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dragoneyes618 · 1 year ago

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I was studying in the university in Sverdlovsk in the early 1970s, and it was in the depth of a Russian winter when a fellow university student called Eduard Finkelstein asked me, “Suzzanah, do you want to know about Chanukah?”

I had no hesitations. That shiur about Chanukah became my first Jewish learning experience. Together with another ten students, I joined the local activist group for a shiur, and I saw a menorah for the first time in my life. How many menorahs were there in this distant Russian city? After that first exposure to Judaism, I knew this was what I wanted, and I attended more classes. Yet it was very dangerous.

Soon after I joined, the KGB started to summon members of the group for questioning, and one member was arrested and imprisoned. People stopped coming — only three of us newcomers were determined to stay involved despite the risks. But I didn’t care. This was my entry to another life.

My Jewish roots were strong, despite the frigid Soviet landscape of my childhood. Like my mother before me, I was born in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth largest city, east of the Ural Mountains. Both my mother’s parents were from Dvinsk, home to Rav Meir Simchah HaKohein, but their families were forced by the Germans to leave before World War I, and they wound up almost 3,000 km away, in Yekaterinburg.

In hindsight, the forced move saved their lives. My grandfather had a sister who wanted to return to Latvia, and she and her husband left Russia and went back to Dvinsk in the 1930s. We never saw them again.

When the Germans invaded Latvia, the community of Dvinsk was the first to be annihilated, and there were barely any survivors. In 1941, my grandfather would go to the railway station daily, because many Jews were coming, fleeing Latvia, though they were mainly Jews from Riga, who had some time to flee. His sister never came. My mother had the last picture she sent, with the news that they had grandchildren, and I have given the picture to Yad Vashem.

My grandmother told me that when they arrived in 1914 some of the locals came out to look at them and asked where their horns were. I presume that is what they had heard in church, or perhaps the lasting impression made by the Michelangelo statue had reached them, because Yekaterinburg was a city full of art and culture.

My grandparents were both around 17 when they came there, and their families were almost the first Jews to settle in Yekaterinburg. Almost, because there were a few old Jews living there, descendants of the “Cantonist” Jewish children who were forcibly abducted to serve in the Russian army during the 19th century. Some of them still knew they were Jews, despite their fathers’ abduction at age 12 and the 25 years of service. In fact, I had one Jewish friend who was from a Cantonist family.

In 1917, three years after my grandparents’ arrival, Czar Nicholas and his family, the last Romanov rulers of Russia, were murdered by the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg. The Communist Revolution changed the face of Russia, and the city was renamed Sverdlovsk. My grandparents married, and my mother and her siblings were born in Soviet Sverdlovsk.

While my mother was growing up in Sverdlovsk, my father, Moshe Rozhansky, was being raised in an observant family in Kishinev, which is today Moldova. That area was historically Romanian but was ceded to the Russian Empire at certain points. The Russians grabbed it back from Romania in the 1940s, during World War II. They forced all the young men to enlist, but they couldn’t trust these young capitalists to serve in the army, so they had to work behind the lines.

Papa was sent to work in the city of Chelyabinsk, just 200 km south of Sverdlovsk. The labor conscripts traveled by train from Moldova to the Ural Mountains. To get food and water, you had to get off and buy it in the stations along the way, but you could never know when the train would start moving again.

At one stop, the train was already moving when Papa came back, but he managed to jump on. He was making his way back to the front of the train, where his suitcase of clothing was, when someone called “Mussa, Mussa!” (a variation of his name) and began to speak to him. After sitting and speaking a while, he returned to his original carriage to find that bandits had boarded the train, stolen everything, and injured the passengers. So he arrived in the Urals whole, but without any clothing or possessions.

Papa was a very gifted musician, and soon, when there was a choir competition being held among the Russian labor battalions, one of his superiors, who recognized his talents, asked him to arrange a choir. Russians were very invested in choirs and music, and of course, they were very competitive.

“You must come in first place,” the commander warned Papa. They did, and he was delighted. Since he was a music lover, and he understood my father’s caliber, he suggested Papa apply to study in the music academy in Sverdlovsk.

The music students there were refugees from all kinds of places, and some were Jewish. Word was passed around that there were some Jewish families in town who would share food, and so Papa came to my grandparents’ home, where my grandmother would not mix milk and meat. Not that there was milk or meat then; it was wartime, and all that was available in Sverdlovsk was potatoes.

The refugee students didn’t even have potatoes, and Papa had sores on his face from hunger. My grandmother served soup — it was a soup she cooked with potatoes and beets and wild herbs. And there my father met my mother, then a medical student, and they married. His mother, who had been forcibly evacuated from Kishinev to central Asia, did not believe that her son could have found a Jewish girl out there in Sverdlovsk until he showed her their kesubah. I have that kesubah still, a small piece of paper, signed and witnessed as a kosher marriage.

Kept in the Dark

I was born a Soviet child. Naturally, I was a member of the Soviet Youth Pioneers group. You had to be a member. There was so much fear of Stalin and his Communist brutality against religion that I was not allowed to know that my grandfather went to the synagogue. When I was young, I knew nothing about that part of his life. Unlike some others who grew up in Russia, though, I always knew I was Jewish, thanks to my father’s stories about the vibrant Jewish life in Kishinev, and to my grandparents, who were religious.

Jews were so unpopular. I can remember my friends playing a game, when I was very young. It was a form of cops and robbers called “Let’s Catch the Jews.”

My father was a musician and my mother a doctor, and so we were people of means. We lived well and were the first family in our neighborhood to own a TV. I remember my mother allowing all the children in the building to come over and watch the children’s shows. Yet despite her generosity, the neighbors were jealous of how we lived, muttering that we were rich because we were Jewish.

Our pampered living conditions consisted of one large room, about 20 square meters. The kitchen and bathroom were shared with the other five families on the floor of our building. But that was considered middle-class living conditions in Sverdlovsk.

Although my mother worked long hours, she managed to keep house and cook for us, and she was generous to those who had less. I remember coming home from school one day with a friend. My mother had made borscht, beet soup. When I served my friend, she said she couldn’t eat it.

“Why is it red?” she asked me.

“It’s made of beets,” I replied.

“No, it’s blood.”

“What?”

“You Jews drink the blood of non-Jewish children.”

I was ten years old. When my parents came home, I told them what had happened, and they told me about blood libels, an ancient untruth that runs very deep and is still alive today.

At the beginning of each school year, our class would stand up for the teacher. She would enter and read the names from the class list, and each child would identify themselves by their nationality, standing up to say, “I am Russian,” or, “I am Ukrainian.” I had to stand up and say “Hebraica.” (I am Jewish.) I was the only Jewish child in the class, and the entire class would laugh. One girl asked me afterward, “But how is it possible to own up to being Jewish? Aren’t you embarrassed?” Somehow, I wasn’t.

Our history and literature teachers in seventh and eighth grade spoke about Israel as an aggressor, an enemy state. We were told that the Jewish nation and the Hebrew language don’t really exist, and that Jewish people in Russia needed to learn to become Russians. Our teachers made it clear that Russia was not only the largest country in the world, but the happiest. “The happiest children in the world are in Russia,” they would pronounce.

In my head, I thought, “I don’t believe that!”

“It’s not true that the Jews don’t exist,” Papa told me at home. “The Jews exist and are special, and we do have our own language! But we have to keep quiet about it, because they don’t like us.”

We kept quiet. Only much later, I found out that the Jewish language Papa spoke was Yiddish, not Hebrew.

When I searched for information about Judaism in the — Soviet censored — public library, I came up with very little. There was no Jewish encyclopedia, no how-to books on Judaism. The only books I could find that mentioned Jewish life were the translated novels of some American-Communist sympathizers — historical novels, some set in the Middle Ages, some in the 1920s — that described Jewish family life. The literature, although describing horrible times for our people, was idealized and romanticized to the point where I could see the beauty of Jewish life presented by these insightful and sensitive authors.

Pinpricks of Light

Once, when I was 16, I was at my grandparents’ home. I loved being there; my grandmother was absolutely wonderful to me. Suddenly, my grandfather said, “Suzzanah, you want to go with me to synagogue?”

My grandmother was in shock. “David! What are you saying? She is in Komsomol!” (the Communist youth group). He had let out the secret, and she was terrified I would tell my friends and endanger them.

I wanted to go. I ran after my grandfather and caught up. The synagogue was on the other side of town, a tiny wooden building opposite a big circus. We went inside, and then my grandfather left me in a small room while he went to pray. I sat leaning against something, and suddenly, I had a very strange feeling. It was as if something was falling onto me, then holding me. I felt faint, and at the same time I knew that there was a power in the synagogue, something big, something connected to me. From that time on, I was never embarrassed to be Jewish. I knew I belonged.

I told my grandfather that I wanted to go with him to synagogue again.

“Next year, I will take you again,” he promised.

But when the next Pesach came around, we heard that the shul had been burned down. Apparently, the circus needed space to expand, so the little shul of Sverdlovsk was summarily demolished to create more room.

Later we found out about the fate of the brave rabbi and his family — they were all killed by hooligans. I’ve seen their kevarim near the graves of my grandparents, there in Sverdlovsk.

When I finished school, in the early 1970s, I attended university, studying music and education. I met a handful of young Jewish friends, mostly students of math and physics, who were searching like me. One winter, someone named Eduard Finkelstein asked me, “Suzzanah, do you want to know about Chanukah?”

What I learned amazed me. Even when other people stopped coming because of KGB intimidation, I didn’t care. It was my entry to another life. We were starting to learn Ivrit! We had a country for Jews, named Israel!

The group broke up when Eduard left to Moscow, and another few people made their way to Lithuania. I also wanted to go somewhere where I’d be able to learn more about the world that was opening up for me, so although I had just been offered a prestigious teaching job at the Pedagogical Institute in Sverdlovsk, I applied to move to Riga. I was 27, and it seemed crazy to turn down such a post when in Riga I would be working as a nursery teacher, but actually, I enjoyed working with the young children.

In Riga I became active in Jewish groups. Under the stillness of the Soviet Republic’s paranoid suppression, our secret inner lives bubbled. When my friend Rina and her husband got permission to leave Russia for Israel, I went to Moscow along with her to say goodbye. We met with the refusenik group outside Moscow Choral Synagogue on Arkhipova Street. These strong, proud Jewish people were my heroes.

One of the young men in the group gathered on the street there, Benjamin Fain, showed an interest in me. We met a few times in Moscow and kept up with phone calls when I returned to Riga. In 1976, we stood under the chuppah together, with visiting rabbis from London and Denver as our witnesses.

I found myself married to a man on the KGB’s blacklist.

My new husband was a brilliant theoretical physicist, so brilliant that despite the systemic anti-Semitism in Russian academia, he had advanced to become head of the research team at the Institute of Solid State Physics in Chernogolovka. In 1972, when he became involved in organizing a seminar for refusenik scientists, he’d been ostracized, denounced, and excommunicated by his former friends and colleagues. As he refused to back down, he was called to a meeting at which every single member of the board of Chernogolovka scientists, his former friends, stood up one by one to denounce and vilify him, each one concluding his statement with the words, “In a healthy collective like ours, there is no room for a dishonest, indecent man like Fain.”

The pressure could not break Benjamin’s spirit. He told me he had come to the conclusion that we needed to encourage not only aliyah — physical release from Russia to Israel — but Jewish spiritual and cultural revival. He was part of a small group who understood that it was not enough to rally around “Let my people go!” Hashem said, “Let my people go that they may serve Me.”

From 1974, he worked with Semyon Kushnir and Eliyahu Essas to distribute materials on Judaism throughout the USSR. They wrote a journal called Tarbut, which earned them the nickname Tarbutniks. They also reached out to Jews abroad to make them aware that approximately two million Soviet Jews were completely cut off from their culture, religion, history, and language.

I joined Benjamin in demonstrating and fighting. I remember being at a sit-in strike in the reception room of the Supreme Soviet. Fifty-two people sat there for an entire day. At the end of the day, Benjamin said to me, “Shoshana, you leave, but keep an eye on what is happening — from a distance — and report to my friend Prestin.”

I stayed a short distance away with a friend, and I saw a clerk enter several times to try and clear the building. The men refused to move. Then soldiers entered, three soldiers for each protestor, and they were forced to board buses. I ran to call Benjamin’s friend Prestin.”

Benjamin was driven with a heavy escort of soldiers to a distant Moscow suburb and then, thankfully, released. He told me afterward that Anatoly Sharansky started to sing on the bus — surrounded by those soldiers — “Hinei mah tov umah na’im, shevet achim gam yachad,” and they all joined in.

Just a few days later, the protest was repeated, but Benjamin and I left early with Prestin to make a phone call. Our friends who remained were arrested that day and sentenced to 15 days’ imprisonment.

Just months after we married, Benjamin had the audacity to send out invitations to rabbis and scholars in Russia and across the world to join an International Symposium on Jewish Culture in the USSR in December 1976. The Soviet authorities could not tolerate this, and they stepped up their intimidation of him and his friends with searches, interrogations, and threats.

One day, we were conversing with a friend, Larissa Vilensky, at the Revolution Square subway station. Without a word, some plainclothes policemen and one in uniform approached us. They handcuffed my husband and dragged him up the escalator. Larissa and I were arrested and taken to the police station.

For the next ten hours, I had no idea where Benjamin was. I was shown a search warrant and four KGB men searched our Moscow rental for over three hours, confiscating Jewish materials. One of the KGB agents grabbed my husband’s kippah and taunted me, “He won’t be needing this for a long time!”

At three a.m., Benjamin called me, free.

It took us time to recover emotionally from this arrest and search.

An American journalist asked Benjamin repeatedly as the day of the symposium approached, and the Soviets continued to search, arrest, and confiscate all our materials, “Benjamin, are you still willing to go through with this?

