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manicpixiefelix · 10 months ago

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and other things that happened by the red staircase

{ One-Shot for head, heart, hand. }

Summary: Like with all events at Saltburn, you take great care to learn all you can about the guests for the upcoming Catton Family Reunion, to make sure you can make a good impression. You and Venetia, however, discover that Felix may be making too good of an impression on his recently un-estranged cousin.

Need to Know: They/Them. Explicitly NB Reader. FWB!Reader/Felix. Reader is from a well off family but has pretty much been adopted by the Cattons.

Warnings: felix fingering(/possibly going down on) his cousin but its not super explicit, reader having a social anxiety regarding the social event, venetia being kind of a nasty little perv i love her

A/N: 3841 words. this was meant to just be a little something about venetia and reader teasing felix after finding out he accidentally fingered his cousin, something i could write on my phone before bed. which i did but i didn't stop writing for 4 hours and it became too long for just an answer. also because there's a bunch of catton family lore ive invented and put it all in here.

also before any discourse arises, there's a character briefly mentioned here, Marv, who is an old butch lesbian who uses he/him pronouns. he is not trans, but chooses to use he/him, look into queer history if this bugs you, or go outside and off of my blog. you're reading the writing of an agender it/its lesbian, my blog is not a place for queer discourse, it's a place for being freaks about Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan.

TAGLIST IN COMMENTS!! // TAGLIST ALWAYS OPEN ! (just message or comment to be added)

----

It's been a particularly stressful event for you; so much of Felix's family is in attendance and you're desperate to impress them. It had been called a reunion, but nothing at Saltburn was ever so simple, nor so informal. As always you've prepared ahead of time; Duncan and Elspeth, as they always did, walked you briefly through the guest list, however unlike usual, instead of leaving you alone with the detailed dossier of guests, Elspeth herself had sat with you in one of the numerous studies - the lilac one - and gone through in meticulous detail. The family friends they refer to as cousins, the family they refuse to acknowledge beyond a handshake - and why. All the Catton branches and the gossip that haunts each. Things like how it's the first event in ten years that Sir James' estranged, illegitimate half-sister and her family were invited to. She's laughing, and you act like your nerves aren't on fire, like there isn't bile rising in your throat out of fear of the faux pars you could see on the horizon.

"Oh they're going to love you, darling," she assures. The minute she leaves you start nervous crying over the dossier, which quickly becomes an anxiety attack. It's been a very long time, especially since they'd kindly set up this system to alleviate your known anxieties, that you'd been this afraid of a dinner.

None of them can know.

You're almost eighteen, you're meant to be well past this, meant to have learned to cope with it by now.

On the night of the event, Farleigh's the only one looking as queasy as you feel - the family's pitying looks and grating questions have him going for a smoke break almost every five minutes. Still, Venetia's never without a drink in hand despite her mother's disapproving looks, and Felix is nowhere to be seen. At least at this family affair there's a number of people your own age. Many related, but many not - more friends of the family, or illegitimate offspring. Still, you don't want to put your preparations to waste, want to make a good impression.

There's mean laughter from by the fireplace as you find yourself in conversation with Sir James and his second cousin Barty, praising the man for his recent and lucrative foray into financially supporting broadcast television. James gives you and incredibly surprised and approving look, while Barty lights up with delight, claiming that there was hope for the young after all it seemed. Casting a glance to the fireplace, you see a few mean looking teens all watching you with sneers.

Barty asks how you found yourself here, and James pats you on the back before you can answer, claiming you as one of the wards of Saltburn; a good influence on his dear son, Felix. Pride flares in your chest. But you can still hear the teens call you a freak.

Its taking everything in you to not try and find sanctuary in the company of Felix, Venetia, or Farleigh. Its incredibly tempting, considering the abundance of desperate eye contact you and Farleigh especially are sharing, but you worry that if you don't keep face, don't put your information to use, don't remain visible to everyone in the room who you've convinced yourself are even tangibly related to Felix and his immediate family, every single one of them will hate you.

One day you will reckon with how profoundly your upbringing effected the expectations you place on yourself. Today is not that day. So you smile at Mildred Catton - by marriage, second cousin, young widow and now spinster. Well, she has a girlfriend, judging by the way Elspeth had spoken about her roommate of twenty-five years, and she has a kind and knowing smile as she compliments you - so beautiful, what a handsome young thing you are, oh you do remind me of Marv like this, back when we first met, of that's cute, you'd love him. Marv is short for Marvel Elizabeth, the butch woman who lives with Mildred and runs a bike shop and who you'd spent probably too much time looking at in the dossier, his arm around Mildred in her photo, both of them smiling so wide.

You kind of wish he was here. When you share the sentiment, Mildred looks a little crestfallen; you get the impression that not a lot of the Cattons share your feeling.

Still, talking to Mildred helps ease your nerves considerably. At least until you realise that it's been quite some time since you'd seen Felix.

You don't need him at all times... Don't need to know his whereabouts at every second of every day... But you've found yourself trapped in a conversation with a gaggle of the newer, younger, shinier wives of Felix's various uncles-something-times-removed, and one hadn't been updated in the dossier and you greeted her as the wife she'd replaced. So now you're mortified, like a deer in the headlights as they're all judging you, and you know you're on the verge of panicking or throwing up -

"Need to steal our lovely Y/N for a moment," Venetia, your saviour. She slips an arm in yours and doesn't wait for an answer.

"Venetia, dear -" Christie, owner of a failing fragrance business that she desperately doesn't want people to know is failing, but that her husband had drunkenly, forlornly confessed about to Sir James, barely get two truly disdainful words in before Venetia brightly throws over her shoulder -

"Love your dress, matches your roots, talk later Auntie Chris," and you can only imagine the flustered fury on Christie's face as the other women try not to compare the dark dress to the woman's dark roots peeking through her blonde hair. You, however, are gone speechless in your nauseous panic, and press yourself to Venetia's side as she pulls you through the crowd, "you looked about ready to kill yourself like one of those dishonoured samurai," she says quietly but casually.

"Yeah, that was the rough plan," you managed to joke weakly. Your heart was racing; you hated being like this. It takes you a moment to properly focus back in on the moment, and realise Venetia was dragging you along with considerable purpose, "are you okay?"

"I need your robot brain to help me decide if something's funny or just gross."

"My robot brain?"

"You know everyone here because - and I say this with love - you're a freak about these things-"

"Didn't know Iona," you muttered, once again horrified, gaze going glassy as all you can think about is how you called her Misha. Her husband had a type; models from northern countries and very little sense of humour, it seemed. Venetia snapped her fingers in your face, frowning, keeping your mind from wandering too far.

"They got married a month ago, you probably won't even see her again," she rolled her eyes, taking you by the shoulders, leading you from the main entertaining area towards the main parlous, "but the point is, I know we refer to everyone as Aunt or Uncle or Cousin or whatever, but I'm not even actually at all related to like half of them," Venetia pauses, looking at you very seriously, "but you know the difference, right? Like if I pointed to someone, you'd know how exactly they're here?"

"Uh, yeah, of course," it's who you were, it's what you did, "don't you?"

"Not," she visibly hesitates, gaze shifting to look around the room, "not really," she admits, they're all just, you know, family. There's always been too many to bother with the how or why of any of them, unless mum or dad felt it was important for me and Felix to keep in mind specifically," but after a beat she met your gaze with a wolfish grin, "or if it was particularly scandalous." Okay, you think you're starting to get her intentions.

"So who are you wondering about and why?"

The way Venetia was smiling could not possibly mean anything good.

"So," Venetia took you by the shoulders and steered you through the grand foyer towards the stairs, as if on her way to yours or Felix's room. Her voice had gotten quieter, conspiratorial, "I've been watching this unfold all night," she explains gleefully, "and I did think it was rather bold to be looking to get someone in bed at a family reunion, though I supposed that there is a good chance that they're not even related; as we've discussed, family is a rather loose, fond title for many of them here tonight," she's choosing her words incredibly carefully, skirting around her point for dramatic effect, "and," she stops in the doorway by the red staircase; you think you can hear faint moaning not too far away. Venetia's voice is a whisper, "I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt, considering I'm pretty sure I've actually never seen this girl in my life, so I can't say who she belongs to here."

Around the corner there's an attempt at a shushing that sounds more masculine, judging by the whisper of laughter that accompanies it, and a young woman's giggled apology, followed by a breathy gasp, and the faint sound of wood scraping against the marble floor. You and Venetia peer around the corner like the Hardy boys, you ducking down and her leaning over you.

The girl in question is leaning back against the antique, wooden end table at the end of the short hall, head throw back, chest heaving with wanton breathes. Wearing a flowing, green dress that looked almost like silk, but was clearly rayon when you had seen her up close earlier, you knew immediately who she was. More importantly, you were surprised to see someone in a suit on their knees in front of her, beneath her dress.

Alyssa Morelli has seemed absolutely out of her mind with boredom and disdain for this entire affair in the brief few moments you'd spent with her. Like you she was seventeen, and was the eldest daughter of Sir James' estranged half sister. Having barely any information about her, and also trying to focus on not losing your cool regarding that fact, it had made conversation, at least for you, incredibly difficult.

She hated the wine, hated her mother for dragging her along, hated the way rich people talked about nothing, and thought everything about Saltburn, the Cattons, and the entire night was a frivolous display of meaningless excess and wealth. Rich people are such freaks, she'd told you, with a look that clearly said that includes you, and she's finished another glass of champagne with one large gulp and a shudder. For a long moment you'd looked at her - perhaps you could have been a little less unnerving about it, but she'd caught you off guard - as you tried to think of something to say.

"I think you'd thrive at university," you blurt out. She gives you a look like you were some kind of unpleasant bug, having the audacity to continue speaking to her. One of the staff passes with a tray of more champagne, and you pluck two glasses off, handing one to her as you continued, "however I would be fascinated to hear your thoughts on the way our classicist society prioritises and celebrates formal tertiary education" you let your gaze roam, holding your glass in both hands with the tips of your fingers, a dead giveaway of your nerves without you even realising, but for some reason she's still letting you talk, "and the idea of the pursuit of knowledge without that being a financially sustainable life choice anymore if you do it the wrong way. Why celebrate scientists when we just disregard modern philosophers?" You take a sip of your champagne and try and tell yourself to shut up, "I know the answer's 'because you can't profit off of philosophers as easily as you can scientists', but it just kind of sucks, don't you think?"

