#tall actress in London

[the-vertical-woman]

Sandrine Anterrion London tall actress

www.IMDb.me/SandrineAnterrion

[hottiesbooted]

Model & Actress: Cate Blanchet

Photo: Yui Mok.

Event: "Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers" at Odeon Leicester Square in London Premiere, december 2001.

[nobigneil]

via sweetanj on insta: "There once was an actress quite small,

Whose friend was an actor quite tall.

They met up in London,

And got all the fun done,

‘Twas mischief and mayhem for all.

So what were these two scheming?

Hm…🤷🏽‍♀️🤐🤫😈"

[evita-shelby]

Juli! I want Eva and Brilliant Chang for the kid game plzzzzz

oohh thanks for the ask, i have been dying to dig into An Ni/Annie Chang

so An Ni's name means peace and/or tranquility, born in 1925, prior to the vendetta and is the reason Eva and Billy have for not being in England during the whole thing as they went to Hong Kong to introduce the baby to Billy’s extended family.

she inherits Eva's magical abilities and then some because Billy didn't think telling her he had a relative who was a Taoist shaman was important.

Very driven like her parents, very much daddy's little princess and scariest little girl in London.

i suppose she's on the tall side since Eva’s fc is 5'7 and Billy’s actor is like just shy of six feet tall.

scoured the imbd lists for a face claim and found relatively unknown presumably half-east asian actress Rachel Boyd

kinda looks convincing enough to be their offspring

[gardenwalrus]

Malcolm MacAlister Hall interview with Jane Asher, 'Forget Cakes… Jane Asher Talks about being Lazy, Leopard-Skin Boots and Learning to Live with the Darker Side of Life', Good Housekeeping (1 Feb. 2003)

Full article

When you think Jane Asher, you think cool, auburn, alabaster. You also think nice cake-lady. But, as is the case with anyone who has a spotless media record, there’s a great deal more going on. She is deeper, darker, lazier, more passionate than you would ever imagine. The perfect image that she’s acquired obscures this other Jane Asher, who knocks off The Times crossword for relaxation, describes herself as ‘left-leaning’ and discusses the idiocies of politicians with her husband, the cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, as he works on his drawings. ‘If you’re dealing with politics all the time you’ve got to be cynical, haven’t you?’ she says. When we meet, it’s the day after the Commons vote on extending adoption rights to gay and unmarried couples, and Jane is fizzing.

‘The debacle of Duncan Smith telling Tory MPs they had to take the three-line whip [meaning that every member must attend and vote according to the party line] - from a man who must be reasonably intelligent, it’s the stupidity that’s so mind-blowing,’ she says angrily. She speaks with a passion you wouldn’t begin to glean from reading between the lines of her biography: stage and film actress; astoundingly prolific author (18 books on cake design, home entertaining and childcare, plus three well-received novels); shrewd businesswoman (she has her own cake shop in Chelsea and Jane Asher branded goods are sold in Debenhams and supermarkets); mother of three children (Katie, 28, Alexander, 20, and Rory, 18); and wife of 30 years. At 56, she looks mesmerisingly beautiful to a jealousy-inducing degree: slim as a teenager and with an English-rose complexion, she genuinely appears 20 years younger than she really is. So, Jane: lucky genes, cosmetic miracle, or savage health and beauty regime? ‘I put it down to a combination of stress and stairs,’ she says. ‘There’s such an obsession now with reducing stress, but stress is just a natural part of living. And I grew up in a very tall house, and I still live in one now. I’ve had to run up and down stairs all my life.’ The tall house she grew up in was Wimpole Street in central London. Her father was an eminent consultant endocrinologist who identified Munchausen’s syndrome - where the patient feigns an illness to get admitted to hospital - and but for his modesty, it would have been labelled Asher’s syndrome. Her mother was a professor of music and an oboe teacher at the Royal Academy of Music. It was a happy, middle-class childhood. She and her sister Clare, now an Ofsted inspector, learned to curtsey at Miss Lambert’s School in Paddington. At 17, when she was working for the Radio Times, she was sent to cover a pop concert at the Albert Hall and met Paul McCartney in a corridor. He reportedly described her as a ‘rave London bird’. And the heavy-fringed Jane became the most famous girlfriend in Britain. It lasted five years, until she came home unexpectedly one day to find him with another girl. She walked out, and although he wrote And I Love Her and We Can Work It Out for her, she never returned. McCartney was said to be devastated. To this day, she has never spoken about it publicly. She has never spoken, either, about the death of her adored father who, struck by a terminal illness, committed suicide when she was in her early 20s. She has always politely insisted that these two events should not become just more public property. Her novels, surprisingly to some, have addressed serious issues - the traumas of infertility, betrayal and obsession. ‘Everyone gasps: “They’re so dark!”’ she says, ‘but life’s bleak and disturbing, isn’t it, really? We all float along pretending it isn’t, but when you stop to think about what’s going on at any moment, there’s probably a child screaming in pain within 10 miles of wherever you are. I don’t want to sound like a pessimist, but it’s bloody awful.

‘I don’t know why, but my fiction does tend to look at the blacker side. But hopefully with humour as well - as in life. In fiction, although it’s all invented, you probably are letting out more of yourself: your beliefs, your feelings, your attitude to things. I think when I’m writing fiction it’s almost like a bit of the real Jane is speaking to the reader.’ At weekends, the ‘real Jane’ likes to gather the family around her at their large house overlooking the Thames. ‘That’s when I do enjoy cooking for them all,’ she says. ‘Weekday cooking gets a bit boring when you’ve just got to feed everyone every day, but at weekends when I’ve got a bit more time I like experimenting with new things. It’s relaxing.’ Her family and her marriage to Gerald are clearly her foundation. ‘He’s just lovely and funny and we think the same way about things,’ she says. ‘Not that a 30-year marriage is all easy and wonderful, of course. But I’m very lucky I picked such a lovely man. It’s wonderful to have someone who loves you whatever you look like and whatever you do - I always think about that when he sees me in my bath cap, the most unattractive object in the world,’ she says, amid gales of laughter. ‘If you can pass the bath-cap test, I think you’ve got a very strong marriage.’ On most other subjects, she dismisses her achievements. ‘I’ve never been clever enough to plan a career for myself. I just sort of lurch from one thing to another,’ she says. ‘As a writer I have to have a deadline or I would never do it. It’s a combination of being lazy but also not being able to say no to things. But I’m just as happy lying on a sofa watching an old film and doing nothing. I don’t find it difficult to switch off and ignore piles of things I should have done. ‘Obviously I wrote all the books and did all the cake things because of the children. I didn’t want to leave them when they were young, and I could do those things from home.’ She made a conscious decision to put her children before her acting career, and turned down countless roles. ‘It wasn’t always easy. There were things I would have really liked to do, mostly plays. But I don’t regret it for a second. I think it’s made a huge difference, hopefully, to all of them being as happy as they are, that Gerald and I were around all through their childhood.’ And now that her children are grown, she has taken a role so far removed from anything else she’s done that it almost beggars belief. But it’s precisely because her children are now more independent and she fancies doing ‘something that’s terrific fun and in mainstream television again’ that she’s taking the unlikely role of the new proprietor of Crossroads Hotel. The revamped soap, set in a Birmingham hotel, is not in its third incarnation, and Jane will be playing Angel Samson, owner and queen bee of this buzzing hive of sex, intrigue, high-voltage frocks and clashing personalities. The word around the studio corridors is that the new, and hopefully improved, soap is going to be like Dynasty in the Midlands. Angel is described as being a superbitch, but what’s Jane Asher doing in the middle of this cat-fight? Can she even do bitchy?

‘Oh, yes,’ she says. ‘We’ve just done a scene where I’m absolutely horrible to Kate, the hotel manager, who’s played by Jane Gurnett. There’s nothing more fun than having a fight with someone you get one with. And,’ she adds, ‘we’ve got lots of wonderful frocks.’ She jumps up to riffle through her stage wardrobe, pulling out sequinned dresses and sky-high stiletto leopard print boots. ‘These are so tottery,’ she exclaims. ‘They make me feel like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.’ Despite her girlish enthusiasm for the role - and its frocks - she admits that this is the sort of part she might have once turned down. ‘If I’m honest, 20 years ago I probably wouldn’t have wanted to go into a soap, but they’ve changed so much. Now you get every kind of actor popping up in them, and they’re such a big part of our culture. When this came up, I really didn’t hesitate.’ The time was just right, it seems, for Jane Asher to mess with our perception of her again.

[evansisasadist]

This is a one shot about Audrey and Percy Weasley, how they meet and fall in love and what happens after. I've been working on this for ages so please enjoy <3

The playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7lpnKJskTx1N9dzHaqfsNe?si=IP7CfRU1RUaPnNk7X20hbQ&pi=9KgWvDqGTX2K1

A Rainy Night in Soho

24/11/03

Audrey Whitman is 23 years old and a part-time waitress in a cafe in central London. The rest she spends going to auditions and teaching classes. Because she is going to be an actress, it's not her fault that she got screwed over when some posh girl's daddy paid for her to take her role in one of the pantos. She got the lead role four years in a row in her local youth theatre. Audrey can sing, dance and act. And last year she got cast as part of the ensemble in Cats.

She can even do a halfway decent Australian accent. She sometimes uses it, because after three hours of being on your feet and politely answering tourists' questions it becomes a bit boring saying that you're from Newcastle and yes that is in England. Especially when it's been deemed the festive season and East 17 had been begging her to "stay another day" all day. For Christ's sake, they're only halfway through November.

She notices the regulars and there's one that shouldn't catch her eye but somehow does. A tall, lanky man who looks only a couple years older than herself. He's got a mop of ginger curls, a plethora of freckles and some horn-rimmed glasses that shouldn't look good on anyone but somehow suit him. He's come in everyday at around half past one for the past six weeks and each time orders the same thing. Tea with one sugar and a blueberry muffin. Every single day. Sometimes he'll even come in after work and get one for the journey back home. Audrey's seen him when she's picked up shifts.

She assumes he works in civil service although Audrey's never actually asked him. He just looks like the type too. He's here now and sits down at his usual spot. She makes his way over and asks him the same question she's asked for God knows how long.

"What can I get for you, love?"

"Chocolate chip muffin and tea, please." The change surprises her.

"Have you ended the love affair with the blueberry then?" she says, laughing. He laughs a little as well, chuckling under his breath. It's sweet.

"Gone off it. Too much of a good thing, I suppose." This is the most she's heard him say in a month and it's a pleasant surprise.

"Never mind, chocolate chips are my favourite, best of the lot."

"My mum makes them. I haven't been home in a while and I missed them."

"Where's home for you then? You don't seem like a native Londoner. I'm not either, if you couldn't tell by the voice."

"I like it. Distinctive voice, especially here. I'm from Devon, if it matters. Went to school in Scotland though."

"Boarding school eh? Knew you had to be posh." Audrey says, smiling.

"I-I won a scholarship." He says somewhat sheepishly, as if he's apologising for something.

"You look like the smart type." It's true. The man's hair is curly and flops down onto his forehead with a surprising lack of grace. He wears suits and carries a big brown satchel. To Audrey, this is the pinnacle of smartness.

She wants to talk to him before her name is called from the counter. "Audrey! Table three needs cleaning!" She smiles at the stranger apologetically and continues.

"That's me. So what was it-chocolate chip muffin and tea?"

"That's right."

"Good. It'll be out soon, love." He turns red when she addresses him. In all honesty, he ends up looking a bit like a tomato.

"Audrey's a pretty name," he says, his face still very flushed.

"Thank you. What are you called then?"

"Percy. Percy Weasley," he says with a note of pride.

"Well then Percy Weasley, your chocolate muffin will be out soon."

Audrey walks away, smiling. She likes this Percy, even if he does seem a bit posh. She grabs the cleaning supplies and gives table three a quick wipe before rushing to the kitchen with his order.

