#Bell Court Motel | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

manue-ringo · 8 months

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Chapitre 90 : Règlement de compte

Vous ne vous êtes pas assez défoulé sur moi, c'est ça ? Lança-t-il avec un sarcasme mordant.

Parker prit place sur son lit, adoptant une posture en tailleur, et lui rétorqua d’une voix tranchante

Non. C'est juste que tout ça commence à me taper sur le système ! J'ai d'autres choses à penser qu'à ces conneries vous voyez ?

Pardonnez-moi, mais c'est vous qui l'avez cherché je vous signal. Lui fit-il remarquer, non sans une pointe d’ironie.

C'est bon, la ferme. Écoutez, oubliez ce que j'ai dit. Ça n'a plus d'importance. Je vais vous dire ce que je sais, puisque qu'il n'y a que ça qui vous intéresse. Dit-elle d'un air de reproche.

Une colère sourde monta en Mulder. L’attitude de Parker le fit tressaillir, et il reprit avec véhémence :

Vous êtes sérieuse ? Vous semblez prendre un malin plaisir à me pousser à bout ! Comment pouvez-vous être aussi insensible ? N’avez-vous donc rien retenu de nos échanges ? Je vous ai toujours témoigné du respect, Parker. J’ai été transparent avec vous, mais visiblement, ça ne vous suffit pas !

Parker, nerveuse, repoussa d’un geste brusque ses cheveux sur le côté. Ce geste anodin, presque inconscient, la rendait étrangement séduisante, et Mulder se retrouva à la dévisager un peu trop longuement. Elle s’en aperçut et, tentant de garder son calme, lui lança un regard acéré :

Qu'est ce vous mater comme ça ? Ça vous arrive souvent ?

Mulder se rendit compte de son manque de discrétion, une légère rougeur montant à ses joues. Son regard se fit plus fuyant alors qu’il tentait de se rattraper.

Quoi ? Non, je… Ce n’est pas le sujet ! Je ne comprends même pas pourquoi je perds mon temps à discuter avec vous.. Cette conversation ne nous mènera à rien ! S'exclama-il en se détournant pour partir.

Hé ! Où allez-vous ? Je n'ai pas terminé. Dit-elle avec suffisance.

Parker se leva pour lui faire face, ses traits s’étant adoucis. Elle semblait presque amusée par la réaction de Mulder et déclara, d’une voix plus posée cette fois :

L'ironie dans tout ça, c'est que ce crétin de Krycek m'a ouvert les yeux.

Mulder fronça les sourcils puis demanda :

Krycek ? Qu'est ce qu'il a avoir avec cette histoire ?

Pour faire bref, j'ai appris que cet imbécile nous espionnait dans ce motel lorsque nous étions dans le Maine. Il s'est servi de ce prétexte pour faire pression sur moi. Je ne me suis jamais senti aussi humilié de toute ma vie. Bref, c'est en partie à cause de ça que j'en ai ma claque ! Mais d’un autre côté, il m’a fait prendre conscience de ma naïveté cette nuit-là. Vous m’avez manipulée ! S’indigna-t-elle avec une pointe d’agressivité.

Comment ça ? Attendez que je mette la main sur lui. Je vais m’en occuper. Dit-il, furieux. Parker leva les yeux au ciel, impatiente :

Arrêtez, c’est déjà fait. Là n'est pas le problème. Vous ne comprenez donc rien !

Oui, j’ai compris ! Alors quoi ? Vous allez m’accuser maintenant ? Je vous fais honte, c’est ça ? Expliquez-vous clairement ! Exigea-t-il en se rapprochant d’elle, cherchant à la provoquer.

Ils se défièrent du regard pendant un long moment, un silence lourd de tensions inavouées s’installant entre eux. Mulder s’approcha encore, son regard brûlant d’un mélange de défi et de désir :

Alors, tu es à court de mots ? Pourquoi ce silence ? J'ai mis le doigt sur quelque chose, c'est ça ?

Parker ne supporta pas son insolence et répliqua avec fermeté :

Pour qui tu te prends ? Tu crois me faire peur ? Recule, avant que je ne perde patience ! S’exclama-t-elle en le repoussant violemment contre la porte. Elle semblait hors d’elle. Mulder, imperturbable face à son emportement, saisit l’occasion pour la provoquer davantage, répliquant d’un ton acerbe :

Vas-y, ne te gêne pas ma belle ! Frappe donc ! Provoqua-t-il avec défi Après tout, je suis le coupable idéal, n’est-ce pas ?

Parker éclata d’un rire nerveux, visiblement surprise par l’audace de son partenaire.

Non mais sérieusement ? On dirait que tu es aussi fou que moi. Répliqua-t-elle, l’exaspération perçant dans sa voix. Tu m’agaces tellement que je me sens surchauffer ! S’exclama-t-elle en se débarrassant de son long cardigan noir. En débardeur blanc et shorty de sport, elle offrait une image qui ne laissait pas Mulder indifférent, bien qu’il tentât de le cacher. Mais Parker, observatrice, semblait avoir remarqué son trouble.

Ah, c’est vrai, je suppose que c’est une scène rare dans ta triste existence. Railla-t-elle, son sarcasme tranchant l’air comme un couteau. Je me demande même si tu as déjà connu ça. Dit-elle en lui riant au nez.

La patience de Mulder était mise à rude épreuve. Il décida de renverser la situation, son sourire narquois se faisant plus prononcé.

Très amusant vraiment. Rétorqua-t-il avec un sourire narquois Toi, je suppose que tu es une experte en la matière. Et puis tu n'as pas besoin de te dévêtir pour attirer l’attention. puisque la seule chose qui t'intéresse, c'est ta petite personne et rien d'autre. Tu as un ego tellement surdimensionné que tu en oublies tes sentiments. Tout au moins, tu t'efforces de le faire. Mais ça ne prend plus avec moi. Et ça, tu ne peux pas le supporter hein ? N'est ce pas ? Dit-il en s'avançant à nouveau vers elle en la fixant intensément du regard.

Parker, déstabilisée, se mordit la lèvre, cherchant à conserver son impassibilité.

C'est quoi ton problème, exactement ? Demanda-t-elle, son regard défiant le sien. Tu crois que tes beaux yeux et tes belles paroles suffiront pour m'avoir ? Qu'est-ce que tu t'imagines mon vieux ? Tu penses sérieusement que je m'intéresse à toi ? Je vais te dire une bonne chose chéri, c'est toi qui fantasme sur moi.

Elle s’approcha, se hissant à sa hauteur, son visage à quelques centimètres du sien. Mulder saisit l’occasion pour lancer un défi risqué, son regard s’attardant sur ses lèvres :

Peut-être que je t’intimide, après tout. Quoi que, tu n’as pas hésité l’autre jour dans ce bar. Pourquoi ne pas recommencer ? Je sais que tu en meurs d’envie. Ne le nie pas.

Parker pâlit, un rouge de honte colorant ses joues. Elle se sentait piégée. Cherchant désespérément une échappatoire, elle répliqua précipitamment, un sourire forcé aux lèvres :

Qu'est-ce que je disais ? Tu n'attends que ça hein ? Vas-y. Ose t-y aventurer. Avant qu’elle ne puisse réagir, Mulder captura ses lèvres dans un baiser audacieux, la réduisant au silence. Parker se dégagea brusquement, secouée.

Hé ! Mais qu'est-ce que tu fais crétin ? Lança-t-elle, les joues en feu, tandis que Mulder se contentait de la fixer avec une intensité qui trahissait ses propres émotions conflictuelles.

#fanfiction #the x files #the pretender #miss parker #crossover

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manleycollins · 2 years

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Journal Entry #72 - The Phone - Alexander Graham Bell, Inventor and Co-Founder of AT&T - Must Did Not Know How Crazy Communication Would Become - And My In-Person and Postal Mail Communications Independence - Who am I talking to?

JOURNAL ENTRY #72 Name: Manley M Collins Social Security Number: 5 7 9 – * * – 6 5 4 1 Date of Birth: 06/21 Place of Birth: Washington, District of Columbia Country of Birth: United States of America Date: July 4, 2022

TOPIC: The Phone - Alexander Graham Bell, Inventor and Co-Founder of AT&T - Must Did Not Know How Crazy Communication Would Become - And My In-Person and Postal Mail Communications Independence - Who am I talking to?

Happy Independence Day to the United States of America!

Schizophrenia and the recognition of my American mental health issues was created solely based on the topic when I shelled out information about a future to people that I did not know what I was talking about. Normally, life would call it a 'lie' or 'alternative truth', but made sure my American life, in English, reap every word of having anything mentioned about my future and losing it very fast with little or no evidence. So now my readers or people now dislike or love me revealing my past and present of what he/she does not expect to see.

Based on my telephone logs and great memory, people wonder who do I talk to if I am not speaking to them specifically. For me, my 792 contact list is 10% of the amount of people I would have had if I had my storage drives and no distractions in putting people in various information systems and backing up various places. I do believe in speaking to humans over artificial intelligence or interactive voice response systems. Those people I spoke over the phone or in-person or video call are as follows:

Brothers of Rho Kappa Lambda of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., police officers and every other type of officer, attorneys, lawyers, teachers, LGBTQIA+ associates/friends, heterosexual friends, families, my paternal family members, my maternal family members, classmates from Cross High School, South Carolina State University, and University of Phoenix, track and field teammates, football players, basketball players, disabled persons, Asian, Indian, European, African, American, French, Italian, Mexicans, Latinos, Brazilians, Jewish, Muslim, drug dealers, gun owners, Beta Delta of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Future Business Leaders of America, Chief Executive Officers, presidents, vice presidents, directors, project managers, program managers, leaders, small business owners, entrepreneurs, barbers, hairstylists, Human Resources managers, my co-workers, supervisors, and managers from every position on my resume, security officers, librarians, administrative assistants, doctors, nurses, case workers, mental health professionals, resource officers, principals, assistant principals, military - army, navy, marines, coast guard, air force, government officials, government employees, government contractors, the courts, judges, custodians, Phi Beta Lambda Business Fraternity, travelers, skateboarders, punk rockers, me phi me, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Sigma Gamma Rho, Zeta Phi Beta, homeless professionals, drug users, Omega Psi Phi, Kappa Alpha Psi, Phi Beta Sigma, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, Phi Mu Alpha, Up2Us Coaches/Coaches Across America, AmeriCorps, City Year, any department in any state I resided in, United Parcel Service, DHL Express, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Apple, Nike, Amazon, insurance agent, appraisers, sales personnel, technologists, gamers, leasing agents, apartment owners, banks, brokerage firms, hotels, motels, airlines, restaurants, public transportation workers, car rentals, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, children, teens, adolescents, garbage workers, recruiters, headhunters, airport workers, all the violators of the Ten Commandments, sinners, pastors, deacons, choir members, ushers, meetup groups, church congregation, actors, gym and fitness gurus, bodybuilders, athletes from other sports, research professionals, and many more….even if do not specifically mention your area of expertise I am talking to you or something related to you.

Ever since the Journal Entry regarding my depression and how it came to fruition, I never have and do not plan to shut up for anybody since 2007-2008. I know all this information is coming fast, but I am just like you sharing in bits in pieces, but I am all at once to catch up.

Pine Street Inn provided me a locker for storage. It is about half the size of a middle school or high school locker. I only store daily stuff, such as my multivitamins (Vega All-in-One Protein Shake, Gatorade G-Fit, Lenny & Larry's Plant Based Cookies, Metamucil Fiber Gummies, Metamucil 4-in-1 Single Packs, One-A-Day Men's Multivitamin, Hydroxycut, Metamucil Cinnamon Fiber Wafers), everyday clothing, medications, and work clothing. I do laundry every two weeks. You can see them in my photo albums. Pine Street Inn provided more housing applications to Somerville Housing Authority, Pine Street Inn Housing, Woodburne Apartments, and The Bay State Banner real estate section had housing lotteries. I am still on the lottery list for a brand new affordable housing project. At Pine Street Inn, I had to get a tuberculosis test and reading done, which I was informed I was supposed to get every six (6) months.

With my former residence in Atlanta, Georgia and in between actual health or medical plans, I never signed up for public insurance. So with me very focused on rolling off United Healthcare impacting the ability for my bills to paid by MassHealth (BMC Community Health Plan now WellSense). I wanted to test At-Home Medical Tests for all the same services you see in my photo albums. I did the tests publicly so others can see me do it. The results were the same.

Racial profiling and customer profiling does happen in Boston, Massachusetts despite importing diversity to create diversity. So here it goes, Target (Beacon Hill), a white/Latino retail floor employee, did racial and customer profiling, and I informed them through their surveys. CVS Pharmacy (North Station), overabundance of female employees, did racial and customer profiling, and I informed them through their surveys, but it still happens at random. StarMarket (North Station), a white manager, did racial and customer profiling, but stopped surveys for a year now. Whole Food Market (Charles River Plaza) security did racial and customer profiling, and I informed them through their surveys and it stopped.

I got my Monkeypox/smallpox vaccine JYNNEOS from Boston Medical Center Sexual Health Clinic. I still have a residual mark from where the vaccine was placed. Hopefully, my Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides start helping my hair, skin, and nails along with my prenatal multivitamins.

I purchased TurboTax to prepare to file my taxes.

I attended BayState (Massachusetts) Summer Games. I ran the 100m, 200m, and long jump. I won the long jump. I may or may not plan to go California for the State Games of America. It is in my photo blog.

I had to seriously pray the Lord's Prayer, read a Bible verse, Joel Osteen's message of the day, and recited the 23rd Psalm before my criminal court hearing at New York City / New York State Criminal Courts. It is in my photo blog. I also attended my follow up court date in September 2022, and the case and charges were dismissed. I talked to my pro-bono The Legal Aid Society attorney via the phone, and he told me I can get a Certificate of Disposition if I needed it, but most likely not available for the next day. The way I booked my trip was through Megabus and Marriott. I booked to hear the decision and leave immediately. My case came up first and the judge told me the decision without the presence of my attorney. I did eat a good meal at Whole Foods Market (Hudson Yards) to treat myself. I missed the USATF Masters Outdoor Nationals Championship in Lexington, Kentucky. I signed up for eTrack, the free case tracking service provided by the New York State Unified Court System, to actually track my case, which I never found and could not add. Checkr, Inc. provided all the employers that I am employed by and uses Checkr's service to provide the post-adverse action notice due to New York's situation.

