctively shield her stomach, as if she thought there may be a baby in her womb that she needed to protect. Instead, she just found a large thumbtack sticking out of her belly.

“You bitch!!” Mary shrieked at Joan, who was struggling to catch her breath.

She pulled the thumbtack out with a small squeak and her eyes widened at the sight of the glistening red blood that coated the tip.

Like before, a very guilty person appears in her eyes, and even on her face this time. She watched her blood slide down the length of the needle and drip off in thick droplets.

Drip, drip, drip...

Joan reared up like a furious ram, horns gleaming in the fluorescent lights, and slammed her entire body into Mary.

They both go down, but there’s a lot less scratching this time. Mary is jarred out of her trance and is momentarily stunned because of it. Joan lands sprawled on top of her, out of breath from that small effort alone. Her lungs and trachea just weren’t ready for that much action yet.

Still. She didn’t have any time to wait around, even as black spots fluttered across her vision each time she simply took a breath.

So, the one little part of her brain that was smarter than the rest of it was, the part that only seemed to awaken when she was in immediate danger or dying, spontaneously came back to life and drifted in over the panicked alarm bells in her head like the calm voice of the pilot’s intercom over the clamor of a falling plane full of hysterical passengers.

It was her brother’s voice.

“Joan. Do you know how much bacteria is in a human bite?”

She blinked her eyes.

Well. He wasn’t wrong.

“OWWW!!!” Mary howled as Joan clamped her teeth down on her ear. She could feel the incisors grinding against the earlobe and her golden hoop earring shifting uncomfortably. “What the FUCK?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Even in her pained and oxygen deprived daze, even when she couldn’t take in any air as she bites down, even as someone else’s blood seeped into her mouth, Joan still managed a small smirk.

Bet you've never got your ear bitten before, She thought. Bitch.

Mary keened in pain, smothering her face against the tile floor. She couldn’t do anything but writhe with Joan on top of her. But it’s clear Joan was getting a little cocky and that she seemed to forget how clever psychopaths really were.

Not that a tabletop mirror lying nearby made Mary clever.

The entire right side of Joan’s head exploded into bright, colorful bursts of pain as the mirror smashed against it. The glass shattered and shards are driven into her scalp. Joan swayed and then slumped over, and Mary gave her the shove she needed to fully topple to the ground.

Mary scampered backwards and then gingerly felt her ear. It was bloody and already starting to swell up. Her earring was missing, too, leaving her earlobe split in two.

Silence filled the ransacked room- aside from Joan’s moans and raspy breathing, of course.

Then, Mary laughed.

“So what if I killed a few people?” She said as she shakily rose up to her feet. “Some people have to die for others to thrive! I was just…trimming out the fat! Culling the weak! It’s what you have to do to survive in this world.”

Joan just barely managed to look up at her. There’s twin streams of blood running down one side of her face. One crosses over her eye.

“Let me put it like this,” Mary said, sensing her disbelief. “Say you and the other ladies in waiting and queens were in...the apocalypse. Alright? And there’s a group of people who want to take this food supply you found. They’re innocent, but they’re not backing down and you and your group are starving. So...” She twirled her wrist. “You do what you need to do to survive and keep those of greater value alive.”

Joan shook her head as she braced herself on her arms. Her elbows shake treacherously, barely holding her up.

“You don’t...” She wheezed out. Consciousness wavered away from her for a moment. She thought she heard the doorknob wiggle, but it was just nothing. “You can’t...think...like that.” She finally said, each word punctuated with a wince, moan, or heavy gasp. “It’s not...right...”

“If you haven’t noticed, dear, nothing is right in this world. Not anymore.” Mary said.

“No thanks...to you,” Joan grit, and then was delivered a teeth-shattering blow to her jaw.

Mary stood over the girl. She lifts the leg she used to kick Joan with and stepped on her stomach. Bending the knee, the princess applied all her pressure onto Joan’s midriff, weighing her to the ground.

“Joey, this hurts me as much as it hurts you.” She said in that crooning, hyena voice of hers. “But you have to make sacrifices sometimes. You’re just dragging everyone here down. Nobody even looks at you anymore. I’m doing you a favor by putting you down.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Joan spat.

She lifted her head and Mary struck as fast as a bullwhip, pressing it back down to the ground.

“Don’t talk over me!” Mary snapped, her pitch raising slightly. She cleared her throat. “Everything will be fine. You’re just a little blind right now. I’m helping you!”

“That’s what they all say,” Joan gurgled. “But you’ll probably get all wrapped up in killing all over again and burn the whole theater to the ground, you fucking pyro. You’d love to watch this place go up in flames and then you’ll dance on the ashes while listening to the screams of-”

“I said to not talk over me!” Mary yelled, reaching down and digging her fingernails into the red hot crevices on the back of Joan’s head. She watches in amusement as blood comes frothing out of Joan’s mouth, which is hanging open in a silent scream.

Some of that blood sprays out slightly when her lips move to form words.

“I know...your reign...smelled like...burned flesh.” She hissed out.

Mary’s mouth pulled back in a snarl.

“You don’t know anything!”

She drops Joan’s head and steps back, letting her writhe on the floor like a stabbed snake. Then, she pulls a lighter out of her pocket and runs her thumb over the smooth sides as if she thought doing such an action would calm her.

“You barely even know me.” She growled. “Nobody does! People look at me like I’m some sort of demon! Do you know what that is like?”

“It’s what you deserve,” Joan croaked. “Because you are one.”

Mary’s eyes flash. Something in her head has cracked open and every bad thing in her twisted brain is now spilling out like thousands of spiders.

“You know, I was just messing with you before. I wasn’t actually going to let you choke to death.” She said. “But now? Now I’m going to fucking kill you.” She flicked the lighter open and watched the small flame burst to life. “And when I’m done, nobody is ever going to find you.”

Mary leaned down, holding the flame dangerously close to one of Joan’s cloudy eyes.

“Any last words?”

Joan’s last words aren’t really words, per se, rather a mouthful of blood she spits in Mary’s eyes.

The princess reared back in surprise and claws her face as if she thought she had been sprayed with acid. That’s enough for Joan to gather all her strength, draw her legs back, and then drive her foot right into Mary’s knees.

Watching the princess crumple and fall like a broken doll was the highlight of Joan’s entire day. She couldn’t celebrate, though, because she knew Mary would be getting up soon, so she scrambled over to the broken tabletop mirror, raised it over her head, and—

The door flew open.

A scream.

Several screams.

There’s a whizz of gold- Aragon is rushing in. But not towards Joan, who is substantially the more injured one of the two. No, instead, she’s shoved roughly to the side and that’s finally what her conscious needed to cut out.

———

Joan awoke to blinding pain. She was moaning before she could even get her eyes open, which were much heavier than they normally were. She tried to pry them open, but that effort alone nearly made her pass out again. A muddled voice speaks to her...she thinks it’s telling her to calm down.

Something stings against Joan’s head. She whimpers sharply and tries to squirm away, but she can’t move.

“Hey. Sit still.”

Joan moaned again. She can taste copper on her tongue. It makes her stomach churn.

“Joan. Please sit still.”

Her eyes open. Light stabs into them, but she manages to make out the figure of Anne sitting beside her. She blinks dazedly at the woman.

“A...Anne...?” She croaked. Her throat hurt so much. Every word seemed to make it cave in on itself until she felt like she was choking on the syllables and enunciation.

“Hush.” Anne said. There wasn’t even a flicker of goofiness in her at that moment- her face was completely stoney and serious. “Don’t speak.”

“Wh...what...” Joan spoke anyway.

“I said, don’t talk, Joan. You’re hurt.” Anne said. “I shouldn’t even be doing this after what you did, but—”

Her voice cut off. Joan blinked up at her and saw that she’s staring at her neck.

Anne gagged. Joan’s eyes widen in alarm as the woman sprints out of the room with one hand over her mouth. She waits, but Anne does not come back.

Joan rolled off of the couch she’s lying on, recognizing the room she’s in as the shared dressing room between Cathy, Jane, and Kitty. She staggered over to the mirror, feeling like her head was about to explode with every step she took, and looked at what exactly made Anne feel so sick:

The dark, near-black bruise that encircled the entirety of her neck in the horrifying shape of hands.

—

Joan didn’t know how long she laid on that couch, feeling like her brain was oozing out through every orifice. In reality, it was probably only thirty minutes, but it was like an eternity to her before Aragon walked in.

Joan tensed, flinched, and waited to be hit or arrested by a swarm of cops that had been called, but Aragon just sits beside her head. She’s only glanced at for a moment.

“Elizabeth told me everything.” Aragon said grimly. “What Mary said...and did.”

So Joan had heard someone outside the door.

“I...I’m sorry, Joan.” Aragon whispered. “I’m so sorry... I thought she would be good this time. If I just raised her right, then she wouldn’t be the same and everyone could forget about what she did, but...”

She looked down at Joan- at the horrible bruise around her throat. Her eyes filled with tears.

“Oh my god...” She whispered. It’s obvious she didn’t think the wounds were that bad. “Oh, Joan... Oh, my sweet baby girl...”

She covered her face with her hands and began to cry, but didn’t dare touch Joan. It’s like she was scared of hurting her, too.

Joan watched her mother figure weep before gathering her strength and crawling forward so she could rest her head in Aragon’s lap. The queen gasps softly in surprise and then wraps Joan in her arms, sort of forgetting to be gentle.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Aragon sobbed. “I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t know— I didn’t—”

Joan can’t speak, so she just nuzzles Aragon as best as she could.

“We’ll get you help, baby.” Aragon told her. “I’m going to call the police. Mary will never lay a finger on you again, I promise.”

“Mama...” Joan choked out, head spinning.

“I’m right here, sweet girl.” Aragon said as she dialed the emergency line.

“999, what’s your emergency?” The operator answered.

“Please, I need an ambulance.” Aragon begged. “My daughter was attacked.”

[timeless-hollywood-classics]

Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as a great beauty, she became established as a leading lady. Tierney was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the film Laura (1944), and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven (1945).

Tierney's other roles include Martha Strable Van Cleve in Heaven Can Wait (1943), Isabel Bradley Maturin in The Razor's Edge (1946), Lucy Muir in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Ann Sutton in Whirlpool (1949), Maggie Carleton McNulty in The Mating Season (1951), and Anne Scott in The Left Hand of God (1955).

I Gene Eliza Tierney was born on November 19, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Howard Sherwood Tierney and Belle Lavinia Taylor. She was named after a beloved uncle, who died young.[4][page needed] She had an elder brother, Howard Sherwood "Butch" Tierney Jr., and a younger sister, Patricia "Pat" Tierney. Their father was a successful insurance broker of Irish descent, their mother a former physical education instructor.[4][page needed]

Tierney was raised in Westport, Connecticut. She attended St. Margaret's School in Waterbury, Connecticut, and the Unquowa School in Fairfield. She published her first poem, entitled "Night", in the school magazine and wrote poetry occasionally throughout her life. Tierney played Jo in a student production of Little Women, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott.

Tierney spent two years in Europe, attending Brillantmont International School in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she learned to speak fluent French. She returned to the US in 1938 and attended Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. On a family trip to the West Coast, she visited Warner Bros. studios, where a cousin worked as a producer of historical short films. Director Anatole Litvak, taken by the 17-year-old's beauty, told Tierney that she should become an actress. Warner Bros. wanted to sign her to a contract, but her parents advised against it because of the relatively low salary; they also wanted her to take her position in society.

Tierney's society debut occurred on September 24, 1938, when she was 17 years old. page needed] Soon bored with society life, she decided to pursue an acting career. Her father said, "If Gene is to be an actress, it should be in the legitimate theatre." Tierney studied acting at a small Greenwich Village acting studio in New York with Yiddish and Broadway actor/director Benno Schneider. She became a protégée of Broadway producer-director George Abbott.

In Tierney's first role on Broadway, she carried a bucket of water across the stage in What a Life! (1938). A Variety magazine critic declared, "Miss Tierney is certainly the most beautiful water carrier I've ever seen!" She also worked as an understudy in The Primrose Path (1938).

The following year, she appeared in the role of Molly O'Day in the Broadway production Mrs. O'Brien Entertains (1939). The New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson wrote, "As an Irish maiden fresh from the old country, Gene Tierney in her first stage performance is very pretty and refreshingly modest." That same year, Tierney appeared as Peggy Carr in Ring Two (1939) to favorable reviews. Theater critic Richard Watts Jr. of the New York Herald Tribune wrote, "I see no reason why Miss Tierney should not have an interesting theatrical career – that is, if cinema does not kidnap her away."

Tierney's father set up a corporation, Belle-Tier, to fund and promote her acting career. Columbia Pictures signed her to a six-month contract in 1939. She met Howard Hughes, who tried unsuccessfully to seduce her. From a well-to-do family herself, she was not impressed by his wealth. Hughes eventually became a lifelong friend.

After a cameraman advised Tierney to lose a little weight, she wrote to Harper's Bazaar magazine for a diet, which she followed for the next 25 years. Tierney was initially offered the lead role in National Velvet, but production was delayed. page needed] When Columbia Pictures failed to find Tierney a project, she returned to Broadway and starred as Patricia Stanley to critical and commercial success in The Male Animal (1940). In The New York Times, Brooks Atkinson wrote, "Tierney blazes with animation in the best performance she has yet given". She was the toast of Broadway before her 20th birthday. The Male Animal was a hit, and Tierney was featured in Life magazine. She was also photographed by Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and Collier's Weekly.

Two weeks after The Male Animal opened, Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of 20th Century Fox, was rumored to have been in the audience. During the performance, he told an assistant to note Tierney's name. Later that night, Zanuck dropped by the Stork Club, where he saw a young lady on the dance floor. He told his assistant, "Forget the girl from the play. See if you can sign that one." It was Tierney. At first, Zanuck did not think she was the actress he had seen. Tierney was quoted (after the fact), saying: "I always had several different 'looks', a quality that proved useful in my career."

Tierney signed with 20th Century-Fox[4][page needed] and her motion picture debut was in a supporting role as Eleanor Stone in Fritz Lang's western The Return of Frank James (1940), opposite Henry Fonda.

A small role as Barbara Hall followed in Hudson's Bay (1941) with Paul Muni and she co-starred as Ellie Mae Lester in John Ford's comedy Tobacco Road (also 1941), and played the title role in Belle Starr alongside co-star Randolph Scott, Zia in Sundown, and Victoria Charteris (Poppy Smith) in The Shanghai Gesture. She played Eve in Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942), as well as the dual role of Susan Miller (Linda Worthington) in Rouben Mamoulian's screwball comedy Rings on Her Fingers, and roles as Kay Saunders in Thunder Birds, and Miss Young in China Girl (all 1942).

Receiving top billing in Ernst Lubitsch's comedy Heaven Can Wait (1943), as Martha Strable Van Cleve, signaled an upward turn in Tierney's career. Tierney recalled during the production of Heaven Can Wait:

Lubitsch was a tyrant on the set, the most demanding of directors. After one scene, which took from noon until five to get, I was almost in tears from listening to Lubitsch shout at me. The next day I sought him out, looked him in the eye, and said, 'Mr. Lubitsch, I'm willing to do my best but I just can't go on working on this picture if you're going to keep shouting at me.' 'I'm paid to shout at you', he bellowed. 'Yes', I said, 'and I'm paid to take it – but not enough.' After a tense pause, Lubitsch broke out laughing. From then on we got along famously.

Tierney starred in what became her best-remembered role: the title role in Otto Preminger's film noir Laura (1944), opposite Dana Andrews. After playing Tina Tomasino in A Bell for Adano (1945), she played the jealous, narcissistic femme fatale Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven (1945), adapted from a best selling novel by Ben Ames Williams. Appearing with Cornel Wilde, Tierney won an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. This was 20th Century-Fox' most successful film of the 1940s. It was cited by director Martin Scorsese as one of his favorite films of all time, and he assessed Tierney as one of the most underrated actresses of the Golden Era.

Tierney then starred as Miranda Wells in Dragonwyck (1946), along with Walter Huston and Vincent Price. It was Joseph L. Mankiewicz' debut film as a director, In the same period, she starred as Isabel Bradley, opposite Tyrone Power, in The Razor's Edge (also 1946), an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel of the same name. Her performance was critically praised.

