#german zip propaganda
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Compiling my german Zip headcanons!
Made These during school, so there‘ll probably be some mistakes as I‘m not supposed to even bring my phone 😝 (update: hi yes I ended up continuing and finishing this at home)
one of my moots lowkey motivated me to do this
Hope you enjoy this!
CW: Mentions of alcohol/beer, occasional swearing!
DISCLAIMER: These Are Just normal HCS, no x Reader or x Character.
Do not cry "you‘re racist!" As I was both born and raised in Germany.
Some of these are based off of things I as a german have experienced or heard.
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☆ I already mentioned this in another post, but she had her first drink of alcohol free beer at the whopping age of 12.
☆ Curses the ever living shit out people in German whenever she‘s really annoyed.
☆ Sneaks beer into school and only shares it with Oliver, Edward and SOMETIMES Miss Circle (Favorite Student privileges)
☆ I feel like Engel at least speaks German, so when Zip, Oliver and Edward are bullying Claire and Engel (as well, I‘m assuming), she‘d throw in something WILD in German and Engel is kinda like: oh that‘s not.. 😀
☆ LOVES Bernd das Brot
☆ She would totally know "Komm, lass uns tanzen." by HEART (alongside Chip).
☆ Although it‘s rare, she sometimes lets out her German accent. For example, she‘s currently rambling and ends up pronounce the German R
☆ Says digga even if she‘s speaking english. It‘s permanently part of her vocabulary.
☆ Dresses with more drip than your average German classmate 💀💀 and she definitely judges them too
☆ When she was very, very young (like around Chip‘s age which I‘m assuming is like 5), she was a HUGE Bibi Blocksberg and Bibi & Tina fan. Had a lot of merchandise of them that she would NEVER EVER share.
☆ Would purposefully draw the ugliest outfits on the characters from the Top Model Books and put the little sticker clothes that came alongside on to the most brutal and metal characters ever.
☆ Always had Satch pencil cases. Thought they wer boring and drew on them. Free canvas lol.
☆ Loves saying German jokes in English to Edward and/or Oliver bc they make no sense in English.
"Hey, hey, guys. Can I tell you a joke?"
"If it‘s funny, go for it."
Zip, who‘s trying to control her laughing "Okay look, Two Hunters met each other."
"And?"
"They both died." Zip bursts out laughing.
"That makes no fucking sense."
"IT DOES"
☆ I feel like she has a little notebook where she writes a bunch of dumb stuff down, including many, MANY German memes only Germans would get. Meine Mama, meine Tante, der kleiner-
☆ Always has that German candy on stock (only for Chip, the coolest little brother!)
☆ Can open a beer bottle with literally ANYTHING you give her (except if it‘s a weak material, then obviously she can’t.)
☆ Praises German lunch knowing damn well it sucks ass. She only likes it because they got a mini burger and chocolate Santa once in kindergarten.
☆ Finds the raw existence of Frankfurt, Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Bayern so hilarious for no reason
☆ Whenever Engel tries to say something positive in German (idk in what scenario he‘d do this, but imagine he would), she‘d counter react by saying something diabolical in Germany (technically you could count this in another hc I wrote down.. oh well <‚3)
☆ Knows a lot of kid shows, German or not, but always prefers (and often times only knows) the German version of them like; Sofia die Erste, Jake und die Nimmerland Piraten, etc.
☆ makes fun of American food (it‘s so processed okay 😭)
"Haha! Seriously? That Fanta is basically just chemicals! Your stomach will LOVE that chemical burn!"
"Please let me drink in fucking peace"
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That‘s all for now! Should I write a German Zip FF? It won‘t be romantic and honestly only contain Zip being a menace but in GERMAN
#fundamental paper education edward#fundamental paper education oliver#fundamental paper education zip#fpe zip#fundamental paper education#nutstickler78 writing#german zip#german zip propaganda
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Fascism and transphobia are always linked
Given that we have recently experienced a Fascist coup attempt in the US, it may make sense to look at the way fascists have used transphobia in their propaganda.
Cristan Williams writes over at Transadvocate:
Anti-feminism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and racism are THE entry points to fascism. Remember, the FIRST Nazi book-burning was the burning of books from a trans clinic.
The book burning took place in 1933 when the Nazis attacked the Institute for Sex Research in Berlin. The institute, which was founded by the great German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, did research on gay, lesbian and trans people and provided psychological and medical counseling.
Here’s one contemporary example given by Cristan:
A man named Steven Hotze –infamous for getting up on stage to swing a real sword about while screaming about how he’s going to drive out all of the ‘homofascists’ (projection much?) from his city, paying a fascist who kidnaped someone for “stealing” Trump ballots, and advocating for BLM activists to be murdered— formed a hate group to promote religious nationalism by attacking transgender people:
Hotze’s campaign rolled out a how-to kit (which the TransAdvocate protested) that other locations implemented, coming to a head with North Carolina’s infamous HB2 or the “Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act.” While transphobia is a time-tested recruitment tool for fascist movements, in every instance, fascism always ends in the same place.
A TransAdvocate contributor, Dr. Cary Gabriel Costello, noted the following about the Trump insurrection:
The Congressmembers who were hustled to safety were not the only people in the buildings beside the rioters and the security forces. A congressional staffer who is a visibly trans woman was assaulted by the mob, for example.
During the Trump rally that wound the mob up, Don Trump Jr. had ranted to the cheering crowd about his father’s unceasing battle to stop trans women from being recognized as women. Without Trump in office, (cis) women and girls would never be safe in bathrooms or able to win sporting competitions again, he fumed. The crowd roared its transphobic agreement.
The insurrectionists with zip-tie handcuffs in hand were roaming the halls looking for Pence and the Congressional “traitors,” but when they saw a trans woman, bonus. . .
Read the whole article here.
Is there anything positive to say about the recent events? Well, actually there is.
All the way up till the Trump terrorists attacked the Capitol, it was possible for a lot of people to fool themselves into believing that “it isn’t that bad, you know” or that “you might use the bad guys to do some good.”
At the moment it become painfully clear that the fundamental values of democracy was at stake, it became much, much harder to look the other away. The fact that the mob showed no respect for “law and order” made it even harder.
The terrorist attack has made it clear that you should never pretend to respect fascists. They do not deserve your respect. You do not discuss with them. You do not negotiate with them. You fight them continuously, persistently and with great force in order to unmask their true nature and make others see the kind of threat they represent.
That’s how you change the world: Not by converting the fascists and the bigots, but by making other people see how evil they are.
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Run. (Pt. 6)
Part One /Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five
Words: 1265
Pairing: Tony Stark & Reader
Timeline: The Avengers [2012]
Other Info: Run AU
Summary: A month has passed since the Battle Of New York, and Tony decides that it’s about time for Reader to meet the team. So they host a party for the Avengers at their place.
June 2012
“Promise me that you won’t take it personal if some of them don’t come.” You begged Tony. The two of you were in your bedroom getting ready for the party you were throwing to celebrate the Avenger’s first victory as a team.
“If some of them don’t come?” Tony repeated. “Why wouldn’t they come? Who wouldn’t come to a party someone was throwing in their honor? A Stark party no less.” Tony adjusted the tie he’d just knotted around his neck. It was one of his favorites, silk and hot rod red in color. His suit was a simple black one he’d worn it a hundred times, but it fit him nicely.
“Do you think that no one is going to come?” With expert precision he put on his custom-made Iron Man cufflinks. They’d been a birthday gift from you a couple years ago. You’d worked with a jeweler to design these small arch reactors out of sapphires. It was flashy and very Tony and he loved them.
“Gosh, you’re beautiful.” He moved across the room towards you and held your face in his hands. “Have you always been so beautiful?” Tony planted a kiss on your lips.
“Have you always been so cheesy?” You asked him, kissing him again. “Help me zip up my dress so then we can say goodnight to the kids.” You turned around so that your back was to Tony.
“Which sitter did you call again? The one who reads to them in German or the one who won’t let them watch TV?” Tony zipped up your dress.
“I called Clara.” You reminded him. “She’s the one that Eddie loves because she knows all the words to all the Disney songs and Rina loves her because she lets her play with her make up.”
“Clara right. The one who doesn’t drive.” Tony nodded.
You and Tony walked hand in hand to the kid’s playroom. Eddie was sitting on the floor playing with his building blocks, Clara the babysitter was sitting across from him. Serina was sitting in a child sized armchair that she was almost too big for. She was skimming a Harry Potter book, her favorite in the series that she had read multiple times.
“I don’t understand why I can’t come to the party.” Serina looked up from her book when you and Tony entered the room. “I want to meet Tony’s friends too.”
“They’re not my friends, Ballerina, they’re more like…coworkers.” Tony said, kissing his stepdaughter on the forehead. “And I agree with your mom that tonight is not the best night for you guys to be introduced to everyone. At least not yet.”
“Fine.” Serina rolled her eyes. “Can you do me a favor at least?” Serina pulled out two baseball cards from her pockets. They were vintage Captain America ones, just one the ones Phil Coulson had once collected. “A boy in my class, Kevin, He said I could keep one of these if I got them autographed by Captain America. Do you think that you could maybe ask him for me?” She held out the cards to Tony.
“What?” He took the cards from Serina and tucked them in his jacket pocket. “No one wants an autograph of your old man?” He pretended to be offended.
“The kids in my class know I can get your autograph anytime.” Serina rolled her eyes again. “Plus, you’re coming to class next month for career day remember? Can you get me Captain America’s autograph, please?”
“Consider it done.” Tony promised.
You and Tony hugged and kissed your kids goodnight. You both reminded them how much you loved them and promised to come in and check on them throughout the duration of the party. Tony mixed up a set of drinks and slid a chilled glass your way. The penthouse doorbell rang and your first guest had arrived. Tony led them around on an enthusiastic tour until they joined you in the living room.
“Doctor Bruce Banner I would like you to meet my absolutely gorgeous and intelligent wife, [Y/N].” Bruce Banner crossed the room and offered you a hand to shake. Tony slipped out of the room as the doorbell rang again.
“It’s wonderful to finally meet the illusive Mrs. Stark.” Bruce said, as you shook his hand. “The team is really excited to introduce themselves. Tony’s done a pretty good job of keeping you away from us thus far.”
“With good reason, Dr. Banner. We don’t invite just anyone into our family.” You commented, sipping from your drink.
