A quick birthday drabble for @swifty-fox 🩷🎂 Happy birthday, dear!
Here's Chick Harding's POV, picking up from the end of my latest HS AU chapter. It’s Gale's 18th birthday 😊
When Georgia said she was going to go get the birthday cake they ordered for Gale, Neil thought she'd be back in half an hour. But it's been two hours and there's still no sign of her. As he predicted, the boys didn’t really need any distraction at first, but when he hears the sound of them coming down from upstairs, he knows that time's up. He’s gonna have to cover for Georgia or spoil the surprise. From his seat in the old armchair, he increases the volume of the soccer game he’s watching and pretends to be engrossed in it. He hopes that it catches their attention instead of the empty driveway.
As they approach, he hears them rib each other about one of those video games they play online with their friends, then Bucky throws himself down on one end of the sofa, Gale on the other. Bucky stretches his lanky limbs wide and yawns.
"Chelsea-Arsenal?" He says before he has even closed his mouth. "Ugh, that was one shitty game. Look at that corner. Did he wanna shoot a pigeon or something?"
Neil chuckles. He loves that Bucky has no filter whatsoever when he's comfortable, and it fills him with warmth that they are close enough now to share mundane moments like this. It feels like belonging. He feels blessed that he took his chance and asked Georgia out that hazy summer day one and a half years ago. Every day with her and her family has been a gift so far. Even the hard ones.
At the thought, he glances over at Gale, who's staring out the window instead of watching the game. His legs are curled up under him. On the opposite end, Bucky swings his own up on the cushions to sprawl sideways on the couch. He’s too long to fit, but instead of settling down with his knees pulled up, he starts kneading at Gale’s thigh with his feet. Gale ignores him. How, Neil can’t fathom, but the boy looks like he’s so used to that kind of behaviour that it doesn't even register to him.
"Where's Georgia?" He asks Neil after a moment.
There’s an edge to his voice that Neil can’t place, something anxious. Always so hard to read. Neil wishes he could just comfort him with a hug, a friendly clap on the back or a terrible soccer game rerun, but Gale continues to be unreceptive to him. It makes sense, he thinks, stomping down on the anger rising in his chest as he thinks of Gale's father. Gale doesn’t know, but he and Neil had an altercation after they moved Gale out. But Neil can be intimidating if he wants to be. He doubts that the alcoholic bastard is going to cause them trouble again.
"Getting some groceries." Neil lies smoothly.
Bucky groans. "What groceries? Fridge is chock full already, there's nowhere to put it."
"Damned if I know, boy." Neil spreads his hands, faking indifference. It works seamlessly on Bucky, but a hint of sadness appears on Gale’s blank face.
"I would've gone with her if I'd known."
No wonder that Georgia asked Neil to cover for her. She must have known that Gale would want to spend time with her today and to help out wherever he can.
Neil opens his mouth to say something but Bucky beats him to it. "I can take you to Walmart if you want."
Amusement tugs Gale's lips into a smile. "Walmart?"
"Anywhere you want." Bucky straightens his legs to plop them on Gale’s lap. He scratches his chest. "See? Chivalry isn’t dead."
Gale's smile widens, digging into the apples of his cheeks. He shoves Bucky's legs off.
To Neil's relief, the sound of tires rolling on the driveway and a purring engine interrupt the conversation. Finally! She's back, and Neil hasn't fucked up and ruined the surprise yet. He pushes himself up from his seat and stretches, cracking his spine. Bucky yawns again, then gets up to walk off towards the front door with resignation, expecting bag upon bag of food that he’ll have to haul in from the car. Neil is about to follow him when he hears Gale's tentative voice.
"Neil?"
"Yeah, buddy?"
He can count the number of times Gale addressed him directly on one hand. He turns to look at him curiously. Gale is taller than him, but he looks small as he smooths a hand over his long hair in discomfort.
"I was wondering..." Gale clears his throat, then stands up straight and looks Neil in the eye. "...if you knew any part-time jobs you could recommend. Maybe at a garage? Or something. I can learn anything."
Neil hums, impressed. "I'm sure we can find something." An idea occurs to him. "You’re good with spreadsheets, aren't you?"
When Gale nods, he grins. "I think I have just the thing for you."
That draws a smile to Gale's lips too.
The front door opens, and first Bucky, then Georgia walks in, twin grins on their faces, eyes squinting in their joy. Her auburn hair looks windswept, tumbling over her knitted green scarf, and her cheeks are flushed from the cold. Neil wants to sweep her into his arms and kiss her skin warm again, wants to hear her laugh against his chest.
But he’s not the one getting hugs and kisses today. It's not his day, and he doesn’t mind it one bit, because he gets to see Gale's expression shift from curiosity to surprise, then joy as he spots the box Georgia carries carefully to the kitchen. She sets it down on the table and opens the carton to reveal Gale's cake. It’s covered in fondant decorations shaped like his favourite things, and cursive letters wish him a happy birthday in the middle of it.