Tierney played Lucy Muir in Mankiewicz's The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), opposite Rex Harrison. The following year, she co-starred again with Power, this time as Sara Farley in the successful screwball comedy That Wonderful Urge (1948). As the decade came to a close, Tierney reunited with Laura director Preminger to star as Ann Sutton in the classic film noir Whirlpool (1949), co-starring Richard Conte and José Ferrer. She appeared in two other film noirs: Jules Dassin's Night and the City, shot in London, and Otto Preminger's Where the Sidewalk Ends (both 1950), reunited with both Preminger and leading man Dana Andrews, who she appeared with in five movies total.

Tierney was loaned to Paramount Pictures, giving a comic turn as Maggie Carleton in Mitchell Leisen's ensemble farce, The Mating Season (1951), with John Lund, Thelma Ritter, and Miriam Hopkins. She gave a tender performance as Midge Sheridan in the Warner Bros. film, Close to My Heart (1951), with Ray Milland. The film is about a couple trying to adopt a child. Later in her career, she was reunited with Milland in Daughter of the Mind (1969).

After Tierney appeared opposite Rory Calhoun as Teresa in Way of a Gaucho (1952), her contract at 20th Century-Fox expired. That same year, she starred as Dorothy Bradford in Plymouth Adventure, opposite Spencer Tracy at MGM. She and Tracy had a brief affair during this time.[10] Tierney played Marya Lamarkina opposite Clark Gable in Never Let Me Go (1953), filmed in England.

In the course of the 1940s, she reached a pinnacle of fame as a beautiful leading lady, on a par with "fellow sirens Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner and Ava Gardner". She was "called the most beautiful woman in movie history" and many of her movies in the 1940s became classic films.

Tierney remained in Europe to play Kay Barlow in United Artists' Personal Affair (1953). While in Europe, she began a romance with Prince Aly Khan, but their marriage plans met with fierce opposition from his father Aga Khan III. Early in 1953, Tierney returned to the U.S. to co-star in the film noir Black Widow (1954) as Iris Denver, with Ginger Rogers and Van Heflin.

Tierney had reportedly started smoking after a screening of her first movie to lower her voice, because she felt, "I sound like an angry Minnie Mouse." She subsequently became a heavy smoker.

With difficult events in her personal life, Tierney struggled for years with episodes of manic depression. In 1943, she gave birth to a daughter, Daria, who was deaf and mentally disabled, the result of a fan breaking a rubella quarantine and infecting the pregnant Tierney while she volunteered at the Hollywood Canteen. In 1953, she suffered problems with concentration, which affected her film appearances. She dropped out of Mogambo and was replaced by Grace Kelly.[4][page needed] While playing Anne Scott in The Left Hand of God (1955), opposite Humphrey Bogart, Tierney became ill. Bogart's sister Frances (known as Pat) had suffered from mental illness, so he showed Tierney great sympathy, feeding her lines during the production and encouraging her to seek help.

Tierney consulted a psychiatrist and was admitted to Harkness Pavilion in New York. Later, she went to the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. After some 27 shock treatments, intended to alleviate severe depression, Tierney fled the facility, but was caught and returned. She later became an outspoken opponent of shock treatment therapy, claiming it had destroyed significant portions of her memory.

In late December 1957, Tierney, from her mother's apartment in Manhattan, stepped onto a ledge 14 stories above ground and remained for about 20 minutes in what was considered a suicide attempt. Police were called, and afterwards Tierney's family arranged for her to be admitted to the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. The following year, after treatment for depression, she was discharged. Afterwards, she worked as a sales girl in a local dress shop with hopes of integrating back into society, but she was recognized by a customer, resulting in sensational newspaper headlines.

Later in 1958, 20th Century-Fox offered Tierney a lead role in Holiday for Lovers (1959), but the stress upon her proved too great, so only days into production, she dropped out of the film and returned to Menninger for a time.

Tierney made a screen comeback in Advise and Consent (1962), co-starring with Franchot Tone and reuniting with director Otto Preminger.[4][page needed] Soon afterwards, she played Albertine Prine in Toys in the Attic (1963), based on the play by Lillian Hellman. This was followed by the international production of Las cuatro noches de la luna llena, (Four Nights of the Full Moon - 1963), in which she starred with Dan Dailey. She received critical praise overall for her performances.

Tierney's career as a solid character actress seemed to be back on track as she played Jane Barton in The Pleasure Seekers (1964), but then she suddenly retired. She returned to star in the television movie Daughter of the Mind (1969) with Don Murray and Ray Milland. Her final performance was in the TV miniseries Scruples (1980).

Tierney married two men: the first was Oleg Cassini, a costume and fashion designer, on June 1, 1941, with whom she eloped. She was 20 years old. Her parents opposed the marriage, as he was from a Russian-Italian family and born in France. She had two daughters, Antoinette Daria Cassini (October 15, 1943 – September 11, 2010) and Christina "Tina" Cassini (November 19, 1948 – March 31, 2015).

In June 1943, while pregnant with Daria, Tierney contracted rubella (German measles), likely from a fan ill with the disease. Antoinette Daria Cassini was born prematurely in Washington, DC, weighing three pounds, two ounces (1.42 kg) and requiring a total blood transfusion. The rubella caused congenital damage: Daria was deaf, partially blind with cataracts, and severely mentally disabled. She was institutionalized for much of her life. This entire incident was inspiration for a plot point in the 1962 Agatha Christie novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side.

It is claimed that she had an affair with Mohammad Reza Shah of Iran during the late 1940s.

Tierney's friend Howard Hughes paid for Daria's medical expenses, ensuring the girl received the best care. Tierney never forgot his acts of kindness. Daria Cassini died in 2010, at the age of 66.

Tierney and Cassini separated October 20, 1946, and entered into a property settlement agreement on November 10. Periodicals during this period record Tierney with Charles K. Feldman, including articles related to her "twosoming" with Feldman, her "current best beau". The divorce was to be finalized in March 1948, but they reconciled before then.

During their separation, Tierney met John F. Kennedy, a young World War II veteran, who was visiting the set of Dragonwyck in 1946. They began a romance that she ended the following year after Kennedy told her he could never marry her because of his political ambitions. In 1960, Tierney sent Kennedy a note of congratulations on his victory in the presidential election. During this time, newspapers documented Tierney's other romantic relationships, including Kirk Douglas.

While filming for Personal Affair in Europe, she began a romance with Prince Aly Khan. They became engaged in 1952, while Khan was going through a divorce from Rita Hayworth. Their marriage plans, however, met with fierce opposition from his father, Aga Khan III.

Cassini later bequeathed $500,000 in trust to Daria and $1,000,000 to Christina. Cassini and Tierney remained friends until her death in November 1991.

In 1958, Tierney met Texas oil baron W. Howard Lee, who had been married to actress Hedy Lamarr since 1953. Lee and Lamarr divorced in 1960 after a long battle over alimony, then Lee and Tierney married in Aspen, Colorado, on July 11, 1960. They lived quietly in Houston, Texas, and Delray Beach, Florida until his death in 1981.

Despite her self-imposed exile in Texas, Tierney received work offers from Hollywood, prompting her to a comeback. She appeared in a November 1960 broadcast of General Electric Theater, during which time she discovered that she was pregnant. Shortly after, 20th Century Fox announced Tierney would play the lead role in Return to Peyton Place, but she withdrew from the production after suffering a miscarriage.

Tierney's autobiography, Self-Portrait, in which she candidly discusses her life, career, and mental illness, was published in 1979.

Tierney's second husband, W. Howard Lee, died on February 17, 1981 after a long illness.[24]

In 1986, Tierney was honored alongside actor Gregory Peck with the first Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain.

Tierney has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6125 Hollywood Boulevard.

Tierney died of emphysema on November 6, 1991, in Houston, thirteen days before her 71st birthday. She is interred in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.

Certain documents of Tierney's film-related material, personal papers, letters, etc., are held in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives, though her papers are closed to the public.

[goswagcollectorfire]

CARL’S BLOG: MAMIE, AN OZARK MOUNTAIN GIRL OF COURAGE

Author’s Note:  Thanks so much for your support in reading my blogs on, “MAMIE, AN OZARK MOUNTAIN GIRL OF COURAGE.”  I have enjoyed bringing the story of my mother to you.  I thought since we have ended the book of Mamie that you might enjoy knowing what has happened to my brothers and sisters who were mentioned several times in the book.  My book on “Mamie” and my five other books can be purchased from Amazon.Com and from me.  You can contact me at cjbarger67@att.net should you be interested in a sign copy. Stay tune to my next novel, “ARKANSAS HILLBILLY.”  I will be starting my blogging soon.  Carl J. Barger

 11-14-20, Carl J. Barger’s Tribute to his parents, Edward and Mamie Totten Barger, and Brothers and Sisters.

A Tribute to MAMIE ANN TOTTEN BARGER AND EDWARD BARGER

Mamie Ann Totten Barger was a woman for all seasons, a woman of courage, strength, and faith.  She valued family above everything else. Before she died, she had said to Carl, “Carl, promise me, you will continue our family reunions.  Do all you can to keep our family together!” “I promise you,” he said.  Of his mother, Carl said, “She was more than just a mother and housewife.  She was my best friend.  A thousand pictures are stored in my mind.  Fond memories have been made and those memories will last forever. Someday there will be a great and grand family reunion.  I will someday join my mother in God’s Heavenly Kingdom where we will sing together, “It Is Well with My Soul.”

Mamie was born in the Settlement Community near Shirley, Arkansas on February 11, 1908 to the late Elias Samuel Totten and Nancy Bradford.   She died at her home in the Pearson Community, Quitman, Arkansas on July 10, 1988.  She is buried in the Shiloh Crossroads Cemetery, Greers Ferry, Arkansas.

A Tribute to EDWARD BARGER

My father, Edward Barger was a nice person.  He was born in Orrick, Ray County, Missouri on March 29, 1897. He died in the Heber Springs Hospital on September 6, 1968.  He is buried in the Shiloh Crossroads Cemetery, Greers Ferry, Arkansas.  He moved to Higden, Arkansas, from Bates City, Lafayette County, Missouri when he was eighteen years old.  He spent most of his life farming.  For the last part of his life he owned two country grocery stories where he sold food, gas, and produce.  He and Mamie were good managers of their money.  They raised big gardens to help feed their large family.    

The Twelve Children of Edward and Mamie Ann Totten Barger:

1.                      Harvey Eugene Barger:  Born on August 21, 1923 in Fairfield Bay, Van Buren County, Arkansas.  He died on October 1, 2011 in the Forte Roots Veterans Hospital in North Little Rock, Arkansas.  He is buried along with his wife Darlene Gee Barger in the Palestine Baptist Cemetery, Quitman, Arkansas.  Harvey and Darlene had four children, Sheryl, Gayla, Kent, and Terry Barger.  All four are still living.

2.                      Chester Barger: Chester Barger was born on August 19, 1925 in Fairfield Bay, Van Buren County, Arkansas.  He died on December 6, 2016 in Heber Springs, Arkansas. He married Letha Smith which is currently living at Southridge Nursing Home in Heber Springs.  Chester and Letha had two children, Johnnie Sue Barger, and Ronnie Dewayne Barger.  Both are still living.

3.                      Louella Imogene Barger Davis was born in Fairfield Bay, Van Buren County, Arkansas on March 25, 1928.  She is currently living at Heritage Place in Conway, Arkansas. She is now 92 years old.  Still doing well.  She and her late husband, Monroe Davis had three children, Joy Ann, Linda, and Tommy.  All three are still living.

4.                      Betty Lou Barger Stark, Gentry was born in Higden, Cleburne County, Arkansas on July 23, 1930.  She died on March 17, 1996 and is buried in the Davis Special Cemetery, Fairfield Bay, Van Buren County, Arkansas.  Betty and her first husband J. D. Stark had one child, Dianne Christina Stark Barnum.  Dianne is deceased.  After her first husband’s death. Betty married Elvin Gentry.  She and her late Husband, Elvin Gentry had four girls, Reva Neil, Evelyn, Tammy, and Ebbie.  All are still living.  Betty and Elvin had one son, Johnnie Gentry.  He is deceased.  

5.                      Flossie Loudean Barger Schoolcraft was born in Higden, Cleburne County, Arkansas on January 5, 1933.  She died on April 9, 2020 at her home place in the Pearson Community, Quitman, Arkansas.  She is buried in the Shiloh Crossroads Cemetery, Greers Ferry, Arkansas. Loudeen and her husband, Lloyd had two children, Peggy Lou Schoolcraft, and David Schoolcraft.  Both are still living.

6.                      Willie Gene Barger was born on September 30, 1935 in Higden, Cleburne County, Arkansas.  He died on July 13, 2016 at his home in the Pearson Community, Quitman, Arkansas.  He married Norma Cooper of Marshall, Arkansas and they have three surviving children: Lucretia Lynn, Gary Gene, and Jennifer Lea.  

7.                      Jimmy Levon Barger was born on January 20, 1939 in Higden, Cleburne County, Arkansas.  He and his wife Guiva Sue Hazelwood have three children: Cynthia, James, and Joshua.  All are still living.  Both Jimmy and Guiva Sue are still living.

8.                      Roy Edward Barger was born on February 16, 1941 in Higden, Cleburne County, Arkansas.  Roy married Margaret Arnhart.  They have three children, Samuel Edward, Roger, and Michelle.  All are still living.

9.                      Carl Junior Barger was born on August 17, 1943 in Higden, Cleburne County, Arkansas.  Carl married Lena Dollar.  They have three children, Carla Lynn, Jeffrey Christopher, and Jonathan Curtis Barger.  All are still living.

10.            Ella Mae Barger Francis was born on February 14, 1946 in Higden, Cleburne County, Arkansas.  Ella Mae died on October 21, 2020 in West Plains, Missouri. She and her first husband had three children: Sheila, Beverly, and Ricky Flowers.

11.            Marie Ann Barger was born in September 1949 in the Heber Springs Hospital, and died in September 1949. She is buried along side of her parents Edward and Mamie Barger in the Shiloh Crossroads Cemetery, Greers Ferry, Arkansas.

12.            Leona Faye Barger was born on November 5, 1951, Heber Springs, Cleburne County, Arkansas.  She is married to Bobby Bittle.  She and Bob have two children: Carey and Brent.  All are still living

[brittle-bone-gabe]

The Forgotten: Chapter Nine - Trashmouth

Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve, Chapter Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen, Chapter Fifteen, Chapter Sixteen, Chapter Seventeen, Chapter Eighteen, Chapter Nineteen, Chapter Twenty, Epilogue

Summary: Barry Berkman couldn’t remember much of his childhood; he knew he used to live in Derry, Maine, but that was about it, besides being taken by his “Uncle Fuches” at age 16 to move to Cleveland, Ohio. Eddie Kaspbrak moved from Derry, Maine to LA, becoming a police officer, surprisingly enough. Normally things were quiet for the most part, besides the occasional drug busts, but it’s when someone named Barry Block enters his line of sight as a possible suspect for the recent string of murders he has to push the feeling of remembrance to investigate.   Pairing: Adult Reddie  (Richie x Eddie) Or, technically, Barry x Eddie Read on Ao3: Here

Eddie waited in the lobby of the precinct until Richie drove away from his spot across the street before heading back inside. Almost like he needed that reassurance that Richie left without any issues, Eddie was hoping that he would make it home alright… Wherever home was for Richie…

There was so much on Eddie’s mind right now, after hearing what Richie had to say. Just… knowing that he was more or less forced into a life he didn’t want to be apart of was very saddening. While it was sad, Eddie had to tell himself that Richie could’ve tried a little more to get out of that life; he could’ve left without telling anyone since it was apparent that he was allowed to go wherever he wanted, especially since he attended an acting class. The situation was fucked up, but Richie still killed people, he was still a murderer… So why was Eddie having such a hard time coming to terms that he needed to arrest him?

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Eddie turned around, limping his way through the precinct. A couple of phones started ringing in the office around him, for some reason the sounds were setting Eddie off, suddenly it felt like he was having sensory overload. The officers who were standing around talking and laughing at a normal, reasonable volume now felt like they were all screaming and it was setting Eddie on edge. He needed to get away from this.

Instead of heading back into his cubicle, Eddie took a quick turn, limping into the conference room where he used the whiteboards for the case he was working on. The pictures of those in the acting class were still pinned up, seeing them felt like a slap in the face. The answer was there the whole time and he was too blind to see it. What was he going to do now? The case was more or less solved… but did he honestly have the heart to arrest Richie? Yeah, he understood that if he didn’t he would be a hypocrite, and if anyone on the force found out he would get into some major trouble… but at the same time… Richie was his best friend that was put into an unfortunate situation.

