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supernatural-fanficuniverse · 6 years

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Heaven

Title: Heaven

Pairing: Jensen x Reader

Word Count: 3,228

Warnings: body issues, cussing

Summary: You were Jensen’s date to the 13th season premiere and are second guessing him finding you attractive anymore after seeing all of the perfect models on the red carpet. Just like he always saves the day, Jensen found a way to show you just how beautiful you truly are.

Request by @samanddeanmyheroes: The first song is by Kane Brown, called heaven. I would love to read something very fluffy, maybe Jensen or Jared x reader, but I'll leave that up to you. Maybe something like the reader is having self esteem issues, or is being bullied (or something along those lines) and everything from the song is Jensen or Jared trying to help cheer her up. (Like she thinks she's not worthy of him, and he says that nothing is better than her). Sorry if I'm being picky.

A/N: I really loved writing this one, and if you guys have a request, please send them in :)

“Should I go with the black one, or the red one?” Jensen asked you as he poked his head around the hotel closet’s door frame holding two ties. One a deep black matte and one a beautiful rich, satin red.

“Either one would work, but the red one matches my dress perfectly,” you said, as his beautiful features disappeared once again. You met Jensen when you were hired as a personal assistant to help the actors on the set of Supernatural, which just so happened to include Jensen. You had about 7 months of dating under your belt and tonight was the 13th season premiere. You had to dress super fancy and walk down the red carpet with him, which to put it mildly, gave you a shit ton of anxiety.

You were going to be walking down that paparazzi line where pictures would be taken and distributed for millions to see. Not to mention the fact that A-list celebrities and models were going to be there. What a better way to feel inferior? But on a serious note, what would Jensen think about you after this? Sure, you guys were dating, but he’s going to be around a lot of abso-fucking-lutely stunning women with perfect proportions, big butts, and big boobs; the whole nine yards. After seeing all of that, there is no way he is going to want to still be with you, or for that matter, even look at you with lust in his eyes. He would finally realize that he could be with someone that could offer so much more to him instead of having you tag along like the ugly step sister no one wants.

After all, you weren’t some famous super model, actress, or some Victoria Secret Angel. You were some nobody from the middle of nowhere. You had no right to walk along the red carpet, much less date someone the red carpeted event was solely for in the first place.

With all those thoughts and insecurities running through your mind, you were starting to question whether or not you should go or just stay at the hotel. Jensen could just walk in with Jared, Gen, Misha, and Vicki. You could just fake it and act like you were sick. It’s not like anyone would miss you not being there.

“Y/N? Are you okay?” You looked towards the closet from where you were sitting on the end of your shared bed.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” You inquired. Trying to act cool, as if Jensen hadn’t just startled the living shit out of you.

“I called your name like five times before you answered,” Jensen said as he paused and looked deep into your eyes. When you didn’t answer (because I mean what do you say? Oh, I’m sorry I was just sittin’ here thinking about all the hot ass women that you’d rather be with than me. No, that didn’t quite fit)

“Whats on your mind?” He asked as he moved into the bathroom, you trailing along behind him.

You studied his face in the mirror as he trimmed his beard (he was only able to grow it out while he was on hiatus from filming and you thought he looked so sexy with it.) “I’m just nervous is all,” you said with a sigh, trying to play it off, hiding your inner thoughts from him.

He turned to look at you, his hands resting on your shoulders comfortably. “It will all be fine, I promise. All we really have to do is walk down the carpet, after that we could leave if you want? It’s not like I wasn’t there filming it, I know what’s going to happen.” He looked at you with such concern in his eyes and it was honestly so touching, but when you thought about him looking into someone else’s eyes, or should you say some sexy model from the red carpet’s eyes, you felt like you could throw up.