“Yes,” Benjamin said, determined.

“Happy Chanukah to you, Benjamin!” the American responded.

On the day the symposium was supposed to begin, Benjamin left the house at 9 a.m., only to be stopped by the KGB and placed under house arrest for four days, along with most of the key organizers of the event. (The guests they had invited from abroad had been refused visas, with the lame Russian excuse that the hotels were fully booked!) I was also placed under house arrest, but I was allowed to go out shopping for necessary items under KGB escort.

A letter in the New York Times commented on “the frenzied Soviet reaction to the unofficial symposium on Jewish culture this week in Moscow. It seemed… as though all the non-nuclear forces of the Kremlin had been mobilized to halt this fearsome threat to Soviet power. Policemen and secret service agents galore arrested some ‘conspirators’ and forced others to remain at home, threatening them with jail if they left their apartments.”

In Israel and London, Argentina, Mexico, and Harvard University, the academics who had been prevented from coming formed symposiums of their own, placing international pressure on the Russian government.

Dark and Light Fight

While our residence was registered in Chernogolovka, we spent most of our time near our friends in Moscow. That year in Chernogolovka and Moscow carries a whole lifetime of memories. Because Benjamin had earned well as a government scientist up until that time, we still had some money, but other refuseniks had little or no money and had to live off handouts from Jewish visitors from the US.

I remember listening to the Voice of America and Kol Yisrael radio at night, because during the day, the Communists disrupted the airwaves so you couldn’t hear a word.

In the circle of Benjamin’s friends, I met Anatoly Sharansky and Yosef Begun, who began their infamous ordeal in 1977, imprisoned by the KGB as Prisoners of Zion.

(The activists were implicated by a KGB mole who pretended to help them.) There were also dozens of other brave Jewish heroes who are not world-famous but were part of this struggle. My husband, Brailovsky, Kandel, Prestin, and dozens of others, were tailed everywhere by no less than five KGB agents each — if three of them got into a taxi, three black cars followed behind it! — and the courtyard of our building was swarming with men in black with radios.

There was a time when Benjamin was being tailed at his elbow, and the KGB thug complained, “Veniamin Moyseevich, you’re walking too fast today. It’s a strain on my heart!” And all this was despite the fact that they were careful not to write anything against the government in their materials.

I had a difficult first pregnancy that year, with a lot of pain. But the hospital would not admit me for treatment because my husband was a refusenik. The wife of an anti-Soviet troublemaker was not entitled to receive treatment in a gynecological ward in Russia. I lay at home, in agony and fear.

My mother came from Sverdlovsk to be with me, and knowing something had to be done, approached an acquaintance of hers. She persuaded this woman, who was the head of a department at a large hospital — with the help of a bribe, I’m pretty sure — to admit me into the hospital. I stayed in an available bed for a few days, and then, once I was already a patient, she arranged for me to transfer to the obstetric complications department and receive treatment. I left without pain.

Then came the day they arrested Benjamin for more serious interrogation, at the Lefortovo prison in Moscow. He was allowed to come home in the evening, but was summoned repeatedly for a few days. He used a method that an experienced dissident had advised the group — instead of answering verbally, you insist that the interrogator write down all questions and write him back your answers. As you can write much more slowly than you speak, you gain lots of time to formulate answers that don’t reveal anything. He had strength and courage from Hashem, and was not intimidated. After a while, he told the KGB he was not going to cooperate with their investigation. They screamed and cursed — but he walked free.

The Lights Shine On

After that experience, we were shocked in June 1977, when we were suddenly summoned to the visa department. Benjamin said to me, “Shoshana! It’s our aliyah permit!”

“Don’t say it!” I begged, afraid that it wasn’t.

But he was right. The next day we were told, “You have ten days to make your arrangements and leave the borders of the Soviet Union.”

“Perhaps twelve days?” I asked the director of the visa office.

“No bargaining here!”

Our dream was suddenly coming true.

A month after we arrived in Eretz Yisrael, I gave birth to our son in Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah, and eight days later we celebrated his bris.

We left Russia with nothing, like everyone else, but Benjamin had several job offers: From the University of Tel Aviv, the Weitzman Institute in Rechovot, and the University of Haifa. When we arrived, we were met by university representatives who brought us to an apartment in Ramat Aviv.

Something weighed heavily on my conscience; it had bothered me when we said goodbye to my family at Moscow’s airport, but a year later, my parents and siblings and aunts received permission to come to Eretz Yisrael, too. Benjamin never saw his father again, as he remained in Leningrad. In 1983, our second son was born. Our religious lives continued to evolve, and just as we had arrived at our conviction about Hashem’s existence and the uniqueness of the Jewish People, we slowly arrived at full Jewish observance.

For Benjamin, the odds stacked against this included not only the G-dless Soviet mentality, but the atheist approach of the entire Russian scientific establishment in which he was educated. Changing his mindset from viewing science as negating the existence of G-d to realizing that it is the revelation of G-d was the most profound work, the work of a lifetime. His conclusions about G-d and physics are published in his book Creation Ex Nihilo, in Russian, Hebrew, and English (Gefen Publishers).

Benjamin continued his work for Soviet Jewry from Israel, traveling to France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England, and the US to campaign for their rights and freedom, especially for the release of Anatoly Sharansky and Yosef Begun. As thousands emigrated to Israel with the fall of the Iron Curtain, he was well-placed to help the Jewish Russian academics integrate and find jobs in Israel.

Our family spent two sabbatical years in Phoenix, Arizona, where we joined the community, and we were there when Benjamin learned that his father had passed away in Russia. He kept the year of mourning and said Kaddish for him in shul.

Benjamin himself passed away in 2013, leaving a legacy that displays how science and Judaism complement each other and help us understand the world we live in.

And those beautiful menorah lights that I saw in Sverdlovsk now shine on in my home and our children’s homes. The mechanisms of Soviet oppression could not dim the light of our people’s truth.

#history #jewish history #russia #ussr #communist russia #antisemitism #jumblr #judaism

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leifgrandeduchesse · 2 years ago

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Hello ! How was Princess Thyra's relationship with her sisters? I have read that Alexandra & Dagmar considered Queen Olga their sister. Thanks.

Greetings!

That they considered Olga their sister instead of Thyra? I wouldn't put it like that. Olga certainly was their favourite sister-in-law, and all three of them thought of her as their sister.

Due to Alexandra and Dagmar's strong bond, the one each of them had with their youngest sister is often overlooked. Christian IX's family was incredibly close-knit, and they all loved and cared for each other deeply. I think this photograph is a wonderful depiction of that.

Prior to her marriage, Thyra would often visit her sister in England, and what's more, Alexandra played the Cupid's part in Thyra and Ernest's love story. She met him while visiting Alexandra and her husband in Rome, and fell in love with him at once. He, however, distanced himself from her, "dreading [Queen] Victoria's wrath if he married a wife of whom she disapproved. The deadlock was broken by Alix. She wrote to Ernest, telling him that Thyra much wished to see him, and suggested a secret meeting in Frankfurt. Fearing a trap, Ernest hesitated, but Alix insisted, and accordingly, one day in September 1878, Queen Louise of Denmark and her daughters Alix and Thyra drove into Frankfurt, pretending they needed to see an ear doctor. Ernest duly appeared at the appointed rendez-vous. First Alix talked to him, and then Queen Louise, while Thyra waited anxiously in the water closet. At last Thyra was allowed to see Ernest alone. She wasted no time. As soon as he had kissed her hand, she proposed to him herself. Waiting outside the door, Queen Louise became agitated and, fearing that the meeting was a mistake and Ernest was indifferent, pushed Alix into the room. Alix saw at once that radiant Thyra had been accepted and all was settled, but this made Queen Louise even more flustered. 'My God, then she has proposed', she declared, and tried to intervene, but it was too late; the couple were locked in an embrace. When the time came to leave, the Queen had to force them apart." Like a proud older sister Alexandra kept their sister Dagmar up to date about everything, and wrote she stood behind the door 'and saw their parting kiss!!!'.

Dagmar was also concerned with finding her sister a suitable husband. She told their mother that Marie von Flotow [a Russian courtier & Dagmar's lady maid]'s brother hoped to marry Thyra. The idea of having her sister live in Russia delighted her, however, she had doubts about the prospective bridegroom. She added that she would not oppose if her sister liked him, but would not support the idea.

In contrast to her sisters, Thyra preferred and settled for the quiet, less pompous and ceremonial life, which is what she got by marrying Ernest August. They were happy together. She was the one member of the family most often absent from family gatherings in Denmark, and each time a reunion was proposed Ernest August either would not or could not travel. He was extremely reluctant to leave home, which made Dagmar quite mad and she reproached him with selfishness. Still, Alexandra and Dagmar visited Thyra in Austria, and would always complain how much they miss her. When Thyra had her first son, Georg Wilhelm, Alix stayed with her, helping with the infant (like giving him baths and such, they were all very hands-on mothers). In later years, Thyra and her three daughters attended those family gatherings more frequently, though.

Whenever Thyra and her family were present at family reunions in Denmark, the three sisters would share beds like when they were children, play piano alongside their mother Louise, stroll through Copenhagen, and play practical jokes on other members of the family.

Spot the intruder in the second photo! 🤭

Lastly, here’s one of Alix and Thyra I particularly like they're holding hands!!.

Thank you for your question!

#answered #i'm incapable of writing short answers :')

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honeykaes · 3 years ago

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𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐨 𝐀𝐔: 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐈𝐈

warning: mention of cheating, mention of drugs (weed), mention of alcohol

minors do not interact

𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐦-𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞!𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚: I really enjoy my job! You really get to learn about people and their secrets haha. I usually just keep to myself and help out when I can though. You’d never think how much hotel rooms reveal about a person!

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚 𝐈𝐈: I’m originally from Frankfurt, but moved to Berlin as a child. I knew Kaeya, Diluc, and his ex Jean too!! When I turned 10, I moved to Hokkaido with my mother as my parents had a pretty nasty divorce. I actually met the Kamisatos though.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐀𝐲𝐚𝐭𝐨: Ayato is a sweeter guy than he lets on. He always made me feel comfortable when I was adjusting to Japan back in the day. I was pretty close to his sister, Ayaka too! She’s still in Hokkaido. Man, you have to meet her one day! She’s such a kind person.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 (𝐘/𝐧): Haha I usually clean up the messes they make throughout the night. I don’t mind it though. They are very nice conversation and seem to enjoy the breakfast I make them, even though they have a world-class chef at their disposal. I wonder what they would think about some of the things the guys are into though…oof! I can’t even imagine it, haha…

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐗𝐢𝐚𝐨:: Xiao is a real quiet guy. You don’t think much of him until you see his search history. Made that mistake one day. Never again!

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐜: Yeah I heard Diluc and Jean broke up right after Crepus died. Such a shame too. I’m happy he’s starting again with (Y/n). Too bad he has to get through me first hehe!

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞: That guy has fallen hard for (Y/n), even if he denies it. It’s kind of cute to be honest. Just be sure not to tell him I said anything. I’m sure he would give me an earful for it!

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮: Oh, you don’t know the pool guy? His name is Gorou! He usually travels around with his friend until spring comes around. He’s really kind too. I actually just texted him again. He should be headed back to the hotel very soon! Spring break is rapidly approaching us after all…

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐟!𝐊𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐡𝐚

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐊𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐡𝐚: Michelin Stars? Haha, that reward is meaningless to me. I just enjoy the art of cooking. It’s very meticulous and delicate. I like to make all my pieces like a work of art for one to enjoy all the aspects that ingredient has to offer.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐊𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐡𝐚 𝐈𝐈: I got bored of doing the same thing so I began to travel. China, Germany, Russia, the United States—if you can name a country, I probably went there to learn about their food and culture to create Japanese fusion dishes. When that got boring, I got a call from Mr. Zhongli and ended up here.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮: I’m very excited for him to come by again. He also has the cutest little Shiba he takes with him everywhere. We’re very close.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐀𝐲𝐚𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚: Yes…I think their relationship is an interesting one. Ayato I think seems to take advantage of Thoma, while Thoma does everything he says to a T. I sort of feel bad for him, but it isn’t my place to say anything.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 (𝐘/𝐧): Haha, seems like everyone knows about them. They’re just a sweet treat for us all. I’m actually working on a dish for them right now. Would you like to observe? Haha…no I’m not trying to brag or anything, I generally want to show you. Why fight with everyone when you can give everyone an advantage? Hm?

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐈𝐭𝐭𝐨 He was almost kicked out of the establishment from what I heard before he stopped a high-class robber one day. He took them out in only one blow. I’m not sure how one get’s that strong. It’s very impressive.

𝐃𝐉!𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢: Haha! I ended up getting pretty famous after putting my demos up on SoundCloud. Soon that popularity ended me getting a few gigs in Germany before I headed to the Netherlands and England for a while. From there I just toured the world partying with everyone who enjoyed my music!

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐊𝐚𝐞𝐲𝐚: Yeah! He’s been to my show a couple of times. Don’t get high with him though. He actually started crying one time. I was so confused about what to do, I just patted his back until he fell asleep. Poor guy!

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐜: He has the BEST drinks! I’m so addicted. Whenever I get a good payday I just have to waste it all in his bar. I don’t think he particularly likes me though. What?! I never stole anything!...Well, I don’t remember stealing anything at least.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐧: Oof, yeah you heard about the disaster? Jean was a kind girl too, but I guess Kaeya’s seduction was too much for her to handle. Diluc hates talking about her. I almost ended up with a broken nose from my drunken ramblings when I accidentally mentioned her. Okay, I’m exaggerating but he was really mad!

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐙𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢: Oh we go way back! We don’t see eye to eye on everything though. I just want him to let loose a little, enjoy life more. He seems to now with that pretty plaything on his arm, hehe!