I joined new workforce apps called Adia and Instawork. Adia Solutions LLC, works with Adecco staffing, and I filled out the profile. My first gig was Wyndham Hotel & Resorts (Beacon Hill). I worked as a bellman and backoffice customer service. I made some friends, associates, and acquaintances. It was my first time seeing the tipping business in the hotel other than housekeeping. When I can tip, I normally tipped the housekeeping and restaurant workers. I never thought about the bellpeople. I worked as a custodian and engineer, but I had to tell the supervisor that I do not mind moving other people (Wyndham's) stuff once a month and I do not do this type of physical activity on the regular.

Boston Medical Center had to prepare me for my first colonoscopy. My BMC primary care physician prescribes Golytely as the medication and gave me the instructions. I discussed the instructions with McInnis Health Center (Boston HealthCare for the Homeless Program) doctors and nurse. A month before the procedure, McInnis Health Center provided interesting advice, but not efficient planning on how to go about the day. As the procedure came close, I was in discussion with BMC on how to prepare and I planned a week ahead for it scheduling a PT1 Medical ride. McInnis calls the Friday before the procedure on Tuesday, and ask, "Am I still coming to the McInnis House?" I politely while enraged had to tell them, "No, I made other plans."

I communicated quite a bit through the Massachusetts General Hospital, McInnis Health Center, and Boston Medical Center information system with practitioners more than any other hospital information system for care.

Transitioning from Arbour Counseling Session (Zoom Calls) to Boston Medical Center In-Person (through the Bridge Clinic - Psychiatry Department) (Previous Journal topics - I just was repeating them to new people verbally)

Boys Relationships Sex Travel Materialism Research before buying Attachment Give and Take Work on trauma Touching and Assaults Thinking and Feelings Begin Cognitive Behavior Therapy or Cognitive Processing Therapy (homework on myself)

Other Topics from Summer and Fall 2022:

I started participating in University of Phoenix Dissertation to Publication Workshop. I attended University of Phoenix Knowledge without Borders Summit. I attend the UOPX KWB in person in Chicago and Washington, DC/Virginia, but this time it is virtual.

I started working with Massachusetts Vocational Rehabilitation Center for SSA's Ticket to Work to be local and not have Illinois's virtual center involved.

I never paid attention to what was happening with my toes. After everything happens and distractions, time becomes available to actually pay attention to myself.

I worked with some new rental startup companies, such as SplitSpot and June Homes. They are two of I do not know how many that rent out the megahomes throughout Boston and other cities. SplitSpot does an application and roommate approval process for a room. SplitSpot was funny because you provide a profile and roommate communication data is shared so I had to talk to the roommates. For one place, all the rooms were vacant and the potential roommate was in another state (Florida), and disapproved me. For another place, two male roommates and a potential female roommate with a pet, disapproved me, but during phone conversation individually with all three tried to blame each other for stating their vote, 'No.' June Homes does an application and credit check before roommate approval process for a room. When June Homes denied me on credit, I had to clutch the pearls and reflect that I have to have good credit score of 650 and above to rent a room in the house plus pay deposit.

I went to Atlanta, Georgia for the first part of my vacation and stayed at the Marriott TownePlace Suites. I switched from the J.W. Marriott at the last minute to prevent any shenanigans like New York City. I met a few South Carolina State University college people (we were not in the same class to say classmate). I told all my Atlanta-based friends I was there, but I guess they wanted to do schizophrenia and not see me physically. It did not matter, but I had a great time seeing three hairstylists and/or barbers and meeting people from Atlanta LGBTQIA+ Pride weekend, and unexpectedly ran into Rho Kappa Lambda brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. at House in the Park. I flew Delta Airlines and used my points. I had a terrible experience at Subway restaurant at Atlanta Hartsfield airport, the supervisor replaced the sandwich, and the Delaware North assistant general manager did reach out to me. See my photo album.

I spent my second half of vacation in Charleston/North Charleston, South Carolina. I rented a car from Atlanta and drove to South Carolina. I played with the hands-free technology and cruise control on rural road with minimal to no traffic. I had to work at Dorchester County District Two (South Carolina Public Schools). I signed up for three days to get my feet wet and see how everything operates. See my photo album. It was very restful and relaxing. I went through a half box of magnums and eight regular condoms so it was good. Walmart was nearby so I was happy. UberEats worked very well on my order from Bonefish Grill, and it was hot and delightful. Finally, I found the CSC Works smartphone app, it worked well at the Extended Stay America hotel, and gave me a bonus for using the app. The CSCWorks vendor does Boston system of laundry centers, but you have to use a smartcard connected with one site.

I signed up for United States Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Authority's Pre-Check program. My Global Entry program known traveler number expired. I signed up for the new program.

I attended Snow Companies - Gilead - Advisory Board program on HIV prevention services and medicines.

I had to subscribe to AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss because my original two-year subscription expired. I did a month break between the original expiration and new subscription to see if anything was going to happen. I had to replace the front glass on my iPhone.

ZipCar kept sending me reminders about re-establishing membership.

I updated my National Board's Candidate Management System (NBCMS) profile, which is supported by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

I joined a new meetup Skip the Small Talk Online through the Hey Siri group. This is the first time I had audio issues over the Apple iPhone. I could hear everything, but they could not hear me. We troubleshooted for thirty (30) minutes.

I filled out DoorDash Shop and Deliver form. I was already doing it, but I guess they wanted to make it official. UberEats provided these types of orders when they know I am at the end of my day.

I updated my Hilton profile.

All of Us Research provided some data.

Allied Universal sends me Special Security Briefing I guess to keep in touch and get additional business.

Massachusetts General Brigham started sending more research surveys about new features.

I started Busuu Live Lessons.

I participated in USATF Potomac Valley Association and PVTC Zoom call and voting process. This was a first ever.

I sent in my United States Department of State Passport Application through the United States Postal Service.

I attended Oracle Cloud World. It was whole breadth of knowledge and experience on how one organization works around a winning product. I do not have the $5,000 annually for training and certification around it, but learning bits and pieces through webinar and technical papers works too.

I participated in new Crunch Fitness Malden class offerings. I participated in Crunch Fitness Summerville group fitness classes. I tried to enter North Charleston's Crunch Fitness, but that is when I was notified that my gym membership expired.

I am reading the newsletters, responses to my letter (all the different thoughts), and participating in polls by the United States Congress (Senators and Representatives).

Federal Express attorneys tried to answer the civil suit by stating nothing happened and deny everything. We are at the pre-trial conference stage. MCAD still pending. I was told to decide MCAD vs Superior Court, but I told them to settle. I am only looking for one settlement from Federal Express, but however I can proceed with Pre-Trial and private investigator to proceed with one trial for both courts.

Southampton Street Shelter's case is left with the State of Massachusetts, but just continuous notice of appearances by different attorneys. I am unsure what that is about.

I am getting prepared to 'sit and wait' because the government trained me well to let routine drive people crazy up the wall, plus speakerphone, and wait until the end of time for something to give way or give me my money for what your people did.

From my Nokia first cellphone to current Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy Smartphone Apps:

Remember black and grey screen snake game. I loved that game.

Remember black and grey screen Tetris game. Using the keypad and directional keys to get the blocks right.

I had the UberEats, Uber Driver, and Uber apps on my smartphone. I was using them, but until New York took Uber away. I threw the whole business in the trash, uninstalled, and did not bring to new phone. It is backed up in cloud storage.

I had the DoorDash driver, and DoorDash apps on my smartphone. I was using them, but until New York took DoorDash away. I threw the whole business in the trash, uninstalled, and did not bring to new phone. It is backed up in cloud storage.

I had the Grubhub driver, and Grubhub apps on my smartphone. I was using them, but until New York took Grubhub away. I threw the whole business in the trash, uninstalled, and did not bring to new phone.

Google Chrome has done a great job syncing data with is apps platform. I was impressed just as much as I use Firefox in syncing data and search abilities.

The Google sync with Android phone was impressive. No duplicate data anywhere…yep, throwing shade to Apple.

Security got much better with Android. AT&T Cloud, AT&T Call Protect, AT&T ActiveArmor, plus Samsung HIYA and Samsung Cloud service darn sure capture my data, photos, music, documents, everything to help me not miss one communication beat plus secure any data network for a minimum fee. No Google Cloud or Microsoft Cloud services yet.

Starbucks app exemplifies the service provided by its restaurants. It has not missed yet, even with a cup of iced water. I love the rewards, but I do not have Starbucks budget like that. Thanks for always remembering my birthday.

McDonald's app knew its customers and how to get them store with the $1 deals, but when inflation raised it to $2. I had to rethink my trips to all the Boston's McDonalds. I went for breakfast and lunch/dinner.

Grindr, Jack'd, GROWLr, Scruff, Recon, Bro, 3Fun, Mr X apps (outside of Massachusetts) are used for the purpose of sex and hookups, and its actual purpose. Inside Massachusetts, New York, or Northeast is for scamming, headaches, and from me-educational purposes to eliminate those gray matter opinions. Remember my scamming Journal Entry what folks tried to do to me.

Google Authenticator was better than Microsoft Authenticator for rolling over from various phones. I understand Microsoft's logic to authenticate each account, but it becomes a headache when more websites are rolling out multi-factor or two-way authentication. ID.me is very good for government multi-factor or two- way authentication. Adobe Access authentication is pretty good for the Adobe suite of products.

My banks, credit cards, and brokerage firms worked all my phones and iPad.

Zoom was and is pretty good with weblinks. It is used by most organizations. I played with the various backgrounds. It was slight hiccup when I tried to switch phones on my personal account, but I recovered figuring out it was multi-factor authentication had to be turned on. Google Duo/Google Meet was pretty good. Apple FaceTime was good. Video calling became a better experience.

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kny-tai · 7 years

Photo

Here’s another one of Victoria Court with the fancy (and stealthy) background.

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rightnowyoucanttell · 4 years

Note

2 & 12 from the sappy prompts!

SLIGHT SPOILERS FROM S3 but not really

Sure! You didn’t specify who, so imma write for billy since I haven’t done that before (and I have a soft spot for him ngl ✨🥺🥺) I’m sorry if this isn’t who you wanted, feel free to resubmit it and I’ll write it again

NOT MY GIF

#2 please don’t leave me

#12 I want you only you

Yes, I am aware this if from sappy prompts. But, idk I’m weird, I’m a weirdo. I hope this is ok, if not please let me know, I’m not even sure I like this one

⚠️: angst, cheating, ect. (This is before the flayed, ect. Pretty much in the space between season 2, the only difference is that the reader kind of catches him with mrs. wheeler and three)

Billy was acting different, way more than the usual. Billy moved to Hawkins about a year ago it was your anniversary. You waited at the mall food court four an hour, upon your request you were going to eat some shitty food court food and stop for ice cream. But he never showed. Billy, your Billy, never showed. He always showed it didn’t make sense. You got all dolled up though. The earrrings he bought you for your birthday months prior, a low cut red dress, with a jean jacket and heels. You even curled your hair because you knew he loved it most of all.

You sihed loudly, getting up from your seat, and began walking towards scoops, having decided to get some ice cream solo, you strolled to the counter and made gloomy eye contact with Steve, he too had the same drained expression on his face, “aho-“ you lifted a finger to silence him before he continued.

“Strawberry with sprinkles, and a vanilla to go..” you drifted off,”please. Steve.” He pursed his lips before turning around fixing the cone and dish. Scenarios played through your head. Who, where and why. Then a scene played in your head.

The pool had just opened a week ago, just folllowing the grand opening of the mall. Billy got a job for the summer as a life guard, you came by on your day off, you noticed the older women starring which wasn’t out of the normal. You noticed the flirtatious look between him and Mrs. Wheeler.. they were more than stares...oh. My. God.

You suddenly imagined, Mrs.wheeler with her hands in his hair, his hands on her, some cheap ass candle in the background burning to cover the smell of the sex and cigarettes. It all clicked, the ringing of the bell infront of you brought you back to earth, “you good Y/N?” You took a deep breath prepping to respond to Steve, you didn’t want to elaborate knowing Steve already hated billy.

“Uh, yeah. The vanilla is for Robin, keep the change,” you fingers dragged off the twenty you left on the counter, not caring. It was way more than you needed, you took the ice cream and left, head hung low. Leaving the vanilla, Billy’s vanilla, leaving it behind.

Like he left you behind.

You passed max, Lucas and mike on your way out. Your hand slipped sadly as you threw the untouched ice cream fell into a green trashcan, your hand dragged as you continued walking, ignoring the kids. There childlike voices echoing in and out as anger fogged your brain. You didn’t say anything. You didn’t want to accidentally tell mike his mother was sleeping with Max’s stepbrother. That would be crazy, it sounds crazy. You had a little hope however. Maybe he was innocently teaching her, maybe it’s all in your head, maybe you lost your mind. But, you couldn’t be too sure.

You knew where you were going but you walked zoned out, past the people, past the record store, past the benches, past the surplus of minivans in the parking lot, and then out onto the open road.

You arrived at the motel six, luckily not having an accident, the one with the big pool, you knew what he was doing. If he was doing it. Billy pulled the same thing with you a month prior, wanting to teach you a night Neil was home. Neil didn’t approve of you. For whatever reason he hated a deep hatred for billy being happy. And you were part of that equation, instant hatred. You slammed the door shut of your shitty car in the shitty parking lot of the shitty hotel, where your shitty cheating boyfriend was, and there it was. The blue camero.

It was cold, the lights were on inside, and you could see the relegation of the pool in the window, but not enough to see inside, it was dark the sun had finished setting on your way there. You gritted your teeth wanting to storm inside.

Evil thoughts clouded your brain, you couldn’t at first imagine why Neil hated his son, but you had a feeling or a sense of why now. He was selfish, rude, and inconsiderate. But, it was Neils fault he was that way in the end, You felt bad, maybe it was your fault, your fault he felt deprived of whatever Mrs. Wheeler was giving him.

Even though you knew it was wrong, your mother taught you better than that but you did it.

You wrote on the back of a receipt.

