#Lan Maisel

[wonderlandleighleigh]

I loved the grandkids photoshoot. Could you write about all the kids with all the grandparents?

“This is a non-issue,” Abe snaps. 

“She chased after Lan with a slug,” Shirley snaps back. “It’s an issue, Abe.” 

“She didn’t mean any harm,” Rose says evenly. “She was merely trying to tell Lan that slugs are good for gardens.” 

“I cannot believe you’re defending this behavior,” Moishe marvels. “It isn’t ladylike to throw slugs around.” 

“She did no such thing, she was very gentle with it,” Abe says. “And Lily isn’t a lady, she’s a burgeoning scientist. It’s very important not to stifle her curiosity.” 

Sally sighs heavily, obviously annoyed. “A six-year-old chased an eight-year-old with a slug. It isn’t the end of the world. Lan will live to fight another day. Lily is also fine. Can we please move on?” 

“He’s scarred for life,” Shirley insists. 

Sally snorts. “I promise you, having scarred my own son for life, the kid is fine.” 

“That’s quite the confession,” Rose mutters. 

Ethan frowns as he pokes his head into the kitchen of the bungalow at Steiner. “Was there a family meeting we forgot?” 

“Lily chased Lan with a slug,” Abe waves a hand. “And Moishe and Shirley are concerned he’s now scarred for life.” 

Ethan laughs. “Lan ate a cicada last year. I’m pretty sure he’s fine.” 

“He ate what?!” Shirley cries. “Why didn’t I know about this, he could have died.” 

“He was fine, Bubbe,” Ethan assures her. “Esther dry heaved from disgust though.” 

“What’s wrong?” Kitty asks, peeking in. 

“Lily found a slug and tried to show Lan,” Ethan explains. 

“Aw. Cute. Gross.” 

“The point is,” Ethan says, trying not to laugh. “Lily likes garden stuff. Flowers, plants. Dirt. And all the things that come with it. When she was four she named every worm she ever saw.” 

“It was the same name every time,” Kitty adds. 

“Gregory!” Esther calls. 

“Right,” Ethan nods in remembrance. “Gregory. Every worm was Gregory. ‘Hi, Gregory. Hi Gregory. Hello, Gregory. How are you, Gregory?’” 

Moishe turns to Abe and shakes his head. “Your granddaughter is strange.” 

“Most geniuses are,” Abe counters proudly. 

“Lily!” Ethan calls.

“What!” 

“What’d you name the slug from earlier today?!” 

“Herbert! Lan was rude to him!” 

“I wasn’t rude, it was gross!” 

“He was just doing his slug job! He has every right to exist as you do!” 

“He’s a slug!” 

“A great slug!” 

“When are their parents getting here?” Rose asks wearily.

Moishe shakes his head. “Not soon enough.” 

[fandom]

Ships

Week Ending March 14th, 2022

Ladynoir  Ladybug & Chat Noir, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Batcat +3 Batman & Catwoman, The Batman

Destiel Dean Winchester & Castiel, Supernatural

Lumity Luz Noceda & Amity Blight, The Owl House

Buddie -3 Evan Buckley & Edmundo Diaz, 9-1-1

Kathony Kate Sharma & Anthony Bridgerton, Bridgerton

Midge x Lenny Midge Maisel & Lenny Bruce, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Hannigram +1 Hannibal Lecter & Will Graham, Hannibal

Geraskier -2 Geralt of Rivia & Jaskier, The Witcher

Jaeyoung x Sangwoo Jang Jaeyoung & Chu Sangwoo, Semantic Error

Wangxian +2 Lan Wangji & Wei Wuxian, Mo Dao Zu Shi

Villaneve -4 Villanelle & Eve Polastri, Killing Eve

Ladrien Ladybug & Adrien Agreste, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Caitvi +3 Caitlyn Kiramman & Vi, Arcane

Narumitsu Phoenix Wright & Miles Edgeworth, Ace Attorney

Supercorp +2 Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor, Supergirl

Fexi -16 Fez & Lexi Howard, Euphoria

Jikook Park Jimin & Jeon Jungkook, BTS

Dinluke -3 Din Djarin & Luke Skywalker, the Star Wars universe

Stucky Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes, the Marvel universe

The number in italics indicates how many spots a ship moved up or down from the previous week. Bolded ships weren’t on the list last week.

[aflawedfashion]

rules: tag nine people you want to know better

I was tagged by @ladytharen

four ships: I’m just going to answer ships on shows I’m currently watching because I’d be here too long trying to figure this out if I expanded beyond that

Moiraine/Siuan: My current most canon sailing ship. The forbidden love and commitment of it all is just beautiful

Moiraine & Lan: Platonic, but they deserve to be on this list because I love them so much

Melanie/Bennett: All it took was one picture to remind me that I love them far too much for my own good

Audrey/Bess: A ship I am very curious about because I’ve written fanfiction for them before, but now they look like they might actually become canon, so the show has my optimistic interest 

first ever ship: Cory and Topanga on Boy Meets World. They owned my tiny little soul before I even knew what shipping was

last song: I don’t even know!

last film:I started watching that new one with Jennifer Lopez last week. Oh yeah, Marry Me. I have not finished it though. Will I? Maybe.

currently reading: I’m about 90% finished with New Spring by Robert Jordan because the only book in the Wheel of Time series that I really very much needed to read was the prequel novel about young Moiraine, Siuan and Lan. The first book in the actual series is on the tbr somewhere, but it’s less of a priority. I’m also reading the Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson and A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine. That second one is a sequel, but I’m enjoying it more that the first book in the series. Clearly, I do not believe in only reading one book at a time.

currently watching: I started the latest season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel today which I’m excited for because that show is so much fun. I’m also watching Snowpiercer weekly which is an experience I don’t entirely know how to describe.

currently consuming: nothing

currently craving: That cupcake in my kitchen. I think I will soon have a different answer to “currently consuming”

Tagging: @sapphoshands @gabolange @melsunicornonesie @kg1507 @maiagaru @evilythedwarf @purlturtle @horokoth @thesingingtowersofdarillium

[khaimocom]

Các nghị quyết và giải thưởng trao tặng Pháp Luân Công năm 2017

Theo số liệu thống kê chưa đầy đủ, trong năm 2017, Pháp Luân Đại Pháp đã nhận được ít nhất 46 giải thưởng và 9 thư chúc mừng từ tất cả các cấp chính phủ Hoa Kỳ và ít nhất 6 nghị quyết đã được chính phủ Hoa Kỳ thông qua nhân dịp kỷ niệm Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp Thế giới. Một nghị quyết đã được tất cả 63 thượng nghị sĩ ở bang New York thông qua. Một giải thưởng khác cũng đã được 42 thành viên hội đồng thông qua trong một tuyên bố chung. Các chính trị gia ca ngợi nguyên lý “Chân, Thiện, Nhẫn” của Pháp Luân Đại Pháp đã phản ánh các giá trị phổ quát. Họ công nhận sự đóng góp của Pháp Luân Đại Pháp cho cộng đồng và đây là cơ hội tốt để hồng truyền Pháp Luân Đại Pháp trên toàn thế giới. 6 nghị quyết Nghị quyết đầu tiên số 1432 được Thượng viện tiểu bang New York thông qua vào tháng 4 năm 2017. Đây cũng là nghị quyết thứ bảy liên tiếp được Thượng viện tiểu bang New York thông qua để công nhận “Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp Thế giới”. Trong Nghị quyết nêu:

“Ngày nay, Pháp Luân Đại Pháp được thực hành và trân trọng bởi hàng triệu người ở hơn 114 quốc gia và đã nhận được hơn 3.000 giải thưởng”. “Pháp Luân Đại Pháp đã truyền cho người dân Trung Quốc nguồn sức mạnh to lớn để đối mặt với cuộc bức hại; mặc dù việc tu luyện bị cấm tại chính đất nước đã khai sinh ra Pháp luân Đại pháp nhưng các học viên vẫn kiên trì theo đuổi niềm tin của họ cho dù họ có thể bị tù tội hoặc tệ hơn nữa. Và cơ quan lập pháp này tạm dừng các cuộc nghị án để tổ chức kỷ niệm Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp Thế giới thường niên lần thứ 18 được tổ chức từ ngày 12 đến 14 tháng 5 năm 2017”. Theo trang web Minh Huệ, Nghị quyết đã được ký ban hành bởi ông John J. Bonacic ở quận thượng viện thứ 42, được 31 thượng nghị sĩ tán thành và được 63 thượng nghị sĩ thông qua. Nghị quyết thứ hai số 1552 được tiểu Bang Texas thông qua. Trong Nghị quyết nêu: “Hạ viện của cơ quan lập pháp Texas lần thứ 85 công nhận ngày 13 tháng 5 năm 2017 là Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp Thế giới và gửi tới tất cả các đệ tử lời chúc tốt đẹp, chân thành nhất trong ngày kỷ niệm ý nghĩa này”. Pháp Luân Công là môn tu luyện Phật gia dựa trên nguyên lý “Chân, Thiện, Nhẫn”, bao gồm năm bài luyện công, được người sáng lập là ông Lý Hồng Chí giới thiệu ra tại Trường Xuân, Trung Quốc vào năm 1992 và hiện đã lan rộng đến hơn 100 quốc gia và nhiều vùng lãnh thổ trên thế giới. Nghị quyết thứ ba được thông qua bởi 50 thượng nghị sĩ tại Chicago – thành phố lớn thứ ba của Mỹ  vào ngày 24 tháng 5 năm 2017. Nghị quyết nêu: “Pháp Luân Công là phong trào thiền định và tu luyện phổ biến nhất trên thế giới”, “Chúng tôi, thị trưởng Chicago và các thành viên của Hội đồng thành phố Chicago tỏ lòng kính trọng đến Hiệp hội Pháp Luân Đại Pháp và các học viên Pháp Luân Đại Pháp. Kỷ niệm 25 năm ngày hồng truyền Pháp Luân Đại Pháp”. Nghị quyết thứ tư và thứ năm lần lượt được Thượng viện và Hạ viện Missouri thông qua nhân kỷ niệm Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp. Nghị quyết thứ sáu đã được Hạ viện Michigan thông qua cho phép kỷ niệm Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp Thế giới. 23 giải thưởng của tiểu bang New York Tại New York, thành viên của Hạ viện Lee Zeldin đã trao giải thưởng cho Pháp Luân Đại Pháp.

52 nghị sĩ của tiểu bang đã gửi thư chúc mừng nhân dịp kỷ niệm Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp. Trong thư chúc mừng viết: “Niềm tin và tinh thần của các học viên Pháp Luân Đại Pháp đã làm cho New York trở nên tốt hơn”, “Pháp Luân Đại Pháp được thành lập bởi ông Lý Hồng Chí và được truyền ra tại Trường Xuân, Trung Quốc vào năm 1992. Kể từ đó, ông Lý Hồng Chí đã từng 4 lần được đề cử giải Nobel Hòa bình. Pháp Luân Đại Pháp gồm năm bài công pháp, sức mạnh của các bài công pháp êm dịu đã đánh thức sức mạnh tinh thần của con người”. “Bất chấp cuộc đàn áp tàn khốc ở Trung Quốc, Pháp Luân Công vẫn được duy trì và phát triển mạnh mẽ”. Giải thưởng do ông Steven Englebright – một đại diện của khu vực bầu cử thứ tư của tiểu bang New York khởi xướng và được 51 nghị sĩ của bang ký phê chuẩn. Hai thượng nghị sĩ của tiểu bang New York – ông Philip M. Boyle và ông Elaine Phillips đã trao giải thưởng. Sáu nghị sĩ bang đã công nhận gồm ông Alfred Graf, ông Andrew Garbarino, ông Chad Lupineacci, ông Andrew Raia, ông Charles Lavine và ông David McDonough. Bốn thành viên Hội đồng thành phố New York đã gửi thư khen ngợi gồm ông Mark Levin, ông I. Daneek Miller, ông Donovan Richards và ông Eric Ulrich. Những thư khen ngợi cũng được hai Ủy viên Hội đồng Robert Cornegy và Alan Maisel ở Brooklyn và thành viên Hội đồng Bang Joseph Borelli gửi tặng. Sáu thành phố và quận thuộc bang New York đã trao giấy khen tặng, bao gồm: Nassau County Long Island, Suffolk County Long Island, Thị trưởng của Glen Cove Long Island, Thị trấn Brookhaven, Thị trấn Riverhead, Thị trấn Smithtown, Long Island. 2 giải thưởng của Bang Maryland Nghị sĩ Bang Maryland – ông Jamie Raskin và Nghị sỹ John Delaney đã gửi thư chúc mừng đến Hiệp hội Pháp Luân Đại Pháp để chúc mừng Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp Thế giới. 5  giải thưởng của Bang Texas Đại diện Bang Texas – ông Hubert Võ, đại biểu Hội đồng Bang – Tiến sĩ Alma Allen, ông Carol Alvarado và ông Dan Huberty đều khen ngợi Hiệp hội Đại Pháp Nam Mỹ và chúc mừng các học viên vào Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp. Sylvester Turner, thị trưởng thành phố Houston, bang Texas, đã trao Giải thưởng với lời khen ngợi, tôn vinh Pháp Luân Đại Pháp vì lợi ích của người dân và công bố công nhận Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp. 5 giải thưởng của Bang Missouri Thống đốc bang Missouri – ông Eric Greitens đã gửi thư chúc mừng và thông báo ngày 13 tháng 5 là “Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp ở Missouri”. Ngoài ra, các thành phố của Missouri bao gồm O’Fallon, St. Charles, St. Peters và Wentzville lần lượt gửi những lời khen ngợi, ca ngợi “Chân, Thiện, Nhẫn” và công bố ngày 13 tháng 5 năm 2017 là ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp của họ. 5 giải thưởng từ Bang Georgia Thống đốc bang Georgia, Hội đồng thành phố Atlanta, thị trưởng của Norcross, Covington, Ringgold và các thành phố khác đều đã trao giấy khen tặng tuyên bố tháng Pháp Luân Đại Pháp là tháng 5 năm 2017 hoặc ngày 13 tháng 5 là Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp. 6 giải thưởng khác Các giải thưởng cho Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp cũng được Thượng viện và Hạ viện Massachusetts, thành phố Quincy ở bang Massachusetts, tiểu bang Aventura Florida, St Petersburg, Seattle và tiểu bang Washington trao tặng. 9 thư chúc mừng Ít nhất bốn thành viên Quốc hội của tiểu bang New York đã gửi thư riêng chúc mừng Ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp Thế giới, đó là Nydia Velazquez, Hakeem Jeffries, Yvette Clarke và Daniel Donovan. Thượng nghị sĩ Hakeem Jeffries nêu trong bức thư: “Tôi biết ơn người sáng lập Pháp Luân Đại Pháp đồng thời là nhà lãnh đạo tinh thần – Ông Lý Hồng Chí, các học viên Pháp Luân Công và những người ủng hộ trên khắp thế giới” và “Tôi cảm ơn các học viên Pháp Luân Công vì các hoạt động liên tục, miễn phí của họ đối với cộng đồng để mọi người trong cộng đồng có thể tham gia thực hành hòa bình và giúp cộng đồng trở nên tốt đẹp hơn”. Thượng nghị sĩ bang New York – bà Toby Ann Stavisky cũng gửi thư chúc mừng ca ngợi các học viên Pháp Luân Đại Pháp đã có được sức khỏe và hạnh phúc thông qua các bài luyện công và thiền định. Bà nói rằng các học viên Pháp Luân Đại Pháp có lối sống vị tha. Ngoài ra, còn có các thư chúc mừng ngày Pháp Luân Đại Pháp từ Ủy viên hội đồng thành phố New York – ông Paul Vallone và ba thành viên hội đồng thành phố ở Brooklyn gồm ông Rafael Espinal, ông Brad Lander và ông William Jumaane D. Williams. Hàng triệu người được hưởng lợi từ Pháp Luân Công Pháp Luân Công đã trở nên phổ biến với hàng triệu người trên khắp thế giới. Theo thống kê chưa đầy đủ, đến năm 2011, Pháp Luân Công đã được tặng 1.632 giải thưởng, 313 nghị quyết ủng hộ và 2.552 thư công nhận. chanhkien.org / pureinsight.org Read the full article

[5heclai]

My 2018 Golden Globes Predictions

{I removed categories that included movies or shows that I haven’t seen yet}

Film

Best Motion Picture

Drama

Call Me by Your Name

Dunkirk

The Post

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

- Granted I’ve only seen Dunkirk and Three Billboards, I really think Dunkirk has this one in the bag; as well as Christopher Nolan for directing. 