“You know, Tony this is exactly the kind of place I pictured you living in.” A new voice joined you in the living room. “Ah, you must be Mrs. Stark.” Steve Rogers looked exactly like the photos and artist sketches you’d grown up seeing in museums and history books. His chiseled chin was a bit softer than photos could capture and his eyes were softer, more inviting but he was every bit the Captain America of legends.
“Oh, please just, [Y/N], I insist.” You invited, shaking hands with the Captain. “Actually, while you’re here, there’s something I have to show you. Come along Doctor Banner you too.”
“Oh, Sweetheart they don’t want to see that…” Tony called out. You ignored him and led your guests out of the room. In the main hallway just off the living room there was a poster you wanted to show Captain Rogers.
“When we first got married, I went through storage and I had a bunch of Howard and Tony’s schematics and drawings framed.” You Gestured to the walls where the invention designs were hanging.
“The first year is paper anniversary.” Dr. Banner recalled.
“I remember this one. Saw it in person.” Captain Rogers pointed to one of Howard’s drawings. It was the blueprint for a flying car.
“But the crown jewel in our poster collection and what I wanted you to see, is this original 1940s propaganda poster of a certain Captain. See Tony won’t admit this to anyone but growing up he had one hero.” You arrived at the poster and stepped aside to let Steve and Bruce see it.
“Is this an original?” Captain Rogers started to reach out to touch the poster, but still a few inches for even though the poster was protected with glass. “I mean not a printed copy, that’s a real pen and ink sketch?” He asked excitedly. You wouldn’t find out until much later that Steve loved art.
“I think it’s pencil, but yes. It seems Howard kept quite a few of the preliminary designs. They’re worth thousands, especially ones like this design that never ended up being mass produced. We have a few extras; I’ll have to have one sent to you.” You decided. “But I wanted you to see this because you’re all a team.” You looked away from the photo to Steve and Bruce. “And if you’re Tony’s team, then you’re his family. He’s going to treat you like his family whether you want him to or not. And if you’re Tony’s family, that makes you my family. Tony can be eccentric, he can be difficult, but he’s also the most loyal person you’ll ever meet. You two seem like you have the best heads on your shoulders so I’m trusting my husband’s safety to you two. You make sure he comes home after every mission. I know he’s going to get hurt doing what you do, so you promise me that when he does, I’m the first call you make. Am I clear?”
“Yes Ma’am.” Steve gulped.
#Tony Stark#Tony Stark x Reader#Tony Stark Reader Insert#Tony Stark FF#Tony Stark Fan Fiction#Tony Stark Fan Fic#Run.#Run AU
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no place in the world left to go
They’re at a flophouse in Rome, a hotel so rundown that no fleas would set down their bags, and Tony’s tired, fuck, is he. The kind of tired that only scotch on the rocks, keep ‘em coming and an icy blonde with a nice rack can fix.
But there’s no blonde here. There’s only Bucky, a roughshod sergeant with dirt from the forests of France under his fingernails, still. They’ve been in Italy almost a week.
Which is why when the sergeant turns from the window and pulls off his shirt, the view is pretty but also rank.
“Need a bath,” Barnes grunts. “I saw taps down the hall.”
Tony waves his hand and doesn’t bother to raise his head from the bed. “Sally forth, then, soldier, and be clean.”
Bucky takes the view with him. But sadly not the smell: sweat and blood and something else, something even more pungent. Tony takes it in, lets it out, sticks it. Ah yes, he thinks, weary. That’s grief.
Steve Rogers, the Allies’ last great hope, had been dead for a fortnight, as the Brits say. 14 days, two weeks--whatever way you slice it, he’s dead and now Hitler’s winning the race. It was a propaganda boon. It still is. Tony’s gut says it might be enough to carry Germany to the finish line. There’s the Manhattan thing back at home, but the boys there have been too goddamn slow, and who’s fault is that, now? Not Tony’s. They’d booted him out of their secret club a few years before.
He isn’t bitter about that anymore. Mostly.
He’d loaned himself out to Churchill’s men and that had been a better fit for a while; they’d seen his value, the British, and given him money to play with and men, so many men eager to do what they could for Old Blighty and for Tony, eventually. They fell easy for him, those Englishmen, happy to spread their cheeks for the cause because they all wanted to be chosen as the world’s first Super Soldier: rich men and poor ones, Scottish and Irish and Welsh, each ready to pay for the privilege if necessary and oh, Tony was damn good at convincing them that it was.
But in the end, it hadn’t been his call after all. No, Winston had phoned his friend Franklin and the president had send his choice across the ocean and delivered him to Tony’s front door.
“Hi,” the kid had said, confident despite the skinny legs and big ears. “I’m Steve Rogers, sir. You must be Mr. Stark.”
“What the fuck,” Tony had said through a head full of hangover. “You’re Steve Rogers?”
That’d only made the guy stand up straighter. “Yep. Mr. Roosevelt sent me, sir. I was told you’d be expecting me.”
“Expecting, yes. You? Pffft.” Tony had turned his back and wandered back into the cool dark of his lab. “Fuck no.”
It had taken a lot of convincing and a flurry of all-caps coded telegraphs, but in the end, Tony had gone with it and strapped the kid into his machine and made--if he did say so himself--a hell of a man with a chip on his shoulder when it came to Tony a fucking mile wide. But Tony liked that about him, liked that he was mouthy when the brass wasn’t around, liked that Steve had a bit of temper that even after the serum a little well-placed whiskey could bring out.
“You,” Steve had hissed in his ear the first time Tony got fucked, bent over a workbench with screwdrivers biting his arms, “you are the bane of my existence, Stark.”
It was hard to sass with that thing in his ass, but he managed. “Then get the hell off me, asshole.”
Steve had laughed then, laughed and pulled Tony closer, squeezed his hips tighter. “No. I like screwing you too much.”
It was fun while it lasted, but then, of course, Steve had a job to do, didn’t he? To go and win a goddamn world war.
“You’ll miss me when I’m gone,” Steve murmured that last night, his mouth pressed to the back of Tony’s neck. “You’re gonna miss me so much.”
They were in Tony’s bed and Steve was fucking him through it and Tony was crazy to come, dying for it, but Steve’s fist around the base of his dick was a bitch .
Which was why he’d lied, whispered “I won’t” even though he knew that shit wouldn’t fly.
Steve nuzzled his throat and Steve slammed into him again and again and Steve didn’t make him take it back, didn’t call him on it, didn’t have to, so bald was the lie. And when Steve had come, he'd bitten the meat of Tony’s shoulder and howled and was still spurting when he'd open his fist and muttered “Come” and Tony'd gone firehose in the sheets and screamed for what felt like a week.
“Yeah,” Steve said when they were face to face again, when he was weaving his fingers through the mess on Tony’s stomach and Tony was panting like he’d just run the three-minute mile. “You will.”
*****
They hadn’t seen each other for years after that, not until 1944 when the Battle of the Bulge went south and with it, everybody knew, the Allies’ advantage. Russia had drained Hitler’s forces but the Bulge fiasco gave the Germans the victory they needed to get the homefront onboard with the war effort again.
Times were bad. Tony’s life, too. He hadn’t been able to get the serum to take in anyone after Steve and the Brits had taken his tech and booted him out. He was one wrong bottle of rum from sleeping on the goddamn street.
But then the telegram had come from a holdout area in France: SR WOUNDED. DOCTORS USELESS. COME. And then a set of coordinates, which he had chosen to ignore, because how the fuck was he going to zip across the channel while dodging Nazi arms? He'd comforted himself with bathtub gin and no ice. It was probably a prank, anyway.
In the morning, though, there’d been a knock--10 minutes worth, actually--delivered by a no-nonsense woman bearing Army boots and flak jacket.
“Put these on,” Captain Carter had said brusquely. “We’re crossing the channel in five hours. Tell me, do you have your own gun?”
“Do I--?” He’d blinked in the dusty sunlight she’d brought into his flat. “No.”
She crossed her arms and pointed at his pants, waited until he’d picked them up. “Well. You do know how to shoot at least, surely.”
“Not really.”
“Christ on a cracker. A word of advice, Mr. Stark: don’t repeat that to anyone. If asked, you’re a crack shot with your daddy’s pistol, which I shall provide, and you shall carry as if you know what the business end is for, hmm?”
It’d taken almost a full day to get from London to the middle of some fairytale forest in France where Steve Rogers, that bastard, was trying his damnedest to die. He was gray when Tony bent over him, gray and without that sharp, fuck you light in his eyes.
“Docs can’t do anything for him,” a dark-haired guy crouched by Steve’s head said. “They got the bullets out ok, but the wounds won’t close, even with real tight stitches.”
“Bucky threatened to nail ‘em shut,” Steve croaked.
“And I would have, too, if somebody hadn’t stolen my hammer.”
“Boys,” Tony’d said, easing back the blood-stained dressings. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Steve thought it might have something to do with the serum,” Captain Carter had said on the way over as the boat skipped silently through the waves. “He’s never been cut so deeply before, so he wasn’t sure if there’d been changes to his blood chemistry that might be interfering with the healing process.”
“Shouldn’t be,” he’d told her, repeated to himself again and again. “Not by design, anyway. But intent only gets you so far, huh?”
Now, staring down at the putrid mess that was Steve Rogers’ chest, all he could think of were the hours he’d spent with his head there after they’d worn each other out, after Steve’s steam had blown off and his own fuzzy, righteous anger at the universe had been temporarily pummeled away. For all the rough of their fucks, what followed was sweeter, more goddamn gentle, than Tony’d ever been with another man. Girls, they liked that sort of thing sometimes, to be coddled and cooed at before you booted them out, but the men in Tony’s life had always been of the fuck-and-run variety, and he’d been just peachy with that.
But Steve was a cuddler, a warm, overheated blanket once his balls were empty that wanted nothing more than for Tony to be tucked up in the lea of his arm, their mouths close. Sometimes, that kind of shit led to more sex, but a lot of times, it didn’t; there was just skin against skin and breath over breath and the soft slide of Tony’s fingers up and down the pretty valleys of Steve’s chest.
None of that was left; it’d all been blown to shit.
“Two bullets,” Barnes told him when they stepped away, leaving Captain Carter and the Commandos behind. “Point blank. Stevie never had a chance.”
“How the fuck did this happen?”
Bucky just blinked at him. “It’s war, Stark. Shit like this happens all the time. He turned his back, he got jumped, and now--”
“Now,” Tony said softly. “He’s dying.”
In the end, he figured it wasn’t the serum that was killing Steve, it was the only thing keeping him from dying, and wasn’t that the cruelest irony of them all, huh? The thing that’d made Steve a weapon in the first place had made him its last victim. It’d have been better if he was just a man, a mortal, whose heart wasn’t fueled to fight, whose body would have reached for peace and just let him die.
