#Judith Mouse

[chelseacatgirl]

*Note: This pic was drawn back on April 2nd 2023*

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First pic: Before "Heal the Cutie"

Second pic: After "Heal the Cutie"

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Meet my newest Crash Bandicoot OC.

Name: Judith Mouse

Species: Mutated Field Mouse

Gender: Female

Mutated by: Dr. Nefarious Tropy

Voiced by Luci Christian *Rico from Gunslinger Girl*

https://youtu.be/a4UiTQispiI?t=20

Judith is an orphaned Field Mouse child was one of the many Mutants mutated by Dr. N. Tropy that were locked up in one of the abandoned facilities of the Cortex Commandos as his failed attempt to have an army of them as they rejected him for as they refused to be evil, while some others came to work for Nitrus Brio and N. Gin *Something that happened one year before Crash Twinsanity events*, Crash, Coco, and Crunch had freed the many mutants that were against N. Tropy, and Judith was one of them, yet she was too quiet to be noticed and left on her own. She never had friends either.

One year later, after scavenging for food and trying to survive by herself, Judith was taken in by Crooncrool Crumb when she trespassed into his haunted mansion. However, due to the fact Mr. Crumb is very miserly, cruel, friendless, and never intended to have friends, he is very cruel towards her as she lived with him for 3 years.

One day, Crash Bandicoot and his friends, as well as the Cortex Commando Mutants entered Viscount Devil's Treasure Haunt competition to find the mysterious indigo colored crystal, in which secretly he wants for himself as it contains great power, it was the same crystal Mr. Crumb was also going after because he's greedy for treasures.

During the treasure hunt, Judith would befriend Brok the InvestiGator, from another dimension, whose lost memories of Crash and Spyro's dimensions have taken on a sprit form while also having his memories from his dimension intact that were copied over from his true self after he traveled back in time combined with a few other phenomenons, and then meeting Nozomi, Crash, and their friends, becoming her first friends.

She would later leave Mr. Crumb forever and help her new friends and the Cortex Commandos find that crystal before he and the Viscount do after learning it was all the latter's set up.

After Crash stops Mr. Crumb, Brok came in contact with the crystal, turning his spirit form into a physical form, yet he still isn't the true Brok himself, the crystal itself is then rendered powerless.

Judith was then taken to the Refuge Village for Mutants where Brok and Nozomi promised to take care of her, as she gets new clothes from Nozomi that she made herself while she acts as a sister figure towards her as Brok wants to make up for his past mistakes for not being there for Graff for family matters, so he acts as a father figure towards Judith, in which she wants to be a detective when she grows up, all while Brok hopes to see Graff again one day.

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Judith is physically two years younger than Bumpy Woylie.

She really loves to eat cheese.

Occasionally, Vivi Otter would babysit her.

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Judith was inspired by such child characters like 9 year old Rin on Inuyasha *For survival skills*, Eri from My Hero Academia *Having a similar rough past like being abused by their past guardians that are antagonists, but later live in facilities that offer them better lives*, Anne-Marie from All Dogs Go to Heaven, 7 year old Fievel Mousekewitz and 8 year old Tanya Mousekewitz on An American Tail *Design influences*, Olivia Flaversham from Disney's the Great Mouse Detective, and Penny from Disney's the Rescuers, thus how Nicole would have been in DIC's second Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon of the same name AKA SatAM's lost Third Season in her true form and after having her true form restored.

Judith's meeting with Mr. Crumb and her relationship with him was inspired by how Gatomon from the 1999 Continuity of Digimon Adventure met Myotismon as Salamon and how she suffered abuse and despair from those days because of him, only without corrupting the cutie moments.

She was even named after the late Judith Barsi, a child actress who did voice work for Don Bluth films like Ducky in The Land Before Time and Anne-Marie in All Dogs Go to Heaven, she had a rough life and at age 10 had hers and her mother's lives taken from them by her own monster of an abusive father, which happened three years before I was born.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Barsi

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Drawn on ibisPaint X on my Samsung Galaxy Tab A.

Crash Bandicoot Series © Activision

Judith Mouse (c) Me

[catherinegraffam]

I recreated Caravaggio’s “Judith Beheading Holofornes” in Kid Pix Studio from 1995 using a mouse. Here's the video I made doing it.

[katakaluptastrophy]

It seems like there's an upper limit by which necromancy would normally appear.

Gideon says "they knew by age five that she was not a necromancer" and Ianthe and Corona had been running their ruse from the age of 6, presumably as it would otherwise have become apparent that Corona was not a necromancer.

So perhaps necromantic education also begins around that age, or even earlier in cases where aptitude has become apparent earlier: Harrow remembers her mother teaching her necromancy with "her fingers encircling the fat baby bracelets of Harrow’s wrists", which makes it sound like she was very young indeed.

And obviously there is a level of horror that is simply normative in the Houses, and perhaps doesn't register as particularly unusual to children. But some of what we know, and some of the implications, are just awful.

How do you learn the Second's thalergy absorption? How do you scale up to a human? It's far too easy to imagine a young Judith priding herself on not being as squeamish as some of her classmates about absorbing the thalergy from a lab mouse.

It's easy to decry Ianthe's callousness at consuming Babs. But how young was she when a tutor first told her to take a bite of his flesh to help her with a tricky theorem?

The Fourth's specialty is thanergetic fission, which is a fancy way of saying they turn corpses (or themselves) into bombs. If he aspired to join the army at 11, what age did Isaac start to practice turning the dead into an improvised explosive?

Young Abigail was no doubt schooled in impeccable manners. How far did they help to cover up the effects on a child of first touching the veil between worlds and perceiving 10,000 years of feral ghosts?

Palamedes' necromancy may theoretically be more academic, but he was eight and trying to learn medical necromancy to cure his dying pen pal. And one can only assume the Sixth's approach to such things is very hands on.

Young Dulcie herself would have been learning how to harness the thanergy of the cancer that meant she was expected not to reach adulthood. She'd no doubt seen others die from it. Was her diagnosis celebrated?

When did Silas first siphon from the man who was engineered to serve him? How early did he begin to build up that childlike certainty that he would always come back to him? How long did it take to not feel afraid as Colum turned grey?

[frozen-snowflakesandsunflowers]

Disney 100 ✨🏰🤍

Wishing you all a happy new year and to Disney, a belated 100th anniversary! 🎉

To celebrate Disney’s century milestone, I created an illustration based on 100 of Disney’s most known and loved characters from their respective movies/ series. I’ve included all the ones I’ve known and feel are generally popular but I’m sorry if your personal favourites aren’t here.

This has been in the works for almost four months now but due to many delays I couldn’t finish it on time. So here it finally is!

Out of all these range characters, the hardest to draw was the Cars. I’m not used to drawing cars so I’m not generally good at them (yet). Some of these may look simple and easy to draw but trust me, they’re not 😂.

With drawing the characters and the background, I like to be accurate with the respective style it’s drawn/ animated in and the colours too. But also I wanted to also simplify the 3D ones and add a little depth using shadow to the 2D ones. For example some of these films would have a desaturated grainy effect to it and I wanted to keep that. But finally after months of working on it, it’s completed and I’m happy with it! ✨.

