#the new order: last days of old europe

[warsofasoiaf]

Who's That Guy?

Cheers everyone!

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[ambasingresident]

The Different Flavors of Henry in the HOI4 Alt History Mod-Verse

List of Henries present in the drawing and their status in their respective AU

KR! (Kaiserreich) Henry: N.R.P.R White Knight of the Russian State

RF! (Red Flood) Henry: L E P A T R O N of Avant Garde France

FR! (Fuhrerreich) Henry: Thuleschutztruppe of the German Reich (Valkist Germany)

TWR! (Thousand Week Reich) Henry: Master Sergeant (Rear Echelon) of the United States under MacArthur's Presidency

OWB! (Old World Blues) Henry: Warrant Officer 1 of the Texan Enclave

TNO! (The New Order) Henry: General of the Siberian Black Leauge (Omsk)

[steddiealltheway]

Childhood best friends Steve and Eddie make a pact that if they’re not married by the time they’re the old age of twenty-five then they’ll marry each other.

Twenty years later, they’ve both grown apart, but neither of them have forgotten. And with Steve’s twenty-fifth birthday being that day, it’s brought up all those old memories. Along with feelings of… remorse. It’s weird, but even though he hasn’t talked to Eddie Munson in years he misses him. Misses the promise of him being there.

Sure, he’s seen him around especially since they both were stuck in Hawkins and the town was smaller than Steve liked. It doesn’t help that they both managed to befriend the same gaggle of teenage kids who are all somehow adults now. They still visit, but it’s not nearly as often as Steve would like.

But Steve isn’t old. He was wrong when he was a five year old - about a lot of things. He isn’t who he thought he would be, and his parents certainly aren’t as great as they used to be. At the age of five, Steve showed potentially, but with each new failed skill, his parents cared less and less. Or rather, they paid attention more and more - maybe that’s why Steve stopped trying, failing was the only thing that got his parents’ attention.

But he’s not going to see them today or hear from them. It’s been a while since either of his parents last called, and at this point, he doesn’t care. He’ll just have a day of rest and relaxation.

The phone rings.

Steve glares at it for a few moments. It’s most likely a telemarketer. Maybe someone remembered his birthday though.

He trudges his way over to the phone. “Hello?”

“Steve! I need a ride from my house!”

Steve sighs and settles a hand on his hip. “Dustin, you have a car. I’m not your babysitter anymore. And shouldn’t you be in class?”

There’s a groan on the other line then an insistent, “I ran out of gas okay! Now come over!” The dial tone rings.

Steve thuds the phone against his head once then puts it back on the base. “Happy birthday to me,” he mumbles as he grabs his keys and makes his way out the door.

The drive over is quick, but Steve takes a moment to himself in the car to breathe. He loves the kid, but sometimes he needs to prepare before being around all that energy. He walks up to the door quickly and knocks in the code they made up long ago.

A few seconds later the door swings open, and there’s shouts of “Surprise!” that make Steve jump backwards. He relaxes as he looks around at all the kids who used to call themselves “The Party” plus Robin and Nancy and… Eddie?

Steve looks at Dustin who stands proudly at the door gesturing to the large banner in his living room. “Come in!” He yells and practically pulls Steve inside.

“Aren’t you all supposed to be in college right now?” Steve asks the kids as he struggles to comprehend what’s happening, then he turns to Robin and Nancy. “And I thought you two were traveling the world and off in Europe.”

There’s a burst of explanations but from the general garble he gets a few things - lots of excuses to professors, taking time off from work, skipping classes, flights and road-trips home, but the general consensus is that they wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Steve ends up in the middle of a group hug which he initiates in order to hide the tears in his eyes. God, he missed everyone.

As people start pulling away with jokes about people needing to shower more and general middle schooler humor that they should’ve grown out of by now, Steve glances around. Eddie isn’t anywhere. In fear that he’s twenty-five and starting to hallucinate, Steve asks if anyone’s seen him.

A silence settles over the room as they all start to glance around and shake their heads. Then, Nancy says, “It’s cool that you’ve made a friend in Hawkins, we were getting a bit worried about you.”

“And it’s so cool that it’s Eddie! I always knew you two would eventually get along!” Dustin says with a high pitched laugh that takes Steve back to when he first met the kid. He shakes his head and processes as there’s a general murmur of agreement.

“What do you mean? I haven’t talked to Eddie in years,” Steve says with his hands on his hips.

Something about this has everyone glancing around with a mix of concerned and confused faces. “Steve,” Robin says gently, “you know who I am, right?”

Steve glares at her. “Robin, I’m twenty-five. I would hope I’m not getting any memory issues yet.”

“You never know!” Robin defends herself.

Nancy finally cuts in, “We’re just shocked because Eddie kind of organized this whole thing.”

Steve stares at her for a few moments, trying to see if she’ll glance away from him - her lying tell. But she stares him dead on. Then, he glances around at the group. Apparently it’s not some weird joke.

“I’m kidding,” Steve says with a smile and everyone seemingly relaxes. He’s definitely not kidding, but he can’t have everyone’s concern at the moment. He needs to talk to Eddie right now. “But seriously, has anyone seen him?”

“He’s probably in my room,” Dustin offers. “Now everyone can dig into the pizza now that Steve’s here!”

Steve laughs as he hears Max argue, “You already ate three slices.” But he’s already making his way to Dustin’s room before he can hear any response. He lightly knocks on the door.

“Come in,” Eddie responds.

Steve’s heart races as he slowly opens the door. He sees Eddie fidgeting with his rings before he freezes when he sees who it is. “Hey,” Steve says softly.

“Hey,” Eddie replies quietly. Steve’s taken back to when he had first approached him years and years ago. Where did the time go?

Steve closes the door behind him to give them some privacy as he pulls up a chair to face Eddie who sits on the edge of Dustin’s bed. There’s a moment of them just staring at each other, and Steve notes how his eyes are just as big and round as they used to be. But time has been good to Eddie, defining his features and not taking away the fullness of his lips.

Steve tries to shake that thought away as he attempts to casually asks, “So, you did all this?”

Eddie bites on his bottom lip for a moment then nods. “Yeah,” he breathes out. “I hope… I hope it’s not too weird or anything. I know we haven’t talked since…”

“Since my dad found our marriage contract? Yeah,” Steve says and looks away. His stomach rolls a bit at the memory, but he pushes it down. Not something he’s going to deal with on his birthday. Instead he smiles and looks back at Eddie joking, “So, are you here to take me up on it?”

Eddie smiles widely and replies, “Well, I did bring a ring.” Then, to Steve’s disbelief, Eddie pulls out a ring box from his pocket. “Should I get on one knee?” Eddie jokes as he passes it over to Steve who takes the box.

He flicks it open slowly and sees the glint of silver. It’s a silver band with some kind of engraved design, and for a moment Steve has the weird desire to say “yes.” Instead, he pulls the ring out of the box and stares at the details.

“It was an old spoon,” Eddie explains. “I made it when we were in high school.”

Steve swallows and slides the ring on his ring finger. It fits perfectly somehow. He looks at Eddie. “I’m sorry. I was such an asshole in high school. I just… changed or something.”

“I kept tabs on you,” Eddie admits quietly. “Shit, I sound like a stalker. But… I just… I know how hard your parents were on you. God, I don’t even blame you for who you were, but you changed again. For the better.”

For some reason, hearing it from Eddie makes Steve believe it. Some proof that the boy he once was wasn’t entirely lost forever. Steve turns the ring around his finger and comments, “If it helps, I kept tabs on you, too. And for the record, I couldn’t stand that first girlfriend you had.”

“Tammy?” Eddie laughs in disbelief.

“Yes!” Steve laughs as well. “A part of me was jealous that you would end up marrying her and not me.”

A silence settles over the room. “Steve, that was in high school.”

“Yeah. Didn’t really like the most recent guy either,” Steve admits because something about Eddie has him spilling out every secret he possesses.

Eddie scoffs. “What was wrong with him?”

“He wasn’t me,” Steve replies, and goes on to explain, “I don’t know. I just… have always had this weird fantasy that we would work out. Get to twenty-five and already be married. Maybe it’s just all my regrets adding up, but… I don’t know. I feel like I messed up our story or something. It’s stupid.” Steve stares down at the ring again glinting on his ring finger.

“I always had the same fantasy,” Eddie admits, and Steve glances up. It’s like he can see his whole wasted past turn into a potential future.

Steve laughs. “God, this is probably the first conversation we’ve had in twenty years, and I’ve already got a ring.”

Eddie looks at the ring and laughs as well. He reaches out and rests a hand on Steve’s knee as he doubles over in laughter which has Steve gripping his hand and throwing his head back with a loud laugh.

At some point Eddie slips off the edge of Dustin bed onto one knee which is when Dustin barges in. “What are you guys- Holy shit! Eddie just proposed!” Dustin screams.

Steve and Eddie laugh even harder as everyone comes rushing to the door to gasp and yell at them for keeping their relationship a secret for so long. Steve finally finds the breath to say, “No! No. We’re not. We’re not engaged. I think we’re just… sticking to coffee first. Yeah?” Steve asks as he looks to Eddie.

“Coffee is good,” Eddie agrees with a smile.

While everyone demands an xplanation, Eddie leans in and whispers, “Happy twenty-fifth birthday, Steve.”

Maybe Steve’s five year old self would be pissed that it took him this long to finally get things right with Eddie Munson, but he knows his five year old self would be kind of proud.

[maremartinelli]

I CAME TO APOLOGIZE²

Sirius Black X fem!reader

Summary: After years without him and all the problems, someone knocks on Y/n's door, making her surprised. And after a lot of talking, she needs to introduce someone to him.

Words: 2.8K+

Warnings: Mention of death, Post Azkaban, babies, food, anguish and happy ending.

Author: Look, here I am with part 2, you asked for it and I brought it. It's not one of the best, but I hope you like it. And yes, it has a happy ending!! English is not my first language, I apologize for any writing and spelling errors.

Part 1

MASTERLIST

Y/n only lasted 1 year in Switzerland when everything started to go wrong for the Order of the Phoenix in Scotland.

Voldemort's Death Eaters began to grow stronger and launch rebellion after rebellion. It started with Dorcas' murder, Marlene's murder, Peter betraying the Potter's, Lily and James' death, Sirius going to prison, Remus moving to Europe to who knows what country and little Harry being left without a family.

Knowing this, Y/n gathered everything she had in Switzerland and returned to her old home. To which, he fought to have custody of Harry, so that he could still have some kind of contact from those who loved him.

••••••••••••••••••••••••

Twelve years had passed and every day Y/n struggled to keep everything in order and give everything the best to the two children.

Of course, she had found a great job as a Magizoologist that paid her well and was enough to support the three of them and also go on trips that would certainly remain in the memory of the two children.