“It was a longshot, bringing you out here, Tone.” Steve’s fingers had been stiff and frozen in his. “I’m sorry you risked your life for nothing.”
“Pffft, nothing,” Tony said. He didn’t try to hide that he was crying. They all were. “Got to see your mug again, didn’t I?”
Steve had smiled at him, dry lips stretched. “You’ll miss me when I’m gone, won’t you?”
Tony kissed his forehead. “I have already, asshole. This whole fucking time.”
They’d buried him behind the barn where they’d been hiding. Barnes wouldn’t let them leave a cross, so Dugan and Happy built a bairn.
And then there was nothing left of Steve Rogers, of the Super Soldier Project, and the war was getting closer. Tony could hear the German firing line.
“Well, gentlemen,” Captain Carter had said. “That’s it then, eh? Good luck to you.”
“Yeah,” Falsworth said, repositioning his cap. “Godspeed and all that.”
“Hey,” Barnes had said at Tony’s elbow, his eyes dark and his mouth set. “You’re with me.”
Tony startled. “Why?”
A shrug. “Because. Steve would’ve wanted it that way.”
*****
Two weeks of running later and they're in fascist Italy, of all fucking places. It wasn’t much, but it was damn sure a step up from a country crawling with Nazis. Here, there was only an infestation and these were fat and happy, living it up on Il Duce’s hospitality.
“This is better,” Bucky had muttered as they crept through the night streets. “Believe me.”
“Does that mean you’ll let me sleep? for more than two hours at a stretch?"
Bucky’d chuckled and swept an arm around Tony’s waist, a counterweight to keep him upright. “We find an inn that’ll let us in, Joseph, and sure. Knock yourself out.”
But he isn’t sleeping, is he. He’s lying on a bed for the first time in what feels like a lifetime and he’s not asleep. No, he’s listening to the water run down the hall, the pipes creaking and banging, and imagining what Sergeant Barnes looks like with his clothes all stripped off.
He’s grieving and he’s exhausted and somehow, beyond all that, he can feel himself getting stiff.
He’s feeling too much, that’s all. The world is turning upside down and a man he might have loved, whose life he might have ruined, died right in front of him and there are flames flickering at the foundation of the person he was before and the promise of ashes doesn’t frighten him as much as it should. His body and his brain are just overwhelmed and they’re taking it out on his dick. If he just lies here still for a minute, just lies here and breathes, he won’t think about the fact that Steve’s eyes wouldn’t close or that he was still bleeding even after he stop bleeding or that no one beyond the circle who dug it will ever know the location of his grave. He won’t think about the fact that there’s only one bed in this hotbox, one bed and two bodies and how lovely Sergeant Barnes is, the way his voice sometimes hits the same notes as Steve’s. He won’t think about spreading his fingers over clean skin or about Bucky’s back bowing. He won’t think about how much he needs to be kissed. He won’t--
“Stark.” Bucky’s in the doorway down to his shorts. “Taps are free. You should use them.”
“Yeah?” Tony sits up. Too fast, it turns out. “Do I smell that bad?”
That almost-smile again. “Hell yes.”
He leaves his boots by the bed and strips fast in the bathroom. Bucky’s rinsed out his shirt and pants and hung them crooked on the towel bar. When Tony’s done, shivering in the draining tub, he drapes his over the side. There aren’t any towels. It doesn’t matter. They’re the only ones on the whole top floor.
Which means, he figure as he pads soggy down the hall, that if he can jimmy the lock, there’s no reason for them to share a room. No reason except, when he steps over the door jam, Bucky’s thrown back the sheets and opened the windows and is framed in one by the stars and flickering streetlights.
“Tony,” he says. “You should see this. C’mere.”
Outside, the streets are quiet. A few cars, a couple of horses, but if he looks out beyond, towards the horizon, Rome herself is dressed for high times. Victory. Il Duce can probably smell it. God knows Hitler can. Captain America’s disappeared from the scene and the jackboots are marching, marching, and soon, Britain will be in the Axis’s grip. As for the US, South America, the rest: it’s only a matter of time.
Bucky’s shoulder brushes his. “You think we can still pull this out?”
“No.” Tony tips his body until their skin touches again. “Fuck, no, kid. It’s all over now but the shouting.”
“That’s what I figured. I could see it Captain Carter’s face, you know? She never would have split us up otherwise.”
“You didn’t have to drag me along, you know. I’d, uh--I'd understand if you wanted to go your own way now that we’re out of France.”
Bucky turns his head. “Why would I do that?”
“Come on, Barnes. I have to be slowing you down.”
“You don’t get it, do you?”
“What?”
A hand on his face, worn and gentle. “Steve’s gone. I got no place in the world left to go.”
It’s only when Bucky’s lips meet his that Tony understands, like a kick to the gut: You, he thinks as Bucky’s thumb traces his jaw. You loved him, too.
In bed, Bucky’s slow, the kind of slow that makes Tony want to break apart, the kind that turns his body to sugar melted under the heat of Bucky’s mouth and his hands.
“Wish I could be inside you,” he mumbles as he straddles Tony’s hips and leans down to nuzzle his neck. “Wish I had some slick to get you stretched so I could feel you all around me, huh? I bet you get so tight when you come.”
Bucky's hair isn’t as long as Steve’s was back then. He's a lot skinnier--the war diet; his cock’s fatter and he moans so much sofer when he comes. But in the dark, in the growing chill of the coming dawn, it’s close enough that Tony’s heart blurs and then he opens his eyes and sees Bucky's grin, watches Bucky's eyes flutter when Tony's back arches and he gives it up and up and up and then Bucky's saying his name and kissing his face and it isn't ok that Steve's dead, fuck no, it isn't, but right then, as he kisses Bucky back, for the first time in a long time, it feels ok that he's alive.
“We’ll need to leave in the morning,” Bucky says. He’s strumming the lines of Tony’s ribs. “Not at first light or anything, but one night here is enough.”
Tony kisses the dip in Bucky’s chest. “Where we going? Got some place in mind?”
Dry lips on his cheek, the promise of something--what? “Nah. Some place different, hmm? That’s enough.”
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June 30th, This Saturday - What I’m Doing about the Internment Camps
I know this doesn't have anything to do with cool rocks, but this is really really important. Its urgent.
I’m sure you’ve seen the news about whats been happening these past few weeks in the United States. If not, here’s a link to a timeline.
In brief, The Trump Administration made a choice to start prosecuting every person that crossed the southern border of the United States as criminals (even though it is, at worst, a misdemeanor). Many of them are fleeing for their lives from gang violence, oppressive regimes (many installed under USA influence), and crushing poverty. The law states that children cannot be put in prison, and the administration used this as an excuse to rip 1000′s of children from loving families, and hold them in overcrowded, poorly staffed detention centers -including toddlers and babies.
On June 20th, the Administration has now decided it will be keeping families together. Here’s the kicker though - They are doing that by jailing the children too.
And now, they are working to pass a law to be able to hold these innocent children and their families in horrifying conditions for as long as they see fit.
The administration is working to hold innocent people, permanently,in make shift camps. Does this remind you of anything?
"Separation" - Rob Jacobs
This is the beginning of something horrifying. I will not stand by and let this happen without doing something, anything about this. On Jun 30th, this Saturday, I am going to march with thousands others as a part of the Families Belong Together protest. There are marches taking place all across the country(you can see if there’s one near you by clicking the link and entering your zip code) If there’s not one near you - start one. Register to vote. If you are already registered, remember to check to make sure you’ve not been removed from the voter rolls. Call your representative. And please, please join me on this Saturday. We can’t let this continue to happen.
Here are some links to articles and videos that further underline how horrific this situation is.
ARTICLES
Trump Calling for deportations without and due process - No Judges, No court cases. This is blatantly unconstitutional. This would be a purge.
The people who are supposed to be looking out for the children in the camps are dangerous. One man hired to work there was arrested for child pornography.
The “non-profit” that runs the camps makes billions of dollars.
Its CEO make 1.5 million dollars a year.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the organization that is in charge of round up immigrants, and is the organization that has been separating families, has impersonated lawyers, journalists, doctors, and the police.
They have also trafficked drugs and people.
Children in the camps have been threatened against speaking to the press.
They’ve been drugged, handcuffed, and abused.
The staff receive 1 week of training and are not allowed to hug the children (again - toddlers) 2nd source
Article about the planed protest - and others like it
VIDEOS
What the are fleeing - PBS Video - Running is the Only Option : 8 Minutes / PBS Video - Safer than Staying Home : 10 Minutes
What they’re doing to asylum seekers - PBS Video - When Asylum Seekers Cross : 8 Minutes / Al Jazeera Video - Deported and Told Her Child will be Adopted : 3 Minutes / Vice Video - Asylum Seekers Being Charged with Crimes : 5 Minutes
Reunification Isn’t Happening - PBS Video - Reunification Process for Migrant Families : 5 Minutes / PBS Video - More than 2,300 Children Still Separated : 6 Minutes / Al Jazeera Video - Confusion on Implementing Reunification : 2 Minutes / Vice Video - Immigrants in Court Asking Where Their Children Are : 5 Minutes
Inside the Camps - PBS Video - Abuse, Bruises and Broken Bones : 6 Minutes / PBS Video - Inside Detainment, Two Phone Calls a Week : 5 Minutes / NY Times Video - A 14 y/o’s Story : 3 Minutes / NY Times Video - Tent Camp : 2 Minutes / MSMBC Video - Over 1,400 Children are Incarnated : 7 Minutes / Al Jazeera Video - Deaths in Adult Interment Camps : 3 Minutes
Parallels with the Japaneses Interment Camps from WWII - NY Times Video - Zero Tolerance Propaganda : 3 Minutes
Voices of the Children (fair warning, these are rough to listen to) - Al Jazeera Video - Cries of Children Taken From Parents : 2 Minutes / Vox Video - Voices of Separated Children : 7 Minutes / Vice Video - A Child's Phone Call to his Mother : 4 Minutes
Join me this Saturday, June 30. This is Wrong. Let’s do something about it - NOW.
I’ll leave you a quote from “They Thought They Were Free”, which was written about what everyday Germans thought in the lead up to the Holocaust.