“I’ll be okay, I guess,” You lied with a closed lip smile that only went halfway up to your eyes. “I better go get dressed now.” You stated as you started walking out of the bathroom. You had done your hair and makeup earlier with Gen and her stylist and now all you had to do was put on your dress, shoes, and jewelry. You walked into the expansive closet and quickly spotted the beautiful dress. It really was a gorgeous dress, you just had your doubts about how gorgeous it would look on you. It was a deep crimson color and had a sparkly bodice. The bottom hem fell to the ground, but it had a slit in it to allow a slight peek of your legs through the material.

You carefully took off the t-shirt and cotton shorts you wear wearing and unzipped the dress. You slid into it and made sure you didn’t mess up your hair in the process. The itchy material added to your feeling of unease as you stepped out of the closest into the open part of the hotel room. Jensen was sitting on the bed, hunched over tying his black dress shoes.

“Will you zip my dress up for me please?” You asked standing in front of him. He looked up and when he saw you his lips formed a perfect ‘O’ and he let out a low wolf whistle. “Hot damnnnnn! I have a beautiful girlfriend,” Jensen said loud enough for the whole hall to hear, a shade of red similar to the color of your dress settling itself onto your cheeks. “I don’t look that good,” you said, trying to counter his statement. He circled around you and you felt his fingers bush over your exposed neck and shoulder as he swept your hair to one side. You felt his hot breath flutter over your neck and collarbone as he whispered in your ear sending shivers up your spine. “Oh, but you do. Don’t make me show you tonight,” Jensen whispered, you didn't have to look at him to know that a devilish grin was playing on his face. “I’m just worried that I won’t look as good as some of those other girls on the red carpet. It’s LA for goodness sake, everyone here is a goddess in comparison to me,” you expressed to Jensen as you felt his warm hands zipping your dress up. He walked around to look you in the eyes, and he cupped both of your cheeks into his soft hands. “You have absolutely nothing to worry about. To me, you’re the most beautiful girl that has ever walked God’s green earth. I couldn’t give two fucks about any other girl unless their name is Y/N Y/L/N and look like you.” Your cheeks turned as red as a tomato as he tilted his head and leaned in, pressing his lips to yours with a passionate firmness that made your heart flutter with lust and love. You both had decided in the days beforehand that Jensen was going to drive you and himself to the premier. You could have had Clif drive you both, but you felt more comfortable in your own car, plus you could leave when you wanted to and didn’t have to wait on Jared and Gen to be ready to leave, so that was a plus.

Once you had put on your jewelry and grabbed your clutch and your cell phone, you and Jensen headed out of the hotel door.

You felt Jensen's reassuring hand on the small of your back as you walked down the hall, studying the plush red velvet carpet beneath your feet. It was an extremely nice hotel, so nice that if it wasn’t for Jensen’s paycheck you probably would have never gotten the chance to stay here. Jensen’s words had only given you a little bit of reassurance. You were still extremely worried, and you just couldn’t help but think that you were going to look horrible and the whole world was going to see it. You didn’t have the perfect waist line, huge boobs, or impossibly long lean legs. You were the exact opposite. You weren’t nearly as skinny as some of the girls you had seen.

All too soon you had made it to the lobby and out of the glass double doors with golden gilded handles and ornate knobs (seriously you couldn’t believe how utterly fancy this place was). Jensen asked the valet for his car as you spaced out, thoughts compiling in your head at the speed of light.

You saw the sleek black car pull around the covered circle of the front of the hotel, silently thanking Jensen for having such good, clean taste in cars. He wasn’t one of those celebrities who liked to flex and have over the top attention grabbing cars, neither was Jared or Misha for that matter. You were glad you had people in your life that helped you stay grounded and humble.

Jensen being the gentleman he was removed his hand from the small of your back to open your door for you, immediately missing the warmth and reassurance of touching Jensen, you got into the passenger seat of his car.

He got into the driver seat and took off after putting on his seat-belt. The event was only 13 minutes away, so it wasn’t a very long drive. It was silent the whole way, but it was the comfortable kind. Little did Jensen know, but you had butterflies doing somersaults in your stomach and you literally felt like you were 30 seconds from a panic attack, but you were hiding it well, thank God.

