The Disappearance of Charley Ross

September 5, 2023

Charley Brewster Ross was born on May 4, 1870 and was only 4 years old when he disappeared.

On July 1, 1874, in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Charley and his brother, Walter, 5 years old at the time, were outside playing in their front yard. Germantown was quite a well off area.

While playing in the yard, the boys were approached by two men in a horse-drawn carriage, offering them candy and to take them to see fireworks if they got in the carriage. The Ross boys had recognized the men, as they had seen them out and about in the days before offering candy in the area.

Both Charley and Walter agreed to this carriage ride, and they were taken to a store where they told Walter to go inside and buy fireworks. The men gave the little boy 25 cents. Walter went into the store, but when he came out the carriage was gone with his brother, Charley, in it. Charley Ross has never been seen again.

The boys' father, Christian, began receiving ransom notes from the supposed men who had Charley. The notes were mailed from post offices in Philadelphia and other locations, all written with many simple words not spelled correctly.

The notes often stated they were looking for $20,000 for the return of Charley. The notes also stated they did not want the Ross' to go to the police and threatened Charley's life if Christian did not cooperate.

The kidnappers had assumed that the Ross family had money, because they lived in a well off area, with a large house. Christian Ross also owned a small dry goods store. However, the Ross family was actually in quite a bit of debt due to the stock market crash in 1873. Christian could not afford to pay the ransom, so ended up going to the police.

Charley's disappearance became national news with lots of coverage about it in the press. The famous Pinkerton National Detective Agency came in to help, and many flyers were printed. There were many attempts to provide the kidnappers with the money, however each time the kidnappers did not show up.

Eventually, the notes stopped coming.

On December 13, 1874, in Brooklyn, New York, Judge Charles Van Brunt's home was burgled. Charles' brother, Holmes, lived next door to him and actually stopped the intruders during the robbery, with the help of his family. They brought down the robbers with gunfire, and the two turned out to be Bill Mosher and Joe Douglas, career criminals who had recently been released from prison.

Bill Mosher was killed in the gunfire, however Joe Douglas was wounded heavily, living for only two more hours, but managed to talk with Holmes before dying.

No one knows for sure what the conversation went like between Douglas and Holmes, however, according to Holmes, Douglas, knowing he didn't have much time left, admitted that him and Mosher had kidnapped Charley Ross. It is believed that Douglas said Charley was killed, or that Mosher actually knew where he was. It's even believed Douglas said Charley would be returned to his family in the next few days. Douglas did not say anything else about the kidnapping and/or murder.

Walter, Charley's brother, went to New York City to look at the bodies of Mosher and Douglas and determine if they were in the men who had given him a ride in the carriage months earlier. Walter did confirm they were the same men. It is said that Mosher was easy to recognize as he had a malformed nose, which Walter referred to as a "monkey nose."

A former policeman, in association with Moser, William Westervelt, was arrested in connection to Charley's case. He was tried in 1875 for kidnapping. While Westervelt probably knew information from Mosher, there was no real evidence tying him to the actual crime. Walter also said that Westervelt was definitely not one of the men who were in the carriage that day.

Westervelt was found not guilty of kidnapping, however he was charged with a lesser crime and served 6 years in prison. He always claimed that he did not know the whereabouts of Charley.

In 1876, two years after his son's kidnapping, Christian Ross published a book about it, titled "The Father's Story of Charley Ross, the Kidnapped Child" in order to raise money to help find his son. Another two years went by, and in 1878, the story of Charley Ross was not being talked about with the same media coverage as before. Christian had the book reprinted and went to give lectures in Boston on the case to keep the interest in it.

Both Christian and his wife continued to look for Charley until their deaths. Christian died in 1897 and his wife died in 1912. Many boys and men over the years claimed to be Charley Ross, and over 570 of them were interviewed. All of them were imposters.

The Ross family spent about $60,000 looking for their son. In 1924, the newspapers ran some stories about Charley's kidnapping for the 50th anniversary of the abduction. During this time, Walter was working as a stockbroker and claimed that him and his sisters still received letters from men claiming to be Charley.

It is believed that what happened to Mosher, Douglas and Westervelt was a deterrent for other potential kidnappers who wanted ransom money, as the next high profile ransom kidnapping did not occur until 1900 with Edward Cudahy Jr.

It is believed by some that the phrase, "don't take candy from strangers" comes from Charey Ross' story and abduction. There's a major missing persons database called the Charley Project, named after him.

In 1934, 60 years after the abduction, a 69 year old carpenter named Gustave Blair, living in Phoenix, Arizona, petitioned the court to recognize him as Charley Ross. He claimed after he was abducted, he lived in a cave and was adopted by a man who told him he was Charley Ross.

Walter dismissed Blair's story, but in 1939, the court ruled him as "Charles Brewster Ross." The Ross family refused to ever recognize Blair as the real Charley and he never got any money or property from the Ross' estate. Blair moved to LA to try to sell the story to a film studio but was never successful. He died in 1943, still claiming he was Charley.

Because Blair was successful in getting a court to rule him as Charley Ross, the disappearance was reported as solved. In 2011, descendants of the family that adopted Blair used a DNA study which disproved Blair's story. It was found that Gustave Blair was born into the Miller family, had not been adopted and could not have been Charley Ross.

The true fate of Charley Ross is still a mystery.

"RUSSELL CASE IS UNDER WAY NOW," Hamilton Spectator. March 17, 1913. Page 14. ---- Brooklyn Pastor Examined By Defendant's Lawyer ---- Man Who Broke Into Freight Got Three Years ---- Weiler Stole Overcoat From Radial Conductor ---- The action in which Pastor Charles T. Russell, of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, charges Rev, J. J. Ross, of the James street Baptist church, with having published a slanderous pamphlet about him, was resumed to-day before Police Magistrate Jeifs, after many adjournments. The examination of the complainant by George Lynch-Staunton, K.C., counsel for Mr. Ross, going on when court adjourned for luncheon, Mr. Staunton said it would take another two hours to complete the examination. Pastor Russell refused to take the oath on the Bible but swore by raising his right hand to tell the truth.

He admitted being in a gents' furnishing business in Allegheny, Pa., at one time and continued it for about ten years. Before quitting he established the Watch Tower. He attended the ordinary public schools for about seven years and was read in Latin terms to a certain extent, but never took a term in theology philosophy. He had never been ordained by a bishop or minister. Asked the definition of a religious fakir he said it was one who shammed religion. He did not think that he had conferred on himself the title of pastor

He admitted that Marian Ackley. whom he married in 1859, got a legal separation from him, but did not геmember that alimony was mentioned in an action she brought in 1906, When the lawyer asked the witness if during the trial his wife accused him of having improper relations with other women, Russell's counsel, S. F. Washington, K.C, took objection, and the magistrate said witness could answer in his own way. Russeli said his wife said something about seeing him with other women in his house, but it was not true. Mr Staunton read extracts from the evidence, which Russell admitted had been given. The woman, with whom he was charged with having intimate relations, was married now and resided in Australia. He admitted that the judge found on the evidence that he had been cruel to his wife. Witness admitted she was getting alimony from him and that he left the state of Pennsylvania after the judgment. He said the Watch Tower society owned timber lands, buildings and farms throughout the states. He denied that he had a monopoly of the society, also that the money was handed over to the United States Investment association. He admitted that he got nothing out of one action for slander against the Washington Post, but that after the paper settled another suit for $15,000. He was also questioned about the Brooklyn Eagle suit and the miracle wheat, some of which he admitted had been sold for a dollar a pound.

STOLE OVERCOAT John Weller, Sherman avenue north, appeared before his worship this morning charged with the theft of an overcoat, the property of Thomas Freeman, a conductor on the Hamilton Radial Electric Railway, and was found guilty, but remanded for a few days, until enquiries are made about him. The complainant said he was a conductor on an Oakville car, and while in the Terminal Yards, waiting for orders, he hung his overcoat on a hat rack in the car from where it disappeared. The only defense offered by Weiler was that he was drunk.

CASE DISMISSED Percy Springstead, 82 Wilson street, answered to a charge of theft made by Hugh McGregor. The evidence showed that the two men were carpenters and when working together, McGregor borrowed a plane from the accused, and when it was not turned in proper shape, got a bit, the property of the complainant. He intended to keep this article until his plane was returned to him in the same shape as he loaned it. The magistrate dismissed the case, saying there was no evidence of theft.

MINORS BARRED Nathan Kault, a James street north pool room proprietor, charged with allowing minors to enter his place of business and being found guilty, was assessed a fine of $10

GOT THREE YEARS Lafayette Reed, [pictured above] the young man who appeared on Saturday and was found guilty of the theft of a number of articles from the T.. H and R Railway company, appeared this morning for sentence, and received a term of three years. In sentencing him the cadi said he would have a good opportunity to learn a trade while confined, and advised him to take advantage of it.

SLOW TO ANSWER. Waiter Hanley, John street north, an Indian lister, was remanded for a few days. When asked where he purchased his beverage he was undecided for a time whether to tell or not, and before he made up his mind the magistrate ordered the case to be laid over. Hanley said he procured the booze from Mullin's hotel case.

NO EVIDENCE Terrance Scott, Main street west, answered to a charge of assault and theft of three rings from Margaret O'Keefe, and his wife,Nellie, appeared charged with stealing an overcoat from the same complainant. When Mrs. O'Keefe took the stand to give evidence, Terry commenced to question her on various subjects, and between the replies received and the questions asked the backbenchers had plenty of comedy. From the evidence submitted, the court dismissed the case. When the parties concerned were leaving the room, his worship was overheard to say: "There is a case for the clergyman of this city to look into, they should take hold of that woman and reform her."

ACTION FAILED. The Hamilton Cotton company was defendant in a wage case. Fred Forbes, the complainant, said he was entitled to $14.04 for services rendered, but on the evidence sworn to by a representative of the company, the court thought differently, and so dismissed the charge.

[Reed or Reed was 19, from Rodney, Ontario, with no previous criminal record, and was formerly a farmer. He was convict #F-567 and worked in a shoe shop at Kingston Penitentiary. He was reported July 1913 for a serious charge and put into solitary for a week, in August he spent another week in solitary on a similar charge, and in September he was reported twice, losing a week's remission and spending 9 meals on bread and water. In 1914 he moved to the stone pile, and was only put back in fall 1914 at a 'trade'. In 1915 he lost remission on two separate occasions for minor offences. He was released in January 1916. And yes, in the first case mentioned, the Russell in the slander case is the founder of the Bible Student movement, a fraction of which became the Jehovah's Witnesses.]

was edward IV considering waging war with France when he died?

Hi! From what I understand*: no, he probably wasn't considering it.

The Treaty of Arras, resulting in the deprivation of his annual pension from France, appears to have provoked a visceral reaction in him: contemporaries report both anger and melancholy. In February, Parliament granted him a subsidy 'for the hasty and necessary defence' of the realm', money was demanded from the clergy, and he took measures to strengthen the fortresses in the Calais Pale. He also tried to stir Brittany against France by promising to send them 4,000 archers for three months - though it must be said that there was no mention from Edward regarding a proposed English invasion of France during that time. He was clearly angered, but it's difficult to know if he was genuinely considering waging full-scale war, or if it was an impulsive overreaction or sudden need for defense (perhaps both), or merely a tried-and-tested ploy to get money, which he had a track record of doing in the 1460s and which would have been needed now that his French pension was cut off.

(Fun fact: this entire drama resulted in the creation of 'The Promise of Matrimony' in 1483, the first known piece of printed political propaganda in English history.)

In any case, whatever his original intentions, Edward IV evidently seems to have decided to prioritize his continued peace with France by the end of his life. As Charles Ross says:

"If an immediate attack upon France was seriously contemplated for a time, the mood did not last long. By March (1483)**, when relations at sea between France and England had deteriorated badly, there are clear signs that Edward had changed course and was making every effort to preserve the truce with France."

There was a mission from the Garter King of Arms to France in February, likely connected to this. More strikingly, by the time Edward fell sick, he was actively making efforts to put an end to seizures and reprisals against French shipping - which, if we judge how French actions intensified after his death, seem to have been fairly successful.

Long story short, if Edward IV actually considered waging war against France in the beginning of 1483, he seems to have soon changed his mind and decided to prioritize his truce with them.*** Unfortunately, we'll never know how it would have gone down had he lived for a few years longer.