"What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise...This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes... ‘One had no time to think. There was so much going on.’... Nazism gave us some dreadful, fundamental things to think about—we were decent people—and kept us so busy with continuous changes and ‘crises’ and so fascinated, yes, fascinated, by the machinations of the ‘national enemies,’ without and within, that we had no time to think about these dreadful things that were growing, little by little, all around us... Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, ‘regretted,’ that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these ‘little measures’ that no ‘patriotic German’ could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing. One day it is over his head... one doesn’t see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don’t want to act, or even talk, alone; you don’t want to ‘go out of your way to make trouble.’... They say, ‘It’s not so bad’ or ‘You’re seeing things’ or ‘You’re an alarmist.’ And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can’t prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don’t know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end?... But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next... And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you... Suddenly it all comes down, all at once. You see what you are, what you have done, or, more accurately, what you haven’t done (for that was all that was required of most of us: that we do nothing)... when the Nazis attacked the Communists, he was a little uneasy, but, after all, he was not a Communist, and so he did nothing; and then they attacked the Socialists, and he was a little uneasier, but, still, he was not a Socialist, and he did nothing; and then the schools, the press, the Jews, and so on, and he was always uneasier, but still he did nothing. And then they attacked the Church, and he was a Churchman, and he did something—but then it was too late."
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New story in Politics from Time: U.S. Cyber Officials Monitor Voting Amid Russian Disinformation Campaign
As voters in 14 states from Maine to California went to the polls on Super Tuesday, officials from four national security agencies huddled in a nondescript office building just across the Potomac River from Washington to monitor the presidential primaries for any signs of foreign interference. Over the course of the day, say two intelligence officials involved in the exercise, the four agencies connected to state and local election officials via a text messaging platform to allow communication in case poll workers saw issues at voting stations, or federal officials got word of efforts to meddle from abroad.
The exercise, which included the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the National Security Agency, and the U.S. Cyber Command, found no signs of direct foreign meddling, the two intelligence officials say. Against the backdrop of continuing propaganda and disinformation campaigns, however, it showed a mixed picture of U.S. efforts to counter foreign interference in U.S. voting this year. Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to comment publicly on the activities they described.
Overall, outside experts say, the U.S. is better prepared to detect and counter foreign election meddling than it was four years ago. “We’re light years ahead of where we were in February 2016,” says David Salvo, the deputy director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund, which tracks foreign election interference. And contrary to popular belief, Salvo says, President Donald Trump has helped, creating in 2018 the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within the Department of Homeland Security, and supporting and funding federal training for state and local officials by the FBI, DHS and others. “President Trump has taken many more steps to secure the elections than people realize,” Salvo says.
Still, say Salvo and other cybersecurity experts in the government and the private sector, U.S. elections remain vulnerable to foreign interference. Congress was so slow to pass election security funding that many states haven’t been able to use it yet. Some states still don’t have paper backup ballots or required audits. And there is no common understanding across online platforms such as Twitter and Facebook about how to deal with foreign disinformation and propaganda.
The foremost threat of direct meddling in the election outcomes, say experts inside and out of government, remains Russia. But for now, Moscow appears focused on more indirect methods of influence, the officials say, including general propaganda and disinformation. Russia has advanced beyond the relatively rudimentary efforts it deployed in those fields in the 2016 election, the officials say. It has been developing a more sophisticated understanding of America’s social, economic, and political divisions to microtarget its efforts to exploit them and discredit the entire electoral process, says Salvo. “They know us really, really well,” he says.
U.S. officials agree. “The Russians are targeting their propaganda the same way Amazon and others target advertising,” says a third U.S. intelligence official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity. “They’re looking at zip codes, congressional districts, demographics, ethnicity, and other indicators and moving quickly to pounce on anything in the news they can use to amplify grievances.”
The Russians pounced on the chaos in reporting the results of Iowa’s precinct caucuses by calling the delays an effort to deny Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders a clear win and falsely suggesting some of his rivals had some ties to the computer application that failed, according to a recent report by the Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy.
One favorite Russian theme is that “the Democratic Establishment” and the mainstream media are trying to prevent Sanders from winning the Democratic nomination, according to the report. For example, just before the South Carolina primary, Russia’s government-controlled Sputnik News ran a story under the headline, “Democratic Megadonor Urges Party Leaders to Back Candidate to Block Sanders’ Nomination”.
Although the intelligence so far is inconclusive, one of the officials said, after former Vice President Joe Biden rebounded in South Carolina, “it looks like the Russians went back to what they did in 2016—digging up or making up dirt on Biden for his son’s business dealings in Ukraine.”
Sanders is mentioned more than twice as many times as any other Democratic candidate in the first 200 words of Russian articles from Feb. 22 to 28, according to an analysis by the Alliance for Securing Democracy. But it’s a mistake to think the Kremlin is backing his candidacy, or Trump’s for that matter, says Zack Cooper, co-director of the Alliance. “Putin’s underlying goal is to dampen democracy’s appeal to would-be activists within Russia. It’s also to keep us divided and distracted, making it less likely that we would play a more forward-leaning global role that could be detrimental to Russia’s foreign policy interests. In other words, to make us look weak and to actually weaken us.”
“It doesn’t have to be either/or,” says a former CIA officer and White House official who requested anonymity. “If you’re Putin, why not help Sanders? If a Democrat is going to win in November, you’d probably want it to be him owing to his rather isolationist tendencies. And if you want Trump to win—as the Russians almost certainly do—the conventional wisdom is that Sanders would be the weakest opponent the Dems could muster.”
Complicating the issue, Russia is no longer alone in posing these threats, says Salvo. “The Iranian regime is starting to mimic these tactics,” he says. “They’re taking pages out of the Russian playbook.”
In a statement on Monday, the heads of the four agencies warned “foreign actors” that they could face “sharp consequences” for such efforts, without saying what those consequences might include. In the wake of the 2016 Russian election meddling, the U.S. expelled suspected Russian spies, shuttered two Russian facilities in the U.S. and imposed sanctions on companies and individuals associated with Russian activities abroad.
Two U.S. intelligence officials tell TIME the U.S. Cyber Command, part of the Defense Department, was prepared to take offensive action against foreign hackers who tried to intervene in the elections. That could include shutting down foreign operations as they attempt to meddle. In 2018, Cyber Command launched operations against hackers in the run-up to midterm elections.
By John Walcott on March 04, 2020 at 10:28AM
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The Star Spangled Man
(A missing scene from Special Relationship)
a birthday gift for @agentkarnstein
happy happy (belated) birthday Minty! I hope you had a wonderful day and that this year is a fantastic one :D
As always, scotch performed its duty as social lubricant admirably, and it wasn’t long before Peggy was laughing along with Steve’s old unit as if she had been part of it herself. The Howling Commandos, as they had once been known, regaled her with their wildest tales behind enemy lines until she was in stitches.
There was one story, though, she was dying to hear, but every time she brought it up, someone would glance at Steve, wince, and quickly change the subject.
So the minute Steve excused himself, she turned to the rest of the men and whispered, “So what is up with the whole ‘Captain America’ thing?”
They all exchanged glances, and Peggy rolled her eyes. “Oh come on! Whenever I ask Steve about how it started, he just blushes, says he’s going to kill Barnes, and changes the subject. I want to know where the name came from.”
Barnes leaned forward, forearms resting on his legs. “Okay, but you can’t tell him we told you. He hates it when we bring it up, especially in front of his girlf—” he cleared his throat as Peggy glared at him and corrected, “—his colleagues.”
Peggy mimed zipping her lips.
“It all started shortly after our first real mission as a unit. Bosnia, right?” The other Commandos nodded, and Peggy pinched the skin between her thumb and forefinger to forestall her reaction. Her mission in Bosnia was still classified, and it would be bad form to reveal her participation in an op because she couldn't keep still when it was mentioned in the context of her significant other.
“Right,” Barnes continued, “so Steve’s walking around the base like someone kicked his dog—”
“Probably because he struck out with a pretty girl again,” Dum Dum interjected, and Peggy willed herself not to blush as she remembered warm lips, warm hands, and the disappointment of disappearing into the crowd.
“Probably,” Barnes said, rolling his eyes. “He was terrible with women back then, constantly putting his foot in his mouth. Anyway, being the kind, caring sort we were, we decided to have a little fun at his expense. Because that’s what you do to your CO, right?
“Now, Steve’s a pretty patriotic guy. And he’s always had a way with words, ever since we were kids, able to say exactly the right thing at the right time to rally the troops, so to speak. By that point, we’d all been on the receiving end of one of Steve’s inspirational talks about protecting freedom, and democracy, and God and country or whatever. One day, after another speech, the foreigners among us—”
“You are in my country, Barnes.” Monty rolled his eyes. “Foreigner, my ass.”
Barnes shot him a look. “Like I was saying, Monty and Dernier were giggling to themselves in the corner about Mr. Truth and Justice, and—”
Monty sits forward in his chair eagerly. “And I said it’s like he’s Superman or something, but then Dernier said—”
Jacques Dernier had been fairly quiet throughout the night, laughing at the occasional story but rarely sharing his own, but his eyes danced as he recalled his words from all those years ago. “‘Non, non, Capitaine America!’”
“Exactly,” Barnes said, pointing decisively at Dernier, who was chuckling quietly to himself at the memory. “Of course, the name stuck, and we were muttering it to each other for about a week. And then Jones had a brilliant idea. You had just graduated from Howard, right?”
Jones nodded. “I had my degree in French and German, but I had started as an American History major. One of my first classes was about the home front in World War II, and we had spent a week talking about the use of propaganda. Well, my professor showed us this one old, old newsreel from the beginning of the war. I can’t remember what it was about, or the actual use of the song, but it had this melody that I couldn't get out of my head for the rest of my first year. I’m sure you know it by now.”
Peggy grinned. “I have a good feeling I’ve even hummed it a time or two.”
“So we were in barracks one day, and the tune came back to me, I can’t remember why now. But I started humming it and Barnes sat straight up in his bunk and said, ‘That’s it. We need a song for Captain America.’”
“We worked on it every spare second for a week and a half,” Barnes continued. “I’m sure Steve knew we were up to something, but as we mentioned, he’d been a bit distracted this whole time. Anyway, none of us can claim to be great at writing, but we came up with something that we thought would do the trick, and as the best singer among us, Morita was chosen—”
“I did not volunteer,” Morita added darkly
“—as the one to start the whole thing off. So on a bright, sunny July morning, which also happened to be the 4th of July—”
“And Cap’s birthday, which Barnes neglected to mention beforehand,” Dum Dum said, his mustache twitching as he tried not to laugh.
“—we all arrived to breakfast early and positioned ourselves around the room to make the best use of the acoustics. And then we waited for Steve to show up.”