All too soon you saw the valet section where celebrities attending the event enter the red carpet. You literally felt like you were going to have a heart attack, your heart was beating so fast in your chest you thought it would explode any second. You saw the intense flashes already pointed towards Jensen’s car, the paparazzi eager to catch of glimpse of Jensen’s date. They were going to be very underwhelmed after they saw you.

Jensen turned to look at you, and he didn’t look like he was in a hurry to get out. We were the first to show up after all.

“Are you ready to do this?” Jensen asked concern laced in his rich, deep voice.

You swallowed nervously and shook your head ‘no’ so slightly that it was almost not perceivable. But Jensen noticed alright.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” He asked as his hands reached for yours.

“I just don’t want the whole world to hate me. You know yourself just how mean people can be when you live in the limelight. What if all those paparazzi for all those high end magazines think you should be with someone of a higher social status than me. I’m just a regular person, I’m not some esteemed model or well known actress.” You let all your emotions out in a vomit of words. You were just too anxious to try and hold them all in any longer.

Jensen looked like he was deep in thought before turning to look you in the eyes.

“Y/A, you are the most absolutely stunning woman I have ever seen. I could care less what magazines or the public thinks. My opinion is what matters when it comes to who I date and I think you’re more amazing than the worlds most famous actress or model. I’ll make you a deal, you and your beautiful self walk into the premiere with your head held high like the confident woman you deserve to be and then we can sneak out and leave. If my words won’t work, I guess I’ll just have to show you.”

You had to be honest with yourself, hearing that from Jensen was a major confidence booster. So what if you weren’t like them, but Jensen wanted you, not them and that’s what mattered. You weren’t 100% confident and you were still nervous, but his little speech definitely helped to take the edge off of your worries. You also loved the idea of ditching the premiere and spending the night just you and him.

“Deal, but only if we can get cheeseburgers afterwards,” you said with a smirk.

“Now that’s my girl,” Jensen said smiling proudly as if he had won an award. “Let’s go tackle this paparazzi and we’re out of here my love.”

You nodded to him as you gathered all the strength you could muster as you watched Jensen round the front of the car over to open your door. The cameras were already going off and the amount of light they produced was almost blinding even from inside the car.

Jensen opened the door and it was truly now or never. You plastered on your biggest smile and tried to consciously hold your head a little higher than normal.

You slowly made your way down the line. You glanced over to Jensen and the next thing you knew, his lips were on your cheek. The entire paparazzi sounded in a mix of “awes” and it seemed as if 30 new cameras had magically appeared. You were blushing so hard you could only assume your face was as red as your dress.

Before you knew it you were out of the line, maybe it actually wasn’t as bad as you had originally thought. Jensen grabbed your hand and turned you to face him.

“You did so amazing, are you ready to get out of here?”

“I’ve never been more ready in my entire life,” you said with a laugh, eliciting one from Jensen as well as he led you around the back way towards the car. You once again silently thanked Jensen for not having a taste in flashy cars, his car allowed you both to slip out without anyone really noticing.

You were finally back on the road, the windows were down and the radio was on. The warm night air mixed with Jensen glancing over at you ever 30 seconds with a goofy grin on his face was just what you needed. You saw some clouds start forming and as you guys kept driving rain started, and it was pouring hard. You burst into hysterical laughter as you started getting wet, frantically trying to roll up with windows and laughing as Jensen pulled over to the side of the road trying to close the sun roof.

By the time everything was closed you were both soaking wet and the rain was coming down so hard that you could barely see three feet in front of you. You were going to be there for a while.

“I guess worse things could have happened,”Jensen said with a laugh, “besides I love getting stuck in the car with you my love.”

You looked into his green eyes that seemed to sparkle in the moonlight as he continued.