As if on autopilot, Eddie began taking the pictures down, deciding that he needed to talk to Richie about all of this if he were going to keep this from coming out. He couldn’t willingly allow Richie to keep doing this job, but if he stopped, actually changed his life around like he wanted to then maybe it would be more bearable to let Richie walk free. Yeah, it felt wrong, it felt horribly wrong, but it was a difficult choice. Letting out a shaky sigh, Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache coming on.

“Giving up on the case?” Detective Mae asked, leaning against the door frame of the conference room with her arms folded over her chest.

“What? Oh…” Eddie looked at the pictures he was holding onto. “I dunno…” he admitted, tossing them onto the long table in the center of the room. Everything is right there… you have the evidence… Eddie let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head. “I can’t… really find anything else about this case. I think it’s time to put it back.”

“Uhhuh…” Mae said, acting as though she didn’t believe him which set Eddie further on edge, giving her a look. “What, uh… what was that in the car?”

At first Eddie had no idea what she was talking about, but then it hit him quickly.

“Were you watching me?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mae shrugged, walking over to the table, picking up the pictures to shuffle through them as if there was a secret message there. “Did it have to do with the case?” She asked, a small smile tugging at her lips but she refused to smile fully, dropping the pictures back down on the table.

“Yeah,” Eddie lied, “but, it’s not that. I don’t have anything else to go off of this case…” he repeated as if he said it enough times it would become true.

She couldn’t hide it anymore, Mae finally let her smile shine through. “I know what’s going on here.”

The sentence was so vague, there was so much shit that Eddie had going on, so much shit that Eddie was hiding that he felt like panicking. No, there was no way she knew about Barry. Eddie knitted his eyebrows together, trying to act like he was confused about what she was talking about… Well… he was confused. Eddie literally had no idea what she was going on about or what she could possibly know.

“Wh-what-what do you mean?” Eddie stuttered, resting his hand on his aching leg, which suddenly felt more painful than usual. He needed more pills.

“Don’t play dumb, Kaspbrak. You weren’t talking about the case with that guy.”

“Wh-”

“What’s his name?”

Eddie paused, trying to put two and two together to see where she was getting at, but he couldn’t be sure.

“ What?” Was she implying what Eddie thought she was implying? For fuck’s sake, what was Eddie getting himself into now?

“I’m not stupid, Eddie.”

Eddie opened his mouth to naturally say Barry, but that wasn’t his name. “...Richie,” he answered quickly.

“And how long has that been going on?”

Well, shit. Mae was implying… that. For almost a year, Janice and Mae had been encouraging Eddie to put himself back out there after he broke off his engagement with this woman he’s been seeing when he lived in New York for a short period of time. The relationship had become long distance when Eddie decided to move to LA for a better job opportunity, of course his fiancée didn’t like that, but she was suffocating him, so why not break it off? Eddie wasn’t happy with her, she wasn’t happy with the situation… It seemed like the best option.  

Eddie cleared his throat, his face now had a pink tint to it. “We’ve actually known each other for years, but we’ve just reconnected.”

                                                              -----

Barry slammed the door of his car a little too hard in the parking lot of the theater that it echoed. Out of pure paranoia, Barry glanced over his shoulder into the street to make sure that nobody had been following him. Well, the only person he had been paranoid about was Eddie, if he wasn’t paranoid before he was paranoid now, especially since he basically spilled everything to him in the car earlier. Now he had every right to come and arrest him, but if Eddie was going to keep his word like he had implied then Barry should be fine.

He moved towards the building, his mind and heart heavy as he had been thinking about something the entire drive here. He clutched the backpack strap that was over his shoulder, digging his fingernails into it instead of picking at his skin, Eddie told him to stop doing that so he was going to attempt to stop. From behind, Barry could hear a group of other students laughing and talking amongst themselves, something he lowkey wish he had; of course he was acquaintances with most of the people in his class, but not close. Sure, they invited him out sometimes, more so when Barry first joined the class, now it seemed like he would be invited once in a blue moon. While going out with friends once in a while would be fun and get him out of the hotel room, he wasn’t going to force himself into somewhere he wasn’t welcomed.

Letting out a sigh, Barry went inside, picking at the band-aids on his hands. The dim light shined over his face as he moved past the stage he had become accustomed to rather quickly so he could take his normal seat up in the front. Before sitting down he caught eyes with Sally, giving her a small smile, she returned it but it didn’t feel sincere. Yikes, this is why Barry didn’t interact too much with others.

There was a lot on Barry’s mind right now; his main issue was his identity. Who was he? Obviously his real name is Richie Tozier, he understood that now, but it was still hard to come to terms with. His childhood was a distant memory, his whole life was picked apart and pieced together with false information from the one man he thought he could’ve trusted, and now this whole thing with Eddie? Barry closed his eyes, letting out a breath to calm himself, to calm his thoughts and focus on the moment like Mr. Cousineau had taught him to do.

“...Barry? Barry.”

Barry jerked his head up at the stage where Gene Cousineau was standing, trying to get his attention. He felt the entire class looking at him, like their eyes were burning in the back of his head and he hated the feeling. Barry’s shoulders hunched up, embarrassed that he was zoning out in class again. Gene was more like a father figure to Barry than Fuches ever tried to be to him and Barry hated letting him down.

“Yeah?”

Gene motioned for him to come up on stage. Out of habit, Barry looked over his shoulder to make sure he was gesturing to him. He swallowed hard, shifting his backpack to the left side of his feet so he could get up from his seat.

With his heart pounding against his chest, Barry made it up on stage, standing next to Gene, who was holding a script out to him. He paused, looking at the small stack of papers in Mr. Cousineau’s hands.

“This is the monologue I want you to do for the next class, Barry,” Mr. Cousineau told him, shaking the script a little to encourage Barry to take it from him.

Knitting his eyebrows together, Barry took the script, the papers feeling rather heavy in his hands. His identity was a major part of anxieties as of late, he wanted to change himself again. Or… Not necessarily change himself, more like going back to the person he was born as.

“Hey, guys… um…” Barry had started his announcement to the class, instantly regretting it as he had no idea how he wanted to word this or if this was exactly what he wanted. Well, he started, he might as well finish it. “So I’ve decided something.” He had everyone’s attention, he could tell by their confused looks. “I’ve decided that…” He took a deep breath, looking at the script in his hands. Yes, he wanted this, he didn’t want to be Barry anymore… “I’m changing my name.”

There was some murmuring, which made Barry worried that he made the wrong choice to bring this up. Maybe he should’ve kept living his life as Barry while suffering with this identity.

“Changing it to what?” Mr. Cousineau asked him, rubbing his chin.

“Richie Tozier. Or, on stage, Richie Trashmouth.”

“What’s with the name change?” Sally had asked from her seat, from her tone it was obvious that she wasn’t impressed.

“I dunno… It feels… right. Better than Barry.”

Sally opened her mouth to say something else, but Mr. Cousineau cut her off before she could say anything.

“Alright, Richie Trashmouth,” Richie let out a sigh of relief, he liked how that sounded coming from Mr. Cousineau who always easily accepted him, “we do our monologues next class.”

The rest of class had ran rather smoothly, certainly a lot better than last time for Richie. He was certainly in the zone now, doing the exercises without his mind wandering and forcing himself into a panic attack. In fact, not once did he think about Fuches, or Eddie, or the hot water he could possibly be in. This is exactly what Richie needed, finally he was able to relax and chill out with a hobby he actually enjoyed.

Towards the end of the class, Gene was standing up on the stage, giving feedback as he checked the old fashioned watch on his wrist.

“Well, that’s all I have for you guys. I hope you all have a wonderful night.” Everyone started packing up their belongings and standing up from their seats, so Gene had to call from over them. “Richie? Can I speak to you for a moment?”

Richie stood up, throwing his backpack over his shoulder before meeting up with Gene who had stepped off the stage. They stepped to the side so the rest of the class could leave.

“I need to ask…” Gene started, gesturing towards Richie’s face, “what’s with the glasses, son?”

“Oh…” Richie instinctively reached up to touch the side of his glasses to make sure they were still on his face, as he had just gotten used to them so it was like they weren’t even there, “I usually wear contacts, but I don’t have anymore. I need them to see.”

“Listen,” Gene started as he grabbed Richie’s shoulders, looking him in the eyes, “I’m really proud of you. I know it wasn’t easy to stand up there on stage and tell everyone about your new identity.” Richie nodded, feeling his eyes burning from the tears that were threatening to fall because, for once, he felt like someone understood him and what he was going through. “But, I have to ask… Is there a reason for it?”

“It’s just… I caught up with a friend from my hometown and seeing him again made me remember a lot of things.”

“Cleveland?”

“Actually, no. Derry, Maine.”

“Never heard of it.”

Richie chuckled, rubbing his eye with the back of his hand. “That’s not a surprise.”

“Well, I can’t wait to see what Richie Trashmouth brings to us. Have a nice night, Mr. Tozier.” Gene patted his shoulder before heading back down the hall towards his office.

Richie’s heart and chest felt heavy, but not from anxiety or any negative feelings for once, no, instead it was more like a… overwhelming feeling of happiness. He had a huge smile on his face as he turned to leave the theater. Mr. Cousineau accepted his new identity and that’s all that really mattered to Richie, it felt like he was doing something right for once in his life and wanted to keep this going. Now that he was Richie Tozier that meant he wasn’t going to be doing anymore jobs for Fuches and that was final. As soon as Richie got back to the hotel he was going to take his half of the money, pack his shit up, and leave to find his own place away from Fuches and Hank. Fuck the job. Fuck Fuches. Fuck this.

The moment Richie stepped outside the building his smile dropped when he saw Sally standing out there, waiting for him with her arms folded over her chest like an upset mother. Richie stopped in his tracks, his hand clutching the backpack strap again, swallowing hard. He felt like he did something wrong, but wasn’t sure what it was. He opened his mouth to speak but Sally started speaking first.

“What the hell was that?” She asked him.

“W-what was what?”

“That… Richie thing.”

Richie glanced around for a moment before looking back to Sally, confused on what that was supposed to mean. “That’s… my name?”

“And the glasses?” She reached up, touching them which caused Richie to flinch and back up a little bit. “What the fuck’s going on with you?”

“I just feel like it’s more fitting,” Richie defended himself with a single arm shrug.

Honestly though? What was the big deal? He was wearing glasses and had a new name. How did that suddenly make it the end of the fucking world? Why was it okay for other people in Richie’s life to do things to make themselves happy but whenever he did something for himself to change his life, to make him happy it was suddenly wrong? It wasn’t fucking fair.

“I mean…” Sally started, dropping her arms to her side dramatically, “it’s one thing to have a stage name like Barry Block, but why do you need to change your entire name? And why Trashmouth?”

“Oh… that’s what my friends called me back in Maine.”

Sally rolled her eyes. “Get it together, Barry,” she said before walking away.

Richie took off his glasses, holding the lenses up so he could see through them before attempting to snap them in half, only managing to bend the frames. He was left there alone, confused, and in the middle of yet another identity crisis.

[dweemeister]

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

In another time, during my mid-twenties, I would be considered old to have never married. Millennials, in their young adulthood, have stared down an economic crisis and now a pandemic that has encumbered societies in unprecedented ways. The median age for a first marriage has never been higher. Go back to the years after World War II in the United States and one will find a record amount of marriages (and divorces) among those in their early twenties. Marriages then and now test the forces of attraction as they ebb, survive disagreements, temptation, differences in character and values. Few other films capture that essence as well as Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s A Letter to Three Wives. Released by 20th Century Fox, A Letter to Three Wives is set in an idyllic, upper-crust suburban America – a reality most Americans are unfamiliar with. Yet, the tensions in this drama are deeply felt, and the anxieties of the three wives are shown with extraordinary compassion and understanding.

Somewhere in what looks like upstate New York (still close enough to drive to the Big Apple and back in a day), Deborah Bishop (Jeanne Crain), Rita Phipps (Ann Sothern), and Lora Mae Hollingsway (Linda Darnell) are volunteers who are about to take an annual riverboat ride for the underserved children in the community. Lunches have been prepared. The children are running up and down the decks, excited for a weekend of play. The ship’s engine sounds ready for cast off. In this town of enormous two-story homes, spacious front yards, old trees overlooking residential streets, and a quaint Main Street, even cosseted families help their neighbors in need. Before embarking, they receive a letter from their friend, Addie Ross (who is never fully seen; voiced by Celeste Holm), saying that she is leaving town with one of their husbands. She does not specify whose husband has she run off with: Bradford “Brad” Bishop (Jeffrey Lynn), George Phipps (Kirk Douglas), or Porter Hollingsway (Paul Douglas; no relation to Kirk). 

After reading the letter, Deborah, Rita, and Lora Mae decide not to speak about it for the rest of the trip, so as not to spoil the mood. During the trip and picnic, all three wives reminisce about their marriages as if they fully expect it is their respective husband – each of whom has, at one point in the past, admitted attraction to Addie Ross – who has been unfaithful. What could possibly have gone wrong, they wonder as they remember. This is shown in three lengthy flashbacks before the trip concludes and the women return home.

Already boasting breakthrough hits with Dragonwyck (1946) and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Mankiewicz would find himself among the elite of 20th Century Fox’s directorial lineup with A Letter to Three Wives. Joseph L. Mankiewicz served not only as director, but as screenwriter in this adaptation of A Letter to Five Wives by John Klempner – too many wives, said Fox studio head Darryl F. Zanuck, as writer Vera Caspary adapted the story for four wives and Mankiewicz eliminated one more. Indeed, given how this film is organized, five wives are too many and four would be a stretch. Mankiewicz and Caspary’s treatment of the three stories manages to tie each wife’s/married couple’s story to the others, while retaining each marriage’s distinct dynamics.

First is Deborah. Played by Jeanne Crain, she is a U.S. Navy veteran, having served in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) and met her now-husband, Brad, while in the Navy. Her flashback takes us to the time when Brad introduced her to his friends’ circle and the country club’s social for the first time. Being out of uniform and donning a formal dress is an alien concept to her, and she is worried about making a fool of herself in front of Brad’s friends and everyone gathered there. There are hints in this first vignette of a class divide between Brad and Deborah, but this is never expounded upon for Deborah (Lorna Mae’s segment will lean into this). Nevertheless, the screenplay confronts Deborah’s fears about being the new girl, imposter syndrome, and her social anxiety. This could be treated as a punchline, as some 1930s and ‘40s films were more inclined to depict. But the writing and Jeanne Crain’s unsettled visage in her performance treat her feelings with legitimacy, acceptance, and good humor. Deborah’s flashback in A Letter to Three Wives sets the tone for the film: always rooted in humanistic drama, but not without some gentle comedy.

For Rita and George Phipps, their scenes together are more confrontational, with the other trying to assert as much control in their off-kilter lives as they can. She writes for radio dramas; he is a schoolteacher in language arts. She wants him to secure a higher-paying job (as if their comfortable house isn’t already enough, apparently); he feels like he has found his calling in teaching and think radio drama writing makes a mockery of great literature. Viewers more attuned to the politics of gendered pay differences might find George’s assertions to be backwards. The fact that it is even shown at all in A Letter to Three Wives upends the stereotypes of a male breadwinner – while not portraying the husband as a jobless ne’er-do-well – is remarkable, regardless of artistic medium. Yes, this is always framed as Rita’s story, but it takes her and George’s concerns as seriously as the other. Again, we see Mankiewicz and Caspary treating both side of a married couple with all respect to what fulfills them professionally and personally – occasionally in a relationship or friendship there is a clash of interests, but it is up to both to work through those differences. Though not his finest performance, Kirk Douglas – given the rough-edged persona cultivated in his filmography – is perfect casting. Ann Sothern’s passive-aggressive delivery of her dialogue is a joy, as we know she means not to offend. Those who adore Old Hollywood character actors will notice an uncredited, scene-stealing Thelma Ritter during Rita and George’s vignette – her last uncredited film appearance before greater (credited) performances for her future.