“And when he did, I stood up on my chair and, as loud as I could, began to sing, ‘Who’s strong and brave, here to save the American way,’” Morita said, rising to his feet to demonstrate.
“We all joined in one by one, and Steve’s face got redder and redder.” Barnes grinned at the memory, and Peggy burst out laughing. “We got two months of KP for ‘disrespecting an officer.’ Totally worth it.”
Peggy ran a finger under each eye to catch a few errant tears of laughter. “Oh, I wish I could have seen it! But that was over two decades ago. How did the song end up attached to his campaign? And why does he want to kill you?”
Barnes flushed. “Well, to answer both questions, that was my fault. See, Steve declared his candidacy shortly before his birthday, and for his gift, just to keep him humble, the six of us had recorded a demo of ‘The Star-Spangled Man’ that we were going to play at his party, right? But, as campaign manager, I was also in charge of the music for his first big campaign rally happening the day before the party. I, uh, mixed up the CDs and instead of giving the sound technicians his actual campaign song—”
Peggy clapped a hand over her mouth. “You gave them the demo.”
“I gave them the demo.” Barnes winced. “Steve was the consummate professional, as always, but when he walked onto that stage to the tune of our twenty-year-old practical joke, I knew I was a dead man walking. We never used that song at a campaign event again, but it was too late. Every news channel used it as their intro for him, and they even played it when they announced he had won the presidency. Still, to this day, we’ll hear it during a news report, and Steve will glare at me like he’s imagining my death.”
“Why am I imagining your death, Buck?” Steve walked back into the room, and they all turned in unison to face him. Each of the guys shrank back slightly, and Peggy smirked as he surveyed the scene grimly.
“You assholes,” he ground out between clenched teeth, “you told her.”
“I tortured it out of them, darling, I swear,” Peggy replied, darting to stand between Steve and his friends. “It took all my tools of persuasion.”
Steve snorted. “I bet it did. What, did you say please and Buck opened his big mouth?” He glared at Barnes over Peggy’s head, who just shrugged, unaffected.
“Come now, Steve, this sort of bitterness is unbecoming of the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan,” Peggy said, placing a hand on his chest. He looked down at her, shocked and betrayed, and she laughed. “Did you forget I knew the song before? I sang part of it for you once before, let me see if I can still remember it.”
She drew a breath, but before she could begin singing, he spun her around and began pushing her toward the door. “Okay, fellas, Peggy needs to go back to 10 Downing now, say goodnight.”
“I can have you kicked out of my country, Rogers,” Peggy retorted, biting her lip to keep herself from laughing. “Do you really want to start an international incident on Christmas?”
His steps faltered for just a second at the thought, and she took her chance. She slammed a heel on his toes and spun neatly out of his grip as he hopped on his other foot, groaning. “Oops,” she said, not even a little sorry.
Steve hobbled closer and pulled her into his arms. “You’re breaking the rules, Peg. Aren’t I the one who steps on your toes?”
She sighed dramatically and let herself be molded into a dancing hold. “You’re not supposed to step on the girl’s feet when you’re dancing, Steven.”
“You’re right, I don’t know what I was thinking. You better show me how it’s done, just so I don’t forget again.” Steve spun them in a slow circle and dipped her, his warm hand splayed across her lower back. He smelled like his favorite aftershave and peppermint, and his horrid sweater was soft under her fingers as she clutched his bicep.
“Not too shabby, Rogers. But what comes next?” she said, hoping her voice wasn’t actually as breathless as it sounded to her ears.
Steve grinned and leaned forward, bringing them chest to chest as he held her, suspended above the floor. “Something like this?” he murmured. He kissed her, gently and then thoroughly, and Peggy felt the world spin as his tongue touched her bottom lip, and his hand shifted, pulling her closer against his chest, and as she melted into the heat of his embrace—
A chorus of groans and boos effectively ruined the moment, and Peggy pulled away reluctantly. Steve set her back on her feet with a wink and a small smile, still holding her waist as she struggled to regain her equilibrium.
“What did I say about plausible deniability, Steve?” Peggy looked over to see Barnes covering his eyes with his hand, his mouth turned down in a deep frown. “If I ever get called before a congressional committee, I can’t say I don’t know anything if I know something.”
Steve shrugged. “That’s what executive privilege is for, Buck. I’ll give you a heads-up next time, so you can protect yourself.”
Steve’s tone was sarcastic, but Barnes nodded seriously. “Please do.”
“Okay, Bucky, avert your eyes. Things I’m not talking about with you are going to happen again.” He leaned down to kiss her again, but before his lips could touch hers, there was another round of groans from the other Commandos, and he sighed.
“Fine, fine. I don’t know why I spend time with you guys anymore, honestly.” Steve glanced at Peggy and mouthed, “Later,” and Peggy felt warmth pool in the pit of her belly at the promise in his eyes.
They returned to their seats on the couch, and Steve wrapped an arm around Peggy’s shoulders.
“I knew that photo of your hand on his ass wasn’t fake,” Morita quipped, and Peggy felt her face redden.
“What can I say?” she retorted. “I was just performing my duty for Queen and Country, doing my best to reconquer America by way of its Captain.”
The Commandos howled with laughter, and Peggy settled back into Steve’s side with a grin. No need for her speechwriter after all--meeting his friends had gone just fine.
#agentkarnstein#steggy#steggy fic#steggy au#my fic#special relationship#i'm so sorry this is so late#but i hope you like it!!#birthday gift
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so, because this comic has been //haunting// me for months I wanted to attempt a Definitive List of Everything sTUPID Steven Grant Rogers Has Done Since Bucky Barnes Told Him “NOT to do anything Stupid” in 1942
signs up for the US Military under a fake identity for like the //fifth time//
tries to run away when he thinks he’s in trouble for this
volunteers for a Super Elite Army Boot Camp when he is an asthmatic stick
jumps on a //fucking/// GRENADE
signs up to be experimented on by a German scientist whose track record was, so far, poor
doesn’t //run screaming in the other direction// when the last time he saw the guy who’s handling the mechanical aspect of this shot in the dark, said guy CRASHED A CAR
gets in the METAL DEATH TOMB
allows himself to by injected with A THOUSAND NEEDLES full of blue Mystery Serum
allows himself to be freaking MICROWAVED or something
runs through Brooklyn barefoot to chase down a Nazi
launches himself at some kind of mini submarine and riPS IT OPEN to pull out said Nazi
TOURS AMERICA IN SPANDEX AND SHORT SHORTS
makes propaganda reels
smiles LIKE A FUCKING DORK at /own/ propaganda reels
goes after PROBABLY DEAD best friend against orders
gets /flown across europe// by that SAME GUY WHO CRASHED A CAR AND MICROWAVED HIM
jumps out of a plane take 1
takes on an entire Nazi base //by himself//
attempts to fight the only other guy who is as strong as him but has been for longer
does not RUN AWAY SCREAMING when that dude /PULLS HIS OWN FACE OFF/
marches a PLATOON across Europe just to be sassy about it
puts together a diverse band of homicidal people to take down Hydra bases one by one
zip lines to a moving train
...
loses his best friend
sits alone in a bombed out bar and drinks despite no longer being able to get drunk
....
takes on more Hydra bases with previously mentioned diverse, homicidal band
gets in an airplane with his mortal enemy
crashes plane instead of, idk, landing it safely somewhere, just to be dramatic
wakes up in a hospital, notices suspicious surroundings, and does not, ask questions or subtly try and figure it out, but rather throws two guys through A WALL and /runs through Manhattan/
Fin First Avenger.
seemingly spends the next few months either
a) sadly wondering the city alone
b) sketching, alone, sadly
c) staying up at some old time-y gym, slowly destroying all of their punching bags, sadly, and alone
gets flown to Germany in a //ridiculous// skin tight suit to take on a GOD by himself
tries to out sass The King of Sass: Anthony Edward Stark
jumps out a plane take 2 for the purposes of //fighting MORE GODS//
breaks into SHIELD storage
gets into a fight with a bunch of temperamental superheroes
attempts to fix a highly advanced engine when he is a couple of decades behind on the technology
adds the guy who was just trying to kill them all to the team without even thinking about it
once again, does not ///run screaming// when a GIANT SPACE WHALE comes out of a HOLE IN THE SKY
tries to tell some new york city cops what to do while still dressed in a //ridiculous// skin tight suit
takes on ALIENS in New York, with temperamental superheroes he was just fighting with while STILL WEARING A //ridiculous// skin tight suit!!
throws a woman into the air so she can catch a ride on a flying alien scooter
eats food at Tony Stark’s suggestion
Fin Avengers One.
instead of making friends the normal way, by //introducing himself// and //starting a conversation//, he puts on his tightest shirt and runs laps around the guy until he is annoyed into talking to him
flirts //outrageously//
jumps out of a plane TAKE FUCKING THREE onto a pirate ship full of hostages in order to avoid question about his love life
instead of fighting the french olympic gymnast/wrestler whatever with everything at his disposal, he //clips in his shield// tossES HIS HELMET ASIDE and says the french equivalent of ‘come fight me, bro’
/scolds/ Natasha Romonoff for doing her fucking job
mouths off Nicholas J. Fury for also doing his /fucking job/
visits own Smithsonian exhibit to stare sadly at Wall of Dead Best Friends, freaks out a child
attempts to get advice from ex girlfriend suffering from Alzheimer’s who has her own damn problems
stalks new friend to his place of work
attempts to solicit him for life advice
suspects a possible break-in in his apartment so, as one does, sneaks in through the window
witnesses an assassination and chases down the suspect by crashing through his own window and DESTROYING AN ENTIRE OFFICE BUILDING
throws his supposedly impossible to catch shield and just sorta stands there dumbfounded when the murder robot catches it with his MURDER ROBOT ARM
takes the very senstive information handed to him by a dying man and decides to hide it in a VENDING MACHINE
is rude to Sharon Carter for doing her job (which you know Peggy would be very disappointed in him for)
slowly becomes aware that an assassination attempt is being made on himself in aN ELEVATOR and instead of.... finding a way out or leaving by some means //before// it starts he ... wAITS, makes a fucking /QUIP ABOUT IT/ before getting tackled by like TWENTY GUYS
JUMPS OUT OF THE ELEVATOR LIKE 30 STORIES UP and then /GETS UP//
sTEALS A //motorcycle/ to escape SHIELD HEADQUARTERS WHILE //UNDER FIRE//
destroys a plane with his BODY???
attempts to go undercover by... wearing a hoodie???
is genuinely /SHOCKED/ when his BRILLIANT /hide the drive in the vending machine/ plan diiiidn’t work out
is so bad at being a spy that he literally cannot keep //realistic cover/// for like //30 seconds// under the scrutiny of an Apple store employee
balks at kissing NATASHA ROMONOFF which like WhY?
