#in the last gif she was searching for one of the presented actresses in the audience sweet moment hihi

[morallygaymwah]

Sandra Hüller today at the Deutscher Filmpreis Verleihung (German Film Award) presenting the Lola for the Best Actress (i love her)

[oneshotnewbie]

Elizabeth Olsen gets a call from Florence saying that they've found you in the bathroom having a panic attack. She is the only one that can bring you out of it. Angst and fluff please. And could you make them besties?

⚠️Trigger warning!⚠️ This one-shot includes the topic of a panic attack. The plot is presented. If this triggers you too easily or you just can´t handle the subject, I urge you NOT to read this work. I am NOT embellishing this topic under any circumstance. Read at your own risk.

Authors note: I changed a small detail; Florence picks Elizabeth up instead of calling her because they're doing an interview together for the new Marvel movie. Hope that's okay.

---

Panic.

You could literally feel it rising in you and out of frustration, you smacked the sink with the flat of your hand, on which you were leaning heavily against. It wasn't your first rodeo to be present at an interview with the entire Avengers team, but right now this one gave you a far worse panic attack than you've ever seen for no reason.

-Breathe. Breathe- you thought and looked you up from head to toe in the slightly fogged mirror. The figure had red-rimmed eyes and a tear-streaked face. -Inhale and exhale- you repeated in your mind, as if you were re-teaching your body how to function.

In and out, oxygenate this body even though it felt wrong.

But nothing helped, you felt like you were suffocating. No matter how many breaths you took, there was not nearly enough oxygen in the air. Your body was stuck; seemed to keep playing itself up and you could sense that a collapse was very close.

Suddenly, the washroom door slammed open and you looked back into the mirror, startled. Inwardly, you cursed yourself for forgetting that the lock had not been closed properly by you and that there was now a confused and worried Florence standing behind you, unaware of what was happening. "Is everything okay?"

"Can´t breathe." you stammered and smacked your sternum gently a few times with a closed fist to signal her that it really did not work. You realized that you could not go through it alone. "Lizzie."

The blonde immediately nodded in understanding and turned around to jump out the door and search desperately for her co-actress.

As Florence looked for the only chance to bring you down from this panic attack, the cold sweat that started to form on your forehead was followed by nausea; dizziness from the lack of oxygen set in your head and legs, which were finally giving out and you huddled between the sink and the first toilet stall.

Your breathing was hectic and you had your face buried between your hands. Silent tears ran down your cheeks and you thought about the last time you experienced something like this; it had been a long time and you had almost managed to convince yourself that this other side of your otherwise overly cheerful self no longer existed.

And then you got caught cold.

Your psyche had rubbed it´s middle finger right in your face.

"Honey?" a female voice quaked in the far distance of your consciousness and your blurry and roving gaze turned to the bathroom entrance. The slowly approaching body of your best friend forced itself to kneel in front of you and the warm hands of the ginger haired woman found their place on your upper arms. "I´m here, everything will be fine."

Sitting cross-legged on the cold floor in front of you, she pulled you onto her lap and hugged you tightly, pressing your head against her shoulder. One thing she had learned over the past few years was, that direct physical contact calmed you down much more quickly.

Even though Elizabeth was more or less used to these short but very intense anxiety attacks from you, each one still made her sweat.

"Breathe, baby." Elizabeth gently stroked your back in a smooth circular motion and at the same time she began to rock you in her arms like a small child. "You´re safe with me."

To your own amazement, a switch clicked and a sense of security actually set in your head. Not that the racing of your heart stopped, but the fog that had thickened in front of your inner eyes cleared and your desperate attempts to gasps for it had become calmer.

You clung helplessly to her shirt and closed your eyes. If you had not opened them, the situation you were in was definitely more bearable.

Your body was still shaking in her hold and your hair was sticking to your sweaty forehead, but she gently kissed your hair and rested her cheek on your temple. "You´re doing great, breathe very slowly."

Slowly, you came down from the peak of your panic attack and took a deep breath to release the pressure inside your body while your best friend still had a tight and protective grip on you and was lovingly looking down at you.

After your tremors subsided and your chest moved up and down evenly, she very carefully, almost as if you could break if she moved too fast, pulled away from you a little and looked deep into your swollen eyes and wiped the last falling tears from your cheeks with her thumb. "You made it. I am so proud of you."

"Thank you."

Even faster than your words left your mouth, she shook her head and a soft smile spread across her lips. Elizabeth did not understood why after all these years you were still saying thank you for something that was obvious and self-evident.

After all, you were her best friend and the whole world to her.

[bitchysoulwasteland]

Doctor Stephen Strange x Reader

Warnings; slight angst, alcohol abuse.

Summary: you and Stephen had been together before the crash. He then went to the Karmar Taj, leaving you behind. You moved on. Or did you?

You and Stephen had been married for a few years when the ‘accident’ happened. Then, he pretty much disappeared for best part of a year after several arguments over things that neither of you could actually remember, and he was gone, like a feather on the wind.

Did he regret it? Of course he did. He’d left the love of his life behind because he was too damn egotistical to ask for help.

Did you regret it? Yes. You regretted every argument you both had and every word you didn’t say to him and every bad word you did.

But, you couldn’t dwell on the disappearance of your husband. Instead, you went back to England, got a flat and tried to disassociate yourself with America in general. You continued your career as an actress and began working for the BBC, doing some shows for ITV and a film for Paramount.

You had been back in England for four years when you landed the role of The Doctor on Doctor Who, a favourite show of yours growing up. You were absolutely ecstatic and filming had been completed for the first series with you in it within six months.

But now, you had to say goodbye to the role as you had just filmed the regeneration scene. Little did you know that this would be Stephen’s motivation to find you.

Since you had left without any note whatsoever, Stephen had assumed that you had died or never wanted to see him again, but that all changed when he saw that episode…

Peter sat in the Avengers common room in the tower watching Doctor Who on BBC America. It was the airing of the final episode of the season and the regeneration of The Doctor. It was the end of the episode and The Doctor (you) was in the middle of a monologue when Stephen walked into the room, seeing you on the screen and hearing your voice for the first time in years.

“Time’s up for me, isn’t it, girl?” You said to the TARDIS. “We’ve had fun, huh? Cybermen, Daleks… Just promise me one thing. Whoever the next Doctor is, keep ‘em in check, don’t let the next one do anything stupid… And one last, very important thing…” the doctor turned to the camera, “run fast, have fun, be brave enough to make a change and…” she looked directly into the camera, “Don’t forget about me.”

You gave a sad smile before regeneration began, lasted a few moments, and ended, the next doctor now onscreen.

Peter and the other Avengers were holding back tears as the credits rolled.

“I don’t want another Doctor.” Peter muttered as Stephen left the room, tears falling.

That’s when Stephen began searching. He googled your name before realising that you were still using ‘Strange’ as your last name. He called anyone he could think of, and when he was ready to give up, he phoned your sister, who gave him your address.

Eventually, he found you. He created a portal and appeared in front of the beach house you were living in on the shoreline of Lincolnshire. He walked up to the front door and knocked, half waiting for a maid or a butler to answer.

Inside the house, you sat, a wine glass in hand, the bottle nearly empty, silence filling the room. You had found that the only way you could take your mind off of Stephen was with immeasurable amounts of red wine and vodka. The house was an absolute state, since you hadn’t bothered to hoover in the last three weeks, you hadn’t polished the wooden drawers or the tv unit and about the only thing you had done was the washing up, but even that had to get to the point where you had nothing clean to eat or drink from. Shoes littered the hallway, everything from stilettos to your favourite white converse.

“Two minutes!” You yelled.

Begrudgingly, you stood up and began quickly throwing your shoes in your bedroom and putting the wine bottle and glass in the kitchen. You made yourself look vaguely presentable before you answered the door.