With Linda Darnell and Paul Douglas starring, Linda Mae’s flashback was the least satisfying for me, but also the most comedic. Linda Mae is from a working family – the finances difficult, the home ramshackle. Her story is set before meeting Porter, who just so happens to be her wealthy employer. The ethics of a wealthy executive being engaged with a younger employee (this soon-to-be married couple appears to have the largest age difference of the three, even though the age difference between Jeanne Crain and Jeffrey Lynn as Deborah and Brad is similar) are murky at best, and the dynamics of their relationship deserves to be viewed rather than described. Their marriage is not one of convenience, nor one based on values, but it overcomes the class differences – illustrated hilariously – that should make their story together impossible. It appears Linda Mae and Porter are on unstable ground, speaking to the unease in her socioeconomic status and his lingering pain over a failed marriage. Mankiewicz and Caspary’s screenplay, for the first time, appears a little unsure about what to do with Porter – whose free-wheeling personality sees Linda Mae make fewer demands than her friends. The resolution may surprise some in its brevity (and I imagine some will take issue to it), but it speaks to the messiness of individuals and how love contorts and forgives.

Linking all three vignettes together is the unseen Addie Ross. Portrayed in voiceover by Celeste Holm, Addie’s presence reverberates around the film half-seriously, as the three wives wonder which husband has been poached. But most importantly, what unites the film is the friendship between Deborah, Rita, and Lora Mae. Credit the performances of Crain, Sothern, and Darnell (one of the best performances in a tragically shortened career). Each of their characters has the others’ backing – evidenced early on, when Rita counsels Deborah before the latter’s first night out in town. Their promise to not speak of Addie’s provocative letter until their trip is over holds, reflecting a predisposition to suburban secrecy and upholding gendered mores that say women are too emotional and should restrain emotional outbursts. Not once are the wives’ bonds to each other fractured. Though the wives are collectively silent, the audience knows that they must be going through that punched-in-the-gut feeling that everyone experiences sometime in their life. That this is depicted with such grace speaks to the masterful writing and a fantastic ensemble performance.

Had A Letter to Three Wives remained as A Letter to Five Wives, the wives would have been played by Gene Tierney (1944’s Laura), Linda Darnell, Maureen O’Hara (1947’s Miracle on 34th Street), Dorothy McGuire (1947’s Gentleman’s Agreement), and Alice Faye (Fox’s primary musical superstar in the 1930s) – all set to shoot in November 1946. Talk about a “who is who” of 20th Century Fox-contracted actresses! This is not to downplay the credentials of Crain or Sothern, but the former was a young actress yet to realize the heights of her career and the latter was best-known for the Maisie series at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM, who loaned Sothern to Fox for this film). With Darryl F. Zanuck’s recommendation to revise the script to cut the film down to three wives, shooting did not begin until June 1948.

There is much that A Letter to Three Wives covers. From returning veterans to gender-coded expectations to class, this is a film attempting to make sense of a time when couples hurried to marry, with the United States’ economic boom extending into peacetime. Its flashback structure may seem a hackneyed thing almost seventy years later, but each additional segment layers poignancy to the past and present. So often overshadowed by Mankiewicz’s next film (some little thing called All About Eve), it has few rivals in Western cinema among films on marriage, in exultation and anguish. A Letter to Three Wives is Americana at its finest – not in blind celebration of these days long past of manicured lawns, dinner parties, and children playing until sundown; but in acknowledgment of human foibles that have and always will persist. It is the stuff that makes life interesting.

My rating: 10/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. A Letter to Three Wives is the one hundred and fifty-ninth feature-length or short film I have rated a ten on imdb.

[the-record-obituaries]

Feb. 19, 2020: Obituaries

Chloe Huskey, 12

Miss Chloe Reese Huskey, age 12 of North Wilkesboro, daughter of Ronnie Huskey and Alisha Adams Huskey, passed away Saturday, February 15, 2020, at her home.                               Reese touched the lives of many with her infectious smile, her sincere kindness, and her incredible and courageous journey.

Funeral services will be held 2:00 PM, Thursday, February 20, 2020, at Fairplains Baptist Church with Pastor David Dyer officiating. The family will receive friends from 6:00 until 8:00 PM Wednesday, February 19, 2020, at Reins Sturdivant Funeral Home.

Reese was born February 7, 2008, in Catawba County to Ronnie and Alisha Adams Huskey. She was a member of Arbor Grove United Methodist Church.  Reese was a student at Central Wilkes Middle School and attended North Wilkesboro and Wilkesboro Elementary  Schools during her elementary school years.

She was preceded in death by her maternal grandfather; Gene Adams, her paternal grandfather; Troy Huskey and an uncle; Tommy Huskey.

Reese is survived by her parents of the home, maternal grandparents; Dean and Linda  Absher of Wilkesboro and Cleo Huskey of North Wilkesboro, a sister; Reagan Adams of Charlotte, a brother; Reid Huskey of North Wilkesboro, aunts and uncles; Angel Minton and husband Jeff of Wilkesboro, Alison Thornton of Mooresville and Alison Huskey McCormick, cousins; Alex Minton, Lauren Minton, Raylan Minton, Aubree Thornton, Pierce Thornton, Cole Huskey, Alaina Grit, her special person, Deana Wyatt, and other relatives and friends who loved Reese very much.

The family would like to thank the doctors and staff of Levine's Children's Medical Center CVICU and Sanger Pediatric Heart Institute for their excellent care provided to Reese.  A very special thank you to Mountain Valley Hospice for the incredible care and compassion provided to Reese and the entire family.  The family appreciates all of the prayers and concerns extended to them during this time.

Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Mountain Valley Hospice 401 Technology Lane Suite 200 Mount Airy, NC 27030, Camp Luck PO Box 5159 Charlotte, NC 28299, American Heart Association 10 Glenlake Pkwy NE South Tower Suite 400 Atlanta, GA 30328 or Ronald McDonald House Charities 26345 Network Place Chicago, IL 60673-1263.

 Eldon Gentry, 81

Mr. Eldon Gentry age 81, of Roaring River passed away Saturday February 15, 2020 at SECU Hospice Center. Mr. Gentry was born March 30, 1938 in Wilkes County, to Lonnie Spurgeon and Ruby Walters Gentry.

Eldon was a Retired farmer and a member of Benham Baptist Church.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Mable Billings Gentry; and a brother, Bob Gentry. Survivors include: son, Eddie Gentry and wife Rhonda of Wilkesboro; brother, Raymond Gentry of Roaring River; granddaughter, Meagan Leigh Gentry of Raleigh, and several nieces and nephews.

A funeral service with be conducted Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at 2:00 pm at Benham Baptist Church, with Rev. Keith Lyon, and Rev. Joe Souther officiating. Burial will follow in the Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends Tuesday evening from 6:00-8:00 pm at Elkin Funeral Service.

In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made to Mtn. Valley Hospice and Palliative care, 688 N. Bridge St., Elkin N.C. 28621

  William Jennings, 51

William "Billy" Jennings, age 51, of Hays, passed away, Saturday, February 15, 2020 at his home. He was born May 29, 1968 in Portsmouth, Virginia to Roy Glenn and Onnolea Jean Johnson Jennings. Billy loved his model car collection, building and collecting hundreds of models. He loved NASCAR, the Pittsburgh Steelers and golf. He Loved and adored his family. Mr. Jennings was preceded in death by his parents; and wife Chrystal Jennings.

Surviving are his wife, Natasha Wingler Jennings; daughters, Stormy Dawn Davalos and spouse Alejandro of North Wilkesboro, Shandy Rae Miller and spouse Daniel, Kaylea Gentle all of Hays; grandchildren, Davari Davalos, Leticia Davalos, Zaiden Davalos; sisters, Angela Jennings Reed of Jefferson, Vickie Fox of Hays.

Funeral service will be held 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at Miller Funeral Chapel with Jamie Rollyson speaking. Burial will follow in Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends at Miller Funeral Service from 12:00 until 2:00 on Wednesday, prior to the service. Flowers will be accepted. Memorials may be made to the SECU Family House, 1970  Baldwin Lane, Winston Salem, NC 27103. Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.  

 Gary Miller, 66

Gary Wayne Miller, age 66, of Millers Creek, passed away Friday, February 14, 2020 at Alleghany Health. He was born June 11, 1953 in Wilkes County to Issac Lester and Adna Ruth Miller. Mr. Miller was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Loretta Miller; several brothers and sisters. He was of the Baptist Faith and employed with W&L Motor Lines as a truck driver.

He is survived by his daughter, Rebecca Billings and spouse Dwayne of Millers Creek; son, Richard Bryant and spouse Shelley of Millers Creek; brother, Lee Miller of Millers Creek; sister, Louise Beverley of Greensboro; grandchildren, Christopher Queen and spouse Rebecca, and Breanna Billings all of Millers Creek.

Funeral service was February 17, at Miller Funeral Chapel with Rev. Danny Dillard and Rev. Don Bowling officiating. Burial followed in Miller Cemetery.  Flowers will be accepted. Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.  

 Linda Brown, 66

Mrs. Linda Mae Wagoner Brown, 66, of North Wilkesboro, passed away on February 12, 2020 at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital.  

Linda was born on March 25, 1953 in Wilkes County to Dollie Odell Wagoner and Gladys Eddie Brown Wagoner.

Linda is preceded in death by her parents; sons, Randall Shannon Wagoner, Allen Parsons and many brothers and sisters.  

Linda is survived by her husband, Christopher Brown; granddaughters, Kaitlyn Wagoner and Erica "Hannah" Wagoner both of North Wilkesboro ; mother in law and father in law, Vea and Paul Brown of North Wilkesboro; sisters, Marlene Testerman ( Jerry) of Millers Creek, Rebeca Blevins (Dewey) of Wilkesboro, Jeanne Shumate of Millers Creek, Sue Absher of Wilkesboro, Shirley Osborne (Robbie) Gallatin, TN, Sandra Stewart of Grover, NC; brothers, Fred Wagoner (Delores) Taylorsville, James Brown of Forrest City, Danny Brown (Kathy) of China Grove.

A visitation was held at the Mountlawn Memorial Park Chapel  February 14, and graveside service   followed.  

Pastor Scott Wagoner  be officiated. The family request no flowers or food please.

As an expression of sympathy, memorial contributions may be sent to the American Heart Association, 128  S Tryon St #1588, Charlotte, NC 28202.

Adams Funeral Home of Wilkes has the honor of serving the Brown Family.

 Billy Anderson, 75

Mr. Billy George Anderson, 75, of North Wilkesboro, passed away on Tuesday, February 11, 2020 at his home.  

Billy was born on August 3, 1944 in Wilkes County to John Olden Anderson and Johnsie Bell Miller Anderson.

Billy is preceded in death by his parents; son, Jason Dewayne Anderson; brother James "Jimmy" Anderson; sister, Mary Jane Lowe and grandson, Zackary Cochran.  

Billy is survived by his wife of 57 years, Wanda Lee Cain Anderson; daughters, Gail Parks (Ricky) of Yadkinville, Penny Cochran (Larry) of North Wilkesboro; sons, Tim Anderson of Denver NC, Dalton Anderson (Anne) of North Wilkesboro; brother, David Lee Anderson of North Wilkesboro; five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held February 22,  at Adams Funeral Home of Wilkes Chapel, 2109 Moravian  Falls Rd, Moravian Falls.  

Rev. Charles Cain will be officiating.

Adams Funeral Home of Wilkes has the honor of serving the Anderson Family.

 Kent Greer, 81

Mr. Kent Tracy Greer, age 81 of Wilkesboro, passed away Tuesday, February 11, 2020, at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

A private burial service for the family was at Mount Lawn Cemetery in Boone, February 15. Masonic rites were conducted by Ashler #373 and Military Honors were provided by the United States Air Force Honor Guard.  A Celebration of Life service followed with Reverend Shannon Critcher and Reverend Jim Gore officiated.

Mr. Greer was born on February 9, 1939, in Watauga County, North Carolina, to Walter Monroe and Viola Nichols Greer. He was a devoted husband to Kate for fifty-two years, a beloved father, and grandfather. He was a member of Millers Creek Baptist Church. Throughout his entire life, Kent had an adventuresome, entrepreneurial and get it done spirit. He served in the United States Air force for four years, which took him to several countries. Later, he took his wife, Kate, to many more countries abroad and all fifty states. Known for his sense of humor and fun-loving nature, Kent readily shared laughs, jokes, and hugs with people he knew and didn't know. Regularly, Kent stated, "I've had the best life of anybody I know."

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife; Lenna Kate Greene Greer, a sister; Anna Lee Greene and four brothers; W.M. Greer, Jr., Fayne Greer, Brook Greer, and Quentin Greer.

He is survived by a daughter; Janet Greer Brown and husband Mike of Banner Ek, North Carolina, two sons; David Kent Greer and wife Nicole of Concord and Philip Ray Greer of Wilkesboro, six grandchildren; Zach Brown and wife Emily, Jenna Brown, Kent Richard Greer, Katelyn Greer, Tracy Greer, and wife Kelsey and Amanda Greer Stewart and husband Chris and four great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Heart Association, PO Box 9, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659 or Mountain Valley Hospice, 201 Technology  Lane, Suite 200, Mount Airy, NC 27030.

  Brenda Savage, 74

Mrs. Brenda Joyce Caul Savage age 74 of Wilkesboro passed away Sunday February 9. 2020 at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston Salem.

Funeral Services were February 15,  at Rickards Chapel AME Zion Church with Rev Richard Watts Officiating.  

Mrs. Savage was born January 24, 1946 in Wilkes County to Anthony and Cynthia Marie Rouseau Caul. She retired from Tyson Foods and was a member of Rickards Chapel AME Zion Church.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a son, Bobby Joe Campbell and a brother Reginald Keith Caul.

She is survived by her husband, Lavon Savage, two daughters Yolanda Burgess and husband Stephen of Walnut Cove and Lola Porter of Statesville;  two sons John Porter and wife Staci of Louisville, KY, Billy Campbell of Wilkesboro, and two step sons Terry Calhoun of Wilkesboro and Rashaun Calhoun of Wilkesboro; nine grandchildren, three great grandchildren and four sisters Jacqueline Barber and husband Marvin of Wilkesboro, Deborah Carlton of Wilkesboro, Linda Howell of Wilkesboro, Maria Harris and husband Ronald of Wilkesboro; and one brother Timothy Caul of New Philadelphia OH.

Flowers will be accepted.

 William Childress, 64

Mr. William Cole Childress, better known as Bill, age 64, passed away Sunday, February 9, 2020 at his home in Moravian Falls.

Funeral services were February, 14, 2020 at Reins Sturdivant Chapel with Rev. Ronnie Murray and Pastor Rodney Blake officiating. Burial will be in Scenic Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends from 1:00 until 2:00 prior to the service at Reins Sturdivant Funeral Home.

Mr. Childress was born March 19, 1955 in Wilkes County to Luther and Pauline Annalee Porter Childress. He retired from Louisiana Pacific after 44 years of service. Bill liked to fish, loved to go out on his boat and going to Auctions. He loved his family and grandchildren.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife; Ellie Minton Childress, a daughter; Jennifer Childress, two sisters; Florence White and Mary Kay Childress and a brother; Edward Gray Childress.

He is survived by a daughter; Sally Hampton of North Wilkesboro, three grandchildren; Katie Hackett, Michael Walker and Malcolm Walker, a great granddaughter; Journee Hackett, two sisters; Elizabeth Murray and husband, Ronnie of North Wilkesboro and Carolyn Parks and husband, Alan of Lenoir, a brother; Harold Childress and wife Betsy of North Wilkesboro and a girlfriend and caregiver; Virginia Dancy and her family of Purlear.

Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Wake Forest Hospice 126 Executive Drive Suite 110 Wilkesboro, NC 28697 or American Cancer Society PO Box 9 North Wilkesboro, NC 28659.

 James Garris, 94

James Arthur Garris, age 94, of Traphill, passed away Sunday, February 9, 2020 at Woltz Hospice Home. He was born June 9, 1925 in Wilkes County to Isom and Oma Wiles Garris. He was a member of Christian Home Baptist Church. He enjoyed coon hunting and fishing. James was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Floie Prevette Garris; daughter, Lois Gregory; son, Willie Garris; brothers, Guilford Garris, Troy Garris, Lester Garris; sisters, Estelle Walls and Edith Tucker.

Surviving are his children, Billy Garris and spouse Janet of Traphill, Dottie Stanley of State  Road, Buck Garris of Traphill; sisters, Cordie Bauguess of Traphill, Ruth Martin of Lexington; special friend, Mary Pruitt of Hays; eleven grandchildren; eighteen great grandchildren; and ten great great grandchildren.

