Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
I reckon Anna’s comeuppance will happen when Zella von Holz is looking around for a new show to pitch and comes up with a show taking delinquent girls & taking them ‘back in time‘ to the 1940s and the Soviet War. Will dreadful Anna end up mucking out pigsties in the Women’s Land Army? Will she be dicing with danger filling shells in a munitions factory? Or will she be doing square bashing and drill as part of the Women’s Auxiliaries? In any case, it’ll show the 'soft youth of today' the struggles their mothers and grandmothers faced in the war years.
I see it like a cross between the British show 'Bad Lads Army' meets a 'historical recreation' show. Interior Minister Helene v. Richthofen-Mischner would likely approve & the production might get bankrolled by Dame Greta v.Wovogle-Knispel. Reality TV gold!
Last edited:
I have been wondering if her sister Anna would turn out to be "Myrtle the fertile Turtle", that would be interesting.
Having seen @Peabody-Martini 's wit and humor in full display throughout this entertaining story line, I am putting my money on the best revenge on Anna being that as she is stuck doing menial labor that is far from flattering that she will be forced to listen to all the others around her talk about how her sister Gretchen and her handsome rising star date were the bells of the Regatta ball, and all about how these other girls envied Gretchen.
Part 156, Chapter 2829
Chapter Two Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty-Nine
26th June 1980
Langeoog, East Frisian Islands
Jack had heard plenty about this place, but had never actually come here until now, and instantly understood why Marie liked it here. Langeoog was a bit difficult to get to and once you were on the island everything moved at a much slower pace. This was certainly helped by a ban on automobiles aside from some commercial and emergency vehicles. He had figured this out as he had first been delayed while waiting for the ferry to leave the mainland and then waiting for the narrow-gauge train that let him off in the center of the Town of Langeoog. It was a bit annoying that he had to walk from the train station to the house and that it was way out on the eastern end of town. He had noticed that he was getting dirty looks from the locals the whole time. It wasn’t quite holiday season yet, it was a weekday, and he wasn’t dressed like a tourist. Jack had heard about what had happened to a few journalists who had come looking for Marie on Langeoog, so it was easy to assume what their assumptions were.
The house itself was unassuming, looking the same as nearly every other house that Jack had seen on the island. He knew that the house had been built in 1953 after the old one had been heavily damaged by a storm. Katherine’s vacation home had been located on this spot since she had been granted it along the rest of East Frisia when she had been made a Freiherrin, meaning Baroness in English, the first of several courtly promotions. That was the result of saving the lives of several members of the German Royal family from an NKVD assassination team. Despite that incident being well documented and there even having been a film made, there were some people who questioned if it had happened the way depicted or even if it had happened at all. Despite the whole thing seeming far-fetched, Jack knew better than most Katherine von Mischner’s propensity towards violence and ruthless nature. He had absolutely no doubt that the Russian agents had been real and that Kat had not hesitated when she got the drop on them. Kat had told Jack that she still had the Italian made submachinegun she had used that day, he wasn’t in the least bit surprised.
These days, with her role as the Prefect of Berlin consuming so much of her time, Kat seldom came to Langeoog these days. Instead it was her daughter Marie Alexandra who spent much of the summer because she liked the quiet and relative isolation. Kat had discussed with Jack the idea that perhaps she should give Marie the patent of Nobility, making Marie the Gräfin of East Fresia. Jack knew that if that happened then Marie would be under pressure to drop her studies in Ireland and he would lose her services as an investigator, while he doubted that she would ever be any sort of trial lawyer, Marie was good at doing the sort of one-on-one interviews that were key in gathering evidence. Beyond that, Jack wondered what the consequences of that would be. It was an insular region that had its own dialect of German, it was also of huge strategic and economic importance to the German Empire. How would the Reichstag in Berlin or the Landtag in Hanover react to that? Jack had no idea. He had advised Kat to hold off until she had a better feel for what the reaction would be. He just hoped that she listened…
Jack stopped musing as he got to the door. Knocking on it, he was met with silence. It was early afternoon, so Marie had to be awake. After a few minutes, Marie opened the door a crack and peeked out.
“Don’t you have better places to be?” Marie asked as she opened the door.
“Actually no” Jack replied as he stepped into the house. “There was a development in the case and I…”
Jack saw the sword that Marie was holding in her hand. It looked like the fencing foil that was used in sport. The blade with a triangular profile and needlelike point though suggested that it was not intended for that purpose though.