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞: I can’t believe he got fired from his job and that old man hired him here! Does he want a similar situation to Osial to happen? Geez…Zhongli just takes way too many risks

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 (𝐘/𝐧): Ahhh my little muse. They sing such beautiful melodies in my ear. You should see just how I managed to do it, hehe. You know I’m actually a pretty jealous guy but man, the sex is way too good for me not to keep hitting it. Plus they’re really cute too! Ahh, maybe I can convince them to just leave everyone in the dust and globetrot with me!

#genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #thoma x reader #venti x reader #kazuha x reader #kaeyatic casino harem au

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goldenslumbersketchbook · 3 years ago

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So here is my Headcanon for a Miraculous AU, Apologies for the wait, I thought I was going somewhere with this but I lost interest rather quickly, sorry.

Jack and Katherine both go to the same school and are in the same class. But to Katherine, Jack is practically invisible as he is too shy to say anything to her. On top of that Katherine doesn’t really want to make any close friends, she says she is only here as a transfer student for one school year.

When not in school Katherine helps North with his toy shop. She lives there as he is a family friend. They sell and invent new toys for the people of Paris. Before North moved to Paris from Russia he was a treasure hunter and found the miracle box and book of miraculous. The box was missing the peacock, the cat, and the butterfly. One day when he was working in his office an akuma attacked the shop. Katherine managed to defeat the akuma all on her own. North decided to share the secrets with her and even gave her the ladybug miraculous for protection. When North showed her the book Katherine was able to decipher some of the spells and secrets.

Katherine would often go on patrols. North would stay home and guard the other miracle box and book. One night while on patrol a cute boy appeared wielding the cat miraculous. She develops a crush but Cat Noir isn’t interested as he likes a girl in his civilian form. The two protect Paris. Occasionally when things become too hectic North will come in and help the two by using the turtle miraculous.

Jack spends his time watching his sister. The two lost there parents at a young age and travel from town to town so they don’t end up separated in foster care. A lovely woman named Emily Jane let’s the two crash at her house as long as they promise to go to school, and help tend to her garden. All seems to be going well until Mary Overland had a breakdown after killing some of the plants in Emily’s garden. She feared Emily would send her and her brother away and ended up getting akumatized. Jack tried to stop his sister when suddenly a flash of light appeared and a strange rabbit man tossed him a ring. He said to Jack “ Kid you best stop her before the timeline gets messy. Use this!” Jack transformed into Chat Noir and stopped his sister…

Bunny is bunnix, no one knows his story but he will pop in from time to time to stop things from getting too messy. Jack was supposed to get the cat miraculous but not for a few more years. Only issue is that Katherine is the only ladybug to find out who hawk moth is. So bunny took a risk and gave Jack the ring in the only year the two would both be in Paris at the same time. He occasionally pops in to stop the world from ending as Jack and Katherine need the extra help. He’s hoping Katherine and Jack will uncover who hawkmoth is soon as it is predicted that the world ends in one year if she doesn’t.

Hawkmoth is none other than Pitch Black. A local psychologist studying nightmares and how the brain processes fears. He uses this knowledge to akumatize people. He is desperate in finding the miraculous to bring his wife back from the dead. He goes into a self isolated depression and soon his daughter Emily Jane moves back in. She brings Jack and Mary overland with her to stay with him to bring some life into his life. Pitch will later confess to Emily about how her mother and how she can be brought back to life with the miraculous. He also tells her that the faster they get the miraculous the faster he’ll stop akumatizing people. Emily reluctantly joins him as the peacock miraculous holder. She figures she can also sway him away from akumatizing children, or causing too much damage to paris.

Sandman gets akumatized often into the sandman. He’s often tired and gets grumpy with lack of naps.

Tooth is also akumatized into the tooth fairy after dealing with disrespectful patients as a dentist.

That’s all I got 💜

thanks again to: @faemorningstar @i-am-the-hero-alfred-jones @icouldntthinkofabetternamesook @spookiestfrost @ave-aria for commenting!

#rise of the guardians #rotg #guardians of childhood #jack frost #katherine shalazar #pitch black #miraculous ladybug au #doodle dump #my art

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whaleofatjme1920 · 3 years ago

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Hai Elsieee! How are you? Im doing great at the moment.

Saw that requests are back open! Could you do Heavy, Engie and Sniper where they spend the holidays? Just some headcanons on what they would do with their s/o on holidays!

(Add NSFW in the end of the day doe 👀)

Heavy, Engineer, Sniper and their Holiday Habits

[GN!Reader]

[Warnings: like, none?]

[AN: Just want the holiday themed requests done before the day is out.]

Heavy

He's back in a pretty Slavic/eastern European dominated region of the United States, a suburb, with his mother and all of his sisters. His mother, after the events of the comics were done, became a US citizen and immigrated to the US. Her daughters are still citizens of Russia (except for Zhanna who by marriage, became a citizen) but they're not planning on settling down any time soon. So, you and Mikhail go to his mother's home and hear their stories of their travels.

You guys do play family games together. It's always great fun because Mikhail's family basically adopts you with open arms. Jane is here too because of Zhanna, and yes, it's a lot of fun.

Mikhail's mother has guest rooms for all of her children that are staying, and you and him are no exception. She wishes the two of you a good night and you both stay up talking, having a lovely night.

Lots of baking,,, like, lots and lots of baking. His mother and sisters also teach you about their food! And you can teach them your family's traditions as well. Eventually, as the years go on, the traditions mix and become a really intimate, familial-wholesome thing.

I don't know how else to say this is a really traditional Christmas that's wholesome and his family includes you in literally everything. Whether you're more introverted or extroverted, used to happy families or coming out of rough backgrounds, they make you feel at home in whatever way makes you most comfortable. You're as much theirs as they are yours.

Engineer

Isn't,,,, Dell's father still alive? We'll say for the sake of this he is. You and Dell go back to Texas to spend time with his father on his ranch. Dell lost his mother a long time ago, but the memory of her is still very much alive.

You and Dell take care of a lot around the house! And you do spend some time cooking with Mr. Conagher. He's a fantastic chef, and you learn where Dell gets it from. He's so happy to have you as a child in law. He tells you a lot of stories about Dell when he was younger and much more of a trouble maker! You had no idea Dell had that in him.

It's really slow and sweet here. Leading up to Christmas/the Holidays is pretty gentle. There's lots of holiday movies, Christmas music. I think both Dell and his father are Christians and might want to go to church?? Mr. Conagher has returned back to his faith much more in his twilight years. If you're non-religious or of a different faith, don't worry! It's no problem for them and they won't force anything on you.

yeah cookies are gonna be made a lot. There's so many you'll be eating them well into the new year. You and Dell also decorate the ranch a bit! It's much more cheery.

Lots of naps. Like, lots and lots of naps. He works really hard when he's at Teufort, and his body is finally catching up on the sleep lmfao. Just lay on his chest and nap with him. It's really wholesome.

Sniper

If his parents were still here, the two of you are going back to Australia! Mundy's parents are so thrilled you're here, even if his father isn't really showing it. He's happy you're here, he's just kinda,,, bad at expressing his affection lmfao. His mother though?? Oh she is all over you. Loves having you around and wants to teach you EVERYTHING. Also it's a bit jarring to hear how much they both swear considering Mundy himself doesn't swear so blatantly??

You're invited to decorate this tree that they have. It's plastic, even though they'd like a real one - but Mr. Mundy ends up telling you stories about Mundy when he was a little ankle biter. He's smiling and laughing, reveling in his son's slight embarrassment. But you can tell how proud of him he is.

Lots of baking here too. You also spend a lot of time with Mrs. Mundy and help her around the farm. Lots of small chats over coffee with Mr. Mundy. It's pretty chill here as well. I feel you guys all go window shopping together. It's sweet.

Mundy isn't absolutely crazy about the holidays but he's happy to be with people he loves. It's a pretty relaxed Christmas. Music is played in the evenings, and the two of you star gaze a lot. Look, Mundy likes star gazing I don't know what else to tell you.

It's like Christmas/the Holidays without actually feeling like it's Christmas?? Like, it's pretty festive and fun but at the same time, lowkey. There's a really nice family dinner on actual Christmas and present opening in the morning. The gifts his folks get for you are bizarrely personal and sweet despite them barely knowing you except from what Mundy tells them?? If you give Mrs. Mundy any jewelry she's not going to stop wearing it lmfao. Mr. Mundy is just happy is son found a good one. Anyways, visit them in Australia often please-

#tf2 headcanons #tf2 heavy headcanon #tf2 heavy x reader #tf2 heavy #team fortress 2 heavy #tf2 engineer headcanon #tf2 engineer x reader #team fortress engineer #tf2 engineer #tf2 sniper headcanon #tf2 sniper x reader #team fortress 2 sniper #team fortress 2 sniper x reader #tf2 sniper

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natache · 3 years ago

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Ita Rina

First and Forgotten Yugoslav Film Star who provocated Gestapo

Ita Rina was born on 7 July 1907 in the small town of Divača (then Austro-Hungarian Empire, later Yugoslavia, now Slovenia) as Italina Lida Kravanja. She was called Ida Kravanja for short. She was named after a journalist Finzi Haydée, Jewish family friend from Trieste. The first daughter of Jožef a railroad worker and Marija Kravanja, Rina had a younger sister Danica. Shortly after the outbreak of the World War I, the family moved to Ljubljana, where Rina matriculated in 1923. She was not a good student; she repeated the third grade of elementary school. However, her dream was to be an actress.

In October 1926, Slovenski narod (Slovenian People) magazine organized a beauty pageant, and Rina entered the competition. She was crowned Miss Slovenia and was to travel to the final event for Miss Yugoslavia, which was supposed to be held on 20 December 1926 in Zagreb. However, her mother did not want to let her go to Zagreb. After a group visit from the Slovenian delegation, Marija Kravanja relented. Unfortunately, when Rina arrived in Zagreb, the jury was already choosing the most beautiful of three finalists. She was, however, noticed by Adolf Müller, the owner of Balkan Palace cinema in Zagreb. He immediately sent her photographs to German film producer Peter Ostermayer. As her mother did not want to let her go to Berlin, Rina ran away from home.

Her escape was enabled by a family friend, a painter Alojz Malota and his wife Hedvig Šarc. They invited her to come with them on a trip to Austria, and instead she went to Berlin. She has said that she felt very lonely and scared during the train ride and thought about returning home.

“That was my longest and hardest journey. I huddled myself in a corner of a coupe and looked around myself in fear. I only knew few words in German...”

Rina arrived in Berlin in 1927. Shortly after she had her first audition, following which she had classes in acting, diction, dancing.

"They would shine a spotlight on me" she later said "cameras would buzz. There were cables everywhere. Some complete strangers would stare at me, whispering amongst themselves. They told me to scream, to laugh, wave and cry. I think I looked most natural in scenes where I was crying. All I had to do was remember how far away from home I've gone and how I've deceived my mother."

"You don't know how to walk!" a director was yelling. I've dedicated all my strength on walking as gracefully as possible, and I thought to myself "how's it possible that I, who have climbed Triglav thrice, all of sudden am incapable of walking." I must admit, first few steps on film were harder than any danger definitely mountaineering.

After several small film roles in 1927 and 1928, the critics finally noticed her in the 1928 film The Last Supper. The same year, Rina met at a Yugoslav embassy party, her future husband Miodrag Đorđević, a shy engineering student from Belgrade, son of a general director of the Royal Post Office.

He asked her out to dinner in a little more upscale restaurant. What he would find out later is that his students account was not enough to pay for the meal. He went to the phone in an attempted to call a friend who could lend him money. Ita figured out what was going on, and since she was already rich, secretly passed him a few bank notes, to spare him the embarrassment. She always liked him, and they understood each other well.

Around that time newspapers in Yugoslavia started to sensationalize her love life, as a counter she published an open letter.

Cenjeni g. urednik!

Vsikdar sem bila ljubeznjiva napram g. dopisniku Vašega lista. Želela sem na ta način izražati simpatije, ki sem jih gojila do “Vremena”. Toda nežentlementski dopis Vašega dopisnika od 15. t. m. je zlorabil to mojo ljubeznivost in me prisilil, da Vas naprošam zaradi istine za uvrstitev naslednjih vrstic: Prišla sem domov na oddih, da se pripravim za bodoče delo, ne pa da se zaljubljam kakor goska. Zaradi tega ne potrebujem nikakih senzacij, zlasti pa ne senzacij, ki gredo preko meja dopustnega. Čudim se prostosti, ki si jo jemlje g. Ambrož, da izmišlja kar imena mojih idealov. Prava senzacija bi bila šele, ko bi g. Ambrož nekoliko srečneje uganil moje ideale. Kar pa piše g. Ambrož, je bilo doslej meni in vsem mojim znancem docela neznano. Odpotovala bom tedaj, ko me pokliče novo delo. Senzacijonalni odhod avtomobilov itd. je prosta glupost.

Da končam. Žal mi je, da se je edini g. O. Ambrož smatral za najpametnejšega od vseh tukajšnjih novinarjev in da je segel po tako nehvaležnem poslu. Naši javnosti je treba servirati resnico o mojem delu in moji osebi, ne pa glupih izmišljotin. Prejmite g. urednik izraze itd.

Ita Rina.

Her breakthrough into European stardom came after taking a role in a controversial film Erotikon by a Czechoslovakian director Gustav Mahaty. As soon as she read the script about a seduced and then abandoned daughter of a guard of a railroad station, she understood it as her big chance, and she was right.

Erotikon premiered in Prague. Czechoslovakian censors cut out the scene of her giving birth to a child, but the movie garnered great success with film critics and audiences across Europe. At the premiere in Paris in Moulin Rouge and the film goers carried her out of the theatre on their hands.

