Even after death, her harridan of a mother continues to make things difficult for her...
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Even after death, her harridan of a mother continues to make things difficult for her...
Kiki needs to be sat down with the following people:
Her Father should tell her the truth about his marriage to Kira and how it was basically an arraigned marriage for political reasons and that there were both good moments and bad, also from the second thread Louis Ferdinand genuinely mourned the death of Kira.
Dr. Peter Holz should tell Kiki that because of her experiences and her own achievements that she can basically have any professional posting within reason that she wants and if she doesn't want to be behind a desk there is no reason that she has to be.
Zella while not being fond of Ben, does recognize that Kiki and Ben are right for each other and should tell Kiki that.
Freddy should tell Kiki that once he becomes the Kaiser the spotlight that Kiki is under now will start to recede as she moves further down the line for succession and the press will be less interested in her over the years except for some milestone events.
Kiki's main problem is that she is on an internal feedback loop and she needs something from outside of that to breakthrough to allow herself to do what she really wants to do and not feel guilty about it for being happy.
Her Father should tell her the truth about his marriage to Kira and how it was basically an arraigned marriage for political reasons and that there were both good moments and bad, also from the second thread Louis Ferdinand genuinely mourned the death of Kira.
Dr. Peter Holz should tell Kiki that because of her experiences and her own achievements that she can basically have any professional posting within reason that she wants and if she doesn't want to be behind a desk there is no reason that she has to be.
Zella while not being fond of Ben, does recognize that Kiki and Ben are right for each other and should tell Kiki that.
Freddy should tell Kiki that once he becomes the Kaiser the spotlight that Kiki is under now will start to recede as she moves further down the line for succession and the press will be less interested in her over the years except for some milestone events.
Kiki's main problem is that she is on an internal feedback loop and she needs something from outside of that to breakthrough to allow herself to do what she really wants to do and not feel guilty about it for being happy.
Part 114, Chapter 1896
Chapter One Thousand Eight Hundred Ninety-Six
25th December 1968
Los Angeles, California
Richie had agreed to come to midnight mass with his mother and was pleasantly surprised when Lucia was there. She had not been thrilled to receive a series of letters from him that had been heavily censored by some bureaucrat in the bowels of the Pentagon. He had tried to explain that while his team was in the field that was the cost of doing business. There would be a lot of his professional life that he couldn’t talk about. Perhaps it was too much to expect her not to be fast on the uptake, but she had asked Ritchie if he had been in Ecuador over the prior weeks before he had gone on leave and he had almost cursed aloud. Anyone who had watched the news would have been aware of that clusterfuck.
The proxy war that had been simmering between Peru and Ecuador had suddenly heated up while Ritchie’s team had been in-country in the disputed border region. They had discovered a few things while they had been fighting for their lives to get clear. The first was that the part of the Argentine Army that Ritchie had encountered was composed of a bunch of complete lunatics. The other was that while “Canadian Pattern” Panzer 7 Lynx II tanks could kill a late model M-7E5 Buford at damn near any range, the 90mm shells fired by the Bufords seemed to only piss the Lynx crews off. Third, the two M-20 Super Bazookas that Ritchie’s team had weren’t much better. The fourth thing was that armored personnel carriers were not to be trifled with. Ritchie had seen an Ecuadorian Rifle Platoon ripped to pieces by 20mm shells and machine gun fire when they had attempted an ill-fated counterattack. Finally, the fifth thing that they had learned was that the Stoner Rifles and FN Minimi Light Machine Gun that Ritchie’s team had been equipped with had performed flawlessly in less than ideal conditions. The relatively light weight of those weapons had been a godsend when they had been running for their lives, beating a strategic withdrawal, or whatever the Brass termed it as. The Brass had not been happy that Huck had said that out loud during debrief though.
