#painter come home the kids miss you/j

[ploopyoopy]

PLEASE MORE P.AI.NTER X Y/N AND MY LIFE IS YOURS 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 (not forced of course I'm just very Normal) (I look at your touch starved P.AI.Nter doodles on the daily btw </3)

Got a little carried away with this one lol

[puckngrind]

What’s In a Name: Finale- J. Toews

Chapter 16.

Where we left off: Jon and Bekah got married in Sedona and are off to their honeymoon after the Blackhawks convention.

Warnings: smut, language

Word Count: 4,390

Series Masterlist ) Puck ‘n Grind’s masterlist

Final.

When Jon finally let it slip they were honeymooning in Iceland after the convention, Bekah was unsure of her husband’s thought process. She expected some beach vacation with their own bungalow but what she got was way more their style. They stayed up to take in the midnight sun, snorkeled in a fault line, skinny dipped in a natural hot spring and made out like no one was watching under a waterfall. They were so hot for each other the couple even missed a guided tour simply because they lost track of time and didn’t get out of bed. Married life was good even with the season starting. Right before training camp Jon drops a package on the counter and retreats to the fridge.

“Tae, whatcha order?” Bekah sipped one her later afternoon coffee.

“Rings.” Jon’s voice echoed from inside the fridge.

“Huh?”

“Take a look Beks.” Jon closes the door and motions towards the package. Inside were maybe a dozen or more silicone bands. “For practice and games, working out... you know when I have the potential of ripping off my finger with the real one.”

“Jon, you didn’t have to... I mean, it’s fine if you go ringless at work.” Bekah sips her coffee and smiles. “As long as you only come home to me.” Jon rounded the counter, pulls out one of the silicone bands, removes his wedding ring and places it on his left ring finger.

“It’s only been you since 2015, Beks, and it will only be you until the day I die.” His lips press firmly onto hers. “I want to have the constant reminder that I have the best wife ever to come home to.” His lips graze hers again.

“Not sure I deserve that reward yet, maybe in a year?” Bekah giggles into Jon’s skin.

Brynn came with Derek when the Blue Jackets played in Chicago. The two hadn’t seen each other since they left Arizona in July. “I still cannot believe you two are married, so damn in love it’s sick, and have these breathtaking wedding pictures already hanging up. I think it took a month to even get our proofs back let alone a framed picture and you have this on a giant canvas.” Brynn’s finger points to Bekah’s favorite picture. Jon’s arms wrapped her, lips pressed to her cheek as her vail flies in the wind. The fact that she doubted being about to get to the spot where they took the picture is funny looking back. She was thankful Jon pushed for it.

It was Christmas before they knew it. The families decided to give the newlyweds the actual holiday to themselves again and came together the weekend before. Bekah told Jon there better not be any surprise gifts in, on, or under the tree. On Christmas Eve she came down the steps to see a blanket laid out in front of the tree with the fire going.

“What’s this Tae?” She kisses her husband who looked pleased with himself.

“I thought we should have our own Christmas tradition that we could do when we have kids.” He dips down and scoops up the wine glasses. “Maybe without the wine.” Bekah sips her glass and takes in the small details Jon put into this picnic.

“Sounds perfect!” They sat down and talked all about the holidays, break, and how the season was going.

“I know you are going home for New Years but very much want my wife with me in Calgary to ring in 2020.” Jon stands to move the plates and wine glasses.

“J, I don’t see why I couldn’t just cut my home trip short?” Bekah leans on her hands watching Jon’s reaction.

“Really? I know you miss it.” He kneels next to her.

“Not as much as I did. Plus, I want to ring in 2020 with you just didn’t want to mess up team bonding.” Jon laughs a little and moves his body on top of hers.

“I think the guys will understand why.” Jon presses his lips to hers and Bekah moans out.

“Wanna go upstairs?” She whispers when their lips break for air.

“Fuck no.” Jon lifts up and pulls off both of their clothes wasting no time making sure Bekah was ready before pressing into her. His movements were slow and intentional. Pulling Bekah’s legs high up so she had to move her hands from pulling at his back to holding her legs up. Jon humming in pure love of the moment. Taking in their highs together Jon still holding tight into his wife.

“So is this also a Christmas tradition there, Tae?” Bekah’s breaths were short as she laughed.

“I think so. Maybe before Santa arrives.” He snickers as he lifts up and grabs another blanket to wrap around them.

“Is Santa coming to our house this year? Dropping off any surprises?” Bekah combs her fingers through Jon’s hair as he lays on her chest.

“Nope. Well, house hunting...” Jon felt Bekah’s reaction to his statement. “We can stay here if you want. It’s up to you.”

They didn’t. Soon after Jon and Bekah returned from Columbus and Calgary the couple found the perfect house close to the city. Moving during the season seemed to be a daunting task but Bekah managed to get the essentials unpacked and hired painters and such to make their home feel like them. All-Star weekend the couple found themselves at home in Winnipeg.

“Beks?” Jon called out after coming in from a run. Bekah told Jon she was going to make cookies while he was gone. “Babe?” He wandered the house and sees her still with her shoes on in bed asleep. He sits down next to her and brushes the hair out of her face. “You okay?” His eyebrows knit together knowing his wife was not a nap type of person however many times he begged her to nap pre-game with him.

“Yeah, just got super tired that’s all.” Bekah’s voice was groggy.

“Yeah, you left the dough out on the counter.” Jon slips back behind her. “Do you think you are coming down with something?” He presses his lips to the back of her head.

“I don’t think so. Maybe... oh... well. Um. Shit. What day is it?” Bekah lifts up suddenly.

“The 23rd. Why Bekah?” Jon sits up behind her.

“I’m two weeks late.” Bekah’s hand covers her mouth realizing what that could mean.

“You mean like late late? As in...” Jon’s arms wrap around Bekah.

“Like maybe you would go get a test... or three.” She looks back at him and she shuffles to his feet and heads to the store. The smell of cookies hit his nose when he walked back in the door. Bekah icing the batch that had cooled.

“So, I know we said we would let nature take its course but that was in November.” Bekah nods, licks the icing off her finger and grabs the bag.

The two waited for the longest two minutes of their lives sitting on the bathroom floor. Bekah’s head rested on Jon’s shoulder. Jon’s hand picked up the stick from the counter. “Ready...” he whispers and Bekah’s shoulders shrug. “Pregnant. Beks!” Jon’s voice picked up and he jumped to his feet placing the test on the counter and scooping his wife into his arms kissing her skin as he walks.

“Tae, what are you doing?” Bekah questions.

“Celebrating knocking my sexy wife up in the first try!” Jon drops Bekah onto the bed and crowds her. Ridding himself of his shirt and pulling on hers.

“It could be a false positive.” Bekah’s hands land on Jon’s chest.

“It’s not.” Jon retorts. “For as long I’ve known you, your cycle has been the most predictable thing about you.” Jon manages to pull Bekah’s shirt off and kisses down to her stomach. “Salut bébé, c'est ton papa.” He whispers into her skin the looks up to see Bekah’s face. “Sorry, maybe I should...” Jon goes to move thinking he changed the mood and Bekah’s hands catch his shoulders.

“Tae, that was a damn turn on. Please... continue.” Jon winks up at her and presses his tongue to her folds lapping up how incredibly wet she was. Bekah’s orgasm ripping through her body like a ball of fire. Her body jolting up away from his mouth which was still working it’s magic.

“Holy shit. J, I need more.” Bekah panted out and Jon’s mouth met her chest as he laid her back down pressing his length deep inside eliciting moans as he rocked.

“Oh. Beks. Beks. I...” Jon huffs as Bekah pulls her body up into his and feels him explode deep inside of her sending shockwaves through out her body. “I love you.” Jon whispers while crashing into her body.

“Same but you are crushing my pelvis.” Bekah wiggles and Jon jumps off her quickly. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. You are carrying our child.” His hand grazes her stomach.

“Potentially. I need to schedule an appointment for when we are back.” She reaches for her phone and Jon’s hand catches her arm.

“Does your brain ever shut off My Love?” Jon kisses her. “No is the answer. And I want to go. Can you schedule around me?”

Soon after their return home, Jon and Bekah found themselves in her OBGYN’s office listening to their child’s heartbeat. A tear streaming down Jon’s face as Bekah held his hand tight. On the drive home, Bekah broke the comfortable silence. “Can we wait to tell people including family until the second trimester?” Jon’s thumb rubs the back of her hand as he drives.

“Whenever you want Beks.” Jon’s delight evident in his tone.

“I want to tell Rin first but don’t exactly know how.” Bekah inhales quickly as Jon sighs. Brynn and Derek would be the perfect parents but after too many miscarriages to count and an undetermined infertility diagnosis they just stopped trying. Getting pregnant so quickly was going to crush her best friend and she knew it. She watched Brynn at coworker’s baby showers. She hid the pain well but Bekah saw it.

She wanted to tell her best friend in person. What she didn’t expect was the pause and quarantine. Jon came home early March talking about the NHLPA and on the phone not realizing Bekah was laying in the middle of the floor. He stands over her and smiles. “My beautiful wife okay down there?”

“Fat wife that is. And no. They said you could have morning sickness and mine was mid-afternoon sickness which is for the birds THEN they said you feel better in your second trimester and welp... my body feels like I ran a damn marathon and I just moved the rug three feet over. How was your discussion with those people?” Bekah waves her hand around and Jon laughs.

“They want to start zoom calls so I have to think where I could do it here. Plus I think we can go home to Manitoba for a bit if you feel already.”

“Yeah, do it in the kitchen so you don’t have the blow job angle your team Canada buddy did yesterday. I need to call Rin. My body isn’t hiding this baby much longer.” Jon lays down next to her and kisses her cheek.

“Blow job angles. Funny. I don’t need anyone but you thinking of that.” He rolls her body on top of his and she sits up with his hands on her hips. “And you, Mrs. Toews and more beautiful now than the day we met.” Jon’s thumbs rub the small bump appearing on her lower abdomen.

Bekah buzzed around the house while Jon sat on the zoom call. She dropped her phone when she heard him answer the question about what he’s been up to since the last game. After the call ended she stands next to him. “When is that call being published?” Bekah asks with an annoyance in her voice.

“They said in a few days, why Beks?” Jon pulls her into his lap.

“Because you just fucking told the world I’m pregnant and I haven’t even told our families.” Jon’s eyes blow wide.

“Oh fuck! I... I... I didn’t even think about it.” His hand covers his face.

“I need to go FaceTime Rin.” Bekah kissed her regretful husband and retreated to their bedroom.