Please, please do check it out on Instagram too:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Zahra Sarfraz (@artofzahrasarfraz)

If this link doesn't work, my username is @/artofzafrasarfraz - it's where I put all my drawings up on. Please do share on stories and comment. Much appreciated 🥹🫶🏼🤍

All the 100 characters featured in this piece are listed below:

1927: Trolley Troubles / Oswald The Lucky Rabbit (2022): Oswald

1937: Snow White: Snow White and the Evil Queen

1941: Dumbo: Dumbo and Timothy Q. Mouse

1942: Bambi: Thumper and Bambi

1943: Private Pluto: Chip and Dale

1944: The Lion King: (Child) Simba

1949: Pinocchio: Pinocchio

1950: Cinderella: Cinderella

1951: Alice In Wonderland: Alice, Cheshire cat and Mad Hatter

1953: Peter Pan: Peter Pan and Tinker Bell

1959: Sleeping Beauty: Aurora and Maleficent

1963: The Sword in the Stone: Arthur Pendragon

1964: Mary Poppins: Mary Poppins

1967: 101 Dalmatians: Cruella De Vil and Patch | Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo

1970: Aristocats: Toulouse, Marie and Berlioz

1973: Robin Hood: Robin Hood

1977: The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh: Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin

1989: The Little Mermaid: Ariel, Flounder, Sebastian and Ursula

1991: Beauty And The Beast: Belle

1992: Aladdin: Aladdin, Jasmine and the Genie

1993: Steamboat Willie/ Mickey Mouse Series: Mickey & Minnie Mouse | Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: Jack Skellingtion

1995: Lady and the Tramp: Lady & Tramp | Toy Story: Woody and Buzz Light-year | Pocahontas: Pocahontas

1997: Hercules: Hercules & Megara

1998: Mulan: Mulan | A Bug's Life: Flik

2000: The Emperor's New Groove: Kuzco

2001: Monsters Inc: Sulley, Mike and Mary Gibbs aka Boo

2002: Lilo & Stitch: Lilo and Stitch

2003: Finding Nemo: Nemo and Dory

2004: The Incredibles - Helen Parr aka Elastic girl, Robert (Rob) Parr aka Mr. Incredible, Jack-Jack Parr and Edna Mode

2006: Cars: Lighting McQueen and Tow Mater

2007: Enchanted: Giselle Phillip

2008: WALL - E: Wall-E & Eve | Phineas and Ferb: Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher

2009: The Princess and the Frog: Tiana | UP: Carl Fredricksen and Dug

2010: Tangled: Rapunzel & Flynn Ryder aka Eugene Fitzherbert and Pascal

2012: BRAVE: Merida | Wreck-It Ralph: Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope Von Schweetz

2013: Frozen: Elsa, Anna and Olaf

2014: Big Hero Six: Baymax

2015: Inside Out: Joy and Sadness

2016: Moana: Moana | Zootopia (2016): Nick Wilde & Judith (Judy) Laverne Hopps

2017: COCO: Miguel Rivera

2020: Soul: Joe and 22

2021: Luca: Luca | Encanto: Mirabel and Isabella Mardigal | Raya And The Last Dragon: Raya

2022: Red Panda: Mei Lee aka the Red Panda

2023: Elemental: Ember Lumen & Wade Ripple | Wish: Asha and Star

[eljeebee]

Preset adventures...part 2

The bloom + ambient lighting isn't that harsh anymore...especially when there's direct lighting from the sun!

1st pic: raw -> 2nd pic: reshade on + mxao 2nd pic: +bloom & ambient lighting -> 3rd pic: mouse driven cinematic DOF

And it's not that harsh to my sims of color anymore!

Before: (harsh lighting)

After: (fixed)

I loved the first one, but it's doesn't fit with the sulani sun, and especially in Judith Ward's lot where the del sol valley sun is harsh. Might be realistic, yes, but I don't like how it changes the colors.

Anyway yay!!! I made my own preset!!!

It's all thanks to @systsim and that one youtube tutorial that I saw<3

[wvsteria]

starter call and plotting call for the event below ! i'm going to list who voluntarily went in and who was pulled in by magic/friend. pls like to request a starter from me, but pls keep it like max 4 per mun. i'm keeping my starters per muse at 4. this rule doesn't apply to plotting. plotting is free range that we can divide amongst ourselves! if you request a starter, chances are i will come to you to plot (this feels like a v plot heavy event tbh).

voluntarily went in:

alyla vane, amren, beth washington, cangse sanren, dorcas meadows, ezra bridger, godric gryffindor, hadley hufflepuff, harley quinn, harry potter, judith grimes, kiara carrera, kol mikaelson, louise belcher, mo xuanyu, nie ruizhi, padme amidala, princess jasmine, sarah miller, stu macher, tara carpenter

pulled in by magic/friend:

alcina dimitrescu, alex karev, america chavez, bucky barnes, enzo st. john, emily fields, helion, heron lyptus, jacen solo, josie saltzman, kasil monsula, mal faery, mia winters, mouse honrada, noela, peter parker, piper halliwell, rosalie hale, roxanne weasley, samara palpatine, song lan, soren palpatine, taissa turner, tamlin, xuan ji, zoey davis, zuko

starter list:

alyla vane (2/4)

misa amane: 31 The area is just absolutely full of croaking frogs. They aren’t dangerous but they are loud and difficult to step around.

vesta starkos: 1 Monster: Giant spiders

america chavez (2/4)

loki laufeyson: 18 Monster: Murderous clown.

diana prince: 27 Monster: Minotaur

amren (1/4)

rhsyand: 13 Monster: Werewolf.

beth washington (1/4)

freddie facilier: 21 Characters enter a portion of the maze to find it completely dark.

cangse sanren (1/4)

daniela dimitrescu: 22 Though relatively empty the plant life whispers threats and warnings to people in this portion of the maze. It tells them to give up on their progress

enzo st. john (2/4)

bonnie bennett: 9 Characters reach a dead end, full of pollen spores, which when inhaled make characters feel drunk for the next hour.

owen sharma: 10 Monster: Stormtroopers

ethan mckinnon (2/4)

maddie mckinnon: 16 Characters are greeted by two beings the size of children but with pumpkins for heads arrive with a cart, gesturing for characters to get in.

cleo mckinnon: 7 The area exists as a zone of truth, making characters incapable of lying. Characters are aware of this when they enter the space.

ezra bridger (2/4)

nezuko kamado: 19 Characters are greeted by a giant rushing stream going all the way across the maze that they must cross in order to keep moving.

hera syndulla: 22 Though relatively empty the plant life whispers threats and warnings to people in this portion of the maze. It tells them to give up on their progress.

godric gryffindor (1/4)

harvey hufflepuff: 3 Monster: Living scarecrow

hadley hufflepuff (1/4)

harris hufflepuff: 22 Though relatively empty the plant life whispers threats and warnings to people in this portion of the maze. It tells them to give up on their progress

harley quinn (2/4)

dinah laurel lance: 2 Characters encounter a pit trap, so obvious they almost want to explore

henry creel: 12 Characters enter the area to be met with high speed winds, strong enough to push people around

harry potter (5/4)

hermione granger: 8 Monster: Ghosts

bill weasley: 6 The husks of corn emit a poisonous gas, making characters weaker the longer they breath it in

hagrid: 29 Characters walk into this portion of the maze to immediately be caught in a giant spider web, trapping them.

ginny weasley: 9 Characters reach a dead end, full of pollen spores, which when inhaled make characters feel drunk for the next hour.

