#after that terrible ending that was foreign affairs

[wonder-falcon]

i finished loa 2 and it was very good <3 better than the first one even i loved it!!!

[whyanne4]

Memories

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Verstappen! Reader

Part: 1/2

Category: angst

Summary: After months of sneaking around with your brothers biggest rival, Charles, you to end your relationship in order to protect both yourself and him from the medias praying eyes.

Right person, wrong situation. Loosely based on Conan Gray’s song: Memories. and Illicit affairs by Taylor Swift.

Masterlist

“Charles stop, we can't do this anymore.” You said as you felt the brunette slip his arms around your waist and kiss your neck gently. The warmth of his touch sent a shiver down your spine.

“Why not Y/N?” He whined into your neck.

“Charles I’m serious, stop. What if Max finds out?” You asked as you untangle yourself from his embrace.

“I don’t care.” Charles said defiantly, stepping back a bit.

​​"Well, I do. Max is my brother, and if he finds out about us, it'll ruin everything," you declared, stepping away and plopping down on the couch in his driver's room and in your mind all you could think of was all of the time you’d spent with Charles on that very same couch. How he’d kissed you and told you you were the most beautiful girl in the world.

You had met Charles through Max, your older brother and fellow F1 driver. The two of them were fierce rivals on the track. And you knew that if Max ever found out about your secret relationship with Charles, it would not only strain their relationship but also create chaos in the F1 media.

Last season, when you started attending more races and spending time with Max's team, you and Charles had found yourselves drawn to each other. It was effortless, like two pieces of a puzzle fitting perfectly together. You had tried to resist the temptation, knowing the potential consequences, but love has a way of breaking down walls.

The months that followed were filled with stolen glances, secret rendezvous, and stolen kisses. Every moment with Charles felt like a dream, and you knew that what you shared was special and rare. Everything was perfect. He was perfect, he still is but the fear of Max's reaction and the media scrutiny always lurked in the back of your mind. 

You both had agreed to keep your relationship a secret, knowing that the repercussions of being discovered would be severe. But as time passed, it became harder to hide your feelings for each other. The thrill of the forbidden love mixed with the danger of being caught was intoxicating, but you knew it couldn't go on forever.

You know that it would be terrible for Charless image if the media found out. You were 4 years younger than him and you know that the people on twitter would be having a field day if your relationship ever got out.

So you never told anyone. Not Max, not your friends, nobody. Your relationship was a well kept secret. Sneaking out to see him at his apartment in Monaco or in his drivers room. Secret vacations to foreign countries. Hotel rooms under fake names. Think of anything forbidden and the two of you’ve done it. During those months of sneaking around both you and Charles fell hard for one another.

Those months were probably the best months of your life. He was the perfect guy for you and you hope that you were the perfect girl for him. The love you shared was something out of a fairytale and you knew that it was one for the ages. The kind of love only a few lucky ones get to experience during their lifetime.

But the reality of your situation was inescapable. You knew getting involved with him was a bad idea so you’d broken everything off three months ago. You knew it was the right decision. Trying to maintain your secret relationship would only lead to heartbreak and trouble.

Yet, the heart wants what it wants, and when you saw each other again for the first time since the split at this weekend's Grand Prix, he pulled you into his driver’s room like so many times before. You tried to resist, but your connection was too strong to ignore. One thing led to another and suddenly you were being pushed against a wall with his lips on yours before you came to your senses. Which leds to where you are right now:

“Y/N please listen to me.” Charles begged as he followed you and sat down on the couch beside you. You looked into his gorgeous emerald green eyes like you had a million times before.

“Charles, please don’t.” You tried with him but he wouldn’t let you finish.

“No! I don’t want to stop loving you. You are the one for me and I don’t want to spend my life with anyone else.” He confessed wholeheartedly. You felt the tears start to form in your eyes.

"Charles, please, we can't keep doing this," you said, tears forming in your eyes. "I love you, but we're only hurting ourselves by continuing like this. You knew getting into this that it wouldn’t last. However much I want to, we can never be.” You reasoned with him.

“I don’t care. Y/N you are the love of my life. We can make it work. We don’t have to tell anyone if that's what you want. Or we can tell everyone. Whatever you want.” He pleaded with you. “Or if you don’t want that I can quit F1 and we can run away together. We can get a secret house together in the countryside of France and start a family together or something, anything. I would give you everything I have in a heartbeat. Please just don’t give up on this Y/N. Don’t give up on us.” He started crying quietly and so did you. 

“Charles, you know that wouldn’t work. Our families would find out eventually and so would the media. You will be bashed for dating me and your relationship with Max will be ruined.” You pleaded with him.

“I don't care. Y/N, you are the love of my life. We can make it work. We don't have to tell anyone if that's what you want. We can keep it a secret until the time is right,” he pleaded, holding her hand in his.

“Charles, it's not just about the secrecy. It's about our families, Max's feelings, and the media. It's about everything. As much as I love you, I can't put everyone else through that,” she said, her voice filled with sadness.

“So, you think what we had was nothing?” he was rightfully upset, but you didn’t know what else to tell him, he clearly wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“Please, Charles. This is hard enough as it is. Don’t make it harder than it already is okay. I know that one day you’ll find an amazing girl who will steal your heart and whom you will love 10 times more than me.” You put your hand on his cheek and felt his tears hit your thumb.

“That’s not possible, baby. I don’t want anyone else. We can make it work, please, you’re the one for me. I know it. I’ll never love anyone as much as I love you.” Charles pleaded.

“I love you too, Charles, so much.” You confessed to him. Even if you knew it wouldn’t help the situation at all. You felt the need to let him know that the feelings were not one sided. You loved this man with all your heart and if the circumstances were different, if you his rivals younger sister and if he wasn’t an F1 driver with the whole world watching his every move: You would probably get married, have a couple of kids and then grow old together. You would have the whole white picket-fence dream. But instead you were trapped in this situation and all you could do was try to let him go even if it was hard. 

“See, you love me too. Y/N, I promise that things will work out.” He took your hand in his and caressed your palm gently with his thumb. His touch felt so familiar and you just wanted to let all your walls down and let him love you, let yourself love him. But you knew you couldn’t.

“Charles, as much as I want that, it’s just make-believe. It will never work out the way we want to and everyone will be hurt in the end, honey.” You felt the nickname slip from your lips before you could stop it. It was what you called him all throughout your secret rendezvous and the simple word held so much meaning for both of you.

“I know that, baby. I just don’t want to let you go. You’re my favorite person in the whole world. I don’t know how I will ever move on from you.”  He seemed to finally give in and as much as it broke your heart you felt relief that he understood and didn’t argue more with you.

“I know it’s hard, honey. Which is why we can’t keep going back to each other from now on, okay? We can’t find an end to something that we keep beginning over and over again. From now on, I can’t be your friend or your lover, Charles. As much as it kills me inside I can’t hold you back from falling in love with somebody else.” You knew your words were harsh but you really needed to put an end to this here and now.

“I understand.” He put both of his hands on your cheeks and met your gaze. Both of your eyes were red from crying and held so many emotions and so much love for one another. “You’ll always be my person, no matter what happens or who I meet. If you ever change your mind I’ll be there for you with open arms no matter what. You’ll always have a piece of my heart Y/N. Please take care of it.”

“I will, I promise.” You vowed to him, your voice cracking as you tried to speak through your tears. “If things were different..” You tried to explain.

“Shh… Don’t worry about it, baby. You don’t have to explain.” He cut you off. “I’m not mad at you, I could never be mad at you.” 

Silence followed as both of you gazed into each other's eyes, trying to savor your last moments together as a couple before all you had left were the memories of better times.

“Can I kiss you one last time?” He asked quietly as if he was afraid of shattering the moment.

“Yes.” Was all you could say before his lips met yours in one final, heart shattering kiss. Your tears mixed as they ran down both of your cheeks. His hands were still on your cheeks and you felt him pushing your face closer to his. You pulled away for air and he did the same. 

“I’ll always love you, Charles.” You finally broke the silence.

“I’ll always love you too.” He said and you felt his soft hands leave your tear stained cheeks for the last time before he kissed your forehead and let go of you. You exited his driver’s room, heartbroken with only the memories of him left.

[lorei-writes]

Esther & Viva: Relationship Charts

It's been a minute ^^" Thank you for the tag, @ikeprinces-stuff >:) [OG post with the template]

Esther

Esther doesn't hold any overly strong feelings towards most of the princes. Overall, she tends to be positively inclined towards people.

Leon: Even though she wouldn't have chosen Leon as the king, Esther understands why he's been one of the strongest contestants for the title. She respects his care for people and his drive, his courageous, idealistic nature. She's happy to see him together with Viva -- she couldn't think of a better partner for her sister. He's like a brother to her.

Yves: Yves is something of a younger brother to Esther. She knows she's not in the position to do that, but a part of her wishes to keep him safe, or to at least cheer him up. (The feeling is mutual). They often bake together. (Yves absolutely does not understand how Esther ended up with Chevalier. He thinks she's too nice for him. He will chew him out if he hurts her.)

Jin: Jin is the person Esther approaches whenever any disputes arise between the domestic and the foreign affairs factions... at least when the matter is a bit more delicate and she can't risk troubling Viva. He's pleasant to work with -- he may joke around, but he will get things done, and he's never ignored anything of true significance. As for Jin, he enjoys the fact that she's responsive to his sense of humour.

Licht: They don't talk much. Since Licht is close to Yves, Esther likes him by proxy; he doesn't feel anything much about her... Although, perhaps, he's not particularly happy about how observant she tends to be.

Chevalier: Love that neither of them expected. (Clavis, however, did expect it and worked towards that end. It took almost two years.) In short, they see each other, with their weaknesses and strengths alike. Esther is the warmth Chevalier lacked, and he is her stability.