The films success angered the puritans. Especially the french catholic theologian, abbot Betteleme who wrote: "... First, they lie next to each other, and then one to another ... It is true that the cover hides their figures, but it certainly does not hide their movements... The protagonists are shown in particularly long shots, especially Ita... A viewer can recognize her excitement, then her expression of anxiety mixed with longing, then the pain and at the end... I blush while describing the scenes". He went though streets of Paris tearing down the posters that were plastered all over. That only raised the popularity of the film.

In 1930, Rina acted in three films, most notable being the first talking Czechoslovakian film Tonka of the Gallows, which is often named her best role. Meanwhile, she married Miodrag Đorđević in 1931. Although she had announced her retirement from her film career, but she actually continued her acting until the outbreak of World War II. Her last prewar film was crime drama Zentrale Rio.

The situation in Germany was getting tense, especially for anybody who was considered undesirable which included actors who were foreign. She left Germany on the insistence of the then ambassador of Yugoslavia Ivo Andrić. In 1939, very close to the start of WW2 every time she went to work or went home, there was a man who sat in the car. In the beginning he was very quiet and she thought he was an assistant of the producer and that he might represent some new custume, a way of saying thanks to the actors. And then he spoke. At first there were talks of the superiority of the German race, but later his changes because more apparent. "I argued with him in that car" she told to the operator in the studio and retold him the whole conversation. "How could you have dared, that man is from Gestapo." said the operator. The story was retold to Ivo Andrić, and he ordered her and her husband to urgently leave Germany. The taping of the film was mostly done. That night they packed all of their belongs. In the morning she taped a few leftover scenes and absconded for Belgrade that same day.

"Only on the road I understood what's going on. Tanks everywhere, soldiers."

They went to live in Belgrade. She didn't act as the war was starting to rage and had her first child Milan in 1940 and thee years later a daughter Tijana. Her in-laws disagreed with the marriage to a controversial actress at first. And they had a permanent table for themselves and their friends at the local tavern.

After the bombing of Belgrade they moved to Vrnjačka Banja. Life during wartime was hard and she laboured and sold all of her possessions to keep family fed. She even rescued her husband from jail where he landed after he, in a tavern proclaimed that Hitler will have the same fate Napoleon did in Russia.

They moved back to Belgrade after the end of World War II in 1945. Although she was promised several roles in Yugoslav films, all projects were cancelled and she was treated unfavorably. After receipt of a letter she had written to President Tito, Rina began working as a co–production advisor in Avala Film. But she soon left Avala Film and moved to Lovćen Film.

She returned to the silver screen once, in the 1960 film War, about nuclear war fallout, directed by Veljko Bulajić. This was her last role. She got her role not though a studio, but through her husband asking nicely.

“Before the shooting of the film War began, I was approached by a very likable gentleman, that was the husband of Mrs. Ita Rine Miodrag, and in a very discreet, shy way, asked if we can talk and during that conversation, suggested to cast Ita. Honestly speaking, I have already completely forgotten about her. There was war, and they she didn't work for a very long time. She wasn't listed anywhere in cinematography as an active actress. I remembered her from her films. I suggested we meet. So we met, I don't know where in Zagreb or Belgrade, I cannot remember, but she impressed me. She made a strong impression, of a smart woman, an actress who didn't want to be in a film for no other reason, but to be filmed. She wanted to know about her role. I really liked that, so we made a deal.”

As she suffered from asthma, Rina and her husband moved to Budva (then Yugoslavia, now Montenegro) in 1967. There, she took care of her husband, who was ill with sclerosis. Rina died on 10 May 1979 from an asthmatic attack during the great earthquake that leveled the capital of Montenegro. She was buried a few days later in Belgrade, in the presence of numerous film artists, admirers, friends and family. Her husband died next year.

Best source is in Slovene here:

#ita rina #slovenia #german cinema #european cinema #20s #fritz lang #german expressionism #1920s #1930 #Yugoslavia #natache

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mariacallous · 2 years ago

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The news outlets Current Time and Siren have learned of new cases of the Russian government violating the basic rights of citizens who refuse to fight in the war in Ukraine.

Current Time recently reported the story of two men from the Moscow region — Alexey Arsyutin and Andrey Marchuk — who received draft orders in late September. After reporting to their assigned military commissariats as required by law, they were sent to the nearby town of Naro-Fominsk, then to Russia's Belgorod region, which neighbors Ukraine. From there, without receiving any training, the conscripts were sent to the town of Svatove in Ukraine’s Luhansk region.

In Svatove, the two men and their fellow draftees were sent to the front line and ordered to dig trenches. They soon came under artillery fire. Arsyutin and Marchuk claim they stayed in their positions for three days with no food or water; by their account, their command left them with nothing but their weapons. As a result, they decided to retreat.

After that, Current Time reported, the conscripts’ relatives complained enough to draw the Russian military leadership’s attention to what had happened — and the men were taken back to Russia in Kamaz trucks.

“As soon as they arrived at the military base in Belgorod, the intense pressure began. They were called [...] every [derogatory] word possible. By the commanding staff. Because they retreated. Because they were supposed to go back to the front line like cannon fodder,” said Ekaterina Belova, Alexey Arsyutin’s sister.

When the officers realized they would not be able to pressure the men to go back to the front, they sent them back to the Luhansk region. The men’s relatives didn’t learn about this until a week later.

“My brother contacted us and said that they were in a basement in [the village of] Zaitseve. They were held there for days. They were read orders to confirm on video that they were refusing to participate in the ‘special military operation.’ Now the guys are being threatened with this video, that you didn’t follow this order. As my brother said, when he was in Zaitseve, there were 250 people there. They're prisoners, plain and simple. Russian captivity,” said Ekaterina Belova.

Andrey Marchuk managed to call his mother to tell her what happened: “In Zaitseve. Luhansk region. Troitske district. They took them to a hole there. There were no amenities in the hole. A lot of guys there, they said, who don’t want to fight. Refusers. They pressured them and pressured them, they’re not signing anything. They don’t want to fight. What is there to fight for, and with who?” said Marchuk’s mother, summarizing what her son told her.

Marchuk’s and Arsyutin’s relatives told Current Time that conscripts from a wide variety of divisions were brought to Zaitseve and held there while officers relentlessly pressured them to return to the front line. Eventually, they said, Marchuk and Arsyutin managed to return to the rear, but they were then sent to the Russian Investigative Committee.

The outlet Siren reported a similar story about conscripts from Russia’s Kursk region who were also sent to the front line before retreating. The wife of one of the soldiers told journalists that the men were subsequently sent to the village of Holubivka in the Luhansk region, where they’re currently being held in a basement that contains 38 people. “They’re asking for help. It’s awful there — there are sick and wounded guys in there. It’s nothing short of a prison,” she said.

According to Siren, the wives of some of the draftees are fighting to free their husbands from the basement where they’re being held. Initially, the women went to the military base in the Belgorod region, where they were told that their husbands were not assigned to the corresponding unit. After that, the women traveled to the city of Starobilsk in Ukraine’s Luhansk region. There, they were able to meet with some of the conscripts, though many are still in Holubivka. The women plan to take the issue to the Russia’s Military Prosecutor’s Office.

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usergreenpixel · 3 years ago

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Frev writing prompts, Part 5! Seriously, I have no idea how I keep coming up with these. 😅

36. The protagonist was born and raised by a troupe of traveling performers. For as long as they can remember, they have been traveling from place to place, never staying anywhere for a few days at most.

The protagonist’s father is the troupe’s flutist and singer while their mother is a puppeteer so the youth has always had a passion for the performing arts and dreams of traveling all over Europe with their big happy family.

Nicknamed “L’œillet rouge” (The Red Carnation) by the troupe as an homage to their father’s favorite flower, the protagonist enjoys playing the flute and singing with their father, as well as putting on puppet shows with their mother.

With a song in their heart, a smile on their face and their father’s precious flute in their hands, the protagonist travels all over the country with their family, entertaining the people of France but never settling down and they like it that way.

But one day, while the troupe is staying in Paris and putting on a rather satirical puppet show which mocks the current regime, the protagonist’s parents are suddenly arrested by the police. Apparently, the father is a dangerous rebel while the mother is guilty of having sheltered said rebel years ago.

The protagonist is convinced that there must be a mistake and decides to rescue their parents with the help of all the other troupe members, including the protagonist’s older maternal half-brother and their maternal grandparents, all of whom are eager to help.

The time is limited and the rescue will be far from easy, but the protagonist will be damned if they don’t at least try to succeed. So, with that in mind, the young flutist and their family start to concoct the rescue plan...

37. Rumors have it that people who have been murdered tend to become vengeful ghosts and haunt their killers to exact revenge.

This is certainly true for Robespierre and his supporters. Unable to find peace, their souls are brought back to the realm of the living, seeking revenge on the Thermidorians.

This particular circumstance is quite convenient for the protagonist, a spirit medium who summons these ghosts and intends to use them as tools in their plan to torment the Thermidorians and avenge their family that got massacred in Lyon, skillfully using the revolutionaries’ restlessness and anger to achieve their goal.

However, soon certain events make the protagonist question the morality of using these spirits. Perhaps the protagonist is no better than their enemies if they are not above manipulating others. Perhaps there’s another way… Nonsense! It’s not manipulation if the other people also want revenge and are dead anyway...right?

38. The heroine of the story, like many other girls of the noble class, grew up and got her education in a convent in her hometown of Caen, France.

As a result of this upbringing, the young woman is rather used to a sheltered life, her idealism is through the roof and she is rather nostalgic about her life in the convent and her friendship with another noble girl, Charlotte Corday, who is the heroine’s closest friend and confidant.

At first the noblewoman wants to stay out of the events of the revolution, dreaming of taking her vows as a nun and living a quiet life in the convent, but those plans are abruptly thwarted by Corday, whose influence slowly gets the naïve heroine deeper and deeper into the mess that is the French Revolution.

Being idealistic, easily trusting, quiet, pacifistic and devoutly Catholic, the heroine initially follows her best friend’s lead and trusts her judgement since Corday is the closest thing to a big sister that the young woman has.

However, when Corday tries to convince her to kill Jean-Paul Marat and end the revolution, the heroine starts having mixed feelings about her friend’s decisions, despite being angry with Marat for her own personal reasons. After all, her faith teaches to forgive, not to judge and take revenge, so now the heroine must make a choice.

Will she betray her best friend and ruin the plan or will she cast aside her morals to help Corday and, presumably, the rest of the country? Is Marat really the bloodthirsty monster that Corday says he is? Is there another way to deal with the situation at hand without any casualties? And what consequences will the main character face for the choice she makes?

39. The main character is an illegitimate son of a Russian noble and a serf (yes, serfs were still a thing in Russia) who got taken in by his father as a “ward” and sent to France to get a good education, as everything French was very fashionable in the Russian Empire at the time.

There, in Paris of 1789, the young man absorbs all the knowledge he can, learning languages, reading the prominent books written in the Enlightenment era and even befriends a man by the name of Maximilien de Robespierre, a lawyer from Arras and the representative of Artois.

Considering that Robespierre was almost born illegitimate, he is the first person in a long time who doesn’t judge the protagonist for the circumstances of his birth and accepts him for him. Excited to be accepted at long last, the young man begins to look up to Robespierre as a mentor and an older brother of sorts, quickly absorbing his ideas and supporting him.

So, naturally, when the revolution begins and the young man finds himself trapped in Paris, he joins the revolutionaries to fight alongside his mentor.

Thus begin his adventures.

40. The protagonist is a child of criminals forced to survive on the streets after losing their parents until they’re eventually taken in by a seemingly sympathetic Jacobin, given a new name, a home and a fresh start in life. The protagonist essentially becomes the revolutionary’s ward and their guardian even takes them to the Convention so the youth can observe the meetings.

All seems good for the protagonist...almost too good to be true. But eventually certain events force the protagonist to wonder if their new guardian truly cares about them.

Could it be that their Jacobin guardian has some sinister motives? And will the protagonist be able to move away from their “bad” heritage and live an honest life at last?

41. Barras is in love. Again.

Head over heels over a pretty servant he recently hired and she even seems to like her employer back. Even her suspiciously strong resemblance to a certain Jacobin who got executed in 1794 isn’t a dealbreaker for Barras and the smitten man writes said resemblance off as a coincidence.

The other Thermidorians, especially Fouché, are not that blind and they fear that a relative of that particular executed man is here to seek revenge. Fouché decides to investigate this seemingly ordinary and harmless young servant, suspecting that she has quite a few skeletons in her closet.

Are these suspicions going to be confirmed or is Fouché simply being paranoid?

42. Thermidor has just taken place. The Jacobins are imprisoned and it seems like the traitors are going to win. All hope is lost for the Jacobins and their enemies rejoice.

But little do the Thermidorians know that by betraying and imprisoning all the men who stand in their way, they have just acquired new enemies - women.

Revolutionary women.

Wives, daughters, sisters, nieces, goddaughters, lovers, wards, friends and sympathizers of the captured Jacobins who are not going to sit back and give up.

Seeing how bleak things are, these women, led by a mysterious woman who conceals her face behind a mask and calls herself “Citoyenne Liberté” (Citizen Liberty), decide to rescue their imprisoned loved ones from the clutches of the Thermidorians.

They’re running out of time, they’re outnumbered and not equipped with proper weapons, but that is hardly a problem they can’t solve and they’re willing to fight against the odds regardless of the obstacles.

After all, Heaven hath no fury like a woman scorned, which is what the Thermidorians are about to learn the hard way.

43. A singer and actress who used to perform in Venice flees to France after a scandal demolishes her reputation. Having only her voice and her acting to make ends meet, for a while she tries to find work in Paris but barely makes enough money for her and her son to survive.

Her only friend and confidant in this bleak situation is a future revolutionary who happens to admire the heroine’s singing and strongly believes that she deserves better. He even bonds with the actress’s toddler son and is willing to step up and become a proper father figure for the child.