Musical or Comedy

The Disaster Artist

Get Out

The Greatest Showman

I, Tonya

Lady Bird

- Lady Bird is my second choice, and I feel it has a higher chance of winning, although I really want Get Out to win.  

Best Performance in a Motion Picture – Drama

Actor

Timothée Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name as Elio Perlman

Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread as Reynolds Woodcock

Tom Hanks – The Post as Ben Bradlee

Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour as Winston Churchill

Denzel Washington – Roman J. Israel, Esq. as Roman J. Israel

Actress

Jessica Chastain – Molly's Game as Molly Bloom

Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water as Elisa Esposito

Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri as Mildred Hayes

Meryl Streep – The Post as Kay Graham

Michelle Williams – All the Money in the World as Gail Harris

Best Performance in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Actor

Steve Carell – Battle of the Sexes as Bobby Riggs

Ansel Elgort – Baby Driver as Baby / Miles

James Franco – The Disaster Artist as Tommy Wiseau

Hugh Jackman – The Greatest Showman as P. T. Barnum

Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out as Chris Washington

Actress

Judi Dench – Victoria & Abdul as Queen Victoria

Helen Mirren – The Leisure Seeker as Ella Robina

Margot Robbie – I, Tonya as Tonya Harding

Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird as Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson

Emma Stone – Battle of the Sexes as Billie Jean King

Best Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture – Drama, Musical or Comedy

Supporting Actor

Willem Dafoe – The Florida Project as Bobby Hicks

Armie Hammer – Call Me by Your Name as Oliver

Richard Jenkins – The Shape of Water as Giles

Christopher Plummer – All the Money in the World as J. Paul Getty

Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri as Officer Jason Dixon

Supporting Actress

Mary J. Blige – Mudbound as Florence Jackson

Hong Chau – Downsizing as Ngoc Lan Tran

Allison Janney – I, Tonya as LaVona Golden

Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird as Marion McPherson

Octavia Spencer – The Shape of Water as Zelda Fuller

Best Director

Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water

Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk

Ridley Scott – All the Money in the World

Steven Spielberg – The Post

Best Screenplay

Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor – The Shape of Water

Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird

Liz Hannah & Josh Singer – The Post

Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Aaron Sorkin – Molly's Game

- Honestly bummed Jordan Peele didn’t get nominated. 

Best Original Score

Carter Burwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Alexandre Desplat – The Shape of Water

Jonny Greenwood – Phantom Thread

John Williams – The Post

Hans Zimmer – Dunkirk

Best Original Song

"Home" (Nick Jonas, Justin Tranter, and Nick Monson) – Ferdinand

"Mighty River" (Raphael Saadiq, Mary J. Blige, and Taura Stinson) – Mudbound

"Remember Me" (Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez) – Coco

"The Star" (Mariah Carey and Marc Shaiman) – The Star

"This Is Me" (Benj Pasek and Justin Paul) – The Greatest Showman

Best Animated Feature Film

The Boss Baby

The Breadwinner

Coco

Ferdinand

Loving Vincent

- They should really just toss the golden globe to the Pixar crew upon their arrival to the ceremony.

Television

Best Series

Drama

The Crown

Game of Thrones

The Handmaid's Tale

Stranger Things

This Is Us

Musical or Comedy

Black-ish

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Master of None

SMILF

Will & Grace

Best Performance in a Television Series – Drama

Actor

Jason Bateman – Ozark as Martin "Marty" Byrde

Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us as Randall Pearson

Freddie Highmore – The Good Doctor as Dr. Shaun Murphy

Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul as Jimmy McGill

Liev Schreiber – Ray Donovan as Ray Donovan

Best Performance in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Actor

Anthony Anderson – Black-ish as Andre "Dre" Johnson Sr.

Aziz Ansari – Master of None as Dev Shah

Kevin Bacon – I Love Dick as Dick

William H. Macy – Shameless as Frank Gallagher

Eric McCormack – Will & Grace as Will Truman

Best Supporting Performance in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film

Supporting Actor

David Harbour – Stranger Things as Chief Jim Hopper

Alfred Molina – Feud: Bette and Joan as Robert Aldrich

Alexander Skarsgård – Big Little Lies as Perry Wright

Christian Slater – Mr. Robot as Mr. Robot/Edward Alderson

David Thewlis – Fargo as V.M. Varga

[mabomanji]

Ca y’est on arrive à la fin de l’année et il est temps de faire un petit bilan de ce que j’ai vu ! Déjà j’ai intégré le visionnage d’un drama chaque mercredi dans mes révisions de japonais ce qui me permet de voir des épisodes tout en entraînant mon oreille. J’ai été contente de cet ajout surtout que je le fais pendant une heure de trou au travail.

J’ai profité aussi de quelques pilotathons pour lancer directement des séries qui m’intéressaient, notamment les histoires de boys love venues de Thaïlande comme He’s coming to me sur lequel j’ai écrit un article de blog et Great Men Academy.

J’avais également un défi de rattrapage de dramas pour l’année avec 6 dramas choisis. Choosing spouse by lottery excellent drama, Tsumi to Batsu et Lady Joker les deux derniers que j’ai vus, des mini-séries aux sujets vraiment à part qui étaient très intéressants. She was pretty dont je ne me rappelle plus. Temperature of love qui démarrait bien avec une jolie relation mais s’enlisait dans les imbroglio des doutes. Et enfin la floppée des adaptations de Absolute Boyfriend. J’avais noté la version japonaise à regarder mais par un hasard de calendrier une version coréenne est sortie pile cette année, c’était vraiment sympa, l’évolution du robot et de leur attachement compensait les clichés de dramas. Ensuite je suis passée à la version taïwanaise avec la promesse de voir Jiro Wang mais au final je l’ai trouvé trop niais et cliché pour l’apprécier. J’ai fini par la version japonaise que j’ai trouvée très bien balancée entre le détachement des personnages face aux situations improbables et la jolie relation avec le robot qui évolue bien, l’humour était farfelu mais pas dans la surenchère ce qui était appréciable.

J’ai aussi rajouté une catégorie rewatch pour revoir des anciens dramas et les tester avec le recul et les années. W tient bien la route avec une histoire qui avance vraiment vite en provoquant des événements marquants. Healer est une valeur sûre, la relation est très bien construite, l’enquête reste centrale et les personnages secondaires sont biens. Lovers a très mal vieilli, il était assez cliché à l’époque et ne passe pas le revisionnage, c’est trop retournements de situations et longs plans où les personnages se dévisagent l’air choqué, du coup moi qui l’avait dévoré en une semaine au tout début où je me mettais aux dramas j’ai vraiment changé mon regard. Je suis en cours de visionnage de Secret Garden et il va finir pareil, la relation est très problématique avec beaucoup de harcèlement et de violence verbale et de classe, du coup je me concentre sur la découverte du jeune chanteur joué par un acteur sympathique. J’ai aussi revu My love from the star et il est toujours aussi sympa surtout au début grâce aux acteurs qui s’amusent follement avec des personnages hauts en couleurs. La musique est toujours aussi bien.

Du coup mon best of est très dramas ! Je ne fais pas de classement ce sont juste les séries qui m’ont marquées et que j’ai le plus appréciées cette année !

The light in your eyes

Un histoire touchante cachée derrière un emballage de comédie romantique classique, une surprise et une réflexion sur des sujets de société, une vraie perle ! +mon post+

He’s coming to me

Un drama de Boys Love très attachant qui mêle le fantastique avec cet esprit coincé sur terre le temps de trouver pourquoi il est mort et ce jeune homme qui vient le voir depuis petit dans le cimetière. La cohabitation, le soutien mutuel, l’attachement malgré l’improbabilité de leur situation, c’est simple mais très doux. +mon post+

Choosing spouse by lottery

Le drama repéré pendant un pilotathon qui fait face à une question importante pour le Japon : le problème du baisse de la natalité. Une loterie est mise en place entre les célibataires, les forçant à se rencontrer et à créer des relations devant absolument mener au mariage et aux enfants. Le drama soulève toutes les problématiques importantes comme la carrière des femmes, l’homosexualité totalement ignorée, les problèmes de communication de certaines personnes, la brutalité de cette décision pour leur vie. C’est solide et bien joué avec beaucoup d’explication sur la vie des personnages et leurs motivations. +mon post+

Atami no sousakan

Un drama totalement farfelu ! Un vrai Twin Peaks à la japonaise avec la disparition d’un bus avec trois écolières à son bord. Un duo digne de Mulder et Scully débarque dans cette ville de campagne avec sa police qui ressemble à des rangers. On croise des personnages étranges, il y a des manipulations politiques, des jeunes qui font des soirées étranges et toujours des blagues potaches sorties de nulle part, beaucoup de références sont perdues pour nous occidentaux mais le drama reste très divertissant et passionnant !

Marvelous Mrs Maisel

La seule série qui se crée une place dans mon best-of ! Mrs Maisel c’est une femme normale qui est mariée avec deux enfants, s’occupe de tout et soutient son mari dans son projet de devenir humoriste. Sauf qu’il est très mauvais et qu’il lui reproche son échec et s’en va avec sa maîtresse. Après avoir picolé Mrs Maisel retourne dans le bar à humoriste et balance blague sur blague, elle est incroyable ! On va suivre sa vie entre le divorce, son test du métier d’humoriste et le regard des autres. J’ai vu deux saisons c’est vraiment génial, l’actrice est parfaite avec un peps contagieux !

The untamed

Je l’ai laissé à la fin mais tous ceux qui ont vu mon twitter ou mon facebook le savent j’ai craqué totalement pour ce drama chinois de 50 petits épisodes racontant le destin de Wei Wuxian, jeune doué en art martiaux et intelligent qui a des idées qui ne plaisent pas à la bien-pensance des autres clans. Menacés par le clan Wen il leur arrive plein d’aventures qui le poussent à prendre des décisions extrêmes pour protéger ses amis et sa famille. Parti sur la voie obscure, érigé au rang de grand maître démoniaque il est le grand croque mitaine que tout le monde montre du doigt au moindre problème, les rumeurs prenant tellement d’ampleur qu’elles n’illustrent plus qu’un mythe. Nous suivons l’homme, ses choix, ses attaches, ses douleurs et son destin tragique avant un retour à l’apaisement.

Ses décisions, ses idées vont perturber le petit ordre bien établi de Lan Wangji, meilleur élève de son clan et même de tous les clans, sobre, dans la retenue, sérieux et respectueux des règles. Cette rencontre va remettre en question tout ce qu’on lui a appris sur le bien et le mal et les règles établies de manière tacite par la majorité des clans.

C’est un drama complet avec de la comédie, du fantastique : des pouvoirs magiques, des instruments de musique magiques, des poupées humaines, de la manipulation de forces démoniaques ; mais aussi des jeux de pouvoir entre les clans contre le clan ennemi d’abord et ensuite l’établissement d’un nouvel ordre de manière arbitraire.

L’histoire recèle pas mal de secrets et de complots, de révélations jusqu’au bout de l’oeuvre qui maintiennent du suspense. Il est travaillé au niveau des décors, des costumes et des ambiances, les musiques sont sublimes. On passe sur quelques tics de réalisation typiques de la Chine et des scènes de bataille pas bien maîtrisées, les trois quart des plans étant vraiment travaillés et beaux.

Il y a un très bon travail fourni pour l’écriture des relations et de leur évolution. Les relations familiales sont tout aussi importantes que la relation amoureuse des deux héros. Les acteurs sont suffisamment bons ou sobres dans l’ensemble pour bien apprécier l’histoire. Les deux acteurs principaux font un boulot excellent avec Xiao Zhan jouant Wei Wuxian hyper expressif, attachant en deux secondes et passant par toutes les phases possibles de joie, tristesse et colère, toujours un mélange complexe d’émotions l’agite. Et en opposition Wang Yibo qui joue Lan Wangji est stoïque à outrance et ne laisse paraître ses émotions et pensées que par des coups d’oeil et des micro sourires. C’est incroyable qu’on arrive à autant le comprendre alors qu’il parle si peu.

J’ai déjà vu le drama deux fois, une version spéciale a commencé avec seulement 20 épisodes mais centrés uniquement sur les héros. Les plans ont été changés et le rythme est totalement différent. Une version clairement pour les fans avec même des scènes bonus du duo principal. Je l’aurais bien recommandée mais au final l’ambiance qui m’avait charmée dans l’original n’y est plus, le travail de réalisation est si bien dans la version 50 épisodes que malgré la longueur ça vaut le coup de la tester.

Et voilà pour mon best of de séries ! La suite c’est avec les films !

{Série/Drama} Best of 2019 Ca y'est on arrive à la fin de l'année et il est temps de faire un petit bilan de ce que j'ai vu !

[jc]

Medienkonsum April 2019

Spät, aber hier kommt der Über­blick mei­nes Medi­en­kon­sums im April. Ich habe mal wie­der Bücher been­det! 🥳

📚 Bücher

Thomas Mann: Buddenbrooks. Verfall einer Familie

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ein Werk aus mei­ner Muss-ich-noch-unbedingt-nachholen-Liste. Es hat sich gelohnt, die­ses dicke Werk durch­zu­ar­bei­ten, wenn­gleich ich Manns aus­ufern­den Detail­be­schrei­bun­gen manch­mal über­drüs­sig war. Mir ist aber klar, dass genau dies ein Grund dafür ist, war­um man gebannt einer eigent­lich lang­wei­li­gen Fami­li­en­ge­schich­te folgt. Gut, dass ich das gemacht habe.

