Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Gotta be weird hoping Zella terminates this just to have a major female character stick to her guns about not having a kid.
…yeah, kinda a mood for me too. I’d like her to buck the trend and stay single and living life on her own terms.
If she's telling her Mother then I suspect she'll keep the child.
We're in the 70's now, probably the earliest that a high profile, single Mum could continue to work and it be accepted.
Maybe with much tutting and clucking of tongues from the more conservative co-workers, but will be accepted. In Zella's case, could see her being kicked upstairs.
We're in the 70's now, probably the earliest that a high profile, single Mum could continue to work and it be accepted.
Maybe with much tutting and clucking of tongues from the more conservative co-workers, but will be accepted. In Zella's case, could see her being kicked upstairs.
Only @Peabody-Martini knows which way the Zella story is going, but I will say that Zella’s mum of all people would understand some of the pressure to a) be a mother with a professional career and b) being a mother ‘later’ in life. Kat also has a view on the Subject, as does Kiki.
If Zella could use one of her coping skills (to switch off the emotions and be the journalist), there’s a great story about the pressures professional women are facing to ‘have it all’ in the 1970s and manage career, motherhood and everything else. The kind of story that isn’t a soft puff piece, but wins awards.
If Zella could use one of her coping skills (to switch off the emotions and be the journalist), there’s a great story about the pressures professional women are facing to ‘have it all’ in the 1970s and manage career, motherhood and everything else. The kind of story that isn’t a soft puff piece, but wins awards.
Turning herself into the subject of a hard hitting documentary is probably one of the best coping mechanisms that Zella could adopt, IMHO.
She has all the right connections to get the best talking heads.
She has all the right connections to get the best talking heads.
Part 139, Chapter 2408
Chapter Two Thousand Four Hundred Eight
28th September 1975
Balderschwang, Bavaria
“You aren’t planning on running off to Berlin again this week?” Ben asked, “Are you?”
“No” Kiki replied, and she saw a look of glee flash across his face. “And that is not an invitation for you to make fun of Zella again.”
Since it had been confirmed that Zella was pregnant, Ben had made a number of jokes about how any child of Zella’s would inevitably be the Antichrist. This was a bit disappointing for Kiki because she had hoped that her husband had outgrown his animosity towards her best friend. Zella had enough on her plate already.
When Kiki had arrived in Berlin the previous Sunday she had found several version of the list she had suggested that Zella write out. She also learned that it had been done several times with Zella ripping it up when she didn’t like the conclusions she was reaching. As far as Kiki could tell, it was one of those things where Zella understood her reality on an intellectual level but wanted something completely different emotionally. This coming on the heels of a painful loss had ensured that Zella was a complete mess and would be until she reached some sort of conclusion. Having known Zella since they were children, Kiki knew that almost all of the time emotion tended to win. This time though, who knew what might happen.
“I’m just joking around” Ben said, “Zella gets off on being violent and hostile to anyone or anything that gets in her way. Everyone knows that.”
“Would it be so funny if it were Nina fifteen or twenty years from now?” Kiki asked, “What if it were someone who you didn’t have a history with?”
Ben just shrugged and Kiki wished that she could make him understand that this was not a simple matter. It never was.
Kiki had never told him about some of the things that had shaped who Zella had become. Working in a male dominated field, she had needed to be tougher and smarter than anyone else around her. That was something that Kiki understood far better than most because it was not so different from being an Emergency Surgeon. There was also what had happened when Zella was nineteen. Ben didn’t really understand all that, being stuck on the incident where Zella had run over his foot with her motorcycle when they had been teenagers. He had made the mistake of making her feel cornered, and that had been the reaction. Kiki understood that Zella reacted in ways like that because she felt she had to. Now this. She had told Kiki that she felt like her whole life had come undone because of what had happened over the last few months and it was impossible to disagree.
