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heartz4vee · 8 months

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His Imperial of Doom

It's 4am and I wrote this on a whim. It's small and quick and not that great, I just wanted to write something angsty with my wife (Simon)

Am I projecting onto him in this? Yes. Yes I am.

Words: 1,748

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Doom. Death. Destruction. Or some other terrible fate.

It was a word Simon was all too familiar with. The word and its very definition seemed like it was just constantly looming over his head, over the course of his entire life actually. From being cursed to be the Ice King for a thousand years, losing the love of his life, and now having to live in this new, futuristic Ooo. He didn’t fit in with any of these… New humans. Nobody ever knew what he was talking about, and nobody seemed very interested in whatever it was he was talking about. Despite being surrounded by all of these people, he felt so isolated.

As he walked through the Human City, he moved past all of the other people that lived within the city. They were all so much happier than he was. They were content with what they had. They were able to go about their everyday lives, not questioning a thing, or having to think about “what could have been”. He felt a twinge of jealousy watching all of them. Simon didn’t feel real surrounded by all of them. He just felt like an NPC going through the motions of it all, giving the occasional wave when approached.

But, as of lately, all of his interactions with… Anyone, just felt forced, and robotic. Whether it was forcing a laugh at whatever Finn was talking about so he didn’t suspect anything was wrong with him, or trying to hold a conversation with Marceline. No matter the interaction, he felt so disconnected from everyone, especially himself. He barely recognized his own reflection anymore. He didn’t know who he was supposed to be around anyone. He didn’t know how to act around Finn, he didn’t know how to act around Marceline, and he definitely didn’t know how to act around all of these other strange new humans.

Listening to the idle chatter of those around him, Simon couldn’t help but look around and think about all of the places around he would have visited with his fiancee, Betty. He was sure she would have loved living in such an odd world such as Ooo. She would have loved to drag him on different expeditions for various artifacts, and he happily would have gone along. He looked around at every weird little home, and every weird little shop, visions of his beloved popping up around him, her voice filling his head.

“Look at this, Simon!”

“We have to go in there next!”

“Didn’t you mention this in some of your studies? We should totally look for it!”

It drove him crazy.

—

Once back inside of his locked up little home with very little to no light, the man just sighed and leaned against his closed walls. Even being in the comfort of his own… “Home”, he felt completely out of place. His body felt strangely heavy, but it wasn’t a new feeling, not at all. His mind was empty but flooding with thoughts at the same time. He felt sad. He just wanted to drop to his knees, curl up on his floor, and sob to his heart's content for hours.

But, he felt too numb to cry. Too numb to be angry with anyone or himself. His mind and body just moved on autopilot every single day. And moving on autopilot, Simon went to change and get ready for bed.

He stared up at his ceiling, reminiscing on memories he knew he’d be better off without. Simon hated this part of his days. Trying to fall asleep, only for memories of the past to come rushing in. Memories of Betty, vague blurred memories of the Ice King, memories of him and Marceline’s past. Every old memory that suddenly resurfaced sent a strong wave of pain through his body. Sleep. He needed to sleep. That would get this to stop.

So, he closed his eyes, and tried to let his mind wander to anything or anyone that didn’t seem familiar to him. He just attempted to let his mind go completely blank, he didn’t want to think of anything, just for once.

For once, he wanted some peace.

For once…

—

The gentle feeling of having his face poked is what stirred him awake. That, and the sun beaming down onto him. But… His museum-like home didn’t have windows. So how was there sun…? The touch on his face made him give a small smile. The touch was warm. It was familiar. It was a feeling he had been aching for.

He slowly opened his eyes, squinting and bringing his arm up to his face to block the light from his face. Realizing he wasn’t in his own home, he quickly sat up with a startled gasp, looking around the grassy field he had been placed in. It was so bright. There was nothing for miles except for more of the field. Dandelions surrounded him. It was beautiful. It was tranquil. It gave him that peace he’d been looking for for so long.

“Finally! Rise and shine, Simon!”

Simon felt a sense of dread and relief hearing the voice beside him. He turned, only to see his fiancee sitting beside him, smiling at him like she used to. She wasn’t some eldritch god, she was just… Betty. She was the brilliant woman he fell in love with all those years ago. As much as it ached, he missed seeing her.

“Thought you’d never wake up. Forgot how heavy of a sleeper you can be.” She teased, gently nudging his arm. Simon just chuckled, “I’m sorry.” Immediately, Simon felt as if his whole world was closing in on him the second those words left his mouth. It was something he’d been wanting to say to her for so long, but had no way to reach her. Even if he could, would he be able to say it? It was something he meant, but he was positive he’d just… Freeze up at the opportunity. The man sighed, and looked down into his lap.

Betty tilted her head seeing his suddenly saddened demeanor. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder,

“Simon? What’s wrong?”

“…I’m sorry, Betty. I’m sorry you had to sacrifice yourself for… Me. Now you’re not even here anymore, because of me. And all I can do is sit around screwing up the second chance you’ve given me. But, what am I supposed to do? I feel so stuck without you. It’s like the minute I realized you were actually gone, my mind and body just stopped working. Now I don’t know what there is for me to do…”

Betty nodded, “Grief is a tricky thing. You’re not used to not having the person you lost, and it’s depressing, it’s isolating, it’s hard to forget about. But, where there’s grief, there’s eventually healing. Nobody can stay stuck in the grieving process forever.”

“We were doomed from the start, weren’t we..?”

Betty chuckled at his notion, “Maybe we were, or maybe we weren’t. Personally, I don’t think we were “doomed from the start” as you like to put it. I don’t think there’s always been some divine fate tearing us apart. I think somewhere down the line, we did that.” She heard Simon give a small groan in response. She just smiled and picked one of the dandelions from the field.

“Doomed or not, I don’t regret a moment I spent with you. No matter what we could have done differently, I’m satisfied with the ending we got. Of course I do wish it could have been something… Happier. But, you’re okay. You’re alive. So, I’m fine with this.”

Simon shook his head, his frustration and sadness quickly building, “But I’m not! How can you be fine with this? How can you be happy about this? How can you be so… Content..?” He sighed, before placing his head in his hands, “How can anyone be satisfied with anything they do? I don’t get it… I don’t know how to do that…”

“I know you don’t, Simon. I’m sorry. I know this isn’t something you want to hear right now, but; you’re someone who won’t ever let himself be happy.”

Simon perked up at her words. He lifted his head and looked over at her, eyebrows knitted together “What..?”

“You’re someone who’ll wake up every morning, and go out of his way to avoid anything that might make you happy. You have an anxious thought that every situation will only end in doom, so you don’t go out of your way to try and be happy. Maybe you don’t recognize it, but it’s self sabotage at best. I don’t know the reason you do this, I never did, but I do know it’s something you need to seek help for. It’s not good for you. You… Have an identity outside of our relationship Simon, I want you to realize that. Maybe you’ll see that one day…” She reached over and placed a hand on his cheek, to which Simon immediately fell into, placing his own hand over hers.

Simon let out a shaky breath, tears quickly falling from his eyes, “It’s too much. Everything lately is just… Too much. I hate waking up, I hate having to move, I hate interacting with people, I hate that people have to see me everyday, I hate that I have to pretend everything is okay! When it’s not! Nothing is okay! I’m not okay! I… I don’t want to be here anymore. I’m so tired…”

Betty slightly frowned hearing this. Instead of saying anything else, she just gently laid him back down in the grass. He whined, but closed his eyes, slowly drifting off as she ran her fingers through his hair.

“You’ll be okay, Simon. You’re strong, you just don’t see it. But I do. I’ll see you next time…”

—

Abruptly, Simon woke up ten minutes before his alarm was supposed to go off. As usual. He hated that dream. It was never the same, they always just talked about different things. It was everything he knew he’d never have. He’d never be able to apologize to Betty. He’d never be able to see her again.

Most of all, he’d never be able to genuinely feel happy. He was never able to, for as long as he could remember. His chest panged with pain and an overwhelming sense of sadness and dread at the realization of that.

He would be doomed until the day he died.

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sakiye · 4 years

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The Coffeeshop Fantasy - Chapter 1

So this is chapter 1 of my coffeeshop Joavin fic cuz goddamn if I’m not gonna contribute some content of one of my favorite ships.

And Tbh I’m pretty happy about this since this is my first time writing in a while so I hope you like this! Also, the title of the story will be changed.

Chapter 1:

The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted out from the coffee shop and Kevin smiled as he walked in. He always liked this, one of the reasons he hadn’t quit his job yet. He checked in and took his place behind the counter, saying hi to his co-worker Betty, and Veronica before making sure that everything was set up for the day ahead.

At 7 sharp, the doors had opened and the steady stream of people started to come in. Kevin easily took their orders and gave the drinks. It was easy to get lost in the routine. Smile. Take their order. Give it to the others. And give it to the customer when it was done. A simple routine that worked wonders. Kevin quite liked routines. They were easy to follow and made everything organized. And so, Kevin let his mind wander as he worked, allowing it to drift to a movie he watched recently. Love Simon was the name. He often liked to think about finding someone for himself like how Simon found Bram. It wasn’t like he was desperate, it was just that, he wanted someone to be intimate with.

He brought himself back to earth and continued his routine, first getting a frappuccino for Mr. Mantle, and then a latte for Ms. Andrews, who was back in town for a bit. At 7:30 AM, a guy with a leather jacket walked in. Kevin noticed him because of his eyes. He doubted that anyone could have missed the guy’s eyes. It was a striking blue that he would probably not forget anytime soon.

He quickly looked away and back at Ms. Lodge who was looking at him weirdly. ‘Sorry ma’am. I will get your drink to you right away”, he says quickly. He smiles at her before turning around and passing the order to Betty.

He turns around and sees the next customer was the guy from before. The guy was wearing a smirk as he looked at Kevin. “4 black coffees please”, he says, before smiling at Kevin.

Kevin was silent for a moment. “Damn his eyes are really blue.”, he thinks before quickly saying, “Yes of course”, and nodding before turning around to give the order to Betty. He turned around and smiles at the guy and says, “Your drinks will be done shortly”. The guy nods and grins before moving to a table.

When the guy’s drinks are finished, he calls the guy’s order number and the guy comes back and takes the drinks and smiles at Kevin, before winking at him and leaving.

“Wow. That was something, He thinks, standing still for a minute before going to the next customer.

During his break, he met up with Betty and Veronica to get lunch. They all walked to a nearby fast food place, bought their food and sat down.

“Well, Kevin’s got himself an admirer.”, Veronica says, in a sing song way.

“What? No way.”, Kevin said, already turning red.

Betty chuckles. “Did you see the way he was looking at you?”.

“No? And forget about it. Anyway, what’s with you two?”, Kevin asks, eager to change the subject.

Veronica instantly saw through him, but laughed and started talking about her and Betty’s visit to New York.

Kevin smiled and listened as they told their story about the fancy stores and the Broadway shows.

And no lunch was complete without Kevin bringing out his daily cupcakes that he bought from the cafe. He passed them around and enjoyed being with his friends and having a good time.

The rest of the day, Kevin was thinking about that dark haired stranger. And when he went back home, it was hard to get the other man’s smirk out of his mind.

“Oh well. I’m probably not seeing him again.”, he finally says to himself before falling asleep.

“Well, that was a lie.”, Kevin says to himself as he sees the guy walk in again the next day. The guy in question looks at Kevin and grins when they make eye contact. Kevin smiles back at him and almost spills a customer’s drink on his hands. The guy tries to stifle a laugh, which makes Kevin chuckle sheepishly before passing the drink to the customer.

When it was the guy’s turn to order, Kevin smiled at him, and asked him for his order. The guy gave the order, 4 black coffees, before slipping a note to him.

Kevin took it curiously, planning to look at it later. The guy just smiled at him before going back to wait for the drinks.

After the guy left, Kevin opened the note and read it.

Meet me during your break. At the fence near the cafe.

“Ok?”, he thinks, before stuffing the note in his pocket and continuing his work, eagerly waiting for the time to pass till his break.

When his break came, he almost ran to the fence, but managed to slow himself down and walk at a brisk pace instead. He stood there, waiting, and looking around for the other man.