A long, uncomfortable silence follows.

"I swear at least Felix, Farleigh, and Venetia aren't freaks," you blurted out. Alyssa's shoulders relaxed just a little. At least you were self aware.

"Who?" Its... less hostile. You point out Felix and Farleigh headed out for a cigarette with a few others around your age, and Alyssa sighs, rolling her eyes. She's still clearly got Catton blood in her, her eyes and nose even remind you of Venetia. Still, she headed towards the side door; even her walk seemed to ooze contempt for the night.

Now, watching her, moonlight peaking down the stairs to catch the way she's beginning to glow with sweat, white-knuckled grip on the dark wood and her once perfectly straight, dark hair turning curly with moisture around her face and by her shoulders, you're actually a little glad to see it. At least she seemed to have found one person not entirely unbearable.

You knew all too well how overwhelming and isolating these events could be. As much as you felt you could relate, you couldn't really understand what she'd be going through, her first time at an event like this, feeling that there's people in the room who truly think you and your family outright don't belong. She should take her fun where she can get it, you think.

Shoving Venetia back to give the couple their privacy, you push her back into the parlour.

"Who is that?" Venetia demanded in a whisper, eyes bright. You sigh, shaking your head.

"Alyssa, she hasn't been to something like this before, just let her have her fun," after a beat, you step in a little closer, hands finding Venetia's hips as you attempted to distract her, "you know we could -"

"Alyssa who?" It hasn't worked. Venetia takes your hands, "this is important." There's something that goes beyond mischief in her eyes.

"Morelli," but she makes a face like that's not enough, "Aunt June's daughter." Venetia frowned.

"Aunt June's daughter married one of those Dubai millionaires five years ago and hasn't sent her a single pound or even a message since."

"That's your Great Aunt June- Juniper," you clarified without missing a beat, "she's not even related to any of you; your mum doesn't know who she was initially tied to in the family." Venetia takes a few moments to give you a look of faint, disbelieving awe. Clearing your throat, you looked back over your shoulder as the suggestive noises around the corner were growing louder, "Estranged Aunt June."

Venetia's eyes lit up with what could only be described as malevolent glee.

"So she's my cousin."

"Yes."

"Actually? Blood and all? Not just one of my uncles' weird friends who's been hanging around for decades so now we have to call them family?"

"I'm beginning to get afraid of your intentions, Ven," despite your wary smile, you weren't really joking. Venetia completely disregards this, however, holding your shoulders so tightly it begins to hurt.

"That girl," she points sharply, the kind of intensity in her eyes that absolutely means trouble, "just around the corner, moaning like a whore, getting fingered, tongued, whatever -" she wets her lips in some kind of anticipation, "is my actual, blood related cousin? And you're entirely sure of that?"

Taking a deep breath, unsure of what the repercussions of this all will be, you slowly nod.

"Yes..."

Venetia steps back, has to clap her hands over her mouth to muffle her positively gleeful laughter. For some unexpected reason, this piece of information seems to be some of the best news she's ever received in her life. It almost brings her to tears. After she calms down, you think you hear her mutter something along the lines of I'm never letting him live this down as she fans herself, attempting to calm herself.

"Ven, are you okay?" Still utterly confused about what any of this means, you can't help the concern you feel. Venetia's nodding, fighting back aftershocks of giggles, gazing often at the doorway.

"Yes, I- you're wonderful, thank you for helping me with that-" overcome by another, brief fit of giggles, it takes her a moment to compose herself, "I love you and your robot brain so very dearly -"

"Oh my god~" from around the corner, and another, louder shush. Venetia buries her face in her hands, echoing oh my god as she chokes on laughter once more. When she resurfaces, face bright red with amusement, you take her hand and try to insist that you should give them privacy.

"Yes, of course," Venetia agrees, suddenly trying to appear as serious as she's able, "I just have one other favour to ask you."

"What?" You ask flatly, unsurprisingly wary, watching her struggle not to grin.

"Could you tell my brother?"

The question hangs in the air for a long, confusing moment.

"Tell him what?"

"That Alyssa's our cousin."

"Sure...?" you frowned a little, peering over her shoulders, "I don't know where he is though, I haven't seen him in a while." Venetia smiles like the Cheshire Cat.

Oh... no... she isn't implying -? But Alyssa's timing is unfortunately perfect.

"Oh my god, Felix~"

Your mouth drops open in shock upon hearing that.

"Oh my God," you groaned, pained by the realisation as your face scrunched up with sudden understanding and disappointment, "Felix."

Venetia is absolutely right, he's never living this down.

"You had me prattling on for fucking ages about nothing, just letting them go at it all the while? You could have just asked!" You hissed, already mortified on his behalf.

"You're letting them go at it now!" She crowed quietly, and ah, fuck. Yeah, she had a point there.

Rounding the corner briskly, you cross your arms but at the very least keep your gaze to the floor.

"Felix -" you clear your throat.

"Oh, fuck off," Alyssa, seeing it's you, groans with frustration. There's movement beneath her dress when you glance up; there's something almost comical about knowing what you're seeing is Felix sitting up straighter under there.

"I know that's you, Y/N," Felix had enough dignity to not sound ashamed or caught out. But he should, "just, yeah mate, could you fuck off a bit?" Its not a particularly sharp request, and if this were any other situation, of course you'd obligingly fuck off. However...

"Well don't fucking stop," Alyssa hisses to him, sounding almost embarrassed by the fact that he was giving you the time of day right now, "seriously, fuck off!" She tries to whisper-shout, but halfway through her voice turns to an unsteady moan and her head falls back against the wall again, "OhmygodFelix~" she whines, bringing one of her legs up over his shoulder.

"So should I wait until after you get her off to tell you?"

"Tell him what you little pervert?" Alyssa, furious at your refusal to leave, demands.

"Hey, be nice to them," you hear, vaguely muffled from under her skirt. You have to snort a laugh.

"Thanks Fi, I'll just tell you now, uh," you can't look at them in this moment, fighting off your embarrassed smile at you look to the ceiling, "I don't think this is what your dad meant when he suggested you get to know Aunt June's kids; this might be too welcoming for your recently un-estranged cousin."

Around the corner you hear Venetia cackling like a banshee, clearly having been eavesdropping.

Felix scrambles back from under Alyssa's dress, looking an absolute mess.

"You what?"

"Oh my god." There's nothing lewd about it this time, Alyssa herself sounds absolutely fucking mortified.

----

The next morning, over breakfast, the mood is... strained. Its Sir James who breaks the ice, brightly - though it's clearly forced - commenting on how the night took such an unexpected and unfortunate turn. Felix, who likely doesn't even remember the end of the night considering how thoroughly plastered he got after his unfortunate affair with his cousin, looks to his father very suddenly, the sudden fear in his eyes about what his parents may know hidden by his large, dark glasses. He'd threatened to drown himself in the lake if you or Venetia told anyone, but his memory got fuzzy from there. The hangover that he's half worried might actually kill him doesn't help.

"Such a shame," Elspeth sighed, "I would have thought June would raise them better than that."

"Estranged Aunt June's daughter, Alyssa," you leaned over to Felix to stage whisper the context to him, half worried the paranoia might kill him there at the table. Venetia does however feel the need to smugly butt in and remind him -

"Our biological cousin."

"Apparently convinced her younger brothers to riot and start breaking all the crockery," you finished. Felix frowned in vague confusion, a feeling which Farleigh seemed to share.

"And it was so unnecessary, like she knew it was the first family thing her mom had been invited to in a decade -"

"She hates rich people and thinks we're freaks," you sat back, shrugging, "she told me so herself."

"Who, June?" Sir James sounded downright heartbroken at the idea, so you quickly shook your head.

"Alyssa." It seems to alleviate some of his concerns, but not a lot, and Sir James goes back to his breakfast still looking rather put out.

"Well maybe," Venetia leans her elbows on the table, bread knife in hand that she was using to flippantly gesture with, "there's some rich people that she should hate," her gaze and smug smile lands on you, as does the nonchalant way she's pointing with her knife, right before she flicks her wrist as if pointing at her brother by pure chance, "and some of us who are freaks."

Felix glared down at his breakfast.

"I don't know why we un-estranged Aunt June in the first place," he grumbled mostly to himself, though not quiet enough that the rest of the table didn't hear. Sir James sighed with disappointment.

"I think in future we may have to limit June's invitations to only her and her husband," he says, shaking his head. Elspeth kindly tells him that it's probably for the best.

Venetia, still apparently feeling petty, threw a bread roll at her brother, who hadn't looked up from where he seemed to be trying to divine life's secrets from his plate of sausages. It glances off his forehead, but knocks his glasses loose and into his breakfast. A second later Felix officially gives up and follows suit, faceplanting into his food.

"Oh my god, Felix!" His mother gasps with concern.

Despite Elspeth sounding nothing like Alyssa had the night before, the familiar phrase sets Venetia off, cackling with laughter at the top of her lungs. While the rest of the table is utterly confused by the series of events that have just occurred, you scoot your chair over close to Felix, patting him sympathetically on the back. Beneath the table, he rests his hand on your knee to give a grateful squeeze. When he talks, only you can hear it, resigned and half muffled by scrambled eggs.

"Hate this family."

#felix catton x reader x oliver quick #felix catton x reader #saltburn x reader #saltburn imagine #felix catton imagine #felix catton x y/n #felix catton x you #head heart hand fic #manic writer

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justinspoliticalcorner · 1 month ago

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Brandi Buchman at HuffPost:

A four-part appendix detailing more about former President Donald Trump’s alleged criminal attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election hit the public record on Friday. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan approved the public release on the federal criminal docket in Washington, D.C., late Thursday, following weeks of Trump requesting to keep the appendix out of the public eye. Trump told the judge on Oct. 10 he needed more time to weigh his “litigation options” if she decided to admit the source materials publicly, arguing they could be damaging to jurors and the integrity of the case. Chutkan agreed to give him one week to respond and make his arguments at blocking the release. He filed a last-ditch motion early Thursday asking for more time, but was denied.