"Oh." He says when he sees it, then looks up at her.
Neil can’t see his expression but he sees hers crumple for a moment as she pulls him into a hug and kisses the side of his face. She closes her eyes as she holds him close.
"Happy birthday, sweetheart."
Gale mumbles a thank you into her shoulder.
After a moment, Bucky steps closer too and wraps his long arms around them both. That makes them all laugh. For a second, Neil feels out of place, but they pull back from the embrace, and the next thing Georgia does is drawing Neil into one too. She smells like the sweetest flowers and fresh winter air, like Christmas and home. To Neil, she's all that and more.
She gives him a sheepish smile when she steps back. "How did you know I was going to get groceries too?"
Here is a little bit about Major John 'Bucky' Egan (played by Callum Turner) from the prologue of Masters of the Air by Donald L. Miller (pg. 3, 7-8)!
John Egan was commander of a squadron of B-17 Flying Fortresses, one of the most fearsome killing machines in the world at that time. He was a bomber boy; destruction was his occupation. And like most other bomber crewmen, he went about his work without a quiver of conscience, convinced he was fighting for a noble cause. He also killed in order not to be killed.
Egan had been flying combat missions for five months in the most dangerous air theater of the war, the "Big Leagues," the men called it; and this was his first extended leave from the fight although it hardly felt like a reprieve. That night, the German air force, the Luftwaffe, plastered the city, setting off fires all around his hotel. It was his first time under the bombs and he found it impossible to sleep, with the screaming sirens and the thundering concussions.
Egan was attached to the Eighth Air Force, a bomber command formed at Savannah Army Air Base in Georgia in the month after Pearl Harbor to deliver America's first blow against the Nazi homeland. From its unpromising beginnings, it was fast becoming one of the greatest striking forces in history. Egan had arrived in England in the spring of 1943, a year after the first men and machines of the Eighth had begun occupying bases handed over to them by the RAF-the Royal Air Force-whose bombers had been hammering German cities since 1940. Each numbered Bombardment Group (BG)-his was the 100th-was made up of four squadrons of eight to twelve four-engine bombers, called "heavies," and occupied its own air station, either in East Anglia or the Midlands, directly north of London, around the town of Bedford.
pg. 7-8
As commander of the Hundredth's 418th Squadron, Johnny Egan flew with his men on all the tough missions. When his boys went into danger, he wanted to face it with them. "Anyone who flies operationally is crazy," Egan confided to Sgt. Saul Levitt, a radioman in his squadron who was later injured in a base accident and transferred to the staff of Yank magazine, an army publication. "And then," says Levitt, "he proceeded to be crazy and fly operationally. And no milk runs..."
When his "boy-men," as Egan called them, went down in flaming planes, he wrote home to their wives and mothers. "These were not file letters," Levitt remembered. "It was the Major's idea they should be written in long-hand to indicate a personal touch, and there are no copies of these letters. He never said anything much about that. The letters were between him and the families involved."
Major Egan was short and skinny as a stick, barely 140 pounds, with thick black hair, combed into a pompadour, black eyes, and a pencil-thin mustache. His trademarks were a white fleece-lined flying jacket and an idiomatic manner of speaking, a street-wise style borrowed from writer Damon Runyon. At twenty-seven, he was one of the "ancients" of the outfit, but "I can out-drink any of you children,'" he would tease the fresh-faced members of his squadron.
On nights that he wasn't scheduled to fly the next day, he would jump into a jeep and head for his "local," where he'd gather at the bar with a gang of Irish laborers and sing ballads until the taps ran dry or the tired publican tossed them out."
In Master's of the Air, Major John Egan is sometimes called, "Bucky," "Honest John," and "Johnny." The men of his squadrons loved his leadership style, which was leading by example, as seen in the excerpt above.
John Archer, a long-time British friend of the 100th & its veterans, described Egan in his story, One Man and His Dog:
"The Major was a lean, dark young man with a wisp of moustache. He was 27, but looked older. He could turn on the charm and turn it off whenever he liked. It’s the kind of thing one experiences in foreman of construction gangs and traffic managers at airports, in jobs where contact and participation with the men is the prime factor."
Major Egan was involved in the case of “Meatball vs the Pullet” a few days before he went down on a raid over Germany. Now Meatball was a half-grown husky dog which the crew of the B-17 brought over from Labrador on their way to Thorpe Abbotts during the summer of 1943. It seemed that Meatball was a bad dog, and all of a sudden turned into a chicken killer. And when did he decide to become a chicken killer? At a time when the personnel were involved in the toughest flying missions the group had yet undertaken. Deep raids as far as Danzig against desperate opposition.
And in this tense atmosphere Meatball got playful one morning and mangled a chicken dead. The nearby farmer went bustling up to the orderly room to see the Major. Major Egan was sitting in with his pilots having an informal briefing with the men about new tactics in aerial combat. It was the afternoon following a raid on Emden, October 3, 1943.
