anyway. edith time

link

Sisters

By: Amna Khalid

Published: Feb 17, 2023

Just days into the new year, Scottish papers reported that the University of Aberdeen had slapped a trigger warning on J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, a classic children’s novel about a place where nobody ever grows up. The reason: the book’s “odd perspectives on gender” may prove “emotionally challenging” to some adult undergraduates, even though it contains “no objectionable material.”

Yes, you read that right—a children’s book now comes with a trigger warning for adults. What’s more, Peter Pan is not the only children’s book to come with an advisory at Aberdeen. Among others are Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Edith Nesbit’s The Railway Children and C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Last year the university put a trigger warning on Beowulf, the epic poem considered one of the most significant works in the English literary canon, for its depictions of “animal cruelty” and “ableism.” The year before that, the university pushed lecturers to issue content warnings for a long list of topics including abortion, miscarriage, childbirth, depictions of poverty, classism, blasphemy, adultery, blood, alcohol and drug abuse.

Aberdeen is not the only British university following in the steps of American counterparts. The University of Derby issued trigger warnings for Greek tragedies. The University of Warwick put a content advisory on Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd for “rather upsetting scenes concerning the cruelty of nature and the rural life.” At the University of Greenwich, the death of an albatross in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 18th century poem, was deemed “potentially upsetting” and stuck with a content notice.

This trend is alarming for several reasons. First, it runs counter to research on the effects of such advisories. As early as 2020 the consensus, based on 17 studies using a range of media, was that trigger warnings do not alleviate emotional distress, and they do not significantly reduce negative affect or minimize intrusive thoughts. Notably, these advisories, which were at least initially introduced out of consideration for people suffering from PTSD, “were not helpful even when they warned about content that closely matched survivors’ traumas.”

On the contrary, researchers found that trigger warnings actually increased the anxiety of individuals with the most severe PTSD, prompting them to “view trauma as more central to their life narrative.” A recent meta-analysis of such warnings found the same thing: the only reliable effect was that people felt more anxious after receiving the warning. The researchers concluded that these warnings “are fruitless,” and “trigger warnings should not be used as a mental health tool.”

But beyond the fact that trigger warnings don’t work in general, there is something particularly perverse about appending them to works of literature and art.

Engaging with art is not simply a matter of extracting information or following the storyline. Rather, as Salman Rushdie once put it, literature allows us “to explore the highest and lowest places in human society… to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart.” Literature cultivates an aesthetic sensibility, a deeper sense of empathy, and allows you to be taken out of yourself in a way that only art can do. Joyce Carol Oates characterizes it as “the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.”

In other words, literature is transformative precisely because it has the ability to shock and surprise. It can jolt us out of complacency, force us to contend with the uncertain, the strange and even the ugly. For Franz Kafka, the only books worth reading are the ones that “wound or stab us.” He observed:

If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for?... we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like suicide. A book must be an ax for the frozen sea inside us…

Contending with “the frozen sea” opens the door for the kind of contemplation that is necessary for growth. When a classic such as Beowulf comes with “animal cruelty” and “ableism” on the cover, a piece of literature that offers us a unique window into the traditions and values of medieval Anglo-Saxons is devalued, and simply becomes a text riddled with “problematic” themes.

I can’t help but think that something is broken when universities, the very institutions entrusted with helping young minds mature, infantilize students by treating them as fragile creatures. What accounts for this shift?

Students across Britain seem to be in favor of trigger warnings. According to a survey published by the Higher Education Policy Institute last year, 86% of students support trigger warnings (up from 68% in 2016). More than a third think instructors should be fired if they “teach material that heavily offends some students” (up from just 15% in 2016).

Sadly, it appears that universities in Britain have fallen prey to the kind of corporate logic that is already firmly entrenched in the United States. This growing managerial approach with its customer-is-always-right imperative is increasingly evident in university policies.

Indeed, it explicitly underpins Aberdeen’s decision to use trigger warnings. As the University spokesperson explained: “Similar to the way that content warnings are routinely applied by broadcasters, students are informed about the content of the texts and, as critically mature adults, they are empowered to make their own decision about which text to read. Our guidelines on content warnings were developed in collaboration with student representatives and we have never had any complaints about them—on the contrary students have expressed their admiration for our approach.”

But university is not a television or radio show. Far from it. It’s a place where students come for an education. A model where faculty and administrators pander to student sensitivities—to the extent that it starts undermining the mission of the university—would be comical were it not so serious. If we fail to equip our students with the skills and sensibilities necessary to cope with life, we are doing them a great disservice.

When adult university students ask for trigger warnings for children’s literature, we as a society should realize that somewhere along the line, we lost the plot. Instead of coddling our students we should be asking why they feel so emotionally brittle. Might it be that their fragility is the result of limited exposure to what constitutes the human condition and the range of human experience? Is shielding them and managing their experience of art and literature not just exacerbating their sense of vulnerability?

Perhaps, in the end, what they need is unmediated, warning-free immersion in more literature, not less.

==

https://quillette.com/2023/01/06/a-puritanical-assault-on-the-english-language/

Other universities have competed to see who can invent the most asinine warnings: Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (1599) has a plot that “centres on a murder”; Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped (1886) “contains depictions of murder, death, family betrayal and kidnapping”; Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (1952) includes scenes of “graphic fishing.” Even George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four has been slapped with a warning that students might find the contents “offensive and upsetting.” Of course, those who would assume that a famous dystopian novel would be inoffensive and uplifting probably shouldn’t be studying literature in the first place.

==

Universities are now barely disguised daycare centers.

Same anon who asked to see OG Virgil and Riza's kids! What exactly are their species? Could you also just tell us more about them? Apologies if this is a asking a little much, don't feel obligated to answer this you wouldn't like to. Please have a good day! <3

Ohh!!! I’ll happily to explain!!! :D!! I love them so much!! They just make me happy!

To start of with their eldest son, Ryder Evans

- He is a drider!

- He is a sole survivor of his biological mother’s hunger. Virgil found him laying outside of the forest during his stroll, injured and a bloody mess. Virgil quickly took him to his house and takes care of him along with Riza.