Thanks to said revolutionary, the heroine’s life begins to change for the better and she decides to settle down in Paris. Even when she learns about the approaching revolution, she chooses to stay in the only place where she feels like she can belong.

What’s more, the actress finally finds her new purpose in life. She too can fight for the cause of her new partner and his friends, in her own way.

How is a woman whose main talents are acting and singing supposed to be able fight, you may ask? Why, by becoming a spy for the Jacobins and the singing voice of the revolution of course!

And she might just be able to prove that anyone can be a revolutionary and one doesn’t need to be a fighter nor an orator to help a noble cause.

44. A female servant working for Georges Danton has to practically flee the house of her employer after the latter crosses all the possible boundaries while drunk.

Fearing for her safety and profoundly traumatized by the event, the servant is found and taken in by a seemingly sympathetic man who sees Danton as a sworn enemy for his own reasons. Considering that both have a grudge against Danton and the man is a journalist, he and the servant team up to bring Danton down.

Will they succeed? Why does the journalist hate Danton? And is his desire to aid the heroine genuine?

45. Paris, France. The revolution is in full swing.

The Committee of Public Safety has to deal with multiple issues, the ongoing war is depleting France’s resources and the situation seems dire.

What’s more, a new newspaper, “La Voix de la Justice” (The Voice of Justice), began to circulate in the city. While this particular fact isn’t that surprising by itself, the thing that sets this newspaper apart from the rest is the fact that its author is anonymous.

Nobody knows who writes this newspaper but the articles are quite good and this mysterious person has already exposed several people who were using the Reign of Terror as an excuse for their atrocities.

Naturally, all these details catch the attention of Jean-Paul Marat and Camille Desmoulins, two of the most prominent journalists of that time. Intrigued by this new newspaper and its author, the two revolutionaries team up to track that person down, if only to find out who they are and thank them for helping their cause.

46. The protagonist grew up believing that Robespierre is single handedly responsible for the execution of their beloved aunt and uncle and, as a result, believes that the man deserved to be executed for that betrayal.

However, the protagonist is soon forced to question their judgment when their older cousin, Horace Desmoulins, reaches out to them in a letter, inviting them to Paris and claiming that he found evidence proving that in actuality Robespierre attempted to save Camille and Lucile Desmoulins, Horace’s parents.

Although the protagonist is skeptical at first, since Horace has always defended his godfather, they are still intrigued by their cousin’s invitation and leaves Guise to join Horace in his investigation.

Together, the two cousins are both determined to clear the names of Horace’s parents and figure out what role Robespierre actually played in the family tragedy.

47. The five protagonists are all members of a heavy metal band whose name and songs are an homage to the French Revolution.

Previously little more than a quintet of college misfits determined to rehabilitate this particular event and tell the real story through music, the band finally starts gaining popularity after a successful concert at a music festival in Marseille.

And then things take a turn for the unexpected when the band gets into an accident on their way home, only to wake up in Revolutionary France. Naturally, they now must survive and return home but this adventure might just become the inspiration they needed so much...

48. After the protagonist’s father leaves them and their blind mother behind to move to Paris, the protagonist is naturally upset. Year after year, they wait for their father to return but he never does.

In 1789, after losing their mother to an illness, the protagonist decides that enough is enough and travels to Paris to confront their father. To their disgust, they soon find out that their father is now remarried, with a new family and quite rich while the protagonist is basically a pauper. Moreover, the father seems to have joined the revolutionaries, which is something that the protagonist cannot approve of either.

Now the protagonist wants to make sure that their father faces the music for his betrayal so they contact a journalist who is about to expose said father in an article.

A story of one of his enemies leaving behind his first family will be a nice addition to the already existing accusations of corruption, but the protagonist and the journalist soon realize that they are not immune to the consequences of their actions either and this article might cause more damage than they think it will.

49. (A reimagining of Aladdin) After their flute is broken beyond repair, the protagonist goes to a pawn shop to find a replacement for their practice.

It is there that an old ivory flute catches their attention so the protagonist purchases it, has it professionally restored and decides to keep it, ignoring the warning of the shopkeeper that it’s cursed and the suspiciously low price.

The protagonist is a skeptic and never believed in magic, curses and other occult things.

That is until they play the flute for the first time and a man poofs into existence like a genie from a lamp. Introducing himself as Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, he informs the protagonist that he used to be the owner of the flute but is now trapped in it because of black magic.

Despite their skepticism, the protagonist cannot logically explain anything that’s going on but wants to help so they strike a deal with Saint-Just - he is going to help the protagonist win over their love interest in exchange for freedom.

As for how the spell is supposed to be broken, the protagonist is completely clueless but their mysterious neighbor with a knack for alchemy and the occult might be able to help…

50. Lyon, France.

The future Thermidorians mercilessly massacre innocent people and rule with an iron fist. Just today they massacred several prominent noble families of the city for defying them.

However, what the tyrants do not know is that they didn’t massacre everyone, for the daughters of the executed nobles are currently living at a convent to get education, as was common back then.

Upon receiving the tragic news and fearing that these young girls are going to end up on the death list, two nuns, the heroines of the story, come up with a plan to escort the girls out of the city and get them to a different location where they would be safe.

The plan is daring but the risk is too high to sit there and do nothing. Will the nuns be able to keep their students safe?

Let me know in the comments or DMs if any of my prompts interest you! I can help you with certain prompts if you want! 😊

#louis antoine de saint just #french revolution #writing #writing prompts #frev #paul barras #I still refuse to make a fouche tag #charlotte corday #jean paul marat #camille desmoulins #lucile desmoulins

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mersereau · 3 years ago

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Thomas Montagu, Earl of Salisbury, Viscount Monthermer, (1784-1821)

“See that young man who dwells inside his body like an uninvited guest/ See the tunnel twist/ Clutch your birthright in your fist” - Birth of Serpents by the Mountain Goats

Wikipedia-type character bio below the cut.

*Mentions of suicide and drug overdose in the end.

Thomas Montagu, Earl of Salisbury and Viscount Monthermer (1784-1821) was a British Army aide de camp and intelligence officer during the Napoleonic Wars.

Biography

Thomas Montagu was the son of Edward Montagu, Earl of Salisbury and his wife Charlotte Montagu, Countess of Salisbury. The youngest of four brothers, but the one to inherit the earldom and viscountcy due to the deaths of his elder brothers in the American War of Independence.

Upon his father’s death at the Battle of Boxtel in 1794, he assumed the family seat in Yorkshire with his then-widowed mother soon afterwards. He attended Westminster School, and attended Oxford afterwards for a month before purchasing a cornet’s commission in the 12th Light Dragoons in 1800. He accompanied the regiment during the Egyptian Campaign, participating in the Battle of Alexandria and following actions.

He returned to the United Kingdom in 1802, being posted to Ireland with the regiment; first in Limerick, then Dublin, for the next two years. He was then sent to Dorsetshire along with the regiment in 1805, but did not participate in the Walcheren Expedition in 1809, having been appointed as an aide de camp to General Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington, in 1808.

In the Peninsula, he witnessed many of the actions of the war, from Roliça to Badajoz in 1812, even joining in the storm of the town. It was also during his time in the Peninsula that he became involved in the British intelligence network in Spain and Portugal, aiding in the decryption of the Great Paris Cypher and becoming an exploring officer.

After a duel with Major Sir Richard Amcotts, a cousin of his wife, in which Amcotts was permanently and severely injured, Montagu was sent to Russia to join General Wilson’s staff as an official British observer of the French invasion of Russia.

He was called back to the Peninsula in September 1812 and assumed his previous position on Wellington’ staff in January of 1813, and was present at many of the following actions of the war, including the Battle of Vittoria and the Battle of Toulouse.

He returned to Britain in 1814 and married Princess Amelia von Regenstein after his previous wife’s death in 1813. He also fathered an illegitimate child by Princess Caroline von Regenstein in 1814, but the child was claimed by the Prince of Regenstein, the husband of the princess and Montagu’s lover.

He travelled to Brussels to assume his position as an aide de camp to the then Duke of Wellington for the Waterloo campaign, accompanied by his wife in 1815. He was present at the Duchess of Richmond’s ball. He was severely wounded during the Battle of Waterloo, in which the Prince of Regenstein was killed while serving as an officer of the King’s German Legion. He returned to Britain soon afterwards, not accompanying the British Army during the Occupation of Paris, and retired from the army as a lieutenant colonel.

He spent the last few years of his life on his estate in Yorkshire, dying in 1821.

Personal Life

His first marriage in 1807 to Emily Amcotts, the daughter of Sir Richard Amcotts, was unhappy according to many mentions in contemporary sources. No children resulted from this marriage before Lady Salisbury’s death in 1813.

He also had a mistress, Emma Nisbett, from 1807 to 1808, when she died giving birth to his illegitimate child, whom he placed with a different family and had no further involvement with.

His second marriage to Princess Amelia von Regenstein, the younger sister of Prince Frederick von Regenstein, was much more amicable, and two children resulted from the marriage before Montagu’s death in 1821.

Montagu was engaged in a ménage à trois with Princess Caroline von Regenstein and her husband, Prince Frederick von Regenstein, whom he first met in 1794 when the prince, then a count, was residing with his maternal uncle, the Marquess of Houlsyke, in Yorkshire. The two men were lovers from about 1803 to the prince’s death in 1815. However the two were close friends from 1794 to 1803, as can be seen from their surviving letters. Many passionate letters between the two survive from the collections of Regenstein’s wife, who was also romantically involved with him from around 1808 to 1815. Montagu’s relationship with the princess ended upon the prince’s death.

Personality

Montagu was a deeply private man during his life, but some of his personality can be gleaned from various records and papers left that relate to him, or were written by him. Mentions of him in contemporary sources by those not of his immediate circle often described him as cold and impersonal. However, his surviving private correspondence with those of his immediate circle shows the opposite, if not completely.

Death

He died in 1821 as a result of either tuberculosis or an opium overdose. Although a case has been made for a suicide, the specific details surrounding his death are unknown.

#my ocs #thomas montagu #ok to rb #i have so much specific info for these characters that i could very much write a wikipedia-esque article about them and i did #see. those hours of research weren't all for nothing.#also i'm kinda playing fast and loose with some of the dates and historical events here so. yeah. also some of the plot too but you get-#-the general idea #1/3 of a set for the main characters. hopefully. if i get enough motivation to do this same thing for the other two #i know very well that he isn't the best character ever morally. some of the stuff that he does is weird and questionable at best and-#-horrible at worst

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simonxriley · 3 years ago

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OC lore part 1 of 7 for @gear-redfield

Since I have a ton of ocs I’m gonna start off with the ones that are in different fandoms and then work my way through the fandoms I have multiple ocs for. I think I’m gonna do 5-6 HCs for them so it won’t be a mile long. The other ocs I’ll go into more details (maybe).

Riley Sanders (Metro Series)

Has three Watchers for pets, they’re her babies. But there was barely any room on the Aurora for them until they ended up getting the other rail carts. They tend to sleep anywhere they want, mostly in place where they stop people from moving around the train.

She’s not very talkative, likes to keep to herself for the most part. The people she talks with the most is Ulman, Artyom, Anna and Duke. That was until Katya and Nastya joined them.

Being able to breathe fresh air was kind of liberating for her. It made her happy that there were placing where you can live and breathe on the surface, not stuck in the dark, cold and damp metro.

Besides her and Ulman, Nastya was the first of the Aurora crew to hold their son.

Her brother wasn’t with her when that whole issue on the train occurred. He has no idea if she’s alive or not and she vice versa. She’s hoping she’ll be able to see him soon and have him meet his new nephew.

Amazing at stealth. Can sneak by a group or camp in a matter of minutes without killing anyone.

Kenadee “The Viper” Taylor (Ghost Recon)

She joined the US Army right out of high school with her high school sweetheart, Maverick. They married a year later and a year after that had their daughter Addison.

Joined Delta Force at the age of 24. That whole selection process was rigorous but very rewarding.

She has a very happy outlook on life, always bubbly. You wouldn’t think she’s apart of Delta. It throws people off every time.

Lost her husband in the field when their daughter was 5 years old. She retired after that and moved back to her hometown of San Diego where she could raise their daughter in a better environment.

Joined Nomad’s Ghosts five and a half years later. All thanks to Midas, who she met because their kids go to school together.

Carries around a knife coated in snakes venom, only uses it during interrogations.

Anja Kovic (Uncharted)

Was born to Borislav Kovic, a General Major in the Yugoslavia Ground Forces and Svetlana Kovic, a former nurse. Also the younger sister to Vladimir.

She grew up in a highly abusive household under her fathers rule. He had that mindset of the men work and the woman stay home, then add on the strictness of being in a military family.

Wanted to be a nurse growing up but those dreams got shot down when her father married her off to the war lord Zoran Lazarevic at the age of 18.

Marriage to Zoran was horrific, she was just happy he spent more time in the field than with her. His death did not sadden her whatsoever.

Lost her mother to suspicious circumstances when she was twelve. Leaving her and her older brother at the will of their father.

After Zoran’s death she was finally free. She left for Serbia in search of finding her brother and during that time gave birth to her and unfortunately Zoran’s son, naming him Dragan. And yes, she did find her brother and became the nurse she always wanted to be.

Evelyn “Evie” Hazelton (The Order 1886)

Was born to Edith Hazelton and an unnamed father in London, England on October 1st, 1860. (Her mom was a prostitute)

She lived in a brothel up until her mom’s murder. She loved it, to be surrounded with so many women that helped her through her life, gave her advice and helped molded her into the woman she is today.

Sir Percival/Malory gave her a spot on the Order after her mom’s death and she became the protege of Sir Galahad/Grayson. There she learned how to fight and shoot a gun.