“Expecting trouble?” Jack asked. He had a good idea of what Marie was capable of and wasn’t eager to find out if she was as ruthless as her mother when push came to shove.
“There have been threats” Marie said as she slid the sword back into the sheath that was hanging on the coatrack next to the door. “The smallsword was a birthday present from my mother. She said that if I insist that I be alone that I should be able to protect myself.”
As Lawyer, Jack knew that there were all sorts of things wrong with that and that had landed Kat in legal hot water in the past. However, as a father he had a different perspective. He doubted that his daughter Jacqueline would have the wherewithal, of course when last he had seen her she had been asleep in the same bedroom she’d had since she was a baby. Marie had offered to let Jackie come with her, but she had declined. He suspected that Jackie was embarrassed by the idea of what she had heard about beaches on the Continent but had realized that she would be even more embarrassed if he brought that up with her.
“I came here to tell you that there has been a break in the case” Jack said.
Marie gave him a quizzical look. When she had left Ireland they had still been in midst of pretrial negotiations which had been expected to drag on for months.
“It seemed that the defendant’s lawyers had an epiphany of sorts, I suspect that there were few angry calls from Rome about being made to look bad on television and newspapers as well” Jack said, “Things are moving in a different direction now.”
“Oh” Marie replied, as if she were sorry to hear that.
26th June 1980
Langeoog, East Frisian Islands
Jack had heard plenty about this place, but had never actually come here until now, and instantly understood why Marie liked it here. Langeoog was a bit difficult to get to and once you were on the island everything moved at a much slower pace. This was certainly helped by a ban on automobiles aside from some commercial and emergency vehicles. He had figured this out as he had first been delayed while waiting for the ferry to leave the mainland and then waiting for the narrow-gauge train that let him off in the center of the Town of Langeoog. It was a bit annoying that he had to walk from the train station to the house and that it was way out on the eastern end of town. He had noticed that he was getting dirty looks from the locals the whole time. It wasn’t quite holiday season yet, it was a weekday, and he wasn’t dressed like a tourist. Jack had heard about what had happened to a few journalists who had come looking for Marie on Langeoog, so it was easy to assume what their assumptions were.
The house itself was unassuming, looking the same as nearly every other house that Jack had seen on the island. He knew that the house had been built in 1953 after the old one had been heavily damaged by a storm. Katherine’s vacation home had been located on this spot since she had been granted it along the rest of East Frisia when she had been made a Freiherrin, meaning Baroness in English, the first of several courtly promotions. That was the result of saving the lives of several members of the German Royal family from an NKVD assassination team. Despite that incident being well documented and there even having been a film made, there were some people who questioned if it had happened the way depicted or even if it had happened at all. Despite the whole thing seeming far-fetched, Jack knew better than most Katherine von Mischner’s propensity towards violence and ruthless nature. He had absolutely no doubt that the Russian agents had been real and that Kat had not hesitated when she got the drop on them. Kat had told Jack that she still had the Italian made submachinegun she had used that day, he wasn’t in the least bit surprised.
These days, with her role as the Prefect of Berlin consuming so much of her time, Kat seldom came to Langeoog these days. Instead it was her daughter Marie Alexandra who spent much of the summer because she liked the quiet and relative isolation. Kat had discussed with Jack the idea that perhaps she should give Marie the patent of Nobility, making Marie the Gräfin of East Fresia. Jack knew that if that happened then Marie would be under pressure to drop her studies in Ireland and he would lose her services as an investigator, while he doubted that she would ever be any sort of trial lawyer, Marie was good at doing the sort of one-on-one interviews that were key in gathering evidence. Beyond that, Jack wondered what the consequences of that would be. It was an insular region that had its own dialect of German, it was also of huge strategic and economic importance to the German Empire. How would the Reichstag in Berlin or the Landtag in Hanover react to that? Jack had no idea. He had advised Kat to hold off until she had a better feel for what the reaction would be. He just hoped that she listened…
Jack stopped musing as he got to the door. Knocking on it, he was met with silence. It was early afternoon, so Marie had to be awake. After a few minutes, Marie opened the door a crack and peeked out.
“Don’t you have better places to be?” Marie asked as she opened the door.
“Actually no” Jack replied as he stepped into the house. “There was a development in the case and I…”
Jack saw the sword that Marie was holding in her hand. It looked like the fencing foil that was used in sport. The blade with a triangular profile and needlelike point though suggested that it was not intended for that purpose though.
