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maneskinrollercoaster · 3 years

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~ We’re Everything To Each Other That We Ever Needed 2: Back To Black ~

Pairing: Ethan Torchio x Chiara Russo (fictional character)

Word count: 3313

Warnings: Smut, swearing.

Summary: Innocent theme party turns into something unexpected.

- Guys what’s the theme of the party? - Victoria shouted while standing in front of her wardrobe.

- Back to black - said Chiara, doing her makeup at the couch.

They were all preparing to go out for the party in one of the theme clubs in Rome. The club was unique, every party meant different dress code, different set up and different place. Damiano found it somewhere on Facebook and since Måneskin had a few days break from Europe tour they all decided to go and have some fun.

- Chi, will you do my eyeliner? - Vic asked coming into the living room.

- Of course, I’ll dress up and I’ll take care of you - Chiara winked to Vic and stood up from the couch.

She went upstairs to Ethan’s room. She left all her thing there since they were going out for the whole night. She opened the door and saw Ethan sitting on his bed with Chili - Victoria’s dog - on his lap.

-Chili - Chiara said coming up to them and taking her in her arms. - mi amore - she kissed her head.

Ethan was looking at the two of them lovingly. Since their steamy night in the hotel room, both of them got even closer with each other. They still didn’t know if relationship was exactly what they wanted at the moment but they were all good with the current situation, they were kissing and cuddling on the couch in front of Vic, Thomas and Damiano without any problem and the three of them were really supportive and understanding. Vic was joking around all the time about their friendship and sending them dirty looks but Chiara and Ethan didn’t mind. She was his first real love, his best friend and both of them decided to leave the things they way they are and eventually change something when the time was right.

- Are you gonna dress up now? - he asked pulling her closer to him, closing the gap between them.

She looked at him lovingly and smiled stroking his cheek with her palm, holding Chili with the second arm. He looked really handsome dressed all in black. Chiara leaned in to him.

- Yes, wanna watch? - she said seductively right before she planted a kiss on his warm lips.

Suddenly Chili started licking their faces, jumping in Chiara’s hands and they pulled away laughing.

- You sweet little Chili - Ethan said stroking her head and taking her from Chiara. - We’re gonna sit now and look while Chi is dressing up for the party, okey? - he said looking Chili into her eyes and putting her next to him on the bed. She barked quietly and pulled out her pink little tongue.

Chiara pulled out her black dress out of the bag along with a lace bra, lace thongs and black heels. She stripped down completely in front of Ethan and stood in front of the mirror. In the back she saw him biting his lip and looking at her hungrily. She was stunning and Ethan couldn’t take his eyes off of her beautiful tattooed body. He always wondered how he’s gotten so lucky to have someone so attractive like Chiara. She took the bra and her thongs and put them on. She looked really sexy. She then put on her heels and Ethan smiled at the image of her dressing down and dancing in front of him later when they’re back in the room. She grabbed the dress put it on and turned to Ethan.

- Can u zip it up? - she came up to him, turning around.

He stood up, gently grabbing the zipper and pulling it up. He pressed his chest to her back and planted a wet kiss on her bare neck. She sighed but pulled away, looking at him.

- Let’s go, Mr Needy. I need to do Victoria’s makeup. - Chiara said pulling Ethan towards the door.

- Can’t she do it by herself? - he said frowning - She’s doing her makeup for our every show, what happened that she can’t do it now? - he asked.

- She asked me to do it for her, now let’s go. - she said and they both went out of the room.

***

They were almost ready to go out. Chiara did Victoria’s makeup and helped Thomas with his tie, while Ethan was putting on his shoes.

- Where’s Damiano? Wasn’t he all dressed and ready to go? - Chiara asked looking around.

- He got a phone call and went upstairs. - Vic said, putting on her red lipstick.

- I’ll go get him. - Chiara said and went upstairs.

She stepped inside Damiano’s room and saw him sitting at the door to the balcony with a cigarette. His head resting on the wall, he looked upset.

- Heyyy, what’s going on? - Chiara said sitting next to him.

He looked at her with puffy eyes, messed up mascara running down his cheeks along with the tears. She was shocked.

- Dam, what happened? - she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder, encouraging him to speak to her.

- Giorgia called me, she said she’s leaving Italy and breaking up with me. - Damiano said and let out the smoke from the cigarette. - Do you understand? She broke up with me because she said she’s not able to do long distance and that it’s better for us both to go different ways. - he said with a breaking voice.

- Dami, but.. I don’t get it.. You were both so happy with each other. - Chiara said confused, stroking his back to calm him down.

Damiano and Giorgia were in a relationship for almost 3 years. He always talked about her and was all over her every second. Two weeks ago he told Victoria and Chiara that he’s planning to take her to Florence and propose to her on their three years anniversary. Chiara always thought that nothing will be able to break these two apart. They were inseparable.

- I don’t get it either, I was supposed to take her to Florence next week and propose and she just called me out of nowhere and said that it’s not gonna work between us. - he said looking at Chiara.

- When is she leaving? - she asked

- In 5 days. It’s unbelievable, I didn’t even know about her moving to England. - he said, letting down his head.

- Listen, we have 5 days to fix this. I’ll help you, but now let’s go and have fun. You can’t sit here alone, you’ll dance and party and have fun and tomorrow we will figure everything out. - Chiara said sending Damiano reassuring smile.

- Maybe you’re right, it can’t end like this. Maybe I just need some time out.. - he said slightly smiling back to her.

- Let’s go, they’re all waiting for us. - Chiara stood up and they both went out of Damiano’s room.

***

The music was loud, the lights were going crazy and there were plenty of empty beer bottles and vodka glasses. Chiara ran her hand on Ethan’s back and leaned in to his ear.

- Come dance with me - she said, putting her hand on his thigh.

- Chi, you know I don’t like to dance. - Ethan said politely - Besides, maybe you’ll take a break hm? You look tired. - he said and kissed her cheek.

Chiara was completely stoned. Earlier, she went with Vic and Damiano and they smoked 4 joints together. They went out from the toilet cabin all smiley and laughing and they went to play beer pong. Damiano and Thomas in one team and Vic with Chiara in another. Girls lost and they drank almost all the cups with the bear which made Victoria pass out on the couch next to Ethan.

- Nooo, I don’t want a break, I wanna dance with you. - Chiara said, resting her head on Ethan’s shoulder.

- If you want to dance then go, I’ll gladly watch you move your ass from here - He said laughing.

Ethan wasn’t drunk, but a couple of bears made him more talkative and cheeky.

- Alright, as you wish. - she said standing up, she smiled at him and walked away.

She walked up to dancing people and started moving her body with the rhythm. She was light-headed and she didn’t know what was happening, she wasn’t thinking sober when someone grabbed her hips and started dancing beside her. Chiara turned around to see Damiano completely drunk dancing in the middle of the dance floor.

- Let’s dance together- he shouted into her ear.

Chiara not knowing why started moving her body against his, pulling him closer. He started grinding on her and the desire was clearly seen between them. He touched her thighs and moved his hands up to her hips and her stomach. Chiara didn’t stop him tho. Her body started getting warmer and more tensed. They were both sweaty, enjoying the more and more sexual dance.

- Come with me - he whispered to her ear but loud enough for her to hear him through the music.

- Where? - Chiara asked smiling to him.

- Let’s have some fun - he said winking at her and pulling her after him.

They walked passed all they dancing people and Chiara was excited. Adrenaline rushing in her veins. They reached the toilet. He pulled her inside and closed the door quickly. She didn’t know what was happening. She didn’t protest though, her drunk and stoned mind took the control and a minute later she felt Damiano pushing her on the sink and kissing her. She was overwhelmed and surprised but Ethan was the last person she was thinking about. It sounded bad but at this moment she only focused on Damiano’s hands grabbing her hips and pulling her up so she was sitting on the counter next to the sink. He was kissing her passionately, squeezing her neck firmly and making her moan.

- Dami.. - Chiara sighed and ran her fingers through his hair.

- Do you want to keep going? - he asked kissing her collarbones.

- Ye.. yes.. - she moaned throwing back her head.

He pulled up a bottom of her dress and Chiara found herself unzipping his shorts. He quickly pulled them down and Chiara was surprised when she saw that Damiano wasn’t wearing any boxers. She knew it’s common with him but she was drunk and she completely forgot about everything. A second later she felt his erection inside her, he started off fast and Chiara not expecting such movements grabbed his hair with her one hand and his back with the other. They were making out and Damiano’s pace went faster and faster. She was moaning loud and a warm feeling in her stomach started to build up, letting her now that it won’t take long for her to reach the high.

- Feel good? - Damiano growled with his husky voice and grabbed Chiara’s face to make her look at him.

- Yes.. so good Dami - she moaned, her eyes completely black from desire.

It didn’t take them long until Damiano’s erection started twitching inside her and her walls clenching around him. His moves were sloppy and desperate and they both reached their climax moaning loudly.

Chiara jumped off the counter, breathing heavily. She fixed her dress and brushed her hair with her fingers. Her mascara was a bit messed up but she didn’t care. She turned to Damiano who zipped up his shorts and smirked at her. They both laughed.

- That was good - he said winking at her.

- Yeahhh - she said chuckling.

She opened the door and everything stopped. In front of her she saw Ethan. She turned all read, her mind immediately sobered up and she realized what she’s just done with Damiano. Ethan’s eyes were watery and full of pain. He looked at Damiano with a disgusted face. Chiara turned to him and saw her red lipstick stains on his neck. She didn’t know what to do. She looked at Ethan wanting to say something.

- Save it. You’re both disgusting. - Ethan said and started walking away quickly.

- Ethan, wait! - Chiara chased after him, feeling her cheeks getting wet from the tears.

She just had sex in a club bathroom with his best friend. She felt the guilt taking over her and she felt ashamed of herself. She was chasing after Ethan trying to stop him but he didn’t pay attention to her. And suddenly everything went black. She fell on the floor.

*next morning*

Chiara opened her eyes slightly. Sun was shining through the window and when she pulled herself up on her arms she realized she’s in Ethan’s bed. She grabbed her head trying to remember what happened last night. Suddenly she heard the door opening and second later Ethan entered the room. He looked at her with an emotionless face.

- Ethan - Chiara said and wanted to continue but she was interrupted.

- Don’t fucking talk to me, you’re so pathetic. - Ethan said harshly.

With these words she immediately got a flashback from last night. Dancing, Damiano, bathroom, kissing with Damiano and then having sex with him. She felt so ashamed of herself. Ethan was her everything and she betrayed him just like that with his best friend.

- Ethan.. - she started again.

- I said, don’t say a fucking word - he snapped back to her.

- Please, talk to me .. - she felt tears running down her cheeks.

Ethan was broken. He couldn’t believe that Chiara, his closest person that he opened up to completely, would betray him like that, in a club, in a bathroom, with Damiano. He felt useless at this point, he felt like he wasn’t enough, even for her. He loved her with everything he had and all she did was tear his heart apart.

- Talk about what, Chiara? Huh? You fucked with him! You fucked with Damiano while I was running around the club, worried like an idiot and searching for you! How could you do this to me! How the fuck could you betray me like that! - Ethan shouted to her completely loosing it, tears falling down his face.

- I’m sorry.. I was drunk, and high.. I didn’t know what I was doing.. - she tried to excuse herself. - I really didn’t mean for that to happen.. Please, you have to believe me. I love you and only you.. - she said slowly moving towards the edge of the bed.

- Love me? Don’t be fucking stupid! If you loved me you wouldn’t go with him to this bathroom and let him fuck you, Chiara! If you loved me you would have pushed him away! - he was getting more and more angry.

- Ethan, baby, I was drunk.. I swear I wasn’t thinking straight, I didn’t know what I was doing.. You have to believe me.. - Chiara now stood up and grabbed Ethan’s hand.

- Don’t call me that. - he said harshly throwing back her hand - Tell me, was he better than me? Huh? - he said with venom in his voice.

Chiara stayed silent, she didn’t know, the only thing she remembered was her being pushed on the sink, reaching the orgasm and Ethan’s eyes when he saw her leaving the toilet with Damiano.

- Answer me! - he shouted.

- No.. I don’t know.. I’m sorry.. - she said feeling all the guilt rushing in her veins. She felt disgusting.

Ethan went to the wardrobe, pulled out her dress that she was wearing last night and threw it to her.

- Put this on. - he said without any emotion.

- What? Why? - Chiara was confused, she looked at the dress and then back at Ethan.

- I said put this on. - he said through his teeth.

Chiara stripped down from her oversized T-shirt and put on the dress. Ethan then threw her the heels she was wearing and told her to put them on as well.

- Ethan, what is this all about? - she asked him when he grabbed her arm firmly and pulled her towards the bathroom.

She felt overwhelmed. She didn’t know what he was doing and what was about to happen, she was scared in some way.

Ethan pushed her inside the bathroom and looked at her with his dark, angry eyes.

- You’re gonna tell me every detail, and I will fuck you just the way he did. - Ethan growled and grabbed her face.

- What? But.. - she didn’t know what to say.

- Do as I said.

Chiara was shocked. Ethan never acted like that, she didn’t recognize him at all and she got scared by the way his hands wrapped around her neck.

- You don’t wanna talk now, huh? We’ll se if you’ll moan as loud as you did with him - Ethan pushed her harshly on the counter just the way Damiano did last night and she figured what was happening.

He squeezed her neck, pulled her up on the counter taking off the bottom of her dress and seconds later Chiara felt his tip inside her. She was overwhelmed, scared and ashamed. Ethan was angry, hell.. He was furious, he thrusted inside her harshly making her scream.

- Did he fuck you like this, Chiara? - he said grabbing her face so she was looking at him.

Chiara only moaned and turned all red, embarrassed. Ethan was so much better than Damiano. She knew that from the very first minute she met him. But she was drunk and her stoned mind made her enjoy sex with Damiano which was the worst mistake ever.

- Answer me! - Ethan raised his voice and he started thrusting harder, grabbing Chiara’s hips.

- Yes.. - she moaned loudly.

- Was he better than me? - another question rolled out of Ethan’s mouth.

- No.. no.. he wasn’t - Chiara’s body was sweaty but she felt weird.

Chiara was close to reaching her orgasm and Ethan felt it. He saw guilt and embarrassment on her face and he was proud of himself for making her feel that way. Chiara moaned and her walls started clenching around Ethan’s erection but suddenly he reached his climax thrusting harshly inside her and pulling out before she could reach her high. He did it on purpose.

- What.. what are you doing? - Chiara sighed, her breath heavy.

Ethan looked at her with no emotions. He grabbed her face and right in front of her lips he said:

- I hope you feel as much humiliated as I did when I saw you with him. - he said pushing away her face and looking with her with pure fury and pride in his eyes.

She was sitting at the counter with her dress pulled up, half naked and legs spread apart. She did feel humiliated, she felt betrayed at some point even tho she was the one who cheated and hurt Ethan. Her eyes turned watery and she couldn’t say a word, like a huge stone was stuck in her throat. She was sitting there looking at him shocked, watching his every move. Ethan pulled up his jeans, zipped them up and looked at her one last time.

- Consider us even. - he said.

Chiara could see a rude smirk on his face and tears fell down her cheeks. With that being said, he stepped out of the bathroom, leaving her alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading! ❤️

I know It’s long but I hope you got through it.

Do you guys want a 3rd part? Let me know in the comments!

Tag list [ @teenyweenynightghost ]

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annetteblog · 3 years

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Intro & My take on KM

Hi!

I’m new around here so it’s supposed to be (not so short) introduction, since I don’t know how to start a blog heh. I hope to sprinkle my 0.5 cents into the KM conversation and maybe to bring a new perspective from someone, who is not a part of the typical English-speaking West.

Who /the hell/ Am I?

(please, consider it to be said with NJ’s voice from Intro: Persona :D)

I was born in Siberia (it’s in the Asian part of Russia), currently live in the European part of the country while studying at a Uni (European in terms of geography, not in terms of everything else i’m definitely not shading rn lolllll). English is not my first language, I’ve just kind of learnt it to some extent. Due to this it takes me more time to write a post; and I may (and will) make some grammatical & other mistakes. Plus I’m lazy AND busy with Uni, so I won’t even promise to be consistent in posting smth lol. But I thought I need more practice in terms of writing in English, so here I am, actually scribbling something. This feels weird, because I’ve been around stan Tumblr since 2015, but never ever interacted, just read.

How I ended up around Jikook/Kookmin (and BTS) & My (long&messy) take on this matter

Although I had heard of BTS before, I became an Army only in October 2018. I had kinda avoided them, because you know... boybands.... sing songs about romantic love and how they love girls.......... (+I had been around Twitter when 1D been at their peak and I remember a quite toxic community of fans, whom always had scared me). Shortly, hello stereotypes. Obviously, after I got engaged I felt terribly sorry that I had been sleeping on them, but what is done cannot be undone.

Someone I knew back then reposted one of their MVs and I, during my sad hours of procrastination, decided to watch it. Then I saw their live performance with the same song. And I thought “wow these guys can sing and dance and the music is kinda cool, i need to check this out maybe??”

Then a funny thing happened. One of the next videos I watched (the same person had it added to their page) was a 2016 BangtanBomb where JM and JK practiced their Coming of Age dance.

Do you know this moment with Gina from the 1st episode of Brooklyn 9-9:

Well, that was precisely me after I watched it. I don’t even know how to explain this, it was kind of a gut feeling? Whatever you call it, I started to get suspicious and couldn’t even explain to myself why. /actually now a do have questions to this vid and the main one - why does everyone cringe that much? if it’s a girly choreo than they had done some “girly” moves before. why is there such strong reaction??/

I started to get deeper and went to some ru-shipper communities. Shipping culture among Russian speaking fans is... well, weird to some extent, but I maybe address this topic some time later. You need to consider that (as far as you probably know) Russia is quite homophonic country and sadly is not the greatest place for LGBTQ+ community at the moment. The non-frienly influential attitudes hanging in the society + the general shippers’ weirdness = the result is not that nice honestly.

I struggled for some time in order to find more mature people (not just in terms of age but in general sanity), failed, ended up with some EXTREMELY toxic ru-fans of TK, which was/is the most popular pairing here, spent among them like 15 minutes and ran away horrified. After that I didn’t even try to engage with shippers or believers or whatever of any pair and just decided to enjoy the music and the content (which is a great idea, highly recommend!)

After a couple of days I discovered that JK makes videos. I love video, films and visual art so I immediately found them on YT, saw the titles with names of different cities from all over the world and was like “Oh that must be so cool, he’s visited so many outstanding places I’ve never been to, so I really need to watch it! I shall enjoy some beautyyy”. Then I clicked on GCFt.

Well, what can I say. I did enjoy some beauty, but not the type I had initially anticipated. The biggest clickbait in my entire life. JK should be proud of himself.

/as I said - the beauty/

I had already known Troy back then and I known the song’s lyrics so it would not be an underestimation to say - the video just blew my mind. I was like - hold on is this real? seriously?? no really really????? he manage to get away with something THAT obvious?????? dude how

As a person who edited videos AND is not a native English speaker, I don’t buy the explanation “oh he mustve didnt get the lyrics lmao”. You just don’t do that. You don’t. DON’T. You google and translate every shit you don’t understand, every word and idiom you’ve never encountered, because otherwise the possibility of an epic failure is very likely. You wouldn’t want to give your mum a video as a birthday present and then discover that you used a song with WAP-ish lyrics, right? (well maybe that would be okay in your family, I don’t judge, but that’s not the case for people I know). So don’t you dare to degrade JK’s intellectual capacities; such assumption is really offensive. He is a smart boii, he knows exactly what he’s doing in terms of his art.

So I was shocked, but decided to look for the context - maybe I missed some previous events regarding this Tokyo thing (another great idea - always check the context). Well, apparently I didn’t, because the whole narrative with the trip for two, lovely selfies etc. made my poor brain lowkey explode. (I still don’t buy the rings theory thing though)

But I didn’t give up lol! I’m a bit stubborn and it’s very hard to convince me in anything, so I decided to search for more context, more of their interactions, moreeee. Remember, the late October 2018, there were no swan lakes, RB, and even MMA18 hadn’t happened yet.

This time I ended up watching content in more or less consistent way, and when I saw all of these scenes with affectionate JM and a cool badass i-don’t-care-about-anyone-i’m-a-manly-man-with-no-feelings-whatsoever JK, I just hysterically laughed.

Homophobic Russia, remember? I recognized this. Growing up here being LGBT myself, taught me the same type behaviour during my high school days. When a girl I kinda liked but didn’t what to admit it to myself was nice to me or (oh god) flirted with me, I did something similar. It’s like a huge panic mode. Being an introvert doesn’t help either. The funniest thing is that you may not entirely realise what exactly is going on in terms of your own feelings, especially at that age (16-18ish). In my personal case, I thought I liked her but as a friend, only later to realise that well not as a friend oops :DDD The second thing (already not so funny) is that you actually consciously or unconsciously try to avoid the subject as much as possible, as long as possible and pretend that nothing is going on. We’re just bros. Stop doing this stupid gayish thing and don’t look at me like that, you’re annoying. If you ever do this again I (gently) kick you. I’m straighter than a straight line in my math textbook. IDK, but probably that’s your brain is somehow trying to protect you. Again, in my case&position I knew that the consequences for any non-straight person being outed would be bad (TW not to the point of being killed bad, but to the point of being excluded from a big part of society). So for me it was a mixture of the internalized homophobia + lack of self reflection + just being a bit emotionally slow + very! straight community around. Shit happens, I was a teenager and made my share of mistakes, but that experience helps me to recognize the same pattern of behaviour up to this day.

So coming back to KM, because the post is already waaay too long and I just ramble. It’s been 2+ years for me being a part of this fandom, and what can I say... Things become more intense and eventful with every year passing by ;) Funny how I felt that vibe from the 2016 dance practice video. Seeing the Black Swan performance a week ago almost had me choked, no joking. They are amazing.

Pure Art

However, and I would like to emphasize that, I do not incline that KM are 100% romantically involved and/or gay or whatever. I tend to treat people with respect and not to make too much assumptions about their private life. That’s not my business. However, I’m also not a fan of heteronormativity, so I’m just sitting here and observe everything that’s going on putting some distance and not forgetting being generally polite and critical thinking. But if they are just straightest besties please give them an Oscar before Grammy

Anyways, I hope this blog won’t kick the bucket from the very start and I will post something every now and then. You can always ask me questions about some BTS/Jikook related stuff or something about Russia and a Russian view on mass culture topics, since I’m pretty sure some of you have very stereotypical view of what is going on here :) However, do note that I’ve never been to America or Europe, therefore I may not be aware of something verrrry obvious to you or just have a completely different experience.

P.S. And yeah, I’m used to say Jikook, since it’s the name which is used much more frequently in Russian. i like it better and what will u do haha

#jikook #kookmin #what am i even doing here #i'm gonna regret this #long post

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urmomsstuntdouble · 3 years

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Can you do one for america

Since I received this about an hour or two after posting my lithuania analysis, I assume you’re asking for an america character analysis. I was debating whether or not to go through with writing this or not for a while, but i’ve decided that I’ll try. I hope you enjoy it!

Idealism

The first thing that sticks out to me when thinking about america is that he’s super idealistic, and I think this has its roots in his birth. Everything in his life has been about hope and being better than others, even down to the decision to colonise north america. England needs to be the most powerful country in europe. Better set up a colony in america so that it can save us. It’s that sort of logic that i think gives america the idea that he needs to be perfect, or that he can be the ideal person. And though a lot of what we consider to be the “american” identity (intense patriotism, nativism, idealism, etc) took recognizable shape in the 19th century, i think this way of thinking was nothing new to alfred. He’d been raised on it, with the desire to please arthur sort of in his blood? Anyway i feel like the idea that the colonies would be so so prosperous really put the idea into america’s head early on that he was perfect and that he was destined to be such a great person, even if that wasn't true. I often see his daddy issues presented as solely abandonment issues, but my interpretation of america is more of a combination of abandonment issues and the pressure, some of it self inflicted, to be a perfect country. Basically, his idealism is deeply rooted in unhealthy places.

Also, a religion headcanon i have is that while he was more raised to be a puritan, freddie prefers quakerism. Though he’s not the most compatible with quakerism, as it rejects violence and quakers often refer to themselves as the society of friends, and are very welcoming, i think it gives him some hope. One of freddie’s biggest problems is that he wants people to be better than they are, and quakerism helps a little with that, because it’s a way that he can help himself become better than he currently is. I feel like he’s been a quaker for a very long time, so he’s not a very good quaker, but this is still something that’s very important to him.

Hero complex and other mental bullshit

America having a hero complex and also being physically 19 is something i think really highly of. First of all, it very much fits with the mythology of america being a sort of world savior. Secondly, a lot of american media focuses on heroism, whether its on the behalf of average people, like the hunger games, or on the behalf of superheroes, like the mcu- especially over the past 20 years. Though i think it’s a good thing to promote heroism, the hero-martyr complex that gen z has is. Oof. And i think alfred fits very well into that toxic sort of “heroism” that most gen z kids have. He thinks he’s somehow able to fix everything wrong with the world, just because he really wants to. Though that desire is genuine, it’s not always something that’s his place to fix or something that even needed fixing. There’s also a selfish component to that- He needs to prove himself, and heroism is the only way he thinks he can do that. It’s why he works out constantly and cares so much, on a personal rather than country-avatar-thing level, about being #1 at everything. He has to be better than everyone else because he has to be the perfect hero.

I also think it’s interesting how america seems to have more pronounced daddy issues than canada, and i think this is something that harkens back to the 13 colonies (side note i hate the term ‘colonial times’ when referring to the time before the revolutionary war or canadian independence. These are settler states, its always colonial times.) and american independence. Canada sort of only exists because of british loyalists, as they made up the majority of the population around the turn of the 19th century. They saw themselves as being The Better Colonists. Real daddy’s boy types, and I think this is something that contributes to the hero complex. Because matthew refused to rebel so openly, that made arthur favor him as a son, so alfred felt the need to be even better than matthew- even though, of course, alfred was a bit more favored.

Fighting Style

Freddie is very good at violence, but not in the same way that a lot of other nations are. Where they tend to be more well trained in specific styles of fighting, freddie just sort of has all of them? His mind is very crowded, i think. Also, the way that he would have learned to fight is different from the other super powerful countries by virtue of his youth, and by virtue of the different regional fighting styles in america. One that’s haunted me is a trend in the ability to rip off ears and noses- Particularly by white gangs in the antebellum south, this was seen as being like. A real badass. I think alfred was something of a feral child. If you know the saying “it takes a village to raise a child,” i think it really did with him. He had so many parents, just like a lot of the western hemisphere countries. But anyway because of all his many many parents, there was never any strong parental force in his life, so it’s more like he didn’t have any at all, and because of that, alfred was a very strange child. And because violence is so ingrained in american society, alfred is very good at fighting, both in order to be fun and flashy and for his own self defense. Though he doesn't really like to fight unless he feels like he has to (and other people are very good at convincing him that he does have to)

Sports

Though america is definitely super athletic and could probably naturally be good at most sports, i think there’s a few that he’d more gravitate towards. Those are basketball, track and field, and olympic lifting. I would include american football but it’s a stupid sport that doesn’t make any sense, so it will not be included for spite reasons. In basketball I think he’s sort of an every-man. I think he’s around six feet tall, so he really could play any position on offense, and as for defense, I think he’d play his best defense against the point guard, bc i feel like Alfred is really fast and good at getting up in your face. He’d have a ton of steals whenever defending against the point guard. I think he’d be a good center on offense, because he’s a bit aggressive and that would be useful for getting rebounds and put-backs, though i wouldn’t discount point-guard freddie, because he does like to be very inspiring. He’s pretty energetic as well, and a point guard can really carry the entire team in terms of energy and spirit. As for track and field, he’d also be an every man- I feel like he’d gravitate more towards sprinting events by personality, but his coach would stick him in wherever. Where olympic lifts are concerned, he’s absolutely a snatch specialist.

Empire and contradictions

America is an empire. No way of getting around that. I think imperialism in hetalia is an interesting subject, especially where america is concerned. @mysticalmusicwhispers did a good job running that down here, but basically my thoughts on the matter are that alfred doesn't really like being an empire. There’s many angles to that. It’s lonely at the top, for one. There’s no one who relates to being a 21st century empire in quite the same way as him. Then you have the fact that a lot of people living in america have suffered under imperialism as well. Because of that, there’s a lot of self hatred and anxiety and a not knowing if he can fully trust himself. Theres also the obsession that many americans have with people from other cultures being able to assimilate to american wasp culture. Because of all the people who live in the states who are very much not wasps and who can never be, it’s really hard on alfred, though he refuses to admit that things are anything but fine.

Extras/Fun stuff

A book that reminds me of him is The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. It’s a collection of short stories about O’Brien’s time serving in the military during the Vietnam War. It’s a very haunting book and I think about it at least once a week, but it is very violent and there’s a lot of fucked up stuff in it.

giveme chubby alfred or give me death

i feel like this shouldn’t have to be said, but sometimes there’s people who depict him as being pro-trump or pro-right wing bullshit, which. absolutely not. just because of all the political turmoil that exists within alfred, and because of all the pain he goes through because of all the hate that exists within his borders- hate that the entire world is forced to pay attention to. even though he might not have all the best sympathies or motivations, he’s just so tired of all the pain he personally goes through because of domestic political unrest, and would like it to end in the way that’s the least painful for him as a person.

Bi king of my heart

not a natural blond

I hc him as being mixed, though i’m not sure what exactly he’d look like? But i do enjoy alfred but not white, as poc are the driving force behind a lot of american life, right down to the languages we speak. Like. something like half the states names are the words of their indigenous peoples, and even more toponyms are indigenous across the country. Then of course i feel he’s very protective of aave and will always pronounce words in Not English correctly. (if u want to hear more about my language thoughts they’re linked below. Not gonna rehash it here cause those posts are Long™)

My playlist for him!