Your eyes widened when you saw Stephen standing in front of you, a cape on his shoulders. It took everything you had not to slam the door and start crying. Instead, you steeled your nerves and squared your shoulders. “Stephen, what’re you doing here?” Your resolve broke nearly as quickly as you had created it. You leaned against the wall and looked at him with tired eyes.

“I saw your show. Doctor Who, the last episode…”

“Did you like it?”

“Yeah, I did...”

“You didn’t answer my question, Stephen.” You said, letting him in before you both went into the kitchen.

“Honestly? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me after what happened. I thought you’d just… cast me aside. I mean, come on, what self respecting twenty four year old would want to be with someone who’s both fifteen years older than them and was utterly useless?”

You put your hands on his chest before sliding one up into his hair. “Me. That’s who. You shouldn’t have assumed that, Stephen. When I married you, I said I’d be here for you whatever happened. So, guess what?”

“What?” Stephen smirked, knowing exactly where this was going.

“You’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not.”

“You really mean that, don’t you?”

“Yeah. And besides I think I may have an alcohol problem.” You say, not meeting his eyes for the last part of it.

From then, you and Stephen were together again and were both hell bent on making up for lost time.

[halliescomut]

Lucid MV discussion

So...1-spoilers (duh). You can watch the Lucid MV here, and I 10,000% recommend you do before reading the rest of this...and these are just ramblings about the theme and ideas that I feel about the MV. I haven't searched out any interviews or anything about the ideas behind it...I'm just going off what I see.

The vibe I got, and one that was echoed by others in a Discord... very much Peter Pan vibes. It's what I thought of right away. The overall story of the video, the visuals, it's all very much classical Peter Pan, with a bit of Faerie prince.

I guess we're going chronologically, because that's what makes sense to me, we start with wide shot of the room where Pornappan is sleeping (that is the actress's name, and it seems weird to just refer to her with no name at all, so we're going with real name, and I'll also just be calling Jeff Jeff).

And we see the open window, with curtains fluttering, which is a visual you will see in many retellings of the Peter Pan story. (This is not, as far as I can tell from a Peter Pan retelling, but it had the vibe, and this post is already gonna take me an hour +.)

The setting itself is also very western fairytale inspired, from the location and decor of the room, to the costumes. All of it has a traditional English countryside manner type of feel, and I do genuinely wonder when and where it was filmed, as it doesn't necessarily look like my own preconceived notions of Thailand visually.

The initial seeing of Jeff asleep on the floor, reminded me so much of the scene in Hook where Peter remembers seeing Moira for the first time that I had to rewatch it because I thought I might be misremembering.

I wasn't. It's not an exact match by any means, but it very much has the same emotional feeling I think.

Just the general awe of seeing a person so beautiful...which like...yeah.

As Jeff starts returning to visit Pornappan, the Peter Pan vibe really solidifies for me, he brings her the fruit and the flower and it's all very innocent and sweet, very reminiscent of the thimble-kiss.

She sort of patches up his injuries, which made me think of Wendy sewing Peter's shadow back on.

And as we go on we see that he stops coming, but we don't know why. In the sort of 'standard' story of Peter Pan, he does return year after year, but eventually Wendy grows up, and she can no longer go with him. What's a very lovely piece of storytelling is how the song's lyrics touch on replaying of memory, and we see that towards the end, Pornappan is remembering their times together as she worries why Jeff hasn't returned.

Then, it was is a bit of a twist, both on the lyrical content of the song, but also on the 'fairy-tale standard' Pornappan goes to look for him, venturing out and finding Jeff asleep amongst flowers and vines.

The final scene, or piece is Jeff beginning to open his eyes, and Pornappan opening her own, showing that it was all a dream, or at least that last bit was, which is just so bittersweet.

But what ended up being so interesting is that because I thought I remembered the similar scene in Hook with Peter and Moira, I rewatched the whole movie (it's available on Netflix, in the US at least) and our final scene with Tinkerbell when Peter returns from Never Land is this:

Which is very much the emotion and feeling being portrayed by both the song and the video. Now, I wouldn't put it past Jeff to have seen Hook, though it came out a few years before he was born. It is considered a classic for many reasons, and generally in the 1990's western media would take a couple of years to find it's way to the rest of the world, barring outrageously groundbreaking movies, which Hook is not. And since Jeff is bilingual, the chances of him encounter a foreign film like Hook are of course far more likely. So, I find the ideas presented in the MV, and they way they so closely mirror many of the moments of Hook specifically fascinating.

Switching gears for just a moment, I already analyzed the English lyrics of the song, as in the lyrics of the English version (you can read that and an analysis of all his English songs here), but as I was writing this and rewatching the video I notices that the translated lyrics are VERY different. Not so much in content, but more in perspective. Jeff is the speaker in both cases, but in the English lyrics he has been left behind, while in the translated lyrics he is the one who left. This matches up with the MV, where Jeff is a Peter Pan/Fae Prince who has been coming to visit Pornappan, but eventually leaves and doesn't return.

This is a screenshot of both sets of lyrics side by side:

In the translated lyrics Jeff is talking about knowing their time is brief, it only exists in the moonlight, and he states being afraid that she will forget him in time, that his memory will fade. And he's begging her to keep those dreams close to her heart, so that they won't fade.

But looking at both sets of lyrics it could almost be two sides of the same story. The English lyrics could almost be Pornappan's perspective of what is happening throughout the story of the MV.

Now there's a multitude of reason for the changes between each set of lyrics, the obvious one being that the pretty vast differences between Thai and English necessitate some pretty drastic changes to allow the lyrics to keep with the melody of the song. Totally makes sense. I would very much have to take a look at the difference in his other songs to see what those might reveal, and I honestly might, just because the very concept of bilingual songwriting is fascinating.

But I hope you enjoyed this little deep dive, it got far deeper than I anticipated. About 1100 words...that's 2.5k words on Jeffrey just today. I hope you enjoyed and you may enjoy this gif of some Jeffrey cake. (We don't get a lot of it, he honestly struggle a bit in the cake dept., but we adore him anyway.)

[storiesforallfandoms]

awkward ~ harry styles

word count: 1911

request?: no

description: after taking a role in a movie that she regrets, she has an awkward encounter with the inspiration for the movie’s source material

pairing: harry styles x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist

(fair warning, there’s some slight trash talking of after. i really don’t like that movie or the books so if you do...maybe skip this imagine)

“And here we have (Y/F/N), star of the new teen romance After!” the interviewer happily announced into the camera.

I tried not to visibly cringed as I waved at the cameraman.

When you’re an actress, there’s this unspoken rule that you shouldn’t regret the movie that will launch your career. And, in some aspects, I didn’t regret After. I made new friends thanks to filming that movie, and, even before the first trailer launched, I was becoming a household name.

However, there was some things I regretted about After...like the decision to star in it.

I took the role of Tessa before I even really knew what the movie was about. I decided to do some research by reading the books, only to become absolutely appalled by them. The relationship between Tessa and Hardin was absolutely toxic, and the books only plot was basically sex. The entire trilogy! It was like reading Fifty Shades of Grey for teenagers. At that point, however, it was too late. I was already signed on to do the movie and I couldn’t back out.

Now, I was locked into trying to talk good about the movie until it was announced that I had backed out for the upcoming two sequels, something that wouldn’t happen until months after the movie’s release I was sure.

I was on the red carpet for an award show and I had already given at least four interviews about the movie. I was starting to get tired of it. Was this how Robert Pattinson felt trying to promote Twilight? That poor man.

“Were you aware of the source material before you took the role?” the interviewer asked me.

I shook my head, giving her the response I had basically memorized at this point. “I wasn’t, actually. It wasn’t until I got the script and it said it was based off of a book by Anna Todd, and I knew I had to go read the books.

“What were your thoughts when you read the novels?”

I thought it was an awful relationships and sex for teens. "It was interesting. The first movie isn’t a super close adaptation to the first book, but I think fans of the original will still like it.”

“Were you aware it was a fanfiction before a book?”

