Latest news with #Mae
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Want a Spider-Man-style kiss over a canyon? Call an elopement adventure photographer
Standing near the ledge of a magnificent canyon in Utah's Dead Horse Point State Park in the hours before sunset, my fiancée Gia and I looked each other in the eyes as we read our vows. But our officiant was nowhere in sight. That's because she was darting around the rocks, seeking the perfect angle to capture the moment with her camera. We hired Aimée Flynn as our photographer, but she became our officiant as well. She was also our location scout, wedding planner and even our tour guide. On the short hike to our ceremony spot, she told us about the park's flora and fauna and how 'Thelma and Louise' was filmed at a spot below where we stood. For Flynn, it's all part of her job as an elopement adventure photographer. Those who pursue this style of specialized wedding photography forgo old-school events for unique adventures, guiding couples through the most intimate ceremonies in nature's most spectacular settings. Flynn, who's based in Flagstaff, Ariz., photographed one couple embraced in a Spider-Man-style kiss while climbing on sheer rock face in Moab and another under the moonlight at Yosemite's Glacier Point after a middle-of-the-night hike in total isolation. Elopement adventure photography was born in earnest 10 years ago, pioneered by Maddie Mae, a wedding photographer who'd grown disillusioned with traditional weddings. 'There was a lot of discontentment from people feeling pressure to do things they didn't want, like the garter toss, or who had family members trying to make the event about them,' Mae recalls. 'Eighty percent seemed like they just wanted it to be over with.' There were already photographers taking couples out in gorgeous outdoor settings, but 'I didn't see anyone offering a full-day experience treated with the same importance as a big wedding,' Mae says. Mae changed the game — her elopement adventures took people wherever they wanted to go, giving them permission to have whatever kind of ceremony they desired. When she shot her first elopement in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park, she was transformed. All the traditional wedding details were stripped away: There was no venue, no decor, no distracting crowd, no strict timeline. Just two people committing their lives to each other in nature, which she calls 'the most sacred of sanctuaries.' 'It was the first time I'd seen a couple where they were fully present in their eyes the entire day,' Mae says. 'It was the purest form of a wedding.' Other photographers followed in Mae's footsteps, especially after she began leading workshops on elopement adventures; the three other photographers I interviewed for this piece, Flynn, Traci Edwards and Karen Agurto, all took her courses. Elopement adventures remained a 'very niche' field until the COVID-19 pandemic, Flynn says. 'People couldn't have their big weddings but still wanted to get married.' (Mae received 284 inquiries in May 2020 alone.) The photographers emphasize that their job involves much more than taking beautiful pictures. 'These couples are rejecting the default template, which opens this world of possibilities,' Mae says. 'But then they wonder, 'Where do we go, what do we do, how can we make this ours?' Elopement photographers are experience creators.' For starters, the photographers double as trip planners. Sometimes, Agurto, who's based in Orange County and shoots entirely in California, says she has some blanket recommendations — no Death Valley in the summer or Big Sur during mudslide season, for instance — but each couple is different. Some have clear visions for their adventure while others are more open. Edwards, similarly, has seen all sorts of requests, from a couple who would go anywhere in the desert under a night sky (she chose Joshua Tree) to one who wanted to be photographed on a specific 11-mile hike in Washington. She encourages couples to choose a place that 'matches their relationship.' During the elopements, her husband Bill takes photos via drone and shoots video. (Mae, who is in a different echelon in terms of pricing and clientele, has photographed elopements in more than 20 countries, including at the Dolomites in Italy, the deserts in Namibia and glaciers in Iceland. She says at this point in her career, clients often give her free rein.) My fiancée and I knew we wanted to get married somewhere beautiful in a location new to both of us, and we found Flynn after searching online. We had originally planned for Canyonlands rather than Dead Horse Point — not because of the unromantic name but because we'd never heard of it. But Flynn explained that the national park had more restrictions and less privacy while Dead Horse offered equally monumental vistas. She