#witchy ball gown part one

[mysteriawrites]

Hello my friend! Here for the matchup trade with fire emblem! If you could ease match me with someone from fates or awakening?? Thanks for doing this ❤

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Name: Mochi

Gender: female

Sexuality: pansexual

Mbti: INFP

Personality: I'm pretty shy and reserved at first. I'm not the most confident and can be socially awkward, so I'm pretty non-confrontational as well. Once I warm up I'm a social butterfly. I love spending time with my loved ones doing anything really, and I'm a bit of a mama bear friend. I'm non-confrontational for the most part but I'm also very honest. I'm not a harsh or blunt person by any means, but I don't really lie about much - especially to a partner. Open and honest communication is very important to me, especially because I can be dense and not always notice people's hints and signals. I also love debate and philosophy and love to talk about deeper things especially about the way people work and the why's of how they do things. I have severe anxiety and depression which can make me emotionally volatile from time to time, but I try really hard to deal with it in a productive way. I'm very big on accountability and self-improvement. I can be sensitive, because a very emotional person, but I can also take a joke. People describe me as really funny with good comedic timing. I'm very caring, and though my memory isn't the best I always try to check in on those I consider friends, and I'm always willing to listen when they need an ear. I'm a little witchy and a little alt but my bark is WAY bigger than my bite lol.

Interests: video games (especially cozy games and jrpgs), anime, tattoos, piercings, going for walks and exploring, shopping, writing, card and board games. I'm mostly indoorsy with an occasional itch of wanderlust.

Dislikes: Bugs, being out for too long as I get overstimulated, huge crowds, loud noises or places

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I hope that's enough info! As always, ask anything more you might need to know! Thanks again and have a good one!!!

Hihi thanks for doing the trade with me. Sorry, this took so long it took me awhile to decide. I decided to give you a Fates character because that's what I could get the most inspiration for since this took so long DRUMROLL, PLEASE!!!

🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

CAMILLA!!!

Like with you and Robin, you and Camilla work well because of your people skills. You have a strong love for those close to you and would do anything for them.

You were the daughter of a powerful family from the Nohr kingdom. You weren't one for the fancy balls and royal soirees. You preferred to spend your time reading and writing indoors keeping to yourself.

However, nobles don't get that luxury. For "the good of the kingdom" the lord and lady, your parents, were throwing you a ball for you to pick a suitor.

You despised this idea of course, but you couldn't go against your parents. So, after weeks of preparation you were dolled up and the center of attention with men and women lined up to capture your favor for their own benefit.

At some point you weren't able to take it anymore and were able to sneak away to get a breath of fresh air, only it seemed you were not alone.

On the balcony you had escaped to there stood a tall woman with wavy lavender hair in a black ball gown. She was the most beautiful person you had ever seen.

She looked at you with her warm motherly eyes and asked if you were ok. You don't know what it is, but something about this woman makes you feel like you can trust her. As though you could tell her anything.

You told her everything and she gave you an understanding look. She took your hands and asked if you would want to hang out with her for the rest of the night.

And so, you two smuggled some snacks to the balcony and had a girls chat, and that was the night you two became friends. Your parents of course were displeased that you did not pick a suiter, but they let it slide because Camilla would make a powerful ally.

Years pass and you two became inseparable. Camilla would make regular visits to your part of the kingdom to hang out with you. You guys would chat, go shopping, and have tea parties together.

Just as she was there for you that night, you were there for her when she expressed worries about the war and wanting to make her kingdom a better place.

She also taught you how to fight so you would be able to defend yourself. She wouldn't know what to do with herself if something happened to you.

During your friendship you began to desire something more. You wanted to marry her, not some random suitor who only wanted you for you looks and money. Alas you not only did you not want to ruin your friendship, but you knew that Camilla had a lineup of other more powerful suitors given that she was not only a princess, but also kind and beautiful.

Your fears soon rang true when you got word that Camilla would soon be taking a spouse. You were devastated but wanted to support your best friend. However, you were quiet surprised the next time you two met up.

Camilla had invited you to brunch at her kingdom for a change (she said she prefers to hang out at your estate instead because it's less dark and dreary than the castle).

When you had gotten settled in and had some nice banter Camilla looked at you with a kind but serious look. She said she wanted to talk to you about something very important to her. With that she stood up from her chair, walked over to stand in front of you, and got down on one knee with the most beautiful bond ring she could find.

Camilla asked you to marry her.

And so, you two became wife and wife. The celebrity couple of the kingdom. You were light Camilla had to come home to whenever she would go off to battle and you made sure she was always welcomed back with love. She wanted to make the kingdom a better place for the two of you (and a potential family) to live happily ever after.

[revivemyreverie]

Mimia Levant

Birthday Interview

Ch. 1

Yuukio: Happy Birthday, Miss Mimia!