He stood there for a bit, and looked around when the guy wasn’t there. He sighs before getting his stuff and beginning to leave.

Right as he picks up his bag, he sees the guy running up. “Oh wow. You actually came”, the guy says hiding his shock, before grinning and walking over.

Kevin puts his stuff back down and smiles.

“Well, I mean, you did invite me here.”, He says, actually looking at the guy.

“Wow. This guy’s hot.”, Kevin thinks, before wondering why the guy wanted him there.

All he saw was a grin from the guy before the guy kissed him. And surprisingly, he kissed back.

And before he knew it, he and the guy were making out like their lives depended on it.

Somehow, the guy’s arm had snaked around his waist and Kevin’s fingers had found the other man’s hair.

When they broke apart, they stood near each other, breathing for a bit before the guy says,“Call me Joaquin”, cracking a smile.

Kevin took Joaquin’s phone and put his number in. “Call it”, he says before internally smiling as Joaquin raises his eyebrows in amusement and nods before saying “I will”.

Joaquin then grinned at him before, waving and turning around and walking away.

“Holy shit”, Kevin mouths before starting to go back to the store. When he goes back, he realizes that his hair was messed up from before, and so he frantically tried to tame it before he had to start work again.

Veronica saw him come in and raised her eyebrows. “Hey Betty! Kevin got some!”, causing Betty to join them and smile.

“Who was it? C'mon tell us everything!”, She says, before laughing as Kevin turns more red before muttering,“It was that guy, Joaquin.”.

“So you got a name!”, Veronica said, wiggling her eyebrows. Betty grinned as she listened.

“Okay. Okay, we’ll leave you alone now, but you gotta tell us everything soon”, Veronica says as they start their work again.

Kevin sighed in relief as they went back.

When he finished the movie, he went up to his room and checked his phone.

The rest of the day passed by quickly, even if Kevin found himself thinking about Joaquin.

Tagging:

When he got back home, he settled down in front of the couch and decided to watch a movie. He soon found himself putting on Tangled for the 50th time this month and instantly became engrossed in the movie.

“Damn. No text. Oh well. I’ll see him tomorrow”, he says to himself before putting down the phone and trying to fall asleep.

Soon, he fell asleep, having found a new appreciation for his job.

Tagging:

@stardust-revengers

#joavin #joaquin x kevin #riverdale #riverdale fanfic #joavin fanfiction #joaquin desantos #kevin keller #sruthi writes joavin

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claimingtheflame · 4 years

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I had meant to give each family member a post of their own, as kind of a reflection on each, but that will have to happen as I write. All of the people in this post were key figures in my childhood and this post will serve to kind of map them out, so I don't have to explain them as I go. I have already written about D and mom, I will not include them here.

I warn you. Race may be mentioned a lot here. I grew up in an extremely racially mixed environment. The distinction between peoples is a big part of my upbringing, as I grew up among just as many hispanics, asians, and african americans as I did white folk.

My father

If there is a hero to this story, it is my father. A sad hero, yes, but a hero. You will hear me describe people and their various dualities throughout these reflections. Often, one hand would give and one hand would take. Not my father. There were times he disappeared, sometimes for over a year, but none of them was his fault. He is so important to this story because he was everything to me in those times.

My mother cheated on him and moved in D when I was 3 years old. I remember most of those events, believe it or not. I have a very early memory, and I remember when he lived with us. I also remember when he left. After that, we would go visit him every other weekend. Those visits were another world entirely to me and my sister, Nevada. So much could be said, but I will just say that without my father I would be a much more damaged person. These people destroyed him. They took his soul.

Grandfather Paul (maternal grandfather)

Another important figure. Close to my father in benevolence , save for a few infuriating and perplexing acts on his part. I know him, from my earliest memories to later teen, as a powerful and intimidating figure. He was a big-deal attorney in the area, and most of my memories are of him sitting at his desk in his high-backed leather armchair, booming at me in jolly tones. He grew up in Georgia, and you can detect the trademark accent, very different from Kentucky's, only slightly when he talks. I mostly grew up as white trash in the Kentucky valley, but on occasion I would be spirited away by Grandpa into an entirely different kind of life. We would see art, opera, or theatre. He gave gifts often and was very kind. He had 7 daughters and a son, so when that family gathered it was unreal. All beautiful, fair of hair and complexion, somewhat formal and subdued compared to what I was used to. Remember the description of "the hospitality of elves" in lord of the rings? It was something like that to me. His gatherings happened a few times a year. He lived thanksgiving the most. I get much of myself from this man, from my interest in books to my interest in law and philosophy, and even my appearance to some degree. Yet, there was always a barrier. I was always a class below these people. It was empirical, throughout my childhood.

Grandmother Betty (paternal grandmother)

When my father would take us, we often visited him at my grandmother Betty's small house in Radcliff. She was a very crabby, but gentle woman. Half italian, half german, I believe she was originally from New York. She was a widow the entire time I knew her. My father technically is a bastard, and my given name is that of her deceased husband Andrew (died in Egypt just after the Vietnam War, he was taking apart a bomb). This man adopted my father despite my grandmother's infidelities with my Grandfather Carl while he was serving his tours of duty. My father was technically born in Germany due to this. All my other cousins are of mixed race, or look way more italian since Andrew and my grandmother's first husband were Italian and Puerto Rican respectively. What's more, Betty's children(my aunts Tina and Susan, Uncle Richard) also married italian and puerto ricans, so me and my sister stick out like a sore thumb among our darker cousins, with our lighter colored skin and hair, and brighter colored eyes.

My grandmother loved Radcliff, but it was a strange town. It has a large Korean and Puerto Rican population due to it being right next to the Fort Knox base. Often you would feel the thrum of artillery fire as a normal part of life due to the testing and training of tanks on base. I think 30% of the population is also black. This was a big deal growing up. A contrast to my country life on the weekdays. I got in a lot of fights, often due to my whiteness believe it or not. Many of my cousins ended up marrying black men, and having mixed children. My grandmother hated this, she hated blacks. She went to a korean church in order to avoid them. That said, she doted on her mixed great-grandkids and gave much to them. This would prove to undo her eventually. My cousins children ended up destroying her house and bleeding her dry to the point where she lost her beloved home. This happened much later in life. They even went as far as stealing from her.

She suffers from dementia now, and no longer recognizes me. My uncle Rick married into one of the families of her Korean friends, and they care for her now, as they shared some childhood bond with her and consider her family.

Aunt Lisa and Cousin Brittany(maternal aunt)

Also heroes and crucial to my upbringing. Aunt Lisa would take us a few weekends a year, and we would visit with her and her daughter, who was only a year younger than I. She was always living in an apartment or townhome somewhere around Louisville or Greater Clark Indiana. She wasn't poor but also wasn't exactly the picture of middle class either. I remember her as a beautiful and wholesome woman. Tall with curly blonde hair, the beakish nose that betrayed my grandather's British lineage. She was silly and always laughing, and played games with us like red rover or simon says. I will never understand why she took to us like she did, but there was no doubt we were special to her. She later married a pretty cool scottish man, they live together to this day.

Cousin Brittany looked a lot like her, just as tall, even taller now, a flat out blonde amazon towering over me and all the other cousins. Brittany was raised a bit more puritan than I, but we bonded over pokemon and Harry Potter as kids, and play video games online when we can. She lives in Maine now.

Grandfather Carl(paternal grandfather)

When my father did not take us to Betty, we went to visit Carl and his wife Margie. They lived on a property in Southeastern Kentucky somewhere.

If there was ever an image of the stereotypical Kentucky man, it would be Grandpa Carl. He was wiley, salt-of-the-earth, bearded, always covered in some kind of oil, and inexplicably strong (I've seen this man lift car engines and slam my 280lb father deep enough into a wall that his assprint was visible on the opposite side). He listened only to old rockabilly music and had skills at a pool table like something from a bygone era. We saw this man a few times a year.

He has alzheimers now and lives with my father.

Grandmother Mary(maternal grandmother)

I knew very little of her. She moved to florida when I was 5. We spoke once a month on the telephone throughout my childhood. I remember she looked very native American. She had long black hair with gray streaks in it. She died in 2015 of flu and pneumonia. She was in her mid 60s.

Her heritage is an enigma. She was born a Culpeper, a very deep-south name, but her mother and grandparents are on the native american dawes rolls. She had the same kind tinge of native to her that Grandmother Betty does of Mediterranean. The thing is, in my 23andme I do show a spot of mediterranean blood, but no native American blood shows up on the dna test.

Her father, she says, was a freemason. This is odd because when she died she left me three things, two of which I still puzzle over. She left his freemason garb to me when she died, along with her record collection and an old pair of opera specs. I only received the record collection and specs, which I treasure. Tons of CCR and other rock records. Rifling through it made me feel closer to her. The Freemason memorabilia is with my aunt Kimberly, I believe. Which brings me to...

Aunt Kimberly(maternal aunt)

I list my Aunt Kim because she becomes important in some aspects and she was indeed a role model me. Also you will see that she and her husband gifted me with my first guitar and synthesizer when I was a teenager. This when I started writing music, so I owe this whole musical venture to them.

This is the definition of a rare and strong-willed woman that likely belonged to the career she devoted herself to. She has become in reputation and stature as powerful as my grandfather, as she worked in his firm from the time she graduated law school. The only one to follow in his footsteps fully. She married at 16 and is still married to this day to the same man. All of my life she has always had short hair cut just above the ears, blond like the rest of my grandfather's children, with a much more dry sense of humor like his own. She does not speak to me much now because she has a feud with my mother. The whole family kind of broke apart a few years ago.

Cousins Kristin, Maria, Samantha, Rosita, and Sasha(paternal cousins)

These are the cousins I primarily grew up with and saw on a regular basis. I saw Brittany only a few times a year but I saw these cousins at least once a month, excluding the times where my mother and stepfather prevented me from seeing my paternal side of the family altogether. We will get into that.

Those are all the family members I will list right now. Maybe I will list separately my cousins, of which I have many and various complex relationships with. My cousin Maria was murdered in 2017 so that may come up as well.

Notice all the names on this list. These are people that I love very much. These are people who no doubt loved me and cared about me throughout my childhood. Every person on this list Sans the younger cousins knew what my stepfather was doing. They had some Inkling. Me and my sister complained at least once in private to each. Only one of these people actually did something to try and stop it. That is the man at the top of the list. That is my father. For all the love I bear these people I will never understand what did not move them about our situation. It's one of the things that this blog is meant for. Understanding those who turn a blind eye. Not evil people at all. To address abuse it takes tremendous strength. My father's tragic anguish over our abuse and his dogged attempts to get my stepfather arrested we're all in vain. They were blocked by some of the members of this list. Maybe they were well-meaning but I will never understand why. I always put it down to Ego or misunderstanding. I will tell one of these stories next and you will see what I mean.

I will try to tell the story chronologically from this point. Thank you anybody who reads this blog. I know I give some of you the link secretly and I hope that you keep what I say here from the rest of my family. I will probably be saying things that will hurt their feelings. To them perhaps I will be saying things out of context. I'm only providing my own point of view. It may seem unflattering at times to them. This isn't about them though. I'm laying these experiences out for the sole purpose of understanding them and nothing more. If anybody on this blog where to be brought to Justice I think we would all agree it would be my stepfather. Yet this whole time I've made no secret that he still walks free, and I doubt anything will ever come of it.

#family history

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matildamaldita-blog1 · 5 years

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All my love,Elea

“All my love, Elea”

I caught a plane back to France, I am still paying the price of my rowdy times in the states, I got pulled under by a mean current but I had reasons to stay alive. Going through all those old drawings and words could make me sick to my stomach or shiver through me. Adam would finally get away from my love interest. Sometimes days like this make me feel no restless and no boredom just the prospect of calm quite days with the time to read, write and draw is all I ask. Adam had an obviously huge influence on every aspect of my being.