Because Edward IV died so soon after, and the situation remained unresolved, the Treaty of Arras is often magnified by historians as a sort of definite endgame of his foreign policy. Imo, this is a rather dramatic and retrospective reading of the situation. His foreign policy had worked reasonably well (or at least, to his satisfaction) up till that point. Arras certainly was a major setback and deeply aggrieved him - but the fact remains that had he lived longer, this is unlikely to be anything other than a temporary setback for both him and England**** (a trend that was fairly common across the reigns of many other medieval rulers). In this case, we already know for a fact that the conflict between France and Burgundy had by no means died down after Arras: it was, in fact, just as bad. Maximilian continued to desperately appeal to Edward IV for aid mere weeks after signing the Treaty (which Edward would have probably given had he not died soon after) and would later appeal to Richard III as well. More importantly, Louis XI himself would die just a few months after Edward, leading to a major change in the structure of European politics, and we don't know how this situation would have unfolded had Edward still been alive at the time. Nor do we know how it would have unfolded had England's domestic situation remained stable for his successor after his death (aka: had his brother not decided to usurp the throne from his preteen nephew and kickstart yet another civil war within his own dynasty). He died at an impasse, and I think that more than anything should be emphasized - but by no accounts should it be taken to mean that he left his heir in a singularly complicated foreign situation. He didn't - at least, not compared to the vast majority of his predecessors - and at any event, like I mentioned, the situation in wider Europe was also rapidly changing at the time. Nor was England "isolated": among others, they did have a treaty with Brittany, and more importantly, there were strides towards a greater alliance with unified Spain: negotiations for a betrothal of his daughter Katherine to Isabella and Ferdinand's heir had been ratified in 1482***** and were ongoing (or already completed, I'm not sure) when he died, leaving the door wide open for a closer alliance that would be pursued by future English rulers, particularly since we know Spain was on the lookout for allies against France during that time as well and did view England as a potential ally.

*Correct me if I'm wrong **Ross says "1482" in his biography, but that's probably a typo considering he was talking about events after the Treaty of Arras. ***It's often said that Richard III inherited a "naval war" with France from his brother, but as we can see, he didn't. He inherited naval tensions (the word choice is important) which Edward IV was already working on putting an end to. The escalation of these tensions was very much Richard's own decision. ****England also seems to have been included in the Treaty of Arras (at Louis XI's "pleasure" lol), though I don't know in what capacity, it was likely window-dressing, so don't quote me on this. It may have been in a similar capacity Charles the Bold was technically "included" in the Treaty of Picquigny. *****I think it was Spain who proposed the betrothal, though I'm not sure so don't quote me on that.

Who is Issiah Ross ( Teenage boy, 17, is charged with murdering two teenagers ) Wiki, Bio, Age, Crime, Arrest, Incident Details, Investigations and More Facts

Issiah Ross Biography                                               Issiah Ross Wiki

The minor was identified accused of shooting two teenagers who died on a forest trail in rural North Carolina earlier this year.

The underage suspect's name, according to court documents, is Issiah Ross, 17 aspiring Soundcloud artist who faces two counts of murder in the murders of 14-year-old Lyric Woods and 18-year-old Devin Clark. . Woods and Clark, who were close friends, were found shot dead on September 18 in a bush area near Buckhorn Road in Orange County. 17-yr-old Issiah Mehki Ross charged today as an adult in murders of #lyricwoods #devinclark - presser this afternoon. #LLL #LLD #northcarolina #orangecounty pic.twitter.com/qmkLRxSXFa — Decipher Podcast (@DecipherPodcast) November 7, 2022 Court documents showed that Woods had a gunshot wound on the left side of his neck, while Clark had gunshot wounds to his head and thigh. However, the name of the suspect was missing from the criminal complaint of September 26: the police indicated his age only in the official document. Officials were in awe of the suspect's identity after his arrest that day, giving her age and laws regarding children's privacy rights. The Orange County Sheriff's Office even announced that the suspect they believed responsible for the double homicide would hardly be tried as an adult. This claim turned out to be false on Monday when officials finally shed light on the case after announcing the arrest of the then unnamed suspect on October 5. No reason was given for the murders. At the 2:30 pm press conference, Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood revealed a more detailed schedule of the murders after uncovering the bodies of the two teenagers on Sunday, September 18. “Because several people who lived near where Devin and Lyric were discovered heard shooting early Saturday morning,” Blackwood said, “we believe that's where the murders took place.

Investigation

The sheriff then revealed that his office's investigation quickly determined that Ross was a suspect, based on a combination of forensic evidence and other unspecified evidence found at the crime scene. Ross, knowing the law was hot on her heels, fled the crimes in Delaware, where two accused accomplices are now accused of harboring a fugitive. Police said Ross previously lived in Delaware. Blackwood has not identified the two people accused of hosting Ross, who briefly attended Clark's same school, Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane, where he was at the time of the crime and arrest. Earlier, officials had also announced in press that Ross's name could not be published, as the case had been brought before the Juvenile Court. However, on Monday the district attorney announced that the teenager would be tried as an adult after his lawyers failed to appeal to stop that trial. North Carolina supports the death penalty, but it's been more than 15 years since the last execution. Likewise, no one has been sentenced to death in the state since 2019. "The 17-year-old knew good and bad and had nothing to do with a gun, so his parents must also be held accountable," a local said of the allegations. “He must be accused of being an adult and incarcerated for life! The death penalty is not enough for what he did. Another added: "Tested as a minor? Death or life is not enough for the pain that both parents will henceforth suffer as a result of this crime inflicted on their children. "The deaths here should be as close as possible to the pain these children endured." Read the full article

Stay with me

Prequel to  It will always be you.

Pairing: Tony Stark x Avenger Female Reader

Summary: Because of the consequences of your actions, 117 nations come together to create the Sokovia Accords. Now a decision hangs over you, whether to sign them or not, whatever you do will have repercussions.

Warnings: Angst.

Word count: 3702

A/N: Civil War. Some of the dialogue is taken from the film. Sorry for my spelling and grammatical mistakes, English is not my native language, I am learning.

Reader Powers: Psionic. You use psionic force to track any sentient being. You also create psychic shields to protect yourself. You can project psychic force bolts which have no physical effects but which can affect a victim's mind, causing them pain.

The evidence was clear, the position you were currently in had come about because of some very poor performance on your part, the news had echoed the catastrophes you had caused, especially the attack on Lagos, the governments had lined up to stop it and come to a common agreement to keep you under their command. Deep down you all knew that day would come, though you were confident it would be further away. It had been almost four years since Tony Stark had rescued you from your past, from being a contraption held in a laboratory for research. You had been offered a future where you no longer had to run or hide, you had been offered freedom, a purpose in life, but that bundle of paperwork in front of your eyes was meant to make you a prisoner of the government once again.

The discussion had been getting louder and louder, the different opinions countering each other were causing the nerves to come to the fore, alternating the atmosphere. Although the resolution was clear, there was nothing to be done, you were either with them or against them, becoming a fugitive wanted by the whole world. The Sokovia Accords were established by the United Nations and ratified by 117 nations, and what they proposed was to regulate the activities of the altered individuals, namely that the Avengers would cease to be a private organisation, and from now on would operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, and only when and if that panel deemed it necessary.

There was no turning back, the consequences had been placed before you for the acts you had committed, it was a one way street, not a return. Secretary Ross had been in charge of presenting you with the whole set of papers that would have to be signed by you, but convincing you all to agree was not going to be so easy. 

“So let's say we agree to this thing,” Sam said, unresponsive to the situation. “How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?”

“A 117 countries want to sign this,” Rhodes reminded him.  “117, Sam, and you're just like, ‘No, that's cool. We got it.’”

Unlike them, you chose to keep a few metres away from the meeting table, remain silent and meditate with yourself on the proposal, not that you didn't know the pros and cons or the consequences of not signing the agreements, but that you wanted to analyse the situation from different points of view without the others questioning your opinions.

"Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal," Natasha said, turning her gaze to Tony.

“It's because he's already made up his mind,” Steve's tone seemed harsher than usual.

“Boy, you know me so well,” Tony countered sarcastically, then turned his gaze and gestured in your direction.  "She does seem to have made up her mind what her decision is."

You felt the gaze of everyone present focus on you, who unlike him preferred to be absorbed in the shadows, hiding from the attention of your companions. But in the end, perhaps his words were true and you had made a decision, a decision that you were not going to allow anyone to choose for you.

"I guess it's not as simple as you're trying to make us believe Tony," your tone was calm and affable, knowing that you were about to receive a sarcastic and ironic counterattack from him.

"Simple?" he gets up from the sofa raising his hands, walking towards the kitchen area, where you were sitting on a stool. "You think it's simple for me?" he pulls a mobile device out of his pocket and sets it down right in front of you on the top, the device projecting an image of a smiling young man. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where, Sokovia."

You look down, you understand perfectly what he means, you remember what happened in Sokovia, you remember because you were there, you saw with your own eyes what happened and also the consequences of your actions. But you knew that any decision had consequences and they could have been much worse if you had not acted, although there were also causes for your own fault.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose," Tony continued, looking directly at you, his tone rising and stiffening. "I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass."

After his last word, silence filled the room, everyone in the room was reliving the ghosts of the past. Tony definitely realising that you weren't going to look up to return his gaze decided to head back into the room with the others.

"There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes..."

You felt his voice trailing off, then Steve seemed to come in to debate various points, but you could barely focus on what each of them was saying. An internal struggle was going on inside you, and you couldn't wait to see who was going to win.

"I have to go."

You looked up after hearing those words spoken by Steve, his body rose energetically, dropping the agreements from his hand. That was the beginning of all the consequences that were to come after we had made the decision not to sign.

Your steps were decisive, you walked through those long corridors that had become your home for the last few years, knowing that you would most likely never see them again, or at least not for an indefinite period of time. You truly believed you had made a decision, a decision that could become the decision of a lifetime, a before and after in the life process you had created for yourself. You believed that you knew the consequences, that you would be willing to face them as they came. You knew there were going to be setbacks, obstacles, but you didn't expect one as big as him to stand in your way.

"So you've made your decision?" the figure of Tony stood in the doorway of your room, a serious look on his face seeming to immobilise you. "Are you going to leave with Steve?

"I think it's for the best," your words were blunt, as you packed your most essential belongings into a rucksack.

His body entered your room just before the door closed behind him. You knew Tony well enough to know that his next words to you were likely to make an impression on you, but your mind was made up.

"Did you hear anything I just said in the living room?" he pursed his lips and ran his fingers nervously over them.

"Don't make this difficult for me," those words left your lips almost as a plea.

You barely looked at him, your back was turned to him and your eyes were focused on the inside of that backpack that seemed to have no end.

"I suppose you know that your decision is a single ticket," his words were firm. "That you're basically signing your own fucking sentence."

"No," you dropped the backpack and turned to him to find yourself face to face. "That's exactly what I'm running from," you sighed. "I think you of all people know that I know what it's like to be someone's property, that I've been for far too long and that's what really scares me," your pupils dilated as you remembered every single moment you'd lived hidden from the world, being an experiment. "I don't need guys in ties fighting for their own interests telling me what to do or where to go, because my freedom ends when they command me," the seriousness on Tony's face had relaxed, he kept his gaze on his feet and nodded. "I want you to know that I'm going with Steve because you had already made your decision."

The tension spread slightly around you, so much was hidden in those words, much more than what was shown. The complexity of the situation went far beyond signing or not signing the agreements, it was the break-up of a group, of friends, of family, something that could never be put back together again.

"I... I don't know if I'm going to be able to protect you," Tony clenched his jaw as he denied to himself, resting his brown eyes on yours again.

"I never asked you to."

You knew perfectly well how much your words must have hurt him, and what he meant when he said he couldn't protect you. There were so many hidden things in the air, but this was not the right time to start that conversation, maybe it was too late, nothing was going to change things so you asked yourself to please not make things more complicated. You turned around and nimbly zipped up your backpack, everything you had of great sentimental value was inside.

"I'm sorry," you whispered, hanging the backpack over your right shoulder and looking up at him.

"You're not sorry," his tone became serious, but at the same time indifferent, he was hurt. His gaze turned away from yours.

"This isn't what I wanted to happen," you whispered hoping that wasn't the last image you would see of him before you left.

"So, all you have to do was stay," those were the words that almost caused something inside you to stir, but you only gave a small, wistful smile as you looked at his face.

"You know I can't," you whispered hoping he wouldn't extract his share of indifference towards you again. "Please don't make it more complicated for me, because I can't deal with you right now.”