Mimia: Thank you, Yuukio dear. Why, I haven’t worn a blazer like this in a few years!

Yuukio: Oh? Do you not like them much or...?

Mimia: Oh, no no! Back then, I used to get my clothes dirty all the time.

One day, I was wearing a white skirt for an event, and it ended up getting muddy. There was no time to change so I just ended up going all dirty.

I got so embarrassed from being seen that I just stopped wearing all white outfits entirely!

Yuukio: What kind of stuff would cause you to get dirty? Are you into sword fighting like Yuuno?

Mimia: “Well, it wasn’t exactly sword fighting, per-say.

My family has a trait for being extremely strong, so my father liked to teach me how to throw punches in our hometown.

From observing boxers on TV to doing the fighting myself, I learned combat in the best way!

Yuukio: That sounds so cool! Maybe you could teach me and Grim a few moves one day?

Mimia: Ahaha… maybe! I barely fight nowadays. If anything, I just detain wannabe delinquents!

The way I fight too… Training might land someone in the hospital…

Ch. 2

Yuukio: So, why do you care for Caldera so much?

Mimia: Quite the broad question, but if I think about it…

I was raised in a household where I was always told that I was the best in a sense. Not that it wasn’t bad, but it didn’t help me out in the long run.

I ended up becoming, well, not the best student. If you’ve seen me before my transfer, you wouldn’t recognize me. I ended up doing some unsavory things that nearly got me arrested…

Yuukio: Uwah, how scary…

Mimia: I know, right? But the action made me realize I should clean up my act.

The students here remind me of my old self, so I thought it’d be best if I help them realize that too!

Yuukio: So kindhearted!!! Although, I have to ask, how did your family react to your accident?

Mimia: Aha! My father didn’t mind, calling it ‘normal’ to get in a bit of trouble in school.

My stepmother on the other hand…both she and my brother felt like they had been slapped in the face!

She went up to Witchi- ahem-my old school, and profusely apologized to the headmaster.

Meanwhile, my little brother thought he was never going to be accepted into a high end college because of me.

Hmph, he shouldn’t have reacted so dramatically! He still got into his dream school: the no.1 Royal Sword Academy.

Yuukio: Do you think we could meet your brother one day?

Mimia: Who knows, little Eli can be quite cold, especially when it comes to Caldera’s assortment of personalities.

For you, though… I’m sure you’d fare well.

Ch. 3

Yuukio: Ok! Now for a question from another student ( @the27th )! What kinds of dresses do you like?

Mimia: How easy! A-line princess ball gowns are my go-to~

When I was little, and my step brother’s family was still moving in, my now-step mother gave me a book about an adventuring princess.

One of my favorite parts of that story was the illustrations for the princess’ dress during a ball. I liked it so much that I immediately had one ordered by a seamstress. I’m sure that I could still find it somewhere in my closet.

Yuukio: Aww, how cute!

Yuukio: Its a bit of a touchy subject, so you don’t need to answer! But, what exactly happened to your birth-mother..?

Mimia: Oh, don’t worry about formalities right now, I’ve answered this question a lot anyways!

To put it simply, she left my dad.

Yuukio: Ah, I’m sorry…

Mimia: No worries! I’ve come to terms with it for a long time now.

You definitely can’t say the same for other children in my past situation, but the divorce was for the best in the end.

Them being together just meant more arguing and stress. Plus, we all ended up flourishing!

Yuukio: Wow~ it sounds a bit like a storybook’s ending, don’t you think?

Mimia: Ahahaha! I guess it does!

༻✦༺ 　༻✧༺　༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

Yuukio: Well, I guess that concludes the birthday interview! I’m sorry I couldn’t get you a more proper present, Mimi- woah!

Mimia: Let’s dance, my dear! You can make up not having a “gift” that way~

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS | EPILOGUE

💖 story masterlist 💖

This is it. This is the happy ending they deserve. Fluff. Fem!Loki, because we don't get enough of Loki's female form. Some musings about relationships in general, I think. Guys, I'm crying as I'm posting this.

note: I've got two posts of outtakes coming out sometime this week. Snippets that didn't fit in the story but that have the needed vibe, y kno? As well as a new story is coming out soon... Be sure to check out my main masterlist and taglist if you like my writing <3

I want to thank all my readers for this amazing journey. I love all of you, really, like- I haven't figured out how to produce serotonin on my own ever since I hit puberty, and you guys, you are an amazing source for it. I appreciate the time and the patience that it took to read this 120k word thing and I hope you found a little something for yourself in my writing. A comfort, maybe, because everyone deserves to be happy. I love you all 3000.