The first time she ever saw a werewolf she thought it was a big dog. It was late at night, she was young and couldn’t tell since it was in the far distance.

Has a scar going down her back from being scratched by a werewolf during a fight.

Very protective of the people she cares about. She was the only person who pleaded not guilty during Grayson’s trial because she knows him. She knew he wouldn’t have worked with the rebellion if it didn’t suit a good cause.

Lydia Wilson (Call of Cthulhu)

Her parents were apart of the cult that was trying to bring back Cthulhu. However, they left Darkwater when Lydia was five and moved to Boston.

No matter how much her parents tried to make her forget the past, she didn’t. She still has memories of the cult, what the uniforms looked like, the masks. It never left her.

Started hearing the voice of the Leviathan in her dreams once she hit her late 20′s. Eventually she caught wind of what he wanted and she set sail for Darkwater, a place she hasn’t been since she was five.

Her father ran a tailoring shop and she helped a lot through her childhood.

When she spaces out she has a resting bitch face. It makes her loo unapproachable according to her mother.

The first time she saw the Shambler she though she was hallucinating. That wasn’t the case and she never wants to deal with it again.

Lily (MCU)

Born on the planet Prometheus. A planet cover in lush green grass and waterfalls.

Ever since she was a child she had this fight in her. She use to find a decent sized stick and pretend to fight a tree.

Was married to Thanos for over 20 years. The only good that came out of it were her kids.

Joined the Avengers after Thanos’ death. It was nice to be around people and strike up conversations. She just loved learning about Earth and she would talk about her home world.

She was the first owner of the scepter until it was given to Loki. That made her angry, she really loved that scepter.

The first person she befriended was Carol Danvers because her youngest daughter, Lotus really liked her.

Ashlynn Davenport (Tomb Raider)

Was born into Trinity. Her father was a sergeant in the Trinity army and her mom was a nurse.

She liked her life for the most part, loved her parents and friends, but the more she found out about Trinity and all the harm they do she wanted out. Unfortunately they didn’t happen when she was being married off to the Trinity field commander, Konstantin.

Being married to Konstantin meant moving around a lot, never really staying in one place for too long. Once the mission was done then they moved on. She didn’t mind it, not at first. She liked traveling around and seeing the world, but the stuff Trinity did put a bad taste in her mouth.

Ash can be quite manipulative when she wants to be. It was something she learned from her dad growing up.

She helped Lara take down Trinity from the inside when they were looking for the divine source. No one figured it out, all of thinking it was Lara.

Ashlynn actually loved Konstantin, she just thought his mind was corrupted by his sister and was trying to make him see what was right. So when he died she was pretty pissed and was going to say her true feeling to Ana. Unfortunately the Trinity sniper got to Ana first. Leaving her with a bunch of anger inside her.

Sawyer Monrow (TLOU)

She was 12 at the time of when the cordycepts outbreak began. Her life was pretty great as well and then over night everything changed.

Her family ended up at the Hartford QZ, where her and her younger brother went through military training (just like in Boston) to teach them how to kill infected and other humans if necessary.

Met Joel and Ellie in Pittsburgh. She was with Henry and Sam at the time and after their deaths she stayed with them and made the trek to Jackson.

She can be very standoff-ish at first glance. It’s how she acts in this apocalyptic world, more so to protect herself and because she doesn’t trust people.

Started a relationship with Joel a year and a half later. He was the first person she really let in and was happy for the few years they were together. She even considers Ellie like a little sister.

She lost her family when the Hartford QZ fell. She tried to save her brothers, but couldn’t. That still haunts her to this day.

Phaedra Alexeyev (Werewolf The Apocalypse)

She’s very good at backstabbing and manipulating people. All thanks to her former caern. A part of her hates it, but the other knows how in handy it can be.

She was born at the Shadow Lords Thunderstrike Sept, Ural Mountains, Russia. Close to the city of Chelyabinsk.

Phaedra and Cahal became a surrogate family after they both had to kill a family member.

Always the first ready to jump into the action. When there’s a fight she’s on the front lines, she’s not going to miss out. And she just likes to fight in general.

She born under a full moon making her have the Ahroun Auspices.The Full Moon makes the Ahroun the living weapon of Gaia. They are the warrior among a race of warriors, the champion of a martial people. Ever ready to kill, and to die if need be.

Her name means Bright Defender.

Emma Ross (Stargate Atlantis)

Joined the Marines to help pay for her college tuition. She surprisingly enjoyed it and continued to serve as she got her degree in science.

Lived a very mundane life growing up. Had two wonderful parents, a good upbringing, nothing exciting really happened. Which might have been the reason she joined the military.

The hardest thing she has to do is lie to her friends and family when she was transferred over to the Atlantis expedition. Being so far away from them sucks, but with the Daedalus she has more of a chance to go visit them.

As much as she’s in danger, she’s never felt more alive than being on Sheppard’s team. All the action just makes her blood pump.

Ronon calls her ‘red’ due to her being a red head. She finds it kinda funny.

She’s very friends and loves to strike up conversations whenever she can. Getting to know more people on Atlantis made living there easier.

#gear-redfield #oc riley sanders #oc kenadee taylor #oc anja kovic #oc evie hazelton #oc lydia wilson #oc lily #oc ashlynn davenport #oc sawyer monrow #oc phaedra alexeyev #oc emma ross #long post

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smkkbert · 4 years ago

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Time for a story - Lost in the Floods

To read before: Present tense & Missing & So it begins & Level Two

Oliver didn’t have time to look for a free parking lot, so he just stopped the car right in front of the SCPD precinct. The three officers that had gathered in front of the front entrance were looking in his direction, frowning slightly as it wasn’t actually allowed to stop a car here. The oldest of the officers already took a step towards the car, probably intending to tell the driver that it wasn’t allowed. As soon as he noticed that it was Oliver getting out of the car, he stepped back though.

“Your honor.”

Your honor. Oliver would never really get used to being called like that. He wasn’t honorable, not if you looked back into his past, so he shouldn’t be called that. It was tradition though, and he felt bad for correcting people about it.

The man nodded his head in greeting when Oliver hurried up the stairs to the doors. Oliver remembered him from the day of the earthquake that had hit Starling City a couple of days ago. Just like Oliver, Officer Timothy had been driving around the Glades to help the people that were in need the most. Together, they had found a dozen of dead bodies and helped at least twice as many people out of the wreckage they had been buried underneath.

“Officer Timothy.”

The officer seemed almost surprised that Oliver remembered his name. He probably wasn’t used that the mayor remembered the name of a simple officer. With Oliver, that was different though. He was good at remembering names and faces. He would forever do his best at remembering the people that were fighting on the frontline. They were the ones worth remembering, not the people that were sitting comfortably behind their desks while others were risking their lives.

As soon as Oliver had crossed the doorstep, he saw Dominic. He was standing at the counter, his hands pushed deep into the pockets of his pants. Some colleague, a young guy that Oliver didn’t think he had ever met, a rookie maybe, was talking to him, but Oliver could see in Dominic’s face that he wasn’t really listening. He just let that colleague talk to him while he was waiting for Oliver, sparing the energy it would cost him to tell that guy to go away. There was no energy to waste. It was all needed to find Felicity.

It took a moment until Nick noticed that Oliver was there. Once he did, he brushed his colleague off with a quick excuse that Oliver didn’t understand. Patting him on the shoulder, he brushed past him and took a couple of steps towards Oliver. Instead of approaching him, he nodded towards one of the long hallways though.

Although it wasn’t exactly a secret to anyone here that Dominic was Felicity’s half-brother, they all tried not to make it too obvious. Oliver knew how important Nick’s career was to him. He loved his job, and he wanted to earn his position. It was why he hadn’t been mad when Oliver and Quentin had chosen not to make him Quentin’s successor in the office. He had known that he wasn’t ready, and he hadn’t wanted the position in charge just because of trust he had only really earned by being Felicity’s brother.

Oliver followed Nick into one of the interrogation rooms. He didn’t doubt him about it thought. They were on the same side. Felicity was the only real family Nick had after his mother had been killed by a former friend.

As soon as the door was closed behind Nick, Oliver turned around to his brother-in-law. He had a lot of reason to distrust that man’s agency as there had been a time not that long ago when he hadn’t wanted anything to do with Felicity or their family. He had wanted to live free of the blood ties his father had put on him by father not only him but Felicity too.

Despite the little time they had had to get to know each other, Oliver knew that Dominic regretted that he hadn’t wanted anything to do with Felicity at first. Just like Oliver, he had been through some trauma of his own and, just like Felicity, he didn’t have the best opinion of his father. The combination of both had driven him to travel the world alone, chasing something he didn’t know what it was. Not anymore.

“There has been a raid downstairs after some shops have been robbed,” Dominic told him with lowered voice, “and one of the officers noticed an old caravan parking downstairs in the alley. A team went down. They thought that it belonged to the gang they got busted. Instead, they found Tockman.”

A caravan sounded a lot like where Tockman would set up his control center. He could move it to wherever he wanted, so he could easily be close to where he was playing his game. Although his access to tech probably allowed him to hack into the traffic surveillance and other things, but it wasn’t the same as really being present to where the chaos he had created was spreading and destroying people.

Why had he let himself be arrested though?

Oliver knew that it couldn’t be an accident that Tockman had been arrested. With his knowledge of tech, he knew how to make himself invisible, and he knew how to always keep an eye on everything that was happening around. There was something suspicious about the fact that he seemed to have missed the raid that was going on just a couple of feet away.

“I want to interrogate him.”

Maybe if it was someone else that he was talking to, Oliver would say he wanted to talk to Tockman or maybe question him. With Nick, he knew that wasn’t necessary though. He understood exactly what Oliver intended to do and if the expression in his eyes was any indication, he was feeling the same way.

“I already did that.”

Oliver formed his hands to tight fists next to his body. The nails of his fingers were digging into the palms of his hands. He was sure it was leaving red marks on her skin and maybe even thing scratches. His spine straightened, and his jaw tensed to an almost painful point.

He needed to see Tockman, and he needed to make him tell him where he had buried Felicity alive before it was too late. Only a little more of four hours were left, so there was no time to waste. He would make him tell him, even if he had to beat it out of him.

“Then I will do it again.”

Oliver’s voice was dark and sharp. He looked at Nick urgently, wanting him to understand that he wasn’t going to play the bad cop. Even though he was wearing jeans and a Henley, he would meet Tockman as the Green Arrow. He would make him talk with the skills he had learned on the island, in Hong Kong and Russia. He feared the consequences of letting Tockman get away with this more than he feared his punishment.

Why didn’t Nick understand how far Oliver was willing to go?

“Oliver.” Nick’s voice was incredibly low but all the more dangerous now, a low growl even. “I already did that.”

Only now Oliver realized how full of anger Nick’s eyes really were. There was a fire burning inside of them, one that was meant to burn down everything and everyone that got in his way. Oliver knew that expression exactly. He had seen it in his eyes too when he had looked into the mirror the last time.

Nick had put his hands on his hips when he had started speaking. Olive hadn’t noticed it before, but he caught sight of the bruised knuckles of Dominic’s hands now. His skin was cut at several spots, dried blood covering the bruises. More dried blood was spread all over his hands, but Oliver was sure that it wasn’t his.

When Oliver met Nick’s eyes this time, he knew that Nick had really done everything he could. He had wanted to know where Felicity was, and he had done everything possible to make it happen. Although it went against everything he believed in as a cop, he had used to physical violence to get that piece of information out of Tockman. He had broken all the rules there were, endangering every chance at a career he had to save Felicity because she was his family and he loved her.

“What did he say?” Oliver asked intently. “What did Tockman say?”

“Nothing.”

Oliver frowned. “Nothing? Really nothing at all?”

Nick shrugged his shoulders, his hands still on his hips. He looked exhausted and tired. Oliver knew why. It really was exhausting, beating people up, whether they were good or bad guys. The human body wasn’t necessarily made for beating the shit out of people. Still, it was nice that it allowed them to do it nonetheless.

“He said that we – all of us really, but you the most – deserved it.”

Not surprising. Tockman was blaming them or at least Felicity for not getting a chance at saying goodbye to his sister. He had risked everything for her, trying to save her from sure death by a terrible disease. He was looking for someone to blame. Since the universe – for cursing his sister with that disease – or his own actions – as none of this would have happened without his crimes – were too difficult for him to blame, he went for Oliver and Felicity. They had been responsible that the judge had been able to put him behind bars.

There was something in Nick’s face, something that told Oliver that there was more to this. He had said more, but Nick wasn’t sure if he should share it.

“What else did he say?”

Oliver could see the split second that Nick wondered if he really should tell him. He probably knew Oliver well enough by now to know that sometimes it was better to tell important things to him to someone close to him – Felicity or John mostly – first, so they could help Oliver deal with it. There was nobody here but them though, so he couldn’t call for help. He had to give this piece of information he was holding to Oliver or otherwise Oliver would beat him up. It didn’t matter that he was Oliver’s brother-in-law. If he knew something that he knew but that he refused to share, Oliver would make him tell it.

“He said the countdown didn’t matter anymore.”

Oliver pressed his teeth together tightly and sucked in a deep breath. A thousand thoughts were rushing through his brain. It could be a good thing, and it could be a bad or maybe even the worst thing. If the countdown didn’t matter anymore, Felicity could already be dead.

“He said Felicity was as good as dead.”

Oliver felt his heart drop into his stomach. Everything inside of him hurt at the thought that Felicity’s heart whose beat he had always liked to listen to as it has calmed him down enough to find some peaceful sleep. He had less likely been haunted by nightmares when he had fallen asleep with Felicity’s heartbeat in his ear.

What father would he be without her? Could he even be a father? He had barely been ready to take the job when she had told him that she was pregnant with Emmy. He had only managed to find himself into the role because had had her with him, telling him what to do and what instincts to ignore. Was he even human if he lost her?