The appendix is split into four parts with sensitive information redacted. The four volumes total more than 1,800 pages. Volume I is mostly transcripts of interviews with witnesses who testified before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. There is a new detail in this first volume that stands out, however: testimony before the Jan. 6 committee from a White House valet to Trump. The valet told the committee that on Jan. 6, when Trump was preparing to watch playback of his speech as violence erupted, Trump asked him if his “speech was cut off.” The valet told the committee that he tried to explain to Trump that it had been. [...]

The version published in March by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), the chair of the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, redacted the section where the valet tells investigators that after Trump said “let’s go see” when he was told that his speech was cut off, the valet took off Trump’s outer coat, got a television ready for him and handed him a remote. “And he starts watching it. And I stepped out to get him a Diet Coke, come back in, and that’s pretty much it for me as he’s watching it and like, seeing it for himself,” the valet testified, according to Smith’s version.

The Republican version of the transcript also redacted when congressional investigators next asked the valet: “So, you set up the TV. Did you set it up for him to watch his speech or live coverage of what was happening at the Capitol?” “Typically, that’s — a lot of times he’s in that back dining room a lot,” the valet said. The contents of the transcript with the valet cut off here in Smith’s appendix once investigators asked the valet if he knew, in fact, whether Trump was watching the events at the Capitol. Volume I also contains a previously public transcript in which Jan. 6 committee investigators ask a witness about whether Trump’s Jan. 6 speech draft was something his staffers categorized as “political” or “official.”

[...] Another transcript in the first volume features testimony from Greg Jacob, former Vice President Mike Pence’s legal counsel. The transcript in the Smith appendix redacts Jacob’s name, but a side-by-side comparison by HuffPost of the Jan. 6 committee transcript and the one Chutkan published Friday, confirms it is him. Here the material Smith attaches to his immunity arguments zeroes in on testimony in which Jacob told the Jan. 6 committee about attempts by Trump darling and “coup memo” author John Eastman to convince Pence and Pence’s staff that a vice president had the constitutional authority to count slates and object to them. This meant, according to Eastman, that anything in the existing legislation that governed the count, like the Electoral Count Act, was unconstitutional.

[...]

Volume II is heavily redacted and primarily features tweets from Trump in which he said there had been pervasive voter fraud in battleground states and called on state and election officials to address it. In tweets from November 2020, including on and around Election Day, Trump calls on the Supreme Court to decide the outcome or alleges that fraud in those battleground states is an “unsolvable problem.” The records show how officials including Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt were forced to directly rebut Trump’s bunk claims online but often with demonstrably less effect on social media, given Trump’s reach on Twitter.

The tweets and retweets relate, in part, to Smith’s allegation that Trump was exacting a pressure campaign on election officials predicated on information he knew to be false and despite being told numerous times after Election Day that the election had been the most secure in history. Chris Krebs, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, made that announcement on Nov. 13. Former Attorney General William Barr would declare publicly on Dec. 1 that there was no evidence of voter fraud. None of that deterred Trump from pursuing his conspiracy theories, according to prosecutors. This volume also shows tweets in which Trump calls on people to come to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, and not just the first time, Dec. 19, 2020, when he blasted out the invite to his “wild” rally. Smith’s appendix shows Chutkan that Trump sent out the call multiple times in December, including on Dec. 30, when he wrote, “JANUARY SIXTH, SEE YOU IN DC!”

[...] Volume III has sections from Pence’s book, “So Help Me God.” Prosecutors highlighted certain passages in which Pence’s describes trying to console a despondent Trump over his defeat and Pence’s own awareness at the time that if there had been any voter fraud, it wasn’t enough to cost Republicans the 2020 election. Other sections feature Pence’s recollection of Trump’s repeated calls to him on the eve of the U.S. Capitol attack. “You gotta be tough tomorrow,” Pence recalled Trump telling him. There are transcripts from court hearings in the third appendix, including a portion of one that took place in Arizona’s Maricopa County, where Trump and his cohorts peddled a fake elector scheme. Other transcripts come straight from political speeches Trump gave, including one on Jan. 4, 2021, when he endorsed Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue before a Georgia runoff election. Trump spent much of that rally talking about his own reelection campaign and claiming the presidential vote had been rigged.

[...] Volume IV contains information that is mostly already in the public record and was obtained through the House Jan. 6 committee. Much of this 384-page document is redacted and it doesn’t offer much new to pore over. There are letters and emails already on the record about the strategy to advance fake electors as well as Pence’s letter issued on Jan. 6, 2021, stating that he did not have unilateral authority to determine which electoral slates should be counted. It also includes a transcript of a town hall from May 2023 in which Trump defended his remarks made at the rally on the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021, and denied telling people to march to the Capitol that day. The next big deadline Trump must meet in the election subversion case arrives Nov. 7, when he must reply to the 165-page immunity brief special counsel Jack Smith filed on Oct. 2. When he does, it is expected that Trump’s lawyers will emphasize that Trump genuinely believed there was widespread voter fraud and that he acted with the interest of the nation first to reverse his defeat.

[...] The Supreme Court’s ruling granted presidents absolute immunity for their core acts and “presumptive” immunity for all other official acts. But actions outside of core acts are not given this protection.

On Friday, more January 6th-related evidence that Insurrection-Inciter Donald Trump and his allies tried to keep from being revealed came out in the open in a 4-part appendix totaling more than 1,800 pages by Judge Tanya Chutkan.

See Also:

AP, via The Guardian: Judge in Trump election interference case unseals trove of documents

#Jack Smith #Jack Smith Special Counsel Investigation #Donald Trump #Tanya Chutkan #Capitol Insurrection #United States v. Trump #Mike Pence #John Eastman #Greg Jacob

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brf-rumortrackinganon · 9 months ago

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I must have missed the Met Gala ‘fuck off’ Anna Wintour thingy mabob regarding Meghan.

If you have time could you please expand on it? I saw it on another post and it really peaked my interest 😁

Sure! The only way the rumor makes sense is if you know "Met Gala 101" so I'll start there, then dive into the rumor. I will warn you now, the rumor ends up getting a little tinhatty because the timing is strange.

The main thing to know is that Anna Wintour has final say over everything that happens at the Met Gala, including what/who people wear. (Some people believe she personally approves every outfit, others think she just likes knowing what people are wearing so she can edit and organize the red carpet like it's a photoshoot.) As part of this, Anna also has final approval over who is invited as plus-ones to the designers.

So there are a few different ways to get on the invite list for the Met Gala:

Be the guest of a designer/fashion house who has bought a table or tickets. To get a designer +1, you usually need a personal relationship with a designer (either an ambassadorship like Kristen Stewart is for Chanel or you're besties like Sarah Jessica Parker and Alexander McQueen or Zac Posen and Katie Holmes) or you need to be a hot It celebrity of the moment like Zendaya, Taylor Swift, Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordie.

Purchase your own ticket (they start at $50K nowadays).

Be a huge donor to the Met, either in money or time.

Work at Vogue or one of the Gala's sponsors.

Perform at the Gala (which is how the Kardashians finally got invited - Kim was Kanye's +1, who was performing).

Be the partner/friend of someone who fits into one of these categories, and hope they get a +1 and choose you.

(I also think the gala's co-hosts get a couple of tickets for free.)

That's "Met Gala 101." Now, the rumor.

Edward Enninful, who was then the editor of British Vogue, was said to have invited Meghan to the Met Gala as his +1. (He gets tickets for being a Vogue employee and Anna approved Meghan as his guest because she fell under "hot It celebrity of the moment".) Allegedly, when Anna asked to know what Meghan was going to wear, Meghan upset/offended her, and Anna rescinded her approval for Meghan to be Edward's guest and Edward dropped Meghan.

There are a few different versions about what Meghan did to Anna:

Meghan refused to tell Anna who/what she was wearing.

Anna gave suggestions to Meghan and she refused to listen.

Meghan lied/changed her mind about who she was wearing after getting Anna's OK and changed her outfit.

Supposedly this was for Met Gala 2019. Supposedly, Meghan was so pissed off that she was uninvited from the Met Gala that she had Archie on May 6th to steal the headlines/thunder from Anna in revenge.

I'm not sure how valid this one is. The timing is suspicious because no way would anyone let a due-any-day pregnant woman travel like that, especially not one who was said to be overdue. (I think Harry wrote in Spare that Archie was 2 weeks overdue.) So either it confirms surrogacy - especially when you remember that in January or February, Meghan told a wellwisher "nearly there, not long to wait" about her pregnancy - or it's completely made up. It wouldn't be the first time that someone made something up and it caught on like wildfire.

It's more plausible to me if this was about the 2018 Met Gala, which was held May 7, 2018. A quick google search showed Meghan didn't have any events or make any public appearances around that time so it's possible she could've been planning a quick popover before the wedding. It's when she would have been most in demand and most sought-after, and it would have been a real coup for Anna and Edward to get her "red carpet society debut" over British society.

It wouldn't have been Met Gala 2020, which was cancelled for COVID. Enninful didn't go to Met Gala 2021 (it overlapped with the opening of London Fashion Week and he was photographed at parties with Naomi Campbell. I documented the rumor on my spreadsheet in 2021 so any of the years after don't count.

So, that's the rumor and the backstory. It's totally up to you whether you believe it or not. If it is true, or a variation of it is true, then the Met Gala crowd and the New York elite crowd that's close to Anna would've absolutely heard about Meghan's behavior. The other thing to remember about Anna is that she also occupies British society too, so she may also be aware of what British society says about Meghan (and Harry).

I'll end this with a little bit of Met Gala gossip from last year (2023). Last year, Olivia Wilde showed up to the Met Gala in the same outfit as Margaret Zhang, Vogue China's editor (Olivia's dress was white, Margaret's was blue). This sort of snafu is exactly why Anna likes to have input in what people wear, so Olivia Wilde showing up to a red carpet in the same outfit of another guest - a Vogue editor specifically - is the worst fashion sin of them all. That she did it at the Met Gala? With the entire world watching? I mean, you might as well go crawl under the Brooklyn Bridge and accept your life as the new bridge troll. But that's not the juicy bit. The juicy bit is that Olivia Wilde showing up in the same outfit of another guest means she wasn't the +1 for a designer or a guest of the Met because Anna would've told her to wear something else since the outfit was committed to Margaret. It means that Olivia paid $50K out of pocket to be embarrassed and supposedly Anna and Margaret were both so upset by it that Olivia may have been blacklisted from the gala for a few years. Now, why would Olivia shell out $50K for a ticket? Allegedly Harry Styles was going to be there too and she wanted to get back together with him.

