#a mockingbird in paris

[heavyhitterheaux]

Meet Me Halfway Part 2

AN: Let’s GOOOOOO

Synopsis: Once Jack made his intentions clear to you, it was too late and you needed to put some distance in between the two of you not wanting to get hurt any longer. He finally confesses why he did what he did, but is it enough for you to give him a second chance?

Pairing: Jack Harlow x Reader

Jack Harlow Masterlist

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

It had been about a week and Urban knew that something was wrong with his best friend no matter how many times he would brush him off. He knew Jack like the back of his hand and could tell what kind of mood that he was in and it was only a matter of time before he broke down and told him so he decided to confront him about it first. 

They had just finished a match at Mockingbird Valley when he finally cornered him because as far as Urban could see, this had gone on long enough. .

“That’s it. What the hell is wrong with you and don’t say nothing is wrong because it isn’t true.” Urban blurted out and it was taking everything for Jack to keep it together. 

“Y/N.” He simply answered without expanding or giving more of an explanation.

“Oh, what about her? How’s she doing? Did you make her your girlfriend yet because I don’t know why the fuck it’s taking you so long. We literally all have bets on when it’s going to happen and your mother started it, but don’t tell her I told you that.” Normally, Jack would have laughed but in that moment, he knew that he fucked up and that you even speaking to him was probably never going to happen again.

He didn’t know what he was going to do without you. It had only been a week and he honestly felt like his life was already falling apart. You had been a part of his daily routine for almost two years, so the fact that it wasn’t the case anymore was obviously going to bother him.

Once you left out of the hotel suite in Paris, Jack simply sat on the bed and played with the Cartier bracelet that he had gifted you and sitting in silence.

You had given it back and left without another word no matter how many times he told you to keep it.

He bought it for you and it was yours. 

There was no way in hell he was about to give it to someone else. 

Tears escaped his eyes when it hit him that this was all his fault and that he should have told you sooner.

But one thing that he couldn’t believe was that you thought that he didn’t love you which couldn’t be further from the truth.

He did love you.

He was in love with you even though he definitely didn’t go about it in the best way. When you mentioned that all he did was take and kept going, he had a realization.

You would do anything for him and you would drop whatever you were doing if he said that he needed you. He did spoil you to no end, but what he failed to do was give you that same treatment in return. He had been selfish and was only focused on his well-being while not even bothering to look at the entire picture to see that you were in fact hurting too. 

Hurting because of him. 

Which is the last thing that he ever wanted to happen.

“She… well… we basically had a break up.”

“Break ups are for people who were in relationships. It was your fault, I already know, but go on.”

“URB!”

“What?! Only telling the truth!”

“She got fed up with me because I’m scared to commit to her.”

“And did you tell her why?”

“No.” Jack quietly muttered while scratching the back of his neck.

“What the hell? Why not?! That was the perfect opportunity for you to tell her. Y/N is amazing and she’s not going to hurt you like that other girl that we don’t speak of.”

“I’ve been blowing up her phone nonstop and leaving messages and she won’t give me the time of day.”

“I’m actually surprised she stayed this long. That girl loves you and you love her. Anyone can see that. You let her get away and it’s no one’s fault but yours.”

“Do you think you could talk to her for me? I’m out of ideas and don’t know what to do.”

“Me talking to her is supposed to do what exactly? It seems like her mind is made up. HOLD ON, this happened while you two were in Paris?! I thought this was the trip where you were supposed to ask her to be your girlfriend! Cartier bracelet, anyone? That shit we had to search around for for months!”

“I was supposed to but then… I asked her to come on tour with me instead. I got nervous.”

“You have got to be the biggest dumbass I know.” Urban answered while hanging his head and all Jack did was sigh. 

“From that point on, her entire demeanor changed and we got into this huge argument. She gave me the bracelet back too.”

“Can you blame her? You’ve been stringing her along for almost two years and she finally realized that she deserved better. We all told you to tell her how you felt.”

“But, she’s mine! She’s my girl and no one else’s. Where the hell is she about to find someone better that does all the shit that I do for her? I only saw my future with her and no one else! I don’t want anyone else!”

“Oh, is that so? So, where’s your girl now?” Urban asked while taking in the surroundings and throwing up his hands in disbelief. 

“She blocked me on everything. My next move was to DM her from my other instagram.”

“It is going to take some sort of miracle for her to talk to you again and forgive you. Man the fuck up and tell her how you feel.”

“But, what if it’s too late?”

“As long as your ass is breathing, it’s never too late. However, if it is, you have no one to put this on but you. That girl would do anything for you and you took advantage of that shit. But I mean you do crazy things for the people you love. Just… if she ends up giving you a second chance, I will kick your ass myself if you mess up again, best friend or not and I know your mother will help me. Now, if you want her back so badly, go to her.”

“Will you come with me for backup?”

“I’m coming with you for one reason and one reason only. To get those raspberry cheesecake cookies she makes. Let me text her now to ask her if she’ll make some for me. I’ll tell her I have a photoshoot to do in Atlanta and ask her if it’s okay to come by and see her. The two of you better get back together for all this unnecessary stress you’re putting me through.”

Jack was anxious the entire flight and getting on Urban’s nerves. It was to the point where when they finally touched down in Atlanta, he was the last person that he wanted to be around, however, one thing that he was always going to do was support his best friend. Your boutique wasn’t far from the airport and Jack was getting more and more nervous as they got closer.

It was now or never. 

“Y/N!” Urban exclaimed as he told Jack to walk a few steps behind him and let him enter the boutique first just in case to soften you up.

“Hi, Urby.” You quietly answered as you reached up to hug him.

“Y/N…. Please don’t take this the wrong way. Only telling you this because I care about you, but honestly? You look the same way Jack does. Like absolute shit.”

“It’s going to take some time, but I’ll be okay. Here let me grab your cookies from the back, hold on.”

Once you came back out, you handed the container to him, but you felt like he wanted to say something else with how nervous he looked. That could only mean one thing and you immediately sighed knowing where this was going. 

“You brought him with you didn’t you?” You asked and Urban didn’t get a chance to answer because you heard his voice from behind you. 

“Y/N, baby, please talk to me.”

“Welp, that’s my cue. Thanks for the cookies, Y/N, and Jack I’ll be outside.”

“URBY!”

“Talk to your man.” He responded as he was stuffing one of the cookies in his mouth and walked out the door.

"Y/N, come on. Are you just about to ignore me forever?"