"Tea with one sugar and a chocolate muffin on the side. Table 1," she calls.

Her friend, Jodie, appears from the side. "Saw you talking to the ginger lad. What's up with him?"

"I think he works in civil service and he's from Devon but won a scholarship for a school in Scotland," she tells her importantly.

"Right." Jodie looks at Audrey, her eyes meeting hers. "He was looking at you in the way guys do when they fancy someone."

Audrey doesn't answer. Instead she just stares at the ground. She'd be lying if she said she didn't find him attractive. Tall, smart, And he seemed nice enough.

"Aude, you don't think he's fit do you?" Jodie says, obviously surprised. "I mean-he's ginger for Pete's sake!"

Audrey laughs a little bit. "Just because your ex was ginger doesn't mean all of them are bad."

Jodie's nostrils flair. "Yeah right. The muffin's ready," she mumbles, pushing the plate and cup towards Audrey.

She takes it and walks right over to Percy. "Your order. Just how you like it. One sugar"

Percy looks at her, "Thanks. Do you do this full time?"

"God no, I'd go mad if I did. I'm an actress. Well-I'm trying to be, West End's been my dream ever since I was tiny."

"That makes my job seem really boring. I work in um-civil service," he says.

"Well that's probably more stable than my job, " she remarks.

"Audrey. C'mon it's just before lunch. Get him gone," her boss whispers into her ear in passing.

"I'm really really sorry I have to-" she says. She doesn't want to go. She wants to talk to him more, he's interesting.

"It's fine. I-I get it. See you tomorrow," Percy says, smiling.

"See ya!" she calls, smiling back.

****

19/12/03

He comes back everyday after that and every single time they talk for as long as her co-workers allow it. And during the course of these talks, Audrey realises that she has a massive crush on him. Percy's smart, funny, sweet, shy and he cares.

She learns a lot about him. He has seven siblings, two older and four younger. All boys apart from his little sister. She also learns that he's a fanatic about the Beatles and the Smiths. It's a bonding point when they learn that their shared favourite song is "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds."

And the best thing about him is that Audrey thinks he likes her back.

One day he comes after work. The sun set at four and he's here at seven thirty. Audrey's just finishing up and there he is, his eyes cast down on the floor.

"You alright?" she asks, her voice soft. Mariah Carey is blasting in the background and it seems woefully inappropriate for reasons that Audrey can't quite place.

"No." he chokes. His voice sounds heavy and when he looks at Audrey his eyes are puffy and red.

"Oh Percy." she says. "I'm off in five. Wait for me outside." He nods and she finishes sweeping the floor in record time. She rushes to the back, tells her boss that she's clocking out for the night, puts on her clothes and lets down her curly brown hair.

He's waiting for her outside the shop, hands in pockets. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"Can we walk?" he asks. She takes his hand and he lets out a little "oh!" of surprise. They end up settling in the doorway of a closed shop. Audrey shivers slightly in the cold, even though she has a jacket on. "Are you cold?"

"A bit." He's wearing a long coat and he wraps it around her. "That better?

"Aye. It's perfect." They stay silent for a minute till she speaks. "What's happened?" The Christmas lights illuminate the dark streets and Audrey thinks that it's beautiful.

"I don't want to go home for Christmas." he says after a bit. "And I don't think I'm a good person."

"I think you are." she replies almost instantly. And she's not just saying it out of politeness. Percy Weasley is good, she's sure of it.

"My brother died five years ago and nothing's been the same since." A tear rolls down his cheek and Audrey places her hand on it, stroking it. It's only then she appreciates his height. She's barely 5'2 and he must be at least 6'3. She just reaches his shoulder.

"It's ok," she whispers, still stroking his cheek. "It wasn't your fault."

"He was a twin. They were identical. Fred was the one who died and George nearly drank himself to death after. He's got a girlfriend now but I can tell he wishes it was him. I wish it was me too."

"It wasn't your fault." she says again.

"It was. I left and didn't talk to my family for nearly two years because we kept arguing and they were on the right side and I was scared. I missed my brother's wedding and then Fred died and I wanted to die too. My dad got hurt before that and I didn't even ask how he was because I was too fucking stuck up." His tears are coming fast now and his glasses have tear stains on them.

Audrey's always been good at comforting people but now she doesn't know what to do. So she does what feels right. She leans up and hugs him and it doesn't matter that she's standing on tippy toes. He hugs her back, his arms strong as he leans down and buries his face in her neck. They stay like that for a while until he breaks away. "I-I'm sorry," he mumbles.

"Don't be. Don't ever be sorry for that." she answers, her voice strong.

He looks into her eyes, his are blue like the sea and she's been told that her's are like chocolate. And then he moves closer and she does too, leaning up to kiss him. It's not a desperate kiss, like the drunken ones in clubs. This kiss is soft and tender and sweet. She can feel his hands in her hair and suddenly he's the only thing that matters. They break apart, both smiling.

"How long?" she asks.

"Ever since I saw you from the window. You're why I keep coming back."

"Oh Perce," she says, the nickname coming naturally. "I like you too."

"I like you lots, Audrey."

He smiles at her and she smiles back and God, it's perfect. "Fag?" he asks. "I don't normally smoke but still."

"Me either. Special occasion for both of us." He laughs as he pulls a box out of his pocket.

Percy hands a cigarette to Audrey and searches in his pockets for a lighter. "Shit I forgot it. Oh well." He takes out a long wooden stick from his pocket and points it at the cigarettes.

Audrey bursts out into laughter. "Alright magic man. You need two sticks to light something on fire."

Percy looks momentarily confused and then goes bright red. "Right yeah. My fault."

"Luckily I have a lighter." She searches in her pocket and elaborately brings one out, handing it to him. They both stick their cigarettes in their mouth and lean closer together. He lights both of them and pulls her closer as they smoke.

"Percy?" she asks, taking a drag.

"Yes?"

"Let's have fun tonight. It's Saturday tomorrow and we're in London."

"What do you suggest we do?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. And he looks so handsome that Audrey might just stop everything. His glasses framing his freckled face perfectly. His curly hair that falls down his forehead to the point where you know he's styled it, or at least attempted too.

"Finish that and then we'll go." They both stub their cigarettes and she takes his hand as they walk through the streets of Soho. They can hear the carol singers and Audrey imitates them. There's some girls stumbling through the streets singing Girls Aloud at the top of their lungs. She starts to sing along under her breath.

"When the beat of the drum goes round and round." She sings.

"Into the overflow, where the girls get down to the sound of the radio." he replies, singing it back at her. He's got a deep voice when he sings and Audrey looks at him in surprise.

"You can sing?"

"I guess. I was in the choir at school." he says, somewhat shyly. "And I taught myself how to play the piano and guitar. My family didn't really have the money for it and I got some old hand-me-down books my brothers hadn't used."

"So musical genius as well as academic prodigy?" she asks, smiling.

"No, just a kid who liked to listen."

"Well that's good because I've been told that I talk people's ears off."

"I don't mind. I like hearing you talk." he replies, looking at her deeply.

"Well thank you." Another thought strikes her. "Also how on earth do you know that? You don't seem the clubbing type and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't listen to it willingly."

"I go to clubs sometimes. It's nice to dance where nobody knows you. I'm 26, not 50."

"Well I have got to see that. Y'know I'm trained in contemporary, jazz, hip hop and tap?"

"Well I think you're probably better than me." Audrey feels a splat of water on her hand and looks up to the sky "Did you-?" asks Percy before there's a crack of thunder and the rain starts.

"C'mon let's go. I know a place." she says, pulling him along. She takes him to a lively old man's pub and they step inside their faces flushed from the cold. She's been here before, one time with her ex and a couple times with her mates,

"Merry Christmas you two. There's a table back there," says the barman, speaking with a strong cockney accent.

The pub's packed, with tinsel hanging from every possible surface and shiny wooden tables. They sit down and Percy insists on buying her a drink, pulling out a crisp ten pound note as he does so. They both get gin and tonics and sit down talking about everything under the sun. After about an hour and a half, during which they have several more cocktails before settling on a glass of mulled wine each.

At this point everyone in the pub is drunk or at least tipsy and Audrey feels considerably lightheaded as she stares into Percy's eyes. Someone puts a song on a record and Audrey's eyes go wide as the start of "Fairytale of New York" plays. The whole pub starts singing along to Shane McGowan starts his ballad. Percy starts to sing along too and as the instrumental bit starts he holds out his hand to her. "Care to dance?"

Audrey doesn't even reply, just takes his hand and drags him up to the open space where there's several other couples, though all considerably older than them.

He holds onto her hand as he twirls her and she sings Kirsty MacColl's verse.

"They've got cars big as bars, they've got rivers of gold..."

They both laugh as the pub sings and they dance, he spins her around and she goes as fast as she can. They sing the duet at the top of their lungs and eventually their voices are the ones standing out amongst the crowd.

"You were handsome" she sings at him.

"You were pretty. Queen of New York City." he replies.

"When the band finished playing they howled out for more. Sinatra was swinging, all the drunks they were singing. We kissed on the corner then danced through the night." They sing together, still dancing.

They go through the whole insulting each other bit and then carry on with the song.

"And the bells are ringing out for Christmas day!" The song finishes as the music goes on and everyone cheers. Audrey looks up and kisses him again and this time he lifts her up so they're eye to eye. When they finish, some old man wolf whistles and another guy shouts "Get a room!" while the woman beside him slaps his arm.

"They're young and in love. Leave them be." she says and Percy sets Audrey down and she can see that his face is bright red.

They each get another drink before leaving and as they do an old couple stop them.

"Sorry, do you mind if we take a picture of you two. You just remind us of when we were your age." Audrey can see the resemblance. The tall, balding man has glasses and the woman is short and has dark brown curls and eyes just like Audrey.

She looks up at Percy and he looks down at her and they both say "Yes" in perfect unison.

"Where you from?" the man asks. "You sound Geordie."

"That I am." she says proudly. "Moved down here for work."

"Oh right." The man pauses for a minute. "What about lover boy here?"

"Devon." Percy replies. "About an hour and half away from Exeter by car."

The man looks poised to ask them another question but his wife interrupts him. "Stop interrogating them! Now let's take that photo."

They take the photo with the woman's camera and Percy gives her his address so she can send the photo later.

"How long have you been together?" the man asks just before they leave and this time Audrey's the one that goes red. It doesn't really seem possible that this is the only time she's ever been out with Percy, everything just feels so natural with him.

"Umm-" she stutters before Percy cuts her off.

"Audrey. Would you like to be my girlfriend?" he asks, turning towards her wearing a massive smile.

"I'd love to." she replies, smiling back.

Percy then turns to the old couple, who are both staring at them in shock. "About ten seconds." Audrey hugs his arm and she thinks that this is the happiest she's been in years.

"Oh my god Bert!" the woman exclaims and she hugs him. "They really are just like us."

"What do you mean?" Percy asks.

"I asked her out when my friends thought we were already dating. After a Beatles concert." Bert replies.

"We love the Beatles." Audrey says.

"Us too."

The conversation ends with both of them wishing Merry Christmas to each other and making promises to stay in touch. They walk out into the streets and it's nearly midnight but Audrey's not tired.

They walk hand and hand in silence. They don't really need words. She looks up at him, smiling from ear to ear. She won't say it, not yet. But she's pretty sure she loves him. Even if they've only been dating for 15 minutes.

"Thank you." he says quietly, looking right at her.

"For what?"

"For saying yes. I would've looked daft if you said no."

"Oh Percy" she pauses for a second. "I don't think I could've said no."

He kisses her again and they walk to Oxford Street to see the lights. It reminds her of when she was a little girl and she had begged to go to London to see a play. Her parents had taken her and her brother and they had stopped to see the lights. They were just as mesmerising then too.

"Pretty aren't they?" Percy asks.

"They're beautiful."

They stay like that for a few minutes, each of them not saying a word. It's colder now and Audrey starts to shiver.