It was impossible to explain to you at that moment the dilemma that was building up inside you. On the one hand your ethics and your values were what prevented you from signing those damn papers that limited and curtailed your freedoms, it was something you assumed. On the other hand, how could it be so hard to leave Tony, why, what was going on right now that you couldn't face?

"Maybe you should just leave now," Tony slipped his hands into his Tom Ford trouser pockets and focused his gaze on the door to your room.

You nodded slowly, your brow furrowed and your lips parted as you didn't expect those words at all, you were ready to start an internal struggle, but he had already sentenced the conversation.

"Alright," you muttered, taking a step backwards, away from him. "Bye Tony."

As you got closer to that door a lump settled tighter in your throat, like a dramatic movie you expected him to say something to stop you at any moment, but he didn't. The door opened and allowed you to leave. The corridors seemed miles long, perhaps because time was slowing down. A black car could be seen from the wide glass windows, there were Steve and Sam waiting for you. A guilty smile appeared on your face as you walked back through the hall, bidding farewell to those present.

As you stepped outside, the air seemed to open up your lungs again, which had been stuck after the last goodbye you had said to Tony. Sam was inside the car, and Steve took care of getting your rucksack into the boot, along with his shield and Sam's wings.

"Are you all right?" muttered Steve, to which your response was a gentle nod.

As you rested your hand on the handle to open the car door, you couldn't help but direct your gaze towards the top of the building, right where you had left Tony a few minutes ago. But there was definitely no sign coming from that spot to stop you from continuing on your way.

The next few days the situation became more complex than anyone here would have expected. Agent Carter's funeral passed without incident, Natasha appeared to inform you that she was leaving for Vienna to sign the agreements, that there was still a chance for you to change your minds, but none of you did. Perhaps it was for the best, because during the signing an attack happened on the spot, an attack that changed the course of things. All eyes were on the Winter Soldier, Bucky, that directed Steve, Sam and you to Bucharest in a supposed attempt to get to Bucky before the authorities did.

"They're on the roof," Sam reported over the intercom.

"Steve get out of there right now," you said hiding on the roof of the building next door. "I can sense you but I can't surround your body with psychic energy unless you come out into the open."

That day was one of the worst failures you had ever managed to pull off, perhaps it was obvious that things didn't go quite right when feelings ran high, and it showed in Steve, especially when law enforcement trapped you in that tunnel.

"Stand down, now," War machine appeared before you to end the fatal chase and set you on your way to Berlin.

You knew what would follow, there was only one way out or the consequences would be far more extreme, either sign the agreements or become prisoners of the law. Things were different for you, Captain could have his shield removed, Sam could have his wings removed and T'Challa, who had appeared in pursuit out of nowhere could have his suit removed too, but you and Bucky were far more dangerous, especially as your powers and dangers were in the mind.

When you arrived at the facility in that armoured truck Bucky was put in an extreme protection capsule, that marked memory making you remember the past time.

"What's going to happen to him?" asked Steve walking beside you in the direction of Everett Ross, Deputy Commander of the Joint Forces.

"The same as you. Psychological evaluation and extradition," he focused his gaze on you.  "Miss Y/L/N, let's hope you'll be cooperative."

You understood his words, you knew the fear you could cause, force could be controlled, the mind was much more complicated.

"Of course," you affirmed with all your good intentions.

You didn't know where, but you assumed that in a few minutes you were going to meet him again in some remote part of that building, you could feel it. First it was Natasha who approached you, and then when you stepped inside the control room there was Tony, talking on the phone.

"[...] consequences?" he turned his body towards you, his gaze fixed on you, which made you cross your arms and look around, avoiding her. "Of course there will be consequences."

"Consequences?" asked Steve with a serious look on his face.

"Secretary Ross wants to prosecute the three of you. I had to give something."

You walked away from them, realising that you had two armed men following your every step around that room. You watched the monitors, every corner of the planet seemed to be controlled by them, there was nothing they could miss, you could even see yourself reflected in one of them.

"Is it worth it?" you turned your face to find yourself face to face with the one who had made you doubt your decision a few days ago.

He took his right hand out of one of his trouser pockets and made a slight gesture for the two security officers who had been assigned to you to move a little away from you, offering you some privacy.

"What do you mean?" you cocked your head to one side. Your voice was stiff, you were tense enough about the situation to offer him a friendly tone.

"I don't know, was it worth risking everything to find yourself back here with possible legal charges?" you didn't deny it, Tony's words hurt.

"Are you rejoicing?" you squinted, uncrossing your arms and turning your whole body towards him.

"How do you think this will all end?" he ran his index finger down the side of his mouth, his nervousness showing. Those words made you shudder. "Now you have a chance, don't let it slip away."

"Please, don't make this worse than it already is," your pleas were in vain. The last thing you wanted right now was a lecture from Tony.

"This wouldn't even abe problem, if you wouldn't make one out of it!" his voice was authoritative.

Your refusals and hesitations had gotten on his nerves, it was evident in the way he was addressing you. That was the last thing you wanted to do, to cause trouble, but it was clear that you were on the defensive against any verbal attack Tony might offer you. Sparks could almost fly between your gazes, which were still on after the conversation was over. You had no idea what was going to happen next, so you were grateful that Natasha caught Tony's attention at that moment, breaking into a battle that wasn't going anywhere.

The hours passed really slowly, so you found a space in a glassed-in conference room to settle in, under, of course, the watchful eye of the guards in charge of you, until you were called in for your psychological analysis.

"Do you need anything?" the door closed behind him.

"Are you playing good cop?" you asked watching as he dropped his blazer on a chair and sat down right next to you. "You're not giving up, are you?"

"I'll take every last cartridge," he leaned his elbow on the table and dropped his chin into the palm of his hand. "You know, I was just remembering earlier when we all went to that Italian restaurant in Soho on your birthday, and then we were at the concert by.... Oh, what was the name of the band? "

"What are you trying Tony?" you cocked your head to the side with a small smile on your face.

"I'm trying to... how do you say?" he rested his index finger on your lips. "Signing a peace agreement? Trying to get to your sensitive spot, because you have one, right?"

"I don't know, I guess if you have one I might as well, huh?" you arched an eyebrow, intertwining your fingers on the table, causing him to make a gesture of placing his hands on yours, but he never got to touch them by restraining himself, so you ignored the gesture.  "Do you want to sign a peace agreement with me, or do you want me to sign the Sokovia Accords?"

He took a breath and let it out slowly through his nostrils. He was completely frustrated, you knew it, you could feel it, he had rarely been involved in those situations that were out of his control.

"Listen," he paused slightly, bringing his fingers to his chin. "I think it's time that I..." he tore his gaze away from yours, let it wander, searching for his words as he gestured with his right hand. "I've tried many times, to do this but.... God, this really is the worst time to do it." He looked around nervously and then crossed his arms, but quickly pulled them apart. "Whatever. We're... well, I... it's likely that I, maybe, can feel..."

You would remember that moment all your life, especially since you wouldn't know until many years later what he meant to say to you. At that moment the lights went out, the monitors stopped working and everything was dark around you, only red flickering lights would have made their way into your darkness. Your head swivelled around you in search of whatever it was that was going on, Tony got up from his seat and placed his glasses over his eyes.

"Friday, give me the source of the blackout," he said to himself.

Finally your eyes focused on Steve and Sam, who were standing next to Sharon in the next room. You listened as Sharon informed them of Bucky's location, and a last glance towards you informed you that they were going to head that way, but just as you were about to leave that meeting room a hand came down hard around your arm.

"Stay with me," the trembling words that came from his lips seemed to shake your insides.

"I can't," you mumbled through your teeth almost with all the pain in your heart.

His fingers loosened, allowing you to leave the room as quickly as possible, but you took one last second to contemplate his face and how many feelings were hidden in it. You knew you only had one chance, everyone present was distracted enough to find the reason for the blackout, you had only a few seconds to get out of the room without being seen, and a couple of minutes before they noticed, so you didn't take long to do it.

A new decision piled up on your list, always facing the consequences you had acquired, and fighting against the feelings your heart presented to you. It wasn't easy, you hadn't given it much thought either, but what you did know was that you didn't regret having done it, at least so far.

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Someone once told me that they believe Abigail who ratted out the gang about the Saint Denis bank robbery (I find that bull because she and Hosea are close and I know she wouldn't do something that would get Hosea killed). What do you think?

So I kind of have a hot take here. lol

First of all, what proof are they going after? There isn’t any except that she escaped. People think she did it because of Jack and John and that’s it. That’s not enough evidence to produce a theory, imo.

 Second of all, I can understand people having a theory - but for the longest time - people used it as another reason to hate Abigail. You should have seen the way some people wrote about it. It just dripped with sexism and hatred. The only other person I can see getting shit for something like this is if it was Karen (and obviously Micah.). Again, if someone truly believes it and states their case, fine. That’s different. But there is no way in hell Abigail did that, imo. She nearly cries on several occasions at the very idea of Hosea dying. She talks about how Hosea cares for her more than any other being. Plus, Abigail knows she can leave the gang at any point. Hosea encourages her to do so but she said she won’t because she’s waiting for John. Trading John in for a deal with a shady Pinkerton? She’s not naïve. 

So why would she rat Hosea out? She already has a way out. She doesn’t need help. She has proven that she can live and provide for herself and Jack in the epilogue and a lot of deleted dialogue proves that she was supposed to be more active and be in heists herself.

She wouldn’t have been able to survive without being independent so she has no reason to rat anyone out. If Abigail nearly cries because Hosea hints at his death, there is no way that she could do something like that. Abigail has proven to be nothing but l loyal. She wouldn’t stick with John through all of his treatment of her if she wasn’t. She also goes out of her way to try to care for Hosea. She is also one of the most loyal people to Arthur from the very start. She’s extremely close to Sadie and she’s shown to be friendly with Charles. She wouldn’t want them harmed either. She seems exasperated with Dutch, but she’s not stupid. She also knows he took her in and allowed her to stay despite being “dead weight” in the final version of the game.

I don’t see her interact with Lenny so I can’t say anything. However, I think she would really respect him for his kindness to others and appreciate how he's intelligent and ambitious. I can personally see her admiring him and hoping Jack becomes like him one day - minus the outlaw lifestyle. I haven’t seen her really interact much with Bill either, but she seems to just ignore him. She doesn’t seem to care. Rdr 1 Abigail seems to not really like him. 

I think Hosea told her to flee. I can see him begging her to leave so she can save Jack and herself and Abigail basically refusing until he really pushes her. 

Plus, if Abigail did it - Milton and Ross would have said so. They love to brag and they aren’t liars. They totally would have rubbed it in the gang’s face. Even if it wasn’t Milton or Ross - someone would have figured it out. They’ve had traitors in their midst before and they would definitely notice if Abigail was a traitor.

Anonymous Said: Showing affections Prompt #44--Tummy Kisses

(from the Like Someone universe)

“Sit still,” Demelza ordered and put an ice pack to Ross’s eye. He winced from the cold but knew better than to argue. She’d been eerily calm this whole time, from the moment he showed up on their doorstep, his nose bloodied, his shirt torn, his right eye swollen. She still appeared calm, but moved about the bedroom with an urgency of mission.

Her light fingers unbuttoned his shirt and examined his bruised side. Even though her brow furrowed and her lips were pulled tight, her face was inscrutable. She was standing next to him, tending to his needs, yet she was far away.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled but gasped when touched.

“Is that so? You don’t look fine and you certainly don’t sound fine,” she huffed. Was that impatience and anger?

“Do you think you should see a doctor?” she asked. Now her tone seemed to betray worry.

“No!”

“Ross, what if your ribs are broken?” She took the ice pack from his eye and gently put it to his ribs.

“They’re not broken,” he managed to hiss between throbs of pain.

“And how would you know that?” she laughed. He was glad to see the change in her expression, even if it meant she thought him a complete idiot.

“I’ve broken a rib before,” he explained. “This doesn’t feel like that.”

He took a deep breath to show her, then covered her hand with his, hoping he could reach her. It seemed to work for when she next spoke, she couldn’t disguise the tenderness in her voice.

“Oh? In the army?” she asked cautiously. He never spoke of his experience in Cyprus just like she never talked about her childhood.

“No, I fell off a horse when I was sixteen.” It was a painful memory and thinking about it wasn’t helping him feel better now.

“Were you pissed or just showin’ off?”

