#she is not exempt and neither am i

[not-quitenormal]

About two weeks ago, my ex reached out to me in a very work-like e-mail asking if it was too late to start our friendship over. The initial reaction was who the fuck do you think you are? I'm finally piecing my life back together after chaos she started three years ago. I tried reaching out to her as a friend, and she slapped my hand away. What made her think she could come back?

And then I turned the situation over in my head. She and I went through the exact same catastrophe. Devon did his best to guide me through the pain of it. Things got so rough that something between us ruptured as a result, and we're still trying to fix it, but at least he fucking tried. At least he's still with me and wants to work through this. How did Lore and her wife try to heal things? Did something happen?

My curiosity got the better of me. I answered her saying I was open to talking. Because, really...what do I have to lose in this situation? Her friendship? It'll suck a second time, but I've done it before. If anything, I'm the one who has everything to gain. I still have Devon and Joe. I still have a house in my name. I have two families now - and both of them adopted me as their own instead of it being a blood obligation. If I gain Lore as a friend again - if I can stop calling her my ex, finally - that would be a huge win.

She sucked at being my girlfriend. She was amazing at being my best friend.

When it comes to talking about what happened between us and the aftermath - in which Lore told me she does owe me an apology - we're putting a pin in it. A couple of years ago I would be kicking and screaming, demanding that thorough apology and explanation for why she used me and then discarded me. Now? In 2024? Y'all... I'm tired. We both are. We're well into our 30s. A little bit of normalcy is mandatory at this point. I still have questions, and I have let her know several times already that I have questions. But I'm ready to call a truce until she gets through her personal Hell.

Because what she has told me is: Her marriage is ending. She's trying to move out by June. Her family doesn't understand. I am one of only two people who talk to her now.

Clearly she reached out to me because she was in pain and knew I would be a source of comfort. I know what it's like to feel like everything is falling apart. I also am familiar with how isolating it can be, both actual and self-perpetual. She rejected me when I wanted to repair things with her. I was drowning, and she did nothing. Did I have the right to be as cruel to her as she was to me?

I do. We both know it - she's said as much. But my feelings of schadenfreude have a limit. I'm throwing her a life preserver.

So far our conversations are about anime, weed, work, and memes. I am actually very happy with this set-up. We don't talk about personal things, which is great because that's a literal phobia of mine that I'm working on. Baby steps toward solid ground feels like the right call, given our shared experiences. I hope she feels comfortable enough to tell me more about what's happening in her life as time goes on (while respecting I refuse to talk about much of mine), but all-in-all I'm pleased with the glacial pace.

That being said, if she insults me again (or projects her issues on my relationships again), I'm pushing her off the boat and restarting the propeller.

[thefirstknife]

I love all the little details that directly quote Books of Sorrow this season.

Eris in the cutscene last week:

All things must prove their right to exist. The rest will die in terror. There is neither escape nor exemption. Simple. Essential. Beautiful to know.

Books of Sorrow:

I’m glad I learned that the universe runs on death. It’s more beautiful to know.

Eris in her chat with Drifter:

Books of Sorrow:

I am war, and you have conjured me back with war. ... I am trickery, and you have conjured me back with trickery.

And this week, with all the mentions of the species they exterminated, but especially the Ammonites:

The "bait stars" goes back all the way to when they were still krill, from a life form (stormjoy) on the Fundament that Xivu (then Xi Ro) was proving herself against by cutting off the ends of the tentacles called "bait stars" from them:

A STORMJOY. A stormjoy is a living cloud. When it passes over our continent, it lowers its feeding tentacles. On each tentacle are the BAIT STARS. Although light makes you happy, you must avoid it. You will be eaten. A stormjoy is a good way for an old person to choose death. Also, a daring knight can cut the bait stars from the tentacles. I have six!

It seems this has turned into some sort of a saying in their language given what she said in the radio and also in Books of Sorrow later:

These are the bait stars the Sky uses to blind its slaves.

The story of how the Ammonite hero, Chroma-Admiral (called Rafriit) went to protect the Leviathan:

...is also in the Books of Sorrow:

The Leviathan has broken cover. The old priest is in open space, moving towards the Ammonite home moon. Chroma-Admiral Rafriit and his elite guard move with it. Rafriit is the hero of his generation, an Ammonite of peerless battlecraft. He’s danced circles around Xivu Arath… but now he has to protect his holy Leviathan.

This is, for the record, the Leviathan from the Fundament. Once the Worms were free, it fled to try and help the Ammonite, as well as still pleading with the Hive siblings to think about what they've done, and also ominously asking them to truly think "who made you monsters" and "who summoned the wave."

I'm sure there's more, especially in Sororicide lore book, and/or that there will be more. I feel like this is such a nice way to tell these old stories that many people have probably not have had the chance to read or even know about. It gives just enough details about some ancient wars to make you interested and maybe point you in the direction to ask someone about it or start looking for more and then stumbling on Books of Sorrow. Like a crash course about this ancient history-rich universe that awakens a sense of wonder and maybe interests you into reading some lore.

Unfortunately, Books of Sorrow have never been readable in the game (either of them), but I hope that stuff like this presented in the main storyline for everyone to hear will motivate people to look deeper into the lore. It's basically like a little teaser and I love it. For us who know, it's such an honor to finally hear this being narrated to us by those that committed these acts, and for those that are hearing it for the first time it should spark curiosity about these ancient tales and battles. I hope so at least! If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading the whole Books of Sorrow which are up on Ishtar in their entirety.

[theerurishipper]

I’m gonna wait to see the special before drawing any more finale conclusions but for the moment everything we got from the leaks is just so… weird? and nonsensical? 

So the only reason why our Marinette didn’t turn evil was because of Alya. Which contradicts everything TA and his team have been saying about abuse. Why does Alya being a positive influence for Marinette works but Audrey being a negative influence for Chloé doesn’t? They had Mylene say, “Having a bad mother doesn’t justify your actions” so neither should bullying. The lesson with Chloe is that abuse is ok and children that turn out ‘wrong’ because of it should just be left alone with their abusers because they somehow deserve it by not being able to turn out perfect on their own. Why shouldn’t the same logic apply to Emonette and Emodrien? (I believe they’re the names the fandom’s been using but I’m not sure) You’re being bullied? Doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t lash out and become evil. It’s 100% on you now. Like seriously, am I missing some piece of information here? If I am please correct me! Because as of now it just doesn’t make sense to me. The lessons TA wanted to teach its fans is that sometimes people are just bad and no amount of tragic backstory justifies their actions, but every single choice he’s done from season 3 is just proving over and over that this logic only applies when it’s time to diminish Chloe. Chloe is 14 and has decided to be evil. Emonette and Emodrien are 14 have decided to be evil. “But they tried to show Chloe the right path and she didn’t take it, she’s evil” Gabriel seems to be a good father in the other universe, so shouldn’t be this the same for Emodrien as well? How did he even end up being a ray of sunshine with an abusive terrorist father but ends up being a villain with a good father? How does that even work? I really hope there’s more to the special because if they’re really going for the message that somehow Gabriel’s abusive parenting was a good thing for Adrien… I’m going to scream. 

Like, I understand the story they were going for with Chloe. Unfortunately, it's true that some people don't change. But then they began stating that she's not an abused child and it's not the influence of her mother that made her this way, it's just that she's Evil™. And her "consequences" ended up being more abuse. It's so fucked up.

And you're exactly right about Chloe being exempt from the justifications and explanations that the rest of the cast receives. Emonette gets to commit terrorism, and all this can be explained away by her having been bullied by Chloe, but Chloe isn't influenced by her mother's abuse, oh no, she's just born evil and is unworthy of change! The Chloe equivalent of Emonette's story would be for her to be sent back in disgrace after committing all her crimes to be bullied by Chloe some more, but you just know that ain't gonna be how it goes down. The characters are going to downplay Shadybug and Claw Noir's crimes, offer them compassion and insist that they are good people, and they're gonna get off scott-free. And of course, Emonette wouldn't deserve more bullying as a consequence, and that's the truth. But apparently Chloe's deserved ending is more abuse? It's horrid.

And the Gabriel-Adrien implications are a step further into the abuse apologia category. I just wrote a whole post about it, but you're right on the money about the implications. And I really think that's what's going to be portrayed, unintentionally or not. It sucks.

Thank you for your ask!

[atopvisenyashill]

🇵🇸 🇵🇷🐢🏝️ i got tired of complaining constantly on my main blog (@thewingedwolf is me!) about how sansa and rhaenyra did nothing wrong and also i needed a way to organize my theories and stuff. yes i have read all the books. yes i have (unfortunately) seen the whole show. yes i have seen all of hotd as well. so here we go. my stances are this, so you have an idea what to expect:

i am a catelyn, sansa, brienne, elia, lyanna and rhaenyra stan FIRST and a person SECOND

i would die for Gaemon Palehair, Lady Essie, and Sylvenna Sand, those are my canon OCs, and that’s why they’re my header.

Sansa and Bran are my favorites! I am a Sansa will be Queen in the North truther and a Bran will be the King in Harrenhal conspiracy theorist, It Is Heavily Foreshadowed In The Text and I stand on that!!

I'm well aware Rhaenyra has plenty of faults, I am saying that the greens (as in, the characters) do not like her because of her gender, and not for stuff she does that’s actually wrong, also, idc that she did all of that i simply think she’s fun.

Helaena really IS the one who did nothing wrong tho.

i am a Dark Daenerys believer. no, i don’t hate her - in fact, i really love her, although i do hate her show counterpart - I just think her arc is heading towards a dark path and being a villain protagonist is the more interesting route for her character.

House Martell will rise or I will piss in old man germ’s cornflakes.

I Will talk about the racism Dorne faces in the text and outside of it and neither your favorite house nor my favorite house is exempt from this. If you have a problem with that, keep it to yourself bc i do not care 🙏🏽

i multiship!! just bc i ship it doesn’t mean i think it’s gonna happen in the series, i just like the dynamic!!

i am in fact the annoying book jonsa truther they warned you about. i will Stay bitter about this. argue with the wall.

with that said, i also like theonsa, throbb, daemyra, laenyra, rhaewin, nedcat, braime, briensa, and a million other ones. faves listed here. several of them are dead dove-esque; what can i say, that's just george's style.

you decide whether it’s romantic or platonic when it’s an incest one, my opinion changes by the hour & im gonna fight grrm for making me think this much about incest.

i don’t like jonerys!!!!!! i'm sansan & sanrion ambivalent and i simply do not care about littlefucker like that. i would say i’ve thought positively about basically every other ship.

i’m in the middle of a reread, as of this moment (april 2024) i’ve kinda stalled on the beginning of a dance with dragons but i Have started a rewatch of the tv series as a form of torture.

i first read this series when i was 16 in like 2012-2013. i love to bitch about the takes i’ve seen. i sometimes reblog really old ass graphics bc they deserve new life even tho the creators are long since deactivated. i sometimes make graphics that look like they’re from 2014 bc we should bring that style back dammit i hate the typography movement going on rn.

big on tagging triggers so lmk (i’ll tag for all characters & major triggers but i’m fine with adding a specific one if asked and don't worry about it being a "weird" trigger - if sean bean's face or knives or wolves or whatever trigger you, i'm happy to tag for that!). my spoiler policy is that i’ll tag everything from this season as “hotd spoilers” and any of the Big Events with “episode title spoilers” but i can’t guarantee I can be consistent longer than like 2 days though i will try!! i Will be talking about any book canon events tho, the books have been out for years either you know how to avoid them or you know everything, i’m not tagging that.

i have a tag page that is more organized than the slapdash nonsense on this post, feel free to check it out here.

i may sound angry but i promise i am genuinely just here for a laugh. i just have resting bitch voice and no feel for tone and use the word fuck too much. it’s fine and unserious.