There had been a time that Felicity had believed he was dead. She had lived through long hours of thinking she was never going to see him again and their kids were never going to see them again. She had needed to tell William that he was dead. She had prepared for telling their little ones that they were never going to see him again. It had broken her to a point that even finding him alive hadn’t been enough to repair her.

If Felicity really died, Oliver knew that he was damaged beyond repair. He would hold on for his kids as long as he had to. As soon as he realized that his kids were old enough and ready to live without his hep, he would join Felicity wherever he was. He wasn’t sure if he believed in an afterlife, and he wasn’t sure that he was going to get a chance at going to heaven where Felicity was certainly waiting for him, but he would use the chance if it was his only one. Felicity’s belief in a righteous and forgiving death just had to be enough for both of them right now.

Felicity wasn’t dead though. It was crazy, but Oliver could feel it deep inside of him. Deep in his heart, he knew that Felicity wasn’t dead yet. Maybe it was only his wishful thinking or his inability to accept this possibility, but he refused to believe that she was dead already. He still got a chance. He had to believe that.

“We need to find Felicity.”

Nick nodded his head. “I know.”

Reaching into the pocket of his pants, he pulled out some keys and lifted them in front of Oliver’s eyes. They dangled from his fingers, right in Oliver’s reach, but Oliver didn’t know how they could possibly help them. Unless those were the keys to where Felicity was hidden, what should he do with those?

“I made sure that nobody will look at the caravan for now,” Nick explained, “making it the last priority of the Crime Scene Unit.”

Oliver grabbed the keys, looking at them resting in the palm of his hand. Nick was overstepping the borders of the laws once more. He was risking his promising career once more because he wanted to find and save Felicity as much as Oliver did.

“There have to be traces there,” he continued intently, “and maybe we can’t see them, but Bruce will make them visible. We are playing against time now more than ever. We have to find her, whatever it takes.”

Oliver nodded his head, forming his hand to a tight fist around the keys. He knew Nick was right. It was them against time now. Whether it made things better or worse now, Oliver wasn’t sure.

Either way, Nick was right. They had to find Felicity, whatever it took.

→ → → → →

“Did you talk to that bastard?”

Oliver wasn’t surprised that Bruce was the first to approach him as soon as he stepped into the bunker. His eyes were dark and just as angry as Dominic’s had been and as Oliver certainly still was. Everything about his body language screamed that he was willing to go how ever far he had to if it meant saving Felicity.

“No.” Oliver shook his head. “His attorney was present, and Captain McHall didn’t let anyone talk to him.”

While Oliver had been in the caravan, looking for anything suspicious or anything that could help them, he had called Bruce. Given his experience and skills, Oliver had been sure that he had some ideas where to look and what to look for too. Besides, Bruce needed something to do too. Oliver knew that since Felicity never got tired telling him that they are quite alike.

Bruce had asked him whether he had had a chance at talking to Tockman, so Oliver had told him what Nick had said. Although Bruce knew what Nick was capable of, it simply hadn’t been enough for him. He had wanted Oliver to try again and try harder than Nick had before him. Despite the bruises Oliver had seen on Nick’s knuckles, he had let Bruce’s words infect him.

Once he had gathered the stuff that he had thought could be useful and put it to his car, he had stepped into the precinct once more. He had looked for Dominic, but he hadn’t been able to find him. Instead, McKenna had stepped towards him and taken him aside. She had told him that she knew something was going on although she didn’t know what it was. Since Tockman’s attorney had already been there, she hadn’t been able to give him access to him, and she had doubted that it would be a good idea anyway.

Of course Oliver knew that McKenna had been right. If he had seen Tockman, Oliver wasn’t sure if he hadn’t crossed some boundary that he would have been unable to come back from. If they found Felicity alive – and Oliver needed to be optimistic that they would – he needed to be able to look her in the eyes. He wasn’t sure if he could do that when he tortured Tockman.

“Give me the boots.”

Oliver was surprised that Bruce just dropped the subject like that. He had expected him to go at him for that because Oliver was sure that Bruce wouldn’t have taken no for an answer. He wouldn’t have cared.

“Do you think you can use the analysis of the earth in the profile to find Felicity?”

Bruce shrugged his shoulders, already sitting back behind the microscope. “Possibly.”

Although he didn’t say it, Oliver knew that Bruce was mad at him. Bruce was too focused on doing his job and using his tech skills to find Felicity, but he was angry deep down nonetheless. Once this was over, he was certainly hold it against Oliver.

Sitting back against the edge of the desk, Oliver reached out his hand for the tablet that was the only connection he currently had to Felicity. His thumb was already hovering over the button to see Felicity. Instead of pressing it, he clutched the tablet to his chest and held it like the precious treasure it was to him.

As much as Oliver would love to see Felicity and talk to her just to see that she was alright, he didn’t want to come to her with bad news. She had to feel bad enough down there as it was. He wanted to offer at least a glimpse of hope. Right now, he couldn’t do that because it really wasn’t looking good.

When Bruce got up, Oliver frowned.

“Found anything yet?”

“Not really.” Bruce put the sample into a test tube and put it to one of the machines in Felicity’s working area. Pressing a couple of buttons, he got the machine going, turned around and crossed his arms in front of his chest while his eyes locked with Oliver’s. “But maybe a more professional analysis can help us.”

Oliver nodded his head. Analyses like that weren’t exactly Bruce’s strength. They had never been Felicity’s strength either. Years back, they had used to send those things into a laboratory. Given how long it could take and how fast-going their business was, Felicity had set up her own laboratory here. Thanks to Barry, it was mostly working on its own though.

Looking at Bruce more thoroughly, Oliver realized that the other man was looking at him intently and with his eyes dark.

“What?”

It was a stupid question to ask, but Oliver couldn’t help himself. Being defensive seemed smarted to him than to go into offense. Because of how similar he and Bruce were, they understood each other quite well, but they also were bound to bump heads rather sooner than later. They just shared the same impatient and hot temper. It was destined to get difficult between them.

“Why didn’t you just tell Hall to shut the fuck up about things she knew nothing about and go to Tockman and beat the crap out of him until he finally said something?”

“Nick already beat the crap out of him, and it didn’t help at all.”

It didn’t seem to be enough of an answer to Bruce. His eyes glinted, and he pressed his lips together. He was in for a fight. Oliver could see it. He wouldn’t back away from a fight. A good physical fight could clear his head better than anything else. Maybe it would offer him some new perspective on all of this.

“And you thought you couldn’t do better than Nick?”

Oliver perked up his eyebrows. Bruce’s jaw tensed even more, and he straightened his spine. He really looked like he was readying himself for a fight too.

“Nick is Felicity’s brother, and I don’t doubt that he is on our side,” Bruce added eventually, “but he is a cop nonetheless. I am sure that his moral boundaries are a lot higher than yours or mine.”

Oliver doubted that, but he didn’t say a word. He just kept looking at Bruce with his arms crossed in front of his chest and his jaws clenched tightly.

“You should have gone at him and make him talk.”

Maybe a couple of weeks ago, Oliver would have agreed. Now, he wasn’t that sure anymore. It wasn’t that he wasn’t willing to do whatever it took to save her. It wasn’t even the consequences he himself would have to take. It was the consequences his family would have to take that made him doubt that it was the right choice.

If he tortured Tockman until he talked, Oliver wasn’t sure that he could let him stay alive. If he killed Tockman, it was certainly going to get him into prison for some long years though. Felicity and the kids would have to live without him. They would have to protect themselves without him which was difficult, at least when it came to Green Arrow’s enemies. They might have to go into witness protection.

A cold shiver ran down the length of Oliver’s spine when he remembered that this was exactly what Felicity had dreamed of during her Vertigo induced hallucination. Even when losing Felicity was the alternative, this really wasn’t a small price to pay.

Oliver glanced at the countdown. They were down to a little less than two and a half hours. It was bad, really bad. They didn’t have the slightest idea where to go to or where to look for Felicity. They didn’t even have any traces other than the things he had gathered from the caravan, but it didn’t mean that they could find out anything within the next 150 minutes.

If Tockman’s stuff wasn’t going to help them finding her, he would go to the precinct once more and punch the words out of him. He wouldn’t shy away from it, but he wanted to look Felicity in the eyes and tell her that they had done everything they could before he had crossed the limits of law like that and risked everything they had built.

“Felicity tortured that Human Target guy that impersonated you during your supposed death.”

Sucking in a deep breath, Oliver felt his muscles tensing once more. He knew how terrible his supposed death had been on Felicity, so he knew how terrible her death would be for him. He wouldn’t make it through it, not without losing everything he was and everything he believed in.

“And she suffered a lot after that.”

“You are wrong.” Bruce’s voice was tense. “She never regretted that. She always said it was a necessary mean, something that just had to be done to find you and bring you back home.”

“Yes, she said that,” Oliver agreed, “but you weren’t the one that had to held her when she was screaming and crying at night because she heard Chance’s screams of horrors echoing through her dreams.”

The time after he had come back from the dead had been hard on all of them. He and Felicity had had a lot of things to go through. Oliver had tried processing the hours of thinking that he was never get to see Felicity or his kids ever again. He had needed to get through the thoughts of all the chances he had missed and all the thoughts that had stayed unfinished. Felicity had needed to get through the grief that had been so real for her even though it had been almost unnecessary looking back. She had needed to work through her anger with the team for refusing to help her. The trauma his death and her own actions in the light of her supposed loss. They had started therapy to help them with it, and they were still going there. Once this was over, they’d probably go more often again.

“I would have gladly held her if it soothes you.”

Of course he would have. He had been into Felicity for a long time. Usually, Bruce was good at pretending that he believed Felicity was in good hands with Oliver. He had probably talked himself into believing that Felicity wasn’t only happy but really better off without him.

Those thoughts seemed to be forgotten though. Now, he believed that her life could be a lot happier and probably safer if she was with him. He wanted a chance at proving that he was better than Oliver was.

Bruce’s eyes took him in derogatorily. His gaze moved up and down Oliver’s body. His lips were pursed, and is nasal wings were blown wide. No matter how much he was rolling his shoulders, trying to make them relax, his arms and hands tensed. Oliver didn’t miss it.

“Maybe I should tell Felicity how you refused to do whatever it takes to find her when she was willing to give her soul to the devil if necessary. There was nothing she would have shied away from.”

“It still won’t make her love you if that is what you hope for.”

“Who says she is not already in love with me and just holding onto you and your pathetic, little picture-perfect family-thing you are trying to put up? I mean you son wants to study somewhere far away, and Felicity’s death it certainly going to break the rest of your family apart. She is the glue. You can never hold a family together.”

Oliver pushed his chin forward, looking at Bruce challengingly. He wanted to give Bruce a chance at taking it back. He understood that he was angry and scared. Oliver was angry and scared too. If he didn’t take this back, Oliver was going to punch the words out of him. He loved his family and even if Felicity’s death broke him – just the thought of it did already – he wouldn’t let it break his family. He didn’t know how, but he wouldn’t let it happen.

Instead of taking it back, Bruce just grinned. It was the grin of a bully that new exactly that it had hit a sore spot. He knew that he had finally said the one thing that would make Oliver bust a nut. Only thoughts of his family ever managed to do that.

“You really want me to beat the shit out of you, don’t you?”

Bruce grunted. “Like you could possibly do that. You are just as halfhearted as a vigilante as you are in everything else.”

Loosening his arms in front of his chest, Oliver pulled at the sleeves of his Henley, pulling them up his arms. He didn’t want them in the way if he broke Bruce’s nose and every other bone in his face. After her hadn’t been able to let off steam on Tockman, maybe Bruce was a good replacement. After all, he had done everything to deserve this.

“We will see.”

Bruce’s grin widened. He took off the jacket of his suit and let it drop to the floor carelessly. He opened his cufflinks and rolled up his sleeves.

“Gladly.”

With that, the two men approached each other – fists balled and ready to fight.

→ → → → →

She was running out of songs to sing. Her voice would certainly thank her as it had given up hours – or was it days or maybe just minutes? – ago already.

As a mother of five kids and a dog that loved to use his loud barking to make sure everyone got how frustrated he was then he didn’t get enough food or attention, Felicity had always known how to appreciate silence. Sometimes, when she had been at work particularly early, she had just sat behind her desk and enjoyed the silence.

Now, the silence was deafening and terrifying. She’d give everything to be woken up by the noises of roadworks right under her window for the rest of her life. She was never going to ask the kids to turn down the volume of the TV again. She was never going to complain about Hawk barking for several minutes straight because he didn’t get his way. She was going to enjoy even the most annoying noise.

Closing her eyes, Felicity took some deep breaths. As much as she tried to relax, it became increasingly difficult to stay hopeful and be relaxed.

Everything in her body ached. She was sure that ulcers were going to grow on her skin if she was lying like this much longer, unable to move. Then again, who knew how much longer she was going to be in here? How much longer was she going to survive in here?

Felicity tried to push that thought away. She couldn’t think like that. It was only going to suck away even more of her energy and make it incredibly hard to keep holding on for longer. She felt like she was going crazy already, but she couldn’t allow herself to go crazy. She needed to stay strong and focused. She needed to believe that she was going to be alright.

Oliver would find her. He had found her before, and he would always find her. She didn’t doubt that he would find her because he was Oliver, and Oliver wouldn’t give up. Ever.

When Felicity felt tears burning in her eyes, she quickly squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in another deep breath.

“Don’t cry,” she whispered to herself, “don’t cry, don’t cry.”

She repeated the words again and again. It wasn’t that she believed that crying was a weakness nobody should see. It was quite the opposite, and she knew how important the relief was that came with crying and letting out your sadness. If she cried now, Felicity just wasn’t sure if she ever found the ability to stop again.