Other analyses (age, linguistics)

writing requests

#@ mystic how does it feel to be tagged in two of my writing request posts #im sorry i love your writing sm #anyway thanks for the ask anon! im not quite so angsty about america right now so this probably #is not as good as it could've been were i in my feelings about him #anywhomst! hope u enjoy this #hetalia #hws #hws america #tw violence #tw imperialism #?#sort of #i dont go into detail about the imperialism but its metnioned #ask #anon #writing requests #character analysis #ceros posting

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laststandx3 · 3 years

Text

ok so, i just finished tfatws and it was really nice. characters had their arc, the cyberpunk city was pretty cool and the bucky x sam feels where there. so i’d say good BUt the message they were trying to give was a little vague. if i’m getting this right they were trying to make a story about how power corrupts (u know what got was supposed to be).

characters they did right:

- john walker: he starts as a good guy, but then frustrations and fear of not being enough push him to look for more power. we actually don’t see him taking the serum after lemar gets taken but i think that’s the moment he realizes he needs more strength to fight the flagsmasher.

- zemo : and this is very well written i think and even acknowledged by other character so is more obvious and i think the most meaningful scene is when in 1x04 he’s talking about who/what kind of people should exist because super soldier are too powerful and think themselves above others and sam bless him points out that his logic is exactly the same as someone who’s think of himself as above the others.

-sharon: idk if she just like the cyberpunk life better as a styling choice or if it’s about the power that comes with being almost a king. Sharon’s arc is hinted at not shown but i think it’s enough: she gets abandoned by everyone she helped, the same people she saw as friends. she bargains with sam cause she doesn’t trust him to care if things go south. I don’t think she’s corrupted already in the sense that as the audience we don’t know enough of her to see it. she’s could be on that path tho, depends how they’re going to write her in the future.

characters that needed better screentime:

-KARLI: (i called her curly everytime in this post. i didn0t know anybetter before tagging. apologies to all the Karli out there) we can imagine where she comes from. but actually NO because the show never bothered to show us what others people life looked like. we have vague lines about not having enough resources for everyone (i guess they’re saying thanos was right). Anyway lets imagine what she went trought: ok so she was raised in an orphanage, she grew up poor i suppose then there was the sanp and i think that’s when she had more opportunities. i mean with half of the population gone what the world is left with it’ll take good care. so the non-dusted people got founds, jobs, a commuinity?? but then endgame happened and the 3billion people are back and they too are left with nothing if the world moved on without them. so GRC is no giving founds to anyone anymore and just act as a evil military agency. idk if GRC is a direct critique to ICE and it’s definitely something i’m not qualified to talk about, but the 2 had in common “refugee camps” and “forced repatriation” so maybe is something. But i’m digressing. Now we get that the flagsmashers are the bad guys but we never actually see what they are fighting against. i mean i know for a fact that if i was protesting against the wwf i wouldn’t need violence. BUT if hundreds of people were forced into “refugees camps” maybe a little smash that fence would come in need. and IF ONLY they showed us WHY curly needed so much power we could have understood better her point. but she just makes buildings explode and we don’t see what is pushing her to crave more power and to become less sympathetic everyday. Power should have corrupted her in a way that when she could chose between helping others or getting more strenght she would have picked the latter. And honestly it would have been fine: maybe a bit unnecessary in this time and age but fine from a storytelling point. if they’re writing about how power corrupts then even if curly’s war was based on the right reasons she still could have fell on a darker path. but i think the writers didn’t want to fully betray her cause and they didn’t commit to give her a whole arc. I think Sam protecting her and her pov is the writers way to validate her argument and maybe try to criticize some internal politics but in the end they didn’t and the plot was vague and without an impact.

-sam: sam here is the aragorn of the story but i still think he needed a more flashed out arc, at the beginning he doesn’t want the ring shield because he knows it means power, so he gives it away. then he goes on a mission where he meets the new a cap, and the new cap is totally bonkers he just killed a dude in the middle of the street so sam can’t be worse than that and so he’s the new cap now. i think if the govt never made a new cap, sam would have never even thought about inheriting the title. he seemed pretty ok in going to missions where he didn’t get a salary and that weren’t under the governtment. i mean seriously who did he work for? Anyway Sam’s arc is about realizing he’s enough for the job. But the thing is: already in the first episode he’s following steve’s steps of being a wholesome guy. he just needed to believe in himself. and in this arc the whole power thingy doesn’t come up. so idk maybe i just didn’t see it or maybe it just wasn’t what his arc here is about.

-bucky: for bucky was a nice and funny week, he got a little europe trip, a roll in a flower field with not his partner, found out the emergency pull for his arm. crossed a couple of names from his guilt list. overall a positive week. his arc is not about gaining power over others but over himself, they just already showed it in every movie he has been into since 2016 so it’s ok to not do it all again. would have loved to hear more of his opinions about stuff and not just about walker.

#tfatws #the falcon and the winter solider spoilers #captain america #the shield is now the ring from lotr but i can assure evey character in the show that nobody never ever cared about that piece of tin #they can literally make another anytime they want there's no need to fight over it #falcon #sam wilson #bucky barnes #john walker #lemar hoskins #sharon carter #karli morgenthau #flag smashers #maybe im gonna make another post talking about how fucked up it is that they came to europe without telling anybody and just started killing #people up and down #or how flag smasher is so symilar to the no borders folks and how that could impact viewers opinions on that #but hey i had fun watching zemo being and asshole so i'm gonna cut them some slack #baron hemlut zemo #helmut zemo

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suffering-and-happy-about-it · 3 years

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Nicole’s rambling: In the defense of Oliver Ulliva and age gaps

Okay, first let me remind you - this is my POV on the book as a whole. Everyone has their way of understanding of what exactly happened in Call me by your name (the novel) and you don’t have to agree with everything I am about to say - WHICH IS TOTALLY FINE.

Second thing - I’m going to be using translations and page references to my copy of the book - that being the first Czech edition from the year 2018, translated by Lucie Podhorná because it varies from the OG book itself (for example, when Elio talks to Vimini, my copy says "when did he tell you?" instead of "when had he tell her?"; it's just small nuances). Also, that's why I'm referring to Oliver as ‘Oliver Ulliva’, because my copy canonically confirms this being his last name - it refers to his last name being ‘Ulliva’ a few times since Mafalda cracks his egg open.

What made me even wanna write this rant? I don’t wanna in any way talk about the author or the director, or the actors. But... Well, quite a few things - especially the statement that their relationship was predatory since the very begging (simply because Oliver is seven years older) and that it was practically a ‘consensual ra*e’ and... Listen.

1. The Age Gap

Most of these were from the American audience who viewed the movie - but let me explain why Europeans might view this relationship differently and why you might change your opinion about it as well. I am not saying Americans don't do these things as well, but from what I've seen on the forums, etc., it seems to me that European x American view on age gaps is way different.

For the sake of this statement, I interviewed 10 of my European friends - of which were mostly all Czech. Europeans do not see a problem with having a seven-year (and more) age gap between the partners - you rarely find a couple of which both are the same age; three-years being the “standard” gap.

Young people, around 17 - 19, at least in my country, are attracted to older partners for various reasons - some like the intellectual potential of their partner, some are searching for a form of certitude in an older partner having their priorities sorted out and figured out their lives and what they want to do with themselves; whether we are talking about m/m, w/m, w/w or a non-binary relationship. One of my friends told me she searches older partners solely because they feel more protected by them. It's the sense of serenity, a different feeling of connection and different understanding to your other half.

I've talked to four of my friends, who both have partners of the same age or max. 1-year gap and even they told me they absolutely can see themselves dating a partner older by minimally five years. So, it's not a controversial thing here, really.

Maybe it’s more common in here, but rarely anyone frowns upon such relationships. At the time of my first relationship, my first partner was five years older than me - and I honestly couldn’t see myself with someone my age. From my experience, the relationships and bonds have a higher probability to last longer (we had a beautiful relationship of three years), it isn’t only driven by hormonal side of things and such, the feelings can develop into something more meaningful than just simple and shallow lust. More for that matter - most of these age-gap relationships didn't end extra-bad breakups and the partners tended to continue seeing each other as friends.

When I interviewed my friends, asking them about the length of these relationships, it was never less than a year. Usually, they said that they learned a ton of new stuff about themselves and having a healthy, normal relationship than from dating someone their age. So... Yeah. I guess that personal, first-hand experience is what makes us see the relationship for its good and bad, but still assures us not to perceive the relationship as predatory.

Now, you might say that while were living in the 2020s', Call me by your name took place in 1983 - and guess what? It was written in the year 2007. Does that mean something? The answer is - no. My grandma met my grandpa in the 80s' (I asked her about this as well and they have 14 years gap; my other grandma and grandpa met at the end of 80s' and the start of 90s' and they, as well, have 8 years between them) and by this, you can see that the situation is more or less the same as it was.

For all of the above, I can see why Elio fell for Oliver so quickly. First and foremost - he mentions Oliver being older like... Three, four times in a book that has word count 76.996? Elio doesn't care about age - it's a story about two human beings falling in love. It's not trying to research the problem of age and such. Stop judging the story for the wrong reason, ffs.

2. The 'consensual ra*e' argument:

Another thing I've encountered is the audience calling the story 'consensual ra*e'... Let me elaborate and tell you why you're wrong. In America, the age of consent is 16 - 18. In Europe, we have the age of consent established at 15 (the lowest being Estonia with 14) and you are a lawful adult at 18 years old. Given that Elio was 17 in the summer and 18 in November, he was already perceived as an adult; given what were his parents like and what relationship they had to him. (Again, I am looking at the story from today's perspective since the audience did as well). He was a man at the time Oliver came to Italy, he was a man at the time he had sex with Marzia, he was a man when he had sex with Oliver and he was a man when he traveled to Rome.

Elio should be perceived as an adult who carries most of his personal responsibility on his shoulders (since you're more than partially punished for the laws you break from the age of fifteen) and if he decides that he wants to be in a sexual relationship with an older man - he can rightfully do so. Surely, the relationship had another big B U T (for some people) - homosexuality and homophobia. And from the historical standpoint, I don't wanna spend too much time over it. The LGBT movement foundation ties back to 1969; given that Italy was in the capitalistic pro-American part of Europe (Czechia was under the Communist regime at the time, so homosexuality was barbarically punished in my country), I think there wasn't a problem with a subtle, not-too-obvious gay relationship. Sure, you couldn't walk into the open and hold hands and such, but you wouldn't get you beheaded.

Yeah, I mean, I'm not an expert on Italian war history and I don't particularly know what happened with Italy after WW2, but I know that in 1985, first LGBT organization got founding from the republic and from that I assume the situation, especially if it would be a subtle relationship, wouldn't be as bad.

In the story, it is hinted that both Sami and Anella were aware of the whole relationship - I mean, come on. Sami knew (since he had the big speech about being corrupted at the age of thirty, ("I think he's better than me, dad".; "And I am sure he would say the same about you, which both of you makes seem like good people." - Call me by your name, page 221)) and Anella perfectly knew at least in the movie - I mean, the car-ride home? Oh, she knew very well and she even told Marzia at the dinner, IMO.

Now tell me why would the relationship be a consensual ra*e? Because it is not bent to accommodate American laws? Because it not an ordinary every-day relationship? In which way is it ra*e? At the age of 17, you are taken as A D U L T who has their responsibilities to fulfil, at least here in Europe.

3. Oliver didn't love Elio as much as Elio loved Oliver:

... What? I mean... What?

Sure, you are seeing the whole story from Elio's eyes and for that, you are more likely to take Elio's side in this matter. In the end, it was Oliver who was getting married, right? And he was the first one to reach out, right? Well... It was a both-sided thing. At the first few pages, Elio says “"Do you want to look at them? "Not now, maybe later." Polite indifference, as if he noticed my out of place zealous effort to make him like me as he pushed me away briskly."; page 12 and on page 18, Elio states "We started - he must've seen the hints way sooner than I did - to flirt.", let alone that Elio describes that probably, Oliver visited his room while he was asleep.

I can see where the opinion that Elio loved Oliver more could've come from - he was young, hasty and captivated by the entirety of Oliver. Since we see the story by his side, Oliver can seem to be the less active out of the two. But trust me, he loved him the same amount, if not more. This was confirmed by both Sami and Vimini -

Page 92, a conversation between Elio and Vimini, Oliver went to the sea with Anchise:

"Do you know where Oliver is?" "I don't know. I thought he went fishing with Anchise." "With Anchise? He's crazy! He almost killed himself the last time!" No response. She was looking at the sun slowly setting down. "You like him, don't you?" "Yes," I responded. "He likes you too. More than you do - I think." You really think so? - No, Oliver does. - When did he tell you? - Not too long ago.

and page 220, when Sami and Elio talk about their trip to Rome:

"Oliver may be very intelligent—," I began. Once again, the disingenuous rise intonation announced a damning but hanging invisibly between us. Anything not to let my father lead me any further down this road. “Intelligent? He was more than intelligent. What you two had had everything and nothing to do with intelligence. He was good, and you were both lucky to have found each other, because you too are good."

Which obviously shows that both of the people who are indirectly watching the relationship between Elio and Oliver blossom in front of their very eyes are aware that both were very much in love. And Vimini, even if she said 'Oliver does think he loves Elio more', she could see that these two are very much attracted to each other. She was spending a lot of time with Oliver throughout his stay in Italy and she was beyond intelligent - these two were an incapable pair idiots compared to her.

So, no, Oliver doesn't love Elio more; he's just not being as childish about it as Elio is. Once more, the age gap is tying into this topic; while Oliver has his 'hot-headed' days, he already went through the phase of being obsessed by someone (or at least the phase being obsessed and letting the surroundings know). He is slightly more mature than Elio, so he just doesn't let himself go that easily.

And I think that he maybe suffers from internalized homophobia - page 224, Oliver talks with Elio as he comes back for Christmas:

"You should leave then. They (Elio's parents) know about us." "I figured so," he responded. "How?" "By the way your father spoke. You're lucky. My father would have me carted me off to a correctional facility."

In this short piece of dialogue, you can see that Oliver's father isn't okay with LGBT (not too much to wonder about, the American society was different than it is now, it wasn't a safe space for queers). And it's plausible that if Oliver had listened to this as he grew up, he got scared when his mind and body reacted to Elio in this way. We can see that for Elio, he lets go for some time; as they sleep in the 2nd part of the book and visit Rome together in the 3rd part of the book. He tried to overcome the fear and simply because he was in love with the boy, he did overcome it.

But you can see the broken shell (which was tore down in Italy) slowly getting together as Oliver gets back to the USA. He, once more, is under the pressure of American society who is not LGBT friendly at the time, his own father would've never supported his decisions regarding his love life, it could cost him his academic career... And for all of these reasons, it was more logical for Oliver to get married. It was his way of putting order back into his life; it was his way of being good as he says Elio.

So, yeah. Here you have it. Oliver was in love, the relationship could benefit both parties and it wasn't a consensual ra*e, thank you very much.

#call me by your name #call me by your name movie #call me by your name novel #elio perlman #oliver ulliva #anella perlman #samuel perlman #cmbyn #luca guadagnino #andré aciman #armie hammer #timothée chamalet #call me by your name...#and I will call you by mine

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irene-sadler · 3 years

Text

Sir Reynard and the Red Knight

1. my usual due diligence b/c some deeply programmed part of my brain can't not cite my sources::

are you interested in reading some secondary source material about the civic government of a medieval city?* or a primary source document listing the personal expenses of Henry VIII between 1529-1532, a line item of which i copied and modified for this chapter? well now u can i guess, go for it.

*(there's like no easily accessible canon info about what Rivia (the city, not the kingdom or the castle) is like, but after some side reading about other medieval cities it seemed like it should be roughly the size of York vs the size of London or Paris, which were the capitols of much more important kingdoms to irl western Europe than Lyria and Rivia seem to have been to northern Fake Europe. i mean, before Meve more or less single handedly fucked up an entire invasion force and yeeted herself into international fame obviously.)

2. i posted a short scene i cut from this chapter here.

----

In the days leading up to the fair, a veritable army of men in armor descended on the castle and town surrounding it, spending a mint of money and tearing up the grass of the green outside the wall with ceaseless practices and a few very real fights. The Baroness, who had graciously accepted the Queen’s invitation, became a semi-permanent fixture beside the hastily erected fence surrounding the field. Despite the cold, she spent the short daylight hours observing and offering opinions and guidance. Gascon arrived with a retinue of familiar-looking rogues that drew a dark frown from Reynard and threw himself happily into the endless clashes. The Baroness watched him for most of an afternoon, then in the evening delivered a detailed lecture indicating how and where his technique could be improved, which he cheerily took to heart. The result, according to his tutor, was that he progressed, somewhat, from a reasonable amateur to something like a professional.

Meve managed to keep her company often enough to hear many of her opinions. She noted bad habits and technical errors in almost all of Meve’s serving knights, with few exceptions; of Sir Odo, she only remarked casually that he yet showed no sign of losing a step, age or prior injuries be damned. She made the unusually enthusiastic comment within earshot of its subject as he offered advice to a young knight he’d unseated; he appeared slightly surprised and rode over, eyebrows raised.

“Was that a compliment, my lady?” he asked, looming over the two women where they stood by the fence.

“Would you like it to be?” the Baroness replied, giving no sign either way.

“Why not?” he said, matching her tone, bowed courteously in his saddle, slammed his visor down, and rode away. Meve stared distractedly after him.

“He’ll be an early contender for the prize, I believe,” the Baroness remarked.

“Well, he’s certainly my favorite,” she replied, airily.

“And doesn’t he know it,” the older woman muttered, then added, “That man has a target on his back.”

Meve returned to earth and turned an inquiring frown on her.

“Look,” the older woman explained, waving a hand to indicate the field at large. “There’s not less than two dozen knights here, and squires besides, as well as more than a few fighters who are neither. Some are no doubt here for the prizes, and some for th’ entertainment value, and others to catch a woman’s eye, but, no matter what their reasons, every man among them would very much like to defeat the Queen’s champion, make no mistake.”

The Baroness paused significantly, clearly waiting for her to see a point. Meve, aware that even Reynard lost a match, on occasion, failed to arrive at whatever it was; she shrugged dismissively and said, “Yes, and?”

“And, therefore, don’t leave his equipment unguarded overnight, or his horse,” she explained impatiently, with a slight eye roll; she added, as an afterthought, “Your Grace.”

“Oh.”

After dinner she stared contemplatively into the fire, paying no attention to Reynard and Gascon’s idle chatter nearby. The Baroness’s suggestion - or was it a warning? - weighed on her thoughts. So did the fact that she had yet to find a third judge; a difficult prospect, as whoever she picked might not suit, or, worse, might be inclined to see political significance where there was none. Further, she hadn’t seen the black knight, or even heard anything of him, in well over a week; it was arguably the least of her problems, but bothered her nevertheless. She was jolted out of her reverie only when Reynard shook her suddenly by the shoulder; she frowned distractedly at him, realized he had asked her something, and said, “What?”

“What are you thinking about?” he repeated, patiently. Gascon stared glassily at her, an expectant smile on his face. She explained about the judge, in brief, expecting their conversation to then go on without concerning itself with the matter.

“But why d’ you need three judges?” Gascon wondered, instead, slurring his words somewhat.

“Because there are always three judges,” Reynard replied stiffly, evidently less than perfectly sober himself.

“The third judge is necessary, I’m afraid,” Meve explained. “A tiebreaker.”

“Oh,” said Gascon, “I see. Well, what I would do is just get Gaspar or someone t’ do it, and say good enough; I suppose it doesn’t truly matter who does the job, in th’ end.”

“The joust is serious business,” Reynard said, growing somewhat haughty, “You can’t just appoint some ruffian who can’t talk as an official.”

“No,” Meve said, soothingly, before Gascon could react, “I don’t think he would do, at all, not to worry. However, Gascon’s drunken rambling has given me a thought - I don’t really have to choose the third judge myself.”

“What do you mean by that?” Reynard asked, suspiciously.

“Never you mind,” she said, casually, “You’ll find out soon enough. Anyway - I meant to ask you, Gascon, for a favor.”

“By all means,” he replied, cheerily.

“I need you to assign some of your more reliable and sober men to keep an eye on Reynard’s harness, weapons, and above all his horse, until the fair.”

“Why?” Reynard asked; Meve ignored him, temporarily. Gascon, on the other hand, seemed to immediately understand, and nodded his agreement.

“Oh, yes, naturally, you do,” he said. “I’ll put my best people on it, not t’ worry.”

“Thank you,” she said, and then explained herself to Reynard after Gascon departed to see to the matter. He frowned doubtfully and began, “I really don’t think it’s necessary to -”

“I know you don’t,” she interrupted, a little curtly, “It’s why I didn’t ask you.”

He fell into a slightly disgruntled silence, obviously offended; she immediately regretted her tone, blamed it on the late hour, and delivered a genuine apology, which he graciously accepted, as he always did.

At ten the next morning, she attended a meeting with the bailiff, aldermen, and Mayor of the city outside her castle walls. The Mayor was an ancient man who’d been installed in his position some years before she was born, and would not be hurried as he explained, at length, the procedures and trials of the next few days. She half-listened to his speech, delivered in the same didactic voice as always, and to the discourse that followed, well aware of the various topics that would be covered, as they were exactly the same each year for each fair - roadblocks, fire brigades, the necessity to have extra guards at night, the necessity to have yet further guards to keep the visitors out of the stockyard and away from the docks, the vanishingly small probability of snow. The Queen sat, patiently chiming in on the usual occasions to promise a detachment of soldiers from the castle and to offer the use of the stables in the courtyard, if needed, but otherwise waiting in silence for the meeting to wind to a close. There was, she knew from experience, no speeding up the unvarying process, and it was easiest to try; at the end, however, when the Mayor, as always, asked for any final remarks, she said, “I’ve one, gentlemen.”

The room turned as one to stare at her in collective astonishment; she had never shown the slightest desire to lengthen any meeting in the past, and the atmosphere grew wary and uncertain at the irregularity. She smiled at them, professionally, and continued, “I have a small request only: the jousting event that’s bringing you so much custom this year requires three judges, but I find myself with only two; I thought perhaps you could select the last yourselves and then send ‘em along to the castle this afternoon.”

She was assured that the thing was in their power to grant and departed in secret amusement, leaving the disturbed city government in full knowledge that, so long as she ruled in Lyria and Rivia, the troubling moment would never be forgotten.

The city council sent along their choice - a round, dark-haired young woman - some hours later. She received a very dubious look from Reynard when Ethan brought her into his little office, where he sat in consultation with the Queen. Her name was Giselle, she said, and she knew nothing whatsoever about jousting - although, of course, she’d seen many a brawl, because she was a barmaid at the largest public house in the town square; she was just lately seventeen, but had been employed there since she was ten, and fights were expected and even wagered on should the combatants be interesting enough. Meve was, for once, grateful for Reynard’s unyielding sense of propriety; he grew steadily more unapproachable, but said absolutely nothing as the girl finished her introduction and subsided into silence, casting an uneasy glance at his remote frown.

“Well,” Meve said, pleasantly, “It’s no matter; the finer details of the sport are easy enough to learn. I’m not going to force you, if you’d rather not, but should you like to be a judge tomorrow along with myself and the Baroness, you’re quite welcome.”

Giselle’s face lit up; she replied quickly, “Oh, yes, I’d love to, my lady.” Meve nodded, satisfied.

“Well, then, Ethan there will explain the rules and answer any questions you have; you may go along with him,” she said. Ethan promptly turned a brilliant shade of red as Giselle turned a broad smile on him. Meve drew on decades of diplomatic experience and managed to maintain a straight face as the pair attempted to make their escape from the overcrowded office, briefly became jammed together in the doorway, and awkwardly negotiated their way out, one after the other.

“Gods preserve us,” Reynard muttered, rubbing his forehead painfully, the moment the door finally shut behind them. Meve snorted a laugh at last, perched on the edge of his desk, and said, “She’ll do nicely, I think; seems game enough, given the circumstances.”

He shook his head at her and asked, wearily, “Is it too early to start drinking?”

“It is a holiday. However, those guard patrols for the town must be arranged, and I still have to review my steward’s reports -”

“I’ll bring the reports as well as a bottle, then,” Reynard decided, making for the door; she caught his arm as he passed, kissed him, and pulled away a long moment later to stare into his eyes. He blinked down at her, apparently struck as speechless as his squire, until she released him and said, “Go on, then; I’ll be here.”

“Actually, I’m not thirsty after all,” he said, not moving away. She flashed a smile, slid her arms around his neck, and didn’t argue.

Reynard did arrange the patrols, eventually, but Meve was forced to put the paperwork off; there was a feast to attend, and she had no time to read accounts before it began. It had to be held in the courtyard under the moonlight, because the entire city was invited and most of it’s more upstanding citizens had actually turned up, and, on top of them, all the knights and their horde of attendants; the resulting crowd would never fit inside the great hall. Even her usual courtiers had trouble maintaining stiff decorum in the open air, by blazing fires and with an astonishing amount of food and drink in them. The Queen herself sat at a table with the Baroness and Count Odo; the Count was companionably silent as usual, and so Meve passed the time chatting mainly with the Baroness. The women waved off occasional requests to dance in favor of a detailed discussion of feats of arms they’d witnessed during tournaments and battles, until, unexpectedly, Sir Holt advanced on them out of the crowd. The Baroness immediately paused, mid-sentence, and stared him down; he did not appear to notice her pointed, but wordless, dismissal. Reynard stiffened slightly in his seat, eyes narrowing. Meve sighed quietly; she of course knew the red knight was in attendance, because she’d spotted Gaheris out in the lists the previous afternoon, but had thought he’d have had the sense to avoid her.

However, all the red knight said to her was a polite greeting and a remark on the success of the evening, so far. She nodded at him in acknowledgment; he then turned to Reynard and said, “Count Odo - I look forward to our rematch, tomorrow.”

“Do you, now?” the Count replied, coldly; then, his conscience apparently made uneasy by his own rudeness, added, “As do I, Sir Holt; best of luck to you, when the time comes.”

“And to you, my lord,” the red knight said, glanced uncertainly at the condescending Baroness, and retreated without further comment. Meve glanced sideways at the Count’s distant frown and nodded to him resignedly. He needed no further invitation to quit the field, and, for some reason, the remainder of the event seemed to go on with a shade of awkwardness in his absence; her renewed conversation with the Baroness felt somewhat stilted, and the din of the crowd around them oppressive. The feast eventually ended with an inevitable speech by the Mayor, which not a soul attended to; the locals had heard it before and the visitors seemed to be unsure who it was that was lecturing them. The Queen then delivered some much briefer remarks, as expected, which received the crowd’s full concentration, dismissed them to their own devices, and departed.

An hour later, she was safely in her own private office, puzzling over a line item in her steward’s report: paied to Sir Roger Eres knight upon a bille of Sir John Kimborne knight 153 g., when someone came thundering up the stairs and burst suddenly through the door. Reynard jerked awake in his chair by the fire, alarmed at the noise, saw what had made it, and settled again with a quiet, relieved, sigh. She herself had turned a savage glare on the intruder, but subsided when it only proved to be Gascon, reeking of liquor and panting slightly.

“It’s late, Brossard. What do you want?” Meve asked, looking back down at her papers. She sat back with a quick, irritated, frown as the Duke strode over, slapped a wide leather strap down on top of them, and demanded, “Look at this.”

“It’s a girth, from a saddle,” she said, glancing from it to him with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes,” Gascon agreed, despite her warning expression. Reynard stood with a faint groan, walked over, glanced at it, and said, “Isn’t that one of mine? What’s this about?”

“Look there, by the buckle,” Gascon said, impatiently, pointing. Meve eyed the area and spotted what appeared to be a wrinkle or crack in the leather; she picked it up to study it more closely, and finally looked back up at the Duke, scowling.

“It looks as if someone cut it most of the way through,” she said. “And then, what? Glued it back together? A damn good job, too; would never have noticed it, myself, if you didn’t point it out.”

“It would likely snap th’ instant it took a hard shock,” Reynard added, taking the girth and turning it over thoughtfully. “But when someone might’ve done it, I don’t know. I used this just yesterday, practicing against Roland Orlac; you were there, Meve.”

“Perhaps they did it days ago, and it was just luck that kept it from breaking, then,” Gascon suggested, shrugging. “Or it could have been yesterday afternoon, before Pug and Gaspar started looking after your things.”

Meve swore angrily, already forming a long list of suspects: disgruntled barons, unscrupulous competitors, foreign saboteurs, domestic anarchists. Reynard sighed in weary agreement with her.

“Well, annoying as this is, it’s not my first overly bitter rival, I suppose. I’ve survived th’ others; this will be no different,” he said, pragmatically.

“Yes, well, regardless, it’ll be your last. Find out who did this, Gascon,” the Queen said. “I take attempts to sabotage my General’s equipment very personally.”

“I’ll do what I can,” he assured, grimly.

#thronebreaker #witcher #action #romance #sports

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artificialqueens · 4 years

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Different People (Different Arguments), 3/14 (Branjie/Jankie) - Ortega

a/n: ayo!! so sorry for the update gap fam, but chapter 3 is here! soooo hope u all enjoy. p.s. i promise I love Nicky, Gigi and Crystal…but every good story has a bad guy right???

fic summary: Brooke Lynn is a political advisor for a government department where she has to contend with an incompetent Minister, maintaining her stone-cold bitch image, working alongside a press team of slackers, and the Prime Minister’s ever-so-slightly terrifying enforcer breathing down her neck 24/7. So when a familiar face from her past arrives as her new boss, she’s not exactly thrilled to add another problem to her ever-growing pile.

And then she admits she’s got a crush on her coworker.

Last chapter: Jackie became a breakout political star after she spoke out against the homophobia and misogyny in the media, and Brooke finally acknowledged that her feelings for Vanessa maybe weren’t as platonic as she’d thought.

In this chapter: When Shadow Minister Nicky Doll and her advisors arrive at DoSac for an informal, pre-election briefing, Jan tries to cope with the stress of seeing her old colleagues again. There’s more at stake, though, when Jackie reveals a secret that cannot get out.

***

Casting her eyes over the meeting room, Brooke attempted to focus on what Jackie was actually saying. She was trying her hardest, she really was, but it was just that Vanessa was wearing the red jumper today, the really soft one that made her look more cuddly and adorable than normal.