“Remember what I had wanted to show you earlier?” he asked.

You shook your head as he pulled out his phone, connecting it to the aux cord hooked into the cars radio.

“Well, I have a song I wanted to show you because it perfectly describes my feelings for you Y/N.”

You didn’t have a chance to say anything as you heard a melody start.

This is perfect Come kiss me one more time I couldn't dream this up Even if I tried You and me in this moment Feels like magic only I'm right where I wanna be

As you heard the lyrics you started tearing up, it was so true and coupled with Jensen’s kind and earnest expression you couldn’t help but get emotional.

Everybody's talking about heaven like they just can't wait to go Saying how it's gonna be so good, so beautiful Lying next to you, in this bed with you, I ain't convinced 'Cause, I don't know how, I don't know how heaven, heaven Could be better than this

You loved this man more than words could even describe. You moved yourself over until he was holding you in his arms. He was mouthing the words to the songs as he stared into your eyes. You had no choice, but to believe the words spilling out of the speakers. He was so genuine with it, you felt his emotions behind each word.

I swear you're an angel Sent to this world What did I do right to deserve you, girl? I could stay here forever I'd be fine if we never had to even leave this room

I swear, this is perfect Come kiss me one more time

As the song finished Jensen leaned in and kissed you so passionately before he spoke.

“If there was one thing I’d want you to remember it would be that song. You’re so perfect to me. You’re literally all I have ever wanted so it hurts me to see you think so little of yourself. You’re my entire world and I’m going to make it my personal goal that you never forget how much I love you. Some days I sit back and think just what I did to deserve you. I have absolutely no idea what you saw in me, but I am so grateful you chose me to be your boyfriend. I love you Y/N.”

The tears that had been welling in your eyes were falling.

“I love you too Jensen,” you said through your tears as he pulled you in and held you tight in his arms, almost as a reminder that he will always be there for you no matter what.

“How about we go eat some cheeseburgers now? You definitely look like you could use right about now,” Jensen said with a laugh.

“Sure, I’d love to get cheeseburgers soaking wet at 10 at night,” you replied laughing just as much as he was.

Maybe you didn’t have to be perfect after all, maybe you just had to be yourself all along.

Taglist: @clarewinchester @samanddeanmyheroes @heyitscam99 @mrswhozeewhatsis

#dean winchester #reader insert #sam and dean #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural #Jensen Ackles #jensen ackles x reader #13th season

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eternaleve · 7 years

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So, if you’ve had a look at my update post, I’ve not been doing much of anything lately. I’m house-bound currently because my health has been absolutely terrible as of late. My life’s on hold yet again which is very annoying because I’ve felt like it’s been on hold since university. That’s four years ago now where my luck has been terrible. Maybe’s it’s Anita Blake cursing me.

Anyway, if you know me, you’ll know that history is my thing. In fact, it’s Tudor history. I specialised in the politics of the Henrican court and I like to sharpen my brain box from time to time.

And this little show is currently up in its entirety on Netflix.

It’s rated an 8.1 on imDB and was nominated for Golden Globe awards. It was presented as being an intimate sort of revelation of the great secrets of Henry VIII’s court, the great men and great women of his life.

And this show makes me rage as only a historian can rage. This show is a burning bag of garbage that makes me incredibly angry. Not only in terms of really bad writing choices but really terrible clothing. And that there are people who made genuine efforts to try and make this accurate and include incredibly minor details of court – only for it to be absolute rubbish.

And I’m here to pour water on this burning bag of garbage. Or another, better metaphor.

Let’s throw ourselves into ‘In Cold Blood’. Our official synopsis is ‘King Henry VIII, the young and ambitious monarch of England, prepares for war with France but is dissuaded by the diplomatic manipulation of his powerful Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, who proposes that the King sponsor a “Treaty of Universal Peace.” The harmony of the King’s domestic affairs is threatened, however, when he discovers that Elizabeth Blount, the young and beautiful lady-in-waiting to his Queen, Katherine of Aragon, is pregnant with his child.’