Clavis: Her boss! Her preposterous, terribly chaotic, friend of a boss, who never fails to put her in situations! Esther cares deeply about Clavis, but does he embarrass her sometimes -- and what is worse, he seems to enjoy it! She owes him a lot -- he's the inventor behind the medicine that keeps her symptoms in check, he's hired her, given her means of obtaining education, of proving herself, all the while teaching her other... practical skills. (Esther assisted during his experiments multiple times and as such, can replicate some of his concoctions. He's also taught her how to pick locks.) Esther has given up at stopping the "I will kill my older brother!" game. Instead, she's started carrying around bandages... After all, she understands that Clavis and Chevalier care for each other, however oddly that may present itself. As for Clavis: Esther has been an endless source of amusement for him. He shall never forget the day she yelled profanities at Chev while trying to get him to put her down. He enjoys her gentle kindness (and her persistence! Ha! Any other person would have given up on his insufferable older brother!), but he likes it even more when she snaps. He's seen her ill, he's seen her struggling. He's seen her pushing through work despite not feeling well. He's seen her standing proudly while in fear. He admires her endurance and willpower. He admires her generosity. He truly appreciates the fact that she can keep a secret... and he may like her baking, however boring it may be by his standards.

Nokto: They're casual acquaintances and mostly work together in the office.

Luke: ...Chevalier may not be particularly happy about it, but Esther's pastries are an effective Luke bait. They've both been raised as commoners, so they understand each other to an extent.

Sariel: Mutual respect for each other's work. The fact that Esther manages to work by Chevalier's standards only adds to that.

Rio: Rio works at the bookshop, together with Emma. Esther may occasionally see them, but there's no relationship there.

Silvio: A visiting prince. He has no interest in her. Esther has no interest in becoming of interest to him. Chevalier supports that.

Keith: Keith is close to Yves, so they had to meet eventually. Esther holds a lot of respect for Keith's policymaking. She also views him as a kind, gentle person... and she suspects he may be more than one person. On the other hand, Keith holds a lot of respect for Esther as a person. He's heard her story. He understands why she went after Viva... but he can't imagine standing up to Chevalier in that state. He considers her to be incredibly brave.

Gilbert: Politics are strongly involved. Gilbert wants to see whether Esther can become an exploitable weakness. Esther sees him as a threat, however, she is not afraid of him. Esther isn't concerned about being hurt, be it physically or emotionally. That indifference is something that prompts Gilbert to question her humanity. A beast should be able to identify one of its kind after all, no?

Viva

Oh, Viva is not as mellow as Esther.

Leon: She used to hate him, or the image of him she's conjured inside of her head. She fell for his kindness. His ideals swept her away. Leon has often been her lighthouse, and she's more than willing to be his warden. He's her lover, her ally, her King. She couldn't see anybody else in that role. As for Leon? She's his freedom, his brave lioness. He admires Viva's spirit, respects her ideals, her strength, the fact that her laughter has always been genuine. She's his sun, his lover, ally, his Queen.

Yves: Viva loves teasing him. Yves hates being teased. Nevertheless... They see each other as good people, that's for sure. (Although a part of Yves wishes that he could cast his spell on her and make her into a proper lady... Perhaps he may make that offer to her before a certain ball. Not because he cares, of course! Viva is simply hopeless!)

Jin: Old man Jin! He makes for a good drinking partner... and a good source of advice. Viva respects his expertise, his ability to keep his head cool. And he? He likes her spirited attitude, even when he's the one being burned by it. He could even call her his adorable younger sister.

Licht: They work and spar together. He's taught her how to take care of horses. Overall, the silence between them is comfortable, and Licht appreciates as much -- they can just share a space together without needing to fill it with pointless chatter. The only issue is, she still scolds him about the carrots... Although perhaps it's not the worst, since she also eats the carrots.

Chevalier: Oh, Viva dislikes him. If she could, she'd knock him down the peg. What does Esther see in him? Viva will never understand as much... but he cannot deny the fact that Chevalier cares for Esther, and that they seem happy together. The dislike is mutual. She's too loud and brash for him. They tolerate each other only because they need to -- close family and such. Chevalier wouldn't want to force Esther to alienate Viva, and Viva wouldn't want to make Esther choose between love and having a sister. (Ultimately, this may be for the national good also -- the sisters are much better at finding common ground between their respective factions than the leaders of said factions. And they all still need to agree on the budget. Annually.)

Clavis: Clavis is fun. Clavis is reasonable. They can understand each other. They're partners whenever anything needs to be handled quietly. Viva trusts Clavis, despite all the rumours surrounding him, and she can clearly see his merits. He appreciates her open mind, honesty, and willingness to put in the effort. And the fact that she can, has, and will speak her mind to Chevalier. That is always entertaining. They worked together to get Esther and Chevalier to finally confess. (Viva still can't believe she's done that... But, anything for family, no?)

Nokto: She's no fun to tease and he's generally not at the office whenever she swings by it. They work together, nothing more -- Viva can appreciate his skills, but it doesn't mean that she holds any personal feelings towards him.

Luke: They like to hang out together at times. Luke can understand the perspective of a commoner, but it's not just that -- he can sympathise with her former desire for revenge. At the end of the day, their stories aren't that different. Initially hearing her talk about it was upsetting, but later it's become soothing. She's like a big sister to him. Even though she steals his honey cookies. They do spar together.

Sariel: Viva respects his work. He does NOT want to think about her. He's repressed the fact that this troublemaker has become the next Queen of Rhodolite. When he sees her with Clavis? He turns on his heel. No. No. No. NO.

Rio: They only ever met in passing, while Viva and Leon sneaked out into the town. As such, there's no relationship to speak of there.

Silvio: He's. Insufferable. But he's also a prince, so she has to suffer him. Viva has bitten her tongue so many times while in Silvio's presence. Silvio, on the other hand, doesn't care much. He's there to jangle strike deals, after all.

Keith: Again, politics are involved, but Keith seems to be a nice enough person. Viva rather enjoys his mannerisms and the generally gentle attitude... and he's a little intimidated by how dominant she can be.

Gilbert: A pain in the neck. No, she's not afraid of him -- she's lived through poverty, days of heavy labour, seeing Esther wither away, and she herself narrowly avoided dying while trying to get her revenge. No amount of threats and bloodlust could get her to tremble. Viva is annoyed at her powerlessness in face of the Obsidianite military strength, however. And Gilbert? He doesn't care about her much. She's just a pawn... or he'd like to think that way. It is hard to predict movements of somebody as valiant and careless as Viva.

OC Tag List: @solacedeer @keithsandwich @bicayaya @faustianfascination

@sh0jun @queengiuliettafirstlady

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Andrew Roth at The Guardian:

Donald Trump’s choice of JD Vance as his vice-presidential pick has reignited fears in Europe that he would pursue a transactional “America first” foreign policy that could culminate in the US pushing for Ukraine to acquiesce to Vladimir Putin and sue for peace with Russia. “It’s bad for us but it’s terrible news for [Ukraine],” said one senior European diplomat in Washington. “[Vance] is not our ally.” Foreign diplomats and observers have frequently called Trump’s actual policies a “black box,” saying that was impossible to know for certain what the unpredictable leader would do when in power. Some have soothed themselves by suggesting that names tipped for top positions, such as former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, would maintain a foreign policy status quo while Trump focuses on domestic affairs.

But a prospective Trump administration now has a much more energetic surrogate who will fuel Trump’s skepticism towards Ukraine and Europe, while urging on the party’s aggressive trade and foreign policy elsewhere around the globe. “Senator Vance was one of the leading opponents of the new assistance package to Ukraine last spring and has expressed indifference to what happens in that war,” said Michael McFaul, director at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a former ambassador to Russia. “By choosing Vance as his running mate, Trump has clarified a very clear choice for American voters in November on foreign policy.” “President Biden’s foreign policy strategy radically contrasts with Mr Trump’s approach,” he said. “Biden and Harris have promoted democracy and stood up to autocrats. Trump and Vance have paid no attention to advancing democracy abroad and instead have embraced autocrats. The contrast in foreign approaches embraced by these two presidential candidates has never been clearer in my lifetime.”

In public, Vance has criticized US aid packages to Ukraine and pushed for negotiations with Russia, although Ukraine has said it did not wish to hold talks. He has accused the Biden administration of “micromanaging” Israel’s war in Gaza, and said that America should “enable Israel to actually finish the job”. He has advocated containment of China, saying that America was “spread too thin” in Europe and pushing for aggressive trade restrictions and intellectual property protections against China. [...] Vance also said he believed the Ukraine war “will end in a negotiated peace”, a view that appeared to be backed up on Tuesday by the Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, who has been traveling on a rogue “peace mission” to Moscow and Mar-a-Lago, wrote that Trump after the elections will begin acting as a “peace broker immediately”, even before his inauguration.

Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán are happy at the news that Donald Trump tapped anti-Ukraine Senator J.D. Vance to be on the ticket.

If the Trump/Vance ticket wins, Ukraine is done for and Russia would terrorize the Baltics and some of the former Warsaw Pact nations.

A vote for Biden (or Harris) would keep Ukraine strong, so vote Biden/Harris!

[dark-frosted-heart]

Book of Memories ~ Leon and Chevalier ~

Collection story

In Rhodolite, the country of art and roses, there are two types of princes: those who focus on the domestic affairs and those who focus on the foreign affairs.

These days the leaders of their respective factions do not get along in regards to politics - at all.

At a roundtable meeting, Leon and Chevalier are debating the best ways to allocate money and resources. Leon wants to send more aid to areas that have, due to heavy rainfall, been struggling to recover from disaster while Chevalier wants to increase the budget for the military because Obsidian's had some movements recently.

