#queen anne victorian homes

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Lovely 1885 Queen Anne Victorian in the beautiful town of Mt. Holly, NJ. 7bds, 3ba, $690K.

This home is so authentic- it really looks like a Victorian may have looked, back in the day.

Original millwork.

The only thing that ruins it, is, you guessed it, the ever-present gray paint of homes for sale, no matter what the era.

Will this trend ever die, already?

I hate this, they even did the ceiling.

Beautiful rich wood fireplace and shelving.

Pocket doors do not look good with modern gray walls.

Beautiful pedestal sink and stained glass window in the powder room, plus the height of modern decor, a contrasting griege upper wall.

Lovely fireplace and alcove. I actually prefer a creamy off-white to dreary gray- it looks like constant rainy days.

Great original pantry with a door to the porch.

The kitchen was completely renovated. I don't mind white cabinets in classic Shaker style, and I love the chandeliers. The counters are okay, but I would've liked a more vintage-look backsplash.

Stairs and landing to the 2nd level.

Beautifully curved walls. Love the stripes and wallpaper border.

Oh, good night. The primary bedroom is gray.

I love that little ceiling fixture. It's so cute.

Small sunporch.

Renovated shower room.

Currently, a children's play room, but it could be anything.

Stairs to the upper most level.

Another bedroom up here.

And a new bath with a jetted tub.

The porch is so pretty.

And, it's a wraparound lemonade porch.

10,677 sq ft lot makes a large yard, plus the house has a pretty big back porch.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/48-Broad-St-Mount-Holly-NJ-08060/38133028_zpid/

[chaoticdesertdweller]

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania c.1895

1/2

[helena-bottom-farter]

The Carson Mansion, Eureka, CA in 1902

[sahmandbean]

How to Build a Queen Anne Victorian in The Sims 4 Like a Nerd

Yup. Like a nerd, because I take everything too seriously. My goal is not only to provide a step by step guide to build this exact home, but also give you the information you need to build a proper Queen Anne from a refence photo, floorplan, or scratch. What siding should you use? Where does the kitchen go? What kind of roof does it need? Great questions! Let's build!

The Queen Anne is one of the more popular styles from the Victorian era, and can still be found across the USA. It was mostly built around 1880-1910, although new constructions still borrow heavily from this style. Hallmarks of this architectural style include bay windows, bright colors, huge porches, and open faced gabled roofs. This will place perfectly in any American-based world with the right styling.

Before we get too far, I do want to mention I have a full video tutorial on my YouTube channel, as well, but thought these images would make a handy reference, too.

Floorplan

When you are putting together your floorplan, I recommend starting with rectangles and adding the balconies and bay windows later. On your first floor you will want an entry hall, at least one sitting room, a formal dining room, and a kitchen at the back. If you have a smaller home, like the one we are building today, the stairs will go off the main entry area. If you have a larger build a second staircase will be attached to the kitchen. The Queen Anne is at least two stories, but could be three with towers reaching up to four. The second and possibly third stories will have mostly bedrooms, but could also contain secondary living spaces, studies, a library, and so on. Common areas like living spaces and the kitchen will open one into another, as opposed to using hallways and small doors. The main floor will have a deep wraparound deck on at least two sides of the build, and upper stories will often have balconies. After you have your base floorplan in place, add some bay windows, towers, turrets, and dormers to get that famous Queen Anne extravagance.

On the main floor of my build I have the entry open directly into the office, formal dining room, and living room, as well as have the only staircase in the build. There is a small balcony off the back. This could be much larger but the smaller size worked well for my build. It is covered by the second floor balcony.

Exterior

Once you have your floorplan in place, you can start on the exterior. I recommend starting with the roof so you can more easily adjust your floorplan if need be. The Queen Anne has a mid to steep pitched roof (default pitch or higher) with open gables, covered decks, and bay windows. The bay windows can be roofed with either octagonal roof pieces or half hipped. The octagon will look more "original" and the half hipped will give a more updated look. Now that I have added the image I can see it is difficult to tell which level each roof piece is on, but I am confident you can figure it out. You're a smart bean.

If you are unfamiliar with roofing, I would like to recommend both the full tutorial video for this particular build on my YouTube channel, as well as my full roofing tips playlist.

For siding, you can go with painted narrow siding or shingles, and possibly brick and stone, although that will depend on your world and climate. The foundation will be medium to tall height and brick or stone. The Queen Anne style is a good opportunity to mix and match colors and textures. Victorians were the home choice of the wealthy, and they could afford the vibrant pigments needed for the colorful paint you can find on many historical and restored homes today.

You can extend the bright colors and personality to the spandrels, columns, and deck railing. Somewhat decorated columns are a good choice, and space them out every 2-4 tiles. Spandrels are the closest thing we have to gingerbread trim, and the railing should have some shape to it and not be too modern.

If you want more of a Victorian Farmhouse, go for more simple (aka cheap) colors, maybe skip the spandrel, use plain columns and railing, and perhaps add a cow. That could be a fun touch.

Windows in the living areas will be tall, letting in a lot of light, and the rest of the windows will be smaller and have multiple panes. Prioritize adding windows to the bay window areas, and then add more to make sure enough light is getting in. Victorians were pretty window heavy builds, and the residents really craved bright outdoor light. Given these homes were primarily built in the late 1800s, that makes sense.