It was better to spare her tears for when she had been saved. She could be crying in Oliver’s arms, pressing herself as close to him as possible while he was holding her. He would comfort her, making it at least a little bit easier for her. She wouldn’t feel this alone and this desperate when he was with her.

Still trying to hold on to the thin thread of self-control she had, Felicity felt a single tear on her cheek. She lifted her hand and brushed it away quickly. Before she had put her hand back to the ground of the coffin next to her hip, another tear dropped onto her other cheek.

It wasn’t until several drops landed on her cleavage that Felicity finally got that something was wrong here. She wasn’t crying. Her eyes were dry. The water had to come from somewhere else, but where?

Felicity looked around although she knew it was stupid. Since she had woken up, her eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness at all. There wasn’t anything for her to see or at least there wasn’t anything she could see.

More and more drops of water covered her. While it had been solely on her face and cleavage at first, it soon covered all of her body and part of the ground she was lying on. Something wasn’t wrong here.

A thousand thoughts were rushing through Felicity’s head. She wondered if the time was running up and this was Tockman’s way of making sure that things ended in time. She had watched that new series with Stana Katic. Felicity couldn’t remember the name, but she did remember that the protagonist had been held captive for years until, eventually, her husband had gotten a call with her location. He had had a little time to find her alive. The glass case she had been held captive in had felt with water in the meantime.

Was this what was happening to her too now? Was her coffin filled with water until she drowned in here? Was this going to happen to her now too?

Thrumming her fists against the ceiling of the coffin, Felicity screamed from the top of her lungs. She tried to kick her feet against it too, but she could barely lift them off ground. It only frustrated her more.

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut once more. With every other of her senses deafened, she was almost sure that she could smell rain, but she wasn’t sure. Her senses had betrayed her before already. She had heard things that weren’t there just because she had wanted to hear them.

“Focus.” Felicity took a deep breath and released the air through her nose slowly. “Focus.”

Once her heartbeat had calmed down a little, she took in another deep breath through her nose. The smell was still there.

“Focus harder.”

Felicity imagined the smells of all the good food Oliver was going to make for her when she came back from this nightmare. Her memory was so vivid that it felt like it was real. She could almost taste the food on her tongue.

Again, Felicity took in a deep breath through her nose. The smell was definitely still there, so maybe she had been wrong. Maybe, for once, this was real.

“Oliver, I think-“

Felicity stopped, remembering that Oliver couldn’t hear her. He could only hear her when he was the one reaching out for her. Since he knew that the light hurt on her skin, he was probably doing his best not to contact her too often. As long as their time wasn’t running up, he probably thought that she was somewhat safe where she was.

He wouldn’t check on her until he had news or time was running up, and he needed her advice too much to resist the urge to see her.

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut once more and started praying. She prayed that Oliver would contact her – whether it was for good news or bad news. He just needed to contact her, so she could tell him what was happening here.

“Oliver, please.”

→ → → → →

Oliver had already lunged out his fist, about to punch Bruce until he took back every single one of the words he had said before. Bruce had held his face out for Oliver’s fist, ready to be punched. Right before his fist could hit his face, the alarming sound from the computers made him stop.

“What is that?”

“The analysis of the ground came back with some conspicuity.”

Bruce shot Oliver another brief glance. Although their eyes locked for barely longer than a second, Oliver realized something his angers had made him miss before. Bruce had wanted to be hit. He had provoked this on purpose, probably thinking that getting hit was going to distract him from the pain of fearing that Felicity was dead.

Just like Oliver had hoped punching Bruce was going to help him with the same thing.

Although both of them needed the feeling of being alive again, the need to save Felicity and find her alive was more important. It was all they really wanted, all they really needed.

With large and quick steps, Bruce hurried over to the desk. His fingers danced over the keyboard of Felicity’s computers to call up the results of the analysis and specify these results. The frown that formed on his forehead told Oliver that there was something that might either help them or lead them in the wrong direction. Either way, there were some traces to follow which meant that there was something to do for them. They didn’t have to let out their frustration on each other.

“What is it?”

Oliver stepped closer to Bruce, looking over his shoulder. Whatever was displayed on the monitor, Oliver didn’t get it though. Felicity had her own system of having results displayed. Bruce probably got it as he and Felicity were thinking alike, but Oliver had no idea.

“There are some particles in the samples we took that can only be found in ten locations around here.” Bruce didn’t even look at Oliver, continuing to work his way through more and more data that he called up. “If we can narrow this down, maybe we will find Felicity.”

Ten locations. They had six active members of the team available right now, including Bruce. Thea wasn’t an option. They could call in Quentin though, and McKenna was certainly going to help too if Oliver told her what had happened. That meant they only needed two people more. Maybe with Barry’s help they could do this. As a speedster, he was easily going to be here in seconds, and he could bring help with him.

“You should tell Felicity.”

Oliver perked up his eyebrows, surprised about Bruce’s suggestion. So far, he had done his best to prevent Oliver from looking at Felicity or talking to her too much, reminding him of the pain she was going through. If he thought that this was a good occasion to contact her, it had to be. It also meant that they were close to find her which was something Oliver couldn’t estimate objectively anymore.

Not wasting a second, Oliver grabbed the tablet and pushed the button to finally see Felicity again. He wasn’t sure when they had spent this much time apart, never mind when they hadn’t gotten a chance at looking or speaking to one another. He couldn’t wait to see her again and hear her voice. He needed to know that she was okay and-

“Felicity?”

The moment he saw he face with her eyes screwed shut and a frantic whisper coming from her lips, Oliver knew something was wrong. He knew Felicity’s face too well to miss that that there was something going on. His heart skipped a beat, panic spreading in every cell of his body.

“Felicity, are you alright?”

A sob of relief fell from Felicity’s lips. Her gaze moved from right to left and back again like she was looking for him. Oliver wished that he was there with her, so he could hold her and make her focus on him and only him.

“I am here,” he whispered to her soothingly, “I am here, and I will be with you soon.”

“Oliver, it’s raining.”

“What?” Oliver frowned, now quite getting what exactly she was talking about. “What-“

“It’s raining, and it’s leaking.”

“What’s leaking?”

“The coffin.” Felicity took in a breath that told Oliver how nervous she was. “The water is gathering in here.”

Since Oliver had put his phone on speaker, Bruce had been able to hear everything Felicity had said. From the moment he had heard that it was raining, he had worked on trying to narrow down the number of locations.

“I think I have got her,” he said, not looking at Oliver, “because there is rain in only one of those ten locations rights now.”

They had her. They might actually have her!

“There are heavy rains,” he continued, his voice lowered to make sure Felicity didn’t hear him, “and we might be too late.”

Oliver didn’t want to think about that. For the first time, they had a real hint at where Felicity was. There was no way that he was going to take that hope away from him – or Felicity for that matter.

“We have some traces,” he told her, “we have some traces, and we are on your way to you already. I will be there. Just hold on some more minutes, and I will be there. I promise.”

He promised, and there was no way he was going to break that promise.

* * *

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#arrow #olicity #olicity fic #time for a story #olicity fanfic

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marshmallowprotection · 4 years ago

Note

Inspired by the song "Flower of The Plateau" by Mothy, this story thats part of Ever Changing Fate (my story) doesn't have much of a connection to the main plot of ECF but I made it to flesh it out more and because why not.

You might have to zoom in on the picture to be able to read it- sorry oof.

Cast:

Oliver's full name is "Oliver Bortè".

"Chrysana" is not actually Chrysana's real name. Her real name is "Zaria Bortè". Her current full name is " Chrysana Orlov".

Marilla's full name as you would guess is "Marilla Orlov".

The Tsardom of Rinael is inspired by Russia. In case you didn't already know since I've mentioned Parie before, Parie is literally just a play on "Paris" and is insird by France. I'm pretty sure I've said that before but just mentioning for anyone else who read this.

Thus:

Chrysana is basically a French woman except France is in the southeast area of the planet and she abandoned her son and left him for dead before fleeing to Russia except it's in the northwestern area of the planet. She traveled very far away for a reason: it's so far out it would be impossible (so she thought) for anyone to find out who she really was.

Harlots (aka prostitutes for any who didn't know) are heavily discriminated against in Ever Changing Fate due to being seen as sinful even though most of them are only harlots because they need money, such as Chrysana. Chrysana ended up pregnant after being "without her consent used in a vulgar way", which is code for "being RP'd". She was heavily scarred and saw her son as a burning reminder of her experience. She never loved him but upon his birth she thought she could get used to him. But she soon realized that having a son was not very profitable because she couldn't afford to feed both herself and him, and the men she brought in didn't like having a kid around. Babies were too much work in her eyes at the time, and so she abandoned him and chose to completely erase her old identity as the harlot Zaria Bortè, and took on a new identity. In the years after she married the head of House Orlov in Rinael after fleeing there as a stowaway on a ship and had a daughter. But she nevr anticipated her son searching for her...

And so she had to maintain her new identity...

And that mean that anyone who knew of her past must be-

Since you read the text in the above picture, you kno what happened...

"The poor Oliver was found dead"

For your information Marilla was completely oblivious to Oliver being her older brother and her mother not being who she pretended to be, along with Duke Orlov who was also oblivious to everything.

Chrysana faked her entire personality as "Chrysana Orlov" when in reality her true self as "Zaria Bortè" was a cynical, scarred woman who hated the world, and was nearly unapproachable. Due to this in order to survive Chrysana knew she had to forge a new personality for herself which was joyful, social, happy, etc, and thus is why she became known as the "Joy of Rinael" due to the fact Rinael was constantly a gloomy land of snow, so someone who was optimistic and happy was sort of just foreign to them.

Other facts:

Chrysana was an orphan. She had been homeless her entire life until she fled to Rinael. She had found and decided to live in an abandoned house that she had fixed up herself and lit up with candles a few years before Oliver was born, when she was 14.

Yes, Chrysana had been a harlot even before she was of age; she became one when she was 12. "It was all to survive" is what she told herself even though she hated everything, her life, the men, the world...

Chrysana was 19 when she had Oliver.

Oliver is aproximately 6 years older than Marilla.

Marilla actually really wanted a sibling and would have loved having Oliver as her older brother. She got a baby sister a year after Oliver's death and a baby brother another two years after that.

Chrysana and Marilla's appearance is somewhat inspired by Hatsune Miku, mostly Marilla with her pigtails and hair color.

The rose on the headband that Chrysana is wearing is a black rose.

Chrysana's birth name and fake name are both flower names; Chrysana comes from Chrysanthemum and Zaria either is a flower or means flower in some other language, I forget. Marilla is another name for the flower Amaryllis.

Orlov was a noble family in the Russian Empire way back.

Vasily is a common Russian name, I believe.

Duke Vasily Orlov had strawberry blonde hair and purple eyes. He was younger than Chrysana by two years and had loved her nearly ever since she had moved to Rinael. Considering he was was 19 when she moved to Rinael, his teenage hormones were still all over the place and genuinely his crush on her was a childish one at first.

Chrysana despises intercourse nowadays but does it anyway to keep up her farce and to satisfy Vasily.

Chrysana genuinely loves Vasily but the relationship can be strained because of her trauma, fake identity, and fake personality.

Chrysana murdered several other men who happened to be people she slept with years earlier if she saw them whether she was in Rinael or visiting somehwere else because she wants to annihilate all record of her past.

By the time she died Chrysana had murdered about half of the men she slept with in the past.

Chrysana lived in the 1200s T.C., 350~ years before the Second Great Theda Civil War and main plot of Ever Changing Fate.

Chrysana's descendants (specifically Marilla's line) eventually married into the royal family of Rinael and several of the members of the royal family ended up bearing her hair color and or eye color due to it being very dominant throughout her bloodline.

If anyone found out she had been a harlot many years later there would be a bit of a scandal about it in the royal family, how big it would be would depend on how far down the line her descendants are at whenever it was discovered. However, her being a harlot was never found out by anyone.

One of the greatest rulers of Rinael bore both Chrysana's hair and eye color. He lived in the 1400s.

Chrysana became a writer later in her life (Around her mid 40s) and wrote a story that was actually based on her past identity. She wrote it in order to get out everything that she had pent up inside of her. She lied to everyone whenever asked that the entire story was fictitious and was based on many stories with several elements pulled from other stories to make it. It was called "The Tragedy of The Harlot Catria". Catria was the name of Chrysana's mother who was also a harlot according to the records Chrysana managed to find about her. She of course claimed that the records she looked at of Catria were just for her story- in reality Chrysana just desperately wished to know anything about her that she could because she never met her since her mother died in childbirth.

Chrysana knew her mother's name because of a locket that she had held onto since she could remember which had the inscription "Love from mama, Catria, to her lovely daughter, Zaria".

Chrysana's mother was a victim of RP just like Chrysana.

Chrysana's eye color is from her mother, her hair is from her father.

Chrysana met her father once and promptly beat him up for everything he did to her mother and never carung about her. However, he didn't know she was his daughter and she didn't kill him because he was a nobleman of Parie and it would have ended badly for Rinael because it could have caused rumors about him being killed by a Rinaelian nobleman/woman or she could have gotten found out.

Rinael and Parie don't like each other very much. :/

I personally like that you've been building on the character designs because it's really starting to come together in a really beautiful kind of way. The way that you're able to draw hair and the way that the environment affects it is just really telling of the characters in a lot more ways than you realize. It stands out more than just color theory in general.

Posture is one thing but you can see a lot just from the way that someone Styles themselves and just by looking at these characters you can tell that they have this specific energy to them. It's not standoffish. But it's definitely something in the realm of uneasy and uncertain.

I just want to say that these guys have been going through so much and their universe that it is kind of tedious. Can everyone in this room just get along for 5 minutes to have a group hug or something?

#mod kait #ask #littleghostlyrose #not mm #oc

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