the-soft-soldier

[mrkeatingsblazer]

Rereading never let me go and I just despise Ruth

[panelshowsource]

rather than who you would like to see on the next taskmaster series, who do you think will be on it? like just your predictions or any inklings you may have!

anon if you're still around then you'll know i really took my time with this hahaha so sorry! i hope anyone reading this takes it as just a bit of fun and nbd, who knows who we'll get or who alex & the network have in mind! i'm answering thoughtfully (bc i always feel guilty not to 😩 so sorry this is long lol) but it's really just fun!!

i will say, of the more recent-ish series, i did get a few right!!! krishnan guru-murthy, nicola coughlan, alan davies, judi love, sue perkins, john robins, and joanne mcnally were people i just knew would eventually be on if the show could get their schedules right, and i was also certain sarah millican and dara ó briain would be asked — though not necessarily that they'd actually agree. when you have a level of seniority and esteem, the "it's such a great opportunity" aspect of the show isn't such a draw 😅 for some reason i feel SO PROUD about guessing nicola! i was just WAITING and wish sooooo much she had done a full series 😭😭😭 (how fun would saoirse-monica jackson be too!)

anyways, as for people who haven't been on yet — and this isn't to say i want them all to be, just that i think it's likeliest they have been asked or will be asked; i talked about who i want to see a little while ago here — it's important to consider the casting 'roles' the network has in mind when working with the producers to form a series, so i will keep that in mind too!

established comedian, typically a straight white man over 40: bill bailey, vic reeves, harry hill, geoff norcott, kevin bridges, adam buxton, ade edmondson, paul whitehouse (tommy tiernan? god i feel bad for not saying ed byrne but why do i feel like he's not gonna make it in the next few series? i'm on the fence with nick helm — unless he's friends with alex, then his chances go up significantly imo — and tom allen for some reason, and i feel like john bishop is almost too much of an ask?)

fresh talent comedian, typically a man under 40: rhys james, huge davies, ahir shah, darren harriott would be my top guesses but tbh any of the semi-recent edinburgh comedy award finalists are good bets as a majority of the winners from the last ~10 years have been on the series + throwing out tom rosenthal (i know he's not fresh fresh and also mostly an actor)...and, like, jazz emu?...just because if taskmaster know how much its audience adores weird little white twinks then they'll cast them

female or non-binary comedian: 100% sarah keyworth + harriet kemsley, maisie adam, jess fostekew, suzi ruffell. i've shifted away from betting on cariad lloyd and catherine bohart for some reason... (joanne was my no.1 lady bet for the last like 4 series hahaha)

non-comedian: this is very, very hard to predict because between comedy actors, non-comedy actors, tv presenters, news people, reality & social media stars... the potential predictions are just so endless! logically, the most likely is an established actor with a lot of comedy connections (think sally phillips, lolly adefope, liza tarbuck, sian gibson, daisy may cooper, susan wokoma; this category is where tm gets quite a few of its female contestants): matt holness, kevin eldon, amanda abbington, tom davis, sharon horgan, kathy burke, georgia tennant (also friends w alex?), su pollard, tom basden, apparently anyone from the cast of ghosts, and so on and so on and so on... + i'll also throw out maggie aderin-pocock as a serious contender + i really feel like one of the spice girls will be on new years treat

friend of alex: john robins was the prediction for the past few series, so just worth keeping in mind other people in this circle include elis james, matthew crosby, tom neenan, and so on

freebie answers because alex/greg have mentioned them before: jack dee, lorraine kelly, joanna lumley (i want jennifer saunders SO BAD give us an epic series w both ade and jen pleaseeee tm gods!!!!)

complete wild card bets that are either my instincts kicking in or my bias taking over: limmy, adam buxton, paddy mcguinness, diane morgan, daniel sloss, joel dommett, jess hynes, spencer jones??, alasdair beckett-king or josh pugh + if suzy izzard wasn't doing a big nyc show i'd say that's a good guess if only bc you know greg & alex grew up big fans

did i mention too many people?? if i had to put my money behind a single person it would be either ahir shah or sarah keyworth

these are almost all of my fr big heavy hitters when it comes to placing bets! but there are of course so many people i didn't name who i could totally see on either a main series or the ny treat — so many people just make sense and that's the beauty of taskmaster!!

[areseebee]

🔥 The Reunion

(I’ll throw in one of my own- personally I rlly enjoyed seeing what the moms were like as teens, but randomly giving Deirdre a never-before-mentioned male foreign cousin just for the sake of having a “James” in the group seemed a bit forced + unnecessary. I think it would’ve been a much more interesting + natural story if Gerry or Kathy had been in the flashback instead.)

oh i love hearing your thoughts on it too, anon! i have mostly just some raggedy, not at all concise, way too long thoughts about the reunion so i put them below a cut.

at the time it aired, i didn't love where it fell in the course of the season, but that's mostly because it felt like time was running out; it makes sense to me now that it falls where it does because it helps to break that momentum and refocus the show after the james/erin kiss. overall, season 3 had a lot more of the older generation which was always, always lovely and really helped to situate the show more fully in the contemporary political moment and history of northern ireland, but i found myself toward the end feeling like i, as a viewer, hadn't had enough time with the girls themselves; honestly, i still feel like that about season 3. but i think this all lines up with something lisa mcgee said in an interview: that she started out derry girls feeling like one of the girls and ended it feeling like one of the mammies. i see this reflected a lot in season 3. to me, there are about as many good things about it as there are things i didn't like about it. at this point i guess i feel pretty neutral; i wonder (and even long for) what could have been for so many things and think that some of the shifts in tone and writing and editing and direction and even acting weren't always in service of the best product, but i also so highly value what we did get. i wouldn't be here if i didn't.

did i cry at the end of the reunion? is one of my favorite scenes in season 3 the dancing montage which moves between the mammies' teen and adult selves? did i immediately want to go watch it all over again with my mom? a resounding yes to all three.

i hear you on deidre's never-before-mentioned foreign cousin! my only caveat - and it's a big one - is that he gave us the warmest, sweetest, most enthusiastic conversation with clare's parents about how she's not yet a "fully qualified" gay. to me, this overcomes all clunkiness in including the character. he serves a good purpose even though his inclusion is not in overall service to the story being told.

i would have loved to see kathy included and wonder why she wasn't. maybe she was too young to attend? if james and michelle are born around the same time, and deidre has to have niall first, then kathy could have been way too young to attend. gerry, similarly, would have been a delight, though it does seem from small crumbs throughout the entirety of the show that mary and gerry met after mary graduates. joe refers to him as a "slack southern shite" which makes it seem to me like he's not from derry originally. tommy tiernan's accent doesn't seem like it's trying to be especially derry-ish to me either? but i might be totally off on that one or reading way too much into all of it.

[appleinducedsleep]

Never Let Me Go discussion @readerbookclub​

Never Let Me Go is a 2005 dystopian science fiction novel written by Kazuo Ishiguro. The story is narrated by Kathy H., who describes herself as a carer (and has been for twelve years), talking about looking after organ donors. Her story often returns to Hailsham, a boarding school in England, where she grew up with her friends and where the teachers are known as guardians.

Review: 🌟🌟🌟 I liked the writing style, the first person narrative really worked in this story. It might not be everyone's cup of tea though. The theme is interesting enough, but the universe itself is underdeveloped and you finish this book with more questions than answers.

Next up *spoilers* :

For our March book club book, a new set of questions was provided by @readerbookclub (thank you!)

Is this a book you would have otherwise read? If not, are you more open to similar books in the future?  Are dystopian novels something you typically enjoy? How would you say this book compares to other dystopian literature?

I do like dystopian stories, though I don’t read them regularly and it’s pretty much all YA or George Orwell books. Maybe that’s why the stories I read were more about changing the established order. This story was not about changing anything, it was bleak and passive and nostalgic about it. 

Other people already pointed out how frustrating this mind-set is, and I absolutely agree. Perhaps because the big scandal that rocked the country wasn’t even about clones rebelling, but about genetics being used to make super-humans. The clones themselves were an after-thought, not even considered human anyway.

If you had to describe this book in three words, what would they be?

Passive, tragic, trapped.

Do you think the donors are a metaphor for something in the real world?

According to the interview, they aren’t. It’s about love, friendship and mortality. It’s easy to put some sort of meaning into it though. Whether it be organ donations or a religious theme. But it’s not. More the pity. Yet it was obvious that the universe wasn’t really thought out. It didn’t seem to extend beyond Hailsham and England, and even the way the donations worked was kept vague but inescapable.

Did the story play out in the way you expected, or did it surprise you? Which scene stood out most to you? Why?

So I actually had read this book before, but didn’t remember it. The first chapter already was familiar enough though. The more I read, the more I already knew how all the big plot points would play out. Still I wanted that referral to work out... and even that dream, the referral itself, would have bought Kathy and Tommy only three or four years. That’s how little they allowed themselves to hope.

That said, several scenes were pretty heart-wrenching and memorable, I’m picking three:

1) Ruth not knowing how to play chess, pretending she did, and then freezing Kathy out when Kathy asked her to teach her (p.53), was not even the first red flag, but it was significant. How different would Kathy’s life at Hailsham been had she struck up a friendship with Moira right there and then, instead of living for Ruth’s approval. I thought that really reflected childhood friendship though.

2) Tommy catching Kathy looking at porn mags (p.134), and realizing it went much, much deeper, though the truth wouldn’t come out until the Norfolk trip, where they would find the lost cassette (which was also memorable). Tommy was so underappreciated in this book.

3) But the moment on page 264, just suckerpunched me; Miss Emily, this fighter in the trenches, said:

“Make no mistake about it, my child, Marie-Claude is on your side and will always be on your side. Is she afraid of you? We’re all afraid of you. I myself had to fight back my dread of you all almost everyday I was at Hailsham. There were times I’d look down at you all from my study window and I’d feel such revulsion...” She stopped, then something in her eyes flashed again. “But I was determined not to let such feelings stop me doing what was right. I fought those feelings and I won. Now, if you’d be so good as to help me out of here, George should be waiting with my crutches.”

What a hero, indeed. Where do you go from there? Even your fiercest supporter flinches back from your existence.

And how does that make sense in the narrative... why prove these children have a soul at all, if you think them so unnatural? How can you say this to your two former charges, who you watched grow up, whose art you took, and comforted when they couldn’t produce any? Who exactly is the real monster here?

What did you think of the authors style? Have you read any of their books before? Would you read their work in the future?  How did you feel about Kathy as a narrator? Do you think first person narration suited this story?

The author had a way of making the horrible absolutely mundane. There was almost more emphasis on the teenage squabbles than on the organ donation. It makes sense, the writer said this story was supposed to be about love, friendship and mortality, and there was something unsettling about this creeping horror in the background.

While I mostly enjoyed Kathy’s way of narrating, sometimes it jumped around a lot. Like ‘to understand [this moment], we have to go back to [some other moment]’. Sometimes  I just wanted to understand the story about the vegetable patch without jumping through three memory hoops.

@elfspectations​ also talked about how Tommy would be an interesting narrator, and while I don’t think this story would have lend itself to multiple narrators (I’m so glad there was just the one!), it’s an interesting thought.

Would you say the characters’ personalities changed throughout the story? If so, how did you feel about these changes?  The characters were often unnecessarily mean in the way they talked to one another. Why do you think that is? Did this affect your sympathy for them?

Not until the actual donations, except for Tommy. Like Ruth suddenly became weak as a kitten, and Kathy felt bad for kicking her when she was down, but still ganged up on her with Tommy. Ruth was always the one that needed attention, the one who would lie and manipulate and wanted to be special. I can’t blame her exactly. Growing up with the knowledge that you’re just on earth to give away your organs... like I can’t blame Ruth for wanting some control in her life, for wanting to be special, to be singled out by a guardian. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but Tommy had his meltdowns (he developed as a character though, because he mostly grew out of this), while Ruth fiercely tried to cling to control, and Kathy found safety in being the objective observer. Still, Ruth is just unredeemable after she admitted to just wanting to keep Kathy and Tommy apart, cheating on Tommy and pretend Kathy was a freak for her sexual urges. She gave them Madam’s address, but too little, too late.

So for a book supposedly about friendship, I felt the friendships were actually pretty terrible. Tommy was often the butt of the joke, even by Kathy. Something that should have been innocent teasing, often didn’t feel that way. Still, Kathy and Tommy’s friendship was the one positive note in this whole book.

If you could ask the writer a question, what would it be?

However did Ruth and Tommy end up together? I want that scene, because their relationship didn’t make any sense to me. Ruth was, of course, a terrible, terrible friend, and wanted to keep Tommy away from Kathy, but this whole thing just baffled me anyway. Everyone deserved better (and with everyone I only mean the clones).

[lapis-lazuliie]

What's your favourite character from each episode?