Eventually, the Peruvian Army and their Argentine allies had out stripped their supply lines and had to stop when they ran out of fuel. At that point, the diplomats had stepped in and started negotiating a ceasefire. Fuel. The thought of that was particularly bitter for Ritchie. The gasoline used by the Continental Engines used by the Bufords was one of the things that caused them to erupt like a damned volcano then they got hit by one of the fin stabilized shells that the Argentinians used. Ritchie had no idea what a long-rod sabot was until he had seen one lance right through a Buford and hardly slowing down. It seemed that Intelligence knew about them but had no idea that they had been fielded anywhere. Mullins, always a font of positive thinking, had pointed out that the Lynx II was no longer in service with the German Army having been replaced by the Leopard, a vehicle that the CIA was supposedly still trying to nail down the capabilities of.
“You are angry?” Lucia asked as she saw the look on Ritchie’s face.
“I’ll just be glad when this year is over” Ritchie replied.
Großer Müggelsee
The entire reason why Kiki loved living on the Meta so much was the freedom that it offered her on days like this. The only difficulty was presented by having to take Rauchbier ashore for a while so there were no accidents.
When her father had done his Christmas radio address the night before, had done his usual rundown of what his children were up to after he had wished the people of the German Empire a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. For Kiki, the trouble had started when he had announced how proud he was of his eldest daughter for finally getting her Doctorate and wished her a happy twenty-seventh birthday. Then Kiki’s father dropped a major bombshell by announcing her engagement to Benjamin without actually mentioning his name. Predictably that had resulted in a stampede of the Press to the Military Museum where they knew she would be. By then she had already slipped the mooring and had steered the Meta up the river. It was hoped that being moored at a dock on the lake in the southern suburbs of Berlin would keep Kiki out of the public eye until this blew over.
“Are you going to be alright for the rest of the day Ma’am?” The head of Kiki’s security detail asked, and Kiki had to stop herself from making a sarcastic comment back. They were only here because they had been ordered to. The deal was that if she took the Meta anywhere on the inland waterways, she would take them with her. Fortunately, the cabin they were staying in were in the bow while hers was in the stern. So, she had a peaceful night at least. This morning, while sitting in the pilot house drinking a cup of tea, Kiki ran through the list of things she would need to do today. Calling Ben and apologizing for her father blowing his life up again was at the top of it.
25th December 1968
Los Angeles, California
Richie had agreed to come to midnight mass with his mother and was pleasantly surprised when Lucia was there. She had not been thrilled to receive a series of letters from him that had been heavily censored by some bureaucrat in the bowels of the Pentagon. He had tried to explain that while his team was in the field that was the cost of doing business. There would be a lot of his professional life that he couldn’t talk about. Perhaps it was too much to expect her not to be fast on the uptake, but she had asked Ritchie if he had been in Ecuador over the prior weeks before he had gone on leave and he had almost cursed aloud. Anyone who had watched the news would have been aware of that clusterfuck.
The proxy war that had been simmering between Peru and Ecuador had suddenly heated up while Ritchie’s team had been in-country in the disputed border region. They had discovered a few things while they had been fighting for their lives to get clear. The first was that the part of the Argentine Army that Ritchie had encountered was composed of a bunch of complete lunatics. The other was that while “Canadian Pattern” Panzer 7 Lynx II tanks could kill a late model M-7E5 Buford at damn near any range, the 90mm shells fired by the Bufords seemed to only piss the Lynx crews off. Third, the two M-20 Super Bazookas that Ritchie’s team had weren’t much better. The fourth thing was that armored personnel carriers were not to be trifled with. Ritchie had seen an Ecuadorian Rifle Platoon ripped to pieces by 20mm shells and machine gun fire when they had attempted an ill-fated counterattack. Finally, the fifth thing that they had learned was that the Stoner Rifles and FN Minimi Light Machine Gun that Ritchie’s team had been equipped with had performed flawlessly in less than ideal conditions. The relatively light weight of those weapons had been a godsend when they had been running for their lives, beating a strategic withdrawal, or whatever the Brass termed it as. The Brass had not been happy that Huck had said that out loud during debrief though.