Funeral service was February 13,   at Miller Funeral Chapel with Rev. David Key officiating. Burial   followed in Christian Home Baptist Church Cemetery.  Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Joan & Howard Woltz Hospice Home, 945 Zephyr Road, Dobson, NC 27017. A special thanks to Rose Glen Manor and Joan and Howard Woltz Hospice.                                 Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences may be made to www.millerfuneralservice.com

Pallbearers were Scotty Garris, Marty Garris, Rocky Garris, Tracy Ward, Chris Gregory, Aaron Thomas.

 Angel Brown, 31

Angel Nicole Brown, age 31, of North Wilkesboro, was called home early on Thursday, February 6, 2020 and left her worldly struggles behind. Angel was born June 3, 1988 in Wilkes County to Gary Maurice and Bessie Bell Bledsoe Brown. She enjoyed cooking, camping, wild crafting herbs and loved to sing.      

Angel graduated from North Wilkes High  School with honors and was a former cashier with Dollar General. She was preceded in death by her father, Gary Brown; grandparents, Ruth Ann Edwards and Faye S. Goss.

Surviving are her son, Channon Roark of the home; fiancé, Chancey Roark of the home; mother, Bessie Brown of Hays; sister, Ashley Brown and spouse Kenny Ashley of Hays; niece, Riley Ashley of Hays; nephew, Bentley Ashley of Hays.

Memorial service was February 16,  at Miller Funeral Chapel with Rev. Robert Harris officiating. Flowers will be accepted or donations may be made to the family for her son, Channon.

Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.  

[fairietale]

this  is  a  starter  call  for  all  unfinished   /   wip  characters  who  don’t  have  separate  starter  calls  yet:

laena  talila  stone,     elf.  was  cast  out  by  her  family  for  refusing  to  partake  in  a  dangerous  ritual  and  marrying  an  outcast  in  the  elven  kingdom.  sister  to  zinnia. +   generous.  mild  mannered.  stands  up  for  what  she  believes  in.  sweet.  loyal. -   melodramatic.  stubborn.  impulsive.  indecisive.  skeptical. 

fox  lyari  stone,     elf.  daughter  of  laena.  sister  of  kymil  silveril  stone  and  vissera  silvyr  stone.  niece  of  zinnia.  cousin  to  elora  azraiah,  zelphar  axilia,  rathiain  fenain,  ellisar  folen,  tsar  eroan,  and  emalia  jade  storm. +  witty.  dependable.  independent.  compassionate.  ambitious. -   distrusting.  stubborn.  suspicious.  self  -  absorbed.  willful.

vissera  silvyr  stone,     elf.  daughter  of  laena.  sister  of  kymil  siveril  stone  and  fox  lyari  stone.  niece  of  zinnia.  cousin  to  elora  azariah,  zelphar  axilia,  rathiain  fenain,  ellisar  folen,  tsar  eroan,  and  emalia  jade  storm. +   independent.  funny.  caring.  loyal.  adaptable. -   vengeful.  drama  queen.  impatient.  clingy.  spoiled.

emalia  jade  storm,     elf.  went  off  on  her  own  against  her  mother’s  advice  to  reunite  with  her  family.  niece  of  laena  talila  stone.  niece  of  zinnia.  cousin  to  fox  lyari  stone,  kymil  siveril  stone,  and  vissera  silvyr  stone.  cousin  to  elora  azariah,  zelphar  axilia,  rathiain  fenian,  tsar  eroan,  and  ellisar  folen. +   independent.  marches  to  the  beat  of  her  own  drummer.  kind.  loyal.  persistent. -   temperamental.  moody.  uncompromising.  oversensitive.  impatient.

rathiain  fenain,     elf.  was  spared  by  viviana  deluca  in  the  uprising.  son  of  zinnia.  brother  to  elora  azrariah,  zelphar  axilia,  tsar  eroan,  and  ellisar  folen.  nephew  of  laena  talila  stone.  cousin  to  kymil  siveril  stone,  fox  lyari  stone,  vissera  silvry  stone,  and  emalia  jade  storm. +   compassionate.  has  a  heart  of  gold.  helpful.  brilliant.  generous. -   weak  willed.  easily  manipulated.  shy.  quirky.  submissive.

aurelia  arwen,     fae  /  vampire  hybird.  bastard  daughter  of  the  seelie  queen.  true  neutral. +   clever.  quick  -  thinking.  logical.  honest  to  the  point  of  being  blunt.  intuitive.  -   secretive.  untrusting.  obsessive.  withdrawn.  pretentious. 

jason  “jase”  valois,     king  of  france.  married  to  viviana  deluca.  brother  of  maragux  valois,  jenna  valois,  rafael  valois,  lucas  valois,  theodore  valois,  and  martin  valois. +   a  king  of  the  people.  generous.  fair.  kind.  strong. -   easily  manipulated.  willful.  obsessive.  passive.  thoughtless. 

margaux  valois,     french  princess.  more  badass  than  all  her  brothers  put  together.  elder  sister  of  jase  valois,  jenna  valois,  rafael  valois,  theodore  valois,  and  martin  valois. +   strong.  intuitive.  brilliant.  fiesty.  wise. -   stubborn.  paranoid.  nagging.  opinionated.  overly  critical  and  judgemental.

kieran  nox,     death.  the  leader  of  the  four  horsemen  of  the  apocalypse. +   non  judgemental.  willful.  strong.  wise.  confident. -   narcissistic.  arrogant.  stubborn.  willful.  uncompromising

erika  queen,     conquest.  the  victor  of  the  four  horsemen  of  the  apocalypse. +   witty.  adventurous.  passionate.  fearless.  charming. -   always  has  to  be  right.  blunt.  arrogant.  shameless.  sly.

grace  gold,     ice  dragon.  daughter  of  the  earth  and  moon.  sister  to  tara  gold. +   warm.  sweet.  thoughtful.  caring.  loyal. -   passive.  rash.  judgy.  touchy.  sanctimonious.

azriel  eldrin,     elf.  the  queen’s  personal  guard. +   loyal  to  death.  rational.  quick  thinking.  courteous.  brave. -   obsessive.  prim  and  proper.  arrogant.  vain.  rigid.

lana  zenovia,     the  key.  she  is  the  key  that  opens  other  dimensions,  along  with  the  gates  of  hell   /   hades  and  the  pearly  gates  themselves.  constantly  reincarnated. +   hopeful.  optimistic.  generous.  kind.  strong. -   opinionated.  paranoid.  secretive.  nervous.  touchy.

ripley  savage,     princess  and  the  last  daughter  of  the  planet  ragnum.  she  goes  by  the  alias  ghost  or  ghost  slayer.  after  the  death  of  her  planet,  she  became  an  intergalactic  outlaw. +   clever.  witty.  keen.  intuitive.  resourceful. -   uncompromising.  judgemental.  touchy.  thoughtless.  vain.

commander  cleo,     commander  of  caelesti’s  armies.  works  directly  under  a  the  god  malicious.  the  best  of  the  best  of  the  second  dimension’s  soldiers. +   strong.  brave.  unwavering.  heroic.  loyal. -   ruthless.  vengeful.  arrogant.  stubborn.  tactless. 

arden  ignatius,     phoenix.  prometheus  stole  fire  from  mount  olympus  and  gave  it  to  humanity,  and,  from  that  fire,  he  created  the  first  ever  phoenix  to  watch  over  humanity. +   wise.  caring.  strong.  brave.  loyal. -   prim.  lazy.  tactless.  vague.  self  -  indulgent. 

natharia,     kelpie.  travels  through  dimensions. +   wise.  brilliant.  clever.  witty.  funny. -   selfish.  thoughtless.  uncaring.  passive.  sly.

kendall  constance,     newborn  vampire.  after  the  disappearance  of  her  boyfriend,  valentino  xavier  reyes,  kenall  went  searching  for  him  only  to  find  herself  in  trouble  and  a  vampire!  +   loyal.  caring.  blunt.  resourceful.  tough. -   selfish.  arrogant.  temperamental.  judgy.  rash.

joy  “jj”  jenner,     heretic.  part  of  zarya  angelov’s  growing  coven  of  heretics. +   honest.  actual  royalty.  brilliant.  daring.  straight  -  forward. -   narcissistic.  vain.  thoughtless.  spoiled.  petty.    

harlow  reid,     hybird.  the  first  hybrid  that  was  turned  by  niklaus  mikaelson  using  the  blood  of  the  doppelganger  that  came  before  katherine  pierce. +   curious.  loyal.  clever.  quick  -  witted.  warm. -   secretive.  passive.  sly.  guarded.  willful.

fleur  bellerose,     empathic  vampire.  she  was  trying  to  find  a  cure  for  her  dying  mother  when  she  learned  of  viviana  deluca’s  true  identity,  but  viviana  was  too  late  getting  there  to  save  fleur’s  mother,  so  she  offered  to  turn  fleur  instead.  fleur  has  always  been  empathic.  +   caring.  loving.  kind.  positive.  genuine. -   withdrawn.  impatient.  neurotic.  nosy.  obnoxious.

caterina  gabrielle  deluca,     light  made  flesh.  she  was  a  gift  from  the  heavens  for  her  mothers,  vienna  and  briar  deluca.  niece  of  viviana  deluca,  gabriel  and  jenna  sharp,  and  freya  sharp.  sister  to  valentino  xavier  reyes  -  deluca,  avery  mae  deluca,  archer  vincenzo  deluca,  and  lucia  violetta  quintana  -  deluca.  cousin  to  too  many  to  count. +   compassionate.  all  heart.  accepting.  warm.  caring. -   quick  to  judge  sometimes.  assuming.  stubborn.  willful.  extreme  in  everything.

valentino  xavier  reyes  -  deluca,     werewolf.  accidentally  killed  his  best  friend  in  a  car  crash  and  triggered  his  werewolf  gene.  was  found  scared  and  alone  by  vienna  deluca  after  his  first  full  moon,  and  she  brought  him  home.  adoptive  son  of  vienna  and  briar  deluca.  adoptive  brother  to  caterina  gabrielle  deluca,  avery  mae  deluca,  archer  vincenzo  deluca,  and  lucia  violetta  emilia  quintana  -  deluca.  adoptive  nephew  to  viviana  deluca,  gabriel  and  jenna  sharp,  and  freya  sharp.  too  many  adoptive  cousins  to  count. +   sweet.  caring.  compassionate.  generous.  genuine. -   quick  to  temper.  touchy.  hesitant.  nervous.  overly  cautious.

avery  mae  deluca,     angel   /   warlock  hybird.  in  avery’s  warlock  bloodline,  twins  have  to  merge  at  the  age  of  twenty  one,  with  the  stronger  twin  winning.  avery  is  the  twin  to  archer  vincenzo  deluca.  avery  has  a  growing  darkness  in  her  that  will  end  up  in  her  overtaking  her  brother  in  the  merging  and  avery  turning  full  -  demon,  unless  the  merging  is  stopped  by  her  adoptive  sister,  caterina  gabrielle  deluca,  because  caterina  is  made  of  pure  light.  also  the  addoptive  sister  of  valentino  xavier  reyes  -  deluca  and  lucia  violetta  emilia  quintana  -  deluca.  adoptive  niece  of  viviana  deluca,  gabriel  and  jenna  sharp,  and  freya  sharp.  also  has  too  many  cousins  to  count. +   witty.  resourceful.  rational.  confident.  independent. -   dark.  sly.  secretive.  hot  tempered.  vain.

archer  vincenzo  deluca,     angel   /   warlock  hybrid.  in  archer’s  warlock  bloodline,  twins  have  to  merge  at  the  age  of  twenty  one,  with  the  stronger  twin  winning.  archer  is  the  twin  to  avery  mae,  and  will  end  up  losing  in  the  merge  unless  it  can  be  stopped  by  his  adoptive  sister,  caterina  gabrielle  deluca.  archer  is  being  hunted  by  his  demon  grandfather.  archer  is  the  adoptive  son  of  vienna  and  briar  deluca,  nephew  of  viviana  deluca,  gabriel  and  jenna  sharp,  and  freya  sharp.  archer’s  other  adoptive  siblings  are  valentino  xavier  reyes  -  deluca,  and  lucia  violetta  emilia  quintana  -  deluca.  archer  has  too  many  cousins  to  count. +   sweet.  thoughtful.  quiet.  trustworthy.  polite. -   carries  around  a  dark  secret.  neurotic.  pessimistic.  weak  willed.  depressed.

lucia  violetta  emilia  quintana  -  deluca,     demigod.  lucia  is  the  biological  daughter  of  neptune,  the  god  of  the  sea.  since  lucia’s  mother  was  a  practicing  wiccan  and  dabbled  in  witchcraft,  though  not  a  full  witch,  lucia's  demigod  powers  are  used  in  witch  -  like  ways.  lucia’s  mother  dies,  and  she  ends  up  in  briar  deluca’s  foster  care  system  for  supernatural  children,  and  vienna  and  briar  decide  to  adopt  her.  she  is  the  adoptive  sister  of  caterina  gabrielle  deluca,  valentino  xavier  reyes  -  deluca,  avery  mae  deluca,  and  archer  vincenzo  deluca.  she  is  the  adoptive  niece  of  viviana  deluca,  gabriel  and  jenna  sharp,  and  freya  sharp.  she  has  too  many  adoptive  cousins  to  count. +   peppy.  bright.  brave.  honest.  energetic. -   vain.  vengeful.  insecure.  jealous.  overly  critical. 

guiliano  luther  rose  -  deluca,     elf   /   vampire  hybird.  almost  a  thousand  years  after  having  their  daughters,  rowan  alessia  and  stella  viktoria,  viviana  deluca  and  alyssandra  rose  decide  they  want  one  more  child,  and,  thus,  guilano  is  born. +   kind.  gentle.  thoughtful.  free  -  spirited.  curious. -   quick  to  anger.  stubborn.  willful.  arrogant.  moody.

rosalie  saito,     vampire   /   forest  nymph  hybird.  before  she  turned,  rosalie  was  unaware  that  she  had  any  forest  nymph  in  her  because  it  was  her  great  -  great  grandmother  who  was  the  nymph,  and  her  families  powers  had  dwindled  with  every  generation.  but  when  viviana  deluca  sired  rosalie,  her  nymph  abilities  were  supercharged,  and  now  she  has  the  power  to  control  and  communicate  with  not  only  nature,  but  animals,  as  well. +   witty.  loyal.  logical.  protective.  responsible.  -   withdrawn.  quiet.  depressed.  shy.  vague. 

devyn  zezza,     vampire.  devyn  was  the  cast  out  of  her  village,  as  she  was  tall  and  large  and  manly.  but  viviana  deluca  found  her  fascinating,  and  devyn  became  the  first  vampire  viviana  turned.  ever  since  then,  devyn’s  gone  by  many  aliases,  but  she  keeps  her  last  name,  zezza,  as  it’s  italian,  in  appreciation  of  her  italian  sire  and  mentor. +   deathly  loyal.  protective.  fierce.  strong.  unwavering. -   vengeful.  ruthless.  bloodthirsty.  cruel.  a  real  predator. 

theon  chevalier,     vampire.  theon’s  was  a  french  lord,  but  was  unsuited  for  royal  life,  so  his  mother  sought  out  viviana  deluca  and  paid  her  handsomely  to  kill  her  son.  and  she  was  in  the  middle  of  doing  so  when  theon  awoke,  and,  there  was  something  in  his  eyes  that  made  her  change  her  mind.  he  was  an  awful  man,  a  whore,  a  pig,  but  he  looked  at  her  with  such  understanding  that  he  was  going  to  die,  and  he  told  her  he  knew  it  was  his  mother’s  doing,  and  she  just.  she  couldn’t  kill  him.  so,  she  turned  him  on  a  trial  basis.  and,  ever  since,  he’s  been  blindingly  loyal  to  her,  despite  continuing  with  his  drunken,  whorish  ways. +   loyal.  protective.  courageous.  never  gives  up.  witty. -   weasly.  alcoholic.  man  whore.  melodramatic.  moody.

aria  alleva,     seelie  princess.  in  seelie  custom,  the  twelfth  born  to  the  seelie  queen  and  king  is  the  official  heir  to  the  seelie  throne.  and,  in  this  generation,  aria  is  the  twelfth  born.  and  she  put  up  with  her  royal  duties  for  awhile,  but  she  so  loathed  them,  and  the  idea  of  being  queen  made  her  miserable.  all  she  wanted  to  be  was  free,  so,  one  day,  she  ran  away. +   sweet.  naive.  wise.  compassionate.  free. -   insecure.  cowardly.  moody.  gullible.  easily  manipulated. 

