#thanks emily mortimer

[ravingsockmonkey]

Wands Weekly - Corrections & Apologies

In our coverage of Jake and Elizabeth Goth's wedding, we made an error when referring to one of her fathers. Johnny wishes to express that he has not gone by the last name Zest in quite some time, and instead took the Charm family name whenever he and Darrel married. Thank you Johnny for letting us know!

Cypress Yarrow would also like to personally apologize for the last part of the wedding article that may have led some readers to believe that there was some improper behavior from former Sim Nation leader Anastasia Goth and Malcolm Landgraab. The insinuation, accidental as it was, is especially shameful in light of the recent passing of her husband, Jeb Goth. Darrel Charm has provided statements from both Jeb before his death and Malcolm that clarify Gabriel was the result of a mutual, platonic arrangement between Anastasia and Malcolm. The editors and other staff of Wands Weekly join Cypress in expressing our deep regrets over the miscommunication as well as our condolences to the Goth family regarding Jeb's death.

----

At the Charm family home in Glimmerbrook...

Darrel was glad that the post went up quickly on the Wands Weekly site. He had assured everyone at the wedding that the publication was trusted and that Cypress had been personally vetted. Seeing the last line of his write up felt like a slap to the face.

Malcolm had texted Johnny immediately after reading the wedding coverage. While he wasn't angry, Darrel knew that he was a private man who was very protective of his son.

Johnny had explained to Darrel that Gabriel was a science baby between friends. They made sure that the boy understood the circumstance behind his birth as he grew so he wouldn't feel as bad whenever his mother wasn't there full time.

Malcolm wasn't the only one that reached out - Jeb Goth asked if he could come over and explain things further. Darrel had to run to the office, but Johnny was more than happy to talk to the elderly man in his place.

Jeb echoed what Johnny had heard from his younger brother: Gabriel Landgraab was a science baby between Anastasia Goth and Malcolm Landgraab. What Jeb added that Johnny and Malcolm didn't know was that Anastasia had not told him about the child. He found out in passing whenever Malcolm happened to visit the Goth family home.

And while Malcolm's intentions were strictly platonic, Anastasia's were not. Jeb had overheard her calling him multiple times to ask him out on dates; all of which he politely rejected.

"I was never worried about your brother. He's a good man, Mom was able to see that even before he could."

Jeb stopped and sighed, "Bella and Mortimer were always like parents to me before Anastasia and I got married. They even let me live with them during high school whenever Cletus needed to dry out."

"They were friends after Mortimer's passing, you know. Bella and Malcolm that is."

"Really good friends."

Jeb seemed like there was more he wanted to say, so Johnny gave him the space to do so. What followed next was hard for Darrel to digest.

The man spoke about the pain of hearing his wife attempting to spark something not only with Malcolm, but other people as well, while he took care of the kids. Power and position had emboldened her to feel safe in her activities, and Jeb's own feelings for her coupled with his fear that she'd not allow him to see the children if he pushed for a divorce led him to look the other way.

But then Phoenix Ember, younger sibling of Anastasia, made a pass at him. Jeb didn't reciprocate their advances, but he didn't rebuff them either. While his son Simon was still a toddler, he reached out to Phoenix to see if they would be willing to have a science baby with him. And thus Emily was born. The older children and other family members assumed she was adopted since Anastasia and Jeb had adopted other children before.

"I'm not proud of what I did. Especially, whenever I found out the damage it did to their relationship with Morgyn. I didn't even want to hurt Anastasia; I simply wanted to feel in control of my life again."

Anastasia was hurt though; and everyone was surprised later on whenever she announced she was pregnant. Especially Jeb, though he tried to act excited so the kids wouldn't suspect anything.

Whenever Norah was born, it was very clear it wasn't Jeb's baby. The older children didn't ask any questions, but he could feel the way they looked at him. The scythe marking on her neck chilled him... had Anastasia really gone to such extremes to humiliate him?

It was the untimely deaths of their son, Omar, as well as Phoenix that stopped any further escalation and caused them to sit down and talk... and apologize to one another. The damage was already done though.

Jeb looked exhausted and sad after recounting everything.

"I want Darrel to write an article clearing up things. I know at one point Malcolm had a particular reputation, and I would not want people to think that he had done anything improper with Anastasia. The kids also deserve to know the truth about their parents - I only wish I had the courage to tell them myself."

The very next day Jeb Goth died from old age and was laid to rest next to Anastasia.

Darrel couldn't bring himself to write the article that Jeb wanted; while the kids did deserve to know the truth, reading it in a newspaper was not the way to go. He reached out to Wands Weekly to get a statement published to avoid further spread of rumors.