Pit Gottschalk: Kabinengeflüster. Meine verrückten Erlebnisse als Fußballreporter

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wäre ich nicht einer von – ich weiß nicht, so um die 200? – Abon­nen­ten sei­nes guten Fußball-Newsletters, ver­mut­lich hät­te ich nie vom Buch des Sport­re­por­ters erfah­ren. So aber erhielt ich eine signier­te Aus­ga­be. Ent­spre­chend moti­viert ging ich an die Lek­tü­re. Mei­ne Erwar­tun­gen wur­den jedoch lei­der nicht voll­ends erfüllt. Die ver­spro­che­nen „ver­rück­ten Erleb­nis­se“ sind über­schau­bar, so rich­ti­ge Hin­ter­grün­de der Repor­ter­ar­beit erfährt man auch nicht. Letzt­lich geht es vor allem dar­um, dass Gott­schalk einer bes­se­ren Zeit in den Neun­zi­gern nach­trau­ert, als man noch direk­ten Zugang im Fuß­ball hat­te und es noch kei­ne Kon­kur­renz durch Inter­net und Soci­al Media gab. Auch wenn er immer wie­der das Gegen­teil beteu­ert, die­se Ein­stel­lung durch­dringt alle Tex­te. Am Ende des Buches geht es gar nur noch dar­um, wie ein Repor­ter heut­zu­ta­ge erfolg­reich sein kann. Scha­de drum, denn aus dem wochen­täg­li­chen News­let­ter weiß ich, dass Gott­schalk über ein tief­ge­hen­des Wis­sen der Bun­des­li­ga ver­fügt.

📺 Serien

Homecoming (Staffel 1)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Eine sehr schö­ne Serie mit Julia Roberts, die man mal gut weg­gu­cken kann.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Staffel 1)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ich habe irgend­wie ver­passt, dass die ers­te Staf­fel schon lan­ge vor­bei ist. Ich habe sie rela­tiv schnell nach Erschei­nen gese­hen, das ist jetzt also eine Nach­rei­chung. – Sabri­na ken­ne ich noch als Neunziger-Sitcom. Die aktu­el­le Serie hat die glei­che Comic-Sabrina zur Grund­la­ge, aber viel mehr im Sin­ne des Ver­fas­sers. Die Halb-Hexe im sata­ni­schen Kult, die zwi­schen ihren mensch­li­chen Freun­den und dem Erbe ihres Vaters ent­schei­den muss, ist sehr gelun­gen. Auch optisch bringt die Serie genau das rich­ti­ge Gefühl rüber. Eine abso­lu­te Emp­feh­lung.

Stromberg (Staffeln 4, 5)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So schnell ist mein Re-Run auch wie­der vor­bei. Scha­de­po­pa­de, aber jetzt bin ich wie­der auf­ge­schlaut, wie ich mich im dai­ly busi­ness ver­hal­ten soll­te. Also: nicht.

Sex Education (Staffel 1)

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Eine Emp­feh­lung von Scot­ty beim Bar­camp Ruhr. Net­te Abend­un­ter­hal­tung. Fängt gut an, lässt dann lei­der im Staf­fel­ver­lauf etwas nach und ist ins­ge­samt eine Teenager-Dramödie, dar­auf muss man halt auch ste­hen.

Santa Clarita Diet (Staffel 3)

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Net­te, wenig anspruchs­vol­le, dafür unter­hal­ten­de klei­ne Serie.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Staffel 2)

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Habe ich auch ver­ges­sen, dass wir die zwei­te Staf­fel schon durch haben. Es war immer noch amü­sant. Soli­de Comedy-Kost.

Merz gegen Merz (Staffel 1)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Annet­te Frier und Chris­toph Maria Herbst haben Ehe­pro­ble­me. In acht herr­lich kurz­wei­li­gen Epi­so­den ver­su­chen sie sich an deren Lösung. Gibt es noch in der ZDF-Mediathek.

Game of Thrones (Staffeln 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Als Vor­be­rei­tung auf die letz­te Staf­fel sehen wir uns noch ein­mal alle Fol­gen an. End­lich lohnt sich das Sky-Abo, die ein­fach mal einen kom­plet­ten Sen­der umwid­me­ten und uns so ermög­lich­ten, alles auf­zu­zeich­nen. – Klar, einer der bes­ten Seri­en ihrer Zeit. So geballt merkt man aber auch, dass Staf­fel 1 – noch voll­stän­dig auf dem Buch beru­hend – ganz dicht mit Hand­lun­gen ist, wäh­rend die Staf­feln danach eigent­lich nur noch die Vor­be­rei­tung auf das Fina­le sind. Mit oft sehr zähen Hand­lun­gen.

🎞 Filme

Death Wish (2018)

⭐️⭐️ Nichts gegen einen ver­nünf­ti­gen Bruce-Willis-Action-Nonsense, aber der Film war echt nicht gut. Die Sto­ry ist so alt wie das Ori­gi­nal, aus­ge­lutscht und mei­len­weit vor­aus­schau­bar, die Umset­zung zeit­ge­mäß, aber auch nicht wei­ter der Rede wert.

* * *

Legen­de: ⭐ Grau­en­haft, nicht zu ertra­gen ⭐⭐ Ich habe durch­ge­hal­ten ⭐⭐⭐ Soli­der Durch­schnitt ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Sehr gut, zu emp­feh­len ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Außer­ge­wöhn­li­che Spit­zen­klas­se

* * *

Dier gefählt nich wie ich schreib? Spen­die­re mir 1 Orto­gra­fie Kurs! 💰

spen­den 

(Original unter: https://1ppm.de/2019/05/medienkonsum-april-2019/)

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Can you please do another follow up on the interview drama? Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top

"Guys I'm really gay."

They've been drinking for a number of hours. Drained a few bottles at this point, sprawled out on the floor and couches in the living room.

"Wait, you thought we didn't know you were gay?" Esther asks, confused as she lifts her head from the floor.

Lan lifts his own, looking panicked. "What?"

"We know you're gay," Lily tells him.

"Smokey and the Bandit," Ethan chimes in.

"Wh-"

"I took you to see Smokey and the Bandit," Ethan goes on, laughing from the couch. "Lan, you were smitten."

Lan stares around at his siblings.

"No one could blame you," Kitty assures him. "Burt Reynolds is really sexy."

"It's the mustache," Lily agrees.

"Honestly, I'm a little jealous," Esther chimes in again. "I wanted to be the gay one."

"You-"

"Men are terrible," Esther cuts him off.

"Wait, does everyone know?" Lan asks, still completely flabbergasted.

"None of the grandparents guessed," Ethan tells him. "And lucky you, you only have to tell one of them. Unless you wanna tell Sally. I don't think she'd care much."

"But you're being safe, right?" Lily asks worriedly. "The Aids thing isn't getting better, and Reagan is still choosing to ignore the problem."

"I only have the one partner," Lan assures her. "And we've both been tested a couple of times."

"Don't die please," Lily says.

"Doing my best," Lan tells her. "God, I can't believe you all knew all this time. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you didn't say anything," Kitty shrugs with a giggle. "What were we supposed to do, point at you and announce it at Yom Kippur dinner?"

"Not that you've been to Yom Kippur dinner in the last couple of years," Esther comments. "Busy movie star that you are."

Len sighs heavily. "Do you think the parents know?"

"Oh, Daddy definitely knows," Lily tells him. "Your dad once mentioned a matchmaker and Daddy blew coffee out his nose."

"Ow," Lan flinches.

"Many, many worse things have gone up and come out that nose," Kitty comments. "He was fine."

"Pop is gonna lose his shit," Lan mutters, pressing the palms of his hands to his eyes. "It's times like these I wish I was a Weissman-Bruce. Midge would not care."

"She'd wrap you in cellophane and ask for the sexual history of everyone you know," Ethan comments. "She's terrified for Uncle Shy right now."

"I'm really fine, you guys," Lan grumbles.

"Keep being fine, please," Kitty insists. She sits up and huffs. "Who wants more whiskey?"

Ethan's hand shoots up, as does Lily's.

"Five people, all aware that addictions runs in every branch of their family," Lan jokes.

"Wait, Mei's family, too?" Esther asks.

"Opium, back in China," Lan explains.

"Well, here's to bad habits," Kitty states, as she refills everyone's glasses.

*****

When Lan opens his eyes again, sunshine is streaming through the smudged windows, and he can smell French toast from the kitchen.

He feels like a little kid again, slumped around with his siblings, delicious smells in the air, and Midge and Lenny's voices - low and soft - coming from the other room.

The aroma of coffee has him pulling himself to his feet. He thought he'd be more hungover, but he actually feels okay. The combination of a handful of aspirin sometime in the night, and good quality liquor making things feel a little easier, most likely.

"Hey, we have a life one," Lenny comments, grinning at him.

"Well, that's one less funeral to plan so soon," Midge jokes, zooming by and kissing Lan's cheek. "Hi, sweetie."

"You guys don't look mad," Lan says, frowning.

Lenny snorts. "Do you know how many times people have said I'm gonna die soon? You're far from the first, and you won't be the last."

"You just have to learn how to give less shitty interviews," Midge tells him, handing him a cup of coffee. "God, this place is not in good shape anymore. Every since Paulie retired..."

"Maybe we should just buy the bungalow," Lenny suggests. "Fix it up nice, give it some love, have a good place for vacations and whatnot."

"It's not the worst idea," Midge grins, before looking at Lan. "How are you? How's LA?"

"LA is good. I'm...I feel awful about that interview," he tells her. "The stuff they said about Mama, and Lenny and Ethan...and then they did a deep-dive on Maisel and Roth and..."

"There are just some journalists who will do anything to get ahead," Midge tells him. "There was this one woman who used to trash every show I ever did."

"Ah, L. Roy Dunham," Lenny muses. "When she trashed Midge's first Gordon Ford appearance, she got so much hate mail, they had to fire her from the Daily News."

"And she died last year," Midge adds. "Food poisoning. Bad pork."

Lan frowns as he sips his coffee. "So...if you're not mad..."

Midge takes a breath and smooths out her dress. "There's a lot of stuff that you kids don't know, that...well..you're all adults now... Lily is nineteen for god's sake, so...it's time. Once your parents get here, and everyone's been fed and given hangover cures, we'll all talk."

Lan nods.

"You know the best thing about being the first up is first dibs on the shower," Lenny tells him.

Lan lifts an playfully eyebrow. "Lenny, are you telling me I smell?"

"I absolutely am. Go."

Lan laughs and takes his coffee upstairs.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Thanksgiving, 1983

“You’re worrying too much.”

Lan Maisel sighs heavily as he parks their rental car in front of the Weissman-Bruce residence in the Village. It’s a big Brownstone, Next to him, his boyfriend is looking a little annoyed.

“I don’t think I am,” Lan tells him. “We’re having Thanksgiving with my entire family.”

Charlie huffs out a breath. “Yes, and they know you’re gay, and they know you’re seeing someone, and they know you’re bringing me.”

“There’s a difference between abstractly knowing, and see it in action,” Lan argues.

“It’s not like we’re going to have sex on the Thanksgiving table,” Charlie laughs.

“Thank god, because Midge would murder me, then you, then Pop, then herself.”

“Wait, what about your mother?”

“She’ll just pretend she saw nothing and then never speak to me again,” Lan says.

Charlie sighs heavily and takes his hand, kissing the back of it. “It’s really going to be fine. Really. And if it’s not, we have this nifty car, and we can run away and find a nice hotel room.”

Lan gazes at him. “Can we go over the whole thing?”

Charlie smiles. “Yes. Lay it on me.”

Lan nods and turns to him. “Okay. So. this is Midge and Lenny’s house. Midge is my father’s ex-wife, and she’s the mother of my half-brother Ethan and my half-sister Esther. Who will both be here. Ethan’s bringing wife Julia, who is pregnant. Kitty is Lenny’s daughter, and Ethan and Esther’s step-sister, and she’s pregnant, too, though I think her boyfriend is kind of...terrible. So she’s coming on her own. And so is Midge and Lenny’s youngest daughter, Lily. She’s younger than we are, and she’s...weird. Then there’s Pop and Ma, Joel and Mei. They’re fucking crazy. Midge’s sister-in-law Astrid will be here - Midge’s brother passed away last year. Or was killed by Russians or something, we’re not sure. Her son Chaim is also coming. Then there’s Zeyde. My grandfather, Moishe. He is the last grandparent, and then Lenny’s mom Sally, who uh...yeah. She’s an experience, and then Midge’s best friend, Susie, who is also her manager, who hates everyone except Ethan.”

Charlie blinks. “Right. And all those people are inside.”

“At least some of them, I don’t know who’s running late,” Lan says.

“Well. Fuck.”

Lan nods. “Yep. Fuck. You ready?”

“Uh...”

“It’s too late to turn back,” Lan tells him. “We’re already here, and nothing ever gets past Lenny, so he’s probably seen the car. Actually, he might be the only person in that house who wouldn’t judge us for just fucking off.”

Charlie squares his broad shoulders. “We’re not fucking off. We’re having Thanksgiving with your family.”

Lan grins and opens the driver door. “Okay. Here we go.”

[wonderlandleighleigh]

26 pages of fic in retaliation of the spoilers. So spoiler alert for the season 5 spoilers that have come out.

September, 1989

“Mama, no.” 

Midge wrinkles her nose. “What do you mean, ‘Mama, no,’ what is that supposed to mean?” 

Esther huffs as she follows her mother around the kitchen. “You can’t cook for twenty-six people, it’s too many!” 

“Please, I’ve cooked for armies!” 

“Real armies?” Eden asks, her ears perking up as she watches her partner chase Midge around. 

“Armies of comics,” Midge shrugs at her daughter-in-law. “Armies of musicians. Hungry entertainers, mostly.” 

“So not even as well-behaved as soldiers,” Eden jokes as she lifts her son up from the floor and snuggles the toddler. 

“Not nearly,” Midge responds.

“It’s too many people,” Esther presses. “Get it catered.” 

“God, no.” 

“Mama.” 

“Esther.” 

“You shouldn’t have to bust your ass in the kitchen all day,” Esther argues. “You just got home from a tour, don’t you want to relax?” 

“How long have we known each other?” Midge asks. 

Esther blinks. “You gave birth to me.” 

“And you’re how old?” 

“Mama.” 

“You’re thirty-one,” Midge answers for her. “Which means you’ve had thirty-one years to realize that relaxing is not my thing.” 

“But-” 

“It’s very sweet of you to worry, Honey,” Midge smiles, wrapping an arm around her daughter. “Really, I love you for being concerned, but the best way to decompress from two months on tour is to make a shitload of food that will eventually kill you all, and then force-feed it to you while I criticize all your choices.” 

“Seems like she’s dead set,” Eden comments. 