"You suck," I grumbled in Peter's direction. Luckily, the little shit was out of my immediate eyesight and I couldn't just pelt him with the assorted items that were scattered around me; luckily for him - after enduring hours of non-stop rambling from the spider boy, I was ready to bargain with Stephen for the sorcerer to put a temporary mute ban on Pete. His nervousness was becoming contagious.

"And you swallow," Pietro replied with a snicker as I heard him wrestle with Peter's tie over the pathetic noises of whining and grumbling coming from the younger man.

"I'm lady, ladies don't spit," I rolled my eyes into the skies, catching Loki's appreciative snicker. She - and yes, Loki was in her female form for this event - carefully combed and did my hair, something completely out of this world, all puns intended. I supposed she was feeling generous, because her female form generally made Loki even more moody and unapproachable. But in a hot way. I hope she didn't notice me ogling her like some kind of gallery painting. "You're a goddess, I can't believe you're friends with me," I addressed Loki, watching the careful movements of her slender hands in the mirror.

A small smirk and a dusting of pink over her pale cheeks was what I got, but the silence was so, so loud.

"Stop flirting," Wanda remarked from her spot by the window where she was doing Natasha's make-up with surgical precision. "You already have three boyfriends, leave some for us, Jesus," Her tone was playful.

"Oh my God, like you didn't brainfreeze and run into the fucking wall, forehead-first, when you saw Loki walk in," I scoffed as Loki's blush deepened.

My witchy friend grumbled something rude in Sokovian under her breath but refrained from any more comments, choosing to simp in defiant silence. Well, good for her, because I was about a hundred and five percent sure that Loki was as equally as smitten with her. It's just that neither of them knew how to approach the other. What can I say, idiots in love...

And yes, yes, I can say that because it takes one to know one. My own idiots were somewhere on the upper floors - getting ready in their own rooms, pulling out their brand new suits and ties for the annual Stark gala. It was supposed to be a charity fundraiser but as all of us were quite disillusioned, we knew it was nothing but a pissing contest between people with small PP syndrome. Even Tony himself said so.

Which is why I had assembled all the girls and theys in my room for a mission debrief. My own personal pride wouldn't let me be anything but a star, and to be completely honest, I just wanted to show off my family to the world - even if the delicate parts of our relationship were hidden from the general public, it filled me with immense amount of joy to be surrounded by my very own at their absolute best.

As for Pietro and Peter, they arrived not too long after me, Wanda, Natasha and Loki made camp in the biggest room with the most amount of natural light, surrounded by make-up and other assorted tools. Both boys were bickering but it was obvious that some of the older men had gotten on their nerves, forcing the youngsters seek solace with their peers.

"You know, Vanity Fair better be talking about us for at least a week," I grouched as Wanda helped me into my dress before I returned the favour. "The amount of people I had to actually, physically talk to, to get us these fucking gowns, is frankly disgusting."

"Agreed," Loki admired herself in the mirror, smoothing out invisible creases in her gown. "Although I must say, the dressmakers on Midgard are far more patient and open-minded than on Asgard." Truly, Loki had nearly driven the poor lady crazy. But on the upside, Loki looked like a living doll. Pristine, perfect.

"Our whims are their wages," Natasha piped up with a chuckle.

We stepped out into the main room, taking note of the men scattered on the couches, all of them wearing an almost identical expression of being already done with the formal event - which, I didn't blame them. Having gotten used to the informal, communal-living atmosphere, I wasn't overly keen on being surrounded by random rich douchebags either; as it was unavoidable, I was going to be miserable - but at least I was going to be miserable in style.

Predictably, the menfolk froze and hurried to pelt us with compliments as they surveyed our ensemble - all of our dresses had a distinct vibe despite carrying a sense of individuality to each gown. That was my idea, actually, to present the team as a family - both to satisfy my own need for one and to present a good public image for the press. Call it getting good cookie from the public - in advance.

"Stunning, absolutely beautiful," Tony chastely kissed my cheek, leading my by the arm towards the limo, Stephen and Bruce a pace behind us. "I'm the luckiest man in the world."

"We are," Bruce corrected him mutely. Stephen's smirk was a mile wide. "It'll be hard to keep my hands to myself for four hours but I'll manage," The scientist added, eyes briefly flashing a fluorescent green.

"There are children here," Peter interjected, nervously waving a hand. I gently elbowed Tony, speaking with my eyes rather than words, that Pete was in dire need of emotional support for his first big public event. With a sigh, the engineer relocated to sit next to the spider boy, both of them talking in hushed tones.

"Now, Bruce," I smiled innocently. "Why would I refuse a dance or five to my favourite lab partner in crime?" I winked at him as giggles erupted all around us. "And I'm sure there's a point somewhere about wizards sweeping princesses off their feet," I kept up the banter in hopes that any remaining tension would evaporate before we arrive to the venue.