"I'm not hurting Jake and Elizabeth to clear your conscience, old man. You do realize that's what would happen, right? You're dead. Anastasia's dead. Maybe all of this should stay with the two of you."

[sexualintimidationdemon]

Day 5

Reflections on: Scream 3 (2000)

100% Cotton is a very bad name for a TV show.

It seems like everyone and their dog (there is a cute dog) is in this movie. Lance Henriksen (Aliens (1990)), Scott Foley (Felicity), Roger Corman (king of B-movies), Parker Posey (Josie and the Pussycats (2001)), Emily Mortimer (hollow bones), Kelly Rutherford (Gossip Girl), and Heather Matarazzo (Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)) are only a fraction of the cast. Jay and Silent Bob are also in this... in character?? So the Scream movies exist in the same universe as they do? Oof.

Contains dialogue such as: "Who's gonna kill what they can't find?", "Why did you have so many secrets?", and "What he did to her made her a slut." I think this movie may be bad.

This is just a straight up comedy. The cast includes two actors (Parker Posey and Matt Keeslar) who were also in Waiting For Guffman (1996) and it made me wish I was re-watching that instead of this.

The killer faxes a script he's writing and it's like kryptonite for actors. THEY HAVE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!

Carrie Fisher plays a woman who is not Carrie Fisher but looks a lot like Carrie Fisher FOR NO REASON!

This feels like it could be part of the Scary Movie (2000) franchise.

Dewey believes women. THANK YOU Dewey.

Infuriatingly, much of the plot hinges on magical Talkboy-esque impossible technology. Especially not possible 24 years ago.

Why has Courteney Cox been cursed with terrible hair in all the Scream movies? In previous instalments she had bad chunky highlights, in this one it's an awful wig with baby bangs.

Josh Pais, as a sarcastic sidekick detective, is the only actually funny part of the film. The lead detective is played by Patrick Dempsey who, when asked by Sidney what his favourite scary movie is, leans in close and flirt-whispers "My life.", to which she responds "Me too." This movie is bad.

I hope this is the last Scream movie that is about the fictional "Stab" movie franchise.

Following Shakespearean dramatic rules, this movie ends with romance and thus it is a comedy.

[thepromisedbride]

tagged by @cardinalvalentino thank you 10 ♡♡♡

last song: la seine and i by vanessa paradis and sean ono lennon

favorite colour: indigo or other various dark purples

currently watching: for tv, i’m about halfway through deadly class by myself and the nanny with my housemate

last movie: my housemates and i are actually watching hoodwinked (2005) as i type this!! before that it was probably mr six (老炮儿)

currently reading: romance of the three kingdoms

sweet/spicy/savory: spicy > savoury > sweet

relationship status: i am heavily involved in the gossip around several of my friend’s relationships because if nothing else i love drama

current obsessions: i recently read wuthering heights by emily brontë so that’s been on my mind!! and of course. the usual horrors

last thing i googled: i was looking up comedians because my friends and i decided matt berry and bill mortimer would be an excellent sherlock and watson and we wanted to find the perfect moriarty

currently working on: i have some fanfics on the go and am getting through my essential readings before the uni term starts up!!

tagging @screamingmadvoid @rosie-with-knives @agravaineoforkney @kiakahawhovatic @raeofsunshin and @mysticaltorque as well as anyone else who fancies it!!

[asmoonlightthroughthepines]

8 Shows To Know Me

Thank you @maplefiasco for tagging me *months* ago 🙈 Do check her post for excellent shows recommendations!

If you see this post on your dash, please consider yourself (no-pressure) tagged, whether we’re in a follower, mutual or complete strangers situation :)

Coming up with "shows to know me" was more challenging that I thought? In the end I chose shows I have often rewatched and that never fail to cheer me up. In no particular order:

Remington Steele

This show is a delight and a half. For years growing up it was on channel 3 in France every summer, and every rewatch makes me feel like the happiest teenager. Expect RayBans and vintage cars, because this is 80s LA with an Old Hollywood, Spencer Tracy/Katharine Hepburn inspiration. Unfortunately it's become impossible to find in Europe/France, and my entire family laments this fact on a monthly basis.

The Newsroom

If you get one thing out of this post, it’s to give The Newsroom a try. Not everyone loves Sorkin, in fact several of my friends hate this show, but I LOVE it. It’s chaotic. It’s fast. It’s idealistic. Everyone is a genius at their job and an idiot in their personal life. And the cast! Emily Mortimer, Jeff Daniels and Sam Waterston are superb! Olivia Munn and Thomas Sadoski are spectacular! Dev Patel and David Harbour are delightful! And the supporting cast - Jane Fonda! Chris Messina! Terry Crews! BJ Novak! Only this show would make me use so many adjectives and exclamation marks.