Hi I’m Elea- My mom and dad use to describe me as a very intense seething little being right from the beginning. What can I say coming from a very famous parents? I have always been the subtle but dramatic young artist, “a very prolific” they say. Starting at the very young age, I drew wacky personal style and always have a strong vision of my own universe. At an early age I had already a vivid concepts of good and evil (angels and devils), rich and poor (princess and urchins), joy and sadness, pain and pleasure. Was it my parents overly attentive, overly stimulating behavior that made me into attention-craving little show-off monster intensity-case? or was I born that way?

All I know is that they were the best audience a kid could have; I probably made a lot of drawings just to make my dad laugh, he was so into it. I also spent hours and of hours entertaining myself, far off in the elaborate fantasy world of an only child. “Elea Simone! I told you thousand times to not touch my stuffs” my mom says, I remember that day when I was about to reach her very expensive paint brush. My mom and I have always been apart from each other, I can always feel the heat between us, but I have always want to hug her, what do you expect from a kid to her parents? I was a little screwy, but then my father weren’t exactly average, and he never looked at me funny or told me I was weird.

We move to France when I was nine. The years that followed are oddly dim and blurry in my mind. For about a month I cried my eyes out saying “I hate you France” Imagine, they drag me from California to the South of France, pretty weird huh. But then I guess I just accepted the thought that I’d never live in the most populated state in America again. At school I was hated by some saying

“Grosse americaine!” and others were fascinated by me.

In Junior High I started to be normal, my teacher always misinterpreted my name saying

“Elea Simoienk?” Its Elea Simone I say, and people start to laugh.

I actually started correcting my parents French like

“banjower madame” my dad says, It’s not “banjower” its “bonjour”

I also made friends and it went fine. I guess it’s not that bad here. But I must’ve been killing time and the anguish of a new life by drawing sketches archived by my Father. Nancy, little lulu, old Walt Disney, betty boop, popeye, golden books and etc. inspired and obsessed me, thanks to brain washing, vintage education. Puberty made me become self-conscious, and I tried to conform to fit the school standard even though I never succeeded in that branch. Sketchbooks were always with me, and illustrated diaries full of teenage angst.

During my late adolescence my Father’s increasing fame started to loom over me, as I slowly realized it was my fate to forever be compared to “The Legend” if I kept on drawing. My parents are keeping a low profile as writers and artists, and it was a heavy thing trying to find a style, an artistic identity of my own, impatient and frustrated. I found refuge in my teenage life: hash, beer, boys, drama, high school dorms and grungy bongo parties filled my days and my sketchbooks. I took an art in school and love life drawing and art history but was skeptical of the badly taught, pretentious contemporary art curriculum. Still, art class and English class are what got me through high school without flunking, as I spent most class time doodling and daydreaming. After a couple of years in stretching my brains in college I finally graduated and I knew that at some point I made my parents proud of me. Paris! Big city life, freedom, weird Moroccan waiter boyfriends and circus school; being a pseudo English teacher for fancy Parisian companies where suburban secretaries would rant about their unhappy marriages in bad English; living in a bad neighborhoods and exploring dive bars and the streets of Paris on bike at night; meeting artists and musicians, good and mostly bad. The buzzing life that surrounded me was still exhilarating and stimulating. But art-making was still a confusing issue. I did manage to finish a comic or two and even publish some. But my sketchbooks were the place I had the most fun, not having to worry about all that. It wasn’t a “work”, and I drew freely, letting it all spill out.

For days I’ve been thinking about to go back to US, maybe get a job there and see what happens. I told my parents about it, my dad agreed to it although my mom is obviously against about it, but they can’t stop a dreamer from dreaming, and they said “Go on, we’ll be fine here”. As I’ve arrived in Brooklyn, N.Y. Airport I thought “I should rediscover my homeland, maybe it would somehow liberate me in all levels and solving certain identity issues, my own identity issue” and then I laugh. I almost got lost looking for 10 East 53rd Street, New York, 10022. Glad that I found myself in 52ND St. I was walking around in circles trying to find some signage and there it is, a tall building, kind of eccentric but good. The room is in minimalistic style, and liked it so much so I never moved anything. I never had much sleep in my second day in New York; I didn’t even touch my stuffs nor have some coffee. As I’ve stood up and look through the glass wall I saw a great “moon deli drew” coffee shop in front of the building that I’m staying. “What a surprise” I say. I published some more and drew a lot, feeling free and identifying some-what with the edgy, outsider, punk youth-culture in the bay area and then in New York City.

On the next day it was a bit gloomy, it’s Monday and I need to get up and get my exhausted butt to work. I think I’ll made up early at work if I’ll ride a cab so maybe there’s nothing wrong if I’ll have a little coffee first in deli. As I enjoy myself viewing the newspaper a light strikes my eyes, it was a man’s sunglasses, and it reflects the sun to me. The man was in a hurry stepping into the coffee shop, and I found my eye’s following him until he get out in the deli’s and until he was a bit blurry from afar.

As I got in the condo from work I feel totally washed out.

“What a luck! What a gift! What a crazy existence!” and then I lay in bed

“What the hell am I doing here kvetching and moaning? I should be doing so much good stuff for the world or at least for me!” and then I stood up and look in the mirror

“Every 4 seconds, once acre of forest turns into desert and most of the world is dying…but I’m not” I sighed heavy.

“If I were to try to make my dreams come true what would I do? I can’t be an activist, some people aren’t made to deal with people I’m incapable of that” I walked to the kitchen and get some glass of vodka.

“My dreams are selfish I’d love to be a nomad and do art and make a living with it” I open the sliding glass door and I stood there in the balcony.

“Well I guess I’ll just a have a vodka and wait for the things to happen”.

I saw that man again in the Deli’s he was sitting there, having chitchat with someone. I saw him two times in a day and that could be something. “Maybe that’s the girlfriend” I say. After a minute of talk the woman left and the man was still there sitting, nodding and not moving while me, I was just there in the balcony standing, then all of a sudden…

“Lolai lolai lolai” as the gypsies sing

“Oh God I forgot I live in a gypsy neighborhood in Brooklyn” I say.

It always gets out of hand and ends up a big mess. Sometimes they annoy me so much, and the worst is that I hate being woken up. Everyone still thinks it’s the greatest neighborhood in Brooklyn because there’s always excellent gypsy music. But it’s New York City, and it’s the city that never sleeps.

On the next day at exactly 6:00 am, I stop by at Deli’s to grab some espresso. I sat at deli’s tables outside the corner and relishing every effort I drew like creeps and bumps, junkies, wing-nuts, train-riding, crusty brats and street artists then suddenly “Can I sit here?” a man said. His voice could be foghorn loud when he was blooming out a guffaw but it was normally mellifluous. It took me a second to answer; it was him, the man on deli’s, so I just nod my head. He’s so intimidating, why is that? I couldn’t make a single move. He’s eyes speaks more than his mouth, like one look would say anything and he wouldn’t have to talk.

Its half past 7 and I’m still here, my knees are quivering.

“Why am I leaving?”

“What am I gonna do after?”

“What about him?”

Like what about him? Why would I care about him? I brush off from that table immediately.

And from that day I always await for him in the balcony. By weekdays at exactly 6:00 am he would stop by carrying his briefcase at deli’s first for some café latte and a raspberry muffin, by 1:00 pm he’ll drop over with his co-workers and order a cup of espresso macchiato and by 6 pm until he’ll finish the last sip of flat white coffee it would take him an hour to leave his favorite spot in deli’s. By weekend he would be at deli’s by 10:00 am wearing casual clothes, he usually wear nifty clothes. He have this Mohican cut and as he glide with an athletic grace without skipping a bit his hair would fall perfectly. He had a manly Samson physique and his derringdo personality and bass voice were a big part of his ambitious character.

I have this part of me “nosy” and so I asked the barista at moon deli drew about the guy.

“Hey can I have some café mocha, and oh make that two!” I say.

“Two café mocha coming right up”, she said.

“The other one is for you”, I smiled.

“We don’t accept anything that comes from our own menu, but anyway thank you” she said.

“Actually I just want to know the name of the guy who always carries with him his briefcase, you know that French guy?” I say

“Oh Mr. Adam he’s not French he’s Irish” she said.

“Adam, hmm that sounds sexy” I chuckled.

At my room I always feel like I’m losing my grip, losing my touch with reality…like I’m a ghost but it kind of feels alright.

“I just want to bash my head in from time to time no biggie” I say while I’m waiting for my family to call me.

“Whattevah New Yoahk City” I say.

-telephone rang-

“So how’s Brooklyn?” My mom said.

“Good, t’was great I’m really getting to it” I say

“Well you don’t sound like, you know you can always comeback Elea” she said

“Mom please don’t start” I said.

“You can’t please everybody with your work so what’s the use trying?” she said.

“Mom I’m halfway through” I said.

“There would always be someone to criticize you and put you down” she said

“Sorry mommy, sorry to not be doing what’s best for me, but it’s just what I need, after all you did say I was on my path of truth does that include every bad choices I make?” I said

-hang up-

We quarrel sometimes, and sometimes we weep. I’m too tired trying to have a good conversation with my mom; I better leave it this way. The next morning was a sunny n’ warm day so I went for a dog run then I gave myself a punky 80’s mullet but cute haircut I hope Adam would see me now. My sketchbook was filled with “Adam Anatomy” I watch for him to walk by my glass window every single day, I woke up 5:59 in the morning so that I could exactly holdup a minute to see him pass by. I always look down waiting for him to sit on his favorite spot at moon deli drew.

The next day was a very fine day but I woke up late, it’s already 8 in the morning and I missed Adam to pass by. “Great, just great and now I have to wait for him by 1:00 pm” I said. Its 1:30 and I’d never saw an Adam walking in the 2nd avenue he’s always on time and always in a rush in daytime, but now? Hours past and I finally saw him sitting in his favorite spot. I notice that he always order a cup espresso “Espresso is not far from his personality, he’s always in a hurry and espresso is strong one it makes him to be always on the go. Maybe this man knows how to get what he wants and always on the way of getting it” I said. While I’m savouring the moment by looking at him, he lift his head and looked at the sky and then he looked at me instantly and I immediately ran inside the room and I hide in the curtains.

Today was quite a bit weird day. I never saw him in any time of the day. By the next day, I only saw him once it was Saturday and he didn’t stay long at deli’s. It’s been three weeks and still, I never had a chance to see him passing by or sitting on his favorite spot while I glance at the glass window from time to time. Days past, days turns to weeks, weeks to months, and months to year it is unmarked, except in relation to how long it will be before I’ll see you again. Alone in my room, I receive no guests, I rarely go out. Having stopped out of work, I’ve lost contacts with my friends: I’ve withdrawn from them, and they from me. My days are as long as despair can make them. I begin taking endless and exhausting walks to nowhere, just block after block into Brooklyn or over the bridge into Manhattan. I spend hours of each day sitting on a bench on the promenade, looking at the bridges over the East River, sometimes turning to consider the houses behind me, wondering in which Adam lives, if he still lives near there.

I’ve had too much fun breaking into abandoned buildings, sleeping parks, falling in love and getting my heart broke for a year. I was wild out of control, it was great. But sometimes I felt quite at home, but disillusion and decrepitude slowly replaced the awe. “I want to see you again Adam” I said while blowing my cigar. “Where could you be?” You left a heart that is tired to grow, I’m hurt, haggard, growing more and more clueless and lost, a sort of endless heartbreak and disbelief. I got screwed. How come no one warns me that all the endearing, youthful confidence, ambition and energy are just kind of wear off. The pain, the suffering, the tedium, all the crap that made me stronger, it all just helps clarify the vision of my wretched sorry horrible existence. I have my little escape methods and still, what seems to “count” is what I went through that changed me. The heavy moments without realization, I was altered and there’s no going back.

“Sweetheart?” my dad said on the phone

“Dad I’ll caught a plane back to France” I say

“What’s going on Elea?” my dad said.

“Nothing that concerns you dad” I say.

“When will you coming home?” he said

“Maybe next week” I say.

“You tell me everything that happened to you in there, okay?” he said

“Okay” I say.