"Do you want to go to a club? I'll show you I can dance" he asks after a bit.

"Do you have anywhere in mind?"

"Let me show you." He leads her to an alley and then takes her down several side streets until they reach a grimy looking building that has a modest queue. She must've given him a look because he does the raised eyebrow thing again. "Just trust me. I know the people who work there."

He walks to the side and knocks on the back door. A girl with short dark pink hair and piercings opens it. "Who is-oh Percy!"

"Hey Leanne." he replies.

"Come in. Davy's by the bar and- who's this?" she asks, looking at Audrey.

"This is my girlfriend." he says proudly, gesturing to her.

"Hiya. Me name's Audrey." She notices that her accent's coming out more and more now that she's drunk. Ah well. Best he gets to know her properly early on.

"Well come in then. It's proper cold out there." Leanne opens the door and club songs can be heard playing while the smell of alcohol fills Audrey's nostrils.

"Thanks." Percy leads her inside, nods to Leanne and then leads her inside.

It's filled with girls dancing in tiny dresses and shirtless boys with drinks in hand. It strikes her at this moment that they're not at all dressed for the occasion. She's in her denim skirt with tights and a white top and Percy's still in his work clothes, though he did take off his tie a while ago.

"Where are we going?" she shouts, trying to be heard over the music.

"To see some of my friends! You'll like them, I promise." he calls back, leading her by the hand.

He takes her to a corner where a man and a lady are sat with drinks in hand. They both look like they're mid-40s and the woman is resting on the man's outstretched arm. The man looks up at Percy and immediately stands up and hugs him.

"Percy!" he says in a thick accent. "How ya doing?"

"Good Davy. I want you two to meet someone." He holds up his and Audrey's intertwined hands. "This is Audrey, she's my girlfriend."

The woman gives a little scream and then immediately goes to hug both Percy and Audrey. "Thank god for you Audrey. We were getting worried about him being in the flat all alone. I'm Mandy by the way."

"How do you know him?" she asks curiously.

"What's a Northern girl like you doing down here in London?" Mandy asks.

"I'm an actress. I'm trying to make it big on the West End." she tells her proudly.

"Well good on you love. You asked how we know Percy, right?"

"Aye."

Mandy laughs and hugs Percy's shoulders. "Have you seriously not told her?"

"Told me what?"

"Percy sings here every Tuesday night. Fridays and Saturday's too in the summer. And he does it in our pub sometimes. Been doing it for about five years now, haven't ya?"

"And we've been trying to get him to do it more. But he's always at work." Davy alternates the last bit with fake jabs at Percy's shoulder. "You should come see him."

"I will." This new bit of information just makes Audrey fall for Percy more. He's tall, smart, kind and he sings? She's starting to think that this must be a dream and that Percy Weasley is nothing more than a figment of her imagination. Audrey pinches herself slightly and it confirms that yes, this is real.

"I just wanted her to meet you guys. You've looked after me ever since I moved here and you were there for me when Fred died." Percy says sincerely.

"Aw Perce. We're just some 40-something olds and you're young enough to be our son." Mandy says.

"Now what are you kids still doing here?" Davy asks, his dark skin shining in the strobe lights. "Go out and dance!"

Percy takes Audrey's hand as they dance on the floor. There’s bodies pressed up against them but they don't care. He dances with surprising coordination for someone so lanky and tall. The opening for "Crazy In Love" plays and everyone in the club screams. Percy spins her and they dance, both slightly unsteady on their feet. They move closer together and eventually their bodies touch as they dance. They point at each other as the song goes on and he lifts her up into his arms again as they're noses touch, his long and slender meeting her button one as they kiss. His hands are holding her waist and her’s are in his hair and it's drunk and slightly sloppy and Audrey doesn't care one bit.

She doesn't know exactly how she ends up at his flat but from what she can remember there was a tight feeling that squeezed her chest and the sound of wind rushing past her ears. She assumes it's simply the passing of the tube. What she can remember fully however, is them stumbling into his flat and her kissing him harder than she's ever kissed anyone before.

"Do you wan-?" Percy asks nervously.

"Yes." Audrey replies with full force. He takes her hand and leads her to his bedroom. It's neat and tidy but she's not focusing on the bed. She's focusing on him.

He kisses her again and then she's unbuttoning his shirt. There's a faint scar on his upper chest and she thumbs her finger across it. "How'd ya get it?" she whispers.

"Fighting" he replies with a small smirk.

"I knew you were trouble."

"Well I haven't always been good"

"I don't believe that." Then she sees his arms, covered in faded scars. He notices her looking and puts them around his stomach, looking down at the floor. "Hey-" she says, "I don't care. They don't matter to me."

"Really?" he asks, his voice small. Audrey's heart breaks a little bit then. How dare anyone tell him that he should hide them?

"You're beautiful either way." she says sincerely. "An-and these-" she holds his arms and holds them up "They're just proof of what you've been through and how strong you are." And then she leans up and kisses him with a sort of desperate urgency. Audrey doesn't ever want to come up for air because Percy's like oxygen. His hands are in her hair and he tugs at her shirt. She pulls it over herself and they both undress till they're in their underwear.

"Au-Audrey" he stammers.

"What is it?"

"You're perfect." he says and then he pulls her onto the bed and she laughs. He's gorgeous, skinny but firm. Lanky but lovely. She sits up and he places his hands on her waist. Audrey can feel them shaky and he's touching her like she could shatter at any moment.

Their bodies melt into each other and it's bliss. She never ever wants to leave him. He's perfect and they kiss and kiss and he keeps a steady hold on her.

They stop for a second and Audrey says breathlessly. "I think I'm in love with you."

He looks up at her, his hair messy and ruffled and kiss marks adorned on his cheeks. "I think I'm in love with you too." he replies. And then he kisses her again and again. And when they finish and just before she falls asleep in his arms, her last clear thought is "I'm going to marry him one day". She doesn't think a life without Percy Weasley is a life worth living.

****

Audrey's eyes flutter open. The cold winter morning's light is streaming through the crack in the curtain. Percy isn't next to her and she closes her eyes for a second. Of course it was too good to be true. Why would she have anything good happen to her?

And then she hears a man singing from the kitchen. She can't make out what it is but Percy's here. She sits up and realises he's left a button up shirt and some plaid pj bottoms for her to wear at the end of the bed. Audrey puts on the clothes, goes to the bathroom where he's left a toothbrush out for her. She cleans her teeth and then makes her way to the small, rectangular kitchen.

Percy is sizzling some bacon in a pan and singing along to the radio. He doesn't notice her standing there, leaning against the door frame. "So I started walking her way, she belonged to bad man Jose! And I knew, yes I knew I should leave when I heard her sayyy!" he sings while cracking an egg.

Audrey begins to sing softly under her breath, "Come a little bit closer, you're my kind of man. So big and so strong."

Percy stops in his tracks, looks towards her and breaks out into a big smile. "Come a little bit closer. I'm all alone and the night is so long." Audrey carries on, singing louder. He stretches out a hand which she takes almost immediately and they slow-dance in the kitchen. The song finishes and she kisses him slowly, savouring the taste.

*****************************

They get married two months later in the local registry office, a month after Audrey finds out about his world. Two years later Molly arrives, a little girl that's the spit of her father but with her grandmother’s slightly terrifying temperament. And then three years after that Lucy Diamond follows, with black hair, freckles and green eyes and all of her twin uncle's mischief.

Audrey gets a couple of roles here and then but mainly sticks to teaching classes. But when she does get roles, Percy goes whenever he can, eyes shining as he watches his wife perform. And he always makes sure to greet her with a bouquet and a kiss.

Percy works his way up the ministry, loses his hair slowly(though Audrey thinks he looks handsome as ever) and joins a band at the age of 45, becoming their lead singer.

Molly grows up to become the head of a major wizarding makeup company and marries at the age of 27 to a magical lawyer called Winston Jones. They go on to have a son called Nicholas and twins Vera and Jasper.

Lucy follows in her father’s footsteps and forms a band with her muggleborn best friend, Owen Lee Coleman. Together they take the wizarding world by storm, her with a high voice that sounds like a nightingale and him with his low but gentle one. They even break into the muggle scene and become a hit act, headlining festivals across the world. Lucy goes on to have a little girl named Ruby Lee Weasley, named for Rubeus Hagrid and her best friend.

*********

19/12/2053

They're older now but Audrey's hand still feels the same in Percy's as they walk the streets of Soho. "Baby," she says softly, "Doesn't this remind you of when we were young?"

"It does love, you know it does." he replies as the snow pounds their faces.

They cross the road and stand outside the cafe she used to work at. 50 years to the day that they fell in love. It's changed hands many times since then but the memories haven't . The spot by the window where he always used to sit, the corner where they shared their first kiss.

"I was lucky then love and I'm lucky now." Percy says and she smiles up at him. "My dancing girl."

"My magic man," she replies, "God you remember when you told me?"

"You screamed, cursed me, asked if I needed an exorcism and then if I was real. Course I do love." he replies, laughing gently.

They walk on, past the club that Davy and Mandy used to run and straight into the pub. The decor's at least thirty years out of style but it doesn't matter. Not to them.

"What can I get you?" the boy at the bar asks them.

"Two G and T's love." Audrey replies and they take their drinks as Percy pulls out his wallet for his bank card.

They take their drinks and sit down in a corner, sipping them slowly. Percy looks handsome still, even with the last little scraps of ginger hair hanging on to his head. "Remember when we took the girls here?" he asks her.

"We should take the grandkids, do you think they're too old for it now?"

"Probably love. Nicky's 18 next year and Vera, Jasper and Ruby will be 16. Doesn't matter though, they all know how we met."

"We could do it during the school holidays, Golden anniversary present. Invite Owen and Priya too and obviously Cynthia and Rohan." Owen's family are like an extra set of grandchildren to Audrey and Percy, helped by the fact that they've known Owen since he was thirteen years old.

"Tiny Dancer," Percy says, calling Audrey by the nickname he used when they first got together. It makes her feel all fuzzy inside, like she's still twenty-something and newly in love.

"Magic man?" she responds.

"Listen to the song." is all he says and she does. "It's our song Audie."

The opening of Fairytale of New York plays and the pub joins in. Audrey grabs Percy by the arm and starts to sing along with a younger couple. He spins her round and Audrey's still light on her feet, though of course their movements are slower. "When you first took my hand on that cold Christmas eve, you promised me Broadway was waiting for me," she sings.

The song goes on and when it ends the pub bursts into applause for them and the younger couple to their side. The girl is short, around Audrey's height and the boy is just taller than Percy once was, and they both wear glasses. She brings him into a kiss, pulling him down by his tie.

"Remember when you used to do that to me?" Percy whispers into her ear.

"Shame you don't wear ties anymore."

"I wear them for weddings only."

"Darlin', d'ya wanna ask them for a photo?" she asks and before he can answer, she drags him by the hand to the couple who are both very flushed in the face.

"Hiya, we just wanted to say that you remind us of how we were when we were young." she says.

"Really?" asks the girl, "How long have you two been together?"

"50 years exactly," Percy replies, "Married for 50 in February, we got married very quickly."

"That's amazing!" the boy exclaims, "We’ve-“ his face drops as he turns to the girl, “We’re not together Prachi."

“I know Toyin." she says earnestly. "Do you want to or shall I?"

"Do what?"

"Ask me out." Audrey smiles as her and Percy watch the pair.

Toyin stutters before saying panickedly “Yes-yes of course. Prachi, would you like to be my girlfriend?”

“I’d like that very much,” she replies.

"You know, he asked me out in this very pub." Audrey remarks and Percy smiles down at them.

"Well if we end up getting married we'll be sure to invite you." Prachi smiles. "Though not in two months!"

Prachi has long black hair that runs down her back and Toyin has cinnamon brown skin that shines as he smiles at her.

They exchange contact details and take a photo all together. A song comes on the speakers and Prachi exclaims "Oh I love this one!"