You muttered a quiet "fuck" under your breath before turning around to be face to face with the one and only Jack.

Urban wasn’t lying, both of you looked like absolute shit. 

"If that's what it takes then yes. One less headache that I have to deal with." You answered him while shrugging.

It was taking everything in you not to reach up and hug him so you took a few steps back so that you wouldn’t be tempted. 

You should have known that this would be one of the first places he looked when you decided to stop answering him since Atlanta was like a second home to you and this was where you would spend most of your time. 

"I.. you know how much you mean to me."

"Do I? I don't think I was asking for too much, but at the very least, I deserve an explanation. I don't only want half of you, I want all of you or nothing."

"You have me!"

"No, I have the idea of you being a hopeless romantic who is scared as hell over his own feelings. You literally do everything that someone does in a relationship with me, but…. you just expect to string me along like it's nothing!? But oh, I mean so much to you, right?"

"Babe…"

"Don't call me that unless you mean it and right now I don't know if you do." 

“I do mean it and I do love you! I’m in fucking love with you!”

“Jack, just leave me alone. I’m tired of this.”

“That’s all you have to say?!”

“It took you how long in order to be able to tell me that?!”

“I was scared, okay! I…. I know you aren’t like her, but… I…. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if we got into a relationship that ended with both of us being hurt. You don’t deserve that.”

“But we weren’t even in a relationship and you ended up hurting me anyway.”

“I thought that if we did everything without the title, it would be easier for me to move on just in case you didn’t want to be around me anymore. Now saying this outloud, it literally makes no fucking sense, but this is where my mind was! I wouldn’t be able to take getting cheated on and used again. I know you wouldn’t do that to me. I didn’t plan on falling in love with you along the way, but I did! And I don’t want to be without you. Please just give me another chance. I will do anything for you to forgive me. You’re it, you’re it for me. The wife that I always envisioned was you. You were never a placeholder because you were already in your rightful place.”

“Jack…”

“Please, baby. One more chance? I promise everything will be different this time around.”

“Stop calling me that because I’m not your baby.”

“But….”

“I… I need time away from you. What you just told me was a lot to digest and I… I love you but you already knew that. Right now, I can’t give you an answer.”

“Y/N…” Jack once again felt his eyes brim with tears and once you noticed, you quickly followed suit. 

“I don’t want to simply tell you no just because I’m mad at you because that wouldn’t be fair. I need time to think about it.”

“Well, how much time?”

“I don’t know, Jackman. But only being away from you for one week is not enough. I can definitely tell you that.”

“That’s fair.” Jack responded and wiped away his tears with his sleeve seeing as his eyes were now red and they matched perfectly with yours.

“I just thought this would have played out differently.” You quickly said and Jack simply nodded.

You had seen Jack cry plenty of times before, but this… this was different simply because he was crying over you. That was the last thing that you had ever wanted to happen. 

“Just.. whenever you’re ready I’ll be here. But um, here.” Jack simply placed his house key in your hands and you started to shake your head, but he wouldn’t take it back from you. 

“No, ba–, sorry, Y/N, keep it. Because when you’re ready to give me an answer, you’ll know where to find me. Even if we don’t end up being together like I want us to be, you’re still my person and my safe haven. I meant it when I said that I’m always going to be here for you. I’m sorry that I hurt you and I’m sorry that I hurt us.”

Now, both of you were full blown crying in the middle of your boutique and you were happy that you didn’t have any customer appointments at the moment. The next one wasn’t for another hour and that would give you enough time to get yourself together. 

You simply nodded as Jack stepped closer to you and he was actually surprised that you didn’t move away.

He placed a kiss on your forehead before quietly leaning down to whisper in your ear.

“I love you and I’ll be waiting for you. No matter how long it takes.”

When you had gotten home that night, you were laying down in your bedroom, playing with the key in your hands.

You could leave and get on a plane right now

But no, you had to take your time to think about this and think about what would be the best thing for you.

You were pissed, hurt, but the love you had for Jack wasn’t going to go away overnight and truth be told you didn’t want it to.

He said no matter how long it takes. 

—-

Jack was determined to keep himself busy in hopes of getting his mind off of you, but it just wasn’t working out in his favor. 

Urban thought him getting ready to go on tour would be the perfect distraction, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

When he was around others, he was putting on a good front and not letting anyone catch on to the fact that he was definitely in a depressive state, but he had to keep going no matter how much all he wanted to do was lay in his bed and think about you all day.

Performing did help and it let him put his focus elsewhere at least for a few hours, but when it was over it was right back to square one. 

And that’s when PG definitely noticed something was wrong.

They were reaching the end of tour and with the last show being in Atlanta, Jack was hoping that you would show up.

He let his team know if you were to magically appear and attend any of his shows to let you through with no problem.

There were a total of three shows left and you hadn’t shown up once, but he was still holding out hope. Any time he had an event in Atlanta, you always made sure to show up and support him.

You had unblocked him on everything although the two of you really weren’t communicating often. The last thing Jack wanted to do was for you to feel as if he was smothering you. 

“Yo, where’s your girl?” 2fo finally asked, seeing as it’s been awhile since he had mentioned you when he would normally talk about you all the time.

“We’re not really talking right now.” Jack quietly answered while taking another swig of his sparkling water.

“Oh?” Shloob said while looking over at him in disbelief.

“She um, she wanted some space from me so that’s what I gave her.”

“Don’t worry about it. There’s plenty of other girls. But I mean, there’s really no one like her and she is the whole package but….”

“Shloob, I get it.” Jack said not wanting for him to go on any further. 

“Look, she’ll come around. She loves you and all of us can tell.”

“Yeah, but I probably waited too late to tell her the same thing in return.”

Just then Jack's heart skipped a beat when he saw that he had a text from you and immediately opened it. 

You- Just wanted to wish you luck for your show tonight. Been seeing little clips from the entire tour and I’m so proud of you. We’ll talk soon. 

Jack- Thank you, I appreciate it. Have you been okay?

You- I’ve been making it. Take care of yourself, Jackman.

“She’s done with me.” Jack exclaimed while throwing his phone to the side of the couch and Urban immediately picked it up to see what he was talking about.

“What the? How the hell did you get that from a simple text message?” He asked while looking over what you had sent him.

“Take care of yourself? She might as well had left me blocked for all of that.”

“Your ass is reading entirely too much into this. And you’re about to give yourself a coronary with how worked up you’re getting over this. Take this as a victory, she unblocked you and she’s texting you back. And the first thing she says is that the two of you will talk soon.”