Brooke had a crush on Vanessa. She’d accepted that now. The way to deal with it was just to never act upon it, talk about it, or to admit it to anyone outside of her own head. She’d spent so long cultivating the perfect stone-cold, heartless bitch image and she wasn’t exactly going to do anything to taint that now. The most important thing she had to remember was that she didn’t need anyone- she had no desire to be in a relationship, to be tied down and have to answer to someone else all the time. She had a perfectly good bullet to get her off and if she felt like it she could always go and pick up someone random from a bar. There was always that irritating aspect when the afterglow had faded, though, if whoever she’d used for the night wanted to stay over, or heaven forbid see her again. Things were just better as they were, Brooke concluded. She couldn’t get attached, or hurt, or fall in love this way. If there was one thing she wasn’t, it was vulnerable. Getting into a relationship with someone put you in the weakest position you could possibly get.

She would know, after all.

Still, she was allowed to dream about it; an ideal world in which love worked out the way it did in books and movies, one huge cliché where Brooke and Vanessa were happy together and lived in perfect domesticity, had the best sex of their lives and went on adorable dates. It was simplistic and shallow and completely unrealistic, but perhaps that was all it was meant to be.

Gazing at Vanessa again, she was surprised to see her eyes already on her. She was even more surprised when she looked around the room and saw that everyone else was staring at her as well.

“Brooke Lynn?” Jackie asked, staring at her expectantly. She stood in front of a huge whiteboard with marker pen scribbled all over it- generic buzzwords such as “connectivity”, “inclusivity” and “diversity” sprang out to her, but nothing really indicated what Jackie could have previously been talking about.

“Um. The fiscal year?” Brooke guessed blankly. Jan laughed from across the table, throwing her head back and letting her blonde hair cascade down the back of the chair. Jackie didn’t find it as funny.

“For God’s sake, Brooke, this policy is only going to work if everyone pays attention and has some form of input other than just staring at me with glassy eyes like they’ve been goddamn taxidermied!” she sighed, sitting her pen down on the table and sliding into an empty chair. Brooke felt a pang of guilt- Jackie had been doing well in the two weeks that had followed her Von’Du interview and had received heaps of public support and attention. The perfect time, Bianca had insisted, to get some new ideas out there and into parliament.

“Sorry. Remind me of the premise?”

Irritated, Jackie rolled her eyes before Vanessa cut in with a sweet smile. “Issa scheme to get the UK to house more refugees and get ‘em into work therefore boosting the economy, diversifyin’ the nation and basically makin’ us look like good guys to the rest of Europe.”

Brooke shot her a grateful smile across the table, trying her best not to blush.

“Thank God someone’s been listening,” Jackie smirked. “We’re basically just trying to come up with a name for it. Or a tagline or something.”

Brooke pressed her pen to her lips, thinking for a second. Nina suddenly piped up from beside her.

“What about…Don’t be bigoted. Be uninhibited,” she said, her suggestion met with utter silence from the rest of the group.

“Well that was nice, Nina, but how about something a bit less…” Jackie thought for a second, trying to find the correct word.

“Shit?” Brooke shrugged, Jan once again letting out a peal of laughter. Vanessa was clearly trying to conceal her giggles from the other side of the huge table, while both Nina and Jackie looked unimpressed.

“Do you have any better suggestions?”

“No, and I’m not going to pretend like I do! I’m not going to just yell out any old crap like I’ve got shit idea Tourette’s,” Brooke shrugged, Jan now bent over in her chair from laughter and Vanessa now audibly giggling. Brooke couldn’t tell, but she could have sworn Jackie let out the tiniest snort of a laugh before regaining composure.

“Ladies, please, this is important! This is a good damn idea, if I’m allowed to blow my own trumpet, and we’ve got to get it out there sooner rather than later,” she insisted. A loud, harsh vibration from Nina’s phone startled them all.

“Bianca’s here,” she announced, trying to keep her tone bright. Before the girls even had time to react to the news, Bianca had appeared in the room in a smart, tailored black and white suit.

“Good morning to you all, shit Spice Girls impersonation act,” she smiled cheerfully.

“Mornin’, Bianca,” Vanessa greeted her.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Jackie quipped dryly, lounging back in her seat.

“Two things from me,” Bianca began, ignoring the Minister’s sarcasm. “The shadow minister’s visit, today at 11. They’re going to be talking to Nina and the rest of those brain-dead, civil-service puppets out there about what’s going to happen if they take office. Nina, your job is to basically communicate to them that they’ll be taking it out of my cold, dead hands.”

“Fuck, that’s today?!” Vanessa exclaimed somewhat involuntarily, earning her a steely glare from Bianca which in turn made Vanessa look as if she was seconds away from death. Reaching into her pocket and retrieving her phone, Brooke fired off a quick text to Vanessa under the table.

B: It’s okay. Snakes only eat once every few weeks x

As Bianca briefed Nina, Brooke watched as Vanessa looked down into her lap and smiled, a light blush colouring her cheeks very slightly, although that could have just been the light of the room. Satisfied that she’d made Vanessa feel better, she tuned back in to what Bianca was saying.

“…you tell them nothing. Except where the toilets are, but you lie about that.”

“So who’s actually accompanying Nicky today? I’ve heard nothing and I want to make sure I’m relatively prepared for whoever enters my department,” Jackie folded her arms across her chest, already defensive.

“You already know about Nicky. Privately educated daddy’s girl and massively out of touch with the electorate. Probably a lizard wearing a human skin suit, I’ve never particularly wanted to get close enough to her to check if that theory’s true,” Bianca shrugged. “The other two coming with her are going to be her advisors, Gigi and Crystal.”

“Oh no,” Jan suddenly exclaimed from her chair. Her face had gone incredibly ashen, her eyes wide and fearful. Suddenly Brooke was acutely aware that she no longer had only Vanessa to worry about. If Jan’s old colleagues and ex-friends bumped into her it wouldn’t be particularly pleasant, and Jan would no doubt be incredibly shaken. Crossing the floor was like a betrayal, pledging loyalty to one party after being aligned with another was treacherous, and so it was likely that Gigi, Crystal and Nicky still wanted Jan’s head on a stick.

“Oh yes. Gigi Goode, bit of a newborn as far as politics is concerned but she’s got impressive credentials. Graduated from Oxford University with a first class degree and a PhD in Politics and Business. Won the World Universities Debating Championships five consecutive times. She’s confident, clever, and has zero scruples. Knows every loophole in the world of politics,” Bianca reeled off. Jackie raised her eyebrows, clearly impressed.

“She sounds interesting.”

“Don’t even make contact with her, she’ll probably have you telling her the fucking nuke codes and all the department’s discrepancies within the first 30 seconds of meeting her. Crystal Harness is a different story,” Bianca frowned. “Not too good when it comes to actual political knowledge. Nina, you and her would get along. She’s a baby too, really, not been in the game long. Graduated from Oxford Brookes. Second class degree in Psychology and Sociology. Don’t think for a second that this is a reason to underestimate her. She is cunning and has intellect and knows everything about everyone, don’t let her see you break a sweat.”

Jackie looked momentarily terrified. “I didn’t realise Nicky had some kind of metahuman task force working for her.”

“They’re not that bad,” Brooke sighed, tipping her head back in her chair. “If you talk to Nicky entirely in cockney rhyming slang, she’ll just combust. Gigi is fine if you give her a fake smile or two. Crystal is basically simple. You’ve got nothing to worry about, Jackie.”

Feeling the mood in the room change, Brooke turned around in her wheely chair and was met with Bianca’s icy stare.

“What part of ‘don’t underestimate these people’ do you not understand? What, you think they’re here for a jolly little chat with Nina about worker’s rights and office hours? They’re here to get intel, and I want you all to be more airtight than some middle-aged white woman’s Tupperware. And no, that’s not a euphemism.”

Brooke watched as Vanessa wrinkled up her nose in distaste. She had such a cute little nose, and Brooke found herself imagining how perfect it would be to just kiss it gently before they both drifted off to sleep together in a little house that they shared. Frowning involuntarily, Brooke chased those particular thoughts out of her head. They were way too intense, too weird and commitment-y for her friend she had a stupid crush on. Remembering what Bianca had said earlier, she turned and faced her.

“What was the other thing? You said you had two things to tell us.”

“I’m getting there! Right, Jackie, I’ve got you a good photo op this evening. Some new charging points for electric car owners, it’s going to be the biggest one in the UK and a big step for climate change, yadda yadda yadda. We’re going to get you driving in a fucking Prius or something, charging it up and then driving out again. Pretty simple, but effective- what? What is it?”

Every head in the room turned to face Jackie, who looked as if she’d seen a ghost. Her hands were gripping the edge of the table, her knuckles white. She’d turned pale, her face ashen, and she seemed worried.

“Driving? No, I can’t drive, there’s no way,” she babbled, her usually calm and composed exterior completely destroyed.

“Jackie?” Jan prompted quietly, clearly concerned. Brooke shared a brief look of confusion with Vanessa. It was clear nobody had the faintest idea what was going on.

“I mean, you can drive. We have your drivers’ license, you sent in a photocopy as proof of identification when you received Darienne’s job. I don’t really see the issue here?” Bianca curled her top lip, completely unfazed by Jackie’s behaviour.

“Bianca, you don’t understand…I’ve not driven in ages, I…do you not-”

“Do I not what?” Bianca cut in, her irritation mounting by the second. “Look, I don’t really have time to stand here and argue the toss. This is part of your job. You’re doing the goddamn photo op. Christ, this was the girl who two weeks ago was desperate to get on prime time television. Now you’re shitting yourself at the thought of driving a bloody battery operated car. Get it done. 6 o’clock tonight. See you all later.”

As Bianca click-clacked out of the department, the mood in the room was still very tense. Almost frozen, Brooke thought, the tiny hairs on her arms standing up from goosebumps. Jan was the first to speak.

“Jackie, are you okay?” she almost whispered, her voice both deafening and quiet in the silent room. There were a few seconds (minutes?) where there was no response at all, in fact Brooke was almost convinced that nobody even breathed. Finally, Jackie spoke.

“Yep. All good. So, um, if you ladies can continue thinking up some form of line or title we can use or something while you’re finishing off that immigration data, and Nina if you can just forward me the protocol for Nicky’s visit again so I can read over it, then that would be great,” she said, her body almost frozen in place and her face wearing a fake smile.

Deciding not to push it any further, Brooke simply nodded and walked back to her desk. It wasn’t long before Vanessa was following behind, rolling her own wheely chair along to sit beside her.

“What d’you think all that was about?” she whispered, leaning her elbows on Brooke’s desk expectantly. Brooke couldn’t help but stifle a laugh- Vanessa could be such a gossip and it was one of the things that was oddly endearing about her. Trying not to be too taken in by her perfume and parted lips, Brooke instead threw up her defences again and rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know, ‘Ness. To be honest, it’s not my place to ask. It’s not yours either,” she chastised softly, hitting Vanessa gently on the nose with her pen. Wrinkling her nose and pulling away, Vanessa shrugged.

“You’re right, I know. Still, she was kinda rattled. Hope she’s okay,” Vanessa frowned, nibbling on her bottom lip.

“She’ll be fine. Honestly. Just go and do your damn job.”

“Hmm. Winding you up’s more fun, baby, but I’ll do what I’m told,” Vanessa winked at her, shooting back off to her desk in her chair.

Feeling her heart speed up, Brooke fleetingly wondered if maybe the feelings she had for Vanessa weren’t entirely one-sided. That was flirting, right? Brooke wasn’t reading too much into it? Or maybe she was. Reality brought her back down to earth with a bump, telling her what a ridiculous thought that was. Vanessa saw Brooke as a friend and a co-worker, and that was where her feelings ended. Brooke couldn’t let herself get carried away or distracted with the idea that Vanessa would ever treat her as anything more than what they already were.

Letting out a huge exhale of breath, Brooke opened up the immigration spreadsheet and was about to start working when there was a thud of two elbows on the empty space to her left. Turning slowly in an attempt to conceal her flinching, she was met with Yvie; head in her hands, black dreads cascading over her shoulders and a huge, smug grin on her face.

“Don’t even say a word,” Brooke warned her, clearly too late as Yvie began sniggering a laugh behind her hands.

“I wasn’t actually here to gloat, but now you mention it…” Yvie joked, lolling lazily against Brooke’s desk. “So you’ve not admitted anything to anyone else. In fact, you’re probably maintaining the fact that there’s nothing to admit. But you’ve definitely admitted something to yourself, because I think your face is so red that you could go stand at a street corner and act as a traffic light.”

“If you keep talking, I’m going to staple your mouth shut,” Brooke glared, grabbing the stapler on her desk for emphasis. It didn’t seem to intimidate Yvie at all, who was still grinning maniacally and completely unfazed.

“Hey, like I said! Not here to gloat at all. I’m actually not here to talk about your deep feelings for your coworker in any way. Just thought you might like to know that Akeria texted me this a couple minutes ago.”

With that, Yvie produced her phone and held it out to Brooke so that she could read the screen.

A: ahahaha yeah. Big Silk with the fuckin bodyshots man!! Don’t actually know how she made it in today. Also, 100% confirmed Nicky’s looking for stuff to take Jackie down with bc she’s still pissed about that dig in the Von’Du interview. watch ur back xo

Attempting to ignore whatever conversation that had been going on before, Brooke focussed on the important information. She wished she could say she was surprised by the shadow minister’s plan but in all honesty, she’d highly expected it. Sighing, Brooke handed Yvie her phone back.

“I mean, I’m not too worried. What can she possibly dig up? Jackie will’ve been vetted by Bianca already,” she shrugged, clicking on a single cell of the spreadsheet half-heartedly.

“She got pizza delivered to the office last week?”

“That’s not even- Yvie. Come on,” Brooke raised one eyebrow in disbelief. “The papers would be hard pressed to conjure up a paragraph on that. Jackie will be fine.”

Appearing to be satisfied, Yvie pushed herself off the desk and made to return to her seat, but not before turning back to Brooke with the same smug look on her face as before.

“You know, I don’t think anyone in the office could’ve missed that wink Vanjie gave you just there. Whatever you’re feeling, I don’t think it’s as one-sided as you think,” she smirked, making sure to keep her voice low. Unsure of what to reply, Brooke simply narrowed her eyes, picked up her stapler and clicked it twice in warning. Chuckling, Yvie sauntered back to her desk.

Trying not to even entertain the thought that Vanessa could like her back, Brooke continued with her work. All of the numbers suddenly seemed scrambled and jumbled up, making no sense to her whatsoever. Feeling as if she was about to scream with frustration she made to ask Jan for advice until she noticed her desk was empty. Come to think of it, Jan hadn’t actually left the meeting room with her and Vanessa. Bullshit if she was getting away with doing nothing while Brooke worked on this entire set of figures by herself. Getting up and smoothing her skirt down she made her way to the meeting room only to find it empty. Puzzled, she began to walk slightly aimlessly down the corridor, her curiosity piqued at the disappearance of both Jan and Jackie. It was unlike Jan to just wander off without telling either Brooke or Vanessa where she was going.

Reaching the photocopier and a dead end with no Jan in sight, Brooke was about to give up and ask Nina for help instead when she heard two sets of muffled voices coming from the stationery cupboard.

“I’m just panicking, I know. But I feel like I have good reason to. I mean, it’s going to be absolute carnage if this gets out.”

“It won’t, don’t worry. I still can’t believe Bianca missed that when she vetted you. But please don’t panic, it’ll all be fine! I’ll speak to Nina and I’ll get her to quietly cancel it.”

Jackie and Jan. What the hell were they in the stationery cupboard for, and most importantly, what were they talking about? Whatever it was, it sounded serious. If it was serious business, Brooke deserved to know. Making to burst open the door in a show of outrage, she stopped herself when Jackie’s voice spoke again.

“I just feel like such a failure. I should’ve known it would get out, I should’ve said something-”

“Hey! You are not a failure,” Jan’s voice cut in urgently. There was an odd sort of pause in which Brooke wasn’t quite sure what was happening. “You’re a good person, Jackie, and a kick-ass politician. You’re the best thing to happen to this department since I arrived, even if I do say so myself.”

Soft laughter, then Jan’s voice again. “You’re incredible. Don’t ever doubt that.”

Another pause. Brooke couldn’t quite bring herself to move, somehow feeling as if she shouldn’t be hearing this at all. Composing herself, she rested her hand on the door handle.

“Jan I…this might seem inappropriate, but-”

“Okay, what the hell is going on in here?” Brooke demanded as she flung open the door and revealed herself. Both girls seemed to jump back a bit, Jackie looking to the floor awkwardly and rubbing the back of her neck, Jan’s mouth forming a perfect circle as her jaw dropped in shock. They had both gone bright red, which Brooke thought was odd for two colleagues having a professional conversation.

“Jesus, Brooke, you scared the crap out of me,” Jackie breathed out raggedly, her voice spooked but holding an underlying note of irritation.

“I don’t care, you haven’t answered my question. What were you talking about? What’s going to be carnage?” Brooke replied, keeping her glare cold. Jackie kept her eyes trained on the floor, not seeming to want to look up anytime soon. Jan still hadn’t spoken.

“Close the door,” Jackie said finally, sounding a little shaken. Feeling the wind slightly knocked out of her sails, Brooke did as she was told and watched as Jackie steadied herself on the shelf and sat on an unopened box.

“Um. Do you remember I kind of went off grid after uni? A lot of people were asking after me and couldn’t really find me.”

With a pang of guilt, Brooke’s first reaction was that she hadn’t really cared. She’d been glad to see the back of Jackie at the time, if she was honest. Times had changed, though, so Brooke simply nodded instead. Jackie wrung her hands together, her face completely racked with nerves.

“I wasn’t in a good place. My mental health spiralled out of control pretty dramatically once I graduated, I struggled to find a job for a while and when I did, I got way too into it. I would work myself into a frenzy, I’d do consecutive days on two hours of sleep…at one point I was averaging a panic attack per day. I didn’t really, um. I didn’t really have anyone to talk to about things. I tried going to therapy but it just didn’t help. I don’t know…it felt like I was making progress just being able to know that I was visiting someone, I guess, but I wasn’t really. Anyway, you don’t need to know my sob story,” Jackie frowned, shaking her head repeatedly. “To cut a long story short, I was driving into work one day, trying to do twenty things at once as usual. It was idiotic, but I was on the motorway and a text came through from my boss and wanting to seem like I was organised and in control, I tried to type and drive at the same time…the motorway was quiet, there was nobody around me…fuck, sorry-”

As Jackie’s voice broke slightly, Jan crossed over to where she sat and rested a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“I crashed into the barricade in the central reservation doing fifty miles an hour. God knows how I’m still alive. The police obviously came along with the ambulance and the fire brigade and of course they wanted to know how it was that I managed to crash on a clear stretch of road with no other drivers around me. I’ve never been able to lie to save myself, so I just told them. I’d only passed my test the year before that, so they took my license away. That’s why I can’t do the PR thing. It’s illegal for me to drive. I got a fake license purely so I could take this job.”

Leaning against the door, Brooke felt she wanted to sit down too. This was so much to deal with. She couldn’t style herself out as not caring about this, because she actually felt sick to her stomach with guilt. She couldn’t believe Jackie had coped- or not coped- completely on her own through all this horrible mess. Even though there was no way she could have known, Brooke just wished she could’ve done something differently. She desperately hoped Jackie was better now.

“Jackie, I’m so sorry.”

“No, no, don’t be sorry. This isn’t about me being…enormously god damn mental in the head, or whatever,” she snorted a derisive laugh. “I’m more worried about how we’re going to placate Bianca. Jan said she’d talk to Nina and get her to cancel the shoot but Bianca’s going to ask questions.”

“Well it’s not your fault she didn’t vet you properly,” Brooke shrugged, how Bianca would feel the absolute last thing on her mind right now. “So she can just deal with it. How Bianca feels doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re okay.”

Jackie looked up at her, her face grateful but slightly taken aback at this raw show of compassion. Truthfully, Brooke was also slightly shocked at how kind she was being towards her. She was grateful for the shout that came from the hall suddenly.

“Brooke? Guys? You in there?” Vanessa asked, as she opened the door and stepped inside the stationery cupboard that was ever-decreasing in space. Confused by the presence of her boss and the two other advisors, her perfect eyebrows became furrowed together. “There some meeting I didn’t know about?”

“Yeah, in the stationery cupboard. It was really important, girl, did you not get the memo?” Jan laughed affectionately. Laughing briefly at her own ridiculous assumption, Vanessa then tentatively looked at everyone else again.

“So…why we all here?”

Brooke briefly looked at Jackie, then sighed. “Jackie can’t do the PR stunt because legally, she’s not allowed to drive. She got done for texting while driving years ago and her license got revoked.”

Vanessa’s mouth dropped open a little as if she was about to ask how, then shut again as she clearly decided against it. “Does Bianca know?”

Giving her an affectionate smile, Brooke raised her eyebrows at her. “V. Come on. Use your brain.”

“Fuck, ‘course not. I’m so not with it today. So what’s happenin’?”

“Jan’s telling Nina to cancel it and when Bianca finds out, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. What’s important here is Jackie,” Brooke said decisively. Shocked again at the vulnerability she was showing, she smoothed down her black pencil skirt and sniffed once, trying to ignore just how close Vanessa was in the tiny space. “So that’s settled. Can we all get out of this cupboard and do some damn work? I feel like I’m suffocating.”

Without speaking, the four girls filed out of the cupboard as if the conversation had never happened. Brooke’s head was still slightly spinning as she slumped back in her chair, the excel spreadsheet now more confusing than ever. She was still attempting to take in everything that Jackie had just told her. It was so much to process, and Brooke couldn’t shake the guilty feeling that was settling in the pit of her stomach, the feeling that maybe there was something she could have done to help all those years ago. Sighing, she cast her eyes to Jackie’s glass-fronted office where the Minister was now typing into her phone, her face failing to betray anything about the heartfelt conversation that had just taken place. Why the hell did Jackie have to confide in her like that? Life would be so much less stressful if everybody just kept their guard up like Brooke did.

Still, she mused, everyone would probably be a whole lot more lonely.

Suddenly, Brooke’s phone screen lit up with three messages at once- two from Jan, one from Vanessa.

J: I would love to, that sounds amazing (: we could go for sushi?? Wardour Street has some really nice places! Xxx

J: whoops wasn’t meant for you lol sorry

Brooke would probably have been about ten times more intrigued and curious about Jan’s text if she didn’t have a text from Vanessa awaiting her.

V: I don’t care what kind of front you try to put up, you’re kind and caring and a total sweetheart x

Not even daring to look up and risk meeting Vanessa’s eyes, Brooke reached for a piece of paper on her desk and began to fan the blush that had just flooded her cheeks. Trying her best not to think about what Yvie had said earlier, she began to compose a reply.

B: You’re a cutie. Don’t tell anyone I was nice to you though, being a bitch is kind of my brand x

Risking a peek up over her monitor, Brooke watched as Vanessa picked up her phone and giggled, covering her mouth with one perfectly manicured hand.

God, it was going to be a long day.

***

They had arrived.

Brooke felt like a bird of prey as she stood beside Jan and watched from above as Nicky and her two advisors were greeted by Nina in the lobby. Even from six floors up Brooke could tell that Nina was hating the fact that she had to be at the very least civil to the three opposition members. Narrowing her eyes, Brooke watched closer.

Nicky was using the tactic she employed every time she had a television interview; gushing about how happy she was to be here, playing the humble, meek elected representative of the people. She was wearing an immaculate navy pencil dress with what appeared to be a Tiffany heart around her neck, and her sleek blonde hair was piled on top of her head in a bun. Following dutifully behind her were two others. The first girl Brooke heard before she saw- a cry of excitement at being in the building had been the very thing that proclaimed the arrival of the opposition. She was still making an obscene amount of excitable noise which travelled up the floors of the lobby as if it was riding the elevator. Squawker- or Crystal, Brooke supposed she should call her- was equally well turned out. She gave off a clear professional vibe in her button-down shirt, blue skirt and little heeled boots, and her curly red hair was swept over one shoulder.

“Gigi needs her roots done. See?” Brooke whispered to Jan, not taking her eyes off the three opposition members. Receiving no response, Brooke turned to look at her friend. Jan’s shoulders were tensed up as she trained her eyes on the member of the opposition in question. Her style was immaculate and she wore a pressed white shirt with huge sleeves and a pair of smart tailored black trousers with her high heels. Her long, blonde hair had been immaculately styled and blow-dried, and Brooke found herself wondering how or if she had the time to do that every day. Looking to Jan again she found her brow furrowed, biting at her long, painted nails.

“Jan, come on. Don’t ruin your nails, you’re better than that,” Brooke scolded, grabbing gently at Jan’s wrist and pulling it away from her face. Jan finally turned to meet her eyes before looking quickly back down at the floor again. “Hey. Talk to me.”

Sighing, Jan leant against the balcony, watching as the opposition were led away to the lift. “Sorry. I know I’m not myself today. It’s just this is really, really freaking me out. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve seen these girls since I crossed the floor, but to have them here where I work? It’s just a lot. It sounds dramatic but like…it kind of feels violating, if that makes any sense?”

Brooke nodded slowly. “I know you’re worried about it. But you’re being really brave about the whole thing. And hey, you kind of have an advantage, I guess! They’re on your territory, they’re not familiar or comfortable with anything here. Mainly because nothing’s engulfed by the flames of hell or costs over £10,000.”

Snorting a brief laugh, Jan’s face grew somewhat blank again. “I mean. Their tanks are on our lawn, though, they know we’re shook.”

Rolling her eyes, Brooke laughed derisively. “Jan. These private school bitches are not going to take power. You live in this country at the moment, do you really think the public are going to vote for people like Nicky?”

“Well, the public are idiots.”

Brooke gave a snort. “Jan, you can’t say the entire nation are idiots.”

“Yes I can, I’ve met them,” Jan deadpanned, signing off with a smile. Brooke relaxed against the balcony, comforted by the fact that Jan clearly felt a little better.

“Listen. One single day. One day of smiling and nodding like a puppet and just taking whatever crap or snide comments or shade they throw at you. You’ve handled so much worse,” Brooke smiled reassuringly, resting both hands on Jan’s shoulders. Comforted, Jan made to turn back to the department when suddenly she whipped her head back round.

“Brooke,” she murmured. ��What if they find out about Jackie?”

“What, that she exists? I know it was a crushing disappointment to us all but they’ll get over it some day,” she deadpanned. Jan gave a colossal roll of her eyes.

“No, you bitch! The license thing,” Jan sighed in exasperation, raising her voice just a little.

Brooke paused for a moment. It was weird how protective Jan was of her boss. She was never like that with Darienne at all. Fair enough Jackie was far more competent but still, it wasn’t as if the two shared some deep personal connection or anything. Brooke thought about asking her about it, but instead decided that that probably wasn’t what Jan needed right at this very moment.

“Who’s going to tell them? Me? You? Vanessa? Jackie herself? We’re the only ones that know. Come on, Jan, think,” Brooke tapped the side of Jan’s head once, punctuating her point. “It’s not going to get out.”

Smiling slightly, Jan seemed to compose herself and took one deep breath. As if something had occurred to her, she let out a laugh.

“God, what’s happening to you, Brooke? First you’re nice to Jackie for once and then you listen to me vent for ages. Your cracks are showing,” Jan smiled. Brooke attempted to style it out by shrugging, secretly a little unnerved that her recent empathy was being noticed.

“Stop psychoanalysing me, psycho, and let’s get back to our desks.”

No sooner had both girls turned the corner towards their office when they came face to face with the three members of the opposition coming out of the lift, Nina leading them. Jan immediately froze in place, seemingly unable to move. Brooke wanted to do something, anything to reassure her but before she could even look at Jan, Gigi’s cold grey eyes met her own.

“Nicky,” she turned to her boss, her cheerful, light voice at odds with the stare she was giving Brooke. “You go on ahead with Nina. Crystal and I are just going to have a little catch-up with a couple of old friends we haven’t seen in a while.”

Brooke wasn’t easily intimidated and she swore that today would be no different. As Gigi and Crystal advanced towards them, she drew her shoulders back and tilted her head, not giving a single thing away on her face. She could feel Jan growing more and more timid beside her. Christ, if these girls were planning on giving her friend a hard time then they’d be leaving the department in an ambulance.

“Brooke Lynn. Jan! So good to see you both,” Gigi began, her smile smug as she rested one nonchalant hand on her hip. “God, how long has it been? When was the last time we saw these two, Crystal?”

“Gee, Gigi, I don’t know! Did they not serve us at McDonalds when we went to get nuggets a couple days ago?” Crystal chimed in, flashing a quick, amused smile at her friend. Brooke muffled a derisive laugh as she shook her head. She couldn’t quite believe the schoolyard bullshit that these adult women were trying to start in her department. Still, if this was the game they were playing, then Brooke would play accordingly.

“Clever, implying that we’re both in minimum wage retail sector jobs! Something which your party loves to shit on very often. I love it,” Brooke smiled sweetly, gently clapping her hands. Gigi gave a fake laugh.

“Ladies, relax! It’s just some classic cross-party fun, no harm meant by it. You know that, right, Jan?” she flashed her a false smile. Brooke watched as Jan, shoulders now so hunched she was practically concave, gave a meek nod in response.

“You know, we really miss you, Jan,” Crystal nodded somberly, her voice high and sweet and almost-but-not-quite masking the fake sincerity behind her words. “Nicky’s always saying how open she’d be to having you back if you’d ever want to cross the floor…again! Gigi and I miss you too. We miss our friend.”

With that, Crystal reached a hand out and touched Jan’s arm gently. Flinching a little, Jan finally met her former colleague’s eyes and gave a weak smile. Brooke felt a flame of anger sting her veins as she watched the whole interaction. It was the same every time Jan ran into these two- they would start with the bitchy high school bullshit and Jan would be unable to ignore it, growing more and more quiet and subdued with every passing comment. Fuelled by her anger and dislike of behaviour of the two girls in front of her, Brooke snorted sardonically.

“Friend? Spare me the bullshit, you’d stab yourself in the back if it meant you got ten more followers on Instagram. Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to get back to work. You know, being in power? But this has been lovely,” Brooke flashed her bright white teeth in a smile, which Gigi returned equally as insincerely. “I haven’t had the conversational equivalent of hepatitis C in a long time.”

“As always, Brooke, you’re a very funny girl. Quite the comedian,” Gigi gave a tight-lipped smile as she stepped to one side and cleared a path down the corridor for the two girls. Hooking her arm through Jan’s, Brooke began to leave and had taken roughly three steps when she yelled her retort over her shoulder.