Sorry, I know this will take forever 😂

aH wow okay

series 1;

sardines - carl. i love his dry humour and his outfit is just so neat to me lol. he seems like he would be downright hilarious to spend a day w/.

a quiet night in - ray. just how quickly fed up he becomes of eddie is brilliant 🤣🤣

tom & gerri - tom! he just seems like a decent guy ^ ^

last gasp - god they're all terrible people 🤣 but i do love sally. the absolute hypocrisy of her character is astounding and tamsin greig is such a wonderful actress

the understudy - ngl...jim. i like his quiet nature heh

the harrowing - oh tabs of course <33 i would go for hector, but...well, there're a lot of reeces characters on this list lmao and helen mccrory was just so beautiful,,,

series 2;

la couchette - hAHA shona

the 12 days of christine - christine of course!!! beautifully portrayed by sheridan

the trial of elizabeth gadge - ah mr clarke my beloved <3

cold comfort - hm....andy. again, another decent character who got involved in some traumatic shit

nanas party - pat. damn hilarious, and reeces wig was ugly as fuck lol

seance time - none. they're all intolerable 🤣🤣 but if i really had to choose....pete?

series 3;

the devil of christmas - idk, kathy?? i didn't really get attached to any of them, but the whole 70s film aesthetic was so excellently done and had such a charm to it <3

the bill - archiiiie my love

the riddle of the sphinx - oh god. honestly, charlotte

empty orchestra - janet!!! i loved her so much 💕

diddle diddle dumpling - david </3

private view - agAIN it's so tricky to choose when you're not invested in any of them 🤣🤣 but geez probably bea

series 4;

zanzibar - robert!! one of the few pure characters they've written

bernie clifton's dressing room - oh god tommy of course. a tragic silver fox,,,

once removed - ahahaha hugo, how i adore thee

to have and to hold - harriet. not sure how i could elaborate here

and the winner is... - paula, for sure. zoe did a thoroughly convincing american accent and her character was just as bored of the whole thing as a majority of the audience was 🤣🤣 not me though, i found it highly entertaining lol

tempting fate - i want to say nick, but it's come to my attention as of recently that he's a petty bastard bitch SO top place goes to maz, on the basis that her lines are funny as hell

series 5;

the referee's a w***ker - none!! the mascot i guess? 🤣🤣🤣

death be not proud - ahh maureen. i know she's a return character, but seeing reece play her is such a good time

loves great adventure - aw trevor </3 the guy just loves his family so so much and SHAME ON ALL OF YOU WHO WANTED HIM DEAD IN YOUR FMK GAMES,,,,,

misdirection - gabrielle! kudos on you for getting nevilles arrogant ass arrested. hmu for drinks sometimes

thinking out loud - awww aiden

the stakeout - haHA varney cause i'm a wh*re for vampires. and like...reece feeding on steves neck did awaken something in me 😳

series 6;

wuthering heist - scaramouche....weird little italian man❤️

simon says - ah christ 🤣 spencer? bc he's just. d*ddy

lip service - felix 🥺🥺 iris you Bitch

hurry up and wait - jaaames. you were just so wrong, sweetie. and that's okay

how do you plead? - would love for urban to be my nurse tbh <3

last night of the proms - ahah they're all bastards. boris the dog it is 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[herewegoagain999]

THE FINALE!

How much longer?" Alex asked Smithers for the billionth time.

"The lift should be working it's way down the the ground now, lad. Not to worry. I'm sure your friend is fine. It takes a lot to set an assassin off. Their emotions are all deeply repressed." The man assured the boy.

"You don't know the kid he's stuck in the lift with, Mr. Smithers. Tom could make a statue roll it's eyes in annoyance."

Smithers laughed.

"Well, it looks like we're about to find out." He said as he gestured to the slowing descending numbers above the lift door signalling the elevator was finally moving down.

Alex waited impatiently and as soon as the doors dinged open a familiar blur of his best friend darted out and rugby tackled him to the ground.

"Tom!" Alex complained.

"Alex! Thank god it was horrible. I didn't think it was possible to find anyone that talked less than you. Let me tell you you're a bloody chatty Kathy compared to Yassy over there." Tom said as he stood up and pulled Alex with him.

The boy looked over to the man in question. The poor guy looked like he had a headache by the way his forehead was creased. Alex almost felt bad for him. Almost.

"Oh, and Yassen still wants to talk to you. I don't think it'd hurt for you to hear him out, Allie."

"You don't know him like I do, Tommy." Alex replied, using the nickname he knew Tom hated. Tom knew he hated it when he called him Allie.

"I just spent half a day stuck in the lift with the man and lived to tell the tale. Just hear what he has to say." Tom said giving the boy a push towards Yassen who had also exited the elevator and was talking quietly with Smithers.

Alex sighed and approached the man.

"Thank you for not killing Tom. I know he can be...trying."

Yassen smirked.

"Trying is putting it nicely. He does seem to care for you though. You have a good friend." He replied.

"Yeah, but a really bad judge of character. He says I should hear what you have to say."

Yassen was mildly grateful to the annoying little brat.

"I do want to apologize for what I put you through. I wasn't thinking clearly when I sent you to SCORPIA. Must've been the blood loss. But Blunt seemed to leave off one of my conditions I had for helping him and MI6 out though. A condition that has a lot to do with you."

"What?" Alex asked warily.

"I told him that I would help him with whatever he wanted and in exchange he would leave you alone. For good. MI6 is no longer your guardian. That right is now Jack Starbright's. And should Alan Blunt ever try or blackmail you ever again you just need to call this number." Yassen stated as he handed a phone number to a dumbstruck Alex Rider.

"If they give you any trouble be it money, guardianship, or missions you call me and I'll tear down every agreement Alan Blunt and myself made. Got it?" He said when Alex didn't reply.

"Why are you doing this?" Alex finally asked.

"I had a hand in getting you into this mess. And I clean up my messes."

"Awwwwwww! See, Alex? And you called him a cold hearted bastard!" Came Tom's cooing as he eavesdropped on the whole conversation.

"He's just a big ol' softy, aren't you, Yassy." Tom said clapping the man on his shoulder.

"Don't call me that." Yassen warned.

"Now don't go getting cranky you and I were really hitting it off in that lift."

"You're lucky he didn't hit you off, Tom. C'mon let's go before something else happens." Alex replied, deciding it was time to get Tom out of there as soon as possible.

"Oh, haha, clever Alex. Did his father make shitty puns like that as well?" Tom asked as Alex pushed him roughly to the door urging the teen to go ahead.

"Bye Yassy! Send me a friend request on Face book! We can like each other's selfies!" Tom exclaimed with a wave before exiting the building to wait out front for his friend.

Alex turned to the assassin who was muttering in annoyed Russian as the spikey haired teen vanished from his sight.

"Yassen...I...Thank you." Was all Alex could manage to say. If this worked, if Alan Blunt actually left him alone...Alex almost was afraid to feel the relief that was spreading through him for fear it would be taken away.

"Do not thank me, Alex. As I said I had a hand in this. Just do your parents proud."

"I will." Alex vowed.

"Run along then, little Alex. You're friend is waiting for you."

And that was it. Alex sighed in relief as he walked out of the MI6's building for what he hoped would be the last time in his life. He walked up to Tom and smiled.

"Let's go home, Tom."

"You think Yassen will really send me that friend request?"

[forbidden-fruit-of-eden]

Domestic Bliss

Summary: This is me just purging out some lovely domestic bliss with Thomas and his S/O

Warnings: Pure and absolute fluff along with smut

Don’t be shy send me some requests

Giggling. That's the first thing Thomas heard when he woke up every morning. He smiled and slowly sat up, his five year old daughter Ellie giggled as she ran into the room and ran into the bed. Ellie giggled and sat next to her father as you walked into the room carrying your 6 month old son.

"Good morning handsome" you said as you walked over to him. You had woken up an hour or so ago, you had taken Ellie and Ned out with you to get a few eggs from the chicken coupe. Ellie would giggle as she ran around the small area you had designed to be a garden area where Ellie and you had planted a few flowers; Luda insisted in planting a few vegetables which you agreed to. Both you and Luda made breakfast together, she would coo and feed her grandchildren occasionally as Ned babbled loudly as he sat in the highchair Thomas had made for Ellie when she was born.

Thomas smiled and gently pulled his wife into bed with him. You complied and sat next to him, Ned babbled as he nestled himself between his parents. "Did you sleep well darling." you asked softly. Thomas nodded happily before pulling her into a kiss. You happily complied and kissed back, smiling as this action earned a lowed "EEWWW" from your five year old as she covered her eyes. The two of you pulled away as your daughter ran out of the room when she heard Uncle Charlie grumble his way downstairs. You looked up at your husband and smiled happily "What do you think about having some time for ourselves later tonight I'm sure Ellie would like to spend the night with Henrietta's son" You said with a small smile "and I think your mother would be fine with keeping an eye on Ned while you and I get busy"

Thomas couldn’t help but smile and nod eagerly. He couldn't help but ogle you as he watched your hips sway side to side as you began to pick out his clothes for the day. He enjoyed watching you bend over as you opened the window to your room. The light breeze that entered picked up your dress a bit, Thomas couldn't help but take a peak. He smiled and picked up your son before gently sitting him down in the crib; little Ned was quickly distracted by a few toys. Thomas walked over to his wife and wrapped his arms around you. His face immediately buried into your hair, smiling you leaned against his arms. He slowly began to unbutton the buttons of your dress, once he had enough buttons removed he slipped his hand into your chest and began to fondle your breasts. You let out a soft whimper and let your head fall back into his shoulder. He kissed down your neck and shoulder before pulling your dress up a bit. You slowly snapped into your senses and gave his hand a light smack "No" you whispered "We will be doing this properly tonight. It's been six months since we've done anything and I want this to be more than a quickly" You explained. Thomas could only nod and kiss your cheek before walking off to get dressed

"I'll see you downstairs" you said gently taking Ned into your arms. You smiled at your husband. "Good morning to you Hoyt" You said as you walked into the dining room and helped Luda after dropping Ned off in his high chair. "How did you sleep?" You asked trying to have a pleasant conversation with him

"Be better if I had a bitch in bed with me" he grumbled as he leaned back against his seat

"Hoyt what did we say about using that kind of language at the table. I don't want my baby picking up that language" Luda said as she helped you serve breakfast. Hoyt only grumbled and looked at his niece

"You ain't repeating any of that are you?" he asked his niece who innocently shook her head and swung her legs back and forth. Breakfast went by smoothly, everyone went on their separate ways, Hoyt went off to look out the are, Luda went to the store, and Monty himself had gone off to visit the Tea Lady, Kathy, leaving you and your children alone in the household. Thomas descended down into the basement to finish up a body he had started on last night. You cleaned up the house, both children had been placed in a playpen while you busied herself in chores. Hours later you finished cleaning up you made a small lunch and had Thomas clean himself up before coming up. The three of you ate lunch while Ned took the chance to nurse. After eating the lot of you walked outside to let Ellie burn out all the energy she had locked up. You sat in the porch with your son sitting on your lap, you hummed softly and kissed the top of his head as Thomas went out into the backyard and played with your little girl. He smiled and chased after his little girl who squealed and giggled running away. This is how the day went by, he ran after his daughter before the two eventually sat down and enjoyed a cup of sweet tea you provided. Thomas sat down next to you, Ellie sat on her father's lap and smiled tiredly as she rubbed her eyes. Thomas kissed your forehead and closed his eyes as he held you in his arms. How could he have gotten so darn lucky. A beautiful wife, two adorable children and possibly even more. When night settled, the two of you went into your bedroom after Ellie and Ned had gone to bed.

"Well, Ellie didn't exactly want to go to Henrietta's, but she's more than fine to sleep with her grandmother" you said with a smile on your face as you brushed your hair. Thomas gave a hum and took off his mask before sitting at the end of your bed.

"So... we have time for ourselves now" you said as you walked over to him and began to pull off your nightgown. A smile immediately formed across his lips as he straightened up when he watched you remove your gown. He pulled his shirt off before his hands immediately gripped your hips and pulled you into your lap. With a soft hum you pressed your care cunt against his covered cock before cupping his cheek and kissed him passionately. He immediately kissed back and groaned softly as he felt your fingers slowly began unzipping his pants. Immediately his cock stood up straight as it was released from the suffocating material.

The two of you pulled away from the kiss as he gripped your thighs and pulled you even closer to him, your chest pressed against his before feeling his hard cock rub against your slick cunt. He gently lifted you up a bit allowing you to slip his erect member into you, the two of you allowed a soft moan to escape your lips as he stretched you out. For a moment you remained still slowly getting used to the feeling of him inside you for the first time in 6 months. He whined softly and bucked his hips upwards trying to get you to continue moving. With a shaky moan you obeyed his silent command and began to moving up and down as Thomas' hands dug into your thighs and began to thrust into you as you dropped your cunt onto him repetitively. His thick size filled you up, leaving you breathless at each movement, "Ah, Tom-Tommy," you said shakily, relishing in the feeling of your husbands cock inside you.

Immediately he buried his head into the crook of your neck while his hands forced you back down into his length. A moan escaped your lips as his thick member filled and stretched you out deliciously. Your legs felt like jello as you continued to ride your husband, you felt him kiss down your neck as well as your chest before he flipped the two of you into the traditional missionary position. His lips wrapped themselves around your nipple and gently pulled on it drawing a soft squeal from your lips. His hips were relentless as he increased speed and began to pound into you. A hand reached down and eagerly rubbed your sensitive bundle of nerves. His lips pulled away from your breast as he let out a breathy groan, your arms wrapped themselves around his neck. "Thomas- Thomas oh god Tommy right there!" you cried out as he found himself hitting that special spot. He groaned loudly and buried his face into your neck as your wet pussy made his relentless pounding easier, your legs shaking against him as you reached an orgasm.

Thomas held your hips tightly as he pulled his face away from the crook of your neck and watched as your eyes rolled to the back of your head from ectasy, his eyes slowly roamed down as your breasts bouncing with each thrust. Your cries of ectasy made him go crazy, he pulled your tit right back into his mouth and flicked his tongue around your nipple, allowing his teeth to occasionally graze them. You laid on your back, your breath shaky as you suddenly felt his fingers rub against your clit once more. You lost it once more as you let out a cry once again reaching an orgasm. Thomas' eyes shut closed at the sudden overwhelming sensation of your cum tighten around his member. "Thomas! Oh Tommy! Fuck... Fuck" you cried out as your fingers gripped his shoulders. Suddenly, he let out a loud groan as, the tip stretching the entrance of your womb, before he exploded inside you filling you to the brim. He panted softly and he shook above you as his balls emptied and pulsed within you, your legs spasmed as he slowly pulled out. Your eyes shut at the sudden empty feeling of your stretched out cunt. You slowly caught your breath and slowly looked up at him with a lazy smile crossing your lips.

His eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head as he felt your fingers on his hair. "I... love you" he whispered as he looked up at you after pulling the covers over the two of you. Smiling you kissed his forehead and closed your eyes, slowly drifting off into sleep. Thomas couldn't help but smile as he look up at you. He couldn't help but feel so lucky. You gave him everything he wanted, domestic bliss, and a family. He pressed a kiss against your chest and closed his eyes slowly drifting off into sleep.