educated us about the pros and cons of sunrise versus sunset shoots (we chose sunset), recommended hair stylists and makeup artists for Gia, made restaurant suggestions and encouraged my idea of a kayaking trip on the Colorado River the day after our wedding as a nice contrast with our hikes in Canyonlands and Arches the two days before the ceremony. (Quick aside: We found lodging on our own. If you're heading to Moab, definitely go to Red Moon Lodge, which features cozy rooms that open onto majestic views, a garden, a pond and an outdoor space where one of the co-owners, Danny, teaches yoga classes.) Flynn says communication is crucial, which keeps couples calm if things go awry. The photographers build flex time into their schedule so if bad weather looms, they can shift ceremony timing by a few hours or even a day. Another must is a bag of emergency provisions, in case they have to save the day. Agurto's bag includes hairspray, Band-Aids and Tylenol; Flynn's has safety pins, blankets, clear umbrellas and eyelash glue ('when people are hiking, their eyelashes can come undone'); and Edwards says snacks are a critical item (she witnessed one person almost pass out in a remote area), as is a sewing kit ('I've sewn several brides back into their dresses after a zipper broke or sleeve ripped on the trail,' she says). Above all, the photographers prioritize creating emotional connections as much as capturing epic pictures. 'With AI, you could fake these photos, but the people who hire elopement adventure photographers want the full experience,' says Flynn. At ceremony time, Agurto, who used to teach yoga, starts her couples off by asking them to close their eyes and do a breathing exercise. 'I want to calm them and get them in the moment,' she says. (We adopted that idea and it helped us savor the experience.) The photographers also make sure to give couples as much privacy as needed — that's what zoom lenses are for, Flynn notes, while Agurto adds that she offers to wear headphones during the vows. After exchanging vows and rings, Gia and I sipped prosecco, ate brownies and danced to Langhorne Slim's 'House of My Soul,' while Flynn continued shooting (taking a break only to share some bubbly), sometimes asking for specific poses but mostly letting us be. And while the ceremony is obviously the emotional centerpiece, the day doesn't end there. For us, the rest of the evening was almost as memorable, a mix of jaw-dropping beauty and carefree fun. Flynn took us to different spots for more photos as the sun was setting. Then she took out lanterns for us to pose with in the moonlight. Flynn's infectious enthusiasm made us feel like models or movie stars on a photo shoot. (Enhancing that feeling was the way people reacted when they saw us hiking in formal wedding attire and boots.) Later still, we drove to Arches National Park, with Flynn enjoying her work so much she went well beyond the four-hour window we had hired her for. The evening ended with Gia and I standing beneath North Window Arch, illuminated by the nearly full moon, with a sky full of stars behind us. It was as romantic and as visually stunning as it sounds. Because Flynn does her job so well, we were able to fully relax into the moment, trusting that we would have both our memories and exquisite photos to preserve this day forever.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stores open at midnight as fans rush to buy Nintendo Switch 2
The Nintendo Switch 2 has been released worldwide, with stores opening at midnight so fans could get their hands on the long-awaited console the moment it became available. Some shops have the devices available to buy off the shelf - but in most cases customers have been picking up consoles they had ordered in advance, with UK retailer Currys calling it its "biggest gaming pre-order ever." Despite the excitement there have been some setbacks, with one supplier, Game, cancelling some pre-orders. In the US, Nintendo briefly pulled Switch 2 pre-orders in April over concerns around tariffs before starting again a few weeks later. There are also questions over whether the Switch 2 will match the success of its predecessor - the third-best selling console in history - because of its high game prices. A physical copy of its most high-profile game, Mario Kart World, comes in at £74.99 - £15 more expensive than a typical Switch title. The early signs though are that there is considerable customer interest. Currys told the BBC it had sold 30,000 units - which it attributed to the "incredible excitement" associated with the launch. The original Nintendo Switch has shifted more than 150 million units since its 2017 release. A successor has been in the works for years - so perhaps unsurprisingly Tushar Sandarka, the President of the University of York's Mario Kart society, is among those excited about the