I spend a lot of time in boutiques, trying on clothes I have no intention of buying, looking at myself in the dressing room mirrors. I’ve always been drawn to mirrors, not out of vanity but for re assurance. I’m in there, and I don’t resist any reflective surface-puddles, and shop windows. As I look outside the glass window of the boutique a light strikes my eyes, it was a man’s sun glass he pass by across the street from that boutique. I instantly follow the guy until I was out from the place, he was heading straight off to moon deli drew and knew it was him, it was Adam. His wrestler’s shoulders were part of his burly physique. His gap year clothes always made him appear younger than his years. The swirl of his cologne had me swooning in the aisles. “It’s been a year, and we never had a conversation maybe by now I could say something” I say while I’m following him.

There he was sitting on his favorite spot. His Irish mariner-blue eyes were soft and swam with joy, it is orb round with gleam and delight. I want to get close to him, but as I got nearer a woman just pop in the scene, a winsome type, voluptuous and so fine that every man would drop dead. I was knock off for a minute, they we’re happy and so I should be for him. I turned back and walk away, deep down in me was hurt and a part of me was gratified after seeing him again. I don’t know what’s got into me that I walk back to my track, I just thought that “I’ve waited for him, I’ve been wondering for a year about where could he might be, and now? I just want to hear something from him,

“Am I making myself look loony?” I said

“Hi” I said

“Uhm hello, do I know you?” Adam said.

“No but I know you” I said

“Have we met before?” he said

“Who is she?” the girl asked.

“I know this would sound so weird but…” I said.

“What do you want? I think your lost sweetheart” the girl said.

“Let her speak Talia” Adam said.

“Am I missing something here? Is there something that I didn’t know?” she said

“Talia please just let her talk” he said

I ran away from their table, I ran as if I was being chased. Did I just embarrass myself? I think I just made myself look stupid in front of them.

Days past, my remaining stay in Brooklyn is soon will end. I have let go all that pressure of living up. I don’t really expect much from myself as art-wise, maybe in a few drawings. Maybe if I’ll go back to France I can figure out all the abnormality, perversion and zaniness onto paper.

Dear Adam,

Since I’d never had a chance to talk to you this letter might be a good one to start. I’m Elea by the way, I know you don’t know me but your eyes consume me, eyes that see me but never know me. I summon the oceans to drown every pain since I never saw you coming to “moon deli drew” and that sleep is where I hide. I guess I’ll learn to take the good with bad, I’ve been waiting for you to pass by my glass window and that I’m fleeting from this truth but I can’t flee indefinitely. I don’t really have an idea why I ended up in New York but it leads me to you, It's just that when the truth is like a stranger, it hits you right between the eyes. I guess I’ll just go back from where I should be. These nowhere's and no times are the only home I have. Je te regardrais toujours, meme si tu es telement hors d’atteinte.

All my love,

Elea

#createwriting #shortstory

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quilser · 6 years

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3rd Times a Charm ~ Choni-Shot

Prompt: The 2 times that Choni hinted at their relationship, and the 3rd time where no more hints needed to be given.... ;)

~ A pretty popular request of wanting the gang/school to find out about Choni, so I did my variation on the fun little idea. Hope everyone enjoys and please keep it up with the prompts my loves - Quil ~

Read on ao3

“Are you insane? How on earth is Love, Simon better than Rebel Without a Cause?” Jughead practically screamed toward Toni as they both sat in the back corner of the Whyte Wyrm as they had been for the last few hours. Betty was out with her mother attempting to pacify the overzealous grandmother who wanted to buy everything in a 50 meter radius for her two new grandchildren so Jughead had some time on his hands.

“Jug, have you ever even seen the movie?” Toni snarked as she reclined into her seat in the booth with a smug look knowing what Jughead’s answer would be. She watched as Jughead readied himself to answer but quickly closed his mouth and crossed his arms with a pout before releasing a muffled ‘no’. Toni chuckled to herself.

“Thus, my point is proven. Love, Simon is infinitely better than your wanna-be-indie-kid movies from the 50s.” Toni laughed after her words at the look of Jughead’s further disapproval. She would’ve continued laughing had a particular tone not come from her phone signaling that she’d received a message.

Toni looked at the screen and immediately smiled seeing the sender of said message before quickly swiping it open to read through. Jughead, seeing the quick change in Toni’s demeanor, attempted to stretch his neck in such a way that he’d be able to see whoever the pink-haired Serpent was messaging.

“Sorry Jug, but I have to head out.” Toni, unaware of Jughead’s actions, locked her phone screen right as Jughead was able to read the first letter of whatever name the messenger possessed. Jughead was about to speak in protest to Toni’s sudden exit, or at the very least ask what had her off in such a hurry, but before he could speak his friend was out the door and on her motorcycle rearing off into the night.

Jughead was, to say the least, confused over Toni’s behavior. She wasn’t one to simply leave on someone else's whim. She was independent to a point and yet one text from someone managed to get her up and moving without a second thought.

What had that name been; ‘C’ something?

-`-`-`-`-`-`-

It had been a while since Cheryl had one of her infamous sleepovers. Veronica could vaguely remember the last in which a long and rather tedious hair brushing train and been the only interesting part of the night - so far as she knew.

That’s why she was so surprised to see Cheryl accept playing Truth-or-Dare as part of the current nights events as she tended to stray away from things that made her have to pay attention to the lives of the other girls.

Betty and Josie were on either side of Veronica as Cheryl sat directly across from her. Josie had just finished up her dare of texting an ex of hers a “drunken message” which Betty was allowed to type out since she’d given the dare and so the girls turned towards Cheryl in anticipation.

“Alright Cheryl. Truth or dare.” Veronica spoke as she wiggled her eyebrows towards Cheryl only to watch the other girl contemplate her words before deciding on an answer.

“Truth. No way am I doing one of your dares.” Veronica faked offense before the entire group laughed. Almost in an instant, Veronica knew the truth she wanted to ask though.

“Alright Cheryl, but I must warn you, my truths aren’t any easier.” Veronica winked in the other girls direction and visibly saw as Cheryl shifted uncomfortably from her spot on the floor.

“Your truth is…” Veronica took a moment to build the anticipation of the circle. “What’s up between you and that Toni girl who came last time we did this?” Veronica had noticed the absence of a certain pink-haired Southsider who’d made an appearance at their last get together. While Veronica had known about, but been pleasantly unaware of the details of the girls connection to Cheryl, the absence of her made Veronica’s mind jump immediately to a falling out between the two.

“That...is a secret even you couldn’t bribe out of me, Lodge.” Cheryl spoke without a thought and was quick to take the “failure-to-complete” shot that had been made the punishment of the night. While Cheryl was never very forthcoming with information, her willingness to drink without even dancing around the bush to try and get out of it sent everyone into strange looks and stares at one another.

What exactly was Cheryl’s relationship to the new female face at Riverdale High?

-`-`-`-`-`-`-

The usual gang of students was sitting in the student lounge of Riverdale High without a care in a world. Unlike a few months prior, the general group was now accompanied by a select few of the Southside kids who’d recently joined their picture perfect high school experience.

“I’m serious Toni! Your one of the best cheerleaders to ever grace the halls of Riverdale High. Even Cheryl couldn’t make a negative comment about you, and trust me, that’s a rarity at best.” Betty was speaking to Toni as the other girl attempted to modestly speak on her involvement in the River Vixens upon questioning from Archie about her joining the team.

“Oh come on Betty. It’s not like Cheryl has some vendetta against all other people and strives to be mean towards them. She was just being nice.” As soon as those words left her mouth, she received questioning looks from the rest of the group sitting around her who had never heard the words ‘nice’ and ‘Cheryl’ in the same sentence before unless the word ‘not’ sat in the middle of them.

“You half-wits don’t have to look so surprised at someone calling me nice.” All heads whipped around to see Cheryl standing with arms crossed and one leg extended in her usual “bask-in-my-glory” pose. No one saw the way Toni smiled seeing the redhead enter the room.

All eyes followed Cheryl as she walked over to what they presumed to be the empty couch in the room, but all took in a slight gasp when Cheryl sat down next to Toni. All eyes went instantly towards noticing the proximity of Cheryl to Toni which could challenge even Archie and Veronica’s level, or rather lack there of, personal space.

“Honestly Cheryl, I wasn’t really aware that you wanted to be known as nice…” Betty’s words trailed off as she, like the others, continued to look between both Cheryl and Toni. Both girls who had become the object of everyone's attention seemed unaware of the stares. Cheryl only rolled her eyes at hearing Betty’s comment as she usually did towards anything that she saw as a waste of air.

“I can be nice when I want to, bleach-blonde-Barbie.” Now everyone's eyes trained onto Betty in search of a potential comeback, but Betty was too consumed by the way Toni laughed softly to herself upon hearing Cheryl’s comment.

“Whatever Cheryl.” Betty said this almost as a question with her eyes still trained on Toni with a confused stare on her face as the two only seemed to be getting closer.

Conversation returned to normal with both couples resuming back to talking among themselves; seemingly forgetting the pair that was whispering quietly between themselves across the coffee table. No one noticed their presence again until the shrill sound of a bell rang throughout the school, signaling the end to lunch.

Betty was the first to get up, as she was never one to even risk being tardy to class, and Jughead slowly rose behind her not nearly as interested at the prospect of investing himself into a math class directly after lunch. Just as Betty and him were about to leave though, Jughead made a quick grab at Betty’s arm and stopped her only to turn around to look at Toni.

“Hey Toni, you want to meet up at the Whyte Wyrm tonight? We never got to finish our discussion on movies the other night when you left.” Jughead watched as Toni started to open her mouth to agree, but instead shut it immediately at the sound of the girl next to her overpowered the room.

“Sorry serial-groper. She can’t tonight.” Cheryl took a moment to look in Toni’s direction before speaking again. “She already has plans.” Jughead caught the way Toni smiled before shaking her head in agreement.

“What she said Jug. Sorry. Maybe another time?” Jughead was about to give a confused, but accepting nod before Cheryl beat him to any type of response.

“Great! See you tonight babe.” Cheryl planted a quick kiss onto the corner of Toni’s mouth before giving a quick wink and walking out with bag in hand leaving a very much surprised Toni. Jughead’s mouth hung open alongside Betty’s and Veronica’s who had also witnessed the display of affection.

“Wait. You and Cheryl Blossom? She’s the one you’ve been texting?” Jughead’s voice raised with each question and all Toni could do was sit with her mouth agape just like everyone else. Obviously, she hadn’t been expecting Cheryl to kiss her anymore than the rest of the group had been.

“Wait, I’m confused. Was the fact that Cheryl and Toni were dating a secret or something?” Everyone, including Toni, immediately turned their attention to Archie who was still seated on the couch with Veronica standing next to him. As he looked around, he realized that some explanation was in order.

“They were literally making googly eyes at each other for the past 2 months.” Archie spoke looking at everyone else in surprise for them not knowing before he spoke again. “....And I might have seen them making out outside of the locker rooms one day after practice…” Archie whispered this last part only to receive a slap on the arm from Ronnie.

“Archiekins! Did you not think it prevalent to relay such knowledge to your girlfriend at the very least?” Archie, seeing the double-edged sword staring him in the face opted to simply remain quiet and look at Toni in hopes of her taking the attention off of him.

“Well I guess that cat’s out of the bag…” Toni once again received the eyes of everyone in the lounge and just as Veronica was going to speak up, a second warning bell rang signaling that only 2 minutes remained to get to class sounded through the halls.

“We’re gonna be late.” Betty was the first to speak up and her words were immediately followed by her pulling a still very shell-shocked Jughead away behind her. Hearing the bell, Veronica decided that Toni could be placed on the hot-seat at another time and instead geared her attention towards nagging at Archie for not telling her as both left in the way of their next class.

Toni still remained on the couch even after the last bell rang, very well accepting the fact that she really wasn’t going to focus on school for the rest of the day.

The only thing that pulled Toni out of her trance was a quick ding of her phone saying that she’d received a new message. Toni took out her phone and saw the name with a small red heart emoji sitting beside it and opened the message immediately to see what the girl had to say for herself.

Cheryl <3

Sorry for the surprise kiss Cha Cha. I just wanted the King of the Hipsters to know that any little plays at touching you were unwarranted and entirely unwanted. See you tonight ;)

Toni let a smile slip across her face reading Cheryl’s words after noticing the jealousy that seemed to drip off a few words throughout the text. Cheryl was many things as Toni had come to find out, but a sharer, no; that wasn’t one of them.