Potsdam
There were many who felt that the only Medal or Order named for Friedrich the Great was a Medal for Service Animals was beneath the dignity of the former King of Prussia. It just proved how little they actually knew. Friedrich the Great certainly loved his dogs and apparently his fellow man as well. It had been that latter part which had been given a great deal of scrutiny in recent years. There were many among the more tradition oriented political parties who were aghast that anyone would suggest that a member of the Royal Family might have been Homosexual. Freddy knew better than to laugh aloud when he heard that. His great however far back great uncle was hardly alone on that score. There were others though that used that rumored aspect of “Alt Fritz” to give themselves legitimacy in a way that twisted the nose of those unwilling to even acknowledge their existence.
For Freddy, awarding the Friedrich Medal made for a pleasant afternoon spent with Mirai and Alex. The two girls had been Lobbying Freddy and Suga for a dog for months and had even enlisted the help of their grandfather who had pointed out that Freddy himself had a few different dogs over the years, Ueli, Aki, and Frost most notably. It was because of the dogs which he had had which was why he was a bit reluctant. You tended to get extremely attached to them and it was always painful when the time came to say goodbye. When Freddy had lost Frost the girls had been little, too young to understand, and it had not been a good day.
In the past it had mostly been dogs who had been awarded the Friedrich Medal. There had been a few cats and horses who had received it. Today’s recipient of the Friedrich Medal seemed to drive that home. Of course, the girls were instantly in love with Keks, a silly name, even for a dog though it was perfect for him. He was a dopey looking Basset Hound who been trained in Search & Rescue and was employed by the Fire Department in Bielefeld. There had been a gas explosion that had resulted in an apartment building collapse. Keks had been employed to find survivors under the wreckage. After it had been declared a recovery effort Keks had refused to leave a particular spot. Eventually his handler had directed workers to start digging, apparently just to satisfy the dog only to be shocked when a survivor had been pulled alive from the rubble a full week after the collapse. It was at least the millionth example of how people didn’t deserve dogs.
28th September 1975
Balderschwang, Bavaria
“You aren’t planning on running off to Berlin again this week?” Ben asked, “Are you?”
“No” Kiki replied, and she saw a look of glee flash across his face. “And that is not an invitation for you to make fun of Zella again.”
Since it had been confirmed that Zella was pregnant, Ben had made a number of jokes about how any child of Zella’s would inevitably be the Antichrist. This was a bit disappointing for Kiki because she had hoped that her husband had outgrown his animosity towards her best friend. Zella had enough on her plate already.
When Kiki had arrived in Berlin the previous Sunday she had found several version of the list she had suggested that Zella write out. She also learned that it had been done several times with Zella ripping it up when she didn’t like the conclusions she was reaching. As far as Kiki could tell, it was one of those things where Zella understood her reality on an intellectual level but wanted something completely different emotionally. This coming on the heels of a painful loss had ensured that Zella was a complete mess and would be until she reached some sort of conclusion. Having known Zella since they were children, Kiki knew that almost all of the time emotion tended to win. This time though, who knew what might happen.
“I’m just joking around” Ben said, “Zella gets off on being violent and hostile to anyone or anything that gets in her way. Everyone knows that.”
“Would it be so funny if it were Nina fifteen or twenty years from now?” Kiki asked, “What if it were someone who you didn’t have a history with?”
Ben just shrugged and Kiki wished that she could make him understand that this was not a simple matter. It never was.
Kiki had never told him about some of the things that had shaped who Zella had become. Working in a male dominated field, she had needed to be tougher and smarter than anyone else around her. That was something that Kiki understood far better than most because it was not so different from being an Emergency Surgeon. There was also what had happened when Zella was nineteen. Ben didn’t really understand all that, being stuck on the incident where Zella had run over his foot with her motorcycle when they had been teenagers. He had made the mistake of making her feel cornered, and that had been the reaction. Kiki understood that Zella reacted in ways like that because she felt she had to. Now this. She had told Kiki that she felt like her whole life had come undone because of what had happened over the last few months and it was impossible to disagree.