charlie weasley: 17 Monster: Masked murderer wearing the Ghostface mask

helion (1/4)

lexi branson: 5 Monster: A hoard of geese

jacen solo (3/4)

leia organa: 5 Monster: A hoard of geese

tahiri veila: 16 Characters are greeted by two beings the size of children but with pumpkins for heads arrive with a cart, gesturing for characters to get in.

tenel ka djo: 28 Characters find this section of the maze to be extremely cold, with frost hanging from all of the corn stalks and the icey ground beneath their feet making the terrain difficult to traverse.

josie saltzman (1/4)

penelope park: 26 Characters enter a mud filled portion of the maze, where their footsteps feel heavy, and every push further seems to sink them farther and farther into the mud.

judith grimes (1/4)

rose hathaway:17 Monster: Masked murderer wearing the Ghostface mask

kasil monsula (2/4)

kaiden monsula: 29 Characters walk into this portion of the maze to immediately be caught in a giant spider web, trapping them.

sabina palpatine: 26 Characters enter a mud filled portion of the maze, where their footsteps feel heavy, and every push further seems to sink them farther and farther into the mud.

kiara carrera (1/4)

elena gilbert: 4 Monster: Skeletons

kol mikaelson (2/4)

rebekah mikaelson: 22 Though relatively empty the plant life whispers threats and warnings to people in this portion of the maze. It tells them to give up on their progress

hope mikaelson: 29 Characters walk into this portion of the maze to immediately be caught in a giant spider web, trapping them.

mal faery (4/4)

uma: 1 Monster: Giant spiders

evie grimhilde: 4 Monster: Skeletons

dizzy tremaine: 29 Characters walk into this portion of the maze to immediately be caught in a giant spider web, trapping them.

gil: 3 Monster: Living scarecrow

mia winters (1/4)

ethan winters: 24 Monster: Dementors

mouse honrada (2/4)

elain archeron: 11 Monster: A rat with a gun

feyre archeron: 13 Monster: Werewolf

mo xuanyu (2/4)

jin zixuan: 22 Though relatively empty the plant life whispers threats and warnings to people in this portion of the maze. It tells them to give up on their progress

lan wangji: 10 Monster: Stormtroopers

nie ruizhi (1/4)

nie mingjue: 12 Characters enter the area to be met with high speed winds, strong enough to push people around

noela (1/4)

james witherdale: 24 Monster: Dementors

padme amidala (2/4)

satine kryze: 13 Monster: Werewolf

ahsoka tano: 7 The area exists as a zone of truth, making characters incapable of lying. Characters are aware of this when they enter the space.

peter parker (1/4)

michelle jones: 13 Monster: Werewolf

piper halliwell (2/4)

calleigh duquesne: 14 Monster: Vampire

kat mitchell: 19 Characters are greeted by a giant rushing stream going all the way across the maze that they must cross in order to keep moving.

princess jasmine (1/4)

ariel: 1 Monster: Giant spiders

rosalie hale (2/4)

son yeonseo: 24 Monster: Dementors

james witherdale: 18 Monster: Murderous clown

roxanne weasley (1/4)

fred weasley ii: 9 Characters reach a dead end, full of pollen spores, which when inhaled make characters feel drunk for the next hour.

samara palpatine (5/4)

leia organa: 14 Monster: Vampire

sella palpatine: 10 Monster: Stormtroopers

sabina palpatine: 31 The area is just absolutely full of croaking frogs. They aren’t dangerous but they are loud and difficult to step around.

shi wudu: 10 Monster: Stormtroopers

sheev palpatine: 2 Characters encounter a pit trap, so obvious they almost want to explore

sarah miller (1/4)

eveline: 18 Monster: Murderous clown

song lan (1/4)

xiao qing: 9 Characters reach a dead end, full of pollen spores, which when inhaled make characters feel drunk for the next hour.

soren palpatine (3/4)

sabina palpatine: 21 Characters enter a portion of the maze to find it completely dark.

ji euntak: 17 Monster: Masked murderer wearing the Ghostface mask

sheev palpatine: 31 The area is just absolutely full of croaking frogs. They aren’t dangerous but they are loud and difficult to step around.

stu macher (4/4)

jinx: 12 Characters enter the area to be met with high speed winds, strong enough to push people around

chad meeks-martin: 2 Characters encounter a pit trap, so obvious they almost want to explore

amber freeman: 3 Monster: Living scarecrow

dewey riley: 4 Monster: Skeletons

taissa turner (1/4)

lumine: 27 Monster: Minotaur

tara carpenter (7/4)

sam carpenter: 16 Characters are greeted by two beings the size of children but with pumpkins for heads arrive with a cart, gesturing for characters to get in.

victor salazar: 1 Monster: Giant spiders

lydia martin: 6 The husks of corn emit a poisonous gas, making characters weaker the longer they breath it in

amber freeman: 19 Characters are greeted by a giant rushing stream going all the way across the maze that they must cross in order to keep moving.

renesmee cullen: 25 Characters wander in to a giant feast, long empty tables piled high with food, with chairs much too high for anyone human to sit in.

dewey riley: 8 Monster: Ghosts

feng xin: 22 Though relatively empty the plant life whispers threats and warnings to people in this portion of the maze. It tells them to give up on their progress

xuan ji (2/4)

lang ying: 25 Characters wander in to a giant feast, long empty tables piled high with food, with chairs much too high for anyone human to sit in.

qi rong: 14 Monster: Vampire

zuko (1/4)

katara: 30 Monster: A swarm of bats

[criticalfai1ure]

van de hoek / de vlinder timeline :

1678 - (january) cyrus holcroft is born

1683 - (august) cornelius smeenk is born

1683 - (november) august van de hoek is born

1688 - (june) yvette van de hoek is born

1693 - august meets cornelius smeenk aboard the ridderschap as the ship's cabin boys

1699 - (november) ingvild vik is born

1701 - maria van de hoek dies

1703 - (spring) august purchases a french frigate and names it de vlinder

1703 - cyrus holcroft marries prudence wembley

1703 - (autumn) august builds a crew and receives his letter of marque from the dutch

1703 - atsuyuki nakamura meets august off the coast of madagascar and joins the crew

1704 - (late winter) cyrus becomes a widower

1704 - (summer) august receives a letter of marque from the english, though he almost solely sails under dutch colors

1705 - cyrus holcroft officially begins courting yvie

1707 - (late winter) hendrik van de hoek dies, leaving august as the head of household and in charge of yvie's dowry

1707 - (spring) cyrus and yvie marry

1707 - (spring) cyrus and august have a falling out, wherein august refuses to give cyrus the dowry he was expecting to receive upon marriage to yvette. cyrus' anger festers into what will become a lifelong grudge

1707 - (december) mina holcroft is born

1708 - fabian de la fuente is convinced to defect from the spanish navy and joins the crew

1708 - (december) newton holcroft is born

1710 - (july) judith holcroft is born

1713 - (late winter/early spring) letters of marque from both the english and dutch are stripped, due in large part to a smear campaign and lies sold to the admiralty by cyrus

1713 - (early spring) a vote is taken and de vlinder turns its bow to piracy

1715 - ingvi convinces august to sign her onto the crew, she is appointed as gunner's mate. they return to ula, norway on a semi-regular basis in part for ingvi to visit with her family but, as the years progress, also for others of the crew to make a life there

1717 - pascal descoteaux is falsely accused of stealing from the household at which he is employed. he proceeds to steal all the silverware he can get his hands on, a few cooking utensils he could not live without, some herbs and spices, and his favoured cooking pot and runs for it, dipping into a pub where he meets fabian and gets swept onto the crew

1720 - 1729 YOU ARE HERE (main verse setting)

1722 - (autumn) de vlinder meets a kraken

1723 - (late summer) de vlinder takes the duchess of hanover hostage. she remains aboard the ship for several months longer than anticipated, fostering a relationship between her and august

1724 - (october) dorothea prentiss is born

1724 - (late autumn) august is arrested in london after visiting and meeting his daughter for the first time

1724 - de vlinder dispatches a small rescue party to break august out of prison. kees convinces ingvi not to kill cyrus when the opportunity is presented to do so with little immediate consequence

1725 - cyrus and his ship, the dolphin, are officially commissioned by the duke of hanover to hunt the pirate captain, august van de hoek

1729 - (late spring) after years of a vicious game of cat and mouse, during which de vlinder constantly outmanoeuvres the dolphin, cyrus manages to surprise august, ambushing the pirates when they are visiting ula. august is arrested, days later followed (rightfully) by ingvi and then swiftly followed (undeservedly) by kees.