Just your usual roundtable meeting, but the annual budget meetings are extra tense. The court bureaucrats, especially Sariel, were at their wits' end. Said bureaucrat proposes they stop their meeting here for today. Once again, the meeting ends without a decision being made. Chevalier tells Leon to draw up a realistic budget proposal if he wants him to agree. Leon turns those words right back and Chev. They're starting to argue again, and Sariel has to stop them, again. He'd like it if those two could come to a compromise as it'd make it easier for everyone.

Chevalier: Why Leon: Sorry, can't do that with Chevalier Sariel: Just a suggestion...

Leon chuckles at Sariel's resignation before saying that they've been like this for years and everything's fine. He knows it's a pain for the bureaucrat but it'd be weird if they weren't like this, wouldn't it? Sariel asks Leon what he means and Chevalier answers that compromising is pointless. He leaves while Leon stays, staring at the door as if recalling a memory. Chev's always been disagreeable

- Flashback -

Leon: Hey...are you Chevalier?

It was only after the 2nd and 4th prince of Rhodolite grew up to some extent that the two met by chance. At the time, the 4th prince was a sickly boy who teetered between life and death many times over. Because of this, he rarely ever left his room and never met his brothers despite living in the same castle. To make up for it, after miraculously recovering from his incurable illness, he tried to make an effort to actively interact with them and found Chevalier alone in the library and calls out to him-

Chevalier: ...

Leon: Hey, did you hear me?

Chevalier: ...

Leon: ...

From an early age, the 2nd prince, Chevalier, was renowned as a child prodigy. Even in his sickbed, Leon had heard his and had always wanted to meet him. But when he finally met the prodigy, he didn't even take his eyes off his book to look at him.

Leon: Are you...unaware that I'm your brother?

Chevalier: ...

Leon: Right, we've never met. I'm Leon, the 4th prince. Nice to meet you.

Chevalier: ...

The hand he offers is ignored and his brows furrow.

Leon: Hey, say something...

Chevalier: ...

Leon: Chevalier

Chevalier: Be quiet, you're annoying. If that's all, then leave.

Leon: Huh...?

Chevalier's words were devoid of emotion it was hard to believe they were directed at a brother who was sick in bed.

Leon immediately understoo.

Leon: Sorry but I don't think I'll like you.

Chevalier: What a coincidence. I don't believe I'll get along with you either.

This meeting between two princes who would later be central figures, was terrible.

- End Flashback -

It's been a few hours since Leon came to the foreign affairs faction office with a draft of his proposal. The two are arguing again. This time, Jin tries to stop them. Clavis adds on that if they continue arguing, they'll go bald. Though it'd be amusing. Jin, who had come by the office since Leon was taking a while, and Clavis, who just came back, look at each other and nod. The former brings up how he received a nice bottle of wine from a count and proposes they have a drink. Clavis agrees since arguments can be settled with alcohol. Leon reminds Clavis that he doesn't drink; Clavis tells him not to worry about it. Jin says they should take a step back and regroup. Leon agrees and tells Chevalier to have another proposal ready by the day after tomorrow. He'll have one ready by then too. Chevalier stays silent and Leon tells him to at least answer.

Jin interrupts with alcohol; Clavis says Chevalier should participate once in a while. More silence.

Clavis: That's why you're a guy who can't read the room Leon: It's not a first. He's always been terrible at socializing. Clavis: Goodness...How can siblings be so different? Jin: The usual calm Leon doesn't ever back down when it comes to Chevalier.

At Jin's casual comment, Clavis gets a look as if he suddenly realized something. He asks Leon if something bad happened between them in the past since Chevalier's the only one he doesn't hold back with. Clavis proposes an alliance to overthrow the 2nd prince. Leon explains that the two had a huge fight a long time ago and he's just stopped caring ever since. It's a bittersweet memory.

As children, Leon would visit Chevalier every day in the library to try to talk to him. Even if they disliked each other and could never come to an agreement, they would eventually have to work together for their country. Leon thought that if he kept talking to him, they might be able to one day get along. That is, until one fateful day.

- Flashback -

Leon: Why are you here.

Chevalier: ...

The 4th prince, who had overcome his illness, liked to slip out of court from time to time to secretly go out into town. Eating delicious food, enjoying the hustle and bustle of the city, finding joy in once-in-a-lifetime encounters... One day while out enjoying town, he came across Chevalier.

Unlike Leon, who blends in, Chevalier has an obvious air of nobility that attracts curious gazes from those around him. Either he wasn't used to going out or he just didn't care about his surroundings...likely the latter.

Leon: Surprising to see you out here since you don't seem like the type that cares about the town. Did you come out because you felt trapped too?

Chevalier: Don't misunderstand. I'm out on an errand.

With a sigh, Chevalier turns on his heel.

Leon: Wait, you came at the right time. You can do anything, right? You're gonna help me.

Icy blue eyes turned to the young boy standing helplessly behind Leon.

Leon: This child seems lost, but I can't find his parents at all. I'd be reassuring if you looked with me.

Chevalier: I refuse.

Leon: I thought you were gonna say that. But just come here for a sec. (to the child) Oh, you stay right here okay? I'll be right back.

Boy: O-okay...

With a smile, he drags an annoyed Chevalier into a nearby alley.

Leon: As royalty, our duly's to protect the people and more importantly, the children. I don't think it's a good idea to abandon that duty and walk away.

Chevalier: Don't impose your values on me. The role of royalty is to keep the country as a whole alive, not to focus on every individual. What happens to that child is none of my concern. The country won't fall if he can't see his parents. Don't involve me in your righteousness; it's troublesome.

Leon: You...

As usual, Chevalier's sneer is without any warmth. Leon finds himself clutching his shirt. He couldn't forgive the prince for being so heartless.

Leon: I don't understand... Don't you have a soul?

Chevalier: It's unnecessary.

Leon: Are you kidding me? If royalty acts like that, then what are the people in need supposed to do? You can say that because you don't know anything about the pain of hunger or uncertainty of tomorrow.

Chevalier: You speak as if you understand.

Leon: ...

Chevalier: ... Let go of me. I'm not going to play along with your games.

Leon: Right...

- End flashback -

Leon: At the time, I thought I'd never understand Chevalier; and I didn't want to either.

Back in the domestic faction office, Leon tells the story with indifference as he looks over the budgeting materials. It was Jin who gave up on the drinking party and offered to help rewrite the proposal. Hearing the story, Jin didn't think their disagreements started at such a young age. But it's what you can expect from Chevalier, Leon replies. In hindsight, he was immature. He was trying his best, but perhaps he wasn't "Leon" at that time. Jin asks if they ever made up. The opposite happened, actually.

- Flashback -

The day after their fight in the city, Chevalier was reading a book in the library as usual. Leon approaches the prince who acts as if the previous day never happened. He doesn't even look up from his book when Leon stands next to him.

Leon: I don't think we'll ever understand each other.

Leon speaks up suddenly. The sickly prince tried to bridge the gap with every sibling, but on this day, he ended up disheartened at the fact that Chevalier was the only one different from the rest.

Chevalier: We don't need to understand each other.

Chevalier, who was usually silent, gave a rare response. He closed his book, stood up from his seat, and went to another bookshelf, but his attention was still on Leon.

Chevalier: Why do we need to be aligned with each other in the first place? If you're displeased with how I do things, you can do them your own way. Just because it's not my way does not mean I will deny yours.

Leon: You...that's unfair

Chevalier: You're just childish and inexperienced. You're convinced that your own ideas are correct and reject other views with a sense of one-sided righteousness.

Leon: ...

Chevalier: Yesterday you said something about royalty... It would be better if we saw things differently. That would broaden your horizons. There are those interested in the people, while others are interested in the country as a whole. Combined, there would be no blind spots.

Chevalier, who had picked a different book, returns to his seat and glances at Leon.

Chevalier: Neither of us will compromise with each other.

A heavy silence envelops the library as if to say that the conversation was over. Leon, who had been listening with his lips pursed, lowers his head.

Leon: Sorry for pushing my ideas onto you.

Chevalier: ...

Leon: But I have no regrets. We'll never compromise.

Chevalier: ...

Chevalier laughs scornfully and opens his book without saying anything more. Leon just shrugged and turned his back on him.

- End Flashback -

A few days later, they have their next budget meeting and it's finally come to some resolution. Leon apologizes for putting Sariel through this for so long. The bureaucrat doesn't mind as it's just work for him. He then takes his leave first, not even hiding the fact that he was in a good mood. As Chevalier's about to head out, Leon grabs his arm. He asks Chevalier if he has any plans for the rest of the day. They could go out for a drink. Chevalier refuses. Then Leon's going to bring Clavis, Jin, and the alcohol to his library later. Chevalier looks at him with blatant disgust and asks why he has to deal with them. Leon replies with that's just his way of doing things.

Chevalier reminds Leon of how he once said they'd never understand each other. Leon acknowledges that, but hasn't given up on him. They don't need to agree with each other. Chevalier sighs and waves before flipping his cape and walking away.

Unlike in the past, the two are able to properly look at each other and talk.

Leon: He's still a jerk.

The two are by no means close, but they're leaders of their respective factions that protect the country of art and roses. In this way, they continue to build toward the future while still clashing with each other's beliefs.