Eventually, the Peruvian Army and their Argentine allies had out stripped their supply lines and had to stop when they ran out of fuel. At that point, the diplomats had stepped in and started negotiating a ceasefire. Fuel. The thought of that was particularly bitter for Ritchie. The gasoline used by the Continental Engines used by the Bufords was one of the things that caused them to erupt like a damned volcano then they got hit by one of the fin stabilized shells that the Argentinians used. Ritchie had no idea what a long-rod sabot was until he had seen one lance right through a Buford and hardly slowing down. It seemed that Intelligence knew about them but had no idea that they had been fielded anywhere. Mullins, always a font of positive thinking, had pointed out that the Lynx II was no longer in service with the German Army having been replaced by the Leopard, a vehicle that the CIA was supposedly still trying to nail down the capabilities of.
“You are angry?” Lucia asked as she saw the look on Ritchie’s face.
“I’ll just be glad when this year is over” Ritchie replied.
Großer Müggelsee
The entire reason why Kiki loved living on the Meta so much was the freedom that it offered her on days like this. The only difficulty was presented by having to take Rauchbier ashore for a while so there were no accidents.
When her father had done his Christmas radio address the night before, had done his usual rundown of what his children were up to after he had wished the people of the German Empire a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. For Kiki, the trouble had started when he had announced how proud he was of his eldest daughter for finally getting her Doctorate and wished her a happy twenty-seventh birthday. Then Kiki’s father dropped a major bombshell by announcing her engagement to Benjamin without actually mentioning his name. Predictably that had resulted in a stampede of the Press to the Military Museum where they knew she would be. By then she had already slipped the mooring and had steered the Meta up the river. It was hoped that being moored at a dock on the lake in the southern suburbs of Berlin would keep Kiki out of the public eye until this blew over.
“Are you going to be alright for the rest of the day Ma’am?” The head of Kiki’s security detail asked, and Kiki had to stop herself from making a sarcastic comment back. They were only here because they had been ordered to. The deal was that if she took the Meta anywhere on the inland waterways, she would take them with her. Fortunately, the cabin they were staying in were in the bow while hers was in the stern. So, she had a peaceful night at least. This morning, while sitting in the pilot house drinking a cup of tea, Kiki ran through the list of things she would need to do today. Calling Ben and apologizing for her father blowing his life up again was at the top of it.
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Pretty much.......Well, if Ben loves her he has to suffer.
"I quite understand Kiki. I suppose we'd best just put a brave face on it and get it done".
"Thank you for understanding, and I'm sorry"
[click as the receivers are both replaced]
"Well done Ben, I think you sold that perfectly"
"Thank you your highness"
"Oh no, you're family now, call me Louis..."
Actually that's a question - what's his official title on abdication? Or is he just 'Herr von Preußen'?
It is an M48 analog. What 105mm carbide tipped APDS can do to it is not pretty and this is not helped by the export model lacking many of the features that would otherwise make it more survivable after taking such a hit. What Ritchie witnessed was fuel, ammunition that wasn't properly stored, and who knows what else, blowing apart a vehicle from the inside out.
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I had a hope it was a case of "unreliable witness" going on in that Ritchie wouldn't have been privy to whole details.
Glad to know my hope wasn't misplaced.
When Edward VIII abdicated OTL he took the title of the Duke of Windsor.Actually that's a question - what's his official title on abdication? Or is he just 'Herr von Preußen'?
Großherzog maybe?
My understanding is that he is abdicating as German Kaiser but will remain King of Prussia.Actually that's a question - what's his official title on abdication? Or is he just 'Herr von Preußen'?
A promotion upon retirement within the Luftwaffe to "Marshall of the Air Forces, retired, von Preußen". What with him having served as the Commander in Chief of all German forces, he'd be entitled to it, would be a way to keep the military happy and cut through and issues of security/protocol concerns. Any noble titles can be handled "in-house" with Freddy and such.Actually that's a question - what's his official title on abdication? Or is he just 'Herr von Preußen'?
Also means when Freddy follows suit a few decades down the line he can be "Field Marshall, retired, von Preußen" to keep it simplified. Also, yes, I used the British titles, just slide in the German equivalents.
Ritchie if things keep progressing with Lucia may be looking at a career change as I doubt that Lucia would like to spend winters in upstate New York while Ritchie is out of the country on a classified mission.
