#ask-frederick: C support

[h-c-u]

A sheep in Wolff's clothing

Summary: You accompany Toto Wolff at the after-season dinner with drivers, TPs and the few more important people from each teams.

Pairing: Toto Wolff x fem!reader. Kinda.

W/C: 5.5k

Rating: PG

TWs: none

A/N: You guys are gonna hate me for it, so I apologize in advance! And I assure you I'm already working on something else with our dear Mr. Wolff.

Masterlist | List of tags

You were a perfect girlfriend, and it was something that came extremely easy for you. You knew what to wear, when to smile, what comments to make... When to dominate the conversation, when to let your partner shine, and when to pull others into the spotlight. You knew how to make others laugh, how to make them feel somber, how to make them jealous of how you were treating Toto and how he treated you.

You knew what type of partner he needed, and you were perfect in that role. You teased him just enough and complimented him in a way that wasn't forced, which wasn't that hard because you honestly admired what he was doing.

You were with him at every gala, and every time he or his team got any rewards. You accompanied him on races in UK, Austria, and Monaco... And whenever you were seen together in public, everything was always picture perfect.

So, it was no surprise when you showed up at the after-season dinner with all the drivers and team principals, wearing a dress that made a few of the younger drivers outright stop and stare, but you were used to it by now. You just gave them a polite smile and waved in their direction with a hand that wasn't holding a clutch worth more than some apartments in the center of London.

You stopped for a moment to exchange greetings and compliments with Geri, who immediately clocked your bag and expressed jealousy because she was also bidding on it. You just chuckled and said that if she needed any tips for the next time, she should ask Toto, because you had nothing to do with buying it. You gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and went deeper into the room, to finally locate the man, the myth, the legend, who invited you to such a prestigious event.

- Ah, fashionably late, Schatzi...? - he joked and leaned in to place a soft kiss on your cheek and rest his hand on your waist.

- I'm never late, it's everyone else that is early. - you laughed, wrapping your clutch-free hand around him, and putting your head on his shoulder for just a moment. If it was up to you, you wouldn't have any purse with you today, but it was a statement. And people who were meant to understand it - definitely did. - Besides - how else am I supposed to make an entrance? - this time the other team principals laughed too. You took a peek up to read what was on Toto's face, and you could tell that he didn't want you to go mingle just yet, so you stayed where you were, complimenting the other teams’ achievements this season. It took everyone a little bit by surprise because one - you were obviously cheering for Mercedes, and two - you seemed to know just as much as someone high in management, which meant that you not only paid attention but also understood what was happening behind the scenes.

And you couldn't help but see the glimmer of jealousy in Christian’s eyes, because even though Geri was one of his biggest supporters, the way you spoke about how you admired a specific tactic the Red Bull team implemented this season (even though that meant less winning races for Mercedes), just couldn't compare to "you're doing amazing sweetie" he was getting from his wife. Judging by the way Toto squeezed your waist you knew you did well...

- You better not let this one go, my friend... She's one of a kind. - you pretended to blush at Frederick’s words, and hid your face behind your purse, at the same time showing it off.

- Yeah, when are you going to pop the big question? - Otmar interjected, and you gently tapped your fingers on Toto's hip, letting him know you're going to handle this one.

- Didn't he tell you guys? - you pretended to be surprised, and let the silence hang in between everybody just long enough for it not to become uncomfortable. - I said no. - the smile on your face suggested that there will be more, but the principles already laughed. - But in all seriousness - I'm the one responsible for that... I want to wait till I'll be done with my Ph.D. because there is no way I could plan the wedding right now. - you added and the way Toto pulled you closer told you that you did well. It suggested that there was a plan, but it was vague enough that he wouldn’t be faced with questions about it for quite some time. And when they appear, he could brush them off by talking about your research instead, and those types of projects could last for years.

- Oh yeah, biology, right? - you were honestly surprised that Christian was the one who remembered something. He was a bit off though.

- Biotechnology. - you corrected him with a light smile. You could have just nodded, but you were proud enough of the field of your academic achievements, that you couldn't help yourself. - I'm currently part of a research team working on stabilizing Microbial Fuel Cells for long-term medical applications, which is also a basis for my thesis. - you offered but by the look on everyone's face, you knew you lost them. - It's basically a battery that runs on bacteria. - you simplified and that was enough to prompt a few simple questions you didn’t mind answering. You adjusted your language so people who had almost no idea what you were talking about could still understand the gist of it, and by doing so you showed everyone that you felt comfortable enough in your field that you could explain it to anyone, but also conveyed how intelligent you were, without throwing that in their faces.

- Beauty and brains... - Frederick said in a joking manner, so you laughed politely. You felt the natural end to the conversation, and you were just about to excuse yourself when there was a light jingle letting everyone know that the dinner was about to be served. So, you let yourself be whisked away to the Mercedes table, which was already occupied by Lewis, George, and his girlfriend, Bono, Ric, James, and Simon. It was less than at the last event, but that wouldn’t be a problem since you didn’t need to hide behind meaningless conversations with as many people as you could.

Toto pulled out the chair for you and helped you sit down, always the gentleman. But before he ended in his own chair, he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to your temple, to which you replied with a shy smile.

- It's good to see you again, George. - you greeted the driver seated next to you even before the food arrived. - I was trying to catch you earlier to congratulate you in person on São Paulo. - you put your hand on his forearm to emphasize your words. You already messaged him about it, but it was different in person. - You did really well this season. - you leaned a bit closer to him, so Toto wouldn't hear what you were about to say. - Don't tell him I said anything, but he told me he's really proud of you. - you whispered as if you were sharing a secret about nuclear codes, to which he reacted with laughter.

- Thank you, Y/n. I just hope that you'll be there when I'll get another one. - you leaned back in your chair, making space for the waiter to put a plate with an appetizer in front of you. In the beginning, you always made sure that Toto remembered the fact that you were vegan, but at this point - you didn't have to, because he always did. He paid attention not only to the food but also to other things he bought for you; everything came from environmentally conscious companies, which you appreciated.

- Well, I can't leave the UK for long, because of my research, but if you'll manage to plan your win for Austria, Monaco, or Silverstone, I guarantee I'll be there. - you smiled politely.

- I’ll keep that in mind… By the way, Carmen wanted to add you on Instagram, but since you have it private, she wasn't able to. Would it be ok, if... - he started asking, but you cut him off.

- Yes, of course! I'm sorry, I'm just a really private person and I don't even post that much... - you took your phone out of your clutch, opened the mentioned app, and passed your phone to George's girlfriend. - Just find and add yourself, it's gonna be quicker that way. - you gave her a huge smile.

- Thanks... Sorry to make such a big deal out of it. - by the way she looked at her boyfriend you could easily tell that that ask wasn't consulted beforehand.

- No problem, we're all friends here. - you laughed it off and took back your phone from her hands. You could see the last few pictures that were posted on your account, including the one with a giant bouquet of flowers Toto randomly sent you last week. That's exactly why you had this profile; to share a few crumbs of your relationship with him nestled in between your normal boring life, but it was the life you were happy in.

- And consider yourself lucky, I had to ask her for weeks before she added me! - Lewis commented and you couldn't help but chuckle.

- In my defense, you're one of the biggest gossips on the paddock, and I value my privacy. I had to make sure that you could be trusted. - you joked with the other driver, and what you said was mostly true. When you met Toto for the first time, you were much more paranoid about anything you two did, but now, after over 3 years, you were much more comfortable.

- Me...? - he pretended to be hurt and placed his hand on his heart, simulating real pain. - Gossiping...? - the theatrical gasp that left his mouth was at least Oscar-worthy and everyone at the table laughed.

The rest of the meal went without any major surprises. The conversation was polite but light, the food was amazing, and Toto was as lovely as ever. He didn't let his hands linger on your body for too long, he complimented you in front of your engineers, and to your surprise - he was even able to explain in more detail what was the purpose of your research, which meant that he did his homework. And since the topic of generating electric current was more familiar to them, you were more than happy to dive deeper and answer more in-depth questions, so before the desert, Toto silently offered that you two switch places, so you could talk with the engineers without having to lean over him.

And when the desert came, he was the one to make sure that the dish in front of you was vegan, because you were so caught up in explaining how the MFCs could potentially be used in pacemakers, and what technological steps were separating you from that.

It was nice to lower your barriers a little bit and talk without having to think about what you were about to say, but that ended right after the desert because it was your time to shine on Toto's arm again. So, you thanked the four men for the conversation and let Toto lead you to the dancefloor, where there were already a few couples dancing. Since not everyone finished their meals yet, the music was rather slow, but that didn't stop you two from enjoying the pleasant dance.

Even after all this time, you still couldn't figure out how he always managed to find you the most comfortable heels you ever had on your feet, even though they were abysmally high. They didn't mess up your balance at all and even after a whole evening of dancing, you weren't in that much pain. Plus - they not only matched the dress he chose for you but also his tie and the handkerchief in his pocket, so you two looked like you were made for each other. You stopped worrying about the prices of everything a long time ago; you had to if you didn't want to lose your mind in fear of accidentally damaging anything, even though everything he bought for you, was in the end - yours. All the clothes, jewelry, bags, shoes... He made sure that it was visible how well he took care of you, and how much money he spent on you, despite the fact that you were rarely seen together in public.

- Lewis is coming in our direction. Do you need him to know anything? - you asked quietly, suspecting the driver was about to ask you to dance with him.

- I trust you. - Toto just said with a smile and kissed your hand while taking a bow, like a proper gentleman. - Perfect timing, Lewis... She's all yours. - Toto smiled and passed your hand to the other man, to which he was thanked with a slight nod.

- How is your evening going so far? - Lewis asked, gently placing his hand on your waist, just where it was proper. Over the years you managed to get to know him well enough to call him... maybe not a friend, because he knew next to nothing about you, but you still cared about him.

- Not bad... I'm not sure why Toto always complains about these types of things... - you chuckled and let him lead you in a simple, but pleasant dance.

- Well, maybe your presence is enough to make it more entertaining...? - he suggested in a joking manner, almost flirting, but not quite.

- Oh, stop it... - you pretended to be embarrassed by his words. - Besides, between all the principals and drivers there is enough drama to entertain anyone. - you added with a smile.

- And yet somehow, when you're near, everyone is on their best behavior... - he teased, and you patted him on his shoulder in a scolding manner.

- Lewis! - he just laughed it off. You knew it was all fun and games and you enjoyed that little game of pretend.

- What? It's true! - you shook your head in disbelief. - But I bet there is going to be at least one fight about who's gonna get the privilege of dancing with you next... - he pointed his chin in the direction of a group containing a few of the younger drivers discussing something very lively. You glanced at them and sighed quietly... Sometimes you couldn't believe that those boys were the best in the world in that they did because even though you weren't that far apart in age, they still seemed like children to you. - Not a fan? - he noticed that something wasn't exactly right.

- Don't get me wrong, I like them... But I also see how they look at me, and while you and I tease each other and joke, I know you understand that I belong to someone else, and you would never cross that line. They have hope. - you explained, and Lewis nodded with understanding. You knew that objectively you fit a certain set of beauty standards, especially when you were as dolled up as today, but you never considered it your defining feature. And even though it was your looks that drew Toto to you, it was the conversation you had that sealed the deal for him.

- Well, they’re still young, and don't get this wrong - so are you. - you knew that. You were a good ten years younger than your current dance partner, but age wasn't exactly something you paid attention to. - You wouldn't believe the things I've heard when he first brought you to the race...

- I can only imagine... - you chuckled because the two of you weren't exactly an obvious pair.

- But you're making it work so well, that you're raising standards for other couples... - he continued, and you were genuinely enjoying yourself.

- What can I say... He's a good one. I can't imagine being with him and not being happy... - you looked at Toto and sent him a soft smile over the crowd, which he almost immediately reciprocated.

- Last chance because I see the youngsters coming over... Do you need a rescue or are you a strong independent princess who doesn't need a knight in shining armor? - you couldn't help but laugh since he was a literal knight.

- I'm good, Sir Hamilton, but thank you. I appreciate that. - you gave him a soft smile, while he mirrored what Toto did earlier and bowed before he left.

- May I have this dance...? - you heard a familiar voice and when you turned around you saw Pierre, with a very charming smile and extended hand.

- You may... - you placed your hand in his and allowed him to pull you closer. His other hand landed a bit too low to your liking, but you weren't afraid to move it higher. - As long as you promise to behave. - you added, your tone a bit sharper than you originally intended, but he still chuckled.

- Of course, mademoiselle... - you shook your head at his choice of words because he highlighted the fact that you weren't married.

- You're on very thin ice, Pierre, thread carefully... - you warned him in a serious tone, and he immediately adjusted his attitude, sensing that if he didn't - you would simply walk away, depriving him of the privilege of your company. The rest of the dance and the conversation were peaceful and when the song ended, he didn't try to convince you to spend another one with him, instead passing your hand to Lando, who was so flustered he almost stumbled, but in the end - he came out on top.

You were able to dance with more of the drivers, and even a few Team Principals and engineers, but eventually, you needed a short break, so you went back to the Mercedes table, where Toto was absorbed in a conversation with Sebastian, but as soon as he saw you walking in his direction, he stopped whatever he was saying, and just looked at you with awe painted all over his face.

- Hey Seb! - you greeted the former Ferrari driver, who looked like someone killed his cat.

- Whoa! Y/n, you look gorgeous! - he exclaimed when he finally saw you.

- Thank you! Although I should share that compliment since I had some help with the dress... - you laughed while sitting on Toto's lap. You established some rules about public displays of affection years ago, and neither of you ever thought about breaking them. - But it's still nothing compared to Hanna's. Did she design it herself? - you asked, but you weren't looking at him; your eyes were searching the table for something non-alcoholic to drink, but you weren't sure if the thing in the pitcher was spiked. You looked at Toto, and he just passed you his glass that contained what you thought was whiskey but turned out to be apple juice. He knew your habits well.

- Yes, she did! Although for the life of me, I couldn't tell you more about it... - he was a little bit embarrassed about that, but it meant that he cared enough to understand that not knowing about a lot of your wife's passion wasn't a good thing.

- I'll find her in a moment then... - you felt a hand on your hip, gently squeezing it, and letting you know you could stay a bit longer. After all those years, you perfected non-verbal communication with Toto, which made things easier when you were in the middle of the crowd. - But tell me... - you finally looked back at Sebastian, and leaned forward, suggesting that you were about to ask something extremely serious. - How much do you want to punch Mattia in the face? - he couldn't help but laugh, and you could feel Toto shaking behind you because he didn’t expect that question either.

- Well, since we're in public, I have to say that not at all. But ask me again after. - this time you were the one to laugh, and you leaned back into the muscled torso behind you. - Ehhh... I'm gonna miss you, Y/n... - he said seriously, and you reached for his hand.

- Seb, you're not dying... And you're one of the three drivers to whom I gave my real number, so do with that information as you will. - you smiled gently. In the beginning, you were super careful not to get attached, but it was harder than you expected. Even though you didn't travel with the team, and you weren't at even half of the races, it was hard not to find at least a few friends over the years, and Seb was definitely one of the closest ones.

- I'll try to remember that... - he chuckled, but there was no actual happiness behind his eyes. - Well, I'm gonna leave you two lovebirds alone. Thanks again Y/n. - and with that, he was off.

- They truly fucked him over, didn't they...? - you asked quietly.

- They did. - you sighed and finished the apple juice that was in Toto's glass.

- Do you want to do anything else...? - you asked, resting your head on his shoulder. After almost four years of the dance you shared, it came naturally to you.

- Make Horner jealous... - he whispered, and you had to look at his face to make sure that he truly meant it because usually, he wasn't a vindictive man.

- How jealous...? - you asked, seeing that he was indeed serious.

- Furious. - there was a darkness behind his soft chocolate eyes, but you could definitely work with that.

- Ask Geri to dance with you. And make her laugh... He will try to establish dominance by either punching you in the face or asking me for a dance and being inappropriate since he's already a bit drunk. If he does the latter, wait a minute, and then maneuver Geri so she'll be able to see us but don't make it obvious. - you said in a sweet tone, and with a giant smile on your face, so anyone who looked at you would think that you were whispering sweet nothings to each other.

- Are you sure you'll be ok with that...? I wouldn't want to... - he started but you just pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek.