“How’s my bestie doing in quarantine?” Brynn didn’t even say hi. “What’s that face for?” Bekah sighed.

“I wanted to do this in person so I could hold your hand but damn Covid and shit.” Bekah starts.

“You are pregnant aren’t you?” Brynn pulls a smile across her face.

“How did ya?” Bekah’s eyebrow shoots up. “I am. Due mid-September.”

“I knew you looked different in December but couldn’t place it. You were barely pregnant weren’t you?” Brynn feels the tears coming.

“Yeah. Rin. I... I... I’m sorry.” Bekah whispers.

“Bekah, you don’t have to be sorry. I’m so happy for you and cannot wait to be Auntie Rin!” Brynn wipes her eyes.

“Oh Rin.” Bekah sniffles. “I didn’t know how you would take this.” The friends talked a little more before Bekah hung up and called Kelly who squealed while jumping then realized Bekah’s odd questions in February were pregnancy related. When she returned to Jon he was laying on the couch she asked him to move. “Your parents or mine first?”

“Together?” Jon laughed and they both FaceTimed their mom’s who were overjoyed at the news about being grandparents. Marie had tons of questions regarding Bekah and the baby’s safety while the Toews were busy talking to Jon about their trip home and if Bekah would be safe on the lake’s ice.

With permission from her doctor, the couple returned to Canada and Jon enjoyed rare times with his family but soon realized the couple needed to return to the states. Jon was constantly on the phone with negotiations about return to play throughout the summer.  Laying in bed one night with his head on her growing belly, Bekah could feel he was holding something back.

“Tae, talk.  What’s up?  She ran her hands through his growing hair that she secretly loved while everything was shut down.  

“We’ve been talking about a return to play and that players could opt out.  I think I should since with the baby coming.  I would be gone for most of your last trimester.”  Jon kisses and turns his attention.  “Momma won’t let me open the envelope that says if you are a boy or girl.  Maybe you could help me out, huh?”  Bekah laughs hard that her belly moves.

“I told you with everything else the way it is having a little surprise wouldn’t hurt anyone.  We bought the essentials and Kelly swears her kids were in the white onesies, or naked and wrapped up in a blanket for the first few weeks.  Eating, pooping, and sleeping.”  Jon looks up resting his chin on her stomach.

“Fine.  I’ll wait.  We already have enough Hawks stuff to last about a week.  Plus the girls are ready to socially distance pounce on you once the baby does come.  I do have an important question for you?”

“Yeah?”

“When is sex off the table?”  He bites his lip and Bekah shakes her head.

“Depends on how I feel and where the baby is plus you don’t want to induce labor too early.”

“Soooo.... we can still?”  Jon’s eyebrows dance.

“You want to sex this up?  With my swollen ankles and clothes that no longer fit...”

“You don’t need clothes for what I want to do with you.”  Jon lays next to his wife and pulls her face to his.  “You are beautiful.”  He deepens his kiss and she moans.

“I just look fat Tae.”  Bekah recoils.  “Plus, I need a shower.”  She moves and Jon follows.

“I’ll join you.”  He pulls her body into his while walking to their shower.  

“You seriously want to have sex with me?”  She looks at her naked body in the mirror and over to Jon noticing he was already hard.  

“Not much has changed from last week when I wore your thighs at earmuffs.”  Jon turned on the shower and lead her under the water.  He could physically see Bekah’s shoulders relax under the warm water.  Pulling her breasts into his hands he massaged gently.  “Tell me if it’s too much okay Beks”  He kissed  the back of her neck and his fingers found her entrance.  Using the edge of the shower, Bekah pulled her leg up for easier access to her clit as Jon kissed her skin.  

“Tae.”  She breathed out feeling an orgasm building then she felt the baby.  “Jon!”  Her hand went to her stomach.  “Feel.”  She brought his hand to her belly and Jon felt their child kick his hand.

“Oh wow!  That is maybe the coolest feeling ever.”  Jon kisses Bekah and she feels his hardened cock on her back.  “Does that mean we stop, because...”

“No.  I want you to fuck me.”  Bekah turns around and Jon pulls her body up and slides her onto his length but cannot get situated enough.  “take me to be bed.”  She breathed out.  

“Wet?”  He questioned as he pulls out.

“Yes.”  She wraps her arms around him and he carries them to the bed.  Laying her down carefully and pressing into her as she moves her legs to feel all of him.  With just a few thrusts, Bekah’s orgasm crashes over her and she feels the baby fluttering inside.  “Can I finish you off orally?”  She pants.  

“You don’t have to Beks.  I’m fine.”  She wiggled from under him and he falls onto the mattress.  “Beks... really... I’m... holy fuck.  Don’t stop.”  Jon soon changed his mind when Bekah’s lips wrapped tight around him and he hit the back of her throat.  Sliding easily up and down his length Jon breathed out his approval of her actions and quickly spilled down her throat.  Bekah pops her lips and wipes her mouth as she retreats.  “I have no words.”  Jon huffs out and stares up at Bekah who is now rubbing her stomach.

“Now can you get up so we can change the sheets and go to bed.  This momma to be is tired.”  Bekah stands and Jon strips the wet bed before cuddling his wife.  

With somewhat of an argument, Brynn came to Chicago as Jon entered the bubble.  Jon kissed Bekah’s belly as was leaving, “You cannot make an entrance into the world until Daddy returns or Momma enters the bubble.  Either way, hang out.  Make sure Momma listens to Auntie Rin and cheer on the Hawks.”  Jon lifts up and wraps his arms around his wife.  “Tu es toujours avec moi, mes amours.”  Jon kisses her then pulls away to see the tears build in her eyes.  “Always with me.”  Jon gives instructions to Brynn to make sure Bekah keeps to the doctor’s orders and she calls him if anything happens.

“Go kick some Oiler ass Babe!”  Bekah giggles trying to contain her emotions.

“Why does he have to look so damn sexy and I cannot touch him.  You know these girls are falling all over him.”  Bekah watched the coverage of Jon walking into the arena while Brynn painted her toe nails.

“And that man only has eyes for you.”  Brynn smiled seeing the the way Bekah contorts her face.  

“Yeah, some hot ass media girl is much sexier than the fat cow he left at home.”  Bekah rubs her belly that has grown to the point that she cannot see her feet.  

“Sorry friend, this whole negative self talk has to be your hormones because everyone in the world knows how much that man loves you. Did you see the picture from last game?  You could see your wedding picture on his lock screen.”

“Did he look that good when he left?  And the way he is playing is so fucking sexy.”  Bekah looks at her phone.  “Sorry, baby bird.  Momma will be filtering herself when you arrive next month.”  Brynn laughs.

“He will call.  He always does.”  And like magic Bekah’s phone rings.  Since entering the bubble Jon calls to talk to the baby once a day, and will call Bekah before she goes to bed and before he goes on the ice.

“There is my girl!”  Jon’s voice booms out of the speaker.  

“Hey Tae!  Could you talk to the league and see if they could I don’t know, move your game’s start time before my bedtime?”  This makes both Jon and Brynn laugh.  “I watch you when I get up to pee at around 11 but I hate missing the games live.

“Sure, I’ll just call Gary myself and request a game time change.”  The three laugh.  

“I love you, Tae.  Good luck tonight and go kick some ass.”  She kisses at the phone.  

“I love you, two.”  He blows her a kiss and hangs up to the sounds of heaving coming from Bekah’s feet.

“Yeah, if they lose and he comes home I foresee your labor starting.”  

“Rin, that would be a month early!”  Bekah squeaks out.

“I call it like I see it.  And that man is gonna want his wife when he returns.”  Bekah covered her eyes then starts googling sex in the third trimester.

Jon was home three and a half weeks after he left for Edmonton.  Brynn stayed through the week and then drove back to Ohio with the promise she would be back when Baby Toews was born.  Bekah’s due date came and she was still pregnant.

“This baby is NEVER leaving.”  Bekah walked the stairs for the 10th time that day.

“You’ve made it comfortable.  They want to stay FOREVER.”  Jon laughs while he indulges in his dessert concoction he only eats off season.

“I think I’ve tried everything but sex.”  Bekah leans on the counter and presses her hips back to relive the pressure.  Jon drops the spoon from his mouth.

“Well, I can fucking help with that.”  He pulls Bekah’s arm and practically pushes her up the stairs.  Leaning against the headboard he pats his lap.  “Climb aboard the let’s meet our baby Jonny train.”  He laughs and Bekah scoffs.

“Your dad jokes are just gonna get worse, aren’t they?”  She removes her shorts and climbs onto Jon’s lap.

“Yup!  Now, can we get rid of this?”  He pulls off her old t-shirt that is stretched around her belly.  “And can I play with these?  I don’t think they will belong to me soon.”  Jon leans up to suck in her nipple while cupping her other breast.  Bekah lets go of a gasp.

“Too much.”  She whispered and lifts herself up.  Jon’s hands hold her helps as she lowers herself onto his length.  She presses her hips forward with a sound that was both pleasure and pain.  “It’s not gonna take much to make me.” “Oh good.  Me either.”  Jon pulls her hips forward as her belly hits his abs.  He thrusts slightly up and Bekah goes to move.

“I think if we stand.”  She stands to her feet and Jon comes behind her.  

“Ready?”  He whispered and she nods.  The grunts and moans fill the room quickly.  The pain of her hips and full term baby sitting on her organs was forgotten as their highs crash over them.  Jon leans over and kisses her shoulder blades while he pulls out.  The two stand there for a moment evening out their breaths.  “Beks, did you just pee?”  Jon jumps back.

“No.  My water just broke.”  Bekah turns and gives Jon a look.  “I need to shower I cannot give birth smelling like sex.”  Jon laughs.

“You do that, I’ll go load the car.  Unless you need me?”  He had slight panic sound in his voice that was laced with excitement.  Bekah giggled as she waddled to the shower and Jon grabbed the bags out of the nursery Brynn helped finish while he was gone.

The hospital was waiting for them as they arrived.  Jon started a group text to their moms, Brynn, Kelly, and Alyssa.  Jon sat in the rocking chair waiting for her next contraction.  “You are a rockstar you know?”  Bekah looks over at him while flipping the channel on the tv.  “Nothing like the movies or tv.  You haven’t called me a bastard or anything.”  He smirks at her.

“While I don’t plan on it... I have pushed this giant headed Toews baby out my vagina yet.”  Bekah sees Jon’s Adam’s apple bob.  “And for the sake of our sex life, maybe you shouldn’t watch.”  Jon stands and hold her hand preparing for the next contraction.  She squeezes.