-Being so young and traumatized, Virgil and Riza took Ryder in and love him as their own kid.

- Ryder absolutely admires Virgil and is forever grateful for his kindness for saving him.

- One time he tries to attempt to cut his hair to look just like Virgil but couldn’t and asked his dad to cut his.

- Ryder loves watching his dad making music, watching him in his little corner that Virgil created for his children to hang out if they want to be in Virgil’s office. There are times he grew curious and wanted to play an instrument. Virgil happily taught him! He lets him pick out an instrument to choose! Ryder’s first instrument were the drums!

-Ryder also enjoys watching his dad working on developing his game!

- He also helps Virgil with housework!

- Virgil gifted Ryder a star necklace on his birthday(the day that he was taken in by Virgil, he does have no recollection of his birth). He noticed that Ryder tends to play with Virgil’s necklace. It brought back bittersweet memories of his dad and himself when he was young. So just like what Virgil’s father did, Virgil gives Ryder a necklace.

-Ryder adore the necklace Virgil gives him, it made him happy and would often refuse to take it off. He swore to his parents that he will cherish this necklace.

- Ryder is absolutely a momma’s boy. At first when Virgil took him in, he is on high alert and on guard whenever he sees Riza, due to his experience with his mother, he is being extra cautious around her. But due to her kindness and patience, he began to lower his guard down. With her, he feels safe, loved.

- He loves teasing his little sisters, especially his youngest sister,Clementine, he finds her angry hissing and screeching and thrashing her wings pretty entertaining. But he apologized whenever he teases too much!

-He absolutely love colors! Especially Edith’s paints! They’re just pretty to look at! He tend to mess around with Edith’s paints (which sometimes accidentally spill or drop them) and face with a very angry Edith. So he bought her replacements with his allowance as an apology (he still messes with her paints but is now careful)

-He is the first child Virgil and Riza adopted!

Now to the eldest daughter, Edith Evans!

- Edith is a half orc!

-She was adopted by Virgil and Riza at an orphanage (literally the only kid they adopted properly lmao)

-She is a very polite girl, which made her look up to Riza and her grandma Erin (Virgil’s mom) she is inspire to be lady like just like them!

-Despite her orc strength, she is very careful about it! She never wanted to hurt anyone! Unless if you’re Ryder that mess with her paints- which she grabbed a tree and was about to smack him like it’s baseball— which they both got a scolding from their mom

- Edith absolutely love to paint! She gets giddy whenever Virgil bought her art materials (don’t worry it’s not the typical art kit 💀)

-She is very protective of her material *looks at Ryder* so she usually hids them somewhere in her room

-She absolutely gets along well with her Uncle Irvin, they both share their love for bees and gardening! Irvin lends her flowers that he grew for her artworks! Or even use them as references!

-Speaking of painting, she absolutely enjoys listening to her dad’s astronomy rambles. There are times when she paint stars for Virgil (he has them in his office walls, he’s just so happy whenever he takes breaks and looks at them!)

-She enjoys her time with her family with English afternoon teas parties in their garden! She absolutely enjoy the sandwiches and pastries her dad make!

-She loves playing at the garden with her siblings! She also happily read Clementine, stories when they’re under their favorite tree!

-Edith is the second child they adopted

And finally to the youngest daughter, Clementine Evans!

- Clementine is an owl harpy!

- Virgil found her as an abandoned egg when he went out for a stroll. Just like with Ryder, he took her home and takes care of the egg (he has done so much research of how to take care of an egg 💀)

- Virgil instantly pulled out a camera to record her when she began to hatch!

- Virgil is the one that named her Clementine!

- Clementine is the most energetic out of the three!

- She absolutely took much interest in games! She always watches Virgil plays video games (and be his little cheerleader!)

-She absolutely enjoys spending time with Riza and help her with cooking! Although she struggles due to her wings but she found ways to help!

- She absolutely loves reading time with her big sister Edith!

-As much she doesn’t like Ryder mess with her, she enjoys spending time with him! They tend to get competitive when it comes to play games but they just had fun!

- She tends to sleep in her parents bed, it just helps her feel safe and happy! Just being in the middle!

-She wanted to be a teacher just like her mom!

-She gets along with her Aunt Sarah (Virgil’s sister) and loves listening to musicals that her aunt plays!

-Also the three love to play with Scott! (Virgil’s doberman!) they’re practically inseparable with Scott!

im replaying What Remains of Edith Finch and just saw through the peephole into edie and sven's room and edith said, "last time i was in edith sr's room i was 10 and she was painting my portrait"

and im sure it was just a regular painting but the idea that edie was paint ing edith's memorial portrait preemptively is, very morbid

and i wonder if that is a correct theory, and we just dont see it anywhere, what if edith got like super sick when she was young, or hell even Worse that edie thought lewis would carry on and be the sole survivor

probably just reading too into it, but its wild to think about considering edie probably, manifested the "curse" anyway

two shaded headshot commissions for @seaborgois! Jessamine Kaldwin from Dishonored and Edith/The Sole Survivor from Fallout 4!

commission info

My Want to Read List

(Part Three!)

Reset - Sarina Dahlan

After the Last War destroyed most of the world, survivors form a new society in four self-sustaining cities in the Mojave Desert. In the utopia of the Four Cities, inspired by the lyrics of “Imagine” and Buddhist philosophy, everything is carefully planned and controlled: the seasons, the weather—and the residents. To prevent mankind from destroying each other again, its citizens undergo a memory wipe every four years in a process called tabula rasa, a blank slate, to remove learned prejudices. With each new cycle, they begin again with new names, jobs, homes, and lives. No memories. No attachments. No wars. Aris, a scientist who shuns love, embraces tabula rasa and the excitement of unknown futures. Walling herself off from emotional attachments, she only sees relationships as pointless and avoids deep connections. But she is haunted by a recurring dream that becomes more frequent and vivid as time passes. After meeting Benja, a handsome free-spirited writer who believes his dreams of a past lover are memories, her world is turned upside down. Obsessed with finding the Dreamers, a secret organization thought to have a way to recover memories, Benja draws her down a dangerous path toward the past. When Metis, the leader of the Dreamers, appears in Aris’s life, everything she believes falls to pieces. With little time left before the next tabula rasa, they begin a bittersweet romance, navigating love in a world where names, lives, and moments are systematically destroyed.