Percy looks nonplussed as he says casually, "That's our daughter's song."

Both Toyin and Prachi stare at Audrey and Percy at this revelation. "Sorry-" she splutters, "Your daughter is Lucy Weasley? As in of Diamond Lee?"

"The very same, we're Audrey and Percy Weasley." Audrey says, smiling. She took his last name after they got married, given that there was an Audrey Whiteman that she kept getting confused with. And because she loved him and his silly magical name.

"That's so cool!" Toyin says loudly, "And you know Owen Coleman too?"

"Well given that he used to come round to our house for dinner and we're Granny and Grandad Weasley to his children, I'd say we do." Percy replies.

"Can you tell them we say hi?" Prachi asks.

"Will do."

They dance some more and then bid their farewells to the younger couple, though not before whispering in Prachi's ear "You'd better tell him about that wand." Her eyes go wide as she stares at them.

"You-of course you're magic too. I should have realised, is it both of-" Audrey nods towards Percy, "Just him? I'll tell Toyin, promise."

And with that, Audrey and Percy Weasley step out into the snowy Soho night. A drunken boy and girl walk their way, screaming out "Love you to the end" by The Pogues. And Audrey hums it as she leans up to kiss Percy, her magic man.

"I love you Audie." he says.

"I love you Perce."

Three months later, the invitation for the wedding of Prachi Joshi and Toyin Adeyemi comes in via owl. 

[cynthiaerxvo]

don't read the last page || cynthiana

who - ariana grande, cynthia erivo. || @ariianaz where - the londoner hotel, london england.  when - new year's eve, december 31, 2024 what - after a masquerade new year's eve bash, ariana and cynthia have a revealing moment alone to ring in 2025. triggers - n/a

cynthia e. new year’s eve - the day that everyone looks forward to after a long, more often draining than not, busy year. that’s the case for cynthia, but not because the year’s been too much to handle or unexpectedly difficult. instead, she finds herself looking forward to the big celebration simply because of who she’s celebrating with. ariana had flown into london a few days before, and while they both still buzz with the excitement of the year past and the new year ahead, cynthia finds herself savouring every spare moment of their time together. they’d had so much of it this year - but who even could foretell what was in store going forward? all the brit knew was that she wanted to make every second of it last, to make it memorable for both of them, in any case. 

so she’s glad that the extensive planning and reservation-making paid off for tonight. they’re at one of the most lavish, five-star hotels in all of london, having completed a stunning three-course meal in a ballroom attached to this masquerade ball with already plenty of champagne in their systems. it’s a couple hours off to midnight, she thinks, but cynthia isn’t as vigilant to the time as she should be. she’s been too busy stuck to ari’s side, keeping their glasses filled and dancing to the music that the dj has chosen for the night. her experience is important to the actress, because as low stakes as this is, she’s determined to make sure her friend has an excellent time in her hometown. despite how sour the word ‘friend’ feels in her mind, even after all this time - but cyn’s accepted it. they’re friends. friends who may have agreed to kiss at midnight should they not find a different option, maybe, but that didn’t have to mean anything to the blonde the way it meant to her.

in a tight red and black dress, her usual stiletto heels, and an ornate maroon feathered eye mask, cynthia shakes the thoughts of the midnight countdown (and everything it could have in store) from her mind and dances her way back through the crowd with two more flutes of champagne in hand. she hopes, deep down, god, that nobody’s approached the singer in the time she’s been away. that’s where the masks have come in handy, as well as the hefty price of admission to get into a party such as this one. it’s maybe a more selfish thought than could be expected, but sharing the younger woman’s attention is something she doesn’t want to do tonight - or any night. “hey,” she grins once she has eyes on ariana and approaches, holding the glass out between two pinched fingers, “i thought i’d lost you amongst the tall people at this shindig.”

ariana g.

since the arrangement was made, little has sat on ariana’s mind ever since. there had fortunately still been enough press to keep cynthia close and, yet, the brunette was near certain no amount of time could ever be enough. so, when the idea of new years’ had become a topic of discussion, ariana couldn’t think of any better way to ring in a both tumultuous and truly brilliant year other than by having her beautiful best friend by her side. 

best friends, she insists to herself. because that’s all this is, and that’s fine. 

she thinks back to all the high school sleepovers, kissing friends and chalking it all up to ‘just because.’ perhaps this wasn’t all that unlike those times; she was older and more self-aware, sure, but age didn’t automatically mean newfound meaning. ariana shoos further thoughts away with a flick at a flyaway strand of her own blonde hair, adjusting the black and gold mask that seems to simultaneously conceal and illuminate her features. she’s in her new little black dress, as promised, and hopes she makes a good impression on one partygoer in particular. 

her head is reeling, fueled by champagne and the glitz and glamour of the ambiance; she’s nearly entranced by the decadence of it all when that thick accent she’d know anywhere breaks through any illusions. “hi,” ariana whispers, suddenly nervous and schoolgirlish upon settling her gaze on cynthia’s features for the first time in a few moments. she reaches for the glassware that the actress offers, cheeks warming as their hands touch — and it won’t dawn on her until days later that it’s actually not the alcohol flushing to her face. “thank you,” she says first, clinking her flute gingerly against cynthia’s, “for this. and for all of this, really — and for making sure i’m not lost in this sea of preposterously vertically inclined humans. i’m glad we’re doing this.” whatever this is.

cynthia e. cynthia is quick to brush away the thanks, because it feels wholly unnecessary in the grand scheme of it all. ariana’s gone and followed through with one of her bright ideas, and has shown up looking radiant as ever, and that feels like thanks enough for the evening. she’s become an expert at finding the little bits of things to be grateful for scattered throughout the big picture, anyway. finding the enough in whatever was still floating between them without asking for anything more, her pride be damned. 

“it’s really a tall country of people, isn’t it?” she teases, because that gene also skipped over her despite being born here, “but i’m glad that you’ve yet to get lost here. i’d always find a way to find you.” the singer lets her glass momentarily rest against ari’s after the brief clink, before she’s pulling it up to her lips for another sip. it’s been an overwhelmingly positive evening, from not being bothered under the guise of the masks, to getting to end the year with the woman who’d made the last few years as magical as they were. cynthia’s so thrilled about it all, evident in the big smile that follows when she rests the champagne flute against her chest. “i’m glad we’re doing it, too. i’m glad you flew all the way out here again, there’s…really no other way i could imagine wrapping up this year without you.” 

as unbothered as they are by the folks around them, it is getting a little bit more congested in the ballroom with people rushing to and fro about the imminent big ben chiming and fireworks that would occur once the clock struck midnight. so cynthia steps forward, leans over to the blonde’s ear as a means of making sure she hears her over the music and the crowd. “do you want to go check out the patio? get some air?”

ariana g. the blonde tries to distract herself from the way cynthia lips ghost the rim of her glass but, for reasons unbeknowst to the actress, it's all she can focus on. the clink of their flutes is instagram-worthy, worthy of the year the two have had, and everything in between -- it feels like the icing on the cake (even if the cliché itself makes ariana's stomach lurch in a silly way), all things considered. the manicured fingers of her free hand move to skim the outline of her black and gold mask, still tactfully adorning her features. that same hand then reaches out for cynthia's arm -- looking for her touch the same way she does in every room -- and offers a small, telling squeeze. "i do, too," she breathes, perhaps maybe a bit too much weight in it for such a simple moment. "always look for you." 

the feeling is so beyond mutual, and ariana's smile and slight rosiness of her complexion are giveaways of such. "any other new year's plans would simply have been unacceptable." ariana isn't sure what the clock says now, but it's likely nearing twelve -- given that the accommodations have become far more busy. the warmth of cynthia's breath in such close proximity sends a shiver dancing down the blonde's spine, a definitive contrast from the chill london air. "that sounds perfect," she murmurs with a gentle nod of her head. "lead the way?" she asks, extending her hand for the other actress to take.

cynthia e. the agreement to head outside for a moment, while expected to a certain degree since parting is something the two of them rarely do at this point, brings a bigger smile to cynthia’s face. she nods gently to ari’s question and slips her hand into the singer’s without any hesitation or effort to look for it. it’s become so second-nature, to be in contact in one way or another over the past few months, that it almost feels like cynthia’s entire being is magnetized to the blonde’s. there’s no need to feel like she’s blindly looking for the touch of a hand that she knows is hers on some level. maybe not to the extent that she wants it, craves it, but it’s enough and it has to be. she reminds herself of that as she leads ari out of the crowd and to a more secluded, quieter space outside. 

she shuts the glass door of the patio behind her once they both step outside, onto a balcony that shoots off from the ballroom and looks out over central london. they’re just high enough to see the top third of the london eye, just past the thames, and look out to a city that feels just as electrified as the energy pulsing between the two of them. with a little bit more privacy, cynthia breathes out a sigh of relief. “alone at last.” she teases, taking a sip of the last bit of champagne in her glass and abandoning it on a table near the door. with a long, languid stroll to the railing, she looks over at her friend and gives her a once over. “you really do look breathtaking tonight.” cynthia adds, her voice laced with a shyness that even surprises her. she’s so curious about her own feelings, even more so about the other woman’s, that she can’t stop the lighthearted question that follows. “were you fighting off the swarms of people who want to be your midnight kiss while i fetched the champagne? i bet you were.”

ariana g. ariana's hand tightens subconsciously as cynthia weaves the two of them through the sea of partygoers, thumb running across the other actress's the same way she's done a million times. her mind tempts her once again to think that maybe, just maybe, there was something there -- but she resigned herself to the statistical unlikelihood of such an earth-shattering revelation and settled for what she had, even if it may always feel as if she's sitting on the precipice of 'what if.' the scene that cynthia has painted before them, by this beautifully welcome change of scenery, is an impeccable sight. the heart of london is so alive, reborn on the cusp of the turning of a page to a new chapter. a new year. a new beginning. 

and yet, ariana hoped this night would never end. 

"thank god," the blonde whispers with a light giggle, partially in jest but simultaneously in overwhelming gratitude for their newfound privacy. "i was wondering if i'd ever be able to get you alone this evening." as cynthia polishes off what's left in her flute, ariana does the same with hers -- the cool bubbles in the glassware had made her hand uncharacteristically cold. she sets her flute down next to cynthia's and finds her against the railing, where the cityline is almost as stunning as the woman herself. the words that fall from cynthia's lips surprise ariana, for some reason -- though she's no stranger to the kind words of her co-star. "you're an angel, you know that? always have been." she grows inexplicably sheepish, her cheeks likely a very rosy complexion that is concealed only slightly by the dim lighting and embellishments on her mask. 

"you're stunning, as always -- absolutely ravishing, cyn." one of her hands moves to rest on her left shoulder before it slides down her arm slowly. the comment is enough to encourage another light laugh. "please," she scoffs with a dismissive fluttering of her free hand. "if there's been a line of potential suitors, i've paid them no mind." she scrunches her nose up in a coy manner. "besides -- there's only about a half hour 'til midnight. that's not much time to turn my head when my mind feels like it's already made up."

cynthia e. it isn’t the warmest london night - cynthia is sure that one of those doesn’t even exist, frankly - but she’s set afire from the inside at every stray lingering contact from the blonde. and her focus is on very little else than the brown eyes that peek through the mask ari’s wearing, big and welcoming enough for her to drown in if she was willing to take the leap. was tonight the night for that? surely, leaving her feelings in 2024 wasn’t going to be an easy feat, but neither was voicing them aloud. the way the other actress is looking at her brings everything back up to the surface for cynthia, and her words help a lot. 