The farmer from down the road described “a light brown dog” that had killed a pullet.
“Light brown. That’s Meatball, all right,” said the Major. “And you say he got a pullet?” asked the Major sympathetically. “Well, a pullet is pretty important, isn’t it?”
“It is,” said the farmer, calming down by this time.
Where did you ever hear of a Major who knew anything about pullets, and what is more, who would talk about loss sympathetically in the middle of a grim military operation? Clearly the Major was now pulling out the charm act. He could, of course, have turned the whole matter of Meatball, pullet and payment over to the Adjutant. But the affair seemed right down the Major’s alley. All the new crews who had just arrived at Thorpe Abbotts were by that time listening with amazement.
“That pullet, did she look like a layer?” asked the Major. You could see by his face that he was rather tired, after all, it was only an hour or so since the raid was over.
“She did, Sir, for a fact,” said the farmer.
“Well, what would you say she’s worth?” asked the Major.
“Twenty bob,” said the farmer.
“All right,” said the Major. “I think that’s a pretty reasonable sum for a good pullet, don’t you?” he inquired looking around at the crews who flew the big bombers. They looked at him quite dumbfounded, not quite figuring it out, and wondering who was pulling whose leg. And the Major was aware he had everyone right there in front of him. He was the actor and the rest were the audience. The farmer had departed by this time, very pleased, and the Major was rocking back and forth on his chair and looking around. And from the subject of the Germans using rockets and guns, the conversation was not on pullets.
One of the young officers piped up and remarked, “A pullet, isn’t that some kind of… a rooster… like…” The Major glared at him and the officer’s face grew red. By now the class was sitting quite quietly.
“A pullet,” said the Major patiently, “is a half-grown female chicken which lays a small egg with a very small yolk.” And he showed them just how big with his fingers. “Then,” continued the Major, “the machinery inside the pullet goes to work and all of a sudden – one fine day it lays an egg twice as big as the usual and it is no longer a pullet.” The briefing closed at that point.
A few days later, Major Egan said goodbye for the last time to Meatball before climbing into his B-17. On October 10th, during a raid on Munster, the Major became a guest of the German forces, spending the rest of the war in a prison camp.
There was a certain pub in Dickleburgh that missed Major Egan. Sometimes he drove down in a jeep and sang songs in the bar with the locals and Irish laborers. With the affair of Meatball and the pullet, and the grim task of flying missions, Major Egan rounds out into a real example of an American who once walked the lonely lanes at Thorpe Abbotts.
Egan served as Air Exec for the 100th, as Commander of the 418th Squadron, and on the Munster raid flew as Command Pilot on John Brady’s lead crew. After being shot down, all but one of Brady’s crew survived as POWs.
(you can find more about this story here)
Egan was best friends with fellow 100th Bomb Group squadron commander, Maj. Gale "Buck" Cleven, whom he went to flight school with back in the States. The pair were roommates back in training, and little did they know they'd be roommates once again when they became German POWs in October of 1943. Buck after getting shot down over Bremen, and Egan in a retaliatory raid to get back at the Germans after they shot down his friend.
Egan was leaving for his first leave to London from Thorpe-Abbotts on October 8th when Buck Cleven and the rest of the 13th Combat Wing took off for Bremen. The next morning over breakfast, Egan saw the London Times headline: Eighth Air Force Loses 30 Fortresses Over Bremen," and sprang out of his chair to a phone. Due to wartime security, he had to speak in code.
Masters of the Air, pg. 10:
"How did the game go," he asked.
Cleven had gone down swinging, he was told.
Silence.
Pulling himself together, Egan asked, "Does the team have a game scheduled for tomorrow?"
"Yes," came the reply.
"I want to pitch."
He was back at Thorpe Abbotts that afternoon in time to "sweat out" a long mission the group flew to Marienburg, a combat strike led by the Hundredth's Commander, Col. Neil B. "Chick" Harding, a former West Point football hero. As soon as the squadrons returned, Egan got Harding's permission to lead the Hundredth's formation on the next day's mission.
This mission was set for Münster, just southwest of Bremen where Buck was shot down. Egan flew with Captain John D. Brady on the M’lle Zig Zig to Münster, and the heavy, along with all other planes but Royal Flush (Rosenthal's replacement B-17) in the 100th went down over the target. The crew of the M'lle Zig Zig bailed, parachuting through the flack-filled air. Hambone Hamilton was among the 'Zig's crew, and suffered multiple wounds from shrapnel. When found by Germans, he was taken to the hospital and stayed there recovering for a good while.