Main Genres: Science Fiction & Romance

The Final Girl Support Group - Grady Hendrix

In horror movies, the final girl is the one who's left standing when the credits roll. The one who fought back, defeated the killer, and avenged her friends. The one who emerges bloodied but victorious. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her? Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre twenty-two years ago, and it has defined every day of her life since. And she's not alone. For more than a decade she's been meeting with five other actual final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, putting their lives back together, piece by piece. That is until one of the women misses a meeting and Lynnette's worst fears are realized--someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again, piece by piece. But the thing about these final girls is that they have each other now, and no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.’

Main Genres: Horror & Thriller

The Ex Hex - Erin Sterling

Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones nursed her broken heart like any young witch would: vodka, weepy music, bubble baths…and a curse on the horrible boyfriend. Sure, Vivi knows she shouldn’t use her magic this way, but with only an “orchard hayride” scented candle on hand, she isn’t worried it will cause him anything more than a bad hair day or two. That is until Rhys Penhallow, descendent of the town’s ancestors, breaker of hearts, and annoyingly just as gorgeous as he always was, returns to Graves Glen, Georgia. What should be a quick trip to recharge the town’s ley lines and make an appearance at the annual fall festival turns disastrously wrong. With one calamity after another striking Rhys, Vivi realizes her silly little Ex Hex may not have been so harmless after all. Suddenly, Graves Glen is under attack from murderous wind-up toys, a pissed off ghost, and a talking cat with some interesting things to say. Vivi and Rhys have to ignore their off the charts chemistry to work together to save the town and find a way to break the break-up curse before it’s too late.

Main Genres: Romance & Fantasy

The Haunting of Ashburn House - Darcy Coates

There's something wrong with Ashburn House...

The ancient building has been the subject of rumours for close to a century. Its owner, Edith, refused to let guests inside and rarely visited the nearby town. Following Edith's death, her sole surviving relative, Adrienne, inherits the property. Adrienne's only possessions are a suitcase of luggage, twenty dollars, and her pet cat. Ashburn House is a lifeline she can't afford to refuse. Adrienne doesn't believe in ghosts, but it's hard to ignore the unease that grows as she explores her new home. Strange messages have been etched into the wallpaper, an old grave is hidden in the forest behind the house, and eerie portraits in the upstairs hall seem to watch her every movement. As she uncovers more of the house's secrets, Adrienne begins to believe the whispered rumours about Ashburn may hold more truth than she ever suspected. The building has a bleak and grisly past, and as she chases the threads of a decades-old mystery, Adrienne realises she's become the prey to something deeply unnatural and intensely resentful. Only one thing is certain: Ashburn's dead are not at rest.

Main Genres: Horror, Mystery, & Thriller

A Bad Day for Sunshine - Darynda Jones

(Sunshine Vicram #1)

Sheriff Sunshine Vicram finds her cup o' joe more than half full when the small village of Del Sol, New Mexico, becomes the center of national attention for a kidnapper on the loose. Del Sol, New Mexico is known for three things: its fry-an-egg-on-the-cement summers, strong cups of coffee - and, now, a nationwide manhunt? Del Sol native Sunshine Vicram has returned to town as the elected sheriff - thanks to her adorably meddlesome parents who nominated her--and she expects her biggest crime wave to involve an elderly flasher named Doug. But a teenage girl is missing, a kidnapper is on the loose, and all of this is reminding Sunshine why she left Del Sol in the first place. Add to that the trouble at her daughter's new school, plus and a kidnapped prized rooster named Puff Daddy, and, well, the forecast looks anything but sunny. But even clouds have their silver linings. This one's got Levi, Sunshine's sexy, almost-old-flame, and a fiery-hot US Marshall. With temperatures rising everywhere she turns, Del Sol's normally cool-minded sheriff is finding herself knee-deep in drama and danger. Can Sunshine face the call of duty - and find the kidnapper who's terrorizing her beloved hometown - without falling head over high heels in love . . . or worse?

Main Genres: Mystery & Romance

i’m watching the chaos of some brotherhood knights fighting a group of super mutants, crashing the vertibird, getting mutant suicide bombed, somehow setting off like two unrelated car explosions. and then i turn around and see preston chilling and enjoying a drink

made my fallout guys in this picrew

flora (lone wanderer) / marisol (courier six) / georgia tate (sole survivor; main)

edith thanh (sole survivor; au) / agustín moreno (sole survivor; au)

Dear Yuletide Writer:

Hello my lovely! Thank you so much for enjoying one (or more, I suppose) of my tiny or new fandoms as much as I do. 💖

General Likes:

Found Family

Competence Porn

Partners-in-Crime (or crime-solving)

Case or Heist-fic

Domestic/Curtain-fic that focuses on how well they work/live together, that they’re friends as well as relatives/partners/lovers/etc. (Basically these people should LIKE each other as well as love each other, whether that’s familial or romantic.)

Hurt/Comfort

Character studies

The Best Revenge Is Living Well

I generally prefer my sex and violence levels to be canon-appropriate: terrible injury in a Ready-or-Not or Atomic Blonde fic would obviously make sense. But while there’s plenty of murder in Astreiant, we don’t (in general) linger in the graphic violence. Conversely, while there’s no explicit sex in Astreiant or the Raksura books, clearly they *have* sex, so that’d be fine in a fic. It’d be weird to write about sex at the Summit for 7kpp though, except maybe for Woodly?

Best judgement is fine, I’m okay with E rated fic, (except for Enola Holmes, no sex or romance please) but would prefer no hard kinks, since it’s hard to articulate preferences for those in a letter to a stranger without going even longer than usual.

DNWs:

mundane/modern AUs

a/b/o or mpreg

MCD

ANY Sexual violence, implied, threatened, historically referenced, or on screen.

Fandom Specifics:

Enola Holmes (movie)

I adore almost all versions of Sherlock Holmes, (the Tomato was A Delight, and the Mouse Is A Classic), and this one is no exception! I loved the way that Enola didn’t actually have much character development because she knew who she was right from the beginning and what she needed, she just had to actually go for it, but the people around her needed the push.