““borrows”“ a strangers car
learns that his sacrifice and all the work his loved ones did to honour it amounted to nothing and that the organization he DIED to end, has been waiting in the shadows all these years
sticks his shield in a computer screen to no damn avail
while on the run from the law and after having been almost BLOWN UP, goes to the home of the man he met /maybe twice/ to ‘lay low’
does not ‘lay low’ but instead immediately hatches a plan to, and I quote “kidnap a SHIELD officer in brOAD DAYLIGHT”
KIDNAPS A SHIELD AGENT IN BROAD DAYLIGHT
while under attack from the MURDER ROBOT while //weaponless/ and ///without his shield/// just fucking /stops/ because... he maybe just saw his best friend again, or the ghost of his best friend, for the first time since 1945...
breaks into the Smithsonian and gets some poor guard in /trouble// just to get a little /retro chic/ at this big bad fight
decides to take down SHIELD with like 3 guys, some micro chips and an inspiring speech???
gets on SHIELD comms to give The //InsPIRING Speech// to Rally the Troops like the HUGE PATRIOTIC JERK that he is
(it works????)
decides to take on SHIELD and the MURDER ROBOT who /might? be? his best friend? COMPLETELY BY HIMSELF
gets into another fight with the MURDER ROBOT who /might? be? his best friend?
saves the world at the last humanly possible moment, partially ‘cause he got shot a bunch but also maybe because he’s just fucking dramatic
picks //yet another// fight with the MURDER ROBOT who /might? be? his best friend?
stops fighting
drops his shield
doesn’t fight back
hopes, hopes beyond all hope, hopes enough to put his life on the line, that the one thing he could always count on - that Bucky has his back - was still true
falls
wakes up in a hospital bed once more
#captain america#steve rogers#steven grant rogers#bucky barnes#it's a long ass list#he has done so much stupid shit#i love him so much but he is very dumb sometimes#this has been a post
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Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah: How to Square the Circle of Disney’s Past With Today’s Need For Revisionist Cleansing
By Don Hall
“Donald, you can’t do/say/think that!”
“WHYYYYYYY?!?”
“Because I said so.”
Never happened. Perhaps it was because my mom was young and hadn’t decided that teaching me to go along to get along was the best approach to socializing me or because, as a young activist bleeding-heart she was of the mind that more information about how things were and could be was better for my spongey brain, the Do As I Say Because I Said So method of parenting was just not present in my upbringing.
No. Mom tended to indulge me and my curiosity with answers. Sometimes the lessons took a long time to gestate like her hatred for Richard Nixon in 1972 and other times they were immediately traumatic like her detailed explanation of sex years before my hormones kicked in. Erring perhaps on the side of providing me with too much information, Mom wanted me to know about everything.
Her example also taught me to question everything I read or was told. Whenever teachers or school administrators or police or doctors flung their decrees my way, it was an automatic response to question it, to interrogate it, to break it down and make some sort of sense out of it. Assessing motivations was harder because I had to look closely at the behavior behind the demands of my compliance to put together the pieces behind them.
The long term effect all of this nurturing of my critical mind had on me is that, while human and subject to the bias we all carry, I tend to immediately interrogate any demand of conformity to a cause.
I’m not especially passionate about Disney but I am about Star Wars and Marvel so Disney+ was a no brainer. The Mandalorian is a blast and all the Pixar stuff is gorgeous and wonderful.
But wait. Was the name of the leader of those singing crows in Dumbo actually “Jim Crow?” I completely forgot about the musical montage to racist genocide in Peter Pan. The hyenas in The Lion King are not exactly subtle.
Disney has been in business for a long damn time and there are an awful lot of cultural blind spots present when laid out with the whole canon (minus, of course, Song of the South and the host of propaganda shorts made during WWII depicting the Japanese as rat-like creatures and grotesque racial caricatures of Germans and Italians).
Disney has even pre-loaded language to warn viewers that this stuff is embedded right in there.
“It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”
There is still call to erase these outdated cultural depictions entirely. Obviously, the Corporate Mouse is sensitive to this as Song of the South is pretty much unavailable anywhere. An affable house n****r pining a bit for the past when he was a slave is most definitely outdated and, if taken at its face, paints a picture of white supremacy via cartoon unlike anything in popular culture.
The questions that crop up in my medulla, however, are many. Why erase the cultural signifiers of the past—reminders of slavery, of the Civil War, of gender dominance, of ethnic bias—rather than contextualize them? Why bother with them at all and instead simply censor them out of existence? No one is harmed by not having access to Uncle Remus or the Siamese cats from Lady and the Tramp, right?
The argument to eliminate these outdated cultural depictions is fairly straight forward: they’re offensive to many people, they proliferate a culture of intolerance and white supremacy, they serve to remind us of attitudes we’d prefer to be put away and left unrevisited. The idea is that absent these reminders of racist and sexist signifiers, society is freer to move past them. Unfortunately, this argument is almost always accompanied by the requisite “Because we said so.” The result being a new bedrock belief that marginalization and suffering grants a certain unassailable moral high ground to those in camp with their offense and imagined pain elevating their opinion to dogma.
What are the long term consequences to this sort of cultural washing? We know that despite Disney making unavailable the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah romp of an ex-slave showing a white boy his grandmother’s plantation, it isn’t hard for those on that Wasn’t It Better With Slavery power grab to get their grubby mitts on. It isn’t like it was erased and just hidden from view. We know that by creating a hostility toward the flippant use of certain words that those words tend to gain even more power in their suppression despite certain marginalized groups reclaiming them.
Being on the Right Side of History is a truly slippery slope. Take Christopher Columbus as an example. For just over five hundred years streets were named for the guy, we celebrated a federal holiday in his name, he was absolutely on the Right Side of History as a hero. In forty short years, he has gone from hero to colonizing slave apologist and is seen by many as a villain. Our founding fathers went from bold thinkers who fought for the mashup of democracy, republic, and a country on its own to slave-owning monsters who created the platform for white supremacy and cultural genocide. The Right Side of History is a fickle beast.
What I see when I dive into the Disney Vault is a longer history of progress. I see the antiquated views of equal representation culturally in cartoons like The Three Caballeros (1944) and Saludos Amigos (1942) to High School Musical and Elena of Avalor, both examples of Disney fluff but with respect to multiculturalism and ethnic inclusion. Without the ability to see the patronizing and borderline racist perspectives of the 1940s, can we truly appreciate the evolution? Can we understand why Marvel’s Black Panther is watershed without the above the fray view of so many movies absent a full cast of black actors? Without that exclusionary tapestry in view, does Cooglar’s vision even matter as much?
“It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”
This is as good as it gets in terms of trigger warnings, I think. As opposed to Disney capitulating to the demands of our most recent squeaky wheels via social media, treat consumers as critical thinkers with an ability to see offensive ideas and not be threatened by them.
“It may contain outdated cultural depictions so make a choice but understand that your choice may not be everyone else’s choice and if you can’t handle that, don’t subscribe and miss out on all the fucking Star Wars and Marvel shit we’re creating.”
“America, you can’t do/say/think that!”
“WHYYYYYYY?!?”
“Because we said so.”
Nope. Gotta do better than that, my Woke friends.
#Disney+#cultural blindspots#Christopher Columbus#critical thinking skills#appropriate trigger warnings
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OWB: D-Day Bundle [bundle]
Publisher: Small Niche Games
September 1st, 1939. Nazi Germany invades Poland. Adolf Hitler claims the invasion is in response to Polish aggression. Poland’s army is unprepared for the ferocity of the German blitzkrieg and surrenders in less than a month. World War II has begun!
Now you can reenact these events from the safety of your gaming table---for FREE! WWII: Operation WhiteBox™ puts your characters in the role of special forces operatives undertaking covert missions behind enemy lines.
Download WWII: Operation WhiteBox™ for FREE and get right into the action. Fast forward to 1944 with our D-Day Bundle and get six (6) action-packed missions for one low price.
It’s your war now!
This special bundle product contains the following titles.
OWB001: WWII: Operation WhiteBox (FREE)
Regular price: $4.99
Bundle price: $0.00
Format: ZIP File
The Great Crusade. That's what General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the effort to defeat the Axis powers in WWII. Tabletop roleplaying games have always been about epic quests, heroic deeds, and great crusades. These games feature mercurial wizards, diabolical dragons, and cunning adventurers. Such fantastical tropes are not so different from what has come to pass in our own history. In fact, it is that commonality which gives such stories their power. But what gives World War II its true power is that it was all real. It happened. Real men and women fought and died—including many of our own living ancestors. They laid down their lives when faced with unfathomable evil. And that is legendary. WWII: Operation WhiteBox is an homage to these heroes, both living and fal...
OWB004: Normandy Breakout
Regular price: $3.99
Bundle price: $0.00
Format: Watermarked PDF
NORMANDY BREAKOUT is a collection of three (3) support missions designed for WWII: Operation WhiteBox™. Storm the beaches, secure key positions, and undertake covert missions in Normandy during Operation Overlord! ASSAULT ON PILLBOX 12: Storm the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and take out that German pillbox! APPLES OF WAR: Assault a French farmhouse fortified by the Waffen-SS! NAZI STRENGTH AND PRIDE: Sneak into the town of Pommetan and kidnap a Nazi icon to win the propaganda war! Normandy Breakout is designed for 3-6 characters of 1st-3rd level. WWII: Operation WhiteBox is a roleplaying game of WWII special forces action designed for compatibility with the Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox roleplaying game....
OWB014: Bustle in Your Hedgerow
Regular price: $4.99
Bundle price: $4.99
Format: ZIP File
BUSTLE IN YOUR HEDGEROW is a support mission designed for WWII: Operation WhiteBoxTM. Parachute into Normandy on D-Day, take out a German artillery battery, and rescue fellow paratroopers from a Nazi-occupied village! Bustle in Your Hedgerow is designed for 3-6 characters of 1st-3rd level. Bustle in Your Hedgerow is the perfect way to kick off a D-Day campaign. Check it out now. It's Berlin or Bust! WWII: Operation WhiteBox is a roleplaying game of WWII special forces action designed for compatibility with the Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox roleplaying game....