“Oh no, I want to see it all.  Cut the cord.  And I’ll still find you sexy as hell.  You are bringing our child into the world.  I will be impatiently waiting for the doctor to clear you.”  Bekah rolls her eyes as the doctor comes in. 

“It’s go time here!”  The doctor looks up and Jon and and Bekah look each other with excitement.  Bringing a child into the world during a pandemic was difficult but when the moment came and it was just the two of them there was a calmness washed over them.  Bekah crushed Jon’s hand and forearm pushing but he didn’t mind.  When the doctor said one more for the shoulders, Jon leaned over his wife’s leg and watched the most incredible thing in the entire world.  In a spilt second his world completely changed.  

“Tae, is it a boy or a girl?”  Bekah whispers out of breath looking at Jon’s face and the tears welling up.

“It’s a boy, Beks.”  He was handed the scissors and cut the cord.  The nurse patted him dry and goes to hand him to Bekah.  “Daddy holds him first.”  She points and the nurse places Jon’s son in his arms.

“Time of birth, 1am, September 19th.”  The nurse announces.

“It’s the 19th, Jon!”  Bekah looks up at Jon as he passes the baby to his wif.  She holds her son to her chest and kisses his head.  

“Does baby boy Toews have a name?”  The doctor asks as the couple looks at each other and in unison answer...

“Lincoln.”

The End.

[minecraftfan11onscratch]

Mysterioustale’s Design Board + Character Info

Although it’s mostly for a self-reminder on how to do the chara’s designs, you can use it as well if you wanna make fanart! ^v^

Just credit me for the Mysterioustale AU with a @. Fair warning, though, there’s spoilers abound.

Coraline

8th (and last) fallen human, bearer of the SOUL of Determination.

Weapon: Stick (supposed to be the same one she uses in the beginning of the movie for water witching). Armor: Dragonfly Hairclip.

Has the same backstory as in canon; used to live in Michigan, until her and her parents moved to the Pink Palace because of her parent’s gardening catalog.

Decided to explore Mt. Falls because of the boredom of lacking her parent’s attention, and the curiosity sparked by her neighbors telling her the tale about it. After falling, her goal is initially to escape and go back home, but she gradually tries to do it in a way she won’t kill anyone.

Initially starts as the snotty, attention-seeking jerk she is at the beginning of her movie, but just like in her movie, the circumstances she finds herself in molds her into a more patient, kind girl that feels sympathy for the magic beings trapped in the mountain. Is still snarky all the way through, though.

Dipper and Mabel

The first fallen humans, bearers of the SOUL of Determination.

Have the rare phenomenon of sharing one SOUL since birth (it has a higher chance of happening for twins, but it is lower on fraternal twins like they are). They can be separated from each other without ill consequences, but their SOUL tends to be stronger when they are together.

Weapon: Mystery Book and Grappling Hook. Armor: Friendship Rings.

Their shirt/sweater’s color is cyan because it’s the negative of this one long-sleeved shirt of Coraline. Their designs are also intentionally, slightly invocative of the ‘60s.

Dipper is still the socially anxious, snarky smart guy, and Mabel is still the wild, fun-loving and goofy girl. However, both have low self-esteem and self-love because of a rough life in the Surface, and a dislike for humanity in general. This is why both were wiling to die for Tails to obtain their and six other SOULs.

Ran to Mt. Falls to escape their village.

Layed dormant in their grave in the Hidden Palace until Coraline fell; her Determination woke both of them up and they weren’t aware of their adoptive father’s plans until they heard about it through Coraline’s journey.

Mabel was closer to Amy, and Dipper closer to Sonic. Both equally loved Tails, and miss him so much.

Amy Rose

Guardian/Caretaker of the Hidden Palace, ex-Queen of the Underground and ex-wife of Sonic.

Still has the Piko Piko Hammer, and uses it on the battle at the end of the Hidden Palace. She also has wind powers she shares with Sonic, and uses them both for offensive and supportive purposes.

She’s a sweet and cherry mother figure... Until you present a threat to a nearby kid, or piss her off. Ask Bill Cipher and Sonic. She also loves puns, but not to the exact extent of a certain toony demon.

Despite seeming so cherry and carefree, she’s actually very hurt over the death of the children she treated as her own and couldn’t prevent.

Bakes a vanilla-mint pie, since both were some of the most liked flavors of the three kids she formely raised as her own (vanilla for Dipper and Mabel, mint for Tails).

Sonic the Hedgehog

The King of the Underground, ex-husband of Amy Rose.

Uses in combat a sword similar to Excalibur in Sonic and the Black Knight, and even has a glove to hold it. Shares the offensive wind powers with Amy.

Definitely used to be more like his canon self in the past, and fit in as the cool father figure. Losing the family he held dear in one night, though, was enough to not only humble him, but break him into a miserable shell of his former self.

He still tries to pass by as the same cool-headed, determined justice bringer he was in the past, but it becomes harder and harder everyday to keep the facade.

Has a thing for gardening. Favorite food is still chilli dogs, though.

Bendy the Little Devil Darlin’

One of Snowdin’s sentries (in the most loose term of the word), Boris’ best pal and housemate, perhaps the Judge of the Underground, and knows more than his face lets on.

He is made out of ink, and can turn himself into a pile of bubbling ink and sink himself into the ground to teleport, leaivng behind a stain on the ground. He can carry others, even humans, with this if they sink onto his ink pool. He shares the bullet pencils with Boris and might have skulls to blast beams.

He’s a polite, but goofily cheerful fellow that, in a surface-level, seems to take nothing seriously and prefers to hunt for trouble or fun rather than do his sentry duties. However, he has a serious, mature, and secretly creepy side hiding underneath the veil, and hates making promises. He likes to call anyone a pal, and Coraline/Amy Rose as toots.

He somehow always has a J-pipe on toe, just so he can dance out of nowhere. He also somehow finds a bajillion things to do.

He likes to drink ink. Fresh or old, and if necessary, straight out of the pot.

Boris the Wolf

One of Snowdin’s sentries  (in the most loose term of the word), Bendy’ best pal and housemate, painter, and aspirant for capturing a human and becoming a Royal Guard.

He is made out of ink like Bendy, but never figured out a teleporting technique like him. His ink structure does make him apathetic to glass shards, though. He has bullets shaped like pencils stained with ink, and can change a human’s SOUL to yellow.

He’s a bit more blunt, dispassionate, serious and bored than his best pal, but most of it is his dwindling hopes of finding a human, becoming a Royal Guard or making a new friend besides Bendy and Yumi. Once Coraline comes, he displays more cherriness, while still remaining the more level-headed of the rubberhose brothers. He also likes to call people pal, and has a thick Brooklyn accent. His catchphrase is Good Gosh Golly, and his laugh is Wrah Hah Hah.

He’s a painter, but sometimes his art falls on the modern abstract side.

Unlike Bendy, he has a distaste for ink. He prefers normal magic food, mostly sandwiches.

Yumi Yoshimura

Ex-member of Puffy AmiYumi, but still a good friend of Ami, and Captain of the Royal Guard.

She is strong and physically durable to a fault, and is able to survive drops from high structures. Her main form of attack is blue guitars that are launched like spears, and she can turn a human’s SOUL to dark blue.

She’s sarcastic, rough and cynical, and can appear antagonist, especially to a human, since it’s her job to hunt for their SOULs. However, she has a golden heart, and a sense of loyalty and honor, even if it’s for former targets; she stops hunting Coraline down once she wakes her up from Dreamland’s energy.

Her battle cry is Hiyaaah!

Her in-job outfit’s aesthetic is a cowboy instead of a knight. Her casual outfit is partially inspired on both her pilot outfit and her final outfit.

Ami Onuki

Ex-member of Puffy AmiYumi, but still a good friend of Yumi, and The Royal Scientist.

Unusual for her airheaded preppy girl aesthetic, she’s actually quite smart and tech-savvy, able to hack (aka: program) Dreamland and HEART’s structures and build things (even though she doesn’t compare to a certain someone...). She doesn’t demonstrate much physical power, though.

She seems to be peppy, cheerful and optimistic, even if a bit awkward as well. If one interacts with her long enough, though, one can quickly find out that most of her cherry personality is a forefront to hide a lack of self-esteem, a willingness to lie to gain love, and guilt from a failed experiment.

[tropicalfreckles]

Friends Again CH 5

MASTER LIST found here

SUMMARY: A new dilemma has risen in Lydia that she takes to the only one she can talk to about it.

SOLIDARITY

B**TLEB*BES DNI

(TW mentions of J*no, mentions of murder(no murder tho), mentions of bullying, mentions of the wedding death scene)))

Another day of school, another day of Lydia having complex feelings bubble up in her stomach. This was getting borderline exhausting with all the thoughts she kept bottled up inside. Even though she had become more comfortable with her therapist, she still wasn't sure if she wanted to just spill her guts out about these thoughts. Closing the front door behind her, she swung her backpack off while exhaling a long groan. No one was home yet except for the Maitlands, of course. They were probably upstairs since she didn't see them after scanning the living room. Rummaging through her backpack on the table she pulled out things she needed for homework then sluggishly retreated upstairs. School wasn't engaging and often times left her yearning for more. The Maitlands had recently found a way to help make her learning more simulating through their ghostly powers. They were still learning themselves. They tried learning more from the Handbook for the Recently Deceased. However, as Adam put it, it 'read like radio instructions'. Lydia didn't have too much of a hard time understanding it personally. Though that probably was because she loved deciphering the nonsensical text.

Should she let the Maitlands know she's home?

She usually would announce herself. Yet, that feeling wasn't leaving her stomach. It dampening her mood. Lydia didn't want to bother the ghostly couple with her problem. Since she still didn't understand it entirely herself. It was days like these she wished her mom was still alive. Regret wove itself in her every once in a while for leaving the Netherworld. Missing her chance to reconnect with her mother again. She knew deep down it was for the best. She would've also liked it if Delia and her dad had waited for a while before getting wed. She understood though they felt the fleetingness of life and wanted to make the best of it as long as they both were breathing. That would be another can of worms for Lydia to tackle another day. Lydia tossed her things on her bed when she entered her room. Closing the door behind her then took off her shoes. Her nerves were starting to get the best of her when she walked over to her mirror and gazed at herself.

"Why are feelings stupid..." She muttered. Grabbing a hair tie off of her stand, she ran her fingers through the raven locks tying it up.