HOWEVER. While I love they Dysfunctional Family Holmes (and would adore it as a backdrop in whatever way you see fit) my prompts are actually for Edith, because her two scenes shone in an already bright and clever movie. Whether it’s remembering her past with bb!Enola, or how they become closer friends now after the movie or them watching Sherlock manage to acknowledge in his side-ways glancing sort of way that maybe Edith & Enola were right about him and he’s thinking about how he looks at things more now?

Tea and gossip? Letters & codes? Carefully not discussing whatever Eudoria is up to? SPARRING?!?

I am not picky.

Ready or Not

I just really adore Grace, they do such a good job with her dawning realization of what she's gotten into turning into her ability to outlast them all. Anything focusing on that would be great. (Orphan Grace determined to build her own family? At what point preparing for the wedding did she start to wonder if maybe something was off? Because once it gets going, she isn’t in denial about it for very long, so at some level... could she tell there was something more wrong here than the usual family dysfunction?)

Something with Mr. Le Bail's opinion on Grace herself (and/or the Le Domas' fall in contrast to her survival) would be awesome, but not required (thus why he's not in the character request).

I would also ADORE an aftermath fic, what it's like to be the sole survivor, the only heir, what she does with the morning (and lifetime) after. (Does Mr. Le Bail keep an eye on her? Does he try to offer her a deal? Does she ever stop looking for him out of the corner of her eye, or does she let him go along with the rest of them?) Show me how this lady made it.

Atomic Blonde

I don’t really have any more for prompts than that line in my sign-up. I love Lorraine/Delphine, and I like how deeply & purposefully unreliable Lorraine’s version of things is, and I would love an author that played with that and gave them More Adventures in whatever way they wanted.

Astreiant

The thing I’ve always loved about these books is the fact that Astreiant the city is as much a character as any of the people, so I’d love anything that focuses on that feeling of home they’ve found, even here in such a complicated place. (They’re complicated people, after all.) While I adore Istre, and would be fine with a fic about how he and Eslingen learn to be friends because of the overlap of their connections to Rathe, I would also be here for something that’s just Philip/Nico and the way they settle into each other, the ways they balance their jobs and each other, just anything about their lives together.

(This is really the fandom I’d most love curtain-fic for, just because the books themselves by necessity don’t linger in their relationship as much as the current politics/case. Not that I’d be against another case! I am always happy for more of those, too. *laughs*)

Raksura

I love how the Raksura are never once, even for a moment, human. They’re a lovely and amazing different species! I enjoy that! Definitely please lean into that.

But my absolute favorite thing is when Moon is exasperated by stupid Raksura politics or etiquette and another Raksura is exasperated by his refusal to “behave” and they’re both right and equally they will never agree on this. I enjoy it every damn time.

Whether that thing is him flinging himself into battle (and surviving, barely, because he’s good at that but it’s seldom pretty) or something about the different Consorts in Indigo Cloud and how terribly (wonderfully!) dissimilar they are when you stick them in a room together, or Jade awkwardly adoring Moon while also wanting to smack him upside the head, or Stone feeling every single damn one of his years every time Moon Does A Thing, or Chime starting to understand why Stone is Like That because he is now also very tired?

All good.

I feel like Moon is odd in that you could either do the Raksuran version of curtain-fic about manners at tea & playing with babies OR half-feral battles-to-the-death but there’s a not a lot that fits in-between and that is absolutely part of what I like about him. But also he’s totally got a great life now by the end of the books and that is giving the Fell the biggest FU and I like that too.

7KPP

I really adore the relationships amongst and between the NPCs in this game, as much as the ones the PC can build herself along the way. Beyond my favorites Penelope & Cordelia & Avalie, I just really like to dive into the entire setting: I would be especially interested in something “inside” one particular faction and showing how they do (or do not) get along, whichever one might jump out as interesting.

How awful is it in a room with all the Revaire delegates at the same time?

What do the Isle natives do when the delegates aren’t watching?

How does Ana prevent gratuitous stabbing when that’s also how she wants to deal with things?

Corval Politics? Enduring Blain? Jaslen making everything worse? (Zarad carefully laughing at only the right moments or the absolute most wrong ones?)

How on earth do Avalie & Lyon survive each other and their diametrically opposed viewpoints on politics and the Summit? (Is General Falon as eternally exhausted as I would be dealing with the both of them all the time?) WTF do the other delegates do trying to get along with Avalie and Lyon stealing the spotlight?

How did Emmet & Yvette meet? Are the other Arland delegates as obnoxious as that one guy at dinner, or do they have some quiet lovely souls hiding behind all those manners?

PIRATE SHENANIGANS? (Poor Cordelia avoiding the pirate shenanigans?)

What do the other Wellin delegates think of their royal siblings? What does Lisle really think of their Grand Duke? (How much of his protective behavior is shielding Penelope from their own people vs the Summit? Or is guarding his Princess one of Woodly’s lines, and thus he can help with that? WHO KNOWS? I would like to.)

tl;dr: I can ramble a lot! I like knowing why people like each other and are good at things! Happy endings are great & greatly appreciated! That’s really the most important parts.

Anon messaging is on, if you want to ask me weird questions about tiny fandoms! I LOVE YULETIDE! (I hope you enjoy yourself too.)

can u pretty please write something (prompts work too!) about joe liebgott falling in love with a german nurse? ♥️

Joseph Liebgott x Original Female Character

An Angel of Death

A/N: Hello, everyone. I’m free finally. (Okay it’s almost been a month but I have been enjoying the start of the summer. I’m so incredibly happy right now it is insane.) I hope this piece is a good enough kick off to me being more active on here. And I hope you all are doing well. (And also please give me your opinions on my writing, I’d love to hear what you have to say.)

This story is dedicated to anon, it’s not very lovey dovey but I hope you enjoy it still!

Translation of the german phrases:

Hände hoch - Hands up

Entschuldigung - I’m sorry

Synopsis: Is there ever a good time to fall in love? Suppose war would be as good a time as any.