“mmm,” cynthia hums curiously, playing along with the coy act that ari was putting on while her body tells a different story - a little step forward, goosebumps lining down her arm where delicate fingers trailed. she leans her other side against the railing, taking a moment to try to collect what’s little left of her thoughts before speaking again. “made up, hm? mine too.” she only breaks eye contact to look back out over the skyline. “seems like mine was made up before i even stepped in the building tonight. which is only…you know, a little startling.” 

when she looks back at ariana, it feels like things are momentarily heavier in the silence that they’ve found, and cynthia figures that leaving those feelings unaddressed is worse than the possible outcomes of voicing them. “not bad startling, i should clarify. you are of great comfort to me, ari. but it’s also with great conviction that i made the decision to want to kiss you tonight, and that might be a reality neither of us are ready to confront.” there it is, the out that she’s ready to give ari if she’s not willing to venture out on that limb with her. cynthia’s already reassured herself that she wouldn’t. “you’ve gone through a lot this year, so it doesn’t have to mean more than it should…but it does to me. and i want to be transparent about that.”

ariana g.

the chill in the air dusts an additional layer of pink to the blonde's cheeks as she stays in close proximity to cynthia, unable to ever travel all that far. there's so much that's led up to this that ariana's a little afraid that she'll let her best friend down, that whatever's been painted in that pretty mind of hers just won't come close to the reality of what's before her. there was a part of that hesitance that was deeply rooted in ariana's psyche, maybe a little more at the forefront given the unexpected falling apart of her most recent relationship -- a story that cynthia knew all too well and heard snippets of over and over again while ari tried to pull herself together in between press appearances. she didn't want to ruin something so good. not again. 

it's when cynthia utters those two words that ariana's tempted to take a small step back, not in desire to retreat but in sheer disbelief. "yours too, huh? even before tonight?" she asks, humming softly as her eyes narrow lightheartedly as her gaze studies the other woman's features in this particular lighting. "that's a relief. i mean, i absolutely would've taken a heel off and shoved the stiletto in the direction of anybody who came close, but i was hoping i wouldn't have to make a scene." there's a glimmer in her eye as she pauses, just for a beat. "well, not one of that kind anyway."

 listening to cynthia speak, ariana is overwhelmed with the desire to cut her off there with the kiss -- to tell her this isn't some huge leap they're making when she's been feeling this way for longer than she would care to admit in the current moment -- but there's only a bit of time left 'til twelve, so it would have to wait. she would have to wait, just for another few more agonizing minutes. "i get it," she eventually murmurs, reaching for one of cynthia's hands while her gaze drops to her own two feet. "good startling." 

she takes a deep breath, knowing that once this conversation has been shared that there's no going back to the way things were, so to speak. there'd always be this unspoken acknowledgement of what happened tonight, and there was no way to predict what would happen from here -- what they would do, how they would act, and how things could change. and that was, perhaps, what terrified ariana the most. "you are absolutely ridiculous," ariana murmurs, the glimmer of a single tear welling in the corner of one eye. "of course it would mean something. in fact, it would make the past several months of my life make far more sense. it would mean everything."

cynthia e. the idea of ariana causing any kind of scene at someone approaching cynthia tonight had her smiling wider, because it’s an adorable visual that she wholeheartedly believes. she can’t say much about ari being tiny but mighty, they both are, but it’s endearing in a way that helps her swallow the lump that’s formed in her throat. “you could take on anyone,” cynthia nods with conviction between short giggles, “you’d strike fear in anyone’s hearts who even came close.” there’s so much she wants to say, so much she feels at the thought of a knight-in-shining-armor bit that cynthia chooses to take a metaphorical step back and observe. every bit of body language from the blonde, every glance is followed by the brit, desperate to know if she feels the same way somehow. 

it’s the silent understanding that ariana does that has cynthia reeling, because it’s everything to the older woman that there’s a semblance of reciprocation. she’s spent months trying not to indulge herself in thinking any further of what things were, especially when ariana was taken for a majority of the year. they were both trying to be content with how things were, grateful that they could experience all the hype for the film together as friends. but the nagging feeling that they could be more, that they could make it work if they both really tried, had kept cynthia yearning for the chance to try. 

“okay,” she quietly replies, giving the hand in hers a short, reassuring squeeze, “good.” she doesn’t know how much longer she has, or how much longer she’s going to be able to stand it, but she catches the sounds of cheering and spares a glance back inside the glass patio doors. one of the giant screens shows that they’re in the last stretch of the minute. “i don’t know about you,” cynthia starts, separating their hands for a brief moment so she can reach up and around to delicately untie the little ribbon keeping the mask on ari’s face, “but i want to see you for this. if that’s alright.”

ariana g. the mere seconds between now and midnight have ariana feeling like she might explode. her heart pounds vigorously against the confines of her chest, the sound so deafening to the blonde she's convinced the brit can hear it, too. "anything for you," she whispers, so soft and certain -- like the words uttered are a promise she's keeping. there had been many moments over the past year that the simple motion -- cynthia's squeeze at her hand, whose touch she'd know anywhere -- had grounded her, but it was far more substantial in this moment when she needed her feet to stay planted upon the earth more than ever.

the cheers either amplify or still the noise in her head; ariana can't quite tell. she frowns at the separation of their hands, sad empty spaces between her fingers where cynthia's had been -- and often were. however, those big brown eyes brighten when cynthia's hands move to the back of ariana's head to find the satin that holds her mask over her eyes. "of course," she nods, suddenly sheepish again, and dips her head down just a bit to allow cynthia easier access. once the mask is loose enough, ariana takes it into her two hands delicately and runs her fingers along the lace before looking back up at cynthia through long lashes. 

she sets it to the side carefully, feeling incredibly vulnerable with her uncovered face now illuminated softly in the light of the moon. ariana moves back toward cynthia, her own fingers finding the tie to the other woman's mask to mirror her actions. "before this year ends," ariana teases, the corny but fitting phrase falling from her lips with ease as she loosens the bow at the back of cynthia's head. "thank you for seeing me -- like really seeing me -- and for making my day so many days this year. i couldn't be more grateful to be ending this one and starting the new one... with you."

cynthia e.

it’s such a tender touch to undo the satin and have the younger woman stood in front of her in all her glory, and cynthia realizes that she doesn’t know or understand beauty before this moment. it was silly to know somebody for so long and still feel like her knees could turn to jelly just at the sight of them, but here she is - here they both are. it’s a comfortable quiet between them as ariana then reaches to undo cynthia’s mask with an equally delicate brush of her fingertips, brown eyes settled on the pair across from her. seconds later and her own mask is off, and manicured fingers take it and add it to the pile. 

“of course.” she replies softly, glad to free up her hands again. the vulnerability of being face-to-face mirrors the years of their friendship in many ways - they’d emotionally undressed in front of each other often, especially over the last few months. and she’d give anything to continue to do so, even with less of a promise to see each other in between now and next fall, even with the uncertainty that follows this scenario. if it backfires, she’ll have to deal with that later, but for now, she’s lost in brown hues that she can see so much clearer now and her heart is pounding in her chest. surely worth any anguish later. “seeing you is the greatest privilege. thank you for looking deeper at me and…taking a chance.” 

the crowd just behind the door to the patio has started chanting the countdown now, they can hear it through the glass, and that’s enough for cyn to delicately reach forward. one hand finds a spot against ari’s side, feeling the fabric under her palm and trying hard not to find it dizzying. her other hand brushes against the singer’s cheek, thumb skirting along a prominent cheekbone. as the time ticks down, and the older woman takes a short step forward, it feels all too perfect. the shouted numbers reach the final three, and just before the applause rings out and the fireworks go off, they’ve created some of their own - as cynthia closes that last tiny bit of distance to press her lips against ariana’s.

ariana g. she would be lying to say that this was the first time they've done this, but it's definitely the first time it's happened like this -- and ariana wants to commit this moment to memory but also never wants it to end. there's a newfound sense of how real this is with their masks off; there's nothing to hide the rosy color that dusts across the blonde's cheeks or the sheepish smile that has her dimples so profoundly on display. 

"i should be thanking you for taking a chance," she murmurs, careful not to spoil a perfect moment with the chaotic innerworkings of her mind and her pesky inner monologue. "i'm not always the easiest pill to swallow, yet you make it look like the simplest thing in the world. i don't know how you do it." ariana feels unsteady almost, shaky on her feet, but her hands find cynthia's waist. she's grounded, yet again -- by her best friend, her confidant, and now... her almost new year's kiss. her thumbs graze the fabric carefully, admiring the stitching and the woman who wears the dress so well, when the countdown from ten begins and it's all happening faster than the actress can catch her breath. 

ariana pulls cynthia closer as the numbers get lower, and everything in view is hazy except for her. she hums once cynthia's lips meet hers, and it is exactly how she expects it -- if not better. their mouths linger together through the cheers and hollers a few seconds more, and ariana only retreats reluctantly when she needs a quick breath of air. "happy new year, angel face," she beams, leaning back in for one more kiss. "you've already made mine."

[iwanttoswimintheswanepoel]

Christmas & Chill 🎄🤶🏽

-i am about to have the most abundant Christmas yet

-i’ve gotten every single last Christmas gift i wanted and more

-i am naturally manifesting 10 billion dollars for breathing

-my christmas money is up past the mesosphere

-this years christmas spirit is reminiscent to visiting a victoria’s secret boutique in 2014

-i’m taking daily trips to Chanel, Cartier & Dior

-this Christmas is chic and sexy like ariana grande’s “christmas & chill” EP

-my legs look as long & thin as candice swanepoel’s in my winter attire

-i find incredible vintage fur pieces in every boutique i go to

-i’m obtaining the allure of slavic dolls this christmas

-my daily fit this season consists of: a seasonal color couture dress, sexy thermal tights, a fluffy vintage fur coat,a suede birkin and DSQUARED2 skate moss boots

-my wrist is so blinged out in ice it resembles the winter snow

-my tummy is getting as flat as i desire because i’m so dedicated to my winter arc

-every trip i take for christmas shopping i end up leaving with a little something just for me

-i’m thriving this holiday season kicking seasonal depression in its chestnuts

-this christmas encapsulates the same joy it had when i was a kid

-as expected i get the most christmas gifts under the tree again this year

-i successfully act surprised like the marvelous actress i am acting surprised opening my gifts this year. ofc i knew they’d get what i wanted they have no other choice…

-i grow prettier with every hot chocolate i sip watching a corny hallmark christmas movie

-my family is jumping to wrap presents for me cuz why bother with wrist strain ?

-my family can mend our issues at least temporarily to focus on getting me the most spectacular gifts

-everyone can agree everyday near me should be celebrated by giving me gifts

-everyone can agree i deserve to me spoiled because gracing everyone with my angel like presence alone is the greatest gift one could ask for

-i’m practically out of the country going to different skii slopes all around Europe this winter

-i’ve manifested the cutest skii wear this winter

-i’m staying at only the most luxurious skii slopes with the most beautiful views this winter

-i’ll meet the most handsome old money admirer on the skii slopes this winter

-the holiday spirit is just in the air everything seems to be going right for me… even more than usual (as it should)

-i’m a living breathing heater the way i fail to feel cold out in the snow

-i can take pictures out in the snow just like how jasmine tookes did in a swimsuit in Antarctica

-my christmas vibe is even more luxurious than usual i’m truly so opulent in energy and wealth

-like irina shayk icing her face i truly am so much prettier in the winter? i mean i glow up everyday but maybe two things can be true at once…

-i might even buy my dream penthouse in new york just to see the snow in central park from my balcony

-everyone feels the giving energy of the christmas spirit when the see me even strangers are going out of their way to do nice things for me. some are even chasing me down to give me free gifts!!!

-its so strange i’ve noticed for every sip of hot chocolate i drink and every old hollywood christmas movie i watch i loose 1/4th of an inch off of my waist?

-i’m fully immune to any and all illnesses this season… i do not claim that energy

-everyone is so so envious of my christmas hauls and my trips this winter. whatever when are they not 😹

-surprise trips this winter to : Prague, New York, Switzerland, Paris, London, Monaco , Italy, Norway

-during christmas everyone has the constant reminder i’m gods favorite

-life update:russian mani’s look real good in moscow btw…

-i’m wearing my diamonds, vintage sable fur coat, and a la perla lingerie set to bed every night

-tall russian men keep throwing diamonds and expensive fur coats at me telling me to stay warm?