elizabeth,     the  first  witch.  fearing  the  darkness  and  magick  that  filled  the  land,  the  first  people  got  together  and  voted  a  sacrifice.  that  sacrifice  was  elizabeth   (  or  so  she  is  now  known  )   and,  together,  they  gathered  up  all  the  magick  and  darkness  in  the  land  and  sealed  it  in  the  body  of  this  one  girl.  elizabeth  is  the  most  powerful  being  that  walks  the  earth,  but  the  amount  of  power  has  driven  her  completely  insane,  so  she  cannot  use  it  all. +   wise.  thoughtful.  genuine.  blunt.  strong. -   unstable.  speaks  in  riddles.  terrifying.  shy.  unable  to  control  her  magick.

logan  hunter,     hellhound.  logan  was  hailed  the  most  vicious  and  bloodthirsty  hellhound  the  devil  had  ever  trained,  and,  after  five  thousand  years  of  loyal  service,  he  granted  her  a  retirement.  though,  she  sees  it  more  as  a  snub  than  a  gift.  now,  she  works  as  a  supernatural  bounty  hunter,  and  she’s  trying  so  hard  to  return  to  hell  where  she  belongs. +   loyal.  protective.  principled.  strong.  fearless. -   surly.  vain.  ruthless.  cruel.  shoots  first,  asks  questions  later.

griffin  brooks,     hunter.  there  are  many  kinds  of  supernatural  hunters.  griffin’s  line  is  somewhat  supernatural  themselves,  gaining  supernatural  strength,  speed,  reflexes,  ect  when  they  come  of  age  at  sixteen  years  old.  they  also  gain  a  spirit  animal  that  looks  after  and  protects  them  on  hunts,  and  they  take  on  aspects  of  their  animal  depending  on  what  animal  it  is.  since  griffin’s  is  a  fox,  she  is  especially  charming  and  clever.  +   strong.  fiesty.  brave.  true.  noble. -   impatient.  arrogant.  vain.  cunning.  irrational.

cosima  nightly,     spirit  kitsune.  a  mixture  of  teen  wolf  and  japenese  mythology  with  a  little  mythology  of  the  chinese  huli  jing  mixed  in.  very,  very  old.  has  nine  tales. +   wise.  honest.  advisor.  spiritual.  strong  in  body,  mind,  and  soul. -   sly.  secretive.  cunning.  aloof.  patronizing.

garrick,     wrath.  personification  of  one  of  the  seven  deadly  sins. +   protective.  resourceful.  smart.  witty.  resilient. -    filled  with  constant  rage.  arrogant.  temperamental.  judgemental.  ruthless.

nyx,     the  goddess  of  night.  in  this  portrayal,  nyx  is  also  the  mother  of  monsters. +   loyal.  wise.  honest.  profound.  brilliant. -   dark.  mysterious.  easily  angered.  protective  to  a  fault.  cruel.

siena  orlena,     innocence.  she  is  the  previously   human  personification  of  innocence,  and  she  was  a  scottish  princess  in  her  human  life,  but  she's  evolved  to  be  immortal  like  most  personifications.  she  likes  going  back  to  school  every  now  and  again  to  keep  up  with  modern  culture.  very  soft.  very  pure. +   innocent.  pure.  soft  spoken.  kind.  wise. -   prim  and  proper.  pretentious.  pompous.  ignorant.  easily  manipulated. 

chase  cody,     tragedy  in  human  form.  new  york  socialite  and  budding  actress  and  model.  daughter  to  two  of  the  biggest  names  in  hollywood.  at  the  start  of  her  career   (  15  y/o  or  so  )   she  started  getting  creepy  letters  from  a  fan  who  eventually  evolved  into  a  stalker.  he  became  so  obsessed  with  her  that  he  killed  everyone  he  thought  was  standing  in  the  way  of  their  “relationship"  including  both  her  parents,  her  sister,  her  boyfriend,  and  two  of  her  friends.  so  chase  moved  to  try  and  escape  him  because  no  matter  how  hard  the  police  and  fbi  tried,  they  couldn't  capture  him  so  they  put  her  in  protective  custody.   +   generous.  gracious.  compassionate.  animal  lover.  media  darling. -   rebellious.  depressed.  withdrawn.  guarded.  shy.

falcon  arcane,     “genie.”  everyone  is  born  with  a  gene  that  gives  them  what  can  only  be  described  with  superhero  or  supernatural  powers.  some  are  born  with  this  gene  activated  already,  but  most  aren’t.  genies  spent  centuries  and  centuries  in  hiding  until  world  war  two  when  nazi  scientists  started  experimenting  on  some  they  found,  and  they  learned  that  this  gene  can  be  activated  with  brain  alteration.  they  were  shut  down  after  the  war,  and  genies  went  back  into  hiding,  but  falcon’s  mother  picked  the  experiments  back  up  after  her  twins,  falcon  and  vincent,  showed  signs  of  being  genies.  her  experiments  targeted  her  children,  and  how  to  make  them  even  more  powerful.  she  built  an  empire  on  these  experiments  after  being  successful  with  her  children,  and  started  activating  others  genie  genes.  falcon  has  spent  most  of  her  life  rebelling  against  her  mother,  while  her  twin  brother  is  their  mother’s  pride  and  joy.  so,  falcon  is  under  constant  supervision  and  imprisonment,  until  she  agrees  to  work  with  her  mother  and  bring  in  the  “nobodies”  of  the  world  for  the  experiments. +   quick  -  witted.  resourceful.  charming.  compassionate.  tough. -   manipulative.  rebellious.  stubborn.  willful.  paranoid.  cold.

so,  like  this  post  for  a  starter  !

comment  for  a  specific  muse  or  i’ll  choose  for  you  !

if  you’re  also  a  multi  muse,  please  specify  the  muse  you  want  the  starter  for  !

you’re  welcome  to  more  than  one !

[mostlydaydreaming]

A terrific Gene Kelly article showing off his humility and sense of humor (1947)

You can get a measure of Gene Kelly, the movie star and dancer, by having lunch with him at his favorite bar and grill in New York City, a closet-like eatery on 45th street, east of Broadway.

Harry Kaplan, who owns the grill, and Mae Belsky, the waitress, are particular friends of Kelly’s. He eats at their place regularly when he is in New York. Occasionally he drops in by himself; more often he is accompanied by his red-headed wife Betsy Blair.

Sometimes they order Harry’s 50 cent special, a hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes. Sometimes they settle for frankfurters with sauerkraut.

Mae shuffles toward the booth with steaming cups of coffee. She has a discontented face and an Andy Devine voice. Both are designed to conceal her sensitive and generous disposition.

“Kelly, gimme your autograph,” she says plaintively.

Gene grins, “Why Mae honey, I didn’t know you cared.”

“I don’t,” Mae says. “A two-bit tip whose sitting a few booths down just asked me for it.”

“That’s fame,” says Kelly philosophically. “And to think I played in a movie with Frank Sinatra.”

He Likes The Place

Why does he keep eating at Harry’s

“When I was hoofing in choruses on Broadway,” Gene explains, “Harry put me on the cuff until payday many a time. But that’s not really why I still eat here. I just like the place.”

Kelly is a good natured guy but snobbishness or predjudice in any form infuriates him to the point of incoherence. On this score he has told off some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

He is always on the move, has a physique that can stand wear and tear. Five feet nine inches tall, he looks more like an athlete than a dancer. He once played semi-pro ice hockey and almost took that on as a profession. But dancing offered a better chance to make money.

Gene taught dancing in Pittsburgh and Johnstown until he was 27 years old. The Gene Kelly Dance Studio is still a going concern, now run by his mother and his sister Louise.

“I taught all ages,” says Kelly. “From four to sixty. But the kids were the most fun. They weren’t cluttered up with a lot of bookish theory. They’re response was purely emotional, which is what dancing is. If you want an intellectual response from watching a dancer, you may as well stay at home and read a book.”

No Bragging Here

Kelly’s first picture, once he got out of the Navy, was “Living in a Big Way.” The way he talks about his own dancing in it, brings shudders to the people whose job it is to glamorize him.

“I was a better dancer when I first came to Broadway than I am now,” he says flatly. “I was younger, that’s why. A dancer is like a prize fighter. He gets superannuated pretty early; can’t take it so well in his thirties.”

Kelly gets many of his best ideas for dancing from watching the screen work of the late Douglas Fairbanks Sr. “Doug never made an ungraceful move,” he says admiringly.

Since his electrifying success in “Anchors Aweigh,” The bobby-sox brigade has lifted Kelly up to it’s own gaudy gallery, which he shares with Sinatra and Van Johnson. In Chicago, just before Kelly got out of the Navy, the kids ripped all the shiny buttons from his uniform. Gene returned to New York wearing a coat held together with safety pins and scotch tape.

“Maybe you could help,” he told us. “Write that I am thirty four and I love my wife. Tell them I have a baby four years old, my hair is getting thin, and that romantic scar on my left cheek is the result of a flop on roller skates when I was a kid.”

Some people when they get rich and famous, develop a taste for caviar. Gene sticks to the 45-cent blue plate.

[pinksausageduo]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 1K+

IM SCREAMING WTF YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING genuinely can’t believe i have more than 1000 of you actually liking my blog to the point of following me??!!! I have really bad updates LIKE REALLY BAD like for 2 and half months i’ve been on tumblr i’ve probably only been posting for 1 month and a bit. AND THE FACT YOU STILL ALL LIKE MY WRITINGS AND FOLLOW ME IS CRAZY!! i seriously mean it when i absolutely adore each and everyone of you following my blog like i love you guys so so much. and please don’t be afraid to ever talk to me whether it’s on anon or message whether it’s about how annoying your life is, ranting, my writing, advice, questions, literally anything. i just love you guys sooooo much like wow i never even expected more than 100 followers like i’m mind blown.

so since it is a milestone and usually most blogs do something, i did prepare a present for my followers and another one for my mutuals because i love you all.

FOR MY FOLLOWERS: A NEW SERIES!!!!!

i know i have still my enemies to lovers series that i need to complete and i will do that but there will be a new series and YOU GUYS GET TO CHOOSE which one I write first either;

Heirs 

located in an expensive private school, wanna one is known as the Heirs. they’re all extremely rich, good looking, talented and basically the kings of the school. each guy will have a girl that catches their eye, those girls will be you! from the quick witted and sassy scholarship student to the extremely rich ice princess who no one wants to even approach to the shy sweet nobody, one member will fall for you. choose to find out!

so will you choose the heirs??

Bodyguards

wanna one is a team of bodyguards assigned to people who need protection. over the years each and every one of them finds themselves falling for someone on the job. but falling in love isn’t part of the job or is it? they’ll fall for you! from the president’s daughter to another intelligence agency’s spy to even a princess, one member will fall for you. choose to find out!

so will you choose the bodyguards??

HOW TO CHOOSE

message me by kkt or tumblr

comment below

reblog with which one

choose in poll : https://goo.gl/forms/G4GrlZEfOPL30jnP2

CHOOSING WILL CLOSE IN AROUND 2 WEEKS ON 11/11/17 

please vote!!! i’ll love you all forever if you do!!!! 

FOR MY MUTUALS/PEOPLE I ADMIRE & FOLLOW: FOLLOW FOREVER/RECS/DESCRIPTION

WANT TO GIVE OUT A HUGE SHOUTOUT TO MY MUTUALS AS WELL AND IT’LL BE KINDA A FOLLOW FOREVER/RECS (it’ll be long asf (like REALLY long) so i’ll put it under keep reading) this will be in all three person sorry :( 

EVERYONG: i love y'all sm we all so so crazy and we occasionally talk about writing but eh it’s really just a mess but making our gc was one of the best decisions i made on tumblr AND IM SO SORRY if i don’t have you down below but i’m giving you all my love and appreciation rn here!!! BUT JUST LOVE YOU ALL!!

FIRST OF ALL SHOUTOUT TO DIAMOND @woojiniee FOR ENCOURAGING ME TO START THIS BLOG I WOULDN’T BE HERE WITHOUT YOU. lol it’s weird how my blog started from helping you w your english homework on harry potter lmao. i genuinely love you so so much and i admire you, your works and your blog and just thank you for everything!

ALSO A HUGE SHOUTOUT TO JAS @perkwoojin!!!! MY ABSOLUTE LOVE AND MY BEST FRIEND!! jas you’ve been here for me whether it’s irl problems or tumblr problems and you’ve never judged me for anything i’ve done. you are so so so special to me and i just love you soooo much i genuinely can’t imagine not meeting you on tumblr. we hit it off right from the start and we’ve only gotten closer. while the time difference may be annoying we still talk often and just thank you so much for always being there for me, love you loads!!!

MY SENPAIS (the people who inspired me to write and start this blog, i would literally check your blog for updates everyday before starting this blog) :

@imagineproduce101 genuinely think carina is the queen of writing in the pd101/wanna one fandom, she’s blessed us with so many fics on such a regular basis i’ve never talked to you personally and you probs have no idea who i am but just want to say thank you so much for inspiring me to write, your fics always made me feel so soft and fluffy i wanted to make other people feel that way so thank you!!! 

fic recs: rivals (pleaseee do pt 2), what are you waiting for, let me love you, banana milk love, red bull, new beginnings, all of mafia aus, all of hp aus, all of vampire aus 

@woojiniee i’ve already mentioned diamond^ but gonna mention her again cause she is one of my senpais LITERALLY SOOOO GOOD WRITING LIKE WTH PLEASE LET ME LIVE she’s less busy now so IM WAITING FOR UPDATES GIRLL but seriously check out all of her fics will not be disappointed

fic recs: alpaca boy saves the day, crushing on you, jaehwan soulmate au, dating a park at a park

@wanna-request-one​ such great paragraph writings mine will never live up to theirs writing is so amazing just so great if you want detailed long writing the best blog to go to all of them are AMAZING WRITERS congrats on 1.8K!!

fic recs: seongwoo soulmate, seongwoo brother’s best friend, jaehwan college, I HATE YOU IM YOUNGMIN (literally so in love w this fic)

@wanna-one-scenarios amazing writer!!! so so so niceeee she’s starting college rn so v busy i miss youuu we never get to chat but its okayyy BUT LIKE SHIT WRITING IS SOOOO ON POINT LIKE WTH just go through her whole master list won’t regret it

fic recs: DANIEL PRINCE AU!!! (like if y’all haven’t read this missing out on sm), jongyun father au, sewoon enemies to lovers au

@wannaonestars love reading her writing such great bullet points and really good ideas ALSO SO JEALOUS that like short bullet points BUT CAN MAKE ME FEEL SO FLUFF like that is a skill ppl 

fic recs: all of boyfriend series (like so fluff) ESPECIALLY SEONGWOO’S, jihoon soulmate, minhyun office au

@jsioos (was heochannies) MEIKE IS SO PRETTY AND NICE AND AN AMAZING WRITER LIKE WHAT HOW CAN YOU BE SO BLESSED has such a diverse range of works from scenarios to mtls to reactions so genuinely impressed with her blog like goals

fic recs: all of boyfriend series FOR EVERY SINGLE GROUP like she’s amazing at those, and movie night with seongwoo

@ukulelewrites ALSO LONG ASS FICS AMAZING BLOG seriously such amazing writing love so many fics of hers DESERVES MORE ATTENTION AND FOLLOWERS and super sweet as well 

fic recs: cherry picker’s club, a fanta-sea, homerun and ephiany (it’s nct ten BUT SUCH AN AMAZING FIC NEED TO PUT IT ON HERE)

@kanggdaniell STEPH IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND SO NICE AND RLY BUSY AS WELL but amazing writer just love her writing so much she isn’t as active as before but still should definitely check out master list cause so many amazing scenarios

fic recs: TSUNDERE (FUCK FUCK READ IT RN BEST SERIES FOR ME ON TUMBLR WOOJIN STANS COLLECT YOUR BOI), always in my heart, all of breakup scenarios, all of bad boy scenarios

ANOTHER SPECIAL SHOUTOUT TO IRIS AKA @alliwannado-w1 LITERALLY RELATES W ALL MY WRITING PROBLEMS ON A PERSONAL LEVEL IS THE ABSOLUTE SWEETEST CARES SO MUCH ABOUT HER WORKS, BLOG AND FOLLOWERS I LOVE HER WRITING AND ADMIRE HOW DEDICATED SHE IS TO POST SO REGULARLY just i rly should stop writing in caps but like just genuinely she is the princess of writing in the pd101/wanna one fandom and she’s just so so amazing and all her writings are always so much fun to read like i love her so much but like no offence iris but you’re fucking crazy in the best way possible like to have so many wips like GIRL YOU NEED A BREAK 

fic recs: FUCKBOY SERIES (iris got all her fame from here lol jk), daniel werewolf au, jihoon soulmate au, jihoon vampire au, woojin youtuber au, woojin policeman au, jinyoung barista au, sewoon soulmate au, youngmin youtuber au gonna stop there cause i’ll be listing her whole master list soon ;)