[girlactionfigure]

The Fake Spaniard: Samuel Skornicki

His name was Santos Montero

Samuel Skornicki was a Jewish lawyer from Poland who became legal advisor to the Spanish Consul and saved hundreds of Jews and non-Jews from the Nazis.

Samuel was born in Poland in1899 to a family of secular intellectuals. He married Raizel Sliwinsky from Lodz, and they moved to Paris in 1923, where Samuel studied law and became a civil attorney. Their daughter Arlette later remembered, “My father wanted to live in France, the land of freedom and human rights.”

After the Germans occupied Paris in 1940, the Skornicki family moved to Toulouse. As the situation became more dangerous for Jews in France, Samuel and Raizel left Arnette with a Christian family where she would be safe.

Samuel had something everybody wanted – a valid passport and a visa to the United States, where his mother and siblings lived. Instead, Samuel chose to remain in France and help the resistance movement. In Toulouse, Samuel ran a textile factory and distributed anti-Nazi pamphlets and provided Jews with false documents. A master networker, Samuel made connections with important people in Toulouse.

He met with the Spanish Consul, who was overwhelmed with the amount of visa requests from Jews trying to leave France. With legal training and organizational skills, Samuel was well-positioned to help the Consul, and he was appointed legal advisor to the embassy in St. Etienne. Samuel and Raizel were given new identities as Spanish citizens: Santos and Rosa Montero. Neither one of them spoke any Spanish.

In 1942, the Consul returned to Spain and appointed Samuel/Santos as his replacement. Before leaving France, the Consul threw a lavish farewell party where the guests included top officials of the collaborationist Vichy Regime, German Army officers, and off-duty Gestapo storm troopers. The event featured an official swearing-in ceremony where “Santos Montero” was installed as acting Spanish Consul. The Nazis present didn’t realize they were celebrating the promotion of a Jew.

As the acting Consul, Samuel turned the Consulate into a center of the Resistance. He supervised the forging of documents and hiding of weapons, and provided refuge for Jews and members of the Resistance. Meanwhile, he was conducting diplomatic meetings with local Nazi officials, including Gestapo officers with lists of Jews scheduled for deportation on their desks. Samuel read the names upside down and memorized them so he could warn the people on the list.

Since Samuel didn’t speak Spanish, he relied on the Spanish Consulate staff to keep his secret. They were mostly Republican opponents of Spain’s ruler, the fascist Francisco Franco, who was allied with Hitler. As part of that alliance, Franco was sending thousands of Spanish citizens to Germany to provide labor. Samuel and his staff got exemptions for thousands of Spaniards.

In March 1944, the French Resistance attacked a German train near St. Etienne. Determined to catch the French perpetrators, German policemen conducted a house-to-house search. They reached the Spanish Consulate, and before they could even knock on the door Samuel burst out angrily and kicked a German police sergeant! He shouted at them, “Get out of here! I am the Spanish Consul!” The policemen were embarrassed and quickly left. That night, the German Police Chief of St. Etienne visited the Spanish Consulate to apologize in person, and to give Samuel a gun for protection against the dangerous Resistance. Samuel gave the gun to the fighters who’d attacked the train – and were hiding in his cellar!

France was liberated in 1944, and the Skornickis returned to Paris. Since he’d hosted Nazis at the Spanish Consulate, Samuel was suspected of being a collaborator, but people he’d saved wrote letters of thanks proving that he’d been a hero rather than a villain. One of the letters, by Itzkin Rubin, who was hidden in the Consulate, read, “How can I express my gratitude, and the gratitude of my family, for all we owe you? You didn’t hesitate to risk your life in order to save ours. Knowing that we were being hunted by the Gestapo and the (French) Militia, you hid us in your home in those pivotal months before the liberation. If we are fortunate enough to live in peace and to be free, it is thanks to your heroic goodness and your courage. At a time when so many of our friends were tormented or died in terrible physical and emotional suffering, while so many children were separated from their parents, I am blessed to be surrounded by my whole family.”

For saving hundreds of lives after boldly taking on a fake identity, we honor Samuel Sknornicki as this week’s Thursday Hero.

[thetonethetollandthethunder]

Arc of A Scythe analysis, chapter 6-10

—

Chapter 6!

-Ooo! This is the chapter we see the new order scythes!!!

-99.9 percent on-time service…stuff like this makes me wish i was in scythe—

-I find it very funny that the middle seat is just as bad as disease and government, Neal always makes this small funny bits intentionally or not

-GODDARD ID RECOGNIZE THAT ROBE ANYWHERE

-Elegy of scythes <3

-This is fucking terrifying though, imagine you’re finally on your way home, you can’t wait to see your family, they’re all waiting for you, all you want is a nice flight home, and then it’s announced you’re gonna die. Thats fucking scary man

-This scene really shows how fucked up Goddard and is Elegy are, how cruel they can be

-Yes business man, gleaning is necessary, but not in this way, this way is just despicable

-Chomsky is too excited for this PUT THE FLAMETHROWER AWAY SIR

-Oh god Goddard is using the word Alpha, do you think he considers himself an alpha male? I do NOT wanna think about that

-“Yet even in dreams I often find myself gleaning…” god almost all scythes must be so fucking traumatized man-

-Jesus what a good chapter, a great way to start the new part!

—

Chapter 7!!

-Faraday is lowkey a good professor, no wonder you high school au freaks like using him for that /hj

-I for one, CAN imagine Faraday with a mace, he’d look fucking awesome

-Banned weapons are encouraged, that is SCARY!!!

-No wonder a lot of scythes (esp young ones in the new order are bloodthirsty, it’s this cycle of encouragement and being exempt from the rules of society, sure the older scythes preach about gleaning with honor but when you’re young, especially around citra and rowan’s age, you’d be hard-pressed to listen and be much more interested in the bloodsports of Goddard. That’s how he gets you!!!

-Also as someone who has started journaling my scythe journal would be UNREADABLE I have AWFUL handwriting

-Killing 5 people a week, and 260 a year is INSANE!! Again it’s no wonder a lot of scythes are so desensitized to this shit, and even revel in it, you kind of have to, just for your own sanity

-“Good scythes don’t get days off.” *COUGH COUGH* GODDARD *COUGH COUGH*

-“The idea that not all scythes were good was something neither Rowan or Citra had ever considered. It was widely accepted that scythes adhered to the highest moral and ethical standards. Even the ones who sought celebrity were seen to deserve it.” OHH YOU FUCKERS HAVE NO IDEA I LOVE WHEN I HAVE FORESIGHT THE CHARACTERS IN THEIR CURRENT PRESENT TIME DONT!!!!

-“If you do not cry yourself to sleep on a regular basis, you are not compassionate enough to be a scythe.” OUGH THAT LINEEEEE!!!!

-“She doubted rowan cried himself to sleep.” It all happens on the inside, citra!

-“I prefer to see each person I glean as an individual deserving of an end that is unique.” I love how the first book shows how compassionate and truly worthy of the title Scythe Faraday is. It’s that compassionate that makes him stay as one even after the title is gone. Because that’s what he truly is.

-“I find fire a horrific way to glean and would never use it.” ROWAN WOULD DISAGREE OHOHOHOOOOO—

-Its here where I think Rowan gets a lot of his moral code, or at least starts to think about it, to him Faraday is a model scythe, the scythe anyone should strive to be, and when he eventually sees scythes the complete opposite of him, his way of thinking as Scythe Lucifer becomes more clear.

-“I am an accomplice to the world’s oldest crime, and it will only get worse.” AAAA THAT LINE MAN

-“All they do is play games and watch cat holograms.” Oh Neal you really don’t know shit about how people actually use technology—

-I think me and Rowan would have similar handwriting (bad)

-“Rowan found it increasingly hard to parse his feelings about her.” ROWAN FELL FIRST AND HE FELL HARD MAN!!!!!!!!!

-Ben mention :(((((

-This entry of Curie’s journal really fucking hits you man!!! Especially the “I don’t know” at the end like UGH!!!!

-AMAZING CHAPTER AS ALWAYS!!! It’s really laying the groundwork for future character development!

—

Chapter 8!!!

-We get some foreshadowing to Citra’s gleaning method! The theater part if you can recall!

-Also the “No, I lost. Twice.” Is SO funny

-“It was the only time in all my years as a scythe that I had been thanked for what I do.” And you’ll be thanked SO much more soon Faraday!

-Them becoming more violent and thinking about gleaning is SO interesting esp since its so early, just shows how much it can affect you.

-Foreshadowing to where Rowan chooses which Scythe he chooses to glean when he becomes Scythe Lucifer

-GOD you can FEEL his guilt of having to choose between these 4 people!! How horrible and awful he feels to take their lives away as he learns more UGH

-AND he’s thinking about Bias’s unlike SOMEONE *cough cough* SCYTHE GODDARD *cough cough*

-“Does it ever get easier?” Rowan asked. “I certainly hope not,” the scythe said.

-Bradford Ziller is such a shit name lmao

-Rowan not wanting to admit he’s the one who chose him is soooo!!

-“They had bitten her. Good for them.” HAH that’s such a fun line

-Oop! There’s an error on my copy of the book! There’s a quotation mark at the end of “How was any of this fair?” When there shouldn’t be because it’s not dialogue! Interesting right?

-Even if he has a stupid name, you can really feel the terror and panic on Bradford, really good stuff

-The fact he wants to be aware and awake when he dies is sooo interesting man

-Rowan and Citra’s love is continuing to blossom!!

-“I fear for all of us if scythes begin to love what they do.” *STARES AT GODDARD*

-Amazing chapter as always!! Two more to go!!

—

Chapter 9!!

-Esme!! I always remember her being an underutilized character, let’s see if I was right though!

-Idk why but I hate mentions of food, esp greasy foods in books, makes me ick a lot idk I’m weird

-“Well, she could learn self-control tomorrow. Today she wanted pizza.” ICONIC LINE!! Such a mood!

-Luigi mario :)

-Elegy of scythes are back!!!

-Oh Esme there’s gonna be *so* many mass gleanings later on you have NO idea

-VOLTA

-Esme you’re life is gonna be FUCKED GIRL YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!

-A utopia where everything is perfect would be boring, most ppls lives in Scythe are boring, that’s what I think makes Scythe interesting compared to other dystopian books because its a utopia that turns into a dystopian whilst giving ideas of how that utopia itself was already a dystopia even if it wasn’t a tradition one

-Shorter chapter! Still good tho, not as interesting as others however

—

CHAPTER 10!!!!!

-TYGER!!

-Rowan you’re scaring people—

-Rowan’s disobedience is what makes him soooo interesting to me mam!!

-Lmao Rowan is worried about Tyger stealing Citra, already getting jealous!

-Apparently ppl ship Citra and Tyger which…I don’t see??? At all????

-We get some more Citra-Rowan interactions!! Very nice!!! Makes my Citran heart happy <3

-Emo-Nanites <3

-“We are not the same beings we once were. So then, if we are no longer human, what are we?” UGH ANOTHER GOOD LINE!!

-Another short chapter though not as short as the last one! Liked it more than the last though!

—

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, but here’s the next 5 chapters, those last two chapters didn’t have much but everything else was great as always!! Next time we’ll be doing chapters 11-15! Hope you’ll join me for it!!!

[bluespring864]

I just read this insane thing and thought the folks of tumblr might appreciate it

The European Parliament is a peculiarly Byzantine place, which is all the more baffling for an assembly that only sprung into life in 1979.

It’s replete with obscure working groups hived off from real committees, opaque voting procedures, feeble attempts to keep tabs on the Commission, and dull, empty plenary sessions taking place weeks after the news trigger has passed. And don’t forget the gift vault on floor 5 ½. 

