Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
With some of the twists Peabody-Martini has thrown our way, it could easily be Kiki or one of her sisters screaming that phrase. It is called 'Stupid Luck & Happenstance' after all...
Part 100, Chapter 1600
Chapter One Thousand Six Hundred
1st November 1963
Mitte, Berlin
Sitting in his office, Louis was slightly annoyed by the smell of fresh paint and varnish from the repairs that had just been completed. He was still trying to grapple with the sudden revelations over the prior weeks. Kiki had revealed a side of herself that Louis was still trying to comprehend. He had known that for a long time Marie Cecilie could be vindictive and lacked direction, he hadn’t realized just how vicious she could be, especially if it was her twin sister she was going after. And finally, Victoria, he had no idea what to make of what she had reluctantly told him about herself.
When Louis had last seen her, Kristina had been angry because Nadine Hirsch had made her promise that she would effectively be completely gone from her life for the rest of the year. Louis Ferdinand suspected that it would have been forever if Nadine had her way. Kristina had made absolutely no secret of the fact that she blamed him entirely for that. Then the other shoe had dropped. Someone on the Board of the Hohenzollern Trust had taken it upon themselves to conduct an exhaustive background check on not just Ben himself but his family as well. According to Parrish records it went back to a forester who lived in Upper Saxony nearly six centuries earlier. Anyone who knew the meaning of the surname Hirsch could have probably figured that out without putting in as much effort. A few of the Board members had been somewhat put out when they learned that, they had said that to them the name Benjamin Hirsch sounded Jewish to them. Kiki had told them that she was certain that he wasn’t, practically daring them to guess how she knew that. That had been when Louis had intervened. It was obvious to him that they had allowed their own prejudices get the better of them and the fight that Kristina seemed to be picking was one that would leave everyone burned. She saw the Trusties as petty bureaucrats who regularly overstepped, what she didn’t understand was that they had the authority to reign her in hard if they chose to.
Louis Junior had left with his ship, bound for Rio Gallegos in Argentina. From there the Albatros II would go on to deliver supplies to various research stations with her ultimate destination as Wilhelm Station on Lützow-Holm Bay. From there Junior would go where he was needed but Louis worried, that was about as far as one could go and still be on the globe and his son had needed to go through special training after he had volunteered to go there. It was for good reason that Antarctica had a reputation for being the hardest of postings and had frequently been the sort of place where men who had made potentially career ending mistakes, but not quite bad enough to be thrown into prison were sent. It was the most unforgiving and dangerous place on Earth.
The door swung open and someone he’d not anticipated entered the room. For years Kat von Mischner had loathed the uniform that came with her rank, preferring the business casual clothes that she wore today. She walked over and threw open the curtains.
“Brooding in the dark is my thing” Kat said, she paused to think for a minute. “And it seems like the world is determined to turn me into my Aunt Marcella” She added.
“You are aware of what has been happening but still come back around here?” Louis asked. Most of those who had been able to, had made excuses to elsewhere this week.
“I live with my newborn nephew, my daughters have figured out that living in the same house full time is not to their liking and have started bickering” Kat replied, “At least it’s quiet here. Besides that, what happened with your family sounds no different than any other I’ve ever heard of.”
“Heinrich?” Louis asked, “I’ve been asked to help with that situation.”
It was a ticklish matter, an apparent drunken one night stand had resulted in the birth of a boy whose father was the last of a nearly extinct dynasty. Let a family line end or acknowledge the child as the son and heir. Either choice would create serious problems for Louis Ferdinand. It wasn’t something that he wanted to think about at the moment. If only his grandfather hadn’t been so eager to do his best friend a favor, that had created the precedent which complicated this.
“Yes” Kat said as she sat down in the same chair that Kristina had sat in just before she had attacked Marie.
“I have no idea what I am going to do about Victoria” Louis said.
“I would suggest that you do nothing at all” Kat replied, “Your daughter is still the same young woman she was last week.”
“You understand that it is regarded by many as a mental condition” Louis said.
“So is hysteria” Kat said, “A catchall term that makes being a woman a mental illness. Don’t forget that I studied Psychology.”
“What exactly should I do then?”
“If I were in your shoes, I would treat it exactly the same way that your father handled Alexandrine” Kat said, “Love and acceptance can be difficult at times but doing what is easy always seems to turn out to be incredibly cruel.”
That gave Louis pause, his younger sister had been born with Down’s syndrome. Was what was going on with Victoria the same sort of thing?