“I once cooked for two hundred people at Uncle Shy’s house for an album release party,” Midge tells them as she gets to work. “Monica fired the caterers five hours before the party started and then locked herself in the master bathroom, and I get this completely panicked phone call from Shy, begging me to come and do…something with the truck-load of food the caterers left because it was already paid for. So it’s me, Jerome, Bonnie and Gordon in the kitchen, while Shy, Lenny and Carly are trying to coax Monica out of the bathroom, and the only thing that did it was some cocaine someone had brought to the party..” 

Eden blinks as silence blankets the kitchen, before she turns to Esther. “Sometimes your mother tells these stories and I don’t know if they’re true or not.” 

“Ask Lenny, all true. I was six months’ pregnant with Lily at the time.” 

“I was very tempted by that cocaine, by the way,” Lenny says as he wanders in, lifting little Joshy from Eden’s arms. “I talked myself out of it by pretending if I did cocaine, it would somehow hurt the baby Midge was pregnant with.” 

Eden blinks again. “That’s…weird.” 

“And effective.” 

“Esther thinks we should have Rosh Hashanah catered,” Midge tells her husband.

He gives his stepdaughter a confused look. “It’s too late to get it catered now.” 

Esther rolls her eyes. “You’re comedy legends, I’m pretty sure if you snapped your fingers real hard someone would come running to cater Lenny Bruce and Midge Maisel’s Rosh Hashanah dinner.” 

“Why would we do that?” Lenny asks, still confused.

“Give it up, Babe,” Eden chuckles. “They’re never gonna outsource dinner.” 

“Especially since cooking keeps me out of the same room as your father for as long as possible,” Midge adds. 

“You could have just…not invited him,” Esther points out. 

“No, I can’t.” 

“Yes, you can.” 

“Nope! He’s still family. He sucks - that’s what the kids are saying now, right? Sucks?” 

“Sucks,” Lenny agrees. 

Midge nods confidently before turning back to Esther. “He sucks, but he’s still family, so he gets the invite.” 

“He could just decline,” Lenny points out. “And he never does.” 

“Well, someone has to bring Zeyde,” Esther points out.

“Lan and Charlie are in town, Lan could bring Moishe,” Midge says. 

“This keeps getting more hopeless,” Esther comments. 

“Mama is going a little crazy, Joshy,” Lenny tells the toddler in his arms, bouncing him a little. 

Esther sighs and takes her son from his arms. “I come by it honestly.” 

***** 

Ethen steps into his mother and stepfather’s home, leading his wife and two children inside from the breezy weather. 

It’s a large brownstone in the Village, decorated with a tasteful mix of built-in wood accents and bright colors. A perfect blend of both of the people who own the house. 

These days, even though all of the kids have moved out, both Ethan’s grandmother Rose, and Zelda, the family’s former housekeeper, call this place home, though Zelda is out for the evening.

Ethan had been worried once everyone left the nest, it would just be his parents rattling around this big place, but he’s heartened, knowing that they’re able to take care of a few of the more elderly members of the family, though Susie still refuses to give up her lavish, custom interior uptown apartment. 

“I worked hard for this,” she told him when the subject came up over drinks. “I’m not ready to call quits on it. The bathtub is too fucking good and the exact height for me to get into.” 

Fair enough.

“Okay, team,” Ethan says, turning to his family. “You know the drill: If you’ve got the shpilkes, go run out in the garden, but don’t pull up Pop-pop’s flowers. Be nice to your cousins, and for the love of God, please do not kick Papa Joel this time?” 

“That was my fault,” Julia chimes in. “He insinuated your mother was a slut, so I told Noah to kick him.” 

Ethan blinks and thinks that over. “That’s fair. But no kicking tonight, okay?” 

Noah nods dutifully as Norah goes running down the hall for the kitchen. 

“Softa, Softa!” she squeaks, and Ethan hears his mother’s voice as she showers the little girl with affection. 

“Here we go,” he mutters, lifting Noah over his shoulder and heading for the kitchen. “You gotta stop telling our kids to kick people.” 

“What else are they for?” Julia jokes. “It’s not like we can cook them and eat them.” 

“Why not?” Ethan asks.

“Don’t eat me!” Noah shouts. 

“Ethan, stop threatening to cannibalize your son,” Rose’s voice admonishes from behind them.

He swings around and grins at his grandmother. It’s odd to see her at this age, in her eighties, but she’s definitely still her. Certainly she’s slowed down, but she’s still sharp. 

“Hi, Gramma,” Ethan grins, kissing her cheek. “Ready for the chaos?” 

“As I’ll ever be,” Rose responds, letting herself be kissed. “Hello, Julia. I love your hair today.” 

“Aw, thanks, Rose,” Julia beams. “You look nice, too.” 

“I,” Rose tells them, lifting her chin, “am old.” 

“And still gorgeous,” Lenny says, peeking out of the kitchen. “Everybody in to say hello.” 

Ethan grins and heads past Lenny, straight to his mother, kissing her cheek. “Hey, Ma.” 

“My boys!” Midge chirps, kissing both Ethan and then Noah. “How was the drive?” 

“Fine,” Ethan shrugs. “Nothing to write home about.” 

“Hi, Gramma,” Esther grins, hugging Rose. “How are you?” 

“Old,” she tells her a little forlornly, before lifting Joshy out of her arms. “But this makes me feel better.” 

“Hi, Rose,” Eden says, getting to her feet. 

“Eden,” Rose nods coolly. “So nice to see you.” 

Ethan watches the interaction closely without comment, knowing that Esther’s coming out had been a little fraught at first. While most of the family hadn’t batted much of an eye (Lan came out a year earlier after all), Rose had been more than a little shocked. Though Midge had been quick to point out that there were stories of Abe dating a man back in the day. 

“It was the twenties!” Rose had countered. 

“Well, now it’s the eighties and your granddaughter is dating a woman,” Midge had shot back. “Get over it.” 

Ethan’s never seen Esther cry quite that hard.

“So we’re currently missing…almost everyone,” Julia points out, looking around the room after getting a cheek kiss from Lenny. 

“My God,” Lenny marvels, turning to Midge playfully. “I wonder where all of them could have learned this horrific lack of punctuality.” 

“Keep it up, you don’t get any challah,” she shoots back, making Ethan, Esther, Julia and Eden hoot teasingly. 

“Dad’s in trouble,” Esther sing-songs. 

Midge shakes her head, amused. In the old apartment, Ethan knows she would have shooed everyone out, because it was too small, but the brownstone has an enormous kitchen, perfect for this kind of gathering, and he can’t say he minds. 

“So, Chaim and Rachela have Bram of course, and they’re bringing Astrid,” Midge tells them. “Joel is bringing Moishe. Mei and Lan and Charlie are all coming together. Ella had a piano lesson, so Kitty said they’d be running a little late…Lily is always late, but I’m hoping that the new boyfriend will be a good influence.” 

“Have you met him yet?” Esther asks, looking intrigued. 

“I haven’t,” Midge admits. “Lenny has. He surprised her with lunch at the lab a couple of weeks ago, and he was there.” 

“Tall, Jewish, named Benj,” Lenny tells them. “Seemed nice. Some kinda chemist or some such.” 

Ethan tilts his head at his stepfather. “Oh, you hate him.” 

“No.”

“A little.” 

“...Maybe a little.” 

“You’re Lily’s father,” Rose points out. “Of course you hate the man she’s seeing.” 

“Abe loved me,” Lenny points out.

“Abe was going through a midlife crisis when he met you,” Rose counters. 

“In any case,” Midge chimes in. “That leaves Susie.” She turns to Ethan. “Where is Susie?” 

“At the Gaslight to check out a new act,” Ethan tells her. 

“In the afternoon?” Midge asks, baffled. 

Ethan shrugs. “She said she’d be along.” 

“Okay! Then I’m gonna get going here. The challahs are nearly done.” She whirls around as everyone starts to lunge for the oven. “Don’t you dare.” 

They all looked chastened as they back away.

***** 

“Are you sure we shouldn’t use the front door?” Benj asks as he follows Lily through the garden gate and towards the back door.

She blinks back at him, tilting her head. “Why would we do that?” 

“Because it’s polite,” Benj points out. 

Lily thinks about that. She’s never really thought about it, having spent her life since moving with her parents to this brownstone using the garden entrance to be able to check her father’s flowers and herbs before heading inside. 

“But I lived here,” Lily tells him. 

“You don’t now,” Benj shrugs. “I mean- don’t get me wrong. This garden is amazing. Did you do this?” 

“My dad,” Lily says. “He used to work on a farm when he was young. Most people don’t know he’s got a green thumb.” 

“Cool,” Benj grins. 

“You still want to use the front door,” Lily surmises. 

“...It feels like they might like me more if I use the front door,” he admits sheepishly. “I want to make a good impression.” 

“Fastest way to the front door is going through the garden door, down the hall and out the front door,” Lily tells him. 

“Wait, what?” 

“Come on.” 

***** 

Midge frowns as she hears the garden door open and close. She leans out of the kitchen, spotting her daughter and who she assumes is the boyfriend heading for the front door. 

“Lily?” 

“We’re not here yet!” she calls back. “Benj wants to use the front door!” 

Midge’s frown deepens as Lenny joins her at the doorway.

“You know,” he muses. “When she was first born, I never could have predicted that our genetics would mix quite that way.” 

Midge giggles a little. “Fun, though.” 

They watch as the front door opens and Lily and Benj step inside.

“We’re here! And we used the front door!” Lily calls. “Please be nice to my boyfriend!” 

Midge tries hard not to laugh as she steps out and hugs her youngest child. “Hi, Sweetie.” 

“Hi, Mama. This is Benj. He’s polite.” 

Midge smiles understandingly at Benj. “Hi. Nice to meet you. Welcome. For future reference, we all expect Lily to come in through the garden. No front doors necessary when you’re with her.” 

He grins sheepishly as they shake hands. “Good to know.” 

***** 

Moishe Maisel has lived a big, long life. He has seen war and death and life and good business and bad business and very bad business, and joy and heartache, and great things and stupid things, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and everything that comes with the highs and lows of living.

But for all of his experience, he still doesn’t really understand his only son.

“You could date, you know,” he says as they walk up the sidewalk towards the Weissman/Bruce brownstone. “Find someone.” 

“So could you,” Joel shoots back.

“What do I wanna date for?” Moishe asks. “There’s not another Shirley out there.” 

Joel huffs out a breath as he stops in front of the large house, looking up at it pensively. “You know, we could just get some deli and go home.” 

“Why would we do that?” Moishe asks. “Miriam’s cooking a feast, she always does.” 

“It’s just-” he blows out a breath. “Why do I keep doing this to myself?” 

Moishe wrinkles his nose. “Doing what? Going to family dinners? Seeing your children and grandchildren?” 

“Going to Midge’s house.” 

“Because she’s the only one with enough space to host everyone.” 

Joel shrugs helplessly. “Well, maybe next year it could just be us and Ethan and his family.” 

“Ethan hates you,” Moishe reminds him.

“Esther’s then.” 

“Eden hates you.” 

“Well, then Lan!” 

“Lan is never here, lives with your second ex-wife, and you still can’t get over your farkakte feelings about his boyfriend.” 

Joel throws up his arms in frustration. “Fine! I fucked things up thirty years ago and everybody still thinks I’m an asshole, and now every time I come here for a holiday or a family get-together, no one lets me forget it!” 

Moishe stares at his son for a long moment and he thinks about trying to be supportive. About trying to give him advice and how all of that advice has fallen on deaf ears for decades. 

Instead, he opens the gate and walks up the pathway to the porch. “Lenny’s azaleas are really poppin’ this year!”

Behind him, he knows Joel is rolling his eyes, but following him.

***** 

Esther beams as she opens the door on her grandfather. “Zeyde!” 

She hugs the older man tightly, kissing his cheek. 

“Oh, my sweet little Esther, you look good!” Moishe tells her, rubbing her arms. “Where’s my great-grandson? I have a candy for him.” 

“Zeyde…” 

Moishe wanders past her, on the lookout for said great-grandchild, as Joel steps in.

“Pop, hi,” Esther says, kissing his cheek awkwardly. 

“Hey, Sweetie. Things devolve into chaos yet?” 

“No, everything is fine,” Esther tells him, a little confused. 

“Lenny must be out of town,” Joel tries to joke.

“...No, he’s in the garden with Ethan and Julia and Lily and her new boyfriend…” 

“...Right.” 

She leads him back into the kitchen, where her mother is still cooking while Eden and Rose keep her company.

Eden lifts an unimpressed eyebrow at Esther’s father. “Joel.” 

“Hi, Eden. Doin’ good?” 

“Sure.” 

“Hi, Joel,” Midge says politely as she keeps working.

“Midge.” 

“Look who I found!” Moishe crows as he shuffles into the kitchen, carrying Joshy and flanked by Noah and Norah. 

“Hey!” Joel smiles, hugging the kids. “Look at you guys!” 

“The kinder look good,” Moishe agrees, before smiling at the assembled group. “Hello, Miriam. Rosie, Eden.” 

Eden grins at him. “Hi, Moishe. How’s the retirement community?” 

He shuffles over and takes a seat with her at the kitchen island. “You would not believe the mishegas these nuts get up to.” 

“Ooooh, geriatric gossip,” Midge teases. “Let’s hear it.” 

Esther glances back at her father as Moishe begins to regale them with his tales. “Pop, why don’t you take the twins out back to run around?” 

“I’m good,” Joel tells her. “Really, Es, it’s fine.” 

“I mean, you’re lying, but okay.” 

“Esther.” 

She shrugs, and starts to respond, when the front door opens and closes again.

“Hellooooo!” 

She’s not terribly proud of losing interest in her father’s discomfort, but the sound of her beloved older sister’s voice after not having seen her for a while tends to send her reeling back into her childhood. “Kitty!” 

She finds herself barrelling out of the kitchen and back to the front door, hugging Kitty tightly. 

Kitty giggles, hugging her back. “Oooh, there she is! Hi!”

 “Hi!” Esther responds against her shoulder. “Hi, hi, hi.” 

“Aunt Es!” Ella squeaks from behind them and Esther lets go of Kitty to hoist the five-year-old into her arms. 

“Look at this beautiful rock star,” Esther says, kissing the little girl’s cheek. “How was piano?” 

“Fun,” Ella tells her, giggling. 

“Hey, Esther,” Daniel says as he helps Kitty out of her coat.

“Hi, Daniel, good to see you,” Esther grins. “Everyone is here except Lan and Mei and Charlie, and Aunt Astrid, Chaim and Rachela and Bram.” 

“Thank god we’re not the last ones here,” Kitty huffs. “Remember the last time?” she asks her husband. “Rose stared daggers right into my soul.” 

“Your soul, what about mine?” Daniel jokes. “She cornered me in the kitchen and gave me an entire lecture on punctuality.” 

“Which is hilarious because Mama has never been on time for one thing in her whole life, including her second wedding, and Lily’s birth,” Esther adds, making them all laugh.

“Uh-oh, did I miss a joke?” Lenny asks as he steps into the foyer. 