[thoughtlessarse]

Kai Wegner, Berlin’s conservative mayor, recently embraced the antisemitic conspiracy theorist Elon Musk. But Wegner’s relationship to Berlin’s former interior senator Heinrich Lummer raises even more questions. Heinrich Lummer, West Berlin’s interior senator from 1981 to 1986, has largely been forgotten. At most, a scandal or two from the conservative politician’s time in office has remained in the city’s collective memory. For years, the staunch anti-communist had an affair with an agent from East Germany’s Ministry for State Security (Stasi), making himself vulnerable to blackmail. In 1981, Lummer ordered the eviction of eight squats, during which the 19-year-old squatter Klaus-Jürgen Rattay was pushed under the wheels of a bus and died. A handmade memorial plaque in the sidewalk at Potsdamer Straße 125 still commemorates his death. Lummer’s career came to an end in 1986 due to a realty scandal. It was later revealed that the right-wing hardliner had allegedly donated thousands of marks to right-wing extremists in 1971. Today, one influential Berlin politician thinks this resume deserves admiration. After Lummer’s death in 2019, Kai Wegner wrote: “He was a strong personality in the Berlin CDU.” Wegner said Lummer was “unforgotten”: “Many will remember him as someone who consistently enforced internal security and order,” the Facebook post reads. “This didn’t just win him friends, but it showed his clear stance.” Today, the writer of that obituary is mayor of Berlin. Lummer stood out with one topic in particular since the end of the 1990s: his hatred of Jews. In 1997, Lummer spoke out against Jewish immigration to the Federal Republic of Germany in the Ostpreußenblatt, today called the Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung. The country already had too many foreigners — and its foreign policy on questions relating to Israel was largely “determined by others.” Lummer’s antisemitism was so clear that he was denied entry to Israel in 1998. The following year, in an interview with the right-wing newspaper Junge Freiheit, he said the Berlin Holocaust memorial had only been built due to pressure from the “American East Coast.” In another interview, he wondered if forced labor under the Nazis had really been “so terrible and low-paid.” After all, “there has always been forced labor in the context of war.” When CDU politician Martin Hohmann (now AfD) gave an antisemitic speech in 2003, Lummer was one of the initiators of a solidarity declaration. Further right-wing bugaboos completed Lummer’s world view. In 1999, again in the Ostpreußenblatt, he wrote that the German people were in danger of disappearing due to mass immigration, encouraged by foreign powers. Today, this far-right conspiracy theory is known as the “Great Replacement.” In 2001, Lummer signed a petition in support of Götz Kubitschek, today an ideologue of the neo-fascist Right, and in 2006, he signed another petition for Junge Freiheit. None of this is a secret. Lummer’s Wikipedia page in German contains an entire section on his antisemitism. How does Wegner respond?

continue reading

[mariacallous]

White smoke in Brussels.

The 27 leaders of the European Union have agreed on the bloc's political leadership for the next five years: Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission, António Costa as president of the European Council, and Kaja Kallas as the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Leaders on Thursday also approved the Strategic Agenda, a document with broad brushstrokes of ambitions that is meant to guide the future work of the three appointees.

Von der Leyen and Kallas's nominations are not final and still require confirmation by the European Parliament. By contrast, Costa, a former prime minister of Portugal, is automatically elected by his former peers. He will take office on 1 December.

"I would plain and simply like to express my gratitude to the leaders who endorsed my nomination for a second mandate," von der Leyen said. "I am very honoured."

"It is with a strong sense of mission that I will take up the responsibility of being the next President of the European Council," Costa said, thanking his socialist family and the Portuguese government for their backing. "I will be fully committed to promoting unity between all 27 member states and focused on putting on track the Strategic Agenda."

"This is an enormous responsibility at this moment of geopolitical tensions," Kallas said in a statement, promising to work "with pleasure" with both von der Leyen and Costa. "I will be at the service of our common interests," she added. "Europe should be a place where people are free, safe and prosperous."

Party negotiators had preemptively sealed the three-pronged deal during a call on Tuesday and tabled their proposal on Thursday evening. After a debate among all heads of state and government, the accord received the formal blessing.

The talks between the centrist parties had angered those left on the sidelines, most notably Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who lashed out at the "surreal" way in which the top-jobs package was assembled. Meloni, who rules the bloc's third-largest economy, called for greater inclusion and deeper discussions.

"It seems to me that, so far, there's been an unwillingness to account for the message delivered by citizens at the ballot box," Meloni said on the eve of the summit.

Hungary's Viktor Orbán was more scathing, calling the deal "shameful."

Their public grievances contrasted with the apparent coolness of other dignitaries, such as Germany's Olaf Scholz and France's Emmanuel Macron, who were intent on wrapping up the process in a swift, uncomplicated manner.

"We are living in difficult times. We are faced with major challenges, not least Russia's terrible war of aggression against Ukraine. It is therefore important that Europe prepares itself now for the tasks that need to be tackled," Scholz said upon arrival.

Diplomats in Brussels were concerned that, due to the volatile geopolitical environment surrounding the bloc, the image of leaders haggling over well-paid positions for hours on end would seem out of touch.

These worries, coupled with a lack of credible alternatives, made the negotiations easier and helped positions coalesce around the three names.

"Democracy is not only about blocking, democracy is about who wants to work together, and those three groups are willing to work together to the benefit of all Europeans," said Belgium's Alexander De Croo, rebuking Meloni's criticism.

"What we need in the next five years is political stability and being able to act fast."

In the end, Meloni voted against Costa and Kallas, and abstained on von der Leyen, several diplomats told Euronews, a largely symbolic move to express her displeasure. For his part, Orbán voted against von der Leyen, abstained on Kallas and supported Costa.

Asked about Meloni's abstention, von der Leyen said it was "important to work well" with Italy "like with all other member states."

"This is a principle for me which I follow all the time," she noted.

The chosen ones

For those following European politics, the chosen ones are familiar faces.

The Commission presidency goes to the incumbent, Ursula von der Leyen, the Spitzenkandidat (lead candidate) of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP).

Since announcing her re-election bid in February, von der Leyen, the first woman to captain the executive, had been the indisputable frontrunner thanks to her high political profile, built up while weathering the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war.

During the campaign, she infuriated progressives when she made overtures to Meloni's hard right. But the EPP's comfortable victory in the June elections, with 188 MEPs, lessened Rome's importance in the equation and allowed her to change her tune. Von der Leyen has promised to build a strong centrist coalition to support her next term.

At a distant second came the Socialists & Democrats (S&D), with 136 seats. The family will see one of its most recognisable faces, former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, take the reins of the European Council, succeeding Charles Michel.

Although the Council presidency lacks legislative powers, the back-to-back succession of global crises that have hit the bloc in the last five years has increased the job's political relevance and media exposure, making it a coveted prize for the centre-left.

Costa's ascendancy, however, comes with a question mark: his stay in power was cut short in November 2023, when he resigned after several members of his cabinet were accused of corruption and influence peddling in the concession of lithium mining, green hydrogen and data centre projects. Costa has not been formally charged but his exact participation in the irregular deals has not yet been clarified. He denies any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, the liberals of Renew Europe, who fell hard from 102 to 75 seats, have secured the position of High Representative for Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, a leading figure in the bloc's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Kallas was initially considered too outspoken and hawkish for the office, which is supposed to act as the common voice of the 27 member states vis-à-vis the international community. But concerns around her suitability gradually dwindled and her name, previously linked to the NATO secretary general job, was greenlighted.

Despite its prominence, the High Representative is inherently constrained by the principle of unanimity that rules the EU's foreign policy. If confirmed by the Parliament, Kallas will replace Josep Borrell, who has often been accused of going off-script.

With von der Leyen, Costa and Kallas picked for the top jobs, EU leaders ensure the distribution reflects the bloc's political and geographical diversity and maintains gender balance. Additionally, Costa, whose father was half French-Mozambican and half Indian, is set to become the first non-white person to occupy a top job in the bloc's history.

The selection can be seen as recognition of centrist parties, who held their ground in the elections and defied ominous predictions of a far-right surge. Von der Leyen is already negotiating with the Socialists and Liberals to design a common programme.

On Thursday evening, the incumbent left open the door to invite MEPs from other parties to form a "broad majority for a strong Europe."

[legendheroes]

Rank the heroes on how good their sleep schedule is. The highest having the most consistent and god-tier sleep schedule there is and the lowest being needed to knock-out cold just for them to sleep

Takuya: My sleep schedule is fine.

Daisuke: Takki, do ya have a part-time job or something tho?

Takuya: Of course I have! I’m studying and training to be a professional soccer player after all!

Takato: And you live in Italy now, right…?

Takuya: Yup!

Daisuke: But we’re in Japan right now, so… How can you not get… Y’know, jetlag?

OG Taichi: Uh Daisuke you also travel around the world in seconds and never had that problem before…?

Daisuke: Huh, didn’t I tell y’all? World travel via the Digital World is not that bad… I think.

Takuya: Wait, you asked me a question and won’t even let me answer that?! 💧

Daisuke: Ya know, it’s like… The atmosphere of the Digital World is different from the human world’s atmosphere so the whole jetlag thing doesn't happen that often!

Takato/OG Taichi: Oooh…

Takuya: That makes no sense tho…

Masaru: The question wasn’t about traveling, you’re going off-topic 💧

Takuya: It was Daisuke who started it!!

Daisuke: My question does have to do with the question! Because your body has to readjust to the current time and it might make you feel exhausted or something!

Takato: Oh, that’s right.

Takuya: [muttering] At least no one is asking me why I moved to Italy tho…

Tagiru: Uhh… My sleep schedule is fine! At least now!

Takato: Ah, you had that strange dream every time you fell asleep, right?

Tagiru: Yup! And I couldn’t sleep well, It was terrible.

Daisuke: I think the younger-ones get to have a more balanced and healthy sleep schedule like the older-ones here… [sighs]

OG Taichi/Takato: Haha… 💧

Takuya: Seriously, my sleep schedule is fine too! What’s wrong with y’all?! What’s makin’ the oldies be soooooooooo messed up?!