Hart of Dixie

This is my guilty pleasure, “won’t tell people about it because they’ll think I’m a basic bitch" show. It’s super cozy, the clothes are great, the dudes are hot, there’s a pet alligator called Burt Reynolds, the folksy-country soundtrack is fun, everyone is nice and walks around the WBros PLL and Gilmore Girls lot fake southern town with a pastry and home-baked pie in hand, and nothing really bad ever happens. Truly the happiest of basic bitch shows.

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel

I ignored Mrs Maisel for years because I’m not a big stand up or 50s style person, but it turned out to be one of the shows that’s made me laugh the most in the history of shows. It’s funny, it’s warm and it does more for Jewish humour than most pieces of media (The Nanny is the exception) since Annie Hall’s Easter lunch scene. I didn’t care much for s4 (style really took over content for me) and s5 is.. well I just don’t know how they explain a lot of those choices there. But man, s1-2 is something I would (and will) happily rewatch on a regular basis.

Friends It’s not original, it's "90s diverse" but sue me. I’m old enough to have watched it with my siblings when it first came out (VHS, baby!) and it’ll never not feel cozy and fun. I won’t catch it on tv because ad breaks will reduce it to unfunny, memeable catchphrases, but every few years I’ll pop a couple of seasons in the dvd player (DVDs, baby!) and it’ll still make me laugh like it’s my first time watching it.

Arrested Development

Do I need to explain? Yes s4 was half good/half bad when it was released (and somehow made mostly bad when it was re-edited) and I pretend s5 doesn’t exist. But seasons 1-3 are the definition of perfect tv! And in case you didn’t know, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett host a podcast (along with Sean Hayes of Will and Grace) called Smartless; the episode with Tony Hale (Buster) as the guest had me in literal tears.

Chuck

There’s a scene where Chuck’s best friend Morgan says that he’s spent years devising a work system that allows him to do as little as possible at his job, and he’s not about to ruin that by accepting a promotion. My entire family quotes this on a regular basis. I have watched s1-3 at least half a dozen times and just typing that makes me want to watch it again. Love the music, the ridiculous spy adventures and the unhinged background characters. Also Chuck looks exactly like one of my high school best friends which makes it even funnier.

24

LOOK. I did not expect this show to take over my life the way it did, and tbh I don’t really have an 8th show that hits both “will rewatch this many times” and “makes me feel warm and happy”. So I went for the one that currently has 12 drafts sitting in my fic folder. It’s violent and ridiculous and is equally funny (see ridiculous) and angsty. It got me through the 2nd lockdown, on the edge of my seat while live texting all nearly ten seasons of it to friends. But watch s1-4 and tell me you’re normal about Tony x Michelle. I dare you.

[manawitchyt]

A Cozy Celebration

Quest 3 Part 1

Emily made it home just as the Goths were walking across the street with thier suitcases. She is glad they don't have any horses or crazy amount of Cats or Dogs. Just two children that she hasn't met yet. Good thing she has a few spare bedrooms to fit them all in.

Everyone quickly piled into the house. It was nice to see that the shipping company threw down the new outdoor rug for her before everyone showed up. So nice to be able to stomp the snow off of your feet before coming into the house. Saves her having to clean up a big puddle in the landing.

The rug she chose for the indoor landing was so pretty! The Winterfest trees could be used the entire winter season instead only during the holiday. There were lots of different seasonal Holiday swatches to choose from, but this one Emily thought was the nicest.

Emily gives her back a bit of a stretch. Too many near slips while walking home from the park made her back sore.

E: I have the first two bedrooms in the hall are for guests. You can throw your bags in there. Sorry kids, you will have to share a bed and you might have to sleep on the blowup bed.

After all the Bedrooms were chosen, Introductions were in order.

B: Emily this is my oldest, Cassandra. E: Hi Cassandra. Hope you enjoy your stay! I've got a ping pong table in the basement and a cute little hamster that could use some more attention. C: Hi. Thanks. You got Wi-Fi?

E: I do! I made sure to install the fast internet Lot Trait. C: Thats so Sigma. Cassandra walks away.

E:???…

The Goth's son came around the hallway corner, A: Don't worry thats a good thing. E: Oh. Good, I was so confused for a second there. Thanks for the interpretation. Im Emily. Welcome to my home.