And he also sold his books. As she progressed better in the field of Magizoology, she wrote everything in a book, until two years ago she decided to publish it and which brought in extra money. To which, she divided the amount and deposited it into the account of the almost teenagers.

The beginning was not easy, indeed. But as she got used to the idea, the grief passed and the future arrived, Y/n stayed strong to work and give everything they needed.

At the time, the woman was in the kitchen of the new house putting a lemon pie to bake, while 13-year-old Harry and Marie played like children in the snow.

She smiles as she approaches the window and calls out to the two of them.

"Hey, Marie and Harry. Come in!! It's getting colder and colder!!"

The two look at Y/n and smile in sync.

"We're coming, Aunt Y/n!!" Harry shouts back excitedly and throws one last snowball at Marie.

"Hey, Hazz!!!" She tries to get angry, but starts running after the boy as they both laugh and enter the house.

With that, Y/n hears the two running into the house and making a mess in the living room.

"Hey you two, be careful not to fall. That snow on you could melt and slip in the wet." She leaves the kitchen and stops at the doorframe, which gave access to the living room of the house they recently bought.

Marie stops running after Harry and looks at the woman, who had a dish towel on her shoulders and some flour on her face.

The girl smiles and walks, stopping in front of Y/n.

"Mommy, Mommy!! What were you doing in the kitchen?!" She says naughty, while cleaning her mother's face and placing a kiss on the eldest's cheek.

Y/n laughs at her daughter's act and quickly squeezes her cheeks.

"I just put a lemon pie in the oven for us to eat in a bit" she says and then Marie runs up to Harry and they start jumping.

"Lemon pie!! Lemon pie!!..." they sang together, and hugged each other running around the room.

"You look like two children" Y/n laughs, rolling her eyes and smiling.

Harry and Marie behaved like brothers. Well, you see, they were both the same age. Yes, Harry might be a few months older, but they were still in the same class at Hogwarts and were the same age.

After Y/n returned from Switzerland, those who survived the first war were shocked to see her with a baby in her arms. They even asked if she had gotten married, but Y/n denied it and ended up telling the whole truth. Which left everyone's jaw dropped.

And when she told Remus in a letter, the other week he was knocking on the door of her old house to see if it was real. But in the end, he was happy for her, and knew about the entire journey that Y/n and the baby's father went through at Hogwarts. Everyone saw how in love they were.

After she gained custody of Harry, she raised him and Marie as if they were siblings and it was working. One couldn't live without the other and at Hogwarts they were always in trouble.

Just like their parents - Words from Minerva.

"Only first!" She raises her finger. "You guys should go upstairs and take a shower to get all that snow off."

Harry's shoulders slump, but then he looks at his aunt.

"But can Marie and I watch some TV?" He asks and Y/n smiles in agreement.

"Only after they have spent an hour reading. Remember our agreements"

Harry and Marie nod their heads in agreement and each go up to their room.

Y/n smiles and then goes back to the kitchen to wash the dishes she had left dirty.

They were wizards, they could very well put a spell on the objects to wash themselves, but Y/n always liked having Muggle actions and objects. Like the very TV Harry had just talked about.

While she is washing the dishes and the two are upstairs getting ready for the night, she hears a desperate knock on the back door of the house.

She frowns and then holds her wand in her hand as she walks towards it.

It could very well be Moony, he had this habit of scaring her when he visited his nephews. But the knock on the door didn't seem to be from the werewolf, but from someone in despair.

The door slams again and then she screams.

"Hey hey, I'm coming. Whoever it is!!" She says angrily and then opens the door, coming face to face with a man with long, dark hair and beard.

The woman's body froze. Could it be him, the person she hasn't seen in over 13 years?

He couldn't, he didn't know where she lived, she had recently moved.

He couldn't, he was in Askhaban. Although she knew that he hadn't betrayed the Potters years ago and reinforced this to Marie and Harry, every time he told some stories from the past.

"Y-Y/n?!" The man whispers.

A solitary tear fell from the woman's eye.

"Sirius?" She says and he nods.

She smiles a little and runs into the man's embrace. Not even caring about the condition he was in.

"Come in, you're going to freeze here" she helped Sirius enter the kitchen and then sat him down on a chair, while she pulled out another and sat down in front of him.

"Sorry, I didn't know where to go. But then I saw Harry out in the yard just now and I thought it could be you or someone from Hogwarts." He says quickly and Y/n shakes her head.

"Alright, alright," she begins, already with a thousand and one thoughts running through her. "You're shaking, hold on" Y/n gets up and runs to the living room to get a blanket that she always kept there. "Here, this will warm you up a little" the woman puts the blanket on Sirius' back and he smiles a little. "What's up?! What's happening to you? Weren't you in Azkaban?"

With that, Sirius explained everything and with each sentence he said, Y/n's tears began to splash in her eyes, about to start crying.

"Siri, I'm so sorry!!" Y/n then cries and puts her hands on her face. "I'm so sorry for everything you went through, the Potters, the betrayal and...Oh my God. Marlene...the baby..." she cries more, remembering everything.

Sirius tries to reach for her hand, but she steps back and then stands up. While still crying.

"Look, if you want to hand me over to the aurors, I'll understand. But I really wanted revenge, Peter is still alive despite everything that happened. He's the traitor." He says weakly and Y/n looks at him as he stops walking around the large kitchen.

"I know..."

"What?"

"I know about Peter"

"What do you mean, Y/n"

"I've always had a hard time with him, and the day before I left for Switzerland, Lily came to my apartment to help me with the last things and told me that you had a last-minute exchange about the secret. I know it was Peter You betrayed them, you were wrongly condemned." She says this and then she can see Sirius' shoulders ease and he lowers his head. "I always wanted revenge, but I thought he was dead. But now that you told me he's alive, I feel enormous anger" Y/n says stronger, but with tears still falling.

Sirius still had his head down, while shaking his legs and cracking his fingers.

A habit that Y/n knew he had since meeting the boy in his first years at Hogwarts. He always did this when he didn't know what to do during a problem he had. At the time, it was usually with his parents, but now he was scared and didn't know what to make of his prison break.

The woman approaches and kneels in front of him, while holding his hands tightly.

"Hey, I'm here. It's going to be okay!! I'll help you" She says seriously and Pads lifts his head to look at the woman.

He had tears in his eyes, which made Y/n want to cry again.

"Ok..."

"But there's one thing!!"

He looks at her suspiciously.

"We should give you a treat. Azkaban probably isn't one of the best places with personal care" Y/n scoffs and smiles.

For the first time in years, she could hear Sirius laugh again.

"It seems your acidic humor still resides"

"Ah, you know. It's my way of dealing with difficult problems" She smiles and then analyzes the man.

He was older since the last time, but he still had traces of that boy she loved so much and who had to leave him behind to finally be happy with their journeys.

But it doesn't seem to have worked for either of them.

"Come, I have some clothes that Moony left here from his last visit, I think they'll fit you." She holds out her hand and Sirius stands up, following her to the first floor bathroom.

"Do you see Remus yet??" He asks.

"Well, yes!! Not much because he's always traveling for work, but he always comes to see Harry and Ma-- Oh damn!!" She trips over a pile of books and chocolate packets. "Sorry about the mess, we didn't know a visitor would arrive" Y/n turns and looks with a crooked smile on her face.

He just laughs and then follows the instructions Y/n gives him and enters the bathroom.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Minutes had passed, Harry and Marie were still upstairs - which made Y/n a little more relieved, as she didn't know how to tell Sirius that they had a daughter.

She was in the kitchen when she heard movement behind her. Turning around, she sees Sirius and smiles.

"A new man?"

"Definitely a new man" he smiles and then slowly walks around the kitchen, while looking at the picture frames scattered around the room.

He looks at one that contained Harry and Marie in the snow last winter. Marie was building a snowman, and Harry was smiling behind her, throwing snow. They laughed like children.

The other photo he sees is one where Marie was a baby and was lying on Y/n's lap. She probably had a few hours left to live, as Y/n's face looked tired, but her smile was still wide open.

"I didn't know you were married" he says, with a tightness in his chest.

"What?" She turns around and then sees Sirius looking at the photos. "Oh, no. I'm not," she smiles slightly, as she cuts potatoes for dinner.

He just nods and looks at another photo. Another where Y/n had Marie on her lap, but now she was two years old. Marie was lying in his arms laughing, while Harry was like a little monkey on the young woman's back. The three laughed happily for the camera.

"You have a daughter?" He asks and Y/n quickly turns around.

Sirius directs his gaze at the woman, making her nervous.

"Yes it is..." She says and then turns completely towards him. "I need to tell you something."

With that, they hear footsteps coming down the stairs and approaching them.

"Hey Tia, can Marie and I..." Harry stops talking and looks at the man. “Oh, hi” he smiles shyly.

Sirius smiles, trying to hold back the tears.

"Harry dear, remember Sirius? That your aunt always told you and Marie?!" He nods.

"Yes, my father's best friend" he says happily.

"That's it," she smiles. "Well, it's him!!"

Sirius looks at Y/n with fear and she walks next to him and whispers.

"It's okay, I told them the whole story until today. He knows it wasn't you" Y/n reassures, letting the man sigh deeply.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you" Harry takes his hand to shake and Sirius does the same. "And also, I'm sorry"

"For what exactly?"

"Ah, you know right. My parents and all that" Harry puts his hands back and looks at the floor.

When Sirius was about to say something, a girl with wavy brown hair arrived in the room. She had clear eyes and a smile that all naughty people would recognize.

She was wearing denim overalls and had worn a red Gryffindor sweatshirt over it, due to the cold.

"Mom, is the pie ready? I finished my book and I'm starving--- Oops..." She stops where she is, when she sees Sirius.

The face looked familiar with the photos she saw every day of her mother with her friends when she was at Hogwarts. Which made Marie's heart race.

"Hi, mom didn't say we were having visitors." Marie smiles friendly and extends her hand to shake.

"This is Sirius, daughter" Y/n finally says, thus drawing her daughter's conclusions.

Marie stops the action and remains statue, while looking at the man in front of her.

Now with Marie and Sirius facing each other, Y/n was sure that she was Sirius in the female and younger version.

"Yeah...Sirius, well..." Y/n stutters. "That's what I wanted to tell you about...she's Marie, our--"

"Daughter" Y/n and Sirius say together, which scares them both.

"Yes, our daughter" Y/n crosses her arms over her chest and lowers her head.

Y/n never hid Sirius from Marie and Harry's life. She had told them that the man was the boy's godfather and the girl's father, told them everything they had to hear and they were fine with it.

"At the time I didn't know, and I couldn't tell you either. I was in Switzerland and you were... we had... I couldn't..." Y/n tries to say something, but the tears started to come. fall down the face violently.