-i love hitting the slopes then drinking clicqout, eating austrian pastries, fresh oysters and caviar on brioche with thick french butter by the fireplace in my family’s vacation suite

-the millionaires handbook must’ve gotten it all wrong its like all of the rich men in the world are flocking towards me like a magnet this holiday season?

-every room i step into i have the same energy as Gisele Bundchen opening the VSFS 2005 “santas helpers”

-forget eating like a slavic doll on my winter arc, i’m nourishing my body with the best steak tartare & pavlova europe has to offer

-i’m flying out justin gelband to personally train me at the skii resort this winter to give me the best candice swanepoel esque VS angel body for this summer

-everyday for me practically looks like marilyn monroe’s scene “diamonds are a girls best friend” in gentleman prefer blondes because i genuinely cannot keep these rich men off of me

-i’ve not only perfected my wishlist but also my christmas decor. too bad i’ll be out of the country to see it!

-everyone keeps asking me if i modeled for victoria’s secret when they see me?

-the winter season gave me the most flattering natural highlights for my voluminous blowouts

-its so funny i heard everyone at the resort gossiping about the pretty girl from the wealthy family who keeps playing rich guys and just realized they were talking about me? 😭😹

-i love just how beautiful my tan looks in comparison to the icy white snow

-the christmas decor everywhere is so over the top and chefs kiss i can’t help but to be in the spirit

-i still take my weekly trip to the tanning salon because a girl needs her red light therapy

-everyday my life looks like something out of an episode of gossip girl

-i’ve perfected my christmas playlist literally everyone is asking for it its almost embarrassingly good

-chanel gloves under my harry winston ring cuz i don’t need this mani catching frostbite 🤦🏽‍♀️

-i have all of the vintage fur coats i could want… peta might just throw red paint on me! #giselefurscum

-i smell so decadent and edible wearing Jo Malone “Ginger Biscuit” as my winter scent

-sure homemade cookies are sentimental and all but the ones we have sent up by the personal chef are way better…

-i look so naturally elegant and even more luxurious than usual in the winter. one would even begin to question my wealth

-i love to unwind my day by the fireplace with rich peppermint hot chocolate

-i cant help but to call the resorts spa staff after a long day of shopping. my feet hurt in those boots 🙁

-i made so much money this holiday season i’m personally on fugly 🤮elon musk’s🤮 watch list

[kellyvela]

I feel like Sophie shouldn’t get the role of Lara Croft, not only is it a risk because the character isn’t white, she’s too tall and pretty skinny, probably going to need to be more fit and overall doesn’t really fit the persona of Lara. And haters are always going to compare her performance to previous actresses of Lara and say she can’t act ☹️.

Acording to Lara Croft Wiki:

Lara Croft is a tall young woman with a slender build and an athletic and muscular physique; she has brown eyes and hair, frequently kept in a plait or ponytail. The character's classic costume is a turquoise sleeveless tank top, light brown shorts, calf-high boots, and long white socks. Accessories include fingerless gloves, a backpack, a utility belt with holsters on either side, and two pistols. The video game sequels introduced new outfits designed for different environments, such as underwater and cold weather. In the later games, Croft wears a crop top, camouflage pants and black or light brown shirts. When exploring, she often carries two pistols, but has used other weaponry throughout the series. Lara Croft is fluent in several languages. Game manuals describe the character as the Wimbledon, London-born daughter of the fictional Lord Richard Croft. She was raised as an aristocrat and betrothed to the fictitious Earl of Farringdon. Lara Croft attended the Scottish boarding school Gordonstoun and a Swiss finishing school. A plane crash left the character stranded in the Himalayas for two weeks; the experience spurred her to shun her former life and seek other adventures around the world. Croft wrote books and other published works based on her exploits as a mercenary, big-game hunter, and master thief. The story was later changed to include her mother in the plane crash. While searching for shelter against the elements, Lara Croft witnesses her mother vanish after tampering with an ancient sword. Her father disappears in search of his wife.

Where is it mentioned that the character isn't white???

Sophie is tall and slender, but I agree she needs to start training if she really wants the role.

Too tall?

Sophie is 1.75

Angelina is 1.69

Alicia is 1.68

Lucy is 1.65

Then Lucy is not tall at all.

Now, reading about that plane crash that stranded Lara in the Himalayas, let's remember that Sophie was the lead in a movie about surviving a plane crash in the snow, climbing mountains, jumping from heights and fighting with wolves to survive. That's precisely the title of the movie: SURVIVE. Maybe the casting director watched that movie.

What haters say doesn't matter when casting directors know your filmography. Who would casting directors believe, their own eyes, what other casting directors recommend, the recent awards and critics an actor got for their latest performance; or what haters say on the internet??????????

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤

Thank you so much for the tag, my friend--you know I appreciate every chance I can get to promo my work!

So, five favorites? Honestly, it's hard to choose, as most of my work remains WIPs that are currently languishing for updates. I'm going to exclude my one-shots to narrow down the field - and base this list on both the story and the quality of the writing. Hoping that they might get a little bit of love and some new readers!

Of Magic, Miracles, and Moonlight - Stephen Strange x OFC. Slow burn romance, older man/younger woman, mentor/student, friends-to-lovers. Pre-Infinity War. Contains Mature Content. WIP, currently 19 chapters.

A Khan By Any Other Name - Khan Noonien Singh x OFC. Adventure, danger, angst, romance. Pre-Star Trek Into Darkness. Contains Mature Content. WIP, currently 12 chapters.

The Secret of Salvation - Major Jamie Stewart x OFC. War Horse AU. WW I. Angst, prisoner of war, romance. Contains Mature Content. WIP, currently 5 chapters.

The One That Got Away - Benedict Cumberbatch AU, where he is primarily a stage Actor with some movie/television appearances. Benedict Cumberbatch x OFC. Takes place during a production of The Taming of the Shrew. Castmates to friends to falling in love, slow burn, jealousy, lots of angst. WIP, currently 18 chapters.

Scarlett and the Professor - Tumblr exclusive. An original, erotic, paranormal romance, based on a discontinued roleplay. All original characters. Takes place on an unnamed Caribbean island. Older man/younger woman, professor/student, supernatural elements bringing them together, romance, angst, forbidden desires, light kinks with foreshadowing of darker kinks. Contains Mature Content. WIP, currently 32 chapters, plus two one-shots.

moodboards under cut

(related works: Lady in Red, Though There Be Pain Love Still Endures)

Of Magic, Miracles, and Moonlight

Doctor Stephen Strange's life has settled into a fulfilling pattern; even as Master of the New York Sanctum, he continues his studies in the mystic arts, self-training with the library that the Ancient One amassed in her years as Sorcerer Supreme. An old alliance forged by the Ancient One brings an unexpected request to him, and he is duty bound to fulfill it. Along the way he meets with some pleasant surprises--and discovers that his heart is not immune to the effects of the gentlest sorts of magic.

moodboard by @strangelock221b

Seraphina DiPietro is wise in the ways of the world; she has to be, as she travels the California coast as a torch singer in pubs, bars and nightclubs. She knows how to take care of herself and stay out of trouble--most of the time. When trouble comes, it's usually because her kind heart overrides her common sense. Stopping to check on a handsome stranger, stranded roadside in the Mojave Desert, her curiosity is piqued as much by the classic, mint-looking Mustang, as by the driver--a tall, dark mysterious drink of water, whom she quickly learns is so much more than what he appears.

moodboard by @mel-loves-all

Major Jamie Stewart is a survivor--but sometimes he just needs to escape. The guilt, the pain, the despair; his bitter fall due to folly and hubris. It helps to survive if one has a sanctuary to turn to, a dream to hold onto. A vision of a day--and a woman--that might grant him the salvation he desperately craves.

bookcover for The One That Got Away created by @onebuttscratcher

An actress making her name for herself on the London stage, Virgilia (Vicki) Gordon vows not to follow her usual pattern: falling in love with her leading man. The work comes first and foremost--or so she plans. She never expects to develop feelings for her co-star in "The Taming of the Shrew", but with his stellar talent matched by his charm, kindness and intellect, Vicki learns all too soon that, despite one's best intentions, the heart goes where it will. Still, all might be well--but he is far from free enough to return her affections.

moodboard by @strangelock221b

Romance & Passion. Mystery & ties to the Supernatural. Lust & Erotica. NSFW material, so be forewarned. A young Scottish woman of ancient Selkie blood finds herself irresistibly drawn to her dashing British professor, with his own mysterious ties to the Sea. A serial womanizer who believes his inner darkness makes him unredeemable, he finds what seems an uncorruptable innocence in the love she freely offers--eventually coming to wonder if her light might be enough to save him from his demons.

[the-vertical-woman]

August 2024 self-portraits

www.IMDb.me/SandrineAnterrion

www.BonjourSandrine.co.uk

[sassyfrassboss]

“Since I didn't like her straight away but it was hard to find people that felt the way I did at the time I actually googled "people who hate Meghan Markle" and Tumblr popped up.” I’ve been BRF fan since the 90s and William was the good looking, athletic guy reluctant to be king one day and Harry was the fun-loving party Prince. I thought Harry would be William’s Princess Margaret (sometimes wayward but fiercely loyal and do all of the social engagements the monarch didn’t/couldn’t do). I watched when Catherine came on the scene and then Chelsea and Cressida. Harry absolutely had a type, tall, blond, from a good family. Then we get to 2016 and there are rumors he’s dating some random American actress who no one has heard of with some dime a dozen blog and on some basic cable legal show that she’s not even the star of. Let’s face it, Suits is not Law&Order or SVU. Not to mention, she’s short, brunette, and not from a connected family. She appeared out of nowhere and all of is sudden has a VF cover? I thought for sure he’d end it then because none of his previous girlfriends talked about their relationship with him but Meghan did. Then there’s IG in Toronto and “the statement” and I knew she was going to be trouble. She made damn sure everyone knew they were together. She still does it, referring to “my husband” and Duchess of Sussex on every article ever written since they married. Superficially, she looked smug as hell too.

Harry absolutely had a type, tall, blond, from a good family. Then we get to 2016 and there are rumors he’s dating some random American actress who no one has heard of with some dime a dozen blog and on some basic cable legal show that she’s not even the star of.

Yeah so when the news started coming out that he was "possibly" dating this divorced American actress I was like "yeah right..." then when it came out she was half black i thought "not a chance in HELL is this true" because let's face it...this is the guy who wore a Nazi costume and was known for throwing around racial slurs. No way was this story true. Then it WAS true and I thought, eh maybe he is turning a new leaf. Of course there was talk he didn't know she was half black until they had been dating a while and he was afraid to break up with her because he didn't want her to call him a racist.

While all of this was going on we got the spooning banana Instagram post and then the coffee cup with bracelets IG post. When that came out and you saw she was baiting someone into connecting the dots so she could FINALLY brag about her once in a lifetime catch I thought "she's toast...nothing Harry hates more than someone flaunting their relationship and talking to the press." Because at the time Harry was way more tightlipped about his life than William. Harry guarded his privacy fiercely and was known to drop people faster than a hot potato if they talked about him to the press. I never thought the relationship would get past this point.

Then Love Shield 1.0 and I was like you..."uh oh...we are in trouble here..." Also because there was ZERO evidence she was being harassed and she claimed in the statement. There weren't hundreds of paps chasing her down the street like Kate or Diana. In fact, it seemed that Meghan was courting and LOVING the attention. Smiling big and bright at the cameras and making sure to wear her "H" necklace. This is when I knew she was a manipulator and a liar.

Then when she was in London and kept walking in front of the Daily Mail offices to get photographed. She looked ridiculous walking around London in her "wellies."