1729 - cornelius smeenk is hanged for piracy on the deck of the dolphin

1729 - ingvild vik is keelhauled and then beaten when the keelhauling doesn't kill her. she is brought back to life by the norse god freyr

1729 - cyrus holcroft is killed by august van de hoek in front of the remainders of both of their crews. it does little to assuage the guilt and grief at losing kees

1730 - ingvi and pax are married by august, aboard de vlinder

1732 - (summer) lucas vik pascalsen is born

1732 - atsuyuki nakamura retires from piracy

1734 - dorothea stows away on de vlinder

1739 - with permission, dora stays aboard de vlinder for the sail back to ula. this trip is rife with Things Going Wrong

1741 - august van de hoek retires from piracy and moves in with the dowager duchess and her daughter

[latibvles]

i think it’s so sweet that josie’s sister picked her middle name <33 in terms of siblings, how many of the mouse hole girls have siblings? are they close with them?

More lists!! Quite a few of the girls have siblings, varying degrees of closeness and differing kinds of relationships!

Willie : One little brother named Otto, he’s 17 turning 18. Willie is especially protective of him, and despite being in the Army herself, does not want him enlisting and going to war. Luckily, he doesn’t! They’re very close, it’s as close as you’ll get to Willie “mother-henning.”

Inez : She has one older brother, and then an infant sister named Judith who is born while Inez is training. Her brother plays minor league baseball. They used to be close, but as they got older they drifted. Her older brother is… kind of the favorite.

Harrie : One older brother named Charles / Charlie, and they were quite close throughout their lives. He dies at Pearl Harbor which is what pushes Harrie to join up like he did. She looked at him like he hung the moon in the sky.

Lorraine : One older sister, two little brothers! She and Vera are very different from one another, occasionally putting them at odds, and there’s a lot of sibling rivalry within the family — but they do all love each other. I’ve said that if there was a book ever written about the girls, Vera would be the author.

Josephine : The exact middle of five siblings! And they all have J names! James and Jean are her older siblings, Jack and Joan are her younger siblings. She idolizes her older sister, dotes on her younger siblings, she’s very family-oriented. She makes herself small to let the rest of them shine.

June : Two older brothers — Antoni and Piotr (Anthony and Peter). Whereas her parents spoiled her, these boys 110% toughened her up. They taught her English, too, before she started school. Very rough and tumble, the boys were the ones to show her how to make a fist.

Vivian, Carrie, Lena, and Fern are all only children :)

[balanchine-ballet-master]

Nutcracker Kids Grow Up

Terry Trucco has a lovely article in Playbill about three current NYCB dancers who performed in The Nutcracker as children.

The Polichinelles in 1985. Photo: Martha Swope --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A hallmark of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker is its roster of 126 children, aged 7 to 13, in two alternating casts, who all study in the Children’s Division at the School of American Ballet (SAB), New York City Ballet’s official school. A small percentage of those students will eventually move up to the Advanced Division at SAB, and at the end of their studies, a few will be invited to join NYCB, achieving the total Nutcracker experience—returning to Balanchine’s quintessential holiday ballet to perform as adults.

That storied third group includes former NYCB Principal Dancers Peter Boal, Jennie Somogyi, Gelsey Kirkland, and Judith Fugate, among others, as well as current corps de ballet members Shelby Mann, Mckenzie Bernardino Soares, and Rommie Tomasini, who each enrolled in SAB at the age of 6. Now coming back to the production as members of the corps de ballet, which they joined in 2022, they shared their fond memories of those formative years performing in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.

Shelby Mann’s earliest recollections of being in The Nutcracker are of playing jacks, a favored pre-show ritual for young cast members, and of her trailing hairpiece in the Party Scene. “My memories of The Nutcracker are so heightened,” she says. “Every time I smell hairspray, it’s like I’m back in the lower concourse of the theatre during The Nutcracker.”

From her debut at age 7 in the Party Scene, Mann sprinted up the Nutcracker ladder, appearing as an Angel, a Polichinelle, a Mouse, and then, at the ripe age of 11, a Candy Cane. “We would all look forward to The Nutcracker each year. It was what defined our childhood and our winter,” she says.

Born into a dance-world family in Harlem—her grandfather Jacques d’Amboise, grandmother Carolyn George, and uncle Christopher d’Amboise all danced with NYCB, and her parents are acclaimed Broadway performers Charlotte d’Amboise and Terrence Mann—Mann discovered her passion for dance through the iconic holiday ballet. “I loved that in rehearsals, because you were playing a character, you got to build your performance. Being in The Nutcracker made me realize that this is what I wanted to do.”

Since joining NYCB, Mann has danced Dolls, Snow, Hot Chocolate, and Flowers, and her affection for Balanchine’s two-act masterpiece—and the camaraderie that develops naturally among the cast, no matter what age—remains undiminished. “I love how The Nutcracker connects to the holidays,” she says. “We all decorate our dressing rooms, have Secret Santas, and bring cookies.”

Left: Shelby Mann as a Polichinelle in 2013. Photo: Paul Kolnik Right: Mann in Waltz of the Flowers, 2022. Photo: Erin Baiano

During his childhood performances in The Nutcracker, Mckenzie Bernardino Soares made a point of watching the effervescent Hot Chocolate. “The music, the spice—I just loved it,” he says. “And I remember thinking, dancing this is all I want to do in my life.”

Fast forward to 2021. As a freshly minted NYCB apprentice, Soares landed his dream role and repeated it last year as a member of the corps de ballet. The verdict? “It’s always a fun time on stage, and you get to show your personality,” he says. “And if it gets a little repetitive sometimes, I just think, well, little Mckenzie would have loved to do this.”

Growing up in Danbury, Connecticut, Soares’ Nutcracker experience was punctuated by long hours in the family car, driving 65 miles each way to rehearsals and performances. “Being on stage made it all worth it,” he says. He also enjoyed supervising the younger dancers backstage during “the gap” when SAB students are too old for children’s parts, and he relished hearing advice from Company members backstage and in the wings. This season, Soares, who added Mouse King to his Nutcracker repertory last year, looks forward to using the roles he dances to expand his artistry. “It’s actually nice that the choreography is the same every day, so it becomes about what you bring to each performance,” he says.