And the article in full because it is insane:

Inside the European Parliament’s gift vault

APRIL 17, 2023 4:00 AM CET

BY EDDY WAX

BRUSSELS — Down a curving corridor on floor five and a half, there’s a dark alcove hiding an unmarked door. 

This is the final resting place for the European Parliament’s would-be bribes. 

The secret chamber is piled high with diplomatic gifts, all carefully labeled and left to languish in bureaucratic limbo under lock and key — neither accepted nor rejected. 

There’s the opulent; there’s the bizarre. One cupboard contains a Taiwanese wristwatch given to a Polish EU lawmaker. Another holds a pot of French mustard, a miniature Saudi Arabian door and a commemorative plaque from the Indonesian parliament.

Expensive bottles of wine, children’s toys, wireless headphones, books, stationery, figurines — five dusty containers are brimming with the forsworn freebies that governments and parliaments from all over the globe have showered on EU lawmakers. 

The crypt — essentially a glorified janitor’s closet — has sat largely unperturbed since the collection began almost 15 years ago. But in recent months, it has taken on a new significance due to revelations over alleged bribes that countries like Qatar, Morocco and Mauritania were funneling to EU lawmakers. 

The scandal, dubbed Qatargate, has prompted soul-searching within Parliament, which is now squabbling over how to revise the code of conduct that governs lawmakers’ behavior — including what they should do when offered a gift.

But here, in room 55A031 of the labyrinthine Paul-Henri Spaak building, remain the gifts given but not received.

Too small a room

Outside, there is no indication about what the room contains. It is permanently locked.

Besides the renounced gratuities, the room stores old MEP files.

POLITICO’s access to the vault was facilitated by the office of German Green MEP Daniel Freund — a vocal proponent of tougher transparency rules in the institution — plus three European Parliament officials, including a spokesperson.

“It’s a bit anticlimactic if you expected some kind of treasure trove,” Nurminen said, standing on the squeaky linoleum floor of the vault as the air conditioning thrummed in the background.

With MEPs rushing to declare many more gifts than before in light of the Qatargate scandal, this storage room could soon become too small. Between 2009 and 2014, EU lawmakers declared just 15 gifts — but in this parliamentary term, which began in 2019, they’ve already registered 266.

The higher numbers are largely due to a massive dump of gifts by Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who declared 170 gifts since the start of the year — most recently a traditional shirt from the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament and a decorative box from Harvard University.

The president’s gifts are either displayed in her office, stored in this gift vault — or already long gone. When it comes to gifts of chocolates, wine or crunchy snacks, some have been “served in the course of Parliament’s functions,” i.e. consumed during official work meetings.

Even though she missed the internal deadline to declare many of the gifts, Metsola — who has been Parliament president since January 2022 — argued she was being radically transparent by declaring the gifts and turning them over. This broke with years of the institution exempting the president from declaring gifts on the public register.

Because of this change, many gifts given to previous presidents and kept in boxes by a set of civil servants called the “protocol service” are now being transferred to this room from undisclosed locations. The Parliament spokesperson described this gift vault as the only dedicated room where such gifts to former presidents are kept.

Just 17 gifts to presidents past and present are on display in glass cabinets at the Parliament’s seat in Strasbourg, next to a tiny kiosk selling Roberta Metsola-themed stamps. They include a statuette of a horse from the United Arab Emirates’ National Council; handmade artwork from the president of Nigeria; a silver bowl from top U.S. politician Nancy Pelosi; a peace-themed mosaic from Pope Francis; and a vide-poches or decorative tray from French President Emmanuel Macron.

Manfred’s mobile

For now, the gifts in the chamber in Brussels are essentially in limbo — neither displayed nor used — a fate that might perhaps make lobbyists or foreign dignitaries think twice about going to the trouble of making any such gesture in the first place.

A case in point is a Huawei smartphone that was worth more than €150 when given to European People’s Party chief Manfred Weber by the Chinese tech company — in 2013. It’s been gathering dust here ever since.

The “end of life” rules, as Parliament speak would have it, means dead but not buried.

According to the current rules, EU lawmakers can keep these gifts permanently if it can be proved they have no “obvious” value to the Parliament. Or they may be temporarily displayed in their offices if the president gives her blessing.

In theory, parliamentarians can also bid to buy back their gifts in a public tender — but such an auction has never happened.

At a later stage of the ethics reform plan initiated by Metsola, senior parliamentarians could at some point tweak the code of conduct to allow the gifts to be given to charities — as happens with used furniture and food waste from the canteens. But such a tweak is currently not under consideration.

“If you have more presents handed into the institution, there needs to be a way to process them. So the existing 2013 rules might be revised,” the spokesperson said as the door quietly closed.

 source: politico.eu

[roadtogracelandx45]

Courage Under Fire|Pre War 9| Band of Brothers

part 8

masterlist

ao3

Wattpad

Word count: 5,900

@marycorleone

April 1st, 1942

 Charleston,  South Carolina 

Olivia smoothed her hands over the crisp white skirt of her uniform, she was standing in front of the floor-length mirror in her bedroom, studying her reflection, she had been sworn into the Army Nursing Corp late in March by Elizabeth Forbes using the war-torn bible that her great-great-grandfather had carried with him into several battles of the Civil War including Gettysburg made it seem real.

Putting the dog tags around her neck didn't seem real, neither did putting on the uniform but doing that made it seem real.

She and Alice had gotten orders to go report to Fort Benning for OCS on the 2nd of April and it started feeling more real.

And for the first time, she was flattering in her decision to join.

"You good Bean?" Her Uncle Michael's voice came from the doorway, he had been busy in DC, so he hadn't been able to come down for her swearing-in like Helen had been able to come. 

"Uncle Michael! What are you doing here?" She spun around to look at him, her green eyes dancing in excitement. "Helen called and told me you were going to Benning." 

Olivia nodded her head, "No idea why y'all putting this much confidence in me. I could fail out. Like that." She snapped her fingers causing him to laugh.

"You will do good, Liv, this is what you are meant to do. Does this sudden change of heart have anything to do with you seeing Katherine?"

"Aunt Helen told you about that?"

"Mhm, how did she react to you enlisting?"

"Said she hoped I died." She shrugged her shoulders, "After she got mad at Daddy for signing the papers. They want me to testify for the State against her. Same with my brothers." 

"But they are all shipping out or at boot camp, right?"

"Except for Bobby." She motioned to the letter that was lying open on the desk, "He and Bill are going to enlist together as soon as they get out of school. I guess they both were going to have an exemption because of the factory they were working at, but they tore it up and threw it away."

Michael laughed again. That sounded about right for both Bobby and Bill. 

 "Have you heard from Lewis?" She pointed to the letter underneath the one from her twin, "He is in California. Says I would like it, always warm. Not cold like Philly and here."

"Where are you going with that?" 

"I told him after the war if either one of us weren't with someone else I would marry him. I do love him."

 "But you aren't  in love with him?" Michael asked, unable to help himself.

"I am 18 years old, what do I know about love?" She returned.

"More than what you think. You are a smart girl, Bean; you will figure it out.  Finish getting ready, I am going with you and Alice to the train station. And someone from Benning is going to meet you there."

Olivia nodded, "And two other girls are coming, right?"

"From what Elizabeth said, yes, one is from New York and the other is from California."

"Oh great, another damned Yankee." She complained with a small laugh, Fredrick had not been shy about his hatred of the Yankees and called Andrea that to her face and to her kids' faces. Same with Helen but they all took it in stride because of the love and respect they had for him.

 Her uncle smirked before leaving the room to let her finish getting ready. He had tried to get out of Elizabeth information about the other two girls that were joining Olivia and Alice, but Forbes said that it wasn't fair for Olivia to have the advantage. It was already bad enough that she was handpicked for this, because of her family and her skills.

 And some of these girls could hold that against her and could cause a lot of problems for Olivia. But they had faith in the girl and knew she could handle herself, she just needed to believe that she could do it herself.

**

Train

 From Los Angeles California.

**

Betsy Michaels glanced out of the window again before she yawned and stretched her arms above her head. She had been on the train for almost three days, and she was tired of it. It had been a mistake, the train instead of the bus or taking the Army up on the offer, to fly from Fort Ord to Fort Benning. But being on the train in her own little compartment gave her time to think and really decide if losing her family in order to serve her country was the best idea. And the more she thought about it the more it seemed like it

 was the best idea for her.

Don't get her wrong, she loved her family, but her father was too controlling, and her mother was too weak to stand up for her children or herself. She didn't want to end up like her mother or even her oldest sister who was in the same boat their mother was in.

There was a knock on the sliding door startling her out of her thoughts and she slid open the door on the other side was a dark-haired man with bushy eyebrows, wearing a smirk. "Are you Betsy Michaels?" He asked. "I am. And you are?" "Lewis Nixon. I was told by command to check in on you." She raised an eyebrow and stepped away to let him enter the compartment. "It's been almost 3 days, Mr. Nixon." Lewis managed to look sheepish, he had found the bar cart and spent a lot of time in it.

His way of coping.

"Sorry about that.'  He shrugged, he had gotten a letter from Kathy claiming she was pregnant and that he had to make up his mind about either her and their child or the little tart Olivia. He couldn't bring himself to make that decision yet. Sure, he cared for Kathy and wanted to try

 and be involved with his kid's life but at the same time, he loved Olivia and the light-heartedness she gave. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" She prodded, "You look like you need to talk." 

"There has only been one other person that calls me on my stuff like that is Olivia." 

"Your girl?" She monitored for him to sit across from her, she could just tell by looking at him that he needed to talk, and she was always a good listener. And after the course was over, they probably would never see each other again. 

"Well, you could say that."

**

Columbia, Georgia

*

The first three people that Amber Scott met when she stepped onto the train platform were Elizabeth Forbes, a woman whose respect was demanded right from the start, a woman who was in charge of the program they were entering, and the other two nurses like herself both from Charleston, South Carolina. Olivia and Alice. The latter of the two seemed to be nice and Amber could see herself being friends with her, but Olivia couldn't.

There was something about her that she didn't like. She carried herself with confidence and arrogance that it was almost off-putting. Olivia turned her head and muttered something to Alice who swallowed back her smile and nudged her hip with hers.

"We are waiting on one more girl to show up, from California and we will get you to Benning." Elizabeth started. Something must have clicked in the blonde's head because a beaming dimpled smile formed. And the general offered her a gentle smile in return. 

"Do you know her outside of this ma'am?" Amber asked, unable to help herself. Elizabeth looked at her and then at Olivia, "Yes, her godfather and I go way back. But that has nothing to do with her being in the program."

 Amber turned back to look at Olivia to start Interrogating her, but she had already started moving towards a couple. "Lew! Lewis!" 

 "Does she know him?" 

"Extremely well." Alice laughed, as much as she wanted to stop Olivia from making any sort of decision when it came to her, and Lewis couldn't. Olivia loved him and he loved her. At least that's what Olivia had repeatedly told her.

Hearing his name, Lewis spun around and smiled, "Olivia!” 

Betsy, who was walking next to him, paused and smiled when the woman who she had spent the last few hours hearing about darted across the busy lobby and into Lewis's arms. He picked her up in a hug and pressed kisses to her cheeks and jaw. Careful to avoid her mouth, he knew as well as she did that if they saw that she would be sent home, and he wasn't going to be the one to get her sent home.  

"I missed you." He whispered before he sat her down on her feet.

"I missed you too." She grinned before looking at the girl standing next to him.

"I am Liv." She held her hand out to her. Betsy studied her for a brief second before returning the bright smile and taking the extended hand.

"I am Betsy. Lewis  told me a lot about you."

"Whatever he said, don't believe it. They are half-truths."

"All he told me was that you saved him from marrying a woman that he didn't love." She supplied as the other girls and the General joined them.

"Well, someone had to help him." She paused, "General, this is Betsy."

"Michaels, ma'am."

"Perfect, Lewis." The general inclined her head in the man's direction.