I, however, couldn't lose all of it for we were absolutely assaulted by the photographers and press as we arrived to the red carpet; it was only sheer luck that me and Wanda didn't stumble ass over heels out of the limo. That luck's name was Loki: her magic delicately helped us to exit the car with grace despite our large gowns. Mental note to buy Loki all the chocolate: add to priority list.

It went about as good as it could. Peter was introduced as a trainee - and nearly had an aneurysm when Tony none-too-kindly corrected the host, calling Peter his protégée and successor. As for little old me? Rising star of biochemical engineering. No titles, no direct titles, but it was heavily implied we were involved.

I could fell the old, white rich men leering at me despite the layers of silk and tulle. Nobody was commenting on my champagne intake so I downed one after the other until I had a comfortable buzz going on. I could absolutely see why female scientists became either reclusive or brash.

Bruce's eyes followed me wherever I went. I had encountered some people I vaguely knew from all the socialite events I had to attend with my mother, so it wasn't as if I was a fish out of the water; it's just that every time I strayed further than ten feet from out group, I instantly grew a tail in the form of one of the Avengers.

"Sam, quit being creepy," I exited the ladies room, immediately spying the handsome man just 'casually' hanging out by a potted plant, glued to his smartphone and pretending to be very busy.

He looked up guiltily, shutting down Minesweeper and pocketing the phone. "Not taking any risks this time 'round, Princess," He offered me his arm, leading us back to our table. "Tony would have my head."

I rolled my eyes, falling into the chair next to Stephen. "My tracker implant is still in and the bracelets Natasha loaned me are actually tasers. Bird, chill," My hand snuck under the tablecloth, blindly groping for Stephen's hand. It didn't take much time for him to respond, cradling my smaller palm in his larger one, offering the small comfort with a tiny tilt to his lips. Both my large skirt and the fabric covering the table aided the secrecy; I felt like a middle schooler sneaking a kiss from my first crush behind the bleachers.

Coupled with the bubbles in my champagne, it made me giddy.

"Sam is just being careful, Princess," Stephen rumbled patiently. "This ball will be over soon."

I snorted, "But Stephen, I love balls," Causing the whole table erupt in bashful snickers.

"Yeah, think to me about it," Wanda downed the remnants of her wine glass, eyes wide, looking to the side. The giggling became a full belly-laugh as I didn't have the decency to play coy. I just smirked because, yeah, I did love me some...

The final hour dragged on forever. My feet hurt from the dancing. I had my suspicions that time would pass faster if I actually move around so I didn't waste the chance and cajoled Bruce into several slow dances with me. The energy between us was electric; I hoped my wife eyes and the red crawling up his neck would be attributed to alcohol. We spoke in hushed tones, about nothing in particular, the words being like sticks we threw into our fire.

Tony wasn't around much, way too busy to do much more than stop by our table every now and then. I both envied and admired him; he handled everything with grace and serendipity. Tony was right there next to Thor and Loki - literal royalty - and I had to pinch myself to prevent myself from ogling him, sighing in lovesickness every goddamn minute.

"If you ever stop looking at him like that, I don't think he'll survive," Stephen's tone was cheeky; his eyes were intense as he looked down at me as we danced. My sorcerer was rarely sappy, but when he found the words to describe his feelings... It was serious.

I met his eyes slowly, letting him soak in the very same admiration and awe I felt when I was with him. I felt his shudder, I heard the hitch in his breath. He wasn't jealous, no, he simply observed. I wanted him to see what I saw. "The day that I stop looking at you all like that is the day that I need to get my head screwed on straight." I wasn't a poet but neither was this a romance novel. "As far as I'm concerned, I won the lottery, the grand prize and the fucking life."

He chuckled. "You have way too much faith in us, Princess," Twirling me as to avoid the out of habit embrace.

Did I, though? I was inclined to disagree. Sure, we had our spits and arguments and sometimes Stephen would stick his cold ass feet under my blankets, Bruce's love for curry was a crime against anyone who slept in the same room as he and Tony routinely flirted with everyone and everything that had a pulse. I had days where my mother's temper surfaced.

Sometimes, one of us would inadvertently hog the other person and the remaining two would pout, roll their eyes or pitch a fit.

I just didn't see it as a big deal. All of those parts were normal - what couldn't be said about the rest of our situation. Compared to couples I've seen around, I thought we're happy. My boyfriends seemed to be happy, too, and if they weren't, it usually was pretty obvious.

So - okay, perhaps we definitely should be working on verbalizing our feelings. That would definitely solve if not world hunger, then at least the world war three that occasionally erupted in Tony's penthouse. And the ups and downs - not the steep kind, but ones not too different from waves rolling ashore - was what held us together. Because, well, our world was hectic and fast-paced and sometimes we needed that gentle rocking motion to sway us back to peace.