Ella squeaks and wiggles down from Esther’s arms. “Pop-Pop!!” 

Lenny chuckles as he scoops her up, kissing her firmly on the cheek. “There she is!” 

“Pop-Pop, I have so much to tell you!” Ella says. 

“Okay, before you regale Pop-Pop with stories of piano lessons and kindergarten,” Kitty laughs, leaning forward to hug her father. “Hi, Daddy.” 

“Hey, Kit,” Lenny says, hugging her as he still holds Ella. “Hi, Daniel.” 

“Hey, Dad,” Daniel responds, grinning. “How are things looking so far?” 

“Same old. Lily brought her boyfriend.” 

Kitty gasps and turns to Esther. “How is he? Is he cute? Is he nice? Do we need to grab Ethan and talk about where to hide the body?” 

“Okay, first of all,” Esther laughs. “He’s cute, and he seems very nice, and second of all, Lily is very capable of hiding her own bodies.” 

“What? No, she’s not, she’s a little baby and we need to protect her.” 

“She’s twenty-four.”

“Exactly!”  

“You know you’re the daughter of two criminals, when…” Esther teases, making everyone laugh again.

“That funny bone is wasted in the courtroom,” Lenny tells her. “Quit and get a writing gig.” 

“Never,” Esther smirks. 

Lenny shakes his head before turning back to his granddaughter. “Tell Pop-Pop all about your adventures!” 

Kitty smiles and wraps her arms around Esther. “And you tell me about yours. How is Eden? How is Joshy?” 

Esther beams at her sister and tells her.

***** 

Eventually, the rest of the family show up, with Lan showering his nieces and nephews in hugs and praise for how grown-up they all look, and Mei latches herself onto Midge in the kitchen as she cooks. 

“So? How is LA?” 

“It’s wonderful,” Mei tells her as she sits down. “Really, Midge. The sun and the food…I keep getting asked to guest lecture and write guest articles. It’s heaven.” 

Midge beams at her. “It’s nice to see you happy.” 

"You and Lenny should move to LA."

Midge scoffs, laughing. "God, no. Lenny hates it there for a wide range of reasons. And we love New York."

Mei rolls her eyes. "Yes, but it would get you away from you-know-who."

"I'm not going to let him scare me into moving across the country, away from my children and my life," Midge says firmly. "He's the miserable one. He can move to LA."

Mei laughs. "Hell, no, you keep him."

Midge sighs heavily and turns to her, taking a seat at the island across from her. "He's been getting more unhappy by the week."

Mei shrugs. "He fucked up two marriages and alienated all three of his children. He lost the club in the seventies to a gambling addiction and he drank his way through the first five years of the eighties, until he realized he wouldn't be able to see his grandchildren if he didn't get his shit together. So color me not shocked."

"I know," Midge says quietly. "I just- feel bad, I guess. He hates that I moved on. He never lets me forget it."

"Then maybe it's time to cut it off," Mei suggests. "This is your house and your life. Ethan and Esther are grown. If they want to spend time with their father, you don't have to be a part of that…I bet Lenny would be relieved."

"I'm pretty sure Lenny stopped acknowledging Joel's existence sometime in 1976." 

"Ooh, good for Lenny."

"Good for Lenny what?" the man in question asks as he steps in with Ella on his hip. 

Midge gasps. "A grandbaby!" she chirps, lifting the little blonde into a hug. 

Mei kisses Lenny's cheek in greeting. "We were talking about how you keep forgetting Joel exists."

"Who?" Lenny jokes with a hand to his mouth. "Oh, him. Yeah he tried to start a fist fight with Ethan that one time after stowing cocaine in our closet, and I thought 'nope,' so now I just ignore him aggressively."

"God, what an awful night," Midge says, snuggling Ella. 

"It was awful," Mei agrees. "But a lot has changed for the better."

Midge smiles and kisses Ella's temple before setting her down. "Go play, sweetie."

She does, and Midge turns back to Mei and Lenny. “Mei thinks we need to stop inviting Joel to the house.” 

“She’s right,” Lenny nods firmly. “I know you feel bad for him, Midge. But he’s not your responsibility.” 

She nods slowly, thinking that over. “I guess - I guess I just never thought about not trying to help him.” 

“I know,” Lenny tells her, taking her hand. “But it might be time to finally start.” 

“No might,” Mei interjects. “Definitely.” 

****

"Ethan."

"Pop."

Susie watches the father-son interaction with its cold overtones and sighs. "You two ever gonna bury that hatchet?"

"You know?" Ethan ponders. "I'm good." 

"Fucksake," Susie grumbles. 

Noah giggles. "Fucksake!"

Susie nods. "Exactly, kid."

"Jesus, Susie!" Joel cries. 

"He's not here, we're Jewish," Ethan comments before turning to his son. "What'd we say?"

Noah pouts guiltily. "No bad f bombs."

Ethan nods, satisfied. "That's right."

"You are an excellent parent," Susie praises him. 

Ethan nods. "Damn right I am."

*****

Dinner is, of course, incredible. 

While Lily is very good with plants and even animals, the culinary arts have eluded her for most of her life. 

She’s very good at boiling rice in chicken stock and adding some cheese and a little hot sauce, but beyond that, it all feels a little nebulous. 

Her mother, however, is magical in the kitchen, and tonight’s feast is no exception. 

“Mama, everything looks amazing,” she tells her mother, smiling up at the woman. 

Midge beams at her. “Well, dig in.” 

Everyone does, and Lily smiles, turning to Benj. 

“I’m really glad you’re Jewish so I don’t have to explain all the food to you,” she tells him happily. “And you won’t get weird about it.” 

Benj smiles back at her, obviously amused and a little charmed. “Well, I’m glad to eat all of it. It looks incredible. My father isn’t much of a cook.” 

“Your mother isn’t around?” Julia asks curiously as they pass food around the table.

“Ah…no. She uh…she left us when I was little, so it was always just my father and me,” Benj explains with a sheepish grin.

Lily nudges him gently and grins at him. “You wanna share mine? She’s a little crazy, but she does make a mean brisket.” 

Benj laughs and kisses her cheek, before digging into the food. 

***** 

Ethan finds his mother prepping coffee and dessert in the kitchen and wordlessly starts to lend a hand, pouring cups before starting a fresh pot. 

“How you doing, kid?” Midge asks as she slices up the apple cake. 

“Ah, y’know. Happy to see everybody. Most everybody.”

“Your dad getting you down?” Midge frowns. 

“Same as always,” Ethan shrugs. “Shit never changes with him, even though we all keep moving on. Lily’s new boyfriend. The rest of us have kids and jobs…you and Lenny keep working and changing. Even Susie.” 

Midge grins warmly. “The Friar’s Club has been bothering Susie again. They want to roast the shit out of her.” 

“Is it my birthday already?” Ethan jokes.

“You tell me, I can’t remember what we decided your birthday actually is anymore,” Midge chuckles softly and hands him a piece of cake. “Your favorite.” 

Ethan grins and takes the plate, taking a bite. “Mmm. You still got it. You should host a cooking show, like the Frugal Gourmet or something.” 

She waves a dismissive hand. “I’d get thrown off the air for my terribly scandalous stories.” 

“We pitch it to HBO.” 

“With the porn?” Midge laughs. 

“Ah, you’ve shown your boobs to an audience before,” Ethan jokes. 

“God, I so wish I could still ground you,” Midge tells him, laughing harder. 

He nudges her and eats more cake. “Hey everybody! Coffee!! Cake!!” 

***** 

Esther lounges on a lawn chair in the garden, eating some honey cake as Lenny sits in the one next to her, sipping on a cup of coffee. 

“You know what I’ve been thinking about?” Esther asks, considering her cake. 

“Hm?” 

“The day we met,” Esther tells him. “It’s one of my first, full memories. I must have been…three? Four? And you came over for dinner - the whole family was there - and for some reason you were sitting next to me.” 

Lenny grins at her fondly. “I remember. I cut up your chicken for you.” 

“You did. And you poured me some juice.” She smiles. “And I remember you looked at me like…I mattered to you. Even though we hadn’t ever met before and you were a stranger. You cared.” 

Lenny thinks about that for a long moment, sighing softly. “You were Midge’s, and she’s always mattered to me. So you mattered, too. And I was really missing Kitty. Missing being a dad. It felt good to stretch those dad muscles, even though you weren’t technically mine.” 

Lan wanders over then, a bottle of whiskey in his hands. “I’m the fun fairy,” he announces as he dribbles a little into Lenny’s mug. 

Esther gasps and lifts her own mug from the ground. “Me, me!” 

Lan pours some into hers as well, before sitting on the grass in front of them. “Are we having serious conversations?” 

“Nah, just talking about old times,” Lenny chuckles, sipping his coffee. “Just the right amount. Good pour.” 

Esther sips her own. “How is Charlie holding up?” 

“He is hanging out with Julia, looking at old family photos,” Lan tells him, taking a sip of the whiskey. “Which he loves. And I love him for it, but also? I was not that cute of a baby.” 

“An enormous lie and we all know it,” Lenny points at him. “Astrid!” 

“Yes!” Astrid calls from across the grass, sitting with Chaim and Kitty. 

“Wasn’t Lan the cutest fucking baby!” 

“The absolute most adorable!” Astrid calls back. “He had the chubbiest little cheeks and the tiniest little tush!” 

Lan shakes his head. “Oh, my god.” 

Esther giggles and offers him some cake, which he readily takes a bite of. “Seen Dad?” 

“Sitting on the front porch alone,” Lan says. “I tried to talk to him but he got weird.” 

“I think he’s turning into a weird old man,” Esther says, fretting. 

“Well, yes,” Lan agrees. “He’s been heading that way for like a decade.” 

“Is it weird that I’m worried about it?” Esther asks. 

“No,” Lenny tells her, reaching out to pat her hand. “He’s your dad. You’re supposed to worry about him. God knows Kitty and Lily worry about me sometimes. It’s just part of the deal. But at the end of the day, he’s a grown man. He has to figure out his own shit, no matter how much you wanna help him out.” 

“Yeah, you’ve got a two-year-old already,” Lan jokes. “You don’t need another.” 

Esther nods. “I know you’re right. I guess I just wish things were less bad with him.” 

“We all wish that,” Lan commiserates. “But we have each other.” 

“Fun fairy!” Chaim calls, lifting his mug. “Refill!” 

“Oops, that’s my cue,” Lan grins, hopping to his feet. “Fun fairy is back on the clock!” 

Lenny chuckles softly and shakes his head. “You kids are a fucking delight.” 

Esther nods, lifting her mug. “Yes, we are.” 

***** 

Kitty helps Rachela, Ethan and Eden put all the kids to bed in the “kids room.” 

Midge had had it redecorated with four built-in bunk beds. It’s stylish but fun at the same time, giving the kids an entire room all their own to sleep over in. 

“Truly, this would have been Bubbe Shirley’s dream, having this kind of room,” Ethan comments with a chuckle. 

“I heard she was an incredible grandmother,” Eden comments as she settles Joshy into a bottom bunk. 

“The best,” Kitty says. “It didn’t matter to her that Lily, Chaim and I weren’t really her grandkids. She lumped us all in together with Ethan, Esther and Lan. We were a set and she refused to break it up.” 

“That’s so sweet,” Rachela says as she settles Bram into another bottom bunk. “I feel so lucky to have been taken in by this big, crazy family.” 

“It hasn’t always been easy,” Ethan tells her. “Y’know. With my parents divorcing early, and everything that happened after. Things were rough for a long time.” He shifts Norah into the top bunch and then settles Noah down underneath. 

“Every family has its problems,” Eden shrugs. 

Kitty settles Ella into the last bottom bunk, unable to really reach the top. “Ours has quite a few. The breakups, drugs, overly healthy egos, run-ins with the law, near-accidental deaths, the CIA popping up every now and then.” 

“Believe me, when Chaim’s father died, the Company came knocking on Astrid’s door multiple times,” Rachela tells them. “Looking for things they thought were there in the house.” 

“They did something similar after Papa Abe died,” Ethan comments. “He worked for Bell Labs for a second and they had to come around and make sure he hadn’t kept anything.” 

“Daddy’s been raided by the cops a few times,” Kitty comments. “It's stressful."

Eden nods. "This family is weird as hell."

They all laugh quietly before stepping out of the room. 

*****

Midge finds him on the front stoop.

"There's coffee."

"So?" Joel snaps as he takes a pull from his cigarette. 

"I was asking if you wanted any," she clarifies. "Lan is running around with a bottle of whiskey, jazzing it up for people,” she smiles, amused. "He's calling himself the fun fairy."

"Just what every father wants to hear about their son," he mutters to himself. 

Midge narrows her eyes. "I thought you were fine with Lan's sexuality."

Joel looks back at her, deeply annoyed. "Maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm tired of being fine with all the bullshit that gets thrown at me. Lan and Esther making crazy choices-"

"You think it's a ch-"

"Mei running away from me, Ethan avoiding me, you staying with your pet junkie. Maybe I don't wanna be fine anymore, Midge." 

She stares at him for a long moment, tilting her head and really, truly seeing him for the first time in a long time.

She'd always wondered, had they stayed together, if he would have been different. 

She knows the answer is no. He'd still be discontented and angry and taking it out on her. 

She doesn't think about the next words that leave her lips. 

"I am so grateful you cheated and left," Midge tells him. "Because if I had to deal with this every fucking day, I don't know what I would do."

Joel stares at her in silence for a long time. Ten years ago that would have stung him much more than it does now. 

He takes another drag. "Go fuck yourself, Midge."

She closes the door quietly, and when she turns around, Susie is standing there. 

"Lock the door," the shorter woman tells her. 

"He can just go around the garden," Midge points out. 

"Yeah, and he'll be doing the walk of shame past his ex's husband and a bunch of family members to get back in. Lock it." 

Midge does and Susie puts an arm around her. 

"Let's break out the good booze," Susie says. "That whiskey Lan has is like lighter fluid."

Midge chuckles. "He's still young, his system can take it."

*****

It somehow usually winds up being the six of them and a joint. 

"How is this so smooth?" Kitty marvels as she passes it to Ethan. 

"LA pot is the best," Lan explains. "And nobody checked my bag at the airport."

"Our gain," Lily says as Ethan passes it to her. "Dinner was nice."

Chaim nods in agreement. "Dinner was nice. Been a while. Benj seems like a good guy."

"He is," Lily nods. "He thinks I'm pretty and smart."

"You are pretty and smart," Esther tells her. "You look happy."

"You know? I am," Lily nods. "It feels nice."

Ethan kisses the top of her head and looks out the garden gate, frowning. "Is that-?" 

"Pop trudging through the gate even though he was at the front door?" Lan supplies. "Yes it is."

"Is something wrong with the front door?" Lily calls. "Benj likes the front door."

Joel stops, obviously caught out. "Your mother locked me out," he admits. 

"Because you acted like a douche canoe?" Chaim supplies. 

The rest of them giggle helplessly. 