That’s a lot of information for one episode and it really rattles through the stuff that people all commonly associate with the Tudors. It is also really badly written. Let’s begin.

A Nonsense Beginning

The episode doesn’t really start off too well. We’re heading straight to an Italian palace (even though ‘Italy’ as a specific location did not exist in the sixteenth century) and this is not a sixteenth century palace. This is really not. This is neo-classical in the most blatant style.

This is a sixteenth century Italian palace. Much more ornate and decorative.

Sean Pertwee gets out of a carriage and his costume is wrong in so many ways. English fashion in the sixteenth century is known for its many layers, the wide silhouette, and the use of slashing to display fabrics. Sean Pertwee’s style is very reminiscent of gentlemen at the court of Elizabeth I; slim and narrow, a style that has become highly feminised. These are not the clothes of a man from the later half of the sixteenth century, not from the beginning.

The men he’s travelling to meet are much more appropriately dressed – highly decorated doublets with long overgowns. Plus hats. You’d never be out in public without a hat at this point in time. And hello baby Aiden Turner. You’re going to be in one of my favourite TV shows of all time, and then be in Poldark with its really awful rape scene. Ups and downs there.

Anyway, Sean Pertwee gets brutally taken out by the French.

This confuses me greatly. It makes for an incredibly dramatic opening, that’s for sure, and sets up that England hates the French and that is mutual. There’s animosity between the two countries which is only news if you are not European. However, early modern politics was not a brutal affair. Well, all the time. There was that time that the Dutch cannibalised someone and people were thrown out of windows in Prague, but an English ambassador would not be stabbed to death by the French in public this way. It would be incredibly stupid because it would only cause war.

This also throws up many questions to me in terms of history. When is this meant to be set? There were varying times of war and peace between England and France, and a specific year is never given in this episode. This episode swings between 1514 and 1520, and six years is a long time in politics.

And there’s the issue that Sean Pertwee is supposed to be Henry VIII’s uncle.

Right. Okay. There’s a writing choice I can simply not get my head around. Henry VIII didn’t have any uncles, and giving him one doesn’t inform his fictional character or explain what happens. It makes no logical sense – his father was an only child and if Henry VIII’s mother had surviving brothers… then they would be king. Because her father, Edward IV would have passed the throne to them.

The Poor Choices of Henry VIII

The big selling point of this show was that it’s YOUNG Henry VIII. It’s Henry as you’ve never seen him before! He’s young, he’s sexy, he’s active, and not fat and gross. In pursuit of this, the writers made a huge mistake. They made him brash, rude, and frankly abusive to Katherine. He’s a slobbering mess in this first episode, and his characterisation is all over the place.

And his clothing is fucking terrible.

Our first introduction to Henry is that he’s dressed like an acrobat. There is nothing right with his clothing. Compare him to this image of a English man from the early part of the sixteenth century (it’s later than VAGUE 1514 TO 1520 VAGUE YEAR but at least it’s English).

English fashion is bulky and layered. There’s no way Henry would not have an overgown and his clothes are just too slim. And that crown looks like ass.

I like that Henry has the most Catholic underclothes it is possible to get. I don’t like the metallic popper buttons. Buttons were not especially widespread in clothing, with most items being tied or fitted to the body. Henry VIII did not have child-friendly popper boxer shorts with Catholic detailing.

Henry is wearing only the most fashionable in cheap and common leathers! This looks like foot soldier armour. It is not anything a nobleman in Tudor England would wear. Also Katherine’s dress is terrible, but I’ll be going into the women’s fashion in a bit.

Henry VIII is FLORAL SOFA MAN!

Who doesn’t want to do physical exercise in a full suit of leather?

Love that fisherman jumper, Henners.