A: Im Alexander, but you can call me Alex.. Our house is getting fumigated for termites again. My parents like to stay up late playing Blickblock. Do you have a gaming mat? Emily is overwhelmed with information, E: Uh no. Sorry no blickblock here. (thank the watcher) I've got a computer though.

A: My mom said you liked her fruitcake, which is strange. Are you sure you did? You don't seem like the type that would. Alex squints his eyes at her. Trying to understand how someone like her passed the fruitcake test. E: I loved the cake it was really good! Those extra bits were so fancy. shiver

Emily narrowly avoided disaster by realizing she had leftover Brigadeiro to bribe him with. Can't talk when your mouth is full of holiday treats right?

Hopefully he will forget about the fruitcake by the time he is finished. Maybe his sister will take him downstairs to play on the computer.

Emily makes sure to welcome her adult guests after they get settled in.

B: Thankyou so much for having us on such short notice.

E: Its no problem, its the neighborly thing to do. You and Mortimer were so helpful with my work assignment, its the least I could do. So Welcome to my home!

Just like that, Emily gets another notification on her phone. Another Quest has started. This one seems like it will be all about family gatherings. Well, she doesn't have family close so the Goths will have to fill in for her. How does Jasmine know she has guests over? Are there hidden cameras in my house!?

Emily heads to the kitchen to welcome Mortimer,

E: Hope everything is to your liking.

M: Oh it is darling. Im glad we will have the opportunity to talk more. I did enjoy our conversation last time we spoke.

E: hoping it wasn't the mistletoe conversation I'd love to hear more about your book later.

One of the first things on her quest to do list is to "Cook some Chocolate Chip Cookies". Strange it says cook instead of bake, but oh well. Must have something to do with menu placement.

Emily loves cookies so she decides to make a family double sized portion to share with her guests.

Im going to stop this part here. Quest 3 has more images than the blog post will allow . The rest of the story will be in Part 2

[leanstooneside]

Bicycle kick (ARTEMIS)

1. Celine Dion's neck (huzza)

2. Travis Barker's neck (just wondering)

3. Ben Stiller's neck (ta)

4. Jordin Sparks's neck (see ya)

5. Edward Burns's neck (ur)

6. Rush Limbaugh's neck (yeah)

7. Brandi Glanville's neck (sigh)

8. Emma Roberts's neck (tch)

9. Whitney Port's neck (blast)

10. Alexander Ludwig's neck (gah)

11. Drew Barrymore's neck (gesundheit)

12. Keira Knightley's neck (huh)

13. Kelly Rowland's neck (alas)

14. Simon Cowell's neck (sssh)

15. Elton John's neck (sleep tight)

16. Tinsley Mortimer's neck (you don't say)

17. James Rodriguez's neck (yikes)

18. Amber Rose's neck (ugh)

19. Kendall Jenner's neck (shoo)

20. Nicholas Hoult's neck (very nice)

21. Adrien Brody's neck (ta-da)

22. Cameron Diaz's neck (eek)

23. Criss Angel's neck (doggone)

24. John Mayer's neck (kapish)

25. Eva Mendes's neck (hee)

26. Jonas Brothers's neck (no way)

27. Willow Smith's neck (hey)

28. Carson Daly's neck (ah)

29. J-Woww's neck (there there)

30. Cher's neck (man)

31. Matthew Broderick's neck (time out)

32. Emily VanCamp's neck (thanks)

33. Zooey Deschanel's neck (hurray)

34. Ashley Hebert's neck (fie)

35. LeBron James's neck (alas)

36. Zac Brown Band's neck (oh)

37. Vinny Guadagnino's neck (over)

38. Benjamin McKenzie's neck (exactly)

39. Ashley Judd's neck (huh)

40. Caroline Manzo's neck (get lost)

41. Jamie Lynn Spears's neck (oy)

42. Christian Slater's neck (all right)

[dear-indies]

Hello! I would really appreciate it if you could help me with some ideas for fcs that could play an older version of kristine froseth!<3 thank you in advance!

Kristin Scott Thomas (1960)

Meg Ryan (1961)

Jodie Foster (1962)

Emmanuelle Béart (1963)

Terry Farrell (1963)

Kristin Davis (1965)

Naomi Watts (1968)

Essie Davis (1970)

Mädchen Amick (1970)

Samantha Mathis (1970)

Carla Gugino (1971)

Emily Mortimer (1971)

Rebecca Romijn (1972)

Jenna Fischer (1974)

Michelle Monaghan (1976)

Lauren German (1978)

Erica Durance (1978)

Caitríona Balfe (1979)

Maimie McCoy (1979)

Alice Eve (1982)

Christina Cole (1982)

Gillian Jacobs (1982)

Cassidy Freeman (1982)

Emily Blunt (1983)

Here you go!