Billy,

I know what you did. I’m sorry, I don’t know what I did wrong. But, please don’t leave me. I want you only you. Please, let’s talk it out.

- Y/N

You left the note under his windshield wiper, you hoped it wasn’t going to rain so he’d get to see it without the ink being smudged. You drove home, leaving the scene of infidelity and the blue camero behind. You waited up for a call for an hour before drifting off to sleep, you woke the next morning to a tapping on your bedroom window. Did he get your desperate attempt in ridding him of responsibility?

A/N: I hate this, but imma press post anyways,

#billy hargrove #billy hargove x reader #billy hargrove angst #cheating #sappyprompts #stranger things #steve harrington

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animation-recaps-by-sean · 4 years

Text

Gravity Falls Beyond the Woods Chapter Three

Almost year long hiatus? What almost year long hiatus?

Dipper and Wendy’s daughter prepare for a big day when Wendy gets some news.

Rated T for blood and violence

<-prev next->

The bell rang and the students got and left their sixth grade class for the summer. Two students stood out due to their red hair and height. The two twins were only 12 but could easily pass for 16. Ty and Rose stood a foot above the rest of their peers. Rose was very excited for the summer. Summer meant adventure. Summer meant mystery!

She had grown up listening to stories about her Dad and Aunt Mabel fighting gnomes and solving the mystery of the journals. Now on her twelfth summer, maybe it was her turn. But before that she had other business.

“Mom coming in twenty minutes, I’ll be outside shooting hoops.” Tyrone was much more popular than Rose. While height had made her a bit of a paria among peers outside her friend group, it had made Ty very popular. Star basketball player, big hit with the other boys in school. He has had the gall to have dated several of them all while Rose had never even kissed a boy.

Rose made her way to her locker, where she was greeted by her friends, Grace and Megan. Grace was African-American while Megan was latina. Both were of average height with their classmates, which means they were far shorter than Rose.

“You’re ready for tomorrow?” Grace asked.

“Ah, about as ready as one can be.”

“Come on Rose, we know that you can do it,” Megan said encouragely. Did ya bring the sword?”

Rose blew a raspberry. “The school wouldn’t let me bring it. It’s so stupid. It’s not even sharp.” Tyrone may have the court, but Rose has fencing.

Across the country, a teacher was saying goodbye to her class. Mabel strolled down the classroom, passing rows of kindergarteners. “It’s been a wonderful year, children, I’ll miss you all so much.”

“We’ll miss you too Mrs. Pines-Northwest!” The kids got out of their chairs and rushed over to hug the crying teacher.

After class, Mabel cleaned her face in the bathroom. Damn, saying goodbye was the hardest part of being a teacher. After washing up, she walked out to her sports car, a gift from her wife. The vehicle's black color stood out against the bright background of California wine country. She drove out of the suburbs and into the farmland, music blaring. She passed barns filled with cows, horses, and ostriches.

She reached the vineyards passing rows and rows of grapes. A smile broke out on her face when she saw her house sitting on the hill. She drove up to the gate and punched in the code. Driving up the road, she spotted her loving wife working in the field.

Pacifica was looking at the grapes. The former heiress wore overalls, coated with dirt. She had long stopped bleaching her hair, leaving it her natural dirty blonde. The long locks she wore as a child had been cut down to a pixie cut. The same style she had since college. After parking the car, Mabel got out and greeted Pacifica with a kiss.

“How was the last day of school?”

“Tough. It always is.” Mabel sighed. “Why do the kids move on to a new teacher every year!”

“Now, now. You’ll be just as attached to next year’s class.” Pacifica gave her a hug. “The kids are inside. I’m going to take a bath.”

“Bubble?”

“Of course.”

“Love you.”

As Mabel entered the house, her phone lit up. It was her twin. “Dipper what’s up!” She placed her puse on the kitchen counter.

“Doing alright after saying goodbye?”

“Yeah, how do you deal?”

“Well, I got college students so…”

Mabel blew a raspberry. “You got no soul Mr Pines.” At this moment Stanley walked in, Mabel and Pacifica’s son was five with dirty blonde hair. This was his last summer before he starts Kindergarten. “So, how’s Rosie? Is she excited for the big day tomorrow?”

Stan tugged on Mabel’s dress. “Mommy, I want a cookie.”

Mabel placed her hand over the speaker and turned her attention to her young son. “Mommy’s on the phone, go ask your mother.”

The young boy shrugged. He wandered over to the bathroom. He reached up and opened the door. The boy’s second mother was relaxing in a tub filled with bubbles. “Mom, can I have a cookie?”

Without opening her eyes she said, “Go ask your mother sweetie.”

Young Stan turned around and walked back to the kitchen. “Mommy can I have a cookie?”

“Any plans for the summer… hold on. Go ask your mother honey.”

Stan once again made the track to the bathroom. “Mom I really want a cookie. Can I have one?”

“Go ask your mother.” The blonde replied again.

The boy made his way back to the kitchen and asked, “Mommy can I have a cookie.”

“I told you to ask your mother!” Mabel said a little louder than she intended. If it bothered Stan, he didn’t show it. He just walked back to the bathroom, earning the attention of Ashley whose head peaked out of her room. She was a seventeen year old african-american girl who was Mabel and Pacifica’s foster daughter. She had been living with the Pines-Northwests for a year and a half. She was reading a robotic magazine when Mabel shouting drew her out of her head.

Stan walked into the bathroom asking, “Mom can I have a-”

“GO ASK YOUR MOTHER!”

Rose was standing in front of the school, waiting for both her brother and her mother to come. She wished that her father was coming to pick her up as Mom tended to be a bit.. embarrassing at times. But Dad was a busy important man. She could understand that he couldn’t pick her up everytime. Her thoughts were interrupted by a shrill voice.

“Hey daddy long legs, ready to embarrass yourself tomorrow?”

Rose sighed through her nose. “Hey Margaret,” Rose hissed at the popular mean girl.

Margaret was flanked by her two lackeys. “How much do you wanna bet she trips over her front feet?”

One of the girls next to her laughed, “Yeah, how’s the weather up there.”

Margaret exploded at her friend. “That’s not what we’re talking about Stacy! God, can't you think up something clever? Just shut up Stacy! Just shut up!” The mean girl pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to calm herself down.

Rose could help but ask, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“I said I’m fine!”

The girls stood in front of the school unsure what to do now. The awkwardness hung in the air thick. A honk from a large fire truck pulled everyone out of their funk.

Wendy’s head popped out of the window. “Hey Rosie, Mom brought the fire truck.”

Margaret icily said, “Try not to rib off another locker door Mommy’s girl.” She stormed off, leaving her henchgirls to scramble after her.

Rose got in the fire truck, emotionally exhausted. Wendy picked up on something.

“Was that girl picking on you? Do you want me to punch her in her face?”

“Mom! You just can’t punch girls in their face. Can we just get home?”

“Where’s your brother?”

“Around the corner at the basketball court.”

As the Pines family settled in their apartment, Wendy heard her phone go ding. An email from her brother Marcus. They were having a Corduroy family reunion this summer, hosted by their father at Gravity Falls Organ. Great. She sent a reply confirming that she and her brood will attend. At least Rosie will be happy.

And her family wasn’t the only people still in Gravity Falls. She decided to call Tambry.

Tambry answered, “Wendy! How’s my favorite girl?”

“Seeing you soon actually. Can you talk?”

“Yeah, I’m not during anything. What’s up?”

“Dad’s hosting the next family reunion. So I’ll be in town in June.”

“Oof, hosting all those Corduroys sounds like an event.”

“Yeah, our family gathering can get pretty… pretty intense.”

“Too bad I’ll have to miss it. I’m traveling for work all June. In fact I’m in Chicago right now.”

“But didn’t you and Robbie like, just have a baby?”

“That was months ago.”

“Ah what do you do again.”

“I’m an associate statistician for cosmetic sales.”

“And what does that intel?”

“Oh it’s very technical. You properly wouldn’t understand.” Wendy rolled her eyes at that. “Well, I’ll tell Robbie that you and Dipper will be in town.”

Wendy heard gunshots over the phone. She pulled it away flinching. “Tambry are you okay?”

“Oh yeah. The asshole in the room next to mine is watching a movie and he has no idea how sound must work!” Wendy heard a few more gunshots and some sobbing. “I might as well be watching the damn thing myself.”

Tambry hung up the cell phone. Standing in her hotel room, she was wearing a simple suit and tie. What was really out of place was the pistol in her hand. A man knelt before her sobbing. His colleagues were corpses scattered throughout the room. Tambry wasn’t worried about being caught, the seedy motel they were in were far from prying eyes.

“Your country thanks you for your service.”

“Please,” the man croaked. “We did everything you asked…”

Tambry pulled the trigger, blowing his brain all over the room. She makes another call. “They’re dead. Send a clean up crew.”

#wendip #mabifica #gravity falls #gravity falls au #gravity falls fan fiction #wendip kids

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moonbeamdagger · 4 years

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the girl in the car

She was a reckless driver, but a good one. Though she saw speed limit signs more as suggestions than laws, and rarely used her turn signal, and thought brakes were better fit for stamping on than using gradually, and only filled her gas tank when she started hearing the shrill beep of the gas gauge, the car still swang into a new motel’s parking lot each evening without a scratch. She listened to girl in red as she drove, the bass line pounding so hard that every car she sped past (or, cut off, rather) on the highway could feel it, even as she raced away, the bell tied to her bumper ringing wildly in the wind. She had no name, though the driver’s license she kept in the wallet attached to her keys informed her it ought to have been “Desiree Luna.” Of course, it also told her that she had brown hair, while her bright pink ponytail said otherwise, so all of the card’s information should have been taken with a grain of salt. She never made reservations at the motels she stayed at. She never needed to. There was always a room free for her, no matter how busy the town was. She only ever stayed for one night, anyway, and was gone as quickly as she had arrived. She never checked in before midnight, and was always gone by six, a twenty-dollar bill left on the nightstand for housekeeping, though all they had to do was change the sheets and towels, which were already perfectly dry and perfectly made. She never made a mess, never touched the fridge, and most oddly, was never remembered by the staff, despite her bright hair and generous tips. She paid for her room in cash every time and refused to give a name, instead telling the front desk to leave her unlisted. By the time the staff realized that her money had disappeared and been replaced with gingerbread cookies, she was long gone and never coming back. They never ate the cookies. They were smart enough to realize that eating her food may have unintended consequences. One girl working as a clerk in Nevada swore up and down that a coworker had eaten one and immediately disappeared, but no one else remembered that the boy ever even existed, so it was brushed off by most as just an odd story. Of course, the girl knew better, but she simply twisted her iron bracelet with its Himalayan salt charm and smiled. She knew better. And in the distance, moving recklessly fast, a fairy with bright pink hair and no name was driving away, a new member of the court in her passenger seat.

#flash fiction #fairy #fairies #fae folk #faery folk #i attempt to write

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williammarksommer · 4 years

Photo

Bell Court Motel

Lost Highway

Battle Mountain, Nevada

Hasselblad 500c/m

Kodak Ektar 100iso

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blackkudos · 4 years

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Ralph Abernathy

Ralph David Abernathy Sr. (March 11, 1926 – April 17, 1990) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was ordained in the Baptist tradition in 1948. As a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, he was a close friend and mentor of Martin Luther King Jr. He collaborated with King to create the Montgomery Improvement Association which led to the Montgomery bus boycott. He also co-founded and was an executive board member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He became president of the SCLC following the assassination of King in 1968, where he led the Poor People's Campaign in Washington, D.C. among other marches and demonstrations for disenfranchised Americans. He also served as an advisory committee member of the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE).

In 1971, Abernathy addressed the United Nations about world peace. He also assisted in brokering a deal between the FBI and Indian protestors during the Wounded Knee incident of 1973. He retired from his position as president of the SCLC in 1977 and became president emeritus. That year he unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives for the 5th district of Georgia. He later founded the Foundation for Economic Enterprises Development, and he testified before the U.S. Congress in support of extending of the Voting Rights Act in 1982.

In 1989, Abernathy wrote And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, a controversial autobiography about his and King's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. He was ridiculed for statements in the book about King's alleged marital infidelities. Abernathy eventually became less active in politics and returned to his work as a minister. He died of heart disease on April 17, 1990. His tombstone is engraved with the words "I tried".

Early life, family, and education

Abernathy, 10th of William and Louivery Abernathy's 12 children, was born on March 11, 1926, on their family 500-acre (200 ha) farm in Linden, Alabama. Abernathy's father was the first African-American to vote in Marengo County, Alabama, and the first to serve on a grand jury there. Abernathy attended Linden Academy (a Baptist school founded by the First Mt. Pleasant District Association). At Linden Academy, Abernathy led his first demonstrations to improve the livelihoods of his fellow students.

During World War II, he enlisted in the United States Army, and rose to the rank of Platoon Sergeant before being discharged. Afterwards, he enrolled at Alabama State University using the benefits from the G.I. Bill, which he earned with his service. As a sophomore, he was elected president of the student council, and led a successful hunger strike to raise the quality of the food served on the campus. While still a college student, Abernathy announced his call to the ministry, which he had envisioned since he was a small boy growing up in a devout Baptist family. He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1948, and preached his first sermon on Mother's Day (in honor of his recently deceased mother). In 1950 he graduated with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. During that summer Abernathy hosted a radio show and became the first black man on radio in Montgomery, Alabama. In the fall, he then went on to further his education at Atlanta University, earning his Master of Arts degree in sociology with High Honors in 1951.

He began his professional career in 1951, when he was appointed as the dean of men at Alabama State University. Later that year, he became the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church, the largest black church in Montgomery, where he served for ten years.

He married Juanita Odessa Jones of Uniontown, Alabama, on August 31, 1952. Together they had five children: Ralph David Abernathy Jr., Juandalynn Ralpheda, Donzaleigh Avis, Ralph David Abernathy III, and Kwame Luthuli Abernathy. Their first child, Ralph Abernathy Jr., died suddenly on August 18, 1953, less than 2 days after his birth on August 16, while their other children lived on to adulthood.

In 1954, Abernathy met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who — at the time — was just becoming a pastor himself at a nearby church. Abernathy mentored King and the two men eventually became close friends.