Landscaping is limited only by your imagination and lot size. Generally the Queen Anne was built on a mid to large lot, so you should have lots of room. The main landscaping feature were bright flowerbeds kept in by low fences, often of wrought iron, a popular new building item. I always recommend turning on the move objects cheat when you are landscaping. Other good ways to add depth, texture, and richness without your garden looking a hot mess are: scale the same item up and down with the [ and ] keys; use multiple swatches and sizes of the same plant; limit yourself to one or two items from each category; and add rocks.

Adding soft dirt colored terrain paint under your gardens, foundation, and paths can add depth and act almost like an outline, lifting your build off the flat green canvas of the lot and really give that little extra something. Any paths you may make will be brick or gravel, and you can use terrain paint or floor tiles.

Interior

One of the more important things to add inside will be doors. Turns out they are important or something. I recommend double doors and arches, since we don't have pocket doors. You can leave them natural and match the floor color, or paint them.

Speaking of floors, the floor and any other wood accents will be mid to dark tone. Typically the floor would be made of whatever wood was available in the area, so if you want to carry on that tradition, consider pine (mid-tone yellowish wood) in areas with a lot of evergreens in the world, and so on. Or, do what you want, because you can. These are just suggestions in the end, even if they are the correct ones ;)

Walls will have molding and baseboards at the very least, and may have paneling or a chair rail in areas with furniture that is moved around regularly (dining rooms, office, etc).

Paint and wallpaper are both fine options, as well as plaster and maybe even tile in the bathrooms. You can use any color, as bright colors and patterns were very popular with the original residents.

Bathrooms kinda go wherever. I ended up with just one in this build, but fewer bathrooms in relation to bedrooms is more common in older builds. Tucking in a half bath here and there and having at least one full bath where the bedrooms are will be just fine.

The kitchen will go at the back of the build, and often has at least one door leading outside. It will also have a kitchen table and/or breakfast nook, and open into the formal dining room. The cabinets will match the floor or be painted. The counter layout will probably be a plain L, or an L with an island or peninsula.

In the rest of the home, wood tones and bright colors will continue through the furniture and décor. Fireplaces tend to be on interior walls, and you will want at least one chimney. Also, the game has style categories you can sort by, and Queen Anne is one of them. This can make building and decorating much easier.

If you want your build to feel like a more recent construction or just more updated, try these tips:

Change up the windows and columns. Exchanging traditional ornamented and painted windows and columns for something more streamlined and modern can update the exterior of a build almost instantly.

Lighten the floors and walls. Like it or not, beige and monochrome are in and a lighter, brighter space with fewer details like paneling and crown molding will instantly modernize any home.

Widen the arches between rooms. Try adding columns and plain spandrels in between the rooms instead of arches and doors. This will bring the home closer to an open floorplan without completely removing the division of space.

If you want to check out this build, it is on the gallery as Queen Anne Shell and my ID is sahmandbean.

If you're interested in reference photos and the articles I read to prepare this piece, check those out on Pinterest here.

You can check out the full tutorial on YouTube here.

Thank you for building with me today! Would you like to see more written pieces like this? Let me know! I like writing them but the time is more worth it if I know someone is reading <3

[marie-dufresne]

Happy Munday! Let’s talk about one of the renovations that just happened at Waldron Place

This bathroom was not only excessive (we had 5), but the cast iron pipes had rotted out so if we ran water in this bathroom, we got rain in the kitchen. 🙃 (have I mentioned that Waldron Place is a fixer upper??)

Since there was no real point in fixing it to be a usable bathroom as there are bathrooms on either side of this one, and my laundry was in the spooky unfinished basement, I had it moved up here! It’s not a wildly spacious laundry room like so many “dream laundry” on social media but I love it.

This was the first room in my adult life I was able to have renovated without actually doing any of the work so it’s a bit of a milestone room for me.

Wait. That’s a lie. I painted the radiator. But someone else removed and reinstalled it.

I’ve got some decor yet to add but overall, I am over the moon about this space. It’s also right across the hall from my bedroom so it’s peak convenience. 😀

[idkstudyblr]

Expansive in St Louis

[picked4design]

My Queen Anne Victorian home

[followjacobbarlow]

Amanda Conk Best House

[thoughtportal]

Brent takes us through another architectural style: The Queen Anne Victorian Style which included features such as a wrap around porch, copper on the roof, sandstone, marble, and bricks. Brent also points out the pitches on the roof, the ornamentation, and the over-the-top and victorian features. The reason they built this way during this time was because they could. Why? Because these additions were handmade with machines, not purely by hand. The machines made it easier.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Gorgeous 1889 Queen Anne Victorian in Omaha, NE for under $500k. 7bds, 2.5ba, 3,656 sq ft, with central a/c, $430k.

Look at the floors- the entrance foyer looks like it has original tile, and the new wood flooring has inlaid around the perimeter. Plus, all the wood is natural - no paint-overs.

Look at the millwork on the stairs, the wainscoting, and built-in bench. The wood looks like it's been refurbished.

Cute small sitting area in the turret tower.

They decided to go with a dark theme, but the house gets plenty of light. Look at the re-done fireplace. Beautiful original design.

This is nice, the dining room has a door to the porch.

This room looks like a dining room, also. Maybe the other room is supposed to be the 2nd sitting room, but this room has the beautiful built-in cabinet and look at the original fireplace.