#choni #choni fic #cheryl x toni #cheryl blossom #cheryl bombshell #riverdale #riverdale fic #I didn't feel like adding all the conversion stuff #So sorry that it isn't perfectly canon #But I just can't with that storyline atm

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angel-princess-anna · 6 years

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Downton Abbey Character List

This is an updated list through Series 6. The original list is here, although I’ve also been updating own list in a Word Doc since 2013, which is what this is based on. Below are the characters listed in alphabetical order by last name (for the most part). Characters not ever appearing on screen are in italics. For real people mentioned, I’ve only included them if the Crawelys et al. knew them personally (references to real historical figures will be included in a separate list). While I’ve included some family members without names who are mentioned, I have left out minor characters with no names and also animals (if you need that info or have any questions on that, message me). This does include information that is only included in the S1-3 script books.

I hope that the Keep Reading works on mobile, because this list is very long!

A Acland, Lady Anne (S6E6) Acland, Lord (d.; Anne's husband who died in WWI) Adams, Mr (formerly of the schoolhouse)

Aldridge, Ephraim Atticus [goes by middle name] Aldridge, Lady Rose (née MacClare) Aldridge, Victoria Rachel Cora (b. 1925; we see photos of her) [Aldridge] Daniel, Lord Sinderby [Aldridge] Rachel, Lady Sinderby Other family members mentioned: Lady Sinderby’s cousin Sir John Gluck (at the S5E8 party but not on-screen), The Melfords (Lady Sinderby's cousins, including one named Anne) For Rose’s relations see the MacClares

[Allsopp] Lord William "Billy", Baron of Aysgarth Allsopp, Lady (d.) Allsopp, The Honourable Madeleine Other family members who appeared on screen: older sister to Lord Aysgarth (S4CS)

Ambrose, Benjamin Baruch (real life bandleader at the Embassy, S4CS) Ames, Captain [no last name given] Alice (S3 maid; no lines) Ansty, Joseph Gerald, the Honourable (winner of Ripon by-election of 1913, probably not a real person based on Fellowes' note in the script book)

Anstruther, Dowager Lady (née Mountevans) Anstruther, Lord, "Jock" (d.)

Astor, John Jacob "JJ" (d. 1912 on the Titanic) Astor, Madeleine (on the Titanic, survived in real life)

[no last name given] Audrey (Edith's S6 secretary) Avebury, Mr (person who helped the second earl, would be d.) Avignon, Arsène (real life chef at Ritz in London) Axford, Sir Patrick (racer, S6E7, blows gaskets)

B Bakewell, Mr Bakewell, Mrs Bailey-George, Lady Elizabeth (S4CS) Margham, the Duchess of (I am assuming this is Elizabeth's mother, she is presenting her) Barrow, Mr Thomas (Acting Sergeant in S2) Other family members mentioned: Father, sister, cousin

Barnard (Downton Abbey gameskeeper, S2CS. Mary references him, and while I'm not sure someone was assigned to play him, he'd be in some of the shooting scenes) Barnes (tenant, S4E1) Bartlett, Mrs Audrey Bassett (gardener at Downton Abbey, S2E1)

Bates, Mrs Anna May (née Smith) Bates, Mr John Bates, [Anna and John's newborn son] (b. 31 Dec 1925) Bates, Mrs (mother of John, d. 1916) Bates, Mrs Vera (d. 1918) Other family members mentioned: Anna’s father (d.), Anna’s mother, Anna’s step-father, Anna’s sister (possibly d.); John’s Scottish grandmother who was a Keith (d.), John’s Irish relatives; Vera’s cousin Mr Harlip.

Baxter, Miss Phyllis Beaumont, Lady (S5E5 cocktail party guest) Beet, Mr Alfred (Carson's old butler when he entered service; only mentioned in Rules for Household Staff book)

Bellasis, Tom (d. 1916) Bellasis, Lady Benton, Mrs Benton, Mr [no last name given] Beth (maid at Crawley House; never seen) [no last name given] Betty (maid at Dower House in S4; appears on screen in S6CS)

Bevan, Rita (S6E1, her fake name is "Ellen Gouse") [no last name given] Billy [also credited as "Race Stopwatch Man" in S6E7] [no last name given] Billy [mentioned by Mrs Hughes in S6E7, a hallboy maybe?] Bird, May (”Mrs” as she’s a cook) Family members mentioned: sister Blake, Mr Charles Blake, Sir Severus (Charles' father's cousin)

Bow, Mrs (lived in a cottage on the estate, the Bateses more than likely live in that same cottage now) Bramley (servant who wants to move the feeding pens and needed a decision, mentioned along with Cripps in scene seven in S1E3) Braithwaite, Miss Edna

Brocket, Mr (gardener at Downton Abbey, S1E4. Also mentioned in cut lines in S2E4) [S6E3 has a "Mr Brock" who cuts the flowers for the wedding. I assume that this is the same character]

Brand, Sergeant (works with Inspector Stanford) The Bransons of Cork (not related to Tom)

Branson, Kieran Branson, Lady Sybil Cora (née Crawley) (d. 1920) Branson, Miss Sybil "Sybbie" (b. 1920) Branson, Mr Tom Other family members also mentioned: Tom’s mother, Tom’s cousin in Boston, Tom's grandfather, other cousins (Bill [d. 1916], Nula, daughter of Nula)

Brennan, Mrs (Brancaster cook) Bricker, Simon Bromidge, Mr Bromidge, Mrs (mother of Mr. Bromidge)

Brook, Mr (The Bateses' tenant of their London house until S5E7) Brooks (Carlisle's valet) The Broughams (friends of Violet's who vacation in Cannes) Bryant, Major Charles Bryant, Mrs Daphne Bryant, Mr Horace Bullock, Sir John [Bunting] Imogen (Sybil's friend; in the final version Sybil doesn't say her last name, but it's in the S2 script book) Bunting, Miss Sarah

Burns, Ivy (d. 1912) Burns, Joe Burns, Peter Burns, Mr (Rosamund's chauffeur in S4E1, no relation to the others) Burton, Major General B. (real commander of Division at Richmond, S1E7) Bute, (”Mrs” as she’s a housekeeper) (Grantham House housekeeper, S4CS. No longer employed by S5E8)

C Callender-Becketts (where Sir Anthony was going when he stopped by to invite Edith to the concert in York) Carlisle, Sir Richard Carlisle, Mr Mark Other family members also mentioned: Sir Richard’s mother (d.)

Carson, Mr Charles Ernest ("Charlie") [middle name from prop] Carson, Mrs Elsie May (née Hughes) (”Mrs” Hughes as housekeeper) [middle name from prop] Other family members also mentioned: Charles' dad (d.) and grandad (d.); Elsie’s sister Becky Carter (partner in law firm Matthew works at in Ripon) Cartwright, Colonel (who had a place for Thomas as a medic in the Great War, S1E7) Cavendish, "Taxi" [While a real family from the time, Fellowes notes in the script book that this person's first name comes from a friend of his father]

Chamberlain, Neville (Minister of Health in 1925, later Prime Minister) Chamberlain, Anne de Vere Cole (real person, Neville's wife. Fictitiously, she is Robert's father's goddaughter) Anne de Vere Cole's father (who served with Robert's father in the Crimea War) Horace de Vere Cole (Anne de Vere Cole's brother)

Charkham, Mr (Reggie Swire's lawyer) Chetworth, Mrs (Sir Anthony's sister) Chirk, Mr (lives in a cottage on the estate, more than likely the Bateses’ neighbor) The Churchills Clark, Daniel Clark, Diana

Clarkson, Dr. Richard Cobb, Mrs (former tenant of the Carsons' cottage) Coates, Sir John (another doctor who examined Matthew after his war injury) Collins, Miss (Violet's S5 lady's maid, until S5E5) The Colthursts (guests invited to Robert's party) Colthurst, Kitty (friend of Rose's in S5E1, probably related to the above)

Coombs (This might be Edith's editor in S5E6 who appears on-screen for five seconds) Connaught, Duchess (Lady Reresby was her lady in waiting) (d.) Corville, Oliver Coulter (tenant farmer on the estate) Cox, Mr (former spice shop owner in Thirsk) Courtney, Lieutenant Edward (d. 1917) Courtney, Jack Coyle, Peter Craig Crane, (”Mrs” as she’s a housekeeper) (Duneagle housekeeper)

[Crawley] Cora, Countess of Grantham (née Levinson) Crawley, Lady Edith [see the Pelhams] Crawley, George (b. 1921) Crawley, Mrs Isobel (née Turnbull) [see the Greys] Crawley, Mr James (d. 1912) Crawley, Lady Mary Josephine [see the Talbots] Crawley, Mr Matthew Reginald (Captain; Esq.) (d. 1921) [what is her official last name??] Marigold (b. 1923; see the Pelhams) Crawley, Mr Patrick (d. 1912) Crawley, Dr Reginald (d.) [Crawley] Robert, Earl of Grantham (Lord Lieutenant, Colonel) [Crawley] Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham Other family members also mentioned: Robert's father/Violet's husband (d.), Robert's grandmother/Violet's mother-in-law (d.), the 2nd Earl and his mother (d.), Violet's mother (d.), Cousin Freddie, Anne Gordon (Robert's great aunt), Roberta who loaded the guns at Lucknow, Mrs Vanneck (cousin of Violet), James's mother (whom of which Violet hated), Matthew's great-great-grandfather (who was the son of the 3rd earl), the 3rd earl built the abbey (d.), the 4th earl put together the library and also collected "horses and women" (d.), an aunt that was good at macramé For Cora’s relations see “Levinson”

Cripps (an employee of the estate mentioned twice in S1) Crowborough, Duke of, Philip Crump, "Old" (smithy in the next village who was working at the old Skelton Estate all week in S1E5) Cruikshank, Henry [father of Amelia] Cruikshank, Mrs [mother of Amelia] Cunard, Lady [And Lady Cunard's daughter] Curley, Mrs (owns a dress shop in Ripon) Curran (Mentioned by Murray S3E1, possibly one of his partners)

D Darnley, Sir John Other family members mentioned: Marian, Tom, Sir John's father (d.)

Daunt, Mr (Sinderby's valet) Davis (Matthew's soldier-servant, possibly d.) Davis, Bella (Rose's friend, helps with Russians; is only mentioned in final version of S5, but appeared on-screen in PBS version of S5E5) Dawes, Mr (Headmaster of the school S5-6) Delderfields (the people Cora met along with Evelyn Napier at the Doncaster Races; in a cut scene, they were Tom's former employers, and his father was a tenant there. This was cut I suppose because Tom's family still lives in Ireland instead) Denker, Miss Gladys Dent The Derbys (cut S3E4 lines, pg. 204. Must have been real and just had a baby in 1920) Dominic, Father (priest that baptizes Sybbie)

Dorrit, Mrs "Mrs. Flecter" (guest at Mrs Patmore’s B&B) Dorrit, Mr Drake, John Drake, Mrs Drax, Miss (one of the young girls who is Mary's bridesmaids, name is in cut line S3E1) Drewe, Mr Timothy "Tim" Drewe, Mrs Margie Drewe, Peter Drewe, Billy Other family members who appeared on screen: daughter of Margie and Tim Other family members mentioned: Tim’s father (d. 1922)

Drumgoole, Lord and Lady (Laura Dunsany), and their sons (do not seem to be real) Dudley Ward, Mrs Freda (real person) Duff-Gordon, Lady Lucy Christiana (dress designer of "Lucille"; a survivor of the Titanic) Dufferin, Lady Maureen (socialite, friend of the Crawleys) Durrant, Mr Dupper, Mrs (S2E8 cut lines) Dupper, Mrs Jill (S6E6 dinner guest of Evelyn's; my guess is a reused last name that didn't make it in before) Dupper, Mr (Husband of S6E6's Mrs Dupper; d. in WWI) Dyer, General Reginald