I tried not to sign in annoyance at yet another familiar question. “I found out shortly after reading the books actually. That’s pretty fascinating!”

“I don’t know if you knew this, but Harry Styles is actually here tonight. Do you hope to meet him?”

I felt slight panic swell in me. I wanted to say absolutely not! I didn’t want to have to face Harry after what I had been a part of. He couldn’t have liked the fanfic, it was awful! He probably hated that this movie was being made, not that he could really do much about it considering Anna Todd changed all the names in the book so it could be published.

I tried not to let me panic show as I responded, “As a long time One Direction fan, I would love to meet him if given the chance.”

I managed to get away from the interviewer before she asked anymore questions. I felt like I had to be on high alert now. The last thing I wanted was to run into Harry, and I had a feeling he wouldn’t want to run into me, either. Unless he didn’t know I was here, in which case that would make running into him even more awkward.

I managed to bypass any last interviews and get into the venue. Among the crowded room of people, I searched to see the one familiar face I was looking for. I let out a sigh of relief when I didn’t see him and went on to mingle some of the other attendees.

We were only 30 minutes to show time when I heard the familiar deep voice that I had been dreading all night. “Hello.”

I turned away from the conversation I was having to see none other than Harry Styles stood behind me. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment and I just wanted to melt into the floor. Did he come looking for me? What was he going to say to me?

“H-Hi,” I stuttered, causing Harry to smile.

“You must be (Y/N), it’s nice to meet you,” he said, extending a hand to me.

I tried to remain cool as I shook his hand. “I am, yeah. It’s nice to meet you, too, I’m a big fan.”

“So I’ve heard. An interviewer out there told me that she had been talking to you just before she talked to me.”

I could only imagine what an interviewer had said to Harry. Some of the interviewers on red carpets were vultures, they just liked to stir up drama for the sake of clickbait.

“Is that...all she said?” I asked, afraid of what else might’ve been said to him.

Harry shrugged. “She just talked about the movie some. I avoided those questions.”

I couldn’t stop the groan that erupted from my throat at this sound. “I am so sorry, I hope you know how much I regret filming that movie.”

Harry tilted his head. “Why do you regret it? They’re already saying it’s going to be the next big teen romance phenomena.”

“Yeah, so I’ve heard. Too bad I won’t see it grow after the first movie.” I mentally scolded myself for spilling the beans already as Harry gave me a confused look. “I didn’t sign on for the second movie, or the third or however many they’re gonna make in the future. The first After is the end for me, that’s it.”

“Why would you do that? This is an easy three movie deal, wouldn’t most people kill for that?”

I shook my head. “I can’t believe you’re so concerned over this. I thought you’d hate the whole franchise considering it’s based on a really shitty fanfiction about you.”

To this, Harry chuckled. “Well, I don’t exactly like the After franchise. I’m definitely not looking forward to more people becoming aware of it due to the movies, but I also know what it’s like to try and break into the fame scene. It’s hard, you should always grasp what you need to in order to get to where you wanna go, you know?”

I smiled at this. “I guess you have a point. I’m just glad you don’t absolutely hate me for starring in the movie.”

“How could I hate you? I haven’t even properly met you yet, and so far, you’re too nice to hate.”

I felt blush creeping up my neck at this. I looked away from him, but couldn’t contain the smile on my face.

Harry and I talked for another while until we were being ushered to our seats. I hated to have to break away from him, but I had a feeling I’d see him after the show again.

The award show felt like it dragged on forever. I wasn’t nominated for anything, After hadn’t even come out yet, and I wasn’t presenting anything. I was just there to give interviews on the red carpet and to be just another face in the crowd. The performances were good, and the host of the show was hilarious, but I couldn’t help but wish it would just end already.

When it finally came to an end, I found myself waiting outside the arena for my Uber ride home. I was watching in confusion as my driver went in the exact opposite direction. Weren’t they supposed to have the GPS on their phone working? Where the hell was he going?

A car pulled up in front of me and the passenger side window rolled down. Harry’s smiling face beamed at me from inside the car as he asked, “Need a lift?”

I looked down at my phone, seeing how far away my Uber was yet again, before cancelling it all together and climbing into the front seat.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” I responded. “Uber sucks.”

“You didn’t get a ride to the show with anyone?”

I shook my head. “My manager sent for this fancy car to take me, so that I looked good in front of the cameras and such, but didn’t arrange a ride home for me.”

“That’s shitty.”

I shrugged. “That’s show biz, kid.”

Harry smiled and chuckled at this, and I felt a warm feeling in my stomach. Not a bad one, quite the opposite really.

The drive was silent for the most part, just some quiet music playing. I watched out the window as Harry drove, unsure of what to really say or do in this moment.

“You like the show?” he asked, finally breaking the silence.

I shook my head. “Not at all. I thought it was quite boring since I had nothing to do besides talk up the movie I hate to the press.”

Harry chuckled. “Yeah, that’s understandable. Award shows are more fun when you’re not just sitting in your chair for like two and a half hours watching other celebrities get awards for things.”

“You did good, though,” I told him. “Your performance was amazing, you had the whole audience on their feet.”

He tried to contain it, but I could see the proud smile on his face. “That’s what I try to do with my music - something you can dance to and feel something when you’re listening to.”

“You definitely do both.”

God, small talk is so awkward. Why can’t you come up with anything else to say?

“I’m not good at this,” I admitted.

Harry glanced over at me for a moment. “Not good at what?”

“Talking to famous people,” I responded. “Well, super famous people I guess. I chatted with some people tonight who were more on my level of fame, but you’re like...you have your own level. Doesn’t help that I had a crush on you during my One Direction days.”

Harry’s low chuckle confirmed that I had indeed said that last part out loud. I face palmed so hard, the sound of my hand hitting my skin was actually audible, which caused Harry to laugh more.

“I’m such a mess,” I groaned. “Just dump me on the side of the road, it’s my time to go.”

“If I did that, I wouldn’t get to see you again.”

I looked over at him. “You wanna see me again?”

“Only if you’d like to spend more time with me.”

My smile was so wide that my cheeks were actually hurting, but I could’ve cared less. He was actually asking me to hang out and spend time with him? Yes please!

“I’d like that a lot,” I told him.

I was slightly disappointed when we pulled into my driveway, but it wasn’t enough to rid myself of the excitement I was feeling. Harry and I exchanged numbers before I got out of the car and smiled at him one last time.

“I’ll see you soon,” he promised. I was too shocked to say anything else, so I just nodded before making my way to the front door of my apartment.

When the door closed behind me, I exclaimed with excitement and jumped around like a child on Christmas morning. Who knew that the movie I so despised would bring me some good, and not just with my career?

[papermoonloveslucy]

Desi’s TOPS Picks!

July 9, 1955

For the July 9, 1955 issue of TV Guide, Desi Arnaz was tasked with picking TOPS - Television’s Own Promising Starlets!  Arnaz picked six young women he believed would be popular and successful on television in the years to come. This was a rare time that Lucille Ball was not part of the article, except for her name being dropped as Desi’s original TOPS pick.  There is not even a photo of Lucy!  

The cover features Clara Ann Fowler (1927-2013), known by her stage name Patti Page, a singer of pop and country music and occasional actress. She was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female artist of the 1950s, selling over 100 million records during a six-decade long career. Page's signature song, "Tennessee Waltz", was one of the biggest-selling singles of the 20th century. Page had three additional #1 hit singles between 1950 and 1953, "All My Love (Bolero)", "I Went to Your Wedding", and "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window".  In 1955, Page was seen in “The Patti Page Show,” her own 15-minute television show and was a frequent musical guest on variety programs. 