#ask #brf #sussexes

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carewyncromwell · 4 years ago

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so here's some more key players in the pp au: merula, orion's snarky fairy. Skye, McNully, Erika, KC, Jae, Tonks, and Tulip are the lost boys. Talbott, the prince of the island's native tribe and future chief. Penny, Chiara, Rowan, and Baddea are mermaids. IDK how Rake fits in, but she's def involved. Jacob befriends Duncan, an orphan who "stowed away on the wrong ship", but Duncan has one goal: getting off the island and he will do whatever it takes. mybe do the whistle plot from pp2?

Okay, MERULA as Tinkerbell I didn’t see, and that is a funny image. (I’d initially seen Skye, because...well, the name suits a fairy. XDD And she is a bit closer to Orion than Merula is. But I admit, Skye would have to be much less feminine of a fairy than Tink. And Merula is both tiny and sour enough to play her, especially opposite Wendy!Carey-bear.)

As for the “native” roles...okay, I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’d use Talbott, and here’s why. The “Indians” in Peter Pan have rarely been handled tactfully in its adaptations for pretty obvious reasons -- the original subject material isn’t great in how it depicts those characters. (I mean they’re called the Piccaninny tribe. Just...ew.) But although Talbott’s heritage isn’t made completely clear by the game (since his name’s origin is solidly from the British Isles), he’s not Native American, and I don’t know if I could classify him as an indigenous person (if nothing else, Britain wasn’t really colonized in quite the same way Australia or the Americas were) -- so I don’t know if I’d feel comfortable casting him as one. Writing the Native American tribe in Neverland as original characters or even a modified version of their original selves would be one thing, since you could do a lot of research to try to mitigate J.M. Barrie’s portrayal, but I think it becomes trickier when you try to place someone from one cultural background (even one not made entirely clear by that character’s creators) into a role specifically written for someone with a different cultural background with a history of oppression. It’d be like having someone who wasn’t black play the role of Killmonger in Black Panther -- Killmonger being black is part of his identity, and in the case of the Native Americans in Peter Pan, I don’t think I could in good conscience treat their culture as something to “dress a character up in,” if they don’t belong to it.

If I wrote this AU, I think I might actually include Torvus, Firenze, and the centaurs in approximately the same role instead. We already have fictional races like mermaids and fairies in Neverland, so centaurs wouldn’t be out of place, and they are a bit more “earth” based, so as to contrast the watery mermaids and air-based fairies. Plus Torvus and Carewyn do actually have a fun friendship that I haven’t been able to explore much in my writing, except in these roleplay posts. Three of my headcanons for Carewyn’s canon is that 1, Carewyn practiced with Torvus while learning the Arrow-Shooting Spell, so the arrows she conjures resemble his; 2, post-Hogwarts, Carewyn sends a care package every Christmas for Torvus through Hagrid; and 3, after the Second Wizarding War, Carewyn visits Hogwarts for the first time in many years not only to see McGonagall and Hagrid, but Torvus, who has grown even taller than he was and spends most of Carewyn’s visit walking right next to her, “fixing” her hair, and resting his head on top of hers (the way real horses share their personal space with those they’re close to! ^.^).

I 100% approve of the Lost Boys roster...though it would definitely be a misnomer to call them “Lost Boys,” when there are so many girls among them, hahaha! And you can be rest assured I would definitely want to include some Jacob/Ashe in this whole thing somewhere. >3

#ask me #peter pan au #talbott winger #torvus #merula snyde #skye parkin #opinion

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reading-writing-revolution · 4 years ago

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Heather Cox Richardson:

24 Aug 2020

Trump is running far behind Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the polls. In early February 2020, at its best, his overall popularity rating hovered close to 50%. In the same month, according to a Gallup poll, 63% of Americans approved of the way he was handling the economy. To keep this economic success story going, Trump downplayed the coronavirus, leaving us wide open to its devastation. It hit the U.S. in earnest shortly after this poll was taken. The economy shut down, and we plummeted into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

But Trump is determined to be reelected, so determined that he has begun to suggest he will not accept a Biden victory as valid. There is room to speculate about why he is so obsessed with reelection that he took the unprecedented step of filing for reelection way back in January 2017, on the day of his inauguration. One possible answer is that campaign money can be used to pay for lawyers under certain circumstances. As of May, the campaign had spent more than $16 million on legal services—in comparison, George W. Bush spent $8.8 million; Barack Obama spent $5.5 million; and, in May, Biden had spent just $1.3 million. Another possible answer is that the Department of Justice maintains that a sitting president cannot be indicted.

To pull off a win Trump is trying to guarantee loyal Republican voters will show up to vote. To that end, he is favoring evangelical voters, his most loyal bloc. Last week’s posthumous pardon for Susan B. Anthony was a gift to anti-abortion activists; yesterday Trump explicitly called the attention of evangelical Christians to his lie that “The Democrats took the word GOD out of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democrat National Convention.” (They didn’t. The Muslim caucus and the LGBTQ caucus, both of which met privately, left the words “under God” out. All the public, televised events used the words.)

This morning he was more abrupt. He tweeted: “Happy Sunday! We want GOD!” And then he went golfing.

He is also trying to consolidate power over Republican lawmakers, making the party his own. The Republican National Convention starts tomorrow night, and it seems it will be the Trump Show. The convention was initially supposed to be in Charlotte, North Carolina, and then Trump moved it to Jacksonville, Florida, when North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, would not guarantee he could have full capacity despite the coronavirus. Finally, in the wake of the under-attended Tulsa rally, Trump recognized that the convention would have to be virtual. But this has left planners scrambling to plan a convention in four weeks, when planning one usually takes a full year. No one seems quite sure what is going to happen.

It is traditional for a candidate to put in a short appearance to acknowledge the nomination and then give a keynote acceptance speech on the last day. But the RNC’s announced line-up features Trump speaking every night in the prime-time slot. The speakers include the First Lady and all of the adult Trump children, including Tiffany, but do not include any of the previous Republican presidents or presidential nominees, which is unusual.

Trump will speak live from the White House. This raises legal questions because while the president and vice-president are not covered by the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities, the rest of the White House staff is. Further, it is against the law to coerce federal employees to conduct political activity.

Vice President Mike Pence will also speak from federal property—possibly Fort McHenry— the First Lady will speak from the newly renovated Rose Garden, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will apparently speak from Jerusalem while on an official trip to the Middle East, although secretaries of state generally do not speak at either political convention. Democrats have raised concerns about the overlap between official property and business and the Trump campaign.

The Republicans have written no platform to outline policies and goals for the future. Instead they passed a resolution saying that “the Republican Party has and will continue to enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda.” The party appears now to be Trump’s.

But….

The Republicans’ next resolution calls on the media “to engage in accurate and unbiased reporting, especially as it relates to the strong support of the RNC for President Trump and his Administration.” And a final resolution prohibited the Republicans from making any motions to write a new platform.

If you read that carefully, you see people trying to convince everyone that they are united, when they are, in fact, badly split.

Trump’s extremism is alienating the voters that other Republican lawmakers need to stay in power, and those lawmakers are trying to keep their distance from him without antagonizing his base. Yesterday, in Portland, Oregon, the police refused to respond as neo-fascist Proud Boys and armed militia members staging a “Back the Blue” rally attacked Black Lives Matter protesters, who fought back. It is a truism in American history that violence costs a group political support, and militia groups are angry because Facebook has banned them, hurting their ability to recruit.

Today, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officers shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back multiple times in front of his children; the shooting was caught on video and has sparked outrage.

Tell-all books are also undermining the president. Yesterday, it came out that when researching her book, Mary Trump, the president’s niece, recorded her aunt, Maryanne Trump Barry, Trump’s sister, discussing Trump. “All he wants to do is appeal to his base,” Barry said. “He has no principles. None. None.” “Donald is cruel,” she said, “he was a brat.” A new book by CNN reporter Brian Stelter shows how Trump simply echoes the personalities at the Fox News Channel. And former Trump fixer Michael Cohen is about to release his own book about his years working for Trump.

Trump also took a personal hit tonight, when advisor Kellyanne Conway announced she was leaving the White House. Both she and her husband, George Conway, a co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, are stepping away from the public eye to deal with family issues exacerbated by the political drama of the past several years.

And the Russia story, revived by the fifth volume of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on Russian connections to the 2016 Trump campaign, is not going away. Tonight, the Daily Beast reported that Jared Kushner—who after, all, could not get a security clearance until Trump overruled authorities-- has been using a secret back channel to communicate with a Putin representative. According to the story, Steve Bannon, who was arrested on Friday by the acting U.S. Attorney at the Southern District of New York and so now has an excellent reason to flip, knew all about it.

This afternoon, Trump tried to change the news trend when he called a press conference to announce what he called a “safe and effective treatment” for Covid-19. The FDA has approved an Emergency Use Authorization for convalescent plasma, a treatment involving giving anti-body rich plasma from those who have had the virus to those ill with it. Studies show that the treatment has some potential, but there has been little scientific study of it, and it is certainly not established as an effective treatment. Federal health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have objected to the EUA until there is more information; Trump has accused the doctors of delaying approval for political reasons. He walked out of the press conference after a reporter asked about the discrepancy between his triumphant announcement of a treatment and a doctor's explanation that plasma has potential.

So the best option for the president to win in 2020 might be to keep Biden supporters from voting. Yesterday, the House passed a bill committing $25 billion to the United States Postal Service and to stop Postmaster General Louis DeJoy from making more changes that are delaying the delivery of the mail. Today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to take up the bill.

But Americans have figured out that they can avoid using the slowed USPS by turning to Ballot Drop Boxes. So today, Trump tweeted that “Mail Drop Boxes… are a voter security disaster,” that are “not Covid sanitized.”

Twitter slapped a warning on it: “This tweet violated the Twitter rules about civic and election integrity.”