"That's because you breathers have too many feelings; It makes shit complicated." A gravely voice chimed in. Lydia flinched for a moment then turned to scowl at the older man.

"I told you that you couldn't come into the house yet!" She snarled at him. Lydia began rubbing the pads of her forefinger and middle in circles against the temple of her head. Beetlejuice snorted then crossed his arms.

"You ain't exactly the boss of me kid. I do what I want. Within reason of your dumb rules. Besides, I was bored waiting in the stupid cemetery. There weren't any breathers to mess with today so I couldn't get anyone else to say my name." Beetlejuice rambled on, giving Lydia a shrug. The young teen threw herself face first on her bed. She thought over for a moment how risky this was.

"You didn't let Barabara and Adam see you, right?" Lydia questioned, sitting up a little on her elbows. Beetlejuice hummed while pulling his eyes out from their sockets.

"Nope, not a peep!" He snickered while tossing them in the air like a pair of die. Lydia looked on unamused before rolling on her back to stare up at the ceiling. The demon popped his eyes back in.

"Oh boy, are you having one of those angsty teen moments again? Am I gonna have to leave while you recite goth poetry or some shit?" He floated up from the ground then whipped over to her. Lydia inhaled deeply before giving a loud groan.

"Go away if you're gonna be an ass." Lydia reached out for a pillow to grab. Beetlejuice tensed up as he knew it was meant for his face. He deflated a little when he saw her hug then bury herself against it. Just as the teen hated when he would get moody, he felt the same about her. Though it was strange, the past three months now that they've been hanging out he has started to feel something he never had before. Was it that gross thing called empathy? He sighed deeply while busying himself with picking at his nails. This was going to require some finesse.

"Alright, you twisted my arm Lyds. What's bugging ya? What can your ol' pal Mr. Betelboose do to, ugh, 'help'?" He peered from the corner of his eye to see if she'd budge. She did not. He did get a grunt in response. Some progress was a win for him. Lydia flailed her legs a little as a muffled groan rose from her. The demon patiently waited for her to speak.

"As bizarre as it is to say.." Lydia dug her fingernails into her pillow as she pulled it away from her face finally. Her features scrunched up, her lips pursed. Relaxing after a moment of what looked like deep contemplation from Beetlejuice's perspective she finally spoke. "I think you might be the only person I can talk to about this." Lydia softly spoke.

Now, this was interesting.

She was actually being vulnerable to him. He only saw her do that once and that was when she summoned him back from the Netherworld. That was because of everything that built up from before. This seemed to be a new dilemma on the young girl's mind. He waved his hand to let her know she could continue.

"Beej. When did you discover that you had feelings for guys, too?" Lydia drawled out while shiftily gazing around the room. Anywhere other than making eye contact. Beetlejuice stroked his scruffy chin while trying to figure out what she meant by that. Was there a boy she liked? Did his stoic bratty friend actually have sappy feelings as well?

Wait.

"You're asking how I knew I was into more than just women? Well, first off, there is one thing ya gotta know about the Netherworld. Most folks swing both if not all ways." Beetlejuice jokingly conjured up a baseball bat and took multiple swings in different directions with it. It earned him a snort which he grinned at before continuing.

"It kind of came as an easy realization for me. I know that the stupid shit you breathers go about here on the mortal plane carries off into the Netherworld sometimes. It doesn't stick for long cause who the hell are you gonna complain to? No one." He rolled his eyes remembering all of the bigoted folks that would come through and get their panties in a twist at how the rest of the Netherworld was. While he wasn't the biggest fan of staying there all the time it wasn't always horrible there. The world of the living was more of a party for him.

"How did you really know, though?" Lydia hugged the pillow closer to her while sitting up. Beetlejuice plopped himself onto the bed next to her. Lydia had a surprisingly smart melon in that goth head of hers. He was curious why she was doubting herself so much.

"Probably when I made out with that one famous painter." He picked at his teeth. Lydia arched a brow.

"Which one?"

"You know me, scarecrow, don't kiss and tell." He grinned at her. Lydia gently smacked his knee.

"Oh BS, you always name drop famous people." She snorted. Beetlejuice snickered, moving his hands behind him then slid back more on the bed.

"You're right, I just don't remember the guy's name right now. Listen. I guess I get it. I've been observing you breathers for almost a millennia. Feelings are gross. But I know when it comes to this stuff it can be hard. Especially for kids. If there's something ya gotta blab to me about." He tilted his head in her direction while making sure he had her attention. She gave a slow nod for him to continue, "Then I'm listening."

Lydia inhaled deeply. This was nerve-racking. She just didn't know how to even express herself.

"I... I might have." Lydia banged her head into the soft pillow and gave a small whine. "I might.. like a girl at school." She spoke barely above a whisper. Beetlejuice leaned over since he could barely hear her. Lydia wrinkled her nose at the smell yet allowed him to do so.

"What was that kid? Gotta speak up." He gave a coy smile. Lydia scowled at him then looked away.

"I said... That I might like a girl at school. I'm not repeating myself again." Her cheeks were heating up at how embarrassing this was. Not so much expressing her feelings. It was more talking about a damn school crush to her stupid demon friend she was starting to make amends with. She looked over to him after a moment of making sure he wasn't going to tease her then noticed him grinning wide.

"Yeah, that's what I thought you said. HA. Of course, you're into girls! Look at you, you're tiny, snarky all the time and goth." Beetlejuice yammered on as he elbowed her side.

"Ha-ha, is this amusing to you or something? I just spilled my damn guts out." Lydia frowned, her cheeks flushed. Beetlejuice shook his head.

"Eh, maybe a little, I just find it funny that widdle Lydia has a crush. Always figured you were too feral and hated people too much for that." He pinched her cheek. She was close to snapping her teeth at his fingers. She opted for batting his hand away. Lydia wiped her cheek with her sleeve. He snickered in response then rested his elbows on his knees.

"Call me 'widdle' again and I'll throw you off the roof as I did before." She stuck her tongue out at him then took note of him smirking at her. "What?"

"Nuthin'. Just weird seeing you actually act like a teenager instead of your usual dry, deadpan self." He patted her hard on the back to which she grunted at him. "Good for you! Better to be your real self than locking that shit away. Dolores and Chuck'll probably be. I don't know, what's that word you breathers use now? 'Woke'? About this. I know the Maitlands will be. Ugh, they are just soooo supportive it's disgusting." He gagged at his last sentence to which Lydia rolled her eyes.

"I don't know if I'm going to tell anyone. At least not yet." Lydia softly spoke as she played with the pillow resting in her lap. Beej quirked a brow at her then snorted. He gave a soft bap on her head with his fist.

"Listen. I don't normally give pep talks that aren't about scaring, murder or crap. I guess I can try to understand. Daphne might be too intrusive about it. Chuck might just be super awkward about it and say something embarrassing. The other nerds are definitely gonna dote on you." Beetlejuice picked at his teeth. "Eh, take your time if you wanna. Just know that the Netherworld when ya shed your meat-sack body is gonna be fine with who or what yer into. Fuck what anyone else thinks." He let out a long yawn then stretched a little. "Trying to be nice makes me wanna take a nap or doing something nasty. Or hurl. Can't decide, this is gross."

Lydia looked over the demon while taking note of his words. She snickered at him dramatically pretending to upheave then shoved him.

"Stop being gross for five minutes." Lydia snorted then sat back on her bed finally letting go of her pillow. "Honestly.. My stomach is in a knot still. Part of me kind of wants to tell her however I don't want people to.." Midway through Lydia trailed off into a soft whisper. "I just don't want more of a reason for people to target me at school. I can handle myself for the most part. Just kind of hard when they gang up on me." She tugged at the edge of her school uniform. Without skipping a beat Beetlejuice responded.

"Want me to kill 'em for ya? I mean, if they're that big of lil assholes I'd probably be doing their parents a favor." Beetlejuice grinned while taking out a knife from his sleeve. "I'll 'cut' them down to size!" He cackled while swishing the knife around. Lydia ducked down then snorted.

"No. Murder isn't the answer to everything, BJ. Those girls are jerks but they aren't the root of the problem. Kids don't naturally act like bigoted brats. It's probably coming from their parents or something, to begin with." Lydia grabbed his arm to make him stop swinging the knife. Beetlejuice clicked his tongue then thought over what she said.

"Alright. Kill the parents and the brats. Two for two-plus no sad little orphans!" Beetlejuice hovered off the bed in glee while throwing his arms up into the air. "It'll be a real scream Lyds! Just let me loose on 'em! Come on! I haven't killed anyone since Juno!" He flexed his fingers while looking to her like an overjoyed child in a candy store. Lydia raised her hand up with a shake of her head.

"Didn't I just say murder wasn't the answer to everything?" She answered dryly while quirking a brow at him.

"I don't know, you murdered me pretty fast to try and kick my ass into the Netherworld," Beetlejuice muttered. Lydia inhaled deeply through her nostrils then slapped his thigh with her pillow.

"I'm serious. No murdering people on my behalf. I appreciate the enthusiasm but I don't want the cops on me. Making people suffer is more fun anyway." Lydia dropped the pillow then stretched her legs out. Beetlejuice floated back down to the bed then gave a little pout.

"Bah. Thought you were more fun than that, kid. Though torture also sounds like a blast." He stroked his scruffy chin. The goth teen kicked her feet against the edge of the bed.

"I was thinking more about pranking." She chuckled. "You know.. I might try talking to that girl. Just not yet." Lydia lulled her head against her shoulder to peer back at the demon. "I hate to stroke that big ego of yours. I wanna tell you that I kind of appreciate you talking to me about this. It's nice to talk to someone else who is attracted to the same gender." She took out her phone then opened the browser.

"Plus I see myself as more than one gender. Though that's a topic for another time, kid." He waved his hand as a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Lydia swung her head up to stare at him.

"Oh; does that mean you're genderfluid?"

"Gender what now?" Beetlejuice quizzically stared at her while scratching the top of his scalp. Lydia quickly brought something up on her phone then showed him.

"You identify as more than one gender. See?" Lydia began scrolling through a website about the LGBTQ+ community while Beetlejuice crossed his arms and tried reading over it.

"Huh. Well shit. Guess so? Then what's being attracted to more than one gender?" He quickly snatched the phone out of her hand to look over it more.

"Well, that is a broader category. You could be either Bisexual or Pansexual." She sat up on her knees as she pressed the pad of her forefinger into the screen. Slowly she scrolled back up on the browser and pointed out the two. Beetlejuice hummed then plopped the phone back into her lap.

"Learn something new every day!" Beetlejuice grinned. The two froze when they heard the familiar voice of a woman echoing through the house.