"I am going to meet up with the others, Liv, I will see you there." He pressed a kiss to her cheek, "Betsy, thank you."  Betsy nodded her head before glancing over at Olivia who was watching him walk away, a hint of sadness in her smile. 

"Are you okay?" She prodded softly.

 "Yeah, just the last time someone I cared about walked away in a uniform he ended up dying in Pearl Harbor.' Olivia shook her head and took a breath steeling herself, she hadn't let herself truly mourn for her brother, her uncle, and her great-great-grandfather.

Sure, she had cried in Lewis's arms when she found out, but she threw up walls around herself to protect herself.   She had to be the perfect picture of a well-brought-up Southern Girl. Alice grasped Olivia's hand and squeezed it. 

Thankful, Olivia squeezed it in return. She had been so thankful for Alice being with her from the time she got back from South Philadelphia with the ring that Bill insisted that he didn't lift from the store underneath the one from Lewis and was fighting to keep herself together to get sworn into the Army Nursing Corp to now OCS. She would have fallen completely apart and not have cared if it wasn't for Alice and her grandparents.

***

The bus was groaning and creaking down the gravel road towards Fort Benning, and Amber was fighting nausea, and it was getting worse the closer they got and listening to Olivia tell a story about her twin brother and someone named Bill to Alice and Betsy.

 "That boy is trouble, Livia." General Forbes commented, underlying amusement in her voice.

 "Which one? The one I share DNA with or the one I dated?"

"Both." Both Alice and the General answered with a laugh, neither one had actually met Bill but from the stories that Olivia had told them. But Bobby, they knew how much he coaxed his sister into doing things and quickly talked them out of trouble.  

There was a sad smile on her face as she twisted to look out of the window at the approaching camp. 

"Bobby is Olivia's twin brother," Betsy informed Amber, figuring she hadn't been listening to what she was saying, "From what I understand, this is the farthest and longest they have been separated." 

Amber shrugged her shoulders, she really didn't care about any of the other girls' lives before this. She was told that she had to do good and get that pay raise that was supposedly coming down the ranks for the women to help pay off her father's gambling debt. She wasn't there to make friends.

It would be better if she didn't. 

**

All the boys who had exited the bus in front of the 4 nurses paused and stared at them, they hadn't expected to see women in their program. "Ladies, if you will follow me." One of the instructors said cutting off the stares, they knew that the girls being there with them would be a distraction to them, and vice versa, but it was good for them to learn not to act on those feelings.

"I am Lieutenant Harding. You are going to be under my direct command for the next 12 weeks. I am sure you understand how unique this opportunity is."

"Yes sir." They all returned, Olivia and Alice, exchanging a look. they had at least a little bit of understanding of what was going to happen to them during these 12 weeks. Thanks to Olivia's family and Elizabeth Forbes. 

Alice liked to joke that Olivia was born right into the Army with how much the Stewart household was run like the Army. "This is where I leave you girls, good luck, I will see you in 12 weeks at Camp Meade.' She shook each of their hands, only lingering for a second with Olivia, squeezing her hand, "Write if  you need anything, you got this."

 "Thank you, ma'am." Olivia returned softly, squeezing her hand, "Tell Uncle Finn, I will be fine."

"Who is Uncle Finn?" Betsy asked curious as they started to follow Harding towards the barracks. "My grandfather's brother, and my godfather." She answered quietly, "They are worried about me, especially after losing Nicholas and Great-Great Granddad." 

"Nicholas was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor." Alice informed for her friend, who looked sad at the mention, "Same with her uncle Thomas." 

The Lieutenant who was leading them towards the barracks paused, interested, he had gone to WestPoint with Michael Stewart and knew that he had numerous nephews and nieces, and had kept in touch with him enough to know that he had great nephews now.  

"Aunt Helen is having a baby, she is dead set on naming it, Nicholas for a boy and Lydia for a girl."  

 He turned to look at the girls once they were outside of the small barracks, "Stewart, Michaels, this side.' He pointed to the two beds on the right-hand side of the room, "Scott, Anderson, other side. The roll call is 20 minutes. Good luck ladies." Harding nodded at each one of them before exiting the room. 

**

"Oops! I am so sorry!" Olivia exclaimed as she collided with a solid body, she had wanted to get to formation and she wasn't paying attention. 

"It's okay." Dick Winters returned steadying her, "No damage done.' "Still, I am sorry, I should have been paying more attention. I have a bad habit of not paying attention to my surroundings when I am focused on something"

"You will have to excuse her," Lewis's voice came from behind her, "She likes to ramble when she is nervous." 

"She is fine." The redhead man said, stepping away from Olivia who he had still been holding upright.

"She also has a name, Olivia.' She cut in annoyance, "And you know that Lewis." 

Lewis glanced down at her and smirked, he knew it all too well, the last night they had spent together, he had gotten a hotel room, and whisked her away, much to Bill's frustration. She got good at certain things. Things that he wouldn't mention to a complete stranger, and things that would embarrass Olivia to have known, and she didn't need that, especially after the last series of letters he got from her detailing her visit with her mother at the prison for women in South Carolina, and how she was embarrassed by Katherine for everything.

Little and big. 

"It's nice to meet you then, Olivia, I am Dick." "You too, Dick, you too.' She offered him a smile and took a step back to Lewis who quickly threw out, seeing the curious look on Dick's face, "Her uncle is married to my cousin.  And she stopped me from marrying Kathy."  Olivia winced and pulled a face that led Dick to believe that Kathy was a miserable person to be around. 

"Figures you would find Lewis, Livvy," Alice commented as she joined the trio. "He found me." Olivia returned, "Alice, this is Dick, I didn't get his last name." "Winters." Dick supplied just as the music was starting to play throughout the camp, signaling that they needed to go to roll call.  

** 

Lieutenants Harding and Anderson started walking up and down the formation, while the Captain, Sanders, was giving orders to them. Olivia oddly felt like she belonged, she had grown up with her grandfather doing inspections of their school uniforms, and their bedrooms every morning before they had breakfast. It was a normal thing in the Stewart household, Alice who started living with them on and off for several months when her parents were struggling had a hard time adapting to it.

Harding paused next to Olivia, his dark eyes flicking over her uniform and then studying her face, "You know, Michael said he had a niece, but he never said anything about how pretty you are." Olivia's green eyes sparked with surprise.

"Sir?" 

"Michael and I went to school together. I am Alex." She thought for a second and then she remembered, "I remember him mentioning you sir."

As if the other two girls felt how uncomfortable Olivia shifted a little closer to her. Harding was impressed that two of the three others were willing to step up and protect their fourth member. They were going to need that sense of commandery when things started getting

 tough. And with the OCS program, it was going to get a lot more tough.

"You are dismissed!" Sanders announced, causing Betsy to rush up to Olivia's elbow, "Are you okay Liv?" She asked urgently, her heart was up in her throat. "I am fine, Bets, it was nothing. Just saying that he went to WestPoint with my uncle.'

Lewis and Dick who had talked into joining them for dinner, appeared, "Come on Liv, it's dinner time." He slung his arm over her shoulder, relieved that he had already said that they were related by marriage so his touching her wasn't out of the norm. He didn't think he could go 12 weeks without touching or being near her. 

The 3 months had been bad enough. 

"We got to talk.' He muttered lowly in her ear. "About what?" She returned, stopping their stride, letting Dick and the girls who were pulling him into shy awkward talk.

"Kathy is pregnant."  It was short and straight to the point, he knew that he didn't have to dick around with her and he was thankful for that. 

 "What? Is she sure?" Olivia questioned, her heart dropping to her stomach, "Is, is it yours?"

"The timeline  adds up." He pulled his flask out of his pocket and twisted the lid open, "Ladies first.' Olivia took it and took a long swallow off of it before handing it back to him. "What are you going to do?" "No idea. But this isn't going to change anything between us Liv, I meant what I said, I love you." 

"I know Lew, I love you too." She started softly, "Whatever you want to do, I will support you. 100%" Glancing around making sure that they were fully alone, he pressed a kiss first to her lips then to her forehead. "Come on, let's go to dinner."

**

June 5th 1942

Fort Benning, Georgia.

***

Amber Scott had enough of everything that had to do with this stupid school that she got selected for. She was tired of getting screamed out for stupid reasons, like the sheets and blankets not being tucked into a certain inch, 6 compared to 7 that it was at a regular camp. Her boots were never polished correctly nor were they in the proper position when Sanders and Harding came into check. The other three, especially Olivia, seemed to be flourishing. They passed their tests with ease and had gotten stronger with the map reading and physical training. Something that Amber had fought hard against for the first few days, they were nurses they didn't need to know this stuff. 

She glanced around the barracks, looking for something to destroy, a habit that she had gotten into thanks to her father. He had a habit of destroying everything in his path when he was drunk and upset. Her brown eyes landed on the letters that were neatly stacked on the end of Olivia's bunk, no destroying letters wouldn't do any good, as much as she hated hearing about the characters in Olivia's life, they were entraining. Even the stories that she, Lewis, and Alice reenacted after a few too many shots at the bar on pass were on par. 

Then her eyes landed on the foot locker that was embellished with Olivia's surname and the US ARMY NURSING CORP logo on it. There had to be something in there that she could use that would make  Olivia as upset as she was.

Quickly, Amber crossed the room and flipped the lid open, thankful that Olivia hadn't locked it like she had in the past after Harding and Sanders had gotten into it. In the small box was a worn leather diary with the initials FJS on it. It was curious that she had something like that, she had known that Olivia's were OFGS, Olivia Franklin Grace Stewart, don't ask her how she knew, she just did. She flipped it open and the first date written on the page was from 1860. Even more curious, she flipped through the pages skipping over the letters and pictures of her family and of her and Lewis at her debutante ball to the later pages that were dated from 1940 on.

**

"Excuse me, Lieutenant. this came for you." One of the runners for the HQ for the OCS interrupted handing Olivia a sealed envelope from the Office of the Navy. 

"Liv? What is it?" Lewis asked. 

"I am not sure, I don't think I can open it.' Olivia returned, "Can you open it?"

 Dick who over the last few weeks became a good friend to not only of Lewis and Olivia but of Alice and Betsy as well, came over closer to Olivia, his hand catching hers. Normally doing something like this would make him nervous and make him blush but he felt oddly comfortable with Olivia. Like she was the little sister he had always wanted. 

 They had been informed the day before that the Navy was making a move on some island in the Pacific and everything was hush-hush about it. All they had been told was that the Enterprise, the boat that Olivia's second favorite brother, James was stationed on and flying from was involved in it. And since then Olivia had been sick with nervous energy. 

Lewis had a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach as he slid his finger underneath the flap of the envelope. 

"Mr. and Mrs. Stewart and family. We regret to inform you that your son James Andrew Stewart was killed in action during the battle of Midway.”  He quickly folded the letter back and pulled Olivia into his arms as the news hit and she started trembling. She was trying so hard not to break down. “It's okay, baby, it's okay.” he smoothed his hand over her hair that had come loose from her braid, and down her back. Dick pulled the crumpled letter out of Lewis’s hand knowing that down the line she would want to read the whole thing.  

“I need to be excused.”  Her voice was coming out in short spurts. “I need you to take a couple of breaths first,”  Betsy ordered,  worried about how sporadic her breathing was. Not even with all the tests that they had taken over the course of the last 8 weeks had she seen Olivia get so out of sorts. 

“Is everything okay? “ Harding asked them to come to a stop. “Just got a letter from the Navy.” Olivia pulled herself away from Lewis and took the handkerchief from Dick to dry her eyes and wipe her nose, “My brother James was killed in Midway. I will be fine in a moment. “ She wiped her cheeks off again. 