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bigyack-com · 5 years ago

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Activists Build a Grass-Roots Alliance Against Amazon

SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon flourished over its first two decades with little opposition and less scrutiny. A new coalition and a report unveiled on Tuesday make clear that era is over.The coalition, Athena, comprises three dozen grass-roots groups involved in issues like digital surveillance, antitrust and working conditions in warehouses. The goal is to encourage and unify the resistance to Amazon that is now beginning to form.The report, from the Economic Roundtable, a nonprofit research group that focuses on social and economic issues in Southern California, delves into the largely unexplored topic of what Amazon is costing the communities where it has warehouses. The short answer: a lot.While the simultaneous arrival of Athena and the report are a coincidence, they are linked by their attempts to understand and ultimately influence Amazon’s push into almost every aspect of modern life. The internet conglomerate hired 97,000 employees over the summer, nearly the total employment of Google. The report is bluntly titled “Too Big to Govern.”“This is a company functioning at a scale that was previously left to government,” said Tom Perriello of the Open Society Foundations. Founded by the billionaire George Soros, Open Society is providing some of the seed funding for Athena. The coalition is raising $15 million to cover its first three years.“It has incredible impact,” Mr. Perriello said of Amazon. “Who could possibly shape its future and direction?”Amazon, like Facebook, Apple and Google, has drawn the attention of Washington regulators, state attorneys general and at least a few politicians in the last year. The central question being asked about all of the companies: When does a tech platform become too big and powerful, ultimately hurting the society it once dazzled? In Amazon’s case, the situation is particularly complicated. Its aspirations long ago exceeded online retail to encompass fresh groceries, devices that connect your home to the internet, front-door and neighborhood surveillance, professional services like plumbing and contracting, health care, government procurement, internet infrastructure and Hollywood entertainment. Just about everything, really. Amazon declined to comment for this article.Athena springs out of several unexpectedly successful grass-roots efforts to rein in Amazon’s power. Last fall, the retailer was forced to begin paying a $15 hourly minimum wage nationwide. In February, it abandoned plans to establish a new headquarters in New York after opponents mobilized against Amazon and the politicians who had approved the deal. This month, an attempt to stack the City Council in Seattle, the company’s hometown, with members more acceptable to Amazon backfired with voters. These setbacks could be attributed to many factors, but one of them was the influence of labor and immigrant organizations. Now some of those groups are joining together under Athena.“We’re learning from what makes Amazon back down, and looking to replicate that as much as possible with as many people as possible,” said Dania Rajendra, the Athena director.Athena will be run from New York, but the real work will be done out in the field where most of the member organizations are. They include the Awood Center, a Minneapolis nonprofit that has organized Amazon workers from East Africa; Warehouse Workers for Justice, which is based in Chicago; and Fight for the Future, a group that focuses on digital issues, in Massachusetts.In a separate move on Monday, Fight for the Future and other groups called on Congress to investigate Amazon’s surveillance products, including the Ring front-door monitor and Rekognition facial tracking software. The products threaten “our privacy and civil liberties, especially in brown and black communities,” the groups said.The effort against Amazon will not be easy, said Lauren Jacobs of the Partnership for Working Families, a coalition member in Oakland. Amazon is projected to have $238 billion in sales this year with 750,000 employees.“This is a David and Goliath story,” she said. “David took what he had and turned it into a winning strategy. We’re taking what we have — the voices of the members of our various organizations, our collective knowledge and experience and deep understanding of the economy around Big Tech, and the experience we’ve had with making this company shift its behavior — and trying to build a more humane economy.”Athena’s $15 million budget is modest for the scale of change it hopes to bring about . “This is grass-roots democracy,” said Barry Lynn of Open Markets Institute, a Washington think tank and coalition member focused on antitrust issues. “There’s no money in it. Just people.”Mr. Perriello of the Open Society Foundations said updating protest movements for the digital era was an interesting challenge.“Uncertainty is now baked into the model,” he said. “You don’t know where the fight is going to be two months from now or two years from now. So you need the ability to organize citizens of very different political stripes across geographies and across demographics, where traditionally you had to organize in place.”The name Athena is associated with democracy, freedom and wisdom. But it has another advantage for the coalition.“We didn’t want to have Amazon in the name — People Against Amazon or whatever — because part of the strategy is to offer a better vision for how the economy could work,” said Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit in Maine that opposes corporate concentration and advocates local community development. “To be for something, not just against.”Sheheryar Kaoosji of another coalition member, the Warehouse Worker Resource Center in Ontario, east of Los Angeles, said Athena was not planning a boycott of Amazon but more interested in trying to sway it — including its employees and customers.“Half the households in America have an Amazon Prime account,” Mr. Kaoosji said. “That gives them a huge amount of power to change the company.” His group is dedicated to improving conditions in what is sometimes called “the goods movement sector.” The resource center is in California’s Inland Empire, where the work gets done to process those packages that appear on porches in Santa Monica and Newport Beach as if by magic. Amazon workers and Amazon customers exist in two different worlds, the Economic Roundtable said. The report calculates that a little over half of Amazon warehouse workers in Southern California live in substandard housing. And for every $1 in wages, they receive 24 cents in public assistance.“Every day, ships, trucks, trains and airplanes bring an estimated 21,500 diesel truckloads of merchandise to 21 Amazon warehouses in the four-county region,” the Economic Roundtable report said. It calculated that Amazon trucks last year created $642 million in “uncompensated public costs” for noise, road wear, accidents and harmful emissions.Almost as an aside, the report indicated how adept Amazon, with a stock market value of nearly $900 billion, is at getting funding from California and local communities. This included $25 million from the California Film Commission to subsidize six productions, including the third season of “Sneaky Pete,” an Amazon crime drama, and $1.2 million from the California Office of Business and Economic Development toward an office building in Irvine for programmers.The report noted on its title page that it was underwritten by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which represents more than 800,000 members of 300 unions. The Economic Roundtable said that did not affect the results. Among the report’s suggestions: that Amazon raise its minimum wage to $20 an hour, that it require its logistics subcontractors to do the same, that it provide child care at its warehouses and that it build affordable housing in its logistics communities.The report draws on California Public Records Act requests filed with communities with Amazon facilities. Many of them nevertheless came up empty. The report noted that very little of Amazon’s business was known to anyone but Amazon. Communities are in the dark.“Our conclusion is that it’s time for Amazon to come of age and pay its own way,” said Daniel Flaming, a co-author of the report. “This means paying its full costs to the communities that host it and the workers who create its profits.” Source link Read the full article

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magicrobins · 8 years ago

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Dragon Age Dual AU Worldstate

Long post, all under the cut.

Edits may be made as details are added or changed.

(I typed this the best I could remember us discussing the details a while ago.)

Shared with: @bxtgrl (Nat), @jellyfishlovesloki

Dragon Age Origins

Heroes of Ferelden: Namera Cousland (sword/shield warrior, Alistair romance), and Piras Surana (mage, Zevran romance).

Companion OCs: Sylvas Mahariel (dual-wielding/archery rogue, Tamlen Rendlin romance), Sarabeth Tabris (archery rogue, Leliana romance), Christian Amell (mage, Morrigan romance), Rendlin Amell (sword/shield warrior, Sylvas romance), Paige Brosca (dual-wielding rogue, no romance), Atlen Mahariel (dual-wielding rogue, Jowan romance), and Noah Talbot (two-handed warrior, Anora romance).

All companions except for Loghain are recruited.

Companion decisions: Returned Sten’s sword, defeated Flemeth for her grimoire, sent Marjolaine away, and helped Alistair find Goldanna.

Namera has a mabari, Konroy, and Piras got a mabari after Ostagar, Sammy.

Broken Circle: Sided with the mages, gained some Templar supporters, and managed to save First Enchanter Irving.

The Arl of Redcliffe: Helped Redcliffe prepare and fight, Piras used lyrium and the help of Circle mages to fight the demon in the Fade, Connor alive, not possessed, and Piras and some companions helped Jowan escape at night (Sylvas directed him to Atlen for protection).

The Urn of Sacred Ashes: Urn wasn’t poisoned, and word about its discovery eventually got out.

Nature of the Beast: Sylvas helped Namera and Piras broker peace.

Paragon of Her Kind: Rendlin had a son with Mardy, restored Mardy’s son’s birthright, Dagna left to study, defeated Branka and destroyed the Anvil of the Void, Namera supported Harrowmont, Piras supported Bhelen, and the choice was ultimately left up to Rendlin who surprised everyone by choosing Bhelen.

Stone Prisoner DLC: Matthias and Amalia both alive, and neither are possessed.

Warden’s Keep DLC: Piras gained the Power of Blood, Sophia killed, and Avernus allowed to continue research under more ethical restraints.

Denerim: Helped Sarabeth figure out and stop the city elves from disappearing, rescued Anora, and Namera killed Howe in combat, avenging her family.

Landsmeet: Loghain killed by Alistair, Alistair became King of Ferelden, and later married Namera, making her Queen of Ferelden.

The Battle of Denerim: Alistair took part in the Dark Ritual with Morrigan, only Grey Warden to die was Riordan, and Namera and Piras killed the Archdemon together.

New Grey Wardens: Sylvas, Christian, Rendlin, Paige, Atlen, Noah, and Jowan joined the Grey Wardens after the Battle of Denerim. Sarabeth joined the Grey Wardens in the beginning of Awakening.

Namera and Sarabeth belong to @bxtgrl.

Piras, Sylvas, Christian, Rendlin, Paige, Atlen, and Noah belong to @magicrobins.

The Golems of Amgarrak DLC: Namera and Piras helped Jerrik, however they both vocally objected to the idea of bringing back the creation of golems.

Witch Hunt DLC: Christian follows Morrigan through the Eluvian.

Dragon Age Awakening DLC

New companion OCs: Halin Andras (mage, one-sided Nathaniel romance), Hannah Caron (two-handed warrior, Jaden romance), and Jaden Kader (archery rogue, Hannah romance). Companion OCs from Origins returned with Namera and Piras, as well as Jowan, a canon character.

Piras is named Arl of Amaranthine.

All companions recruited and joined the Grey Wardens.

Oghren and Felsi reunited.

Both the Keep and Amaranthine were successfully protected after hard battles.

The only casualty of the battles: Justice was “killed” when Kristoff’s head is chopped off while defending Vigil’s Keep.

Piras and Namera side with the Architect against the Broodmother and allow him to live.

Zevran eventually returns to Amaranthine, and he and Piras marry at Vigil’s Keep.

Majority of companions stay with the Grey Wardens, though Velanna eventually leaves after believing she saw her sister.