Throughout this episode, Jonathan Rhys Meyer makes just the weirdest choices for his performance. Ignoring the fact that he is blatantly wrong for this role, he just does weird stuff. He’s loud and obnoxious and plays Henry as a complete idiot. And the episode ends on this image. Just Henry, his pathetic little beard, staring madly at you. Thanks, director. I needed that.

A Decorated Skirt Does Not A Period Costume Make.

I get it. Tudor women’s fashion does not appear sexy to modern audiences. You have to balance out the ‘sexy’ lead and make the women appear sexy. They do this by making the worst attempt at Tudor costumes for women I’ve ever seen.

The first female character we see is in The Corridor (c) that we see consistently over the first season. They show the vast wealth and grandness of the palace of White Hall with the same terrible brick background over and over.

For a start, her waist is too high. English fashions are conical at this time, with hemlines square and farthingales round like an ice cream cone. Her hair is also loose under what appears to be a piece of lace.

‘I have a necklace in my hair for no apparent reason. Also my hair is loose, which no grown woman at the English court would ever have. Because my hair would be really fucking long and I don’t want lice.’

Katherine of Aragon, an incredibly proud and proper queen, is just lazing around with her hair loose and a nightgown. For the record, here’s Katherine at this time –

Gable hoods and trumpet sleeves. They may not be sexy but they were at the time.

I don’t know I don’t even. This screams 17th Dutch more than anything else with the huge white collar and huge great big stomacher. This is especially egregious as this is Thomas More’s wife and there’s an incredibly famous portrait of her. She should have a hood on, great big trumpet sleeves, and no huge white weird collar that is attached to her dress and not the shirt underneath which appears to also be a dress.

This dress has some huge great big puffy sleeves are are hideous. They also don’t come into English fashion for another fifteen years. The attempt at a French hood is also… weird. For a start, they’re not around at the English court from this point for about ten or so years (depending on whatever vague year this is), and what the hell? What is with all this loose hair? She’s got beautiful flowing locks that do not work with a French hood.

That’s how a French hood works. Your hair is covered because all women pretty much had their hair covered in public at this point in time and you don’t want nits. Long loose flowing hair? THAT’S HOW YOU GET NITS.

I don’t even with this. Not only is her dress terrible, with an overgown that wouldn’t be introduced to the 1550s, but what is even with that headdress? What is it meant to be? You can’t just glue fake pearls to something and call it a headdress.

So, left dress: fine, I guess, as a common gown for when you’re at home not seeing anyone. I don’t like the bustle thing at the back. It could be a bumroll, but her skirtline would be much higher and if you’re relaxed at home without a farthingale, why would you have a bumroll?

Right dress; whaaaaaattttt. That’s very Italian. The lose, low sleeves are continental and the bust line, shoulders, and curled hair make me think of Stuart/Restoration fashion, not 1510s/1520s. And that’s not even getting into whatever the bodice is. It’s a bodice for a dress, not a front-opening bra.

Everyone’s Evil Henny

Fashion aside, the point of this episode is that Henry is stupid and everyone around him is evil. No matter where he goes, from fucking (there are far more sex scenes in this episode than necessary), to playing tennis, or to the daily joust, there is someone being evil and making use of how lazy and stupid Henry is to get across their evil doing. FYI, Henry VIII was an incredibly intelligent and busy man. He did not just spend his time at the apparently daily joust.

The Duke of Buckingham is evil and planning a rebellion. He also actually looks like Henry VIII and did not launch open rebellion in real life. He wears all black throughout the show so we know he’s definitely evil.

Cardinal Wolsey is also evil because he wants peace (boo!) and is pro-French (boo!). He’s conducting what appears to be the Treaty of London, but that was 1518 and there’s stuff that takes place in varying years. Pick a date, guys. Pick a date and stick to it. He beats a guy up. It’s weird.