[solitarystudies]

Book Club Review - Never Let Me Go

I’m going to watch the movie today and wanted to write this before, just so it doesn’t influence my opinion of the book. If I like the movie, I might write another review for that. But no promises.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. When I first finished it I wasn’t too happy, but it grew on me over the next few days. The more I reflect on the book, the more I grow fond of it. It’s definitely not one of my favourites, but it’s one I’m glad I read. 

Did the story play out in the way you expected, or did it surprise you?

I think the story panned out just as I had expected. If you asked me at the end of part 1 what I thought was going to happen, I would’ve told that they donate their organs and die. And that’s exactly how it ends. Although it was what I had been expecting, the ending was by far the most powerful part of the novel. 

When I first finished it, I was very frustrated. The story had been slowly building up, then there was no pay off. Nothing happened. I read on kindle, so I don’t see how many pages are left. And after that scene where Tommy yells in a field, I was sure the book was going to be over. It felt like a perfect ending full of turmoil and anger. But I turned the page and there were more chapters. They seemed unnecessary, like the story was lingering and didn’t want to end. And then when I wasn’t expecting it, I turned the page and the story was over. It didn’t feel like there was a proper conclusion. 

And that really angered me. It felt like I had invested so much time in the novel for nothing. But the thing is, that’s exactly how the characters feel. They’ve known that this was going to be their end. But they can’t help feeling like something is bound to happen, any minute now. Just like the reader, they’re waiting for a plot twist, a climax. But it never comes. They grow up, and donate, and die. And despite knowing it would happen, it all feels anticlimactic. And I think that’s genius writing.   

If you had to describe this book in three words, what would they be?

Slow, metaphorical, vivid.

What did you think of the authors style? Have you read any of their books before? Would you read their work in the future?

I absolutely loved the writing style. I think my favourite thing about it was the simplicity. I didn’t have to decipher any metaphors or look up big words. I was able to immerse myself in the story. The characters and events all seemed very real to me, which made it more heart breaking. It didn’t feel like I was reading a story that Ishiguro made up, it felt like Kathy was there and she was talking to me. I would definitely read more of Ishiguro’s books.

Ishiguro is a Nobel Laureate in literature. After reading this book, can you see why he was chosen for this award?

Although I really liked the book, my answer is no. I’ve read other good books before (many of which I’ve enjoyed more) and none of them are written by Laureates. The official Nobel website says that Ishiguro was given the prize because he “has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world”. And having read the book, that sentence means nothing to me. I didn’t find something exceptional in Ishiguro’s writing.

The characters were often unnecessarily mean in the way they talked to one another. Why do you think that is? Did this affect your sympathy for them?

I have no clue why they acted this way. Maybe it’s because the world they grew up in is messed up. It’s likely that such an unusual environment would mean they’re unaware of how to treat others with kindness and respect.

Regardless of the reason, it absolutely affected my sympathy for them. I didn’t like any of the characters. Don’t get me wrong, they were very well written. But I didn’t feel fond of them. That being said, the donations were still heart breaking. Just because I didn’t like the characters doesn’t mean that I was okay with seeing them die so young. 

Do you think the donors are a metaphor for something in the real world?

I thought it was talking about how society exploits low-wage workers for its own benefit. I was thinking about the fashion industry and how for the sake of cheap clothes, so many employees are forced to work in horrible conditions. And we do our best to distance ourselves from them, so that we don’t feel guilty. We make sure the factories are in far away countries, and we never talk about the employees. It felt a lot like the way society in the book talked about donors. They wanted them out of sight and out of mind, so that they could reap the benefits without having to confront the victims of their actions. 

Of course that didn’t end up being the message of the book. The true theme of mortality didn’t cross my mind once. But when I watch the movie today, I’ll try to look at it from that perspective. Maybe I’ll see something I had missed.

Are dystopian novels something you typically enjoy? How would you say this book compares to other dystopian literature?

I quite enjoy dystopias, though this was unlike any other dystopian novel I’ve ever read. Usually in dystopian novels, the characters are aware of how awful they’re situation is and they try to rebel. In 1984, Winston has his secret relationship. In the Handmaid’s Tale, Offred escapes Gilead. In A Brave New World, John decides the city is immoral and leaves. 

But in this novel, the characters do as told. They don’t see their situation as dystopian, it’s all they’ve ever known. Kathy doesn’t act like Hailsham was awful, or that she’s afraid of donating. She talks about it like it’s completely normal. And that sets it apart form the other dystopian novels I’ve read. 

[ihatecoconut]

to the newsies

“Ok.” Katherine was standing on someone’s bed and waving her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Listen up idiots.”

Jack made an offended noise.

“Not you, Crutchie, you’re an angel and we’re glad you’re here.”

“You know,” Race said, kind of lazily from where he was sprawled out across the floor, “If someone had asked me when I first started remembering you guys who I thought would quote memes, my answer would not have been Kathy.”

There was laughter and agreement. Even Davey, who Race was pretty sure still felt out of place in their group despite having been there in the last century and now, laughed at that and made a comment about how he, personally, would have said Race.

“Are you listening or not?” Katherine demanded, once the noise had died back down,

“Yeah, babe,” Sarah called, “we’re listening.”

Katherine took a moment to smile lovingly down at her girlfriend. “Thank you, now, as I am sure you are all aware it is nearly 120 years since our successful strike!”

Apparently, most of the people in the lodging-house turned boy’s home were not aware of this fact, as the room erupted into shouts and confusion, most of the old newsies cheering at the fact that their impact had lasted that long, while others were just expressing their shock at how long it had been.

“In fact!” Katherine continued over the noise, “It will be exactly 120 years on Saturday!”

“What d’ya wanna do about it, Ace?” Jack called back.

“I think,” she replied at a more normal volume since the room had quietened back down to hear what she had to say, “that we should go on some sort of outing to visit everywhere that was important to us last time.”

“That’s really sweet.” Davey said, sounding a little surprised. “I like it.”

“Thank you.”

“Ok, it’s a fun idea,” Spot objected, “but I’m not walking all the way around New York, and I can’t afford the metro.”

“You used to walk all the way around New York,” someone near the back pointed out,

“And further.” Another voice added.

“I’ll pay for it.” Katherine announced, before Spot could get up and work out who was mocking him- she could see it was the twins from her vantage point but wasn’t about to tell him that- “It’ll be fun!”

There were a few other mumbled complaints, enough people were working Saturday that it was agreed they would move it to Sunday instead, and the group split at their normal time to return home- if they didn’t live at Kloppman’s- with their futures looking happy.

*

“Where do you think Kath’ll take us?” Les asked once they had dropped off those who lived at Denton’s and were continuing back to their own house.

“Newsies Square, to start with,” Sarah said, “I mean that’s the most obvious, right?”

Davey nodded, “I’d say the lodging house but most of them already live there, so maybe some selling spots?”

“That place we used to go for water?” Les suggested,

“Jacobi’s.” Davey provided absent mindedly, “Probably, that was where we kind of met her for the first time.”

“Brooklyn as well,” Sarah suggested, “For Spot and Racer, and because that was where she used to live.”

Davey nodded again, “I’m sure she’s got a plan, you know Kath, she’s organised like that.”

*

“Hey.” Race’s voice came through the phone as soon as Spot hit the answer button.

“Hey yourself, what’s up?” He found himself smiling as he rolled over to look at his boyfriend through the screen- they had only put that label on themselves recently and it still gave Spot an odd floaty feeling whenever he said or thought it.

“Just wanted to talk,” Race replied, grinning back and mirroring his position, lying down with the phone propped up next to him, “what d’ya think of Kath’s idea?”

“I like it.”

“You like it?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

Race paused, rubbing his nose like he did when he was nervous- it was a gesture that had replaced putting a cigar in his mouth and chewing it- “Hotshot said you still haven’t been back to Brooklyn.”

“So?”

“Well, Kath’s probably gonna take us to Brooklyn…”

Spot rolled onto his back, careful not to upset how he had positioned his phone, so Race could still see him, “Yeah, I know that.” He snapped, and then winced, not meaning to sound as harsh,

“And you’re ok?” Race prompted gently,

“I am.” He said, a little surprised at how true the word were, “I don’t like going to Brooklyn with Hotshot because I don’t feel like their king anymore and they want me to stay in that position…” He glanced over, seeing Race looking at him with nothing but understanding, “I ain’t him anymore.”

“Who are you then?”

“I’m Spot Conlon, I’m your boyfriend, I’m Denton’s kid, I’m Niamh’s brother, I’m…” He trailed off, about to say that he was a newsie, but that wasn’t quite true anymore.

“A newsie?” Race offered, “Because we still are, even if we don’t sell papes anymore.”

“Yeah, I’m a newsie. And I’m a dancer.”

Race laughed from the other end of the call, “Not as good a dancer as me.”

“Nobody’s as good as you, babe.”

*

“Hey, Jack?”

“What’s up, kid?” Jack asked, shifting over so Albert could fit in next to him.

“Do you think that Kath’s idea is a good one?”

“Yeah, of course, why?”

He shrugged, unhelpfully, “Don’t know. Do you think she’ll take us to the cemetery?”

Jack realised almost immediately what was troubling Albert- there were many cemeteries in New York city, but only one where both of Albert’s mothers (this time and last time) had been buried, Albert himself had been buried there as well, last time. Jack was pretty certain that the only person that had seen it, beside Albert himself of course, was Race.

“Do you want to go to the cemetery?” He asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.

There was a pause and then Albert nodded, firmly, “Yes, I do.” He nodded again, red hair flopping about as if he was trying to convince both of them of this fact.

“Ok, then I’ll text her and make sure it’s on her agenda.”

“Thanks, Cowboy.”

“No problem, you gonna sleep here or back in your own bed?”

“Back in my own bed,” Albert replied, looking a little offended that Jack would think he needed that, “I’m not a little kid anymore.”

“Sure kid,” Jack laughed, dodging the pillow Albert proceeded to try and hit him with.

“We’re the same age!”

*

Sunday actually dawned bright and clear, despite the weather forecasts suggesting that it would rain all week.

Denton woke up everyone in his household- Hotshot, Smalls, Tommy Boy and Spot who lived there, and Sniper and Race who had stayed over- at just gone eight in the morning, resulting in six grumpy teenagers around the table at nine, fully dressed and eating breakfast.

“Alright,” he said as they were just about to leave, ignoring the way Spot groaned ‘not again’, “New York isn’t the best city ever, stay safe, listen to Katherine, don’t loose your money and keep phones out of the reach of pickpockets, everything clear?”

There was a dull chorus of “Yes Denton.” And he finally released them to make the trek across to Kloppman’s.

The Jacobs were already there when they arrived, making polite conversation with Kloppman, and drinking the coffee he provided, the coffee which Race immediately ran for after taking off his shoes. Kloppman simply shook his head at that- very used to Race’s antics after two lives of dealing with him- and gestured towards the cereal and other breakfast foods.

“We already ate,” Smalls told him, “And we already got a safety briefing from Denton before you do it too.”

Kloppman smiled at her, “I wouldn’t dream of telling you to be safe- Cowboy’d just ignore it anyway.”

As if on cue, Jack came stumbling down the stairs, thankfully fully dressed, and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, “I thought I heard people down here.” He said, plopping down at the table and pouring a bowl of cereal, “No Kath yet?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Davey scolded slightly, “And, to answer your question, no we haven’t seen Kath yet.”

“She just texted me,” Sarah said, looking as disgusted as her brother at Jack’s eating habits, “She’s on her way, should be about ten minutes.”

Jack opened his mouth to speak, saw the looks on the twins’ faces, shut it, swallowed and then spoke, “I guess that means we’ve got ten minutes to wake everyone else up.”

Very soon after, the house descended into chaos as those of them who had been awake proceeded to move through the bedrooms, each using their own method to wake those unfortunate souls who were hoping to sleep in. Their unorthodox methods worked, however, and they were all packed into the kitchen when Kath arrived, the girls from Medda’s who had not slept at Denton’s with her.

“Let’s do this!” She announced to the kitchen, waving her list of places to visit, and- as if they had been awake for hours instead of mere minutes- everyone in the kitchen cheered loudly, shoving past each other to grab shoes and bags and anything else they had decided they needed for the day.

Davey had been right, the first stop on Kath’s itemised list was, in fact, Newsies’ Square. It had changed a lot since they had bought papers now, and their school was the building that had once been Pulitzer’s. The yard where Wiesel and the Delanceys had sold the papers was now the open area for the high school, and the buildings around had been modernised, re-painted or simply knocked down and rebuilt. The statue that Jack had climbed on to announce the beginning of their strike wasn’t there anymore, replaced with a small fountain. It was a little disappointing, but as most of them went to school there, they knew what had happened.

“Ey, Jack.” Race called, “Dare you to do your strike speech again.”

Jack waved him off, laughing among the calls for him to do it, and turned to Kath instead, “What’s next?”

Katherine just smiled mysteriously and led the way out. As it turned out, she had somehow managed to work out where each of their selling spots had been- everyone had their own spot in the 1890s, selling spots had been as much a part of newsies politics as their hierarchy within each borough. This part was much more popular than Newsies’ Square, with a few people actually crying when they saw the place they had spent their entire childhood last time. Some spots were almost the same as they had been a century ago, others had been built over and some had been a little destroyed, but they were instantly recognisable.

When they reached Jack, Davey and Les’ selling spot, Kath stopped again and consulted her list.

“We not going to Brooklyn now?” Race asked, “The rest of us sold there.”

“Later,” she reassured him, “I thought we’d do all of Manhattan first.”

“Alright,” Race said, apparently happy with her organisation, “Lead the way.”

*

They stopped at Jacobi’s for lunch, and unlike other parts of their history, this was a place that hadn’t changed- even Jacobi still ran the place, even if he didn’t seem to remember them, and he was as warm, fond, and utterly baffling as he had been before. The food hadn’t changed, even if the prices had adjusted with inflation, and they crowded around a table that wasn’t designed to hold that many people- Les sat under the table as he had always done when they had used it as a meeting house in the past, joined by a few other younger ones- but they made it work, sharing chairs and sitting on each other’s laps.