“Both, as I recall.” He gave a weak smile, fairly certain a laugh would hurt too much.

Ross took the ice from her and moved it back to his eye, then considered putting it to his puffy lip. He hadn’t looked in the mirror but expected he was a ghastly sight. He still held his right hand aloft, as if the scraped knuckles were his biggest injury.

“Do you think George will file a complaint?” she asked.

Taking his cue, she took his hand in hers to examine it. When she dabbed the split skin with cotton wool soaked in surgical spirit, it stung horribly. Surely she knew that it would. Could it be that she enjoyed watching him flinch? She was rapidly cycling between moods again.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “But I doubt it. He might find it humiliating to admit he was…”

“Beat up? That is, can I assume it wasn’t Warleggan that threw the first punch?”

“You can--and you’d be correct.”

“And you still won’t tell me what George said that made you so enraged?” She held his chin and looked into his eyes for one agonizing moment, then perhaps sensing his discomfort, released him.

“No, no I won’t.” Ross was firm on that score. It was better she never know. George’s insult would be something she couldn't unhear or easily forget.

“You are so fuckin’ stubborn,” she mumbled and stepped back to give him another head to toe appraisal.

Trickles of blood from his nose had stained the front of her hoodie. He hated seeing that on her, hated himself for bringing that into their home.

“Of course George wouldn’t actually hit another grown man unless egged on.” She laughed but Ross thought he heard a note of tired resignation. “If he wanted to hurt someone or even ruin them, he’d use his snarky attitude or his money, not his fists. Seems like maybe he’s a wiser man.”

“Than me?” Ross sputtered. She couldn’t mean it.

“I don’t understand, Ross!” She ignored his question and plopped down on the bed next to him. Yes, it was tired resignation. “Why is George Warleggan such a menace to you all of a sudden?”

“It’s hardly sudden. He’s been after Carnmore for years, and now? Now, his shadow lurks over the Trenwith Poldarks too. He’s interfering with my family…”

“I thought we were your family. Us--here at Nampara?” she interrupted.

“Demelza,” he exhaled, frustrated that he couldn’t find the right words. “Of course, you are my family...”

“Yet it was a threat from George to Elizabeth that provoked you…” she began.

“Demelza…” he sighed.

Again she ignored him and after a quick eye roll, continued. “Sorry, a threat to Elizabeth and Uncle Charles made you hit him?”

“No, that wasn’t it.” It hurt to shake his head.

“Whatever. Okay Ross, take your shirt off entirely,” she ordered and rose to her feet again. “Trousers too.”

“What are you doing?” he asked. Without thinking he obeyed her command and began the valiant struggle to free himself from his clothes. It took longer than he expected and he was grateful when she removed his trousers for him so he didn't have to bend over.

“We need photos of your injuries. In case George does pursue charges, we’ll have a record of the damage he did to you.” She’d pulled her mobile from her pocket and began taking pictures of his nose, his mouth. She tilted his head to get a better angle of his eye, then she gave him a soft kiss on his temple.

She had no idea how much he needed that--or maybe she did.

“Okay, now your hand. Consider it evidence,” she went on.

“Evidence that I hit him,” Ross said, then taking a chance, he held his hand up and flashed his more imploring eyes. She took the bait and gave his knuckles a kiss.

“Now for your side, I need more light. Can you stand? Or maybe lie down? No, sit up but just turn this way…”

“Ugh!” he groaned, unable to hide the difficulty in even a slight twist of his torso.

“Ross! Fucking hell! If it hurts that much to turn...”

“I’m fine,” he insisted.

Without touching him, she took a few snaps of his ribs, then sat down again. This time it sounded like a sigh and whimper collected in her throat.

“Ross,” she said, her head slipped into her hands.

He rubbed her back, aware that he was now soothing her. He’d prefer to take her in his arms but doubted he had the mobility to pull that off.

“Demelza? I know you’re angry at me…” he began.

“No, Ross. It isn’t that simple.”

“You think that I'm not listening to you…”

Intrigued, she looked up and raised one brow. She was clearly listening.

“I am--I mean, I do listen,” he said.

She put her hand on his thigh. It felt good, mostly because he welcomed her touch but also because his legs were among the only parts of his body not throbbing in pain.

“Yes, Ross,” she said softly.

His heart sank. It wasn't what she said, but what she didn’t say.

Of course.

She’d grown up in a household of unpredictable anger and physical brutality--a world she took great pains to leave behind when she came to Nampara. For Ross to cavalierly and unapologetically engage in that very same behavior, was not just a disappointment, but a betrayal of her trust. She had to know the man she loved wouldn’t ever bring violence into her life--even if he was capable of it.

He had to show her.

“Demelza, I’m sorry,” he said.

“I know,” she whispered.

“And I won’t ever again...”

“Don't make promises Ross. Just try your best,” she said softly. “And just know that I can’t stand to see you hurt.”

“I’ll remember that,” he said and squeezed her hand.

“And George Warleggan certainly isn’t worth all this,” she snorted.

“No, he’s not,” he agreed then felt the need for some levity. “I’ll choose better enemies in future.”

“Oh?” It worked. She was amused.

“Like...an angry bear. What if I promise to only resort to violence again if I need to defend you from a bear?”

“Bears have been extinct on this isle for 1500 years,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Wolves?”

“No wolves--gone since the 16th century.” She smiled at yet another factual triumph.

“I’m always impressed with how much you know,” he laughed. “You really did pay attention in school, didn't you? Okay...only if I need to defend you from a madman…”

“Close, but still not quite good enough. It would have to be a madman with a knife,” she suggested. “Or of course a madwoman--with a knife.”

“That sounds fair,” he nodded and took her hand again, tracing her fingers with his thumb.

“Ross, love, lie down and I’ll get you some more ice.”

“I don't want ice. Just your kisses.” He suppressed a groan as he managed to stretch out on the bed.

“Oh?“ she laughed. “Kisses won’t bring down the swellin’ or ease the pain.”

“Yes, they most certainly will ease it. They’ll give me pleasure.” He pulled her down level with him.

“But I might hurt you!’ she cried and began to pull away.

“No you won’t. I’ll show you. Start here.” He pointed to a spot on the side that had managed to escape injury from left-handed George.

“Yes, Ross,” She gingerly kissed his external oblique then pulled away with a giggle.

“Now here.” A little lower. This time she lingered a little longer.

“And here…” Ross knew those lips and what they were capable of. He closed his eyes and struggled to let himself go.

Her open mouth on his skin moved him but he tried not to react too much to the exhilaration. Even small movements brought agony. Her hands were no longer tentative, and with inspired strokes, she traced along the noticeable groove his ligaments made connecting his middle to his groin.

Without waiting for his directive, she moved a few inches inward along his waistline and gave another kiss.

“Now my tummy.”

“Tummy?” She looked up at him, eyes bright, teeth gleaming in an uncontrollable smile.

He’d never used that word with her before to describe his abdomen. She seemed to see he was aiming for a laugh and was willing to play along.

She kissed his navel, careful to stay on the unbruised side of his body.

“Yes, tummy.” He pointed to the shadowy region that crept up from the top of his boxers.

“Um Ross? That’s not your tummy.”

Do you believe in destiny?? For example if an artist born to be an artist then everything's will go in their way but if not doesn't matter how much you try is not going to be your path? I like the way you think and your honesty so I was curious about this. Thanks

With what you're saying I believe and have seen some evidence and proof that in terms of stardom / being a public figure; that's not how it always goes, if an artist is born to be an artist sometimes that artist is destined to live a short life or endure certain obstacles and events because it is within what is suppose to happen in their path. Not so much the stereotypical misconception that if someone is meant to be an actor then everything will go smooth or how they want. We all tamper with our goal and higher mission cause we have free will, insecurity, different personalities, freedom restrictions or too much of it and external factors we cant control that shape that.

But yes.

It's kinda common sense by now that wanting something vs being destined for it vs being naturally gifted for it and destined are 3 totally different things. I don't like demi lovato but she said it best when she checked a poor singer during x Factor and stated something along the lines of "just because it's your dream doesn't mean you're good at it and its meant for you".

I hope this makes sense.

It takes a lot of candid and raw ability of facing yourself being truthful with yourself and not selling yourself short with that. I. E I hate over using him as an example but if Michael Jackson's father didnt beat the snot out of him and put him through those rigorous conditions thee entertainment industry would be 200000% different and kpop itself would be different as the model for ideal work ethic would be far and below. Those kids get whipped into shape the same way Michael was but they arent physically hit ALL the time and have that threat on them in their personal lives. That either makes or breaks people. It did both for MJ sadly.

Anyways you get that?

Like Michael dream for real once he got famous was to be an actor but it was never meant for him. He sold himself short and got into messy drama cause if chasing after that instead of being content and accepting that he can't do it all and be it all. But I do believe he was cheated out of that Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory role. That may have been 1 role in history he could do naturally especially without hair and make up but he's too soft spoken and lacks the range for how the character was presented via Johnny Depps performance. Again, external factors came into play with that cause people were screwing him over yet he was not fit to be an actor.

Just like Beyonce acting sucks and she has limited range. She learned quick acting isn't for her although she tried many times. Dream girls was close but she played a dated ver. Of herself and Diana ross in that. She comes across as a woman who is trying to act instead of owning the role and becoming that character.

I leave it at that.

People won't like what I have to say but I don't believe the b.s oopsie pregnancy line of " every child is a miracle / blessing" when people didnt plan to get preg and want to prop the child up as the best result to come out of it and worth it. You can have that child by anyone if you're willing to do better for yourself and find / hold out for the right person. I say this randomly cause because this is how you get the ted Bundy's of the world and all the psychos like hitler.

Talented people with potential who had their destiny either fucked up or unfolding as is cause all the shit people around them misled them and aided them into being what they were. No i am not blaming but there is too much of a theme. If folks would have just given charles Manson a record deal and an album, given Hitler admission to art school and accept his paintings, not dump Bundy for frivolous reasons and actually take him into a lawyer apprenticeship...they sky could have been the limit for them and the world would be a much different place right now.

Never excusing them but they all shared dreams to some extent and fucked up backgrounds where they all got into the wrong outlet for power. I believe Destiny can be alerted that way hence me referring to the baby blessing comment. I don't mean that for all kids I mean it for the deadbeats and irresponsible people bringing children into this world when they aren't fit or morally fit and sane enough to nurture a child. Ted Bundy showed signs of illness at 3 and his mother / family purposely ignored it. Sticking him in the basement with a Ouji board and disowning him cause mom felt too ashamed to admit she was a thot and didn't want the the town's clapback on her sleeping around unwed is fucked up.

But it was his destiny in the sense....this will sound morbid but he shaped the legacy (p.s legacy is what it is definition wise. It is often used in a positive connotation but can be referenced for negative so nobody attack me cause I'm saying killers have a legacy. Words like legacy and genius aren't exclusive to what you deem morally just*) that someone like Ted needed to come around for the advancement of killers to unfold.

I'm sorry I hate to say it but that man single handedly did it all by himself and he only got caught and met his end cause he allowed his girlfriend to turn him in. I believe he wanted to get caught and put to his end on top of being too demented and arrogant to change his life around when he had the chance.

Anyways films and the entertainment industry benefit off of these sick people. Actors and writers benefit off of these people. Zac Efron needed a role like Ted Bundy to evolve and show himself as a serious decent actor, the fact they look similar and everything speaks volumes.

Destiny is tricky like that. Would Rihanna be here let alone the big bad girl she is if Aaliyah didn't pass? Would Beyonce be where she is with Diana Ross didn't set the model for her by making Supremes all about herself then leaving to be a massive solo later on? Would Michael Jackson even be deemed a weirdo sick person by the general public still if he didn't get his scalp set on fire during the Pepsi commercial which fucked his life up permanently at age 24? I think the fuck not lmao. Just random legendary examples honey. I only throw the MJ Pepsi one in there cause his father kept tampering with his plans. He pressured Michael to do the commerical for big money and in exchange he would leave him alone letting him go solo without asking for money again. Michael did it so he could get away from his dad but that injury spearheaded him into changing himself physically due to the resentment of his dad always controlling his life and putting him in situations he didn't wanna be in.

That's destiny still. Michael didn't realize that shaped American History for product consumption in the soft drink wars between coke and Pepsi. First celebrity to endorse a soft drink and that changed the game forever. If Michael would have said no or not have had his dad up his ass that changes the trajectory for all these endorsement deals for celebrities at least with food brands down the line.