OG Taichi/Daisuke/Takato: A ton of things, actually…

Tagiru: ? What’s wrong guys?

OG Taichi: A lot, actually. I’m working at a special department for the digimon at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and there’s a lot of work regarding a certain incident happening back home… You know, big things. And also…

Daisuke: I’ve been stuck for almost a whole year in your and Taiki’s world and I probably got kicked out from my culinary classes, might have lost my internship with a ramen restaurant and…

Takato: Someone said in the future artists will be replaced with AI and then my job as freelancer designer will end up doomed. So I’m concerned that…

Takuya: Wow folks… Could you… lighten it up a little here?

Daisuke: What do ya mean?!

Takuya: I know it’s hard, but… You all need to think about your health first! If you don’t relax a little bit, you might not even find the solution for your problems and it will make you even more worse.

Masaru: He’s right, and you three know it.

OG Taichi: I never expected Takuya to tell us something like that.

Takuya: W-what?! 💢

Daisuke: Hey… Workin’ hard is good but TOO HARD is bad, right? Takki’s right, we need to chill!

Tagiru: The newest heroes from different futures are also fighting their own battles too! We’re their predecessors, we MUST give them a good example!

Takato: Yes, we’re their seniors after all.

Masaru: Alright, but have you seen the other spiky headed kiddo?

Tagiru: You mean Taiki-san?

Masaru: Yup.

Tagiru: Ah, he had some stuff to do and– Oh. You mean HE needed to listen to that lesson too, right?

Masaru: Yup, because he’s probably the only of the youngest heroes who had screwed up his sleep schedule and is deep down in this rank thing.

Everyone: . . .💧

[antoine-roquentin]

Nobody knows Maurice Tempelsman these days, but once upon a time he was hot shit both in terms of political connections and conspiracy fodder. Getting out of Antwerp in 1940, his dad was prominent in the diamonds industry, which meant he had an in to all sorts of mining concerns especially around Africa. At the same time, his family’s firm ended up hiring Adlai Stevenson as a lawyer. Stevenson was the Democratic presidential candidate in 1952 and 1956 chosen by the Roosevelt wing of the party, so of course he made all sorts of political connections. Finally, in 1950, Tempelsman managed to sell the Pentagon on buying diamonds for defense applications in bulk from his company, bringing him into the military-industrial complex.

Tempelsman worked heavily in the Congo. George Wittman, CIA case officer, was his representative there until 1963. He was replaced by Marc Garsin, a boisterous Belgian agricultural engineer with a big moustache. In 1976, Garsin was replaced by Larry Devlin, the CIA’s station chief in Kinshasa until he was forced out by pressures related to the Church Committee and the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

Garsin said some really wacky shit when he was finally pinned down for an interview in January 2005, which was strangely truncated, poorly formatted, and spread across multiple sources:

Q: You were working with Maurice Tempelsman until when?

Garsin: 1982 . . . I enjoyed every minute of it. After Africa they [Tempelsmans] sent me to South America. That was much better. Peru mostly. Chile. I was there of course when there was a revolution! I’ve got great fond memories to speak about Messr. Pinochet. . . .Let me tell you that the Allende years were not the sweetest years you could imagine. . . . Tempelsman was quite involved with the Kennedys.

Q: It’s been said that Maurice Tempelsman was also seeing Madeleine Albright. . . .

Garsin: That must have been after my time. In my time it was Jackie. She was a lovely woman. . . . And she loved Maurice. She really loved him. . . .

She learned her trade the hard way. Campaigning. . . . She was so good at it.

Who am I? . . . But when I was in the room with her — I was number one. She was fantastic at doing that! Pushing your guy up. . . . She knew how to do it. She was a great woman!

Maurice had this crazy way of always asking questions. And one day we had the Russians for lunch. The Russians were here to buy wheat. New York was in a terrible financial state at the time and Maurice asked the Russians —

“What would you advise New York to do?”

And the Russians said, “If you don’t have the money, don’t spend it.”

And I had it here [thinking to say], “If you don’t have the wheat, don’t eat.”

And Maurice knew me very well, and he knew what was coming. And Jackie was there. He looked at me as if to say, “Shut up!” He didn’t say it but he didn’t have to say it.

At his place I met nearly every Senator, every member of the House — for lunch ­ the ones important. And I tell you something, there is not one who had it! The people who are governing us are idiots. Believe it or not. . . . Tempelsman had the biggest fundraiser [and I was introduced]: “Mr. Garsin from Kinshasa”. And they’d say — “Where’s Kinshasa?” People who were in charge of foreign affairs! At a time when there was a big business [in Africa] . . . Where’s Kinshasa. . .

Solarz. You remember Solarz? He was a member of the House from Brooklyn. He asked, “Where is Kinshasa?” He was a member of the foreign affairs committee.

It’s a bunch of zeroes! It’s a bunch of zeroes! All of them. The only one who made me laugh was Koch. . . .

Q: Sally Quinn was on Charlie Rose after the inauguration talking about how George Bush may have a “learning disability”. . . .

Garsin: Clinton was not better you know. I know people who told me. I’m not going to tell you who told me — but they said I’ve been a friend of this guy for 15 years but I’m not going to vote for him.

And you go abroad and it’s even worse. Even worse! Politicians. All of them. More than 50% of the House in Belgium after the war were checked for collaboration. And those people are trying to teachs us morals? Perfectly crooked . . . My son for a while was living in Holland. You can’t live in that country anymore.

Q: Drugs.

Garsin: If you’re robbed you’ve got to say thank you. It’s not going to last. It’s not going to last. We’re going to see a binge one of these days like in Chile.

Q: What do you think about all the security now here in the US? Overreaction?

Garsin: What’s the opposite solution? . . . I don’t know. I don’t like to get a bomb every time I cross the street. Something has to be done. But what? How?

Q: Organized crime. William Colby, former Director of the CIA before he died, said it’s possible that organized crime is “calling the shots” at all levels of government. And then he died mysteriously.

Garsin: It’s obvious.

But when they speak about torture, it’s hypocrisy! It’s been going on for years. I was talking to a Frenchman, a veterinarian who was taking care of all the animals for Mobutu. Mobutu had a zoo at the time. . . . He told me — “We did that in Algeria. We tortured people.” And he was the sweetest guy I ever met. . . .

And I asked him, “How can you do that [torture]?”

He said, “I promise you — you’d do it.”

“I would do it? Why?”

“You know that the guy knows something that’s going to kill your friends — you’ll do it.”

I’ve been thinking maybe he’s right. I don’t know. He was the sweetest guy you could imagine. And you realize — he said to me, “I torture people” . . .

Tempelsman was doing business in the Congo on behalf of American Metals Climax, which exported copper and diamonds from the colony. Part of this involved aiding Moise Tshombe’s Republic of Katanga, a breakaway province that declared independence about three weeks after the anti-colonialist leader Patrice Lumumba was elected Prime Minister. Part of this involved an interesting deal involving Congolese uranium. In a meeting on July 27 1960, Lumumba announced to the American Secretary of State Christian Herter that he was willing to sell his country’s uranium to the highest bidder, whether that be America or the Soviet Union. At the time, Soviet sources of uranium outside of its country had through diligent work been curtailed, resulting in a limited supply of nuclear weapons relative to America’s stockpile. Suddenly, Leon Tempelsman and Son reported in September that the Pentagon wanted to do a deal for diamonds worth tens of millions, a strange commodity given that they had already stockpiled more than enough for years.

Perhaps the strangest part of all has to do with the CIA’s “executive action” program, a euphemism for assassination. Officially, the CIA initiated ZR/RIFLE in the fall of 1961, with the groundwork being laid in the spring of that year. The term is important. The CIA piggybacked on the State Department’s network of communications around the world, often in the form of telephone cables hooked up to machines that could encode and decode various messages. In order to ensure a degree of secrecy, even within these messages references to operations and people were never written directly. Instead, people were first given pseudonyms, and then they were given “crypts”. Consisting of two letters referring to an area of operations or sometimes a type, they were followed by a single word. What this word would be depends on who was naming it. Often, it was the young women the CIA used as typists around the world, resulting in names like LI/PSTICK referring to phone tapping and surveillance around Mexico City. Other times, CIA station chiefs (GS-13s, current salary $84,546.00 to $109,908.00) would compete to name things in a way that would be popular among readers as they were shared out loud at CIA HQ (as told by John Stockwell). LI was the digraph for Mexico. LI/TEMPO-1 was the nephew of Mexican president Gustavo Diaz Ordaz. LI/TEMPO-2 was Ordaz himself. LI/TEMPO-8 was Mexican president Luis Echeverria Alvarez, and so on.

ZR was not a digraph for a country. It referred to CIA Directorate of Operations, formerly the Office of Operations, also known as Staff D. because of a memo from 9 Dec 1946. Here’s a document the CIA wrote up for the Church Committee on ZR/RIFLE:

Why were they interested in QJ/WIN? This was the codename for a group of people hired for “sabotage and assassination” activity in Eastern Europe in the early 1950s. They were recruited by QJ/BANNER-1 Arnold Silver, head of the Luxembourg station, and thus placed under the digraph associated with that country. QJ/WIN-1 was assigned the pseudonym Jose Marie Andre Mankel, likely real name Jose Moise Czeschlak. QJ/WIN-1 had a long history of smuggling, including 3 convictions for narcotics, and was a typical choice for moving material. He hired a pilot for the Tempelsman job on November 21 1960, DM/LIVID-1. However, he was also the subject of a cable that was by far the earliest slugged ZR/RIFLE on November 1 1960, simply specifying that his identity was not known to Mobutu Sese Seko. The Church Committee ultimately concluded that he was used for a “one-shot assassination attempt”, which they found odd given his normal area of expertise. Ultimately, the bulk of the ZR/RIFLE program was targeted in a completely different area of the world: the order to kill Fidel Castro came down a year later in November 1961, 6 months after the program’s head, CIA agent William Harvey, had begun to hire mafia figures like Santos Trafficante and Meyer Lansky. Many of these figures were ultimately fingered repeatedly in the Kennedy assassination, leading to questions of whether QJ/WIN-1 had anything to do with it. There’s no record of just how Czeschlak got into the Congo, but there’s a decent chance Tempelsman could have helped given his own role in the program. And who is that pictured with Tempelsman on the tabloid cover, a woman who he was involved with at the very least from 1980 to 1994? It’s JFK’s widow, Jackie Onassis. Could this Holocaust survivor have committed the ultimate cucking?