"Lydia?? Are you home? We can get started on your homework if you want!" Barbara's hand began phasing through the door. With that Beetlejuice flung himself out the window as Lydia swatted grave dirt he left behind on her bed.

"Coming Barbara!" Lydia called.

She couldn't keep hiding him forever.

[entwinedmoon]

John Torrington: Family Ties

(Previous posts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

When Torrington sailed off into the frozen sunset, he left behind his sister, parents, and two stepbrothers. He probably also left behind friends and co-workers. Maybe even a pet. He was unmarried, but he could have had a significant other waiting for him. However, we don’t know anything about his friends, co-workers, pets, or lovers. His family, on the other hand, we know about for sure, and while we don’t know the sort of relationship he had with any of them, we do know he allotted a significant amount of his pay to his stepmother, so they must have been close enough for him to contribute that much from his own earnings.

How his family responded to the news of his death, I don’t know. It’s something I think about a lot. But his family had to move on, and they did, living their lives without him as best they could. What happened to Torrington’s family after he left? Are there any living relatives today who remember him?

When Owen Beattie prepared to exhume the bodies on Beechey Island, he first sought out permission from descendants and relatives. I sometimes see people summarize Beattie’s attempts by saying that he did get permission from the descendants. But that is not what happened.

Beattie published a short article in The Times, a major newspaper in London, asking for any relatives to contact him. Exactly what he said in this article I do not know, and trust me, I’ve tried to find it through the Times’s archives. Whatever the article said, it didn’t refer to Torrington by name, or it would have shown up in my searches. This article was the method he used in his attempts to contact the descendants of the Beechey Boys, according to Beattie’s book, Frozen in Time. And he received no response.

Later, some of Hartnell’s relatives contacted him, after the pictures from the first round of exhumations were published in newspapers and magazines, but relatives of Torrington and Braine never contacted him. That means Torrington’s relatives did not give permission to have his body exhumed. Torrington became well known after photos of his mummified body were spread around the world through various media outlets, so at this point, if there are any relatives of his still alive, it’s odd that none have come forward.

The silence from the Torrington descendants could be explained in a number of ways. Here are the most likely possibilities, in my opinion:

There are no living Torrington relatives.

There are living Torrington relatives, but they don’t know they’re related to him.

There are living Torrington relatives who know they’re related to him, but they never saw Beattie’s article and they have yet to hear anything about the exhumations on Beechey.

There are living Torrington relatives who know they’re related to him and they did find out about the exhumations, but they don’t want to come forward for personal reasons.

The easiest way to answer this riddle would be to trace Torrington’s family to the modern day, a project I’ve been working on off and on for the past year. I’m 99% sure there are living relatives, but I haven’t actually found them yet. I still have a lot of branches of the family tree to verify, and that could take a while.

If Torrington does have living relatives, they wouldn’t be his direct descendants because he never had children, unless he had a secret love child we don’t know about. Any living relatives of his would have to be from either his extended family, such as his cousins, or through his sister, Esther. I have yet to be able to determine who is grandparents were, so I can’t trace his extended family, which makes Esther my best bet for trying to trace the Torrington family line. Luckily, Esther is much easier to find in the archives than her brother.

John Torrington left his home behind for good on May 19, 1845. A year and a day later, his sister got married. On May 20, 1846, Esther Shaw Torrington married Thomas Burgess in Ashton-under-Lyne. Thomas’s occupation is listed as a piecer—the same occupation the Hoyle brothers had in the 1841 census. His father, Robert, is listed as a mechanic. Esther’s father, William, is still a coachman. Esther could not sign her name, but Thomas could.

It’s interesting that Esther is living in Ashton now. Her stepmother is from there, and if the James and William Hoyle in the 1841 census are the right Hoyles, then her stepbrothers were probably living there at the time as well. But why was Esther, a single woman (or “spinster,” as it says on the marriage certificate), living there when Mary’s address in the allotment book was still in Manchester? Did Ashton have better work opportunities? Better air? Esther has no occupation listed on her marriage certificate, but many working-class women worked, both before marriage and after. She probably had a job, but it didn’t get mentioned on the marriage certificate because women’s jobs weren’t usually recorded. Was she working in Ashton? Staying with her stepbrothers? What brought her there?

Perhaps what brought her there was Thomas. Thomas Burgess was baptized January 1, 1826, in Ashton-under-Lyne, the son of Robert and Anne Burgess. Robert was a joiner in 1826, which is a type of carpenter. By 1841, Robert had become a mechanic, and all three of his sons, including 15-year-old Thomas, had become cotton piecers.

There are many possible ways for Esther and Thomas to have met, but of course I’m going to look at all the similar pieces and try to cram them together. William and James Hoyle were piecers in Ashton. Thomas Burgess and his brothers were piecers in Ashton. Maybe Esther met Thomas through her stepbrothers and moved to Ashton be get married. Or maybe she’d already moved to Ashton and Thomas never knew her brothers. It’s all just speculation, but sometimes speculation can land at the right spot.

Another piece of speculation I can’t help but consider is whether Esther thought of her brother John on the day of her marriage or not. Was she disappointed he wasn’t there? Did they toast to his health in his absence? Had John met Thomas before leaving, or had Esther met him only in the past year? Did Esther dictate a letter to tell John about her marriage? Was the letter waiting for John with the good news, a letter he would never read because he was already buried in the frozen ground on Beechey? Best not to speculate too long on that…

Esther shows up next in the 1851 census, and I love Esther because, out of all the Torringtons, she’s the only one who consistently shows up in the census records starting with this year. To make things even easier, Esther not only stays in the census from here on out, she also stays in Ashton-under-Lyne. In 1851, Esther and Thomas are living with his parents. Robert is back to being a joiner, and both Esther and Thomas are employed in the cotton industry.

I think Thomas is a cotton spinner, and I want to say Esther is a cotton carder, but it’s hard for me to decipher the handwriting. They don’t have children yet, but they may be refraining from starting their own family until they are able to support themselves. Or maybe they just haven’t had any luck yet.

By 1861, they’ve moved out on their own, but Esther is incorrectly listed as “Hester,” which made me almost miss this census record.

It looks like Thomas isn’t here, but don’t worry, he’s alive and well, he’s just on the previous page of the record book.

Thomas and Esther—sorry, Hester—are living on Cotton St in Ashton-under-Lyne. Thomas is now a flour carter, and Esther is a housewife raising three young daughters, Eliza, Sarah, and Mary J. Three kids since the last census, congrats Esther and Thomas! But let’s back up a bit.

Eliza is listed as their oldest child at age 7 in 1861. Eliza was baptized March 19, 1854, (fun fact, Franklin’s crew would be officially declared dead on March 31, 1854—okay, maybe that’s not such a fun fact). Her baptism registry also lists her birthday as February 14. Thomas is listed as a painter, but a painter of what? I doubt this means he became an artist. There were plenty of things that needed to be painted—from houses to coaches—so he probably did something more along those lines rather than portraits or landscapes.

When I first saw that Esther and Thomas didn’t have their first child until eight years after they got married, I thought that sounded off. Why would they wait so long? After doing some digging, I realized they hadn’t waited.

Two years earlier, on July 24, 1852, Esther gave birth to a baby girl, Sarah Ann. Sarah Ann was baptized on August 22 that year. At this point, Thomas is still a cotton spinner.

I assume the name Sarah Ann is in honor of their mothers—Esther’s birth mother, Sarah, and Thomas’s mother, Anne (way better combo than Renesmee). You may have noticed that Esther and Thomas had a daughter named Sarah in the 1861 census, but that she was only four. Sarah Ann should have been nine in the census. Why are there two vastly different ages for Sarah? That would be because this isn’t the same Sarah.

Sarah Ann died in 1853, at only six months old. She was buried on February 13. A year and a day later, Eliza would be born.

Sarah Ann is the only child from before Eliza that I’ve been able to find, but that’s not saying there weren’t more. Actually, while I was double checking that last sentence, I stumbled across another possible child of Esther and Thomas—Henry Burgess, born January 4, 1850, and died sometime in the quarter of Oct-Nov-Dec that same year. However, a quick check on the UK General Register Office website says that the maiden name for the mother of this Henry Burgess was Lee, and there was an Esther Lee from Ashton-under-Lyne, so this might be a false alarm. But it’s yet another avenue I’ll want to explore before dismissing completely. SEE UPDATE FOR MORE INFO!

Esther and Thomas’s second daughter named Sarah was born May 27, 1856, and she was baptized on September 21. Thomas is listed as a bobbin painter, which must have been the type of painter he was when Eliza was born too.

Their next daughter, Mary Jane, was born June 26, 1859, and was baptized August 21. Most of my genealogy work happens on Ancestry, but they don’t have a copy of Mary Jane’s baptism registry. I have her birth certificate on order, but it won’t get here before this post is published, so I can’t say if Thomas was still a painter or if he’d moved on to his 1861 occupation of flour carter.

In 1862, Esther and Thomas welcomed a son, Thomas, on June 7. He was baptized on July 27.

Thomas’s occupation looks like “Larter,” although I can’t find information on what that would be. At first, I thought the “L” was actually a “C.” That would have made him a “Carter,” the same occupation he had in 1861, but there’s another record that looks like it clearly says “Larter.”

Esther and Thomas had another daughter, Anne, born on September 15, 1865, and baptized October 29. Thomas’s occupation really looks like “Larter” here, but what is a larter?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Whatever it might be (SEE UPDATE), he’s not one by the next census in 1871.

Thomas is now a bookkeeper in a painter’s business. Eliza and Sarah are working as cotton weavers while Mary and Thomas Jr. are in school. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes the next year. In 1872, Thomas passes away on September 15, at only 46 years old.

What did he die of?

Lead poisoning.

I admit I had a minor freak out when I saw lead poisoning was the cause of Esther’s husband’s death, considering the role it is suspected to have played in her brother’s death as well. But Thomas and John died twenty-six years apart and may never have met, so this is simply a coincidence—but what a coincidence.

How did Thomas get lead poisoning though? My bet is on paint. In the Victorian era, some paint was lead-based, and Thomas had worked as a painter and then in a paint business as a bookkeeper. He could have easily been exposed to lead-based paint to a toxic degree.

But there was some happy news for Esther the next year. Her oldest surviving daughter, Eliza, married John Thomas Manifield on August 19, 1873. Eliza’s father is listed as being a bookkeeper despite being deceased by this point. It also says that Eliza is 20 when she should only be 19 in 1873, but this does look like the right Eliza, and there’s another record from a few years later that pretty much confirms it. I’ll get to that in a little bit.