“Expecting trouble?” Jack asked. He had a good idea of what Marie was capable of and wasn’t eager to find out if she was as ruthless as her mother when push came to shove.
“There have been threats” Marie said as she slid the sword back into the sheath that was hanging on the coatrack next to the door. “The smallsword was a birthday present from my mother. She said that if I insist that I be alone that I should be able to protect myself.”
As Lawyer, Jack knew that there were all sorts of things wrong with that and that had landed Kat in legal hot water in the past. However, as a father he had a different perspective. He doubted that his daughter Jacqueline would have the wherewithal, of course when last he had seen her she had been asleep in the same bedroom she’d had since she was a baby. Marie had offered to let Jackie come with her, but she had declined. He suspected that Jackie was embarrassed by the idea of what she had heard about beaches on the Continent but had realized that she would be even more embarrassed if he brought that up with her.
“I came here to tell you that there has been a break in the case” Jack said.
Marie gave him a quizzical look. When she had left Ireland they had still been in midst of pretrial negotiations which had been expected to drag on for months.
“It seemed that the defendant’s lawyers had an epiphany of sorts, I suspect that there were few angry calls from Rome about being made to look bad on television and newspapers as well” Jack said, “Things are moving in a different direction now.”
“Oh” Marie replied, as if she were sorry to hear that.
For those of you who don't know what a Smallsword looks like. It is easy to see why Marie would have one.
In the "Well, yes we did it, but the people behind it are all dead and we're 'sorry' so it's not our fault" way?
Not to mention the "We'd also like this to go away REALLY fast, so is this enough money to make it do so" way?
This means that Pope Paul the ITTL VI has decided to give a very generous financial settlement to the victims and their families with concrete proposals for reforms in order to stop the bleeding that the Church is having right now with the Faithful.
The agreement about the monetary payments is going to be the easy part as Jack will want a full public accounting on how the Church covered up the abuses by sweeping them under the rug, which includes the transferring of priests to different parishes, dioceses, sending them to special "treatment" centers, and in extreme cases to overseas mission to poor undeveloped countries.
Jack wants the higher ups to face accountability for their roles in the wide-ranging conspiracy to cover up the abuses, if that means defrocking and prison time, so be it.
As for Marie, she stands to make a very nice bonus for her role in the investigation and the interviewing of the victims as that was a large part in making the case against the Church.
Much like her mother, Marie's efforts to bring justice to victims of church abuse didn't occur without a cost to her mental health. All the money and the other baubles (like being en-nobled as Gräfin of East Friesia) won't make good the damage or replace what was lost in righting historical wrongs. Marie is truly her mother's daughter in a way Tatiana isn't.
Part 155, Chapter 2830
Chapter Two Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty
29th June 1980
Kiel, Germany
Erich had been a bit embarrassed when Gretchen had first seen his car, a VW Passat Sedan that had seen better days. The truth was that she didn’t care as she looked out the passenger side window at the street going past. Just being here was enough for her. She had thought that it would need a whole lot of effort to convince her mother to let her come, only to be told that she was old enough to make her own mistakes. At the moment her parents were up to their neck in dealing with the mess that Anna had caused, the exasperation from that had carried over to Gretchen to the extent that they had let her go to Kiel.
Gretchen had no idea what might have motived her sister, but this time, she had been caught red-handed, or blue considering the color of indelible ink that had sprayed all over Anna when she had pulled the fire alarm. The present student body at the Wahlstatt Institute was around 90% male, so there was no way that had been the first time that someone had thought about doing that and the school had taken measures to catch the culprit. Gretchen remember that everyone had been having so much fun right up until the alarm had gone off. When Gretchen had asked her mother why Anna had done something so stupid, she had gotten an exasperated look and had been told that she and Anna needed to start acting like sisters as opposed the constant sniping at each other, which was unacceptable.
From there, it had been all about figuring out what to wear to a gala at a Yacht Club that was doubtlessly going to have a nautical theme. Gretchen had been at a bit of a loss, so she had worn what she thought looked nice. The white sundress she was wearing was perfectly in keeping with the season and she hoped that it would not be too informal for the event. When Erich picked her up from the apartment that her parents lived in due to her father’s role in the Kaiserliche Marine and Marine Infantry, that was when he had been a bit embarrassed by his car. She saw that he was wearing the summer dress uniform of the Marine Infantry and looked like he had stepped out of a recruiting poster. He had clearly been hoping to impress Gretchen’s parents. The car was not in keeping with that and he was all too aware of the fact that Gretchen’s father could squash him like a bug if he stepped out of line.