The kitchen has hi-end appliances, but hasn't been given one of the horrid modern remodels. It clearly has the original footprint of the room and minimal modernization.

It still has modern cabinetry, but they did their best to keep it as original as possible- they left the brick wall and stove pipe opening where the original stove was, and put in open top shelving. Look at the staff stairs on the left, too.

That looks like a refurbished original cabinet in the corner. I would definitely have to ditch the gray walls, though.

Love this original looking sink in the guest powder room.

Beautiful wainscoting and millwork going up the stairs.

They went full-on funky with this bedroom. Looks like an original light, though.

I wish they would've papered the whole feature wall in here. There's a nice curved wall and I guess the bed goes against the black wall w/the 2 light fixtures.

This nice, especially if you need an art studio.

Not bad, they did a vintage-y redo in here. So, it needs some wallpaper and decor.

This bedroom needs some floor work. I would sand and repaint it.

The other bath is smaller and all it needs is some decor.

Nice laundry space in the basement, but that's not the best part of the basement.

They made an exercise room, but still not the best part.

Check this out- with a little work, this can be the coolest mini theatre or TV room. A sunken cinema. And they left the old theater seating.

Look at all the wonderful porches. It definitely appears that there's a big unfinished attic w/the turret. What potential. Wish they would've at least shown it unfinished.

There's parking, but no garage. (Look at all the windows in the attic space, plus that turret.)

4,356 sq ft lot

https://www.redfin.com/NE/Omaha/3524-Hawthorne-Ave-68131/home/103522512

[thepastisalreadywritten]

By Leslie Patrick

1 August 2023

Anne Boleyn (c. 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536), King Henry VIII's second queen, is often portrayed as a seductress and ultimately the woman responsible for changing the face of religion in England.

In reality, she was a fiercely intelligent and pious woman dedicated to education and religious reform.

But after her arrest and execution on false charges of adultery and incest in May 1536, Henry VIII was determined to forget her memory.

Her royal emblems were removed from palace walls, her sparkling jewels tucked away in dark coffers, and her precious books disappeared from the pages of time.

One of Boleyn’s books that has reappeared is the Book of Hours, a stunning prayer book, printed around 1527 with devotional texts designed to be read throughout the day, features hand-painted woodcuts — as well as a rare example of the queen’s own writing.

In the margins of one of the beautifully decorated pages, she penned a rhyming couplet followed by her signature:

“Remember me when you do pray, that hope doth lead from day to day, Anne Boleyn.”

The book vanished with Boleyn’s execution in 1536, then resurfaced around 1903 when it was acquired by the American millionaire William Waldorf Astor (31 March 1848 – 18 October 1919) after he purchased Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn’s childhood home in the English countryside.

The hiding place of the disgraced queen’s devotional tome had been a mystery for centuries, until recent research by a university student uncovered hidden signatures that helped trace its path through history.

The discovery

The book’s whereabouts in the 367 years between Boleyn’s death and its reemergence remained puzzling until 2020 when Kate McCaffrey, then a graduate student at the University of Kent working on her master’s thesis about Anne Boleyn’s Book of Hours, found something unexpected in the margins of the book.

“I noticed what appeared to be smudges to the naked eye,” recalls McCaffrey, assistant curator at Hever Castle since 2021.

Intrigued, she borrowed an industrial-strength ultraviolet light and set it up in the darkest room of Hever Castle.

Ultraviolet light is often used to examine historical documents because ink absorbs the ultraviolet wavelength, causing it to appear darker against the page when exposed.

“The words just came through. It was incredible to see them underneath the light, they were completely illuminated,” the curator recalls.

McCaffrey’s theory is that the words were erased during the late Victorian era when it was popular to cleanse marginalia from books or manuscripts.

But thanks to her extraordinary detective work, these erased words turned out to be the key that unlocked the tale of the book’s secret journey from certain destruction at the royal court to safety in the hands of a dedicated group of Boleyn’s supporters.

The guardians

Indeed, various pages throughout the text reveal the names and notations of a string of Kentish women — Elizabeth Hill, Elizabeth Shirley, Mary Cheke, Philippa Gage, and Mary West — who banded together to safeguard Anne's precious book and keep her memory alive.

While it’s unclear how the book was initially passed to these women, Anne Boleyn expert Natalie Grueninger suggests it was gifted by Anne to a woman named Elizabeth Hill.

Elizabeth grew up near Hever Castle, and her husband, Richard Hill, was sergeant of the King’s Cellar at Henry VIII’s court.

There are records of the Hill’s playing cards with the king, and there may have been a friendship between Elizabeth and the queen that prompted Boleyn to pass her prayer book on before her execution.

“This extended Kentish family kept the book safe following Anne’s demise, which was an incredibly brave and bold act considering it could have been considered treasonous,” says Grueninger, podcaster and author of the book The Final Year of Anne Boleyn.

Anne’s Book of Hours was passed between mothers, daughters, sisters, and nieces until the late sixteenth century, when the last name makes its appearance in its margins.

“This story is an example of the women in the family prioritizing loyalty, friendship, fidelity, and a personal connection to Anne,” says McCaffrey.

“The fact that the women have kept it safe is a really beautiful story of solidarity, community, and bravery.”

The book, currently on display at Hever Castle, is a touchstone of the enigma that was Anne Boleyn.