“She doesn’t want to be with me. Not after everything I did, or didn’t do in this case. And I don’t have anyone to blame but myself.”

“And answer Maggie because she asked me why you’ve been dodging answering questions about Y/N when she asks. You know she already has her outfit picked out for when the two of you get married.”

“Well, she’ll definitely be disappointed when I tell her that it’s probably never going to happen.”

“Maggie is definitely going to kick your ass because she already calls Y/N her daughter. Hmm, maybe she can marry Clay instead so that way she’ll still be in the family.”

“Don’t start.”

“It was just a suggestion!”

“A suggestion that’s about to get your ass kicked.”

“Don’t get mad at us because you fucked your girl over no matter how many times we told you to tell her how you feel.”

“We have to be real with you. Been that way since day one and that’s not about to change.”

Jack’s phone started ringing in Urban’s hand and his eyes went wide when he saw that it was a facetime call from you and quickly shoved it towards Jack and screamed at him to answer it.

“IT’S HER! ANSWER IT!”

“WHAT DO I SAY?!”

“I DON’T KNOW, SOME MUSHY ASS SHIT TO GET HER TO FORGIVE YOU! HURRY UP BEFORE SHE HANGS UP!”

Once he hit accept, he saw your beautiful face come into view and he had to do a double take.

You had cut your hair and it was now burgundy, which he remembered saying that you were going to do once it got closer to fall.

“Y/N…”

“Hey, you by yourself?”

“Um, give me a minute.”

Jack then went into the back of the tour bus where he knew that he would be able to have the most privacy. He closed the door behind him before sitting down and continuing his conversation with you. 

“You cut your hair. You look so gorgeous.”

You gave him a small smile and felt your cheeks growing hot.

He still had that same effect on you and you definitely weren’t surprised.

“Thank you, I decided that it was time for something different.”

It was quiet for a few seconds when Jack couldn’t help himself and blurted it out.

“I.. I miss you.”

“I miss you too and I just wanted to call and check on you since it’s been awhile.”

“So, have you given any more thought about what I said?” Jack asked hopeful.

“I have and I’d rather speak with you about that in person and not over facetime.” You answered being completely honest.

“Oh, okay… ummm..”

“For No Place Like Home I designed a few outfits for you to wear so I’ll get one of my assistants to bring them and make sure that you get them.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that. But…Wait, you’re not coming?”

“My schedule is tight and I’m due to be in Milan that Monday so I’ll probably send Alicia.”

“Well, what about the Atlanta show?”

“I’ll still be in Dubai.”

“Wait, you’re in Dubai?” 

Jack had taken both of you there after you two had been “seeing” each other for a year. 

You didn’t even get a chance to answer Jack as he heard a male voice call for you.

“Y/N! You ready? It’s almost 6 and it took me forever to get these dinner reservations.”

Jack couldn’t see his face, but his heart immediately dropped to the floor.

“I’m ready, just give me a few minutes and I’ll be there.”

Jack wanted so badly to ask who that was, but one thing he didn’t want to do was get you upset with him and bottom line, it really wasn’t his business.

“I have to go, but I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Okay, I love you.” Jack said loud enough hoping that whoever was in the room with you could hear him.

Your heart immediately skipped a beat.

“I love you too. Have a good show.”

Once you hung up, you turned around to see your cousin, Terrell, staring at you and smirking.

“Oh, that was lover boy, I take it?” He asked as you were slipping on your shoes.

“Yeah, been thinking about going to see him. Maybe I will go for his show in Louisville on the 18th. Been missing him and I figured that it was time that he got an answer from me.”

“You can do whatever you want, you’re the boss and I’m just here to assist you. If you want to go and see him, go ahead. I can finish up everything here and if I need to ask you anything, I know where to find you.”

“T, I love that man to death, but what if….”

“We’re not doing the made up scenarios in your head. He lost you once and he would be an actual dumbass to do it again. I mean you see how hard he’s trying. He’s giving you your space while also checking on you from time to time. If he wanted to move on, he would have. It’s been what? Almost four months? You must have a chokehold on this man and some bomb ass pussy because what man do you know is going to wait that long?!”

“I just want to make sure that I’m making the right decision. In not so many words, he told me that he wanted to marry me. And I'm ignoring that last part.”

“Well, shit…. When are we going to start planning? Hurry up and tell this man that you want to be with him before it’s too late.”

All you did was sigh as the two of you hopped on the elevator to ride it down to the lobby in order to catch an uber to the restaurant. 

“You know what? Forget this. Your ass is going to be in Louisville on the 18th and I’m booking your flight as we speak.”

“But Terrell!”

“Stop being scared and putting yourself in your own way. How are you ever truly going to be happy if you continue to do that?”

“I… guess you’re right.”

“I can’t wait to meet him and by that phone conversation he probably thought you had a new man and that’s why he said that he loved you so loud. So that I would hear it.”

“I noticed that too, but he should know better than that. At the end of the day, I’m always going to choose him.”

“Well, shit honey. Then after dinner, we got a man to get ready for. What’s his favorite color?”

“Purple.”

“Oooh shit, I got ideas brewing and he isn’t going to know what hit him.”

Your heart was beating a thousand miles per hour as you were playing with Jack’s house key in your hands. It was around 3 in the morning on December 17th and there you were standing outside of his house looking like an actual creep. You didn’t know how long you had been standing there, but it was long enough to realize that you couldn’t feel your face anymore. 

It was now or never.

You took a deep breath before inserting the key and turning the knob and walking into the foyer.

All you could do was pray that you weren’t too late. 