Civil rights activism

Montgomery bus boycott

After the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, Abernathy (then a member of the Montgomery NAACP) collaborated with King to create the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), which organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Along with fellow English professor Jo Ann Robinson, they called for and distributed flyers asking the black citizens of Montgomery to stay off the buses. The boycott attracted national attention, and a federal court case that ended on December 17, 1956, when the U.S. Supreme Court, in Browder v. Gayle, upheld an earlier District Court decision that the bus segregation was unconstitutional. The 381-day transit boycott, challenging the "Jim Crow" segregation laws, had been successful. And on December 20, 1956, the boycott came to an end.

After the boycotts, Abernathy's home and church were bombed. His family were barely able to escape their home, but they were unharmed. Abernathy's church, Mt. Olive Church, Bell Street Church, and the home of Robert Graetz were also bombed on that evening, while King, Abernathy, and 58 other black leaders from the south were meeting at the Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration, in Atlanta.

Civil Rights Movement

On January 11, 1957, after a two-day long meeting, the Southern Leaders Conference on Transportation and Non-violent Integration, was founded. On February 14, 1957, the Conference convened again in New Orleans. During that meeting, they changed the group's name to the Southern Leadership Conference and appointed the following executive board: King, president; Charles Kenzie Steele, vice president; Abernathy, Financial Secretary-Treasurer; T. J. Jemison, secretary; I. M. Augustine, general counsel. On August 8, 1957, the Southern Leadership Conference held its first convention, in Montgomery, Alabama. At that time, they changed the Conference's name for the final time to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and decided upon starting up voter registration drives for black people across the south.

On May 20, 1961, the Freedom Riders stopped in Montgomery, Alabama while on their way from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans, Louisiana, to protest the still segregated buses across the south. Many of the Freedom Riders were beaten once they arrived at the Montgomery bus station, by a white mob, causing several of the riders to be hospitalized. The following night Abernathy and King set up an event in support of the Freedom Riders, where King would make an address, at Abernathy's church. More than 1,500 people came to the event that night. The church was soon surrounded by a mob of white segregationists who laid siege on the church. King, from inside the church, called the Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and pleaded for help from the federal government. There was a group of United States Marshals sent there to protect the event, but they were too few in number to protect the church from the angry mob, who had begun throwing rocks and bricks through the windows of the church. Reinforcements with riot experience, from the Marshals service, were sent in to help defend the perimeter. By the next morning, the Governor of Alabama, after being called by Kennedy, sent in the Alabama National Guard, and the mob was finally dispersed. After the success of the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Birmingham, and Huntsville in 1961, King insisted that Abernathy assume the Pastorate of the West Hunter Street Baptist Church in Atlanta, and Abernathy did so, moving his family from Montgomery, Alabama, in 1962.

The King/Abernathy partnership spearheaded successful nonviolent movements in Montgomery; Albany, Georgia; Birmingham; Mississippi; Washington D.C.; Selma, Alabama; St. Augustine; Chicago; and Memphis. King and Abernathy journeyed together, often sharing the same hotel rooms, and leisure times with their wives, children, family, and friends. And they were both jailed 17 times together, for their involvement in the movement.

During Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination

On April 3, 1968, at the Mason Temple, Abernathy introduced King before he made his last public address; King said at the beginning of his now famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech:

As I listened to Ralph Abernathy and his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about. It's always good to have your closest friend and associate to say something good about you, and Ralph Abernathy is the best friend that I have in the world.

The following day, April 4, 1968, Abernathy was with King in the room (Room 306) they shared at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. At 6:01 p.m. while Abernathy was inside the room getting cologne, King was shot while standing outside on the balcony. Once the shot was fired Abernathy ran out to the balcony and cradled King in his arms as he lay unconscious. Abernathy accompanied King to St. Joseph's Hospital within fifteen minutes of the shooting. The doctors performed an emergency surgery, but he never regained consciousness. King was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. at age 39.

Leadership of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Until King's assassination, Abernathy had served as Southern Christian Leadership Conference's first Financial Secretary/Treasurer and Vice President At-Large. After King's death, Abernathy assumed the presidency of the SCLC. One of his first roles was to take up the role of leading a march to support striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee which King and Abernathy had planned before King's assassination. In May 1968, Abernathy led the Poor People's Campaign in Washington, D.C.

Protest at NASA

On the eve of the Apollo 11 launch, July 15, 1969, Abernathy arrived at Cape Canaveral with several hundred members of the poor people campaign to protest spending of government space exploration, while many Americans remained poor. He was met by Thomas O. Paine, the administrator of NASA, whom he told that in the face of such suffering, space flight represented an inhuman priority and funds should be spent instead to "feed the hungry, clothe the naked, tend the sick, and house the homeless". Paine told Abernathy that the advances in space exploration were "child's play" compared to the "tremendously difficult human problems" of society Abernathy was discussing. Later in 1969, Abernathy also took part in a labor struggle in Charleston, South Carolina, on behalf of the hospital workers of the local union 1199B, which led to a living wage increase and improved working conditions for thousands of hospital workers.

Wounded Knee

In 1973, Abernathy helped negotiate a peace settlement at the Wounded Knee uprising between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the leaders of the American Indian Movement, Russell Means and Dennis Banks.

Abernathy remained president of the SCLC for nine years following King's death in 1968. After King's death the organization lost the popularity it had under his leadership. By the time Abernathy left the organization the SCLC had become indebted, and critics stated that it wasn't as imaginative as the SCLC led by Dr. King. In 1977 Abernathy resigned from his leadership role at the SCLC, and was bestowed the title president emeritus.

Political career and later activism

Abernathy addressed the United Nations in 1971 on World Peace. He was also a member of the board of directors of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. In 1977, he ran unsuccessfully for Georgia's 5th Congressional District seat, losing to Congressman Wyche Fowler. He founded the nonprofit organization Foundation for Economic Enterprises Development (FEED), which offered managerial and technical training, creating jobs, income, business and trade opportunities for underemployed and unemployed workers for underprivileged blacks.

In 1979, Abernathy endorsed Senator Edward M. Kennedy's candidacy for the Presidency of the United States. However, he shocked critics a few weeks before the 1980 November election, when he endorsed the front-runner, Ronald Reagan, over the struggling presidential campaign of Jimmy Carter. Abernathy stated of his endorsement: "The Republican Party has too long ignored us and the Democratic Party has taken us for granted and so since all of my colleagues and the latter in various places across the country were supporting the Democratic Party, I felt that I should support Ronald Reagan." After the disappointing performance of the Reagan Administration on civil rights and other areas, Abernathy withdrew his endorsement of Reagan in 1984.

In 1982, Abernathy testified—along with his executive associate, James Peterson of Berkeley, California—before the Congressional Hearings calling for the Extension of the Voting Rights Act.

Documents declassified in 2017 show that Abernathy was on the National Security Agency watchlist because of FBI leadership's hatred of the civil rights movement.

And the Walls Came Tumbling Down

In late 1989, Harper Collins published Abernathy's autobiography, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down. It was his final published accounting of his close partnership with King and their work in the Civil Rights Movement. In it he revealed King's marital infidelity, stating that King had sexual relations with two women on the night of April 3, 1968 (after his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech earlier that day). The book's revelations became the source of much controversy, as did Abernathy. Jesse Jackson and other civil rights activists made a statement in October 1989—after the book's release—that the book was "slander" and that "brain surgery" must have altered Abernathy's perception.

Unification Church

In the 1980s, the Unification Church hired Abernathy as a spokesperson to protest the news media's use of the term "Moonies", which they compared with the word "nigger". Abernathy also served as vice president of the Unification Church-affiliated group American Freedom Coalition, and served on two Unification Church boards of directors.

Death

Abernathy died at Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital on the morning of April 17, 1990, from two blood clots that traveled to his heart and lungs, five weeks after his 64th birthday. After his death, George H. W. Bush, then-President of the United States issued the following statement:

Barbara and I join with all Americans to mourn the passing of the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, a great leader in the struggle for civil rights for all Americans and a tireless campaigner for justice.

He is entombed in the Lincoln Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. At Abernathy's behest, his tomb has the simple inscription: "I TRIED."

Tributes and portrayals

During his lifetime, Abernathy was honored with more than 300 awards and citations, including five honorary doctorate degrees. He received a Doctor of Divinity from Morehouse College, a Doctor of Divinity from Kalamazoo College in Michigan, a Doctor of Laws from Allen University of South Carolina, a Doctor of Laws from Long Island University in New York, and a Doctor of Laws at Alabama State University.

Ralph D. Abernathy Hall at Alabama State Hall is dedicated to him, with a bust of his head in the foyer area.

Interstate 20 Ralph David Abernathy Freeway, Abernathy Road, and Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard of Atlanta were named in his honor.

Abernathy is played by Ernie Lee Banks in the 1978 miniseries King, by Colman Domingo in the 2014 film Selma, a film about the Selma to Montgomery marches, Martin Luther King Jr., and SCLC, and by Dohn Norwood in the 2016 film All the Way.

Works

Abernathy, Ralph; And the Walls Came Tumbling Down (1989), ISBN 9781569762790

Abernathy, Ralph; The Natural History of A Social Movement: The Montgomery Improvement Association (thesis)

#03/11 #04/17

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tomeandflickcorner · 4 years

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Umbrella Academy Rewatch 1x06

1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05

Well, it’s time to buckle your seatbelts, as we’re over halfway through. And there’s now only three days left to stop the apocalypse.

This episode starts off with the explanation of what went on during Klaus’ accidental trip to 1968. When he unwittingly used the time traveling briefcase at the end of episode 4, he was whisked back to Vietnam, right in the middle of the Vietnam War. Specifically an army encampment’s sleeping quarters located in A Shau Valley. Seconds after his arrival, he gets thrown right into things, being dragged along with a squadron getting shipped off to the front lines. One of the soldiers, a young man named Dave, takes notice of Klaus’ dumbfoundedness and reaches out to him, assuring him that he’ll adjust to how crazy things are. We then get a montage of Klaus and Dave getting closer, culminating in them forming a romantic relationship. (Which was a risky endeavor in itself. Unless I’m mistaken, back in the 1960s, Klaus and Dave would have faced being discharged or even court-marshaled if their relationship was found out.)

Back in the present day, Klaus is seen discarding his pills in the toilet, indicating that he’s going to try to stay sober. It’s possible he’s taken what Diego said last episode to heart and figured that, if he stops using drugs to stay high, he might be able to see Dave’s ghost. But as Klaus tries to settle in for his withdrawal to start, Luther pokes his head into the bathroom, just about ordering him to come downstairs for an emergency family meeting. When Klaus complies, joining Allison, Luther and Diego downstairs, they start discussing the approaching apocalypse, which is scheduled to occur in three days, and how Hazel and Cha-Cha had been after Number 5 because he was trying to prevent it. Luther also admits that, according to Number 5, they all died in their attempt to stop the apocalypse the first time around.

At Hazel and Cha-Cha’s motel room, they receive word that the termination against Number 5 has been lifted, meaning he’s cleared things up with The Commission. Cha-Cha is not pleased that Number 5 seemingly got off so easily. She starts venting that they need to do better on their next job, so The Commission will still see them as valuable. This leads to an argument between her and Hazel, as Hazel is getting tired of the constant flow of assignment after assignment. The argument ends with Hazel walking out, stating he’s heading for the vending machines. After he leaves, Cha-Cha receives another message from The Commission. Upon reading it, she sees she’s been ordered to terminate Hazel.

Meanwhile, Number 5 and The Handler have arrived back at The Commission's headquarters. Number 5 is eager to discuss the details about how his siblings will be kept safe, and how he can get restored to his actual age, but The Handler insists he be patient. Instead, she shows him to his new office. In the process, we get to see a bit more of how The Commission operates. Basically, each major event in history is assigned to a case manager. Field agents on the ground are tasked with making sure the event will happen as it should. Whenever an individual seems to be making a decision that could prevent that event from happening as it should, the field agent sends a report to the case manager, who decides what must be done to remove the problem individual from the equations, with orders being sent to temporal assassins like Hazel and Cha-Cha. Number 5 asks which case manager was assigned to the apocalypse, so The Handler introduces him to Dot. As his first task as a case manager for The Commission, Number 5 is assigned to the Hindenburg Disaster.

Back at the Umbrella Academy mansion, Vanya stops by with Leonard, with the intention of inviting her siblings to her first concert as first chair. However, Vanya is not too happy when she finds Luther, Diego, Allison and Klaus discussing the apocalypse, angry that they’re having a family meeting without her. Allison assures her that she’ll fill her in later, but to no avail, as Vanya is convinced that her siblings are jerks for always leaving her out, and she storms off. Leonard follows after her, but then states he forgot his jacket and goes back for it. But it turns out this was just a ploy for him to steal a figurine of Reginald Hargreeves from a display case containing action figures of the Umbrella Academy Siblings.

Back with the other Haegreeves Siblings, Allison tries to go after Vanya to either explain or apologize. But Luther stops her, saying there’s no time for that as they need to determine what exactly will cause the apocalypse. He theorizes it might have something to do with the moon, since Reginald must have sent him up there for a reason, so he intends to try and find out where Reginald stored all the research he’d been sent from Luther’s mission on the moon. Diego and Klaus, however, are not on board. Klaus points out that they apparently failed at stopping the apocalypse the first time, so why would they have any more luck this time? What’s the point of even trying? And Diego insists on going after Hazel and Cha-Cha, announcing that if he’s going to die anyway in three days time, he wants to make sure that Detective Patch is avenged before then. Allison also elects to not even try, since they have no hope if they don’t have the full force of the the Umbrella Academy Siblings on board. So, if there’s no hope left, she just wants to take advantage of the time she has left to be with her daughter, Claire, regardless of whatever custody restrictions there are.

Elsewhere, Vanya and Leonard are heading down the street, with Vanya venting angrily about her frustrations towards her siblings. After a few moments of this, Leonard interrupts her rant to direct her attention to the section of street they’ve just walked down. All the streetlamps they passed have been bent, and the parked cars’ alarms are going off. Leonard suggests that Vanya might have been responsible for the damage, but Vanya insists that’s impossible. After all, she’s just the ordinary one. She doesn’t have any special powers.