Left: Mckenzie Bernardino Soares as a Soldier in 2012. Photo: Paul Kolnik Right: Soares with Shelby Mann in Hot Chocolate, 2022. Photo: Erin Baiano

Rommie Tomasini remembers begging her mother to let her audition for SAB, where her older sister was a student, and quickly discovering a love of dance. At age 7, she was cast as the Bunny in The Nutcracker. A season as a Mouse and a Polichinelle followed, and for two years, she was Marie. When the time came to begin pointe work, she decided that ballet was her future. “I didn’t want to do anything else after school, and I thought, This is a done deal,” she says.

Her earliest Nutcracker memory dates from her first dress rehearsal. “I was the Bunny, and I remember looking at all the mouse heads on the Mouse King’s crown and being too terrified to pull his tail,” she recalls.

Yet looking back, Tomasini, who grew up on the Upper East Side, marvels at how confident she felt on stage as a child. “I was never nervous. I was just so happy to be out there. I’m amazed at how much we learned about acting and artistry so young.”

Dolls, Snow, Hot Chocolate, and Tea are among the Nutcracker parts Tomasini has performed since she became an apprentice in 2021. But her recollections of being in a swarm of Nutcracker kids, scrutinizing the steps and making up versions of Hot Chocolate, Marzipan, and Coffee, remain vivid. “It’s mind-blowing that we’re now dancing the roles that we once pretended to do backstage,” she says.

Left: Rommie Tomasini as the Bunny in 2011. Photo: Paul Kolnik Right: Tomasini in Waltz of the Snowflakes in 2021. Photo: Erin Baiano

[ahb-writes]

Random Research Dive: Horse Ears

As often happens in novel writing, occasional discoveries of knowledge gaps result in deep dives into new, intriguing, sometimes odd, but ultimately rewarding wormholes of information. This is one of them.

(1) Wrote a few scenes involving pack horses. (2) Realized I needed to describe horse ears. (3) Several hours later... asking myself why horses are so dang complicated.

Additional Reading:

Writing Horses (article series by Judith Tarr) (Tor.com)

❯❯ Types of Horse Ears

"Cold-blooded" horses (strength, calm endurance, low-energy): fleshy ears with "blunt" tips, or, rounded ones, often covered with hairy fur, placed diagonally towards the horse's head.

"Warm-blooded" horses (high-energy, athletic, agile): lighter, thinner ears, placed vertically, with pointy tips.

Anomalous ear types ("incorrect" but not necessarily indicative of poor health or of diminished physical attributes):

Hare ears: long and narrow

Donkey ears: thick, long, and rather broad

Lop ears: flopping to the sides

Pig ears: flopping to the front

Mouse ears: short and small with rounded tips

"Some horses may be born with congenital defects that cause the ear to be shortened, curled back, or bent. Others may have sustained an injury that changed the conformation of one or both ears or has an ear infection or parasites which cause abnormal ear movement. [..] While the whole meaning of ear positioning comes with context and understanding of tail, mouth, eyes, body, and head positions (in addition to other things), there are some basic positions to know" (Open Sanctuary).

"Pay attention to the ears' "mobility"; if the horse moves his ears too much, it might speak for his temper (hyperactivity, nervousness), a complete lack of thereof might mean that the horse is deaf" (EquiShop).

Sources: Understanding Horse Body Language: Ears (Open Sanctuary); Horse Anatomy: Diagrams of Horse Body Parts (EquiShop)

❯❯ Positioning of Horse Ears

Horses' ears in a neutral position are a good sign. Neutral ears are the central position of the ear. It's held loosely upward, pointing forward, so the openings are outward. In this position, they can scan the surrounding area. If a horse is resting or generally calm, their ears may drop down to the side a bit or may even rest back and to the side a bit. Not droopy, but relaxed.

Ears forward. If a horse is feeling alert and curious, their ears will be up and forward-facing. Generally, when a horse's ears are pricked forward, it conveys that he is alert, paying attention, or interested in what is in front of him. He might be saying: "I am focused on something in front of me." "I am happy to see you." "I am interested and curious." "I am on alert."

One ear cocked back. This is often indicative of a horse that is listening to something in another direction than out front or paying attention to what is being asked of him while maintaining alertness in the direction of travel. He might be saying: "I am listening to my rider." "I am paying attention to something behind me." "There is something that has my interest to the side of me." "I am aware of things in both directions."

Horses prick their ears when startled. Pricked ears could signal the horse is startled, vigilant, alert, or interested. It is not uncommon to see pricked ears during frontal greetings. But if he stays with his ears stiff, he is likely agitated. Approach a horse with its ear pricked cautiously.

Horses with their ears extended are relaxed. A horse may have his ears extended out with the openings facing downward to the ground. When horses extend their ears and let them fall toward the side, it's usually a sign of a relaxed horse, but it could indicate he is tired or lacks interest in the world around him at the moment. Horses that extend their ears are comfortable.

Fully pinned ears are a sign of aggression. A horse pins his ears when he is threatened and or finds it necessary to exhibit anger, aggression, and dominance. He is getting ready for a fight or attack. Pinned ears refer to a horse flattening his ears back against his head, making them almost invisible. From the side, they are not seen. Flattened ears are the most aggressive signal a horse makes with his ears. It is an ancient "ear protection" posture used to protect the ears during a fight or attack. Pinned ears are a threat signal to other horses.

Pinned ears may also mean the horse is in pain. A horse may also move them restlessly back and forth if experiencing discomfort. Their ears may also droop out to the side, sometimes described as airplane ears, when depressed or in prolonged pain.

Ears turned back are an indication of fear. Turned-back ears are typically a posture indicative of a brutal owner. Sometimes when a horse is being ridden, you will notice that his ears are drooped and turned back with the openings toward the rider. This may indicate the horse is afraid of the rider. The lower posture of the ear suggests submission.

Ears turned back (not pinned) means the horse is listening to something from behind. If you are riding and his neck is tense, he may be unsure of what you are asking him to do. He may be deciding how to react to the stimuli and whether to run away or turn around and check out a sound or movement. Your horse might be saying: "How do I react?" "What is that behind me?" "I am unsure what you are asking." "I am confused." "I am nervous."

Flickering ears are a sign of stress. When you notice your horse's ears flickering, it signals stress or a heightened state of anxiety. Flickering ears typically precede stationary pricked ears when the fear turns to panic. Takes steps to calm a horse with flickering ears.

Listening back and forth. The horse is in a heightened state of alertness or anxiety. He may be trying to find the source of an unusual sound or smell or may feel overwhelmed, upset or anxious. He might be trying to say: "I don't know what to make out of that strange sound." "I am worried!" "What is that?" "How should I react?" "Fight or flight?" "How can I get away quickly?" "I may be on the verge of panic."

Droopy ears are a sign your horse is tuning out. He could be exhausted and sleepy, or he may be suffering from pain. Drooping ears are when the ears extend down on either side of the head of the horse. It is a sign that he is trying to switch off the outside world. Droopy ears can also be a sign of inferiority in a herd situation. According to researchers, the distance between the bases of the ears increases during pain incidents (because the ears tended to drop slightly down to each side of the head with a concomitant outward rotation of the ears).

Drugged ears move in an unusual motion. Certain drugs are illegal to use in competitive horse events and can be detected by paying attention to the horse's ears. Their ears will move in an unusual motion. The two most common drugs in use are varieties of stimulants or depressants.

Mobile ears are normal horse behavior. Horses are herd animals; one way they communicate with each other is through their ears. Mobile ears are the norm; horses will continuously shift the direction of their ears, picking up on new sounds.