Tony's arm on my waist pulled me back to reality, steering me towards the balcony. Bruce and Stephen followed, all four of us power-walking through the inebriated crowd.

"Just so you know, I'm on board with whatever crazy shit you're planning," Stephen raised a palm towards a smirking Tony.

His mouth immediately dropped into a pout I could barely resist kissing. "But... I had a whole speech prepared," The engineer retorted indignantly, discreetly attempting to swat the sorcerer on the ass.

"And I'm sure it was amazing, honey," Bruce placated the upset Tony with a laugh, causing the latter to intensify his pout, eyeing us with mirth over the rim of his glasses, his stupid, lovely face more kissable than ever.

@another-stark-sub @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit @littlegasps @pilloclock @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads @hermione-grangers-wife @individualistfem @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie @mikariell95 @gladiosamicitias @warrior1-19 @toomanyrobins

[chiseler]

Gail Patrick: Malice Aforethought

The ultimate in resting bitch face, Gail Patrick could do more with a slight malicious smile than most actors could with the nastiest lines of dialogue. She was always sizing people up on screen, looking at them as if she could spot every weakness in their character and every humiliation they had ever suffered. Patrick knew instantly where she could stick all her knives, but the funny thing about her is that she seemed too basically cool and sedentary to really do too much damage, like a cat who stretches out and just scratches a canary before going back to sleep in the sun.

A brainy Southern girl, Patrick was born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1911. She graduated from Howard College and did two years of law school at the University of Alabama, saying later that she thought about running for state governor. But in 1932, for what she termed “a lark,” Patrick entered a Paramount Pictures beauty and talent contest and got the fare to Hollywood. The winner of the contest would get to be the “Panther Woman” in the Universal picture Island of Lost Souls (1932), starring Charles Laughton, and surely Patrick would have put a scare into both Laughton and co-star Bela Lugosi, but she didn’t get that part, which went to Kathleen Burke. (“It kind of ruined a career for her because nobody would take her seriously after that,” Patrick offered.)

She was presented with a standard studio contract by Paramount, but the strong-minded Patrick wouldn’t sign until her salary was raised from $50 to $75 a week and part of the contract was taken out. “I also read the fine print and blacked out the clause saying I had to do cheesecake stills,” Patrick said. “In the back of my mind I had this idea I could never go home and practice law if such stills were floating around.” She was groomed and coached until she lost her Southern accent, and then Patrick was ready to steal any scene she was in.

She made her first impact in Mitchell Leisen’s Death Takes a Holiday (1934), where she was filmed in stylish gowns and wore blond hair. Patrick is a distinct screen presence because she cannot help that “bitch” quality of hers from rising to the surface, no matter how hard she smiles or how hard she tries to be appealing in Death Takes a Holiday (much like such sisters in 1930s movie bitchery as Verree Teasdale and Genevieve Tobin). There is always something strained in her attempts at good spirits, as if she were a wicked stepsister just waiting to make some vicious remark about everyone in the cast. “I really put my all into that one,” she said. “It gave me a big career boost.”

She was a rival to Joan Crawford in No More Ladies (1935), which showed that Patrick was ready to rattle the most intimidating figures, taking in Crawford as if she can see the former chorus girl in her from a mile away. She drunkenly confesses to a dalliance with Crawford’s husband Robert Montgomery in a manner that tries for rumpled girlish candor but inevitably reads, as always with Patrick, as sheer malice. “I was hired because I towered over Joan,” she said. “She didn’t get temperamental—she simply expected blind obedience from cast and crew.”

Patrick coolly observed the “nasty” fights on the set of Mississippi (1935) between Bing Crosby and W.C. Fields and did her time in programmers before coming to the part that really set her up, Cornelia Bullock, the big bad sister to Carole Lombard’s daffy socialite Irene in My Man Godfrey (1936). Cornelia is the rich bitch incarnate, flaunting her privilege and power like a spoiled child, but with a wide streak of womanly sadism to make many of her scenes deeply unpleasant. Yet Patrick said that she was so afraid of the camera and nervous that she never saw her own films until she showed a friend My Man Godfrey in 1979. “My fright emerged as haughtiness and I can see where I got my image as a snob, a meanie,” she said. “And it’s the movie that typed me and the one I’m still asked about.”

Gregory La Cava, the director of My Man Godfrey, told Patrick to “suck on lemons and beat up little children” to prepare for her role, and maybe she was just a skeptical, smart girl scared of being in the movies, but that’s finally a little hard to believe. You don’t play Cornelia Bullock in the scathing way Patrick does without at least knowing something about inherent meanness and it uses and effects. Then again, fear has often been known to make people behave badly, and shyness can be seen as unfriendliness. “She had to be bratty, mean, demanding, and no winks to show I wasn’t really like that,” Patrick said of Cornelia.