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[poppletonink]

Paris Geller: An Inspired Reading Recommendations List

Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen

Bossypants by Tina Fey

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Recitatif by Toni Morrison

Emma by Jane Austen

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

The Collected Works Of William Shakespeare

The Iliad by Homer

Furies: Stories of the Wicked, Wild and Untamed by Various Authors (including Margaret Atwood, Ali Smith and Kamila Shamsie)

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

Sense And Sensibility by Jane Austen

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Death Of An Avid Reader by Frances Brody

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

The Art Of War by Sun Tzu

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Kindred by Octavia E Butler

[khagihan2000]

Little Dark Age - Foreign animation These are the foreign animations that deserved love. A response to Oscar. Version: Vimeo GD Youtube (Extended)

Song: Little Dark Age - MGMT Inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dae1m2Z6fQ0&t=7s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwlCXVujrWE&t=28s

List of the clips (including overlays): Breadwinner Song of The Sea The Secret of Kells The Phantom Boy The Illusionist Birdboy: The Forgotten Children The Swallow of Kabul Klaus The King of Pigs The Congress Waltz with Bashir The Tragedy of Man April and The Extraordinary World Calamity, A Childhood of martha Jane Cannary The Bear’s Famous Invasion of Sicily. Flee  Johnny Corncob Son of The White Mare Wolfwalker Yellow Submarine Where is Anne Frank? The Swallows of Kabul Have A Nice Day Gandahar The Time Masters Fantastic Planet The Triplet of Belleville The Rabbi’s Cat Nocturna The Cat in Paris Felidae Plague Dogs Watership Down The Prophet Chico and Rita Another Day of Life MFKZ Funan Cinderella The Cat The King and The Mockingbird I Lost My Body Kirikou and The Sorceress  The Crossing  Marona’s Fantastic Tales Long Way North Josep Mia and The Migoo The Summit of Gods Ernest and Celestine Eleanor’s Secret My Life as a Courgette Aya of Yop City One Night In City The Big Bad Fox and the Other Tales Ruben Brandt Collector The Painting Loving Vincent Azur and Asmar The Red Turtles Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles Crulic Allegro Non Troppo The Nose or The Conspiracy of Maverick Wrinkles My Sunny Maad Ethel and Ernest

[lorelite333]

Baz Headcannons

I'm Baz's wife, so what I say is cannon. How do I know? Baz is my spouse <3 (Og Baz lvr :3)

Baz is a classic music lover; they were built on it. They appreciate the feeling of grace and the way that the music can just take control of things. However they do love the classics, from the 80/90's and you can hear them practically blare heavy metal in their office when doing paperwork. They say it helps them think.

They hate current pop. It's not that they find it disgusting, but rather it doesn't give the same feel as what they grew up listening to. They do like a few songs though. They find Paris Paloma very empowering.

Baz wears white and black gloves all the time.

Their favorite shows are the black and white ones, not that they're old, but they just feel more comforting.

Baz likes floral teas, not really a big fan of coffee or black tea due to their strong taste.

Onto the black and white films, they're hold on to a specific memory of them as a human. The black and white film playing in the background, it was midsummer and just a really hot day to all the windows and doors were open for the breeze to come in, tea was being made, and classical music was playing.

They never were one for comics, but in the 80/90's one of their favorites was the Marvel comics. Specifically Blade.

They don't like cinnamon as a topping, but they like if its added into things like batter or drinks.

They think it's unsanitary for people to drink from the wrist, they actually despise it if the person hadn't washed their hands AND WRISTS before allowing them to feed-

They hate putting in eye contacts, it makes their eyes feel weird

They love classic literature, like Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, any Edgar Allen Poe book (they liked the dark grim poems), The Great Gatsby, Little Women, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, The Iliad, etc.

They love architecture, specifically the roman amphitheater. I think if they could've gone back in time for a day, they would love to see a play there, but they know that ppl were treated differently than they are now

I think Baz would love Spider Lillies, and admire them for their meaning

Baz adores talking in flowers, having been a person to write letters (and still does), they tend to add a flower on their wax seal to express secret messages

Baz typically schedules meetings at their clan house, because you never know what ppl can have hidden up their sleeve in their own home.

One rule that they keep with them is that if they would rather stay and fight in their own home than be in the enemy territory with no layout of the land.

[flowersforfrancis]

i really like your blog :) do you have any book recs? besides The Secret History of course

Thank you. Book recs? I’ll try my best. My reading preferences are just what I call mainstream classics - you’ve probably heard of most of  these. And uh sorry for taking so long. 

No idea what you like to read, so here are just some books that I like/find interesting:

The Stranger - Albert Camus The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka Maurice - E.M Forster The Murder In the Rue Morgue - Edgar Allan Poe The Mystery of Marie Roget - Edgar Allan Poe  American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis  Brothers Karamazov- Dostoevsky 1984 - George Orwell  Animal farm - George Orwell  Down and out in Paris and London - George Orwell  Kafka on the shore - Murakami Norwegian wood - Murakami After Dark - Murakami  To kill a mockingbird - Harper Lee  Lapvona - Ottessa Moshfegh The Body in the Library - Agatha Christie The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath On The Road - Jack Kerouac Visions of Cody - Jack Kerouac Lord of The Flies - William Golding The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt Anne of Green Gables (and all the books that follow) - L.M Montgomery  Breakfast of The Champions - Kurt Vonnegut Circe - Madeline Miller The Song Of Achilles - Madeline Miller A room of one’s own - Virginia Woolf Picture of Dorian gray - Oscar Wilde Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes  Killer in the rain - Raymond Chandler If On a Winters Night a Traveler - Italo Calvino  The Road - Cormac McCarthy Any Terry Pratchett books Any Hermann Hesse Books (If you haven’t read them already-) Lord of the Rings (I’m personally not so into it but-) If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio

Hope this was helpful in someway. Hope you weren’t, I don’t know, expecting explanations of any sort…

[verilyproductions]

Just a reminder that while Thomas Jefferson was president he kept a pet mocking bird and answered the door in his slippers

Once in the White House, the folksy president (who had been a fashion plate in Paris) galloped through Washington on horseback, dispensed with wigs and powdered hair, shuffled around in slippers, fed his pet mockingbird, and answered the doorbell himself.

[valorums]

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Respond to the prompts below, and tag fellow writers that you’d like to get to know better.

FAVORITE COLOR(S): Various Shades of Blue, Various Shades of Pink, Crimson Red, and Emerald Green.

FAVORITE MOVIE(S): Barbie (2023), The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023), Night at the Museum (2006), Inception (2010), Titanic (1997), Pride and Prejudice (2005), Lincoln (2012), Rise of the Guardians (2012), and Mean Girls (2004). This list doesn’t even include my numerous favorite Disney films or the Star Wars universe because if I did, then it would be WAY too long lmao.

FAVORITE BOOK(S): Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen), Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), Dooku: Jedi Lost (Cavan Scott), Yoda: Dark Rendezvous (Sean Stewart), To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee), The Killer Angels (Jeff Shaara), and anything that is listed under my favorite series!

FAVORITE SERIES: I’m not that much of a TV person, but I do enjoy Good Omens! I also recently started watching Bridgerton, and I’m loving it so far! As for books — Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Hunger Games, Divergent, Fourth Wing, and Star Wars: The High Republic are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head.