Sources: Horses Ears: Positions and What They Mean is Revealed! (HorseRacingSense); Lend Me Your Ears: What Does Your Horse's Ear Position Tell You (Horse Illustrated); Understanding Horse Body Language: Ears (Open Sanctuary)

[kitweewoos]

I wish you would write a fic where... it's a direct follow up to the fic where Jay broke Mouse out of illegal house arrest. I want to know how Judith Halstead reacts to Jay trying to explain why, exactly, his best friend is now living in his bedroom. (this is very related to our conversation tonight)

on your side

Judith Halstead reacts to Jay trying to explain why, exactly, his best friend is now living in his bedroom 

Additional Tags:

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Mentions of Cancer

Mother-Son Relationship

Implied/Referenced Drug Use

Developing Relationship

Friends to Lovers

Trigger Warning for Thelma and Gregory Gerwitz Content

Part Two of house arrest

[read it on ao3]

[catherinegraffam]

Here is my video on how I did the recreation of Carvaggio’s “Judith Beheading Holofornes” using Kid Pix Studio from 1995 (and a mouse)~~

[specialshinytrinkets]

(Hurt/Comfort prompt)

Woe, "When’s the last time you actually slept?" with Judith/Sal/Mr. Small and Patrick be upon ye

(I'm so sorry I had no idea how to word this ask and this meme came up in my head 😭)

(Nah, all good, it fits perfectly 😭😭😭😭) (I went for Judith because I think she's not explored enough)

Under the cut is an intro that is also on AO3 version, so likeeeee, no need to open it. You can! But it's not necessary, I just need a hook or something, a little intrigue

Fitzgeralds are what people usually called "a perfect family". Breadwinner husband, his housewife, and two beautiful children. Of course, they had had their hiccups, but if you looked at the full picture, it was nothing short of a dream.

That was, until Penny's - the eldest daughter's - prom.

The entire house was in a frenzy preparing for it: Patrick was discussing the budget with other parents and decorated the gym at Elmore Junior High; Penny repeated her dance over and over, starting over any time something startled her into the mouse form; and even Polly seemed to have been infected by the spirit, pacing around and drawing her suggestions on how to make it as memorable as possible.

But Judith... She didn't seem affected at all.

In fact, she was taking care of the house and, as always, keeping her focus on the day that hadn't fully passed by, instead of the one yet to come.

Once again, if you looked from the outside perspective, everything seemed fine. Maybe a little... outrageous for Judith to not care about her precious girl's special day as much as her husband.

However, if anyone dared to speak of it, they would get quickly shut down by a glare from said husband.

Because he knew.

He knew she cared a lot.

More than her carved out smile let on.

[djservo]

HI CAS you managed to beat me to it and remind me that i will also be away around our typical wrap up time! travelling gals. i've seen some of your goodreads activity too and i think we've managed to keep in line with books read which does make me laugh a lil. how was your buddy read? your august reading? new vibes for autumn? i want to know everything!

omg we're so in sync I love it and I hope your traveling went/is going well!! <3 first buddy read (out of a projected total of 4) went well, as did the rest of my august reads!!

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

the first of the buddy-read chronicles with my buddy and it was a success! fitting for these seemingly ever-changing phases of independence/womanhood/#HoningThyCraft that we keep morphing into and within. it was a bit of a slow start and made me think of jenny slate talking about books which I sent to me friend like 5 pages in like "omg please tell me it's not all like this" but we pushed through the initial slump and were pretty engaged with the rest of it. I highlighted so many passages to chew on, some favs being -

"the beauty of the world which is so soon to perish, has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder"

"What effect has poverty on fiction? What conditions are necessary for the creation of works of art?"

the iconic -

"a good dinner is of great importance to good talk. One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."

and even some lil funny bits -

"the chief glory of a woman is not to be talked of, said Pericles, himself a much-talked-of man"

miss woolf has jokes!! but yes overall really ended up enjoying and connecting with this more than I expected at the start and it's short/low stakes enough to where I think anyone could give it a shot and end up resonating and/or taking something deep from it

High Blood/Pressure by Michelle T. Clinton

I forget who exactly posted it, but Someone whose taste I wholeheartedly trust had posted a snippet of Good Sense & the Faithless on their insta story which first put Michelle T. Clinton on my radar. devoured this one in an afternoon, I was so hooked and charmed by her prose and the way she sets up a scene!! not necessarily setting wise, but this sense of interaction/conversation that's both natural yet distinct in tone. personable yet frank, which isn't really easy for me to pick up on when I'm first getting into poets - like I feel like I need to read several poems for their voice to really click for me because I'm too focused on connecting more superficial dots of understanding, whereas this one clicked right away. fav poem was MANIFESTING THE RUSH/HOW TO HANG but I really did love each one + I've already tracked down a used copy of Good Sense & the Faithless online that's on its way to me now hehe very excited

Looking For Mr. Goodbar by Judith Rossner

similar to Secretary where the movie's been on my radar and I've been itching to watch but the purist in me wants to read the book first and then I read the book and don't watch the movie LOL 'when you give a mouse a cookie' ass situation!! I think the story's still too fresh on my mind and if I were to watch the adaptation right away, though it would make sense for the sake of comparison, it'd feel too much like homework ykwim like in college I took a class about film adaptions of literary works where we'd get this short window of time to read a book then watch the film in class and discuss/dissect + I guess it kinda spoiled that act of reading then immediately watching, or turned it into something very clinical whereas I wanna be able to watch the adaptation for what it is without being a hypervigilant critic... ANYWHO!!!! I actually had no idea this was based on a true story/crime? so I think most of my qualms, which are narrative-wise, are kinda irrelevant since that's like.. literally what happened! that's the truth! but I guess I felt there wasn't enough explanation as to how the protag's sexual appetite/curiosities developed the way it did (unless you wanna be an armchair psychologist and connect the dots to her childhood upbringing, but I personally don't think even that's enough). I read a good chunk of it at an airport bar and it felt very fitting + I think I should start scouting my reading settings according to the book I'm reading bc it does indeed add to the ambience of the story and DRAMA of it all !!!!

since the start of September I've finished 2 books, unconnected in vibes but still somewhat complementary. I'm reading Quarry by Jane White now which is our second buddy read/the start of our "dark childhood/boyhood" theme that I think will bleed nicely into October, I really struck gold at the used bookshops during my travels but they're all kinda meaty and require some supplementary reading/context (to me) and idk if that's the vibe right now. kinda wanna stay in a fiction bubble a little while longer and there's certainly no end in sight given some of my recent TBR adds on goodreads so!! we shall see!!!

[henbased]

CHARACTER INTERVIEW - JUDE BLANCHARD

tagged by @florbelles to do an age old OC interview that im sure i had been tagged in so many other countless times. so how about i be the one to spring them back around!

no pressure, i have no idea whose done this but if you have but havent for another character... 👀✨. sending them out to @adelaidedrubman @8bitpizzacoupons @unholymilf @fourlittleseedlings @roofgeese @stacispratt @dirtyimbecile @necro-hamster @shallow-gravy @poetikat @strangefable @deputy-morgan-malone @strafethesesinners @turbo-virgins @killyourrdarlingss @thespiral @locustandwildhoney @ishwaris and anyone else who wants to do it! for any fandom just tag me i wanna see 😈

shoutout to stella for letting me completely steal her template #slothliving

the heralds are very curious about the deputy hanging around joseph after the botched arrest. john's been tasked with gathering information.