- I'll be fine, I promise. - you rose up from his lap and sat in the chair that was occupied by Vettel just a minute ago. You took out a small mirror from your clutch and pretended to reapply your lipstick when in reality you were observing what was happening behind you, and it wasn't long before you noticed the team principal of Red Bull team strutting in your direction, exactly as you predicted, so you put away both the lipstick and the mirror and let him invite you to dance with him.

The words he used weren't exactly full of charm, but that didn't matter under those specific circumstances. His hand was already lower than you wanted it to be, and you could smell the vodka on his breath, because his face was so close, but you didn’t say anything, since he was playing right into your hand.

- So, Christian, tell me, how did it... Feel... to finally have that giant constructor's trophy in your hands...? - you asked. He was so easy to manipulate… You didn't even have to try that hard. One emphasized word paired with a suggestive smile, and his hand was riding down your ass to squeeze it, but before he managed to do that, you were already reacting. - CHRISTIAN! - you screamed loud enough that you caught everyone’s attention, while his hand was still where it definitely shouldn't be. He froze like a deer in headlights, so you tore it off your body hard enough that he started to lose his balance, and you quickly followed with a strong slap in the face. You were left-handed, so at the events like those almost all the rings were on your right hand, which made the slap sting even more. - Shame on you! - you added, turned around, and pretended to just now notice Geri. She was still holding Toto's hand. You stopped in your tracks because you knew how to play your role well. You mouthed a wordless "I'm sorry" in her direction, before quickly heading toward the exit. You couldn't be sure, yet somehow you were, that Toto was also apologizing to her, and grabbing your things from the table just to follow behind you, suggesting to everyone that your evening has officially ended on a sour note. But that couldn't have been further from the truth.

- Are you ok...? - Toto asked when he caught up with you in front of the restaurant, and you sighed.

- I should have punched him... - you gave him a soft smile, while he was handing you your clutch back. - It would have hurt more because of the rings...

- But a slap was more humiliating... - he offered, gently taking your right hand into his and pressing a soft kiss to your palm that was getting warm from how hard you hit the other man, even though there was no one around now.

- Mr. Wolff, you're getting ahead of yourself... - you teased him, and he almost immediately released your hand from his grip.

- Thank you for tonight... - he smiled, but before he managed to say anything more, the valet brought his car in front of the restaurant. Toto opened the doors for you and offered you his hand so you wouldn't lose balance while getting into the car.

And as soon as he started driving, you finally shook off your mask of a perfect girlfriend and stretched the front seat of the car.

- Do you think anyone took a picture or video of what happened? - you asked, not even trying to hide the yawn. After the whole day in a lab, a flight to Monaco, and literal hours you spent getting ready for the event, it would be a miracle if you weren't tired.

- I think I saw Charles with his phone out. - Toto also relaxed more into a comfortable seat.

- Great. If it somehow leaks, I think we should be seen all happy and in love right after, so I'll keep my schedule open for the next week. - you said, reclining your seat a little bit, to find a more comfortable position. - Oh, and I should send chocolates to Geri tomorrow to express how sorry I am about what happened to really drive the punch. Can you find out where they're staying? - you asked, trying, and failing to keep your eyes open.

- I'll take care of it, don't worry. And isn't your 5th anniversary this week? Don't you have plans? - he asked, and you smiled. He was surprisingly good about remembering things about your life.

- Mhmmm... But we're not doing anything grand... Just a picnic on the roof and a whole day of mind-blowing sex. Not on the roof, just so we're clear. - you heard him laugh.

- Allow me to compensate you for the inconvenience... - you didn't even open your eyes when he said that.

- You've already paid me for tonight... And you got me this abysmally expensive and horrendous clutch that I'm never using again, just so we're clear. - you joked. Well, not about the clutch. Sure, it was a piece of art, but it looked awful.

- I don't mean money... Let me do something for your anniversary since she's already forced to share you with me. - he sighed and that finally made you open your eyes.

- First of all, she’s not forced to accept anything, she's a big girl. And I like you, hell, I even consider you a friend, but if Ellie was ever uncomfortable with what we have - I would have chosen her in a heartbeat. - you said, even though you already established it multiple times. That's why there were rules... No kissing on the mouth, no hands in inappropriate places, and no sharing of the bed.

- I apologize, I didn't mean it like that... I just feel a little bit guilty taking from her the little free time you have. - your expression softened.

- And I appreciate that. - you reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. - We're both fine with... - your phone started vibrating on the highest setting, and that only meant you got a message from one of five people. One was asleep, one was currently in the driver's seat next to you, so that left the other three. You quickly read the message and started laughing. - Well, I guess we're gonna have a date tomorrow. The video already leaked... I swear to gods, those boys will be the death of me one day... - you mumbled under your nose, reading how exactly that happened. Apparently, someone following Charles’s private account leaked the video that he posted as a story there.

- Let me see... - he asked, and you clicked on the link and passed your phone to him exactly as he stopped at the red light. - Auch! - he laughed when he saw you slapping Christian, even though it didn't compare to reality. - Can you send it to me? It will be perfect to watch on a bad day.

- Of course. - you smiled and did as he asked. - Wait a moment... - you put your hand on the stick, nudged Toto to cover it with his, and opened the camera on your phone. But before you took the picture, you put the clutch in the background and made sure that the small amount of the material of your dress was visible in the picture, which you took just as the light was turning green. You cropped it, put a light filter over it, caption it "At least someone knows where to keep their hands..." and posted it on your private profile, for all the people you knew through Toto to see. After it was posted you turned the screen in his direction, and he just chuckled.

- Perfect. So - a date tomorrow. Any specific ideas?

- A picnic. With clearly homemade things but make it super adorable. Like sandwiches cut in the shapes of flowers, strawberries cut in half so they would look like hearts, etc... And it should be somewhere outside of the city to make it look like after today we wanted to be alone. - you nestled back into the chair. You knew he would take care of everything, and that it will be perfect. By now - he trusted you enough with how your relationship was perceived that he stopped questioning your suggestions.

- How about... Not exactly outside of the city, but on Isola dei Cappuccini? It's just an hour flight away and the renovation is already done... - he proposed, and you shook your head.

- Your private island is a bit... too private. We'll need to be photographed without knowing exactly when we'll be photographed. To make everyone think that they caught a glimpse of something they weren't supposed to. - you disagreed softly, exhaustion already catching up to you.

- Ok, picnic outside of the city then. – he agreed, but you could tell that there was still something on his mind. - But... How about I'll fly Ellie in, and you can spend your anniversary there...? I could take you both to the island, so the manifest would say we're both there, but since there are 8 cottages with a good internet connection, I could just work remotely from one of them for a week or so, and be completely out your way. And since we would be the only people there, you two wouldn't have to worry about anything... Hell, I'll even cook. - he offered, and at first, you wanted to say no, because you had your research, but on the other hand... It was ages since you and Ellie did something spontaneous like that. And it was your anniversary after all...

- That would actually be lovely, thank you. - it wouldn't be the first time the three of you would be spending time together, so you knew there was nothing to be afraid of. - And just so we're clear, you really don't have to cook... You're already doing so much for us... - you added with a gentle smile, and he only shrugged.

- I honestly enjoy our arrangement... - in the beginning, you couldn't understand why a man like this wouldn't just find someone to have a real relationship with, but now you knew him well enough to know why. Although he was happy to perform and pretend in front of the public, the romance just wasn't for him, and he was kind enough not to deceive any potential partners. That's why he was happy with the clear rules, the transactional nature of your partnership, and the peace of mind that you could never develop any serious feelings for him. - I'll arrange the jet from Heathrow for tomorrow at... 10 AM? - he looked at you, making sure it would be fine.

- I'll let Ellie know. - you replied, just as he stopped in front of Ritz-Carlton, where there were two separate rooms waiting for you on the top floor. 

A/N 2: Please don’t feel obligated/pressured to reblog, because I write mostly for myself. A comment would be appreciated though :) Love, G.

[fireemblemawakeningfansupports]

Lucina and Lissa: C Support

Music:

Lucina: Aunt Lissa, do you have a moment?

Lissa: PLEASE don't call me that, it's weird to even THINK I have a niece, let alone one who's older than me!

Lucina: Well then, Lissa, I had a few questions I wanted to ask you, there was so little time in the future for conversation.

Lissa: I guess it's hard to find downtime when the world is ending huh? What do you want to talk about?

Lucina: Hmmm, how did you and Father spend your childhoods?

Lissa: Pfft! Sneaking away from Frederick and getting into trouble. I would play pranks on Emm and Chrom, we'd have a good laugh and go to tea parties and..

Lucina: ? Are you alright, Lissa?

Lissa: Huh? Yeah! Sorry, it's just. It was so easy back then. To just be a child. I didn't even know we were at war. I can't imagine what you all had to go through.

Lucina: I cannot lie, the times were...harrowing. But all the more reason why the fight we fight is a noble one.

Lissa: Hehe, that's a good way of thinking!

Lucina: I never really considered the fact that Ylisse was at war even when you were a child. My grandfather, your father, had waged war on the Plegians, yes?

Lissa:...

Lucina: I seem to have touched a sore spot, I apologize.

Lissa: It's okay! I can't hide from it forever, right? It happened and I have to accept that.

Lucina: That's very mature of you, Lissa.

Lissa: Thank you. I would appreciate if we could talk about something else now though.

[convxction]

ooc. breaking news, i will rant. *fixes glasses & eyebrow raises for seriousness*

first of all, how... THE FULCUK DARE YOU INTELSYS NOT GIVE ME CHROM AND EMMERYN DUO HUH??????? I HAVE BEEN BEGGING FOR YEARS... JUST GIVE IT TO MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AT LEAST LISSA!!!!!! OR WITH FREDERICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AT THIS POINT YOU'ER MAKING ME RENEW MY PASSPORT JUST TO COME AND START A STRIKE INFRONT OF YOUR COMPANY! ...just give me chrom with someone else beside robin ;;a;; lucinaaa????? VAAAAAAAAAIKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sobs....uuughhh.....someone else please..........chrom has many supports....please....i beg of you.... i love c/hrobin but cooommeee oonnnn ;;a;; on my spaghettis knees.....

*fixes the problem*

jokes aside. i like the arts. everyone is adorable and makes you think about how a four years old is going to murderize you with that big ass axe she got.

respect the liz. respect the toads and frogs she leaves in your tents.

now let me look at the lines and whatever curve lore balls they have for us. and ofc i will be checking jp, too because i always say this my krumb and my awakening muses in general are mix of both.

already with pain.

in jp robin is a bit...clueless to why she on reflex hide her hand. or the vibe i get. like is the brand visible at that age? does she know what it means? did the grimleal tell her or her mom or dad??? aaa...the brand topic is just the chef kiss to make my brain go brrr lets think. also this is a child, not the older version avatar. obviously, she got baggage she still does not fully understand--why her brand gives that bad vibe and everyone is always EYES EMOJI at it. not the greatest pressure to grow up with sobs.

listen my dude. you need to tone down how 'idiotic' chrom looks. please. intelsys we get the whole idiots can be adorable but sometimes u push it a little bit too far and it gets repetitive and boring. in jp it is clearly he is more interested in the fact there are different kinds of 'girls'. meanwhile, in english hes like 'wow cant believe girls exist ugh' this is why i dont trust localization easily. tbh his jp line can be idiotic too but if you think about chrom and his circle of 'girls friends/ associate' are limited to his sisters then you can understand why he says something like "there are different kinds of girls huh' also i love that he is saying that to a girl.

chrom: wow so there are different kind of girls, huh, robin

robin: .... haha ... yeah

tldr: chrom is idiot. i can say this. you can't. it is the law here. dont break it.

you mean your sisters-in-la---*shot/stabbed* ...tiny tear because in JP she calls chrom...Chrom-san......... CHROM SAN...............................CROM SAN........... OLDER CHROM HAS SUSTAINED CRITICAL DAMAGE. A FRIEND SHOULDNT USE SAN WITH HIM WHYYYY TINY ROBIN NOOOOOOOOOOO DONT KILL CHROMMMMMMM!!! DONTTTTTTTTT its a nice detail ngl because they are not 'friends' their bond is still on the work and she knows he is a prince so she is being polite...waaa.....

chrom: chrom is ok

robin: ...............chrom......................san.

chrom: ;A; !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

insert your training generic line.

chrom panic mode. gotta stick with his sisters!!!! GOTTA PROTECT THEM!!!!!!

lays on the ground ........ cry. why are you making this child suffer? please.

the fact in jp she is not 100% sure if he is 'good person' is super funny to me LOL listen. with that scowl and big sword she can freely press A to doubt lololol also she is throwing shades at him asking if his sisters are suffering because of him ...--GIRL............listen................we................dont have a defense. true. it is all true. also this actually makes me go ooooooo because i always thought he was rebel when he was a kid. this confirms he is pretty much a troublemaker (to some extent ofc) and robin is already on his BS lol hear me out. a little boy who suddenly saw his country turn upside down in mere months and not only that but people chanting curses and vindication at your father who started a war and lost it; and by default doomed everyone with him. yeah. 'cheerful' chrom was a hard earned phase after that hurt and confusion phase he went through.

still a bakaptain. once a reckless idiot, will always be reckless idiot.

chrom got that 'mature' vibe to him when he speaks no? guess it does not help when you are forced to grow faster after your stupid father fucks things up. ... add him so we can punch the daylight out of him but make him ugly so i dont go IF HE BAD WHY HE HOT HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM cough

oh no...

oh noo.....pain...

聖痕...seiko..stigmata ...stigma huh. if you consider the fell dragon brand a bad omen, then calling it a stigma is not farm off, you know?

禍々しく不吉な… sobs stop.... stop hurting heeeerrrrrrrrr. a child saying they have something on their body that is sinister and ominous is not fun guys ;a;

also confirmed chrom is idiot.

robin: i have something sinister on my body...

chrom: WOW COOL SAME HAT? THATS WHY WE WERE TOGETHER~

robin: km pls

deep fried sigh ... let👏her👏be👏happy👏damnit!!!!👏👏👏👏👏👏

hmm ... i prefer chrom's line in jp because it does fit his mindset of wanting to help emmeryn and not just 'have to'.

cries. robin's love for books is adorable waaaaa.

unknown footage of chrom reading some books she recommended. help me they are cute.

also chrom wanting to be a strong man .. hehehehe buddy let me tell you that you will be the stronkest of them all--WALL CRUSHER!!!!!

i told konkon that what if they did meet (in a parallel world) when they were kids and chrom's dad finds about chrom's new friend and perhaps wanted to use that in his favor etc etc etc ... FATHER WHY MUST YOU BE AN ASSHOLE???????????????????????????????????

what if.... they actually meet .... but naga is like nah too soon. erase their memories because of the previous idea^^^ dad might abuse this friendship sobs ...

i mean naga already intervened a couple of times but not to the extent that she can 'change' things directly so perhaps the use of the brand or someone she can ....uuuh communicate with???? i might want to think about this hmm ~ i feel like naga does have more 'power' or like ...uhhh... things going on but we don't see all her plans.

oh and emmy and frederick convo ;u;

nobody deserves emmeryn ... or frederick ngl. MY MAN WILL KEEP COLLECTING DEM PEBBLES AND PEBBLE CHROM'S ENEMIES WITH THEM AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAA!

i love my awakening children ;u;

[mikaharuka]

My Revamped Masterpost!

Heyo y'all! I finally got around to creating this master list!

I'm on AO3 as Mizuka, and am the author of the Winter Light Verse.

Long story short, I had a worldbuilding concept, ended up with the Twilight/Life and Death fandom combo, threw out 98% of canon, and started a rewrite from scratch with totally different lore, history, vampire biology/society, and plot altogether. All while going full gay.

I've also written for other fandoms - most notably, Fire Emblem Three Houses and Ace Attorney. I even started my 'Fandom Odyssey', where I write the occasional fic in other fandoms - fandoms I like, fandoms my friends like, random fandoms, or even, all of the above!