“I’ve got a lot of jokes, but none as good as your boss!”

Still fuelled from the frustration coursing through her veins, Brooke steered Jan the rest of the way down the hall and into the small kitchen like a demented steam train. It was only after she flicked the switch on the kettle so hard she thought she might have broken it when Jan spoke.

“I know they annoy you, babe, but don’t be too hard on them.”

“Don’t be too…Jan! They were standing there making you feel like a sack of shit, I wasn’t going to sit back and let them rip you to shreds! God, I can’t believe you’re defending them,” Brooke cried, grabbing two mugs and two teabags so hard she felt they might crumble apart in her hands. Silent for only a moment, Jan began playing with the edge of a tea towel, deep in thought.

“They were my friends once though. Who knows, maybe…maybe they were being serious. Maybe they do want to be friends again.”

As the kettle reached boiling point, Brooke took one deep, calming breath and began pouring them cups of tea. Part of her hated the way that she’d been conditioned into going straight to the kettle when something was angering or upsetting either her or her friends, as if a ridiculous hot drink was going to help make things any better. Vodka, now that would go some way to really help the situation. If Brooke and Jan shared a 75cl bottle, they’d be able to get so wasted that those idiots from the opposition wouldn’t bother them anymore. The bottle would also be ideal for smashing over Gigi’s smug face. Too bad it was too early for alcohol, Brooke mused, as she handed the smaller girl a steaming hot mug of tea. As Jan gave a grateful smile and began to sip, Brooke found herself wishing she could knock some sense into her. One of Jan’s biggest strengths was very feasibly also her biggest weakness; her determination to always focus on the good in people, to ignore their flaws and instead choose to look at their positives. It was something that made Jan such a horrendous judge of character. Christ, she’d worked for the opposition for a year, after all.

Casting another glance at her friend and deciding she’d visibly gained back a little of her confidence, Brooke grabbed her own mug off the countertop.

“Right, come on,” she said decisively. “We’re going to go back to our desks and drink these up and get on with our work, because these snakes that have slithered into the department don’t change a single thing about how capable you are as a professional. Okay?”

With a stifled smile Jan led the way back to the office, leaving Brooke wondering if she could still maintain the bitchy façade she always presented to the world if she was getting this good at cheering people up.

***

Sadly that wasn’t the only encounter they had to suffer with the opposition that day. Nicky soon appeared in the department’s offices with Nina, almost as a grand finale to the tour of Dosac she’d been given so far. She watched with narrowed eyes as Nicky made her way from desk to desk of the comms team, shaking hands and smiling in a sickeningly sweet manner that made Brooke want to hurl. Gigi and Crystal hovered behind Nicky’s shoulders like little cartoon devils and angels, except in Brooke’s opinion neither of them had many angelic qualities about them.

Attempting to ignore the gatecrashers in her office, Brooke turned back to her monitor. She supposed that maybe both Gigi and Crystal were pleasant people. Perhaps even Nicky at a push. They might still have been fun and friendly people to hang out with, after all, the politics they followed didn’t define them. Suddenly remembering a very obvious exception (Hitler), Brooke sent another withering glare the opposition’s way. Hit with another pang of doubt, she reasoned that comparing Nicky Doll to Hitler was perhaps an overreaction. Tuning out of the immigration stats that sat in front of her, Brooke instead found herself listening in to the conversation between Nicky and Nina.

“The space here is lovely. Very professional, very focused. There’s maybe about twenty-five percent that I’m not okay with, though. I think I’d prefer isolation booths for everybody to work in- it’ll keep everyone more on task,” Nicky asserted, Brooke noticing out the corner of her eye how Yvie and Scarlet both recoiled in horror at the thought of not being able to chat and keep each other going throughout the day.

“Okay, so you’d prefer isolation booths in addition to the longer working hours of 8.30am til 7pm, and only half an hour for lunch,” Nina confirmed. Her hair was twice as big and frizzy as it usually was, probably as a result of tearing half of it out in frustration after the amount of hours she’d spent with Nicky.

“Christ, does she want us chained to the phones as well?” Adore mumbled. Brooke immediately tensed up- if she had heard that comment, then Nicky definitely had too. Sure enough, Nicky whipped her head round and stared Adore straight in the eye.

“That’s very funny, but no. I would not be chaining people to phones, I would simply be employing popular and common tactics that are used by employers the world over. Something which you wouldn’t have to worry about, because I wouldn’t have you working for me,” she smiled fake-sweetly, her voice getting more and more clipped as she reached the end of her sentence.

Brooke found herself praying that the opposition would never reach any position of power whatsoever if they were going to have this tiny dictator running the department. Adore had slunk down into her wheely chair, as if trying to make herself invisible. Suddenly, Brooke heard Jackie’s office door open behind her.

“What the hell is going on out here?” she muttered as she reached Brooke’s desk, looking straight at the visitors to the department. Glad of an opportunity to relieve the tension, Nina once again plastered the fake smile on her face.

“Minister, may I introduce your opposite number, Shadow Minister Nicky Doll,” she smiled at Jackie, waving a hand at Nicky as if she was unveiling a booby prize on a game show.

It was interesting to watch how the two women regarded each other. Nicky immediately narrowed her eyes, pursing her lips together in a display of agitation at no longer being the highest authority in the room. She made no show of moving to shake Jackie’s hand, in fact she didn’t appear to want to speak to Jackie at all. Instead, Jackie herself made the first move and stepped forward once, twice, finally reaching a safe distance and holding out a hand for Nicky to shake. Her face was placid and gave nothing away. Almost Sleeping Beauty-esque, Brooke thought.

“Nicky, it’s so good to finally meet you properly,” she smiled calmly as Nicky gingerly took her hand to shake. “I hope you and your team have had a good day in the department?”

“Oh yes, it’s been lovely. Although obviously there are a number of things that will need changed once we get into power!” Nicky gave a fake little laugh, her eyes still hostile.

“Well. If,” Jackie wrinkled her nose in a smile, which Nicky returned sourly.

Brooke was suddenly distracted by a buzz from her phone. Yvie.

Y: Christ there’s more fake smiles in here than the outpatients’ at a fucking plastic surgery

If Brooke had been in the mood she probably would have been howling with laughter, but the tense, uncomfortable conversation was still taking place.

“I found it interesting that you chose to highlight my disagreement with Manila Luzon in your interview with Chad Michaels. I felt it slightly undermined your point about the need to raise other women in politics up when you yourself were clearly intent on taking me down,” Nicky continued to smile falsely, the bitter undertone to her words not going unnoticed by Brooke. Jackie kept calm, smiling lazily back and raising her eyes to the ceiling.

“Oh, I don’t know about undermining my point. In order to make a good argument, you have to present some evidence to back it up, and that’s all I was doing. I’m sure you understand it was nothing personal,” she said, giving a little nod.

Nicky flared her nostrils, her face now unimpressed as she swept a hand through her hair, rendering her bun a little messy. “Well. It was lovely to meet you anyway, Jackie, but I still have numerous issues to talk through with Nina. If you’ll excuse me.”

With that, Nicky turned on her heel, not even bothering to wait for a reply. On her way back to Nina, she stopped to murmur something in Gigi’s ear, which then resulted in Gigi marching round the corner. Brooke could have followed her up, but was too distracted by Jackie coming to hover at her desk.

“Numerous issues? I’ll bet she has numerous fucking issues, God. Let’s hope that lot never get into power, she’s more unhinged than a flat pack IKEA cupboard,” Jackie whispered, causing Brooke to splutter a laugh. Jackie smirked at her reaction, then her face grew suddenly serious. “Did you know if Nina managed to get that photo op cancelled?”

“She did it about half an hour after we spoke. Jan really got on her back about it, so it was pretty impossible for Nina to wriggle out of it,” Brooke explained offhandedly, trying in vain to focus on her work. Looking up, she noticed that Jackie seemed to have a faraway look on her face.

“She’s so good, isn’t she? Jan. She’s just incredible. So organised and on it,” Jackie said quietly to no-one in particular. Confused, Brooke simply nodded. Apparently remembering where she was, Jackie cleared her throat, smoothed her skirt down and returned to her office.

Around ten minutes later, Brooke thought she was making some real headway with the persisting immigration data. That was until she almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand come crashing down on her shoulder. Spinning around rapidly in her wheely chair she was shocked to see Bianca looming above her, her face grave as her eyes met Brooke’s.

“Bianca, holy fuck. You scared the crap out of me,” Brooke sighed, Bianca not even cracking a smile as her grip on Brooke’s shoulder tightened and she escorted her out of the room. Brooke’s stomach churned as she was led out into the corridor. What the hell was happening, or what the hell had happened, or what the hell was about to happen?

The bright white light of the corridor contrasted violently with Bianca’s expression, which was the personification of the wrath of God itself. She was silent for a moment, which prompted Brooke to tentatively speak first.

“So, um. Why did you want to see-”

“I want to know why a certain Sasha Belle over at transport now has the very same PR stunt I very nearly passed a kidney stone to secure for Jackie,” Bianca snapped. Her voice was cold and low, and Brooke felt goosebumps prickle over her skin just hearing her speak. She felt conflicted. Half of her wanted to reveal Jackie’s personal reasons for having backed out; it was a legitimate excuse and might even make Bianca feel some form of remorse, God willing. On the other hand, it was a part of Jackie’s life which Brooke was sure she wanted to leave behind, and if more and more people knew about it, well. That would make it increasingly hard to forget. Biting her lip, she tried to tell a white lie.

“She had personal reasons for backing out. We decided as her team of advisors that it would be best if she didn’t go through with it.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what deeply held personal fucking reasons she had against it, it is her JOB to go to photo ops, it is her JOB to give herself media coverage!”

“Well she couldn’t even if you wanted her to. Not legally anyway,” Brooke found herself saying, her voice too loud in the echoey hallway. Bianca raised her eyebrows a little, as if urging Brooke to go on. Slightly regretting having not simply kept her mouth shut, Brooke continued.

“Jackie had her driving license revoked. It was years ago- she was texting while driving and crashed on the motorway. So even if she wanted to do the damn publicity, she couldn’t,” she explained, sighing as Bianca’s face slowly took on a look of realisation. “I don’t know how you didn’t already know this, Bianca. Her license was fake, I don’t get how that slipped by you. I thought you did background checks on everyone that came within a five mile radius of the party.”

Bianca exhaled loudly, slowly running one hand down her face. She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it, then opened it again.

“When I asked you about Jackie, it wasn’t just a casual, out-of-interest enquiry. We were seriously fucking desperate. We had nothing on her, nothing on her at all apart from the fact that we knew she had a degree in politics and she’d been around the stock exchange for years. We were just desperate to get Darienne out of the party and stop the fucking spiral of madness she was driving us all down. Her position had become toxic, Brooke Lynn, nobody we approached about the job would touch it. So we needed somebody unknown, someone who wouldn’t know or understand who she was succeeding. That’s why we failed to do intensive background checks. I mean, we established that Jackie hadn’t murdered or stabbed anyone, for Christ’s sake. But everything else we had to skim over. We couldn’t have had Darienne in her job for any longer, it would have just…it would have just killed the party.”

Brooke could sort of understand where Bianca was coming from. Taking a calming breath, she suddenly felt the panic rise up in her throat again. “But Bianca, if this gets to the papers-”

Bianca cut her off, holding a single hand up in front of her face and looking down the corridor with suspicion. Wordlessly, she walked to the double doors at the end of the corridor and wrenched them open. Behind them stood Gigi, who jumped at the sudden movement.

“Oh. Hello Bianca. I was just, uh. Trying to find the toilets. This department is like a damn labyrinth, you know?” she laughed awkwardly, almost paralysed under Bianca’s glare.

“Do you want a massive cup to press against the door too, or are you good?” she quipped dryly.

Brooke’s heart began to palpitate nervously. Gigi had clearly been behind that door and listening for quite some time. How long, she didn’t know. But if she’d heard the reason why Jackie couldn’t drive, this was all different kinds, shades, textures and flavours of bad.

“Bianca, really. All I heard was that Jackie wasn’t exactly vetted properly. Which, you know, could be kind of a big story in itself, I think,” Gigi smiled cunningly. All at once, Brooke wanted to laugh. Attempting to get the upper hand on Bianca Del Rio was an interesting tactic, one which basically ensured you weren’t going to win. Deciding to step back, Brooke let Bianca take the reins.

“Oh, I see! You were looking for a story! Well here, here’s a great one for you,” Bianca smiled sinisterly, putting Brooke in mind of a predator about to pounce. “Did you know that Jaqueline Cox is sitting in that office there despite the fact her driving license got revoked? She crashed her car on the motorway because she tried to text and drive at the same time. Did you not know that?”

Brooke watched as Gigi’s face lit up at the revelation. She had to admit she didn’t really know where Bianca was going with this or what she had to gain from revealing the information to one of the Shadow Minister’s aides. As Brooke attempted to interject, Bianca simply turned and fixed her with a smile.

“You didn’t know that, no?” she asked Gigi again. She simply shook her head, delighted at what had just been revealed. “Oh, wait, of course…you wouldn’t know that! Because the only people who do know that are, um, Miss Cox…her three advisors…and me. If this information got to the press…I would know that it came from you.”

Brooke wanted to practically jump for joy as she saw Gigi’s face fall, growing very apprehensive as Bianca took two steps towards her. Her voice lowering, Bianca continued the onslaught.

“And I would rain down upon you so hard that your body would have to be re-assembled by crash team investigators-” she hissed. Gigi opened her mouth to defend herself and Bianca immediately stopped her. “- do not fucking interrupt me, girl. Now, you breathe a word of this to ANYONE, you fucking living toothpick, and I will-”

Already shaking with laughter, Brooke ducked her head out of the door and ran into the offices.

“Jan! ‘Ness! Come quick. Bianca’s going off on one at Gigi,” she stage-whispered, the two girls looking up, bemused but quickly following Brooke back to the corridor doors nonetheless. The double doors were fronted with a small pane of clear glass, which the three girls all peered through to see Bianca continuing to verbally grill Gigi, now far less composed than she was before.

“…I will eviscerate you, right? And I mean, I don’t have your education, I don’t know what that means. But I’ll start by plucking your eyes out and I’ll busk it from there. Okay? Glad we’re agreed. Have a great day.”

As Gigi stumbled back down the hall in a daze as if she’d just crawled out of an avalanche, the three girls on the other side of the door tried to compose themselves after their laughing fit.

“Bianca has such a way with words,” Jan mused, wiping tears from her eyes. “So why was she yelling at Gigi, what had she done? Looked at her?”

Brooke explained what had happened to the two girls, watching as their facial expressions shifted from confused, to fearful, then some semblance of reassured. There was still an aspect that was a little panicked, however, the knowledge that Gigi knew about Jackie’s past clearly worrying them both.

“Look, don’t give it too much thought. Bianca has it all under control. She always does,” Brooke reassured them, shrugging as she walked back to her desk.

“Guess I’m happy to trust Bianca,” Vanessa smiled, relaxing a little. “Hey, you ladies had lunch yet?”

“Not yet. Pret?” Brooke offered, Vanessa smiling beautifully and picking up her bag from her chair. Brooke didn’t miss how Jan simply nodded silently, her face still troubled, clearly not as trusting of Bianca as Vanessa was.

***

As the three girls sat huddled around Jan’s desk eating their lunch, Brooke watched as Vanessa scoffed down her messy meatball panini with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese that oozed out the side and made long, inconvenient strings. She could have teased Vanessa for her shambles of a lunch but she decided against it, instead choosing to compliment her.

“‘Ness, how can you eat literally whatever you want and still look so good?” Brooke asked, attempting to look offhanded but still feeling like her guts were made of jelly as the words came out her mouth. It was hugely tiresome how much more nervous and self-aware she was around Vanessa now that she’d actually acknowledged her crush on her. It was much harder to pretend things were purely platonic if she gave her a compliment.

In response, Vanessa simply smiled bashfully and shrugged, her mouth full of food. “Hey, I always wonder the same thing about you, baby. I’d kill to look like you.”

“With these thighs? Girl, no you wouldn’t,” Brooke snorted, trying to keep herself from blushing.

“You got good thighs,” Vanessa insisted, making Brooke wonder just how much attention Vanessa paid to her legs. Snapping out of it, Brooke told herself that she was probably just being kind. After a beat of silence, Jan cut in.

“Well, I know both of you find me wildly attractive and are also madly jealous of my amazing figure, which is why neither of you have said anything,” she joked through a mouthful of salmon salad. Brooke gave her a playful shove, shocked when she heard a little cry.

“Jesus, Jan! It wasn’t that sore.”

“That wasn’t me. That came from Jackie’s office,” Jan said gravely, looking at the Minister’s office door where she could just see the blonde bun belonging to Nicky peering over the strip of frosted glass. Exchanging concerned looks, all three girls made their way over.

Brooke was the first to walk in and when her gaze met Jackie’s her heart sank. She was sitting behind her desk and had turned pale, her eyes frightened and huge in her face which had gone almost ghostly white. Turning her gaze to Nicky she noticed that the girl seemed smug in some way, as if she had the upper hand. In a moment, Brooke knew exactly what had happened.

Gigi had spilled.

“Miss Doll, you ain’t actually allowed in here. This is the Minister’s private office,” Vanessa began in a valiant effort to stick up for Jackie who was clearly past sticking up for herself.

“Oh, it’s quite alright. Jackie and I were just having a little chat. A little reminisce on the past, if you like. Well. Her past,” Nicky smiled, casting an amused gaze at Jackie whose face was ashen and defeated as she sat at her desk. Brooke suddenly felt herself overcome with fury.

“I hope you’re giving Gigi a big pay rise for that information. She won’t have much time to spend it though once Bianca finds out. I’d maybe give her two…three days left to live?” she hissed, her face contorted as she glared at the shadow minister.

“Brooke Lynn, is it?” Nicky addressed her, Brooke momentarily wondering how she knew her name. “Brooke Lynn. We all know what it’s like in politics. Unfortunately if someone has some information on someone else, it’s only natural that they’re going to exploit it. And that’s all that’s happening here! It’s not personal. Just professional.”

“Like hell are you exploiting anything,” Jan spat, her face dark. Come to think of it, Brooke had never really seen her so angry, but the tiny girl was like a spitfire as she narrowed her eyes at her old boss. “You know full well where to draw the line between personal and political information. If you leak this to the media then you’re more reprehensible than the party you represent.”

“I’m sorry ladies, but this is how you play the game, and I play to win. I’m not really prepared to discuss it any further,” Nicky rolled her eyes, picking up her bag from where it sat on Jackie’s desk.

Just as she made to leave, Nicky turned to see Bianca standing in the doorway of Jackie’s office, glancing with confusion at the scene in front of her.

“Bianca!” Vanessa cried, for once happy to see the Prime Minister’s enforcer. “We were just talkin’ about how Nicky maybe shouldn’t go to the papers about Jackie…? Telling them about her driving license? Tryin’ to think of a reason why this would reflect badly on her party in some way…?”

Brooke watched as Vanessa looked pleadingly at Bianca, willing her to do something, anything to spin them out of the situation. Bianca for her part seemed calm, upbeat even.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe she should! Good idea!” she shrugged, flashing a smile Nicky’s way as she turned and made to leave the room.

Vanessa’s face immediately dropped as if she’d been slapped. Jan’s expression was completely blank. Brooke didn’t know what to think. It seemed as if Jackie was holding her breath, and Nicky simply stood rooted to the spot, her eyes still on Bianca as if she knew there was more to come. Sure enough, Bianca reached the doorframe, stopped, and turned on her heel.

“Oh, shit, wait a minute! I know why she shouldn’t! Because you know, if she did that…she’d be dead,” Bianca said simply.

Brooke watched as Nicky blinked silently at her. Bianca continued to speak.

“To me. To her advisors. To her party. To the electorate. And the only job she’d get in power is for this government’s catering company sweeping up crumbs as a kitchen cleaner, because I’d call every journalist I know, which of course- that’s all of them! Isn’t it Nicole! And I’d tell them all that lovely little story I’ve had saved for a rainy day, about a certain Right Honourable Lord Doll- how is your Dad, by the way?- and how he enjoyed a lovely five years as a member of the Bullingdon Club at university, a club so fucking morally bankrupt they had a exposé film made about them! Of course, the homeless person your Dad had to burn money in the face of for his initiation- he didn’t enjoy it so much. Nor did the live pigeon he had to bite the head off of either. And I believe there’s also rumblings about…something about a pig, which I won’t go into. And so I’d quite happily email all these journalists any photos and soundbites and CCTV footage they wanted, because I’d say…I’d say that’s quite a big story. I’d say that would probably contest a Minister’s silly little eight-year-old car accident in the running order of the ten o’clock news. That’s what I’d tell her,” Bianca finally finished calmly, smiling a little at Nicky whose mouth was now hanging open like a goldfish. Turning to Vanessa, Bianca simply nodded on her way out of the door. “But maybe you should tell her!”

Catching Vanessa’s eye, Brooke couldn’t help but burst into a triumphant grin. Vanessa returned the smile, now completely relaxed knowing that Jackie had the upper hand. Nicky was still standing completely still and hadn’t moved since Bianca had left.

“I’ll, um. I’ll ask Nina to get your coat,” Jackie addressed Nicky pleasantly, sitting at her desk and pushing a single number on the phone as Nicky simply nodded wordlessly.

Brooke wanted to burst out laughing. Bianca had her enemies in Westminster, but she was also an absolute mastermind.

***

They had made it through the day. They always did, after all. They were a great team, Brooke thought, and God help them if they were ever disbanded in any way. Sitting in a quieter corner of the office with her head tipped against the head of the sofa, Brooke took a deep breath. It was often needed at the end of days like these. Jan sat to her right, curled up against the arm of the couch and simply staring into the distance. Thinking for a moment, Brooke turned her head and stared at Jan.

“Do you think Bianca really had all that stuff to back up what she said about Nicky’s Dad?”

Jan smirked and met Brooke’s eyes. “It’s Bianca. She’s a walking, talking database. She probably has shit on all of us. She probably knows stuff about us that we haven’t even done yet.”

Before Brooke could even try to get her head around Jan’s words, Vanessa joined them. She flung herself against the sofa dramatically, gently tilting her head so that it rested in the crook of Brooke’s shoulder. For a second she could barely breathe.

“I wonder what she’s going to do to Gigi when she next sees her. Can’t imagine I’d want to be in her six-inch heels right now,” Brooke continued, trying to talk through her breathlessness.

“We talkin’ about Bianca?” Vanessa murmured, nuzzling her head against Brooke’s shoulder to get comfortable. Christ, why the fuck did she have to do that?

“Yeah,” Jan smiled wistfully. “God, I’d be running for the hills if I was her. Alyssa’s charity ball is in three weeks, remember? I wouldn’t put it past Bianca to stage a live crucifixion as the night’s entertainment.”

Brooke felt Vanessa laugh softly against her side. She was such a warm, happy person, at least when she wasn’t stressing her head off at the latest party shambles. She was too good to be working here, but Brooke was so glad that she was.

“So you’re not going to be ditching us to run back to the opposition anytime soon then? Not going to be meeting up with Gigi and Crystal for a cute little catch-up coffee?” Brooke only half-joked, turning to address Jan again. She watched as Jan’s face grew a little dark, her brow furrowing as she let out a derisive laugh.

“I’m not fucking with anyone who attempts to sabotage Jackie’s career,” she said forebodingly.

There it was again, Brooke thought, this protective side to Jan which she’d never really seen before. She didn’t think she’d ever get over how strange it was.

Footsteps behind the sofa prompted all three of them to turn around. It was Jackie- she’d freshened up her makeup a little and had sprayed some deodorant or perfume or something that smelt nice. Reaching the sofa, she gave a warm smile to the three girls.

“Thanks for your support today, ladies,” she said sincerely, leaning on the back of the sofa. “It was a tough one, but we got there in the end.”

“Sorry that Nina couldn’t arrange an alternative bit of PR in time, Jackie,” Vanessa smiled apologetically. Jackie let out a small laugh.

“Are you kidding? That was a blessing in disguise. After the day I’ve had the last thing I want to do is go and feign interest in electric cars for an hour,” she shook her head. “Seriously though, thank you. You three are a total blessing.”

Brooke was surprised when she then turned to face Jan, her expression turning a little shy. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, two minutes. I need to pack up and I’ll be good,” Jan smiled timidly back at her, her cheeks going a little red.

“Okay. I’ll wait at the lifts. See you tomorrow, girls,” Jackie said finally, waving goodbye to Brooke and Vanessa before walking away.

Vanessa tipped her head off Brooke’s shoulder to lean forward and look at Jan, who was grabbing her coat. “Where are you two off to then, Miss Ma’am?”

Jan stopped in her tracks, as if she hadn’t really been expecting the question. “Oh! Um, Jackie’s just giving me a lift home.”

Brooke screwed up her face at her friend. “A lift home? In her car? That she drives? Is that meant to be a joke?”

Seemingly realising her mistake, Jan smiled and shook her head. “I meant her driver. Her driver’s going to drop me home on the way back to Jackie’s.”

Brooke sat blankly for a moment, turning to Vanessa and seeing her face hold the exact same expression. Vanessa laughed in disbelief. “Your flat’s five minutes away, you lazy shit!”

“Hey, give me a break! I’m exhausted, a five minute walk is still a walk I don’t want to do, and I’ll take what I can get,” Jan shrugged, grabbing her bag and making to leave. “Bye, girls. See you both tomorrow.”

Brooke gave a tired reply as Jan made her way out of the department. Sighing, Vanessa leant against the arm of the sofa, kicking her legs over Brooke’s lap and subsequently causing Brooke’s pulse to quicken by about 90%. They sat in silence for a moment, Brooke’s brain too full to even contemplate starting a conversation. Luckily, it was Vanessa that spoke first.

“Do you think something’s goin’ on there? Between Jackie and Jan?”

Brooke paused. If it were any other situation, she’d maybe have thought Vanessa was right. But this was work, and sometimes people got incredibly passionate about their party and the people that ran it. Jan had had to put up with Nicky, and then Darienne. It was only natural that now that she was finally working for someone competent of course she was going to want with every fibre of her being for that person to do well. Turning to face Vanessa, Brooke made a doubtful face.

“No, girl. Jan’s just loyal. She wants to see Jackie do well. That’s all I think it is anyway.”

Brooke watched as Vanessa knit her brows together, frowning momentarily then casting her gaze into her lap.

“You know-” she began, then cut herself off as she decided against saying whatever she had to say. Then, changing her mind, she began again. “I swear you’re so blind half the time, Brooke Lynn. I think you have your guard up so high you can’t even see when someone has feelings for someone else. It’s kinda…I don’t know. Anyway. It don’t matter.”

Brooke watched, astounded as Vanessa swung her legs off her lap and stood up. Her face was bright red, as if she was embarrassed in some way. Brooke felt she had to reply, but she had no idea what to say or how to respond. She simply blinked at Vanessa, as if her last ditch attempt at communication was morse code.

“I’ll, uh. I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Vanessa continued, smoothing down her dress and smiling as if she hadn’t said a thing. Going along with the façade, Brooke nodded slowly. “Bye, Brooke.”

As Vanessa’s footsteps retreated down the office and into the lift, Brooke just stared straight ahead and tried to make sense of what Vanessa had said, or what it even meant, or what the implications were. It had felt like she was mad at her in some way, although Brooke couldn’t figure out what she’d done. What had she meant by it all? It made Brooke’s head hurt.

She was still there when the cleaners arrived half an hour later, and she still hadn’t managed to unscramble her brain. Giving up, Brooke grabbed her coat and bag and made her way to the lifts, stuck with the feeling that somehow she’d left something behind.

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thescarletlibrarian · 4 years

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are u doing good, I love your enthusiasm and knowledge, it just feels as if alot of your comments on posts are slightly aggressive and I can’t tell if they’re coming from a place of genuine anger or not. No hate! Just checking in

Thanks for checking in and pointing that out, I forget how horrible reading people’s comments on your stuff is. And it’s very kind of you.

Mostly I just see something scrolling by, it bugs me, I go on a rant that probably reads a LOT worse than it does in my head, and then I’m done. It’s a lot of venting, and really, thank you for bringing it up, because instead of just commenting directly, I should probably go have my tantrum on my own post and just link to whatever set it off. Especially since the venting is usually old baggage or unrelated crazy that gets set off. I’ve always used Tumblr as a dumping ground to take out frustration on something--it started as bitching about red carpet clothes, so it was the most frivolous, unimportant thing, but I could get a good bitch going about it and then go deal with the Real Shit that built up the bitchiness when I felt better. (Or not deal with it. But that was the idea, anyway.)

Some of the “state of academia” type responses are genuine anger at an increasingly screwed-up situation that dominates my life and career...plans? We’ll call them plans, like anything is an actual “plan” right now. And a lot of that shit is Behind the Curtain of academia that most people never see. I know what I knew and thought I knew before getting back here and seeing it, I know what non-academic friends and family think it is, and I’m kind of yanking on the curtain trying to make some of it more visible--especially because I keep seeing articles on “this is what’s going on in higher ed and how it should be fixed” and “this is how grad school is happening now and why that’s [any adjective you want]” circulating The Internet, and it’s like, bitch, please. You’re not from around here, go opine at somebody else.

The 17th c. vs. medieval one I tapped out on my phone in righteous indignation and hit post without ever rereading it, and I let the full run-on sentence ADHD brain just GOOOOOOOO, which comes out looking insane and worked up and probably jumping around screaming or something, or just straight-up manic. It IS a bit manic, I’m just trying to spew the manic somewhere it’s okay to make/be a mess.