There’s more good news in 1874—or I think it’s good news. It seems like Esther started marrying her daughters off quick after Thomas’s death, because Sarah got hitched on November 14 to a twenty-one-year-old man named Arthur Dale. Sarah’s father is still listed as a bookkeeper, despite being dead for two years. There’s also an age discrepancy issue with this marriage certificate that almost made me discard it as not being the right Sarah.

Sarah’s age is listed as 20, but she was born in 1856, which means she should have been only 18. Did she age herself up on purpose? In the 1881 census, her age is 26, which is still too old, but in 1891 her age is 34, which would coincide with being born in May of 1856 (the census took place in April). So, I think this is the right Sarah Burgess, but either she lied on her marriage certificate—and the next census—or she gave the wrong age by accident. She couldn’t sign her name, meaning she was probably illiterate, so she also probably couldn’t do math, and maybe by 1891 someone had finally corrected her. Who knows!

Unfortunately, the next record I found is a sad one. Esther Torrington Burgess died September 19, 1878, at age 51. If I’m reading the death certificate correctly, I believe she died of a combination of uterine cancer and phthisis—aka tuberculosis. John Thomas Manifield, her son-in-law, signed as being present at the time of death, which is how I know the marriage certificate for Eliza belongs to the right Eliza.

Eliza and Sarah were both married at this point, but I don’t know what happened to Mary. There are too many Mary Burgesses—including one born in Ashton-under-Lyne in 1860, a year after Mary Jane, making it nearly impossible to be sure which records are for the right one. There was one Mary Burgess who ended up in a convalescent home, but it might be the other Mary.

As for Thomas Jr. and Anne, they were still underage, and they ended up in the care of their uncle John Burgess by the time of the 1881 census.

I haven’t had a chance to do much research into this next generation of Torringtons as of this time. I do know that Eliza and John Thomas immigrated to America at some point after the 1881 census—but then she died in 1890 from cancer. She didn’t have any children, and John Thomas Manifield would remarry the next year and live out the rest of his life in America.

I’ve started research into Sarah but am not close to finishing. All I can say at this point is that Sarah Burgess Dale had at least six children, possibly as many as ten, although they didn’t all survive to adulthood. I’ve found her in a family tree on Ancestry, but those aren’t always accurate, so I need to verify all the children first before climbing further out onto that limb. But if there are any living Torrington relatives, I have a feeling a good portion of them are probably from the Dale family.

I can’t say much about Mary because, like I said, there are too many Marys to track her down. And I haven’t had a chance to do much research into Thomas and Anne yet because I’d hoped to finish my research into Sarah before moving on to them. Although, I did find some records for Anne when casually searching for Burgesses (she may have married a man with an unusual name, making it easy to find—thank you, Anne!), but I want to go through them carefully first before announcing anything as fact.

But what happened to John Torrington’s parents and stepbrothers?

Well, as for his stepbrothers, I haven’t had much of a chance to look into them yet. From what I’ve found, William Hoyle is too common of a name, and yet I can’t seem to find one born in the right area. He’s a ghost who disappeared from the records as far as I can tell. Either that, or he’s the William Hoyle who had a problem with stealing things and got shipped off to Australia.

For James Warren Hoyle, so far I know that he got married and became a fruiterer (fruit salesmen). But it looks like he died in 1864, according to a probate record. There are a couple James Hoyles out there—and it looks like two of them married women named Jane, which is not helpful—but the probate record says James Warren Hoyle, and that has to be Mary Torrington’s boy.

Speaking of Mary Torrington, she and her husband are also difficult to track. There’s a census record from 1861 that I think might be for them, but I can’t be sure.

Mary looks right—she would have been about 64 and she’s from Ashton-under-Lyne, so her info checks out, which means this should be the right William, but I don’t know when or where William was born, so I can’t be sure. But if it’s him, he’s had a change of occupation. After decades of being a coachman, he’s now a tea and coffee dealer. They’re also not in Manchester, but St George Hanover Square. That’s the same place the other John Torrington, JT1, was staying in the 1841 census. Could this be his parents? They were also named Mary and William. I really don’t know if these are the right Torringtons or not.

But I did find the death certificate for Mary.

Mary Torrington died August 8, 1866, at age 69. She’s listed as the widow of William Torrington, so he must have died at some point before this date. William the tea and coffee dealer died in 1862, so if that’s the same William, he died four years earlier. It looks like Mary had been living with Esther because she died at her house. Esther signed the certificate with her mark. At this point, Esther had lost her birth mother, her brother, her father, and now her stepmother. At least one of her stepbrothers has also died. In six years, she would lose her husband too.

Esther had a rough life, losing at least one child and outliving most of her family. I hope that in my search for her brother’s legacy, I can honor hers as well.

Next: An afterlife of sorts for John Torrington—the pictures from his exhumation living on in the media.

<<Back | Next >>

Torrington Series Masterlist

[saleintothe90s]

406. Stalking

I’m always fascinated about how a stalker works — what drives them to never forget a person. To think about them every day, all day. The money spent on following the person around, the postage spent.

One of the most infamous celebrity stalkers of the 1980s and 1990s was Margaret Ray, who stalked David Letterman. Ray, who was schizophrenic, constantly broke into Letterman’s home in Connecticut, often sleeping on the tennis court. In 1988, she convinced housepainters that she was his housekeeper and she drove off with his Porsche—when she was arrested on the New Jersey side of the  Lincoln Tunnel, she told cops she was David Letterman’s wife and her child (who was in the car with her) was the son she had with Letterman.

In October of 1998, Ray committed suicide by kneeling in front of a train. Before her death, she turned her obsessions to astronaut Story Musgrave. 1 Letterman didn’t escape his stalkers however, in 2005 a former painter at his ranch in Montana plotted to take Letterman’s son, Harry for ransom. 2

The young actress Rebecca Schaffer was murdered by a deranged fan while her career was on the rise. Robert Jean Bardo tried to come on the set of her short lived sitcom My Sister Sam several times (including bringing a knife one time), but was turned away each time. Bardo’s decision to kill Schaffer came when he saw her in the movie Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills in which there was a scene in which she was in bed with a character. 3 He accessed Schaffer’s address through a personal detective who attained the address through DMV records. 4. On July 18, 1989 he arrived at her doorstep. He spoke with her briefly, she signed an autograph, and told him to leave. Bardo arrived back at the apartment shortly after.  Schaffer opened the door thinking it was the script to Godfather III in which she was going to audition for later that day. Bardo shot her in the chest, killing her almost immediately.

One of the earliest cases of internet stalking came in 1994 when Andrew C. Archambeau wouldn’t stop emailing and leaving voicemails to a woman he met through a video dating service. In one of his emails he said:

"I've been trying to court you, not stalk you," Mr. Archambeau wrote her electronically on April 15. "If you let me, I would be the best man, friend, lover you ever could have."

Unfortunately, he lived in Michigan which was one of the earliest states to extend stalking laws to cyber space.  5  It was hard to find information, but I believe he was charged with a misdemeanor. 6

 7

(source) 

Former White House intern Tangela Burkhart stalked George Stephanopoulos (then President Clinton’s communications adviser) while at the White House and in the years following. When he moved to New York City, so did she.  8 In late 1999, Burkhart was spotted three days in a row at a coffeehouse Stephanopoulos frequented.  In 1998, she was arrested twice for stalking him. 9 In early 2000, she was ordered to stay away from parts of New York City. 8

After their daughter went missing in 1974, the family of Amy Billig received consent phone calls for nearly 20 years from a man who claimed that he knew where Amy was, or he knew what was being done to Amy:

Throughout the ordeal, the one constant in their lives was the caller -- Mrs. Billig describes his voice as "low, threatening" -- from whom they began hearing within weeks of the disappearance. In one call, according to court documents filed in the case against Mr. Blair, the man told Mrs. Billig that "she would be abducted like her daughter and sold into a slave trade." In another, he told her she only had two weeks to live. 10.

In October of 1995, the police finally caught up with him. By tracing his calls to a cell phone they discovered that the caller was Henry J. Blair, a 47 year old veteran of the United States Customs Service. A married guy with two kids. He was found guilty of  misdemeanor stalking in March of 1996. Blair claimed:

In his confession, Blair blamed his calls on obsessive-compulsive behavior arising, he said, from the stress of his job. He claimed he never sought psychiatric counseling because it might have wrecked his career. “Just a bunch of crank calls” is how he described his vicious campaign, insisting that he “would never act out on anything…. The pressures would mount. I would call, and then it would subside.” 11

Finally, this article:

What 9 year old pre-internet says that?! I guess he got it from a song?

1. Bruni, Frank. “Behind the Jokes, a Life Of Pain and Delusion; For Letterman Stalker, Mental Illness Was Family Curse and Scarring Legacy.” The New York Times, November 22, 1998, sec. New York. https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/22/nyregion/behind-jokes-life-pain-delusion-for-letterman-stalker-mental-illness-was-family.html

2. “Letterman Tot Kidnap Plot Foiled.” Accessed February 13, 2020. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/letterman-tot-kidnap-plot-foiled/.

3. Moffatt, Gregory K. Blind-Sided: Homicide Where It Is Least Expected. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2000. 94-95.

4. EW.com. “Six Years Ago Rebecca Schaeffer Was Fatally Shot.” Accessed February 13, 2020. https://ew.com/article/1995/07/14/six-years-ago-rebecca-schaeffer-was-fatally-shot/

5. Lewis, Peter H. “Persistent E-Mail: Electronic Stalking or Innocent Courtship?” The New York Times, September 16, 1994, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/16/us/persistent-e-mail-electronic-stalking-or-innocent-courtship.html.

6. Casey, Eoghan. Digital Evidence and Computer Crime: Forensic Science, Computers and the Internet. 2nd ed. London ; San Diego, Calif: Academic Press, 2004. 160.

7. Stephanopoulos, George. All Too Human: A Political Education. Boston: Back Bay Books, 1999. 298.

8. The Buffalo News. “EX-BUFFALONIAN IS ORDERED TO AVOID STEPHANOPOULOS,” January 13, 2000. https://buffalonews.com/2000/01/13/ex-buffalonian-is-ordered-to-avoid-stephanopoulos/.

9. Barron, James. “Public Lives.” The New York Times, September 21, 1999, sec. New York. https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/21/nyregion/public-lives.html.