E Edmunds, Miss Laura [no last name given] Ellen (maid at Crawley House) Elcot, Mrs. Elcot, Bob (d.) Elcot, Robbie Ellis, Lord (estate owner in Easingwold in S4) [no last name given] Ena (S5 scullery maid) [no last name given] Elsie (maid at the Stiles') Eltham, Lady (I believe this is a reference to the real Dorothy Isabel Westenra Hastings) Evans, Mr Walter (winner of an award at the flower show) Evans, Mr (man who makes headstones and plaques in S5)

F Fairclough (tenant, S4E2) Fairclough, Mr (on the hunt with Mary, S6E1. Unsure if this is a name reusual or the same character) Field, Mrs (Isobel's cook in S4E1) Finch, Mr (organizer of Fat Stock Show, S6E2) Fitzalan-Howard, Gwendolen, Duchess of Norfolk (real person and friend of Violet's; confirmed in S3 script book to be based on the real person) Frobisher (Mentioned by Murray S3E1, possibly one of his partners) Foyle, Anthony "Tony", Viscount of Gillingham Other family members mentioned: Johnny (Tony’s father), grandmama Fry, Roger (real life painter)

G Gannnon, Mrs (cut S3E1 lines, housekeeper at Easton Grange) Gaunt, Mrs (telephone operator) [no last name given] George (Grantham Arms bartender in S3CS) George, Marsha (friend of Rose's S5E5) George V, King Goldman, Dr T. Gordon, Major Peter ("Patrick") Gordon, Dr (a friend of Isobel's in Manchester, S1E2) [no relation] Graham, Adela (Peter Hexham's cousin and fiancee) Gregory, Lady Isabella Augusta (real life Irish revolutionary) Graves, David (Credited as "Ripon Wedding Registrar", but his name is visible on the sign) Green, Mr Alex (d. 1922)

Gregson, Mr Michael (d. 1922) Gregson, Lizzie [no last name given] Gertie [S6 maid] [Grey] Richard "Dicky", Lord Merton [the CC has a 'y' for most episodes but S5E8-CS is 'ie'] [Grey] Ada, Lady Merton [Grey] Isobel, Lady Merton (née Crawley, Mrs. Isobel (née Turnbull)) Grey, Larry Grey, Amelia Mary (née Cruikshank) Grey, Tim Grigg, Mr Charles "Charlie"

H Harding, Mrs Gwen, (née Dawson) Harding, Mr John Other family members mentioned: Gwen and John's children; Gwen’s parents

Harvell (a partner in the firm Matthew works at in Ripon) Haig, General Douglas (real person who later becomes a field marshal) Harriaby, Lord (S4CS first party guest) Harrowby, Lord (guest at first party in S4CS, friend of Madeline's father) Hays, Charles Melville (president of the Grand Trunk Railway that Robert invested in; he was real and d. on the Titanic) Henderson, Mrs.

Henderson, Mr Philip Henderson, Mrs (S6E1; this actress also appeared as an extra in S4CS; I don't believe that is this is earlier Mrs. Henderson) Other family members mentioned: Philip’s uncle

Hepworth, Lord "Jinks" Other family members mentioned: the late father of the current lord (d.) Hewitt, Major Hexham, Lord, Peter (d. 1925) Hexham, Lord ("Old Lord Hexham") (d.)

Holmes, Major The Howards Howard, Lord (of Glossop) (S5E5 cocktail party guest; I assume related) Other family members mentioned: the late father of the current lord (d.)

I Ingleby, Lady (S5E5 cocktail party guest) Ingraham, Lady

J Jackson, Mr (probably the groundskeeper, S5CS) Jackson (Merton's chauffeur, S6CS) Jarvis, Mr Jefferson, Mrs (S4E3 party guest) Jellicoe, Admiral John, 1st Earl Jellicoe (real person in the Royal Navy, Blake and Tony served under him) Jenkins, A. (person who wrote to Gwen about the job in S1E5) Jervas, Lady (she offered Sir Anthony and Edith a bit to eat after the hungry hundreds concert in York) [no last name given] Jimmy (S1 postboy) [no last name given] John, Sir (S3E2 party guest) [no last name given] John (S3 hallboy)

K Kelder, Fraulein Kent (soldier in Matthew's unit, d.) [no relation to Jimmy's family that we know of] Kent, James "Jimmy" Other family members mentioned: mother (d.), father (d.) Kerr, Ralph (officer in the Royal Navy; Mabel mentions a man by this name as a friend) Kuragin, Prince Igor Kuragin, Princess Irina

L Lane Fox, Lord Osweston (d.) Lane Fox, The Honourable Mabel (assuming that she did marry Tony as planned, Mabel would become Viscountess Gillingham) The Lanes (S2E8 cut lines; I am assuming Fellowes reused these names for S4) The Lane-Fox twins (S3E1 cut lines; the real life Lane-Foxes are Fellowes' neighbors. I think he reused their name for Mabel because the mention[s] got cut and still wanted a shout out to them. These would be two of the bridemaids in Mary and Matthew's wedding. There are two others, and one had a cut line in the rehearsal)

Lang, Cosmo Gordon, Archbishop of York (that's his name historically, Violet calls him "Dr Lang" once) Lang, Mr. Henry [no relation] Lawson, Lady (she was mentioned in another episode outside of S5E5) Lawson, Sir Henry (S5E5 cocktail party guest) (the Lawsons are a local family apparently and get name dropped often)

Levinson, Mr Harold Levinson, Mr Isaiah (d. this could possibly be Isodore's original name, as it's from cut S1E2 dialogue. Or Isodore's father). Levinson, Mr Isodore (d.) Levinson, Mrs Martha Other family members mentioned: Cora's aunt

[no last name given] Lily (the only housemaid to be in all of the first five seasons, barring Anna who was promoted. She does not appear in S6) Lisbon, the Earl and Countess (guests at the dinner of Edith and Bertie's engagement dinner) [no last name given] Louise (guest at Rose's wedding reception) Lynch [no last name given] Lucy (works for Tufton) M MacClare, Lady Agatha [possibly a spinster or a widow] [MacClare] Hugh "Shrimpie", Marquis of Flintshire MacClare, The Honourable James [MacClare] Susan, Marquess of Flintshire Other family members mentioned: Annabel and her husband (Rose’s sister and brother-in-law; I believe her and her husband were cut from the S5E8, as they were cast for S5 per agency sites); Shrimpie’s sister Louisa, Countess of Newtonmore (Shrimpie's grandmother)

MacDonald, Vivian (male friend who is studying for the bar, S1E2)

Mead (Rosamund's butler) Other family members mentioned: sister

[no last name given] Madge (S3-5 housemaid who also dressed Edith and Rose in the later seasons; is noted in S6E1 to be leaving service) Maley (Violet's gardener S4) Mall, Mrs (Ivy's former employer, deleted S3E5 scene) Manville, Lady (S3E2 Party guest, S5E8 reception guest)

Margadale, Terence Margadale, Mrs (Terence's wife) Markievicz, Countess Constance Georgine (real life Irish revolutionary and politician) The Marlboroughs Marsh, Mr (tenant, seen from afar in S4E1) Martin, James Dillon (socialist candidate at the Ripon by-election in 1913, probably not a real person bases on Fellowes' note in the script book) Mary, Queen

Mason, Mr Albert [first name from Celebration book] Mason, Daisy (née Robinson) Mason, Mrs Mason, Private William Other family members mentioned: William's siblings who did not survive infancy

[no last name given] Mavis (no lines, Mrs. Bartlett's neighbor?) [no last name given] Mavis (S3E4 cut lines, another fallen woman) [no last name given] Maud (asked a questions at the hospital meeting in S6CS) McCree, Mr McKee, General McKidd, Ian "Dr Flecter" McNair, Lady Anne McVeigh, Mrs [no last name given] Meg [S3E5 cut lines, Crawley House maid] Melba, Dame Nellie (real life opera singer) [no last name given] Michael [S5-6: this is per one of the extras who plays a hallboy's Twitter, his name is never uttered in the show] Mexborough, Lord (whom the family has their meal with after the Malton show in S6E2) Minterne, Lord (attended James and Patrick's funeral) Moncriffe, Isabella (someone Sir John Bullock mentions in S4E3) Monk (Gregson's butler/servant/person)

Moorsum, Freddie Moorsum, Jane Other family members mentioned: Harry (Jane’s d. husband), Jane's mother [idk Jane's maiden name], Jane's four siblings

Morgan, Trevor Andrew (Liberal Candidate in Ripon By-Election 1913, not a real person) Molesley, Mr Joseph [his name was originally Alfred until S4 when confirmed as Joseph on-screen] Molesley, Mr William "Bill" Other family members mentioned: Joseph’s mother (d.) Molyneux, Edward (real life fashion designer; Cora has a fitting with him in S5E3) Moore, Mr (man at other house were Thomas interviews S6E2) Mountevans, Harry (sibling of Lady Anstruther and Lady Renton) Murray, Mr George

N Napier, The Honourable Evelyn Napier, Viscount of Branksome (father of Evelyn) Other family members mentioned: Viscountess of Branksome (Evelyn’s mother) (d.) Neal, Alice (d.) Other family members mentioned: sister Nield, Mr The Northbrooks (family at who's conservatory Mary flirted with the Duke at) Nugent, Alfred Other family members mentioned: father (d. 1922), mother, sister See also the O’Briens

O O'Brien, Miss Sarah Other family members mentioned: sister (Alfred’s mother), and at least one brother (d.) See also the Nugents

The Olds (tenants, S4E2)

P Painswick, Mr. Marmaduke (d.) Painswick, Lady Rosamund Pamuk, Kemal (d. 1912) Parker, Andrew "Andy" Parks, Charles "Charlie" (probably goes by Charlie Bryant post S3?) Parks, Ethel

Patmore, Beryl (”Mrs” as she is a cook) Other family members who appear on screen: Lucy (Mrs Patmore's niece, her sister's daughter [which sister, we don’t know) Other family members mentioned: nephew Archie Philpots (d. 1916), sister Kate Philpots, another sister (d.), aunt (father’s sister) (d. 1924) and her husband (d.)

The Pascourts (friend of the Duchess of Yeovil) Pattinson, Mr (S4-5 Downton Abbey Librarian) [no last name given] Peter (S3-5 hallboy) Pegg, Mrs. (appeared in PBS' edit of UK episode of S4E4) Pegg, Greta (appeared in PBS' edit of UK episode of S4E4) Pegg, John

[Pelham, Mr] Bertie, the Marquess of Hexham [Pelham] Edith, Marchioness of Hexham (née Lady Edith Crawley) [middle name is 'Josephine' on a prop but that is also Mary's, which was actually uttered in S2] [Pelham?] Marigold [Edith probably changes her daughter’s name to "Pelham" when she marries Bertie] (b. 1923) Pelham, Mrs (mother of Bertie) Other family members mentioned: Bertie’s father (d.) See also the Hexhams

Portsmouth, Annabel (Mary's friend willing to cover for her with Tony) Potter, Mrs (Violet's S5-6 cook) Pratt

Primrose, Archibald, Earl of Rosebery (British socialite and Prime Minister Violet knew; d. 1895) Primrose, Hannah (née Rothschild), Countess of Rosebery (British socialite Violet knew; d. 1890) Pulbrook, Mr Clive ("Mr Pillbox" "Mr Pumpkin") (d. 1919)

R Rankin (soldier in Matthew's unit) (d.) Raven, Lady (S4E3 party guest) Radclyffe, Jane (S4CS) Derwentwater, the Countess of (I am assuming this is Jane's mother, she is presenting her in S4CS) Raycourt, Mr (Atticus' friend at his stag party) Raymond, Johnnie (someone Robert mentions in S5E1 as a general or colonel; I don't think he is real) Reed, Miss Renton, Lady (née Mountevans) (sister of Lady Anstruther) Reresby, Sir Michael (Dryden Park owner where Thomas looks for work - S6E3) Other family members mentioned: his wife Lady Reresby, two sons who d. in WWI Roberts, Mr (perfume seller in York) Robertson, General (I don't believe he's real) Rogers, Charlie (d. 1925) Rose, Mrs (nursed Sybbie) Ross, Jack Other family members mentioned: mother Rostov, Count Nicolai Rothes, Lucy (on the Titanic, survived in real life) The Russells (owners of Haxby when Carlisle wants to by it) Russell, Billy (d.) Ryder, Dr