---

Twilight/Life and Death - The Winter Light Verse

Apricity - Twilight Rewrite (M, ~81k words, 14/? chapters)

Mahabhuta - Apricity Interlude (E, ~7.7k words, 1/18 chapters)

Semper Felidae - Apricity Prelude (M, 3k words, 2/2 chapters)

Febris Amatoria - Apricity Kinktober (E, 1.2k words, 2/31 chapters)

Moonglade - Seattle, Beau POV (M, 750 words, 1/4 chapters)

A Series in Hands - Carlisle/Beau-centric fics, 900 words

A Study in Hands (M); An Indulgence in Hands (E);

A Lace in Hands (E); A Flirt in Hands (T); A Delight in Hands (T);

A Question in Series - Edward/Mike-centric fics, 900 words

A Question in Hands (T);

Elegance in the Series - Alice/Mina-centric fics, 900 words

Elegance in the Moonlight (M);

June Colors - Carlisle/Beau-centric color prompt fics

Amber Honey (E); Burgundy Affinity (E);

Winter Light Divergences, Derivatives & AUs

A Mosaic of Parallels - ficlet anthology (varied, index in chapter 1)

Flora Fati - fantasy/isekai, Harlequin (E, ~1.6k words, 1/6 chapters)

Ktêma es Aieí - Apricity time travel AU (T, 7.6k words, 4 chapters)

Danza de las Flores - FF Beaulisle AU, Carine/Bella (M, 1.5k words)

---

Non-Winter Light Twilight/Life and Death

The Sun, Moon, and Stars - Carine/Edythe (M, 900 words)

---

Fire Emblem Three Houses

The Tape - Modern AU Ferdibert smut (E, ~12.3k words)

The Forsaken Throne - BatB Prologue (T, 1.7k words)

Alluvium H - NSFW Ferdibert Zine Fic (E, 1.2k words)

Fusillade Z - NSFW Ferdibert Zine Fic (E, 1.2k words)

In Draconic Harmony - Edelthea, Post-Canon (M, 900 words)

Another Future - Ferdibert and Edelthea Reincarnation, 900 words

Desiderium - Canon-Compliant MCD (M, Ferdibert Part 1 of 3)

Translations of JP FE3H Supports

Hubert/Ferdinand - C-A+, Dining Hall, Group Tasks, Ending Card

Edelgard/Dorothea - C-A, Ending Card

---

Ace Attorney / Gyakuten Saiban (逆転裁判)

Summer Night Verse (Vampire AU)

Relentless Seduction - Narumitsu, mystery/Harlequin (T, 4.1k words)

Ruthless Seduction - Mitsunaru, future world smut (E, 1.5k words)

---

Other Fandoms - Mizuka's Fandom Odyssey

Dracula

A Touch Through Time - Dracula/Jonathan Harker (M, 1k words)

Fire Emblem Awakening

Melle et Felle - Chrom/Robin (E, 1k words)

The Sword and The Flame - Frederick/Robin (M, 1k words)

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika (PMMM)

The Die is Cast - Akemi Homura/Kaname Madoka (M, 900 words)

Persona 3

The Space Between - Arisato Minato/Sanada Akihiko (M, 1k words)

Star Wars / The Mandalorian

Metamorphosis - Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker (M, ~2.2k words, WIP)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Island of Illusion - Elim Garak/Julian Bashir (M, ~2k words, WIP)

Wednesday

Verdant Victory - Wednesday Addams/Enid Sinclair (T, 900 words)

---

(see this post for one-word prompt asks for the Winter Light Series!)

(see this post for my multi-fandom, chaotic collection of fics that wonderful authors and friends of mine wrote, based off my prompts!)

Also, I GOT THESE GIFTS! Some are set in the Winter Light Verse!

Anyways... glad to be here and don't be shy!

~Mizuka (or Mika, either is fine by me)

[omgkalyppso]

Happy Ace Week!

While my perspective and headcanons will be different, not being ace myself, I still have some ace fics I can highlight also:

Commitment Takes Conviction is a T rated Modern AU Hurt/Comfort Yurileth fic.

It's Byleth and his twin sister, Beres' birthday. They have dinner with their parents and talk a little about why each of their partners don't join them, before Byleth seeks out Yuri to apologize for changing his plans earlier that day. They talk about their ace relationship and have a romantic night in together.

Supported On All Sides is an M rated post-canon Hurt/Comfort Yurileth fic.

Byleth asks Yuri if he's inviting his mother to their wedding, and when Yuri decides that he is, his mother takes that as an invitation to re-enter his life.

An Open Heart is a T rated Fluff fic that sort of touches on polyamory negotiations between Frederick, Cordelia and ace!Stahl.

Stahl finds Cordelia and Frederick in the midst of lunch, where she's crying over Chrom and his recent engagement. They do their best to comfort her, and find themselves in the midst of their own confessions about love and identity.

What We Do For Family is a T rated Fluff fic that touches on Stahl's insecurities with regards to fatherhood and family with regards to Severa.

Sometime after Severa's C Supports with Frederick and Cordelia, Stahl gleans a little about his own position in parenting Severa, and takes comfort in their familial bond.

[indigowallbreaker]

Oooooo ask away for fe3h AND awakening? I’d love to know your thoughts on my boy Henry

My general thoughts & opinions on them

HENRY!!! The husband that I... have yet to marry XD Something always gets in the way. I adore Henry-- his puns, the crows/ravens, the random stuff he says that just makes you go "Excuse me?" (for example, one of his level up quotes is "Ooh, wow! When did I grow that?" like... babe what?)

Favorite moment of theirs

How do you pick one? Ugh, he's got so many iconic scenes. I'll settle on his recruitment chapter. It doesn't get much better than that entrance, does it? Being surrounded by crows and firing a bunch of jokes at Chrom about how fucked he is?

Henry: The ravens wanted me to give you a message. "Caaw… C-caw-caw." Roughly translated, it means… Hmm, now what was the human word for that again? …Traipse? …Tripe? Oh, TRAPPED! Right! …They say you're trapped. Chrom: We know, damn it! Gods… Where did they all come from? Henry: Well, see, when a mommy zombie and a daddy zombie love each other very much… Nya ha ha! Chrom: Perhaps I should save the Risen the trouble and silence you myself. Henry: Hey, wait! I want to join your CAWs—I mean, I can help you! I know magic! What do you say… Birds of a feather and all that?

I love him.

Favorite support chain

Many are fantastic. My top two are Sumia, with the whole body swapping fiasco (“Pfft! You fall on your face 10 times a day! This body is made of rubber.”), and Frederick, where Henry avoids training and pisses Frederick off (“Whoa, easy there, Frederick! You're bruising my arm! ...Oooo, look at the colors!”).

My dream FEH alt for them

He’s got Halloween and Spring on lock, so maybe Winter or Summer to round out the seasons? Day of Devotion would be pretty fun too.

Headcanons and/or ships I have

I grew to appreciate Olivia/Henry after joining tumblr but I also like Henry and Panne. As for headcanons, I think he’d get along well with Hapi from Three Houses and she would be a little jealous of his way with animals lol. 

Favorite art of them

This one by jejesart was the first one I thought of! Protective/Serious Henry :0 ( https://indigowallbreaker.tumblr.com/post/663606247347683328 ) 

[darkheroclone]

SADKHASJKDHASJDS

DESCO SWEETIE PLEASE THROW THAT POSTER AWAY. THAT’S SOMETHING A SMOL CHILD LIKE YOU DOESN’T NEED TO BE AROUND.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

"WAKASAMA! In celebration of this joyous occasion and to uplift the spirits of all the students--I have also commissioned an artist to capture your awe-inspiring form! It is my lord, tastefully nude! Posed artfully while wearing the crown along with holding the sceptre and orb that represents your position as Heir to the Valley of Thorns!" Sebek puffed his chest up, absolutely pleased with his contribution to the party. "I had it hung in every room throughout the College! Including the dorms!"

Fire Emblem Awakening, Chrom and Frederick C Support except it’s Malleus and Sebek

“We just finished distributing the flyers shortly before your birthday party started, Malleus-sama!” announced a Diasomnia mob student.

The mob proudly held up a copy of the poster in question. Indeed, the illustrated Malleus was every bit as nude as Sebek had said it was, with the naughty bits censored by the angle of  his knee as he knelt, a scepter in one hand and an orb in the other. A crown of thorns rested in his hair, and the illustrated Malleus stared intensely at any onlookers.

“Now all of Night Raven College will be able to gaze upon our Young Master’s perfect visage!!” called another, eyes sparkling. “Woe to the fools that spit upon the Young Master’s good name and image!!”

“THAT IS CORRECT!!” Sebek cried. “Those that so much as dare look at the Young Master or his illustration the wrong way... THEY WILL BE SWIFTLY STRUCK DOWN AND PURGED!!”

He raised a fist into the air and shouted, “ALL HAIL LORD MALLEUS!! PURGE THE DISSENTERS!!”

“ALL HAIL LORD MALLEUS!!” The other Diasomnia students joined in the chant. “PURGE THE DISSENTERS!!”

“PURGE THEM!!”

“PURGE, PURGE!!”

“Silence.”

The single word from Malleus’s lips was all it took to immediately still the exhilarated Diasomnia students. Their dorm leader wore a chilling expression devoid of all emotion, save for the fire in his eyes.

“Sebek.”

“Y-Yes!!”

“Mobilize a squadron to remove every last poster by the end of today.”

“E-Eh?! But Malleus-sama... How will we be able to spread word of your magnificence if the posters are removed?”

“Simple.” He held up a hand, a sinister green flame dancing in his palm. “I will allow my actions to speak for myself, rather than pretty images or words.”

Malleus closed his hand, quickly extinguishing the fire. “I understand that your intentions were not with ill intent--however, we must be cautious in territory that does not belong to us. Encroaching on others’ land is a sure way to get wrapped up in a war, and it speaks poorly on our manners.”

“I ask that you not make me repeat my order, Sebek.”

“Yes, Young Master!! Of course, you’re absolutely right!! P-PLEASE FORGIVE ME!”

“Forgiveness granted.” Malleus waved his hand dismissively. “Begone. You may return to the celebration once your task is complete.”

“YESSIR!!”

Sebek and the various mob students he led saluted before tearing off toward the Mirror Chamber.

... Malleus turned away and headed for a corner of the attic. Leaning his forehead against the wall and burying his head in his hands, he let out a long sigh.

How embarrassing.

(Elsewhere, in Night Raven College...

“... Why is there a poster of a nude Malleus in my cannister of lemon tea leaves?”

“DAMN IT, RUGGIE!! Why is that dragon bastard’s face all over my room?!”

“My, I was not aware that Malleus-san wished to advertise in the Mostro Lounge. I had better foot him a bill if he wishes to make his presence known at our business.”

“I finally get one moment to breathe from dealing with Kalim, and then this happens... I can never catch a break.”

“Rook, stop ogling those posters and tear them down. And no, I do not care how enchanted you are with them--they clash terribly with Pomefiore, and that is enough grounds for removal.”

“W-Who stuffed a poster of Malleus-shi in my gaming console...?”

“Dire, you had better punish the Diasomnia pups for this unruly behavior--”)

[the-paintrist]

Lucas Cranach the Younger -  Portrait of the artist's father, Lucas Cranach the Elder - 1550

Lucas Cranach the Younger (Lucas Cranach der Jüngere; October 4, 1515 – January 25, 1586) was a German Renaissance painter and portraitist, the son of Lucas Cranach the Elder.

Lucas Cranach the Elder (German: Lucas Cranach der Ältere German, c. 1472 – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German princes and those of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, whose cause he embraced with enthusiasm. He was a close friend of Martin Luther. Cranach also painted religious subjects, first in the Catholic tradition, and later trying to find new ways of conveying Lutheran religious concerns in art. He continued throughout his career to paint nude subjects drawn from mythology and religion.

Cranach had a large workshop and many of his works exist in different versions; his son Lucas Cranach the Younger and others continued to create versions of his father's works for decades after his death. He has been considered the most successful German artist of his time.

He was born at Kronach in upper Franconia (now central Germany), probably in 1472. His exact date of birth is unknown. He learned the art of drawing from his father Hans Maler (his surname meaning "painter" and denoting his profession, not his ancestry, after the manner of the time and class). His mother, with surname Hübner, died in 1491. Later, the name of his birthplace was used for his surname, another custom of the times. How Cranach was trained is not known, but it was probably with local south German masters, as with his contemporary Matthias Grünewald, who worked at Bamberg and Aschaffenburg (Bamberg is the capital of the diocese in which Kronach lies). There are also suggestions that Cranach spent some time in Vienna around 1500.

From 1504 to 1520 he lived in a house on the south west corner of the marketplace in Wittenberg.

According to Gunderam (the tutor of Cranach's children), Cranach demonstrated his talents as a painter before the close of the 15th century. His work then drew the attention of Duke Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, known as Frederick the Wise, who attached Cranach to his court in 1504. The records of Wittenberg confirm Gunderam's statement to this extent: that Cranach's name appears for the first time in the public accounts on the 24 June 1504, when he drew 50 gulden for the salary of half a year, as pictor ducalis ("the duke's painter"). Cranach was to remain in the service of the Elector and his successors for the rest of his life, although he was able to undertake other work.

Cranach married Barbara Brengbier, the daughter of a burgher of Gotha and also born there; she died at Wittenberg on 26 December 1540. Cranach later owned a house at Gotha, but most likely he got to know Barbara near Wittenberg, where her family also owned a house, which later also belonged to Cranach.

The first evidence of Cranach's skill as an artist comes in a picture dated 1504. Early in his career he was active in several branches of his profession: sometimes a decorative painter, more frequently producing portraits and altarpieces, woodcuts, engravings, and designing the coins for the electorate.

Early in the days of his official employment he startled his master's courtiers by the realism with which he painted still life, game and antlers on the walls of the country palaces at Coburg and Locha; his pictures of deer and wild boar were considered striking, and the duke fostered his passion for this form of art by taking him out to the hunting field, where he sketched "his grace" running the stag, or Duke John sticking a boar.

Before 1508 he had painted several altar-pieces for the Castle Church at Wittenberg in competition with Albrecht Dürer, Hans Burgkmair and others; the duke and his brother John were portrayed in various attitudes and a number of his best woodcuts and copper-plates were published.

In 1509 Cranach went to the Netherlands, and painted the Emperor Maximilian and the boy who afterwards became Emperor Charles V. Until 1508 Cranach signed his works with his initials. In that year the elector gave him the winged snake as an emblem, or Kleinod, which superseded the initials on his pictures after that date.

Cranach was the court painter to the electors of Saxony in Wittenberg, an area in the heart of the emerging Protestant faith. His patrons were powerful supporters of Martin Luther, and Cranach used his art as a symbol of the new faith. Cranach made numerous portraits of Luther, and provided woodcut illustrations for Luther's German translation of the Bible. Somewhat later the duke conferred on him the monopoly of the sale of medicines at Wittenberg, and a printer's patent with exclusive privileges as to copyright in Bibles. Cranach's presses were used by Martin Luther. His apothecary shop was open for centuries, and was only lost by fire in 1871.

Cranach, like his patron, was friendly with the Protestant Reformers at a very early stage; yet it is difficult to fix the time of his first meeting with Martin Luther. The oldest reference to Cranach in Luther's correspondence dates from 1520. In a letter written from Worms in 1521, Luther calls him his "gossip", warmly alluding to his "Gevatterin", the artist's wife. Cranach first made an engraving of Luther in 1520, when Luther was an Augustinian friar; five years later, Luther renounced his religious vows, and Cranach was present as a witness at the betrothal festival of Luther and Katharina von Bora. He was also godfather to their first child, Johannes "Hans" Luther, born 1526. In 1530 Luther lived at the citadel of Veste Coburg under the protection of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and his room is preserved there along with a painting of him. The Dukes became noted collectors of Cranach's work, some of which remains in the family collection at Callenberg Castle.

The death in 1525 of the Elector Frederick the Wise and Elector John's in 1532 brought no change in Cranach's position; he remained a favourite with John Frederick I, under whom he twice (1531 and 1540) filled the office of burgomaster of Wittenberg. In 1547, John Frederick was taken prisoner at the Battle of Mühlberg, and Wittenberg was besieged. As Cranach wrote from his house to the grand-master Albert, Duke of Prussia at Königsberg to tell him of John Frederick's capture, he showed his attachment by saying,

I cannot conceal from your Grace that we have been robbed of our dear prince, who from his youth upwards has been a true prince to us, but God will help him out of prison, for the Kaiser is bold enough to revive the Papacy, which God will certainly not allow.

During the siege Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, remembered Cranach from his childhood and summoned him to his camp at Pistritz. Cranach came, and begged on his knees for kind treatment for Elector John Frederick.