"Oh my God, where did that even come from?" Kitty asks as she and Esther lean on each other for support as they laugh. 

"An intern at the Times," Chaim supplies. "It sounds good, right? Just rolls right off the tongue!"

Joel shakes his head, looking to the sky. "You kids. You have no respect for your elders. You just do whatever the fuck you want and fuck everyone else."

Esther takes the joint, pulling a long toke. "We learned from the best, Pop. Nobody does selfish asshole quite as expertly as you."

"God, weed makes you articulate," Lan praises her. 

"I once wrote an entire essay on the first amendment while on acid," Esther tells him. "My ass got an A plus." 

"You think you're so funny," Joel grouses. 

"We don't, actually," Ethan shrugs. "Growing up in a house with professional comedians, you learn real quick if you're funny. We just know how to banter." 

"You and I need to have a discussion," Joel tells his oldest. 

"Now? Like right now? Because I'm really stoned, and you're not going to like what I have to say," Ethan tells him. 

"He wouldn't like what you have to say sober, either," Lily points out. 

"Stay outta this, Lily," Joel snaps. 

She gasps loudly. "Good God, I exist to Joel Maisel, he knows my name and everything! It only took twenty-four years! We should celebrate, pass the pot back." 

Mei steps out of the house, wandering over and eyeing the six of them. "Having fun, I see."

"Joel knows my name!" Lily chirps as she coughs. 

The others giggle as covertly as they can. 

"We raised a passel of assholes," Joel tells his second wife. 

Mei shrugs. "An entertaining passel of assholes. Come inside. Leave them be." 

"Bye Pop, love you Pop, don't be mean to anyone inside, Pop!" Lan calls. He takes the joint as he's ignored. "That man hates that I'm gay."

"Hate is probably too strong a word," Kitty says soothingly. "I think he just doesn't get it."

Lan pouts and it earns him a hug from the oldest of his sisters. 

"He doesn't get me, either," Esther commiserates. "And my wife is Korean, so that's an extra layer of 'holy shit, Esther did what?'" 

Kitty wraps her other arm around her. "You both are living your lives and making yourselves happy. That's really important stuff. And the rest of the family gets it. Even Moishe just shrugs his shoulders and ignores that it's not what he's used to."

"Besides, Pop is sixty years old and he still has no idea what he wants," Ethan shrugs as he takes another hit. "He left his wife and kids after only four years, messed up a bunch of relationships, gambled away an entire nightclub and then hid half a brick of cocaine in the house of a recovering drug addict. You're really gonna listen to him?" 

Lan and Lily turn to Ethan, looking confused. 

"Sorry, what?" Lan asks. 

"Joel did what?" Lily says at the same time. 

"Oops," Kitty mutters. 

"I don't know this story, either," Chaim chimes in. "Joel hid drugs here?" 

Ethan sighs heavily and sits back. “It was a little over ten years ago, now. It was right before he gambled the club away. He was turning a blind eye to dealers who had started hanging out late into the night, and some big dealer tasked him with hiding half a brick…he didn’t want it at the club where Archie could find it, so he brought it to family dinner and stashed it in a closet here…Susie was staying over…she goes to get a towel…” 

“And she finds a fuck-ton of blow,” Lan surmises. “Fuck.” 

“She thought it was Daddy’s,” Kitty chimes in. “They had a huge fight about it.” 

“And when it came out that it was Pop’s,” Esther adds, “Ethan punched him in the face.” 

The group goes quiet after that. 

“How are none of us career criminals?” Chaim ponders. 

“I think we’re too dumb,” Lily tells him. “I mean, we’re all booksmart, but I don’t think we have the cold calculating brains for real crime.” 

Lan nods solemnly in agreement. “I’m a terrible mob prince.” 

They all giggle.

***** 

Eden really likes her mother-in-law.

She’d been a little worried, Midge being a big name in comedy, that she’d be kind of a dick. And sometimes she can be, but mostly, when she’s at home and not on stage, she’s just a mom, and now a grandmother.

It helps that her reaction to Esther coming out had been ‘As long as you still give me at least one grandchild, what do I care about the gender of the person you go to bed with every night? Now eat some babka.’ 

And even better, Midge genuinely likes Eden. They have real, meaningful conversations when they visit, and Eden is showered with affection every time they see each other, almost as much as Esther is. 

It’s late now, Esther is outside with her siblings (probably playing bad kid), and Eden is helping Midge with the dishes. 

“So Lenny comes over one morning,” Midge tells her, continuing a delightful story about their family. “And he’s holding an entire gift basket of muffins, sent to him by Carl Reiner as a ‘please tighten up this Dick Van Dyke Show script, I’m dying’ bribe, and a bag of freshly roasted coffee beans in a big paper bag.” 

Eden chuckles as she dries a big cast iron pan. 

“I open the door, he says ‘Good morning, Sweetheart. One of these muffins probably has a laxative in it, wanna figure out which?’” 

Eden laughs fully at that, shaking her head. “Where did the beans come from?” 

“The beans,” Midge tells her, “were from a short little Jewish man named Irving Kramer who lived in a tiny basement apartment in Harlem. He roasted his own coffee beans and sold them for a little quick cash and sometimes drugs.” Midge hands the younger woman another pot to dry. “I have been all over the world, and I tell you, it was the best coffee I’ve ever had.” 

“Maybe it was who you were sharing it with?” Eden offers with a shrug. 

Midge grins at her and nudges her gently. “Eden, turning into a softy.” 

“No.” 

“A little.” 

“Maybe motherhood has made me a little more squishy,” Eden shrugs. “And Esther. That helps.” 

Midge nods in understanding. “I know who I would be without my family. I don’t like to think about it very much, but I know exactly who that person is, and it’s- well, it’s not pretty. So I understand.” 

Eden regards her mother-in-law thoughtfully, imagining a lonely, famous old woman, wandering around a much larger home than this by herself. With only her accolades to keep her company. 

“There any more cake?” Lenny asks as he steps into the kitchen and kisses Midge’s cheek before patting Eden’s arm affectionately. 

“On the island,” Midge tells him. “Sweet tooth finally rearing its head?” 

He nods as he slices himself a piece of honey cake. “Seems so. It’s probably the whiskey and the smell of the pot smoke from the garden.” 

“I can tell them to quit it if it’s bothering you,” Eden offers. 

He waves her off good-naturedly. “I’ll live. I miss it some days, but not enough to indulge, and the occasional almost-contact high is pleasant enough.” He takes a bite and breathes out a sigh of satisfaction. “Mm. You guys see Joel come in through the garden door?” 

“I locked him out the front,” Midge explains. “Susie’s idea.” 

Lenny chuckles.

 Midge turns to him, smiling a little. “We should take a vacation soon.” 

“Yeah?” Lenny ponders, his eyebrows lifting. “Where to this time?” 

Midge shrugs thoughtfully. “Maybe back to Miami.” 

“Good memories,” he beams. “I’m in. You wanna leave tomorrow or what?” 

“You have a gig tomorrow,” Midge reminds him. 

“Rats. We’ll figure it out.” 

“What happened in Miami?” Julia asks as she wanders into the kitchen and steals a bite of Lenny’s cake. 

“Oh, this is good and romantic, you’ll like this one,” Midge tells her, gesturing for both women to have a seat. “I was on tour with Shy Baldwin.” 

“And I was living in a crummy motel by the water,” Lenny chimes in. 

“And one day, I’m sitting at the bar of the Fontainebleau, writing dick jokes…” 

**** 

Eventually, the night winds down completely and people start heading out. 

Esther, Kitty and their families are staying over, as well as Susie, but everyone else is heading home, or in Lan, Charlie and Mei’s case, their hotel. 

Lenny hugs all the kids and sleepy grandkids, saying his goodbyes. As he gets older, the end of the night feels like it gets harder every time. Maybe one day, it will be the last time he says goodbye to these people he adores so much.

“Stop looking so maudlin,” Lily chides him playfully as they hug. “Yom Kippur is in like two weeks, and we’ll all be back to eat another big, over-the-top meal.” 

“Yes, I know, but I miss you when you’re not here,” he admits. “I like when all the kinder are together.” 

“Even when we’re ready to eat each other out of hunger?” Chaim asks as he hefts Bram into his arms. 

“Especially then, it’s a free show,” Lenny jokes. 

“Time for us to go, too,” Moishe says as he shuffles to the door, hugging and kissing on his way. “I will be here with bells on for Yom Kippur.” He eyes his six grandchildren. “Can all of you behave for Yom Kippur?” 

“Yes, Zeyde,” they chorus, earning chuckles and soft laughs from their partners. 

Midge kisses all of the kids and grandkids too, waving them off, and Joel wanders out after Moishe. She stands up a little straighter and smoothes out her dress. “Goodnight, Joel.” 

He nods silently before disappearing down the front steps, and she sighs softly as Lenny settles his hands on her upper arms comfortingly.

“Maybe he doesn’t come to Yom Kippur,” Lenny offers. “Maybe Ethan goes to get Moishe and Joel just…does his own thing.” 

“Please, fuck, that sounds like a dream,” Susie groans. 

Ella giggles sleepily from Daniel’s arms. “Fuck.” 

Lenny lets out a short, sharp laugh, and closes the front door. 

END

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Did I write an entire 9 pages just to have Joel get punched in the face?

I mean. Yeah.

Things are different when he gets home from the war. A lot has changed. His siblings are older. His mother and step-father are even more of a united force, while his father and step-mother are…much less of one. 

In fact, Mei has completely moved out; taken Lan and moved in with her parents, leaving Pop alone in their previously homey apartment. 

Meanwhile, Kitty is off to college upstate, while Esther finishes high school and Lily  starts middle school, and Ma and Lenny are…well, they’re Ma and Lenny. It is, by and large, the exact opposite of Ethan’s father’s life.

And it’s clear, with each passing family dinner, that Pop is painfully aware. 

Lenny heads out of town for a week. Shows out west, and visiting his mother and a few interviews. The usual stuff. He calls every night before bed, and Ethan gets a turn on the phone with the man. They talk about pretty standard stuff. The weather and the news. Grandpa’s Abe’s latest crusade. 

Third night in, Lenny brings up something a little different. 

“Do me a favor, huh kid?” 

“Sure, Lenny. What’s up?” 

“Just uh…keep an eye on your mother,” Lenny says. “Especially at family dinner tomorrow night.” 

Ethan frowns. That tone. He knows that tone. Lenny gets that tone when something is worrying him. He had that tone when Ethan got drafted; when Lily was born a couple weeks sooner than they expected; When Kitty got cornered by some creep reporter after school one day.

“Yeah, of course,” Ethan promises. “You know I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to Ma.” 

“I know,” Lenny insists. “Just uh…eyes peeled. Something uh…something came up with your old man the other day, and she’s…feeling a little fragile.” 

Ethan’s jaw sets as his eyes fall on a photo of himself, his mother and his younger sister, from after Pop left. “You got it, Lenny.” 

“I’ll talk to you later,” Lenny promises. 

“Yep,” Ethan clips out. 

Lenny pauses. He knows Ethan knows. 

Ethan hangs up the phone. He doesn’t sleep much that night.

**** 

“What’s eatin’ you?” 

Ethan glances up at Susie from his desk at her offices. She’s expanded into a bigger space, so he’s got his own alcove. “Nothin.” 

“Bullshit,” Susie snaps. “This a war thing?” 

“No.” 

“C’mon, it’s a slow day. Spill it.” 

Ethan takes a breath. “Last night, Lenny asked me to watch out for Ma at family dinner.” 

Susie blinks. “Queens suddenly turn into a slum?” 

“No,” he shakes his head. 

“Then why-” 

“Lenny asked me. To watch out for Ma. At family dinner,” Ethan enunciates. 

Susie blinks. “Fuck.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Shit.” 

“Yep.” 

“Fucking Joes.” 

“Yeah, that.” 

“Lenny expound on what’s goin’ on?” Susie asks.

“Nope,” he shakes his head. “But you and I have both seen enough horrible shit in this world to take a few guesses.” 

Susie’s own jaw sets then. “Tell your bubbe  to set an extra place for dinner.” 

Ethan nods and picks up the phone on his desk. “You got it.” 

***** 

Ethan doesn’t hesitate to step inside the house in Queens when he and Susie arrive. Just opens the door and heads in, looking around. 

“I like that you can’t be fucked with hesitating,” Susie tells him. 

“I grew up here,” Ethan reminds her. “This is practically my second home. Zeyde! Bubbe!” 

“IN THE LIVING ROOOOM!” Shirley’s voice calls. 

Ethan heads in that direction, settling the bottle of wine he’d brought down. 

“My Ethan!” his grandmother croons, rushing up to pinch his cheek and give him kisses. “I feel like we never see you anymore!” 

“Well, I work, Bubbe, I get busy,” he says gently. 

“There he is,” Moishe crows, shaking his hand affectionately. “You look good, Ethan.” 

“Thanks,” Ethan grins. 

“Hello, Susie,” Shirley grins. “So nice to have you! Let me get some drinks started!” 

“Thanks, Shirley. Make it a double.” 

“Anyone else here?” Ethan asks. 

“Kitty is studying in the kitchen,” Moishe tells him. “That girl. Your sisters are all brains!” 

Ethan chuckles a little and shrugs. “It makes up for me being a big meathead,” he jokes. 

“Please, you’ve got the Maisel business brain!” Moishe crows. “That’s why you’re such a good fit for Susie’s company. She’s lucky I didn’t snap you up for Maisel and Roth!” 

“Fuck right I am,” Susie interjects. “Kid’s great. I’m lucky to have him, when he’s not eating me out of the office.” 

“He’s a big boy,” Shirley defends. “He needs nutrition.” 

“And on that note, I’m gonna go say hello to Kitty,” Ethan tells them, taking his drink and slipping down the hallway into the kitchen. 

She sits with a large textbook, notebook and pen in front of her, and she smiles when she spots him. “Hey.” 

He nods and sits next to her. “How’s school going?” 

“Crazy,” she admits. “I almost didn’t get away, but Daddy called. He wanted me to come.” 

“Yeah, I talked to him, to…” Ethan tells her. “He wanted me to keep an eye on Ma.” 

Kitty narrows her eyes, looking worried. “That’s concerning.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Well. I’m here. I can help,” Kitty promises. “I’ll keep watch, too.” 

“Thanks, Sis,” Ethan grins, lifting his drink to her. “You are, as ever, the best of us.” 

She laughs softly and goes back to her books, just as Joel steps into the kitchen, going straight for a high cabinet and pulling an old bottle of scotch down. 

“Hey, Pop,” Ethan says warily. 

Joel nearly fumbles the bottle as he turns to the two younger adults. “Ethan. Hey. Kitty.” 

Kitty salutes with her pencil. 

“You uh…your mom here yet?” Joel asks, cradling the bottle. 

“Nope,” Kitty tells him. “Between Esther and Lily and Midge, punctuality isn’t exactly a priority.” 

“Yeah, she uh…she’s always late,” Joel says wistfully. 