1st November 1963
Mitte, Berlin
Sitting in his office, Louis was slightly annoyed by the smell of fresh paint and varnish from the repairs that had just been completed. He was still trying to grapple with the sudden revelations over the prior weeks. Kiki had revealed a side of herself that Louis was still trying to comprehend. He had known that for a long time Marie Cecilie could be vindictive and lacked direction, he hadn’t realized just how vicious she could be, especially if it was her twin sister she was going after. And finally, Victoria, he had no idea what to make of what she had reluctantly told him about herself.
When Louis had last seen her, Kristina had been angry because Nadine Hirsch had made her promise that she would effectively be completely gone from her life for the rest of the year. Louis Ferdinand suspected that it would have been forever if Nadine had her way. Kristina had made absolutely no secret of the fact that she blamed him entirely for that. Then the other shoe had dropped. Someone on the Board of the Hohenzollern Trust had taken it upon themselves to conduct an exhaustive background check on not just Ben himself but his family as well. According to Parrish records it went back to a forester who lived in Upper Saxony nearly six centuries earlier. Anyone who knew the meaning of the surname Hirsch could have probably figured that out without putting in as much effort. A few of the Board members had been somewhat put out when they learned that, they had said that to them the name Benjamin Hirsch sounded Jewish to them. Kiki had told them that she was certain that he wasn’t, practically daring them to guess how she knew that. That had been when Louis had intervened. It was obvious to him that they had allowed their own prejudices get the better of them and the fight that Kristina seemed to be picking was one that would leave everyone burned. She saw the Trusties as petty bureaucrats who regularly overstepped, what she didn’t understand was that they had the authority to reign her in hard if they chose to.
Louis Junior had left with his ship, bound for Rio Gallegos in Argentina. From there the Albatros II would go on to deliver supplies to various research stations with her ultimate destination as Wilhelm Station on Lützow-Holm Bay. From there Junior would go where he was needed but Louis worried, that was about as far as one could go and still be on the globe and his son had needed to go through special training after he had volunteered to go there. It was for good reason that Antarctica had a reputation for being the hardest of postings and had frequently been the sort of place where men who had made potentially career ending mistakes, but not quite bad enough to be thrown into prison were sent. It was the most unforgiving and dangerous place on Earth.
The door swung open and someone he’d not anticipated entered the room. For years Kat von Mischner had loathed the uniform that came with her rank, preferring the business casual clothes that she wore today. She walked over and threw open the curtains.
“Brooding in the dark is my thing” Kat said, she paused to think for a minute. “And it seems like the world is determined to turn me into my Aunt Marcella” She added.
“You are aware of what has been happening but still come back around here?” Louis asked. Most of those who had been able to, had made excuses to elsewhere this week.
“I live with my newborn nephew, my daughters have figured out that living in the same house full time is not to their liking and have started bickering” Kat replied, “At least it’s quiet here. Besides that, what happened with your family sounds no different than any other I’ve ever heard of.”
“Heinrich?” Louis asked, “I’ve been asked to help with that situation.”
It was a ticklish matter, an apparent drunken one night stand had resulted in the birth of a boy whose father was the last of a nearly extinct dynasty. Let a family line end or acknowledge the child as the son and heir. Either choice would create serious problems for Louis Ferdinand. It wasn’t something that he wanted to think about at the moment. If only his grandfather hadn’t been so eager to do his best friend a favor, that had created the precedent which complicated this.
“Yes” Kat said as she sat down in the same chair that Kristina had sat in just before she had attacked Marie.
“I have no idea what I am going to do about Victoria” Louis said.
“I would suggest that you do nothing at all” Kat replied, “Your daughter is still the same young woman she was last week.”
“You understand that it is regarded by many as a mental condition” Louis said.
“So is hysteria” Kat said, “A catchall term that makes being a woman a mental illness. Don’t forget that I studied Psychology.”
“What exactly should I do then?”
“If I were in your shoes, I would treat it exactly the same way that your father handled Alexandrine” Kat said, “Love and acceptance can be difficult at times but doing what is easy always seems to turn out to be incredibly cruel.”
That gave Louis pause, his younger sister had been born with Down’s syndrome. Was what was going on with Victoria the same sort of thing?
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Wow Louis really screwed up, and Kiki and Ben are definitely taking on the star-crossed lovers tale.
That feeling when volunteering for the shittiest posting in the service turns out to be the right call.
Until, of course, he summoned Cthulhu by complete accident and managed to tame that old bastard because HOHENZOLLERN UBER ALLES.
AFAICT the deal wasn't blocked. The Board was merely "annoyed" and complained to Kaiser Lou on the sly.