[nicollekidman]

it’s 2018 and mackenzie mchale is hot!!!!!!! 

[sherlock-is-ace]

You guys, more goodies!

Again from the lovely @thy-cocoa-doth-grow-cold !! <3

We have a download link for Bright Young Things for those of you who haven’t seen it yet (you’re missing out btw). It’s google drive so it’s perfectly safe, if it helps I’ve downloaded it already and it’s all good.

I had already shared a gif to watch it online but I think it’s better to have in your computer for rainy days when the wifi gets all fucky (believe me it happened to me lol)

Here you go! :D

[cringeandfailofthecentury]

I just really like alignment charts ok

[tripthelights]

hot take:

ben whishaw and emily mortimer have amazing voices and their characters deserved their own songs in mary poppins returns, or at least a banks sibling duet

[maraczeks]

phil thread pt 4

[project-aphelion]

12.23.2021 - Chapter 3 (again)

Word Count

> Chapter 3: 7180

> Total: 16845 (including a bit of Chapter 4)

WAHOO first update on this blog!

So what’s been going on? Let’s see...I took a massive commission, and that basically took up most of my free time, which meant I barely had time to write. (I don’t mean to sound ungrateful since I Am getting that cashmoney; just explaining what happened.) And THAT is the reason I haven’t updated since........September. Wow.

But added to that, this chapter was also stumping me. Lots of worldbuilding, lots of dialogue, plus it’s just a longggg chapter. Now, I’ve technically already made an update for this chapter, but that was only the first pass revision. I gave it a second revision (which ended up changing a LOT), and then a polish pass. It’s still not perfect, but hey, it’s workable!

So here’s what’s up:

What’s Different?

Chapter Summary: Shelby (Bee) and friend Idan escape from hitting Cay in the head and have issues over the fact they basically left him to die. Bee receives a job offer that seems too good to be true, but she refuses it. Which ALSO leads to issues between her and Idan.

Added:

> A more thorough description of Mortimer, the person attempting to hire Bee.

> Better explanation of the war and the disaster that made Es the sad little planet it is.

Changed:

> In revisions, a lot of my focus is on adding emotions. But in this particular chapter, I actually toned down the emotions. Originally Bee reacts terribly to the job offer, shouting “What?” and freaking out, but after ruminating over why the chapter isn’t really working, I realized she should be a lot more jaded. Her reaction now is more like a “.......wtf.”

> That being said, I also upped Bee’s homesickness to her home planet.

> Speaking of her home planet, I changed its name from Bolerre to Bi-Xing. I just wanted a little Chinese pizazz in there :<

> Okay, this one was kind of a net neutral. Originally, Bee and Idan live on Bee’s ship. In the first pass revision, I realized it wouldn’t make sense for Bee to still have her ship (her ship is dead. What’s she going to do, hire a crane operator to lug it around for her? She’s BROKE. She’s an ILLEGAL CITIZEN. anyway), so I changed it to what’s basically a homeless shelter. But then I realized I needed there to be a ship for climax purposes, so I changed it back to a ship, except now it’s IDAN’s ship. (Or his uncle’s, but whatever.)

And now, an excerpt.

She waggled the picture. “You said you didn’t know why he was chasing you.”

“Does it matter?” Idan said with all the venom of an angsty teen.

Bee guessed it didn’t. She let Idan grab the photo back and give it to Arada.

“Thank you, Idan,” Arada said, and incredulously, Bee thought she detected a hint of warmth in her voice. Then she turned back to Bee and her expression went cold once more. “Well. I would ask you to go back and grab more stuff, but we have a job offer for you.”

“Who’s we?”

“Me. My friend.” She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, indicating the other side of the hatch door. “Offer. Do you want to hear it or not?”

Bee blinked, still caught on that one word—friend. Arada had a friend, and somehow that was harder to swallow than the Alabast bomber hiding in a ghost town with a child. Who in their right mind would choose to be friends with someone so sour?

The disbelief must have shown because Arada was slanting her a needled look. Bee quickly schooled her expression. “Offer. Right. Yes.” She almost added please, but managed to bite it back.

I love writing Arada, btw. She’s so mean and cool.

Anyhoo c’est tout au revoirrrrrr

-Emily

[beware-of-you-98]

Do have any sad/angsty headcanons of Emily’s childhood? Like before 15? I love your hc lists, they’re always so good 🥺

i can certainly try!!