Disclaimer: This work is based on the characters as they are portrayed in the HBO series Band of Brothers and is by no means meant as an offense to any of the real men that it was based on.

When Joseph Liebgott had first seen her she had been a mess. She had been standing in the aftermath of a bloodbath. Her fellow soldiers laying where they had fallen, struck down by the raining bullets from their opposition’s guns. The snow had been stained by their blood, making the mix of colours match with the red and white cross on her arm. He was at once reminded of an angel of death because of the almost graceful way she was holding herself. The sole survivor amongst her group. Her hair had escaped from the scarf that was wrapped around it, long strands whipping in the wind, a stark contrast from her immobile stance. Her nurse’s uniform had been stained with scarlett. The old and new taints intertwining to create an intriguing pattern that he found himself slowly following, his eyes trailing the length of her body. She had held her hands in tightly shut fists which he, upon drawing closer, discovered were shaking vigorously.

“Hände hoch!” Joe had demanded in german watching her slowly unclench her hands before complying.

Her cheeks had been flushed from the cold and her lips red by the excessive nervous biting they had suffered. She had looked beautiful. Something which had made him angry with himself because in his eyes she had been a nazi.

“Come here. Keep your hands raised.” She had not uttered a word so he had kept addressing her in german.

She hadn’t said a single thing until they were back by their foxholes, when Captain Winters had stopped by to talk to her. Before Joe had time to translate the words she had responded in only slightly accented english.

“I am a nurse, yes. I wish I had answers for all of your questions but I’ve never been trusted with any key information. But I’ll try to help in any way I can.” She had surprised them all by speaking.

Joe hadn’t liked the way his heart surged at her words, because helpful or not, she was still part of the german army. Winters had dismissed him after that and he had left, his mind still burning with the image of her in the blood-stained snow.

The next day he had been put on guard duty. She had been sitting in a foxhole farther from the front line, her head leaned back against the dirt wall and eyes closed. The air passing through her slightly parted lips like smoke because of the chill in the air.

For just a second he had stopped, mesmerized by the peaceful look on her face. He coughed, still staring at the her intently. “This is not nap-time.” His voice getting stuck in his throat making the words come out harsher then he had intended.

She had startled at the sound of his voice, before looking up at him sheepishly. “Entschuldigung.” Her voice was even and sure, making him feel like more of a fool.

Not bothering to answer he had slid down opposite her, trying to keep his face cold and distant.

Looking shy all of a sudden the woman in front of him had averted her eyes. “I’m Edith.” She had offered, extending her hand for him to shake.

Joe had glared at the hand in confusion. He could not for the life of him figure her out. Edith was a POW, but here she was greeting her capturers like friends. When he failed to shake her hand, she had let it fall, a pretty blush appearing across her cheeks.

When he the next day, had been assigned to guard her again he had once again slid down into the foxhole albeit reluctantly.

There she had been, again, a peaceful look on her face, eyes closed. He had wondered what Edith was thinking about. His mind snidely pointing out that she was probably thinking about her Führer, content in knowing she was doing her best to serve him. This made his expression sour, and when she opened her eyes and offered a smile in greeting he had only frowned. That day she had gotten bored of staying quiet after a little while. Edith had asked him about his home. And although he hadn’t bothered to answer it had made her tell him about her own.

She was from a poor working family, she had said. Her father had worked for a jew as a shoemaker in his shop, and when it had been shut down he had had a hard time finding a new workplace. As she had said the next bit she had looked him in the eye, her words accompanied by a desperate look. When the war had broke out, her father and brother joined the army as an attempt to save both their reputation and to provide for the family. This had left Edith alone with her mother who spent most of the day in a chair by the window, gazing out as if waiting for her husband and son to be back at any minute, not away fighting. She had been going out of her mind in that house, the meager rations and little extra money hadn’t been enough for the eighteen year old to give her mother the care she needed. So Edith had jumped at the chance sign up as a nurse to contribute some money on her own.

After, she had fallen silent. Her eyes had flicked up to his, gauging his reaction. “I’m not a nazi.” Her voice had been quiet but not weak, making him strain to hear her. “I was just unfortunate enough to be born in the wrong country, trying to survive in a society based on a system that is unjust and cruel. Not strong enough to fight back.”

Joe hadn’t known what to respond to that. So he had let the silence fall once again, and they didn’t talk more that day.

The next time he had guarded her was a few days later.

“I’m Joe. Liebgott.” He had said as way of greeting, sliding down opposite her once again.

Her small smile had been relieved, as she gave a nod, unsure just what he was inviting to. Joe had been confounded by his own behaviour. Usually he was loud, a little rude, and let his mouth run before he thought, but something about her had made him hesitant to speak.

Over the following days their conversations had hesitantly started to blossom. And the first time Joe had made her laugh in earnest, the kind of laugh that entailed head being thrown back, eyes squinting and cheeks flushing, his heart had seized. When she had calmed down and looked at him again, her eyes had sparkled and for a moment he had been able to forget all about the war.

The friendship between them was something he would have never had anticipated. But he had found himself looking forward to guard duty just for the sake of seeing her. Little by little her quirks had became a source for admiration and when she had told him stories about her childhood he found that they were not so unlike his own. So he had started sharing pieces of himself, first as a consolation of how vile he had been to her in the beginning, but after awhile he couldn’t have imagined not telling her.

She had told him about her time with the german army, about the young boys who hadn’t even know what they were doing as they shot someone down. About how she had seen soldiers cry as she patched them up, revealing to her their prayers to God to just end them instead of making them fight anymore.

Edith had been unlike anyone he had ever met before. Though that could have just been because he had been surrounded by war for so long that he had forgotten what it was like to have a normal conversation. She had been clever and strong and fair. So overly aware of herself, and she had often told him that she was ashamed for not doing more. For letting her mother end up the way she did, for not finding another solution for her father and brother. But mostly for not resisting and for her country not resisting.

He hadn’t even realised that he was in love with her until she had gone. He had arrived one day to see tear tracks on her dusty cheeks and had been struck with the painful surge his heart gave at the sight. He had not recognised it for the heartbreak that it was.

He had slid down into the foxhole like he always did, although that time with a look of concern etched onto his face. “What’s wrong?”