launch, and the new version of Mario coming with it. "It's coming out with Mario Kart World - which is the first since 2014 - it's a big deal for us," the 19-year-old said. "Securing a pre-order was such a tough decision because it's so expensive. "Even if it's a bit higher than I would have wanted to pay for it, it's going to serve me well for the next 7 or 8 years." But not everyone the BBC spoke to said they would be picking up the console on launch. Mae and Lottie, both students in York, said they would stick to the original Switch because of the cost. "It's quite spenny," Mae said. "What we've got is fine." Lottie agreed, but said she was disappointed not to play on the new Mario Kart game - which she said could cost her as much as "a day's pay". "I'm not spending that on a game," she said. For Nintendo, the Switch 2 represents a change in strategy - in the past its new devices have been given an entirely new name. "This is the first time Nintendo has ever launched a straight sequel," GamesRadar+ brand director Sam Loveridge told the BBC. "It's a clear proposition for consumers - they know exactly what they're getting from this console if they are familiar with the original Switch." She said "everything is pointing to" pre-orders having sold well. "When pre-orders first went live, it was an absolute scramble to find any stock, but Nintendo was clearly prepared and since those early weeks, it's been a lot easier to secure yourself a console for launch day," she said. I was one of the lucky few to get my hands on the Switch 2 at an event in April. Like its predecessor, it is a "hybrid" console - a handheld device which can also be plugged into a TV to play on the big screen. But it has a bigger and brighter screen, along with lots more power and storage. It still has a bit of innovation - you can use the controller like a computer mouse by twisting it on its side, making PC games such as Civilization VII a more enjoyable experience than using joysticks. But many of the showcase Nintendo games on display at that event - including Metroid Prime 4, Donkey Kong: Bananza, and Super Mario Party Jamboree TV - won't be available at launch. I played the £75 Mario Kart World on Switch 2 - was it worth it? Instead the only new Nintendo game on the new console will be Mario Kart World, barring a small title called Welcome Tour which showcases some of the new hardware. "It might seem like an odd bet, but with the original Mario Kart 8 being the best-selling Wii U game and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe being the best-selling Nintendo Switch game, there's a very established audience there," Ms Loveridge said. The gaming giant is also releasing on day one upgraded versions of the Switch's Legend of Zelda games, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, which take advantage of the console's greater power. Beyond that, gamers will have to look to third-party games for alternatives on launch. The range of games includes Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, Cyberpunk 2077, and Bravely Default. "This more powerful console offers plenty of opportunities for third-party games publishers bringing Nintendo into more direct competition with Sony and Microsoft," said Katie Holt, senior games industry research analyst at Ampere Analysis . And fans can expect more from third-party games as the console develops too - with Nintendo senior director Takuhiro Dohta telling me he expected games to get even better. "When there are software titles set for the launch of the hardware, the developers still don't fully know the capabilities and hardware well enough," he said. "As developers continue to develop, they start to understand how it works and what it's capable of, so I think we can expect improvements not only in graphics but in gameplay too." Will £75 be the new normal for video games after Switch 2's Mario Kart? Nintendo announces Switch 2 release date - and a new Mario Kart game Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. 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Metro
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
It's been 5 years since one of the best LGBTQ+ shows and I'm still obsessed