AMAZING WRITERS (just to give heads up have liked these recommended fics on another private account so if you like look at the likes and i’m not there that’s the reason):

@daehwifi​​ GENUINELY LOVE THESE TWO SO SO MUCH AND THEY’RE BOTH RIDICULOUSLY TALENTED and hella sweet like cutest married couple ik TIFFY thank youuu for always making me smile and MAE for being the sweetest angel but YOUR WRITING IS ALSO HELLA GOOD like great bullet point fics and regular updates 

fic recs: bandaid guanlin scenario, movies ongniel scenario, skype calls jinyoung scenario 

@deepdickdaniel​​ ARIANE EVERYONG GC MOTHER (aurora’s dad now) and the ultimate HOE for daniel but got guys chasing after her constantly SMH and all our gc is beautiful because of your genes ANYWAYS you’re also a good ass writer and if anyone wants bomb ass daniel fics FOLLOW ARIANES BLOG YALL

fic recs: doormat, all her soulmate aus especially taste, hiking w daniel

@dong-hyucks​ oKAY so jade has only like one fic on wanna one BUT SHE’S SUPER TALENTED AND SHE DOES SO MANY GROUPS like mutlifandom ASF AND I LOVE HER ALOT 

fic recs: daniel soulmate au, na jaemin spy au, i’m with you taeyong

@donghyxns​​​ IF YALL WANT MXM SCENARIOS/CONTENT THIS SHIT IS RIGHT HERE also has a lot of wanna one scenarios but maddie is the biggest donghyun fan ik and super sweet even though we haven’t talked much!

fic recs: royalty au donghyun, actually all the royalty aus,  TIC TOK WOOJIN SOULMATE AU, youngmin as your boyfriend

@ennergetics​​ RAE my favourite drunk aunt ever like super funny and nice and talking about bts is always great with you RAE YOU ALSO LIKE AN AMAZING WRITER and make me feel all sorts of stuff when i read your works

edit: fuck me im so sorry rae lmao idk if it was the fact i wrote this at 3am or I'm terrible speller originally or it was auto correct IDEK BUT ILYSM DONT HATE MEEEEE

fic recs: bad first dates, prince aus, woojin college/barista au

@fromwannaone​​ ANNIE A COMPLETE UTTER SWEETHEART WITH WRITING SKILLS which put me to shame and fic ideas are always sooo good too just fuck meeeee i love youuu and your writing 

fic recs: ALL HER SCHOOL SERIES which is like all members basically sooo, on rainy days, sweet like candy

@hiyawoojin​​ RISSAAAA MY BABY MY PRECIOUSSSS I WANT TO PROTECT YOU AND HUG YOU AND LOVE YOU FOREVER but genuinely rissa is the sweetest person ik on tumblr and her sweetness is as equal to her writing BUT SINCE SHE’S A NEWBIE EVERYONE GIVE HER LOVE

fic recs: ALL OF THEM since there’s about 4 but i like the woojin and the minhyun in particular hehehe

@hwinkinghwi​​ XUAN WE BONDED INSTANTLY YOU ALWAYS MAKE ME SMILE AND LAUGH and we talk about the weirdest things but it’s still heaps of fun and xuan has short sweet bullet point fics which will warm your heart

fic series: both baejin fics: chicken first cuddles later, florist jinyoung, baker woojin, ___ as your boyfriend (all of them)

@jeonjeonggukks​​ I LOVE ALEX SM SERIOUSLY SO SO SO FUNNY LIKE WTH and sooooo easy to slander BUT SHE IS MY MOTHER (well one of them) AND I LOVE HER SO SO MUCH AND SHE’S ALSO AN AMAZING ASS WRITER so y’all should read her writings

fic recs: shipped jonghyun scenario, our necklaces sungwoon soulmate au, why her why him woojin

@jihoonslattee​​ AHHH WE JUST STARTED TALKING CHI BUT I ALREADY LOVE YOU AND JUST WOW YOUR WRITING IS INCREDIBLE WISH I COULD BE YOU AND HAS SOOOO MANY FICS DONE LIKE IM SO IMPRESSED wow i did that in all caps but like JIHOON STANS WHO WANT JIHOON FICS like chi’s blog like 100% recommend also does reactions SO CHECK HER OUT 

fic recs: jihoon prince au (this was sooo good), daniel CEO both parts, seongwoo boyfriend au, jihoon soulmate au

@mongniel​​ AURORA OUR SALTY ASS MOTHER/FATHER who leaves us regularly and is a daniel seongwoo stan (she says so at least) BUT LIKE GOTTA APPRECIATE HER ABILITY TO MAKE ME FEEL SO MUCH SHIT WITH HER ANGST also if y'all love angst daniel fics AURORA’S BLOG IS THE ONE FOR YOU

fic recs: BROKEN RECORD (heart BREAKING), no chance no way, in his dreams, no answer

@peachiejihoonie​​ SAYS IN DESCRIPTION SHE’S BAD AT WRITING BUT THAT’S RIDICULOUS her writing is sooooo good like not too many fics up BUT ALL OF THEM ARE AMAZING like what??

fic recs: demigod series, daniel fuckboy 

@perkwoojin​​ IVE ALREADY MENTIONED JAS CAUSE SHES MY ONE ETERNAL LOVE but genuinely wtf so talented I AM SHOOK she does EVERYTHING like gifs, reactions, scenarios AND SHE HAS TWO OTHER BLOGS for the boyz and stray kids fans CHECK THOSE BLOGS OUT TOO

fic recs: basically everything but in particular wanna one as prom dates, wanna one reacting to you how to solve a rubix cube, and all her series which include: boyfriend, fallen angel, AND check out woojin badboy pt 1 & 2 and now ive literally listed her whole master list whoopss

@playfuldisaster​​ CHRISTINE IS SUCH A SWEETHEART LIKE WOW genuinely like an angel AND I LOVE TALKING TO HER but she also has so many works up! WHICH NEED MORE ATTENTION cause they’re so good

fic recs: and i’m here seongwoo, attention baejin, my boy lollipop baejin, sorry kang daniel

@producedwannaone​​ SO UNDERRATED LIKE WHAT HOW EVERYONE WAKE UP also honey I NEED A MASTERLIST like need to stalk your blog easily yooo but seriously such a great writer and a sweetheart x 

fic recs: wanna one seeing their donsaeng in their t shirt, naps with guanlin

@starrywinters​​ SHEENA YOU HAVE SHARED MY PAIN OF HAVING SEONGWOO AS A BIAS WRECKER but like other than that you mean so so much to me you are positively brilliant in every single way AND DON’T TELL YOURSELF OTHERWISE seriously AND IT INCLUDES YOUR WRITING SKILLS 

fic recs: cute bandaids, minhyun college au, 7 minutes in heaven jihoon, hugs woojin, guanlin soulmate/vampire au

@wannabeone​​ just dammnnnn girl your writing is SO GOOD LIKE WHAT?? always makes me feel all nice inside just love reading your works fic recs: all of best friend lovers (like you will not be disappointed), kissing cuddling hugging wanna one

@wannamoon​​ JUJU IK YOU’RE ON HIATUS AND YOU HAVEN’T REPLIED TO MY MESSAGES CRI but i miss your baejin fangirl squealing and your posts which will be filled with sadness cause it’s you lmao BUT COME BACK SOON I MISS YOU AND I LOVE YOU but juju has such a good mix of fluff and angst fics and super unique and heart warming ideas

fic recs: crumble both parts guanlin, ALL HER LIFE AUS LIKE FUCK SUCH GOOD FLUFF, halcyon seongwoo, jihoon soulmate au

@wannaonescenarios​ SERIOUSLY SUCH GREAT SHORT FLUFF WRITINGS LIKE WHAT HOW I WISH and has a long ass masterlist WHICH IS AMAZING TO GO THROUGH just like go right now to her blog amazing writings IS AVAILABLE

fic recs: SOULMATE AU SERIES, dating series, college series (even tho it’s only youngmin), daniel cat cafe owner 

@wannasoftimagine​​ OMG SUCH AMAZING FICS BUT DOES ANYONE KNOW PHI WENT?? like she hasn’t updated in 2 weeks? or replied to messages? like does anyone know?? but if she’s on an hiatus without mentioning well idrk but phi’s works make me feel so so soft like super duper fluffy and always read them for a cheer up 

fic recs: ALL SOULMATE SERIES, classmate woojin, boyfriend woojin, and all of wanna one _____

@wannasseu​​ CYN CYN OMG I LOVE YOU SO MUCH PEOPLE CYN IS THE QUEEN OF ANGST if anyone says otherwise FITE ME drown in my tears whenever i read one of her angsts WHICH IS LIKE ALL THE TIME ugh cyn what are you doing to me BUT CONTRARY TO THE ANGSTY FICS SHE WRITES cyn is such a FLUFFY person 

fic recs: ALL HER EX BOYFRIEND SERIES especially seongwoo’s (i ranted to cyn for a straight hour about that fic lol), custard kisses, arranged marriage 

@wannatales​​ GREAT SHORT FLUFFS THAT YALL WANNA READ RECOMMENDING FOR STANS OF MAKNAE LINE since writings are only maknae line works always makes me feel all fluffy and gooey insideeee

fic recs: JACKET GUANLIN (fuck such a cute scenarios can’t deal), fool woojin, milk jihoon

@wannawrite​​ SO MANY FICS FOR SO MANY FANDOMS but like the wanna one master list IS HELLA LONG haven’t ever talked to admin N BUT I LOVE YOUUUUU LAETITA DATITA RISEEEE (is that how to spell it i can’t even remember) BUT ANYWAYS soooooo good fics like always love reading them just genuinely great writings 100% of the time

fic recs: FLOWER BOY SERIES LIKE YESSS, vamp series, i latte you very much minhyun, bffs to bf daniel, colourless soulmate au woojin, this isn’t part of the plot guanlin

@wanna-17​​ CATH OMG MY OLDER FUTURE TWIN IDEK i love you so so much and chatting you is always fun BUT you have so many mtls like wow I'm mind blown BUT YOUR FICS ARE ALSO SUPER GOOD 

fic recs: wanna one first meeting series, and any of the mtls you want to know about

@whatabrightplace​​ AHHH TINA PLEASE PLEASE WRITE FOR WANNA ONE YOUR WRITING IS ALREADY AMAZING AND DON’T BE SCARED JUST TAKE A LEAP OF FAITH wow I'm being rly dramatic but idc i want to see you produce wanna one writing content (did you see what i did there ;) ) ANYWAYS i also wanted to tell you i love youuuu

fic recs: HER RECENT DANIEL SCENARIO FUCK stars + you for our precious mother ariane and basically everything on her masterlist even tho it isn’t wanna one or pd101

@101scenes​​ JUST CUTE ASF SCENARIOS (at least the ones i’ve read) got me squealing and SOFT like such great writing 

fic recs: LATTE ART daniel scenario, guanlin soulmate au, ceo jihoon

TEXT BLOGS (not gonna do fic recommendations cause they’re texts and it’s harder to choose specific ones):

@laignlin​​ LILY I LOVE YOU AND I WANT TO TALK TO YOU MORE LIKE TIME DIFFERENCE AND SCHOOL SUCKS but our chats are always the best and it’s always hella nice talking to you BUT YOU’RE ALSO A GREAT WRITER AND AMAZING TEXT MAKER so i ended up putting you in text author lol also IM STILL YOUR PROM DATE but everyone just read through all of lily’s texts and scenarios cause they’re all on point asf

@pwjins​ I GENUINELY ADORE ALLISON BUT SHE HATES ME AND WE HAVE THIS BITCH FEUD THING GOING ON BUT WHATEVER I LOVE HER ALOT AND IK YOU GOING THROUGH A TOUGH TIME AND NEED A BREAK BUT LIKE I’M HERE FOR YOU TUMBLR HERE’S FOR YOU but i love allison’s texts they always make me smile and laugh and like my heart literally warms SHE ALSO WRITES occasionally so check those out and i don’t have any in particular but like the gc texts are always good and the CHANGING THE NAME LIKE LMAO that’s also amazing just check it all out BUT I LOVE YOU SO MUCH ALLISON 

@texts101 YOUR TEXTS ARE SOOOO GOOD JUST THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR MAKING THEM like they never disappoint I LOVE the best friend, boyfriend, gc and name switch texts the most BUT LITERALLY ALL OF YOUR TEXTS ARE AMAZING and ik you taking a hiatus now SO PLEASE TAKE A GOOD REST AND FOCUS ON SCHOOL and don’t stress at all cause all your followers will still be here and ready for your return

@w1talks ANGELA IK YOU DO SCENARIOS AND TEXTS but the scenario list was getting WAYYY TOO LONG to put you there anyways I LOVE YOUR TEXTS AND YOUR SCENARIOS your writing is amazing but your texts are also great LIKE MULTI TALENTED MUCH and I ABSOLUTELY ADORED wanna one finding you went on a date with jinyoung BUT I ALSO ABSOLUTELY ADORE YOUUU

INCORRECT QUOTES BLOGS (not gonna do fic recommendations cause they’re quotes and there are hundreds):

@incorrect-produce101-quotes​ SUPER DUPER FUNNY and like totally could imagine your quotes being said by the guys and love how there’s a lot of the pd101 guys as welll 

@incorrect-wanna-one-quotes​ you were one of the first blogs i followed and your quotes NEVER fail to make me at least smile like i have properly cracked up laughing on multiple occasions because of your quotes and i just feel like my day becomes a little brighter when i see you on my dash

TALENTED ASF GIF MAKERS:

@daewi​ just really nice and cute gifs which are soooo aesthetically pleasing together also all your reblogs are just great AND I ADORE YOUR HS YEARBOOK AWARD THEMES 

@defsouldanik​ LITERALLY IM IN SUCH AWE OF YOU LIKE THE GIFS YOU MAKE IS ALWAYS LIKE THE MOMENTS I WANT GIFFED?? and like all your got7 content makes me happy as well and just THE QUALITY IS SOOO GOOD AS WELL

@kimsjaehwan​ ONE OF MY ULT FAV GIF MAKERS always gifs are so nice and the gifs are always hella good quality just always makes me smile when i see them 

@kngniel​ YOU WANT BASICALLY PERFECT GIFS OF DANIEL HERE IS THE BLOG FOR YOU genuinely so many gifs you’ve made of him smiling and just MAKES ME FEEL SOFTTT 

@ongeuigeon​ SUCH AMAZING GIFS WTF like the gifs in a set always match perfectly with each other in every way AND I LOVE IT WHEN YOU ADD YOUR OWN LITTLE COMMENTS IN it always make the gif that much better 

@parkswoojin REALLY NICE GIFS and like you regularly make new ones so thank youuu for that and just really nice quality AND IN GENERAL A GREAT GIF BLOG TO FOLLOW

@park-woojin​ I LOVE YOU JUST FOR EXISTING AND MAKING WOOJIN GIFS LIKE all of your gifs are so nice and clean and great ass quality AND SINCE ITS WOOJIN i always smile my ass off whenever i see any of your gifs 

@rosybaejin AMAZING ASS GIFS LIKE WOWOOWOWOWOW mind fucking blown y'all AND also in general amazing blog to follow great baejin content

@sungwhoon really pretty high quality edits and gifs AND LIKE THE COLOURS ALWAYS LOOK AMAZING just so nice to look at your gifs

@woojinnies WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT YOU IN THIS FANDOM genuinely believe you are a staple piece of creating gifs in this fandom YOUVE MADE SOOOO MANY AND THEY’RE ALL SOOO GOOD like you have A GIFT just thank youuuu for making your gifs 

OTHER GREAT BLOGS:

@boo-jinyoung​​​ summer you’re an amazing ass dancer like woah and totally a baejin stan even tho you deny it CONSTANTLY and you are a  complete sweetheart everyone follow for HELLA GOOD jinyoung and guanlin content 

@crystalkpop​ I LOVE YOUUU THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH FOR BEING ONE OF MY BIGGEST SUPPORTERS AND LIKING/COMMENTING MY WORKS JUST I APPRECIATE YOU SO MUCH