Three years afterward, when all the dignitaries of the Empire met at Augsburg to receive commands from the emperor, and Titian came at Charles's bidding to paint King Philip II of Spain, John Frederick asked Cranach to visit the city; and here for a few months he stayed in the household of the captive elector, whom he afterward accompanied home in 1552.

He died at age 81 on October 16, 1553, at Weimar, where the house in which he lived still stands in the marketplace. He was buried in the Jacobsfriedhof in Weimar.

Cranach had two sons, both artists: Hans Cranach, whose life is obscure and who died at Bologna in 1537; and Lucas Cranach the Younger, born in 1515, who died in 1586. He also had three daughters. One of them was Barbara Cranach, who died in 1569, married Christian Brück (Pontanus), and was an ancestor of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

His granddaughter married Polykarp Leyser the Elder, thus making him an ancestor of the Polykarp Leyser family of theologians.

[blog-cosmosuniverse1]

Medical Ignorance and the Mass Murder of Coronavirus Patients

Commentary by W. Gifford-Jones, MD

(OMNS Oct 20, 2020) In treating the sick, Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine counselled, "First, do no harm." Unfortunately, this cherished principle has not been followed in caring for patients with coronavirus infection. Losing a loved one due to cancer and other diseases is always tragic. But losing one due to the coronavirus pandemic when it could be prevented is an unforgivable act resulting in the mass murder of innocent lives. It has happened due to ignorance about history, hypocrisy, a lack of training of doctors about alternative medicine, and closed minds about the life-saving medical benefits of high doses of intravenous vitamin C.

I would not have the knowledge to write this article if one event in my life had not happened. At 74 years of age I nearly died of a serious heart attack. Doctors said I'd be dead in a few years without the help of cholesterol-lowering drugs. Luckily, several years earlier I had interviewed Dr. Linus Pauling, two-time winner of the Nobel Prize. He advised me of the important role of vitamin C in decreasing the risk of coronary disease. This is when I made one of the most vital decisions of my life. I decided to take 10,000 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C daily, rather than believe Big Pharma. But I also worried because Pauling, although a brilliant chemist, was not a doctor. Was he right about vitamin C? It was only years later when Dr. Sidney Bush, a English researcher proved that vitamin C could reverse atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries) that I knew I had made the right decision. [1]

Now, 22 years later, the doctors who told me I'd be dead in a few years without cholesterol-lowering drugs are dead, and I'm in my 97th year, still alive. It's this experience with the cardiovascular effects of vitamin C that's triggered my interest in the anti-infective and other medical benefits of vitamin C, especially how it can decrease deaths from viral and bacterial diseases.

Klenner went on to show that large doses of vitamin C could also cure other viral diseases such as meningitis, hepatitis, measles, mumps, pneumonia, shingles and even the poisonous bite of a rattlesnake. [2-4]  Since that time other researchers have reported that there is no viral disease that high-dose IVC cannot successfully treat.

But Klenner did not win a popularity contest with his colleagues. He wrote in frustration that "Some physicians would stand by and see their patient die rather than use ascorbic acid because in their finite minds it exists only as a vitamin."

Since that time closed medical minds have resulted in thousands of deaths from coronavirus and other diseases in Canada and worldwide. Because of a misconception that vitamin C is just another vitamin. But there is proof that vitamin C is a potent anti-infective nutrient that attacks both viral and bacterial diseases.

Infection triggers a severe inflammatory cellular reaction in the body which results in a decrease in vitamin C. It's like being caught in a snow storm on a lonely road and running out of gas. But in this case white blood cells need C to fight the infection. And if you have not been taking C on a regular basis, your white blood cells without C are like a gun without bullets.

Many people do not realize that nearly all animals make their own vitamin C. Humans lost this ability eons ago due to a genetic mutation. For instance, dogs produce 5,000 milligrams (mgs) daily. Health Canada maintains humans need only 90 mgs. But if a dog gets an infection, it will automatically produce up to 20,000 mgs daily!

During the coronavirus pandemic I've listened to Medical Officers of Health, TV anchors, politicians and medical experts all discuss the importance of distancing and frequent hand washing. But I have only heard one discuss the advantages of vitamin C and D in building up the body's immunity. [5] And I have not heard any explain how the use of high doses of IVC could save lives.

Dr. Lendon H. Smith outlined the clinical experiences of Frederick Klenner in "Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C". It contains a wealth of information on how vitamin C treats many diverse diseases. And how prescribing insufficient amounts of vitamin C can lead to failure in therapy. This medical information is available for all to read. [6]

I've have written before that if a family member died due to coronavirus infection and doctors and hospital refused to use IVC, I would contest this situation in a court of law. I believe I would win because historical evidence is so overwhelming that large doses of C save lives.

The hypocrisy surrounding vitamin C is mind boggling. Dr, Linus Pauling complained, "The medical community requires rigorous evidence supporting vitamin C, but accepts flimsy evidence against it." Little has changed since I interviewed Pauling. This deficit is evidently caused by the minds of medical professionals refusing to accept scientific fact. And we will never know the number of needless deaths this has caused during the pandemic.

A year ago, as a journalist, I was invited to be a member of the Orthomolecular Medical News Service.   It's international editorial board is composed of distinguished physicians, professors, and researchers. Several months ago I asked all members how they would treat several viral infections. The overwhelming response was "high dose intravenous vitamin C." OMNS has published twenty-two physician case reports of success with IVC. [7]

Since February, researchers in China have been conducting double-blind studies on IVC. This means one group will receive IVC and a control group will get a placebo. Some studies have already been completed, and the results show that IVC saves more lives than placebo. [8]

"Dr. Enqiang Mao, chief of emergency medicine at Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai, stated that his group treated ~50 moderate to severe cases of COVID-19 infection with high dose intravenous vitamin C. "The IVC dosing was for 7-10 days, with 10,000 mg for moderate cases and 20,000 mg for more severe cases. "All patients who received intravenous vitamin C improved, and there was no mortality." "There were no side effects reported from any of the cases treated with high dose IVC." (Richard Cheng, MD, PhD, reporting from Shanghai) http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n12.shtml

But even in one of these recent laudable studies, there was a flaw. According to the report, all patients received a certain dose for moderate infection while others a higher dose for a more severe one. But patients who died had not received the higher dose. [9]

This reflects everything that Dr. Linus Pauling and Dr. Frederick Klenner stressed. As Pauling told his critics, "It's the dosage!" Or, as Klenner claimed, "Some infections require a much larger dose." As we all know, half an aspirin will not cure a migraine headache.

But there is more disturbing news. Chinese researchers are experiencing trouble getting their findings published. Contacts also tell me that doctors who use IVC in North America are being harassed by authorities. In some case, being told that if they persist they will lose their license to practice medicine.  

To get an update on what was happening in some parts of Canada and the U.S I contacted several infectious disease specialists, Medical Officers of Health (MOH), and university hospitals, asking a simple question. "Do you prescribe intravenous vitamin C or know of anyone who does to treat coronavirus infection? And if terminal patients are not receiving IVC, why is this the case"?

It proved to be a time-consuming assignment. Many replied they would get back to me but failed to do so. I could only conclude they were not using IVC and did not want anyone to know about it.

Or they responded, "We have checked with our infectious disease specialist and confirm that high dose C is not being used to treat coronavirus infection."

What was shocking is that not a single Medical Officer of Health replied that IVC was being prescribed to those dying from coronavirus infection.

Another surprise was the reaction of Johns Hopkins one of the great hospitals of the world. Its distinguished professors were the first to introduce the value of bedside teaching for students. During this pandemic they were considered the authority in reporting the number of coronavirus deaths. So, I was shocked to receive this response, "We are not conducting clinical trials or administering C as a treatment for COVID 19." And even Harvard Medical School where I spent so many years as a student and later training as a surgeon, never replied to me.

What is going to happen?  It's that the Chinese study will likely fail to end the controversy and patients will continue to die needlessly of this virus. I was hoping that one infectious expert, or Medical Officer of Health, would possess the intellectual curiosity to ask, "I wonder if high does IVC could save lives?" It's tragic this has not occurred. Some would label this as medical ignorance, others as malpractice, or if a loved one has died as murder, and finally a court of law looking all the facts decide it's been mass murder.

So, we have a unique situation. It's been said that war is far too important to be left to generals. Due to the economic chaos caused by coronavirus this disaster may be much too important to be left to medical experts when so many North Americans have suffered.

It's time for the government to demand that our medical schools conduct a study of IVC. There is no shortage of patients. We have the scientific talent in our universities. Vitamin C is inexpensive and will virtually never cause complications. Vitamin C has never killed anyone. Besides, this study could be done in a short time and not require thousands of patients.

Who will grasp the moment and save countless lives?

(Syndicated columnist W. Gifford-Jones, MD, (also known as Kenneth Walker, MD) graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1950. He did surgical residencies at McGill University, the University of Rochester, and Harvard Medical School. Still an activist, his website is http://www.docgiff.com.)

To learn more: Several dozen articles related to vitamin therapy for COVID are posted for free access at http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml . Many are available in French, Spanish, German, Arabic, Italian, Korean, Chinese, and Norwegian. Japanese translations may be found at https://isom-japan.org/top_after .

[blackswaneuroparedux]

“H7″: The Norwegian king who led a resistance

King Haakon VII of Norway is considered a national hero in Norway - even though he was originally Danish. He was to be the first king of Norway following the restoration of that country’s full independence in 1905. In time he became an important symbol of nationalism enshrined within the Norwegian monarchy.

The figurehead king who became a symbol of Norwegian liberty was not someone born to the role. Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel was born 3 Aug 1872 into the Danish royal family and was originally known as Prince Carl of Denmark. Son of King Frederick VII of Denmark (r.1906–1912), he was the younger brother of the crown prince.

Norway, at this time, was an autonomous kingdom in a personal union with the Kingdom of Sweden (known as Sweden-Norway). The king of Sweden was also the king of Norway. This arrangement ended in 1905 with a referendum in which the Norwegian people voted overwhelmingly for dissolving the political union with Norway. That same year, the Norwegian people voted overwhelmingly for a constitutional monarchy rather than a republic. Prince Carl was invited to become king of Norway. He did so, taking the name Haakon VII.

Norway kept its 1814 constitution intact and King Haakon VII became king in November 1905. Haakon VII was formally crowned in an elaborate coronation ceremony the following year. This was the last such ceremony for any Norwegian monarch as the requirement for a formal coronation with the monarch in regalia was abolished a couple years later. After Haakon VII, monarch have had simpler ceremonies to celebrate their accession.

King Haakon VII reigned from 1905 to 1957, the first independent king of Norway in centuries. All of this makes King Haakon VII notable for Norwegians, a strong national symbol. Events in the latter part of his reign would test his character and reveal what a leader he was. Though his power was almost entirely symbolic, the life and reign of King Haakon VII shows what an ideal leaders does in a time of national emergency. In short, King Haakon VII was the ideal constitutional monarch and ideal head of state.

At the start April 1940, the Kingdom of Norway was a neutral country as Europe descended into the Second World War. War had been declared in September 1939 by the United Kingdom and France against Germany after the latter invaded Poland and refused to withdraw. War had broken out in the east but not so much in the west. This was the so-called ‘phony war.’ The British had decided to start placing mines in Norwegian waters to halt potential Nazi expansion.

Norway, being a country rich in iron, was a key target for the Nazis. The Nazi Government leaders hoped to faced no real resistance, extract resources, and install favorable governments. On 9 April 1940, the Germans sent military forces into both Norway and Denmark. The German invasion of Denmark lasted less than six hours. The Danish government capitulated in exchange for retaining independence and not having the Luftwaffe bomb Copenhagen. In contrast to Denmark, the Norwegians did not capitulate. It was Hitler’s desire to have a Nazi-friendly government in Norway under Vidkun Quisling, something the Norwegian people were not in favor of.

In the Battle of Drøbak Sound (depicted in the movie The King’s Choice), the Norwegians temporarily halted a German advance into Norway. Though this campaign did not stop the German advance (the Germans increased their military presence as they sought to gain control of the country), it did buy enough time for King Haakon VII and the Norwegian government to get out of Oslo.

The German delay in occupying Oslo, along with swift action by the President of the Storting (parliament), C. J. Hambro, created the opportunity for the Norwegian Royal Family, the cabinet, and most of the 150 members of the Storting (parliament) to make a hasty departure from the capital by special train.

The Storting first convened at Hamar the same afternoon, but with the rapid advance of German troops, the group moved on to Elverum. The assembled Storting unanimously enacted a resolution, the so-called Elverum Authorization, granting the cabinet full powers to protect the country until such time as the Storting could meet again.

The next day, Curt Bräuer, the German Minister to Norway, demanded a meeting with Haakon. The German diplomat called on Haakon to accept Adolf Hitler's demands to end all resistance and appoint Vidkun Quisling as prime minister.  Quisling, the leader of Norway's fascist party, the Nasjonal Samling, had declared himself prime minister hours earlier in Oslo as head of what would be a German puppet government; had Haakon formally appointed him, it would have effectively given legal sanction to the invasion. 

Bräuer suggested that Haakon follow the example of the Danish government and his brother, Christian X, which had surrendered almost immediately after the previous day's invasion, and threatened Norway with harsh reprisals if it did not surrender. Haakon told Bräuer that he could not make the decision himself, but only on the advice of the Government. 

While Haakon would have been well within his rights to make such a decision on his own authority (since declaring war and peace are part of the royal prerogative), even at this critical hour he refused to abandon the convention that he acted on the Government's advice.

In an emotional meeting in Nybergsund, the King reported the German ultimatum to his cabinet. While Haakon could not make the decision himself, he knew he could use his moral authority to influence it. Accordingly, Haakon told the cabinet:

“I am deeply affected by the responsibility laid on me if the German demand is rejected. The responsibility for the calamities that will befall people and country is indeed so grave that I dread to take it. It rests with the government to decide, but my position is clear.

For my part I cannot accept the German demands. It would conflict with all that I have considered to be my duty as King of Norway since I came to this country nearly thirty-five years ago.���

Haakon went on to say that he could not appoint Quisling as prime minister because he knew neither the people nor the Storting had confidence in him.  However, if the cabinet felt otherwise, the King said he would abdicate so as not to stand in the way of the Government's decision.

Nils Hjelmtveit, Minister of Church and Education, later wrote: “This made a great impression on us all.  More clearly than ever before, we could see the man behind the words; the king who had drawn a line for himself and his task, a line from which he could not deviate.  We had through the five years [in government] learned to respect and appreciate our king, and now, through his words, he came to us as a great man, just and forceful; a leader in these fatal times to our country.”

Inspired by Haakon's stand, the Government unanimously advised him not to appoint any government headed by Quisling.  Within hours, it telephoned its refusal to Bräuer. That night, NRK broadcast the government's rejection of the German demands to the Norwegian people.  In that same broadcast, the Government announced that it would resist the German invasion as long as possible, and expressed their confidence that Norwegians would lend their support to the cause.

The Germans retaliated with bombing campaigns. King Haakon VII ultimately evacuated the country with government leaders, forming a Norwegian government in exile. During this time King Haakon VII made speeches to his people through the BBC radio service.

Meanwhile, Hitler had appointed Josef Terboven as Reichskommissar for Norway. On Hitler's orders, Terboven attempted to coerce the Storting to depose the King; the Storting declined, citing constitutional principles. 

A subsequent ultimatum was made by the Germans, threatening to intern all Norwegians of military age in German concentration camps. With this threat looming, the Storting's representatives in Oslo wrote to their monarch on 27 June, asking him to abdicate.

The King declined, politely replying that the Storting was acting under duress. The King gave his answer on 3 July, and proclaimed it on BBC radio on 8 July.

After one further German attempt in September to force the Storting to depose Haakon failed, Terboven finally decreed that the Royal Family had "forfeited their right to return" and dissolved the democratic political parties.

During Norway's five years under German control, many Norwegians surreptitiously wore clothing or jewellery made from coins bearing Haakon's "H7" monogram as symbols of resistance to the German occupation and of solidarity with their exiled King and Government, just as many people in Denmark wore his brother's monogram on a pin. The King's monogram was also painted and otherwise reproduced on various surfaces as a show of resistance to the occupation.