Halin Andras, Hannah Caron, and Jaden Kader belong to @magicrobins

Dragon Age II*

*The timeline of DA2 is being edited to better fit in with the timeline of Origins. We have it to where the Hawke family were younger when they fled Lothering, and the Hawke siblings were indentured for more than just a year in Kirkwall.

Champions of Kirkwall: Derek Hawke (mage, eldest sibling, Fenris romance), and Vera Hawke (mage, Anders romance).

Companion OCs: Kenrick Lolani (two-handed warrior, Merrill romance), Stella Montgomery (dual-wielding/archery rogue, Isabela romance), Talia Fredericks (dual-wielding rogue, Sebastian romance), and Jaxton Montgomery (dual-wielding/archery rogue, Tallis romance).

All companions recruited, and all relationships are friendship.

Companion decisions: Carver became a Grey Warden, Bethany became a Circle mage, Bartrand lived, convinced Varric not to keep the lyrium idol, Isabela returned with the Tome, didn’t turn Isabela over to the Qunari, didn’t convince Merrill to destroy the Eluvian, didn’t kill Merrill’s clan, and Aveline married Donnic.

Mages fully supported.

Prologue: Both Bethany and Carver live, Bethany is gravely injured from the ogre attack, Vera and Derek join the smugglers, and Stella and Jaxton join the mercenaries.

Act 1: Derek and Vera sometimes disagreed when it came to letting mages go or returning them to the Circle, Saemus saved and returned to the Viscount, Kelder killed, the slaver Danzig killed, Derek and Vera both own the Bone Pit, Feynriel sent to the Dalish, defended Ketojan, left Bethany in Kirkwall, and took Carver to the Deep Roads.

Act 2: Gascard killed, didn’t side with Varnell, didn’t side with Petrice, Javaris was alive and well, helped with the raiders on the cliffs, freed Feynriel and allowed him to leave for Tevinter, and Derek and Vera killed the Arishok together.

Legacy DLC: Sided with Larius, defeated Corypheus, and found Malcolm’s Will.

Mark of the Assassin DLC: didn’t make Tallis angry, and Jaxton kissed Tallis.

Act 3: Met and let Zevran go, later aided by Zevran in the battle against Meredith, rescued Nathaniel, reunited Charade and Gamlen, handed conspirators over to Orsino, Derek disapproved and Vera approved of Anders destroying the Chantry, Anders was spared, Sebastian and Talia left for Starkhaven, vowing revenge on Anders and the Hawkes, the Hawkes and companions had to flee Kirkwall and go into hiding; to protect Vera, Derek solely took on the Champion of Kirkwall title; and Derek and companions spread false information that there had only ever been one Champion.

Derek Hawke, Stella Montgomery, and Jaxton Montgomery belong to @magicrobins. Vera Hawke and Talia Fredericks belong to @bxtgrl. Kenrick Lolani belongs to @jellyfishlovesloki.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Inquisitors: Aya Lavellan (dual-wielding rogue, Cullen romance), and Galen Lavellan (mage, Dorian romance).

Companion OCs: Elaith Lavellan (mage, Solas romance), Nova Adaar (two-handed warrior, Iron Bull romance), Lilya Avery (mage, Blackwall romance), Jacob Lombardi (archery rogue, Josephine romance), Ju-long “Striker” Trevelyan (archery rogue, Cassandra romance), Mordecai Bayley (dual-wielding rogue, Lace romance), Ricka Cadash (dual-wielding rogue, one-sided Varric romance), Ozera Herah (dual-wielding rogue, Sera romance), Rasha Andras (two-handed warrior, Arven romance), Arven Karaas (mage, Rasha romance), Ai Trevelyan (mage, Krem romance), Zhen Trevelyan (mage, Bailey romance), and Bailey Carrian (archery rogue, Zhen romance).

All companions are recruited.

Companion decisions: Dorian reconciled with his father, Blackwall left prison with his true identity revealed and eventually joined the Grey Wardens, Iron Bull saved the Chargers and became Tal-Vashoth, Cassandra discovered the Book of Secrets, Harmond was kept alive but forced to work for the Inquisition, Cole became more human, Solas freed his friend, Varric pursued the red lyrium source lead, Vivienne gained the snowy wyvern heart, Cullen was encouraged not to use lyrium, Aya and Galen did favors for the Du Paraquette family, and Leliana was inspired.

Exploring Thedas: Reached the inner sanctum of the Temple of Pride, helped the refugees, gained the allegiance of the cultists, closed the rift in the lake, claimed Griffon Wing Keep, investigated the dwarven ruins, rescued troops from the Avvar, kept Fairbanks’ nobility a secret and helped him defeat the Freemen, killed Imshael, and captured Suledin Keep.

Operations: Failed to save Clan Lavellan, Sutherland’s company was successful, Jecin and Celeste married for love, and both Johi and Charade were recruited.

The Wrath of Heaven: Aya and Galen claimed to not know whether they were chosen by Andraste or not.

Champions of the Just: Elaith sent to Therinfal Redoubt with a few companions under the disguise of an Inquisitor, offered the Templars a free alliance, and Ser Barris is alive and promoted to Knight-Commander.

In Hushed Whispers: Aya and Galen went to Redcliffe with a few companions, and offered the mages a free alliance.

Tension was high in Haven among the Templars and mages, many uneasy with the Inquisition allying with both groups.

In Your Heart Shall Burn: Cole arrived at Haven, and Aya and Galen both stayed behind to fight and distract Corypheus.

Here Lies the Abyss: Derek Hawke, Stella Montgomery, Kenrick Lolani, Jaxton Montgomery, and canon companions except for Sebastian and Anders arrived at Skyhold upon Varric’s request to aid in the trouble with the Grey Wardens; Derek, Stella, and Kenrick fell into the Fade with the Inquisitors, a few companions, and Stroud; Stroud chose to stay back in the Fade, telling Derek to find his cousin (Christian Amell) to lead the Grey Wardens because it’s common knowledge the Heroes of Ferelden and several of their companion Wardens have gone missing; Derek, Stella, and Kenrick had to pull Aya and Galen out of the Fade to get them to leave Stroud behind; the Grey Wardens are offered a free alliance to rebuild their strength and ranks; and Derek urges the Inquisitors and Leliana to find Christian Amell, who at that point was a high ranking Grey Warden.

Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts: Christian Amell was found attending the ball with Morrigan and joined her and Kieran at Skyhold, Empress Celene lived and Grand Duchess Florianne both lived, Celene continued to rule and reconciled with Briala.

What Pride had Wrought: Galen chose to respect the temple’s traditions, Aya chose to follow the quicker route through the temple’s underground, Galen managed to get the alliance and help of the guardians, Samson and Calpernia were the Inquisition’s nemesis, Aya destroyed Samson’s armor, Galen talked to Calpernia and convinced her that her loyalty was misdirected, and Aya and Galen decided to share the price and drank from the Well of Sorrows together.

Doom Upon the World: Aya and Galen made no formal support for either Cassandra, Leliana, or Vivienne for Divine, not wanting to choose between their friends; Aya and Galen defeated Corypheus together while their companions and Inquisition forces fought off the demon horde; and Leliana was chosen as Divine Victoria.

The Descent DLC: The earthquakes were stopped, and the secret origin of lyrium was discovered.

Jaws of Hakkon DLC: Discovered and met Ameridan, shared the truth about Ameridan, killed the dragon, and Aya and Galen both gained a legend-mark from the Avvar.

Trespasser DLC: Iron Bull remained loyal, the Inquisition was disbanded at Aya’s order, and Aya and Galen vowed to redeem Solas.

Aya Lavellan, Jacob Lombardi, and Lilya Avery belong to @bxtgrl. Nova Adaar, Mordecai Bayley, and Ricka Cadash belong to @jellyfishlovesloki. Galen Lavellan, Elaith Lavellan, Ju-long “Striker” Trevelyan, Ozera Herah, Rasha Andras, Arven Karaas, Ai Trevelyan, Zhen Treveylan, and Bailey Carrian belong to @magicrobins.

Anything post-Trespasser can be discovered through asks or fanfics! <3

#dragon age #worldstate #dragon age worldstate #dragon age dual au #s: dragon age #v: dual dragon age #nat #jellyfishlovesloki #oc #other's oc

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jobsearchtips02 · 5 years ago

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New e-mails show how President Trump roiled NOAA during Typhoon Dorian

A chest of files released on Friday night supply the clearest glimpse yet into how President Trump’s incorrect statements, modified forecast map and tweets relating to Cyclone Dorian’s projection course rattled top officials in addition to rank and file scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in September.

Hurricane Dorian near peak intensity on Sept. 1,2019 (NOAA/RAMMB).

The files, released in reaction to Freedom of Details Act requests from The Washington Post and other media outlets, show that the No. 2 official at the firm, Ret.

The statement was extensively interpreted within NOAA’s National Weather Service as contradicting a precise projection due to political pressure from the White Home and the Department of Commerce.

“[P] lease accept Neil’s reply as a genuine acknowledgment of a news release we did not approve or support,” Gallaudet wrote in an email to Gary Shigenaka, a NOAA marine biologist, on Sept. 8 at 5: 48 a.m. “You know from my multiple messages to you and your coworkers that we respect and guarantee your service and clinical stability.”

Other e-mails reveal a few of the process of authorizing the statement and its dissemination, which involves then deputy chief of staff and interactions director Julie Roberts. It’s not clear from the e-mails who directed NOAA to issue it. Roberts has given that departed the agency, as has then-NOAA chief of personnel Stuart Levenbach.

Jacobs likewise composed to Shigenaka, stating, “This whole thing is being blown way out of proportion and politicized. The so-called tweet said definitely no chance of effects and NHC assistance was requiring 5-30%. The projection office did the right thing to calm the nerves of citizens. I enjoy NOAA. I am so happy with everything you all do.”

�� You have no concept how hard I’m fighting to keep politics out of science. We are an unbiased science firm, and we won’t and never will base any choices on anything aside from science,” Jacobs wrote.

The Post has reported that the demand for NOAA to provide the statement came from White House acting chief of personnel Mick Mulvaney, at the demand of the president, through authorities at the Commerce Department Some communications that would shed light on the origins of the statement are edited in the FOIA release, due to a continuous Commerce Department Inspector General investigation into the matter.