Destiny is like that.

For AMA, how was it getting to give Javier an alt end too? 😊

I’d thought about it a bit, and Javier’s fate in RDR1 seemed even sadder than John’s in some ways given how far he falls from being one of the best people in the gang in RDR2.  I’ve written my share of meta about Javier and what likely made him fall to those depths.  Though I still argue R* did him dirty and it was a vastly underwritten storyline and had to try to fill in some of those gaps too with things that I feel probably contributed to Javier’s Chapter 6 state.  That involves stuff like recovering from a very severe wound, the guilt and impotence of witnessing a PoC revolution that he couldn’t help due to his injury bringing back feelings of failing to bring change and revolution in Mexico, and Arthur conscious of his time running out and being impatiently pressuring with his “Pick a side” to some gang members even as he’s at his most tolerant and kind and generous to so many others.  Overhearing something like that camp convo of Arthur dismissively telling Charles they should have left Javier on Guarma can’t have helped him trust Arthur either.  Arthur, John, and others he loves are demanding he pick a side, but they’re not really giving him evidence or taking time to talk him through their doubts about Dutch.  They’re just there insisting the gang’s being split asunder whether Javier likes it or not, and he’d better decide where his loyalty stands.  I’m sure Dutch is also realizing his grasp on the gang is slipping and is talking Javier up, using that emotional manipulation we see time after time with Arthur to manipulate Javier into further loyalty.   He’s where Arthur was earlier, uncertain of what to do, but without the luxury of several months that Arthur’s had to this point to start working through some of those doubts.  And it’s still uncomfortable to argue with the character we got in RDR2 that the brown-skinned Mexican man doesn’t deserve anything but to be coolly condemned to death, when the two white American men get their chance at redemption.  Gabriel Sloyer did such an amazing job with Javier, and the fact that he fought so hard for the confusion and ambiguity of Javier refusing to point his gun at Arthur and John is fantastic, because it’s a perfect snapshot of a man caught in conflicting loyalties.  And it feels like he ends up “with” Dutch as much out of inaction as anything, because what he ran into at Beaver Hollow, not being there to hear anything about Micah, is the middle of Arthur and John pulling what looks like a violent attempted coup, and everyone’s got guns pointed.  So he sticks with Dutch, because in confusion and doubt, this is all he knows and all he has.  But he finds out eventually what Dutch and Micah are.  And for a man who was a generally decent, kind, and principled man, realizing how he’d been blinded and what he’s sold his honor for probably shattered him and any ideals he had.  So he ends up where we find him in RDR1--so far from the revolutionary that he was that he’s become the hitman for the very kind of corrupt government man he would have risen against before.  He’s at rock bottom, although he still cares enough about John to  not fight back.  Once again, Javier won’t aim a gun at John. I wasn’t sure whether I could work with that, or if Javier just had to stay a tragedy.  But when I rewatched the RDR1 missions, there’s really not that much between Javier and John.  One brief real conversation, that’s all.  And I started wondering if I could maybe make an argument for it being someone else.  Someone faking being Javier because of that being a feared and notorious name south of the border, and Javier’s having been gone for a dozen years with most who knew him probably dead.  Yeah, that RDR1 convo is a bit of a stretch for a Faux Javier, but it 90% works given his keeping to generalities that any man could say to a supposed former outlaw buddy or things he would know from the news like Javier’s connection to both John and Dutch, well enough to supposedly “fool” John (who in Sunriseverse is not at all fooled, but he’ll play along because this is a bad man and if Ross will accept this guy as Javier, good.) So with deciding I could maybe pull that off, I ended up with Javier being sort of a lost soul in New Austin when Sadie and Arthur run into him in 1907.  And by this point, eight years after Beaver Hollow, they’re both much stronger and much further on their own path to redemption, and they can recognize a man much like they used to be.  A man who’s given up hope on himself, who believes he’s nothing good, decent, or kind anymore--even as he’s trying to help rescue a kid from a gang.  Their having that perspective of where they were versus where they now are and how hard it is to believe in yourself again, and being that direct proof to Javier that you can come back again from the abyss of despair and find your path of atonement, felt like a natural fit.  I didn’t get to write Javier’s story at length because it’s Arthur and Sadie’s tale, but even getting to write him further beyond 1899 and towards an end that doesn’t end up with him broken, made loathsome, and then made into a sacrifice, felt pretty good. 

"First of all," Lt. Richard Zimmerman said during Chauvin's murder trial in Hennepin County District Court, "pulling him down to the ground facedown and putting your knee on a neck for that amount of time is just uncalled for."

The head of the Police Department's homicide unit added, "I saw no reason why the officers felt they were in danger if that's what they felt, and that's what they would have to have felt to have to use that kind of force."

In your opinion, should that restraint have stopped once he was handcuffed and prone on the ground?

"Absolutely."

Zimmerman said department policy requires that prone suspects who are handcuffed — as was Floyd on the night of his death — must be taken off their chest as soon as possible.

The lieutenant went through the Police Department's use of force policy and brought up several provisions that run counter to what the prosecution is contending Chauvin and other officers did wrong on May 25, when Floyd was kept-face down and cuffed behind his back for more than nine minutes as he became unresponsive and died later that night.

Prosecutor Matthew Frank asked Zimmerman whether he was ever trained to put a knee on the neck of someone in handcuffs.

"No, I haven't," he said.

Zimmerman said such a tactic would fall under the most extreme level of force by an officer, that being "deadly force."

"If your knee is on someone's neck, that could kill them," he said.

Frank then asked how much a threat a suspect would be once handcuffed.

"The threat level goes down all the way," the lieutenant said. "They are cuffed; how can they hurt you? ... You getting injured is way down," apart from possibly getting kicked, he continued.

Once the cuffs are on a suspect, "that person is yours," said Zimmerman, who joined the department 36 years ago. "He is your responsibility. His safety is your responsibility. His well-being is your responsibility."

Under cross examination, defense attorney Eric Nelson noted that Zimmerman has not worked as a patrol officer for several years and does not teach defensive tactics. He also noted that police officers sometimes need to "improvise" to protect themselves regardless of training.

"You would agree, however, in a fight for your life, you as an officer are allowed to use whatever force is reasonable and necessary, correct?"

Zimmerman agreed.

"Minneapolis Police Department policy allows an officer to use 'whatever means available' to protect yourself, correct?" Nelson asked.

Zimmerman agreed.

The lieutenant under questioning acknowledged that handcuffed suspects can still pose a danger.

"That person can continue to thrash his body around, correct, and part of the reason police officers restrain people is for their own safety, correct?" Nelson asked.

"Correct," Zimmerman said.

The prosecution rose again and sought to undermine several of the defense's points raised while questioning Zimmerman.

Most notably, Frank asked the lieutenant whether he found the circumstances of Floyd's arrest called for Chauvin "to improvise by putting his knee on Mr. Floyd for 9 minutes and 29 seconds?" To which Zimmerman replied, "No, I did not."

Zimmerman also said his review of police body camera video revealed no kicking by Floyd once he was subdued on the pavement.

Judge Peter Cahill adjourned proceeding for the day shortly after 11:30 a.m. once Zimmerman was done testifying and said court would reconvene Monday morning.

The first witness called Friday was Jon Edwards, a Minneapolis police sergeant, who has been on the force since 2007.

Edwards said he was just beginning his shift on the night of May 25, when he was alerted by the previous shift's supervisory sergeant that Floyd "may or may not live." Edwards added that he was directed to the intersection where Floyd was arrested "just in case we had to secure that area and make contact with any of the officers" still there.

Edwards said he got to E. 38th Street and S. Chicago Avenue about 9:30 p.m., met with officers J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, who ordered them to turn on their body-worn cameras. The officers then explained where they interacted with Floyd. Edwards said he directed them to up crime scene tape to "preserve any potential evidence that was there."

He ordered them out of their squad and began canvassing witnesses. He encountered Charles McMillian, one of the first witnesses to Floyd's detainment and death who testified earlier this week. At the time, McMillian refused to give Edwards his name or provide information.

"I told him he would be very valuable if he would provide us with information," Edwards said. "He told me he refused to say anything and wondered if he was under arrest; and I told him no, and he told me he wanted to leave."

Edwards explained that state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension personnel arrived and took over control of the crime scene as Kueng and Lane were escorted to City Hall for a debriefing. The officers' squad and Floyd's SUV were towed away by the BCA as evidence in what was classified as a "critical incident."

Law enforcement control of the crime scene was lifted shortly before 4 a.m., Edwards said.

The sergeant's testimony helped lay a foundation for the testimony of Zimmerman, who worked in the homicide unit at that time and joined Edwards and the other officers the scene of Floyd's arrest.

Zimmerman testified that he was at home when he learned of the incident and his presence at the intersection was needed.

The lieutenant arrived and asked, "What's going on?" to law enforcement on the scene, according to officer bodycam footage shown in court.

Zimmerman located Kueng and Lane, then "determined they were involved officers" connected to Floyd's arrest, he said.

"We needed some more people out here," Zimmerman testified telling Edwards, as well as "we need to get these two guys downtown" for their debriefing.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. The other officers on the scene, Lane, Kueng and Tou Thao, are expected to go on trial in August on charges of aiding and abetting Chauvin.

On Thursday, jurors heard from a supervisory sergeant that Chauvin downplayed his actions, at first not disclosing that he used his knee to restrain Floyd, and later that night after Floyd was taken to HCMC making that disclosure to his boss but failing to say for how long.

Recently retired supervisory Sgt. David Pleoger spoke to Chauvin on a cellphone that night after receiving a call from a 911 dispatcher about a possible use of force by officers seen on city surveillance cameras.

Pleoger's body-worn camera captured his initial phone conversation with Chauvin, who said, "Had to hold the guy down, he was going crazy … wouldn't go in the back of the squad."

Pleoger testified during livestreamed proceedings being viewed around the world that Chauvin didn't say anything about putting his knee on Floyd's neck. Prosecutor Steve Schleicher then pressed Pleoger on whether Chauvin's force was appropriate.

"When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended their restraint," Pleoger said as he offered the first account of Chauvin's words and behavior in the immediate aftermath of Floyd's death.

He testified that Chauvin told him that Floyd "became combative … after struggling with him. He suffered a medical emergency, and an ambulance was called."

Also testifying were the two paramedics and a fire captain who responded to the scene that night. Derek Smith, a paramedic, checked Floyd's carotid pulse and pupils as he lay motionless under Chauvin's knee.

"I looked to my partner. I told him, 'I think he's dead, and I want to move this out of here and begin care in the back [of the ambulance],' " said Smith, noting the agitated crowd of bystanders. "In a living person, there should be a pulse there. I did not feel one. I suspected this patient to be dead."

Smith told the court that despite never sensing a pulse, they continued trying to save Floyd. "He's a human being," Smith said. "I was trying to give him a second chance at life."

Fire Capt. Jeremy Norton testified about meeting up with the ambulance at E. 36th Street and S. Park Avenue, where he saw Floyd being treated by the paramedics and Officer Thomas Lane.

"He was an unresponsive body on a cot," Norton said of Floyd.

After Floyd was brought to the hospital, Norton told his department supervisors what happened. "I was worried that a man had been killed in police custody," Norton said.

The day's testimony started with 45-year-old Courteney Ross recalling her relationship with the strong, physically active man she called "Floyd."

Ross talked about their mutual oxycodone addiction that started with prescriptions for chronic pain and led to purchasing street drugs. She said they were off and on the drugs and by May she believed Floyd was using them again.

The defense is trying to raise the possibility that Floyd died of a drug overdose from pills obtained by Morries Hall, who was with Floyd at Cup Foods the day he died.

Ross said she and Floyd got pills in May that reminded her of "the same feeling" she had from similar pills she took in March, a stimulant that kept her up all night and left her jittery.

happy birthday, tex avery!

today’s an important day for every cartoon fan. 112 years ago today, tex avery was born! probably one of the biggest contributors to animation, the man responsible for bugs bunny, elmer fudd, daffy duck, droopy, screwy squirrel, chilly willy, wild animation... there’s much to celebrate.

born in texas (hence the nickname, real name frederick), tex arrived in los angeles on january 1st, 1928 to start a new career. nothing much, just menial jobs: working in a warehouse, loading fruits and vegetables at the docks, painting cars, and finally painting animation cels for the oswald cartoons. moving from the short lived winkler studio to the universal studio, he became an animator in 1930.

