Lover of Michael Jackson, 80s interior decoration, Jazz fusion, Maltese dogs and fanfiction ✨✨✨ ThrillerGal on Wattpad. Author of "Encino" and "Reverie: Michael Jackson Imagines"
Many of you may know me as ThrillerGal from Wattpad and have probably read my stories, "Encino" and "Reverie" but here, feel free to call me Rosie! I wanted to create this blog to interact more with the Michael Jackson fan community, share some of the blurbs, drafts, and inspo behind my writing as well and give you all a glimpse at my personal interest. My main blog where I post a lot of pictures aesthetics and quotes is laitetmielsilvousplait so if you get a follow from that blog, it's me!
My pronouns are she/her. This is an MJ centric blog so if you are anit-MJ this is not the place for you. No hate will be tolerated!
16 year old Farrah Sinclair's future has been mapped out for her since day one. She's been trapped in a dollhouse- playing dress up and pretend, performing a life her parents want.
It isn't until the summer of 1962 that Farrah learns to stop existing and start living with a little help from a handsome and wise stable hand.
Some people find their twin flames later in life and some never at all. Farrah finds hers early but must struggle with the pain of a star-crossed love that goes against the nature of society.
She must decide: Are some things worth fighting for or were they never meant to be?
A slow burn, interracial romance AU
Pairing: Michael x OC
Trigger Warning(s): Depictions of racially charged harassment, mistreatment and segregation, use of racial slurs, depictions of outdated racial stereotypes, depictions of outdated gender norms/misogyny, war PTSD/trauma, smoking and alcohol use
A/N: To stay as authentic as possible and not whitewash this period of American history, I will not be shying away from the use of racial slurs and racial trauma. If you are highly sensitive to these themes, I strongly suggest skipping out on this story.
Also if you don't like interracial romance or seeing Michael paired with a white woman- this story is probably not for you(I say this as a black fan. I know it is not everyone's cup of tea, especially with this fandom's issue with racism and Michael's history with white women).
Cast/Face claims
Farrah Sinclair- Cailee Spaney
Michael Jackson- Himself
Charles 'Chuck' Yarbrough- Zac Efron
Jack & Eugenia 'Gennie' Clements- Florence Pugh & Harry Styles
Amelia 'Millie' Sinclair -Cate Blanchett
Thaddeus 'Teddy' Sinclair- Jon Hamm
Disclaimer: I own no rights to existing entities/celebrities used for face claims. This content is for fair use, purely fictional(apart from references to real life historical events),is not based upon people living or dead and does not reflect the beliefs, values or actions of face claims used.
However, this story is my intellectual property. Any plagiarism will reported.
Thank you to everyone who has liked the story info and first chapter of "Never"! I would love to hear what you all think. Don't be too shy to stop by my ask box!
“Off the wall was released in August 1979, the same month I turned twenty-one and took control of my own affairs, and it was definitely one of the major landmarks of my life. It meant a great deal to me, because its eventual success proved beyond shadow of a doubt that a former child star could mature into a recording artist with contemporary appeal. Off the Wall also went a step beyond the dance grooves we had cooked up. When we started the project, Quincy and I talked about how important it was to capture passion and strong feelings in a recorded performance.” -Michael Jackson
The tepid summer night air was heavy with the musky perfume of magnolia blossoms, a symphony of crickets crooned from their grass bandstand under a twinkling indigo sky.
Dusk was my favorite time of day on Heathcliff ranch.
A peaceful hush settled over the land, the livestock all nestled in warm in the stables, dreaming of golden pastures and bright blue skies, those old cherrywood floor boards ceased to creak and deep even breaths echoed through the halls of the main house.
Everyone and everything was sleeping but I was always wide awake-just me and my thoughts. But tonight, I wasn't alone. Tonight I sat in the passenger's seat of a powder blue mustang, the back of my legs sticking to the leather seats from the summer humidity as I waited for the boy behind the wheel to finish fixing his hair under the light of the moon.
"Chuck," I whispered, tugging at the sleeve of his varsity sweater. "You had something you wanted to tell me?"