Edith had flinched a little at the words, looking up at him as if she wasn’t even seeing him. He had seen as he came into focus before her and her eyes had filled with tears threatening to spill. “I’m just so afraid.” She had said.

He had had this urge to hold her and he had wished so intently that there was something he could have said to make it all better.

Her eyes had been searching his face for something before she warily said, “Today I am leaving, and I am never coming back.”

“What?” He had been so shocked, as if all that time he had spent with her hadn’t been borrowed from the start.

“I have no more information that I can give you and I am a burden to you all.”

Edith had looked so sad when she said it. An unspoken apology in her eyes. As if there had ever been something she could have done about it. He had wanted to tell her then, even if he hadn’t known what it was he wanted to say but instead that image of her on the battlefield appeared before his eyes. The angel of death, only now with tears of grief falling down her face. He could even see himself lying there before her, red blossoming from a wound right over his heart.

New Pinch Hits

Three new pinch hits just went out. Please see below for general details. More specific information can be found by clicking the links. Pinch Hit #8 - https://groups.google.com/u/0/g/holly-poly-pinchhits/c/16h0sNE_wpQ Request 1 by gala_apples Fandom: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)   Greg Serrano/Nathaniel Plimpton/Rebecca Bunch Fanart, Fanfiction Request 2 by gala_apples Fandom: Sense8 (TV)   Kala Dandekar/Rajan Rasal/Wolfgang Bogdanow Fanart, Fanfiction Request 3 by gala_apples Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)   Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler/Will Byers, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler/Steve Harrington Fanart, Fanfiction Request 4 by gala_apples Fandom: Stargate - All Media Types   John Sheppard/Rodney McKay/Ronon Dex/Teyla Emmagan Fanfiction Request 5 by gala_apples Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV)   Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey/Scott McCall, Allison Argent/Scott McCall/Stiles Stilinski, Danny Mahealani/Jackson Whittemore/Stiles Stilinski Fanfiction Letter: http://gala-apples.dreamwidth.org/408534.html Pinch Hit #9 - https://groups.google.com/u/0/g/holly-poly-pinchhits/c/NXbVdwn9kmI Request 1 by GaleWrites Fandom: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types   Kirigiri Kyoko/Naegi Makoto/Togami Byakuya, Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito/Saihara Shuichi, Fukawa Toko/Genocider Syo | Genocide Jack/Togami Byakuya, Asahina Aoi/Kirigiri Kyoko/Naegi Makoto, Ikusaba Mukuro/Naegi Makoto/Togami Byakuya, Soda Kazuichi/Sonia Nevermind/Tanaka Gundham, Asahina Aoi/Kirigiri Kyoko/Naegi Makoto/Togami Byakuya, Hinata Hajime/Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko/Pekoyama Peko Fanfiction, Podfic Request 2 by GaleWrites Fandom: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery Any Relationship (Nominated relationships are: Anne Shirley/Diana Barry/Gilbert Blythe, Anne Shirley/Diana Barry/Gilbert Blythe/Ruby Gillis, Anne Shirley/Diana Barry/Ruby Gillis) Fanfiction, Podfic Request 3 by GaleWrites Fandom: Emelan - Tamora Pierce   Dedicate Crane/Dedicate Lark/Dedicate Rosethorn, Berenene dor Ocmore/Ishabal Ladyhammer/Rizuka fa Dalach, Dedicate Frostpine/Kol Banacor/Matazidah Bancanor Fanfiction, Podfic Request 4 by GaleWrites Fandom: Kate and Cecelia - Caroline Stevermer & Patricia Wrede   Cecelia Tarleton/James Tarleton/Kate Schofield/Thomas Schofield Fanfiction, Podfic Request 5 by GaleWrites Fandom: Tortall - Tamora Pierce   Farmer Cape/Rebakah Cooper/Rosto the Piper Fanfiction, Podfic Request 6 by GaleWrites Fandom: Crimson Peak (2015)   Edith Cushing/Lucille Sharpe/Thomas Sharpe Fanfiction, Podfic Request 7 by GaleWrites Fandom: AI: The Somnium Files (Video Game)   Date Kaname/Kagami Araya/Sagan Hitomi, Aiba/Date Kaname/Sagan Hitomi Fanfiction, Podfic Request 8 by GaleWrites Fandom: NG (Visual Novel)   Amanome Seiji/Hazuki Kaoru/Kijima Akira Fanfiction, Podfic Request 9 by GaleWrites Fandom: Zero Escape (Video Games)   Carlos/Kurashiki Akane | June/Tenmyouji Junpei Fanfiction, Podfic Request 10 by GaleWrites Fandom: Original Work   Widow(er)/Spouse Lost at Sea/Humanoid Sea Creature Who Saved Them, King/Queen/Goddess, Undercover Cop in a Lesbian BDSM Sex Club/Multiple Female Doms, Sole Survivor Of Lost Colony/Aliens Who Take Her In, Newly-Crowned Empress/Her Harem Who Have Been Longing To Meet Her, Human Warrior Queen/Alien Harem She Just Won, God-Empress/Harem of Badass Women Destined To Serve Her In All Ways, Amazonian Warrior Queen/Female Harem, Warrior Queen/Goddess She Worships/Virgin Female Soldier Who Walks in on Them, Trusted Female Advisor/New Queen/Volunteers She's Choosing From For Her Harem, No-Nonsense Female Captain of the Guard/Arrogant Court Sorceress/Queen Fed Up of their Squabbling, Spiritual Medium/Spirits, Sickly And Competent King/His Protective Male Best Friend/King's New Male Betrothed, King Who Thought He Was Widowed/His Second Husband/His Returned First Husband, New Bisexual Queen/Volunteers For Her Harem (Any Genders), Witch Who Stole the Peni of Most of the Town's Men/Her Victims Trying to Reclaim Their Stolen Peni, Stern Female Warlord/Favorite Female Concubine/Rebellious New Female Concubine, Pirate Crew/Princess Who Paid Them To Kidnap Her, Loyal Handmaiden/Queen/Queen's Shy New Bride, King/His Harem Of Male Generals Fanfiction, Podfic Letter: http://docs.google.com/document/d/1NyYpTuA_gUmU7hQiDuOrzENYNV06Z02sJLnBv03Po-k/edit?usp=sharing Pinch Hit #10 - https://groups.google.com/u/0/g/holly-poly-pinchhits/c/uewbPa32viU Request 1 by ChokolatteJedi Fandom: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey   Menolly/Mirrim/T'gellan Fanfiction Request 2 by ChokolatteJedi Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling   Ginny Weasley/Hermione Granger/Luna Lovegood Fanfiction Request 3 by ChokolatteJedi Fandom: White Collar   Elizabeth Burke/Neal Caffrey/Peter Burke Fanfiction Request 4 by ChokolatteJedi Fandom: Jurassic Park - All Media Types   Alan Grant/Ellie Sattler/Ian Malcolm Fanfiction Letter: http://chokolattejedi.dreamwidth.org/tag/dear+writer If you're interested in claiming any of these pinch hits, send an e-mail to [email protected] with your AO3 name.