Egan, unlike the rest of the 'Zig's crew, was able to evade capture a few days before finally being taken prisoner. The aviators were first sent to Dulag Luft, the Luftwaffe's POW transit center. Egan and the other officers were kept separate from their men in cold and flea-infested solitary cells. Egan and Cleven were just a few cells apart, but neither knew the other was there. After a few weeks, Cleven and the men who were brought in with him were sent to Stalag Luft III, another POW camp just outside the town of Sagan, some 300 miles from their previous location. They were transported by train cars used for livestock, and they reported that "the smell of manure was overwhelming (Miller, 2007, pg. 23)." The trip took them three days. Three days after Cleven got to Stalag Luft III, Egan and his men arrived.
Masters of the Air, pg. 23:
Cleven watched them file into a neighboring stockade. Spotting Johnny Egan, he called out to him, "What the hell took you so long?"
"Well, that's what you get for being sentimental," Egan shouted back.
Both Egan and Cleven remained POWs until the end of the war. Cleven, however, managed to escape on a march in 1945. The pair remained good friends until John's death from a sudden heart attack in 1961. Egan served as Buck's best man in his wedding when he married his sweetheart Marge in 1945 once they returned home.
John married his own sweetheart, Lt Josephine "Doty" Pitz (WASP) in late 1945. They had two beautiful daughters together.
tag list: @lena-basilone @luckynumber4
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Likely Referenced Bill: Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill
Description: A Bill to make provision for passenger railway services to be provided by public sector companies instead of by means of franchises.
Originating house: Commons
Current house: Commons
Bill Stage: Committee of the whole House
Individual Votes:
Ayes
Labour (341 votes)
Abena Oppong-Asare
Abtisam Mohamed
Adam Jogee
Adam Thompson
Afzal Khan
Al Carns
Alan Campbell
Alan Gemmell
Alan Strickland
Alex Baker
Alex Ballinger
Alex Barros-Curtis
Alex Davies-Jones
Alex Mayer
Alex McIntyre
Alex Norris
Alex Sobel
Alice Macdonald
Alison Hume
Alison McGovern
Alison Taylor
Alistair Strathern
Allison Gardner
Amanda Hack
Amanda Martin
Andrew Cooper
Andrew Gwynne
Andrew Lewin
Andrew Pakes
Andrew Ranger
Andrew Western
Andy MacNae
Andy McDonald
Angela Eagle
Anna Dixon
Anna Gelderd
Anneliese Dodds
Anneliese Midgley
Baggy Shanker
Bambos Charalambous
Barry Gardiner
Bayo Alaba
Beccy Cooper
Becky Gittins
Bell Ribeiro-Addy
Ben Coleman
Ben Goldsborough
Bill Esterson
Blair McDougall
Brian Leishman
Bridget Phillipson
Callum Anderson
Calvin Bailey
Carolyn Harris
Cat Eccles
Cat Smith
Catherine Atkinson
Catherine McKinnell
Catherine West
Charlotte Nichols
Chris Bloore
Chris Curtis
Chris Elmore
Chris Hinchliff
Chris Kane
Chris McDonald
Chris Murray
Chris Vince
Chris Webb
Christian Wakeford
Claire Hazelgrove
Claire Hughes
Clive Betts
Clive Lewis
Connor Naismith
Damien Egan
Dan Aldridge
Dan Jarvis
Dan Tomlinson
Daniel Francis
Danny Beales
Darren Jones
Darren Paffey
Dave Robertson
David Baines
David Burton-Sampson
David Pinto-Duschinsky
David Taylor
David Williams
Dawn Butler
Debbie Abrahams
Deirdre Costigan
Derek Twigg
Diana Johnson
Douglas Alexander
Douglas McAllister
Ed Miliband
Elaine Stewart
Emily Darlington
Emma Foody
Emma Hardy
Emma Lewell-Buck
Emma Reynolds
Euan Stainbank
Feryal Clark
Florence Eshalomi
Frank McNally
Fred Thomas
Gen Kitchen
Georgia Gould
Gerald Jones
Gill German
Gordon McKee
Graeme Downie
Graham Stringer
Grahame Morris
Gregor Poynton
Gurinder Josan
Hamish Falconer
Harpreet Uppal
Heidi Alexander
Helen Hayes
Helena Dollimore
Henry Tufnell
Hilary Benn
Ian Lavery
Ian Murray
Imogen Walker
Irene Campbell
Jack Abbott
Jacob Collier
Jade Botterill
Jake Richards
James Asser
James Murray
James Naish
Janet Daby
Jas Athwal
Jayne Kirkham
Jeevun Sandher
Jeff Smith
Jenny Riddell-Carpenter
Jess Asato
Jessica Morden
Jessica Toale
Jim Dickson
Jim McMahon
Jo Platt
Jo Stevens
Jo White
Joani Reid
Jodie Gosling
Joe Morris
Joe Powell
Johanna Baxter
John Grady