“No, you won't.” Amber’s voice came as she joined them looking like the cat that ate the canary. “What are you talking about?” Olivia asked. “Meaning you have been sleeping with him.” Betsy grabbed a hold of Amber’s arm and started pulling her away hissing that this wasn't the time or place to announce anything like that. 

“It's not true, Lieutenant Harding, not since we have been here,” Lewis explained, quickly lying, in hopes it would stop the two of them from getting into trouble and from Olivia getting kicked out of the program. That was the last thing he wanted after she worked so hard on passing the tests. They all did. Except for Amber, she managed to screw everything up.

"Stewart, is that true?" Harding asked, looking at the girl who nodded her head adamantly, teary fury in her eyes. "What is going on here? This has been going on for far too long. You two are working this out now." "Everything is fine, sir." Amber threw in.

"No, it's not," Olivia said at the same time, causing Harding to turn to look at her.

She never voiced any complaints, she kind of went with everything. They had all figured it was because she grew up in a military household. "Explain Stewart."

"Scott has been trying to get me to quit for the last few weeks, talking badly about my family and how I only got here because of my last name. And I understand that it helped a lot, but I am sure I have proved my worth." Alice, who had joined them, slipped between Harding and Betsy and grabbed a hold of her friend's hand. "Well reading what was in your journal, I know it." All in the instant the grief and sadness were gone, and anger was there.

"Watch you say, next Sergeant," Olivia ordered.

"Liv." Lewis started,the more they went through the training the more Olivia was finding herself and the more Lewis found that he was falling in love with her. It was making that decision of what he wanted to do with Kathy and the baby so much harder than it needed to be. 

"What are you going to do? Huh? Ol-iv-ia." Amber taunted, her eyes going to the letter that was in Dick's hand. The familiar typewriter print read out Olivia's name on it. 

"I am sure your dearly departed brother is going to be so disappointed in you carrying on after an almost-married man."

 "Do not talk about my brothers, or I swear to god, I am not going to be held responsible for what I do."

 "Why do you care so much huh?" Olivia closed her eyes and counted to 10 trying to calm herself down but Amber's taunting got worse, she had tried to give the girl the benefit of the doubt.  But she could honestly see that it was a mistake. 

“About you? Or about her brothers?” Alice snapped for her friend. 

“Her brothers.” Amber returned, in the deepest pits of her stomach she was surprised that Olivia would be able to care about her for her how she treated the other three during the 8 weeks they had been there. 

“Sergeant, I am warning you one final time, to watch what you say.”  This time it wasn't Olivia who warned her, it was Lieutenant Harding who did. He had quickly figured it was going to be better for the girls to work it out now before they were all shipped off to Camp Meade, Maryland. They had to be untied in front of the other girls especially since they were going to be the ones that knew what was going on. 

“I am just saying sir, she is a disappointment.” Amber couldn't finish saying anything about Olivia and how her brothers and parents were probably disappointed in her for what she was doing when Olivia’s fist connected with her nose. A satisfying noise like a cigarette pack crumpling and the blood rushing to her ears was the only sound that Amber could hear. 

When the ringing stopped and she was able to see through the stars, she saw that Olivia was being pulled back by Lewis and Dick. "I am fine." Olivia said, "I am good."

"Well, I am not! You broke my nose."

"You fucking deserved it!" She spat as Lewis lowered his mouth by her ear whispering that everything was okay and that nothing was going to happen. 

"Lew, I will kill her if I have to be in the same room with her again."

 "I know, I know." "Nixon, Winters take her to your barracks." Harding ordered, "Sanders and I will come and talk to her after we handle this. Michaels, Anderson stay here."

"Yes sir." Lewis agreed, turning her around and frog-marching her toward the barracks. He knew that she wouldn't do anything else to cause a scene but it was better to be safe than sorry.

**

"Lew, I am fine. I promise I am not going to go back out there and do anything." Olivia said once they were back in the barracks, that momentarily moment of weakness, and she lost her temper.

Dropping his hands from her shoulders, Lewis stood near her, "Liv, I am.'

 "Don't please. Don't tell me you are sorry. I can't hear it again." Olivia said hugging her body, "We all knew this was possible right? Dying?"

"Yeah, it's a big chance," Dick added he had been quietly following them into the barracks, and as she protested saying she was fine. She was clearly not fine, and while he felt like he knew her, he didn't feel comfortable speaking that out loud. 

"It doesn't make this loss any harder. It's okay to mourn his death, Olivia.'

 "She didn't let herself mourn Nicholas' death or Fredrick's death." Lewis directed over her head, she had shifted closer to him for the physical comfort and since it was just the three of them in the room, he felt okay with providing it. 

"Have to be the picture perfect of the Southern Lady." She sniffed, fighting back her tears, "Nana and Gigi would have a heart attack if they saw this." She motioned to the trousers that Harding had secured for her and the other three girls. It was hard for them to do the PT in their

 dresses. 

After struggling through a full day through everything they had to do, Harding took matters into his own hands and got them uniforms that were a little baggy for them but they worked. "Can't have emotions, we have to be steel magnolias, can't dress like a boy." 

"But." Lewis prodded, his hand rubbing down her back, his eyes on Dick, he wanted him to know his Olivia. Dick was starting to become important to him and he wanted them to be important to each other. And for that to happen, they need to know everything.

"But, Papa and Granddaddy, they think that I can do whatever I want. Does that make me and Marla a little spoiled and down the road little Katie? Absolutely. Because of them I climbed trees in dresses and chased after all of my brothers."

"James and her twin especially." "Jimmy was very proud, I got a letter from him yesterday actually. Said he was so proud of me for first facing my fears in flying."

Dick nodded his head, Lewis had come back from their last weekend pass drunk and proceeded to inform him about everything that had happened between him and Olivia and how he went down for her debutante ball. Then Olivia stopped his wedding to Kathy and their confessions and he flew with them to Charleston and spent the holidays with her and her family.

"And for joining the Nursing Corp. He would love to hear about that punch. He and Bobby have been on me to come out of my shell more and become who they know me as and who Lewis knows me to be."

The rest of what she wanted to say was cut off by Harding coming into the room and Lewis and Olivia separating, and the latter using the now crumpled handkerchief to wipe her cheeks off.

"You are going to stay in here for the time being Stewart, and Sanders is going to want to talk

 to you." 

"Yes, sir." She returned. 'Are you okay?" He asked, Michael had written to him once after he found that Alex was in charge of the girls and wanted to make sure she was okay. Like he knew that she was going to do this act. 

"If Uncle Michael wants to know, I am fine. Scarlett O'Hara front. He will know what that means." Harding nodded his head, "We will come and get you in a bit.” “Yes, sir.” She returned, lowering her eyes so he didn’t see her sadness and embarrassment. She hated that she lost her temper and took it out on Amber, regardless of if Amber deserved it or not.  “Don’t worry too much Liv, this is your first offense.” Lewis assured her, “They won’t throw the book at you just yet.” 

“Oh, real assuring Lew, thank you.” 

**

“Come in Lieutenant Stewart,” Captain Sanders said when he heard the knock on the frame of his door, the girl was standing in the doorway, already changed back into her normal white uniform for her nightly rounds in the hospital.  

“Sir.” She returned, stepping into the office after saluting him. 

“I am sorry about your brother, “Lieutenant Harding told me that you two were close.” 

“Yes, sir, he was 3 years older than me and my twin brother, so he was there for everything. Other than Bobby, James was my favorite.” She answered, “I know it’s not your job to care about that. I know I am here for punching Sargent Scott and breaking her nose.” 

Sanders had to hand it to her, she didn’t try and skirt around what she did to Amber like she had done. “It was 8 weeks of verbal abuse, she went through my belongings and read letters and journal entries. I warned her twice not to bring James or my family into it. She didn’t listen.’ Olivia shrugged her shoulders helplessly, “So I punched her. And I would do it again.” 

He swallowed his smile back, “You are going to have to latrine duty with Nixon and a few others for it, and we will mark it on your file. The next step is getting General Forbes involved and then.” 

“We are out of the program. Got it. Best behavior from here on out, sir.”  

[dreaming-of-the-end]

9: the right way to be proud (and hate me all the same)

A/N: Keefe chapter! in which he is silly (but that’s all of them!) PLEASE please please reblog and/or comment if you like!!

Links: [ao3] [wattpad] [masterpost] [previous chapter] [next chapter]  

Tags: @an-ungraceful-swan @seulgibabes @gay-otlc @fruityfintanfortythree @synonymroll648 @bookwyrminspiration @skylilac @song-tam @gaslight-gaetkeep-gayboss @abubble125 @rainy-nights-and-fairy-lights @kamikothe1and0lny @arsonistblue @daphneisntreal @lemon-girl-in-devil-town @istanrandomfandoms @sunset-telepath

Dear Alden,

I wish I could call you dad, but there are a few reasons why I can't.

1: Real fathers don't tell you they're proud of you for being less than perfect.

2: You've hurt me more than Fintan ever could. Weird, right? But that's what a father is supposed to do. You're supposed to be worse than the villains.

3: You've loved me more than my mother was supposed to. I don't want to admit that hating me is genetic.

But it is. Hating me runs in the family, and you were exempt from that disease on account of being a Vacker.

Your pride in me is something I have never been able to match up with who I am. If I am not yours, why are you proud of me? What right do I have to take those shreds away from Fitz, away from Biana? You owe me nothing. I owe you everything.

The first time you told me you were proud of me, my father's hand was around my wrist. And he didn't feel excitement or happiness or gratitude, he felt confusion.

I'd never heard those words with my name where Fitz's was supposed to be. Something didn't quite match. Something came out wrong, and I think it was me.

You spent years looking for Sophie, hoping to find her because of what you did to Prentice— ruining his life, that is. But you never found her because she came out wrong too, didn't she? Not quite human, not quite elven. Not like what you know.

Sophie was something you had to learn. Someone you had to teach yourself about.

But you assumed that I was straight out of the textbook definition. Look for Keefe in a dictionary and I come up. Definable. Noteworthy. Disaster.

Did you know that Keefe means loved in some human languages? Being a polyglot means that I understand every language, but I don't understand a world where my name means loveable. Worthy of being cared for.

That's not a father's job, anyway. Your job is to break me down to your level and try to repair the damage when you've pieced your mind back together. Your job is to shout and shout and shout and wait for the words to get through to me. Your job is to find me where I've hidden myself and bring me back into the burning sunlight.

Find me, Alden; find who I am, what I am, what I've kept from you. Why aren't you looking? Why do you never see? I've hidden myself away. You haven't found me yet. You're not my dad.

You love learning secrets no one was supposed to tell. Here's one of mine:

You gave me the idea to run away.

I was thinking about Fitz. And I was thinking about how we met. And why we became friends. It's because no one knew where he was. He was mysterious. Gone all the time. Gone to look for Sophie in the Forbidden Cities.

Do you feel your mind shattering the more you read? I think you're better off not reading this, but that's not why I won't send it.

It's because you never tried to peel back my layers. It's because my hiding spot was too good, it's because my head records every word and plays them in a disordered line, it's because neither of us has fixed our stupid broken matching heads yet. It's because you accepted me as who I was instead of who I was throwing at you, over and over, desperate to break the glass between us. Too bad that part of me is dead now.

I think you killed him.

I cried at your planting. Sometimes I regret it.

Love,

Keefe

…

Fitz isn't there the next morning when the rest of the group comes to see if it's true that he's back.

Biana gets there first: he knows it's her by how tightly she squeezes him, crushing them together. Her hair tickles his chin, bracelets digging into his back, but it's hard for Keefe to care, to breathe as she whispers, "Missed you."

"Missed you too," Keefe says softly, and Biana releases him. Her expression switches quickly from easy relief to a hesitant question. "And I've already seen Fitz," he adds, watching her eyebrows lift.

But she steps back.

"A lot has happened since you left," Tam puts in, barbed and accusatory. Not since you've been gone. Since you left.