Here’s a closer look at Desi’s TOPS, along with notes about their career since 1955: 

MARJIE MILLAR was born on August 10, 1930 in Tacoma, Washington, as Marjorie Joy Miller. In 1935, she won a Shirley Temple look-alike contest at Tacoma's Roxy Theater over 200 other local contestants. Mogul Hal Wallis took an immediate interest in her. In March 1952 she was named "Miss Hollywood Star of 1952."  She was crowned one of Hollywood's new deb stars by Hollywood hair stylists in 1953. She was known for Money from Home (1953) and About Mrs. Leslie (1954). In July 1955 she had just finished two seasons on ABC TV’s Emmy-nominated series “Where’s Raymond?” starring Ray Bolger. After Desi’s recognition, she did the film When Gangland Strikes (1956). She was married to Charles Candoo, John Dennis McCallum, John Florea, and James Sidney Rollins Jr. She died on April 16, 1966 in Coronado, California.

Desilu Connection: On “Where’s Raymond” she acted opposite “I Love Lucy” character actors Elvia Allman, Bobby Jellison, Shirley Mitchell, Verna Felton, Jay Novello, Joi Lansing, and Wil Wright, as well as creative staff Argyle Nelson, Claudio Guzman, and Dann Cahn. The series filmed at General Service Studios, just like “I Love Lucy”. 

FRANCES RAFFERTY was born on June 16, 1922 in Sioux City, Iowa. During the Depression her family moved to Los Angeles in search of work. Frances was signed by MGM at the age of 19 and began with a dancing bit in Presenting Lily Mars (1943) starring Judy Garland. She was a war-era cover girl for Yank, the Army weekly. Unable to secure starring parts, Frances remained a B-level co-star. She died in 2004 at age 81. 

Desilu Connection: Lucille Ball was instrumental in casting Rafferty in Desilu’s hit sitcom “December Bride” (1954-59), where she played Ruth Henshaw in 156 episodes, including one that starred Desi Arnaz as himself!  At MGM, she was in the films Thousands Cheer (1943) and Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945) with Lucille Ball. 

VERA MILES (nee Ralston) was born in Boise City, Oklahoma on August 23, 1929. Miles won the title of "Miss Kansas" in 1948, leading soon to small roles in Hollywood films and television. series. The same week this TV Guide hit the stands, she appeared in the film Wichita, starring Joel McRae as Wyatt Earp. Coincidentally, Miles went to high school in Wichita, Kansas. Her main claim to fame was as one of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘blondes’ appearing in Psycho (1960) as Lila Crane, Marion’s sister. Miles also did the 1983 sequel playing the same role. 

Desilu Connection: In 1958, Miles did “Mr. Tutt”, an episode of Desilu’s Colgate Theatre, produced by Desi Arnaz. In 1966, Miles appeared on an episode of “The Bob Hope Show” with Lucille Ball. 

JEANNE BAIRD was born on March 28, 1927 in Du Bois, Pennsylvania. She got her start in TV’s “The Living Christ” as Martha in 1951. 

Desilu Connection: In 1955 she did an episode of “I Married Joan” (NBC’s answer to “I Love Lucy”) which filmed at General Services Studios, same as “Lucy”.  

PEGGY KING was born in 1930 and known as "Pretty Perky Peggy King" when she appeared on “The George Gobel Show” (1954-57) and guest-starred on many other TV shows. In 1952, MGM signed her to a contract, which led to a cameo in Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful and a series of commercial jingles for Hunt's tomato sauce. These last brought her to the attention of Mitch Miller, who signed her to a long-term contract, under which she made two best-selling albums. She sang the Oscar-nominated song "Count Your Blessings" on the 1955 Academy Awards telecast, and both Billboard and Down Beat magazine named her Best New Singer of 1955–56. She was nominated for an Emmy in 1955, the same year this TV Guide was published. The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted King into their Hall of Fame in 2010, which led to her resuming her singing career in 2013.

Desilu Connection: There is no known direct connection between King and  Lucy and Desi, although both were associated with MGM and Vincente Minnelli. It is likely that Desi is just listening to the Hollywood critics, who praised King highly and predicted she would rival the greats.  While she had a moderate success, she never achieved the legendary status of Garland, Shore, Whiting, or Stafford. 

VIRGINIA GIBSON was born on April 9, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, as Virginia Gorski. In the fall of 1943, she was a dancer in Roll Up Your Sleeves on Broadway. Gibson was signed by Warner Brothers in 1950 and made her film debut in Tea for Two (1950). On television, Gibson was a regular on “Captain Billy's Showboat” (1948). She also starred in “So This Is Hollywood” (1955) and was a regular performer on “The Johnny Carson Show (1955–56). In 1956 she returned to Broadway to play Ethel Merman's daughter in the musical Happy Hunting, earning a Tony nomination for her work. She died in 2013 at age 88. 

Desilu Connection: Gibson is perhaps best known for playing Liza, one of the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in MGM’s 1955 musical.  Lucy and Desi were also at MGM during this time, and even mentioned Seven Brides on an episode of “I Love Lucy.”

If the idea of Desi Arnaz and young female talent rings a bell, it should!  Ricky Ricardo was often faced with a green-eyed Lucy when surrounded by beautiful Hollywood starlets. It happened in “Don Juan and the Starlets” (ILL S4;E17), which coincidentally (or not) was aired around the same time as this article was being written for TV Guide! 

Lucy again got jealous of Ricky fraternizing with up-and-coming young talent in “Desert Island” (ILL S6;E8) just a year later. 

Editor’s Notes: Considering the well-known circumstances of the Arnaz divorce, and Desi’s reputation as a womanizer, it might be easy to conclude that producer Desi had some sort of personal interest in promoting these attractive young ladies in TV Guide. However, I’m not so sure that is a reasonable assumption to make. First, articles of this sort were rarely written by the ‘author’ (Desi) but by press agents, with approval of the person with the byline. The extent of Desi’s control of the list or the text that accompanies them is up for debate. In fact, some of these talented women are only tangentially related to Arnaz publicly, and some - not at all. 

When all is said and done, the only one on the list that has approached icon status is Vera Miles, due mainly to her participation in Hitchcock’s Psycho. While Frances Rafferty was on a weekly TV series (”December Bride”) the show has not fared well in syndication and is largely forgotten by today’s viewers. However, Rafferty is the most likely to have been ‘Desi’s pick’ due to her working on the Desilu lot and appearing with him in an episode of the show. At the time, Peggy King was certainly the odds-on favorite for stardom, so her inclusion was a no-brainer.  Virginia Gibson took a left turn back to Broadway and earned a Tony nod, so that interrupted her trajectory toward Hollywood fame. Sadly Millar and Baird’s careers fizzled and are only remembered today by die-hard fans. 

[judgement-free-sideblog]

Occupational hazards

Barry Berkman x Reader

Three part series: It was just another job, he doesn’t even had to kill anyone, but the way she looked at him was more dangerous than the bullets.

Part I Part II Part III

Angst with a happy ending

Warnings: Violence, cursing, blood, stalkers.

Part I

“I remember telling you to fuck off and stop calling me” You say answering the phone the fifth time it rings, knowing too well he won’t stop until you do “I made myself clear, don’t call me, don’t contact me, keep your stupid flowers and presents to yourself and stay the fuck away from me”

“Oh my little Y/N” Says his drunk voice in the other end “You know you like it, this little number of yours, pretending you don’t need a man will end as soon as you feel lonely, why don’t we speed things up and simply let me come up with you?” He said and you froze, how does he knew you were at the second floor of your house? You looked outside the window but couldn’t see anything, nervously you closed your sleeping robe with a tight knot suddenly feeling exposed “You don’t have to be so shy, I already know what is behind that” He said and you toss the phone aside, but you could still listen to his laugh, when will this nightmare end??

“Fuck you Richard!!!” You scream at the phone, but he had already hung up. You closed all the windows and went straight to your bathroom cabinets, it had to be there.

You finally found it, a few years back when your name was still unknown and your main job was stacking candles and towels in a store, and before you had a sociopath for an ex, you became friends with this weird and really sweet bald guy on Pottery Barn, you helped him redecorate his room and you even talk once in a while over the phone, or at least until last year when he said he was going back to Chechnya to visit his family, but before he went away, and after he met the charming man you were dating and seeing the bruises in your arms he gave you a card and told you, if you ever need to get rid of that guy just call this number.