When "Wild about Harry" came out I 100% thought "that's the end of her" so when they were engaged shortly afterwards you could have knocked me over with a feather I was so shocked. I expected breakup news, not an engagement.

[ladyjaneasherr]

Lovely Jane Asher, Peter Asher and Alan Freeman at home during an interview. March 27th, 1964. From Getty images and 1960s Music website for the article in high quality.

ALAN FREEMAN

(The stars confide in him )

HEART TO HEART with the most envied girl in the world. 

HOW PAUL HAS CHANGED JANES LIFE. 

Every evening after school is out, two young girls stand for hours on the corner of London’s fashionable Wimpole Street. One is tall, the other tiny. Many an evening on my way home from the BBC I've noticed them and wondered: Who are they? What are they waiting for? Over the weekend I found myself keeping the same vigil—this time at my own front door. For it was then I discovered I was waiting for the same people as those young fans. If you're still guessing, pop-pickers, the answer is ... Jane Asher and her brother Peter. Jane's an actress, not a singer, but she's one of the most important trendsetters in and around the world of pop. Pin-sharp grey suit . . .beacon-bright red hair. . . cheeky freckles . . . a cool kooky sense of humour. That's Jane.

Those kids on the corner spend their time hoping for a glimpse of Jane with her steady swain, Beatle Paul McCartney, and Peter. 

Helping: The Asher twosome are a rarity in our business. A brother and sister with different careers but helping each other to stardom. The coffee was already perking as they came through the door. But Jane smilingly shook her head at my cream cakes. Not that I blame her— that figure of hers is worth watching. Shrewd commonsense is typical of Jane and Peter Asher. Their father is a doctor, their mother а musician. Neither of them has been carried away by their success in show business. "Jane's always been interested in music,' Peter said.

"She plays flute and guitar. So we can both help and criticise each other in a friendly way." Peter, at 20, is two years older than Jane. He has the same flaming red hair, but his quiet manner contrasts with her bouncy enthusiasm. Peter and Gordon (that's Gordon Waller, his school chum and partner) took over the Beatles’ No. 1 chart-spot with that first disc.  But what few fans know is that after making that record Peter was faced with the toughest choice of his life— sticking to show business or going back to his studies at London University.

Proudly: "His brain is much better than average," Jane said, looking proudly at him across her coffee-cup. "Oh, come on," her brother grinned. "Honestly, though, it's a drag when people come up to you and say, ‘Aren’t you wasting your education playing pop?’ "This life is part of my education. Okay, I was studying for a degree in philosophy. It sounds horribly crummy if I say university has helped me to think-but I'm not sure it's much good to me when I'm playing one-night stands." Peter and Jane were luckier than most. They avoided the usual drawing-room showdown with father and mother when they announced they were going to be entertainers. "Dad would have liked us both to be doctors," Jane said. "But he didn't mind when we didn't take it up. Mother is a composer and she teaches as well. "She feels the pop life is a bit funny. But she gets annoyed when some of her pupils go snobby and think they’re very hip by saying pop is terrible”. Peter nodded. "Jazz knocks her out with its technical proficiency, particularly when I introduce her to Bob Cooper and things like that.” At learned Westminster School, however, the biggest obstacle in the path of Peter and Gordon was a big iron gate. Gordon was a boarder, Peter a day student. The afternoon was getting muggy, so I got. up and put some cool music on the hi-fi. Jane closed her eyes and relaxed while Peter told me another of the ironies which seem to crop up in his life.

Singing: "Well," said Peter, "we started singing and playing guitar together. At that time Gordon was a big Elvis devotee. He sang like him and even looked like him. "We used to play at concerts in school. We even went in for the chamber music competition once with a Shadows-type group." But life outside beckoned with a glitter. There was money to be made—if only Gordon could get out at night. Kerb-crawling like a Chicago gangster, Peter would drive up to the school gate at ten o'clock every night and Gordon would climb over. "Gordon used to be pretty bushed after working all night and often it was quite a climb for him. One night he hurt his foot badly on one of the iron spikes and we had to pack it in for a bit." Then they landed a stint at a favourite rendezvous of London showbiz folk, the Pickwick Club. "We'd just left school and we were very nervous," Peter said. "We were twanging away when we noticed there was this man who wasn't just hearing us. He was actually listening to us. “We said he must be somebody important because he was so shiny. He had this marvellous shining suit and he looked very big-time. So we played all the good songs we knew, and he bought us a drink and asked if we'd made a record." The shining man was Norman Newell, maker of myriad disc hits by Shirley Bassey, Danny Williams, Alma Cogan and Matt Monro. “A week later we made a test record. We sang two or three folksongs. He said, 'Great—very good sound’.  And there and then he gave us a five-year contract." The hi-fi slid to a stop and Jane opened her eyes. "Mmm," she murmured, stretching luxuriously. "It's nice to have a day off, Alan.” 

Praise: I knew how she felt. Take it from me, pop-pickers, the atmosphere of a recording studio is like an ice-cream parlour compared with the heat and hammering of a film set. And Jane had plenty of that while she was making "The Masque Of The Red Death," which brought her such praise from critics in the States. She was tickled to hear that I'd just finished a film part myself in “Doctor Terror’s house of horrors”. There are no records or microphones or white shirts or washing machines or disc-jockeys. I had a ball. But for Jane, the cinema and the theatre are not just a breakaway, as they are for me. For her, they’re her whole life. "I've never been really satisfied with anything I've done," she said. "I don't think anybody should be. "We've been acting on and off since I was five and Peter was seven. We did six or seven 'Robin Hood' episodes on television together, and in 1956 Peter was one of the boy actors of the year." I asked Jane her great ambitions. "In the theatre," she said, “to play Shakespeare. I was offered two years at Stratford but it would have meant leaving so many things that mattered to me-friends ... and everything." She didn't go deeper, but I'm sure I know what she meant. "My life is not in pop but I'm constantly surrounded by it," she said. "For one thing, people always want me to make a record. "I'd only make one if I were an outstanding singer, really remarkable. But since I'm not, I don't want to do it. "If I did, and the record did get anywhere, people would say it was only because I was Peter's sister. Or because .. She didn't finish it. She didn't have to. "What do you want for yourself, personally ?" I asked. 

Marriage: "The same as every other single girl, Alan. To eventually get married and have children. Nothing unusual." Jane is very proud of her progress with classical guitar, but she blushed when Peter said with brotherly bluntness: "She's just like me. You don’t practise enough, do you?’  The Beatles have a great German buddy-Klaus whom they met in Hamburg. He lives over here now, and boy! can he handle the old strings. “Have you heard Klaus play?” I said. "Oh, I think he's absolutely terrific," she said. "Except ...?" "Except what?" I goaded. "Except he won't practise enough. I met him the other night and Klaus told me so himself. Never mind, I'll keep at it. Maybe one day I'll get into the Top Ten with my guitar. "But it certainly won't be as a singer. Or because I spend my time with successful people." She winked affectionately at Peter.

Sunshine: I glanced out at the roof garden. The sun was coming out again. I put a new disc on the hi-fi... Alan Deane and his Problems. Peter listened carefully, head on one side. One day, if he gives up starring and turns recording boss for other performers, I bet we'll get some pretty striking sounds. Peter’s a perfectionist. The Problems didn't quite measure up to his demands. "They're not getting quite the right effect with that harmonica. "Instead of getting lovely bent, muddy sounds they're using a chromatic-one of those with the plunger on. The way I'd do it ..." and he launched into a brilliant technical analysis of the disc. To the many guitarists among you, pop-pickers, here's a Beatles tip I picked up from Peter. "A lot of people think you need all this Futurama equipment on a guitar to get these great twangy effects at the end of a number. "You can get it by just pressing down the string with practically anything metal. It gives a marvellous gee-doinnngg! "In fact, one of the best notes the Beatles ever played in a record, they got by using a cigarette lighter on the strings. It was the handiest bit of steel they could find at the time." Jane looked at her watch— a flat, thin, man's model on a wide strap. This is still a very chic fashion in The Village, as the Asher's home territory of Marylebone is called. "I'm sorry, Alan. We ve got to be going. It's been great talking."

Waiting: On the way down I asked Peter and Jane about those two kids who stand waiting near their house. Peter blanched. "Them? I don't understand them at all. Sometimes we've been doing shows out of town and I'd notice them in the audience. "We'd leave at the end and drive home directly. And they'd be there at the house before us. I don’t know how they do it”.  As they waved goodbye from their car window I recalled one of the nicest things Peter had said during the whole afternoon. "What the Beatles have done for pop music is mainly by being such interesting people and being themselves." I felt exactly that about Peter and Jane Asher. 

[peterlorres21stcentury]

I was going through some past emails and I found this post from my old Yahoo group

On Feb. 6, the "Old Movie Section" blog posted this "tintype" of Peter, written by Sidney Skolsky, taken from a book titled "Tintypes". Peter was working on "Crime and Punishment" at the time:

<<<< 11/27/1935 HCN Tintypes By Sidney Skolsky

Peter Lorre is in his dressing room. It generally takes him an hour to dress for his role in Crime and Punishment. He does this slowly, intentionally. He believes it aids him to portray the character.

He goes on the set and stands in for himself. He is one of the few big actors who do this. He poses under the hot lights while director von Sternberg arranges them and the camera. He does this because von Sternberg, who is particular about lighting a scene and an actor, asks him to do it. It means hard work for him, but he admires von Sternberg.

While on the set he has a favorite drink, a mixture of raspberry syrup and water. He makes everyone sample it. While making a flicker he doesn't eat much. His lunch consists merely of sliced fresh fruit, usually peaches.

He walks about, whether it be in the studio or in a restaurant, much in the same manner as he did in M. People who have seen him in this great flicker are scared when they first see him in person. He knows this and is greatly amused by it.

It was his excellent performance in M which got him a contract with Columbia. Before coming to America, he signed to play in the flicker, The Man Who Knew Too Much, to learn to speak English. He is good at languages and was quite adept at English in six weeks. He spoke better English in the latter reels of The Man Who Knew Too Much than he did in the beginning.

He was born in the village of Rosenberg, Hungary, on June 26, 1904. It was after he completed high school that he ran away from home to become an actor. In one early theatrical job he was given a three- line part. After the rehearsals the lines were taken away from him because he overacted. The director said he would be a standout by merely walking across the stage.

He is five feet 5 inches tall, weighs 160 pounds, has brown prominent eyes, brown hair, and rosy cheeks. A strange villain.

He speaks in a low, confidential voice which cannot be heard very far away. At the studio he will visit different offices. He amuses friends by acting and making faces. When telling a story he acts out all the characters.

He is a mild, pleasant person. He has a house at Santa Monica to which he invites his few friends for breakfast or dinner. He prefers to test by himself in his garden here. He seldom barks. He is not a visitor to the Hollywood gay places.

He enjoys watching tennis and football. His favorite sport is wrestling. He attends the bouts regularly. He once waited until after a match to ask Man Mountain Dean for an autograph.

He is married to Cecilie Lvovsky, an actress. They met when they were both appearing in the German play, "The Candidate," and were married when they met again in London. He was making a flicker. They were married during a lunch hour, and Lorre was in the make-up he used in The Man Who Knew Too Much. They haven't any nicknames for each other.

He makes charcoal sketches, landscapes and portraits, and is a good artist for his own amusement. He likes to listen to classical music. He detests bright red fingernail polish on women.

He insists that if he did not have to act, he would not. Acting, he says, is a child's profession for a grown up. "But," he slyly adds, "I love it."

When he isn't working he relishes a big meal. He likes Hungarian goulash and is especially fond of new potatoes in cream. He will talk about food and give a lecture on why a certain salami is better than another type of salami.

He is not at all particular about clothes. He doesn't try or pretend to be fashionable. He always carries plenty of baggage, most of which he never uses. He claims it looks good when you're traveling.

He likes cold showers and actually takes them.