Sole Survivor Christmas Headcanons

I ganked this from @ariejul 1.      What was your soles attitude towards Christmas before and after the apocalypse? Are they religious? Nora’s family when she was growing up never made that big a deal of Christmas.  Her parents weren’t big celebrators of any kind, or churchgoers.  Nate, on the other hand, came from a family that made a HUGE deal out of Christmas (and Thanksgiving, and birthdays, and the Fourth of July), and he sang in the choir at the church he went to with Nora, and he went around all December singing Christmas carols, and wanted to put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving, and watch all the Christmas movies and specials, and he was SO excited about their first Christmas with their first baby.  The first Christmas after the apocalypse, Nora barely noticed, except to get more grimly determined to find Shaun; the next, after the destruction of the Institute, she spent blind drunk and stoned out of her mind, because she couldn’t deal with it any other way.

She still hasn’t gotten back into the holiday spirit.  The synths don’t really know what Christmas is, and Hancock doesn’t particularly give a shit.  Maybe one of these days.

2.      What was their childhood memories about the Christmas holidays? What did they get for presents from their family/friends? She spent it at alternate grandparents’ houses, with cousins she never saw otherwise, and got presents that always seemed to have been picked out for a slightly different child.  She didn’t really ever have that special night-before-Christmas feeling.  She found the idea of Santa kind of creepy and worrisome, and was relieved to realize he wasn’t real.  

3.      What was Christmas like with their spouse/partner and other members of their family? Presents they would give each other?

Nate’s enthusiasm for Christmas was the first Nora had ever really seen of this vaunted Magic of Christmas.  He loved it so much, and she loved him so much, she couldn’t help but love it too.  He got so excited about getting her thoughtful Christmas gifts: a copy of an out-of-print children’s book she mentioned loving when she was little and wishing she could reread, or a coat just like the one the woman was wearing in that old movie they watched on TV that Nora thought looked so beautiful and sophisticated.  That kind of thing.   Nora wasn’t as good at getting him the perfect present for Christmas because she’s terrible at secrets and surprises, so if she found him the perfect gift in August she couldn’t stand to hide it until Christmas, so when Christmas rolled around she’d be like “here I got you socks and a candy cane, but remember back in August when I gave you that hunting knife, and that pocket watch in October” and he’d laugh and get those things back out and put them next to the perfect things he got her, under the tree.

He decorated, and they baked together, and went to Christmas Eve service, and slept in Christmas morning, although Nate was already joking that Shaun wouldn’t be letting them do that for many more Christmases.

4.      What would sole give the companions/friends for Christmas?

She’s never actually given any of them anything for Christmas, but if she was suddenly informed Christmas was gonna be a Big Deal this year and she needed to get them all something?

Cait –  A state-of-the-art ballistic-weave upgrade for her bustier, because she says armor throws her balance off and she needs protection, dammit.  And a tricked-out swatter.

Codsworth – A nice feather duster and a kiss on the eyestalk.

Curie – Every piece of scientific and medical equipment she’s looted from around the Commonwealth, at least everything Shaun hasn’t already disassembled, and a giant hug.

Danse– Tricked out power armor, and a Christmas tour of the Brotherhood settlements so he can see how well they’re doing.

Deacon– Bookshelves, and the loan of a pack brahmin to and from the library.

Dogmeat – Pettins and a good game of fetch.

Hancock - Herself, with a bow on.  Maybe a Christmas visit to Goodneighbor and drinks on her at the Third Rail.

Macready - A tricked-out rifle, and a footlocker full of ammo.  For Duncan, a box of Dandy Boy apples and an excellent Grognak comic.

Nick – A new ballistic-weave fedora, carefully pre-battered, and a copy of Raymond Chandler’s The Simple Art of Murder.  For Ellie, a copy of The Thin Man and a nice ruby lipstick.  (Whatever they're using for lipstick in the Commonwealth these days.)

Old Longfellow – Is that that guy Michael bonded with in Far Harbor?  He seemed nice.  Drunk, but nice.  Ask Michael what he’d like.

(Michael gets him a thick pair of wool socks and resoled, waterproofed boots.) Piper – A rebuilt printing press.  For Nat, a carefully salvaged blank notebook and a pen, and a copy of Harriet the Spy.

Preston – Nora never got close with Preston, despite the fact that she really took the Minutemen thing and ran with it.  Partly it’s because she has a little bit of an avoidant thing going with Sanctuary in general– too many memories, too sad, get her out of here– and partly because he seemed so weirdly nice and sweet and gentle and– soft, and she felt completely insane when they met, and didn’t want to– wreck him.  She’d kill raiders for him, sure, point her which way, but don’t talk to her.

So she wouldn’t really know what to get him.  An upgraded laser musket?  Or, um, remember that Castle and radio station and ubiquitous network of Minuteman settlements she got him?  Put those under the tree.

Strong – Who?  Oh, right.  How’s he doing with that milk thing?