In another series of emails, Gallaudet reveals his issue for the NWS workforce, and seems to reference resigning over the matter.

In a message to John Murphy, the chief running officer of the NWS, Gallaudet states: “Thank you John. I track all of NWS on social networks, so I see the feeling, however truthfully get it. I’m having a hard time not leaving the pattern right now.”

Murphy, who served in the Air Force, responds: “Hang in there sir. Require you and judgement we make almost daily because we have pension. Is this battle to die for or much better to remain and fight for what’s right,” including, “we can do more in pattern.”

Your Home Science Committee is likewise investigating the political pressure offered on one of the world’s leading oceans and climatic science agencies, and an internal NOAA query is looking for to determine whether the agency’s clinical stability policy— which explicitly prohibits political disturbance with scientific findings and the interaction of those findings– was broken.

At stake is public trust in weather forecasts and warnings focused on saving lives and securing property. The emails reveal a concern among the firm’s leaders that its forecasters would hesitate to release a storm warning or other forecast “item” due to worries that it would oppose or anger a political authorities, such as the president.

” Staff members now fear for there jobs and are questioning whether they should publish possibly life-saving info or inspect tweets initially,” Murphy wrote to Jacobs in an email at 2 a.m. on Sept. 8. “This is not good and I will assure staff members to focus on mission as I have been doing. I truly hope folks can find way to let this go and our workers do not be reluctant for even one second.”

The emails also show the minutes when the debate that became referred to as “Sharpiegate” first concerned NOAA’s attention. In action to an email inquiry from The Post on Sept. 4, quickly after Trump showed the modified forecast map in the Oval Workplace, NOAA’s deputy chief of public affairs Scott Smullen wrote associates:

” How do you wish to handle this one? Looks like somebody at the WH [White House] drew with a marker on the image of our official projection.”

In a separate email discussion, Cory Pieper, social networks lead at the NWS, informed the general public affairs office that the projection image was “doctored.” Susan Buchanan, the director of the office, responded: “Are you sure they were doctored?” Pieper reacted: “Yes, that was doctored.”

The Washington Post would later report it was President Trump who altered the image with a black Sharpie.

With media questions putting into the National Hurricane Center in Miami, public affairs officer Dennis Feltgen sent out an urgent message to colleagues in Washington later on that day. “HELP!!!”

NOAA’s Roberts revealed the hope the debate would fade. “I pray this thing passes away off by early morning,” she wrote to associates.

However the release of the anonymous statement two days later on only magnified the controversy, provoking a gush of outrage from the general public, Feltgen emailed once again. “I am enthusiastic there was some consideration of the outcome unsightly response to this press release. I am sick to my stomach.”

Louis Uccellini, director of the NWS, wrote “the mood out there is quite ugly” in an e-mail to NOAA management while describing an “upwelling” in the weather community.

In reaction to the declaration, Craig McLean, NOAA’s acting chief researcher, wrote to Weather condition Service and NOAA leaders, specifying: “What’s next? Climate science is a hoax? Flabbergasted to leave our forecasters awaiting the political wind.”

In an email to NOAA leadership the next day, McLean wrote: “For a company founded upon and recognized for determining clinical facts, relied on by the public, and accountable in law to put forward essential science info, I discover it unconscionable that an anonymous voice inside of NOAA would be discovered to castigate a dutiful, proper, and faithful NWS Forecaster who spoke the reality.”

McLean, a veteran NOAA authorities, would consequently go public with his criticism and launch the clinical integrity investigation.

The backstory

At the time of Trump’s tweet, the NWS’s projection assistance showed only an extremely little threat (about 5 percent) of tropical-storm-force winds for a small portion of Alabama. Nevertheless, Alabama was not in the storm projection track or “cone of uncertainty” from the National Hurricane Center, which showed Hurricane Dorian skirting the East Coast far away from Alabama.

While the NWS’s Birmingham workplace set the record straight, specifying Alabama “would NOT see any effects” from the storm, and despite the fact that leading NOAA officials knew its forecasters only acted in response to calls from concerned citizens, the agency still advised the Birmingham division for speaking “in absolute terms.”

Trump’s tweet that Alabama would be affected by the storm acquired national attention when Trump presented the variation of the projection cone from Aug. 29, extended into Alabama– customized utilizing a Sharpie. The crudely modified map appeared to represent an effort to retroactively validate the original Alabama tweet.

The outcomes of the Commerce Department Inspector General’s investigation are expected in the near future. In December, Trump nominated Jacobs to head NOAA after the previous candidate, Barry Myers, withdrew from contention, and the Dorian matter is sure to come up at any election hearing.

from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/new-e-mails-show-how-president-trump-roiled-noaa-during-typhoon-dorian/

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biofunmy · 5 years ago

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Activists Build a Grass-Roots Alliance Against Amazon

SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon flourished over its first two decades with little opposition and less scrutiny. A new coalition and a report unveiled on Tuesday make clear that era is over.

The coalition, Athena, comprises three dozen grass-roots groups involved in issues like digital surveillance, antitrust and working conditions in warehouses. The goal is to encourage and unify the resistance to Amazon that is now beginning to form.

The report, from the Economic Roundtable, a nonprofit research group that focuses on social and economic issues in Southern California, delves into the largely unexplored topic of what Amazon is costing the communities where it has warehouses. The short answer: a lot.

While the simultaneous arrival of Athena and the report are a coincidence, they are linked by their attempts to understand and ultimately influence Amazon’s push into almost every aspect of modern life. The internet conglomerate hired 97,000 employees over the summer, nearly the total employment of Google. The report is bluntly titled “Too Big to Govern.”

“This is a company functioning at a scale that was previously left to government,” said Tom Perriello of the Open Society Foundations. Founded by the billionaire George Soros, Open Society is providing some of the seed funding for Athena. The coalition is raising $15 million to cover its first three years.

“It has incredible impact,” Mr. Perriello said of Amazon. “Who could possibly shape its future and direction?”

Amazon, like Facebook, Apple and Google, has drawn the attention of Washington regulators, state attorneys general and at least a few politicians in the last year. The central question being asked about all of the companies: When does a tech platform become too big and powerful, ultimately hurting the society it once dazzled?

In Amazon’s case, the situation is particularly complicated. Its aspirations long ago exceeded online retail to encompass fresh groceries, devices that connect your home to the internet, front-door and neighborhood surveillance, professional services like plumbing and contracting, health care, government procurement, internet infrastructure and Hollywood entertainment. Just about everything, really.

Amazon declined to comment for this article.

Athena springs out of several unexpectedly successful grass-roots efforts to rein in Amazon’s power.

Last fall, the retailer was forced to begin paying a $15 hourly minimum wage nationwide. In February, it abandoned plans to establish a new headquarters in New York after opponents mobilized against Amazon and the politicians who had approved the deal. This month, an attempt to stack the City Council in Seattle, the company’s hometown, with members more acceptable to Amazon backfired with voters.

These setbacks could be attributed to many factors, but one of them was the influence of labor and immigrant organizations. Now some of those groups are joining together under Athena.

“We’re learning from what makes Amazon back down, and looking to replicate that as much as possible with as many people as possible,” said Dania Rajendra, the Athena director.

Athena will be run from New York, but the real work will be done out in the field where most of the member organizations are. They include the Awood Center, a Minneapolis nonprofit that has organized Amazon workers from East Africa; Warehouse Workers for Justice, which is based in Chicago; and Fight for the Future, a group that focuses on digital issues, in Massachusetts.

In a separate move on Monday, Fight for the Future and other groups called on Congress to investigate Amazon’s surveillance products, including the Ring front-door monitor and Rekognition facial tracking software. The products threaten “our privacy and civil liberties, especially in brown and black communities,” the groups said.

The effort against Amazon will not be easy, said Lauren Jacobs of the Partnership for Working Families, a coalition member in Oakland. Amazon is projected to have $238 billion in sales this year with 750,000 employees.

“This is a David and Goliath story,” she said. “David took what he had and turned it into a winning strategy. We’re taking what we have — the voices of the members of our various organizations, our collective knowledge and experience and deep understanding of the economy around Big Tech, and the experience we’ve had with making this company shift its behavior — and trying to build a more humane economy.”

Athena’s $15 million budget is modest for the scale of change it hopes to bring about . “This is grass-roots democracy,” said Barry Lynn of Open Markets Institute, a Washington think tank and coalition member focused on antitrust issues. “There’s no money in it. Just people.”

Mr. Perriello of the Open Society Foundations said updating protest movements for the digital era was an interesting challenge.

“Uncertainty is now baked into the model,” he said. “You don’t know where the fight is going to be two months from now or two years from now. So you need the ability to organize citizens of very different political stripes across geographies and across demographics, where traditionally you had to organize in place.”

The name Athena is associated with democracy, freedom and wisdom. But it has another advantage for the coalition.

“We didn’t want to have Amazon in the name — People Against Amazon or whatever — because part of the strategy is to offer a better vision for how the economy could work,” said Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit in Maine that opposes corporate concentration and advocates local community development. “To be for something, not just against.”

Sheheryar Kaoosji of another coalition member, the Warehouse Worker Resource Center in Ontario, east of Los Angeles, said Athena was not planning a boycott of Amazon but more interested in trying to sway it — including its employees and customers.

“Half the households in America have an Amazon Prime account,” Mr. Kaoosji said. “That gives them a huge amount of power to change the company.” His group is dedicated to improving conditions in what is sometimes called “the goods movement sector.”

The resource center is in California’s Inland Empire, where the work gets done to process those packages that appear on porches in Santa Monica and Newport Beach as if by magic.

Amazon workers and Amazon customers exist in two different worlds, the Economic Roundtable said. The report calculates that a little over half of Amazon warehouse workers in Southern California live in substandard housing. And for every $1 in wages, they receive 24 cents in public assistance.

“Every day, ships, trucks, trains and airplanes bring an estimated 21,500 diesel truckloads of merchandise to 21 Amazon warehouses in the four-county region,” the Economic Roundtable report said. It calculated that Amazon trucks last year created $642 million in “uncompensated public costs” for noise, road wear, accidents and harmful emissions.

Almost as an aside, the report indicated how adept Amazon, with a stock market value of nearly $900 billion, is at getting funding from California and local communities. This included $25 million from the California Film Commission to subsidize six productions, including the third season of “Sneaky Pete,” an Amazon crime drama, and $1.2 million from the California Office of Business and Economic Development toward an office building in Irvine for programmers.