You light on a cigarette, and sit on the floor of your bathroom thinking, what does get rid of meant? Hank, judging by his tattoos, was not an entirely innocent folk, but at this point you were desperate, and you cursed yourself for ever start dating a man like that, the all charming and thoughtful movie producer, you knew your career will be damaged forever if you kept avoiding him but coming back to be treated like garbage and not being able to eat, dress or think on your own was not an option. You finally gathered the courage and dialled the number.

“Fuches” a raspy voice said on the other end.

“Hi, ammm” you were not sure what exactly where you going to say.

“Who is this? Hello?? Who gave you this number? Are you there?” The man seem angry and a bit condescending in his tone and somehow his rudeness made you speak up.

“Yeah, I’m here” You started with more confidence “I got this number from NoHo Hank, he said you could help me to… to get rid of someone”.

“Ahh” The man was calmed now, almost happy “Well in that case any friend of Hank is friend of mine, but I warn you madame that won’t be cheap” He said and you stand up from the floor glimpsing at yourself in the mirror, shocked to see how pale you looked, and how scared you actually felt.

***

Barry entered his apartment begging for Jermaine or Nick to be there and use them as an excuse to tell Fuches to fuck off, but it was empty except for the never ending amount of trash that always was in their comon space, he stopped trying to tell them to clean like three months ago and now he only limited to hide in his room away from the beer cans and chips bags.

It didn’t matter that much really, at least not before, as long as Sally was there to talk to him or as long as he could call her, but then she got that part in a big movie, and he was happy for her, that was her dream and he would never get between her and her dream, but then she stop being around the class due to rehearsals, and then she change a beer in Residual’s to fancy and expensive dinners with her costars and then one day she simply said goodbye.

But he had come to the conclusion that he deserved that, he took away Mr. Cousineau’s happiness so it was only fair for him to lose it as well, and Sally was still his friend, as long as he could find a 5 minutes gap to talk in her busy schedule every other week.

He was still on the class, and he was getting better or at least he no longer missed his lines, and he had even recieved a callback for a commercial, but he didn’t get it in the end.

And now Fuches was coming back to screw up everything again, Barry looked at the clock, 4:02 he would be there any minute, for a brief moment his mind travel to his gun under his bed, and how just one year before he was desperate to see him and kill him from once, but then Mr Cousineau started making questions, and to suspect, accurately, that he had killed Moss, and Fuches chose to come clean, or at least enough to settle things down.

He told Gene the Chechens killed Moss and that they wanted to implicate Barry, so he called the cops on him so Barry would take the blame and end up in jail, he played his Part as a poor looser, alone and miserable well enough and Barry chose not to kill him, as long as he would stay away from them, and he had kept his promise until that morning. He would say no, obviously but he needed to say it to his face to reassure him or to himself that it was all done.

A knock on the door put him in alert, and he muttered a simple “Come in” keeping himself away from the entrance. Fuches entered the room with an almost curious expression on his face, he looked at the trash an made a disgusted frown, and then looked at Barry from head to toe, he looked paler or maybe just tired, he for sure was, that stubborn woman was by far the most picky and difficult client he ever had by far, but with enough luck Barry may solve it.

“Nice place” He said finally with a sarcastic grin

“That’s my roommate’s doing” Barry answered in a monotone “Coffee? beer?”

“If you are really being nice I’ll take the beer” Fuches said and without waiting for an invitation he found a place to sit.

“I’m not.” Barry answered and sit in front of him. “What do you want?”

“Ahh there it is” Fuches roll his eyes “I got a job for you, and I think you may like this one…”

“What the fuck man?” Barry interrupted mid sentence. “We haven’t seen each other in almost a year, I was very clear then as I’m now I don’t want to do that anymore”

“Boy listen, is way easier and you’ll get pay three times more than previous works” He said completely ignoring him.

“I don’t give a fuck about the money, I told you I don’t want to work for you” Barry put both hands over his face, this was exasperating.

“Fine, now look at me like you were about to kill me” He said taking Barry by surprise.

“What the hell are you talking about?” He said after an uncomfortable silence.

“Look kid, a week ago I received a call from a crazy actress, you may know her Y/N something” He started

“Is not Y/N Y/L/N by any chance?” Barry asked, remembering something that Natalie and Sasha said about her.

“Yes, that one, complete basket case” Fuches continued “She asked me if I could eliminate her ex boyfriend, some Hollywood big shot that I genuinely couldn’t care less about. I said yes sure, I’ll send someone to do it, then she change her mind and called me back, and said she simply wants to scare him, but she wants to meet the guy she is paying. And she hated him, and I show her my folder of other employees and well…”

“Oh come on man, that’s on you, you shouldn’t have my picture there” Barry said now understanding what had happen.

“Yeah I get that, but the thing is I said to her you no longer work for me, and she offered the triple, and I told her that if she wanted you so badly then she would have to convince you by herself, and that’s why I’m here, I need you to go see her, say no and then she would pick one of my guys and I’ll be out of your life forever” He said like if he was offering the most interesting deal ever. “Take it as an acting job” He add when Barry didn’t respond “You get to meet a pretty and famous actress, and you can scream to her everything you just said to me, also I’ll pay you”

Barry remained silent for another moment thinking about the situation, it seemed like an easy deal, and some extra money wouldn’t be that bad, and if he played his cards well enough he could even make sure Fuches to stay away form him for good.

“Fine I’ll do it” he said after a while “But is just this and it’s over, no more phone calls, no more jobs no anything, I turn down this woman and that’s it.” He said seriously.

“Consider it done son, just one more deal and I’m out of your life” Fuches said happy, and then got up the chair and started leaving “You have to meet her tomorrow in a restaurant, I’ll send you the address” Barry nodded and watched him leave, then he went to his room to search something about the woman he was about to meet.

Y/N was a gorgeous woman and a talented actress, but apparently the media didn’t like her very much since she had a reckless life style, there were many pictures of her smoking and drinking, and she had a long list of ex lovers, and the most prominent of those was some guy called Richard Maverick, he recognized that name, it was the director and producer of Sally’s movie, more of a reason to not working for that woman, since the guy didn’t seem like a bad person, and she did.

***

Sparkling bubbles were moving in your glass of water, it have been sitting there since the waiter pour it, but you were to nervous to touch it, it was a nice table, out in the terrace of the restaurant and you were sure anyone walking by the street would be able to see you, so it worked perfectly for your plan, now everything else depended on the man you hear approaching behind you.

“Snow White?” He asked and sited in the spot in front of you, he was clean shaved and wearing a black blazer over a dark green tshirt, definitely not what you expected from someone of his profession.

“Is from Notting Hill, the movie with Julia Roberts, don’t you like it? God you really are tall, how much is it like 6'3”?“ You said unable to stop yourself, but concentrating on his face, there was something sad about his blue eyes, almost melancholic.

"6'2” and no I don’t think I saw it, the oscar winning one?“ He said a bit ashamed by his poor Hollywood trivia knowledge.

"Oh absolutely not, some old romantic comedy, you should see it some time.” You said, and the whole situation felt more and more surreal “Well I’m Y/N Y/L/N, nice to meet you Mr. Berkman, or do you prefer Block?” You said please to se the surprise on his face.

“Berkman is fine, how do you know?” He said examining your face.

“Well is not every day that I have to hire a professional assassin, so I needed to get some references, and your employer was distracted enough so I could stole this from him, here you can have it back” You said sliding his picture across the table. “I saw a couple videos of your callbacks, you shouldn’t stoop that much when you read it would help in the auditions”

“So this is what you do?” He said and his tone was calm but there was fury in his eyes “You manipulate people into working with you, making then feel like you know everything about them and pretending to be nice and polite? Well I have news for you, first of all I don’t work for Fuches, and second, you can put out all of this glamorous crap that you have on me and the answer still be no, I don’t this anymore”

“Would you like to order?” The waiter said before any of you could keep speaking.