Sirius walks up to her and places his hands on the woman's cheeks, while smiling from ear to ear.

“Y/n, look at me” she does. "We have a daughter together. That's amazing!!" He says and Y/n sighs smiling.

"Yeah, I think so"

"I know everything we went through and had to do, but if it were at the time I would never deny her. And today, well today, destiny gave me another chance to be with you. You don't know the joy of hearing this news" He smiles and Y/n looks at him. "Know that I never stopped loving you, regardless of everything."

"I love you too, with all my heart" they lean their foreheads against each other.

Until they hear someone fake coughing.

"Hey, we're here!! Could you mommy introduce me to my dad?" Marie asks smiling and Y/n rolls her eyes.

"I see that the personality is yours" Sirius distances himself from the woman and turns to his daughter.

Marie smiles at her father and wraps him in a warm hug.

"But appearance is totally yours" Y/n says and then smiles seeing Marie hug and interact with her father, who was now at home.

Finally.

Harry looks at his aunt and smiles. Y/n calls him and the boy walks up to her and hugs her in the corner.

Now they were complete.

Sirius was home and everything would be more than fine.

The rest of the night was Harry and Marie happily telling Pads about their lives, while he made sure to listen to everything in detail.

Whatever is meant to be yours will always come back, regardless of how long it takes.

Author: and they lived alive and happily ever after, with Harry, Marie and another baby😚🙏🏽

[lisbeth-kk]

May Prompts (27) Jealousy

The Luckiest Girl in the World (chapter27)

Summary: Rosie and Timothy travel the Greek islands. An intriguing experience on Santorini, puzzles and irks Rosie immensely. When Timothy doesn't react to her liking, there's only one option on how to move forward.

Twenty-Seven Years Old

To celebrate my birthday and my new fulltime job as a political risk analyst, Timothy and I went island-hopping in Greece. Liwia and her girlfriend had done it last year, and it appealed to us both. Having nothing but the flights planned, made me feel a bit reckless but it was quite freeing as well.

The only thing we’d decided on was to stick to the Cyclades and we started our journey by taking a ferry to the small island Antiparos. Several people who let out rooms stood waiting on the quay as we disembarked. An elderly and friendly looking man caught our attention, and the room he had to offer was more than sufficient.

Our first breakfast is one I’ll remember forever. The small restaurant was situated by the seafront where the fishing boats came in with their catch. Faded coloured fishing nets hung to dry in the sun, the scent of salt weaving its way to our nostrils.

Freshly pressed orange juice and the fluffiest omelette I’d ever come across, ensured the perfect start of our day.

We hired a moped to explore a little. The trip took us through a landscape of olive trees and flowers we didn’t have in the UK. Our destination was the famous cave with stalagmites and stalactites. The stalagmite at the entrance is apparently 45 million years old, the oldest in Europe. 

We were warm and a bit sweaty after standing out in the sun, while we waited for our guide. The air inside was pleasantly chill and got even colder as we descended the 411 steps to the heart of the cave. It was a mesmerising sight, and knowing that this was the nature’s own doing, left me amazed and humble.

At a cosy taverna we ate the best Greek salad to date. The ripe tomatoes paired with the salty feta cheese, olives, onions, the rich olive oil and the homemade bread, almost made me religious for a moment.

The beach close to our quarters, was small, secluded and blessedly free of crowds. We had taken a boat to a famous beach the day before, but we’d barely found a free space to lay down our blankets, so this felt like paradise in comparison. 

Another short boat ride away was the bigger island Paros. We took the bus to the other side of the island. I don’t remember anything else from that trip than the hours we spent in Naoussa. Several boats painted in bright colours lay bobbing in the water close to the restaurants that encircled the bay. It may sound simple, but it was the most beautiful view, and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. We sat there for hours, eating seafood and drinking Greek white wine. 

***

So far, it had been a “normal” vacation, or tedious as Papa would’ve called it. That all ended when we sat foot on Santorini. Getting a room was easy enough, and relieved of our heavy rucksacks we went for a stroll in the main street of Fira. Every other shop was a jewellery shop, and the necklaces displayed bore the resemblance to what pharaohs and Cleopatra wore. Heavy, massive and ridiculously expensive. For each shop they seemed to grow bigger and uglier. We had quite a laugh at that.

The most peculiar thing happened at the restaurant we had lunch. It was a terrace with a breathtaking view over the Aegean Sea. We’d decided to stay for a while and ordered more iced tea, making ourselves comfortable under the big parasol. We had both brought a book, and for a while we read in silence. A repetitive sound of paper being ripped, caught my attention.

An elderly woman had taken up residence at the table next to ours. She had short frizzy hair, more grey than brown now, her glasses were round with a white frame. The summer dress she wore had big patterns in green, red, white, and orange. On her feet were white flip-flops. 

“Stop staring,” Timothy whispered.

He startled me and I looked annoyed at him, but averted my eyes and took a sip of my drink. The moment the sound of ripped paper reached my ears again, my eyes were drawn to the spectacle at the other table.

The woman read a book too. A paperback. The curious thing I almost couldn’t fathom, was that whenever she finished a page, she ripped it out and placed it in a pile under her plate. Why would anyone want to do such a thing? What if you needed to go back some pages to look up something you’ve missed. It could never be read by another person, since she apparently left pages wherever she sat down to read. It bore no logic, and it irked me.

“Aren’t you curious about why she does it?” I whispered to Timothy.

“Not particularly. My book is far too interesting, and you won’t get an answer unless you ask her, and I guess you aren’t inclined to do that,” was his phlegmatic answer.

Timothy’s ability to turn off the world and disappear into his reading or writing, was admirable, but now it almost made me jealous of his book. I wanted to speculate with someone, solve this odd conundrum. There would be no more reading on my part after this, so I took out my phone instead.

Want to solve a mystery for me?

Pray tell! I’m bored to death and about to shoot the wall. P

Also available on AO3

Friendly warning: after 25 years the mystery is still unsolved. Don’t be shy about suggesting what the meaning of this appalling behaviour could be 🤭

@calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @keirgreeneyes @helloliriels @raina-at

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[scoatneyhall]

Once again thinking about Richmond in the Champions League... God I wish we could have seen them qualify.

Because 3.11 mentions two games remaining of the season, meaning the away game at the Etihad against City in 3.11 is definitely Match Week 37 of 38, and then the 3.12 home game at Nelson Road against West Ham is Match Week 38 - the last game of the 21/22 season. Given the 4-point difference the show references between City and Richmond, in that City could have secured the title in Week 37 if they'd won the "Mom City" game, but come out of it only 1 point ahead of Richmond because they lose it, and given there's no mention in 3.12 of any other contenders who may be in the running for the title - it's ONLY going to be City or Richmond who can win it on the final day, whoever was 3rd or 4th was far enough behind - that means that the points gap on the league table must have been large enough that Richmond secured themselves their Champions League place BEFORE the "Mom City" game, in an unseen match sometime between the late March international break episode and the final two episodes of the season, set in May.

They were obviously already talking about being qualified for the UCL at the start of 3.12, and there was no mention about the idea of the win over City securing their UCL place in 3.11, just that it was a step closer to the league title, which means the UCL qualification must have happened a few weeks before that match and was "old news" by then.

And FUCK I would have loved to see Roy, in particular, getting to respond to that achievement. You'd hope by now that Ted understood the structure of of the UCL and knows it's an additional competition, not a promotion, but you know, I wouldn't be all that surprised if the show made him dumb about it in order to give the audience a proper explainer. And MAN I wish we got to see Roy and Beard - and maybe also Jamie, as the only current squad member who played in the UCL recently - all talking over each other in order to explain to him. I also just would have liked to see it purely for the victory moment - they celebrated their win in the finale but they didn't know they'd lost the league title, but the UCL qualification would have been an earlier and I think a purer victory in its own right, something that wouldn't have been doused in its glory with the news they didn't quite get the thing being held up as The Big Win. I would have just LOVED seeing them celebrate the win that secured that top 4 spot and put them into Europe for the next season, especially with maybe an aftermath of Roy and Jamie trading stories or making all these grand plans about how they were going to smash various opponents and stuff. Just one of many moments I feel robbed of not seeing, because it's definitely, retrospectively, Richmond's biggest achievement on the pitch - bigger than "beating West Ham," who by that point were not even title contenders.

How would I want it to go... we saw them play Newcastle at home on screen, when Zava left, so I might like to imagine they got their UCL qualification sometime in April or May beating Newcastle away, just as a little treat for Roy in particular. Though it's always better when big victories happen at home, so maybe it can be a total walloping of Manchester United at Nelson Road, just for Jamie.

[copperbadge]

Now that I’m home and avoiding work, notes from the Europe trip in terms of travel and...for lack of a better word self-care, but it’s really more like, accessibility centered around being a) anxious and b) over forty. 

-- The ability to do laundry was nice. I’d anticipated it would be helpful but not nearly as helpful as it was. Also having a fridge was super convenient, and having an oven was a nice perk in London and Rome. 

-- I planned to be able to do laundry so I only brought five days’ worth of clothes, and some were ‘disposable’ which was also convenient -- I brought my oldest underwear that I would have thrown out soon anyway, an extremely old pajama shirt, and at least one pair of trousers that was, as it were, on its last legs. That all worked fantastically; when I ran out of room in the suitcase on the last day of the trip I just tossed the trousers, and I’d already thrown out most of the underwear. 

-- I was more self-conscious than anticipated about my language limitations, which led to a lot of avoidance -- not anything I really wanted to do, like museums and the football match, but things I could have done, like eating out or going into shops. It was mostly to do with the look people got on hearing English out of my mouth. So either I need to learn more basic phrases or be more prepared for the look. (To be fair, in Rome I would say mi dispiace, sono American and they’d immediately be cool.) 

-- My stash of granola/protein bars was clutch, and going to a grocery store for staples was also very helpful. Turns out wherever you go, even if they don’t have Diet Coke, they almost always have babybel cheese.

-- No day trips between cities. Going from London to Cambridge and back for the day was great; going from London to Amsterdam to Paris in a single day was not. If I’m going somewhere new and not going back somewhere familiar at end of day, I need to get there, sleep, have a full day there, and leave either that evening or the following morning at minimum.

-- Relatedly: I don’t have to do this thing anymore where I book early departures or late arrivals because they’re cheap and don’t use up my vacation time. They only make me anxious. From now on even if it ‘wastes’ a day, I only book travel that departs and arrives during daylight hours. It’s always fine, nothing bad happens, but the anxiety is Too Much.  