S Salter, Mr (owner of the pub Bates went to in S4E8; mentioned in S5CS) Sampson, Terence Savident, Lord (whose valet Thomas wrote to about Pamuk and Mary which is what starts the rumors S1E5) The Scrupts [CC says Scroops] Semphill Girls (one of whom Evelyn Napier was engaged to in S1) Shackleton, Lady Prudence Shackleton, Lord Hubert (Prudence's husband) (d.) Shackleton, Lord Philip (Prudence's son) Shackleton [Philip's wife] See also the Talbots Sheffield, Billy Other family members mentioned: son The Schroders [Swiss family who adopted Edith's daughter at first] Shore, Miss Marigold Shortt, Edward (real life Home Secretary from 1919-1922) Shute, Basil Skinner, Mr (Edith's editor in S6) Skelton, Billy (Appears to be neighbor of the Crawleys, at Skelton Park) Simmons, Miss (Violet's lady’s maid who left her to get married) Simpson (tenant farmer? Mentioned S3E8) Slade, Mr Ethan Smiley, Captain

Smithers (Violet's S3E1 lady's maid) Smithers (Tenant at Oakfield farm in S5E1) The Southesks (attends of Sybil's funeral; could technically be the people leaving the house in the beginning of S3E6; named after Fellowes' friends) Spenlow, Agatha (Cora's friend in Malton)

Spratt, Mr Septimus ("Cassandra Jones") Other family members mentioned: niece of Spratt, niece’s husband; (Spratt's brother or brother-in-law is d.), nephew See also the Sterns

Stark (Chauffeur S3CS-S5CS) Stanford, Inspector Stapley, Mr (a veterinarian it seems) Stapley, Mrs Stephen (A Downton groom in S5E6) Stephens, Sergeant Stern, Mrs (Sister of Spratt) Stern, Wally (nephew of Spratt) Stewart, Mrs (family friend) Stiles, Sir Mark Stiles, Lady Stowell, Mr Strachey, Lytton [mentioned in S6E1 as having attended one of Gregson's parties] Strallan, Sir Anthony Phillip Strallan, Lady Maud (d. 1911) Strutt, General Sir Herbert Stuart, Ivy Stuart, Mrs (family friend who lives in Malton, not related to Ivy) Suter, Eugene (real hair stylist) Swann, Madame (Sybil's seamstress) Sweden, King of (knew Violet's husband)

Swire, Mrs Anne (from the script book) (d.) Swire, Jonathan Swire, Lavinia Catherine (d. 1919) Swire, Mr. Reginald "Reggie" (was at Lavinia's funeral but had no lines; d. 1919) Other family members mentioned: Cousin Binny (S2E8 cut lines) Sykes, Sir Mark (S2E8 cut lines)

T Talbot, Henry Talbot, Lady Mary Josephine (née Crawley) [note that upon marrying Henry, she'd probably change her name to "Lady Mary Talbot" but she is never referred to as such in S6CS] Other family members mentioned: Henry’s mother/Lady Shackleton’s sister, Henry's uncle the bishop See also the Shackletons

Tapsell, Sir Phillip Taylor Taylor, Mrs. Taylor, Mr. (a tenant at the S4E1 luncheon, no relation) The Tenbys Thawley, Sam Thompson (soldier in Matthew's unit, possibly dead) Thompson (doctor that performs abortions - at least that's the name on the bell) Tonkins, Mrs (Sir Michael Reresby's housekeeper)

The Townsends Townsend, Miss (the young daughter who is one of Mary's bridesmaids, cut line S3E1)

Travis, Reverend Albert Trent (tenant mentioned in S4E1) Trewin, Mr (schoolteacher who Molesley takes over for) Trader (from S3E1 cut Dublin scene) The Tripps (family that live in a cottage on the estate, neighbors to the Bateses) Truro, Duchess of and her three daughters (doesn't seem to be real) Tucker (tenant farmer? Mentioned S3E8) Tufton, Jos

Turnbull, Dr Edward Turnbull, Sir John (d.) [this is Isobel’s brother and father per the S1 script book] Other family mentioned: Isobel’s cousin Turner, Mr.

V Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Lady Edith, Marchioness of Londonderry [always referred to as Lady Londonderry, real person] Vyner, Inspector (S5 inspector)

W Wakefield (soldier in Matthew's unit, possibly dead) Wales, Prince of (became Edward VIII, was David back then) Ward MP, John (real person) Warrick, Lady (also "The Warricks") Watson, Mr (valet before Bates; name from cut lines S1E1) Watson, Mrs [no relation] Wavell, Mr (seen from a distance) Weaver [Lady A's chauffeur] West, Nanny

Wigan, Mrs (appears in S1 and S4 as "Postmaster's wife"; gained a name in S5) Wigan, Mr (credited in S1E1's one scene as "Postmaster")

Wilhelm, Kaiser (Sir Anthony met him) Willis, Sgt. (S5 & 6 policeman) Wilson, Lady Sarah (née Churchill) (real life female war correspondent) Wimborne, Lady Woolf, Virgina (real life author) Woolton, the Earl and Countess of (S5E5 cocktail party guest) Wren, Lady Wright, Corporal (soldier in Matthew's unit, probably d.) Wurkett, Ted (soldier who first comes to Crawley house, name is from the script book) Y Yardley, Mrs (the cook when Robert was a kid) Yeovil, Duchess of Yeovil, Duke of (d.)

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Their account, recovered with the help of hypnosis, detailed extensive medical exams, including a crude pregnancy test.

Betty and Barney Hill, who claim to have been abducted by aliens in 1961, holding a book written about their experience circa 1967.

Is it chasing us? That thought coursed through Betty and Barney Hill’s minds as they drove down the empty winding country road in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. It was a September night in 1961, they hadn’t seen a car for miles, and a strange light in the sky seemed to follow them.

When they finally got home to Portsmouth at dawn, they were far from relieved. They felt dirty. Their watches stopped working. Barney’s shoes were strangely scuffed and Betty’s dress was ripped. There were two hours of the drive that neither one of them could remember. What had happened?

Betty and Barney Hill (TV-PG; 1:29)

With the help of a psychiatrist, the quiet couple eventually revealed a startling story: Gray beings with large eyes had walked them into a metallic disc as wide, Betty said, as her house was long. Once inside, the beings examined the couple and erased their memories.

Their experience would kick off an Air Force inquiry, part of the secretive initiative Project Blue Book that investigated UFO sightings across the country. The incident would also become the first-ever widely publicized alien-abduction account and shape how stories like it were told—and understood—from then on. Debate continues as to whether the husband and wife were liars, fantasists, crackpots or simply sleep-deprived people who later recovered seriously scrambled memories.

READ MORE: Interactive Map: UFO Sightings Taken Seriously by the U.S. Government

Strange lights in pursuit

The Hills’ road trip was spontaneous, a well-earned break Barney decided the couple needed, as explained in The Interrupted Journey, a 1966 book they collaborated on with author John G. Fuller. Barney worked a grueling night shift at the post office, driving 60 miles each way. Betty’s job handling state child-welfare cases was no easier. The little free time this biracial couple had was devoted to their church and activities related to the civil-rights movement. After 16 months of marriage, Betty and Barney saw this trip through Montreal and Niagara Falls as their delayed honeymoon. They left so impulsively they had no time to go to the bank before it closed for the weekend. They got in their car with less than $70 in their pockets.

On the last night of their three-day trip, the tired couple sipped coffee in a Vermont diner to recharge before driving back. Barney figured if they pushed through, they could beat the wind and rains from an approaching hurricane. They left the diner around 10 p.m., estimating they could reach their red-framed house in Portsmouth, New Hampshire between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. at the latest.

READ MORE: Meet J. Allen Hynek, the Astronomer Who First Classified UFO 'Close Encounters.'

As they drove, strange light in the sky gave another reason to hurry. At first it looked like a falling star, but grew larger and brighter with each mile. Barney, an avid plane watcher and World War II vet, was sure they had nothing to worry about. It’s just a satellite, he assured Betty. It probably went off course.

The light seemed to move with the car as Barney steered down the curving mountain road. The light zigged and zagged, ducking past the moon and behind trees and mountain ridges, only to reappear moments later. Sometimes it seemed to move toward them in a game of cat-and-mouse. It had to be an illusion, they thought. Maybe the car’s movement made it seem like the light, too, was moving.

Curiosity overcame them. The couple pulled over at road stops and picnic turnouts to get a closer look. Through binoculars, Betty saw that the white light was really an object spinning in the air.

“Barney,” she told her husband, “if you think that’s a satellite or a star, you’re being completely ridiculous.”

The close encounter

He knew she was right. Barney had an IQ of 140, noted Fuller in his book. Barney was also a pragmatic man who wouldn’t give flying saucers a second thought, remembered his niece Kathleen Marden in her work, Captured: The Betty and Barney Hill Experience. The night was too quiet for a helicopter, a commercial plane or even military jet with a hotshot pilot. He didn’t want to spook Betty, but he was becoming concerned. What was this light and why was it toying with them?

About 70 miles past the diner, the object hovered just above the treetops, approximately 100 feet above them. Barney abruptly stopped the car, keeping the engine running. He shoved a handgun he’d hidden beneath the seat into his pocket and rushed into a dark field, leaving Betty in the car. What he saw was as big as a jet but as round and flat as a pancake. “My God, what is this thing?” he recalled thinking. “This can’t be real.”

READ MORE: This Scoutmaster Had a Run-in with a UFO. The Kids Saw it Too.

Behind rows of windows, gray uniformed beings seemed to look right at him, Barney recalled. He tried to lift his hand to his pistol but somehow couldn’t. A voice told him not to put down his binoculars.

He had a startling thought: We’re about to be captured. Yelling hysterically, he ran back to the car and barreled down the road as Betty tracked the craft, craning her head outside the car window. Without explanation, loud, rhythmic beeps sounded from the car’s trunk. The couple felt instantly drowsy and lost consciousness.

They came to around two hours later and 35 miles down the road.

Barney holding up a diagram explaining the alien abduction.

Recovering the memory

Back home in Portsmouth, they tried to make sense of the night. Barney felt compelled to examine his body’s lower half. Both seemed aware of a puzzling presence.

In the weeks and months after, Betty, an avid reader, checked out books from the library discovering the civilian UFO group National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). She also reported the sighting to the Air Force, worried about radiation.

In coming years, with Betty suffering from disturbing dreams and Barney developing an ulcer and anxiety, the couple sought mental help. The two met with Benjamin Simon, a psychiatrist and neurologist who specialized in hypnosis, a mainstream technique at the time.

READ MORE: When Dozens of Korean War GIs Claimed a UFO Made Them Sick

Through months of weekly sessions, Simon helped the couple piece together what they think had happened: A vessel had landed on the Hill’s car, putting them to sleep. Afterward, gray beings walked them up a long ramp and into the spacecraft.

Once inside, the Hills were separated, taking turns in an examination room that had curved walls and a large light hanging from the ceiling. Each was asked to climb up on a metal table. The table was so short, Barney’s legs hung over the side.

During the examinations, the beings removed Betty and Barney’s clothes, plucked strands of their hair, took clippings of their nails and scraped their skin. Each sample was placed on a clear material, not unlike a glass slide. Needles, connected to long wires, probed their heads, arms, legs and spines. One large needle, around 4 to 6 inches long, was inserted into Betty’s belly. This pregnancy test left her twisting in pain. Throughout, a being Barney and Betty called “the leader” watched from the side.

After Betty’s examination ended, the beings rushed back into her room, excited. They discovered that Barney’s teeth could be removed. Betty laughed, explaining that Barney had dentures, a fact of human aging the beings struggled to understand.

Later, alone with the leader, Betty asked where the craft had flown, admitting she knew little of the universe. The being joked with her, saying “if you don’t know where you are, there wouldn’t be any point in telling you where I am.” Later, under hypnosis, she drew a star map shown to her on the ship.