FAVORITE MUSICIAN(S): Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, ABBA, Olivia Rodrigo, Lana Del Ray, Celtic Woman, P!NK, Madonna, UNSECRET, Florence + The Machine, Paris Paloma, and numerous others.

FAVORITE MUSIC: Pop, Classic Orchestral, Celtic Folk, TV and Film Scores, Country (LISTEN my parents constantly have it playing in our household and it’s grown on me over the years), Musical Theatre, and (for some reason) Sea Shanties.

LAST SONG: I’m A Marionette (ABBA)

LAST SERIES: Bridgerton (S1EP5).

LAST MOVIE: Attack of the Clones.

CURRENTLY READING: Pride and Prejudice for a Jane Austen themed English Literature elective in university; A Court of Thorns and Roses for personal reading.

CURRENTLY WATCHING: Bridgerton and Percy Jackson and the Olympians. (I know, I know — I’m late to the party, but I’m watching it with my parents and we are SLOW)

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: preparing for university midterms, responding to active roleplays, and writing out all of my muses’ universes / timelines.

TAGGED BY @kylo-wrecked (thank you!)

TAGGING @nieithryn, @misfittcd, @acharnemcnt, @cruoren, @sithdestined, @etoilebleu, @frxncaise, @donutdollie, @malka-lisitsa, @wornkindness, AND YOU.

[historiavn]

STATISTICAL CHARACTER PARALLEL QUIZ

take the linked quiz from the perspective of your muse(s), and share at least ten of your favorite results

LIEUTENANT GENERAL ETHAN CLAY

“THE UNION ARMY’S LEE SIBLING”

Gandalf (Lord of the Rings): 94%

Paul Atreides (Dune): 91%

Josiah Bartlet (The West Wing): 90%

Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird): 89%

Dr. Strange (Marvel Cinematic Universe): 88%

Black Panther (Marvel Cinematic Universe): 87%

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars - A New Hope): 87%

Vito Corleone (The Godfather): 87%

George Washington (Hamilton): 87%

Richard D. Winters (Band of Brothers): 87%

DR. CONSTANCE PIERPONT MORGAN

“THE MOTHER OF AMERICAN CAPITALISM”

Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter): 90%

Lady Jessica (Dune): 90%

Angelica Schuyler (Hamilton): 90%

Padme Amidala (Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith): 90%

Claire Randall (Outlander): 89%

Jasmine (Aladdin): 88%

Princess Fiona (Shrek): 87%

Elsa (Frozen): 86%

Josiah Bartlet (The West Wing): 85%

Margery Tyrell (Game of Thrones): 85%

JUSTINE JAVERT

“THE GENTLEST SOUL IN ALL OF PARIS”

Rapunzel (Tangled): 97%

Lady Sybil Crawley (Downton Abbey): 94%

Anna (Frozen): 94%

Sophie Sheridan (Mamma Mia!): 94%

Aang (Avatar: The Last Airbender): 91%

Miguel (Coco): 91%

Viola (Twelfth Night): 91%

Maria (West Side Story): 90%

Princess Ariel (The Little Mermaid): 90%

Buttercup (The Princess Bride): 90%

TAGGED BY no one.

TAGGING @unwaivering, @misfittcd, @officerwaltons, @audaciiae, @reverdies, @reiignonme, @insidefantasy, @vyrulent, @novaxmuses, @timeguardians, AND YOU.

[gayest-classiclit]

GUYS GUESS WHAT 💥

we now have a bracket! poll times are hit or miss. we'll see

your matchups are under the cut vvv

PART A

Viola/Cesario (Twelfth Night) vs Jane Bennet (Pride and Prejudice)

Medea (Greek mythology) vs Benedick and Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing)

Grantaire (Les Miserables) vs Prince Hal (the Henriad)

Enjolras (Les Miserables) vs Clopin Trouillefou (Notre Dame de Paris)

Milady de Winter (The Count of Monte Cristo) vs Don Rodigue (Spanish folktales)

Mephistopheles (Faust) vs Big Brother (1984)

Jean Valjean (Les Miserables) vs Queequeg (Moby Dick)

Helen of Troy (Greek mythology) vs Jesus and Judas (the Bible)

PART B

Sherlock Holmes (the Sherlock Holmes books) vs Fitzwilliam Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)

Catherine Earnshaw (Wuthering Heights) vs Jonathan and Mina Harker (Dracula)

Cathy Ames (East of Eden) vs Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)

Arsene Lupin (the Arsene Lupin books) vs Eugene Onegin (Eugene Onegin)

Charles Bingley (Pride and Prejudice) vs Gregor Samsa (The Metamorphosis)

Ivan Karamazov (The Brothers Karamazov) vs Frankenstein's Monster/Adam (Frankenstein)

Therem Harth Ir Em Estraven (The Left Hand of Darkness) vs Eugene de Rastignac (The Human Comedy)

Winston Smith (1984) vs Inspector Goole (An Inspector Calls)

PART C

Quincey Morris (Dracula) vs Count Dracula (Dracula)

Annabel Lee (Annabel Lee) vs the Woman Behind the Wallpaper (The Yellow Wallpaper)

the Duke de Nemours (La Princess de Cleves) vs Dorian Gray and Basil Hallward (The Picture of Dorian Gray)

Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet) vs Carmilla (Carmilla)

Hotspur (the Henriad) vs Edmond Dantes (The Count of Monte Cristo)

Hamlet (Hamlet) vs Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)

Alyosha Karamazov (The Brothers Karamazov) vs Robin Hood (assorted folktales)

Grendel's mother (Beowulf) vs Rodion Raskolnikov (Crime and Punishment)

PART D

Dmitri Razumikhin (Crime and Punishment) vs Balladyna (Balladyna)

Benedetto (The Count of Monte Cristo) vs Captain Hook (Peter Pan)

Gerald Croft (An Inspector Calls) vs Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan (The Great Gatsby)

Irene Adler (the Sherlock Holmes books) vs Emma Bovary (Madame Bovary)

Erik/the Phantom (The Phantom of the Opera) vs Gaspard Caderousse (The Count of Monte Cristo)

Woland (The Master and Margarita) vs Nastasya Filippovna (The Idiot)

Henry Jekyll (The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) vs Ruy Blas (Ruy Blas)

Behemoth (The Master and Margarita) vs Anatole Kuragin and Helene Bezukova (War and Peace)

[starandcloud]