On the board of executives for American Metals Climax with Tempelsman was Harold Hochschild, who also worked with him at the African-American Institute. This will be important later.

[choices-binglebonkus]

Top Ten Books/Series I forgot existed

So this has been sitting in my drafts for like a month or two and I just got an ask that made me want to actually post it. I think I made this simply because I was bored, couldn’t sleep, and enjoy making lists, so I decided to make a top ten list featuring books/series that I totally forgot about because…they’re just forgettable, no two ways about it. Because let’s be real here: there are great Choices books, there are terrible Choices books, and there are Choices books that are like…hey…hi…I’m just kinda here.

10. Shipwrecked. PLEASE do not quote me on this, but I *think* it released sometime this past year. Honestly most of the reason this book suffered was due to the lack of interesting characters, or characters in general because off the top of my head all I can remember are the MC, the LI, Dr. Hale, and the LI’s old business partner but I can’t even remember their name at this point. Hell, I can’t even remember much of the plot, and even after playing a chapter I remember forgetting almost everything about it pretty much immediately.

9. Wishful Thinking. I actually quite liked this book. It was lighthearted and pretty fun during a time where we needed some lightheartedness to balance out the more intense/angsty book releases. But unfortunately, the plot itself was kinda meh, and since it was a standalone, there was no real reason to remember it. Even worse, this book began the unfortunate trend of reusing background characters as MC’s “close friends”.

8. Foreign Affairs. Remember when FA was announced and, the dumbasses that we were, we were all convinced it would save the fandom from the book drought? Yeah…it feels like such a distant memory now. The book seemed really, really promising. And it could have been. But holy hell, it was executed so poorly and the premise of the plot was so flimsy. What I once thought would be a great book is now one of the ones I just squint at when I remember it even exists.

7. A Very Scandalous Proposal. I’ve talked about this one a little bit before. The main appeal of AVSP was Simon/Ava. If you didn’t like them? Tough shit, buddy. The main goal of the book was to uncover the secrets of the Montjoy family. Unfortunately, PB didn’t give us a reason to care about or find interest in said Montjoy family, which is probably why the book faded from my memory so quick.

6. Passport to Romance. This is kind of a weird one for me. I forget it exists most of the time, but then when I do remember it, I remember how truly terrible it was, while most of the other books on this list aren’t very fresh in my memory. It was so unimpressive, bland, and the characters were tolerable at best and obnoxious at worst (ELLIOT LANGDON).

5. Rising Tides. The book was okay…but it pushed a generic “save the earth” message while forcing us to pay to clean the town. The MC was a sidekick in her own story which would’ve been fine, but Charlie was such an annoying character that it wasn’t even enjoyable. Also, the Big Bads conceded waaaaay too easily at the end. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that I forgot about this book in less than a week after the final chapter aired.

4. Witness: A Bodyguard Romance. Believe it or not, despite how awful this book was, I forgot about it pretty quickly. It could’ve been a really cool story, but it focused too heavily on romance when the MC and Cassian’s lives were on the line quite literally at every second. Other than that…I truthfully do not remember much about this book other than the Irish mob.

3. Ms. Match. This book was decent enough and it didn’t stop releasing until that long ago. However, the plot was one of those “fight to reach the top and win the competition” plots which quite frankly have been overdone in Choices for a few years now. Not to mention, there weren’t a lot of interesting characters except for Maggie and maaaaaybe the MC’s dad but that’s pushing it a little. The reason it’s so high on this list is because it didn’t end that long ago, yet I can’t seem to remember a damn thing about the book, other than that I HATED the love interest.

2. Home for the Holidays. Many moons ago, this was considered one of the worst, if not, THE worst, book in Choices. And many moons ago, I agreed. But the horrific mediocrity of this holiday flurry of fuck was outshined by some truly awful stories and simply faded into obscurity.

1. Sunkissed. As I made this list, I scrolled through the series on the app, and while most books on this list elicited an “oh yeah, I kinda remember this” from me, when I saw this one, I was like “holy shit, I completely forgot this book was even a thing”. While Home For the Holidays and Sunkissed are both sort of (for lack of a better word) Hallmark-y, Sunkissed was longer and, in my opinion, a little sloppier. The book just wasn’t sure what it wanted to be. A lighthearted summer beach romance? A tale of a family’s struggles with grief and interpersonal conflict in the wake of a father and husband’s untimely death? Fuck it, we’ll uncomfortably cram BOTH into the main plot, execution be damned!

[docgold13]

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

December 16th - Ant Man / Hank Pym

Doctor Henry ‘Hank’ Pym was an American entomologist, biochemist, roboticist, engineer, physicist and superhero adventurer.  Early in his career as an experimental physicist, he discovered a rare subatomic matter he named ‘Pym Particles.’ These particles can be used to increase or decrease the size and mass of objects or living beings without negatively affecting the physical integrity of the mass.  Pym was able synthesize the particles thus enabling him to decrease his size to mere millimeters or grown into a towering giant.  Inexplicably, this size-alteration does not affect the integrity of mass; hence Pym maintained his regular-sized strength when shrunken down nor was his lungs or skeletal structure overtaxed while in giant form.  

Pym married Maria Trovaya, the daughter of an acclaimed Hungarian entomologist.  Maria was abducted by agents of an unspecified foreign government on the couple’s honeymoon, believing that Pym worked U.S. State department and he would offer up state secrets in exchange for her release.  Maria attempted to escape and was tragically killed.  

Pym returned home and, as a means to try to cope with his bereavement, threw himself into his work.  He ended up devising a special helmet that enabled him to communicate and control insects of the formicidae family (any breed of ant).  Pym would go on build a specialized suit and used his Pym Particles to become the super hero known as Ant-Man.  Battling crime beside his future second wife, Janet Van Dyne, who had taken on the mantle of the Wasp, the pair would have numerous adventures together.  Later the two became founding members of the Avengers, ‘Earth's Mightiest Heroes.’  Pym remained a member of the Avengers for many years.

Throughout much of his life, Pym had coped with undiagnosed bipolar disorder.  He experienced crippling episodes of depression and self-hatred followed by times of manic energy directed toward scientific discovery and invention.  Pym’s times of self reproach often resulted in efforts to reinvent his super hero guise and he cycled through numerous alternate hero identities (including Giant Man, Goliath and Yellowjacket).  Whereas his times of manic ingenuity often resulted in poor judgement and impulsive decisions where his scientific genius created dangerous machines and inventions.  

One such invention was the deadly android, Ultron, who would go on to become a terrible threat and reoccurring foe to The Avengers.

Pym’s difficulties worsened after the creation of Ultron and he became more unstable and even violent.  He lashed out at his wife, Janet, striking her in the face and built a robotic weapon he planned on unleashing on the Avengers so he could defeat it and show his worth.  It all went very poorly and it led to Pym being kicked out of the Avengers.  Soon thereafter, Jan filed for divorce.

Pym finally entered into treatment and made vast improvements.  He went on to become a member of the West Coast Iteration of The Avengers before finally returning to the main Avengers team.  Although he was not able to fully reconcile with his ex-wife, Janet, the two did manage to rekindle their friendship.  

Some time thereafter, Pym was abducted by a Super Skrull agent who replaced him in the build up to the Skrull’s Secret Invasion.  This Skrull version of Pym entered into a romance with fellow Avenger, Tigra, and their affair resulted in Tygra becoming pregnant.  

The real Pym finally returned and went on to establish the Avengers Academy.  He met Tigra’s son and determined that Skrull who had impersonated him did so on an entirely genetic level, leaving no trace of Skrull DNA and making the lad Pym’s biological son.  It made for a peculiar situation but Pym was willing to be as involved in his son’s life as Tigra wanted him to be.  

Some time thereafter, Pym perished in battle, sacrificing himself to put a stop to a deadly scheme orchestrated by Ultron.  Following his death, it was discovered that his first wife, Maria, was pregnant at the time of her abduction and bore a daughter named Nadia just prior to her death.  Nadia was raised in Russia but emigrated to the United States and has gone on to become the young heroine known as the second Wasp.

Actor Michael Douglas portrays a version of Hank Pym in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The troubled hero first appeared in the pages of Strange Tales #75 (1960).  