She followed up Cornelia with her finest bitch performance of all, Linda Shaw, erstwhile roommate to Ginger Rogers’s Jean Maitland in La Cava’s great Stage Door (1937), where she engages in wisecracking duels with Rogers so brutal that it comes as no surprise when Rogers’s Jean ends one of them with the line, “Well, so long, if you ever need a good pallbearer, remember I’m at your service.” Patrick enjoyed working with Rogers in Stage Door because she said they could try scenes different ways, whereas she sniped that with the “Great Kate” Hepburn every scene was done the same way. “She never took direction and always walked around with that haughty air,” Patrick said of Hepburn. “Ginge was everything Great Kate wasn’t. The crews loved her and hated Kate for the airs she put on.”

Patrick was only 26 when she made Stage Door, but she reads as a lot older and more experienced, and so it’s believable when Rogers, who was the same age as Patrick, seems to have youth and freshness on her side as she diffidently snags jaded Linda’s man, the theatrical producer Anthony Powell (Adolphe Menjou). Patrick goes as far with verbal bitchery as it is possible to go in Stage Door, and her snobbery is at its most cutting and armored, too, and yet there are a few moments here when we can see that Linda is just as subject to the vagaries of men and show business as the other girls at the theatrical boarding house she lives at. Linda has a freezing sort of dignity when she realizes that Jean is replacing her with Powell, for the time being, and she has the confidence and lack of illusions that can wait to get him back. This has nothing to do with lack of pride, for Linda has plenty of that where it counts, and then some. It has to do with understanding how the world works and how unfair it can be without ever feeling sorry for yourself.

There’s a brief scene in Stage Door where Patrick relaxes a little for once as Judy (Lucille Ball) talks about the moment when she first wanted to go into show business. Patrick smiles almost easily here, as if her guard is just slightly down briefly, and the effect is touching because there is no other moment on screen when she opens up just a little bit for us. In the end, Linda gets Powell back, and she probably has the guts to keep him until another new blond comes along, and when that game is all finished at least she’ll have the fur coats he bought her to keep her warm on the cold nights ahead. Whatever happens to her, Linda will be all right because she takes nothing seriously and never gets her emotions, if she has any left, involved. That’s one way of getting through life.

Patrick’s most notable role after that was as Cary Grant’s wife Bianca in My Favorite Wife (1940), where the frustration of “the other woman” does not really suit her brand of steely control backed up by a witchy talent for insults and vindictiveness. By the time of Claudia and David (1946), Patrick could see the writing on the wall. “One day, we were sitting around the set and dear, sweet Dorothy McGuire started chattering about her great pleasure in working with such veterans,” Patrick said. “Well, I was seven years her senior, and Mary Astor was only 40 at the time. Mary bristled, but I just kept on with my knitting.”

Patrick, who married four times, had a successful second career as a television producer, where as Gail Patrick Jackson (the last name of her third husband), she put her law background to use as executive producer on the Perry Mason series, which starred Raymond Burr and lasted from 1957-1966. She let her hair go white and was still a handsome and stylish figure around town in this period. Patrick died in 1980 at age 69 in her home in Hollywood, in the arms of her fourth husband. Whenever she turns up in a movie, I think of that old saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, come sit next to me.”

by Dan Callahan

[tardis-stowaway]

tardis_stowaway watches The Covenant

I went into my drafts to look for something else and found this post that I wrote but then didn’t post for some reason. Why, past me? Did I save a draft instead of posting by accident, or did I mean to come back and edit it?  At any rate, I have found and eliminated one (1) typo, so over a year after the Terrible Movie viewing chronicled here it’s time to post my snarky reactions to The Covenant. Spoilers ahead, but really this movie isn’t good enough to be worth keeping yourself unspoiled.

I just finished off the latest school year of teaching. To celebrate, I’ve got a glass of rosé and I’m going to watch The Covenant for the first time.  What’s The Covenant?  According to the tumblr post that inspired this viewing, it’s a “famously terrible male witch movie” that features Sebastian Stan.

-According to the intro text, the persecution of those with “The Power” spread throughout Massachusetts.  That’s...not a very impressive scope.

-This credits sequence wants to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

-Four bland-ass white boys who aren’t Sebastian Stan waste no time in revealing that they have some sort of magic because they jump off a cliff to get to a party at the bottom. 

-At the party, some girls do a painfully contrived “who’s that?” to identify some characters we’re supposed to know.  Sebastian Stan is a New Guy.