John Healey
John Slinger
John Whitby
Jon Pearce
Jon Trickett
Jonathan Brash
Jonathan Davies
Jonathan Hinder
Josh Dean
Josh Fenton-Glynn
Josh MacAlister
Josh Newbury
Josh Simons
Julia Buckley
Juliet Campbell
Justin Madders
Kanishka Narayan
Kate Dearden
Kate Osamor
Kate Osborne
Katie White
Keir Mather
Kenneth Stevenson
Kerry McCarthy
Kevin Bonavia
Kevin McKenna
Kim Johnson
Kim Leadbeater
Kirith Entwistle
Kirsteen Sullivan
Kirsty McNeill
Laura Kyrke-Smith
Lauren Edwards
Lauren Sullivan
Laurence Turner
Lee Barron
Lee Pitcher
Leigh Ingham
Lewis Atkinson
Liam Byrne
Liam Conlon
Lilian Greenwood
Lillian Jones
Linsey Farnsworth
Lisa Nandy
Liz Kendall
Liz Twist
Lizzi Collinge
Lloyd Hatton
Lorraine Beavers
Louise Haigh
Louise Jones
Lucy Powell
Lucy Rigby
Luke Akehurst
Luke Charters
Luke Murphy
Luke Myer
Luke Pollard
Margaret Mullane
Maria Eagle
Mark Ferguson
Mark Hendrick
Mark Sewards
Mark Tami
Markus Campbell-Savours
Marsha De Cordova
Martin Rhodes
Mary Creagh
Mary Glindon
Matt Bishop
Matt Rodda
Matt Turmaine
Matt Western
Matthew Patrick
Matthew Pennycook
Maureen Burke
Maya Ellis
Meg Hillier
Melanie Onn
Melanie Ward
Miatta Fahnbulleh
Michael Payne
Michael Shanks
Michael Wheeler
Michelle Scrogham
Michelle Welsh
Mike Amesbury
Mike Kane
Mike Reader
Mike Tapp
Mohammad Yasin
Nadia Whittome
Natalie Fleet
Natasha Irons
Naushabah Khan
Neil Coyle
Neil Duncan-Jordan
Nia Griffith
Nicholas Dakin
Noah Law
Oliver Ryan
Olivia Bailey
Olivia Blake
Pam Cox
Pamela Nash
Pat McFadden
Patricia Ferguson
Paul Davies
Paul Foster
Paul Waugh
Paula Barker
Paulette Hamilton
Perran Moon
Peter Kyle
Peter Lamb
Peter Prinsley
Peter Swallow
Phil Brickell
Polly Billington
Preet Kaur Gill
Rachael Maskell
Rachel Blake
Rachel Hopkins
Richard Baker
Richard Quigley
Rosena Allin-Khan
Rosie Wrighting
Rupa Huq
Ruth Cadbury
Ruth Jones
Sadik Al-Hassan
Sally Jameson
Sam Carling
Sam Rushworth
Samantha Dixon
Samantha Niblett
Sarah Coombes
Sarah Edwards
Sarah Hall
Sarah Jones
Sarah Owen
Sarah Russell
Sarah Sackman
Scott Arthur
Sean Woodcock
Seema Malhotra
Shabana Mahmood
Sharon Hodgson
Shaun Davies
Simon Lightwood
Simon Opher
Siobhain McDonagh
Sojan Joseph
Sonia Kumar
Stella Creasy
Stephen Doughty
Stephen Timms
Steve Race
Steve Reed
Steve Witherden
Steve Yemm
Sureena Brackenridge
Tahir Ali
Taiwo Owatemi
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
Tim Roca
Toby Perkins
Tom Collins
Tom Hayes
Tom Rutland
Tonia Antoniazzi
Tony Vaughan
Torcuil Crichton
Torsten Bell
Tracy Gilbert
Tristan Osborne
Tulip Siddiq
Uma Kumaran
Valerie Vaz
Warinder Juss
Will Stone
Yasmin Qureshi
Yuan Yang
Zubir Ahmed
Independent (8 votes)
Adnan Hussain
Apsana Begum
Ian Byrne
Imran Hussain
John McDonnell
Rebecca Long Bailey
Richard Burgon
Zarah Sultana
Green Party (3 votes)
Adrian Ramsay
Ellie Chowns
Siân Berry
Social Democratic & Labour Party (1 vote)
Colum Eastwood
Noes
Conservative (84 votes)
Alan Mak
Alberto Costa
Alec Shelbrooke
Alicia Kearns
Alison Griffiths
Andrew Bowie
Andrew Griffith
Andrew Rosindell
Andrew Snowden
Aphra Brandreth
Ashley Fox
Ben Obese-Jecty
Blake Stephenson
Bob Blackman
Bradley Thomas
Caroline Dinenage
Caroline Johnson
Charlie Dewhirst
Claire Coutinho
Danny Kruger
David Davis
David Mundell
David Reed
David Simmonds
Desmond Swayne
Edward Argar
Gagan Mohindra
Gareth Bacon
Gareth Davies
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
George Freeman
Graham Stuart
Greg Smith
Gregory Stafford
Harriet Cross
Harriett Baldwin
Helen Grant
Helen Whately
Jack Rankin
James Cleverly
Joe Robertson
John Cooper
John Glen
John Hayes
John Lamont
John Whittingdale
Julia Lopez
Julian Lewis
Katie Lam
Kemi Badenoch
Kieran Mullan
Kit Malthouse
Lewis Cocking
Lincoln Jopp
Louie French
Mark Francois
Mark Garnier
Martin Vickers
Matt Vickers
Mel Stride
Mims Davies
Neil Hudson
Neil Shastri-Hurst
Nick Timothy
Patrick Spencer
Paul Holmes
Peter Bedford
Peter Fortune
Rebecca Harris
Rebecca Paul
Rebecca Smith
Richard Holden
Robbie Moore
Robert Jenrick
Roger Gale
Saqib Bhatti
Sarah Bool
Shivani Raja
Steve Barclay
Stuart Anderson
Stuart Andrew
Tom Tugendhat
Victoria Atkins
Wendy Morton