We then briefly cut back to the Umbrella Academy mansion, with Diego getting ready to head out after Hazel and Cha-Cha. He asks Klaus to help him with his bootlaces, as Diego’s arm is still up in a sling, having been injured in the last episode. Klaus agrees, as long as Diego agrees to tie him up afterwards, as Klaus is trying to sober up and wants to make sure he keeps up his resolve when the withdrawals hit.

Back with Number 5, he’s hard at work at The Commission. But it turns out he’s got ulterior motives, as he attempts to send a message through the pneumatic chutes. But The Handler stops him, announcing that’s not part of the procedure. Only Gloria is permitted to operate the pneumatic chutes. The Handler then looks at the scroll Number 5 was trying to send out, which ordered a hit on a man named Karl Weber, the owner of a butcher shop. Through a long, complected explanation, Number 5 explains that, with Karl’s death, the butcher shop will be passed on to his son, Otto. And since Otto doesn’t follow proper hand-washing procedures, the Hindenburg's captain, upon ordering his usual roast from the butcher shop in question, will develop food poisoning. Which will make him late for work and, in an effort to make up for lost time, he’d sail the Hindenburg right into a weather front, ensuring its inevitable explosion.

Of course, this is all just a clever ploy on Number 5′s part, as he manages to steal Dot’s case file on the apocalypse when the lunch bell rings. He tries to duck into the bathroom to read it in secret, but he’s once again interrupted by The Handler, who also steps into the bathroom. (Guessing its a unisex bathroom?). She goes on a long spiel about how one faulty cog can disrupt the whole system. And then, for some reason, she looks in at Number 5 over the door of his bathroom stall, inviting him to join her for lunch in her office. (Sheesh, lady! Ever hear of a thing called privacy?)

Hazel and Cha-Cha drive out into the middle of the woods. It seems that Cha-Cha told Hazel that The Commission sent word that their briefcase had been located out there. Of course, we can surmise this was all a ploy, as Cha-Cha plans on executing Hazel out here, so she can dispose of his body in the woods without breaking a sweat. After they’ve entered the woods, Hazel, seemingly oblivious to Cha-Cha’s secret orders to kill him, asks her if it would really be so bad if they didn’t find the briefcase. He suggests they should just try and settle down where they are and try and forge a new life for themselves. Cha-Cha reminds him that the world will essentially end in three days, but Hazel is not phased, suggesting they try and stop it. However, Cha-Cha is not swayed, stating they can only do what The Commission tells them to do, as there’s no way around it. She then raises her gun to shoot, with the screen fading to black. But then it’s revealed that Cha-Cha didn’t go through with it, simply driving them both back to their motel room, with Hazel offering to go get them some dinner from a Chinese restaurant.

Elsewhere, Luther is ransacking Reginald's old office, looking for the reports and samples he’d sent down from the moon. As he’s searching, Pogo enters the room, enabling Luther to question him about their whereabouts. Pogo initially seems reluctant, but upon Luther’s urging, he directs Luther to a hidden compartment beneath the floorboards. When Luther opens up the trapdoor, he finds, to his dismay, that Reginald had never even opened any of the reports he’d received. This leads to Luther having an emotional breakdown, believing that Reginald sent him up to the moon just to get him out of the way, and had believed he hadn’t been good enough to be Number 1 after all. Pogo tries to comfort him and offer him reassurance, but Luther turns him away, stating he just wants to be left alone.

On the other side of the mansion, Allison is packing her bags, getting ready to leave. As she packs, she comes across a locket that’s been engraved with the inscription ‘A+L.’ This leads to a flashback, where Young Luther and Young Allison had a secret late-night picnic in a secluded room in the mansion, where Luther had given her the locket as a present. They then begin to dance to a record player, only to be interrupted by Reginald, who forbids them from ever coming up there again.

While all this is going on, Diego is tying Klaus up, as he requested. Klaus admits that he’s trying to get sober enough to see the dead again, so he can see Dave. This leads to another bonding moment between the brothers, as Diego can relate to Klaus’ loss, having both lost Detective Patch and their mother, Grace. (Because Diego isn’t aware Pogo reactivated her yet.) But then, in a humorous moment, the moment Diego finishes tying up Klaus, he realizes that he needs to pee.

Back at Leonard’s place, he and Vanya discuss the possibility that Vanya had powers of her own that have been lying dormant all this time. Vanya is highly skeptical of the notion, stating that she would have been an active member of the Umbrella Academy if she had been special.

At The Commission, The Handler informs Number 5 that they’re already hard at work at constructing a new body for him. She then shows him her collection of items she’s secretly collected from various eras, such as a grenade from the Vietnam War and the very pistol Hitler used to kill himself. Number 5 takes a moment to admire the weapons before suggesting a change of protocol for The Commission, asking if it would be easier if case managers got to send their own messages instead of leaving it to Gloria. The Handler replies that Gloria had been with The Commission for years and is on the verge of making pension, so it would be a horrible thing to let her go. Besides, Gloria is well liked and people would not respond well to her dismissal Before more could be said, they are interrupted by Dot, who wants to discuss something with The Handler in private.

Allison checks up on Luther, stating she couldn’t get a flight to L.A. until later and plans on waiting at the airport for the next available seat, but couldn’t leave without saying goodbye. Luther informs her of his discovery of how Reginald never bothered to look at any of his moon research, indicating that their father didn’t care about what he was doing up on the moon. Luther now feels that he doesn’t have what it takes to stop the apocalypse, as it’s clear he doesn’t deserve to be the leader of the Umbrella Academy Siblings. To try and cheer him up, Allison brings Luther up to the room where they’d tried to have their late-night picnic, with them finding their makeshift tent is still standing. They then try to drink the sodas they never got to drink, which have naturally gone bad. However, Luther notices Allison is now wearing the locket he’d given her. They decide to spend a little more time together before Allison leaves for her flight.

Back at the motel, Cha-Cha is burning the order she’d received to kill Hazel, having decided to not go through with it. She then heads over to Griddy’s Donuts, where she catches Hazel visiting Agnes. It’s clear this discovery doesn’t sit well with her.

Klaus, meanwhile, has finished his bathroom break. But when Diego is preparing to tie him up again, Klaus begins to have second thoughts, saying he’d like one last hit before getting tied up. But Diego is not having it, forcing Klaus into the chair and proceeding to tie up the struggling Klaus. In desperation, Klaus offers to help conjure up Detective Patch for him, but Diego insists he doesn’t want to see her until he can tell her he took out the people who killed her. Before departing, Diego gives Klaus a bucket, saying that if he needs to pee again, he can just use that. When Klaus is left alone, he has a flashback to his final moments in the Vietnam War. During a fierce battle, Dave was hit by enemy gunfire and mortally wounded. In desperation, Klaus called out for a medic, but no help arrived, and Dave died in his arms.

Before Diego steps out, he is shocked to see Grace walking around. Only she doesn’t seem to remember anything that happened throughout the week, although, she also notices Pogo lurking in the background, so it’s possible she was only pretending to throw him off the scent. Grace then states it seems like a perfect day to go to the park. Diego reminds her that Reginald never let her off the grounds, but Grace retorts that Reginald isn’t around anymore. So Diego agrees to take her to the park. When they reach the park, Diego states that Reginald was wrong to keep her cooped up in the mansion. Grace then admits that Pogo and her have been lying to them all about something.

As for Luther and Allison, they are still spending their time together, until Allison decides it’s time she left to catch her plane. But as she starts to walk off, Luther runs after her, asking her to dance with him. They then begin to dance, with the scene giving them an imaginary dress change. As their dance ends, they end up kissing and confessing their true feelings for one another (icky, icky, ewwy WEIRD!!!!). Allison then suggests they fly out to L.A. to see Claire together.

Klaus, in turn, starts coming out of his drug withdrawal, achieving sobriety at last. As such, he is able to see Dave’s smiling ghost standing over him, a sight that visibly elates him.

Leonard and Vanya are about to head off to bed together. But when Leonard steps out of the room to takes some clothes down to the laundry room, Vanya leans over to pick up a stray sock up off the floor. In the process, she finds Reginald’s journal under Leonard’s bed. When she starts to read it, she discovers that Reginald actually knew she had an unfathomably powerful ability, but had decided that it must be kept a secret, and had started giving her her medication in order to keep her sedated and her powers under lock and key.

As the episode comes to a close, Number 5 overhears Dot telling Gloria that The Handler knows he’s up to something, and that she has to get a message to Hazel and Cha-Cha immediately. Before Gloria can reach the pneumatic chutes, however, Number 5 jumps her,knocking her out and stealing the message she was about to send off, which turn out to be instructions to protect a man called Harold Jenkins. Taking this information as a new lead in his ultimate mission to stop the apocalypse, Number 5 beings to execute an escape attempt. First, we get the revelation that Number 5 was the one who sent Cha-Cha the order to kill Hazel, which she appears to have gone through with after seeing him with Agnes, as she sneaks up on him in the shower and fires off a few bullets through the shower curtain. But it’s then revealed that Number 5 also sent a separate order to Hazel, which he’d received when he visited the motel vending machine. Hazel’s order was to kill Cha-Cha. But Hazel was planning to ignore it, until he saw Cha-Cha’s attempt to kill him. He wasn’t actually in the shower, but had set things up to look that way to trick Cha-Cha. When he catches her trying to kill him, Hazel comes up behind her and knocks her out.

After Number 5 sent out those orders, The Handler confronts him, and a gun battle begins between them, with Number 5 managing to dodge out of the way of her bullets with his teleport ability. Before long, The Handler runs out of bullets. Taking advantage of this, Number 5 takes her out with one of her own grenades. He then steals a briefcase from the storage room, destroying the others in the proceeds. Number 5 uses the stolen briefcase to travel back in time to the start of the episode, arriving at the Umbrella Academy mansion right after Vanya stormed out in annoyance over being excluded from the family meeting. He announces to Luther, Allison, Diego and Klaus that they have a new lead. To prevent the apocalypse, they have to find and stop Harold Jenkins.

Final Observations/Questions:

Who is Harold Jenkins?

So everything that happened in this episode, with Klaus becoming sober enough to see Dave again, Diego being reunited with Grace and helping her be able to set foot outside the mansion for the first time and Luther and Allison being able to get together, not to mention Vanya finding her father’s journal that revealed she actually had powers this whole time, never happened because Number 5 essentially hit the reset button on the entire day. Well, that stinks. (Though I’m not exactly comfortable with Luther and Allison being romantically entwined, seeing as they’re adopted siblings. That’s still a bit too incestuous for my taste.)

I guess the secret Pogo wanted Grace to maintain is out- Vanya also has powers of her own. Although, that leaves the question as to why Reginald didn’t want anyone to know about it.

While I don’t entirely fault Vanya for being angry about not being included in the family meeting, a part of me still feels she was a bit unreasonable. Wasn’t she staying at Leonard’s place? Do her siblings even have his number? Besides, Allison did say she’d fill her in, and it seemed like her implication was that she’d fill her in once Leonard wasn’t around. Especially considering Allison has already made it clear she doesn’t trust him. (A mistrust that clearly is warranted, given he clearly murdered Helen and also stole that figurine for unknown reasons.) In any event, Allison does seem to be trying to be there for Vanya, but every time she tries to be a sister, Vanya practically bites her head off. Talk about a vicious cycle.

What’s Hazel and Cha-Cha going to do, now that the trust between them is broken?

#umbrella acedmy #umbrella academy 1x06

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ts2-uglacy · 5 years

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Semaine 22 (Partie 1) : Rencontres en centre-ville.

Avant de commencer, quelques nouvelles de Betty et Boris :

Betty a elle aussi terminé son parcours universitaire et a choisi Vincent pour sa photo souvenir ! Elle s’est enfin décidé sur lui quand il a fallu choisir un seul homme pour partager sa vie, et les tourtereaux ont emménagé dans une toute petite maison qui leur permettra de confortablement commencer leur vie d’adulte.

Le parcours universitaire de Boris s’est également bien terminé, et le voilà en photo avec sa toute nouvelle amoureuse, Hélène. Les amoureux ont emménagé dans une maison moyenne, et rêvent tous les deux d’élever des animaux, alors je ne sais pas s’ils auront un jour le temps d’avoir des enfants sans poils.

J’espère qu’on les recroisera de temps en temps, parce-que je me suis quand même un peu attachée à eux, mais ils deviennent désormais des personnages secondaires dans cet Uglacy, et nous nous tournons donc maintenant vers leur sœur Becky, qui vient d’emménager dans la maison familiale avec un premier objectif en tête : changer le look qu’on lui a attribué par défaut !

La voilà donc en train de payer ses nouveaux vêtements...

De nouveau un look un peu rock, tout en rouge et noir, pour notre monstresse adorée !

Au lieu de rentrer à la maison, qui héberge une belle-mère que Becky n’affectionne pas tellement, elle décide de se rendre au centre ville, au Love Motel Gay et Lesbien !

Pour la petite explication, les Love Motels sont deux bâtiments identiques que j’ai créés moi-même. La seule différence entre les deux, c’est que l’un est réservé aux hétéros, et l’autre aux non-hétéro (les bisexuels, eux, peuvent aller sur les deux terrains), ceci grâce au Visitor Controller, un mod qui me permet de décider quel type de personne viendra visiter un terrain.

Dans ces Love Motels, seuls les Sims qui aspirent à la romance ou au plaisir se rendent. Ils sont paramétrés pour qu’aucune jalousie n’y existe, puisque chaque Sims qui y va s’engage à accepter tout ce qui s’y passe sans faire d’esclandre.

Au Rez-de-Chaussée se trouvent un restaurant et un bar avec piste de danse, pour draguer et remplir son estomac.

Les étages sont des chambres au look très spécial, avec des lits en forme de cœur, des papiers peints chargés et des salles de bain attenantes. D’ailleurs, même les fenêtres et les portes sont en forme de cœur ici ! Chacun peut utiliser les chambres à son bon loisir, et concrétiser sa drague dans un espace dédié.

Bref, le lieu idéal pour une Becky !

À peine arrivée, Becky cherche une proie... Il y a deux adolescentes mais il y a aussi Tifanie, cette brunette au chemisier rose et au bob hawaïen. Inutile, donc, puisque ces deux-là ont déjà concrétisé tout ce qu’elles pouvaient concrétiser.