(ow i hurt myself really bad with this one)

tw//mention of conversion camps but it’s brief

emily, as we know, had very absent parents (or at least a very absent mother) from a very early age

she’s learned to rely on herself from an early age because of this

like, yeah, she has nannies, but she’s firm on being very independent

(this type of thinking leads to early compartmentalizing, which never ends up being a good thing)

once, emily breaks her arm when she’s four years old and no one noticed for three days because she hid it so well

[her arm still hurts from time to time even now because of this injury]

her mother makes her take ediqute classes to be a prim and proper lady but emily finds ways to skip the classes

she much rather sit alone in the library and read

her favorite stories are the ones where knights rescue princesses

she always imagines herself as the knight, but still as herself because girls can be heroes too!!!

if she wants to fight dragons and carry a sword and rescue pretty princesses, no one can stop her!!!

when she’s six, she begins to sneak out into the woods to play “rescue the princess”

with no friends, she has to use a lot of imagination, but she makes it work

one day, she befriends a raven by feeding him pieces of her lunch that she doesn’t eat

she knows the knights in her storybooks have horses, but she thinks a raven will work fine as her sidekick

she names him mortimer

mortimer gets spooked away when emily first picks up a stick to use as a sword, but once he realizes this weird, tall, featherless bird won’t use the stick on him, he stays

mortimer follows emily around as she stops through the trees, loudly proclaiming that she is “dame prentiss” and that she will slay the dragon to rescue the beautiful princess

mortimer is emily’s only friend, really

when her mother tells emily that they’re going to movie, she honestly has a full blown panic attack because what about mortimer???

he won’t know she left!!!

he won’t understand!!!

what if he’s sad??

what if he thinks she rescued the princess without him???

would he be mad??

he helped too!! mortimer deserved to know!!

she can’t just leave her best friend behind!! surely her mother will understand that, right?

her pleas fall deaf on the ambassador’s ears

emily’s devestated

they move across the world

emily kinda shuts down after the move

she barely talks

she can’t find it in herself to read any more knight stories— they make her too sad

she thinks about mortimer a lot

one day, she thinks she sees him and cries when she realizes the bird is a crow and is definitely not her friend

the ambassador signs her up for piano lessons after that to keep her in the house at all times

after her schooling lessons, emily is forced into the main room with the grand piano

the piano teacher her mother hired is a kind young woman that speaks to emily in a very soft, very friendly voice

she has carmel hair and really pretty hazel eyes and tells emily that her name is miss howard

she looks just like the princesses in emily’s storybooks

miss howard is really patient with emily

sometimes, they don’t even play the piano during emily’s lessons

sometimes they just talk about emily’s day

emily thinks it’s nice—she’s never had anyone to talk to

miss howard listens to emily when she has a bad day

she doesn’t tell her that “a prentiss never shows weakness”

miss howard lets emily cry when she needs to

she lets emily talk about mortimer

she doesn’t call him a stupid bird

miss howard thinks mortimer sounded like the greatest friend [he was]

one day, emily breaks down because her french lesson didn’t go so well and her mother forgot it was her birthday.... again!

when she goes into the main room for piano lessons, miss howard is sitting at the piano with a small cupcake and a candle in the shape of the number 8 sticking from the top

in her hands is a small present that she gives to emily once she’s done singing happy birthday to her

emily bursts into tears because she’s so overwhelmed that miss howard remembered her birthday

she throws her arms around her teacher when she opens her gift— a small crocheted raven that looks exactly like mortimer

emily whispers that she wishes miss howard was her mom instead of the ambassador

the next week, emily has a different piano teacher and never hears from miss howard again

emily moves around a lot during her childhood, and since she’s already lost two friends very near and dear to her, it’s hard for her to let people in

by the time they locate to the western part of the united states, emily is 12 years old

the ambassador puts emily in a private, all girls boarding school

emily gets picked on... a lot

the other girls make fun of her because emily carries around the gift from miss howard everywhere she goes (it brings her comfort)

they make fun of her accent

and the fact that she’s not entirely fluent in english

(she’d honestly like to see any of those mean girls try to attempt to be fluent in russian and french)

she spends most of her time hiding in the school’s library and crying in the bathrooms

she’s hiding in the stalls again after being pushed into the lockers one day when another girl comes in and sits outside the door of emily’s stall

emily recognizes her green socks and cuffed pants— the girl is in her chemistry class (audrey, emily recalls)

audrey is quiet for a long time before saying “those other girls are jerks”

emily’s response is a sniffle and scuffing her shoes against the tile floor

audrey tries again, but her voice is softer

“i really like your bird”

emily timidly sniffles “thank you”

“what’s his name?”