The drive to the Imperial Yacht Club had been pleasant enough, now though as Gretchen got out of the car she noticed that she could see both the white building that housed the Club and just across the water was the large grey office building that she knew housed the High Command of the KM, where her father as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy often spent his days. She didn’t know why that had slipped her mind until that moment, but it did explain a whole lot about her mother’s reaction when she had asked to come to the gala. The close proximity to the OKM meant that the Yacht Club would inevitably be a hotbed of Navy politics. Being greeted by Kapitan-zur-See von Feldt buttressed that opinion. Gretchen remembered that he had commanded the SMS Mackensen in the Pacific War, a Battlecruiser that had sustained a staggering amount of damage in the Battle of the South China Sea. He had managed to get the Mackensen back to port, only to oversee her being stripped of everything useful before being written off and sent to the breakers. He had gone on to command the SMS Adrian Baier, the last Battlecruiser to join the German Fleet and whose namesake had overshadowed von Feldt’s career in a case of perverse irony. These days von Feldt was the Kommodore of Imperial Yacht Club in Kiel, the instant that Gretchen had walked in with Erich he had taken one look at them and she could just see the wheels turning.
“What a lovely surprise to have you here Markgräfin” von Feldt said, “If you could tell your father that my invitation still stands.” He then shot Erich an approving look before going to greet someone else.
“What was that?” Gretchen asked in a stage whisper.
“Just roll with it” Erich replied, he clearly had his back up.
As it turned out, Erich had been correct that they were among the youngest people present at this event. What he had not anticipated was the shocking amount of brass and gold braid that was on full display. This was the very institution of the High Seas Fleet with its various factions and politics. Gretchen realized that just her presence was as had been stated in Star Wars, a disturbance in the force. Then she saw two people, an older couple, the man looked at Erich with complete disdain and the woman looked embarrassed, the look on Erich’s face grew strained.
“Gretchen, this is my mother and father” Erich said, his words guarded.
Erich’s father glowered at him; he had said that his father had not approved of his career choices. Namely taking a direct Commission in the Marine Infantry out of the Naval Academy as opposed to going to University with the intention of joining the Naval Command Track.
“It is lovely to finally meet you Gretchen” Erich’s mother said, trying to keep the peace and clearly unhappy with her husband. “Erich was a bit vague about who you are. Did I hear the Kommodore called you a Markgräfin?”
“It is a silly title” Gretchen replied, “My father received it when he was appointed to be the Marshal of Silesia.”
“Claudia, her father is Dietrich von Schultz” Erich’s father said, as Gretchen saw his face switch from beet red to a sudden white pallor. With that Erich’s mother, Claudia, led his father over to one of the tables where she sat him down as she tried to deal whatever sort of attack he was having.
“That actually went better than I had hoped” Erich said, much to Gretchen’s shock. How could that have gone worse?
29th June 1980
Kiel, Germany
Erich had been a bit embarrassed when Gretchen had first seen his car, a VW Passat Sedan that had seen better days. The truth was that she didn’t care as she looked out the passenger side window at the street going past. Just being here was enough for her. She had thought that it would need a whole lot of effort to convince her mother to let her come, only to be told that she was old enough to make her own mistakes. At the moment her parents were up to their neck in dealing with the mess that Anna had caused, the exasperation from that had carried over to Gretchen to the extent that they had let her go to Kiel.
Gretchen had no idea what might have motived her sister, but this time, she had been caught red-handed, or blue considering the color of indelible ink that had sprayed all over Anna when she had pulled the fire alarm. The present student body at the Wahlstatt Institute was around 90% male, so there was no way that had been the first time that someone had thought about doing that and the school had taken measures to catch the culprit. Gretchen remember that everyone had been having so much fun right up until the alarm had gone off. When Gretchen had asked her mother why Anna had done something so stupid, she had gotten an exasperated look and had been told that she and Anna needed to start acting like sisters as opposed the constant sniping at each other, which was unacceptable.
