Camille and Ruthie are artistic souls whose passionate love affair waxed hot in the early eighties, but they separated after the fire between them blazed out of control. Now, five years later, they're each searching for Graffiti Bridge, which they t...
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Informal Copyright Notice:
The Journey to Love storyline is based on two script drafts for Graffiti Bridge, written respectively in October and December of 1987. Not all of the pages are available for these scripts, and by the acknowledgement of Prince Rogers Nelson, their author, both scripts represented rough versions of his ideas. As a result, I have added/modified elements here and there to flesh out the storyline/facilitate the flow, while striving to keep as much of the source material intact as I possibly can. References to non-Camille/Graffiti Bridge songs, benign characteristics of the band members originally cast for roles in the Graffiti Bridge project, and other tidbits from the Purple Universe, are included as well. (Note that all Prince-related images are from the artist's official media and/or derivatives thereof.)
I wrote Journey to Love strictly to honor the legacy of Prince; to alleviate my sadness that his original vision for the Graffiti Bridge project was so summarily dismissed; and to repay, in part, some of the joy that I have found in every version of Graffiti Bridge, and Prince's music more generally. I am not trying, in any way, to materially profit from this story.
In the interest of proper attribution, I have included a list of sources for various passages of dialogue and story events; you will find it at the end of this story part. For lyrics to unreleased songs that I have transferred from the script, attributions will appear between brackets within the story's text. Otherwise, unless there's a blatant reference to a non-Prince composition, you may assume that all song lyrics are Prince's.
As for general copyright details, all I ask is that you do not reproduce this story on another platform, or on this platform under a different name. I, of course, have no right to object to another interpretation of these early scripts being written; in fact, I would welcome it! From what I have seen, there are several interpretations of Purple Rain floating around Wattpad, so why not more of Graffiti Bridge (regardless of which version it is)? I may add a more formal notice later, but my preference would be to avoid doing so.
Finally, I want to reiterate that this is just my interpretation of a story that belongs to Prince. The original concept will forever and always be his. I only hope I can do it some kind of justice.
Cast List/Cast Notes:
(You can choose to skip this list if you prefer. Details on character role/name modifications are included when necessary.)
Camille - Prince Rogers Nelson circa 1987-1989
Ruthie Washington - Denise Matthews circa 1988-1989 [Note: This role was originally meant to go to Madonna, but after reading through the scripts, and in light of Madonna's . . . disdain for the project, I thought it made more sense to go with Denise.]
Vienna Atkins - Jill Jones circa 1987 [Note: This last name, as well as several of the surnames/full names of all characters from this point forward, was one of my additions. This role was originally meant to go to Cat, but again, upon reading through the scripts, I thought it made more sense to go with Jill for this role, and create a new one for Cat (more on that later).]
Angelina "Angel" Morales - Sheila Escovedo a.k.a. Sheila E. circa 1987-1988 [Note: The full name of this character was my creation, but "Angel" is the original appellation for Sheila's character in the scripts.]
Belinda "Big Sister" Mays - Boni Boyer circa 1987-1988 [Note: The full name of this character was my creation, but "Big Sister" is the original appellation for Boni's character in the scripts.]
Cathy - Catherine "Cat" Glover circa 1987-1988 [Note: This character is new to the storyline, but inspiration for her is drawn heavily from the Sign o' the Times movie and the Lovesexy tour. Also, the first initials of Angel, Big Sister, and Cathy spell ABC. Is that important? No. Do I like pointing it out anyway? Yes.]
Sax - Eric Leeds circa 1987-1988
Joshua King - Matthew Blistan a.k.a. Atlanta Bliss circa 1987-1988 [Note: The surname of this character was my creation, but "Joshua" is the original appellation in the scripts.]
Saul "Gruff" Atkins - Greg Brooks circa 1987 [Note: The full name of this character was my creation, but "Gruff" is the original appellation in the scripts.]
William "Puff" Atkins - Wally Safford circa 1987 [Note: The full name of this character was my creation, but "Puff" is the original appellation in the scripts.]
Miko - Miko Weaver circa 1987-1988
Levi a.k.a. "Junior" - Levi Seacer Jr. circa 1987-1988
Samuel "Almost" Rush - Matt Fink a.k.a. Dr. Fink circa 1987-1988 [Note: The full name of this character was my creation, but "Almost" is the original appellation in the scripts.]
Melody Cool - Mavis Staples circa 1987-1988
Alma - Ingrid Chavez a.k.a. "Spirit Child" circa 1987-1988 [Note: I decided to include a minor character based on Ingrid because of her connection to the time period, but this role is distinct from that of Aura in the 1990 film version of Graffiti Bridge.]
Naturally, characters who are not based on Prince associates will be included to round out the cast. Other characters based on people in the purple universe may appear; the references will, hopefully, be obvious.
Dialogue/Storyline Sources:
[I will add to this list as chapters are completed, not necessarily as they are published. Page numbers correspond to locations in the PDF files, not the script page numbers. (And if anyone's interested, I'd be happy to share the files.)]
Chapter 1: Welcome Home Ruthie Washington? █ Script Version/Location: October 1987, Page 1; December 1987, Pages 3 and 5
Chapter 2: Stimulation █ Script Version/Location: December 1987, Pages 1, 2, and 5
Chapter 3: Stardust and Yearning █ Script Version/Location: December 1987, Pages 5-7
Chapter 4: Something to Believe In █ Script Version/Location: December 1987, Pages 9 and 11
Chapter 5: Playing the Dozens █ Script Version/Location: October 1987, Pages 6-8; December 1987, Page 11
Chapter 6: Strict, Wild, and Pretty █ Script Version/Location: October 1987, Pages 8 and 16; December 1987, Page 23
Chapter 7: All Day, All Night █ Script Version/Location: December 1987, Pages 15 and 19
Chapter 8: Unfinished Business █ Script Version/Location: December 1987, Pages 23-24