“Sure, shrimp risotto for me, and for my dear friend… what do you want honey?” You said smiling at him.

“The same sounds fine” he said and smile back at you changing his tone immediately. “And red wine?"He asked you with a checky wink and you nodded. "Red it is” The waiter nod and walked away.

“Not bad, you are a quick responder, I like that” you said looking as the man walked away. “But you don’t know shit about me” You spat at him once the waiter couldn’t hear “Glamorous crap? Oh let me guess you read one of the many articles about how much of a whore I am? I have a drinking and smoking problem is that it? That I have slept my way into every work I ever had, and how little I deserved my career, and how much good it was for Richard to walk away form me even when he still loves me? Well that’s all bullshit” There it was again, even when you were trying to escape he was still holding you in his hands. “Well the magazines that work for him doesn’t tell I went to drama school, they didn’t say I have a dying mother that gets every penny I make, they didn’t say that I could count the men I slept with the fingers on one hand I will be sparing 2, they don’t say he forced himself on me more times I can remember, or how he enjoys sleeping with every woman that works for him no matter the age just because he is The man”

“Go the police then, tell them that, why do you need me?” He said, but with less confidence than before and it was obvious his mental image of you was crumbling.

“The L.A. Police that gets donations from him every year? I’m a whore, to them, to Richard, to you and to everyone. I have no voice” Fortunately the waiter arrived with the food and you could stop to think, talking about this made you feel exposed, and you were questioning if it was worth the trouble at all.

“Why me? If you need him out of your life so bad I’m sure Fuches have someone right for the job” He said and started eating avoiding your gaze, you didn’t have an appetite anymore but force yourself to do the same.

“Have you seen the guys that work for Fuches? They look like hobos and meth heads, he is not some random dude, he is rich and powerful if he dies people would ask questions and eventually that would come back to me, also he would die loved and mourned, and he doesn’t deserve that.”

“And scared him off is better how? If someone goes to him and beat him it would come back at you faster and worse” He said taking a sip of his wine.

“Men always think physically right?” You said drinking as well and looking at him “I never said beat him, I told fuches I needed you specifically and he said he doesn’t work for me anymore, he is an actor now, and then I knew you were exactly what I needed. I don’t need some hitman to go beat the crap out of Richard even if he deserves it. I need someone to escort me from my apartment to work, and to public events and keep him away from me.”

“Those are called bodyguards and I’m pretty sure there are legal business that can provide their services to you” He said condescendingly.

“Like the one that is at my house right now and doesn’t even know I went out?” You said smiling “Or the one that give my alarm password to Richard so he could read his script? Legal people can be bought, and they have things to lose, that doesn’t work for me, he is a monster and a criminal, so I need someone outside the law to outsmart him” You said to him and the shadow of a smile formed in his lips before he spoke.

“So you think I’m a monster too? Look I’m sorry for you, your situation must be horrifying, but I leave that life behind, I’m no longer that guy and I don’t want to be, I’m sorry but I don’t want my past mistakes to keep haunting me, I’m tired of that. I’m sorry” He said, and you believed him but you couldn’t lost this chance.

“Mr Berkman, can I call you Barry?” You started and he nod affirmatively “Barry do you ever have nightmares about your mistakes?”

“Every night” He answered

“But when you wake up, when you go to work, when you talk to your significant other, when you are eating, those mistakes are dead, those people and those lifes you took they remained where you leave them. Your mistakes don’t call you at 3 am to remain you you are a slut, your mistakes don’t sell naked pictures of you to magazines to make you feel miserable because you are no longer sleeping with them. Your mistakes don’t force you to go down on them in order to don’t recast your part and then don’t threaten to ruin your career and leave your mother without her cancer treatment.” You said and a tear finally find it’s way down your cheek. “Fine I get it, you want to be a better person, well so am I, I need to run away from this and I’m so desperate that I called you, but it’s okay I have no way to force you into this, you don’t have to be sorry about me” you said hopeless, and he remained silent for a couple minutes looking at you occasionally and then his plate now almost empty.

“What exactly would I have to do?” He said finally “I’m not accepting, I just want to know” he add before you could react.

“Offering me your arm in social events, walked me to my apartment at nights, and take me to lovely lunches like this one every few days, basically being a human purse, just looking handsome and put together next to me, and let the magazines and the media make their assumptions”

“I’m not a prostitute” He said and you found the statement ridiculously funny.

“And I wouldn’t pay you to fuck me sunshine” you said with a grin “But I have learned that men respect other men’s "property” more than a women’s NO, and if I start seeing a handsome, blue eyed, literal war hero from the Midwest he would look like an asswhole if he keeps pushing how much he misses me in interviews"

“Fine” He said looking straight to your eyes “I’ll do it, when do you want to start?”

“Well if you consider the three girls with her phones out that just crossed behind you on the street, I would say I already owe you overtime, but tomorrow is fine, I would send you my address and other details with my publicist”

“Don’t you think is better if we have the least amount of people involved in this?” He said with an uncomfortable look on his face.

“Adrian is like a sister to me, I trust her my life.” You said and he seemed conformed with that answer “And Barry, thank you”.

[inkedwolf-compendium]

PSA: Mac's Return - A Fresh Start

Hello, friends. It's been over a year since Mac has stepped out of the shadows and a lot has happened. Due to both personal and real life reasons, she slipped into a deep hibernation. It was one I thought, after all this time, would be permanent. Her voice had gone silent in my mind and there was no real desire to go searching for her. 

It took the hypothetical (future) death of a dear friend to cause her to stir once more. However, she still slept, fitful as it was, until a certain feline showed up to add to the scene. 

Needless to say, it was like a cat running through the house at 4 a.m. (Like people weren't trying to sleep or something.) It turned fitful sleep into groggy, confused awareness. One very needed sentimental post later and I went to bed thinking that it was the perfect final farewell. Both for the friend and for the familiar voice of Mac. 

And then, I woke up the next morning… with a damn to-do list for a fully awake, pain in the ever-living ass, bossy fucking Gilnean. I thought she was stubborn before. 

I was wrong. 

So, here we are, a year later and several changes on 'the list'. Some I'm gonna share(beneath the cut)!

The first is her story.  Now it isn't something I'm going to broadcast here or get into some deep discussion of who, what, where, and why. I am going to treat it as I always have with most Mac's history. You want to know? Find out through RP. I will say her core history is the same. It's only the past year and change that was subject to mild edits. (The story on Tumblr remains the same. It was the tail end of her last arc that I altered up until present day. Since that wasn't in the public's eye it's very low impact.) 

[Feel the need to be all invasive OoC to find out what all really happened? I'm going to save you the trouble. If you don't know already, you won't find out by hounding me or fishing for answers, Cupcake. Sorry. (I'm really not.)]

Next is the farewell to a facial likeness. Both the muse and typist agree that Mac is a unique individual who isn't just an appearance replica of a famous person or character. While I absolutely love the actress I chose initially, and the inspiration she brought, Mac has just outgrown a single face claim. No one person truly captures her anymore. Instead, I'm going for appearance aesthetics like the following: 

Marie Avgeropolus (Octavia Blake, The 100)

Olivia Wilde (With Dark Hair]

Phoebe Tonkin (Hayley Marshall, The Originals)

Emily Blunt (Gwen Conliffe, The Wolfman)[Specifically for her earlier years in Gilneas.]

[Totally encouraging submissions, DMs, and ask box suggestions for others! With only aesthetics to aim for, rather than a specific face, it opens up a world of possibilities.]

Also, not too surprisingly, The Shattered Glass… is not reopening. She has put her bartender days behind her. I know it was a great community spot but I don't have it in me to host large groups like I once did. While the idea of The Glass will never die out entirely, Mac will sadly not be opening the doors to the public anytime soon. 