Marc A
"So, you say that you are an Ancient Old One called Cthulhu? And that you are bent on the total domination of our world? Interesting. Have you heard of my Aunt Katherine a.k.a Kat, The Tigress of Pankow? Oh, you have! Excellent! Surrender. Now."
....huh! Reminds me of somehting.
On a completely unrelated Hohenzollern/Cthulhu note...hey @Peabody-Martini what exactly are the Romanian Hohenzollern's up to? I mean, with the continuation of the Main line in Germany, what is this cadet branch up to?
"For I am Katerine Mischner, Angel of Death and Destroyer of Worlds"
Well, maybe too oppenheimerish....
Let's see, IOTL the King of the Romanians is Michael I of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and he only has daughters the oldest is Margareta who was born in 1949.
Is there any spare Hohenzollern Prince that is just laying around the Palace so to speak?
Only have Freddy, Michael and Louis as the boys right?
Freddy is otherwise entangled.
Michael is on/off again with....is it Beatrice? Alberta? The British Princess? Don't remember her name for the life of me.
Only one left is Louis, and he is unavailable for the next couple of years. But when he come back "here is a nice young princess for you, in Romania,...." Stuck in the Black Sea for the rest of your life Louis.
You know, even though its another cadet branch, what the hell is Henry's/Heinrich's line up to these days? I mean, Henry dies in 1929, but there was Prince Waldemar and Prince Sigismund? But only sigismund had children himself...
"That's Grafin Katherine von Mischner to you."
"But I am Cth..."
"Just go back to sleep already. Don't make this any more embarrassing for you than it already is."
Marc A
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In the darkest space between the stars, the Great Old Ones hear the name Kat Von Mischner and shudder, they recall Azathoth, the Blind Idiot God. He wasn't always so.
He crossed paths with the thrice cursed Hellkat, and, so thoroughly defeated, in his anguish took on this form of gibbering madness.
The Great Old Ones sleep and wait the countless aeons until the Sun eats all worlds, and they are right to come forth once again.
He crossed paths with the thrice cursed Hellkat, and, so thoroughly defeated, in his anguish took on this form of gibbering madness.
The Great Old Ones sleep and wait the countless aeons until the Sun eats all worlds, and they are right to come forth once again.
Part 100, Chapter 1601
Chapter One Thousand Six Hundred One
2nd November 1963
Werder
Because she and Suse were completely different there were moments when Gerta was completely unsure about how to react to some of the things that happened to her fifteen-year-old daughter. Today she was having one of those moments because Suse had been determined to prove her father wrong by lifting a twenty-five-kilogram bag of flour over her head and she had stubbornly refused to accept that she couldn’t raise it more than a few centimeters. At 1.5 meters in height and maybe weighing forty kilograms soaking wet, it was painfully obvious what Suse’s problem was. She had always been on the small side and that hadn’t changed now that she was nearly an adult.
Gerta had been in the kitchen talking with the Cook about that night’s dinner when she heard the sound of ripping paper and a loud thud from the storeroom. When she ran in to see what had happened, Gerta saw that there was flour all over the floor and hanging in the air. Suse was sitting in the middle of a large pile of flour because she had fallen over backwards pulling the bag on top of her even as it split open. Flour completely covered her face, clothes and hair. Suse was this completely white figure with two cornflower blue eyes looking out from under the powder caked to her face. It was an incredibly comical scene, but Gerta knew that Suse wouldn’t see the humor in this.
Then Suse started crying as she sat up.
This wasn’t crying because she was sad, no, this was wailing because Suse had been thoroughly defeated by something so trivial. Frustration and anger at this situation were coming out in a manner that Gerta hadn’t seen her express like this since she was a little girl. Kurt had told Gerta that Suse was extremely unlikely to ever have the upper body strength to lift twenty-five-kilograms. He had gone out of his way to avoid dashing her dreams, but he had known that something like this was going to happen eventually. It was also one of those moments when no matter how old Suse was, she needed Gerta to step in and be her mother.
“It’s going to be alright my little Rose” Gerta said using the nickname that Suse had as small child and brushing the flour off Gerta’s face with her hand. In the past that had always gotten a smile from Suse, no matter how upset she was. Not this time though.
“How can you say that?” Suse replied, “Look at this… MESS!”
With that Suse started crying again and she hugged Gerta, completely unconcerned about being covered in flour to the point that it was running off her.