Castle historian and assistant curator Owen Emmerson points out that the book contains Anne’s DNA on the pages from where she touched and kissed it during her daily devotions.

“This was a really beloved possession of hers,” says Emmerson.

“Because of what happened to Anne Boleyn, we don’t have a vast amount of information in Anne’s own words. But the physical remnants of her use of the book, and the construction of that beautiful little couplet, have her identity in them.”

While Anne’s Book of Hours has finally found its way home, the research into this intriguing historical mystery is not yet over.

McCaffrey continues to chart the book’s provenance through the centuries to find out where it was hiding all this time.

The discovery of the inscriptions illuminates the book’s furtive journey, providing us with a glimpse into the controversy, loyalty, and fascination that Anne Boleyn has engendered for the past 500 years.

[chaoticdesertdweller]

Detroit, MI c.190

[bradshawssugarbaby]

Timeless - Bob Floyd x Reader

A/N: Literally my first attempt at a fic in forever so bare with me, but I had this idea and I couldn't not do it. Also definitely inspired by Timeless by Taylor Swift in a way so don't mind me.

pairing: Lt. Robert Floyd x reader

warnings/content: no warnings, extra cute Bob. mutual pining. lots of fluff. mild angst if you squint.

word count: 2.6k

The cool, crisp November air tickled the back of your neck as you walked down the street, orange, red and yellow leaves peppering the sidewalks, the smells of autumn air filling your nose. You frowned as you zipped your jacket up further to cover you better, the breeze sending a shiver down you. The streets were buzzing with people out and about to finish their preparations for Thanksgiving. It was still a week or so away, but, no one leaves anything to the last minute around here, especially not when it comes to homemade pies and cornbread dressing. The smell of fresh brewing coffee swirled around you as you made your way closer to your favourite local bake shop, enveloping your senses as you walked. You stopped as something - someone caught your eye. You froze in your steps as you peered in the window of the bakery, and you almost gasped in surprise at who you saw standing in line to order. A tall man, with neatly styled dark blonde hair, wire framed glasses, and the most stunning blue eyes you’d ever seen - it had to be him.

Suddenly, he turned and saw you, a large smile on his face as he waved, as if he’d just seen his long lost best friend. In a way, he had. 

Robert Floyd had been your neighbour growing up, his house was two doors down from your parents - a pretty Victorian-Queen Anne style home that sat on the corner of the street. His mother had always kept her garden looking immaculate, like something out of a home and garden magazine. He was the youngest of three kids, with an older brother and older sister who were both outgoing and popular in school - Robert had always been shy and more reserved than his siblings. 

You moved in when you were 6, just getting ready to start the school year in a new town, terrified of your own shadow. The first thing you noticed when you’d moved in, was the Floyd house and its picturesque landscape. That, and the adorable boy around your own age who’d been playing out front, and waved shyly when he saw you through the back window of your parents’ car as you drove past. For the next 12 years, you and Robert Floyd, or Bobby as you’d always called him, had been best friends - practically inseparable friends, in fact. You did everything together possible. From bike rides to church on Sundays to trick-or-treating to sports teams, everything you could do together, you did. It was as though you couldn’t function as a child without Bobby by your side, and vice versa. 

That all changed when Bobby decided to enter the Navy when he turned 18. It was the first time you wouldn’t be going to school together, and the first time since you’d met that he couldn’t be by your side if you needed him. He was leaving you, and you couldn’t help but feel some resentment towards him for it. You’d wanted to tell him the day you graduated high school that you loved him, you’d wanted to beg him to stay or take you with him wherever he was heading, but for whatever reason, you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. Something inside you had told you that it was futile - he’d always wanted to join the military, since the day you met him, and when you were 10 and he’d joined a Navy League Cadet Corps group, it was like fate had decided what he was going to do in life right then and there. You knew that no amount of love in the world shared between you two would have stopped him, and you also knew that he’d never let you give up on your own aspirations to follow him wherever he went. 

As you walked into the coffee shop, you were captivated by the smell of freshly baked pastries and roasted coffee beans, but everything around you seemed to freeze when you saw him in person - as if the whole world came to a complete standstill at that moment. God, you missed him. You didn’t even realize just how much you’d missed him over the last decade or so it’d been since you’d graduated. He rarely came back to South Carolina for visits, and you hadn’t exactly spent a ton of time in your hometown since college either, but in this moment, it was as if fate had decided again - you needed one another. 

“Kristen? Kristen Taylor, is that you?” His voice sounded the exact same, as if nothing had changed about him in the last 10 or so years. In fact, he even looked the same as he had when you’d graduated high school, even the frames of his glasses had remained the same. 

“Bobby? Wow, it’s been years! It’s so nice to see you,” You smiled fondly as he gently placed one of his large, firm hands on your arm, as if he wasn’t sure a hug was appropriate after so long.

“It’s been too long. Do you have a moment? We could sit and catch up for a few minutes, if you want to? I feel like we lost touch for some reason when I shipped out to training, and I feel like I missed a lot.” He nods sheepishly, almost as if he’s making an admission of guilt. 

“I think I can spare a few minutes,” You nod slowly, smiling as you met his deep blue eyes, “I’m home visiting from New York and just wanted to take it all in, you know? I don’t really have an agenda for today.”

“Perfect,” Robert nods his head as he points to an empty booth by the window, “I’ll wait here for you while you order.”