Thomas Boleyn is introduced and because he’s actually wearing the right clothing out of all the characters, you can tell he’s evil. Because, yeah, I love that cheap idea that terrible fiction authors peddle that the Boleyns were evil schemers working their way to the top that flies in the face of just about all knowledge of political power in the period.

Random Oddness

Why is there straw just thrown around this floor? I saw extras struggling and just kicking it into the air. It’s weird. This is the grandest palace in England. I have no idea why there’s straw everywhere.

Look at Henry mangle this pomegranate. For symbolism. And because he’s a big gross child.

Unpicking the Tudors; S1 EP1 So, if you've had a look at my update post, I've not been doing much of anything lately.

#clothing #dottie #early modern period #english history #fashion #henry viii #history #review #the tudors #tudor england

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biofunmy · 4 years

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The Fate of a Brooklyn ‘Palace’

On a recent Saturday, 25 members of the Philadelphia Church of Universal Brotherhood, an African American Seventh-day Adventist congregation, gathered in the ornate lobby of a 95-year-old former movie palace in Brooklyn for their weekly Sabbath service.

Surrounded by columns and a gold-painted plaster frieze of griffins and vases, the attendees sang exuberant, hip-swaying hymns, accompanied by drums, a synthesizer, tambourines and even a cowbell. The fellowship was palpable, and the voices so strong that the force of their collective music seemed to belie the congregation’s meager numbers. But when the collection baskets were handed around, the limited number of hands to pitch in for badly needed building repairs was manifest.

“The lack of funds has really kept us back, because we’re not rich,” said D. Liendra Jeffries, the church’s octogenarian senior pastor. “We’re trying to negotiate a deal so we can do something with the building.”

The building in question, the church’s home since 1975, is the former Loew’s Kameo on Eastern Parkway near Nostrand Avenue in Crown Heights, a 1,400-seat theater with a snazzy, Egyptian-inflected Art Deco facade of vibrant, multicolored terra cotta. Pieces of that facade and other masonry have fallen off the building in the past few years, prompting the church to erect a sidewalk shed to protect pedestrians. And in a peculiar example of life imitating art, real plants are growing out of a decorative band of terra-cotta leaves on the structure’s cornice.

Whether the building, which the church consecrated as the Philadelphian Sabbath Cathedral, will survive at all is very much up in the air. The church has been besieged by developers and builders, according to F.E. Roy Jeffries II, the institution’s leader and son of its senior pastor. Church leadership is now weighing whether to repair the building or tear it down and build something larger, such as a six-story apartment house.

“We might do a land lease that includes the air space,” said Pastor Jeffries, a dapper 69-year-old with a salt-and-pepper beard. “But we’re not going to sell.” In any scenario, he insisted, the church would continue its ministry at that location.

Originally known as the Cameo, the buff-brick theater was built in 1924 on land that Samuel Wolfman, a developer, had purchased from the city, which had obtained the property for construction of the subway beneath it. To design the cinema, Wolfman’s company chose Harrison Wiseman, a prolific, Manhattan-based theater architect.

An Ohio native, Wiseman would soon design two noteworthy theaters on the thriving Yiddish Rialto of Manhattan’s lower Second Avenue: the stunning Moorish Revival-style structure on East 12th Street now known as the Louis N. Jaffe Art Theater, a landmark, and the 2,800-seat Commodore Theatre, near Sixth Street. (In 1968, the Commodore became the legendary rock venue the Fillmore East, which for three boisterous years hosted the likes of Jimi Hendrix and the Who.)

Wiseman’s Cameo facade was an exotic film-world fantasy with an Egyptian flavor, probably influenced by Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, which had set off a wave of Egyptomania in the design world. Running along the top was a terra-cotta band of stylized Art Deco women’s faces, suggestive of theatrical masks or muses, each one sporting a smart Cleopatra hairdo. From their eyes shot angular beams of green light evocative of film projections.