Davey found himself sitting on Jack’s lap, much to the amusement of his siblings, and managed to keep his blushing under control- they were still navigating their relationship in the 21st Century, it was different to the secret kissing in alleyways that they had done before- and despite being slightly too crowded, a little bit too warm and a little embarrassed, Davey was almost certain that nothing could ever be as perfect as it was just then.

Race danced on the table for them once lunch was finished, accompanied by a few others playing spoons. A few other customers laughed and clapped once they were done, but most of them gave the newsies looks that had them clearing out as soon as Katherine paid the bill, spilling out onto the street and laughingly mocking the lady who had told them they were ‘utterly uncivilized’.

Spot had an arm around Race’s waist in a possessive gesture that he never would have normally done, Jack had grabbed Davey’s hand as they had shoved past the younger ones to get out the door, and he could see others- Blink and Mush, Smalls and Sniper- also moving into gentle couples’ poses. The 21st Century had been good for all of them; there was enough food in their stomachs and they never had to worry about where their next meal was coming from, and they were all more open, more free than they had been when bound to the strict societal positions of the late 19th Century.

“Now,” Katherine said, beaming, “We go to Brooklyn!”

Racer and Hotshot both cheered; Spot didn’t, but his faced creased up into a smile that was very rarely seen, and the group of them followed after Kath.

*

It was nearly six in the evening when they finished, the group of them collapsing onto the grass in Prospect Park, a large tangle of limbs and happiness.

“Hey,” Spot said quietly into Katherine’s ear, having ended up right next to her, “thanks for this.”

She smiled back, “You’re welcome. I thought we might need this.”

He nodded and lay back down on his back, staring up at the clouds which were floating slowly overhead, a contrast to the hectic movement that their day had been.

“Kathy,” Jack said, leaning over Spot and Race, “we’ve still got one more stop, yeah?”

She nodded, “Back in Manhattan, yeah. We’ll rest first.”

Jack nodded in response, ignoring the puzzled looks that Race and Spot gave him, and pointing upwards at one of the clouds Spot had been watching. “That one looks like a fish.”

*

They left the younger ones- middle school and under- at the lodging house before they made their way to the final stop. The chatter from those who were still there died down as they approached the graveyard, nobody asked why they were there- Albert was leading and that gave most of them a good idea of what was happening. Davey and Sarah were confused, but they were polite enough not to ask.

“Trinity Church Cemetery.” Davey read as they went under the archway, still not asking questions, just stating facts.

“Trinity Church Cemetery.” Albert echoed from the front, as he moved through the stones, stepping towards a few small ones near the back. The rest of them followed him, fanning out behind him as he came a stop in front of a small plot of land that housed the DaSilva family- all generations of them, despite the fact that there were only a few marked graves.

He touched a small wooden cross first- obviously weathered and damaged by years of wind and rain- and then traced his fingers over the words on the small stone to the left of it. Race knelt down next to him, one hand sliding around Albert’s shoulders and pulling him into his side.

“His mother.” Jack said quietly, squeezing Davey’s hand unconsciously. “And from this life too.”

Katherine stepped forwards then, a few flowers in hand and placed them on the two graves. Albert smiled, a watery smile, but a smile none the less and they stood as a group until he turned back to the entrance.

“Thank you.” He said once they were back out on the street, “For coming with me.”

“Anything you need.” Davey replied, sliding an arm around him in a similar, but much more paternal way than Race had done. “We’re here for you.”

*

Someone had ordered pizza to the lodging house once they got back, Les and Crutchie had apparently made sure to save some for them, and they dug in with the expected vigour of teenagers who had been walking around all day.

Sarah climbed up onto the bed that Katherine had used only a few days prior to announce her idea and tapped a teaspoon against the coffee mug she was holding. “Attention, please.”

They all turned to her, some still eating, but all listening.

“I want to thank Katherine for taking us out on this trip. I think we all needed it.”

“To Katherine!” Blink shouted, raising his glass, and the rest of the room echoed him, accompanied by the clinking of glasses and mug knocking together.

Sarah climbed back down to sit between her brother and her girlfriend. “To the newsies.”

They both smiled at her, “To the newsies.”

[wordsworthjohnston]

Married former air hostess turned high school teacher.

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[tabloidtoc]

In Touch, January 18

You can now buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Cher tells all 

Page 1: Contents 

Page 2: Who Wore It Better? Hailey Baldwin vs. Joey King 

Page 4: Do They Look Like the Real-Life Person They Play? These stars are set to step into some iconic shoes in upcoming biopics but some fit the part better than others -- Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan, Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin, Sebastian Stan and Lily James as Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson, Austin Butler as Elvis Presley, Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston 

Page 5: Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria Baldwin was forced to admit she’s not actually Spanish after social media users called her out for faking her Latina ties -- turns out Hilaria who has claimed to be from Spain and occasionally speaks with an accent was born Hillary Hayward-Thomas in Boston to American parents who moved to Mallorca when she was an adult although she did spent a lot of time there and insists she tends to mix Spanish and English -- though Alec defended her he’s privately enraged and if she lied to him too it could mean the end of their marriage and a battle over their $60 million prenup 

* Makeover of the Week -- Princess Charlene of Monaco debuted a daring shaved head, Number of the Week -- 84 total weeks Mariah Carey has had a No. 1 song on Billboard’s Hot 100 giving her the record for the most ever, Success Story of the Week -- Miley Cyrus on Cher’s criticism of her raunchy 2013 VMAs performance, Vow of the Week -- Amal Clooney thanking husband George Clooney for supporting her while she wrote a 1000-page book 

Page 6: Crib of the Week -- Kathy Griffin’s Malibu modern, Man Candy of the Week -- Dallas Hart, Winner of the Week -- Kylie Jenner has four of the top 10 most-liked Instagram posts of 2020, Loser of the Week -- Chrissy Teigen gets a nose piercing but it’s botched 

Page 10: Up Close -- Dog Days -- Jonathan Scott with dogs Gracie and Stewie and the shirt he had made of their faces, Priyanka Chopra snuggles with her dogs Panda and Diana, Demi Moore with her daughter Tallulah’s pup Cowboy on her head, Kelly Osbourne with her dogs 

Page 12: Water Sports -- Simon Cowell on a jet-ski on his annual Christmas vacation to Barbados, Selling Sunset’s Jason Oppenheim loses his battle with a wave in Tulum, Amy Schumer and husband Chris Fischer soak up the sun with son Gene in St. Barts 

Page 13: John Legend and Chrissy Teigen enjoy a boat getaway with their son Miles in St. Barts 

Page 14: Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom rock new looks to ring in the new year, Nicole Kidman and an alpaca, Jennifer Garner plays the same party game that the queen Olivia Colman loved on this season’s The Crown 

Page 18: Child’s Play -- Kim Kardashian wrangles her kids Saint and Psalm and Chicago and North and niece Dream at her sister Kourtney Kardashian’s

Page 19: Eva Longoria and son Santiago in matching pajamas, Jessica Simpson bakes treats with kids Ace and Maxwell 

Page 20: Jennifer Lopez may not be walking down the aisle for the fourth time after all -- while she had planned to tie the knot with Alex Rodriguez in Italy over the summer but the wedding has been canceled because the pressure of a huge bash was overwhelming and that after nearly two years of engagement and delays due to the pandemic Alex got a case of cold feet and decided it wasn’t necessary anymore and Jennifer said in an interview that they’d talked about nixing the destination wedding altogether -- the next day, J.Lo wasn’t wearing her massive engagement ring while running errands in Miami and she’s heartbroken because she wanted a big splashy wedding since this was going to be her final trip to the altar and it’s being blamed on COVID-19 but it goes way deeper than that

Page 21: It’s been just over a month since Jim Toth’s company Quibi shut down permanently but wife Reese Witherspoon is already pushing him to get back to work -- by all accounts Reese has no problem with being the breadwinner in the marriage but she can’t tolerate laziness so she’s nudging Jim to get a job and while the talent agent has a good resume he certainly isn’t as rich as she is and there’s pressure on him to live up to her high expectations 

* Lori Loughlin’s husband Mossimo Giannulli isn’t coping well with lockup according to the fashion designer’s son from a previous relationship Gianni Giannulli -- Gianni claimed that his father has been locked in solitary confinement for one full month and has been only let out every three days for a few moments to shower but the solitary confinement wasn’t a punishment but rather Mossimo is being protected because of the spike in COVID-19 at the prison 

Page 22: Cover Story -- Cher tells all -- as her 75th birthday approaches Cher is sharing her biggest secrets from six decades in show business in a juicy new book 

Page 26: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s showdown with Queen Elizabeth -- Harry and Meghan stir up new drama during tense talks to extend their controversial Megxit deal -- the queen needs more insight what’s really going on with Harry and Meghan’s business dealings before she makes a final decision on Megxit while Harry and Meghan are hoping to get on with their lives and not have a dark cloud hanging over them 

Page 28: Justin Bieber insists he’s not becoming a minister -- the singer is focusing on starting a family not a ministry 

Page 30: Olivia Wilde rebounds with Harry Styles -- fresh off her breakup from Jason Sudeikis, Olivia starts a hot new romance with the former One Direction boy-bander 

Page 34: The Big Interview -- Shawn Johnson -- the former gymnast doesn’t always nail it when it comes to parenting and she’s OK with that 

Page 36: New Year, Nicer Closet -- designer Lisa Adams who’s worked with stars like Olivia Culpo shares tips on sprucing up your sacred space 

Page 42: Animal Overload -- my dog looks like Owen Wilson 

Page 45: Double Take -- Drew Barrymore’s dog Douglas gets a comfy seat on the set of her talk show 

Page 46: Horoscope -- Capricorn Betty White turned 99 on January 17 

Page 48: Last Laughs

[writteninthestars288]

Giving In (Billy Hargrove x Reader)

Soooooo, I know I have been stalled on my other projects for a super long time but I have recently followed down a rabbit hole that involves Billy from Stranger Things. This popped into my head and for the first time in a while, I have had the inspiration to write and thus, this was born. So please let me know what you think and I promise to try and update my other works soon. I think I might finally be back in the swing of things!

________________________________________________________________

“My girl is looking fucking hot today.”

You let out an annoyed sigh when you heard the deep voice behind you. You shut your locker and spun around.

“How many times do I have to tell you, Hargrove? I’m not your girl.”

If there was one person in Hawkins you could not stand, it was Billy Hargrove. He was just way too cocky for his own good. He hadn’t even been in Hawkins for a few months before he started sleeping with almost every female in your grade. Every day as you walked down the hall, you would hear a new girl giggling and laughing as she told her friends something Billy did or said to her. 

You never could stand guys like that, especially since your own father turned out to be the same way. So you made the choice to actively avoid Billy and it worked too until about a month ago. You had been walking out of the locker room after cheer practice. You hadn’t been watching where you were walking and you had accidentally walked right into a hard chest. 

“Oh my god, I am so…” You trailed off as you looked up, coming face to face with Billy Hargrove. 

“Nothing to be sorry about, sweetheart,” he said, finishing your sentence for you. You watched as his eyes trailed up and down your body, a smirk planted firmly on his face as he locked eyes with you. “Not everyday a pretty thing like you just walks right into me.”  You barely refrained from rolling your eyes as you pulled your books closer to your chest.

“Yeah well, sorry,” you mumbled as you went to walk by. You stopped however when an arm blocked your path. 

“Whoa not so fast, princess. I didn’t even get your name.” You let out a silent sigh as you looked up at him. He still had a smirk on his face and his eyes stayed locked on yours. You had to admit he was handsome but he reminded you too much of your father. You tried to walk the other way but he just laughed and put his other arm out.

“Come on now, don’t be rude, babe. I’m just trying to be friendly.”

You dug your nails into the palm of your hand. Maybe if you just gave him your name, he’d leave you alone.  “[Y/N]”

Billy raised an eyebrow as he gave you a toothy grin. 

“[Y/N],” he repeated. “Pretty name for a pretty lady.”

You felt another eye roll coming on and just gave a tight smile. “Thanks. Now if you’ll excuse me.” You went to walk by again but Billy blocked you again.

“Aren’t you gonna ask me my name, [Y/N]?”

She could feel her patience slipping. She had a long day and practice took a lot out of her. The last thing she wanted was to play whatever game Billy thought of.

“I know who you are. You’re the new guy who has slept with half the girls in the school. You’re the guy that beat up Steve Harrington and the guy who holds the keg record.”

Billy’s grin grew as he leaned against the wall, still blocking your path.

“So you’ve heard of me. Names Billy. Billy Hargrove.” He reached out and took your hand. He went to raise it to his lips but you pulled it away at the last second, something that surprised him. 

“Like I said, I know who you are. Now if you excuse me, I have homework to do.” You walked around him before he could stop you. 

Billy furrowed his eyebrows and turned around to watch you walk out to the parking lot. 

It was a reaction Billy hadn’t expected. Usually, girls were reduced to puddles right in front of him but not you. You just acted you couldn’t have cared less. You thought by being short with Billy, he’d just move on to try to get in another girl’s pants. What you didn’t know though, was that you had captured his attention. It was after your first meeting that you started seeing Billy more and more. 

“Are you stalking me?” You raised an eyebrow as Billy just so happen to walk by the girl’s locker room right as you walked out. It had been happening all week and she couldn’t stop the question that left her lips. 

Billy raised an eyebrow and put his hands up in a surrender gesture.  “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, [Y/N]. I’m just heading to my car.”

You wanted to smack that stupid smirk he had on his face off but just shook your head and walked off, hearing him let out a quiet laugh. 

The following week, he had come up to you in the library and asked if you wanted to accompany him to Carol’s party she was throwing since her parents were out of town. 

“I can’t. Have to wash my hair that night.”

Billy rolled his eyes as you went back to studying.

“Come on, babe. It will be fun. I’m sure I could show you a good fucking time.” He trailed his fingers down your arm. You clench your jaw as you stood up and put your books back in your bag. Billy raised an eyebrow as you turned to look at him. 

“Look, Billy, I’m not interested. I’m not interested in being just another notch on your bedpost. Why don’t you go ask one of your many followers, I’m sure they’d love it.”