From there, it had been all about figuring out what to wear to a gala at a Yacht Club that was doubtlessly going to have a nautical theme. Gretchen had been at a bit of a loss, so she had worn what she thought looked nice. The white sundress she was wearing was perfectly in keeping with the season and she hoped that it would not be too informal for the event. When Erich picked her up from the apartment that her parents lived in due to her father’s role in the Kaiserliche Marine and Marine Infantry, that was when he had been a bit embarrassed by his car. She saw that he was wearing the summer dress uniform of the Marine Infantry and looked like he had stepped out of a recruiting poster. He had clearly been hoping to impress Gretchen’s parents. The car was not in keeping with that and he was all too aware of the fact that Gretchen’s father could squash him like a bug if he stepped out of line.
The drive to the Imperial Yacht Club had been pleasant enough, now though as Gretchen got out of the car she noticed that she could see both the white building that housed the Club and just across the water was the large grey office building that she knew housed the High Command of the KM, where her father as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy often spent his days. She didn’t know why that had slipped her mind until that moment, but it did explain a whole lot about her mother’s reaction when she had asked to come to the gala. The close proximity to the OKM meant that the Yacht Club would inevitably be a hotbed of Navy politics. Being greeted by Kapitan-zur-See von Feldt buttressed that opinion. Gretchen remembered that he had commanded the SMS Mackensen in the Pacific War, a Battlecruiser that had sustained a staggering amount of damage in the Battle of the South China Sea. He had managed to get the Mackensen back to port, only to oversee her being stripped of everything useful before being written off and sent to the breakers. He had gone on to command the SMS Adrian Baier, the last Battlecruiser to join the German Fleet and whose namesake had overshadowed von Feldt’s career in a case of perverse irony. These days von Feldt was the Kommodore of Imperial Yacht Club in Kiel, the instant that Gretchen had walked in with Erich he had taken one look at them and she could just see the wheels turning.
“What a lovely surprise to have you here Markgräfin” von Feldt said, “If you could tell your father that my invitation still stands.” He then shot Erich an approving look before going to greet someone else.
“What was that?” Gretchen asked in a stage whisper.
“Just roll with it” Erich replied, he clearly had his back up.
As it turned out, Erich had been correct that they were among the youngest people present at this event. What he had not anticipated was the shocking amount of brass and gold braid that was on full display. This was the very institution of the High Seas Fleet with its various factions and politics. Gretchen realized that just her presence was as had been stated in Star Wars, a disturbance in the force. Then she saw two people, an older couple, the man looked at Erich with complete disdain and the woman looked embarrassed, the look on Erich’s face grew strained.
“Gretchen, this is my mother and father” Erich said, his words guarded.
Erich’s father glowered at him; he had said that his father had not approved of his career choices. Namely taking a direct Commission in the Marine Infantry out of the Naval Academy as opposed to going to University with the intention of joining the Naval Command Track.
“It is lovely to finally meet you Gretchen” Erich’s mother said, trying to keep the peace and clearly unhappy with her husband. “Erich was a bit vague about who you are. Did I hear the Kommodore called you a Markgräfin?”
“It is a silly title” Gretchen replied, “My father received it when he was appointed to be the Marshal of Silesia.”
“Claudia, her father is Dietrich von Schultz” Erich’s father said, as Gretchen saw his face switch from beet red to a sudden white pallor. With that Erich’s mother, Claudia, led his father over to one of the tables where she sat him down as she tried to deal whatever sort of attack he was having.
“That actually went better than I had hoped” Erich said, much to Gretchen’s shock. How could that have gone worse?
Last edited:
The mid-70's VW Passat B1 2-Door Sedan. Possibly one of the least glamorous cars ever made.
An appropriate car for a young Marine Infantry officer who doesn't want to go into major debt that eats up his paycheck every month.
The stunt that Anna pulled at the dance at the Wahlstatt Academy was the last straw.
I doubt that the Marine Infantry has female members, so that means Tilo and Nancy has to get creative in providing consequences to Anna before she does something that they can't get her out of.
The stunt that Anna pulled at the dance at the Wahlstatt Academy was the last straw.
I doubt that the Marine Infantry has female members, so that means Tilo and Nancy has to get creative in providing consequences to Anna before she does something that they can't get her out of.
The perfect cultural reference does not exi...
I stand corrected.
I see your VW Passat and raise you the Austin Allegro:
Hasn’t Anna been a huge bitch to Gretchen for basically their entire lives? How come Nancy only gives a shit now?