X6-88 – Weapons.  Weapons, weapons, weapons.   5.      What other sole do you know they would like to kiss under the mistletoe? I don’t know about kisses, but she’d like to give @matredaen‘s  Edith Lacks a three-day hug.  Maybe she’d blow @thisiswhymomworries’ Anna Howard a kiss from a safe distance.  And a kiss on the cheek for this Nate.

op is literally so cute in that she shares her leather jacket with her sole survivor but go off

edith actually shares her leather jacket with me but accurate, yeah

Dual Survivor Verse

( Which is also one of River’s companion verses. This by no mean means Edith is always affiliated willingly with the institute in every verse, I just haven’t worked on her ‘escaped verse’ Edith may even turn into a muse. )

If the original Sole Survivor (Nora/Nate/Whatever Name Chosen) happens to survive with River, Edith (River’s baby sister) will initially be a scientist under Shaun’s wing in the institute and turns out to be twenty one when River is unfrozen as Shaun is sixty at that point in time. The plan was to release her as the right hand to Shaun’s parent and a replacement and by default due to being so young River was also a ‘back up’ to her sister if the baby didn’t work out. This means Edith is only three years younger than River, which is definitely more of a relief to her. 

As a companion to the SS there are two available choices to be made.

SS can either leave Edith to die with Shaun, or help River convince her sister to leave.

Leaving Edith can result in the following: River will hate the action. River will also resent the SS for awhile after. Depending on their current relationship she might even leave their side for good. If their relationship is good she will stay, but River will no longer be an available romance.

Rescuing Edith via speech check, this includes failing the speech checks: River will love the action. If their current relationship with River is near rock bottom the action will have taken it up a significant count. If they happen to fail the speech checks she will eventually stop the SS and thank them for trying and vice versa if they succeeded. 

But as a companion verse, if chosen by a non SS, all of this will still apply.

Directed by Mario Bava

Starring William Berger, Ira von Furstenberg, Edwige Fenech

At the private island retreat of wealthy industrialist George Stark (Teodor Corrà), a group of people have assembled for a weekend getaway. Among the guests is Professor Gerry Farrell (William Berger), a scientist badly in need of a vacation. The first night passes uneventfully, but Farrell is enraged the next morning to discover that Stark and several of the guests planned the weekend to coerce him to sell his latest invention: a formula for industrial resin.

Farrell is immediately established as a decent man, and although his marriage to his wife, Trudy (Ira von Fürstenberg), appears to be content, she is actually involved in a secret romance with Stark's artist wife Jill (Edith Meloni). Stark's business partner, Nick (Maurice Poli), is verbally abusive to his coquettish wife Marie (Edwige Fenech), but does not object to her sleeping with other men, one of whom is the houseboy and manservant Charles (Mauro Bosco). Stark is less of a husband to Jill than he is a business manager. He arranges for her to have her paintings and artwork publicly displayed and is also a source of constant criticism. The sole happy couple appears to be Nick's co-worker Jack (Renato Rossini) and his wife Peggy (Helene Ronee). Also among the guests is Isabelle (Justine Gall), a teenage girl who is in Stark's care while her parents are away.

As Stark, Nick, and Jack badger Farrell for the secret of the formula by offering him $1 million each from their Swiss bank accounts, Jill discovers the dead body of Charles on the beach. Having already sent the motor launch away to prevent Farrell from leaving the island, and with the radio out of commission, Stark has no way of contacting the mainland. So, Charles body is moved into a large walk-in freezer where it hangs with other 'chunks of meat'.

The next morning, Farrell himself is the next victim. While he is walking alone on the beach, a sniper shoots him down. Trudy and Jill, walking hand-in-hand nearby for some alone time, hear the gunshot and find Farrell's body and run away to tell the others. The sniper is revealed to be Isabelle, who drags Farrell's body to the sea.

As tempers flare to Farrell's killing and "disappearance", the killings then escalate. Peggy, standing on the balcony of her room, is shot to death by an unseen assailant. Jack arrives on the scene first and accuses Stark of being responsible, which he denies. Marie turns up dead, having been tied to a tree with a knife sticking out of her chest. Jill turns up dead in her bathtub after being electrocuted. Each of the bodies is placed in the freezer. Rather than risk any more bloodshed, the four remaining survivors of Stark, Jack, Nick, and Trudy hold up in Stark's living room for the night. In this way they believe, the killer cannot strike without revealing him or herself. After bickering with Trudy, Nick storms off into the night. The next morning, he too is found dead, and his body is placed in cold storage.

Up to this point, Stark is the most probable suspect when he sneaks out of the house and uncovers a motorboat which will take him to the mainland. As he returns to the house to get supplies, Jack confronts him and reveals himself to be the killer, having killed off everyone to steal the $1 million cashier's checks from their bank accounts. Before Stark can do anything, Jack shoots him dead. But it is revealed that Jack has not been acting alone. After killing Stark, Jack meets in the freezer with Trudy, who is the real mastermind behind the whole scheme. Trudy had met with Jack sometime before arriving on the island and offered to kill everybody so she can steal the million dollar cashier checks from Stark, Nick, in order to hand him over the formula for the resin. Jack was even forced to kill Peggy because she got too close to discovering his plan. Jack then offers to hand Trudy over the three $1 million cashier checks, as she produces the microfilm for the resin formula. But Trudy tries to pull the same trick on Jack, by shooting him in the head, and stealing the checks for herself. But having anticipated Trudy's betrayal, Jack manages to shoot her with his gun before expiring. At this point, Isabelle, who has been hiding in the secret passageways in the house throughout the film, enters the freezer where Trudy and Jack killed each other, and calmly collects the three checks from Trudy's handbag.

Several months later, a well-dressed Isabelle arrives at the state prison to visit a very much alive Farrell who is incarcerated there. It turns out that Farrell did not develop the resin, but stole it from the real inventor after murdering him. He concocted the entire murder-for-money scheme with Trudy; Jack was an unwitting stooge. To conceal his involvement, Farrell convinced Isabelle that the others were trying to kill him, and had her drug him to make him appear dead. Isabelle pushed him out to sea, hoping someone would rescue him. His rescuers were the police on their way to Stark's island; the drug Isabelle used made him so delirious that he confessed the entire scheme. Isabelle gloats over her possession of the $3 million, and leaves Farrell behind to be hanged for his crimes