“We can just sweep all this up and I can promise that things will get better” Gerta said that knowing how absurd that sounded, twenty-five-kilos of flour in this small space was going to be a nightmare to clean up. She hugged Suse back while trying not to think about what this was doing to her clothes.
“How?” Suse asked plaintively.
“When I was just a bit older than you are, I was dropped by my Agent” Gerta replied, “He said that I had no real talent and would never land anything other than bit roles.”
Suse looked at Gerta in surprise. She had only known her mother as a successful actress who had starred in movies and television shows before moving on to heading a production company.
“You’ll find a way Suse Rosa” Gerta said, “Just like I did.”
Suse tried to smile at that, but Gerta could tell that she didn’t really believe it.
North Atlantic, South-West of Ireland
The SMS Albatros II may have seemed like a large ship when she was in port. Being out on the open ocean put things in a very different perspective. For the last several hours she had been making sedate headway in a storm that was heaving the ship about. The Deckoffizier had said that it was mere squall and just a small taste of what was ahead when they reached the Southern Ocean. All but the most junior of the Ship’s Officers and Enlisted had made this passage before, so Louis listened to what they had to say.
Oberfähnrich zur See Hugo Georg Wieck, who Louis shared a cabin with that wasn’t much larger than a broom closet, was seasick. Louis had been surprised to learn that Hugo’s only prior experience at sea had been the relatively brief jaunts out on the Baltic aboard ships and boats maintained by the Mürwik Naval Academy. They were roughly the same age, which happened to be the only thing that they had in common. Hugo had been shocked to learn that Louis had volunteered to go to Korea, had served aboard the SMS Brandenburg and had eventually commanded an LC. In turn, Louis couldn’t figure out how Hugo could have possibly made it through Arctic training without divine intervention. So, they had been told that they were sharing accommodations. Louis didn’t see the reason for this yet. They were going to take on the Scientists and Technicians in Argentina, there was plenty of space aboard the Albatros where Louis wouldn’t have to listen to Hugo get sick in the bunk right below his.
Laying on his bunk with his pillow under his chin. Louis was trying to read the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, part of a correspondence course he was taking that had been set up by the Naval Academy in Partnership with the University of Berlin. He had selected this book because he had been told that he was going to be extremely likely to encounter Americans in Antarctica. He was finding the world depicted in the book completely alien and he wondered how much of a reflection that was on the people in that region of the United States. That was when he heard Hugo throw up into his bucket again. Louis was a bit surprised that he still had anything left in his stomach by now.
“Sorry you had to hear that again Lieutenant” Hugo groaned before he staggered for the door. At least he was smart enough to empty the bucket in the head. Hearing was bad enough. If Louis had to smell it as well, he would seriously be tempted to lock Hugo out the next time he left.
2nd November 1963
Werder
Because she and Suse were completely different there were moments when Gerta was completely unsure about how to react to some of the things that happened to her fifteen-year-old daughter. Today she was having one of those moments because Suse had been determined to prove her father wrong by lifting a twenty-five-kilogram bag of flour over her head and she had stubbornly refused to accept that she couldn’t raise it more than a few centimeters. At 1.5 meters in height and maybe weighing forty kilograms soaking wet, it was painfully obvious what Suse’s problem was. She had always been on the small side and that hadn’t changed now that she was nearly an adult.
Gerta had been in the kitchen talking with the Cook about that night’s dinner when she heard the sound of ripping paper and a loud thud from the storeroom. When she ran in to see what had happened, Gerta saw that there was flour all over the floor and hanging in the air. Suse was sitting in the middle of a large pile of flour because she had fallen over backwards pulling the bag on top of her even as it split open. Flour completely covered her face, clothes and hair. Suse was this completely white figure with two cornflower blue eyes looking out from under the powder caked to her face. It was an incredibly comical scene, but Gerta knew that Suse wouldn’t see the humor in this.
Then Suse started crying as she sat up.
This wasn’t crying because she was sad, no, this was wailing because Suse had been thoroughly defeated by something so trivial. Frustration and anger at this situation were coming out in a manner that Gerta hadn’t seen her express like this since she was a little girl. Kurt had told Gerta that Suse was extremely unlikely to ever have the upper body strength to lift twenty-five-kilograms. He had gone out of his way to avoid dashing her dreams, but he had known that something like this was going to happen eventually. It was also one of those moments when no matter how old Suse was, she needed Gerta to step in and be her mother.
“It’s going to be alright my little Rose” Gerta said using the nickname that Suse had as small child and brushing the flour off Gerta’s face with her hand. In the past that had always gotten a smile from Suse, no matter how upset she was. Not this time though.