Cherchons donc une autre cible...

“Salut poupée, je suis Becky !”

“Tu sais, je sors tout juste de l’université...”

“... et j’étais entourée de meufs mais gaulées d’une façon que tu n’imagines même pas !”

“OOOOOH ! Le paradis, quoi !”

Et Becky accepte, évidemment ! Mais pour le moment, on se fiche de cette Kristen. Celle qu’on veut, c’est Mélanie.

Une Mélanie qui craque complètement pour la drôle d’approche de Becky.

Très rapidement, un entichement vient.

On a donc 18 amours et 29 entichements.

Mais la drague est très vite interrompue par une envie pressante ! On court donc aux toilettes et quand on revient...

... Mélanie se trouve à table avec Tifanie ! Ce qui signifie que tant qu’elles n’auront pas fini de manger, aucune interaction n’est possible. Zut...

Becky s’installe donc elle aussi à table puisque son estomac crie famine.

En attendant, embrasser sa nouvelle cible lui trotte dans la tête. On ne va donc rien abandonner et retourner à la charge dès que possible !

“Hey ! Écoute, désolée d’être partie si vite tout à l’heure...”

“Je t’ai dans la peau et j’aimerais bien un Rendez-Vous en bonne et due forme, si tu le permets !”

Mélanie accepte et le Rendez-Vous peut commencer !

Les filles dansent d’abord sagement...

... puis commencent à se rapprocher.

Avis à la population ! Quand quelqu’un commence à prendre ce genre de posture quand vous lui parlez, c’est que vous lui plaisez !

On a rapidement 19 amours et 29 entichements !

Les filles finissent par s’embrasser langoureusement sur la piste de danse, ce qui vaut à Becky de réaliser son désir d’embrasser langoureusement 20 Simettes ! YES !

Les voilà donc prêtes à passer aux choses sérieuses.

Et après ce crac-crac dans une des chambres du Love Motel, le Rendez-Vous prend fin. J’espère juste pour cette Mélanie qu’elle n’attendra pas ce coup de fil trop longtemps. Si elle savait...

Becky a passé toute la journée au Love Motel et pendant ce temps-là, le jour se lève pour la famille Bucket. Et la meilleure façon de savoir que son couple est solide, c’est de regarder l’autre faire caca tout en l’aimant encore.

On constate de Florinda a bien peu de compétences... Si elle veut devenir magnat des médias, il va lui en falloir certaines ! Je ne sais pas lesquelles et je n’ai pas envie d’aller voir sur internet, autant le découvrir par soi-même ! Mais j’imagine - peut-être à tort - qu’on devrait miser sur le charisme, la logique et la créativité.

On va donc se concentrer là dessus aussi longtemps qu’elle n’aura pas trouvé de boulot dans sa branche !

Le couple prend donc son petit déjeuner, préparé par Junior.

Et la seconde meilleure façon de savoir que son couple est solide, c’est de pouvoir roter à table sans se le faire reprocher.

D’ailleurs, Bucky a même l’air de trouver ça charmant !

Bucky, lui, maîtrise les sept compétences. Il va donc passer le temps libre de sa retraite à aider sa bien-aimée à travailler les siennes !

Le couple passera donc sa journée de façon ennuyeuse, à travailler la logique de Florinda sur l’échiquier.

Junior, quant à lui, porte toujours ta tenue habillée du mariage. Je trouve que ça lui donne un parfait air de majordome alors on la lui laisse !

“Oh, Bucky, je suis si contente que Becky ait terminé l’université avec une telle mention !”

“Ça prouve que tu l’as bien éduquée, bravo !”

Genre ça l’intéresse.

“Merci ma petite meringue... oh que j’aime toucher tes poils...”

“Seulement mes poils ?”

Florinda est avenante et bien évidemment, sur ces bonnes paroles...

... le couple termine sa soirée au lit !

C’est à ce moment que Becky revient du Love Motel, et traîne devant la maison sans pouvoir se résoudre à y entrer. Elle ne voudrait pas croiser Florinda !

Ce qu’il faut savoir sur les Rendez-Vous amoureux, c’est que plus ils se passent bien, plus ils remontent les jauges de besoins des Sims impliqués ! Et là, à part une légère faim et une légère transpiration, Becky est en pleine forme ! Elle n’a donc aucune raison de retourner chez elle... et le Love Motel dispose d’un restaurant et de salles de bain. Elle va donc y retourner !

Et cette fois-ci, je vais modifier les options du Visitor Controller afin de bannir les ados. Au début, je me disais qu’ils avaient aussi le droit à un tel endroit, notamment quand je pensais à la Becky ado. Mais finalement, je trouve ça glauque que les ados et les adultes se trouvent à faire des cochonneries au même endroit. Les Love Motels seront donc désormais exclusivement réservés aux adultes ! Ce qui, au passage, fera davantage de proies potentielles pour Becky...

À peine arrivée au Love Motel, Becky suit une jeune femme jusque dans une chambre...

“Wooohoo ! Quel canon !”

Apparemment, Becky lui fait de l’effet et elle ne lui reproche donc rien.

“Je t’ai vue dans la rue, et quand j’ai constaté que tu venais ici, je me suis sentie obligée de te suivre, je voulais tant te parler...”

“Mais Becky, on est déjà amies !”

Ah, oui. Le panneau des relations indique que les deux jeunes filles se connaissent déjà. Et pourtant je ne sais pas du tout qui c’est, avec toutes les conquêtes que Becky a eues !

Soit. L’amitié évolue donc très très vite.

On a donc 19 amours et 30 entichements ! Donc à moins que mes calculs soient erronés, c’est bien de l’amour qu’il faut pour le désir de Becky. Ça va être très difficile !

Vient l’amour, du côté de cette jeune blonde, mais pas du côté de Becky.

À vrai dire, je crois que je vais recompter les cœurs sur le panneau des relations quand Becky rentrera à la maison, parce-que je crois que je me suis un peu perdue en chemin.

Pendant ce temps, dans la chambre d’à côté :

Retournons à Becky.

C’est ce que j’appelle des préliminaires !

Mais à peine laisse-je Becky prendre seule des décisions le temps de me rouler une cigarette (faites pas ça chez vous, fumer c’est mal et commencer est l’un des plus grands regrets de ma vie) qu’elle abandonne la jeune blonde pour retrouver Tifanie dans un lit !

“On vient de coucher ensemble mais j’ai envie de te proposer un rancard avec quelqu’un que je connais”

Évidemment qu’on accepte !

Et voici donc l’amiE en question qui se téléporte immédiatement dans la chambre ! Une femme mûre, ça sera bien une première pour Becky.

“Toi, moi, un Rendez-Vous ?”

C’est donc parti pour un rencard ! J’adore les rencards !

Becky commence son blabla comme d’habitude et déjà...

Si vite !

Et pour cause ! Je constate que les deux femmes se connaissaient déjà et étaient déjà amies ! Il s’agit d’une professeure de l’Université ! Ah mais j’adore !

Tout va donc très vite et...

Et la professeure est vierge ! Elle veut que sa première fois soit avec Becky, et vu l’expérience qu’elle a accumulée, je comprends ce choix. Surtout qu’à son âge, il serait temps !

Autre fait incroyable, l’alchimie entre les deux est extrêmement forte et dépasse même celle avec Georgette, la touriste rencontrée en vacances. Becky a probablement trouvé son âme sœur, si une telle chose existe.

L’amour vient lui aussi très vite et de ce fait...

... on rejoint le lit !

Hip hip hip pour la prof Aurore qui vient de se faire dépuceler dans une chambre de motel avec un lit qui n’a pas vu ses draps changés alors que deux couples viennent déjà d’y faire des galipettes.

Le Rendez-Vous est un franc succès et pour une fois, il se peut que Becky rappelle... enfin, dès qu’elle aura atteint les trente liaisons amoureuses simultanées.

Après tout ça, Becky meurt de faim et va donc dans sa tenue la plus affriolante commander une omelette norvégienne.

“C’est pas trop dur de bosser ici ? Je veux dire, vous êtes coincés au Rez-de-chaussée et il y a aucune fenêtre !”

Tiens, Becky qui s’intéresse aux sentiments de quelqu’un d’autre, c’est nouveau.

Alors qu’après son repas, Becky retrouve la jeune blonde de tout à l’heure, un joli bug nous montre une scène tout à fait rocambolesque.

Et pendant ce temps, Prof Aurore traîne elle aussi en sous-vêtements près de la piste de danse.

Après avoir fait le tour de l’endroit, Becky ne trouve plus de nouvelle cible. Il y en a bien une que j’ai vue plus tôt, une blonde avec des mèches roses, mais à ce moment précis elle ne se trouve plus sur le terrain. Il faut croire que les lesbiennes qui aspirent au plaisir ou à la romance sont une denrée rare...

Il est donc temps pour Becky de rentrer chez elle et d’affronter sa belle mère. Après tout, elle a aussi le droit de vivre dans cette maison...

Alors que Becky est au Love Motel, c’est encore une journée des plus ennuyeuses qui s’annonce à la maison familiale. Le couple continue donc de jouer aux échecs pour améliorer la logique de Florinda.

Mais voilà qu’à même pas 16h, elle tombe de fatigue !

Elle va donc se coucher et Bucky doit faire face à la solitude en plein après-midi.

Il passe alors le temps dans l’electro-sphère.

Charlotte passait beaucoup de temps dans l’electro-sphère.

Charlotte nous manque à tous.

“Fiou fiou ! Je sais me battre !”

“Si cette enquiquineuse de Becky vient me chercher je saurai la remettre à sa place.”

Ah bah VOILÀ ! Le vrai visage de Florinda !

Enfin... celui que je m’imagine, puisque Florinda est en réalité...

... vraiment très gentille.

Disons alors qu’elle a bien cerné la personnalité de Becky et qu’elle se prépare au pire. Juste au cas où.

Alors que Junior prépare des hamburgers, Florinda, à peine levée, se jette sur le frigo.

Attendez.

Besoin de dormir à outrance, petit creux à combler dans le frigo... Aurais-je raté un petit son bien spécifique ?

ET OUI ! Florinda est enceinte et je n’ai même pas fait attention !

Je suis un peu confuse.

En fait, c’était assez prévisible, parce-qu’avec l’ACR (il s’agit d’un mod qui revoit toute la façon dont fonctionnent les relations amoureuses et d’autres trucs), il arrive souvent que des Sims fassent des bébés par eux-même.

MAIS.

Mais j’ai la crainte que le bébé soit moche. Un comble pour un Uglacy dont le but est d’avoir les Sims les moins beaux possible.

Seulement voilà : si le bébé est moche (en tous cas, plus moche que Becky), il est donc censé devenir l’héritier de la famille. Mais je me suis tellement attachée à Becky et je me suis tellement investie dans son histoire que ça m’effraie un peu. Et puis je dirais qu’il s’agit de quoi ? La génération 2-bis ?

D’un autre côté, j’ai été déçue que les enfants de Bucky soient plutôt normaux, et je rêve d’un enfant avec sa mâchoire énorme et son nez riquiqui et tout bossu. Ce bébé pourrait peut-être m’apporter ça, qui sait ?

Mes sentiments sont donc assez mitigés, et je crains de ne pas parvenir à me décider.

Mais revenons à nos moutons Sims.

“Mon petit sucre d’orge, j’ai pensé à faire sculpter une statue de toi à mettre dans le jardin. Tu es tellement belle que ça ne pourrait qu’être une merveilleuse œuvre d’art, tu ne crois pas ?”

“Euh, oui, mais il va falloir faire très vite, parce-que j’aurais bientôt perdu ma taille de guêpe. Mon corps va radicalement changer, mon amour ! J’attends un bébé !”

“Quoi ?”

“Je vais être encore papa ?”

“Bah, on en avait jamais parlé, mais...”

“... je pensais que c’était clair qu’on ne devait pas faire d’enfant !”

“Tu as vu l’âge que j’ai ? Je ne le verrai même pas grandir ! Et que dire de lui, qui ne me connaîtra probablement jamais ? Ou si jeune qu’il ne s’en souviendra même pas ?”

Sages paroles, Bucky.

“C’est vrai... je n’y avais pas pensé...”

“Mais n’as-tu pas les moyens de t’offrir de la potion de vie ? Tu resterais ainsi plus longtemps auprès de lui, et auprès de moi...”

Excellent argument, Florinda.

“Euh...”

“Je n’y avais jamais pensé ! Quelle excellente idée !”

Et ainsi Bucky accepta l’idée d’un quatrième enfant.

Maintenant qu’un bébé est en route, il faut penser à la suite.

La maison dispose que quatre chambres : une parentale, une pour Becky, une pour Boris, et une pour Betty. Les chambres sont toutes déjà meublées, même celles des enfants qui ne vivent pas ici et je n’ai pas encore le courage de vendre leurs meubles. Ça serait l’ultime au revoir et je n’y suis pas encore préparée.

Il faut donc un espace pour la nurserie, et comme vous pouvez le voir :

Tout en haut à droite, se trouve une pièce attenante à la chambre parentale, qui sert de fourre-tout : l’ordinateur (qui peut facilement être placé ailleurs), et les établis divers que Bucky et Charlotte ont eu envie d’acheter au cours de leur vie (et qui ont permis d’avoir Junior, ainsi que les dizaines de Gueule-de-loup qui favorisent la bonne ambiance dans la maison).

Je vais donc transformer cette pièce en nurserie, et puisque le terrain est grand, il y a de la place pour construire un autre bâtiment, type grange ou garage sans voiture, dans lequel tous les trucs rarement utilisés pourraient être entreposés. On pourrait aussi y mettre des instruments de musique pour peut-être monter un groupe et y répéter !

Je suis donc partie pour un peu de construction ! L’objectif sera de faire un truc assez grand mais qui ne détonne pas avec l’architecture de la maison.

*construit une dépendance*

Et voilà ! La dépendance ressemble à la maison principale, et elle est très grande ! On pourrait presque en faire une deuxième maison pour Becky... Faudrait que j’y réfléchisse...