He smoothed a hand over his dark gelled hair, reluctantly tearing his icy blue eyes from the rearview mirror as he slowly turned toward me.
"Yes, darlin'?" He cooed.
I swatted a mosquito away from my ear before batting my eyelashes the way Gennie had advised. Also by Gennie's recommendation, I'd spritzed a generous amount of Shalimar behind my ears which was heaven for the resident mosquitos and gnats.
"At the picture show, you said you had something important to tell me before you brought me home?"
Chuck's blue eyes narrowed and then widened at once as if he'd suddenly remembered something terribly important. Holding his hand up to light, he fiddled with the heavy gold ring on his index finger.
The scarlett ruby twinkled under the moonlight and my breath got caught in my throat. Whispers had circled the school corridors and bounced off the lockers the week before school let out but I didn't want to believe it- I wanted to be surprised- but this moment I felt less surprised and more.... terrified.
"I figured it was time," he breathed, holding the ring between his thumb and index finger. "We've been goin' out for a while and I think it's time that everyone knows you're my girl,"
His large hands enveloped mine before slipping the ring on my right hand. The metal felt cold against my skin and the band hung well below the back of my finger. It looked silly.
I stared into Chuck's dreamy blue eyes, unsure of what to say.
"Willl you go steady with me, Farrah?"
Charles Yarbrough and I had a history that dated back much longer than this intimate moment. Our mamas had gone to Baylor together during the Depression and had become close friends, promising that their kids would get together someday. Gennie had arrived four years too early for Chuck but I arrived just on time, sealing the pact between them and cementing my future as Mrs. Charles Zachary Yarbrough.
It had only been six months since we'd been allowed to go on dates unchaperoned and before then, we'd both gone to the school hop with different people. Mama wasn't going to back out on her promise to Cissy Yarbrough and if there was one thing I was sure of it was that whatever Mama wanted she inevitably got.
Chuck had all the qualities a girl could hope for: star varsity football player, dreamy blue eyes and a face that could rival Ricky Nelson's. Still, I wasn't sure if I would have picked him for myself.
I didn't know who I'd pick if I had the chance. Everything was always picked out for me.
"I- Yes," I breathed. "Of course I'll go steady with you, Chuck,"
I placed my hands on either side of his well-sculpted face, closing my eyes right before pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.
"I want you to know that I don't take this lightly," Chuck breathed, resting his forehead against mine. "This is a symbol of devotion to you. Who knows, maybe one day I'll replace it with something shinier and more expensive,"
I got a weird tingly feeling and I swallowed hard, pulling away. A class ring was already such a big deal. I could only handle one ring at a time.
"It's getting late, Chuck," I spoke slowly, twisting the heavy ring around my finger. "I better get inside before Daddy starts to worry,"
He sits back in his seat with a sigh.
"I'll drive you up to the main house,"
We don't talk on the ride up to the house and I can't wait to get inside. There's a light on in the sitting room and a small grin tugs at my lips, knowing Jack has stayed up for me.
"You free to go bowling Wednesday night?" Chuck asks, placing the car in park.
"I'd love to," I smile. "Goodnight,"
With a final peck, I place the ring in the palm of my hand, clothing it tightly as I shut the car door. When Chuck's Cadillac gets smaller and smaller down the dirt road, I quickly run into the house, the screen door creaking behind me.
"What's shakin', Chickadee?"
Jack smiles up from the book spread across his lap, dimples denting his cheeks as he places his tea cup on the arm table.
Two years ago, I'd turned my nose up at the idea of Gennie and her new husband moving into Heathcliff. I'd been perfectly content with living like an only child while she was away at college but I instantly warmed up to Jack. He was silly and sweet, let me stand on his feet and practice my waltz for cotillion dances and was the only person who'd listen to me ramble without being patronizing.
Gennie had gotten herself a husband but I had gained a big brother.
A wild gaze still in my eye, I opened my palm to reveal Chuck's ring.
"Looks like somebody's goin' steady," He smirked, closing his book. "Have you come down from the clouds yet?"