-- The tablet and bluetooth keyboard in lieu of a laptop worked well. It wasn’t much lighter or more compact, but I was less worried about theft and because it charged via USB I didn’t have to wrangle an extra cord, I could just unplug my phone and plug the tablet in. That configuration also fit in my very small bag where a laptop wouldn’t, so I could carry it in my bag while in transit and not have to get my luggage out of the rack. 

-- The Very Small Bag (a map case) worked fine but while I didn’t need a bigger one I could have used one with more pockets. I was always losing the exact thing I needed in the jumble at the bottom of the bag. I think for longer trips I prefer a small messenger bag that has both a reasonable main cargo compartment but also pockets for stuff like passport and spare battery. 

Overall, a lot of the stuff I’d planned went off well, so at this point it’s less about logistics -- what to pack, how to pack it -- than it is about arranging things to lower anxiety and make transitions easier. That kind of thing sometimes you just need to experience in order to know how to handle it, so that’s fine. Next time I won’t be angry about Amsterdam when it’s not Amsterdam’s fault, or stuck waiting for a bus late at night at Rome Termini.  

[black-arcana]

LZZY HALE: New HALESTORM Music 'Will Be Worth The Wait'

During an appearance on the May 23 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale spoke about the progress of the writing and recording sessions for the band's follow-up to 2022's "Back From The Dead" album. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): It's a strange year because instead of us taking three months off to do a record, or 'hey, now we're only focusing on touring' or 'we're only focusing on other avenues,' we're kind of doing everything all at once. So we've had a couple just kind of three-week sessions in the studio, and we're finishing up new music, which has been so exciting. We've been recording with [producer] Dave Cobb, of all people, and he's just amazing and, I think, exactly what the doctor ordered for where we're at in our life. And so we're really excited about new music. But then we're touring all over the States this year because we spent so much time in Europe last year. So, yeah, we kick it off with I PREVAIL in July. And then in the fall, we're going out with EVANESCENCE to Canada, for all the people up there. It's how we live. This is life. We just keep the train rolling down the hill. So it's all very exciting. And I can't wait for you to hear the music, and I can't wait to see everybody this summer at all the festivals. And yeah, we just have a a great year coming up."

Asked how fan along she and the rest of HALESTORM are on the new music, Lzzy said: "This has been an amazing experience because Dave Cobb, he's like half wise old oak and then half A.D.D. five-year-old in the sandbox, which works very well with our little camp in HALESTORM, because we're all perpetually 15 years old anyway. And so it's been a beautiful process.

"We've been doing all the things," she explained. "So I've been writing during our off time, but then also we're writing and recording in the studio, but kind of all at once. So as it's being created, we're getting the final takes. So, half of the record is done, and then there are some things that we have one more session to kind of go in, after our next tour, to kind of just kind of finish everything up, put the icing on the cake, if you will, and make sure we have everything there and then it should be kind of sewn up. But it's been really beautiful because we've been recording, actually, out in Savannah, Georgia. Dave Cobb has a house [there]. And if you can imagine, it's just the four of us staying in one house. No distractions, 'cause it's Savannah, Georgia — they love their tea and they love their food and that's about it. And unsupervised, so there's no managers, there's no crew, no tour and nothing going on. So, in a lot of ways, this record feels like our beginning, when we were all just kind of living with each other in the same apartment and every day is something new, everything is ready to record, ready to go. So whatever you do, as long as you're chasing what gets you excited, it's going to get down on tape. So, it's just been a great experience. And I'm looking forward to the finished product and being able to tease everybody with dates as to when we're gonna unleash it."

Speaking about Cobb's somewhat unorthodox recording approach, Lzzy said: "There've been a couple of songs where we'll have forgotten to put on the click track as a guide, and then that ends up being the take because we were all playing with each other and there was a different energy. Or [Dave] really understands the line between when you're excited about something and it's happening, and then that post, after that line when you're trying too hard to rock, or you're trying too hard to be a singer, or you've memorized it too many times. There's a fine line with performance and getting magic on tape, whereas a lot of people are… I mean, we all do it, but you shoot for perfection. But somewhere, if you're shooting too hard for that perfection, the human element gets lost. And then the magic is lost, or it just sounds like you're reading it, or it sounds like you've played it a million times and you're tired, or you're thinking about something else. So, for a band like us, it's really worked. And it was actually nerve-racking in the beginning because we went in, and you always have your bank of songs you've written or riffs for days and, like, 'Okay, what do we start with? And Dave was very adamant about not having a plan, which was nerve-racking. I'm, like, 'Wait. No, we have to have a plan or it's just gonna be chaos. What's happening? I don't know how to work like this.' And then, after a couple of days, I'm, like, this is actually really nice because every day we just get in the sandbox and we play, and, 'Oh, I brought a LEGO set, you brought a rocket. Let's see what we can do with this.' And so it's been really beautiful to see these things develop and almost the music telling you what to do, not the other way around. I'm so used to going into a studio where it's, 'Okay, we have our 15 songs that we know we want on the record, and we're just gonna do a song a day and get them all done and recorded.' This is completely different because he doesn't want to lose — again — that intangible magic that comes with the excitement of when things are new and you're creating. You don't have time to think; you've just gotta get it done. And so it's been beautiful to kind of. see all of that come together."

Asked if she thinks HALESTORM will release some new music this year or fans will have to wait until 2025 to get something fresh from the band, Lzzy said: "You know what? I've learned this — I can make all the promises in the world. I would love to do that. I'm hoping that we will at least have something to show before the end of the year, but I know how this goes — I end up promising dates, and then something happens and some recall from mastering or something doesn't work out with numbers or with whatever it is. So I'm not making promises, but I will tell you it'll be worth the wait."

HALESTORM is working with Cobb after making three records with Nick Raskulinecz.

Cobb has shared in nine Grammy wins, including four for "Best Americana Album" and three for "Best Country Album". He's also been named "Producer Of The Year" by the Country Music Awards, the Americana Music Association (twice) and the Music Row Awards, and has been a Grammy nominee in the category.

Lzzy and her brother Arejay (drums) formed HALESTORM in 1998 while in middle school. Guitarist Joe Hottinger joined the group in 2003, followed by bassist Josh Smith in 2004.

In May 2023, HALESTORM teamed up with country singer Ashley McBryde for a reimagined version of the band's song "Terrible Things", which was originally featured on HALESTORM's latest album, the aforementioned "Back From The Dead".

[fdelopera]

reading your response to the ask about Elohim, i found it so fascinating and really wanted to learn more about jewish history. but im kinda scared to try and dive into googling it because like, for obvious reasons there is a lot of antisemitic misinformation out there. where's a good place to start learning about it all from a historical standpoint, aside from taking a college course? i hope this is okay to ask, i really don't want to stumble upon/consume revisionist history out of ignorance

Hi Anon. Thank you for your kind message. I really appreciate it.

I'm glad that you enjoyed my post about the origin of Elohim as one of the names of G-d in Judaism. Studying Jewish history and Jewish religious practice gives profound understanding and context to Abrahamic religions, as well as to the last 3500+ years of history, since at least the Late Bronze Age.

And thank you for wanting to learn more about Jewish history, and for reaching out to a Jewish person to ask about it.

My answer to your Ask is based on this answer about Jewish history, which I posted a few days ago. Not a lot of people saw it, so I feel okay about posting these links here again.

This past month especially has made me realize just how little most gentiles (non-Jews) know about Jewish history. It's been eye-opening, for sure.

And ... you're right, unfortunately. I've seen a metric shit ton of Jew-hatred going around. And so many antisemitic conspiracy theories that originated with the Neo-Nazis and the KKK.

Some people have been spreading this Neo-Nazi rhetoric intentionally, but many others have been spreading it because they don't have the context to understand that they are repeating Nazi dogwhistles.

In talking to gentiles, I often find that their knowledge of Jewish history extends to a few facts about the Holocaust. Some gentiles who have studied European history and political science may also have a general understanding of Hitler’s rise to power.

But that’s only the past several decades of Jewish history! And it's limited almost entirely to Europe!

Jews are a Levantine people. We are indigenous to Judea (the area currently called Israel/Palestine), and our history goes back thousands of years to the Late Bronze Age.

For a good overview of Jewish history, from the Late Bronze Age to the present, I would recommend two YouTube channels. That’s a good place to start. There are many history books on the subject, but a lot of them are quite dense, and the videos from these two historians will give you a good general overview if you want to learn more.

Sam Aronow:

Sam Aronow covers the span of Jewish history, from the Late Bronze Age to modern times. It is an ongoing Jewish history project that he’s been producing for the past three years, and it is in chronological order. He is currently in the early 1900s, and he comes out with a new video every month or so (he's just released a new video this month).

Click here to go to Sam’s YouTube channel, and then you can scroll back to watch his videos from the beginning, or you can decide what time period of Jewish history you’re most interested in learning about first.

Useful Charts:

Matt Baker, PhD runs the YouTube channel "Useful Charts," and he often works with Sam Aronow's channel. He has a PhD in education and religion. Matt has a very interesting story. He converted to Judaism as an adult; when he was a young man, he escaped a Christian doomsday cult, which he was born into. This gives him a unique understanding of Jewish history, especially how the "Old Testament" is often weaponized by Evangelical Christians to advance specific right-wing agendas. (As I explain below, the Old Testament is NOT the Hebrew bible. It is a chopped up, reordered, edited, and mistranslated version of the Hebrew bible.) Matt's videos on the history of Judaism are well-researched, and he breaks down different aspects of Jewish history into easy-to-follow segments.

I) Jewish History series:

Which Bible Characters are Historical.

Kings of Israel & Judah Family Tree.

Maccabees & King Herod Family Tree. (by Sam Aronow)

Classical Rabbis Family Tree.

Judaism and Jewish Denominations Explained.

Jewish Streams (Denominations) Re-Explained. (by Sam Aronow)

II) Who Wrote the Tanakh and the New Testament series:

NOTE: The Tanakh (the Hebrew bible) is an acronym that stands for Torah (Instruction), Nevi'im (Prophets), Ketuvim (Writings). It is NOT the same as the "Old Testament" in the Christian bible. The Christian editors of the "Old Testament" cut up the Tanakh and reordered it in a way that doesn't make any sense for Jewish practice. Many Christian bibles (such as the King James Version) also intentionally mistranslate the Old Testament to advance specific religious, political, and social ideologies of their time.

Who Wrote the Torah.

Who Wrote the Prophets.

Who Wrote the Writings.

I am including links to Matt's series on who wrote the New Testament, because many people who were raised Christian were never given a historical context for the people who wrote the books of the New Testament.

Who Wrote the Apocrypha. (The Apocrypha are later-written Jewish books that are not included in the Tanakh, but do appear in some Christian bibles, like the Catholic bible)

Who Wrote the Epistles. (Paul's Epistles were written before the Gospels, which is why the Epistles are linked first.)