-Cops come to raid the party.  The four guys hop in their car, which seems to be parked right next to the party with the other young folks’ cars.  If they parked beside the party, why did they enter it via the cliff?  That seems like a long way to climb even with a magic assist.

-These guys use their magic to fly the car off a cliff and then reverse to come back to earth in full view of the cops who just watched them go over the cliff.  These guys don’t seem terribly concerned about protecting the secrecy of their magic.

-Caleb (the Bland White Boy who is positioned to be the most sympathetic) comes home, where his drunk mother reveals that this movie will treat magic as a heavyhanded drug metaphor

-The girls are hanging around in their dorm room in sexy lingerie, delivering exposition.  Despite all the homoeroticism that is rumored to be later in this movie, we still need time for the male gaze.

-Creepiness intensifies with a dead body in a car and a smoky specter creeping on the blond girl as she showers.

-The dialog in this movie seems to have been written by someone who has never heard live humans talk.

-Apparently the magic lets you crash your car head-on into another vehicle and reform it on the far side unscathed.  Handy.

-Now we’re using magic to sexually harass a woman by flipping up her skirt in public, showing her bare ass.  I hope I’m not supposed to be rooting for these boys, because ugh. 

-Oh, now we’re worried about revealing the magic?  In front of some folks at a bar? Ok, sure, that’s way riskier than flying your car over the cops earlier.

-A third of the way through the film, we finally see some sign that this boarding school has classes and isn’t just a collection of creepy underlit dorms.

-Hey, it’s the locker room scene I’ve seen so many gifs from where a shirtless guy punches Sebastian Stan, who has his own shirt hanging open and an undone tie, and Sebastian Stan looks really turned on about it!  There are so many abs here. 

-Plot thickens.  The main four bland witchy assholes are researching Sebastian Stan’s family history, which involves putting their magical book of lore in the middle of a ring of fire.  This seems like a terrible idea for how to handle your most important text.

-Sebastian Stan is using magic to crash a motorcycle and acting the hell out of some truly awful dialog. 

-Chase (Sebastian Stan’s character) is a nasty piece of work, but he’s just so much more charismatic and committed as an actor than anyone else in this low rent movie.  It’s hard not to root for him.  Plus, the original four guys are all varying degrees of icky, so honestly I don’t care if they get magicked to death.  Sarah the blond girl deserves more than these assholes, but she has the survival instincts of a drunken squirrel.

-Hey, they actually followed through with the intense homoeroticism leading to a m/m kiss!  Unfortunately it’s just part of queer-coding their villain, not any two-sided attraction. 

-Sarah the blonde changed into a ball gown because why exactly?  Perhaps she is aware that she will shortly become a hostage and really could use a suitably dramatic frock.

-Seb practices for his future role as the Winter Soldier by jumping on a car!

-The special effects in this magic duel are unimpressive

-The climax of this film would have been so much better if it featured not Caleb’s father, a character we barely know, willing his power help Caleb defeat Chase, but instead had Caleb willing his power to Sarah, thus removing her from being a hostage and throwing off Chase for long enough for her to kick his ass.  Alas, nobody hires me to write theses things.

-Well, that was, as advertised, an impressively bad movie.   

[fey-and-sudden-and-unholy]

Surveything

Is there one aspect of yourself that you dont like? Is there more than one?I’m not as strong or smart as I’d like to be.  But that’s probably true of everyone. What is something you thought you’d never like, but you enjoy now? A lot of vegetables? X-D  Early on I was afraid of driving, but I love it now.  Especially at night.  I saw a fox, while on the way to work, this evening.  You don’t see things like that during the day, very often.

Did your parents ever not let you watch any television shows as a child? My grandmother (who had a significant hand in raising me, much to her resentment) tried to be strict, but mostly she was just glad I was being quiet and out of her hair, so her tendency to enforce things was spotty.  My mother might have been more strict about that kind of thing, when I was little, if she hadn’t worked nights and been asleep fairly often when I was at her house.   Have you ever betrayed one of your parents in any way at all? Doing what? The shortest and most accurate answer is: not in any way that they didn’t betray me worse.  So, not in any way that I regret.  But, it asks “doing what” so... examples:  In my teens, my mother considered it a betrayal when I answered my late step-father honestly that, yes, she had always been unstable.  She also considered it a betrayal, that time she was really drunk and tried to hold me between herself and the police, then got maced when I dodged out of the way. My father considered it a betrayal when he told me to either become more of a part of the family or he would never drive me to work again (which was a fairly empty threat, considering he rarely did in the first place).  However, my take on the situation was that any family that pulls you in with threats instead of love and support  wasn’t worth being part of, so I took it as my cue to move out and not speak to him for six months.   Stuff like that.

What are your favorite stores to go to when you visit the mall? The one here in town is practically empty.  But when I go to one that isn’t, I’ll admit to still checking out Hot Topic or Torrid if there is one.  I used to love Teavana, before it closed.  