“How can you say that?” Suse replied, “Look at this… MESS!”
With that Suse started crying again and she hugged Gerta, completely unconcerned about being covered in flour to the point that it was running off her.
“We can just sweep all this up and I can promise that things will get better” Gerta said that knowing how absurd that sounded, twenty-five-kilos of flour in this small space was going to be a nightmare to clean up. She hugged Suse back while trying not to think about what this was doing to her clothes.
“How?” Suse asked plaintively.
“When I was just a bit older than you are, I was dropped by my Agent” Gerta replied, “He said that I had no real talent and would never land anything other than bit roles.”
Suse looked at Gerta in surprise. She had only known her mother as a successful actress who had starred in movies and television shows before moving on to heading a production company.
“You’ll find a way Suse Rosa” Gerta said, “Just like I did.”
Suse tried to smile at that, but Gerta could tell that she didn’t really believe it.
North Atlantic, South-West of Ireland
The SMS Albatros II may have seemed like a large ship when she was in port. Being out on the open ocean put things in a very different perspective. For the last several hours she had been making sedate headway in a storm that was heaving the ship about. The Deckoffizier had said that it was mere squall and just a small taste of what was ahead when they reached the Southern Ocean. All but the most junior of the Ship’s Officers and Enlisted had made this passage before, so Louis listened to what they had to say.
Oberfähnrich zur See Hugo Georg Wieck, who Louis shared a cabin with that wasn’t much larger than a broom closet, was seasick. Louis had been surprised to learn that Hugo’s only prior experience at sea had been the relatively brief jaunts out on the Baltic aboard ships and boats maintained by the Mürwik Naval Academy. They were roughly the same age, which happened to be the only thing that they had in common. Hugo had been shocked to learn that Louis had volunteered to go to Korea, had served aboard the SMS Brandenburg and had eventually commanded an LC. In turn, Louis couldn’t figure out how Hugo could have possibly made it through Arctic training without divine intervention. So, they had been told that they were sharing accommodations. Louis didn’t see the reason for this yet. They were going to take on the Scientists and Technicians in Argentina, there was plenty of space aboard the Albatros where Louis wouldn’t have to listen to Hugo get sick in the bunk right below his.
Laying on his bunk with his pillow under his chin. Louis was trying to read the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, part of a correspondence course he was taking that had been set up by the Naval Academy in Partnership with the University of Berlin. He had selected this book because he had been told that he was going to be extremely likely to encounter Americans in Antarctica. He was finding the world depicted in the book completely alien and he wondered how much of a reflection that was on the people in that region of the United States. That was when he heard Hugo throw up into his bucket again. Louis was a bit surprised that he still had anything left in his stomach by now.
“Sorry you had to hear that again Lieutenant” Hugo groaned before he staggered for the door. At least he was smart enough to empty the bucket in the head. Hearing was bad enough. If Louis had to smell it as well, he would seriously be tempted to lock Hugo out the next time he left.
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So is the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in this timeline and run by the United States?
The United States has always been involved in Polar exploration and it would be logical ITTL.
a funny, touching scene with Gerta and Suse Rosa I can practically see the wheels beginning to turn in her head.
The United States has always been involved in Polar exploration and it would be logical ITTL.
a funny, touching scene with Gerta and Suse Rosa I can practically see the wheels beginning to turn in her head.
Locked himself in a train car on a abandoned siding in the dead of winter, odds are.
Or worse: looking at the TV everyday and badgering himself for turning his back on Gerta.
Marc A
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An old sailors saying is: 'Below 40 degrees south there is no law and below 50 degrees south there is no God'
There are reasons WHY the southern latitudes are referred to as the 'Roaring 40s', the 'Furious 50s' and the 'Screaming 60s'. As the bottom half of New Zealand is in the 'Roaring 40s' & below and, after living in Invercargill for the past 15 years (have just moved back north to the Waikato), I can attest that those winds, especially the winds from the southwest, are particularly brutal. Deep in the Southern Ocean they can drive waves to heights not seen elsewhere. Combined with a near total lack of land, the wind, waves & ocean currents are virtually unbroken. There is virtually nothing to break the flow, aside from the odd iceberg or two, some with penguins, and a few rocks that some swear move around of their own accord.
Suse Rosa - "Aunt Kat, how do I get strong enough to pass the Panzer Corps fitness test? Or is there some trick that I can learn, so that I can do it? And PLEEEASSEE don't tell Papa I've asked! I want it to be a surprise!"
Kat (muttering) - "Dear God, why do they always come to me... "