THAT being said, that one triggered the manic because there’s been so much “medieval” factoid and “things you didn’t know” and shit floating around what with the coronamolecule, much of it shitty misinformation directly or indirectly supporting stereotypes of medieval Europe that are straight up wrong, and it’s one of those personal DON”T GET ME STARTEDs that all the bad shit about the middle ages people focus on really does come from the goddamn 17th c., aka The Worst Century Ever. Studying/teaching medieval stuff (is weird, I know, it’s fine, it’s my weird and I’m okay with it) you get some weird responses and assumptions from people. Who often try to modernsplain things to you historians chucked out forty years ago and are thinking about very differently now, that you know about in detail because this is your life and you’ve published on this shit. God, is that annoying, and all the stuff going around with plague and some of The Old Guard fandom ends up seeming like the entire damn internet is doing it. And obviously this shit is important to me, I think it’s important to try and understand as much as we can about historical events and people and stuff because it defines the context of...everything, while keeping in mind that any understanding is an interpretation of what we see, a model, not The Past itself. Really, really important. Some people flip their shit over representations of the US Civil War, I flip my shit about people assuming the 14th c. Black Death was The One True Plague, for one thing, or that there’s been some intellectual war between Faith and Science for Time Immemorial when...no? I’m not exactly sure when somebody came up with that one, I’m guessing 19th c. because a) 19th c ruins everything and b) that’s when the exceptionalization and cultifying of “science” as a Superior Form of Knowledge got rolling and the modern definitions of “science” gelled. That narrative is part of the context of how contemporary people see the world, think about it, and act in it. Yeah, it might seem like a big jump from “Age of Reason my ass” to refusing to wear masks or “believe in” vaccines and so on as political statements. It is a big jump, because there’s a whole hell of a lot of little jumps in between. But that’s why history--not only “what happened” but how “what happened” is represented, interpreted, and respond to--is relevant to everything. And that idea is also really important to me, and I consider it one of my main jobs as a teacher to try and get that across and help students see and contextualize their world differently--even just a little bit without really thinking about it. Which is why I think/talk about it a LOT.

TL;DR--thank you for being concerned, I really am losing my shit about things in a way that suggests something needs to be addressed. I’m stressed out AF right now (more than usual...), some of that I can’t do anything about, but if the internet is setting me off like this, we probably need to take a break and see other people for a while. I’m a bit too off-kilter for my liking, but I’m not falling over yet, though--again, it is very, very perceptive and kind of you to notice and check in on a stranger. Please give yourself a gold star for today.

Seriously, though, fuck the 17th c.

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flyinghetfield · 4 years

Text

Chapter 11/Part 2 Violin Girl If you haven’t read the first part of violin girl. Here is the start [x] Enjoy x. *This is based 6 Months later after the San Fran story.* also the name of this might change as its a second part now, haven’t made my mind up about that yet.

---------------------------------------------- The applause seemed thunderous as you and the orchestra bowed, the concert finally coming to an end. The past few months had seemed like a blessed whirlwind as you had been touring around Europe playing with some of the most best classical musicians in the world. Tonight? Amsterdam. The orchestra waits until the maestro walks off the stage, the house lights finally coming up as everyone starts to file out of the room. Walking off the stage you nod politely to some of the patrons standing around, their formal suits and evening dresses making you slightly jealous as they seemed to mold in with all the beauty around them. Finding your way back to the dressing rooms, you walk over to your bag and start to strip off the now sweaty black clothes you had worn on stage. “Charlotte, seriously has to get her shit together on sheet 20. She keeps coming in a second late and if stuffs John up every time.” You duck down to your little compartment, grabbing out your jeans and a nice shirt while tucking away your violin in your bag “Y/N what do you think?” “Hmm?” Glancing up, you shake your head as you pull your fresh shirt over your head. “Charlotte? She’s got her heart in the right place, just needs a little practice is all.” Dawn was always very strict on how everyone performed each night having been in this symphony for over 8 years. Don’t know why she want’s my opinion though. “The only thing she’s practicing on every night is the maestros blowpipe.” Snickers erupt in the room and you resist the temptation to roll your eyes at dawn, settling on a tight smile as you sit down to put your shoes on. as a fierce red head walks in the room, her hands on her hips, clearly peeved at over hearing what was just said. “Dawn, seriously, you were young once.. Charlotte is just having fun.” Dawn makes a tch sound, before turning back to her clothes as Ruby smiles over in your direction. Ruby, was also a violinist and had been a world of help to you while traveling, taking you to all the cool little places in each town, as well as helping your drunk ass get back to the hotel each night. “Y/N, are you ready? Let’s go and enjoy the night while we’re still young.” Smiling, you grab your bag and follow Ruby out of the room. Ruby claimed that she had been touring since she was 16 and had been enjoying the spotlight for almost 10 years, the perks of being a wonder child. As the two of you walk in the corridors, people stop to congratulate the two of you on a wonderful performance. Well.. mostly Ruby. The two of you head out of the building and you breath a deep breath of relief at the cool night and take in the scenery around you as Ruby lights up a cigarette. “So my little protégé” Ruby blows a gust of smoke in your direction and you cough. “Where shall we go tonight?” “Do I actually have an opinion on where to go or have you already made plans like last time?” “I like to make you think you have some sort of opinion.” Laughing, she grins as she reaches down and grabs your hand, tugging you into the streets of Amsterdam. You still have to mentally slap yourself as you take where you currently are. It had been a fluke that you had been invited on the tour, since the Violinist who was meant to be in your spot had come down with some sort of illness and Kamen of all people had thrown your name in the hat, when people had asked about a replacement. A few weeks after, one soppy cry fest from Eric. “Bring home an exotic boyfriend!” and you were in business class, flying off to Italy of all places. It had been there on that flight that you so happen to sit next to the fiery red head who was now inseparable from you. “Here Y/N, wait here. I’m going to go grab us a drink. Don’t wander off.” You watch as Ruby walks off and you lean against the railing by the canal, admiring the couples as they lounge casually in their boats. Sighing as one of them kisses their lover, your mind drifts off back to San Francisco and you feel a pang on home sickness settle over you. Eric would love ruby, he would love being here, especially the red light district.. Looking over you notice a bridge and see two buskers standing there, playing acoustic guitars, serenading people as they walked past. I wonder... what’s he up to? You shake your head violently at the thought. It had been months since you thought of him, so why did he have to appear now? “I always have that reaction when looking over the canal.” Startled slightly, you glance over to your left to see a guy leaning against the railing as well. Well hello...This one is cute. Blonde hair.. tied back in a bun, Blue eyes, Boyish smile... I swear if he’s name starts with a J... “You stare at canals often?” “Only when I have to talk to a stunning girl.” You can’t help the sudden snort that comes out of the back of your throat and shake your head. “Ok.. ok yes that was corny but I had to try.” He extends his hand out. “I’m Kris.” Oh thank god. You look down at his hand and back up at his face. “Come on, don’t leave me hanging here.” Rolling your eyes, you shake his hand. “Y/N.” “Ah what a beautiful name to add to the cute face.” Sighing you stand up straight and pull a really? face at him. He throws his hands up and smiles. “I can’t stop, i apologize.” Oh why do you have to be cute? “Clearly this isn’t your first time here, if you have a habit of picking up girls along the canal” His eyebrows shoot up at the sentence and he smiles slightly. “How do you know i’m Foreign? Maybe I live here.” That makes you laugh out loud and you shake your head. “I can spot a danish accent a mile away.” As you nod in the direction of some of the natives walking around, talking. “You? I’m going to say good old U-S of A.” He stands there for a moment, staring at you before smiling. “New York.” You grin back, as he finally gives in. “What about you?” “San Fran.” “Ah, I've never been to San Francisco. Is it really as hilly as the pictures show?” “If you want a good cardio work out, it would be the place for it.” “I keep telling her to move from there.” Ruby finally reappears, scaring you slightly and you smile as she hands you a smoothie, which you happily start to suck away on. “Ruby we have only known each other for a few months, I’m not going anywhere and also you live in London, so you have no input in this.” She laughs and casually wraps a arm around your waist. A protective thing to ward of any unexpected attention when traveling around. This wasn’t the first time the two of you had received attention from some of the locals and had both agreed on some rules to help get each other out of trouble when needed. Girl code so to speak. “I’m Kris.” He extends his hand out to ruby, who shakes it firmly. “I know.” You almost choke on your drink as you whip your head towards her. “You guys have met?” “No but I have seen him before. This guy is quite a shark in the music industry.” Your eyebrows fly up as you look back over at Kris, who now has a smug smirk on his lips. “I just know how to do business, that’s all.” He looks back over towards you and winks, making you divert your eyes back over to the canal as your face starts to heat up. “So is it business or pleasure?” Now you look over at Kris, who is smiling at Ruby’s question. “Business.. I’m here closing out a deal before flying back home. Knowing.. I’m always down for a little bit of pleasure.” You swear you could see his eyes dart over to you and you lean against ruby at bit more, which doesn’t go unnoticed by her. “Well.. I was just about to take my protégé here down to the red light district, since she’s never seen it before..” Ruby pulling away from you, grabs your hand once more as you look at her Are you crazy!? “..You can tag along if you wish.” Kris smiles and you blush once again as he stands up fully, showing his full height. Jesus he would have to be over 6ft. “I would love to.” ~~~~ The three of you walk through the Red light district and you can’t help but be enticed by the neon lights bouncing off each shop, their red lights dazzling and flashing. There are people everywhere, and you grip on Ruby’s hand slightly tighter as you weave through a lump of people standing in front of a club with Exotic females dancing in each window. Oh Dorthy, your not in Kansas anymore. You giggle slightly as you walk past a fountain with an interesting sculpture piece sitting boldly on top. “I don’t think that would fit.” Jumping at Kris’s sudden voice in your ear, you turn your head and give him a smug smile. “Not if you don’t try.” He laughs and shakes his head. Ruby suddenly stops in front of one of the many bars open and turns back around to you, a grin on her lips. “Want to go for a drink?” She points up to the neon sign. “Do you remember the last time that happened!? You were dancing on top of the bar and almost cracked your head open when you slipped!” “Exactly! I need to keep practicing my dance moves, so I don’t slip again” You have no chance to rebut as Ruby walks down the stairs. You turn to look at Kris and shrug before following into a underground bar. The music is loud and pumping as you walk down the steps, which you know either yourself or ruby will be falling up or down at some point through out the night. Stopping on the bottom step you look around the full room and try to glance over the tops of people, looking for that particular shade of red hair. “Lets go to the bar” Kris yells into your ear and you blush as he grabs your hand, you give him a questioning look and he grins “Ruby would kill me if you were left alone” Yeah your probably right. The two of you weave through the dance floor, towards the bar and you can feel Kris squeeze your hand for a sense of comfort. Finally emerging from the pool of sweat and god knows what else bodily fluids, the two of you stand against the edge of the bar. Glancing down the bar itself you see Ruby up the other end shouting and pointing towards some particular bottles on the wall. “Anything in particular catch your fancy?” Kris voice is in your ear once more and you shake your head laughing. “Ruby usually orders for me, she knows all the hidden gems” You look up at his face and see him pondering what to order. “Well are you wanting something sweet like yourself?” Eye roll “Or hard and heavy like myself?” You can see the challenge rolling off of him. You were never one to resist a challenge. “Hard and heavy” “Excellent” He grins as he tries to get the bartenders attention. A cute danish guy finally notices and comes walking over. Kris throws his hand up “Two Genever’s please” “Young or old?” The bartender questions and you throw your eyebrows up. “Old” He nods, before walking off to grab a bottle off the shelf. “Genever?” You lean against the bar looking up at Kris. “Pretty much the Quintessential dutch drink to try.” You shake your head smiling. “How many times have you been here?” “Let’s just say this isn’t my first rodeo.” You laugh as the bartender puts down the drinks and after a quick argument of who was going to pay, Kris hands over the money. “Come lets find somewhere quieter to talk.” Grabbing your hand he pulls you towards a sitting area, towards the back. Looking around you notice that most of the booths are filled with lovers, lustfully kissing or whispering temptations to each other as the two of you find a booth for yourself. Kris sitting down first before pulling you in next to him. You take a drink of the glass in your hand, and cough as it hits you. “I told you it was strong.” Laughing you wave your hand. “So Mr. Hard and Heavy” You put the glass down and smile at him “Ruby said you are in the music business, what do you do?” He runs his hand along his jawline. “I manage musicians, bands etc. and help with the booking and making sure those musicians make it to the next concert, interview, photo shoot etc.” “Ah a tough life indeed.” He laughs as he takes a sip of his drink. “Oh you don’t know the half of it, how many times I've pulled half naked rock stars out of motel rooms at 6 in the morning because we have to make a 8 am flight to a 10am photo shoot for, let’s say Rolling Stones.. well let’s just say I could probably buy myself one hell of an expensive yacht.” The both of you laugh and you notice Kris moving in closer to you. “But enough about me, a pretty girl like yourself, in Amsterdam of all places, you must have a story to tell?” “Not really, I mean it’s not always like this -” You wave your hand around “-I’m usually living my life in San Francisco or playing with a symphony less.. exotic.” “Symphony? What do you play?” “Violin.” “Ah” Kris raises his hand and traces along your neck, making you shiver “No wonder you have such a pretty neck, the violin has made it all the much sweeter.” You feel his lips kiss the edge of your jawline, your eyes fluttering to a close. Ok. Cute guy, kissing my neck, not exotic like Eric wanted but better than nothing. You feel his hand on your thigh, his thumb doing slight circles on the inner part. “Kris..” “Shh” His lips softly kiss on yours and you kiss him back, wrapping your arms around his neck as he deepens it, you feel his hands move to your hips and you instantly pull back. “What’s the matter?” Staring into his blue eyes you take a deep breath, The last time I was in this situation.. I was with him. You can recall the way his hands gripped into your hips leaving marks, the way his eyes shone as he kissed you, his moan, his scent. “I need to get out of here.” Standing up suddenly, you wobble and lean against the chair, holding yourself up. How much alcohol is in that drink?? “Are you sur-” “She said she needs to get out of here, let her go.” You feel an arm wrap around your waist, and comfort his you as you lean into Ruby. “Let’s get out of here, I’m bored of this place already.” Once Ruby knows you are able to walk, she grips your hand once more as she pulls you back through the crowd of people. Looking behind you, you try to see if Kris is following but don’t spot him anywhere. Climbing back up the stairs - slowly so neither of you would fall - you find yourself once again leaning over the railing of the canal, taking deep breaths as Ruby lights up another cigarette. “How.. how did you find us?” “Not that hard.. I saw you two at the bar talking and saw him drag you off the back. Told myself I’d give you at least 15 minutes before coming and checking up on you.” She blows out a puff. “Good thing I did cause he was all over you.” You chuckle before going quiet again, a shiver vibrating through you as the night air really hit you. “Look stay here, Let me go see if i can find a taxi rink so we can get your drunk, ass home.” “Ruby I can function by myself” “Ah my protégé, that’s not how this works.” She grins and kisses you on the cheek. “Stay, hold my cigarettes so I have an incentive to come back and get you.” You laugh as she walks off towards the street. Looking down at her cigarettes, you smile and shake your head. Eric was going to kick my ass for making out with a random guy in a night club, who wasn’t even danish. You run your hand along your jawline where Kris was and hope no bruising will show. Dawn will have a field day. “You just can’t stay away from me can you Violin Girl.” The flood of ice that runs through your body hits all at once as you take in a gasp of air. That voice.. I’m hearing things.. this can’t be real. Slowly you turn around to meet a pair of, now amused, green eyes and let out a shaky breath. “...Lars.” ----------------------- < Previous Next>

#*Screams*#do you know #its been since 2017 #2 0 1 7 #since i posted about this story #welp here we go

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underthewingsofthblackeagle · 5 years

Text

The Murderess from the Grunewald (27): Preparing for War (3a): "The Monster in the Petticoat" (1)

“Hamburg / Alster” by StephanieAlbert

Previously

Six months ago. One day after Jamie's fourth Attorney’s visit to Claire in prison.

It was exactly 8:00 the next morning when Jamie arrived at the office. Tessa Lüttgenjohann greeted him and then asked:

"Coffee?"

"Oh yes, will you make me a whole pot?"

"It's almost ready. I'll bring it right away."

A few minutes after Jamie took off his jacket and made himself comfortable at his desk, Tessa brought the promised coffee.

“Kaffee” by Luiz-Jorge-Artista

"You're remembering having a conference call with Prof. Dr. Nerz at 10:30?"

"Yes, but could you please remind me at 10:15?"

"Sure. Is there anything else you need?"

"No. But I don't want to be disturbed until then. I still have to work on an urgent contract. Please block the whole morning for calls, etc. And please register a visit to client Beauchamp at the correctional facility for tomorrow morning. I need to discuss important documents with her."

"Will be done. Would 9.00 a.m. be ok?"

"Yes, or does it collide with other appointments?"

"No. I distributed your other mandates as you had ordered."

"Good. I have to devote myself entirely to this matter. That is an absolute priority right now. Thank you.”

Jamie nodded and signaled that the talk was over.

Tessa also nodded and as she walked out, she wondered if in all the years she was working for “Fraser, Gowan & Coll.” she had ever heard such a sentence from James Fraser's mouth: 'I have to devote myself entirely to this matter. That is an absolute priority right now. Thank you.’? Tessa doubted it. James Fraser, as long as she knew him, was an attentive, conscientious, hard worker when it came to his mandates. He always showed 'full commitment' to clients and the passion with which he pursued his profession made him a boss for whom people liked to work. But since he devoted himself to the 'Beauchamp case', he seemed to work even more intensively and passionately than usual.

Jamie poured coffee into his cup and began to work on the contract between Dr. Claire Elisabeth Beauchamp and the editor-in-chief of the ‘U-Turn-Magazine’. The work was relatively easy for him, as he had already negotiated and sealed similar contracts in the past.

When Tessa Lüttgenjohann knocked on his office door at 10.15 a.m. and reminded him of the video conference, he was already able to give her his first handwritten draft. Then he went to the toilet. Back in his office, he looked into the mirror hanging inside his wardrobe, combed his hair, straightened his tie, pulled over his jacket and sat down at his desk. Jamie had already opened the page for the video conference and punctually at 10:30 a.m. he heard the signal that announced the call from Prof. Dr. Nerz's office.

“Monitor” by Free-Photos

"Good morning, Professor Nerz," Jamie greeted the lawyer on the other side of the video transmission.

"Good morning, Dr. Fraser," Nerz replied, wearing his characteristic golden glasses and his well-kept beard. Behind him, a shelf wall made of expensive wood could be seen, which was decorated from top to bottom with folios bound in leather. For a moment, Jamie wondered whether this shelf wall was in Nerz's office or in his firm's library.

"Thank you for agreeing so quickly to advise me."

"Thank you for putting confidence in our firm," Nerz replied. After the first ice had broken, the Hamburg specialist for media law immediately turned his attention to the matter at hand:

"I read the dossier on Dr. Beauchamp's case, which your secretary sent in advance. And I share your conviction that the case has the potential to be inflated by the media."

Jamie nodded. He had expected Prof. Nerz to confirm his fears.

"What do you think if we take a look at the first case in the history of Europe in which the media played a decisive role? We can then draw conclusions from this for the case of Dr. Beauchamp."

"Gladly," Jamie said and nodded again.

"Does the case of Violette Nozière mean anything to you?"

"The name sounds familiar to me, but ..."

“Bücher” by JackPierce

"Good. It's 1933 and we're in France. The world is full of crises. In Germany Hitler has seized power and you can literally smell that a war is coming. This is a good time for the newspapers because, in addition to information on world political events, people want to read more and more stories that distract them from these crises. A murder case shocks the Parisian society and, as a result, the whole of France. It is the so-called case of the "Monster in the Petticoat" and should become the most sensational case of the 30s. The accused, Violette Nozière, grew up in the Rue de Madagascar in the 12th Arrondissement. Her father was Jean-Baptiste Nozière, who worked as a locomotive driver for the PLM railway company. Her mother is Germaine Nozière, now a housewife. Although her parents only come from the middle class, they try to give their daughter the best possible education. She is allowed to visit the famous Lycée Fénelon. This is expensive and not usual for a child from this class. However, the reports of that time show that the young woman preferred to spend her time with other young people in cafés rather than in school. She is also said to have had several friends, or rather lovers. It is also said that to finance her lifestyle, she stole money and other things from her parents and possibly other people.

”Violette Nozière” by Agence de presse Meurisse [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

The family lives in a small, narrow apartment with only two rooms. Over time, tensions are said to have increased, leading to disputes, threats or blackmail. On August 23, 1933, Jean-Baptist Nozière and his wife were finally found lifeless in their apartment. Jean-Baptiste is dead, his wife is still breathing and can be rescued. The police investigate and after a week Violette Nozière is accused of murdering her father and mother. She is said to have intended to murder her parents with poison. She succeeded with her father and failed with her mother. French society at this time is marked by the civil code, the Code civil, also known as Code Napoléon. And according to this code, the father is the pillar of the civil order. Imagine what a patricide means in such a society! Patricide is the worst of all crimes. And the crime was committed by a woman who is also the child. What a scandal! But in the beginning, little is known and the newspapers can only report that two lifeless bodies were found in Rue de Madagascar. Violette Nozière is only mentioned as a daughter. Everything else is unclear. It could also have been a suicide. But then it comes to an interesting incident. When Germaine Nozière has recovered from the consequences of the poisoning in the hospital, the investigating police officer wants to confront the daughter with her mother. But Violette Nozière flees. And of course, that makes her very suspicious. And now the bloodhound instinct of press is in full mode. Because, as I said, we have all the ingredients for a real scandal. And then, as now, there is this mantra of the press: If there are no interesting stories, one has to be found and made up. Violette Nozière is accused and the police search for her. And journalists who crave for sensations 'support' the police by also searching for her. At that time, the press in Paris consisted of the so-called 'Four Big One’s’. These included 'Le Journal', 'Le Petit Parisien', 'Le Matin' and 'Le Petit Journal'. But in 1930 Jean Prouvost took over the newspaper 'Paris-Soir' and this changed the Parisian press landscape permanently. To stabilize the crisis-ridden newspaper financially, he increasingly relied on the printing of photographs. That was something that had been practiced in America for quite some time. And in 1931 he wrote media history with it. The paper published a total of nine photos on the title page. It is assumed that this 'Americanization' of the newspaper, as it was called, the use of the photos and also introduced large, shocking headlines, contributed significantly to its success. When Prouvost took over the newspaper, it had a circulation of 700,000 copies. He was supported by the well-known journalist Pierre Lazareff. And the success seems to prove the two men right. You know how it is, Dr. Fraser?"

Jamie, looked astonished at his counterpart because he was still thinking about Nerz's historical lecture.

"What do you mean?

"Well, you know, Dr. Fraser, how the saying goes: “Numbers reflect success and those who have success are right," Professor Nerz said with a smile.

"Oh yes, of course," Jamie replied with a clearly audible ironic undertone.

"By 1937 the circulation of the "Paris-Soir" is increased to 1.8 million copies. This number should then increase again to almost 2.5 million copies. That was shortly before the German occupation of Paris started in June 1940. Photography had been known since the beginning of the century, but newspapers in Europe were still skeptical about it. This was to change with the "Paris-Soir". The journalists at the "Paris-Soir" were of the opinion that readers should not only be provided with information for reading but also with pictures to look at. And of course, in the case of Violette Nozière, the readers also had the wish to 'see something'. Historians, lawyers, and media experts agree that this case also had a very voyeuristic component.

“Journal Le Petit Parisien, édition du 2 septembre 1933″ via Wikimedia Commons

And here we come to an application to our case: Like Violette Nozière, your client is also a very beautiful woman. That, in any case, is what I see in the picture that you sent me together with the dossier. And she is younger than the victim. One cannot say that the murdered man, Dr. Randall, could have been her father, but ... such things fuel the voyeurism of the masses. We won't be able to prevent the media from taking pictures of your client each day of trial. Even in the case of Erich Honecker, who was severely sick, the court wasn’t able to prevent it. However, we can attack any other picture report. But we should talk about this in detail later. Let us come back to Violette Nozière's story. She was arrested on August 28, 1933, in Paris and in the "Paris Soir" illustrates the report about her arrest with a whole series of pictures. This gives readers the impression that the newspaper is very close to the real events. And, of course, these pictures help to reinforce the dark impression, that the public has about Violette Nozière. And so the verdict is pronounced before the accused has even entered a courtroom! Now other newspapers and magazines too publish more detailed reports - and with pictures! They report about the case and - call the accused a poisoner. Some newspapers draw a historical line from the well-known poison murderers of French history up to the year 1933, thus reinforcing the impression that the accused must be a treacherous criminal. You shouldn't be surprised if anyone writes such crap about your client. With historical comparisons, the columns of the newspapers can be filled splendidly, if one knows nothing else to say about the case. Historians and lawyers also agree that the Violette Nozière case was the first case in media history in which a defendant was literally hunted. Cases such as the one in Paris in 1933 are the stuff from which serial stories are made of. Murder, sex, mysterious rumors and surprising twists in a criminal case, that's what a serial story needs. And it's exactly these serial stories that give the papers the big money because they bind the readers and make them buy one issue after another. And that's it what most media are all about: money. I think we agree on that.”

Jamie nodded approvingly.

“The reader,” Nerz went on, “thinks that it is information that is brought to him. But basically, reporting on such a case is nothing but a pure money machine for most newspapers. The whole story is split into many small parts, which are then fed to the reader piece by piece. For cash, of course! That, Dr. Fraser, won't be any different in the case of your client. If Dr. Beauchamp's case causes the nation-wide sensation that we expect, then we have to assign at least one full-time person to look through the media reports daily and check for violations of the law. We might even need two people to do it."

"Whatever you need, Professor Nerz, use it. You don't have to worry about the costs. Our law firm will take care of that."

"Good. If you don't mind, I'll send you the draft of a contract, which we can talk about later this week."

Jamie nodded again.

"Let's go back to Violette Nozière. As I said before, the political situation, the world economic crisis, led people to look for entertainment, for distraction. And the media was only too happy to offer people this distraction, or rather to sell it. Basically, we are dealing here with a kind of movement that we also know from the Biedermeier era. The time of the Biedermeier era, the time after the liberation wars against Napoleon and after the Congress of Vienna was characterized by a retreat of the middle class into the private sphere. Personal security and private happiness were the top priorities for these people. And it was similar in 1933. As in the Biedermeier era, the focus of people here was more on the inside. That is why the interest in her case was so huge. Personal stories, such as the one of Violette Nozière's, seemed to be closer to the life of the common people than the reports about political or economic issues. Political or economic processes were decided somewhere far away from the people. And no ordinary person could fully understand these things, let alone influence them. And so this ‘serial story reporting’ in words and pictures, if I may call it that, for the first time gave the people the illusion, that there was something evil, but that one could control this evil. Media fulfilled this human need, which combined horror with subsequent reassurance. And the people were willing to pay princely for it. Today it's no different, only the nature and number of media has changed. Do you watch television?

"Not very often..."

Nerz smiled.

"Good for you. Nevertheless, if you look at television, what are the three most common types of programs that are offered? What would you say?

Jamie thought for a moment and went through last week's television program in his mind. Then he said:

"Crime movies, comedy, satirical shows, and... well, everything you'd call 'heart-pain' movies."

"Exactly," Nerz replied with a smile. Then he continued:

"The situation is still the same. In view of today's crises - an impending war in the Middle East that could set the whole region on fire, the economic upheavals in Europe and the world as a whole, the ecological crisis - the majority of people are turning back to the private sphere. Comedies are the answer to people's need for distraction. Did you know that between 1815 and 1830 almost 300 comedies were premiered in the Schauspielhaus Berlin alone, but only 56 tragedies?

Jamie, who had listened to Nerz with growing attention, shook his head.

"No, but that's interesting."

"You addressed the satirical programs on television."

Jamie nodded once more.

"Did you notice that some of the best-known broadcasts in this format started after the 2008 financial crisis and that since the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, others have expanded their slots?

"Really?"

Nerz nodded and Jamie made a mental note to check this information. His counterpart continued:

"As I said, the way in which criminal cases are reported and how they are portrayed in films can make the viewer feel as if evil is controllable. It's a kind of 'wash my fur but don't make me wet' mentality behind it. You can enjoy the gruesome horror of the deed, but in the end, everything is fine again because the perpetrator is caught and sentenced. If the world out there is already in shards, here with us everything remains in order! ‘Crime and Comedy' are a great way to close your eyes to the real problems of reality. Either you have something to be upset about or you have something to laugh about. I am not saying that the desire for distraction is not legitimate, nor am I saying that the media do not have the right to meet this need for distraction. But I also say that people can be manipulated through their needs. And when, in order to do this - and to make money with it - the fate of our clients is used, the red line is already crossed. That is why we will sue everyone, and if necessary we will go as far as the European Court of Human Rights, which wants to abuse your client's case as an 'egg-laying woolly sow'. You have me all on your side, Dr. Fraser."