10. Navarro, Mireya. “The Night Caller: 21 Years of Unspeakable Grief.” The New York Times, December 3, 1995, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/03/us/the-night-caller-21-years-of-unspeakable-grief.html.

11. PEOPLE.com. “The Night Caller.” Accessed February 14, 2020. https://people.com/archive/the-night-caller-vol-45-no-8/.

[iraniq]

Imagine... Photographer

You recently moved to a new place, only to be bothered by your neighbor Jared. Not that he was a bad guy, just didn't take "no" for an answer.

He was a painter. Rather eccentric. Sometimes rude, but mostly gentle.

The last 2 weeks he was bragging about this "art party" he was going to go, and he wanted you with. You of course refused. These people were nuts. Thinking they own the world.

- Come on, Babs, they are nerds, they are harmless. Come join me?

- Yeah, some of them might be serrial killers as well. Who knows...

- They are nerds!

- So...?

- You were nerd before...

- How dare you? Saying it like it's something bad. Nerds are the best people!

- Then why you don't want to come?

- These people are not nerds, they are free, with no worry in them wondering how to fill their life, they...

- Just come and see for yourself! If you don't like it, I'll being you home, safe! I promise! - his face was just so close to you. Blinking softly and smiling gently.

You wanted to say "no" again, but the curiousity took the best of you, and you agreed.

The morning of the big day, he informed you there was a dress-code: the weird the better. You picked a latex dress a friend of yours gave you for your birthday as a joke.

He was waiting outside the building. When he saw you, he was shocked.

- The sweet girl is gone, and I like the woman I see.

- Shut up, or you will feel her as well.

You took a cab to the place. It was an old theater. Turned into a party place.

Everyone were wearing leather, latex or simply their crazy grandparents clothes. It was fun. They were indeed nerds. You could hear Klingon spoken somewhere, Dothraki, and couple more dead languages including latin. They were all friendly, discussing art, music, old classic songs were playing in the distance, not to loud, everyone were excited but there was no unnecessary fuzz, no rush... Just go with the flow.

You were at wrong about these people...

It was around 3 in the morning, when you decide to leave.

- J... Can we leave already, I am so sleepy.

- Someone isn't a party animal?

- Someone is too old for this shit.

- Old... - he laughed. - OK, mistress!

While he was saying "goodbye" to his friends, you couldn't miss to see how low his pants were... Was he even wearing any underwear. Did he forgot, or it was in purpose... Not that you wanted to know.

As you left, he suggested a short cut through the back yard of the paper factory. There were some trash bags left there, to be gathered in the morning. You were half drunk, so it seemed like a good idea.

- J, hey Jared!

- Yes?

- Pose for me! - you took your phone out of your purse.

- Are you kidding me!

- Bitch, it's HTC U 11! - you yelled.

- K! - he waved at you - Just chill, OK? - he wakes to the trash, as you stood in front of them and jumped there.

- That's it? Aren't you gonna pose?

- I was waiting for you to ask. - he made a pose. You almost dropped your phone, from fun and from his gorgeous beauty, but in the end you managed to take a picture.

- I am done! - you proudly stared at your phone.

- Good, let's go home, before we get arrested.

- What!

- We trespassed in forbidden area.

- You said it was a short cut!

- I never said it was a legal one. - he winked at you. - Let me see! - he took your phone.

- Man, I forgot to put my undies, such a shame. - he laughed and hugged you. Leading you home.

------

@diyunho @rhina988 @nikkitasevoli @auntiemama1 @sookieblack12 @spillinginkwithlove @jayded-dreams @cadeathens @fanalityfiction @lady-grinning-soul-k @lylabell2013 @larissaivanov @lostnorthofheaven @leto-madness @elliegrace139 @heavenlygaga

[wallpaperpainter]

Attending Art And Craft For Kindergarten Can Be A Disaster If You Forget These 22 Rules | Art And Craft For Kindergarten

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley is aperture a summer preschool affairs for kids ages three and four at its Yerington facility.

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The affairs will affection childcare, educational and adorning programming and circadian breakfast and lunch. The five-day-per-week affairs will activate June 29 and is free. It runs through Aug. 14.

Sessions are capped at eight kids anniversary and will be offered from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Kids charge be absolutely absurd trained, and the 16 spots are accessible on a first-come, aboriginal served basis.

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The affairs will be housed in the Club’s accepted boyhood center, in abstracted classrooms upstairs. Programming will accommodate arts and crafts, account and playtime.

The summer affairs is fabricated accessible through a allowance from the Estelle J. Kelsey Foundation.

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“We accept a long-running and actual able accord with our accompany at the Estelle J. Kelsey Foundation, and this is aloof addition archetype of the abundant assignment they do,” said Travis Crowder, the Club’s arch able officer. “We can’t acknowledge them abundant for dispatch up to advice our community.”

Families can annals accouchement at bgcmasonvalley.org or by calling 463-2334.

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Amy Alonzo covers Mason Valley and rural Nevada. Reach her at aalonzo@masonvalleynews.com or (775) 741-8588. Here’s how you can abutment advancing advantage and bounded journalism. 

This commodity originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason

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[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/technology/entertainment/how-will-satan-adam-play-in-2019/

How Will Satan & Adam Play in 2019?

An interracial blues duo born in 1980s Harlem was a symbol of harmony in a tense time. But times have changed.

May 2, 2019

“I can’t believe how many white people are in Harlem now,” Adam Gussow said. He was strolling around the neighborhood, marveling at how much the place had changed since he was a Columbia University grad-school dropout in the 1980s. “I was the only white guy in Harlem at the time. I just saw a white guy jogging. You never used to see that.”

But he was more than an interloper in Harlem all those years ago. He was the harmonica player in a blues duo called Satan & Adam that started off playing on the sidewalk of 125th Street and then went on to tour the country, make a record that charted, and even appear briefly on a U2 album.

“Back then,” he said, “everyone used to tell me, ‘Don’t go to Harlem.’ I would say, ‘Why not?’”

It was in Harlem that he met Sterling Magee, the guitarist he would play with for the next 12 years. Mr. Gussow was in town for the New York premiere of a documentary about the band. The movie, “Satan & Adam,” opened in theaters last month, and it starts streaming on Netflix early this summer.

“I feel like Rip Van Winkle. I’ve finally woken up, and now everything is different.” He turned reflective: “I wonder if anyone still remembers Sterling.”

Long before Mr. Gussow’s arrival in Harlem, Sterling Magee had been a neighborhood eccentric who called himself “Mr. Satan.” He was the bluesman of 125th Street, wailing on electric guitar, singing soulfully, and stamping out a rhythm with a pair of high-hat cymbals. He had a Moses-like beard, and rumor was he used to play in the bands of Ray Charles and Etta James and had performed with James Brown at the Apollo.

As the story goes, Mr. Gussow was getting over a bad breakup, and he wandered up into Harlem one day and encountered Mr. Magee. Feeling the blues in his bones, Mr. Gussow took out his harmonica and started jamming with him. Passers-by were riveted by the unlikely pair, and Mr. Magee’s tip jar filled up quickly, so he said Mr. Gussow could come back.

Racial tensions in the winter of 1986 were boiling over in New York in the wake of the Howard Beach attacks and the massive protests that followed. The duo’s image of musical harmony was soon picked up by the media, and they became a local news sensation. They played Central Park SummerStage, appeared on U2’s “Rattle and Hum” album, toured with Bo Diddley, and performed at the New Orleans jazz festival.

“They were playing the kind of Chicago blues I don’t think anyone was playing anymore much less in New York,” said David Fricke, a writer for Rolling Stone. “Here was this guy who did his time in the trenches, and this other guy who could play in that school and galvanize him.” He added, “The fact that they united at a time of racial tension is something important that should be paid mind, but if they sucked, no one would have cared.”

Mr. Gussow is now 61 and lives in Oxford, Miss. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton and he teaches English and Southern studies at the University of Mississippi. After his flight into town for the premiere, he was eager to retrace his footsteps in Harlem. Mr. Magee did not make the trip. He is now 82 and lives in a nursing home in Gulfport, Fla. He doesn’t play the guitar much anymore and his thoughts about the documentary were scattered during a phone interview last month.

“I’m still Mr. Satan,” he said. “I’m Mr. Satan all the way. There’s no explanation. I am truly Satan. The message I’m giving is the truth, and the truth shall set me free.”

I asked if he liked the documentary. After some silence, his caretaker spoke.

“We’ve shown it three times here,” he said, addressing Mr. Magee. “Your family saw it at a big showing. Then here at Boca Ciega. Don’t you remember all the fan mail, Sterling?”

I asked about Harlem.

“I miss Harlem,” he said. “My music reflects the energy of Harlem because it is my home and she was pretty. Maybe Harlem has changed but I haven’t.”

The tale of two musicians from different walks of life is the familiar heart of the documentary, but as a roiling national conversation about race is taking place in 2019, it’s hard not to wonder how their story fits into New York today. In the film, the Rev. Al Sharpton, who rose to prominence as the organizer of the Howard Beach protests that winter of 1986, considers as much. “To see two people that came from two diametrically opposite existences in the streets of Harlem,” he said, “even if it violates tribal code, takes a lot of self-confidence, a lot of courage, or a lot of ignorance to the environment that you’re in.”

The documentary focuses heavily on the myth of Sterling Magee. Born in 1936 in Mount Olive, Miss., he grew up attending a Baptist church and worrying his mother when he discovered the blues. He served as a paratrooper in Germany before recording hits for Ray Charles’s Tangerine label in the 1960s. In the 1980s, he radically reinvented himself in Harlem as Mr. Satan. Eventually, Mr. Magee suffers a nervous breakdown and disappears and is later found by the filmmakers living in Florida.

Mr. Gussow’s origins receive less screen time. Born in 1958 and raised in Congers, N.Y., Mr. Gussow’s father, Alan, was a celebrated landscape painter, and his mother, Joan, is an influential nutritionist who The Times once called the “matriarch of the eat-locally-think-globally food movement.” A 2010 article in the Home section of The Times visited his mother’s house overlooking the Hudson River, and his uncle, Mel, was a theater critic for The Times. He discovered the harmonica in his teens and he dropped out of graduate school in his 20s to busk on the streets of Paris.

“It’s funny, I think about my class position now sometimes in regards to all this,” Mr. Gussow said. “My parents had no money. We grew up poor in a big house. My grandfather was Lithuanian and grew up dirt poor.” His grandfather, he said, later founded a successful publishing company that printed trade magazines. “I had rich grandparents. But they never gave us any money. They lived in Sutton Place, but the world of Saks Fifth Avenue was not my world. I grew up raising chickens.