42!Miles playlist for/about you

Cupid's chokehold - Gym Class Heroes

Sucker for pain - Imagine Dragons

Heartbeat - Childish Gamibino

Livin' La Vida Loca - Ricky Martin

Mockingbird - Eminem

Let You Down - NF

Stereo Hearts - Gym Class Heroes, Adam Levine

I'm yours - Isabel LaRosa

El Amor De Mi Vida - Ricky Martin

In The Name of Love - Martin Garrix

Can't Hold us - Mackle More & Ryan Lewis

Where Them Girls At - David Guetta, Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj

Tu - Shakira

Psycho - Post Malone, Ty Dolla $ign

Cooler Than Me - Mike Posner, Gigamesh

Circles - Post Malone

Fairytale - Alexander Rybak

Into You - Ariana Grande

Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor - Juanes

Cool For The Summer - Demi Lovato

Novia - Jake Daniels

Sure Thing - Miguel

Te Amare - Miguel Bosé

Entra En Mi Vida - Sin Bandera

Eso Y Mas - Joan Sebastian

Mi Razon De Ser - Banda MS

Ojos Color Sol - Calle 13 and Silvio Rodriguez

Punk Rock Princess - something Cororparate

Fuck about it - Waterparks, Blackbear

I Just Wanna Run - The Downtown Fiction

10:35 - Tiesto, Tate McRae

Safe And Sound - Capital Cities

Middle Of The night - Elley Duhe

She Doesn't Mind - Sean Paul

A Match into Water - Pierce The Viel

Roses and Gold Acoustic - Bryce Savage

Roses and Gold - Bryce Savage

I Wouldn't Mind - He is We

Here's to Never Growing Up - Avril Lavigne

XOXO - 6arelyhuman

Maps - Maroon 5

Infinity - Jaymes Young

Daddy Issues - The Neighbourhood

Trouble Maker - Olly Murs, Flo Rida

Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood

Paris - The Chainsmokers

SNAP - Rose Linn

You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

Love Story - Taylor Swift

Anti-Hero - Taylor Swift

Blank Space - Taylor Swift

S.L.UT. - Bea Miller

My Oh My - Camila Cabello, DaBaby

Shameless - Camila Cabello

Butterflies - Zendaya

Ghost 2 U - Magnolia Park, FRED, Joshua Roberts

Addison Rae - Magnolia Park

Queen - Loren Gray

Electric Love - Borns

Partners In Crime - Set It Off, Ash Costello

All The Things She Said - tATu

Check Yes, Juliet - We The Kings

Not Another Song About Love - Hollywood Ending

She Look So Perfect - 5 Seconds of Summer

Euphoria - BTS

That's My Girl - Fifth Harmony

I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE - Maneskin

Do It for Me - Rosenfeld

Voila - Figure You Out

Rich Boy - Payton

I like you - Post Malone, Doja Cat

10,000 hours - Dan + Shay, Justin Bieber

[citylawns]

could you recommend me any reads? it can be anything! a fashion article, philosophical book (e.g. The Book of Disquiet), educating book (e.g. The Beauty Myth), easy reads, anything. So far my list includes those two, Nausea, some fashion books, Cold Nights of Childhood, and To Kill a Mockingbird! preferably something that doesn't focus entirely on romance or gender - instead more on beauty, how culture is created, philosophy, psychology, and any other interesting ideas. hope ur enjoying Paris♡

[zot3-flopped]

A couple of anons on 2Ps, applauded by her, sniggering at the thought of Harry being on Eurostar and being on a train for over 2 hours. Yes, why would he take a fast, clean direct train that departs from a north London station easy for him and straight into the centre of Paris when he could faff around at airports on this side and the other ( even if he took a private plane for a bumpy hop in this weather, and he’s not TS) and get stuck in the grinding traffic into the city from either CDG or Orly. And business premier is quiet and discreet and patrolled by fierce stewards who aren’t going to put up with their passengers being disturbed.

Written by someone with no experience of decent train travel, having only a neglected and sparse passenger train system in the US ( the use of cooties is a giveaway)

Absolutely. Nearly every child in the UK comes across the word 'cooties' for the first time when they read To Kill A Mockingbird aged 14 for GCSE English, and not before. We say head lice.

The Eurostar is a no brainer for Harry. St Pancras station is just 20 minute drive from Hampstead as opposed to well over an hour for his two nearest airports, Heathrow and Luton. And as you say, the train arrives in the centre of Paris instead of on the outskirts where the airports are. Check in time is shorter too.

The problem with crazed Gina is that she refuses to believe that Harry lives anywhere near Hampstead on a day-to-day basis. That's just his public house, y'all! In Larrie reality he's tucked up with Louis at a secret location somewhere in Cheshire.

The fandom is also ignorant about private planes. They are nearly always smaller than passenger planes unless you're Donald Trump, and as such they're much more prone to turbulence, especially in the winter.

[midnight-rose117]

The Mockingbird of Paris

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕆𝕟𝕖

Summary: 𝐌𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝: 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎.

Chapter 0 - Prologue

𝐅𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐨 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.

A 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 is defined as someone who has the compulsive urge to lie about matters big and small, regardless of the situation. Leila(Lila) Vittoria Rossi is one of these people.

For as long as she remembered Leila has targeted her the most. Only for the soul reason was because she called out her inconsistency in the false stories she told. Including all of the diseases/illnesses she supposedly has.

It irked her to see her peers—𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦—taking the side of someone they’ve only known for a few days, when they’ve known her for years. To her, it doesn’t make any sense. One 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 google search could’ve proven that all of her claims were not valid.

However, her coevals demonstrated that they could be more moronic than she head imagined. Instead of checking for facts—𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 *𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘮* 𝘈𝘭𝘺𝘢 *𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘮*—they chose to believe someone off of plain assumptions.

For someone who’s doing journalism as their career, they should know that rule number one is to always search for the truth. No matter what. Unless you want to be a 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘥, then go right ahead! Yet, Alya doing this just proves that she’s a bad journalist.

Regardless of that, she still at least have one friend—𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥—that she can count on when times are tough. She’s getting tired though. Tired, anxious, and stressed. Especially since she has her duties as one of the guardians of Paris.

It gets too much sometimes. So much so that she can’t take it anymore. After two more years of this constant trend she decided it was time to ask her parents about transferring to another school.

_______________________________________________

𝙼𝚊𝚢 𝟹𝟶𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟷 𝚃𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎

The gentle patter of water hitting against the window helped calm her nervousness by just a tad. The trickled water cascaded down at an accelerating rate. The rain always brought flashes of memories. Both the food and the bad. It just depended on her mood. Today, was like most days ever since Leila came.