Thank you for reading. Next time, read: “ The Murderess from the Grunewald (28): Preparations for War (3b): "The Monster in the Petticoat" (2)

#Outlander #Outlander Fan Fiction #TheMurderessoftheGrunewald #Claire Beauchamp #Jamie Fraser #Frank Randall #Adso the cat #Bismarck the dachshund #Berlin #Grunewald #Crime AU #Modern AU

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normal-thoughts-official · 5 years

Note

HEY SO u didn’t wanna go on a trans!magnus tangent in ur sexuality post but *I* want you to go on a trans!magnus tangent! Tell me more about him coming to terms w/ his identity & how it’s influenced his life and all that. Essentially just give me all the trans!magnus content in ur brain. Love u ❤️❤️❤️ ~cursedlightwood

here’s my hot take: magnus’ gender is Tired. and yes, i will elaborate, because Ive spent the last 2-3 weeks doing research for this ask, so this is probably the most well-informed theory you’ll see on this subject. yeah, we’re doomed

EDIT: i was gonna say this from the get-go but i forgot, so: english is not my first language and i’m unsure about the usage of some terms that i found during research, particularly those referring to traditional javanese religions and customs; so, if you spot anything that is problematic, racist or colonialist please let me know and i’ll change it.

ok, so i want to start this off by saying that, although javanese society had a binary gender system, they had pretty egalitarian views on gender, and from what i’ve seen the division of labor wasn’t really set in stone - although they were less common than male ones, there were female warriors, for instance. both men and women could be the sovereign and were equally respected, both could ask for a divorce, etc. the most important part of their gender views, to me, seems to be that they believed women were better for diplomatic roles and trading, because they believed men were too emotional and not as good as debating and making compromises as women were (same source)

so i’m just gonna say this, here and now: AFAB!Magnus makes a lot of sense because Magnus is the most diplomatic person you’ll ever fucking see, and in this context, if he were AFAB, he would have been socialized to be for a very young age. and i dont mean hes diplomatic just on the sense that he’s literally keeping most of the characters together and preventing fights (remember when he had to stop a Raphael VS Simon catfight? ugh), but also in the sense that out of everyone hes the one who best handles the seelie queen, for example. he’s good at Wit Battles, negotiating, building bridges and dealing with power relations when its needed.

and i mean, this would also be a pretty good start on why he’d be like “no thanks” when it comes to this whole Womanhood thing, because yeah, Magnus is good at that, he has to be, but does he like it? to me it’s pretty clear that he doesn’t, that he’s absolutely uninterested in anything involving power and negotiations and this whole ridiculous dance it involves. also he’s constantly giving himself the short end of the stick so y’know. honestly, at heart, magnus is an inventor, an explorer; he likes to create things, he likes to learn, he likes to explore the world around him, meet people, help them, build relationships - but on equal grounds, not this whole give-some-take-some thing diplomacy entails. and as a Woman™ in pre-colonial java society, it’s pretty much that, be a farmer, or a concubine - we’re gonna get to that a little bit later on.

so i think in this context little magnus would be like “no thanks” and wanting to go around and, i don’t know, look at plants and learn their properties and figure out why apples fall, or something. it’s not exactly a Man’s Role™ either, although to be fair i found it a little hard to figure out what exactly were men’s roles in javanese society because gender studies usually just focus on women and treat men as the standard and don’t really explore how manhood is construed. but anyway. i know that they were warriors more frequently than women (same source), but women could be warriors as well. like i said, gender roles in javanese society weren’t really set in stone. [alec voice] they’re not rules, they’re suggestions.

add to that the fact that magnus lived in a port city - he had to, since in the early 1600s the dutch were only settling in important ports and trading centers - and the ports in java were very important trading centers that had been attracting people from all over Asia and Europe for centuries, and had a quite good share of migrants and immigrants living there, including quite a good share of Buginese, aka the people who had a 5-gender division. jakarta, which is in java, has like the 10th biggest buginese population in the world, not to mention the countless other societies that had their own views on gender relations; and you have a pretty good and accepting environment when it comes to differences. the javanese were flexible, they were well aware that culture isn’t set in stone, and they were very prone to syncretism. the kingdom allowed people to have any religion they wanted, even if its “official” religion at the time was buddhism. so really: the javanese were actually not very into the whole “imposing cultural constructs” thing, especially the coastal javanese. so magnus would have likely had the freedom to explore and to not really want to conform to any gender stereotypes without that being a HUGE deal, in my opinion.

and then there’s the fact that the concept of womanhood was a pretty disputed one at the time; yes, the javanese had their own views, but it’s important to note that by the 1600s most of the coastal javanese population had converted to Islam, which led to a few differences as well; when compared to other southeast asian communities, for example, the rate of women in trade was a little different - while it was a steady 50% in almost all countries and cultures, in indonesia it was around 30%, because muslim communities had more of a “women stay at home” view. however, when compared to other asian societies such as the chinese society, where the rate was of 1-5%, you can see that the javanese’s egalitarian views on gender stood a fair amount of ground. also, in indonesia, precisely due to their more open views, Islam mostly syncretised with local religions and customs, including the gender views; in Bugis, for instance, the 5-gender system was kept, as were traditional customs such as “ritual transvestism” and homosexuality. so, yes, it was disputed, and people had many views on what people could or couldn’t do, but that mostly ended up becoming a kind of “live and let live” thing. which is the perfect environment for 1- AFAB!Magnus be Very Tired of this whole womanhood thing that no one can even decide what it is anyway; 2- Magnus to say “fuck this” and live as a masc-leaning genderless entity that just wanted to make some goddamn potions.

but then there’s the colonial relations, right? how do the dutch come into this already very complicated and delicately balanced equation? that was honestly the main point of my research, trying to figure out just how much influence the dutch had at such an early stage of colonisation, and also what it would be like to live in a mixed-culture household such as magnus’. here’s what i have:

during the first century of dutch colonisation (aka the part we’re talking about) the dutch and the europeans didn’t really have a big influence in javanese cultural and political relations. the javanese were pretty well organised and had a powerful and strong society so the europeans didn’t really manage to invade them successfully - even the portuguese, the most powerful european nation at the time, tried and failed to invade them for the whole 16th century (get rekt lmao). so what the dutch did was, they simply established themselves as one of the many companies that settled in jakarta to trade, and slowly built their power and influence from there. don’t get me wrong, the dutch were very violent colonisers and in other parts of indonesia they were doing the european thing of mass genocide as much as any other country. they weren’t a “softer” version of colonisers, they just didn’t have the power to subjugate the javanese, so they had to try a slower approach. during the early 1600s, the only dutch people in java were the VOC workers (VOC is the dutch east india company - the acronym is in dutch. basically the company that was there to get some nice spices to sell to the rest of europe so they could shove it all up their assholes or smth since up to this day their food is bland as shit), and they weren’t permanent settlers; they could only stay in java for the duration of their contract with the VOC and they couldn’t bring their wives and children with them, and they couldn’t bring any wives or mixed children they had while in java back to europe, either (same source).

this weird relationship meant that magnus’ “stepfather” and his mother probably had a relationship of concubinage (told you we’d get back to that), which was not uncommon in java neither before nor after the arrival of the dutch. in short, his mother was supposed to take care of his house, make him food and all that jazz, and also have a sexual relationship with him, in exchange for money (same source). it was not prostitution and it worked pretty much as a marriage, except it was temporary and contractual. BUT it meant that magnus’ mother would have to have converted to christianism (same source) and due to the fact that she was in a temporary contract, she couldn’t divorce him, and in their home he would treat her as, well, europeans treated their wives - with the particular western brand of sexism that they so kindly forced unto the rest of us. so that makes the whole thing even more disputed and complicated.

but as a VOC worker, magnus’ stepfather wouldn’t even be home for most of the day, and he couldn’t really keep magnus or his mom from, like, leaving the house and doing their things. i think he wouldn’t even try because that would prolly be very looked down upon in java; spousal abuse in southeast asia as a whole was pretty rare, since anyone could divorce whenever they wanted and women were politically and financially independent, so i think if he tried to pull something like that he would be in trouble - again, the dutch were the minority, and for the most part, they lived as the javanese did, in their villages, in their homes, eating their food and mostly adapting to their customs (same source). they even mostly spoke indonesian in their homes, since most indonesians didn’t speak dutch, and indonesia was kind of the universal language at the time, since there were many languages spoken both in and outside of java (this also explains why magnus speaks indonesian instead of javanese; that would have been the language spoken at his home. you have no idea how relieved having an explanation for this makes me). also there’s the pressing question of, would he even give a shit what magnus does or doesn’t do? magnus wasn’t his biological son, and most of these guys didn’t care about any biological children they might have had with these women, since they were women of color and they would leave them eventually anyway. honestly this is all the more reason for him to treat magnus like shit - he was javanese, he was brown, and he wasn’t even related to him by blood. this was also probably grounds for him to treat magnus’ mom even worse, since in his christian eyes the fact that she had a child outside of marriage made her even lesser than other indonesians.

so honestly, what i’m picturing is something like - most of the time it was pretty okay, there were certain expectations and a certain kind of female socialization but it was okay that he didn’t really fit in there, and then with his stepfather the whole thing was just shit.

also, the fact that his mom was probably a concubine means there was a fair chance that his stepfather would have other concubines, and listen, yes i may be flexing, but you can’t stop me from imagining that maybe magnus was raised in a multicultural home with lots of other southeast asian women and children and maybe even buginese because again you can’t fucking STOP ME.

but either way, even if his home wasn’t like that, his city was - we don’t know which city he lived in, but it doesn’t matter, really; all cities with dutch settlers were port cities and therefore followed pretty much the same pattern of being a cultural tapestry with all sorts of influences coexisting in peace.

so really, little magnus lived in a pretty rich environment when it came to exploring his identity. he and his mom lived in a pretty egalitarian society gender-wise, he had the space and the opportunity to explore the world and figure out what he liked and didn’t like. am i going crazy imagining a tiny magnus with his mom, running around in other farms and listening, enraptured, stories of people from all over the world, about their cultures and lives, and learning there is so much to see and wanting to just go wherever he could, getting himself a passion for travelling that would later fuel his want to invent a quick way to go anywhere he wanted to, going to the port and seeing all the stuff they had available, from plants with healing properties to spices, and just loving to figure out their properties and how they could be mixed together to create new things, loving this world full of wonder and possibilities? maybe. god.

but anyway, what i’m trying to get at here is that it’s really impossible to think of a cis magnus in this context, no matter if you think AMAB or AFAB trans magnus - i know ive been focused on AFAB magnus here but really that’s mostly because 1- Projection; 2- thinking about AFAB magnus brings in new layers of complexity that need further exploration in my opinion; but really this applies to any magnus. what would being “cis” even mean, in a context where the very concepts of manhood and womanhood were so disputed and complex? and that’s not even going into the fact that after so many centuries, complying to gender roles of that time looked nothing like complying to our modern gender roles. really, it’s a lost cause. magnus kind of has a culturally-specific gender that…. no one but other warlocks born in similar situations could, really? there’s no word for it. there’s no explaining it with words. it is [REDACTED GOOD OMENS REFERENCE]

the closest we have is masc-leaning enby, since somewhere along the way he seems to have decided to use male pronouns and have a mostly masc-presenting body, even if paired with a more fem-presenting appearance fashion and mannerisms-wise. but again it’s too unique, there are way too many influences here.

and honestly that’s kind of beautiful! i love imagining small magnus having contact with people with all kinds of views on gender and society throughout his childhood, exploring, trying on their clothes, learning about their religions and customs, having elderly friends from different backgrounds and also young friends who were raised in very different ways, and sharing all of that, and learning about who he is amidst all of that, and being able to explore that and talk about that to his mom and friends and close people because they are used to these differences. even if when at home he was probably met with some kind of transphobic rhetoric and violence because of his stepfather and the imposed christianity that came with it - and that unlike other religions, didn’t syncretize at all.

which brings us to a second, very important point on the whole trans magnus ordeal, which is how deeply tied to racism the transphobia he’s suffered and the general understanding of his gender was. of course, this applies to every single of-color and non-western born person, but magnus has lived that through history. from a very young age, the blunt of the violence he was met with came from a racist standpoint that believed his very identity and existence made him lesser and in need to be corrected - because that’s what, after all, the colonizers were doing. their whole rhetoric was that the colonized were barbaric and needed them to learn the right ways through violence. it is worth noticing that the javanese have been referred to as “the most inhuman of all people” by dutch colonizers, and amongst the reasons for that was the fact that their views on gender were so different from the european’s (same source).

so really we’re mixing in the fact that he was a “bastard” child in his stepfather’s eyes, a warlock, and trans… and yeah, oof. there’s no way he was treated with anything other than violence from way before his mom’s suicide and the subsequent drowning attempt. in his stepfather’s eyes, everything about magnus’ existence was demonic, impure, and all the more reason why he and his mom were dirty and needed to be corrected.

it’s also worth noting that sorcery was a very big part of javanese culture that was also syncretized with pretty much every religion. the javanese believed in sorcery, believed everyone could do magic, and the dutch, of course, despised that. the source above is a pretty interesting article that argues that the european’s so-called “skepticism” on magic and “rational-based” culture was actually part of a construction of whiteness that hoped precisely to differentiate them from the “savage” others. i mean, the guys were burning women at the stake because they were “witches”, but every other culture’s religions, rituals and magic were just bullshit and couldn’t be trusted because the europeans were too rational and knew better? okay buddy. it also features an amazing story about a dutch colonizer who got hexxed because of his racism that is, quite frankly, heartwarming. but i digress.

so yeah listen i know i already talked about this on the other ask but there’s really no way the reason his mother killed herself was because she found out magnus was a warlock or a demon’s son or whatever. magic was part of their culture. it was what they believed in. it was a part of nature to them. it’s way more likely that the reason she killed herself was the constant violence she was met with in daily life that she couldn’t get away from, and his stepfather simply blamed magnus because, to him, he represented everything that was wrong with their culture - and that makes even more sense if we think about trans!magnus, because that makes him an even deeper abomination. it’s very likely that most of the violence and belittling his mother had to face was related to magnus as well - look what you created, what you do, your culture is an abomination, this is unacceptable. but magnus was way too small at that time, and he believed what his stepfather told him, because i mean, what else would he believe in?

i also think that asmodeus kind of messed with his perception of how the whole thing went down, telling him that he “murdered” him when really it was clearly self defense, erasing the violence his stepfather directed towards magnus and focusing on the end to convince magnus that he was evil, unredeemable, that no one would accept him but asmodeus, that he had no other choice. so that’s super fun! but yeah i do believe that asmodeus spent enough time gaslighting magnus and rewriting this whole story for this to be considered magnus’ worst memory, seen by him as a reminder of his “ugly side” that doesn’t really even exist. asmodeus weaponized this, which served the double purpose of convincing magnus he had no choice but to follow asmodeus, and teaching him that violence is normal and there’s nothing wrong with it, and that retaliating makes him bad.

this is all i have to say about the asmodeus years, really, because like i said before i don’t think he gives a shit about gender, he’s way older than it and who cares. but the trauma that the whole thing put magnus through is easily weaponizable. @thesorrowoflizards also wrote this amazing fic that features the headcanon that asmodeus used magnus’ transness to manipulate him as well, using spells that made him more masculine and stuff but only if magnus obeyed him. fun! especially considering that he was with asmodeus through his puberty (or at least that’s likely) when his body would have begun to change, so for him to have such a masc-presenting body…. yeah. this is very plausible. i love pain.

and then we get to england, where again, everyone is an asshole, about everything, all the time. like holy shit, he thought the europeans cared too much when he was in java, but that is nothing compared to the brits and their casual sentencing people to death for being gender non conforming. also, to the europeans, asian men were seen as emasculate and their gender relations as a whole was unnatural, and listen, i know that in 18th-19th century england men also wore makeup and stuff, but i mean, magnus was probably seen as exotic in his “effeminate” mannerisms and non-compliance to gender roles, even if people didn’t know he was AFAB or just trans in general. he was probably objectified in that sense, kinda like a human-zoo sorta thing. fascinating, these emasculated asians with weird bodies and customs. ugh.

so yeah gender got particularly exhausting at that time, too. thankfully there were the warlocks, who were old enough to know all of this was bullshit and who had people from all kinds of cultural backgrounds, thousands of people with culturally-specific genders, as well as other people who were raised in similar environments as him. so in there he finds a home of sorts, a place where this doesn’t matter and where he can be himself and nobody cares, and also has access to different cultures and views and knowledge, and really it’s like the good parts of his childhood again. he learns more about magic and potion-making, about other cultures and places, travels the world, learns about science and the workings behind his magic. creates new potions, new spells, continues his education, learns and remembers how much he loves this, the cultural effervency, the chances to learn and explore and create. really the warlock community is so amazing and it’s like, golden era.

but he’s also living amongst mundanes and to some extent he likes them - not to mention, he likes travelling and learning about different places and cultures. and they seem to care more and more about differentiating genders as time goes by, and to be getting more and more violent in their never-ending quest to force people to fit into these roles, and it’s. tiring. exhausting. who cares. it makes less and less sense to him, and this alienation from the whole thing only solidifies his non-conformance and general inability to fit. sometimes he feels old, and alone, even if he has other people who are Like Him now - the shadow world can get tiring, sometimes, and there’s also the shadowhunters racism thing going on that’s also inevitably trying to subjugate their spaces and looks down on their culture - so it also has the downsides of his childhood. sometimes it’s like there’s no word for who he is, no one that can understand it, no place where he can be fully himself and loved for it. and this only intensifies by the middle of the 19th century, when suddenly makeup and colorful clothing is not for men anymore, and he’s even less conforming than before - he was a pretty respectable Man™ to their standarts up to that point, but from then on that is lost. it doesn’t matter too much, because even if he is masc-leaning, he still doesn’t really see himself as a man in the sense that he seems to be expected to. but that furthers the alienation, and the feeling of loneliness and of being old and unfit for this world.

that is also when he meets camille! and that’s canon because there was that one picture of him with camille and ragnor and the clothes they are wearing are very much from the 1840s (i talked about this here), which is precisely when the whole men’s fashion differentiating from women’s fashion thing was starting. so in the context of his gender this makes it even easier for camille to manipulate him into thinking that she’s the only one who will ever understand and accept him, and that he’s naive, and that he doesn’t fit into the world and doesn’t understand what’s best for him, and really he should trust her judgement better because he is a man out of his time, but she can help him, and- yeah. that good olde cis-girl-abuses-trans-person routine, with even more elements than usual. ggghhhghh

and it’s not until the 1960s and 70s that these notions start to actually be challenged. of course, trans people have always existed and were building their own communities and helping each other as well as they could, and magnus certainly was a part of that, because, well, that’s who he is. he doesn’t leave people in need and he knows how painful it is to go through all of this alone, so he does his best to help and adopts pretty much everyone he can. but for the most part, they are a diaspora, and the cissexist society that alienates and tries to kill them goes on unchallenged.

that gives him all the more reason to get so involved with stonewall and the subsequent building of the queer neighborhoods and communities, that feeling that maybe he can belong after all, that things might change and his life doesn’t have to be an infinite cycle of violence, isolation, abuse, and repeat. seeing these events unfold, helping keep people safe, meeting Sylvia Rivera and all the other trans people of color who were part of this, who had stories so similar to his, who were also bisexual (!!), who knew what it was like. that was healing, and that was important to him, and gjfdkafaskfa yeah.

and of course not everything is a sea of roses, because then the community starts to divide and trans and bi ppl, particularly of color, particularly those who are like him, start to be looked down on. Sylvia is arrested and even booed at Pride, suddenly he’s drawing the short end of the stick again. and then there’s the AIDS crisis, and he sees so many people die, and for a while, it feels like there’s no way out after all. and he even loses a lot of his warlock friends, the people who really understand him in his entirety, because sometime around that there’s the Circle massacre, as well. it’s a dark time for him, and honestly it’s a good thing he’s sworn off romance after the whole camille ordeal to clear his head, because after losing so many people he’s never felt this alienated, this alone, and to fall into the arms of another camille or asmodeus would have been just too easy.

but god, he heals. it’s crazy, but he has raphael, he has cat, ragnor, dot, elias, and he somehow builds himself up and relearns to trust and starts to believe that he has the love he’s always believed himself unworthy of having, that he believed impossible to him. and he starts to open up, and to feel more confident in his own skin, right in time to meet alec.

and look, trans!Magnus just makes malec all the more powerful. not only is this shadowhunter showing up and fully trusting a downworlder, giving him his strength, caring about him, cleaning his home (!) and taking care of him, something he hasn’t allowed himself to have for so long, something he didn’t believe he could have and that alec does so easily even when they’ve barely met. he shows magnus so much care and respect from day one and magnus doesn’t get that from anyone, let alone a shadowhunter, let alone a shadowhunter that’s there with jocelyn’s entitled daughter who treats him as a tool - and look, i know he loves clary, but she is entitled and magnus unfortunately enables her and other entitled shadowhunters to treat him as such, because even he treats himself as such most of the time, and it’s something he needs to work on, and probably has been at least since he broke up with camille.

but he’s also a white, gay man, and magnus has seen firsthand that these people can be nasty to people like him. yes he tried to help alec come to terms with his sexuality, and yes he’s surprised him before, but it’s also not like alec didn’t fuck up and wasn’t entirely… well, shadowhunter-y and had a lot of trouble believing that things didn’t have to be the shadowhunter, bigoted way for a while. but alec doesn’t give a shit if magnus is trans, it doesn’t lessen his attraction or love to him in any way, and it’s just. ugh. beautiful.

and yeah this has gotten too long and it already took me like 3 weeks to answer it because of the amount of research ive done and general tiredness so im gonna end this here, and on a positive note for a change! magnus is happy and learning to take care of himself and accepts himself and trans rights. hell yeah.

#it's FINALLY here god damn it i have answered this ask!!!!!!!! holy fuck #ask #cursedlightwood #necromimetics #i know who u are skyler pls #sh #shadowhunters #magnus bane #trans magnus bane #meta #magnus meta #sh meta #malec #overflowing trashcan

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blogsujal-blog · 5 years

Link

Teenagers spend time inside them, Courting couples snuggle in them, Ladies have stripped off inside them, Fred Astaire has danced in a single, Andy Warhol switched them right into a business, the photos the booth produces have grown to be collective products for many!

A gentleman named Anatol (Josephewitz) Josepho, invented the very first automated machine in 1925 for the sum of the around $11,000, about $145,000 today, a substantial investment in those days. Upon first opening his studio in Broadway, it's recommended that, as much as 7,500 people each day queued to obtain their photo taken for that princely amount of.25c, including many notable dignitaries of times. Pointless to state Anatol very rapidly grew to become a uniform together with his automated device.

What's staggering may be the then improvement in how this industry coded in America versus The European Union! Within the United kingdom for instance, it's believed there are considerably more static photo booths than the entire U . s . States, similarly France, mainly due to the main difference in perception. Lengthy established within the United kingdom and continental Europe like a preferred way of acquiring a passport or ID photo, as opposed to america where they retained some pure entertainment value. PhotoMe within the United kingdom is definitely recognised because the largest photo booth operator on the planet.

So what exactly is a photograph booth?

This is actually the $million question since it differs extremely, the numerous Dictionaries think of it as a really small room that you simply sit in and also have your photo taken with a machine, more lately Wikipedia describes them like a vending machine or modern kiosk. There's a couple of, mostly photography lovers, who somewhat miss the purpose, and make reference to a transportable studio like a photo booth?

The primary difference in the booths nowadays in comparison to the current variety is, just like additional factors of photography, the development of digital camera models and digital printers. Lengthy the days are gone of wafting the 'smelly' print in mid-air until it dried.

So how exactly does this evolve to Parties & Weddings

First of all, to the cultural difference, The European Union functional and practical, America fun entertainment it is a polite method of a saying 'novelty'. Within is how the present phenomenon required off. Once digital camera models grew to become mainstream along with a couple of software developers realized, applications they'd produced for photography lovers, could as fast affect booths, with simply a couple of minor modifications.

The actual fact they held the entertainment value in the usa meant the only real obstacle was portability, virtually no showstopper. From only a handful, it did not take lengthy for the thought of getting a booth at occasions to consider off, virtually just like Anatols and the initial booth, the eye and growth was rapid. In around 2007 the bug really hit as well as today continues to be growing over the States. Strangely enough certainly one of merely a couple of and possibly the main software producer, continues to be a Husband & Wife team within the United kingdom, who's other applications are simply a part of a portfolio of photography related products. The important thing difference, though they made an appearance within the United kingdom around the same time frame, it required longer to build up mostly because of the cultural improvement in the thought of photo booths being fun/functional.

So from it's foundation in the usa, Party Photo Booths, as they have become known, increased around the globe, that has a lot more curiosity about the United kingdom and japan, came from here it's ongoing to build up globally, more lately in Europe and Australia.

What are the variations?

This really is fascinating and partially solutions the issue could they be a fad?

In The Usa, getting now been recognized like a mainstream type of entertainment, the keeps growing at pace, within the United kingdom, although the continues to be growing they're still greatly a novelty and also the balance is just just starting to tip towards them being appreciated like a common party piece, very similar as bouncy castles and chocolate fountains. I predict, this season might find the faster curiosity about the United kingdom.

Interestingly though would be the key variations, once the chance came about in the usa, to beat the portability factor, many budding entrepreneurs sprang in to the garage and fashioned their booths from wood, or box frames in Aluminium. This is constantly on the day with a variety of shapes, sizes, look, appeal and being polite, the 'finish'. In comparison, although a couple of early adopters within the United kingdom did exactly the same, the development and interest from consumers hiring, and even new entrants in to the business, seems to stay in more professionally designed, great looking booths, a minimum of during the time of hire! Though even in the usa a couple of are attempting to re-define the dwelling. Around Australia there's even a blow up version which seems very effective.hire photo booth sydney

It's of no real matter as in the finish during the day the special moment is incorporated in the instant print and it is this element that carries the actual emotion.

So might be they a fad?

Reality states can be. But allow me to place it by doing this, are you able to honestly remember that which you needed to get your meals at the final wedding you attended? Remember the chocolate fountain, what flavour were the dips? Are you able to can remember the music? This guitar rock band? Are you going to in five years? ten years? You are not by yourself, yet every year £millions are allocated to these quite happily. The pictures taken and produced through the booth can take a seat on the office, in the bank, picture album, even just in a frame in your sideboard or wall for a long time.

How about the long run, well presently available are also video booths and hybrids that perform both. Similarly eco-friendly screen has become popular for further creativeness. Interestingly also, again originating in the usa, are eco-friendly screen karaoke video booths, that you could be superimposed into dancing cartoon figures, although miming for your favourite songs, sent to you moments afterwards a DVD.

#open air photo booth sydney #party photo booth sydney #hire photo booth sydney #party photo booth hire in sydney #portable photo booth hire

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willgayers · 6 years

Photo

saw this post by @fanficisgoodforthesoul and went;

this was fun to write!

Warnings; i guess this contains little mentions of NFSW stuff, but nothing major. also they’re college age here so pls don’t attack me thank u bye also the f- word for gay sigh

It was October 29th when Eddie Kaspbrak was sitting on his high dorm bed and trying to read a magazine, but his eyes kept on flicking to the boy on his own bed, that was across the room next to Eddie’s.

The other boy wasn’t like Eddie; his hair was much more out of control, he was lanky, he had super pale skin and his hands were super bony— and cold, Eddie had learnt this when they accidentally went for the same tea bag once; so at this point Eddie was pretty invested on the thought his dorm mate Richie Tozier was a vampire.

Why?

1. He seemed to have no feelings whatsoever. 2. He was quiet most of the time (and Eddie had noticed this was only with him, because outside the room Richie was laughing and cracking jokes very much out loud) but when he wasn’t, he was extremely rude— and, Eddie hated to admit it, 3. he had picture-perfect looks.

But the reason he kept on glancing at the other teen was because he felt uncomfortable being in the same room with him; like he was waiting for him to offend Eddie at any second now. Because besides him most likely being a vampire, Eddie was sure he was also a homophobe.

It all started on the first day of college, when Eddie had already decorated his side of the room; he couldn’t wait to meet his new roommate. He was so excited thinking he was maybe gonna get a new best friend; his childhood best friend Bill had moved away from Maine all the way to Switzerland, Europe for college and even though they did talk almost daily, Eddie didn’t really wanna Skype his best friend half across the world every time at lunch because he didn’t have any friends at his school. Little did he know, that’s exactly what he ended up doing for the first couple of months.

As Eddie was on his bed writing to his diary, the door finally opened, revealing a tall, slender boy with black messy curls creeping from underneath the hood of his black, long hoodie. He had a pair of white headphones around his neck, ripped jeans covering his long legs, in his feet he had blue Converse, and he had a huge training bag with the Nike logo hanging from his shoulder.

Sure, not exactly the type of boy Eddie was expecting— because this one was hot. In fact he was so hot Eddie felt his cheeks fluster, but quickly he swallowed and jumped down from his bed.

“Hi! I’m Eddie!” He said, holding his hand out to the boy with a small on his face, but the other boy just glanced down at his hand and snorted.

“Fuck me.” He just mumbled as he made his way to his bed— and he didn’t mean it erotically; he simply meant that he was screwed.

Awkwardly Eddie dropped his hand and glanced at the boy, who had now started to unpack his sports bag, and Kaspbrak climbed back to his own bed.

Eddie cleared his throat before he spoke.

“What’s your… what’s your name?”

The other kid didn’t answer for such a long time Eddie thought he was gonna ignore him again.

“Richie.” He finally said.

“Richie.” Eddie nodded. He liked the name Richie.

“Wait—” the boy, Richie, said, and turned around to face Eddie now. Eddie, who raised his brows lightly.

“You’re Eddie Kaspbrak, right?” He asked.

Eddie was taken by surprise.

“Um, yeah.” He said. “Why?”

“Oh my God.” Richie mumbled, turning back around and now starting to throw his clothes to the boxes more aggressively.

“Is… something wrong?” Eddie frowned.

“I can’t believe I got paired with a fucking faggot.”

Eddie’s jaw dropped as he stared at the boy in disbelief— did he really just say that?

Oh yes, he did just say that.

He wasn’t surprised Richie had found out; because of course he had. Eddie knew that making out with some random boy at a kickoff- party before college started probably wasn’t the greatest idea. Now everyone knew Eddie was gay; but he never would’ve thought someone would take it this bad.

His words hurt, obviously, but Eddie didn’t say anything. He felt the urge to cry rise up in his throat and just turned to his side, not wanting Richie to see the tears that appeared into his eyes against Eddie’s own will; but he couldn’t help it. He was a sensitive boy, and he honestly hoped to make friends. Were all the other students going to react the same as Richie?

However— Eddie didn’t give up.

He knew that he had to at least try and be polite, even if Richie wasn’t. That’s just how he was raised.

So he made many attempts on talking with the boy; but they weren’t successful ones.

Like that one time Eddie was re-adjusting the stuff on his night table and kept on glancing at Richie, trying to come up with a topic— but Richie wasn’t paying any attention to Eddie as he was “busy” reading a comic.

“So… what do you like to do for fun?” Eddie smoothly asked.

“Fuck.”

Eddie would almost choke on air as he flustered, and Richie calmly flipped the page of his comic book.

“Where did you move from?” Eddie asked another day, when they stepped out of the dorm at the same time.

“None of your business.”

Rude, Eddie had thought and knew better than to ask him more questions that day as he watched the boy take rapid steps further; he clearly didn’t want to walk with Eddie.

But again, one day, he would try.

He was sitting on his bed, watching as Richie sat on his and tuned his guitar, when he decided to speak.

“You got any family?” He asked with a smile.

Richie smiled back; for Eddie’s surprise, but then he spoke.

“Again— none of your business.” He said, the smile then immediately washing off of his face before he then got back to his guitar.

Eddie’s smile disappeared too as he now realized Richie had just been faking his.

Even though Richie wouldn’t fill Eddie in on any details about his life, there were some things he’d found out himself.

He learnt to realize that Richie liked to do other things for fun too; like play his guitar, sing (in the shower) and make funny voices (that Eddie heard while he was in the shower.)

He also moved from New York, that one Eddie had found out when Richie once dropped his ID card. No wonder he was so rude, Eddie thought. He’d heard NYC people are a little shallow. Because hey, they do live in the Big Apple.