After the end of the war, Haakon and the Norwegian Royal Family returned to Norway aboard the cruiser HMS Norfolk, arriving with the First Cruiser Squadron to cheering crowds in Oslo on 7 June 1945, exactly five years after they had been evacuated from Tromsø

By June 1945 King Haakon VII was heartily greeted by cheering crowds. The Nazi threat was over and the country free once again. King Haakon VII would reign for another twelve years. Haakon died at the age of 85 in September 1957, after having reigned for nearly 52 years. At his death, Olav succeeded him as Olav V. Haakon was buried on 1 October 1957 alongside his wife in the white sarcophagus in the Royal Mausoleum at Akershus Fortress. He was the last surviving son of King Frederick VIII of Denmark.

King Haakon VII reigned over his people from the time of dissolution with Norway in 1905 through the dark years of the Second World War and proved to be one of the best national leaders of the first half of the 20th Century. Haakon VII is regarded by many as one of the greatest Norwegian leaders of the pre-war period, managing to hold his young and fragile country together in unstable political conditions. His leadership as the symbol of resistance to hostile outside invaders is still deeply revered by all Norwegians to this day.

[virusdotsneeze]

C+ Supp (Sick fic/Snz fic)

Because I’m super original, I named this fic after the type of support that it would fall under in-game. Kinda like that other fic that I really liked. Thing is, there’s no such thing as a C+ support in this game. It’s just to sort of give a timeline on the two character’s relationship at that point. 

But uh, yeah. This is a sick fic/snz fic of Fi//re Em//blem: Awa//kening. Just a disclaimer: I’m not a rapper writer. So, I’m sure there’s gonna be some issues.

Oh uh, mess warning. I guess? There’s descriptions of the stuff :p

The Ylissian fields, mid-day, and as vast and green as one could have imagined. Tents had been spread throughout the field as the Ylissian army, the Shepherds, gathered together through different tents designated for different roles within the army. Outside the tents, near the outskirts of the encampment sat a young woman with white hair styled in two twin tails, that flowed over the shoulders of her heavy coat. She sat beneath a tree, reading books on magic to better hone her skills. Her skin appeared a bit paler than it usually was; dark rings beneath her eyes were visible, her nose red with irritation. She sniffled heavily and swiped at her nose continuously as she read her book, disallowing for any excess mucus emitting from her nose to get onto the pages that she was reading. The young woman wiped at her nose with the back of her hand. After noticing the dampness on her hand, she took a heavy sigh, stood up, and walked towards the wooded area outside of the encampment.

The young woman wandered off until she hit a river bank. Sniffling, she kneeled, pressed her thumb to her right nostril, and blew out. An excess amount of mucus began to pour out of her nostril, dripping onto the dirt below her as she made sure not to get it on her thick jacket that she had grown accustomed to wearing. Strings of mucus dangled from under her nose until they had completely gone loose and detached from the nostril. It had felt as if the mucus didn’t want to stop dripping from her nose. As it kept coming loose even without her blowing out, the mucus just kept pouring out onto the dirt beneath her. Once she was done, she did the same but with her left nostril, with the same results of constant drippage. After clearing both nostrils out, she attempted to breathe heavily from her nose but to no avail. Audible congestion was present in her nose even after the heavy draining that she had done.  She coughed into her fist and sighed heavily. 

It was another terrible head cold that she had contracted, from of course, sleeping on the ground. This was the second cold this month, and it was worse than prior. This was her fourth time in the last thirty minutes that she had escaped into the woods to discharge the mucus from her nostrils, hoping for relief from the hellish congestion she had contracted. She didn’t dare do this in front of the rest of the army. The embarrassment as well as the shame of doing it in front of a noble family would stick with her for the rest of her life.

“Damn this cold,” she thought “I wish it would be over with so I can stop wasting time here and actually focus on strategizing for our next route.”

The woman rubbed the palm of her hand against her nose to try to alleviate the tickle, but to no success. The tickle rose until it was let out to a small sneezing fit. “Hieh—tchoo! Etch-chu! Atch-choo!”

Mucus began to drip from her nostrils. She was just about to turn around to continue what she had been doing every ten minutes or so, until a voice had stopped her in her tracks.

“Hey, Robin!”

The young woman turned to see who had called her name, her hand covering her nose as she did. A young man with blue hair, full of youth and power stepped up to her. 

“O-Oh. Chrom. I didn’t uhm… expect you.” Stammered the woman, named Robin.

“Well, I mean, I do like to keep a good eye on the rest of the Shepherds. And you are of no exception.” Replied the young man. It was apparent in his tone that he had wanted to discuss something.

Robin sniffled, rubbing the underneath of her nose with her finger, “W-well… What is it you need?”

“Hah. Don’t play dumb with me. I know how you’ve been recently. You’re about as sick as a dog!” replied Chrom, bluntly. 

Robin blushed a bit. She always did her best to avoid Chrom as much as possible while she was sick. She didn’t want the prince of Ylisse to catch a nasty head cold over a small, menial conversation, after all.

“Ehm… I mean, yes. B-but I can still strategize just as well if I wasn’t!” 

“I don’t doubt that. You’re brilliant. But I know even you need your rest. And, well, seeing you come out here into the woods to…ehm… relieve your nose isn’t really anything I would say I would want you to do. Do you not own a handkerchief for that sort of thing?” asked the young noble, scratching the back of his head. He was clearly having trouble wording things. 

“No. I don’t. But I really don’t mind doing this. It keeps the rest of the Shepherds at a minimum risk of ca-catch—cat’ch—choo!” replied Robin, being interrupted by a sudden sneeze, doing her best to cover it with her hand, “Urgh. Catching this cold.”

“I understand your intentions. And while good, I don’t really think it’s something you need to worry about. Honestly, the Shepherds would be more worried if the tactician of the army were so sick, they couldn’t think straight.” 

“Ah, excuse me. I can understand that. But I need to keep planning things out. I can handle a m-mih-measly c-…c---cold--! Etch’choo! Hetch’choo!!” sneezed Robin, turning away from Chrom in attempts to not infect him. Robin could feel the mucus sliding down her hand, beginning to drip on the ground beneath her, in front of the Prince of Ylisse at that. She could feel her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

Robin had put her hand to her nose to try mitigating as much spray from being released, only to result in her hand being coated in the excess mucus from her nose. She pulled away not knowing how much had gotten onto her hand. She put her hand back to her nose as soon as she saw the strands of mucus coming from her nose. Her blush grew to a deeper red.

Chrom’s eyebrows furrowed a bit as he frowned a little. He wasn’t dressed in his usual armored garb, but more of a buttoned-down attire. He reached into a back pocket of the pants he was wearing and pulled out a cloth handkerchief. He handed it to the suffering woman. 

“Here. I think you’re going to be needing this more than I do.” He told her.

Robin’s blush grew deeper than it already was. She hesitated in taking the handkerchief. She still wasn’t very used to speaking and acting so casually towards the noble family, even if Chrom didn’t act like a noble. 

“Th-thank you.” She stammered out, taking the white, cloth handkerchief. 

She put the handkerchief towards her nose and let out a harsh blow. A gurgling sound was emitted from both nostrils, mucus filling in through any crevasse and crease of the handkerchief. By the time she had finished, the once dry handkerchief was sodden and in need of a wash.

“Ergh. Excuse me. Ehm… do you want this back, or…?” asked Robin rather sheepishly, unsure what exactly to do with the given handkerchief. 

Chrom put his hand up in protest. “Keep it, it’s yours, ha ha.” He said with a smile.

“Are you sure? I’m sure it’s not one of a noble to not carry around a handkerchief, but—”

“Oh, it’s nothing, really. I’m sure if I was back at the castle, if I were to simply sneeze, there would be at least six different servants ready and lined up to give me a handkerchief to use. This is nothing, really. Plus, I’m sure Frederick has a separate stash for both me and my sister somewhere in camp.” He responded with a wink and a smile.

Robin let out a chuckle that was followed by a small coughing fit and sniffles. Chrom put his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes. 

“You’re a very important asset to the army, Robin. We need our tactician more than anything. So that means we need you to be at peak performance. I want you to go retire to your tent. Lay down. Rest. I’ll send someone to help treat you. Please, don’t over exert yourself. Understand?” asked Chrom, his tone a bit more stern, rather than casual.

Robin was at a loss of words. She didn’t really have any idea as to what to say. She broke eye contact with the young prince for a few seconds but then looked him dead in the eyes and replied.

“I will. I’ll do this for the army. Thank you, Chrom.”

[indigowallbreaker]

What are your favorite supports/pairings for both male and female Robin?

Let's take Chrom out of the running for this one since he's so obviously my first choice for both (being my first husband and all lol).

As far as I've experienced, my favorite marriages are Male Robin with Olivia and Female Robin with Henry! I do really like F!Robin and Fredericks's supports a lot though. He might be next in the marriage line up lol. The basis of their supports are a little silly but I think they're in character. And I enjoy the way she calls him out for his proposal not being the most romantic: "deciding to marry a girl when you didn't upchuck a mouthful of bear?" Marriage material XD

For M!Robin, the supports with Cordelia wrap up really nicely. A lot of the time, I find the S supports either have a wildly different vibe than the C-A supports, or end with the characters acting completely OOC. But Cordelia's ends with her working through the death of her fellow pegasus knights in a (for FE standards) realistic way that works with what she M!Robin had talked about in their C-A supports.

Thanks for asking! :D

[fang-emblem]

Things to remember in Fire Emblem Awakening

I'll try not to spoil the story!

-----------

1. Game mode-

When you start up a new file, you'll be asked to choose your game type. Normal, hard or lunatic, if this is your first time playing Awakening or a main line FE title, choose normal.

After that, you can choose between casual or classic. Again, you should probably play casual if you don't understand.

In casual, your units merely retreat when they lose all their HP. In classic, they're dead.

Chrom and the avatar are exceptions, if they die, its game over even if your other units are fine.

2. Avatar creation-

At the beginning of the game, you have a choice to create your avatar. You can choose between male/masculine or female/feminine. You can customize their height, hair, face, hair colour, and voice. You can give them a name and a birthday.

Asset and flaw affects their stats growths, Luck is an okay flaw to have. Depending on things like what classes you want or who your spouse/kids(s) might be, this can change your thinking a lot. You should probably go for something like HP as your asset.

3. Options-

After you start, you can press A on an empty tile to bring up the menu, you can choose options like the music volume or how fast the gameplay goes. You can also access the in game guide from the menu.

4. Characters-

You'll start off the first couple of chapters with- Chrom, Lissa, Frederick and your avatar. Slowly, more people will join your army as you progress through the main story or play paralouges.

Some child characters are connected to their parent.

Chrom -> Lucina

Robin/Avatar -> Morgan

Lissa -> Owain

Sully -> Kjelle

Miriel -> Laurent

Sumia -> Cynthia

Maribelle -> Brady

Panne -> Yarne

Cordelia -> Severa

Nowi -> Nah

Tharja -> Noire

Olivia -> Inigo

Cherche -> Gerome

5. Recruitment- These units will not join you unless they are recruited!

Other characters will join automatically.

First generation:

•Have Chrom talk to Kellam.

•Have Chrom talk to Gaius.

•Have Chrom talk to Tharja.

•Have Chrom talk to Libra.

•Donnel has to level up at least once in order to join. Make him kill low HP enemies, and have him pair up with another unit, like Chrom, to gain a stat boost.

•Have Chrom talk to Anna, keep in mind this Anna is in the paralouge that appears when chapter 9 does.

Second generation:

•Lucina automatically joins your army after Chapter 13.

•Have the avatar/Chrom talk to Morgan.

•Have Chrom/Lissa talk to Owain.

•Have Chrom/Sully talk to Kjelle.

•Have Chrom/Miriel enter the village on the left.

•Have Chrom/Sumia talk to Cynthia.

•Have Chrom/Maribelle talk to Brady.

•Have Chrom/Panne talk to Yarne.

•Have Chrom/Cordelia talk to Severa, then assist her in making her way to Colin.

•Have Chrom/Nowi talk to Nah.

•Noire automatically joins on turn 2.

•Have Chrom/Olivia talk to Inigo.

•Have Chrom/Cherche talk to Gerome.

There are special streetpass characters you can get by going to Wireless -> Bonus Box -> Bonus Maps. But you can't play them until the endgame...

6. Classes-

The avatar can access basically any class, barring gender specific ones. F avatar can change into a pegasus knight, which M avatar cannot.

Your units start off with their base class, and a couple of reclass options.

You can advance their class by using a Master Seal, or change their class by using a Second Seal. They can be found in chests, dropped by certain enemies or bought on the world map.

Units learn one skill are level one, and then another at level 10. When at an advanced class, they learn a skill at level 5, and level 15.

There are special classes that can't be accessed by other characters. Only Chrom and Lucina can be lords, only Olivia can be a dancer.

7. Inheritance-

The children that came from the future to save the past from the clutches of Grima.

Technically, Lucina is the only child unit you have to recruit. But who wants that?

Your child units base stats, and stat growths depend on some crazy math shit that I dont understand. Some characters base classes depend on magic, like Nah. While others depend on physical attack, like Yarne. But most of this stuff is up to preference! Any character can be great. (Their hair colour also depends on the father. Not Lucina though)

Your children will always inherit the last active skill in their parents skill slots.

The very bottom skill (left), would correspond to the middle skill (right), if it was filled.

Chrom is a special case, his daughters will always inherit Aether from him, while his sons will always inherit Rightful King from him. Even if he doesn't have those skills yet.

His grandchild, Morgan, if the avatar marries one of his kids, will also get those skills passed down from the sons/daughters.

8. Supports-

After like, chapter 3 or 4, you can see support conversations. Some characters can only reach A with each other, but others reach S. S rank is the marriage support, characters will confess their undying love.

Some supports will grow faster than others, like Mirel and Stahl is a very fast support! To even grow your level, have them stand beside each other in battle, or pair them up.

Chrom and Sumia are picky about their romantic partners, supposedly it's the canon pairing but it doesn't have to be that way. If you wanted to pair up Chrom with Olivia, for example, you'd have to keep him away from his other potential wives. (Try not to get at least C support, it makes things easier)

-----------

This is only a really basic guide, if you have questions, I'll do my best to help out!

[exestitchial]

FE: Awakening S-Ranks (part 1)

@trilies​

So! I'm not sure what your criteria are for choosing S-rank pairings! Since I'm inferring that this is your first playthrough, I'm judging and summarizing based on which have the best individual support route writing quality, and/or which ones give the best look at the characters involved and their personalities/backgrounds/motivations. This would be in comparison to making choices based on making the strongest kids or whatever else. Asterisks for what I might rec for this (supposed) first playthrough.

So, a thing about these is that sometimes the S-rank is amazing but the C-A ranks are mediocre or even dreck, while C-As can be amazing but the S-ranks are awful, for one reason or another. Top recommendations I'm doing here are balanced based on good S-ranks (because unless you're savescumming like I ended up doing for filling out my log, then you're only getting one of those per pairing per game whereas A-ranks can be done all on this one save, if you really want to), and with significant mind paid to how good the support as a whole is. I'll mention runners-up, as well.

I'll be phrasing things as being lady-centric as that's how I conceptualized the romance system as I played it, because in Awakening the kids are linked to the mothers.

F!Robin

I see you chose Henry... I approve...

If you do more runs in the future, I'd recommend checking out Virion and Libra's S-ranks with F!Robin, too!

Lissa

Lissa and Virion. Just, adorable. Super sweet, but not over-the-top, despite their personalities. *Lissa and Gregor: Two silly people being silly together, trying to conquer Lissa's fears.

Runners-up:

Lissa and Henry: If you do another run, this one's short and sweet. Lissa's just a sweet gal who evokes sweetness from others, really.

Honestly, Lissa gets a lot of good supports for C-A ranks-- a lot of background and hijinks. Go for those of Vaike, Stahl, Lon'qu, and Ricken, if you aren't just going for all of them.

Sully

Sully and Frederick: Respectful and mature coworkers who lift each other up. For other runs. *Sully and Lon'qu: Fight buds. Nothing more, nothing less. Sully and Gaius: A misunderstanding resolved amicably becomes the start of a beautiful training montage. Sully and Henry: Amiable cursing. For other runs.

Runners-up:

Sully and Chrom: Chrom drinks his Respect Women Juice, as always. Sully and Virion: C-Rank: Stabulous. Sully and Vaike: Sully, lesbian magnet, gets pestered by the local himbo on how to pick up women, somehow slips into deep discussion of ideals. C-A is great, S-rank is garbage.