I plopped down in the chair opposite him, letting out a heavy sigh.
"I don't know how to feel, Jack," I huffed. "I know I should be excited but I knew it was gonna happen and it didn't feel very romantic. It wasn't like the movies at all,"
Jack reaches for the lit cigarette in the ashtray, dusting a bit of ash away before inhaling a deep drag.
"Sometimes we spend our whole lives dreamin' about somethin' and when it finally happens it doesn't meet our expectations," He replies, crossing a leg over his knee.
I run a thumb over the golden band with a sigh.
"I don't have those kinds of day dreams. I don't see myself being a wife or a mother like Mama or Gennie. I see myself being a big reporter in New York or studying art in Paris. Does that make strange, Jack?"
My brother-in-law smiles, his green eyes twinkling.
"You're not strange, Chickadee. You're special and special people have big dreams that some of us regular folk could never imagine,"
I grin, slowly standing from my chair.
"You're pretty special too Jack," I reply, bending down to kiss his cheek. "I better get to bed. I'll see you in the morning,"
I climb up the stairs to my bedroom, trading my date night dress for a cool cotton nightgown. As I brushed my hair, I stared at the framed photograph of Chuck sitting on my vanity, feeling nothing when I glanced into those baby blues. I knew he was going to be my husband someday, but I just didn't get those lovey-dovey feelings around him the way Gennie described when her and Jack were going steady.
It wasn't easy to get those feelings when you didn't have a choice.
I always thought falling in love was supposed to be spontaneous and unexpected-something that finds you and changes your whole outlook on life but I guess I would just have to accept that it wouldn't be that way for me.
***
I woke to the crowing of roosters pecking around the front yard. Cornelius usually fed them at dawn and they didn't migrate back to the coop until every last kernel was gone.
The smell of grits and eggs wafted from downstairs, Jack and Gennie's laughter, tangled with baby Bobby's babbles drifted from the dining room.
I quickly freshened up and picked out my riding outfit, eager to spend a little time with my favorite boy- Gatsby.
For my sweet sixteen in February, Daddy had gifted me the most beautiful Haflinger. His coat was the color of Caramel candies, eyes like rare ambers.He'd needed no taming- Gatsby was gentle and cantered with grace. When I wasn't in school or on dates with Chuck, I was spending my spare time reading or riding Gatsby around Heathcliff.
There was a type of contentment I couldn't find in anything else that I felt when I was riding Gatsby. With the sunlight on my shoulders and the wind in my hair, I felt free.
"Good morning, everyone," I smiled, clopping into the dining room.
Mama looked up from her coffee cup, blue eyes widening in horror at my appearance.
"I do declare," She started, making me hold my breath. "A lady should never come down to breakfast so disheveled. Farrah, you haven't even bothered to brush your hair,"
I glanced over at Mamma and Gennie who sat in their seats, perfectly set and coiffed blonde hair, immaculate makeup and manicures and freshly starched dresses. I hadn't bothered to put my hair up in rollers the night before, throwing my mousey brown hair into a ponytail my riding khaki's could use a press or two and my nails were bare.
"Mama, I'm gonna take Gatsby for a ride after breakfast," I replied, taking my seat next to Bobby's high chair. "My pants will get wrinkled any how and I don't need any makeup to ride,"
A plate of eggs and bacon was placed in front of me. The smiling face of our loyal housekeeper, Zenobia, greeted me.
"Good morning, Ms. Farrah. Two sunny side up eggs and bacon just how you like. I'll give your pants a good pressin' after breakfast,"
"Thank you, Zenobia,"
Besides Jack, Zenobia was the only other person at Heathcliff who had always been warm towards me. She'd been our housekeeper for as long as I could remember. She'd measured how tall me and Gennie had grown on the frame of her bedroom door, cleaned our cuts and scrapes when we fell down and taught us how to shell black eyed peas.
Mama thought Gennie was the perfect example of what a lady should be like and nothing I ever did matched up, Gennie was always busy with Jack or the baby, and Daddy- well, he was Daddy. As long as the oil business was booming, he didn't complain about much else.