And about Richie’s family, Eddie had learned they were pretty much… not there.

Eddie remembers one time when him and Richie happened to walk back to the dorm at the same time on a Friday night, and the hallway was full of drunken teens; and for the first time ever, Richie spoke to Eddie without mocking him.

“I just don’t get it. What fun do you get out of drinking yourself to the point where you can’t remember jack-shit about it? Then you’re gonna wake up covered in vomit and piss and you’re gonna call it a great night out. Keep it up and you’ll end up as an alcoholic in no time. Really gives you a great future, not to mention your future kids.“

Eddie had just quietly glanced up at him, immediately turning his gaze away as the taller boy looked back at him.

“Yeah,” Eddie had then said. “Agreed.”

Then there was also the fact that Eddie had seen some pretty bad bruises on Richie’s body during the first few weeks, before they healed away; these were in his arms and Eddie had only seen them for the short few seconds it took for Richie to switch his shirt (and mostly he would mumble something like, “god, you wanna take a photo to make it last longer?” to Eddie, and he would turn his gaze away immediately). Eddie had obviously never questioned them, but something told him that there was a reason Richie turned his gaze down at that one psychology class when they discussed family violence.

That night Eddie heard Richie cry in his bed around one a.m, when he thought Eddie was asleep.

After November 4th, Eddie no longer thought Richie Tozier was a vampire.

He realized he did in fact have feelings; and hearing him cry in his bed, for what seemed like forever, Eddie felt his chest tighten— he wanted to comfort his dorm mate, tell him it’s okay, but he knew that Richie would probably punch him in the face if he even tried to.

Eddie wasn’t dumb. But he also wasn’t rude— that’s why he never once asked about his parents, not even after hearing Richie cry.

And even if he would have asked, he knew Richie would never tell him.

Eddie would still try and be nice to Richie, even more after the dramatic night; he’d hold the door open for Richie (never getting a thank you- though), he’d ask if Richie wanted the last slice of his pizza (he’d take it, again not thanking) and he’d again try and start chitchatting with him— mostly about annoying teachers or the weather, but it seemed that the nicer Eddie got, the meaner Richie got. He’d do little stuff; like if they walked out the same time, he would slam the door shut instead of returning Eddie’s favors and holding it open for him, and Eddie always stepped back just in time before it would’ve hit his face. Richie only ever boiled tea water enough for himself, and whenever Eddie was quietly chuckling to a text on his phone, Richie would mock his laughter in a super girly- way.

But then there were bigger things.

On November 16th Richie stumbled in to the dorm in the middle of the night with laughter, when Eddie was just about to fall asleep.

Eddie got up to a sitting position under his blanket, and he stared into the dark; the only light in the room was the dim blue moonlight shining through the curtains, and there wasn’t one, but two figures; making out.

“What the fuck, Richie?” Eddie blurted out, and the girl let out a tiny scream.

“Oh my God, who’s that?” She asked.

Eddie recognized her as one of the cheerleaders, but nothing more. For a moment he wondered if she was drunk; but he knew Richie didn’t drink, and he figured he wouldn’t take advantage of drunk girls either. Well, it’s not like he’d even have to. Girls were desperate for him.

“It’s just my roommate,” Richie said. “Don’t worry, you’re not his type.”

Richie wrapped his arms around the girl’s waist, before whispering—

“He’s gay.”

Eddie’s stomach turned around.

“Shit, really?” The girl blurted out, a tiny giggle escaping her mouth.

“Uh-huh.” Richie murmured, kissing the girl’s neck— and for some reason Eddie couldn’t look away.

“He’s staring,” the girl said, staring back at Eddie in the dark room.

“Let him,” Richie said, lifting the girl to his bed and leaning closer to press a sloppy kiss to her lips. “Lil Eddie-Spaghetti probably just gets very lonely.”

Eddie was on the edge of crying again because Richie was being so mean. The poor brunette had literally done nothing but tried to be a nice person.

However, he tried to not think of the hurt Tozier’s words caused (or was he hurting because he’d watched Richie kiss the girl?) he turned to his other side and pulled the pillow over his head, trying to ignore the giggles and soon pants coming from the other boy’s bed for the next thirty minutes; but Eddie could’ve sworn it lasted for closer to three hours— or at least that’s what it felt like.

On November 20th Eddie rushed back to the dorm after P.E— he never took showers in the mutual shower room because he was disgusted with the thought of sharing the room with so many people, naked.

He had to scrub the dorm shower from head to toe before using it because of Richie alone, so there was no way he was going to shower with complete strangers.

So he was covered in sweat as he stepped in to the dorm, not hearing a sound; Great, Richie wasn’t even here, he thought. He could take his shower in peace.

He only ever dressed or undressed in the bathroom, because he didn’t want Richie walking in on him naked— for Tozier this wasn’t a problem though, which was weird since he seemed to be pretty disgusted with Eddie’s sexual orientation. Richie was constantly changing his clothes in front of Eddie, and each time it was getting harder and harder for Eddie to not look at him as he sat on his bed and pretended to read a book.

So like every time, Eddie just grabbed the door handle and pulled it open— Only to find Richie standing under the shower, applying shampoo to his hair. Eddie gaped at him; even though Richie had changed his clothes in front of Eddie before, he had never seen the curly haired boy fully naked; well, not his front, anyway.

But now he was staring at it.

Yes, literally staring at it.

Because wow, Eddie thought.

“Jesus, Kaspbrak!”

Richie’s words made Eddie flinch back to the moment and he flipped his eyes up to Richie’s.

“If you wanna jerk one off go to Pornhub!” Richie blurted out, and Eddie still couldn’t say anything.

“Did you hear me—?” Richie asked, getting annoyed now.

Silence— the poor boy Eddie had lost his ability to speak.

“I am not fucking gay, Kaspbrak!” Richie blurted out, saying the word like it was the nastiest word ever to exist.

And after those words Eddie just nodded, mumbled a ‘sorry’ and shut the door rapidly.

He felt like staying in the dorm would be too awkward, so he walked out immediately, not exactly sure where he was going— but he knew it had to be far away from Richie because Eddie knew that now, once he’d seen it; he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about Richie’s naked body.

November 22th Eddie was coming back from one of his classes and had just made it to the dorm room, when he stopped to stare at the door. There was a paper taped to it.

HERE LIVES

A FAGGOT

Eddie’s stomach dropped as his throat started to tighten with the urge to cry, and just then some students walked past him from behind, bursting out in tiny laughs as they looked at the paper. He wondered how many people had already seen it, and even thought majority of the students seemed to know Eddie was gay already, it wasn’t really none of their business. And this was just mean.

Eddie knew exactly who was behind this; which is why it hurt even more.

He ripped the paper off of the door and with intensity shoved it open, stomping in.

“Are you serious?!” He yelled at Richie as the door slammed shut behind him, staring at the boy on the bed who had earphones in his ears.

He frowned and pulled them down, staring at Eddie.

“Huh?” He just asked.

“I asked, are you serious—?!” Eddie asked again, holding the paper up.

“What’s that?” Richie asked.

“What’s that—” Eddie mocked in a low voice. “Don’t act like you don’t know!”

“Jesus, Kaspbrak, I don’t know— what is that?” Richie was confused as he got up to a sitting position.

Eddie was furious as he squeezed the paper into a ball and threw it at Richie, who grabbed it and opened it, glancing at Eddie once more before he read it, a small frown still on his face.

Once he was done he lifted his gaze to look at the brunette, who had his fists clenched as he was breathing heavily through his nostrils.

“I didn’t write this,” Richie said.

“Then who did?!” Eddie snapped. “Because I know you hate me!”

“What?” Richie blurted out.

Eddie’s eyes widened; what the hell was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he just admit it?

“Oh my God, you’re unbelievable!” Eddie threw his hands up in frustration. “It’s so obvious, Richie!”

“What is obvious?!” Richie was so confused.

“That you hate me because I’m gay!” Eddie blurted out, staring at him.

Richie stared back, not saying a word. Eddie looked like he was gonna have his forehead vein burst at any second now, so Richie knew not to raise his voice or make sudden moves or anything that might just trigger Eddie and turn him into a small ball of rage that couldn’t be stopped; so slowly he got up from the bed, Eddie keeping a hawk-eye on his every move.

“You think I hate you because you’re gay.” Richie said.

“Yes.” Eddie answered sharply, watching as Richie made his way over to him, still with rather slow steps.

“And why is that?” Richie asked.

“Because you’re rude to me, you mock me, you act like you don’t know me outside this dorm room—” Eddie held a new finger up at every reason.

“Okay, fine, reasonable.” Richie cut him off, lightly raising his hands up in surrender and Eddie glared at him.

“But I don’t hate you,” the curly haired boy let out a small laugh, and Eddie’s brows shot up fast. How dare he laugh?

“You think this is funny?” Eddie asked in disbelief. “You think it’s funny humiliating me like that—?!”

He shoved Richie from his shoulders lightly, and this surprised the taller boy.

“For the last time, Kaspbrak, I didn’t do that!” He blurted out, pointing at the paper.

“Then who did?!” Eddie raised his voice again.

“Well I don’t know but it definitely wasn’t me!” Richie raised his voice a little too— now he was just getting pissed off.

“Oh— so it definitely wasn’t you?“ Eddie mocked.

"Yeah!”

“And why is that?!” Eddie was about to get furious; why couldn’t his stupid ass roommate just admit it and apologize?

“Why—?!” Richie asked.

“Yeah!” Eddie blurted out.

“You really wanna know?” Richie asked, annoyed with the brunette, as he raised his brows.

“Oh, please, enlighten me!” Eddie spat— the conversation was heated and the tension in the room could’ve been cut with a knife, it had grown to that point.

“Oh I will!” Richie snapped.

“Great, then do!” Eddie snapped back, and suddenly Richie grabbed his face and smashed his lips to the other boy’s.

Eddie’s eyes widened in shock and he didn’t even kiss Richie back, and then the dark haired boy already pulled away. He was staring at Eddie who was staring back at him, and his facial expression was so freaked out it would’ve amused Richie if the situation that had caused it wasn’t the one it was.

But before Richie could apologize— or, whatever, he wasn’t really sure what to do— Eddie practically threw himself at Richie. He slammed his mouth on Richie’s, he shoved his hands in his thick curly hair, and Richie grabbed him by the waist.

They started to back out towards Richie’s bed, until the back of his legs hit the edge of the bed— and Richie sat down to it, Eddie falling to his lap open legged.

The kiss was thirsty and desperate; both of them had been wanting this for so long, never admitting it to themselves and most definitely not to the other one.

Soon Richie’s hands sneaked under Eddie’s shirt, and he pulled his shirt up and tossed it to the floor— then he started to work on a hickey on Eddie’s collarbone.

“What are we doing—” Eddie breathed out, his eyes closed from the pleasure he felt when Richie’s lips sucked on his soft skin, but soon he pulled his lips away to answer to Eddie.

“Something we should’ve done a long time ago,” Richie murmured huskily, before he attacked Eddie’s neck this time, and a shaky breath left Eddie’s mouth.

“God, agreed.” He blurted out.

After approximately forty-five minutes— the best forty-five minutes of their lives, honestly— the both boys were now lying on Richie’s bed, under the blankets with their cheeks red, and Eddie was snuggled to Richie’s side, finger drawing lazy circles to Richie’s chest.

“So…” he started, and Richie turned his gaze to Eddie, a smirk rising to his face— and Eddie chuckled.

“What was that?” He asked.

“That was…” Richie was trying to think of what to say. “That was something I’ve wanted to do for a while now.”

“And what’s a while?” Eddie asked.

“Ever since I saw your cute ass for the first time.” Richie mumbled, gaze sliding down to Eddie’s lips.

The smaller boy felt his stomach fill with butterflies, before he leaned his head closer to close the gap between their lips for a soft kiss.

“I thought you hated me,” Eddie murmured quietly.

“Seriously? I couldn’t hate you if I tried. You with your weird little OCD’s and fucking adorable giggles…” Richie sighed, gaze focused on the smaller boy’s hair that he was softly playing with, Eddie’s cheeks blushing. “I just… I was confused. I’d never felt like that; because of a boy. But you… God, you sure fucked me up, Kaspbrak.”

Eddie felt his heart flutter at Richie’s words as a smile took over his lips.

“Well— you sure fucked me up too, Tozier.” He said and leaned to kiss him again.

“But you–” Richie started in between the kiss, before pulling away. “You shouldn’t even like me. I’ve been nothing but a asshole.”

“That’s not exactly true,” Eddie said, shrugging lightly. “I’ve caught you off-guard a couple of times.”

Richie frowned.

“Like when?” He asked, and Eddie just smiled.

“You don’t need to know.” He said, before snuggling closer to Richie’s side and adjusting his head to rest on his shoulder, as he lazily spread one hand across Richie’s chest.

Once he did, Richie felt a warm feeling brush all over his body from head to toes; he was the happiest he’d ever been.

He figured that warm feeling was love.

@superbyersbros @xbell22 @donthateonk8 @stenbroughbros @reddiebrekmyheart@itsgreywaterrichie @donvex @blueeyespurpleskies @ageorgymi @oh-youre-the-worst@eddiekaaspbraak @whipashwhipash @rissyq @richietoaster @edskasqbrak @urtury@bukiminajimu @kcutieeesblog @stansmansuris @adorefack @reddieaddict @icyeyes102@denbroughbill @graveyardshipper @taletellingsir @anxiety-freak-yuuri @rheddie@queertrashmouth @richiefreakingtozier @castletozier @tohzier @80soleff @lonewolfhard @80soleff

#reddie #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #reddie fluff #fics #it 2017 #it fanfiction #reddie FanFiction

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girlbetweenryosuke · 6 years

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“Rogue and Reigning” -- Chapter I

Chapter I: The Rogue Prince

Note: Hello! Ok so u might be thinking oh my god she’s making another story she aint gon finish bUT wait ok i swear im going to finish this. ALSO yes i didn’t put a watermark on the title thing bc it kind of ruins it?? I quite like it like really simple ya kno idk but anyway those aren’t my photos so ofc there’s no need for my watermark hAHAHAH

Teaser: (I don’t really have a good teaser so this is an excerpt from the second chapter)

“I’m someone who wants to step up, and you are someone who wants to step down. But quite surprisingly, we are both outcasts. I want the throne, and yet I am not given it. You want to be a commoner, and yet you are forced to wear a crown. I guess it’s natural that we envy each other... But maybe that’s why somehow, we complete each other. Opposites attract,

and I am well over attracted to you.”

“No.”

The word this young princess feared to hear the most. That’s especially when that was the answer to a request that she had built up an abundance of courage for. She was sitting on a cushioned seat, hands on her lap, ankles crossed and to the side as she sat up straight. She followed all the rules, she had all the manners, she was deemed as a perfect princess—and this was the only time she was willing to go against that title.

“Father, please.”, she begged as the king sat on his seat behind the desk. His arms on each armrest and legs apart as he huffed. “I cannot allow you to be the crowned queen.”, he said as Y/N looked down, tears welling up in her eyes. “But father,”, she looked up, scared to look him in the eyes. “I am the first-born child. I can be a good leader. I have been studying every single detail about our country’s history, politics, and economy since I have been a toddler. I am very much prepared!”, she continued.

The king leaned forward, sitting up from leaning on his chair as he looked her in her eyes. “Y/N, my dear, you have been studying our history, am I correct?”, he asked, and Y/N nodded, “Yes.”. “Then you must know that throughout our family’s 449-year reign, no woman has been appointed as a queen.”, he said the words that annoyed Y/N the most. “Goodness, even your mother wasn’t a queen. Women in this monarchy are only princesses. They cannot hold such power a king can have.”, he said.

Y/N huffed, looking away and shaking her head. “Well then, I suggest that there be a change.”, she looked him back in the eye as she regained confidence. This. This was the thing that drove Y/N to want to rule as queen. She wanted to prove that a woman can be leader-material. What a man can do, a woman can do too. Aside from that, she had planned for ages on what she wanted to change in her country of Seina.

Seina is an archipelago off the east coast of Japan. Since they were so near Japan, it was once part of it during the Heian period to around half of the Edo period. After they were separated from the country back in 1569, they were colonized by Europe and their first language of Japanese was mixed with English, creating their now first language, Seinese; their now second language, Japanese. The monarchy began with their first king, King Morita. He wrote in his will that his crown must be passed to a man, not a woman, and no one really understood why, but that is why kings must always have sons, no matter what. Y/N’s great-grandfather was the last child of 12 siblings, all of them being girls, which explains how grave they take his will.

And Y/N wants to know why.

She loved her country, that’s why she wanted to fix it. Poverty rates were rising, the economy was on the brink of collapsing, riots were forming here and there, and there was no escaping from the reality that her father’s reign was one of the worst. On top of that, the idea of misogynism was evident in the country taking from its beliefs that men and women aren’t equal beings. She went to charity works, she’d immersed with the crowd to study what wasn’t included in history books. She knew what had to be done, and she knew she had to do it now.

“There’s no need for a change when you have a little brother who is an heir to the throne.”, he replied. “Father, he is 6-years-old.”, she said with pity for her sibling who will soon be holding the burden of the crown. “In a year, once you’ve stepped down, Hiro will only be 7. He’s merely a child!”, she ranted. His forehead puckered, seemingly beginning to be annoyed at her words.

“Don’t paint be as a bad man when I am only following traditions.”, he urged. “Next year will be my 50th year of reign, and you know what that means, right?”, he asked as she gulped and nodded. “Every 50 years, we have to appoint the heir of the throne as king. In a year, I will teach him everything that Hiro needs to know.”, he said. “I will begin with manners, but apparently you need a brush up on your manners too.”, he said, setting Y/N aback as she silently scoffed to herself. “Do not be late for your flight to Japan, you must learn more about our history with them before you create these unrealistic ambitions for yourself. You are dismissed.”, he flicked his hand away, gesturing her to leave. She bit the inside of her cheek, standing up and bowing deeply, her right hand hesitantly on her left chest, “Excuse me.”. She left the room with fire in her chest, feeling anger in her veins.

She had more than one reason for wanting to be a queen. She loved her country, she loved to serve, she wanted to break the foolish traditions and on top of that—

“Y/N…”, her brother approached her, tugging on the sleeves of her dress. She turned around to see Hiro, teary-eyed, and pouting. She pouted, squatting down to hug her brother, petting the back of his head. “Did he say yes?”, he faltered. Y/N looked down as tears started to drip down her cheek, “No.”, she hesitantly answered as the little boy’s breath hitched. He then began to wail, face red, strings of saliva appeared when he opened his mouth and his face wet with tears. She rubbed his small back as she comforted him. “I don’t want to be the king. I don’t want to be the king.”, he cried.

On top of that, Y/N loved her little brother.

In her room, she let her body fall on her bed, feeling tired from putting a brave front to confront her father. “If it meant to rule a country, I wish I was a man.”, she said to herself, arms on her forehead as she stared at the ceiling. Then, there was a knock on the door. “Come in.”, she said as she heard the door open and close. “Princess Y/N, someone wishes to have an audience with you.”, her trusted maid, Kiera, said. “Who is that someone?”, Y/N asked as Kiera cleared her throat. “He wishes for me to not reveal his name.”, she repressed a smile.

Then, Y/N, sprang up, knowing exactly who “he” was. She slipped on a robe and ran out into the corridor, Kiera frantically trying to catch up to her. Y/N quickly ran downstairs and out into the front courtyard to find the most dashing man in her eyes, Riinen. Riinen is her best friend, a son of a cabinet member. His caramel-colored hair was always slicked back, he had gray-blue eyes and thick brows. He always looked neat, not a strand of hair out of place, not a wrinkle on his shirt, neither a spot on his shoes unpolished. She loved him—well to be fair, everyone did. He was a truly perfect man.

But the thing Y/N wishes she could see, was the true him. She’d never seen him cry, despite the many times he had seen her cry. She’d never seen him tired or sweat, he always looked like some Ken doll. She’d never seen him in his casual clothing, he’s always in a white long-sleeved polo, and black slacks and black polished shoes. She wanted to see more of him. She wanted to fall more in love with him, but he was acting like a prince that doesn’t break walls to let people in. She hated that—well to be fair, everyone did.

She jumped to him, wrapping her arms around him as she kissed his cheek as he carried her. “I missed you!”, she pulled away and he laughed, “Not as much as I missed you, Your Highness.”. She let go of him, letting her feet touch the ground again. She gestured for them to walk together to which he nodded. Her maid followed along, out of hearing-range so that they could privately talk. “So how was Canada?”, she asked, “It was extremely cold!”, he complained, a smile on his face as he rubbed his shoulders, pretending to shiver.

“Colder than Mt. Sundire?”, she asked, pertaining to the coldest mountain in Seina. “Colder than Mt. Sundire.”, he nodded, and she shivered. “Was it fun, though?”, she asked, looking up at him. “Oh, for sure it was. Mary and I had a great time sight-seeing and such.”, he smiled. She looked down at the thought that he was having fun with another girl. “Hey, don’t be so sad.”, he lightly turned her shoulders to turn to him. She looked into his dreamy eyes as she gulped. “Mary is just a girl, so don’t be so jealous.”, he smiled.

She blushed remembering that Riinen did in fact know that Y/N loves him. He’s already accepted it, and even teases her for it. Although he has never been clear with his feelings, he does show his affection to her, making Y/N both confused and happy at the same time. As she looked into his eyes, she noticed how cold looking they were, beautiful, but unwelcoming. They say a person’s eyes were the windows to one’s soul, and yet she couldn’t see anything in them. His eyes were empty. “Would you like to go out with me? Have a little drink?”, he asked her, and she pursed her lips and hesitantly shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I have to fly to Japan today, I have an official meeting with the Emperor’s grandchildren.”, she pouted.

That was a lie. No, the official meeting was not the lie, but the true reason behind Y/N visiting Japan is not for her to meet the Emperor’s grandchildren. The real reason as to why she was going there was to research more about why Seina was separated from Japan. She needed an explanation as to why there were so many misogynistic traditions in their culture. And, she desperately needed an answer as to why the first king, King Morita, did not want women to lead the country.

He smiled and tilted his head, then pouting, “I guess I’ll have to drink alone again, Your Highness.”. “Hey, don’t drunk text me again, alright?”, she smiled, lightly pushing his chest as he laughed. “Princess Y/N.”, Kiera bowed with her hand on her chest and called her. Y/N turned to her and nodded, “It is time to leave. Your luggage is all packed and placed in the vehicle and is waiting for your arrival.”, she said as Y/N pursed her lips and nodded. “Alright.”. “I guess I’ll be going now.”, she smiled and patted Riinen’s chest. “See you!”. “See you, Your Highness!”.

After Y/N changed into her proper clothes, she rode a limousine to the airport, and from there, she rode an airplane to Japan. It only took an hour until she was already stepping on the Japanese grounds. She was greeted by various politicians, performers, and had to pass and greet different people before she was able to be in her own private space in a car.

“Are you alright, Princess Y/N?”, Kiera asked, sitting in the front seat next to the driver. “I’m perfectly fine, thank you.”, she replied, sighing and looking out the window. She examined the environment, finding everything beautiful and amazing how color coded-like the city was. The streets were clean, and very seldom would you see a piece of trash on the ground. It was very much different from Seina where the streets of the rural areas would have trash and homeless people. She wishes to fix that—very soon.

They arrived at the palace, Y/N noticing 3 women of her age lined up with a little boy in the middle. The driver opened the door for her, and she stepped out as the four of them bowed to her, “Good afternoon, Princess Y/N.”, they said in unison. Y/N smiled and returned the bow, with her hand on her left chest, “Good afternoon, Princess Chihiro, Princess Misaki, Prince Mamoru, and Princess Airi.”. It was a mouthful to say all of their names, just imagine if there were more.

She was then led into the palace with smiles as they toured her around. She noticed how Chihiro held Mamoru’s hand, and how young he truly is. “Prince Mamoru is the heir to the throne, isn’t he?”, Y/N said, and they nodded, Mamoru showing a wide smile on his face. “I hear your baby brother is too?”, Misaki asked, and Y/N hesitantly nodded. “Tentatively.”, she added as they nodded. “Mamoru is still young and has a long way to go. He wouldn’t be the heir if someone shaped himself up.”, Airi added, and the three siblings hushed her as she lightly bowed. “Someone?”, Y/N asked. “No one. I’m sorry, let’s continue the tour.”.

Throughout the whole day, Y/N had meals with the grandchildren, did some entertaining activities, and during dinner, there was a performance by some local artists. She barely had enough time to sneak around, neither did she know where to go in the first place. She was thinking that maybe the library would have some texts, but she didn’t know where it was located.

It’s now nighttime, Y/N was lying down on her bed, wearing her long, white, satin nightgown as she twisted her hair around her finger, staring at the ceiling. She was waiting for everyone to fall quiet and asleep so that maybe she could look for the library then, but throughout Y/N’s stay in the palace, she’s been hearing whispers here and there. No, it wasn’t some ghostly whisper, rather they were gossips from the maids and stewards. She could hear them talk in the hallways from her room.

She sat up from her bed and walked over to the door to press her ear on it to hear what they were talking about. “He hasn’t been home in a week!”. “I hear he’s doing it again.”. “Oh goodness, when will he stop?”. “He’s such a disgrace.”. “He really lives up to his title as the rogue prince, huh.”.

Y/N began to become curious. Curious to know what they were talking about and curious to know who this rogue prince was. Then suddenly, chattering stopped, and frantic footsteps filled the hallways. Y/N slowly opened the door, peeking to see maids running around as if there was an emergency. Then, she let her whole-body slip through as each maid that passed by bowed to her.

Then, she spotted Kiera calmly walking by with a glass of milk for Y/N. “Kiera,”, she summoned a maid as she bowed to her. “Yes, Princess Y/N.”. “What is with all the maids panicking?”, she asked, as the maid looked down, “I’m deeply sorry, Princess Y/N, did they disturb you?”. “No, no. Not at all. I am just a little bit curious.”, she said. “Oh, well, I’m not quite sure as to why there is such a ruckus, but I have heard something about a rogue prince.”, she informed her.

Y/N’s eyes widened as she quickly ran back in to slip on a robe and run back out into the hallways. “Princess Y/N!!”, Kiera placed the glass of milk down on a table and frantically ran after her. “Who is he? Who is he? Who is he?”, it repeated in her mind as she made her way to the indoor balcony, overlooking the entrance of the palace. She leaned on the polished wooden railing and looked down at the doorway. As the maids quickly turned to walk away from the entrance, a man entered, shuffling sluggishly like he had either a few drinks, or he was tired. Or maybe both.

He was wearing a sweatshirt, his hands in his outerwear’s pocket. He was wearing sweatpants, sneakers, and his hair was dark brown and ruffled. Then at that split moment, he looked up, showing his face, as their eyes met. They were these beautiful dark brown orbs; his eyes were gorgeous. They were warm, they were welcoming, they were open—she saw through them. His nose was tall, his lips looked soft and pink, his skin looked flawless aside from the bags under his eyes and some dirt and dust on either of his cheeks. He looked… handsome.

Suddenly, all the different sounds surrounding them fell mute in their ears. They couldn’t hear a single footstep, not a single clock ticking, nor a door creaking; nothing. To them, it felt like all they could hear were each other’s heartbeats. Synchronized, fast, and thumping hard. One couldn’t explain what was happening, but they were certainly amazed. The corner of her lips started to curve into a light smile.

“So this… is the Rogue Prince?”