Maribelle

(Honestly she's my fave. I love her a lot.)

Maribelle and Virion's support is a (brief, as is necessary for how small the support conversations are) examination of both of their abrasive qualities that blooms into a small show of their more gentle ones.

Maribelle and Lon'qu's support starts out funny from how they exacerbate each other's extreme qualities, and yet becomes very sweet and genuinely supportive.

*Maribelle and Gaius' support is about overcoming and communicating about a wrong done, as well as forgiveness, and it shows off both character's best qualities, imo.

Runners-up:

In Maribelle and Gregor's support... Maribelle gets a crush. It's cute and silly. The S-rank is nothing to write home about. Relies on cheesiness.

In Maribelle and Libra's C to A-rank support, these two have frank conversations about their values: it sets up a great and enduring friendship. Their S-support makes me want to scream-- not because it's abysmally bad, but because it feels like it was written by someone who 1) wasn't the writer for the rest, and 2) only understands them on a superficial level. So, like, bad in a way that's just a step away from being good enough. Which is almost worse.

Olivia

If you do more runs in the future, I'd strongly recommend doing Olivia and Libra's S-rank-- even more than F!Robin's with him. If someone asks me what a good S-Rank option is in FE:A, this is the first one that pops to mind.

[citizenscreen]

It was 85 years ago this week, in October 1934, that Mark Sandrich’s The Gay Divorcee was released in theaters across the country. That occasion would normally have been just another movie release except it marks a significant moment in movie history. The Gay Divorcee, you see, was the first starring picture for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. While cinema has given us many memorable romantic movie couples, only one was so memorably romantic in dance.

The Gay Divorcee is my favorite of the Astaire Rogers pictures thanks in large part to its hilarious supporting cast including Alice Brady, Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes, and Eric Blore who supply laughs galore in a story we’d see over and over again later in the 1930s as the Astaire and Rogers film canon picked up speed. Here we see Mimi Glossop (Rogers) trying to get a divorce from her estranged husband. Her Aunt Hortense (Brady) suggests she consult with attorney Egbert Fitzgerald (Horton) with whom Hortense has a romantic history. The fumbling lawyer suggests a great way for Mimi to get a quick divorce is for her to spend the night with a professional co-respondent and get caught being unfaithful by the private detectives hired for the task. Except, Egbert forgets to hire the detectives. As the co-respondent Egbert hires Rodolfo Tonetti (Rhodes) who is supposed to introduce himself to Mimi by saying “Chance is a fool’s name for fate,” but the Italian can’t keep the line straight, which never fails to make this fan roar with laughter.

“Fate is the foolish thing. Take a chance.”

In the meantime, staying in the same hotel is dancer Guy Holden (Astaire) who falls for Mimi the moment they had an uncomfortable meeting on the ship from England. Guy is determined to make Mimi his while she mistakes him for the co-respondent. It’s quite the confusing premise that serves the talent of the cast and Astaire-Rogers pairings on the dance floor, which made the trip to the movies the magical experience these movies surely were.

Fred Astaire reprised his role from the stage play The Gay Divorce for The Gay Divorcee. Censors insisted that The Gay Divorce be changed to The Gay Divorcee, because a gay divorce was no laughing matter. Erik Rhodes and Eric Blore, who played the waiter in typical snooty fashion, also reprised their roles from the stage version. Cole Porter wrote the music for the stage production, but only one of his songs, “Night and Day” was retained for the movie.

The Gay Divorcee won one Academy Award, the first ever Best Original Song for “The Continental” with music and lyrics by Con Conrad and Herb Magidson respectively. The film was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Art Direction, Best Sound, Recording, and Best Music Score for Max Steiner, then head of the sound department at RKO. While award recognition is great, the place The Gay Divorcee holds in history is much more important. As mentioned, this was the first movie where Fred Astaire’s and Ginger Rogers’ names appear above the title. This film also sets the stage quite nicely for subsequent Astaire-Rogers movies, which often followed the same formula. First, Fred’s character usually falls for Ginger’s at first sight and he is often annoying to her. In The Gay Divorcee, for example, she has her dress caught in a trunk while he attempts to flirt. In Top Hat (1935) he wakes her up with his tap dancing in the room above hers. In Swing Time (1936) he asks her for change of a quarter only to ask for the quarter back a bit later.

Most Fred and Ginger movies also have mistaken identity central to the plot and some are set in lavish surroundings, extravagant art deco sets, “Big White Sets” as they are called, and include travel to exotic places. The world in these pictures is rich and cultured and never fail to offer an escape from reality.

More importantly, most of the Astaire-Rogers movies feature dances that further the characters’ story together, all are supremely executed, beautifully orchestrated, and emoted to a tee. Through dance Fred and Ginger express love, love lost, anger, giddiness, joy, despair, tragedy. The movies usually feature at least two main routines for the couple, one a fun, lighthearted affair and the other a serious, dramatic turn, depending on where in the story the dance takes place. These dance routines take precedence in the films above all other elements and are, ultimately, what create the Astaire-Rogers legend, each its own priceless gem. For this dance through history the focus is on the dance routines, which were born out of the RKO story.

RKO was born RKO Radio Pictures in October 1928 as the first motion picture studio created solely for the production of talking pictures by David Sarnoff and Joseph Kennedy as they met in a Manhattan oyster bar. Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) resulted from the merger of the Radio Corporation of America, the Film Booking Offices of America, and the Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit of vaudeville houses.

In its first year, RKO did well by producing about a dozen pictures, mostly film versions of stage plays. The studio doubled that number the following year and was established as a major studio with the Academy Award-winning Cimarron (1931) directed by Wesley Ruggles. Unfortunately, that film’s success did not result in money for the studio. That year RKO lost more than $5 million, which resulted in the hiring of David O. Selznick to head production. Selznick immediately looked to stars to bring audiences into theaters. The first place he looked was the New York stage where he found and contracted Katharine Hepburn whom he placed in the hands of George Cukor for Bill of Divorcement (1932) opposite John Barrymore. Hepburn became a star and the movie was a hit, but RKO’s fortunes did not improve making 1932 another difficult year. Enter Merian C. Cooper and a giant ape. David O. Selznick had made Cooper his assistant at RKO.

The idea of King Kong had lived in Cooper’s imagination since he was a child, but he never thought it could come to fruition until his time at RKO. It was there that Cooper met Willis O’Brien, a special effects wizard who was experimenting with stop motion animation.

King Kong premiered in March 1933 to enthusiastic audiences and reviews. RKO’s financial troubles were such, however, that even the eighth wonder of the world could not save it. David O. Selznick left RKO for MGM and Merian Cooper took over as head of production tasked with saving the studio. Cooper tried releasing a picture a week and employing directors like Mark Sandrich and George Stevens. Of the two Sandrich made an important splash early with So This Is Harris! (1933), a musical comedy short that won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject. This short paved the way for RKO’s memorable musicals of the decade, the first of which introduced future megastars Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as a dancing duo.

“I’d like to try this thing just once” he says as he pulls her to the dance floor.

“We’ll show them a thing or three,” she responds.

And they did. For the movie studio permanently on the verge of bankruptcy Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers proved saving graces. Pandro S. Berman, who produced several of the Astaire-Rogers movies, said “we were very fortunate we came up with the Astaire-Rogers series when we did.”

Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz II on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska. Fred began performing at about the age of four with his older sister Adele. Their mother took them to New York in 1903 where they began performing in vaudeville as a specialty act. Of the two it was Adele, by all accounts a charmer on stage and off, who got the better reviews and was seen as the natural talent.

By the time Fred was ten years old, he and his sister were making about $50 a week on the famed Orpheum Circuit. As they traveled the country, their reputation grew and by 14 Fred had taken over the responsibility of creating steps and routines for their act. He also hunted for new songs as he was able, which led to a chance meeting in 1916 with then song plugger George Gershwin. Although the two did not work together then, they’d have profound effects on each other’s careers in the future, including the Astaires headlining George and Ira Gershwin’s first full-length New York musical, Lady, Be Good! in 1924.

Unlike her driven brother, Adele did not even like to rehearse. For Fred’s constant badgering to rehearse she ascribed him the nickname “Moaning Minnie.” Fred later admitted the nickname fit because he worried about everything. Between Fred’s attention to detail and Adele’s charm for an audience, the Astaire’s reviews usually read like this, “Nothing like them since the flood!”

Fred and Adele made it to Broadway in 1917 with Over the Top, a musical revue in two acts, and never looked back. Their other hits in New York and London included the Gershwin smash, Funny Face (1927), where Adele got to introduce “‘S Wonderful” and the Schwartz-Dietz production of The Band Wagon (1931), Adele’s final show before retiring to marry Lord Charles Cavendish in 1932. At the time she and her brother Fred were the toast of Broadway.

The Astaires, Adele and Fred

After his sister retired, Fred starred in Cole Porter’s A Gay Divorce, his last Broadway show before heading west to Hollywood where he was signed by David O. Selznick at RKO. Legend goes that of Fred Astaire someone in Hollywood said after watching his screen tests, “Can’t act; slightly bald; can dance a little.” If true, those are words by someone who had a terrible eye for talent, but I doubt they are true because at the time Fred Astaire was a huge international star. The likelihood that someone in Hollywood didn’t know that is slim. David O. Selznick had seen Fred Astaire on Broadway and described him as “next to Leslie Howard, the most charming man on the American stage.” What was true is that Fred Astaire did not look like the typical movie star. He was 34 years old at the time, an age considered old for movie stardom. In fact, Astaire’s mother insisted he should just retire since he’d been in the business from such a young age. We can only be thankful he ignored her request.

Not sure what to do with him, or perhaps to see what he could do, Selznick lent Astaire to MGM where he made his first picture dancing with Joan Crawford in Robert Z. Leonard’s Dancing Lady (1933). Flying Down to Rio experienced some delays, but it was ready to go after Dancing Lady so Fred returned to RKO to do “The Carioca” with a contract player named Ginger Rogers.

By the time Fred Astaire made his first picture, Ginger Rogers had made about 20. She was under contract with RKO and excelled at sassy, down-to-Earth types. In 1933 Ginger had gotten lots of attention singing “We’re in the money” in Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) and in 42nd Street. She did not have top billing in either of those, but the public noticed her.

Ginger Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri on July 16, 1911. Her first few years of life were confusing ones. Her parents were divorced and Ginger was kidnapped by her father until her mother, Lelee (or Lela), took him to court. In need of a job, Ginger’s mother left her with her grandparents while looking for a job as a scriptwriter.

Lelee met and married John Rogers in 1920 and, for all intents and purposes, he became Ginger’s father. The family moved to Dallas where, at the age of 14, Ginger won a Charleston contest, going on to become Charleston champion dancer of Texas. The prize was a 4-week contract on the Vaudeville Interstate circuit. Lela took management of her daughter and put together an act called “Ginger and Her Redheads.” Ginger continued to perform on her own after the Redheads were disbanded eventually going to New York where she was seen by the owner of the Mocambo night club who recommended her to friends for the Broadway show Top Speed. 

Ginger was making two-reelers in New York when she was offered a Paramount contract making her feature appearance in Monta Bell’s Young Man of Manhattan (1930) starring Claudette Colbert. At about that time, she was cast as the lead in the Gershwin musical Girl Crazy, which – by happenstance one afternoon – offered her the opportunity to dance with Fred Astaire for the first time ever. Astaire had been brought in to the Girl Crazy production to see if he could offer suggestions for the routines. Ginger was asked to show him one of the main numbers to which he said, “Here Ginger, try it with me.”

After that Ginger and Lela headed to Hollywood and the picture business in earnest. Ginger made a few forgettable pictures for Pathé before being cast as Anytime Annie in 42nd Street and singing that number about money in Golddiggers of 1933. Both of those gave Ginger Rogers ample opportunity to show off her comedic skills. These types of parts, funny flappers, were definitely in the cards for Ginger Rogers until fate intervened when Dorothy Jordan, who was scheduled to dance “The Carioca” with Fred Astaire in Flying Down to Rio, married Merian C. Cooper instead. Ginger was by now under contract with RKO and was rushed onto the set of Flying Down to Rio three days after shooting had started.

“They get up and dance” in 1933

The stage direction in the original screenplay for Flying Down to Rio simply read, “they get up and dance.” Ginger Rogers was billed fourth and Fred Astaire fifth showing she was the bigger star at the time. In looking at Astaire and Rogers doing “The Carioca” in Flying Down to Rio one doesn’t get the impression that these are legends in the making. Ginger agreed as she wrote in her memoir that she never would have imagined what was to come from that dance. “The Carioca” is exuberant, youthful, and fun, but certainly lesser than most of the routines the couple would perform in subsequent films. I say that because we can now make a comparison. At the time audiences went crazy for “The Carioca” and the dancers who performed it, their only number together in the Flying Down to Rio and only role aside from the comic relief they provide. The picture was, after all, a Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond vehicle.

Doing the Carioca in Flying Down to Rio

Hermes Pan’s first assignment at RKO was to find Fred Astaire on stage 8 to see if he could offer assistance. Fred showed him a routine and explained he was stuck in a part for the tap solo in Flying Down to Rio. Hermes offered a suggestion and another legendary movie pairing was made. Pan worked on 17 Astaire musicals thus playing a key role is making Fred Astaire the most famous dancer in the world.

Pan explained that he went to early previews of Flying Down to Rio and was surprised to see the audience cheer and applaud after “The Carioca” number. The studio knew they had something big here and decided to capitalize on the Astaire-Rogers pairing.

When RKO approached Fred Astaire about making another picture paired with Ginger Rogers, Astaire refused. After years being part of a duo with Adele, the last thing he wanted was to be paired permanently with another dancer. If he was to do another picture he wanted an English dancer as his partner, they were more refined. Pandro Berman told him, “the audience likes Ginger” and that was that. Astaire was at some point given a percentage of the profits from these pictures and the worries about working with Ginger subsided. Ginger’s contribution to the pairing was not considered important enough to merit a percentage of the profits.

The Gay Divorcee (1934)

The Gay Divorcee offers ample opportunity to fall in love with the Astaire-Rogers mystique. The first is a beautiful number shot against a green screen backdrop, Cole Porter’s “Night and Day.” Fred as Guy professes his love for Mimi (Ginger), mesmerizing her with dance until she is completely taken by the end. He, so satisfied, offers her a cigarette.

Later in the film the two, now reconciled after a huge mix-up, dance “The Continental.” The song is introduced by Ginger who is swept off her feet to join the crowd in the elaborate production number. Needless to say Fred and Ginger clear the floor with outstanding choreography. “The Continental” sequence lasts over 17 minutes, the longest ever in a musical holding that record until Gene Kelly’s 18-minute ballet in An American in Paris in 1951. “The Continental” was clearly intended to capture the excitement of “The Carioca” and exceeds that by eons with enthusiasm and gorgeous execution by these two people whose chemistry is palpable. No one could have known if either Fred or Ginger could carry a movie, but The Gay Divorcee proved they were stars of unique magnitude. For 85 years dance on film has never been bettered and that’s why I celebrate this anniversary with all the enthusiasm I could muster as my contribution to The Anniversary Blogathon sponsored by the Classic Movie Blog Association (CMBA), which is celebrating its tenth year of classic love.

Doing The Continental in The Gay Divorcee

Fred always gets a solo number in these pictures, by the way and, as you’d expect, they’re wonderful. Many times these take place in hotel rooms all of which – luckily – have fantastic floors for tap dancing. In addition, The Gay Divorcee has the added attraction of a routine with Edward Everett Horton and Betty Grable, who has a small part in the picture.

Fred Astaire and Hermes Pan would begin work on the routines up to six weeks before the principal photography was scheduled to start on the pictures. Pan played Ginger’s part and would teach her the routines once she arrived to start rehearsals. Her part was long and arduous and Fred Astaire always said he admired her work ethic as she gave everything she had to make those routines memorable and match him move for move. Fred was also impressed by Ginger being the only one of his female partners who never cried. As they say, she did everything he did “backwards and in heels,” which by the way, is a phrase born in the following Frank and Ernest cartoon.

The unfailing result of their work together is absolute beauty in human form. Ginger Rogers completely gave herself to Fred Astaire, was entirely pliable to his every whim in dance. This is why they became legend. Fred may have partnered with better dancers and I certainly cannot say whether that’s true or not, but what he had with Ginger Rogers was special. The Gay Divorcee was only the beginning.