In 1965, the Hills' story was picked up by a Boston newspaper. After that, everything changed. The quiet couple’s story became the subject of a best-selling book and a movie starring James Earl Jones. The upstanding civil servants had become celebrity abductees.

READ MORE: In 1952, the Flatwoods Monster Terrified 6 Kids, a Mom, a Dog—and the Nation

The model for alien abductions

The Hills weren’t the first to spot a UFO or even to report an abduction. But their story did capture the nation’s imagination and was so widely publicized, it has helped shape how we talk about alien encounters and abductions to this day.

Before the Hill’s story, alien encounters were friendly, according to Christoper Bader, a professor of sociology at California’s Chapman University. Some aliens even lived on earth and commuted back on weekends. But once the Hills’ story became better known, abduction accounts shared certain characteristics, such as medical examinations and missing time. Aliens with large heads and big eyes—dubbed “grays” in UFO circles—became classic sci-fi staples in personal accounts and pop culture, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and shows like the X-Files.

The Hills’ story—and those that came after—helped pave the way for a new understanding of human experience. Richard J. McNally, a Harvard psychologist, puts it this way: “The ‘alien-abduction’ phenomenon, in my opinion, shows how sincere, non-psychotic individuals can develop beliefs about, and false memories of, incredible experiences that never happened.”

Experts of all stripes have tried to explain why intelligent, otherwise mentally stable people came forward with these experiences. Many psychologists say sleep paralysis and hallucinations played a role. Leading questions during hypnosis—the main way most abductees unlock their stories—could also have been a factor.

Barney and Betty Hill holding a newspaper reporting about their alleged alien abduction in a rural portion of New Hampshire in late September 1961.

A view into the human brain

Those who report abduction might also see the world a little differently. According to research, one of the strongest predictors of false recall is a vivid imagination. This group scores high in “magical ideation” and is more likely to believe in ghosts and tarot readings, according to McNally.

Some believe the Hill’s story was simply a myth in the making, with the supernatural meetings, vulnerable protagonists and otherworldly journeys that are often the hallmarks of legend. Many point to the stress of being an interracial couple living in a predominantly white state in a turbulent era. (The year of their hypnosis, 1964, was marked by Cold War tensions and civil-rights unrest, with numerous urban riots erupting that summer.) “You have a biracial couple at a time where obviously it was not easy to be a biracial couple,” says Bader. “Look what those aliens were: a mixture of black and white. I find that very meaningful.”

READ MORE: The UFO Sightings that Launched ‘Men in Black’ Mythology

Abductee stories depend on first-hand accounts—the most vulnerable form of evidence. Memories can be distorted by stress or distraction, or even manufactured. When a false memory is in place, psychologists say, the brain works to fill in the details. Psychologist Michael Shermer points to ‘patternicity,’ the tendency to see patterns even when none exist, helping us to see faces in clouds or assume that one event caused another.

Past experience also shapes human perception. Barney, a World War II vet, thought the head “gray” looked like Hitler and seemed menacing. Betty, meanwhile, who had been excited to see the aliens, bantered with the affable gray who performed her medical examination. That alien even agreed to give her a book to bring to earth with her, she said, though other crew members would later overrule that decision.

In this way alien abduction and encounter stories have helped psychologists understand the human brain, its defects—and the weaknesses inherent in memory and first-hand accounts, according to Christopher French, a psychologist specializing in human experience related to the paranormal. “What we see and hear, especially under less than ideal observational conditions, can be heavily influenced by our prior beliefs and expectations,” wrote French in the The Guardian.

NICAP’s scientific advisor cross-examined the couple and found their account credible. The Air Force’s Project Blue Book would ultimately dismiss the story, determining the unexplained craft could be explained by “natural causes”—hinting that the couple hadn’t seen a spacecraft but only the planet Jupiter.

For his part, psychiatrist Simon never felt the Hills had made up their story. He concluded Betty had dreamed the abduction and Barney had absorbed her story, especially since many of the most vivid details matched descriptions of dreams Betty had jotted down after the event. “I believe implicitly in the honesty of these people,” he said on a ‘70s radio program.

Of course, another explanation is always possible: The abduction actually occurred. The Hills stuck by their story, despite years of skeptics and detractors. Like many abductees, the couple never felt false memory or sleep paralysis explained what they experienced. Betty became a known voice in UFO research and claimed she was visited multiple times in the decades to follow.

from Stories - HISTORY https://ift.tt/34jtiyX December 14, 2019 at 12:09AM

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8livescatrescue · 5 years

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I make no secret of the fact that one of my favourite things about Christmas is hearing from some of our previous guests and seeing photos of them happy and settled in their new homes enjoying Christmas. There’s little as wonderful as seeing the cat who arrived here filthy and scared, full of fleas and eye infections and goodness knows what else … now proudly posing by the Christmas tree, or sprawled on the sofa after too much Xmas dinner, or playing with their new toys as though nothing bad had ever happened in their lives. It makes all the evenings of rushing off to the vet after work, shit shovelling, ear drops etc worth while.

If you’ve been following our facebook page you’ll maybe have seen these photos and a little bit about the cats … there’s more of their stories here: [Edit … I’ve decided to split this into more than one part as its a long read … just browse … enjoy the photos 😉 ]

Nala got in first to send her Christmas greetings

Nala

Nala came to us in the summer of 2014 … along with her three tiny kittens. She wasn’t much more than a kitten herself, but on her own and pregnant. She went inside a house and gave birth under a child’s bed. The lady of the house was pregnant herself and let her be whilst the kittens were tiny, but once they started moving around, and she herself had also given birth, she realised they needed to be safe in rescue.

She’s a lovely little cat who always takes time out of her Christmas to send us a photo x

The lovely E Team are also very reliable correspondents. These are four little boys who were born here in September 2015. Gorgeous lads all of them.

elisha

ezekiel

elijah

ezra

Their mummy, like Nala, was a pregnant stray. She arrived here shortly before she gave birth to the boys.

Not all the cats we take into rescue are pregnant … but it does seem that the ones who arrived here pregnant and brought their families up here are good correspondents. Take Betty for example:

Betty was heavily pregnant and living on the street close to a main road. She was so frantic to get help that she threw herself at our 8 Lives treasurer’s door and hung on until she was noticed. Our treasurer didn’t know she was going to be our treasurer at that point, in fact she’d never heard of 8 Lives. However she searched on facebook, found us and a few hours later Betty was settling into our maternity suite … aka my little front bedroom. She was clearly a first time mum, and didn’t know what to expect. She was so anxious about squashing her kits that she stood up to feed them for the first few days, trying to work how she could lie down safely without hurting anyone.

She’d got the hang of it by the time we took this photo. Lots of lovely things about this story. Once the kits were grown and adopted, Betty went back to the lady who had found her, the lady became a friend and our treasurer! And some of Betty’s kits still keep in touch regularly too. Photos here of Betty now, and two of her lads who will be 4 years old this summer.

Betty

Billy

Benji

As I said … not all of our cats arrive pregnant. Here’s one who wasn’t but we thought was … Domino. I was at work one day towards the end of 2014 when I got a message asking if we could take a pregnant cat. Long story short we agreed that finder would drop her at our vets and I’d pick her up on the way home from work. It meant that the vet could examine her straight away. She did indeed appear pregnant on arrival … however on examination it turned out she was absolutely full of wind. We’ve no idea what had happened but she deflated slowly and odorously over the next few days. She’s a gorgeous cat, and seems to enjoy posing for the camera x

We had a similar sort of situation with Saffia who arrived in 2017. I went up to a branch of PDSA in West Yorks to collect a cat and two tiny kittens, and was told the cat was already pregnant again. She did indeed look rather round. I took what they said at face value, popped them in the car, put their seat belts on and set off. Something niggled me though. I’m not great at maths, and doing it whilst negotiating the inner ring road of an unfamiliar city did nothing to help with that. The kits were just opening their eyes, so must be about 10 days to 2 weeks old. Cats are pregnant for 9 weeks and start to show about half way through. So … um … that meant she’d got pregnant again about a fortnight before these two were born. I know cats are prolific … but !! … we pulled into the next layby … called our own vets and went home via an appointment with them.

before rescue

settling in rescue

It wasn’t wind this time. The vet got a very large bowl and gently squeezed her tummy. We think she’d been anxious to leave her kittens, so she’d not been for a pee for several days. To my knowledge its not a stunt she’s repeated. Another lovely little family saved. Saffia has kept in touch regularly and so have her kits. The kits have been very excited about their human mum’s advent calendar … mum likes the chocolates but the kittens (not really kittens any longer) love the wrappers and even go into the wastebasket to retrieve them to play with.

We also heard from Tabbytha and Mowse … who are completely awesome. Despite being feral/semi feral outdoor cats with no Xmas decorations or internet … they are some of our best correspondents. Mowse was a little over excited and out of focus this time.

Tabbytha

Mowse

Caring for these ladies back in 2016 was one of the most lovely experiences we’ve had at 8 Lives. We responded to a plea to help someone on a farm way up in North Yorkshire who had been feeding stray cats, but hadn’t had them neutered as he was unwell, and was now terminally ill so could no longer feed. I should add that other rescues helped with far more cats than we did … we just played a part. So I arrived home with two very pregnant farm cats, in a chicken coop or something tied up with twine .. the way they’d been caught by farm hands, but before one of them had bitten quite badly. You know those days when you wonder what you’ve let yourself in for?

I don’t know who was more scared of who at first, but we kind of rubbed along. I was anxious about how each of them would be with the other’s kittens. I’d thought I should perhaps separate them in case they attacked each other’s kittens … but they were obviously very attached to each other … so I put it off. Birth is always a magical experience … but what happened here just blew me away. Each helped the other with their births, purring and cleaning newborns as they arrived. Then shared the feeding and caring of kits between them. When Simon arrived in rescue, about 5 weeks old, found abandoned in a garden, they welcomed him into the family too. He’s sticking out like a bit of a sore thumb here … but that was only for a day or so.

getting adopted into the family

Tabbytha & Mowse have found themselves a nice live in job as rodent managers in a stable in North Yorkshire. They didn’t stand in the way of their kittens becoming home cats. We still hear from Simon & Minnie (one of Mowse’s kits) regularly. They’ve recently had a human baby brother so are quite tired:

minnie

simon

Hecate is another of our mummies who has sent greetings. She’s enjoying her first Christmas in a new home. Much of what that means for Hecate is that there is food … and no more kittens. Poor Hecate had lived rough for a while by a busy road in Sheffield. She’d had more than one litter of kittens (that hadn’t survived) already when she came to our notice. Thankfully someone alerted us to her plight when she’d just given birth to possibly her third litter of kittens. They were only a few days old when they arrived here this summer.

Hecate was understandably anxious about the intervention … given that her previous babies had perished. I can’t bear to think exactly what happened … and please don’t you imagine or it will give you nightmares too. The little H team grew up … they were harder work to socialise than Tab and Mowse’s kittens were …. but turned into lovely young men. Hecate was wary but found just the purrfect home where she could be loved and learn to trust again. For her the Christmas celebration was about realising just how much she’s changed over the past few months.

No account of our nativity stories could be complete without sharing Maya’s story. It’s a sad and happy tail at the same time. That also started with a phone pinging whilst I was at work .. pregnant cat living in outside toilet … can you help?

She arrived … pregnant, terrified … and poorly. Lots of dilemmas about treatment. She needs care, she won’t let us touch her, so she needs sedation …. but that could affect her unborn kits. The upshot was that our vets saved her life. However she came home from the vet, and gave birth to two premature kittens. One was still alive.

Maya would have nothing to do with little Max … maybe she knew he was beyond hope. We and our lovely vet nurses pulled out all the stops to give him a chance … but sadly he didn’t make it. Maya wasn’t easy to care for … still very wary of people .. but slowly making progress.

Jenny our lovely fundraiser took pity on her and invited her home … just on a foster basis (ahem … that was 2015). She’s gone from strength to strength since then.

Seasons Greetings (1): nativity & pseudo nativity stories I make no secret of the fact that one of my favourite things about Christmas is hearing from some of our previous guests and seeing photos of them happy and settled in their new homes enjoying Christmas.

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