emily pauses

“mortimer”

“i like that name”

audrey begins to sit with emily at lunch

she’ll go out of her way to find emily in the library and sit with her so she’s not alone

they don’t talk at first

emily is very wary of audrey’s intentions and doesn’t trust her

but she doesn’t push her away either because audrey doesn’t make fun of her and she likes mortimer

the day emily decides to fully trust audrey is when audrey stands up for her when she’s getting picked on in the halls

audrey stands between her and the bullies and yells at them about how awful they are because “emily is a great person” and “emily’s so sweet and she doesn’t deserve this shit”

emily wonders if the way her heart flutters is the same way the princesses felt when the knights rescued them in her storybooks

she feels special— no one has ever stood up to her the way audrey did

they become inseparable after that

emily and audrey become roommates later that year

audrey helps emily come out of her shell and teaches her how to stick up for herself

emily tells audrey about moritimer, the real one, and miss howard

audrey listens

she always listens

she’ll hug emily tightly and just hold her in her arms

(emily wonders if it’s normal for her to feel so safe in her best friend’s arms)

(she wonders if it’s normal that her heart skips a beat, her breath catches in her throat when audrey smiles at her)

(she wonders if it’s normal for her to get so excited when audrey holds her hand, even though her hands get clammy)

(she wonders if it’s normal to want to kiss your best friend, even if they’re both girls)

they’re skipping class one day, walking hand in hand down the stream behind the school

audrey is abnormally quiet and emily asks her what’s wrong

audrey won’t tell her for the longest time

she lets go of emily’s hand and leans against a tree, biting nervously at her nails

emily gently grabs her wrists and pulls her hands from her mouth

“hey... you can tell me anything, you know that right?” emily whispers

audrey finally meets emily’s gaze brieflt before she sighs

“...is it bad that i really want to kiss you?”

emily’s heart skips a beat

“no, it’s not”

she pauses briefly before adding softly “you should”

audrey is emily’s first kiss

it’s so soft and so perfect and everything like fairytales describe it as

audrey calls emily her girlfriend and she completely swoons

she hasn’t been so happy in years

she doesn’t know how the ambassador found out

but she’s called to the office one day snd faces her very angry mother

the ambasssador chews into her like emily’s never been before, swearing and red in the face from screaming

the ambassador pulls her out of the school right then and there and tells emily that they’re moving to rome

she refues to let emily see audrey again and has her assistant go pack emily’s belongings while she continues to scream at her in the car

she tells emily that this type of behavior is something she won’t tolerate

she says that if she ever catches emily with another woman like that again, she’ll send her off to a camp

emily never sees audrey again

it’s only when they land in rome that she realizes that the ambassador’s assitant never packed the crocheted mortimer

[manawitchyt]

A Cozy Celeration

Quest 1

Story Starts after the cut

As it turned out the Office had to be evacuated while the firefighters danced, I mean put out, the waffle maker fire. So everyone were told to work from home for the rest of the day. Once Emily got into her comfy clothes she opened the app Jasmine downloaded for her.

The first task would mean Emily would have to go outside and talk to her new neighbours, so she skipped it. Instead, she focused on the Japchae recipe, appreciating the ease of having all the ingredients packaged together. Maybe she should get a meal subscription service as a Winterfest gift.

This will be the first meal she makes in her new home! Emily isn't a very skilled cook, but as long as she remembers how to boil water she should be fine. Her last home was way too small for even a hotplate so she always ordered from Zoomers. It got embarrassing when they knew her from her order.

How did she not know how easy cooking could be!? This is wonderful, but Emily doesn't know if she should embrace this new found skill. She has mini conversation with herself and decides Yes she should start liking cooking. Maybe her grilled cheese will get the grown up glow up!

Just as the Japchae was finished and plated she heard a knock at the door. A muffled "Welcome to the Neighbourhood!" could be heard at the front door.

E: Oh no! not the famous Willow Creek Welcome Wagon! I wasn't expecting them until tomorrow. I wonder which of my neighbours drew the short stick.

Mortimer: How the hell did we end up being the ones chosen for this task, my darling? Bella: You know she works for Jasmine, right? She called in a favour and I couldn't refuse, sweetheart. Just grin and bare it for a few hours. Then you can get back to your office and continue writing your book.

Emily Answers the door as cheerful as can be. You don't want to tick off the Neighbourhood Association, you never know what kinds of stories they will spread or if they will send the N.A.P consultants to fine her for some strange made up infraction. Its almost as bad as living in an HOA community.