As for working with Fred again, Ginger had no worries. She enjoyed the partnership and the dancing and was fulfilled by doing various other parts at the same time. While Fred and Hermes worked on the routines she was able to make small pictures for different studios appearing in seven in 1934 alone.

Roberta (1935)

Fred and Ginger’s next movie together is William Seiter’s Roberta where they share billing with one of RKO’s biggest stars and greatest talents, Irene Dunne. Here, Fred and Ginger have the secondary love affair as old friends who fall in love in the end. As they do in most of their movies, Fred and Ginger also provide much of the laughs. The primary romantic pairing in Roberta is between Dunne and Randolph Scott.

The film’s title, Roberta is the name of a fashionable Paris dress shop owned by John Kent’s (Scott) aunt and where Stephanie (Dunne) works as the owner’s secretary, assistant, and head designer. The two instantly fall for each other.

Huck Haines (Astaire) is a musician and John’s friend who runs into the hateful Countess Scharwenka at the dress shop. Except Scharwenka is really Huck’s childhood friend and old love, Lizzie Gatz (Rogers). Fred and Ginger are wonderful in this movie, which strays from the formula of most of their other movies except for the plot between Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott, which is actually similar to that of other Astaire-Rogers movies. Again, aside from the dancing Fred and Ginger offer the movie’s comic relief and do so in memorable style with Ginger the standout in that regard.

There are quite a few enjoyable musical numbers in Roberta. Huck’s band performs a couple and Irene Dunne sings several songs including the gorgeous “When Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and a beautiful sequence on stairs during a fashion show to “Lovely to Look At,” which received the film’s only Academy Award nomination for Best Music, Original Song. That number transitions into a Fred and Ginger duet and dance to “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” followed closely by an exuberant finale number.

Fred and Ginger in Roberta

Early in Roberta, at the Cafe Russe, Ginger is delightful singing “I’ll be Hard to Handle” with the band. She and Fred follow with a supremely enjoyable duet with their feet, a routine where each answers the other with taps. I believe there were requests for them to re-record the taps after the live taping as you can hear Ginger laughing during the routine, but Fred insisted to leave it as is. The result is a relaxed, wonderfully entertaining sequence I hadn’t seen in years. The pantsuit Ginger wears during this number is fabulous.

I’ll Be Hard to Handle routine in Roberta

Later, Ginger and Fred sing a duet to “I Won’t Dance” with Fred following with an extraordinary solo routine. This may be my favorite of his solo sequences, which includes an unbelievably fast ending.

Astaire in Roberta

Fred Astaire was perfection on the dance floor and, as many have said, seemed to dance on air. None of it came without excruciating hard work, however. Astaire was known for rehearsing and losing sleep until he felt every movement in every sequence was perfect. He stated he would lose up to 15 pounds during the rehearsals for these films. Clearly, nothing had changed since his days preparing for the stage with his sister.

Fred Astaire fretted over routines constantly. He could not even stand looking at the rushes himself so he would send Hermes Pan to look and report back. Astaire admitted that even looking at these routines decades later caused him angst. Of course, his absolute dedication to perfection, pre-planning even the smallest detail of every dance number, resulted in much of the legend of Fred and Ginger. Fred’s demands on set also made the pictures epic among musicals. Astaire insisted, for instance, to shoot every single sequence in one shot, with no edits. He also insisted that their entire bodies be filmed for every dance number and that taps be recorded live. He was known to say that either the camera moved or he moved. One of the cameramen at RKO who worked on the Astaire-Rogers pictures said that keeping Fred and Ginger’s feet in the frame was the biggest challenge. All of these Fred Astaire stipulations ensured that the performances are still moving many decades after they were filmed and all of them are as much a statement in endurance as they are in artistry.

Top Hat 

Directed by Mark Sandrich, Top Hat is the first film written expressly for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers by Deight Taylor and Alan Scott and feels bigger from its catchy opening sequence on forward than the other movies in the series to this point. This is perhaps the most well regarded of the Astaire-Rogers movie pairings and it’s no wonder because it’s delightful even though it shares several similarities with The Gay Divorcee. Joining Fred and Ginger once again are Edward Everett Horton in the second of three Fred and Ginger pictures he made, Eric Blore in the third of five, and Erik Rhodes in his second. To my delight Rhodes dons that wonderful, hilarious Italian accent, which by the way, got him barred by Mussolini. Joining the group in this picture is Helen Broderick as Madge Hardwick, Horton’s wife.

The story in Top Hat begins when Fred as Jerry Travers meets Ginger as Dale Tremont when he wakes her up by tap dancing in the hotel room above hers. She is naturally annoyed, but warms up to him fairly quickly the next day as he seeks her favor with Irving Berlin’s “Isn’t This a Lovely Day?” when the two are in a gazebo during a rainstorm. The song ends in a wonderful dance sequence that starts off as a challenge, but warms to affection. I should add we see here what we see in many Astaire-Rogers routines that is so darn exciting – when they don’t touch. The gazebo number is not as emotionally charged as others the couple executes because it is the lighthearted one in the picture, the one during which he woos her with dance. By the end of this number she is sold on him and what prospects may lay ahead.

It’s a lovely day to be caught in the rain from Top Hat

Unfortunately, after the gazebo number some confusion ensues as Dale believes Jerry is married to one of her friends. This is the requisite mistaken identity. It is Horace Hardwick (Horton) who’s married, not Jerry. Some innocent games and trickery take place before Dale is hurt and Jerry has to win her over once again. Then heaven appears.

“Heaven, I’m in heaven And the cares that hung around me through the week Seem to vanish like a gambler’s lucky streak When we’re out together dancing cheek to cheek”

These songs are standards for a reason. It just does not get better than that.

To continue the story – at the insistence of Madge Hardwick, Dale and Jerry dance as he sings those lyrics to her. She is mesmerized, wanting to believe him wearing that famous feather dress. They move onto a terrace in each other’s arms as the music swells.

A gorgeous, sexy backbend during Cheek to Cheek in Top Hat

Once again, the song is over and her heart is stolen. She’s seduced. And so are we.

One of the few times Ginger seriously disagreed with Fred concerning a routine was her stance on the feather dress for the “Cheek to Cheek” sequence. Fred hated it. During the number feathers went everywhere, including in his face and on his tuxedo. Ginger designed the dress and insisted she wear it, despite the cost of $1,500 worth of ostrich feathers. She was right. While you can see feathers coming off the dress during the number, none are seen on Fred’s tuxedo, but it doesn’t matter because it moves beautifully and adds immeasurably to the routine.

The feather dress didn’t stay there. In fact, it stayed with Ginger for some time as thereafter, Astaire nicknamed her “Feathers.” After what Ginger described as a difficult few days following the feather dress uproar, she was in her dressing room when a plain white box was delivered. Inside was a note that read, “Dear Feathers. I love ya! Fred”

Fred Astaire has two solo routines in Top Hat, “No Strings” at the beginning of the movie, the tap dance that wakes Dale, and “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails,” a signature production number considered one of his best.

Following in the tradition of “The Carioca” and “The Continental,” Top Hat features “The Piccolino,” an extravagant production number with song introduced by Ginger who said that Fred was supposed to sing the tune and hated it so he told Sandrich to give it to Ginger. In any case, she and Fred join the festivities with only their feet visible heading toward the dance floor, reminiscent of the movie’s opening sequence. It’s quite the rush as you see their feet advancing toward the dance floor, I must say.

“The Piccolino” is lively and fun, a terrific routine with a fun ending as the two end the number by sitting back at their table with Ginger having to fix her dress, a beautiful dress that made it to the Smithsonian.

Fred and Ginger doing The Piccolino

Top Hat premiered at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to record crowds. Added security had to be sent to the venue to ensure order. The movie went on to gross $3 million on its initial release, and became RKO’s most profitable film of the 1930s. 

Follow the Fleet (1936)

Mark Sandrich was back to direct Follow the Fleet, which I have a huge affection for. The Irving Berlin score in this film is superb with songs that take me back to my childhood and the memory of watching them on Saturday nights on our local PBS station. Fred, Ginger, Sandrich and the crew of Follow the Fleet heard about the record numbers of moviegoers attending Top Hat as they gathered to begin shooting this movie. The excitement certainly inspired them to make Follow the Fleet the cheerful, energetic movie it is. Although, Ginger hoped that by this, their third movie together, Mark Sandrich would recognize her worth it was not to be. She discusses his dislike of her a lot in her book.

Like in Roberta, Fred and Ginger’s relationship in Follow the Fleet is that of the secondary romantic couple supplying the laughs in the film despite the fact that they get top billing. The primary romance here is the one between Harriet Hilliard (in her first feature film) and Randolph Scott. The story is simple, Bake Baker (Astaire) and Bilge (Scott) visit the Paradise Ballroom in San Francisco while on Navy leave. At the ballroom are Connie Martin (Hilliard), who is immediately taken with Bilge, and her sister Sherry (Rogers), the dance hostess at the ballroom who also happens to be the ex-girlfriend of Bake’s. Sherry and Bake reunite by joining a dance contest and winning (of course), but it costs Sherry her job.

In the meantime, Connie starts talking about marriage to Bilge who is instantly spooked sending him into the arms of a party girl. Bake tries to get Sherry a job in a show, which entails a mistaken identity amid more confusion until things clear up and the two are successful, heading toward the Broadway stage. The confusion here comes by way of some bicarbonate of soda, in case you’re wondering.

Follow the Fleet is a hoot with several aspects straying from the usual Fred-Ginger formula. To begin, Fred Astaire puts aside his debonair self and replaces him with a much more informal, smoking, gum-chewing average guy. It’s enjoyable seeing him try to be common. Fred opens the movie with Berlin’s wonderful “We Saw the Sea,” the words to which I remembered during the last viewing, quite the surprise since I had not seen Follow the Fleet in decades. Later in the movie he gets another solo tap routine on deck of his ship with fellow seamen as accompaniment. Both instances are supremely enjoyable as one would expect.

Fred during one of his solo routines in Follow the Fleet

Ginger does a great rendition of “Let Yourself Go” with Betty Grable as a back-up singer. A bit later there’s a reprise of the fabulous song during the contest, the dance reunion of Bake and Sherry. According to Ginger, a search through all of Hollywood took place in hopes of finding other couples who could compete with Fred and her. This may already be getting old, but here you have another energetic, enjoyable routine by these two masters. The whistles from the crowd at the Paradise Ballroom show the audience enjoy it as well.

The Let Yourself Go routine during the dance contest in Follow the Fleet

As part of an audition, Ginger gets to do a solo tap routine, a rarity in these movies and it’s particularly enjoyable to watch. Unfortunately, Sherry doesn’t get the job as a result of the audition even though she’s the best the producer has seen. Thinking that he’s getting rid of her competition (mistaken identity), Bake prepares a bicarbonate of soda drink, which renders the singer incapable of singing. Sherry drinks it and burps her way through the audition.

Sherry during the rehearsal, a solo tap for Ginger in Follow the Fleet

Now rehearsing for a show, Bake and Sherry sing “I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket” followed by a wonderfully amusing routine where Ginger gets caught up in steps leaving Fred to constantly try to get her to move along. During the number the music also changes constantly and they have fun trying to stay in step be in a waltz or jazz or any number of music moods. This routine is a rare one for Fred and Ginger whose dance sequences are usually step perfect. It looks like they have a blast with this including a few falls and a fight instigated by Ginger.

“Eggs in One Basket” routine from Follow the Fleet

Fred and Ginger follow the comical exchange in “I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket,” with one of their greatest sequences, another rarity in that this one happens out of character for both in the movie. The wonderful “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” and the routine to it make as iconic an Astaire-Rogers sequence as has ever put on film. The song and the performance tell a mini story outside of the confines of the plot. This is a grim tale executed with extraordinary beauty as we see two suicidal people happen upon each other and are saved from despair through dance. Again, kudos to Berlin’s genius because the lyrics of this song are sublime.

“There may be trouble ahead But while there’s moonlight and music And love and romance Let’s face the music and dance”

Ginger is a vision as Fred guides her across the dance floor. The dance starts off with a sway, they are not touching, he’s leading her, but she’s despondent at first, unable to react to his urging that there is something to live for. As that beautiful music advances she responds and in the process conquers demons. The routine ends as the music dictates in dramatic fashion with a lunge, they are both now victorious and strong. Magnificent. The movie concludes minutes later because…what more is there to say?

“Let’s Face the Music and Dance” Fred and Ginger

Ginger in beaded dress for “Let’s Face the Music and Dance”

Ginger is wearing another legendary dress in the “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” routine. Created by one of her favorite designers, Bernard Newman, the dress weighed somewhere between 25 and 35 pounds. The entire thing was beaded and moved beautifully along with Ginger. Fred Astaire told the story of how one of the heavy sleeves hit him in the face hard during the first spin in the dance. They did the routine about 12 times and Sandrich decided on the first. If you look closely you can see Fred flinch a bit as Ginger twirls with heavy sleeves near his face at the beginning of the dance, which is affecting, beautifully acted by both, but particularly Ginger in the arms of Fred Astaire.

Lucille Ball plays a small role in Follow the Fleet and can be seen throughout the film and a couple of times during the “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” sequence. Also, Betty Grable makes an appearance in a supporting role. Harriet Hilliard sings two songs in Follow the Fleet as well, but to little fanfare.

By Follow the Fleet Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were top box office draws as a team. America was in love with Fred and Ginger. And they still hadn’t reached the apex of dance.

Swing Time (1936)

Swing Time was directed by George Stevens, his first musical, made when he was the top director at RKO Pictures. As I watched these films in succession I noticed something I never had before, Fred and Ginger’s dancing in Swing Time is more mature than in previous films. The emotionally-charged “Never Gonna Dance” sequence has always been my favorite, but I had never considered that it is because Astaire and Rogers are at their peak. This, they’re fifth starring outing as a pair, is their best.

The plot of Swing Time is similar to that of Top Hat to include the ever-present mistaken identity theme, but this movie is wittier and more inventive and clever surrounding memorable songs by Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern. The story here begins as dancer and gambler, Lucky Garnett (Astaire) arrives late for his own wedding to Margaret Watson (Betty Furness). Angry at the young man’s audacity, the father of the bride tells Lucky that the only way he can marry his daughter is to go to New York and become a success. Lucky heads East with his lucky quarter and constant companion Pop Cardetti (Victor Moore).

Once in New York the stage is set for a chance meeting between Lucky and Penny Carroll (Rogers). The encounter leads to the first routine in the movie to the glorious “Pick Yourself Up” at the dance academy where Penny works as an instructor. The exchange leading up to the dance sequence is quite enjoyable as Lucky makes believe he can’t dance as Penny tries in vain to teach him. His fumbling on his feet causes her to be fired by the furious head of the dance studio, Mr. Gordon (Eric Blore). To make it up to Penny, Lucky pulls her to the dance floor to show Gordon how much she has taught him and she delights in seeing his amazing dancing ability. The routine that ensues is energetic, fun, and the movie’s acquaintance dance after which Penny is completely taken with Lucky.

During the “Pick Yourself Up” routine in Swing Time

Watching Ginger transition from angry to incredulous to gloriously surprised to such confidence that the dance floor can’t even contain them is simply wonderful. As the dance progresses her joy grows naturally illustrated by such details as throwing her head back or giggling as Fred, who’s the wiser, wows her. And she, in turn, gives Gordon a few hard looks as he sits there making memorable Eric Blore faces. At the end of the dance their relationship is different and Gordon is so impressed he gets them an audition at the Silver Sandal Nightclub where they enchant the patrons and are hired. Incidentally, since Fred’s mood, shall we say, is what initiates and dictates these routines he has little emotional change through these mini stories. The journey is mostly all hers.

Before they do the nightclub act, Lucky sings “The Way You Look Tonight” to Penny while her hair is full of shampoo. The song won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song. Penny and Lucky are now in love. That night at the nightclub, Penny tells Lucky that bandleader Ricardo Romero (Georges Metaxa) has asked her to marry him many times so it’s no surprise when Romero squashes their chance to perform. That is until Lucky wins Romero’s contract gambling and sets the stage for the “Waltz in Swing Time”

“The Waltz in Swing Time” seems to me to be one of the most complex of the Astaire-Rogers dance sequences. Performed at the gorgeous art deco club, this routine is as airy as it is masterful. Fred and Ginger lovingly looking at each other throughout as twists and turns and light taps happen around them. Gosh, they are awe-inspiring.