Total value: $13.97 Special bundle price: $4.99 Savings of: $8.98 (64%)
Price: $13.97
OWB: D-Day Bundle [bundle] published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com
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Tallinn, Estonia
The D&O Diary completed its European assignment with a final stop late last week in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital city. With a population of around 440,000, Tallinn is relatively compact. In fact, the population of the entire country of Estonia (with a total land area roughly equal to that of the states of Vermont and New Hampshire, combined) is only about 1.2 million, making it one of the smaller countries in the EU. Though Tallinn is relatively small, it is full of charm and history.
The most important thing to know about Tallinn is that its old town and historic city walls — including 26 watchtowers — are largely intact, making it one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe. Within the walls, the city is full of Gothic-era houses, beautiful church towers, and graceful spires. The city’s fortifications were begun in the 14th century, when Estonia was a province of the Danish king, and, later a territory of the Teutonic knights. The walls were expanded during subsequent occupations by the Swedish and, later, the Russians. (Estonia was part of the Russian empire from the early 18th century until 1918.) Today, the fortified areas and much of the city within have been mostly (although not entirely) refurbished. After several days there, we found that we were still discovering new alleys, courtyards, and passageways.
We were fortunate that while we were in Tallinn the city was hosting its annual Tallinna Vanalinna Päevad (Old Town Days) festival, which featured a number of musical, artistic, and cultural events and activities at locations within and just outside the walled city. The festival was very cool – and I mean that in both the colloquial and literal senses. On Thursday afternoon, the air temperatures were, maybe, 43 degrees, and the wind was blowing a steady 25 mph, with occasional gusts up to 35 mph. Then it rained. And then – sleet. Eventually, and as happened every evening while we were in Tallinn, the skies cleared, the wind died down, and the seemingly eternal sunshine of the northern latitude late spring shone down on the city’s historic district. The weather did improve by Saturday, when we had a full day of sunshine and more moderate temperatures. Still, we kept out coats on and zipped up the entire time we were there.
The festival events included a broad diversity of musical and artistic performances, including traditional dancing by groups in authentic costumes representing ethnic minorities from the Baltics, from Scandinavia, from Eastern Europe, and from within greater Russia. The musical high point was performance in the Saturday afternoon sunshine by a brass band of students from the University of Tartu (second picture below). The afternoon program on the main stage in the central square also included a rendition of popular music from the Soviet era, including (I am not making this up) “Today I Play the Saxophone, Tomorrow I Betray my Country.” ( I understand from a little bit of Internet research that the phrase is a reference to Soviet-era propaganda which tried to suggest it was a short step from following Western culture, such as jazz, to betraying Soviet principles.)
There are several excellent museums in Tallinn that help explain the country’s fascinating and complicated history, including in particular the Museum of Occupations, which explored the city’s occupation by the Russians and Germans between 1939 and 1991. The country’s two century era as part of the Russian empire ended after World War I. The country’s brief existence as an independent republic from 1920 to 1939 ended all too soon, when the Soviet army invaded. The German Army pushed out the Soviets in 1941, but the Soviet army drove the Germans out in 1944, and the country remained one of the Soviet republics until finally in 1991 when, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country once again became an independent country. Because folk singing festivals were an important part of the independence movement, the Estonian’s refer to their independence efforts as the “Singing Revolution.” A key event in the drive toward independence was the day on which the Estonian flag replaced the Soviet flag on the tallest tower in the Old Town, the Tall Hermann tower, which rises above what is now the country’s parliament building.
Since 1991, the country has been transformed. The current atmosphere is overwhelmingly positive and forward-looking. Estonia joined the EU in 2004 and it adopted the Euro in 2011. Tallinn itself projects openness and dynamism. While the country is now thoroughly Westernized and modern, vestiges of the Soviet era remain. Redevelopment undoubtedly will eventually eliminate the crumbling remnants, but in the meantime, the authorities in Tallinn have tried to make a virtue out of a deficiency by turning sites that might otherwise be viewed as eyesores into a tourist destination. The city has created a walking trail called “Tallinn Culture Kilometer,” which encompasses a trail through an area in which art museums and galleries sit alongside (and are slowly overtaking or even replacing) abandoned buildings from the Soviet era. Because the area sits along the harbor shoreline near the passenger ferry terminals that is already actively being redeveloped, I suspect the remaining Soviet-era buildings in the area will soon be gone.
The primary reason for my visit to Tallinn was to participate in an event on D&O insurance jointly sponsored by the Sorainen law firm and Polaris Corporate Solutions. I was fortunate enough to be able to make a presentation at the event on the topic of the recent global rise of collective investor actions, as well as to participate on two panels on D&O insurance and director and officer liability topics. It was a privilege and an honor to be a part of this excellent event, and it was a great experience for me to learn about the D&O insurance market and liability environment in Estonia and in the Baltics generally. It was also a pleasure to find out how many professionals in the Baltic region follow The D&O Diary.
In the first picture below, I am standing with Reimo Hammerberg of the Sorainen law firm; Peter Schlamberger of Polaris; and Vanja Nadali of Polaris.
In this picture, I am standing with Dr. Milda Pranckevičiūtė of Nasdaq. Nasdaq operates three securities exchanges in the Baltics as part of the Nasdaq Baltic group, including the stock exchange in Tallinn.
While I was in Tallinn, I was fortunate to meet one of Estonia’s leading D&O insurance brokers, Helen Evert, of IIZI Kindlustusmaakler, pictured below.
More Pictures of Tallinn:
Just five tram stops east of the old town is Kadriorg, a city park build from the pleasure gardens of the palace that the Russian Emperor Peter the Great built for his wife, Catherine. The palace now houses an art museum.
At the northern end of Kadriorg is a memorial for the crew of the Rusalka, a ship that sank with all hands in the late 19th century. The memorial is built along the shoreline, with views out across Tallinn Bay and back to the Old Town.
Tallinn’s Old Town is remarkable and beautiful but it is hard to capture in just a single photograph. So, instead, here is a collection of photographs of the old town, its ramparts, walls, and buildings.
The post Tallinn, Estonia appeared first on The D&O Diary.
Tallinn, Estonia published first on http://ift.tt/2kTPCwo
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Tallinn, Estonia
The D&O Diary completed its European assignment with a final stop late last week in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital city. With a population of around 440,000, Tallinn is relatively compact. In fact, the population of the entire country of Estonia (with a total land area roughly equal to that of the states of Vermont and New Hampshire, combined) is only about 1.2 million, making it one of the smaller countries in the EU. Though Tallinn is relatively small, it is full of charm and history.
The most important thing to know about Tallinn is that its old town and historic city walls — including 26 watchtowers — are largely intact, making it one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe. Within the walls, the city is full of Gothic-era houses, beautiful church towers, and graceful spires. The city’s fortifications were begun in the 14th century, when Estonia was a province of the Danish king, and, later a territory of the Teutonic knights. The walls were expanded during subsequent occupations by the Swedish and, later, the Russians. (Estonia was part of the Russian empire from the early 18th century until 1918.) Today, the fortified areas and much of the city within have been mostly (although not entirely) refurbished. After several days there, we found that we were still discovering new alleys, courtyards, and passageways.
We were fortunate that while we were in Tallinn the city was hosting its annual Tallinna Vanalinna Päevad (Old Town Days) festival, which featured a number of musical, artistic, and cultural events and activities at locations within and just outside the walled city. The festival was very cool – and I mean that in both the colloquial and literal senses. On Thursday afternoon, the air temperatures were, maybe, 43 degrees, and the wind was blowing a steady 25 mph, with occasional gusts up to 35 mph. Then it rained. And then – sleet. Eventually, and as happened every evening while we were in Tallinn, the skies cleared, the wind died down, and the seemingly eternal sunshine of the northern latitude late spring shone down on the city’s historic district. The weather did improve by Saturday, when we had a full day of sunshine and more moderate temperatures. Still, we kept out coats on and zipped up the entire time we were there.
The festival events included a broad diversity of musical and artistic performances, including traditional dancing by groups in authentic costumes representing ethnic minorities from the Baltics, from Scandinavia, from Eastern Europe, and from within greater Russia. The musical high point was performance in the Saturday afternoon sunshine by a brass band of students from the University of Tartu (second picture below). The afternoon program on the main stage in the central square also included a rendition of popular music from the Soviet era, including (I am not making this up) “Today I Play the Saxophone, Tomorrow I Betray my Country.” ( I understand from a little bit of Internet research that the phrase is a reference to Soviet-era propaganda which tried to suggest it was a short step from following Western culture, such as jazz, to betraying Soviet principles.)
There are several excellent museums in Tallinn that help explain the country’s fascinating and complicated history, including in particular the Museum of Occupations, which explored the city’s occupation by the Russians and Germans between 1939 and 1991. The country’s two century era as part of the Russian empire ended after World War I. The country’s brief existence as an independent republic from 1920 to 1939 ended all too soon, when the Soviet army invaded. The German Army pushed out the Soviets in 1941, but the Soviet army drove the Germans out in 1944, and the country remained one of the Soviet republics until finally in 1991 when, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country once again became an independent country. Because folk singing festivals were an important part of the independence movement, the Estonian’s refer to their independence efforts as the “Singing Revolution.” A key event in the drive toward independence was the day on which the Estonian flag replaced the Soviet flag on the tallest tower in the Old Town, the Tall Hermann tower, which rises above what is now the country’s parliament building.
Since 1991, the country has been transformed. The current atmosphere is overwhelmingly positive and forward-looking. Estonia joined the EU in 2004 and it adopted the Euro in 2011. Tallinn itself projects openness and dynamism. While the country is now thoroughly Westernized and modern, vestiges of the Soviet era remain. Redevelopment undoubtedly will eventually eliminate the crumbling remnants, but in the meantime, the authorities in Tallinn have tried to make a virtue out of a deficiency by turning sites that might otherwise be viewed as eyesores into a tourist destination. The city has created a walking trail called “Tallinn Culture Kilometer,” which encompasses a trail through an area in which art museums and galleries sit alongside (and are slowly overtaking or even replacing) abandoned buildings from the Soviet era. Because the area sits along the harbor shoreline near the passenger ferry terminals that is already actively being redeveloped, I suspect the remaining Soviet-era buildings in the area will soon be gone.
The primary reason for my visit to Tallinn was to participate in an event on D&O insurance jointly sponsored by the Sorainen law firm and Polaris Corporate Solutions. I was fortunate enough to be able to make a presentation at the event on the topic of the recent global rise of collective investor actions, as well as to participate on two panels on D&O insurance and director and officer liability topics. It was a privilege and an honor to be a part of this excellent event, and it was a great experience for me to learn about the D&O insurance market and liability environment in Estonia and in the Baltics generally. It was also a pleasure to find out how many professionals in the Baltic region follow The D&O Diary.