Books/"Articles" to read - either for diss or in general (to be edited and continued. some descriptions taken from those who have recommended them):
Temporary - Hilary Leichter. A woman takes on a series of wild, impossible temporary jobs
Either/or - Elif Batuman. A college sophomore embarks on a quest for an interesting life
So Distant From My life - Monque Ilaboudo. A young West African man attempts to leave his home and migrate to Europe, only to find out the journey and his future isn't what he planned it to be. Set in Burkina Faso and explores imperialism, migration and the queer experience in Africa.
The Rooftop - Fernanda Trias. A paranoid narrator refuses to let her family (her sick father and her newborn child) outside of their house and tries to navigate life with minimal contact with the outside world. Set in Uruguay. Explores paranoia, motherhood and class struggle.
All your Children, Scattered - Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse. French. Story of 3 generations, torn apart by the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Invisible Women - Caroline Criado Perez. We often forget that bias is built into our environment as we often imagine social issues in their theoretical instead of physical manifestations.
Inflamed - Rupa Marya. Deep medecine and the anatomy of injustice.
Cane, Corn & Gully - Safiya Kamaria Kinsbasa. A collection of poems about Barbados, slavery, colonialism, patriarchy and oppression as a whole.
Autobiography of my Mother - Jamaica Kincaid
The Will to Change - Bell Hooks
Sula - Toni Morrison. Follows the life of a young black girl and the small town/settlement she lived in, exploring racism and female friendships.
Happening - Annie Ernaux. Autobiographical account of French feminist Annie Ernaux's experience with accessing abortion when it was illegal in France. Powerful and important. Will make you cry whilst also getting you to admire the myriad ways in which wmen resisted and continue to resist state violence.
Postcolonial Love Poem - Natalie Diaz. Collection of poetry exploring the experiences of Native Americans and how it feels to have your land taken from you and changed into something you no longer recognise.
Hey, Good Luck Out There - Georgia Toews
The Life of the Mind - Christine Smallwood
Blueberries - Ellena Savage
Post-Traumatic - Chantal V. Johnson
The Spirit of Intimacy - Sobonfu Somé
The Four Agreements - Miguel Ruiz
The Mysticism of Sound and Music - Inayat Khan
"A Face in the crowd" - Phillippe Le Goff, 22 Sept 2023. Marshall Berman, the celebrated political philosopher and urbanist died 10 years ago this month. His deep commitment to a Marxist humanism, a 'Marxism with soul' has still much to teach us.
"The Day Hip-Hop Changed Forever" - Ahmir Questlove Thompson
"[missing first few words]..Quiet?" The sound of gentrification is silence - Xochitl Gonzalez
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong. A touching memoir, beautifully lyrical
Post-Humous Memoirs of Brá Cubas - Machano de Assis. Perfect blend of beautiful writing and 'plot'.
Meltdown - ben elton
African Writers Series - Saqi and Banipal books
"What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?" - Claire Dederer Nov 20th 2017. questioning the separation of the artist and art think piece
TED Youtube video - "Your elusive creative genius" - Elizabeth Gilbert. from the author of Eat, Pray, Love. talks about the creative process and the idea of "genius"
"How friendships change in adulthood" - Julie Beck, The Atlantic
"Ugliness is Underrated: In Defence of Ugly Paintings" - Katy Kelleher, July 31 2018 (The Paris Review)
"The Husband Did It" - Alice Bolin The Awl, Feb 2015
"Is Therapy-speak making us selfish?" - Rebecca Fishbein, Bustle
"You May Want to Marry my Husband" - Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Mar 3 2017
"The joy of sulk"- Rebecca Roache
"A thin line between mother and daughter" - Jennifer Egan, Nov 14 1997
The Unabridged Journals - Sylvia Plath
Flaubertian (comparative more Flaubertian, superlative most Flaubertian) Of or relating to Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880), influential French novelist in the style of literary realism.