"Give her a break, Mama," Jack grinned as he held a spoonful of grits up to baby Bobby's mouth. "She had an eventful night,"
Nine months ago, Gennie and Jack welcomed their baby boy, Robert Jackson Clements. I didn't care much for babies but Bobby was adorable and fun to play with, so long as he didn't cry or need a diaper change.
He had Jack's bright green eyes and these fat, rosy cheeks that were hard not to pinch. At nine months though, he was still nearly bald. Jack had a head full of thick, dark curls that Gennie prayed their child would inherit but it seemed like he was destined to have his mama's, straight, fine blonde hair.
Gennie, set down her fork, a big grin spreading across her pink lips.
"Did it happen?"
I poked at the runny golden yolk on my plate, forcing my lips to curl into a smile.
"I got pinned," I nodded.
Daddy glanced up from his newspaper, furrowing an eyebrow.
"You got what?"
A wide grin spread across Mama's red lips as she set down her coffee cup.
"The kids call it goin' steady. A fella gives the girl a token of affection like a Greek pin or a class ring. That way, everybody knows she's spoken for,"
Daddy sighed, seemingly relieved at the innocent explanation.
"Oh, our little girl is growin' up, Millie,"
"Me and Jack skipped the pinning and went straight for the wedding," Gennie laughed, placing a hand on her husband's clean shaven cheek.
I felt my face glow red, growing overwhelmed with talks of pinnings and weddings.
"Oh, I'm pleased as punch," Mama squealed. "It's perfect timing too- right before coming out season. We've got to go shoppin' for a dress now before the white season ends. You and Charles will be the best looking couple no doubt. I've gotta give Cissy a call after breakfast. Oh and Farrah, dear, now that you're a pinned woman, do try putting on a little lipstick,"
It shouldn't really matter if I had on lipstick when Chuck was going to be the only boy who cared, should it?
"Before long, you'll be shoppin' for another kind of dress," My sister teases, picking up a piece of bacon.
I spent the rest of breakfast pushing food around my plate, feeling nervous and uncertain about how big of a deal getting pinned was. If it could get everyone to quit determining my future, I'd happily give Chuck his ring back.
As soon as Zenobia cleared the dishes I headed straight to the stables. A sheen of perspiration chaffed the collar of my blouse, sticking my fringe flat against my forehead. Texas summers were always terribly hot and come July, the whole family would be trapped indoors with ice buckets in front of the fan.
"Hey, pretty boy," I cooed as I entered the stables, watching my steps for manure. "Ready for a ride?"
I squinted to adjust to the dim lighting in the stables, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion at the sight of a slender colored boy in Gatsby's stall.
I'd grown to learn all the ranch staff's names but this boy did not look familiar at all. Of course, it was a little difficult to tell just who he was with this back towards me.
He gave Gatsby's coat a final stroke of brushing, gently patting his back before turning to face me.
I found myself swallowing a gasp, drinking in his striking features. He had the most piercing big brown eyes I'd ever seen, handsomely sculpted cheekbones, a mess of ebony curls under his newsboy cap.
For the first time, I felt that funny, warm, lovey-dovey feeling Gennie described, only it wasn't for Chuck. I had no idea who this boy was but I did know that he was gorgeous.
"Is he yours, miss?" He asked.
His voice was soft and melodious and he kept his gaze to the ground.
"Y-yes," I stammer, hoping I sounded coherent. "H-he was a birthday present,"
The boy grinned, flashing a brilliant smile that made me feel like I couldn't breathe.
"He's well taken care of, miss. I'll get him saddled up, miss,"
He reaches for a saddle, lean muscles flexing under his brown skin. I probably looked like a mad woman, standing there watching him.
"W-who are you?" I managed to blurt.
"My name's Michael Jackson, miss," he replied, never looking up from the saddle. "I just started today,"
If Mama could see me right now, she'd surely have a fit. Here I was, pinned and practically engaged to Charles, but I could not help but marvel at this ebony Adonis.