Once again, you walked away leaving Billy without anything to say. He watched your retreating form and clenched his jaw.  He wasn’t used to this. He was used to the girls falling at his feet. Normally he’d just say fuck it and move on to the next girl but there was something about you he couldn’t get over. So instead, he just shrugged and walked out of the library, trying to think of new ways to get to you.

For the last month, he’d pop up everywhere and always made it a point to make some comment. Whether it be about how you looked that day, your hair, your perfume. Anything he could think of, he’d say. On top of that, he also started referring to you as either ‘baby,’ ‘princess,’ or ‘my girl.’

Your cheeks burned slightly but said nothing, deciding on just walking away. Billy smirked as you started walking down the hall to English, he followed wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

“Well, you could be my girl if you stopped being so stubborn. What are you afraid of huh? Afraid you’ll actually fall for me?”

He snickered as you rolled your eyes again. You shrugged out of his hold as you opened the door to your class. “Trust me, Hargrove, that ain’t it.”

You would never admit this to anyone, especially Billy, but you were afraid. If things were different, you probably would have agreed to go out with Billy when he first asked. Your body responded well to him. You felt a shiver run down your spine every time he wrapped his arms around you. Felt your heartbeat pick up slightly whenever he complimented you.

 But you wouldn’t put yourself in the same shoes your mom found herself in with your dad. You saw what it did to her and you never wanted to go through that. So you kept pushing Billy away, convinced one of these days he would just give up. 

“Then what is it?”

You bit back a smirk as you looked over at Billy, who had taken the desk next to yours. You could see specks of irritation in his eyes.

“What’s the matter? Is the big, bad, Billy Hargrove mad that he isn’t getting what he wants?”

Billy clicked his tongue and lent forward until your faces were inches apart. You swallowed a lump that had formed in your throat as you felt his breath hit your lips.

“Oh princess, I’ll get what I want sooner or later. Always do.”

Your hand tightened on your pencil slightly as he pulled back. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Come on, [Y/N]! You got to come with us! Tina’s parties are always the best and you haven’t been to a party yet this year.”

You sighed as your friends from cheerleading tried to convince you to go to Tina’s party on Friday night. You weren’t much of a partier, only went to maybe two or three a school year.

“I don’t know guys.”

“What if we said Billy would be there?” 

You furrowed your eyebrows at Haley, the girl who had made the comment. 

“Then I would say it’s a definite no.”

Some of the girls laughed as Haley rolled her eyes. “Oh come on [Y/N], we see how you guys flirt.”

“Okay, I do not flirt with him.”

“Maybe not but he definitely flirts with you.”

You shrugged as you tie your sneakers. “I’ve tried to tell him it won’t work but he won’t listen. Let him waste his breath, he’ll get over it eventually.”

“I doubt it. Linda tried to talk to him the other day after Chemistry and he just ignored her and kept walking until he got to your locker.”

“I think he really likes you,” another girl, Kathy, said. You felt your heart speed up slightly and mentally kicked yourself. Instead, you just let out a small huff.

“Billy doesn’t like anyone. He just doesn’t like to be told no. Can we drop this and go practice now.”

As you walked into the gym, the girl's words played over in your head no matter how much you tried to ignore them. There was no way Billy actually liked you. He only entertained a girl for two days, maybe three before he got bored and moved on. 

“There’s no way,” you mumbled to yourself.

________________________________________________________________

The girls didn’t take no for an answer and dragged you to Tina’s on Friday. You had come up with every excuse in the book as to why you couldn’t go but they bought none of them. Haley had insisted on picking out your outfit. It consisted of high waisted denim shorts, a pink, short-sleeved crop top, and a denim jacket. 

You let a sigh as your group walked into the party. You had already told yourself you would only stay at the party for two hours tops before walking home since you lived on the next street over. 

When you walked in, you saw a few people stop and turn to look at you. Not your friends, you. You passed by a group of girls who were talking and you just so happen to catch some of the conversations.

“That’s the girl Billy is obsessed with. I overheard Tommy telling Carol that he hasn’t even looked at another girl in like a month.”

“I hear she’s playing hard to get. I’m surprised Billy is still wasting his time.”

Your heart fluttered then dropped at the same time.

“Let's go get drinks,” Kathy yelled over the loud music. You guys walked into the kitchen and you heard people chanting outside but couldn’t hear what they were saying or who they were surrounding. You just shrugged and accepted a drink from Haley. 

You had been at the party for about an hour and luckily saw no sign of Billy. Your group had disbanded, some going outside, others going to dance. You stood by the opening of the kitchen, sipping your drink as you watched your friends.

“Hey.” You heard next to you. You turned your head to the left and saw Joseph Atkins standing next to you. Joseph was a popular football player and very easy on the eyes. He was tall with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. He did well in school and sports and was a good guy.

You gave a small smile.

“Hey, Joey. What’s up?”

He shrugged as he stood next to you.

“Not much. I didn’t expect to see you here. Thought parties weren’t your thing.”

You gave a little laugh. “They’re not but Haley and the girls dragged me out. I’m sure after this I’ll have enough human interaction to last me till graduation.”

Joey laughed and you both took sips of your drinks. You saw him check you out from the corner of your eye.

“You uh, you look really pretty.” He raised his voice slightly so you could hear him over the music that had been turned up. 

You felt your cheeks burn slightly but before you could respond, two strong arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you back until you collided with a hard chest. 

“Well, well, well. Look who we have here.” You recognized the deep voice that was in your ear instantly.

You let out a groan before turning your head and seeing Billy. He wasn’t looking at you though. His eyes were planted firmly on Joey, giving the football player a glare.

“Hitting on my girl, Atkins?”

Your eyes widen but before you could say anything, Joey shook his head.

“Sorry, Billy. I didn’t know you guys were together.” 

“We’re n-.” Billy cut you off before you could finish.

“Well, we are so beat it.” Joey just gave a nod before walking away. Your eyes widened even more as you heard Billy laugh. You pushed his hands off of you before spinning around.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Shouldn’t you be over a keg right now instead of worrying about who I’m talking to?”

Your eyes briefly flashed to his bare chest that was on display thanks to him wearing no shirt.

“I already beat my record for the night.” “Yea well good for you. Doesn’t mean you get to come in here and decide who can talk to me.”

Billy just smirked and once again grabbed your waist and pulled you to him. You put your hands on his bare chest, trying to ignore the way he felt as you tried to put distance between you.

“Come on, [Y/N]. He was looking at you like a piece of meat. I mean can’t say as I blame him. You look fucking hot, baby.”

You rolled your eyes.

“And how is that any different from what you do? Least he probably doesn’t just want in my pants.”

At your words, something in Billy changed. The smirk dropped from his face as he leaned forward to whisper in your ear.

“How do you know that’s all I want?”

You felt your stomach drop and your heart start to race at his words. When he pulled back the look he gave you was too much. You shook your head and pushed his hands off of you before walking away without another word. You made your way upstairs and to the bathroom. You shut the door and leaned against it, taking a few deep breaths.

You closed your eyes and thought of what he said before thinking about your conversation with the girls the other day.

“I think he really likes you.” You recall Kathy saying. 

Then you remembered hearing the random girls earlier tonight. “That’s the girl Billy is obsessed with. I overheard Tommy telling Carol that he hasn’t even looked at another girl in like a month.”

“No, no, no, no, no. He doesn’t actually like me.” You pushed off the door and walked over to the sink. You ran the tap and cupped some water in your hands before splashing it on your face. You closed your eyes and let out a slow breath. Someone pounding their first on the door made you pick your head up. 

“Just a minute,” you called. You grabbed a towel and dry your face. You took one last look in the mirror before going over and unlocking the door before opening. Before you could say anything, you felt yourself being pushed back. Your eyes widened when you saw Billy closing the door and locking it.

“What the hell, Billy?” He turned around and you noticed he still had the look in his eye. “You can’t just come barging-.”

You were suddenly cut off when Billy charged forward and slammed his lips against yours. Your eyes widened and you at first tried to push him off but his hands held your face. Your eyes slowly fluttered shut and you kissed back, placing your hands in his curly locks. His lips were soft against your own and you barely held in a moan. He pushed you up against the wall and started trailing soft kisses down your face to your neck. 

“B-Billy I can’t.” You put your hands on his chest and slightly pushed him back. He let out a sigh and stared at you as you wrapped your arms around yourself.

“Why do you hate me?”

Your eyebrows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that you let Joseph fucking Atkins talk to you and look at you like a piece of meat but if I do it, all I want is to fuck you?”

You swallowed the lump in your throat and you shook your head. 

“I don’t hate you, Billy. I don’t know if you know this, but you have quite a reputation around school. Everyone knows that you sleep with one girl and then move on to the next. You stay with one for maybe a week but never longer.” Billy kept his eyes on you as you spoke. “My mom went through the same thing with my dad and it destroyed her. I told myself I would never go through anything like that. No matter how hot the guy is.” Your cheeks burned at the confession and you couldn’t believe you had just said it out loud but it also felt like a weight had been lifted off your shoulders.

Billy noticed how your voice wavered when you mentioned your father. You refused to meet his eyes, instead focusing your attention on the floor. You heard Billy sigh before he spoke.

“Look, I know that I’m known for fucking and moving on but come on, [Y/N]. Do you really think I would go on for this long if all I wanted to do was fuck?”

You shrugged. “Boys do stupid things when they’re horny.”

Billy rolled his eyes. “And what about me waiting at your locker every day? Or here’s a question, do you ever remember seeing me in English until a month ago?” You furrowed your eyebrows at his question. Now that he said something, you actually couldn’t remember ever seeing Billy in English until after you bumped into him for the first time. 

“Now I’ll admit, at first I was just trying to see if I could wear you down any but things fucking changed, okay? The day you told me off in the library, I knew you were different. And I liked that.”

You felt your heart once again start to speed up as Billy continued. “I’m not fucking good with this feeling bullshit but trust me when I tell you, if all I wanted was to fuck you, I would have stopped after the day in the library.”

You looked up into his eyes and saw the way he was looking at you. There was no smirk, no playfulness in his voice. He stared hard at you, wanting you to know he wasn’t lying. 

“I guess what I’m trying to say is, I like you [Y/N]. I like that you’re different. I like that you call me on my shit and don’t just throw yourself at me like everyone else. I like you.”

You let out a shaky breath. You never imagined that Billy Hargrove would be standing in front of you, expressing his feelings in his own way. 

“Wow I um, I don’t know what to say, Billy.”

Billy gave a slight nod. “I know this is probably a lot but all I’m asking for is a chance, [Y/N]. This would be new for both of us, but I’m willing to give it a try if you are.”

You thought about it for a minute. There was just something about the way he was talking that made you believe him. You could tell this was something new for him just by the way he kept shifting on his feet and clenching his jaw. And to be honest, you were getting tired of fighting your feelings for him. You took a deep breath and looked at him.

“Okay, Billy. We can try this out.” A grin slowly started to form on Billy’s face as you continued. “But I swear to god, one little slip-up and it’s done and my mom is friends with chief Hopper. He taught me to shoot at a young age.”

Billy laughed and walked towards you. He grabbed your hips and pulled you towards him. 

“I’ll keep that in mind, princess. You won’t regret this. Scouts honor.” 

“You don’t seem like the boy scout type.” 

“You’ll find out soon, babe, that I know quite a few rope tying techniques.” 

You blushed wildly and punched him in the stomach. Billy, however, didn’t even move, instead, he lent down to capture your lips in a deep kiss. You placed your hands on his chest and returned the kiss, both of you allowing yourselves to finally give in to your true feelings.

A/N: Let me know what you think and if you’d like to see more!

[ts-2020-olympics]

EPISODE 1 - “My Legs Were Not Qwoperating” - Kathy (Part 2)

no. jk here.

So, it’s morning. I look around at our camp, and see everyone is at work. Karen is painting their flag and using safety scissors to cut out Monty’s head, Kevin is chanting to himself in the corner, Stoner’s been asleep so we buried him in the sand up to his neck and then sculpted a sand castle around him. Tommy is just trying to make eye contact with anyone he can and so I’m...avoiding that. I’d say we are solid but that’s probably not the truth, and so that kind of stinks. I’m hoping the newbies really fuck up, and I know that’s harsh but...that’s showbiz, babe!! Speaking of newbies I still haven’t talked to a few of them.  Emma like zoomed away the first day and I’ve given up on talking to her. Hope she goes first. That’s all I got for now, going to eat breakfast I will continue this rant later.

my truth is that i haven’t played an org game in so long i forgot i was playing and then remembered an hour ago and tried to do this wack qwop game hsksksj! my legs were not qwoperating 

I see there's an arena going on! I might go there first if the rest of the team is okay with it - gives me a chance to scope things out and get a feel for the area. I'm excited!

WE WON THE FUCKING CHALLEEEENGE AAAAA NOT ONLY DID WE WIN BUT WE KILLT IT WE SCORED 12 AND EVERYONE ELSE GOT LIKE 8 AND 5 OHMYGOOOD IM NOT GONNA BE FIRST OUT YALL IM SHAKING I CANT BELIEVE GSJDKDVDSNDBWSKHSD okAy okay so thank god bc my tribe has like no drama so our vote would’ve been really difficult and that gives me more time to think about my possible advantage and the possible bonds here. 

so while I am safe I still have to game a little bit and talk to the people I’ve been talking with who are going to tribal like Sammy and Jordan, funny enough who are on the same tribe.... maybe I can get them to protect each other..... hm

Well we lost because of technicalities, I choose to blame that. This tribe is apparently extremely quiet to each other, so the fact that I messaged everyone hello this morning, nearly 48 hours after the start, I am SOMEHOW one of the best social players here. Challenges are generally my strength, we got last in QWOP, so backup is social game in a social ORG. I can be in some danger here, but I think I have a TRusuT sclusTER to keep myself here. As is necessary. I don't care who goes, I have a preference, but I don't really want to set a goal right now. Flexibility is key.