Potsdam
There were many who felt that the only Medal or Order named for Friedrich the Great was a Medal for Service Animals was beneath the dignity of the former King of Prussia. It just proved how little they actually knew. Friedrich the Great certainly loved his dogs and apparently his fellow man as well. It had been that latter part which had been given a great deal of scrutiny in recent years. There were many among the more tradition oriented political parties who were aghast that anyone would suggest that a member of the Royal Family might have been Homosexual. Freddy knew better than to laugh aloud when he heard that. His great however far back great uncle was hardly alone on that score. There were others though that used that rumored aspect of “Alt Fritz” to give themselves legitimacy in a way that twisted the nose of those unwilling to even acknowledge their existence.
For Freddy, awarding the Friedrich Medal made for a pleasant afternoon spent with Mirai and Alex. The two girls had been Lobbying Freddy and Suga for a dog for months and had even enlisted the help of their grandfather who had pointed out that Freddy himself had a few different dogs over the years, Ueli, Aki, and Frost most notably. It was because of the dogs which he had had which was why he was a bit reluctant. You tended to get extremely attached to them and it was always painful when the time came to say goodbye. When Freddy had lost Frost the girls had been little, too young to understand, and it had not been a good day.
In the past it had mostly been dogs who had been awarded the Friedrich Medal. There had been a few cats and horses who had received it. Today’s recipient of the Friedrich Medal seemed to drive that home. Of course, the girls were instantly in love with Keks, a silly name, even for a dog though it was perfect for him. He was a dopey looking Basset Hound who been trained in Search & Rescue and was employed by the Fire Department in Bielefeld. There had been a gas explosion that had resulted in an apartment building collapse. Keks had been employed to find survivors under the wreckage. After it had been declared a recovery effort Keks had refused to leave a particular spot. Eventually his handler had directed workers to start digging, apparently just to satisfy the dog only to be shocked when a survivor had been pulled alive from the rubble a full week after the collapse. It was at least the millionth example of how people didn’t deserve dogs.
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The thought of Bielefeld existing is so far fetched, it's unthinkable even in the most alternate of alternate history stories!
Take note of this people.
20 years away in thread-time should be about 18 months with the way that PM writes. And this discussion will be referred back to again.
I'm going to plan a trip to germany to see this place that does not exist...
I've heard so much about it.
As more and more I go back and forth reading this timeline, I am convinced that Zella running over Ben’s foot was an accident and that Zella can not make herself admit to that.
In the second timeline, Zella is explaining to either Arorua or Kiki that Klara the Bully was sporting a black eye because of an accident that Klara did to herself andZella was more than happy to take credit for.
As for the pregnancy, Zella is still feeling guilt from the loss of her earlier pregnancy and in the end will make the decision to keep it.
Zella should earn more than enough to afford at least some part time help.
After the European War, Russian women who were POWs and couldn’t go back home became the source of affordable domestic labor in Germany, I could see after the end of the Sino-Korean War that there was an influx of Korean refugees who were resettled in Germany and that older, widowed Korean women has become the latest source of affordable domestic help.
In the second timeline, Zella is explaining to either Arorua or Kiki that Klara the Bully was sporting a black eye because of an accident that Klara did to herself andZella was more than happy to take credit for.
As for the pregnancy, Zella is still feeling guilt from the loss of her earlier pregnancy and in the end will make the decision to keep it.
Zella should earn more than enough to afford at least some part time help.
After the European War, Russian women who were POWs and couldn’t go back home became the source of affordable domestic labor in Germany, I could see after the end of the Sino-Korean War that there was an influx of Korean refugees who were resettled in Germany and that older, widowed Korean women has become the latest source of affordable domestic help.
I'm not sure I would call it a pure accident. There was a element recklessness when pulling away given how close Ben would have needed to be.
At the same time, a bit of commonsense around bikes is that when they rev up to depart, stepping back is a good plan, and if you're betting your safety on someone else not being foolish, that's foolish in itself.