Her closet nowadays referenced to that. Currently she’s wearing a pink fluffy down-string hoodless hoodie with one pocket attached/across her stomach area. Her pants were light grey leggings, while her socks—𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦—are white and elongated to the middle of her calves. Her navy black hair was loosely tied in a low half up ponytail. Her bluebell eyes shun with no emotion as she focused on the soft humming of the melody buzzing in her ears. The porcelain skin she bore turned a blush red around her cheeks and eye bags. It was a reminisce of her trying not to breakdown earlier. In her pocket was Tikki who put a comforting hand(?) on her, attempting to ease her worries.

She waited for her parents to get home from the grocery store so that she can have a conversation with them. She was impatient really. She at least found a lycèe that’s close by.

Roseheart Academy, a school for the arts and prestigious individuals. It’s a lycèe for the gifted, the strive to hone the student’s ability to the best of their potential. Another reason why she chose this lycèe was because of its strict no bullying policy. After her wrongful expelling at François Dupont she thought it wise to look at that for her reseauon different lycèes. Or at least make it her primary, and all the other offerings secondary. This lycèe seemed to reinforce it profusely and promptly. She’s grateful for that.

A soft jingle of a bell startled her out of her chaotic thoughts. It was the bell to their patisserie door. It was amazing how a measly sound could cancel the control of the stupor you were put in.

“Maman? Papa? Can I speak to you?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper. “Sure thing Marinette. Let us put our groceries away first.” her Maman responded while she headed toward their food storage. “Alright, may I help?” she asked, taking the bags from her papa’s forearms. She figured she’d offer a hand as it would get done faster. “Of course sweetie. We’d be happy to have your help.” her papa said with a gleeful smile.

It took about 15 minutes to put them all away, and in that 15 minutes she was contemplating on how she can start this talk with her parents. So far she was in between being nonchalant about it, or being a rambling mess like she usually is. She took a deep breath in before saying, “Maman, papa, I’ve decided that I want to transfer schools.” They looked at her in uncertain worry. “Are you sure Marinette?” her maman questioned her. “Yes, I’ve already picked out a lycèe. It’s called Roseheart Acade—Roseheart Academy?! But what about the cost?” her papa interrupted her. “I was planning on getting a scholarship.” she responded, easing her parents worry.

Maman and papa glanced at each other before looking back at her. “Do you have a back up if you don’t get the scholarship?” She nodded her head up and down as her form of saying yes. “Alright honey, we understand.” her maman said.

In the end, she was glad of being rid of Leila and her flock of sheep. No matter if this allows her(Leila) to win unconditionally.

• • • • • • • • • •

@𝐌𝐃𝐂𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 ☑️

𝙶𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘’𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚁𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝙰𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚢!

𝟔.𝟓 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬

[theoriginalblackwoman]

Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones, known as Sissieretta Jones, (January 5, 1868 or 1869[1] – June 24, 1933[2]) was an African-American soprano. She sometimes was called “The Black Patti” in reference to Italian opera singerAdelina Patti. Jones’ repertoire included grand opera, light opera, and popular music.[3]

Matilda Sissieretta Joyner was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States, to Jeremiah Malachi Joyner, an African Methodist Episcopal minister, and Henrietta Beale.[2] By 1876 her family moved to Providence, Rhode Island,[4]where she began singing at an early age in her father’s Pond Street Baptist Church.[2]

In 1883, Joyner began the formal study of music at the Providence Academy of Music. The same year she married David Richard Jones, a news dealer and hotel bellman. In the late 1880s, Jones was accepted at the New England Conservatory of Music.[1] On October 29, 1885, Jones gave a solo performance in Providence as an opening act to a production of Richard IIIput on by John A. Arneaux‘s theatre troupe.[5] In 1887, she performed at Boston’s Music Hall before an audience of 5,000.[2]

Jones made her New York debut on April 5, 1888, at Steinway Hall.[1] During a performance at Wallack’s Theater in New York, Jones came to the attention of Adelina Patti’s manager, who recommended that Jones tour the West Indies with the Fisk Jubilee Singers.[2] Jones made successful tours of the Caribbean in 1888 and 1892.[1]

In February 1892, Jones performed at the White House for PresidentBenjamin Harrison.[2] She eventually sang for four consecutive presidents — Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt— and the British royal family.[1][2][3]

Jones performed at the Grand Negro Jubilee at New York’s Madison Square Garden in April 1892 before an audience of 75,000. She sang the song “Swanee River” and selections from La traviata.[3] She was so popular that she was invited to perform at the Pittsburgh Exposition (1892) and the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1893).[4]

In June 1892, Jones became the first African-American to sing at the Music Hall in New York (renamed Carnegie Hall the following year).[1][7] Among the selections in her program were Charles Gounod‘s “Ave Maria” and Giuseppe Verdi‘s “Sempre libera” (from La traviata).[1] The New York Echowrote of her performance at the Music Hall: “If Mme Jones is not the equal of Adelina Patti, she at least can come nearer it than anything the American public has heard. Her notes are as clear as a mockingbird’s and her annunciation perfect.”[1] On June 8, 1892, her career elevated beyond primary ethnic communities, and was furthered when she received a contract, with the possibility of a two-year extension, for $150 per week (plus expenses) with Mayor James B. Pond, who had meaningful affiliations to many authors and musicians.[8] The company Troubadours made an important statement about the capabilities of black performers, that besides minstrelsy, there were other areas of genre and style.[8]

In 1893, Jones met composer Antonín Dvořák, and in January 1894 she performed parts of his Symphony No. 9 at Madison Square Garden. Dvořák wrote a solo part for Jones.[1]

Jones met with international success. Besides the United States and the West Indies, Jones toured in South America, Australia, India, and southern Africa.[1] During a European tour in 1895 and 1896, Jones performed in London, Paris, Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Milan, and Saint Petersburg.[9]

In 1896, Jones returned to Providence to care for her mother, who had become ill.[1] Jones found that access to most American classical concert halls was limited by racism. She formed the Black Patti Troubadours (later renamed the Black Patti Musical Comedy Company), a musical and acrobatic act made up of 40 jugglers, comedians, dancers and a chorus of 40 trained singers.[2] The Indianapolis Freeman reviewed the “Black Patti Troubadours” with the following: “The rendition which she and the entire company give of this reportorial opera selection is said to be incomparably grand. Not only is the solo singing of the highest order, but the choruses are rendered with a spirit and musical finish which never fail to excite genuine enthusiasm.[10]