I think I hit the big topics, more are sure to rear their head. Until then, it's good to be back. Terrifying, but good. 

-The Mun behind Mac

[msterofnone-blog]

angel(ica) cope ; intro, stats, verses & connections 

my angel angel is an angel ok so just bear with her OVERWHELMINGLY self absorbed sadness & she’s great <3

- born on the west coast to a single mother, who worked as a cleaner, she became obsessed at a young age with images of old hollywood, spending her days in front of tv films when not at school, whilst her mother worked

- even though she wasn’t around a lot they were really really close because of what she sacrificed for the two of them (her mother had wanted to act but gave it up to look after angel) - she died when angel was 18 & she was devastated but it was also probably the last time she ever had real motivation 

- she moved to hollywood & was determined to make it in acting - she had this idealised view of the american dream that was so far detached from reality it never had any chance of succeeding

- she worked for years but never broke through the way she wanted them to and now she works in small television dramas and cheesy movies, typecast for the most mundane of roles

- her despair at never ‘making it’ is taken out on her alcohol dependency which she refuses to admit to but secretly enjoys in a twisted way

- ok like she takes solace in her sadness because its comfortable & familiar & dramatic - she didnt make it as a hollywood starlet so she’ll take the role of the sad & beautiful older woman & is almost obsessed with her image 

&. BASICS

FULL NAME: angelica cope

NICKNAMES: angel

FACE CLAIM: lana del rey

AGE: 33

SEXUALITY: pansexual 

DATE OF BIRTH: july 23rd 1984

GENDER/PRONOUNS: she/her

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single

OCCUPATION: actress 

&. PERSONALITY

USUAL HANG OUTS: bars (particularly the one on the corner near the edge of town)

HOBBIES: reading & baking (actual baking not the weed kind ok)

FIVE POSITIVE TRAITS: romantic, gentle, kind, intelligent & creative

FIVE NEGATIVE TRAITS: self-pitying, easily addicted, contradictory (idealistic & pessimistic all at once)

DRINKS, SMOKES, & DRUGS: yes to all 3 

&. VERSES

fckit:spn -  killed by a drug overdose at the height of the 1920s, angel had been a rising star in the booming film industry, and now haunts her childhood town of kola searching for some purpose in death as she had in life, wanting to recapture (literally) dead magic. 

fckit:gatsby -  quiet and dreamy, angel is ever present at gatsby’s parties but nobody knows why. she seemingly has no title nor fame but can always be seen floating serenely around the room and is only ever seen speaking to a select group of people, including gatsby himself.

more tbc!!

&. WANTED CONNECTIONS

ROMANTIC.

mise en scene - somebody she played opposite (as enemies or love interests or anything in between) & now they’re seeing each other on the dl

resurfaced -  somebody she knew back in hollywood whom she loved deeply - when her success never materialised theirs did & they left her behind

(honestly her time in hollywood was crazy so any wild connections u can think of from that weird time in her life are SO welcome)

PLATONIC.

reality check - somebody who tries (maybe succeeds) to snap her out of her dreamy state & get a grip on her life

ENEMIES.

blocked - angel is obsessed with her image & therefore obsessed with social media & there is undoubtedly somebody who resents this because they feel threatened by it or thinks its ridiculous 

&. FILLED CONNECTIONS

ROMANTIC.

n/a

PLATONIC.

n/a

ENEMIES.

n/a

[readingraebow]

Murder on the Orient Express Section Three

Part 2: Chapter 15 - Part 3: Chapter 9

1. What happens when Mary's luggage is searched? Poirot sends Greta away under the pretense of taking care of Mrs. Hubbard. But Mary notices and asks him why he wanted to see her alone. He asks her about what he overhead on the previous train and she's quite flustered and says that she can't answer him. But it has nothing to do with the murder. It's something that she must take care of. But when he asks if it's already over, she asks him what he means. He says that on the last train, she was distraught when they stopped because she couldn't be delayed. The Orient Express leaves every day. If she were delayed meeting her connection, it would've been only 24 hours. They are now caught in a snow drift and she doesn't seem to be upset at all. So Poirot reasons that she must've already done what she referring to on the last train. But to this she has no answer. Only that she can't tell him.

2. Where are the missing articles of clothing found? The Wagon Lit uniform is, indeed, found in Hildegarde's luggage. Poirot explains that when the conductor saw her, he tried to get rid of the uniform quickly but all the compartments were occupied: except Hildegarde's because she was attending to her mistress. Therefore he stowed the uniform in her luggage so that it wouldn't be found right away. The scarlet kimono isn't found during the search through the luggage of the passengers. It's only when Poirot returns to his own cabin to retrieve cigarettes that he finds it neatly folded in his own bag.

3. What does Poirot reveal they have learned from comments made by MacQueen? Ratchett spoke no French. MacQueen had said on multiple occasions that he was really there to translate for Ratchett because he didn't speak any other languages. Therefore, the voice that came from Ratchett's cabin when the assumed he was last heard alive could not have been Ratchett. The French phrases were not those that would've been chosen by a beginning but they were spoken by someone who was fluent in French. Therefore, they were probably spoken by the murderer meaning Ratchett was already dead at that point or was just about to be killed. But the person Poirot heard moving about in Ratchett's cabin was not Ratchett.

4. What does Poirot come to believe about the Countess? How does he reach this conclusion? He realizes that the Countess is actually Mrs. Armstrong's younger sister. He found the grease spot on her passport to be quite strange especially since it looked fresh. And it's covering part of her first name which means it might not have been an accident. He reasons that if they were trying to cover up her real name, this could be easily enough done. If her real name is, in fact, Helena then all they would need do is cover the H and make the E a capital and they could pass her off as Elena. Poirot also remembers that when they searched the passenger's luggage he noticed that her name tag was wet. That could've been when it was steamed off, her name changed, and then reapplied. Poirot also remembers that Mrs. Armstrong's mother was an actress and Linda Arden wasn't he real name. Therefore, Helena Goldenberg is the true identity of the Countess. When he puts this theory to her, she confirms it.

5. Who is the owner of the handkerchief? So what led Poirot to discovering the Countess's real identity was his trying to figure out who owned the handkerchief. And even though her initial is H, it still didn't belong to her. But as soon as she left, the Princess paid them a visit and said they had one of her handkerchiefs. Even though her initial is an N, she said she always has her handkerchiefs monogrammed in the Russian characters and in Russian, Ns are Hs. This explains why Hildegarde hesitated when Poirot showed her the handkerchief. And the Princess says she didn't tell him it was hers that morning because he never asked her.

6. Which passengers turn out to be associated with the Armstrong case and how? How does Poirot discover this? Basically everyone. Poirot discovered this because of an observation made by M. Bouc. He'd commented that there were so many different nationalities present on the train and Poirot realized that was unusual for this time of year and especially with the rest of the train being relatively empty. He then realized that the type of place you would find such a collection of nationalities would be in an American household. He then began to cast everyone on the train as part of the Armstrong household. When he presented all of his guesses to everyone, he proved correct. They're basically all the servants from the Armstrong household. The cook, the nanny, the chauffeur. Of the twelve passengers on the train, nine of them have connections to the Armstrong household.

7. Who is the murderer? All of them except the Countess did it. When Ratchett walked away free, the twelve of them devised the plan to bring him down. Because he was clearly guilty they became the jury to carry out his sentence. Michel, the conductor was also in on it. His daughter was the French maid who was also killed in connection to the kidnapping. And Mrs. Hubbard is actually Linda Arden, Mrs. Armstrong's mother. They got MacQueen and Masterman into Ratchett's employ and because Susanne's father worked on the Orient Express, they waited for a time when he would travel by train. The twelve of them, therefore, assembled onto the train and each of them stabbed the man, the Count taking the place of his wife. Ratchett was heavily drugged and was actually killed close to 2am. The train wasn't supposed to get stuck in a snow drift and it was supposed to look like an outsider and come aboard, killed Ratchett, and then left. But when they got stuck in the snow, Poirot figured the whole thing out. And they all admitted to it freely. Though Mrs. Hubbard asks that if someone is to take the fall for the whole thing, that it be her. She, after all, is the one most likely to have committed the crime in the first place.