A few moments later, coffee in hand, you’re sitting opposite him just like you’d done so many times in this very coffee shop when you were teenagers, sipping sweet teas together while sharing a freshly baked cookie or two. He smiled as he set his coffee down and laughed softly, shaking his head as he spoke.

“What have you been up to? You said you’ve been in New York? Like the city? That’s awesome,” He appears completely invested in hearing everything you’ve been up to since he last saw you. 

“Well,” you began to unravel your recent past to him, or as much as you felt comfortable disclosing. You weren’t quite ready to share how you’d had failed relationship after failed relationship since you turned 18, unable to find any man who could compare to him or his sweet demeanor. You didn’t want to tell him that your last relationship ended mercifully as you prepared to walk down the aisle with your ex, and how you got cold feet a few months before the plans were finalized, but didn’t know why that was until today. You had told your ex you just weren’t ready - which wasn’t entirely untrue, but until Bob reentered your life a few minutes ago, it hadn’t dawned on you why you weren’t ready. In reality, it was because no one could ever be Bob. No one could ever give you butterflies like he had, or make you blush when he kissed you on the cheek after asking you to dance at homecoming when you were 15, or hold your hand so protectively as you said goodbye to him when he left for California. 

Instead, you told him how you’d gone to NYU for journalism, how you’d entered the field and loved it instantly, how writing was your passion and you loved it so, and you told him how you’d landed the ideal position, working for a major news network writing copy and scripts for the on-air hosts to read off of, working your way up the corporate food chain to make yourself a producer. You told Bob how New York winters were biting cold at times, but how the freshly fallen snow was almost romantic, and how the sight of Central Park at Christmas was stunning, no movie could do it justice. You told him how you adored the way New York had become like a second home to you, how you felt like you’d found the perfect place for you to thrive, something you’d always struggled with growing up in a small town in the south. 

Robert nodded his head as you spoke, showing deep interest in your every word and thought as you spoke. He never took his gaze away from you and never once appeared bored or as though his mind was elsewhere as you spoke - he was complete invested and hung up on your every word. When you finished, he smiled and sipped his coffee before leaning back slightly in the booth, his eyes widening slightly, the way they often had when you were growing up and he’d been impressed by something he’d read or seen. 

“Wow, you’ve done pretty well for yourself then, I’d say.” He laughs softly, “I haven’t been up to nearly as much, just different tours of duty with the navy, I became a Lieutenant, and became a Naval Weapons Systems Officer, graduated from the Top Gun program, where the top like, 1% of all pilots get called up to. I then joined a task force and did a few more missions with them. I’m still on that task force, but I applied for a leave because it’s been so long since I’ve been home and I haven’t taken a leave in probably,” Robert hums for a moment as he thinks, his cheeks turning red as he speaks, “Honestly? Probably four years. My parents and siblings usually either come to me in California, or I go to my brother’s house in Texas. I don’t often need to come here, but this year my mama wanted to host Thanksgiving, so I opted to come home.”

You noticed that, as Robert spoke, he couldn’t help but keep his focus entirely on you. It was like he was studying your every feature, in case he never got to see them again. The look in his eyes suggested that he never wanted to forget anything about you, as if he was scared that if he didn’t analyze every freckle, every hair on your head and every word that escaped your lips, he’d lose you. Like you’d fade away again, into nothing more than a distant memory. His cheeks continued to blush as he realized he’d been staring at you for longer than he had intended. He shook his head and let out another laugh, this one sounding strained, as if he was trying to cover up any awkwardness that may have arisen because of him. 

“You know, I really am glad we ran into each other again,” he nodded slowly. “You know, you’re still the only person who calls me Bobby. Nowadays, I’m always Bob or Robert, if you’re my parents,” he smiles fondly as he mentions the nickname you’ve called him since the day you met him. You decided that hot August afternoon that Bobby just suited him better. He agreed, and despite his mother’s protests that his name was Robert - it stuck. He was always Bobby to you, and he always would be. 

“Is that so? No other girls have thought to nickname you Bobby as a pet name?” You laughed as you raised an eyebrow before sipping your coffee. You found it hard to believe that he’d never found anyone else. A man as loving and affectionate as Bobby wasn’t something you found every day, you’d learned. In the past decade, you hadn’t managed to do it, despite your best efforts. 

You’d never found a man who matched him perfectly - his sweet personality, his soft spoken nature, his deep baritone voice, his laugh, the way he always protected you fiercely, but yet, always encouraged you to do whatever made you happy, and whatever you felt was best. You’d never met someone who’d rather die for you than ever see you upset. You’d yet to meet another man who’d wiped your tears when you were heartbroken or cuddle up and watch your favourite movie with you over and over again until you smiled when you were having a bad day, or meet another man who made your mother comment with, “Kristen, boys like him don’t come around too often.”. Bobby would always and forever be the only man who could meet all those expectations. 

You knew it was unfair of you, and until today, you didn’t even know why you were doing it, but no man could ever be Bobby. You’d rather spend the rest of your life alone than with anyone who wasn’t him, you’d come to notice. You just prayed he felt the same way, or that you at least could convince him that he did before he went back to California, whenever that was. 

“Nah, come on now, Krissy,” he chuckled as he used his nickname he’d always reserved for you growing up, “You know I’d never meet another girl who I’d let call me that. We could have been apart for 40 years instead of 10, and I still wouldn’t have let anyone else call me Bobby. That’s always been your thing for me. It wouldn’t feel right if someone else called me that, you know?”