I'm literally PISSED. I'm fuming right now, like wtf? OK so I haven't confessed anything yet because my tribe has been SO quiet. I've honestly talked a lot more to some of the people from ONE WORLD than I have from some of the people from my own tribe... and I'm not crazy okay? It's NOT my fault. I put in effort with these people... But some of these people are just DRY! Drier than the Sahara Desert! Drier than my chappy ass lips! They can't hold a conversation, and that's obnoxious. I'm not going to respond to you if your message has literally nothing in it worth responding to, that's why most of my messages will either have a follow-up question, or something actually of substance to comment on/reply to... YOU SHOULD DO THE SAME SO WE CAN ACTUALLY SPEAK AND MAINTAIN A CONSISTENT DIALOGUE!!!!!!! But NOOOOOOO, my tribe decides to not speak... MOVING ON! The only people I've had good conversations with really are Juls and Em, and lo and behold, Em does lit rally nothing in this challenge, which sucks because I'm afraid that may put a target on her back. But I'm not sure, I definitely will vote with her and I think Juls will too. I'll move onto that later but I wanna talk about why I'm fucking LIVID RIGHT NOW. I literally made SO many suggestions on how we could tweak who does what in this challenge, or what we do on certain parts. Now I'm going to admit a TINY bit of fault here, in that I didn't say my suggestions on the tribe flag. There are some things I think we could've done to make it better, but I love Juls, and everyone had already told her it was great, so I didn't wanna make her feel that I didn't like it or was over criticizing. So I didn't say anything. That was my bad. BUT EVERYTHING ELSE, LUV? I said We should guess lower than 610... Now granted my even 600 guess still would've been too low to win, BUT AT LEAST IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN OVERBOARD! HMPPHH!!!!! Or maybe we could've compromised on 605 if people hadnt IGNORED ME!!!! IDK!??!?!?! Further than that, I asked for different tweaking on the chant and nobody gave any suggestions. I'm not saying we would've won or anything had I taken the lead or that I was doing everything the right way,  obviously I wasn't since my chant got 3rd, but what I'm saying is once it became obvious the challenge was going to be about group participation and suggestion, our tribe needed to unify. Everyone in the tribe needed to have a clearer vision and talk to eachother and actually put in the EFFORT that this stuff requires. Which I'm admitting my own error, in not doing that with the flag. But our tribe was just so quiet and silent before now, which sent me down a paranoid spiral, that I was super fucking worried about my place in the tribe or where things were heading. Now I realize I'm in a good position on the tribe for sure, it's just that our tribe is STRUGGLING. ON THE (Mr.) BRIGHTSIDE!!! We lost by a tiebreaker guess, and only by 4 points.... and I'm pretty close with Juls, and it seems like a target will probably fall pretty easily onto Billy. He had the worst QWOP score, described himself as arrogant in his own intro, and just seems.. critical of others. He gives off a strange vibe. If it's not him, I'm pretty sure it'd end up being Jacob or Em. I feel that me and Juls are safe which is all that I can hope for on a tribe this freaking tiny, I instantly connected with Juls over our love of anime, the fact her name is the same as Euphoria Jules, and other stuff. As far as One World goes, I honestly keep forgetting it exists. I haven't reached out to too many of the others but have talked back to those who talk to me and it's been generally decent. I get along well with other Jacob, the not pie one. Caeleb I already know from before this and so I feel like we'd def work together, and I get good vibes from a lot of these people like Eve, Nicole, Ben, etc. Honestly I'm just so frustrated right now because things have been quiet and nervous and I'm PARANOID, and my tribe was so close to winning but fucked it up over minor things we could've tweaked had we just tried a little harder and communicated a little more. ugh, this SUCKS. now my first legacy in Tumblr Survivor is a mediocre chant (i honestly really like it and i put a LOT OF THOUGHT INTO IT OKAY....) and a trip to tribal council *Sobs* Here's hoping things take a positive turn from here...? It could always be the Bronze before my Gold! ~Hamfisted olympics metaphor~

Love my tribe a lot! However, i still feel on the outside somewhat tho.... Idk this is a lot for me I just hope we win until a swap or whatever its called ahh

Alright, Darcy back here with yet another confessional!   Here is a little update since I last posted confessional, mainly the biggest difference is now I have an ally formed with Ben.   At least, I made a deal with Ben yesterday proposing just the generic looking after one another ordeal, then going to give it some time and maybe question Beck about forming an alliance, since I've been connecting with her even more past bit, but don't want to go too fast and end up asking half my tribe right away to work with me, as I don't want to be seen as playing hard out the gate and make myself a target.   Meanwhile, I decided to give the Olympic Village searching a shot, but alas was no luck in the cafeteria cabinets, so will just have to try my luck again in the future rounds.   Thinking of searching either the South or North end of Village next round, but we shall see.   Anyways, I'm glad my tribe won Immunity, so don't have to go to tribal this round, and this Olympic Arena twist sounds great, essentially one person from each tribe goes to the Arena, I believe for the immune tribes just 1 person is selected to go to the Arena, and for the losing tribes, the two voted out go to arena, where the winner of the voted out people come back in the game, and loser is out of the game for good.   Think I read that all right, but maybe won't hurt to give it another read to double check.   For now though, I shall go, so will see you all with my next confessional.

Fuck having to go to tribal first. I don’t like having to send someone home when I don’t even really know who I’m playing with yet. 

Seems like Billy pulling the "I don't want to make any moves" to me was surprisingly bullshit. Who would've thunk. I think everyone is fine with voting out Billy here, I didn't really want to initially, but yeah, uh no. I could be in danger, but if everyone is honest here, I should be fine. Fingers crossed. "I'm either going to be first boot or win" - Pia Miranda

So, the first tribal is in a bit and we were almost sent there but managed to pull through in the tiebreaker! I hope that opens some of my tribemates eyes (lets be real, just Stoner who hasn’t been doing much of anything!) Being in One World but none of the newbies talking to me is still wild to me, half of them still haven’t even accepted my contact request. Yet they’re plenty active in the chat, so what gives? Anyway, I hope it’s just that they are intimidated by the very fact that I am beauty, and grace, and Miss United States. I hope we can win the next round, hopefully first or second place so we don’t have a close call again. We are trying to get Chris to go to the Arena so he can get us that 20% but he hasn’t answered so...what gives? On the alliance front I’m good with Kevin and Karen tribewise , the bigger picture is Kevin, Jacob and Sammy want to align and then we will have a bigger alliance that includes Beck, Juls and Eve. Eventually I might wanna break off and align with Jules and Eve, but having bigger targets around is essential. Anyway that’s all I got for now. I should start making video confessionals AS THINGS ARE HAPPENING. Ya know? Anyway toodles for now see ya next round. OH, and I’m hoping Jules and Jacob are safe this tribal :( love them and hope we can work together going forward. 

Hiiii, arena results are about to come in so I'm just gonna drop a quickie confessional before that happens. I don't honestly remember how much I talked about the strategy and gameplay that was going on, so I'll give you a quick rebriefing of that. I'm really close with Juls. Em I like, but I want more out of her. Jacob is quiet, but inoffensive. Billy, I actually like him, but there are certain things about him that just.. Rub me (and others) a strange way and that's why we voted him out because certain things he did just didn't quite gel with the rest of the team. If he does return from the arena though, it's possibly I may vouch for him over Jacob because Jacob... HE JUST NEEDS TO TALK!!! But idk. One world still SUCKS and is dragging me through the MUD because nobody wants to do cross-tribe talking me included but that gets me paranoid as FUCK, luv. About the live tribal, it was fun! My camera angle was awkward and I was soo nervous though, but I think I was still able to hold it together relatively well, act normal, and give semi-decent answers. Will definitely be improving my live tribal performance for next time so I can be a bad ass bitch on call, it's GOING to happen... dskfdsf. I love Emma on call/video sooooo much, But on text she's kind of dry. Maybe I need to ask her if I can call her sometime, but I haven't done a call for a game like this in a looong time. I'm a bit nervous about that. But yeah. I'm looking forward to the game... The first tribal just makes everything real, and you realize, oh shit, we're playing Survivor. And I forgot how thrilling it was to play in a live, video environment like that, it just grips you and it feels so much more intense than when wiki results are just posted in chat and you don't have to deal with physically seeing the person you're voting out, talking to them with your actual voice, etc. All that stuff just makes the experience that much more realistic and it's so intense and fun. I'm ready to get this game on (Btw fuck the arena twist)

hey guys im really loving this game so far... keep up the good work!

i didn’t appreciate the attitude billy gave me whenever i tried to help the team out but! i’m willing to get over it because he is a nice guy. i feel fairly comfortable with my team and i’m just hoping we can avoid another tribal! 

Hello! I can not believe I'm back for a 6th time on Tumblr Survivor this is so crazy! Especially for an Olympic season because I vowed to myself that I would never do a season again that was more than 20 people after being in Japan. Now that I'm back I'm ready to play, I haven't really came into this season with a strategy but if I did it would have changed because this is a One World season and now with the arena twist I'm sweating. One World makes the season super social (probably one of my least favorite twists) it's very easy for this season to let pre-mades and majorities take over just like that and let underdogs like me in this season to get taken out especially taken out early. So I have been social not only with me but a few people on different tribes but not too much. I don't want to seem like I'm playing too hard but I wanna build relationships before swaps happen so that people choose to ally with me (A WINNER) over a newbie or a returnee who hasn't won because I already have a big target on my back. With how the tribe divisions are it gives the newbies the biggest advantage with 15 newbies compared to 5 winners and 5 non-winner returnees, which isn't bad in a Fan vs. Favorite season because the ratio is even with returnees and newbies. However, now that I'm in the minority and also labeled a WINNER, I have to do damage control to lower my target but most importantly integrate with other people which is hard because I'm not the best social player and I know that's my weakness but I still have to attempt. In terms of my own tribe I'm closest to Kevin, when I talk to him we have a good conversation I probably already irritate him but I think out of everyone I can put my trust in him the most compared to everyone else. I think having one good ally is how I want to approach this season due to the arena twist I don't want to come across as running the tribe especially the winners tribe incase we do go to tribal because if I vote in the majority and that person stays they are immune and will be mad and spill the beans about the tribe, and I want that person to be the least mad at me so the focus is not on me. So having overall good vibes and 1 strong connection is a good strategy for the long term game. It might put me at risk for being voted out in the short term but I want to play the long-term game. Preferably if it is up to me I'd want Nicole to be the next closest to Kevin and myself without myself having to make an official deal with Nicole so I'm not seen as the ringleader. Kevin says he wants Stoner to be the first one voted out on our tribe but honestly I rather it be Karen. Stoner has the reputation keeps his target bigger than the rest and I think Karen has the better chance of flipping on the winners and succeeding than Stoner does. So my target is Karen if we do lose. I also believe that there may be an alliance with Nicole, Kevin, and Karen which I hope is not an actual alliance because that's bad news for me. I hope we don't go to tribal because I don't wanna go to a tribal with only 5 people. Wish me luck!

Whew it has been one round and i've fucked up so much its not even funny. its a little funny. anyways i start this game on a tribe of 5, i allign with connor who ive never played a game with and find some similar common ground, and with jacob who seems chill. we lose the first challenge sucks and all hell breaks loose, long story short fuck sammy. I'm trying to work my way back in caeleb and jacobs good graces. its gonna be a rocky road, but its one i've driven before

[nicholastours]

Travel West: August 12, 2021

Day 44. We had a rainy start to the day. As such we simply chilled out in our room and caught up on the news…

It’s depressing to hear how foolish people are in this country to fight wearing masks and resist getting a vaccination. The fast-moving “Delta“ variant has elevated the spread to concerning levels. Florida is especially hard hit.

Also, I’ve heard enough about Governor Cuomo resigning office for inappropriate sexual behavior.

Now it’s too wet on our deck to enjoy it, so we headed out for breakfast to a place called “The Original Pancake House”. Holy cow, or better yet, holy Toledo! I had my first ever German pancake. It was eggy, buttery, a golden masterpiece, adorned with powdered sugar and fresh lemons.

Tommy opted for the pot roast stuffed omelette which was covered in cheese and served with a gravy and three buttermilk pancakes. So much food. Deliciousness!

But alas I have to say uncle. Whew I’m so full. The rain finally stopped. It’s gonna be a steamy hot one today. Thus it’s a good day to visit the Toledo glass pavilion and the Toledo art museum.

My head is swimming. We’ve seen so much… A real nice diversion from corn on the cob fields. The vast representation of glass from all over the world from before Christ times to Modern. There is also a glass studio with a tremendously hot oven where you can see glass artisans holding their craft.

The Toledo Art Museum also has quite an array of art, lots of abstracts, modern, and Egyptian artifacts. What an interesting find.

A warm muggy day continued on our drive to Emlenton Pennsylvania. This ride will be shorter, about 3 1/2 hours.

A few of the tractor trailer trucks are more aggressive weaving in and out and cutting off other drivers. Tommy thought to spar with one, beeping his horn at him annoyed at his behaviors. The truck driver, however, wasn’t having it and proceeded to cut us off and slam on his brakes and then pull over.

Tommy‘s response was to call 911 and report his ass. Within a few minutes a state trooper was driving along the side as if to warn him about his behavior. The best part was while Tommy was speaking to dispatch from the hands-free speaker the Dispatcher could hear the truck driver honking his horn at us while he was threatening to drive us off the road.

My take on this? Don’t engage with assholes, especially if they are bigger than yours. Kathy our Innkeeper is great. She gave us a tour and history of the home and the town. Apparently Emlenton Pennsylvania is the town where natural gas was discovered. Many millionaires in the business lived here until things got so polluted. The Bernard House overlooks the Allegheny River. It’s cozy and welcoming and colorful antiques, flowers abound.

There were American flags flying everywhere… But they were littered with “Trump support“. Fortunately the place we stayed had a sign that says “hate has no home here“ and welcome signs.

Fresh flowers and macaroons are waiting to greet us in our room clear. Dinner is at the Allegheny Grill overlooking the river. A thunderstorm has come in for our entertainment value while we eat with occasional flickers of the lights in power shortages.