Who Wrote the Gospels and Acts. (The Gospels were all written long AFTER Jesus' lifetime, and AFTER the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. They were NOT written by the people they are attributed to.)

Who Wrote Daniel, and Who Wrote Revelation. (Matt includes Daniel from the Nevi'im [Prophets] as well as Revelation from the New Testament in this video to discuss apocalypticism in Jewish and early Christian tradition.)

[kvetchlandia]

Poet Delmore Schwartz, New York City Uncredited and Undated Photograph

O Delmore how I miss you. You inspired me to write. You were the greatest man I ever met. You could capture the deepest emotions in the simplest language. Your titles were more than enough to raise the muse of fire on my neck. You were a genius. Doomed.

The mad stories. O Delmore I was so young. I believed so much. We gathered around you as you read Finnegans Wake. So hilarious but impenetrable without you. You said there were few things better in life than to devote oneself to Joyce. You’d annotated every word in the novels you kept from the library. Every word.

And you said you were writing “The Pig’s Valise.” O Delmore no such thing. They looked, after your final delusion led you to a heart attack in the Hotel Dixie. Unclaimed for three days. You—one of the greatest writers of our era. No valise.

You wore the letter from T.S. Eliot next to your heart. His praise of In Dreams. Would that you could have stopped that wedding. No good will come of this!!! You were right. You begged us—Please don’t let them bury me next to my mother. Have a party to celebrate moving from this world hopefully to a better one. And you Lou—I swear—and you know if anyone could I could—you Lou must never write for money or I will haunt you.

I’d given him a short story. He gave me a B. I was so hurt and ashamed. Why haunt talentless me? I was the walker for “The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me.” To literary cocktails. He hated them. And I was put in charge. Some drinks later—his shirt undone—one tail front right hanging—tie skewed, fly unzipped. O Delmore. You were so beautiful. Named for a silent movie star dancer Frank Delmore. O Delmore—the scar from dueling with Nietzsche.

Reading Yeats and the bell had rung but the poem was not over you hadn’t finished reading—liquid rivulets sprang from your nose but still you would not stop reading. I was transfixed. I cried—the love of the word—the heavy bear.

You told us to break into __’s estate where your wife was being held prisoner. Your wrists broken by those who were your enemies. The pills jumbling your fine mind.

I met you in the bar where you had just ordered five drinks. You said they were so slow that by the time you had the fifth you should have ordered again. Our scotch classes. Vermouth. The jukebox you hated—the lyrics so pathetic.

You called the White House one night to protest their actions against you. A scholarship to your wife to get her away from you and into the arms of whomever in Europe.

I heard the newsboy crying Europe Europe.

Give me enough hope and I’ll hang myself.

Hamlet came from an old upper class family.

Some thought him drunk but—really—he was a manic-depressive—which is like having brown hair.

You have to take your own shower—an existential act. You could slip in the shower and die alone.

Hamlet starting saying strange things. A woman is like a cantaloupe Horatio—once she’s open she goes rotten.

O Delmore where was the Vaudeville for a Princess. A gift to the princess from the stage star in the dressing room.

The duchess stuck her finger up the duke’s ass and the kingdom vanished.

No good will come of this. Stop this courtship!

Sir you must be quiet or I must eject you.

Delmore understood it all and could write it down impeccably.

Shenandoah Fish*. You were too good to survive. The insights got you. The fame expectations. So you taught.

And I saw you in the last round.

I loved your wit and massive knowledge.

You were and have always been the one.

You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him think.

I wanted to write. One line as good as yours. My mountain. My inspiration.

You wrote the greatest short story ever written. In Dreams

-- Lou Reed, "Oh Delmore How I Miss You" 2012

----

*Autobiographical Character in several Schwartz works

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week — September 19, 2022

🎮 — Young people passion for eSports and the environment raised plenty of money for charity

1. Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company — Profits will now go towards climate action

Rather than selling the company or taking it public, Mr. Chouinard, his wife and two adult children have transferred their ownership of Patagonia, valued at about $3 billion, to a specially designed trust and a nonprofit organization. They were created to preserve the company’s independence and ensure that all of its profits — some $100 million a year — are used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe.

“Instead of ‘going public,’ you could say we’re ‘going purpose.’ Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth for investors, we’ll use the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source of all wealth.”

2. World’s Largest Container Line Reroutes Around Endangered Blue Whales

The largest container line in the world has rerouted its ships passing near the coast of Sri Lanka in order to avoid potential collisions with endangered blue whales.

“MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company has taken a major step to help protect blue whales and other cetaceans living and feeding in the waters off the coast of Sri Lanka by modifying navigation guidance in line with the advice of scientists and other key actors in the maritime sector,” MSC said in a statement provided to Insider.

3. Two antibodies identified can fight all known COVID strains, study finds

Israeli scientists say they have identified antibodies that are so powerful in neutralizing the coronavirus that they could eliminate the need for more vaccine boosters.

A research team at Tel Aviv University experimented with numerous antibodies and found that two in particular neutralize all known strains of the coronavirus, including Delta and Omicron, in a lab setting. Based on their performance in lab conditions, the antibodies could provide the extra protection that today comes from booster shots, adding that this could potentially make extra shots unnecessary among vaccinated people.

4. French charity stream Z Event raises record-breaking $10.3 million for environmental organizations

Z Event, the biggest charity stream event in Europe, broke a record last night. In fewer than three days, it raised over €10.1 million ($10.3 million) for five environmental nonprofit associations: WWF France, Sea Shepherd France, The SeaCleaners, Time for the planet, and biodiversity association LPO.

Since its creation, the event has been breaking records at every event. Last year, it raised a little less than 2022’s total (corresponding to $11.5M at the time).

5. Palestinian farmer discovers rare ancient treasure in Gaza

The mosaic was uncovered just a kilometer (half mile) from the Israeli border. The floor, boasting 17 iconographies of beasts and birds, is well-preserved and its colors are bright.

“These are the most beautiful mosaic floors discovered in Gaza, both in terms of the quality of the graphic representation and the complexity of the geometry,” said René Elter, an archaeologist from the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem.

6. Nurse saves baby who stopped breathing on Spirit Airlines flight to Florida

A nurse is being hailed for her heroic actions after she saved a 3-month-old baby who had stopped breathing during a flight from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Orlando, Florida.

7. Boston Marathon adds nonbinary runner option for 2023 race

Nonbinary athletes will be able to compete in next year’s Boston Marathon without having to register in either the men’s or the women’s divisions, organisers for the United States’ most popular running event said.

That’s it for this week. This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Have a great week ahead.

[warsofasoiaf]

An issue I've seen since tno's shift to realism is the question of, in the event the nazis are fully successful to the point all enemies are beaten and gone and they have free reign to shape europe to their desires, how effective would any of the various partisan movements (especially in the east) be? I've heard conflicting things but I've gotten is that once the allies are defeated, no partisan or resistance will win especially against a genocidal brutal enemy

Given how dysfunctional the Nazi state was in our own history, I'm actually thinking they'd lack the state capacity to take them out. According to TNO lore, Germany suffered decades of economic unrest, so I'd actually say that the partisan movements would have had fertile ground for new recruits given the state's economic disaster.

Of course, the idea that the Nazis could have done half the things they do in TNO is already unrealistic.

Thanks for the question, Anon

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[kitwennim]

I wrote this on Twitter but I have two followers so I wanted to try here.

It was the middle of the summer when Steve and Robin ran away. It was unexpected, but it just happened, Hawkins was an unbearable nightmare on their lives and it had never felt like home, so, one night both grabbed all their belongings, stuffed them on Steve’s car and drove to Dustin and Max’s place to say their last goodbyes.

Both kids cried a little but the eye bags on Robin and Steve’s face stopped them from begging them to stay. They knew it would kill them.

Robin read her whole old diary to Steve in their way to Indianapolis, translating all the bits she had written in other languages and laughing every once in a while over how in love was she with Tammy. All of her old plans to run away to Europe were there, she had a whole trip planned, so when Steve and Robin entered the airport and saw that the first flight available was to Lyon both bought their tickets with their own savings without hesitation. About five hours later Robin and Steve’s parents arrived to the airport to find Steve’s car parked between the hundred of cars of other travelers and the little boards with all the flights tagged as deployed. They were gone.

Robin did all the talking at first, Steve just followed her holding her hand and eating whatever Robin had managed to fit in their budget, the hostel they were staying was horrible and they didn’t know anyone, but they were free. The croissants tasted amazing, the people didn't even paid attention to them and the streets were beautiful at night, so they stayed there as long as their money allowed them.

Steve studied harder than he had ever done it to learn to move on his own, he was used to be alone, learning in a new place to do the same wouldn't be hard, and he had Robin with him now, he wouldn't be alone anymore.

Sometimes he would order by himself his food, or pay at the grocery store, sometimes some locals would tell him little grammar corrections and he would feel embarrassed, going back to his ‘stupid self persona’, that stigma that everyone had of him, but everyone was so nice, they understood him, they made the effort to understand him unlike other people.

The day that everything changed on Steve was when a tourist asked him to take a pictures of her in French and he understood her. He felt so warm over the fact that people didn’t know who he was, and if he was capable or not, they asked him because they saw him as someone who could help, and Steve felt useful without having to risk his life for once. Steve couldn’t be happier.

By the time their old savings were running low, Robin had managed to get some tutoring jobs for kids and Steve had landed a job at a local restaurant as chef. A secret of Steve was that he was amazing at cooking. A friend of him had got him the job at one of his friend’s father restaurant.

So they saved money again and by the time two years had gone since they had left Hawkins they left Lyon now, jumping this way around most of the most touristic cities in Europe.

About ten years later they had already visited (and worked, and made friends and even fucked) France, Italy, Andorra, Portugal, and Spain, settling on the last one.

It was around 3 in the morning when Max called (because time difference) and Max laughed loudly when Steve answered in Spanish.

By the time they settled on Spain Steve spoke a good chunk of French, pieces of Italian and Portuguese and he had also learned Spanish and some Catalan, something he never imagined he could be able to do . Forced proximity to a language was a real thing. Robin on the other hand was on another level, excelling all the languages from the places they had live in, but that wasn’t anything new. Steve was more than thankful because he wasn’t sure he could’ve done it without Robin.

Max allowed both Robin and Steve rant a little about their new lives in Spain now that they were awake, she felt a little guilty over waking them up (mostly because the hadn't had the chance to talk a lot lately). After hearing how well was doing Robin at this company she was working as a translator and how nice were the kids she was tutoring and how Steve had been very stressed the last week hiring cooks for his restaurant, Max finally invited them to Will's first gallery.