Sophie catches it too, forehead wrinkling. She tugs out an eyelash, and Keefe winces. "Sorry about that, by the way."

They accept his apology a bit easier than Fitz did. Then, none of them know he doesn't mean it, besides Sophie, who was there last night. Not even Biana. They don't know the tug, the pull and push of anywhere but here that keeps him running, keeps him lying, keeps him leaving everyone behind. They don't know the desperate need for change, the roiling fear, the tumbling guilt that mixes with his blood and sets it itching in his veins.

Tam and Linh probably know it least of all. They run for need rather than want. He's seen their backpacks that pack for quick escape, and he's also seen the drawers they've filled since. They want a home. He wants to leave his forever. No wonder Tam hates him. The only part of him he’s ever known has been betrayal, from either side of whatever dynamic they have made for themselves.

Even now, he feels it: the monotony of his days here. Trying for solutions and knowing that all will fail. The cycle that he's found himself drawn back into against his will. This is why Fitz found him lying when he said he wanted to come back.

Keefe feels a chill set over him, and Tam's shadowy voice whispers: Keefe, we're going to have to talk sometime soon.

This is the worst part of going numb, a new kind of blindness. As he meets Tam's eyes, he can't tell whether his calm is genuine or not. He's gotten out of practice at reading expression before emotion, and he can't match them up anymore.

But he nods.

And he thinks of the letters he has stacked up, one for each of his closest friends. The ones he thought he would never have the chance to give to them because he'd never see them again.

It's worse now. Because now he has to choose to keep them piled away, written and unopened, addressed to him and him only.

Dear Biana, he thinks as she ruffles his hair and he ducks with a yelp. Sorry for wanting to forget you again. I hope I'm forgiven for coming back.

[am4zon]

❝ --- I am sorry. ❞

Regret colors her cheeks rosy. A blunt tongue exempt of kindness is not one Diana ever wishes to speak with. Lost love has made her neither bitter nor wise, but it has broken her. It has stolen her gilded perception of the world and painted it in horrific shades. She carries ghosts in her chest where her heart should be. Everyday, she seems to collect more of them, yet it is him who haunts her the most all these years later. Steve. The first innocent she failed to save and the last innocent who would die because of her naivety. She loves him, still, and losing him stings, still.

She and Clark are still strangers in many ways. He knows not of her history, and there may be many more moons until she can find the words to share it with him. But she knows a thing or two about truth, and even more about love, which is all she needs to understand that Clark and Lois have souls entwined by the gods of old.

She who is made of love has never experienced a love quite like theirs. But she knows this: ❝ Every moment with her is worth every moment without. ❞

@wreporter / continued.

[sarah-cam]

After listening to Slut! by Taylor Swift, it reminded me how a lot of the fandom really slut shames Belly for having relationships with the brothers, even though that’s literally the show’s entire premise. While Belly is not perfect, there’s no excuse for people (a good amount of whom are adults) to slut shame an insecure 16 yo girl who is processing her own grief. It’s also surprising to hear people who are Team Conrad slut shame Belly because while Conrad was disappointed with Belly choosing Jeremiah in s2, he would not approve of this slut shaming at all. Plus, I find it ironic how tsitp (a very Taylor Swift coded show) has it’s main character face the same slut shaming Taylor Swift experienced throughout her career. Despite tsitp focusing on Belly’s coming of age and her taking charge of her life, she deserves a lot better from the fandom.

okay i want to start this off by saying i wholeheartedly agree that belly gets unfairly slut-shamed and yes she is only a teenager struggling with grief HOWEVER that doesn't mean she should be exempt from criticism

the fact that she dates both brothers is literally the entire premise lol and i suspend a level of morality, i guess you could say, when it comes to fiction because it's FICTION!! it's supposed to be fun and emotional and dramatic

i love belly but she is so messy ☠️

my issue with her behavior is not based around the fact that she kissed someone else, there's nothing wrong with her trying to move on from conrad. that in and of itself is not the issue, which is what's different from the slut-shaming that i see in fandom. it's the fact that it's with jeremiah -- it's the emotional aspect. like she really went after the one person that would hurt conrad the most without even giving it a second thought!! but even so, it doesn't make her a bad person or a slut. and i know she's a teenager but also... that's fucked up to ANYONE idc how young you are. like i was a 16 year old girl not THAT long ago 😅 and that's just so messed up (but that's on jeremiah too, not just her)

slut-shaming is a huge issue that i see in fandoms because that's such a huge part of society unfortunately. if you watched nancy drew or follow me then you've probably seen me express frustration when nancy gets slut-shamed by the fandom. if not here's a brief summary - nancy has multiple partners throughout the series, several of which are while she's trying to move on from her feelings for ace. the first is while ace has a girlfriend and neither know of the others' feelings, and the second is after nancy and ace break up. there's nothing wrong with a single woman/person having hookups or flings or whatever with other people or even multiple people. the only issue that would rise for me would again be regarding the emotional aspect -- it's WHO she is with, like if it was ace's brother or best friend

it's not about shaming a woman for expressing and enjoying her sexuality -- it's about just having simple respect and consideration for another person's feelings

think about it like this -- you and your boyfriend break-up (when neither of you really wanted to) and are still in love with each other. and then your (ex)boyfriend almost immediately goes and makes out with your sister. or your best friend. who KNOWS that you're still in love with each other. that's FUCKED UP and in reality i would never forgive either of them for that

i know that belly not wanting to have sex with jeremiah before the wedding is part of the plot in book 3 so i am wondering how they will handle that given she has already had sex with conrad, so she's obviously not waiting for marriage to lose her virginity. if we do have to suffer through a sex scene (🤮), it's not uncomfy because she's having sex with someone else, it's uncomfy from the emotional standpoint and because we know she ends up back with conrad -- but AGAIN this does not make her a slut, she can absolutely do what she wants with her body and should not be shamed for it

i'm hoping that maybe this is how they approach it -- with belly feeling weird about having been with conrad and tries to justify her uneasiness (since she's also still in love with him) by waiting until after the wedding because then she can say "well obviously i can have sex with my HUSBAND"

AGAIN, at the end of the day, she can do what she wants and having sex with jeremiah certainly doesn't diminish her or her value, or her love for conrad. and hey, if conrad can get over it and forgive her for everything then who am i to judge -- it's fiction!!

in real life though, if i was taylor, i would be checking belly SO HARD about her behavior and if i was steven, idc if it's my sister i would be verbally destroying her AND jeremiah AND telling conrad to go to cali and never come back 💅🏼

(also the line in the song is "if they call me a slut, it might as well be worth it for once" and belly sweetie jeremiah ain't worth shit ☠️)

[citylawns]

just to clarify, of course influencers are real people - and many (or some) of them actually reflect on the role they play on an intuitive level because they never seem to like the name "influencer" - but i guess what I meant is that they barely share a lived reality with most people beyond the superficial, so there's kind of an inherent gap

I understood what you meant by the term I just disagreed with your use of it because money and brands are very much real and I am not exempt from money, least of all. these people are not solely superficial either, they run personal businesses (however successfully or unsuccessfully), some of them come from pretty ordinary backgrounds, so it kinda diminishes the agency & responsibility they have an sounds like writing off the actual complexity of the influencing industry's implications on us all and the paradox that it places on individuals.

they don't share a lot of low paid working people's lived realities, sure, but neither do people who work in high paid corporate roles, neither do celebrities, or people from vast inherited wealth. I think it just chucks all these people under the umbrella of "privilege" when I am more interested in dissecting the specific function influencers have in consumerism, as well as the effects on the psyche of influencers. it also negates the fact "influencing" performs a real role and function in the world, perhaps what confuses people is that this role has been so successfully re-marketed and re-designed. they are just advertisers. it's literally the truman show lol

my ex boyfriends sister is/was a famous youtuber and influencer and seeing her both personally and also publicly experience her mums cancer diagnosis and eventual death was, as an understatement, devastatingly eye opening. I saw first hand how double sided the blade was when her most popular video on youtube was when she was forced to reveal to her audience of quarter of a million people that her mum had died. that is also not a normal lived reality. grief and death is but having to announce it to the world isn't. the expectation of influencers is to simultaneously be relatable and like the people who watch them, but to monetise and sew in advertisements which makes it impossible to be relatable and real. this is The Influencer's Paradox lmao.

I think I began writing this answering your message and then just started rambling as I got more things to say not directly related to what you said so pardon me for that

[sergeant-spoons]

122. When Trouble Comes (And It Always Will)...

Verity/Victor Rich

Taglist: @thoughpoppiesblow​ @chaosklutz​ @wexhappyxfew​ @50svibes​ @tvserie-s-world​ @adamantiumdragonfly​ @ask-you-what-sir​ @whovian45810​ @brokennerdalert​ @holdingforgeneralhugs​ @claire-bear-1218​ @heirsoflilith​ @itswormtrain​ @actualtrashpanda​ @wtrpxrks​

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

The breeze was fair, the birds were flocking, and the edelweiss was blooming. July had come to pass, and by some forgiving stalemate of bureaucracy, Easy Company had yet to deploy to the Pacific. The beauty—and relative safety—of Zell am See was not to be understated. A month spent training from sunup 'til sundown had seen them venture no farther than the woods and slopes bordering the mountain town. No shoot-outs, no patrols, no military action whatsoever—June was the quietest month Easy had seen since February of last year. Exempting Shifty's accident, that is. Though his buddy was expected to make a full recovery, Popeye still wasn't much himself these days. The Fourth came and went with the usual fanfare, but there was more excitement for the drinking than the holiday, and although many of the more boisterous men complained about the decision not to set off fireworks, the majority of the regiment was relieved. The last time they'd seen a show like that... Well, it wasn't much of a holiday, and the rockets blasted through the earth and trees, not the sky where they belonged.

The evening before last, Verity snuck off with Gene to their secret spot. It was a small cottage so far removed from the epicenter of town, there were no direct roads to access it. You had to hike through the woods, and even if you stumbled upon it by accident (as Verity had when hiking with George and Perry one day), it was so unremarkable there wasn't much to do but pass on. Inside was pleasant enough, but it was clear no one had lived there for several years by the time the Americans came to this ridge of Austria. Verity took Gene there the same night she, George, and Perry had discovered it last week, and since, it had become their go-to for secret rendezvous. They'd brought booze and a blanket and settled in on the steps of the porch, watching the fireflies and listening to the crickets. It was a hot night, so Gene shirked his shirt and Verity stripped down to her undershirt. They sat there, squeezed hip-to-hip onto the steps, flirting up a storm until someone (neither could remember who it was first) said something about 'once we get home' and they both broke down in tears.

In many ways, the waiting was the worst part of Austria. There wasn't much to complain about in the ways of comforts and amenities—Lord knows they were the best off they'd been since Aldbourne, maybe even before that—but the threat of redeployment was a hefty weight. The men kept their chins up and carried on like they always did, like they always had to, but their backs began to hurt and their shoulders to ache, and the tension had nothing to do with the sudden influx of equipment crammed into their packs. All of this—the cool morning swims in the lake (for those who could), the long, uninterrupted card games with friends, the hazy summer nights with a lover—could be upended by a single order. They could talk about home all they liked, but there would be no home, there would only be the Pacific. Not knowing when they would be going but understanding it could be any day now was an uncomfortable feeling that squeezed one's chest. Verity knew she was not the only one who felt it—and here was Gene to prove it to her. Crying (but not seeming to realize he was), he confessed to her that night on the porch how much he hated his station.

"I'm a goddamn medic," he swore. "I don't kill people, I watch 'em die. And sometimes I get the blame."

"But-"

"And sometimes," he said, turning his head away, "I believe it."

At first surprised, Verity felt terrible for not realizing his misery before.

"Gene..."