“I do. I feel the same about being called Krissy. I don’t think anyone’s called me that since you left,” you nodded slowly as you let out a soft sigh, looking down at the now empty coffee cup on the table in front of you. 

“Krissy?” He said softly, his hand reaching across the table to touch yours ever so gently.  

“Mhmm?” You hummed, not wanting to meet his gaze out of fear that one look at him right now would make you crumble and burst into hysterical tears. 

“You know, I’ve really enjoyed seeing you. Do you think we could see each other again before I go back to base? I leave on Monday, I’m only here for 5 days, unfortunately,” he said quietly, gently holding your hand across the table. You can sense he has more he wants to say, but it’s like he’s struggling to get the words out.

“I think we can make that work, maybe after Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, we could go for a walk? Our folks still live two houses away from one another, so it’s not like we’ll be too far away from each other for the next few days. It’ll be just like old times.” You confirm, nodding your head reassuringly, trying not to seem too eager or excited at the prospect of seeing him every day for the next five days. 

“Sounds good,” Robert smiled warmly as he stood up from the booth, looking down at you with an excited happiness about him, “I’ll come knock on your door after dinner tomorrow then, we can go for a walk like we used to as kids, just enjoy being outside and all that.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” you laugh as you shake your head, standing from your seat. 

You smiled softly to yourself as you watched Robert head outside, walking down the street past the window of the coffee shop, his navy quarter zip sweater and dark wash denim jeans suiting him perfectly. You bit your lip to hold back a grin as he walked away. You had five days to work up the courage to tell him how you felt. Five short days. You weren’t sure how you were going to do it, but you were certain about one thing - Bob wasn’t leaving South Carolina without you this time.

[arch-obsessed]

Inside the Barbie Dreamhouse, a Fuchsia Fantasy Inspired by Palm Springs

Barbie’s Dreamhouse is no place for the bashful. “There are no walls and no doors,” says Greta Gerwig via email. “Dreamhouses assume that you never have anything you wish was private—there is no place to hide.” That layered domestic metaphor has proved rich fodder for the filmmaker, whose live-action homage to the iconic Mattel doll hits theaters July 21.

To translate this panopticon play world to the screen, Gerwig enlisted production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer, the London-based team behind such period realms as Pride & Prejudice and Anna Karenina. The two took inspiration from Palm Springs midcentury modernism, including Richard Neutra’s 1946 Kaufmann House and other icons photographed by Slim Aarons. “Everything about that era was spot-on,” says Greenwood, who strove “to make Barbie real through this unreal world.”

Neither she nor Spencer had ever owned a Barbie before, so they ordered a Dreamhouse off Amazon to study. “The scale was quite strange,” recalls Spencer, explaining how they adjusted its rooms’ quirky proportions to 23 percent smaller than human size for the set. Says Gerwig: “The ceiling is actually quite close to one’s head, and it only takes a few paces to cross the room. It has the odd effect of making the actors seem big in the space but small overall.”

Erected at the Warner Bros. Studios lot outside London, Barbie’s cinematic home reinterprets Neutra’s work as a three-story fuchsia fantasy, with a slide that coils into a kidney-shaped pool. “I wanted to capture what was so ridiculously fun about the Dreamhouses,” says Gerwig, alluding to past incarnations like the bohemian 1970s model (outfitted with trompe l’oeil Tiffany lamps) and the 2000 Queen Anne Victorian manse, complete with Philippe Starck lounge chairs. “Why walk down stairs when you can slide into your pool? Why trudge up stairs when you take an elevator that matches your dress?” Her own references ranged from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure to Wayne Thiebaud’s paintings of pies to Gene Kelly’s tiny painter’s garret in An American in Paris.

For Barbie’s bedroom, the team paired a clamshell headboard upholstered in velvet with a sequined coverlet. Her closet, meanwhile, reveals coordinated outfits in toy-box vitrines. “It’s very definitely a house for a single woman,” says Greenwood, noting that when the first Dreamhouse (a cardboard foldout) was sold in 1962 it was rare for a woman to own her own home. Adds Spencer: “She is the ultimate feminist icon.”

In Barbie, as in previous films like Little Women and Lady Bird, Gerwig set out to realize a whole world. “We were literally creating the alternate universe of Barbie Land,” says the director, who aimed for “authentic artificiality” at every opportunity. As a case in point, she cites the use of a hand-painted backdrop rather than CGI to capture the sky and the San Jacinto Mountains. “Everything needed to be tactile, because toys are, above all, things you touch.”

Everything also needed to be pink. “Maintaining the ‘kid-ness’ was paramount,” Gerwig says. “I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much.” In other words, she continues, she didn’t want to “forget what made me love Barbie when I was a little girl.” Construction, Greenwood notes, caused an international run on the fluorescent shade of Rosco paint. “The world,” she laughs, “ran out of pink.”