What do you want to be your career if you’re not already fufilling it? World-traveling writer.  

Have you ever considered yourself a failure at any time in life? I have failed at things, but I’ve never considered myself A Failure.  I’m my primary reliable ally, at the end of the day, so there’s no sense getting as down on myself as all that.

Has anyone ever told you they don’t like the way you run your life? Probably, but I wasn’t listening at the time, so I couldn’t give you details.

Do you have any plans for this weekend or are you completely plan-free? Weekend as in my days off: maybe cook a thing, work on the gown for FaerieCon, go out to tea, visit my grandfather at the old folks’ home.

Do you find old people adorable, or have you ever found them quite creepy? Depends on the old person.  I rarely find them creepy, but fairly often I do end up finding them disagreeable.  There are some adorable ones, though.

Does it bother you when you comment someone’s pictures and they dont even comment you saying ‘thank you’ or comment one of your pictures? Not especially.  It’s not something I do that often, anyway.

When was the last time you had a complete meal? What did you eat then? Today I had soup and a sandwich.

Do you like cranberry juice alone? Or do you absolutely loathe it? I like it alright, but there are other juices I like better.  Then again, if you mix it with vanilla schnapps you get something that tastes rather like cherry cheesecake, so that’s a point in its favor.

When was the last time you had a shot? Are you behind on those right now? Are we talking booze or inoculation..?  X-D 

What would you consider the worst movie you’ve ever seen in your life? I don’t remember the title, but it was by that Uwe Boll guy.

Have you ever had a really rare disease, virus, or illness? Nah.

Do you know anyone who works at a department store and absolutely hates it? No one comes to mind, right off the bat.

Do you find yourself to be happier alone or with someone romantically? So far, I find I’m happiest alone.  I sometimes think it might be nice to find someone who could break that trend, but enh...

When was the last time you just, genuinely went somewhere with friends? As opposed to un-genuinely...?  Weird wording... My roommates and I went out for Indian not too long ago.  And I semi-recently went to the art museum with a friend.  Or does it have to be multiple friends?

Have you lost any of these friends within the past year, or gained friends? Nope.

Would you consider yourself a hygiene freak, or do you not care much? Kind of in the middle.

When was the last time you had a bug bite? What bg bit you anyway? Mosquito last summer, I think.

Would your parents ever trust you with your own personal credit card? Their trust is immaterial, but at this point yes they would.  I’m more responsible with my money than either of them.  That said, I don’t do credit cards.  I don’t like the idea of owing anyone more money than I have.   Debit’s convenient, though.

Are you old enough to live by yourself or are you just mature enough? Both.

Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to be the opposite sex? Enh *anomalous wiggly hand motion*  Not especially?  Growing up, I tended read so much and so deeply, I’m kind of accustomed to “being” other people.  There’s no particular shortage of guy protagonists, so...

When was the last time you had a piece of candy? What kind of candy was it? About an hour ago, one of those mini Mr. Goodbars.

What do you consider to be the best feature on the opposite sex? I don’t consider it enough to really have an answer to this question.  Thinking about it now, I think it’s more of an individual thing.  Different guys have different best features.

What is one thing you stopped doing just because everyone else stopped? Nothing comes to mind.

Have you ever been considered the freak of your class at any time in life? Hollow laughter goes here.

Would you even want to live if you ever lost your hearing or sight? It’d probably bum me out, but I’d muddle on.

What is one song that you always have the ability to get stuck in your head? Well, thanks to the last question, I have Dory in my head going on about “just keep swimming” but...  That Lovecraft version of Piano Man gets stuck, lately.  And Black Eyes by David Wirsig.  Rebel Rebel by Bowie.  Skating Away by Jethro Tull.  War Pigs by Black Sabbath.  And Israel kamakawiwo'ole’s cover of Over the Rainbow.

Do you have a friend who you absolutely cannot trust at all? No, I get rid of those.

Do you ever pretend to be someone you’re not? Do you live a lie, basically? Only in a writerly/RP sense.  That’s allowed, though, I think. :-P

In any time in life have you wanted to become someone different? Sorta-kinda.

When was the last time you had a piece of pie? What kind of pie was it? Too damn long.

What is the main color of clothing you have in your closet right now? Probably black.

Have you ever been to a Sea World before? Which one in which state  Nope.

Do you believe in any kind of magic? Is it the stereotypical kind? The witchy kind, not the Hollywood kind.

Are you currently working on any kind of project at this moment in time? I’ve got a couple of writing projects going.  And there’s the gown for the Bad Faeries’ Ball at FaerieCon.

What color are your eyes? Do you enjoy your eye color the way it is? Blue.  Sure, why not?