She took his hand and stroked his arm until he reluctantly looked back at her. She pressed her lips to his forehead, wrapped her arms around him, and didn't let go until his tears had subsided. She wouldn't have cared if it took him twenty minutes or all night, but he wiped his face and sat up much quicker than she would have expected. He gave her a weak smile and she gently drew his head upon her shoulder, running her hands through his hair until he released the shaky sigh he'd been holding in.

"Why can't you go home?"

She kissed his furrowed brow and it eased slightly.

"You know why, Gene."

"But... you're you."

He touched her leg, and she gave a start.

"No! No, I can't. Doesn't matter what I've done, how long I've been here-"

"What?"

"-they'd shoot me, or worse-"

"Oh, God, no," he hurriedly reassured, alarmed by her fear. "I didn't mean- No."

"Oh." An inelegant laugh. "Okay, good."

Silence fell. After a long time (long enough that the old batteries in Verity's flashlight finally died), Gene spoke up.

"Verity," he said, squeezing her leg, "I hope you know how much I care about you."

Her face scrunched up, and when he moved to try and kiss it into a smile, she leaned back.

"You sound like you're about to tell me something I'm not gonna like to hear."

For the first time in the last half-hour, Gene's lips tugged upward.

"No," he replied honestly, "I just really want you to know that- Well, that I love you. So much."

He'd never get tired of seeing her cheeks turn all rosy when he said those three hallowed words.

"I love you, too. A whole frickin' lot."

He tucked her against his side and kissed the top of her head when she leaned it on his shoulder.

"At least when we go to the Pacific," he thanked her and the night, "I'll still have you with me."

Neither of them wanted to consider how fragile that truth could prove.

A beach towel to the face snapped Verity back into the present. She spluttered a curse and swatted away the offending fabric, and Babe Heffron started laughing.

"C'mon, Red, the water's fine!"

She eyed his fully dry self with a skeptical brow and replied, "Tell me again once you're actually in it."

With a shrug, he jogged away to deposit his towel in a haphazard pile by the stone wall bordering the beach. Perry's snickering earned her a smack on the arm, and as she started to complain, Garcia appeared and waved eagerly for Perry to follow him into the water. 

"Not hot enough," she lied, and Garcia made a face.

"Hot enough for him to sunburn," he accused, pointing at Verity, but when she shot him a dirty look, he wisely shut up and retreated.

"'Not hot enough'?"

Perry made a face.

"Oh, shut up."

As the two women watched, Garcia joined Babe, who had rerouted his path, and the pair of them proceeded gaily toward the waves lapping meekly against the shore. Babe was the first in, but that was mostly thanks to Johnny Martin appearing out of nowhere and tackling him into the surf. A football soared past and George, chasing it, almost kicked sand in Perry's face. Apologizing as he jogged backward toward his buddies, he shot them his typical lopsided grin and offered a tease about their presumed laziness. Not a taunt to be taken lightly by a paratrooper of Easy Company, it was met by Perry leaping up and chasing George down to tackle him into the grass. She then stole the football and threw it to Verity, who made a show of using it as a pillow until her friends' fussing and laughter won her over and she tossed it back. Summertime in Austria sure could get hot, but if given the choice between breezy, dry days on the shores of a glistening mountain lake and the blistering tropical storms treating the Equator like Interstate 80, no one was fool enough to pick the latter. They knew they had it good here. And today, on the first afternoon they'd had off in two weeks, they certainly weren't about to let any pesky plans of the Pacific weigh them down.

"You've got a good arm, Red," Perry complimented as she flopped back down on her half of the checkered blanket, and Verity tipped an invisible cap in jesting thanks.

"Hey, lookit that."

Verity saw and smirked. A quartet of sopping paratroopers came marching toward the shore, waving at the pair on the blanket, but only two made it within shouting distance. Before they got very far, Joe Liebgott was tackled by (unsurprisingly) Johnny Martin and Skinny Sisk by Babe (who had evidently switched sides in their whimsical water battle). Floyd Talbert and Allen Vest watched in mirth and made no effort to help their friends.

"Hi, ho, it's the goose brigade."

"Why ‘goose’?"

"'Cause they're gonna honk and flap their arms at us until we come in the water with them."

Verity tried to stifle her giggling into her hand with little success. Perry smirked.

"The way they keep shiverin', they don't make a very compelling argument for this whole swimming business."

"They do look a bit cold," Verity conceded, "but that's sorta how it goes with lakes. You go in, your body adjusts to the temperature, and you're cold when you get out because the air's still warm but now you're the cold one."

"... I think you've been hanging around Webster too much."

As Verity turned aside, coughing against the water she'd just choked on in her laughter, Talbert stopped a few feet from the shore and began waving effusively at her and Perry. He looked a bit cartoonish, windmilling his arms like that, still up to his knees in the lake. Nonetheless, they paid him the heed he desired, and he began to shout.

"Rich! Bloom! Come join us!"

"No, thanks," the invited pair replied, echoing one other, and Talbert frowned, dropping his arms.

"Rude."

Verity almost believed him, if not for the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. She considered getting up and conceding to dip her toes in, just to appease him, but instead, she picked up Perry's cap and stuck it at a jaunty angle on her friend's head.

"We're busy, Tab. Got loads of important, timely sergeant stuff to talk about."

He put his fists on his hips, disbelieving.

"Then come talk about it in the water!" A grin. "Maybe I can lend you some advice, being a-" He pretended to polish and blow on his knuckles. "-first sergeant, myself."

Verity laughed, raising her hands in surrender. "Touché. But I'm still not coming in."

"Then what about you, Crow?" Vest chimed in, cupping his hands around his mouth although they could hear him and Talbert just fine. "Flap those wings and fly yourself over here!"

Perry chuckled. "I'd sure like to, Vest, but crows aren't waterfowl."

Talbert put on a show of rolling his eyes—the man could be more of a diva than George Luz sometimes—and turned back to Verity.

"Come on, Red! Wash away that sunburn!"

"Not sure that's how that works, Tab."

"You can swim, can't you?" Vest asked, half-ribbing and half-serious, and Talbert pushed him off-balance, claiming the basis of respect but clearly doing it just because he could.

"Ha!" Verity wheezed as they scuffled. "I grew up on a lake, Vest, I sure hope I can swim."

"Then what're you waitin' for?!" Tab shouted, grinning, gleeful, shaking his hair out of his eyes, and just as Verity opened her mouth to reply with some excuse about "the right time", waving her wrist to show off her watch, a shout of alarm diverted her attention.

There—out past the dock. A hand waving above the surface, a gasping head—and then nothing but ripples.

"Isn't that O'Keefe?" Perry asked, confused, but Verity was already halfway across the lawn, thanking the heavens she'd taken her boots off a few minutes before to let her marching-chafed feet breathe. She sprinted down the dock, shoved past the two men calling out for their friend below the water, and launched herself into a swan dive. It was not graceful by any means, but it pushed her deeper and positioned her to swim down, and that was what she needed. The lake was fairly clear and calm, and O'Keefe never stopped thrashing. She got her hands under his arms in a second or two and nearly tweaked her ankle when she started for the surface only to hit the rocky bottom. They were further down than she'd thought. She got her feet underneath her and kicked off, and with a little upward to-and-fro, she managed to get O'Keefe to the surface, then herself directly after.

People were shouting, but she couldn't tell what they were saying. Someone jumped in too close for comfort and Verity yanked O'Keefe away. The water in her ears and the pressure from the unexpected depth distorted her hearing, and for an instant, she was back in Bastogne and the wetness on her face was not lake water but blood. O'Keefe's sudden coughing saved her; the fluttering of his lungs against her chest returned her enough to the present to keep kicking and start them blindly in the direction of the voices. She couldn't see past the hair sticking to her face and the water running over it and into her eyes, but her hearing was starting to return, and the adrenaline pumping through her veins gave her strength yet to spare. Still, she struggled for breath—propelling two human bodies (one almost limp) toward the shoreline was no easy feat, even for a toughened soldier. In a flash of coherence, she wished for aide and found it in George Luz, who took O'Keefe from her and tugged her by the elbow until she could feel sand beneath her toes.

"Try to breathe," George was saying. "You're one tough cookie, O'Keefe, you'll be fine."

Verity stumbled forward and slapped O'Keefe on the back as hard as she could, and he heaved out the last of the water that had choked him. Following George and O'Keefe, Verity pushed forward, wading with legs that trembled like the river reeds cloistering on the shore. As soon as she made it far enough, she fell to her knees, pushing her hair out of her face, hiding. Her heart and mind were racing—she knew her clothing was sticking to her every jut and curve, there would be little chance of escape with all these eyes on her and O'Keefe. Trying to catch her breath and find a way out, she almost didn't notice Frank and Liebgott until they were at her side. She jumped, but Bull laid his broad hand on her shoulder and turned his back to the others. Her savior, he guided her all the way up to and past the beach, shuffling right alongside her until she made it back onto dry land. 

Perry appeared with the checkered blanket and Verity seized upon it, nearly sobbing her stifled thanks. She knew she didn't really have to say anything. Perry understood. Verity wrapped the blanket around herself as thoroughly as possible, and the safety of the coverage eased her anxious trembling. Now the rest of the world was starting to filter back in—the water dribbling off of her with every minute movement, the burning in the back of her mouth from the unintended intake of lake water, the presence of David Webster at her side. He (along with Perry) was looking at her worriedly, but Verity could only think of O'Keefe. She turned over her shoulder until she found him, sitting on the ground and leaning against a rock with George and some of the more recent replacements huddled around him.

"You just risked your whole secret to save that kid."

Webster's remark was quiet but heavy. Verity coughed into the blanket—raised to her mouth by her elbow—and sighed.

"Yeah, of course," she rasped, still watching O'Keefe, "nobody else is getting hurt on my watch."

Nobody else was a hard thing to promise, but harder still—impossible, in the war—was nobody.

"You alright, Patty?"

Though he was still snorting out water and clearly dazed, O'Keefe managed to meet Verity's query with an embarrassed smile.

"Yeah," he coughed out a bit hoarsely. "Yeah, I'm alright. Uh, thanks, Rich."

"Call me Red," she beseeched him. "We're friends, after all. Right?"

He seemed surprised at her nonchalance, given how she'd just saved him from drowning, but otherwise happy to agree.

"Right."

Gene showed up before long. Someone must have run into town for a medic. He was almost out of breath but his focus never faltered. He only shot Verity a brief nod before getting to work. With Bull's help, he shooed away the crowd around O'Keefe and dropped to his knee before his patient. Once it was evident the replacement was no worse than a little waterlogged, Gene relaxed and sat down on the grass beside him. O'Keefe turned to accept a canteen of (non-lake) water from a buddy and Gene finally looked back at Verity. If he had been any more physical of a man, he would have done a double-take, she had no doubt; instead, his eyes flashed and he set his jaw as he took in her sopping wet hair and the blanket hiding her slight frame. She caught his gaze and shook her head minutely, and for her sake, he forced himself to turn away.

"C'mon, Red," Webster said, tugging Verity lightly by the arm, "you oughta go back to the barracks and change."

"I'll come with," Perry volunteered. "He's right, you wouldn't wanna show up to dinner lookin' like you just went under a waterfall." 

"Then again," George chimed in, "they might like it if you came in so wet you mopped the floors just by walkin' over 'em."

Webster and Perry, she'd seen and spoken to, but Verity wasn't sure when George had come to stand by her. He was wrapped in a towel similarly as concealing as Verity's shroud, and it took her only a moment to realize he was already shirtless underneath and had taken up the towel to make her shyness seem unremarkable.

"You got any fuzzy socks?"

"What for?"

"Well, I sure can't mop the floors in these," she said, wiggling her toes through her holey socks, and George made a face.

"Eugh, Red, put those dogs away! Go on, get changed. Get!"