[aimeedaisies]

The Princess Royal’s Official Engagements in March 2024

01/03 In Dubai Princess Anne; 🇦🇪

As President of the Mission to Seafarers, visited Dubai Ports World in Port of Jebel Ali. 🚢

As President of the Mission to Seafarers, attended a Women in Shipping and Trading Conference Panel Discussion at Dubai Ports World Pavilion. 👩‍💼🛳️

Opened Donnelly Lines British Forces Headquarters at Al Minhad Airbase. 🛫

Called upon HH Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum (wife of the Vice President and PM of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai). 👑

Attended a Royal British Legion Reception on board the QUEEN ELIZABETH II floating hotel. 🍾

As President of the Royal Yachting Association, visited Dubai Offshore Sailing Club. 🛥️

As President of the Mission to Seafarers, this attended a Dinner at the One and Only Royal Mirage Hotel. 🍽️

02/03 Departed Dubai International Airport and returned to Heathrow Airport 🇦🇪✈️🇬🇧

04/03 As Guardian of the Chaffinch Trust, held a Management Team Meeting at Gatcombe Park. 🤝

As Guardian of Give Them A Sporting Chance, held a Management Team Meeting at Gatcombe Park. ⚽️

unofficial Along with the Duke of Kent (President of the RNLI), Sir Tim (Vice President of the RNLI) attended a Service of Thanksgiving to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the RNLI at Westminster Abbey. 🛟

05/03 As Patron of Livability, visited New Court Place, to mark its 180th Anniversary. 🦼

Opened First Garden Cities Homes' Sheltered Housing Scheme at John Coxall Court in Letchworth Garden City. 🏡

As Patron of the Butler Trust, visited HMP/Young Offenders Institute Aylesbury. 🔗👮

06/03 On behalf of the King, held two investiture ceremonies at Windsor Castle. 🎖️

07/03 As President, attended the 32nd National Equine Forum at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. 🐴

As Grand Master of the Royal Victorian Order, attended Evensong and a Reception at The King’s Chapel of the Savoy. ⛪️🎖️

08/03 As Chancellor of the University of London, visited King’s College London’s Portable MRI Project at the Denmark Hill Campus. 🩻

As Patron of Save the Children UK, attended the International Women’s Day Luncheon at Bluebird on Kings Road. 👭💪

10/03 Attended the Global Fraud Summit at the Guildhall in London. 💻👾

11/03 Attended the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey alongside The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, The Princess Royal, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent. 🌎🌍🌏

Attended a Commonwealth Day Reception at Westminster Abbey. 🌍🥂

With Sir Tim As Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Butchers, attended the Annual City Food and Drink Lecture at Guildhall. 🍽️🍾

12/03 With Sir Tim Attended a luncheon on board Hebridean Princess to mark its 60th Anniversary in Greenock. 🥪

With Sir Tim Visited Peel Ports Group Limited Greenock Ocean Terminal. 🛳️

13/03 unofficial Attended Style Wednesday at Cheltenham Festival. 👒

14/03 unofficial Attended St. Patrick’s Thursday at Cheltenham Festival. ☘️

15/03 With Sir Tim Attended Gold Cup Friday at Cheltenham Festival. 🏆

16/03 With Sir Tim As Patron of the Scottish Rugby Union, attended the Six Nations Rugby Match between Scotland and Ireland at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇪🏉

18/03 As Patron of Save the Children UK, attended the International Financial Review Annual Awards Dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.🏅

19/03 As Patron of Sense, opened Sense Hub Loughborough.🦻👨‍🦯

On behalf of The King, with the Duchess of Edinburgh, held a Reception for Korean War Veterans at Buckingham Palace. 🪖

As Patron of the Butler Trust, held the Annual Awards Ceremony at St James’s Palace. 🏆

With Sir Tim As President of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, attended a Presidential Dinner at Fishmongers’ Hall. 🐟🍽️

20/03 Held a morning and an afternoon investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. 🎖️

21/03 As President of the Benenden Society and Founders’ Patron of Benenden School, attended the Centenary Service in Canterbury Cathedral. ⛪️👩‍🦰

Attended the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra and Choir Presentation Concert at Spencer House. 🎻🎼

22/03 Opened the new North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Allied Rapid Reaction Corps Headquarters Accommodation at the Officers’ Mess in Imjin Barracks. 🌊

Visited the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre and Ministry of Defence Medal Office at Innsworth House in Imjin Barracks. ⛑️🎖️

As Patron of Stroud Hospital League of Friends, visited Stroud Maternity Unit. 🏥👶

25/03 Visited MacRebur Limited. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🛣️

Visited the Lockerbie Air Disaster Memorial at Lockerbie Garden of Remembrance. 🌹👼🏻

As President of the Scotch Chef’s Club, opened Browns Food Group’s new facilities at Kelloholm Industrial Estate. 🐄

As Royal Patron of Friends of TS Queen Mary, attended a Reception at the Hilton Glasgow. ⛴️🥂

26/03 Opened the Rural and Veterinary Innovation Centre at Scotland's Rural College in Inverness. 🩺🐑

As Chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands, attended the Integrated Land Use Conference. 🚜🧑‍🌾

As Royal Patron of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, visited the Saving Wildcats Project at Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig. 🐯🦁

As Patron and Honorary Member of the Grand Antiquity Society of Glasgow, attended a Dinner at the Trades Hall of Glasgow. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿📜

Unofficial Sir Tim, as Chair of Trustees, attended the opening of the Adani Green Energy Gallery at the Science Museum 🌍🍃💚

31/03 unofficial With Sir Tim Attended the Easter Mattins service held at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle ⛪️🐣

Total official engagements for Anne in March: 49

2024 total so far: 134

Total official engagements accompanied by Tim in March: 6

2024 total so far: 29

FYI - due to certain royal family members being off ill/in recovery I won't be posting everyone's engagement counts out of respect, I am continuing to count them and release the totals at the end of the year.