I think after all these years Ben really should let it go. Even if he can't laugh about it, not bringing it up repeatedly wouldn't be the worst suggestion.
I mean, they are both human beings.
Ben's obsessed with an incident from decades ago that dictates his opinion of a person, and Zella still doesn't think he's good enough for her best friend. Both are things that happen and exist, sure they could move on and be better versions of themselves, but if you want me to think for a moment that every single person who reads this doesn't have a flaw somewhere that they should also move on from that they won't for whatever reason, then I have a lovely bridge to sell you in New York.
Ben's obsessed with an incident from decades ago that dictates his opinion of a person, and Zella still doesn't think he's good enough for her best friend. Both are things that happen and exist, sure they could move on and be better versions of themselves, but if you want me to think for a moment that every single person who reads this doesn't have a flaw somewhere that they should also move on from that they won't for whatever reason, then I have a lovely bridge to sell you in New York.
I wonder who Zella thought would have been right for Kiki, to Zella, Ben is nothing more than "That Geeky Kid Next Door" who had nothing really to offer to Kiki except that he liked Kiki for herself without knowing that Kiki was a princess.
Kiki has met practically everyone from Kings and Emperors, Crown Princes and the sons of Great Families, Kiki has met with champion athletes and literal Rock Gods (Moondogs), and still Kiki chose Ben time and time again.
The fact that Kiki and Ben are very well matched, both are intellectuals with PhDs, Kiki in Medicine and Ben in Astrometry, both are explorers, Kiki with the Meta and Epoine, Ben going on the first manned mission to the Moon, and both are highly decorated Warriors and are the only married couple with the PLM for bravery.
As a side note Ben is probably one of the top Jet Aces in history with all of his kills coming from jet-on-jet combat which only a very small number of people can boast of.
With all of that in mind, can Zella give us any name that Kiki would plausibly go for instead of Ben?
Kiki has met practically everyone from Kings and Emperors, Crown Princes and the sons of Great Families, Kiki has met with champion athletes and literal Rock Gods (Moondogs), and still Kiki chose Ben time and time again.
The fact that Kiki and Ben are very well matched, both are intellectuals with PhDs, Kiki in Medicine and Ben in Astrometry, both are explorers, Kiki with the Meta and Epoine, Ben going on the first manned mission to the Moon, and both are highly decorated Warriors and are the only married couple with the PLM for bravery.
As a side note Ben is probably one of the top Jet Aces in history with all of his kills coming from jet-on-jet combat which only a very small number of people can boast of.
With all of that in mind, can Zella give us any name that Kiki would plausibly go for instead of Ben?
Part 140, Chapter 2409
Chapter Two Thousand Four Hundred Nine
6th October 1975
Richthofen Estate, Rural Silesia
With the older children having returned to school the house felt empty to Ilse. All of them were teenagers these days, so they were hardly children. Only Ingrid was still living at home, but she had started Primary School in Breslau. The result was that Ilse suddenly had more time for her research than she’d had in years.
Spending most of a year in Argentina had done wonders of Nikolaus’ attitude. Before he had been indifferent to his future, but he had gotten a good long look at what his life would be like if he didn’t go on to University. It was a bit more difficult to gauge Sabastian’s thinking. It seemed like everyone surrounding him wanted him to compete athletically with the aim towards Montreal, which was now only months away. To Sabastian’s complete astonishment, he had qualified for the National Track and Field Team.
Anna and Gretchen were a bit harder to read. Anna had been forced to mind her manners at school and at home over the last year. It had yet to be seen if she would be able to keep that up forever. Either way, Gretchen still didn’t want to be any where near her older sister if she could avoid it. That was causing a great deal of trouble for their parents, so it was only a matter of time before Tilo and Nancy told Gretchen to get past that, or else.