The Waltz in Swing Time

The next day Lucky does all he can to avoid a love-making scene with Penny. He’s in love with her, but remembers he’s engaged to another woman and hasn’t told her. Meanwhile Pop spills the beans to Mabel (Helen Broderick, the fourth wheel in this ensemble.) A kissless Penny and a frustrated Lucky sing “A Fine Romance” out in the country and Ginger once again gives a lesson in acting. I’ve noted in other posts about how acting in song is never taken too seriously by people and this is another example. Ginger Roger’s reviews in these films were often mediocre with the praise usually going entirely Astaire’s way. Admittedly, Astaire-Rogers films are not dramatic landscapes that allow for much range, but the fact that Ginger manages believable turns in the routines and in all of the sung performances should be noted. She had an air of not taking the films and roles too seriously, but still managed a wide range of emotion, particularly when the time came to emote in dance. That only made her all the better and often the best thing in the movies aside from the dancing.

Fred Astaire has a wonderful production number, “The Bojangles of Harlem,” in Swing Time even though he performs in blackface. The number is intended to honor dancers like Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson who were influential to Fred Astaire. Aside from Fred’s indelible dancing in the sequence, the number is memorable for introducing special effects into Fred Astaire dance routines as he dances with huge shadows of himself. The effect was achieved by shooting the routine twice under different lighting. “Bojangles of Harlem” earned Hermes Pan an Academy Award nomination for Best Dance Direction.

As our story continues – Penny and Lucky are definitely into each other and Ricardo is still wooing Penny when Margaret shows up to spoil the festivities. Actually, she comes to tell Lucky she’s in love with someone else, but doesn’t have a chance to say it before Penny is heartbroken.

And so here we are…we see Penny and Ricardo talking. Given the situation with Lucky – his impending marriage and his losing their contract while gambling – she feels she has no choice but to marry Ricardo. Lucky walks in. Two heartbroken people stand at the foot of majestic stairs as he begins to tell her he’ll never dance again. Imagine that tragedy. The music shifts to “The Way You Look Tonight” and “The Waltz in Swing Time” throughout. Ginger, who had gone up the stairs, descends and the two walk dejectedly across the floor holding hands. The walks gathers a quiet rhythm until they are in each other’s arms dancing. Still, she resists, attempts to walk away, but he refuses to let her go until she succumbs, joining him in energetic rhythm, two people in perfect sync as the music shifts to past moments in their lives together – shifts between loud and quiet, fast and slow, together and apart – mimicking the turmoil of the characters in that time and place.

Ginger’s dress here is elegantly simple as if not to detract from the emotion of the piece, which is intense. Everything about this routine is absolutely gorgeous.

Fred and Ginger split toward the end of the number, each going up an opposite staircase on the elaborate set. They reach the top where the music reaches its crescendo. The two dance, a flurry of turbulent spins. Until she runs off leaving him shattered. And me.

To my knowledge, the “Never Gonna Dance” sequence in the only one where a cut had to happen during the dance in order to get the cameras to the top of the stairs. This is the famous routine that made Ginger’s feet bleed. One of the crew noticed her shoes were pink and it turned out to be that they were blood-soaked. Also notable is that the number was shot over 60 times according to Ginger and several other people there. At one point George Stevens told them all to go home for the night, but Fred and Ginger insisted on giving it one more try. That was the take that’s in the movie. Once done the crew responded enthusiastically.

In the end of Swing Time, as is supposed to happen, Lucky manages to interrupt Penny’s marriage to Ricardo and makes her all his own.

Ginger looks stunning in Swing Time. For details on her Bernard Newman designs in the film I suggest you visit the Glam Amor’s Style Essentials entry on this film.

Despite the many wonderful things about Swing Time, the movie marked the beginning of audience response to Fred and Ginger movies declining. The movie was still a hit, but receipts came in slower than expected. The Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers partnership never quite gained the same momentum as it did up to this point in their careers together. Although the pair was still an asset for RKO and they had many more memorable on-screen moments to share.

Shall We Dance (1937)

In 1937 Astaire and Rogers made Shall We Dance with Mark Sandrich at the helm once again. Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore are also on hand for the film that featured the first Hollywood film score by George and Ira Gershwin.

The plot of Shall We Dance is a bit convoluted, but still enjoyable. Fred plays Peter P. Peters a famous ballet dancer billed as “Petrov” who yearns to do modern dance. One day he sees a picture of famous tap dancer Linda Keene (Ginger) and sees a great opportunity to blend their styles. Similar to their other movies, Fred falls in love with Ginger at first sight. It takes her longer to recognize his graces, but eventually falls hard for him too. That is, after many shenanigans and much confusion when she gets angry and hurt and then he has to win her over again.

Fred has a terrific solo routine here with “Slap That Base,” which takes place in an engine room using the varied engine and steam sounds to tap to. Ginger later does an enjoyable rendition of the Gershwin classic, “They All Laughed (at Christopher Columbus),” which leads to a fun tap routine for the duo. For this Ginger is wearing that memorable flowered dress by Irene who dressed her for this movie. This “They All Laughed” sequence is where he woos her and where she cannot help falling for him.

Soon after “They All Laughed” Fred and Ginger call the whole thing off in the classic sequence that takes place in New York’s Central Park on roller skates. At this point in the story the tabloids have reported the two are married and, having fallen for each other, they don’t know what to do. “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” was written by the Gershwins in New York prior to the making of Swing Time. The brothers brought the song with them to Hollywood and it works perfectly in the comedic scene with both Astaire and Rogers taking turns with verses of the catchy tune before starting the roller skating tap routine.

Unable to stop the rumors that they are married, Pete and Linda decide to actually marry in order to later divorce. The problem is that they’re both crazy about each other, which he demonstrates with one of the most romantic songs ever written, “They Can’t Take that Away From Me.” This song was a personal favorite of both Fred and Ginger. So much so, in fact, that the song was used again in their final film together, their 1949 reunion movie, The Barkleys of Broadway. “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” remains the only occasion on film when Fred Astaire permitted the repeat of a song previously performed in another movie.

George Gershwin died two months after Shall We Dance was released in May 1937. He was posthumously nominated for an Academy Award, along with his brother Ira, for Best Original Song for “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”

The finale of Shall We Dance is an odd production number. Fred dances in front of dozens of women donning Ginger Rogers masks. Pete Peters decided if he can’t dance with Linda Keene then he’ll dance with many of the next best thing. The real Linda joins him for the final act, touched by his attempt to clone her. The end.

Carefree (1938)

Carefree is probably the Astaire-Rogers movie I’ve seen least and it was refreshing to take a new and improved look at it for this tribute. Mark Sandrich directs Fred and Ginger for the last time in this romantic comedy, the shortest of their films, which attempts a new story flavor for our stars with Irving Berlin tunes.

Stephen Arden (Ralph Bellamy) asks his Psychiatrist friend Dr. Tony Flagg (Astaire) to meet with his fiancée  Amanda Cooper (Rogers). Immediately we know Arden’s in trouble because Ralph Bellamy never gets the girl, but anyway… Amanda is having trouble committing to marrying Stephen and agrees to see Tony who immediately decides she needs to dream in order for him to decipher her unconscious. After having all sorts of odd foods for dinner Amanda dreams, but of Dr. Tony Flagg, not Stephen. Embarrassed by her dream, Amanda makes up a weird tale, which leads Tony to think she has serious psychological issues that only hypnosis can fix. In slapstick style, Stephen comes by Tony’s office to pick up Amanda and without realizing she’s hypnotized lets her run free on the streets causing all sorts of havoc.

Fed Astaire does a terrific routine early in Carefree where he hits golf balls to music. I know nothing about golf, but recognize this is quite astounding. In a 1970s interview, Fred commented on the scene with some affection saying it was not easy and couldn’t believe he was asked to do another take when the balls were ending off camera.

Amanda’s dream allows for a beautiful, fantasy-like routine to Irving Berlin’s “I Used to Be Color Blind” made famous because Fred and Ginger share the longest kiss here than in any other one of their movies. It happens at the end of the sequence done in slow motion, which definitely causes swooning. About the kiss Fred Astaire said, “Yes, they kept complaining about me not kissing her. So we kissed to make up for all the kisses I had not given Ginger for all those years.” Fred was not a fan of mushy love scenes and preferred to let his kissing with Ginger in movies be alluded to or simple pecks, but he gave in partly to quell the rumors that circulated about he and Ginger not getting along. As Ginger told the story, Fred squirmed and hid as the two reviewed the dance and she delighted in his torture. She explained that neither of them expected the long kiss as it was actually a peck elongated by the slow motion. That day she stopped being the “kissless leading lady.”

The longest kiss Fred and Ginger ever shared on-screen from Carefree

By the way, Ginger is wonderful in the sequence when she’s hypnotized. She gets an opportunity to showcase her comedic skills in similar fashion than she does in Howard Hawks’ Monkey Business (1952) opposite Cary Grant.

At the club one evening Ginger kicks off “The Yam” festivities. According to Ginger this is another instance where Fred didn’t like the song so he pawned it off on her. Who could blame him? Silly at best, “The Yam” is a dance craze that never actually catches fire as it doesn’t have the panache of “The Continental.” These people give it all they have, however, and the evening looks like an enjoyable one. Or, at least I would have loved to be there. Of course Tony joins Amanda in doing “The Yam” before the crowd joins in. As an aside, Life Magazine thought Fred and Ginger doing “The Yam” was worthy of a cover on August 22, 1938.

After yamming it up, Amanda is determined to tell Stephen she’s in love with Tony, but he misunderstands and thinks she professes her love for him. Suddenly Stephen announces their engagement. It’s a total mess that Tony tries to fix through hypnosis, which backfires supremely. Thank goodness everything straightens itself out in the end.

Before getting to the final, exceptional routine in Carefree the supporting cast deserves a mention. Louella Gear joins the fun in Carefree as Aunt Cora, in the same vein as Alice Brady and Helen Broderick in Fred and Ginger movies before her. Hattie McDaniel makes a brief appearance albeit as a maid, but it’s better to see her than not and Jack Carson has a few enjoyable scenes as a brute who works at the psychiatrist’s office.

After Amanda tells Tony she’s in love with him, he hypnotizes her to hate him because he doesn’t want to betray Stephen. When Tony realizes he loves Amanda it’s too late, she’s left his office to be happy with Stephen, avoiding Tony at all costs. But at the club one evening, Tony manages to find a few moments alone with her outside and what results is a sexy number during which she’s completely under his spell. In fact, this may be Fred and Ginger’s sexiest routine. “Change Partners and Dance With Me,” which begins inside as she dances with Stephen, is another beautiful song from Irving Berlin, which received one of the three Academy Award nominations for Carefree for Best Music, Original Song. The other two Oscar nods were for Best Art Direction and Best Music, Scoring.

Howard Greer designed Ginger’s gowns for Carefree and the one she wears in the impassioned “Change Partners and Dance With Me” dance is absolutely stunning.

Ginger is under Fred’s Spell in Carefree

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle directed by H. C. Potter is the ninth of ten dancing partnership films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the last of their musicals in the 1930s and for RKO, and the only one of their films based on a true story and real people.

Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers and dance teachers who appeared on Broadway and in silent films in the early 20th century. Hugely popular, the Castles were credited with popularizing ballroom dance with a special brand of elegance and style. Their most popular dance was the Castle Walk, which Fred and Ginger do in the movie. In fact, they replicate most of the Castle’s dances as closely to the original as possible. As you’d expect from Fred Astaire.

Irene Castle served as a Technical Advisor on The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle and the story goes that she eventually disowned the film because of the film’s lack of authenticity. In defense of some of the changes though, 1934 censorship restrictions were quite different than those in the 1910s. The differences affected costuming and casting at every level of the film. That said, Variety gave The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle a glowing review and the public received it warmly.

Ginger and Fred as Irene and Vernon Castle

It must be mentioned that The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle features two of the greatest character actors who ever lived. Edna May Oliver plays the Castle’s manager Maggie Sutton and Walter Brennan plays Walter, Irene’s majordomo, for lack of a better word, since she was a child. Both of these characters were changed dramatically for the film due to production code restrictions. The real Maggie Sutton (real name Elizabeth Marbury) was openly a lesbian and the real-life Walter was a black man. Neither of those suited the production code mind for broad appeal across the country.

Fred and Ginger do a fine job in this movie. The dances are pretty if not as elaborate as those Astaire and Rogers performed in their other movies. It is exciting to see them do a Tango, a dance I am particularly fond of. However, there is one other dance sequence in particular that moves me immensely, “The Missouri Waltz” at the Paris Cafe when Vernon returns from the war. The acting in the sequence is superb as you can feel the emotion jumping off of her as he picks her up in a gorgeous move during which she wraps herself around him. It’s stunning.

Ginger wrote in her book about the day they shot “The Missouri Waltz,” the last filmed in the movie and, to everyone’s mind, likely the last number she and Fred would ever do together. RKO was abuzz with rumors and people came from far and wide to watch them shoot it. They came from all around RKO, from Paramount and from Columbia to see this last dance. “This was a very dignified way to end our musical marriage at RKO.”

In 1939, after completing The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, Astaire and Rogers split as you know. Astaire’s salary demands proved too much for RKO pictures. Fred Astaire went on to make movie musical magic in all manner of ways, both alone and with other outstanding talents, leaving a rich legacy of treasures. Ginger Rogers went on to prove herself a true quadruple threat. We knew by 1939 that she could sing, dance and be funny but now, determined to go into straight drama she reaches the pinnacle with an Academy Award-winning performance in Sam Wood’s, Kitty Foyle in 1940. I recognize Ginger’s dramatic talent in the time I spent watching the many dance routines she did with Fred Astaire, but in a time when movies were seen just once it’s difficult to think of other actors who make the transition from film genre to film genre so seamlessly as she did. Hers was a rare talent.

Since I already dedicated an entire entry to Fred and Ginger as The Barkleys of Broadway, Josh and Dinah Barkley, I will forego a full summary here. For now let’s relive the reunion.

Ten years after she made her last appearance on-screen with Astaire, Ginger Rogers walked onto the set of The Barkleys of Broadway. The cast and crew had tears in their eyes. This was special. She said her “hellos”, kissed Fred Astaire and they got to work.  At first Ginger explained that Fred seemed disappointed. Judy Garland was scheduled to make the picture with him, but was replaced by Ginger. All of that doesn’t matter though because as a fan, I cannot fathom what it must have been like for audiences in 1949. If people are out of their minds excited about the release of a superhero film today, if audiences drool over a new and rehashed installment of Spiderman, imagine seeing legends together again after a ten-year sabbatical. I would have had to take a Valium. I get chills just thinking about it, and admit a bit of that happens when I watch The Barkleys of Broadway in my own living room. From the moment I see the opening credits, which are shown while the couple is dancing, quite happily – she in a gold gown and he in a tux, I mean, seriously, I’m verklempt right now. We are all happy to be together again.

Despite their great individual careers the magic of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers together cannot be replicated. And it wasn’t necessarily the dancing, or not the dancing alone, that made them a perfect pair. It was the glances, the touch, and the feel that made them magic. The spell of romance, real for the length of a composition, entranced. We all know Katharine Hepburn’s famous quote, “she gave him sex and he gave her class.” Well, Kate was not wrong. Fred Astaire was never as romantic as when he danced with Ginger. And Ginger, a down-to-Earth beauty, was never as sophisticated as when she danced with Fred.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers brought prestige to RKO when it was in desperate need of it and joy to a nation hungry for respite from tough times. In a six-year span they established themselves as the best known, best loved dancing partners in the history of movies and have remained there for 85 years. I’ll end with these words by Roger Ebert, “of all of the places the movies have created, one of the most magical and enduring is the universe of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.”

Sources:

The RKO Story

Ginger: My Story by Ginger Rogers

The Astaires: Fred & Adele by Kathleen Riley

As many Fred Astaire interviews as I could find.

Be sure to visit the Classic Movie Blog Association (CMBA) and The Anniversary Blogathon. There are many fantastic film anniversaries honored for this prestigious event.

85 Years of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers It was 85 years ago this week, in October 1934, that Mark Sandrich’s The Gay Divorcee…