Mae Martin's semi-autobiographical show, Feel Good, remains one of the greatest gifts to LGBTQ+ TV five years after its premiere. The two-season comedy starring Mae as a fictionalised version of themselves and Charlotte Ritchie as their love interest George has to be one of my favourite depictions of queerness in all of its forms. The Channel 4 show first came out to plenty of acclaim and fanfare, securing it a second season and cultivating plenty of impressed fans along the way, myself included. For the uninitiated, the first episode opens on George (Ritchie), who is initially characterised as a stereotypical heterosexual woman on a comedy night out with her uptight friend Binky – and utterly enthralled by Mae's pithy stand-up set. When the two connect later that night, we embark on the charming, turbulent (often heartbreaking) story of their relationships that explores late-in-life coming out, self-empowerment, gender identity, and co-dependency. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. All of this is hooked onto the central throughline around Mae's past struggle with addiction, their attempts to stay sober, and reckoning with a traumatic past as they try to envision a future with George. Martin manages to write tender and evocative scenes depicting the pervasive ways that addiction has imploded not only Mae's life but those of the people around them – including their parents (portrayed by Lisa Kudrow and Adrian Lukis in the show). Meanwhile, George is by no means forgotten by the plot. We see her work through her fears around her identity, her anxieties around being another thing her partner is addicted to, her complex relationship with her parents and even question what she wants out of her career. Heck, even messy roommate Phil (portrayed by Phil Burgers) gets some tearjerking character development throughout the 12 episodes. What makes Feel Good so refreshing is – despite the difficult and heavy topics it deals with – it delivers them with such frankness and with so many well-weaved wisecracks in between that it also stands up as one of the funniest shows around. Whatever Mae and Charlotte were infusing into that script was comedy gold that can flip you from crying to laughing with a well-timed punchline. In a TV landscape where it is rare to see well-fleshed-out queer women and non-binary characters, Feel Good offers this representation in spades and makes no apologies for the fact that sometimes both George and Mae can be utterly unlikable. Yet you can't help rooting for them anyway. It is also one of my favourite depictions of love on screen. As something worth fighting for at its ugliest and messiest, because that's when you know there could be something beautiful underneath. The show knows exactly when to go all in on the madness, like the episode where George goes to a wedding for the day so Mae completely spirals and ends up on a completely mad dash with her (kind of) sponsor Maggie to stalk her daughter Lava (Rity Arya). Or the time Mae and George go to Blackpool to bury the ashes of Mae's cat Solomon with their parents, and the day breaks down into chaos. Or when Mae dresses up as a medieval knight and proposes to George in a school hall. The list goes on… But it also completely disarms you by interspersing the hijinks with moments of depth, such as when Mae admits to wearing black all the time because they are afraid to wear colour, and it breaks George's heart. Or when the couple talk about Mae's gender identity and George simply tells them, 'you tell me the right words and I'll use them'. Even the moment George realises that despite her whole life having changed after finding love with Mae, she still misses her old friends, despite the fact that they don't totally get her now. Strangely, it also serves as a time capsule of this golden time in the late 2010s/early 20s when we seemed to have reached the pinnacle of LGBTQ+ and women's rights. When championing trans rights was seen as the mainstream stance; calling out high-profile abusers hadn't completely devolved into a social media battle over wokery and cancellation; and the TV industry felt like it was making an active effort to platform complex queer stories told in full (rather than being cancelled premturely). I love how Charlotte and George are selfish and angry and enabling and scared. I love how queer intimacy is portrayed as something tender and heartfelt and kinky and messy and fragile and rough. Most of all, I love that we get a satisfying happy ending. No ifs, ands or buts. More Trending I'm desperate to see more British adult comedies explore the ever-evolving LGBTQ+ community through a queer female and non-binary lens that reach the same calibre as Feel Good. So, for those who have never seen it, this is your sign to watch it. Right now. And for those who have, what are you waiting for? It's overdue for a rewatch to hit you in the feels all over again. View More » Feel Good is available to stream on Netflix now. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: The words I wish I could say to my 17-year-old closeted self MORE: Holly Willoughby suffers major blow as Netflix show is 'axed' after one season MORE: I binge-watch TV for a living – here are my recommendations for June
Irish Times
03-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Chef Gráinne O'Keefe: Eighteen months without sugar - ‘everyone asks about chocolate, but yes, I can still eat it'