If Kiki really doesn't want to marry then all she has to do is just say so, Ben of course will be devastated but he will understand but Kiki can't have it both ways where she wants to marry Ben but make it seems that she has no choice in the matter.
If Kiki really doesn't want to marry then all she has to do is just say so, Ben of course will be devastated but he will understand but Kiki can't have it both ways where she wants to marry Ben but make it seems that she has no choice in the matter.
Kiki really does want to marry Ben; she has just convinced herself that politics and the universe in general will force her into a loveless dynastic marriage with someone like the cretin that is Italy's crown prince. Her mother, both directly and indirectly, played a large part in this. This is also why she failed to realise that she was now, in fact, a doctor; she just could not bring herself to believe that she would be ever, truly be allowed to become one. Until she was.
All very good points and Kiki needs to have talk with Nancy at the Palace press office because one of Nancy’s jobs is to gauge the opinions of the public and from that Nancy should be able to tell Kiki that the German people really don’t care if she marries a commoner just as long as she love him.
Kiki should also talk to her Aunt Cicille who married a commoner during the war and no one cared about it.
Ben is most likely is seen by the German public as being worthy of Kiki because he is a war hero, an academic like Kiki and the fact that he went in to space adds to that.
Another thing in their favor is their story how they met and Ben didn’t know that Kiki was a Princess which makes the story even more of a fairy book tale.
Indeed. Plus, the fact that she's actually a doctor now could chip away at that - when she really processes 'hey, I got this', she'll realise that anything's possible
Likewise, Ben is now an aristocrat, so even from a political point of view their marriage would make sense. And it should also be pointed out to her...
Even by the standards of her time, Kira's thinking was archaic. In the modern era, when most monarchies are constitutional and when the monarch's main duties are waving at a crowd and opening/launching stuff, it's utterly irrelevant. The democratic governments are the ones who make alliances, not the monarchy, and as such... Back when the monarch actually ruled, a dynastic marriage cemented alliances. But when the actual government is the one in charge of making and breaking alliances, a dynastic marriage isn't worth the paper it's printed on. That being the case, politics is not going to conspire against her in this regard because dynastic marriages are now completely worthless from a political POV.
Better than that, Ben is a commoner who became an aristocrat on merit, not through chance of birth. There is something in this for everyone.
Except Mithras. But honestly? Fuck that guy.
Except Mithras. But honestly? Fuck that guy.
Oh you know his jailors are going to straight jacket him and wheel in a TV to show him the wedding.
Not a good idea by any stretch of the imagination, but the name of this story isn't "Rational outcomes and logical solutions" now is it?
For the most part Kiki has a very narrow view on how people see her day to day which is somewhat understandable as there is a bit of media focus on her.
But that is mostly from the tabloids who exaggerate the significance on anything that she does for most of the people they don't really think about her that much unless something big happens like her kidnapping.
Take for example the visit to the Alexanderplatz Farmers Market, it is at most going to be a two to three minutes report on the television and Page one on section D the Lifestyles part of the newspapers as a human interest story and nothing more.
As for the possible wedding it is going to be mostly as low key as it can get for a Royal Wedding, the ones who are going to attend are a bunch of royalty and nobility because there is free food and drinks involved and the official representatives from other countries is going to be at Ambassador level and of course Ben can select for his guest after the bride side of the family sends out all their invitations either his father or mother.
But that is mostly from the tabloids who exaggerate the significance on anything that she does for most of the people they don't really think about her that much unless something big happens like her kidnapping.
Take for example the visit to the Alexanderplatz Farmers Market, it is at most going to be a two to three minutes report on the television and Page one on section D the Lifestyles part of the newspapers as a human interest story and nothing more.
As for the possible wedding it is going to be mostly as low key as it can get for a Royal Wedding, the ones who are going to attend are a bunch of royalty and nobility because there is free food and drinks involved and the official representatives from other countries is going to be at Ambassador level and of course Ben can select for his guest after the bride side of the family sends out all their invitations either his father or mother.
Sounds about right.
...also, I think it's a sign of @Peabody-Martini 's great writing, well-rounded characters and such that here we are, on an AH site, just as avidly discussing who's marrying who as we are geopolitical events