(courtesy of tom klein.)

perhaps his work at universal spawned the most important event in tex's career. in 1933, he and a couple of his animation buddies were horse-playing. the game: shooting a spitball with a rubber band at the backs of peoples heads, yelling “bulls eye!” if shot successfully. the game evolved from spitballs to paperclips. animator charles hastings was armed with a paperclip and had his sights set on tex. someone yelled “look out, tex!”, and tex’s initial reaction was to turn around. vision in his left eye was gone in an instant. some people attribute the lack of depth perception to tex’s unconventional, warped point of view inserted in his cartoons.

universal was proving to be a lousy job for tex. he himself admitted that he wasn’t much of an animator. “i was never too great an artist. i realized there at lantz’s that most of those fellows could draw rings around me... i thought, brother! why fight it? i’ll never make it! go the other route. and i’m glad i did. my goodness, i’ve enjoyed that a lot more than i would have enjoyed just animating scenes all my life.” he was let go in april 1935 after the quality of his work declined thanks to a lack in interest. two days later, he and his girlfriend (an inker at the studio) got hitched and honeymooned in oregon. they arrived back in hollywood in may, where tex approached leon schlesinger.

to say warner bros was short staffed in terms of directors was an understatement. ben hardaway had just left, and friz freleng and jack king were the only directors there. tex flubbed his way in, citing his experience "'hey, i’m a director'. hell! i was no more a director than nothing, but with my loud mouth, i talked him into it."

(the termite terrace crew in 1935. from left to right: virgil ross, sid sutherland, tex avery, chuck jones, and bob clampett.)

though there were few directors when tex arrived, the staff was beginning to outgrow the studio. tex and his unit (virgil ross, sid sutherland, chuck jones, and bob clampett) moved into a rickety building they unceremoniously dubbed termite terrace as a result of the termite population within the bungalow.

tex’s first directed cartoon was gold diggers of ‘49, where he borrowed friz freleng’s characters of beans, kitty, and porky from the cartoon i haven’t got a hat. while beans was beginning to have his own small series of cartoons, this marks the second ever appearance of porky and is thusly an important occurrence. if tex didn’t use him, who knows what porky’s fate would be? gold diggers beans and porky are in the heart of the gold rush. beans strikes it big (tex’s love of gag shining brilliantly already as beans pulls a slot machine lodged into the side of a mountain) and invites all of his friends to dig for more gold. porky’s bag of gold is taken away from a villain, and he bargains that if beans can get the bag back, he’s allowed to marry his daughter (kitty). beans eagerly accepts and follows the villain. what ensues is an exhilarating gunfight turned car chase, tex’s knack for speed drastically picking up the pace of the cartoon. it’s exhilarating, rushing, and brought a much needed energy to warner bros at the time. perhaps even more amusing than the chase is the payoff itself: porky gets the bag back, which isn’t gold at all, but instead a hearty sandwich.

almost right away, tex rose to the top at the studio. some of his earliest merrie melodies (which had been exclusively reserved for friz freleng prior) include page miss glory and the classic i love to singa, both beautiful cartoons in their own ways. tex now served as the model. his gags were funny, his pace was quick, his cartoons GOOD, friz freleng and eventually frank tashlin adopting the change in pace. jack king, unfortunately, wasn’t faring well with the change, and his slower, duller cartoons stuck out like a sore thumb. he returned to disney in april of 1936.

porky’s duck hunt serves as an especially important cartoon directed by tex, marking a number of firsts. it’s the cartoon debut of daffy (who is unnamed, though model sheets label him as that crazy darn fool duck), and he first time mel blanc voiced porky. porky is also considerably slimmed down. the cartoon is exactly as it sounds: porky embarks on a duck hunt, but a screwy duck prevents him from getting anything accomplished.

the cartoon itself, in comparison to tex’s others, isn’t really that special. a bunch of drunken fish hilariously singing a rendition of “moonlight bay” serves as the highlight. it’s not a bad cartoon at all, i love it a lot and it’s one of my favorites, but it IS rather repetitive, and daffy is pretty stark in personality. 75% of his dialogue is reduced to quacks. but what DOES have personality, which would shape his entire character, is a particular exit animated by bob clampett.

porky fires his gun and strikes daffy, who flops into the water. ecstatic, porky sends his dog after him. all we see is a black blob in the water, and daffy haughtily tosses the unconscious dog on the shore instead of the other way around. flummoxed, porky pulls out some paper, flipping through it and protesting “hey, that wasn’t in the script!” daffy laughs it off. “don’t let it worry ya, skipper. i’m just a crazy, darn fool duck!” with that, he gives his signature hoo-hoo laugh as he literally flips into the horizon, twirling and hopping, clicking his heels, hoo-hooing all the way along. great animation by bob clampett and definitely entertaining, and a scene that would serve as the basis for his trademark laugh and his truly daffy personality (that would begin to die down as early as 1938).

tex made a number of other good cartoons, experimenting with daffy some more and playing with porky a little more until exclusively dedicating his time to merrie melodies in friz freleng’s absence (who was at MGM). the one that truly changed looney tunes was released on july 27th, 1940, titled a wild hare.

bugs bunny had existed before tex touched him, but didn’t at the same time. he was conceived by ben “bugs” hardaway in 1938 with porky’s hare hunt. very similar to porky’s duck hunt, the screwy rabbit taunts porky and prevents him from getting a good shot. the only thing bugs has in common with his prototype self is his species and name. (he wasn’t formally called bugs then, and thanks to a false story by mel blanc where blanc referred to the prototype as “happy rabbit” fans have assumed that was his prototype name. in reality, model sheets and illustrations from picture books around 1938-1939 name him as bugs’ bunny, possessive after ben “bugs” hardaway.) bugs is portrayed as a white rabbit with a hayseed voice and woody woodpecker laugh in hare hunt, not at all the cool new yorker we know and love him as. he reappeared in a few other cartoons, still his hayseed self in hare-um scare-um and a more collected take by chuck jones in cartoons such as elmer’s candid camera and elmer’s pet rabbit. hare-um scare-um turned the previously white rabbit into a gray and white rabbit with yellow gloves.

nevertheless, tex borrowed this strange rabbit and paired him with another character of his by the name of elmer fudd. elmer’s hunting wabbits, but bugs predictably taunts him the entire time and makes his life a living nightmare. the cartoon isn’t much different than the other hunting cartoons: prey drives hunter crazy, and prey ends up winning. it’s really just a glorified porky’s hare hunt. but at the same time, it has a certain charm. this previously unappealing, obnoxious rabbit is now cool, calm, and collected. an era of cartoons dominated by screwballs like daffy is now interrupted by the opposite, a smooth talking rabbit who always wins. bugs was rather temperamental in his early 40s cartoons, much more thin skinned, abrasive, and often a downright bully, but there was still something so different about him that audiences resonated with him regardless. so, while tex isn’t the true father of bugs, he absolutely is at the same time.

many fans believe that tex left warner bros after a dispute with schlesinger pertaining to his cartoon the heckling hare. in the cartoon, bugs (as the title suggests) heckles a dimwitted dog repeatedly. at the end, the two of them end up falling off of a cliff. both bugs and the dog cling to each other, screaming all the way. the scene is LENGTHY, nearing a minute of nonstop screaming. which, of course, is the joke. to see how long the audience can stand it. however, the cartoon cuts to an end rather abruptly. evidently, bugs and the dog were going to stop, with bugs remarking “hold onto your hats, folks, here we go again!” and thusly launching into a second fall. however, the “hold onto your hats, folks!” was a rather crude joke at the time, and thusly that’s assumed how the cut came to be.

story goes that avery left the studio as a result of the censorship, which seems plausible. however, that’s not the case. tex was itching to do a series of live-action shorts, with real, live-action animals talking and cracking jokes with animated mouths. tex wanted to do it, schlesinger didn’t. tex lived out his dream at paramount for a short amount of time, and thankfully for the rest of us got some sense and moved to MGM in september 1941 to make cartoons once more.

i’ve gone on way longer than i intended, and there’s still so much to be said about tex! all of tex’s best cartoons were at MGM, no doubt. he invented droopy, red, the wolf... red hot riding hood is considered one of the greatest cartoons of all time and spawned a number of sequels starring red and the wolf. all of the great qualities of tex’s cartoons from warner bros exploded at MGM. the fourth wall breaking, the gags, the speed... he also made the iconic “tex avery take”. limbs flying off characters and super big eye bulges... they’re absolutely fantastic. there’s so much to say about tex that can’t be articulated! he’s one of my favorite directors for sure and such an important figure in animation. he deserves all the praise and respect he gets and more.

happy birthday, tex!

TALKING SHOP

June 25, 1967

ON CAMERA, LUCILLE BALL is the funniest female in America. They gave her a second Emmy early this month to attest to the fact. 

With the cameras turned off, she is an interesting combination of several people - hard-headed business woman, mother concerned and even outraged at some of the things being done to today's children, and talented actress who, happily, does not feel a need to keep reminding everyone around her she is a talented actress. 

The last is an attribute rare among Hollywood's distaff division. 

It was in Hollywood this writer met Miss Ball recently and talked with her at Desilu Productions, formerly the old RKO movie studios. Lucille once worked for RKO for $50 a week; now she is president of Desilu and in the process of selling it - for 17 million dollars. 

I let a tape recorder run while we talked. So, take the stand, Miss Ball. 

Q. You've sold Desilu to Gulf & Western Industries for all those millions. Have you turned over control yet? 

A. No, not yet. We haven't signed, or had the stockholders meeting, but it's coming up, and to all intents and purposes the deal is going thru. 

Q. What are you going to do then? What about next year will there be a Lucy Show on television in 1968-69? [The coming 1967-68 season is the sixth for the program, never out of the Top Ten.] 

A. I don't know. I never know about a next year until it comes. They [CBS-TV officials] always start asking me in December, and I tell them in March, April, or May. 

Q. Then you don't know whether you'll do another year of Lucy Shows after 1967-68, or some other series, or what? 

A. O, I wouldn't do any other series, ever. I may do the Lucy Show again, and I may not. I may just do movies. I really have no idea, not now. 

Q. Don't you ever reach a point where you'd like to put your feet up and not do anything, just loaf, with all that money? 

A. Sure I have a wish to put my feet up, but only because I've earned it and have something to go back to. To put them up forever wouldn't interest me. I can enjoy a vacation because it has an end. 

Q. What is there to stories about you being peeved because CBS is planning to build a show around Doris Day next year? There were reports in gossip columns. 

A. They didn't come from Doris Day or from me, and both of us are embarrassed. The story is true they have asked her to do something, and there apparently was an assumption by someone they were asking her to be available in case I stop. 

Q. But the story is you were angry because they were planning to put so much money into this Doris Day thing, to make it so big? 

A. Those are just lines people put in. I haven't any reason to be peeved, no reason to be anything but embarrassed. It doesn't matter to me, one way or the other, what they do. 

Q. In your biography, provided by your publicity agent, it says that when you were a 15-year-old you enrolled in the John Murray Anderson dramatic school in New York City, and that the first lines you read caused the instructor to "close his eyes in disbelief." Did that happen, and what were the lines? 

A. [Laughing] Something about water and horses, and I said "warter" and "horrrses," and he imitated me and then kind of gave up in disgust. 

Q. After that, you were a chorus girl on Broadway? 

A. [More laughter] Nope, never got in a chorus. I had several jobs, but always got fired before a show opened. 

Q. Why? 

A. I just didn't measure up. I was tall enough and young enough to be a show girl, but I guess I just didn't make any impression. 

A switch in the interview came about here. Lucille asked a question - How far from Chicago is Northwestern University? 

"My daughter Lucie [15 years old] is interested in the drama school there," she explained. "A lot of great people have come from it, so it evidently has a fine way of teaching. I suggested it to Lucie, in fact, so she could be thinking about it, because she is interested in acting." 

WHAT, we wanted to know, did Miss Ball think of the practice of "aiming" shows at the younger generation, of trying to capture such viewers thru sensationalism and sex. 

She had thoughts on the subject, angry ones. Yes, it's being done, she said, and deliberately, in TV. 

"But they are doing it in movies even more, and in books even more, more, more," she said. "I see motion pictures my children have seen, and I tell them, You went to THAT movie - They let you in THAT theater - I don't believe it.'

"Further, I can't believe kids can walk up to a rack in a store and buy the books they can buy today. I just can't believe it, but there the books and magazines are, in any stand all over the country." 