I’ve opted for a Greek pasta dish with chicken. Tommy‘s choice is a piled high meatloaf special. His was the winner for this evening. Tonight‘s share dessert is vanilla ice cream topped with pecans, warm caramel sauce, and fresh whip cream.

Back at the inn with PJs on we’re chilling on the front porch reflecting on the day listening to the birds and crickets while the sun breaks through the clouds for a moment and beautiful golds are cast on the landscape.

Light is now glistening on the river. Darkness will settle in soon and while it does, fire flies can be seen flitting about.

A nice soak in the hot tub in the backyard was fun tonight. It could’ve been warmer, but it was still relaxing. Looking at the crescent moon and a few stars in between we started to feel a few soft raindrops.

There’s a quaint Courtyard lit Up by garden lights giving a soft illumination to the bistro tables and chairs. A shower to rinse off chlorine and sparkle and retire to our air conditioned room.

[darlingnisi]

Celebration Day 3 : VIP Edition

Part 2 Here!

Funk Soldiers Panel

Shelby J

Kat Dyson

Xavier Taplin

Joey Rayfield

Kip Blackshire

About Last Night... (The Prince on the Big Screen event)

A lot of reherasal

Kirk organized everyone, got the materials out

Biggest challenge was that there were a lot of performers who worked with P at different times so the arrangements of the songs were often different. Hard to sync up with the show or pick the right one to use at first

Shelby said it was hard not to turn and look at him on the screen

The fludidity of the performance came with experience because they knew what P expected of them musically

Kat said “having him in my ear floated me back to my time with him” The instructions he gave inside of the performance still applied

Joey noted that he better understood the difference between just playing and performance from his time with Prince

“I almost forgot he wasn’t there”

Kat Dyson Origin Story (Guitar)

Recommended by Sheila E. Kat and Rhonda Smith met Sheila while demoing gear at an industry show. Sheila asked for their music as she had an idea to do an all girl band at the time. She got sick and gave their info to P. P took them both on.

Their audition was a four hour jam session in 96. P asked Kat “How much of my material do you know...and how much did you buy?”

Her favorite P music are the soundtracks, especially Batman and her favorite songs are Joy of Repetition and Question of You.

She and Rhonda did an arrangement for Question of You for him.

Xavier Taplin Origin Story (Organ)

Played with and was reccomend by Gouche, another NPG member

Audition was P on Bass and Job Blackwell on Drums. They played 777-9311 and P had him solo for 60 bars. He fell back into the groove and P told him to keep going...fell back into the groove again...and P told him to keep going. P put his bass down, walks over to  Xavier, and stands “uncomfortably close for 15 seconds just looking at me” he then says “We’re going to have a lot of fun.”

Joey Rayfield (Trombone)

Gets a call from Adrian Crutcfield about an audition in Charolette North Carolina. Gets PDF of a chart for Xtraloveable and realizes it’s for Prince

They have a Skype audition.

Time passes and he randomly got an email with a Delta ticket to Minneapolis. He quit his job and left for Paisley.

At first played on Andy Allo’s Supeconductor sessions.

Story : during a rehearsal P slowly walks up to the stage and says “You and Ida go play ping pong and if you win, I’ll play you. Joey wins and plays Prince. Joey’s in his dress shoes though and is slipping and sliding everywhere. P stops the game, moves a rug to be under Joey and says “I ain’t got no insurance.”

Story from Kat : I played basketball with him. Nobody told me not to block his shot. The game was over after that.

Kip : I was playing with him in the Daisy Chain video.

Kip Blackshire Origin Story (Vocals)

Morris Hayes invited him to a Carlos Sananta show and Jam session at Paisley. Kip absently playing basketball. Hears a “clang” (P dropping his guitar). P comes over and squares up with Kip. Kip passes P the ball, and P checks him hard in the stomach with it. Kip says he isn’t dressed to play and P tells him to come back the next day to play for real. The next day they play a 2 on 2 game. Kirk/Prince vs. Morris/Kip.

Was cleaning up in the bathroom and absently singing. P overhears and invites him to sing with them in the studio. P asks him if he knows Little Red Corvette and Kip says “I wasn’t allowed to listen to you growing up.” Instead P played guitar and Kip answered his licks with his voice. He was invited to join the band and the first song he sang on was Undisputed from Rave.

Shelby J Origin Story (Vocals)

Audition for Larry G’s band. Got in and was at 3121 doing a rehearsal. Kept being told to re-sing Higher Ground. It was P asking.

Was singing I Can’t Stand the Rain during a show. Crowd goes wild and she thought she was “DOING IT!” turns out P had come on stage behind her and was plugging up his guitar to join them. He came up to her mic and sang cheek to cheek with her for that song.

Was in Walmart getting supplies at home when she got invited to sing at one of his shows NYE. From there she was asked to join the band and their next gig was the Superbowl.

Arrangement Panel with Michael B Nelson

Had done work with Micheal Bland. There was an idea for a warm up group early 90′s. Dave and Kathy Jenson with Michael B Nelson, Sonny, and Tommy B made up a 5 piece band. They recorded some tracks and sent it to P. P told them to go to a Carmen Electra rehearsal to be filmed. Time passes asked to come to the soundstage at Paisley...saw pedal boards set up P was there! NPG was very tight at this time so P just held up a signal and they started into Madhouse 4. The horns were shocked for a moment then fell in (this was their audition). They jammed for 6 hours then recorded for the first time that same day....Sexy MF? (This may be wrong...he mentioned that they recorded for the first time that day, then a moment later said the first thing they recorded was Sexy MF as part of a different story so...take that how you will)

Told to get their passports together. They joined him on the Diamonds and Pearls tour

There were 11 semi trucks and 110 people in the entourage for the D&P tour. Their first stop with him was Tokyo

Hornheads was formulated as a horns only group since they were on with P and couldn’t play with anyone else, they just made a mini group to keep their chops up during down time. Mike Nelson wrote the tunes and they have 3 albums.

“Even when he was giving you a hard time, he’s just pushing you”

Q: What was it like during the 90′s? Every office was filled. He gave you exactly what you needed to fufill a task. You didn’t ask for additional questions...you had to trust yourself and know that he trusted you to use your creativity wisely.

Prince preferred Duke Ellington’s style of horns

P would send Mike tapes of a lead line and melody and Mike would add horn parts.

Mike did Black Muse, new Xtraloveable, When She Comes, Groovy Potential, Morning Papers and more (He’s been around for about 25 years)

Percentage of things recorded to released of the work Mike did. 50%

He co-wrote Billy Jack Bitch. While they were working on something, Mike played P a song during tape change. P said “Who do I have to pay to use that” The instrumental part of Billy Jack Bitch was written by Mike.

Story : Working on something and Mike B was impressed with how it sounded. Forgot everything he said could be heard in the control room by P. Commented “man that is funky” P responds “yes it is.”

Story : Tenor sax was playing a solo while working on something and it didn’t go well. When it was done, from the control room P says “You guys see Waterworld?” Tenor sax guy “No who’s in it” Prince, “Your mama” Tenor sax guy, “Oh it’s good to know she’s getting work!” “Prince falls off his chair from laughing” (Waterworld has a reputation for being a very bad movie.)

Q: Why did you last? P told him “You and Clare Fischer really understand my music.” Was asked to be full time in 2012. He never had a falling out or harsh words with P and P never rejected any of his additions to his songs.

Got our pictures from our tour back. Framing mine for sure! It’s like my 5th picture in here and the only good one, lol...

Funk Soldiers Concert

Honesty we were all kind of weary about this as this seemed to be a remix of the NewPower Soul group to some degree...or at least that concept, but once again VERY happy to be completely checked about the assumption because they were PHENOMENAL and not just because of something that happened...! Set list : 

I’m Yours

I Feel For You

Party Man

Girls and Boys

Lady Cab Driver/Irresistible Bitch mashup (!)

1+1+1 is 3 (I LOST. MY. MIND. YA’LL KNOW THAT ONE NIGHT ALONE TIME PERIOD IS MY COMPLETE FAVORITE AND NOBODY DOES COVERS OF THOSE SONGS AND IT WAS SO GOOD!)

The Work Part 1 (I WAS ABSOLUTELY DELIRIOUS! AGAIN BECAUSE THIS IS MY ERA AND NOBODY DOES THIS! I was so into it singing, foot stomping and dancing, I got tapped by security and they asked if I want to go on stage! I 100% always say I’d never do it, but I thought I’d get to jam out to The Work since that goes on for a bit. I got back stage and they said I was to be part of a dance battle (WHAT?! I LEGIT AM THE MOST RESERVED PERSON USUALLY ABSOLUTELY NOT! (And also I guess for The Professor, lol) So me and Lenny Beason (from Purple Underground who thankfully I mostly know in real life so I was comfortable) were to battle to...

Black Sweat (Kip told me to go first so I tried to do every dance I could think of...The Housequake, The Get Off dance, Tried to remember the Purple Funk SF Funknroll dance but my mind blanked so I did some booty pops and stopped on the accents with a pose. Lenny went during the next chorus...then I had to go again. Shelby said I’m her funk sister now and we got T-shirts! My heart was beating so fast ya’ll! It pays to love The Rainbow Children! LOL!

Chelsea Rodgers

Xtraloveable (AGAIN A DREAM COME TRUE I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO HEAR THIS LIVE WITH THESE GUYS DOING THE HORNS!)

Big City

Welcome 2 the Dawn (SO glad they did this instead of Purple Rain! Amazing choice! A Great song!)

Paisley Park

All the Critics Love You in New York/Housequake Jumps

Alphabet Street (Sheila E came out and crowd surfed for a bit)

Very good job! They were very tight, funky, and kept everyone’s spirits WAY up, especially with the EXCELLENT choice of Welcome 2 the Dawn being the only slow song.

This day was the 21st and honestly it was a BLUR. Even if I hadn’t gotten chosen by Ghost Prince to go up, the experience the band gave us with their energy and love made it hard to be sad this day. For me, interestingly I had a harder time on the 20th seeing him up there at the Big Screen event and with all the news that came out on the previous Thursday...did stay in bed for a bit that day to be honest...but “the day” was so full of just AMAZING like he legit came down like “ya’ll don’t cry for me...look at all this that I left behind for you to enjoy!” This day was was distracting with so much information followed by such an explosive show! Everyone was on their feet dancing, singing, hands in the air, just the whole time!

I’m very glad the days for the arena event got switched because it honestly would have been too much for me if it fell on this day...

Last part here!

[the-master-cylinder]

Russell was born in San Diego, California, the daughter of Constance (née Lerner) and Richard Lion Russell, a stock analyst. Three of her four grandparents were Jewish. Her maternal grandfather was journalist and educator Max Lerner. Russell wanted to be an actress since the age of eight and started acting in school plays. She appeared in a Pepsi commercial that was taped locally while in high school. After graduating from Mission Bay High School in 1981, she moved to Los Angeles and began taking acting classes before landing her first role. She did a masters program in Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa Monica and is a certified hypnotist and life coach, also from the University of Santa Monica.

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The day after graduating high school, with limited commercial and modeling experience. Russell set out for Los Angeles with a UCLA-bound girlfriend. She located a roommate, actress Diane Brody, via the campus bulletin board. Brody helped Russell line up acting classes and waitressing jobs. Accompanying an acting classmate to an audition, Russell walked away with representation. She was subsequently cast in an unapologetic PORKY’S clone titled Private School (1983)

Private School (1983) Chris from a girls’ boarding school loves Jim from a nearby boys’ boarding school. Jordan also wants Jim and plays dirty. Jim and 2 friends visit the girls’ school posing as girls.

Russell played Jordan Leigh-Jensen, “a spoiled rich girl willing to do anything to get her way.” As her romantic rival, the top-billed Phoebe Cates waged war for the affections of Matthew Modine. Critics excoriated the film’s leering sexism, but Russell’s recollections are pleasant. “It was like walking on air,” she recalled. “Phoebe Cates was my idol at the time, and she was so nice to me. We grew very close, and she was fun to work with.”

Phobe Cates, in fact, coached the novice actress who was nervous about her nude scene: “Phoebe said, ‘Oh, this is nothing-in Paradise (1982) I had nude scenes. To make matters more stressful, old acquaintances showed up on the day Russell was shooting her topless “Lady Godiva” scene. “I hadn’t seen these people in years,” laughed Russell. “They turned up on the set, outdoors in the middle of nowhere. The director made them leave. It was hysterical. I learned that day not to take it all too seriously.”

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She insists that reviews, citing herself as the film’s sole asset, caused no friction with leading lady Cates. Phoebe is very secure with herself, stated Russell “She should be. Look at her now! We didn’t pay any attention to critics.”

Offers promptly rolled in. One of the networks offered Russell a spot on any series she wanted Numerous agents called, Playboy asked her to pose for a pictorial on struggling actresses in Hollywood. Although she does not regret turning down Playboy, Russell admits that she, and her management, did not make the best choice of opportunities. Though she auditioned for smaller parts in higher profile filmy, she inevitably landed leads in B-movies.

Out of Control (1985) Teens (Martin Hewitt, Betsy Russell, Sherilyn Fenn) crash-land on an island, find vodka, play strip spin-the-bottle and run into drug smugglers

In Out of Control (1985), Martin Hewitt and Russell were cast as a prom king and queen who invite six of their classmates on a “grad night” chartered flight. The plane crashes and the kids acclimate themselves to survival on a deserted island. Most critics panned the film, but the Los Angeles Times and L.A. Weekly gave it good reviews.

“We filmed in Yugoslavia,” explained Russell. “It was fun. There were a lot of us around the same age… Martin Hewitt, Sherilyn Fenn. Russell remembered that Fenn, who debuted in the film, “was the youngest of us all and very sweet. We both liked Martin. I liked him for about two minutes the first day, and she ended up breaking his heart. The producer, Fred Weintraub, said, ‘Sherilyn is going to be huge-she’s going to break a lot of hearts. He was right. She’s worked very hard and she deserves her success.”

Russell played the title role in her third film, Tomboy (1985), Her character, Tommy Boyd, was a curvaceous auto mechanic with car racing ambitions. The movie was dogged by controversy: despite it’s claims of feminist affirmation, TOMBOY was peppered with the usual B-quota of sex and nudity.