In the first picture below, I am standing with Reimo Hammerberg of the Sorainen law firm; Peter Schlamberger of Polaris; and Vanja Nadali of Polaris.
In this picture, I am standing with Dr. Milda Pranckevičiūtė of Nasdaq. Nasdaq operates three securities exchanges in the Baltics as part of the Nasdaq Baltic group, including the stock exchange in Tallinn.
While I was in Tallinn, I was fortunate to meet one of Estonia’s leading D&O insurance brokers, Helen Evert, of IIZI Kindlustusmaakler, pictured below.
More Pictures of Tallinn:
Just five tram stops east of the old town is Kadriorg, a city park build from the pleasure gardens of the palace that the Russian Emperor Peter the Great built for his wife, Catherine. The palace now houses an art museum.
At the northern end of Kadriorg is a memorial for the crew of the Rusalka, a ship that sank with all hands in the late 19th century. The memorial is built along the shoreline, with views out across Tallinn Bay and back to the Old Town.
Tallinn’s Old Town is remarkable and beautiful but it is hard to capture in just a single photograph. So, instead, here is a collection of photographs of the old town, its ramparts, walls, and buildings.
The post Tallinn, Estonia appeared first on The D&O Diary.
Tallinn, Estonia syndicated from http://ift.tt/2qyreAv
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Text
Tallinn, Estonia
The D&O Diary completed its European assignment with a final stop late last week in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital city. With a population of around 440,000, Tallinn is relatively compact. In fact, the population of the entire country of Estonia (with a total land area roughly equal to that of the states of Vermont and New Hampshire, combined) is only about 1.2 million, making it one of the smaller countries in the EU. Though Tallinn is relatively small, it is full of charm and history.
The most important thing to know about Tallinn is that its old town and historic city walls — including 26 watchtowers — are largely intact, making it one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe. Within the walls, the city is full of Gothic-era houses, beautiful church towers, and graceful spires. The city’s fortifications were begun in the 14th century, when Estonia was a province of the Danish king, and, later a territory of the Teutonic knights. The walls were expanded during subsequent occupations by the Swedish and, later, the Russians. (Estonia was part of the Russian empire from the early 18th century until 1918.) Today, the fortified areas and much of the city within have been mostly (although not entirely) refurbished. After several days there, we found that we were still discovering new alleys, courtyards, and passageways.
We were fortunate that while we were in Tallinn the city was hosting its annual Tallinna Vanalinna Päevad (Old Town Days) festival, which featured a number of musical, artistic, and cultural events and activities at locations within and just outside the walled city. The festival was very cool – and I mean that in both the colloquial and literal senses. On Thursday afternoon, the air temperatures were, maybe, 43 degrees, and the wind was blowing a steady 25 mph, with occasional gusts up to 35 mph. Then it rained. And then – sleet. Eventually, and as happened every evening while we were in Tallinn, the skies cleared, the wind died down, and the seemingly eternal sunshine of the northern latitude late spring shone down on the city’s historic district. The weather did improve by Saturday, when we had a full day of sunshine and more moderate temperatures. Still, we kept out coats on and zipped up the entire time we were there.
The festival events included a broad diversity of musical and artistic performances, including traditional dancing by groups in authentic costumes representing ethnic minorities from the Baltics, from Scandinavia, from Eastern Europe, and from within greater Russia. The musical high point was performance in the Saturday afternoon sunshine by a brass band of students from the University of Tartu (second picture below). The afternoon program on the main stage in the central square also included a rendition of popular music from the Soviet era, including (I am not making this up) “Today I Play the Saxophone, Tomorrow I Betray my Country.” ( I understand from a little bit of Internet research that the phrase is a reference to Soviet-era propaganda which tried to suggest it was a short step from following Western culture, such as jazz, to betraying Soviet principles.)
There are several excellent museums in Tallinn that help explain the country’s fascinating and complicated history, including in particular the Museum of Occupations, which explored the city’s occupation by the Russians and Germans between 1939 and 1991. The country’s two century era as part of the Russian empire ended after World War I. The country’s brief existence as an independent republic from 1920 to 1939 ended all too soon, when the Soviet army invaded. The German Army pushed out the Soviets in 1941, but the Soviet army drove the Germans out in 1944, and the country remained one of the Soviet republics until finally in 1991 when, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country once again became an independent country. Because folk singing festivals were an important part of the independence movement, the Estonian’s refer to their independence efforts as the “Singing Revolution.” A key event in the drive toward independence was the day on which the Estonian flag replaced the Soviet flag on the tallest tower in the Old Town, the Tall Hermann tower, which rises above what is now the country’s parliament building.
Since 1991, the country has been transformed. The current atmosphere is overwhelmingly positive and forward-looking. Estonia joined the EU in 2004 and it adopted the Euro in 2011. Tallinn itself projects openness and dynamism. While the country is now thoroughly Westernized and modern, vestiges of the Soviet era remain. Redevelopment undoubtedly will eventually eliminate the crumbling remnants, but in the meantime, the authorities in Tallinn have tried to make a virtue out of a deficiency by turning sites that might otherwise be viewed as eyesores into a tourist destination. The city has created a walking trail called “Tallinn Culture Kilometer,” which encompasses a trail through an area in which art museums and galleries sit alongside (and are slowly overtaking or even replacing) abandoned buildings from the Soviet era. Because the area sits along the harbor shoreline near the passenger ferry terminals that is already actively being redeveloped, I suspect the remaining Soviet-era buildings in the area will soon be gone.
The primary reason for my visit to Tallinn was to participate in an event on D&O insurance jointly sponsored by the Sorainen law firm and Polaris Corporate Solutions. I was fortunate enough to be able to make a presentation at the event on the topic of the recent global rise of collective investor actions, as well as to participate on two panels on D&O insurance and director and officer liability topics. It was a privilege and an honor to be a part of this excellent event, and it was a great experience for me to learn about the D&O insurance market and liability environment in Estonia and in the Baltics generally. It was also a pleasure to find out how many professionals in the Baltic region follow The D&O Diary.
In the first picture below, I am standing with Reimo Hammerberg of the Sorainen law firm; Peter Schlamberger of Polaris; and Vanja Nadali of Polaris.
In this picture, I am standing with Dr. Milda Pranckevičiūtė of Nasdaq. Nasdaq operates three securities exchanges in the Baltics as part of the Nasdaq Baltic group, including the stock exchange in Tallinn.
While I was in Tallinn, I was fortunate to meet one of Estonia’s leading D&O insurance brokers, Helen Evert, of IIZI Kindlustusmaakler, pictured below.
More Pictures of Tallinn:
Just five tram stops east of the old town is Kadriorg, a city park build from the pleasure gardens of the palace that the Russian Emperor Peter the Great built for his wife, Catherine. The palace now houses an art museum.
At the northern end of Kadriorg is a memorial for the crew of the Rusalka, a ship that sank with all hands in the late 19th century. The memorial is built along the shoreline, with views out across Tallinn Bay and back to the Old Town.
Tallinn’s Old Town is remarkable and beautiful but it is hard to capture in just a single photograph. So, instead, here is a collection of photographs of the old town, its ramparts, walls, and buildings.
The post Tallinn, Estonia appeared first on The D&O Diary.
Tallinn, Estonia published first on
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OWB: D-Day Bundle [bundle]
Publisher: Small Niche Games
September 1st, 1939. Nazi Germany invades Poland. Adolf Hitler claims the invasion is in response to Polish aggression. Poland’s army is unprepared for the ferocity of the German blitzkrieg and surrenders in less than a month. World War II has begun!
Now you can reenact these events from the safety of your gaming table---for FREE! WWII: Operation WhiteBox™ puts your characters in the role of special forces operatives undertaking covert missions behind enemy lines.
Download WWII: Operation WhiteBox™ for FREE and get right into the action. Fast forward to 1944 with our D-Day Bundle and get six (6) action-packed missions for one low price.
It’s your war now!
This special bundle product contains the following titles.
OWB001: WWII: Operation WhiteBox (FREE)
Regular price: $4.99
Bundle price: $0.00
Format: ZIP File
The Great Crusade. That's what General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the effort to defeat the Axis powers in WWII. Tabletop roleplaying games have always been about epic quests, heroic deeds, and great crusades. These games feature mercurial wizards, diabolical dragons, and cunning adventurers. Such fantastical tropes are not so different from what has come to pass in our own history. In fact, it is that commonality which gives such stories their power. But what gives World War II its true power is that it was all real. It happened. Real men and women fought and died—including many of our own living ancestors. They laid down their lives when faced with unfathomable evil. And that is legendary. WWII: Operation WhiteBox is an homage to these heroes, both living and fal...
OWB004: Normandy Breakout
Regular price: $3.99
Bundle price: $0.00
Format: Watermarked PDF
NORMANDY BREAKOUT is a collection of three (3) support missions designed for WWII: Operation WhiteBox™. Storm the beaches, secure key positions, and undertake covert missions in Normandy during Operation Overlord! ASSAULT ON PILLBOX 12: Storm the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and take out that German pillbox! APPLES OF WAR: Assault a French farmhouse fortified by the Waffen-SS! NAZI STRENGTH AND PRIDE: Sneak into the town of Pommetan and kidnap a Nazi icon to win the propaganda war! Normandy Breakout is designed for 3-6 characters of 1st-3rd level. WWII: Operation WhiteBox is a roleplaying game of WWII special forces action designed for compatibility with the Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox roleplaying game....
OWB014: Bustle in Your Hedgerow
Regular price: $4.99
Bundle price: $4.99
Format: ZIP File
BUSTLE IN YOUR HEDGEROW is a support mission designed for WWII: Operation WhiteBoxTM. Parachute into Normandy on D-Day, take out a German artillery battery, and rescue fellow paratroopers from a Nazi-occupied village! Bustle in Your Hedgerow is designed for 3-6 characters of 1st-3rd level. Bustle in Your Hedgerow is the perfect way to kick off a D-Day campaign. Check it out now. It's Berlin or Bust! WWII: Operation WhiteBox is a roleplaying game of WWII special forces action designed for compatibility with the Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox roleplaying game....
Total value: $13.97 Special bundle price: $4.99 Savings of: $8.98 (64%)
Price: $13.97
OWB: D-Day Bundle [bundle] published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com
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