It was no surprised for any of them that Will was already hosting a gallery of his art but both Robin and Steve felt suddenly very aware over the fact that it had been ten years since they left and last saw all of the party, they all had graduated now and were working their new paths.

They accepted the invitation gladly. Some vacations would be good from their new agitated life in Europe.

Max of course didn’t tell anyone other than Dustin.

Around a two weeks later when they arrived they decided to visit a gay bar that Max told them about the day she called them in the middle of the night claiming she had just gone the day before (both Steve and Robin had found it odd but the kids were odd anyways so they didn’t question it)

After leaving all their luggage in their hotel and heading to the bar they waited around twenty minutes before they could finally enter, and as soon as they did it they started to fight over who was going to get drunk, because of course Steve claimed it was Robin’s turn to take care of him because he took care of her after that party they had in Catalonia, but Robin reminded Steve that she had to run his restaurant a whole day (which was horrible because Robin can’t handle the stress of such a crowded place) that time Steve had been hungover after a party in Barcelona. So the fight keeps going on and reaches a bartender who is laughing excitedly at the sight of two (still) sober friends throwing in their faces the times they had to take care of the other.

So the bartender promises he will be back and leaves still amused because he has to serve more drinks, that's his work, the thing is he had to serve specifically Nancy and Eddie’s drinks who happen to in the same bar together (after forming a very nice friendship discovered by their mlm and wlw solidarity). After all, after Steve and Robin left they were all they had before moving to Massachusetts, Nancy going to college and Eddie working around in the music scene that Salem and Boston had.

Hence why when Steve screamed that he was not going to drink soda and sparkling water when there was Tequila in front of him both Nancy and Eddie turned to find their old friends, because they could recognize those voices everywhere. They could even after ten years. Yet no words came out of their mouths, they were both gaping at a loss of words.

Mostly because Steve looked so different now, he’s wearing glasses but they suit him amazing, and he has a new haircut that enhances his jawline not to leave behind the fact that Eddie can tell Steve is still in very good shape even from the distance, and it bothers Eddie, it really does, because who gave Steve the right to look so good even after all these years. He was supposed to be the guy who peaks in high school and then has his downfall, but if anything, he looked better than he ever did (something the old 21 year old Eddie would find impossible because Harrington was already the definition of perfection back in the day). He is glowing, Steve was genuinely shining, he looked like a whole different person.

And Robin, she has long hair now, it goes all the way to the curve of her waist and Nancy tries to focus on that detail but she can't, she can't do that because Robin is laughing and smiling when Steve tries to reach the Tequila bottle and Robin is fighting him to not do it, but even when Steve is next to her, she looks like she’s the only one in the room, or at least the only person Nancy wants to pay attention, and Nancy isn’t sure if this is how she remembered Robin ten years ago.

And Steve let’s go of the tequila bottle when he makes eye contact with Eddie, Eddie Munson, who is standing a few meters away from them, wearing his classic leather jacket and vest combo. He looks taller but Steve is almost sure is because he’s wearing boots. His hair is even longer now but Steve can’t tell how longer because it’s tied on ponytail that allows Steve to see all the new piercings Eddie has gotten, it also allows Steve to see his neck and for some reason that gives him a chill. So Steve froze, because he remembered wishing to meet a girl with the same facial features that Eddie had back in the day when he didn’t knew some things about him. He knows things about him know, and Eddie is there.

Robin doesn’t get any time to scold Steve for letting the bottle fall because she finds herself in the same situation when Nancy, next to Eddie, smirks at her. And Robin feels like she 17 again because that’s the same smirk Robin remembers ranting Steve about how she was tired of liking people who would never like her back (the same night that they decided to ran away) Nancy being one of them.

When times moves as it should once again the bartender comes to the rescue and finally catches the bottle, speaking at the same time, bringing them back from the shock.

"Little gift from them—" he mutters placing in front of Robin and Steve two shots of tequila as he nodded towards their staring opponents.

It tastes sour, Steve and Robin immediately remembered why they hadn’t drank tequila in a long while, the Barcelona party had been almost a year ago. Exchanging a witty look they both wondered if the fight that they just had was worth it because they no longer enjoyed alcohol like they did in Italy and France, at the beginning of their adventure. A not so proud moment of them.

With a loud clash on the counter they left their caballitos behind and decided to reach Eddie and Nancy. And it’s awkward, it’s always awkward, mostly because Nancy and Eddie were still hurting a little over the fact that they left, as much as they didn’t want to admit it. And Robin and Steve are scared, because they know it wasn’t the best way to leave, so most of their polite chat comes in short sentences and whispers, which isn’t good because the music is loud and it’s actually hurting Steve who has to lower the volume of his hearing aid, something only Eddie notices but is scared to ask.

But they try, and Nancy as bold as she always is takes the first step and invites Robin to dance. And they disappear in the crowd, Robin giving a slight nudge to Steve to push him to try, but nothing comes on. Steve tried first and asked Eddie if he preferred Italian or French food because he could cook any of them if he ever wanted but Eddie hasn’t tried any of them. Then Eddie gives it a chance and asks Steve what does he think about the recent Grammy nominations but Steve is lost because he barely knows what music is trending, most of the time the ambience of his restaurant is in charge of the managers. So they stop.

Steve doesn’t try again but attracts Eddie’s attention when he laughs after seeing a girl wearing a Padres shirt in the bar because he’s a Mets fan. And Eddie just jokes that he’s actually a Padres fan (he doesn’t know much about baseball but Wayne is a Padres fan and he is one by inheritance) so Steve is about to apologize when a guy interjects and claims he’s a Mets fan too.

And Steve feels good to find another Mets fan, but this wasn’t the circumstances he wanted to find one, and he doesn’t have the heart to cut him or politely decline him because he hasn’t done this in a while, the restaurant consumes most of his time and he already had a few ‘friends’ who he hung with, so the guy just keeps going over the season and the players. But he stops, he stops when Eddie throws his arm around Steve and pulls him a little closer to him. The poor ginger just stumbled a few times before he went back to his friends a little embarrassed.

"Figured you needed help" eases in Eddie and Steve smiles, genuinely. And that’s it, that was the breaking point they needed, because after that none of them can shut up, and neither separate, because unconsciously (totally consciously) Steve grabbed Eddie by the waist and pulled him closer too.

So when Nancy and Robin laugh seeing them Steve can’t help to roll his eyes sensing his best friend eyes, but he doesn’t care because he feels okay like this. And he can also see the way Nancy’s hand never left the curve of Robin’s back as she guided her dancing. He can also tell there is a slight blush under her freckles, and they’re both sarcastic and know each other too well so the next morning is gonna be embarrassing for both of them, but that doesn’t feel important right now.

The night goes on, at some point Eddie asks if Steve wants to leave and they do, about four hours later he arrives at his hotel only to find Robin arriving at the same time and they both laugh over the fact that they had only come back to the hotel to not worry the other. They both fall asleep before they can tease the other.

The next morning Eddie and Nancy are waiting for them in front of the hotel.

Both Max and Dustin laugh maliciously and high-five each other when Steve and Eddie arrive together and Steve is wearing Eddie’s leather jacket that he lent him last night when he drove him back to the hotel. Nancy and Robin are just behind, Nancy helping Robin to do the tie she had completed her outfit with.

So when Mike ask Max if the bar he had recommended her (which turns out it’s a bar the 4 eldest know) was fun, she doesn’t know what to say, because she didn’t go. But she smiles.

"Yeah, it was pretty good" jokes Eddie answering Mike’s question while side eyeing Steve who just rolls his eyes and gives both Max and Dustin a we'll-talk-about-it-later look, even though he doesn’t have any complaints.

The day goes on, and the gallery is a success, they see the rest of The Party, and enjoy gathering with them, Steve and Robin try not to cry but every once in a while Eddie and Nancy catch their eyes looking glassy because they missed so much. But at the same time, both Nancy and Eddie notice the way Robin and Steve move, and they see the freedom in them, there is no hint of the fear they had in Hawkins. They also reach for the other constantly just for simple touches of reassurance and they can both see that if they hadn’t left, they wouldn’t be here today, so this feeling of hurt leaves both of them.

When the gallery ends, both Nancy and Eddie invite Robin and Steve to a double date everyday of the week before they have to go back to Spain.

And they need to figure out things because they’re living in different countries, and they all need to meet again because they’re not the teenagers they were, but they feel like they have time, unlike in the past, this time they feel and know there is a future, so they’ll work on it.

I hope this is well written because my wrist gave up almost at the end.

[intoloopin]

THE PROJECT.

Boy Of The Week (2017 - 2018) was a year long training project organized by New Wave Music and Blockberry Creative with a sole goal: putting 24 boys to the test until they found the 10 member lineup that would make up the brother group of LOONA.

Weirdly private to this day and age, there's very little the public actually knows about how the group came to be, who was involved and what was done: the timeline given by the companies doesn't quite match up, and with no footage and a single broadcasting record, barely any confirmed trainee names to this day and age, the formative year of LOOPiN remains a well kept mistery.

[THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS BELONG FULLY TO NEW WAVE MUSIC, FORMERLY BLOCKBERRY CREATIVE AS WELL UNTIL THE END OF THEIR PARTNERSHIP IN 2022, AND ARE PROTECTED UNDER SEVERAL CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS. ANY SORT OF ILLEGAL DISTRIBUTION WILL BE PUNISHED BY LEGAL LAWSUIT AND LITIGATION.]

THE KNOWN TRAINEES: SOUTH KOREA.

THE KNOWN TRAINEES: WORLDWIDE.

Despite advertising itself to the public and to future advertisers as holding 24 trainees in their roster, in reality, Boy Of The Week was more succinct, with 16 active recruits at its start on early April 2017.

Receiving over 400 audition tapes from around the globe and going on paper to say they had admitted 12 international Week Boys, only 5 ended up actually joining the project and training under it in the companies headquarters in South Korea. New Wave and BBC failed to provide proper documentation in time for anyone out of the USA, most of Europe and Southeast Asia, leaving the majority of the trainees from any other regions to fetch for themselves, a near impossible task for most to achieve in three months.

Beomseok, the oldest identified Week Boy to this day, was 22 going 23 while Sangjin and Haegon, the youngests known, were both 16 years olds -- however, current LOOPiN member Taesong has alluded in the past to, quote, "ironing out an elementary school uniform" while living in the training dorm, raising the suspicion of there being at least one tween in Boy Of The Week at some point in time.

In fact, the remaining anonymous 3 trainees fell in the age range of 11 to 14, all South Korean.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A BOY OF THE WEEK TRAINEE.

Starting off on the accomodations provided entirely by New Wave Music, the designated dorm for the 16 Week Boys to share was a small house, with a maximum capacity of 6. From day one the trainees took turns sharing the five single beds, one couch, as well as the living room and bathroom floors.