Though he is an iconic figure of the realist movement, Flaubert is equally well known for his imaginative Orientalist works of fiction.
"The Plight of the Eldest Daughter" - The Atlantic, by Sarah Sloat
"A Poet's Faith" - Life and Letters 11 Dec 2023 Issue, by Casey Cep, The New Yorker
(up to 12 May from scrolling through screenshots on camera roll)
Ginny & Georgia is an American dramatic comedy television series created by Sarah Lampert, which premiered on Netflix on February 24, 2021—written by Erin Deck, Susan Shipton, and Jonathan Egan. The series tells the story of ginny and Georgia’s growth through their youth, on the one hand, and a mother-daughter story on the other. The series included ten episodes in the first season. Fans are excited for the second season of the series. So, has Netflix renewed the series for a second season? When will it be released?1 What is the plotline of the series?2 Will there be a second season of Ginny & Georgia?3 Who are the main characters of Ginny & Georgia?What is the plotline of the series?Georgia moves to Wellsbury with her teenage daughter Ginny and 9-year-old son Austin after her husband dies. On her first day at Ginny’s new school, Ginny is exposed to her teacher’s racism. She meets Maxine and Maxine’s bad boy twin brother, Marcus. She likes him and kisses Marcus. But at the same time, she accepts Hunter’s dating offer. Ginny has sex with Marcus and loses her virginity.Meanwhile, Georgia starts working alongside the mayor of Wellsbury, Paul. Flashbacks throughout the episode show how Georgia was abused when she was young, how she got pregnant with Ginny, and her husband’s accident was due to her poisoning. As the audience watches Georgia’s life, they begin to understand her better. Georgia’s past impresses viewers. How strong a woman she is, revealed in every episode.The Picture: @Netflix – Trailer / YouTubeWill there be a second season of Ginny & Georgia?The first season of the series is aired on February 24, 2021; as of April 2021, at the time of writing, Netflix has yet to renew the series for a second season. There’re a million questions from the first season. Did Ginny and Austin really run away? Where are they going? What will be Ginny’s relationship with Marcus? Will Georgia’s wedding actually happen? Is Georgia getting closer and closer to the jingle? All questions need answers. The last episode of the series was the harbinger of the future of the new season. Netflix has not yet given its official approval for the second season. Since the first season took four months to finished, we can expect to see it this year if Netflix approves immediately. If approval is awarded within a few months, Ginny and Georgia’s second season will come out in February 2022. However, this time may change due to Covid-19.Who are the main characters of Ginny & Georgia?Brianne Howey acts out Georgia Miller, a 30-year-old single and charming mother of Ginny and Austin.Antonia Gentry acts out Ginny Miller, Georgia’s teenage daughter that more mature than her mother, Georgia.Diesel La Torraca acts out Austin Miller, Georgia’s little son, and Ginny’s half-brother.Jennifer Robertson acts out Ellen, the Millers’ neighbor who is Marcus’s mother, and the ad boy Max.Felix Mallard acts out Marcus, Ellen’s teenage son, Max’s twin brother.Sara Waisglass acts out Maxine (Max), Ginny’s new lesbian best friend and Marcus’s twin sister.Scott Porter acts out Mayor Paul Randolph, the mayor of Wellsbury.Raymond Ablack acts out Joe, the owner of a local restaurant, loves interest to Georgia.
Avonne Pookie ookie <3 is it you who has Chick and John’s mom seeing each other in the hs au!? Because if so I need to know more about that rn!!!
Hi dear 🥰 Oh, thank you so much for this ask! Indeed, my Georgia Egan gets together with Chick Harding and will end up marrying him and taking his name. ❤️🔥 I haven't included this in the published fics yet, but it's coming soon!
She loves motorbikes and he’s a biker. He’s her instructor when she finally decides to do something for herself for once and learn how to ride one.
They're both divorced. Georgia because Bucky's father had another family on the side in secret. Chick because he and his wife really wanted kids but couldn’t have them and their marriage ultimately fell apart.
No wonder that one of the things Chick loves about Georgia is how much she loves her son.
They start talking casually during breaks during the bike course, then Chick buys her a coffee and asks her out on a date once the course is over. She's so stunned, she hasn't been with anyone since her divorce. She didn’t think anyone would still be attracted to her.
They go out a few times and have fun, and it turns out that they really like each other. They kiss and discuss a serious relationship, but Georgia tells him they can only be more than casual if both boys like Chick. This happens right after chapter 3 of dive for dreams, so Bucky is almost 17 and Gale is 16.
Chick was lonely after his divorce so he adopted a cat. Gale notices the cat fur on Georgia's clothes and puts two and two together.
When Georgia introduces Chick to the boys, Bucky is unfriendly on principle, he’s protective of his mom. Gale is scared of him (because of the trauma from his dad). They're polite and all, but they're clearly wary.