@dearlydaehwi AMAZING DAEHWI CONTENT LIKE DAMN like i love seeing the smol soft bean and you DELIVER like all daehwi stand should follow you just daehwi overload in the absolute best way possible

@extraongdinary LITERALLY PROVIDES ALL THE SEONGWOO CONTENT I NEED and reblogs good ass content SO HAPPY ASF leah ily even tho we’ve never talked you just ultra great 

@fywannaone​ JUST THANK THE LORDS FOR YOU best updates such great pictures literally don’t need to follow any other blogs cause like SO FAST just constantly blessing me with wanna one content SO THANK YOU 

@ricepot-jisung​ I KNOW YOURE A WRITER BUT I HAVEN’T HAD TIME TO READ YOUR WORKS which i bet are amazing AND TBH JUST FOLLOWED YOU BECAUSE YOU REPOSTED GOOD ASS CONTENT AND SEEMED SUPER NICE AND PERSONAL POSTS WERE RELATABLE ASF (whoops wrote all that in caps) 

@soft-baejin BRI we’ve barely talked since i’m never on the gc but you’re super duper sweet and nice and also have a really nice blog and you reblog really good jinyoung content and great content in general 

@wooh00jin SUPER SWEET and adores woojin great ships and i bet you have so many flooding in when ships are open cause you put so much detail into them and GREAT WOOJIN CONTENT  

@asongofmagicandtime | @sewnho | @lai-panlin | thank you for always being nice to me on the gc and I'm sad its not as active as before but all three of you are SUCH SWEETHEARTS and have GREAT ASS CONTENT on your blogs

MY FAVOURITE MUTUALS/CLOSE FRIENDS (which have not been mentioned above or i just felt like putting you here lmao):

@danielsoftgf​ DIAN YOU WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME NO MORE SENDING GIFS OF KOOKIE TAE N WOOJIN LIKE YOU RLY WANNA KILL ME but you so so soft for daniel it’s sweet but also so easy to exploit hehehe but i can see seongwoo just around the corner ;) but genuinely love your blog it’s so so so nice and chatting with you is the best I LOVE YOUUUU

@hyuckland​ OKAY IK WE JUST STARTED TALKING TINA AND I HAVEN’T GOT THE CHANCE TO STALK YOUR BLOG YET so i can’t really properly comment on anything BUT ONE THING I CAN is that you’re an absolute sweetheart and you made me feel SO MUCH BETTER with your messages BUT IK WE’RE GONNA BECOME HELLA CLOSE 

@jaehwansspookywife LUCY LUCY LUCY you are the funniest person ever you are so nice and sweet and hilarious and conversations never get boring w you we don’t talk THAT often but when we do i always genuinely enjoy it love youuuuu ALSO OBSESSED W JAEHWAN DON’T LET HER i don’t think he’s cute FOOL YOU

@kpopsincejune07​ JEN I LOVE YOU you were one of my first fans and you’ve been a huge supporter ever since AND WE BECAME CLOSER and talk when our stupid time zones all us lol and please don’t stress about work and take care of yourself also thank you for always reposting great fics BUT IM WAITING ON YOURSSS PLEASE PLEASE POST YOUR FIC i am waiting till this day for it ily

@ongsecngwoo​ GINNY MY LOVEEEEE i always love talking with you our conversations are always good and hella fun even tho we end up replying hours/days after EH ITS TIMEZONES but also i love your blog it’s so pretty AND THE CONTENT YOU REBLOG just yes yes yes also DONT STRESS ABOUT SCHOOL TOO MUCH AND YOU BETTER TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF but also you haven’t replied to my messages in ages so i hope everything’s okay?? i just love you loads :)))

@parkkwoojin ace we don’t talk as much as before but I STILL CARE AND LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH you’re soon easy to slander but since i promised to be sweet i’m being sweet hehehe BUT GENUINELY YOU POST BOMB ASS GIFS AND ALWAYS IMPRESSED BY THEM and your gifs of woojin OOFT MY HEART DIESSSS just thank you for existing

@porkjeojang SUMMER OMG SUMMER YOU ARE SUCH A SOFT SWEETHEART WHICH I LOVE SO MUCH but you can also be one HELL OF A BITCH sometimes ya know?? also she says she’s loyal to jihoon but IVE SEEN HER EYEING DANIEL UP but she super multi talented making pixels, gifs, mood boards and writing scenarios LIKE TEACH ME YOUR SECRETS but i love you so much and without you my dashboard wouldn’t be complete

@spooky-jihoon NAIA IK WE AIN’T THAT CLOSE BUT YOU WERE ONE OF MY FIRST MUTUALS I TALKED TO sooo i put you here hope you don’t mind I MISS YOU A LOT you’re a literal angel AND PROBABLY THE MOST DEVOTED JIHOON FAN I KNOW like jihoon content right here ppl right here and ik you won’t see this after your hiatus BUT I LOVE YOUU 

@wannabl​ okay hana we haven’t talked in fucking ages cause i felt like you just didn’t really want to chat ya know? especially cause you’re so so busy w irl stuff but like i do really really miss you and i’ve actually sent a few anons saying that i do miss you and wanting to see how you’ll react never got a reply :( but genuinely in awe of how easily you make friends and that you have so many different types of works and i’m so glad you have so many people that recognise that like your anons (and i’m sorry if i was too overly jokingly bitchy) and everyone just go through her master list or just check out her blog cause genuinely such a funny person and has amazing content on there

@wanna-one MERVE you’re my sister/protecter from all things bad (like makeout scenes lmao) but even though you “hate” daniel you have your sweet ASF moments about him you basically confess you love everything about him AND SO MUCH DANIEL CONTENT ON YOUR BLUG BUT you’re always tired and stressed and i wish you were decently okay and happy but remember you’re so sweet ridiculously smart AND i still need to see a photo of you anyways i love you sooooo much and so does daniel ;)

@woojinstinygf OMG KITTY YOU ARE SUCH A SWEETHEART AND PROBABLY THE MOST DEVOTED WOOJIN FAN IK (sorry all those woojin stans out there but like kitty takes it to ANOTHER LEVEL) i always love chatting w you and you always make feel so soft and happy ANYONE WANTS WOOJIN CONTENT OR SWEET WORDS OR ANYTHING ABOUT WOOJIN OR STRAY KIDS LMAO FOLLOW N MESSAGE KITTY (not actually her irl name but she tells ppl to call her that soooo ya)

IM SORRY IF I MISSED YOU PLEASE PLEASE MESSAGE ME SO I CAN ADD YOU ONTO THE LIST 

I LOVE YOU ALL BUT AGAIN VOTE!!!! MAGU MAGUUUUUU!!!!

[yourdeepestfathoms]

Royal Purple, Moon Silver

pretty short, but i wanted to test out this friendship

Word count: 1873

——————

Ever since the kids came back, Sunday Sessions were a bit…difficult to put on. Most of the queens became busy doing things after shows or in free time with their children, and those who were left didn’t see a point in going when it would only be them and the music director. So the only one who ever showed up was the pianist, and she had to be the one to explain to the fans why there were so many delays. Most of them understood, others didn’t and were angry. She was angry, too. In fact, she found herself getting mad a lot more often ever since the kids waltzed into their lives. It’s like they owned everything now!

“Oh, poor baby,” A voice crooned.

Joan whirled around in her chair as Mary walked over. The ex-princess began to massage her shoulders with her nails dug in, making Joan wince.

“What’s wrong? The loneliness getting to you again?” Mary said in the voice Joan heard Cathy talking to Mae with. Baby talk.

Joan slapped her hands away, but they grappled onto her shoulders and held tightly.

“Don’t hit me, pest,” Mary spat. She cleared her throat quickly and then chuckled when she felt Joan quaking slightly beneath her palms. She sneered. “Shaking already? You truly are pathetic.”

“What do you want now?” Joan growled.

“Oh, nothing,” Mary said. She raised a hand to caress one of Joan’s cheeks. “Just checking on the most worthless person in this building.” Her nails tickled the skin on the girl’s face as she trailed her fingers down to her neck. “Surprised you aren’t hanging, yet.”

“Get the fuck away from me.” Joan seethed, But Mary just cackled her hyena-laugh at her attempts to be fierce.

“Oh, you’re absolutely adorable! Really!” She said. “Perhaps that’s all you have going for you now. Not that anyone sees this little lamb face anymore. Everyone is caught up and me and my siblings. Nobody has time for you anymore.”

Mary stooped down and leaned in close to Joan. Her hot breath tickles the music director’s ear.

“Face it, Joan,” She whispered. “You aren’t wanted.”

“What’s going on?”

Mary and Joan both turned to see Elizabeth and Edward standing in the doorway. Elizabeth stepped in cautiously, eyeing her older sister like a bomb that was about to detonate, then slid her gaze over to Joan. Edward stood by the door, his expression unreadable.

“Something wrong is going on here.” Elizabeth said slowly.

“Yes!” Joan suddenly yelled. She didn’t know where this burst of confidence came from, but it was bubbling up from her throat and spewing from her mouth before she had time to consider her words. “There is, and I can tell you what!” She spun around to Mary, pointing. “Your sister treats me like I’m some kind of alien! Do you know what kind of things she says to me?”

“Joan,” Mary warned. “Hold your tongue.”

“I will not!” Joan cried. She turned back to Elizabeth, eyes pleading. “Please! You have to tell your mums! They’ll never believe me, but if you could vouch for my claim—” She stepped forward and extended her hands to clasp Elizabeth’s, but was instead slapped so hard she fell backwards. Shocked, she froze on the floor, staring up at Elizabeth, who was shaking her hand in the air.

“Ow,” She muttered. “That kinda stung. Yikes.”

Joan’s cheek burned- Elizabeth had no idea how badly her hit really hurt.

“You’ll get used to it,” Mary said, gliding over to her sister’s side.

“Really?” Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “What, do you get callouses or something?”

“No, you just learn to focus on the pain you inflict than the recoil of the action.”

“Huh.” Elizabeth looked back down at her palm. “Interesting.”

“Y—” Elizabeth and Mary’s heads snap down to the girl on the floor. “You were in on it?”

“In on what?” Elizabeth echoed. “This wasn’t some grand scheme, Joan. It was a little joke. But yes, I was. And it was great! You should have seen your face!”

Joan’s cheeks turned dark red, but the area where she had been struck remained a deep shade of vermillion. She looked past the sisters to Edward, who was shifting on his feet and giving her a pitiful frown.

“But why?” Joan said. “You’re- you’re not like her. You’re good!”

“She’s ‘good’?” Mary chortled. She stalked up to Joan and stomped on her ribs with her boots. “And, what? I’m not?”

“You killed people!” Joan hissed and then keened in pain when Mary’s heel dug against her chest.

“She’s my sister,” Elizabeth interjected. Her voice is gentler than Mary’s, but it’s obvious she was irritated from the glint in her eyes and the way her arms were firmly crossed over her chest. “Of course I’m going to side with her.”

“Side with her on what?!” Joan spluttered. “Her hatred for me? It’s not a fight, it’s just some grudge this sociopath can’t let go of! You don’t have to get involved!”

“Don’t call her a sociopath.” Elizabeth growled, advancing on Joan.

“Well, she is,” Joan said. “And you’re no better by supporting her.”

Mary stomped on Joan’s chest again and this time there was a very distinct crack. Joan yowled loudly.

“Alright!” Edward suddenly spoke up. He hurried away and pushed his sisters away from Joan. “That’s enough!” Then, with a calmer voice, “She’s had enough.”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose at her brother. Mary looked annoyed that she didn’t get the chance to pluck out Joan’s broken ribs and string them on a necklace, but she backed off.

“Never did have a taste for this, did you, Edward?” She said.

“Looks like I didn’t inherit that gene from Father.” Edward replied.

“You need-”

“I know, I know,” Edward cut her off, rolling his eyes. “I need to be all tough and big and scary. I’m royalty, I have to put people in their place, I know. But we aren’t nobles anymore. And she’s a pianist, not a masochist.” A small smirk tugged on his lips. “You’d be able to tell when someone is with ease.”

Joan winced and closed her eyes, expecting Mary to crack open Edward’s skull for that jibe, but instead she just clenched her fists, bared her teeth, and glared at her brother.

“Aren’t you sweet,” She crooned venomously. “Protecting the girl who-”

“-killed my mother.” Edward finished, rolling his eyes again. “And I sure appreciate it, because I get to hear it all the time now.”

Joan flinched and Edward flashed her a quick smile to relieve her of any anxieties on that topic. His head turned back to his sisters, a hard expression set on his soft features.

“Maybe Mae will be less of a disappointment.” Mary spat.

“You would try to teach a two year old to be a cunt.” Edward said.

Mary growled and then spun around, marching out of the room. Elizabeth followed her out, but not without a final glance over her shoulder. When they were out of sight, Edward’s shoulders relaxed and his face became a lot less threatening and more like a gentle chipmunk’s.

“They’re going to be so mean to you now.” Joan said, sitting up.

“Oh, no!” Edward gasped. “My sisters? Being mean? I’ve never seen that before! That will be so unexpected and out of character!”

Joan laughed softly, but winced when pain throbbed in the left side of her chest. Her hand flew upwards, tentatively touching the injured area. Edward knelt down next to her.

“Are you alright?” He asked worriedly.

“Yeah,” Joan grunted. “I think. They don’t feel broken. Maybe just cracked.”

“Ouch,” Edward winced. “I’m so sorry about Mary and Elizabeth. You don’t deserve this at all.” He reached a hand out to touch Joan, but pulled back, presumably thinking against it. “They can be real jerks sometimes. Or a lot of times in your case.” He gave her a sad frown.

“Why do they hate me so much?” Joan asked. “Or, why does Mary? Elizabeth just seems to be some kind of pawn. I’ve never done anything to either of them!”

Edward shrugged helplessly. “Your guess is as good as mine.” He said. “Mary has some, uhh...issues. Back then and now. But that doesn’t give her any right to treat you the way she does. Or try to break your ribs!”

Joan smiled slightly. She had never thought she would like any of the kids, especially Jane’s son, but something about Edward gave him a pass. He was different from his sisters, even the annoying toddler.

“You-” She began hesitantly. “You don’t think I killed Jane, right? I-I tried to save her, I really did, but-”

“Hey.” Edward clasped Joan’s hands in his. They were smaller, but warm and loose enough for her to pull away if she wanted to. “Of course I don’t believe that. I know you didn’t. My mum died from poor sanitation, not you cursing her vagina to tear and get infected or something.” He paused for a moment, then laughed. “That was a weird thing to say.”

Joan giggled softly. “Yeah. Kinda.”

“Don’t believe anything my sisters say,” Edward went on. “They like starting stupid stuff.”

“Are you really the only sensible one out of your siblings?”

Edward grinned. “Yup. That also makes me the best.”

Joan smiled back at him. She stood up after Edward released her hands, gritting her teeth through the pain in her ribs, but managing to get on her feet without tipping over. She set one hand on the injured area, massaging it lightly.

“Are you gonna be okay?” Edward asked.

“Probably,” Joan answered. “I’ve handled worse.”

That earned her a curious frown, but Edward doesn’t press the matter. He just twitched his lips a little and then nodded.

They both walked out of the dressing room. Somewhere down the Stairs of Doom, a few of the queens and their daughters could be heard clamoring about, probably getting ready to leave. Edward looked up at Joan with a friendly warmth in his eyes.

“Wanna come over for dinner?”

Joan is both startled and surprised. “Wh-what? A-are you sure?”

“I am!” Edward said. “I like you. You’re much better company than any of my sisters.”

“What about the other queens?”

“Catalina, Anne, and Cathy all have their kids. Cathy is the worst about it, though. She’s ALWAYS with Mae. I can’t remember the last time I saw her alone.” Edward said. “Mum is, well, my mum. I can’t exactly be friends with her. Kitty is...okay. Mum REALLY wants me to like her, but she can be loud and too energetic for me. And Anna is cool, but,” He shrugged. “I like you much better. You’re quiet and smart and funny, but not in a pretentious way.”

Joan blushed shyly and looked away. She couldn’t believe she was letting herself be flattered by a twelve year old. How pathetic could she possibly get?

“Thanks,” She whispered. “I’ve never- I’ve never, umm, been someone’s top choice for a friend before.”

“Then I’ll be the first.” Edward smiled at her. “Come on, let’s go before they leave us here! Oh, and don’t worry, I won’t let my sisters pick on you again.”