Growing up in Texas, I'd learned early on that whites and blacks were forbidden to mingle. It was the law. Coloreds were allowed to work in the house or at the ranch but they lived life totally separate from us. They went to their schools, we went to ours. They sat in their designated balcony at the cinemas, sat at the back of the bus, and used different powder rooms.
Mama said coloreds were not the same as us. They lacked good breeding, were lazy and nearly animals. I'd read stories in the paper about black students who faced violence in an attempt to school with whites, a black lady who got arrested for not giving up her seat for a white man on the bus, a colored boy who faced a brutal death for daring to whistle at a white woman.
All of those stories never seemed to have a happy ending.
I wasn't sure why it was that way but it had been the order of things since I was born, even before Mama and Daddy were born. But if all that was true, why was Zenobia always so warm and gentle, and why did Michael look like an angel?
"I'm Farrah," I replied. "Farrah Sinclair. My daddy owns the ranch. I hope you'll like it here,"
Michael flashes a glimmer of his million dollar smile and I can't help but smile too.
"I'm sure I will, Ms. Farrah,"
He opens the stall, politely bowing to allow me entry. I grabbed my riding helmet from the nail on the stall wall, adjusting the strap under my chin before mounting Gatsby. Making a kissing noise, I give him the signal to canter.
"Thanks for taking care of my boy," I whispered as Gatsby galloped out into the sunshine.
My heart felt light, my stomach bubbly and I knew this summer would be different than the ones before.
16 year old Farrah Sinclair's future has been mapped out for her since day one. She's been trapped in a dollhouse- playing dress up and pretend, performing a life her parents want.
It isn't until the summer of 1962 that Farrah learns to stop existing and start living with a little help from a handsome and wise stable hand.
Some people find their twin flames later in life and some never at all. Farrah finds hers early but must struggle with the pain of a star-crossed love that goes against the nature of society.
She must decide: Are some things worth fighting for or were they never meant to be?
A slow burn, interracial romance AU
Pairing: Michael x OC
Trigger Warning(s): Depictions of racially charged harassment, mistreatment and segregation, use of racial slurs, depictions of outdated racial stereotypes, depictions of outdated gender norms/misogyny, war PTSD/trauma, smoking and alcohol use
A/N: To stay as authentic as possible and not whitewash this period of American history, I will not be shying away from the use of racial slurs and racial trauma. If you are highly sensitive to these themes, I strongly suggest skipping out on this story.
Also if you don't like interracial romance or seeing Michael paired with a white woman- this story is probably not for you(I say this as a black fan. I know it is not everyone's cup of tea, especially with this fandom's issue with racism and Michael's history with white women).
Cast/Face claims
Farrah Sinclair- Cailee Spaney
Michael Jackson- Himself
Charles 'Chuck' Yarbrough- Zac Efron
Jack & Eugenia 'Gennie' Clements- Florence Pugh & Harry Styles
Amelia 'Millie' Sinclair -Cate Blanchett
Thaddeus 'Teddy' Sinclair- Jon Hamm
Disclaimer: I own no rights to existing entities/celebrities used for face claims. This content is for fair use, purely fictional(apart from references to real life historical events),is not based upon people living or dead and does not reflect the beliefs, values or actions of face claims used.
However, this story is my intellectual property. Any plagiarism will reported.
to think that michael didn’t only have the biggest influence on music but also pop culture as a whole, you could feel him in fashion, anime, manga, cinema, and kpop, etc. he was the blueprint!!
I know it's been a while but I just wanted to drop in to let you all know that I have revamped one of my old stories. If you've been following my work from MJfiction days, you may remember my story, "Never" an interracial romance set in the 1960s. I never quite fleshed this story out but I've picked it back up and hope to do it justice. You can check it out here:
16 year old Farrah Sinclair's future has been mapped out for her since day one. She's been trapped in a dollhouse- playing dress up and pret
Also, here's a little playlist for some vibes:
Hope you will enjoy this new and improved version of a fan favorite!✨