The Cameo opened on Feb. 9, 1924, with the melodrama “The Lullaby,” starring silent-film beauty Jane Novak. In June, the cinema began showing movies under the open sky in a 1,500-seat roof garden.

The theater was one of two — along with the Rolland, a neo-Moorish-style Yiddish stage venue at St. John’s Place — that Wiseman designed on Eastern Parkway. The two have had similar histories. Both were built in the 1920s for owners who themselves lived on Eastern Parkway. Both have vividly colorful, terra-cotta Wiseman facades. And both were repurposed for religious use, when churches scrambled into the theatrical shells like hermit crabs and made themselves right at home. Since the 1950s, the former Rolland Theatre has been the Holy House of Prayer for All People.

In its first year the Cameo was purchased by Marcus Loew’s theater chain and rechristened the Loew’s Kameo. At the star-studded opening gala, fans swarmed the playhouse to ogle Johnny Hines and other screen idols; hundreds were turned away. Among the celebrities, noted The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, was Ernest Hilliard, who, though “one of the most despicable villains in screendom,” looked “as harmless as the kitten who sat licking its lips in the lobby.”

By the 1950s the Kameo had grown tatty, but its showy interior still held substantial allure. “It had a skyline of minarets and fake Moorish stuff,” recalled Mark Jacobson, who used to watch movies like “Creature From the Black Lagoon” there with his granduncle Gus, a projectionist at the theater. “And the artifice was set in front of the fake sky in a way that gave you the sense that there was a vast city surrounding you set against the twilight of this other world that probably never existed.”

Mr. Jacobson also got a look behind the theater’s artifice. “I would climb up this little catwalk, and the booth would open up and my uncle would be up there reading The Daily News with a half-eaten chicken sandwich lying around,” he said. “It kind of shot the fantasy.”

When the church purchased the property from Loew’s in 1975, the theater was a mess. “We were in love with that building, oh man, because we bought it with our hard-earned money,” said Liendra Jeffries, the senior pastor. The church paid $110,000 in cash, she said, because racially discriminatory redlining by banks made obtaining a loan impossible.

Cleaning the building was grueling. “Loew’s had guard dogs they let run free in here, and they defecated,” said Pastor Jeffries. “We had to wear boots and overalls and masks and use bleach to clean the whole sanctuary.”

The church reupholstered the seats, whitewashed the plum-colored tapestries in the recessed wall arches and — as the senior pastor said — “we hired a Greek painter who painted over all the naked ladies in the ceiling and turned them into angels.”

Today, the sky-blue-and-gold auditorium is in decent shape, although the ceiling has collapsed in an upstairs stairwell landing, another area has mold, and the building needs repointing. High above the auditorium, the projection booth serves as a breathtakingly untouched time capsule. A rusted cabinet for film reels remains in place, one door marked “Sat Nite.” A vintage spotlight points out a square hole in the wall. And a midcentury Norge icebox bears a message in Magic Marker: “This Refrigerator Is the Personal Property of Men in Booth.”

The building’s terra-cotta facade also remains mostly intact, at least for now. Susan Tunick, author of “Terra-Cotta Skyline,” a history of architectural terra-cotta in New York, said that few city theaters with such vivid polychromatic decoration survive. “It’s unusual for this period to have that much color and a hybrid architectural style,” she said. “It’s very quirky, so it would be very sad to lose such a richly colored terra-cotta building.”

But the structure is not a landmark and can be demolished as of right. Indeed, only one Brooklyn theater with multicolored terra-cotta facade ornament — the 1908 Peter Jay Sharp Building at BAM — enjoys landmark protection.

Even if the church does not raze the former cinema, the Art Deco faces may be stripped from its facade. “If we can change them into angels or replace them with figures that are spiritual, we might go that route,” said Pastor Jeffries. Art Deco is worth big bucks, he has been told, and movie industry people have offered to buy that row of terra-cotta visages. “Anytime we’re ready to get rid of it,” he said, “they’ve left their cards.”

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