8. How does the novel end? What did you think of this novel? Do you plan to see the movie? Poirot presents two possible solutions to the crime: the one that they intended of the extra conductor killing Poirot and getting away and the real solution, with all of them killing Ratchett. Poirot, Bouc and Constantine decide to go with the first one and present that to the police. That someone came aboard and killed Ratchett and got away. And honestly this book seriously made me cry. Because Poirot is an amazing man. I seriously love this whole book and the way it's written. It's an absolutely genius mystery. It's definitely one of my favorites. I can't wait to see the movie!!! I'm already counting the days until it's out. And I'm so glad I got to reread the book before I see the movie. I just hope they keep the ending the same. If not, I will be wildly upset O.O It's perfect. Please don't change it. *crosses fingers*

  Section Two Reading Journal

I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. It's seriously just as good as I remember. That ending is seriously never one you forget??? I just didn't remember quite ~how everyone was connected to the Armstrong family. I remembered they were all connected though. AND MY DARLING MRS. HUBBARD. I seriously love her most because she's so over the top and hilarious but she's really this cool commanding broken hearted mother. Argh I want to give her all the hugs. But I think that's why she bugged me so much in the original movie??? Because they made it fairly easy to tell who she really was??? (And in the new movie it seems like they're making her super paranoid and crazy and I'm kind of not a fan???)

Anyway, SUPER EXCITED FOR THE MOVIE!!! I'd heard they might try to change things like the victim and I'm like O.O Please don't????? This book is amazing you should leave it the same?? But I have high hopes and I can't wait to see it!! I'm just not totally on board with Kenneth Branagh as Poirot??? I'd kind of always pictured Poirot as a mustached Humpty Dumpty and, well, Kenneth Branagh is permanently Lockhart in my brain and you can see how those two images don't coincide, haha. So I guess we'll see.

But I'm so glad to have reread this and I hope ya'll liked it!!! I always love reading Agatha and I can't wait to read more. Especially more Poirot because he's my fav. Thankfully I still have about 30 of his books to go, haha. Good times.

[storiesforallfandoms]

new assignment ~david budd; bodyguard

word count: 1114

request?: no

description: when army veteran david budd is assigned to protect a famous movie actress, he doesn’t expect things to be all that difficult

pairing: david budd x female!reader

warnings: swearing, mentions of violence

this will not spoil anything from the netflix series bodyguard as it won’t follow the plot of the first season. i’m only three episodes in so if i get anything wrong i’m very sorry and i’ll change it.

When David Budd was told he was getting a promotion, he thought it meant he was getting assigned to a big political leader. Instead, he found himself in the back of a car on the way to the hotel room of some famous actress.

“I know this sounds silly,” CSI Craddock had said when she gave David the assignment, “but her management team insists she’s in serious danger. Apparently she’s been receiving some serious threats that started online but now have made it to her own house. She’s moving from hotel room to hotel room until they can find somewhere else for her to stay where she won’t be found. They’re insisting she needs someone with your background to be watching over her at least until the culprit is found.”

It wasn’t what he was looking for, but it was still a promotion. He was still making good money for it, and once it was all over, perhaps he’d be assigned to someone bigger than just a movie star. Something a bit more serious than some stalker sending shallow threats.

As he was being driven to the hotel, he went over the file he was given on the girl. He hadn’t heard of her before, apparently she was best known for rom-coms and Hallmark type movies, nothing that would even remotely interest David. Seemed to be mainly famous around London, but was starting to get worldwide recognition, which definitely didn’t help to narrow down the search.

When he walked into the hotel the first thing he noticed was the two armed guards standing at the door. They merely eyed him, understanding that he was one of theirs. He took the elevator up to the floor that he was told she was staying on. When he knocked at her door, another officer answered.

“David Budd, Police Sergeant,” he told the officer, holding up his badge. “I’ve been assigned to Miss. (Y/L/N) upon the request of her management team.”

“Let him in,” a woman said. When he stepped into the room, she introduced herself, “I’m Maggie Carlisle, I’m (Y/N)’s manager. Thank you for coming.”

“I’ve been filled in on the situation, ma’am,” David told her. “How is Miss. (Y/N)? Any threats since she’s been moved?”

“Just some online,” Maggie responded. “But those aren’t anything unusual really. When you’re famous you receive hate mail. (Y/N) has received some threatening messages before, but this person is going above and beyond.”

“Do you have any of the threats sent to her house?”

Maggie reached into a bag that was discarded on the hotel room sofa and pulled out a handful of letters. She passed them to David and he read through them. Each letter threatened the same thing, that the person now knew where (Y/N) lived and that they would find her and kill her. That she’d never be safe no matter who she surrounded herself with. That she better watch her back whenever she left the house because she was being watched at all times.

“I’ve told her to delete all forms of social media from her phone,” Maggie continued. “Warned her not to post any pictures or to tweet anything that might give away her location. We’ve been monitoring the threats ourselves.”

David nodded, putting the letters aside. “Where is she now? Is she here?”

“She’s asleep. She was up all night last night, having terrible nightmares about the whole situation,” Maggie explained. “When she wakes up I’ll bring her out to meet you.”

At that moment, as if on cue, a door down the hallway opened. The young actress carefully made her way from the bedroom into the kitchen and living room area. She eyed David, unsure of what to think of him.

“(Y/N),” Maggie said. “This is PS David Budd. He’s been sent to watch you while we try to figure this whole situation out.”

David nodded to her. “Ma’am.”

She just looked at him for a moment. Finally, she said, “Don’t call me ma’am. Makes me feel old, and you’re definitely older than I am.”

David found himself giving her a small smile. She extended her hand to him. “(Y/F/N). Although, you probably know that if you’ve been assigned to me.”

Maggie dismissed the officer that was in the hotel room, and started packing things away into her own bag. “The room next door is booked out for you, Sergeant Budd. We’re trying to move around as much as possible so that the stalker won’t find us.” She paused a moment, worry written all over her face. “That’s the right thing to do, right?”

“It is, ma’am. Makes it harder to locate Miss. (Y/L/N) if she isn’t in the same location for long,” David said.

Maggie nodded, although didn’t look present at the moment. David helped to escort her out of the room. Once they were both outside the door, Maggie lowered her voice to say, “Thank you so much again. I know you’re probably extremely over qualified for this job, but I’m so worried about her. (Y/N) is like a daughter to me, she’s never done anything wrong to anyone. She doesn’t deserve any of this.”

“No worries, ma’am,” David assured her. “She’s in good hands. I’ll protect her with my life, I promise you.”

Maggie attempted to smile but it faltered. She said goodbye and started down the hallway. David did a quick sweep of the hall before entering the hotel room again. (Y/N) was now sat on the couch, sipping on a can of pop from the hotel fridge. She looked up at David. Her eyes were wide, and he could see the fear in them.

“I’ll be next door if you need me, ma’am,” he told her. “All you have to do is knock on the door and I’ll come over.”

(Y/N) nodded. David knelt down in front of her, so that he was at eye level with her. “I promise you, ma’am, you’re completely safe with me. No one will find you or hurt you while you’re under my supervision.”

(Y/N) nodded again. She didn’t feel like she could truly speak right now. David stood and opened the door that connected their rooms. He took one final look at (Y/N), who was staring off into space. He closed the door between them and did a quick sweep of his own room. When he was sure there was nothing suspicious, the began to take off his official uniform. Despite it being only early still, he already felt so tired. When he laid down in the hotel room bed, his fell asleep almost immediately.

Kind of a shitty start, but here’s the first part in what will be yet another series I’m gonna write.

If you wanna be tagged in upcoming parts let me know!