It has been 18 months since I cut refined sugar from my diet, and it still surprises me how often people bring it up. When I wrote about it for The Irish Times last November, I didn't expect much reaction. I figured it would be one of those personal pieces that quietly disappear into the food section archives, but then people started asking me about it. And not just online. At the restaurant (Mae in Dublin's Ballsbridge) at least once or twice a week, someone comes in and asks, 'How did you do it?' or more often, 'How can I try it?' And the honest answer is that it is simple – but like anything worthwhile, it takes some effort. Giving up sugar initially, I wasn't just ditching biscuits and desserts. It was a full elimination diet. The goal was to figure out what was causing some inflammation and to reset my immune system. Having cooked professionally for 17 years, food has always been a central part of my life. I have also done more allergy and intolerance tests than I care to remember. Skin patches, blood tests, the lot. Nothing conclusive. But by cutting out refined sugar, among other things, something shifted. My skin cleared up, that sluggish post-meal heaviness lifted, and I just felt better. Not supercharged or transformed. Just noticeably better. What shocked me, even as someone who works with food every day, was realising how much sugar is added to products that should not require it. Mayonnaise, spice mixes and sauces – so many shop-bought versions have it right there in the ingredients list. It is not there for preservation. It is just there to enhance flavour and make things more addictive. [ Summer 2025: 100 great restaurants, cafes and places to eat around Ireland Opens in new window ] How to ditch sugar and still enjoy food. This one is a Tarte Tatin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill Quitting sugar was not a gradual process – it was cold turkey, and very deliberately so. I needed to commit properly to figure out what was affecting me. Sugar did not show up on any test results, but when I eliminated it in its refined form, I noticed my body reacted differently. Subtle things disappeared – mild rashes on my cheeks, a flushed feeling not unlike what some people get after a glass of red wine. I wanted to isolate the cause, so I cut out alcohol too, just to be sure. READ MORE What was most interesting and unexpected was how my palate changed. I have never had a sweet tooth. I would happily skip dessert and go straight for the cheeseboard. But when I stopped eating sugar, I began to crave sweetness. Not cake or sweets, but fruit. Natural sugars. Suddenly, dates tasted like toffee. Apples were satisfyingly sweet. My body had adjusted, and I started to enjoy the taste of natural sugar. I began creating recipes that were sweet but did not use refined sugar – things I enjoyed eating that did not upset my system. Date syrup became a favourite. I would soak Medjool dates in water, blitz them into a smooth syrup, and use that to sweeten everything from dressings to desserts. Apple syrup is brilliant too, especially for things like apple tarte tatin. I would cook the apples in orchard syrup with a bit of butter, cream, calvados and vanilla. There are plenty of alternatives to refined sugar – honey, maple syrup, chicory root syrup, coconut sugar, xylitol. Each one has its place and not all of them are created equal. Some are better suited to baking, others work well in sauces. But what they all have in common is that they are not as stripped of nutrients or as concentrated as white sugar. Plus, there are the natural sugars already present in a lot of food – lactose in milk, fructose in fruit. It is all sugar, technically, but when it is part of a whole food, your body processes it differently. For me, that made all the difference. Consider eating two tablespoons of sugar – your body can process it (although you would probably find it too sweet), but if you tried to eat the equivalent amount of sugar by eating only strawberries, you would feel full long before you took in the same amount of sugar. That's the food's natural way of telling us when we have had enough. Concentrating the sugar removes that natural regulator. Sugar-free treats: Medjool dates, stuffed with blitzed peanuts and sea salt, topped with a banana slice, dipped in homemade chocolate, then frozen. It is like a Snickers bar but better. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill One of the questions I get asked most is about chocolate – can I still have it? Can I make it? The answer is yes, and yes. Even as a chef, I will admit I used to think chocolate was more complicated to make than it is. The truth is, making chocolate is ridiculously simple. I am not talking about tempering couverture or sourcing Peruvian cacao beans. I mean, every day, eat-it-on-the-couch chocolate. You just need good quality cocoa powder, cocoa butter or coconut oil, a sweetener like date syrup or honey, maybe a pinch of salt and some vanilla, warm the lot and mix. That's it. It sets in the fridge in half an hour, and honestly, it is delicious. Add a splash of milk to make milk chocolate. There is something satisfying about making things from scratch, especially when you thought you could not – and a lot of the time, the idea of it is much harder than the actual process. We have been sold the idea that convenience is everything, but convenience often comes with compromise. That compromise for me was inflammation, fatigue and feeling out of sync with my body. Once I put a little effort into cooking most things myself, I realised how little I was missing out on. If you have 30 minutes and a blender, there is very little you cannot make yourself – date caramel, nut butters, syrups and chocolate; even home-made mayonnaise. Once you do it once, you stop wondering if it is possible. Lately, I have reintroduced some foods to my diet. I eat carbs again – pasta, rice, sourdough bread – usually the ones we make in Mae with just flour, water, and salt, but processed sugar is something I have stayed away from. Not because I am trying to be saintly, but because I just feel better without it. I don't crave it any more. And if I want something sweet, I can make it myself. One of my favourite snacks now is a Medjool date, stuffed with blitzed peanuts and sea salt, topped with a banana slice, dipped in home-made chocolate, and frozen. It is like a Snickers bar but better – really. Sticky, chewy, salty sweet, rich and satisfying and there is no crash afterwards. If you are thinking about cutting sugar, my advice is not to make it a huge deal. Don't overthink it. Start by reading labels. Pick one or two things you usually buy and look for versions without added sugar. Or swap in something home-made if you have the time. Do not aim for perfection – just be curious. Try a few alternatives. You do not need to rewire your entire life overnight, bake your own sourdough or sprout your own chickpeas. You just need to make one small decision at a time. What am I eating today? Is there sugar in it? Can I swap it for something else? That's it. Don't tell yourself you can't. Remind yourself of how many incredible things you have achieved and how small and achievable it will be to remove something from your life that may not be serving you well. What pushed me to commit if I was getting tempted was the idea that sugar is being sneaked into foods you wouldn't expect. If there's anything that's going to spur someone like me on, it's proving to myself that I can't be controlled, including what I consume. For me, removing processed sugar was never about deprivation – it was about feeling like myself again. And even though I am not telling anyone else to do it, I would recommend it, in particular if you have been feeling off and cannot quite work out why. And yes, in case you are wondering, I am still eating dates. Every day. And I still haven't got sick of them. Gráinne O'Keefe is chef-patron of Dublin 4 restaurant Mae Recipe: Apple and Calvados Tarte Tatin (refined sugar free) Serves 6 Ingredients 6 firm eating apples (Braeburn or Pink Lady work well) 3 tablespoons apple syrup (such as Highbank Orchard Syrup) 1 tablespoon Calvados 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped 25g unsalted butter 2 tablespoons cream 1 sheet all butter puff pastry Method Preheat your oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Peel and halve the apples. Core them and set aside. In an ovenproof frying pan or tarte tatin tin, melt the apple syrup and butter gently until combined. Add the vanilla seeds and pod. Let it bubble slightly. Add the cream and Calvados and let it reduce for 2 to 3 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove the vanilla pod. Arrange the apples cut-side up in the pan. Cook on the hob over medium heat for 10 minutes until they begin to soften and caramelise slightly. Roll out the puff pastry and cut a circle just slightly larger than your pan. Lay it over the apples and tuck in the edges. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden and puffed. Let it cool for five minutes before carefully inverting on to a plate. Serve warm with a little extra cream if you like. Recipe: Simple sugar-free chocolate using date syrup Makes one small bar Ingredients 60g cocoa butter 30g unsweetened cocoa powder 2 to 3 tablespoons date syrup (adjust to taste) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Pinch of sea salt Method Melt the cocoa butter gently in a saucepan over low heat. Once melted, whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Stir in the date syrup, vanilla, and salt. Taste and adjust the sweetness if needed. Pour into silicone moulds or a lined tin. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes until set. Store in the fridge and enjoy within a week.