The revue paired Jones with rising vaudeville composers Bob Cole and Billy Johnson. The show consisted of a musical skit, followed by a series of short songs and acrobatic performances. During the final third of each show, Jones performed arias and operatic excerpts.[9] The revue provided Jones with a comfortable income, reportedly in excess of $20,000 per year. She led the company with reassurance of a forty-week season that would give her a sustainable income, guaranteed lodging in a well-appointed and stylish Pullman car, and the ability to sing opera and operetta excerpts in the final section of the show.[8] This allowed Jones to be the highest paid African American performer of her time.[8] Jones sung passionately and pursued her career choice of opera and different repertory regardless to her lack of audience attendance.[8] For more than two decades, Jones remained the star of the Famous Troubadours, while they graciously toured every season and established their popularity in the principal cities of the United States and Canada.[11] Although their eventual fame and international tours collected many audiences, they began with a “free-for-all” variety production with plenty of “low” comedy, song and dance, and no pretense of a coherent story line.[12]

Several members of the troupe, such as Bert Williams, went on to become famous.[1] April 1908, at the Avenue Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky, an audience made up mostly of whites (segregated seating was still prevalent), accepted Madam ‘Patti’ after singing ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ with much respect and admiration, and marked “the first time that a colored performer received a bouquet at the theatre in this city”.[12] For almost ten years, racial segregation had kept Jones from the mainstream opera platform, but by singing selections from operas within the context of a hard-traveling minstrel and variety show, she was still able to utilize her gifted voice, that people of all races loved.[12] The Black Patti Troubadours reveled in vernacular music and dance.[12]

Jones retired from performing in 1915 because her mother fell ill, so she moved back to Rhode Island to take care of her. For more than two decades, Jones remained the star of the Famous Troubadours, while they graciously toured every season and established their popularity in the principal cities of the United States and Canada.[12] She devoted the remainder of her life to her church and to caring for her mother. Jones was forced to sell most of her property to survive.[1][2] She died in poverty on June 24, 1933 from cancer. She is buried in her hometown at Grace Church Cemetery.[2]

In 2013 Jones was inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame.[13]

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_Sissieretta_Joyner_Jones

Photos from Wiki Commons

[thatrickmcginnis]

The 1986 film festival was the first I covered as both a writer and photographer, and was the beginning of a quarter century of regular portrait work every September in the rooms of whatever hotels were hosting the guests and publicity suites that year. It was so much easier in 1986, before the big movie PR professionals showed up en masse, and you could still book nearly every shoot and interview through the festival's own press office. Besides David Lynch - my big score that year - I photographed people like Dutch-born Australian director Paul Cox.

I was a fan of Cox after his films Lonely Hearts and Man of Flowers, and he was here promoting Cactus, starring Isabelle Huppert. I wish I'd known at the time that Cox had started his career as a photographer - Google was decades in the future - but it explains why he was so comfortable posing for my camera, despite my inexperience (I had only bought my Pentax barely a year and a half before). Cox was passionate and adamant - he had no patience for the big studios and the mainstream filmmaking that he considered the enemy of small, independent pictures like his. I remember leaving the interview chastened and inspired - practically a convert to his worldview. Cox would continue to make films for nearly three more decades, but this period probably marked the peak of his profile as a festival director. Paul Cox died in 2016.

Another director I photographed at the 1986 film festival was Jean-Jacques Beineix, who I'd first heard about when his film Diva was a huge hit at the festival five years previous. He'd hit a rough patch with his next film, Moon in the Gutter, but made a comeback with Betty Blue, the film he brought to the Toronto festival that year. Films like Diva and Betty Blue, as well as directors like Beineix, Leos Carax and Luc Besson, were dubbed cinéma du look by French critics, and I remember how exciting they seemed at the time. It was, looking back, very much the sort of thing that would appeal to a young man - romantic and stylish and full of angst - and while I think Betty Blue is still worth seeing (though it would never be made today), I'm not sure that Diva has held up well.

Beineix had been through a lot in the last few years and I suppose it showed in these photos. I considered one of these frames unprintable back then, very far beyond my meagre darkroom skills, but I have managed to rescue it today thanks to superior scanning skills and the assistance of neural AI filters in Photoshop. The result looks like a still from an old nouvelle vague film, with Beineix in the role of Belmondo or Delon. Jean-Jacques Beineix died of leukaemia in Paris in 2022.

Horton Foote and his daughter Hallie were at the 1986 film festival promoting On Valentine's Day, the second film in a trilogy of pictures based on his plays set in the Texas of Foote's childhood, which starred his daughter in a role based on Foote's mother. Today everyone probably knows Foote for his Oscar-winning screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird. He reccommended Robert Duvall for the role of Boo Radley in the film, and years later Duvall would play the lead role in Tender Mercies, which would get Foote another Oscar nomination and win Duvall one for Best Actor.

Foote also wrote scripts for pictures like Baby the Rain Must Fall, Of Mice and Men and The Trip to Bountiful - the latter based on his own 1953 teleplay, which went on to Broadway. Foote was the cousin of historian Shelby Foote, who wrote the 3-volume history that was the basis for Ken Burns' documentary series The Civil War, for which Foote provided the voice of Jefferson Davis. I photographed Horton and Hallie Foote simply, in a chair by the window of a room in the Park Plaza (now the Park Hyatt) hotel; the similarity of the poses and lighting ended up underscoring the family resemblance. Hallie Foote still works, mostly in theatre; Horton Foote died in 2009.

(From top: Beineix, Cox, Horton & Hallie Foote)

[boglady]

top 5 movies you hate

Hangover II! How was any aspect of that green-lit and how did it make millions of dollars? Horrifying.

Midnight in Paris. Not the worst movie Woody Allen ever made (I think that might be the unfunny and unsexy and unshakespearean A Midsummernight’s Sex Comedy, but that man got to make sooo many bad movies) but it does feature a full cast of actors who should at that point have probably known better and also just has a sort of pathetically naïve and detached outlook on human connection and women.

The Menu. I know tumblr had a whole thing for this movie but I just found it to be deeply cynical in a way that completely invalidated its only real (very thin) message

Crazy Stupid Love had a few good moments but the sexism in that movie makes it unwatchable and I’m even more resentful of it because it should have worked on paper and because of all the parts that actually do.

The Tim Roth movie Broken , which I’m assuming most people have forgotten about by now but which I still get mad thinking about because it got wide critical acclaim despite having the basic premise “what if To Kill a Mockingbird didn’t have any black people in it and also we wildly misrepresented mentally ill people?”