[ampresandian]

My (unofficial) PJO season 2 episode 5 script part 1/4 (connected to this post)

Please ignore any and all spelling/grammar errors, I thought about rereading/editing and decided not to so you're looking at basically a first draft. I would love to hear if you think anything is out of character or doesn't really make sense, but a lot of it is basically straight from the book.

Images of script and copied text (bc I'm lazy and don't want to write out alt text) under the cut, just in case I didn't get enough spoiler warning or people aren't interested <3

Annabeth Tries to Swim Home

FADE IN: INT. DARK VICTORIAN HOUSE - NIGHT. 

A YOUNG ANNABETH runs down the hallway. A storm can be heard outside. She stops, looking behind her, then frantically all around. 

YOUNG ANNABETH: Luke? Thalia? 

Someone in the house screams. 

Annabeth begins running again. She turns a corner, finding herself in a study. The walls are lined with half-empty bookshelves, books and loose pages all over the floor. The antique desk in the middle of the room is broken, the chair overturned. Heavy velvet curtains block the light out, but one sways, as if the window behind it is broken. 

Annabeth backs out of the room slowly, then runs back the other way. 

She gasps for breath, but makes very little noise. 

Annabeth runs up a flight of stairs, into a new hallway that looks just like the one she just came from. As she enters different rooms, she hears her friends over the storm. 

GROVER (O.S.): Luke!

LUKE (O.S.): Thalia!

THALIA (O.S.): Annabeth!

Annabeth is still running, turning corners over and over. She enters a nursery with a broken crib and wooden toys strewn all over the floor. She runs through a dressing room with a mirror shattered on the carpet. She backtracks out of a bathroom with a cracked claw-foot tub and blood dried on the floor. 

THUNDER crashes outside. 

CYCLOPS laughs ominously off screen. Annabeth runs faster. 

She turns a corner and has to catch herself with her hands to stop from running into a wall. She pauses, breathing heavily as she looks down another dark hallway. 

THALIA AND LUKE (O.S.): Annabeth!

THALIA (CONT, O.S.): Run--

Annabeth starts running again. 

DISSOLVE TO: EXT. QUEEN ANNE’S REVENGE – NIGHT.

Camera pans down from black sky, pausing on Hercules constellation. ANNABETH and PERCY are standing on the deck, near the steering wheel. 

ANNABETH: (Turning from the stars to look at Percy) Percy.

Percy, who has been looking out at the sea, watching for monsters, looks at Annabeth. 

ANNABETH (CONT): Can I ask for a favor?

PERCY: You just saved my life.

ANNABETH: Soon... We should be coming near the Sirens’ Island. When we’re in range of their song… (Staring at the tub of candle wax across the deck) I want to hear them.

PERCY: Why? Don’t their voices kill people?

ANNABETH: They lure people in, Seaweed Brain. The song doesn’t kill you, you die when you jump overboard. The myths say they’re so enchanting because they sing the truth about what you desire. Things you don’t even know about yourself. If you survive...

Annabeth looks out at the sea. Percy looks at Annabeth.

ANNABETH (CONT): You become wiser. I want to hear them. (Makes eye contact with Percy) How often will I get that kind of chance?

PERCY: (After a thoughtful pause) Okay.

ANNABETH: Okay?

PERCY: Okay. It makes sense. If anyone would want to hear it, it would be you. What’s your plan?

ANNABETH: You’ll have to tie me to the mast. And, Percy, I’m going to want to get free. I’m going to beg, but you can’t untie me. I’ll just go straight over the edge to drown myself.

PERCY: (trying for levity) Are you trying to tempt me?

ANNABETH: Promise me, Percy.

PERCY: You don’t have to worry about it, Wise Girl. You won’t get away from me that easily.

They look at each other. 

PERCY (CONT): How long until we get there?

ANNABETH: A few hours, I think. You should go below. Get some rest. (before Percy can argue) Go, Percy.

Percy heads below deck, settling into a hammock in the Captain’s Quarters. He closes his eyes and falls asleep.

CUT TO: INT. PRINCESS ANDROMEDA STATEROOM – NIGHT

PERCY stands alone in the dark room. Near the windows is the golden sarcophagus, glowing faintly.

VOICES (INDETERMINATE): Beware. 

VOICES overlap and echo.

KRONOS: (laughing) You don’t have the courage, young hero.

Percy uncaps his sword, but remains frozen in place.

KRONOS (CONT): You can’t stop me. 

Percy struggles against his frozen legs, clearly frustrated. 

THALIA: (appearing suddenly) Well? Are we going to stop him or not

Voices continue their echo in the background. Percy stares at the unknown girl, clearly trying to solve the puzzle of who she is. 

THALIA (CONT): Well? Come on, dude.

Percy remains frozen. THALIA approaches the sarcophagus, sword and shield at the ready. Percy tries to call out for her to stop, but no sound comes out of his mouth. The voices crescendo. 

Thalia opens the sarcophagus, staring down at the golden glow in horror. 

THALIA (CONT): No. No, it can’t be.

Kronos’ laugh echoes as Thalia screams. The light grows brighter.

(PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4)