Daily Record
02-06-2025
- Daily Record
'I'm Fred and Rose West's daughter and I played dress-up in their victims' clothes'
Mae now lives a life far removed from the circumstances in which she was brought up by her parents. The children of serial killers Fred and Rose West faced horrific abuse at the hands of their evil parents - including their daughter, Mae. Since the notorious couple were imprisoned in 1995, Mae, now 53, has strived to lead a life that bears some semblance of normality, completely different from the monstrous individuals she once called Mum and Dad. Her mum Rose was handed 10 life sentences after aiding her husband Fred in a killing spree of at least 12 women during the 70s and 80s in Gloucester - two of the victims being their own children, Charmaine and Heather West, reports the Mirror. While Rose has consistently maintained her innocence, Fred evaded justice by taking his own life while awaiting a court trial. Now, three decades since being incarcerated at HMP New Hall, reports suggest that Rose, 71, who adopted the name Jennifer Jones in 2020, is becoming increasingly isolated and frail in her jail cell. A source revealed to The Sun this week: "She's in a disabled room now because she can barely walk. No one talks to her because everyone knows who she is and what she did, even if she has changed her name." Rose finds herself completely alone after severing ties with eldest surviving daughter Mae. Mae grew up at 25 Cromwell Street, one of eight children, but by the time she was born, they had already killed her half-sister Charmaine and her father's previous wife, Catherine 'Rena' West. Bedtime stories or a goodnight kiss from her parents were non-existent, and toys were few and far between anywhere in their home. As a result, they often invented their own games - donning the clothes of their parents' victims for make-believe dress-up, which they discovered while confined to the cellar at night time. By the age of seven, Mae endured severe sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her parents, with her own dad forcing her and her older sister Heather to view pornographic material with him. This grim future was something her older half-sister Anne Marie had already warned her about. "One day, I went swimming with Anne Marie and she told me she'd been sexually abused by Mum and Dad," said Mae, who now lives in the West Country with her husband and two children. "She said it had gone on for years and warned me they might try to do the same to me," she penned in her 2018 memoir, Love As Always, Mum. It was even suggested that the depraved Fred harboured twisted intentions of impregnating his daughters, telling them: "I made you; I can do what I like with you." Fred openly boasted about filming Rose having sex with random men while he was concealed in the wardrobe, Mae revealed to the Daily Mail. "I used to find it completely repulsive. Their fascination with risqué sexual activities was never hidden from us. They'd leave adult magazines and bondage equipment: masks, rubber suits, whips and the like, scattered around the house. "It wasn't uncommon for us children to stumble upon dildos, vibrators and other intimate toys casually left around the home. Dad found our reactions more amusing than anything else." With Fred and Rose exposing their offspring to sex at an early age, Mae, as a teen, was often enlisted to assist Rose, who had become a sex worker, in arranging appointments with her clients who would visit the house, even when the children were at home. Rose also subjected her daughter to horrific abuse, once dragging a knife along her ribcage. Mae and her siblings lived in constant fear of their parents' threats that they would end up "under the patio" like their sister, Heather. However, Mae does remember occasional breaks from the torment they suffered. "We ate meals and watched telly together, celebrated birthdays and Christmas, and went on family holidays," Mae wrote in her book. "Mum used to bake splendid cakes. We'd always have a fantastic iced sponge for our birthdays and an equally delightful fruit cake laced with alcohol at Christmas time. "She always made a real effort for special occasions and Christmas Day was the one day we truly felt like any other family."