NAME?

JUDE. jude.

JOHN. full name, if you would?

JUDE. judith.

JOHN. i heard from a certain little mouse that your last name is —

JUDE. nancy, yeah. It’s blanchard.

ARE YOU SINGLE?

JUDE. raises an eyebrow.

JOHN. clicks teeth.

ARE YOU HAPPY?

JUDE. i wouldn’t use that word.

JOHN. what word would you use then?

JUDE. neutral.

ARE YOU ANGRY?

JUDE. depends.

JOHN. on?

JUDE. the hour.

ARE YOUR PARENTS STILL MARRIED?

JUDE. snorts. i guess.

JOHN. you don’t know?

JUDE. is a dead widow still married?

JOHN. it depends on how long the deceased has —

JUDE. been deceased? guess they wouldn’t be married after 13 years. it really isn’t death do we part then, huh.

BIRTHPLACE?

JUDE. philly.

JOHN. hm.

JUDE. something to say?

JOHN. it just explains a lot.

JUDE. like?

JOHN. would you like to continue?

HAIR COLOR?

JUDE. blonde.

JOHN. dullish blonde.

JUDE. dishwater blonde.

EYE COLOR?

JUDE. brown.

BIRTHDAY?

JUDE. march 13th, 1990.

JOHN. you’re a pisces.

JUDE. isn’t your little creature a scorpion?

JOHN. how do you know my —

JUDE. joseph told me.

MOOD?

JUDE. could be better. could be worse.

JOHN. are you not delighted by my company?

JUDE. laughs.

GENDER?

JUDE. gal.

SUMMER OR WINTER?

JUDE. summer for the weather, winter for the ambiance.

JOHN. the ambiance?

JUDE. i like the quiet.

MORNING OR AFTERNOON?

JUDE. morning, but i hate getting up for it.

— EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE.

ARE YOU IN LOVE?

JUDE. hums.

JOHN. (after a beat) if you don’t want to answer, we can —

JUDE. let’s do that.

WHO ENDED YOUR LAST RELATIONSHIP?

JUDE. laughs. I don’t even remember.

HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN SOMEONE’S HEART?

JUDE. don’t think so. (a beat) probably.

ARE YOU AFRAID OF COMMITMENTS?

JUDE. that’s an interesting question.

JOHN. are you avoiding answering it, deputy?

JUDE. well, seeing as i haven’t shown up to be a deputy in awhile, guess you could say i am.

JOHN. why is that?

JUDE. cuz i’m busy answering people’s stupid questions.

HAVE YOU HUGGED SOMEONE WITH IN THE LAST WEEK?

JUDE. laughs. yeah.

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SECRET ADMIRER?

JUDE. it was more like a stalker situation.

JOHN. that sounds frightening.

JUDE. yeah. the guy even had his siblings in on it, asking them to try and get in my head. was a whole thing.

JOHN. i'm assuming you got away safely.

JUDE. eh. got me to where i am now.

HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN YOUR OWN HEART?

JUDE. you gonna be asking me questions like that you should be treating me to some whiskey.

JOHN. eden’s gate does not endorse drinking alcohol, which you very well should know, and second of all, i do not have anything like that in my —

JUDE. oh fuck off, i won’t tell him. pour us some shots. what’s the next question?

— SIX CHOICES.

LOVE OR LUST?

JUDE. coughs. fuck. uh — 

JOHN. actually, let’s —

JUDE. lust.

LEMONADE OR ICED TEA?

JUDE. iced tea.

CATS OR DOGS?

JUDE. either.

JOHN. you strike me as a cat person.

JUDE. that feels like an insult coming from you.

JOHN. it’s just an observation.

A FEW BEST FRIENDS OR MANY REGULAR FRIENDS?

JUDE. (silence) i miss — (silence) many regular friends.

WILD NIGHT OUT OR ROMANTIC NIGHT IN?

JUDE. wanna do this one with me?

JOHN. no.

JUDE. (sound of glass clinking) romantic night in.

DAY OR NIGHT?

JUDE. daytime. the feel of sunlight on you. can’t beat it.

— FOUR HAVE YOU EVERS.

BEEN CAUGHT SNEAKING OUT?

JUDE. we were all teenagers once.

FALLEN DOWN/UP THE STAIRS?

JUDE. (gags) god this taste like shit.

JOHN. can you please answer —

JUDE. it’s not even a good question, calm down. ‘course i have, i was a teenager once.

WANTED SOMETHING/SOMEONE SO BADLY IT HURT?

JUDE. hums. yeah.

JOHN. pause. is it —

JUDE. it’s hard to explain.

JOHN. how so?

JUDE. it’s complicated.

JOHN. care to elabor—

JUDE. no.

WANTED TO DISAPPEAR?

JUDE. laughs. yeah.

— FOUR PREFERENCES.

SMILE OR EYES?

JUDE. is this almost done with?

JOHN. answer the question.

JUDE. smile.

SHORTER OR TALLER?

JUDE. doesn’t really matter much to me.

JOHN. you are quite on the —

JUDE. shorter side, you’re so funny.

INTELLIGENCE OR ATTRACTION?

JUDE. attraction.

JOHN. quick to answer. are you truly that shallow?

JUDE. yeah.

HOOK-UP OR RELATIONSHIP?

JUDE. what’s the section after this?

JOHN. family.

JUDE. do one with me and i’ll answer the question.

JOHN. no, i already have to edit this, just —

JUDE. so you’re already editing it! i’m pouring two.

JOHN. don’t — you haven’t answered —

JUDE. relationship.

— FAMILY.

DO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY GET ALONG?

JUDE. we did.

JOHN. not anymore?

JUDE. nope.

WOULD YOU SAY YOU HAVE A MESSED UP LIFE?

JUDE. (a beat) no.

HAVE YOU EVER RUN AWAY FROM HOME?

JUDE. no.

HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN KICKED OUT?

JUDE. no. well, my mom used to tell me to go to the park whenever she got pissed off at me, but i don’t think that’s falls under being kicked out.

JOHN. hmm. did your mother get angry at you a lot?

JUDE. eh, she was just hotheaded and opinionated.

JOHN. and your father, was he around during all this?

JUDE. i’ll answer if you tell me what the duncan’s were like.

— FRIENDS.

DO YOU SECRETLY HATE ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS?

JUDE. it’s not really a secret, and they’re not really my friend.

JOHN. i’ve never seen you talk to anyone besides joseph.

JUDE. and you. right now.

JOHN. we are not friends.

JUDE. i wasn’t talking about you anyway, moron.

DO YOU CONSIDER ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS GOOD FRIENDS?

JOHN. what kind of insult is moron, anyway? what are you, ten?

JUDE. are you upset over being called a moron?

JOHN. i’m not upset —

WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND?

JUDE. don’t have one. wanna be my best friend, john?

JOHN. no.

WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU?

JUDE. do one with me, come on. don’t be a buzzkill, i know you drink.

JOHN. you’re — you — groans. will you promise to answer the rest of them with no complaining?

JUDE. yeah, i swear. 

JOHN. (a beat, sound of glass being set on a surface) there. now, if you would please —

JUDE. (coughs) god, i hate whiskey. joseph does.

JOHN. he does not like whiskey.

JUDE. no, he knows the most about me, you moron.