L’intérieur n’est pas encore fait : pas de papier peint, pas de murs qui délimitent différentes pièces, pas de mobilier. Mais il ne reste plus que 1000$ à la famille, alors ça attendra ! Et puis ça manque cruellement de plantes extérieures, d’arbres, de buissons... Mais une chose à la fois. On ne peut pas déjà TOUT avoir à peine la génération 2 commencée.

Maintenant, il est temps de recompter les entichements et les amours de Becky !

On a donc 30 entichements et 21 amours. Mais j’ai un doute sur la toute dernière, qui de mémoire a surpris Becky en pleine parade avec une autre. S’il faut que l’amour soit réciproque, elle ne compte pas.

Tellement de “si”.

Il faudrait d’ailleurs que Becky passe quelques coups de fil pour remonter la barre de relation bien au dessus de 70 dans certains cas. Ce sera donc l’objectif de sa prochaine journée !

“Ah ! Te voilà ! Ça fait des jours que je te cherche. Écoute. Je voulais juste te dire que j’ai bien ressenti que tu ne m’aimais pas beaucoup. Mais je voulais t’assurer que j’aime sincèrement ton père et que je ne suis pas là pour son argent. Juste au cas où ça te serait passé par la tête.”

“Vraiment ? Parce-que tu crois que c’est ça mon plus gros soucis avec toi ?”

“Qu’est-ce que ça pourrait être d’autre ?”

“D’une, tu te pointes super vite après la mort de maman. Ensuite... Mais on a le même âge ! Tu pourrais être la fille de papa ! C’est super bizarre ! Et toi tu fais genre la meuf adulte, au niveau d’une mère et tout, mais je ne suis pas ta fille. Pas même adoptive. Je suis ton égale. Je suis même peut-être supérieure à toi parce-que MOI j’ai un diplôme universitaire.”

“Je vois... Et que pourrais-je faire pour arranger tout ça ?”

“Disparaître.”

“Je suis désolée, mais ça, ça n’est désormais plus possible...”

“Et pourquoi ?”

“Tu vas avoir un petit frère ! Ou une petite sœur.”

“C’est officiel. Je te hais.”

“Tu as parfaitement su placer tes pions. Ah ça, bravo ! Maintenant, par respect pour mon père, je ne peux plus rien faire pour te dégager de MA famille !”

“Si tu ne portais pas son enfant, je te giflerais !”

Becky est super remontée.

Sans blague.

“Calme-toi, calme-toi Florinda, elle ne sait pas ce qu’elle dit, elle est juste en colère... oh et puis zut, moi aussi !”

“Tu sais quoi ? Va te faire voir ! Je suis mariée à ton père et nous allons avoir un bébé ! Que tu le veuilles ou non, je fais désormais partie de cette famille ! Si tu n’es pas contente, va t-en ! Mon enfant pourra très bien prendre ta place en tant qu’héritier de ton père. Et que vas-tu faire ?”

“Il est bien beau ton diplôme universitaire, mais tu ne cherches même pas de travail ! Tu es bien trop occupée à traîner dans ce taudis libertin avec tous ces détraqués sexuels. Comment tu vas continuer ta vie de débauchée si tu n’as plus de toit sur la tête, hein ?”

“C’est bien ce que je pensais. Tu tiens bien trop à ton petit confort de vie pour aller au bout de tes convictions me concernant. Sur ce, je rejoins ton père au lit. Et tu sais quoi ? On va s’envoyer en l’air nous aussi.”

Ainsi soit-il. Les filles se quittent donc sur cette mémorable dispute.

“Oh, Junior, je la déteste tellement que ça en est douloureux...”

“Si je puis me permettre, Madame, vous devriez essayer de lui donner une chance. Après tout, vous avez au moins un point commun.”

“Ah bon ? Et lequel ?”

“Vous aimez toutes les deux profondément la même personne.”

Et c’est l’une des rares fois où Becky reste bouche bée.

Pendant ce temps, dehors.

Parfait. La revendre renflouera les caisses.

Le lendemain.

“Salut. Déjà, je voulais te remercier pour ton cadeau. Et puis, j’aurais aussi besoin d’une amie, là maintenant. Tu voudrais pas venir ? On profiterait de la plage. Il fait beau.”

Un peu plus tard.

“Alors, c’est quoi l’ombre au tableau ?”

“Ma belle-mère. Pour faire simple, mon père l’a rencontrée juste après le décès de ma mère. Ils se sont mariés très vite. Elle a mon âge et attend un enfant, maintenant. C’est comme si... elle avait fait disparaître toute trace de ma mère, tu vois.”

“Alors si je comprends bien, tu as deux options. Tu peux accepter la situation. Tu n’es pas obligée d’aimer ta belle-mère, mais tu peux essayer de la respecter parce-que ton père l’a choisie. Ou au moins, la tolérer. L’enfant qu’elle porte aura la moitié de ton sang dans ses veines, il sera ta famille. Et pour lui, ta belle-mère sera aussi sa famille : elle sera sa mère. Il l’aimera comme toi tu aimais ta propre mère.”

“Ton autre choix, c’est de ne pas accepter la situation, et de te couper toi-même d’une partie de ta famille. Mais si c’était ce que tu voulais, tu ne serais pas en train de t’interroger.”

“Mais c’est ça le problème ! Ce que tu dis est parfaitement logique ! Mais malgré tout, je n’arrive à me résoudre à aucune des deux options.”

“Laisse le temps faire. Le choix te parviendra clair après un certain temps."

Sur ces bonnes paroles, Prof Aurore laisse Becky à sa réflexion.

Et comme elle l’avait prévu, Becky appelle ses amantes les unes après les autres afin de ne pas laisser leurs barres de relation baisser de trop à base de “oui, tu me manques aussi, mais non, on ne peut pas se voir pour le moment *insérez excuse bidon*”

De son côté, Bucky termine l’élixir de vie laissé par Charlotte.

Il gagne six jours de vie !

Quant au reste de la journée pour Bucky et son épouse, c’est ENCORE du travail de logique.

Comme on peut le voir, Betty n’a toujours pas récupéré son chaudron et son grimoire alors qu’elle pourrait en avoir besoin !

Junior va donc se charger de les lui restituer.

“Tenez, Madame.”

“Oh ! Une cafetière Senseo mon chaudron et mon grimoire !”

Les deux sœurs mangent avec Florinda mais ne se parlent qu’entre elles...

... et on ressent le froid entre ces deux-là.

“Tu devrais moins manger, tu commences à ressembler à un sumo.”

Cette remarque grossophobe vous a été fournie par Becky.

“M’enfin, je suis enceinte ! Heureusement que je grossis !”

Pendant ce temps, en bas.

“Je pourrais profiter de fait qu’ils soient tous occupés pour leur voler un peu d’argent.”

“Mouahahah je suis machiavélique.”

“Alors comme ça, tu veux me voler un peu d’argent ?”

Ah bah si nous on voit les pensées de Betty, pourquoi pas lui ? Mais en bon papa, Bucky n’en tient pas rigueur à sa fille. Il la connaît et n’est donc pas surpris.

Concernant Becky, en pleine forme en cette fin de journée, la voilà repartie au Love Motel, et sans que je ne m’en mêle, elle est immédiatement allée au lit avec Tifanie !

Elle croise finalement la dernière proie qu’elle puisse trouver sur place et va la saluer.

C’est bien-sûr le moment que choisissent les employés du motel pour venir...

... faire le lit.

Mais à peine la discussion est engagée que notre cible... s’en va !

Qu’à cela ne tienne ! Becky trouve refuge dans les bras d’une ancienne conquête !

Notre cible revient peu de temps après et signale à Becky qu’elle la désire.

“Je te veux TOI.”

Pendant ce temps, dans la chambre d’à côté...

Agrougrou.

Les filles s’entichent très vite l’une de l’autre !

Fais gaffe Becky, je crois que sa tête est entrée dans le mur.

La relation ne décolle cependant pas plus haut, alors retour à la maison !

Et à la maison, Florinda parle jouets pour bébé à Betty.

“Tu sais que tu pourrais les fabriquer toi-même ? On a un établi à jouets ! Papa en a fait quelques-uns fût un temps, il pourrait te montrer !”

“Mais oui ! Très bonne idée !”

“Au fait, merci de m’accepter.”

“De rien. Et fais-nous un garçon, histoire qu’il y ait une parité !”

Betty, contrairement à sa sœur, accepte sa belle-mère sans rechigner.

La semaine n’est pas terminée ! Mais il semblerait que j’ai atteint le nombre maximum d’images autorisées dans un billet, alors... J’ai effacé la suite pour la mettre dans une seconde partie.

Dans la mesure où je n’ai pas terminé de jouer la semaine, j’ai essayé de couper à peu près au milieu, mais il est possible que la partie 2 ne soit pas d’une longueur équivalente à celle-ci. Qu’importe ! Elle viendra prochainement...

Becky acceptera t-elle sa belle-mère ? Atteindra t-elle déjà son objectif de 30 liaisons amoureuses ? À quoi ressemblera le bébé ? Affaire à suivre... En attendant, portez-vous bien !

#sims 2 #ts2 #uglacy #gen2

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manieresdedire · 5 years

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Un bain dans la Drina

Légende : panneau de bienvenue

Voici un homme blanc, dégarni, la soixantaine replète, qui prend un bain seul dans une rivière. A sa demande, sa compagne restée sur la berge, prend des photos au portable.

Légende : le baigneur

Prudemment, claudiquant sur le lit de galets, il parvient à mi-distance ; la profondeur n'excède pas le demi mètre ; dès qu'il l'estime suffisante, il plonge et nage sur le dos, à contre-courant ; le fond de l'air en ce mois d’août serbe est chaud, l'eau frisquette, son débit puissant ; parvenant à remonter le courant d' une dizaine de mètres, il a maintenant juste pied ; levant la tête vers sa compagne qui prend la photo, il observe leur motel, en surplomb.

Du balcon lui parviennent des applaudissements, sans qu'il puisse identifier leurs auteurs. Des enfants sans doute. Sa nage n'a rien d'un exploit, alors pourquoi cette salve d'enthousiasme ?

Puis, il tente la traversée vers la rive opposée, maintenant à portée de quelques brasses : couverte d'une frondaison dense, opaque et muette.

La veille, ils ont déposé leurs valises dans une petite chambre du motel " Odmor na Drini", sis entre la rivière Drina et une route bruyante de jour comme de nuit. Du balcon de l’hôtel où ils ont pris leur premier repas du soir, des truites pêchées dans la rivière même (la pêche, passion collective de toute la région - comme en témoignent les clichés de prises monstrueuses qui tapissent l'arrière-bar) que le petit hôtelier zélé, aimable, infatigable, leur proposera avec la même identique évidence comme "le menu du soir", sans autre choix explicite et sans qu'ils s'en lassent -, il a pu constater combien la circulation sur l'autre rive est quasi inexistante : c'est à peine si, la nuit, une fois par paire d' heures en moyenne, les phares d'un véhicule percent le feuillage.

D'emblée ce contraste entre les deux rives l'a intrigué, lui a donné la curiosité d'aller voir en face. Car il n'est pas sans ignorer qu'ici, la Drina est la frontière : du côté de l’hôtel, la Serbie, en face la Bosnie.

Aujourd'hui, aux trois quarts de la Drina, alors que quelques brasses lui suffiraient pour rejoindre l'autre rive quelque chose le retient d'accomplir la traversée...

Le baigneur croit deviner le sens des applaudissements : féliciter le touriste venu de l'Union Européenne, une espèce plutôt rare en Serbie, banaliser par son usage estival la "rivière-frontière" ; la traverser pourrait être une transgression de portée symbolique (bien plus tard, il découvrira qu'il se trouve à moins de 10 kilomètres de Srebrenica et de ses charniers, que des brigades génocidaires la parcouraient à la nuit il y a seulement vingt ans).

Et décide qu'il ne traversera pas la Drina, n'accomplissant que la moitié d'une promesse faite la veille à Belgrade.

Légende : Ivo Andrich et le pont sur la Drina

Car le Français est venu ici en pèlerinage, ce bain est sa manière de célébrer un ouvrage qui l'a transporté dès la première lecture, reprise cent fois : le "Pont sur la Drina", immortalisé par Ivo Andrich, le seul prix Nobel de littérature qu'ait jamais eu la Yougoslavie, en 1961. A l'opposé du "message" de tolérance multi confessionnelle que délivre son auteur, ce grand écrivain humaniste Bosniaque, est aujourd'hui récupéré par les nationalistes Serbes, (comme Emir Kusturica dans son "musée cinématographique slavophile" de Mokra Gora).

Légende : la rue Andrich du village cinématographique de Kusturica

Ce bain, le Français l'a promis-juré à son nouvel ami Ljubomir, géant serbe, rencontré la semaine précédant leur périple au Sud-Est de la Serbie. Au cours de leurs conversations quotidiennes en francoglobish (ses parents se sont connus à Paris mais le français se perd ici ; il est plus francophile que francophone) il lui a délivré de précieuses clés de compréhension de la Serbie de juillet 2017, en échange d'innombrables pintes de bière locale.

Toujours sous pression, posant hâtivement sur leur table sa mince serviette en cuir de retraité en semi-activité, Ljubo, s'excuse abondamment de son retard d'une heure, puis la discussion s'engage, et les voilà partis pour refaire le monde et les Balkans au XXIe siècle. L'ami serbe corrige l'optimisme pan-européen du Français macronien : hélas, il y a lieu d’être pessimiste, " la guerre reprendra" assène-t-il comme une évidence. Car la guerre n'a pas tué les démons identitaires, ni en Serbie ni en Bosnie ajoute-t-il, la partie obtuse de la population (les plus âgés, les ruraux, les moins instruits, précise -t-il) vient de porter au pouvoir Aleksandar Vučić, un politicien longtemps ultra-nationaliste (il fut le ministre de l'information de Milosevic dont il parle aujourd'hui encore comme d'un "grand Serbe" dont les intentions étaient les meilleures, même si ses résultats ont été les pires). Ljubomir a suivi la visite de Macron en Europe centrale et dans dans les Balkans, et sa tentative louable de contrer le bloc "illibéral" conduit par le président hongrois Victor Orban ; mais malgré les efforts et les crédits de l'Union Européenne, celle-ci reste moins influente que la Russie.