He seldom carries money with him. Often he has run into a shop to buy a package of cigarets [sic], has found himself without a penny, and has had to write out a check for 15 cents. He sleeps alone in a twin bed. He wears pajamas, and on warm nights he wears only the jacket. He always reads himself to sleep.

He has a clause in his contract. Each day before work he is allowed to run into Boris Karloff's dressing room and frighten him.

[simplyclary]

Fan-Casting You As My Favorites

(Photo credits to Mekhi Turner)

As an avid reader and movie geek, there's always a point in time when I cast my favorite actor/actress as a character. It's just inevitable to do. And recently, I have imagined Taylor Zakhar Perez as many characters he can play in the future from books and animated movies alike.

Those listed below is just the most popular ones I have casted him as. Also note that other than the first one, the last three are just my personal fan-casts. So without further ado, here's the first one and by far the most popular one even TZP himself knows about this.

First Fan-Cast: Taylor Zakhar Perez as Flynn Rider (Eugene Fitzherbert) in the upcoming live-action Tangled.

(Photos credits to London Fashion Week on Twitter/X and Disney)

I mean, what else can I say? As a Disney fan since the age of 3, I approve of this fancast. Like it's going to be so good to see Taylor play a scoundrel turned prince. Something like Han Solo vibes. He's got the looks, the voice (I'm also manifesting a solo song for him considering that the other princes in the other live-action remakes get a solo song).

To note at a lot of people also had a crush on Flynn Rider so why not cast one of the most handsome men alive to play him. I will definitely be seated for this movie if ever he is casted.

I also want to mention I have a lot of people whom I want to play Rapunzel (Florence Pugh, Sabrina Carpenter and Dove Cameron are among my candidates) but there's only one Flynn Rider for me and that is Taylor Zakhar Perez.

Here's a link to mycast.io where people can vote on their faves about a role: TZP as Flynn Rider Fancast. Good to see that TZP is the top choice for the role, as he should be.

Onto the next roles....I would again like to reiterate that these are just my personal fan-casts, especially as of recent times, when TZP decided to emotionally kill me by wearing all-black ensembles.

Second Fan-Cast: Taylor Zakhar Perez as Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court

(Photo credits from TZP's Instagram; artwork credits from artworks-by-rokii from Instagram)

Ahhh, my High Lord of the Night Court and the most beautiful man I (and the main character Feyre) have ever seen.

For those who are unfamiliar with Rhysand's character, he is the High Lord of the Night Court in the A Court of Thorns and Roses book series by Sarah J. Maas. Physicality-wise, he is a tanned-tall and chiseled Fae man with black-blue hair and eyes that are so blue that they are the color of violets. Manner-wise, he is kind and is always willing to defend those he loves. He would rather let himself suffer than let his loved ones suffer. He may look so evil at first but once you get to know him, you'll see that underneath that dark exterior is a heart of gold.

Why am I fan-casting TZP as Rhysand, you ask? The answer is simple. Coz I love both of them! Also, I am not the first one to fancast Taylor as Rhysand. I merely saw a tweet and that one tweet was enough to end my fantasies afloat.

Also, to see him play a morally grey character would be a treat. It would be a good opportunity to cast him because Hulu is adapting ACOTAR into a TV series so at this point, I'm just hoping for the best.

He's also one of the many actors that people want to see play Rhysand. TZP as Rhysand fan-cast.

Third Fan-Cast: Taylor Zakhar Perez as Azriel from A Court of Mist and Fury

(TZP Photo from Pinterest; Artwork credits by artworks-by-rokii on Instagram)

Another character from the ACOTAR series. Azriel is one of my most favorite characters in the story. Physicality, he is also tall and has black wings protruding from his back. Azriel is also known to be one of Rhysand's best friends. He is still a mysterious character to me and I have yet to read a book where he is the central character.

Getting Taylor to play a mysterious character like Azriel would be a joy because you will spend the whole time figuring out his goals.

I would also like to be honest here and say that TZP is not the first choice to play Azriel but I'm okay with that because Matthew Daddario is the main choice to play Azriel. Matt is also one of my favorite actors because of his amazing portrayal of Alec Lightwood in Shadowhunters.

This is the last of the fan-casts for the ACOTAR series but I would like to share another one.

Fourth Fan-Cast: Taylor Zakhar Perez as Xaden Riorson from Fourth Wing.

(TZP photo credits to Mekhi Turner; Artwork credits from booknuts_ on Instagram)

Xaden Riorson. One of the most exquisite men I (and Violet Sorrengail) have ever seen.

For those who are unaware, Xaden is the wingleader of the Fourth Wing. He has a dragon named Sgaeyl and is Violet's love interest. He is handsome and has dark eyes and dark hair.

I personally consider Xaden as the "Rhysand" of the Fourth Wing series but considering that the second book just came out, I'm a little scared for his future.

Similar to Rhysand, I'm not the first to cast TZP as Xaden because the media platform enews posted a TikTok not long ago that Taylor is their dream guy to play Xaden. Personally, I'm not mad about that because knowing that Taylor is a big fan of Harry Potter and this series has a Harry Potter mixed with Hunger Games vibe to it, so playing Xaden would be like entering a Harry Potter-esque world.

Taylor is one of the many actors people want as Xaden and here's a link for further proof: TZP as Xaden Riorson.

A Conclusion of a Fantasy

I'm a lover of the fantasy genre and these characters are just a selected few that are honestly, my personal favorites. I love these characters and to see Taylor play one of them in the future is a dream to see unfold on the big screen. Of course, I have also fan-casted him as some Marvel superheroes here and there and some rich billionaire CEO. My fancasts is honestly endless.

Feel free to share who you fan-casted Taylor as because now that the strike is over, productions are back in full swing. I would love to see TZP as any character and I would love for him to explore characters and genres. I will be watching every movie and series that will come out. That's a promise.

[dailysimoneashley]

COVER INTERVIEW:

Its been a long day for Simone Ashley. By the time we sit down to chat over Zoom, its 7:20 pm in London and Ashley has spent the last sixteen hours inside a dark cavernous studio filming night scenes for one of UK's most cherished TV shows.With her eyes still readjusting to the light and her face showing zero signs of dregs of a hard day's work,she sits at home emanating the exuberance of someone raring to do it all over again.

It wasn't easy to pin down Ashley for our interview. And its understandable really, knowing that she's soon to become one of the most talked about actresses on our screens. Only a few months ago, whispers of Ashley started rumbling across the internet. Her face quickly started appearing on Twitter and Instagram. Articles that told you "everything you need to know about Simone Ashley" became suggested reads for TV lovers.

Why ? Because in a landmark move for the 26 year old actor, the news broke that Ashley would be taking on her next role as Kate Sharma-the fiery headstrong and grounded new female lead of Bridgerton.

As Kate Sharma,Ashley joins as the love interest of Jonathan Bailey's character,Anthony.When the news of the role was released, Netflix tweeted "Kate Sharma is a smart headstrong headstrong young woman who suffers no fools- Anthony Bridgerton very much included" which is no doubt a nod to the juicy tumultuous events to come. Speaking with Ashley about the role and her character its increasingly hard to believe that despite her almost continuous smile,infectiously calm demeanour and astute gathered reflections on her life and career, she says that she is in fact very similar to the fiery character she plays.

"Naturally when we meet someone fiery who maybe has a temper or is incredibly emotional, its really natural for us to feel slightly intimidated by that person and not really understand where it comes from, to feel protective of ourselves if it comes from a place of animosity" Ashley says ruminating upon what makes Kate, Kate. "A lot of time, people who have those traits- quite fiery, raised voice and have a temper- are actually people who have the biggest hearts. There's work to be done on how you express yourself. I don't think its a necessarily bad thing"

And the pressure was certainly on Ashley, to bring the character of Kate Sharma to life as much as she could. Julia Quinn the author of the Bridgerton novel series, tweeted "I couldn't dream of a more perfect Kate" when the news of Ashley's arrival was announced.

So the actress took her time to really understand who Kate was really deep under the surface so that she could slip into her skin and stand tall around the Bridgerton sets,not only with support from a corset but with an arresting poise that speaks true of her character.

For most of us we were first introduced to Ashley during her appearance in the widely revered Netflix hit show- Sex Education. Our first glimpse of the future Bridgerton star was of Ashley portraying a 16 year old high school girl perching on a derelict toilet in an asbestos covered bathroom next to the show's protagonist, Asa Butterfield as she confides in him about her more turbulent sexual experiences. Sex Education set out to break down questions of sex and sexuality that most of us had growing up, exploring different stories and topics that hone in a range of topics and taboos. It soon became a treasure of a show for anyone wanting to find out about things no one is really talking about.

"I'm so grateful to be part of that show" Ashley says reminiscing about how close the cast of Sex Education cast became."It's a cast and crew of such incredibly intelligent wonderful people with really big hearts and all in all as well as being part of the series, that was a massive thing I took away from the job, I made some really amazing friends I think it was just a really fun job to be a part of . It's such a fun story that John Hughes kind of high school world it was just really special."

Prior to the role Ashley worked with Olivia Coleman and David Tennant in Broadchurch as well as more recently appearing in shows like ITV's The Sister. She had a blink-and-you'll-miss-me role in 2015's iconic cinematic story of hip hop group NWA's Straight Outta Compton. Even though Sex Education's seismic success could only mean good things were coming to the cast Ashley is still pinching herself over what seems to have fallen deservedly on to her lap.

It's no shock that Ashley finds herself likely taken aback by the recent developments in her career, the world will be watching as she steps foot ; her back help straight and hands locked together in traditional Regency-era gowns on to our screens. But not only has landing the role been a game change for her career but it's also thrown her into a world of complete unfamiliarity wrapped up in what seems to be the most rigorous work schedule around.

"With Bridgerton it's much more intense than Sex Education in the sense that if I'm not filming I'm horse riding, training or rehearsals. I'm an accent training or I'm in a fitting" Ashley explains "I've never really worn a corset before so that took some getting used to, my body definitely changed a little bit wearing it. And that kind of changed my posture a lot to suit the era. Horse riding, I've never really ridden before, I rode once years ago, but I did some intense training for that and it turns out I'm a natural at it so that's a great thing" she shares.

With unrivalled anticipation of the second season, based on the second instalment of Quinn's novel series The Viscount Who Loved Me- as well as the fan bases that spans across continents and even releasing its own "Nap Dresses" fashion collection, Bridgerton has become an empire stretching all over the globe and Simone Ashley has undoubtedly taken centre stage.

But none of this came easily for the actress. Ashley's dreams of acting have always been firm and unwavering in her mind.With no other option of what her future might look like Ashley took a dangerous leap into a world that chucks people out this despondent and dreamless as quickly as it can make you the next big thing. "I have incredibly supportive parents especially my mum" she says. "I was extremely stubborn in my choices and I left home quite early when I was about 15 years old and I was just very focused. So to be honest even if they were supportive or not I was going to do it anyway"

"I couched surfed quite a lot, and I worked various retail jobs. I did a year of acting on a musical theatre course at a drama school and then it didn't work out, I actually left after my first year then I went to LA where I did my first teenie tiny acting role. Then I came back to London and took it seriously and started knocking on a lot of doors, going to thousands of auditions like any other actor, and just went back to acting class. I was just really curious to see how deep I could get into craft."

Grafting with unchanged determination took Ashley,from job to job, London to LA, and retail job to retail job. But as her self-assurance and awareness of her potential became steadfast in her mind the jobs got bigger and her dreams got closer.

"If I am really honest, I got kicked out of the drama school that I went to" Ashley admits, opening up as our conversation draws to a close. "I failed in dance and I was told that I wasn't ever going to be in performing arts. There wasn't a part of me that ever believe anything there was saying.I always knew that I was really smart and maybe just have some growing up to do, but I always knew that this what I was meant to be doing" she said wrapping her head around being the new star of one of Netflix's biggest shows.And if there is any greater testament to proving that it can happen, that taking risks can one day be undeniably fruitful, its Bridgerton's newest heroine.