"Alright, alright," she laughed, pretending to lean in so she could push him and adding in a mutter, "Thank you, George."

He shot her a natural smile as he ran his hand through his dripping hair, flicking droplets of water every which way (including onto Verity's cheek).

"Sure thing, Red. See ya around."

"Yeah, see ya."

Turning the side of her face against a corner of her blanket, she returned his smile, and they parted ways, him following Chuck Grant to rejoin the football game while she departed with Perry in search of dry clothes.

"You'd better hope that blanket dries before tonight, it's the only one you've got."

Verity smirked just a little.

"As much as I appreciate the concern, Perry, I'm not too worried about that."

"No?"

"No, because according to the thermometer on our window, the temperature hasn't dropped below 70 degrees all week, even at night."

"We have a thermometer on the window?"

"Yeah."

"How have I not noticed that before?"

"I dunn- oh."

Verity's cheeks started to pinken.

"Actually, no. The thermometer... is on Gene's—and Babe's—window."

"Ohhhh." Perry wiggled her eyebrows. "Gene's window, I see. And is that window easy to mix up with our window, hmm? Hmm?"

"Remind me which one of us is sopping wet right now?"

Though Perry continued smirking, she deferred to the vague threat and put a little more distance between herself and her drenched friend.

"Point taken."

There was a letter on the desk when they arrived that had not been there this morning. A glance at the postage revealed it was from Sacramento—Perry's family. Perry cheerfully supposed Vest had been so kind as to drop it off earlier before he'd gone down to join the others by (and in) the lake and sat down to open it while Verity changed in the corner, out of view of the unshuttered window.

"Gee, I've been waiting for a letter from home for weeks," Perry said, excitedly tearing through the uppermost fold of the envelope with the edge of her fingernail. "I wonder what's kept my Pops from writing so long."

As she read aloud the first few lines of the letter, Verity listened, glad to hear the joy in Perry's voice and proud to be trusted enough to hear the news ad verbatim. Moments like these were well worth the tedium and training of the past few months. After Toye got hit, Perry shrank into herself and never fully came out again. And yet, there was something about getting a letter from home that sparked that old vitality in her again. Verity almost envied Perry for that, but she knew she'd made her choice long ago—and hell, maybe someday, she wouldn't need to rely on a letter to hear from her Pa again.

Enveloped in thoughts of home, it took Verity a moment to realize Perry had stopped speaking. Adjusting the hem of her shirt, she turned about and mumbled Perry's name. Receiving no response, she looked up and frowned to see her friend steadily blanching.

"What is it?"

Perry's hands started to shake. She nearly dropped the letter, and then she did. Watching it swoop before settling on the floor, Verity felt the pit of her stomach drop.

"Perry."

It took her a moment to look up, but when she did, Perry was white as a sheet. Verity's fingers lost their grip on her shirt.

"It's my brother."

"What about him?"

Verity could almost read the words before they sank off Perry's wobbling lips:

"He's in trouble."

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

8/15 updates left.

[thebugass]

Yo. Bugass here. Saw the ask about how I responded to Gabriel's PSA and just wanted to reply because I'm stuck in my dad's office right now and bored.

Firstly, please just note that I am autistic and have several other neurodivergent mental illnesses. This does not exempt me from criticism and it doesn't exempt Gabriel from it either. If we continue to treat Gabriel like a poor, neurodivergent baby that we all have to take care of, it will hurt everybody involved. Artists could continue to suffer from Gabriel's false claims and Gabriel will inevitably get in over his head eventually and being neurodivergent won't help him out of it. I'm not saying anybody should attack him- please don't. We need to teach him instead. Clarify your points and give him more grace than you would for a neurotypical person, but still do not accept claims without evidence. Nothing should be posted to the Service Review forum without proof, whether the person who posted it is neurodivergent or not.

Secondly, I will admit that I could have worded my replies a bit better. I know that there are communication difficulties between Gabriel and the rest of Toyhouse, so I was trying to clarify people's points for him. The points I clarified are not my own opinions. I do not think that Gabriel traced the artwork. Whenever I reference a ref sheet for the sake of drawing a character, I always take a bit of the ref sheet's style into my own. It's completely unintentional, but it always happens. None of the lines match up from the ref to Gabriel's drawing, and without a drawing with lines that do match up, if he said that he didn't trace, he didn't trace. It's rude and irrelevant to the PSA to claim he's tracing without any proof. I should have taken a more firm stance on this so that the side of the argument that I was on couldn't be misinterpreted.

My only goal in commenting on the PSA was to make sure that Gabriel's past was considered. He's made claims pretty much exactly like these ones before, and they turned out to be completely false. The other party is already claiming they're false, but without any proof from either side, it's just a he said she said situation. My goal is not to take Gabriel down. I just got ahead of myself trying to be a helpful middle man and clarify points for him, and some of my own opinions got lost in translation. For anybody who wants to know my actual opinion, the PSA should just be taken down. Neither party has proof and I won't take a side until one does. I just wanted to bring all the context and important information to light. I apologize for the way I did it, but I will not apologize for the fact that I did it. Nobody is free from criticism, and I stand firm in my belief that the other side's perspective was important and relevant to the PSA.

[wordexpress]

Nirmala Sitharaman's prediction for India's economy as IMF cuts global growth

Nirmala Sitharaman said growth will be among the top priorities of the Narendra Modi government and attention will be paid to sustaining the momentum that the Indian economy has got coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is in the US to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, on Tuesday forecasted India’s growth rate to be around 7 per cent this financial year.

Sitharaman said growth will be among the top priorities of the Narendra Modi government and attention will be paid to sustaining the momentum that the Indian economy has got coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her statement comes even as the IMF, in its latest projection, predicted India’s GDP growth to be 6.8 per cent — down from a January projection of 8.2 per cent and in July estimate of 7.4 per cent. However, despite the slowdown, India would remain the fastest-growing major economy.

The IMF said on Tuesday global growth is expected to slow further next year, downgrading its forecasts as countries grapple with the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, spiraling cost-of-living and economic downturns.

The world economy has been dealt multiple blows, with the war in Ukraine driving up food and energy prices following the coronavirus outbreak, while soaring costs and rising interest rates threaten to reverberate around the globe.

“I am aware that growth forecasts around the world are being revised lower. We expect India’s growth rate to be around 7 per cent this financial year. More importantly, I am confident of India’s relative and absolute growth performance in the rest of the decade,” she said addressing a gathering in Washington.

Sitharaman, however, observed that the Indian economy is not exempt from the impact of the world economy. “No economy is,” she said.

“After the unprecedented shock of the pandemic, came the conflict in Europe with its implications for energy, fertiliser and food prices. Now, synchronised global monetary policy is tightening in its wake. So, naturally, growth projections have been revised lower for many countries, including India. This triple shock has made growth and inflation a double-edged sword,” Sitharaman said.

After the Russia-Ukraine conflict started in February 2022, there was a sharp increase in food and energy prices. India had to ensure that the rising cost of living did not lead to lower consumption through erosion of purchasing power.

“We addressed these multiple and complex challenges through a variety of interventions. One, India ramped up its vaccine production and vaccination. India has administered over 2 billion doses of vaccine produced domestically. Two, India’s digital infrastructure ensured the delivery of targeted relief Third, in 2022, after the conflict erupted in Europe, we ensured adequate availability of food and fuel domestically, lowered import duties on edible oil and cut excise duties on petrol and diesel. The central bank has acted swiftly to ensure that inflation did not get out of hand and that currency depreciation was neither rapid nor significant enough to lead to a loss of confidence,” the minister said.

Sitharaman said India is discussing with different countries to make Rupay acceptable in their nations.

“Not just that, the UPI (Unified Payments Interface), the BHIM app, and NCPI (the National Payments Corporation of India) are all now being worked in such a way that their systems in their respective country, however, robust or otherwise can talk to our system and the inter-operability itself will give strength for Indians expertise in those countries,” she said.

[menalez]

For some reason I am unable to send link to the post. But if you search "biphobia isn't real" you might be able to see desisapphic's post reacting to a homophobic bisexual woman. While the post made by the bi woman is definitely homophobic af. I didn't find desisapphic's response to it better either. She did call her out well for her homophobia but ended up writing bi stereotypes herself.

"Bi woman are entrenched deep into het and male culture"

First of all, if you're talking about bi radfems then a lot of them are actually febfem.To me it seems as if some radfems are victim blaming osa women for being a victim of patriarchy. Also is it really true that lesbians are totally exempt from being a victim of patriarchy either? I am a lesbian and I personally still keep realizing how much of the "het and male culture" was indoctrinated in me. While not being attracted to males definitely makes it easier for me to get rid of that mindset it doesn't make me exempt from being a part of it in the first place. If you look at the statistics a lot of lesbians have been victims of domestic violence in intimate relationships with men. And idk if other lesbians could relate to it but affirming to my identity was not easy for me considering how much women are expected to serve men.

Also I am assuming this person is talking about all lesbians and bisexuals and not just the radfems. Because this whole "bisexuals whining out for lesbians not wanting to date them" is stupid because there are lesbians who don't even think bisexuality is real and are just "straight women pretending to like women". Or lesbians(and gays too) who think bi people are more likely to be cheaters which is obviously a dumb biphobia stereotype. Bisexuals calling those people out isn't "homophobia". And the op (the bi woman) made a disgusting comparison of lesbians to straight males which desisapphic should have called out properly but ended up depicting bi women similar to straight males as predatory and entitled.

You will also see in the tags saying "biphobia isn't real". I really don't have to explain how wrong that statement is. There are people out there denying the existence of bisexuality. I don't have to say anything. Besides ik lesbians who have used words "cock suckers" and stuff have been called out by everyone but that doesn't mean that people who complain about those words being used in the first place are inherently lesbophobic.

Radical feminism is to help all women (I don't mean to say lesbians have to include bisexual women in their feminism. Lesbian centered feminism is totally ok). And that doesn't mean spilling mud on those women who are attracted to males or are unfortunately indoctrinated with "het or male culture". I think both bisexuals and lesbians have equally good reasons to be angry at the other. But homosexual men and women need to understand that biphobia isn't a new thing within the lgb community and has existed throughout history and gotten worse during the AIDS epidemic (I have a good quick read on it if you would like me to share the link.) It's genuinely agitating to look at both the communities fighting with neither side willing to look at their mistakes.

i don’t think biphobia is real either btw or well, to be more specific, i don’t think it’s a form of oppression. i do think prejudice against bisexuals exists on an interpersonal level tho. the stuff you mentioned being examples of interpersonal prejudice. if we were to argue that makes it a systemic oppression, we could also argue ‘aphobia’ is real bc people don’t acknowledge lack of sexual attraction as real. but are u referring to this?

because i think u misread it? the closest i found to her saying that was this:

i don’t think it’s necessarily false that many bi ppl are quite involved in & integrated into het culture ¯\_(ツ)_/ however i don’t see her saying theyre more involved with male culture here. that’s what the person she was responding to was saying about lesbians, alongside saying our homosexuality makes us less intelligent and more male-like and misogynistic.

lesbians aren’t immune from being influenced by misogyny, of course. no woman is. tho it’s hard not to notice how often lesbians are feminist compared to OSA women and how often lesbians oppose men & their culture compared to OSA women. i don’t think thats an inherent aspect of our sexuality nor do i think every lesbian will be this way, ive come across too many misogynistic lesbians to argue that. but i do think us having less involvement by men bc we don’t date them can help us detach from their nonsense more and make it easier for us to see that they’re shit.

i agree taking issue with gross terminology like “cocksuckers” doesn’t inherently make someone lesbophobic. no one should use such language, it benefits no one, especially not lesbians. i disagree with bi & lesbian women having *equally* good reasons for animosity against the other bc i do see more extreme hatred and actions against the other and power imbalance, but i also understand why the animosity isn’t one sided.