Pour accomplir son "pèlerinage littéraire", le Français confie son projet de louer une voiture pour aller de Belgrade à Višegrad en Bosnie, d'y contempler le pont sur la Drina, ce bel ouvrage aux onze arches, édifié au XVIe siècle par le Grand Vizir d'Istambul, Mehmed Pacha Sokolović, reliant alors Sarajevo à Belgrade, bombardé en 1914, puis restauré et rendu fameux par la fiction éponyme d'Andrich. Aux yeux des lecteurs de ce roman culte, le pont est parvenu jusqu'à nous comme un symbole de la coexistence fragile mais possible des communautés, perpétuellement menacée par les courants furieux de l'Histoire.

Impossible ! Répond Ljubo : tout véhicule immatriculé en Serbie traversant la partie musulmane de la Bosnie court le risque d’être caillassé par de jeunes Bosniaques musulmans. Aussi ne trouveront-ils aucun loueur pour cette destination.

Légende : sur le quai de la gare de Mokra Gora

"Si vous voulez aller visiter Visegrad, il faut prendre un train jusqu'à Sarajevo. Attention ! muni des visas nécessaires, et... sans garantie d’être réadmis en Serbie. De là, louez une voiture immatriculée en Bosnie".

Légende : un jeune ami de Voïvodine

Du coup, il a conseillé ce petit hôtel au bord de la Drina qu'il a bien connu dans ses déplacements professionnels :

- "Very good, beautiful place, proche Mokra Gora, visitez le village cinematographique recréé par Kusturica - you know, the cineast, bad ideology, mais belle réalisation, and take le petit train historique (qui reliait autrefois Sarajevo à la ville industrielle serbe d' Uzice). Very interesting ! Absolument nécessaire !

- Mais pourrais-je me baigner dans la Drina ?

- Yes, yes, yes, you must do it!" lance-t-il comme un défi.

- Promis je vous enverrai par SMS une photo témoin" !

Ljubo téléphone derechef à son ami le restaurateur pour leur réserver quelques trois nuitées. Une chambre est libre. Une chance en cette saison. Dès lors, plus moyen de reculer.

Christian Branthomme

#Drina #Pont #Pont sur la Drina #Ivo Andrič #Ivo Andrich #Christian Branthomme

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kny-tai · 7 years

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You can always court Victoria but she can never be yours. xoxo

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blackswaneuroparedux · 5 years

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Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, Duchess of Marlborough (1877-1964)

Consuelo Vanderbilt was one of the most highly sought-after heiresses of America’s Gilded Age: the period between 1870-1900 when US industrialists became the richest men in the world. The only daughter of railroad millionaire William Vanderbilt and his formidable wife Alva, Consuelo was pre-destined to marry into the British aristocracy like her godmother Consuleo Yznaga who had married the heir to the 7th Duke of Manchester.

In 1886 William Vanderbilt inherited $65 million on the death of his father. Wishing to upstage her social rival Mrs Astor, Alva commissioned a Rococo summer house she christened the Marble House on Newport Rhode Island that was modelled on Marie Antoinette’s Petit Trianon at Versailles and the largest privately-owned yacht in the world called the Alva. Her palatial Vanderbilt mansion on 5th Avenue could comfortably host 1000 people at a legendary masquerade ball she held in 1883 costing $3 million.

Though surrounded by such opulence, Consuelo Vanderbilt was schooled strictly by a series of governesses and tutors. Her mother Alva forced the pretty child to wear a steel corset contraption that would keep her spine ramrod straight, she was whipped with a riding crop when disobedient and was forced to abide by Alva’s golden rule ‘I do the thinking. You do as you are told’. Consuelo blossomed into the beau ideal of a Belle Epoque beauty: slim, delicately pretty with a swan-like neck and thick, dark, luxuriant upswept hair. She had five proposals of marriage including one from Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg that Consuelo declined.

Lady Paget, American-born Minnie Stevens, introduced Consuelo Vanderbilt to Charles Spencer-Churchill, who had become 9th Duke of Marlborough in 1892 inheriting the monolithic Blenheim Palace and crippling debts. Consuelo disliked ‘Sunny’ Marlborough and in a rare act of independence became secretly engaged to New York socialite Winthrop Rutherford. Alva fought back: first threatening to have Rutherford murdered then pretending that Consuelo’s disobedience was quite literally killing her. According to Consuelo, she was locked in her room until she agreed to marry the 9th Duke who had negotiated a settlement of $42.5 million in railroad stock from the Vanderbilts plus an annual allowance of $100,000 for he and his future wife.

The 9th Duke married Consuelo Vanderbilt in New York in 1895 telling her after the ceremony that he was in love with another woman and that he ‘despised anything that was not British’. The Duke and Duchess of Marlborough returned to England via Paris where the duke dressed her like a doll at Worth and replenished the family jewels with Vanderbilt money acquiring pearls that belonged to Catherine the Great and the Empress Eugenie. As Consuelo wrote in her autobiography The Glitter and the Gold (1953), ‘jewels never gave me pleasure and my heavy tiara invariably produced a violent headache, my dog collar a chafed neck’.

On meeting the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough, Consuelo was told ‘your first duty is to have a child and it must be a son because it would be intolerable to have that little upstart Winston (Churchill) become duke’. Consuelo did produce an heir and a spare, Lord John and Lord Ivo, while also conquering London society and dazzling the Prince of Wales and his Marlborough House Set. Consuelo’s father bought Sutherland House on Mayfair’s Curzon Street for the Marlboroughs to entertain during the London season and Consuelo was inducted into the social round of Marlborough House balls, Royal Ascot, weekends at Sandringham and boxes at the Royal Opera House.

The Glitter and the Gold demonstrates Consuelo’s talent as a perceptive witness to great moments in late Victorian and Edwardian history. She attended the Duchess of Devonshire’s fancy dress ball in 1897, Queen Victoria’s funeral in 1901, the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 for which she was Queen Alexandra’s canopy bearer and travelled to India for King Edward’s coronation durbar as a guest of Viceroy Lord Curzon. The Marlboroughs travelled to the court of Russia’s last Tsar Nicholas II where Consuelo had a private audience with Queen Alexandra’s sister the Dowager Empress Marie and commented ‘her courtesy to us was favourably compared in court circles with the Tsarina’s failure to give us an audience and the realisation how unpopular the latter’s unsocial nature was making her’.

In 1905 the Marlborough family was painted by John Singer Sargent. The most beautiful duchess in England was also drawn by Hellieu and painted by society artist Boldini. But in 1906 the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough separated. As Consuelo concluded, ‘we had been married eleven years (and) life together had not brought us closer. Time had but accentuated our differences. The nervous tension that tends to grow between people of different temperament condemned to live together had reached its highest pitch’.

The Duchess quit Blenheim Palace and took-up residence in Sutherland House. It was to her credit that the Prince of Wales’s set did not drop her though she spent an increasing amount of time in the company of the aesthetes who called themselves The Souls led by Lady Desborough. Guests at Sutherland House included H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, Sir J. M. Barrie, Margot Asquith, Lady Astor, Lady Cunard and the Grand Duke Dimitri of Russia. She took a small country house, Crowhurst, on the Marlborough estate and – taking a cue from the redoubtable Alva – became a leader of the women’s suffrage movement and a frequent visitor to the Strangers’ Gallery in the Palace of Westminster.

In 1921 the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough formally divorced and Consuelo married dashing French aviator Jacques Balsan who she had first met in Paris at her coming out ball hosted by the Duc de Gramont. It was, in Consuelo’s words, a marriage of love. The 9th Duke of Marlborough married a dazzling American beauty Gladys Deacon. Marcel Proust said of Gladys, ‘I never saw a girl with such beauty, such magnificent intelligence, such goodness and charm’. The marriage ended acrimoniously with the 9th Duke evicting Gladys from Blenheim after she had ruined her beauty injecting her face with paraffin wax.

Consuelo and Jacques Balsan lived an idyllic existence at their chateau St Georges-Motel near Fontainebleu where cousin Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine were frequent visitors. The aging Alva Vanderbilt bought a neighbouring chateau to be near her daughter. The 9th Duke died in 1934 and Consuelo was once again welcome at Blenheim Palace as a guest of her son the 10th Duke. The Balsans were evacuated from France in 1940 at the onset of the Nazi invasion and set-up home in Casa Alva south of Palm Beach in Florida.

Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan died in Long Island, New York, in 1964 and was buried on the Blenheim estate next to her younger son Lord Ivo Spencer-Churchill.

#consuelo #marlborough #aristocracy #history #britain #biography #women

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justforbooks · 6 years

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Harland Sanders was born in 1890 and raised on a farm outside Henryville, Indiana (near Louisville, Kentucky). When Sanders was five years old, his father died, forcing his mother to work at a canning plant. This left Sanders, as the eldest son, to care for his two younger siblings. After he reached seven years of age, his mother taught him how to cook. After leaving the family home at the age of 13, Sanders passed through several professions, with mixed success. In 1930, he took over a Shell filling station on US Route 25 just outside North Corbin, Kentucky, a small town on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains. It was here that he first served to travelers the recipes that he had learned as a child: fried chicken and other dishes such as steaks and country ham. After four years of serving from his own dining room table, Sanders purchased the larger filling station on the other side of the road and expanded to six tables. By 1936, this had proven successful enough for Sanders to be given the honorary title of Kentucky colonel by Governor Ruby Laffoon. In 1937 he expanded his restaurant to 142 seats, and added a motel he purchased across the street, naming it Sanders Court & Café.

Sanders was unhappy with the 35 minutes it took to prepare his chicken in an iron frying pan, but he refused to deep fry the chicken, which he believed lowered the quality of the product. If he pre-cooked the chicken in advance of orders, there was sometimes wastage at day's end. In 1939, the first commercial pressure cookers were released onto the market, mostly designed for steaming vegetables. Sanders bought one, and modified it into a pressure fryer, which he then used to fry chicken. The new method reduced production time to be comparable with deep frying, while, in the opinion of Sanders, retaining the quality of pan-fried chicken.

In July 1940, Sanders finalised what came to be known as his "Original Recipe" of 11 herbs and spices. Although he never publicly revealed the recipe, he admitted to the use of salt and pepper, and claimed that the ingredients "stand on everybody's shelf". After being recommissioned as a Kentucky colonel in 1950 by Governor Lawrence Wetherby, Sanders began to dress the part, growing a goatee and wearing a black frock coat (later switched to a white suit), a string tie, and referring to himself as "Colonel". His associates went along with the title change, "jokingly at first and then in earnest", according to biographer Josh Ozersky.

The Sanders Court & Café generally served travelers, so when the route planned in 1955 for Interstate 75 bypassed Corbin, Sanders sold his properties and traveled the US to franchise his chicken recipe to restaurant owners. Independent restaurants would pay four (later five) cents on each chicken as a franchise fee, in exchange for Sanders' "secret blend of herbs and spices" and the right to feature his recipe on their menus and use his name and likeness for promotional purposes. In 1952 he had already successfully franchised his recipe to his friend Pete Harman of South Salt Lake, Utah, the operator of one of the city's largest restaurants.

Don Anderson, a sign painter hired by Harman, coined the name "Kentucky Fried Chicken". For Harman, the addition of KFC was a way of differentiating his restaurant from competitors; a product from Kentucky was exotic, and evoked imagery of Southern hospitality. Harman trademarked the phrase "It's finger lickin' good", which eventually became the company-wide slogan. He also introduced the "bucket meal" in 1957 (14 pieces of chicken, five bread rolls and a pint of gravy in a cardboard bucket). Serving their signature meal in a paper bucket was to become an iconic feature of the company.

By 1963 there were 600 KFC restaurants, making the company the largest fast food operation in the United States. KFC popularized chicken in the fast food industry, diversifying the market by challenging the established dominance of the hamburger.

In 1964, Sanders sold the company to a group of investors led by John Y. Brown Jr. and Jack C. Massey for US$2 million (around US$15 million in 2013). The contract included a lifetime salary for Sanders and the agreement that he would be the company's quality controller and trademark. The chain had reached 3,000 outlets in 48 different countries by 1970. In July 1971, Brown sold the company to the Connecticut-based Heublein, a packaged food and drinks corporation, for US$285 million (around US$1.6 billion in 2013). Sanders died in 1980, his promotional work making him a prominent figure in American cultural history. By the time of his death, there were an estimated 6,000 KFC outlets in 48 different countries worldwide, with $2 billion of sales annually.

In 1982, Heublein was acquired by R. J. Reynolds, the tobacco giant. In July 1986, Reynolds sold KFC to PepsiCo for $850 million (around US$1.8 billion in 2013). PepsiCo made the chain a part of its restaurants division alongside Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. The Chinese market was entered in November 1987, with an outlet in Beijing.

In 1991, the KFC name was officially adopted, although it was already widely known by that initialism. Kyle Craig, president of KFC US, admitted the change was an attempt to distance the chain from the unhealthy connotations of "fried". The early 1990s saw a number of successful major products launched throughout the chain, including spicy "Hot Wings" (launched in 1990), popcorn chicken (1992), and internationally, the "Zinger", a spicy chicken fillet burger (1993). By 1994, KFC had 5,149 outlets in the US, and 9,407 overall, with over 100,000 employees. In August 1997, PepsiCo spun off its restaurants division as a public company valued at US$4.5 billion (around US$6.5 billion in 2013). The new company was named Tricon Global Restaurants, and at the time had 30,000 outlets and annual sales of US$10 billion (around US$14 billion in 2013), making it second in the world only to McDonald's. Tricon was renamed Yum! Brands in May 2002.

By 2015, the company was struggling, having lost business to other retailers and being surpassed by Chick-fil-A as the leading chicken retailer three years previously. To combat this, the company launched a new initiative with a plan to revamp its packaging, decor and uniforms, as well as expanding its menu. Additionally, beginning in May 2015, a new series of advertisements was launched featuring Darrell Hammond as Colonel Sanders. Subsequently, in a planned rotation of actors, Norm Macdonald, Jim Gaffigan, George Hamilton and Rob Riggle portrayed Sanders in similar ads through the fall of 2016. In January 2018, Country Music icon Reba McEntire was chosen to be KFC's first female Colonel Sanders.

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