JOHN. i am not a —

JOSEPH. (muffled) what are you two doing?

(recording stops abruptly)

[everything-magic-sparkles]

The Haunted House | Michael Myers x Stepmother!Reader

DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH HARD CORE KINKS/FANTASIES. 🔞⚠️

“I won’t let you take him, dammit!”

You said as you pulled Michael away from his parents. You just wanted him for one night. He was only an infant and you would often take care of him anyways, because they would be working.

“I’m telling you, Y/N, That damn boy is cursed! Ever since we brought him home, nothing but bad things have been happening.” Michael’s father said.

You cut him off, “That’s cause you don’t understand him.” you held Michael close, “I understand him… and I know damn well I ain’t lettin’ you take him!”

“Fine, fine. Take him. At least Judith was never that bad.” His father said.

Hearing him say that made you give him a death glare. ‘How could they talk about their baby boy like that?’ you thought as you looked at Michael. His drooping, sleeping eyes on his soft face made you smile. Even if you did catch an odd aura from him, you knew it was meant to be.

When you came home, you changed his diaper and laid in bed with him. He had been quiet as a mouse until you laid him on your chest.

“Wh-what is it, Michael?” You asked him as he whimpered, “Are ya hungry?” You didn’t tell Michael’s parents, but you had induced lactation just a few weeks before Michael was born, so you could feed him. You knew others would call you crazy for wanting to breast feed him so badly, so you kept it to yourself. Hell, you never quite understood why you were obsessed with him to begin with.

You pulled your top down and he almost immediately latched onto your breast, “poor thing. you’re as hungry as a little cow. too bad your bastard momma can’t even do this for you.” after he was done, he simply fell asleep. back to being quiet. Too quiet.

Your house creaked as the wind howled through its wooden structure. At that moment, the air felt different. You felt at peace. Just the two of you, in your little haunted house, in the middle of autumn.

Pulling your blanket over the two of you, you kissed his head and pet his soft hair. “Michael and his crazy hair.” he was on the larger and heavier side for a newborn. he had a full head of blonde ish-brown hair that kind of stood up on its own. You felt like he was yours and only yours. And you knew that even though he hadn’t merely opened his eyes yet, he felt the same.

20 years later

Michael had just been captured by the police and was taken away to prison for the murders of 5 people. He had already murdered his sister, Judith Myers, without reasoning in 1963 when he was just 6 years old.

You were crying as they took him away, but it was better than the authorities shooting him in the head. You begged them not to.

“THAT’S MY BABY BOY! DON’T KILL HIM! PLEASE!”

You knew everyone saw him as a monster. And maybe he was, but when you looked at him, you saw something more than just evil, like Dr. loomis had told you, more than just a man that belonged in a mental institution. You saw

The shape.

For years you tossed and turned in your bed. Unable to get Michael out of your head. You would see his pale, white mask. And his dark eyes. The blackest eyes, staring at you in your sleep. You would wake up, often startled, yet comforted by the dreams. You thought you would need therapy for having these thoughts, but never pursued treatment. But you were seeing your baby. And that’s all that mattered to you. After all these years, even after he murdered his own sister, you knew that was your baby boy.

40 years later

Michael’s parents still saw you as crazy. They almost didn’t want anything to do with you. They tried inviting you to dinner with them and you obliged, but you had become a severe alcoholic, so they only kept you for a short while.

“Please listen to me. I know this sounds crazy, but the visions… They’re getting worse by the day a-and—“

Michael’s father cut you off, “And what? You’ve been having these ‘dreams’ for decades now. Can you just stop bringing it up?”

“I won’t! The prison is relocating the- the inmates! He’s going to get out- I-I know it… Haddonfield is in danger.”

“…You are one crazy son of a bitch. I suggest you leave us alone.”

You ran off and never spoke another word to them, getting in your car and driving away back to your house. You had been prepping for this night for a long time. The night that the boogeyman would return to Haddonfield Illinois once more.

The house was barricaded. Multiple locks kept your doors and windows shut. The blinds were closed and you had the TV turned on. You sat on your couch and watched it for a mere few minutes before a broadcast came on of the Prison bus leaving the parking lot. You began to panic. Hearing Michael’s name be said in such a harsh tone by the news reporter gave you chills.

You knew he was going to get out and you weren’t going to watch any longer to save yourself from losing any more of your sanity. If you had any left. Grabbing your pistol, you shut the downstairs lights off and made your way upstairs to your room, locking your door.

You tried to stay awake for as long as you could, but the fatigue got the best of you. You slept on your back with your pistol in your hand. You weren’t having any dreams. For the first time in a while, it was silent.

You were at peace, but not for long. This was the calm before the-

A boom was heard, followed by the sound of a wooden board hitting the ground. Startled awake, you held your pistol close with a grip that was so tight, it felt like rubber.

You listened to the intruder’s footsteps. They were large, far apart, and calculated. You knew it was him. He had come for you.

The steps would stop occasionally, listening and looking for your whereabouts. And then, the sounded you dreaded the most, creaking floor boards. He was making his way up the stairs. Your blood ran cold and was racing through your veins with each step he made.

But then, they stopped. You waited a good ten minutes before deciding to sit up slowly. That decision could’ve been the worst you made that night. After all, he could’ve just been standing right outside your door, but you figured you’d take all the chances you had left.

You shakily reached for the bolt locks and unlocked them, opening your door quickly, realizing then and there that shutting all the lights off in the house wasn’t the smartest idea. Luckily, you had a flashlight. You turned it on and shined it right in front of you. Just when you thought turning the lights of was your biggest mistake, the winner made itself known.

You had left one of the doors open. And that was the door to the room that you kept mannequins in. You used that room as storage for them.

‘Shit…’ you said in your head as you stepped closer to the room, desperately trying to control your breathing. You knew Michael would choose that room. You figured he saw it as a game. If you were going to play hide and seek with him, he would want to change it up. He would want you to be the seeker. He never played fair.

Finally making it into the center of the room, surrounded by all of the mannequins, you shined your flashlight at them. Snapping your head around quickly and knocking them over. No luck.

You were starting to think he wasn’t in there. Or that he had walked in there and walked out to play a trick on you. Until you saw a pair of black eyes looking at you from behind one of the mannequins. Your heart practically stopped as you stood still, hearing him breathe.

Michael lunged out at you from the mannequins and cut your arm with a butcher knife. You screamed in pain and choked as he strangled you against the wall. You were now eye to eye with the face that haunted you for years. You tried to speak but you were winded. Gaining enough strength, you lifted your hand and shot him in the shoulder, only disarming him. He stepped back and you wrestled around with him more.

After a long while of you two injuring each other, you grabbed his face, “Muh-Michael, stop! It’s me!” He squeezed your neck harder, “It’s m-momma…”

His grip loosened slowly and he panted hard. He looked at you for a moment, as if something clicked in his memory. It made you smile hesitantly, “you remember, d-don’t you?”

He just stood still. Long enough for you to take a good look at his mask. It looked just like it did 40 years prior, but cracked and wrinkled. He was now a much older man.

You petted the hair on his head, “M-Michael and his crazy hair.”

Following your gesture came a bit of a surrender from him to you. He melted into your touch and his body trembled a bit, letting you hug him. You both collapsed to the floor and sat down in a long embrace.

And mustering up from the silence, broke a soft, yet deep cry from Michael. You rubbed his back and held his head, “It’s… It’s okay, my baby boy.”

To be continued…