[hosannan]

Powdered Promises { Ares & Nanna

lionscion asked: [ Make a Request ] - to your overseers to provide you with your favorite snacks and directions to the nearest bathroom. "Nanna…?!" He saw it. Ares knew he did. As his Earth elemental 'patron' was plucking him from his latest escape attempt and dropping him back into the ballroom from above, Ares could have sworn he saw a particular feather flitting amongst the crowd of captive partygoers. The one time he wished this thing would pick him up again, it had to be when he thought he might have spied his cousin he'd been searching so feverishly for. Unfortunately, he was back on the patterned stone floor too quickly, well before his eyes could keep up with the movement of the crowds to pin that blonde hair down before it was lost again. "Nanna!" It was left up to his voice, which fought against the cacophony of music and babbling to be heard above it all, and his legs, which struggled to find the room to run on a dance floor so crowded. "Answer me Nanna!" It didn't take long to realize it was a losing battle against this veritable sea, drowning in bodies no matter how many he muscled past in search of a glimpse of that feather again. Part of him began to wonder if he'd imagined it, sight choked by all the lights and fairy dust, or if she'd suddenly been whisked away again… The terrible thought hadn't even finished fully crossing his mind when that stretched blinking feeling happened again, slowing into the longest half-second of his life. As before, when one moment crossed to the next, he found himself standing in a different place. There was no spontaneous wardrobe change this time, much to his relief, and it looked like he was still surrounded on all sides by noisy 'guests'…so what had changed? Why was it changed? He searched for some reason, not sure what he should even be looking for…until the edge of that same feather tickled right beyond the end of his nose. "Nanna…" A small, silent gasp escaped as he called out one more time, the crowd suddenly and inexplicably parted to create a clear and easy path for Ares to see her face staring back at him. Several long, swift strides were all he needed to reach her, gently but firmly clasping his hands around her arms and shoulders. Nothing was going to rip her out of his grasp this time. "So you ended up here…" After some time, that underlying tension choking his voice had finally begun to crumble under the breath of a quiet sigh. Fine brows now formed a set of steep, upwards curves, softening the sharpness in his yellow eyes as he leaned down to better meet his with hers. "…Are you alright?" She looked immaculate in her elegant ballroom dress, a better state than he ever could have hoped to find her in, yet he still could not keep his fingers from so carefully tracing and touching around her shoulders and neck. The image of that damned cat fitting all of it so easily around its maw still burned brightly in his mind's eye and sent his heart into his stomach. Checking himself, confirming her unbroken bones and skin between his own hands, was the only thing eased it.

What could she say? All this talk of a foreign academy and not once had it been mentioned that she may have been at risk at being "kitnapped" by a cat! There was no wonder her cousin could not ascertain why their correspondence had dropped suddenly! If this was what he had to traverse from the day to day, it was even fortunate that he would remain in one piece to greet her... Let alone sane enough to relish in her company!

One mix up after the next, Nanna was thankful that Caeldori had crossed paths with her when she did. Because it allowed her to temper her mind, honing her senses on getting back to Ares by any means possible. Unfortunately, things had not played out as she had planned, and she fell into complicity. All these courtly affairs were spinning her on her head, tempting her with ballroom gestures and gemstones that met her height. It would be remiss to say she didn't notice the large crickets crooning away on leaf violins or rats serving their soups, but all in all, these spirits had her adrift in something of mere fantasy.

Since she had been whisked away, thrown straight into the ballroom attire she had been preparing for nearly a month now, Nanna thought it would be an injustice not to hold herself to this banquet. Façade as it was, she would play herself the fool until she could spring into action properly.

But first... She needed to note who had been wrangled in along-side her. Hopefully not her fiance nor her mother.... nor even—

"...Ares!"

Why was it, that she had spent a half-turn of a month searching for him, but he fell into her hands now? Gone away were the old academy fabrics, as Ares was studded in fine, black silks— an envy of even the inkblot of night. He was worn from worry, though his cleaned up appearance could have fooled anyone with less of a keen eye. The way he gripped her could have suggested that she was about to fall apart—but she was far from as delicate as one might suggest. Reaching up to adjust his cravat, she let the seconds sink away before releasing a breath of relief.

"I'm fine. Truly, I am. I'm just glad that you are, too..." He looked like he may have grayed from the duress of being apart. She stilled her own brow, lest he drown in his own concern. "Please, be at ease... You are far too kind to care for me, so."

Still, it touched her. To be cared for like true, honest-to-god family.

Gently, she pressed her hands between his brow, smoothing out the creases. And she laughed. As she always would. The jingling of bells not so distant in their ears. "You must relax, dear cousin. You will never lose me if I have anything to say about it."

With grace becoming of a princess, she parted his hands from her shoulders and took them both, interlaced between hers. "I swear it. No cat nor spirit shall ever take me from you for long. I want you to be able to close your eyes and know I am with you."

Taking a moment of respite, she shifted one hand to tease at his leather glove. "May I?"

Politely, she pulled it off, like a whisper of a silk web on a window. Now, with his hand bare, she curled her pinky around his, bobbing them up. And down. And up. And down. Thrice. As though she were casting a charm on them both.

"I promise."

Her emerald eyes met his like sparklers, undeniable in their light. "I'll always be there, just as the sun is."

@lionscion

[variousqueerthings]

I am firmly in the latter half of season 11, so in short how do I feel about the first half-and-a-bit?

11x1 hey, look me over: A neat little opening episode, and!!! most important thing!!! it’s the single kellye-centric episode of the show!!! my biggest appreciation is for the fact that she doesn’t go out with Hawkeye at the end, and it did a little fun thing I’d been wanting for a hot sec, which was Margaret and Hawkeye going on a friend date together

(also Hawkeye, your suit is terrible, I’m sorry not sorry, Kellye was right to get hers with the sexy guy who immediately thought she was hot and hilarious)

11x2 trick or treatment: Hawkeye is superman! BJ is a clown (correct)! Potter as a cowboy (naturally)! I said this before, but Charles didn’t tell a ghost story, because his ghost story is about his dead brother... 

I cannot believe that this episode is in s11, we wait this long for Halloween! (and I will absolutely watch it next Halloween too!)

11x3 foreign affairs: I’ve had conversations about this, but I think this story is much stronger if Charles is read as aroace, rather than the sort of flimsy “my family wouldn’t approve” thing that happens at the end, but with that in mind I really like the way that Charles’ love-interest stories always seem to be about him finding someone who’ll just enjoy talking with him about art and fine food!

and here is where I note that the season continues the thread of “Hawkeye flirts with women and nothing comes of it,” and all the ways I choose to read that too. (Sidenote that he did notice there was something up with her and was quite gentlemanly about it all)

also: Soon-Tek Oh returns!!???? I believe that is him playing the enthusiastic translator right??

11x4 the joker is wild: I went off about this episode separately and I’ll never recover, what in the holy heck!

11x5 who knew: I have a lot of emotions about the ways in which I read aromantic Hawkeye in this episode -- the ways he feels guilt for somehow not having enough feeling for someone (romantically), and layers that into self-imposed guilt over her death and the way this plays into what actually is a declaration of love for his friends/the family he’s made at the 4077th

I contrast it as well to episode 1 and 3 of this season, when he comes at sex in a sort of, “I’ll give it a go,” kind of attitude that is at once quite shallow (the “I can pretend to be sincere” line) and also shrugged off once it doesn’t work, and with Kellye related to once more guilt, this time about not “seeing” her (and contrasts that with him going dancing with Margaret, I wish we’d seen it) (also yes Kellye is fucking great!) 

the feeling he has for his family though is so so strong. I also put this one down as containing hauntedness... moreso now I think even than when it aired, but also just within the fabric of it on its own. the speech is a eulogy after all, as well as a declaration of love

11x6 bombshells: this is one of those that’s really giving you whiplash, especially at the end -- the thing is Hawkeye hasn’t actually been doing a lot of shenanigans in these last seasons. He’s been shenanigansed at (BJ....) and he’s occasionally supported a shenanigan, but he hasn’t done a lot of “this came out of my brain and now I’m going to fucking run with it!” and I was happy to see it happen

and then the BJ storyline, which was overall very sympathetic to him, suddenly clashes right into Hawkeye when he starts ranting about how they’re both so self-righteous and petty about soldiers’ lives and dammit BJ! Stop! Projecting! Your Issues! Onto Hawkeye! (I have a whole growing post about the times BJ projects onto Hawkeye and how it plays into their dynamic)

11x7 settling debts: speaking of shenanigans... this also gave me a bit of a Hawkeye I love to see, the one who is acknowledged as incredibly thoughtful and pretty great at planning and leading -- using his lateral-thinking brain for good, in a very sweet way

this was a very good final season episode, setting up Potter’s post-series life and bringing in Mildred in a great way!

11x8 the moon is not blue: watch me screaming as I hit the halfway mark of the season! thank goodness it was light-hearted! Also again, speaking of benevolently shenanigansing Hawkeye, him convincing Klinger and that other guy that the placebos totally work is so very him 

Hawkeye is the benevolent fairy of the MASH 4077th, we know this (we use fairy deliberately)

11x9 run for the money: the way this has the main story, which takes up a lot of time and is pretty light overall, and then you’ve got a handful of minutes of some of the most emotional storytelling on the show

and I gather every time we get information about the people back home like its precious and rare (which it is) and there’s Honoria’s voice! the way a voice can make someone so real!

overall my brain is so fixated on the feeling of this as the last season, I’m not really so capable of thinking of the episodes individually -- I feel so keenly how they’re the last bits of story we’re getting for the characters and how that’s definitely right, but I also know all the things I won’t get to see that I wish I could go back in time and suggest as episodes, or simply just wanting to see more, and also this idea of watching so many years after it aired, and popping out of the bubble that it’s entirely new (which it has been in a lot of ways for me)

I do hope -- but I’ll take what I get -- for another Margaret-centric episode, and something emotionally centred on Klinger. Obviously love that he would have struck gold with the invention of the hoolahoop and the frisbee, but I also would love to see another acknowledgement of the way he’s the heart of the outfit

[loominggaia]

This might be weird but I want to know more about Feredil. Any chance she will come back?

Unfortunately I can't tell you anything for certain at this point. All I can say is that in a world of magic, anything is possible. ;)

There's a bit of info about Feredil on her character bio card:

But I cough up a few extra deets for you.