#yamada ryosuke #ryosuke yamada #Hey! Say! JUMP #hey say jump #Hey! say! 7 #hey say 7 #yamada ryo #yama-chan #yamada ryosuke fanfiction #ryosuke yamada fanfiction #fanfiction #Rogue and Reigning #Rogue and Reigning: Chapter I #Rogue and Reigning Chapter I #Rogue and Reigning Chapter 1

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backstorywithdanalewis · 3 years

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Climate Emergency on Back Story with Dana Lewis podcast. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/8035226

Sir David Attenburough: (00:00) That today, there are threats to security of a new and unprecedented kind. These threats do not divide us. They are threats, which should unite us no matter from which parts of the world we come for the faces or they are rising global temperatures, the despoiling of the ocean that vast universal Lada on which people everywhere dependent for their food changes in the pattern of weather worldwide, the pay, no regard to national boundaries, but the concern forests into deserts, drown, great cities and lead to the extermination of huge numbers of the other creatures with which we share this planet. No matter what we do now, some of these threats will assuredly become reality within a few short years. Dana Lewis : (01:09) Hi everyone. And welcome to another edition of backstory. I'm Dana Lewis. That was sir David Attenborough, speaking to the UN security council. This week. The broadcaster in conservation has told the UN security conference regarding the impact of climate change that the world must unite against environmental threats. Sir, David Attenborough notes, consequences of climate change do not respect national boundaries, but instead will cause havoc worldwide. And it's happening in California. Forest fires in Texas winter storms this year alone has seen a series of devastating climate disasters in various parts of the world. Heat waves in India, Pakistan in Europe, flooding in Southeast Asia from Mozambique to Bangladesh, millions of people have already lost their homes, livelihoods and loved ones as a result of more dangerous and more frequent extreme weather events increases of air and water. Temperatures lead to rising sea levels, supercharged storms, and higher wind speeds, more intense and prolonged droughts and wildfire seasons heavier precipitation and flooding. Dana Lewis : (02:27) The evidence is overwhelming and results are devastating. Global warming is not a debate it's science. And if you're still wondering if it's occurring, then you're vastly uninformed and misled by fringe political leaders who place profit over environmental concerns. The number of climate related disasters has tripled in the last 30 years, get this between 2006 and 2016. The rate of global sea level rise was two and a half faster than it was for almost all of the 20th century. More than 20 million people are forced from their homes by climate change. The United nations environment program estimates that adapting to climate change and coping with damages will cost developing countries 140 to $300 billion per year. By 2030 on this backstory, we talked to an expert on national security and the environment and the world wildlife fund on how freshwater fish are now going extinct by the dozens. Dana Lewis : (03:44) All right, Jeff Opperman is the world wildlife federations freshwater lead scientist, and Jeff you're based in Ohio. Yes, that's correct. Thanks for doing this. I am shocked by the numbers. I mean your, the WWF and 16 conservation groups came up with this report and they're saying, uh, that a third, a third of freshwater fish species are threatened by extinction. Jeff Opperman WWF: (04:08) Yeah, it's, it's a pretty grim statistic and it really, there has been a raft of studies that have shown that, uh, freshwater ecosystems and freshwater species are more imperiled than their counterparts, uh, on land or in oceans. And it's really, it's something that most people are not aware of, um, in part, because freshwater species and ecosystems are literally literally hidden beneath the surface, so to speak. Um, but whenever scientists look into these kinds of patterns, uh, the, the greatest threats, the greatest risk of extinction, the greatest declines, all are happening in freshwater ecosystems like lakes and rivers. Dana Lewis : (04:49) How do we get to this idea of saying that they are threatened by extinction? Is there any kind of overstate in there, or do you believe that these are kind of, these are genuine, accurate numbers? Jeff Opperman WWF: (05:01) Well, scientists do have, uh, thresholds of population sizes that are, um, that they use to, to use tobacco expressions like threatened with extinction. So for example, I UCN as, um, what they call the red list and they have classifications of, of species. Um, and I'm forgetting the specific classifications, but essentially things like threatened at risk of extinction. Um, you know, different gradations, different levels. Dana Lewis : (05:29) They're not there, they're not endangered, they're saying threatened by extinction Jeff Opperman WWF: (05:35) Classification Dana Lewis : (05:35) Severe as it gets, right. Jeff Opperman WWF: (05:38) I mean, that's based on, um, trajectories it's based on total population sizes to be classified in that category is, is meaning you have moved beyond, uh, endangered that you, you know, moving into something where you truly at risk of extinction. Dana Lewis : (05:53) And as we say, this is just not a one conservation group just is 16, very reputable conservation groups around the world, talking about this. Why is it happening? Let's talk about it. Jeff Opperman WWF: (06:04) So there's a pretty diverse range of, of drivers and threats to freshwater ecosystems. Um, so most people instinctively think about water pollution. You know, they think that, well, if, if freshwater ecosystems are declining, it's because of, of dirty water and certainly water pollution is a major factor. Um, and in some parts of the world, more than others, but even in places that have really cleaned up their waters, you're still seeing, uh, ecosystems that aren't really recovering or, or, or, you know, species that are threatened because there are so many other threats, including the infrastructure that we use to manage our rivers. So that's the dams and levees. And we use this infrastructure generally to control where water goes. We, you know, we like to put water in certain places and keep water from going to other places, but ecosystems have always thrived on conductivity of water. Jeff Opperman WWF: (06:58) Being able to, uh, you know, move to, to connect from rivers, to wetlands or for fish to be able to swim up long distances on rivers and our infrastructure, our dams, and our levees, our flood walls, all of those are intended to fragment. Um, and so will ecosystems thrive on connectivity. Our infrastructure is intended to, to separate and pragmatic. And that that has, has, has major, uh, disruptions for how freshwater ecosystems function. So there's something you could have very clean water, but if you have a fragmented system, uh, species like fish are going to have a lot of problems. Dana Lewis : (07:34) I live on a farm North of Toronto, uh, what, I'm not in London, that's where I grew up. And we have a beautiful river that runs through there. And it's, it runs for miles it's North of Toronto and Ontario. And, um, you know, when I took my kids there, they were like, let's dam this, you know, and make a pie. Right. And then, um, put fish in it. And then the conservation people, I mean, they're really great. I think in Canada, generally, they came through and they walk those farms and they came through and said, can we walk across the farm? And we started talking about the river with my kids, which is a great education. And they were saying, don't it don't clear the grass away from it. Um, and then they started showing us all the species, a little fish in there that we didn't even realize w w were there and they're traveling, you know, dozens and dozens of miles. The best thing you can do with a river is let it run. Jeff Opperman WWF: (08:24) Yeah. It's funny. I mean, little kids have that instinct. Um, I think you, you see it anywhere. Um, small streams, if you're in a park, you'll see, you often see remnants of where somebody's, uh, piled up the stones. And so sure there is this instinct it's kind of, you know, beavers had the same instincts. They see running water, they want to dam it up. Um, but exactly, I mean, let the rivers flow and when they can connect different parts of the landscape, that's when ecosystems are at their most productive and diverse Dana Lewis : (08:52) Affiliations of large species weighing more than 60 of fallen, more than a catastrophic 94%. And then they talked about 80 freshwater species under pressure with 16 already disappearing in 2020. I mean, what are we doing? So the first, Jeff Opperman WWF: (09:13) The first that you cited was about, you know, what I called megafauna. So literally just big animals. Um, and, and for freshwater fish, megafauna are particularly hit hard. The 94% decline since 1970, you cited a lot of that has to do with what I was just talking about. Um, the fragmentation, so big animals in particular need room to roam, right? I mean, we think about, uh, the, the big carnivores, um, you know, you still have, um, well, North of Ontario, you still have wolves and such. Uh, but in most of the United States, the landscape is fragmented. And so we, we can't support wolves. Um, you know, tigers are being hemmed in the landscape, you know, tigers need vast space. Well, freshwater fish megaphone are the same thing. They need large areas and they need them to be connected. They need to move from one to the other, like the Mekong giant catfish. Dana Lewis : (10:06) They're obviously not going to be in rivers most of them. Right. I mean, we're talking about something that big, you're probably talking about the great lakes and Canada, for instance. No, we are talking to, sorry. Yeah. Jeff Opperman WWF: (10:19) We're talking to rivers about some of this megafauna. I mean, the, um, the, the Mekong giant catfish, it's a, it's an herbivore, it eats plants and algae in rivers, but it weighs as much as a grizzly bear. Uh, the Mekong freshwater stingray, uh, is this massive flat, you know, stingray shape that it could drape over a King size bed and be touching the floor. That's how massive they are. Um, the, the beluga sturgeon, um, it's mostly in the ocean, but it's an abdomen. So it swims up rivers to spawn. Um, and this, this was the size of a great white shark. So, so rivers, big rivers are capable of supporting, uh, huge, huge animals. Dana Lewis : (10:58) Yeah. Yeah. That's incredible. And I mean, there's so much going on and even big buddies too. I mean, as the rivers flow into the great lakes that, you know, they've been, they, the, the water levels have been, I've been falling. Um, there's a lot of fish farming going on, which adds to huge pollution inside the great lakes as well. Um, and, and overfishing, although, you know, some people saying in the pandemic, there's actually been some positive things and that is, there's been less tourism and less people putting pressure on the ecosystem. Jeff Opperman WWF: (11:30) Well, yeah, there's a lot of interesting stories that come out about how our presence, um, affects animals and their behavior. And this was, I think one of it is one of the interesting insights, um, uh, you know, just our presence, just the sounds that we make, uh, the boat noises, the movements, uh, species, adjust their behavior to avoid those things, realizing that, you know, our presence does influence and hopefully there's ways that we pick up important insights from that. Um, and you know, it's important that we're also, people are out enjoying lakes and rivers and fishing and taking advantage of all that because we need people to, to really be connected, another form of conductivity. We need people connected to their lakes and rivers. Uh, but if we have insights about how, you know, movements or, or people's behavior can be adjusted to make it better for, uh, for, uh, animals, that would be great. Dana Lewis : (12:24) Is there a way to just not talk about this, but if you were to press the button and give me your headline solution, um, that probably on the top of your list, what we need to do right now, like yesterday to save these species, what is it? Jeff Opperman WWF: (12:45) Um, let's see. We can have a, um, a headline that says, um, solar panels save migratory fish. And, you know, that might be a bit of an unexpected headline, but what I'm talking about here is, is, and I keep talking about is this idea of, of migratory fish and large fish. They need room to roam. They need the conductivity that he feel swim up rivers. Um, and the, the biggest source of fragmentation of big rivers has been hydro-power dams. Um, and there are still thousands of hydropower dams planned, uh, in represent around the world. So only about a third of long rivers are still considered free flowing, meaning they're not fragmented by dams. And many of them Dana Lewis : (13:30) Is that like over the last hundred years or so, or that we've, Jeff Opperman WWF: (13:35) Yes, I would say because I'm capable of fragmenting, a big river has only been possible, uh, since the early 19 hundreds, if we start thinking about, you know, Hoover dam at its time was the, this incredible engineering accomplishment for, cause it was a big dam on a big river. And so since then the 1920s, 1930s, um, there have been dams we've damned most of our major rivers, most of, you know, Daniel Bryan, most of Europe's major rivers. And so if you look at a map of the long pre flying rivers, those that remain are in the Amazon basin, they're in the Congo basin. There's a few in Asia. And then in the far North in Siberia and flowing towards the Arctic ocean where there really aren't people, but where there are people, uh, it's really the tropics that we have these long free-flowing rivers. That's exactly where the proposals for future hydro-power dams, the tributaries of the Amazon, the Mekong river, the Irrawaddy Burr. Jeff Opperman WWF: (14:31) These are also the rivers that still support huge migratory runs of fish. Uh, and, and, and the big freshwater megafauna, the giant catfish, um, and hydro-power is increasingly less competitive as a source of energy compared to wind and solar because their prices, their cost has dropping so precipitously. And there's been a range of battery storage and other storage options and grid management, it's call it the renewable revolution and this renewable revolution is making it so that countries don't have to make this really tough decision. Do we dam this river to get a lot of electricity, but we lose all the, so many of the values of this river often displacing, you know, big lots of communities and farmland, but fragmenting the river and losing the fisheries countries. Don't have to make that trade off anymore because we have a lot more, we have a lot more diverse sources of low carbon energy now. So that would be my headline. You know, solar panels saves the catfish or something like that. Dana Lewis : (15:30) I was just talking to a security expert this week, um, on the converging risks of, of, uh, of ecological disruption. And that's what the council of strategic risks in the, in the United States, I'm going to run that interview together with yours. But it's interesting that they're saying, you know, it shouldn't be a conservation conversation that takes place outside of all the other critical, uh, organizations of government now, because these big con conversations about conservation, because they're not being had in the right places. What you're seeing is threats to national security of all sorts of countries, because it goes beyond just what species you want to protect, but the displacement of people, the lack of water, um, it, I mean, it's, it's threatening the planet. Jeff Opperman WWF: (16:22) Well, this, this report, the forgotten Fisher's report does a really good job of highlighting the nutritional value. The food security value of rivers and dams often are built in one country and then affect food security value of a downstream country. Um, and, and all of that is directly related to stability security. So, yeah, it's exactly, I think we need to not just be trying to get the ministry of environment to be talking about these issues or making decisions, uh, we need to be talking to, you know, the minister is of, uh, of finance and planning and energy, um, and you know, agriculture or the people that oversee food security because the rivers and things like fisheries are fully integrated into the economies and security and stability of countries. So yeah, we need to, we need to not just think that this is about protecting species, which is important is it's central to the, uh, you know, functioning and stability of many countries. And we need to Dana Lewis : (17:21) Support conservation groups and organizations like the world wildlife Federation and, uh, and, and, uh, Jeff Offerman for his, his work in there. But, you know, one thing, a lot of people don't know about Jeff, which I've now learned about because of the person from the WWF told me that you have put together a history of beer through beer labels. And I actually, because I had a few minutes before, before the interview took a look at it, and, uh, your research has obviously flawed because I did see any Canadian Jeff Opperman WWF: (17:50) Beer in there. I have right above me here. I have my collection of, uh, of river and fish themed beer bottles. I do have a Canadian one. Um, I think it was a little complicated because it, it, it had a hydropower dam on the labels. So it's a river themed, but yeah, I wasn't sure if I could work into the conservation, you don't remember the name of the beer dude. It might take me a second to find it Dana Lewis : (18:19) Worry, don't worry. I know it's a long list. And then you have also on YouTube put together a list of river song. Jeff Opperman WWF: (18:27) Well, I think the, both the beer labels and the river songs, what they speak to is this incredible intertwining of culture and rivers from time immemorial. Uh, we are river species. We are river Valley species. That is where, uh, the first settlements occurred. That is, they've always been the areas of incredible productivity, whether it's fishing or, or waterfowl or, or during the dry season at transportation. Right. And, and so really we as civilizations grew up around rivers. And so I, you know, I sort of reflected, uh, we, we paint our oranges or origins. And so that's why we put it on our beer, our beer labels, it's, it's reminding us of where we come from. We come from, you know, uh, people settled along rivers to brew beer and we wrote songs about it. Yeah. So there's the, the, the number of songs about rivers is really quite amazing. Go sit on the road Dana Lewis : (19:18) Bank and have a beer and sing a song and don't build a bloody band. Jeff Opperman WWF: (19:24) Yeah. A lot of ways to connect to your river. And, uh, and if we can avoid disconnecting our rivers, that's, that's a bonus Jeff Dana Lewis : (19:31) Men from the world wildlife Federation. Great to talk to you. Thanks. Jeff Opperman WWF: (19:35) Yeah. Thank you. Great. Yeah. Great to talk with you. Dana Lewis : (19:42) Joining me now is rod Schoonover the author of the report, the security risk that binds us. Hi rod, you're in Washington, Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (19:49) I'm in Washington. Happy to be with you. Dana Lewis : (19:52) You were also the former director of environment and natural resources at the national intelligence council, right. Jeff Opperman WWF: (19:58) It really interests me that we now begin to look at ecological disruption, uh, and Dana Lewis : (20:07) Networks that you talk about fraying, eco ecological networks as security, risks, nation security risks, right? Why is that? Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (20:19) Well, I mean, it has to do with, uh, human's relationship with, uh, with the, with the planet that's changing under our feet. And so basically, uh, you know, the, the overarching concept is that humans, human activities are producing new and, and rapid and foundational changes across multiple art systems and the atmosphere, water the ocean, and in our biological systems as well, Dana Lewis : (20:53) You wrote the U S and international security communities need to treat ecological disruption and climate change as conduits of national security threats, rather than mere environmental concerns. We always looked at these as some kind of security threats in the sense that, you know, there have been tensions over water and between States and, uh, sure. In migration people displaced generally because of environmental issues. Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (21:21) Sure. So, I mean, certainly some parts of that, like water, uh, and, you know, some elements of, of climate change easily enter into the typical security doctrine, right? Like, uh, people can think about water security issues because they understand that people and nations have tensions over, uh, over water shortages or water stress. Um, so yeah, certainly water, uh, the water story is not new, but I think a lot of people don't look at, um, deforestation or fisheries declines, or, you know, extinction rates of organisms, uh, as being anything more than an unfortunate, uh, phenomenon happening that may or may not have an effect to people, uh, in this country and others. Dana Lewis : (22:19) And you're telling them, and you're telling governments, if you are not an environmental leaning government, you better wake up anyway, because this can affect the security of your nation. Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (22:31) Right. And not just be just to be clear. I mean, although it is easily discussed in a, in an environmental framework, I don't really see it that way. I see it as a, uh, a set of issues that said the stresses that are affecting people, societies and the systems that they're dependent on. And so, um, you know, in terms of economics and labor and food security, uh, these are all issues that, um, countries, national leaders not only should care about, uh, they do care about it, but they'd often don't tie these things together. And so, you know, you very, you know, if you're, if you've read news stories, um, you know, you can, you can see, you know, every couple of weeks a story about some bad ecological thing happened, and you see some report about just this morning about, uh, something like a third of freshwater fisheries are in jeopardy of extinction. Uh, the consequences to people are enormous. And so, you know, it's just about, uh, you know, helping security, uh, officials and policymakers and the general public make those connections. Uh, these are not just the purview of the, you know, um, headlines and national geographic or some other environmental press. These are things that will affect people Dana Lewis : (24:12) When you look at things like snow storms in Texas, or, you know, forest fires in California. Um, you know, you guys can't even agree on that in the United States and, and unite a country on those issues. Um, how in the world do you get kind of global consensus when these, these issues are often just politicized when somebody blames, you know, once Washington blames the state or, um, you know, they w one party, uh, blames the others, environmental, uh, you know, uh, promotion of, uh, of, of green power. Um, and it becomes really politicized, right? And, and there should be consensus, there needs to be dramatic consensus to move forward on some of this, Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (24:58) Right. I mean, it's, you're, you're putting your finger on an enormous problem that we have in terms of, uh, basic statements of fact, uh, being politicized. Now, I, I think there's probably some reasonable disagreement on, you know, the environmental underpinnings of the, you know, that we are Texas, uh, freeze out, but in terms of things like wildfires and, uh, you know, pandemic origins, things like that, I think the more that we Hugh to science and we need science in the, you know, the, the nonpartisan, uh, underpinning of science more than more than ever. And so, uh, but I agree it's a problem. Um, and whether it's, you know, disinformation or information balkanization, or, or what have you, uh, I think it's a great problem of the coming decades. If we can't agree on the, you know, the problem set, it's hard to move to a solution set. Dana Lewis : (26:08) That's a, that's a great way to put, uh, this perplexing and disturbing, you know, disinformation age, especially in the U S right now, when, when you try to talk about things like global warming, and the fact that, you know, Biden is reentering the Paris Accords. Uh, meanwhile, the Republican party to a large degree is still in denial of global warming and that, that, you know, more than probably any other lightening rod, and I should be asking you, I'm telling you, I would think that more than any other lightening rod has the ability to displace huge amounts of, uh, economies and cause great insecurity around the globe. Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (26:48) Right. I would just add to that, not just has the capacity, but, um, at least a certain amount of that, uh, is almost certain to transpire. And so you, we know, uh, you know, irrespective of which policies in terms of greenhouse gases and, you know, other things with climate change, we know that some fraction of that is going to transpire. And so it's really incumbent on security officials and policymakers to do something about the, the change that is coming. And one thing I will just add, um, you know, I spent a decade in the intelligence community and I did, um, more than my share of briefing of, uh, officials, uh, in both democratic and Republican administrations and also on, on, on the Hill. Um, there's a lot more common ground than I think people realize, um, especially younger, uh, people, uh, even when they're Republican, they very often, uh, embrace, uh, you know, the science and want to do something about it. And so I, I think that Dana Lewis : (28:10) There that cause a lot of us feel that, you know, people are living in denial and in Washington, some of them, Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (28:16) Some of them, I used to joke that, uh, I had never met a climate denier in Washington, uh, when the doors were closed. Um, uh, but when the doors were open and the cameras were on, it was a different story Dana Lewis : (28:32) And they did that because of industry and lobbying pressure. Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (28:36) Well, I mean, uh, presumably I mean, you never know what motivate motivates people to take one position, uh, you know, publicly and another one privately, but, uh, you know, certainly, uh, you know, the way that our politics are run in the United States and you know, how, uh, money fuels it. Uh, I suspect that's part of the, part of you Dana Lewis : (29:01) Alarmed at the pace at which we're seeing what you called biological annihilation, and there's a long chart in that report. Um, right. When you go through some of it, are you, are you alarmed at the, the pace, just not, you know, in, in the last 10 years, but even in the last few years, as we're getting better at charting, some of this it's some of the stuff that's pretty shocking, Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (29:26) Right? Well, so, uh, the term biological annihilation, isn't the one that I use. It's actually yours by some pretty preeminent ecologist. And, uh, when I read it, when I was still in government, I read the scientific paper. Uh, it just shook me. Um, you know, when you work in this space, you're aware of general global trends, um, and, and ecological trends. But, uh, when you read that kind of language, um, by people who have devoted their life to studying ecological systems, uh, it's very, uh, you know, for me it was, uh, very, uh, sobering. And so yes, I am alarmed, um, by extinction rates. Uh, you, you hear many, and you can read many scientists argue that we're entering our, you know, at the beginning of a sixth mass extinction, if that's true, we're in deep trouble, uh, and it will have more than just affects on societies and nations. Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (30:34) I mean, we're really creeping up on existential, uh, you know, crisis the thing about a night about, uh, extinctions of species and populations and, you know, buyer diversity loss, and a lot of those, uh, uh, issues as, uh, you know, the rebound, if we, you know, as societies quit doing some of these, these practices, the rebound is quite rapid, right. If, if we cut down on deforestation, cut down on the wildlife trade, cut down on overfishing and, uh, over logging, uh, nature does rebound. In fact, uh, I think we should see this kind of policy and these kinds of actions as a way to bolster our, um, resilience against, uh, you know, climate change, pandemic risk, uh, you know, et cetera, these other threats, uh, this is one that has a direct human, uh, fingerprint on it that, uh, you know, if you're looking for solutions, you just dial, dial that back Dana Lewis : (31:45) To you, talk to you about your recommendations in a second at the end of it, because we need to punch it in. But you also talked about, you know, there's a section in there and pandemics and large-scale epidemics becoming more frequent. And obviously you, you take the position that, you know, the, the, the movie we find ourselves in, uh, COVID-19 along with, um, you know, dingy, cholera, Ebola, uh, that these are all, um, how do you say zoo zoonotic spillover events from animals to humans because, uh, of, of these security threats of, of the environment? Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (32:24) Yeah, I mean, basically human activities are increasing the human wildlife interface, and there's a tremendous amount of microbial diversity and the natural systems as we, uh, as we, uh, cross into and lower that threshold between human wildlife and humans and wildlife and livestock. Um, then we expose ourselves to, I think scientists estimate something like 1.7 million under undiscovered viruses that animals and mammals and birds Harbor, and that cannot just pass to us directly, but pass through our, uh, you know, our, our livestock systems. Um, I think a report by the, uh, by IPUs the inter-governmental platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services said they estimated in a special report a couple of years ago that something like, uh, 850,000 viruses could infect humans only. And so, you know, I think it's really incumbent on policymakers and the public to see, to accurately see the, uh, the environment that we're living in, which is one of increasing infectious, uh, human diseases. Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (33:58) I mean, we should see COVID-19 as one in an increasing pattern of, of infectious disease risk. And, uh, there's another one looking around the corner. Um, and so we really need to get our act together and understand, uh, not understand the pathogen space, but also, uh, decrease our exposure. And, you know, there's some easy things to do. Uh, but you know, it takes countries talking to each other and it talks, and it takes, um, you know, leaders, uh, doing, doing those kinds of things. But, you know, I, you know, a lot of these issues like the wildlife trade, uh, pandemic risk in the United States are largely bipartisan and they are historically bi-partisan. And so there, there are, uh, opportunities for these, uh, you know, both sides of the aisle to work together if they decide to do so. Uh, but I have found over the years that, uh, the Republican party to be quite strong on, uh, conservation and wildlife and, uh, you know, these sorts of issues. Dana Lewis : (35:18) So some of the things you talk about as heightened action from the us Congress and the executive branch to combat ecological and national security disruptions, what does that mean? Can you translate that into something that a little more digestible you're saying that the government should do Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (35:35) Well? I mean, in terms of, um, you know, Congress, uh, the major function that, that Congress can play in this role is funding. Um, one of the, you know, I look at this issue, I don't see, uh, this as an environmental issue that we're just marketing as a national security issue to get more, uh, you know, eyes on it and get more attention to it. Uh, you know, I've looked at this issue for quite some time. It worries me deeply. I see it as a, uh, as a security risk as a societal risk. Um, but when you look at your marks and you look how budgets are drawn in, in the us Congress, um, you know, it's wa it's woefully low for, especially for the return on investment, right? So, you know, uh, things that, you know, like, uh, Marine protected areas or protected areas, which we can see as a completely, um, normally would view as an environmental preservation, uh, action, but the security payoffs are, are enormous, uh, in terms of what I just laid out in terms of pandemic risk and affects the human security and, uh, affects on political stability. Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (37:01) And so we need to increase funding for what has historically been considered environmental issues. I think we need something like a tenfold increase over 10 years, uh, in this space in terms of international conservation, uh, disease, ecology, and pandemic, uh, uh, prevention, and then the executive branch, uh they're they largely treat these issues as, as environmental issues. They, they, they don't typically rise to the level that you would involve the secretary of defense, the secretary of state, or the CIA director, but the effects on people and the effects on, uh, on the stability of nations, uh, argue is that it needs to be elevated in terms of, uh, executive branch action and task force and, uh, and ultimately action. Um, so internationally and domestically, Dana Lewis : (38:09) I mean, if you don't have their attention now on pandemic issues, you'll never get it right. And although some of them still living in denial and di and debate about what the cause of the pandemic was, I mean, it's, it's hard to make an, exactly an ecological ecological link because we still don't know the sources of the outbreak. Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (38:33) Yeah. I mean, the thing is that if you accept, um, you know, COVID 19 is a worst example of, you know, we've had SARS, we've had HIV, we've had chicken Guna, we've had Zika, we've had murders, uh, you know, these are well-established, you both sell anodic and Ebola, of course, two rounds of Ebola. Um, these are well known, established pandemic, uh, of zoonotic origin. And so for me, just, I think are evidence of some other explanation from, you know, uh, other than zoonotic spillover would have to be really, really compelling, uh, to, to, uh, pull us away from what I think is a much more obvious, uh, explanation. Uh, but in some ways it doesn't matter whether, you know, where it came from in terms of its effect on people. I think what it's shown, uh, is a, uh, is the power of, you know, a unseeable, uh, piece of genetic material to bring massive social and economic disruption. And, you know, in the intelligence community, you know, we, we warned about, uh, these events, we warned time and again about, uh, pandemic risk. Um, and so, uh, you know, I was in the intelligence community dealing with both, uh, avian flu, uh, mirror's middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, um, Zika, uh, I left before COVID 19 really? Uh bruited but, you know, I can tell you that, uh, it's, it seems to be a low level issue in the security world until it happens. And then it's the most important thing. Dana Lewis : (40:41) Yeah. It brings the economy to its knees there it's it's, uh, th th they just, they just didn't get even genome sequencing, uh, funding and in the U S I mean, the us is far behind other countries, even Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (40:55) It's crazy. It's crazy. Um, but, but one, and th and that's just it, I mean, uh, I predictive in a couple of years from now, there will be people in the security community who will have a hard time convincing senior, uh, policymakers, senior officials that pandemics are a national security issue. I mean, it just, I mean, yeah, uh, even the how disrupt, I mean, uh, as disruptive as this event has been the capacity for people to forget and move on. It's enormous. I, I I've seen this firsthand, of course, COVID-19, uh, is it's many times greater than what I experienced, but even people who were, uh, you know, watching, uh, the, um, just the churn, uh, inside of Africa, you know, a year later, uh, you know, I'm talking about the Ebola, um, uh, epidemic, you know, just a year later, they had moved onto something else. Dana Lewis : (42:02) Is it, um, I guess a hard reality that while people like you are warning that these are national security risks, um, and that you have to change your national security architecture, you have to have, uh, you know, security officials involved in planning for this, right. Um, is it a, is it a hard reality that probably things are going to have to get worse, uh, to drive the point home and, and that the environmental cost, unfortunately, um, in, in the ecological, uh, risks at the same time are, are, are so severe, uh, that we, we may not be able to do 180 degree turn on some of this. Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (42:48) Yeah. It's, uh, um, it's difficult. I think you pinned, uh, that, that's a really a great question, uh, because for whatever reason, uh, and I think it's especially bad in the United States, but, you know, organizations, uh, tend to not be very good at strategic planning and mapping out, uh, you know, scenarios and then acting on that information to steer their way through, you know, rough roads ahead, for whatever reason we seem to need to be in a reactive mode. Um, and, you know, with both climate change and ecological disruption, pandemic preparedness, uh, waiting until it's on you to react is the worst pathway through, Dana Lewis : (43:46) Is there a, is there a better answer, it does it a restructuring of government, um, or do we take it out of government and make climate emergency something different so that we're able to plan in and head it off because we're not going to, we're just going to, we're going to wait until somebody's thirsty before we talk about clean water. Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (44:06) Right. I mean, partially, I mean, there, there's a lot of ways to answer that question, but, uh, certainly, uh, the government is not going to be able to solve these problems by themselves. It will require, uh, other elements, uh, in the public, the private sector. Um, but without the government, uh, we will not, uh, being able to marshal the resources and, you know, the, you know, just the, the will to tackle some of these issues. And it really, I think something like this really has to come from on top. And so the, you know, not to get too wonky here, uh, but in the United States, uh, we have lost the capacity to do long-term strategic planning that, uh, response to climate change response to pandemics toxification of our oceans and, you know, uh, an ecological disruption Dana Lewis : (45:09) Or, Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (45:10) Uh, I think we have moved into, I think it's partly political paralysis, but I also think, uh, you know, that it has not been a priority since, uh, maybe, uh, maybe the Eisenhower years, um, you know, there used to be an office inside of the white house who, whose only functioned. And they lasted in between administrations who focused on long-term strategy, but the, but the government is almost purely reactive now and, and responds to the emergency in their inbox or on the front of the New York times or whatever. Um, and the, there are very few entities in the government who are looking at how the future is evolving. Dana Lewis : (46:03) Well, rod, you know, I mean, I guess maybe the only good news is that when you pull young people in Europe or you pull people in America or Canada for that matter, that these are big issues for younger people. So maybe we'll just throw these guys the hell out until they start understanding that the environment and ecology and what you talk about, the security risks that, that bind us will eventually get driven home with a new generation hope. Hopefully that fire is lit and it doesn't go. Rod Schoonover CSRisks: (46:31) Yeah, I'm, I'm varying, um, optimistic, uh, about, uh, how quickly the, uh, you know, these generations are taking these issues on. And seriously, I think they're seeing it a lot more holistically than I would have expected that they're not seeing it as climate only, or, uh, you know, uh, uh, inequality only there they're able to package a whole number of stresses and things that they see as problematic together. Uh, and, uh, I, I admire that and I, I I'm optimistic my, my three-year-old daughter, uh, uh, needs, uh, that kind of, um, you know, attention and, and, um, really a reprioritization of what's important to people, societies, Dana Lewis : (47:31) Environmental issues. I mean, young people can really relate to them. So rod schoonover, the author of the report, the security risk that binds this, uh, and also, uh, you know, writing that for the council on strategic risks. Great to talk. Thanks. Thank you. Dana Lewis : (47:47) Our backstory on our fragile world changing so fast. Now, we all have to be concerned by the way, it's the world wildlife fund, not Federation. I must've been thinking of the WWF, but this podcast was not about wrestling. Was it maybe next time that's backstory, please share this podcast and sign up for my daily newsletter. Dana Lewis dot [inaudible] dot com. Dana Lewis dot sub stack.com. I'm trying to give you an idea of what to read what's important, any, and all of that. I tried to list the individual source articles, so you can also read them yourself. Thanks for listening. I'm Dana Lewis reporting from London, and I'll talk to you again soon.

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