That was where Mathilda Auer entered the picture. She had grown into a lovely young woman but did nothing to disguise her odd beliefs and occasionally strange behavior. At the same time, Ilse had seen Mathilda’s love of nature, how she would spend all day walking and singing among the trees with Freyja, the Siberian Husky who was her constant companion when she was on the estate, if they let her. Ilse suspected that was how Mathilda had spent much of her childhood when she had lived with her family in an isolated part of the Baltic Coast. The other thing was that she annoyed Anna like few other people could. If Ilse had to guess, it was almost entirely because Mathilda didn’t care what anyone thought of her, particularly Anna.
Finally, there was what was currently going on between Albrecht and Manfred the Elder. The two of them had been getting along, with Manfred easing into retirement and leaving the job of managing the family affairs to Albrecht. Then one of the implications of the new Government had come into focus. They had made a campaign promise to declassify the files regarding many of the events of the Second World War and unless there was a compelling and current State interest in keeping those materials secret. This was to the delight of Historians who now had far greater context with which to frame events, there were many who were less than thrilled by this development though. It was rumored that Heinz Kissinger had made an enemy of Ilse’s sister Kat with this action. Many of things she had done were shrouded in secrecy for good reason and Ilse suspected that Kat had many skeletons hidden within those files. As it was, they had released the files pertaining to the crash research projects that had occurred through out the Universities and in Industry during the war. What had emerged from those projects was earth shattering. Jet engines, computers, and nuclear bombs, just to name a few. It was impossible to gauge the impact on people’s lives in the decades since. Albrecht’s name had come up again and again in the University of Berlin’s Computer Science Department. The work he had been doing had been critical for the war effort, far beyond anything that anyone had known about. It also wasn’t an accident that Albrecht had been selected to join the Space Program at its inception.
Manfred the Elder was not one to ever admit that he had ever gotten anything wrong. That included his reaction towards what he had seen as his son’s evasion of service during the Soviet War. It was stated clearly in the newly declassified files that Albrecht had been expressly forbidden from joining the Luftwaffe like his father had wanted.
Even worse than making an enemy of Kat, the Government had made an even worse mistake. They had forced Manfred von Richthofen to admit he had been mistaken and he would balance the scales on that score of that were the last thing he did.
Reichenwalde, Brandenburg
The sound of a BMW K3’s engine hitting the redline was unlike anything else that Zella had ever heard, and she had the throttle wide open as she raced down a long stretch of highway. It was what her father described as clearing the cobwebs. She had no destination in mind, just riding anywhere else from where she was. Not that she had much luck in that regard. Wherever you go, there you are. Eventually, she found herself on a familiar stretch of road which caused her to slow and turn off the road.
This was the lake she had come to many times. Zella still had no idea what the name of it was, just that it was peaceful here. That was why she had kept coming back. A few hundred meters up the lakeshore was a campground. With it now autumn, it was empty and quiet. She shut off the engine of her motorcycle and just listened to the wind and that water lapping on the lakeshore for a few minutes.
“What are you doing here?” Zella heard a voice ask. She turned and saw a woman staring at her.
“I just had to get away and it is peaceful here” Zella replied, “I had an appointment in the city today that I sort of blew off.”
“And you came here instead?” The woman asked incredulously.
“I’m not bothering you am I?” Zella asked. It had never occurred to her that she might be trespassing. The lakeshore was easily reached from the road.
“No” The woman replied, before walking off.
6th October 1975
Richthofen Estate, Rural Silesia
With the older children having returned to school the house felt empty to Ilse. All of them were teenagers these days, so they were hardly children. Only Ingrid was still living at home, but she had started Primary School in Breslau. The result was that Ilse suddenly had more time for her research than she’d had in years.
Spending most of a year in Argentina had done wonders of Nikolaus’ attitude. Before he had been indifferent to his future, but he had gotten a good long look at what his life would be like if he didn’t go on to University. It was a bit more difficult to gauge Sabastian’s thinking. It seemed like everyone surrounding him wanted him to compete athletically with the aim towards Montreal, which was now only months away. To Sabastian’s complete astonishment, he had qualified for the National Track and Field Team.