E: Hello! Thankyou for stopping by. Mortimer was the closest to the door so of course Emily assumed he was the one to schmooze. Mortimer didn't mind, finally someone paid attention to him first and not his beautiful and powerfully connected wife. M: It's our pleasure deary.

Bella feels slightly annoyed by being ignored but won't hold a grudge. The true challenge lies with the fruitcake. It's always been about the fruitcake. No one realizes it's the gateway to the infamous inner circle. The fruitcake has power to make or break you, thanks to an ancient family recipe.

Mortimer and Emily are having a pleasant and animated conversation but this get together needs wrap up soon. Bella has other things to take care of.

B: You have a very charming home Emily. Do you have a place for me to set this down? E: Yes! of course. please come in.

Quietly M: Was that a tone of jealousy I heard? B: No! of course not. It was just getting a bit chilly standing out side listening to you prattle on about your book. Mortimer smirked, enjoying the thrill of making her feel a bit envious for a change. What a nice visit this will be.

Bella set the fruitcake on the table and relaxed on the sofa. E: Sorry for the mess; I rarely receive unexpected guests. In fact, I hardly have any. M: That's truly unfortunate dear. Help yourself to a piece of cake. Bella baked it just for you from an old family recipe. Hope you enjoy.

Emily takes a slice. She has never had fruitcake before. It doesn't look gross and it smells very sweet. She walks around the island counter. Mortimer was standing in the way of a chair and she didn't want to some how be rude and as him to move out of the way. She isn't used to hosting any sort.

Emily updates the app to show she's finished making Japchae. The next thing she needs to do is chat with the two sims in her home about their holiday traditions. No going out into the cold neighbourhood for her! She hopes to wrap up these quests up before bedtime. She eats a large fork full of cake.

Oh watcher! What did I just put in my mouth. oh no, oh no, oh no. chew. swallow. Don't let them know it tastes like an entire salt shaker was dumped to the batter. Maybe its supposed to taste like this?? Don't be Rude! Just smile.

E: This is lovely *gag* you mentioned It's a family recipe?

Leaving the rest of the dish at the table, Emily sits on the couch next to Bella.

B: Did you enjoy the cake? Trying not to shiver in disgust, E: Y-yes, very delicious. Very, um, well seasoned. B: Thats so nice to hear. Your boss, Jasmine said the same thing when I gave her a loaf last Winterfest.

Emily had passed the secret test. Bella could now pursue a proper friendship. B: You know we became fast friends just like I think we will Emily. E: I hope we can too little smile. Do you mind if I ask you both a question? B: Oh please ask away. E: Do you have any special holiday traditions?

B: Retro video gaming has been a tradition since high school.Glancing past Emily at Morty, Besides having mistletoe everywhere, wink right, darling? She subtly reminded Emily that Morty was hers, hinting not to flirt. Ok, there was some jealousy.

The thought of them kissing made Emily queasy.

E: A retro game tradition sounds so much fun! What's your favorite game? B: Definitely Blickblock. The kids aren't fans of watching us play, though. grins It's a bit too interactive for them. E: I bet that's quite the experience. awkward laugh B: It is. It leaves me breathless every time.

M: I can't forget about the mistle toe you little minx. Seductive Wink Mortimer is having a wonderful time seeing Bella traverse through these jealous waves. He may need to find a special place to hide… His dirty thoughts were interrupted by a question. E: What about you Mr. Goth?

Mortimer echoed Bella's earlier comment. His mind wandered back to high school. He pictured showing Bella how to play Blickblock and how she laughed when he wrapped his arms around her. Clearing his throat Coming back to reality,

M: Call me Mortimer. We’re practically friends.

With a huskier voice and staring straight at Bella, M: Well Darling, I think it's time we head home. Don't you think? eyebrow wiggles Bella could always count on Morty to end awkward gatherings if she slightly hinted at anything romantic. She will make him forget all about young Emily Parcel.

As quick as a flash they were out the door and headed home. Emily was relieved to finally see her uncomfortable visitors leave so she could enter the carefully revised feedback. Suddenly a new task appeared. Cloud watching or star gazing, in this chilly weather? Perhaps she could give it a shot.

Emily didn't waste any time. She bundled her self up and went to lay outside in the snow. It didn't take long before her phone jingled. It must have GPS tracking. It knew she was laying down! The Shipping team was headed over with her very first set of gifts. She just had to hit confirm to claim.

aking herself back to her front porch before she freezes to the ground. She looks down the street,

E: Is that them already!? Wow they are efficient. I better clean up some of this snow that piled up. I don't need them slipping on my sidewalk and hurting themselves.

*Story will continue in the next post* this is a big one! LOL