He takes them to a bike show or similar event, and Bucky gets super enthusiastic about the bikes and biker culture - Chick has basically won him over. It’s much harder to get Gale's trust, but Chick tells him about the freedom of riding a bike and that appeals to Gale. (He’ll end up learning how to ride one from Chick.)
Both Georgia and Chick are starving for a partner's company, so they spend a lot of quality time together in the beginning... 🔥🔥
He moves in with Georgia once the boys are off to university and will ask her to marry him after a few years. ❤️
the one thing I miss about college is talking about books. getting this ask made me so happy.
SO
i'll start with my current genre of choice which is thrillers/mysteries. I just finished reading the Rizzoli & Isles series by Tess Gerritsen. if you've seen the show, know they're very very different. I also recently finished The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and the ending very much surprised me. Ten Dead Comedians by Fred Van Lente is a funny take on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, which I also highly recommend. Final Girls by Riley Sager and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson are also A++. And finally, maybe the creepiest book I've read in the last year is UNSUB by Meg Gardiner. I made sure the security system was on every night lol.
to my other longstanding favorite genre, we have romance. I'm a big fan of Jennifer Crusie, Kasey Michaels, and Rachel Gibson because I'm a huge sucker for early 2000s mass market paperbacks. They're funny, light reads if you just need something to distract you for a while. I absolutely adore The Kiss Quotient series by Helen Hoang, excellent representation of mental health issues and neurodivergence in general. Also, did you know that Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams writes romance novels as Selena Montgomery? You should read them. My favorites are Reckless followed by Deception, and I am eagerly waiting for the third in the trilogy. For something more modern and a little steamy, The Shameless Series by Rosie Danan is super fun.
I don't generally read historical fiction, but I finally caved to peer pressure and read The Nickel Boys by Coulson Whitehead and I had to sit with that one for a minute because whew.
I went on an essay collection/memoir kick for a bit. some of my favorites were The Awkward thoughts of W. Kamau Bell by W. Kamau Bell, both I Can't Date Jesus and I Don't Want to Die Poor by Michael Arceneaux, Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh, Coming Out Like a Pornstar by Jiz Lee (editor), I'm Judging You: The Do-Better Manual by Luvvie Ajayi-Jones, So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel, I'm Telling the Truth, but I'm Lying by Bassey Ikpi, and anything by Samantha Irby.
I have to be in a mood to read some contemporary fiction, but ones that stuck with me were Do This For Me by Eliza Kennedy, The Divorce Party by Laura Dave (who is a favorite of mine), The Book of Joe and anything else by Jonathan Tropper, Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple, and A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.
for political satire, books by Christopher Buckley. that's all.
a genre I read almost exclusively for a while but I've strayed from is YA. Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro, Monday's Not Coming and Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson, Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles, Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram, Slay by Britttney Morris, Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, Beauty Queens by Libba Bray.
I haven't read a lot of sci-fi/fantasy, but for funnies I did like the Midnight, Texas series by Charlaine Harris.
and finally, books that made me cry. Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies by Michael Ausiello, They Both Die at the End, More Happy Than Not, and History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Excuse the crap quality, but I couldn’t not share this precious down-home baby!De in technicolor.
(From The View from Pompey’s Head (1955). Bonus - the guy he’s checking in is the same actor who shoots him in Tension at Table Rock the following year. 🥰😭)
so this is the work i’ve been doing over the past couple days, I want to give you guys a heads up that list will contain spoilers for some of the characters/games so please be aware of all of that. if this garners interest, i’ll do maybe the penvellyn family tree (that thing could not fit in here) or last name origins!
Main Cast
Nancy Drew: Grace (Hebrew)
Bess Marvin: god of plenty (English)
Georgia “George” Fayne: farmer (English)
Edward “Ned” Nickerson: wealth, fortune, prosperous OR guardian, protector (English)
Joe Hardy: god will increase (English)
Frank “Franklin” Hardy: free landowner (English)
SCK/SCKR
Jacob “Jake” Rogers: supplanter (Hebrew)
Daryl Gray: open, from Airelle (English, French)
Connie Watson: strong willed, wise (Irish)
Hal Tanaka: army ruler (English)
Hector “Hulk” Sanchez: holding fast (Greek)
Mitch Dillon: Who is like God, gift from god (Hebrew)
Detective “Steve” Beech: crown, garland (Greek)
STFD
Mattie Jensen: lady, mistress of the house, might in battle (Aramaic or German)
Richard “Rick” Arlen: brave ruler (English)
Dwayne Powers: swarthy (Irish, Gaelic)
Lillian Weiss: lily, a flower (English)
Millie Strathorn: industrious (German)
William Pappas: resolute protector, strong willed warrior (German)
Ralph Guardino: counsel wolf, famous wolf (Norse, English)
MHM
Rose Green: rose, a flower (English)
Abby Sideris: father’s joy (Hebrew)
Charlie Murphy: free man (Charlie)
Louis Chandler: fame, warrior, famous in battle (French)