The report noted on its title page that it was underwritten by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which represents more than 800,000 members of 300 unions. The Economic Roundtable said that did not affect the results.

Among the report’s suggestions: that Amazon raise its minimum wage to $20 an hour, that it require its logistics subcontractors to do the same, that it provide child care at its warehouses and that it build affordable housing in its logistics communities.

The report draws on California Public Records Act requests filed with communities with Amazon facilities. Many of them nevertheless came up empty. The report noted that very little of Amazon’s business was known to anyone but Amazon. Communities are in the dark.

“Our conclusion is that it’s time for Amazon to come of age and pay its own way,” said Daniel Flaming, a co-author of the report. “This means paying its full costs to the communities that host it and the workers who create its profits.”

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jenmedsbookreviews · 6 years ago

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Can four pictures really sum up my week? Well, if I’m being honest they come pretty close. Reading, paperwork, sunny skies and traffic jams. That’s what I’ve been up to. The sunny skies makes a nice change. Well … not a change exactly, it’s becoming quite repetitive now, but hey – we mustn’t complain.

So how has your week been? Good? Good. I had a pretty awesome one by all accounts. Monday, despite being at work (boo hiss) I had a pretty fabulous day as I was Netgalley approved for one of THE books I have been most anticipating all year, the first in James Oswald’s brand new Constance Fairchild series, No Time To Cry. Now I was in Dublin training on Monday so I started reading it in my lunch break. Carried on reading it in the airport where I was only disturbed by a small false fire alarm, boarding the plane and driving home. I know! Annoying right? Carried on reading when I got home, finished around two a.am. I am completely gutted now as reading it so quickly means I have ages to wait for the next book in either series but by ‘eck. It was good. Sooooooo good. This was my only Netgalley this week, but that’s no bad thing lol. And as I arrived home to a signed copy of The Reckoning by Yrsa Sigurdardottir courtesy of Goldsboro Books too, the day was pretty good all in all.

Tuesday was a work day (boo hiss) but I crammed in some reading in the evening, even though I was absolutely shattered from my early morning book binge. Wednesday was a little more exciting as I drove down to London for an early morning (six a.m.) appointment the following day, Whilst there it felt only polite to head along to the London launch for Louise Voss’ The Old You and Doug Johnstone’s Fault Lines. The sacrifices one makes for blogging huh?

A fabulous evening in the gallery of Collyer Bristow on Beford Row in some wonderful company. So nice to catch up with old friends, Vicki Goldman, Joy Kluver, Jacob Collins, Anne Cater, Karen Cole, Mary Picken, Barry Forshaw and Marina Sofia. I met Daniel Pembrey who is lovely, and of course it was a chance to say hi to the lovely Karen Sullivan again and also the effervescent Meggy who was in her element and perhaps more than a little high on chocolate cake ;), One of the biggest surprises of the night was seeing Thomas Enger there – totally not expecting that but just shows what a fab team the Orenda guys are as he flew in all the way from Norway to give his support to the launch.

Book wise I picked up a signed copy of Fault Lines (I already had The Old You from earlier in the year at the Orenda Roadshow in Warwick) and an arc of Good Samaritans by Will Carver, an arc I have been rather jealous of having seen arriving with all my blogging compadres.

Driving home from Tottenham on Thursday was pure hell. Hell I tell you! Left at three and, with a series of delays, accidents and general nonsense to contend with, plus a very late breakfast stop at four thirty p.m., I finally arrived home just before eight. You’d think I’d be unhappy about that right? Well normally I would be but I managed to finish an audio book and then, when you arrive home to a massive parcel with your TBC auction wins in it, well you can’t stay in a bad mood for long can you? Such a wonderful sight to see.

What was in it? Well … Random, Snapshot, Cold Grave, Witness The Dead, In Place of Death, Murderabilia and The Photographer by Craig Robertson and The Unseen, The Price, The Harrowing and The Book of Shadows by Alexandra Sokoloff. Oh, plus some Ferrero Rocher and a Bloody Scotland t-shirt. Tidy.

Friday it was back to work and some rather dull but essential meetings and a lot more spreadsheet work. You’d think I’d be flagging by this point, and normally you’d be right, but an email from the lovely Karen Sullivan put a big smile on my face and not even talking coffee pods, cost centre reports or proof of delivery capture could get me down. More on that later in the week 😉

Saturday and Sunday … well a little walking and more reading plus a whole lot of review writing. I’m a little behind. Unlike my actual behind which is currently anything other than little hence my need for all the walking, even in this heat… saw some cygnets down a the local canal basin though so that was nice. And the books I have been reading are awesome which is also nice 🙂

Book purchase wise I was quite good really. For me. No new audible, just the one Netgalley above and only three book purchased, two pre-orders and one free short story. They were The Night She Died by Jenny Blackhurst; Death’s Door by Paul Finch and No Further Questions by Gillian McAllister.

Books I have read

No Time To Cry – James Oswald

Undercover ops are always dangerous, but DC Constance Fairchild never expected things to go this wrong.

Returning to their base of operations, an anonymous office in a shabby neighbourhood, she finds the bloodied body of her boss, and friend, DI Pete Copperthwaite. He’s been executed – a single shot to the head.

In the aftermath, it seems someone in the Met is determined to make sure that blame for the wrecked operation falls squarely on Con’s shoulders. She is cut loose and cast out, angry and alone with her grief… right until the moment someone also tries to put a bullet through her head.

There’s no place to hide, and no time to cry.

Oh my life how I loved this book. Constance ‘Con’ Fairchild is a brilliant new protagonist who I am looking forward to getting to know. Very different in tone and style from the Inspector McLean series, it still bears James Oswald’s natural style of a twisted and complex story, with just a hint of something … supernatural, captivating characters and feisty determination. He may give his leads a very privileged start in life but he never quite lets them get comfortable. Loved it. And if you’ve not read any books by Mr Oswald yet, this is a great place to start. I’ll be reviewing later in the year, may do a taster review later in the month (ebook publication is late July) and you can preorder your own copy here. Do it. you know you want to.

…

The Killing Habit – Mark Billingham

How do you catch a killer who is yet to kill? We all know the signs. Cruelty, lack of empathy, the killing of animals. Now, pets on suburban London streets are being stalked by a shadow, and it could just be the start.

DI Tom Thorne knows the psychological profile of such offenders all too well, so when he is tasked with catching a notorious killer of domestic cats, he sees the chance to stop a series of homicides before they happen.

Others are less convinced, so once more, Thorne relies on DI Nicola Tanner to help him solve the case, before the culprit starts hunting people. It’s a journey that brings them face to face with a killer who will tear their lives apart.

Mark Billingham has a real knack for taking real life cases and spinning them into an occasionally gruesome, always compelling, what if kind of scenario. The book starts in an almost surreal way with Thorne tasked with capturing a cat killer of all people, and ends in a way no-one could have foreseen, Gripping, action laden and with the wonderful pairing of Thorne with his exact opposite, Nicola Tanner once more, this is irresistably good. I’ll be reviewing soon but you can get your own copy here.

…

A Patient Fury – Sarah Ward

When Detective Constable Connie Childs is dragged from her bed to the fire-wrecked property on Cross Farm Lane she knows as she steps from the car that this house contains death.

Three bodies discovered – a family obliterated – their deaths all seem to point to one conclusion: One mother, one murderer.

But D.C. Childs, determined as ever to discover the truth behind the tragedy, realises it is the fourth body – the one they cannot find – that holds the key to the mystery at Cross Farm Lane.

What Connie Childs fails to spot is that her determination to unmask the real murderer might cost her more than her health – this time she could lose the thing she cares about most: her career.

This was my first Connie Childs book, although I have the others on my kindle waiting patiently. I know I’veprobably missed quite a bit in Connie’s first outings but I have to say i really liked her, a determined officer, stubborn even, who is not willing to let things go just because she is ordered to do so and who has great instincts which she knows to trust. A harrowing case involving the death of a child puts the whole team on edge. Clever plotting, excellent writing and a guarantee I’ll be back for more. I\ll be reviewing as part of the tour later in the month but you can buy a copy here.

…

Dancing on the Grave – Zoe Sharp

In one of the most beautiful corners of England, Something very ugly is about to take place…

A sniper with a mission… a young cop with nothing to lose… a CSI with everything to prove… a teenage girl with a terrifying obsession…

There’s a killer on the loose in the Lake District, and the calm of an English summer is shattered.

For newly qualified crime-scene investigator, Grace McColl, it’s both the start of a nightmare and the chance to prove herself after a mistake that cost a life.

For Detective Constable Nick Weston, recently transferred from London, it’s an opportunity to recover his nerve after a disastrous undercover operation that left him for dead.

And for a lonely, loveless teenage girl, Edith, it’s the start of a twisted fantasy—one she never dreamed might come true.

A standalone CSI led thriller this involves a high profile murder, a killer on the loose with a very unstable young woman at his side. High tension, high action and with brilliantly drawn characters this is another top class read from author Zoe Sharp and highly recommended. I’ll be reviewing on the tour later in the month but do yourself a favour and bag a copy here.

…

Four books – not too shabby all things considered. It’s been a busy week. Less so on the blog but I am meant to be slowing down…

The Note by Andrew Barrett

A Meditation on Murder by Robert Thorogood

Death on Dartmoor by Bernie Steadman

After He’s Gone by Jane Isaac

Guest Post: Robert Dugoni – Author of A Steep Price

The week ahead is pretty full on. I’ve a few blog tours starting tomorrow with The Death of Mrs Westaway by Rith Ware and A Summer Scandal by Kat French; How Far We Fall by Jane Shemilt and Gone To Ground by Rachel Amphlett.

I’ll also be taking part in an exclusive cover reveal on Wednesday so do stop by. I promise you that you really want to see this. Love it.

My week will otherwise be made up of work, reading, reviewing and – wait for it – actual writing. Yes, you read that right. No more messing about. I will be writing. Eek. No pressure.

Have a fabulous and hopefully sunny and book filled week all. See you on the other side.

Jen

Rewind, recap: Weekly update w/e 01/07/18 Can four pictures really sum up my week? Well, if I'm being honest they come pretty close.

#Rewind Recap #Weekly Round UP

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