Ethan lifts his eyebrows. “You uh…you okay there, Pop?” 

“Fine. Just. Fine.” 

Ethan nods slowly as he watches him step out of the room.

“Well, it’s always nice when a parent lies to our faces,” Kitty mutters.

“Yeah,” Ethan breathes out. “Fuck.” 

***** 

Eventually everyone shows up and Shirley herds them all into the dining room.

“No studying at the table,” she orders as she takes Kitty’s textbook. 

“But-” 

“You don’t want to get kugel on your book,” Shirley chides her as she sets the book on a table in the hallway. “It’ll be waiting right there for you.” 

Midge beams as Kitty takes a seat next to her, leaning over and kissing her temple. “Hi, Sweetie. I’m so glad you could make it.” 

Kitty smiles back at her. These dinners are odd without her father here, but Midge makes that awkward feeling a little less aggressive. Though Midge is looking a little pale. “Mom, are you okay?” she asks quietly. 

“Fine,” Midge smiles. “I’m great. Just long hours recently. You know how it is. Business we call show, yada yada yada.” 

Kitty glances at Ethan, who has taken the seat on Midge’s other side. He doesn’t look like he’s buying it either.

Susie looks even less convinced from Ethan’s other side. 

Kitty steals a glance at Joel, who is looking…

A little guilty.  

A quick glance at Esther and Lily tells Kitty that they’re also aware that something is very off. 

But dinner progresses normally. As normal as these things get anyways. Moishe and Abe bicker, and Shirley cooked too much food. Rose looks judgmentally at everyone’s plates as they scarf down carbohydrates, and everyone chats. Susie and Ethan talk about work, and Abe looks deeply interested in what Kitty is learning in school (which makes Kitty feel a little fuzzy inside. She’s always appreciated how much of an interest Abe has always taken in her education). 

“Look at that, we’re out of salad already,” Shirley marvels. 

“I’ve got it,” Midge offers, already getting to her feet.

“You’re a doll, Midge,” Shirley beams. 

It only takes a moment for Joel to rise to his feet. “I’ll help.” 

“No,” Ethan says firmly. “You won’t. Ma doesn’t need help. She knows how to dish more salad into a bowl.” 

Joel freezes, staring at his son. “What?” 

“Sit, Pop,” Ethan orders. 

“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” Joel snaps. “I’m your father.” 

“I said sit, before I make you sit.” 

The table goes deadly silent. There’s a deep understanding around the room of just how serious Ethan is. 

“No,” Joel tells him definitely. “You don’t fucking get to tell me what to do. Punk little kid, think because you went to war you know everything.” 

He throws his napkin down and starts moving toward the doorway, only for Ethan to block him.

“I’m nearly a foot taller than you,” Ethan reminds him. “And maybe war didn’t teach me everything, but it sure as hell taught me how to knock somebody on their ass.” 

“Oh, is that what this is?” Joel scoffs. “You wanna fight?” 

“Holy shit, I can’t believe this is happening,” Susie mutters. 

“I want you to leave Ma alone,” Ethan corrects him. “Whatever happened between you two earlier in the week was, apparently it wasn’t good, and nobody is lookin’ to repeat that, least of all her.” 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Joel yells. “You don’t know anything!” 

The second Joel grabs his shirt, Ethan smoothly throws a fist, and Joel is suddenly on his ass on the floor. 

“Ethan!” Shirley cries, shocked, rushing to her son.

“This is the best day of my fuckin’ life,” Susie marvels.

Midge rushes back in then, without the salad, she sees Joel on the floor and then swallows, looking up at Ethan. “You didn’t have to do that.” 

“No, yeah I did,” Ethan tells her. 

Lily is up out of her seat, looking at Joel on the floor. “On a scale from one to ten, how much did that hurt?” 

“Lily, please,” Rose admonishes. “Honestly, Ethan. This could have been settled without violence.” 

“He wasn’t gonna back down,” Ethen tells them all calmly.

Midge takes a breath, looking around at the four kids, and Susie. “Grab your things. Let’s go get some pizza and talk.” 

“You’re leaving?” Shirley asks, looking frantic suddenly. 

Midge doesn’t respond, just herds all four of them towards the door, and Kitty picks up her books on the way.

***** 

It gnawed at him too much.

Tipping off Ethan and Kitty to the situation was a good idea, but he can’t help himself, and so he’d hopped a flight back, and now he’s standing in front of the Maisel residence in Queens, about to knock on the door when it swings open, revealing Midge and all four kids, about to leave. 

“Something tells me I missed the fun,” Lenny says as he takes them all in. 

Midge huffs out a breath and throws her arms around him, holding him tightly. 

“Yeah,” he mutters into her hair. “I’m sorry, Sweetheart.” 

When they’d talked on the phone the other night, and she’d described how things with Joel had become physical in a more threatening, mildly more violent way than usual - only stopped by Archie walking into Joel’s office - Lenny had offered to come home early, but Midge had told him everything was fine.

Everything is no longer fine. 

“Anyone care to explain?” he asks the quartet standing in the doorway. 

Ethan and Kitty look at each other darkly, while Lily just shrugs, and Esther…

Esther narrows her eyes and turns right back around.

“Fuck,” Ethan spits out, following his sister. “Es - Es wait-” 

Lenny, for his part, tries to follow the two Maisel children, but Midge isn’t letting go anytime soon, and he gets the feeling that she downplayed how bad things got with Joel, on top of whatever happened here tonight. 

“I got this,” Susie promises, and rushes after the kids, clearly a little bit gleeful. 

There’s a loud slap from further inside the house, and an even louder grunt before Esther comes marching back out with Ethan and Susie following her, both trying hard not to look too pleased. 

“Ethan punched Pop,” Esther explains as she steps out of the house with her siblings. “Pop wasn’t backing down, so he got punched. And I just figured out why, so I slapped him.” She looks around at her family. “Mama mentioned pizza. Let’s do that.” 

***** 

Midge has never been more grateful for her family. 

Susie slipped away when they got back into the city, apparently watching the kids beat up their father was more than enough entertainment for her, and she wandered off for a drink. The girls picked up the pizza, while Lenny and Ethan escorted Midge home, and now she’s curled up on the couch with everyone lounging around her. 

The fight with Joel the other night had been - 

Bad feels like an understatement. Since Mei left with Lan, he’s been different. Angrier. Often drunker, and Midge had been on the receiving end of that drunken rage. When his hand had gripped her around the neck, it had been like being doused in ice water. Like drowning. 

This was no longer the Joel she knew, and she’d told Lenny mostly out of fear. She hadn’t expected him to mention it to the kids, but she’s grateful now that he did. If she’d been left alone with Joel again, she’s not sure what would have happened, even in his parents’ home.

Eventually everyone gets tired. It’s far past Lily’s bedtime. Lenny will drive Kitty back to school in the morning, and for the rest of them, it will be a lazy Saturday. 

Midge gets ready for bed slowly, finding her hands shaking in the quiet of their bedroom. 

“It’s been a long week for you,” Lenny says gently, pulling her close. “It’s okay to freak out a little, Midge.” 

She nods and wraps her arms around him tightly. “I know I said everything was fine, and you didn’t have to come home, but fuck am I glad you did anyways.” 

“Me too,” he admits. “You have to stop downplaying these things, though. Seriously, Midge. Fuck the gigs, fuck the interviews, and to hell with my mother, you needed me here, you should have said so.” 

Midge nods, closing her eyes. “I thought I was handling it.” 

“If I hadn’t tipped off the kids…” 

She shrugs. “Then Joel probably would have done something else tonight.” 

Lenny nods. “No more downplaying?” 

“No more downplaying,” Midge promises. “Can I kiss you now?” 

He huffs. “I suppose I could suffer through that.” 

She grins and leans in.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

It’s 1989, Nora Maisel is five years old, and she breaks her arm after being shoved unceremoniously off of the monkey bars at recess. 

“Who did it?” Joel snaps as he arrives at the hospital that afternoon, shedding his winter coat. “I’ll kill ‘em.” 

“You’ll…kill a five-year-old girl?” Julia Maisel asks her father-in-law, utterly perplexed. 

“You know what I mean,” Joel says, flapping his arms. 

“No one knows what you mean,” Esther tells him as she steps up behind him. “You are, as usual, incomprehensible.” She kisses her father’s cheek before hugging her sister-in-law. “How’s Nora?” 

“Shook up, but she’ll be okay,” Julia assures them. “She’s very excited about having people sign her hard cast.” 

“Just don’t let Lenny draw dicks on it,” Joel quips. 

Esther rolls her eyes. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you over all of that ugly bitterness.” 

“Behave, or I’ll find straight jackets for both of you,” Ethan warns as he steps out into the waiting room. “I know they have ‘em here somewhere.” 

“How is she?” Esther asks. 

“She’s a trooper,” Ethan waves a hand. “She picked out the brightest pink cast they had, and she’s thrilled.” 

Julia chuckles. “I’m gonna go back and sit with her.” 

“Ma is back with her, so she’s not by herself,” Ethan reminds her. 

“Midge is already here?” Joel asks, confused. 

“She was my first call,” Ethan tells him. 

“Why?” 

Ethan flounders a little. “Cuz…cuz she’s Ma.” 

“Dad here?” Esther asks. 

“He took Noah to get something to eat in the cafeteria,” Julia smiles. “They’re on the hunt for tater tots.” 

“Not exactly healthy,” Joel grumbles. 

“The last time you had the twins, you fed them twizzlers for dinner,” Ethan reminds him. 

“I’m here!” Kitty chirps as she dashes over with Ella in her arms. “Is Nora okay? What happened? I just got a message that said she was here.” 

“Some little jerk pushed her off the monkey bars at school,” Esther explains. “She broke her arm.” 

“But I’d like to reiterate that she’s okay,” Julia jumps. “Really. She’s a tough little cookie.” 

“Of course she is, she’s a Maisel,” Joel points out. 

“The point is, she’s gonna be fine,” Julia says calmly. 

“Oh, good, I’m so glad,” Lily says from behind them, making everyone jump. 

“Hey, Lilbit,” Ethan says. “Thanks for coming.” 

“Of course,” Lily grins. “I brought snacks.” She lifts up a shopping bag of pretzels and various other snack foods, which Julia takes and starts rummaging through, obviously hungry. “Lan called from LA. He says he’s sending Nora get-well-soon chocolate.” 

“Lan called you?” Joel asks, perplexed. 

“And Chaim called me,” Kitty says as she sets Ella down on a chair with a stuffed animal. “He’s completely stuck at the paper until tonight, but he’s sending some form of adorable plush toy to your place.” 

“Aw, that’s sweet of him,” Julia grins as she munches on some chips. 

“And Mei left a message on my pager,” Ethan says. “She sends lots of love, and she’s also gonna send soup, apparently.” 

“God I love that woman,” Julia sighs. 

Joel wrinkles his nose at the mention of his estranged second wife.

“Hey, the gang’s all here,” Lenny says as he carries Noah up to the group. 

“Hi!” Noah chirps, waving a hand. 

“Hey, buddy!” Ethan grins, lifting his son. “You find those tater tots?” 

Noah nods enthusiastically. “Pop-Pop helped me put hot sauce on them!” With that, he blows a breath right at Ethan’s face and giggles as his father recoils a little. 

Lenny looks a little guilty. “Sorry, kid. Your son inherited your mother’s love of spicy food.” 

“It could be worse,” Ethan shrugs as he tries to get some non-toxic air. “He could have inherited her self-destructive nature, or her penchant for dirty jokes.” 

“Eh, he still might,” Lenny shrugs as he kisses Kitty, Esther and Ella. “Hi, girls.” 

“Hi, Daddy.” 

“Hey, Dad.” 

“Pop-Pop!” 

“Lenny,” Joel grouses. 

Lenny nods. “Joel.” 

“One brave kid comin’ through!” Midge calls as she carries Nora over to the group, her arm in a hefty, electric pink cast. 

“Hey, there’s my baby,” Julia beams, taking Nora from her mother-in-law. “How do you feel, Nora?”

“I’m tired, and I’m hungry,” she says, settling her head against her mother’s shoulder. 

“We’re all a little hungry,” Julia commiserates. “Who’s up for Chinese food?” 

Ella perks up then, looking up from her toy. “Dumplings?” she squeaks. 

“You bet your cute little tush, dumplings,” Lenny chuckles, lifting her up and kissing her cheek noisily. 

Kitty laughs softly. “We’re in.” 

“Same,” Esther grins. “I finished up all my meetings for the day this morning.” 

“Miss big-shot lawyer,” Midge beams, tugging her into a hug. 

Lily looks at her watch and then seems to do some math in her head. “I can study more later.” 

“You work too hard,” Ethan complains. “And you don’t come for dinner enough.” 

“That’s what I keep telling her,” Lenny agrees. 

“Excuse you, I’m studying for something very important,” Lily defends herself with a laugh. “I’d like to be Doctor Bruce before the next century starts.” 

“I wanna be doctor, too!” Noah chimes in. 

“Two doctors in the family, I’ll just kvel so hard I’ll die,” Midge jokes.

“I’m gonna call the paper and let Chaim know where we’re going to dinner,” Ethan says, handing Noah over to Esther. “Maybe he can sneak off early and meet us.” 

“Fat chance, Mr. bigshot New York Times editor that he is,” Lenny jokes.

“Good Chinese or the place with the sewer water eggrolls?” Midge offers. 

“I am not feeding Ella sewer water,” Kitty tells her.

Midge nods. “Good place it is.” 

“Ella, will you sign my cast?” Nora asks, doing her best to lift her broken arm.

“Sure I will!” Ella chirps. “I’ll draw a big pretty heart.” 

“Yay!” 

“Is it weird to anyone else how much they like each other?” Joel asks. 

“No, they’re cousins, why wouldn’t they like each other?” Julia asks. 

“I dunno. Just…they’re very different,” Joel shrugs. 

“I have seventeen cousins,” Julia reminds him. “And when you put us in a room together, you can’t drag away from each other.” 

“Anyways,” Joel mutters. “I gotta get to the club, so I’ll miss dinner.” 

“We’ll eat a few dumplings for you,” Esther promises.

“Bye, Zeyde!” Nora says. 

“Bye, Nora, feel better, Sweetie.” 

Everyone else says their goodbyes and watches Joel go, and once he’s out of earshot, Esther turns to the rest of the group.

“Anyone else a little weirded out that he was here?” she asks quietly. 

“Big time,” Ethan agrees as he steps back over. “Chaim is meeting us at the restaurant.” 

“Why was it weird?” Midge frowns. “Joel cares.” 

“He hasn’t shown up to any family event or holiday in the last year,” Julia points out. “Ever since Mei went out to LA to be closer to Lan, he’s totally dropped off.” 

“Well, maybe he’s trying,” Midge offers.

“Don’t defend him, Ma, he’s not worth it,” Ethan reminds her. “Who’s hungry?” 

Julia’s hand shoots up first, followed by the kids and Lenny. 