Minwoo, the only Seoul based member that still opted to live in the shared dorm, would occasionally house his fellow teammates in his spare room at his family home, making an exception only to the trainees who worked part time (Seungsoo), were very underage (REDACTED, REDACTED, REDACTED) or fell ill or became injured (Dylan and Haruki).

Their vocal, rap and dancing training fell on the responsibility of rotational teachers, mostly coming from BBC until the still under development New Wave pushed forward a 'possible staff member' -- an inconstant that left most of the basic trainees lost, and kept the advanced ones in any field from breaking trought.

LOSSES, MASS DISMISSALS AND LAST MINUTE ADDITIONS.

By August 2017, 4 months into training, New Wave Music founder and CEO Seo Changyuk began to hold evaluations and dismiss 1 trainee a month in incomprehensible order: the top Week Boys weeks prior were not save from a sudden elimination in the next gathering, creating an anxious and fearful energy that became contagious amongst the trainees.

Unsatisfied with the 10 members left, New Wave and BBC agreed to start emergency street castings and re-open their auditions, putting posters in Seoul and all districts nearby not explicitly tied to Boy Of The Week -- the posters happened to gain some traction on Naver and Twitter at the time, creating speculation if wether or not the future LOONA siblings would ever come to be.

In November, came the first and only public appearance of Boy Of The Week at a local university festival, then a 13 members team. At the event Chen Haitao (2000) and Lee Sangjin (2001) were approached and recruited on the spot by another company, leaving future LOOPiN unexpectedly with 11 trainees, a number that didn't last.

In October, Matsushita Kohei was accused by a fellow trainee of being planning to rob Choi Sangwon, a New Wave Music staff member. Upon checking, Sangwon's personal belongings such as car keys, wallet and watch were found hidden in Kohei's bags in the dorm. While no charges were pressed against him by the casting director's demand, Dallas was immediately dismissed.

In December, 5 new unknown South Korean members were added to Boy Of The Week, but not a single one lasted long enough to count: the massively negative and frustrated response from the older Week Boys drove them away quickly, to the annoyance of the project's superiors.

Easy to say, that marked a sour turn for the relationship between the young men and their responsible staff, who realized too late that they had cultivated a problem.

FIGHT FOR CREATIVE INDEPENDENCE / THE RISE OF THE FACE TRIO / DYLAN FELL ILL.

At that point in time, Boy Of The Week had also produced highly evaluated trainees that fell in the graces of both companies CEOs and were sure to survive all evaluations with Seo Chanhyuk, them being Bang Minwoo, Na Seungsoo and Fukunaga Haruki, fully quoted to get into LOOPiN no matter what -- something later proved as truth.

By the new year, they became known on as the future groups 'Face Trio' -- both an admiring title and a pejorative term, as confirmed by LOOPiN maknae Haegon in 2022.

Minwoo and Seungsoo specially grew overconfident with their status. They felt invensible enough to take over an inactive music recording room in New Wave headquarters and come up with a unimaginable proposition: they were asking for the power to make their own music from their group debut and onwards, something that registered as a joke to staff.

It was thought the song 'Love Hell', made by the duo in early January 2018, sold to a third party company who turned it into a popular drama OST, that they finally managed to make an argument for their desire to be a fully self-produced group. Chanhyuk agreed to grand the two, alongside Haruki, the elevated power to skip the monthly auditions and share their two cents on who should make it into LOOPiN -- an empty promise, they soon realized, set to calm them down.

At the same time, international Week Boy and now LOOPiN member Hwang Chihoon, english name Dylan Hwang, came down with anemia and depression and had to me immediately hospitalized. An intense fight broke between his family in the US, New Wave and BBC about who would took over over his medical care and what would be of his future career: the companies, who delay to notify the Hwangs of Dylan's status by weeks, wanted to transfer him home immediately, something unaffordable for his single mother and grandparents to handle.

With the help of their relatives in South Korea, they filled a lawsuit claiming neglect from New Wave and BBC regarding Chihoon, which they lost before he even recovered.

A formal protest over the handle of his case split the remaining Week Boys into two teams: the ones who vouched to keep Dylan's place save so he could join LOOPiN once he recovered (Beomseok, Minwoo, Seungsoo, Haruki, Haegon), and the ones who wanted him gone from the final lineup (Alexandre, Taesong, Dongwook, Woobin).

Minwoo, Seungsoo and Haruki, 'the favored', joined forces to eliminate each guy from the opposition and make them quit: a mission quickly accomplished in a two week run. Taesong, left alone, bended and complied to have Dylan stay.

It left Boy Of The Week with 6 members, non officially 7 counting the recovering Dylan, as the final lineup set to graduate on upcoming April 2018, not 10.

That New Wave and BBC couldn't take.

THE NON-BOY OF THE WEEK LOOPiN MEMBERS.

Set on Seo Chanhyuk's concept vision of a LOOPiN OT10, mere 3 months away from the end of Boy Of The Week, New Wave and their partner company turned sharp and desperate.

Recruited by the end of January, Wu Zhiming, korean name Oh Jimin, was a promising producer even at his high school age, recruited by New Wave Music to serve as a part time sound engener alongside his unofficial cousin Shin Jooheon, produce allias HEEDAMN. After a physical altercation with Minwoo over his targeting of Woobin, Zhiming was unofficially demoted to temporary trainee, then turned full time trainee and a late Week Boy by choice.

Recruited in mid February, Xu Jiahang, stage name J.J, had already partial experience with Idol training, being a teenage YG model and trainee for little over a year before quitting the industry in late 2016. Both J.J and New Wave Music have publicly claimed that he was individually casted only by his popular Weibo and IG ulzzang accounts, and that the involvement and investment of his father's commercial making studio, Xu Forward INC, came after, but that's utterly false -- although impossible to fully disprove now.

Lee Hanjae, an experience B-Boy, was recruited way past the official graduation of Boy Of The Week, in late May. He was a BBC trainee quoted to join OnlyOneOf and snatched to fill the original LOOPiN quota, transferred to cover for former rapper Dongwook, infamously two months before the debut of LOOPiN 2On1 with Haruki.

And with that, LOONA's sibling group finally came to be at it's original lineup with Lee Beomseok, Park Taesong, Bang Minwoo, Na Seungsoo, Fukunaga Haruki, Dylan Hwang (active only after their official group debuted in 2019), Wu 'O.z' Zhiming (later presenting himself as Oh Jimin after the end of his dual chinese-south korean citizenship after turning 19), Lee Hanjae, Xu 'J.J' Jiahang and Kim Haegon.

WHERE ARE THE ALMOST LOOPiN MEMBERS NOW?

Chen Haitao and Lee Sangjin ended up debuting together under HAPPYGRIN Studio in 2020's 13 membered boygroup Serpentary, which are currently active and have found medium success. Both have not gone deep into their experience in Boy Of The Week, only sharing they've met while in there, but they hold a very public as well as private friendship with Taesong and Haegon.

Two years later in early 2020, Matsushita 'Dallas' Kohei joined MBN Entertainment and trained to join IDOLMAKER's 4th generation in 2022, but was replaced last minute by Im Daewon and dimissed from the company as well. Currently, Kohei has given up on being a singer and it's working as a full time professional photographer. He has never gone into details of his time as a Week Boy online.

Kwon Dongwook went on to debut in MBN Entertainment's Night Child, mostly known under the acronym NTCD, in late 2018, a highly successful act that's regarded as the crowned kings of 4th generation. He's also considered to be one of the most successful soloists acting now, with his debut hit Any Song (2021) and his following comeback BITBIT (2022) going internationally viral. While rumors of his animosity with LOOPiN run free given his dodges about his relation to the group, his recent public friendship with J.J has solidified the idea that they're nothing but gossip.

Kim Woobin, current stage name Wonmiles, is a popular K-Hiphop producer and underground rapper that's still making music. He's the only identified former Week Boy who's alluded to his trainee past the most in interviews and songs, although the general public doesn't fully trusts nor cares for his complains and his raised allegations.

Alexandre Minchul Han went on to stablish himself from 2020 onwards as a popular vlog Youtuber and a low stakes model based on South Korea, only once mentioning his Boy Of The Week past in passing. He reportly fleed Seoul and went back to his hometown in France on March 2022. Alex is currently being reported missing by his family, and any trace of him is yet to be found.

[feelinglikeineedlotsofnaps]

A LITTLE TOWN CALLED HAWKINS.

Word count 1,800

You were dreading the day you had to move in with your aunt Claudia and cousin Dustin. You hadn't actually seen Dustin since he was about 4 years old, now he was a freshman in high school. You had to pack up your life and move to a whole other state since your mother and father decided that they were moving to Europe and you didn't want to go with them and you couldn't afford a place of your own just yet, then came the brilliant idea of moving in with your aunt until you get enough funds to pay your own way.

You packed up the last of your things in your dodge charger, you mainly only took your clothes and your vinyls. You hugged your parents goodbye and set off to do the 9 hour journey.

Meanwhile in Hawkins, Dustin has not shut up about you coming to live with them, everyone has been hearing about you for about a week now. The whole gang are sat in the Henderson's basement watching a movie to pass the time. Dustin turns towards Steve and smiles "she should be on the road now!" Steve slowly looks towards Dustin "I know, you told me about 20 minutes ago." Steve replies with a sarcastic smile. Dustin rolls his eyes and turns back to the TV and continues watching the movie. By the time you arrive in Hawkins it was 9pm, Dustin greets you at the door.

"Hi Y/N!" Dustin says slightly too loudly for 9pm.

You smile and set you bag down on the front porch "Hey Dusty, long time no see" you hold your arms out for a hug which Dustin jumps at. You give him an extra squeeze and look over his shoulder were Claudia has moved into the hallway "Hi Aunt Claudia" you smile and wave.

"Hi darling" she says with a smile "Dustin why don't you show Y/N her room?"

Dustin turns and starts making his way to your new room with you following him. As you walk in, Dustin stays stood at the doorway "I'll let you get settled in Y/N" he smiles and closes the door. You set your suitcase on the bed and let out a really deep breath and tilt your head back with your eyes closed. You slowly start to unpack some of your essential clothes, and pick out the teddy bear that your mom got you when you were a toddler and place it on your new pillow.

The weeks pass by and you end up getting a job in a small bakery in town. You have met the rest of the gang, but haven't spent much time with them. One afternoon, you are stood behind the counter at your job, it has been a very slow day, you don't remember a time that you have felt this bored. You have also been flicking a piece of scrunched up napkin about on the counter top when you hear the bell above the door chime. You glance up and notice the curly mop of hair under the baseball cap of your younger cousin.