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 Tomboy (1985)  A strong-willed female stock car driver challenges her chauvinistic crush to a race to win his respect- and get him into bed.

“It turned out all right, said Russell. “Actually, that movie surprised me. I’ve heard a lot of people really loved that movie. At first, I thought it was going to be kind of dumb but I’ve gotten great response. I saw it about a year ago and thought it wasn’t so bad.”

Avenging Angel (1985) was more of a challenge for Russell. The film served as a sequel to 1983’s ANGEL, about a high school student’s double life as a hooker. “That was a rough experience, because I didn’t understand the character,” recalled Russell. “I felt kind of unsure I was still very young and this had all come very fast, and I hadn’t really studied that much. I didn’t totally relate to the character. Angel wasn’t an everyday girl. It was something new to me, and I didn’t have time to do any research.”

Avenging Angel (1985) Molly, former prostitute, has managed to leave her street life with help from Lt. Andrews. She studies law and leads a normal life. When Andrews is killed by a brutal gang, she returns to the streets as Angel to find his killers.

Although ANGEL had been released only two years previously, the sequel’s storyline picks up five years after the conclusion of its predecessor, Producer Keith Rubenstein and director Robert Vincent O’Neil felt that Donna Wilkes, who played the title role as the first ANGEL, wasn’t credible as a college graduate. The sequel’s investors, however, insisted that Wilkes reprise her familiar role. But it was Wilkes, pricing herself out of the market, who finally broke the stalemate. Cast as a streetwise heroine, Russell drew unflattering reviews from critics.

“Queen of Schlock Wants to Abdicate,” announced the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. After AVENGING ANGEL, it appeared Russell was fed up with her movie career. “I’ve done four B movies and now I’m just gonna stop,” she told a reporter. “I’ve paid my dues, and four is enough.” Russell also related that a meaty role in PRIVATE SCHOOL blinded her to its exploitation elements. She was critical of her involvement in B-films, and pledged to stop making them.

During the next two years, Russell turned to television, performing guest stints on T.J. HOOKER MURDER, SHE WROTE, FAMILY TIES, and THE A-TEAM, “I had down time, she noted. “I didn’t really want to do more nudity. I didn’t want to do B-movies and be taking my clothes off.” A lack of good scripts also prompted Russell to decelerate her movie output.

Cheerleader Camp (1988) A group of cheerleaders become the targets of an unknown killer at a remote summer camp.

Russell wasn’t obligated to disrobe in her next film, Cheerleader Camp (1988) which was initially promoted as BLOODY POM POMS. The plot: cheerleaders, including centerfolds Teri Weigel and Rebecca Ferratti, are sliced and diced while attending a wilderness retreat. The slasher epic hardly adhered to Russell’s speculations about a future in A-movies. “CHEERLEADER CAMP came along, and I liked the character, the actress explained. “She was kind of cute. She was getting driven crazy, and I could keep all my clothes on because the Playmates around me took all their clothes off. It was fun, too, working in Sequoia National Forest. I’ve always made friends with every film I’ve done.”

Following the film, she renewed a past friendship with actor Vince Van Patten. “I met him at the Playboy mansion when I first moved to L.A., Russell recounted. “We dated a few times, and then I never heard from him again. He was involved with the tennis circuit. We both really liked each other, but at the time he wasn’t right. I broke up with my boyfriend five years ago, ran into Vince at the Hard Rock Cafe and the rest is history. The timing was perfect.”

Trapper County War (1989) Two city boys (Estes, Blake) get in trouble with a backwoods North Carolina family (Swayze, Armstrong, Hunky, and Evans) when they try to help an abused step-daughter (Russell). Bo Hopkins and Ernie Hudson are the good locals who attempt to help the boys.

Russell’s last turn as a teenage ingenue was Trapper County War (1989), an updated, sanitized version of DELIVERANCE. Playing the 17-year-old adopted daughter of a backwoods family, Russell served as the city slicker’s love interest.

In Delta Heat (1992), a film noir thriller shot two years ago in New Orleans, Russell was cast as a deceased drug kingpin’s daughter. Academy Entertainment recently released the film on video. “New Line wanted it.” smiled Russell, but the investors had already made a deal with Academy. I think it should have come out in theatres. It’s pretty good.”

Delta Heat (1992) An L.A. cop investigates the death of his partner in the swamps of Louisiana. Enlisting the help of an ex-cop who lost his hand to an alligator many years before.

In Amore! (1993), “It’s Jack Scalia and Kathy Ireland and me, but you wouldn’t know it because of my billing,” laughed Russell. “I’m definitely in the movie. In fact, it’s only me and Scalia in the first half of the movie, and we get divorced and Kathy Ireland comes in. It was my first real comedy.” As the film started to roll, Russell had something else in production. I was three months pregnant at start time, and kept getting bigger!,” she revealed. “I finished the movie when I was four and a half months, and the filmmakers never knew I was pregnant.”

Her husband, who has retired from tennis, is producing a movie adapted from his own script. Rewritten by Dan Jenkins (Semi-Tough), The Break (1995)is a family affair for the Van Pattens. “It’s my first small part in a really good movie,” beams Russell “It’s like ROCKY or BULL DURHAM with tennis. Vince plays the veteran coach, with this rookie kid that he has to coach for the summer. I play the love interest to the kid. I’m the older woman.” She laughs, reflecting upon her ten-year development from PRIVATE SCHOOL starlet to more mature character actress.

When addressed with questions regarding nudity, Russell replied, “If BASIC INSTINCT came my way. I’m sure I wouldn’t have turned it down. It depends on who’s in the movie, what kind of part it is, what the movie’s about. But, you know, I’m not getting those types of offers or scripts anymore, so I’m not worried about it.

“I hope to do good work, to do entertaining, enjoyable projects,” Russell continued. Then, with a glimmer in her eye not at all reminiscent of Arnold Schwarzenegger, she smiled and vowed, “I’ll be back…”

Interview with Betsy Russell

What is the difference between the filmmakers you were working with in your early career versus the filmmakers of today? Betsy Russell: That’s an interesting question because I was just reading a little blurb online about a director on a movie I did called ‘Out of Control’ [1985, directed by Allan Holzman], and he went on to do award winning things, documentaries and other films. The directors I work with now are amazing, talented and insightful, but I’ve also worked with directors before who have gone on to do incredible things. For example, the dialogue coach from Private School [Jerry Zaks] went on to a Broadway career. All the people I worked with were fine. I don’t like to compare one to the other, they are all different.

When you made “Private School” back in the early 1980s, the videotape revolution had just begun. What do you think of how your images from that film proliferated from VHS to DVD to the internet? What do you think of the ability to download virtually anything from the internet, including those pictures of your younger days? Betsy Russell: When I said I would do the topless scene, because it wasn’t in the original script for Private School. I remember thinking I’m 19 years old, my body is great and for the rest of my life I’m going to have something on film that the people will say, ‘yeah, she’s topless but that is my Mom, that was my Grandmother, that was my Great-Grandmother’s first film.’

I remember thinking this is kind of cool, why not? Just to have it out there now in the ‘anything goes’ era, with Playmates becoming TV stars and the like, I am proud of it, I’m proud of my body and I’m proud of the sort of free feeling that my character had in that movie, not inhibited whatsoever. It’s more of a European-type feeling, that the body can be a beautiful thing. There is reason to hide it.

You were beautiful then, you are beautiful now, nothing to worry about. Do you remember the name of the famous horse on which you rode to 1980s movie glory? Betsy Russell: No, because he almost killed me. I didn’t know how to ride very well and I got on it just to get to know the horse. We didn’t have a very big budget so that the stunt guys had gotten some kind of wild horse. The minute I got on the horse it took off with me. Of course, everybody was at lunch except for the stunt guys, the horse wranglers and me. I thought I was going to die, because it started to run out of the stable area. Somebody finally stopped it. So I don’t remember the name, but it ended up being a quiet, passive horse after that incident.

You were fairly busy in the 1980s with your career. Was there anything that you auditioned for or didn’t do that you think might have led to a different career track? Betsy Russell: Yeah, I was a favorite of a casting director name Wally Nicita, and she eventually became a producer. She was a big fan of mine after Private School, and there was a film coming up called ‘Silverado.’ I was shooting ‘Avenging Angel at the time and I had an audition. It was a night shoot, I was very tired and I didn’t really understand the ins and outs of the business, I relied more on my manager to take care of that, and he was learning to as we went along.

So they called for me at the audition for Silverado, and I didn’t pay attention to who had been cast in it. I just looked at it as an ensemble piece, and the other movie I was auditioning for was a ski movie, in which I would star. I just said let’s go for the bigger part. As luck would have it, the audition was in the same building as Wally Nicita’s office, and she kept saying how much the directors and producers of Silverado would love to see me. I told her no, I was here for the other audition. She looked at me like I was the stupidest person on the planet, and never contacted me for anything again. Everything happens for a reason. I always believe my career would have been different had I done that part. I can’t say if it would have been better or worse. I’ve had a good run.

Tomboy had your character as a mechanic. How did this occupation change your character from a typical character? Betsy Russell: It defined her. I was playing a girl who loves auto mechanics. My oldest sister was a mechanic growing up. She did all the lube jobs on the car – she was that type of person. It wasn’t far out for me to imagine myself as that type of character. That’s what she did. She was a tomboy who liked riding motorcycles and playing basketball.

What are your thoughts on the trailer for Tomboy showing you as a strong female, but then cutting to you in the shower? Betsy Russell: I’ve never really paid attention to that. I don’t know that I’ve seen it. I guess strong females still have to take showers. They still like to feel sexy, so I don’t think there’s one thing that should stop someone from feeling sexy and showing their body if that’s what they choose to do. I don’t think it makes any difference in the world.

Tomboy is arguably feminist. Was this a draw for you? Betsy Russell: Yes, I like playing strong characters. I thought it would be fun. I was probably twenty-one years old, so the idea of playing this type of character was great. I didn’t think that hard about it. I said, “Ok, this is another role, this is what she does, and I’m going to get into it.” I started working with the assistant basketball coach at UCLA, trying to learn a little bit of basketball. At that point in my life I wasn’t thinking that long or hard about which role to take. I did have a couple of offers with Tomboy; I had another offer for another movie. I picked this one. I’m sure that was a draw for me.

What do you think makes it a feminist role? Betsy Russell: She has a career that isn’t the norm for women. Usually women rely on men to do all the mechanical things. It’s kind of unusual for a woman to be a mechanic. I think it’s silly to be unusual, but I guess it is.

In the same vein, what role does feminism play in Avenging Angel? Betsy Russell: I barely remember that movie, but I know Angel carries a gun. She’s a tough chick. I saw that movie maybe one time. I don’t remember it well, but I had a lot of fun doing it.

There were a couple of stronger roles you did early on. Did you find yourself drawn to the stronger roles? Betsy Russell: Typically the leads in movies are stronger women. Nobody wants to watch a wimp for two hours. I played more of a leading lady than the sidekick. I don’t think I’ve ever played the sidekick. If given the chance, I would have. I did what I thought was good.

How did you get your role in Avenging Angel? Betsy Russell: I auditioned first, but then the director fought for me. The producer wanted the girl from the first movie. The director said he wouldn’t do the movie without me. That was nice.

Do you remember having a favorite line from Avenging Angel? Betsy Russell: No, but a lot of people tell me their favorite line from it, and I don’t remember anything.

What were your thoughts on Cheerleader Camp (1988) and Camp Fear (1991) and how have these thoughts evolved over time? Betsy Russell: Camp Fear was somebody called me and said, “Would you and your husband, Vince, like to do this little movie? You’re going to make a lot of money for three weeks shoot, and it’s going to go right to video.” I said, “Great, I want to make a lot of money. If nobody sees it, I guess it doesn’t matter. It’ll be fun to work with my husband.” We did it. Who knew that YouTube would happen. I’ve never seen the movie, so I have no idea. I’m sure I was terrible in it. It would be hard to be anything but terrible in it. I’ve always seen bits and pieces on YouTube. My voice is really high in it. We had fun. My brother-in-law is in that movie. I remember the actor playing the Indian could never remember his lines; we laughed so hard we almost fell off a cliff. That guy who played the Indian asked Vince to be his best man at his wedding. We barely knew him so that was funny. That happened back when they would say, “No one’s ever going to see it.” You’d do it. As an actor, if you’re not working, you want to just work. It doesn’t matter all of the time if it’s best project if you haven’t worked in a while. You have to put some money in the bank. That’s why I did that. Cheerleader Camp, I hadn’t offered this role called Bloody Pom Pom’s at the time. I remember thinking, “Oh my gosh, I don’t have to take any clothes off.” At that time, coming from Private School, Tomboy, and Out of Control (1985), I was tired of taking my clothes off. I wore those big nightgowns, and I just wanted to be taken seriously. That’s why I did that movie. I had a lot of fun filming it. As for Cheerleader Camp, we didn’t know we were making kind of a farce. Honestly, it was a little bit funny, but I took my character very seriously. We were rewriting scenes on the set five minutes before.

What are your views on nudity in film? Betsy Russell: I don’t have any negative views on it at all. In my twenties, I would say, “If it’s intrinsic to the character then I think it’s great.” I learned that word, intrinsic, just to say that. I really don’t have any problem with it. If it’s just thrown in there because it’s a low-budget movie and they’re trying to sell it, it’s really obvious. It takes you out, which isn’t always great. Sometimes it’s just right for what’s going on. It’s great that the actor or actress isn’t embarrassed to show it. If it looks good then it’s great. If it’s a person who looks terrible I would rather they keep their clothes on. If it’s important to the role and that type of film then it’s fine.

CREDITS/REFERENCES/SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Femme Fatales v02n02 0038 Bad Ass Women of Cinema: A Collection of Interviews Chris Watson hollywoodchicago

Betsy Russell: 80’s B Film Princess Russell was born in San Diego, California, the daughter of Constance (née Lerner) and Richard Lion Russell, a stock analyst.