“Then let's get a move on. They’re already gonna be pissed that we’ve got ten people and no reservation.” 

And they do.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Midge and Lenny falling asleep together with their heads on the other's shoulder/head in the backseat of the car while their friend is driving.

"How is she?"

Lenny glances down at the woman curled in next to him. Her head rests heavily on his shoulder as she sleeps, wrapped in his jacket. "Tired," he says quietly. "Tonight was a lot."

Noah nods as he keeps driving. Tonight was a lot."

And it had been.

They'd been all set to leave for Steiner when Joel had dropped a bomb.

Mei was offered a job in Chicago. She's planning on taking it. Joel wants to follow her out there. And he wants to take the kids with him.

It had been like watching someone get hit by a bus. Midge had floundered in the ensuing argument, mostly pointing out that they were her children too, and she'd been their primary caregiver this whole time and he couldn't just scoop them up and leave.

"Why not? Lan is their real sibling," Joel had fought. "Kitty's their stepsister. It's not the same. They should be together."

Midge had erupted at that point. "Well, they're going to have another 'real sibling' in seven months, and id like for them not to be fucking strangers!"

That reveal had spiraled into another fight, filled with accusations of wrongdoing and shame, and anger on Joel's part at being the last to know. Noah's arrival to pick them up had ended it.

And Lenny is deeply aware that all that stress and fighting isn't good for Midge or the baby, but once they get going there's very few ways of stopping it, short of knocking Joel unconscious. Though that had been tempting given Joel's assertion that their baby would be born deformed due to Lenny's previous morphine issued.

Truly, he's never seen Joel quite so angry before. Spouting all that shit in the middle of the street, outside of their apartment.

Midge hasn't said a word since, staying quiet, curled in close to Lenny until exhaustion had taken her.

"Look, we all know this is a bluff," Noah comments. "Joel can't handle Ethan and Esther for more than a few days at a time. Even if he does take them, he'll be shipping them back within a week."

Lenny knows Noah is right. Joel's a decent dad, but if Mei is going to be busy with hospital work, that will leave Joel with three kids to juggle mostly on his own. They don't have family in Chicago. All the grandparents are here, along with Midge. He'll have no help unless he hires some.

"You know," Lenny sighs. "I used to think I was the most selfish piece of shit on the planet. And then I met Joel Maisel."

Noah nods. "He is the textbook definition of be careful what you wish for."

Midge shifts a little, cuddling closer, and Lenny rubs her shoulder.

"I'm relieved she's not going through this alone, you know," Noah comments. "All this Joel stuff. Before you came along it was so hard to watch. I mean, it still is, but at least she's not by herself in all this."

"Yeah," Lenny mutters, pressing a kiss to the top of Midge's head.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Once his parents show up, Lan gets hugged tightly, and then cursed out in Chinese an then hugged tightly again by his mother.

Eventually, everyone is cleaned up and fed, and sitting around the living room and Midge gets to her feet with a record, which she carries to the record player.

“No,” Joel snaps.

“Yep!” Midge tells him.

“Midge.”

“They’re all adults, it’s time everyone knew,” Midge tells him. “We can’t just keep sweeping everything under the rug. The more they know, the more they can make decisions on what to tell people about this crazy fucking family.”

She settles the record down and shifts the needle into place, and suddenly, her own voice is echoing through the living room.

It takes a few moments before all five kids realize what they’re listening to, and all eyes shift to Joel.

“Pop,” Ethan says slowly.

“I was young!” Joel cries.

“He wasn’t that young,” Midge counters.

“Pop,” Esther repeats her older brother.

“Right,” Midge sighs, stopping the record. “In 1958, your father told me he was cheating on me, and then he left.”

“I thought you guys just didn’t get along anymore!” Esther cries. “Pop, you cheated? Like cheated-cheated?”

Joel sighs heavily.

“Gross,” Lily voices.

“What do you know, you weren’t alive yet,” Joel grumbles.

Lan slumps back on the couch, shaking his head, before freezing and doing some math in his head. “Pop. When did you start seeing Penny?”

“...I don’t know.”

“He knows,” Lenny mutters.

Joel blows out a breath. “March...? March of 1958.”

“I was two months old,” Esther snaps. “You started fucking around on Mama right after she gave birth to your child?!”

Ethan snaps his fingers. “I remember Penny Pan! She fed me ambrosia salad and I puked it up on the couch an hour later!”

“Which is how we found out about your coconut allergy,” Joel tells him.

“That’s why you go green every time someone plays that lime in the coconut song,” Kitty comments.

“Can we keep moving this along, please?” Mei asks.

Midge sighs. “So Joel left. I started comedy. I met Lenny. Joel met Mei...and a lot of things happened after that...”

She goes into detail. Getting married again in Vegas by accident. The ups and downs of things with Lenny (including his OD in ‘61), Joel’s ups and downs with the Button club. Everything that happened with the grandparents during those years, including Abe’s illustrious theater critic career. The Matchmaker wars of ‘62. Midge getting kicked off the Shy Baldwin tour in ‘60. Sophie Lennon’s very public 1966 meltdown. Declan Howell’s unexpected death the same year. Lenny’s ‘70 relapse into addiction. 

“What about the Maisel and Roth stuff?” Ethan asks. “Is it true Zeyde had ties to Murder Incorporated back in the day?”

“Yes,” Joel says. “To say nothing of Susie’s mob buddies back in the early 60′s, Mei’s entire family being part of a gambling ring, and Noah Weissman’s spook career.”

Lily’s eyes go wide. “Uncle Noah is a spook? Like a real spook? Like a spy-spook?”

“He’s an analyst for CIA,” Midge confirms.

“Uncle Noah killed people?!” Esther cries.

“No,” Midge sighs. “Uncle Noah didn’t kill anyone. He’s a...a researcher.”

“I bet he’s killed at least one person,” Lan chimes in.

“All cops are bastards,” Lenny adds.

Midge rounds on him, annoyed, and he puts his hands up in surrender.

“Also, Midge is related to oil barons in Oklahoma,” Joel tells them.

“Fucking- what?” Ethan asks, bewildered.

Midge blows out as breath. “Grandma Rose was from Oklahoma.”

“No she wasn’t, she was from New York,” Esther argues.

“She was not,” Midge tells them. “She grew up in Oklahoma, she went to Paris in the ‘20′s, and then moved to New York and went to school for a couple of years before marrying Papa.”

“Oil barons?” Kitty asks, bewildered.

“What even is this family?” Lan asks.

“We haven’t even started talking about Mei’s side,” Midge says.

All eyes turn to Mei.

“There’s nothing to tell,” she says smoothly. “My family owned...certain...businesses and...properties.”

“They ran an illegal mahjong ring under the Button Club, and owned every business within a six mile radius,” Joel supplies. “They were the mob.”

“Holy shit,” Lan snaps, sitting at attention, eyes wide. “I’m a mob prince?!”

“No,” Mei snaps. “You are not a mob anything. I went to medical school. I became a doctor! None of the mob stuff ever touched you because we went to visit my parents twice a month, and none of the cousins were ever allowed to babysit!”

“Are we going to jail by association?” Lily asks, looking a little freaked out. “Is that possible?”

“No,” Lenny tells her. “Considering my record, that would have happened already.”

Kitty takes a deep breath and gets to her feet, mimicking Midge’s earlier move of smoothing out her clothing. “I need air.”

Lenny squeezes his eyes as she leaves the room. “Fuck.”

Lan frowns. “What’s with her?”

“She didn’t know about Lenny’s OD, and now she’s pissed,” Ethan explains. “Like big, big time pissed.”

“She’s pissed, what about me?!” Esther cries, rounding on Joel. “You cheated on Mama!”

“It was a long time ago.”

“You stuck your dick in your secretary!”

“Okay,” Ethan grumbles, rubbing his face. “Okay, no, I don’t wanna do this.” He takes a deep breath. “This was a lot of information to take in in one afternoon. Let’s all just...take a break. Cool off. Jump in the lake or something.”

“Can I drown in the lake?” Lily asks. “That feels productive at this point.”

“Lily,” Midge snaps.

“Aaaand break!” Joel cries.

And they do.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

It’s something Lenny doesn’t actually realize until Lily is born.

But Midge is tactile with the kids. 

Every kid gets kisses good morning, kisses goodbye when they go to school, and kisses goodnight at bedtime. She fixes everyone’s hair and adjusts clothing. Comforting hugs and arm rubs when someone is upset, or celebratory hugs when something good happens. She even does the mom thing of wiping faces with the thumb she’s just licked.

Her own parents aren’t that way. Not really. Light kisses hello with her mother, but nothing terribly overt. The Maisels are more physically affectionate. Moishe and Shirley shower the kids in kisses and cheek pinches and noogies, and when Esther was littler, Joel would carry her around everywhere with me. Hold Ethan’s hand.

It’s not lost on him, though, that before he married Midge, there just wasn’t much physical affection in her life outside of the kids. That even her romantic relationships weren’t terribly physical outside of sex. It’s why Lenny makes the effort to be physically affectionate in non-sexual ways. An arm wrapped around her shoulders. Holding her hand. drive-by kisses on her cheeks or lips or neck while she’s busy.

And she just seems...

Happy.

She’s happy with him, and happy with their kids, and just

Happy.

He’d been a little concerned, to be honest, about adding another kid to their already pretty large family. That it would be one too many kids. That a baby would cause friction with Ethan and Kitty and Esther. That they just wouldn’t have the time between three already-in-progress kids and two already-in-progress careers.

But for whatever reason, it feels like the opposite most days. Sure, Lily gets left with a grandparent or minder sometimes when they’re all busy, but more often than not, Midge is doing phone meetings during the day for work, and spending her in-person time with their infant daughter, and she really seems to enjoy it.

Lenny thinks about that first time he saw Midge on stage, talking about not knowing anything about raising kids, and wondering if maybe she shouldn’t have had them. That maybe she wasn’t cut out for it, and he can officially file that thought under the “insecure crock of shit’ column.

Midge is spectacular with Lily. And Lily is never happier than when she’s with Midge, and maybe if this had been his last marriage, Lenny would have been a little jealous.

But with Midge, seeing them both so happy just makes him happy.

A particularly hard and busy day of hosting the first night of Hanukkah at their place leaves the entire family exhausted. Joel had been difficult, Lan had been bratty, Moishe had been combative with Abe and Shirley had attempted a coup in the kitchen, which Midge had to fend off without hurting her ex-mother-in-law’s feelings and afterwards, Ethan, Kitty and Esther are all sacked out on the floor of the living room on a pile of blankets and throw pillows.

Midge grins from the couch with Lily snuggled in against her, the four-month-old sleeping soundly against her shoulder as Lenny fixes them a couple of drinks before wandering back over with them, handing Midge one as he kisses her cheek.

“Another Hanukkah celebration in the books,” she says softly.

“Successful, if insane,” Lenny agrees. “The last night’ll be more fun. That friend celebration.”

“You say that, but Shy has requested sufganiyot, so I may burn the place to the ground,” Midge jokes lightly.

“Ah, this place is gettin’ small anyway,” he waves a hand.

Midge pouts. “I love this apartment. I found you this apartment. I don’t want to leave.”

Lenny shrugs as he looks around. “Kids are gonna get bigger. Kitty and Esther can’t share a room forever.”

“Sure they can.”

He chuckles and pecks her lips. “We’ll stay as long as it makes sense.”

She sighs softly. “We could buy the place next door...knock down some walls, have the biggest apartment ever.”

“Or we could go up the block and look at brownstones,” Lenny suggests. “Which will be equally expensive with less demolition disrupting our lives.”

“I never thought about living in a brownstone,” Midge admits. “I like apartment life. The doorman, the elevator operator, live-in maintenance...running into your neighbors in the hall...”

“Stealing their milk,” Lenny adds jokingly.

“It was one time.”

“Right.”

“It was.”

“Sure.”

She sighs softly. “I want to stay.”

He nods, gazing down at the kids on the floor. “Then...we’ll stay. The laundry room is big, we can move the wall, give the girls more room.”

Midge rests her head on his shoulder. “Thank you.”

Lenny kisses the top of her head. “I go wherever you and the kids are. If it’s here, then I’ll be here.”

She cuddles in against him, Lily still in her arms, and he feels her relax in a deep way that rarely happens. He sits back with them, and lets the quiet sink in.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

They zip through the city, and and past the exit to Brooklyn, and Lan frowns deeply, slowly turning to his almost-sister.

“Kitty.”

She smiles brightly at him. “Yeah.”

“Kitty, we just missed your exit.”

“Did we? Interesting.”

“Kitty.”

“Relax.”

“Kitty, where the hell are we-” he stops. “Oh, no. No, no, no. Not the mountains.”

“Why not the mountains?”

“Steiner is like a ghost town!”

“And the perfect place to hash all this out,” Kitty tells him. “It’ll only be the five of us. At least at first. Your mom needs more time to cool off, and your dad is, as usual, making messes.”

“Like your dad never makes messes.”

Kitty sighs softly, but doesn’t respond, and Lan instantly feels guilty for the assertion.

“But this is my mess,” he says quietly. “This one is on me.”

Kitty keeps driving.

*****

The bungalow has seen better days, but when Kitty pulls the car up, Ethan, Esther and Lily are leaning on the second floor porch.

“What’s up, Judas?” Ethan calls down.

“Oh, come on,” Lan complains as he gets out of the car. “Seriously?”

Esther leans down, and reappears with a water balloon, lobbing it at her younger brother’s head. “That’s for being an idiot!”

Lan flinches, managing to get drenched. “Dammit, Es, what the fuck?!”

“It’s called retribution!”

“Esther’s mad,” Lily informs him.

“Really? I couldn’t fucking tell.” Lan huffs and tries to shake himself out. “You guys don’t think this is all a little childish?”

“We have a system, Lan,” Ethan reminds him. “We talk about interviews. We prep, because journalists are fucking vultures. When you go lone wolf, you fuck all of us. How many times do I have to tell you not to let your ego fuck you.”

“You don’t know everything, Ethan.”

“I’m almost ten years older than you are, I know way more than you, you little shit,” his older brother argues. “Go inside and dry off before Esther drops another one on your ass.”

Lan huffs and stomps into the house, and Kitty follows him in, fetching him a towel. “This place looks rough.”

“Well, Steiner isn’t what it used to be, you said it yourself,” Kitty responds. “Nothing lasts forever.”

Lan sighs and dries off, just as his other three siblings head down the stairs, and he gets hugged by all three of them.

“God, you suck,” Esther tells him.

“I know. I’m sorry.” He sighs. “So? No parents?”

“Not yet,” Ethan tells him. “Your mom is cooling off. Mama and Lenny are working up the chutspa to come talk to us, and Pop is uh...pissy. About all of this. So he’s stalling.” 

Lan sighs heavily. “So uh...we’re gonna get drunk then, right?”

“Of course we are,” Esther tells him. “We’re Maisel-Weissman-Bruce kids, what the fuck else are we gonna do?”

“Thank god,” Lan groans. “Bring on the hooch!”