"Hey Dusty," you straighten up and smile "what can I get for you today?" You look over to the glass display case. Dustin follows you gaze and puts a finger on his chin as he hums in thought. As he is about to answer, the bell chimes again and you look over to the door to see most of the gang walking in "Dustin, did you leave everyone behind to get in here first?" You laugh.

Dustin glances at you and smirks "well I wanted first pick and they were taking too long" You laugh and lean over the counter and knock his cap down a little.

"Such a little shit" you mumble to Dustin. "Hi everyone" you address everyone else. Mike, Lucas and Max lift their hands in greeting. Eddie smiles and salutes you. Steve smiles a little "Hi Y/N" he is stood at the back of the group so you barely hear him.

Everyone asked for a pastry or cake of some kind and you place each one on a plate for them. You punch the price into the cash register "so that will be..... 7.75" you look at Dustin and hold your hand out and smile.

"So Y/N, I dont actually have any money" Dustin says as he takes a massive bite out of the brownie he ordered. Eddie reaches his hand over Dustin's head and holds out two 5 dollar notes. You reach up and smile at him "Thank you" you then pop open the cash register and get the change out. You hand it back to eddie who automatically puts it in your tip jar, you catch his eye and he sends you a small wink with a smile. You smile and look down at your hands briefly. "Enjoy your treats guys" you look at Dustin "see you at home Dusty" you knock his cap off and giggle.

"Yeah yeah see you at home" Dustin rolls his eyes and picks his cap up and puts it back on, while he holds his brownie in his mouth. As they are leaving, Dustin leans back through the open door "Y/N, we are having our movie night at our house tonight. You can join if you want."

"Sorry Dust, I can't tonight. I have a date" you say with a frown "maybe I can come to the next one?"

Dustin looks down at his feet "oh, yeah sure!" He then leaves and runs to catch up with the group. You let out a sigh and grab the cloth to start wiping down the counters.

Later that evening, you are in your bedroom getting ready for your date. You can hear everyone starting to arrive. You swipe the last layer of gloss over your lips and smack them together. You pick up your bag and head downstairs. You make your way over to the door and pick up your keys “okay Dustin. I'm going now. I'll be back later” you shout into the living room where everyone was getting ready to watch the first movie. Dustin looks up and furrows his brows when he notices your keys in your hand.

“You're driving yourself there?” He questions.

You look down at your keys and then back up in confusion “yeah… why?��� You drag out.

Dustin rolls his eyes “because that's a shitty date. He should have picked you up to take you to wherever you are going.” Once he says this, Steve, Eddie and Robin turn their heads to you. They take notice of the short dress you are wearing and how it hugs you in all the right places and the plunging neckline. Steve's eyes widen ever so slightly and he averts his gaze to the door behind you. Eddie swallows harshly and sneakily looks you up and down. Robin waves at you and smiles “he is right Y/N. Your date should have picked you up at least” Robin says with a pointed look in her eyes.

You roll your eyes and take a deep breath “I didn't want him to pick me up, okay? I just wanted to drive myself because I just have a feeling that this date is going to be a shitty one.” You slightly mumble and look at Dustin “so I'm going now. If you make a mess, clean it up. Bye” you lift your hand in a semi wave and open the front door.

Your date goes relatively well, he was some guy that came into the bakery most mornings. His name was Brandon and he works in the office buildings. You tried your hardest to stay interested in his conversations all evening but after a while talking about his love of golf and how his dad owns 2 boats gets a bit boring. You take a sip of your water and smile at him “I'm really sorry to do this, but I have to go because my little cousin is at home and I need to get back to him” you lie a little. You get your purse out and offer him your half of the bill. He looks at the money and then at you “Don't offend me like that. I have to pay.” He takes out his credit card and places it on the table.

You look down at your bag and roll your eyes. Men and their old fashioned ways. You think to yourself. You finish your water and place your napkin on the table. “Thanks again for the nice evening.” You smile at him and stand up.

He looks up at you “I'll call you?” He says it in almost a questioning way and you just nod at him. As you walk out of the restaurant you make a mental note to tell Dustin to tell him that you aren't in if he answers that phone call.

You drive back to your house, you have your music loud and just trying to cheer yourself up after your shitty date. You pull into your driveway and can see the light from the TV still on in the living room. You walk up to the front door and unlock it. When you step inside, that everyone is completely paying attention to the horror movie that is playing and didn't even notice you coming in. You instantly recognise it as one of your favourite movies: Halloween. You sneak up behind Dustin and lean over the sofa and say in his ear at the same time the character on screen does “But you can't kill the boogeyman!”. Dustin screams and jumps up onto his feet and turns to face you. You laugh and grip onto the sofa. Dustin has a hand on his chest and is breathing heavily.

“I hate you. I hate you.” He chants breathily. You keep giggling to yourself as you make your way into the kitchen. As you are getting yourself a glass of water, Eddie walks in and smiles “didn't take you for a horror fan”. You turn around and smile at him “I'm a person of many surprises” you say with a smirk. Eddie steps towards you and you have to tilt your head back a little to keep eye contact. When he gets almost toe to toe with you he leans down slightly. “Maybe I could see some of those surprises?” He whispers and places a hand on your waist. Your smile grows wider and you slowly nod. Eddie is about to place his lips on yours as you hear “Eddie, come on man. How long does it take to get some water?” You sigh lightly and Eddie squeezes your side.

“Maybe later sweetheart” he says and then kisses your cheek. You watch him go into the living room again and then make your way upstairs to have a shower and get ready for bed.

Maybe you will grow to really like Hawkins after all..

TAGS:-

@capitanostella

Please let me know if you enjoyed this. :)

[herrlindemann]

Orkus - 2000

Thank to ramjohn for the scans!

Rammstein have retreated to the truly flat country to work on their long-awaited third studio album: In Mol, Belgium, there are only meadows, cows — and one of the most modern studios in Europe.

"We didn't come here entirely voluntarily," Schneider admits to the handful of German and English journalists who came to the Belgian hinterland on the weekend of the EM final to find out about the progress of activities for the Rammstein album, working title ‘Mutter’, which is expected at the beginning of next year  — to be informed. “Our engineer Jacob Hellner, who was also responsible for the last two albums, is tied to the Galaxy Studios. The technical possibilities here are fantastic and the working atmosphere is great, but there is hardly any variety.” But that's easy to imagine, because the complex, which is just under an hour and a half from Brussels Airport, is literally on a green field: Mol is a small village with maybe fifty low-rise family houses that look like a cross between the sample catalog of the local builders' merchant and the clinker brick building of the North German lowlands. English lawns, psychedelic splendor of roses, strictly trimmed boxwood and garden gnomes included. The large, blue clinker building rises almost like a foreign body between gardens and pastures with strangely pig-like, colorless cows. Illustrious guests like the Guano Apes, dEUS, Die Krupps or Such A Surge have worked here, as have Joan Osborne, Lauryn Hill and the Kelly Family. Olli's old mobile home seems a bit out of place in the parking lot of the high-tech sound company. “Tomorrow we're going back to Berlin,” he says happily. “Then on to Japan, where we will play the old program for the last time at the Fudji Rock Festival. Then we come back here to finish the mixes.” However, a large part of the album was created in the spring for a good six weeks in a studio in the south of France. "It was fantastic there," Richard recalls, "the studio was idyllically situated in the vineyards, and we were accommodated directly on the property. Till recorded part of the vocals in the living room of his apartment there and we had friends and relatives visiting.” Admittedly, the Berliners didn't do badly with the accommodation in Belgium either: They reside about 20 minutes by car from the studio in the country, house hotel and restaurant 'Hippocampus', which is one of the best in Belgium, which really has a lot of culinary highlights is applicable. "The food here is almost too good," admits Olli. (Which the journalists were able to easily convince themselves of later at dinner in the same restaurant!) “Sometimes we cycle from the hotel to the studio to stay fit.” Not a bad performance at around 14 kilometers one-way.

“Otherwise we replay the EM games and work concentrated on the album.” Despite the grueling production, the guys look fresh and fit, if just a little bit excited: “You're the first to hear some of the new tracks,” says Richard. “We are curious to see what you have to say about it.” In addition to the journalists, representatives from the label's Hamburg and London offices have also arrived — no wonder he's a little nervous. But before the eagerly awaited listening session in the light-wood paneled control room with the estimated five meter long mixing console, a typically Belgian pastime is the order of the day: the studio's own chef has set up a veritable monster buffet — meat, pasta, salads, fish and seafood, for dessert: Belgian chocolates. Fed up and satisfied, journalists and record company staff push their way through the complex's complex corridors to the place of revelation. And they certainly won't be disappointed: three finished pieces and three more in the raw version are blown around their ears in two rounds with studio loudspeakers costing x thousand marks. First impression: breathless. Barring another catastrophe of the magnitude of a total hard disk crash (Hard Disc Recording!), this will be the most fantastic Rammstein album ever. Powerful and aggressive, yet more differentiated than Herzeleid, the new material leans more in the direction of Sehnsucht. ‘Sonne’, the first track, is a super-catchy banger with siren-like female voices in the background and an abrupt end: «Aus». More please! ‘Links’ hits like a bomb: Oskar Lafontaine's famous book title as an obvious dig at all the hostilities of recent years and next to it a puristic song in the best Rammstein manner - except for the bluesy (!) solo. And this piece also ends far too quickly: 'Left, two three four...'. The next track also has a controversial subject: this is about a priest who feels attracted to his young protégés, in proper style with sacred choirs and bells. The three following rough mixes are announced as not yet finished, but they also promise something outstanding: ‘Mein Herz brennt’ is already very epic and reminds a bit of Puff Dandy's famous collaboration with Jimmy Page, here Till acts as a desperate children's fright. With a long, melancholic guitar solo and distinctive string riff, this might be the longest song presented. ‘Feuer frei’ seems the most electronic with its EBM rhythm, but impresses with ultra-fat riffs and crazy guitar effects. But this track also has a short, quiet middle part with noticeable synth sprinklings. "Bang Bang", the end - Rammstein seem to develop a preference for concise closing sentences on this album... Stylized children's babble marks the beginning of the most unusual and lyrically most personal of the songs presented: ‘Mutter’. Melancholic and balladesque, it comes across as a private reckoning with a traumatic, motherless childhood — less aggressive than deeply hurt. Although of course no savings were made on hearty lines of text.

After twice a good twenty minutes it's all over; Still a little dazed, but visibly enthusiastic, the crowd of critics staggers back to the surface. Predicate: particularly valuable — it would have to be hell if Rammstein weren't able to underpin their position as the most influential German band at the turn of the millennium with this album. Although there could still be a few surprises waiting for us between what we have just heard and the finished product: “We will be more varied,” promises Paul and grins, “the album should contain both punk influences and hits.” There still seems to be a lot to come!