(SPOILERS FOR "FROM THE ASHES" AHEAD)

Her maiden name was Ahlmas. She was born to a wealthy family in the Morite city of Edelrhun. Her family owned a textile factory there, but it went out of business after the Gold River War and left them penniless (Feredil blames this on foreign kingdoms sending clothes to the Morites as aid).

Feredil had 4 sisters. It's unknown if she had any brothers. Her parents sold all of her sisters off as brides to the highest bidder. Feredil was among them, and she was sold to a human man named Balthazaar.

But Balthazaar wasn't heartless; he told her she was free to leave him if she wished. Feredil considered it, but ultimately chose to stay with him because she feared ending up in the arms of someone worse. The two had a dysfunctional marriage for many years, up until Feredil's death at the hands of Disgrace's minions.

Feredil has said that her family was not religious in any way. She herself seemed to respect the Order of Love and Light, but feared talking about them, believing it would attract Disgrace's attention. As for her political views, she expressed disapproval for Monarch Roz for "letting Matuzans step all over the native Morites". She believed Yerim-Mor Kingdom is a lost cause and doomed to fail.

She always wished Balthazaar would quit mercenary work and get a "real job" so they could have a more stable life, but he was never able to do so. She resented him for that, and for the fact that he couldn't give her children. Feredil has said that she doesn't care about being rich, she just wants to have enough money to give her children a comfortable life.

She never had kids, but wished to be a mother more than anything. She was fond of Isaac and tried to adopt him several times. She disapproved of the Freelance Good Guys allowing Isaac to do dangerous work at such a young age, and wished to "rescue" him from the mercenary life.

Feredil knew Balthazaar was cheating on her for many years, and decided to "get even" by cheating on him too. She had an affair with Balthazaar's best friend, Javaan, on one occasion. Javaan felt terrible about it and refused to do it again, even though she wanted to continue the relationship. She once tried to have an affair with Skel too, but he harshly rejected her, as he distrusted elves.

As for personal relationships: Feredil was good friends with Linde and Ginger. She expressed fear of Mr. Ocean because of his actions in Troubled Tides. She also wasn't fond of Itchy, for obvious reasons...She got along pretty well with most of the other villagers in Drifter's Hollow.

She was usually seen doing domestic chores like cooking and cleaning, but seemed to enjoy these things and was always happy to help others with their chores. She helped cook many feasts for the FGG. She expressed concern about good hygiene and food safety, and became upset at the idea of Aquarians cooking food, believing them to be "dirty people". She didn't seem fond of Aquarians or Matuzans, but usually kept her prejudices to herself and acted polite towards them regardless.

Feredil eventually warmed up to Mr. Ocean a bit, and even asked him to play his sitar for her, claiming she had never heard that instrument before. She once baked him a pie at Alaine's request. Linde often made clothes for her and expressed jealousy over her shapely body type. Feredil's beauty attracted a lot of attention from men, much to her husband's irritation. When introducing himself to other men, Balthazaar made a point to mention that Feredil was his wife, even when she was nowhere nearby.

She was phobic of scorpions. She hated the heat. She claimed she never wanted to return to Yerim-Mor Kingdom, as she believed it was cursed by Mankind's Disgrace. She would often babysit the children in the Hollow and enjoyed doing so.

She was never afraid to speak up when she was unhappy about something, no matter who she was talking to. She chewed Evan and the other mercenaries out multiple times for various things, usually about to the way they treated Isaac.

Her earrings were old family heirlooms that she wore every day from childhood up until her death. Balthazaar scavenged one of them after her death and now wears it in her honor. Flora built a great monument to those who died during Disgrace's attack on the Hollow, where Feredil's skull is currently being displayed among others. Balthazaar visits this monument frequently and even sleeps there on occasion, expressing sorrow over his wife's death and regret over the disrespectful way he treated her.

That's all the Feredil trivia I can think of for now!

*

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

[post-cinema]

The 1970s love affair between Meryl Streep and John Cazale saw them both on new acting paths but their journey together ended in tragedy.

In 1978, a young Meryl Streep was on the verge of becoming the greatest actress of her generation. She was also about to lose the love of her life. Streep was 29 years old, a gosling in the New York theater world. She was living in a loft on Franklin Street with her boyfriend, actor John Cazale. He was 14 years her senior and a legend among his peers.

Streep and Cazale met in 1976, when they were cast opposite each other in Measure for Measure in Central Park. By then, Cazale was not quite a star — he lacked that ephemeral quality — but he was regarded, in the industry, as a rare talent, in demand among the great directors of the era.

He was Fredo in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, and had lead roles in The Conversation and Dog Day Afternoon. Of the five movies he starred in, all would be nominated for Best Picture, and three would win.

“One of the things I loved about the casting of John Cazale,” said Dog Day director Sidney Lumet, “was that he had a tremendous sadness about him. I don’t know where it came from; I don’t believe in invading the privacy of the actors I work with or getting into their heads. But my God, it’s there — every shot of him.”

And then there were his unusual looks, so perfect for the misfits of ’70s cinema: attenuated frame, high forehead, prominent nose. Sad, black eyes. Streep fell for him instantly. He was equally knocked out.

In looks and manner, Cazale was completely foreign to the young Streep. “He wasn’t like anybody I’d ever met,” she said later. “It was the specificity of him, and his sort of humanity and his curiosity about people, his compassion.”

They were the envy of the New York theater world — she the most naturally gifted actress in generations, he the most naturally gifted actor, legendary director Joe Papp their patron — until one day in May 1977.

Cazale, who was in previews for Agamemnon uptown, had been feeling ill enough to miss performances. Papp was concerned enough to get Cazale an emergency appointment with his own doctor on the Upper East Side. Within days, Streep and Cazale were sitting in the doctor’s office with Joe and Gail Papp. The diagnosis: Cazale had terminal lung cancer. It had spread throughout his body. They sat there, Gail Papp said, feeling “like you’ve been struck dead on the spot.”

Streep and Cazale tried to keep the severity of his condition between them. Even Cazale’s brother, Stephen, didn’t realize how bad it was until one day, after the three of them had lunch in Chinatown, Cazale stopped on the sidewalk and spat up blood.

Streep was determined to help Cazale overcome his cancer, and the two confided in Pacino, who took the actor to his radiation treatments. Rober DeNiro would later confess that he’d never seen one human being as devoted to another as Streep was to Cazale. Streep spent the last five months of Cazale’s life by his side, putting her career on hold.

Meryl Streep later said that the time they had together, retreating into their cocoon, gave her a weird sort of protection. She confided in very few people, and wrote to her old drama teacher at Yale, Bobby Lewis, of her true emotional state.

“My beau is terribly ill and sometimes, as now, in the hospital,” Streep wrote. “He has very wonderful care and I try not to stand around wringing my hands, but I am worried all the time and pretending to be cheery all the time, which is more exhausting mentally physically emotionally than any work I’ve ever done.”

In early March 1978, Cazale entered Memorial Sloan Kettering. Streep never left his side. On March 12, 1978, at 3 a.m., Cazale’s doctor told Streep, “He’s gone.”

Meryl Streep wasn’t ready to hear it, much less believe it. What happened next, by some accounts, was the culmination of all the tenacious hope Meryl had kept alive for the past 10 months. She pounded on his chest, sobbing, and for a brief, alarming moment, John opened his eyes. “It’s all right, Meryl,” he said weakly. “It’s all right.” Then he closed his eyes and died. Streep’s first call was to Cazale’s brother, Stephen. She sobbed throughout.

“I tried,” she told him

[memoriae-lectoris]

The biggest labor action ever faced by a banana company began in October 1928, when 32,000 workers went on strike. They demanded to be granted medical treatment and proper toilet facilities; they insisted on being paid in cash rather than company-issued scrip only redeemable in United Fruit–owned stores. They asked that they be considered true employees rather than subcontractors who weren’t even afforded the minimal protection of Colombia’s weakly drawn labor laws. The strike panicked United Fruit. Even after the government sent troops to occupy Magdalena, effectively usurping liberal power, the nation was too volatile for anything to be guaranteed.

United Fruit reported that in response to the strike, the Colombian government had suspended the rights of free assembly and free speech. “We are convinced,” a spokesperson said, “that only this prompt action by the government prevented great loss of life.” The clampdown was also celebrated by the U.S. ambassador to Colombia, Jefferson Caffery. In a telegram sent to U.S. Secretary of State Frank Billings Kellogg, he wrote: “I have been following the…strike through United Fruit Company representative here; also through minister of Foreign Affairs who on Saturday told me government would send additional troops and would arrest all strike leaders and transport them to prison at Cartagena; that government would give adequate protection to American interests involved.”

Martial law was declared on December 5. On December 6, in the town of Ciénaga—just as in Márquez’s fictional Macondo—banana workers gathered in the town square. The city hall stood at one end and the main church at the other. The workers were not there, specifically, to protest. December 6 was a Sunday; they’d attended mass and were waiting to hear a speech by the regional governor. Because the address would follow church services, the workers were accompanied by their wives and families.

General Cortés Vargas—the military official in charge of the region, who claimed he acted only to prevent an even worse intervention by the U.S. military—had given his commanders these orders: “Prepare your mind to face the crowds of rebels… and kill before foreign troops tread upon our soil.” Four machine gun positions surrounded the square, on rooftops, one at each corner. An order was given. The area was to be cleared in five minutes. The countdown had begun. The crowd didn’t—and couldn’t, packed into the square as they were—disperse. The troops opened fire.

As he had throughout the early stages of the crisis, U.S. ambassador Caffery reported the events to his superiors in Washington. The tone and language of the memo are beyond chilling. They are as clear a manifestation of terrible indifference as you will ever read: “I have the honor to report,” Caffery wrote, “that the Bogotá representative of the United Fruit Company told me yesterday that the total number of strikers killed by the Colombian military exceeded one thousand.”