Lucille Ball has been "Lucy" on television for 11 years now, from 1951 to 1957 in the I Love Lucy series, and since 1962 in the Lucy Show. 

Who is Lucy and what is she like? We asked because characters on the home screens seem to develop real personalities of their own. Lucille Ball recognized this in her answer; she talked as tho of a living person, not an image on celluloid. 

"Lucy is very much like I am, I've found, in her sincerity and her enthusiasm, almost childish enthusiasm, and in her exaggerations and disappointments," Lucille said. "And these are the things we play on in the show. 

"We've found thru the years people love Lucy because she gets into predicaments they can understand. And we've found out something else that any man or woman playing opposite Lucy must be careful never to show what looks like real anger towards Lucy, because that will bring the audience down upon them. 

"They must be long suffering in enduring the troubles Lucy causes. If they seem really impatient with our gal, viewers will say - in hundreds of letters - 'My gosh, don't you know Lucy didn't really mean to do that to you?" 

Maybe it's just that Lucille, herself, attracts such sympathy from audiences. Because, back when she was playing the wife on radio's My Favorite Husband, the husband [Richard Denning] also had to be careful not to sound really angry at her on the air. 

"If he did," she giggled, "letters poured in. The ones to him would say, 'How can you treat her that way?' And those to me would announce, 'You should have a more understanding husband.' Poor Richard, he couldn't win." 

It seems possible. We felt mighty friendly, ourself, towards this Lucy, just from talking with her for an hour. 

#   #   #

FOOTNOTES FROM THE FUTURE

The sale of Desilu went through as anticipated at the end of 1968. Lucy chose to re-invent “The Lucy Show” as “Here’s Lucy” renting space from Paramount and creating her own production company, Lucille Ball Productions.  

The photo included with the article is from “Lucy the Stunt Man” (TLS S4;E5) aired on October 18, 1965.

CBS created a sitcom for Doris Day titled “The Doris Day Show”.  Like Lucy Carmichael and Lucy Carter, Day played a widow with two children living in California.  Like Ball, Day used her own first name for her character, Doris Martin. After one season on Tuesday nights, “The Doris Day Show” moved to Monday’s at 9:30pm, right after “Here’s Lucy” where ratings instantly improved. 

Both shows had a very recognizable cast member in common - Nelson, the sheep dog. Other cast connected to “Lucy” were Kaye Ballard, Jackie Joseph (Ken Berry’s wife), Strother Martin, and Van Johnson. Other actors recognizable to Lucy fans were Mary Wickes, Barbara Pepper, Charles Lane, Jerry Hausner, Ross Elliott, Bobby Jellison, Lou Krugman, Shirley Mitchell, Parley Baer, Madge Blake, and many, many others. 

The resolute,  Medgar Evers

Early Life and Education

Medgar Wiley Evers was born on July 2, 1925, in Decatur, Mississippi. Growing up in a Mississippi farming family, Evers was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943. He fought in both France and Germany during World War II and received an honorable discharge in 1946.

Evers went on to enroll at Alcorn College (now Alcorn State University) in Lorman, Mississippi, in 1948. He married fellow student Myrlie Beasley during his senior year, before graduating in 1952.

Early Civil Rights Work

After initially finding work as an insurance salesman, Evers soon became involved in the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL). Proving up to the task in his first experience as a civil rights organizer, he spearheaded the group's boycott against gas stations that refused to let Black people use their restrooms. With his brother Charles, Evers also worked on behalf of the NAACP, organizing local affiliates.

Lawsuit Against the University of Mississippi

Evers applied to the University of Mississippi Law School in February 1954. After being rejected, he volunteered to help the NAACP try to integrate the university with a lawsuit. Thurgood Marshall served as his attorney for this legal challenge to racial discrimination. While he failed to gain admission to the law school, Evers managed to raise his profile with the NAACP.

In May 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in the famous Brown v. Board of Education case. This decision legally ended segregation of schools, though it took many years for it to be fully implemented.

NAACP Leader

Later in 1954, Evers became the first field secretary for the NAACP in Mississippi and moved his family to Jackson. As state field secretary, Evers traveled around Mississippi extensively, recruiting new members for the NAACP and organizing voter-registration efforts. Evers also led demonstrations and economic boycotts of white-owned companies that practiced discrimination.

While a virtual unknown elsewhere, Evers was one of Mississippi's most prominent civil rights activists. He fought racial injustices in many forms, including how the state and local legal systems handled crimes against African Americans. Evers called for a new investigation into the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy who had allegedly been killed for talking to a white woman. He also protested the conviction of his fellow Mississippi civil rights activist Clyde Kennard on theft charges in 1960.

Evers's efforts made him a target for those who opposed racial equality and desegregation. He and his family were subjected to numerous threats and violent actions, including a firebombing of his house in May 1963, shortly before his assassination.

Assassination and Aftermath

The first Mississippi state field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Evers was shot in the back in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi, shortly after midnight on June 12, 1963. He died less than an hour later at a nearby hospital.

Evers was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery, and the NAACP posthumously awarded him its 1963 Spingarn Medal. The national outrage over Evers' murder increased support for legislation that would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Immediately after Evers's death, the NAACP appointed his brother, Charles, to his position. Charles Evers went on to become a major political figure in the state; in 1969, he was elected the mayor of Fayette, Mississippi, becoming the first African American mayor of a racially mixed Southern town since Reconstruction.

Investigation and Trials

A police and FBI investigation of the murder quickly unearthed a prime suspect: Byron De La Beckwith, a white segregationist and founding member of Mississippi's White Citizens Council. Despite mounting evidence against him — a rifle found near the crime scene was registered to Beckwith and had his fingerprints on the scope, and several witnesses placed him in the area — Beckwith denied shooting Evers. He maintained that the gun had been stolen, and produced several witnesses to testify that he was elsewhere on the night of the murder.

The bitter conflict over segregation surrounded the two trials that followed. Beckwith received the support of some of Mississippi's most prominent citizens, including then-Governor Ross Barnett, who appeared at Beckwith's first trial to shake hands with the defendant in full view of the jury. In 1964, Beckwith was set free after two all-white juries deadlocked.

New Evidence and Conviction

After Beckwith's second trial, Evers' wife moved their children to California, where she earned a degree from Pomona College and was later named to the Los Angeles Commission of Public Works. Convinced that her husband's killer had not been brought to justice, she continued to search for new evidence in the case.

In 1989, the question of Beckwith's guilt was again raised when a Jackson newspaper published accounts of the files of the now-defunct Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, an organization that existed during the 1950s to help raise popular support for the maintenance of segregation. The accounts showed that the commission had helped lawyers for Beckwith screen potential jurors during the first two trials. A review by the Hinds County District Attorney's office found no evidence of such jury tampering, but it did locate a number of new witnesses, including several individuals who would eventually testify that Beckwith had bragged to them about the murder.

In December 1990, Beckwith was again indicted for the murder of Evers. After a number of appeals, the Mississippi Supreme Court finally ruled in favor of a third trial in April 1993. Ten months later, testimony began before a racially mixed jury of eight Black people and four white people. In February 1994, nearly 31 years after Evers' death, Beckwith was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. He died in January 2001 at the age of 80.

Legacy and Landmark

Since his untimely passing, Evers' contributions to the civil rights movement have been honored in many ways. His wife created what is now known as the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Institute in Jackson, Mississippi, to continue the couple's commitment to social change. The City University of New York named one of its campuses after the slain activist, and in 2009, the U.S. Navy also bestowed his name on one of its vessels.

In early 2017, President Obama designated Evers' home a national historic landmark. “The National Historic Landmark designation is an important step toward recognizing and preserving significant civil rights sites in Mississippi and around the country,” Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran said in a statement. “The sacrifices made by Medgar and Myrlie Evers deserve this distinction.” (source)

TSP S02E06 Thoughts

Ok I’m late to the party today so I assume everyone has commented on most of this already and therefore I was just going to quickly sum up any other observations. But I’m only twenty minutes in and I already have SO MANY THOUGHTS

- Apparently Cardinal Wolsey is not allowed to speak to anyone now and if he does this is Suspicious. But since Katherine isn’t exactly talking to her daughter either, tbh Henry is actually quite fair to be all ‘Why would you care’.

- When Henry gets all bitchy towards Wolsey re: the chancellorship, both Wolsey and Katherine’s poker faces should be a reaction image. 

- Poor Mary at least she has Margaret Pole

- Ok I would love to go back in time and save all the historical infants from an early death if I could but I STILL don’t understand how the Duke of Ross is still alive. Poor kid should have left the scene six years earlier. AND STILL NO MARGARET DOUGLAS. While I’d like to be hopeful and assume that @glorianas hatesex idea is going to pan out, tbh with the way they’re developing Angus’ character I worry this will be another badly handled r*pe scene, IF they bother to add Margaret Douglas’ birth in at all.

- Smol James is Smol. I would die for all of the children in this show. Protect them at all costs.

- But anyway who tf is ‘Hal’ Stewart. I might be wrong (I haven’t read every source ever) but tbh ‘Hal’ is not a common abbreviation of Henry in Scotland- Harry (Harrie) is much more common as a form of Henry, and is indeed the nickname that Margaret’s third husband was commonly known by. Sadly, ‘Hal’ just makes me want to snigger and make ‘England and St George’ type speeches (though even in that line, tbh, it’s Harry not Hal). “Hal Stewart” sounds like he should have a handlebar moustache and say ‘jolly good’ and fly spitfires. Or like he’s the descendant of expat Scots living in Canada. 

- I would be a lot more surprised that Angus is sneaking in and out of places if you weren’t all literally living in a very open house which would be very difficult to defend, I mean what do you expect to happen if you have obvious enemies, very few attendants, and you park yourself in HOLYROOD PALACE

- Cut it off Meg

- Oh wait so YOU’RE not safe there and your own children aren’t safe there but you’re perfectly happy just leaving James IV’s kids there? I should say ‘kid’ singular but I think we’re past waiting for the TSP writers to use google and realise that all of James IV’s other children are over the age of eighteen by 1520. But if Margaret DID have custody of them (which seems unlikely) she’s just dumped a young girl (maybe nine years old? We don’t know but that’s my guess) in a palace with her apparently shitty ex-husband and buggered off up to Edinburgh. Agnes Stewart come pick up your daughter please, don’t leave her here, or at least send your niece back to do it since she already knows the way

- Why are they even including so many offhand remarks bout James IV’s kids so much at all if they plainly don’t know anything about them? Is this ever going to be relevant to the plot? Or did they just want to have them in the first episode to show how ‘hard done by’ Margaret is but then realised they couldn’t just ditch them without losing the audience’s sympathy for her.

- Margaret getting the conveniently placed big old book on marriage law down from the shelf (every household should have one)- but really Meg, you must have seen enough shady divorces in 16th century Scotland to know the name of a good lawyer who could do this for you

- Once again though, does Angus have NO kinsmen or retainers any more? Or was he just cutting about the Canongate on his day off from Being Evil and thought ‘I’ll go check in on the wife then shall I, she’ll have Drink which is also now something I am to be associated with’

- I am LOVING the blatantly Georgian architecture at the gates to a very disappointing Field of the Cloth of Gold. Really TSP should have just gone full Reign and embraced its inaccuracies to make a fun teen show with a load of ridiculous modern dresses, would have been more bearable than this

- I would like to address however, the fact that this show has been going on about how terrible it is for princesses to be married off to older men all season, but what are we now supposed to root for four-year-old Mary to be betrothed to the much older HRE, rather than the dauphin who is MUCH closer in age? Can the writers make their minds up? Who are we supposed to think is in the right?

- Wee Mary’s face when Katherine spoke to her for the first time- that’s probably the first time the kid has ever heard the fancy queen lady actually talk to her though, so I’m not surprised but genuinely it was quite funny.

- Someone save this child please.

- IS THAT CHARLES V- WHY IS CHARLES V HERE?? GOD IT IS JUST UNINVITED GUESTS GALORE THIS EPISODE

- Also I may be wrong but I’m pretty sure he can’t just ride across France to get to the English Pale with only a couple of attendants and w/o a safe conduct or any other notification that he’s coming? This is just Margaret Tudor riding unattended through the Borders all over again.

- Gotta love Katherine just producing him out of nowhere though, the writers really do not care about the holes they dig themselves into but the implication that Katherine can just summon emperors whenever she likes is fantastic (does she keep him in a box??)