Anna and Gretchen were a bit harder to read. Anna had been forced to mind her manners at school and at home over the last year. It had yet to be seen if she would be able to keep that up forever. Either way, Gretchen still didn’t want to be any where near her older sister if she could avoid it. That was causing a great deal of trouble for their parents, so it was only a matter of time before Tilo and Nancy told Gretchen to get past that, or else.
That was where Mathilda Auer entered the picture. She had grown into a lovely young woman but did nothing to disguise her odd beliefs and occasionally strange behavior. At the same time, Ilse had seen Mathilda’s love of nature, how she would spend all day walking and singing among the trees with Freyja, the Siberian Husky who was her constant companion when she was on the estate, if they let her. Ilse suspected that was how Mathilda had spent much of her childhood when she had lived with her family in an isolated part of the Baltic Coast. The other thing was that she annoyed Anna like few other people could. If Ilse had to guess, it was almost entirely because Mathilda didn’t care what anyone thought of her, particularly Anna.
Finally, there was what was currently going on between Albrecht and Manfred the Elder. The two of them had been getting along, with Manfred easing into retirement and leaving the job of managing the family affairs to Albrecht. Then one of the implications of the new Government had come into focus. They had made a campaign promise to declassify the files regarding many of the events of the Second World War and unless there was a compelling and current State interest in keeping those materials secret. This was to the delight of Historians who now had far greater context with which to frame events, there were many who were less than thrilled by this development though. It was rumored that Heinz Kissinger had made an enemy of Ilse’s sister Kat with this action. Many of things she had done were shrouded in secrecy for good reason and Ilse suspected that Kat had many skeletons hidden within those files. As it was, they had released the files pertaining to the crash research projects that had occurred through out the Universities and in Industry during the war. What had emerged from those projects was earth shattering. Jet engines, computers, and nuclear bombs, just to name a few. It was impossible to gauge the impact on people’s lives in the decades since. Albrecht’s name had come up again and again in the University of Berlin’s Computer Science Department. The work he had been doing had been critical for the war effort, far beyond anything that anyone had known about. It also wasn’t an accident that Albrecht had been selected to join the Space Program at its inception.
Manfred the Elder was not one to ever admit that he had ever gotten anything wrong. That included his reaction towards what he had seen as his son’s evasion of service during the Soviet War. It was stated clearly in the newly declassified files that Albrecht had been expressly forbidden from joining the Luftwaffe like his father had wanted.
Even worse than making an enemy of Kat, the Government had made an even worse mistake. They had forced Manfred von Richthofen to admit he had been mistaken and he would balance the scales on that score of that were the last thing he did.
Reichenwalde, Brandenburg
The sound of a BMW K3’s engine hitting the redline was unlike anything else that Zella had ever heard, and she had the throttle wide open as she raced down a long stretch of highway. It was what her father described as clearing the cobwebs. She had no destination in mind, just riding anywhere else from where she was. Not that she had much luck in that regard. Wherever you go, there you are. Eventually, she found herself on a familiar stretch of road which caused her to slow and turn off the road.
This was the lake she had come to many times. Zella still had no idea what the name of it was, just that it was peaceful here. That was why she had kept coming back. A few hundred meters up the lakeshore was a campground. With it now autumn, it was empty and quiet. She shut off the engine of her motorcycle and just listened to the wind and that water lapping on the lakeshore for a few minutes.
“What are you doing here?” Zella heard a voice ask. She turned and saw a woman staring at her.
“I just had to get away and it is peaceful here” Zella replied, “I had an appointment in the city today that I sort of blew off.”
“And you came here instead?” The woman asked incredulously.
“I’m not bothering you am I?” Zella asked. It had never occurred to her that she might be trespassing. The lakeshore was easily reached from the road.
“No” The woman replied, before walking off.
Though it has details that clearly mark it as being from the 80's, use of alloys, disk brakes, and the front fork in particular, this K75 that someone stripped down and reworked is very similar to the K3 from TTL that Zella has.
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The name of the lake is Scharmützelsee and it is every bit as picturesque as described.