“The first time I ever felt class was at school,” he continued. “All the kids would go on ski vacations, and my parents got me oversize ski shoes. I’m not complaining, but that’s when I got my first real sense of class. I had a real chip on my shoulder after that because I realized there was this whole world of privilege I didn’t know about. I went to Princeton, but I also cleaned bathrooms at Princeton.”

He added: “Sterling was colorblind to me. I needed mentoring, and he provided that.”

In 2019, this kind of racial imbalance is seen in a much less forgiving light. But Mr. Magee said such comparisons fatigued him. “When we get together, I’m Mr. Satan and he’s Mr. Gussow,” he said. “I want to put the message out that Mr. Satan is in love with this person, and that I don’t give a damn about all that stuff.”

Some might say Mr. Gussow has grappled with the blues, its appropriation, and privilege in his work as a scholar. In 1995, he wrote an essay for Harper’s Magazine about his experiences with Mr. Magee, and he later published a memoir, “Mister Satan’s Apprentice.” At the University of Mississippi, according to his faculty page, he has taught courses like “The Blues Tradition in American Literature” and “Cotton, Slavery, Travel, and the Blues.”

V. Scott Balcerek, the film’s director, started documenting the duo in the 1990s. “I guess it always occurred to me Adam might be considered problematic even when I first met him, but I knew his heart was in the right place and that’s what mattered,” he said. As the documentary tours the festival circuit, he said, he’s gotten a few critiques of “white lens,” but he added, “It’s honestly only white people who bring it up.”

As the afternoon progressed, Mr. Gussow stopped at a patch of sidewalk on 125th Street. It was his old busking spot with Mr. Magee. But the block was unrecognizable to him, and so he moved along to Mr. Magee’s old apartment building. No one there remembered much. Mr. Magee’s favorite stoop, where he displayed his street art, had become part of a hotel. But at Paris Blues, the dive bar on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, Samuel J. Hargress Jr., its owner, remembered the duo and was pleased to see Mr. Gussow. “Yes, I remember a good-looking white boy who played the harp,” he said.

Mr. Hargress, 83, stepped outside in his three-piece suit and pointed to where Mr. Magee used to hang out. He opened the bar in 1969, and he said that Harlem’s gentrification has been good for him. Business is lively and his building’s property value keeps rising.

“I stayed in Harlem because I couldn’t leave,” he said. “I never thought any of this would end up happening.”

“It’s like winning the lottery,” Mr. Gussow said.

Mr. Hargress then gestured proudly to his bar’s live music schedule.

“Got some rich white boys playing here tonight in fact,” he said.

[wikitopx]

From theme parks to living-history museums to outdoor adventure facilities,

Greater Williamsburg is blowing up with fun and unique things to do. To help you plan for your visit — and not miss any of the greatest hits — here are the 10 most visited attractions.

[toc]

1. Colonial Williamsburg

According to many, this site is such a Disney theme park for history fanatics. Plus, Colonial Williamsburg's appeal isn't just for kids but also for who feels young at heart.

Visitors to Colonial Williamsburg are welcomed with townspeople, shopkeepers, politicians, slaves and more who called the Revolutionary City home.

On a daily basis, more than 20 guided and self-guided tours are available, including ghost walks, garden tours, city itineraries, and carriage rides. Travelers can also shop authentic wares and pattern 18th-century-inspired meals.

Recently, visitors crowned Colonial Williamsburg, said that it provided a professional recreated step back in time and helped them understand more about this period and our nation's history.

This history-themed park also earns reputes for employing knowledgeable guides and maintaining pristine facilities throughout. However, travelers warn that the ticket prices to access Colonial Williamsburg are abatement.

2. Jamestown

You've definitely heard the legends of the settlers that first arrived in the spring of 1607; of Captain John Smith's leadership; of Pocahontas' role in smoothing relations between the settlers and the Powhatan Confederacy.

All these historical stories are on garniture in living museums, exhibits and monuments clustered around a parcel of land loosely known as "Jamestown." Despite its colloquial associations, this area is technically made up of several historic areas.

First up: Historic Jamestowne, the actually archeological site on Jamestown Island where the original 1607 settlers were based. Next door is the Jamestown Settlement, a re-enactment museum with replicas of the settlers' ships, plus life-size models of their homes and the villages of the area's American Indians.

Close to that: Yorktown Victory Center, other open-air living museums that annals the British troops' rendition to the United States at the Yorktown Battlefield in 1781.

As a whole, the Jamestown area receives great reviews for offering three intriguing historical attractions within one space. Visitors often call Jamestown and its sites "captivating," "interesting", a place where "history comes alive." Many were also impressed with the engaging tour guides.

3. Water Country USA

If you stand the large crowds, you should be more than pleased with Water Country USA, say several recent parkgoers.

Some of Water Country's popular attractions include Surfer's Bay (a wave pool), Vanish Point (a 75-foot tower slide), the Jet Scream (an inner tube slide) and Big Daddy Falls (a whitewater rapids ride).

There's also Cow-A-Bunga (a kiddie pool area) and lessons can be arranged for less-confident swimmers (these cost extra). Visitors recognize the variety of water attractions and say the wait times aren't unreasonable at rides, slides and concession stands despite all the people.

You can find Water Country USA in the same vicinage as Busch Gardens, southeast of Williamsburg. It's opened from late spring until Labor Day weekend. Each day begins at 10 a.m., but closing time ranges from 5 to 8 p.m., depending on the day.

Single-day tickets cost from $45 to $52. There are bundle passes to visit Water Country several days or the water park, Colonial Williamsburg and other nearby attractions for a set price. Go to the official website for more information.

4. Busch Gardens

  One of the real perks of this theme park, located southeast of Williamsburg, is that it truly does have something for all ages to enjoy. And that's not just a PR pitch: Toddlers will love the Sesame Street Forest of Fun and the chance to meet some of that show's most beloved characters.

Bigger kids can enjoy rides and animal shows like Pet Shenanigans, which features trained dogs, birds and cats. Teens are the prime candidates to stand in line for thrilling coasters like the Alpengeist, the Griffon or the Loch Ness Monster.

Finally, adults aggregate to the themed country lands, especially the Oktoberfest village and its beer gardens.

Recent parkgoers appreciate the grounds as well maintained, though they do warn that you'll do a lot of walking so you should bring comfortable shoes. Travelers also say that while the food here is priced like typical park food, the quality is much higher than what they've encountered at other theme parks.

5. Jamestown Glasshouse

This replica of a colonial glasshouse allows visitors to get a feel for how artists produced glass centuries ago. The structure was built in 1608 when settlers first arrived at the colony.

Travelers can get a close look at what's left of the original furnaces and see modern-day glassblowers create everything from candle holders and vases to wine bottles and other useful glass products. What's more, visitors can buy some glass goods at the on-site gift shop.

Recent visitors were impressed with the glasshouse and said they enjoyed watching the glassblowing demonstrations. Many said the glassblowers were eager to share their knowledge of the craft and explain the process. Travelers also said you should bring some extra cash as you'll probably want to purchase something from the gift shop.

6. Williamsburg Premium Outlets

When you need a break from the history lessons in Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown, go to these outlets for some modern-day shopping. Housing stores like Nike, Banana Republic, Coach, Gap, J. Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren and more, the Williamsburg Premium Outlets provide steep discounts on brand-name clothes and gear.

Recent travelers were especially interested in the selection of shops and the deals available, though some lamented encountering parking challenges and suggested arriving early to beat the crowds.

The outlets are located about 5 miles north of Williamsburg; stores are open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

7. Williamsburg Winery

Though this winery is only 4 miles south of central Williamsburg, travelers describe it as a decent day trip and a break from the numerous historical sites in town.

The 320-acre winery features Old World- and New World-style wines and grows various grape varietals, including merlot, cabernet franc, malbec, Vidal blanc, and viognier. The winery offers basic tours and tastings, in addition to more elaborate experiences; there's also an on-site retail shop for those interested in taking home some vino as well.

Recent visitors said the atmosphere makes for a relaxable outing and many said they loved the varied wines in the tastings (and how affordable a standard tasting is). However, wine connoisseurs were a little disappointed with the quality of the wine and some mentioned the bottles in the retail shop were overpriced.

8. Yorktown Battlefield

With so many spots dedication to Colonial and Revolutionary history in the Williamsburg area, what makes Yorktown Battlefield so special? For starters, it's the site of the 1781 blockade and surrender of British troops to General George Washington in the Revolutionary War.

Secondly, it completes the "Historic Triangle" of southeastern Virginia's colonial sites, which also include Jamestown and Williamsburg.

But before you visit, a word to the wise, thanks to a healthy majority of recent tourists: If you're looking for a brief overview of Yorktown, just visit the Yorktown Victory Center at Jamestown.

There you can behold a re-enactment of this monumental war and surrender. However, if you want to actually tread the paths of Revolutionary soldiers, then you should visit the cannons and still-dug trenches of the battleground. Yorktown is approximately 15 miles southeast of the central Williamsburg area. Jamestown is only about 8 miles away.

9. Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, VA

The Muscarelle Museum of Art is part of the College of William & Mary and is located at Lamberson Hall on campus. The museum is a collection of gifts of art given to the college throughout 300 years of its history and is one of the top Williamsburg VA attractions. Until the opening of the museum in 1983, the art was scattered throughout the college.

Once placed in the museum, it was possible to not only better preserve the art but to also incorporate it into the College’s art curriculum and share it with the larger community.

Some of the most significant treasures are paintings by Hans Hofmann, Georgia O’Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, John Singleton, Henri Matisse, and many historically significant English and American Colonial painters.

Jamestown Road, Williamsburg, VA 23187, 757-221-2700

10. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum

Like all folk art museums, the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum will stretch your understanding of what art is. You will find an amazing diversity of objects, paintings, and sculptures created by very talented local craftsmen and self-trained artists.

They record everyday life and use bold colors and interesting materials, simple shapes, and imaginative use of fabrics. It is one of the largest folk art collections in the country.

Besides its permanent collection, the museum also often holds temporary exhibits of folk art on loan from various other museums.

Some of the most interesting exhibits are Down on the Farm, with a carved wooden dog Prince who explores the countryside in toys, paintings, and sculptures, as well as exhibits of folk musical instruments used by folk musicians in the 19th and 20th centuries such as banjos, dulcimers, and fiddles.

326 Francis St W, Williamsburg, VA 23185, 888-965-7254

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From : https://wikitopx.com/travel/top-10-things-to-do-in-williamsburg-702321.html