- Katherine about the horse- “He’s trained to kill a man with a single kick”. Don’t even hesitate Guerrero, you have four legs and there’s apparently three sixteenth century kings in the area, go to town

- Charles V just buggering off again, fading into the background like he was just Katherine’s own personal imperial amazon delivery man

- Have they decided to have the Evil May Day in 1520? Why?

- *Henry and Francis approach* *Theme from the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly plays*

- FUCK WOLSEY’S DAVID ATTENBOROUGH NARRATION REALLY MADE ME LAUGH, CHRIST I THINK I BROKE SOMETHING

“What a magnificent sight, two kings meeting for the first time, this rare species, almost never seen in daylight, both approach the watering hole...”

TBH I think their coordinated bow should also have had some narration Wolsey, if you really want Attenborough’s job after him. But it’s even funnier because they both genuinely looked so awkward stepping slowly towards each other, I just can’t

- Henry’s been buying his crowns from the same Burger King Autumn Range as Chris Pine in Outlaw King I see

- FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT PLEASE BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF EACH OTHER I GENUINELY THINK THAT WOULD BE FUNNY I HAVE SEEN POSH BOYS FIGHTING THEY’RE TERRIBLE BUT IT’S REALLY FUNNY

- Pfft Wolsey’s evident panic is funny but I would like to copyright Stafford’s little eyebrow twitch where he’s obviously thinking ‘Let me hold your coat Henry’

- Katherine of Aragon following at a slower pace while Claude gives her a sideways glance is also mildly amusing, like KOA could not look less bothered. I know the wrestling was historically accurate but honestly Henry and Francis being all aggressive like they’re actually willing to kill each other when I bet they just get outside and hug weirdly is probably going to be hilarious.

- Once again Maggie, please take that child and RUN

- I was right, it IS funny.  Please Wolsey we need more Attenborough narration for this fight.

- Everyone standing around occasionally clapping awkwardly and looking vaguely unimpressed is like what would have happened in Bridget Jones if Hugh Grant and Colin Firth’s fight scene wasn’t soundtracked.

- Yeah so the wrestling was accurate but tbh I’m not sure that Henry staggering out of the ring looking like James II right before a stabbing is. In my experience if a ginger monarch in tights is wearing that expression you run, no matter who you are. 

Globe, November 9

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

Cover: Prince Andrew fails lie detector -- new crisis rocks the palace 

Page 2: Up Front & Personal -- Bruno Toniolo shirtless, Heidi Pratt at a pumpkin patch in L.A., Jacqueline Bisset catches some rays in L.A. 

Page 3: Larry David leaves an L.A. office, Ellen Pompeo, Pete Wentz 

Page 4: Kathie Lee Gifford is talking to NBC bigwigs about coming back to Today and they’re hot over the idea but Hoda Kotb is not pleased and Jenna Bush Hager is feeling threatened because Jenna never really grabbed the audience like Kathie Lee did, Martha Stewart and Gwyneth Paltrow are heading into the holidays trash-talking each other even more than usual and their pals have nowhere to hide -- they’re snippier than ever and can’t get through the week without saying something crass but the trouble is they have the same friends and they use some of the same chefs and caterers and crew -- all their friends in the Hamptons including the Seinfelds and Beyonce and Jay-Z and Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley and Rachael Ray are trying to keep out of it but it’s impossible because Martha and Gwyneth are both screaming for loyalty 

Page 5: Legal hotshot and writer Jeffrey Toobin has been shelved by the New Yorker magazine for showing off his willie to co-workers during a Zoom conference call -- witnesses say Toobin was masturbating but he insists it was a blooper

Page 6: Dolly Parton was so lovestruck when she met Elvis Presley that she nearly chucked her marriage and career to shack up with Elvis -- Dolly is ready to tell all about Elvis after decades of protecting her husband Carl Dean and Elvis’ only child Lisa Marie Presley -- Dolly was in her late 20s and Elvis was in his late 30s when they had their sizzling encounter where she got dolled up to meet Elvis in a Nashville office and discuss working together and he wanted to do a duet but she didn’t trust herself to work with him and she didn’t even let Elvis do a cover of her song I Will Always Love You -- even though Dolly didn’t actually cheat on Carl she sure was tempted and she’s felt guilty about it ever since 

Page 8: Just two weeks after splitting with his wife of 14 years former Home Improvement kid Zachery Ty Bryan was arrested and jailed on charges of trying to strangle a terrified galpal -- after a night of partying where he was photographed surrounded by four gals with an iced bottle of vodka at the table Zachery reportedly got into a heated clash with his galpal and she claims Zachery grabbed her by the throat and squeezed then tried to snatch her phone when she attempted to call 911 so she ran to a neighbor’s home where she hid while cops were called 

Page 9: Distressed Kelly Clarkson and her two toddlers are in therapy to help cope with the anguish brought on by her divorce from Brandon Blackstock -- the talk show host is especially struggling because the split is playing out so publicly and the kids are seeing things about their mom on TV and she feels immense guilt about the divorce but knows it was the best decision because she wasn’t happy married to Brandon though she did try but staying in a marriage just for the kids wasn’t an option for her -- Kelly was deeply wounded when her father-in-law Narvel Blackstock’s management company recently sued her for $1.4 million in alleged unpaid commissions but she’s speaking with her ex privately in an effort to resolve the issue out of court but Kelly suspects he’s using it as a bargaining chip for a bigger settlement and also feels he’s using the kids against her as a weapon 

Page 10: Showbiz legend Michelle Phillips has become a shut-in who sits home alone tippling wine while watching movies on TV and listening to her hits from The Mamas & the Papas where she is the last surviving member of the band -- she’s sad the rest are all gone  and she’ll put on a record and sit in the dark; she misses them and so many other people -- she’s become a shut-in due to the pandemic and can’t bear for people to see her so old and haggard and overweight and all those years of partying have done their damage to her once-beautiful face -- she also hasn’t been able to see her young grandson and she’s grieving the loss of her longtime lover who died in 2017 

Page 11: Baywatch hunk Jeremy Jackson’s cover girl ex-wife has been found homeless wandering California’s mean streets in worn and shabby clothes -- lost for two years Loni Willison is now virtually unrecognizable with missing teeth and her long blond tresses cropped short -- she was found pushing a grocery cart filled with her battered possessions in Venice -- despite her tragic situation she insists she’d doing fine and doesn’t want help despite reportedly having drug and mental health issues 

Page 12: Celebrity Buzz -- Rita Ora in a see-through frock (picture), Lily James got caught brazenly canoodling with the very much married Dominic West who plays her father in the BBC miniseries The Pursuit of Love, just weeks after Cardi B filed to dissolve her marriage to Offset she’s put the split on hold and all it took was Offset to spend bucks on a heart-tugging Sunset Strip billboard and a Rolls-Royce and a Hermes Birkin bag, Kate Hudson’s getting loose-lipped about gross snotty smooches with her leading man Matthew McConaughey 

Page 13: Vinny Guadagnino eating in Beverly Hills (picture), Kaitlyn Bristowe has a puffy trout pout (picture), Shia LaBeouf doesn’t let an apparent injury keep him from getting out and about in Pasadena (picture), Alanis Morissette says the fame that came with her 1995 revenge song You Oughta Know wasn’t so sweet but instead was an isolating experience 

Page 14: Nicole Kidman is starring opposite Hugh Grant in the thriller series The Undoing but she really wanted to plays Hugh’s love interest in Notting Hill except she wasn’t well-known enough, Reba McEntire has landed herself a brand new TV show which is a modernized Fried Green Tomatoes drama series in which she’ll play the present-day Idgie Threadgoode, Fashion Verdict -- Regina King 8/10, Isabelle Huppert 2/10, Queen Maxima 5/10, Tracee Ellis Ross 9/10, Cher 4/10 

Page 16: How John F. Kennedy stole the White House from Richard Nixon -- Chicago mob rigged the 1960 vote and cheated Nixon out of the presidency 

Page 19: True Crime 

Page 21: Parkinson’s patient Alan Alda is refusing to slow down at age 84 and friends fear the fragile M*A*S*H legend is headed for a devastating health crisis and he’s busier now than he ever was even during his sitcom days and he bravely says he lives with it by staying active but medication can only do so much and his friends and family including wife Arlene are worried he’s pushing himself too hard, teary-eyed Ringo Starr confesses his last conversation with dying Beatles bandmate George Harrison was heartbreaking and unforgettable -- Ringo wanted to stay with George until the end but his daughter Lee had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and Ringo had to rush to Boston to see her and when Ringo told George he had to go to Boston George said D’ya want me to come wit’ ya? so even on his death bed George made his best buddy smile while both faced unspeakable grief 

Page 22: 10 Things You Don’t Know About S. Epatha Merkerson, Today show host Hoda Kotb reveals Frank Sinatra Jr. was the show’s worst guest because he clammed up instead of touting a book about his famous dad in 2015, Khloe Kardashian confesses she once worked as Nicole Richie’s personal assistant because she just needed a job and they went to school together -- Nicole’s reality career crashed in 2007 which was the same year Khloe’s series started

Page 24: Cover Story -- Disgraced Prince Andrew has flunked a lie detector test on his close relationship with murdered American pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and now the rogue royal insists he’ll never cooperate with the FBI for fear his testimony will land him behind bars but Queen Elizabeth’s favorite son has his back against the wall as new evidence surfaces on both sides of the Atlantic -- Andrew is terrified newly released secret testimony from Epstein’s accused madam Ghislaine Maxwell is just the tip of the iceberg of what she’s prepared to reveal and Maxwell’s revelations detailing her twisted sex life come on the heels of an explosive new British book accusing Andrew of attending debauched events with Epstein where teenage girls were parading around topless -- even though friends close to Andrew say he did nothing wrong and has no reason to fear the prince may not have a choice about spilling his guts because the fed-up royal family is threatening to cut off the cash-strapped rogue unless he plays ball 

Page 25: Prince Andrew has been banished from the gift shop at his mother’s Balmoral Castle -- tourists can still purchase postcards her Her Majesty’s kids Prince Charles and Princess Anne and Prince Edward but Prince Andrew has disappeared which is a sure sign that Andrew is in the doghouse since items featuring Elizabeth’s beloved corgis are still up for sale 

Page 26: Health Report 

Page 27: Dirtiest places on planes exposed 

Page 30: Serial sleaze Matt Lauer’s ready to pop the question to girlfriend Shamin Abas over the holidays and he hopes for a brighter future with her a year after his 20-year marriage to Annette Roque ended in divorce -- Matt showers Shamin her with gifts and wants to buy a house on the East Coast where they can make new memories and Matt’s hinted he’s already bought the ring and plans to propose by New Year’s and he hopes to have a celeb-studded wedding at their new home, Kathleen Turner will be back at Michael Douglas’ throat as his acid ex in The Kominsky Method to fill the hole left by Alan Arkin who abruptly pulled out of the third and final season of the show

Page 35: Matthew McConaughey’s father predicted he’d die while making love to his wife and he did, desperate to turn back time Marie Osmond is going whole hog on a head-to-toe makeover -- Marie is no stranger to cosmetic fixes and she is considering a slew of procedures to get a new look that’ll knock ‘em out including everything from Botox and fillers to face-lift to boob job and lipo-sculpting to enhance her waistline -- the makeover is motivated by revenge because she’s bitter over recently being pushed off her co-host gig on The Talk and now she’s counting on a younger look to land her a plum new TV gig 

Page 38: Real Life Monsters 

Page 39: Kris Jenner blames social media for ending the 14-year run of Keeping Up with the Kardashians because when the show started there was no Instagram or Snapchat or other social media platforms but now she gripes that now there are so many the viewer doesn’t have to wait three or four months to see an episode but instead information spreads online in real time, Phil Collins’ ex-wife has traded him in for a 31-year-old guitarist who never managed to make much noise in the music industry -- Phil was furious when he heard Orianne Cevey married Tom Bates in Las Vegas, Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman died without a will according to his widow -- Taylor Simone Ledward filed a probate case in L.A. asking a judge to name her administrator of Boseman’s estimated $938,500 estate with limited authority

Page 44: Straight Talk -- Bruce Willis and Demi Moore’s daughter Rumer Willis claims posing for raunchy bondage shots proves she’s a liberated woman free from sexual stereotypes but it’s not that simple 

Page 45: Jeff Bridges is battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma which is a rampaging cancer that often spreads through the body to the liver and bone marrow and lungs -- while the cancer can be deadly experts say the five-year survival rate is 73 percent